Building a Premier League Powerhouse
Author: 陈爱庭
Date: 2025-11-21T07:29:06+00:00

Chapter 1: This is No Way to Treat a Transmigrator!

“I must be the most pathetic transmigrator in history!”

Yang Cheng lay on a hospital gurney in the emergency room, utterly devoid of strength.

Even breathing had become incredibly difficult.

Yet, his mind was exceptionally clear.

The moment before he collapsed, he had been managing the most important title-deciding match of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

In the 88th minute, the Arsenal team he coached finally broke through the defense of Manchester City, led by the world-renowned manager Pep Guardiola.

The first championship of his coaching career was finally within his grasp!

An unprecedented wave of ecstasy washed over him, and he completely lost control.

He felt an unparalleled sense of satisfaction, especially when he saw the dejected look on Guardiola’s face in the opposing dugout.

The next moment, he collapsed.

He clearly “saw” himself being carried onto the stadium’s ambulance on a stretcher and “heard” the paramedics calling to him…

The ambulance sped to the nearest hospital.

A frantic rescue effort followed.

The doctors and nurses kept talking to him. He could hear every word perfectly, but he was powerless to respond.

It was already 2024.

With medicine so advanced, they should be able to save me, right?

Just as this thought flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind, the rapid beeping of the monitor filled him with terror.

So this is what it feels like to be on the brink of death. So terrifying!

The memories of two lifetimes replayed before his eyes like a movie.

From 1984 to 2011, that was the beginning of an ordinary life.

But starting over in 1995 and living until the present day of 2024—that was a magnificent history of struggle in European football.

His coaching career had taken him through numerous clubs, from giants like Real Madrid, Barça, Chelsea, and Manchester United, to the lower tiers of the German and Dutch second divisions. He had left his mark on them all.

Thirty years!

It took him a full thirty years to go from a complete rookie, through struggle and tempering, to finally become a manager recognized by the football world.

His biggest regret was that in those thirty years, he had never won a single significant championship.

Perpetual Runner-Up.

That was the consolation prize the media and fans had given him.

But who couldn’t hear the mockery behind that nickname?

After struggling for thirty years, just as the championship he had dreamed of was finally within reach, he never expected…

I can’t accept this!

Even in his consciousness, Yang Cheng was trembling all over.

He had built the framework for Real Madrid’s three consecutive Champions League titles.

It was he who had led Barça out of its historic slump, paving the way for Rijkaard’s Dream Team Two and Guardiola’s Dream Team Three.

Chelsea’s first Champions League trophy should have been his.

It was thanks to his drastic reforms that Manchester United had emerged from the mire following Ferguson’s retirement and maintained its competitiveness as a top European club.

Even Guardiola, after winning the title with Manchester City, made a point to thank him for the valuable legacy he had left behind.

A full thirty years!

Championships had appeared within his reach countless times.

But for one reason or another, he always fell short.

Finally, in 2024, everyone acknowledged that Yang Cheng was a world-class manager, but he still hadn’t won a title.

I really can’t accept this!

If I just had one more chance, I would definitely…

Beep…

…

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of urgent knocks came from the door.

Yang Cheng cried out and woke with a start.

He shot up in bed, gasping for air with all his might, like a drowning man who had just been rescued.

His back was already soaked with sweat.

As he slowly caught his breath, his consciousness gradually cleared.

He was shocked to find that he wasn’t on a gurney in a hospital emergency room, but lying in a cramped office.

What’s going on?

Yang Cheng sat on the bed and looked around.

The office was completely unfamiliar. He desperately searched his mind for any clues.

Just then, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind.

He had transmigrated again!

From 2024 back to the summer of 2003.

His name was still Yang Cheng, and he was twenty-three years old.

At this very moment, he was in the office of the Bayswater Chinese Football Club, north of Hyde Park in London, England.

The Bayswater Chinese?

The moment this unfamiliar name appeared in Yang Cheng’s mind, a sharp pain shot through his head.

This was a huge mess.

His father, Yang Jianguo, had made his fortune in the 80s, starting with shoes and apparel, determined to build China’s own sportswear brand.

In ’96, a massive wave of Chinese footballers began to play abroad.

Yang Jianguo missed that wave but carved out his own path. In ’97, he acquired a low-level amateur team in London.

His vision was to spend a few years taking this amateur team all the way to the Premier League, turning it into a stepping stone for Chinese players moving overseas.

To this end, he spared no expense, purchasing a large plot of land in Bayswater, north of Hyde Park, with plans to build a ten-thousand-seat stadium and a training ground.

This grand undertaking was once met with enthusiastic support from domestic media and fans.

But the good times didn’t last.

The Chinese team had been unstoppable for the first few years, but after consecutive promotions, they hit a wall in the Football League Second Division and could advance no further.

The continuous large-scale investments also caused problems with the Yang family’s cash flow, forcing them to halt construction on the stadium and training ground.

Debt came crashing down like an avalanche, completely crushing the club.

It also endangered the Yang family’s businesses back in China.

The slightest misstep would lead to total ruin.

Yang Jianguo had rushed back to China to stabilize their home base.

And his only son, Yang Cheng, who had just graduated from university, was left behind in England to temporarily handle this thorny situation.

After sorting through his memories, a bitter smile appeared on Yang Cheng’s face.

This is no way to treat a transmigrator!

The starting conditions keep getting worse.

Last time, when he transmigrated to Germany in ’95, he at least had a job and his coaching licenses.

But now?

He was instantly a millionaire—no, a ten-millionaire in debt.

And in bloody pounds sterling, no less!

The founding emperor started with just a begging bowl. I’m starting with tens of millions of pounds in debt. We both have such bright futures…

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had coached both Chelsea and Arsenal, so he was very familiar with London.

The area north of Hyde Park was a famous affluent district; Notting Hill, Bayswater, and Paddington were all world-renowned.

Where would such a large plot of land for a stadium and training ground come from?

One could only say the Transmigration God was something else.

But this location was absolutely incredible!

…

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking at the door came again.

“A Cheng, are you awake?”

Yang Cheng looked toward the door and composed himself. “I’m up, Uncle Lin.”

The middle-aged man calling from outside was Lin Zhongqiu, the old accountant who had followed Yang Jianguo since he started his business.

His dear old dad had returned to China to secure their base, leaving Lin Zhongqiu behind to “help” Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng walked over and opened the door.

Lin Zhongqiu looked at the young master, fresh out of university. His handsome, fair face still carried the naivety of someone who hadn’t seen the world, and a sense of pity welled up in him.

A Cheng took after his mother in looks, and his gentle personality lacked the sharp edge of a businessman.

Disaster was looming, yet he could still sleep soundly.

“The negotiator from that Russian at Chelsea will be here any minute. You should get ready. I’ll handle the specifics. Just do as I told you before: hold firm at ten million pounds, understand?” Lin Zhongqiu instructed.

Yang Cheng’s presence in London was merely for show; Lin Zhongqiu handled all the actual business.

But the mention of Chelsea caught Yang Cheng’s attention.

“Abramovich?”

“Yes. Among the people coming this time is his representative from the bank, Kesher Harris, the chairman of Seymour Pierce.

“And the famous agent, Pini Zahavi.

“It’s said those two were the key figures in his acquisition of Chelsea this year.”

Yang Cheng furrowed his brow.

He had coached Chelsea for two seasons in his previous life. The first season was for building the foundation, and the second was their breakthrough year.

They finished as runners-up in the Premier League, second only to Ferguson’s Manchester United, and were unstoppable in the Champions League.

But just as his team had narrowly eliminated Guardiola’s Barça in the semi-finals, with his sights set on the Champions League trophy, he was fired on the flight back to London from Barcelona.

The reason? He had refused to sell an aging Drogba!

After he was dismissed, Yang Cheng’s assistant coach led the team in the Champions League final and won the title.

And now, just after transmigrating, Chelsea had come knocking again. Enemies are always bound to cross paths!

“Uncle Lin, why do we have to sell this land?” Yang Cheng asked humbly.

Lin Zhongqiu seemed a bit confused.

“What I mean is, this land is in such a prime location. I took a look—within a one-kilometer radius, there are six tube lines and five stations, including a major hub like Paddington, which is crucial not just for London but for the entire UK.”

“Couldn’t we use this land to secure financing, attract developers, and get into real estate? Wouldn’t that be more profitable?”

Lin Zhongqiu looked at Yang Cheng with great surprise, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

It was followed by admiration.

But soon, he shook his head with a bitter smile.

“A Cheng, you’re oversimplifying things.”

Yang Cheng didn’t understand.

“It’s true that we own this land, but its use has already been fixed. In the London city government’s urban plan, this plot can only be used for a stadium or a training ground.”

“It’s not that we haven’t considered the plan you’re suggesting, but it’s simply not feasible. Leaving aside whether any investors would even be interested, just changing the zoning is a protracted and troublesome affair. It would be unrealistic to expect it to be done in anything less than several years.”

“Even if the government were willing to rezone it, we would have to pay an astronomical sum in additional fees.”

Lin Zhongqiu let out a helpless sigh.

“Our cash flow has been cut off. Many players have started making trouble with the club after hearing the rumors. We’ve sold a fair few, but it’s still a drop in the bucket. Right now, our only option is to sell this land as quickly as possible to prevent the crisis from spreading further.”

This was a necessary act of damage control.

But after selling the land, what would become of the Bayswater Chinese?

The answer was obvious.

Once the home ground and training facility were sold, could the club possibly continue to exist?

Yang Cheng never thought he would have to face such a dire situation right after transmigrating.

Was there really no other way?

“We’ve tried every method we could think of, A Cheng,” Lin Zhongqiu said, seeing the reluctance in Yang Cheng’s eyes.

He tried to console him, “Although years of hard work have gone to waste, at least we won’t lose everything. And after acquiring Chelsea, Abramovich is keen on building a new stadium and training complex.

“They’re the only ones interested in this land right now who can also come up with the money.”

With that, Lin Zhongqiu reached out and patted Yang Cheng’s shoulder.

“Don’t overthink it. Go wash your face. I’ll go get things ready.”

Watching Lin Zhongqiu leave, an unknown fire ignited in Yang Cheng’s heart.

He couldn’t accept this!

In his last life, he was just a head coach, a pawn played by these giant clubs.

Could it be that in this life, after transmigrating again, he was doomed to make the same mistakes?

Yang Cheng refused to believe it!

There had to be another way!

Chapter 2: Chelsea Kicking a Man While He’s Down

The Israeli agent Pini Zahavi was a man of some renown in European football.

Over the past few years, he had navigated his way between numerous clubs.

Until he met the Russian tycoon, Roman Abramovich.

The Russian magnate was seeking fame, hoping to use the Premier League and football to integrate into British high society.

Pini Zahavi tailored a plan for him, aiming to help him build a Premier League giant that would be second to none, not even Real Madrid’s Galácticos.

But whether it was Stamford Bridge, southwest of Hyde Park, or the “dilapidated warehouse” of a training ground north of Heathrow Airport, neither fit the profile of the super-club they envisioned.

Abramovich was not short on cash. With a wave of his hand, he planned to purchase land in the southern suburbs to build a five-star training facility.

A new stadium was naturally on the agenda as well.

The “abandoned” project north of Hyde Park immediately caught Chelsea’s eye.

Most importantly, it was very close to Stamford Bridge.

Only four kilometers in a straight line.

With Abramovich’s acquisition of Chelsea complete, a massive influx of new signings was inevitable.

This was the perfect opportunity for Pini Zahavi to showcase his skills.

Before that, however, he hoped to demonstrate his ability and talent to the Russian by acquiring the land from this near-bankrupt lower-league club.

And so, when they arrived at Bayswater Chinese, as soon as both parties sat down, before Lin Zhongqiu could even state their asking price, Pini Zahavi aggressively named his figure.

Five million pounds.

He was slashing the price to the bone.

At first, Lin Zhongqiu thought the other party was just lowballing to start the negotiation.

But gradually, it became clear that Pini Zahavi had no intention of budging, acting as if he had Bayswater Chinese right where he wanted them.

“I’ve made some inquiries about your current financial situation. You have a deficit of at least a million pounds and are in desperate need of this money to solve your urgent crisis.”

“And right now, we are the only ones who can help you through this.”

After speaking, Pini Zahavi shot a meaningful glance at Kesher Harris, who was sitting beside him.

Kesher Harris was a specialist in football deals in the City of London, involved in everything from club sales to the financial operations of player transfers.

When Yang Jianguo had first come to London to buy a club, it was Harris who had helped pull the strings.

But Abramovich was a much bigger and stronger backer.

“Lin, I must remind you that no bank or institution in the City is willing to lend you any more money. You’re running out of time,” Kesher Harris reminded him with a faint smile.

Lin Zhongqiu’s expression was grim.

When a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a shove.

When Yang Jianguo left, he had anticipated such a situation and had even prepared for the worst.

Selling this piece of land for five million pounds wasn’t nearly enough to pay off their debts, let alone recoup everything they had invested in Bayswater Chinese over the years. That would all turn to dust.

The club would likely go under.

Chelsea, on the other hand, would be getting an incredible bargain for free.

But what could they do?

Their circumstances were stronger than them.

Lin Zhongqiu looked up, dejected, and was just about to speak when a hand suddenly reached out from under the table.

It was strong and resolute.

Yang Cheng pressed his hand on Lin Zhongqiu’s, stopping him from speaking further. He then turned to Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris with a smile.

In his previous life, he had dealt with these two cunning devils many times.

Especially Pini Zahavi.

Yang Cheng thoroughly disliked the treacherous agent.

“A price of five million pounds is too low, far from our valuation. We need to reconsider.”

Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris exchanged a surprised look.

Just a moment ago, it was clear that the middle-aged man was about to yield. Where did this sudden interruption come from?

“Of course, Mr. Yang. This is a significant matter. It’s right to be cautious,” Kesher Harris replied with a disingenuous smile. “But as I said, time is of the essence when you need a lifeline.”

“We’re well aware of that,” Yang Cheng nodded confidently.

This left both Kesher Harris and Pini Zahavi baffled.

But since things had come to this, the negotiations could only be put on hold for the time being.

As they left, Pini Zahavi deliberately turned back to cast a long look at Yang Cheng from a distance.

“That young man is in over his head. The time will come when he’ll be on his knees begging.”

Kesher Harris nodded. “They’ve already borrowed all the money they can. They can’t escape this fate. Waiting another couple of days won’t make a difference.”

…

After the two departed, only Yang Cheng and the frantic-looking Lin Zhongqiu remained in the office.

“A Cheng, ten million pounds is our target price, but five million is still barely within an acceptable range. We desperately need this money. This was the task your father gave me when he left.”

Lin Zhongqiu was fiercely loyal to Yang Jianguo; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been left behind to handle this matter.

It was obvious the club was beyond saving. Bankruptcy was inevitable.

The only thing they could do was try to prevent the fallout from affecting their business back home.

Sacrifice the chariot to save the king.

“Uncle Lin, I know we need the money badly, but please, trust me. There must be another way.”

“What other way could there be?” Lin Zhongqiu grew anxious.

Saving a life is as urgent as putting out a fire.

Every day of delay meant another day of risk.

“I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Then why did you…” Lin Zhongqiu became even more agitated.

“Uncle Lin, I know what you’re worried about. They were clearly trying to kick us while we’re down. We don’t need to rush. Let’s just make them wait for two days. Try to buy more time on the club’s end. I’m sure I can come up with something.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “Over the next two days, hurry up and handle the separation of our business from the one back home to avoid any impact there.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re already on it.”

“Good. Then wait for me for two more days.”

With that, Yang Cheng also left the meeting room.

Lin Zhongqiu watched him leave, still feeling restless and uneasy. The whole situation felt unreliable.

He immediately returned to his office and made a call to China to report the latest developments to Yang Jianguo.

“A Cheng really said that?” Over the phone, Yang Jianguo wasn’t anxious at all. Instead, he burst out laughing.

Lin Zhongqiu could hear the surprise in his boss’s voice, and the laughter was tinged with relief.

“Yes, but I feel this is very risky. A Cheng just graduated, he doesn’t know anything. I’m afraid…”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Yang Jianguo cut him off directly over the phone.

“Old Lin, you’re just too cautious.”

“Stick to the original plan. I’ll make preparations on my end as well. The worst-case scenario is losing a few years’ worth of investment over there. I don’t really think the kid can come up with any brilliant ideas.”

“Just let him have a go at it.”

In Yang Jianguo’s mind, the business in the UK was already dead.

He would just count it as letting his only son accumulate some valuable experience in bankruptcy.

That’s just business. How can you only expect to win and never lose?

As long as Yang Cheng could learn something and get some practice from this ordeal, it would be worth it.

Money lost can be earned again.

He only had one successor.

…

After returning to his office, Yang Cheng immediately got busy.

He first went through the club’s financial analysis, learning that they needed to come up with at least one million pounds to resolve their immediate crisis.

But Bayswater Chinese had already mortgaged everything they could.

No bank was willing to grant another loan to a third-tier league club.

Yang Cheng had experienced many similar situations in his past life. He had even been left in awe by the financial operations of some clubs.

He was now trying to find a way to save Bayswater Chinese from among those experiences.

After organizing the documents, he had a general understanding of the situation at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng then rummaged around the office and found a large stack of business cards.

He went through them, one by one, glancing over them quickly.

But his expression was intensely focused.

He didn’t even notice when Lin Zhongqiu paused for a moment at his open doorway.

Soon, he had selected a few cards from the pile.

Sitting back down at his desk, he began making calls one by one, using the contact information on the cards.

Most of these cards belonged to business managers from various banks or institutions.

On the phone, Yang Cheng mainly inquired about the type and scope of their business.

By the time he had called every number on the cards, the sky outside had already darkened.

Everything that had happened today felt very strange to Lin Zhongqiu.

He was, in fact, utterly astonished.

Yang Cheng was so different from his usual self.

The old Yang Cheng was polite and courteous, but he lacked resolve and had no sharp edges to his personality.

He was even somewhat timid.

But today was different.

Especially in that critical moment when he reached out and pressed down on Lin Zhongqiu’s hand.

Recalling it later, Lin Zhongqiu could faintly see a shadow of Yang Jianguo from his early entrepreneurial days.

Passing by Yang Cheng’s office several times, Lin Zhongqiu couldn’t figure out what he was so busy with.

Finally, after waiting for Yang Cheng to finish, Lin Zhongqiu knocked and entered.

“Uncle Lin, you’re just in time.”

Yang Cheng stood up from his office chair. “Help me prepare a file, from our club’s financial status to our operating conditions, and including this plot of land. Print out several copies.”

“What are you…?” Lin Zhongqiu was completely baffled.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “I chatted with a few managers from the City this afternoon. They’re all very interested in our land. I plan to meet with them tomorrow morning.”

“It’s no use, A Cheng. We’ve already mortgaged that land.”

“I know, but there’s always a way to find money,” Yang Cheng said, full of confidence.

In 2003, capital operations in European football were not yet as varied and sophisticated as they would become.

Yang Jianguo and Lin Zhongqiu, coming from China, were naturally unaware of some of the tricks of the trade here.

As long as something had value, capital would surely be interested.

Even a club on the brink of bankruptcy like Bayswater Chinese.

Besides, even if the other party wasn’t interested, Yang Cheng had a way to make them interested.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Lin. Trust me. Go and prepare the documents now,” Yang Cheng urged.

Lin Zhongqiu was thoroughly confused, but since Yang Jianguo had instructed him to let Yang Cheng take the lead this time, he could only do his best to cooperate.

What he didn’t know was that after watching him leave, Yang Cheng picked out the top card from the pile.

Elvino Asset Management Ltd.

Manager, Bankruptcy Division.

Chris Hunt.

In the City of London, teeming with giants, this company was unremarkable. But it was enough.

This man had initially approached Bayswater Chinese because he saw the potential value of the land and had hoped to help them with a bankruptcy restructuring.

After their brief, exploratory conversation, Yang Cheng felt that he would be interested in his proposal.

You want me to go bankrupt? I’ll use you as my stepping stone.

Everyone will be happy.

Chapter 3: The Rougher the Seas, the Pricier the Fish

The City of London, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold.

Within this mere 2.6 square kilometers, a vast number of banks, stock exchanges, and other financial institutions were concentrated.

Nearly one million people were employed here.

The world-famous Tower Bridge was located right here.

After decades of development, the business of the City had long since spilled over, spreading throughout its surrounding areas.

Elvino Asset Management Ltd. was situated to the west of the City, northwest of King’s College and the London School of Economics.

Accompanied by Lin Zhongqiu, Yang Cheng followed the address provided by Chris Hunt and turned into a street with a vintage English charm, lined on both sides with street-front apartments.

Some housed restaurants, while others were world-famous hotel chains.

From a distance, Yang Cheng saw a young British man in a suit, around thirty years old, waving at him from an entrance.

That was Chris Hunt.

“Hello, Chris.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yang. You’re so young.”

After Yang Cheng introduced Lin Zhongqiu to Chris Hunt, the three of them went up to the second floor.

Elvino wasn’t exactly a well-known company, and it was quite inconspicuous in the City of London.

But this was precisely what Yang Cheng wanted.

More famous firms, like Blackstone or Rothschild Investment Bank, were vast enterprises that wouldn’t even glance at Bayswater Chinese, let alone consider the possibility of a partnership.

Yang Cheng remembered that a senior from his university worked at Goldman Sachs headquarters, but he had no intention of using that connection at this time.

If he were looking to sell, they would be a good choice.

But right now, Yang Cheng wanted to find money to help the club through its difficulties.

The three sat down in a meeting room on the second floor. It wasn’t spacious, but it was very bright and overlooked the street. Someone immediately brought them hot coffee.

“Mr. Yang, you said on the phone yesterday that you were planning to sell this piece of land?”

Chris Hunt got straight to the point.

People in finance were all more or less like this—time was precious, no beating around the bush.

Yang Cheng had been observing Chris Hunt since the moment they met and had a general sense of him.

Lin Zhongqiu, however, looked over with a puzzled expression.

He still had no idea what Yang Cheng was planning.

Yang Cheng calmly picked up his coffee, took a light sip—it was a bit hot—and set it back down.

“There’s been a change of plans, Chris.”

“A change?” Chris Hunt was somewhat surprised.

“I contacted my father last night. You know, he’s very emotionally attached to our club and feels it can still be saved.”

Chris Hunt’s brow furrowed. “So…”

“I think we can try a different kind of partnership.”

The young British man grew even more curious.

“To be frank with you, we’re facing a cash flow problem. A lot of our funds are stuck in China and can’t be transferred over, which has left the club in a deep crisis.”

This wasn’t a secret.

Chris Hunt had sought them out precisely because he knew about this situation.

“What I’m hoping is that you might consider lending us a sum of money to help us get through this difficult period.”

A flash of awkward helplessness crossed Chris Hunt’s eyes, as if he had guessed this was coming.

A glimmer of hope ignited in Lin Zhongqiu.

But the next moment, it was extinguished.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Yang, but I’m responsible for handling bankruptcy cases. Credit and lending are handled by my colleagues.”

Chris Hunt had tactfully refused.

He then added, “Mr. Yang, please forgive my bluntness, but given your current circumstances, I’m afraid it would be very difficult to find any bank or institution willing to lend you money. The risk is simply too great.”

Yang Cheng turned to glance at Lin Zhongqiu, seeing the hope in his eyes shatter.

“You’re right, Chris, but there’s a saying you must have heard.”

Yang Cheng looked Chris Hunt in the eye and said, word by word, “The rougher the seas, the pricier the fish.”

At that moment, Chris Hunt finally understood completely.

Yang Cheng hadn’t come here to sell the land at all. He had come to borrow money.

“Mr. Yang, you know that even for a company like ours, we have to consider the risks when lending money.”

“I understand. That’s why my proposal will minimize your risk as much as possible.”

Seeing Yang Cheng’s confident expression as he spoke with such eloquence, Chris Hunt became interested.

He could tell Yang Cheng was very young, possessing a wildly romantic imagination, but there was no harm in listening.

Once reality brought him back down to earth, step by step, perhaps they could then discuss selling the land.

“I’d like to borrow five million pounds from you for a term of four years. After four years, I will repay you ten million pounds in a lump sum.”

“If, after four years, I am unable to repay this debt, then all the assets of Bayswater Chinese, including the plot of land, will be yours.”

“And during these four years, if I sell the club or the land ahead of schedule, you will receive an additional twenty percent share of the proceeds.”

Yang Cheng was well-prepared and laid out his entire proposal in one breath.

This time, not only Chris Hunt but also Lin Zhongqiu was stunned.

Five million pounds, four years, repayment of ten million pounds.

The interest rate was far too high!

It was practically usury!

Lin Zhongqiu immediately grew anxious, but Yang Cheng once again reached out a hand to calm him.

This was a huge gamble.

In 2024, there was a very famous case of a similar gamble involving the domestic tycoon Zhang Suning.

While managing the famous Italian club Inter Milan, Zhang Suning had used this method to borrow money from the American firm Oaktree Capital, though the interest rate was relatively lower.

But Yang Cheng had no choice. He felt that without offering such high interest now, the deal wouldn’t be tempting enough.

This was also why he had sought out Elvino.

A large firm like Blackstone wouldn’t even look at this kind of pocket change.

But for Elvino, this was definitely a substantial sum.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Zhang Suning’s gamble ultimately failed, and he lost Inter Milan to Oaktree Capital.

But Yang Cheng was very confident in himself.

Chris Hunt, sitting opposite him, was also very shrewd. The gears in his mind were turning rapidly.

In four years, five million pounds would become ten million—a twenty percent annual interest.

No matter how you calculated it, it was a gamble worth taking.

Even if Yang Cheng really couldn’t pay it back in four years, there was still Bayswater Chinese and the land, wasn’t there?

A club in the third-tier Football League Second Division could still be sold for some money.

There were also the players, facilities, and so on.

Most importantly, there was that plot of land.

If they could find a suitable buyer in the next four years and sell it at a high price, a twenty percent share, plus the interest accrued during that time…

Chris Hunt’s mind raced, and he immediately realized this deal was worth doing!

“How about it? Perhaps I should give you some time to look into it?” Yang Cheng suggested with a smile.

Chris Hunt felt a bit awkward.

He found that it was genuinely hard to refuse Yang Cheng.

But Yang Cheng was so clearly young, how could he…

…

Yang Cheng and a fidgeting Lin Zhongqiu drank coffee in the meeting room for nearly an hour.

Chris Hunt soon returned with news.

Their company was very interested in the partnership.

But some details needed to be changed.

For example, Yang Cheng had proposed five million pounds, but based on their financial audit of Bayswater Chinese and analysis of its debt situation, they were only willing to offer two million pounds.

The reason was that they also needed to control their risk.

The four-year term Yang Cheng had proposed was also shortened to two years.

After two years, Bayswater Chinese would have to repay three million pounds.

The other terms were more or less as Yang Cheng had listed.

But this was merely a letter of intent from both sides.

Next, both parties would have to bring in their financial staff and lawyers for formal negotiations before signing an official contract.

However, as Yang Cheng and the others were about to leave, Chris Hunt made a point of introducing the owner of Elvino, showing a strong interest in cooperation.

The moment they stepped out of Elvino, Lin Zhongqiu grabbed Yang Cheng.

“The interest is too high!”

Upstairs, he had held back a lot of what he wanted to say.

Now, it all came pouring out.

“Most importantly, A Cheng, where are you going to get three million pounds to repay this in two years?” Lin Zhongqiu asked, extremely distressed.

“Uncle Lin, you just wait and see!”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly, looking exceptionally confident.

Yet there was also a hint of unfathomable mystery about him.

Lin Zhongqiu was stunned.

He simply couldn’t think of a good solution.

When they had first acquired the club, they had been misled by Kesher Harris and had underestimated the difficulty of running it.

For the past two years in the Football League Second Division, they had invested a significant amount, but their ranking never improved.

Forget the Premier League, they couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the Football League First Division.

The competition was too fierce.

Being in the second division with foreign ownership meant their core fan base was small, and match-day revenue was pitifully low.

Especially now, with no players and no coach, even being able to play a match was a huge problem.

In any case, Lin Zhongqiu was at his wit’s end.

“A Cheng, if this were three years ago, I would have had a lot of confidence in you, but now…”

After a pause, Lin Zhongqiu shook his head with a苦笑, “Our best players, our coaches, they’ve all left.”

“Are we really at a point where we can’t go on?”

Yang Cheng sensed the helplessness, resentment, grief, and disappointment in Lin Zhongqiu’s words.

Over the past few years, he must have been repeatedly and mercilessly beaten down by reality.

“It’s alright, Uncle Lin. That’s all in the past.”

Yang Cheng reached out and patted Lin Zhongqiu’s shoulder, comforting this wounded middle-aged man.

“From now on, I’m here for everything!”

Lin Zhongqiu looked at Yang Cheng in astonishment.

“Trust me, Uncle Lin. Within two years, I will definitely solve our problems.”

“By then, never mind the three-million-pound debt, all our problems will be easily resolved.”

“I will create an unprecedented surprise for you!”

Lin Zhongqiu was completely dumbfounded.

He never would have imagined that Yang Cheng would make such a grandiose claim.

He didn’t know whether to praise Yang Cheng for his ambition or call him blindly confident.

But at this very moment, he clearly saw in Yang Cheng the shadow of Yang Jianguo during his entrepreneurial days.

He dared to dream, dared to fight!

“Old Lin, this is a world for adventurers!”

Lin Zhongqiu’s mind recalled the words Yang Jianguo had once said to him.

The Yang Cheng of this moment was just like the Yang Jianguo of that moment.

Full of drive, full of passion.

And also full of confidence.

But Yang Cheng was thinking of something else entirely.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had toiled as a coach for thirty years, toyed with by numerous powerhouse teams, and had never even won a single championship trophy.

Now, he had a second chance.

He would use this opportunity to make all those powerhouse teams see him in a new light!

“Uncle Lin, just you wait and see. Sooner or later, I’ll make the entire European football world—no, the entire world of football—tremble at my feet, at the feet of Bayswater Chinese!”

From Lin Zhongqiu’s perspective, behind Yang Cheng was the slowly rising sun.

It illuminated Yang Cheng, making him seem to glow.

Chapter 4: Bold Ventures Build Grand Houses!

London’s Canary Wharf, spanning twenty-two square kilometers, is not only an international financial center with towering skyscrapers and a convergence of famous enterprises but also a bustling, dazzling city that never sleeps.

Every night, as the lights blazed to life, tourists from around the world would board cruise boats and drift along the River Thames.

Besides the unique night view of The City of London, they could also admire the extravagant luxury yachts docked along the pier.

The nearly ten thousand British pounds mooring fee at Canary Wharf was enough to leave anyone speechless.

Among the many luxury yachts, The Azure was the most eye-catching.

Its black hull, paired with a three-story white superstructure, along with the multiple large tenders carried at the stern, all spoke to the yacht’s supreme luxury.

While tourists gazed in awe from the River Thames, in a cabin on the second deck of The Azure, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, holding an Israeli passport, was gesturing over a map of London on the table before him.

“I’m already preparing to purchase land in the town of Cobham in the southern suburbs, and I’m also considering buying a property on Kensington Palace Gardens…”

Abramovich pointed repeatedly at West London on the map, full of spirited ambition.

“Now, all that’s left is this plot in Bayswater.”

As he said this, Abramovich looked up, his gaze falling on the Israeli agent across from him, Pini Zahavi.

“Pini, I’m counting on you.”

Pini Zahavi’s expression stiffened for a moment before he immediately broke into a smile.

“Rest assured, that group of Chinese won’t last much longer.”

“I heard they’ve already found the money?” Abramovich said, turning toward the wine cabinet.

“Only two million pounds.”

After a pause, Pini Zahavi added, “And they paid a heavy price for it. They must repay three million pounds within two years.”

“It seems they’re quite desperate.”

“Given their current situation—no anpower, no money—selling this land and the club is just a matter of time.”

“Then you should hurry it up. It would be best if you could buy the land. If that’s not possible, then buy the entire club.”

Abramovich grabbed a priceless bottle of red wine, walked over, and poured half a glass for Pini Zahavi. He poured a smaller amount for himself and downed it in one go.

He walked back to the map and pointed at Bayswater, north of Hyde Park.

“This is prime real estate in West London. Heaven knows how that group of Chinese managed to get this land back in the day.”

Pini Zahavi gave a strained smile.

He had asked many people about it, but no one had a clue.

“This is absolutely the best-located football ground in the world. I’m going to build the world’s greatest football stadium right here.”

“Only then will it be worthy of the world’s most elite powerhouse club!”

Pini Zahavi noticed a fervent glint in Abramovich’s eyes as he spoke.

Possessiveness!

He was determined to have this land!

…

Lin Zhongqiu was anxious.

But Yang Cheng was not.

In his previous life, he had coached in European football for over thirty years, witnessing and even personally experiencing the rise and fall of many legendary teams.

The reason for their collapse could often be traced back to a single word.

Haste.

And yet, haste was the most useless of all things.

Especially now.

Building a team was not difficult; it was quite simple, in fact.

Whether you had a lot of money, a little money, or no money at all, there were always ways to play the game.

But building a competitive team was incredibly difficult.

Especially for the current Yang Cheng.

He wanted to build a team that was his own, one that could adapt to the trends of football tactics in the years to come. That was even harder.

Moreover, this team had to fit the characteristics of English football and the Premier League.

That made it harder still.

But this was exactly what Yang Cheng wanted to do.

He who aims for the best gets the good, while he who aims for the good gets the mediocre.

After many years of coaching in his previous life, Yang Cheng had come to understand this saying more and more profoundly.

Therefore, he did not intend to build his team to the standard of the third-tier Football League Second Division.

He would build this team to the standards of the Premier League—or even a top-tier Premier League club.

As a transmigrator who had coached in European football for over thirty years in his past life, Yang Cheng knew the professional players of Europe like the back of his hand.

The first person Yang Cheng thought of was, of course, the French superstar Franck Ribéry.

Ribéry was a troublesome fellow, especially his personality.

But Yang Cheng had coached him in his previous life, had a decent relationship with him, and knew a lot about his past.

The summer of 2003 was the lowest point in Franck Ribéry’s life.

After being expelled from the Lille youth academy in 2000, Ribéry returned to his hometown of Boulogne-sur-Mer and joined the fourth-division club, Boulogne.

He helped Boulogne get promoted from the fourth division in his first year, but after the owner refused his request for a raise, Ribéry joined the third-division club Alès in 2002.

Alès was willing to pay him a monthly salary of 1500 euros.

But not long after, Alès went bankrupt.

Ribéry returned to his hometown with his tail between his legs.

Because he had left on bad terms with Boulogne, the club refused to take him back, so he could only stay at home, unemployed.

During this time, he had a trial with Guingamp, but they thought he was too small and had no chance of making it.

Right now, the ‘Scarface’ who would help the French national team shine at the World Cup in Germany three years later was probably hauling bricks with his father, François, at a construction site.

But it was precisely this painful experience that would cause a seismic shift in Ribéry’s life.

As Yang Cheng set about building his team, Ribéry was the first player he thought of.

There was another person Yang Cheng valued even more, whose importance surpassed even Ribéry’s.

That person would be the kind of spiritual core that was a once-in-a-generation talent in European football for the next twenty years.

But scouting and signing him would be much more difficult.

Yang Cheng needed to plan it out carefully.

…

After returning from the Elvino Corporation, Lin Zhongqiu immediately called China to report on his work.

Being naturally cautious, he also truthfully conveyed Yang Cheng’s transformation and his own personal worries.

But to his surprise, when Yang Jianguo heard that Yang Cheng had taken out a loan with usurious rates, he wasn’t furious at all. Instead, he clapped his hands and praised his son’s ability to “find money.”

In Yang Jianguo’s words, being able to secure funds was a skill in itself.

As for how to repay it?

That was a problem for two years down the road.

However, unable to ignore Lin Zhongqiu’s anxiety, Yang Jianguo still called Yang Cheng to get the details.

Before he could even ask, Yang Cheng spoke first, inquiring about the business back home.

Facing his only son, Yang Jianguo didn’t hold anything back.

Compared to the dire situation in London, things back home were much better; the foundation of the business was secure.

“I’ve looked into it a bit. In the years since the new millennium, it seems like we’ve been developing fast, but we actually have quite a few problems, especially with brand building.”

The moment Yang Cheng finished speaking, Yang Jianguo was clearly surprised on the other end of the line.

He never expected that his son, who usually seemed timid and indecisive, could offer such an insight.

“We’re being suppressed by a few big foreign brands. We can’t break into the high-end market,” Yang Jianguo sighed helplessly.

This was a common bottleneck for domestic brands.

“Then acquire them.”

“Acquire them?” Yang Jianguo was taken aback.

“That’s right. Acquire those famous foreign brands that are poorly managed.”

“We’ve actually had that thought.”

This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment idea; a leading domestic brand had done just that in 2002.

“Our previous spokespeople were all from table tennis and basketball. I think we can consider looking into track and field.”

“Track and field?”

Yang Cheng’s suggestion stunned his ‘cheap’ old dad once again.

After all, China’s track and field had always been a weak point.

Basketball at least had the giant Yao Ming, but who was there in track and field?

“2008 is the home Olympics. It’s a god-given opportunity. Our domestic track and field has also made great progress in recent years. I heard that many industry insiders are very optimistic about the 110-meter hurdler, Liu Xiang. They believe he’ll make a huge splash at next year’s Athens Olympics.”

“Liu Xiang?” Yang Jianguo had obviously never heard of him.

“In 2002, Nike was very high on him, but they only gave him an endorsement deal of five hundred thousand a year. We have to find a way to snatch him!”

“Snatch a Nike spokesperson?” Yang Jianguo was dumbfounded.

He had always thought himself a risk-taker, but he never imagined his precious son was even bolder.

“It’s worth it. No price is too high!”

Yang Cheng spoke each word deliberately, his voice firm and forceful. “As long as he gets a good result in the 110-meter hurdles at next year’s Olympics, the entire nation will go wild!”

“That’s a track and field event with real prestige!”

On the other end of the line, Yang Jianguo was utterly shocked.

Yang Cheng had given him far too many surprises during this phone call, each one bigger than the last.

He had originally called to check up on Yang Cheng’s work.

Why did it now feel like he was a subordinate seeking direction from his superior?

If not for everything that had happened recently, Yang Jianguo truly wouldn’t have believed what Yang Cheng was saying.

But now, he was tempted.

Just as he made a decision in his heart and was about to try and regain some face as a father, Yang Cheng threw him another massive curveball.

“In the next few years, brand building is one aspect, but investing in R&D and innovative design is also crucial.”

“And besides sticking to our main business, we must also increase our investment in real estate.”

“Real estate?” Yang Jianguo was already numb.

In the second-tier coastal city where the Yang family lived, the real estate market was lackluster.

The reason they had gotten into property development was largely due to local government investment initiatives.

The problem was, housing prices were already over three thousand per square meter. Was it wise to enter the market now?

“Trust me. Venture boldly, and a grand villa awaits!” Yang Cheng encouraged with great persuasiveness, even letting a phrase from his hometown dialect slip out.

You think these housing prices are high now?

Look back in five years, ten years, or even twenty years. Will they still seem high?

The main reason Yang Cheng revealed so much information and planned so far ahead for his ‘cheap’ dad was simple.

He hoped his father would focus on staying in China and not get involved in the club’s affairs.

“From now on, you concentrate on developing the business back home. Get into real estate, make big money, and be my strongest backer.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll stay in the UK to clean up the mess you guys left behind, manage the Bayswater Chinese well, and build a great reputation for us!”

This was also part of Yang Jianguo’s original plan.

If he had such a club as a flagship in the UK, or even in the Premier League, his business back home would flourish even more.

“Are you confident?”

“I know what Uncle Lin is worried about.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly and said in an exceedingly confident and composed tone, “Repaying three million pounds in two years… I’ve never thought of that as a problem.”

Before Yang Jianguo could ask, Yang Cheng revealed the answer himself.

“As long as we can get promoted to the Premier League within two years, will three million pounds still be an issue?”

“Get promoted to the Premier League within two years?” Yang Jianguo gasped.

Just a moment ago, Yang Cheng’s series of plans had only surprised him.

But now, he was genuinely frightened.

After running the club for several years, he knew very well how difficult it was to build a Premier League team.

The task a group of them had toiled at for years without success, Yang Cheng thought he could accomplish in two years?

Was that even possible?

“You just wait and see. Promotion to the Premier League in two years is just the beginning!”

“In the next few years, I will turn the Bayswater Chinese into one of the top powerhouse clubs in Europe, and even the world, and make all other teams tremble at our feet!”

Even across the entire Eurasian continent and over the phone, Yang Jianguo could easily feel the sharp edge in his son’s words and the intense, undeniable self-confidence.

Any other father, one more honest and conservative, would surely have been worried.

But not Yang Jianguo.

Because in his generation, anyone who managed to carve out a name for themselves was a daredevil who feared nothing.

Fortune favors the bold, while the timid starve.

So, not only did he see nothing wrong with Yang Cheng’s words and ambitions, he was actually incredibly happy.

He had a worthy successor!

“Alright. Dad supports you unconditionally!”

The matter was settled.

Chapter 5: I’ll Just Buy the Cheapest One!

Due to various reasons, including the recent wars, there were still no direct flights from London to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

Yang Cheng had to take a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and then transfer to Zagreb.

As a dual-use military and civilian airport, Zagreb’s Pleso Airport had only one small terminal building with very basic facilities.

This alone was a clear sign that Zagreb had not yet fully emerged from the shadow of war.

After exchanging some Croatian Kuna at the airport for daily expenses, Yang Cheng hailed a taxi to Ilica Street in the center of Zagreb.

It was said to be the most prosperous street in the city.

But it was still quite disappointing.

This country, which had escaped the ravages of war only a few years ago, clearly hadn’t had time to develop its economy.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng wasn’t here on vacation.

The day after arriving in Zagreb, Yang Cheng went to visit Dinamo Zagreb.

He was received by the chairman of Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamić.

The 44-year-old Mamić was Croatia’s most outstanding football agent and was quite famous in European football circles.

He had been a member of Dinamo Zagreb’s board for a long time and also ran a football academy.

This academy had gathered the most talented young football players from all over Croatia, bringing them to Zagreb for training and development.

Once they reached a certain age, the most outstanding children were selected to join Dinamo Zagreb.

At first, Mamić was somewhat dismissive of this young man from China, Yang Cheng, and even tried to trick him.

But who was Yang Cheng?

In his past life, he had dealt with not just small fries like Mamić, but even top agents like Raiola and Mendes.

After a few exchanges, Yang Cheng had Mamić looking at him in a new light, not daring to be arrogant.

Mamić even took the initiative to get closer.

“My brother, Zoran Mamić, plays for Greuther Fürth in the German second division as a center-back. He told me he has a Chinese striker on his team who is very good.”

Yang Cheng nodded noncommittally.

He knew who he was talking about.

Just recently, Mamić had taken over as chairman of the board at Dinamo Zagreb.

His first decision after taking office was to form a B-team.

This was a project Mamić valued highly.

The head of youth development, Ilija Lončarević, explained that the B-team was composed of young players aged 16 to 18, all of whom were the most talented players from the football academy, Dinamo Zagreb, and indeed all of Croatia.

The head coach was Romeo Jozak, who had a modest reputation within Croatia.

Yang Cheng didn’t know him, but he remembered the name.

Romeo Jozak would later become the head coach of the Kuwait national team.

Dinamo Zagreb’s training grounds and facilities weren’t the best, but they were complete and professional.

This was likely the main reason they could attract so many of the nation’s talented youth.

Yang Cheng watched with feigned indifference, but he was paying close attention.

Just as Lončarević had said, Dinamo Zagreb’s B-team was indeed teeming with talent.

For example, a left-back named Glovacki Kale was incredibly strong.

There was also Marko Šindrić, who played on the right wing, was extremely fast, and had a powerful attacking presence.

Then there was Vedran Ćorluka, a player who would become familiar to many fans in the coming years, having played for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. He could play as a center-back or in midfield, was tall and strong, and had solid technique.

On the pitch, against players his own age, he was truly dominant and a sight to behold.

“This player will be a star in the future!” Yang Cheng “couldn’t help” but praise.

Both Mamić and Lončarević deeply agreed, nodding repeatedly with considerable pride.

Yang Cheng didn’t find his target on the training ground.

But he didn’t ask.

The European football transfer market has never had a fixed price standard; the price often depends on the negotiations between the two parties.

It was a very complex game.

Yang Cheng tentatively inquired about the prices for players like Ćorluka, Šindrić, and Kale.

The result was just as he expected.

Facing a buyer from England, Mamić was ruthless in his pricing.

He even quoted a sky-high price of 15 million Croatian Kuna for Ćorluka, the team’s most talented player.

At the current exchange rate between the Croatian Kuna and the Euro, that was nearly two million euros.

Yang Cheng smiled wryly to himself but kept his composure.

It wasn’t just the two or three players whose talent was obvious to the naked eye; even slightly less prominent players like Šarić, Gravina, Kardum, and Mikulić were priced in the hundreds of thousands, or even close to a million euros.

Yang Cheng deliberately showed a troubled expression, saying he needed to communicate with his people back in London.

Mamić and the others naturally had no objection.

…

At noon, Mamić treated Yang Cheng to a meal at a restaurant called Kolovom.

In the afternoon, they strolled around Zagreb, taking in the sights of the Croatian capital.

The next morning, Yang Cheng returned to the training ground.

This time, Mamić did not appear.

Evidently, he had realized that Yang Cheng was not the “fat sheep” of a buyer he had hoped for.

On the contrary, this English third-division club was not flush with cash.

Receiving him this time was the club’s CEO, Damir Vrbanović.

He had another, more impressive credential: he was a member of the UEFA Executive Committee.

The title looked impressive but wasn’t actually of much use.

Besides, he had only taken office in 2002, so he was quite new.

But during their conversation, Yang Cheng deliberately catered to Vrbanović’s status, discussing various matters in European football, which repeatedly surprised the Croatian.

For instance, when talking about the UEFA Vice-President and Spanish Football Federation President, Villar, Yang Cheng was able to state his exact home address in Madrid and details about the neighborhood off the top of his head.

All this was thanks to Yang Cheng’s experience and knowledge from his past life.

And when it came to some of UEFA’s inside rumors, Yang Cheng spoke with casual authority.

For example, he warned Vrbanović to pay attention to the Frenchman, Michel Platini.

“As early as March of last year, he was already on the FIFA Executive Committee, and at the same time, he joined the UEFA Executive Committee as the vice-president of the French Football Federation. What do you think…?”

Yang Cheng’s deliberately mysterious and profound manner instantly made Vrbanović’s eyes light up.

After making the connection, the way he looked at Yang Cheng changed.

He became much more enthusiastic.

There were a few more people at today’s training session, but they were clearly not regulars.

During the practice match, they were all given substitute bibs.

This time, Yang Cheng finally found the target of his trip.

Luka Modrić.

Luka Modrić, who wouldn’t turn 18 until September, was the shortest and skinniest of them all.

Especially when standing next to tall, powerful guys like Ćorluka, he really looked like a small fry.

And as it turned out, his status on the team was indeed that of a small fry.

“Luka’s technique is really good. Look at his first touch and ball control, it’s really impressive.”

Vrbanović enthusiastically introduced him to Yang Cheng.

“But he’s too short, too skinny, and his physical game is terrible.”

“Other short players, like Marko Šindrić, he’s only 1.8 meters tall, but he’s very fast, which makes him more effective on the pitch.”

“Luka Modrić, on the other hand, has neither the physicality nor the speed of a smaller player. We’ve tried him in many different positions, but he has never performed well.”

Vrbanović also revealed that Modrić had the worst contract and lowest status on the team, both at Mamić’s academy and on the Dinamo Zagreb B-team.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised by this.

He had heard about these things from Modrić himself in his past life.

Many fans enjoy reading autobiographies of football stars.

But they often don’t realize that those autobiographies are usually written after the player becomes famous, for the media and the fans to read.

The content inside is not just embellished; fabrication is commonplace.

In his autobiography, Modrić described the careful cultivation he received at Dinamo Zagreb, how much Mamić valued him, and so on. Upon closer analysis, it didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Later, Modrić once told Yang Cheng that his early experiences at Dinamo Zagreb were terrible.

He had the lowest salary, the lowest status in the team, and Mamić didn’t value him at all.

Why?

Because everyone around him was stronger.

So, when the team needed to loan a few players to Zrinjski in the Bosnian Premier League, Dinamo Zagreb sent Modrić, the most overlooked player on the B-team.

During that time, Modrić and his family were in great distress.

Because the Bosnian Premier League was known for its intense physical play.

For the short and frail Modrić, it was a very difficult choice indeed.

After succeeding at Zrinjski, Dinamo Zagreb loaned him out again to Inter Zaprešić in the same country.

Of course, Modrić made it.

So, in his autobiography, his two loan spells were glorified as the club’s targeted, key cultivation of his talent.

How else could he have put it?

But Yang Cheng knew that in the minds of everyone at Dinamo Zagreb at this moment, Modrić was just a young player who was stuck in the middle, with obvious strengths and weaknesses and an uncertain professional future.

…

With a clear picture in his mind, Yang Cheng didn’t linger on Modrić but changed the subject.

After a “very pleasant chat” with Vrbanović, he took the initiative to reveal the difficulties of his trip.

A rich kid, eager to prove himself to his elders, had come to Croatia to scout football talent on a limited budget.

Yang Cheng first haggled with Vrbanović over Ćorluka for a long time, but the price never came down.

He then moved on to several other players but still failed to reach an agreement.

“No way, Yang. Kale is one of the most talented players in our youth team. Even though he’s a defender, his price can’t possibly be less than 5 million Kuna.”

5 million Kuna was equivalent to just over 600,000 euros.

But Yang Cheng still wore a conflicted expression.

“That’s still over my budget.”

After speaking, Yang Cheng let out another long sigh and looked at Vrbanović with a frustrated face.

“Does this mean, Damir, my friend, that we’re just not fated to work together?”

Vrbanović had benefited greatly from his conversation with Yang Cheng, learning many secrets of European football, and he greatly admired Yang Cheng.

He felt a sense of having met a kindred spirit.

Hearing him say this now, he did feel a bit of regret.

“Why don’t you look at some other players?” Vrbanović suggested.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “I’m only interested in these few players. We don’t want players who are too poor.”

“Then I’m really out of ideas,” Vrbanović said, unable to help.

Although he was the club’s CEO and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, the real power within the team was basically in Mamić’s hands.

With Mamić’s personality, he would never sell young players on the cheap.

These were all precious assets!

Yang Cheng looked at Vrbanović, thought for a moment, and clicked his tongue twice.

“Forget it. What’s the point if we’re good friends?”

“How about this? The cheapest one you have here is that kid named Luka Modrić, right?”

“Yes, he’s probably the one with the least potential.”

“It’s a rare trip for me, and I can’t go back empty-handed. Give me a friendship price, and I’ll take him off your hands. We can consider it a token of our new friendship. What do you think?”

Chapter 6: Come to London With Me!

Now that Yang Cheng had laid his cards on the table, it would be difficult for Vrbancic to refuse unless he had no intention of building a relationship with him.

And throughout their conversations, Yang Cheng had struck him as remarkably mature.

He was exceptionally knowledgeable about the European football scene, especially its influential figures.

So, without hesitation, Vrbancic agreed on the spot.

After a phone call with Mamić, Vrbancic announced that Yang Cheng could take Luka Modrić with him. The transfer fee was also quite a bargain.

Two and a half million kuna.

That was roughly three hundred fifty thousand euros, or three and a half million yuan.

Converted to pounds sterling, that was just two hundred thirty thousand pounds.

Such was the advantage of currency exchange rates.

Within Croatia, two and a half million kuna for an unheralded young prospect like Modrić was considered a solid price.

But converted into euros or pounds, it was an undeniable bargain.

But this raised another issue: how could Modrić play football in England?

Mamić, having a background as an agent, naturally knew the procedures and would do his best to cooperate.

The only complication was that while Bayswater Chinese was in the Football League Second Division, signing a foreign player still required a work permit.

Croatia was not an EU member state, and Modrić had never played for the national team, making him ineligible for a work permit.

But when Mamić raised this point, Yang Cheng gave a mysterious smile.

“Don’t worry, I have a way to sort out the work permit,” he said. “When the time comes, I’ll just need Damir to help me out with a small favor.”

Mamić and Vrbancic were both quite surprised.

Yang Cheng had only been in town for two days. This particular deal was minor, more like a tentative first step to test the waters.

Yet, Yang Cheng’s every move left them with an impression of him being inscrutable and profound.

Perhaps, after this transfer was complete, the real big deals would follow!

Thus, both Mamić and Vrbancic immediately promised their full cooperation.

Yang Cheng didn’t elaborate.

This was something he had learned from dealing with agents in his past life.

Always, always maintain the upper hand!

Otherwise, those vampires would pick you clean, leaving not even the bones behind.

…

After reaching an agreement with Dinamo Zagreb, Yang Cheng made time to meet with Modrić.

If it hadn’t been entirely clear from the sidelines of the training pitch, seeing Modrić up close now—scrawny and looking almost malnourished—made Yang Cheng understand why Dinamo Zagreb wasn’t optimistic about his future.

He was just too thin!

Of course, this lack of faith in him was relative.

After all, Modrić was a player for the national youth teams at various age levels.

But he was never a starter.

This was a common problem Modrić faced throughout the early stages of his career.

How exactly was he meant to be played?

His technique was genuinely outstanding, and his first touch and ball control were remarkably steady. However, he lacked speed, and his ability to take on players was average.

Stick a player like that on the wing, and his attacking threat would be laughably poor.

What about in the middle?

As a traditional number 10, how could he possibly succeed? He was too short, too slight, and too weak in physical battles.

The traditional number 10 players fans raved about were either powerfully built giants like Zidane and Gullit, who also possessed exquisite technique…

…or they were like Maradona, Aimar, and Platini—smaller in stature but agile, quick, technically brilliant, and individually gifted beyond compare.

Modrić was clearly neither.

And that wasn’t just the case now.

Years later, even after Modrić had made a name for himself at the European Championship and proven his mettle in the Premier League, he still faced similar questions upon his arrival at Real Madrid in La Liga.

But Yang Cheng knew how to use him!

In his past life, after taking charge of Real Madrid, the very first player he signed was Modrić, building his entire midfield around the Croatian.

Although Yang Cheng ultimately failed to win a championship with Real Madrid, the framework and squad he assembled became the core foundation for the team that would later topple Barça’s Dream Team Three and win three consecutive Champions League trophies.

Even years after Yang Cheng left Real Madrid, he and Modrić still kept in touch by phone.

So, he knew exactly how to convince the young Croatian.

“I’m sure you have a clear enough understanding of your current situation.”

“Listen, Luka. Right now, there are two paths in front of you.”

“First, you can settle for the status quo. Stay in Zagreb, keep languishing in the second team. But I’m sure you know what that means.”

“Second, you can be brave, take a risk, and embrace a brand-new challenge.”

Modrić had always been a smart kid, a deep thinker who always knew exactly what he wanted.

That was a rare quality.

That’s why Yang Cheng didn’t try to deceive him; he spoke frankly.

“If you choose to take a risk, you could go to the Bosnian Premier League, but it would have to be on loan. The upside is you have friends there.”

“The other option is to come to England.”

“We may only be in the Football League Second Division right now, but it’s still a step up from the Bosnian Premier League.”

“More importantly, our goal is to break into the Premier League within two years. And by then…”

As he said this, Yang Cheng’s gaze was fixed intently on Modrić’s youthful face.

“By then, Luka, my friend, you’ll still only be twenty years old, but you will be an established Premier League starter!”

As Modrić heard Yang Cheng’s final words, his eyes visibly lit up.

At this time, the Premier League was only considered the third-best league in Europe.

But for a Croatian teenager, it was one of the highest stages imaginable.

Not to mention, reaching the Premier League would mean a call-up to the national team, a lucrative contract, and a life-changing transformation for his parents and two younger sisters.

Wasn’t that why he played football in the first place?

Modrić was clearly tempted.

But the young Croatian quickly composed himself, studying Yang Cheng with a mature gaze that belied his years.

“Sir, you probably don’t know this, but after primary school, I enrolled in a vocational school for tourism management and hospitality. I was an intern waiter at a seaside restaurant in Zadar. Everyone said I was very good at pouring wine.”

Yang Cheng listened intently.

“After coming to Zagreb, I continued my studies in hotel service management at night school.”

“But I’ve never told anyone that I really, really, really hate washing dishes. I don’t like pouring wine, and I especially don’t like bowing and scraping for hotel guests.”

“But I had no choice!”

“I needed to reassure my parents, so they would believe that even if I couldn’t make it in football, I could still find a job to support myself and take care of them.”

Here, Modrić abruptly looked up, his eyes locked onto Yang Cheng’s.

“But, sir, only I know the truth. All I have left is football. I have to make a name for myself on the pitch. I have no other choice. Do you understand?”

Yang Cheng was momentarily taken aback, but then he nodded.

This was the Modrić he knew.

The tough, resilient, never-say-die heart of the midfield!

“I understand, Luka. Come to London with me!”

Yang Cheng extended the invitation once more.

“I promise you, one day you will be incredibly proud of the decision you’ve made today!”

…

According to Modrić, his parents had long ago entrusted him—not even eighteen yet—with the power to make his own decisions.

He didn’t even need to call his parents to ask about the transfer.

After Yang Cheng discussed the upcoming season’s tactics and his envisioned role in extensive, in-depth detail, the Croatian agreed almost without hesitation.

What about English football being known for its high-intensity, physical style?

Without a moment’s hesitation, Modrić told Yang Cheng, “I will adapt. I promise!”

Even so, there was still a lot of paperwork to handle.

After all, it was an international transfer that also involved a work permit.

After spending three days in Zagreb, Yang Cheng departed for Frankfurt, Germany.

Croatia’s neighbor, Slovenia, also had several excellent young players who were just as much of a bargain.

Unfortunately, the UK’s work permit restrictions made it impossible for Yang Cheng to sign them all in one summer.

Fortunately, if his memory served him right, Slovenia was set to officially join the European Union in 2004. At that point, Slovenian players would no longer be classified as foreign players.

Upon arriving in Frankfurt, Yang Cheng didn’t take a connecting flight to London. Instead, he boarded a flight south to Bordeaux, France.

From Bordeaux, he drove northeast for one hundred kilometers to Limoges.

At Limoges Football Club, in the southeastern suburbs of the city, he found a hesitant and lost right-back.

Laurent Koscielny.

Koscielny, who was about to turn eighteen, had a great-grandfather from Poland, but he himself was born in Tulle, in south-central France.

He began training at the Tulle youth academy at the age of eight, and at ten, he moved to the academy of Brive in the neighboring city of Brive-la-Gaillarde.

At twelve, he briefly returned to train at Tulle, but otherwise spent most of his time at Brive.

Until last year.

Both Tulle and Brive were low-level amateur teams.

So, in 2002, when the team from Limoges, the largest city in the region, extended an olive branch, the ambitious young player was persuaded by Limoges’s goal of getting promoted to the third tier of French football.

But he never expected that after joining Limoges, the promised prominent role never materialized. Instead, the club fell into a deep debt crisis and declared bankruptcy.

It wasn’t just the first-team players; even young prospects like Koscielny had to find their own way out.

With no outstanding performances to his name and stuck in the bottom rungs of the amateur leagues, Koscielny deeply regretted his decision from a year ago.

It was under these circumstances that Yang Cheng found Koscielny and presented him with a professional contract.

The wages weren’t high, but it was the first time in his life that a club had ever offered Koscielny a professional contract.

The few other clubs that had shown interest, including Guingamp of the French second division far off in the northwest, had merely invited him to continue his development in their youth academy.

After much consideration, especially after discussing it with his family and agent, Koscielny was convinced by Yang Cheng. He decided to sign the contract and try his luck in England.

Because Limoges was bankrupt and owed its players wages and stipends, the club placed no obstacles in the way of the transfer. Instead, they gave it the green light, allowing Koscielny to join Bayswater Chinese on a free transfer.

After signing Koscielny in Limoges, Yang Cheng immediately headed north again, traveling to Boulogne, a coastal city northwest of Paris, just across the English Channel from England.

Chapter 7: Poaching

Yang Cheng never would have imagined that his first meeting with Ribéry would be like this.

The man who would become the fearsome Scarface of the World Cup in three years’ time was currently covered head to toe in dust.

Wearing a safety helmet, he hoisted a heavy impact drill, demolishing a crumbling, dilapidated wall before him as if venting his frustrations.

When Ribéry turned to look over, he looked a bit like Stallone wielding a machine gun in First Blood.

Yang Cheng waited a full twenty minutes before he saw a cleaned-up Ribéry.

The scar on his face was as ferocious as ever.

He lacked the high-spirited confidence Yang Cheng remembered from his previous life, replaced instead by a profound sense of dejection.

Recently, both football and life had dealt him a heavy blow.

Often, the choices you make are more important than how hard you work.

This was true for Ribéry, and it was true for Koscielny.

The entire conversation went exceptionally smoothly.

It was less a negotiation and more of a one-sided invitation from Yang Cheng.

As for Ribéry, he was at a point where he would go to any club willing to take him and pay him a salary.

Regarding his desired wages, the scar-faced man made a very practical “request.”

Two hundred and fifty euros.

Per month.

This was considered quite low even in the Football League Second Division.

Yang Cheng agreed.

In his mind, as long as Ribéry trained and played hard, the club would evaluate his performance each season and raise his salary accordingly.

But there was no need to mention any of that now.

Everything would be given once Ribéry had earned it.

It was a tool of management.

…

While Yang Cheng was busy traveling between Croatia and France, Lin Zhongqiu, back in London, continued to handle the loan from Elvino Corporation.

Once the paperwork was complete and the money arrived, aside from immediately repaying the debts that were due, Lin Zhongqiu also acted on Yang Cheng’s instructions and made frequent moves in the transfer market.

Just as Yang Cheng had said before, there were ways to play the game even without money.

Bayswater Chinese’s first priority in recruitment was the free agents on the transfer market.

And Yang Cheng’s first consideration was the four teams that had been relegated last season.

Cheltenham Town, Huddersfield Town, Mansfield Town, and Northampton Town.

A crucial reason for targeting relegated teams was that many clubs included so-called relegation clauses in their players’ contracts.

For teams in the lower leagues, relegation essentially meant falling apart.

For example, Cheltenham’s winger Martin Devaney.

The twenty-three-year-old Devaney was of Irish descent, proficient with both feet, very fast, and skilled on both flanks.

Bayswater Chinese managed to sign him without even having to pay a transfer fee.

Twenty-one-year-old Lee Williamson, who held dual Jamaican and English citizenship, was skilled in central and right midfield.

Due to Mansfield’s relegation, his transfer fee was as low as twenty-five thousand pound sterling, thanks to his relegation clause.

Seventeen-year-old Alex Baptiste, a product of the Mansfield youth academy, was a versatile player who could fill any position on the back line.

After receiving an invitation from Bayswater Chinese, he rejected Mansfield’s professional contract and joined them instead.

Twenty-year-old English tall center-forward Jon Stead, a product of the Huddersfield youth academy, was a young striker Yang Cheng rated highly, possessing the characteristics of a typical English center-forward.

He stood 1.91 meters tall, was big and strong, had good technique, could get on the end of crosses, could shoot, and had some ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and create plays.

In the previous season in the Football League Second Division, Stead had already established himself in Huddersfield’s first team, making forty-two appearances for a total of 2,568 minutes and scoring six goals.

For a twenty-year-old, that wasn’t bad at all.

The reason Yang Cheng remembered him was because in his past life, in 2004, Stead had been relegated with Huddersfield and performed brilliantly in the fourth-tier league, earning a call-up to the England national youth team.

Subsequently, Blackburn Rovers signed the homegrown center-forward for a hefty price of two million pound sterling.

Unfortunately, Stead’s subsequent development didn’t meet expectations.

At Yang Cheng’s instruction, Lin Zhongqiu negotiated with Huddersfield Town and persuaded Jon Stead.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese signed the young Football League Second Division center-forward for two hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling.

Due to the club’s limited funds and budget, the fee would be paid in two installments, with the second payment of one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling due in the summer of 2004.

Besides Stead, Bayswater Chinese also poached a nineteen-year-old youngster, Andy Holdsworth, from the Huddersfield academy.

Although the player was a right-winger, Yang Cheng felt he was better suited to developing in central midfield.

Bayswater Chinese also signed seventeen-year-old center-back Luke Chambers from the Northampton Town youth academy on a free transfer. He could play both center-back and right-back.

On the transfer market, Yang Cheng also signed Northern Irish left-back Tony Capaldi on a free transfer from Birmingham City.

The twenty-two-year-old Capaldi was a product of the Birmingham youth academy but had never been given much of a chance. Aside from being loaned out, there was no place for him on the team, so he refused to renew his contract when it expired this year.

Several Football League Second Division teams, including Plymouth Argyle, were interested in this gem from a top club’s academy.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese got to him first.

Besides Yang Cheng personally persuading Tony Capaldi after returning from France, another important reason was that, being in a lower league, Bayswater Chinese’s financial crisis hadn’t attracted much outside attention.

Or rather, Yang Cheng had acted in time to resolve it before it became public.

This led to outsiders still having a decent impression of Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, it was seen as foreign-owned and ambitious.

Another free transfer was Irish midfielder Martin Rowlands from Brentford.

The twenty-four-year-old Rowlands played in the center of the park and was Brentford’s midfield playmaker, possessing excellent technique, especially his passing.

After joining Brentford for sixty thousand pound sterling in 1998, he had been brilliant in his first two seasons.

But in the last two seasons, due to injuries and inconsistent form, Rowlands had gradually lost his starting spot.

This summer, with his contract at Brentford expired, he chose to become a free agent.

As a born-and-bred Londoner, Rowlands was more inclined to join a London-based club.

Both Queens Park Rangers and Bayswater Chinese extended offers, but ultimately it was Yang Cheng who stepped in and persuaded Martin Rowlands.

As part of the deal, Bayswater Chinese offered Martin Rowlands the club’s top salary.

Four thousand pound sterling per month.

Aside from Martin Rowlands and Stead, the veteran Welsh player Steve Jenkins was also on the club’s top salary.

The thirty-one-year-old Jenkins played at right-back for Huddersfield Town.

After the team’s relegation, the club chose to terminate his contract, allowing him to leave on a free transfer.

A product of the Swansea City youth academy, Jenkins was no longer young, but he had a wealth of defensive experience and a superb right-footed cross.

This was what Yang Cheng valued most.

The newly assembled team had many young players, and having an experienced veteran like Jenkins to lead them would give Yang Cheng more peace of mind.

But considering Jenkins’ age, Yang Cheng also signed eighteen-year-old Irish right-back Kevin Foley from the youth academy of Luton Town, a team that had narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League Second Division.

This deal cost Bayswater Chinese one hundred thousand pound sterling.

For the center-back position, Yang Cheng also signed twenty-year-old Roger Johnson from another relegation-surviving team, Wycombe Wanderers, for one hundred thousand pound sterling.

The tall and sturdy homegrown center-back had been a starter for Wycombe last season and had performed well.

Yang Cheng then spent one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling to sign English forward Rickie Lambert from Stockport County of the Football League Second Division.

The twenty-one-year-old Lambert had not had an ideal season at Stockport, scoring only two goals in thirty-two appearances, which made manager Carlton Palmer completely lose faith in him.

Thus, Rickie Lambert, who had joined for four hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling in 2002, was sold to the Chinese-owned club by Stockport for one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling.

Shrewsbury Town, mired in the fifth-tier league, also couldn’t escape being poached by Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng personally traveled north, and in addition to convincing Stockport and Rickie Lambert, he also signed sixteen-year-old homegrown goalkeeper Joe Hart from Shrewsbury.

This transfer cost Bayswater Chinese fifty thousand pound sterling.

A key reason it was so cheap was that Joe Hart had yet to make a single first-team appearance.

But according to England’s youth development rules, if Bayswater Chinese were to sell Joe Hart in the future, Shrewsbury Town would receive a substantial youth development fee.

Traveling south from northern England, Yang Cheng arrived at Derby County.

Even before Yang Cheng had left for Croatia and France, Lin Zhongqiu had already been in contact with Derby County, but they had repeatedly refused Bayswater Chinese’s inquiries about their young midfielder, Tom Huddlestone.

Huddlestone, who was with the England U17 squad at the European Youth Championship in Portugal, had also conveyed through his agent that he refused to join a Football League Second Division team.

His reasoning was perfectly sound.

Derby County was a team in the second-tier Football League First Division, and Huddlestone was an England U17 international. Why would he go play for Bayswater Chinese in the third tier?

After the England U17 team finished fourth in the European Youth Championship and returned to England, Yang Cheng once again went to Derby County.

He first met with Derby’s senior management, then arranged a meeting with Huddlestone, as well as the player’s parents and agent.

Yang Cheng was very optimistic about this homegrown English midfielder.

His tactical system greatly needed a player like Huddlestone in midfield.

During the meeting, Yang Cheng detailed Huddlestone’s current situation.

He wasn’t a starter for England U17, nor was he a starter at Derby County.

Rather than staying at Derby, it would be better to come to Bayswater Chinese.

“I am willing to give you a starting position in midfield!” Yang Cheng promised solemnly.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng stated that Bayswater Chinese’s goal for the season was promotion. But what about Derby County?

For the past two seasons, they had been fighting intense relegation battles.

Who could guarantee they would successfully avoid relegation this season?

Yang Cheng also approached the discussion from the perspective of the player’s technical attributes, explaining his tactical plans for Huddlestone and the role he would play at Bayswater Chinese.

This came as a great surprise to Huddlestone and the others.

They had always assumed Yang Cheng was just the club’s owner.

They hadn’t expected him to have such a profound understanding of tactics.

But even so, after a long and detailed discussion, Huddlestone and his party were still not convinced by Yang Cheng. They politely stated that they needed more time to consider.

Clearly, they still needed to communicate with Derby County.

Yang Cheng understood.

They wanted to see what kind of “sincere offer” Derby County would make.

Yang Cheng naturally had no objections.

He himself was keeping his options open, preparing for multiple scenarios.

If he couldn’t sign Huddlestone, he would turn to a midfielder from the Danish league club AGF Aarhus, Leon Andreasen.

The twenty-year-old Andreasen was a player for the Danish national youth team and could play in both midfield and at center-back.

Many fans might not be familiar with him, but he was a real beast of a player.

A few years later, when the future renowned German manager Klopp was just starting his career at Mainz, Andreasen, on loan from Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, was instrumental to his early success.

When the season ended, Mainz failed to sign Andreasen as Klopp had wished.

As a result, in the following season, Mainz was disastrously relegated.

Yang Cheng’s target price for Andreasen was around one million to one point two million euros.

Huddlestone, being a homegrown player, had that advantage, so Yang Cheng’s offer was for one million pound sterling, which was about one point five million euros.

But it would need to be paid in installments.

As for the outcome, Yang Cheng would wait and see.

Chapter 8: The Special Talent Clause

Although it was a third-tier league and the pressure in the transfer market wasn’t intense, Yang Cheng’s time was still incredibly precious.

Having just taken over the team, he had far too much to deal with.

After returning to London, he temporarily put the matter of Huddlestone to the back of his mind.

The transfer process between Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb and Bayswater Chinese had already been completed. The next step was for each club to submit the paperwork to their respective national football associations and to FIFA.

This was the hassle of international transfers.

But, as expected, Bayswater Chinese’s application for Modrić’s work permit was rejected.

The reason was simple: Modrić did not meet the eligibility criteria for a work permit.

This was all within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

So, he began preparations to apply under the “Special Talent Clause.”

The issuance of work permits wasn’t actually controlled by the English FA, but by the UK Home Office.

Anyone from a non-European Union country who wanted to work in the United Kingdom had to apply for a work permit.

Each industry had its own set of restrictions.

This was one way countries protected domestic employment.

But there were exceptions.

For instance, the UK Home Office had long maintained a so-called “Elite Policy” regarding work permits.

As the name suggested, this was a special channel created specifically for elite talent from around the world.

In 1999, a major debate had erupted in England over the excessive number of foreign players, which was severely limiting opportunities for local talent.

The catalyst, familiar to many football fans, was when Chelsea fielded a starting eleven composed entirely of foreign players.

Following this, the UK further tightened the issuance of football work permits.

It was from that point on that more and more top Premier League clubs began appealing for the Elite Policy to be extended to the football world.

In 2002, this policy was finally implemented.

Each professional club was allowed to apply under the Elite Policy for one player per year.

This was the so-called “Special Talent Clause.”

Of course, on paper, an application didn’t guarantee approval; it still had to go through a process and a hearing.

But everyone knew it was mostly a formality.

The policy officially came into effect on January 1, 2003.

As for the rumor many fans had heard—that the “Special Talent Clause” was only introduced after Manchester United missed out on Kaká—that was a misconception born of coincidence.

It all happened in 2003.

The reason Manchester United missed out on Kaká was partly due to the work permit issue, but more importantly, the club didn’t rate him that highly.

After all, very few Brazilian players had succeeded in the Premier League over the years.

Why would Manchester United waste so much time and energy applying for the “Special Talent Clause” for Kaká?

But Yang Cheng decided to make a move for Modrić.

This required a great deal of preparatory work.

…

Knock, knock, knock.

As Yang Cheng was engrossed in his work, someone knocked on his open office door.

“Uncle Lin.”

Yang Cheng looked up, glanced at Lin Zhongqiu, and then went back to his work.

He really had a lot on his plate.

“Is something wrong?”

Though it was just a glimpse, Yang Cheng noticed the worried expression plastered all over Lin Zhongqiu’s face.

Lin Zhongqiu walked over to stand opposite Yang Cheng’s desk, gazing at the young boss he had watched grow up.

He felt a mixture of confusion, gratification, and vexation…

“A Cheng, although I think you probably have a handle on things, I still have to remind you.”

“Go on,” Yang Cheng said without looking up.

“A good portion of that two million pound sterling has already been spent. If you really sign Tom Huddlestone or Leon Andreasen like you said, there will be almost nothing left.”

Money, money, always money.

As the club’s financial officer, this was Lin Zhongqiu’s biggest headache.

“I know. I’ve calculated everything. It should be enough for the initial payments.”

For both Huddlestone and Andreasen, Yang Cheng planned to pay in installments.

Even though the fees were only a million or so pound sterling, they had to be paid over time.

And the longer the payment plan, the better.

“But what about the upcoming salaries?” Lin Zhongqiu asked, troubled.

For a third-tier team like Bayswater Chinese, transfer fees often weren’t the main issue.

The biggest expenditure was salaries.

But what did Yang Cheng do?

The moment the two million pound sterling was in his hands, he started spending it freely in the transfer market.

The players he brought in were basically unknowns.

Huddlestone from the England U17 national youth team was the biggest name, but his price was also the highest.

And there was no guarantee he would even agree to come.

“A Cheng, our ticket revenue isn’t much,” Lin Zhongqiu reminded him.

This was largely due to the history of Bayswater Chinese.

Before being acquired by Yang Jianguo and renamed, the team was just an obscure amateur club near London’s Chinatown with very few supporters.

Although it had seen several years of management and successive promotions to the Football League Second Division, it lacked a foundation of local community fans, so its fanbase remained small.

To put it in perspective, the current stadium, which had been hastily put into use when it was less than one-third complete, was originally designed to hold just ten thousand people.

Now, even with temporary seating, it could only accommodate five thousand at most.

Over the past two seasons, the average attendance for a Bayswater Chinese match was less than two thousand.

Forget comparing them to giants like Arsenal or Chelsea; even Queens Park Rangers, who were in the same league, drew over ten thousand fans to every game.

The difference was all about money.

The lower the league, the more a club relies on matchday revenue, and the more it needs the support of local fans.

Why had Bayswater Chinese struggled to stay afloat in recent years?

Ultimately, it was because of the lack of income.

Without revenue, the club was like a bottomless pit, constantly requiring cash injections.

Yang Jianguo and Lin Zhongqiu’s original plan was that things would get better upon promotion to the First Division and then the Premier League.

The higher the league level, the more fans they would attract.

But their performance had stalled in the Second Division, which led to the club’s financial crisis.

Now, Lin Zhongqiu was very worried that Yang Cheng would repeat the same mistakes.

“A Cheng, besides the players, that sports performance specialist you hired from America and the fitness coach from Osnabrück in Germany… they’ll each need an annual salary of around one hundred thousand pound sterling.”

“Not to mention, you also want to hire Brian Kidd, whose salary will be even higher.”

At this, Lin Zhongqiu looked at Yang Cheng with complete exasperation.

They had finally scrounged up two million pound sterling, and in the blink of an eye, it was all gone.

How were they going to survive the coming year?

As a veteran finance man, Lin Zhongqiu thought to himself: This is way too hard!

Yang Cheng had already run these numbers in his head long ago.

This was the mess left behind by his cheapskate father and Lin Zhongqiu.

Bayswater Chinese was like rootless duckweed, lacking a fan base, which severely impacted its income.

Take their neighbors, Queens Park Rangers, for example.

They had over ten thousand fans at every match, sometimes even reaching a full capacity of fifteen thousand.

The cheapest ticket package was forty pound sterling, which included a ticket, a matchday programme, a food item, and a drink.

This was the minimum spend for fans watching a match in England.

By this calculation, Queens Park Rangers earned at least four hundred thousand pound sterling per match.

Factoring in VIP seats and other fan spending, their matchday revenue exceeded six hundred thousand pound sterling.

Over a season, not counting cup matches, that was at least twenty-three home games, totaling 13.8 million pound sterling.

In contrast, what did Bayswater Chinese have?

Their cheapest package was thirty pound sterling.

Due to the low attendance and the fact that the new stadium was an unfinished project, this was the only package they offered.

Fans of Bayswater Chinese could buy tickets anytime they wanted; there was no need to book in advance.

With an average of two thousand fans per game, that amounted to sixty thousand pound sterling per match.

Over twenty-three matches in a season, that was 1.38 million pound sterling—just one-tenth of what Queens Park Rangers made.

Moreover, the small fanbase meant merchandise sales were low, leading to pitifully small matchday revenue.

All told, that annual income of around 1.5 million pound sterling was the entirety of Bayswater Chinese’s earnings.

Bayswater Chinese was quite possibly the lowest-earning club among England’s nearly one hundred professional teams.

There might not even be a close second.

And worse, Yang Cheng had no immediate solution.

Their income was what it was, but the team still had to travel for away games, right?

Player training, nutrition, facility maintenance—all of these cost money, right?

And then there were the salaries for the dozens of staff members.

No wonder Lin Zhongqiu, the old financial officer, was at his wits’ end.

Everyone said fans in the London area had astounding spending power, but getting money out of their pockets was no easy task.

“We’ll take it one step at a time,” Yang Cheng could only say to comfort Lin Zhongqiu.

“We can’t get stuck in a dead end. We have to find ways to increase the team’s revenue. The most direct ways are promotion and making our matches more entertaining, and that requires signing new players.”

A weak fan base was not something he could fix in the short term, so Yang Cheng had to find other solutions.

“Are you really sure about this?” Lin Zhongqiu asked, his voice full of worry.

He could sense that Yang Cheng was truly burning his bridges, staking everything on this one fight.

“It’s a gamble!” Yang Cheng gave Lin Zhongqiu a slight, confident smile.

“I don’t need to tell you how important players are.

“High-level coaches bring high-level training, which improves player ability and on-pitch performance.

“Thad Foucher graduated from Washington State University with a degree in physiotherapy and went on to get his master’s in biomechanics and exercise science at the University of Tennessee.

“He started working at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in ’99 as a fitness coach for the US women’s national team.

“Oliver Bartlett is English, but he studied biological sciences in Australia. In ’91, he went to the Cologne Sport University in Germany and graduated with a master’s in physical education in ’96.

“For the next four years, he ran a gym in Australia, but in 2000, he returned to Osnabrück, Germany, to train as a physiotherapist and has served as a fitness coach in many sports.

“I’ve spoken to both of them. They are true professionals.”

Yang Cheng didn’t elaborate further.

In his past life, he had been quite familiar with both men and knew exactly what they were capable of.

Foucher shot to fame after helping the German national team win the World Cup and later joined Arsenal.

His greatest contribution was helping Klinsmann and Löw introduce a complete set of advanced American physical training concepts to Germany, and indeed to European football, transforming traditional fitness training into what is now known as sports performance.

However, the salaries in US women’s soccer were very low, a mere fifty to sixty thousand dollars a year. So when Yang Cheng reached out to Foucher through Mark Verstegen, who ran Athletes’ Performance Inc. in Arizona, he accepted almost without hesitation.

An annual salary of one hundred thousand pound sterling was just too tempting!

It was a similar story with Oliver Bartlett.

The one he hadn’t managed to secure yet was Ferguson’s former assistant, the godfather-like coach of the Class of ’92, Brian Kidd.

He was currently an assistant coach for the England national team.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Brian Kidd had been his capable assistant during his time managing Manchester City. The two got along famously, their football philosophies aligned perfectly, and they worked together in great harmony.

But considering Bayswater Chinese was currently just a third-tier team, Brian Kidd would likely refuse.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had a second choice in mind.

Steve Round, currently working as a technical coach for McClaren at Middlesbrough.

Steve Round was a trusted assistant Yang Cheng had personally selected during his past life as Arsenal’s manager, and he was also extremely capable.

Moreover, he was only thirty-two years old.

Although Yang Cheng was the owner of the team, he knew very well that to succeed, a club needed both an excellent squad and an outstanding coaching staff.

That was why he was assembling a first-rate coaching team for Bayswater Chinese.

“Wait.”

Lin Zhongqiu had been listening to Yang Cheng’s detailed explanations and was indeed persuaded, feeling much more at ease.

But a new question arose.

“You’ve said all this, but who is going to be the head coach?”

In Lin Zhongqiu’s view, that was the most important position of all.

Who could possibly be up to the task?

Chapter 9: A Management Prodigy

“This is the political heart of English football!”

As Yang Cheng stood before the six-story office building in London’s Soho Square, he was filled with emotion.

He had heard too many stories about this building.

Among them, the one most talked about by fans was probably the love triangle that was about to unfold in the first half of 2004, involving The FA’s CEO Mark Palios, England national team manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, and FA secretary Faria Alam.

This affair, which shocked the world, cost Palios his job and nearly got Eriksson fired.

At the same time, it brought great shame upon The FA.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had heard employees of The FA mention a certain term.

Flirters Anonymous.

Coincidentally, The FA’s abbreviation was also F.A.

Because of this, he remembered another name: Adam Crozier.

Privately, Yang Cheng had heard many people mention this young Scotsman, and opinions on him varied greatly.

But almost everyone agreed that he was a prodigy of management!

In 1990, the 26-year-old Crozier officially became the managing director of the British advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, and at 30, he became one of its two co-CEOs.

At the age of 36, Adam Crozier chose to leave Saatchi & Saatchi and join The FA as its CEO.

He was the youngest CEO in the history of The FA!

As soon as he took office, Adam Crozier did something that stunned all of England.

He announced that The FA headquarters would be moved from the remote Lancaster to the heart of London, where every inch of land was precious.

In the past, The FA had always projected a decadent image of being controlled by a group of bald old men.

To change this stereotype, besides relocating the headquarters, Adam Crozier spent two years lowering the average age of The FA’s employees from 51 to 32.

Among the 250 employees, the proportion of female staff increased from less than 10% to the current 60%.

In addition, Adam Crozier initiated very aggressive reforms within The FA.

These included hiring the renowned manager Eriksson at great expense; reforming The FA’s Executive Committee, streamlining its members to just twelve; establishing a development and qualification system for English coaches; and introducing the club financial assessment mechanism promoted by the German Football Association…

In just two short years, Adam Crozier completely overturned the ancient Football Association.

Under Crozier’s management, The FA’s revenue soared from the original twenty million pound sterling to one hundred and twenty million pound sterling, as if it were riding a rocket.

But soon, he hit a wall.

With the support of FA Chairman Geoff Thompson, Adam Crozier ambitiously sought to bring the organizational and financial management rights of the Premier League under The FA’s control.

His move for testing the waters was a plan for The FA to sign a five million pound sterling contract with sponsors over the image rights of England’s international players.

If successful, this money would be divided entirely among the players, with The FA only collecting necessary operating fees.

The Premier League and the club bosses were naturally against it.

If The FA set this precedent, would players’ image rights still be the private property of the clubs?

Thus, in retaliation, led by former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates and with the tacit approval of giants like Manchester United and Arsenal, the Premier League proposed the establishment of a Professional Game Board within The FA to strip it of its authority over the Premier League and cup competitions.

The two sides clashed irreconcilably.

Finally, at the end of 2002, Chairman Geoff Thompson switched sides, and Adam Crozier, brutally stabbed in the back, was forced to step down.

In July 2003, Palios succeeded Crozier as CEO of The FA.

And so, Crozier’s two-year-long, magnificent reform of English football ended in failure.

But whether it was the relocation of The FA headquarters, the internal management reforms, the increase in revenue, or the coach development system, it all brought earth-shattering changes to English football.

Yang Cheng had never met Adam Crozier in his previous life.

After leaving The FA, Crozier never returned to the world of football.

But he had long admired this “meritorious figure” who was openly criticized but privately praised by countless people.

Many even joked that without Crozier’s reforms and his vigorous recruitment of female employees, there would have been no subsequent love triangle, much less the nickname “Flirters Anonymous.”

After leaving The FA, Adam Crozier went directly to the Royal Mail, turning the old, failing enterprise profitable again.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, he later served as CEO for companies like ITV and BT, achieving stunning results in each role and confirming the public’s assessment of him.

A management prodigy!

…

When Yang Cheng walked into The FA’s office building, Dinamo Zagreb’s CEO, Damir Vrbanović, was already waiting.

With him, besides the young Luka Modrić who had flown in from Croatia, was another world-famous, legendary superstar.

Boban.

When Yang Cheng entered, he saw Modrić standing beside his idol with a solemn expression.

The Croatian midfield legend, on the other hand, was chatting and laughing with FA Chairman Geoff Thompson, CEO Mark Palios, and England national team manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Such was the influence of a legendary figure!

“My apologies, I was held up by something.”

Yang Cheng smiled and apologized as soon as he entered.

Boban, Thompson, and Palios were all somewhat surprised by Yang Cheng’s youth.

Upon being introduced by Vrbanović, they all maintained a veneer of courtesy, showing no disrespect.

But soon, a remark from Eriksson left everyone in the room utterly astonished.

“I made a special trip here today, not just for my old friend Zvonimir, but also to see who it is that dares to poach from our national team.”

The Swede said this with a smile, in a lighthearted and even teasing tone.

“What’s going on?” Geoff Thompson asked hurriedly.

The England national team was his greatest concern.

“Brian Kidd told me that a third-division team recently approached him, offering an annual salary of three hundred thousand pound sterling, trying to persuade him to become their manager,” Eriksson said, looking at Yang Cheng with a laugh.

“Three hundred thousand pound sterling?” Palios was shocked.

His own annual salary was only four hundred fifty thousand pound sterling.

Yang Cheng’s third-division club was offering Brian Kidd three hundred thousand pounds a year?

That was far more than his salary with the national team.

Modrić was just a youngster, listening on the side, his heart filled with a mixture of shock, joy, and worry.

He was happy because he had heard of Brian Kidd’s great reputation—England’s most prominent assistant coach, Ferguson’s assistant for many years, and the creator of Manchester United’s Class of ’92.

If he hadn’t fallen out with Ferguson back then, he would have had the halo of being a hero of Manchester United’s Treble-winning team.

This was proof enough that the promises Yang Cheng had made to him were becoming a reality.

He was worried for Yang Cheng, breaking into a cold sweat on his behalf.

After all, poaching from the national team was no joke. If he angered the FA Chairman and CEO, the consequences would be severe.

It wasn’t just Modrić; even Boban and Vrbanović couldn’t help but look at Yang Cheng.

Although Eriksson’s tone was jocular, was he truly without resentment?

Yang Cheng was neither surprised nor nervous. He calmly scanned the room, particularly pleased with the concerned look Modrić was giving him.

It proved that Modrić was beginning to identify with Bayswater Chinese.

“Ha, Sven, you’re exaggerating.”

Yang Cheng showed no pressure in the face of a world-class manager, appearing exceptionally composed.

“Brian is one of the best coaches in Europe. Back then, under the guidance of The FA and Manchester United, he traveled to clubs like Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Juventus all over Europe to study and learn. Whether it’s training players or his understanding of English football, he is one of the best.”

Brian Kidd was a Manchester United man through and through, from his playing days to his coaching career.

But now, Yang Cheng’s mention of The FA was quite pleasing to Thompson and Palios.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t have dared to dream of it, but now that he has left Elland Road, I wanted to invite him to our Bayswater Chinese to guide our work, act as an advisor, and help us improve our training and our technical and tactical levels.”

In December 1998, on the eve of Manchester United’s Treble victory and during the team’s most difficult period, Brian Kidd left Ferguson.

Besides an offer from fellow Premier League team Blackburn Rovers to become their manager, his conflict with Ferguson had also been escalating.

But after managing Blackburn for a year, Brian Kidd was sacked in November 1999.

This made him realize clearly that he was simply not cut out to be a head coach.

So, in January 2000, he accepted an invitation from Leeds United manager David O’Leary to be his assistant coach.

With O’Leary and Brian Kidd working together, Leeds United reached the pinnacle of the club’s history, making it to the Champions League semi-finals.

But late last year, O’Leary was sacked from a Leeds United mired in a financial crisis.

This January, after Eriksson’s assistant McClaren went solo to manage Middlesbrough, Brian Kidd joined the England national team, strongly recommended by the Class of ’92, including David Beckham.

For the entire first half of the year, he had been splitting his duties between the national team and Leeds United.

This was quite common in European football.

After all, without a major tournament, the national team’s match schedule is light.

Therefore, coaches’ salaries are low, and many work part-time.

Except, of course, in a certain country.

“Sven, actually, you don’t have to worry. Even if Brian comes to work for our team, the national team will always be his priority. We will certainly do everything we can to cooperate with your work.”

This statement from Yang Cheng left Eriksson with no room for complaint.

Afterward, Yang Cheng offered some light but effective praise for Geoff Thompson and Palios, which both FA bigwigs received quite well.

This made Yang Cheng confident that even if Brian Kidd did accept Bayswater Chinese’s invitation, it wouldn’t cause any major conflicts.

As for Eriksson…

Well, did anyone really believe that he wasn’t managing England for the sky-high salary?

As the conversation deepened, Boban and the others began to see Yang Cheng in a new light.

Despite his youth, whether talking about professional matters on the pitch or gossipy stories off it, Yang Cheng handled himself with ease, his words often witty and eloquent, citing various sources and making everyone feel at ease.

Vrbanović, who was witnessing Yang Cheng’s capabilities for the second time, felt this most profoundly.

And whether it was Thompson and Palios or Boban and Vrbanović, they all noticed that Yang Cheng seemed completely unconcerned about the upcoming hearing.

This was the first time the UK’s Home Office would hold a hearing for a football player.

In other words, if he passed the hearing and obtained a work permit, Luka Modrić would become the first professional player in history to join the Premier League under the “Special Talent Clause.”

Every time they thought of this, not only Boban and Vrbanović but even The FA treated the matter with great caution.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, remained full of confidence from start to finish.

This made everyone around him hold him in even higher regard.

Chapter 10: The Legend Makers

Yang Cheng really wasn’t worried.

He knew that the so-called Special Talent hearing was, for the most part, just a formality.

It wasn’t that the Home Office didn’t take it seriously.

The main issue was the lack of concrete criteria for evaluation.

For instance, what constitutes a genius?

Youth development is an industry of high investment, high output, and high risk. Cases of promising young talents failing to live up to their potential are everywhere. So, how is a genius defined?

To put it bluntly, it all came down to whether the people you brought in to endorse the player had enough clout.

For powerhouse clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea, if they said someone was a genius, who would dare say otherwise?

Conversely, for clubs in the lower leagues, this clause was practically useless.

Yang Cheng recalled a piece of data: in the six years from 2009 to 2015, only twenty-three players from leagues below the Premier League had successfully obtained a work permit through the Special Talent Clause.

Were the Home Office and The FA intentionally creating roadblocks?

No, it was because very few even applied.

For the Championship, League One, and League Two clubs of that era, their scouting networks were small. Forget global reach—many didn’t even fully cover the European Union, and some didn’t even cover the whole of the UK.

Under such circumstances, why would they go to the trouble of poaching non-EU players?

Returning to the specific case of Modrić.

Yang Cheng attended as a representative of Bayswater Chinese and answered questions regarding the signing of Modrić.

He stated unequivocally, “We are extremely optimistic about Luka. I believe he will become the world’s best midfielder.”

Yang Cheng noticed that when he said this, everyone present, including Vrbancic and Boban, turned their gaze to the scrawny Modrić.

It was obvious that no one could see the possibility of Yang Cheng’s words coming true in the boy before them.

Just as Vrbancic could never understand why Yang Cheng would expend so much manpower and resources on Modrić.

Only Modrić.

The Croatian teenager’s eyes shone with a deep, profound gratitude that could not be concealed.

With Yang Cheng leading the way, Vrbancic and Boban had an easy time, successively bestowing the title of “genius” upon Modrić.

As for the future, was it important?

The materials Yang Cheng had painstakingly prepared for days also proved useful at the hearing.

They fully explained the tactical system of Bayswater Chinese and highlighted the importance and rarity of a player of Modrić’s type to the team.

In short, Yang Cheng’s message to the Home Office officials was clear.

This player is very, very, very important to Bayswater Chinese!

The hearing would not produce an immediate result.

So, after it concluded, they could only go back and wait for news.

Yang Cheng played host, inviting Vrbancic, Boban, Geoff Thompson, Palios, and Eriksson to dinner.

Having managed to get a member of the UEFA Executive Committee and a famous former player like Boban to London, he naturally had to make the most of their talents, seizing the opportunity to build connections with the bigwigs at The FA.

Even if Thompson and Palios wouldn’t be in their positions for much longer.

Wasn’t Brian Kidd still around?

…

If Yang Cheng’s confidence about the hearing allowed him to handle it with ease, then his meeting with Brian Kidd the next day was something he treated with exceptional importance.

This was a habit developed from his many years of coaching in his previous life.

Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you doubt.

Therefore, the interview was particularly crucial.

From his attire and appearance to the structure of the conversation, Yang Cheng was meticulous and sparing no effort.

Back when he was an assistant coach at Manchester United, Brian Kidd was known for being a nice guy.

Yang Cheng’s careful preparation, combined with his knowledge of Brian Kidd from his past life, indeed won him Kidd’s favor at their very first meeting.

The entry point was the dinner with Eriksson the previous night.

Yang Cheng used the dinner to lead into a discussion about the England national team, and then broadened it to English football.

From there, Yang Cheng shifted the topic to the time when Brian Kidd had traveled to various European countries and major powerhouse clubs to observe and learn.

This was something many fans overlooked.

From the late 1980s, after the Heysel disaster, English football faced a ban from European competition.

It was from that point on that English football began to fall behind continental Europe in every aspect.

This was true for everything from club management to technical and tactical levels.

Ferguson, Brian Kidd, and Manchester United were among the first to go abroad to learn and absorb the strengths and advantages of continental Europe in training and management.

This became a key weapon in Manchester United’s rise during the Premier League era of the 1990s.

During that period, the partnership of Ferguson and Brian Kidd was arguably one of the most revered in continental Europe—the legend makers of the Manchester United dynasty.

In this partnership, Ferguson played the role of the stern father, while Brian Kidd was more like a gentle mother.

Yang Cheng knew a bit about the conflict between Brian Kidd and Ferguson from his previous life.

Their relationship had been very poor for a long time, only easing after Ferguson fell seriously ill and was hospitalized following his retirement.

The reason was simple: Ferguson felt Brian Kidd had betrayed him, and he said many harsh things, both publicly and in his autobiography.

Brian Kidd believed that Ferguson was partly responsible for his failure as a manager at Blackburn Rovers.

At the same time, he felt Ferguson had not given him sufficient respect and recognition.

All in all, it was a muddled affair, and Yang Cheng had no intention of getting involved.

He focused more on discussing football with Brian Kidd, from his experiences learning from continental Europe back in the day to the problems England faced now, and how Bayswater Chinese should position itself.

…

“I believe that European football is currently facing another major revolution.”

“In Spain, more and more teams are starting to use the 4-2-3-1 formation with a double pivot, not just teams like Irureta’s Deportivo La Coruña, but also Benítez’s Valencia, which is a team very much worth watching.”

Yang Cheng’s eloquent discourse took Brian Kidd by surprise.

He could see that Yang Cheng was very young and the son of the team owner.

But he hadn’t expected him to be so familiar with and knowledgeable about European football.

This made him lower his guard and start engaging in a professional discussion.

“Speaking of 4-2-3-1, that formation has been around in Spain for years. Valencia’s results were indeed very good a few years ago under Cúper, reaching the Champions League final twice, but they always fell just short.”

“After winning La Liga the season before last, they only finished fifth last season. This summer, they sold players like Kily González and the tall center-forward Carew. I feel their overall strength has declined slightly.”

What Brian Kidd said was true.

But Yang Cheng had a different view.

“The double pivot of Baraja and Albelda remains solid, they have Vicente on the left, and the backline is largely unchanged. As long as the number 10, Aimar, stays uninjured, and they have a player who can step up at center-forward, Benítez’s team will surprise a lot of people.”

Brian Kidd mulled it over and asked, “Are you saying that Mista and Ricardo Oliveira are a better fit for Benítez’s tactics than Carew?”

Yang Cheng guessed what he was thinking from his expression.

One of his points of conflict with Ferguson had been over signing forwards. Ferguson wanted to sign the “Black Wind Dual Devils,” Cole and Yorke, while Kidd thought they should sign a traditional English tall center-forward.

This was, in fact, the mainstream in the Premier League at the time.

Manchester United had Van Nistelrooy, but he was heavily dependent on passes from the midfield; the Dutchman was only responsible for scoring goals.

Arsenal’s Henry was more well-rounded, but he often drifted to the flanks, so Wenger used a 4-4-2 formation with two strikers.

On a technical and tactical level, the Premier League was indeed far behind continental Europe.

“This is the major revolution I was talking about.”

Yang Cheng didn’t linger on the center-forward issue, to avoid reopening Brian Kidd’s old wounds.

“The most impressive team in European football last season was probably Porto from the Portuguese league.”

“The team coached by Mourinho has introduced many new concepts into their training system, especially regarding player training, and this has already garnered significant attention across European football.”

Brian Kidd nodded repeatedly; he was, of course, aware of this.

“From Cúper to Irureta to Benítez to Mourinho, we can easily see that they are all further refining players’ areas of activity and responsibilities on the pitch. Between the traditional three lines, they’ve added a defensive midfielder between the midfield and the backline.”

With the conversation having reached this point, Brian Kidd immediately understood what Yang Cheng was getting at.

“The number 10 position will be further restricted.”

“Exactly. Therefore, the tactical trend for the next few years will be to deconstruct the number 10.”

For some reason, Brian Kidd thought of yesterday’s hearing.

He had heard that the Croatian genius signed by Bayswater Chinese was a scrawny kid who looked like he could be blown over by a gust of wind.

And he played in midfield.

“Porto’s number 10 player, Deco, has already attracted the attention of many of Europe’s top clubs,” Yang Cheng prompted.

Deco did not fit the traditional image of a number 10 attacking midfielder.

He especially didn’t look like a Brazilian number 10.

When the number 10 was no longer like a number 10, the tactical responsibilities that originally belonged to that position naturally had to be redistributed.

This would inevitably trigger a tactical revolution.

Yang Cheng continued to extend this topic, mentioning his vision for Bayswater Chinese.

England appeared to be teeming with talent, with no shortage of stars in every major tournament, so why did they fail to achieve results in every major tournament?

Because England lacked ball control.

And behind ball control were technique and youth development.

Brian Kidd naturally understood what Yang Cheng meant.

When he had wanted to sign a tall center-forward, it wasn’t to continue England’s traditional long-ball tactics, but because he trusted his most prized student, Paul Scholes.

Kidd believed that with Scholes on the pitch, the men up front shouldn’t be slight players like Cole and Yorke who couldn’t physically dominate defenders, but a traditional tall center-forward.

But at that time, Ferguson didn’t yet have enough faith in Scholes, or in the youth players from the Class of ’92.

Brian Kidd had played football his entire life, helping Manchester United win the European Cup as a player, and had traveled abroad for exchanges and study countless times during his coaching career. He was naturally aware of the problems in English football.

In fact, the Class of ’92 that he had developed were all players with solid technique and excellent passing ability.

Yang Cheng’s vision for Bayswater Chinese—to retain the traditional English style of impactful and aggressive play, while also incorporating refined ball control to fully unleash the players’ creativity—was perfectly aligned with Brian Kidd’s philosophy.

More importantly, Brian Kidd could already clearly feel this trend intensifying in the Premier League.

From Wenger to the current Ranieri, more and more teams were hiring famous foreign managers.

For Bayswater Chinese, a club in the third tier, to be able to see all this in advance was undoubtedly remarkable.

It made him see them in a new light.

He was even starting to feel tempted.

So, Brian Kidd quickly asked the question that concerned him most.

“Yang, tell me, who will be the head coach of Bayswater Chinese?”

Chapter 11: The Man Who Piqued Yang Cheng’s Interest

Before a conclusion was reached at Luka Modrić’s hearing, a breakthrough was made in Huddlestone’s transfer.

Derby County was not a major club, after all.

In fact, for years, Derby County had shown a complete lack of ambition.

Under these circumstances, when faced with Bayswater Chinese’s offer of one million pound sterling, Derby County’s management was thoroughly tempted.

The reason was simple: Huddlestone was, ultimately, just a member of the U17 youth team.

Young players could change drastically from one year to the next. Who knew what the future held?

For comparison, just this summer, Ross Gardner, also a midfielder for the U17 national youth team, transferred from Newcastle’s youth academy to Nottingham Forest for a fee of zero.

If that was considered a special case due to an expiring contract, then there was Nigel Reo-Coker, the core midfielder of the U19 national youth team at Wimbledon, who was being poached by West Ham United.

Wimbledon’s asking price for Reo-Coker was only 750,000 pound sterling.

Interestingly, West Ham United actually rejected the offer.

Derby County had also done their own assessment. If Bayswater Chinese weren’t a third-tier club but a Premier League team, they would never have offered one million pound sterling for Huddlestone.

Derby County simply wouldn’t have been able to keep him.

Given the situation, after several days of deliberation, Derby County formally notified the player’s parents and agent that they had accepted Bayswater Chinese’s offer.

The next step was for the two clubs to negotiate the payment structure for the transfer fee.

Lin Zhongqiu traveled north to Derby County on behalf of Bayswater Chinese. After arduous negotiations, a transfer agreement was finally signed.

The deal stipulated an initial payment of 300,000 pound sterling, with the remaining 700,000 pound sterling to be paid in three installments over two years.

Huddlestone had already spoken with Yang Cheng once and was somewhat swayed.

At the very least, Yang Cheng had promised him a starting position. And now that Derby County had accepted the offer from Bayswater Chinese, they clearly preferred for him to leave. Forcing himself to stay was unlikely to be a good thing.

After much consideration, he and his family formally nodded, agreeing to join Bayswater Chinese.

By the time Huddlestone’s transfer process was completed, the result of Modrić’s work permit hearing was officially announced.

With the testimony of both Vrbancic and Boban, the UK’s Home Office and The FA accepted the evidence submitted by Bayswater Chinese, acknowledging that Luka Modrić did indeed possess extraordinary talent.

With that, Modrić became the first player to successfully apply under the Special Talent Clause since its inception.

This news naturally attracted some coverage from the British media.

Previously, the acquisition of an English team by a Chinese company had drawn some attention in England, but it had quickly died down.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had once again entered the British media’s radar.

Ultimately, however, they were just a third-tier league team, and the transfer fee was very small, so the news was more symbolic than anything and didn’t generate significant attention.

Yang Cheng felt it was a pity.

There was no Weibo yet, and public opinion was still in the hands of traditional media.

A third-tier team just didn’t have the traffic.

…

After signing Huddlestone and securing a work permit for Modrić, Bayswater Chinese’s recruitment drive for the summer came to a close.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Koscielny, Kevin Foley, Steve Jenkins, Luke Chambers, Tony Capaldi, Roger Johnson, and Alex Baptiste;

Midfield: Modrić, Huddlestone, Andy Holdsworth, Lee Williamson, and Martin Rowlands;

Forwards: Ribéry, Jon Stead, Martin Devaney, and Lambert.

Yang Cheng had brought in seventeen players during the summer transfer window. Combined with the six players who remained from the original team, they formed a 23-man squad to compete in the new Football League Second Division season.

But from the very beginning, Yang Cheng placed more importance on the seventeen players he had personally brought in.

In the initial phase of the new season, he would select his starting eleven from among these seventeen players.

This was the operating model for all lower-league clubs.

Constrained by finances, they could at best concentrate their resources on building one competitive starting lineup.

Although the squad wasn’t strong and was composed mostly of young players, the fixture list was still quite demanding.

The Football League Second Division had 24 teams, meaning a total of 46 rounds to be played.

Moreover, 2004 was a major tournament year with the European Championship in Portugal, so the schedule had to be compressed.

The league would run from August 9th to May 8th of the following year.

The league was crucial for promotion, making it Yang Cheng’s top priority for the new season. There was absolutely no room for error.

Besides the league, there were also the two traditional cup competitions: the League Cup and the FA Cup.

In addition, there was the Football League Trophy.

The League Cup is the EFL Cup, while the Football League Trophy is the EFL Trophy.

Many fans who don’t pay close attention often confuse the two competitions.

Unlike the League Cup, the Football League Trophy, established in 1983, primarily features the 48 teams from the Second and Third Divisions.

For teams in these two tiers, it was a rather important competition.

The format was a single-elimination knockout tournament. In recent years, in addition to the 48 teams from the Second and Third Divisions, 16 teams from the fifth tier were also invited, making a total of 64 teams.

By the fifth round, the semi-finals, the format switched to a two-legged home-and-away knockout tie.

In other words, despite playing in the Second Division, Bayswater Chinese would have more matches in the new season than many Premier League teams, not fewer.

Fighting on four fronts would be a major test of the team’s squad depth.

Incidentally, according to a plan previously decided by The FA, the leagues below the Premier League were set to be restructured after the 2003/04 season.

The First Division would be rebranded as the Championship, the current third-tier Second Division would be renamed League One, and the fourth-tier league would be renamed League Two.

One shouldn’t think this was merely a change in name.

The transformation from the First Division to the Championship was definitely a brand new beginning.

The FA would formally establish a professional league management company to operate and attract business in the manner of a modern corporation.

To put it simply, from now on, the Premier League would belong to the Premier League Company under the Premier League, while the Championship, League One, and League Two would belong to a league company established by The FA.

As a Transmigrator, Yang Cheng knew all too well the tremendous significance of this reform.

It was the first transformative step that would eventually lead to the Championship becoming the sixth major league in Europe.

And the man who initiated this reform was the management genius, Adam Crozier.

This made Yang Cheng even more interested in him.

…

As the start of the league season approached, Yang Cheng found himself with more and more to do, becoming unbelievably busy.

The first and most pressing task was getting the players settled.

It wasn’t just the foreign players like Modrić, Ribéry, and Koscielny; even players like Huddlestone needed the club’s help to get settled.

The standard practice in European football at the time was to simply let them fend for themselves.

But Yang Cheng didn’t do that.

He took a hands-on approach, having prepared for their accommodation arrangements well in advance.

The matter of renting apartments alone was a huge headache for him.

London property prices were high, and so was the rent.

With the salaries of the Bayswater Chinese players, they really couldn’t afford to live in central London.

So, Yang Cheng had to run around and make arrangements for them.

Fortunately, the team’s stadium and training ground were currently on the same site, in an excellent location with six subway lines nearby, making transportation extremely convenient. Even living a bit farther out wouldn’t be a problem.

But this task alone consumed a great deal of Yang Cheng’s time and energy.

After all, there were many young players, and London’s nightlife was lively. Yang Cheng also had to pay attention to managing the players’ personal lives.

The upside was that by helping the players get settled, Yang Cheng took the opportunity to build a closer relationship with them.

Once the players and coaches were finally settled, the next step was preparing for the team’s pre-season training camp.

It was just as Yang Cheng had said when he met with Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett.

“If all I wanted was simple fitness training, I wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to find you two.”

Yang Cheng was not wrong.

If a player was a dish served on the pitch, then the coach was the chef who turned raw ingredients into a delectable meal.

Different chefs had different ways of preparing the same dish.

To achieve the same effect, ten fitness coaches could come up with dozens of different training routines.

Yang Cheng chose them partly because their training methods had been personally verified by him in his previous life.

Another reason was that they could bring something extra that Yang Cheng wanted.

For instance, Thad Foucher could introduce the most advanced physical training regimens from the United States.

It was no exaggeration at all.

When it came to sports science and physical training, the United States was far ahead of the world.

Foucher specialized in warm-ups and conditioning, excelling at targeted improvements in areas like speed, strength, and endurance.

As a head coach transmigrated from 2024, Yang Cheng knew very well the importance of such targeted training.

From AC Milan’s team of veterans to ageless stars like Modrić, players’ careers were getting longer and longer, and everyone knew it was thanks to improvements in training standards.

And behind that was targeted, specialized training.

Considering that the scrawny Modrić needed to adapt to the English leagues, Yang Cheng’s first task for Foucher was to design a targeted training program for the Croatian.

Thad Foucher was no slouch either.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s facilities were average, they were relatively complete.

He proposed many improvements and also brought in a lot of training equipment, all at very low prices.

For example, a type of rubber band that could be worn around a player’s thighs, forcing them to walk with a waddle.

At the same time, he proposed a physical rating system to assess the players’ physical condition.

Oliver Bartlett worked in cooperation with Thad Foucher, and together they designed a completely new set of training routines.

Especially after assistant coach Brian Kidd arrived, the three of them, after repeated consultations and studies, produced a special training plan for Bayswater Chinese for the summer.

Although Yang Cheng wasn’t involved in the entire process, as the core figure, he played a crucial role.

His tactics demanded high levels of speed and stamina from the team, and he also provided different targeted training suggestions for several players.

Coming from 2024, Yang Cheng would sometimes casually mention a training method that would leave the coaching staff stunned and full of praise.

After all, the next twenty years would be the period of the fastest improvement in training levels in world football.

Brian Kidd came from Manchester United. Not only was he a creator of the legendary Class of ’92, but he also had a profound understanding of Manchester United’s system of off-the-ball movement.

During Ferguson’s tenure, Manchester United’s off-the-ball movement was arguably the best in European football.

Yang Cheng hoped Brian Kidd could bring this system to Bayswater Chinese.

And this required instilling it in the players through repetitive training.

For this summer’s pre-season training camp, Yang Cheng also set a goal.

Integration and amalgamation.

The former needed no explanation; with so many new players brought in, integration was essential.

Amalgamation was just as crucial.

The lower the league, the more emphasis was often placed on individual player ability.

Yang Cheng was very confident in his players’ quality.

He believed that as long as he could meld this group of players into a cohesive whole, Bayswater Chinese would be invincible in the new Football League Second Division season!

Chapter 12: Our Coach is a Genius!

On the first day of summer training camp, Yang Cheng delivered a huge surprise to all the players.

“Let me reintroduce myself. I, Yang Cheng, am your head coach for the new season!”

The twenty-three players standing before him were all dumbfounded.

Although previous signs had indicated that Yang Cheng, the club’s young owner, was deeply involved in football matters, not a single person had imagined he would decide to become the head coach himself.

This was absolutely absurd!

How old was he?

Did he even have a coaching license?

After Adam Crozier’s reforms of the coaching system, there were very clear requirements for a head coach’s qualifications.

At twenty-three years old, Yang Cheng didn’t seem to meet any of them.

It wasn’t just the players in front of him; even the coaching staff behind him wore complex and awkward expressions.

When they first heard Yang Cheng say this, they had been even more shocked than the players.

Except for Brian Kidd.

Yes, Yang Cheng had long since figured out a solution.

He didn’t have a coaching license, so he would have Brian Kidd, who did, serve as the registered head coach.

Therefore, Brian Kidd was the first person to know of Yang Cheng’s plan.

But whatever Yang Cheng had done to convince him, Brian Kidd had unwavering faith in Yang Cheng’s coaching abilities, believing he would shock the world and was an out-and-out coaching genius.

After the preparation phase, Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett were genuinely won over by Yang Cheng.

Now, it was the players’ turn.

But the most shocked of all was Lin Zhongqiu.

Since when did his young master, who had just walked out of a university campus, know how to coach?

Hadn’t he hired Brian Kidd?

Wasn’t this all just a huge joke?

Yang Cheng had no time to worry about what the people behind him were thinking, nor did he intend to explain too much.

He stated the goal for the new season in a firm and confident tone.

“We will be promoted to the Championship next year as champions!”

His voice was filled with an unquestionable certainty that made it easy for people to believe him.

“My confidence comes from you, standing before me, and from the coaching staff behind me.”

“Perhaps you are all unknowns right now, perhaps you haven’t yet shown enough strength, perhaps you don’t yet have what it takes to succeed, perhaps…”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he flicked his right hand forcefully.

It was as if he were casting aside all the surrounding worries and doubts.

“None of those ‘perhapses’ matter!”

“Here with me, at Bayswater Chinese, every single one of you will get everything you want!”

“But the prerequisite is that you must work for it. You must squeeze out every last drop of potential from your bodies.”

Yang Cheng also laid out his criteria for selecting players.

At Bayswater Chinese, no one was an automatic starter.

Everyone had to deliver their best performance and be in top form.

“Here, attitude is everything!”

Finally, Yang Cheng told the players that the entire summer training camp would be incredibly grueling.

Especially when compared to other teams in League Two, or even League One.

“Only high-level training can forge a high-level, combat-ready team!”

“Once you’ve endured the preseason training camp and look back, believe me, you will be grateful for the effort you put in!”

“You will be proud of yourselves!”

And that would make everyone on the team more confident!

…

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had started in the German second division and had also coached lower-league teams.

He knew very well that many players in the lower leagues were not lacking in skill.

The vast majority came from professional youth academies and had solid fundamentals.

Take Welsh international player Steve Jenkins, for example.

The soon-to-be thirty-one-year-old right-back’s defensive abilities were quite good, but he was incredibly slow.

Despite being only 1.81 meters tall, he moved as clumsily as someone who was 2.01 meters.

More interestingly, he possessed a stunningly good cross from the right flank, yet his other technical skills were quite average.

With such obvious strengths and weaknesses, combined with his age, Steve Jenkins’s career struggled to take off.

Then there was someone like Martin Rowlands.

The twenty-four-year-old Irish midfielder had already made his debut for Brentford’s first team at the age of eighteen.

By nineteen, he was a regular starter in League Two and had a very impressive debut season.

But after bursting onto the scene as a teenager, he was plagued by frequent injuries. Coupled with Brentford’s constant changing of head coaches, his performance had been on a steady decline over the past two seasons, to the point where he began to lose his starting position and became a substitute.

In terms of raw talent, Martin Rowlands was currently the most well-rounded and outstanding player at Bayswater Chinese.

He was skilled in both attack and defense, and his passing and free kicks, in particular, were exceptional.

There was also center-back Roger Johnson.

The twenty-year-old English center-back was 1.91 meters tall, very strong, and had excellent defensive abilities.

As far as Yang Cheng was concerned, aside from a slightly rough touch, Roger Johnson had no real weaknesses as a center-back.

But having started his career at a lower-league minnow, Wycombe Wanderers, Yang Cheng had managed to snatch him up first.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was certain that once these players were properly trained and integrated, their collective strength would be formidable.

Improving the level of training and enhancing physical conditioning were the key factors in boosting player performance.

What felt new to the players was that the training designed by Yang Cheng and the coaching staff wasn’t purely physical conditioning, nor was it simple running.

The vast majority of it was training with the ball.

And much of it consisted of fundamental drills.

At first, the players found it strange, thinking such basic training was pointless.

Even though they were League Two players, their fundamentals were all solid.

But when the training actually began and they had to execute Yang Cheng’s requirements, they realized the problem.

For example, Yang Cheng required them to always be moving, never receiving the ball while standing still.

That was normal.

What wasn’t normal was that Yang Cheng demanded all players keep the receiving distance between ten and fifteen meters.

If it was less than ten meters or more than fifteen, he would call them out by name.

This made the players feel very uncomfortable and confused.

They found it incredibly difficult to control that distance.

Even if they managed the distance, upon receiving the ball, they had to release it with one touch, absolutely not letting it linger at their feet.

Where to pass?

How to pass?

All the players were a complete mess.

The first training session was so chaotic it was almost too painful to watch.

Moreover, it was incredibly draining for the players.

With their minds constantly under high-pressure tension, the physical toll was imaginable.

But Yang Cheng continued with the same drills in the afternoon, the next day, and the third day…

It wasn’t until the fourth day, when the players began to get used to the training requirements, that Yang Cheng held the first tactical meeting.

“First, let me tell you why I require a distance of ten to fifteen meters.”

After four days of intense training, the players had already developed a sense of awe for their twenty-three-year-old head coach, who was also the club’s young owner.

Players are the first to know if a head coach has real substance.

Though Yang Cheng was young, he was the real deal.

And incredibly brilliant.

He must be the genius Brian Kidd had spoken of!

“According to authoritative data, during a football match, when facing high-pressure defense, a professional player’s passing error rate is lowest between ten to fifteen meters. The success rate is the highest.”

“Less than ten meters is too congested, which is actually detrimental to passing; more than fifteen meters, and both the passing error rate and turnover rate increase significantly.”

The players thought it over, especially recalling the past four days of training, and realized it was true.

“Maintaining a distance of ten to fifteen meters needs to become second nature. From now on, whether in training or in a match, you must constantly remind yourselves: if it’s less than ten meters, run away from the ball; if it’s more than fifteen, close the distance.”

The players understood and nodded in agreement.

“Second question: why were you all so chaotic?”

Again, Yang Cheng didn’t give the players a chance to answer, revealing the answer himself.

“Because you’re not playing with your brains.”

“I don’t know and I don’t care how your former teams trained or played. Now that you’re at Bayswater Chinese, you must adapt to my requirements.”

“Bring your brains onto the pitch. You need to think actively, constantly analyze the game situation, and observe your teammates and opponents.”

“The reason you were in a mess is because the passing distance is short, the ball speed is fast, and making a one-touch pass is difficult.”

All the players nodded; that was indeed the case.

Unless one had incredible reaction speed and superb technique.

“But have you ever thought that if you observe the situation around you before you receive the ball, and you’ve already decided on your passing lane—or even more than one—would you still be in a mess?”

It was a moment of epiphany for the players.

“If you want to secure a spot on my team, you must do this. Once you step onto the training ground or the pitch, you must be constantly observing the situation.”

“I’ll give you a benchmark: before every run and every reception of the ball, you should scan your surroundings at least ten times. Fifteen times is excellent. The more, the better. Once you can do that, you’ll find that one-touch passing really isn’t hard.”

All the players stared at Yang Cheng.

Even Brian Kidd, Thad Foucher, Oliver Bartlett, and the others were looking at him.

In the past few days, this “genius coach,” who was only twenty-three, had truly brought them too many surprises.

“And here, I want to teach you another principle.”

“The football training you’ve received since you were kids has told you that players spend the vast majority of a match without the ball. You must make good use of your off-the-ball movement.”

“On our team, every run you make is not just about creating a passing option for your teammates, but also about creating a passing lane for yourself.”

“When every one of us is actively running, running for ourselves and for the teammates around us, we will become a strong, cohesive unit!”

Yang Cheng’s requirement for movement and support was that, in training, the ball carrier must have at least three passing options available at all times.

This way, during a match, even when facing tight pressure from the opponent, there would be at least two passing lanes open.

What surprised the players and the coaching staff was that while Yang Cheng had many requirements for player movement, he had very few for passing combinations.

Or rather, he had only one requirement.

Simplicity!

The simpler, the better!

“On the football pitch, the simpler the passing combination, the higher its success rate and the faster it is.”

Therefore, in training, Yang Cheng instructed the coaching staff to arrange passing drills that were the simplest and most basic.

For example, three-man drills for receiving and advancing the ball, and cutting to receive a pass.

His idea was simple.

As long as they mastered these simple fundamentals, and the players could coordinate smoothly on the pitch and play with composure, many seemingly complex and advanced combinations would emerge naturally.

…

After the meeting, Yang Cheng revealed his secrets and made sure the players understood his philosophy. The subsequent training naturally unfolded according to his plan.

And it was almost all training with the ball.

There was even very little training on defense.

Brian Kidd focused on the team’s overall off-the-ball movement.

For individual players, the coaching staff provided different, targeted training programs.

For example, center-forward Jon Stead focused mainly on improving his jumping ability.

Modrić’s main focus was on building up his physical strength.

The big and strong Huddlestone was required to undergo speed enhancement training to improve his running ability.

Thad Foucher, as the sports performance specialist, regularly conducted various physical tests to measure the players’ physical condition.

He was also constantly refining the training plan.

By mid-July, after two weeks of high-intensity training camp, the test report Thad Foucher submitted to Yang Cheng showed significant improvements in the players’ stamina, strength in physical confrontations, and stability.

Brian Kidd’s assessment, along with what Yang Cheng observed on the training ground daily, confirmed that the players were gradually adapting to Yang Cheng’s requirements in training.

This filled everyone at the club, from top to bottom, with anticipation for the new season.

But Yang Cheng knew very well in his heart.

Building a mature and stable team was far from that simple.

This was only the beginning.

Chapter 13: He’s a bit like Ferguson!

From mid-July to the end of July, in just over half a month, Yang Cheng arranged a total of five pre-season friendlies.

The opponents were all teams from the surrounding areas.

Two amateur teams, one League Two team, and two League One teams.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese achieved an embarrassingly “impressive” record of one win, two draws, and two losses in five matches.

The two matches against the League One teams were both heavy defeats.

One was a 2-5 loss, the other 1-4.

The terrible pre-season results nearly dissipated the positive atmosphere built up during training camp.

The players had been confident in the head coach’s system, feeling it was advanced and made for attractive football.

And after two weeks of training, they had begun to grasp the basics of this playing style.

But when it came to actual matches, they found themselves playing in a complete mess.

Even against amateur teams, they struggled to replicate their performance in training.

Let alone against the formidable League One sides.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, however, were not surprised by this outcome.

It was something he had anticipated when arranging the friendlies.

The two League One teams were local rivals West Ham United and Reading from West London.

The Hammers were a team relegated from the Premier League.

Although they had sold a number of star players like Defoe, Joe Cole, and Kanouté in the summer transfer window, The Hammers were still a formidable side.

A midfielder Yang Cheng greatly admired, Carrick, was currently on The Hammers’ roster.

Reading were also a strong team, having finished fourth in League One last season and made it to the promotion playoffs, coming just shy of securing a spot in the Premier League.

Moreover, fans familiar with the Premier League would surely remember that in a few years, Chelsea would have two of their goalkeepers taken out in a single match, a match in which Čech, once a contender for the world’s best goalkeeper, would have his career altered.

Their opponent was Reading.

This team’s style of play was very rough and extremely aggressive.

Yang Cheng had deliberately scheduled these two opponents, hoping to use them to test his team and expose more problems.

It was just pre-season, after all; wins, losses, and results didn’t matter.

What was crucial was the upcoming Football League Second Division season.

But after every friendly, Yang Cheng would have everyone conduct a post-match review, making adjustments and improvements based on the problems exposed in the game.

After five friendlies, the first-team lineup for the Chinese had gradually taken shape.

The goalkeeper position belonged to Joe Hart.

Though only sixteen, his body had already filled out, and his performance was solid.

The backline, however, saw some changes.

The left-back was Tony Capaldi, the right-back was Steve Jenkins, and Koscielny occupied one of the center-back spots.

These were undisputed.

But the other center-back was a bit of a surprise to Yang Cheng.

From a technical and tactical perspective, Yang Cheng leaned towards the better passing of Luke Chambers, or even the younger Alex Baptiste.

But after a few friendlies, it turned out that Roger Johnson’s partnership with Koscielny was surprisingly the most effective.

Roger Johnson’s technique was rather crude and he made many passing errors, but he was outstanding in physical confrontations.

In the lower leagues, this was truly a great weapon.

In midfield, Huddlestone played a holding role, with Modrić and Martin Rowlands in the center. This was the least controversial area.

Andy Holdsworth and Lee Williamson both performed well, but they could only serve as substitutes.

Among them, Modrić’s promotion to the starting eleven was a bit of a stretch.

The Croatian’s technique was superb, and his passing was quite accurate, but his physique was too frail.

He performed terribly against both Reading and West Ham.

But Yang Cheng still had complete faith in him.

In the three-man midfield, Huddlestone was the anchor. Martin Rowlands and Modrić were originally box-to-box players, pushing up on offense and dropping back on defense.

But in the tactical review after the West Ham and Reading matches, Yang Cheng made an adjustment.

Martin Rowlands would take on more attacking duties, while Modrić would position himself relatively deeper.

This allowed Modrić to avoid getting drawn into physical battles with opponents as much as possible.

Up front, Jon Stead had gained the upper hand in his competition with Lambert.

But the arrangement of the two wings was also somewhat surprising to Yang Cheng.

Based on his past life’s knowledge, Ribéry was most effective playing on the left.

But the French winger wasn’t fully mature yet, so Yang Cheng was more inclined to place him on the right, hoping to use Ribéry’s speed and dribbling to tear open the opponent’s defense.

However, after five friendlies, Yang Cheng found that things weren’t quite right.

Ribéry didn’t coordinate well with Steve Jenkins.

Steve Jenkins was slow, had a limited range of movement, and mostly stayed back to defend.

And in a 4-3-3 formation, the distance between the winger and the full-back was already quite large.

Ribéry also shouldered the team’s attacking burden.

As a result, the partnership between Ribéry on the right wing and Jenkins became problematic, especially in defense.

In the match against West Ham, Bayswater Chinese’s right flank was torn to shreds by West Ham’s left-winger, England international Sinclair. Four of the five goals conceded came from that side.

Martin Devaney on the left flank, paired with Tony Capaldi, also had numerous issues.

The two players had very similar characteristics.

After the friendlies, Yang Cheng conducted a review with Brian Kidd.

The Englishman suggested moving Ribéry back to the left, in a more advanced position, and shifting Martin Devaney to the right, in a slightly deeper role.

Yang Cheng deeply agreed.

…

Afternoon of August 9th.

In the opening round of the 03/04 Football League Second Division season, Bayswater Chinese hosted newly promoted Grimsby Town.

Bayswater Stadium’s stands on the north and south sides hadn’t even started construction, and even the east and west stands were incomplete.

Therefore, the maximum capacity was only five thousand people.

And when Yang Cheng walked into the stadium, the East Stand directly opposite him was completely empty.

The weather in London today was a rare sunny day, but the sunlight falling on the empty East Stand felt somewhat awkward.

The West Stand, however, was quite full.

According to information Yang Cheng received, the attendance today reached two thousand five hundred fans.

This was largely thanks to Brian Kidd.

He was the team’s head coach in name, and local English fans still respected him.

Coupled with the significant investment in summer transfers, the fans had expectations.

Yang Cheng also had high hopes for this match.

He hoped the team could secure a home victory against the newly promoted team and get off to a winning start.

And he fielded his strongest possible lineup.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defenders: Tony Capaldi, Koscielny, Roger Johnson, and Steve Jenkins;

Midfielders: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Martin Rowlands and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Jon Stead, and Martin Devaney.

Yang Cheng’s tactic looked like a 4-3-3, but it was actually asymmetrical.

Devaney’s position was deeper, almost like a right midfielder, closer to Jenkins.

The entire left flank, however, was pushed forward, positioned more aggressively.

But this also presented a major hidden danger.

Koscielny and Roger Johnson were both the type of center-backs who played a high line and were quite aggressive.

And in midfield, Huddlestone was not a purely defensive player.

In addition, Bayswater Chinese had just been restructured, and the players lacked chemistry, especially in winning the ball back and repositioning after losing possession in midfield.

Thus, in the 27th minute of the match, a Grimsby Town midfielder sent a long pass over the top of the defense, which landed in front of the Dutch center-forward Laurens ten Heuvel.

Although Koscielny reacted instantly and chased back desperately, and despite his considerable speed, ten Heuvel had the advantage. After reaching the ball, he headed it directly to Michael Boulding, who was making a run behind Koscielny.

Boulding shot first-time without taking a touch, finding the back of the net and opening the scoring for the newly promoted side!

…

Clap!

Yang Cheng clapped his hands together forcefully, very disappointed with the first goal conceded in the first match of the new season.

Before this goal, the Chinese had been in complete control of the game and possession.

“For the most part, Koscielny is trustworthy. His physical strength is excellent, he marks tightly, tackles fiercely, and most importantly, he’s very fast with great recovery speed.”

Brian Kidd was also somewhat disappointed by the goal.

“But he’s too aggressive, especially when paired with Roger Johnson. It’s just…”

Yang Cheng gave a helpless, wry smile.

He suddenly thought of Ramos and Pepe from his past life, back when he first started coaching Real Madrid.

A magical combination of two reckless brutes.

“The two of them are too similar; they can’t form an effective, complementary partnership,” Yang Cheng said.

But he had no choice.

He had already noticed this problem and wanted to pair Koscielny with Luke Chambers or Alex Baptiste.

But the results were even worse than with Roger Johnson.

If he could, Yang Cheng would be very willing to find a calmer partner for Koscielny.

But for now, Roger Johnson was the best choice he had.

“Let’s give them some more time.”

Yang Cheng turned to Brian Kidd and chuckled. “A center-back’s growth is always accompanied by pain and suffering.”

Brian Kidd couldn’t help but break into a smile.

Sometimes, he found it very strange.

Yang Cheng was clearly so young, yet the things he said made him sound like he had a wealth of coaching experience.

Sometimes, he was even a bit like… Ferguson.

…

Just five minutes after Grimsby Town opened the scoring, the Chinese team’s left flank created a threat.

After an attempted dribble, Ribéry passed the ball to the overlapping Tony Capaldi.

Capaldi sent a cross from the left, and Jon Stead, making a run into the center, powerfully broke through the opponent’s defense and scored with a close-range header, successfully equalizing!

After halftime, in the 51st minute, Martin Rowlands assisted the French center-back Koscielny from a corner kick. Koscielny scored with a header, atoning for his earlier mistake and putting his team in the lead.

2-1!

If the earlier goal had made Koscielny part of the background scenery, this goal ignited the emotions of the home fans.

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese controlled the proceedings.

It was just that because the team was newly formed and the players were unfamiliar with each other, there were quite a few errors in their passing and movement.

In the 84th minute, a misplaced pass near the centerline, which the midfield failed to win back in time, led to their defense being breached once again.

Forward Ryan Anderson scored Grimsby Town’s second goal.

2-2!

The match ultimately ended in a draw!

After the final whistle, Yang Cheng greeted the players walking off the pitch with a round of applause.

This took the players by surprise.

Being held to a draw at home by a newly promoted team was by no means a good start for a Bayswater Chinese side aiming for promotion.

But Yang Cheng knew better.

This was already a decent start.

The league season was long.

He believed that as his team accumulated match experience, as they addressed problems one by one, and as the players’ chemistry grew, they would gradually hit their stride!

And when that time came, no one would be able to stop Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 14: So He’s the Head Coach After All!

After being forced to a draw at home by a newly promoted team in the first round, Bayswater Chinese’s league ranking fell to 11th place.

For that, they had their club name to thank, which came before Grimsby Town’s in alphabetical order.

The truly strong teams, however, had all demonstrated their quality.

Queens Park Rangers, for example.

The London neighbors had thrashed Blackpool 5-0 at home.

Then there was Bristol City, one of the favorites for promotion, who also won 5-0 at home against Notts County.

With forty-four goals scored across twelve matches, the competition was fierce.

As Yang Cheng had said before, the gap in strength between teams in the lower leagues was much wider than in the top flight.

Another statistic from the first round was embarrassing for Bayswater Chinese: the attendance figures.

A total of four matches saw attendance break ten thousand.

The highest was the Queens Park Rangers vs. Blackpool match, which drew over 15,000 fans, maintaining the consistently high attendance typical of London teams.

But the match with the lowest attendance was also in London.

Bayswater Chinese had a total attendance of 2,513, continuing the team’s sluggish turnouts of the past few years.

The average attendance for the twelve Football League Second Division matches in the first round was 8,241.

This left Yang Cheng feeling quite helpless.

It would be a long road to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor.

What was even more frustrating was that three days after the Grimsby Town match, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 away to Colchester United in the first round of the League Cup, getting knocked out early.

…

On the afternoon of August 16th, in the second round of the Football League Second Division, Bayswater Chinese challenged Rushden & Diamonds away from home.

Facing a newly promoted team once again, Yang Cheng stuck with a 4-3-3 formation.

Throughout the entire first half, aside from a brief five-minute spell of spirited counter-attacks, Rushden & Diamonds were mostly on the back foot, defending.

The Chinese completely controlled possession and dominated the field, creating plenty of dangerous opportunities.

All that was missing was the final touch.

But just as Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others felt the Chinese were getting into their groove, the situation suddenly changed in the second half.

Rushden & Diamonds launched a sudden counter-offensive, increasing the intensity of their midfield pressing.

This threw the Chinese into disarray.

In the 54th and 56th minutes, in a span of less than three minutes, they conceded two goals.

Although they quickly stabilized and pulled one back in the 77th minute with an assist from Ribéry for Tony Capaldi, it was not enough.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 away to Rushden & Diamonds.

Two matches against newly promoted teams to start the season: a draw at home, a loss away.

Add to that an early exit from the League Cup.

It was a very disappointing start.

After the loss to Rushden & Diamonds, the Chinese team’s ranking dropped to 17th in the league.

…

After returning to London from Irthlingborough, Yang Cheng immediately called a tactical meeting.

All the players expected to be scolded.

To their surprise, Yang Cheng praised their performance in the first half and from the 70th minute onward.

“If we had a little more luck in this match, I’m sure we would have won!”

Yang Cheng highlighted several bright spots from the game, singling out a few players for praise.

Ribéry, for instance, had been the best player for the Chinese in the match.

Although the center-back pairing of Koscielny and Roger Johnson was responsible for the goals conceded, they had performed well for the rest of the game, outside of that dark three-minute spell.

Modrić had been rather unlucky; both goals came after he was dispossessed while dribbling.

It was clear the opposition had made plans to target Modrić during the halftime break.

The Croatian was too slightly built; as soon as an opponent got close, he would lose the ball.

And everyone knew that Premier League referees had always been more lenient when it came to physical contact and fouls.

This was even more true in the lower leagues.

The inconsistent officiating, coupled with the quality of the referees, meant that many actions that were clearly fouls went uncalled.

Modrić was at a particular disadvantage in this regard.

Naturally, Yang Cheng offered him some words of comfort.

But he also mentioned the team’s progress.

Especially the fightback after conceding two goals, which was played with great aggression and threat.

“Remember that feeling, remember that rhythm. That’s the football we want to play!”

…

On the afternoon of August 23rd.

Football League Second Division, Round 3. Bayswater Chinese hosted Stockport County.

The match attracted only about 2,000 fans.

After starting the new season with one draw and one loss, the entire Chinese team was fired up, everyone holding in a breath of frustration.

From the kick-off, the home side, the Chinese, launched a fierce attack.

The players were clearly beginning to adapt to the intensity of the Second Division.

Ribéry, in particular, was exceptionally lively on the left wing.

In the 21st minute, it was Ribéry’s dribble and breakthrough on the left, followed by a low cross to the edge of the six-yard box. Striker Jon Stead used his body to hold off a defender before sweeping the ball into the net.

1-0!

The emotions of the 2,000 fans in the stadium were instantly ignited.

Just two minutes later, another breakthrough from Ribéry. He crossed from near the byline to the front of the goal, and Martin Rowlands slid in to score.

2-0!

The sparse stadium erupted with the fervent cheers of 2,000 fans.

Five minutes later, another attack initiated by Ribéry on the left flank. Martin Rowlands passed the ball horizontally from the edge of the box to the unmarked right side. Martin Devaney made a late run from deep, using his pace to burst to the byline before crossing.

Stead scored with a close-range header. 3-0!

Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement.

Beside him, Brian Kidd, Thad Foucher, and Oliver Bartlett also rushed forward in celebration.

Three goals in less than ten minutes!

And Stockport County was no weak team.

They had finished mid-table in the Second Division last season and were a decent side.

The entire first half consisted of the Chinese attacking and Stockport County defending.

It wasn’t until the second half, with a midweek game to consider, that Yang Cheng made some substitutions. Only then did Stockport County’s performance improve, and they even managed to create some threats.

But in the 83rd minute, the Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Substitute striker Rickie Lambert, who had come on for Jon Stead, met a cross from Steve Jenkins on the right and scored from close range, sealing the score at 4-0!

The Chinese had completed a thoroughly satisfying and resounding victory!

This big win not only earned the players high praise from Yang Cheng after the match but also lifted the Chinese team’s ranking to 14th place.

…

On the afternoon of August 26th.

Football League Second Division, Round 4. Bayswater Chinese away to Chesterfield.

To protect his players, Yang Cheng had to make adjustments to the lineup.

For example, three young players—Modrić, Huddlestone, and Koscielny—were all rested.

But even so, and despite playing away, the Chinese team still controlled the advantage and tempo of the game in the first half with their increasingly slick, quick passing and movement.

Chesterfield had never encountered a team that played this style in the Second Division.

Crucially, it was also executed very smoothly.

Due to playing in two competitions, they missed several chances in the first half.

After the break, Chesterfield seized the initiative.

During a counter-attack, their forward, Glynn Hurst, used his pace to break through the defense of Roger Johnson and Luke Chambers.

In his haste, Johnson grabbed him from behind and brought him down.

Both players fell inside the penalty area.

Although he wasn’t the last defender and was lucky to escape a red card, he was still given a a yellow card and a penalty kick.

Chesterfield captain Brandon coolly converted the spot-kick, opening the scoring for the home team.

The Chinese only managed to equalize in the 77th minute, when Ribéry assisted Martin Rowlands for a goal.

1-1!

The two sides shook hands on a draw.

After this round, the Chinese team’s ranking fell to 16th place.

…

On the afternoon of August 30th.

Football League Second Division, Round 5. Bayswater Chinese hosted Brighton.

As a newly promoted team this season, Brighton was in 3rd place in the Second Division after four rounds of matches, making them a true dark horse.

However, Brian Kidd advised Yang Cheng to pay attention to Brighton’s head coach, Steve Coppell.

Yang Cheng was no stranger to this man; he was quite famous in England.

Moreover, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he was the head coach when Reading famously defeated Chelsea twice.

Coppell’s coaching style had always been very tough.

Visiting Bayswater Stadium this time, he showed no signs of weakness. Instead, from the very beginning, he set his team up to go toe-to-toe with the Chinese. His players were also very rough and extremely aggressive.

The match entered a white-hot phase from the very start.

Playing consecutive matches with a younger squad and a lower ranking, the Chinese were clearly at a disadvantage in this respect.

But Yang Cheng didn’t shy away either, meeting the challenge head-on.

The match began in the 14th minute with an own goal from Steve Jenkins.

Just five minutes later, Koscielny equalized for the Chinese with a header from a corner kick.

But in the 41st minute, Brighton returned the favor, also from a corner, capitalizing on the Chinese team’s lack of coordination. Their center-back, Guy Butters, scored to put them ahead once more.

After halftime, encouraged by Yang Cheng, the Chinese launched a ferocious offensive but were unable to break through Brighton’s goal.

The suffocating formation Coppell had set up in midfield severely disrupted the Chinese team’s passing game.

In the 73rd minute, after a long period of unsuccessful attacks, the Chinese made a passing error in midfield, which Brighton seized upon.

Winger Leon Knight made a quick forward run, successfully beating the offside trap, and scored from a one-on-one situation.

3-1!

…

The moment Leon Knight broke through on goal, Yang Cheng already anticipated conceding.

He covered his face with his hands in disappointment.

But he quickly turned around.

At that moment, the expression on his face had become resolute, without a trace of disappointment.

This was the “face-changing” skill he had honed over many years as a head coach in his previous life.

No matter the situation, he had to remain impassive, showing neither joy nor anger.

Only then could he instill confidence in his players and his assistants!

“Substitution!”

Yang Cheng made the decision instantly.

Brian Kidd nodded.

Making a substitution now was the best choice.

He even had a feeling that Yang Cheng hadn’t made any changes so far in the match because he was waiting for an opportunity.

He just hadn’t expected them to concede a third goal.

“Take off Steve Jenkins and Tony Capaldi.”

“Bring on Rickie Lambert and Lee Williamson.”

Soon, Lambert and Williamson were standing before Yang Cheng, listening intently to the “head coach’s” instructions, nodding from time to time.

Not far away, in front of the away team’s dugout, Steve Coppell watched this scene with surprise.

As a Manchester United legend, he was very familiar with Brian Kidd and knew his capabilities.

It would be no problem at all for Brian Kidd to manage Bayswater Chinese.

But now, why did he still look like an assistant coach?

Instead, it was that young kid who was standing on the touchline, directing the game.

This immediately took Steve Coppell by surprise, and he couldn’t help but move a little closer, trying to eavesdrop.

Faintly, Coppell heard Yang Cheng shouting.

“Tell everyone, this is our home ground, I want to see a victory!”

“Forget everything else, just bombard Brighton’s goal for me!”

That tone, that manner of speaking… if that wasn’t a head coach, what was?

Coppell watched Yang Cheng giving orders from afar, momentarily stunned.

So he’s the head coach after all!

Chapter 15: Well Done, Modrić!

“I must succeed in England!”

Back in Zagreb, when he decided to join the Bayswater Chinese, Modrić had already made up his mind.

This was a huge gamble on his career, on his life.

At that hearing in London, when Yang Cheng described him as a genius in front of everyone, Modrić truly felt a sense of trust he had never experienced before.

At the same time, he was filled with gratitude.

Besides the youth academy coaches from his childhood, no one, no team, had ever placed such faith in him.

To repay that trust, he gave his all every single day at Bayswater Chinese.

For a long period during the team’s summer training camp, he would get cramps every day.

Even though he had been through it many times, the memory alone was still enough to bring back a sensation of pain.

The American coach, Thad Foucher, told him that the muscle spasms were a sign that his body was still young and gradually adapting to high-level, high-intensity training.

The coaching staff designed a special stretching and strength training regimen for him to enhance his muscle power.

Even his diet and the water he drank were different from everyone else’s.

All of this helped him constantly improve and grow stronger.

Professional players are the most sensitive to their own bodies.

Modrić knew his own condition better than anyone.

But he had still underestimated the difficulty of the English leagues.

When he came off the pitch after the pre-season friendly against West Ham United, his knee pad had been pierced straight through by an opponent’s studs.

Would a competitive match be any better?

No!

English referees often ignored rough challenges that endangered a player’s safety.

This was especially true for away team players.

They called this grit.

Manchester United’s Roy Keane and Arsenal’s Vieira, two players notorious for picking up cards for their rough play, were somehow the spiritual symbols of their respective teams, revered by countless fans.

This was something Modrić had not expected.

But he wasn’t intimidated.

Because he was from the Balkans.

A place known as the powder keg of Europe.

Having lived through war, he knew that cowardice and timidity were worthless.

He had to get stronger! Stronger still!

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett designed a series of special training sessions just for him.

His greatest strengths were his agility and endurance.

His physique and height were his natural shortcomings.

Especially in official matches, opponents quickly identified the scrawny Modrić as a weak link.

They would always charge and collide with him the moment he received the ball.

This caused him to make frequent mistakes, which was a source of great frustration.

Under head coach Yang Cheng’s instructions, the two fitness coaches designed targeted training to help him learn how to quickly escape physical confrontations and avoid the brunt of his opponents’ fierce challenges.

Moreover, Brian Kidd also told Modrić something.

If he wanted to adapt to the English leagues, he needed to make his every action more concise, swifter, and more threatening.

The Croatian worked hard every day.

He could also clearly feel the trust and support from his head coach.

Though he never said it to anyone, he was holding a fire within him.

“I must succeed in England!”

“I must help the Bayswater Chinese, help the head coach, succeed!”

Modrić didn’t know what others were thinking.

But for him, this conviction grew clearer and clearer.

And it became even stronger whenever the team or the head coach faced difficulties!

Today, with the team trailing Brighton 3-1, and the head coach making a double substitution in one go, Modrić’s resolve intensified like never before.

Steve Jenkins and Tony Capaldi were taken off.

Both full-backs had expended a lot of energy.

Coming on were Rickie Lambert and Lee Williamson.

Lambert, needless to say, was going to play as a center-forward.

Lee Williamson could play in the center or on the right.

With his Jamaican heritage, he possessed excellent stamina and defensive abilities, and he always played with great commitment and passed the ball well.

According to the head coach’s latest instructions, Huddlestone dropped even deeper.

With no full-backs, the defensive line adopted a formation resembling three center-backs.

This was the head coach instilling his determination in the players!

He didn’t want to lose!

Even at 3-1 down, he was still thinking about scoring, still thinking about winning!

The midfield had to be controlled.

Otherwise, if the ball reached the defensive line, they would be finished.

He was burning his bridges!

It was time to fight!

Captain Martin Rowlands realized this too, and he dropped back to form what resembled a two-man central midfield with Lee Williamson, locking down the middle of the pitch.

Modrić also shifted his position slightly to the right.

He was constantly observing.

Without the support of full-backs, Ribéry on the left and Martin Devaney on the right had to rely more on their individual abilities, fighting alone.

The head coach was betting everything on Ribéry.

The Frenchman’s individual skill was indeed the best on the team, especially his dribbling, which was nearly impossible to stop.

But Brighton had also set up their defense to target Ribéry, blocking off his side of the pitch.

Rickie Lambert was a center-forward, but after coming on, he didn’t just stay up front; he often dropped back to receive the ball.

He had good technique, a strong physique, and was excellent at linking up play, primarily to support Ribéry.

Stead naturally drifted towards that side as well.

After conceding the third goal in the 73rd minute, for the roughly seven minutes leading up to the 80th, Bayswater Chinese launched all their attacks down the left flank.

But Brighton’s defense was tight.

Modrić constantly roamed around the edge of the penalty area, just to the right of center.

He was patiently waiting for an opportunity.

Finally, in the 81st minute, his chance came.

It was another attack from the left. Ribéry attempted to get to the byline and cross.

The ball reached the six-yard box but was cleared by a center-back, headed away.

Near the left side of the D, Lambert challenged for the second ball, heading it back into the penalty area.

The box instantly descended into chaos.

Stead failed to get to the ball, and it was headed away once more.

But in the rush, the clearance went high, looping towards the empty right side of the penalty area.

Modrić, who had been lurking outside, waiting for this very chance, didn’t hesitate for a second. He darted forward, surged into the box, and reached the ball before the defender, cushioning it to his left with his right foot.

The defender rushed in too eagerly, but he was experienced enough to quickly regain his balance, adjust, and move to block Modrić’s left foot.

If the Croatian’s first touch had been even slightly off, if his composure had faltered at that critical moment, the error in his control would have been significant.

But at this crucial juncture, Modrić’s touch was perfect. He brought the ball across with his right foot, adjusted his body, and seeing the defender desperately lunging in to block, he cut the ball back to his right with his left foot.

The defender completely lost his balance, watching helplessly as the ball slipped past him.

Modrić took another step forward to meet it and powerfully struck the ball with his right foot.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Modrić’s powerful shot was so fast it left everyone stunned.

Brighton’s defenders and goalkeeper hadn’t even had time to react before the ball was nestling in the back of the net.

2-3!

In an instant, the more than two thousand fans in the stadium erupted!

They all leaped to their feet, clapping and cheering with all their might!

Modrić froze for a second, somewhat surprised himself.

But soon, he spun around excitedly and sprinted towards the fans in the West Stand. Reaching the edge of the pitch, he executed a perfect backflip before roaring in celebration at the sea of red in the stands.

…

“What a beautiful goal!”

Brian Kidd exclaimed in disbelief.

To be honest, he hadn’t seen clearly how the goal was scored.

But his instincts as a former top professional player gave him a good idea.

Yang Cheng was also overjoyed.

Well done, Modrić!

This goal was so important for the Chinese team!

Even if they didn’t end up winning the match, the morale boost from this goal alone made it all worthwhile!

“Make another change. Get Andy Holdsworth on.”

Martin Rowlands was exhausted today.

…

After the substitution, Andy Holdsworth and Lee Williamson played something like a double pivot in midfield.

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, pushed Modrić further forward.

He could see that Modrić was in excellent form.

Sure enough, with more space to operate in, Modrić’s threat in attack became fully apparent.

After conceding, Brighton was pressed back by the Bayswater Chinese, forced into a defensive shell.

They were already thinking desperately about just holding on to their 3-2 victory.

But the morale of the Bayswater Chinese had been completely ignited.

It wasn’t just the players on the field; even the fans in the stands were watching with their blood pumping.

They had stood up to applaud and celebrate Modrić’s goal.

After that, the two thousand fans never sat back down.

They kept cheering for the players from the stands, chanting their names over and over.

In reality, they weren’t very familiar with the players and often shouted the wrong names.

But that didn’t matter.

Throughout the entire stadium, from the stands to the pitch, from the players to the coach, everyone wanted to win.

And when everyone’s beliefs are aligned, they can often unleash astonishing power.

In the 89th minute, the moment Modrić received the ball and evaded a defender, he quickly released a pass, threading it through a gap to Ribéry on the left side of the box.

The Frenchman didn’t take a touch, instead letting the ball run ahead of him as he immediately accelerated, shaking off his defender. Near the byline, he played a sharp pass across the face of the goal.

Up front, Lambert and Stead both charged in to attack the ball.

Lambert made a run to the near post. Though he was a step too slow, he managed to distract the goalkeeper and a defender.

In the center, Stead bundled both himself and the ball into Brighton’s goal.

3-3!

The stadium erupted in frenzied cheers once again!

Yang Cheng couldn’t contain his excitement and rushed out of the technical area.

As he did, he saw the dejected face of Steve Coppell in the away team’s dugout.

Despite his tight defense, despite his team’s quality and the immense effort of his players, they had failed to hold on to their lead in the end.

The tall center-forward, Jon Stead, ran excitedly to the stands, basking in the cheers of the entire crowd.

As a local striker, this was already his fourth goal of the season.

Four goals in five league matches—what an excellent strike rate!

Especially considering he was only twenty years old!

Chapter 16: Defeating Ferguson

“Now I completely understand your persistence.”

When Yang Cheng was called back to the coach’s bench by the fourth official on the sideline, Brian Kidd was still smiling.

Having played football since he was a child, seasoned by countless battles, and having helped Manchester United win the Champions League, followed by decades of coaching, Brian Kidd knew all too well the value of this match to Bayswater Chinese.

Three points?

No, that was far too little!

The value of this match was immeasurable.

Because this was the first time Bayswater Chinese had, in the face of adversity, united as one and scored two consecutive goals to level the score.

Winning or losing wasn’t important.

What was important was that after this match, Yang Cheng’s team would reach a new level, whether in terms of their technical and tactical play, their morale, or even the players’ confidence.

“I told you, Modrić will become a world-class midfielder!”

Yang Cheng was full of confidence as he said this.

Brian Kidd couldn’t say for sure yet if he would be world-class.

But he was already clear on Modrić’s importance to Bayswater Chinese.

Or rather, his importance to any team he played for.

Technique? Passing? Vision? Controlling the tempo?

It was none of those!

His most precious quality was his fearlessness under pressure, and his ability to pass the ball out from amidst that intense pressure.

Throughout history, such players have always been extremely rare.

Of course, the current Modrić had not yet matured; his physique was still a bit slender.

But Yang Cheng had undoubtedly seen this potential early on.

That was why he didn’t hesitate to use the Special Talent Clause to sign him.

It was why, when Modrić was making frequent mistakes, he stood firm against all opposition to keep him in the starting lineup.

Today, Modrić had repaid Yang Cheng with his growth and improvement.

This made Brian Kidd feel an even deeper sense of admiration.

“Just now, the connection between Ribéry and Modrić was very impressive.”

In Yang Cheng’s tactical system, Ribéry’s ability to receive the ball and break through in the attacking third, and Modrić’s ball retention and control in midfield, were two crucial cores.

In contrast, Jon Stead, who had been the most eye-catching performer and top scorer this season, and Martin Rowlands, who delivered the most threatening passes, seemed more like supporting characters.

Or perhaps, they were not indispensable.

“It’s a pity our right winger isn’t strong enough, and our two full-backs, especially the right one, lack the ability to push forward and attack. Otherwise, we’d be flying right now.”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Brian Kidd couldn’t help but smile.

That’s how it was in the lower leagues; the pool of available talent was always limited.

…

The match ultimately ended in a 3-3 draw.

Although Bayswater Chinese couldn’t secure a win against Brighton at home, forcing a draw was still a decent result.

As Yang Cheng went to greet his players, Brighton’s head coach, Steve Coppell, voluntarily walked over to Brian Kidd.

Both men had come from Manchester United and knew each other very well.

What Coppell found most strange was why Brian Kidd would choose to become an assistant coach in the third tier.

If he were a head coach, it would be marginally understandable.

But to be an assistant coach—wasn’t that demeaning himself?

“The salary they offered was high,” Brian Kidd answered his old friend, his voice full of justification.

Coppell naturally didn’t believe him, but his gaze still shifted toward Yang Cheng.

Although the 3-3 draw was a tie, it revealed many things.

In fact, looking at the entire match, Bayswater Chinese was the team that had controlled the initiative.

The fluid passing and movement that appeared from time to time had left a particularly deep impression on Coppell.

Such a tactical style was still extremely rare in English football.

“He’s very similar to Arsenal’s Wenger, but more aggressive,” Coppell commented.

Brian Kidd’s eyes followed Coppell’s, landing on Yang Cheng, who was in front of the stands thanking the fans with his players. He broke into a knowing smile.

“He might be able to bring me what I want. That’s why I came here.”

Coppell was visibly stunned for a moment. He took another deep look at Yang Cheng and let out a soft sigh.

“Well then, I wish you both the best of luck!”

Coppell knew what Brian Kidd wanted.

In fact, it was something that he, and indeed all coaches from Manchester United, and even every coach in England, wanted.

It was just that Brian Kidd’s situation was tangled with a few more personal grievances.

For football people like them who came from Manchester United, Ferguson was an insurmountable monument.

Defeating Ferguson was their lifelong pursuit!

And it was the best way to pay tribute to him!

…

At night, Stamford Bridge was as bright as day.

When the referee, Mike Dean, blew the final whistle, the more than forty thousand Chelsea fans were extremely dissatisfied with the result.

2-2, Chelsea had drawn with Blackburn Rovers at home.

This was the fourth-round match of the Premier League.

The club’s owner, Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, accompanied by Chairman Buck, agent Pini Zahavi, and others, had watched the match from the VIP box at Stamford Bridge.

He was very disappointed with the team under Ranieri’s management!

Just this summer transfer window, the Russian had brought in famous players like Crespo, Duff, Mutu, Verón, Makélélé, Bridge, Geremi, and Joe Cole for Chelsea.

He had spent nearly one hundred and twenty million pound sterling!

That was pound sterling!

As a result, the team started the new season with two wins and two draws, still sitting in fourth place.

And Arsenal?

They were currently on a four-game winning streak, already four points ahead.

Although the season was still long, falling behind right at the start made Abramovich very unhappy.

“Ranieri doesn’t look like someone who can bring victory and success to the team!”

Abramovich ran a huge business and had seen all sorts of people; he believed he had some skill in judging character.

Ranieri just didn’t seem like the kind of powerhouse who carried an aura of victory.

Pini Zahavi stood beside him, smiling and nodding.

He had made a fortune during this summer’s transfer window.

If nothing else, his commissions alone were staggering.

“Don’t worry, Roman. I’m already looking. I promise to bring you the best head coach in Europe right now.”

Abramovich turned his head, glanced at the Israeli, and chuckled with the playful banter of a friend.

“You also told me before that you could take care of that amateur team north of us within a month. And what happened? How long has it been?”

Pini Zahavi immediately gave an embarrassed smile and said self-deprecatingly, “I didn’t expect that kid to be so difficult to deal with.”

“That kid really became the head coach?”

“Yes, it’s utter nonsense.”

Because it was a lower-division league, one wouldn’t really know unless they were paying close attention.

But those who did know mostly found it absurd.

A twenty-three-year-old, the owner’s son, becoming the head coach?

Wasn’t this just some rich kid messing around?

“A bit of nonsense is good. You still need to think of a way to speed things up on your end.”

Money was something Abramovich never lacked.

Pini Zahavi mulled it over for a moment, then nodded. “I’ve also contacted the Yangs a few times recently, but they don’t want to talk right now. I’ve looked into it; perhaps we can start with the company that loaned them the money.”

“I had Kesher Harris look into it. That company isn’t large and isn’t very prominent in the City of London. We should be able to figure something out.”

“Then hurry up!”

Abramovich turned his head back to look out at Stamford Bridge.

From the first time he had seen this stadium, he had disliked it.

With land already purchased for a new training facility, he was now eager to buy Bayswater Stadium.

He was going to build the most luxurious football stadium in all of Europe, perhaps the entire world, right there!

Only such a stadium would be worthy of the dynasty Abramovich was building!

…

The next morning.

While the media across Europe, and indeed the world, was gloating over Chelsea’s two consecutive draws, Chris Hunt was called into his boss’s office as soon as he arrived at work at Elvino Asset Management, located just west of the City of London.

“See for yourself.”

Following his boss’s gesture, Chris Hunt saw the freshly printed weekend league report from The Sun.

On an obscure page, in a very inconspicuous corner, he saw the latest league table and weekend results for the Football League Second Division.

Bayswater Chinese had drawn 3-3 with Brighton at home and was ranked fifteenth.

Although Brighton was held to a draw away from home, causing their ranking to slip by one spot, they were still in fourth place.

“I don’t know what you were thinking back then, to actually believe that team could be brought back from the dead.”

“Look at it now. Five rounds in, ranked fifteenth. It’s no different from the past few seasons—a surefire relegation team.”

Chris Hunt endured the torrent of his boss’s words until his anger subsided slightly, then he finally spoke up.

“Boss, the season has only just begun. I’ve been keeping a close eye on Bayswater Chinese. In the long run…”

“Don’t talk to me about the long run. I never intended for this to be a long-term investment.”

His boss cut him off rudely.

“If we let that Chinese kid keep messing around, this team is guaranteed to be relegated. Even a dozen Brian Kidds couldn’t save them.”

“Over the years, haven’t there been enough screw-ups in League One, League Two, and even the Premier League? How many teams have been ruined?”

“Right now, all I care about is my three million pound sterling!”

Chris Hunt smacked his lips. He really wanted to say that they had only loaned out two million pound sterling…

But he chose to remain silent.

“I’ve been thinking, we can’t just let them continue this nonsense while we do nothing. We need to get a move on and figure something out ourselves.”

Chris Hunt was taken aback.

The money had already been loaned out. What else could they do?

“That piece of land…” the boss said, looking at Chris Hunt, his eyes seeming to gleam.

A greedy light shone from within.

“I know some teams, and other companies, are interested in that land. We need to study this and find a way to wrench that land free, then turn around and sell it.”

Chris Hunt frowned, a look of surprise on his face.

Wasn’t this backstab a bit too devious?

But his boss snorted twice. “Don’t forget, Chris, according to the contract, if the land is sold within two years, we get a twenty percent commission.”

Chris Hunt finally understood.

From the very beginning, his boss had never believed that Bayswater Chinese could be revived.

From the moment he lent the money, he had been scheming to force a sale of the land.

On one hand, he was earning high interest from Bayswater Chinese; on the other, he would get a cut from the land sale. By connecting with a good buyer, he could facilitate the deal and receive a hefty commission, and maybe even profit from the price difference…

This was a classic case of getting multiple benefits from one venture.

“For now, you keep quiet and help me keep a close watch on Bayswater Chinese. Once I’ve found a buyer and everything is ready, we’ll pay them a visit.”

Chris Hunt sighed inwardly.

This was why he was just an employee and not the boss.

It was just too damn sinister!

Chapter 17: Claiming First Place

While the world’s media and fans were focused on the 2003-04 Champions League group stage draw, Yang Cheng was hunkered down in Bayswater, focused on preparing his players for their upcoming matches.

Playing three matches in one week had exposed many of the team’s problems, and there had been no time to resolve them.

After the Brighton match, Yang Cheng decided to further adjust the roles and positions in the midfield.

But, of course, no one paid any attention to the movements of a League Two team hovering near the relegation zone.

A week later, on September 6th, Bayswater Chinese faced Brentford in an away match.

This was the sixth round of League Two.

Fielding their full-strength starting lineup, Bayswater Chinese launched a fast-paced assault from the opening whistle.

After more than ten matches of constant practice and integration, Yang Cheng’s starting lineup was becoming increasingly cohesive and had begun to stabilize.

In the 9th minute, Ribéry broke through on the left wing and sent in a cross. From the left edge of the penalty area, Martin Rowlands delivered a brilliant pass to Stead, who shouldered past a defender and converted from close range.

1-0!

However, faced with Bayswater Chinese’s aggressive attack, Brentford quickly answered back.

In the 27th minute, center forward Ben May capitalized on a defensive error to equalize for Brentford.

The score remained level well into the second half.

In the 60th minute, Yang Cheng made a substitution.

He brought on the younger, more energetic Kevin Foley to replace the veteran Steve Jenkins.

It was precisely this change that made Bayswater Chinese’s right flank a threat.

Just two minutes later, the French winger Ribéry received a brilliant pass from Martin Rowlands and scored, putting Bayswater Chinese back in the lead.

In the 84th minute, another attack initiated from the right flank saw Martin Devaney score off an assist from Kevin Foley, sealing the victory for Bayswater Chinese, 3-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Brentford 3-1 on the road.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s second victory of the season.

After this round, their league ranking rose to 11th place.

…

On the afternoon of September 13th, in the seventh round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese hosted Luton Town.

From the very beginning, the match was played at Bayswater Chinese’s tempo.

Having found their rhythm recently, Bayswater Chinese displayed an intimidating presence, with both of their wings playing with great energy.

Luton Town’s head coach, Mike Newell, had not prepared an adequate targeted defense.

This led to an early goal. Just six minutes into the match, Steve Jenkins delivered a precise cross from the right flank, and Jon Stead headed it in from close range to open the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

Although Paul Hughes, a product of the Chelsea youth academy, equalized for Luton Town in the 25th minute.

But after that, the match became a stage completely dominated by Bayswater Chinese.

In the 34th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack, and Devaney found the net again. 2-1!

This was the second consecutive match in which Devaney had scored.

In the 42nd minute, Martin Rowlands made a late run from midfield and unleashed a powerful shot, extending the lead for his team. 3-1!

During first-half stoppage time, Stead connected with a brilliant pass from Tony Capaldi on the left, scoring another header to complete his brace. 4-1!

At halftime, the Bayswater Chinese players walked off the pitch to the roar of more than two thousand fans.

After the break, Martin Rowlands scored again, followed by another goal from substitute Lambert.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Luton Town 6-1 at home.

It was another resounding, satisfying victory.

But what was most gratifying was the spirit and tactical sophistication the team displayed throughout the match.

Their increasingly fluid passing and movement left the Luton Town players reeling and had the home fans utterly captivated.

Such a style of football was unheard of in the lower leagues.

After this victory, Bayswater Chinese jumped to 8th place in the standings.

…

Midweek, on the afternoon of September 16th, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Peterborough for the eighth round of League Two.

Just ten minutes into the match, Ribéry dribbled into the box and was fouled, earning a penalty.

Martin Rowlands coolly stepped up and converted it. 1-0!

This was Martin Rowlands’ fifth goal of the season.

Both his scoring efficiency and his individual performance were far superior to any of his previous seasons.

More importantly, at Bayswater Chinese, he seemed to have finally emerged from the shadow of the injuries that had plagued him for the past two seasons.

Although Andy Clarke later equalized for Peterborough.

But in the 84th minute, a goal from Tony Capaldi secured the victory for Bayswater Chinese.

2-1. Bayswater Chinese had secured their third consecutive win.

Their league ranking shot up directly to 5th place.

…

The weekend brought the ninth round of League Two.

Bayswater Chinese was once again playing away from home.

Their opponent was Wrexham.

Playing two matches in a week, with two consecutive away games, had clearly taken its toll on Bayswater Chinese.

Just seven minutes in, Jon Stead, whose confidence had been growing with each goal, unleashed a thunderous shot from the edge of the penalty area that found the back of Wrexham’s net.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese maintained control of the game.

But in the 72nd minute, after losing possession in midfield, Wrexham launched a counter-attack.

Koscielny, who was already on a yellow card, committed a foul and was sent off with a red card.

Wrexham pressed their numerical advantage, launching a furious assault.

But in the 90th minute, Bayswater Chinese capitalized on a rapid counter-attack, and Martin Rowlands scored again to put the game away.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Wrexham on the road, securing their fourth consecutive victory!

As both Queens Park Rangers and Swindon had been held to away draws.

Bayswater Chinese, with their impressive four-match winning streak, leapfrogged them with eighteen points, climbing to 2nd place on the League Two table, just one point behind Port Vale’s nineteen.

…

After the ninth round, the team returned to London and had a week to rest and recover.

Yang Cheng used this opportunity to hold a meeting.

He could clearly feel that with the team’s string of victories, everyone’s confidence had been ignited.

Furthermore, the players’ coordination was improving, the team was gelling, and their overall effectiveness was on full display.

Everyone could see it clearly: this was truly a team with the strength to challenge for the title!

Yang Cheng acknowledged everyone’s performance and hard work, but he also reminded them that they had only played nine rounds of a forty-six-round league season.

“The league season is long, and we all need to stay one hundred and twenty percent focused!”

Riding this wave of momentum, Bayswater Chinese hosted Barnsley a week later for the tenth round of League Two. They decisively swept their opponents aside with two goals from Roger Johnson and Stead.

With Port Vale held to a draw at home by Wycombe Wanderers in the same round, Bayswater Chinese, now with twenty-one points, overtook Port Vale’s twenty and claimed the top spot in League Two.

This was the first time Bayswater Chinese had ever reached the top of the League Two table in their years in the division.

Even if it was only temporary.

What made Yang Cheng even happier was that for the home game against Barnsley, Bayswater Stadium saw a total of three thousand fans in attendance—the largest crowd in the last three seasons.

This brought great joy to Lin Zhongqiu as well, further strengthening his faith in Yang Cheng’s words.

As long as the team’s results improved and they played attractive football, word of mouth would continue to bring more and more fans to the stadium.

Once the team had some money, they could naturally introduce a series of initiatives to reward the fans, further strengthening their bond and building the club’s own core fanbase.

…

Although Yang Cheng was extremely cautious, some things were simply unavoidable.

For a team like Bayswater Chinese, the fluctuating mentality of its young players often caused the team’s overall performance to fluctuate as well.

After finally reaching the summit, the team was held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by mid-table Bristol City in the eleventh round of League Two.

Steve Jenkins, the hero who scored the equalizing goal, was also injured during the match and had to be substituted off.

Since Port Vale won their home game against Peterborough, they overtook Bayswater Chinese to reclaim the top spot.

Bayswater Chinese’s ranking even dropped behind Brighton’s, leaving them in 3rd place.

Spending just one week at the top had been a considerable blow to the young players of Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng didn’t see it as a major issue.

Fluctuations in form were normal for young players. For the team, this was a very important learning experience.

It was also a reminder to the players that the brutal league season allowed no room for the slightest complacency.

Let alone blind arrogance.

…

In the twelfth round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese faced Wycombe Wanderers away.

Despite controlling the match, the team was out of form and failed to find the back of the net.

The game ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw.

Interestingly, however, Bayswater Chinese remained in 3rd place in the league, overtaking Port Vale, who had lost their match this round.

Brighton was at the top of the table with twenty-four points, followed by Queens Park Rangers in 2nd.

Going from a five-game winning streak to two consecutive draws, Yang Cheng didn’t offer a single word of criticism. Instead, he focused on guiding and reassuring his players.

In his view, this was a necessary stage of development for any young team on the path to maturity.

As the team’s head coach, his job was to lead them through it.

…

On October 11th, for the thirteenth round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese hosted Tranmere Rovers.

Attendance broke three thousand for the second consecutive match, which delighted Yang Cheng.

The players, too, seemed to have gradually emerged from their two-week slump, playing with great energy from the start.

But in a completely unexpected turn, just seven minutes into the game, Huddlestone seized a golden opportunity, surging forward from a deep position to unleash a powerful shot that flew past the Tranmere Rovers keeper.

That goal opened the floodgates for Bayswater Chinese.

From that point on, the match fell into a familiar rhythm for Bayswater Chinese, turning into a one-sided, frenzied slaughter.

The fans in the stadium were treated to a thrilling feast of goals.

6-0!

Bayswater Chinese routed Tranmere Rovers at home.

Moreover, the six goals were scored by six different players—the goals were truly coming from all over the pitch.

Three days later, midweek, Bayswater Chinese hosted their first-round knockout match in the Football League Trophy. They secured a 4-0 victory over Bristol City, thanks to a brace from Stead and goals from Koscielny and Lambert.

The win saw Bayswater Chinese advance smoothly to the second round of the Football League Trophy.

Meanwhile, the attendance for this match reached four thousand.

Although this was partly due to the lower ticket prices for cup competitions, it was still a historic record.

The weekend arrived, bringing the fourteenth round of League Two.

Bayswater Chinese thrashed Port Vale 5-1 away from home.

Martin Rowlands scored a brace, while Stead, Devaney, and Modrić each added a goal.

After the slump of two consecutive draws, Bayswater Chinese had made a powerful resurgence, embarking on a three-game winning streak.

Thanks to two massive league victories, Bayswater Chinese, now with twenty-nine points, overtook Queens Park Rangers and Brighton (both on twenty-seven points) to claim the top spot of the League Two table for the second time.

The day after returning to first place, Lin Zhongqiu received a phone call from Chris Hunt.

Chapter 18: The Showdown

Yang Cheng had always believed that European professional football was brutally realistic.

As long as you were a winner, everything you did was right.

After Bayswater Chinese reclaimed the top spot in the league table, good news came flooding in.

Home game attendance consistently broke three thousand, and the lower-priced cup competitions even surpassed four thousand.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was truly fantastic news.

A revenue of one hundred thousand pound sterling per match was an incredibly lucrative prospect.

Although there was still a significant gap compared to other teams, Yang Cheng was confident that if they maintained their current momentum, filling the five-thousand-seat stadium wouldn’t be a difficult task.

That was on the club’s operational side.

As the players’ performances shone, Yang Cheng received successive calls from Peter Taylor, the head coach of the England U21 team, and Brian Kerr, the head coach of the Republic of Ireland national team.

Peter Taylor wished to call up Bayswater Chinese’s center-forward, Jon Stead.

The 20-year-old tall center-forward had scored eleven goals in fourteen League Two matches this season, an astonishingly efficient rate.

Remember, this was 2003.

Before Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo started racking up insane goal counts, scoring over twenty goals in a single season was considered prolific.

For a 20-year-old player to hit double digits in goals, even in League Two, was quite impressive.

Moreover, Jon Stead displayed the technical characteristics of a very traditional English center-forward.

Currently, the two main strikers for the England U21 national team were Carlton Cole, a young player on loan from Chelsea to Premier League side Charlton Athletic, and Darren Bent, who played for Ipswich Town in League One.

Carlton Cole was also a tall center-forward, while Darren Bent was a speed-based forward.

However, Carlton Cole was struggling for playing time at Charlton. Months had passed, and he had only played for thirty minutes, without a single goal to his name.

Darren Bent, on the other hand, was a regular starter for Ipswich Town and had scored three goals in League One this season, but he had gotten injured in a match against Sunderland and would be out for at least two months.

Peter Taylor had called up several young players during the national team training camp in early October, but the results weren’t great, which was why he had turned his attention to the prolific Jon Stead in League Two.

Because of Peter Taylor, Yang Cheng took notice of the current England U21 squad and spotted Leeds United’s right-winger, Aaron Lennon.

What a player!

Considering that Yang Cheng was currently unsatisfied with Bayswater Chinese’s right-winger, the sight of Lennon was enough to make his mouth water.

Unfortunately, Aaron Lennon was currently playing for Leeds United.

As for the Republic of Ireland’s head coach, Brian Kerr, he wanted to call up Martin Rowlands.

The player, who held dual Irish and English citizenship, had never been selected for a national team before.

But in this season’s League Two, he had scored eight goals and delivered a very eye-catching performance.

Unlike England, which was teeming with talent, Ireland had fewer outstanding players. The moment Brian Kerr discovered Martin Rowlands, he immediately extended an invitation and even traveled to London to meet with him personally.

Martin Rowlands was already 24 years old.

He knew deep down that he had no chance of making the England national team, so he accepted Brian Kerr’s offer without hesitation and chose to represent Ireland.

An England U21 international and an Irish international player—this news was a huge morale booster for the fans of a League Two club like Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was also pleased, but not surprised.

Bayswater Chinese was performing well, having scored 38 goals in 14 league matches, the most in League Two so far—six more than Plymouth Argyle, the second-highest scoring team.

The reason for Bayswater Chinese’s occasional instability was the 13 goals they had conceded.

In comparison, Queens Park Rangers had only let in nine goals, and Brighton only eleven.

Yang Cheng knew exactly where the problem lay, but for the time being, he had no intention of fixing the defense.

He believed that the best choice for Bayswater Chinese right now was to continue flying the flag of attacking football, charging towards the title and promotion to the Championship with unstoppable momentum.

But as the team and its players excelled, it was only natural that other clubs began to take an interest in Bayswater Chinese’s talent.

League One’s Sunderland was the first team to show strong interest in Jon Stead.

Their head coach, Mick McCarthy, even came to Bayswater Stadium specifically to watch a League Two match.

Meanwhile, their London rivals, Queens Park Rangers, expressed interest in Martin Rowlands.

No one knew whether this was a smokescreen as part of their league rivalry or a genuine desire to sign the player.

But Yang Cheng had spoken with both Stead and Rowlands and had managed to keep them focused.

Right now, promotion was the top priority for Bayswater Chinese.

Interestingly enough, the two players Yang Cheng considered most important, Ribéry and Modrić, had surprisingly attracted little attention.

The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

In a league without television broadcasts, the two players’ goal and assist statistics weren’t particularly flashy, so it was difficult for them to stand out.

But amidst all the good news, there was also a piece of bad news.

…

“Chris Hunt asked me out for a meal.”

Lin Zhongqiu had just returned from his meal and went straight to Yang Cheng’s office to report the latest developments.

“He told me that his company has already contacted several buyers interested in the land our stadium and training ground are on. The highest offer is ten million pound sterling, which meets our asking price. He hopes we’ll consider it seriously.”

Yang Cheng, who had been engrossed in his work, suddenly looked up, staring at Lin Zhongqiu in surprise.

But he quickly composed himself.

This was in line with the profit-seeking nature of financial capital.

“What did you say?”

“I just said I’d come back and discuss it with you.”

Lin Zhongqiu looked at Yang Cheng.

He didn’t know when it had started, but Yang Cheng’s standing in his mind had grown to such a high level.

And yet, it felt perfectly natural.

“Then don’t worry about it. Refuse him!” Yang Cheng replied without a moment’s hesitation.

“What should I say?”

“Just say that was then, and this is now. We did ask for ten million pound sterling, but that was several months ago.”

At this, Yang Cheng looked deeply at Lin Zhongqiu.

“A few months ago, we were in dire straits. We had no players, no coach, and we might not have even been able to play in League Two. That’s why we wanted to sell this land.”

“But what about now? We’re top of League Two. We’re the number one favorite for promotion.”

“As long as we get promoted to the Championship next year, our income will increase dramatically.”

The Premier League allocated a sum of money each year to be distributed among the lower leagues, with League One receiving the largest share.

Furthermore, League One matches were televised, which meant another huge source of revenue.

Commercial sponsorships were hard to come by in those days, which was why a mobile phone brand had sponsored Everton in 2002 just to get a Chinese player onto a Premier League pitch.

But as long as they controlled their wage bill properly, life would be much easier after promotion to League One.

If nothing else, just securing a place in League One would significantly increase the club’s sale value.

“I understand. I’ll go tell them.”

With that, Lin Zhongqiu turned to leave.

“Uncle Lin,” Yang Cheng called out, stopping him.

“That contract we have with Elvino, I want you to have a professional look at it again. Go through every single clause meticulously. For any parts that are disadvantageous to us, we need to think of countermeasures.”

Lin Zhongqiu frowned. “Are you worried that…”

“Just in case.”

Yang Cheng sighed. “We were desperate for money back then. Although we had someone look over the contract, there are too many fine details. I’m afraid we might have missed something.”

“Understood. I’ll get on it.”

As he watched Lin Zhongqiu leave, the frown on Yang Cheng’s face did not relax.

He had a sense of unease, a feeling that this matter wasn’t so simple.

At the end of the day, the problem stemmed from the fact that they had been forced to make compromises when they borrowed money from Elvino. They had been in a very passive position.

For one thing, if they sold the land now for ten million pound sterling, Bayswater Chinese would have to lease a stadium and training ground elsewhere.

And what about Elvino?

They would get a 20% commission.

Looking at it now, that life-saving loan had been crucial at the time.

But now that the crisis was over, it had become a major hidden danger.

…

Having coached for thirty years in his previous life, Yang Cheng understood one principle very clearly.

It was a principle that every head coach in the world followed.

When the team is on a good run, don’t change the starting lineup!

Even changing just one player could cause the entire team to collapse.

That’s why some people say that coaching is a bit of a dark art.

In Yang Cheng’s view, it was because people were simply too complex.

But there were benefits too.

Once a lineup had been properly integrated, it became very stable.

In the midweek 15th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese defeated Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 away from home.

The match was as decisive as ever, and their style of play was as fluid and skilled as ever.

Then, over the weekend, back at Bayswater Stadium for the 16th round, Bayswater Chinese defeated Blackpool 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Stead.

A week later, in the 17th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese beat Oldham Athletic 2-1 at home with goals from Stead and Devaney.

With another five-game winning streak, Bayswater Chinese had firmly established themselves at the top of the table.

With a record of 11 wins, 5 draws, and 1 loss after 17 rounds, they had earned 38 points, placing them first in the League Two standings.

Plymouth Argyle and Queens Park Rangers, in second and third place, both had only 31 points.

This once again confirmed the prediction Yang Cheng had made before the season started.

The lower the league, the greater the disparity in strength between teams.

Once Bayswater Chinese was molded into a cohesive unit, they would be unstoppable in League Two.

Jon Stead led the League Two top scorer chart with 13 goals in 17 matches.

Martin Rowlands was fourth on the list with 9 goals.

Under the storm of Bayswater Chinese’s attack, even Martin Devaney had managed to score 6 goals this season, placing him in the top ten of the scorer’s chart.

After 17 rounds, the league came to a temporary halt for the November international break.

However, during the break, the lower league teams had to participate in the first round of the FA Cup.

Jon Stead and Martin Rowlands both left to report for international duty.

As Yang Cheng led the rest of the team in actively preparing for the FA Cup, Chris Hunt from Elvino came looking for him.

This time, he didn’t go to Lin Zhongqiu. Instead, he came directly to Yang Cheng’s office.

They had finally decided it was time for a showdown!

Chapter 19: Alan Shearer’s Successor

“I’m very sorry about this, Yang.”

When Chris Hunt arrived at Yang Cheng’s office, he had barely said a few words before he apologized, his face full of guilt.

Yang Cheng had guessed the purpose of his visit.

But the apology was truly unexpected.

It proved that Chris Hunt didn’t agree with his company’s decision.

“Chris, you’ve seen it for yourself recently. Our team is thriving. We’re currently top of the League Two table, a full seven points ahead of second place.”

Yang Cheng looked at Chris Hunt with confidence, speaking word by word.

“I’m very confident right now, I can even guarantee it. We will definitely get promoted to the Championship next year.”

“You have no reason to worry about our ability to repay the loan, do you?”

Chris Hunt nodded in shame.

In his mind, although this deal with Yang Cheng wasn’t part of his usual bankruptcy restructuring work, he was the one who brought it in.

Moreover, he had been following up on it for the past few months.

He had personally witnessed how Yang Cheng took this small, near-bankrupt club and managed it, step by step, to the top of League Two.

Now, his company’s decision would throw a wrench in the works.

It might even make the situation unpredictable.

Without a stadium or a training ground, if this wasn’t handled well, The FA could suspend Bayswater Chinese from competition.

“Yang, I have to tell you, on this matter, the company has already made a decision.”

Chris Hunt took a deep breath, composed himself, and spoke with solemnity.

He was here this time to announce the company’s decision on their behalf.

“Chelsea approached us through Kesher Harris and offered to buy this piece of land for the high price of fifteen million pounds.”

“Fifteen million pounds?”

Yang Cheng was furious, but he just let out a cold laugh.

“A few months ago, their offer was five million pounds.”

Chris Hunt pretended not to hear the mockery, contempt, and sarcasm in Yang Cheng’s voice.

“Yang, accepting it and taking the money would be a very good choice for you.”

Yang Cheng fell silent.

The Elvino Corporation cared about money.

The fifteen million pound sterling price was indeed very tempting. Their 20% cut alone would net them three million pounds.

Not to mention, if they facilitated this deal, who knew how much commission Chelsea would give them.

For a small asset management firm like Elvino, this was truly a colossal sum.

And what about Bayswater Chinese?

With twelve million pounds in hand, the club’s situation would improve dramatically.

A stadium, a training ground—those could be rented.

In a place like England, there was no shortage of football pitches.

Some lower-league teams even trained in public parks.

“Yang, I work in bankruptcy restructuring. I’ve thought it through for you. After you get the money and pay off your debts, you can easily buy a large plot of land in the suburbs.”

“I know of several bankrupt or near-bankrupt football, rugby, and even golf clubs. They all have large plots of land that you could buy for a very low price and convert into a training ground.”

“As for a home stadium, you can rent one. Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United, Reading, Watford, Brentford… their stadiums are much better than your current one, and the rent won’t be expensive.”

Yang Cheng had to admit that Chris Hunt’s words did seem to consider things from the perspective of Bayswater Chinese.

This was in line with Yang Jianguo and Lin Zhongqiu’s original plan.

Sell the land, and the whole club would be revitalized.

Then, Bayswater Chinese could continue its push for the Championship, and even the Premier League in the new season.

As long as they got promoted, they would sooner or later have the chance to buy a stadium.

But Yang Cheng… he was unwilling to yield!

“And if I refuse?” Yang Cheng asked in a low voice, looking at Chris Hunt.

Chris Hunt was a little surprised, then he frowned, about to persuade him again.

But before he could speak, Yang Cheng held up a hand to stop him. “Just tell me, if I refuse, what do you plan to do?”

“Yang, we have a contract, and Chelsea’s offer is really good…”

“If you consider us friends, then don’t try to persuade me anymore.”

Chris Hunt stared deeply at Yang Cheng.

He didn’t understand. Why refuse?

From a business perspective, taking this step back would open up a world of possibilities.

But he could feel it from Yang Cheng—the man was just too stubborn!

“If you refuse, we… will demand early repayment of the two million pound loan, plus the interest from the past few months.”

“On what grounds? Our contract clearly states a two-year term…”

“No, there’s another clause in the fine print. If our company runs into financial difficulties, we have the right to demand early repayment. Of course, you can refuse to pay the remaining interest.”

Yang Cheng looked at Chris Hunt and said nothing.

If he hadn’t prepared for this by having Lin Zhongqiu ask a professional to study the contract earlier, he would have been caught completely off guard.

But now, he was mentally prepared.

“Chris, your boss is quite the schemer,” Yang Cheng said with a cold smile.

Chris Hunt sighed. “Chelsea offered too much.”

That was also the truth.

If Chelsea hadn’t offered so much, Elvino certainly wouldn’t have resorted to tearing up their agreement.

Although Yang Cheng was annoyed by the situation, he didn’t fly into a rage on the spot.

When it came down to it, aren’t all businesspeople just chasing profit?

“Yang, I can probably guess what you’re thinking. Selling players might get you the money, but you need to think carefully. If you sell your star player, can you still get promoted to the Championship next year?”

Chris Hunt was absolutely right.

From any perspective, the priority should be securing promotion to the Championship.

That was what would be most beneficial for the long-term development of Bayswater Chinese.

Was it worth it now to sell a star player for this piece of land, and in doing so, miss out on the perfect opportunity to push for the Championship?

It wasn’t just Chris Hunt; even Lin Zhongqiu was getting anxious on the side.

…

Yang Cheng didn’t give an immediate answer, only saying that he needed to think about it.

After seeing Chris Hunt off, he called Lin Zhongqiu and Brian Kidd over.

“I’ve made my decision. I will not accept Elvino’s arrangement!”

When Yang Cheng’s forceful words rang out, both Lin Zhongqiu and Brian Kidd were stunned.

The former had always been cautious, while the latter was somewhat surprised by Yang Cheng’s boldness.

In this situation, refusing the creditor’s arrangement meant having to find a way to get the money to pay back the debt.

“Are you thinking of selling a player?” Brian Kidd asked.

Yang Cheng didn’t answer, but his expression was obvious.

“Will it affect our results?” Lin Zhongqiu was more concerned about promotion.

Ever since Yang Jianguo bought the team, they had been trying to get into League One for so many years. This year was their best hope.

He really didn’t want the team’s performance to be affected by debt.

“Actually, there’s one more thing Chris Hunt didn’t mention. With our stadium’s current facilities, even if we get promoted to League One, we’ll probably have to rent a stadium from another team next year.”

Lin Zhongqiu’s words surprised Yang Cheng. “Why?”

It was Brian Kidd who reacted first.

“League One matches are televised, and our stadium doesn’t have the facilities for broadcasting.”

In other words, to be eligible to compete in League One, they would either have to carry out extensive renovations on the stadium or rent a more developed one from someone else.

Yang Cheng felt helpless about this.

The mess his father left him was a real shambles!

The problem Lin Zhongqiu was worried about might have been an issue for others, but for Yang Cheng, it wasn’t necessarily one.

“Looking at how our entire tactical system functions, Brian, who do you think is currently irreplaceable?”

“Ribéry and Martin Rowlands,” Kidd replied.

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded.

An irreplaceable core player was either too important tactically, or there was simply no suitable replacement available.

There was currently no suitable replacement for Martin Rowlands.

Modrić was still a bit too raw.

As for Ribéry, his tactical importance was immense. His dribbling and breakthroughs on the left wing were just too impactful.

“Mick McCarthy originally came to scout Steed, but after watching one match, he started asking me about Ribéry,” Brian Kidd couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lin Zhongqiu was surprised, but Yang Cheng found it normal.

League Two wasn’t broadcast, and there was very little media coverage. So, apart from the fans in attendance, no one knew what was actually happening during the matches.

And football data was very underdeveloped at the time; even the Premier League’s statistics were lacking, let alone League Two’s.

Naturally, no one knew what Ribéry accomplished in a single match.

But when a professional showed up, they could immediately see how extraordinary Ribéry was.

Modrić, on the other hand, was too young, and his performances were inconsistent.

“So you’re saying our team’s top scorer is actually the most replaceable?”

Lin Zhongqiu looked at Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd with great surprise and asked, “But who else on our team can replace Steed? Lambert? Didn’t you say he hasn’t adapted yet?”

Yang Cheng smiled without saying a word.

Brian Kidd, however, answered Lin Zhongqiu’s question.

“Lambert can’t replace Steed just yet, but he’s serviceable. I’m guessing what Yang means is that he’s already found a center-forward who can replace Steed.”

Steed’s job was to score goals.

From a center-forward’s perspective, even his jumping ability wasn’t very good.

That was why Yang Cheng had arranged special jump training for him.

And for others, finding a center-forward who could replace Steed would truly not be easy.

But Yang Cheng happened to know of just such a candidate.

He had only noticed him recently.

He played for Cambridge United in the Conference Premier.

For Bayswater Chinese, who were top of the League Two table, poaching him wouldn’t be difficult, and the price would be cheap.

“Brian, I’ll take care of finding a center-forward. You help me leak some news through the media. At the very least, enough potential buyers need to know that an England U21 center-forward is about to hit the transfer market.”

When it came to media connections, Yang Cheng was currently no match for Brian Kidd.

“Understood. The main targets are…”

“Besides Sunderland, there’s Newcastle. Alan Shearer is already thirty-three.”

Brian Kidd nodded. “Bobby Robson and Newcastle have been looking for Alan Shearer’s successor.”

“Blackburn sold Duff to Chelsea and also sold David Dunn, making over thirty million pounds, but they haven’t spent much on signings. And their two strikers, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, are both thirty-two and well past their prime.”

Brian Kidd couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Souness will definitely be interested in a young, homegrown, tall center-forward.”

Rich and in need—for now, those were the two or three clubs Yang Cheng could think of.

Next, he had to create the best tactical environment for Steed.

Let him score as many goals as possible.

Knowing the English media’s typical behavior, Yang Cheng was actually looking forward to it.

He wouldn’t dare dream of hyping him up as being more talented than Everton’s Rooney.

But creating a headline like “Alan Shearer’s successor” shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Chapter 20: Becoming a Legend

With Jon Stead and Martin Rowlands away on international duty, Yang Cheng had to make adjustments to his starting lineup.

In the midweek second-round knockout match of the Football League Trophy, he started Rickie Lambert as the lone striker.

Lee Williamson partnered Modrić in midfield, with Huddlestone still in the holding role.

Since Lee Williamson had always played on the right wing, Yang Cheng moved Modrić to the left central midfield position, allowing Williamson to stay closer to the right side.

The result was immediate. Just six minutes into the match, Williamson received the ball on the right and sent in a cross, assisting Lambert in breaking through Wycombe Wanderers’ defense and scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

Lambert was superior to Stead in terms of technical skill on the ball, hold-up play, and creating chances for others.

However, Lambert lacked Stead’s speed and explosive power.

At this stage, Lambert was actually less effective on the pitch than Stead.

The lower leagues were all about simple, direct, and aggressive football.

After the goal at six minutes, it wasn’t until the second half that Steve Jenkins capitalized on a corner kick opportunity, assisting Roger Johnson to score.

But in stoppage time, Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line made a mistake, and the opponent snuck a goal in.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Wycombe Wanderers 2-1, smoothly advancing to the third round.

This was a true reflection of many of their matches this season.

Both center-backs could score, posing a significant threat with their physicality and heading ability.

But their defending was also rather aggressive, prone to errors, and lacked stability.

Yang Cheng was aware of this but wasn’t planning to address it for the time being.

…

Over the weekend, in the first round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese faced Northampton Town away.

Missing two key players and playing their second match in a week, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was affected.

After a tough 30-minute battle, the Chinese team conceded the first goal.

Subsequently, Ribéry and Lambert scored two consecutive goals for the Chinese team, successfully turning the game around.

But just three minutes later, the defense was breached once again.

The deadlock held until the 83rd minute, when Lee Williamson, who had come on for Andy Holdsworth, scored the third goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese narrowly won 3-2 away at Northampton Town.

Looking at the past two consecutive matches, Lee Williamson had performed much better than Andy Holdsworth.

After the draw, Bayswater Chinese’s next opponent was Weston-super-Mare.

…

On the afternoon of November 15th, at Loftus Road in London.

In the 18th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese challenged Queens Park Rangers away from home.

Although the match was imbued with special significance by fans of both sides, including the fact that the two clubs were geographically close and had the makings of a fierce rivalry.

Or the fact that both teams were contenders for the League Two title this season.

During the pre-match preparations, Queens Park Rangers’ head coach, Ian Holloway, even went so far as to rally the fans inside the stadium, urging them to give the home team more support.

Defeat Bayswater Chinese, and Queens Park Rangers’ dream of the title still had a chance!

But in Yang Cheng’s eyes, with Stead and Martin Rowlands both back on time, the outcome of the match was already a foregone conclusion.

Bayswater Chinese, with their significant lead at the top of the table, seized control from the very beginning.

The home side, Queens Park Rangers, tried to apply pressure through running and pressing.

But they soon discovered that their pressing was utterly ineffective against the Chinese team’s attack.

After a few early scares, they switched to a defensive posture.

But in the 33rd minute, a goal from Stead opened the floodgates for Bayswater Chinese.

The local striker, who had just been called up to the England U21 national team, was playing with ever-increasing confidence.

After switching sides in the second half, the Chinese team maintained a firm grip on the initiative.

Queens Park Rangers managed to hold on at first, but after the 65th minute, their decline was obvious.

Ian Holloway immediately made substitutions in an attempt to remedy the situation, but how could it be enough?

In the 72nd and 75th minutes, two goals from Rowlands and Stead plunged Queens Park Rangers into complete despair.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 3-0 away victory over Queens Park Rangers in this crucial showdown.

Yang Cheng was not surprised by this.

The reason was simple: after about half a year, his team had fully gelled.

Especially in terms of technical quality, this team was far superior to any other in League Two.

…

After this top-of-the-table clash in League Two, the British newspaper The Sun published a piece of gossip.

A reporter from The Sun had spotted Arsenal’s chief scout, Steve Rowley, in the stands of a League Two match.

“It is understood that the purpose of Steve Rowley’s trip was to scout Jon Stead, the local striker who has just been selected for the England U21 national team.”

“Following the 3-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in this round’s key match, Stead has scored 15 goals in 18 league games in League Two this season, an astonishing rate of efficiency.”

“More importantly, he is only 20 years old and is one of the most highly-regarded young players in English football at the moment.”

“And Arsenal, also based in London, is most aware of Jon Stead’s stunning performance and talent.”

As Wenger’s right-hand man and Arsenal’s chief scout, Steve Rowley’s every appearance drew intense attention from the media and fans.

But only Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and a few others knew that Steve Rowley wasn’t there for Jon Stead at all; his target was Franck Ribéry.

However, this speculative report from The Sun had indirectly done Yang Cheng a favor.

Soon, the Daily Mail also published a report, stating that Newcastle’s veteran manager Bobby Robson was also interested in Bayswater Chinese’s Jon Stead.

Mick McCarthy, the manager of the League One club Sunderland, nicknamed The Black Cats, also stated in an interview that he had indeed been keeping an eye on Jon Stead.

“His performance this season has been truly surprising. We didn’t expect him to make such significant progress.”

Subsequently, The Daily Telegraph also revealed that Blackburn Rovers’ renowned English manager, Souness, was also monitoring Jon Stead.

For a time, the British media all turned their attention to the top scorer of League Two.

…

As the mastermind behind the scenes…

Er, that’s not right, as the driving force behind the scenes, Yang Cheng didn’t get involved in the media frenzy.

He knew all too well how the British media operated.

They hyped up “geniuses” every day, as if England were teeming with superstars.

But everyone in the industry knew the reality.

Stead’s scoring rate in League Two was indeed high, and his potential was certainly promising, but he was only 20. Furthermore, he played for a team like Bayswater Chinese that championed attacking football. How he would fare after a transfer was truly hard to say.

But there was one person who required attention.

Franck Ribéry.

The kid was a thorny character.

Yang Cheng knew his personality well from his previous life.

Therefore, when Steve Rowley came to scout Ribéry, even though Yang Cheng knew it was still a long way off from Arsenal making a move, he acted immediately.

He called Ribéry into his office and presented him with a brand-new contract.

“Am I seeing things, boss?”

As soon as Ribéry glanced at the draft contract, he rubbed his eyes hard, afraid he had misread it.

“Then take a closer look,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Ribéry looked a little embarrassed, and the smile on his face made it look even more fearsome.

But in reality, he was a fun, optimistic, and outgoing guy.

Provided, of course, that you kept him happy.

“From now on, your monthly salary will be one thousand pound sterling, which is one thousand five hundred euro.”

Ribéry looked at the contract in his hands in disbelief, then back at the grinning head coach opposite him. He was genuinely thrilled.

Just a few months ago, the monthly salary he had signed for was 250 euros.

It had increased sixfold.

Ribéry was the kind of person who responded to praise and gentle handling; even criticism had to be delivered with the right approach.

And Yang Cheng was very experienced in dealing with players like him.

“Franck, don’t celebrate too soon!”

When Ribéry looked over, thinking the head coach had some additional conditions, Yang Cheng continued.

“This is just the beginning.”

“In my mind, you are the most important core player on our team. I even wanted to give you the top salary right away, but you know I have to consider the others.”

“So, I’m sorry, Franck. I can only ask you to put up with this for now.”

Ribéry was clearly delighted and waved his hands repeatedly. “Don’t say that, boss. I’m already very satisfied.”

“No, no, Franck, I promise, as long as we win the title and get promoted this season, I will give you an even better contract. I guarantee you’ll have the highest salary on the team, one that befits your role and status!”

Yang Cheng’s resonant promise was music to Ribéry’s ears.

What working man would complain about a high salary?

The key was that Ribéry hadn’t even asked for it; Yang Cheng had proactively given him a raise. What more could he say?

“Boss, don’t worry. I promise to give it my all in every match and help the team get promoted to League One!”

Yang Cheng was very pleased, patting Ribéry’s shoulder heavily. “I have no doubt.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng smiled and began to paint a bigger picture.

“Getting promoted to League One is just our first step. With our current strength, I’m confident we can push for the Premier League next season.”

“So, Franck, you’ll have to push yourself even harder, work even more diligently.”

“When our team makes it to the Premier League, you and our team will become legends that the fans talk about for years to come.”

“By then, you’ll definitely have a chance to be selected for the France national team, and even play in the 2006 World Cup!”

“Franck!”

Yang Cheng stared intently at Ribéry.

“I have complete faith in you, and in this team!”

Ribéry nodded emphatically.

Suddenly, Arsenal’s interest didn’t seem so important anymore.

Yang Cheng was right. Bayswater Chinese was full of promise, and he was the core player of this team.

If he could help Bayswater Chinese get promoted to the Premier League, would it still be difficult to get called up to the France national team?

Conversely, if he went to Arsenal now, would he get any playing time competing against world-class stars like Pires and Ljungberg?

He had heard that Wenger was planning to sign the winger Reyes from Sevilla in La Liga during the winter break for a transfer fee of over thirty million euros. If he went, would there even be a place for him?

Ribéry was no fool.

The calculation was simple.

So, the Frenchman quickly made up his mind.

It wasn’t just that Arsenal was only scouting him without making any concrete approach.

Even if they had made a concrete offer, he had no intention of going.

At least not in the short term.

Chapter 21: The Perfect Pawn

It had to be said, Yang Cheng had still underestimated the British paparazzi’s ability to create hype.

After more than a week of frequent media reports, almost all of England knew that Bayswater Chinese of League Two had produced a player with immense potential—a successor even endorsed by Alan Shearer himself.

The Sun, always adept at creating buzz, even went so far as to compare Jon Stead to Everton’s prodigy, Rooney.

The result of the comparison was that each had their pros and cons.

“The genius combination of Stead and Rooney will be the hope of England’s forward line for the next decade!”

When Yang Cheng saw this report, he couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Had his decision to sell the “future king of football” been a mistake?

But this also brought another benefit.

On the afternoon of November 22nd, for the 19th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese hosted Hartlepool United.

For this match, attendance at Bayswater Stadium exceeded four thousand for the very first time!

Compared to their neighbors Queens Park Rangers, who broke ten thousand every game, or Stamford Bridge to the south, which regularly saw tens of thousands, the Chinese team’s attendance figures were truly insignificant.

In the vast city of London, they were negligible.

But it represented a kind of progress.

Hartlepool United was a decent side, aiming to break into the promotion playoff zone, so they put up a particularly tough fight against Bayswater Chinese.

It wasn’t until the 45th minute of the first half that Jon Stead finally broke the deadlock for the team.

This ignited the passion of the entire crowd.

In the 76th minute of the second half, Martin Rowlands also scored.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Hartlepool United 2-0.

After the match, the British media was once again in a frenzy.

Alan Shearer was already getting old, and the whole of England had been yearning for a young, talented center-forward for a very, very long time.

Now, Jon Stead had appeared!

A week later, in the 20th round of League Two.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Colchester United away from home.

Just four minutes into the match, Ribéry assisted Tony Capaldi for a goal.

Then, in the 11th minute, another assist from Ribéry allowed Stead to score again.

2-0. The Chinese team secured another victory on the road.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s eighth consecutive win!

As for Stead, he had scored 17 goals in the first 20 rounds of matches.

The British media was practically going insane.

His efficiency was too high!

It was outrageous!

But in Yang Cheng’s view, it was only natural, a result of the entire team’s firepower being funneled to him.

Weren’t all those top selling clubs from his previous life masters of this same tactic?

As December arrived, the transfer rumors grew more intense.

This year’s winter transfer market was still benchmarked against the Premier League’s top three clubs.

With the financial injection from Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, the newly rich Chelsea had gone on a mad spending spree in the summer transfer market.

In the winter, they set their sights on a right midfielder.

This was the only remaining weakness in Ranieri’s 4-4-2 formation.

The rumored target was Blackburn’s Australian player, Emerton, who was also one of the Premier League’s best-performing players on the right flank this season.

For the past six months, Arsenal had been continuously linked with Sevilla’s talented winger, Reyes.

However, the two sides could never agree on a transfer fee.

Just as December began and the Spanish media reported that Arsenal and Sevilla were close to reaching an agreement, the Manchester Evening News revealed that Manchester United was moving to sign French striker Saha from Fulham.

This transfer rumor was confirmed the very next day when an offer from Fulham landed in front of Bayswater Chinese.

Three million pound sterling.

Fulham hoped to take Jon Stead from the Football League Second Division.

When Lin Zhongqiu saw the offer, he was completely stunned.

He could be sold for three million pounds already?

If they sold Jon Stead, would they be able to repay the debt to Elvino?

But Yang Cheng rejected Fulham without a moment’s hesitation and spread the news through the media.

Overnight, the story of Fulham’s bid for Stead spread like wildfire.

This, in turn, confirmed that Manchester United was infinitely close to signing Saha, and Fulham was looking for his replacement.

Based on Saha’s performance this season, his value was at least over ten million pound sterling.

How could Yang Cheng possibly settle for just three million pounds?

On the afternoon of December 5th, the second round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Weston-super-Mare 4-1 at home.

Jon Stead scored with both his head and feet in the match, completing a hat-trick and leaving the weaker opponent utterly bewildered, helping the team advance easily to the third round.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese’s luck was terrible.

Their opponent in the third round of the FA Cup was none other than Chelsea.

The match was scheduled for January 2nd, 2004.

Three days after the FA Cup match came the third round of the Football League Trophy.

The Chinese team faced fierce resistance from Colchester United away from home.

With two goals from Stead, the Chinese team took the lead twice, but Colchester United managed to equalize both times.

After 90 minutes, the two sides were level at 2-2.

In extra time, both teams were severely fatigued.

But this was where the Chinese team’s high-level training showed its effects.

In the end, a goal from Lambert in the 118th minute helped Bayswater Chinese secure a narrow 3-2 victory away from home.

After the draw, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the fourth round of the Football League Trophy was Northampton Town.

Scoring goals for fun in the league, leaving everyone in the dust on the top scorer chart.

Now, with five goals in two consecutive cup competition rounds, Yang Cheng’s data-padding strategy had made Jon Stead shine brilliantly.

The rejection of Fulham’s offer, in particular, sparked intense interest from the British media.

As a Daily Mail commentary put it, “For a talent like Jon Stead, staying in League Two will no longer help him improve.”

“He should now be on a bigger stage, taking on higher-level challenges!”

After their three million pound sterling offer was rejected, Fulham immediately increased their bid, but only to 3.5 million pounds.

Yang Cheng rejected it again.

After the match against Weston-super-Mare, he even gave a special interview to a reporter from The Sun.

“3.5 million pounds?”

“That’s not even enough to buy one of Jon Stead’s legs!”

The Sun’s interpretation was that Bayswater Chinese’s asking price was seven million pounds.

For a player in the Football League Second Division, this was indeed too high.

Although the young player’s stats were indeed very, very impressive.

But considering Arsenal was willing to pay 20 million euros for Sevilla’s young talent Reyes, a fee that could rise to a staggering 30 million euros based on appearances and performance, was selling Stead, the hope for homegrown center-forwards, for only seven million pounds really that much?

On the afternoon of December 13th, in the 21st round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese faced Swindon away.

The match was under the Chinese team’s control from the very beginning.

In the 13th minute, Tony Capaldi scored the opener after a brilliant pass from Ribéry.

Since renewing his contract, Ribéry’s performances had been getting better and better.

In the 76th minute of the second half, Martin Rowlands scored again, making it 2-0.

But unexpectedly, in the 80th minute, Swindon head coach Andy King brought on the tall and burly center-forward Rory Fallon.

It was this tall center-forward from Australia who, with one assist and one goal in just ten minutes, helped Swindon level the score.

But at the critical moment, in the final minute of stoppage time, it was Ribéry again who dribbled past two defenders on the left wing before delivering a pass to the edge of the six-yard box.

Center-forward Stead used his body to push past a defender and, getting to the ball before goalkeeper Evans, poked it into the net.

3-2!

A last-gasp winner!

At the crucial moment, Jon Stead’s dramatic last-minute winner secured three precious points for Bayswater Chinese.

As soon as the match ended, the British media erupted once again.

Everyone could clearly feel that after being linked with Premier League clubs, Jon Stead’s form was getting better and better, and he was playing with increasing determination on the pitch.

Led by him, Bayswater Chinese was now on a nine-game winning streak!

And what was a powerful center-forward like him, a homegrown player and a U21 international, worth?

Fulham’s third offer was raised directly to five million pounds.

But it was still rejected by Bayswater Chinese.

At this point, The Black Cats of the Championship, Sunderland, were no longer qualified to participate.

But Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers from the Premier League both made offers, each stating their willingness to sign the homegrown center-forward for five million pounds.

When Yang Cheng received the offers from the two Premier League clubs, he couldn’t help but roar with laughter in front of Lin Zhongqiu and Brian Kidd.

“They finally couldn’t hold back any longer!”

Lin Zhongqiu and Brian Kidd also smiled happily.

They were genuinely amazed by the way Yang Cheng had handled this transfer.

Especially Lin Zhongqiu.

He truly had no idea that transfers in professional football could be played this way.

The price had been driven up from two million pounds to five million pounds.

Even more ridiculously, just six months ago, Bayswater Chinese had signed Jon Stead for a mere 250,000 pounds.

This was just insane!

Didn’t that make Bayswater Chinese a complete sucker for all the money they had spent on players in previous years?

“The rumors are flying everywhere now. One moment it’s Liverpool entering the race, the next it’s Chelsea also wanting Stead…”

Brian Kidd couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The media was like a double-edged sword.

And Yang Cheng had undoubtedly wielded it perfectly this time.

“Chelsea wouldn’t be interested in Stead, and they have Carlton Cole. But, they are the perfect pawn to drive up the price.”

Yang Cheng remained quite rational.

“If I’m not mistaken, five million pounds is Fulham’s limit. Any higher, and they’ll choose someone else.”

Jon Stead wasn’t the only player on the transfer market.

Most importantly, although Fulham had made a fortune selling Saha and was backed by an Egyptian tycoon, their style had never been to mindlessly burn money. They wouldn’t invest too much in Stead.

“Newcastle has quite a bit of money, and they have Alan Shearer, so Stead is very attractive to them. As for Blackburn, they have over twenty million pounds on hand after selling Duff and David Dunn.”

“After 16 rounds in the Premier League, Blackburn is in 14th place, but they’re level on 17 points with 15th-place Everton and 16th-place Aston Villa. 17th-place Leicester City and 18th-place Portsmouth are on 16 points.”

“19th-place Leeds United now has 15 points.”

“Blackburn is under immense pressure to avoid relegation, and the Black Wind Dual Devils are getting old; their performance this season is a far cry from what it used to be.”

In other words, Newcastle and Blackburn’s needs were the most urgent.

A homegrown center-forward like Jon Stead wasn’t just a technical and tactical necessity for the team; he was also an important means of appeasing the fans.

A major reason why many teams, including Yang Cheng himself, disliked the winter transfer window was that there were very few players to choose from on the market, and the time to operate was very short.

This could easily lead to inflated player values and greater risks.

Thinking this, Yang Cheng already had a decision in mind.

Chapter 22: Unearthing a Gem in the Conference Premier

Ewood Park, south of Blackburn’s city center in Northern England.

Head coach Graeme Souness strode swiftly from the car park in the stadium’s northern office district into the administrative building.

Everyone recognized the famous local manager, and they were even more aware of Souness’s explosive temper.

He met no resistance as he marched straight to the CEO’s office on the second floor.

Souness didn’t even bother knocking; he just pushed the door open and went in.

The sudden intrusion startled John Williams, the CEO of Blackburn Rovers, who was sitting inside.

Seeing it was Souness, Williams, who had been about to let loose a volley of curses, had to suppress his anger and force a smile.

“What brings you here, Graeme?”

Williams smiled as he stood up from his office chair and walked over, gesturing for Souness to take a seat while simultaneously telling his bewildered secretary outside to quickly brew a cup of coffee.

Only then did he return to Souness’s side.

“If you needed something, you could have just given me a call. Why come all this way in person?”

It sounded thoughtful, but deep down, John Williams was cursing him to hell and back.

This man was straight-tempered and incredibly difficult to deal with.

Yet, at Blackburn, this group of guys from Liverpool held immense prestige.

Blackburn is located in the northwest of England, north of Liverpool and Manchester. The three cities form something of an equilateral triangle, so Blackburn is heavily influenced by the two red footballing cities.

As the most dominant dynasty in English football in the 1980s, Liverpool’s influence on Blackburn was enormous.

The late owner, Jack Walker, was a famous British steel tycoon and a devoted Blackburn fan. He served as the club’s vice-chairman starting in 1986 and even funded the construction of the “Jack Walker Stand” at Ewood Park.

In 1991, after Jack Walker took over the relegated Blackburn, he spared no expense the following year to hire Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish as the team’s head coach.

Over three years, Walker invested a fortune into Blackburn, and in 1995, he was rewarded with a Premier League title.

In the decade-plus since the Premier League was founded, the championship had been the exclusive domain of Manchester United and Arsenal.

The only exception was the 1995 Premier League title, which belonged to Blackburn.

This was Blackburn’s glory!

After winning the title in 1995, Dalglish retired on a high note, and Walker’s investments dwindled. Blackburn’s performance began to fluctuate.

They were even tragically relegated in the 1998/99 season.

The head coach at the time was Brian Kidd, who had been poached from Manchester United.

But he only lasted until November before Jack Walker fired him.

In 2000, Jack Walker sadly passed away, entrusting the club to a trust fund, with John Williams continuing as CEO.

But the final appointment he made before stepping back was to hire Graeme Souness as the team’s head coach.

Souness had been the captain of Liverpool during its glory days and later became Liverpool’s head coach.

Everyone at Blackburn firmly believed that under Souness’s leadership, the club could recapture the glory of the Dalglish era in the 90s.

And sure enough, in Souness’s first season in charge, he led the team back to the Premier League.

In the 2001/02 season, Blackburn not only successfully avoided relegation but also finished tenth in the Premier League.

In the 2002/03 season, Souness’s team went a step further, finishing sixth in the league and at one point coming close to the Champions League spots.

Years of ties and solid results gave Souness a very high standing at Blackburn.

So when the team’s performance plummeted this season, no one blamed Souness.

Of the over twenty million pound sterling earned from selling Duff and David Dunn, Blackburn hadn’t spent much.

Not long ago, Souness had proposed that the team sign Jon Stead.

The reason was simple: Blackburn’s attack was severely lacking firepower.

So far this season, after sixteen Premier League matches, the “Black Wind Dual Devils,” Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, had scored five and two goals respectively.

This was a terrible state of affairs.

Even more absurdly, Dwight Yorke’s personal life was a complete mess, causing a media storm that seriously affected his own form and Blackburn’s image.

Souness believed the team had to make a change, bring in a tall center-forward like Jon Stead, alter the team’s attacking style, and abandon the traditional 4-4-2 two-striker tactic.

It was about keeping up with the times.

“I came here to ask you, how are the negotiations for Jon Stead going?”

Souness’s tone was like a sharp, unsheathed sword, getting straight to the point.

John Williams kept his smile plastered on. “They’re ongoing. We’ve been talking the whole time.”

“But how come I’ve heard that Chelsea has also made a bid?”

“It seems… that did happen.”

“It seems?”

“Just media rumors, nothing confirmed.”

“How much did they offer?”

“Seven million pound sterling.”

Souness’s brow furrowed instantly. “And that League Two team agreed?”

“They seem to be hesitating.”

Seems again.

This was exactly why Souness hated the transfer market.

Everything was shrouded in a fog of uncertainty, impossible to see clearly.

But now, the situation was urgent.

“I have to remind you, John, we’re in a very dangerous position right now. I’m not confident I can avoid relegation with the players I currently have.”

Souness’s tone was grave.

Relegation would be an absolute nightmare for Blackburn.

When they were relegated in the early 90s, they had the steel tycoon Jack Walker to support them. The last time they went down, the owner was also there as an anchor.

But now?

Jack Walker’s statue stood north of the stadium, directly opposite the office building, a memorial for all to see.

If they were relegated again, from John Williams to Souness, not a single one of them would escape. They would all be finished!

“You know, John, that bastard Yorke has nothing but women on his mind right now. His head isn’t on football at all. As for Grabbi and Jansen, one has zero goals, the other has two.”

“I have four forwards, and their goals combined don’t even add up to a fraction of what Jon Stead has. You tell me, how am I supposed to play?”

It wasn’t the first time Souness had vented his anger.

John Williams also knew that on this matter, the management had indeed not given him enough support.

At the start of the season, their suggestion was to make do with the Black Wind Dual Devils and just aim to avoid relegation.

And now?

“Graeme, to snatch a player from Chelsea’s grasp, we’ll have to pay a higher transfer fee,” John Williams sighed.

“Will it be higher than what we paid for Alan Shearer back in the day?” Souness shot back sharply.

“Back then, Mr. Walker went against all advice, even paying a sky-high transfer fee that surpassed Sheringham’s to sign Alan Shearer from Southampton. How much controversy did that cause?”

“And the tall center-forward, Christopher Sutton. When he transferred from Norwich, that was also a massive fee.”

“But it was precisely those two center-forwards who won Blackburn the only Premier League title in the club’s history in 1995!”

“Have you forgotten all of that?”

John Williams hadn’t joined Blackburn back then.

But he had heard the legend.

In fact, that history was the very reason he had joined Blackburn.

“You really rate Jon Stead that highly?” John Williams asked.

Souness stared directly at the CEO, not giving an inch. “I don’t know. But in the current transfer market, can you find me a better option?”

…

On the eve of the 22nd round of League Two fixtures, the last match before Christmas, Bayswater Chinese received four offers simultaneously.

This came as a surprise to both Yang Cheng and Lin Zhongqiu.

But Brian Kidd found it all perfectly normal.

“In the Premier League, the vast majority of clubs just follow the trend when it comes to signings.”

Among the four offers, Fulham had raised their transfer fee to six million pound sterling.

The West London team was clearly certain that Chelsea had never actually offered seven million.

Charlton Athletic’s Curbishley was also interested in Jon Stead, and after selling their midfielder Parker to Chelsea for a high price, they had ample funds.

So, they offered seven million pound sterling, hoping Stead could solve their team’s attacking shortcomings.

Newcastle also offered seven million pound sterling.

Both clubs were likely unsure if Chelsea had made a bid but were willing to match it.

Or rather, match Bayswater Chinese’s asking price.

Blackburn, however, submitted a bid of 7.5 million pound sterling, slightly higher than Chelsea’s rumored offer.

This demonstrated Blackburn’s desperation.

“What do we do now?” Lin Zhongqiu asked with a frown.

He was discovering that despite having run a football club for several years, he was no match for Yang Cheng, who had just taken over the team.

So now, whenever a key decision needed to be made, he habitually sought Yang Cheng’s opinion.

“Send a counter-offer to Blackburn. Eight million pound sterling!”

…

When Blackburn received the fax from Bayswater Chinese, they were clearly hesitant.

They wanted to haggle a bit.

It was business, after all, and that was normal.

But then, in the subsequent 22nd round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese defeated the visiting Notts County 3-0 at home.

In the 28th minute of the first half, Jon Stead opened the scoring for the Chinese with a spectacular long-range shot.

Later, in the 75th minute, Yang Cheng substituted him off.

The substitute center-forward, Lambert, went on to score a brace in the 82nd and 86th minutes.

Yang Cheng could clearly feel that as Jon Stead’s transfer became more and more likely, Lambert was desperate to seize the opportunity and increase his importance to the team.

But what outsiders saw was that Stead had now scored in eight consecutive matches.

The day after Bayswater Chinese defeated Notts County, while the British media was once again hyping up Jon Stead, Blackburn swiftly agreed to Bayswater Chinese’s asking price.

Eight million pound sterling!

Blackburn’s CEO, John Williams, and the chairman of Blackburn’s trust fund, Vernon, brought a team down to London to negotiate with Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng did not appear, entrusting full responsibility to Lin Zhongqiu.

A disagreement arose over the payment method.

Blackburn wanted to pay in installments, but Yang Cheng’s side demanded the full amount in a single payment.

The two sides negotiated this single issue for three full days. Finally, just before Christmas, they officially reached an agreement.

Blackburn had no choice but to agree to Bayswater Chinese’s demand, signing Jon Stead for the high price of eight million pound sterling, paid in full.

On Christmas Eve, Blackburn officially notified the media, announcing the news.

It immediately sparked widespread discussion in the British media.

Years ago, a fledgling Alan Shearer had joined Blackburn and been nurtured into a star under Dalglish.

Now, Jon Stead was also heading to Blackburn to play under Dalglish’s “protégé,” Souness.

Wasn’t this history repeating itself?

While the whole of England was immersed in the news of Jon Stead joining Blackburn, absolutely no one noticed that Bayswater Chinese, a team in League Two, had signed the nearly 24-year-old tall center-forward Dave Kitson from Conference Premier side Cambridge United for 150,000 pound sterling.

Even fewer people knew that at the moment Bayswater Chinese signed Dave Kitson, Steve Coppell, the head coach of Reading, west of London—who had just moved from Brighton to the League One club on October 9th—was erupting in fury in his office.

“This is fucking outrageous!”

“They just pocketed eight million quid, and now they turn around and poach our guy from the Conference Premier?”

“The football world is so transparent these days. Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is for me to unearth a gem?”

“Bayswater Chinese, you’d better hope I don’t see you on the pitch!”

“Because if I do, I’ll fucking destroy you!”

Chapter 23: A Debut and a Big Move!

In other leagues, once a transfer is agreed upon before Christmas, the player usually reports to their new team right after the holiday.

But England was the exception.

This was because the week following Christmas was precisely the most congested part of the fixture schedule.

Nevertheless, Jon Stead’s transfer still affected the team to some extent.

Moreover, many of Bayswater Chinese’s foreign players were experiencing the Christmas schedule for the first time.

For young players like Modrić, Koscielny, and Ribéry, this was the first time they couldn’t go home to spend Christmas with their families.

Unfortunately, Bayswater Chinese’s financial resources were limited.

Yang Cheng was already doing his best to compensate, but he ultimately couldn’t compare to the wealthy major clubs.

Under the combined effect of these various factors, the players performed terribly in their away game against Bournemouth on Boxing Day, December 26th.

Just sixteen minutes into the match, Roger Johnson was sent off with a red card.

Roger Johnson naturally had to take responsibility, but the team’s overall slump was also evident.

In the 17th minute, Bournemouth converted the penalty.

Then, in the 40th minute of the first half, they breached Bayswater Chinese’s goal once more.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese suffered a bitter 2-0 defeat away from home.

On the afternoon of December 28th, in the 24th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese hosted Brentford.

Before this match, Bayswater Chinese had received a notice from The FA.

Their FA Cup 3rd round match against Chelsea would be televised.

However, Bayswater Stadium was not equipped for television broadcasting.

Therefore, The FA negotiated with Bayswater Chinese, hoping to schedule the match at Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had already agreed and were willing to give all ticket revenue from the match to Bayswater Chinese.

This wasn’t out of Chelsea’s generosity, but rather a tradition of “support” from Premier League teams for lower-league clubs.

In the FA Cup and League Cup, many lower-league teams, upon drawing a Premier League opponent, would voluntarily give up their home advantage to play away, in exchange for the ticket revenue from the away fixture.

This time, it wasn’t Bayswater Chinese who gave it up voluntarily, but a negotiation initiated by The FA.

Yang Cheng had no objections and proposed only one condition.

That was to give Bayswater Chinese 5,000 tickets, to be sold at the team’s usual cup competition prices.

This was a benefit the club was securing for its own fans.

Due to the Christmas holidays, although football matches across England were immensely popular, tickets for every game were also in high demand.

This was especially true for a star-studded team like Chelsea.

Yang Cheng set purchasing restrictions for the 5,000 tickets, giving priority to those with past ticket stubs.

Even so, they were completely sold out in just three days.

Chelsea’s ticket prices were higher, divided into several tiers, averaging around 25 pounds sterling.

The Blues sold over thirty thousand tickets.

This meant that from this match alone, Chelsea was giving Bayswater Chinese hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling.

Yang Cheng didn’t feel the need to thank Chelsea.

In his previous life, when he managed Premier League giants, he had done this sort of thing plenty of times.

And he was very eager to use this match to test the true quality of his team.

This would allow him to better prepare for the Championship in the second half of the year.

However, before Chelsea came calling, Yang Cheng suffered another setback in League Two.

They drew 1-1 at home against Brentford.

In the 42nd minute, with the team leading thanks to a goal from Ribéry, Koscielny received his second yellow card and was sent off.

Last match it was Roger Johnson; this match it was Koscielny.

The problems in the defensive line were exposed once again.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd discussed it and both largely concluded that it was due to the effects of the period around Christmas.

The defense was already weak. When the team’s midfield and attack couldn’t suppress the opponent and passing errors increased, the pressure on the back line mounted, and the problems became apparent.

After the 24th round of League Two on the 28th, Jon Stead bid farewell to Yang Cheng and his teammates and headed north to Blackburn Rovers.

Although the official transfer paperwork would only take effect on January 1st, there were no matches in the next two or three days.

Similarly, Cambridge United’s Dave Kitson, after finishing his Conference Premier match, reported to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had a long conversation with the tall center-forward he had just signed.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Dave Kitson should have joined Reading, where he performed exceptionally well in both the Championship and the Premier League, even coming close to being called up to the England national team by Capello.

He was tall and sturdy, with outstanding heading ability, delicate footwork, and good speed.

More importantly, he was equally proficient with both feet.

So far this season in the Conference Premier, he had scored 10 goals in 17 appearances.

Last season in the Conference Premier, he had scored 20 goals in 44 appearances.

For the main striker of a mid-table Conference Premier team, this was quite impressive.

But for Yang Cheng, Dave Kitson had one major issue.

He was more like an arrowhead, a goalscorer with a keen sense of smell.

In his very first training session, Dave Kitson displayed this trait.

Positioned at the front, upon receiving the ball, his first instinct was to find a way to shoot.

Admittedly, he was physically strong, his positioning and scoring instincts were excellent, and his ability to produce high-quality shots with either foot made him highly efficient and very threatening.

But as a center-forward in a 4-3-3 formation, his tactical contribution was too small.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had no choice but to accommodate Dave Kitson and adjust the team’s tactics.

Rickie Lambert, on the other hand, offered a tactical dimension that Dave Kitson, and even Jon Stead before him, lacked.

On the afternoon of January 1st, in the 25th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese hosted Chesterfield.

Despite a draw and a loss in the past two rounds, Yang Cheng still rotated his squad for the battle at Stamford Bridge on the 3rd.

Just four minutes into the game, Lee Williamson opened the scoring for the team with a long-range shot.

In the 11th minute, a goal from Capaldi helped the team extend their lead.

A minute later, Ribéry scored the third goal.

In the 15th minute, Dave Kitson sealed the victory for the team with a furious left-footed shot from near the penalty spot.

And in the 18th minute, another goal from Ribéry helped the team widen the gap.

5-0!

At this point, the match had completely lost all suspense.

Dave Kitson later scored two more goals, in the 36th minute and again in the 88th minute of the second half, completing a hat-trick.

This left the more than four thousand fans in the stadium utterly stunned.

They had originally been worried whether the team’s overall performance would suffer after selling Jon Stead.

But who would have thought that this unknown player, Dave Kitson, would immediately unleash a big move upon joining the team.

A hat-trick!

Jon Stead had only managed one hat-trick in the entire first half of the season.

It was unbelievable!

The coaching staff standing next to Yang Cheng were equally incredulous.

Brian Kidd’s jaw nearly dropped.

Three goals: one with his left foot, one with his head, and one with his right foot.

Wasn’t that just incredible?

Are center-forwards from the Conference Premier all this formidable now?

When had Yang Cheng even noticed Dave Kitson?

Others might not know, but Brian Kidd was well aware that Bayswater Chinese didn’t even have a full-time scout, let alone a scouting network.

This meant that Yang Cheng had personally chosen Dave Kitson.

It was simply miraculous!

“The way you’ve orchestrated all this is simply amazing!”

The day after the team’s 7-0 victory over Chesterfield, Yang Cheng once again welcomed Chris Hunt from Elvino Corporation to his office.

Last time, Chris Hunt had come to announce the company’s decision and deliver a written notice.

This time, Yang Cheng had actively invited him over.

As soon as Blackburn Rovers’ eight million pounds sterling arrived, Yang Cheng called him to schedule a time to handle the paperwork.

“You have no idea, our boss is kicking himself right now,” Chris Hunt said with a smile full of admiration.

Back then, he had disagreed with his boss’s decision.

Yang Cheng, in contrast, offered a more restrained smile.

Tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice bait. Of course, they’d regret it!

Previously, Elvino had been certain that Bayswater Chinese could never come up with two million pounds sterling, which was why they used the contract terms to coerce Bayswater Chinese into selling the land to Chelsea.

Yang Cheng knew well that this greedy merchant wanted to get multiple benefits from one venture.

But now, not only had he failed to get the fish, but he had also lost the fat piece of meat that was already in his grasp.

“The two million pounds sterling will arrive today. Tell your boss I won’t pay a single penny in interest. If he wants to sue, he can go ahead. I’ll pay whatever the court decides.”

Yang Cheng’s tone was brazen.

With the upper hand, he naturally wasn’t going to be polite.

Chris Hunt was mentally prepared and nodded, saying he would be sure to pass on the message.

“I have to say, Yang, you played this beautifully. That Dave Kitson looks to be stronger than Jon Stead, if not more so. No wonder you were willing to sell him.”

“And your ability to sell players… it’s truly baffling.”

Although his company had lost out, from a personal standpoint, Chris Hunt was now filled with nothing but admiration for Yang Cheng.

To be able to break out of such a predicament and turn disaster into fortune was simply incredible!

“By the way, Chris, that thing you mentioned last time, tell me more about it in detail.”

“What thing?”

“The matter of the bankrupt football, rugby, and golf clubs you mentioned,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

“You want to buy land?” Chris Hunt was surprised at first, then his interest was piqued.

His line of work was in bankruptcy and restructuring; he paid very close attention to his own cases and information from many colleagues in the City of London.

“You know, the Premier League has very strict requirements for youth academies. We have to meet the standard.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng sighed again, “And you were right before. The hardware at Bayswater Stadium is terrible. There’s only one training pitch, the drainage system is bad on rainy days, and we can’t train at all when it snows.”

“If we want to grow bigger and stronger, we must have a professional training base.”

“Any specific requirements?”

“It needs to be large, at least enough to accommodate eleven standard football pitches and two training buildings. And transportation must be convenient.”

A location in the middle of nowhere would certainly be cheap, but it would be extremely inconvenient to get to.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had discussed this topic with players. Ideally, it should be adjacent to a motorway or a main road, with the commute by car kept to around thirty minutes.

“Also, no considering anything on the east side of the city. It’s too far.”

London was actually very large.

Bayswater Chinese was located in the west of central London, so the training base should also preferably be in the west.

For example, Arsenal was in Colney in north Greater London.

The land Chelsea had just bought was in Cobham, to the southwest.

Chris Hunt smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask around for you and get back to you with what I find.”

Chapter 24: Chelsea Can’t Make It Work

Long before Christmas, Yang Cheng had started analyzing how to play against Chelsea.

When The FA stepped in and scheduled the match at Stamford Bridge, Yang Cheng intensified his study of the Blues.

So far this season, Chelsea had amassed an impressive record of seven wins, one draw, and one loss in nine games at Stamford Bridge.

The two matches where they dropped points were in the fourth round against Blackburn Rovers and the sixteenth against Bolton.

Yang Cheng studied these two matches repeatedly and discovered a major weakness in Chelsea’s lineup.

Ranieri was still using a traditional 4-4-2 formation, but with different personnel.

During the Blackburn match, Makélélé had not yet joined from Real Madrid, so their midfield wasn’t strong enough, especially in the holding role.

This led to a swift Blackburn counter-attack just nineteen seconds into the match after centre-back Desailly was dispossessed while carrying the ball at the halfway line.

Jansen assisted from the left flank for Andy Cole to score.

After that, several of Blackburn’s counter-attacks specifically targeted Chelsea’s right flank.

The reason was simple: Chelsea’s right side of defense was manned by two youngsters, Glen Johnson and John Terry.

This situation was still very apparent when they played Bolton in mid-December.

Although Terry assisted a goal for Crespo in the 22nd minute, he also scored an own goal in the final moments of the game, causing Chelsea to suffer a bitter comeback defeat at the hands of Bolton.

Bolton’s head coach, Sam Allardyce, also targeted Chelsea’s right side in that match.

Just eight minutes in, midfielder Nolan brilliantly switched the play to Gardner on the left wing. Gardner crossed the ball to the front of the goal, where centre-forward Kevin Davies nearly scored with a header.

If that had gone in, the momentum would have shifted dramatically.

And the final own goal was also created from a Bolton attack down the left, followed by a low cross into the goalmouth.

Chelsea had problems with both their attack and defense on the right wing.

That was why rumors were circulating that Chelsea wanted to sign Blackburn’s right-sided attacker, Emerton, during the winter break.

As for the right-back position, Glen Johnson had gradually replaced Melchiot this season.

Terry had also gradually taken Desailly’s place, partnering with Gallas.

Blackburn’s Souness and Bolton’s Allardyce, two renowned Premier League managers, had already shown Yang Cheng the way forward.

…

“For this match against Chelsea, I don’t plan on playing defensively and counter-attacking.”

As the match approached, Yang Cheng shared his thoughts during a tactical meeting with the coaching staff.

“Chelsea may be full of stars, but that doesn’t mean we don’t stand a chance.”

Everyone, including Brian Kidd, couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

Mate, you’re talking about Chelsea, not Chesterfield.

That’s the super-battleship built with nearly two hundred million pound sterling this past summer. Do you know what you’re saying?

Yang Cheng noticed the expressions on his assistants’ faces and smiled faintly.

Without another word, he pulled over the tactics board.

Soon, Chelsea’s formation was laid out upon it.

4-4-2!

“I can confirm a few positions for now. Cudicini in goal. For the two centre-backs, it’ll be Gallas on the left and Terry on the right.”

“The two central midfielders will be Makélélé and Lampard.”

“Duff will be the left midfielder, and Mutu will be up front.”

Yang Cheng wrote on the board as he spoke.

The others had no major objections.

“The right flank is the most uncertain. It could be Glen Johnson, but he might also use Melchiot, since we’re only a League Two team.”

At this point, Brian Kidd nodded with a smile and added, “We’re not just any League Two team. We’re the leaders!”

The quip brought a few smiles, lightening the tense atmosphere.

“Glen Johnson’s defending is very questionable. Melchiot is tall, but he’s slow and lacks agility.”

“In the Makélélé and Lampard partnership, it’s often Lampard who drifts toward that side.”

“The right midfielder is currently uncertain. It could be Joe Cole, or it could be Grønkjær, but neither of them is very willing to track back defensively. This has caused Chelsea’s right-sided defense to be a persistent problem.”

“On the left, Duff will push forward aggressively. Whether it’s Bridge or Babayaro behind him won’t make a huge difference.”

“As for the forwards, it would be normal for anyone to partner Mutu—Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, or Crespo.”

Verón had been a starter in this Chelsea team for a time, but his central midfield partnership with Lampard hadn’t been effective.

In a 4-4-2 formation, especially the English version, the two central midfielders are expected to be box-to-box.

But times had changed.

This kind of 4-4-2 just couldn’t cut it anymore.

Although Wenger, whose team was currently undefeated in the Premier League, also played a 4-4-2, in reality, Bergkamp’s role was not that of a forward, but more like a number 10 player who dropped deep to link the attack and the midfield.

It was the same principle.

On Chelsea’s front line, they had Hasselbaink and Crespo, but it was Mutu whose position was more secure.

This was because Mutu could play a role similar to Bergkamp’s in this system.

So, rather than a 4-4-2, it was actually more like a 4-2-3-1.

Under these circumstances, the characteristics of Verón and Lampard meant that if they played at the same time, Chelsea’s midfield defense would become a massive problem.

That made the defensively outstanding Makélélé indispensable.

As a homegrown player, Lampard was a regular starter and famously durable.

Thus, Verón could only take a tragic seat on the bench.

But that led to another problem.

Neither Makélélé nor Lampard could bring control or creativity to Chelsea’s midfield.

This was not a simple issue.

Even later, after Mourinho took charge, Chelsea was never able to solve this problem.

That was why a tactical centre-forward like Drogba, who excelled at dropping deep to support the midfield, was a better fit for Chelsea than Shevchenko or Torres.

At the same time, this wasn’t just a Chelsea problem.

It was an issue that all of England, the entire United Kingdom, had been trying to solve for over a decade, maybe even two.

“Brian.”

Yang Cheng smiled at Brian Kidd.

“Do you remember what I said to you when we first met?”

“Of course,” Brian Kidd nodded.

During that first meeting, Yang Cheng had spoken at length with Brian Kidd about everything from the great transformations in European football to the fundamental problems with English football and its youth academies.

Some of these things were no secret; English football figures like Ferguson and Brian Kidd were aware of them and were trying to find solutions.

But Yang Cheng’s proposed solutions had particularly intrigued Brian Kidd.

“Although this current team is still a long way from the one I envision, Chelsea isn’t the strongest team in the country right now either. So, I want to give it a try at Stamford Bridge.”

Brian Kidd’s eyes lit up.

He even stood up, overcome with excitement.

…

On the evening of January 3rd, at Stamford Bridge, London.

The third round of the FA Cup: Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea, away.

Yang Cheng stuck with a 4-3-3 formation for this match.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Capaldi, Koscielny, Roger Johnson, and Steve Jenkins;

Midfield: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Martin Rowlands and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Devanny.

He did not select Dave Kitson, who had been brilliant on his debut with a hat-trick, opting instead for the more tactically useful Lambert.

At right-back, the recently impressive Kevin Foley was also replaced by the more defensively experienced Steve Jenkins, a move that reflected Yang Cheng’s thinking for this game.

There were no surprises in Chelsea’s starting lineup either.

Ranieri made some appropriate rotations.

It was clear that with their league title challenge in jeopardy, the Tinkerman was hoping for a good run in the cup competitions.

Goalkeeper: Cudicini;

Defense: Babayaro, Gallas, Terry, and Melchiot;

Midfield: Grønkjær, Makélélé, Lampard, and Joe Cole;

Forwards: Hasselbaink and Mutu.

Yang Cheng had guessed one position wrong: Duff.

Although Ranieri was taking the cup competition seriously, he clearly wasn’t giving Bayswater Chinese from League Two much thought.

It wasn’t just him; in the eyes of most people, Bayswater Chinese had come to Stamford Bridge as lambs to the slaughter.

Putting everything else aside, after Jon Stead’s departure, practically any single player in the Blues’ squad was worth about the same as the entire Bayswater Chinese team.

With such a massive disparity in strength, what did they have to worry about?

The referee for the match was Alan Wiley.

He was clearly concerned that the League Two side might resort to some rough tactics, so he made sure to give them a few extra words of caution before the game.

But as soon as the match kicked off, the entire stadium erupted in an uproar.

This was the first time Bayswater Chinese were showcasing their football to a worldwide audience on television.

Right from the kickoff, they strung together a series of one-touch passes, looking incredibly skilled and fluid.

Chelsea’s two forwards tried to press, but they couldn’t even get a touch on the ball.

However, when Modrić received the ball to the right of the center circle, turned, and tried to break past Makélélé, the French midfielder decisively closed him down, used his body to muscle Modrić off the ball, and forcibly won it back.

Makélélé might not be tall, but his physical presence was immense.

This brilliant piece of defending earned Makélélé a round of enthusiastic applause.

Over thirty-eight thousand fans were in attendance, but only five thousand of them were Bayswater Chinese supporters.

But among those five thousand, it was hard to say how many were die-hard fans.

Having lost the ball, the Chinese team’s players immediately began to press aggressively.

Soon, with Lambert applying pressure, Martin Rowlands successfully won the ball back.

Yang Cheng had made specific arrangements for this match, such as pressing immediately after losing possession and trying to control the ball in midfield once they won it back.

This was because Chelsea only had two central midfielders, and both were positioned relatively deep.

With Bayswater Chinese controlling possession in midfield, and the forwards not tracking back diligently, Lampard and Makélélé were forced to push forward.

Lambert, as the centre-forward, actively dropped back with them.

In this situation, Chelsea’s defensive line naturally pushed up as well.

In the fourth minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese seized an opportunity.

Pressured by Lampard, Martin Rowlands passed the ball to Modrić.

Under pressure from Makélélé, Modrić managed to get the ball to a dropping Lambert.

Without taking a touch, Lambert played a first-time pass back into the path of Huddlestone, who was waiting in space.

The young English midfielder controlled the ball, looked up, and launched a direct long pass forward.

Only at that moment did all the fans in the stadium suddenly realize the danger, letting out a collective gasp.

Ribéry, in his red shirt, shot forward on the left wing like a dagger, sprinting furiously to chase down his teammate’s long ball.

Finally, near the left corner flag, Ribéry successfully brought Huddlestone’s long pass under control.

But by the time he had adjusted, Melchiot had already recovered and was back in position.

Ranieri, having come from Serie A, was always very rigorous about his team’s defending.

One-on-one!

Ribéry gave his opponent no time to breathe, dribbling along the byline and closing in.

Just as Melchiot backed up towards the left edge of the penalty area, Ribéry feigned to go down the byline but was actually looking to shake off Melchiot and cut inside towards the top-left corner of the box.

Melchiot, with a look that said, “I knew it,” didn’t fall for the trick and immediately moved to follow.

But the moment he moved, Ribéry executed a sharp stop-and-turn, pulling the ball back and heading for the byline for real.

The one-meter-eighty-seven Melchiot had built a muscular physique to cope with the Premier League.

But against the small and agile Ribéry, that muscular frame became more of a hindrance, and he was easily beaten.

With deft, continuous touches, Ribéry broke into the left side of the penalty area from the byline. Facing a tracking Terry, he came to a sudden halt, just avoiding Terry’s block, and passed the ball back towards the front of the six-yard box near the left post.

And at that very moment, Martin Rowlands, who had been following the play all the way, arrived at full tilt to meet Ribéry’s cut-back with a side-footed shot.

The ball flew straight into the back of Chelsea’s net.

The entire Stamford Bridge fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared in disbelief at what had just happened on the pitch, watching as the scoreboard, which had read 0-0, quickly changed to 0-1.

They were all completely stunned.

Chapter 25: Simply Incredible!

“It’s in!!”

“My God, the Bayswater Chinese have scored first against Chelsea!”

“Yes, you are not mistaken, the Bayswater Chinese have scored!!”

“Republic of Ireland international Martin Rowlands, with a magnificent late run and shot, has given the Bayswater Chinese the lead just over four minutes into the game.”

“A truly fantastic start!”

“From the kick-off, we can see that the Bayswater Chinese have been playing very proactively, refusing to sit back and defend.”

“That was a great long pass from Huddlestone in midfield, and Ribéry’s subsequent series of individual moves left a very deep impression on us.”

“According to the information we received from the Bayswater Chinese before the match, the 20-year-old Franck Ribéry previously played in the third and fourth tiers of French football.”

“The Bayswater Chinese brought him to London from France on a free transfer.”

“He has also been one of the best-performing players in League Two this season.”

…

“Are players in the lower leagues all this strong nowadays?”

At the home team’s technical area at Stamford Bridge, The Tinkerman, Ranieri, asked his assistant with a puzzled look.

The Welshman, Gwyn Williams, had been working at Chelsea since 1979. He started as a youth team coach and became an assistant coach to the likes of Gullit and Vialli in the mid-90s.

Hearing Ranieri’s words, the man who had spent decades in youth development couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Yang Cheng in front of the away team’s dugout.

This was a “secret” they had just discovered.

It turned out that while the head coach of the Bayswater Chinese was nominally Brian Kidd, the man actually in charge was this handsome young man.

“In the lower leagues, the quality of both teams and players is uneven. It all comes down to having a good eye.”

Ranieri nodded.

No matter how strong a top-flight league’s ability to scout talent was, some fish would inevitably slip through the net.

These players plied their trade in the lower leagues, their individual abilities clearly a cut above, or even several cuts above, the rest.

But due to the lack of information channels, the vast majority of them remained unknown.

This was the case even for a team like the Bayswater Chinese.

Ribéry, on their team, possessed immense individual skill.

Especially when watching him go one-on-one against Melchiot with the ball at his feet, his confidence was anything but ordinary.

Even in professional football, it was rare to see a player who dared to take on defenders, attempt audacious moves, and display such self-assurance.

“They’re planning to seize the initiative and overwhelm us with their momentum,” Gwyn Williams said.

After taking the lead, the Bayswater Chinese did not choose to fall back and defend; instead, they continued to employ aggressive tactics.

One very clear sign was that their defensive line was often pushed up quite high.

“Not just that.” Ranieri turned his head again, looking at Yang Cheng with great interest.

“That kid knows his team’s shortcomings. Neither of his two center-backs are the type of defenders who can hold their position, so he simply chose to unleash them and activate his offense.”

Although they were a League Two team, they were from the same city. Moreover, there had been rumors that Chelsea wanted to buy the Bayswater Chinese, so Ranieri didn’t dare take this match lightly.

His scouts had observed the Bayswater Chinese on several occasions.

Ranieri was well aware of the issues with Koscielny and Roger Johnson.

“What do we do now?” Gwyn Williams asked.

“Push forward slowly. We have the overall advantage in quality; there’s no need to take risks against them.”

Ranieri’s face was still full of confidence.

The match had just begun. So what if they were a goal down?

With Chelsea’s strength, as long as they settled down and pushed forward steadily, even if the Bayswater Chinese were a force to be reckoned with, they would be brought to their knees here at Stamford Bridge!

…

In all competitive sports, from individual games like table tennis and badminton to team sports like football, basketball, and volleyball…

Momentum is crucial in a match.

Momentum affects the players’ mentality, which in turn influences how well they get into the game, and can even impact the entire team’s confidence and fighting spirit.

But Yang Cheng also knew very well that momentum was temporary.

The ancestors were right: you charge with the first drum roll, lose steam on the second, and are exhausted by the third.

After seizing the initiative, the most important thing was to consolidate the advantage gained.

Thus, the Chelsea players on the pitch soon realized they were up against a very special team.

From their position on the field, they couldn’t quite put their finger on what made them special.

Each player’s experience was different.

Take the forward, Mutu, for example.

Since joining Chelsea, he had been given more freedom to roam, often dropping deep to receive passes from midfield.

In the Premier League, where the 4-4-2 formation reigned supreme, Mutu was thriving.

To contain him, Manchester United’s Ferguson had even gone so far as to pair Roy Keane and Phil Neville in a double pivot when they faced Chelsea.

But the effect was still limited.

The only time Mutu had felt real pressure was during the away game at Highbury against Arsenal.

Gilberto Silva stood like an iron tower in front of the defense, putting immense pressure on Mutu whenever he dropped back.

Now, facing the Bayswater Chinese, Mutu felt a similar kind of pressure.

Tom Huddlestone!

Although the young player’s defensive abilities weren’t on par with Gilberto Silva’s, he was just as tall and strong.

More importantly, he constantly patrolled the area just in front of the defensive line.

This made it extremely difficult for Mutu to find gaps and spaces to run into.

Ranieri relayed his instructions from the sideline, hoping his players would steady themselves and use the team’s overall superiority in quality to suppress the opponent and gain control of the match.

But on the pitch, Mutu and his teammates found it hard to get any space.

Especially in the middle of the park.

As a result, they were forced to move the ball out to the wings more often.

Grønkjær created some danger with a few runs down the left flank, but in the center, Hasselbaink couldn’t get the better of Koscielny or Roger Johnson.

The two central midfielders for the Bayswater Chinese were also very mobile.

Whenever Lampard made a forward run, Mutu dropped deep, or Joe Cole got on the ball, they would actively track back to help Huddlestone defend.

At these moments, the Bayswater Chinese’s formation resembled one with three defensive midfielders.

Once they won the ball back, they would launch a rapid counter-attack.

A prime example was in the 16th minute.

Lampard pushed forward to link up with Mutu, but their pass was deflected by Huddlestone.

Modrić quickly played the ball to Martin Rowlands.

After catching up to it, the Irish international immediately sent a diagonal pass with his left foot, switching the play to the right side.

The space left behind by Babayaro’s forward run was exploited by Martin Devaney.

The Bayswater Chinese right winger’s first touch wasn’t perfect, but he used his speed to get to the byline and deliver a cross.

If it weren’t for Gallas’s solid control of the near post and Terry’s powerful-headed clearance over Lambert, the situation would have been very dangerous.

Throughout the entire sequence, the Bayswater Chinese moved the ball forward with incredible speed.

How did this look like a League Two team?

And to think they had assumed this would be an easy win before the match.

By the time Mutu and his teammates realized this, when they felt the threat posed by the Bayswater Chinese, 20 minutes had already passed.

…

While the players fought hard on the pitch, Yang Cheng was constantly observing and analyzing from the sideline.

The team’s defensive organization was good, and their attack was quite threatening.

Ribéry’s individual skill and Devaney’s speed were causing problems for Chelsea’s two flanks.

This forced Makélélé and Lampard to be more cautious about venturing forward.

With the two central midfielders hesitant to push up, the attack in the final third was affected.

Yang Cheng had also instructed Huddlestone to focus on shutting down Mutu.

As a result, the connection between Chelsea’s forwards and midfield was easily broken.

Chelsea’s attack was thus forced out to the wings.

Especially down Grønkjær’s left flank.

On the left, Capaldi was doing a good job defending against Joe Cole.

On the right, Jenkins was having a tougher time, but his defensive experience was vast. Although he couldn’t completely stop Grønkjær, he wasn’t getting easily beaten either.

Furthermore, the two center-backs behind him were effectively controlling Hasselbaink.

The Dutch striker was already 31 years old.

Since last November, the Dutchman had gone over two months without scoring a single goal.

Note that this goal drought included not just the Premier League, but also the Champions League, the League Cup, and now the FA Cup.

Ranieri had likely started him in this match hoping that Hasselbaink could regain his scoring form against the League Two minnows, but he never expected…

“Chelsea was careless at the start, and we’ve disrupted their rhythm in the first half. We must find a way to score another goal before halftime to solidify our lead.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Cheng walked to the edge of the technical area and issued instructions to the players on the pitch.

Lambert was to drop deep more often to get on the ball, providing an option for Modrić and Martin Rowlands.

Ribéry and Martin Devaney were to push forward the moment they saw an opportunity!

…

Time flew by.

From the 20-minute mark, Chelsea gradually stabilized.

By the 33rd minute, the Blues, leveraging their overall superiority in quality, had begun to turn the tide.

They frequently created threats down the left wing, orchestrated by Grønkjær.

Fortunately, Hasselbaink, hassled by the two center-backs, was not efficient and wasted several good opportunities.

But Chelsea continued to press forward relentlessly.

In the 34th minute, Joe Cole popped up in the half-space, attempting to pass the ball to Mutu’s feet.

Huddlestone, with his long legs, slid in just in time, intercepting the ball and clearing it.

Martin Rowlands and Joe Cole both pressed for the loose ball, but neither could gain control.

As Modrić came over, Lampard followed him.

Just before receiving the ball, the Croatian made a clear feint, looking as if he was going to let the ball run and turn to his right.

This caused Lampard to misjudge his intentions.

But Modrić suddenly controlled the ball with the outside of his left foot, creating a sliver of space to pass through the tightly marking Lampard, and sent the ball to the feet of Lambert, who had dropped back to receive it.

Unmarked, Lambert controlled the ball, turned, and faced the onrushing Terry. He calmly played a diagonal pass out wide.

The ball arced towards the left side of the pitch.

Ribéry sprinted forward, catching up to Lambert’s pass.

Melchiot was in close pursuit.

But as the French winger controlled the ball, he suddenly came to an abrupt stop, feinting to cut inside.

This tricked Melchiot into stopping as well.

Unexpectedly, Ribéry suddenly exploded down the line again, accelerating with the ball and instantly leaving Melchiot behind.

By the time the Chelsea right-back had readjusted and tried to give chase, all he could see were Ribéry’s taillights.

The masterful dribbling and blistering pace earned a collective gasp from the entire stadium.

As he charged towards the edge of the penalty area on the left, he came up against the timely recovering France national team captain, Desailly. Ribéry, now at full speed, executed another skillful feint.

After a shimmy to the left, he dragged the ball horizontally with his right foot, instantly changing direction to cut inside, shaking off Desailly in a flash.

Everyone in the stadium was stunned!

That kind of speed and ability to change direction was simply incredible!

Makélélé had gotten back into the box to provide cover, but after shaking off Desailly, Ribéry didn’t continue to dribble. Instead, just before Makélélé could close him down, he angled a pass into the right side of the penalty area.

It was only then that Martin Devaney, who had been outside everyone’s focus, arrived at full tilt.

Devaney caught up to Ribéry’s pass, took a touch to control it, and then fired it past Cudicini into the net.

In the 35th minute, the Bayswater Chinese were leading 2-0!

Chapter 26: The Great Upset

When head referee Alan Wiley blew the whistle for halftime, a chorus of boos echoed through Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea fans were not happy with their team’s performance this season.

The Chelsea under Ranieri’s management had failed to display a convincing level of play.

This was completely at odds with the massive investment Chelsea had made in the transfer market last summer!

And in the VIP box, Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, had a face as grim as thunder.

The Blues, a team built with nearly two hundred million pound sterling, were actually being thrashed at home by a minnow team from League Two.

And to make matters worse, it was the Bayswater Chinese!

What kind of reaction was he supposed to have?

“This is Ranieri’s biggest problem!”

The Israeli agent Pini Zahavi pointed at the pitch and spoke to Abramovich.

“The Christmas schedule is packed, but the FA Cup is a single-elimination match.”

“Right now in the Premier League, Manchester United is leading with forty-six points, with Arsenal close behind at forty-five. The Gunners are still undefeated. We only have forty-two points, so our hopes for the title are slim.”

“Football fans all over the world know that once the winter fixtures begin, it’s the period where Ferguson is at his best.”

“So, Ranieri wants to win the FA Cup, using a cup trophy to make up for a potential lack of a league title.”

In the League Cup quarter-finals, Chelsea had lost 2-1 away to Aston Villa.

It was fair to say that Ranieri’s team had not been satisfactory at all so far this season.

This dissatisfaction wasn’t just about results, but also about the character and spirit the team displayed.

“He wants the league, and he wants the cup competitions. The end result will be that he can’t hold on to either. He’s lost his way!”

Before the sixteenth round of the Premier League, Chelsea had been the league leaders.

But in that crucial sixteenth round, the Blues lost 2-1 at home to Bolton, surrendering their top spot.

Before Christmas, the gap between Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United was still close, within a single point.

But in the eighteenth round, the Premier League match on December 26th, Chelsea lost 4-2 away to Charlton Athletic.

Although the Blues bounced back three days later with a 3-0 home win against Portsmouth, the gap was already widening.

And now, the Blues had conceded twice at home in the FA Cup to the Bayswater Chinese, a team from League Two.

Chelsea was supposed to be a top-four Premier League team, a cut above the rest.

Roman Abramovich had invested nearly two hundred million pound sterling to bring in a host of stars, and this was the result?

“Roman, not every great head coach can lead a championship-caliber team to a title!”

When Pini Zahavi said this, he was virtually signing Ranieri’s death warrant.

Time for a change!

Abramovich’s dissatisfaction with Ranieri had always been written all over his face.

From the first moment he saw the Italian, he knew this was not a man who could bring victory and championships to the team.

But after hearing Pini Zahavi’s words, he didn’t speak. Instead, he turned his head calmly, glanced at the Israeli, and returned to his seat.

“The Bayswater Chinese seem quite capable,” Abramovich said faintly.

Pini Zahavi couldn’t read the Russian’s mind and could only say, “They have a considerable lead in League Two at the moment. Promotion is highly likely.”

“Does that mean they won’t be selling their stadium?”

Pini Zahavi was taken aback. He looked at Abramovich again and saw his expression was unchanged, making him impossible to read.

“It’s hard to say.”

“I’ve spoken with Elvino. After selling one player, the Bayswater Chinese paid off two million pound sterling of debt. But if they get promoted to League One, which will become the Championship, they might have to lease a stadium.”

“Why?” the Russian asked, curious.

“According to the newly released regulations for the Championship, a team’s home ground must have comprehensive broadcast camera positions and a multimedia system. Their current stadium has none of that.”

“And the capacity is very limited.”

Abramovich nodded. “Then you’d better hurry things up. Talk to them again. If necessary, you can raise the offer slightly. I’ve grown tired of this old and outdated Stamford Bridge.”

After a pause, the Russian muttered, “Even Arsenal is building a new stadium of their own.”

Rivalry!

The word flashed through Pini Zahavi’s mind.

But it fit his impression of Abramovich.

Pini Zahavi immediately nodded in agreement.

Abramovich sighed deeply, stood up from his seat again, took one last long look at the pitch, and then turned to leave.

He couldn’t watch anymore!

In his mind, Ranieri had already been sentenced to death.

It was just that so far, he hadn’t found a head coach he could trust.

That included Eriksson from the England national team.

How could anyone trust a guy who couldn’t even keep his own fly zipped to manage a team full of superstars?

As for the Bayswater Chinese…

Damn it. When it came down to it, the money they used to solve their debt crisis had come from Abramovich’s own pocket.

At this moment, watching the opponent who had breached his team’s goal twice, the Russian felt the infuriating sensation of having shot himself in the foot.

…

The second half of the match was intensely fought.

During the halftime break, Ranieri decisively made two substitutions.

One was bringing on Crespo for Hasselbaink to strengthen the team’s attacking firepower up front.

The other was replacing Joe Cole with Duff.

Grønkjær was moved to the right wing, while Duff appeared on the left.

Ranieri was using the faster, more aggressive Duff to attack the side defended by the aging Jenkins.

As soon as the second half began, the right flank of the Bayswater Chinese came under pressure.

Duff’s continuous attacks made the aging Jenkins look utterly outmatched.

The full-back Babayaro also became more active.

The left flank immediately became Chelsea’s main source of attacks.

In the 56th minute, it was Duff who dribbled past Jenkins on the left wing and sent a cross to the front of the goal. Crespo met it with a powerful header, pulling one back for Chelsea.

1-2!

The goal ignited Chelsea’s hopes of an equalizer.

Yang Cheng, however, made a decisive substitution of his own.

Lee Williamson came on for the goalscorer, Martin Devaney.

After the change, Modrić was moved to the right wing, while Lee Williamson and Martin Rowlands shielded Huddlestone.

At this point, the Bayswater Chinese were no longer playing a 4-3-3.

It looked more like a 4-3-2-1.

Ribéry and Modrić were now operating in the half-spaces behind the center forward.

And the team’s tactics were no longer about pressing high. Instead, they adopted a more compact, defensive strategy.

To be honest, Yang Cheng had no idea how effective this tactical approach would be.

But it was the most reliable method he could think of to defeat Chelsea.

Every minute that followed was an agony for Yang Cheng.

He stood on the touchline, intently observing every move on the pitch.

After Chelsea’s substitutions, especially after scoring a goal, the situation on the field changed dramatically.

Duff and Grønkjær on the wings became the originators of Chelsea’s attacks, creating wave after wave of pressure.

The Bayswater Chinese were pushed back and looked very uncomfortable.

They had several close calls in front of their goal.

Fortunately, Koscielny and Roger Johnson remained highly focused.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart also contributed several high-quality saves, thwarting Chelsea’s attacks time and again.

In the 75th minute, Ranieri used his final substitution early.

Gudjohnsen came on for Grønkjær.

Mutu was shifted to the left, and Duff was moved to the right.

The two strikers were now the partnership of Crespo and Gudjohnsen.

But as the match reached this point, Yang Cheng actually grew more confident.

In the 78th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Kevin Foley to replace the veteran Jenkins.

Then, in the 83rd minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball in the midfield and quickly launched a counter-attack.

Modrić received the ball, shook off the challenge of Makélélé, and switched the play to the left half-space.

Ribéry surged forward with the ball at pace, breezing past Melchiot before being challenged by Terry, who tackled the ball out over the byline as he went to ground.

The subsequent corner kick resulted in a shot, but Koscielny headed the ball over the bar.

Still, this counter-attack sent a cold shiver down the spines of everyone at Chelsea.

The Bayswater Chinese were playing with more and more confidence.

In contrast, Chelsea was growing increasingly frantic.

As one team’s confidence grew and the other’s waned, the Blues were unable to breach the Bayswater Chinese goal again before the end.

…

“The head referee Alan Wiley has blown the final whistle.”

“1-2!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge!”

“An upset! This is an absolutely massive upset!”

“Although we always say the FA Cup is a breeding ground for upsets, who could have imagined that the star-studded Chelsea would be defeated at their own home ground by a team from League Two?”

“Ranieri’s team has suffered another major blow.”

“This is the second painful setback they’ve suffered in the last week.”

“The last one cost them their position as the Premier League leaders, and now, they’ve been knocked out of the FA Cup.”

…

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others rushed onto the pitch.

The substitutes on the bench all followed, joining the players on the field in a wild celebration.

2-1!

They had pulled off a huge upset and defeated Chelsea!

It was simply unbelievable!

In the stands, the five thousand fans of the Bayswater Chinese were a minority in number.

But they created an immense roar, cheering and praising the players on the field.

Surrounded by his players, Yang Cheng was undoubtedly the most ecstatic of all.

Defeating Chelsea was not just sweet revenge for him; it was a rare opportunity to prove himself!

At that moment, he knew better than anyone that Ranieri’s dismissal would be justified.

Perhaps it was unfair to say that about a good man like Ranieri.

But professional football never shows mercy just because you’re a nice guy.

Ranieri no longer had the ability to further transform Chelsea.

After spending so much money and so many years, the Chelsea he had built still played in the traditional English style, a tactical system that used the wings to initiate attacks through the middle.

But what about on the continent?

Or rather, what about the future trend of the Premier League?

Everything was changing.

Every team, from Manchester United to Arsenal to Liverpool, was reforming.

They were all absorbing the advanced technical and tactical concepts from continental Europe, using central play to drive attacks on the flanks.

And this match was precisely the proof Yang Cheng wanted to show Brian Kidd.

He and his Bayswater Chinese could definitely bring Brian Kidd the kind of football that the English wanted and pursued.

Thinking this, Yang Cheng turned to look at Brian Kidd.

The old Englishman was clearly overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. One moment he was pulling Ribéry into a hug, the next he was embracing Modrić, then he was throwing an arm around Martin Rowlands’s shoulder…

It was obvious that Brian Kidd was convinced!

Chapter 27: The Genius Coach

The first upset of 2004!

After the third round of the FA Cup concluded, all of England was in an uproar.

Every media outlet was frantically reporting on the match at Stamford Bridge.

No one could believe that a team from League Two could actually defeat the star-studded Chelsea 2-1 away from home.

The Times even wrote a match commentary, arguing that based on this game alone, the performance of the Bayswater Chinese was in no way inferior to Chelsea’s.

“Both sides played a good half!”

The authoritative British newspaper believed that the level of technical and tactical quality displayed by the Bayswater Chinese was not something a League Two team should possess; they had a very high tactical standard.

“Even when facing the formidable Chelsea, the Bayswater Chinese were able to execute slick passing moves. All their players ran into positions with a perfect understanding of each other, making their play look incredibly fluid.”

The Times concluded that the Bayswater Chinese demonstrated a unique technical and tactical style.

Especially in the midfield.

“Martin Rowlands, Luka Modrić, Tom Huddlestone.”

“Strictly speaking, the Bayswater Chinese midfield lacks a traditional steel warrior.”

“But it was precisely this midfield, composed of technically gifted players, that held its own against a midfield of superstars like Makélélé, Lampard, and Mutu.”

“They even played with more structure.”

The Man of the Match was French winger Franck Ribéry.

After this game, the menacing-looking Scarface shot to fame.

Throughout the first half, he single-handedly tore Chelsea’s defense to shreds, especially down Melchiot’s flank.

Both of the Bayswater Chinese’s goals, and nearly every threatening attack they mounted, originated from Ribéry’s feet.

The ever-intrusive The Sun quickly dug up the inside story.

Only then did everyone learn that Ribéry had been expelled from Lille’s youth academy. Before joining the Bayswater Chinese, he had played in the fourth and third tiers of French football.

This was the first time he had showcased his skills to English fans.

Although it was through a live television broadcast, everyone was astounded by his ability.

The Sun revealed that France national team captain Desailly and Chelsea’s defensive midfielder Makélélé both made a point of speaking with Ribéry after the match, clearly showing their admiration for the French winger.

But the most surprising revelation came from another secret uncovered by The Guardian.

It turned out that while Brian Kidd was the nominal head coach of the Bayswater Chinese, the person actually in charge of the team was a 23-year-old Chinese man named Yang Cheng.

Moreover, Yang Cheng was the only son of the Bayswater Chinese’s owner.

The news stunned not just England, but the entire European football world.

It wasn’t uncommon for a head coach without a coaching license to have an assistant coach registered in their place while they pulled the strings behind the scenes.

Even with a famous coach like Brian Kidd, it wouldn’t have been that surprising.

But for the owner of a professional club to act as the head coach themselves was unheard of in all of European football!

What was even more shocking was that this owner was only twenty-three years old!

And the most incredible part? This owner had led his team to topple the star-studded Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and they did it by playing a style of football that was worthy of applause!

When the media and fans saw this news, they all swarmed in.

Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese quickly dominated the headlines of major newspapers.

A 23-year-old head coach—if that wasn’t a genius, what was?

What surprised Yang Cheng the most was when Brian Kidd revealed in an interview with The Sun that the main reason he was willing to come to the Bayswater Chinese as an assistant coach was because of Yang Cheng himself.

“We met just once, and I made my decision.”

“The football he envisioned moved me. He wants to try and forge a different path.”

“I think he will bring more to contemplate for English football, allowing us to see more possibilities.”

“I even think this could very well be our future!”

If anyone else had said such things, they would have been laughed out of the room.

But the person who said it was Brian Kidd.

The current assistant coach of the England national team and the legendary creator of Manchester United’s Class of ’92.

Brian Kidd held considerable prestige in English football. For him to step forward and say something like this only made the media and fans pay even more attention to Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

The most immediate change was that for their next home game, the 27th round of League Two against Rushden & Diamonds, all five thousand tickets sold out completely, and ticket touts even began to appear.

…

“Brian, that interview of yours has really exposed me.”

In the Bayswater Chinese office, Yang Cheng laughed and teased Brian Kidd.

It was actually a good thing.

At the very least, media and fan interest in the Bayswater Chinese was higher than ever.

Looking at Lin Zhongqiu’s grin that couldn’t be wiped off his face, it was clear that ticket sales were very encouraging.

The Bayswater Chinese still had eleven home games left in League Two. If every match was a sell-out, ticket revenue would increase significantly.

By then, the club’s debt pressure would also be further alleviated.

More importantly, if they were promoted to the Championship next season, their income would rise by a huge margin.

“I was just telling the truth,” Brian Kidd said with a smile.

“For all these years, we’ve been searching and exploring.”

As he finished, the Englishman’s face was filled with emotion.

Yang Cheng nodded. “The Heysel and Hillsborough disasters dealt a far greater blow to English football than anyone could have imagined.”

“Yes,” Brian Kidd sighed with mixed feelings.

The history of football tactics is long and storied.

Different countries have developed their own unique tactical styles based on their characteristics, ethnicity, climate, and other factors.

When people mention England’s style of play, they always bring up long-ball tactics.

While not wrong, that’s too one-sided.

To put it simply, tactical systems on the European continent tend to use the center to drive the flanks.

For example, the Italians have a famous saying: No matter how good the wing play is, you still have to come back to the center to score.

That’s why Italy has rarely produced outstanding wingers.

England’s tactical system, on the other hand, uses the flanks to drive the center.

This is reflected in the fact that England’s two traditional central midfielders generally lack ball-control ability.

And doesn’t the specific style that extends from this tactical system—long-ball tactics—play to the speed advantage on the wings?

It was this system that brought glory to English football, winning them the World Cup.

Brian Kidd himself was a top star during the peak of English football.

“But after winning the World Cup, we fell into a slump in the following major tournaments, and our talent development started to lag behind.”

“At that time, many of us were thinking, so we went to inspect various places on the continent.”

“We began to realize the problem. The old, traditional concepts needed to change. We needed to try and absorb the strengths of the continent while building on our traditions.”

“For example, we needed to strengthen our control of the midfield. The traditional box-to-box midfielder had to change. We had to improve the players’ ability to control the ball.”

“All of this ultimately culminated in a youth academy reform, which in turn created our golden era from the late 1970s to the 1980s.”

As an Englishman, even one loyal to Manchester United, Brian Kidd’s face filled with pride when he spoke of the glory of English clubs in the ’80s.

English teams like Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, and Liverpool swept through European football, striking fear into the hearts of their continental rivals.

During those years, English youth talent also experienced a boom.

The number of English players playing abroad reached its peak during that period.

Although the national team didn’t achieve great results, English football was truly at its zenith in those years.

“But everything came to a screeching halt after the Heysel disaster!”

“The ban from UEFA completely severed the connection between English clubs and the continent, and it completely broke the positive momentum of English football.”

“The subsequent Hillsborough disaster only made matters worse.”

“The invincible Liverpool dynasty completely fell apart. The best teams in English football couldn’t participate in European competitions. All the teams closed their doors and entertained themselves.”

“Working in isolation, coupled with the league’s poor business performance, caused our youth development and tactics to regress to tradition.”

Players like Gerrard and Lampard were products of this period.

And they were already the best of their generation.

But you could see from them that English youth development was taking a step backward.

And before that?

They had produced many talented, technically outstanding geniuses, like Gascoigne.

Many people mock the British media for their tendency to hype up “geniuses,” but isn’t that, in a way, a form of nostalgia for past glories?

“While we were working in isolation, a great, era-defining team emerged on the continent.”

“Sacchi and his AC Milan dynasty brought about one of the most subversive tactical revolutions in the history of modern football.”

“And we, all of England, missed that revolution.”

“Years later, when we finally returned to Europe, we discovered with despair that from our youth academies to our technical and tactical philosophies, we had fallen completely behind the continent—by more than just one generation.”

Yang Cheng could actually understand Brian Kidd’s feelings.

Because Kidd had once been one of the very best players in England, and even the world.

“For the past years, all of us have been working hard. Ferguson may seem arrogant, but in reality, he is a very far-sighted man who is also very humble and willing to learn—provided you earn his respect and prove you are indeed better than him.”

“Wenger came, Houllier came, and then Ranieri and Eriksson followed. They all brought the most advanced tactical philosophies and club management methods from the continent.”

“They helped us see even more clearly the all-around gap between us and the continent, from youth development to training, tactics, and club management… But they also showed us the direction in which to catch up.”

Sensing the somber atmosphere, Yang Cheng chuckled softly. “Don’t be so pessimistic, Brian. At the very least, you guys created the Premier League in recent years. That’s a massive achievement.”

Compared to leagues like Serie A, La Liga, and the Bundesliga, the birth of the Premier League was indeed of extraordinary significance.

Brian Kidd gave a wry smile.

“But you’ve seen it. All the clubs are struggling financially now, drowning in debt. It’s common for them to mortgage their star players. Under these circumstances, who can afford to invest in youth academies?”

“Forget youth academies, just look at the training grounds. Take a look at the twenty teams in the Premier League. Apart from Manchester United and Arsenal, how many clubs have training facilities that are even remotely presentable?”

What Brian Kidd said was indeed the truth.

Chelsea, for example, had a training ground just outside Heathrow Airport that was dilapidated, old, and outdated.

Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground was also terrible.

And these were top teams in the Premier League.

What about the others?

That was why the Premier League now welcomed foreign investment so eagerly.

They knew perfectly well that without an injection of foreign capital, the Premier League, and indeed English football, would remain a pool of stagnant water.

“Everything will get better, Brian,” Yang Cheng said comfortingly.

With the influx of foreign investment, the rise of the Premier League was inevitable.

Yang Cheng was going to seize this opportunity, to let the Bayswater Chinese ride the wave and become one of the best and most elite clubs in England, Europe, and even the world!

Chapter 28: I’m Finally Experiencing Abramovich’s Happiness!

A week after playing Chelsea, in the 26th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Grimsby Town.

The result was a disappointing 0-0 draw on the road against Grimsby Town.

But no one was anxious about it.

Because in the 27th round of League Two a week later, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 3-0 victory at home against Rushden & Diamonds.

Center-back Roger Johnson opened the scoring for the team, and Ribéry added another goal.

Just before the final whistle, substitute Lambert scored again to seal the win.

The comprehensive home victory kept Bayswater Chinese at the top of the League Two table.

Midweek brought the 4th round of the Football League Trophy—the quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to challenge Northampton Town.

Just fourteen minutes into the first half, the defense, weakened by squad rotation, conceded a goal.

Yang Cheng made adjustments during the halftime break and brought on substitutes in the second half.

Starting from the 61st minute, the team scored three unanswered goals, securing a 3-1 comeback victory away from home.

It was worth noting that all three goals came from Dave Kitson.

Another hat-trick!

If his debut hat-trick was stunning, this one left even Yang Cheng a little surprised.

But on second thought, it seemed quite normal.

Dave Kitson was three years older than Jon Stead and more mature.

Their height and weight were similar, and both were physically strong, but Kitson had a better vertical leap, sharper penalty box instincts, and superior heading ability.

Most importantly, Kitson was equally proficient with both his right and left foot.

This made Kitson a significantly more lethal goalscorer.

His ability to seize opportunities was also stronger.

Incidentally, since his transfer to Blackburn Rovers, Stead had started the last two matches, continuing the excellent form he had shown at Bayswater Chinese by scoring in both consecutive games.

And those were Premier League goals!

So now, everyone felt that Blackburn Rovers’ eight million pound sterling fee was money well spent.

After the Football League Trophy match, the weekend brought the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese headed south for an away match against Portsmouth.

Pompey, managed by the famous English coach Harry Redknapp, did not repeat Chelsea’s mistakes.

From the kick-off, both sides were locked in a fierce battle.

Yang Cheng’s targeted tactics managed to stifle Portsmouth’s attacking firepower, but a mistake occurred in the 35th minute.

Portsmouth’s left-back, Matthew Taylor, made an overlapping run, received a brilliant pass from Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic, and opened the scoring for Pompey.

The right-wing duo of Martin Devaney and Steve Jenkins failed to stop Portsmouth’s attack down the left flank.

After play resumed in the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched a fierce offensive. In the 56th minute, Ribéry breached Pompey’s goal, successfully leveling the score.

What followed was a brutal, hard-fought battle between the two teams.

This was especially true for the home side, Portsmouth.

In the crucial final stages of the match, an assist from the veteran Sheringham allowed Matthew Taylor to make another overlapping run and score his second goal of the match.

2-1!

This score held until the final whistle.

The journey for Bayswater Chinese, the FA Cup’s dark horse, had come to an end.

Yang Cheng didn’t blame his players.

The difference in quality was plain to see.

Redknapp was, after all, a renowned manager, his tactics were solid, and Portsmouth had given their all on their home ground.

There was no shame in Bayswater Chinese’s defeat.

“This match showed us the gap in quality between ourselves and a Premier League team.”

In the dressing room after the loss, Yang Cheng comforted his players with a calm expression.

“But please note, this is not an insurmountable gap.”

“On the contrary, we have our chances.”

“So, there’s no need to be discouraged. We’ll win it back sooner or later!”

The players all accepted the head coach’s perspective.

There was no disgrace in a League Two team losing away to a mid-table Premier League side.

It was just that the earlier upset against Chelsea had given many people an unrealistic fantasy.

But Yang Cheng had always been clear-headed.

Bayswater Chinese’s main battlegrounds were League Two.

And, perhaps, the Football League Trophy.

Due to their participation in the FA Cup over the weekend, Bayswater Chinese’s 28th round League Two match had to be postponed.

After returning to London, the team traveled without stopping to face Brighton away.

The result was a 1-2 loss on the road.

After the loss in the 29th round, they drew 0-0 at home against Bournemouth in the 30th round.

This was followed by a 0-1 away defeat to Tranmere Rovers in the 31st round.

Fortunately, after Stead’s transfer to Blackburn Rovers, media attention on Bayswater Chinese had significantly decreased.

Despite going three consecutive rounds without a win, Bayswater Chinese did not face excessive pressure from the press.

Still, Yang Cheng explained to the fans that it was a delayed effect of being knocked out of the FA Cup, combined with the team competing on two fronts.

Then, in the 32nd league match, the team defeated Port Vale 2-1 at home, pushing the team that had originally aimed for the title down to 5th place in the league.

Subsequently, in the rescheduled 28th round match midweek, the team won 2-0 away against Stockport County.

Then, in the 33rd round on the weekend, they secured a 1-0 away victory over Blackpool.

As Queens Park Rangers had recently drawn three consecutive games, and Bristol City had lost away to Sheffield Wednesday in the 33rd round, Plymouth Argyle surged up the table to claim second place in League Two after this round of matches.

Bayswater Chinese continued to lead, but their advantage had been reduced to five points.

At the cost of their fluctuating league form, Bayswater Chinese managed to draw 1-1 away with Southend United in the first leg of the Football League Trophy semi-final in February.

Back at home, thanks to an outstanding performance from Ribéry, the team swept Southend United aside with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Bayswater Chinese smoothly advanced to the final with an aggregate score of 4-1.

As Wembley Stadium had already been demolished for rebuilding, the final was scheduled to be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Their opponent would be fellow League Two side Blackpool.

The final was set for March 21st.

Ten kilometers north of Hyde Park in London lies the world-famous Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

Hailed as the foremost of England’s eight major shopping centers, it is a paradise for countless fashion-seeking tourists.

At the same time, it is also the most important transport hub in northwest London.

The Underground, trains, the M1 motorway, and the orbital motorway all converge here.

From the starting point of the M1 motorway, four kilometers in a straight line to the southwest, is the familiar sight of Wembley Stadium.

The stadium, which had been demolished for three years and had long struggled to secure funding, had only recently announced the official start of reconstruction.

Right between Brent Cross Shopping Centre and Wembley Stadium is London’s largest natural reservoir, the Brent Reservoir.

Encircling the reservoir is a wetland park, a sanctuary for birds.

The northwest side of the reservoir is designated as the Welsh Harp Open Space.

On the north bank lies a vast, rectangular green space of over 200 acres, divided into several sections by rows of trees.

There is a football club at the northern end of this green space, and another at the southern end.

The club on the northwest side, adjacent to a residential area, is called Hendon. It is an amateur club that has struggled for years in the seventh, eighth, and ninth tiers of English football. Despite being nearly a century old, its best achievement in history was reaching the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Although they played in the amateur leagues, Hendon possessed a stadium that could hold two thousand people, as well as several pitches for their youth academy, occupying nearly half of the entire green space.

To the south of the green space, right next to the Brent Reservoir, was a club called Prince’s Park.

This club was even less distinguished than Hendon, barely participating in amateur leagues and focusing primarily on youth training for years. Nevertheless, it also occupied a considerable area in the southeast region of the green space.

Chris Hunt drove Yang Cheng, Lin Zhongqiu, and Brian Kidd on a tour around the entire green space, finally stopping by Hendon’s Silver Jubilee Park stadium.

“Beyond that row of trees is the community park.”

Chris Hunt pointed to a row of trees to the north of the green space, where an empty area could be faintly seen behind the treeline.

“What Hendon Club currently owns is this piece of land we’re looking at, about 100 acres.”

One hundred acres.

“It’s a bit small,” Yang Cheng said, turning to look south into the distance.

Lin Zhongqiu didn’t really have a sense of the scale, but Brian Kidd nodded in agreement with Yang Cheng.

If they were to build a complete youth academy system and ensure the pitches could accommodate all the youth teams, then 100 acres was indeed a bit tight.

In England, a youth academy generally covers ages seven to sixteen, making up ten age groups in total.

Above that is the reserve team.

Some clubs even have two more age groups between the U16s and the reserves.

And that’s not even counting the first team.

Many things didn’t follow a set convention.

For example, many English teams’ youth squads didn’t actually train at the club’s main training ground but were spread out among various football schools.

This was because their training facilities themselves were often poor, unable to even meet the needs of the first team, let alone the youth teams.

Then there was the first team.

According to Yang Cheng’s vision, if they were to measure by the standards of a top European club, the first team would need at least three standard training pitches to use in rotation, as the pitches require maintenance.

Furthermore, with England’s perennially rainy and snowy weather, he was also considering building an indoor football pitch once finances allowed, which he deemed very necessary.

Add to that the training buildings and dormitories for the first team and youth teams.

When you calculated it all, 100 acres was by no means enough.

“If Hendon’s 100 acres feels small, we can also acquire the plot from Prince’s Park.”

“Add to that this piece south of Hendon and north of the road, and the entire rectangular plot is about 150 acres.”

One hundred and fifty acres would be much more spacious.

Yang Cheng had just passed by the southern area, and he was very interested in that piece of land.

The view of the Brent Reservoir was truly beautiful.

If the players’ dormitories were built on the north bank of the reservoir, if nothing else, just looking at the scenery would be refreshing for the mind and spirit.

“How much do you think it would cost to buy this land?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

The funds he had on hand were not abundant.

Chris Hunt was aware of Bayswater Chinese’s situation.

Selling Jon Stead had brought in eight million pound sterling.

Although they had repaid the two million pound sterling to Elvino, they had also earned a considerable amount from the FA Cup.

Yang Cheng should still have over six million pound sterling on hand.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese’s home attendance had been at full capacity recently, so their income was good.

“Hendon and Prince’s Park have both been operating at a loss for the past few years and are in deep financial trouble, so persuading them won’t be difficult.”

“The more troublesome part is the area north of the road, which belongs to the Kingsbury Green local government. To buy it and get planning permission, we’ll need the approval of the city council and the surrounding residents, which could be a bit of a hassle.”

Yang Cheng was not surprised.

Even a financial giant like Chelsea had initially wanted to acquire a golf club in the south to convert into a training facility, only to be opposed by local residents, which forced them to relocate to Cobham.

“Then you and Uncle Lin go and negotiate. Try to get a good price. I definitely won’t short you on the commission.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.

What goes around, comes around.

He was finally experiencing Roman Abramovich’s happiness.

Chris Hunt hastily agreed.

The football industry in England was currently in a slump. Forget the lower leagues; even in the Premier League, apart from Manchester United, which team wasn’t heavily in debt?

The number of clubs listed for sale or undergoing bankruptcy restructuring in the City of London was countless.

From Chris Hunt’s perspective, the biggest obstacles to earning this commission were, in fact, the city council and the local residents.

But Yang Cheng had a counter-strategy for this as well.

“You tell them that we at Bayswater Chinese are very serious about this training facility. Over the next two years, we will invest at least twenty million pound sterling.”

Twenty million pound sterling?

At least?

Yang Cheng’s resonant promise stunned not only Chris Hunt but also Lin Zhongqiu and Brian Kidd.

Especially Lin Zhongqiu.

Given the club’s current financial situation, where would they get twenty million pound sterling?

Wasn’t this just insane?

Chapter 29: I’m No Tycoon

“That’s twenty million pounds!”

“A Cheng, I’m not questioning you, but you couldn’t raise that much money even if you sold me.”

“That’s two hundred million yuan!”

“Can we really get our hands on that much in two years?”

…

On the drive back from Brent Reservoir to central London, Lin Zhongqiu sat in the back seat, nagging Yang Cheng relentlessly.

Chris Hunt, who was driving, found the scene quite novel.

How to put it?

It was a study in contrasts.

The young Yang Cheng was decisive and resolute, making the decision on the spot and even proposing to invest twenty million pounds over the next two years.

With that kind of investment on the table, if Chris Hunt couldn’t close the deal with the government, he might as well give up his career in the City of London.

But Lin Zhongqiu?

He was Yang Cheng’s complete opposite—extremely conservative, cautious, and prudent.

The mere mention of twenty million pounds seemed enough to send him into a meltdown.

On second thought, Chris Hunt felt a certain sympathy for the poor old finance man.

Given the current state of Bayswater Chinese, coming up with twenty million pounds was unrealistic.

And yet, for some reason, Chris Hunt had faith in Yang Cheng.

Brian Kidd, in the passenger seat, was long accustomed to such scenes. Noticing Chris Hunt’s strange expression, he simply offered a smile.

“No, we absolutely can’t do things this way,” Lin Zhongqiu insisted.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Lin. I’ll figure out the money situation. You don’t need to stress about it.”

Yang Cheng looked at his elder, who was unfailingly loyal but also painstakingly cautious, and couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.

He was beginning to feel that Lin Zhongqiu would become an obstacle to his plans.

Perhaps he should consider sending him back to China.

But who would replace him?

Yang Cheng couldn’t trust anyone who wasn’t one of his own with the club’s finances.

For any club, this was a department of paramount importance.

During his tenure at Barça, Ferran Soriano had been the vice chairman in charge of finance, serving as chairman Laporta’s right-hand man.

It was thanks to his outstanding track record at Barça that he was favored by the Abu Dhabi United Group and appointed CEO of Manchester City.

Then there was Real Madrid, where a vice chairman was also in charge of finance.

Under Florentino Pérez’s leadership, Real Madrid’s finance department had poached countless talents from major multinational corporations, who in turn built a meticulously designed salary structure for the club.

They also advised on player acquisitions.

It was the same for every other major club, and indeed for all clubs in general.

Yang Cheng wouldn’t be at ease unless he had someone capable and completely trustworthy managing the financial side of things.

This even touched upon a club’s core competitiveness.

Take the salary structure, for instance.

A well-organized salary system could effectively motivate players and create a virtuous cycle within the team.

This had been proven time and time again.

But at present, Bayswater Chinese had no such system.

Yang Cheng couldn’t build one on his own.

He needed someone who could work in England, had sufficient ability, and, most importantly, was absolutely trustworthy…

Yang Cheng racked his brain, but he couldn’t think of a suitable candidate.

But in this lifetime…

There might just be one person.

…

After returning to the city center from Kingsbury Green, Yang Cheng threw himself back into intense preparations for the upcoming matches.

The team was running smoothly, but the Football League Trophy final was next. This would be the club’s first-ever professional league championship trophy in all its years of existence.

Regardless, Yang Cheng and everyone at the club wanted to win it.

Yang Cheng’s dear old dad even called him from China specifically to ask about the land purchase.

Needless to say, Lin Zhongqiu had reported back to him.

But his father didn’t go into detail, merely reiterating his support for Yang Cheng.

He also mentioned that he planned to come to England to watch the Football League Trophy final.

On March 2nd, in the 34th round of League Two, Bayswater Chinese defeated Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at home.

But four days later, on the weekend, in the 35th round, the team drew 0-0 away against Notts County.

As both Queens Park Rangers and Plymouth Argyle also drew their matches, Bayswater Chinese’s lead at the top of the table remained unchanged.

With only eleven rounds left in League Two, Bayswater Chinese’s promotion was now a high-probability event.

It was precisely because the team was operating so stably that Yang Cheng had the time to step away and handle some of his own affairs.

…

Mention London’s Fleet Street, and the first thing that comes to mind for anyone is the paparazzi.

Located in the City of London, Fleet Street was once the headquarters for Britain’s major media outlets.

But times have changed, and now only Reuters remains on Fleet Street.

There were even persistent rumors that Reuters was also considering a move.

After leaving Fleet Street, these newspapers mostly relocated to Wapping or Canary Wharf.

The street’s title as the heart of the press went with them.

But Fleet Street was still bustling with people.

The entire street was lined with law firms of all sizes.

River Court, situated at the eastern end of Fleet Street, was once the head office of The Daily Telegraph. It was now the UK headquarters of the investment bank Goldman Sachs.

During afternoon tea, in a donut shop diagonally across from River Court, Yang Cheng sat at a window overlooking the street, leisurely sipping his coffee as he waited for someone.

Jingle. The bell on the door rang, and a chic city woman dressed in black business attire with a white V-neck blouse suddenly appeared.

She was clearly a regular. Approaching the counter, she greeted the busy owner and said, “The usual,” while her eyes scanned the shop.

Soon, they locked onto Yang Cheng.

In this life’s memories, his impression of his university senior, Xia Qing, was rather vague, summed up in one word.

Beautiful!

Their university had never officially selected a “campus belle,” but whenever the male students discussed beauties, Xia Qing from the business school would inevitably be mentioned.

To be honest, Yang Cheng, who was used to seeing beautiful women, was slightly disappointed when he first saw Xia Qing.

There wasn’t that breathtaking impact he had expected.

She was truly beautiful, with picturesque features, but she didn’t leave a particularly deep first impression.

But on a closer second look, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but be surprised.

Her face was virtually flawless, as if sculpted by God’s own divine hand to show the world the meaning of the golden ratio of classical beauty.

On the third look, her beauty deepened further.

At 1.7 meters tall, with delicate shoulders and a slender waist, her proportions were exquisite. Her long, straight hair was tied back at her neck, and the somewhat androgynous black-and-white uniform fit her figure perfectly, exuding a crisp, professional air that couldn’t quite conceal the gentle beauty she possessed.

By the fourth look…

Xia Qing’s gaze fell upon Yang Cheng. She flashed him a radiant smile and gracefully walked over.

In that instant, it was as if the entire world had been cast in a warm white glow.

“Been waiting long?”

Xia Qing reached his table and pulled out the chair opposite him to sit down. Her gentle eyes remained on Yang Cheng, easily creating a sense of closeness.

It made Yang Cheng feel very comfortable.

“Not long, I just got here myself.”

Yang Cheng gave a casual reply, but he noticed that as Xia Qing sat down, she glanced laughingly at the empty coffee cup in front of him.

Oops, busted.

“Alright, actually, I came half an hour early,” Yang Cheng confessed.

“Sorry, I’ve been following up on a project recently, so I’ve been pretty busy.”

Xia Qing wasn’t late, but she apologized anyway.

“I understand. An Oxford Business School Master’s graduate, an investment expert at Goldman Sachs, handling major projects worth millions of pounds.”

Xia Qing smiled and gave him a playful glare. “Stop teasing me. In a big institution like this, I’m just a humble grunt in the financial machine.”

“Senior, if you put it that way, I’ll feel even more inadequate.”

Just then, a server brought a cup of coffee and a donut, placing them in front of Xia Qing.

Yang Cheng took the opportunity to order another black coffee.

“Alright, that’s enough of your jokes. You’ve been in London for over half a year, right? What made you suddenly think of visiting me?” Xia Qing asked, taking an elegant sip of her coffee, her eyes smiling at Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng gave a wry smile. “Didn’t I come to you for help, Senior?”

“Don’t pretend. I’ve seen news about your team in the papers. I hear you’re the league leaders in League Two, the hot favorites for promotion.”

As she spoke, she looked at the junior before her as if she were seeing him for the first time.

“Senior, that’s all just surface glamour, really.”

Xia Qing smiled but said nothing.

Yang Cheng discovered that not only was she stunningly beautiful, but she also loved to smile.

And when she smiled, she was even more beautiful.

She carried with her a confidence that seemed as though she had never been troubled by the world.

This couldn’t help but remind Yang Cheng of a rumor he’d heard during his university days.

Apparently, Xia Qing’s family was anything but simple.

Born into wealth, beautiful, and highly capable—it seemed she had little to be troubled by.

The key was, she was also incredibly easy to get along with.

Yang Cheng had met Xia Qing during freshman orientation, where she was part of the student union helping welcome new students.

But what Yang Cheng didn’t know was that as he was sizing her up, Xia Qing was doing the same to him.

In the three years since they’d last seen each other, his junior had changed a great deal.

“Alright, out with it. What is it?” Xia Qing glanced at her watch and prompted him.

Yang Cheng didn’t beat around the bush any longer and handed over the materials he had prepared.

He explained in detail the problems Bayswater Chinese was currently facing and the predicament he was in.

“Senior, if I remember correctly, your undergraduate major was accounting, and you interned at a major corporation in our home province, right?”

Xia Qing frowned slightly as she meticulously read through the documents Yang Cheng had given her.

Yang Cheng sat opposite her, watching the focused beauty with great interest.

She was even more beautiful when she was serious!

“How about this? I’m out of time now. I’ll take these materials with me, look them over when I get a chance, and see if I can help.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

“Regarding the twenty-million-pound investment to build a training base, I suggest you think it over very carefully.”

“Why?”

“They’ve raised interest rates.”

It took a moment for Yang Cheng to connect the dots.

“If I’m not mistaken, your idea is to buy the land, then mortgage it to secure a loan to fund the construction of the training base. But you’ve overlooked one thing.”

“For the past several years, the UK’s loan interest rates have been relatively stable. But they were raised to three point seven five percent last November, and this February, they went up another twenty-five basis points to four percent. They’re expected to rise further in the future.”

As Xia Qing said this, her eyes filled with concern.

“A Cheng, to rashly take out such a large loan during a rate-hike cycle, given your club’s current revenue… I think it’s… a bit risky.”

Yang Cheng had been so busy with matches that he hadn’t paid any attention to news about rising interest rates.

This just went to show how necessary it was to have a sharp financial expert by his side.

“Senior, I do plan to get a mortgage, but I won’t be reckless.”

Yang Cheng briefly explained his idea.

He had roughly four avenues for raising funds.

Part of it would be his own money, and part would be a bank loan.

That went without saying.

He would also apply for youth development grants from The FA.

The FA offered a certain amount of subsidies for clubs investing in their youth academies and training facilities.

“Most importantly, I hope The FA can step in and help us secure a low-interest loan.”

There was no helping it; his club was poor.

If he were a tycoon like Roman Abramovich, would he need to pinch pennies over such things?

After hearing his plan, Xia Qing found it more feasible.

“If that’s the case, the pressure would indeed be much lower, but the key is still the size of the low-interest loan.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Don’t worry, Senior. I won’t be rash.”

After a pause, a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. “Besides, I’ve got my senior looking out for me, right?”

Xia Qing immediately saw through his ulterior motive. She stood up and chided him with a laugh, “I’m so swamped every day I can barely tell which way is up. Where would I find the time to worry about your affairs?”

Despite her words, she took all the materials Yang Cheng had prepared.

Yang Cheng smiled as he watched her leave, letting out a long sigh of relief.

If what Xia Qing said was true, he really couldn’t afford to be reckless.

But no matter what, the youth academy had to be established.

Otherwise, even qualifying for the Championship would become a problem.

And the stadium…

A fresh wave of headaches washed over Yang Cheng as he thought about all these troublesome issues.

Chapter 30: Well Done, Yang Cheng!

Working at an investment bank paid very well, but the pressure was truly immense.

Every second counted, leaving no room to breathe.

Sometimes, Xia Qing couldn’t help but think about just quitting and going back to China.

But she would quickly dismiss the thought.

When she graduated from university, her family had been against her studying abroad.

Later, after she finished her master’s degree, her family found her an excellent job back home, but she chose to stay.

It wasn’t that she had anything against her family.

It was simply that she disliked having every aspect of her life arranged for her.

While making a cup of coffee to catch her breath, she noticed the file on Yang Cheng. After a moment’s thought, she got up, left her office, and headed to the research team on the same floor.

“Hello, Peter.”

“Hey, beautiful Xia! Are you here to ask me out to dinner?” a male colleague from the research team asked, pleasantly surprised.

Xia Qing smiled sweetly and shook her head. “Next time, my treat.”

The colleague named Peter shrugged helplessly.

She always said that, but there was never a “next time.”

“Peter, I remember you did a financial investigation report on English professional clubs before, didn’t you?”

When it came to business, Peter turned serious.

“Yes. Our original idea was to provide some financial advisory services to these clubs, but we later found out that this bunch of primitives didn’t need any professional opinions.”

Xia Qing listened with great interest, which gave Peter a strong sense of accomplishment, and he proceeded to thoroughly criticize the English clubs.

It was the usual litany of complaints: crude debt management, irrational transfers and signings, profligate wage expenditure, and so on.

“The situation is even worse now. Ever since that Russian upstart arrived at Chelsea, Chelsea’s wage bill has skyrocketed to an unbelievable level in a very short time, and it has already had a serious spillover effect on the other Premier League teams.”

Chelsea’s high-wage poaching would inevitably drive up salaries throughout the Premier League.

“Those club owners have got crap for brains. They only focus on transfer fees and have no concept of wage expenditure. By the time the problems surface, they suddenly realize they’ve stepped into a bottomless pit.”

Xia Qing found it a little amusing.

This was nothing new.

In fact, for many of the Premier League teams listed for sale in the City of London, she and her fellow professionals could easily find a whole host of problems in their financial statements.

Behind them all were substantial amounts of debt.

From this perspective, Xia Qing actually felt that her junior was very different from the other club owners.

A club could only have the potential for sustainable development with high-level wage control and a reasonable salary structure.

“Could you lend me that report and the files you collected?”

“Of course. Are you researching this recently?”

“Just a little interested,” Xia Qing said, unwilling to elaborate.

“Sure, I’d be happy to.”

…

Yang Cheng had no idea that Xia Qing had started helping him that very day.

Although it was the first time he had seen her since he’d transmigrated, for some reason, he was convinced that Xia Qing was someone he could trust.

And he had acted accordingly.

The weekend after meeting Xia Qing, on March 12th, Bayswater Chinese welcomed the 36th round of League Two.

After a week of rest, Bayswater Chinese was back at full strength.

In their home game against Swindon, they showed an aggressive momentum from the very beginning.

In the 11th minute, Ribéry broke through on the left flank and initiated an attack. Martin Rowlands then provided the assist for Dave Kitson to open the scoring.

Kitson used his left foot this time.

Just eight minutes later, following a cross from Jenkinson on the right wing, Kitson out-jumped Swindon’s center-back, Heywood, and found the back of the net again, completing his brace.

With the Football League Trophy final only a week away and the 37th round of League Two on Wednesday, Yang Cheng had the team ease off a bit after going two goals ahead.

But Swindon was not a pushover.

The team was currently 5th in League Two, even ahead of Brighton, and was一心 aiming for promotion to League One.

At the start of the second half, Swindon took the initiative, creating several dangerous situations in front of Joe Hart’s goal.

At a critical moment, in the 61st minute, Ribéry received a pass from Capaldi on the left. After beating two players, he broke into the penalty area, cut inside, and fired a shot with his right foot into the far corner.

3-0!

That completely sealed the victory.

However, in this round, Plymouth Argyle, Bristol City, and Queens Park Rangers all won their matches.

…

Three days later, Bayswater Chinese was at home again, this time facing Peterborough.

Peterborough had clearly guessed that Bayswater Chinese would be resting players for the weekend’s Football League Trophy final and that Yang Cheng would rotate his squad. As a result, they went all out in the match, fighting tooth and nail against Bayswater Chinese.

Teetering on the edge of the relegation zone, they had to fight for survival.

If they didn’t give it their all now, when would they?

With a rotated lineup, Bayswater Chinese failed to create any clear chances in the entire first half.

It wasn’t until the 56th minute of the second half that Andy Holdsworth finally opened the scoring for the team.

Then, in the 79th minute, substitute Martin Devaney scored the second goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Peterborough 2-0 at home.

Yang Cheng’s parents, having just arrived from China, watched the entire match from the stands.

…

“Well done, A Cheng!”

Defeating Peterborough brought them one step closer to promotion.

After the match, when Yang Jianguo saw Yang Cheng, he couldn’t help but rush forward, pull his precious son into a tight hug, and laugh triumphantly.

Under the watchful eyes of so many people, Yang Cheng felt a bit awkward.

Mainly, he wasn’t used to it.

Although his body was only 23 years old, his actual age was not much younger than his so-called father’s. Being held and praised like this would make anyone feel awkward.

“You need to control yourself.”

Yang Cheng forcibly pushed his so-called father away, causing his mother, Li Hongying, Lin Zhongqiu, and the others nearby to burst into laughter.

“Control what? Is it illegal to hug my own son?” his so-called father retorted, unconvinced.

That left Yang Cheng speechless.

Fortunately, his father didn’t press the matter, instead launching into a感慨.

“I never would have thought you, my boy, had this kind of talent.”

“I just watched the game. The team you’ve built is far more impressive than the ones with those expensive coaches I used to hire.”

Heh.

Yang Cheng was quite confident in his own coaching abilities.

“So, let’s keep things clear between father and son. Cut the pleasantries; you’d better not shortchange me on my salary.”

Yang Jianguo was clearly taken aback for a moment. He pointed at his precious son, looked at his wife Li Hongying, and then burst out laughing again.

It was clear that he was in an exceptionally good mood.

Not just because of Bayswater Chinese’s results, but also because of Yang Cheng.

His parents walked on either side of him as they left the stadium and headed towards the empty training area.

“Anyway, I can’t manage it anymore. I told Old Lin before that I’m handing all club matters over to you. So, you decide how much to pay yourself. Don’t ask me.”

Receiving this renewed confirmation put Yang Cheng in a better mood.

This so-called father of his was actually quite good to him.

“Also, Old Lin has been nagging me repeatedly about the training ground.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “He’s been nagging me about it too.”

“Haha, that’s just how Old Lin is. But you’re different. You’re young. Do whatever you want to do. If you have the ability to borrow money, then go ahead and borrow it. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself.

This was truly his so-called father’s style of doing things.

“Did you know? Last year you told me you were optimistic about real estate, so I went to look into it. It’s really promising. This year, we acquired three plots of land in Quancheng in one go: five hundred acres in the new district, most of the Ziyun Mountain Scenic Area, and a project in the old city redevelopment.”

“Additionally, we’ve also acquired land in the neighboring provincial capital and in Lucheng. We’re preparing to make some big moves.”

Yang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t this a bit too much?

“Aren’t you being a little too aggressive?”

“Aggressive?” Yang Jianguo laughed. “This is just the beginning!”

“Besides, I’m not stupid. The land I bought is all in prime locations and designated for high-end residential areas. They’re in high demand right now.”

“And I plan to poach some talent from real estate giants like Vanke and Zhonghai to build our Yang’s Real Estate brand!”

As he finished, Yang Jianguo laughed heartily and clapped Yang Cheng on the shoulder with great bravado.

“A Cheng, you just go wild here in London. If things don’t work out, you can always come back home and inherit the family business!”

Yang Cheng just pursed his lips noncommittally.

This so-called father of his wasn’t very reliable—he specialized in screwing over his own son.

“There’s one more thing. I want to hear your opinion on it.”

His father rarely looked so serious, so Yang Cheng didn’t dare take it lightly. “Go on.”

“You asked me to sign Liu Xiang, and I did. Can he really win a medal at this year’s Olympics?”

“Yes.” Yang Cheng was very certain.

As for the reason, he couldn’t explain it.

“We’ve also considered acquiring a foreign brand to break into the high-end market. After careful selection, we’re thinking of partnering with the British brand Umbro. What do you think?”

“Umbro?”

“They’re doing terribly in the Chinese market right now. Their partner is an OEM manufacturer in Guangdong province, but their quality control is awful. And as you know, we have our own factories.”

“My idea is to partner with Umbro, take over their domestic business, manufacture for them, and bring in advanced foreign production technology and quality control processes to further improve our own product quality and R&D.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng looked at his so-called father with new respect.

This was genuinely the thinking behind an industrial upgrade.

“I think this approach is feasible, but Umbro is primarily focused on football. You can’t do that in China. You must diversify the product line, go for a casual, fashionable style, and definitely position it as a high-end brand.”

“That’s a given.”

“Also, Dad, our main brand uses a wholesale model. If we really sign Umbro, then we should use a direct-to-consumer model.”

“Opening our own stores? How much money would that take?”

“It’s not about opening all the stores ourselves, but about reaching the consumers directly.”

Yang Cheng felt it was necessary to change his so-called father’s philosophy. Otherwise, after the 2008 Olympics, he was afraid the company would suffer a huge blow, and he would be the one getting screwed again.

The traditional wholesale model was the mainstream in the domestic market at the time.

After production, the manufacturer sells the goods directly to the main regional distributors, who then distribute them through layers of sub-distributors until they finally reach the consumer.

That’s why they had to hold ordering fairs every year.

The advantage of this was “borrowing a hen to lay eggs”—using the distributors’ capital and channels to blossom everywhere across the country in the shortest possible time, even reaching remote county towns.

Under this model, the manufacturer only needed to manage production and build the brand.

But it also had a fatal flaw: layers of distribution separated the brand from the consumer.

This meant the brand didn’t know what consumers wanted, and market response would be very slow.

Furthermore, the brand had weak control over its distributors and sub-distributors, sometimes none at all.

For example, some distributors with brand authorization would secretly mix genuine and counterfeit goods, which had a huge negative impact on the brand.

The direct-to-consumer model didn’t mean the brand owned all the stores itself, but rather that the brand operated them centrally through a national network.

The advantages were better brand building, rapid market response, and a grasp of consumers’ true demands, allowing for product updates and price adjustments.

But there were downsides too, namely that store expansion was much slower than with the wholesale model.

For now, doing well in first and second-tier cities would be a great achievement.

During a phase of rapid industry growth, the wholesale model was excellent, allowing for rapid expansion to seize more market share.

But after 2008, with the economic crisis and overcapacity, the Achilles’ heel of the wholesale model would be exposed, wiping out a large number of sports brands.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s idea was that before 2008, they should push the direct-to-consumer model for the high-end brand, accumulate experience, and cultivate talent. The main brand would continue to rely on the wholesale model, reaping the rewards of the era of high-speed growth, but always be prepared to switch tracks.

After listening to Yang Cheng’s explanation, Yang Jianguo immediately realized the necessity of the direct-to-consumer model.

As for the slow store expansion, that wasn’t a problem for a high-end brand.

“If you’re going to negotiate with Umbro, you have to do it as soon as possible. Umbro’s situation is getting worse year by year. After Nike poached Manchester United, the only influential teams Umbro has left are the England national team, Ajax, and Chelsea.”

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly, Chelsea would also abandon Umbro for Adidas within a year or two.

So, Yang Jianguo had to make good use of the next one or two years to piggyback on Chelsea’s popularity as much as possible.

This could be considered Roman Abramovich paying some interest in advance.

“This is my purpose for coming to England this time,” Yang Jianguo said, nodding solemnly.

“Also, include our club in the negotiations. We don’t have a kit sponsor yet.”

The current advertisement on the Bayswater Chinese shirts was for Yang’s Group, and it was damn free.

Since his so-called father was going to let him run the show, then he had to charge for everything, whether it was the shirt sponsorship or the kit deal.

There’s no rule in the world that says a father can freeload off his son, is there?

Besides, Yang Cheng was going crazy from being so poor.

Chapter 31: Borrowing a Hen to Lay Eggs

Midday, March 21st, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The Football League Trophy final: Bayswater Chinese versus Blackpool.

Yang Cheng stood in front of the home team’s technical area, looking out at the opposing fans in the stands before turning to look behind him. He couldn’t help but sigh.

“Our ability to draw fans is still a bit weak.”

Brian Kidd naturally understood what Yang Cheng meant.

From their position, it was clear that Blackpool had brought more fans than Bayswater Chinese.

“I heard they have over fifteen thousand fans here, while we barely broke ten thousand.”

The stands at Millennium Stadium were all covered, and the roof could even be fully closed.

Even in the middle of the day, fans didn’t have to worry about the sun.

Millennium Stadium could hold over seventy thousand fans, but with only about twenty-five thousand from both sides in attendance, the seating looked very sparse.

This was especially true on the side where the Bayswater Chinese fans were seated.

To attract more fans to the game, Bayswater Chinese had tried many methods.

Ticket prices for London teams were always higher than in other cities, but for this match at Millennium Stadium, Bayswater Chinese had priced their tickets the same as Blackpool’s.

In the end, their attendance still fell far short.

Not long ago, in the League Cup final between Bolton and Middlesbrough, this very stadium had been sold out.

“Actually, it’s already quite an achievement,” Brian Kidd said with an encouraging smile.

“You should think of it this way: at least we broke ten thousand.”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

At the beginning of the season, Bayswater Chinese only drew around two thousand fans per game.

As the team’s results steadily improved and their style of play became more entertaining, they began to attract more and more supporters.

Now, every home game was consistently sold out.

For this final, Bayswater Chinese had exhausted every means, promoting it for a month, just to attract ten thousand fans.

This in itself was already a massive step forward.

“By the way, have you thought about what to do for a home stadium next season?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Given Bayswater Chinese’s current form, promotion was a sure thing, and winning the title was a high probability.

But once they reached the Championship next season, a host of problems would follow.

The first and foremost was the stadium issue.

There were many teams in London.

If you included the entire Greater London metropolitan area, there were dozens.

But finding a home ground that met the needs of Bayswater Chinese was no easy task.

After years of accumulation, plus the past season, the team now had at least several thousand hardcore fans. They were the foundation of Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue.

If the team moved to a stadium too far out in the suburbs, how many of them would be willing to follow?

Yang Cheng felt it was best to stay in the area around Hyde Park to accommodate this core fanbase.

That didn’t leave many options.

Chelsea, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, and maybe, at a stretch, Arsenal’s Highbury.

If he had to choose one, Yang Cheng felt that Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road stadium was the most suitable.

It wasn’t just because it was the closest; its capacity of 19,200 wasn’t excessively large either.

If the home stadium was too big and the number of attending fans was small, the atmosphere would be terrible.

Besides that, Yang Cheng had a private reason he couldn’t mention out loud.

He wanted to borrow a hen to lay eggs.

English football fans were indeed loyal, but most were not particularly steadfast in their allegiance.

For many, it was more a habit of going to a football stadium every weekend to watch a match.

If Bayswater Chinese could rent Loftus Road, they would inevitably attract some of the more neutral fans of Queens Park Rangers.

In the year Yang Cheng had been in charge, the team’s playing style was plain for all to see.

It wasn’t just entertaining for a lower-league team; it would be considered famously attractive even in the Premier League.

After thirty-seven rounds, Queens Park Rangers were currently third, trailing Plymouth Argyle by six points.

This meant they were very likely to end up in the promotion playoffs.

If they slipped up and failed to gain promotion, Bayswater Chinese’s advantage would be enormous.

This was Yang Cheng’s scheme.

“That’s a very good idea, but I’m worried QPR might not be willing to rent it to us,” Brian Kidd said.

They weren’t stupid. How could they not see the risk?

Yang Cheng had naturally considered that. “In any case, we can at least try to negotiate.”

Chelsea’s and Arsenal’s stadiums were out of the question.

If Queens Park Rangers were unwilling, they would try to rent from Fulham.

If that didn’t work either, they would have to go further west.

To Brentford, for example.

There were also several usable stadiums around Wembley Stadium.

But those were all last resorts.

In Yang Cheng’s view, Queens Park Rangers were not having an easy time.

As a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, QPR had been a force to be reckoned with in the top flight since the mid-1980s, even stronger than Chelsea and Arsenal at times.

But in 1996, the team was relegated from the Premier League.

In 2001, they were relegated again from League One.

Queens Park Rangers’ current owner was an Italian named Gianni Paladini.

His purpose in buying QPR at rock bottom was to lead the team back to the Premier League and then cash out.

Not long ago, the media had reported that Queens Park Rangers was preparing to apply for a ten-year, seven-million-pound sterling loan from the bank to alleviate the club’s debt, which was as high as ten million pounds.

Therefore, Yang Cheng believed that while QPR’s die-hard fans might not be happy, the Italian owner would likely be interested in the rental income from Bayswater Chinese.

…

Steve McMahon, an England international player.

In the 1980s, he had played for powerhouse clubs like Everton, Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Manchester City, witnessing the last golden age of English football.

After retiring, he went on to manage Swindon and Blackpool.

For this Football League Trophy final against Bayswater Chinese, McMahon stuck with England’s iconic 4-4-2 formation.

Up front, he deployed a tall-and-fast combination of tall center-forward John Murphy and striker Mike Sheron.

This was one of the most common tactical setups in English football.

Not only that, at Millennium Stadium, Blackpool shed their sluggish league form and seized the initiative from the start, taking the game to their opponents.

Just one minute and thirty seconds into the match, after winning the ball in a midfield battle, Blackpool launched a quick counter-attack.

The New Zealand-born player Martin Bullock, who was only 1.65 meters tall but very fast, received a pass on the right flank and sent a cross into the box, looking for the tall center-forward John Murphy.

Danger loomed in front of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

At the crucial moment, Joe Hart shouted to his teammates and decisively rushed off his line. He charged to the edge of the six-yard box, leaped high into the air, and stretched out his hands to pluck the ball out of the sky just before John Murphy could reach it.

This excellent piece of goalkeeping earned Joe Hart a round of enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

In the away team’s technical area, McMahon shook his head in frustration.

If that had gone in, the entire game would have changed.

…

Despite being caught off guard at the start, Yang Cheng wasn’t worried in the slightest.

Nor were his players on the pitch.

After a full season of playing and gelling together, they knew exactly how to handle such situations.

In other words, they had adapted to the simple, brutish, and aggressive style of English teams.

With a crushing advantage in overall quality, Bayswater Chinese methodically controlled possession, patiently wearing down their opponents.

This was a do-or-die final!

Weak teams needed tricks; strong teams needed stability.

The first fifteen minutes or so were a tug-of-war between the two sides.

After the fifteen-minute mark, it was clear that Bayswater Chinese were gradually beginning to control the game.

Having failed to score with their opening salvo, Blackpool started to shift to a defensive posture.

Both head coaches were now making adjustments to counter each other.

Knowing that Ribéry was the main attacker for Bayswater Chinese, McMahon had positioned Danny Coid at right-back.

Coid, standing at 1.81 meters, was a solid player both defensively and offensively.

But his greatest assets were his speed and agility.

Moreover, he was proficient with both feet.

McMahon’s intention was simple: use Coid to man-mark Ribéry. Whether he went to the byline or cut inside, Coid would be able to stop him.

Coid’s shortcomings, however, were his physicality and his ability to control high balls.

Fortunately for him, Ribéry was even worse in those two aspects.

By neutralizing Ribéry and packing the midfield, especially with the two central midfielders focused almost entirely on defense, he could stifle the Bayswater Chinese attack as much as possible.

The match unfolded just as McMahon had predicted.

From the fifteenth minute on, Bayswater Chinese had the initiative, but their attacks failed to pose a real threat.

The connection between Ribéry, Martin Rowlands, and Modrić was effectively severed.

Lambert was bogged down in a physical battle against the two tall center-backs, Mike Flynn and Steve Elliott.

Under these circumstances, Blackpool’s defense, while seemingly under pressure, never actually gave Bayswater Chinese any clear-cut chances.

Yang Cheng made no adjustments in the first half, letting the stalemate continue until the halftime break.

0-0. The two sides went into the tunnel on level terms.

…

“Second half, we need to adjust our attack.”

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng called Dave Kitson into the dressing room.

He was going to substitute him on for Martin Devaney.

In the first half, Devaney had failed to take advantage of his matchup against the mediocre left-back, Tommy Jaszczun.

That was very poor.

“Ricky.”

Yang Cheng walked among his players, a look of calm confidence on his face. The first name he called was Lambert’s.

Lambert immediately looked up, his eyes fixed on the head coach.

“In the second half, you go deal with Coid.”

“We need to move the ball to the left more often. Lambert, you’re responsible for winning the first ball. Ribéry, Rowlands, even Capaldi, you need to control the second ball.”

“Kitson, your job is to pin down the two center-backs, Flynn and Elliott, and… score!”

Upon hearing this, Dave Kitson nodded, rubbing his palms together with an expression that said he could hardly wait.

“Our mission for the second half is to score, to create a breakthrough on their right flank, and in doing so, break down their entire defensive line!”

…

As soon as the second half began, having made their substitution, Bayswater Chinese sounded the charge.

McMahon also sensed the danger. He stood on the sideline, constantly shouting at his players.

But in the forty-seventh minute of the second half, Blackpool’s stalwart defense was breached.

After Modrić linked up with Ribéry, the Frenchman dribbled the ball forward on the inside-left channel.

Just outside the left corner of the penalty area, Lambert used his body to pin Coid, received a pass from Ribéry, and laid it off horizontally, helping the Frenchman complete a one-two at the edge of the box.

Ribéry quickly knocked the ball ahead and burst into the left side of the penalty area. Facing the recovering Flynn, he executed a sudden stop-and-start, went to the byline, and cut the ball back across the face of the goal.

Dave Kitson had made the run into the center and was perfectly positioned to tap the ball into Blackpool’s net.

“GOAL!!”

“Just two minutes into the second half, Bayswater Chinese have broken the deadlock against Blackpool!”

“Yang Cheng’s halftime adjustment has worked its magic once again.”

“The substitute Kitson has contributed another goal!”

“What an efficient striker he is!”

Chapter 32: First Title

When Yang Cheng called, Xia Qing thought he was asking about the compensation plan.

It turned out he was just inviting her to Cardiff to watch the final.

Since it was a Sunday afternoon, she happily accepted.

This was the first time she had ever watched a football match live.

There were few fans, and the stadium seats were mostly empty.

But the moment Bayswater Chinese scored, the atmosphere in the stadium was like a lit powder keg.

It just exploded!

This came as a great shock to Xia Qing, who was sitting in the stands.

Watching a match live was a completely different experience from watching it on a television broadcast.

Sitting beside her, Yang Cheng’s mother, Li Hongying, noticed the change in Xia Qing’s expression and smiled to herself.

She knew that Xia Qing was Yang Cheng’s senior, two years older, and a Master’s graduate from Oxford’s business school.

Because he needed to negotiate a partnership with Umbro that involved cross-shareholding, Yang Cheng had recommended Xia Qing to his father the previous night.

Li Hongying was present for the entire discussion and found that Xia Qing’s predictive abilities and business acumen were outstanding.

Most importantly, her emotional and intellectual intelligence were both excellent. She maintained a calm tone and a composed, confident demeanor that put everyone at ease.

Yang Jianguo had built his career over a lifetime and met countless people; after just one meeting, his estimation of her was very high.

Li Hongying couldn’t help much with the business side of things, but she could handle the support work.

That meant taking good care of Xia Qing.

Not far from them, Yang Jianguo and Lin Zhongqiu, along with Blackpool’s senior management, were watching the match with The FA’s CEO, Palios, and Executive Director, Davis.

After the match, Palios was scheduled to present the championship trophy.

…

McMahon was, after all, a successful former professional player. Conceding a goal didn’t make him panic in the slightest.

He quickly realized what the problem was.

Especially when he saw that after the restart, Bayswater Chinese continued to relentlessly target Coid.

The former Liverpool midfielder acted decisively, making an immediate adjustment.

In the 51st minute, Blackpool made the first substitution.

The 34-year-old veteran Simon Grayson replaced Coid.

Simon Grayson had spent most of his career in the Premier League, playing for clubs from Leeds United to Aston Villa to Blackburn Rovers.

Only in his later years did he join Blackpool on a free transfer to wind down his career.

Capable of playing right-back, centre-back, and defensive midfielder, Grayson possessed a wealth of match experience.

As soon as he came on, he immediately plugged the defensive gap on the right flank.

Yang Cheng also adjusted right away, using Lambert and Kitson as two tall center-forwards up front.

Ribéry was given a free role in attack.

Martin Rowlands and Modrić were responsible for supporting Ribéry from behind.

This was designed to unleash Ribéry’s attacking firepower to the fullest.

Sure enough, starting from the 60th minute, the Frenchman with the scarred face became the most eye-catching player on the pitch.

One moment he would be dribbling down the left flank, throwing Blackpool’s defense into complete disarray; the next, he would link up with Modrić in the middle, shake off a defender, and deliver a brilliant pass.

Then, in the 73rd minute, Ribéry dribbled past Tommy Jaszczun on the right, cut inside along the edge of the penalty area, passed to Modrić, and then made a run in behind the defensive line into the box.

Modrić, understanding perfectly, sent a surgical through ball that landed precisely at Ribéry’s feet.

The Frenchman controlled it with one touch, cut inside to evade Elliott, and fired the ball into the net.

2-0!

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng leaped into the air, shouting Ribéry’s name.

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium were equally ecstatic.

A two-goal lead!

The match was basically won!

Moreover, Ribéry’s goal was absolutely beautiful.

Modrić’s pass was good, but the Frenchman’s first touch was even better, and his subsequent feint to beat his man and his finish were incredibly calm.

“As long as you handle him right, he’s just too good!”

Yang Cheng praised with a hearty laugh.

Brian Kidd was also overjoyed, nodding repeatedly.

Although he greatly admired Modrić, the Croatian was a controlling midfielder who played more of a behind-the-scenes role.

Ribéry was different; he was like a sharp dagger.

This made Brian Kidd admire Yang Cheng’s eye for talent even more.

His ability to scout players and his strategy for building a team—how many people in all of English football possessed such skills?

With the team’s current stable tactical framework and lineup, as long as there were no major mishaps, they would still be very competitive in the Championship next season.

…

When Ribéry scored the second goal, the outcome of the match was all but decided.

But McMahon clearly didn’t think so.

He made a very risky substitution, bringing on tall center-forward Matt Blinkhorn for Mike Sheron.

Then he brought on another wide player, Leam Richardson.

As a result, Blackpool actively tried to build up attacks down both flanks, sending crosses into the middle for John Murphy and Matt Blinkhorn.

But this tactic struggled to pose a real threat to Bayswater Chinese.

In the 84th minute, Huddlestone won the ball outside the penalty area and passed it to Capaldi on the left.

With support from Martin Rowlands, Capaldi drove straight up the left sideline with the ball.

Reaching the left side of the penalty area, Capaldi spotted an opportunity and crossed the ball to the edge of the six-yard box.

Lambert, Kitson, and Blackpool’s central defenders all went for it.

The group of tall, powerful men all collided.

Lambert got to the ball first, but his header was partially saved by the goalkeeper.

The penalty area descended into a chaotic scramble.

In the confusion, centre-back Flynn made a hasty clearance, but the ball deflected off Kitson’s leg and didn’t travel far.

Ribéry, moving like a ghost, reacted before anyone else, darting forward to pounce on the loose ball and sending a low drive into the bottom right corner of Blackpool’s goal.

“It’s in again!!!”

“Franck Ribéry completes his brace!”

“3-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese have been outstanding. Their attack is very well-structured.”

“Ribéry’s instincts are incredibly sharp, and his reflexes are amazing.”

“With less than ten minutes left in the match, it’s very unlikely Blackpool can turn this around.”

…

When head referee Roy Pearson blew the final whistle, the entire Millennium Stadium was filled with the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese supporters.

Yang Cheng and the players from the substitutes’ bench all rushed onto the pitch in a single wave.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese had defeated Blackpool to win the Football League Trophy!

Although it was only a cup competition for third and fourth-tier teams, it was still a national tournament established by The FA, a cause for celebration!

Even though Yang Cheng was seasoned and had cultivated immense composure, and he knew the Football League Trophy didn’t carry much weight, it was still the very first championship of his first season since he had transmigrated!

How could he not be excited?

More importantly, this was just the beginning.

In this life, he was determined to shed his previous life’s title of perennial runner-up. He wanted to win more titles.

He wanted to win every title!

…

As Yang Cheng was not the team’s head coach, it was Brian Kidd who went up to receive the winner’s medal from The FA’s CEO, Palios.

But when the players triumphantly lifted the championship trophy, the medal in Kidd’s hand ended up in Yang Cheng’s.

“The more I look at it, the better it looks. I’ll have to put it in my collection later as a permanent memento,” Yang Cheng said with delight.

“Would you like me to present it to you again?”

Yang Cheng looked up at the sound of the voice and saw that it was none other than the CEO of The FA, Mark Palios.

Beside him were Executive Director David Davis, his father Yang Jianguo, and Lin Zhongqiu.

Funnily enough, Palios would be forced to step down in August of that year due to the affair, and David Davis would take his place.

“Sure, thank you, Mark.”

Yang Cheng didn’t stand on ceremony at all, handing the medal back to him and standing at attention, waiting for the presentation.

Palios paused for a moment, surprised that he had taken him seriously. He then let out a laugh and actually went through with presenting the medal to Yang Cheng again.

“I hope the next time I have the chance to give you an award, it’s on the winner’s podium.”

The implication was that Yang Cheng should officially become the team’s head coach instead of hiding behind the scenes.

Beside them, Executive Director David Davis also walked over with a smile to congratulate Yang Cheng, continuing Palios’s line of thought.

“There are a lot of people out there who have some complaints about you.”

Yang Cheng was a bit taken aback.

Yang Jianguo and Lin Zhongqiu were equally surprised.

He had won a title at twenty-three, and people still had complaints?

“Is it because I don’t have a coaching license?”

“You know, not having a license isn’t anything new. The main thing is, you should at least enroll in a coaching course,” Palios said with a helpless, wry smile.

To be honest, when he first met Yang Cheng last summer, he would never have imagined the man would be where he was today.

Bayswater Chinese couldn’t be called famous yet, but they had at least made a name for themselves.

They had developed a near-international player like Jon Stead, while Martin Rowlands and Ribéry were also shining brightly.

A team like that was bound to attract attention.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng not even bothering to sign up for a coaching course gave the impression that he had no intention of getting certified, which was an attitude problem.

Of course, professional football was also very pragmatic.

If Yang Cheng really didn’t want to go, there wasn’t much The FA could do directly.

Who could blame them when The FA was so notorious and mired in trouble?

At the end of last year, they were run ragged by the Ferdinand drug test affair. Then came the debacle where a group of internationals led by Beckham threatened to go on strike in protest, which left the FA’s reputation in tatters.

The new year had barely started when, in February, a storm erupted over Eriksson’s desire to coach Chelsea.

This series of events had put The FA through the wringer.

Now, things had finally settled down. Eriksson had made it clear he was staying, renewing his contract until 2008, which was a relief for Palios.

But little did he know, a truly devastating disaster was just around the corner.

“Haven’t I just been busy lately?”

Yang Cheng offered a casual excuse.

“Mark, since you’ve brought it up, I’ll go register tomorrow.”

“You said it.”

“Of course,” Yang Cheng promised, but then quickly changed the subject.

“However, Mark, I’d also like to take this opportunity to talk to you about youth academy subsidies.”

“Youth academy subsidies?”

“Doesn’t The FA have a precedent for providing subsidies for establishing youth academy systems and constructing training facilities?”

“We do, but you’re planning to build a training ground?”

“We’ve already settled on the land, near Brent Reservoir.”

“I’ve camped there before. The scenery is nice. How much land did you buy?”

“One hundred fifty acres.”

“That much?” Palios’s eyes widened in disbelief.

David Davis was just as shocked.

“We are very serious about this. We are determined to build the most professional and advanced youth academy and training system in England,” Yang Cheng replied with a straight face.

“The land Chelsea bought in Cobham isn’t even as big as yours.”

“You can’t compare us,” Yang Cheng scoffed. “They’re nouveau riche with money to burn, and they’re still coveting my stadium.”

Because of the Eriksson incident, Palios had a very poor impression of Chelsea.

Yang Cheng’s attitude, however, was quite to his liking.

“Alright. Get the documents ready. Whatever we can get for you, we’ll help you fight for it. It’s not just The FA; the Department for Sport provides subsidies as well.”

“The Department for Sport too?”

“Of course.”

“In that case, could you push a little harder and help us secure a low-interest loan as well? I guarantee the funds will be used exclusively for the construction of the youth academy and training ground.”

Palios glanced at David Davis, who gave a slight nod.

This, too, had precedent.

Both the UK’s Department for Sport and The FA were actively encouraging clubs to invest in youth development and training facilities.

The reason was simple: the youth academies and training grounds of most major clubs were absolutely terrible.

Take Chelsea, for example. Who would have thought that world-class superstars like Crespo and Verón, worth a fortune, were training in a dilapidated warehouse north of Heathrow Airport?

Therefore, subsidies and low-interest loans were forms of support that could be provided.

Of course, Yang Cheng’s guarantee was expected, and it would even be monitored by the bank.

Many clubs applied for loans claiming they wanted to improve training conditions and their youth academies, but they always backed down when the funds had to be earmarked for that specific purpose.

But Yang Cheng was different from them.

Chapter 33: Promotion

After winning the Football League Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Yang Cheng led the team back to London, where they were welcomed by a number of fans.

Although the core fanbase was small, everyone could feel that since Yang Cheng took over, the club’s affairs were going from strength to strength.

If nothing else, the team’s performance and style of play had been completely transformed.

Having just reached an agreement with The FA’s Chief Executive, Mark Palios, Yang Cheng announced the good news during the meeting with the fans.

“Just a few days ago, our club reached an agreement with the Kingsbury Green government, Hendon FC, and Prince’s Park FC to purchase a 150-acre plot of land on the north shore of the Brent Reservoir for a total price of five point five million pound sterling.”

This news truly invigorated the fans present.

The few media outlets that had come to the scene were also very surprised.

Such a massive expenditure was rare even in the Premier League, let alone League Two.

Yang Cheng explained that the reason for spending five point five million pound sterling was mainly that Hendon and Prince’s Park already had a certain foundation and facilities for their youth academies.

Once the acquisition was complete, Bayswater Chinese would integrate the two clubs’ youth systems.

This would allow them to build a relatively complete youth team setup in the shortest possible time.

“Not only that, but we are also applying for the relevant permits. We plan to invest at least twenty million pound sterling in the future to build the world’s most advanced training facility and create the world’s best youth academy system.”

If the initial five point five million pound sterling was shocking enough, the twenty million pound sterling now was enough to make everyone’s jaw drop.

There weren’t many media outlets present, but they all sensed a sensational story and quickly crowded around to ask for details.

Yang Cheng revealed some information, such as their preparations to invite a professional design team to plan and design the training facility.

This was essential.

Based on the current situation, Hendon’s Silver Jubilee Gardens stadium would be kept for temporary use.

The area to the south, which originally belonged to Prince’s Park and was adjacent to the reservoir, would be reserved for the first team, though they couldn’t afford to build on it yet.

However, the renovation of the youth team’s area also required proper planning.

Where would the training building be constructed? How could they arrange the construction so it wouldn’t affect the youth teams’ training, and especially not the nearby residents?

Bayswater Chinese had to produce a comprehensive and complete plan before they could apply for a construction permit.

This required a professional design team.

But regardless, this major move by Bayswater Chinese was incredibly exciting.

In the past few years, the only club in England to build a new training facility was Arsenal.

Manchester United had renovated their Carrington training ground, but they had only invested two to three million pound sterling.

Chelsea buying land in Cobham had attracted some attention.

But unexpectedly, out of nowhere, Bayswater Chinese had suddenly emerged.

Many reporters familiar with football also picked up on a crucial point that Yang Cheng hadn’t mentioned.

Cobham was in the southern suburbs of London, quite a remote location.

The transportation around Brent Reservoir, however, was very convenient.

According to The FA’s youth academy requirements, a sixty-minute travel radius from a training ground in this location would allow Bayswater Chinese to cover not only the entirety of Greater London but also extend to surrounding cities like Reading, Oxford, and Cambridge.

This would vastly increase their catchment area for recruiting young talent.

Thinking of this, the way many reporters looked at Yang Cheng changed.

Compared to Abramovich, Yang Cheng’s choice of location was far more astute.

But they also knew that fans and readers didn’t care about this; they only cared about the most direct and sensational details.

Five point five million pound sterling to buy land, and a twenty-million-pound sterling investment.

It was insane!

…

The next day, aboard The Azure at Canary Wharf, London.

When Roman Abramovich woke up and saw the news in the paper, his mood instantly soured.

He buys land, and that rich kid from Bayswater Chinese follows suit.

He even bought a bigger plot than him.

Was this deliberately meant to embarrass him?

And proclaiming an investment of twenty million pound sterling—what was that supposed to mean?

Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris were useless.

After all this time, they still couldn’t secure that piece of land north of Hyde Park.

They had even watched as that rich kid grew bigger and bigger.

Abramovich had a nagging feeling that, given the current situation, acquiring that land would be even more difficult now.

But no matter how difficult, there was always a way.

…

The news of the land purchase, highlighted by the Football League Trophy victory and reported by several media outlets, immediately caused quite a stir.

It couldn’t be helped; too many people disliked Chelsea.

Now that someone had stepped up to take a swing at Chelsea, they were all happy to see it happen.

Yang Cheng struck while the iron was hot, settling the matter directly with The FA.

After multiple negotiations and meetings with FA Chairman Geoff Thompson and CEO Palios, and with The FA mediating with the Department for Sport, Bayswater Chinese finally received a satisfactory answer.

The FA and the Department for Sport decided to provide the club with a subsidy of one point five million pound sterling.

However, this money would be paid in three installments, contingent on Bayswater Chinese’s investment and the progress of the youth academy and training facility.

According to the agreement, they would receive five hundred thousand pound sterling before construction began.

Additionally, The FA and the Department for Sport arranged for The FA’s sponsor, Barclays Bank, to provide a ten-year long-term loan of eight million pound sterling at an interest rate of just two percent.

This money could only be used for the training facility, including construction, materials, and equipment.

Everyone, including Yang Cheng and his father, was very satisfied with this.

Eight million pound sterling at a two percent interest rate meant only one hundred sixty thousand pound sterling in interest per year. You’d be a fool not to take it.

The exception was Lin Zhongqiu.

The old finance director was horrified by this loan.

The club already had over ten million pound sterling in debt, and now another eight million?

It was unbelievable!

But he couldn’t win this argument.

With Yang Cheng’s final decision, the construction of the training facility was set in stone.

Moreover, after pulling several all-nighters and studying the salary situations in the Championship and the Premier League, Xia Qing formulated a preliminary salary structure for Bayswater Chinese.

It included everything: weekly wages, bonuses, and more for every position, from first-team players and the coaching staff to the youth academy team and medical department that Yang Cheng was eagerly preparing to recruit for this summer.

This also gave Yang Cheng a reference point for his big summer plans.

It temporarily solved one of his most pressing problems.

…

If the pro bono work for Bayswater Chinese was a complete success, then in the partnership negotiations between Yang’s Group and Umbro, with Goldman Sachs’ assistance, the proposal put forward by Xia Qing not only gained Yang Jianguo’s support but also satisfied Umbro.

The two parties agreed that Yang’s Group would inject capital to establish a subsidiary in China, paying forty million US dollars to buy out the ownership and permanent operating rights of the Umbro brand in China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

This meant that Umbro China would officially operate independently.

In this new company, Yang’s Group would hold ninety percent of the shares, while Umbro would hold ten percent.

Furthermore, Yang’s Group would invest one hundred million yuan to purchase a five percent stake in Umbro.

The two sides would collaborate on the research and design of new products, and Umbro would open its R&D center in Italy to them.

Italy’s shoemaking craftsmanship, processes, and product research and design had always been world-renowned.

Umbro had established its R&D center in Italy two years prior, investing in research across all stages and achieving some results.

Now, all of this would be open to its Chinese partner.

What’s more, the two parties agreed to continue increasing their investment in R&D and innovation in the coming years.

But none of this was what concerned Yang Cheng the most.

After Yang’s Group and Umbro reached their agreement, Umbro announced that it would sponsor Bayswater Chinese starting from the 2004/05 season.

The sponsorship amount was a mere five hundred thousand pound sterling, seeming more like a scrap thrown to Yang Cheng after the two giants sealed their partnership, but he was satisfied with it.

Never mind League One and the Championship; many Premier League teams were still without a shirt sponsor.

At current market rates, a lower-mid-table Premier League team’s sponsorship was worth around one to one point five million pound sterling per year.

For the Championship, the figures varied wildly, with some being incredibly low.

Some teams would even accept a deal if the sponsor only provided free sports equipment and apparel.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was reasonably satisfied with Umbro’s offer of five hundred thousand pound sterling per year.

But he only signed for one year.

“Because next summer, we’ll be heading to the Premier League, and we can sign a new contract then.”

Yang’s Group sponsored the team in the name of their real estate company, and the amount was quite generous: one million pound sterling.

But his so-called father was a real swindler.

“Deduct it directly from the debt you owe me.”

If he wasn’t afraid of being struck by lightning, Yang Cheng really wanted to curse him out on the spot.

What do you mean, we owe you?

Weren’t you the one who shamelessly insisted on investing back then?

And now you want us to pay it back?

“This is called keeping clear accounts, even between father and son.”

His so-called father was clearly very pleased with himself for screwing over his precious son before returning to China.

…

Three days after returning to London from Cardiff, Bayswater Chinese plunged back into the League Two season without stopping.

First, in a rescheduled round-38 match midweek, they drew 1-1 away against Luton Town. Then, in round 39, they secured a narrow 1-0 home victory against Wrexham.

A week later, in the 40th round of League Two, the team drew 1-1 away against Barnsley.

However, in the final six rounds of the league, Bayswater Chinese achieved an impressive record of five wins and one loss.

This included a 2-1 home victory over Wycombe Wanderers, a 4-1 away win against Oldham Athletic, a 2-0 home win against Colchester United, a 3-1 away victory over Hartlepool United, and a 2-0 home win against Queens Park Rangers in the final round.

Their only defeat was a 1-0 loss away to Bristol City in the 42nd round.

After forty-six rounds, Bayswater Chinese finished top of the Football League Second Division table with thirty wins, twelve draws, and four losses from forty-six matches, accumulating one hundred two points, a full twelve points ahead of second-placed Plymouth Argyle.

According to the rules, League Two had three promotion spots each season. Bayswater Chinese and Plymouth Argyle, the top two teams, were promoted directly.

The teams from third to sixth—Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City, Brighton, and Swindon—would compete in the promotion playoffs.

In the end, Queens Park Rangers defeated their opponents to claim the final promotion spot.

This left Yang Cheng somewhat disappointed.

He had been hoping that Queens Park Rangers would fail to get promoted, allowing Bayswater Chinese to take over their home.

But unexpectedly, Queens Park Rangers proved to be a strong side.

When the League Two season concluded, the final League One season also came to an end.

West Ham United lost to Crystal Palace in the playoffs, failing in their bid for promotion, while Norwich, West Bromwich Albion, and Crystal Palace ascended to the Premier League for the next season.

Walsall, Bradford, and Wimbledon were relegated to League Two, which would be known as League One in the new season.

Hoping to do some rock-bottom buying, Yang Cheng looked over the squads of the three relegated teams from League One, only to be very disappointed.

There wasn’t a single player who caught his eye.

…

After the league season ended, the players either joined their national teams or began their holidays.

Yang Cheng, however, still couldn’t rest.

Preparations for the training facility were ongoing, the reorganization of the youth academy was still without a clear plan, and most importantly, they still hadn’t found a home stadium for the next season.

Thus, after Queens Park Rangers secured their place in the Championship for the new season, Yang Cheng took the initiative to approach them, arranging a meeting with their chairman, Gianni Paladini.

Yang Cheng brought Lin Zhongqiu along, and Paladini also brought three people. They had dinner together at a hotel west of Hyde Park.

Yang Cheng made no effort to hide his intentions, telling the other party frankly that he hoped to lease Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road Stadium in the future.

To Yang Cheng’s surprise, Paladini didn’t hesitate and even readily agreed on the spot.

“That’s not a problem.”

But soon, Paladini changed the subject.

“However, Mr. Yang, we have an idea of our own.”

“We can discuss the rent.”

Paladini smiled and shook his head; that was clearly not it.

“As early as last summer, we nearly signed Martin Rowlands from Bradford, but unfortunately, you beat us to it. And as it turned out, he was the best-performing midfielder in League Two last season.”

“Our head coach, Ian Holloway, can’t stop thinking about him. We hope to sign Martin Rowlands.”

Chapter 34: You’ll Have to Pay More!

Based on the experiences of his past life, coupled with what he had heard about Gianni Paladini, Yang Cheng never doubted that the man was, for the most part, just a football investor.

From the moment he mentioned Martin Rowlands, Yang Cheng guessed that Queens Park Rangers’ seven-million-pound loan must have been approved, which was why they now had the money to operate in the transfer market.

This was the biggest difference between an investor and an operator.

Gianni Paladini never thought long-term. He just wanted to get Queens Park Rangers into the Premier League in the shortest time possible and then, leveraging London’s geographical advantage, cash out for a high price.

If Queens Park Rangers could make it to the Premier League, their valuation would multiply several times over.

At that point, debts, loans, and the like could easily be covered up with a little creative accounting.

Besides, who was to say the next person to take over wouldn’t be an investor too?

Under these circumstances, Gianni Paladini couldn’t care less what impact Bayswater Chinese renting Loftus Road Stadium would have on Queens Park Rangers or their fans.

None of that had anything to do with him.

And Yang Cheng cared even less.

But he put on a surprised, even somewhat panicked expression.

“Martin Rowlands? No, no, no, Gianni, he’s the most important player on our team. You know, he was the MVP of League Two last season. He’s our Lampard.”

“We will not sell such an important player. He’s our guarantee for staying in the Championship!”

Yang Cheng’s reaction did not surprise Gianni Paladini.

On the contrary, this kind of reaction was normal.

It even gave Gianni Paladini a strange sense of excitement.

“He has indeed been outstanding, but you also know that you were the ones who snatched him from us. We were in contact with them earlier.”

Gianni Paladini spoke with a smile, but his tone was indisputable.

“A season has passed, and he’s been completely revitalized at Bayswater Chinese. We all regret it, so this time we’re determined to get him. Ian Holloway also feels that we need a midfielder like him to help the team push for the Premier League.”

Ian Holloway was the head coach of Queens Park Rangers.

“No way. We can’t be without Martin Rowlands,” Yang Cheng said bluntly.

But then he immediately changed his tune.

“Not long ago, Crystal Palace, who just got promoted to the Premier League, asked us for his price. Wolves and Leicester City, both relegated from the Premier League, have also sent inquiries. Even Charlton Athletic is keeping an eye on him…”

As Yang Cheng spoke, his eyes were fixed on Gianni Paladini.

“But, Gianni, we rejected all of them without hesitation. Really, he’s just too important to us.”

“Last season, he was involved in thirty goals by himself. To us, his value far exceeds that of Lampard to Chelsea or Gerrard to Liverpool.”

Lin Zhongqiu, sitting beside Yang Cheng, was a little anxious when he first heard Gianni Paladini’s words.

But gradually, after hearing what Yang Cheng had to say, he started to feel that something was off.

On the surface, his words were emphasizing Martin Rowlands’s importance. In fact, everyone present thought so.

But Lin Zhongqiu figured it out: Yang Cheng was taking the opportunity to drive up Martin Rowlands’s price.

And just look, he was already comparing him to Gerrard and Lampard.

He’s our Gerrard and Lampard, the very soul and core of the team.

You’ll have to pay more!

Sure enough, the mention of other teams made Gianni Paladini a little restless.

Charlton Athletic was in the Premier League, and Crystal Palace had just been promoted. Both were London clubs.

Wolves and Leicester City had just been relegated from the Premier League.

As was customary, they would have to offload a batch of high-wage, high-priced players, but they would also need to bring in a group of players with better value for money.

A player like Martin Rowlands, who had distinguished himself in the lower leagues, was undoubtedly a perfect fit for them.

“Mr. Yang, we’re discussing a partnership between us. Let’s not bring other teams into it.”

After a pause, Gianni Paladini smiled at Yang Cheng, who was anxiously wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Rest assured, the price we offer will certainly be sincere.”

“As long as you’re willing to sell Martin Rowlands to us, the annual rent for Loftus Road Stadium will be just five hundred thousand pounds, and all food and drinks will be supplied at cost price.”

When Yang Cheng heard this, his brow immediately relaxed, and an expression of intrigue washed over his face.

It wasn’t just him; even Lin Zhongqiu was moved.

As mentioned before, basic Premier League ticket packages included food and beverages.

When renting a stadium, the food and drinks had to be provided by the stadium management, and this came at an extra cost.

Based on Queens Park Rangers’ ticket prices, food (pies) normally cost three pounds, and drinks were two pounds.

This was the standard price for most London teams.

Assuming an attendance of five thousand per match, that would be twenty-five thousand pounds.

Over a season, not counting cup competitions, that would be nearly six hundred thousand pounds for twenty-three home games.

And that didn’t even include additional purchases made by fans on match days.

Of course, this was the retail price; the actual cost was probably half of that, if not less.

An annual rent of five hundred thousand pounds for a stadium that could hold 19,200 people was an excellent deal.

Gianni Paladini knew the terms he was offering were enticing, which was why he was so confident in his negotiations.

…

“A Cheng, you aren’t really going to sell Martin Rowlands, are you?”

On the way home, Lin Zhongqiu asked with a worried tone.

After all the hard work to get promoted, he didn’t want one misstep to send them right back down.

Yang Cheng glanced at Lin Zhongqiu and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Remember this, Uncle Lin. On this team, there’s only one person who is indispensable.”

“And that’s me!”

Yang Cheng pointed at himself, his expression brimming with confidence.

This startled Lin Zhongqiu.

If it hadn’t been for the dreamlike season they had just experienced, for all the events of the past year, he wouldn’t have believed a single word.

But now, he couldn’t doubt him.

Martin Rowlands was indeed good, but that was about it. At best, he was a starting-caliber player in the Championship.

At Bayswater Chinese last season, playing behind Ribéry and the tall center-forward, his strengths were magnified infinitely.

Especially his overlapping runs and his passing ability.

But what about in the Championship?

The competition would be countless times fiercer than in League Two last season.

The defensive problems the team had exposed last season had to be addressed this summer.

The backline was a given; bringing in a reliable central defender was a must.

Yang Cheng already had a suitable candidate in mind.

In the midfield, Huddlestone wasn’t a pure defensive player. Modrić had only just adapted to League Two and would need to adapt to the Championship in the new season, but the Croatian midfielder had Yang Cheng’s unconditional trust.

Therefore, Martin Rowlands, who seemed to be riding high but had average defensive abilities, had actually seen his position become precarious long ago.

In Yang Cheng’s mind, he had never been the most important player.

Ribéry and Modrić were.

As for who would replace Martin Rowlands, Yang Cheng already had a plan.

It would be a player who would shock everyone.

Low transfer fee, strong immediate impact, and extremely high potential. With the right development, he would definitely become a world-class midfielder.

The key was, he was also cheap.

Besides the midfield, the right flank also needed strengthening.

Steve Jenkins had started to show signs of fatigue in the latter half of last season; his age was a factor.

Kevin Foley, on the other hand, had made great progress.

But Yang Cheng still wanted to sign a right-back.

And a right winger.

Leeds United was mired in a debt crisis, but they hadn’t gone bankrupt yet. He wondered if they would sell Aaron Lennon.

If he could sign Aaron Lennon, that would be fantastic.

With such a sharp weapon on the right wing, responsible for making runs down the flank and delivering crosses from the byline to stretch the defense, Ribéry could truly take flight on the left and in the left half-space.

In addition, the team’s bench depth needed to be improved.

Many players couldn’t keep up, including Chambers, Baptiste, Holdsworth, and Lee Williamson, who were struggling to match the team’s pace of progress.

In the Championship, it would be difficult to rely on and trust these players.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng needed to bring in a new batch of players.

Fortunately, the team had performed well in League Two last season, so this group of players should be able to fetch some money.

…

Running a football club is a massive undertaking.

It’s even bigger than what any fan could imagine.

It’s not just about the eleven players and the head coach on the pitch, but a rather large, complex, and increasingly professional organization.

In his past life coaching Manchester City, Yang Cheng had built a complete and comprehensive system for the club, employing as many as three hundred people.

This involved numerous departments, each responsible for different professional areas, dividing labor and collaborating with one another.

Ever since crossing over, Yang Cheng had been committed to building the operational structure of Bayswater Chinese.

This applied not only to the administrative side but to the football department as well.

Just like any modern enterprise, both administration and football relied on three key stages.

Selection (recruitment), training, and the construction of development pathways.

From a football perspective, how do you choose the most suitable and best player?

After signing him, how do you develop him?

While developing him, how do you create a sustainable development path for the player?

This applied to players, to employees, and even to the entire team and club.

And behind all this was the synergistic collaboration of numerous departments, including the youth academy, scouting, medical, nutrition, psychology, and data analysis.

This required a person to connect, communicate, and coordinate.

As early as last year, Yang Cheng had already started making contact.

When he went to Cambridge United to sign Dave Kitson, he coincidentally met Dan Ashworth, who was working at Cambridge United’s Centre of Excellence.

Now this was an old acquaintance of his.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the rise of English youth football and the soaring performance of the national team were all thanks in no small part to Dan Ashworth’s contributions.

The “England DNA” he wrote for English football completely changed the game in England.

Dan Ashworth was the Head of Youth Development at Cambridge United, and he and Yang Cheng had a very pleasant conversation.

But when Yang Cheng invited him to Bayswater Chinese, Dan Ashworth was hesitant.

At the time, Bayswater Chinese didn’t have a youth team, or even a training ground for a youth academy.

After Yang Cheng decided to buy the land, he called Dan Ashworth again, extending another sincere invitation for him to become the Head of Youth Development at Bayswater Chinese and lead the integration of the Hendon and Prince’s Park youth teams.

Dan Ashworth had rejected an offer from West Bromwich Albion but still didn’t accept Yang Cheng’s.

It wasn’t until Bayswater Chinese was promoted to the Championship and Yang Cheng, after buying the land, decided to invest twenty million pounds, demonstrating unprecedented determination, that Dan Ashworth finally decided to join.

After securing Dan Ashworth, Yang Cheng turned his attention north and contacted Mike Rigg, the Academy Manager at Sheffield Wednesday.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Mike Rigg was a founder of the English association of technical directors and had worked with Yang Cheng at Manchester City for several years. He was an exceptionally capable individual.

Yang Cheng offered him the position of Chief Talent Officer, responsible for talent selection and building smooth internal communication channels and incentive systems.

Within the team, Yang Cheng also created a position called Development Coach.

As the name implied, his task was to create development plans for players and work on team building.

This position was still rare in European football, but Cardiff in Wales had such a role.

Yang Cheng poached Mark Crocker from Cardiff.

The head of the scouting department was also an old acquaintance from his Manchester City days, Gary Worthington.

After retiring in 1994, Gary Worthington began working in youth development at Leeds United, where he had been ever since.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, he joined Chelsea in 2005, moved to Manchester City in 2010, and worked there until Yang Cheng crossed over. His abilities were outstanding.

After coming to Bayswater Chinese, Gary Worthington officially took up the post of Head of Scouting, which was a promotion with a pay raise.

And the first task Yang Cheng gave him was to try and make contact with Aaron Lennon.

With the four core members of the youth academy staff in place, Yang Cheng held a special meeting.

He had drawn up a development blueprint specifically for the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, which included player development plans, strategic planning for the future, and more.

On the implementation level, Yang Cheng advocated a three-step process: “Plan, Do, Review.”

This was an execution process that had been proven very effective by many teams later on.

The youth philosophy went without saying: technique, attack, possession, creativity, and so on.

As for specific training methods, Yang Cheng demanded that they come up with more innovation.

Unlike the training methods advocated and executed by almost all teams at the time, which relied on coaches giving specific instructions, Yang Cheng wanted to give more decision-making power to the players, especially the young ones.

“I want you to develop training methods that allow players to make more decisions for themselves on the pitch!”

While Yang Cheng was busy with the integration of the youth academy, his first signing of the summer also made a breakthrough.

Chapter 35: The Miracle Doctor Arrives

Lisbon, Portugal.

As the new RTP1 logo flashed across the screen, the image on the living room television switched to the studio.

“This is Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, Channel 1.”

“Welcome back to our special European Championship program, Showdown in Lisbon!”

As the host spoke, the screen changed again, focusing on the entrance of the Portuguese national team’s training center.

“This afternoon, Prime Minister Barroso visited the national team’s training center.”

“There, Barroso showed concern for the international players’ training camp life and preparations, encouraging them to demonstrate a will to win in the upcoming European Championship on home soil.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Portuguese Prime Minister Barroso appeared on the screen.

He was addressing the national team players.

“Here, you are the heroes. I have no other demand than to ask you to keep the European Championship trophy in Portugal!”

“Portugal’s revival needs a great football victory!”

“The people of Portugal and I have great faith in you. We are already eagerly awaiting that great moment just over twenty days from now.”

“We have the best players on the European continent, and we have the best opportunity in our history.”

“The government, myself, and everyone in the country will always be standing behind you!”

The screen switched again, showing the superstar and national team captain, Luís Figo.

“Captain Figo, on behalf of the national team, presented a gift to Prime Minister Barroso.”

“Figo stated that after the recent period of training, everyone in the national team is ready to face the challenge.”

A close-up of Figo appeared on the television.

“This past season, you could say we were laden with championships.”

“Six of our international players from Porto won the Champions League and the Primeira Liga, and six from Benfica won the Taça de Portugal.”

“Rui Costa won the Serie A title, Pauleta won the Coupe de France, and Couto won the Coppa Italia.”

“And then there’s C. Ronaldo, who won the FA Cup with Manchester United.”

“Out of twenty-three international players, seventeen have won a title. We are full of confidence about winning the European Championship!”

The view returned to the studio, where the host discussed recent news surrounding the Portuguese national team.

“Yesterday, the media reported that national team head coach Scolari was furious about C. Ronaldo suffering an injury and missing training. The media also interviewed C. Ronaldo about the incident.”

The television showed footage of the Manchester United star’s impressive form in training, followed by an interview conducted after the session.

“Yes, I was injured in training. I sprained my ankle and missed one session, but I’ve already recovered. It won’t affect the upcoming European Championship; I will absolutely not allow something like that to happen.”

“Scolari was furious?”

“No, I don’t think it was directed at me.”

“With a major tournament just around the corner, everyone is under a lot of pressure. He was reminding everyone to be careful, avoid injuries, and maintain their form.”

…

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, José Fonte watched C. Ronaldo on the screen with immense envy.

He had been his teammate in the Sporting Lisbon youth academy, two years younger than him.

José Fonte had personally watched C. Ronaldo rise up from the lower-level youth teams, catch up to him, surpass him, and break into the first team.

Last summer, with his astonishing talent, he had captured Ferguson’s favor and transferred to the powerhouse Manchester United for a high fee.

Now, C. Ronaldo was a starter for the national team, a genius full of promise in everyone’s eyes.

And him?

Unemployed!

He felt lost and anxious right now.

At the same time, his life was dire.

He had been forced to move back to his hometown to live with his grandmother.

His father, Artur Fonte, was also a professional footballer who came through the Sporting Lisbon youth academy and had even been selected for the Portuguese national youth team.

It was because of their father that José Fonte and his younger brother, Rui Fonte, had entered Sporting Lisbon’s youth teams at an early age.

He had progressed steadily through the ranks, but the older he got, the slower his progress became.

Two years had passed since he joined the B team at nineteen, and José Fonte had still not been able to get a foot in the first team’s door.

Watching teammates like Quaresma and C. Ronaldo enter the first team one by one, join major clubs, and make it to the national team, while he was stuck languishing in the B team, was something José Fonte found unacceptable.

As someone who had been through it, Artur Fonte also believed that at twenty-one, continuing to waste away in the B team was not a good thing.

So, this summer, José Fonte chose to leave.

After leaving the team, he had to find a new one.

But his agent, Fernandes, was no big name in Portugal; he had neither the current influence of Jorge Mendes nor the lingering power of José Veiga.

Coupled with the fact that José Fonte had not performed well for Sporting Lisbon’s B team and had never even made the national youth team, it was difficult for him to attract interest from Primeira Liga clubs.

In recent years, too many South American players, like Deco at Porto, had flooded into Portugal.

This had severely impacted the opportunities for local players like José Fonte.

He couldn’t get a chance not only in the Primeira Liga but also struggled to be an attractive prospect for mid-to-upper-tier Liga de Honra teams.

In the end, his agent connected him with Salgueiros in the Portuguese Second Division B.

The club was ambitious, determined to get promoted to the Liga de Honra, and they valued José Fonte highly.

Head coach Nuno Norton de Matos even came to Lisbon personally to talk with José Fonte and invite him to join Salgueiros.

José Fonte agreed to join Salgueiros.

But just as the season ended and he was looking forward to a new journey, terrible news arrived.

Salgueiros had gone bankrupt and was being liquidated.

The contract he had signed was void!

It was like a sledgehammer blow to José Fonte’s head.

He was unemployed.

He was panicked and confused, with no idea what to do.

His father and agent were scrambling to find him a team.

Everyone knew that at twenty-one, if he didn’t have a club to play for, his professional career could very well be over.

His own predicament made watching C. Ronaldo on television at that moment especially agonizing for José Fonte.

They had once been teammates who fought side by side.

But now, C. Ronaldo was a favored son of heaven, soaring high above, while he, José Fonte, had fallen into the mud.

He swore that for any person, any team, willing to give him a professional contract and a chance to play, he would give it his all, even lay down his life.

Because he didn’t know what else he could do besides playing football.

…

Dejectedly, José Fonte turned off the television, hugged his knees, and curled up on the sofa.

He was like a pitiful, anxious little dog.

Just then, the Nokia phone lying beside him rang.

“Hello,” José Fonte answered his agent Fernandes’s call, his voice weak.

“A club has contacted me, but I’m not sure if you want to go.”

José Fonte’s eyes lit up, and he shot up from the sofa like a spring. “I’ll go, I’ll go.”

“Don’t be so hasty. Listen to me first. It’s a Championship team.”

“The Championship?”

“Oh, it used to be the First Division. It’s been renamed the Championship now.”

“Which one?”

“Bayswater Chinese. A newly promoted team. They won League Two last season.”

The situation sounded a lot like Salgueiros.

The difference was that Bayswater Chinese had successfully been promoted, and they were in England.

“How good are they?” José Fonte was a little worried.

After all, he had just been badly burned once.

“Not a big club, and the conditions aren’t the best. But according to their owner, they just spent several million pound sterling on land to set up a youth academy and plan to invest twenty million pound sterling to build a training base. They should be quite solid.”

“Oh, right, they’re backed by a Chinese consortium.”

José Fonte was tempted, but still a little concerned.

“Their owner also told me that if possible, they’d like to invite us to London to have a look, all travel expenses paid.”

“Is that okay?” José Fonte was overjoyed.

“Of course. If you want to give it a try, I’ll contact them.”

“I’ll go!”

…

Yang Cheng was unaware of what was happening in Portugal.

He was simply too busy.

Although Dan Ashworth, Gary Worthington, Matt Crocker, and Mike Rigg had all arrived and begun work on integrating the youth academy, Yang Cheng, as the man at the helm, couldn’t be absent.

He couldn’t bring himself to be a hands-off manager either.

After all, he was now pouring all his heart and soul into Bayswater Chinese.

While overseeing the youth academy integration, Yang Cheng hadn’t been idle.

Brian Kidd had recommended David Fevre, the Blackburn Rovers’ “miracle doctor,” to him.

David Fevre was a close friend of Brian Kidd and had served as Manchester United’s chief medical officer in the 1990s.

Before joining Manchester United, David Fevre had worked at St. Helens Hospital in east Liverpool and also served the Wigan district rugby league, earning a considerable reputation.

In early 1994, Brian Kidd, then Ferguson’s assistant, brought a young player with a knee ligament injury to see him, drawn by his fame. David Fevre’s superb medical skills left a deep impression on him.

In June, when Manchester United’s team doctor, McGregor, departed, David Fevre, on Brian Kidd’s recommendation, officially became Manchester United’s head doctor, a position he held until 1999.

After helping Manchester United win the Treble, David Fevre accepted Brian Kidd’s invitation to go to Blackburn Rovers in order to be closer to his son, who had been diagnosed with diabetes at a young age.

Yang Cheng had heard of David Fevre’s medical skills in his previous life.

He wasn’t just a miracle doctor in football manager games; he later went on to work for Chelsea.

This time, coming from Blackburn Rovers to Bayswater Chinese, David Fevre would serve as the club’s Head of Medical Services, overseeing all medical affairs for both the first team and the youth teams.

Rob Price, from The FA, would become the team’s Head Physiotherapist.

Although Rob Price was only thirty-two, he held a degree in physiotherapy and a Master of Science in Sports Rehabilitation.

After graduating with his master’s, he worked in a private clinic before successfully applying for a position at The FA in 2000 as a physiotherapist, primarily responsible for the England U21 national youth team.

During his time with the national team setup, Brian Kidd had been very impressed with Rob Price. Added to the fact that he was also acquainted with David Fevre, the two would now officially collaborate at Bayswater Chinese.

Since the first team would continue to train in central London for the new season, the medical department would also have to be split between two locations.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s financial situation was not yet comfortable and funds were limited, Yang Cheng promised to do his best to meet David Fevre’s and Rob Price’s requests for purchasing medical instruments and equipment.

Just as the medical department was being established, Yang Cheng received a call from the Portuguese agent, Fernandes, confirming José Fonte’s interest in visiting London.

Yang Cheng placed great importance on José Fonte.

The centre-back was a classic case of an underrated player in his early years. He waited in vain for an opportunity at Sporting Lisbon, and after transferring, he was hit by a string of bad luck—either getting injured or his team going bankrupt—which made the early development of his career a complete mess.

But his ability was excellent, and he had the nickname of a “centre-back incubator.”

Besides Koscielny, Yang Cheng also planned to keep Roger Johnson, but he intended to sell Luke Chambers and Baptiste.

Therefore, Yang Cheng needed to sign two centre-backs this summer.

And just before José Fonte was due to arrive in London, Bayswater Chinese officially received notice from Queens Park Rangers and Martin Rowlands’ agent that they had reached an agreement on personal terms.

Martin Rowlands would transfer from Bayswater Chinese to Queens Park Rangers for a fee of three million pound sterling.

Bayswater Chinese and Queens Park Rangers had signed a three-year stadium lease contract.

The first year’s rent of five hundred thousand pound sterling would be deducted from Martin Rowlands’ transfer fee.

The remaining two point five million pound sterling would be paid in one lump sum.

After transferring to Queens Park Rangers, Martin Rowlands was given a contract with a weekly wage of five thousand pound sterling.

At Bayswater Chinese, in the salary structure Xia Qing had created for Yang Cheng, the highest weekly wage was only two thousand pound sterling.

In addition to Martin Rowlands’ transfer to Queens Park Rangers, there were several other bid faxes on Yang Cheng’s desk.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea had submitted offers for Ribéry.

Devanny, who had scored thirteen goals last season, and Huddlestone, who had an outstanding season marshalling the midfield, had also attracted considerable attention as homegrown players.

This made Yang Cheng feel a heavy weight of pressure.

Chapter 36: Wenger: Was I Just Used?

Although the salary system Xia Qing had designed for Bayswater Chinese was still quite rudimentary, Yang Cheng could tell that she had done a lot of research and meticulous planning behind the scenes.

For instance, the top salary was set at two thousand pounds sterling per week.

According to Yang Cheng’s vision, only three or four players on the team would be able to earn this top wage.

Those would be players like Ribéry, Modrić, and Huddlestone.

Among them, Ribéry and Modrić had received raises.

Huddlestone was already on Bayswater Chinese’s top salary last season, plus he was a local player and a member of the national youth team.

The next tier was a weekly wage of one thousand five hundred pounds sterling, which would include seven or eight players.

Then came one thousand pounds sterling per week, and finally, five hundred pounds sterling per week and below.

Xia Qing told Yang Cheng that her plan was based on the salary levels of nearly one hundred professional clubs across the Premier League, last season’s League One, and League Two.

While she couldn’t get exact, detailed data, her estimates were pretty close.

For example, at Manchester United’s first team, a youth academy player around the age of twenty would typically have a weekly wage of one thousand to one thousand five hundred pounds sterling.

And bear in mind, that was Manchester United.

Of course, players brought in from outside were a different story.

If a young player was signed from another club, his salary would certainly be higher than that.

From this perspective, it was reasonable for Bayswater Chinese to cap its highest weekly wage at two thousand pounds sterling.

Now, considering the club’s own revenue.

Based on Xia Qing’s salary structure, the first team’s annual wage expenditure would be around 1.2 million pounds sterling. Adding appearance fees and bonuses, it would come to about 1.5 million pounds sterling.

But that was only for the first team.

There were also coaches, employees, and the youth academy. Adding all those up, the total would be nearly 2.5 million pounds sterling.

So, what about revenue?

Taking last season as an example, with an attendance of five thousand people per match and tickets at thirty pounds sterling each, that would be one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

Over a season of twenty-three home games, plus food and beverage income on match days, the total would be around 3.5 million pounds sterling.

As for broadcasting rights, there was no point in thinking about that for now.

Back in 2002, after ITV went bankrupt, all English league teams outside the Premier League were hit hard, with League One bearing the brunt of it.

In its attempt to compete with Sky Television, ITV had secured the broadcasting rights for the England national team, League One, League Two, and the Third Division, paying a massive 315 million pounds sterling for a three-year deal.

But when ITV went bankrupt in 2002, the entire situation became precarious, plunging many clubs into financial crisis.

Chris Hunt had told Yang Cheng that this was the reason why a large number of clubs had either gone bankrupt or were teetering on the brink.

In July 2002, Sky Television “reluctantly” stepped in, taking over this “mess” with a four-year deal worth ninety-five million pounds sterling.

As a result, the highest broadcasting revenue for a Championship team was less than one million pounds sterling per season.

The difference compared to the Premier League was night and day.

Matchday income was at most 3.5 million pounds sterling, broadcasting fees were at most one million pounds sterling, and so far, the only commercial sponsorship secured was the five hundred thousand pounds sterling shirt deal from Umbro.

All told, that was just five million pounds sterling in revenue.

And this was what was visible.

When Xia Qing was developing the salary structure, Yang Cheng had proposed a red line: total wages should be kept at fifty percent of revenue.

Therefore, the total salary budget Xia Qing came up with was 2.5 million pounds sterling.

In the Premier League, however, a team could earn over ten million pounds sterling per season from broadcasting fees alone.

This was why every team fought tooth and nail to get into the Premier League.

For now, Bayswater Chinese had no good solutions for increasing revenue from broadcasting fees or commercial sponsorships.

That was why Yang Cheng wanted to focus on matchday income.

If Bayswater Chinese could increase fan attendance after leasing Loftus Road Stadium—forget filling it, just getting it half-full would mean ten thousand fans.

Over a year, that could increase revenue by three to four million pounds sterling.

So, after being promoted to the Championship, Queens Park Rangers had slightly increased their ticket prices, but Bayswater Chinese insisted on keeping theirs the same.

…

Whetstone, North London.

Sitting in the back of a taxi, heading north along the main road, Yang Cheng carefully scanned the storefronts on the right side of the street.

Finally, he found the Italian restaurant called Cocorico.

The restaurant was decorated in a very Italian style, though it wasn’t to Yang Cheng’s taste.

Upon entering, he scanned the interior.

Soon, he spotted Wenger sitting in a corner, wearing a white flat cap and an Arsenal summer tracksuit.

“Hello, Professor. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Hello, Yang. I’m very glad you could make it.”

After a polite exchange of pleasantries, they sat down across the table from each other.

Wenger was a regular at this restaurant.

Yang Cheng remembered hearing a secret from his past life: around 2010, the media had caught a French woman on camera, exposing Wenger’s extramarital affair.

It was said that the woman had taken a job as a waitress at this very restaurant to get close to him.

The outside world was dangerous. As a head coach, one had to remain vigilant and know how to protect oneself.

Especially a handsome and young head coach like Yang Cheng.

Wenger lived in Totteridge, very close to the restaurant, but their relationship was clearly not yet at the stage where they would visit each other’s homes.

One of the main reasons Wenger had asked to meet Yang Cheng was that Chelsea had made an offer for Ribéry.

Ten million pounds sterling.

That was the sincerity Chelsea had shown.

“We have already rejected Chelsea, and we’ve rejected Arsenal as well.”

Yang Cheng told Wenger his decision directly.

“Why?” Wenger didn’t get angry; instead, he wore a faint smile.

It made him look very kind and gentlemanly.

“Professor, you must be joking. I don’t believe you can’t figure it out,” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

Selling Ribéry for ten million pounds sterling sounded good.

But what was the reality?

Losing Ribéry would cause the tactical framework that Bayswater Chinese had painstakingly built last season to immediately fall apart.

As Yang Cheng had said before, every team’s strategy was built around a strong core player leading a group of “weaker players” into battle.

The only difference was that for powerhouse clubs, the strong players were stronger, and the “weaker players” were also stronger.

Take Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, for example.

Before Ronaldo arrived and after he left, Real Madrid’s goal count dropped off a cliff.

That was Ronaldo’s impact.

The same was true for Barça and Messi.

Players and clubs have always had a mutually beneficial relationship.

Within Yang Cheng’s tactical system, and playing alongside Ribéry and Modrić, Martin Rowlands could command a transfer fee of three million pounds sterling, and Martin Devaney could attract interest from clubs including Watford.

And what about a year ago?

In everyone’s eyes, if Bayswater Chinese lost Ribéry, their attacking power would plummet.

Promotion to the Premier League in the new season?

Forget about it!

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t see it that way, but losing Ribéry would still be a blow he couldn’t accept.

If they failed to get promoted, the debts and bank loans would start to pile up again.

And Chelsea was still eyeing the stadium’s land.

Although he’d have ten million pounds sterling in hand, Yang Cheng knew which was more important when weighed against promotion.

Wenger naturally understood as well.

In fact, Queens Park Rangers’ willingness to pay a high price of three million pounds sterling for Martin Rowlands was not just to strengthen their own squad but also to weaken Bayswater Chinese.

Anyone could see that Bayswater Chinese’s entry into the Championship this season meant they were a force to be reckoned with.

“So, you’re not planning to sell?” Wenger confirmed once more.

Yang Cheng nodded with a smile.

“What does the player think?”

“I can handle him.” Yang Cheng still had that much confidence.

Of course, that was only for the time being.

What might happen in the future was hard to say.

“Understood.” Wenger nodded slightly.

“In that case, we won’t insist. However, I hope you can promise me one thing.”

“Go on.”

“If you ever plan to sell Ribéry, please inform me first.”

“Alright.” Yang Cheng agreed readily.

A notification was not the same as a right of first refusal.

“In exchange, Professor, could I also make a request of you?”

Wenger was visibly taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh. “You really never let yourself get the short end of the stick, do you?”

Yang Cheng simply gave a noncommittal smile.

Your Arsenal is a massive club with deep pockets, so of course you can afford to be aloof. We, on the other hand, are so dirt poor I wish I could split a single coin in two. What do you think?

“Go on.”

“I saw that you signed Van Persie from Feyenoord. With him, plus Reyes, Ljungberg, and Pires, I believe your right wing should be well-stocked.”

Wenger frowned, trying to guess Yang Cheng’s intention, but remained silent.

“Pennant.”

“Wait, are you looking to buy or to loan?”

“A loan, of course. Can we afford to buy him?”

Wenger looked at Yang Cheng intently, as if contemplating something.

Jermaine Pennant once held the record for the highest transfer fee for an English player under twenty.

When he was fifteen, Wenger paid two million pounds sterling to sign him from Notts County.

But at a star-studded Arsenal, Pennant never got a real chance.

He was loaned out first to Watford and then to Leeds United last season, where he performed quite well.

But that was in the Premier League.

“You should know about Pennant’s personality,” Wenger said, his eyes fixed on Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng nodded. “I understand. But as you saw last season, our right flank was very thin.”

Without the funds for a transfer, loaning a young player from a top club was an excellent option.

“I have no objections, but you’ll have to convince Pennant and his agent yourselves.”

Wenger had more or less lost his patience with Pennant.

If only God had given him a fraction of his on-field football intelligence for his life off the field, Wenger would have nurtured and relied on him.

But the kid had always been a handful.

The entire Arsenal organization had a love-hate relationship with Pennant.

On one hand, many were hoping he would mature with age and focus on his football.

On the other hand, his personality was a huge problem, and as he got older, he couldn’t just keep drifting.

Therefore, a loan was a good option.

“Alright, I’ll contact Pennant and his agent,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

For some reason, seeing Yang Cheng’s smile, Wenger suddenly had a feeling that he had been used.

But why would he feel that way?

Wenger couldn’t figure it out.

…

After leaving the Italian restaurant, Yang Cheng immediately called Lin Zhongqiu, followed by Brian Kidd.

Lin Zhongqiu promptly called Pennant’s agent, Andrew, to inquire about the possibility of Pennant joining Bayswater Chinese on loan.

He made sure to emphasize that both Arsenal and Wenger had already agreed.

The result was no surprise.

After the agent spoke with Pennant, the player unhesitatingly rejected the loan offer.

Somehow, the media caught wind of the story and was waiting for Pennant outside a London nightclub.

The English prodigy made no attempt to hide his contempt for Bayswater Chinese.

“Maybe in ten years, I’ll consider that invitation.”

“That’s assuming they’re still in the Championship by then.”

Pennant was somewhat worried about his own future.

A reporter told him that Everton was considering making an offer for him, as he had only one year left on his contract, but their bid of 1.5 million pounds sterling was unlikely to persuade Arsenal.

Pennant said he hadn’t heard anything about it.

“I had a very happy time at Leeds United last season. I had a group of excellent teammates and made some wonderful memories there. I really miss Elland Road.”

“The head coach, Blackwell, has also called me several times. They miss me a lot too.”

“But, you know, who knows how things will turn out?”

Pennant’s transfer situation had hit a snag, but Bayswater Chinese’s transfer activities had not stalled.

Portuguese center-back José Fonte joined on a free transfer.

Then, Bayswater Chinese signed thirty-one-year-old backup goalkeeper and Welsh international Danny Coyne, also on a free transfer from relegated Premier League side Leicester City.

For two hundred thousand pounds sterling, they signed twenty-three-year-old Danny Collins from the fourth-tier League Two team Chester City.

This left-footed player could play both center-back and left-back.

Meanwhile, the saga of Pennant’s transfer continued to develop, creating the butterfly effect that Yang Cheng had been hoping for.

Chapter 37: The Four Heavenly Kings of Darkness

In the 2004 English summer transfer window, the most eye-catching saga was undoubtedly the battle for Rooney.

After a massive investment in 2003, Chelsea had failed to dethrone the undefeated champions, Arsenal.

Ranieri was fired and replaced by José Mourinho from Porto, signaling his intent to stir up another storm in the transfer market.

At the same time, a group of players including Verón, Desailly, Hasselbaink, and Crespo entering the transfer market would also cause significant turmoil.

But all of this was in the Premier League, high up in the clouds.

For the Championship, the biggest suspense revolved around the three relegated teams, especially Leeds United.

Although protected by parachute payments from the Premier League, all three relegated teams would suffer a painful blow.

However, each family’s tragedy was different.

Wolves and Leicester City had both been promoted from League One to the Premier League in the 2002/03 season.

But after their promotion, neither team had invested heavily.

In other words, from the very beginning, their goal wasn’t to stay in the Premier League, but to make money.

Unsurprisingly, Wolves finished at the bottom, and Leicester City ranked eighteenth. The two partners in misfortune took a one-season trip to the Premier League together.

Leeds United finished between the two, but they were an established powerhouse in the Premier League.

After relegation, Wolves and Leicester City didn’t really need to sell anyone.

They had no one valuable to sell, as their squads were mostly the same as the ones that had competed in League One two years prior.

And Leeds United?

For the past few years, they had been selling players annually, getting worse with each passing year.

According to media disclosures, the club currently had two bank loans totaling fifteen million pounds sterling.

And that was only what everyone could find out about.

What about the undisclosed debts?

Not long ago, to pay off its debts, Leeds United had sold Elland Road for eight million pounds sterling.

After selling it, they leased it back for an annual rent of one point four million pounds sterling.

God only knows which genius came up with that idea.

Leeds United’s youth academy was famous, producing many talented players who were very loyal to the club.

But no matter how loyal, how many would be willing to stay and fight with the team in the Championship?

Michael Carrick of West Ham United was loyal enough, wasn’t he?

He accompanied The Hammers for a season in the Championship, but when it became clear the team had no hope of promotion, he transferred to Tottenham Hotspur that summer.

Leeds United players like Alan Smith, James Milner, Mark Viduka, Paul Robinson, and Scott Carson were all hot commodities on the transfer market and naturally wanted to leave.

Selling players was inevitable, but it wouldn’t solve the team’s financial crisis.

With Leeds United’s current foundation, failing to return to the Premier League was tantamount to slow suicide.

Therefore, head coach Blackwell hoped to sign Pennant from Arsenal.

His reasoning was sound.

Pennant had been on loan at Leeds United last season, so both parties knew each other well.

As long as he didn’t act foolishly or cause trouble, Pennant was undoubtedly a top-tier Premier League right winger.

Most importantly, he was out of favor at Arsenal.

After being relegated to the Championship, the best players Leeds United could hope to sign were of Pennant’s caliber.

Crucially, his contract had only one year remaining, so the transfer fee wouldn’t be high.

Just at this moment, the media reported that Arsenal had intended to loan Pennant to the Championship side Bayswater Chinese, a move the player had rejected.

This sent a signal to the transfer market.

Pennant was on the market.

Premier League teams like Everton and Birmingham City immediately sprang into action.

The Toffees made an offer of one point five million pounds sterling for Pennant, but it was rejected by Arsenal.

Leeds United had to act fast, to raise the money and buy the player.

Right at that moment, Gary Worthington, a product of the Leeds United youth academy, submitted an offer.

The London club Bayswater Chinese, having failed to get Pennant, now wanted to sign the 17-year-old right winger Aaron Lennon for a transfer fee of one million pounds sterling.

…

“Leeds United agreed?”

When Yang Cheng heard the news, he was ecstatic.

This was Aaron Lennon we were talking about.

For the next few years, he would be one of England’s best right wingers.

And for only one million pounds sterling?

In contrast, Brian Kidd and Gary Worthington, who were sitting opposite him, found it a bit strange.

Was one million pounds sterling for a 17-year-old considered cheap?

Although Aaron Lennon was very fast and incredibly talented, he had yet to prove himself, hadn’t he?

Last season, he did make substitute appearances in the Premier League for over two hundred minutes, getting one assist in a 1-4 loss to Arsenal, but he had little impact otherwise.

It couldn’t be helped. The entire Leeds United team was in a slump, so what chance did a young player have to shine?

“They’re completely focused on pursuing Pennant and are scrambling for funds everywhere. They have only one demand for us: cash.”

As soon as Gary Worthington finished speaking, Yang Cheng smiled and exclaimed, “Give them what they want!”

Brian Kidd and Gary Worthington both burst out laughing.

Yang Cheng was certainly decisive when it came to buying Aaron Lennon.

“Contact Aaron Lennon’s agent immediately. I’ll go to Leeds personally to talk to him.”

Although he didn’t understand why Yang Cheng was in such a hurry, Gary Worthington immediately went to make the call.

…

The next day, accompanied by Brian Kidd and Gary Worthington, Yang Cheng traveled north to Leeds.

That afternoon, in Chapelton, a suburb northeast of Leeds city center, he met Aaron Lennon, his parents, and his agent at their home.

In this situation, Brian Kidd was a more persuasive front man than Yang Cheng.

Brian Kidd told Aaron Lennon’s parents that Bayswater Chinese had been monitoring Aaron Lennon for a long time and was very optimistic about his characteristics, abilities, and future prospects.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese was willing to promise Aaron Lennon more playing time.

“I believe you know that Leeds United is about to sign Pennant, who also plays as a right winger.”

“The team currently has two other right-sided attackers, 25-year-old Danny Cadamarteri and the veteran Craig Hignett. If he stays at Leeds United, how many opportunities will he get?”

Yang Cheng had planned this line of argument with Brian Kidd on the way there.

Sure enough, it struck a chord with Aaron Lennon’s camp.

Even a weakened Leeds was still a force to be reckoned with.

The others were one thing, but if Pennant came, what chance would Aaron Lennon have?

In the Premier League last season, Pennant had played in almost every match, while Aaron Lennon and the others could only scrape together playing time in meaningless situations.

But Bayswater Chinese was promising Aaron Lennon a starting position.

At 17, starting in the Championship was not a bad deal at all.

Once they thought it through, Aaron Lennon’s side didn’t have many more reservations.

…

After leaving Aaron Lennon’s house, Yang Cheng’s group had to travel south again without stopping, returning to London.

But Yang Cheng left Gary Worthington behind in Leeds.

“Hurry up and get the transfer paperwork and player contract signed, to prevent any unexpected complications.”

Gary Worthington wasn’t yet familiar with Yang Cheng’s methods, so he was completely bewildered, thinking he just couldn’t keep up with the young man’s pace.

Brian Kidd, however, understood.

Because back then, it was Yang Cheng who had deliberately instructed him to leak the news to the media.

From beginning to end, Yang Cheng had never intended to sign Pennant; he wanted to use Pennant to manipulate Leeds United.

Even before the end of last season, Leeds United had wanted to extend Pennant’s loan, but Arsenal had refused.

With only one year left on his contract, another loan would be like giving him away for free.

Yang Cheng had capitalized on Leeds United’s mindset.

Otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to get Aaron Lennon.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Lennon had performed exceptionally well in the Championship, attracting the attention of many clubs.

When Leeds United failed to get promoted back to the Premier League, Lennon was courted by numerous Premier League teams during the winter break, and Tottenham Hotspur managed to sign the homegrown right winger in April.

The transfer fee wasn’t expensive, only one point two million pounds sterling.

The main reason was that Lennon’s contract with Leeds United was due to expire in 2006, and the player had refused to sign an extension.

Under those circumstances, Leeds United had no choice but to sell him on the cheap.

Otherwise, Lennon would have been worth far more.

As for now, firstly, Lennon had yet to prove himself in the Championship, and secondly, Leeds United was entirely focused on the stronger, more mature, and more high-profile Pennant.

This gave Bayswater Chinese the perfect opportunity.

“The transfer market is a real brain-burner. You can’t afford to miscalculate even a little,” Brian Kidd said with a wry smile as he drove.

…

It took Bayswater Chinese only three days to finalize Aaron Lennon’s transfer.

Both clubs submitted the paperwork to The FA, officially completing the transfer process.

But Bayswater Chinese’s transfer operations were still ongoing.

Yang Cheng’s transfer dealings this summer were more cautious than last year’s, always maintaining a synchronized pace of ins and outs.

What else could they do, with Bayswater Chinese’s fragile finances?

After signing Aaron Lennon, the club successively sold four players: Luke Chambers, Baptiste, Holdsworth, and Lee Williamson.

These four players were all transferred to League One clubs. The fees weren’t high, but they totaled one point five million pounds sterling.

Bayswater Chinese had performed exceptionally well last season, and these players were all young.

Luke Chambers was only 19, Baptiste was even younger at 18, and Holdsworth was 20.

The oldest, but also the best performer, Lee Williamson, was only 22.

Yang Cheng could accept recouping one point five million pounds sterling for the four players.

The players themselves felt a bit of regret; after all, anyone could see that Bayswater Chinese was on a rapid rise.

But staying wouldn’t do them any good.

What was the use of warming the bench and wasting their best years?

Although Watford ultimately managed to avoid relegation last season, the process had been very dangerous.

Elton John, the subject of the biographical film “Rocketman,” was Watford’s chairman, but he had stepped back in 2002 to become honorary life president.

Since then, Watford’s situation had deteriorated day by day.

Under these circumstances, Watford set their sights on Martin Devaney, the winger from the formidable newly promoted team, Bayswater Chinese.

Devaney’s performance in League Two last season had been eye-catching.

His partnership with Ribéry had produced a potent attack, whether with Jon Stead, Lambert, or later, Dave Kitson.

Most importantly, after transferring to Blackburn Rovers, Jon Stead had scored 6 goals in 13 appearances in just six months.

For a young player, that was an undeniably outstanding performance.

Therefore, many believed that players coming out of Bayswater Chinese had a solid reputation.

Although Bayswater Chinese was a high-flying newly promoted team, a newly promoted team was still a newly promoted team.

Watford at least had its own stadium and was willing to offer a higher salary.

Thus, Martin Devaney was persuaded.

Yang Cheng’s attitude toward this was one of “fury.” He declared that Watford was committing robbery.

Not only that, Yang Cheng unhesitatingly rejected Watford’s offer of one million pounds sterling.

But after several rounds of negotiations, Bayswater Chinese was “forced” to accept Watford’s offer.

Five hundred thousand pounds sterling, plus 19-year-old starlet Ashley Young.

Speaking of the legendary Ashley Young—one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Darkness, friend to birds, the English C. Ronaldo, possessor of a British passport, and the Aaron Kwok of Manchester—Yang Cheng was honestly speechless.

Last season in League One, he had made five appearances, totaling just 154 minutes, and yet, he had somehow scored 3 goals.

His only start was in the final match of the season against Reading, where he scored the only goal of the game.

If it weren’t for those 3 goals, Yang Cheng could have at least squeezed one million pounds sterling out of Watford.

But now…

Oh well, sometimes you have to take a loss to gain a fortune.

After finalizing Ashley Young’s transfer, Yang Cheng signed Leon Andreasen from AGF Aarhus in Denmark.

This transfer cost Bayswater Chinese a full one million euros, roughly seven hundred thousand pounds sterling.

Yang Cheng had considered signing Leon Andreasen as far back as last summer.

But after successfully acquiring Huddlestone, he had temporarily shelved the idea.

Now, in the Championship, the team needed double insurance.

After securing Andreasen, Yang Cheng flew from London to Poland.

On May 1, 2004, the European Union expanded.

Countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia officially joined the EU.

This meant that, from now on, players from these countries would no longer be considered foreign players.

Chapter 38: A World-Class Midfielder

From Warsaw, the capital of Poland, he transferred to the southern city of Katowice.

In Zabrze, seventeen kilometers west of Katowice, Yang Cheng easily found the club Górnik Zabrze.

The Polish First Division team was not strong, nor was it financially powerful.

They were, in fact, quite surprised by Yang Cheng’s visit.

German teams paid attention to Poland, but English clubs rarely did.

When Yang Cheng mentioned Łukasz Piszczek, they immediately understood.

The nineteen-year-old Polish youth international was the best performer on their team. He was currently with the U19 national youth team, preparing for the upcoming U19 European Youth Championship in Switzerland.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Piszczek made a name for himself at this very tournament.

Although the Poland U19 team suffered a crushing defeat at the European Youth Championship, losing all three of their matches, Łukasz Piszczek, playing as a winger, scored four goals in three games, tying with Turkish forward Ali Öztürk for top scorer.

Soldado from the champion Spanish team only managed to score three.

At this point in time, no one could have imagined that this lightning-fast attacker would eventually become a world-renowned right-back.

But sometimes, things are just that strange.

After the European Youth Championship, Piszczek transferred to Hertha BSC but was loaned back to Poland.

In the years that followed, he struggled to make an impact as a forward or a winger, and his career went downhill.

That was how he ended up on a free transfer to Borussia Dortmund.

Unable to secure a place in the attack, Piszczek switched to right-back, and it was then that everything clicked into place, transforming him into a top-tier right-back in one leap.

The Polish league environment was not yet fully professionalized. The nineteen-year-old Piszczek had not yet signed a formal professional contract with Górnik Zabrze, so Bayswater Chinese could have technically signed him for free.

But after some consideration, Yang Cheng decided to go through the club.

Thus, Bayswater Chinese paid 400,000 Polish Złoty to sign the young player.

At the current exchange rate, 400,000 Polish Złoty was about 50,000 pound sterling.

This was nothing to Bayswater Chinese.

But it could be used to establish a channel.

During his trip to Poland, Yang Cheng had also wanted to look for Robert Lewandowski.

But the future world-class center-forward had not yet joined Legia Warsaw, nor was he at the smaller club, Warsaw Oasis.

It seemed he was still in his hometown team’s youth academy.

After some thought, Yang Cheng temporarily put Lewandowski out of his mind.

He was too young. Even if he found him, the boy might not be willing to leave.

…

After reaching an agreement with Górnik Zabrze, Yang Cheng made a special trip to Warsaw.

Accompanied by the player’s agent, Yang Cheng met with Piszczek.

Afterward, Yang Cheng traveled south into Slovakia.

In Trenčín, a city in western Slovakia bordering the Czech Republic, Yang Cheng found AS Trenčín and signed Slovakian center-back Martin Škrtel for 300,000 euros.

Just recently, Škrtel had been called up to Slovakia’s squad for a friendly match against Japan, officially becoming a Slovakian international player.

Even so, AS Trenčín was more than satisfied with the 300,000 euros offered by Bayswater Chinese.

…

From Trenčín to Vienna, Austria, and then a flight from Vienna to Basel, Switzerland.

Yang Cheng visited FC Basel and signed Gökhan İnler, who had yet to make a single first-team appearance, for a transfer fee of 450,000 euros.

This was a considerable sum for a twenty-year-old player who had never played for the first team.

Gökhan İnler had been languishing in Basel’s youth team, still waiting for his chance to play.

Although he had mixed feelings about transferring to the English Championship, it was also a ray of hope.

For this reason, Gökhan İnler agreed to join Bayswater Chinese.

…

Flying from Basel to Paris, Yang Cheng continued without stopping to Créteil, a suburb in the southeast of Paris.

In Créteil, Yang Cheng easily found the football club named after the city, one that specialized in youth development.

Specializing in youth development meant they had no senior team.

The business model for such clubs relied on tuition fees from students and a small percentage of the transfer fees when their players made it big, which was enough to sustain a youth academy’s long-term operations.

In Créteil, Yang Cheng easily found the seventeen-year-old Blaise Matuidi.

Matuidi hadn’t originally been at Créteil.

In 2000, he was successfully admitted to Clairefontaine, where he received three years of football training at the hallowed French football academy.

A year after entering Clairefontaine, Matuidi’s youth contract was transferred to US Créteil-Lusitanos.

After completing his three years of training at Clairefontaine, he naturally came to Créteil to continue his development. This summer, he was planning to go on trial at Troyes AC, a French Second Division team southeast of Paris, to try and earn a professional contract.

He just never expected Yang Cheng to come knocking at this moment.

Matuidi wasn’t resistant to joining Bayswater Chinese, as he had been playing away from home since he was a child.

Playing in the English Championship in England was a good option.

What’s more, Yang Cheng promised him a professional contract.

For the seventeen-year-old Matuidi, who came from a modest family, this was like a godsend.

But what truly surprised Yang Cheng was seeing a familiar name at the Créteil club.

Aubameyang.

But it wasn’t the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that fans from his past life were familiar with.

It was the second of the three Aubameyang brothers, Willy Fils Aubameyang.

He was also training at Créteil.

From Aubameyang number two, Yang Cheng learned that Aubameyang number three was currently playing for the club in Rouen, northwest of Paris.

Was there a chance he would join Bayswater Chinese?

“Impossible!”

Aubameyang number two rejected the idea outright.

In fact, he was rejecting it on his younger brother’s behalf.

The reason was simple: their dad had connections.

Aubameyang Sr. was also a professional player, captain of the Gabon national team, who had played in France for a long time and retired from Rouen in 2002.

The very same team that Aubameyang number three was currently playing for.

Don’t be fooled by Aubameyang Sr.’s lackluster playing career; when it came to networking and pulling strings, he was second to none.

During the 96/97 season, Aubameyang Sr. played for a year at Triestina in the Italian Serie C2, which was how he established his connections in Serie A.

After retiring, he joined AC Milan’s youth academy as the chief scout for Africa, helping the Rossoneri find players on the continent.

Because of this connection, he got Aubameyang number one, born in ’83, directly into AC Milan’s youth academy in 2000.

Now, he was planning to send Aubameyang number two, born in ’87, to Triestina, who had been promoted to Serie B, and find an opportunity to move him to AC Milan later.

Although Aubameyang number three was currently at Rouen, he was receiving special attention and development there.

Who could complain when the kid had connections and a clear path?

“My father has already planned it all. When he turns seventeen, he’s also going to be sent to AC Milan.”

As Aubameyang number two said this, he held his chin a little high.

Clearly, a team like Bayswater Chinese was beneath his notice.

His entire family was destined for AC Milan.

As long as they could get that AC Milan polish on their resumes, even if they couldn’t stay, they would still be highly sought after when they left.

Yang Cheng had to admit, this family was truly something else.

After all of Aubameyang Sr.’s scheming, he did eventually manage to produce Aubameyang number three.

But Yang Cheng didn’t care, and he certainly wouldn’t argue with a seventeen-year-old kid.

He had dealt with too many players in his past life. If it wasn’t meant to be, then so be it.

However, after finalizing things with Matuidi, Yang Cheng still headed in the direction of Rouen.

But he didn’t stop in Rouen. Instead, he passed through it and went directly to Le Havre on the eastern coast of the English Channel.

This was the final stop on his trip.

…

As one of Europe’s most renowned youth academies, Le Havre AC produced many players every year.

The most famous one in his past life was, of course, Paul Pogba.

Manchester United had a huge falling out with Le Havre to get Pogba.

But the Red Devils weren’t the first.

Just this summer, Premier League club Newcastle went to great lengths to sign Le Havre’s eighteen-year-old left winger, Charles N’Zogbia, even fighting a year-long legal battle with the club.

In the end, Newcastle threw 250,000 pound sterling in compensation at Le Havre and successfully took the talented left-sided player.

In comparison, Liverpool’s approach had been much more respectable.

In 2001, to sign the Le Havre duo, Pongolle and Le Tallec, Liverpool paid several million pound sterling in transfer fees, successfully persuading Le Havre.

Yang Cheng, being an honest and upstanding person, would of course not resort to such underhanded tactics.

He went directly to Le Havre to negotiate.

For one million euros, he wanted to sign Le Havre’s U19 starlet, Lassana Diarra.

The young player had neither appeared for Le Havre’s first team nor been selected for any of France’s national teams, but he had been outstanding in Le Havre’s youth team.

His only issue was that he was just too small.

Some said he could become a player like Makélélé.

But his technique was excellent, and he had no desire to be just a defensive player.

Therefore, opinions on this player were mixed, not just in Yang Cheng’s past life, but even within Le Havre at present.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese’s offer of one million euros successfully persuaded Le Havre.

At the current exchange rate, that was about 650,000 pound sterling.

Even before selling Martin Rowlands, Yang Cheng had been thinking about his midfield problem, and he eventually settled on Lassana Diarra.

The reason was simple. In the 04/05 season, a fledgling Lassana Diarra made his name representing Le Havre in the French Second Division, which led Chelsea to pay 4.5 million euros for him.

Even more ridiculously, after a frustrating spell at Chelsea, he transferred to Arsenal.

Wenger had very high hopes for him.

When Diarra demanded a transfer after just six months, Wenger tried his best to persuade him to stay.

But in the end, Diarra transferred to Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth in January 2008.

The most absurd part was that in January 2009, he transferred to Real Madrid for twenty million euros and was given the number 10 shirt.

Can you imagine Makélélé wearing the number 10 shirt?

After that, no matter who was the head coach of Real Madrid, Lassana Diarra was always highly valued.

Even when he left Real Madrid in 2012, Mourinho had tried to keep him.

The attitude of all his head coaches towards Lassana Diarra was remarkably consistent.

Can you just bloody well defend? Please?

If you just focus on defending, you’re Makélélé.

No, you’re an enhanced version of Makélélé.

Because your technique, ball control, and passing are all better than Makélélé’s.

Why do you insist on trying to be a number 10?

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had also studied Lassana Diarra and found that the player’s defensive abilities were truly impeccable.

Aside from his height limitation, he could do everything a defensive midfielder needed to do, and he did it very well, often catching the eye.

What about his tendency to hold onto the ball, a criticism many leveled against him?

Coincidentally, Yang Cheng had seen a set of statistics. During his time at Real Madrid, his pass completion rate was consistently above eighty-five percent, even exceeding ninety percent at times.

Between 2009 and 2012, those were numbers that even some top-tier midfielders couldn’t achieve.

Interestingly, he was dispossessed an average of at least 1.5 to 2 times per game.

What did that mean?

That number was lower than his teammate, the German with the dead-fish eyes, who lost the ball more than twice per game.

It was very close to the stats of Modrić at Tottenham and Iniesta at Barça.

But Xavi’s stats at Barça were between 1 to 1.5 times.

And the standard for a truly top-class holding midfielder was Xabi Alonso, who was dispossessed less than once per game, with his lowest being 0.5 times.

That’s being dispossessed once every two games.

Even more interesting, Diarra averaged around 1.5 successful dribbles per game, a notch higher than Xavi, but slightly less than Iniesta and Modrić, who were both consistently above 2.

And although his pass completion rate was high, Lassana Diarra averaged only 0.8 key passes per game, far fewer than the 2 managed by Modrić, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, and Iniesta.

Not to mention the 3 from the German with the dead-fish eyes.

This showed that while Lassana Diarra was a very good passer, his passes were mostly for transition and linking play.

These statistics may not be exhaustive, but they paint a picture of a very complex Lassana Diarra.

This made him a real headache.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had thought about a question regarding Lassana Diarra: after his debut, the player had never been properly developed.

From Mourinho at Chelsea to Wenger at Arsenal, none of them had successfully polished him.

Later, he went to Portsmouth, where Redknapp placed a lot of trust in him, and he played the best year of his career.

But when he later joined an attack-heavy, defense-light Real Madrid, his unique traits once again put him in a difficult position.

Lassana Diarra possessed the talent of a world-class midfielder; that was beyond doubt.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was a bit of a shame that he never reached his expected potential.

Yang Cheng was signing him this time to see for himself: was this kid worth cultivating?

And Lassana Diarra’s biggest personality flaw was his need to feel important.

He left both Chelsea and Arsenal because he didn’t feel valued.

This was something Yang Cheng could provide him with—importance and development.

He even promised him a starting position in midfield.

As for how far he could develop, that would be up to him.

Chapter 39: The Data Guru

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, Danny Coyne;

Defenders: Koscielny, Kevin Foley, Capaldi, Roger Johnson, José Fonte, Danny Collins, Piszczek, Škrtel;

Midfielders: Modrić, Huddlestone, Leon Andreasen, Gökhan İnler, Matuidi, Lassana Diarra;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, Dave Kitson, Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon.

This was the first-team squad list for Bayswater Chinese for the new season.

After securing Lassana Diarra, Yang Cheng had essentially closed the transfer market.

Although there were only twenty-one men, Yang Cheng believed in quality over quantity and felt it was enough.

A lean squad could ensure that every player received ample playing time during the season, which would be a great help to their growth and development.

Besides the veteran goalkeeper Danny Coyne, the oldest player in the Bayswater Chinese squad for the new season was Dave Kitson, born in January 1980.

He was only twenty-four years old.

Whether from the perspective of developing players or considering the club’s financial situation, Yang Cheng felt that a twenty-one-man squad was sufficient for now.

Of course, if an unlucky wave of large-scale injuries occurred, there would be nothing he could do.

Compared to last season, Bayswater Chinese had indeed brought in many players, but the framework of the team’s spine remained unchanged.

Joe Hart, Koscielny, Roger Johnson, Huddlestone, Modrić, Ribéry, Lambert, Kitson—this spine was still intact.

This was enough to ensure the team could continue last season’s tactical framework, which was something Yang Cheng had done intentionally.

They had signed eleven players. Setting aside José Fonte, Danny Coyne, and Matuidi, who were free transfers, the remaining eight players cost 4.1 million pound sterling.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was already considered a very high transfer expenditure.

Even in the Championship, this level of spending was among the highest.

In terms of transfer income, however, the departure of six players, including Martin Rowlands, Martin Devaney, and Chambers, had brought in six million pound sterling for Bayswater Chinese.

Part of this was from player swaps, and another part was used to pay for the stadium rental from Queens Park Rangers, among other things.

All things considered, Bayswater Chinese had a slight surplus in this summer’s transfer market.

He had the European Union to thank for that.

The accession of Poland and Slovakia had created an excellent opportunity for Yang Cheng, allowing him to sign quality, affordable players like Škrtel and Piszczek.

As for the team’s overall strength, that would depend on their integration during the summer training camp.

After returning to London, Yang Cheng immediately dove back into his busy work schedule.

The integration of the youth academy was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Dan Ashworth and the others had all settled in and were pushing forward with the youth academy-related work.

The next key task was trimming the personnel.

According to Yang Cheng’s requirements, the youth academy teams had to ensure that every player received over forty percent of the playing time each season. This required the coaching staff to reasonably control the number of players in each age group.

These were principles that had been scientifically discussed and proven by countless teams in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

According to the plan, the first year’s task for the youth academy was integration and streamlining—culling players who did not meet the team’s standards.

After the internal restructuring was complete, they would hold their first external recruitment for young players next summer.

Before that, there was still a great deal of work to do.

Especially establishing collaborations with surrounding communities, schools, and football organizations.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng didn’t need to worry about these things; Dan Ashworth and Gary Worthington would be in charge.

However, the construction of the training base required his personal attention.

The day after he returned to London from Le Havre, he met with people from AFL Architects in a temporary office at Brent Reservoir.

This architectural firm, which had risen to prominence in recent years, was primarily known for its sports venues.

For example, the City of Manchester Stadium was a renovation project designed by this company.

AFL Architects also placed great importance on the Bayswater Chinese training base.

They even sent five people to meet with Yang Cheng.

Including directors Bruce Caldwell and Marcel Ridyard, Design Director John Roberts, and Associate Director Neil Tuzill, who specialized in sports and leisure.

They had meticulously prepared an initial design plan, including a series of hand-drawn sketches, which took the existing geography into account in an effort to perfectly integrate the Bayswater Chinese training base into the beautiful scenery of Brent Reservoir.

As a layman in the field of architecture, Yang Cheng couldn’t really make much of the hand-drawn sketches.

But he did approve of the concept.

Besides, if the scenery of Brent Reservoir were damaged, the government and the community would certainly not approve.

AFL Architects had extensive experience dealing with the government; they knew how to communicate and negotiate.

This would save Yang Cheng and the team a lot of trouble.

In terms of football specifications, Yang Cheng’s requirements were very clear: a total of sixteen professional football pitches over the first two phases, with all drainage and geothermal heating systems built to Premier League standards.

At the same time, an indoor pitch needed to be planned for in advance.

As for the first-team players’ dormitories, Yang Cheng wanted them built to a five-star hotel standard.

In his previous life, when managing teams, Yang Cheng had disliked staying in hotels the night before a match.

Especially when the club’s partner hotel was less than ideal.

Now that he had the means, it would definitely be more comfortable and pleasant to stay at their own training base.

After dealing with matters related to the training base, Yang Cheng immediately plunged into preparations for the first team.

After being promoted to the Championship, although the club’s debt was more severe, its finances were much more comfortable.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had recently asked Lin Zhongqiu to hire a settlement officer specifically responsible for helping first-team players get settled.

Even so, he still had to be hands-on, checking on the first-team players, especially the new signings, to see how they were settling in.

He even personally visited and inspected the players’ residences one by one.

With the increase in foreign players, interpreters were also needed, which meant more hiring.

Thanks to his past life coaching many international players and teams, Yang Cheng was fluent in multiple languages including English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German, so he wasn’t worried about communicating with the players at all.

But what Yang Cheng valued most was the recruitment for his coaching staff.

Not long ago, Yang Cheng had called Pedro Jaro, the goalkeeping coach for the Spanish national youth team, to ask about his situation and to see if he was interested in coaching in England.

This was the same goalkeeping coach he had worked with when managing Real Madrid in his previous life. He was very capable and had a real knack for training goalkeepers.

Pedro Jaro came from Atlético Madrid. His current job was going smoothly; the national team work was relaxed, but the salary wasn’t high, and it didn’t offer much in terms of professional development.

Yang Cheng’s invitation was quite tempting for Pedro Jaro.

Although he had some reservations about the English climate, Pedro Jaro chose to take the risk.

However, the person Yang Cheng valued most was someone else.

The north gate of Hyde Park, at the intersection by Lancaster Gate tube station.

Accompanied by Brian Kidd, Yang Cheng entered the five-star Royal Lancaster Hotel.

A hotel concierge recognized him and came over to ask if he could help.

Yang Cheng went straight to the fifteenth floor, where the apartment suites were located, and found the room his guest was staying in.

The room had been booked by Bayswater Chinese.

The occupants were a middle-aged couple from Italy.

The registered name of the male guest was Gianni Vio, fifty-one years old.

After he knocked, the door was opened by a bald Italian man, whose most striking feature was a burly beard that was already half-gray.

“Hello, Gianni, welcome to London!”

Yang Cheng greeted Gianni Vio in fluent Italian.

This left Brian Kidd, standing beside him, thoroughly impressed.

How can a twenty-three-year-old be so incredible?

It was one thing to be good at English, but he was also fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish.

He’s a translation genius whose talent was wasted on football!

After working at Bayswater Chinese for a year, his impression of Yang Cheng was that he was both unfathomable and seemingly omnipotent.

He was always full of surprises.

Just like this Gianni Vio before him.

God knows where this guy popped up from?

The reason he was in London was because Yang Cheng had somehow acquired an Italian book about set pieces titled “The Extra 30%”.

The book had two authors: one was a psychology expert named Alessandro Tettamanti, and the other was an employee at the Mestre branch of UniCredit Bank, named Gianni Vio.

Yang Cheng had used the contact information in the book to write an email to Gianni Vio.

And that was how the two of them got in touch.

Yang Cheng had even invited Gianni Vio to London.

“My apologies, Gianni. I was traveling for a while, and things have been rather busy since I got back.”

Yang Cheng apologized as soon as he sat down. “Are you enjoying London?”

He was asking both Gianni Vio and his wife.

“It’s wonderful. Thank you very much for your warm hospitality, Mr. Yang,” Mrs. Vio replied with a smile.

Brian Kidd, meanwhile, was observing Gianni Vio.

The middle-aged Italian man seemed very introverted in his interactions, possessing the air of a researcher or scholar.

But his attitude toward Yang Cheng was extremely warm.

The two of them clearly had a common language.

The conversation started with the book, “The Extra 30%”.

Gianni Vio had worked in a bank for most of his life, leading a very leisurely existence.

Mestre is located next to Venice, the Italian city of water, and is known for its brandy and sparkling cocktails.

Life in the small town was simple but also rather dull, and the life of a bank employee was even more idle.

With time on his hands, Gianni Vio developed an interest and went to study at Coverciano, the Italian coaching school, where he obtained his coaching license and officially entered the world of coaching.

In this respect, he was just like Sarri, who also came from a banking background.

The difference was that Sarri chose to manage, while Gianni Vio chose research.

According to Gianni Vio himself, he had a natural sensitivity to numbers. Combined with his university studies and his job, both of which involved dealing with numbers and data, he developed a keen interest in the various statistics and probabilities within football.

Especially set pieces.

His thesis at Coverciano was titled “Set-Piece Tactics: The Equivalent of Having an Extra Forward Who Scores 15 Goals a Season”.

In it, he detailed his understanding and research on set-piece tactics.

These ideas were also explained in his book, “The Extra 30%”.

The book wasn’t just about data, probability, and tactics; it also delved into the psychological duel between opposing sides.

That was why the other author was a psychology expert.

The two were good friends, and Gianni Vio believed that proper set-piece tactics could help a team increase its total goal count by thirty percent.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng knew Gianni Vio well, and the two had engaged in many in-depth discussions.

He had always felt that Gianni Vio possessed an exceptionally keen intuition for data.

On set pieces alone, the Italian had managed to devise 4,830 different routines.

That was simply outrageous!

But Yang Cheng felt that limiting Gianni Vio’s data research solely to set-piece tactics was a waste of his talent.

In his past life, when he met Gianni Vio, the old man was already in his sixties and no longer had the time or energy.

But now, he was only fifty-one and still full of vigor.

Especially in the field of football data, which he was so passionate about.

That was why Yang Cheng had used the book as a pretext to get to know Gianni Vio and invite him to London.

He was a set-piece tactics expert.

But in Yang Cheng’s eyes, he was, more importantly, a football data expert.

Most importantly, he was also a professional football coach.

And an Italian football coach, from a country where it seems everyone is a tactical master.

This made Yang Cheng’s expectations for him even higher.

Chapter 40: The Goal: The Premier League

Yang Cheng really was a crafty devil!

Brian Kidd thought to himself as he stood by the window of the apartment suite, gazing at Bayswater Stadium in the distance.

This wasn’t the first time.

Whenever players, coaches, or employees came to London, the club always used this hotel for their reception.

It was supposedly a five-star hotel, but with the club’s corporate partnership, the price wasn’t steep.

And every time, they were arranged on a high floor, with the window facing Bayswater Stadium.

It was as if to remind everyone: Look, our club might not be big, but we own such a large piece of land in London’s most central and prime location. What an astonishing value that holds!

Thinking this, Brian Kidd smiled to himself and shook the thought away.

He, too, had been sweet-talked over by Yang Cheng.

And now, the more he worked, the more enthusiastic he became.

And Gianni Vio, who was sitting right there?

He was clearly swayed by what Yang Cheng had said.

“Gianni, the world of football is undergoing a monumental change.”

“More and more talent, experts, and companies from other industries are constantly entering the football industry.”

“In 1996, Deloitte formed a sports business group in the UK and began researching the football industry. Every year, they produce an ‘Annual Review of Football Finance,’ as well as the ‘Football Money League’ about the Premier League.”

“This has become the gold standard for global sports business research.”

“Since then, renowned accounting firms like KPMG and Ernst & Young, famous investment banks like Goldman Sachs, and major law firms have successively established sports business research teams in the UK and regularly produce reports.”

This signaled that the football industry in England was attracting increasing attention from global capital.

If it was happening in England, then Italy, Spain, Germany, and France would inevitably follow suit.

It was only a matter of time.

Why were these multinational institutions paying attention to football?

It proved that more and more capital was viewing the football industry as a promising direction for investment.

“In 1996, a few young men in the UK founded a sports data company called OPTA. Through big data collection, statistics, and analysis, they presented an alternative, yet equally true, world of football to everyone.”

“In the beginning, they even used manual methods, repeatedly recording data from the stands, but in 2000, Sky Television acquired the company and invested heavily, bringing in a series of advanced equipment and software upgrades.”

“Now, their systems can automatically collect an ever-increasing amount of football-related data, including running distances, pass counts, and so on. You should know what this data means for a team.”

Gianni Vio certainly understood.

Sky Television not only broadcast in the UK but also held the Serie A broadcasting rights in Italy.

OPTA’s data was widely used in Italy, and indeed, all over the world.

This kind of data could generate immense value for any football team.

It could even revolutionize a team’s training methods and match-day process.

“In 2001, a British company developed an instant replay system called ‘Hawk-Eye.’ It can be used not only in live match broadcasts but also in training.”

“We’ve already decided to acquire this system because I want my players to be able to see clearly, in real-time during training, where they went wrong and what the correct decision should have been.”

The Hawk-Eye system was quickly adopted into the broadcasting technology of other top leagues due to its instant replay capability.

But Yang Cheng’s proposal to use it in training was a novel concept to Gianni Vio.

Yet, upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

“Gianni, everything I’ve mentioned to you is related to data. I want you to know that more and more talented people from the fields of finance and investment analysis are entering the sports industry, and they have a keen sense for data.”

“In the future, data analysis will become incredibly important, even changing football and all other sports training and competitions completely. That’s why we at Bayswater Chinese must seize this advantage early and build our own data analysis team.”

Yang Cheng’s expectation for Gianni Vio was that he wouldn’t limit himself to studying set pieces.

Bayswater Chinese intended to build a data team and would continue to recruit talent. Gianni Vio could absolutely take on this responsibility and become the head of the Bayswater Chinese data analysis team.

Needless to say, the grand vision Yang Cheng had painted was almost too much to take in.

Gianni Vio felt a bit overwhelmed.

But it was also incredibly tempting.

Therefore, the Italian hoped for a little time to think it over and digest everything.

…

“Yang, have you told Lin about your plan to set up a data team?” Brian Kidd asked with an amused smile after they left the hotel.

Having worked together for a year, he felt he had a good grasp of Lin Zhongqiu’s personality.

“Money is just paper. If we run out, we’ll earn more!”

Yang Cheng’s reply was brazen and full of spirit.

“But you seem to be deeply in debt, and it’s only getting worse,” Brian Kidd reminded him with a chuckle.

He was already up to his eyeballs in debt. This summer, buying land and building a training ground was truly spectacular, but the debt was piling up even higher.

Lin Zhongqiu had done the math. Even if they only built the first phase of the training ground for the youth team and left Silver Jubilee Park untouched for now, the debt would still exceed twenty million pound sterling.

In the Premier League, that amount of debt would probably rank quite high.

Why did all those Premier League teams stubbornly stick to their dilapidated training grounds?

Wasn’t it because they were afraid of debt?

“If I was smart enough to borrow it, I don’t have to be in a hurry to pay it back!” Yang Cheng, however, didn’t seem to care at all.

“Besides, Brian, the data team will only have three or four people at the start. Their salaries won’t be that high, and the investment in equipment and software won’t be much. It’ll be fine.”

Brian Kidd shook his head with a wry smile.

He now completely understood why Lin Zhongqiu always looked so miserable.

Anyone who was this young master’s treasurer would cry themselves to death.

A few hundred thousand pounds here, another few hundred thousand there—it didn’t seem like much individually, but in reality?

Yang Cheng genuinely felt a sense of urgency now.

Bayswater Chinese had too much historical baggage and too weak a foundation. Many things should have been developed slowly, building up strength over time.

But now, Yang Cheng couldn’t afford to wait.

Because he knew that the Premier League was about to enter the fastest period of growth in its history.

It wasn’t just the television broadcasting rights that were growing at an astonishing rate; the global market was also expanding rapidly.

Bayswater Chinese had to catch this wave.

How?

Getting promoted to the Premier League was the first priority!

They also needed to build a competitive team.

Relying on football results alone wasn’t enough!

No matter how good the results were, if the revenue didn’t increase, the players they developed would just be poached one by one. And the players they wanted to sign would, in the end, be like Pennant—not even giving them a second glance.

Setting everything else aside, if they wanted to catch up with globalization, they at least had to go on a few overseas tours, right?

Would those training camps be sponsored, or would they have to pay out of their own pocket?

It was never a simple matter; everything was interconnected.

So far, Bayswater Chinese’s commercial operations were a complete blank slate.

Yang Cheng had considered trying to attract some sponsors from his home country, but he had no resources.

In this area, Bayswater Chinese needed an experienced person at the helm.

But for now, Yang Cheng hadn’t found a suitable candidate.

Or rather, the people he had his eye on might not be interested in a Championship club like Bayswater Chinese.

…

Time slowly moved into July.

The European Championship finally came to a close.

The Greek team, led by Rehhagel, miraculously defeated the hosts Portugal in the final to claim the European Championship title.

This caused a huge sensation around the world.

Young stars including C. Ronaldo, Rooney, Robben, Čech, Lahm, and Ibrahimović all emerged during this tournament, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

But none of this had anything to do with Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

He was more concerned with the journey of the new season.

In the upcoming season, Bayswater Chinese would be competing on three fronts: the Championship, the League Cup, and the FA Cup.

The Championship still consisted of twenty-four teams, playing forty-six rounds of matches.

The season would run from August 7th to May 8th of the following year.

The top two teams would still earn direct promotion, while third to sixth place would compete in the promotion playoffs.

So, the schedule was still very tight.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese would be using Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road Stadium for the new season.

The team was not familiar with this stadium.

Therefore, when arranging pre-season friendlies, Yang Cheng deliberately scheduled home games to help the team acclimate to the grounds.

With the arrival of two new team doctors, David Fevre and Rob Price, the first order of business after the team assembled for the new season was a very detailed physical examination.

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett had also learned from last season’s experience, especially regarding the packed Christmas schedule, and their pre-season training plan was noticeably more comprehensive.

Although the team had undergone considerable personnel changes this summer, the core framework remained intact.

After a season of getting to know each other, the players had a deeper understanding of Yang Cheng’s tactical requirements and the coaching staff’s training arrangements, and they were much more adapted.

Even the new players were guided by the veterans, gradually adjusting to the team’s high-intensity training.

Incidentally, since the departure of veteran Steve Jenkins, Yang Cheng had not appointed a new captain.

The position remained vacant as he wanted to observe a little longer.

The players Yang Cheng selected were all technically capable of meeting the team’s requirements; it was just a matter of how long it would take them to integrate.

After ten days of high-intensity fitness and conditioning training, pre-season friendlies began in mid-July.

Yang Cheng arranged a total of seven friendlies, all of them at Loftus Road Stadium.

The arrangement of these seven matches was also strategic.

Yang Cheng first scheduled three consecutive matches against teams from League One and League Two.

At that time, the team had just completed their fitness training and the players were still adjusting. Furthermore, many players were new and not yet accustomed to the tactics, which led to less than ideal performances.

The three matches ended with a record of one win, one draw, and one loss, which was generally unsatisfactory.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese played against West Ham United, who had failed to get promoted to the Premier League last season.

This was the second consecutive season the two teams had played a friendly match.

The game ended in a 0-0 draw.

The final three friendlies were the main event and the ones Yang Cheng valued most, against three Premier League teams.

They were Souness’s Blackburn Rovers, Curbishley’s Charlton Athletic, and Sturrock’s Southampton.

All were formidable opponents.

Charlton, like West Ham United, was also a London-based team.

Souness of Blackburn had a very good impression of Yang Cheng, for one simple reason: Jon Stead was performing exceptionally well at Blackburn.

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly, in his previous life Stead had a great start at Blackburn, but after Souness was sacked, his performance plummeted as he lost the new manager’s trust.

Yang Cheng arranged matches against Premier League teams to better test his own squad.

The result was one draw and two losses in three games.

They lost to Blackburn and Southampton and drew with Charlton.

The match against the Saints, Southampton, ended 2-1, with the tall center-forward Crouch scoring a crucial goal.

After the seven friendlies, it was already August.

There was only one week left before the start of the Championship season.

Every day, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff discussed the team’s latest situation, studying how to solve the problems that had been exposed.

Gianni Vio’s data team had just been established. For now, it was only him, with plans to hire two more people.

There was no helping it; Lin Zhongqiu was stubbornly keeping a tight rein on the budget.

During the training camp, players like Ribéry, Modrić, Huddlestone, Joe Hart, and Koscielny successively renewed their contracts with the club, signing brand new deals.

Yang Cheng strictly adhered to the salary structure established by Xia Qing. Ribéry, Modrić, and Huddlestone received a weekly wage of two thousand pound sterling, the highest on the team.

Beyond that, Yang Cheng had other problems to solve.

The first and most pressing was the “troublemaker,” Lassana Diarra.

Chapter 41: Boss, you don’t mean me, do you?

In his past life, after decades as a head coach, Yang Cheng had learned one thing.

Even what you see with your own eyes isn’t necessarily true.

Let alone rumors you hear.

Many people said that Lassana Diarra was a troublemaker with a peculiar personality.

Yang Cheng once thought so too.

But after their discussions at Le Havre AC and spending a month together in London, coupled with several conversations, Yang Cheng realized things weren’t that simple.

Take his dispute with Le Mans, for example.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many people saw this incident as a terrible start to Lassana Diarra’s professional career.

But what was the reality?

Lassana Diarra’s parents were from Mali and had come to France seeking a better life.

However, they couldn’t even speak French well, let alone read it.

His father was a bricklayer and his mother a cleaner. With seven children at home, one can imagine how difficult it was to support such a large family.

So his parents left early and came home late every day, with no time to look after their children.

Lassana Diarra said his father had taught him one principle.

“When you encounter difficulties, you must work even harder and keep learning. Only by enduring hardship can you seize opportunities!”

This was the life principle that Lassana Diarra steadfastly followed.

Fortunately, he had been a genuinely good footballer since he was a child.

In 1998, at the age of thirteen, he was selected for Paris Saint-Germain’s youth academy.

A year later, he was released for being too short and moved to FC Nantes.

When he recounted this experience to Yang Cheng, he complained about the coaches at Paris Saint-Germain, insisting that he was a very good player.

“The only reason they released me was because they thought someone as short as me could never become a professional player.”

“I was fourteen that year. Due to malnutrition, my development was delayed, and I was even shorter than I am now.”

The last sentence was Lassana Diarra’s self-deprecating joke.

Logically, FC Nantes treated him well, so why did he move to Le Mans?

Because Le Mans had convinced Lassana Diarra’s father.

Lassana Diarra himself wasn’t sure of the specifics—perhaps they gave the impoverished family some money, or perhaps it was something else—but his father was persuaded.

But since neither of his parents could read French, Lassana Diarra had to handle the contract himself.

It wasn’t until he arrived at Le Mans that he discovered some of the contract clauses were different from what they had initially promised.

He was sixteen years old.

Lost and confused, he chose to run away from Le Mans.

This left him unable to join another team for an entire year. All he could do was train burying his head in his practice alone and play street football.

It wasn’t until 2002 that he was discovered by a scout from Le Havre AC and joined the club.

Two years later, he met Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng couldn’t say he believed everything Lassana Diarra told him about his past, but he felt it was highly credible.

Based on his observations, since arriving in London—a city full of temptations and nightlife—Lassana Diarra always went straight home after every training session.

He often called his parents and siblings back in France.

And in Yang Cheng’s past life, Lassana Diarra had never been involved in any scandals concerning his private life.

As a professional player, aside from agitating for a starting spot and being criticized on the pitch for holding onto the ball too long, he really had no other flaws.

If one had to find fault, it would be his move to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia for money after leaving Real Madrid.

Shortly after he joined the Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng asked him if he needed anything.

Lassana Diarra replied that he wanted a set of fitness equipment because he felt he was too short, worried he wouldn’t be able to adapt to the Championship, and wanted to improve his physical resilience.

His goal was to learn from and catch up to Makélélé.

Outside of training, he also watched many of Makélélé’s match recordings.

Because he had played as a number 10 for all these years, he also watched Zidane, but he eventually stopped.

He realized he would never grow to be as tall as Zidane.

Yang Cheng gave him access to the team’s gym and also suggested he watch match recordings of Porto’s and Portugal’s Deco.

So, when Lassana Diarra came to Yang Cheng’s office, the first thing Yang Cheng asked was…

…

“Have you watched the match recordings of Deco that I found for you?”

“I’ve watched them all.”

“Any thoughts?”

“He’s a very good midfielder, a role model for me.”

Looking at the young black man before him, Yang Cheng almost burst out laughing.

Are you giving me a one-size-fits-all answer?

“I’m asking what you’ve learned. As a midfielder, what strengths of his do you think you should learn from?”

Lassana Diarra fell silent.

He was only nineteen, after all.

Yang Cheng didn’t press him too hard.

Judging from his performance in the pre-season friendlies, Lassana Diarra was indeed working extremely hard.

Every time he was on the pitch, he gave it his all.

Putting everything else aside, with that attitude alone, there was no reason for a head coach to dislike him.

He was short, fast, agile, and crucially, he could run relentlessly.

His defensive skills were somewhat lacking, but that was something that could be improved.

“In my opinion, in today’s football world, Deco is the best midfielder, bar none!”

When Lassana Diarra heard Yang Cheng’s words, he was visibly stirred.

First, he was surprised by Yang Cheng’s high praise for Deco.

After all, although Deco had helped Porto win the Champions League, he had yet to prove himself at a top club.

Then, he remembered that Yang Cheng had told him to study Deco.

This was the greatest affirmation of his own potential.

“When you watch Deco play, you must not watch the highlights, and you can’t just focus on clips of him alone. The best way is to see him live, to get the whole picture, to see how he moves and positions himself.”

“You’ll discover that he’s constantly running throughout the match, and he runs very intelligently, making it impossible for his opponents to predict his next move or direction.”

“That’s why he can always find space to receive the ball.”

Yang Cheng had given the same task of observing Deco to Modrić.

He even paid out of his own pocket for Modrić to watch Deco’s matches at the European Championship live.

“He’s always observing, observing everyone around him, watching their every move. He even simulates the next play in his mind, and then he acts a step ahead of everyone else.”

“This one step is very, very important for all midfielders.”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Lassana Diarra’s face.

Clearly, Yang Cheng’s words had given him a lot to think about.

“And what’s most remarkable about Deco is that whether he’s on offense or defense, he always makes the most logical choice. The timing of his passes is always just right, and their speed and accuracy are perfect.”

“And his fouls. He commits a lot of fouls, and his style is very dirty, but it’s extremely effective.”

Having said this much, Yang Cheng felt it was enough.

He never expected Lassana Diarra to transform into Deco.

Genius is genius.

Many things are innate talents that can’t be learned.

Yang Cheng hoped that by observing Deco, Lassana Diarra could develop good habits of observation and reading the game.

This was crucial for a midfielder.

More importantly, he had to learn to grasp the timing of his passes.

Just as the data from Yang Cheng’s previous life showed, Lassana Diarra’s passing was actually very good, with a high completion rate. Yet, he was also dispossessed many times per game. Why?

Because he held onto the ball too long?

No one wants to hold onto the ball and get dispossessed.

It happens either because there aren’t enough support options and no clear passing lanes, or because the timing of the pass is off and the opportunity is missed.

“After seven pre-season friendlies, I believe you have a good sense of your own situation.”

Yang Cheng looked at Lassana Diarra with an encouraging smile.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

“A deal?” Lassana Diarra was a bit surprised.

“Yes. In the first round of the league, we’re playing away against Reading. This match is very important. I really don’t like that old man, Coppel.”

Lassana Diarra nodded, understanding what Yang Cheng meant.

“I plan to start you.”

“Really?”

“Don’t get too excited. I’m making a deal with you. For this match, for every ball you win back, I’ll personally give you a 100 pound sterling bonus.”

“One hundred pounds for winning one ball?”

Lassana Diarra’s current weekly wage was only 700 pound sterling.

If he could win the ball just seven times, wouldn’t he double his weekly wage?

Seeing the glint in his eyes, Yang Cheng chuckled to himself.

A child from a poor family really cared about money.

“Not so fast. I’ll keep my word on the bonus, but…”

Yang Cheng’s tone shifted, making Lassana Diarra’s heart leap into his throat, afraid that he would go back on his word.

“However, you should be aware of the problems you’ve shown in the pre-season. Since there’s a reward, there must also be a penalty. And as one of the most important members of the team’s midfield, your importance goes without saying.”

Lassana Diarra loved this feeling of being valued, so he nodded repeatedly.

“If you lose the ball during the match—whether it’s an intercepted pass or you’re dispossessed—it counts. For every ball you lose, I’ll fine you 200 pound sterling.”

That was a heavy fine.

Lassana Diarra’s dark face scrunched up.

But then he thought about that 100 pound sterling bonus…

He was well aware of his own strengths and advantages; winning the ball was what he did best.

Yang Cheng’s task for him was simple: win the ball, then distribute it.

Seeing Lassana Diarra’s expression, Yang Cheng laughed inwardly.

He was certainly going to great lengths to sculpt this kid.

…

After sending off a conflicted Lassana Diarra, Yang Cheng wasn’t worried that the kid would refuse.

With Lassana Diarra’s ball-winning skills, would he really be willing to pass up a 100 pound sterling bonus?

As for his position, Yang Cheng wasn’t putting him in the number 4 role as a holding midfielder, so what was there to fear?

After Lassana Diarra left, Modrić came and knocked on the door of Yang Cheng’s office.

After a year of toughening up, Modrić still looked relatively thin, but his physique was completely different from a year ago. Moreover, he was planning to bring his family over to live in London.

With a weekly wage of 2,000 pound sterling, he now had the means to do so.

Yang Cheng asked caringly about Modrić’s family situation, telling him to come to him or the team for help if he needed anything.

“Luka, I’ve asked you here today because there’s something I’d like your opinion on.”

Modrić nodded. “Go ahead.”

“The new players have been with the team for a month now. After seven pre-season friendlies and all this time training together, who do you think is suitable to be our team’s captain?” Yang Cheng asked with a serious expression.

Modrić hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to suddenly ask him this question and was momentarily silent.

After a long pause, Modrić finally spoke: “Boss, last season, I think we chose based on age. By that standard, it should be Danny Coyne. He’s already thirty-one.”

Yang Cheng shook his head with a smile. “Last season was an exception. It doesn’t count.”

“Would a domestic player be more suitable?”

“Not necessarily.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “Back in the day, Manchester United’s captain was a domestic player, Steve Bruce, but Cantona, who’s French, later became captain, didn’t he?”

“And then there’s Arsenal’s Vieira, he became captain too.”

The rule that only a domestic player could be captain didn’t fly with Yang Cheng.

“In that case, I think José Fonte might be a good choice.”

“Tell me why.”

“He came from Sporting Lisbon’s youth academy. Based on this period, his skills are genuinely impressive. Most importantly, he gets along well with everyone, and everyone has a very good impression of him.”

Speaking of which, José Fonte was really quite remarkable.

Despite being a newcomer and not speaking the language fluently, he managed to get along well with his teammates.

One had to admit, some social butterflies are just naturally blessed with this ability.

In the dressing room, on-field ability isn’t always what matters most.

Some big-name stars are too aloof and can’t manage the dressing room dynamics.

On the other hand, some substitute players who might only play a few times a season can still play a crucial role in the dressing room.

Ahem, Yang Cheng mentally added, I’m not trying to call anyone out here, don’t get the wrong idea.

“I did indeed consider José Fonte.”

Yang Cheng looked at Modrić, smiling candidly.

“But I think there’s someone who would be more suitable.”

Modrić’s heart skipped a beat.

He felt Yang Cheng’s gaze on him.

Boss, you don’t mean me, do you?

Chapter 42: A Dream Start

On the afternoon of August 7, 2004, at the Madejski Stadium in Reading.

In the first round of the Championship, the Bayswater Chinese were away against Reading.

Before the match, assistant coach Wally Downes strode into the home team’s dressing room.

He raised a sheet of paper and said to head coach Steve Coppell, “Their starting lineup is out.”

Coppell walked over and took the list from his assistant coach.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Capaldi, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Kevin Foley;

Midfield: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Lassana Diarra and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Kitson, and Aaron Lennon.

When Coppell’s eyes fell on Dave Kitson’s name, a flicker of displeasure crossed his face.

He had noticed the player back when he was still at Cambridge United.

But before he could make a move, Yang Cheng had beaten him to it.

One hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling!

After the second half of last season, his value had probably multiplied several times over, hadn’t it?

“It seems he still trusts last season’s lineup for the most part. The only changes are Aaron Lennon for Martin Devaney, José Fonte for Roger Johnson, and Lassana Diarra for Martin Rowlands.”

Another assistant coach, Kevin Dillon, mumbled as he looked at the list.

At the mention of Martin Rowlands’ name, Wally Downes’ expression turned grim.

If Coppell’s grudge with the Bayswater Chinese stemmed from Dave Kitson, then Wally Downes’ was because of Martin Rowlands.

Back in 2001, when Coppell was managing Brentford, Wally Downes was his assistant.

In the summer of 2002, Coppell was dismissed, but Downes stayed on to assist the new manager, eventually being promoted to head coach of Brentford himself.

But during his tenure, Martin Rowlands never earned his trust.

In the eyes of many Brentford fans, the reason Rowlands pushed for a free transfer was because of Wally Downes.

As fate would have it, after transferring to the Bayswater Chinese, Martin Rowlands’ performance exploded. He not only helped the team get promoted from League Two to the Championship but also won the double, clinching both the League Two title and the Football League Trophy.

Rowlands himself later commanded a transfer fee of three million pound sterling when he moved to Queens Park Rangers.

While not an astronomical sum in League Two, it was a huge loss for Brentford.

Even more unfortunately, Brentford had struggled all through last season, nearly getting relegated.

Wally Downes became the scapegoat for the team’s poor performance and was sacked in mid-March.

This filled Downes with resentment towards the Bayswater Chinese.

This summer, Wally Downes accepted an offer from Reading’s manager, Coppell, to be his assistant coach.

Two men full of resentment for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, meeting in the first round of the new season against that very team—it was as if it were ordained by God.

Their conviction that the Bayswater Chinese were finished only grew stronger after seeing their starting lineup and Yang Cheng’s continued use of a 4-3-3 formation.

Coppell immediately began laying out his tactical counter-plan.

He wanted the team to leverage their home advantage and press the Bayswater Chinese from the very beginning, giving them no chance to establish their fluid passing game.

He was even willing to resort to fouling.

He placed high hopes on the 1.91-meter-tall Glen Little, expecting him to dominate the Bayswater Chinese’s left flank, pinning down Capaldi.

“Remember, this player is strong in attack but weak in defense. And with Ribéry shouldering the offensive burden up front, he won’t get enough defensive cover.”

“This channel will be our breakthrough point. I want you to smash it open!”

After explaining the specific tactics, Coppell gave his final pre-match pep talk.

“Tonight, we’re at home. It’s the first round of the new season, and we’re facing a bunch of rookies who have zero Championship experience, who have never even played in the second tier before.”

“In front of more than fifteen thousand of our fans, we’re going to give them a harsh lesson.”

“Show these bastards that the Championship is a life-or-death battlefield!”

“Send our opponents crawling back to London!”

The atmosphere in the dressing room instantly erupted.

The players were fired up by Coppell’s words, each one of them looking like they were on steroids.

2:59 PM.

Less than a minute remained until kickoff.

The Bayswater Chinese, dressed in their red kits, were to start the match.

Kitson and Ribéry stood in the center circle, waiting for head referee Crossley’s whistle.

If they could have chosen, the Bayswater Chinese would have preferred to pick which side to defend rather than taking the kickoff.

But their ham-fisted little captain had lost the coin toss.

At the thought of this, Ribéry couldn’t help but turn and shoot a resentful glare at Modrić, who was standing outside the center circle.

Modrić felt Ribéry’s gaze and grinned at him, tightening the captain’s armband on his arm before looking over at Lassana Diarra.

The latter was muttering softly under his breath.

“100! Win the ball! 200! Don’t hold the ball!”

Modrić thought the lad was acting a bit possessed today, muttering to himself—who knew what he was up to.

“Lass,” Modrić called out.

Not only did Lassana Diarra look over, but Huddlestone behind him also turned his head.

“Shout, clock, understand?”

Modrić’s English was quite good, but Lassana Diarra was a new arrival.

However, they had already agreed on a set of codes for communication.

In their 4-3-3 system, Huddlestone was responsible for the holding role, maintaining his position.

Lassana Diarra was responsible for winning the ball back.

Yang Cheng didn’t even restrict his position; as long as he could win the ball, he could run wherever he wanted.

After winning possession, he had several passing options.

For advanced attacking positions, Ribéry was the priority.

In midfield, Modrić was the priority.

If there were no passing lanes forward or in the middle, he was to give it to Huddlestone.

Therefore, his teammates needed Lassana Diarra to signal his movements.

Before he made a run, he was to shout a number corresponding to a clock face. The number would indicate the direction he was running.

Lassana Diarra understood Modrić’s few words, so he nodded at him and gave a thumbs-up.

“100! Win the ball! 200! Don’t hold the ball!”

With a blast from head referee Crossley’s whistle, the match officially began amidst the cheers of the entire stadium.

Kitson passed the ball to Ribéry and immediately sprinted forward.

Ribéry controlled the ball with the side of his foot and, seeing a defender closing in, immediately passed it back.

The ball was coming!

Lassana Diarra instinctively trapped it. Though he saw a defender pressing him, he still wanted to carry it forward a bit.

He was very confident in his skills.

But just then, a gleaming golden number suddenly popped into his head.

Two hundred pound sterling!

Lassana Diarra was instantly jolted to his senses and passed the ball backward.

If it weren’t for the penalty system, he would have loved to pass the ball to an opponent just to win it back again.

That would be a truly satisfying way to rack up his tackle stats.

Huddlestone passed the ball to Modrić.

Not yet nineteen years old but already wearing the Bayswater Chinese captain’s armband, Modrić naturally drew special attention.

The match was being broadcast live across all of England.

Facing Steve Sidwell, Modrić faked a turn to his right, but then abruptly stopped the ball and cut left, deceiving Sidwell.

After taking two steps forward, Modrić quickly passed the ball out.

The moment Ribéry received the ball in the left channel, he bypassed a defender.

The French winger was too fast, especially his explosive acceleration. One-on-one, he was simply unstoppable.

After successfully dribbling past his man, Ribéry cut diagonally towards the center, drawing the defense’s attention before suddenly laying it off back to the middle.

Modrić followed up and, before Sidwell could react, came to a sharp stop, controlled the ball, and then switched it to the right flank.

At that moment, everyone noticed that on the Bayswater Chinese’s right wing, Aaron Lennon had been waiting for his chance.

The seventeen-year-old in the red kit shot forward like a Ferrari with the pedal to the metal, chasing down Modrić’s pass and storming ahead in great strides.

Reading’s left-back, Nicky Shorey, didn’t even have time to get close before Aaron Lennon blew past him. No matter how hard he chased, he couldn’t catch up, watching helplessly as Lennon carried the ball into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a low cross.

He was just too fast!

In the center, Dave Kitson arrived at full tilt. He used his body to muscle past the center-back and stuck out his left foot first, deflecting Aaron Lennon’s cross past Marcus Hahnemann and into the goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Less than a minute into the match, Dave Kitson scores the first goal of the season for the Bayswater Chinese!”

“This is also the first goal in the history of the Bayswater Chinese football club in a second-tier league!”

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players were going wild, celebrating with ecstatic cheers.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement.

No one had expected the team to take the lead in under a minute.

It was truly a dream start!

Steve Coppell could never have imagined that the opening he had so carefully prepared would completely fall apart in less than a minute.

He was even more shocked that the goalscorer was none other than Dave Kitson.

What kind of team was Reading?

A strong side aiming for promotion to the Premier League!

Last season, they had missed out on the sixth-place promotion playoff spot by just three points.

Coppell’s goal for this season was to lead the team to the Premier League.

How could he possibly accept losing to a newly promoted team in the first match of the season, and at home no less?

Especially to the Bayswater Chinese.

And so, Coppell roared from the sideline, shouting at his players, demanding they up the intensity.

He particularly wanted them to increase their attacking pressure and win back the goal they had conceded as quickly as possible!

But when Reading restarted the match and tried to organize an attack, they quickly hit a wall.

In the fourth minute, just as Reading midfielder Andrew Hughes received the ball, a black shadow suddenly materialized behind him and stole it away.

“100!”

The Reading midfielder was completely taken by surprise.

Where the hell did that bastard come from?

And what does ‘100’ mean?

Is he insulting me?

Just six minutes later, right midfielder Glen Little dropped back to receive a pass from a teammate. Before he could even settle the ball, he saw Lassana Diarra closing in at lightning speed.

The Frenchman was short and nimble. Facing the much taller Glen Little, he practically squeezed into his personal space, sticking so close to the big man that Little was completely flustered and didn’t know how to react.

Before he could adjust, the ball was gone.

“200!”

Damn it!

What is going on?

Glen Little chased after Lassana Diarra.

But as soon as he won the ball, Diarra immediately passed it to the nearest player, Ribéry, letting the Frenchman orchestrate the attack.

This left Lassana Diarra with a smile on his face and Glen Little, who had just made a run for nothing, utterly dejected.

When the attack broke down and Reading won the ball back to organize another offensive, Lassana Diarra was there again, full of running, chasing the ball and fighting for possession.

For him, stamina was seemingly an infinite resource.

Of course, in the entire stadium, perhaps no one other than Yang Cheng knew what the “200” he kept muttering actually meant.

And when he later won the ball from Reading midfielder James Harper, that number immediately became “300.”

But not long after, while receiving a pass, he dwelled on the ball for a fraction too long and was caught by a clean tackle from Sidwell.

The Frenchman glared at Sidwell furiously, his eyes red, as if he were looking at his father’s killer.

From that point on, the number he muttered became “100” again.

But he ran even faster, competed even harder, and tackled even more fiercely.

This display left Steve Coppell on the sideline completely bewildered.

What kind of monster is this, and where did he come from?

Chapter 43: We Were Upset!

Brian Kidd was becoming more and more impressed with Yang Cheng!

But he also understood him less and less.

Although they had worked together for a year, there were many times when he truly had no idea what Yang Cheng was thinking.

It was often only after the fact, sometimes much later, that it would all suddenly click into place.

Just like now.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had a ferocious attack, but their biggest problem was defense.

The center-back pairing of Koscielny and Roger Johnson was notoriously rash and reckless.

But Yang Cheng never worked on improving the defense the entire season.

He didn’t even have the team rein it in a little.

But in the new season, the team had arrived in the Championship—a league with fiercer competition, stronger opponents, and more targeted tactics. They definitely couldn’t play like that anymore.

Improving the defense was now inevitable.

The key question was, how?

After selling Martin Rowlands, how would the team’s midfield be arranged?

This became a major puzzle for everyone.

The head coach of any other team would probably be racking their brains.

But Yang Cheng?

The solution he offered was one no one had expected.

He signed José Fonte.

This center-back, who couldn’t get a game in Portugal, was still young, and it was hard to say how strong he really was.

But the kid had a special quality: he was calm and rational. More importantly, his emotional intelligence was off the charts.

Not only was he popular in the dressing room, but he also coordinated well with his teammates on the pitch.

Crucially, his teammates were all willing to listen to him.

The 4-3-3 formation that Yang Cheng employed already pushed the defensive line quite high. Koscielny was fast, explosive, excellent in one-on-one defending, and liked to press forward to win the ball.

The team also encouraged Koscielny to press.

With his speed and explosive power, even if his press failed, he had more than enough recovery pace.

The problem, however, was that Koscielny was often caught out of position when he pressed.

Starting from the pre-season friendlies, Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd noticed that José Fonte was always able to remind Koscielny in time during matches, making the French center-back appear much more “composed.”

Interestingly, Yang Cheng tried pairing José Fonte with Koscielny, Škrtel, and Roger Johnson separately, and the results were always good.

In contrast, when the other three were paired together, the effect was less than ideal.

One had to admit, José Fonte’s personality was truly admirable.

With the defensive line sorted out, what about the midfield?

After Leon Andreasen arrived, many thought he would be a threat to Huddlestone.

The Danish midfielder could play as both a center-back and a holding midfielder, and his defensive abilities were outstanding.

Wasn’t Bayswater Chinese’s defense weak?

Everyone’s first reaction was to strengthen the midfield defense.

And wouldn’t the holding midfielder in the holding role be the first to be considered?

But what happened?

No, Huddlestone, the stronger passer, remained the starter.

Martin Rowlands’ position was filled by Lassana Diarra.

This short French midfielder had an incredible engine and was a tenacious tackler.

With Lassana Diarra unleashed, the pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was significantly reduced.

More importantly, they were winning possession much further up the pitch.

And everyone knew that the further up the pitch you win the ball, the quicker and more threatening the subsequent counter-attack.

In the opening round of the new Championship season, away against Reading, Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative from the very start.

They pressed Reading for the entire first half.

Reading, a team that had nearly been promoted to the Premier League last season, was left looking flustered and error-prone at home, completely overwhelmed by a newly promoted team that had never played in a second-tier league before.

Watching the match unfold, Brian Kidd was filled with admiration.

The use of Lassana Diarra was a truly brilliant move.

If he wasn’t mistaken, there was also Matuidi in the squad, a player of a similar type to Diarra.

So what about Gökhan İnler?

If Leon Andreasen were to play as the holding midfielder, putting Lassana Diarra in front of him would be a bit of a waste. In that case, couldn’t İnler partner with Modrić?

These were two different sets of midfield combination ideas.

Thinking of this, Brian Kidd looked again at Yang Cheng in the technical area, his heart filled with emotion.

He couldn’t think of any word other than “genius” to describe how a 23-year-old, fresh out of university, who had never coached before and didn’t even have a coaching license, could possess such profound tactical knowledge.

It was at that moment that Yang Cheng walked briskly to the sideline and shouted to Lassana Diarra.

“Number 15, shut him down!” Yang Cheng gestured with his hands.

Reading’s number 15, James Harper.

He was in for a rough time.

…

“Reading looking to launch a quick counter-attack.”

“A pass in midfield, Sidwell has it, passes to Andrew Hughes.”

“Another pass, to James Harper.”

“Let’s see this attack from Reading. Harper on the ball, tries to dribble past his man…”

“The ball’s been stolen!”

“Bayswater Chinese win it back in the final third.”

“It’s Lassana Diarra again.”

“This player has shown some truly excellent defensive ability today.”

“Look at this, Diarra carries the ball forward himself, initiating the counter-attack.”

“Bayswater Chinese are incredibly fast on the break.”

“Reading are scrambling back to defend.”

“Lassana Diarra is met by a backtracking Sidwell…”

“A pass!”

“A good pass.”

“Modrić follows up, lays it off again, into space on the left side of the box.”

“Ribéry is there, places his shot!”

“It’s in the back of the net!!!”

“Franck Ribéry has broken through Reading’s goal once again!”

“In the 41st minute of the first half, the French winger Franck Ribéry adds another for Bayswater Chinese.”

“2-0!”

“Reading have had a terrible first half.”

“So far, they haven’t even managed to put together a decent attack, with only two shots, both of them harmless long-range efforts.”

“In contrast, Bayswater Chinese, our newly promoted team, have dazzled us all in their first match of the new season. They’ve continued the brilliant attacking style they displayed in League Two last season.”

…

As the Bayswater Chinese players celebrated exuberantly on the pitch, Steve Coppell stood in front of the home dugout, his face ashen, staring ahead in disbelief.

Behind him, assistant coach Wally Downes wore a similar look of incredulity.

The tactics they had meticulously prepared over the past month, the specific game plan they had designed, had been completely ineffective in the match.

It was as if they’d been disarmed and had their hands tied, completely at the mercy of their opponents.

Did this look like a newly promoted team?

Weren’t they told that selling Martin Rowlands and Martin Devaney had severely weakened Bayswater Chinese?

And what was the deal with that French midfielder, Lassana Diarra?

Were players signed from the French Second Division really this strong?

And then there was Dave Kitson.

The lad was indeed very good.

This was too much. The pain. It really hurt.

…

After Bayswater Chinese took a 2-0 lead in the first half, Reading was the first to make changes in the second.

At halftime, they substituted a forward to strengthen their midfield defense.

This allowed them to barely stabilize the situation.

But Steve Coppell was not about to accept a defeat at home just like that.

In the 57th minute, he made his second substitution.

He took off center-back Adi Williams and brought on 34-year-old center-forward Sean Goater.

Goater came from the Manchester United youth academy, had previously played for Manchester City, and moved to Reading in 2003, performing well in League One last season.

Coppell hoped that Sean Goater’s experience and attacking prowess could open things up for them.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, made no changes, sticking to the first-half tactics and continuing to pressure Reading.

Then, in the 63rd minute, it was another turnover in the final third. After getting the ball, Ribéry was disrupted by Lassana Diarra’s run and had to alter his dribbling path at the last second, drawing a foul from Reading’s Sidwell.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a free kick in an advanced position.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd could only shake their heads.

This wasn’t an isolated incident.

It had happened several times already in the match.

Lassana Diarra covered a lot of ground, which was normally a good thing.

But the problem was that Ribéry liked cutting inside, often operating in and around the half-space.

If Lassana Diarra were smart enough, he should choose to stay clear of Ribéry.

But Reading wasn’t stupid either.

After Diarra dispossessed them several times, they began consciously avoiding him.

The young Frenchman, getting anxious, became a bit reckless.

“Perhaps we should consider putting Modrić on the left,” Brian Kidd suggested.

Modrić could play as a left-sided central midfielder.

In fact, playing on the left might even be more convenient for his right foot.

Moreover, it would put him closer to Ribéry, making the connection between the two playmakers much smoother.

“On the right, Aaron Lennon is responsible for providing width, which will leave more space for Lassana Diarra.”

Aaron Lennon was still very young, and for now, Yang Cheng was using him in a relatively simple role.

With young players, giving them tasks that are too complex or too heavy can leave them at a loss.

“We’ll try it in training. We can give it a shot in the next official match.”

As Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were talking, Gianni Vio, who had been sitting on the bench, got up and walked to the touchline, yelling instructions to the players, indicating how they should coordinate and what routine to use.

Ribéry, who had the best delivery, was in charge of taking it.

The Frenchman whipped in a curling ball, precisely aimed at the right corner of the six-yard box.

The tall and imposing Dave Kitson, who had been near the penalty spot, made a ghost-like run, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He charged towards the spot, physically overpowering Glen Little to power a close-range header into the net.

The ball was smashed into the goal by Dave Kitson.

3-0!

A brace!

Dave Kitson was so ecstatic that he ran off the pitch.

All the Bayswater Chinese players followed him, chasing him down to celebrate the goal.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd couldn’t help but smile, which in turn affected Gianni Vio.

During Bayswater Chinese’s pre-season training, Yang Cheng had entrusted all the team’s set pieces to Gianni Vio.

And now, the Italian had not disappointed him.

In the very first match of the new season, the team had scored from a set piece.

In front of the home team’s dugout, Steve Coppell’s expression grew even gloomier.

Kitson with a brace…

His heart ached even more.

…

Immediately after the third goal, Yang Cheng made substitutions.

Ashley Young came on for Ribéry.

Gökhan İnler replaced Modrić.

These two were the players Yang Cheng valued most, the core of Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

Although the league had just begun, they had two games a week right from the start. Yang Cheng had to conserve some energy, didn’t he?

With the visiting team leading by three goals, Reading’s morale completely crumbled.

Furthermore, Coppell had already used two of his substitutions early on and didn’t dare to make any more rash moves.

The situation remained unchanged, with Bayswater Chinese maintaining their dominance.

In the 81st minute, Yang Cheng brought on Lambert for Dave Kitson.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 away victory over Reading.

This resounding win brought instant fame to Bayswater Chinese, who were participating in the Championship for the first time in their history.

A newly promoted team had toppled a Championship powerhouse with ambitions of promoting to the Premier League, and on their own turf.

This was definitely newsworthy.

More importantly, even in an away match in the Championship, Bayswater Chinese had stuck to the pass-and-move style they had employed all last season, without any compromise.

This surprised many fans.

After all, teams like Bayswater Chinese that insisted on technical skill, a passing game, and attacking football were a rarity, not just in the Championship, but even in the Premier League.

Last season’s upset over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was the first time Bayswater Chinese entered the consciousness of English, and even European, football fans.

Now, with the opening round of the Championship being broadcast nationally, even more fans got to know this team.

The only discordant note came from Reading’s head coach, Steve Coppell, who defiantly stated at the post-match press conference that the home defeat was a fluke.

“The first round of a new season is never easy. We were upset.”

“But my players and I still firmly believe that we will remain one of the most competitive teams in the Championship this season!”

Chapter 44: That Cross Was Too Accurate!

“Boss.”

The day after the Reading match, after the morning training session, Lassana Diarra followed Yang Cheng.

Finding a secluded spot, he called out to Yang Cheng and jogged over to him.

Then, he unceremoniously held out his hand.

The meaning was self-evident.

Pay up!

Seeing his money-grubbing expression, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

“How much?”

“We agreed to go by Sky Sports’ stats,” Lassana Diarra said, full of confidence.

“Right.”

“I won the ball seven times and lost it twice. You owe me three hundred pounds.”

Yang Cheng was quite straightforward. “No problem. Come to my office and get it.”

Lassana Diarra’s face immediately broke into a cheerful smile.

But when he arrived at Yang Cheng’s office and received the money, his expression turned gloomy again.

“It’s all those bastards from Reading’s fault. They started avoiding me later. The moment they saw me coming, they’d pass the ball away.”

Lassana Diarra sounded indignant by the end, as if he’d been terribly cheated.

Yang Cheng didn’t think much of it.

The Reading players weren’t idiots.

Even if the players were single-minded, was Steve Coppell single-minded too?

Seeing that Lassana Diarra’s side was tough to break through, why would they keep trying to attack from there?

That would be purely insane.

“You should think more about why you lost the ball those two times,” Yang Cheng said with a chuckle.

Lassana Diarra grew even gloomier.

Of course, he knew how he’d lost possession on those two occasions.

Yang Cheng didn’t press the issue.

He had coached for so many years in his previous life and had worked with countless young players. He knew that kids this age had strong self-esteem and had to be shown enough respect.

Even when it was for their own good, the approach and method mattered.

Seeing that Lassana Diarra had taken the money but showed no intention of leaving, Yang Cheng was secretly amused.

“So? Still dare to make another bet?”

As expected, upon hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Lassana Diarra nodded almost without hesitation. “Yes, definitely.”

This was basically free money for him. Why wouldn’t he take the bet?

Was he an idiot?

What Yang Cheng didn’t know was that after yesterday’s match, Lassana Diarra had called his parents back in France from his rented apartment and told them he’d earned an extra three hundred pound sterling.

Converted to euros, that was 450 euros.

That was an income his parents might not make even after working themselves to the bone for several days.

His father also thought what Lassana Diarra was doing had promise and encouraged him to work even harder.

“Alright then. From now on, every time you play, we’ll use this same standard.”

Yang Cheng was also happy to continue the wager. “But, I have to warn you, if you’re in poor form and you lose the ball more times than you win it, I’m telling you in advance, I’ll deduct it from your salary.”

Lassana Diarra nodded without a care. “That won’t happen. It definitely won’t.”

As long as there was money to be made, he would fight his heart out in every match.

“The next match is against Plymouth Argyle. You’ll let me play, right?” the young Frenchman volunteered.

But Yang Cheng shook his head. “You’ll be rested for the midweek game.”

“No need, boss. I’m fine. I’m in great shape, my stamina is good, look…”

Yang Cheng looked at Lassana Diarra without saying a word, his gaze unwavering.

The Frenchman’s voice gradually faded.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had already explained to them why rotation was necessary.

On one hand, it was to balance the playing time across the whole squad.

But more importantly, for many young players, playing too many matches too early was detrimental to their future career development.

Therefore, rotation was essential.

…

Three days later, on the evening of August 10th, Bayswater Chinese played their first official match at Loftus Road Stadium.

It was the second round of the Championship, a home game against Plymouth Argyle.

The two teams were old rivals from last season’s League Two.

Yang Cheng stuck with a 4-3-3 formation but rotated the lineup.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Capaldi, José Fonte, Roger Johnson, and Koscielny;

Midfield: Leon Andreasen in a holding role, with Gökhan İnler and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Ribéry, Kitson, and Ashley Young.

Yang Cheng had rotated several players in the squad.

Notably, Koscielny replaced Kevin Foley at right-back.

A very important reason for this was that Yang Cheng hadn’t yet convinced Piszczek to change positions.

This was not a simple matter.

A player is a living, breathing person with his own thoughts and his own will.

Piszczek had always played as a right winger, or even a forward, and had just shone at the U-19 European Youth Championship.

Under these circumstances, to suddenly tell him that he was better suited to being a right-back, or even to just force him into the role regardless, would that work?

Yang Cheng’s plan was very clear.

He would take it step by step.

First, let him experience the difficulty of playing as a forward in the Championship, and then slowly talk to him.

It was worth mentioning that although the match was moved to Loftus Road Stadium, it still attracted 7,387 fans, exceeding the club’s initial expectation of 5,000.

This, in turn, validated Yang Cheng’s earlier judgment.

As long as the team performed well, as long as their results improved, the attendance would definitely rise.

The two opposing sides were no strangers to each other.

Yang Cheng was full of confidence in Bayswater Chinese’s strength, so playing at home, they set up to attack and pressed Plymouth Argyle from the start.

Just 11 minutes into the game, Ribéry and Dave Kitson created a very dangerous attacking opportunity up front.

Although Kitson failed to get on the end of Ribéry’s pass, it resulted in an own goal from Plymouth’s center-back, Graham Coughlan.

1-0!

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continuously tried to launch attacks, while Plymouth Argyle adopted a defensive counter-attack strategy.

Just before the end of the first half, Swiss midfielder Gökhan İnler made an overlapping run and drove a low shot from distance past the Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

In the 61st minute of the second half, Yang Cheng substituted Piszczek for Ribéry, moving Ashley Young to the left wing and playing Piszczek on the right.

Although the Polish winger had a few decent moments on the right flank, he failed to create any real threat.

After the match, Yang Cheng made a point to comfort him, expressing his trust.

“I believe that once you get familiar with and integrate into the team, everything will be fine.”

…

After defeating Reading 3-0 in the first round, Bayswater Chinese had climbed to the top of the Championship table on goal difference.

Their second-round victory over Plymouth Argyle made it two consecutive wins.

They were the only team in the Championship to start the season with two straight victories.

Bayswater Chinese also retained their position at the top of the league table.

This surprised everyone.

Among the other newly promoted teams, Queens Park Rangers had one draw and one loss, with their second-round match being a 0-3 away defeat to Watford.

Plymouth Argyle also had one draw and one loss.

Of the three newly promoted teams, two were struggling near the relegation zone, while only Bayswater Chinese sat proudly at the top of the table.

Although everyone knew it was only temporary, they were still shocked.

Many media outlets were even starting to pay attention to this new force in the Championship.

After two rounds in the Championship, every team except Derby County had earned points.

This showed just how intense the competition in the Championship was at that time.

…

Come the weekend, Queens Park Rangers were still playing away, while Bayswater Chinese had two consecutive home games.

But this time, the team drew 1-1 at home against Coventry.

This was partly due to the effects of continuous matches and rotation, but also a result of the fierce competition in the Championship.

The goal was conceded in the 69th minute.

After being unable to break through Coventry’s defense for a long time, the team grew a bit impatient.

Modrić was dispossessed in midfield, and Coventry launched a swift counter-attack.

Huddlestone failed to track back in time to protect the penalty area, and an opposing midfielder, Stephen Hughes, made a late run and unleashed a long shot that flew past Joe Hart.

However, in the crucial 89th minute, Gianni Vio’s set-piece tactics paid off once again.

Roger Johnson scored a vital equalizer with a powerful header for Bayswater Chinese.

In the end, the two sides shared the points.

Despite the draw, Bayswater Chinese managed to hold on to the top spot, ahead of Wigan Athletic by a single goal on goal difference.

But Yang Cheng still sensed a hint of crisis.

The team was too young.

…

On the afternoon of August 21st, at the JJB Stadium in Wigan.

It was the fourth round of the Championship, with Bayswater Chinese challenging Wigan Athletic away from home.

This was a clash between the top two teams in the league, a match that would decide who would be the league leader.

After a week’s rest, both sides could be said to be holding nothing back.

Both Wigan Athletic’s head coach Paul Jewell and Yang Cheng chose to field their strongest lineups.

After a week of rest, the midfield trio of Lassana Diarra, Modrić, and Huddlestone were all in excellent form, helping the team control the game from the very beginning.

But Wigan Athletic’s defense was extremely well-organized.

Paul Jewell even assigned two players, Matt Jackson and Per Frandsen, to double-team Ribéry, one in front and one behind.

This put the French winger in a difficult situation.

Modrić was played as a left central midfielder in this match, but he had not yet adapted to the position, and his understanding with Ribéry was not yet seamless.

Lassana Diarra, on the other hand, performed brilliantly as usual, focusing on winning the ball and distributing it.

But he would occasionally get dispossessed.

This situation had initially made Yang Cheng feel at ease.

Unexpectedly, in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Wigan Athletic’s left-back, Leighton Baines, made a sudden, speedy overlapping run. After receiving a pass from a teammate, he delivered a precise cross that found Nathan Ellington at the far post.

Yang Cheng was a bit stunned watching from the sidelines.

That cross was a thing of beauty!

In that instant, he was truly reminded of Beckham’s curling crosses.

It was so damn accurate!

Nathan Ellington, only 1.78 meters tall, managed to win the ball amidst a group of Bayswater Chinese defenders who were all at least 1.83 meters tall, and scored with a close-range header.

What could Yang Cheng say?

“That number 26 is something else,” Brian Kidd said with a wry smile.

As the man who had personally nurtured Beckham, he naturally found the cross familiar.

The only difference was that Beckham was on the right, and Leighton Baines was on the left.

Yang Cheng really wanted to tell him that this was Leighton Baines, the future best left-back in the Premier League, a player that both Manchester United and Bayern Munich would try and fail to sign.

“It was a beautiful cross. Plus, with the tall center-forward Jason Roberts creating a diversion at the near post, the curve on his cross was perfect, and the drop point was precise. Nothing we could do!” Brian Kidd said helplessly.

Sometimes, that’s just how football is.

What else could Yang Cheng say?

…

Wigan Athletic’s defense was truly solid.

Most importantly, they employed a ‘one tall, one fast’ striker partnership and were incredibly resolute in their defensive counter-attacks.

This gave Bayswater Chinese a major headache.

After the break, the away team relentlessly organized their attacks.

Yang Cheng was very aggressive with his substitutions, even using up all three slots early on.

In terms of possession and control, Bayswater Chinese had the clear advantage.

But they just couldn’t break through Wigan Athletic’s goal.

The score remained 0-1 until the end of the match.

After the away loss to Wigan Athletic, Bayswater Chinese surrendered their position as league leaders, dropping all the way to fifth place.

In the dressing room after the match, Yang Cheng comforted his players regarding the result.

“The season is long. This is just the beginning!”

Yang Cheng believed that losing the top spot wasn’t a bad thing for Bayswater Chinese.

Young players needed to face some adversity, to be stimulated a little, in order to improve faster.

“I believe that you, just like me, know in your hearts that we aren’t mentally prepared to be league leaders yet.”

“What we need to do now is not to obsess over that top spot, but to focus on ourselves, to improve our performance and our strength.”

“As long as we perform better, as long as we show our greatest strength, we will definitely reclaim what’s rightfully ours!”

Chapter 45: I Have a Huge Gold Mine

Having coached for so many years, Yang Cheng was confident enough in both his own abilities and the team he had built.

He was well aware that the league season had only just begun.

It was still too early for anything.

Therefore, he continued to stick to his daily routine, doing what needed to be done.

The match schedule also proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Three days after their away loss to Wigan, Bayswater Chinese welcomed their first-round knockout match in the League Cup.

They were at home against Cambridge United.

This time, Yang Cheng implemented an even more extensive squad rotation, swapping out all eleven players who started in the league match.

In the end, at home, they secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Cambridge United thanks to a Lambert goal in the 82nd minute, successfully advancing to the second round of the League Cup.

Besides securing advancement, the thing that pleased Yang Cheng most about this cup match was the home attendance, which reached 6,558.

This was a Wednesday cup match, and their opponent wasn’t a strong team but the fourth-tier Cambridge United.

For such a match to attract over six thousand fans, Yang Cheng was extremely satisfied.

It once again proved that London’s football market was massive.

Bayswater Chinese still had considerable untapped potential.

…

When the weekend arrived, it was time for the fifth round of the Championship, a home game against Preston.

Preston had started the season with one win, one draw, and two losses in four matches.

They had lost their last two games, both home and away.

But Yang Cheng didn’t dare underestimate such a team.

Looking at Preston’s previous four matches, the results were all decided by a single goal.

This proved that the team’s strength should not be taken lightly.

More importantly, after a two-game losing streak, the team would surely do everything in its power to earn points and win.

As expected, despite playing away, Preston performed with great courage and tenacity.

Although Bayswater Chinese controlled possession and had the upper hand, they found it difficult to score.

It wasn’t until the 31st minute that Ribéry, after a beautiful interplay with Modrić in the left channel, broke into the penalty area and was fouled by the opposing center-back, Marlon Broomes.

The head referee, Paul Taylor, awarded a penalty.

Ribéry took the penalty himself and converted it flawlessly, sending the ball into Preston’s goal.

This was the only goal of the entire match.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese narrowly defeated Preston 1-0 at home.

During the match, the head referee showed a total of eight yellow cards—three to Bayswater Chinese and five to Preston—a testament to the intensity of the game.

Bayswater Chinese did not have a smooth game either.

But thankfully, they secured the three points.

The match also attracted 7,996 fans.

As someone with perfectionist tendencies, Yang Cheng expressed particular frustration with this number.

Just four people short.

…

Because the match against Preston had been so intense, Bayswater Chinese failed to secure a victory three days later in the sixth round of the Championship, away against the relegated Premier League team, Leicester City.

In the 41st minute, the team took the lead with an opening goal from Kitson.

But in the second half, Leicester City’s head coach Mike Adams decided to burn his bridges, making a substitution every ten minutes starting from the halftime break, and had used up all three of his substitutions by the 65th minute.

Leicester City also displayed a completely different momentum than in the first half, putting Bayswater Chinese on the back foot from the very start of the second half.

They eventually conceded two consecutive goals, suffering a bitter comeback defeat.

This time, Yang Cheng didn’t hold back.

In the post-match locker room, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the players’ panic in the second half.

Although he knew in his heart that the squad rotation led to instability.

The performance in the second half was truly terrible; they had completely lost their structure.

This was not how a mature team should behave.

After six rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese had already lost two games and drawn one.

Although they were in seventh place in the Championship with ten points, just a step away from the promotion play-offs, Yang Cheng was not satisfied with this result.

However, the silver lining was that after the sixth round of the Championship, because Bayswater Chinese had no senior international players, and youth internationals like Aaron Lennon and Huddlestone had no match duties, the team could finally catch a breath.

They had been playing two games a week and fighting on two fronts since the start of the season, and the pressure was indeed immense.

Many problems that had been exposed had not been given time to be solved.

During the eleven-day international break, Yang Cheng could properly adjust the team’s form and address its issues.

But the bad news was, starting from September 11th, it was back to another continuous stretch of two games a week.

…

“Are you sure you want to treat me to a meal here?”

Standing outside a lavishly decorated Chinese restaurant on the east side of Berkeley Square, in the heart of London’s Mayfair district, Xia Qing looked surprised.

The restaurant was called Hakkasan.

Among international students and the London Chinese community, this restaurant, founded in 2001, was renowned.

It also had a Chinese name, Ke Jia Ren.

More importantly, it was really expensive.

“Of course. You helped me go over the financial reports, pulling two all-nighters. Don’t I have to treat you to a proper feast?”

Xia Qing gave him a look of severe distrust.

“Senior, has my image in your eyes really sunk this low?”

Xia Qing scoffed, “You have one of those?”

“Ouch, that stings, Senior.” Yang Cheng feigned a look of immense pain.

But Xia Qing wasn’t falling for his act.

“Cut the crap and spit it out, or I’m leaving.”

Yang Cheng had no choice but to confess quickly.

“Adam Crozier?”

At first, Xia Qing didn’t pay much attention, just thinking the name sounded a bit familiar.

But once Yang Cheng provided a bit more context, she immediately understood.

The CEO of Royal Mail.

“You’re treating him to dinner?” Xia Qing was very surprised.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

He rather enjoyed Xia Qing’s surprised reactions.

“I had to pull a lot of strings and go through several people, including the new CEO of The FA, David Davis, just to get a chance to have dinner together.”

Yang Cheng truly admired Adam Crozier.

Incidentally, after the Eriksson affair erupted in August, The FA made a series of blunders, eventually ousting CEO Mark Palios and replacing him with David Davis.

“But I don’t get it. Why are you treating him to dinner?” Xia Qing still couldn’t figure it out.

She really couldn’t keep up with Yang Cheng’s train of thought.

“Poaching,” Yang Cheng said matter-of-factly.

Xia Qing wondered if she had misheard.

The man was the CEO of Royal Mail.

If Bayswater Chinese were a giant club like Manchester United, Arsenal, or Chelsea, trying to poach him would be somewhat justifiable.

But you’re just a Championship team, and you’re trying to poach an executive from a monopolistic state-owned enterprise?

Are you out of your mind?

“Senior, your job is just to help me observe. I’ll handle the specifics of the conversation,” Yang Cheng instructed in a very serious tone.

Xia Qing suspected she must have fallen under Yang Cheng’s spell, because she actually agreed.

Of course, in her heart, she felt she was purely curious to see just how Yang Cheng was going to bring it up.

…

Adam Crozier was dressed in a black suit and tie, looking like a polite and courteous gentleman.

He wasn’t old and was quite handsome, and crucially, he took good care of himself.

His hair, in particular, was combed with meticulous care.

How to put it?

His appearance gave everyone the same first impression: successful!

However, when he saw Xia Qing, the sparkle in his eyes, though well-hidden, did not escape Yang Cheng’s notice.

He began to wonder if Adam Crozier’s past efforts to increase the proportion of female employees at The FA had been driven by ulterior motives.

But judging from his humorous and charming demeanor, the man certainly had charisma.

After just a brief interaction and a few words, even Xia Qing secretly gave Yang Cheng an approving look.

He seemed alright.

“Mr. Yang, I’ve heard of your Bayswater Chinese.”

As the meal was winding down, Adam Crozier noticed the subtle glances the two young people across from him were exchanging right under his nose, and he understood the situation.

“Frankly, you’ve taken a lot of wrong turns in the past few years, but since last year, things have changed significantly.”

Yang Cheng responded with a smile.

Since the other party had brought up the topic, there was no need for Yang Cheng to be coy.

“That Russian at Chelsea has been trying to buy that piece of land we have north of Hyde Park.”

Adam Crozier pondered for a moment, then nodded. “The value of that land has been vastly underestimated.”

“How so?”

“Transportation, location—I don’t need to elaborate on these, you’ve surely studied them. But even so, I’m certain you haven’t carefully assessed the potential value of that land.”

Hearing this, even Xia Qing’s expression turned serious.

“In 2001, Deloitte showed me a report. The total output value of the British football industry exceeded one billion pound sterling, and it’s still growing at a high rate of around fifteen percent per year.”

Yang Cheng did a quick mental calculation. It would roughly double every five years.

A report from 2001 meant it would be around two billion pounds by 2005.

But in reality, the growth was even faster!

“Whether you look at third parties like Deloitte or the revenue of giant clubs like Manchester United, you can see that the football industry’s potential is staggering, and capital from all over the world is now turning its attention to it.”

“I can even foresee that the Premier League is on the cusp of a global development opportunity.”

Yang Cheng was genuinely shocked.

Because what Adam Crozier was saying was the absolute truth!

“For the British, football is more than just a high-growth industry that generates a certain amount of tax revenue and output value and provides tens of thousands of jobs each year.”

“More importantly, it is deeply ingrained in British life. Taking your family and children to a football match at the stadium is a habitual form of entertainment for almost every British family.”

“Therefore, in England, stadiums also possess a very strong social function.”

At this point, Adam Crozier paused for a moment before giving Yang Cheng an example.

“You must have heard about Arsenal’s new stadium. When they designed it, in addition to the regular VIP area, they also had a VVIP area. Then, depending on the location, level of hospitality, and privileges, they were further divided into premium boxes and diamond boxes.”

“And you certainly know about Wembley Stadium. Its boxes are divided into over one hundred and sixty different types, including corporate suites, grand halls, Wembley suites, Bobby Moore suites, and suites with a view.”

“Whether it’s Arsenal’s new stadium or Wembley, do you think these suites are aimed at ordinary people or family supporters?”

Yang Cheng understood what Adam Crozier meant, as he had some exposure to it in his previous life.

The vast majority of these boxes were, in fact, leased long-term by corporations.

Some were even leased for several years at a time.

It was somewhat like a company keeping a long-term reservation for a private room at a high-end restaurant for the purpose of entertaining clients.

This was why teams like Arsenal and Tottenham would go to any lengths, even taking on massive debt, to build new stadiums.

VIP boxes were more profitable than anything else.

“Mr. Yang, you have to understand, Arsenal’s new stadium is in Ashburton, in the north, which is a straight-line distance of seven kilometers from where we are now, in the very heart of London, Mayfair.”

“Wembley Stadium is even farther, over ten kilometers away.”

“But your piece of land is at the north gate of Hyde Park, surrounded by six or seven tube stations, and even within walking distance of Mayfair. I don’t need to spell out the potential commercial value in that, do I?”

Yang Cheng had indeed thought about this issue repeatedly before, which was why he was completely unwilling to sell to Chelsea.

Now, Adam Crozier’s words had given him an even deeper understanding.

Putting other things aside, Arsenal’s new stadium and Wembley were too far away. Among the teams in the central city area, Queens Park Rangers and Fulham were too small, and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge simply lacked these facilities.

And none of these stadiums in the core area had the potential for expansion or renovation.

Except for this new stadium for Bayswater Chinese.

That was why Roman Abramovich was so desperate to buy it.

Once this stadium was built, it would be a huge, gushing gold mine!

Chapter 46: Can You Stand This?

“Mr. Crozier, I hear you haven’t been having the best of times at Royal Mail recently.”

After discussing Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng smoothly steered the conversation toward his true purpose for the evening.

A look of surprise appeared on Adam Crozier’s face.

He had originally thought Yang Cheng had invited him to dinner purely to get acquainted and seek some advice.

Now it seemed he had somewhat underestimated the young man’s courage and ambition.

“Just some minor issues.” Adam Crozier was clearly reluctant to elaborate.

Yang Cheng knew what was going on.

The man before him was quite the ruthless character.

The things he did back at The FA were impressive, weren’t they?

He didn’t just completely overturn The FA, he nearly got the Premier League in his grasp as well.

And at Royal Mail?

Just as impressive.

Before he took over, Royal Mail was said to be losing one point five million pound sterling a day.

Note, that was the daily loss.

Everyone thought Adam Crozier was taking on a thankless task.

All of Britain knew Royal Mail was the subject of countless complaints every year—it was slow, the service was terrible, and lost or delayed mail was a common occurrence.

If it hadn’t held a monopoly on ninety-nine percent of the UK’s postal market, it would have gone under long ago.

The British government subsidized Royal Mail with hundreds of millions every year.

After Adam Crozier took office, he implemented the same kind of drastic reforms he had at The FA. Of the two hundred thousand postal workers, he laid off over thirty thousand in one fell swoop.

He cut down on redundant staff and departments and reorganized internal management, turning Royal Mail’s decline around in a single stroke.

In the past year, 2003, Royal Mail had achieved a profit for the first time in decades.

But for this, Adam Crozier earned a terrible reputation.

In 2003 and 2004, postal workers launched two major strikes, leaving him run ragged.

The primary accusation was: fine, you get a high salary, but your bonus is huge too.

Some media outlets even called Adam Crozier the highest-paid public servant in the UK.

Since he was going to meet Adam Crozier, Yang Cheng had naturally done his homework.

“To be honest, Mr. Crozier, I feel that with your abilities, to remain at Royal Mail is to be in a position unworthy of your talents.”

Beside him, Xia Qing’s beautiful eyes fell on Yang Cheng, as if to say: You finally said it.

That’s quite bold of you.

Looking at Adam Crozier, he too was clearly surprised.

Is this guy here to poach me?

You’re a damn Championship team with such a meager annual revenue, and you came here to poach me?

At this thought, Adam Crozier, far from getting angry, burst into laughter.

“Mr. Yang, I’m not Mark Palios or David Davis. Do you know what my annual salary is?”

“I’ve seen it,” Yang Cheng nodded.

“The Independent reported that your annual salary plus bonus should be around one million pound sterling, but it’s said you also signed an additional long-term incentive plan with the Royal Mail Bank.”

The problem lay precisely with that long-term incentive plan.

His annual salary and bonus were one thing, comparable to any other senior executive.

But this long-term incentive plan tied Adam Crozier’s income to his personal performance and the company’s profitability.

At the time, Royal Mail was losing one point five million pound sterling a day. No one believed it could turn a profit in the short term.

So, when the long-term incentive plan was signed, it wasn’t an issue at all.

In fact, no one paid it any mind.

But who could have imagined that Adam Crozier would do the unthinkable?

He came in and immediately began drastic layoffs.

He did what others didn’t dare to do, and damn it, he actually succeeded.

In 2003, Royal Mail turned a profit.

According to the long-term incentive plan, Royal Mail not only had to pay his salary and bonus but also an additional incentive payment.

Constant layoffs on one side, massive bonuses on the other—how could anyone stand that?

And just like that, Adam Crozier was pushed into the eye of the storm by public opinion.

“If I’m not mistaken, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue last year didn’t exceed five million pound sterling. Now that you’re in the Championship this year, although there will be some growth, it probably won’t be by much.”

At this, Adam Crozier laughed again and looked at Yang Cheng. “Can you afford my salary?”

This was also Xia Qing’s question.

So, after hearing Adam Crozier’s question, Xia Qing turned to look at Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng was prepared. He glanced at his beautiful senior and smiled confidently.

“Mr. Crozier, you’re absolutely right. But I don’t think your income at Royal Mail should be the benchmark. Normally, your income should be your annual salary plus bonus, around one million pound sterling.”

Palios and David Davis, who took over from him at The FA, only had an annual salary of four hundred fifty thousand pound sterling.

Adam Crozier did not deny this.

“Let’s not talk about Bayswater Chinese for now. Let’s talk about your situation at Royal Mail.”

Yang Cheng chuckled before continuing, “From the current situation, your good days at Royal Mail are numbered. I’m not worried about the external strikes and all that, but what about the internal situation at Royal Mail?”

Adam Crozier’s expression turned grave, and he said no more.

His actions seemed bold and decisive, but he knew very well that the internal resistance was immense.

In fact, many people had long been dissatisfied with him.

“It’s a mess, a mess that’s been decades, even centuries in the making. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. You can’t fix it.”

“So, I’ve heard the British government is discussing postal reform, am I right?”

When Adam Crozier heard this, his expression changed dramatically.

“How do you know that?”

Seeing Adam Crozier’s face, Xia Qing was also very surprised.

Yang Cheng didn’t explain, because he couldn’t. He couldn’t just say, Because I, your father, am a transmigrator. I’ve been a head coach in England for so many years, how could I not know?

I also know that starting January first, 2006, Royal Mail’s three hundred fifty-year postal monopoly will be broken, allowing dozens of the world’s top courier companies like DHL and FedEx to enter and compete.

If the date for opening the market was set, then the date for passing and discussing the reform must be even earlier.

But Yang Cheng could only remain mysterious about such things.

“You should think carefully. Once Royal Mail loses its monopoly, what will be waiting for you?”

This question was like an arrow to the heart, striking a fatal blow.

In fact, this was the very question Adam Crozier had been pondering recently.

“Bayswater Chinese is indeed still weak, and for now, we truly can’t afford your salary. But once we get promoted to the Premier League, won’t we be able to?”

“Promoted to the Premier League?” Adam Crozier was once again shocked.

A newly promoted team to the Championship, only six games into the season, was already talking about getting into the Premier League?

“Don’t be surprised, Mr. Crozier.”

From start to finish, Yang Cheng maintained an air of confidence and composure.

“Just keep my words in mind for today and hold onto my invitation. Come May next year, look back on this, and I believe you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.”

From the beginning of their conversation until now, Adam Crozier felt he had the young man before him all figured out.

But suddenly, he realized that not only had he failed to see through this young man, but he was also completely in the other party’s hands.

“To be honest, Mr. Crozier, I truly think you’re a talent, a rare talent in the football world. That’s why I’ve extended this sincere invitation, hoping for a chance to work with you.”

“I believe you were holding a grudge when you left The FA. Now, Bayswater Chinese and I are giving you this opportunity to return to professional football and prove those people wrong!”

“That’s all I’ll say. You don’t have to refuse me right away. Go back, wait, think it over. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

…

“My God, Yang Cheng, you’re an incredible talker!”

“Didn’t you see? You had Adam Crozier completely stunned just now.”

Walking out of the Chinese restaurant, Xia Qing looked at Yang Cheng as if she were seeing him for the first time.

She really didn’t know when her junior had become so formidable.

That was Adam Crozier!

An annual salary in the millions, a famous professional manager in the UK.

Yang Cheng scoffed inwardly. What’s the big deal? When I was a head coach in my past life, I handled people earning tens of millions with ease.

“Wait a minute.” Xia Qing suddenly pieced something together.

“What’s wrong?”

“I suspect you’ve schemed against me, and more than once.”

“You wrong me, Senior! Heaven is my witness, my feelings for you are completely sincere.”

The double meaning in Yang Cheng’s words made Xia Qing pause.

The words caught in her throat.

“Besides, Senior, isn’t this just me being desperate for talent?”

“What do you mean?”

Yang Cheng grinned. “Senior, look, you said it yourself. Working at a big company like Goldman Sachs is tiring and stressful, a total ‘financial migrant worker.’ You’d be better off coming to work with me.”

“I’ll make you the Chief Financial Officer and entrust my entire fortune to you.”

“Don’t you have Uncle Lin?”

“My dad wants Uncle Lin to go back to China to help him,” Yang Cheng said evasively.

That was something he could arrange with a single word.

The main issue was that Lin Zhongqiu really couldn’t keep up with his pace and rhythm anymore.

And his capabilities were indeed limited.

“Are you really that confident you can get promoted to the Premier League this season?” Xia Qing asked, looking at Yang Cheng with great interest.

Yang Cheng still wore a look of complete confidence.

No answer was better than an answer.

“By the way, what do you think of Adam Crozier?” Yang Cheng changed the subject.

“I’ve heard of him. He’s certainly very capable, and from what he said just now, he’s also very knowledgeable about professional football.”

Yang Cheng’s high regard for Adam Crozier stemmed from this as well.

His business acumen was undeniable, but more importantly, he was familiar with the football industry and had connections in England.

The Premier League was currently in a transitional phase.

Foreign capital had not yet poured in on a large scale, and top talent from other industries was still watching from the sidelines.

For Bayswater Chinese to unearth a business talent who also understood football at this time was no easy task.

Otherwise, why would Roman Abramovich go to such great lengths to poach Peter Kenyon from Manchester United?

Ultimately, there was a shortage of high-level business talent.

But if Bayswater Chinese wanted to leapfrog the competition, they had to act before anyone else.

Adam Crozier was the most suitable talent he could think of at the moment.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Adam Crozier hadn’t stayed at Royal Mail for long either. He later went to ITV, then to BT, achieving outstanding results at both.

And both of those companies later competed with Sky Sports in the football world.

This showed that Adam Crozier’s ability was indeed not in question.

As for whether he was willing to join Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng remained cautiously optimistic.

“Then there’s no problem. Once this season is over and we’re promoted to the Premier League, I’ll hire Adam Crozier as CEO, and you, Senior, can be our Chief Financial Officer.”

“Remember, it’s a deal!”

After speaking, without waiting for her to agree or disagree, Yang Cheng walked ahead, brimming with confidence.

Xia Qing was a little puzzled. Where on earth did he get this confidence?

Was he really sure they could get promoted to the Premier League?

But then again, she found herself feeling a little expectant.

Chapter 47: Completely Conquer Them!

After the two-week international break, the Championship league reignited its flames, kicking off the seventh round of matches.

Bayswater Chinese faced Watford in an away game.

However, in this match, Bayswater Chinese failed to play the way Yang Cheng wanted.

The reason was simple: the schedule.

An away game against Watford on the 11th, a home game against Wolves on the 14th, and another home game against Queens Park Rangers on the 18th.

Everyone knew that away games were tough.

Yang Cheng didn’t want to give up on the next two home games.

Especially the one against Queens Park Rangers.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese was using Loftus Road Stadium, a move intended to attract Queens Park Rangers’ fans.

If they couldn’t win at “home,” wouldn’t they become a laughingstock?

This match wasn’t just being watched by the Bayswater Chinese supporters; the Queens Park Rangers fans were paying close attention as well.

Moreover, the game was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, right in the primetime slot.

Do you know how many tickets were sold for this match?

Over fifteen thousand.

A large portion of those were Queens Park Rangers fans.

So far this season, Queens Park Rangers had played three home games, with a record of one draw and two losses.

With one team’s fortune rising as the other’s fell, Yang Cheng would never miss such a god-given opportunity.

Therefore, for the away game against Watford, Yang Cheng made some adjustments to the lineup.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

But not long after the second half began, Watford’s striker Danny Webber capitalized on a fast break to open the scoring for the home team.

Bayswater Chinese fought back hard.

It wasn’t until the 85th minute that they managed to score, with Škrtel finding the net from a free-kick opportunity in the attacking half.

1-1, the two sides shook hands on a draw.

However, Queens Park Rangers’ performance had also picked up, as they came from behind to win 3-2 at home against Plymouth Argyle in the seventh round.

It was their first home victory of the season.

…

On the evening of September 14th, the eighth round of the Championship.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Wolves.

This wasn’t a particularly noteworthy match.

Wolves were currently ranked 21st in the Championship.

Relegation from the Premier League had had a huge impact on them.

Not in terms of strength, but in terms of player morale.

But when facing Bayswater Chinese away, Wolves adopted a defensive counter-attack strategy.

The home team, however, scored the only goal of the match in the 22nd minute. Modrić delivered a brilliant pass from the left channel, assisting Ribéry who broke into the penalty area and found the back of the net.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese took all three points at home.

Queens Park Rangers also won their away match in this round, defeating Crewe 2-0.

After eight rounds, Bayswater Chinese was ranked 6th in the Championship.

Queens Park Rangers was in 11th place.

Plymouth Argyle’s recent performance had seen a rebound, lifting them to 15th.

All three newly promoted teams were putting in a decent showing.

…

On the afternoon of September 18th, at Loftus Road Stadium.

The ninth round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese versus Queens Park Rangers at home.

Saturday afternoon was the primetime for football matches.

This season, Bayswater Chinese was leasing Queens Park Rangers’ stadium, and with the two teams being so close geographically, countless thrill-seekers were filled with anticipation for their clash.

Sky Sports had decided early on to broadcast the match live nationwide.

The fans of both teams were also very much on board, with 18,360 in attendance.

A full house!

For Bayswater Chinese, this was an absolute history-making record.

Although many of the fans were there for Queens Park Rangers, it was an unprecedented attendance record.

Queens Park Rangers also took the match very seriously.

Even if their Italian owner, Gianni Paladini, was a fool, the people around him had already warned him to pay attention.

Seeing the stadium packed to the rafters, a bitter taste filled his mouth.

Due to their less-than-ideal results after being promoted to the Championship this season, Queens Park Rangers’ highest home attendance so far was just over 14,000.

And now that the stadium was finally full, the money was being collected by Bayswater Chinese.

How could he stand for that?

“Damn it, I can’t let them have all the advantages.”

Gianni Paladini was frustrated, a belly full of anger simmering within.

“Go to the dressing room. Tell Holloway and the players that they are not allowed to lose tonight, no matter what!”

An assistant immediately complied, standing up and heading off.

Gianni Paladini still felt agitated and cursed under his breath.

…

“Today’s match is incredibly significant for us.”

In the home team’s dressing room, Yang Cheng showed not the slightest hint of guilt for this cuckoo-in-the-nest situation.

On the contrary, he was doing his utmost to stir up his players’ emotions.

“You all know that we are currently leasing Queens Park Rangers’ home ground.”

“But today, I want you to use this match to show those eighteen-thousand-plus fans out there who the true masters of this place are!”

“I want you to use a victory to let every fan who walked into this stadium today see our Bayswater Chinese football, and then, conquer them completely!”

The players’ emotions were ignited.

“Lass.”

Yang Cheng gestured towards Lassana Diarra.

The young black Frenchman straightened up, looking his head coach directly in the eye.

“Today, you’re taking Martin Rowlands’ position. He was our core player last season. Now he’s their number 14, and the man you’ll be up against today.”

“He’s very good, which is why Queens Park Rangers were willing to pay three million pound sterling for him.”

“But I want you to use this game today to prove to everyone that you are even better than him!”

Hearing this, Lassana Diarra could no longer sit still and jumped to his feet.

“Don’t worry, boss!”

“Luka, Tom.”

Yang Cheng extended his hands, pointing to Modrić and Huddlestone respectively.

After joining Queens Park Rangers, Martin Rowlands had quickly become the core of their midfield, proving his skill and value.

He was currently the creative and attacking heart of the Queens Park Rangers team.

Yang Cheng’s plan to use Lassana Diarra to mark Martin Rowlands was to disrupt the QPR midfield.

“Your job is to help us firmly control the midfield, and put on a spectacular show for all the fans here, a show that belongs to us, Bayswater Chinese!”

“Understood!” Modrić and Huddlestone replied in unison.

…

“Head referee Coulson blows the whistle to start the match.”

“Queens Park Rangers kick things off.”

“But Bayswater Chinese has shown an aggressive attitude right from the start.”

“The ball is passed to Martin Rowlands.”

“Whistle!”

“That’s a foul.”

“Lassana Diarra tripped Martin Rowlands while trying to win the ball, and the head referee has called a foul.”

“It’s clear that the players from both teams are full of fighting spirit today.”

“And it’s no wonder. This is much more than just a Championship league match.”

As the game unfolded, both teams were very active from the kick-off.

Neither wanted to lose this match on their home turf.

This made for a fast-paced and intense opening phase of the game.

Especially on the part of Queens Park Rangers.

Wary of letting Bayswater Chinese easily control possession, and knowing they were technically inferior in passing and movement, they ran relentlessly, using their running, physical challenges, and fouls to stop their opponents.

Head referee Coulson’s relatively lenient officiating also encouraged this approach.

This proved somewhat effective in the early stages of the match.

Yang Cheng watched from the sideline, not rushing or panicking, but remaining patient and calling for his players to stay calm.

“A little patience, okay?”

“Lass, drop back a bit, keep the formation.”

“Yes, yes, press forward steadily, don’t rush.”

“Kevin, you need to get a bit further forward, give Aaron more support.”

Xia Qing was sitting in the stands just behind Yang Cheng’s coaching bench, watching him stand on the sideline, constantly shouting, constantly directing the game.

She didn’t really understand football, but she had a faint feeling.

The pitch was like a chessboard, and the players were the pieces on it, their different technical skills equivalent to rooks, knights, and cannons.

The head coach was the player sitting outside the board.

Yang Cheng’s tactics at the start of the match were very aggressive, giving the impression of an army bearing down on the enemy.

Xia Qing guessed he was trying to use this pressure to force the opponent into making a mistake under duress.

On the other hand, Queens Park Rangers didn’t seem to have a good answer to this tactic.

Especially Martin Rowlands.

After being shackled by Lassana Diarra, the Queens Park Rangers number 14 was struggling just to receive the ball.

And the young French ball-winner was as relentless as ever.

Besides marking Martin Rowlands tightly, he ran constantly, tackled constantly, and contested every single ball.

As the clock ticked to the 16th minute, a crack finally appeared in the Queens Park Rangers defensive formation.

Lassana Diarra successfully intercepted a pass from Martin Rowlands and gave it to a nearby Modrić.

The Croatian had his back to the attacking direction with a defender behind him, so he couldn’t stop and turn. Instead, he immediately laid the ball off to Huddlestone.

Huddlestone received the ball in space, using the outside of his right foot to knock it sideways to his right. He turned, glanced forward, and before the closing defender could reach him, he hit a diagonal pass, switching the play to the right flank.

As Aaron Lennon sprinted forward, he kept his eyes on the ball’s trajectory, bringing it down with his chest just outside the right corner of the penalty area.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kevin Foley catching up.

The young right-back was a decent player, but he was a bit too cautious.

The head coach had already told him multiple times to push higher up, but he still didn’t have the nerve.

His pace wasn’t exceptional; he was probably afraid he wouldn’t be able to track back in time.

Aaron Lennon didn’t dare to dwell on it, as the defender was already in position.

The Argentinian left-back, Gino Padula.

His opponent was experienced. Lennon didn’t rush his move, instead playing the ball back.

He deliberately under-hit the pass, wanting to force Kevin Foley further forward. Then he started to drift horizontally towards the center, but pointed with his hand towards the outside.

It’s so obvious, that guy Kevin should see it, right?

At first, Kevin Foley thought Lennon had misplaced the pass. He hurried forward, and after getting to the ball first, he saw Lennon’s gesture.

He saw that Gino Padula had been dragged towards the middle by Lennon, leaving the right flank open. Combined with Lennon’s gesture, he instantly understood and immediately played the ball straight down the line towards the byline.

Lennon hadn’t even broken into a full sprint when he saw Kevin Foley’s pass, and he praised him silently.

Then, he saw the young English player come to a sudden stop, evading Padula, before bursting forward with a quick stride, cutting diagonally into the right side of the box at high speed.

Just before the byline on the right side of the penalty area, Lennon caught up to Kevin Foley’s pass.

He controlled it, adjusted, scanned the box, and crossed with his right foot.

Padula wasn’t tall, but he was a step slower, and he had been caught off guard by Lennon’s deliberate ploy.

By the time he got there, Lennon had already delivered the cross.

The ball dropped rapidly towards the edge of the six-yard box.

Queens Park Rangers’ two central defenders, the 1.91-meter Georges Santos and the 1.80-meter Matthew Rose, were already in position, sandwiching Dave Kitson.

But Kitson, relying on his formidable physical strength, forcefully broke free from the two center-backs’ grasp. He leaped high at the edge of the six-yard box, towering over both defenders, and met the ball with a powerful, flicked header.

The football cannoned off Kitson’s head, changing direction and flying into the Queens Park Rangers’ goal.

Goalkeeper Chris Day was left with no chance.

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese opens the scoring in the 16th minute!”

“A header from Dave Kitson!”

“1-0!”

“That’s Kitson’s 4th Championship league goal of the season!”

“He’s opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese!”

Chapter 48: A Crushing Defeat

The moment Martin Rowlands ran into space to receive the ball, before he even had a chance to pass it, Lassana Diarra was already upon him, flustering the Irish midfielder.

Twenty minutes into the game, he had already had a clear taste of Lassana Diarra’s close-quarters harrying.

The first goal they conceded came from him losing the ball.

Not daring to dawdle on the ball, Martin Rowlands immediately passed it back.

He sent it all the way back to the defensive line, to center-back Santos.

Only after confirming Santos had received it did Martin Rowlands’s heart settle, but he couldn’t stop himself from breathing heavily.

He glanced up at the time. Just twenty-one minutes.

But he felt as if his stamina was already being drained dry.

In the first eight rounds of the Championship, he had played in every single one of Queens Park Rangers’ matches.

Except for the second and seventh rounds where he played for sixty-three minutes, he had played the full match in all the others.

He even played the full ninety minutes in the League Cup match against Swansea City, scoring a goal in the process.

And in early September, he had also participated in two World Cup qualifiers for his national team, playing at home against Cyprus and away against Switzerland.

He had played for most of both of those matches as well.

The immense pressure of the games left Martin Rowlands completely exhausted.

If he were at Bayswater Chinese, he would never have felt this way.

Not on a psychological or mental level.

At Bayswater Chinese, the head coach would decide if a player was fit to play based on everyone’s playing time, combined with physical assessments from the coaching staff and the medical department.

But at Queens Park Rangers?

He had raised the issue with head coach Ian Holloway.

The response he got was, “Martin, you are the most important core of our midfield. The team has finally started to gel, and we need you to hold it together, no matter what.”

“Fatigue? That’s normal after playing so many games. Just push a little harder, overcome it!”

What else could Martin Rowlands say?

As a new arrival on such a high salary, how could he not contribute?

If it were just physical fatigue, he could indeed barely manage.

But on the pitch, he discovered that the difference between Queens Park Rangers and Bayswater Chinese was enormous.

So enormous that he began to wonder if the level he had displayed at Bayswater Chinese was even real.

When he played for Queens Park Rangers, every time he got the ball, he often found there were no passing options around him.

Many of his teammates would just stand there after making a pass, or move around sluggishly.

They had no awareness of supporting their teammates.

Even when a teammate did want to offer support, their runs were all wrong.

They either ran into the same space as him or ran into the same space as a defender. How was he supposed to pass the ball then?

If it happened once or twice, that would be one thing.

But it happened every single time.

He had spoken to Ian Holloway about it, and the coach had said, “You have to understand, we and Bayswater Chinese are two completely different teams, with different tactical approaches.”

Yes, the approaches were certainly different.

But could the difference really be this massive?

Back at Bayswater Chinese, passing the ball had been a simple task. Now at Queens Park Rangers, it had not only become difficult but sometimes even impossible.

This was especially true today.

Facing Bayswater Chinese directly, Martin Rowlands was frustrated to find that his former teammates, including Kitson—whom he had previously thought of as a bit rough around the edges—could all engage in slick passing combinations.

Everything looked so fluid, so effortless.

And then there was him.

It was only at this moment that he truly understood, on a deeper level, the words Yang Cheng had spoken to them during the summer training camp when he first joined Bayswater Chinese.

You run for others, and others will run for you. We are a single unit!

And wasn’t it true?

At Queens Park Rangers, he was all alone. When there was no one around to run for him, how isolated and helpless he was.

He was really starting to regret leaving Bayswater Chinese.

Just as that thought surfaced, the shout of his teammate, Matthew Rose, came from behind him.

“Martin.”

Martin Rowlands turned to see a pass already arriving at his feet.

Almost simultaneously, his peripheral vision caught a red figure.

That bastard’s here again!

Martin Rowlands reflexively stuck out his foot to control the ball.

His technique was never particularly outstanding, and in his haste, his first touch was poor, a little too heavy.

This is bad!

Martin Rowlands immediately realized his mistake and went to chase after it.

But Lassana Diarra was quicker than him.

The red figure was like an eel, swiftly slipping past him, using his body to shoulder Martin Rowlands aside and intercepting the ball first.

With just a single physical contact, Martin Rowlands was astonished by his opponent’s strength.

After winning the ball, Lassana Diarra completely ignored Martin Rowlands behind him and drove forward with the ball.

“Bayswater Chinese win the ball in midfield again.”

“Lassana Diarra is launching a counter-attack.”

“Let’s see this time… a pass across to Modrić.”

“There’s a chance!”

“He passes to Ribéry!”

“A beautiful first touch takes him past his man!”

“Ribéry’s control there was incredibly skillful.”

“He breaks into the left side of the box, and crosses to the middle.”

“Kitson!!”

“Dave Kitson scores again!”

“This time with his right foot, getting ahead of Matthew Rose to tap the ball into the net from close range!”

“That pass from Ribéry was magnificent!”

“2-0!”

“Dave Kitson has scored a brace!”

…

The entire stadium erupted in an instant.

Some fans were cheering for the Bayswater Chinese goal, while others were stunned that Queens Park Rangers had conceded again so quickly, just seven short minutes after the last goal.

But from the start of the match, the game had been completely dominated by Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was also incredibly excited, running to the touchline to celebrate with Ribéry and the others.

“And that’s the head coach of Bayswater Chinese, uh, no, wait, the assistant coach, Yang Cheng.”

“But what’s interesting is that he still doesn’t have his coaching license.”

“Nevertheless, the Bayswater Chinese team he’s built plays absolutely fantastic football.”

As he saw the players heading back, Yang Cheng shouted a few more things.

The gist was for them to stay focused, keep pressing forward, and put more pressure on the opponent.

He still wasn’t satisfied with a two-goal lead.

But Ian Holloway was frightened.

Conceding after sixteen minutes, and then again after twenty-three.

He immediately made tactical adjustments, signaling for the team to stabilize their defense first.

He was terrified that if Bayswater Chinese were allowed to continue their frenzied attack, God knows what the final score might be.

“Ian Holloway is shouting at Martin Rowlands.”

“Today, Rowlands’s performance has been quite disappointing.”

“Yang Cheng obviously knows this player very well. It was at Bayswater Chinese that Rowlands rediscovered his form last season.”

“And so, today, Lassana Diarra has completely neutralized Martin Rowlands.”

“Both goals originated from Lassana Diarra dispossessing Martin Rowlands.”

…

In the stands of Loftus Road Stadium, Gianni Paladini’s expression grew uglier and uglier.

How had Martin Rowlands performed since transferring to Queens Park Rangers?

Quite well, actually.

He quickly became the core of the team’s midfield, scoring one goal and providing one assist in eight matches, plus another goal in a cup competitions.

For a midfielder, that was a very good record.

But today, compared to Bayswater Chinese, Gianni Paladini was far from satisfied.

He had originally thought that poaching Martin Rowlands for three million pound sterling would deal a heavy blow to Bayswater Chinese.

After all, high-quality players were hard to find in the Championship, weren’t they?

But unexpectedly, not only had Bayswater Chinese’s strength not been weakened, they had become even stronger.

He was suddenly… at a loss.

Especially watching his Queens Park Rangers team being pressed and battered on the pitch, looking utterly helpless, he was truly at a loss.

He even felt a flicker of fear.

Bayswater Chinese’s football was indeed beautiful, truly brilliant!

With both teams in this stadium, would the fans’ allegiances start to shift?

…

With Queens Park Rangers shifting to a defensive posture, Bayswater Chinese took complete control of the match.

The players resolutely executed Yang Cheng’s tactical intentions, constantly organizing and launching attacks.

In the forty-fourth minute of the first half, another Bayswater Chinese attack broke through the Queens Park Rangers’ goal.

It came from a pass wide by Modrić.

Capaldi made an overlapping run, received the ball, and sent a diagonal cross into the left side of the penalty area.

As Ribéry broke into the area to receive the pass, he came to a sudden stop, feinted to shake off Georges Santos, and curled a right-footed shot into the top-right corner of the goal, scoring another for Bayswater Chinese.

3-0!

This goal sealed the victory!

Neither side made any substitutions during the halftime break.

Therefore, the second half was largely a continuation of the first.

But in the seventy-first minute, Ian Holloway could finally bear it no longer.

He substituted two players at once.

Left-sided attacker Kevin McLeod came on for Martin Rowlands.

Anyone could see that Martin Rowlands was having a terrible day.

His lack of stamina was one thing, but Lassana Diarra’s man-marking had completely shut him down.

Then, center-back Richard Edghill replaced the Argentinian defender Padula to strengthen the back line.

But just when everyone thought Queens Park Rangers would be able to hold firm, a major defensive error occurred just three minutes after the substitutions.

Ribéry found space in the left half-space and received a precise through ball from Modrić. He carried the ball horizontally along the edge of the box, cutting inside before sliding a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Aaron Lennon made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box, latched onto Ribéry’s pass, and sent a low shot into the Queens Park Rangers’ goal.

This was Aaron Lennon’s first goal for Bayswater Chinese!

The young winger from Leeds United was so excited he danced wildly on the sidelines, completely ecstatic.

4-0!

The entire stadium, with its more than eighteen thousand six hundred fans, profoundly felt that the current strength of Bayswater Chinese had long surpassed that of Queens Park Rangers.

And by a huge margin!

Following that, Yang Cheng also made a series of substitutions to give his main players some rest.

But in the final moments of the game, in the first minute of stoppage time, Queens Park Rangers won a foul on the left side of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

Matthew Rose capitalized on the free-kick opportunity, scoring with a header past the Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper to salvage a little pride for Queens Park Rangers.

But it was still a crushing defeat.

With a brace from Kitson and goals from Ribéry and Lennon, Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Queens Park Rangers 4-1.

In their post-match summary, the Sky Sports commentators gave high praise to Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

They believed that Bayswater Chinese had shown a level of strength that could match any team in the Championship.

“We have every reason to believe that if Yang Cheng and his team can maintain the form they showed in this match, they will be strong contenders for a promotion spot this season.”

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese, with a record of five wins, two draws, and two losses in nine games, sat in fourth place on the Championship league table with seventeen points.

They were level on points with third-placed Watford, but with one less goal in their goal difference.

Ahead of Watford were Stoke City with eighteen points and Wigan Athletic with nineteen.

Chapter 49: No More Pretenses, We’re Having a Showdown!

Lowndes Street, Belgravia, London.

The morning sun shone through the windows, gently bathing the bright and spacious dining room in light.

Roman Abramovich had just finished breakfast and was scanning the freshly printed edition of The Times.

As expected, he found a report on last night’s Premier League match in the sports section.

Chelsea had drawn 0-0 at home against Tottenham Hotspur, their second consecutive draw.

And both matches had ended 0-0!

Since Mourinho took over as head coach of Chelsea, he had faced a great deal of doubt and criticism.

A very significant reason was his conservatism.

In six Premier League matches, the team had only scored six goals.

This goal-scoring record ranked them thirteenth in the Premier League this season, level with Southampton who were in the relegation zone.

No one could be satisfied with such a result.

The last two 0-0 draws, in particular, were terribly played.

The Times lambasted the performance in its report, while also refuting some of Mourinho’s comments from the post-match press conference.

The Portuguese had stated that although Chelsea had only scored six goals, they had only conceded one in six matches. In terms of defensive capability, they were unmatched not just in the Premier League, but across all four major leagues.

More importantly, with four wins and two draws in six games, Chelsea was currently second in the Premier League, trailing only Arsenal, who remained undefeated with five wins and one draw.

All media, including The Times, believed that given Chelsea’s squad, their current results were to be expected.

But in terms of Chelsea’s style of play, Mourinho was a failure.

The Times analysis pointed out that it wasn’t just the media and pundits who were critical; even Chelsea’s own fans were dissatisfied with the team’s conservatism. They believed a Chelsea full of superstars should play a more proactive and aggressive game.

Abramovich’s brow furrowed as he read through the several reports in The Times.

Frankly, he wasn’t very confident that Mourinho would succeed.

He was even starting to worry if Mourinho could do a better job than Ranieri.

The Times had even listed the statistics.

In the first six rounds of last season, Ranieri’s team had scored fifteen goals, a full two and a half times as many as Mourinho’s.

Of course, Ranieri’s team also had four wins and two draws.

The adjective The Times used to describe the match was: “When one ironclad defense clashes with another…”

A wave of irritation washed over Abramovich as he read. He turned his head and glanced out the window.

His dining room faced east, and from the window, he could see the embassies of countries like Portugal, Germany, and Norway in England.

A few years ago, he had spent a considerable sum to buy an entire building here.

Five floors above ground and three below, all connected.

Downstairs, less than a hundred meters to the north, were Knightsbridge and Hyde Park.

Less than a hundred meters to the west was the world-famous Harrods department store.

But right now, he was in no mood for any of it.

Flipping further through the sports section of The Times, Abramovich noticed a report on a Championship match.

The Times used a very eye-catching headline to report on the match between Bayswater Chinese and Queens Park Rangers.

“Mysterious Genius from the East!”

The report began with a brief summary of the just-completed ninth round of the Championship, where Bayswater Chinese had defeated Queens Park Rangers 4-1, causing quite a stir in England.

But the bulk of the report focused on Yang Cheng.

A “Genius Coach” who had just turned twenty-four.

From League Two last season, to his transfer dealings in the summer, to the Championship this season, Yang Cheng’s string of actions had earned him high praise from The Times, which stated that he didn’t seem like a rookie at all.

“He looks more like a top-class, seasoned manager with a wealth of experience.”

“Especially when you see him on the sidelines, commanding with calm and confident composure, he truly has the air of a great manager.”

After defeating Queens Park Rangers, Bayswater Chinese was now ranked fourth in the Championship, in a promotion playoff spot.

But The Times believed that Yang Cheng’s team had displayed an astonishing level of technical and tactical skill in the Championship. In particular, their brand of attacking football and fluid passing and movement were extremely rare in English football.

“Even Wenger sings his praises.”

“This newly promoted team could very well become the biggest dark horse for promotion to the Premier League this season!”

Reading this, Abramovich glanced at the Championship league table again, and his mood soured further.

Could this kid really take Bayswater Chinese to the Premier League?

If that happened, would he still be able to buy that piece of land?

A sense of urgency arose in Abramovich’s mind, but he also noted the concerns raised in the The Times report.

Yang Cheng was too aggressive.

The team’s results were indeed excellent, but in terms of business operations, he was incredibly aggressive.

Buying land at the Brent Reservoir, with a planned investment of twenty million pound sterling to build a world-class training facility.

This project had already received the full support of the local government.

But it had also saddled Bayswater Chinese with a heavy debt burden.

“It is estimated that by the time the training facility is completed, Bayswater Chinese will be in over thirty million pound sterling of debt, which could very well cripple this financially weak club.”

Abramovich read that passage from The Times again, mulled it over for a moment, then picked up the BlackBerry on the table and made a call.

“Hello, Pini, it’s me.”

“Have Kesher accompany you on another trip to Bayswater Chinese, and raise our offer.”

“Yes, twenty million pound sterling.”

After a pause, Abramovich hesitated for a moment before Cadding, “See how the situation unfolds first. If that’s still not enough, we can go as high as thirty million pound sterling.”

“Remember, I must have this land!”

And he was just as determined to build his stadium!

…

Fans who have watched football for many years will often notice an interesting phenomenon.

Aside from powerhouse teams with deep benches, mid-to-lower-table teams in top leagues often find it difficult to sustain fighting on two fronts.

Let alone multiple fronts.

This situation becomes even more pronounced in lower divisions like the Championship.

Looking at the Bayswater Chinese squad this season from the perspective of 2024, although it only had twenty-one players, many of them were quite talented. Assembling two different lineups for rotation would be no problem at all.

But from the perspective of 2004, Yang Cheng had to face a difficult problem.

Youth and experience.

When he assembled this team, he had consciously sought out young players.

This fit the current positioning of Bayswater Chinese.

Besides being cheap, young players had development potential. After a few years, they could be sold for a good sum of money.

For example, players like Luke Chambers from last season had seen their value increase at Bayswater Chinese, hadn’t they?

For the same price, you could buy older players with decent ability, but after two or three years, you’d find they were impossible to sell.

And typically, the salaries of these older players would be higher.

The downside of young players was their lack of strength and experience.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was to rotate whenever necessary.

For example, three days after the ninth round of the Championship, the second round of the League Cup arrived.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Reading at home.

This was already Yang Cheng’s second encounter with Coppel this season.

Unlike Coppel, who continued to field his strongest lineup, Yang Cheng rotated his squad heavily.

He didn’t care much about the League Cup.

The only thing that concerned him was that more than eight thousand fans had bought tickets to attend the match.

But to his surprise, in this match, after just fourteen minutes, Roger Johnson scored from a corner kick to give Bayswater Chinese the lead.

Gianni Vio had delivered again!

Reading fought back, trying to get back into the game.

But in the 79th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack. Lambert assisted Ashley Young, who once again found the back of Reading’s net.

2-0!

Victory!

…

On the weekend, in the tenth round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Gillingham away.

With their key players all on the field, Bayswater Chinese encountered staunch resistance from Gillingham.

After a long period of unsuccessful attacks, Bayswater Chinese made a defensive error in the 89th minute.

Lassana Diarra, who had been outstanding all season, tried to initiate an attack after winning the ball in his own half. He failed to pass in time, was dispossessed, and the opponent launched a quick counter.

0-1!

Bayswater Chinese lost the away match.

This was already Bayswater Chinese’s third loss of the season.

Lassana Diarra’s bad habit of dwelling on the ball was exposed in the match, but in the post-match dressing room, Yang Cheng still singled him out for praise, refusing to criticize him for the conceded goal.

“What I saw wasn’t a loss caused by one mistake, but that he won the ball back for us seven times throughout the entire match.”

…

Three days later, in the eleventh round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese lost 0-1 away to Nottingham Forest.

Two consecutive defeats caused Bayswater Chinese’s ranking to plummet to eighth place.

But Yang Cheng remained convinced that there was nothing wrong with the team.

And on the weekend, in the twelfth round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese finally had a chance to hold their heads high.

When Sheffield United visited Loftus Road Stadium, they attempted to face Bayswater Chinese with the same defensive counter-attacking strategy.

Everyone had analyzed it: in the past two rounds, Bayswater Chinese had dominated possession only to be undone by counter-attacks in the second half, leading to defeats.

Sheffield United’s head coach, Neil Warnock, naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to snatch some points.

But he overlooked one thing.

Other teams had managed to defend successfully because of their outstanding defensive abilities.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese had been playing two games a week, fighting on two fronts, and the constant cycle put immense pressure on the players, causing their form to fluctuate.

But Sheffield United?

They were facing a Bayswater Chinese that had just suffered two straight losses and had been backed into a corner.

A team in such a position would either erupt or continue to sink.

Yang Cheng and his team chose the former.

Sheffield United’s defense held for only twenty-nine minutes before it was breached.

Kitson was on fire in this match, first breaking the deadlock in the 29th minute.

Four minutes later, another pass from Kitson set up Ribéry to score, making it 2-0!

In the 35th minute, Modrić was fouled after dribbling into the penalty area, earning a penalty kick.

Kitson coolly converted the spot-kick, completing his brace and helping Bayswater Chinese seal the victory.

Three goals in the span of just six minutes.

The more than nine thousand fans in the stadium went wild with joy.

After the second half resumed, Ribéry scored another goal in the 60th minute, also completing a brace.

4-0!

After suffering two consecutive defeats, Bayswater Chinese had a massive resurgence, thrashing Sheffield United at home.

After this round, Bayswater Chinese once again climbed back into the promotion playoff zone on the league table. They were level on twenty points with Stoke City, Queens Park Rangers, and Millwall, but sat in fifth place thanks to a superior goal difference.

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with the team’s current situation.

After all, quite a few players had been brought in over the summer. The team’s roster had changed, and it needed more time to gel.

More importantly, after so many years of coaching, Yang Cheng felt that the current Bayswater Chinese was still in a phase of accumulating strength over a long period and releasing it explosively, needing to constantly build up experience.

He believed the team would definitely undergo a transformation.

…

After the twelfth round of the Championship, another two-week international break arrived.

The first thing Yang Cheng did was to give all his players a vacation, letting them rest well.

As the club’s recent income was decent, Yang Cheng even paid for them to return to their home countries to visit family and relax.

This gesture was, unsurprisingly, met with an enthusiastic response from the players.

They were a group of young men around twenty years old. With the league being so intense, the chance to catch their breath and properly relax was the best thing they could ask for.

But on the day after the team went on holiday, Lin Zhongqiu received a call from Kesher Harris of the City of London.

That afternoon, Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris visited Bayswater Chinese again.

This time, they weren’t playing games. They came out with their trump card.

Thirty million pound sterling!

No more pretenses. It’s a showdown!

We’re going to bury you in money!

“Our boss is determined to get this land!” Pini Zahavi declared, exuding an air of immense wealth.

Chapter 50: Yang Cheng’s Golden Finger

He was getting desperate!

Roman Abramovich was truly getting desperate!

Yang Cheng smiled at Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris across from him, his mind flashing back to the triumphant, self-assured expressions they wore when he had just transmigrated last year.

Back then, they had tossed him five million pound sterling in a manner that was almost like giving alms.

Times had changed. Today, their offer was thirty million pound sterling.

A full six times the original amount.

Beside him, Lin Zhongqiu was also quite surprised by this surreal scene.

At this moment, the old finance manager, who had spent half his life in the domestic business world, was in a state of utter confusion.

He truly couldn’t make heads or tails of European football.

“Mr. Yang, you should know that this is already a very, very high price.”

Pini Zahavi looked at the perfectly composed Yang Cheng before him and felt a headache coming on.

This kid always had this harmless expression, but the more he acted this way, the more inscrutable he became.

Was he really only twenty-four?

“Indeed, Mr. Yang. Please consider it carefully. In the current economic climate, Chelsea is the only one who can put up this much money for this piece of land. Thirty million pound sterling can completely resolve all your debts and leave you with a large sum of cash.”

Kesher Harris chimed in, trying to persuade him.

“You’re renting Loftus Road Stadium right now, which is working out fine. Sell this land, invest everything into building your training facility, and with your current momentum, it’s not impossible to get promoted into the Premier League.”

“When the opportunity arises, you can always buy another stadium somewhere else in London.”

Yang Cheng still wore a faint smile, nodding gently. It was hard to tell if he was agreeing or just being perfunctory…

His only feedback was: Keep talking. I’m listening.

Kesher Harris was a bit speechless. He glanced at Pini Zahavi and sighed internally.

The football investment expert from The City of London cleared his throat softly and leaned forward over the desk toward Yang Cheng, as if to close the distance between them.

“Mr. Yang, I’ll let you in on a piece of intelligence worth tens of millions.”

Having said this, Kesher Harris paused, waiting expectantly.

He anticipated that Yang Cheng would show interest, that he would ask what kind of information could be so valuable.

But to his surprise, Yang Cheng remained seated, unmoving, just smiling at him.

This started to infuriate Kesher Harris.

Does he really think I’m cheap?

I’m offering you a secret, and you’re still playing coy?

But then he glanced at Pini Zahavi, recalling their conversation over lunch, and Kesher Harris felt a sense of helplessness.

This was why they said that latching onto a powerful figure was a skill in itself.

“Alright, I’ll be frank with you.”

Kesher Harris paused again, coughing heavily twice.

What a drama queen.

“You must be aware that London is bidding to host the Olympic Games, right?”

Kesher Harris still didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for from Yang Cheng, which made him click his tongue in silent frustration.

This kid sure knows how to act!

How can he still be so composed?

“I don’t mind telling you the truth. The British government doesn’t support it, but the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has been pushing for it.”

“The key reason is a lack of money.”

Lin Zhongqiu, sitting beside them, didn’t usually read English newspapers and was unaware of this news.

In his understanding, if the British government didn’t support it, how could London host it on its own?

Instead, it was Xia Qing, sitting on Yang Cheng’s other side, who spoke up softly. “That’s not exactly a secret. It was reported in 2002 by media outlets like The Observer, the Evening Standard, The Times, and The Guardian.”

“The British government denied it.”

Xia Qing hadn’t said a single word since they sat down.

Yang Cheng had specifically invited her to provide backup.

Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris had assumed she was just an assistant or something of the sort.

But for her to speak up now, and even accurately name the various media outlets that had reported on it, was quite surprising.

It was truly impressive.

Kesher Harris looked a bit awkward and coughed heavily twice more. “That’s not what I was going to talk about.”

Yang Cheng was nearly bursting with laughter inside, but on the surface, he remained as calm as ever.

Under the table, he secretly gave Xia Qing a thumbs-up.

Senior is awesome!

“London has been pushing forwarded, and the government has finally agreed. But there’s a problem: if the Olympic bid is successful, who will pay for the venue construction? And after the Olympics, how will the subsequent maintenance of the venues be handled?”

It was a matter of economics.

The future maintenance of the venues was also a massive expense.

Yang Cheng remembered that after the Olympics, the main stadium, the London Bowl, was leased to West Ham United for a very low price.

This was because the government had done the math: if they didn’t lease it, the annual maintenance costs alone would be several million pound sterling.

The same situation had occurred with the City of Manchester Stadium, which later became Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

That stadium was built to host the Commonwealth Games, but after the games, the government spent a fortune converting the multi-purpose athletics stadium into a dedicated football ground, which they then leased to Manchester City at a low price.

That was when Manchester City moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Yang Cheng suddenly understood the “secret” Kesher Harris was about to reveal.

He was suggesting that after Bayswater Chinese got into the Premier League, they should approach the government to lease this stadium.

It had to be said, this was indeed an incredibly lucrative deal.

Sure enough, after building up enough suspense, Kesher Harris finally laid his cards on the table.

“According to the intelligence I’ve gathered, both Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are very interested in this stadium. They are actively in contact with the London city government, hoping to secure a long-term lease after the Olympics.”

“The city government is also inclined to do so, but they want the clubs to invest a sum of money during the construction phase and also pay for the conversion costs after the Olympics.”

“Neither Tottenham Hotspur nor West Ham United is willing to pay these two sums, so the negotiations have stalled for now.”

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, West Ham United had managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur, reportedly by paying fifteen million pound sterling or so toward the conversion costs. Yang Cheng had forgotten the exact number, but they definitely paid.

Tottenham Hotspur’s CEO, Daniel Levy, was notoriously stingy.

Kesher Harris’s meaning was simple: if Bayswater Chinese were willing to join the competition and secure the lease for this stadium, it would be a golden opportunity.

Staying at Hyde Park would mean having to pay for the construction themselves.

“Mr. Yang, let me be honest with you. Given the current financial situation of Bayswater Chinese, trying to independently build this stadium is nothing more than a delusional fantasy,” Kesher Harris said, analyzing the pros and cons after dangling the carrot.

“What’s the point of building a 10,000-seat stadium like you planned before? How many years would it take to break even?”

“That in itself was a very foolish mistake!”

“In a prime location like Hyde Park, if you’re going to build a stadium, it must be the most top-tier, most luxurious super-stadium in the world. That’s something your Bayswater Chinese cannot afford.”

One had to admit, Kesher Harris’s angle was quite reasonable.

Not only Lin Zhongqiu, but even Xia Qing showed a contemplative expression.

Instead of investing so much money to build a new stadium here, it was better to vie for the Olympic main stadium, which would only cost a rental fee each year.

If that didn’t work, they could just rent.

Even renting the future Wembley Stadium would be more cost-effective than building their own, wouldn’t it?

Yang Cheng saw the reactions of Lin Zhongqiu and Xia Qing.

He wasn’t surprised.

Looking at this problem from the perspective of 2004, renting was better than building, and buying was also not a great option.

“Thank you for your candid advice, Mr. Harris.”

Yang Cheng finally spoke.

But just as Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris thought they were getting somewhere, Yang Cheng’s next words left them stunned.

“You’re right. A location like Hyde Park must have the world’s most top-tier, most luxurious super-stadium. That is also my wish and my goal.”

“I also agree with what you said—that at this stage, we at Bayswater Chinese cannot yet afford such a stadium. But I believe that in the near future, we will definitely be able to build it.”

Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris were dumbfounded, then both began to shake their heads with a smile.

“Mr. Yang, I didn’t realize you had such a sense of humor,” Pini Zahavi said, thinking that Yang Cheng was joking.

When something was so far beyond reality and anyone’s imagination, it wasn’t a delusion; it was a joke.

How much annual revenue did Bayswater Chinese even generate at the moment?

“Mr. Yang, joking aside, I suggest you seriously consider our offer,” Kesher Harris said, also finding Yang Cheng’s words quite amusing.

Without the backing of a powerful foreign conglomerate, which club in England had the confidence to build a new stadium?

Arsenal?

Don’t be ridiculous!

To build their new stadium, Arsenal not only tightened their belts but had long since brought in foreign investors.

Furthermore, a portion of the funds for the Gunners’ new stadium came from the profits of a real estate project built on the site of Highbury after it was demolished.

It was an extremely complex capital operation!

Bayswater Chinese?

There was simply no possibility!

…

When Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris left, they looked at Yang Cheng as if he were a fool.

They felt that Yang Cheng wanting to build this stadium wasn’t just a daydream.

It was waiting for a miracle.

Lin Zhongqiu couldn’t guess what Yang Cheng was thinking at all, but at this point, he didn’t dare to question him.

Xia Qing, on the other hand, had met Adam Crozier with Yang Cheng before and had some idea.

But she hadn’t expected Yang Cheng’s thoughts to run even deeper than she had imagined.

“Forget thirty million pound sterling. Even if Chelsea offered three hundred million pound sterling, I wouldn’t consider selling this land!”

Are you kidding me? This is the greatest golden finger I’ve gotten since I transmigrated.

And I’m supposed to sell it?

Are you insane?

Yang Cheng’s words left both Lin Zhongqiu and Xia Qing utterly astonished.

Three hundred million pound sterling! My god!

“Just as Adam Crozier mentioned when we met him, talking about Wembley Stadium and Arsenal’s new stadium, corporate boxes will become the main source of a club’s future matchday revenue. This aligns with the 80/20 rule.”

Twenty percent of the seats provide eighty percent of the revenue.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had seen data showing that for many top clubs, box revenue accounted for more than half of their total matchday income.

This matched what Adam Crozier had described.

But was that all?

No!

Why did Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium cost over a billion pound sterling to build?

Why did Real Madrid invest so much money in renovating the Bernabéu Stadium?

Many people would say inflation, rising material costs…

Don’t be naive!

Could those two factors alone drive costs up so much?

Because what they were building weren’t football stadiums at all!

Especially Real Madrid’s Bernabéu.

What Florentino Pérez wanted to build was an urban consumption center, like a Disneyland, integrating shopping, dining, entertainment, football, and various other elements.

“Think about it. To the south of Hyde Park, you have Knightsbridge, Harrods shopping center. It’s London’s most prosperous commercial district with the highest commercial and investment value.”

“Around us, we have Kensington Palace, Notting Hill, and so on. And we have six subway lines here. This is the most accessible core area in all of London!”

“I just want to ask you, in a place like this, if I were to build a shopping center, how much would it be worth?”

Yang Cheng even suspected that the reason Roman Abramovich was trying so hard to buy this land was that he also saw its latent potential.

Perhaps he hadn’t fully figured it out yet, but his sharp instincts had caught onto it.

The area around Knightsbridge could be described as being worth its weight in gold, and that would still be an understatement.

If what Yang Cheng said came true, its value would be far more than just three hundred million pound sterling.

Xia Qing was the first to react, her eyes shimmering with a peculiar light.

She had never imagined that Yang Cheng possessed such vision, let alone such grand ambition.

“What you’re saying is indeed very compelling, but are you truly confident that Bayswater Chinese can build such a stadium?”

That was no small sum of money.

Not tens of millions, but hundreds of millions of pound sterling.

Yang Cheng simply smiled faintly, filled with an indescribable confidence.

Chapter 51: He’s Just Too Fast!

You have to take things one step at a time, but the league waits for no one.

Taking advantage of the international break in early October, Yang Cheng once again sat down with his coaching staff and players to analyze the team’s current situation.

After twelve rounds in the Championship, Bayswater Chinese had a record of six wins, two draws, and four losses.

They had scored eighteen goals and conceded seven.

Compared to last season, this report card showed a considerable gap.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had scored twenty-seven goals and conceded twelve in their first twelve matches.

Looking at the team’s internal progression, their offensive firepower had clearly weakened, but their defensive level had improved by leaps and bounds.

Comparing them horizontally to other teams in the Championship this season, Bayswater Chinese’s attack ranked fourth in the league.

The three teams ahead of them were Ipswich Town with twenty-three goals, Wigan Athletic with twenty-two, and Queens Park Rangers with twenty.

However, their seven goals conceded was the best in the Championship.

Wigan Athletic, who remained undefeated after twelve rounds this season, were known for their defense, but they had still conceded eight goals.

This directly reflected the problems facing Bayswater Chinese.

On the one hand, Yang Cheng’s signing of José Fonte and his heavy reliance on the Portuguese center-back, coupled with the work done to refine the defensive line over the summer, had clearly paid off. Their defense had improved significantly.

On the other hand, the team’s offense had declined.

The departures of Martin Devaney and Martin Rowlands had certainly had an impact on Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

But the most important reason was that the intensity of the Championship was far greater than that of League Two last season.

Judging by their overall goal count, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was genuinely not bad.

Fourth in attack, first in defense, and first in stats like possession and passing.

This proved that Bayswater Chinese still had very respectable strength.

If their fundamental strength was fine and their tactical direction was correct, then the problem must lie with the players.

They were too young, too inexperienced. Many were international transfers, and for some, it was their first time playing in a league of this difficulty.

They needed more time.

“Looking at the team’s overall situation, we are currently stuck in a particularly awkward bottleneck.”

At the summary meeting, Yang Cheng continued to reassure all the players.

Their current results were already outstanding for a newly promoted team.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Inconsistent performances, fluctuating form, getting frustrated when we dominate but can’t score—all of these are outward signs of being in a bottleneck, but that’s not what’s important.”

“Every team in the world will face this kind of problem. So, what do we do?”

The players all stared silently at Yang Cheng.

“It’s simple. When it’s time for a match, we play. When it’s time for training, we train.”

“In our daily training and matches, we must continue to maintain one hundred percent focus and do everything to the best of our ability.”

“We need to concentrate all the team’s strength, push it all forward, block the way, and keep pressing on.”

“It’s the same principle as Sisyphus rolling the stone up the mountain.”

“If it rolls back down, it doesn’t matter. We go again. We keep pushing, constantly building our strength.”

“In the near future, at a certain point in time, we will experience a massive breakout that will shock everyone!”

“When that time comes, you will find that not only the team, but you yourselves will have transformed.”

…

On the afternoon of October 16th, in the 13th round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese challenged Crewe away from home.

Although they were playing away, just nine minutes into the match, Modrić opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese with a shot after breaking into the penalty area.

In the 34th minute, Dave Kitson scored another goal.

Though Crewe pulled one back in the 69th minute of the second half, substitute Lambert scored again for the team in the 79th minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Crewe 3-1 away, securing three points.

After this round, the team surged to 3rd place in the Championship with twenty-three points, behind only Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town.

…

Three days later, in the 14th round of the Championship.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese defeated Cardiff 2-0, thanks to goals from Kitson and Lassana Diarra.

Both goals were assisted by Ribéry from the left flank.

This was also Lassana Diarra’s first league goal since joining Bayswater Chinese.

The French midfielder was so excited he was practically beside himself.

Then, in the 15th round of the Championship on the weekend, Yang Cheng’s team faced a stubborn challenge from Leeds United at home.

Leeds United paid the price with five yellow cards in the first half alone.

But in the 58th minute, a breakthrough by Aaron Lennon on the right wing drew a foul.

Ribéry took the free-kick, causing chaos in the penalty area, and Leeds United center-back Clarke Carlisle scored an own goal.

Subsequently, Leeds United received another three yellow cards and one red card but were still unable to turn the tide.

Bayswater Chinese scraped a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at home.

With this recent four-game winning streak, Bayswater Chinese’s league ranking climbed to 2nd in the Championship, overtaking Ipswich Town and trailing only Wigan Athletic.

…

Midweek, in the 3rd round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese traveled to challenge Sheffield United.

Although Yang Cheng once again rotated his squad heavily, they still dominated the match away from home.

Sheffield United’s center-back, Jagielka, shone in this game with an outstanding performance, resolutely repelling Bayswater Chinese’s repeated attacks in front of the defensive line.

It wasn’t until the match was nearing its end that Leon Andreasen scored with a long-range shot after a late run from deep, breaking through Sheffield United’s goal.

The Danish midfielder scored a crucial goal.

1-0. Bayswater Chinese defeated Sheffield United and smoothly advanced to the 4th round.

…

The relentless series of tough matches exposed the team’s problems in the weekend’s high-stakes clash in the 16th round of the Championship, away against Sunderland.

For the first hour, Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative despite being the away team, pressing high and overwhelming Sunderland.

But The Black Cats, managed by Mick McCarthy, were extremely tight in defense, giving their opponents no opportunities.

In the 64th minute, The Black Cats launched a quick counter-attack. When striker Bridges took a shot, Joe Hart fumbled the save, and Arca, making a late run from behind, seized the opportunity to score on the rebound.

After conceding, Yang Cheng decisively made substitutions to further strengthen the attack, and the team created a series of threats.

Unexpectedly, however, in the 72nd minute, during a corner kick opportunity, Joe Hart made another defensive error.

He came off his line to claim the ball from the air, but fumbled it upon landing, allowing the opposing forward Elliott to pounce on the chance and score again.

0-2!

If conceding one goal still left Bayswater Chinese fighting back with confidence they could equalize, the second goal was a massive blow to the team.

This was especially true for goalkeeper Joe Hart, who had fumbled the ball at two critical moments in a single match.

It was a severe blow to the team’s morale.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese lost 0-2 away to The Black Cats of Sunderland.

This was already the team’s fifth defeat of the season.

With this victory, Sunderland successfully closed the gap, now just one point behind third-placed Bayswater Chinese.

Ipswich Town, meanwhile, overtook Bayswater Chinese to take second place in the Championship league table.

…

The packed schedule left no one any time to breathe.

After losing to Sunderland, the team returned to London for a brief rest before facing the 17th round of the Championship midweek.

The team traveled to challenge Derby County.

This time, however, Bayswater Chinese played well. Ribéry opened the scoring just nine minutes in.

Kitson then scored twice, first with an early attack at the start of the second half and again in the 80th minute.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Derby County 3-0 away.

Having scored eleven goals in seventeen Championship matches, Dave Kitson’s performance for Bayswater Chinese this season was quite dazzling, and he began to attract outside attention.

But in the 18th round of the Championship on the weekend, Bayswater Chinese were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Crewe.

In the 13th round, Bayswater Chinese had beaten the same opponent away.

Just twenty days later, they were disappointingly held to a 1-1 draw by Crewe at home.

This was not only due to the team’s strength and squad rotation but more to do with the players’ on-field performance.

After eighteen rounds, Bayswater Chinese remained in 3rd place, but they were now a full six points behind Wigan Athletic and three points behind Ipswich Town.

Sunderland, Reading, and West Ham United had also caught up from behind, all on thirty-one points, just two points behind Bayswater Chinese.

Queens Park Rangers’ performance had slipped, and they seemed to be losing steam, falling to 7th in the league.

…

Midweek, in the 4th round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted Southampton.

The Saints were not only a Premier League team, but Southampton was also located southwest of London, so London fans were very familiar with this traditional powerhouse. The match attracted a crowd of over eighteen thousand.

Loftus Road Stadium was completely packed.

Southampton was mired in a debt crisis, and their situation in the Premier League was far from ideal.

The Saints had already changed their manager once this season back in August, and the team was in turmoil.

After twelve Premier League matches, they had only won once and drawn five times, leaving them at the bottom of the table with eight points, level with Norwich and Blackburn Rovers.

The pressure in the league was immense. They were on a ten-match winless streak, and their recent run of three consecutive draws had dealt a heavy blow to Southampton.

Their 12th round match last week was a 2-2 draw at home against West Bromwich Albion, and this weekend’s 13th round match was another home game against Portsmouth.

Despite this, The Saints still hoped to achieve something in the League Cup, using a cup victory to boost the team’s morale.

Therefore, for this match, aside from Crouch, all their key players, including Kevin Phillips and Svensson, were in the starting lineup.

At Loftus Road Stadium, The Saints tried to seize the initiative from the very beginning, wanting to devour their opponents in one bite.

But Bayswater Chinese started the game very steadily.

The passing system Yang Cheng had built, combined with the players’ technical skills, gave them an advantage not only in the Championship but also against teams like The Saints.

The two teams went back and forth, deadlocked for forty minutes.

It wasn’t until the 41st minute that Ribéry and Modrić executed a beautiful one-two on the left side just outside the penalty area. The Frenchman controlled the ball, evaded the Swedish right-back Nilsson, and chipped it over the goalkeeper to open the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

During the halftime break, The Saints made a decisive substitution.

They came out pressing high in the second half, launching a frantic offensive.

But in the 52nd minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, a long pass from Huddlestone sent Lennon racing down the right wing. He was through on goal and scored!

The English right winger was just too fast!

Struck twice in quick succession, The Saints still didn’t back down.

In the 62nd minute, it was another quick counter-attack, and again it was Aaron Lennon surging down the right wing, scoring once more.

3-0!

Aaron Lennon had scored a brace!

And just four minutes later, it was another counter-attack down the right, another cross from Aaron Lennon, and Lambert headed the ball in. 4-0!

In less than fifteen minutes, The Saints had conceded three goals, and all of them came from Aaron Lennon’s side.

Southampton had completely collapsed.

The match entered garbage time.

In the end, amidst the cheers of the entire stadium, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Southampton 4-0 at home.

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, watching his celebrating players on the pitch and listening to the roar of the crowd. He was both delighted and surprised.

He had originally thought this would be a tough battle.

But he hadn’t expected Southampton to play so recklessly in the second half.

Moreover, their head coach’s in-game management was terrible.

Although Ribéry had scored a goal from Nilsson’s side in the first half, overall, Nilsson had defended well.

At halftime, substituting Nilsson for a forward strengthened the attack, but it left the flank defense exposed.

They couldn’t afford to ignore Ribéry’s side, which left Aaron Lennon’s side wide open.

The final result was exactly what had played out in the match.

“We’re in the League Cup quarterfinals!”

Brian Kidd walked over to Yang Cheng’s side, smiling as he congratulated him.

“We’re the only Championship team. The other seven are Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, and Fulham.”

If they hadn’t knocked out Southampton, the quarterfinals would have been an all-Premier League affair.

But now, Bayswater Chinese stood out as the anomaly.

Hearing this, a thought flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind, one he couldn’t suppress.

The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived!

“Brian, I’ll handle tonight’s post-match press conference!”

Chapter 52: Give It Up, You’re Surrounded by Premier League Teams!

“I’ve always believed that we have the strength to challenge for the title.”

“Whether it’s the Championship or the League Cup, I have no doubt!”

At the post-match press conference, prompted by the media, Yang Cheng’s shocking declaration immediately sent ripples throughout the English football world.

The next day, most media outlets reported the news, painting Yang Cheng as arrogant and conceited. Many even featured it on their front pages.

The reaction to Yang Cheng’s statement was almost uniformly negative.

Both the media and the fans felt his words were far too arrogant and that he failed to grasp his own situation.

“As a newly promoted team, Bayswater Chinese’s performance in the Championship has been quite good, and challenging for the title isn’t impossible. But their chances of winning the League Cup are virtually zero.”

The Sun dissected Yang Cheng’s declaration.

“The last team from a second-tier league to win the League Cup was Sheffield Wednesday.”

“In the 90/91 season, Sheffield Wednesday, then a League Two team, participated in the League Cup and eliminated Derby County, Coventry, and Chelsea on their way to the final.”

“In the final, Sheffield Wednesday defeated Manchester United 1-0 to lift the League Cup trophy.”

“But that was thirteen years ago.”

“In fact, in the thirteen years since the Premier League was founded, only one League One team has ever reached the League Cup final: Tranmere Rovers in the 99/00 season.”

“But they lost to the Premier League’s Leicester City in the final.”

The Sun argued that although the League Cup is considered a minor trophy by Premier League teams, with many top clubs adopting a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, for a second-tier team to even reach the final, let alone win it…

“…is nothing short of wishful thinking!”

“Look at the quarter-finalists in this season’s League Cup. Apart from Bayswater Chinese, all of them are Premier League teams.”

The Sun even sent a message to Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese across the airwaves.

“To the players of Bayswater Chinese, you are surrounded.”

“Give it up, you’re surrounded by Premier League teams!”

Besides The Sun, other major media outlets also sang a bleak tune for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Even the Daily Mirror commented that Yang Cheng was hoping to use the League Cup matches against Premier League teams to galvanize his players’ fighting spirit.

“It’s indeed a very good idea.”

“But we still want to remind him: you’ve chosen the wrong competition!”

“This is an impossible mission!”

Some media outlets even turned to attacking Yang Cheng personally, suggesting he was trying to grab headlines by poorly imitating Chelsea’s head coach, the “madman” Mourinho, who had recently rocketed to fame in England.

“But his irresponsible remarks make him look more like a buffoon.”

“Mourinho’s Chelsea has one of the most star-studded squads in Europe. What does Bayswater Chinese have?”

“They aren’t even the league leaders in the Championship. What right do they have to challenge so many Premier League teams?”

Other media outlets suggested that perhaps Yang Cheng had misread the tournament schedule.

“The League Cup semi-finals are two-legged ties, not single-elimination matches.”

“Under these circumstances, the possibility of an upset is greatly reduced.”

Some even pointed out that the 24-year-old Yang Cheng had been blinded by the success he’d achieved over the past year.

“We understand completely. at his age, one tends to go through a phase of feeling invincible.”

“But in the upcoming fixtures, the Premier League teams will teach him a vivid lesson!”

In the morning, the players arrived at Bayswater Stadium on time.

On the bulletin board outside the locker room, a note was posted.

It was a message left for everyone by head coach Yang Cheng.

He had gone to the Brent Reservoir that morning to sign some contracts and attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new training base. Therefore, the morning training session would be led by Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett, with the focus on post-match recovery.

The players saw no issue with this.

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett were very familiar with the players, and it wasn’t the first time they had led training.

The players knew exactly what to do and to what extent.

Ordinarily, the players would have been chatting about the new training base, but today, many of them weren’t in the mood. They each seemed to have something heavy on their minds.

“Did you guys see the morning papers?” the Portuguese, José Fonte, was the first to speak.

He was a mainstay in the team’s defense this season and was very active in the locker room.

Yang Cheng had not only made him vice-captain but had also given him a nickname: the Commissar.

“Saw them on the tube. Some of the media are really out of line.”

“I saw them tearing into our boss.”

“Tell me about it. Some of those reports made me angry. Why can’t we challenge for the title?”

“Exactly! Do they think Premier League teams are guaranteed to win? Didn’t Southampton lose 4-0 to us?”

“I’d say the top-tier Premier League clubs are definitely strong, but the mid-to-lower table teams aren’t necessarily that much better, and we’re no worse than them. Southampton is the best proof.”

“That’s right. I’m with the boss. We’re no worse than Premier League teams. Why can’t we say we’re going for the title?”

Once José Fonte got the ball rolling, an uproar erupted in the locker room.

Everyone was filled with resentment towards the media reports.

The players of Bayswater Chinese were quite young, mostly around 20 years old.

Players of this age share a common trait: they dare to dream, dare to fight, and fear nothing.

Being looked down upon like this was, in their eyes, incredibly frustrating.

“Actually, I think the boss said something very true before the Southampton match.”

José Fonte waited until everyone had more or less said their piece before he stood up to speak.

“Premier League teams aren’t that scary. In fact, in the League Cup, the brutal competition of the Premier League becomes their weakness, which is our advantage.”

“We must look down on our opponents strategically, but respect them in our tactics and execution!”

After speaking, José Fonte turned to look at Modrić.

The other players in the locker room also turned their gazes to the Croatian.

In truth, even now, many still wondered why the captain was the quiet Luka Modrić and not José Fonte.

Just like right now. As the captain, shouldn’t he be the one stepping up to encourage his teammates?

Modrić was looking down, tying his shoelaces, when he noticed the world around him had suddenly gone silent.

He looked up and saw all his teammates staring at him quietly.

“Luka, you should say something,” Ribéry said with a laugh.

The two of them were the first to arrive at Bayswater Chinese, and their chemistry on the pitch had grown stronger and stronger. They were good friends off the field as well.

It seemed like Modrić hadn’t been paying attention, but in reality, he had been listening intently the whole time.

Feeling the gazes of his teammates, he thought of the captain’s armband on his arm.

He wasn’t wearing it yet, but he could feel its weight.

“You know, my country has been through a war. My father fought in it.”

“I learned a lesson from it: if you encounter difficulties in life, you shouldn’t despair, because that’s the most useless thing to do.”

“All hardships only make us stronger and more resilient.”

“Overcome them, and we will be hard to defeat!”

Modrić’s words lacked any of the passion of a motivational speech, nor did they contain any soul-stirring fervor.

He just sat there, as if stating a very simple, unadorned truth.

But from his face, from his eyes, from the unwavering tone in his voice as he spoke, everyone felt a strength.

A strength that came from the heart, from the very depths of his soul—an unshakeable power!

And everyone in the locker room was moved by it.

That weekend, in the 19th round of the Championship.

Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away against West Ham United.

The Hammers scored first in the first half, but Bayswater Chinese equalized in the 68th minute of the second half.

After that, the visiting team launched a fierce offensive and even scored again in the 67th minute from a free-kick after a West Ham foul.

However, head referee Paul Armstrong disallowed the goal, citing a foul by Škrtel just before he scored.

Just seven minutes later, West Ham’s left midfielder, Hayden Mullins, was fouled by Škrtel during a counter-attack.

Tempers flared, and the two got into a physical altercation as they got to their feet.

The head referee showed each a red card, sending both players off.

In the end, with both teams down to ten men, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the 20th round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese hosted Burnley.

After two consecutive 1-1 draws, Bayswater Chinese erupted at home.

Just thirteen minutes into the game, Huddlestone broke through Burnley’s defense with a long-range shot from outside the box.

Only three minutes later, another long pass from Huddlestone found Lennon, who beat the offside trap, broke into the box one-on-one, and scored again.

In the 24th minute, an assist from Lambert allowed Ribéry to score the third goal of the match.

In less than half an hour, Bayswater Chinese had scored three goals, sealing the victory early.

The score remained the same until the final whistle.

The attendance for this match at Loftus Road Stadium officially surpassed thirteen thousand.

This was a number Bayswater Chinese would not have dared to imagine before.

Since Bayswater Chinese and Queens Park Rangers were sharing a stadium this season, their home and away fixtures were staggered.

For many Queens Park Rangers fans, or neutral fans, this meant they could watch a Championship match at Loftus Road Stadium every week.

Bayswater Chinese’s attendance had been steadily climbing.

Especially after the team advanced to the 4th round of the League Cup, attendance for that match broke eighteen thousand.

In terms of league attendance, Queens Park Rangers maintained around fifteen thousand fans.

Bayswater Chinese’s numbers were growing rapidly, now officially past thirteen thousand.

After the League Cup draw was announced, tickets for the quarter-final match at home against Portsmouth on November 30th were already sold out.

Portsmouth was right next door to Southampton and also a Premier League team.

Although the League Cup was considered a minor trophy by the big clubs, it was still a national competition, and being a single-elimination match made it highly entertaining. The London fans were certainly buying in.

The team’s excellent performance in cup competitions attracted more fans, which in turn boosted attendance for league home games.

By now, there wasn’t much of a gap between Bayswater Chinese’s and Queens Park Rangers’ attendance numbers.

Incidentally, Queens Park Rangers suffered a crushing 6-1 defeat away to Leeds United in this round, dropping to 9th in the league table, and their situation was far from optimistic.

On one side was Bayswater Chinese, in great form and getting stronger with every match; on the other was Queens Park Rangers, suffering one devastating defeat after another. More and more neutral fans were beginning to waver, and some were even switching their allegiance.

On November 27th, in the 21st round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese lost 0-1 away to Ipswich Town.

The goal came in the 22nd minute, a momentary lapse of concentration from the defense dealing the team a blow in this clash of titans.

With the three points from this crucial match, Ipswich Town leapfrogged Wigan Athletic, who drew away at Reading, to claim the top spot in the Championship league table.

Bayswater Chinese, with 11 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses from 21 matches, sat in 4th place with 37 points.

First-place Ipswich Town had 42 points, Wigan Athletic had 41, and Sunderland had 40.

Behind Bayswater Chinese were Reading with 35 points and West Ham United with 34.

Yang Cheng was somewhat disappointed by the loss but not surprised.

He had rested several key players for this top-of-the-table clash.

He was concentrating all his forces on the League Cup quarter-final at home against Portsmouth, just three days away.

He wanted to use this match as a breakthrough, to unleash all the power and pressure the team had accumulated on their journey!

Chapter 53: I Need Your Help, Łukasz!

Milan Mandarić, a 66-year-old Serbian-American businessman, was a very low-key individual.

In fact, many football fans had never even heard his name.

But his story served as a template for many football investors.

In 1990, he seized the opportunity to quietly take over the French club OGC Nice. Five years later, he cashed out, earning his first fortune in football.

A year later, he aggressively acquired the Belgian team R. Charleroi S.C., and just two years after that, in 1998, he cashed out again.

This was because, in that same year, he bought Portsmouth, then in League One, for the low price of five million pound sterling.

At the time, Portsmouth was plagued by a financial deficit and declared liquidation in December.

Milan Mandarić had shrewdly bought them at rock bottom.

In 2002, he warmly invited the renowned manager Harry Redknapp, who was enjoying a successful spell at West Ham United, to manage Portsmouth.

Despite a limited transfer budget, Redknapp leveraged his connections and network in the Premier League and European football to secure numerous players for Portsmouth through loans and poaching.

Among them were famous veterans like Teddy Sheringham.

This allowed Portsmouth to smoothly gain promotion from League One to the Premier League and successfully stay there.

But it was clear that the two men had different philosophies for running Portsmouth.

This difference would only intensify over time, eventually leading to conflict.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Milan Mandarić had always operated on a business model of buying low and selling high. He had no emotional attachment to football or the club whatsoever.

For instance, he sold Portsmouth in 2006 and moved on to buy the then-relegated Leicester City at a low price.

By 2010, he sold Leicester City and bought Sheffield Wednesday for a symbolic one pound sterling.

Of course, judging by his later experiences, as the era of big capital arrived, Milan Mandarić’s methods became increasingly unworkable in the Premier League.

But in 2004, it was still a devastatingly effective strategy.

Milan Mandarić’s goal was to cash out. He was constantly thinking about selling Portsmouth while its value was still high, so he was meticulous and stingy with the club’s investments.

Redknapp, on the other hand, wanted the team to be more competitive in the Premier League.

In 2004, the British media once again exposed a scandal involving illegal payments in football.

The first to be implicated was Ferguson. His son was involved in running an agency called Elite Sports Agency, which had handled tens of millions of pounds worth of transfers for Manchester United.

For example, Tim Howard’s transfer fee was 2.3 million pound sterling, but Manchester United paid the agent a commission as high as 700,000 pound sterling.

Also caught up in these corruption rumours was Redknapp.

Back when he was managing West Ham United, he had received 300,000 pound sterling for selling Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United.

His close associate, agent Rune Hauge, took 1.8 million pound sterling from the 18-million-pound sterling transfer fee.

The corruption rumours caused quite a stir in England.

When a team is doing well, everyone gets what they want and things are peaceful.

But once problems arise, the infighting begins.

In November, Milan Mandarić invited the Croatian Velimir Zajec to become Portsmouth’s sporting director.

Over the past two or three years, due to an increasing number of scandals being uncovered, Premier League clubs had become more guarded against their head coaches.

The power of head coaches was gradually being carved up, with roles like sporting director, technical director, or director of football created to serve this purpose.

Looking at the overall trend, this was a sign that Premier League clubs were gradually aligning their management structures with those of continental Europe.

This was a good thing.

But at this sensitive time for Portsmouth, it was clear that Zajec was there to strip Redknapp of his power.

The old English manager was a tough character and a fierce fight ensued between the two.

He had just won the Premier League Manager of the Month award in October, securing impressive victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

But as soon as Zajec arrived, starting in November, the results plummeted: a 0-3 loss to Aston Villa, a 1-2 loss to Southampton, a 1-3 loss to Manchester City…

Three consecutive heavy defeats shattered Portsmouth’s excellent form.

After the loss to Manchester City, Redknapp resigned on the spot and announced his departure.

This was tantamount to putting Portsmouth and Mandarić in check.

At such a critical juncture, who could take over Portsmouth?

Not only that, but as an act of revenge, Redknapp began talks with Southampton, who were in the relegation zone.

They were Portsmouth’s mortal enemies!

Caught off guard, Portsmouth temporarily appointed Zajec as the team’s interim head coach.

Although Zajec was a former professional player, his coaching career had nothing noteworthy about it.

His last managerial role was at Panathinaikos in Greece, where he was sacked after just 34 matches.

And that was back in the 1996/97 season.

However, despite being thrown in at the deep end, he led the team to a 1-0 away victory against Bolton in his first match, which was a good start.

But the league is not a cup competition!

…

On the evening of November 30th, at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

In the League Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese faced Portsmouth at home.

The first half was about to end, and the score was still 0-0.

Yang Cheng stood in front of the home team’s technical area, his brows tightly furrowed.

“We’re still not strong enough,” Brian Kidd sighed.

This was not the result Yang Cheng had hoped for.

Portsmouth had just changed their manager. Zajec was unfamiliar with the Premier League, unfamiliar with the players, and had been out of frontline coaching for years.

Morale within the team was low.

Such an opponent was practically a gift for Yang Cheng.

He had even been willing to de-prioritize the league to make a breakthrough in the cup competitions.

But now?

Aaron Lennon was rested, so Yang Cheng had started with the combination of Ribéry and Ashley Young for this match.

Both could play on either flank.

Zajec had adopted a 4-4-1-1 formation since taking over, but his more defensively capable midfielder, Faye, was unavailable.

Yang Cheng had hoped to use them to attack Portsmouth’s half-spaces.

Ashley Young was very fast, but his dribbling ability wasn’t particularly strong.

Yang Cheng’s original plan was to have the full-backs actively participate in the attack.

So, before the match, he had been encouraging Capaldi and Kevin Foley to push forward and pose a threat with their overlapping runs.

But during the game, neither full-back dared to go up.

Capaldi’s ability was limited, while Kevin Foley had always been overly cautious.

The other left-back, Danny Collins, was primarily a defensive player.

Under these circumstances, both of Bayswater Chinese’s flanks had fizzled out.

With Ribéry contained and Modrić blocked, the attack in the final third lost all its threat.

“The most consistent player on our team right now is actually Lassana Diarra.”

Even Brian Kidd found it a little amusing.

That kid was crazy about earning money.

After every single match, he would find Yang Cheng to settle his account.

This was no secret in the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

One hundred pound sterling for winning possession, a 200-pound sterling fine for losing it.

Brian Kidd had genuinely not expected Yang Cheng to use money to motivate the lad.

But it had to be said, Lassana Diarra’s improvement this season was there for all to see.

Just like in this match, he was truly omnipresent.

It was precisely because of Lassana Diarra’s presence and his astonishing ground coverage that Yang Cheng dared to let both full-backs push forward so boldly.

“How about we bring Lennon on at halftime?” Brian Kidd suggested.

In terms of attacking impact from the wing, Lennon was still a cut above Ashley Young.

But the latter was also very fast, and his technique and passing were better.

Yang Cheng turned his head, glanced at the substitutes’ bench, and began to weigh his options.

Soon, he shook his head.

“I’ll talk to Łukasz.”

Piszczek?

“Isn’t that a bit of a risk?” Brian Kidd was worried.

Although he was willing to trust young players, what could Piszczek, who had been performing poorly all season, really change in a match like this?

Brian Kidd assumed Piszczek would come on to play as a winger.

“His speed and explosiveness will be a great weapon on the pitch.”

Yang Cheng’s words confused Brian Kidd.

Speed?

Ashley Young was also very fast.

Why substitute Ashley Young for Piszczek?

Yang Cheng didn’t explain further.

Often, a head coach doesn’t need to explain.

What’s needed is for those around him to obey and execute.

Moreover, he firmly believed in one thing: a player’s mentality.

Every single player who makes it at a top club has an incredibly strong mentality.

Without it, they could never have emerged from the competition among so many players.

So, there was no problem with bringing on Piszczek.

The key was how to get the player to listen to him.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but smile wryly.

He had certainly gone to great lengths to get Piszczek to change positions.

…

The first half ended 0-0.

Bayswater Chinese had created quite a few chances and dominated the game in terms of play.

Although Pompey were a Premier League team, their only threatening attack in the entire first half came from an attacking free-kick.

Czech left winger Patrik Berger won a foul on the left flank. From the resulting free-kick, centre-back De Zeeuw challenged Koscielny for the header, but his attempt went wide.

Other than that, Portsmouth had no opportunities.

But Bayswater Chinese’s attack was equally stifled.

During the halftime summary, the commentators expressed a sense of helplessness over the stalemate.

“Hopefully, the second half will be more exciting.”

But for the Bayswater Chinese fans, a 0-0 draw against a Premier League team, while also having the upper hand, was already impressive.

Thus, they greeted the players leaving the pitch with enthusiastic applause.

Yang Cheng met each player one by one, sending them into the tunnel.

Then, he turned to look towards the side of the pitch.

“Łukasz.”

Yang Cheng shouted loudly.

By this time, Portsmouth’s coaches and players had already returned to their dressing room.

Piszczek was about to warm up with his teammates when he heard the head coach’s call and immediately ran over.

Having been in England for several months, he had been studying English, and daily conversation was no longer a problem.

But this was a private conversation, so Yang Cheng used German.

“You see the situation we’re in, right?”

Piszczek nodded heavily. “It’s not looking good, boss.”

“Our flanks can’t break through.”

Upon hearing this, a fiery desire shone in the 19-year-old Piszczek’s eyes.

“What can I do to help you?” Piszczek’s voice trembled slightly.

He knew this was a critical moment.

Aaron Lennon was still sitting on the bench.

The coach calling him over was a clear enough signal.

This made Piszczek feel excited.

Yang Cheng didn’t answer directly. Instead, he stared intently at Piszczek with a very serious expression.

“I need your help, Łukasz.”

Piszczek nodded excitedly. “I’m ready. I’ll give it my all.”

“But I need you to make some changes.”

“Name them,” Piszczek replied without hesitation.

Over the past few months, he had received some playing time, either as a left winger or a right winger, but his performances hadn’t been ideal.

Yang Cheng always comforted him, saying it was because he hadn’t integrated into the team yet.

Piszczek told himself the same thing.

So, every time he played, he was full of anticipation.

“I need you to promise me that after you get on the pitch, you will unconditionally follow my instructions and carry out the tasks I give you without any compromise. Can you do that?”

Yang Cheng stared into Piszczek’s eyes and quickly added another sentence.

“This is about winning or losing this match, about our challenge for the League Cup title, and even about our Championship title and our great ambition to get promoted to the Premier League!”

The weight of Yang Cheng’s words came crashing down, making Piszczek’s breath a little ragged.

Was this match really that important?

But the Polish player quickly gritted his teeth and looked gratefully at his head coach. “Thank you for your trust in me. I promise you, I will not let you down!”

Only then did Yang Cheng nod in satisfaction.

“Finish your warm-up and go back to the dressing room. In the second half, you’re replacing Kevin Foley.”

Piszczek was stunned.

Chapter 54: The Roaring Stadium

When Kevin Foley learned he was being substituted, he looked crestfallen.

He had always been aware of his own shortcomings.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had been constantly trying to help him.

But some habits, some mindsets, stemmed from his personality and were truly difficult to change.

However, replacing Kevin Foley with Piszczek surprised everyone.

In their minds, wasn’t Piszczek an attacker?

Halftime was only fifteen minutes long, and the players had even less time in the dressing room.

Yang Cheng didn’t have time for a lengthy explanation.

He singled out Lassana Diarra for praise, because his performance in the first half had been truly outstanding.

“In the second half, you can push your tackling zone further forward, even into their 30-meter area. But remember, after you win the ball, pass it immediately. There will always be a teammate around you.”

Lassana Diarra, fresh off the head coach’s praise, was in high spirits and nodded eagerly in agreement.

Yang Cheng glanced at him and added, “If you can win the ball in that area and pass it to Ribéry, Kitson, Ashley Young, or Modrić, I’ll count it as two tackles for you.”

The young Frenchman’s eyes lit up instantly, his dark face breaking into a wide grin that revealed a set of gleaming white teeth.

Everyone in the dressing room knew about Lassana Diarra’s family situation, so no one had any issue with his fondness for money.

As for the extra bonus Yang Cheng offered, it was coming out of the head coach’s own pocket.

“Ribéry and Ashley Young, stick to the plan we made before the match. You can switch flanks and try to link up with the full-backs. The wings have to be dynamic!”

Both wingers nodded in unison.

Only by bringing the flanks to life could they stretch the opposition’s defense and prevent them from packing the middle.

That was when the half-spaces would open up.

Having covered most of the essential points, Yang Cheng glanced at the time.

“Alright, everyone.”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention.

The players were more or less ready to go back out onto the pitch.

“We played well in the first half. Even though it’s 0-0, we were better than our opponents in terms of both control and chances created. And they are a Premier League team!”

The phrase “Premier League team” was a source of motivation for the Bayswater Chinese players.

“Trust me, they’re a spent force right now. They’re just holding on by a thread.”

“If we can just seize an opportunity in the second half and get the first goal…”

“Just one goal!!!”

Yang Cheng roared, encouraging his players with all his might, his neck veins bulging.

“Believe me, if we score first, this game is ours! They’ll crumble immediately!”

“Let’s go!!!”

Yang Cheng applauded vigorously, hugging each player as they prepared to leave, sending them out of the dressing room.

When it was Piszczek’s turn, Yang Cheng deliberately kept him back until last.

The two of them walked towards the tunnel together.

“Łukasz, whether it’s Ashley Young or Ribéry, you must be bold and push forward. If they’re on the wing, you attack the half-space. If they cut into the half-space, you overlap. Understand?”

Piszczek nodded firmly.

As he was about to step onto the pitch, he began to feel the pressure of the match.

“It’s fine. I have complete faith in you. You’re no ordinary player; you just haven’t found your true position yet.”

“Trust me, and trust yourself!”

Piszczek turned to look at the head coach and once again nodded emphatically.

…

The match resumed.

This was Piszczek’s first time playing as a defender.

Before this, he didn’t even know how a defender was supposed to play.

He had never specifically trained in defense.

While lining up in the tunnel earlier, he had asked José Fonte.

The Portuguese player had smiled and encouraged him, “Don’t worry. It’s defending. If you lose the ball, win it back. If you can’t, track back and keep the formation.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”

Thinking of this, Piszczek couldn’t help but let out a heavy breath.

How could he not be worried?

After changing ends for the second half, Bayswater Chinese maintained their attacking posture.

Although Piszczek was a winger, he came on to play as a full-back, which was a like-for-like positional change. Therefore, Portsmouth didn’t make too many adjustments, likely assuming Kevin Foley was injured or something else.

For the first few minutes, Bayswater Chinese continued to focus their attacks down the left flank.

This had always been the team’s trademark.

They utilized Ribéry’s exceptional individual ability, using his dribbling and runs to draw the attention of defenders and pull the defensive line out of shape.

The few times Piszczek got the ball, he simply played it on.

But he was constantly observing.

By the 49th minute, Yang Cheng was still not satisfied with the way the second half was unfolding. He called over Modrić and Huddlestone, signaling to them that it was time to change the direction of attack.

Portsmouth was paying very close attention to Ribéry.

Attack the right flank!

Soon, more passes were directed towards the right side of the pitch.

Piszczek had no time for second thoughts, mostly focused on receiving the ball, passing, and running into space…

Yang Cheng shouted to Piszczek and gestured, telling him to be bold and make forward runs when he saw an opportunity.

Piszczek nodded towards the head coach on the sideline.

But he didn’t know when the right moment was.

Until the 53rd minute.

The ball was in the central area and was passed to Kitson at the edge of the penalty area.

Kitson used his body to shield the ball from the defender but couldn’t turn. He was forced to dribble back and pass it out to the right flank, to Ashley Young.

Ashley Young received the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area with his back to goal, first feinting as if to go to the byline.

But the defender was already in position.

So, he had to abandon the idea.

At that very moment, Piszczek saw Portsmouth’s number 26, Gary O’Neil, closing in on Ashley Young.

He was trying to trap Ashley Young on the right wing and cut off his passing lanes.

The thought flashed through Piszczek’s mind, and he immediately sprinted forward.

He was fast, and he shouted as he ran.

“Here!”

Ashley Young had also noticed Gary O’Neil and was worried about being double-teamed.

Hearing Piszczek’s shout, he immediately looked over.

The clever Piszczek had abandoned the right touchline and ran into the half-space, right between O’Neil and the left-back, David Unsworth, carving out a passing lane.

Without a second thought, Ashley Young played the ball to him.

Piszczek had been with Bayswater Chinese for several months now, and he had learned a lot from Yang Cheng and the coaches, especially some training methods and advanced football concepts.

As he saw Ashley Young passing the ball, he was constantly scanning the field.

He saw Modrić also running into an open space in the middle, and Dave Kitson was still at the top of the arc.

Suddenly, a scenario played out in his mind.

So, the instant he controlled the ball, he took a touch diagonally towards the center.

As he expected, the defender moved to close him down.

Piszczek then threaded a pass in behind the defender.

Modrić made a forward run, receiving the ball on the edge of the box on the right side.

The Croatian looked as if he was about to drive forward with the ball and break into the penalty area.

This caught everyone around him by surprise.

But just as he drew the defenders towards him, Modrić faked one way and passed the other, laying the ball off to Dave Kitson at the top of the arc.

The English centre-forward controlled the ball, turned, and was about to shoot when centre-back Arjan de Zeeuw closed him down just in time, poking the ball away.

But the attack wasn’t over.

The Portsmouth midfield failed to intercept the loose ball outside the arc. It took a deflection and rolled towards the left side of the penalty area line.

Just then, a red shirt stormed onto the scene. Without even taking a touch to control it, he planted his left foot and met the approaching ball with a powerful right-footed shot.

The ball shot off his foot like a cannonball, flying over the heads of the players in the box and nestling into the Portsmouth goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“The 53rd minute! In the 53rd minute, Bayswater Chinese have broken the deadlock against Portsmouth!”

“A fantastic long-range shot from Franck Ribéry from the left edge of the penalty area!”

“1-0!”

In an instant, the entire Loftus Road Stadium erupted.

After scoring, an ecstatic Ribéry turned and ran, with all the Bayswater Chinese players chasing after him.

After a stalemate of over fifty minutes, they had finally scored!

…

“Well done!”

Yang Cheng shouted at his players from the sideline, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Stay focused! Keep up the pressure! Don’t let up!”

Turning around, he saw the smiling faces of Brian Kidd and the other coaches.

“That Piszczek kid, that forward run he made just now was very clever,” Brian Kidd praised.

That run was the key to the goal.

If he hadn’t made that run, Ashley Young would have been more likely to take the ball out of play, or even lose possession.

“Of course, he’s a winger!” Yang Cheng said, not without a hint of pride.

Piszczek was a smart player and was improving quickly.

And with a good start, many things would fall into place naturally.

If he could get more playing time, Piszczek probably wouldn’t object to playing as a full-back.

Then, they would just need to work on improving his defensive skills.

…

Just as Yang Cheng had said at halftime.

When Bayswater Chinese broke through Portsmouth’s goal, Pompey truly lost their composure.

Logically, a Premier League team facing a Championship team should be a complete mismatch.

They should have been fighting to get back into the game.

But throughout the match, they had been suppressed by the home team, unable to organize any threatening attacks.

In this situation, the players on the pitch were no longer on the same page.

As the head coach, Velimir Zajec’s failure to give timely instructions or make adjustments to unify the team’s mindset at this critical moment was a serious mistake.

In the 59th minute, as the opposing midfielder Patrik Berger was on the ball, Lassana Diarra dashed out from an angle behind him, successfully winning the ball. He then launched a counter-attack, passing it laterally to Modrić outside the penalty area.

The Croatian didn’t take a touch, instead directly sending a surgical through ball into the box.

Ribéry made a diagonal run from the left channel into the penalty area, latched onto Modrić’s pass, took a touch, and slotted it home.

The ball rolled into the Portsmouth goal once again.

2-0!

Loftus Road Stadium erupted once more!

No one had expected another goal just six minutes later.

Velimir Zajec finally reacted, immediately making a substitution.

But his change was also baffling.

With his team in disarray, he took off David Unsworth and brought on an attacking midfielder, Mézague.

This was a signal to strengthen the team’s attack.

Just five minutes later, he replaced striker Ricardo Fuller with another striker, Yakubu.

This showed his determination to burn his bridges and go all out.

But by then, they were already two goals down.

The Portsmouth players’ morale had suffered a heavy blow.

Yang Cheng also made a decisive adjustment, signaling his team to intensify their attacks down the right flank.

David Unsworth was a decent defender. With him off the pitch, their left side was exposed, forcing a centre-back to cover the flank.

But this, in turn, created an opportunity for Dave Kitson.

This targeted adjustment proved effective.

In the 82nd minute, it was again Piszczek’s forward run providing support, completing a brilliant one-two with Ashley Young on the right wing.

After chasing down the ball on the right side of the penalty area, Ashley Young whipped in a cross.

Dave Kitson made a quick run into the middle, rose above the defender, and powered a close-range header into the Portsmouth goal.

The entire stadium erupted in cheers once again!

3-0!

“Absolutely unexpected!”

“After their halftime substitution, Bayswater Chinese completely broke free from their first-half struggles.”

“Especially the newly substituted right-back, Piszczek, who was very active and also brought Ashley Young to life.”

“Two of the three goals were orchestrated from the right flank.”

“It has to be said, Yang Cheng’s halftime substitution was extremely timely and highly effective.”

“Portsmouth, on the other hand… Velimir Zajec has clearly been away from front-line coaching for too long.”

Even after scoring three goals, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack.

In the 88th minute, Arjan de Zeeuw fouled Dave Kitson just outside the penalty area, giving Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

Ribéry took the free-kick, but it went just slightly over the bar, squandering a precious opportunity for a hat-trick.

In the end, thanks to a brace from Ribéry and a goal from Kitson, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 3-0 victory over Portsmouth at home!

Chapter 55: Wenger: They’re All Exposed!

Bayswater Chinese beat Portsmouth 3-0 at home!

Overnight, this news spread rapidly across England.

All the media outlets were scrambling to report on this match, to report on this dark horse.

No one had expected Bayswater Chinese’s dark horse run from the Championship to extend to the League Cup.

Especially their last two League Cup matches, a 4-0 thrashing of Southampton and a 3-0 demolition of Portsmouth—this was no simple feat!

Just as The Times said in its post-match commentary.

Southampton and Portsmouth had indeed been in turmoil recently, but the overall quality of these two Premier League teams was not poor.

The Saints were a long-established strong team, and Pompey was currently mid-table in the Premier League.

For Bayswater Chinese to convincingly defeat both rivals at home was a true testament to their strength.

This was especially true of the 3-0 victory over Portsmouth.

This wasn’t just a battle of strength between two teams; it was a duel between head coaches.

“The 24-year-old Yang Cheng thoroughly proved his coaching abilities in this match.”

The Times believed that with the match deadlocked in the first half, Yang Cheng’s halftime substitution of the young player called Piszczek became the key turning point.

“It was precisely Piszczek’s introduction that activated Ashley Young’s attacks on the right flank, which in turn ignited the team’s entire forward press.”

“Compared to Yang Cheng, Zajec’s in-game management seemed particularly amateurish in this match.”

The Times placed special emphasis on Ribéry.

Last season in League Two, the French winger had already attracted the attention of many clubs.

The media had also taken notice of this winger who excelled at breaking through on the flank.

This season, Ribéry’s performance in the Championship was even more outstanding, and his overall ability was stronger than last season.

Especially in the League Cup.

Whether against Southampton or Portsmouth, Ribéry delivered exceptional performances.

Thanks to these two matches, he had firmly entered the sights of Premier League clubs.

Everyone was starting to notice that in the Championship’s Bayswater Chinese, there was a winger with such superlative individual skill.

In addition, after the two matches against Premier League teams, Aaron Lennon, who scored twice, and the impressive Ashley Young also began to make a name for themselves.

Both of these players were also homegrown talent.

Finally, The Times didn’t forget to poke fun at its peers.

“During the post-match press conference, when asked a question by a reporter from a certain newspaper, Yang Cheng stated that Portsmouth had taught Bayswater Chinese a valuable lesson.”

This was Yang Cheng’s counterattack against The Sun.

Because before the match, The Sun had claimed that a Premier League team would teach Yang Cheng a lesson.

…

The four matches of the League Cup quarter-finals were all completed.

At home, Manchester United eliminated Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bellion.

Neither team fielded their core starters, and Manchester United sealed the victory with an early sneak attack.

This infuriated Wenger.

But what vexed him even more was that Bayswater Chinese had actually beaten Portsmouth.

And Ribéry had scored twice!

The next day, seeing the major media outlets reporting on Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng, and Ribéry, he noted that the outstanding midfielder Lassana Diarra was also receiving a lot of attention.

This made Wenger’s brow furrow even more tightly.

He now felt the disappointment of having a secret he had treasured for years suddenly exposed to the world.

Ribéry, Lassana Diarra, and Koscielny were all French players, and all had performed excellently.

Over the past year, Wenger had frequently sent Steve Rowley to scout Bayswater Chinese, specifically to monitor these players.

Now, they were all exposed!

“With the upward trajectory Ribéry is showing now, I’m afraid ten million pound sterling won’t be enough to buy him.”

Wenger said, full of frustration.

He had always had a soft spot for French players, especially one like Ribéry.

“He’s performing very well in the Championship, has already scored eight league goals, and is the undisputed attacking core of Bayswater Chinese.” Assistant coach Pat Rice knew what was on Wenger’s mind.

“And that Lassana Diarra, his performances are getting better and better too,” Steve Rowley said.

“At first, I thought he’d be like Makélélé, but after watching him play for a few months, Yang Cheng’s use of him is very interesting. He’s more like a number 8, given a huge amount of freedom to roam.”

Wenger nodded. Yang Cheng’s use of Lassana Diarra had indeed impressed him.

For the current Arsenal, Wenger had also been considering a problem.

It would likely be difficult to keep Vieira.

The 29-year-old French holding midfielder had long been unsettled.

If Vieira left, they would only have Gilberto Silva left in central midfield.

The tactical role of this Brazilian holding midfielder at Arsenal was somewhat similar to Huddlestone’s at Bayswater Chinese.

The other position was for Fàbregas.

If Lassana Diarra could come, wouldn’t he be the perfect fit to fill the hole in midfield?

The thought was tempting, but the rational Wenger quickly suppressed it.

Playing for Bayswater Chinese in the Championship and playing for Arsenal in the Premier League were two completely different things.

He needed to observe Lassana Diarra more.

Ribéry’s rapid development now put Wenger in a difficult position.

They had Pires, Ljungberg, and Reyes, and Pennant hadn’t transferred in the summer.

Arsenal was not short of good players on the wings.

If Ribéry’s price tag were a bit lower, Wenger might have made a move.

Now…

But Wenger felt it would be a huge shame to miss out on a player like Ribéry.

And he was French, too.

What a dilemma!

…

“That amateur team really made it to the semi-finals?”

At almost the same time, in his home in Knightsbridge, Roman Abramovich looked at Pini Zahavi in disbelief.

The Israeli’s expression was not pleasant.

Before the match, he had sworn that Bayswater Chinese had no chance of beating Portsmouth.

They were a mid-table Premier League team, after all.

And now…

Slap, slap, slap—three slaps to the face!

“That guy, Ribéry, is he really that good?”

“He’s decent, but not as good as Robben.”

Arjen Robben, the powerful winger Chelsea had signed from PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands that summer, had instantly won worldwide acclaim.

His blistering pace made the Dutchman Chelsea’s most important weapon for breaking down defenses.

“I heard he can also play on the right. And that Aaron Lennon, who scored twice against Southampton, is incredibly fast. Bayswater Chinese has a good eye for talent.”

This was all information Abramovich had gathered from the newspapers.

Pini Zahavi’s mouth twitched slightly.

“Roman, if we buy players from Bayswater Chinese, aren’t we just helping them alleviate their debt?”

Abramovich was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood what Pini Zahavi meant.

The Russian grunted twice. “Looking at the current situation, their debt probably isn’t much of a problem anymore.”

But no matter what, he still wanted to force Bayswater Chinese to submit.

He was determined to get that piece of land!

Perhaps he could find a way through the government.

After all, it was a stalled construction project.

It was already an eyesore on a normal day, but if the Olympic bid succeeded, leaving such a prominent scar would make them a laughingstock for the whole world, wouldn’t it?

Having made up his mind, Abramovich was no longer conflicted.

“Now, I kind of hope we run into this team in the semi-finals.”

As Abramovich spoke, a harsh glint flashed in his eyes.

“To avenge last season’s defeat!”

…

“This Lassana Diarra is interesting.”

In Carrington, Manchester United’s training ground in Manchester, Ferguson had also seen the morning papers.

He had taken note of Lassana Diarra.

He could run so much, and his tackling was incredible!

Wasn’t a midfielder like that exactly what Manchester United needed right now?

The old captain, Roy Keane, would be 34 after this season.

Ferguson had been looking for Keane’s successor for some time.

“And there’s Ribéry,” assistant coach Queiroz recommended with a smile.

“We’ve brought in Saha and Rooney, and with Cristiano Ronaldo, if we could also sign Ribéry, our front three would be complete.”

It was common knowledge that Queiroz didn’t get along with Manchester United’s star striker, Van Nistelrooy.

In the tactical system the Portuguese coach envisioned for Manchester United, there was no place for Van Nistelrooy in the attacking trident.

The reason was simple: Van Nistelrooy’s style didn’t fit the current trends in football.

Saha was good at hold-up play, Rooney could also hold his own up front, and Cristiano Ronaldo was very fast on the right flank.

Young Ronaldo’s playing style looked flashy, but it was inefficient and lacked threat. Manchester United was constantly adjusting his tactical role and changing his style of play to make him more direct.

As things stood, Manchester United lacked a player who could dribble and break through defenses in the final third.

If they brought in Ribéry, a great deal of pressure would be taken off young Ronaldo.

Moreover, Giggs was already 31.

Ferguson glanced at his assistant, understanding his thoughts completely.

Queiroz valued young Ronaldo highly and had been carefully nurturing the young Portuguese player.

But in the minds of Ferguson and Manchester United, Rooney was the future of the team, the undisputed ace.

However, this player Ribéry was indeed worth keeping an eye on.

Hmm, and Lassana Diarra.

…

While all of England was still reeling in shock from the dark horse run of Bayswater Chinese, the draw for the League Cup semi-finals was quickly announced.

According to the schedule, the semi-finals would be a two-legged, home-and-away affair.

Bayswater Chinese drew Manchester United, while Liverpool drew Chelsea.

On January 11th, Bayswater Chinese would travel to Old Trafford for the first leg of the semi-final.

When this draw was announced, the whole of England was in an uproar once again.

The dark horse’s journey was essentially over.

In fact, even before the draw, everyone was pessimistic about Bayswater Chinese’s prospects.

Because the other three teams in the final four were all Premier League giants.

No matter who they faced, it would be impossible to advance.

What’s more, they were now up against Ferguson’s Manchester United.

…

Yang Cheng didn’t respond to the widespread pessimism from the outside world, instead focusing on leading his team in their matches.

In the 22nd round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, thrashed Rotherham United 4-1, thanks to a brace from Ribéry and goals from Kitson and Modrić.

That afternoon, the attendance at Loftus Road Stadium surpassed sixteen thousand, a very pleasing upward trend.

The main reasons were Bayswater Chinese’s good home record, their attractive style of play, and the momentum they had built in the League Cup. Naturally, fans in London were happy to buy tickets.

A week later, in the 23rd round of the Championship, Bayswater Chinese traveled to South London to face Millwall away.

They ultimately defeated Millwall 2-0 away with a goal from Kitson in the 21st minute and a one-on-one finish from Aaron Lennon in the 78th, securing another three points and their second consecutive win.

Anyone could see that the two victories over Premier League teams in the League Cup had significantly boosted Bayswater Chinese’s confidence.

This allowed them to play with more composure and ease against their Championship opponents.

December 17th, the 24th round of the Championship.

This was also the last match before Christmas.

Bayswater Chinese played at home against Stoke City.

The attendance at Loftus Road Stadium once again set a new league high, reaching 17,759, incredibly close to a full house.

But what made Yang Cheng even happier was in the 27th minute, when Piszczek, from the right flank, hit a diagonal cross-field pass, precisely switching the ball from thirty meters out on the right to the left side of the penalty area.

Ribéry timed his run to beat the offside trap, controlled the ball with his chest, and then chipped it over the keeper to break the deadlock against Stoke City.

After that, Bayswater Chinese played a steady game, firmly controlling the match.

Late in the second half, in the 69th and 70th minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in quick succession.

First, Koscielny scored from a corner, then after winning the ball back in midfield, Huddlestone scored with a long-range shot.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese convincingly defeated Stoke City at home, securing their third consecutive win.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese had 46 points from 24 games, with a record of 14 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses. They were level on points with Sunderland but ranked 3rd in the Championship due to a superior goal difference.

Ipswich Town was at the top of the table with 49 points, and Wigan Athletic was second with 47.

Everyone at the club was very satisfied with the current situation.

Chapter 56: Soaring Income

Last Christmas, Bayswater Chinese had neither the ability nor the funds to hold any events.

As a result, the entire holiday season was very quiet.

This year was different.

After the 24th round of the Championship on the 17th, the team had a recovery session the next morning. In the afternoon, Yang Cheng led them to the club’s new training ground.

This was partly to give the players a tour of their future training base, including its design and layout.

Yang Cheng highlighted a plot of land on the north bank of the Brent Reservoir, which would be used to build the first team’s training pitches and player dormitories.

Currently, the first phase of construction for the training ground consisted of the youth academy’s pitches and training building.

While the players had heard a lot about this new training base, it was the first time most of them had seen it.

This demonstrated Bayswater Chinese’s commitment to long-term management.

If the goal were merely short-term gain, there would be no need to invest in a major asset like a training ground.

That money could have been poured into the first team for much faster results.

But by doing this, Yang Cheng was making it clear that the management was genuinely dedicated to running the club properly.

After the tour, Yang Cheng took the players to Silver Jubilee Park to participate in a Christmas event co-hosted by the club and several local kindergartens and primary schools.

This was a first in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

The event, centered around football, saw the club give a carefully prepared gift to every child who attended.

This was one way for the club to integrate into the surrounding community.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, the area around Brent and Wembley would become a popular destination for people moving out of London’s core in the coming years.

Lin Zhongqiu was somewhat pained by the expense, but Yang Cheng planned to make this a long-term tradition.

Regarding the youth academy, Yang Cheng also met with Dan Ashworth and others to get an update.

Yang Cheng reiterated that the club’s long-term commitment to investing in the youth academy would not change.

“I’m running this youth academy with the resolve that I might not see any results for five, or even ten years!”

Like the training ground, the youth academy was a venture that swallowed money without making a sound.

But it was also a measure of the club’s determination.

He needed to reassure everyone at the club.

As for the youth academy, one could look at the example of Manchester City under the Abu Dhabi Group.

Manchester City invested continuously in their youth academy in the early stages. Later, as the academy began to produce talent, they were able to sell youth players for a significant sum each year. In a country like England, where homegrown players are extremely scarce, running a youth academy was a very good idea.

Of course, it was basically impossible to expect it to be a money-making enterprise.

…

After the community event, Yang Cheng led the team back to the city center.

Last year, the club had no money and therefore held no Christmas events.

This year was different. The team was in excellent form, and revenue was good, so Yang Cheng was not about to be stingy.

Long before Christmas, Yang Cheng had made arrangements for every first-team player, flying their families to London to spend the holiday with them.

They were all put up at the nearby Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The club had a good relationship with the hotel, it was close, and most importantly, they offered a very low discount.

For the week surrounding Christmas, the club covered all the round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations for the players’ families.

Although the first team only had twenty-one players, most of whom were from England or neighboring countries, the travel expenses were not exorbitant.

Still, this was a unique gesture among the twenty-four teams in the Championship this season.

Since it was their first time organizing such an event, and with a shortage of staff, many things couldn’t be done to perfection, but the club had shown more than enough sincerity.

At the very least, the players and their families were understanding.

During the Christmas dinner, with everyone gathered together, Yang Cheng made several important announcements.

The team would add a bonus for winning the League Cup and would significantly increase the club’s promotion bonus.

This earned Yang Cheng thunderous applause from everyone present.

For a Championship team to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup was a rare feat.

By daring to speak of winning the cup, Yang Cheng was showcasing the club’s ambition.

In addition, Yang Cheng announced that the club had signed a contract with top German bus manufacturer MAN to purchase two of their latest model, the MAN Lion’s Coach luxury bus.

The Lion’s Coach was MAN’s top-tier model. The second generation, launched in 2003, had won both the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award and was a bestseller worldwide.

Yang Cheng explained that the two luxury buses the club was purchasing were completely custom-built, with each one quoted at a price of 350,000 pound sterling, or 500,000 euro.

Even for a luxury bus, this was an astronomical price.

A major reason for the expense was that the interior of the bus was not only fully loaded with every comfort imaginable—refrigerators and the like went without saying—but it also featured a small kitchen and a mini-bar.

The team could even cook and eat meals right on the bus while traveling to away matches.

When the time came, besides the driver, a dedicated chef and service staff would accompany the team.

The two buses cost 700,000 pound sterling, but that was just the initial investment.

The ongoing salaries for drivers, chefs, and service staff would be a long-term expense.

But Yang Cheng felt it was absolutely necessary.

The first-team players all cheered, praising the club’s decision.

For now, Bayswater Chinese had no need to travel abroad for matches; if they did, they would certainly fly.

Within England, the northernmost trip from London was to Leeds, about three hundred kilometers. A trip further north to Newcastle would be about 450 kilometers.

Teams generally traveled by bus.

Even for longer journeys where the team took a train, a bus would be arranged in advance to wait at the destination to transport the team.

This was why two buses were needed.

Of course, some wealthier “tycoon” clubs would opt for private jets for away games to ensure results.

But that was a relatively rare occurrence.

Therefore, a team bus was truly, truly important for a football club.

Bayswater Chinese had previously rented their buses, and the quality was poor.

After Yang Cheng took over, he paid a bit more to rent better ones.

But no matter what, it couldn’t compare to the comfort of the club having its own custom-built vehicles.

With their own hired drivers and service staff, the players would also feel more comfortable, and there would be far fewer unforeseen complications.

In this area, Yang Cheng was more than willing to invest.

There were also other related investments, all aimed at improving the team’s soft and hard facilities.

The players present gave very positive feedback.

This left Yang Cheng very satisfied.

…

Returning to his seat, Yang Cheng sat down between Lin Zhongqiu and Xia Qing.

He had specially invited Xia Qing to the event.

“So? When can you come and help me?” Yang Cheng asked as soon as he sat down.

Xia Qing smiled charmingly. “Let me think about it a little more.”

“What’s there to think about? There’s no future being a ‘financial migrant worker’ in a place like that.”

Over the past while, Yang Cheng had frequently called to pester—er, no, to poach her.

“Look at us. The season is only half over, and our income has skyrocketed,” Yang Cheng promoted, not without a hint of pride.

Xia Qing, of course, already knew. She had even looked over the club’s accounts.

The growth in matchday revenue was indeed incredibly fast.

This was thanks to London’s large population base and the number of football fans.

Based on the current situation, Bayswater Chinese had played twelve home league games, with an average attendance of nearly twelve thousand. After deducting various costs and expenses, the matchday income had earned them over five million pound sterling.

This didn’t even include the two League Cup matches against Southampton and Portsmouth, both of which were home games and completely sold out.

Although the ticket prices for those two matches were slightly lower than for league games, together they brought in nearly one million pound sterling.

In other words, home game revenue alone had exceeded six million.

This was why Yang Cheng could afford to hold a Christmas event, invite players’ families for a week-long trip to London, and purchase two luxury buses—it was all thanks to the massive increase in revenue.

Of course, compared to a Premier League team, it was still an insignificant amount.

“Listen to me, go back and write your resignation letter right away, and hand it in,” Yang Cheng urged.

Xia Qing smiled and shook her head. “Stop fooling around. Even if I were to resign, I’d have to follow procedure. It’s not that fast.”

“Fine, you said it. Procedure is fine, I’ll wait for you!” Yang Cheng pressed his advantage.

Xia Qing let out another delicate laugh. Wasn’t he being shameless?

Beside them, Lin Zhongqiu looked melancholically at Yang Cheng, then at Xia Qing, and downed a glass of wine.

Out with the old, in with the new.

So, I’m just spilt water now, is that it?

But he had to admit, Xia Qing was indeed more capable than him.

When Yang Cheng had extended the invitation to Xia Qing, he had already discussed the matter with him.

As soon as Xia Qing took the position, he would return to China and work for Yang Jianguo’s real estate company.

On a side note, Yang Cheng’s so-called father was becoming more and more successful back in China.

After Liu Xiang won the Olympic gold, his brand had become an instant sensation in the domestic market, and sales had exploded.

It was said that recently, distributors scrambling to sign on had almost overwhelmed the company’s phone lines.

His real estate ventures were also said to be thriving.

Yang Cheng was happy to see it happen.

As long as his father didn’t come to England to cause trouble and hold him back, he didn’t care.

…

After chatting with Xia Qing for a while and comforting the wounded Lin Zhongqiu, Yang Cheng went over to talk with Brian Kidd and the other coaches, mainly about team matters.

“I think we need to expand our current coaching staff. Right now, the most important thing is a coach who’s good at honing players’ technical skills.”

Yang Cheng said to Brian Kidd as they stood aside.

“Piszczek needs special training on his defensive techniques,” Yang Cheng added.

Brian Kidd knew that Yang Cheng had decided to place great importance on the Polish player.

After the match against Portsmouth, Yang Cheng had suggested that Piszczek switch to playing right-back.

To get more playing time, the player had reluctantly accepted.

In the last four matches, he had played two full games at right-back.

His performance was quite good, better than Kevin Foley’s, mainly in terms of his offensive contributions.

But problems were also exposed, namely a weak sense of defensive positioning and insufficient defensive skills.

After all, he had started as a winger and a forward.

“Next up is Manchester United. Think about it, their left flank has Ryan Giggs, and their right has Cristiano Ronaldo. What are we going to do?”

At the mention of Ferguson, Brian Kidd’s expression grew even more solemn.

“Capaldi on the left is our weak link. His lack of ability has been clearly exposed. I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle Cristiano Ronaldo. We’ll probably have to use Danny Collins,” Brian Kidd suggested.

“Exactly. Collins on the left doesn’t offer much offensively. So what about the right? If Piszczek can’t hold his ground, we’ll definitely be at a huge disadvantage.”

As he said this, Yang Cheng sighed again.

“Forget Manchester United. Even in the league, most teams are good at attacking down the flanks. We already have to devote more defensive attention to Capaldi’s side, so we can’t afford to have problems on the right.”

Capaldi’s ability was indeed no longer sufficient for him to be a starter for Bayswater Chinese.

But there was no other choice. His attacking ability was still decent.

Yang Cheng couldn’t find a suitable replacement for his position on such short notice.

Especially not during the winter break.

So, for the time being, they needed Capaldi to keep holding on.

This could only be compensated for on a tactical level.

That made Piszczek’s position very crucial.

Yang Cheng had high hopes for the Pole.

“You saying that reminds me of someone,” Brian Kidd said.

“Who?”

“Danny McGrain. The legendary captain of Celtic. He was a right-back but could also fill in at left-back.”

After a pause, Brian Kidd added, “He’s fifty-four this year. After retiring in 1988, he started taking coaching courses. He managed for a while from ninety-two to ninety-four, but wasn’t successful. In mid-ninety-four, he became a coach at Celtic’s youth academy and has been there ever since.”

“I have some connections with him. Maybe I can persuade him to come over.”

Yang Cheng was noncommittal. “You think he’s suitable?”

“He was a right-back, and he’s very skilled at honing player techniques. I think it’s worth a try.”

“Alright, I trust your judgment!” Yang Cheng smiled and made the decision on the spot.

Because he really didn’t have any better candidates.

He had asked Steve Round at Middlesbrough, but was turned down.

With Brian Kidd’s eye for talent, Yang Cheng believed this Danny McGrain wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Chapter 57: Ferguson is Furious!

In the 2004/05 season, the Christmas schedule in the Championship was absolutely terrifying.

As usual, a match was scheduled for Boxing Day, the 26th.

This was followed by more matches on the 28th, and then on January 1st and 3rd of 2005.

In other words, they had to play four games in the short span of nine days.

This wasn’t just the case for the Championship; the Premier League was the same.

This was England’s traditionally hellish Christmas schedule.

After the 28th round of the Championship on the 3rd, the third round of the FA Cup was on the 8th.

Bayswater Chinese had been drawn against a North London team, Tottenham Hotspur.

Their luck was terrible; it was an away match.

In contrast, Queens Park Rangers had drawn a home tie against Nottingham Forest.

Then, on the 11th, Bayswater Chinese would travel north to face Manchester United away from home.

This was the first leg of the League Cup semifinals.

If the match against Tottenham Hotspur didn’t end in a draw requiring a replay, then after playing the 29th round of the Championship on the 14th, they would get a full week to rest.

But that would be immediately followed by another continuous stretch of two games a week.

One could only imagine the immense pressure of such a schedule.

Even teams with deep squads like Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea couldn’t guarantee winning every single match during such a dense period. Choices and sacrifices had to be made.

As for Yang Cheng, he certainly hoped to concentrate all his efforts on the League Cup semifinals.

No matter what, he wanted to give it his all and see if he could break through.

The players felt much the same way.

In the league, the team’s most important task was to maintain their current ranking and stabilize their position in the promotion playoff zone.

That meant 6th place in the league.

The League Cup would be over by the end of February.

If Bayswater Chinese could actually get past Manchester United, as long as they stayed in the top six, Yang Cheng would still have plenty of time to make a push for promotion.

On this point, he had enough confidence in both himself and his players.

Considering their strategy, Yang Cheng had started rotating his squad as early as the 25th round.

…

In the 25th round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Gillingham.

The team was rotated, and the players, having just celebrated Christmas, were not in their best form.

This was especially true for the defense.

Danny Collins, Roger Johnson, Koscielny, and Piszczek.

It was the first time this season that these four players had started together, and their coordination was not very smooth.

In the 34th minute, Gillingham’s right midfielder Nicky Southall sent in a cross. Roger Johnson made an error in his attempt to clear it, failing to get to the ball, which allowed an overlapping Andrew Crofts to score.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese launched a ferocious counter-attack but failed to find a breakthrough.

It wasn’t until the 79th minute of the second half that the introduction of Modrić changed the game.

First, Ribéry assisted Modrić for the equalizing goal. Then, Ribéry won an attacking free-kick.

In the 88th minute, Roger Johnson scored with a header, turning the game around.

2-1, Bayswater Chinese had managed a thrilling comeback victory.

In the post-match dressing room, Yang Cheng didn’t criticize the players. Instead, he praised Gianni Vio’s contribution.

Since joining the team, the Italian coach had helped them score from set pieces on numerous occasions.

“He deserves a bonus!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

…

After the hard-fought match against Gillingham, Yang Cheng and his players barely had time to rest before setting off for an away game against Wolves on the 28th.

Although Wolves were 17th in the Championship with only thirty points after twenty-five games, no one dared to underestimate this team, which had just been relegated from the Premier League.

It was actually quite interesting.

Of the three teams relegated from the Premier League this season, Leicester City was in 14th place, Leeds United in 16th, and Wolves in 17th. None of them were performing particularly well.

But the strength of these three teams could not be overlooked.

Yang Cheng made extensive rotations and meticulously prepared an aggressive opening strategy.

Just four minutes into the match, Lambert opened the scoring for the team.

The rest of the game became a contest of attack versus defense.

Bayswater Chinese focused on defending while Wolves launched a frantic onslaught.

But in the 73rd minute, Kenny Miller equalized for Wolves.

In the end, the two teams shook hands on a 1-1 draw.

…

Time moved into 2005.

January 1st, a key match on New Year’s Day.

Bayswater Chinese faced Queens Park Rangers away from home.

Queens Park Rangers placed great importance on this match; they even considered it the most crucial battle of their season.

Their goal was to win over the local fans.

In preparation for this clash, they had lost both of their previous two matches.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was still heavily rotating his squad for this game.

He had recently been drilling the team’s defense.

As a result, amidst the roar of 18,360 fans, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

A bore draw!

After the match, Queens Park Rangers head coach Ian Holloway told the media that Bayswater Chinese’s tactics in the game were very disappointing.

Far too conservative!

Yang Cheng, however, was dissatisfied with a decision the head referee made in the 86th minute.

At that moment, substitutes Aaron Lennon and Ashley Young were on a fast break when Queens Park Rangers’ centre-back Georges Santos committed a foul while tracking back.

It was an undeniable tactical foul, which earned Georges Santos a red card.

The point of contention was that the Bayswater Chinese players all believed Aaron Lennon had been fouled inside the penalty area.

The head referee ruled it was outside the box.

This time, Gianni Vio’s set-piece tactic failed to work.

The match ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw.

…

After two consecutive away games, Bayswater Chinese hosted Watford on January 3rd.

Yang Cheng was still rotating his squad.

Consequently, they conceded a goal just eleven minutes into the first half.

But only four minutes later, Gökhan İnler equalized for the team with a shot from an overlapping run.

After the break, centre-forward Kitson scored another goal in the 69th minute.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese had once again staged a comeback.

Although Bayswater Chinese had only won two and drawn two of their four matches during the Christmas period, this record was considered outstanding in the Championship.

Their league position actually rose instead of falling. With a record of sixteen wins, six draws, and six losses, they amassed fifty-four points, leapfrogging Wigan Athletic (fifty-three points) into second place in the Championship.

They were now just one point behind the leaders, Ipswich Town.

…

With the league matches done, the weekend brought the third round of the FA Cup knockout stage.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Tottenham Hotspur.

With a trip to Old Trafford scheduled for the following Wednesday, Yang Cheng once again rotated his squad for this FA Cup match.

Goalkeeper: Danny Coyne;

Defense: Capaldi, Roger Johnson, Škrtel, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Matuidi and Gökhan İnler in the center;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Kitson, and Lennon.

In contrast to Bayswater Chinese, Martin Jol fielded a full-strength starting lineup for Tottenham.

Key players including Defoe, Robbie Keane, Carrick, and Ledley King all started.

This was because the FA Cup holds extraordinary significance for English teams.

Despite the rotation, Bayswater Chinese still showed a tenacious fighting spirit during the match.

Especially in midfield.

İnler and Matuidi took turns pressing and harassing Carrick, disrupting Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield organization.

This forced Tottenham Hotspur to shift more of their attacks to the left flank, through Ziegler.

The Swiss player was very active on the left wing, giving Piszczek an absolute nightmare.

In the 40th minute, it was Ziegler’s run that forced Piszczek to knock the ball out for a corner.

From that corner kick, Tottenham Hotspur scored, with Ziegler assisting Ledley King.

But after the restart in the second half, just over two minutes in, Bayswater Chinese capitalized on a swift counter-attack.

Huddlestone suddenly surged forward, received a pass back from Aaron Lennon on the right, and unleashed a long-range shot that pierced the goal guarded by Robinson, leveling the score for Bayswater Chinese.

In front of 36,000 Tottenham fans, the core midfielder of the England national youth team vented his excitement at scoring.

After that, the game was a back-and-forth affair.

In the 83rd minute, Tottenham once again launched an attack from the left. Swedish left-back Erik Edman delivered a cross, and Robbie Keane scored the winning goal.

1-2!

Bayswater Chinese lost to Tottenham away from home, their FA Cup journey ending in the third round.

…

Yang Cheng wasn’t bothered by the elimination from the FA Cup.

In the post-match dressing room, he comforted his players, especially Piszczek.

Both goals conceded in this match originated from the team’s right flank.

It was clear that Martin Jol had identified Piszczek’s defensive vulnerabilities during the game.

“Don’t take it to heart. Think hard about how to get stronger!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng pulled Piszczek over and whispered, “I have a task for you over the next few days.”

The Pole looked at his head coach with some surprise.

“I spoke with the new technical coach, Danny McGrain. He’s a very experienced coach and a former right-back himself. I want you to learn from him and improve your defensive skills as quickly as possible.”

Piszczek nodded repeatedly.

He was very receptive to advice.

“If—and I mean if—we can hold our defensive line next Wednesday away at Manchester United, I’ll put you in the starting lineup for the decisive second leg at home!”

Piszczek looked at his head coach in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock.

Play against Manchester United in the League Cup semifinal?

Today, he had played the full match away against Tottenham Hotspur and was already thrilled.

At the same time, he was frustrated with his own poor performance.

And now the head coach wanted him to play against Manchester United in the semifinal?

“Prepare well. Have faith in me, and in your teammates!” Yang Cheng encouraged with a smile.

Piszczek knew in his heart that the team had been preparing for this match for a long time.

The reason he started in the FA Cup was to allow Kevin Foley to start in the League Cup semifinal.

Because defense would be the most crucial thing for the team at Old Trafford.

…

While Yang Cheng was consoling Piszczek, in the home team’s dressing room at Manchester’s Old Trafford, Ferguson was erupting in fury.

Everyone in and around the dressing room was dead silent.

Even the air itself was thick with Ferguson’s curses.

Everyone knew the old gaffer was furious.

In the third round of the FA Cup, at home against a lower-league side, Exeter, Manchester United had somehow managed a 0-0 draw.

Even though it was with a full reserve team, with youngsters like Gerard Piqué, Éric Djemba-Djemba, David Bellion, and Richardson playing the entire match, this was by no means a result Manchester United should be producing.

“How are you going to face those 67,000 fans out there?”

Ferguson’s roar could be heard clearly even in the corridor outside the dressing room.

In the 60th minute, he had brought on C. Ronaldo, Scholes, and Alan Smith all at once, but it was too late.

Everyone understood Ferguson’s anger.

The draw meant there would be a replay on the 19th.

For Manchester United, with their already packed schedule, this was undoubtedly another huge burden.

More importantly, Ferguson had originally planned to start a few young players in the League Cup semifinal on Wednesday.

Because the following weekend, in the 23rd round of the Premier League, Manchester United had to travel to Anfield to face Liverpool!

The Northwest Derby. This was one of the matches Ferguson valued most.

Manchester United had managed three wins and a draw in their four Christmas fixtures. Wasn’t that a good enough record?

But Chelsea, managed by that damned Portuguese madman, had won all four of their games.

Chelsea was already a full eleven points ahead of Manchester United.

Even Wenger’s Arsenal had won all four matches and was currently four points ahead of United.

Not to mention Everton and Liverpool, who were lurking menacingly behind them.

If they couldn’t beat Liverpool in the Northwest Derby, Manchester United’s position in the Premier League’s top-four race would be in jeopardy.

With Chelsea in such good form, Ferguson knew perfectly well that it would be very difficult for Manchester United to win the Premier League title this season.

Reaching the semifinals of the League Cup was perhaps an opportunity.

Although it was considered a minor cup competition, a trophy was still a trophy.

And their opponent was a Championship team. It would be foolish not to take such an easy advantage.

But looking at this bunch of young monkeys before him, could they be trusted?

Chapter 58: Ribéry is Incredibly Good!

On the evening of January 12th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

In the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, the Bayswater Chinese were away to challenge Manchester United.

Before the match, no one could have imagined that this obscure, newly promoted team from the Championship would dare to launch a fierce, high-pressing attack against Manchester United at Old Trafford right from the kickoff.

Just as no one had expected Ferguson to field so many of his key players in the starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Howard;

Defence: Heinze, Silvestre, O’Shea, and Phil Neville;

Midfield: Roy Keane and Fletcher as the double pivot, with Rooney, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo ahead of them;

Forward: Saha.

Barring injuries and suspensions, this was pretty much the strongest lineup Manchester United could field at the moment.

This came as a surprise to everyone.

The commentator for the live broadcast exclaimed, “Is Ferguson not planning on saving any strength for the Northwest Derby this weekend?”

But what was even more shocking was that it was the Bayswater Chinese who seized the initiative first.

For this match, Yang Cheng had also fielded a carefully prepared lineup.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defence: Danny Collins, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Kevin Foley;

Midfield: Leon Andreasen in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Aaron Lennon.

Yang Cheng had made a few adjustments to his usual starting lineup.

The more defensively solid Danny Collins replaced Capaldi.

Kevin Foley’s performances had been consistent, so Yang Cheng started him.

Likewise, he also started the Danish midfielder Andreasen, who was more defensively sound and could also play as a centre-back.

As for Lambert replacing Kitson, the main reason was that he needed a reliable player up front who could hold up the ball.

In this regard, Lambert was better than Kitson.

The Bayswater Chinese had come prepared.

From the very beginning, Yang Cheng’s players seized the initiative, launching a wave of aggressive attacks.

Through the team’s slick passing and movement, they quickly gained the upper hand and threatened Manchester United’s goal.

But just three minutes later, Manchester United began to turn the tide.

Even Yang Cheng had to admit that against a midfield composed of Roy Keane, Scholes, and Fletcher, his own players were struggling to gain an advantage for the time being.

However, the Bayswater Chinese were prepared for this and began to defend solidly, waiting for their opportunity.

How quick are the tactical instincts and reactions of a world-class manager?

Yang Cheng had witnessed it many times in his previous life, but Ferguson’s reaction speed still surprised him.

In just five minutes, Ferguson made his first tactical adjustment of the match.

When C. Ronaldo received the ball on the right flank and tried to dribble past Danny Collins, the latter successfully tackled him and won the ball.

The Portuguese was still the flashy “Young Ronaldo” at this point, not yet the dominant “President Ronaldo.”

Ferguson immediately made an adjustment.

The next time Manchester United attacked, C. Ronaldo appeared on the left wing, alongside Rooney.

Three minutes later, after receiving a pass from C. Ronaldo just outside the left of the penalty area, Saha broke into the left side of the box and was brought down in a pincer tackle by Koscielny and José Fonte.

For a moment, the entire Old Trafford stadium erupted in cheers.

But the head referee did not award a penalty kick.

The cheers instantly turned into a deafening chorus of boos.

The roar from sixty-seven thousand fans was truly intimidating!

Yang Cheng couldn’t stay still either. He immediately walked to the sideline, called Leon Andreasen over, and gestured for him to track back in time, both to protect the defensive line and to get into position when needed.

Modrić and Lassana Diarra also needed to be mindful of tracking back to defend.

In short, the bottom line was this: as long as they didn’t lose at Old Trafford tonight—even a one-goal loss—it would be considered a victory.

And the main reason Yang Cheng chose Leon Andreasen over Huddlestone was that the Dane could play centre-back, and play it quite well.

Recently, Yang Cheng had organized specific defensive drills targeting Manchester United’s wing play.

As soon as Manchester United brought the ball into the thirty-meter area and out to the wings, the full-back and centre-back had to spread out.

Just like what had happened moments ago.

Rooney, C. Ronaldo, and Saha were all on the left wing, which was the Bayswater Chinese’s right flank.

Kevin Foley went out to engage them, and Koscielny’s positioning also shifted wide.

This resulted in a temporary gap opening up between Koscielny and José Fonte.

Saha decisively attacked this space, creating a dangerous situation.

According to Yang Cheng’s pre-match tactical training, when Koscielny was pulled wide, Andreasen should have dropped into position in time.

At that point, they should have formed a back three of José Fonte, Andreasen, and Koscielny.

The advantage was that the two wider centre-backs could provide stronger support to the full-backs.

After all, Manchester United’s attacking players were a cut above the Bayswater Chinese in terms of individual ability.

But this placed higher demands on the player in the Number 4 role.

And the team’s overall situation on the pitch would also be less favorable.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Come on, keep it up!!”

After sending Andreasen off with instructions, Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully and shouted.

The match had only just begun.

The Bayswater Chinese players were indeed not the strongest, but Manchester United’s backline wasn’t exactly rock-solid either.

Especially after losing Ferdinand and Gary Neville.

As long as the Bayswater Chinese seized their chance, they could definitely make Manchester United hurt!

London, north of Heathrow Airport, at Chelsea’s training ground.

Chelsea’s match against Liverpool was tomorrow, and the Blues were playing at home.

Mourinho and his coaching staff were watching the live broadcast from Old Trafford together.

“The defensive system this kid has set up tonight is very interesting. It has a bit of a Dutch football feel to it, especially van Gaal’s style.”

Mourinho had worked as an assistant coach for van Gaal at Barcelona.

The two of them had discussed tactics countless times, even getting into arguments.

“But the Bayswater Chinese are not the Netherlands, nor are they Ajax or Barça. They’re still too weak,” assistant coach Steve Clarke shook his head and sighed.

“But at least they’re defending well,” Mourinho said with a smile, looking at the assistant Chelsea had assigned him.

Many people criticized him for being too conservative.

But his coaching philosophy was simple: win first, then worry about the rest.

Only after securing a win would he consider whether the team played beautifully.

“Their two centre-backs often spread out wide, and with the Number 4 dropping back, it’s almost like a back five. It can certainly compensate for the defenders’ lack of ability to a large extent, but it won’t be enough to stop Manchester United,” another assistant coach, Rui Faria, analyzed.

Mourinho knew that, of course, but he had also noticed a detail that the others had missed.

“Have you seen the positioning of that Ribéry and Aaron Lennon?”

The broadcast camera wasn’t showing a panoramic view, and since Manchester United were dominating possession, the action was often in the Bayswater Chinese’s half.

But whenever the camera cut to their attacking half, everyone noticed that Ribéry and Aaron Lennon were always sprinting.

In contrast, the forward, Lambert, was more responsible for dropping back to receive the ball.

Chelsea and the Bayswater Chinese were geographically so close, and with so much animosity between them over the past two years, the Chelsea staff naturally paid attention to the team and understood Yang Cheng’s intentions.

Aaron Lennon’s pace was just too fast.

Ribéry’s individual skill was also exceptional.

If Manchester United’s backline showed even the slightest crack, they could be pierced through immediately.

“I originally thought he would focus solely on defense tonight,” Clarke said, shaking his head with a smile.

He really didn’t have Mourinho’s keen eye for detail.

“Against a strong opponent, defending passively will only lead to a worse defeat. That’s why he went on the attack from the start.”

Just as he said that, the situation on the pitch suddenly changed.

Lassana Diarra tackled Scholes in midfield, passed the ball to Modrić ahead of him, who then moved it on to Lambert.

Lambert received the ball with his back to goal and immediately chipped it over the Manchester United defensive line, behind Heinze.

Aaron Lennon burst into motion, sprinting forward at top speed.

On the television broadcast, you could see clearly that when Lennon started his run he was behind Heinze, but by the time he reached Manchester United’s half, he had drawn level. In the end, he even got to the ball before Heinze, knocking it ahead of him.

That kind of speed was simply incredible!

At the same time, Ribéry was also sprinting forward on the left, though he was a step behind Lennon.

Silvestre, the last man back, came across to intercept Aaron Lennon.

The Englishman played a diagonal pass to the left side, just outside the penalty area.

It was right in the path of Ribéry’s sprinting run.

Lennon’s series of actions leading up to it had been eye-catching and brilliant, but this final pass wasn’t very good.

The back-tracking Roy Keane tried to intercept it. He only managed to get a touch on the ball, but it wasn’t enough to stop it.

However, the ball took a deflection.

Ribéry had already reached his intended position, but seeing the ball deflect off Roy Keane, he had to stop and wait for it.

By this time, O’Shea had gotten back.

The Frenchman didn’t panic, instead driving forward with the ball.

After entering Manchester United’s thirty-meter area, O’Shea was thrown off balance by a series of feints from Ribéry.

The Frenchman took a touch diagonally toward the center and suddenly unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

The ball flew between O’Shea and Silvestre, bounced inside Manchester United’s penalty area, and slid just wide of the post.

This instantly sent a cold sweat down the spines of all the Manchester United fans in the stadium.

The long shot came so suddenly!

Ribéry’s handling of the situation was incredibly decisive!

Seeing his shot go wide, Ribéry turned away with a look of regret.

But this counter-attack had been swift, direct, and very dangerous.

If Roy Keane hadn’t tracked back in time to get that touch, allowing Ribéry to run onto the original pass, O’Shea would have been helpless to stop him.

In that moment, Mourinho and the others had also tensed up.

They were even a little shaken in hindsight.

Was this really a Championship team?

“This Ribéry is incredibly good!” Mourinho couldn’t help but praise.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“If we could sign him, move Robben to the right wing, and add Drogba to the mix, our whole attack would be even more potent,” Rui Faria suggested.

Mourinho had never been completely satisfied with Duff.

After hearing his assistant’s suggestion, the Portuguese man actually showed a flicker of interest.

That quick counter-attack in the 16th minute seemed to encapsulate the story of the match.

In the subsequent period of play, Manchester United continued to dominate possession and pin the Bayswater Chinese back.

But the away team’s defensive organization was excellent.

Especially after Leon Andreasen gradually settled into his role.

Manchester United’s first truly dangerous attack of the first half came in the 24th minute when C. Ronaldo switched back to the right, dribbled past Danny Collins, and broke into the penalty area.

At the crucial moment, José Fonte made a vital sliding tackle, taking the ball from his former teammate’s feet.

The referee still didn’t call a foul.

Just five minutes later, the Bayswater Chinese launched another counter-attack.

Modrić played a diagonal pass to the left flank. Ribéry controlled the ball, beat Phil Neville, and then chipped a pass to Lambert.

The English centre-forward out-jumped O’Shea, winning the header and flicking it on into the right side of the penalty area, behind the defensive line.

Aaron Lennon made a diagonal run into the box, one-on-one with the keeper, and shot!

It’s in the net!

But the referee blew his whistle, signaling that Aaron Lennon was offside.

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, Lennon did start his run a bit early. He was too eager.”

“He looks very frustrated with himself.”

“The Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks are incredibly sharp.”

“Manchester United are in trouble. Their opponents are not the pushovers many predicted before the match, to be carved up at will by the Red Devils. They are a team that can genuinely threaten them.”

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng was constantly directing the match from the sideline, while also calming his players.

The Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were in different situations.

There’s a saying: “The barefoot are not afraid of those with shoes.”

How much money was at stake in the Championship?

The Bayswater Chinese only had to secure a top-six finish, and Yang Cheng was confident of getting promoted to the Premier League.

But what about Manchester United?

If they lost the Northwest Derby, could Ferguson still guarantee the Red Devils would finish in the top four?

If they didn’t get top four, Manchester United would miss out on the Champions League. How much would that cost them?

Would Ferguson dare to take that gamble?

Why was the fixture schedule said to be favorable for the Bayswater Chinese?

The first leg was before the Northwest Derby against Liverpool.

And three days after the second leg, Manchester United had to go to Highbury to face Arsenal.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but turn to glance at Ferguson, sitting in the home team’s dugout.

He must have already switched on the hairdryer, right?

Chapter 59: Utter Humiliation

The first half ended with a long-range shot from Rooney.

The English prodigy’s strike was powerful, but it sailed well over the crossbar, posing no real threat.

It was much like Manchester United’s performance throughout the entire first half.

They seemed to be in control, but in reality, they created very few dangerous opportunities.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese looked sharp and incisive on their few counter-attacks, and had even managed to put the ball in the net, though it was disallowed.

“Manchester United’s midfield control isn’t what it used to be.”

Brian Kidd remarked with a sigh as he walked alongside Yang Cheng toward the dressing rooms.

Years ago, the golden midfield quartet he and Ferguson had meticulously built—Ryan Giggs, Scholes, Roy Keane, and Beckham—had swept across Europe with their exceptional running and one-touch passing.

But now, Beckham was long gone to Spain, while Giggs, Scholes, and Roy Keane were all over thirty, long past their prime, their stamina a shadow of what it once was.

As a result, Manchester United’s dominance in midfield had weakened considerably.

Even the mightiest of dynasties could not defy the passage of time.

“Manchester United’s backline has its share of problems, too, especially on the side with Phil Neville and O’Shea,” Yang Cheng added.

Ribéry had been very active in the first half.

While this was certainly due to his strong individual ability, it was also because of Manchester United’s weakness on that flank.

With Gary Neville injured, only Phil Neville or O’Shea could fill in at that position.

But in the center, Ferdinand was also carrying an injury and had already been ruled out of the match against Liverpool, let alone a League Cup game.

The other centre-back, Wes Brown, was also injured.

This left Manchester United short on options at centre-back. Ferguson’s choices were Silvestre, Heinze, O’Shea, and Gerard Piqué.

However, since one of Silvestre or Heinze had to play at left-back, the choices for the central pairing were even more limited.

Ferguson was clearly still hesitant to put too much trust in Gerard Piqué.

The future mainstay centre-back for Barça’s Dream Team Three and the Spanish dynasty wouldn’t even turn eighteen until February. Although Ferguson held him in high regard, he dared not entrust him with such a crucial role.

So, Ferguson opted for O’Shea and Silvestre.

But on the pitch, the right side, manned by O’Shea and Phil Neville, was clearly struggling to contain Ribéry.

With this in mind, Yang Cheng knew what he had to do.

Back in the dressing room, he first praised the team for their first-half performance.

A 0-0 scoreline was nothing for Bayswater Chinese to be disappointed about.

This was Old Trafford, after all.

And their opponents were Manchester United!

But Yang Cheng still pointed out some of the issues from the first half.

Lassana Diarra was very aggressive in defense and covered a lot of ground, but his tracking back was sometimes not timely enough.

“We need to make a slight adjustment to our strategy for the second half.”

“Franck.”

Yang Cheng walked over to Ribéry.

“In the second half, I need you to be even more aggressive. Try to create a breakthrough on the side with Phil Neville and O’Shea.”

“Luka, Ricky.”

Before Ribéry could respond, Yang Cheng turned and pointed to Modrić.

“You two will be responsible for supporting him.”

“Aaron, your task is still to keep Heinze occupied. If you get a chance, counter-attack decisively.”

With both Lassana Diarra and Andreassen on the pitch and playing well, Yang Cheng was actually quite confident in the team’s defense.

And although Kevin Foley was only twenty years old, he had a steady temperament and was quite reliable when focused on defending.

“OK!”

Seeing that it was almost time, Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“After that first half, I’m sure you all have a good feel for Manchester United’s strength and the intensity of this match.”

“A 0-0 score proves that we’re no worse than them, and we’ve had more threatening attacks than they have.”

“That proves our approach in the first half was correct!”

“But in the second half, we’re going to change our style. We’ll take the initiative and force Manchester United into a war of attrition!”

In terms of the schedule, Ferguson couldn’t possibly ignore the Northwest Derby on the weekend.

If his team exhausted themselves fighting Bayswater Chinese in this match, what would they have left to take on Liverpool?

Sure enough, Ferguson made a decisive change at halftime.

Ryan Giggs came on for Scholes.

After the substitution, Rooney moved into a central role, with Giggs playing on the left.

Manchester United’s formation now resembled a 4-4-1-1, with Rooney playing just behind Saha.

Manchester United came out attacking right from the start of the second half.

Less than a minute in, Rooney drew a foul from Koscielny while on the ball, earning his team an attacking free-kick.

Unfortunately for them, C. Ronaldo’s direct shot posed no threat.

But Bayswater Chinese refused to be intimidated.

On the contrary, after the kick-off, they immediately went on the offensive themselves.

They focused their efforts particularly down Ribéry’s flank.

Although their first attack of the half was thwarted by Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese’s forwards immediately pressed to win the ball back.

Ribéry even pressed all the way to goalkeeper Howard, forcing the American into an error with a rushed clearance.

Lassana Diarra’s hasty long-range shot missed the goal.

But it was enough to send a cold sweat down Manchester United’s spines.

Just a minute later, Bayswater Chinese came surging forward again.

Receiving the ball in the left channel, Ribéry cleverly evaded Phil Neville. Then, just outside the left edge of the penalty area, he used a deft feint to fool O’Shea, broke into the box, and fired a low shot with his left foot.

Goalkeeper Howard dove to make the save but couldn’t stop Ribéry’s shot.

However, at the far post, Heinze arrived at full tilt and managed to clear the ball from inside the six-yard box.

Three minutes later, just when everyone thought Bayswater Chinese was exclusively targeting Ribéry’s side, Andreassen suddenly sprayed a diagonal pass across the field. Lennon sprinted up the right wing like a bolt of lightning.

On the right side, just outside the penalty area, Lennon tried to use his pace to burst past the Argentinian defender, Heinze.

In response, Heinze launched into a fierce sliding tackle, bringing Lennon down, ball and all, just outside the box.

The incident happened right under Yang Cheng’s nose. He immediately pointed an “incensed” finger at Heinze.

“Butcher! Murderer! Give him a red card!”

The Manchester United fans were having none of it.

At Old Trafford, their team wasn’t performing well, and in the second half, Bayswater Chinese had even seized the initiative. The fans were already simmering with frustration.

And now this young upstart dared to act so outrageously here?

A deafening chorus of boos erupted from the stands, mixed with insults and discriminatory remarks.

The head referee, Barry, quickly ran over to the sideline to calm down Yang Cheng, who looked on the verge of exploding.

He repeatedly insisted that it wasn’t a malicious foul.

But when Yang Cheng saw Aaron Lennon get up from the ground like nothing had happened, he had the sudden urge to run over and kick him in the ass.

You should go and take some acting classes! At a critical moment like this, you’re supposed to lie there and howl in agony, understand?

He was too damn honest!

The referee ended up showing Heinze a yellow card, but he gave the Argentinian a stern warning.

He was probably saying that another foul like that would result in a straight red card.

Yang Cheng continued to complain animatedly on the sideline, acting as if he’d suffered a grave injustice.

“I’m starting to wonder if that bastard came back from Hollywood.”

Ferguson fumed as he walked back to the dugout, plopping down into his seat and cursing.

Heinze’s tackle had looked aggressive, but there was no malicious intent. Such challenges were commonplace in the Premier League.

Experienced defenders often used such tactics to intimidate younger opponents.

Yang Cheng’s over-the-top reaction was clearly an act—playing dumb when he knew exactly what was going on.

This only made Ferguson even more furious.

The first half had been difficult, and the second half wasn’t developing as he’d expected either.

“The kid is clever. He’s got a read on our mentality. He knows we have to conserve energy for the away game against Liverpool this weekend,” assistant coach Carlos Queiroz said with a grim expression.

As if Ferguson didn’t know that.

It was like a fight between two people.

One had his hands and feet tied, while the other was completely unrestrained.

It was so damn frustrating!

“We underestimated Bayswater Chinese!” Ferguson sighed helplessly.

Queiroz was taken aback, not expecting Ferguson to admit his mistake.

A lion uses its full strength even to hunt a rabbit.

In the FA Cup match against Exeter City, Ferguson had chosen to field his substitutes and ended up with a draw.

He had learned his lesson and sent out a nearly full-strength lineup against Bayswater Chinese, but he had also instructed the players to save some energy for the Northwest Derby on the weekend.

He never expected the first half to turn out the way it did.

If Manchester United had gone all out in the first half, using their home advantage to overwhelm the opponent, just one goal would have completely changed the complexion of the game.

But now, Ferguson was in a difficult position.

If he went all-out against them, it would be physically draining. What would be left for the Northwest Derby on the weekend?

But soon, Ferguson’s attention was drawn to another matter.

“Is he really only twenty-four? He doesn’t even have his coaching license yet?”

Queiroz understood Ferguson’s astonishment and nodded with a wry smile.

It was a question on everyone’s mind.

From any angle, Yang Cheng’s coaching had the air of a top manager. Everything he did was methodical and clear.

Many a pundit speculated that Brian Kidd was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that this rich kid was just a figurehead looking for glory.

But Ferguson knew Brian Kidd too well.

He didn’t have that kind of ability!

That meant only one thing: everything was Yang Cheng’s own doing.

And that was a terrifying thought!

A twenty-four-year-old university graduate who had never played football or taken any coaching courses had transformed into such an outstanding head coach. It was simply inconceivable.

The most absurd part was that Yang Cheng was even a master of touchline management, the most difficult aspect to fake. He seemed even more adept at it than some renowned managers who had been coaching at the top level for decades.

It was well known that in-game management was genuinely difficult.

Many so-called “genius coaches” had advanced tactical ideas but were poor at making adjustments during a match.

Even a world-class manager like Wenger wasn’t known for his touchline command.

But for Yang Cheng, it was like he was born to do it.

Looking back at the pitch, Yang Cheng’s players had turned the tables on Manchester United, pressing them back and orchestrating wave after wave of attacks.

It left Ferguson both furious and helpless.

In the 67th minute, when Ferguson substituted Alan Smith for C. Ronaldo, it was a clear sign that he had opted to play it safe in this match.

He had to preserve his team’s strength for the Northwest Derby on the weekend.

After all, there was still a second leg to be played in the League Cup.

In contrast, Yang Cheng made a like-for-like substitution, bringing on the more attack-minded Kitson for Lambert.

It was a signal to strengthen the attack.

Just a minute after coming on, Kitson nearly broke the deadlock, his header from a Lennon cross from the right flying just inches over the bar.

Bayswater Chinese was getting better and better as the match went on.

Manchester United, on the other hand, was gradually forced onto the defensive.

As one side’s fortunes waned, the other’s grew. Bayswater Chinese was now pinning Manchester United back in their own half at Old Trafford.

The sight left everyone in utter disbelief.

“We can see the live camera has cut to the sideline.”

“Ferguson looks absolutely furious. For him, this match must be considered an utter humiliation!”

“The last time Manchester United was humiliated like this at Old Trafford was probably in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 last season. Porto drew 1-1 away to United, advancing 3-2 on aggregate.”

“The manager of that Porto team was Mourinho, who is now leading Chelsea to a runaway lead in the Premier League.”

“And the young Bayswater Chinese team is also a very competitive side in this season’s Championship.”

“Perhaps we will have the chance to see him grace Old Trafford again in the Premier League next season.”

In the 75th minute, Ferguson brought on Gerard Piqué for Silvestre.

The moment Yang Cheng saw Piqué step onto the pitch, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Should I try to snatch this future world-class centre-back?

It wasn’t that Yang Cheng was being unrealistic. It was because Piqué’s type of centre-back just didn’t have a place in the current Premier League. Not even under Ferguson.

Therefore, he was destined not to stay at Manchester United for long.

But the thought of painstakingly developing him, only for him to up and leave for Barça, left a bad taste in his mouth.

Besides, in his mind, there were even better centre-backs waiting for him.

Chapter 60: A Cruel Twist of the Knife

“You should be glad there’s a second leg!”

When the head referee, Barry, blew the final whistle, Ferguson, the home manager, followed tradition and walked over to the visiting team’s dugout to shake Yang Cheng’s hand.

The match had ended in a 0-0 draw.

Bayswater Chinese had been the more proactive and dominant side throughout the second half.

They had put Manchester United under immense pressure, especially in the closing stages.

But in the end, they couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Ferguson’s subtext was clear: if this had been a single-elimination match, I’d make sure you wouldn’t walk out of Old Trafford alive.

Yang Cheng understood perfectly.

In his previous life, he had clashed with Ferguson on more than one occasion.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re afraid of us?” Yang Cheng said with a light chuckle.

His lighthearted joke struck a raw nerve with Ferguson.

The Scotsman’s expression immediately turned grim.

In the FA Cup, being held to a 0-0 draw by an amateur team was already a disgrace.

Now, with his full-strength squad, he had failed to defeat a Championship team at home. How could Ferguson not be furious?

What made him even more incensed was that Yang Cheng calmly twisted the knife.

“Before the match, I specifically told my players that Manchester United is a giant, the clear favorite. Winning is what’s expected of you. We came to Old Trafford with the mindset of students here to learn.”

“As for our goal, we considered a narrow loss to be as good as a win. As long as it wasn’t a thrashing, we would have accepted it.”

“But to our surprise…”

Ferguson’s face grew uglier, and he looked like he was on the verge of exploding.

What a cruel twist of the knife!

Yang Cheng’s words were a massive slap in the face!

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s still the second leg,” Ferguson said through gritted teeth.

Having failed to win the match, anything he said was useless.

He had no choice but to swallow all his resentment.

“Of course,” Yang Cheng was still smiling.

But his smile truly infuriated Ferguson.

“During halftime, I specifically asked Aaron Lennon, and he repeatedly told me he wasn’t offside.”

“Heh, I’ve heard for a long time that you always suffer some inexplicable disadvantages when you play at Old Trafford.”

Ferguson couldn’t hold it in any longer. He felt like a volcano was about to erupt in his chest.

You lot get away with a draw, and you’re still spouting nonsense?

What’s the matter? You think this old man is an easy target?

“But don’t you worry, our home ground is rented. There definitely won’t be any of that nonsense.”

Yang Cheng knew when to stop and extended his hand.

He had no desire for a “cordial and friendly” exchange of fists with Ferguson right there and then.

Of course, if it did come to blows, he was confident he wouldn’t come off worse.

Ferguson managed to swallow his anger; the old man’s self-control was quite remarkable.

He gave Yang Cheng a perfunctory handshake, and as he turned to leave, his gaze lingered on Brian Kidd for a moment.

It was a complicated look.

Much like the history of grievances between them.

Yang Cheng noticed but paid it no mind.

People at their age were often filled with complexity, regret, and helplessness.

That’s why people love football.

Some say football is like life.

It’s an art of mistakes, which is why goals are rare.

In every match, every player makes countless mistakes.

Because just one moment of success can lead to a goal.

…

Bayswater Chinese had drawn 0-0 with Manchester United away from home!

The news spread throughout England the moment the match ended.

All the media outlets and fans were stunned.

Three days before this League Cup match, Manchester United had just drawn 0-0 at home against the lower-league Exeter City.

But hadn’t they played with a full reserve team then?

This was a League Cup semi-final, and Manchester United had fielded their full-strength squad.

Were Bayswater Chinese really this strong?

If Bayswater Chinese’s upset victory over Chelsea last season was them announcing their arrival, then this 0-0 away draw against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final—especially after outplaying them for the entire match—made their name ring loud and clear.

As The Guardian commented after the match.

Their reporter, sitting in the stands at Old Trafford, constantly heard Manchester United fans exclaiming in surprise.

“Who is this kid?”

The Manchester United fans had no idea who the Bayswater Chinese players were; they had likely never even seen the team play.

But in this match at Old Trafford, the performances of several of the visiting team’s players left an incredibly deep impression on the United faithful.

Whether it was the standout performer Ribéry, Aaron Lennon who had “scored” against Manchester United, or the omnipresent midfielder Lassana Diarra…

“Manchester United has also been developing youth academy players in recent years, such as Chris Eagles, David Jones, Phil Bardsley, and Gerard Piqué, who was scouted from Barça…”

“Not to mention the young prospects the team has brought through in the past few years, like Éric Djemba-Djemba, David Bellion, and Kieran Richardson.”

“But not a single Manchester United youth player has managed to leave as deep an impression as young players like Ribéry.”

It was for this very reason that Manchester United needed to sign players like Rooney and C. Ronaldo.

“For the past few years, all Manchester United fans have been pondering one question.”

“With Beckham’s departure, has the Class of ’92 reached its end?”

“After watching this match, after seeing even a Championship team dominate Manchester United at Old Trafford, everyone should know the answer.”

However, many media outlets also analyzed that a major reason for Manchester United’s draw at home was the upcoming Northwest Derby on the weekend.

After all, for Manchester United, the matches against Liverpool were among the most important of any season.

The Sun, however, did disclose a piece of news.

Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea all had their eyes on Bayswater Chinese’s Ribéry.

“After this match, Ferguson became even more convinced that Ribéry is the perfect successor to Ryan Giggs.”

…

While the media was in a frenzy, Yang Cheng led his team back to London from Manchester and threw himself into preparations.

A 0-0 draw in the first leg away meant the second leg at home would be even tougher.

Especially against Ferguson.

He would surely go all out in the return leg.

Considering that Manchester United had to face Arsenal away right after playing Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng put himself in Ferguson’s shoes and concluded that he would try everything to end the contest in the first half.

This would be the best way to avoid a repeat of the first leg’s struggles.

Therefore, he and his team had to be prepared for it.

The day after the match at Old Trafford, Chelsea defeated Liverpool 2-1 at home.

Although they secured a victory, Mourinho’s team still faced a perilous trip to Anfield for the second leg.

Benítez had always been adept at cup competitions, so the outcome was far from certain.

…

On the weekend after returning from London, Bayswater Chinese traveled away to face Sheffield United.

It was the 29th round of the Championship.

Yang Cheng heavily rotated his squad and ended up losing 1-2 away from home.

Kitson scored the team’s only goal in the second half.

Both of Sheffield United’s goals came in stoppage time, one at the end of the first half and one at the end of the second.

This, in a way, exposed some of Bayswater Chinese’s issues.

With Wigan Athletic winning their away match, Bayswater Chinese dropped to third place.

That evening, at Anfield in Liverpool, the two teams who had failed to get their desired results in the League Cup semi-finals faced off in the world-famous Northwest Derby.

In the 21st minute, C. Ronaldo assisted Rooney for the only goal of the match.

But Manchester United paid a heavy price.

Centre-back Wes Brown was sent off with a red card in the 65th minute.

Several players, including Roy Keane, Rooney, and Fortune, also received yellow cards.

Starting from the 65th minute, Ferguson substituted O’Shea for C. Ronaldo to bolster the defense.

But the result was satisfactory enough.

…

Yang Cheng didn’t think much of it when he heard the result from Anfield.

After the weekend’s league match, Yang Cheng gave the team a full day off to let everyone relax properly.

The team was no longer under pressure from the FA Cup.

Once they regrouped, Bayswater Chinese began preparing specifically for the second leg of the League Cup.

Manchester United didn’t have it as easy.

After playing Liverpool, they had to travel away in midweek for their FA Cup third-round replay against Exeter City.

The importance of the FA Cup was reflected in Ferguson’s lineup.

C. Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs, Scholes, Silvestre, Heinze, O’Shea, Gary Neville, and Phil Neville all started.

Just nine minutes in, Scholes assisted C. Ronaldo for a goal.

But after that, Manchester United struggled to extend their lead.

It wasn’t until the 87th minute that Rooney managed to score another goal.

Over two consecutive FA Cup matches, it was clear to almost everyone that Manchester United’s bench was a weak point.

Ferguson’s team-building strategy was clear: the young players served as the team’s reserves.

But the problem was that Manchester United’s current young players, including Éric Djemba-Djemba and Fortune, were finding it hard to step up.

Forget competing with the first-team regulars; they were struggling to even be effective substitutes in cup competitions.

The good news, however, was Gary Neville’s return.

By the weekend, for the 24th round of the Premier League match at home against Aston Villa, Ferdinand had also returned.

This helped Manchester United cruise to a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, easily securing three points.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, drew 0-0 at home against Nottingham Forest.

Yang Cheng once again chose not to field his strongest lineup, instead focusing all his energy and resources on the League Cup semi-final three days later.

The only noteworthy aspect of this match was that Loftus Road Stadium was finally sold out.

It wasn’t just this league match; tickets for the midweek League Cup semi-final had sold out long ago.

With the first leg ending 0-0, everyone was eagerly anticipating a spectacular showdown in the return fixture.

After the draw with Nottingham Forest, Bayswater Chinese were overtaken by Sunderland in the standings.

Ipswich Town led the table with 59 points, followed closely by Wigan Athletic with 57. Sunderland had 56 points, while Bayswater Chinese had 55.

Further back were Reading with 50 points and Sheffield United with 48.

…

On the evening of January 26th, at Loftus Road in London.

In the second leg of the League Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

To everyone’s surprise, Ferguson fielded his team in the same 4-3-3 formation as Yang Cheng.

Goalkeeper: Howard;

Defense: Heinze, Silvestre, Ferdinand, Gary Neville;

Midfield: Roy Keane in a holding role, with Scholes and Fletcher in the center;

Forwards: Giggs, Saha, and C. Ronaldo.

Young Rooney was left on the bench by Ferguson.

This was the strongest lineup Manchester United could currently field.

Yang Cheng, for his part, didn’t dare to be complacent.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Danny Collins, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Kevin Foley;

Midfield: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Aaron Lennon.

With both teams playing a 4-3-3, the match was, to some extent, a direct comparison of their players’ abilities and specific tactical details.

You could say it was a true head-to-head clash!

From the very start, neither side held back, immediately launching into a fast-paced, cutthroat battle.

Just over a minute into the match, Huddlestone played a long diagonal pass from the back, sending the ball behind the defensive line.

Aaron Lennon made a high-speed run, chasing down Huddlestone’s long ball and reaching the right side of the penalty area before crossing.

But Ferdinand used his body to overpower Lambert and clear the ball away.

Manchester United immediately responded in kind.

Not long after, Giggs sent a cross from the left, putting the ball behind the defense.

Joe Hart rushed off his line and claimed the ball just before Saha could reach it.

The moment gave everyone a scare.

But Bayswater Chinese soon organized another attack in the final third.

After receiving the ball, Ribéry was tackled by Roy Keane during a dribble, and in his attempt to win it back on the spot, he brought down the Manchester United captain.

The tension between the players grew thicker.

But in the 14th minute, Scholes played a wonderful pass. Saha shook off Huddlestone and dribbled into the left side of the penalty area.

As Koscielny came in to double-team him, Saha fell to the ground inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

The head referee, Rob Styles, blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot.

Chapter 61: Young and Limitless

If London is the center of England’s economy, then the Northwest has always reigned supreme in its football.

Manchester and Liverpool are the two most successful footballing cities in English history.

That’s why the match between Manchester United and Liverpool is called the Northwest Derby.

But the capital has never been willing to submit to the Northwest, giving rise to the so-called North-South rivalry.

For the past few years, Arsenal has been the standard-bearer for London football.

Since Roman Abramovich’s takeover, Chelsea has risen forcefully, threatening to usurp Arsenal’s position.

It was because of this dynamic that when Manchester United traveled south to London, this second leg of the League Cup semi-final became more than just a contest between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United. It also carried the implicit weight of a clash between southern and northern football.

This was particularly evident in the stands of Loftus Road Stadium.

When head referee Rob Styles blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, besides the chorus of boos from the stands, one could hear many people shouting, “Traitor!”

Rob Styles was a southerner; his hometown of Waterlooville was just about ten kilometers north of Portsmouth on the south coast.

For a southern referee to award a penalty to a northern team like Manchester United was a grievous offense to the sentiments of the London fans.

Yang Cheng heard the shouts from the stands, but he had no time to pay them any mind.

His players were still protesting, arguing that it wasn’t a foul, but Styles stood firm on his decision.

C. Ronaldo quickly stepped forward, wanting to take the penalty kick.

Manchester United’s primary penalty taker was Van Nistelrooy, but he was absent due to injury.

The Portuguese player stood calmly at the spot, looking directly at Joe Hart. After taking a deep breath, he made a quick run-up and struck the ball decisively.

1-0!

The entire Loftus Road Stadium erupted in a deafening cacabrely of boos.

Yang Cheng felt a pang of disappointment, but his expression remained unchanged.

“Huddlestone is still a bit lacking in agility and physical strength,” Brian Kidd sighed.

The problem with that play lay with Huddlestone, who failed to block Saha in time.

The French striker’s ability to trap the ball and turn was formidable.

Despite Huddlestone standing at one hundred ninety-two centimeters tall, he was only eighteen years old, and his physical strength had not yet fully matured.

Moreover, players of his height are at a disadvantage when it comes to agility.

Just now, Huddlestone had failed to stay tight on the turning Saha, allowing him to dribble into the penalty area.

If it had been Leon Andreasen, the situation would have been relatively better.

At the very least, he had performed well in the first leg.

But Andreasen had picked up an injury in training, and Yang Cheng was unwilling to take the risk.

“If his defensive awareness were a bit better, he also could have blocked Saha in time.”

Yang Cheng pointed out another of Huddlestone’s shortcomings.

Brian Kidd nodded.

He had immense respect for Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

As for Huddlestone’s weaknesses, it wasn’t a major issue. He was only eighteen, so what was the rush?

Players in the real world were living, breathing people, not just sets of data in a game.

There was never any such thing as a fixed talent ceiling; that was a concept derived from video games.

Or perhaps it should be said that for the vast majority of players, their innate talent was more or less the same, just oriented in different directions.

If being fast was a talent, then wasn’t self-discipline also a talent? Wasn’t tireless stamina a talent? What about outstanding football intelligence?

Even José Fonte’s high emotional intelligence—couldn’t that be considered a type of talent?

It was impossible to say for sure, wasn’t it?

And then there was Martin Rowlands.

When he was languishing at Brentford for two years, who could have imagined that he would play his way to a three-million-pound valuation at Bayswater Chinese?

Was that his innate talent?

No, Yang Cheng believed that tactical enhancement and the support of his teammates were the crucial factors.

Another classic example was Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Both came from the Southampton youth academy and were even roommates.

At Southampton, Walcott made his first-team debut earlier, while Gareth Bale’s situation was worse.

Later, Walcott was bought by Wenger for a high price, then got into the national team, played in the World Cup, and became famous overnight.

And Gareth Bale?

After finally joining Tottenham Hotspur, he suffered a series of major setbacks.

Did that mean Walcott was more talented than Gareth Bale?

But what about their subsequent development?

Having coached for so many years, Yang Cheng knew very well that unless you were talking about the level of Ronaldinho or Messi, the gap in talent really wasn’t that big.

Whether it was being limited by talent or failing to fulfill one’s potential, it was often just an excuse.

Take Walcott, for example. Why did he develop better than Gareth Bale early on, only to be surpassed later?

You could come up with any number of reasons—technical characteristics, physical attributes…

Useless.

It all boiled down to one reason: he went to Arsenal!

Wenger’s development of him was inadequate.

Under the multiple pressures of securing a top-four finish and managing club revenue, Wenger simply couldn’t maximize Walcott’s potential, play to his strengths, or find his proper role.

Wenger’s method was to use him like a tactical puzzle piece, sticking him on the right wing to run straight up and down the flank, leveraging his speed to stretch the opposition’s defense.

That was all.

It didn’t matter if that person was Walcott, or Aaron Lennon, or someone else; it made no difference.

Examples like Walcott were not uncommon at Arsenal.

How many brilliantly talented youngsters did Wenger sign and discover during those years?

Which one of them didn’t have a stunning debut, only to gradually fade into mediocrity?

The reason was that under the pressure for results, Arsenal simply couldn’t invest the resources needed to develop young players.

You see, developing a young player requires more than just giving them playing time.

Growth is a process of constantly making mistakes and shoring up weaknesses.

Take Aaron Lennon, for example.

This season, he was playing on the right wing because he had just made his debut, and Yang Cheng wanted him to first find his footing.

Next season, he planned to have Lennon try cutting inside and playing on the left, perhaps even playing as a forward, to cultivate his versatility.

Aaron Lennon was a typical English winger, not technically refined.

No problem. Yang Cheng had already asked the new technical coach, Danny McGrain, to study his characteristics and create a specialized training plan for him.

Many aspects of technique are fixed, but the rationality and fluency of how movements are linked can be trained.

And it wasn’t difficult.

The same applied to Huddlestone.

His physical strength and conditioning needed to be improved, as did his defensive awareness.

In the end, youth meant limitless possibilities!

…

When C. Ronaldo scored the penalty, Yang Cheng immediately made some adjustments to his team’s defensive positioning on the pitch.

Huddlestone was moved closer to the defensive line. Koscielny likes to press forward, doesn’t he?

Yang Cheng had him cover for Huddlestone.

When Koscielny went up, Huddlestone dropped back.

These were all things that had been arranged before the match.

After taking the lead, Manchester United wanted to press their advantage and finish off their opponents in one fell swoop.

But after a chaotic two or three minutes following the goal, Bayswater Chinese quickly steadied themselves.

However, the back-and-forth attacking nature of the match gradually shifted into Manchester United’s control.

The Manchester United players became increasingly active.

Especially C. Ronaldo on the right wing.

In the twenty-third minute, C. Ronaldo was dribbling down the right flank when Modrić committed a foul, giving Manchester United a free-kick.

The Portuguese star took it again, but this time it was a bit wide.

Just four minutes later, it was C. Ronaldo again, taking the ball on the right and earning a corner kick off Danny Collins.

Manchester United took a quick, short corner, and Gary Neville lofted a cross into the box from the right.

José Fonte got to it before Ferdinand, heading the ball clear just outside the penalty area.

Roy Keane’s long-range shot from outside the box was then blocked by Huddlestone.

Manchester United gradually began to lay siege to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, his expression unchanging.

He had anticipated this kind of pressure before the match and had told his players about it.

The only miscalculation was the penalty kick.

That was also the only major mistake Bayswater Chinese made in the first half.

After Bayswater Chinese regained their composure, Manchester United’s only truly threatening attack after the thirty-minute mark came in the thirty-sixth minute—a long shot from C. Ronaldo that drew a collective gasp from the entire crowd.

Yang Cheng still made no move, just stood on the sideline, waiting.

This bemused the commentators for the live broadcast.

“Bayswater Chinese’s young head coach seems to have been intimidated by this ferocious wave of attacks from Manchester United!”

From the thirtieth minute on, Bayswater Chinese had been unable to organize a single threatening attack.

It wasn’t until the forty-second minute that the team finally created another chance.

Modrić managed to shake off Roy Keane and played a diagonal pass forward to the left, finding Ribéry.

Ribéry dribbled forward and, just outside the left corner of Manchester United’s penalty area, passed the ball to Lambert.

But Ferdinand was a step ahead and successfully intercepted the ball.

A sigh of disappointment rippled through the stadium.

The home team’s players immediately began to press to win the ball back.

Ribéry was the first to charge at Ferdinand, joining Lambert to form a pincer.

Ferdinand wasn’t a typical English centre-back; he possessed excellent skill on the ball.

Evading Lambert’s pressure, Ferdinand also noticed Ribéry and immediately passed the ball to Roy Keane.

But by then, Modrić had already closed in on the Manchester United captain.

And on the right flank, where no one was paying attention, Aaron Lennon was silently closing in on Heinze.

Although Yang Cheng was still standing motionless on the sideline, his hands had unknowingly clenched into tight fists.

Because he saw that at the very instant Ferdinand passed the ball, Ribéry suddenly took off in a sprint, chasing after the unmarked Silvestre.

…

From December 26, 2004, to January 26, 2005, was exactly thirty-three days.

In that thirty-three-day period, Manchester United played a total of six league matches, two League Cup matches, and two FA Cup matches.

In those ten games, two players had the most playing time, both appearing in nine matches.

And they had played the full ninety minutes in all of them.

They were Heinze and Silvestre.

Roy Keane played eight matches, all of them for the full duration.

Such a high-intensity schedule would be a considerable test for any player.

Physical fatigue could easily cause a player to make uncharacteristic mistakes.

Just like Silvestre.

He kept glancing at the time on the scoreboard, wishing the first half would end sooner.

That way, he could get a brief, fifteen-minute rest.

Especially after the forty-minute mark, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He could rest soon.

When Bayswater Chinese’s Ribéry charged towards Manchester United’s penalty area with the ball, Silvestre tensed up and tracked back.

But after seeing Ferdinand successfully win the ball back, the French defender relaxed again.

He checked the time; it was almost the forty-third minute.

Almost there.

Just get the ball into the opponent’s half, and the first half would be over.

At the thought of resting, Silvestre could no longer suppress his exhaustion.

But just then, Ferdinand passed the ball to Roy Keane.

The Manchester United captain was pressured by Modrić and couldn’t turn to pass forward, so he immediately played the ball back to Silvestre.

The French defender’s concentration had lapsed slightly.

When he heard Roy Keane’s warning shout and noticed the ball rolling along the grass towards him, he first froze for a moment, then his face filled with panic.

Because he saw that Ribéry, who had been near Ferdinand just moments ago, had somehow suddenly appeared right in front of him.

This threw Silvestre into a panic.

He instinctively tried to control the ball with his left foot, wanting to knock it to his left and then clear it with a big kick.

He was a left-footed player.

But Ribéry suddenly accelerated, rushing towards him and sticking out his right foot to block.

The ball Silvestre kicked struck the inside of Ribéry’s right foot and rebounded behind him.

Ribéry’s reaction was lightning-fast. After winning the ball, he changed direction and chased after it behind Silvestre.

The French defender, having just completed his kicking motion, immediately turned to give chase, but he was a step too slow.

Fortunately, after entering the box, although Ribéry was ahead, he was on the outside, while Silvestre pursued him tightly on the inside.

But who was Ribéry?

The scarred-faced Frenchman dribbled into the right side of the penalty area, and seeing Silvestre catching up again, he first slowed down, feigning to set himself up for a shot.

As soon as Ribéry planted his feet, Silvestre immediately closed in, going for a slide tackle to block him.

The Frenchman came to a dead stop, pulling the ball back.

Unable to halt his momentum, Silvestre slid completely to the ground.

After feinting past Silvestre, Ribéry took another step laterally and unleashed a shot with his left foot.

It all happened too quickly.

In the blink of an eye, Ribéry’s shot flashed past Howard’s hands and flew into the Manchester United net.

In that instant, the entire Loftus Road Stadium was stunned!

Chapter 62: Comeback Against Manchester United

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 43rd minute, Franck Ribéry dispossessed Silvestre in the final third and equalized for the Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-1!”

“Ribéry has once again showcased his astonishing talent!”

“At a crucial moment, the French winger has kept the hopes of the Bayswater Chinese alive with a goal.”

The entire crowd at Loftus Road Stadium shot out of their seats in a frenzy.

However dejected and disappointed they had felt when Manchester United scored their penalty kick, their excitement was now double, even ten times greater!

Ribéry turned and ran off the pitch, sliding on his knees towards the sideline and roaring at the sky.

One by one, his Bayswater Chinese teammates chased after him.

They were level!

“Ferguson is fuming on the sideline.”

“He has every reason to be angry and dissatisfied with Silvestre’s mistake.”

“The Bayswater Chinese have equalized just before the end of the first half.”

“Ribéry’s goal is an absolute testament to his individual ability, and it’s a turning point in the match.”

“Going into halftime 0-1 versus 1-1 has a completely different impact on the second half’s momentum, the players’ mentality, and the team’s morale.”

“This is what a key player does!”

“At a critical juncture, Ribéry has shown us his talent with a magnificent goal.”

Over eighteen thousand fans in the stadium were frantically chanting Ribéry’s name.

They had been won over!

As the Frenchman got up from the ground, he didn’t forget to wave to the fans in the stands.

This earned him another round of applause from the entire stadium.

…

The first half ultimately ended 1-1.

The League Cup semi-final format, unlike the Champions League, has no away goals rule.

So, even if the match ended 1-1, it would go into extra time, followed by a penalty shootout.

However, Yang Cheng had no intention of letting it come to that.

In the dressing room during halftime, Yang Cheng first singled out Ribéry for praise, followed by Lassana Diarra and Joe Hart.

All three players had put in excellent performances in the first half.

Additionally, Yang Cheng made a special point of praising Kevin Foley.

In truth, Kevin Foley’s performance hadn’t been particularly good.

As a right-back, his direct opponent, Ryan Giggs, had been very active.

Of course, Kevin Foley wasn’t to blame.

He had done his best.

Looking across European football today, how many right-backs could confidently say they could contain Giggs?

The reason Yang Cheng praised Kevin Foley was to ensure he maintained his level at the start of the second half.

Because he planned to substitute Piszczek on later.

So he needed to be mindful of Kevin Foley’s feelings.

Yang Cheng found a reason: attrition.

Previously, Yang Cheng had promised Piszczek that he would get playing time in the match against Manchester United.

But not as a starter.

This was because he knew Manchester United had to play Arsenal on the weekend, and with them competing on three fronts, the Red Devils’ match pressure and physical exertion were far greater than that of the Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, for the past week, the Bayswater Chinese had been well-rested, waiting for their exhausted opponents.

“It’s still what I emphasized before the match: Heinze and Silvestre are both extremely fatigued.”

“And Roy Keane, he’s already thirty-three years old. Can he handle playing so many consecutive matches?”

Speaking of which, this was a rather bizarre phenomenon in English football.

In England, it was widely believed that fatigue was a symptom that could be overcome by a player’s mental fortitude.

The most famous proponent of this idea was Liverpool legend Dalglish, who had said similar things on more than one occasion.

Ferguson was also a supporter of this philosophy.

Many people thought Ferguson was a quick learner, very humble, and not xenophobic…

But one shouldn’t mistake this for him being a very progressive and open-minded person.

On the contrary, at his core, Ferguson was a very conservative Englishman!

Yang Cheng had concluded in his past life that the reason for Manchester United’s rapid decline after Ferguson’s retirement, aside from various management issues, was the swift collapse of the player roster, which was a very important factor.

Why did it collapse?

Because Ferguson over-relied on young, local players.

In the years before his retirement, he spent larger transfer fees to sign players with homegrown player status rather than more capable players from the European Union.

This caused Manchester United to miss the best window for squad renewal.

With this mindset, it was not at all surprising to see a thirty-three-year-old Roy Keane play so many consecutive matches—and for the full ninety minutes each time.

Let alone the younger Heinze and Silvestre.

“In the second half, we’ll continue to target these three players.”

“When Ribéry gets the ball, Lambert needs to make horizontal runs to pull Manchester United’s defensive line, especially Silvestre and Heinze, out of position.”

“Lennon, you need to make penetrating runs. If you see a chance, get into the box.”

As Aaron Lennon nodded in agreement, Yang Cheng looked at Ribéry.

“Franck, Gary Neville is in good form, and he likes to push forward when the team’s attack is struggling.”

“So, don’t go head-to-head with him on the flank too often. Try to attack the space behind him and in the half-space, or even switch over to the right wing.”

This was effectively granting Ribéry more tactical freedom.

The Frenchman knew how much the head coach valued him and nodded confidently.

In 2003, when he had just arrived at the Bayswater Chinese, he had severely lacked confidence.

But in this team, under Yang Cheng’s guidance, he had improved rapidly and grown more and more confident.

He was still short, and his face was still scarred, but his performances on the pitch were becoming increasingly sharp.

The fans adored him more and more.

This also made his ambitions grow larger and larger.

To beat Manchester United and further prove his own ability.

That was what he wanted to do right now!

…

The second half began with a foul by Huddlestone on Giggs.

Just thirteen seconds in, Manchester United won an attacking free-kick.

Scholes’ direct shot was blocked by the wall, and Gary Neville’s long-range effort went over the bar.

But just three minutes later, another long-distance free-kick.

C. Ronaldo took it again and once more hit the wall.

Yang Cheng watched from the sideline, amused.

President Ronaldo’s two free kicks tonight both hit the wall. Not very efficient.

In the 51st minute, a foul by Roy Keane on Modrić caught Yang Cheng’s attention.

The referee, Stiles, showed the Manchester United captain a yellow card.

Modrić had controlled the ball, used a feint to sell Keane a dummy, and was about to burst past him when Roy Keane brought him down with a sliding tackle from the side and behind.

Yang Cheng was sure that Ferguson must have noticed it too.

Roy Keane was truly running on empty.

So soon after the second half had started, his reaction time was already slowing down.

But Ferguson still made no changes.

In the 53rd minute, Saha took a long shot from about twenty-five meters out on the left.

In the 55th minute, after being dispossessed by Lassana Diarra, C. Ronaldo kicked the Frenchman’s leg while trying to win the ball back.

Diarra was no pushover and was ready to square up with C. Ronaldo right away.

The end result was a yellow card for each of them.

In the 58th minute, Ferguson finally made a substitution.

He brought on Rooney for Fletcher.

Fletcher was still a young prospect at this point, and his performance had been average.

With Rooney on the pitch, Manchester United’s formation shifted from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with two forwards.

Scholes partnered Roy Keane in central midfield.

After reverting to a 4-4-2, Gary Neville’s forward runs became noticeably more aggressive.

This had been Manchester United’s most potent attacking channel in recent years.

The former right-sided combination of Beckham and Gary Neville was now just with C. Ronaldo instead.

In the 61st minute, Gary Neville overlapped and sent a cross from the right towards Saha in the penalty area.

Koscielny cleared it with a header.

But the ball didn’t go far.

Roy Keane followed up and unleashed a long shot.

It was high.

“They’re mostly shooting from distance now.”

Brian Kidd remarked as Yang Cheng walked back to the home team’s dugout.

Yang Cheng had noticed.

It meant that Manchester United’s attack was struggling to find a way through the Bayswater Chinese defence.

Ever since Beckham had left, Manchester United’s attack had lacked fluency.

Looking back from a future perspective, Ferguson was currently pushing for Carlos Queiroz to implement tactical reforms at Manchester United, attempting to introduce a more continental European style of play.

That was why Saha was being heavily utilized.

Meanwhile, the Dutch centre-forward Van Nistelrooy was finding it increasingly difficult to fit in.

In the 67th minute, Manchester United launched another attack.

Gary Neville lofted a pass from the right into the box.

Rooney made a diagonal run into the right side of the area and, under pressure from José Fonte, managed to get a shot off after receiving Neville’s pass.

Joe Hart made a precise diving save, pushing the ball past the right post for a corner.

This brilliant save earned the English goalkeeper a standing ovation.

When it came to shot-stopping on the line, Joe Hart was truly outstanding.

Afterward, Manchester United’s corner kick failed to pose a threat.

Yang Cheng glanced at the time and told Piszczek to hurry up and warm up.

When the Pole finished warming up and ran back, Yang Cheng gave him just one instruction.

“Lambert still needs to make those horizontal runs. Have Ribéry put some pressure on Gary Neville, and get Aaron Lennon to press Heinze. You need to push forward more to give Aaron Lennon more support.”

Yang Cheng didn’t explain the reasons, but rather told Piszczek exactly what to do.

The Pole nodded in agreement.

In the 71st minute, Piszczek stood on the sideline, replacing Kevin Foley and bringing Yang Cheng’s latest instructions onto the pitch.

…

Just a like-for-like substitution!

That must have been what everyone was thinking as Kevin Foley left the pitch.

Ferguson didn’t seem to plan on responding either, instead letting his team continue to apply pressure on the Bayswater Chinese.

Although their attacking methods were limited, Ferguson believed that under sustained pressure, the opponent would inevitably crack.

For a Championship team, managing to hold off Manchester United’s firepower for over an hour was already quite impressive.

As for Piszczek, he hadn’t been a regular starter this season.

But after the Pole came on, his very first touch made Ferguson’s eyes twitch.

He ran into space on the right wing, took a touch to set himself as he received the ball, and then whipped a diagonal cross into the middle, lofting it behind the Manchester United defensive line.

Lambert made a quick run, but couldn’t get to the ball.

Howard came off his line and collected the ball near the penalty spot.

A collective sigh echoed through the stadium.

If that had been Kitson, it would have been a goal!

Lambert was just a bit too slow.

Ferguson couldn’t help but frown and glance at the young player.

Good technique!

As the match progressed, he also began to notice a change on the Bayswater Chinese’s right flank since Piszczek’s introduction.

Aaron Lennon was pushing much higher up the pitch, starting to frequently harass Heinze.

But Ferguson still didn’t make any adjustments.

He trusted his players had enough experience to handle this young opponent.

But then, in the 76th minute, Manchester United attacked, spreading the ball out to the left for Heinze.

Aaron Lennon immediately charged towards the Argentine defender.

Everything looked much the same as before.

All Heinze had to do was pass the ball and he’d be fine.

But due to his high energy expenditure and extreme physical fatigue, the Argentine’s movements were a bit sluggish. Instead of passing immediately, he tried to take a steadying touch.

Lennon’s acceleration was explosive, and he closed him down instantly.

Heinze was a fierce defender, but technical skill on the ball was not his forte.

Fatigued and rushed, his first touch was poor. As he tussled with Lennon, he carelessly lost the ball.

The Argentine immediately tried to win it back, even tripping Lennon in the process.

But Lennon managed to poke the ball to Piszczek a split second earlier.

Applying the advantage rule, the head referee didn’t blow his whistle.

Piszczek knocked the ball into space to his left and accelerated after it.

Manchester United’s formation was shifting towards the Bayswater Chinese’s right side. After catching up to the ball, Piszczek hit a diagonal pass, switching the play to the left side of the pitch.

Ribéry sprinted forward at top speed.

Gary Neville was chasing him closely from the inside.

The two players were in a race.

In the end, it was Ribéry who got there first. After reaching Piszczek’s pass, he flicked the ball over and behind Gary Neville.

The French winger then came to a sudden stop, shaking off Gary Neville before cutting inside horizontally.

Caught off guard, the Manchester United right-back reached out, trying to pull Ribéry back.

But he only managed to grab his shirt.

The jersey was slick with sweat and impossible to hold onto.

The French winger quickly caught up to the ball he had chipped over.

Lambert made a diagonal run to provide support and received Ribéry’s pass on the left, just outside the penalty area.

He held his ground, his back to goal, controlled the ball, shielded it from Ferdinand, and then laid it back to the horizontally running Ribéry.

The two executed a beautiful one-two.

Ribéry ran onto the ball and, just before Roy Keane could close him down, passed it to Modrić on the right side of the D.

In an instant, everyone, including Roy Keane and a recovering Silvestre, turned their attention to Modrić.

No one noticed Ribéry suddenly change direction and dart straight into the penalty area.

Modrić, on the same wavelength, delivered a perfect through ball that pierced the gap between Silvestre and Roy Keane, landing right at Ribéry’s feet inside the box.

The pass was practically inch-perfect!

Ribéry didn’t even need a touch to control it; he just guided the ball forward.

The ball skimmed across the ground and crossed Manchester United’s goal line just before Howard could dive.

“GOAL!!!”

“Ribéry!”

“It’s Franck Ribéry again!”

“In the 76th minute, a misplaced pass by Manchester United in their opponent’s half leads to a swift counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese! Ribéry scores another goal for the Bayswater Chinese, assisted by Modrić!”

“Both of Manchester United’s conceded goals were the result of errors from their own defenders!”

“This is a very, very bad thing for them!”

The entire Loftus Road Stadium had erupted into a state of utter delirium!

A comeback!

They had actually mounted a comeback against Manchester United!

Chapter 63: A Massive Upset

The moment Ribéry scored, Ferguson’s heart felt as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer.

He was completely stunned.

Damn it!

What the hell were these bastards doing tonight?

How could they concede a goal like that?

He found it utterly baffling.

But soon, a thought flashed through his mind.

A substitution!

He had to make a substitution!

At this point, he could no longer afford to worry about the weekend’s match against Arsenal.

A single voice echoed in his head.

Crush this Championship team!

If Ferguson and his Manchester United were truly knocked out of the League Cup semi-final by a Championship side while fielding their full starting lineup, they would become a global laughingstock.

More importantly, they could forget about the Premier League and the Champions League for the season!

Such a disastrous defeat would deal a heavy blow to Manchester United’s morale.

But when the Manchester United gaffer turned to look at his bench, he was at a loss.

According to the rules, the League Cup only allowed five substitutes.

Ferguson had named Ricardo the goalkeeper, Wes Brown and O’Shea the centre-backs, Phil Neville the versatile defender, and Rooney the forward.

Rooney had already replaced Fletcher.

So who else could he bring on?

The answer was, no one.

This left Ferguson feeling stifled and suffocated.

It was as if the pacemaker implanted in his heart had stopped working.

In truth, Ferguson had always been aware of the problems facing Manchester United.

They lacked a trustworthy goalkeeper.

Ferdinand didn’t have a stable partner.

Roy Keane was aging, and a suitable successor had yet to be found.

After Beckham’s departure and the failed gamble on Verón, Manchester United still hadn’t built the more continental midfield organization and attacking system Ferguson envisioned.

Rooney and C. Ronaldo were still too young.

All in all, Manchester United had problems in almost every single line of the pitch.

This made even Ferguson feel weary.

But just as he was feeling lost, wanting to make a change but having no one to bring on, Yang Cheng on the adjacent bench suddenly made a substitution that caused a blaze of wicked fire to erupt in his heart.

This was just too damn insulting!

Ferguson’s eyes turned red.

He watched as Yang Cheng brought on Dave Kitson to replace Lambert.

With little time left in the match, substituting Kitson for Lambert was a like-for-like change.

But it was clearly a move to strengthen the attack.

Everyone knew that Kitson was Bayswater Chinese’s top attacker this season.

He had scored fifteen goals in thirty Championship matches so far.

Many British media outlets had been paying attention to the local centre-forward, as he had scored a brace on four separate occasions this season.

Yang Cheng bringing on Kitson at this moment was a clear statement of intent: he was going for another goal.

Ferguson had the urge to run onto the pitch and start a fight himself.

…

After Kitson came on, Bayswater Chinese’s attack gained even more drive.

Ribéry and Aaron Lennon also focused more on creating trouble down the flanks.

In the 82nd minute, it was Ribéry again, on the left side of the penalty area. He dribbled continuously between Gary Neville and Scholes, somehow managing to bring the ball out.

He took a long shot from the left corner of the box, which went just wide.

But the home team, having tasted success, stuck to their tactics.

In the 85th minute, Aaron Lennon’s dribble down the right wing was fouled by Heinze.

The head referee awarded Bayswater Chinese a free-kick on the right side of the pitch.

The Italian coach, Gianni Vio, once again walked to the touchline to direct the team’s set-piece offense.

Ribéry took the free-kick, curling it precisely around the wall and towards the far post.

Koscielny got to it first, heading the ball back across the middle.

Kitson used his body to muscle past Silvestre before taking a shot with his left foot.

The ball had come from the left, giving him an advantage in shooting with his left foot, but it was difficult to control.

Kitson’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box sailed directly over the bar.

Everyone felt it was a complete shame.

The English centre-forward himself squatted in front of Manchester United’s goal, head in his hands, looking utterly regretful.

This was Manchester United’s goal!

If he had scored, his market value would have skyrocketed!

Yang Cheng also felt it was a pity.

Just one minute later, C. Ronaldo broke past Danny Collins on the right flank.

José Fonte provided timely support, trapping C. Ronaldo and forcing a cross from the right side of the box.

Joe Hart decisively came off his line, leaping to claim the ball from mid-air before Saha and Rooney could get to it.

At this point, Yang Cheng used his final substitution.

He brought on Gökhan İnler for Modrić.

Modrić had fought fiercely throughout the match. He didn’t have the inexhaustible stamina of Lassana Diarra, was still young, and was the team’s core, so Yang Cheng took him off.

With the fresh legs of İnler, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was re-energized.

In the final few minutes, both sides appeared to be trying to create chances, but in reality, neither could pose a real threat.

In the 93rd minute, the head referee, Stiles, blew the final whistle.

…

The moment the final whistle sounded, Loftus Road Stadium erupted completely!

Over eighteen thousand fans all rose to their feet, cheering and applauding wildly.

The players of Bayswater Chinese were just as overcome with emotion.

The players on the bench rushed onto the pitch to celebrate with their teammates.

They had actually overturned the deficit against Manchester United!

It was really true!

In front of the home team’s dugout, Yang Cheng was so excited that he rushed onto the field himself, shouting non-stop, venting the thrill in his heart.

That was Ferguson’s Manchester United!

And it was a full-strength Manchester United at that!

Although this season’s Manchester United was weaker than Chelsea and Arsenal, and a cup competition result doesn’t fully represent a team’s strength, they were still the legendary, indomitable overlords of the Premier League!

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese had stormed into the League Cup final!

For a Championship team, this was an absolutely incredible legend in the making!

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“They become the first second-tier team to reach the League Cup final since Tranmere Rovers in 2000.”

“In this season’s final, they will face the winner of the Liverpool versus Chelsea match.”

“If Bayswater Chinese can defeat their opponent in the final, they will become the first team in Premier League history to win the League Cup as a lower-division side!”

“This will undoubtedly create Premier League history!”

“The last lower-division team to win the League Cup was Sheffield Wednesday in 1991.”

“At that time, the Premier League had not yet been established.”

“But we must remind Yang Cheng and his team.”

“Whether their opponent in the final is Benítez’s Liverpool or Mourinho’s Chelsea, both are extremely tough, fearsome opponents. They will have to perform even better than they did against Manchester United to have a chance of winning.”

“But regardless, tonight, let us all congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“Congratulations to Ribéry! His performance tonight has left an incredibly deep impression on us!”

“We have every reason to believe that after tonight, Ribéry will become a dazzling new star rising in English football, and even European football.”

“At least in this two-legged tie, his brilliance even outshone that of C. Ronaldo and Rooney.”

…

When the match in London concluded, the entire English football world was in an uproar.

Countless fans were shocked by Manchester United’s collapse and amazed by the tenacity of Bayswater Chinese.

Last season, this dark horse, then a third-tier team, had toppled Ranieri’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Everyone had thought it was just a fluke upset.

But unexpectedly, this season, the newly promoted Championship team not only eliminated Southampton and Portsmouth but also came from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final to reach the final.

This was definitely an earthquake of a massive upset!

No one could have imagined that a powerhouse like Manchester United, the霸主 of the Premier League, would be knocked out by a Championship team.

Players who had shone in the match, like Ribéry, Lassana Diarra, Joe Hart, and Aaron Lennon, were all featured in media reports, capturing the attention of the fans.

At the post-match press conference, Ferguson took full responsibility for the loss.

The Manchester United gaffer stated that a significant reason for the team’s surprising away loss to Bayswater Chinese was the fixture schedule.

Ferguson once again criticized England’s Christmas schedule.

Everyone, in fact, was already used to this routine from Ferguson.

Whenever Manchester United performed well, the Christmas schedule was a wonderful feature of the Premier League.

If Manchester United performed poorly, especially when they were behind in the League table, Ferguson would lash out at the Christmas schedule.

It was a tactic familiar to all.

As for the Manchester United players, the backline received the most criticism from the media and fans.

The performance of the Manchester United defenders in this match was described by The Sun as a disaster zone after a typhoon.

Especially Silvestre.

He received the lowest score of the match, a failing 5 out of 10.

Three of Manchester United’s starting players received a score of 5.

Goalkeeper Howard, centre-back Silvestre, and centre-forward Saha.

They conveniently formed the team’s spine.

Howard had made a few brilliant saves during the game, but his overall performance was still unsatisfactory.

“Signing a high-level goalkeeper has become a must for Manchester United,” analyzed The Times.

The centre-back position also needed strengthening as soon as possible.

“Neither O’Shea nor Silvestre can deliver a consistently satisfactory performance.”

Heinze, on the other hand, was a different story.

Although he made consecutive errors in the second half, he still received a passing score of 6.

The reasoning was that, aside from his mistakes, he had played well and was relatively stable for the rest of the match.

Saha had it even worse.

The centre-forward, in whom Ferguson had placed high hopes, largely disappeared for most of the match after his initial flash of brilliance that won them a penalty kick.

To have earned a penalty kick right at the start and still only receive a rating of 5, it was clear just how terrible Saha’s performance had been.

The Times asserted, “This will be another Verón-like signing for Ferguson.”

As for the two talented youngsters, Rooney and C. Ronaldo, the mainstream opinion in the British media was also one of dissatisfaction.

Especially when contrasted with Ribéry’s brilliant display.

But there was one phenomenon that greatly annoyed Yang Cheng.

Even though Ribéry had performed better, the mainstream British media still favored Rooney and C. Ronaldo.

Their reports gave Yang Cheng the feeling that they still expected and believed in Rooney and C. Ronaldo, and did not expect Ribéry to consistently produce top-class performances.

Why?

The Sun gave the answer.

“His image doesn’t seem to fit the temperament of a football star.”

The implication was that no matter how well you played, if your looks weren’t up to par, it was all for nothing.

…

Yang Cheng paid no attention to the media frenzy.

After the Manchester United match, he led his players back to preparation.

The League Cup final was on February 27th, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

For the next month, Bayswater Chinese had to go all out in their push for the Championship title.

And in training, Yang Cheng could clearly feel the change in the players’ mentality.

Reaching the League Cup final by overcoming Manchester United had made the players much more confident.

The morning after the Manchester United match, after leading the team through a recovery training session, he received a phone call from an agent.

It was the most famous agent in England, Jonathan Barnett of the Stellar Group.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this famous English agent would arrange for his star client Ashley Cole to secretly meet with Mourinho in June of this year, leading to Arsenal reporting him and his license being temporarily suspended.

But for now, he was still the number one big shot in English football.

When Yang Cheng received Jonathan Barnett’s call and learned that he would be visiting in the afternoon, his heart sank.

The thing he had feared most had happened after all.

Chapter 64: One Fish, Eaten Many Ways

“When did Joe Hart get a new agent?”

Yang Cheng sat upright in his cramped office, brewing tea for the renowned British super agent.

Jonathan Barnett, nicknamed the King of England.

He was one of the most influential agents in England at the moment.

Another was Paul Stretford, Rooney’s agent.

Any agent who reached their level was a master of diplomacy.

They kept their true intentions hidden, always maintaining a friendly and harmonious facade.

Just like Jonathan Barnett at this very moment.

With his round, balding head and a pair of glasses, he looked very approachable.

And he always greeted people with a smile.

“Just in the middle of last year. He’s quite sought-after now, having skipped a level from the England U17s to the U19s.”

“David James is getting old, and whether it’s Paul Robinson, Robert Green, or other goalkeepers, none of them are entirely satisfactory.”

“Many people have high hopes for Joe Hart. He’s not yet eighteen, but he’s already performed exceptionally well.”

After speaking, Jonathan Barnett picked up the cup of clear tea Yang Cheng had poured for him, took a sip, and praised it as good tea.

It was hard to tell if he genuinely knew anything about tea.

As a goalkeeper, Joe Hart still had many shortcomings.

But considering he wasn’t yet eighteen, he was truly outstanding.

His improvement had been immense, especially after the experience gained over the last two seasons.

Goalkeepers, like defenders, needed to be constantly honed through matches, growing and improving from their mistakes.

This was why it was rare to see a prodigy in the goalkeeper or defender positions.

But Joe Hart’s performances since his debut had all the makings of a prodigy goalkeeper.

Yang Cheng was observing Jonathan Barnett, and the agent was observing him in return.

Seeing Yang Cheng remain silent, Barnett understood.

He didn’t want to sell Joe Hart.

“You know, Mr. Yang, many Premier League teams are looking for a goalkeeper right now.”

“Liverpool are about to sign Scott Carson from Leeds United. Dudek’s position is stable for now, but Carson will be a good backup.”

“Then there’s Fulham; they also need a backup goalkeeper. Van der Sar isn’t getting any younger.”

“In the Championship, after letting Carson go, Leeds United wants a goalkeeper. Queens Park Rangers is also looking for one, and several other teams are short of a keeper.”

“A good goalkeeper is a hot commodity!”

Jonathan Barnett looked at Yang Cheng and chuckled.

The hint was already very clear.

“But as I recall, Everton shouldn’t be short of one, right?” Yang Cheng no longer feigned ignorance.

Jonathan Barnett had come on behalf of Everton this time.

He wanted to make this deal happen, and Everton had promised him a commission.

More importantly, he felt that Joe Hart was ready for a bigger stage to challenge himself and improve his skills.

Joining Everton wasn’t an opportunity that came by every day.

The Toffees were currently fourth in the Premier League.

“Everton has three goalkeepers right now. Nigel Martyn is thirty-eight, but he still plays every single match.”

“The second-choice keeper is Richard Wright, twenty-seven; the third-choice is Iain Turner, twenty-one.”

“On December 28th, in the league match against Charlton, Nigel Martyn played for half the game before going off injured. Richard Wright came on for the second half and ended up conceding two goals in the 82nd and 85th minutes, ruining Everton’s excellent position.”

“During Nigel Martyn’s absence, besides the Charlton game, Richard Wright played four matches: a disastrous 5-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, a narrow 2-1 win against Portsmouth, a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, and a 1-0 loss to Charlton.”

“In five matches—no, to be precise, four and a half matches—he conceded ten goals.”

Jonathan Barnett didn’t need to explain much more.

With stats like these laid out, anyone would completely lose faith in Richard Wright.

This was beyond a catastrophe.

It was a nightmare!

“Before the Charlton match, Everton was third in the Premier League, even higher than Manchester United. But now they’re fourth, and their position is precarious. So, for Everton, this is absolutely unacceptable.”

Jonathan Barnett laid everything on the table, which was quite candid.

This made Yang Cheng understand that Everton’s interest in Joe Hart was long-standing.

But making a move during the winter transfer window was somewhat unexpected.

If Nigel Martyn hadn’t been injured, and if Richard Wright hadn’t performed so poorly, Everton wouldn’t be in such a hurry to make a move during the winter window.

Moreover, it was already the 27th.

For any team, Premier League or not, to have their starting goalkeeper poached on the 27th and then try to sign a replacement before the winter transfer window closed was nearly impossible.

Unless they had prepared well in advance.

But the goalkeeper position is a special one, and usually very stable. Who would make such preparations for no reason?

“Mr. Yang, Everton is very sincere. They hope to complete this deal before the winter transfer window closes.”

Jonathan Barnett smiled at Yang Cheng.

“For the transfer fee, they are willing to offer two and a half million pounds.”

“You should know, for a goalkeeper who is not yet eighteen, that’s already quite a good price.”

“Impossible!” The moment Jonathan Barnett finished speaking, Yang Cheng flatly refused.

His expression was one of grief, indignation, and displeasure.

“You can go and ask Moyes if he would sell his starting goalkeeper during the winter break when his team is in such an excellent position.”

Jonathan Barnett hadn’t expected Yang Cheng, who had been so calm just a moment ago, to react so strongly.

As for the answer to that question, he knew it without asking—impossible!

“Everton wants to get into the Champions League, to keep their top-four spot. But we are also fighting for promotion. We want to get into the Premier League.”

Yang Cheng’s words were spoken from the perspective of Bayswater Chinese’s interests, telling Barnett and Everton that Joe Hart was crucial to their promotion plans and that Bayswater Chinese would not sell!

“I understand, Mr. Yang, but we all know that you’re currently raising money everywhere to build a training ground.”

After a pause, Jonathan Barnett smiled faintly again. “If it’s a matter of finding a replacement goalkeeper, I can help. At the very least, loaning one from a Premier League team for the short term would be no problem.”

A backup goalkeeper from the Premier League, even a third-choice keeper, would have no problem being a starter in the Championship.

This was the shrewdness and cunning of an agent.

One fish, eaten many ways!

He was clearly trying to make money and take advantage, but he framed it as if he were helping.

Sometimes, the club might even end up owing him a favor.

And favors are hard to repay.

Yang Cheng didn’t accept his generous offer, instead sticking firmly to one point: not selling!

From his standpoint, he really didn’t plan on selling Joe Hart.

No one wanted to disrupt their team during the winter transfer window.

But with Jonathan Barnett showing up in person, things probably weren’t that simple.

…

Sure enough, after seeing Jonathan Barnett off in the afternoon, Everton’s offer arrived on Yang Cheng’s desk that evening.

Three million pound sterling!

Everton was desperate.

How could they not be? Nigel Martyn was already thirty-eight. Who knew how much of his form he could recover after returning from injury?

Joe Hart had performed brilliantly in the League Cup recently, especially his spectacular performance against Manchester United, which had naturally caught David Moyes’ eye.

The Scotsman had always considered himself Ferguson’s prized disciple.

Plus, he had the precious homegrown player status.

It was no surprise that Everton was so eager to make a move.

As for Bayswater Chinese’s grand promotion plan…

Did a Premier League team need to consider the feelings of a Championship team when poaching their players?

Yang Cheng rejected Everton’s offer without hesitation.

This quickly caught the attention of the British media.

The next morning, Charlton Athletic also called Bayswater Chinese to inquire about Joe Hart’s situation.

Bayswater Chinese still refused to comment.

Everton immediately sent a second offer: three and a half million pound sterling.

Bayswater Chinese rejected Everton once again.

It was at this point that Jonathan Barnett paid Yang Cheng a second visit.

This time, he brought Joe Hart’s stance on the matter.

Everton was a top-four Premier League team and had promised to develop Joe Hart as a key player, so the player was very keen to seize this opportunity to join a team that could play in the Champions League.

“Of course, Joe is also very grateful to you and Bayswater Chinese for the trust and development you’ve given him over the past two seasons.”

“But you know, Yang, it’s hard for him to refuse Everton.”

Yang Cheng listened silently, his mind racing.

The Premier League had registration rules regarding homegrown players.

That’s why homegrown player status was so expensive.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about that.

He was considering whether or not to sell Joe Hart. And if he did, what would he do next?

The first name that came to his mind was the French international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

If he remembered correctly, Lloris should be at OGC Nice in Ligue 1 right now, not yet having played for the first team.

It was a pity about Slovenia’s Handanović.

Last summer, Yang Cheng had originally thought about signing him, but at the time, considering Joe Hart was a priority for development, Handanović wouldn’t have had a spot. The lack of match experience would have been detrimental to his growth.

But now, Handanović had gone to Udinese, and Joe Hart was the one wanting to transfer.

Oh, and there was also Schalke 04’s Manuel Neuer, who was about to turn nineteen.

If he remembered correctly, this young man, who would be regarded by countless fans in the future as an era-defining god of goalkeeping, was still in Schalke 04’s youth team, eagerly waiting for an opportunity that might never come.

He might not even have signed a professional contract yet.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng’s confidence surged.

If he had to sell, then so be it!

If recruiting a replacement didn’t go smoothly, he could just ask Jonathan Barnett to loan a backup keeper from the Premier League.

Or he could even promote the veteran goalkeeper Danny Coyne.

With this in mind, Yang Cheng knew what to do.

But when he looked at Jonathan Barnett, his eyes were still filled with grief and unwillingness, and he even grit his teeth, forcing back his anger.

“Fine. Since you’ve all made your positions clear, there’s nothing more for me to say.”

As soon as Yang Cheng relented, Jonathan Barnett broke into a smile.

He also had very high hopes for Joe Hart.

“But remember the promise you made me, Jonathan. If I need it, you have to help me poach a player from a Premier League team.”

Yang Cheng was making Jonathan Barnett owe him a favor.

One that would have to be repaid.

“No problem,” Barnett agreed readily.

“Then you can tell Everton that they can buy Joe Hart, but a transfer fee of three and a half million pounds is too low.”

Jonathan Barnett’s heart skipped a beat.

“We want seven million pounds!” Yang Cheng said decisively.

Everton was indeed poor.

It was said that last summer, when Manchester United came to buy Rooney from Everton, the player’s ownership rights had been mortgaged to a bank.

But things were different now. After selling Rooney, Everton had brought in twenty-seven million pounds. Combined with the transfers of Gravesen and other players, their total income reached over thirty million pounds. They were rolling in cash.

And look, they were also planning to sign the homegrown striker Beattie from Southampton.

If Yang Cheng didn’t take this opportunity to rip them off, he would feel he was doing himself a disservice.

Seven million pounds, in January 2005, was basically an impossibly astronomical price for Joe Hart.

Chelsea had spent seven million pounds last year to sign the Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech from Rennes in Ligue 1.

The twenty-two-year-old Čech had been named the best goalkeeper in Ligue 1, was the best player at the U21 European Youth Championship, and had performed brilliantly in the French league.

In terms of both personal accolades and actual performance, there was a huge gap between Joe Hart and Čech.

Hart’s only advantage was his homegrown player status.

When a player’s place of registration was listed as England, his market value automatically shot up.

As for how much Everton was willing to pay for that, Yang Cheng would wait and see.

If the Toffees were scared off by this price, that would be even better.

Yang Cheng wasn’t that eager to sell anyway.

Chapter 65: The Chosen One

When Yang Cheng demanded seven million pounds sterling, Jonathan Barnett laughed on the spot, calling it impossible.

But Yang Cheng remained firm.

The crafty agent naturally understood Yang Cheng’s true intentions.

So, without any further ado, he left Bayswater Chinese and immediately relayed the news to Everton.

Yang Cheng had no idea what happened next.

But he began to prepare for two possibilities.

If Everton was scared off, that would be the ideal outcome.

If The Toffees were still willing to haggle, it would prove they were determined to get Joe Hart.

Because the winter transfer window was about to close.

There was no time.

While Everton hesitated, Yang Cheng began researching Manuel Neuer.

The German goalkeeper wouldn’t turn nineteen until March 27th.

Just as Yang Cheng had expected, he had yet to sign a professional contract with Schalke 04.

Sometimes, for a star player to succeed, they need more than just their own ability; they truly need a bit of luck.

Neuer was one of those chosen ones blessed with an incredible amount of it.

The early stages of his career were not smooth; he constantly stumbled along.

Schalke 04’s youth academy was outstanding and produced a wealth of talent, and Neuer had been waiting in vain for a call-up to the first team.

In January 2006, he had even signed an agreement and drafted transfer documents with FC Köln, who were in the German second division at the time.

But just then, Schalke 04’s second-choice goalkeeper, Christopher Heimeroth, suddenly decided to transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach for 750,000 euros.

As a result, Schalke 04 decided to keep Neuer as their second-choice keeper.

Even more unexpectedly, just six months later, Frank Rost—who had joined Schalke 04 for a then-Bundesliga record transfer fee of eight million euros—collided with his teammate Bönisch during a training session while contesting a header.

Both suffered shin injuries. Rost needed eight stitches and would be sidelined for some time.

Neuer seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, made a stunning debut for Schalke 04, and cemented his place.

Any fan from the year 2024 seeing this story would find it incredibly familiar.

That’s right.

Before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the way Neuer surpassed Germany’s starting goalkeeper at the time, Adler, was identical.

In both instances, at a critical moment, his competitor got injured, and Neuer successfully took his place.

If this wasn’t being the chosen one, what was?

Twice, at crucial junctures, fate had intervened on his behalf.

Of course, it was undeniable that Neuer’s ability to seize opportunities at critical moments was thanks to his own immense skill.

But what if he hadn’t had such luck?

Neuer certainly wouldn’t have been buried in obscurity, but he might have faced many more setbacks.

Just like now.

The nearly nineteen-year-old Neuer had been selected for Germany’s U19 national team, but he wasn’t the starter.

He had a very strong competitor.

Florian Fromlowitz from Kaiserslautern.

Yang Cheng also investigated Schalke 04’s current squad composition.

Neuer was currently training with Schalke 04’s B team but was actually playing matches for their U19s.

Even in the U19s, Neuer wasn’t the undisputed starter; his playing time was comparable to that of Dennis Ramsik.

Furthermore, in this season’s German U19 Bundesliga West, Neuer had a terrible start.

In the first six matches he played this season, he conceded a total of ten goals.

Only after being replaced by Ramsik for a few games did his performance begin to improve, leading to consecutive clean sheets.

But even if Neuer stood out from the U19s and moved up to Schalke 04’s B team, he would still face fierce competition.

There was the twenty-one-year-old Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Ünlü and the twenty-year-old Manuel Lenz.

Further up the ladder were the first team’s Frank Rost and Christopher Heimeroth.

Looking at Schalke 04’s current goalkeeper hierarchy, Neuer had yet to play a single minute for the B team.

He was, at best, fifth in line.

As for his status as a homegrown youth product, most of the others were as well.

The only exception was the current undisputed number one, Frank Rost.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng knew exactly what cards to play with Neuer.

…

Everton’s response was swift.

They were in a race against time.

Another offer was placed before Yang Cheng: four million pounds sterling.

But Yang Cheng instructed Lin Zhongqiu to hold firm at seven million pounds sterling.

As long as Everton was willing to make a counteroffer, it proved The Toffees’ sincerity.

Of course, for the same price, they could choose other players or look for a loan.

Yang Cheng would be more than happy if they did.

But Everton’s General Manager, Michael Dunford, personally traveled south, demonstrating a determined resolve.

Accompanied by Lin Zhongqiu, Yang Cheng met with Michael Dunford and agent Jonathan Barnett for a meal at a hotel south of Hyde Park.

The two sides still couldn’t agree on a mutually acceptable price.

Everyone knew they were in a game of psychological warfare.

Yang Cheng wouldn’t back down easily; the moment he did, the transfer would have to be finalized.

That night, Everton raised their offer again to 4.5 million pounds sterling.

Yang Cheng conceded a little, dropping his price to 6.5 million pounds sterling.

There was still a gap of two million pounds sterling between them.

That was no small sum.

That same evening, Yang Cheng called Xia Qing, explaining the entire situation to her overnight and entrusting her to represent him and continue the negotiations with Lin Zhongqiu.

The next day, accompanied by Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg, he flew from London to Düsseldorf, Germany.

From Düsseldorf, the two drove forty kilometers north to Gelsenkirchen.

After the golden era of the late 90s, the Bundesliga had fallen on hard times following the bankruptcy of the Kirch Group. Broadcasting revenues plummeted, and all the clubs found themselves in dire straits. Being riddled with debt was commonplace.

Bayern Munich seized this opportunity to turn the entire Bundesliga into their own backyard.

Schalke 04 was in the same boat.

For a young player who was performing well but had yet to play a single minute for the B team, or even sign a professional contract, Schalke 04 paid him no mind.

Yang Cheng’s approach could be considered a courtesy before taking action; he didn’t directly contact the player and start poaching.

Otherwise, he might not have had to pay a single penny.

Of course, the consequence might have been Schalke 04 reporting them to UEFA and having to pay a youth development fee.

Yang Cheng didn’t want to do something so damaging to his reputation.

He went directly to Schalke 04, expressing his willingness to pay a fee to buy the young player who had not yet signed a professional contract.

Schalke 04 was very straightforward and quoted a reasonable price.

500,000 pounds sterling.

Approximately 750,000 euros.

Subsequently, Yang Cheng obtained the contact information for Neuer and his agent, Thomas Kroth, from Schalke 04.

That evening, the four of them met at a hotel in Gelsenkirchen.

…

“I’ve heard of you.”

Although not yet nineteen, Manuel Neuer gave Yang Cheng the same impression he’d had when coaching him at Bayern Munich in his past life.

His personality had always been this way.

For Yang Cheng, this was actually a good thing.

With Neuer’s character, he wouldn’t be content to languish in Schalke 04’s youth team.

“You just knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup semifinals. Our media here reported on it.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly, his gaze shifting to the agent, Thomas Kroth, by his side.

Thomas Kroth was a former professional player, having played for Köln, Frankfurt, Hannover, and Borussia Dortmund.

After retiring, he transitioned into being an agent.

Since Neuer and his agent had heard of them, things would be much easier.

Yang Cheng got straight to the point, explaining the current situation at Bayswater Chinese in detail.

“It was that very League Cup semifinal, which made our name known across Europe, that is now causing us to lose our starting goalkeeper.”

Yang Cheng was able to converse directly with Neuer and Thomas Kroth in German.

This left Mike Rigg, who was sitting beside them, completely stunned.

He truly had not expected his young boss to possess such a skill.

“I developed Joe Hart for two years, and I even spent a significant sum to poach a very outstanding goalkeeping coach from Spain.”

At this point, Yang Cheng lavished praise on his capable subordinate.

Back then, the Dutch goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek had followed van Gaal to coach in Spain, where he helped the Spanish Football Federation reform its goalkeeper training program, which led to the recent emergence of numerous talented Spanish goalkeepers.

Germany also produced a wealth of goalkeepers, but German football was closely linked to Dutch football, and there were many shared principles in their youth development.

In contrast, Italy’s methods for developing and training goalkeepers were quite different from those of the Netherlands and Spain.

This was why Edwin van der Sar had struggled to adapt when he joined Juventus all those years ago.

Yang Cheng told Neuer that if he was willing to join Bayswater Chinese, aside from language and lifestyle adjustments, he would have no problems with football training and matches.

“What I can guarantee is that after Joe Hart is transferred, you will be our team’s first-choice goalkeeper. If you’re ready, you can even represent our team in the Championship match at home against Derby County on February 5th.”

“Furthermore, I can also assure you that we will be promoted to the Premier League this season and will very likely participate in next year’s UEFA Cup, where you will also be our team’s starting goalkeeper.”

Yang Cheng’s biggest bargaining chip was the playing time that Schalke 04 simply couldn’t offer.

In the League Cup semifinals, Chelsea had eliminated Liverpool to reach the final.

Chelsea was currently top of the table in the Premier League and would most likely win the title, qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

If Bayswater Chinese could defeat Chelsea in the League Cup final, the team would qualify for next season’s UEFA Cup.

Yang Cheng could clearly see the excitement flashing in Neuer’s eyes.

If he stayed at Schalke 04, facing competition from numerous academy teammates, when would he ever get his breakthrough?

Yang Cheng’s confidence, on the other hand, stemmed from his knowledge of Neuer from his past life and the German goalkeeper’s ability.

From the moment he broke through, he had put so much pressure on a top-tier German keeper like Frank Rost that Rost was left with no chance of a comeback and was forced to leave for another team.

That in itself said it all.

“Manuel, you need to believe in yourself. Don’t just wait for a call-up from the first team. You can have a better option.”

This sentence from Yang Cheng completely swayed Neuer.

The German goalkeeper immediately turned to look at his agent.

Thomas Kroth nodded slightly.

He had to admit, Yang Cheng’s offer was incredibly attractive for Neuer.

The only risk was whether Neuer could adapt to life and football in England.

But given Neuer’s personality, it likely wouldn’t be a major issue.

If he stayed at Schalke 04, who knew when he would even get a professional contract.

If he went to Bayswater Chinese, not only would he sign a professional contract immediately, but he would also get more first-team playing time, and even play in the Premier League and the UEFA Cup next season.

Anyone in his shoes would probably know what to choose.

“I have two questions,” Thomas Kroth said, still being cautious.

“Go ahead.”

“You said Joe Hart might transfer to Everton. What if the transfer falls through?”

Yang Cheng nodded. Now they were getting down to business.

“I can guarantee that both will be given an equal opportunity to compete, and I will promise Manuel playing time. Moreover, even if Joe Hart doesn’t leave now, we will consider selling him in the summer.”

Since the decision to leave was already made, Yang Cheng saw no reason to keep him.

It would be pointless.

He might as well focus on developing Neuer.

As for homegrown players, Yang Cheng wasn’t lacking for them.

Thomas Kroth and Neuer were clearly satisfied with Yang Cheng’s answer.

“Second question, why are you interested in Manuel?”

This was their biggest question.

Why me?

Yang Cheng was prepared for this as well.

“Do you remember, in mid-September last year, the Germany U19 team played two friendlies against Spain, the winners of the U19 European Championship?”

“Of course, I remember,” Neuer replied.

“You played the full first match, but not the second. At the time, I was scouting Spain’s core midfielder, David Silva, and I happened to see your performance.”

Hearing this, Neuer’s brow furrowed. “But we lost that match 0-2.”

That was also why he had lost his starting position.

“You can’t judge a player based solely on the result of a match. Looking at the process, I feel that you, as a goalkeeper, perfectly meet my requirements. I like your characteristics; they are what we need.”

At this point, any doubts that either Neuer or Thomas Kroth had were completely dispelled.

Neuer even began to involuntarily dream about the future.

Chapter 66: A Firm Price, a Big Favor

Speed is of the essence.

After meeting with Neuer, Yang Cheng met with the management of Schalke 04.

The two parties came to an agreement, which they would advance discreetly and keep confidential for the time being.

Neuer himself wasn’t a major star, so even if he did transfer, few people would pay attention.

When a travel-worn Yang Cheng returned to London, he met with Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu.

In the day he had been gone, Everton and the Bayswater Chinese had held two rounds of talks.

Currently, both sides were holding firm on their prices.

Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu strictly followed Yang Cheng’s instructions, holding fast to the 6.5 million pound sterling price tag without yielding.

This was Yang Cheng’s negotiation strategy.

At a critical moment like this, they couldn’t afford to back down.

Everton, on the other hand, had fixed their price at 5 million pound sterling and stubbornly refused to raise it a single penny more.

Negotiations had stalled as a result.

“I saw in this morning’s paper that Nigel Martyn has recovered from his injury and is back,” Xia Qing reminded him.

Although she hadn’t officially started her position at the Bayswater Chinese yet, she was dedicated to doing her best with the tasks Yang Cheng had entrusted to her.

“Will he play in the FA Cup match against Leicester City?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“I don’t know.”

Xia Qing didn’t know much about football.

The fact that she was able to do all this was already quite remarkable.

“Thank you, Senior.”

Xia Qing beamed. “Was your trip to Germany a success?”

“It’s settled.”

“For you to go all that way in person, is this person really that good?”

Yang Cheng smiled. “If he isn’t poached by another team, we won’t have to worry about our goalkeeper for at least fifteen years.”

“He will be the best goalkeeper in the world!”

Xia Qing was somewhat astonished.

She had only asked casually, not expecting Yang Cheng to give her such an answer.

If it had been anyone else, she would have scoffed, thinking they were bragging and exaggerating.

But over the past period, Yang Cheng had truly given her too many surprises and shocks.

She now had a feeling.

No matter what sensational thing Yang Cheng did, she could accept it.

“By the way, Senior, have you started the process of resigning?” Yang Cheng asked with a grin.

Xia Qing looked a little embarrassed and glanced at Lin Zhongqiu.

Lin Zhongqiu’s expression seemed to say, Don’t look at me, I’m already spilt water.

He was long past the emotional journey of turning his heart to the bright moon, only for the moon to shine on the gutter.

“It’s in process,” Xia Qing said with a look of resignation.

She really was at a loss now that Yang Cheng had roped her in.

But more importantly, she genuinely disliked the lifestyle at Goldman Sachs.

Conversely, she felt that working for the Bayswater Chinese would be an excellent choice.

Yang Cheng burst into laughter. “Congratulations, Senior. You’ve made a very wise decision.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng changed the subject. “However, Senior, although you haven’t officially started, you need to work on drafting our salary structure for next season during this time.”

After promotion to the Premier League, the team’s salary structure would have to change again.

The players who had built the club’s fortunes with them would definitely need promotions and raises.

The key was to reasonably control the extent of the salary increases.

They were all young; if their salaries rose too quickly, it would be impossible to keep them in the future.

There would be no leverage left!

“Also, let’s leave Everton hanging for now. I guess they’re waiting for tonight’s FA Cup match.”

But Yang Cheng instructed Lin Zhongqiu to finalize the transfer contract with Schalke 04 as soon as possible, ensuring they signed Neuer during the winter break.

Moreover, the entire affair had to be conducted in secret.

If Everton found out, they would have even more confidence to haggle down the price.

…

On the evening Yang Cheng returned from Germany, in the FA Cup match at Goodison Park in Liverpool, David Moyes’ team scored just ten minutes into the game.

This led everyone to believe a victory was certain.

Unexpectedly, in the 32nd minute, an error in the Everton defensive line resulted in a conceded goal.

Afterward, the two teams traded attacks.

It wasn’t until the 90th minute that Leicester City’s centre-forward, James Scowcroft, scored another goal for his team.

2-1!

Leicester City had completed a comeback victory over Everton to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The loss left everyone at Everton feeling deeply dejected.

David Moyes was also very dissatisfied with the result, believing the team’s recent performance had been extremely poor.

But what Yang Cheng paid the most attention to was the mediocre performance of the returning Nigel Martyn.

At thirty-eight years old, after a month on the sidelines, it was difficult to guarantee his form upon his return.

Neither of the two goals conceded were directly his fault.

But if his form had been good, he could have saved them.

Understanding this point, Yang Cheng simply waited.

Sure enough, that night, he received another call from the agent Jonathan Barnett.

Everton had raised their offer again: 5.5 million pound sterling, and not a penny more.

“You know, the highest transfer fee in Everton’s history was signing Beattie from Southampton.”

“Before that, their highest signing was Barmby from Middlesbrough for 5.75 million pound sterling.”

Barnett told Yang Cheng all this to signal that it was time to know when to stop.

There had to be a limit to how much they could raise the price.

Everton couldn’t take it anymore.

Yang Cheng chuckled. “Alright, Jonathan, since you’ve put it that way, I’ll give you face.”

On the other end of the line, Jonathan Barnett was instantly delighted.

As long as this transfer went through, he stood to gain a lot.

But Yang Cheng’s next sentence nearly made him fall over.

“Same price as Beattie, 6 million pound sterling. It’s a firm price, no haggling!”

Jonathan Barnett suspected he had misheard.

Is my face really worth this little?

And on top of that, I owe you a big favor?

The sly-as-a-fox agent knew perfectly well that Yang Cheng’s psychological price was 6 million pound sterling.

Even 5.5 million had probably already met his bottom line.

Beattie was a forward, and a forward who had proven his ability.

On what basis was Joe Hart worth the same as him?

But Jonathan Barnett certainly wouldn’t voice such a doubt, because that was something Everton’s Michael Dunford should be raising.

What did it have to do with him?

The money wasn’t coming out of his pocket.

He only cared whether the transfer happened or not.

“Alright, I’ll relay it for you right away,” Barnett said helplessly.

He now understood completely.

The reason the Bayswater Chinese had been able to rise in just two short years and were even on the verge of entering the Premier League was that Yang Cheng, this young rich kid, was the key figure.

Setting everything else aside, just look at his maneuvering and his ability to handle opponents. Among the twenty clubs in the Premier League, how many executives had that kind of skill?

Everton, in particular, had been completely outmaneuvered by him.

Of course, the reason The Toffees were dead set on Joe Hart, putting all their eggs in one basket, was also thanks to him, Jonathan Barnett.

“By the way, Jonathan, speaking of Beattie, has Southampton’s financial situation eased up?” Yang Cheng suddenly changed the topic.

When the conversation shifted to other things, Jonathan Barnett’s mind was no longer so weary.

“How could it have eased up? No one knows how much they owe right now, but I hear it’s at least 20 million pound sterling.”

Yang Cheng felt a bit awkward; their debt was about the same.

“The Saints are now second to last in the Premier League, and their relegation battle is precarious. The players are demoralized, and even Beattie has left.”

“If they really get relegated from the Premier League, it will be an absolute disaster. Leeds United is a cautionary tale.”

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Southampton was relegated, they truly went the same way as Leeds United, going bankrupt and dropping down the leagues again and again.

It was only later, after the Liebherr family acquired Southampton, that The Saints turned their fortunes around.

“Even Beattie’s transfer can’t alleviate it?”

“No. When Southampton signed Beattie from Blackburn Rovers, they agreed to a 20% sell-on clause. So Southampton only actually received 4.8 million pound sterling.”

Not to mention, that 4.8 million pound sterling was to be paid in installments.

“Thanks, Jonathan.”

After thanking him, Yang Cheng hung up the phone.

Southampton’s youth academy was indeed excellent, but many of the team’s talented players actually came from the Greater London area and Wales.

Right now, Yang Cheng was actually hoping Southampton would get relegated sooner rather than later.

…

The day after the FA Cup match, Everton’s General Manager, Michael Dunford, traveled south to London once again.

This time he brought a team, and after meeting with Yang Cheng, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Six million pound sterling.

Joe Hart would officially transfer to Everton.

Next were negotiations over the payment structure of the transfer fee. Yang Cheng didn’t participate, leaving Lin Zhongqiu in charge.

Once things were settled, Michael Dunford immediately returned to Everton.

That day, the two clubs rushed to sign the contract for Joe Hart’s transfer, and Everton also needed to sign a contract with the player.

By the time everything was done, it was already evening.

However, they ultimately managed to complete all the transfer procedures before the transfer window slammed shut.

On the morning of February 1st, as major British media outlets reported that Joe Hart had transferred to Everton for 6 million pound sterling, and while everyone was shocked by Everton’s big spending, the Bayswater Chinese players were surprised by their new teammate.

Manuel Neuer.

The German goalkeeper had arrived in London the previous day, the same day Joe Hart’s transfer was finalized.

Yang Cheng first arranged for him to stay at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, so he could walk to the training ground every day.

A dedicated person would be responsible for finding him a rental apartment.

Before a translator arrived, Yang Cheng and Piszczek acted as temporary interpreters.

Most of the players were simply astonished.

A few days ago, when they learned that Joe Hart was going to be transferred, everyone except Danny Coyne was both shocked and panicked.

But now, a German goalkeeper had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and he was only eighteen years old. This came as a big surprise to the Bayswater Chinese players.

There was nothing to be done; professional football was like this.

Everyone had to learn to get used to it.

Honestly, if they were to ask themselves, for many of them, if a team like Everton came calling, would they turn it down?

The Bayswater Chinese were on a good run now, but who could say what the future held?

They didn’t even own their own stadium, which made many things feel uncertain.

Everton, on the other hand, was currently fourth in the Premier League, and their results over the past few years were there for all to see.

Who wouldn’t want to go to a team like that?

Yang Cheng paid no mind to the players’ wandering thoughts.

He was more focused on helping Neuer familiarize himself with the Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system and integrate into the team.

As Yang Cheng had said before, Neuer discovered after arriving that Yang Cheng’s requirements for a goalkeeper, which might be awkward for other keepers, seemed tailor-made for him.

…

On the evening of February 5th, in the 31st round of the Championship, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Derby County.

Having been with the team for less than a week, German goalkeeper Neuer replaced Joe Hart in the Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup, showing no signs of stage fright.

On the contrary, he seemed rather excited.

Riding the momentum from the League Cup and after a week of rest, the Bayswater Chinese launched a fierce offensive from the very beginning.

In the 20th minute, Ribéry broke through Derby County’s goal.

Nine minutes later, it was Ribéry again, who, assisted by Modrić, scored another goal to complete his brace.

Before the end of the first half, Aaron Lennon and Kitson each scored a goal.

4-0!

After changing sides for the second half, Derby County’s opening onslaught breached Neuer’s goal, but afterward, Kitson and substitute Ashley Young each scored a goal.

Derby County also scored another goal in the 68th minute.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese crushed Derby County 6-2 at home.

…

Riding this wave of resounding victory, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Cardiff 2-0 away from home in the subsequent 32nd league round.

In the 33rd league round, they defeated The Black Cats, Sunderland, 2-1 at home.

And in the 34th round, the Bayswater Chinese beat Millwall 1-0 at home.

However, in the 35th round match, with the League Cup final against Chelsea just three days away, Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve squad and consequently lost 1-0 away to Leeds United.

After 35 rounds, the Bayswater Chinese, with a record of four wins and one loss in their last five league games, sat at the top of the Championship table with 67 points.

Following closely were Wigan Athletic, Sunderland, and Ipswich Town with 66 points each.

These four teams currently held a commanding lead over the rest.

Further down, West Ham United had only 57 points, Preston had 56, and Sheffield United had 55.

Queens Park Rangers had fallen to 13th place, their promotion hopes all but gone.

After the loss to Leeds United, Yang Cheng and the players took a short break in London before heading south to Cardiff.

To make final preparations for the upcoming League Cup final.

Chapter 67: Watch out for Robben!

Bloomsbury, London. Royal Mail headquarters.

Early in the morning, having just arrived at work, the cold-blooded CEO of Royal Mail—the one cursed out by hundreds of thousands of his employees—was sitting in his office, gazing at the Crowne Plaza Hotel King’s Cross across the street.

By coincidence, the hotel had just opened when he joined Royal Mail.

He had stayed there before. It was a genuinely nice hotel.

Especially the premium king-size room.

That bed was really big!

Who was I with last time?

Just as Adam Crozier was getting a little excited, a knock came from outside his office door.

A secretary in a sleek office lady outfit pushed the door open with a smile.

“Adam, you have a piece of mail.”

As the secretary bent over to place the document on the other side of the desk, she didn’t forget to glance up at her boss.

To her disappointment, she found that her handsome and debonair boss hadn’t noticed the figure she cut while bending over. Instead, he was staring blankly outside, his brow furrowed handsomely, likely pondering some grave matter concerning the company’s future.

The pressure on him lately has been immense.

My heart aches for him.

Still, a serious man is so handsome!

Especially a senior executive at a large corporation, holding the fates of hundreds of thousands of employees in his hands. He’s even more handsome!

Adam Crozier waited until the secretary had left before letting out a heavy breath.

Damn it!

I don’t know which bastard assigned me a secretary like that.

Isn’t this just tempting me to commit a crime?

Although Adam Crozier liked beautiful women, he wasn’t a man without principles.

On the contrary, no matter where he was, he always stuck to one bottom line.

Don’t shit where you eat.

It’s a recipe for disaster!

The most typical example was his successor at The FA last year. Didn’t he get ruined by a woman, his reputation destroyed?

It was normal for a man to play around. Otherwise, what was the point of earning so much money?

But you had to be smart about how you played and whether you should play at all.

Otherwise, you were just stupid.

Adam Crozier got up, took the mail from his desk, and casually tore it open. Inside, he found an invitation card and a ticket.

Yang Cheng’s invitation was written on the card.

The ticket, needless to say, was for the League Cup final.

Adam Crozier smiled faintly. “I didn’t expect them to actually make it to the League Cup final.”

He was genuinely impressed by Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

A Championship team reaching the League Cup final against Chelsea basically guaranteed them a spot in next season’s UEFA Cup. That was another huge source of income.

If they managed it cleverly…

Adam Crozier shook his head. He hadn’t considered accepting Yang Cheng’s poaching attempt.

He wasn’t crazy!

But then, a thought struck him. He turned over the envelope, looked at the date, and cursed on the spot.

The League Cup final was on the afternoon of February 27th, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Yang Cheng had sent the ticket on February 10th.

From the north gate of Hyde Park in London to Bloomsbury, the distance was at most five kilometers as the crow flies.

Even on foot, you could cover that in a single morning.

Not to mention, this was central London, where the tube and other transport were so convenient you could get there in minutes.

And yet, today was February 25th.

It had taken a full fifteen days to arrive.

And I’m the goddamn CEO of Royal Mail!

If a rubbish company like this doesn’t go bankrupt, who will?

Adam Crozier was truly weary.

A piece of mail traveling five kilometers took fifteen days. It was maddening!

He really felt the urge to kill someone right now.

He really wanted to show everyone who said he shouldn’t lay people off. This was Royal Mail’s efficiency.

No layoffs?

Let them keep their cushy jobs for life?

They deserve to go under!

…

Cardiff, Wales. The marina.

Neither Pini Zahavi nor Kesher Harris could be considered super-rich.

So, they couldn’t understand the mindset of the super-rich.

Just as they couldn’t understand why Roman Abramovich would take his yacht, The Azure, from London to Cardiff when driving was so much faster.

How far was it from London to Cardiff by yacht?

First, you’d sail east along the River Thames to the sea, pass through the Strait of Dover between England and France, then head south through the English Channel. You’d have to circle the entire southern coast of England from east to west, then turn north, enter the Bristol Channel south of Swansea City, and finally arrive in Cardiff.

It was simply insane.

But the Russian tycoon before them not only wasn’t insane, he was actually enjoying it.

Especially when he saw the people on the marina below pointing at his yacht, he couldn’t hide his smug smile.

This must be what they call emotional value.

“How are the team’s preparations this time?”

Abramovich finally tore his gaze away and let it fall on Peter Kenyon, who had been poached from Manchester United.

He was now Chelsea’s CEO.

“I’ve spoken with Mourinho. Everything is normal. The team has no injuries, they’re in good form, and we can field our full-strength squad.”

Abramovich was very pleased with this.

A month ago, he had already instructed the team.

Lose to anyone but the Bayswater Chinese!

I’m going to buy that amateur team sooner or later.

What would it look like if we lost to them?

However, just a few days ago, in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Chelsea had lost 1-2 away to Barcelona.

Abramovich didn’t even seem bothered by it.

“I never thought that rich kid would actually lead that amateur team right to our doorstep.”

Abramovich was quite struck by the thought.

When he first took an interest in the Bayswater Chinese, they were just a small, nearly bankrupt team in the Football League Second Division.

Who would have thought that in less than two years, they’d transform into the Championship league leaders and even reach the League Cup final.

“The kid’s got some skills,” Peter Kenyon praised casually.

Abramovich’s expression shifted slightly.

Pini Zahavi, standing to the side, noticed and immediately laughed. “But everyone says it’s Brian Kidd’s doing.”

“That kid still can’t even get his coaching license.”

Everyone chuckled at that.

It was true, wasn’t it?

David Davis had been asked about this by the media before.

If, by some chance, the Bayswater Chinese won the cup, what would that make Yang Cheng?

Would he be the first-ever champion manager without a coaching qualification?

Of course, many in the media, always eager to stir up trouble, were hyping the story that Brian Kidd was the real head coach of the Bayswater Chinese, and Yang Cheng was just a rich kid who loved the spotlight.

But everyone in the industry treated it as a complete joke.

“I think Yang Cheng must be short on cash again. That’s why he sold Joe Hart to Everton for six million pound sterling. He’s clearly given up on the cup!” Abramovich sneered.

That was the opinion of many people.

The goalkeeper position is too unique.

You don’t change it lightly. When you do, it can disrupt the whole team.

Setting everything else aside, it takes a long time just for a new keeper to gel with the team.

“Kesher, any news?” Abramovich asked with concern.

Kesher Harris glanced around. “According to the intelligence I’ve gathered from the City, their revenue this season is decent, but many teams have set their sights on their players.”

“Don’t be fooled by their position at the top of the table. The road to the Premier League is long. If their promotion bid fails, the team will surely fall apart. Players like David Kitson, Ribéry, and Huddlestone are already attracting interest from quite a few clubs.”

Once the squad disintegrated and the players scattered, the team would lose its competitiveness.

What was the use of having a bit of money then?

On one hand, the new training facility was a money sink demanding constant investment. On the other, if the team’s performance plateaued, they were doomed sooner or later.

“He’s overreaching. So young!” Abramovich burst out laughing.

He couldn’t wait for the Bayswater Chinese to go bankrupt today.

Then, he would be more than happy to take over the mess.

“Tell Mourinho and the entire team: this will be my first trophy since taking over Chelsea!”

“After the League Cup final, I’ll host a celebration banquet on The Azure to reward every single one of them!”

…

“Many people say the League Cup is a pointless trophy.”

Back once again at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

In the away team’s locker room before the match, Yang Cheng was giving his final pre-game motivational speech.

“But I want to say, this League Cup is more important to all of us than you can imagine!”

“If, today, here at the Millennium Stadium, we can lift this trophy, we will become figures to be admired by future generations.”

“We will become the most special, the most unique presence in English football!”

Yang Cheng’s words made the already solemn locker room even more intense.

A determined glint appeared in every player’s eyes.

Over the past period, Yang Cheng had relentlessly instilled a belief in them.

“If we can lift this trophy today, we will become unstoppable!”

“We will storm through the Championship and charge into the Premier League.”

“And you, my players, you will be remembered by history for this match!”

“You will write your names into the history of English football!”

The more the players listened, the more fired up they became.

They were a group of fearless young men.

They had the fearlessness of youth.

They had never known what fear was.

Even though they were facing the mighty Chelsea!

“Almost everyone out there has written us off—the media, the fans, the bookmakers. Even The FA officially said our situation is precarious.”

“But I’ve always believed that we are not an ordinary team. We have a group of special, extraordinary players!”

“In my eyes, every single one of you here is no worse than any Chelsea player.”

“In fact…”

“You are stronger than our opponents!”

“We are just young, that’s all!”

Yang Cheng roared these words, his voice filled with determination, confidence, and conviction.

Because his players truly weren’t inferior to Chelsea’s.

But not yet.

But he needed these words to inspire his players.

“Trust me, lads, just like you always have.”

“I will lead you to defeat our opponents and win this trophy!”

“But I need you to be brave, fearless warriors on that pitch for the next ninety minutes. I need you to execute my tactics and fight our opponents with everything you’ve got!”

By the end of his speech, Yang Cheng’s own eyes were red.

Wherever he looked, every player was on the edge of their seat, unable to hold back.

This was a final!

A national final!

Their passion was ignited, and the most primitive desire from the depths of their hearts was stirred!

Victory!

Only victory!

“Finally, I have one more thing to tell you.”

“Ignite your passion, but always keep a cool head.”

“The more critical the match, the more critical the moment, the more you need to be calm and composed!”

“And last of all, I want to congratulate you in advance. To me, and to the Bayswater Chinese, you warriors have always been the best!”

After speaking, Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully.

Everyone leaped up from their seats and gathered around.

Including the head coach, all seventeen players formed a circle, slinging their arms around each other, heads together, psyching each other up and shouting “Come on!” three times.

Yang Cheng stood at the dressing room door, hugging each player one by one as they walked out.

When it was Piszczek’s turn, Yang Cheng hugged him and whispered a reminder in his ear, “Watch out for Robben!”

“Don’t worry, boss.”

When Neuer came up, Yang Cheng first gave him a high-five, then pulled him into a strong hug.

“Don’t worry, Manuel. I have complete faith in you. You just need to block everything else out and show what you’re capable of.”

“Haven’t you always wanted everyone to see what you can do?”

“Today is your chance!”

Neuer nodded heavily.

Chapter 68: Taming the Beast

For some reason, Adam Crozier still walked into Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

He was no stranger to this stadium.

As soon as he saw his seat number, he knew Yang Cheng had placed him in the section for Bayswater Chinese fans.

And the seats were quite good.

It was raining outside today, so the roof of the Millennium Stadium was closed.

This made the atmosphere inside the stadium even more electric.

Walking through the corridor, he could hear a deafening roar coming from the stadium in the distance.

The match hadn’t even started, yet the atmosphere was already this intense. It would be absolutely insane once the game began!

Adam Crozier emerged from the corridor, looked around, and quickly found his seat.

His eyes were immediately drawn to Xia Qing, who, even seated among the fans, was still incredibly eye-catching.

Even with the differences in Eastern and Western standards of beauty, and even though Adam Crozier had seen all sorts of beautiful women, every time he saw Xia Qing, he couldn’t help but marvel.

Truly beautiful!

But he would also remind himself: keep your distance.

Xia Qing was friendly and poised, but she had a very special quality about her.

Adam Crozier always felt that she was no ordinary person.

In this regard, he was much smarter than Mark Palios.

“Hi, Mr. Crozier.”

“Hello, Miss Xia.”

They had dined together before because of Yang Cheng.

Xia Qing was also aware that Yang Cheng was trying to poach Adam Crozier.

Inviting Adam Crozier to the match was part of that plan.

She just hadn’t expected him to actually show up.

Beside her, Lin Zhongqiu was dumbfounded.

Over the past few years, he had made plenty of trips to The FA and had naturally met Adam Crozier before.

This was the CEO of The FA.

For a club like Bayswater Chinese, which was then in the lower leagues, Adam Crozier was a high-and-mighty figure.

How did Yang Cheng manage to invite him?

Thinking back to how Yang Cheng had told him about this before the match, he felt a sense of absurdity.

Could their Young Master truly possess the ability to see the future?

“It’s a pleasure to see you here, Miss Xia. Have you left Goldman Sachs to work for Bayswater Chinese now?”

Adam Crozier asked casually, feigning indifference.

“Not yet,” Xia Qing replied with a poised smile.

“Not yet?” Adam Crozier picked up on a signal that interested him.

Xia Qing nodded. “I’m still going through the resignation process.”

“Oh, were you unhappy at Goldman Sachs?” Adam Crozier asked again.

For some reason, he was very interested in Xia Qing’s decision.

Perhaps it was because, in his mind, Xia Qing was a very capable person with her own ideas.

“No, it’s not that. After working there for a while, I realized I don’t really like the work and lifestyle of investment banking. I want to try something new, something more challenging.”

“Such as?”

Xia Qing gave a charming smile and pointed towards the stands below. “Well, isn’t this exciting?”

After a pause, she added with another smile, “And the salary Yang Cheng offered is quite good.”

Adam Crozier laughed gracefully.

Both explanations were quite interesting.

“I was also very surprised. I never would have thought he could actually lead the team to the League Cup final.”

“Perhaps there are even more surprises to come.”

Adam Crozier’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying you think he can win?”

“He’s very confident in himself.”

Xia Qing said with a smile, then added, “I’m also looking forward to him winning.”

Was it possible?

Adam Crozier didn’t ask the question out loud.

Bayswater Chinese were facing Chelsea.

A Super-battleship that had invested huge sums of money over the past two seasons.

The two teams were not on the same level at all.

Adam Crozier felt it was unrealistic.

But as he pondered Xia Qing’s words, Adam Crozier suddenly realized that he was kind of looking forward to it too.

In the world of football, if the strong teams always won and the weak teams could only lose, what would be the point?

If that was true for football, wasn’t it also true for the real world?

Who said the weak couldn’t defeat the strong?

Should he live a life of mediocrity in a large corporation?

Or accept a challenge at a smaller company?

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had both chosen the latter.

What about Adam Crozier?

Suddenly, the CEO of Royal Mail burst out laughing.

“Miss Xia, you are a very excellent persuader.”

Xia Qing smiled faintly, not replying.

But in her heart, she couldn’t help but think of Yang Cheng.

Have I been brainwashed by him?

…

“Led by head referee Steve Bennett, both teams are now entering the pitch.”

“This afternoon, a total of 78,000 fans are seated in the Millennium Stadium.”

“This should be the highest attendance record in the history of the League Cup final.”

“Half of them are fans of the Blues, Chelsea, and the other half are fans of Bayswater Chinese.”

“But interestingly, we can see quite a few people in the Bayswater Chinese section wearing Chelsea shirts.”

“This is because many Chelsea fans couldn’t get tickets for the Blues’ section, so they bought tickets for the Bayswater Chinese section instead.”

“So, this afternoon at the Millennium Stadium, Chelsea fans will have the numerical advantage.”

“Now, let’s take a look at the starting lineups for both teams.”

“Chelsea is deploying a 4-3-3 formation.”

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defence: Gallas, Carvalho, Terry, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Makélélé in a holding role, with Lampard and Tiago in the center;

Forwards: Robben, Drogba, and Duff.

“This is the strongest possible lineup Chelsea can field.”

“In addition, stars like Glen Johnson, Gudjohnsen, and Kežman are on Mourinho’s bench.”

“Chelsea’s squad depth is truly formidable.”

“Now let’s look at Bayswater Chinese.”

“Yang Cheng is also going with a 4-3-3.”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Danny Collins, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Huddlestone in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Aaron Lennon.

“Compared to their previous matches, Yang Cheng has made two changes today.”

“Slovakian centre-back Škrtel starts in place of Koscielny. He likely hopes to use Škrtel’s powerful physique to counter Chelsea’s strong centre-forward, Drogba.”

“Piszczek used to play as a winger and a forward, but recently, Yang Cheng has been playing him at full-back, and he has performed well. He starts today in place of Kevin Foley.”

“There’s another point of suspense in this match: the young German goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer.”

“After Joe Hart’s transfer to Everton, everyone is curious whether Neuer can fill his shoes.”

“We can see both teams have taken their positions.”

“Modrić lost the coin toss to Terry.”

“Since the roof of the Millennium Stadium is closed today, there’s no difference in sun exposure, so Chelsea has chosen to kick off.”

“Clearly, Mourinho and his team are hoping for a quick victory.”

…

At the head referee’s whistle, Drogba, in the center circle, passed the ball to Duff, who quickly passed it back.

Lampard received the ball near the bottom of the center circle.

The Bayswater Chinese forwards rushed forward, with Lambert leading the charge towards Lampard.

The Chelsea midfielder turned and booted the ball back towards his defense, finding Ferreira.

Ribéry closed in on Ferreira, forcing the Portuguese defender to pass quickly.

The Chelsea players were clearly mentally prepared for Bayswater Chinese’s high press.

After a few passes, Gallas kicked the ball to Robben, who had dropped back on the left flank to receive it.

With Piszczek marking him tightly from behind, the Flying Dutchman controlled the ball beautifully and turned, intending to slip past the Pole.

Piszczek’s reaction was just as quick. He turned with him, lunged forward, and slid to tackle the ball out of bounds.

The ball was cleared before Robben could even get into his stride.

The Dutchman was a little frustrated.

But the Chelsea fans in the stadium still gave him a round of warm applause.

They truly adored their lightning-fast Flying Dutchman.

Gallas quickly threw the ball in, and Tiago sent another long pass towards the front.

Drogba dropped back beyond the thirty-meter line, using his body to shield the ball from Škrtel, and flicked a header towards his side and behind him.

Lampard surged forward and controlled Drogba’s headed flick-on with his chest.

The moment he landed, José Fonte had already taken up a solid position in front of him.

Škrtel also immediately abandoned Drogba and tracked back, aiming to double-team Lampard.

The Chelsea midfielder hastily took two touches before passing the ball out to the left flank.

Robben sprinted forward at high speed, quickly catching up to Lampard’s pass.

Piszczek chased him down along the inside, but Robben was too fast. All he could do was block the inside path.

This was what the head coach had instructed him to do before the match.

Robben reached the left side of the penalty area and sent a cross towards the right side of the box.

Just then, Duff on the right wing made a quick diagonal run into the box. Before Danny Collins could close him down, he met Robben’s cross with a left-footed volley.

But as a left-footed player, volleying a cross coming from the left was extremely difficult for Duff.

So, although he connected with Robben’s pass, he failed to strike it cleanly.

The ball still flew towards the goal, but Neuer, who had positioned himself well, caught it securely.

This was the first shot of the match.

The Chelsea fans in the stadium were all very excited.

Though this opening attack didn’t result in a goal, it ignited Chelsea’s morale.

Afterward, the Blues began to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks against Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone also took notice of the two teams’ tactics for the night.

Chelsea was still focusing their attacks on Robben’s flank and using Drogba as a focal point.

Yang Cheng had judged the situation with great accuracy.

Duff was a left-footed player on the right wing, meaning he preferred cutting inside.

Robben’s advances on his flank were Chelsea’s sharpest offensive weapon.

Kevin Foley was a bit too slow to stop Robben.

So Yang Cheng opted for the faster Piszczek.

Although the Pole’s defensive abilities were not yet strong, he was improving with every match.

Besides, Yang Cheng wasn’t demanding that he completely neutralize Robben, just contain him and keep him on the left flank.

If the left wing was blocked, Chelsea had no one in the middle who could drive the ball forward.

Therefore, their only option was to play long balls to Drogba.

This was a problem Chelsea was facing now and would continue to face for many years to come.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was to use Škrtel to stop Drogba.

This was a difficult task, which was why Yang Cheng had positioned José Fonte behind Škrtel for support.

Danny Collins also frequently tucked inside.

Yang Cheng hoped to tame the beast that was Drogba!

Chelsea’s offensive struggles were a long-standing issue.

Mourinho had received a lot of criticism, especially at the start of this season.

Yang Cheng was now exploiting Chelsea’s weakness.

He was different from other Premier League teams.

Yang Cheng’s goal was to hold their ground.

As long as they could defend, Chelsea would expose their own problems.

If nothing else, wasn’t Mourinho’s best move to stack his team with forwards?

This was the first trophy on the line since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea. Did he not want it? Was there no pressure?

Impossible, right?

As long as Bayswater Chinese could hold their defense, Mourinho would sooner or later have to dismantle his own midfield and defense to pile on forwards and strengthen the attack.

Apart from defense, Yang Cheng had another trick up his sleeve.

With Ribéry, Aaron Lennon, and Modrić, if the team had a chance on the counter, they would of course push for a goal. If not, they would slow the tempo, use their dribbling to draw fouls, and try to win free kicks.

With a set-piece master like Gianni Vio by his side, this had become one of Bayswater Chinese’s deadliest weapons.

But as the match progressed, Yang Cheng realized Mourinho also seemed to be aware of Bayswater Chinese’s free-kick threat and had warned his players.

So they rarely committed fouls within the 30-meter zone.

This left Yang Cheng a bit speechless.

You scheme against me, I scheme against you.

That’s what football tactics are all about.

Although both head coaches employed specific tactics, causing the match to become intense and deadlocked for a time.

But starting from the 15th minute, Chelsea, thanks to their superior quality, gradually gained the upper hand.

They even began to pin Bayswater Chinese back in their own half.

Chapter 69: Mourinho, You’re Still Too Green!

As expected of the Premier League leaders!

Neuer stood before his goal, observing the unfolding match, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

This was the first time in his life he had personally experienced the threat posed by a Premier League champion-level team.

Bayswater Chinese had only managed to hold on for fifteen minutes before being completely pushed onto the back foot.

The midfield trio of Makélélé, Tiago, and Lampard was simply too strong.

A case in point was the 18th minute. When Lampard carried the ball forward, Huddlestone was left with no option but to commit a foul, conceding an attacking free-kick to Chelsea in the center of the pitch.

Neuer sized it up; it was about 28 meters from the goal.

Due to the language barrier making communication difficult, the task of organizing the wall fell to José Fonte.

But the German goalkeeper noticed two Chelsea players mixing into the wall of red shirts.

This made him secretly take note, and he shifted his position slightly.

Sure enough.

The moment the head referee blew his whistle, Lampard took a quick run-up.

The two blue-shirted players in the red wall quickly darted aside, revealing a gap.

Lampard’s long-range shot whistled through this gap, speeding directly toward the goal.

But Neuer quickly crouched, met the incoming ball with both hands, and lunged forward with his upper body, securely smothering Lampard’s shot in his arms.

A collective sigh echoed through the stadium.

The Chelsea fans were likely lamenting that Lampard’s shot was too central.

But Neuer saw his head coach on the sideline, applauding him.

It wasn’t that Lampard had shot poorly, nor was Chelsea’s setup lacking. It was that Neuer’s positioning had been perfect.

But it was precisely because his positioning was so good that it looked as if Lampard had shot the ball straight into his arms.

The entire save appeared unremarkable.

The fans didn’t even applaud.

The German keeper grumbled to himself but quickly threw the ball out.

Bayswater Chinese failed to launch a fast break.

The moment Modrić carried the ball into Chelsea’s final third, he was dispossessed by Makélélé.

The man’s tackling ability was simply ridiculous.

Chelsea quickly launched a counter-attack.

The ball was sent upfield.

Drogba once again won the first ball, heading it back to Tiago in the midfield.

Tiago, Lampard, Robben…

A series of continuous passes stretched the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

When the ball returned to Lampard’s feet, the Chelsea number 8 suddenly played a through ball.

The pass sliced straight through the Bayswater Chinese defense.

In that instant, the entire stadium was filled with the fans’ gasps.

Some were sounds of delight, others of panic.

And at almost the same time, Drogba made a run into space, accelerating past José Fonte and charging straight into the penalty area.

In that moment, José Fonte felt a chill run down his spine, as if he’d been plunged into an ice cellar.

He never imagined that someone as big and strong as Drogba could also be so fast.

He had been left behind.

It’s over!

But just as José Fonte and Škrtel were desperately chasing back, a green figure suddenly rushed out from the goal.

As Neuer reached the left side of the penalty spot, he dived to the ground, stretching his arms as far as he could, and managed to intercept the ball Lampard had passed.

Drogba quickly pulled back his foot and jumped to avoid a collision.

The keeper came charging out!

Everyone was stunned.

Even the Bayswater Chinese players were surprised.

This wasn’t Neuer’s first match since joining, but in the previous Championship games, the team had held a clear advantage in strength, leaving Neuer with few opportunities to shine.

His debut had been particularly rough, conceding two goals.

But everyone had more or less noticed the difference between Neuer and Joe Hart.

Joe Hart preferred to stay on his goal line and was better at saves in that vicinity.

Neuer was different. He liked to come off his line, and he was very good at it.

Just like this charge.

It was risky, but what a relief!

Another wave of gasps erupted from the stands.

Only this time, it was the Bayswater Chinese fans expressing their delight, while the Chelsea fans were in shock.

José Fonte couldn’t help but smile with relief. He walked over, pulled the grounded Neuer to his feet, gave the German a thumbs-up, and then gently patted him on the head.

Škrtel ran over as well, also patting Neuer on the shoulder.

Danny Collins came over, then Huddlestone…

Sometimes, a new player’s integration into the team doesn’t have to rely on words.

For a footballer, one brilliant performance on the pitch is enough to prove their worth and earn the respect and affirmation of their teammates.

…

Soon, Chelsea’s attack resumed.

They were still targeting Robben on the left flank.

This time, while defending near the byline, Piszczek managed to block Robben’s cross, sending it out for a corner kick.

Chelsea took the corner kick quickly, delivering it near the penalty spot.

Drogba leaped high, heading the ball towards the near post.

It was a well-rehearsed set-piece routine for Chelsea. Terry met Drogba’s flick-on and headed the ball towards the right side of the goal.

Neuer had intended to come out, but he realized he couldn’t stop Terry in time and immediately took a step back.

Seeing Terry head the ball to the right, he launched himself sideways like a nimble cheetah.

His height, his long arms, and his incredibly extended body.

Neuer was like an eight-armed ape, single-handedly palming away Terry’s header, which had been aimed for the far corner.

This time, the stadium erupted in deafening applause and cheers.

“This goalkeeper for Bayswater Chinese is playing exceptionally well.”

“Manuel Neuer!”

“Just an 18-year-old German goalkeeper.”

“This is also his first final since joining Bayswater Chinese, and he’s left a deep impression on us.”

Neuer hit the ground hard, but he quickly scrambled back to his feet.

Seeing that his team had possession, he gave José Fonte a light push from behind.

“Neuer is signaling for his teammates to push forward.”

“Indeed, Bayswater Chinese need to apply some attacking pressure on their opponents. Defending like this is too passive.”

Yang Cheng was also on the sidelines, constantly gesturing for the team to push up.

But the pressure from Chelsea was immense.

The Blues didn’t actually have a wide variety of effective attacking methods.

Although Piszczek couldn’t completely contain Robben, the Dutchman was mostly confined to the left flank, finding it difficult to cut into the penalty area.

The Polish full-back was not at a disadvantage in terms of speed.

Drogba was heavily marked.

And although Lampard made aggressive forward runs, the fight for the second ball was fierce.

This meant Chelsea struggled to create truly effective attacking opportunities.

More importantly, Neuer’s outstanding performance in front of goal and within the penalty area boosted the morale of Bayswater Chinese and dampened Chelsea’s spirits.

Spurred on by Neuer, Bayswater Chinese finally seized an opportunity in the 31st minute and launched an attack.

First, Ribéry was fouled by Tiago while breaking through in the left channel.

The Chelsea midfielder received a yellow card.

Unfortunately, the ensuing attacking free-kick came to nothing.

But that couldn’t be helped.

Even a penalty kick isn’t a 100% guarantee, let alone a set-piece routine from a free-kick.

But just a minute later, it was Ribéry again on the ball, drawing the defense’s attention before Modrić switched the play to the right flank.

On the right side of the penalty area, facing Gallas, Aaron Lennon tried to use his speed to break through and charge into the box.

The English winger went down inside the penalty area.

However, the head referee awarded a free-kick, not a penalty kick.

He insisted that Gallas’s foul occurred outside the box, and that Aaron Lennon had only fallen into it.

Once again, they failed to create a threat.

Yang Cheng had to admit that Mourinho’s Chelsea had no real weaknesses in defense.

The team’s biggest problem was actually its attack.

Lacking creativity and passing in midfield, they were forced to rely on Robben on the wing and Drogba dropping deep.

Once these two main weapons were neutralized by the opposition, Chelsea’s attack ran out of ideas.

This was especially true considering that their two full-backs, Ferreira and Gallas, were not particularly adept at pushing forward to attack.

After launching two threatening attacks in two minutes, Bayswater Chinese, despite failing to get a shot off, had made Chelsea feel the danger.

Subsequently, for the remainder of the first half, the match fell into an intense, deadlocked stalemate.

…

The second half began with the teams switching sides, but neither made any adjustments.

Chelsea still held the initiative.

The only difference was that Chelsea began to ramp up their offensive pressure.

Just two minutes after the restart, Drogba received a diagonal pass at the edge of the six-yard box and sent a header towards the bottom-left corner of the goal.

But at the crucial moment, Neuer got a hand to it, deflecting the ball away.

The danger wasn’t over yet.

The ball Neuer had saved was picked up by a surging Robben. The Dutchman cut past Škrtel and fired a left-footed shot from near the byline.

It was Neuer again!

Having just gotten back to his feet, he immediately threw himself in the way, blocking the shot out for a corner.

With two consecutive saves, Neuer’s courage grew with every challenge.

As the German goalkeeper rose from the ground again, he could no longer contain his excitement and let out a powerful roar.

“Absolutely brilliant!”

“Tonight’s match has become Neuer’s stage.”

“Chelsea’s strength has left the opposing keeper, Peter Čech, with absolutely no room to perform.”

“But Neuer’s performance tonight has left an incredibly deep impression on all of us.”

“I believe that after tonight’s match, no one will worry about who will guard the goal for Bayswater Chinese after Joe Hart’s departure.”

…

“This kid is really something!”

Sitting in the chairman’s box, Adam Crozier could also see how extraordinary Neuer was.

A goalkeeper like him, once he shows his quality, really makes you see him in a new light.

“Yang Cheng personally went to Germany to bring him over,” Xia Qing said with a smile, not bothering to hide her admiration for Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

“Oh?” Adam Crozier was surprised.

“He didn’t participate in the Joe Hart negotiations. Instead, he flew to Germany to scout players. In just three days, he brought back Neuer.”

Adam Crozier didn’t doubt it.

There was no need to lie about such a thing.

This gave him a deeper understanding of Yang Cheng.

Not only was he a brilliant coach, but his eye for talent was also exceptional.

Oh, right, weren’t most of the players on this Bayswater Chinese squad chosen by him too?

“Did he do anything with football when he was in China?” Adam Crozier asked curiously.

He remembered Yang Cheng saying that Xia Qing was his university senior.

“Never.”

“Then did he study it on his own?”

“We don’t even have courses like that in our country.”

“Then he…”

“Perhaps, as you would say, he’s a genius. A self-taught genius!” Xia Qing praised.

Listening from the side, Lin Zhongqiu also felt a sense of wonder.

Looking back over the past year and a half, everything Yang Cheng had done, in retrospect, had a deeper, extraordinary meaning.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s debt had grown under Yang Cheng, the club had also been continuously growing stronger.

Now they were on the verge of reaching the Premier League.

As long as they made it to the Premier League, the heavy burden of debt would be greatly relieved.

But where did Yang Cheng learn all his skills?

Lin Zhongqiu had thought about it for a long time, and finally came to the same conclusion as Xia Qing.

Perhaps, he was truly a genius!

“I believe he will continue to bring me surprises and astonishments. That is why I decided to come work here.”

Adam Crozier nodded repeatedly as he listened, sinking into his own thoughts.

…

The second half reached the 55th minute, and the score was still 0-0.

Mourinho made the first substitution of the match.

Gudjohnsen came on for Tiago.

Mourinho switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

Chelsea was clearly dissatisfied with the way the match was going.

Almost an hour had passed, and they still hadn’t managed to break through the Championship team’s goal.

More importantly, as the game went on, there seemed to be no hope of scoring.

After switching to 4-4-2, Chelsea’s two flanks began to push forward.

Although Gudjohnsen was tall, his footwork was excellent, and he could hold up the ball in the attacking third.

More importantly, the forward duo of Drogba and Gudjohnsen pressed high, and Robben and Duff also pushed up on the wings.

With the wingers pushing up, Ferreira and Gallas naturally had to follow suit to maintain their spacing.

Everything was going exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted before the match.

Yang Cheng stood in front of the technical area, glanced at the somewhat anxious and restless Mourinho, and sighed inwardly.

“Oh, Special One, Special One, you’re still too green!”

Chapter 70: A Worldie!

With Gudjohnsen’s introduction, Chelsea’s formation looked like a 4-4-2, but in reality, it was more of a 4-2-4.

Robben, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, and Duff were almost all positioned on the front line.

They were like four sharp blades pressed firmly against the Bayswater Chinese defense.

It made them look incredibly menacing.

Yet, Yang Cheng felt even more at ease.

Because this meant that Mourinho had run out of better attacking options.

With no other choice, The Special One could only resort to throwing more bodies forward.

As Robben and Duff pushed up, full-backs Gallas and Ferreira had to follow suit.

However, the situation was slightly different on each flank.

Robben was being tightly marked by Piszczek, so he stuck mostly to the wing.

As a result, Gallas’s position wasn’t quite as advanced.

Besides, the French defender wasn’t known for his attacking runs.

Duff, on the other hand, was a left-footed player on the right wing, so his position naturally drifted closer to the center.

This created more attacking space for Ferreira.

The Portuguese full-back had to push forward; otherwise, he would be leaving the entire flank wide open.

But this, in turn, created a new problem.

The central midfield was left with only Lampard and Makélélé.

Chelsea’s midfield, which already lacked passing and creative prowess, suddenly found itself in an even more difficult situation.

Makélélé’s primary role was defensive; organizing and passing were not his strengths.

Therefore, the entire burden of passing, organizing play, and linking the lines fell onto Lampard’s shoulders.

If the four forwards were the sharp blades pressed against Bayswater Chinese, then Lampard was the one wielding them.

But everyone knew that Lampard’s greatest strength was making late runs into the box to attack.

After Chelsea adjusted their tactics, their pressure was immense, but their style of play remained largely unchanged.

Fast counter-attacks down the wings and long balls to Drogba.

When those two strategies failed and they were forced into positional play, Lampard himself would frequently dribble forward.

This only made the central area in front of the goal more congested.

If this were a team with technically gifted players adept at quick, short passing combinations in tight spaces, it wouldn’t have been a major issue.

But Chelsea’s players all lacked this particular ability.

In the final third, especially during attacking and defensive transitions within the 30-meter zone, not a single Chelsea player could deliver a killer pass.

In the 64th minute, it was Lampard who drove forward with the ball, attempting to pass it to Gudjohnsen’s feet.

The ball was intercepted midway by Huddlestone.

After winning the ball, Huddlestone quickly played it forward.

Near the center circle in his own half, Ribéry was already prepared. He cleverly got to the ball before Makélélé and laid it off directly to Modrić, who was behind him.

Then, Ribéry turned and sprinted forward into the left channel.

Ferreira had only just reacted and immediately started to track back.

Modrić had played with Ribéry long enough to have developed a deep understanding. He drove forward through the middle with the ball.

Makélélé was in a bind.

With his back to his own goal, Ribéry was sprinting to his right, while Modrić was charging forward with the ball to his left.

Moreover, the two had created a significant distance between them.

What should he do?

Makélélé unhesitatingly chose to close down Modrić, rushing towards him.

The experienced Frenchman knew that in situations like this, hesitation would be fatal.

When Modrić first arrived in League Two in 2003, he had a tendency to hold onto the ball for too long.

But after nearly two years of refinement, he had adapted to the rhythm of English football.

And he had been constantly improving.

When he saw Makélélé charging at him, he decided to draw the French holding midfielder even further out to create more space for Ribéry.

Makélélé was very fast.

As Modrić brought the ball to the edge of the center circle in his own half, Lambert up front had also run to near the halfway line.

The intelligent Englishman constantly adjusted his position relative to Makélélé’s run, ensuring he was always in a position where Modrić could pass to him.

This was the biggest difference between him and Kitson!

Modrić had excellent technique. He didn’t pass immediately, instead waiting until Makélélé was close before knocking the ball forward to Lambert.

“Franck!”

As he passed, Modrić shouted and continued his own sprint straight forward.

Fearing a one-two between Lambert and Modrić, Makélélé immediately turned to chase Modrić.

Lambert used his body to shield the ball from Terry, received it, turned towards the left flank, and played a diagonal pass.

The ball traveled directly into the left channel, perfectly into Ribéry’s sprinting path.

Carvalho, who had been covering behind Chelsea’s defensive line, also rushed over to intercept.

Ribéry caught up to Lambert’s pass on the left side of Chelsea’s 30-meter zone.

He first took a light touch inwards with the outside of his right foot, making it look as though he was about to cut inside.

This instantly caused Carvalho to shift his center of gravity.

But Ribéry was not only fast in a full sprint; his footwork was also incredibly quick and nimble.

After deceiving Carvalho, he suddenly changed direction and burst down the outside.

The entire sequence was incredibly fluid, happening in the instant Ribéry received the ball, giving Carvalho no time to react.

The Portuguese defender could only watch as Ribéry was about to blow past him on the flank.

Behind him was the penalty area.

In his haste, Carvalho knew he couldn’t stop Ribéry.

He had no choice but to commit a foul.

Carvalho should thank Gallas for tracking back diligently; otherwise, he would have been the last defender.

At the moment he committed the foul, Gallas, who was marking Aaron Lennon, had just gotten back to a position slightly behind him.

The head referee blew his whistle, awarded a free-kick, and showed Carvalho a yellow card.

“That was a very dangerous counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Ribéry used his individual skill to win an attacking free-kick off Carvalho.”

“This is Bayswater Chinese’s fourth attacking free-kick of the night. Their previous attempts didn’t create any real threat. Let’s see what they have planned this time.”

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline.

Gianni Vio once again left the dugout, walking to the edge of the technical area to signal and shout instructions to his players.

Chelsea’s defense was truly excellent.

The backline of Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, and Gallas, with Makélélé screening in front of them, was incredibly solid.

If it came down to a direct assault, Yang Cheng didn’t have many good options.

Set pieces were an attacking routine he had placed great importance on before the match.

Ribéry and Huddlestone stood over the ball.

Lambert, José Fonte, Škrtel, and the other tall players all surged into the Chelsea penalty area.

Modrić was positioned a little to the side and in front of Huddlestone, seemingly ready to receive a short pass.

The referee’s whistle blew.

As the player with the best dead-ball delivery in the Bayswater Chinese squad, Ribéry took a quick run-up.

Inside the box, players from both teams jostled for position.

The Chelsea players, in particular, stuck tight to Bayswater Chinese’s tall players, afraid of letting anyone get free.

But to everyone’s surprise, Ribéry didn’t deliver the ball into the box. Instead, he passed it short to Modrić on the edge of the area.

With his back to the goal, the Croatian took a soft touch to lay the ball off sideways, then quickly ran off.

Because Modrić’s back was turned, Makélélé didn’t see where the ball went and instinctively followed Modrić horizontally.

When he realized Modrić no longer had the ball, his face turned pale with shock.

But by then, the towering figure of Huddlestone had already begun his run-up, pouring all his strength into his right foot and unleashing a thunderous shot.

A dull thud echoed across the pitch, as if the ball itself was about to explode.

The crowd barely saw how he kicked it before it was already crashing into the right side of the netting inside Chelsea’s goal.

“My God!!”

“A worldie!!!”

“What an absolutely brilliant free-kick routine!!!”

“It’s England’s own Tom Huddlestone!”

“The 18-year-old midfielder has broken the deadlock against Chelsea with a truly earth-shattering long-range strike!”

“1-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese take the lead!!”

“This is absolutely incredible! We can hardly believe our eyes.”

“That was a stunning shot, a proper worldie!”

On the sideline, Yang Cheng had been silently praying for the free-kick routine to work.

When Huddlestone scored with that long shot, he completely lost control.

With a roar of celebration, Yang Cheng sprinted out of his technical area, right past Mourinho, and ran towards his players.

At that very moment, the Portuguese Special One let out a furious bellow.

He truly had not expected Bayswater Chinese to be so resilient.

The key was that this team’s defense was genuinely good!

Before the match, he had noted that Bayswater Chinese were a threat from set pieces.

That was why he had repeatedly warned his players to avoid giving away fouls within 30 meters of goal.

But despite all his precautions, a single lapse had cost them.

Could he blame Carvalho?

If he hadn’t committed the foul, Ribéry would have been through one-on-one!

As this thought crossed Mourinho’s mind, he saw Yang Cheng dash past him, and he silently cursed him.

That shameless bastard!

What’s there to celebrate about playing so conservatively?

Seething, Mourinho immediately turned and signaled for Joe Cole to start warming up.

He was making a substitution.

…

In the 65th minute, just one minute after Huddlestone’s go-ahead goal, Mourinho brought on Joe Cole for Duff.

He was not satisfied with Duff’s performance.

The main reason was that Duff and Robben had very similar positions and attributes.

Both were speed-based wingers.

But in terms of ability, Duff was inferior to Robben.

And after being moved to the right wing, Duff’s threat was greatly diminished.

This was why Mourinho had coveted Ribéry.

Ribéry was also very fast, but he had much finer technique, making him a perfect complement to Robben.

He was like an enhanced version of Joe Cole.

Mourinho was now bringing on Joe Cole, hoping to use the Englishman’s technical skill and passing to break down the Bayswater Chinese defense.

But Yang Cheng immediately responded with a substitution of his own.

Gökhan İnler replaced Aaron Lennon.

In this match, Lennon had been rather anonymous against Gallas.

Furthermore, Chelsea was deliberately putting pressure on Huddlestone and Modrić, neutralizing Bayswater Chinese’s advantage with long passes.

There was no point in keeping Lennon on the pitch.

After the change, İnler, Huddlestone, and Lassana Diarra formed a three-man holding midfield.

Ribéry and Modrić played behind Lambert.

It was still a defensive counter-attacking setup, but now even more solid.

More importantly, İnler was the best long-range shooter on the Bayswater Chinese team.

Huddlestone was only second, but the spot from which he had just scored was his most accurate range.

After Yang Cheng’s substitution stabilized his formation, Mourinho could no longer sit still. In the 74th minute, he made another change.

Kežman came on for Gallas.

With this, Chelsea’s formation shifted to a 3-2-5, with a staggering five attackers up front.

It was madness!

Yang Cheng immediately adjusted, moving Ribéry to the right flank.

Just three minutes later, it was Ribéry who broke through on the right, crossing the ball from the byline on the right side of the penalty area.

Lambert and Carvalho went up for the header.

The ball was headed back out to the vicinity of the penalty spot.

Gökhan İnler followed up with a powerful shot.

At the crucial moment, Čech, as if divinely inspired, launched himself through the air and pushed the ball over the byline.

The Czech goalkeeping god was still the Czech goalkeeping god!

He may not have had many opportunities to shine throughout the match, but when it mattered most, he delivered.

As for Huddlestone’s earlier long shot, it had simply been too sudden!

Mourinho gritted his teeth in frustration on the sideline.

He felt that every adjustment and tactical change he made was being perfectly countered by Yang Cheng.

Worse, Bayswater Chinese were turning Chelsea’s own adjustments against them.

“Is this bastard really only 24?”

Mourinho seriously suspected that he had lied about his age!

Leaving everything else aside, this was a level of tactical acumen he had only ever encountered from world-class managers like Ferguson.

How could a 24-year-old kid be this capable?

At this moment, the Chelsea fans in the stands could no longer sit still.

They had made the trip from London to Cardiff specifically to see their team win a trophy after so many years.

For a Premier League powerhouse like Chelsea, their last major trophy had been the FA Cup back in the 1999/2000 season.

The League Cup?

You’d have to go all the way back to the 1997/98 season for that.

But now, they watched in panic, realizing that the championship trophy they had believed was already theirs for the taking was about to slip through their fingers.

Chapter 71: A Historic First Title

In the heart of the Chelsea supporters’ section, Roman Abramovich stood ramrod straight.

At this moment, his fists were clenched, his teeth gritted, as he desperately tried to suppress the inferno of rage within him.

He felt like a complete joke!

Before the match, he had been in the dressing room, promising the players a grand victory celebration aboard his yacht, The Azure.

He never expected to have celebrated too soon!

In the final moments of the match, Mourinho had deployed five attacking players up front.

If you counted Lampard, it was six.

It was practically an all-out assault on Bayswater Chinese.

Drogba’s close-range shot went wide; Kežman’s volley was saved by Neuer; Lampard’s long-range effort from outside the box also missed the goal…

The head referee even added a full five minutes of stoppage time in the second half.

In the end, Chelsea still couldn’t break down Bayswater Chinese.

“Are these guys on drugs?” Roman Abramovich found it utterly baffling.

His players were all seasoned veterans, and he had spent a fortune signing every single one of them.

If losing in the FA Cup last season and getting knocked out was down to Ranieri’s incompetence, what about now?

Mourinho had just led Porto to a Champions League title and earned widespread recognition. He couldn’t be called incompetent, could he?

Their substantial lead in the Premier League wasn’t a fluke, was it?

So how could they still not handle Bayswater Chinese?

“That 24-year-old head coach is a real genius!” sighed Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck.

Roman Abramovich glanced over, slightly surprised.

Bruce Buck never spoke without reason.

After a moment’s thought, the Russian understood.

Wasn’t it true?

What other explanation was there?

That Chelsea was too pathetic?

The Blues were leading the Premier League by a wide margin. If Chelsea was pathetic, then what did that make Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool?

That the head coach wasn’t good enough?

That was clearly unrealistic.

There were no issues with the formation or the touchline management.

For almost the entire match, Chelsea had pressed Bayswater Chinese, dominating the flow of the game.

But in the end, they lost!

It wasn’t a fluke, nor was it luck.

Bayswater Chinese created four attacking free-kicks during the match and converted one of them.

You could only say that Yang Cheng was incredible!

But Roman Abramovich couldn’t accept it!

This was the first championship trophy he had desperately craved since taking over Chelsea.

And he had just handed it over to someone else?

Roman Abramovich might have felt slightly better if it had been any other team.

But why did it have to be Bayswater Chinese?

The more he thought about it, the more furious he became.

Most importantly, he sensed a dangerous signal.

If Bayswater Chinese were truly this strong, their promotion to the Premier League was highly likely.

Once they were in the Premier League, their financial pressures would be greatly alleviated, and buying that plot of land would become even more difficult.

He genuinely wanted to forge Chelsea into the world’s most luxurious and powerful, an invincible warship.

Being confined to Stamford Bridge was something he could not tolerate!

…

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese players, who had persevered for ninety grueling minutes, found a new surge of energy from some unknown source and began to exude boundless vitality.

They were all seen sprinting and celebrating wildly across the pitch.

“The match is officially over!”

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“Congratulations to them for defeating Chelsea 1-0 to become the champions of the 2004/05 English League Cup!”

“This is the first time in the Premier League era that a non-Premier League team has won the title, creating a new chapter in English football history!”

“It is also the first national title in the history of Bayswater Chinese!”

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands were also cheering wildly.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea players in their blue kits sat strewn across the pitch, looking utterly dejected.

Their fans in the stands were completely deflated.

After losing this final, what energy did they have left?

Amidst the Bayswater Chinese supporters, Adam Crozier was swept up by the intense atmosphere around him. He stood up, pumping his fists and cheering for Bayswater Chinese’s victory.

He was truly in awe of the feat Bayswater Chinese had achieved!

The first non-Premier League team to win the League Cup since the league’s inception!

With the Premier League growing stronger and stronger, this was a feat that would be nearly impossible to surpass!

But in the next moment, Adam Crozier’s smile vanished.

Because he saw that, for some reason, he had appeared on the stadium’s big screen.

Damn it!

The former FA CEO instinctively wanted to duck and hide from the camera, but it was too late.

He had been exposed.

How did those bastards know I was here?

Their eyes are too sharp!

Adam Crozier didn’t suspect anything more than that. After all, every live broadcast had cameras scanning the stands, trying to capture interesting tidbits.

That was why some celebrities who came to watch games were easily spotted.

Adam Crozier had come on a whim without even a disguise, so it was normal to be caught on camera.

It was just… a bit unlucky.

But he just shook his head with a wry smile and didn’t dwell on it.

So what if he watched a match?

“I see you’re still severely lacking in the fan merchandise department.”

Adam Crozier felt he couldn’t just watch the game for nothing, so he offered some suggestions to Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu.

“Look, see how uniform the Chelsea fans over there are? All in blue kits, with scarves and souvenirs. When they hold up their scarves, and the broadcast camera sweeps over them, the scene is nothing short of spectacular.”

“That kind of scene is extremely infectious and has great broadcast appeal.”

“Then look at your side. You already have fewer fans, and they’re all dressed in different colors. There’s no uniformity.”

By the end, Adam Crozier sounded genuinely frustrated at their untapped potential.

“Yes, we are still very unprofessional in that area,” Xia Qing humbly accepted the criticism.

Lin Zhongqiu explained, “It was mainly because we underestimated the turnout. Our assessment last summer was that we’d be lucky to fill five thousand seats at home games. We never expected almost every home game to be a sellout.”

Adam Crozier chuckled. “That’s natural. How big is Loftus Road Stadium? And how many people are there in London?”

“But we have very few die-hard fans,” Lin Zhongqiu added.

“Remember, in London, while clubs do have their share of die-hard supporters, the vast majority of people aren’t so steadfast. Their essential need is to take their families to a football match.”

“As for whether that match is to watch Queens Park Rangers or Bayswater Chinese, for many ordinary consumers, it makes no difference. They’ll watch whoever is more exciting, whoever gives them a better time.”

“The 80/20 rule. It’s truly amazing for any team to have 20% die-hard fans.”

Xia Qing suddenly recalled that Yang Cheng had said something similar once.

He had also said that London was huge, with a massive population and staggering market potential.

“Also, your supporting services this time were terrible. So many Chelsea fans bought tickets through you. Let me ask, did they register as members?”

After a pause, Adam Crozier added, “I mean the kind of free membership where they leave their contact details, email, and address. That way, you can send them match information this summer, can’t you?”

Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu looked at each other, stunned.

They had to admit, they hadn’t considered that at all.

Xia Qing hadn’t officially started her job yet, and her expertise was more in finance and accounting.

Yang Cheng was focused on the football side of things and was incredibly busy.

Lin Zhongqiu listened with a deep sense of shame. He felt as though he hadn’t done anything right.

Adam Crozier didn’t even have to think; one look at them told him they hadn’t done it.

Actually, it wasn’t surprising when you thought about it.

Two years ago, this team was in League Two and on the verge of bankruptcy.

Who could have imagined that in less than two years, they would defeat Chelsea in the League Cup final to become champions?

It made him think of what Xia Qing had said before the match.

When he turned his gaze back to the pitch, he noticed a very amusing scene.

The awards ceremony stage had already been set up by the touchline.

FIFA President Blatter was in attendance tonight as a special guest.

FA Chairman Geoff Thompson and CEO David Davis were also present as award presenters.

Chelsea’s head coach Mourinho was leading his players onto the stage to receive their runner-up medals.

On the winning side, Brian Kidd was leading the Bayswater Chinese team up to receive their awards.

And Yang Cheng?

He was standing alone off to the side, just watching.

This made Adam Crozier burst out laughing.

So even he had his moments of frustration!

He still didn’t have his coaching license, so the official head coach of Bayswater Chinese was still Brian Kidd.

…

“You need to hurry up and get that coaching license!”

After the awards were presented, FA Chairman Geoff Thompson, accompanying FIFA President Blatter, walked over to Yang Cheng.

He was clearly exasperated that Yang Cheng had yet to obtain his coaching license.

“I really don’t have time for the classes,” Yang Cheng said, equally helpless.

“I don’t care. If you keep this up, it puts the FA in a very awkward position. The reporters outside are all laughing at us.”

Beside them, Blatter also found it amusing.

It made sense when you thought about it.

A head coach who hadn’t even passed his licensing exams had led his team to a League Cup title. How did that look to the outside world?

The critical issue was, what would happen if he actually made it to the Premier League?

“I read reports about you in Zurich after you beat Manchester United. Young and promising. Keep it up!” Blatter offered words of encouragement.

“Thank you,” Yang Cheng replied politely.

Although he had no particular fondness for Blatter, the man currently held immense power in world football, and Yang Cheng couldn’t afford to offend him.

After Yang Cheng saw off Blatter and Geoff Thompson, the players swarmed around him.

Modrić was holding the championship trophy, while Neuer clutched an award for the Man of the Match in the final.

The German goalkeeper was truly and utterly surprised.

He had never imagined he would win Man of the Match in his very first final.

And against Chelsea, no less!

This sent the eighteen-year-old into a state of sheer ecstasy, as if his whole body was about to ignite.

“You deserve it. Your performance tonight was outstanding. We’re all proud of you.”

Yang Cheng’s words earned unanimous agreement from the surrounding Bayswater Chinese players.

On the football pitch, performances speak for themselves.

If not for Neuer’s crucial saves, high and low, Bayswater Chinese would have conceded to Chelsea long ago. How could there be a championship trophy?

Although they still couldn’t communicate fluently, they all admired Neuer and were beginning to trust their newly arrived teammate. This would be a tremendous help for Neuer in the matches and training to come.

Yang Cheng left the celebratory stage to his players, weaving his way through the jubilant crowd.

Soon, he found Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu by the side of the pitch.

Lin Zhongqiu was overjoyed to see the team win a League Cup trophy before he left England.

Xia Qing also congratulated Yang Cheng.

She found herself understanding this junior of hers less and less.

“Where’s Adam Crozier?” Yang Cheng asked, surprised.

He had known since halftime that Adam Crozier was here.

“He ran off as soon as the match ended. Said he had something else to do,” Xia Qing said, unable to suppress a chuckle.

In reality, he was just afraid of being seen.

“I really didn’t expect him to come. I was planning to chat with him. He runs fast, doesn’t he?” Yang Cheng cursed with a laugh.

The coward was probably afraid of being cornered by the media.

Xia Qing nodded in agreement.

Although Adam Crozier had stepped down, he still had a lot of connections and influence.

And Royal Mail was going through a period of trouble right now. It would be a hassle if some negative news were to surface at a time like this.

“He’s a real talent. He made some very sharp, on-point criticisms just now,” Xia Qing said, also holding Adam Crozier in high regard.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

If Adam Crozier wasn’t capable, would he be spending so much time and effort trying to poach him?

Still, the fact that he came this time was an excellent start.

“Let’s take it slow. Once we make it to the Premier League, I’ll have a good long chat with him.”

Yang Cheng firmly believed in one saying.

As long as you swing the pickaxe well, no wall is too tough to tear down.

“I’m already starting to look forward to the day he reports for work.”

Yang Cheng turned away with a flourish, radiating the confidence of someone who had victory firmly in his grasp.

Chapter 72: The Price-Hiking Pawn

Adam Crozier didn’t sleep a wink all night.

He had the worst luck!

Yesterday afternoon, on a whim, he’d gone to Cardiff to watch the match, only to be caught by the live broadcast cameras.

It was a safe bet that if he was on the big screen, he was on the live broadcast too.

He had been especially careful when leaving the stadium.

But in the end, those omnipresent paparazzi still caught a whiff of him.

He even deliberately left through a different exit, but a reporter from The Sun still nabbed him.

Left with no choice, he had to give an interview.

Why did you come to watch the Bayswater Chinese match?

Because Yang Cheng and I are very good friends.

Are you thinking of returning to English football?

No, no, I’m very happy at Royal Mail.

Is there any possibility you might return in the future?

Who can say what the future holds?

What do you think of The FA’s work over the past two years…

Looking back on it, Adam Crozier felt his answers had been quite watertight.

That shouldn’t be a major problem, right?

But yesterday’s events had still left him quite shaken.

He truly hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to lead Bayswater Chinese to success.

From the looks of it, the team was indeed a formidable fighting force.

The club also had a lot of potential.

It was just that the debt was a little high.

If he hadn’t come to Royal Mail—especially without such a high salary—Adam Crozier might have genuinely taken a reckless gamble like Xia Qing.

The League Cup final was on a Saturday afternoon, so he didn’t have to work the next day.

While Adam Crozier was still in bed catching up on sleep, his phone suddenly rang.

He grabbed it and answered, and his secretary’s sugary voice came through the line.

“Adam, the board members want to have a meeting this afternoon. They want you to come back and explain yourself.”

“Explain what?” Adam Crozier was puzzled.

“Didn’t you see this morning’s papers?”

Adam Crozier froze for a moment, and a sense of foreboding immediately washed over him.

He was all too familiar with the methods of the English paparazzi.

Those bastards were masters at creating sensational news.

And as it happened, Adam Crozier was a rather hot topic at the moment.

Especially with the Royal Mail strikes.

After hanging up, Adam Crozier leaped out of bed. Without brushing his teeth or washing his face, he went straight out of his bedroom, through the courtyard, and retrieved the morning’s freshly delivered newspapers from the mailbox at his gate.

He subscribed to quite a few papers, including The Times, The Guardian, and The Sun.

This morning, the front pages of all major British newspapers featured pictures of Bayswater Chinese celebrating their League Cup victory. Many media outlets even described the championship as a “miracle.”

It was easy to imagine that, overnight, Bayswater Chinese had become a sensation in English football!

Of course, Adam Crozier knew this fame was a flash in the pan.

Although the overnight buzz was huge, with the media scrambling to cover and hype them up, this kind of attention came quickly and went even faster.

The key was whether Bayswater Chinese could sustain this momentum.

For example, by getting into the Premier League.

If they really managed that, they would become one of the most-watched teams in the new Premier League season.

Right now, Adam Crozier was in no mood to pay attention to Bayswater Chinese.

He flipped through The Sun and soon found an article about himself.

Royal Mail CEO Actively Seeking Return to Football!

Adam Crozier’s first reaction upon seeing the report was to curse.

Fucking sons of bitches!

Reading the article, he saw it featured a photo of him in the stands cheering for Bayswater Chinese, along with his post-match interview.

He had to admit, The Sun’s mastery of journalism was truly impeccable.

They had taken two separate questions and two separate answers and stitched them together.

So, in the paper, it read: The Sun reporter asked if you plan to return to football?

“I’m very happy at Royal Mail right now, but who can say what the future holds?”

The deadliest part was that they had deliberately scrambled the order of the Q&A, placing this question last.

Before that, they reported on some of Adam Crozier’s comments praising Bayswater Chinese and the League Cup final.

Since he was invited by Yang Cheng to watch the match, and Bayswater Chinese had won the title, there was no reason for Adam Crozier to disparage them, right?

Of course he would say a few nice things, offer some praise, right?

And look what happened.

A whole load of praise up front, a statement in the middle about being good friends with Yang Cheng, and finally, that ambiguous answer.

Didn’t this just imply to all readers that Adam Crozier was actively planning a return to football?

And that he would very likely join Bayswater Chinese?

Journalism could really be the death of you!

Yang Cheng had just returned from Cardiff, having brought the club its first-ever national trophy, and he was still high on excitement when trouble followed close behind.

First, the Westminster City Council in the London borough sent Bayswater Chinese an official letter.

The letter’s content was primarily an inquiry about the construction progress of Bayswater Stadium.

It cited numerous legal clauses and government regulations, all of which served to urge Bayswater Chinese to complete the construction of the new stadium and training ground as soon as possible, so as not to have a negative impact on the cityscape of London and Westminster.

It also reminded Bayswater Chinese that if the deadline was exceeded, they had the right to reclaim the land.

When Yang Cheng first saw the letter, he was rather surprised.

Where did this Westminster City Council come from?

He finally found Xia Qing to get a clear picture.

It turned out that the land Bayswater Chinese owned was in a rather interesting spot.

The plot was located in the City of Westminster, which is a borough of London.

A little further west, and you’d be in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge was in that borough.

That was why redeveloping Stamford Bridge was an incredibly difficult endeavor.

To put it more simply, based on property prices, Kensington and Chelsea was the most expensive, with Westminster just a tiny fraction behind, but it was still incredibly influential.

The British Parliament is also known as the Parliament of Westminster.

In London, the Greater London Authority only provides some strategic, cross-borough public services.

But most day-to-day operations, such as education, social services, housing, roads, regional planning, and so on, fall under the jurisdiction of the borough councils, of which there are over thirty.

“Are they upset because we’re renting Loftus Road Stadium?” Yang Cheng asked with an amused smile.

According to Xia Qing, Loftus Road Stadium was in the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

That borough had two teams, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.

Right, and the City of Westminster currently only had one professional team.

If that was the case, it was a bit awkward.

After all, if they were leasing in Loftus Road Stadium, then all the consumer spending, jobs, and so on would be over there.

“I doubt it. The City of Westminster is quite wealthy,” Xia Qing said, shaking her head with a smile.

Yang Cheng’s guess wasn’t plausible.

“I think it’s more likely they’re just applying some pressure, giving us a nudge. After all, having a stalled construction project sitting there is an eyesore.”

“And you know London is bidding for the Olympics.”

Yang Cheng silently thought to himself, I’m not the one who started this mess.

But he had to admit that Xia Qing was right.

Located in a core area of London, with mature surrounding facilities, having a stalled construction project just sitting there was truly an eyesore.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t have the money right now.”

Yang Cheng was being brazen.

What could they do if he had no money?

Could they take the land back?

“They definitely won’t take it back in the short term, but it’s hard to say in the long run.”

“That’s fine, then,” Yang Cheng said, relieved.

“First, we’ll get the training base at Brent Reservoir up and running. In another four or five years, I’ll tear down this whole stalled project and build the biggest, most luxurious stadium in the world.”

“Where are you going to get the money?” Xia Qing thought he was joking.

“Borrow it.”

“Interest rates are about to rise again. They say they’ll keep going up past five percent,” Xia Qing said, throwing some cold water on his plans.

Yang Cheng gave a cryptic smile and said no more.

There was no point in saying more.

Because no one could have predicted that when the US subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis hit, the UK would cut interest rates six consecutive times in a very short period, bringing it down to 0.5 percent, where it would remain for many years.

By then, Yang Cheng would definitely borrow money to build the stadium.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Tottenham Hotspur had already planned to build a stadium around 2010.

But for various reasons, it was delayed again and again. By the time they finally started construction, they ran right into the UK government’s interest rate hike cycle.

Even so, Tottenham Hotspur’s largest loan of over 600 million pounds sterling had an interest rate of only around 2.5 percent.

When Arsenal built the Emirates Stadium, the interest rates were four to five percent.

However, the rate cuts were still a few years away.

The most important thing for Yang Cheng right now was to get the training base built and perfect the club’s operational framework.

Especially commercial development.

Once they got into the Premier League, that would be a gold mine.

Right, and the shirt sponsorship from his so-called father.

He’d gotten it for free for two years. Once they were in the Premier League, he would definitely have to ask him for payment.

Even blood relatives must keep clear accounts. It was a must.

After dealing with the official letter from the government, another problem followed closely behind.

With Bayswater Chinese’s upset victory in the League Cup final, the team’s outstanding players began to attract the attention of more and more clubs.

For example, Ribéry, Aaron Lennon, Kitson, Huddlestone, and Lassana Diarra.

These players were all very young and had all demonstrated a very high level of skill.

Ribéry, in particular, was already being touted for a call-up to the France national team.

The Sun had previously disclosed that Mourinho was very interested in the French winger.

Kitson was Bayswater Chinese’s top scorer this season, and as a homegrown centre-forward, he naturally drew a lot of attention.

Incidentally, Jon Stead had proven his ability and potential at Blackburn Rovers, but after Souness was sacked, his situation grew worse by the day.

He had even conveyed through his agent his desire to return to Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng had politely declined.

The team simply had no place for him anymore.

Besides, if he really needed a centre-forward, Yang Cheng would rather buy one from abroad.

At least it would be cheaper.

Homegrown English players were truly expensive.

Huddlestone was another homegrown player who was receiving attention.

His wonder goal in the League Cup final was truly stunning.

He had a towering physique, excellent defensive skills head-on, and especially a superb long pass, all of which were very attractive qualities for English teams.

After the League Cup final, his agent, Jonathan Barnett, approached Yang Cheng.

The two had just settled the deal for Joe Hart, and now they were in contact again over Huddlestone.

“The sight of you makes me want to kill someone.”

Yang Cheng issued a threat to the agent, who wore a gentle smile.

Of course, Jonathan Barnett didn’t believe him.

On the contrary, he thought Yang Cheng was probably quite pleased deep down.

However, he himself was also very curious.

After selling Joe Hart, Yang Cheng had managed to sign Neuer without stopping for breath.

If he sold Huddlestone, could he immediately find another replacement?

If he could really pull that off, Jonathan Barnett would definitely have to re-evaluate Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

“Spit it out.” Yang Cheng’s time was precious.

“There are indeed several Premier League clubs interested in Huddlestone. After all, he’s still young and his salary isn’t high.”

Yang Cheng didn’t beat around the bush and asked in return, “Is Chelsea one of them?”

Jonathan Barnett was taken aback for a moment, but he immediately understood, cursing inwardly: Ruthless. So damn ruthless!

“Yes!” Barnett answered with conviction.

And if they weren’t?

I’ll just leak it to the media. Chelsea’s not going to come out and deny it, are they?

Deny it?

That would be a dead giveaway.

We agents are all about one thing: flexibility!

“This is a critical moment for our team’s push for the Premier League. We will not be in contact with any team. The great cause of promotion is our top priority!”

Jonathan Barnett understood what Yang Cheng meant.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the big-shot agent’s cooperation.

This was, in fact, a form of collaboration.

As for Chelsea… these days, was there a more suitable pawn for driving up a price than the Blues?

“Also, I need you to do something for me.”

Jonathan Barnett’s connections in English football were extraordinary; he was one of the top agents in the business.

Yang Cheng felt that he was the most suitable person for this task.

First, secure the club’s agreement, and if necessary, he would step in personally to convince the player.

Once they signed him, they wouldn’t have to worry about the wings for years to come.

As for selling Huddlestone, Yang Cheng had his own considerations.

Lassana Diarra had improved immensely this season, especially with his tendency to hold onto the ball, which Yang Cheng would continue to drill out of him.

Modrić was also continuously improving.

By selling Huddlestone, Yang Cheng planned to sign a world-class midfielder who would complement Lassana Diarra and Modrić perfectly.

Come the new season, Yang Cheng would let the Premier League feel the shock and awe of the Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 73: Premier League, Here I Come!

The Bayswater Chinese’s victory in the League Cup final was a huge shock to the other teams in the Championship.

This was especially true for the clubs aiming for promotion to the Premier League.

Given the strength the Bayswater Chinese had displayed, their promotion was a high probability.

That meant the competition would surely become even more brutal.

As it stood, even tenth-placed Leeds United hadn’t given up on their promotion hopes.

The competition was absolutely cutthroat.

The internal competition within the Bayswater Chinese was just as fierce.

After returning from Cardiff, the team had a week to rest and regroup.

On March 5th, Yang Cheng led his team away to face Stoke City.

Seeing Lambert shine in the League Cup final had lit a fire under Dave Kitson.

In the 26th minute, the team’s top scorer received the ball at the edge of the box, shrugged off a defender, burst into the area, and unleashed a powerful shot to open the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese.

However, just before halftime, a defensive lapse during a corner kick allowed Stoke’s centre-back, Clint, to score a header.

1-1!

After the break, Ashley Young first assisted Dave Kitson for his second goal, putting them back in the lead.

Just two minutes later, he scored one himself.

The pass came from Ribéry.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Stoke City 3-1 away from home.

It was worth noting that this was Dave Kitson’s fifth brace of the season.

So far, Dave Kitson had scored twenty-one goals in thirty-six Championship matches.

Half of those goals came from braces.

This, in turn, proved that Kitson’s goal-scoring efficiency wasn’t very consistent.

But in the Championship, Dave Kitson was more than good enough.

…

On the afternoon of March 12th, for the 37th round of the Championship, the Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Plymouth Argyle.

Both were newly promoted teams, but while the Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the table, Plymouth was currently in 19th place, hovering just above the relegation zone.

And the Bayswater Chinese were League Cup champions!

This fact made the more than fifteen thousand home fans at Plymouth feel a deep sense of lament.

Just eight minutes into the game, Dave Kitson converted an assist from Ribéry to open the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese.

But just three minutes later, Plymouth managed to equalize.

In the 13th minute, Gökhan İnler made an overlapping run and scored with a powerful shot, putting the team ahead once more.

The match had completely fallen under the control of the Bayswater Chinese.

In the 21st minute, another shot from İnler found the back of the net, extending their lead.

Later, in the 36th minute and the 88th minute of the second half, Modrić and substitute Ashley Young each added a goal.

Ultimately, the Bayswater Chinese thrashed Plymouth Argyle 5-1 in their away fixture.

…

On the evening of March 15th, at Loftus Road in London.

The 38th round of the Championship saw the Bayswater Chinese host Wigan Athletic at home.

The broadcaster had specifically scheduled this match for the evening because it was more than just a clash between two Championship powerhouses.

It was a match that could potentially decide both a promotion spot and the Championship title.

Therefore, tonight, Loftus Road Stadium was packed to the rafters.

Before the match, the Bayswater Chinese had specially arranged a trophy presentation ceremony.

Captain Modrić, holding the League Cup trophy, and Neuer, with the award for the best player of the final, led their teammates onto the pitch for a lap of honor, receiving a warm welcome from the home fans.

This display left the observing Wigan Athletic players and staff feeling rather annoyed.

Especially their head coach, Paul Jewell.

He had meticulously prepared for this match, intending to overturn the Bayswater Chinese, take their place at the top of the table, and secure an automatic promotion spot.

To achieve this, he went against the grain as the away team, setting up an aggressive formation and tactics.

He had particularly high hopes for Leighton Baines, who had been outstanding in their last encounter with the Bayswater Chinese.

But just as Paul Jewell was full of ambition, ready to make a statement away from home, the match unfolded in a way that completely subverted his pre-game predictions, spiraling entirely out of his control.

Just over a minute after kickoff, Huddlestone, who had scored a worldie in the League Cup final, once again unleashed a thunderous long-range shot from outside the box that ripped past goalkeeper Filan.

1-0!

The thunderous strike not only ignited the passion in Loftus Road Stadium but also left Paul Jewell reeling.

The forty-year-old Wigan Athletic head coach wasn’t ready for this.

But what he expected even less was that after the restart, the Bayswater Chinese continued to press Wigan relentlessly.

In the 4th minute, Ribéry received the ball in the left channel, breezed past two Wigan defenders, broke into the box, and fired a shot that once again beat Filan.

2-0!

Paul Jewell was completely stunned.

Wasn’t this just unfair?

The game just started, man!

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands couldn’t care less; they were going absolutely wild!

Two goals right at the start—this was shaping up to be a massacre!

The Bayswater Chinese didn’t disappoint their fans’ expectations, continuing their relentless assault on Wigan Athletic.

In the 17th minute, Modrić shimmied past a defender at the edge of the box and, with a brilliant feint, suddenly played a diagonal pass into the right side of the penalty area for Aaron Lennon, who burst in and slotted the ball home.

3-0!

In the 34th minute, Piszczek made a sudden forward run, linking up with Aaron Lennon in a two-on-one that overwhelmed Leighton Baines.

The Polish full-back delivered a cross from the byline, and Dave Kitson headed it in from close range.

4-0!

Just two minutes later, another two-on-one combination down the right flank for the Bayswater Chinese left Leighton Baines with no choice but to commit a foul, conceding a free-kick on the right side of the penalty area.

Škrtel met Modrić’s delivery with a powerful header. 5-0!

Wigan Athletic had completely fallen apart!

The first half wasn’t even over, and they were already trailing by such a margin.

What was most unbelievable was that the five goals had been scored by five different players.

They had utterly collapsed!

It was only at this moment that they clearly realized just how vast the gap in strength was between them and the Bayswater Chinese.

“The scoreline, of course, doesn’t fully reflect the gap between the two teams, but the Bayswater Chinese are much more confident now.”

“Although the two teams are close in the league table, in a real match, Wigan Athletic’s quality is a notch below that of the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Whether it’s the on-field performance, the players, or the technical and tactical aspects, they are behind across the board.”

Although the Bayswater Chinese eased up in the second half, with Yang Cheng bringing on three substitutes including Matuidi, Wigan managed to pull one goal back.

But in the end, the Bayswater Chinese claimed a resounding 5-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at home.

After this round, the Bayswater Chinese had 76 points from 38 matches, with a record of 23 wins, 7 draws, and 8 losses, keeping them at the top of the Championship table.

The Black Cats, Sunderland, followed closely behind with 75 points.

Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town were tied for 3rd and 4th with 72 points each.

These were the only four teams in the Championship to have surpassed 70 points after 38 rounds.

Further down, 5th-placed Preston had only managed to secure 61 points.

From the looks of things, the Bayswater Chinese had, at the very least, secured a spot in the promotion playoffs.

But Yang Cheng still urged his team to keep pushing, to aim for the title and direct promotion.

The promotion playoffs involved the 3rd to 6th placed teams facing off in two-legged ties, with the winners proceeding to a final.

Although Yang Cheng was confident, there were still risks.

What if there was an upset?

Therefore, securing a top-two finish was the safer bet.

…

On March 18th, for the 39th round of the Championship, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Reading.

It was another sold-out day at Loftus Road.

The Bayswater Chinese continued their fine form after the League Cup final, with Koscielny and Ribéry scoring in the 18th and 21st minutes respectively.

In the 85th minute, substitute Dave Kitson added another goal.

However, in the second minute of stoppage time, Steve Sidwell scored a long-range shot past Neuer.

3-1, the Bayswater Chinese secured a home victory against Reading.

In the same round, both Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town were held to disappointing draws away from home.

Only Sunderland managed a narrow 1-0 home win against Coventry.

Thus, the Bayswater Chinese and Sunderland gradually began to pull away from Wigan and Ipswich.

This once again validated Yang Cheng’s opinion from the start of the season.

Buoyed by their League Cup performance, the Bayswater Chinese grew increasingly confident, the team’s chemistry improved, and their competitive form became more and more outstanding.

After the League Cup final, the team hit a continuous peak of form.

…

After the 39th round, there was a two-week break for international matches.

As a Championship team, the Bayswater Chinese didn’t have many senior international players; most were in youth squads.

There had been media speculation that Ribéry was on the radar of the France national team, but this time, although he wasn’t selected for the senior squad, he received his first call-up to the France U21 national youth team.

This was Ribéry’s first time being selected for a national team setup.

When he received the call, the French winger was so excited he nearly lost his mind.

Yang Cheng, however, recalled the infamous underage scandal that had once rocked the French national team. Although it happened in 2010, he still solemnly warned Ribéry not to let his guard down when he joined the national team and to stay out of trouble.

“Think about the Premier League in the second half of the year and the World Cup next year!” Yang Cheng encouraged.

Ribéry now held Yang Cheng in the highest esteem.

The reason was simple.

Two years ago, he was still doing manual labor back home. It was Yang Cheng who found him, gave him a chance, and developed him, which led to his selection for a national side today.

Therefore, Ribéry swore that he would never slack off.

Fortunately, during the two-week period, none of the international players participating in their respective national teams had any issues.

On April 2nd, in the 40th round of the Championship, the Bayswater Chinese came from behind to win 2-1 away against Coventry.

Affected by the international break, the team’s performance was not ideal. Yang Cheng also chose to rest several international players, including Ribéry and Huddlestone, which impacted the team’s strength.

But they managed to secure the three points, albeit with a bit of a scare.

In the same round, Wigan Athletic lost 1-2 at home to West Ham United.

Queens Park Rangers lost 1-3 at home to Sunderland.

Incidentally, a third-party media survey revealed that the outstanding success of the Bayswater Chinese was causing a growing number of Queens Park Rangers fans to feel dissatisfied with their own team.

This was especially true of their home record.

The Bayswater Chinese remained undefeated at home.

This guaranteed that when fans bought tickets to a match, they would at least not leave disappointed.

…

Three days later, in the 41st round, the Bayswater Chinese cruised to a 3-0 victory away at Preston.

Sunderland defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 away.

Queens Park Rangers drew 1-1 at home with Gillingham, once again facing criticism from disgruntled fans.

Having lost consecutive high-stakes matches, Wigan Athletic’s position in the Championship table continued to slide, and they now sat in 4th place.

However, Wigan quickly regrouped. In their final five league matches, they first beat Cardiff 2-0 away, followed by another 2-0 away victory against Leicester City, and then a 0-0 home draw with Queens Park Rangers.

They drew 1-1 away at Preston and narrowly won 2-1 at home against Reading.

With this unbeaten run in their final five games, Wigan leapfrogged Ipswich Town to finish 3rd in the Championship.

The Bayswater Chinese, after a six-game winning streak, went on to beat Leicester City 2-0 at home, draw 1-1 away with Burnley, thrash West Ham United 4-1 at home, and beat Wrexham 1-0 away.

In the final round, with the team having already secured the title, Yang Cheng’s side defeated Ipswich Town 2-1 at home.

Coincidentally, it was the Bayswater Chinese’s victory in the final round that helped Wigan overtake Ipswich to clinch 3rd place.

With all 46 Championship matches completed, the Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 30 wins, 8 draws, and 8 losses, finished with 98 points, topping the Championship table and securing direct promotion to the Premier League as champions.

The Black Cats, Sunderland, finished second with 94 points, also earning direct promotion to the Premier League.

The teams from 3rd to 6th were Wigan Athletic, Ipswich Town, Preston, and West Ham United.

In the subsequent promotion playoffs, West Ham United drew 1-1 at home and won 2-1 away, defeating Wigan Athletic 3-2 on aggregate.

In the final, they secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Preston to claim the last Premier League spot.

And so, the Bayswater Chinese, Sunderland, and West Ham United were promoted to the Premier League for the 05/06 season.

After two years of hard-fought battles, Yang Cheng had finally led the Bayswater Chinese onto the Premier League stage!

Chapter 74: What a Bargain!

Your money, or your life?

For the past few years, this has been the golden rule of the Premier League relegation battle.

If you want money, then get relegated.

Whether you’re deeply in debt or pinching pennies and unwilling to spend, you’re off to the Championship.

If you want to survive relegation, you have to shell out real cash and be willing to invest in the transfer market.

West Ham United, the Hammers, were undoubtedly the most experienced in this.

And so, right after winning the promotion playoffs and securing their spot in the Premier League, the Hammers got to work without stopping.

Eleven million pound sterling to sign twenty-one-year-old local centre-forward Dean Ashton from Norwich.

In the first half of last season, Dean Ashton played for Crewe in the Championship, scoring an impressive seventeen goals in the first twenty-four league matches.

During the winter transfer window, Premier League side Norwich snapped him up for six million pound sterling.

After joining Norwich, Dean Ashton quickly found his footing, scoring seven goals in sixteen Premier League appearances.

Unfortunately, this still wasn’t enough to prevent Norwich’s relegation from the Premier League.

The three teams relegated from the Premier League this season were Crystal Palace, Norwich, and Southampton.

It’s worth noting that the three teams’ point totals were 33, 33, and 32, respectively.

West Bromwich Albion, who narrowly escaped relegation, had 34 points.

Therefore, right after the Premier League season ended, West Bromwich Albion made an inquiry about Bayswater Chinese’s Dave Kitson.

The Baggies also deeply understood the essence of survival.

After signing Dean Ashton, West Ham United immediately signed Israeli right winger Yossi Benayoun from La Liga’s Racing Santander for four million pound sterling.

They then signed left-back Paul Konchesky from Charlton Athletic for two point five million pound sterling, and both Danny Gabbidon and centre-back James Collins from Cardiff for a combined total of four million pound sterling.

The transfer market hadn’t even officially opened, yet West Ham United were already eagerly signing multiple strong reinforcements.

According to media reports, the Hammers were prepared to spend twenty million pound sterling in this summer’s transfer market.

They were really flashing the cash.

If West Ham United were the type to spend money to save their lives, then the Black Cats, Sunderland, were the calculating, penny-pinching type.

After being promoted to the Premier League, the Black Cats didn’t seem to have much intention of spending big in the transfer market. So far, they had only signed Jon Stead from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of two point five million pound sterling.

This local centre-forward had completely lost his place after Souness was sacked, and his form had been getting worse and worse.

Last season, he made twenty-eight appearances in the Premier League, scoring only two goals.

Sunderland’s signing of Jon Stead indirectly revealed their spending strategy.

Value-for-money signings.

In the words of their Irish head coach, Mick McCarthy, when introducing Jon Stead, “We’ve brought in a powerful centre-forward worth ten million pound sterling.”

“Yes, he’s facing some difficulties at the moment, but if we help him solve these problems, I believe he’ll quickly rediscover his former prowess. We’ll have a powerful local centre-forward on our hands.”

Sunderland’s transfer strategy wasn’t wrong, per se.

Of the three newly promoted teams, two were actively making moves and signing players, while only Bayswater Chinese faced the danger of losing personnel.

Several teams, including Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic, and West Bromwich Albion, had their eyes on Dave Kitson.

This powerful local centre-forward was last season’s Championship top scorer, netting twenty-eight goals in the league.

At twenty-five years old, Dave Kitson was entering the prime of his career. His goal-scoring rate in his year and a half with Bayswater Chinese was respectable, which made him an attractive target for many teams in desperate need of a forward.

Huddlestone was another highly sought-after local player, and an international player for the U19 and U21 squads.

Tom Huddlestone shot to fame with his wonder goal against Chelsea in the League Cup final!

Now, teams including Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, and Birmingham City were all paying close attention to him.

There were even rumors that Liverpool was also quite interested in the local midfielder.

The Sun even revealed that Chelsea was also closely monitoring Huddlestone’s situation.

“Mourinho has a vivid memory of that wonder goal from Huddlestone.”

Besides that, things weren’t exactly peaceful within Bayswater Chinese either.

Kevin Foley, who had gradually lost his starting position in the second half of last season, revealed through his agent that he hoped for more clarity regarding his role in the team.

At twenty-one, Kevin Foley was at an age where he needed sufficient game time to develop.

But Bayswater Chinese made no response to this.

While the other newly promoted teams were busy recruiting players, Yang Cheng, accompanied by Brian Kidd, took a train north to Wigan.

Wigan Athletic’s Chairman, Dave Whelan, was something of a legendary figure in English football.

The sixty-eight-year-old was a former professional player for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe. After retiring, he went into business and founded Whelan’s Discounts, a store specializing in sporting goods.

In 1995, Dave Whelan bought Wigan Athletic, who were in the fourth tier of English football at the time.

After ten years of management, Wigan Athletic had developed into a strong team in the Championship.

Last season, if it weren’t for Bayswater Chinese’s sudden emergence, Wigan Athletic would have likely been promoted to the Premier League.

Before coming to Wigan, Yang Cheng had contacted Wigan Athletic through the club and arranged a meeting with Dave Whelan.

Also present was Dave Whelan’s grandson, David Sharpe.

Yang Cheng found it a bit strange. Why was the grandfather named Dave Whelan and the grandson David Sharpe?

But he didn’t ask such a trivial question, instead getting straight to the point.

“I hear quite a few teams are interested in Nathan Ellington?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

The white-haired Dave Whelan, accustomed to all sorts of situations, didn’t try to guess Yang Cheng’s intentions and simply smiled back.

“Indeed. Several teams are interested in him, including West Bromwich Albion.”

After a pause, he deliberately raised his voice, with a hint of an old man’s pride, and added, “But we have no intention of selling.”

“Can you keep him?” Yang Cheng asked casually.

“We’re not short on cash. Our family has assets of over three hundred million pound sterling. I promised Paul Jewell before that if we got promoted to the Premier League, I would give him a twenty-million-pound transfer budget to buy players.”

“Right now, that money is still sitting in the club’s account. So, do you think we need to sell anyone?”

It had to be admitted, the old man was getting on in years, but he was full of vigor, and his voice was loud and clear.

Especially his confident-sounding bragging. If Yang Cheng didn’t know the old man, he would have been fooled.

When Wigan Athletic was still in the lower leagues, there wasn’t much media attention, and clubs didn’t have much interaction with each other.

But it’s different in the Premier League. The Premier League has its own association, and all the clubs have regular meetings every season.

Clubs can even have a say in many Premier League matters.

So, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Wigan Athletic was promoted to the Premier League, this big-mouthed Dave Whelan had offended quite a few people.

The key thing was, not only was he old and loud, but his ability to brag so confidently was even greater.

In his first summer after reaching the Premier League, he made a bold statement in the transfer market, claiming a twenty-million-pound transfer budget and his intention to sign Michael Owen back from Real Madrid.

Pretty impressive, huh?

And the result?

Wigan Athletic spent less than ten million pound sterling the entire summer. They were almost a laughing stock.

“Indeed, you don’t,” Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

This was quite pleasing to Dave Whelan.

“You came all the way up north, so you must be after Ellington too, eh, lad? I heard many teams are after your Dave Kitson,” Dave Whelan laughed heartily.

His laughter carried a certain conceit, as if to say, ‘Lad, you can’t hide anything from these old eyes of mine.’

“I was a little interested, but after hearing what you said, we probably can’t afford him.”

Dave Whelan nodded in agreement. “Although promotion to the Premier League brings a huge increase in revenue, you can’t just spend without restraint.”

“You Bayswater Chinese were excellent in the Championship last season, truly eye-catching, but I must warn you: the Championship is the Championship, and the Premier League is the Premier League. The two leagues are completely different. I’ve played in the top flight…”

With that, Dave Whelan launched into a long-winded tale of his glory days.

Yang Cheng felt a bit awkward listening.

Wigan Athletic has never been in the top flight or the Premier League, have they?

But there was nothing he could do. He had to play along, acting as the straight man in a comedy duo.

The worst part was, he couldn’t just say, “Oh, get stuffed.”

The old man bragged about his youthful playing days from beginning to end.

The most incredible part was that he was bragging right in front of Brian Kidd.

My God, this was an international star from England’s most glorious era.

But Dave Whelan was bragging with real conviction.

The one line that almost made Brian Kidd lose his composure was, “You made your debut a bit late. In the years I was playing, you were still in the Manchester United youth academy, weren’t you? When I was at Blackburn, playing against United, you were probably still a ball boy…”

Yang Cheng saw the despair and regret in Brian Kidd’s eyes.

He really shouldn’t have come here.

Finally, when Dave Whelan had tired himself out from bragging, he asked about the purpose of their visit.

By this point, Brian Kidd wore an expression of someone who had lost all will to live.

This old man could really fucking brag!

And the key was his bizarre self-confidence!

“We’d like to sign Leighton Baines for a transfer fee of one million pound sterling,” Yang Cheng said in a serious tone.

Dave Whelan looked at his grandson in surprise, who was equally astonished.

So it turned out the grandfather and grandson duo had both guessed wrong.

They had thought Bayswater Chinese wanted to sign Ellington after selling Dave Kitson.

All that talk before was purely to try and rip them off.

Well, that was a complete waste of breath!

“Leighton Baines is the best player from our youth academy, and he’s an England U21 international. One million pound sterling?”

Dave Whelan looked indignant, as if he’d been insulted.

Yang Cheng paid no mind to his “act.”

Because he often put on one himself.

“One million pound sterling is our maximum offer. Otherwise, we’ll go and buy Dan Harding from Brighton.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “We’ve already inquired with Brighton. Dan Harding is also one million pound sterling.”

Bayswater Chinese’s position was clear.

Both are one million pound sterling. Leighton Baines is our first choice.

If Wigan Athletic’s price exceeds that figure, we’ll buy Dan Harding.

Dan Harding is one year older than Leighton Baines, also an England U21 international, and he’s the starting player—the kind that keeps Leighton Baines on the bench.

Brighton’s promotion from League One to the Championship this season was in no small part due to Dan Harding’s excellent performances.

The young player is 1.83 meters tall and physically superior to Leighton Baines. His runs down the left flank with the ball were particularly eye-catching in both League One and for the U21 national team.

At this current stage, Dan Harding is no worse than Leighton Baines.

With this comparison, and with no other competitors, it was basically impossible for Wigan Athletic to drive up the price.

As for not selling, that was of course an option too.

But failing to get promoted was a huge blow to Wigan Athletic.

For example, their main centre-forward, Ellington. Should they keep him?

Keeping him would mean paying him a higher salary, which all costs money.

Don’t keep him?

Then what would they use to fight for promotion next season?

Dave Whelan loved to brag, but his family wasn’t as wealthy as he claimed.

Yang Cheng was certain of this, which was why he dared to come north to negotiate with him.

Dave Whelan looked at his grandson, David Sharpe. The two put their heads together and whispered for a while, clearly discussing something.

“During the winter break, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Everton all showed interest in Leighton Baines, but we didn’t consider selling and extended his contract instead.”

Yang Cheng nodded. He knew about this.

But none of those clubs had made a high offer.

“Given Leighton Baines’s performance last season, one million pound sterling is too little.”

As Dave Whelan said this, his old eyes shot a keen gaze at Yang Cheng.

“Our asking price is two million pound sterling.”

Double the price!

For a Championship defender, this was a very high price indeed.

But to the surprise of Dave Whelan and David Sharpe, Yang Cheng clapped his hands decisively.

“Done!”

To sign Leighton Baines at this price, Yang Cheng felt that if he hesitated even for a few more seconds, he would be doing a disservice to the pounds in his pocket.

This was one of the best left-backs in the Premier League for the next decade or more!

What a bargain!

Chapter 75: A Budget Version of Ibrahimović

In the world of professional football, loyalty is a great luxury.

One man, one city—this is an exceedingly rare commodity.

Gerrard, Totti, Maldini, Scholes, Giggs…

These stars were able to serve a single club for their entire careers because those clubs were Liverpool, Manchester United, Roma, and AC Milan.

What if they had played for other teams?

Forget the lower leagues; even if it were a mid-to-lower-table team in a top league, would they have remained so steadfast?

Now, Wigan Athletic’s Leighton Baines was facing just such a choice.

Go to Bayswater Chinese to play in the Premier League and the UEFA Cup?

Or stay at Wigan Athletic and play in the Championship?

Leighton Baines was born in Kirkby, northeast of Liverpool’s city center.

Yes, that’s the same place where Liverpool’s youth academy, the Kirkby Academy, is located.

Interestingly, he was a die-hard Everton fan.

While playing at Liverpool’s Kirkby Academy, his heart was filled with longing for Everton.

But when he went for a trial at Everton, The Toffees shut the door on him.

The reason was a cliché: he was too short and too skinny.

This was a common affliction in almost all European youth academies.

Ribéry was rejected by a French Second Division team for this reason; Modrić’s development at Dinamo Zagreb was hampered for this reason; David Silva was rejected by Real Madrid’s youth academy for this reason.

Even a talent as immense as Messi, who came to Europe from Argentina seeking a club to pay for his medical treatment, was rejected by numerous powerhouse teams for this very reason.

Most interestingly, Neuer was nearly kicked out of Schalke 04’s youth academy for the same reason, but he was fortunate enough to stay, giving rise to the future German goalkeeping legend.

Just over a year ago, Gareth Bale almost failed to get a contract extension at Southampton’s youth academy for the same reason.

Often, things in youth development are just that baffling.

After being turned away by The Toffees, Leighton Baines chose Wigan Athletic, located in the city next to Liverpool.

He followed Wigan Athletic from League Two to League One to the Championship, all the while waiting for Everton’s call.

Year after year.

Then Bayswater Chinese came knocking.

Did Everton need a left-back?

Yes, they did.

The price Wigan Athletic quoted for Leighton Baines was two million pounds. For a Premier League team, that wasn’t high, was it?

Everton was willing to spend six million pounds on a young goalkeeper like Joe Hart, weren’t they?

But after he met with Yang Cheng and had his agent inquire about Everton’s interest, their response was…

“Sorry, for two million pounds, we plan to sign Nuno Valente from Porto.”

A Portuguese international player, a Champions League winner, a European Championship runner-up…

But he was about to turn thirty-one.

Everton had made its choice.

Leighton Baines also needed to make a choice.

Stay at Wigan Athletic and play in the Championship?

Or go to Bayswater Chinese and play in the Premier League?

After receiving the reply, Leighton Baines locked himself in his room for a day and a night. Afterward, he went to visit his grandmother, then told his parents and family his decision.

Finally, he made a call to Yang Cheng.

…

When Yang Cheng answered Leighton Baines’s call, he was standing outside the restaurant of the famous five-star Hotel Europe in the old town of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After learning that Leighton Baines had decided to join Bayswater Chinese and hanging up the phone, he couldn’t help but make a fist, silently cheering to himself, Yes!

Yang Cheng had been dissatisfied with Capaldi since last season.

But he had no choice. Given Bayswater Chinese’s circumstances at the time, it was difficult to buy a suitable left-back.

Even if they could, it would have cost a fortune.

In the past, when Yang Cheng worked for others, he would spend whatever budget the club gave him without a second thought.

But now he was working for himself, so of course, he had to be more frugal.

Dave Whelan loved to boast, but he was right about one thing.

You can’t get carried away just because Premier League revenue has skyrocketed.

Many newly promoted teams meet their end due to financial problems.

After being promoted to the Premier League, Yang Cheng certainly had to consider strengthening the squad, but he couldn’t be reckless.

Signing Leighton Baines for two million pounds was truly a great deal!

With that thought, Yang Cheng composed himself and turned to walk back into the restaurant.

He had come to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily to meet one person.

Edin Džeko, who played for Željezničar in the Bosnian top league.

He had his old friend, Damir Vrbanović, the CEO of Dinamo Zagreb, to thank for this.

It was through him that Yang Cheng had contacted the Željezničar club in Sarajevo.

This club from the Bosnian capital had finished second in the Bosnian Premier League last season.

The team that won the championship was called Zrinjski.

If Yang Cheng hadn’t intervened, Modrić would have been loaned from Dinamo Zagreb to Zrinjski in 2003, but he only played one season before returning to Croatia.

Željezničar never expected that one of their players would attract interest from a Premier League team.

To them, it was an immense honor.

Although Džeko was only nineteen, he had already played two seasons for Željezničar.

Moreover, he wasn’t the centre-forward that many fans from Yang Cheng’s previous life were familiar with, but a midfielder.

A tall midfielder, standing at 1.93 meters.

Having a player signed by a Premier League team would greatly enhance Željezničar’s influence within Bosnia.

Therefore, they didn’t make things difficult regarding Džeko’s transfer fee.

A firm price: fifty thousand pounds, and he was yours!

And at that moment, inside the Hotel Europe, Yang Cheng was meeting with Džeko and his agent, a Bosnian named Irfan Redžepagić.

…

Yang Cheng and Džeko’s conversation began with his development.

Džeko was a bit reserved at first. After all, in his eyes, even though Yang Cheng was only twenty-four, he was already the head coach of a Premier League team, a man whose words could decide his future.

But under Yang Cheng’s gentle guidance, the Bosnian slowly opened up.

He mentioned that he had played as a midfielder since his youth academy days, known for his technical skills.

Unexpectedly, during his adolescence, he shot up in height, growing to 1.93 meters.

For a professional player, a growth spurt is a bit like an opera singer’s voice changing.

Growing taller inevitably affects weight, making one thinner, which in turn impacts running, physical strength, and so on.

But most importantly, after a growth spurt, one’s movement frequency inevitably slows down.

Unless the laws of physics cease to exist, no one can avoid this.

Footwork that was once easy to execute became difficult.

The Bosnian Premier League itself was known for its intense physical confrontation. Džeko had trained in this environment for two years, enduring much hardship and frustration.

To make matters worse, a club like Željezničar didn’t have a proper fitness coach and couldn’t provide Džeko with a comprehensive physical training regimen or a development plan for his future.

But all of these needs could be met at Bayswater Chinese.

“I watched you play for the Bosnia U19 team in last year’s U19 European Youth Championship qualifiers.”

Yang Cheng’s words made Džeko a little embarrassed.

Bosnian football was very weak.

In last year’s U19 European Youth Championship, their group stage opponents were Italy, Portugal, and Kazakhstan.

In the end, Bosnia lost all three matches, conceding seven goals and scoring only one.

And that goal was scored in the final stages of a 4-0 thrashing by Portugal.

“In that match against Portugal, you played as a striker.”

“Yes, our main striker was injured at the time, so the coach had me play up front, but I was actually playing deeper, more like a Number 10.”

Džeko remembered that match vividly because their only goal came from his assist.

“My first reaction at the time was that this tall guy should be a centre-forward.”

“Modern midfielders need to cover a lot of ground. Your technique is excellent, but you’re too tall to handle that much running and coverage. It’s a common problem for all tall players.”

“It would be a real shame to have you play deeper in a Number 4 role, and your defending isn’t strong enough.”

“On the other hand, playing further up as a centre-forward would allow you to make the most of your technical advantages.”

The agent, Irfan Redžepagić, who had been sitting quietly to the side, interjected, “Mr. Yang, playing as a centre-forward requires more physical confrontation.”

“Then we’ll strengthen it. That’s not uncommon in Europe’s top leagues.”

“We have a Croatian player on our team. When he was in Croatia, he was very short and thin. Even Dinamo Zagreb thought he wouldn’t make it. But after two years with our team, he’s no longer afraid of pressing and physical challenges in the Championship.”

“You’re talking about Luka Modrić, right? I’ve seen him play. In the League Cup final against Chelsea, he played very well. He’s amazing,” Džeko said with a smile.

Yang Cheng nodded with a smile. “What I’m trying to say is, physical strength and confrontation aren’t a problem. As long as you cooperate, you can improve quickly.”

Džeko was becoming more and more convinced.

“So why do I want you to play as a centre-forward?”

Yang Cheng explained further, “First, your speed is decent, at least for someone who’s 1.93 meters tall, it’s pretty good.”

“Your footwork is delicate, your first touch is excellent, you have link-up ability, and most impressively, you’re proficient with both feet.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng felt his words were a bit too abstract.

“Have you paid attention to Ibrahimović at Juventus?”

“Of course, he’s incredible!” Džeko’s excitement was palpable.

“Like him, you both have imposing physiques and delicate footwork. This ensures that when you get the ball in the final third, you can handle it with ease, whether you’re dribbling forward, turning, or changing direction.”

“For a centre-forward, that’s simply fantastic!”

Džeko was like a budget version of Ibrahimović; their technical characteristics were so similar.

But Džeko had one quality that was far, far better than Ibrahimović’s.

He listened to advice.

And his personality wasn’t as rebellious as Ibrahimović’s.

This made Džeko extremely malleable.

Yang Cheng felt that in his previous life, Džeko was developed as an all-around centre-forward at Wolfsburg, but after joining Manchester City, the Sky Blues used him as a tactical forward.

The most absurd part was that the wealthy Manchester City didn’t lack money in those years and bought forwards from everywhere, leading to an overcrowded attack that severely limited Džeko’s playing time and opportunities.

Many said that Džeko blossomed in Serie A, finding a new lease on life and even reaching his peak.

This was actually a misconception.

No matter how extraordinary a professional player is, their body will decline after the age of twenty-eight.

If Džeko had received further development and improvement upon leaving Wolfsburg for Manchester City, his entire career would surely have reached a higher level.

In Yang Cheng’s mind, from a centre-forward’s perspective, once Džeko strengthened his physicality and aerial ability, he would have almost no weaknesses.

Of course, compared to god-tier strikers like Suárez, Benzema, and Robert Lewandowski, Džeko was still a notch below.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s analysis of him, Džeko was both grateful and full of admiration.

He was grateful for the attention Yang Cheng had shown him.

This was clearly a result of deep research and high regard for him.

He was full of admiration for Yang Cheng’s understanding of football, as well as the development plan he had mapped out for him.

Therefore, Džeko didn’t hesitate to declare that he would give his all to cooperate with Yang Cheng and obey unconditionally.

“I promise, I will give my all in every single training session and every single match!”

Yang Cheng didn’t drag things out. He immediately had Džeko sign a preliminary contract with his agent as a witness.

There was a small interesting detail.

Džeko’s salary request was five hundred euros per month.

This was considered a decent wage in Bosnia.

But Yang Cheng offered him a weekly wage of 250 pound sterling, which was about 1500 euros a month.

This was the minimum salary for the first team in the new season.

Moreover, Yang Cheng didn’t want Džeko to go hungry for seven consecutive days like he did in his past life when he moved to the Czech Republic.

“The cost of living in London is quite high,” Yang Cheng explained with a smile.

This moved Džeko even more.

After they agreed to sign the formal contract in London, Yang Cheng reminded Džeko of a few things to pay attention to, such as improving his English.

Having secured Džeko, Yang Cheng flew without stopping from Sarajevo to Istanbul, Turkey.

From Istanbul, he then flew north to Ukraine.

Just as he got off the plane in Donetsk, Ukraine, and turned on his phone, he saw a notification for a missed call.

The caller was none other than Adam Crozier.

Chapter 76: It’s All the Tickets’ Fault

“Hello, Adam. Welcome to Bayswater Chinese!”

Three days later, when Yang Cheng greeted Adam Crozier at Bayswater Stadium, the face of England’s highest-paid public servant was etched with misery.

This was his first time at Bayswater Stadium, and its shabbiness was a bit beyond his expectations.

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself.

What a fussy guy!

“Come on, just make do for now. You haven’t seen Chelsea’s warehouse yet; it’s worse than ours.”

Yang Cheng pointed into the distance. “At least our place, though small, has everything it needs. And the facilities are quite comprehensive.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t just boasting.

In the two years he had managed the club, he had invested in a lot of facilities.

The three-person data analysis team, for instance, had cost quite a bit of money.

There were also various hardware facilities, equipment, software, and more. Yang Cheng hadn’t skimped on a single penny where it was needed.

Since they started leasing Loftus Road Stadium, Bayswater Stadium was now used exclusively as the first team’s training ground, including the half-finished stadium on the site.

The club’s administrative offices were also located within the stadium.

However, from the outside, it looked like an abandoned construction project.

For Adam Crozier, who was used to the grand CBD of London, it was only natural to frown at the thought of working in a place like this.

But when Yang Cheng took him on a tour around the training ground, especially after showing him the various departments and facilities inside, Adam Crozier began to see the place in a new light.

Gianni Vio’s data analysis team, in particular, made his eyes light up.

The winning goal against Chelsea in the League Cup final had come from a set piece, hadn’t it?

According to Yang Cheng, the data analysis team would be deeply involved in the team’s matches and training going forward.

From the outside, the office building did look like an unfinished project, which certainly wasn’t appealing.

As for the stadium, since it wasn’t completed, the facade couldn’t be decorated, so they had to make do.

But the interior was quite well-renovated.

At the very least, it had a proper office atmosphere.

“We currently have seventeen staff members working here. This is the finance office, and your office is over here,” Xia Qing explained, leading the way.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m just here to have a look first,” Adam Crozier quickly clarified.

Yang Cheng laughed heartily and clapped him on the shoulder like an old friend. “Alright, stop putting on an act. You’ve probably already completed the handover procedures. Did you really think I didn’t know?”

Adam Crozier looked a bit embarrassed.

It was a frustrating situation to think about.

His conflict with some of the directors at Royal Mail had been brewing for a long time.

Reforms always created enemies.

Especially with such drastic layoffs and massive reforms, how many people’s interests had been affected?

Royal Mail’s return to profitability had left many people bottling up their anger.

Before, the media constantly hyped up Adam Crozier as the highest-paid public servant, which was essentially putting him on a pedestal to be targeted.

The subsequent series of strikes was like holding his feet to the fire.

When Adam Crozier was spotted by reporters watching a match at Cardiff’s stadium, his opponents began to attack.

In truth, these were all minor issues.

Adam Crozier didn’t pay them much mind, but he found the work environment utterly exhausting.

Still, he put up with it for the high salary.

Unexpectedly, Yang Cheng’s prediction came true.

The British government decided to break Royal Mail’s monopoly, starting from January 2006.

With that, Royal Mail lost its biggest advantage.

Adam Crozier knew exactly what kind of company it was. Having lost such a huge chunk of its business, it was going to go from bad to worse with each passing year.

Coupled with the constant attacks from his opponents and the unending trouble stirred up by employees, he seized the opportunity to take a severance package and leave.

…

“I’m not planning on taking a pay cut. One million pound sterling a year, pre-tax.”

After the tour, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier sat down in the CEO’s office and closed the door to talk.

Adam Crozier wasn’t one to beat around the bush; he got straight to the point and stated his demands.

Yang Cheng was just as straightforward. “Done.”

“Rest assured, if I’m taking your money, I guarantee I’ll provide you with a sufficient return.”

Yang Cheng smiled confidently. “I never doubted that for a second.”

“The current team is quite bare-bones. I’ll need to hire some people.”

Yang Cheng looked at Xia Qing, who picked up the conversation. “Our club has strict salary controls. I will coordinate with you on that.”

Lin Zhongqiu had returned to his home country, and now Xia Qing was the Chief Financial Officer of Bayswater Chinese.

Although Yang Cheng had high hopes for Adam Crozier, he wouldn’t feel at ease without someone he trusted keeping an eye on things.

After all, human nature is the one thing that can’t withstand testing.

Yang Cheng’s stance was clear: Adam Crozier would have authority over personnel in the administrative office, but all financial authority for the club, including the first team and the youth academy, would be in Xia Qing’s hands.

Both of them would report directly to Yang Cheng.

Back when they had spoken on the phone from Ukraine, Yang Cheng had discussed many things with Adam Crozier.

For example, in the new season, Bayswater Chinese’s goal in the Premier League wasn’t just survival, but to strive for the top half of the table.

He was very confident about this.

If it hadn’t been for the League Cup final, Adam Crozier might have had his doubts, but now, he was filled with anticipation.

However, the first thorny problem Adam Crozier had to deal with upon taking office was tickets.

For the past two seasons, Bayswater Chinese’s ticket price was thirty pound sterling.

Since the stadium was never full, it hadn’t caused any trouble.

But in the second half of last season, every match was sold out, which led to many problems with ticket sales. Many fans even protested, believing Bayswater Chinese’s ticketing system was a complete mess.

“This is the recommendation from the third-party ticketing company we partner with,” Xia Qing said, handing over a document.

“I haven’t even officially started, and you’re already putting me to work?”

Adam Crozier complained jokingly but reached out to take the file.

Premier League clubs mostly outsourced their ticketing to third-party companies, which would also help devise sales strategies.

This time, their suggestion was to adopt the tiered pricing system commonly used by English clubs.

Matches would be divided into three categories—A, B, and C—with C being the cheapest and A the most expensive.

Ticket prices would then be set differently according to the quality of the seating location in the stadium.

Of course, the club would bundle all the home league match tickets for the season into what was known as a season ticket for sale.

This way, fans wouldn’t have to book tickets for every single match.

Some clubs offered a discount on season tickets, while others did not.

For example, London-based teams generally did not offer discounts, or only very small ones.

According to the third-party company’s calculations, the average ticket price would still come out to around thirty pound sterling.

Of course, this was just a suggestion.

Typically, when a team gets promoted to the Premier League, they raise their ticket prices.

“What do you think?” Yang Cheng asked.

This was the first challenge he was setting for Adam Crozier.

“We should definitely have tiered pricing,” Adam Crozier replied, but then shook his head. “But if we follow their suggestion, we’ll be at a huge disadvantage.”

“How so?”

“From what I understand, for Arsenal’s lowest-tier C matches, the cheapest ticket is still thirty pound sterling.”

Arsenal’s cheapest tickets were in the lower tier behind the goal.

The upper tier was more expensive than the lower tier.

“Their highest price for a C-tier match is fifty-four pound sterling, and for an A-tier match, it’s seventy-one pound sterling.”

“I also received news that after the Glazer family’s acquisition of Manchester United, they are going to raise ticket prices immediately. The price of an average ticket is set to increase by three pound sterling, making a standard ticket thirty-nine pound sterling.”

“And teams like West Ham United and Sunderland, even though they were relegated, haven’t actually lowered their prices by much. West Ham, in particular, has ticket prices in the Championship that are almost the same as in the Premier League; they just offered a small discount on season tickets.”

If they followed the third-party company’s suggestion of an average of thirty pound sterling, the lowest ticket price would have to be very low.

This would certainly please the fans, but the club’s revenue would take a massive hit.

“Loftus Road Stadium has very small stands. Some are double-tiered, but their capacity is actually less than some single-tiered stadiums.”

“The goals are on the east and west sides. I suggest we keep the standard tickets for those two stands at thirty pound sterling, unchanged, to ensure that the cost for price-sensitive fans to watch a game doesn’t increase.”

Experience showed that those who complained about high ticket prices were often these price-sensitive fans.

It made sense when you thought about it.

A family of three would spend ninety pound sterling on tickets alone. Add in some food and drinks for the kids, and one hundred pound sterling is gone.

Doing it once or twice is fine, but once a week, or even twice a week, could be a real strain for working-class families on lower incomes.

“The North and South stands have the most seats, the best views, and the most comfortable experience. We can raise the prices in these two areas.”

“Especially the upper tier of the North Stand. There are 312 VIP padded seats there, which we can price at one hundred pound sterling.”

“One hundred pound sterling?” Xia Qing was surprised.

“Isn’t that too high?” Yang Cheng was also hesitant.

“It’s simple. We can offer them better packages,” Adam Crozier said confidently.

Yang Cheng had a feeling that this guy wasn’t worried at all about those 312 VIP seats not selling.

And these were just VIP seats mixed in with regular fans. If they were VIP boxes, the price would have to be even higher.

“I haven’t calculated the details, but I believe we can raise our average ticket price to forty pound sterling. After Manchester United raises their prices next season, their average will definitely exceed forty pound sterling.”

Generally, average ticket prices in Manchester were lower than in London.

By that logic, even if Bayswater Chinese raised their average price to forty pound sterling, it wouldn’t be considered expensive.

Yang Cheng did a quick calculation in his head.

Based on 18,000 tickets, if they could still sell out, that would be 720,000 pound sterling per match. Adding the 30,000 pound sterling from VIP seats, it would be 750,000 pound sterling.

Over a season, with nineteen league home games, that would amount to 14.25 million pound sterling.

Factoring in matchday food and beverage sales, reaching sixteen million pound sterling would be no problem at all.

According to last season’s Premier League prize money distribution, even the relegated bottom team, Southampton, received fourteen million pound sterling.

This meant that from ticket revenue and Premier League prize money alone, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue could exceed thirty million pound sterling.

And that wasn’t even counting merchandise sales, commercial sponsorships, and so on.

By this calculation, it seemed possible to break forty million pound sterling.

After arriving at this figure, Yang Cheng felt a little dazed.

When he first took over the team, he was worrying about one million pound sterling and was even close to bankruptcy.

And now?

The chance of revenue breaking forty million pound sterling was almost unbelievable.

But in the Premier League, such an income level was really nothing special; it might even be considered poor.

After deducting operating costs, player and employee salaries, daily expenses, and so on, there wouldn’t be much left.

Especially considering the team was currently heavily in debt.

Now that the team was in the Premier League, its salary structure also had to be adjusted.

Xia Qing had meticulously prepared an incentive-based salary system for the team.

Taking into full consideration the young age of the team’s players, the base salaries she proposed were not high.

The highest salary tier was a weekly wage of 6,000 pound sterling.

In the Premier League, where weekly wages in the tens of thousands were common, this was extremely low.

But the club was offering very high bonuses.

According to Xia Qing’s calculations, as long as the team successfully avoided relegation, every player would receive a handsome bonus.

If the team’s performance improved further, the bonuses they received would get even higher.

The purpose of this was to motivate the players to train harder and fight harder to win matches.

For the club, it was a worthwhile investment.

For every position climbed in the Premier League table, there was an additional 500,000 pound sterling.

Not to mention, the more televised matches they had, the more prize money they would receive.

In theory, the better the club’s performance, the higher its ranking, the more televised matches it would have, and the higher its revenue.

Xia Qing had run the numbers for Yang Cheng. Based on weekly wages alone, Bayswater Chinese’s expenditure would be about five million pound sterling.

This figure was absolutely at the bottom of the Premier League, as even the lowest, West Bromwich Albion, had a wage bill of over ten million pound sterling.

Fellow newly promoted team Sunderland also broke the ten-million mark.

However, if the club could achieve its expected mid-table finish, the players’ bonuses and weekly wages combined would be close to ten million pound sterling.

In that case, the gap wouldn’t be so large.

Considering Bayswater Chinese’s historically low salaries, raising the top salary to 6,000 pound sterling was reasonable.

Combined with the high bonuses, it was enough to motivate the players to compete even harder.

Yang Cheng had great faith in Xia Qing’s abilities.

Once the new season began, he would hand over the club’s business operations to Xia Qing and Adam Crozier, while he focused on the football.

He believed that with Adam Crozier’s skills, as long as he delivered results on the pitch, the club’s income would surely climb steadily.

And after returning triumphantly from Ukraine, he was more confident than ever about the new season!

Chapter 77: Sell, Sell, Sell and Buy, Buy, Buy

Although it had been hyped by the media before, Adam Crozier joining Bayswater Chinese still shocked the English football world.

At least, the media acted very “surprised.”

If Twitter existed now, the news would have shot to the top of the trending list like a rocket and stayed there for two days straight.

As for his own influence, Adam Crozier was quite confident, appearing very calm and composed.

He even ignored the media outside and personally went to a third-party ticketing company to negotiate the sale of tickets for the new season.

After finishing the discussions about the tickets, he personally went to Umbro headquarters.

That’s right, the guy had connections at Umbro and went directly to talk to the top brass.

Over a single afternoon tea, he brought back a two-year sponsorship deal worth five million pounds sterling.

Since the cross-shareholding last year, the Yang family also held shares in Umbro, but Yang Cheng knew he couldn’t pull off something like this.

How did Adam Crozier do it?

“Was it that hard?”

“I just had afternoon tea with their CEO.”

“And then? I just chatted with him about Umbro’s plans for the Premier League over the next two years. Didn’t Chelsea just throw twenty-four point five million pounds sterling at them?”

That was the termination fee Chelsea paid.

According to their original contract, Umbro’s sponsorship of Chelsea was supposed to last until 2011.

But now, the Blues were no longer satisfied with Umbro. They had decided to switch to Adidas or Nike.

This required them to pay Umbro a twenty-four point five million pound sterling “breakup fee.”

However, for the 05/06 season, Chelsea’s kits would still be made by Umbro.

So, Yang Cheng had told his so-called father back in China to seize the opportunity and ride Chelsea’s coattails for all they were worth.

It was free publicity, and it would be a crime against his conscience not to take advantage of it.

“I told him we’d be playing in the UEFA Cup next season and that our league target was a top-ten finish. So, he decided to sponsor us for two seasons and even agreed to further collaboration on kit sales.”

Adam Crozier said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was effortless.

But Yang Cheng knew it was nowhere near that simple.

Umbro must have weighed the pros and cons.

The sportswear brand wasn’t in a great position right now; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been acquired by Nike in 2007.

But in any case, a two-point-five-million-pound-sterling kit sponsorship per season was truly quite impressive.

Looking at Adam Crozier again…

Well, you’ve earned the bragging rights for this one!

…

June arrived.

The summer transfer window in European football slowly opened.

The twenty Premier League teams all began to step up their recruitment efforts.

Bayswater Chinese’s moves weren’t particularly big.

First, they announced the signing of Leighton Baines from Wigan Athletic for two million pounds sterling.

This was to strengthen the team’s left-back position.

As for signing Edin Džeko from Bosnia and Herzegovina for fifty thousand pounds sterling, that deal didn’t attract much attention.

The player was unknown, and the transfer fee was pitifully small. Who would care?

It was worth noting, however, that after meeting Yang Cheng, Džeko finalized his contract and paperwork at the end of May, then set off from Sarajevo for London.

He wanted to start training early.

Especially to build up his physical strength.

Luckily, Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett hadn’t gone on holiday yet, so Yang Cheng had them create a detailed physical strengthening program for Džeko and arrange for a coach to train with him.

At the same time, Yang Cheng also began preparations to apply for a Special Talent Clause for Džeko.

Bosnia and Herzegovina wasn’t yet in the European Union, and Džeko hadn’t even come close to the national team, so his only way into the Premier League was through the Special Talent Clause.

A talent worth only fifty thousand pounds sterling?

To be honest, even Yang Cheng himself felt a bit awkward about it.

After signing the two players, Bayswater Chinese quickly announced the sale of their left-back, Capaldi, to the Championship side Plymouth Argyle for a transfer fee of one million pounds sterling.

When Bayswater Chinese had signed Capaldi, Plymouth Argyle had already been interested in the player.

In the previous Championship season, the three relegated teams were Gillingham, Nottingham Forest, and Wrexham.

Plymouth Argyle had narrowly avoided relegation.

Bayswater Chinese’s decision to sign Leighton Baines made Capaldi feel threatened.

He knew very well that even if he stayed with the team in the Premier League, he would likely get no playing time competing against Leighton Baines and Danny Collins, simply wasting his years.

Just then, Plymouth Argyle came calling, and both sides hit it off immediately.

Capaldi got a higher salary, and Plymouth got a left-back who had performed quite well in the Championship.

Bayswater Chinese, in turn, received one million pounds sterling.

This once again proved how correct Yang Cheng’s strategy from two years ago had been.

Capaldi had joined the club on a free transfer at the age of twenty-two. In his two years with the team, he improved significantly and gained experience from many high-intensity matches.

Now, he was sold for one million pounds sterling.

It was an excellent deal for both the player and Bayswater Chinese.

…

The battle for Dave Kitson had already begun even before the league season ended.

The homegrown centre-forward scored twenty-eight goals in the Championship last season, earning the top scorer crown.

Now, he had attracted the interest of several Premier League clubs, including West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough, and Charlton Athletic.

These teams all extended invitations to Dave Kitson and made inquiries about his price.

West Bromwich Albion’s first offer was five million pounds sterling.

This was one million pounds sterling less than the fee Norwich City paid for the Championship’s half-season top scorer, Dean Ashton, six months prior.

But Bayswater Chinese rejected the offer.

In the same period, Dave Kitson had scored fifteen goals, no less impressive than Dean Ashton.

Moreover, Dave Kitson continued to score consistently afterwards, proving his ability to find the net regularly.

The Baggies’ offer scared off the cash-strapped Charlton, but it prompted Middlesbrough to join the race.

Middlesbrough was the first to offer six million pounds sterling.

But this offer was also rejected by Bayswater Chinese.

West Bromwich Albion quickly raised their offer to seven million pounds sterling, while also letting it be known that they were considering Portsmouth’s forward Yakubu and Wigan Athletic’s centre-forward, Ellington.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Kanouté was also on their radar.

But the media reported that Portsmouth’s asking price for Yakubu was seven point five million pounds sterling.

As for Wigan Athletic, they publicly rejected inquiries for Ellington, repeatedly insisting he was not for sale.

The seven-point-five-million-pound Yakubu had proven himself in the Premier League, scoring twelve goals in thirty matches last season.

It might not seem like much, but the transfer risk was relatively low.

Dave Kitson had a better scoring rate in the Championship but had not yet proven himself in the Premier League.

However, Kitson’s biggest advantage was that he was English.

Yakubu was Nigerian.

After much consideration, Middlesbrough raised their offer again, to eight million pounds sterling.

This immediately scared off West Bromwich Albion.

The Baggies’ salary budget for the season was only just over ten million pounds sterling, and their transfer budget wasn’t large either. How could they compete with Middlesbrough?

Seeing West Bromwich retreat, Yang Cheng knew he had squeezed about as much as he could out of them.

And so, Dave Kitson transferred to Middlesbrough for eight million pounds sterling.

In this summer’s Premier League, this transfer wasn’t considered a particularly big deal.

The real big-money moves came from Chelsea and Newcastle.

Needless to say, the Blues signed Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips for transfers of over twenty million pounds sterling each.

They even paid eight million pounds sterling to sign Del Horno from La Liga’s Athletic Bilbao.

Newcastle were no less extravagant.

They spent sixteen million pounds sterling to bring “Golden Boy” Michael Owen back from Real Madrid and ten million pounds sterling to sign winger Luque from Deportivo La Coruña.

On top of that, they signed Parker from Chelsea for six point five million pounds sterling and Emre from Inter Milan for three point eight million pounds sterling.

The Magpies really splashed the cash this summer.

According to external assessments, Newcastle, who had maintained their status as a traditional powerhouse by finishing fifth in the Premier League in the 03/04 season, had dropped to fourteenth last season, leaving Magpies fans very dissatisfied.

That’s why Newcastle ramped up their recruitment efforts this summer.

As for where the money came from…

For many Premier League clubs, that didn’t really seem to be a problem.

When you’re deep in debt, a little more doesn’t hurt.

It was rumored that Newcastle’s debt was at least seventy to eighty million pounds sterling; outsiders didn’t know the exact figure.

…

Equally ambitious were North London’s Tottenham Hotspur.

In the 04/05 season, Tottenham finished ninth in the Premier League, a respectable result.

Early in the season, French coach Jacques Santini was dismissed and replaced by Dutch coach Martin Jol, after which their performance greatly improved. they even climbed as high as seventh in the league at one point, close to UEFA Cup qualification.

This gave everyone at Tottenham Hotspur a sense of opportunity, so at the end of the season, they began a fervent pursuit of Bayswater Chinese’s homegrown midfielder, Tom Huddlestone.

The tall and powerful homegrown midfielder possessed an excellent passing range, especially his long balls, and had solid defensive abilities. This made him very attractive to a Tottenham side that boasted attackers like Defoe, Robbie Keane, and Mido up front.

Therefore, they had contacted Bayswater Chinese early on through his agent, Jonathan Barnett.

But unexpectedly, Huddlestone scored a stunning wonder goal in the League Cup final, wowing the crowd.

This shot Huddlestone to fame!

A product of a proper homegrown youth academy, a regular in the national youth teams, and having honed his skills for two seasons in League Two and the Championship with increasingly impressive performances—all these factors led the public to have high hopes for Huddlestone.

The Sun revealed that even Chelsea were interested in Huddlestone.

This made Tottenham feel threatened.

Their first offer was six million pounds sterling.

For a holding midfielder who wasn’t even nineteen yet, this was already considered a very high price.

But Bayswater Chinese rejected Tottenham’s offer.

Afterward, Tottenham raised their offer further and frequently communicated with Bayswater Chinese through Huddlestone’s agent, Jonathan Barnett.

After Yang Cheng returned to London from Ukraine and met with Adam Crozier, Tottenham’s CEO Daniel Levy even invited him to dinner twice to negotiate Huddlestone’s transfer.

A key reason for Tottenham’s urgency was the lack of homegrown players in their first team.

Especially competitive ones.

This was actually quite normal.

Two successive head coaches, one French and one Dutch, generally weren’t big fans of using English homegrown players.

Tottenham had even previously initiated a sweeping “Continental” trend, which included reforms in their youth academy.

For example, Arnesen, who was poached from PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

The very same one who was later poached by Chelsea, causing a huge stir.

Under these circumstances, the shortage of competitive homegrown players in Tottenham’s first team was indeed a problem.

Yang Cheng seized on this psychological vulnerability of Tottenham’s, ultimately forcing Daniel Levy to accept Bayswater Chinese’s price.

Ten million pounds sterling.

Tom Huddlestone was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur!

Compared to Dave Kitson’s transfer, Huddlestone’s move to Tottenham sparked intense media debate.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating that the homegrown midfielder would continue to shine at Tottenham.

But some in the media and some fans were worried. Bayswater Chinese had sold their left and right full-backs, their centre-forward, and their holding midfielder, yet had only brought in one new left-back. Wouldn’t the team’s strength be severely affected?

By mid-June, Bayswater Chinese began announcing a series of new signings.

First, Yang Cheng personally traveled to France and signed Pascal Chimbonda from Bastia for three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

The 26-year-old French defender had made thirty-six appearances in Ligue 1 last season, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

With Bastia relegated from Ligue 1, Chimbonda’s contract nearing its end, and a relegation clause in effect, Yang Cheng managed to snag a bargain, signing the talented right-back.

After that, Bayswater Chinese announced another signing: Ivorian international Yaya Touré from Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine for a transfer fee of two million pounds sterling.

Yang Cheng had personally traveled to Ukraine to meet with Yaya Touré and sealed the deal.

He promised Yaya Touré a key role in the upcoming Premier League season and guaranteed him a starting position.

Yang Cheng believed that a midfield trio of Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra would be enough to stun the Premier League!

At the same time, Jonathan Barnett finally brought the news Yang Cheng had long been waiting for.

Chapter 78: A Note Before Going Premium

Despite having written for so many years, every time a book is about to go premium, it feels like a life-or-death moment, and my heart is still filled with anxiety.

This is probably the most painful book I have ever written.

Purely physical pain.

When I first started writing it, my left hand was still in rehabilitation. In the beginning, I had to go to the hospital every day.

The main issue was severe fascial adhesion. My entire left hand couldn’t make a fist or exert force, and my fingers weren’t flexible. I didn’t dare to move it carelessly on my own, fearing the pain and worrying that I might accidentally cause a problem that would affect my finger dexterity in the future. So, I could only go to the hospital for professional rehabilitation.

After about ten days, things improved significantly, and I could do the exercises at home.

Every day, I would sit in front of the computer and write for a while. When my hand got sore, I’d stop and do some rehab exercises.

And day by day, things got better.

Later, I bought a grip strengthener and continued to train on my own every day.

As of now, although I still feel a strange soreness when I clench my fist forcefully, I should be mostly recovered.

However, the temperature has been dropping here in Fujian recently, especially today with a typhoon approaching, and the wound has started to ache again.

I called a doctor friend at the hospital, and he said it was a normal phenomenon that just needs to be managed slowly over time.

But no matter what, I have persisted in updating on time every day during this period of recovery.

I just took a look. I started uploading on September 23rd, and until now, in about a month and a week, I’ve released two hundred and eighty thousand words in free chapters. That should be quite a lot.

Friends who are familiar with me know that I’m the type to write long chapters; most of them are over three thousand five hundred words, and some are even close to four thousand.

A friend suggested that I split them into two-thousand-word chapters, as that would be better for the new book period. After all, having too many words per chapter during the new book phase can really hold you back.

But after thinking about it, I decided not to.

I insisted on two updates a day, and however many words I wrote for each chapter was how many it would be.

I’m very fortunate that I haven’t let down my readers’ kind support.

Even on the most painful days, I didn’t delay the updates.

Here, I want to sincerely thank all my readers for your support over this past month and more.

Seeing you vote and leave comments every day, I feel especially grateful and deeply moved.

Please believe me, I will do my absolute best to persevere, all the way until this book is finished!

…

The book will go premium a few minutes after midnight.

I’ll be honest, I’ve managed to save up a few chapters over the past few days, but not many.

A mass release upon going premium is the standard, and if you want to aim for a good ranking in the new book month, you need a high volume of updates.

I understand all of this, but my hand is genuinely injured.

When I went back to the hospital for a check-up a week ago, the doctor repeatedly warned me not to overwork myself, that I wasn’t completely healed yet and needed more rest.

Therefore, I can’t promise you all how long the new book’s mass release will last.

Making a promise I can’t keep is not my style.

But you have all supported me so much, and I can’t offer nothing in return; my conscience wouldn’t allow it.

So, I’m going all out.

Here’s my plan.

After midnight, I will first release one chapter. It will be a mega-chapter of over ten thousand words, a combination of three normal chapters.

Here, I’ll be thick-skinned and ask everyone for your first-day subscriptions!

My deepest thanks! My deepest thanks!!

Besides the midnight chapter, I will release two more chapters tomorrow at 12:00 and 20:00 on a timer.

Both will be three-in-one, ten-thousand-word mega-chapters!

So the first-day release will be over thirty thousand words, equivalent to about ten normal chapters.

I don’t know what everyone thinks, is this a sincere enough show of commitment?

Starting from the 2nd, I will update with two chapters daily. As for the specific times, we can see if you prefer the same as the free chapters, at 8:00 and 18:00, or other times. You can leave a comment, and I’ll tally the suggestions.

I will do my best to release them on schedule at that time.

All the chapters I’m talking about will be mega-chapters of over ten thousand words.

However, I hope everyone can understand that due to my hand injury, after the first day’s mass release, I will basically have no backlog. So, I can’t guarantee how long I can maintain this burst of updates.

After all, I’m not a particularly fast writer to begin with, and now I’m injured. Releasing over twenty thousand words a day is an incredibly difficult challenge.

What I can guarantee is that I will give it my all.

I promise here that I will keep up this mass release for at least a week, or two weeks, maybe even longer…

If there comes a day when I really can’t keep up, it must be because the injury in my left hand has flared up again. When that time comes, I ask for your understanding.

In short, one sentence: I will absolutely not let down the support you have all given me along the way!

At the same time, I hope all my readers will subscribe and support the initial release. Thank you so, so much!

…

Finally, here, I want to thank my editor, Biscuit. Thank you for always being so responsible and dedicated in helping me!

Thank you to the chief editor, Chang Tian, and thank you to the Qidian platform!

I have caused you all a lot of trouble in the past. I am very sorry, and thank you so much!

I also want to thank all the readers who like “Building a Powerhouse in the Premier League,” thank you for your support and love over this past month and more!

Your support is the motivation that keeps me going!

And last but not least, thank you again to everyone!

I hope everyone who can will subscribe!

I hope everyone who can will subscribe!!

I hope everyone who can will subscribe!!!

My deepest thanks!

My deepest thanks!!

My deepest thanks!!!

Chapter 79: Devil’s Wings! I Want to Plant Our Red Flags All Over London!

“Ha, Jonathan, I knew you’d bring me good news.”

At the north gate of Hyde Park, Yang Cheng warmly welcomed Jonathan Barnett at the door of his office.

This left the English agent feeling rather flattered.

He had never received such a reception on his previous visits to Yang Cheng.

This guy really won’t lift a finger unless there’s a profit in it!

Speaking of which, Jonathan Barnett’s collaboration with Bayswater Chinese had been quite smooth.

From Joe Hart to Huddlestone, the two transfers Barnett had handled went off without a hitch.

Most importantly, all parties were relatively satisfied.

The only complaints from Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were that the prices were too high.

“How did it go? Any news from Southampton?” Yang Cheng asked with a look of concern.

Hadn’t he asked Jonathan Barnett to inquire about Southampton’s situation before?

Later, he learned that to alleviate their debt burden, the Saints were forced to sell their main centre-forward, James Beattie.

And now, Southampton had been relegated from the Premier League to the Championship.

Although they had the protection of parachute payments, the Saints’ revenue had taken a massive hit.

A loss of ten to twenty million pound sterling a year made things even more difficult for the already struggling club.

“Although Southampton has been relegated to the Championship, they’re still determined to return to the Premier League. That’s the only way to maximize their chances of survival,” Jonathan Barnett analyzed Southampton’s strategy for the new season.

“Head coach Redknapp has been kept on. Most of the high-level players who could leave have left, and those who remain are willing to fight with the team in the Championship.”

This was the foundation of a long-established powerhouse.

Even after relegation, many were willing to stay and see if they could make it back to the Premier League.

If they succeeded, those who stayed would be heroes.

If they failed, they would move on.

Clubs would usually promise more favorable conditions, such as lower transfer fee demands if they failed to get promoted, allowing the players to secure better salary packages when negotiating with other clubs.

Currently, Southampton’s most valuable player was Peter Crouch.

Yang Cheng quite liked Peter Crouch.

If possible, he would love to sign the centre-forward.

But Peter Crouch’s price tag was over ten million pounds, far beyond what Yang Cheng could afford.

Nor was it necessary.

In the new Premier League season, Yang Cheng planned to rely heavily on Lambert and do his utmost to develop Džeko.

Besides, Ashley Young could also play as a forward.

If things went as expected, Peter Crouch would likely go to Liverpool.

“I’ve spoken with the higher-ups at Southampton. They have very high hopes for Theo Walcott, but they’re not particularly concerned about Gareth Bale. Redknapp also plans to give Walcott a significant role in the new season.”

Yang Cheng remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

“Three million pounds. They’ve given a package price of three million pounds for these two young players.”

“Three million pounds?”

Yang Cheng was taken aback, his gaze fixed on Jonathan Barnett.

His sharp eyes seemed to ask: Are you kidding me, you old fox?

“I swear, that’s Southampton’s asking price. It’s true.”

Yang Cheng now knew what it felt like to be fleeced.

“Three million pounds for two players who have barely played half a match for the first team? Why don’t they just go rob a bank?”

Jonathan Barnett was speechless.

He really wanted to ask, Then how did you end up targeting these two kids?

Taking a deep breath, Yang Cheng mentally calculated the costs and benefits.

Gareth Bale and Walcott were both young players with immense potential and incredible speed.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had always felt that Walcott had been developed incorrectly by Wenger.

Of course, Wenger couldn’t be solely blamed for that.

During those years, to secure a top-four finish and ensure the club’s revenue, Arsenal had no money to bring in established players. Didn’t Wenger have to make do with youngsters?

The reason Yang Cheng wanted to sign Gareth Bale and Walcott was precisely because he saw their potential.

Putting everything else aside, if he could develop these two, wouldn’t Bayswater Chinese’s two flanks take flight in the future?

A pair of bona fide Devil’s Wings, wouldn’t you say?

Add a Lambert or Džeko up front, and who could stop such an attacking combination?

With this thought in mind, Yang Cheng no longer hesitated.

“I agree. Three million pounds. Have the two players report for duty!” Yang Cheng said, gritting his teeth.

Sitting to the side, Jonathan Barnett was quite surprised.

Although they hadn’t interacted much, he felt he had a good read on Yang Cheng’s character.

He was definitely the type to squeeze every last penny out of a deal.

Willing to spend three million pounds on two 16-year-old players?

Jonathan Barnett didn’t think much else of it. After all, many young players were highly touted, but very few actually made it.

The key was how the head coach developed them and whether he had the ability to do so.

Over the past two years, Bayswater Chinese had indeed produced a number of talented young players.

Yang Cheng noticed the expression on Jonathan Barnett’s face, a thought flickered in his mind, and he smiled confidently.

“Jonathan, your agency doesn’t currently have any players who can rival Rooney or Beckham, right?”

A slightly awkward look appeared on Jonathan Barnett’s face.

Rooney’s agent was Paul Stretford, another very famous agent in England.

Beckham’s agent was Simon Fuller. He wasn’t originally from the football world but from the entertainment industry. He first became the agent for Beckham’s wife, Victoria, before taking over Beckham’s business.

This also put immense pressure on Jonathan Barnett.

Even the entertainment industry was crossing over to steal business in football, and they had managed to snatch a golden goose like Beckham. What about him?

The biggest name on his books right now was Ashley Cole.

Yang Cheng sometimes thought that the agent business was incredibly competitive.

Often, they had to operate in gray areas.

The heavy fine Jonathan Barnett received because Ashley Cole secretly met with Chelsea was a case in point.

“Work well with me, and I guarantee that in the near future, you will have a superstar no less famous than Rooney and Beckham!”

Jonathan Barnett was utterly shocked.

His rational mind told him that Yang Cheng was just selling him a dream.

But he desperately wanted to buy into it.

…

After meeting with Jonathan Barnett, Yang Cheng set off for The FA headquarters.

Having been here a few times, he was no stranger to this building nicknamed “Flirters Anonymous.” He went straight to Chairman Geoff Thompson’s office.

As it happened, CEO David Davis and others were also present.

“You’ve come at the right time, Yang. We were just talking about your latest application. Are you sure you’re not joking?”

Geoff Thompson held up a document from the desk in front of him.

Yang Cheng knew just by looking at the cover that it was Bayswater Chinese’s application for the Special Talent Clause for Džeko.

“You spent just fifty thousand pounds to buy a genius?”

Everyone couldn’t help but chuckle.

They all felt that Yang Cheng did things in a rather absurd manner.

“The size of the transfer fee has nothing to do with whether someone is a genius.”

In private, Yang Cheng might have felt a little embarrassed, but in public, he wouldn’t admit it even if it killed him.

“You went to all the trouble of bringing a player from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a midfielder at that, and now you’re saying he’s a genius as a forward. Does that make any sense?”

Geoff Thompson was exasperated.

If this got out and was exposed by the media, it would be another headache for The FA.

Had the “Special Talent” designation become so cheap and common?

Geoff Thompson could almost see the headlines.

But Yang Cheng looked at everyone with a dead-serious expression. “I say he is, so he must be!”

He was going to stand by his claim to the very end.

Everyone was a bit surprised.

Over the past two years, Yang Cheng had indeed done an excellent job of developing players.

Bayswater Chinese’s rise from League Two to the Championship, and then into the Premier League, was a testament to his transfer acumen and player development skills, which everyone had witnessed.

But applying for the Special Talent Clause for a player from Bosnia and Herzegovina bought for a mere fifty thousand pounds was indeed a bit ridiculous.

If he were from Brazil, Argentina, or anywhere in South America, it would be more plausible.

But Bosnia and Herzegovina…

“Alright then.” Geoff Thompson decided not to argue with Yang Cheng over this matter.

He was only responsible for submitting the application to the Home Office. The Home Office would then organize a hearing. Whether it passed or not had nothing to do with him.

So, there was no need for him to make things difficult for Yang Cheng.

“Who are you planning to invite as a witness this time?”

“The head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, Blaž Slišković. He has a nickname: the Maradona of the Balkans.”

“Zidane has spoken very highly of him, considering him one of the eleven best players in the history of Marseille.”

First Maradona, then Zidane—it certainly sounded impressive.

Yang Cheng had made this trip specifically because he was afraid of complications.

He only felt at ease after personally watching Geoff Thompson and David Davis sign and stamp the documents.

But just as he was about to turn and leave, Geoff Thompson stopped him again.

“I heard that you haven’t been attending the coaching course.”

Yang Cheng knew he couldn’t dodge this one. He laughed heartily, “I’m not cut out to be a teacher.”

Thompson and the others almost burst out laughing.

Are we asking you to be a teacher?

We’re asking you to be a student.

But that was precisely the most awkward part of the current situation.

A Premier League head coach attending a coaching course as a student?

It was entirely possible that the instructor giving the lecture was one of Yang Cheng’s own coaches.

Doesn’t Brian Kidd sometimes teach at the coaching course?

If that happened, wouldn’t the situation be incredibly awkward?

“If you ask me, you don’t need to go through all this trouble. Since I’ve already signed up, just turn a blind eye. You can even skip the exams and just issue me the certificate. It saves everyone the hassle.”

Geoff Thompson and the others exchanged glances.

“Do you really think we don’t want to? The media is watching. All they care about right now is whether you’ve passed the exam.”

“Then I have even more reason not to take it!” Yang Cheng said, with even more conviction.

If I fail, how embarrassing would that be for me?

And it was true; coaching and taking exams were two completely different things.

Coaching exams were all about theory and fundamentals.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had coached for thirty years and had never taken such a test.

A coaching certificate?

He had one as soon as he transmigrated.

And now?

He was expected to go back to studying, reading books, and then take an exam?

And if he failed, he would have to endure the ridicule of reporters?

Was he insane?

“If you keep this up, you’re making things very difficult for us,” Geoff Thompson said, frustrated.

Yang Cheng really wanted to act like a gangster from a movie, but he was a civilized person, not a triad member.

“Then let’s just drag it out. The media will get distracted by something else sooner or later. We can talk about it then.”

When in doubt, stall!

It was a tactic of waiting for circumstances to change.

Geoff Thompson was also helpless.

Stalling like this really wasn’t a long-term solution.

Especially considering Bayswater Chinese would be playing in the UEFA Cup in the new season. Officially, Brian Kidd would be the head coach, but Yang Cheng would be the one actually in charge. Would that be acceptable?

…

Yang Cheng didn’t stay at The FA headquarters for long.

After leaving, he first returned to the club, picked up Xia Qing and Adam Crozier, and had lunch with them.

In the afternoon, they went to the Brent training ground together.

Since acquiring Hendon and Prince’s Park last year, Bayswater Chinese had been in a process of consolidation.

At the same time, Dan Ashworth, Gary Worthington, Matt Crocker, and Mike Rigg had been busy building the youth academy system and scouting network.

Over the past year, Bayswater Chinese had invested heavily in its youth academy, thoroughly scouting the surrounding areas, especially for promising young players.

They had also established partnerships with schools and youth clubs.

Following their promotion to the Premier League and their victory over Chelsea in the League Cup final, Bayswater Chinese’s reputation had soared in West London.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were both in North London, and Chelsea didn’t even have a complete youth academy yet.

Throughout West London, Bayswater Chinese had the greatest momentum and was seen as having the most potential for growth.

With this background, coupled with the club’s increased investment in youth development and the promotion of its advanced training philosophy, excellent coaching staff, and top-notch facilities, they had indeed attracted many young players.

The first youth player trial attracted hundreds of young players from the surrounding areas.

Adding their family members to the mix, the Brent training ground suddenly became a very lively place.

When Yang Cheng and his group arrived, the facility was already teeming with people.

Yang Cheng was also very expectant. He wondered if there were any familiar names among the hundreds of young players.

…

Over the past year, Bayswater Chinese had invested heavily in the Brent training ground.

With government support, some vacant land that had previously been occupied was now cleared and fenced off.

The entire project was divided into three phases.

The first phase was the youth team section, which occupied the largest area, had more training pitches, a dedicated training building for the youth teams, and a separate complex for the youth academy with facilities for recreation, education, and accommodation.

Both the training building and the complex were only two stories high. Their structures were already complete, and they were currently undergoing intensive interior decoration.

According to the plan, they should be completed and ready for inspection by early August.

By then, the youth academy would be officially operational.

Phase two was located south of the youth academy, adjacent to the Brent Reservoir, separated from the academy by a road leading to the Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

According to the plan, phase two would include three training pitches for the first team, a training building with two floors above ground and one below, a lakeside residential building, and an indoor football pitch.

Among the three training pitches, the main pitch would have turf strictly conforming to Premier League standards, simulating the exact conditions of Bayswater Chinese’s home stadium, from dimensions to the type of grass.

The benefit of this was to help the players become more familiar with their home ground.

Phase three was the Silver Jubilee Park, where Yang Cheng was currently standing.

According to the plan, this stadium would be demolished.

Bayswater Chinese would build a professional football stadium next to it, specifically for the youth teams, complete with stands and a roof canopy, making it convenient for fans to watch youth team matches.

The entire project was expected to take at least two years and cost over twenty million pounds, not including the cost of the land.

The promise Yang Cheng had made back then was quite reliable.

More importantly, all the facilities at the training ground were being built to the most advanced standards of the time.

By phase two, the player’s dormitory would have forty rooms, each decorated to the standard of a five-star hotel, which could be described as quite luxurious.

…

“Currently, we have established partnerships with numerous schools and youth clubs in West London.”

Dan Ashworth reported the latest progress of the youth academy to Yang Cheng and his two companions.

“Through this year’s youth trials, we will be able to establish a complete youth academy system.”

Once the youth system was established, the next step was continuous updating and iteration.

This was a long-term process that required sustained investment.

It was impossible to see results without four or five years, or even longer, of continuous funding.

But contrary to overseas fans, local supporters paid great attention to a club’s investment in its youth academy.

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with the integration of the youth academy and the expansion of the scouting network over the past year.

He affirmed the work of Dan Ashworth and his team.

At the same time, he also laid out his plans for the next step.

“I hope to further expand our youth development territory. Within the next five years, I want to operate ten satellite training centres throughout Greater London and the surrounding cities.”

Satellite training centres?

Everyone present found this new term unfamiliar.

Even youth development experts like Dan Ashworth and his team were puzzled.

They had heard of satellite clubs, but what were satellite training centres?

Yang Cheng had anticipated this reaction.

“Right now, The FA has regulations on youth development, limiting a club’s recruitment area to a radius of a sixty to ninety-minute drive, correct?”

Everyone involved in youth development knew this.

Yang Cheng saw a map of Greater London spread out on the table, marked with clubs that had partnered with Bayswater Chinese.

But to be honest, such partnerships were rather unreliable.

They could cooperate with Bayswater Chinese today, and tomorrow they could cooperate with Chelsea or other teams.

They would go with whoever offered the better terms.

There were so many teams in London. When everyone started to prioritize youth development, how fierce would the competition be?

“Taking our training ground as the starting point, a sixty-minute drive would take us roughly to Walthamstow in northeast London.”

This place was east of Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane.

“To the south, it would be around Kingston upon Thames. To the east, a sixty-minute drive would still be within the city centre.”

Everyone nodded, but they still didn’t understand what Yang Cheng was getting at.

The FA’s recruitment restrictions had been in place for a long time; everyone knew the rule.

“I have a friend who works in bankruptcy and restructuring. He told me that in recent years, many football, rugby, or golf clubs around London have gone bankrupt.”

“So I thought, we can look for suitable youth clubs in the surrounding areas of London—here, here, and here—and in these other outlying cities, especially in densely populated areas where the lower and middle classes congregate.”

“We’ll acquire them in our club’s name and turn them into our satellite training centres.”

Dan Ashworth instantly understood. “You mean, like our branch bases.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s a great idea! If we do that, we can strategically set up branch bases and expand our youth recruitment map to cover the entire Greater London area, and even the surrounding cities,” Dan Ashworth exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table in approval.

“That’s a genius idea!” Gary Worthington also cried out in admiration.

As the head of scouting, he knew all too well the importance of the recruitment area.

Why was Manchester United able to form the Class of ’92 back then, but couldn’t do it now?

Putting aside all the other factors of timing, location, and personnel, the recruitment area was a major constraint.

If they were to strictly follow the current recruitment standards, many players from the Class of ’92 wouldn’t have been able to join Manchester United.

“How would the daily management work?” Matt Crocker, the Development Coach, was more focused on practical matters.

“The main base will manage everything centrally. All the facilities at the branch bases will be identical to the main base. All coaches will be assigned from the main base, and the youth development philosophy and training curriculum will be the same.”

“The players will be registered, managed, and planned by us centrally. The various training centres will hold internal competitions periodically, and outstanding players will be selected to come to our training base for elite development.”

Dan Ashworth and the others mulled it over. The deeper they thought, the more they realized the genius of Yang Cheng’s idea. It almost perfectly circumvented The FA’s restrictions on youth recruitment areas.

This was like creating a pyramid system within Bayswater Chinese’s own youth academy, with selection happening at every level.

As long as Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy made a name for itself, one could easily imagine a constant stream of youngsters flocking to the bottom of the pyramid every year.

It was just like the top schools in the country; the more students they had, the higher the probability of producing outstanding ones.

The better the students they produced, the more top-tier students they would attract.

This would create a positive feedback loop of continuous improvement.

“Wait.”

Seeing the group getting more and more excited, Xia Qing couldn’t hold back any longer and had to pour some cold water on their enthusiasm.

“I don’t know much about football and youth development, but have you considered one thing? The Brent training ground cost us twenty million pounds. Not counting phases two and three, just the first phase cost us over eight million, and that’s not including the land price.”

Xia Qing looked at her junior with a sense of exasperation. “To build ten satellite training centres in five years, how much would that cost?”

“Also, you mentioned acquiring bankrupt clubs. Fine. But if they went bankrupt after years of operation, what makes you think we can succeed where they failed?”

Upon hearing this, Dan Ashworth and the others couldn’t help but turn to look at Yang Cheng.

Right?

They had been so caught up in the excitement, completely bowled over by the grand vision.

Now that Xia Qing had brought it up, the reality of the situation was stark.

Investing eighty million pounds in youth development over five years?

Even a tycoon like the owner of Chelsea probably wouldn’t burn money like that.

Adam Crozier, on the other hand, was frowning in thought.

From what he knew of Yang Cheng, it was unlikely he hadn’t considered this.

Yang Cheng chuckled. His senior was becoming more and more like a meticulous steward.

This was a good thing.

The finance department’s job was to manage risk.

“Actually, I didn’t explain it clearly just now. Our satellite training centres will have centralized management but independent operations. This means that after we acquire them, these satellite centres will remain independent entities and can apply for various public fund subsidies from communities, cities, and The Football Association.”

This would be a significant source of income.

“The biggest difference between us and those bankrupt clubs is that we can manage them as a group, allocate resources rationally, and minimize operational costs to the greatest extent. We can then use our youth academy as the flagship to drive the development of the satellite training centres.”

“Furthermore, I’ve considered it, and the operational costs aren’t actually that high. For example, in Walthamstow, we would only need one training building and at most four training pitches to be completely sufficient.”

“Four pitches?” Matt Crocker didn’t quite catch on at first.

But Dan Ashworth, beside him, slapped his hand decisively. “That’s right, four pitches. Because from the age of thirteen, the travel time is an hour and thirty minutes, so they can come directly to our main training base.”

“No, we might not even need four. We can stagger their training schedules, having them use the pitches in rotation. With good coordination, three or even two pitches might be enough.”

The others also had a sudden realization.

Yang Cheng nodded and smiled. “We need to actively consider the support from community and public funds and allocate our resources rationally. That way, the pressure on our investment will be greatly reduced.”

“Within five years, I want to plant the red flags of our Bayswater Chinese all over Greater London and its surrounding cities.”

At that moment, Yang Cheng was filled with an indescribable sense of lofty ambition.

Currently, investing in youth development was still a thankless task.

Most Premier League clubs were heavily in debt and had little inclination to invest in their youth academies.

In a few years, as player transfer fees continued to skyrocket, everyone would realize the importance of youth development and begin to invest heavily. By then, the recruitment area restrictions would hold them back.

That’s when the recruitment advantage of the satellite training centres would become apparent.

Bayswater Chinese would achieve a complete mismatch, an attack from a higher dimension!

We would keep the talented players who fit our system and sell those who didn’t.

The youth academy could earn a fortune each year just by selling players.

What Yang Cheng wanted to do now was to seize the most advantageous locations before the other Premier League teams caught on.

After all, the biggest difference between football youth development and other sports is the requirement for facilities.

Especially in a few years, when player values soar and youth development receives more attention, all the major youth clubs will see the potential. Trying to do this then…

Never mind how difficult it would be, even if they succeeded, the investment would be several, or even tens of times higher than it is now.

More importantly, what kind of place was London?

The city with the most professional football clubs in the world.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had witnessed an interesting incident.

Arsenal’s training ground was in Colney, a good twenty or thirty kilometers north of central London.

If they strictly adhered to the youth recruitment area rules, the most densely populated areas of Greater London would have little to do with them.

As a result, Arsenal did something that really annoyed their North London arch-rivals.

They bought a youth club about two kilometers east of Tottenham’s White Hart Lane and built a satellite youth academy with only four pitches.

Good heavens, it was a brazen move, like planting a flag right on their rivals’ doorstep!

And yet, Tottenham Hotspur could do nothing about it.

Incidents like this were not uncommon.

You annoy me, I’ll annoy you; it was all a matter of who had the means.

What Yang Cheng meant now was that while lower-league teams were struggling and bankrupt clubs were a dime a dozen, they should lay down their youth development network first.

Yang Cheng’s goal was: to plant the red flags of Bayswater Chinese all over Greater London!

Especially in the areas surrounding Greater London, which was the most densely populated region in England.

…

Speaking of Walthamstow in northeast London, Yang Cheng was reminded of a player: Harry Kane.

The kid had grown up in that area.

Interestingly, he was currently in Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy.

And he had joined last year.

Harry Kane’s journey could be described as fraught with misfortune.

He first trained at a local youth club in Walthamstow called Ridgeway Rovers, where he played as a goalkeeper.

Everyone knows that it’s usually the worst players who end up in goal.

It’s worth mentioning that Ridgeway Rovers was also Beckham’s youth academy.

And Beckham and Harry Kane attended the same secondary school.

In 2001, Harry Kane went to Arsenal’s youth academy in Colney.

Because he was a late developer, Harry Kane was short and chubby at the time. Although he had excellent technique, he was still released by Arsenal.

After leaving Colney, Harry Kane had no choice but to return to Ridgeway Rovers.

After that, Harry Kane’s father often took him to various trials, hoping he could join the youth academy of a professional team.

In 2004, when Bayswater Chinese was promoted to the Championship and invested heavily in youth development, they came after hearing the news.

At that time, Bayswater Chinese didn’t have many young talents, and even fewer after the consolidation.

Moreover, their youth development philosophy placed a greater emphasis on technical skills, so Harry Kane was naturally accepted.

It wasn’t until a few months later, during an inspection of the youth academy, that Yang Cheng discovered the name on the roster. After cross-referencing the home address, he confirmed that this Harry Kane was the same one he knew from his previous life.

Interestingly, after joining Bayswater Chinese, Harry Kane began to have a growth spurt.

As he grew taller, he naturally slimmed down.

Yang Cheng was not involved in this entire process from beginning to end.

He didn’t even inquire about Harry Kane, merely mentioning it once while watching him train.

“This kid plays smart and has good technique. He should be developed well.”

A similar situation occurred today.

The youth academy began its first round of recruitment, with hundreds of applicants.

A large portion of them came of their own accord.

The reasons were varied.

For example, on the list Yang Cheng received from head of scouting Gary Worthington, he found a name: Luke Shaw.

Date of birth: July 12, 1995.

It matched.

This Luke Shaw was not yet ten years old and had been training at Southampton’s youth academy since 2003.

Why did he apply to Bayswater Chinese?

Because his home was in Kingston upon Thames, in southwest London.

The distance from his home to Southampton was quite far.

Previously, he and his family felt there were no good youth academies in southwest London, and Arsenal in the north was too far away, so they went to Southampton.

But now, Bayswater Chinese had been promoted to the Premier League and was investing so heavily in its youth academy.

Most importantly, Bayswater Chinese’s Development Coach, Matt Crocker, was a renowned coach from Southampton’s academy.

So, they decided to come to Bayswater Chinese for training.

It was closer to home, after all.

Another one was Raheem Sterling.

December 8, 1994.

That matched too.

This one’s story was even more interesting.

He lived in Brent. Both his home and his school were very close to Bayswater Chinese’s training ground.

Previously, he had to travel to Queens Park Rangers for youth training.

And now?

He felt Bayswater Chinese was better and stronger.

Because when he was a ball boy, he had personally witnessed Bayswater Chinese crush Queens Park Rangers.

So, he took the initiative to apply.

Besides them, there were over a dozen others of various ages, all from the youth academies of other professional clubs.

They were all around ten years old and wanted to “jump ship” themselves, so Bayswater Chinese naturally wouldn’t refuse.

However, after looking through the list, the familiar names to Yang Cheng were Luke Shaw and Sterling.

Future geniuses of the British Empire, right there.

He was filled with anticipation.

Greater London had such a large population. If Bayswater Chinese could expand its youth development network and build its own brand, attracting more top talent, the potential was absolutely immense.

…

Yang Cheng spent the entire afternoon at the Brent training ground. It was only when night fell that he returned to the north gate of Hyde Park with Xia Qing and Adam Crozier.

Before leaving, Yang Cheng encouraged Dan Ashworth and his team to keep up the good work.

“We must turn Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy into our most dazzling and eye-catching calling card!”

On the way back to London, Yang Cheng received a call from Jonathan Barnett.

Southampton had agreed.

For three million pounds, Yang Cheng had secured the package deal for two 16-year-old youngsters, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

This was the most expensive transfer in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

In 2003 and 2004, when the team was in League Two and the Championship, the highest transfer fee Yang Cheng had spent was one million pounds.

Now in the Premier League, Yang Cheng was finally making big moves.

Not only did he spend two million pounds each on Leighton Baines and Yaya Touré, but he also packaged two youngsters for three million.

“Does this make me look like someone who’s never had money before?” Yang Cheng mocked himself.

Xia Qing shook her head, smiling without a word.

She really wanted to remind Yang Cheng that he had earned over twenty million pounds from selling players.

Although it was in installments, the down payment was still substantial.

For some reason, she always believed that the money Yang Cheng spent would not be a loss.

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t feel it was a loss.

In fact, he was quite sentimental about it.

Goalkeepers: Neuer, Danny Coyne;

Defenders: Koscielny, José Fonte, Škrtel, Piszczek, Leighton Baines, Roger Johnson, Danny Collins, and Pascal Chimbonda;

Midfielders: Modrić, Lassana Diarra, Leon Andreasen, Gökhan İnler, Matuidi, and Yaya Touré;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon, and Džeko.

And the two youngsters, Gareth Bale and Walcott, Yang Cheng planned to keep with the first team to develop them personally.

They could participate in the reserve league, so they wouldn’t lack match opportunities.

This brought Bayswater Chinese’s first-team squad for the season to twenty-three players.

According to his earlier calculations, the average age was around twenty-one.

Relatively speaking, a squad with an average age of around twenty-five would be more stable in terms of results.

But a young team had its advantages.

Moreover, Yang Cheng had no intention of putting too much pressure on the team for results for the time being.

Putting everything else aside, if this squad were just three years older, they might be able to compete with Chelsea.

But now?

It was definitely not possible.

Chelsea had been extremely dominant in the last two seasons.

No matter how arrogant Yang Cheng was, he didn’t think he could go toe-to-toe with Chelsea in the league.

The cup competitions, however, were another story.

On a side note, the Premier League fixture list for the 2005/06 season had been released.

Bayswater Chinese’s situation was not ideal.

Their first league match was a home game against Chelsea.

The final match of the season was against Arsenal at Highbury.

That meant the very last match to be played at Highbury would be Bayswater Chinese against Arsenal.

Yang Cheng felt…

The pressure was immense!

…

“It’s a bit of a shame for us this year.”

Back at the north gate of Hyde Park, Yang Cheng had dinner with Xia Qing and Adam Crozier.

The recently appointed CEO sighed with a sense of regret.

Yang Cheng knew what he was regretting.

In the summer of 2005, major European giants were all heading to Asia and North America, creating a huge buzz.

Among them, Everton, Manchester City, and Bolton would participate in a Premier League invitational tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, playing against the Thai national team.

Manchester City and Everton would also travel to China, Japan, and South Korea.

Tottenham Hotspur would also go to Asia and were even scheduled to play a friendly match in North Korea against Boca Juniors from Argentina.

Fellow newly promoted team Sunderland had long decided to go to North America and had already booked several pre-season friendlies, including one against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada.

The other newly promoted team, West Ham United, was preparing to tour the Nordic region.

Not to mention the Big Four, who had booked their overseas training camps and pre-season friendlies long ago, all for commercial development.

These intercontinental commercial matches weren’t something you could just decide to participate in at a moment’s notice.

They required a period of preparation.

After taking office, Adam Crozier had also tried to arrange a tour of Asia or North America, even if it was just to make an appearance.

The problem was, there were no opponents to play against.

These pre-season friendlies needed to be arranged well in advance.

If nothing else, just the visas for players and coaches took time to process.

Bayswater Chinese also had a very packed schedule this summer.

First, they would have a two-week training camp at the club, mainly focused on physical conditioning.

During the final stage of fitness reserves, Yang Cheng had arranged two pre-season friendlies, both nearby away games.

Brentford and Southampton.

After these two matches, the team would travel to Rotterdam, Netherlands, to play Feyenoord, then to Germany to play Borussia Dortmund, and then to France to play Lille before returning to London.

At the end of July and early August, Inter Milan would be on a tour of Britain and would play a match against Bayswater Chinese.

Finally, in early August, there would be a match against Queens Park Rangers.

This was at QPR’s own request.

The Championship team still seemed unwilling to admit that a gap had opened up between them and Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng arranged such a schedule, including not only local teams but also several European clubs.

This was because Bayswater Chinese would be playing in the UEFA Cup in the new season.

Yang Cheng hoped that the young players in the team could get a feel for the different football styles across Europe in advance.

As for missing out on Asia and North America…

“It’s fine. Developing the commercial market isn’t a case of first come, first served. It’s a long-term process.”

Yang Cheng smiled nonchalantly.

“Personally, I don’t think we can make much of an impact in North America at the moment.”

“That’s true. We lack star players with appeal,” Adam Crozier said.

Ribéry was considered the biggest star in the Bayswater Chinese squad. To keep him, Yang Cheng had given him a contract with a weekly wage of six thousand pounds.

Compared to the top clubs, this was nothing.

But it was the absolute limit for Bayswater Chinese.

And even Ribéry couldn’t get into the France national team.

Going to North America with that, what would they promote?

They probably wouldn’t even make a ripple.

“So, I’m planning to make a trip to Asia myself, especially China, once I’m done with the things on my plate.”

Adam Crozier analyzed the current situation for Yang Cheng.

North America didn’t have enough clout for them yet, the Middle East was underdeveloped, and tycoon sponsors like Emirates Airlines wouldn’t even look at the current Bayswater Chinese.

On the other hand, in Asia, especially China.

The fact that Yang Cheng and the Yang family were running a Premier League team was in itself the most attractive selling point.

Furthermore, the Premier League was very influential in Asia.

Adam Crozier’s idea was to go and scout the situation first, get a feel for things, and then formulate a detailed commercial promotion strategy upon his return.

“Next year is the World Cup in Germany. Football fever will be high all over the world. Other teams, especially the top clubs, will be affected by their internationals participating in the World Cup.”

“Based on the intelligence I have, none of the Premier League’s Big Four have plans to go to Asia at the moment. This is our opportunity!”

“Alright, draw up a plan as soon as possible.”

Yang Cheng made the decision on the spot.

In his previous life, he had been through many pre-season overseas tours. He knew how to avoid certain situations and how to minimize the impact on the team’s training and preparations.

More importantly, for now, Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue was hard to increase, and broadcasting rights income was not very stable. They could only work on commercial income.

This was also a long-term strategy for the club’s operations.

Xia Qing sat quietly to the side, listening and lost in thought.

A ten-thousand-word mega-chapter, asking for first-day subscriptions! Thank you, thank you!!

Chapter 80: Yang Cheng, Name Your Price! My Premier League Starts with Chelsea in the Season Opener!

“Hello, Brother.”

After returning to the small, cozy apartment she had decorated, Xia Qing took a fragrant bath, lay prone on her bed, and bit her lower lip as she called her older brother, Xia Xi, back in China.

“Well, well, little sis, why are you calling me at this hour?”

After a pause, he quickly added, “It should be the middle of the night in London, right?”

“It’s nothing. I heard you moved out of the house to live on your own again?”

“Yeah, Mom is too annoying. She keeps bringing her female students to our house. I can’t stand her.”

An image of her brother’s disgusted yet pained expression flashed through Xia Qing’s mind, and she couldn’t help but giggle.

“You’ve got it good, little sis. So much freedom. Not like me. I’ve never known what ‘status in the family’ even means.”

“Mom’s just doing it for your own good. You’re not a kid anymore; it’s time to settle down,” Xia Qing chided, mimicking her mother’s tone.

“Alright, little sis, I’ll give you a chance to rephrase that. Otherwise, no matter what you say next, I’ll only give you a one-word answer: no!”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh again.

It was a game the two of them had played since they were children.

“How did you know I needed something from you?”

“Duh. You’re calling me in the middle of the night instead of getting your beauty sleep? I’m not that clueless.”

“Long story short. I’m on a tight schedule. I have to go down to the grassroots level in a few days. I’m swamped.”

Xia Qing knew her brother’s work was demanding, so she didn’t dawdle and immediately told him about Adam Crozier’s trip to China.

“Brother, you have a lot of friends in the capital, and isn’t there a close friend of yours at Huaxia Television? Help me out, please.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. When he spoke again, his tone had shifted slightly.

“Qing, if I remember correctly, this is the first time you’ve ever asked the family for help with someone else’s business, right?”

“You resigned from Goldman Sachs without telling any of us, then jumped to a football club. And now you’re asking me for help for this club…”

“Brother, dear brother, I really just want to help a friend. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“I’m not!”

“But I think you are.”

“I’m really not!”

Xia Qing rolled her eyes, feeling that arguing with her brother about this was a complete waste of effort.

“One word: are you helping or not?”

“Of course, I’ll help!”

Xia Qing rarely asked for favors, so now that she had, Xia Xi would do his best, even if it were much more difficult than a simple task.

“But, little sis, can Dad know about this? He has a lot more pull than I do.”

“No way, Brother! Don’t breathe a word of this at home.”

“Got it. Then someday when I need your help…”

“I’d go through fire and water for you, without hesitation!”

“Perfect! Miss Xia, consider it done.”

“Great. Remember, coordinate some publicity for them.”

“Understood.”

“And don’t mention me.”

“I know. I’m a big football fan myself.”

After hanging up, Xia Qing finally smiled, relieved.

Since coming to Bayswater Chinese, she had realized just how hard things were for her junior.

In just two years, he had single-handedly dragged a nearly bankrupt club into the Premier League.

He had even taken on heavy debt to do it. It was truly difficult.

Whatever the case, she would help however she could.

…

After attending the opening event for the team’s summer training camp, Adam Crozier led a delegation to Asia.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, buried himself at Bayswater Stadium, working with the players on their fitness reserves.

His assistants were responsible for the specific training drills. Yang Cheng’s role was more about observing and chatting with the players.

This was one of his strengths.

Training camps were exhausting, and Bayswater Chinese’s summer camp was even more so.

Yang Cheng had to use these chats to encourage the players and help them understand the significance of their hard work.

Although it had only been two short years, only five players remained from the League Two squad: Koscielny, Roger Johnson, Modrić, Ribéry, and Lambert.

These five had undergone a complete transformation over the past two seasons.

During training, they used their own experiences to show their teammates the meaning behind such grueling work.

With these veterans leading the way, along with last season’s senior players, it was easier for the new signings to integrate into the team.

This was especially true for José Fonte.

Yang Cheng now finally understood why so many teams and players had admired him in his previous life.

He even thought that, one day, even if José Fonte’s skills weren’t good enough to even make the first team bench, he would still want to keep him around.

Having someone like him in the dressing room was just too convenient, too useful.

While Yang Cheng was leading the training camp, Bayswater Chinese also began selling season tickets for the new season on July 11th, as planned.

Like other London clubs, Bayswater Chinese’s season tickets were not discounted.

Arsenal’s cheapest tier of season tickets was priced at eight hundred eighty-five pound sterling.

But the Gunners’ season tickets were unique because they included some cup competitions.

Chelsea’s lowest-tier season tickets were six hundred fifty pound sterling, which worked out to 34.2 pound sterling per match.

Bayswater Chinese’s lowest tier was only five hundred seventy pound sterling, or thirty pound sterling per match.

Since the club had already promoted and advertised the sale to the fans, and considering the attendance figures from the past two seasons, the tickets sold like hotcakes. Seven thousand sets were sold in a single morning.

Not only Yang Cheng, but even Adam Crozier, who was far away in China, was stunned.

The club’s original forecast was only five thousand sets.

Loftus Road Stadium could only hold eighteen thousand three hundred people.

Selling seven thousand sets in one morning was staggering.

What was even more shocking was that not only had the season tickets in the stands behind the goals sold out, but many in the stands along the sides of the pitch had also been sold, proving that Bayswater Chinese fans were willing to spend.

Based on the sales, a third-party company revised its forecast for season ticket sales to ten thousand sets.

This certainly couldn’t compare to giants like Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, or Chelsea, and was likely less than Fulham’s.

But compared to the past, the improvement was enormous.

If they really sold ten thousand sets, that would bring in several million pound sterling.

It might be hard to believe, but many Premier League teams relied on season ticket sales to balance their transfer budgets.

In recent years, a so-called “Bolton model” had emerged in the Premier League.

As the name suggests, this model was pioneered by Bolton.

Simply put, it involved signing aging players that giants and top teams no longer wanted, either for free or for very low transfer fees.

Hierro, for example.

The benefits of this model were obvious.

These veterans might not be able to hold a place at a top club, but they were more than capable of helping Bolton achieve good results.

As a result, Bolton’s performance had improved season after season, and they had even finished 6th last season.

More importantly, by bringing in these aging big names, Bolton had more leverage when it came to playing commercial matches abroad.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, the so-called Bolton model was ultimately a short-sighted strategy.

Their immediate strength was undeniable, but while these aging players had low or no transfer fees, their weekly wages were high.

The club might not have spent much in the transfer market, but their salary expenditure was huge.

It might not be a problem for two or three years, but what about in the long run?

These veterans couldn’t be sold for a profit.

Some would even play for two or three years and then retire.

While Bolton’s model brought them current success, it mortgaged their future.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Bolton spent a few years in the Premier League, then dropped into the Championship, and later fell to the third and fourth tiers. By the time Yang Cheng transmigrated, they still hadn’t returned.

Yang Cheng never believed in the so-called Bolton model. He believed in accumulating strength over a long period and releasing it explosively.

Over the past two years, every goal Yang Cheng had set for the team had not only been achieved but exceeded.

This had earned him the complete trust of everyone at the club.

The team had also grown stronger through this process of constantly meeting challenges and surpassing goals.

Moreover, when handling transfers, Yang Cheng placed special emphasis on carrying on this mental strength.

Now, in his conversations with the players, Yang Cheng was constantly reinforcing this mental fortitude.

He wanted everyone to believe that Bayswater Chinese had come to the Premier League not just to survive relegation.

They were here to cause an upset!

In the midst of this compact and fulfilling pre-season life, a phone call from Kesher Harris broke the tranquility.

Roman Abramovich had invited him to dinner.

The location was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, at the south gate of Hyde Park.

…

Yang Cheng was no stranger to Roman Abramovich.

He had managed Chelsea in his previous life and had met him countless times.

To outsiders, the Russian always appeared like a gentleman who never lost his temper.

He always greeted people with a smile, always amiable.

Just as he was now, seeing Yang Cheng, he was incredibly enthusiastic and heaped praise upon him.

It was all about how successful Yang Cheng had been in managing and coaching Bayswater Chinese.

He expressed his belief that Bayswater Chinese would achieve great results in the new Premier League season.

Yang Cheng didn’t like this “you’re great, I’m great, everyone’s great” atmosphere, so he decided to pop the bubble without warning.

“We’ll be facing Chelsea in the first round. I hope your good wishes bring us luck, Roman. I’ll pass your blessings on to my players.”

Abramovich’s smile froze instantly.

Is that what I meant?

Pini Zahavi, Kesher Harris, and the personal assistant accompanying them, Marina Granovskaia, all exchanged glances.

Why is this kid so annoying?

Does he have to be a killjoy?

Yang Cheng took in everyone’s expressions, feeling particularly pleased.

When he managed Chelsea in his previous life, he felt he had been too easygoing, which was why he had practically handed over the half-won Champions League trophy to his own assistant coach.

“No problem. I also genuinely hope you can perform above your level and deliver a fantastic match for fans all over the world in the season opener,” Abramovich said, managing a gracious smile.

Perform above your level?

The implication was that Bayswater Chinese was still inferior to Chelsea.

“With our two previous experiences, we’re very confident,” Yang Cheng twisted the knife again, plunging it into his chest.

This feeling was so satisfying.

This time, Abramovich’s expression genuinely changed. He immediately looked at Kesher Harris.

Kesher Harris understood the cue, cleared his throat lightly, and drew Yang Cheng’s attention.

“Mr. Yang, let’s leave matters of the pitch to be settled on the pitch. Let’s talk about some club business.”

Yang Cheng maintained a polite smile, thinking to himself: Finally, getting to the point.

“We all know that Bayswater Chinese has invested heavily in its training ground, and you’re still renting Queens Park Rangers’ stadium for matches. This isn’t a long-term solution.”

“Given Bayswater Chinese’s current situation, it seems almost impossible for you to build the world’s best football stadium in the foreseeable future, as you previously mentioned.”

“Whether you rush to build within the existing framework or continue to use it as a training ground, it’s far too wasteful.”

Yang Cheng nodded, agreeing with Kesher Harris.

It was indeed very wasteful.

If he weren’t short on money, he would have demolished and rebuilt it long ago.

But his nod seemed to carry a different meaning to the others.

“Roman has invested huge sums for three consecutive seasons. He has deep pockets and a genuine love for football. He sincerely wants to be friends with you, so let’s let all past misunderstandings be bygones.”

“Now, Chelsea would like to propose a new offer.”

“There are two options. The first is to trade Stamford Bridge for Bayswater Stadium and its land. While Chelsea builds its new stadium, both teams will share Stamford Bridge.”

Yang Cheng was genuinely startled when he heard this.

Trade Stamford Bridge for this piece of land?

This was indeed a very sincere proposal.

“The second option: you name a price!”

…

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had often pondered a certain question.

Why did his relationship with Abramovich deteriorate to the point where he was fired on the way back from an away match?

Because after working together, they discovered they disliked each other more and more.

The more successful Chelsea became, the more this dislike, and even disgust, grew.

Yang Cheng didn’t know what Abramovich was thinking.

But what he himself disliked the most was Abramovich’s arrogance, that high-and-mighty attitude of looking down on everyone, the “I’m rich, so everyone has to revolve around me and live according to my will” mentality.

That was why he was fired in his previous life.

But now, he and Abramovich were equals.

After hearing Kesher Harris’s proposal, Yang Cheng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned to Abramovich, let out a soft laugh, and smiled.

“Roman, have you ever been to China?”

Abramovich, thinking he was making headway, also smiled. “Not yet, but I’d love to go.”

“Many foreigners feel very uncomfortable after arriving in China.”

“That’s normal. The climate, the food, the culture, the language…”

“No, no, those are just superficial things,” Yang Cheng interrupted him.

“A high-caste noblewoman from India once visited China and criticized it for being worthless.”

“I believe many people from Europe and America would also feel uncomfortable in China.”

“Because in China, they can’t get the same kind of superior, deferential treatment they can enjoy in places like Southeast Asia, South America, or even Japan and South Korea.”

Abramovich and the others were puzzled.

Where is he going with this?

“In my homeland, there are also plenty of destitute people at the bottom, and many who work in less-than-reputable professions. Rich families also hire nannies and servants…”

“But in my homeland, there are no so-called lower-class people!”

“You’re rich, that’s your business. I work for you, earn a wage from you, and provide the corresponding labor. That’s all. We never feel that we are inherently inferior as people.”

“Even if we don’t dare to resist on the surface, deep in our hearts, we hold onto a belief.”

“Are kings and nobles born to their station?”

“When I’m poor, I can endure hunger. I can work hard without complaint. All for that one day in the future when I’ve learned my skills, and I too will make a name for myself and achieve greatness!”

Yang Cheng spoke these words in a calm tone, but to Abramovich, Pini Zahavi, and the others, they were like a bolt from the blue.

They couldn’t possibly imagine how one could live in such a country.

In Abramovich’s villa near Knightsbridge, he employed three butlers and over a dozen servants, on call twenty-four hours a day, providing him with the most professional, aristocratic service in all of England.

At home, he was like the king in the neighboring Kensington Palace or Buckingham Palace!

He couldn’t imagine how these butlers and servants could perform their duties properly if they harbored such ambitions.

No, it was completely different.

These butlers even took pride in being professional butlers serving the nobility!

Only when a person accepts this notion from the bottom of their heart and takes pride in it can they take care of their “master” with meticulous attention to detail.

Abramovich was an incredibly intelligent man.

The moment he thought of this, he immediately understood Yang Cheng’s meaning.

In China, there was no such thing as being inherently inferior.

Everyone was striving to get ahead!

Did this not also mean that Bayswater Chinese was the same?

That this club, run by a Chinese man, was unwilling to be subordinate, that it was striving to climb to the top, to one day crush Chelsea and all the other giants under its heel?

And the land at Bayswater Stadium was his opportunity!

…

Yang Cheng left.

He left behind a baffling story.

He gave no answer, just smiled and walked away.

But Abramovich was furious!

He forcefully swept all the dishes, cutlery, and chopsticks in front of him off the table, gritting his teeth as he glared in the direction Yang Cheng had left.

He had made what he believed to be his most sincere offer.

But not only was Yang Cheng unmoved by his sincerity, he had trampled on his dignity!

This was something he absolutely could not tolerate.

Pini Zahavi and Kesher Harris stood by, silent as cicadas in winter.

They had never seen Abramovich this angry before.

But what on earth had happened?

They were still completely baffled.

Was there some hidden meaning in Yang Cheng’s story?

“It seems he’s never going to sell, no matter what,” his assistant, Marina Granovskaia, sighed.

She had understood.

“So what? Who the hell does he think he is?” Abramovich’s words were now merciless.

“I think this young man is incredibly ambitious, and his coaching ability is genuinely good. We still need to be careful,” the assistant said.

Abramovich snorted coldly. “But this is England, not China. We don’t play by their rules here!”

Marina Granovskaia wanted to say something but held her tongue.

She actually wanted to say that the English didn’t necessarily play by their rules either.

If the methods that worked in Russia were also effective in England, this piece of land would have belonged to Chelsea long ago.

Would Yang Cheng have even had the chance to stand before Abramovich and tell him a story?

After letting out a heavy breath, Abramovich finally calmed down.

“Pini.”

“Boss,” Pini Zahavi immediately came over with a fawning smile.

For some reason, seeing his sycophantic expression at this moment, Abramovich was reminded of Yang Cheng’s story.

He began to wonder, was Pini Zahavi truly as loyal as he appeared?

Or rather, did his loyalty truly come with no strings attached?

“We still need to find a way to deal with the government. Put more pressure on them. It would be best to find an opportunity to take the land back directly.”

Abramovich suppressed the rambling thoughts in his mind and spoke in a deep voice.

“Marina.”

The assistant, by contrast, appeared neither servile nor overbearing, simply standing by and nodding in affirmation.

“Inform the team. For the first round of the league, I will be there in person. We must win, no matter what!”

No matter what the future holds, strive to get ahead all you want.

I, your father, can crush you under my heel right now!

Mud!

…

From the moment he left the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Yang Cheng knew he had thoroughly offended Roman Abramovich.

But what did it matter?

After today’s meeting, Chelsea probably wouldn’t bother him again for a short while.

More importantly, from the snippets of conversation, Yang Cheng had gleaned something.

The official letter Bayswater Chinese received from the Westminster City Council probably wasn’t so simple.

If Abramovich’s people hadn’t been meddling behind the scenes, how would they have known about it?

“It seems we need to pay more attention to and strengthen our work with the government.”

The first person who came to Yang Cheng’s mind was Adam Crozier.

He was a jack-of-all-trades, to be used wherever needed.

Moreover, Adam Crozier had connections in England, so it was perfect to hand this matter over to him.

Otherwise, did he really think a million-pound annual salary was easy money?

As for the new Premier League season, Yang Cheng was full of anticipation.

Although they had only been in training for a short time, Yang Cheng already had a good grasp of Yaya Touré’s level.

Yaya Touré, twenty-three, had landed in Europe from the Ivory Coast in 2001, joining Beveren in Belgium.

In the summer of 2003, Yaya Touré had a trial at Arsenal and even played for them in a friendly against Barnet, but his performance was terrible.

Wenger did not sign the player.

This was despite his older brother, Kolo Touré, being a highly trusted defender for Wenger.

In January 2004, Yaya Touré transferred to Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine, where he continued to hone his skills.

Before signing Yaya Touré, Yang Cheng had been somewhat worried.

Not about the Ivorian’s potential, but about his immediate impact.

But after watching him train for a while, Yang Cheng was reassured.

The Bayswater Chinese midfield was about to become very interesting, and Yang Cheng himself was very excited.

Modrić was skilled at ball control and passing, and his long balls were excellent.

With Huddlestone gone, Modrić would take over that responsibility.

Lassana Diarra excelled at tackling and covering ground.

Yaya Touré was the most complete midfielder Yang Cheng had ever seen.

Perhaps even the most complete, period.

Because another midfielder Yang Cheng greatly admired, Paul Pogba, was not good defensively and couldn’t play as a holding midfielder.

But Yaya Touré needed to play as a holding midfielder.

His greatest strength was making deep, driving runs.

A towering frame of 1.91 meters, a strong physique of 90 kilograms, combined with the speed and power of an African player, and excellent technique…

When a player like that charged forward with the ball, who in midfield could stop him?

Therefore, Yaya Touré’s position shouldn’t be too far forward. Instead, he should be in a holding role, giving him more space and freedom.

This was why he couldn’t win a spot over Busquets at Barça.

In Pep Guardiola’s Barça, neither Xavi nor Iniesta could provide cover for Yaya Touré after one of his forward surges.

Furthermore, Barça’s high-pressing style didn’t require Yaya Touré’s deep runs.

But at the current Bayswater Chinese, Lassana Diarra’s presence gave Yaya Touré the opportunity for these deep runs.

Of course, this would require Yang Cheng to further coach Lassana Diarra.

Judging from last season’s performance, the French midfielder had indeed become much more disciplined and had improved significantly.

Lassana Diarra and Modrić in the center, Yaya Touré in a holding role.

Yang Cheng was very confident that Bayswater Chinese’s midfield trio would shock everyone in the new Premier League season.

My Premier League starts with Chelsea in the season opener!

…

After two weeks of training, the team had its first friendly match.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese was held to a dismal 0-0 draw away at Brentford.

Yang Cheng was unconcerned.

He never paid much attention to the results of pre-season friendlies.

Four days later, they drew 1-1 with Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.

Yang Cheng even had a bit of fun in this match, bringing on Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott as substitutes. Along with the starting Lambert, they were all former Saints players in his previous life.

After two consecutive draws in the pre-season, Yang Cheng led the team back to London for a rest.

On July 21st, they left London again to begin a tour of pre-season friendlies on the European continent.

First, they went to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where they lost 0-1 to Feyenoord.

Dutch forward Kuyt scored the only goal of the match.

Yang Cheng felt a bit of regret for Kuyt.

He was once such an efficient scorer, but at Liverpool, Benítez had forcefully converted him into a workhorse.

After playing Feyenoord, the team flew to Dortmund, Germany.

On the 25th, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 away to Borussia Dortmund, suffering their second consecutive defeat.

From two straight draws to two straight losses, they hadn’t won a single one of their four friendlies.

Many British media outlets, when previewing the new Premier League season, expressed disappointment in the heavily altered Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng continued to relentlessly tweak and polish the team.

On the 28th, in Lille, northern France, the team finally had something to cheer about, defeating Lille 2-1.

But upon returning to London, they faced Serie A giants Inter Milan in their first home friendly.

As a result, the travel-weary and exhausted Bayswater Chinese had their goal breached twice by Adriano.

0-2, Bayswater Chinese lost at home to Inter Milan.

However, in the match against Queens Park Rangers on August 3rd, Yang Cheng’s team cleanly defeated their opponents 3-0.

This served to show Queens Park Rangers that the gap in strength between the two teams had truly become enormous.

After seven pre-season matches, their record was two wins, two draws, and three losses. Not great, but not terrible either.

Although the pre-season results weren’t particularly ideal, the team’s season ticket sales were very encouraging.

The initial forecast was five thousand sets, but seven thousand sets were sold in just one morning.

A month later, a total of thirteen thousand sets had been sold.

This had far exceeded the expectations of Yang Cheng and the others.

Even the third-party ticketing company they partnered with was surprised.

The final analysis concluded that Bayswater Chinese’s ticket prices were relatively low, and their home record over the past two years had been excellent.

Yang Cheng paid no attention to this.

He took his team into seclusion at Bayswater Stadium, burying his head in preparation for the first round of the new season.

He was going to give Mourinho and Chelsea a big surprise!

…

As August arrived, the Premier League season drew closer.

The transfer business of Premier League clubs also gradually came to a close.

This summer, the biggest story in the Premier League transfer market was still Chelsea.

The signings of Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips became the highlights of the summer window.

Especially Essien.

At 24.4 million pound sterling, he became the most expensive transfer in the Premier League this summer.

However, Chelsea also sold off quality players like Tiago, Kežman, and Parker for low prices.

Unlike the lavishly spending Chelsea, Arsenal’s transfer strategy was once again one of patching things up.

The long-running transfer saga came to an end, with captain Vieira finally moving to Juventus.

Thirty-two-year-old Pires’s contract renewal was also up in the air.

The Sun once reported that Arsenal had submitted a 15 million pound sterling bid to the newly promoted Bayswater Chinese for Franck Ribéry, but it was rejected.

From his perspective as a transmigrator, Yang Cheng felt Arsenal had made two very good deals this summer.

They signed Hleb from Stuttgart and loaned Alex Song from Bastia.

But in the British media circle, neither of these deals made much of a splash.

Manchester United’s situation was not much better than Arsenal’s.

The Gunners’ squad was still very strong, but Manchester United had yet to bring in any players who could significantly boost the team’s strength.

Veterans Edwin van der Sar and Foster were brought in to strengthen the goalkeeper position, a weak link for Manchester United.

Signing Park Ji-sung from PSV Eindhoven was more of a commercial consideration.

With the team undergoing a tactical transformation, Van Nistelrooy was not a good fit, leading to a weak attack. The old captain Roy Keane was aging, and his form could not be guaranteed.

Ferguson’s lack of signings was indeed worrying.

From Yang Cheng’s point of view, he could understand Ferguson’s intentions.

Ferguson was waiting.

Waiting for the team’s tactical transformation to take shape, waiting for Rooney and C. Ronaldo to mature.

However, with a tactical master like Ferguson at the helm, no one dared to underestimate Manchester United.

The old gaffer could always play a seemingly mediocre hand to achieve surprising results.

The newly crowned champions, Liverpool, were relatively more pragmatic, signing players like Zenden, Sissoko, Crouch, and Reina, who were not expensive but were very practical.

The Reds’ overall strength was greatly enhanced.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, none of the top four teams in the Premier League were easy to deal with.

After signing Michael Essien, if one ignored Mourinho’s tactical style, Chelsea was arguably the most competitive and also the most difficult team to beat in European football at the moment.

As for the other three teams, Manchester United was in transition, with an aging squad structure and a relatively thin midfield; Arsenal also had an aging problem and a very unstable defense; Liverpool, on the contrary, had a great defense but a poor attack.

Chelsea had no obvious weaknesses, whether in terms of squad strength or technical and tactical aspects.

The British media also recognized Chelsea’s strength the most, believing the Blues were still the number one favorite to win the title this season.

As for the mid-table teams, it was widely believed that they would be left far behind the top four.

And in the relegation battle, many were worried about Bayswater Chinese.

Sunderland and West Ham United were old Premier League hands; they knew exactly how to survive in the top flight.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese, under the 24-year-old Yang Cheng, had the youngest head coach in Premier League history.

From top to bottom, from management to players to ordinary employees, no one had any Premier League experience.

Furthermore, the highly-rated Tom Huddlestone and last season’s Championship top scorer Dave Kitson had both departed.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese became the prime favorites for relegation.

Interestingly, the opening match of the Premier League season happened to be the number one title favorite against the number one relegation favorite.

…

Sandwiched between the incessant roar of Heathrow Airport and the noisy traffic of the motorway, the air was filled with the strong, acrid small of coffee…

This was Chelsea’s training ground.

Every time Mourinho looked out from the dilapidated, warehouse-like training building at the mere two football pitches, he couldn’t help but curse inwardly: The useless owners in the Premier League should all be taken out and shot.

Yes, he was cursing the likes of Bates, not including Abramovich.

“Post this bonus plan in the dressing room for everyone to see.”

Mourinho withdrew his gaze, signed his name on a fax paper, and handed it to his assistant, Faria.

This was the bonus plan for the new season, just faxed over from Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich was offering a huge prize.

With the team having already won the Community Shield, if they were to also win the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, and FA Cup, the total bonus for the players would be as high as 15 million pound sterling.

This was an unprecedentedly huge reward in Premier League history.

Even Mourinho felt his blood boil just looking at it.

In addition, Abramovich’s personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia, had personally called him to tell him that they absolutely had to win the first league match, no matter what.

To get off to a winning start!

“This match is not only the Premier League opener, but it will also be broadcast live globally. We must take it seriously!”

“We’ve worked so hard on the US tour to grab headlines; we can’t let it slip in the league!”

Facing a newly promoted team, even away from home, and even against a Bayswater Chinese that had beaten Chelsea twice before, Mourinho was full of confidence.

Chelsea had also granted him all his requests.

For example, signing Michael Essien at a high price.

This gave Mourinho even more confidence and conviction.

The games Ranieri lost had nothing to do with him.

The League Cup final was just a freak accident.

However he lost three months ago, Mourinho was going to win it back now!

And he was going to win so convincingly that no one could argue!

“What has our annoying neighbor been up to lately?”

Thinking of Bayswater Chinese, Mourinho couldn’t help but think of Yang Cheng.

Out of a head coach’s keen intuition, he had always felt that the most dangerous opponent at Bayswater Chinese was Yang Cheng.

A mere 24-year-old Premier League rookie.

For some reason, Yang Cheng gave him a feeling of being seasoned and ruthless.

Just like Ferguson.

“He secretly watched our Community Shield match against Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but before and after that, he’s been behind closed doors, on the training ground,” Faria replied.

Mourinho’s brow furrowed.

“They haven’t made any more signings?”

“No, their last transfer was signing two youngsters from Southampton. I’ve inquired; the two performed well in the youth team. Their main characteristics are solid technique and very high speed.”

Fast?

Mourinho didn’t think much of it.

The Premier League was never short of fast forwards or wingers.

Chelsea’s squad already had three of the fastest wingers in the league: Robben, Duff, and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

“How good is Yaya Touré?”

“Average. He had a trial with Arsenal two years ago and performed terribly. Wenger didn’t even keep him, let alone use the Special Talent Clause for him.”

After a pause, Faria added, “On this point, Wenger is not as generous as Yang Cheng.”

Mourinho couldn’t help but chuckle at this.

How generous was Yang Cheng?

Bayswater Chinese was the first club in English football to use the Special Talent Clause, signing a Croatian midfielder for two hundred thirty thousand pound sterling.

Yang Cheng said he was a genius.

But this genius had yet to produce a single eye-catching performance.

The player named Modrić seemed unremarkable in matches.

He even looked quite frail.

This summer, Yang Cheng used the Special Talent Clause for the second time, spending fifty thousand pound sterling to sign a midfielder from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then insisted that this midfielder was a genius forward.

The whole of England nearly died laughing.

Wasn’t that just absurd?

Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Could that place produce a genius?

More importantly, a genius that sold for only fifty thousand pound sterling?

Although he looked down on Yang Cheng in his heart, Mourinho never underestimated his opponents.

“Drogba has been in great form recently. In the Community Shield, Senderos was completely tormented by him. Keep an eye on this lad, don’t let him lose his momentum. We’ll need him to deliver in the first league match.”

Mourinho still valued Drogba highly.

The centre-forward was not only tactically significant but also an excellent finisher, scoring a brace in the Community Shield.

“Also, console Carvalho. The partnership between Gallas and Terry is getting better and better. He’ll probably have to rest for a while.”

Mourinho continuously reminded Faria of various matters.

This summer, Chelsea had traveled a long way to the United States for commercial reasons.

But their preparations had not slacked.

Mourinho was determined to win the first match of the new season, no matter what.

He had even already pictured the starting lineup for this battle in his mind.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Del Horno, Gallas, Terry, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Makélélé in a holding role, with Lampard and Essien in the center;

Forwards: Robben, Drogba, and Duff.

This was currently the most in-form and strongest starting lineup at Chelsea.

Additionally, his bench included the likes of Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Crespo, and Gudjohnsen.

“This time at Loftus Road Stadium, I’m going to deliver a head-on blow to our arch-rivals who have just struggled their way up from the Championship. I’ll make them feel what the devilish Premier League is all about!”

“It would be best to kick them right back down to the Championship!”

As he finished speaking, a cold, ruthless chill spread across Mourinho’s resolute face.

…

Robben is back!

Terry is back!

Makélélé is back!

From just one Community Shield match, Yang Cheng received one piece of bad news after another.

All three players had been injured during the US tour against AC Milan, but they had recovered quickly upon returning to England.

And judging from the Community Shield match, they were all in excellent form.

Drogba had even scored a brace after playing for only fifty-eight minutes.

The Ivorian beast had knocked the wind out of Arsenal’s sails.

The Gunners only managed to claw back a goal after Drogba was substituted.

Senderos was left with a psychological scar from being bullied by Drogba and was substituted after only seventy-two minutes.

“Frankly, after signing Essien, Mourinho’s Chelsea is practically perfect,” Brian Kidd said, both speechless and helpless.

With money, you could be willful. You could wave your checkbook and sign any player the head coach wanted.

Yang Cheng had to admit this as well.

Apart from being slightly lacking in midfield control and creativity, this Chelsea team was truly perfect.

More importantly, oltre to their super-strong first team, their bench was equally despair-inducing.

“Facing a team like this, I really don’t know how to play,” Brian Kidd sighed helplessly.

He believed this was likely the feeling of every opponent facing Chelsea.

It was like facing an impenetrable fortress with no cracks.

Nowhere to start!

“You’re right, but not entirely.”

Yang Cheng wore a confident smile as he looked at Brian Kidd.

“If we were competing with Chelsea over a whole season, we would undoubtedly lose, and it would be very foolish.”

“But, if it’s just about competing with them in a ninety-minute match, we still have a chance.”

Brian Kidd’s eyes lit up.

After two years of working together, he was in complete awe of Yang Cheng’s ability and tactical understanding.

“How do you want to play?”

“Play fast!”

“Fast?”

“Facing a team like Chelsea, there are only two ways: either use slow to counter fast, or use fast to counter fast.”

There was nothing wrong with either approach; the key was whether the team had the ability to execute it.

The key to using slow to counter fast lay in technique and passing ability.

In the current landscape of European football, there were probably very few teams that could do it, and a zero percent chance of being certain of success.

Frank Rijkaard’s Barça could barely manage it.

Perhaps, if you brought over Pep Guardiola’s Dream Team Three, they could succeed.

Yang Cheng did not think Bayswater Chinese had that level of technical skill and passing foundation.

That left only one option: use fast to counter fast.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the most crucial aspect of this match was still neutralizing Drogba.

Currently, no one in the Bayswater Chinese squad could do it.

What was to be done?

Chapter 81: He must be using magic, right? Mourinho: I’ve been outplayed!

“Good afternoon, football fans.”

“This is Sky Television.”

“We are now broadcasting live the opening match of the 2005/06 Premier League season.”

“The newly promoted team that drew so much attention in the Championship last season, Bayswater Chinese, are hosting last season’s Premier League champions, Chelsea.”

“We can now see the players of both teams, led by head referee Clattenburg, walking onto the pitch.”

“Let’s take a look at the starting lineups for both sides.”

“Both teams have opted for a 4-3-3 formation today.”

“The starting lineup for Bayswater Chinese is…”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Pascal Chimbonda;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Aaron Lennon.

“Several of the players Bayswater Chinese signed this summer are in the starting lineup today.”

“This has raised a great deal of anticipation. We’ll have to see how this team performs in the new season.”

“Chelsea’s starting lineup holds no major surprises.”

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defence: Del Horno, Gallas, Terry, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Makélélé in a holding role, with Lampard and Essien in the center;

Forwards: Robben, Drogba, and Duff.

“It’s worth mentioning that in the past two seasons, the two teams have played each other twice—once in the FA Cup, and once in last season’s League Cup final.”

“In both of those matches, Bayswater Chinese managed an upset, defeating the mighty Chelsea.”

“Last season’s League Cup final in particular, where Bayswater Chinese pulled off a stunning victory to claim the trophy, was a major blow to the Blues’ pride.”

“This makes today’s match all the more compelling.”

“Before the game, many media outlets reported that Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, has offered a hefty bonus for this match, hoping the team can secure a winning start to the new season.”

“We can see that Abramovich is in the stands today, overseeing the match.”

“Sitting next to him is the CEO of Bayswater Chinese, former FA CEO Adam Crozier.”

“In addition, The FA’s Chairman and CEO, as well as the top executives from the Premier League, are all here to watch the match.”

“The captains of both teams, Terry and Modrić, are at the coin toss.”

“Bayswater Chinese didn’t choose to kick off; instead, they chose the side that would be more advantageous in the second half, avoiding the glare of the sun.”

“It is now 12:44 PM, and the match is about to begin!”

…

With a blow of head referee Clattenburg’s whistle, inside the jam-packed stadium, Bayswater Chinese launched a surprise attack right from the start.

As soon as Chelsea kicked off, the home team charged straight into the Blues’ half.

This forced Chelsea’s defender, Terry, to clear the ball forward hastily.

Škrtel got to a favorable position first and headed the ball down.

Possession changed hands.

After winning the ball, Bayswater Chinese immediately launched an attack.

Yaya Touré carried the ball forward a couple of steps before passing it to Modrić.

Modrić evaded a defender and distributed the ball to the right flank.

Aaron Lennon tried to use his pace to break through Del Horno’s defence by force.

The Spanish left-back, new to the league, had no choice but to commit a foul, giving the home team an attacking free-kick on the right wing.

The home team took the free-kick quickly. After the ball was played, Yaya Touré suddenly made an overlapping run from deep and unleashed a powerful shot from outside the top right of the penalty arc.

The ball flew straight towards the right side of the goal.

This free-kick routine, and the long-range shot that followed, were identical to the one from last season’s League Cup final.

But this time, Čech made a diving save to push the ball away.

Already inside the box, both Lambert and Ribéry rushed forward, looking for a follow-up shot.

But Gallas was a step ahead and cleared the ball.

At this point, only one minute of the match had passed.

“The pace of the game has been very fast right from the start.”

“We can see Bayswater Chinese taking the initiative, their attacking blitz has been very decisive.”

The fast-paced, back-and-forth attacking football from both sides had the fans in the stadium on the edge of their seats, their blood pumping.

The game was intense, the rhythm was quick—a real explosion of testosterone!

What Yang Cheng saw from the touchline was different from what the fans saw.

He was more concerned with the midfield battle.

Chelsea was not a team known for their midfield organization and creativity.

They were more adept at launching attacks from the flanks.

From this perspective, they were very much in line with English tradition.

Unfortunately for them, Bayswater Chinese’s two flanks were also very strong, boasting speed, skill, and individual ability.

Their midfield also possessed ball control, organization, and passing ability.

That’s why Yang Cheng chose to play a fast-paced game from the beginning.

Once the tempo was raised, their high press in the attacking third could effectively cut off Chelsea’s passing lanes.

In the third minute, it was Lassana Diarra who won the ball in midfield. He quickly passed it to Modrić, who then found Ribéry.

After two passes, Ribéry received the ball in the left channel, controlled it inwards, just managing to evade Ferreira. After cutting inside, he suddenly fired a right-footed shot aimed at the far corner.

But the unexpected long shot grazed the outside of the right post and went wide.

The entire stadium first gasped in unison, then erupted into thunderous applause.

From his first touch to cutting inside and shooting, Ribéry’s technique and individual skill were on full display.

However, the downside of employing a high press was also obvious.

In the sixth minute, Chelsea also won the ball in midfield and quickly launched a counter-attack.

Drogba won an aerial duel in the attacking third on the right, heading the ball out wide.

Duff received the ball in the half-space before passing it to the right.

Ferreira made a high-speed overlapping run and sent a diagonal cross towards the left side of the six-yard box.

Robben darted diagonally forward like an arrow.

Chimbonda, however, stuck to him like glue.

Under pressure from Chimbonda, the Dutchman couldn’t reach Ferreira’s pass, watching helplessly as the ball went out over the byline.

After missing the scoring opportunity, Robben, on his way back, didn’t forget to complain to Clattenburg that Chimbonda had fouled him while chasing him down.

But Clattenburg simply smiled and waved his hand.

Just two minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched another quick attack.

After a series of passes, Lambert received the ball with his back to goal just outside the penalty area, using his body to shield it from Terry before laying it off.

Yaya Touré, making another late run from deep, appeared at the edge of the penalty arc again, meeting Lambert’s lay-off with a thunderous strike.

Čech made another sideways dive.

This time, the Czech goalkeeper held the ball firmly in his grasp.

…

“That lad is very active!”

Mourinho’s face was grim; he was not pleased with the start of the match.

Eight minutes had passed, and Chelsea hadn’t even managed a single shot.

On the other hand, Yaya Touré had already taken two shots.

And both were long-range efforts from late runs.

“What on earth is he doing? Is that kid supposed to be a holding defensive midfielder?” Faria was also bewildered.

Judging by his physique, Yaya Touré was clearly meant to replace Huddlestone.

Both were tall and powerfully built.

But on the pitch, their technical attributes were completely different.

Yang Cheng had given Yaya Touré much more freedom to push forward.

Wasn’t that incredibly risky?

Shouldn’t a holding midfielder, whose job was to protect the defensive line at all times, not be constantly surging forward? What if the opponent won the ball and launched a counter-attack?

“It’s simple. Yaya Touré will counter-press on the spot. When he pushes forward, at least one of Lassana Diarra or Modrić will drop back to cover.”

Mourinho had already figured it out.

“He never gave Huddlestone that kind of tactical freedom before,” Faria said, still confused.

Mourinho’s brow furrowed.

He felt the only logical explanation was that, in Yang Cheng’s mind, Yaya Touré was stronger and more attack-minded than Huddlestone.

Mourinho couldn’t be certain just yet.

And while he was observing and pondering, on the pitch, Bayswater Chinese created two more very dangerous chances in the space of just five minutes.

First, Ribéry shot from distance after getting past Ferreira on the left, but his shot was blocked by Gallas.

The French centre-back’s excellent performance had seen him win the starting spot over Carvalho.

Then, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in the attacking third. Lambert passed to the right, and Aaron Lennon used his sheer pace to shake off Del Horno and deliver a cross in front of the goal.

But Lambert in the center hadn’t made his run in time, and Ribéry on the left was a step too slow.

The French winger’s explosive burst of acceleration was indeed impressive, but over longer distances like this, he really didn’t have an advantage.

Mourinho walked to the edge of the technical area, shouted for Robben, and made a series of hand gestures.

Chelsea made an adjustment.

…

Robben suddenly appeared on the right flank. After receiving the ball, he passed it horizontally to find Drogba.

Drogba used his body to shield the ball from Škrtel, turned, and shot.

It was high.

But just two minutes later, it was Robben again, breaking through on the right, who unleashed a 28-meter left-footed long shot.

Neuer confidently saved the ball.

In the 19th minute, another breakthrough from Robben on the right. He shook off Leighton Baines and drove into the right side of the penalty area before taking a low shot.

Neuer had the angle completely covered, and Robben’s shot hit the side netting.

In the 21st minute, it was Robben on the right again. A sudden stop and chop to cut inside left Leighton Baines behind. From the edge of the area, he curled a left-footed shot towards the far corner of the goal.

But it went just over the bar.

This made Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the Robben of today hadn’t yet perfected his art of cutting in from the right.

Otherwise, that would have been a really dangerous goal.

Just two minutes later, Del Horno also pushed forward to join the attack, sending a diagonal pass to find Drogba in the box.

But the Ivorian was double-teamed by Škrtel and José Fonte and couldn’t get a clean header on it.

The two teams went back and forth, engaging in a spectacular end-to-end battle.

And the pace of the game was incredibly fast.

Like a sudden storm, the rapid attacks left both the fans in the stadium and the viewers at home breathless and thoroughly entertained.

Even time itself seemed to fly by.

“Both teams are playing very proactively.”

“The first fifteen minutes belonged to Bayswater Chinese.”

“But from the fifteenth to the twenty-fourth minute, these ten minutes have belonged to Chelsea.”

“Especially Robben.”

“The Dutchman seems determined to put on his best performance in this match.”

“Perhaps seeing Franck Ribéry’s excellent display on the other side has sparked his competitive spirit.”

“On the football pitch, superstars often motivate each other like this.”

…

Yang Cheng stood on the touchline the whole time, observing quietly.

He would occasionally give instructions and make adjustments.

For example, just now, the moment he saw Robben switch to the right, he immediately had Modrić on the left drop back a little.

Modrić and Leighton Baines together still couldn’t stop Robben.

The biggest difference between the Dutchman and Duff was that Robben’s technique was superb, and his sense of rhythm was very strong.

His sudden stops and changes of direction, in particular, were almost impossible to defend against.

His close-control dribbling was also remarkably steady.

Mourinho moved him to that side because he knew Modrić’s defending wasn’t as good as Lassana Diarra’s.

The biggest difference between Duff and Robben was that when Robben was on the left, he could take on Bayswater Chinese’s entire right flank by himself.

On the right, he could take on the opponent’s left flank by himself.

And Duff?

He needed Del Horno to push forward in support.

Yang Cheng knew Del Horno all too well.

The Spanish left-back who had rejected Real Madrid to join Chelsea this summer had made an impressive start in the Premier League, putting in a brilliant performance against Arsenal in the Community Shield.

But that was mainly his attacking ability.

His defending was not reassuring, and he couldn’t adapt to the fast-paced offense and defence of the Premier League.

That was why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he had only stayed at Chelsea for one season before returning to Spain.

Ferreira was balanced in attack and defence, but not outstanding in either, whereas Del Horno was strong in attack and weak in defence.

The reason Yang Cheng had held off on moving Lassana Diarra over to deal with Robben was that he wanted to seize an opportunity to exploit Del Horno’s side.

However, the risk was also significant.

He had been constantly worrying: how much longer could Leighton Baines and Modrić hold out on that flank?

When the 23rd minute arrived, and he saw that Robben’s attacks from that side had failed to create any real threat, and Del Horno started to push forward, Yang Cheng knew his opportunity had come!

“I hope that kid Lassana Diarra doesn’t disappoint me!”

Yang Cheng muttered to himself.

…

Lassana Diarra never considered himself a troublemaker.

But for a long time, trouble always seemed to find him.

He liked to tell the truth, especially when it came to keeping promises.

That was how his parents had raised him since he was a child.

But when he left home and entered the world of professional football, he discovered that not everyone was like that.

On the contrary, they were always deceiving.

They would tell you: “Our team really needs you.”

In reality, come match day, you wouldn’t even make it into the squad.

You could only sit in the stands, watching your teammates play.

They would also tell you: “Just wait a little longer, I’ll arrange more playing time for you soon.”

You believed them, and then you waited, and waited, and waited…

One day, Lassana Diarra heard a saying from his teammates.

“A coach’s mouth tells nothing but lies!”

All their promises were like painting a pretty picture, just to keep you content as a backup player!

After arriving in London and joining Bayswater Chinese, Lassana Diarra had also been filled with many doubts and worries.

Yang Cheng had made him promises, but he was still uneasy.

That’s why, last season, after every single match, he would go to Yang Cheng to collect his money.

Through one match after another, getting paid time and time again, Lassana Diarra, without even realizing it, built up trust in Yang Cheng and in Bayswater Chinese.

But even so, he still told the truth.

He told Yang Cheng, “I joined the Premier League because I want all the fans to know who I am.”

“If one day in the future, a bigger, more prestigious club wants to sign me, I will make my own choice.”

Yang Cheng’s reaction was different from any other head coach.

He didn’t demand so-called loyalty or commitment from Lassana Diarra. On the contrary, he endorsed Diarra’s professional outlook and even encouraged him.

“I think that’s great. In that case, you need to deliver even better, perhaps even your best, performances.”

On the eve of the match against Chelsea, after the team’s tactical meeting, Yang Cheng sought out Lassana Diarra.

They talked for quite a while, but one sentence in particular left a deep impression on Diarra.

“Haven’t you always wanted all the fans to know you?”

“This game against Chelsea, broadcast live around the world, is your best chance!”

“Also, last season’s bet is still on, don’t forget!”

After renewing his contract with a pay raise, Lassana Diarra didn’t really care about the one hundred pounds anymore.

But he still gritted his teeth inwardly: he would give it his all!

To make the whole world know his name!

And for that one hundred pounds!

…

The match reached the 24th minute.

When Lampard received the ball in midfield and faced Lassana Diarra, the French midfielder’s eyes were filled with determination.

He wants to dribble past me!

Lassana Diarra could read the thought in Lampard’s eyes.

The English midfielder dipped his left shoulder slightly, looking as if he was going to go outside, but in reality, he used the outside of his right foot to push the ball inside.

A feint!

Lassana Diarra wasn’t fooled by the first move. Being short and agile gave him enough confidence that even if he was a step behind, he could close the gap.

And when Lampard pushed the ball inside, Diarra decisively moved in.

The French midfielder was very agile. He turned sideways, and before Lampard could turn, he drove his right shoulder forward, right into Lampard’s chest, preventing the Chelsea midfielder from turning.

Unable to turn, he lost control of the ball.

Lassana Diarra had absolute confidence and certainty in his ability to win the ball.

As expected, his right shoulder made contact with Lampard’s chest.

It was an even contest.

But Lampard couldn’t turn.

Diarra seamlessly took a step forward and stole the ball.

This brilliant tackle made the entire stadium erupt in cheers.

“A very clean and decisive tackle.”

“From Lassana Diarra.”

After winning the ball, Lassana Diarra continued to dribble forward.

Lampard, having lost the ball, immediately turned and began to chase.

The two of them, one in front of the other, sprinted towards the right side of the center circle.

Makélélé, positioned at the bottom of the center circle in his own half, saw Diarra win the ball and immediately ran diagonally towards the right of the circle.

Del Horno, positioned on the right side of the half-way line, also tucked in towards the half-space.

Losing the ball so high up the pitch made them vulnerable to a counter-attack.

The Chelsea players were very cautious.

As Lassana Diarra dribbled, he was scanning the situation around him, which allowed Lampard to catch up to him just before the halfway line.

Behind him, Chimbonda was making an overlapping run, but Duff was tracking him.

Ahead was Makélélé, and to his front right was Del Horno.

It looked like all passing lanes were closed.

Pass to Yaya Touré?

He was in an open space, with no defenders around him.

But Essien was closing in.

Lassana Diarra’s mind rapidly assessed the situation.

He knew he couldn’t dribble any further.

If he got trapped, it would be very dangerous.

Losing the ball would cost him a damn two hundred pounds.

At this thought, just as Lampard caught up to him, Lassana Diarra came to a sudden halt and pushed the ball horizontally with his left foot.

This abrupt change of pace caught the Chelsea players by surprise.

After taking just one step sideways, Lassana Diarra decisively played a through ball.

The ball went right between Makélélé and Del Horno, finding Aaron Lennon in the right half-space.

This season, Aaron Lennon had started to drift into the half-space more actively instead of just hugging the touchline.

He received Lassana Diarra’s pass just behind Makélélé.

This sent a wave of panic through the Chelsea defence.

Makélélé immediately turned to chase back, and Del Horno quickly closed down on Aaron Lennon.

Gallas, from behind, couldn’t help but push forward.

Everyone knew that with Aaron Lennon’s speed, once he got going, the only way to stop him was to foul him.

Mourinho had stressed before the match not to give the opposition any free-kick opportunities near the 30-meter area.

When Aaron Lennon received the ball, he deliberately took a touch forward, drawing Del Horno further inside.

Just as the Spaniard got close, he played a square pass into the space behind Del Horno.

The Spanish defender turned his head in panic, only to see a red figure sprinting forward.

Chimbonda was sprinting at top speed down the right wing, getting behind Del Horno to latch onto Aaron Lennon’s pass. He pushed the ball forcefully ahead of him and chased after it with long strides.

In front of him was nothing but empty space!

In an instant, Chimbonda had dribbled to the right corner of Chelsea’s penalty area.

He had left Gallas in his wake.

Lambert ran horizontally along the edge of the box to offer a passing option.

This immediately drew Terry towards him.

But Chimbonda didn’t pass. Instead, he poked the ball towards the byline, accelerated again to catch up, and hit a low cross across the face of goal.

Čech was taken by surprise and quickly shifted towards the left side of his goal.

But just at that moment, Ribéry appeared like a ghost on the left side of the six-yard box. He got ahead of Ferreira, and meeting Chimbonda’s cross, he used the inside of his right foot to guide the ball into the far corner.

The unfortunate Čech had just moved to the middle of the goal, his center of gravity not yet adjusted. He couldn’t react at all to Ribéry’s shot.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 25th minute, Bayswater Chinese have broken the deadlock against Chelsea!”

“A goal from Franck Ribéry!!”

The entire Loftus Road Stadium erupted with an unprecedented wave of passion in an instant.

After scoring, Ribéry almost slipped and fell, but he quickly pushed himself up and ran off the pitch.

All the Bayswater Chinese players chased after him.

“My goodness, what a clinical counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“The seamless coordination between the players gave Chelsea’s defence no time to react.”

“It happened so fast!”

“Lassana Diarra’s tackle was superb, and Chimbonda’s rapid overlapping run on the right was particularly impressive.”

“And the right-back has defended well today too.”

“He was signed this summer for five hundred thousand pounds from the relegated Ligue 1 team, Bastia.”

While the players celebrated in a huddle on the sideline, Yang Cheng, in front of the home team’s dugout, was already jumping for joy, hugging his coaching staff in celebration of the team’s goal.

At the crucial moment, these players had not let him down!

Before the pre-season training, Piszczek was still ahead of Chimbonda in Yang Cheng’s selection for the right-back position.

But during the summer training camp, the young Piszczek’s performance couldn’t match that of the 26-year-old Chimbonda.

The latter was more mature, stronger, and also more consistent.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng found it hard to convince himself, let alone everyone else, to start Piszczek.

Chimbonda, on the other hand, had a performance that everyone could see.

“Just now, I was silently praying for Lassana Diarra not to dwell on the ball,” Brian Kidd said with a laugh.

Everyone else smiled.

Yang Cheng nodded with a grin, “The kid has improved a lot.”

Who could argue with that?

In his year with Bayswater Chinese, he had gained so much match experience; it would have been strange if he hadn’t improved significantly.

Yang Cheng broke free from his assistants and, as the players were walking back onto the pitch, he ran to the touchline and shouted.

“Keep attacking!”

“Don’t let up!”

“Try to score another one!”

Yang Cheng’s undisguised shouts made Mourinho’s face, in front of the away team’s dugout, turn very ugly.

He knew full well that he had been outplayed.

Even as an opponent, Mourinho had to admit that from winning the ball to scoring, the speed of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was simply too fast.

The passing and movement between the players were also incredibly well-coordinated.

Chelsea’s impenetrable defence had been pierced in that single moment of transition from attack to defence.

At this thought, the Portuguese Special One gritted his teeth, walked to the touchline, and signaled for his team to push forward as well.

So what if it’s an all-out attack?

Who’s afraid of who?

…

If the pace of the game in the first 25 minutes was fast, but both sides were still mindful of defence, holding back a little in attack.

Then, after the goal, the game completely opened up.

The tempo was pushed to the maximum.

First, Ribéry forced a breakthrough against Ferreira on the left, earning a corner kick from the byline.

The corner caused chaos in the Chelsea box. At a crucial moment, Aaron Lennon got a chance at an open goal, but he was unprepared and mishit the ball.

Chelsea immediately hit back.

Their two full-backs, in particular, began to push forward actively, launching wave after wave of attacks, repeatedly sending the ball into the box for Drogba to head.

Yang Cheng knew very well that none of Škrtel, José Fonte, or Koscielny could stop Drogba single-handedly.

So he demanded that Škrtel and José Fonte must work together.

But even so, in the 38th minute, Chelsea seized an opportunity and launched their most dangerous attack of the first half.

Del Horno’s diagonal cross from the left was met by Drogba with a looping header.

At the critical moment, Neuer managed to tip the ball over the bar with one hand.

But from the subsequent corner kick, Robben delivered the cross, and Drogba headed it from close range, the ball skimming past the left post and out for a goal kick.

Those two consecutive shots sent a cold sweat down the spines of everyone at Bayswater Chinese.

Bayswater Chinese also quickly responded with an attack of their own.

During a swift counter-attack, Aaron Lennon received a brilliant pass from Lambert, broke into the right side of the box, and took a low shot from 10 meters out.

The shot was saved by Čech.

This was also the final shot of the first half.

But what truly surprised Yang Cheng was that Mourinho seemed to have gone berserk during the halftime break.

The frantic Portuguese manager made two substitutions at once during halftime.

He brought on Joe Cole for Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Duff.

After these changes, Chelsea was no longer playing a 4-3-3, but something more like a 4-2-3-1.

Drogba was up top, with Robben, Joe Cole, and Shaun Wright-Phillips behind him, and the double pivot was Lampard and Makélélé.

This completely caught Yang Cheng by surprise.

It also put Bayswater Chinese on the back foot right at the start of the second half.

…

Mourinho repeatedly walked to the touchline, shouting at his players, directing the game.

Only 10 minutes had been played in the second half, but everyone could feel the atmosphere of the match.

It was so intense!

No one had expected that Bayswater Chinese, playing their first-ever Premier League match in the club’s history, would perform so valiantly, especially in the season’s opening game.

Throughout the first half, they had played better than Chelsea and created more chances than the Blues.

This made Mourinho very uneasy.

In last season’s League Cup final, he had lost to a counter-attack.

But today, Yang Cheng had uncharacteristically taken the initiative to attack, putting Chelsea in a very difficult position.

Despite having only faced him twice, Yang Cheng made him feel even more tense than when he faced Ferguson or Wenger.

Sometimes, he even felt as if Chelsea had no secrets in front of Yang Cheng.

Every minute advantage and weakness seemed to be laid bare for Yang Cheng to see.

It was a very bad feeling.

In the 56th minute, Shaun Wright-Phillips broke through on the right, and under pressure from Leighton Baines, managed to get a cross in, but the delivery wasn’t ideal.

Joe Cole made a late run and hit a powerful shot, but it went high over the bar.

Mourinho watched and shook his head.

Damn it, Drogba was being neutralized tonight.

Škrtel was primarily responsible for marking Drogba tonight, which had curbed the Ivorian’s performance.

José Fonte was providing assistance from the side.

For all Premier League defenders, Drogba was like a nightmare.

Not just because of his terrifying physical strength, but also his movement.

His incredible stamina allowed him to wear down any defender who marked him.

Just like Škrtel.

How exhausting must it be for the big, strong centre-back to be dragged around by Drogba?

But not following him was not an option.

Letting Drogba receive the ball and face goal directly was suicide.

That was what made Drogba so terrifying.

If they hadn’t conceded that goal in the first half, Mourinho could have afforded to be patient.

But now, he couldn’t wait any longer.

Because he wasn’t sure if Drogba could come through for him tonight.

With this thought, Mourinho turned and walked towards the substitutes’ bench.

…

“He’s going to make a change.”

At Brian Kidd’s reminder, Yang Cheng looked towards the away team’s dugout.

Mourinho was pulling Gudjohnsen aside, giving him instructions.

The Icelandic striker was clearly preparing to come on.

“He’s going for two strikers. Who will he take off?” Brian Kidd speculated.

Yang Cheng mentally reviewed the Chelsea players currently on the pitch.

Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips had just come on, so not them.

Makélélé and Lampard were too important, also unlikely.

A full-back?

Bayswater Chinese’s two wingers were pinning down Chelsea’s flanks. If Mourinho were to substitute a full-back, he’d be asking for trouble.

As for taking off Drogba, that was unrealistic.

That left only one possible answer.

“Robben!” Yang Cheng said with conviction.

“Robben?” Brian Kidd was surprised.

He was Chelsea’s most dangerous winger.

“Robben’s threat has diminished in the second half, and he’s been marked very tightly by Chimbonda in this match.”

Brian Kidd immediately understood.

“Using all three substitutions by the 60th minute, Mourinho is getting anxious.”

But Yang Cheng didn’t dare to be complacent.

While Chelsea was making the substitution, he quickly walked to the touchline and called Modrić over.

“Tell Yaya Touré, when we’re defending, he needs to protect the backline. Drop deeper if necessary.”

“Also, tell Lassana Diarra to keep an eye on Joe Cole.”

“With Robben off, Chimbonda needs to tuck inside a bit, stay closer to Škrtel.”

“Up front, have Lambert drop back, and let Ribéry and Aaron Lennon push forward.”

Yang Cheng’s intention was clear. He wasn’t going to increase the number of defenders. The midfield and attack would no longer press as high as they did in the first half.

The midfield, in particular, needed to focus more of its energy on protecting the defence.

As Modrić ran back onto the field, Chelsea completed their substitution.

Gudjohnsen came on for Robben!

This made Brian Kidd look at Yang Cheng with a sense of admiration.

It had to be said, when it came to guessing the opponent’s psychology and touchline management, Yang Cheng was truly ruthless.

Chimbonda was 1.81 meters tall with excellent physical attributes. It was said that when he played in France, he had even filled in as a centre-back.

Is he really only 25?

…

The two head coaches engaged in a tactical battle on the sidelines.

The game on the pitch entered a stalemate, like a turn-based series of attacks.

First, the newly substituted Gudjohnsen seized an opportunity and took a long shot from over 20 meters out.

Then came a quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese. While Lambert and Makélélé were competing for the ball in the 30-meter area, the French holding midfielder committed a foul, giving the home team an attacking free-kick.

Having learned their lesson from last season’s League Cup final, Chelsea reinforced their free-kick defence.

This time, it didn’t lead to a threat.

In the 67th minute, it was Joe Cole again, dribbling through the half-space and taking a long shot, which was easily collected by Neuer.

Just two minutes later, Ribéry shot from almost the same position, but his effort went high.

The most dangerous attack of the entire second half occurred in the 71st minute.

Lampard played a pass, and Drogba provided a flick-on.

When Chimbonda was clearing the ball, instead of booting it clear immediately, he tried to pass to a teammate. The ball was intercepted by Gudjohnsen, who shot again.

Neuer made a diving save, smothering the ball under his body, completing another brilliant stop.

The entire Loftus Road Stadium gave Neuer a thunderous round of applause and cheers.

As the German goalkeeper got up, he waved his hands repeatedly, signaling for his teammates to push upfield.

The Chelsea players showed no signs of retreating, continuing to press high outside the penalty area.

When Neuer threw the ball to Leighton Baines, the English left-back was immediately pressed by Shaun Wright-Phillips and forced to pass back to centre-back José Fonte.

Drogba immediately pressed him, forcing the Portuguese defender to pass back to Neuer.

“Chelsea are pressing Bayswater Chinese very aggressively now.”

“We’re already at the 72nd minute.”

“The Blues have used all three of their substitutions, so it’s indeed time for them to press on and try to get an equalizer.”

Neuer threw the ball to Chimbonda.

But he, too, was pressed by Joe Cole.

He managed to pass the ball forward to Aaron Lennon, only for it to be passed back again.

Del Horno even pushed all the way forward, trying to team up with Joe Cole to trap Chimbonda on the right flank and cut off his passing lanes.

In the end, it was Neuer who quickly rushed out of his six-yard box to support Chimbonda.

Joe Cole, however, spotted his chance. He left Chimbonda to Del Horno and sprinted into the penalty area, charging straight at Neuer.

The German goalkeeper had just controlled the ball when he immediately took a touch to his left, narrowly evading Joe Cole, before chasing after the ball and playing a direct pass forward.

Yaya Touré had dropped into space to receive the ball.

This heart-stopping moment made the entire stadium suck in a collective breath.

“Chelsea’s press is incredibly intense.”

“And for the Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper to be playing with the ball at his feet inside his own penalty area is just nerve-wracking.”

Yaya Touré controlled the ball, turned, glanced at the situation around him, and suddenly pushed the ball forward.

He chose to run with it himself!

Lampard immediately charged towards the Ivorian midfielder, looking to get close and win the ball.

Yaya Touré was tall and powerfully built, with long arms and legs. He simply used an arm to hold off Lampard, shielded the ball with his body, and continued to dribble skillfully.

A stop, a pause, and then he drove forward.

Lampard was stuck behind Yaya Touré, unable to even get around him to tackle.

It felt like wrestling with a black bear.

After breaking through Lampard’s defence, as Makélélé came forward to intercept, Yaya Touré suddenly stopped, feinted to change direction, but instead quickly passed the ball with his right foot.

A through ball, played to Lambert’s feet.

Lambert, who had dropped back, had John Terry on his back and couldn’t turn, but he immediately laid the ball off to Modrić.

Modrić, noticing Makélélé closing in, played a first-time pass to his left front.

Ribéry, with his back to goal, ran back towards the ball to receive it.

Ferreira stuck to Ribéry like glue, preventing the French winger from turning.

But Ribéry stuck out his tongue, deliberately controlling the ball a step in front of him before chasing after it.

Ferreira, suspecting nothing, of course, stayed tight.

After catching up to the ball, Ribéry suddenly paused, used the inside of his right foot to pull the ball towards his left heel, and then turned to his left.

As soon as his right foot was planted, the outside of his left foot was perfectly positioned to knock the ball towards the byline, behind Ferreira.

Ferreira was completely focused, his entire attention on Ribéry.

But he never expected the French winger to pull off a move like that.

When Ribéry suddenly turned, he was stunned for a moment.

Then, he was shocked.

Where’s the ball?

By the time Ribéry exploded forward, using his burst of acceleration to break away, Ferreira had turned and seen the ball behind him.

At that point, turning around to give chase was far too late.

Fortunately, behind Ferreira, Gallas was quickly closing in.

But Ribéry already had a head of steam. After reaching the ball, he pushed it towards the byline again.

Gallas chased him from inside the right edge of the penalty area, but he was still half a step too slow, powerless to stop Ribéry from crossing.

At this moment, inside Chelsea’s vast penalty area, apart from Čech on the goal line, there was no one else.

Ribéry’s cross fell near the right corner of the six-yard box.

Čech was turning quickly.

But a fiery red figure, like a flash of lightning, arrived at lightning speed, met Ribéry’s cross, and hit a powerful right-footed shot.

The ball, with lightning speed, flew into Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“AARON LENNON!!”

“BAYSWATER CHINESE SCORE ANOTHER GOAL!!”

“2-0!”

“Lennon scores again for Bayswater Chinese!”

The excited young English player冲冲冲冲地冲出了球场，一路狂奔冲向了场边。

The entire stadium erupted in an instant.

Over eighteen thousand fans were screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs.

“Bayswater Chinese have been absolutely brilliant!”

“It’s hard to believe this is their first-ever Premier League match in the club’s history!”

“And they’re facing the defending champions, Chelsea!”

“The young players of Bayswater Chinese, in their home stadium, have shown tenacious fighting spirit and have delivered an outstanding performance.”

“They have not been second-best at any point in the match; in fact, in terms of their ability to create chances, they have been better than Chelsea.”

“Mourinho’s team has suffered a severe blow in the first round of the new season, a bad start!”

On the sideline, Yang Cheng could no longer contain his excitement. He jumped into the air, cheering and shouting non-stop.

At the same time, he turned to the stands and waved his arms wildly at the fans.

He wanted the cheers from the home crowd to be even louder!

His players deserved more cheers and applause!

The Bayswater Chinese players were also ecstatic, celebrating wildly on the edge of the pitch.

The big screen first showed a close-up of Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, in the stands.

He was still trying to suppress his anger.

On the sideline, Mourinho was roaring incessantly, clearly very dissatisfied with the result.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

The key to the second goal was Yaya Touré’s sudden forward surge.

That move gave Bayswater Chinese the advantage in the attacking third.

Neither Lampard nor Makélélé could stop Yaya Touré.

That was the Ivorian’s tactical value!

Of course, Ribéry’s move to get past Ferreira was absolutely beautiful!

Yang Cheng hadn’t even seen clearly how he did it; he could only watch the slow-motion replay on the big screen.

It was truly breathtaking!

“Well, Brian?”

Yang Cheng smiled and turned to look at Brian Kidd.

“Now you believe that we’re here to shake things up this season, don’t you?”

Brian Kidd nodded heavily, his eyes, as he looked at Yang Cheng, filled with suspicion.

He must be using magic, right?

Chapter 82: They’ve Really Made It! This Frenchman Is Too Strong!

For the vast majority of the game, Škrtel’s man-marking of Drogba was very successful.

The evenly matched, head-on collision between the two left Drogba feeling frustrated, unable to unleash his power.

With José Fonte providing support, Drogba was almost completely neutralized.

But the most terrifying thing about the Ivorian beast was that you couldn’t afford a single moment of carelessness against him.

In stoppage time, Drogba received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, turned, and unleashed a violent shot that pierced Neuer’s goal.

1-2!

The defending champions saved face at the last moment!

But it no longer mattered to the overall outcome of the match.

The victor had been decided!

Yang Cheng couldn’t bring himself to blame Škrtel.

The moment the final whistle blew, Škrtel collapsed onto the pitch.

He had battled Drogba fiercely for ninety minutes.

The way Drogba wore down defenders was truly terrifying.

Even more so than his scoring ability or his tactical importance.

Although they conceded a goal at the very end, Bayswater Chinese’s defense had been very successful throughout the match.

Škrtel and José Fonte had virtually neutralized Drogba.

The additions of Leighton Baines and Pascal Chimbonda also injected vitality and stability into the flanks.

Especially Chimbonda.

Aside from that one misplaced pass, Chimbonda displayed a very high level of performance for the entire game.

At the final whistle, the home fans gave the Bayswater Chinese players high praise.

When captain Modrić and José Fonte led the team on a lap of honor to thank all the attending fans, more than eighteen thousand supporters rose from their seats, giving the team their most enthusiastic applause and cheers.

Yang Cheng stood at the mouth of the players’ tunnel, waiting for the players to come over, hugging each one before sending them into the dressing room.

…

“We were brilliant!”

“Watching this match got my blood boiling!”

“Wooooow!!”

In the players’ tunnel, a very excited Adam Crozier embraced Yang Cheng.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first-ever Premier League match, and it was against the defending champions, Chelsea.

One could imagine the immense pressure on the team for such a victory.

At the critical moment, Yang Cheng and his team had held firm!

Xia Qing had clearly not yet come down from the high of the match, and her eyes held a hint of curiosity as she looked at Yang Cheng.

The more she interacted with him, the more she discovered that her junior was like an enigma.

He could always create unexpected surprises!

“Yang, you should have seen the look on Roman Abramovich’s face. I think he was about to go crazy.”

Adam Crozier was particularly hyped.

Many people in England couldn’t stand Abramovich.

“You know what? I really wanted to say to him, ‘So what if you’re rich? You still lost, didn’t you?’”

Yang Cheng could imagine Abramovich’s expression.

The Russian was no pushover.

On the contrary, successful men like him possessed a desire for victory and power that ordinary people couldn’t begin to comprehend.

It was almost greed.

“Let me tell you, Yang, you didn’t notice the atmosphere in the stands. It was electric!”

“If we can maintain this style of play, our home games will be packed!”

“I’m already starting to worry. We’ve sold so many season tickets, what about the fans who couldn’t get one?”

“Ahem, we set our ticket prices too low.”

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing exchanged a helpless glance.

He was already worrying about this after just one game?

“I’m telling you, Yang, I’ve got a brilliant idea.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“We should start promoting on the internet. We can edit clips of these exciting match moments and post behind-the-scenes footage and fun stories about our team’s daily training.”

“I think it could attract more younger fans.”

Yang Cheng thought it was a good idea.

The internet was only just taking off, and many clubs still didn’t pay it much attention.

But in the future, it would be a crucial promotional platform.

Not to mention the yet-to-be-invented Facebook and YouTube.

“Also, we should find someone to write a team anthem and produce a promotional video about the club’s football culture.”

Oh, right. Bayswater Chinese didn’t even have a team anthem yet.

“Think about it, no anthem means no stadium-wide singalong. It means no soul!”

Adam Crozier was clearly still in a state of euphoria, extremely excited.

The team they had defeated today was the defending champion, the “invincible” Chelsea!

Of course, Yang Cheng supported the idea.

It was a good thing.

And as he listened to Adam Crozier, a brilliant idea immediately surfaced in his mind.

He remembered a song he had heard countless times in his previous life, and a music video he had watched over and over.

If he adapted the core theme of that song and MV to football, it would be a seamless fit.

With that thought, Yang Cheng immediately gave his approval, supporting Adam Crozier’s proposal while also putting forward his own idea.

A team anthem, and a promotional video for Bayswater Chinese’s football culture.

Was plagiarism shameful?

That depended on who you were plagiarizing.

He was copying the top-tier marketing of a world-leading enterprise from a decade in the future!

…

A Salute to Bayswater Chinese!

This was the headline of a commentary piece published by The Guardian immediately after the Premier League season opener.

In the article, The Guardian gave the new season’s first match extremely high praise, calling it one of the most exciting season openers in Premier League history.

“Premier League champions versus Championship winners.”

“On the surface, it seemed like a foregone conclusion.”

“What’s more, the Premier League champions possessed unlimited funds, allowing them to buy any player they desired.”

“In contrast, the Championship winners were burdened with a heavy debt of over twenty million pounds and were forced to sell two key players this summer.”

“With one side’s fortunes waxing while the other’s waned, no one believed the newly promoted team from the Championship stood a chance.”

“But the charm of football lies in its unpredictability.”

“Who could have imagined that the resilient newly promoted team would make the world see them in a whole new light?”

The Guardian conducted a very in-depth analysis of the match.

From the technical and tactical aspects, to the players, the lineup, and the touchline management…

In the end, The Guardian came to a conclusion.

Bayswater Chinese had played the hand they were dealt to absolute perfection.

“The 25-year-old head coach—er, no, he hasn’t received his coaching license yet, so we’ll have to put ‘head coach’ in quotation marks—but his formation and touchline management during this match were in no way inferior to Mourinho’s.”

“It’s quite astonishing.”

“He’s like a genius!”

The Guardian believed that the best player on the pitch was the Man of the Match, Franck Ribéry.

Players like Lassana Diarra, Yaya Touré, Pascal Chimbonda, Aaron Lennon, and Škrtel also performed exceptionally well, helping the home team defeat the mighty Chelsea 2-1.

“They didn’t just beat Chelsea on the scoreboard; for the entire match, especially in the first half, they made the defending champions look utterly disheveled.”

“Mourinho made two substitutions at halftime, but the game didn’t change. He used up all his substitutions by the 60th minute, yet he still couldn’t find a way to break down Bayswater Chinese.”

“In the end, at the critical moment, Drogba stepped up to save Chelsea’s face.”

Although he had only been in the Premier League for one season, Mourinho had offended countless members of the British media.

The Guardian seized the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

“Bayswater Chinese’s brilliant performance pushed Mourinho to his limit. He was constantly directing from the touchline, tense and anxious, but still unable to turn the tide.”

“We believe that the look of relief on the Portuguese’s face at the final whistle must have been him thinking, ‘Thank God this damned match is finally over.’”

Finally, The Guardian concluded that the first round of the Premier League couldn’t definitively prove anything.

After all, it was just one match.

“But the performance of Bayswater Chinese, and the brilliant flashes from several of their players, have left an incredibly deep impression on us.”

“We have every reason to look forward to what this young team, with an average age of under 21, will bring to the Premier League this season—more surprises, more upsets.”

“Especially with their positive, attacking style of football.”

“Let us congratulate Bayswater Chinese. We salute them!”

…

Besides The Guardian, other British media outlets also reported extensively on the match.

The Sun, for instance, stirred the pot by claiming that, as left wingers, Ribéry was better than Robben.

The reason? Ferreira couldn’t stop Ribéry, while Robben was contained by Chimbonda.

“Pascal Chimbonda, with a transfer fee of only 500,000 pounds, completely neutralized Chelsea’s left-wing king!”

Even more amusingly, Škrtel, who cost only 200,000 pounds, had come very close to neutralizing Drogba.

If not for that final shot, Drogba had struggled to find a way past Škrtel for the entire match.

Leighton Baines for 2 million pounds, José Fonte on a free transfer, Škrtel for 200,000 pounds, and Pascal Chimbonda for 500,000 pounds.

The total cost of Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line was only 2.7 million pounds.

And Chelsea’s attack?

Drogba for 24 million pounds, Robben for 12 million, Duff for 17 million, and Shaun Wright-Phillips for 21 million…

Chelsea’s attacking line was worth over 100 million pounds combined.

In the end, they had to wait until the final moments of the game for Drogba to luckily score a single goal.

For the vast majority of the match, the Blues were completely helpless against Bayswater Chinese.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese’s attacking lineup—Ribéry on a free transfer, Lambert for 150,000 pounds, and Aaron Lennon for 1 million pounds—had twice breached Chelsea’s supposedly impenetrable fortress of a backline.

The Sun argued that this defeat was something Chelsea needed to reflect on.

The Times was even more direct, with a headline that simply read: A Victory for Football!

The authoritative British media outlet believed that while Bayswater Chinese’s victory might not be enough to shake Chelsea’s dominance in the Premier League, it was sufficient proof that reckless capital could no longer do as it pleased in the world of football!

“Yang Cheng and his players used this victory to tell everyone that they are still holding their ground!”

In the two years since acquiring Chelsea, Roman Abramovich had brandished his checkbook with abandon, buying every player he wanted and quickly assembling a powerful team, a formidable force hailed as the “Iron-blooded Blues.”

Last season, they had swept through the Premier League with almost unstoppable momentum.

But in the League Cup final, Bayswater Chinese had ambushed the arrogant Premier League champions.

And now, this season, it was Bayswater Chinese again who defeated the defending champions in the very first round.

The Times listed the grievances between the two clubs over the past two years, even revealing the inside story that Chelsea had long wanted to acquire Bayswater Chinese to get their hands on the plot of land at the north gate of Hyde Park.

The feud between the two clubs was now completely out in the open.

This gave the Premier League season opener a deeper meaning, making Bayswater Chinese’s victory seem more heroic and inspiring.

In England, it wasn’t just non-Chelsea fans who disliked this upstart club; even many Chelsea supporters disliked Abramovich, feeling that capital was corroding Chelsea’s footballing traditions.

They had always longed for someone to stand up, to represent them, to defeat Chelsea and teach that unrestrained Russian upstart a harsh lesson.

Now, Yang Cheng and his team were playing that very role.

So, after the Premier League season opener, Bayswater Chinese was truly a hot topic!

Not only were the major media outlets clamoring to report on them, but even the fans’ opinions of them were extremely high.

Yang Cheng, however, remained rational and restrained, constantly reminding those around him of the reality.

The media and the fans were on Bayswater Chinese’s side when they faced Chelsea.

But what about the future?

What about the day Bayswater Chinese faced the teams they actually supported?

“Let’s focus on doing our own thing. The Premier League has only just begun.”

“The real challenge is still far from here!”

Yang Cheng had an incredibly clear understanding of this.

…

On the afternoon of August 20th, in Greenwich, Southeast London, at The Valley stadium.

In the second round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Charlton Athletic away from home.

Yang Cheng, dressed in his signature black trousers and white shirt, stood resolutely on the touchline.

On the pitch, the home team, Charlton, launched an offensive right from the start, unleashing a furious barrage on Bayswater Chinese’s defense, trying to use their home advantage and high-tempo attack to break down their opponent’s goal.

Yang Cheng was prepared for this scenario.

It was a common tactic for Premier League teams, especially the more traditional ones.

Charlton’s head coach, Alan Curbishley, was something of a legend in English football.

Back in the late 1980s, during his time at Brighton, he had served as both a player and an assistant coach.

Fans familiar with English football knew that this was a common occurrence in England.

In 1990, he transferred from Brighton to Charlton, who were then in the second tier. By 1991, he had begun managing Charlton Athletic as a player-manager.

Over the past fourteen years, under Alan Curbishley’s management, Charlton had been promoted from the second tier to the Premier League and had gradually become a force to be reckoned with.

Charlton’s ability to consistently finish in the upper-middle of the Premier League table in recent years was an indispensable contribution from Curbishley.

Many said that the biggest difference between him, Ferguson, and Wenger was that he managed Charlton.

This showed the influence of the renowned English manager.

And in the first round of the Premier League, Charlton had swept aside the newly promoted Sunderland 3-1 away from home.

Darren Bent had breached The Black Cats’ goal just eleven minutes into the game.

Therefore, Curbishley wanted to replicate the tactics used against Sunderland in his match against Bayswater Chinese.

He aimed to exploit the cautious nature of a newly promoted team by going on the offensive from the start, stunning the opponent and seizing control of the match.

This was especially true considering Bayswater Chinese’s head coach was the 25-year-old Yang Cheng.

However, the course of the match took a turn he hadn’t anticipated.

…

Curbishley’s starting formation was a 4-5-1, with Darren Bent as the lone striker and five midfielders to suppress the opposition.

Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup was similar to the one that played against Chelsea a week ago, still a 4-3-3.

But Yang Cheng’s specific tactical adjustments gave Charlton’s players a major headache.

Darren Bent was a striker with incredible speed.

Charlton’s attacking strategy was to win the ball through aggressive pressing and quickly get it to Darren Bent’s feet.

At that point, Darren Bent would shoot forward like an arrow, piercing the opponent’s defensive line to deliver a fatal blow.

Compared to the lineup against Chelsea a week ago, Yang Cheng made one change.

Koscielny replaced Škrtel.

Yang Cheng instructed the French defender to push up and stick close to Darren Bent.

José Fonte was tasked with a holding role, providing cover and support.

Anything else?

There was nothing else!

Yang Cheng actually hoped Charlton’s midfielders would be even more aggressive and push forward to attack.

Unfortunately for him, Charlton stuck to the same strategy for the first twenty minutes.

This made it seem like the home team had the upper hand, launching relentless attacks, but in reality, they achieved very little.

Their only threatening attack came in the 14th minute.

After Bayswater Chinese’s Aaron Lennon won the ball in the attacking half, he made a breakthrough on the right and sent in a cross.

Lambert failed to get to the ball.

Charlton quickly launched a counter-attack.

Jermaine Thomas, a product of Arsenal’s youth academy, dribbled down the left wing, and despite being pressured by Chimbonda, managed to get a cross in from the byline.

But the ball was cleared by José Fonte, who had dropped back.

As for Darren Bent?

He was being marked so tightly by Koscielny that he couldn’t move.

With the opponent unable to create any real attacking threats, Yang Cheng sat calmly on the sidelines.

He knew very well that Charlton’s style of play had a flaw.

If they couldn’t score early, their frantic midfield pressing wouldn’t last long.

Sure enough, in the 21st minute, Bayswater Chinese had their first shot of the game.

After winning the ball in midfield, Yaya Touré initiated a counter-attack.

He and Modrić exchanged a series of one-touch passes, moving the ball to the left side of the attacking third for Ribéry.

The Frenchman controlled the ball, beat a defender, cut inside, and delivered a sublime diagonal pass.

The pass sliced through Charlton’s defense, landing in the right side of the penalty area.

Aaron Lennon made a diagonal run into the box, finding himself one-on-one with the keeper.

With no one defending him, his control was a bit clumsy, causing him to miss the optimal moment to shoot. The goalkeeper rushed out in time and blocked the shot out for a corner.

Yang Cheng turned his head and saw Brian Kidd’s exasperated face, and he chuckled.

This was a common weakness among English players.

After that, Bayswater Chinese gradually turned the tide of the match and began to put sustained pressure on their opponents, creating chance after chance.

In the 29th minute, Leighton Baines sent a cross from the left, precisely delivering the ball into the box.

Lambert leaped high and headed the ball.

But his header was cleared off the line by a backtracking defender, Luke Young.

A minute later, the away team’s attack resumed.

Lambert dropped back to receive a pass from Modrić, held up the ball with his back to goal, and was tripped from behind by a defender as he turned to pass.

But the head referee waved play on.

As Charlton’s top scorer who had already scored twice in the opening round, Darren Bent’s best chance of the entire first half came in the 33rd minute. A cross came in from the right, and he found space between the defenders, jumping for a header.

But Neuer was quick off his line and plucked the ball from the air before he could reach it.

In first-half stoppage time, Ribéry took on Charlton’s defense single-handedly.

One versus five!

The French winger, bold and skillful, dribbled the ball and threw the area just outside the penalty box into complete chaos.

Finally, a defender had to resort to a foul, bringing Ribéry down with a tackle.

The subsequent free-kick did not pose a threat.

0-0!

The first half ended in a stalemate.

…

“Our performance in the first half was excellent!”

In the dressing room at halftime, Yang Cheng summarized the first half.

The players had essentially carried out his instructions.

It was a shame they hadn’t managed to score.

With a bit more luck, they would have been at least two goals up.

“In the second half, we need to pick up the pace of our attack a bit. Let’s increase the intensity on our city rivals.”

Yang Cheng pulled over the tactics board and moved the positions of the midfielders further forward.

“After the second half kicks off, we’ll press hard for fifteen minutes, focusing our attacks down Franck’s side.”

Yang Cheng circled Ribéry’s area on the board.

“Lambert, Aaron Lennon, you need to make runs into the box. If you get a chance, take the shot. Don’t hesitate!”

Both players nodded.

Aaron Lennon in particular, as he had missed a golden one-on-one opportunity.

“The midfield needs to push up. Long shots from outside the box are up to you.”

Modrić, Lassana Diarra, and Yaya Touré all grew excited.

Especially Lassana Diarra.

The lad was actually quite shy and introverted, but deep down, he loved to attack.

Sometimes players were like that—two different people on and off the pitch.

“Koscielny, your task remains the same. Stick to Darren Bent.”

The French defender nodded.

“Remember, Curbishley will make substitutions in the second half. He has a tall center-forward, Bartlett, on the bench.”

“Until Bartlett comes on and Charlton changes to a 4-4-2, our attacking and defensive tactics will remain the same!”

Yang Cheng was giving his players instructions in advance.

Once Bartlett came on, Charlton would switch to a 4-4-2 with two strikers—one tall, one fast—and their defensive tactics would have to be adjusted accordingly.

“I estimate we’ll have a window of about fifteen to twenty minutes after the second half begins.”

“Now, what I want from you is this: in that time, I want you to score as many goals as you possibly can!”

The players responded with a roar.

…

Even though Yang Cheng had been certain the team would score in the second half, he never expected it to be so easy.

So easy that he could hardly believe it.

Perhaps it was because Bayswater Chinese’s sudden offensive surge in the second half, especially the high press from the midfield and attack, caught the Charlton players completely off guard.

Just thirty seconds after the kickoff, Modrić won the ball in midfield.

Ribéry received the ball on the left. Faced with a double-team from two defenders, the French winger, who was desperate to make the national team for the World Cup, used his formidable individual skill to take them both on, dribbling into the left side of the penalty area.

After breaking into the box, Ribéry chose not to shoot himself but instead went to the byline.

At the edge of the six-yard box on the left, the Frenchman drew out the centre-back and laid a horizontal pass across the front of the goal.

Lambert didn’t miss his chance this time, tapping the ball into Charlton’s net.

This was just forty-eight seconds after the second-half kickoff!

Yang Cheng was stunned!

Curbishley was devastated!

He had guessed that Bayswater Chinese would counter-attack in the second half and had even warned his players to be careful.

He never imagined they would concede in just forty-eight seconds.

That Frenchman’s individual ability was simply too strong!

…

After taking the lead, the match became a one-man show for Bayswater Chinese.

With their morale soaring, the away team turned the tables and began to dominate the home side.

First came a long shot from Lassana Diarra, followed by a curling effort from Modrić, and a chipped pass from Yaya Touré at the edge of the box…

In the 54th minute, Ribéry executed a beautiful flick over a defender with his back to goal just outside the penalty area, only to be pushed to the ground by Luke Young. The referee again showed a yellow card.

This was already Charlton’s fourth yellow card.

Even so, Yang Cheng was very dissatisfied with the referee’s officiating.

If he hadn’t favored the home team, Charlton should have had at least one player sent off.

In the 57th minute, Chimbonda made an overlapping run on the right to support Aaron Lennon.

In the right half-space outside the penalty area, Lennon received a pass from Lassana Diarra and calmly played a through ball.

Lambert made a diagonal run into the right side of the box, latched onto Lennon’s pass, and smashed a powerful shot.

The ball was saved by the keeper but fell near the left post.

Just as the Charlton fans breathed a sigh of relief, Ribéry arrived at full tilt and, meeting the falling ball, easily tapped it in, picking up an easy goal!

The Frenchman was so excited he leaped into the air and sprinted off the pitch to celebrate.

2-0!

“Franck Ribéry scores another goal!!”

“My God, this is the second consecutive match where the French winger has recorded an assist and a goal!”

“In the Premier League opener against Chelsea, he had one goal and one assist.”

“Today at The Valley, he’s created two goals again!”

“It’s incredible!”

“Ribéry is in unbelievable form!”

France’s Scarface ran all the way to the sideline, only stopping when a teammate tackled him around the waist.

The Bayswater Chinese players all chased after him, piling on top of each other by the sideline.

Everyone was ecstatic.

Only Curbishley hung his head, his mood incredibly low.

He knew he had lost this match.

…

After going two goals ahead, Yang Cheng observed the game a little longer.

Especially after Curbishley brought on Bartlett and switched to two strikers.

Once he confirmed that the team’s defense was solid, he began to make substitutions.

Ribéry, Lassana Diarra, and Aaron Lennon were all brought off.

Ashley Young, Matuidi, and Walcott came on as substitutes.

Yang Cheng had his reasons for doing this.

Due to the upcoming 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Premier League schedule was compressed.

Three days after the Charlton match, the team would have to travel to Manchester for an away game against Manchester United.

The following weekend, they would host The Black Cats, Sunderland, at home.

With two games a week, including a midweek trip to Old Trafford, Yang Cheng had to conserve some of his team’s energy.

This was part of the points-gathering strategy Yang Cheng had devised for Bayswater Chinese.

For every point that was there for the taking, they had to fight for it with everything they had.

Yang Cheng wanted to win the away game against Charlton.

He also wanted to win the home game against Sunderland.

As for the away game against Manchester United, Yang Cheng hoped to be able to compete as well.

It’s worth mentioning that after bringing on Walcott, Yang Cheng gave him a great deal of freedom.

Coupled with Charlton’s desperate counter-attacks, Bayswater Chinese got an excellent counter-attacking opportunity in the 83rd minute.

After a quick one-two between Lambert and Ashley Young, a through ball was played.

Walcott made a swift diagonal run into the box from the right half-space.

His lightning speed left an indelible impression.

And his subsequent shot was very decisive, hitting it first-time without taking a touch.

Unfortunately, his shooting technique was a bit raw, and the angle was too straight.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Charlton Athletic 2-0 away from home.

…

On the evening of August 24th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Premier League, round three: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United, away.

The match, which attracted 72,519 fans, was filled with errors from the very start.

Just twenty-five seconds in, Manchester United’s centre-forward, Ruud van Nistelrooy, dropped deep to receive the ball and played a through pass.

Just as the Portuguese winger C. Ronaldo sprinted forward to chase Van Nistelrooy’s pass, ready to charge straight for the enemy’s goal, the linesman unceremoniously raised his flag.

Head referee Alan Wiley blew his whistle. Offside!

In the 3rd minute, it was Van Nistelrooy again, who took a long shot from twenty meters out in the center.

The centre-back marking him, Škrtel, turned his body and blocked the shot.

In the 6th minute, Van Nistelrooy combined with C. Ronaldo on the right, but as the Dutchman received the ball, Škrtel made a decisive sliding tackle to intercept.

Manchester United’s first entry into Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area occurred in the 8th minute.

Rooney switched positions with Van Nistelrooy, moving to the right wing.

The English forward tried to break into the box but was challenged by Danny Collins. On the right side of the penalty area, José Fonte arrived just in time to clear the ball out of the box with a sliding tackle.

In the 11th minute, Danny Collins fouled Rooney, giving Manchester United a free-kick on the right side of the attacking third.

Ryan Giggs took it calmly, but it was easily collected by Neuer.

This was Manchester United’s first shot of the match.

In the 15th minute, Van Nistelrooy’s long shot from the left side of the penalty arc seemed to be the perfect summary of Manchester United’s attack in the opening stages.

Soft!

…

From the moment the match began, Ferguson stood near the touchline, constantly giving instructions.

This included the positional swap between Rooney and Van Nistelrooy.

But the effect was not ideal.

Yang Cheng still deployed a 4-3-3 formation, but there were significant changes to the starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Danny Collins, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Pascal Chimbonda;

Midfield: Andreassen in the holding role, with Inler and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Lambert, and Ashley Young.

Ferguson only needed one look at this starting lineup to guess what Yang Cheng wanted to do.

But he wasn’t afraid!

However, once the match started, Ferguson realized with great frustration that Yang Cheng had perfectly countered Manchester United’s attacking problems.

Namely, Van Nistelrooy.

Manchester United was playing a 4-4-2 formation tonight.

Goalkeeper: Van der Sar;

Defense: O’Shea, Wes Brown, Ferdinand, and Gary Neville;

Midfield: Giggs, Roy Keane, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo;

Forwards: Van Nistelrooy and Rooney.

Yang Cheng’s strategy at Old Trafford tonight was to suppress Manchester United’s midfield distribution.

He pushed his defensive line forward, forcing Van Nistelrooy to leave the penalty area.

Van Nistelrooy was an efficient goal-scorer, having scored in both of the first two rounds of the season.

But once he left the penalty area, once no one was there to pass him the ball, his threat was greatly diminished.

While focusing on Van Nistelrooy, Yang Cheng was comparatively lenient on Rooney.

Ferguson had noticed this earlier, which was why he had Rooney switch to the right, intending for him to link up with C. Ronaldo.

Unexpectedly, Danny Collins gave Rooney no chance to get into the box.

This made Ferguson frown on the sidelines.

But just as he was actively thinking of a way to break down Bayswater Chinese’s defense, the away team suddenly won the ball in midfield, and Inler played a through ball.

Lambert chased the ball, but Van der Sar was quicker and cleared it.

Unexpectedly, Van der Sar’s clearance ricocheted off Lambert.

The Dutchman was so startled that he immediately scrambled back towards his goal.

Lambert himself was also taken by surprise.

He never thought a pie would fall from the sky.

As a result, his reaction was slow.

Ferdinand sprinted back quickly and blocked the shot just as Lambert got it under control and was about to shoot.

Ferguson was also stunned on the sideline, yelling angrily at his players on the pitch.

“Everyone, wake up!”

Damn it!

In the stands, the home fans were also dissatisfied with the players’ performance.

But Ferguson still made an adjustment, signaling for the team to play more steadily.

He had guessed Yang Cheng’s intention.

To use a solid defense to block Manchester United’s attacks, and then create threats with sharp counter-attacks.

Or, to wait for Manchester United to make a mistake themselves.

The entire Premier League knew that Manchester United’s backline was currently unstable.

That heart-stopping moment just now was the best proof.

“We need a top-class centre-back, a top-class midfielder, a top-class centre-forward…”

Ferguson muttered to himself.

He even began to wonder if the newly signed Van der Sar would also have butterfingers.

It was as if Manchester United’s cursed goal was under a spell!

…

Unlike Ferguson, Yang Cheng appeared very calm.

He felt that the team had defended well since the start of the match.

“Manchester United’s problems in recent years have never really been properly solved,” said Brian Kidd.

Seeing that the situation on the pitch had stabilized, with Manchester United’s attack impotent and Bayswater Chinese defending solidly and counter-attacking, he also felt much more at ease.

“They should never have let Beckham go. Becks’ work rate, and his long passing and crossing ability, were vastly underestimated by everyone, including Ferguson.”

“Bringing in Cristiano Ronaldo to replace Beckham was a huge mistake!”

Yang Cheng was slightly surprised by Brian Kidd’s words.

If someone said that in 2024, they’d be flamed to death by countless fans, wouldn’t they?

It was practically a blasphemous take!

But in the present, in 2005, it seemed to be the truth.

The problem Manchester United was facing was one that all dynastic teams at their peak eventually encounter.

The legends who had built the glory were aging, and the new generation had not yet managed to take over. The transition was stalling.

Manchester United’s biggest problem was actually in midfield.

For a 4-4-2 formation, the midfield is crucial.

In the past, in Manchester United’s golden midfield quartet, Giggs was responsible for driving forward, while Beckham provided wide-ranging movement and long-range, precise passes.

After Beckham left, many hidden problems were exposed.

Keane and Giggs were both getting old.

Especially Giggs; his ability to carry the ball forward had weakened considerably from his peak.

As a result, Manchester United’s attack could no longer get going.

At this stage, C. Ronaldo was, strictly speaking, a very contradictory player.

Was his technique good?

Yes, but it wasn’t practical.

Playing on the right, he could neither drive forward with the ball like Giggs on the left, nor could he cross like Beckham.

Manchester United’s midfield problem remained unsolved.

The deadliest part was that the striker, Van Nistelrooy, was the type of goal-scorer who was incredibly dependent on passes from the midfield.

During this period, Ferguson had made one very important signing.

Saha.

The French striker’s hold-up play was excellent.

The strategy Ferguson wanted to adopt was the same principle as Mourinho using Drogba at Chelsea.

If the midfield’s distribution was poor, then he would have the striker drop back to receive the ball.

But in this situation, Van Nistelrooy became the biggest obstacle.

A world-class centre-forward who could provide more than twenty goals a season—who would be willing to part with him?

Who had the courage to do so?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Manchester United’s revival began precisely with the sale of Van Nistelrooy.

As a traditional goal-scorer, Van Nistelrooy was synonymous with efficiency.

But in the face of the changing tides of the era, even the Dutchman was powerless.

The scene that best reflected Manchester United’s problems occurred in the 28th minute.

After Rooney dropped back to get the ball, he dribbled forward through the middle while being harassed by Bayswater Chinese defenders.

But he didn’t choose to shoot; instead, he passed to Van Nistelrooy ahead of him.

While sprinting forward, the Dutchman, under pressure from Škrtel, couldn’t control the ball and had to stop.

A quick counter-attack came to nothing.

Just one minute later, Lassana Diarra successfully tackled the ball in midfield, quickly advanced with it, and promptly passed it to Ashley Young.

Ashley Young received the ball in the half-space, broke through to the edge of the penalty area, and fired a low left-footed shot that slid just wide of the post.

This counter-attack also startled Manchester United.

Bayswater Chinese proved once again that they were no pushovers who would only defend.

Given the chance, they could deliver a fatal blow to Manchester United!

…

From the 30th minute onward, Rooney and C. Ronaldo began to shoot much more frequently.

But Yang Cheng paid them no mind.

As long as they weren’t getting into the penalty area, he’d let them shoot all they wanted.

Whether in his past life or this one, countless facts proved that when it came to profligate shooting, ‘Little Fatty’ Rooney and ‘President’ Ronaldo were in a league of their own, one no better than the other.

Of course, Bayswater Chinese were not much different.

The best chance of the entire first half came in the 43rd minute.

After Chimbonda successfully dispossessed C. Ronaldo, he broke down the right flank, reaching Manchester United’s final third before delivering a cross.

The French full-back’s cross was truly beautiful, dropping perfectly behind Manchester United’s defensive line.

Lambert’s awareness was also on point.

He made a quick forward run, successfully beating the offside trap.

And he controlled the ball perfectly.

But for the final shot, right after controlling the ball, heaven knows what happened, but he skewed it wide.

The ball skimmed the outside of the right post and went out for a goal kick.

Lambert fell to his knees inside Manchester United’s penalty area, his head on the turf, looking utterly dejected.

What could Yang Cheng say from the sideline?

“He was trying too hard to place it!” Brian Kidd voiced what Lambert was thinking.

“Sometimes, a striker needs to be relaxed. Being too tense is no good, and trying too hard to pick a corner is also no good!”

Yang Cheng was speechless.

…

The first half ended 0-0.

After the second half began, Ferguson decisively ramped up the attack.

This put more pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

Yang Cheng made no adjustments, sticking to the same tactics as the first half, but it became much harder to keep Van Nistelrooy isolated outside the penalty area.

In the 49th minute, Rooney played the ball wide. Gary Neville made an overlapping run and sent in a cross, trying to find Van Nistelrooy in the penalty area, but a backtracking Škrtel managed to clear it first.

After that, Manchester United launched wave after wave of attacks.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, focused on defense.

Neuer also performed brilliantly in goal, first saving a long shot from C. Ronaldo, then intercepting a high ball from Rooney intended for Van Nistelrooy.

Especially in the 60th minute, Neuer first saved Van Nistelrooy’s shot from a tight angle, then immediately got back up to save Rooney’s follow-up shot.

Two consecutive brilliant saves saw the German goalkeeper shine once again!

When Ferguson substituted Roy Keane for Solskjær, the match completely entered “Neuer time.”

Unwilling to drop points at home, Manchester United launched a frenzied offensive.

Neuer stood tall in front of the goal, saving shots high and low, his performance becoming increasingly fierce.

Especially after the substitution, from the 66th to the 70th minute, in just five minutes, Neuer saved six shots from Van Nistelrooy, C. Ronaldo, Solskjær, Rooney, and Gary Neville.

This wave of furious attacks from Manchester United only subsided in the 71st minute.

Gary Neville’s forward run to join the attack left Manchester United’s right flank exposed.

After Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Inler played a diagonal pass to Ribéry.

The Frenchman went on a solo run, dribbling deep and cutting diagonally towards Manchester United’s penalty area.

When faced with Ferdinand’s defense, Ribéry used a series of feints to get past the Manchester United centre-back, but he went down as he entered the box, tumbling forward onto the ground.

Yang Cheng and the entire team were convinced it was a penalty.

Ribéry also protested to the referee, pulling at his own jersey, insisting Ferdinand had fouled him.

But the referee still refused to award a penalty.

“The slow-motion replay shows that Ferdinand did have his hands on him; it was a foul.”

“That should have been a penalty.”

“But the referee, Wiley, let Manchester United off the hook.”

Yang Cheng took this opportunity to make substitutions.

Modrić, Džeko, and Yaya Touré were brought on successively.

In the final fifteen minutes, Bayswater Chinese launched a fierce counter-attack against Manchester United.

This was also part of Yang Cheng’s pre-match strategy.

With Roy Keane off the pitch, Manchester United’s midfield was vulnerable.

Faced with Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack, Ferguson, however unwilling, had to choose to temporarily weather the storm.

Especially after the 85th minute, Yang Cheng’s team was practically laying siege to Manchester United’s penalty area.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese couldn’t breach Van der Sar’s goal.

0-0!

The two sides settled for a draw!

Although it was a frustrating draw away at Manchester United, the very next day, Bayswater Chinese received five pieces of good news in succession.

It was truly a case of five blessings descending upon them.

Chapter 83: Leading the Premier League! A Pie from the Sky!

Morten Olsen, head coach of the Denmark national team, sent a fax calling up Leon Andreasen for the national team training camp.

Raymond Domenech, head coach of the France national team, sent a fax calling up Ribéry and Pascal Chimbonda for the national team training camp.

Zlatko Kranjčar, head coach of the Croatia national team, called up Luka Modrić for the national team training camp.

Sven-Göran Eriksson, head coach of the England national team, called up Aaron Lennon for the national team training camp.

…

When these five faxes were laid out before Yang Cheng, his feelings were honestly quite complex.

Was he happy? Yes, definitely very happy.

Having international players in his team, and their numbers growing, was certainly something to celebrate.

It wasn’t that Bayswater Chinese hadn’t produced international players before—Martin Rowlands and Škrtel, for instance.

But they were internationals from smaller nations.

There were even more players in the U21 or U19 squads.

This time, however, was clearly different.

Croatia and Denmark were both strong teams, and France had taken two in one go.

And then there was England international Aaron Lennon—a homegrown international player, which carried significant weight.

But amidst the joy, Yang Cheng also felt a hint of unease.

In his past life, he’d often been plagued by the effects of national team training camps.

“The national teams these days are a bunch of fucking deadbeats.”

“Not only do they use our players for free, but they… well, you know… they knock us up and then refuse to take responsibility!”

Yang Cheng was genuinely annoyed, letting his frustration out on the spot.

It was the first time Brian Kidd had heard Yang Cheng make a crude joke, and he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He had to admit, the analogy was surprisingly apt.

“Let’s just keep comments like that between ourselves,” Brian Kidd advised.

Of course, Yang Cheng knew that.

Serving one’s country was the duty of every player.

And it was even more so for these young internationals.

Yang Cheng remembered how in 2008, when Hamburg tried to stop Kompany from playing for the Olympic team, the Belgian centre-back was so furious he transferred to Manchester City.

More importantly, it would sound bad if word got out.

“I need to give them a call and have a chat.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t afraid of much, but he was afraid of these national teams working his players to death.

How often did you see players get injured on international duty, only to recover on their club’s time?

“Notify Mike Rigg and Gary Worthington. Our scouts need to keep a close watch and get firsthand information at all times,” Yang Cheng said, as if facing a great enemy.

The matter was indeed serious.

It was especially critical for a team like Bayswater Chinese, which didn’t have a deep squad.

…

While Yang Cheng was fraught with anxiety, the players were a completely different story.

After returning to London from Manchester, Bayswater Chinese immediately faced their fourth Premier League match.

A home game against Sunderland.

When old acquaintances met, it was bound to be a fierce battle.

From the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese took complete control of the match.

This reflected the team’s progress.

The few players who had just been called up to their national teams were more fired up than anyone.

In the first five minutes alone, they fell into Sunderland’s offside trap three times.

In the seventh minute, Ribéry won the ball in the attacking half and went on a solo run.

The French winger charged straight for the enemy’s heartland, carrying the ball to the left side of Sunderland’s penalty area.

Despite Lambert in the middle and Aaron Lennon on the right being in arguably better positions, he chose to shoot himself.

The ball hit the side netting.

Yang Cheng was so furious on the sidelines that he jumped up and down, pointing and yelling at Ribéry.

But in the 12th minute, a long ball over the top from Modrić found Ribéry breaking into the left side of the box. He controlled it with his chest and volleyed it into the net, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!

After that, Sunderland were completely pinned back.

Modrić tried a long shot.

Lassana Diarra followed up with a long shot of his own.

The French lad was also holding back a wave of determination, eager to break into the national team.

If Ribéry and Chimbonda could make it, why couldn’t he?

The unluckiest team was the Black Cats, Sunderland.

Both were Premier League teams, both were newly promoted, so why were they being bullied like this?

We want to be the stars of the show too!

Starting from the 20th minute, Sunderland’s temper flared, and they began to counter-attack, creating their first shot on goal.

But in the 36th minute, Aaron Lennon dribbled down the right half-space, drawing the defenders’ attention before threading a pass through.

Chimbonda made a quick overlapping run, receiving the ball and sending a low cross to the front of the goal from the right side of the penalty area.

Lambert swept it in from close range, breaking through Sunderland’s goal.

2-0!

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng first gave the players a stern lecture on their first-half performance.

“If we had played with more cohesion, we would have finished this game in the first half!”

“Who the hell are Sunderland?”

“How many shooting opportunities did you let them have in the first half?”

The players were so thoroughly scolded they didn’t dare make a sound.

After the break, Sunderland made a substitution.

The former Bayswater Chinese centre-forward, Jon Stead, was brought onto the pitch.

But it was too little, too late to change the course of the game.

As Bayswater Chinese’s former top scorer, Stead could never have imagined that the team he once played for would not only get promoted to the Premier League within two years but also become more and more competitive.

Lambert, who used to be his substitute, was now the team’s starting striker and was performing even better than he had.

In the 68th minute, Ribéry broke through on the left flank and practically served the goal to Lambert on a silver platter.

The English centre-forward made a run into the middle and easily tapped the ball into the net.

3-0!

Lambert had scored a brace.

Sunderland completely lost the will to fight back.

The Black Cats managed to score a goal in the 78th minute when centre-back Stubbs headed one in from a corner kick.

But just four minutes later, another precise through ball from Modrić found Aaron Lennon breaking into the right side of the penalty area. He controlled the ball, shook off a defender, and fired a low shot past the keeper.

4-1!

The entire Loftus Road Stadium erupted!

Everyone could see the progress of Bayswater Chinese in this match, in this scoreline.

At the very least, when the team played Sunderland last season, it had been nowhere near this easy.

Only Yang Cheng knew the real reason.

These bastards were all fired up by their national team call-ups, and every single one of them was playing at a high level.

Among them, Modrić’s outstanding performance brought Yang Cheng the most joy.

“After two seasons of training, his physical condition has improved significantly. He’s no longer afraid of physical challenges and high pressing.”

Brian Kidd had watched Modrić grow firsthand.

The Croatian midfielder wasn’t tall and looked thin, but that was a deceptive illusion.

Anyone who knew him could see his thighs; they were thick and strong.

This meant his lower body was powerful and his centre of gravity was very stable.

What was most valuable was that the improvement in his strength and physicality hadn’t diminished the agility of his technical movements.

“He’s not there yet. He still has a huge amount of potential that hasn’t been tapped.”

Yang Cheng knew Modrić’s potential all too well.

This was a world-class, Ballon d’Or-level midfielder!

Setting aside everything else, in terms of his ability to organize, pass, and control the game, the current Modrić was still very green.

These were things that could only be improved through the accumulation of match experience.

From his performance this season, Yang Cheng could clearly see that his training had paid off for Modrić.

As long as there were no major accidents, and as long as Modrić himself didn’t stray from this path, he would develop faster than in Yang Cheng’s previous life, and his overall ability would undoubtedly be stronger.

After all, Yang Cheng had guided his development without any detours.

…

After four rounds, the Premier League took a temporary break for a two-week national team training camp.

After a hard-fought four rounds in August, not a single team in the Premier League had managed to win all four of their matches.

The best record after the first four rounds was three wins and one draw, for a total of ten points.

There were three such teams: Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Manchester City.

Among them, thanks to their 4-1 home victory against Sunderland in this round, Bayswater Chinese had scored eight goals and conceded two, for a goal difference of +6. This put them ahead of Manchester United (+5) and Manchester City (+3) at the top of the table.

This immediately caused an uproar throughout England and among fans worldwide.

Although it had only been four rounds, for a newly promoted team to be at the top of the table was simply incredible.

And they were even ahead of giants like Manchester United and Chelsea.

In their first four matches, Chelsea had three wins and one loss, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Bayswater Chinese, placing them fourth in the Premier League.

Charlton Athletic also had three wins and one loss, their only defeat also coming against Bayswater Chinese, placing them fifth.

This surprised many in the media.

Although only four rounds had been played and the current standings were temporary, the away draw against Manchester United, the home win against Chelsea, and the away win against Charlton were all solid results.

And they were all against teams in the top five of the league table.

After the fourth round of the Premier League, The Sun was the first to label Bayswater Chinese as a dark horse.

“This team from West London will become the biggest dark horse in the Premier League this season!”

“Yang Cheng and his young guns will completely overturn the power structure of the Premier League!”

The Times also gave Bayswater Chinese’s performance a very high evaluation.

An average age of under twenty-one, a squad with no Premier League experience, and a head coach who hadn’t even obtained his coaching badges yet.

For a team like this to climb to the top of the Premier League table was a topic of gleeful discussion for countless fans.

“What’s even more impressive is that in these four matches, Yang Cheng has deployed several different midfield tactical combinations.”

“We see in him a ruthlessness and sophistication that completely belies his age.”

Top of the table?

Yang Cheng himself hadn’t really thought much about it.

He was just taking it one game at a time with his team.

Reaching the top spot was, in the end, a good thing.

But he didn’t pay it too much mind.

The league had only just started; it had only been four rounds.

So, the day after the Sunderland match, before the team left for national team duty, besides reminding them to be careful and avoid injuries and to contact him immediately if anything happened, Yang Cheng also told them to adjust their mindset.

“We’ve had a very good start!”

“But there’s still a long road ahead, and we have many tough battles to fight!”

“Finally, I hope you all have a wonderful journey with your respective national teams!”

No matter how much he was cursing them out in his heart, he still had to offer his blessings out loud.

…

While the Premier League was on hold, the draw for the third knockout round of the new season’s UEFA Cup began at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The disparity between the Champions League and the UEFA Cup was evident from the draw ceremony itself.

As the most profitable professional cup competition in the world, the Champions League draw was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, a grand affair that was practically an annual gala.

And the UEFA Cup?

It was held quietly at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.

Clubs rarely even sent representatives to the event.

Why?

Because the UEFA Cup wasn’t worth much.

With the continuous expansion of the Champions League, the prestige of the UEFA Cup had steadily declined, and its revenue had plummeted.

Professional sports were like that: the top teams, the winners, took all.

Even winning the UEFA Cup would only earn a team three to five million euros in prize money at most, which was nothing compared to the Champions League.

But Bayswater Chinese still took it very seriously.

Because home games generated matchday revenue.

This time, Bayswater Chinese’s luck in the draw was pretty good; they drew the Bundesliga team Mainz.

As a newly promoted team, Mainz had finished 11th in the Bundesliga last season and were a decent side.

Normally, they wouldn’t have been eligible to participate in the UEFA Cup.

UEFA has a “Fair Play table,” which, after statistical evaluation, assigns a fair play score to each country.

To reward these fair play nations and leagues, UEFA awarded three extra spots in the UEFA Cup.

In the 2005/06 season, Norway had the highest fair play score, so Viking, the team recommended by the Norwegian FA, secured the first spot.

Six countries had scores above 8.0: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, England, and Switzerland.

But with only two spots left, these six teams’ representatives went into a draw.

In the end, Germany and Denmark were drawn, and their recommended teams, Mainz and Midtjylland, received the remaining two spots.

Tottenham Hotspur, recommended by The FA, unfortunately missed out.

For Bayswater Chinese, Mainz wasn’t necessarily stronger than top teams from other countries.

But Germany and England were close, making travel convenient, which was the biggest advantage.

More importantly, Mainz currently had a head coach whom Yang Cheng had long admired.

A guy who treated football like a boxing match!

…

After the league went on break, Yang Cheng first gave the players two days off.

But he himself couldn’t rest.

The first phase of the Brent Training Centre construction had been completed, inspected, and put into use.

At the time, Yang Cheng had been busy with the league and had delegated the entire matter to Xia Qing and Adam Crozier.

With the team on a break, he definitely had to pay a visit.

More importantly, he needed to give his directives for the upcoming second phase of construction.

It wasn’t that Yang Cheng was a micromanager.

Before the design and planning of the first phase, Yang Cheng had drawn upon his personal experiences from the year 2024, especially his observations of advanced youth academies and training facilities, to offer many forward-thinking suggestions.

Perhaps at the beginning, no one thought it was a big deal.

Some might have even thought it was just the boss being wilful.

But once the facility was in use, they quickly discovered that from the spatial layout to the distribution of functional areas, down to all sorts of details, it was incredibly practical and convenient.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

In fact, he believed that as the training centre was used more, and as training standards improved over time, everyone would become increasingly astonished by how advanced it was.

But that was all for later.

For the design and planning of the second phase, Yang Cheng also had to present his own ideas and suggestions.

The biggest external concern about Bayswater Chinese building a training centre was the issue of funding.

Regarding this, the steward, Xia Qing, was quite straightforward.

“You guys go ahead and build. Keep the budget under ten million pound sterling, and leave the rest to me.”

With Xia Qing’s assurance, everyone’s morale soared.

…

“Senior, are you sure you’ve got this?”

After the main meeting, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier held a smaller, private meeting.

“What could be the problem?” Xia Qing flashed a confident and charming smile.

“In all of 2005, Joe Hart was sold for six million pound sterling, Dave Kitson for eight million, and Huddlestone for ten million.”

“And you’re telling me we can’t squeeze out ten million from that?”

After hearing this, Adam Crozier nodded, a flicker of admiration in his eyes.

Yang Cheng didn’t say anything more.

He trusted Xia Qing’s abilities.

This was precisely the biggest difference between Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu.

Lin Zhongqiu was too conservative, pinching pennies with every decision.

That mentality was suited for maintaining an empire, but for building one, it was far too cautious.

Especially now, with the club in a period of rapid ascent, being too conservative would be like shackling their own feet, wouldn’t it?

Difficulties? Of course there were, and they weren’t small.

It looked like they had sold a lot, a total of twenty-four million pound sterling, but what was the reality?

This summer, the team spent 7.55 million pound sterling on new signings. Wasn’t that money?

More importantly, both player sales and purchases were paid in installments.

This involved very complex financial calculations, with many twists and turns that Yang Cheng himself couldn’t comprehend.

Then there was the expansion of the Satellite Training Centres, which was another huge investment.

But Xia Qing brushed it all off with a simple, “Leave it to me.”

“Our current situation is good. We definitely need to go all out this season, and there’s also the UEFA Cup.”

This was another competition Yang Cheng was unwilling to give up on easily.

“Exactly. A team like ours with a weak foundation needs more substantial honours and achievements to build our credibility. At the same time, it helps us win the recognition of more commercial partners and sponsors,” Adam Crozier supported.

After his trip to China over the summer, Adam Crozier had successfully made inroads.

As the CEO of Bayswater Chinese, he not only gained the favour of several authoritative media outlets but also established preliminary relationships with multiple business partners.

He even appeared in exclusive interviews and reports on the most authoritative Huaxia Television.

Adam Crozier attributed all of this to the influence of Yang Cheng and his family in the background.

Yang Cheng himself, on the other hand, was quite puzzled.

He had asked his so-called father, who was also clueless.

However, his so-called father’s businesses were booming. Whether it was the two sports brands or real estate, business was flourishing.

Before the season, Yang Cheng had made a clean break with his so-called father.

The new season’s shirt sponsorship was still given to the Yang’s Group’s real estate company, but no money was received for it.

He considered it a repayment of a debt.

But after repaying this debt, they were even, and the ownership of the club belonged solely to Yang Cheng.

From now on, all matters of the club, big or small, were under Yang Cheng’s control.

“By the way, didn’t you mention to me before about finding someone to write a club anthem and produce a promotional video about the club’s football culture?” Adam Crozier brought up another matter that required spending money.

“Yes, has everything been arranged?”

“For the song, we’ve contacted a top British orchestra. For the promotional video, we’ve found the best advertising director team in the UK.”

“Alright, find some time for me to have a good chat with the director about the script for the promo.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “As for the club anthem, I’ll record it in a bit. You can take it to them to have a listen.”

Yang Cheng definitely didn’t know anything about composing or arranging music.

But he knew how to sing.

“Wait.”

Adam Crozier looked at Yang Cheng in complete shock. “You’re planning to write the club anthem yourself?”

“What else? We’re so poor, we have to save every penny we can,” Yang Cheng replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“And you’re going to write the script yourself too?”

Yang Cheng smiled smugly and nodded.

Adam Crozier looked at Xia Qing in disbelief. “You’re just going to let him be so wilful?”

In his logic, it was already miraculous that Yang Cheng could be a head coach.

At just 25, he had led the team to the Premier League, which at the very least proved his coaching ability.

And now he wanted to write songs and scripts?

“He’s discussed the script with me and hummed the anthem for me. I think it’s very good.”

Xia Qing recalled her own expression that day, which had been just as surprised as Adam Crozier’s now.

But after hearing the anthem Yang Cheng sang and the script he described, she found that it was actually quite good.

The only imperfect part was that he said the song needed to be sung by a woman; he couldn’t sing it well.

Seeing Adam Crozier’s expression—a mixture of shock, worry, and doubt—Yang Cheng felt a secret sense of pride, wanting to show off a little in front of this highest-paid public servant in Britain.

So, he sang the song he had long prepared: “Dream It Possible”.

It was a song he had loved in his previous life, a brand promotion song for a Fortune 500 company. Both the melody and the lyrics were a perfect fit for Bayswater Chinese.

As for the lyrics, Yang Cheng had made a few minor changes.

The promotional video was also inspired by the song’s music video, just replacing the piano with a football.

Yang Cheng’s idea was to tell the disparate football life stories of three players through cinematic language in just four minutes.

A young shepherd boy who had just lived through a war, an English boy who faced constant rejection because of his weight, and a French boy who was ostracized everywhere because of his scarred appearance from a car accident…

They were shown washing dishes or waiting tables in a restaurant; or working up a sweat on a construction site; or being ruthlessly rejected and given up on time and time again…

But in the end, they came to Bayswater Chinese.

“At the end of the music video, there needs to be a scene on the pitch, with the roar of the crowd, showing tens of thousands of fans gathered in the stands.”

“They are running freely on the field, confidently displaying their football talent, and everyone is cheering for them!”

Yang Cheng had mulled over this idea many times.

He felt that if it were filmed, combined with that song, the effect would be absolutely explosive.

Just by listening, Adam Crozier knew who Yang Cheng was talking about.

At the same time, he understood the club image and values Yang Cheng wanted to convey through this song.

With persistence and by facing setbacks without fear, dreams can come true!

Adam Crozier was convinced.

Just like Xia Qing had been.

“Also, we’re not getting a famous singer for this song.”

Yang Cheng once again surprised Adam Crozier.

“Why?”

“They’re already famous. It wouldn’t be convincing.”

To be honest, Yang Cheng’s reason was a bit tenuous.

Xia Qing looked at this Junior of hers, who was becoming harder and harder to figure out, and guessed: it’s probably about the money.

After all, famous singers are very expensive.

“I know a place, the London School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon, South London.”

Adam Crozier frowned, clearly having never heard of it.

Looking at Xia Qing, she was even more clueless.

“This school is a secondary arts school jointly established by the UK’s Department for Education and Employment and the British Phonographic Industry. It has always been funded and supported by major record labels.”

“The school is full of talented girls who are chasing their musical dreams.”

Adam Crozier instantly understood what Yang Cheng meant.

If that was the case, it was indeed a better fit.

“Have them arrange the song, then let me hear it. After that, go to this school, find some female students to audition, and we’ll choose the one who best fits to sing our club anthem.”

Yang Cheng had talked his way around in circles, but his argument was coherent.

Adam Crozier really did think it was an excellent idea.

The key was the spiritual alignment.

Xia Qing, however, thought the purpose of all this was to save money.

Only Yang Cheng himself knew the truth.

In his previous life, the singer of “Dream It Possible” was an American girl named Delacey.

She had a nickname: the little Adele.

Since the little Adele could sing it so well, why not just get the actual Adele to sing it?

Wouldn’t the effect be even more explosive?

Yang Cheng had loved listening to Adele’s songs in his previous life and was very familiar with this future world-class female singer.

The current Adele was still studying at this school. It wasn’t until after she graduated in 2006 that she posted a few of her recordings online, which then caught the attention of a record company.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried that his interference would change Adele’s destiny. On the contrary, with a voice like hers, she was bound to become world-famous sooner or later.

When that time came, Bayswater Chinese would be known as the one who discovered Adele, helping her realize her musical dream.

Wouldn’t that make this club anthem even more meaningful?

As for going to the school to select a singer, was there even a need to discuss it?

When the time came, who got chosen and who didn’t would be up to Yang Cheng, wouldn’t it?

Was he not the one paying the bills?

…

After the holiday, the players without national team duties returned to the club.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff continued to train with this group of players.

During training, Yang Cheng paid special attention to young players like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Blaise Matuidi, and Łukasz Piszczek.

There was no need to say much about Piszczek and Matuidi; Yang Cheng had a very clear role for them.

Especially Piszczek.

After the experience of last season, combined with his time at Bayswater Chinese, he had gradually changed his perspective and knew it would be difficult for him to make a name for himself in an attacking position.

If he insisted on playing as a winger, he would most likely have to leave the Premier League.

Under these circumstances, transitioning to a new position wasn’t too much of a burden for him.

However, even so, the presence of Chimbonda still made him feel the pressure.

But Yang Cheng repeatedly promised him that he would arrange as much playing time as possible, letting him play more in the reserve league to improve his skills.

Especially his defending.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were two players Yang Cheng paid particular attention to.

He even arranged for the technical coach, Danny McGrain, to give them special training.

To ensure both could adapt to different positions, Yang Cheng would have them play in other roles during training and in reserve league matches, such as having Walcott play on the left wing or in the centre.

Gareth Bale hardly played left-back anymore. Yang Cheng had moved him forward to the winger position to focus on his development there.

Both were working on refining their technical details, especially the fluidity of their movements.

Additionally, Gareth Bale was strengthening his right foot, while Walcott was strengthening his left.

To Yang Cheng’s relief, after several discussions before the season, the players were very supportive and cooperative with his arrangements.

In this respect, Walcott was much better than Aaron Lennon.

At the very least, he listened to advice.

Yang Cheng had always hoped that Aaron Lennon would put in more effort to improve himself and become a more well-rounded player.

But the English winger wasn’t very willing in this regard. He would agree on the surface, but his actual progress was minimal, giving off a feeling of feigned compliance.

There was nothing Yang Cheng could do about it.

In the midst of his busy schedule, Yang Cheng didn’t forget to take the time to meet a rather important old friend.

…

During the national team training camp period, Yang Cheng, accompanied by Xia Qing, had a meal with Chris Hunt, the manager of the bankruptcy department at Elvino Asset Management.

Yang Cheng had a really good impression of this guy.

He was quick-witted, diligent, and highly capable.

Most importantly, he possessed resources and information that Yang Cheng currently lacked but desperately needed.

Last time, Chris Hunt had done an excellent job with Bayswater Chinese’s acquisition of the Brent Training Centre.

Whether it was negotiating with the two clubs or liaising with the government, he was highly skilled in all aspects of the business.

So, Yang Cheng invited him out again and threw a huge opportunity his way.

Head of Bayswater Chinese’s Infrastructure Department.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of other clubs having this position.”

Chris Hunt also had a very good impression of Yang Cheng.

In the two years since they had met, he had watched Yang Cheng single-handedly pull Bayswater Chinese back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Now, Bayswater Chinese was a Premier League team.

“That’s because this department was specially prepared for you,” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

As a bankruptcy department manager, Chris Hunt’s first instinct was that something was up.

Very up!

“Yang, when you put it like that, it makes me feel very insecure,” Chris Hunt replied with a smile.

Yang Cheng knew Chris Hunt well, so he didn’t beat around the bush any longer, revealing a little of what Bayswater Chinese planned to do next.

“Over the next few years, we will do everything we can to invest in infrastructure, at least ten million pound sterling annually, possibly even over a hundred million.”

If anyone else had said that, Chris Hunt would have definitely given them the middle finger.

Who the hell are you trying to fool?

Do you think I’m an idiot?

But coming from Yang Cheng, he actually believed it a little.

From their very first meeting, Yang Cheng’s impression on him was one of being very aggressive.

But he always managed to get things done, and often better than anyone expected.

For example, before the season, who would have believed that Bayswater Chinese would be top of the Premier League?

“Are you planning to build a new stadium?” Chris Hunt guessed.

But Yang Cheng shook his head. “The foundation of the new stadium my old man left me is too poor. I either don’t touch it, or if I do, I’ll tear it all down and rebuild the most top-tier, luxurious football stadium in the world.”

“Is that really necessary?” Chris Hunt was somewhat astonished.

Yang Cheng’s ambition repeatedly exceeded his expectations.

“That location of ours, what do you think?” Yang Cheng didn’t spell it out.

Chris Hunt was no fool.

Or rather, even if he hadn’t understood before, after more than two years, he understood completely.

Was that a football stadium?

No!

It was money!

An astonishing amount of money!

How valuable was Knightsbridge, south of Hyde Park?

No one ever made a rule about how a stadium must be built, right?

Some stadiums had hotels, some had shopping centres, some even had apartment buildings…

Who was to say that Bayswater Chinese’s stadium had to be just a stadium?

Thinking of this, Chris Hunt immediately understood what Yang Cheng meant.

The Infrastructure Department, wasn’t that precisely what it was for?

Why didn’t other clubs have one?

Because their stadiums were really just stadiums!

“Honestly, Yang, your offer is very attractive, but I’m worried.”

“Go on,” Yang Cheng smiled and made a ‘please’ gesture.

“With your current strength, do you have enough funds to start this project?” Chris Hunt asked.

“Not at the moment. But before we build a new stadium, we have another infrastructure-related plan.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng turned and gestured to Xia Qing sitting beside him.

“This is my Senior. She was previously an investment specialist at Goldman Sachs’ London headquarters and is now at Bayswater Chinese.”

Xia Qing secretly rolled her eyes. Now she understood.

And here she thought Yang Cheng was being kind by treating her to a meal.

It turned out he not only wanted her to accompany him to meet Chris Hunt, but also to use her resume for credibility.

“Adam Crozier, I don’t need to introduce him, you certainly know him. He’s at Bayswater Chinese too.”

Yang Cheng said just enough, looking at Chris Hunt with a smile.

Sometimes, when you want to show something off, you don’t have to reveal everything at once.

A little mystery can be more effective.

Besides, given Bayswater Chinese’s current situation, if he revealed everything, wouldn’t the cat be out of the bag?

…

Chris Hunt considered it for three days before finally calling Yang Cheng.

He was willing to come work for Bayswater Chinese but needed some time to handle his resignation procedures.

Yang Cheng invited him to Bayswater Stadium again.

Behind closed doors, Yang Cheng revealed Bayswater Chinese’s Satellite Training Centre plan to him for the first time.

The plan was to invest in ten Satellite Training Centres over the next five years.

This would require a very large investment of capital to acquire clubs in Greater London and surrounding cities.

Chris Hunt was dumbfounded.

He truly hadn’t expected Yang Cheng’s ambition to be this great.

This was something that even giants like Manchester United and Arsenal, or even a tycoon club like Chelsea, hadn’t dared to do.

But he had to admit, this bold move was incredibly exciting for Chris Hunt.

Wasn’t this exactly what he was best at?

Didn’t he have all the bankrupt clubs in London mapped out in his head?

Yang Cheng told Chris Hunt that youth football development would become increasingly valuable in the future, and Greater London would be a fiercely contested territory. Bayswater Chinese had to plant its flag in key areas first.

Drawing on memories from his previous life, he pointed out some areas in Greater London and surrounding cities that would see high population density and influx in the coming years, telling Chris Hunt to keep a close eye on them.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s introduction, Chris Hunt finally understood why this Infrastructure Department was being formed.

The construction, operation, and maintenance of these ten satellite training centres would be a very troublesome matter.

Not to mention the Brent Training Centre.

And in the future, there would be an even larger, more stunning new stadium project.

Just thinking about it set Chris Hunt’s blood on fire.

He even felt that if he hesitated for even a second, he would be doing a disservice to his own abundant talent.

Chris Hunt told Yang Cheng on the spot that he would submit his resignation letter as soon as he got back.

“Over this next period, I will gather as much relevant information as possible in the financial district and the Greater London area and prepare a detailed report as soon as possible. Once I’m on board, I’ll immediately start inspecting projects.”

Yang Cheng loved Chris Hunt’s proactive, get-it-done personality.

Adam Crozier was good at management, but when it came to this matter, Chris Hunt was the expert.

So, Yang Cheng immediately took Chris Hunt to the administrative office, introduced him to Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others, and they all had another meeting together.

…

After having lunch together and taking a break, the afternoon brought another piece of great news.

Last December, Bayswater Chinese had ordered two customized Lion’s Coach 2 buses from the German luxury bus manufacturer MAN, at a total cost of 700,000 pound sterling.

After more than half a year, MAN officially delivered the two buses to Bayswater Chinese.

At the same time, employees such as bus drivers and attendants, as well as various supporting facilities, were all ready.

That afternoon, at Bayswater Stadium, a simple handover ceremony was held in the presence of the first team players.

The group of young players on the team looked much happier than Yang Cheng.

After the ceremony ended, they all scrambled onto the bus, one after another.

Touching this, looking at that.

They really looked like a bunch of country bumpkins seeing the big city for the first time.

A few media outlets were also present, all arranged by Adam Crozier.

According to the CEO, this was, to date, the most luxurious and top-of-the-line team bus in English football, and the club should promote it well to let everyone know how well Bayswater Chinese treated its players.

On this point, Adam Crozier wasn’t wrong.

The reporters present were all quite impressed.

At least in England, this was the only club willing to purchase such an advanced bus for its first team.

700,000 pound sterling could buy a decent player.

Not only that, but with Yang Cheng’s introduction, they gained a deeper understanding of the team’s bus.

It might not look like much, but for the players, it was actually quite important.

…

“What bullshit sense of belonging?”

When the news of Bayswater Chinese purchasing two ultra-luxurious buses appeared in British newspapers the next day, Roman Abramovich, at his home in Knightsbridge, London, was very displeased.

These days, just seeing news about Bayswater Chinese made him uncomfortable all over.

His temper had become irritable as well.

“They just got some dumb luck, luckily made it to the top of the table. You just wait and see, we’ll kick them off soon enough.”

Abramovich had always been very disappointed about failing to acquire the plot of land at the north gate of Hyde Park.

“Isn’t it just two buses?”

At this point, Abramovich turned to look at Marina Granovskaia.

“Marina, didn’t you also say that the club needed to purchase new buses?”

Marina Granovskaia nodded.

Chelsea’s old buses were too old and worn out; they should have been replaced long ago.

“Buy this brand, with the same configuration as theirs. It must have a food prep station, a small kitchen, and all that. Order five for me…”

“No, order ten!”

Marina Granovskaia was a little surprised. “Boss, the first team can’t use that many.”

“Order them first. When our Cobham training ground is ready and the youth teams are integrated, we’ll equip the youth teams as well.”

Is such a trivial matter even worth reporting?

A bunch of frogs who’ve never seen the world!

…

Two days later, at Bayswater Stadium.

Adam Crozier walked into Yang Cheng’s office.

“Yang, I just got a call from the MAN company in Germany.”

“What’s wrong?” Yang Cheng was startled.

Could there be a problem with the delivered buses?

Adam Crozier chuckled. “MAN called to thank us. They said that after we purchased the buses, the media reports created great publicity. The day after our handover, they received an order for ten buses from Chelsea.”

“Ten?” Yang Cheng was a bit surprised.

Wasn’t that a bit too nouveau riche?

“Yes, apparently they want the exact same configuration as ours, but MAN said they’re charging five hundred thousand pound sterling per bus.”

“Why did the price go up?”

“MAN said that many of the custom details we requested were a first for them, and they didn’t have experience. After building them, they realized the original quote of three hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling was too low. So this time, with Chelsea requesting the same configuration, they raised the price to five hundred thousand.”

“It’s fine, they’re loaded.”

With Abramovich’s level of wealth, five million pound sterling was nothing to him.

“MAN feels that our collaboration this time was very pleasant, and the results were unexpected, so they hope to cooperate with us further.”

“You mean…”

“I’ll personally go to Germany to negotiate and try to secure a sponsorship deal. Even if we can’t get sponsorship fees, at the very least we can get them to sponsor our buses. You know, our youth teams are currently renting buses for away games.”

As Adam Crozier reached the end, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Who would have thought that a pie would actually fall from the sky?

“Alright, you can decide on the specifics of the negotiation. I trust you.”

Adam Crozier left, contented.

Yang Cheng pondered: Should I write a thank-you letter to Abramovich?

…

For Yang Cheng, the MAN affair was just a small interlude.

Since the national team training camp began, he had been closely monitoring the return of his international players.

He had made thorough preparations beforehand, but this was a first for Bayswater Chinese.

Both the staff and the players lacked experience in many matters.

This inevitably led to oversights in their work.

Yang Cheng had been originally more concerned about Yaya Touré, who was returning to Africa for matches, but the Ivorian’s return went smoothly.

On the other hand, Modrić’s return flight was affected after he travelled with Croatia for an away game in Malta.

Leon Andreassen, who went to Georgia with Denmark, also returned a day later than expected.

This completely disrupted Yang Cheng’s plans.

Chapter 84: One Goal to Fame! Ribéry Unleashed!

September 10th, afternoon. The Hawthorns, West Bromwich.

Premier League, Round 5. Bayswater Chinese challenged West Bromwich Albion away.

The staggered return times of several international players threw a wrench into Yang Cheng’s original plans and deployments.

This was especially problematic considering the tightly packed schedule after the league resumed.

It forced Yang Cheng to change his plans and make adjustments.

But in the 26th minute, The Baggies’ midfielder, Jonathan Greening, unleashed an unexpected long shot that broke the deadlock.

Bayswater Chinese then launched a frenzied counter-attack, but The Baggies defended with great discipline.

It wasn’t until the second minute of first-half stoppage time that Gökhan Inler made an overlapping run and fired a shot from near the penalty spot, equalizing for Bayswater Chinese.

In the second half, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions, but they were still unable to break through West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

In the end, the two sides shook hands on a 1-1 draw.

Yang Cheng was prepared for this and didn’t blame his players.

Džeko, Roger Johnson, and others were given starting spots, while young players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott came on as substitutes in the second half.

…

The evening of September 15th, Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany.

UEFA Cup third round knockout stage, first leg. Bayswater Chinese challenged Mainz away from home.

Because their home ground, the Bruchwegstadion, had too small a capacity with only 20,300 seats, Mainz specially arranged for their UEFA Cup home games to be held at the larger Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.

Both teams were participating in a European competition for the first time.

Although Mainz had luckily secured a spot in the UEFA Cup, they had to start from the first qualifying round.

In the first two knockout rounds, they faced Armenian cup champions FC Mika and Icelandic team Keflavík ÍF, winning both ties with a 4-0 aggregate score.

Looking at Mainz’s previous four cup matches, they had basically taken full advantage of their home ground to establish an early lead in the first leg.

Yes, in the previous two knockout rounds, Mainz had played at home first, then away.

This time, facing Bayswater Chinese, was no different.

Unlike their unstoppable momentum in the UEFA Cup, Mainz’s situation in the Bundesliga was dire. They were currently at the bottom of the table with four straight losses, having scored one goal and conceded eight.

A 1-0 away loss to FC Köln, a 2-0 home loss to Werder Bremen, and a 2-0 away loss to Arminia Bielefeld.

And their most recent match was a 3-1 home loss to Hamburger SV.

If losing to Werder Bremen and Hamburg was somewhat excusable, then losing to newly promoted FC Köln and relegation-battling Bielefeld was cause for serious concern.

Before the match, Mainz head coach Jürgen Klopp had confidently declared, “We will treat our fans to a full-throttle football match!”

And as it turned out, Klopp’s team was incredibly aggressive during the game.

They were like a Mercedes with the pedal to the metal, relentlessly charging at the Bayswater Chinese goal.

But they soon discovered that this team from the Premier League was completely different from Mika or Keflavík. Not only did they withstand Mainz’s attacks, but they could also launch threatening counter-attacks.

Klopp’s most relied-upon Egyptian striker, Zidan, struggled to make an impact as the lone striker against Bayswater Chinese’s organized defense.

Lassana Diarra marked Mainz’s core midfielder, the Brazilian Antônio da Silva, tightly, completely neutralizing the Brazilian midfielder and preventing Mainz’s midfield from organizing any effective attacks.

Added to that, Neuer, returning to Germany, was in a highly agitated and excellent form.

From the very start of the match, Mainz struggled to create any offensive threat.

However, the backline led by Friedrich also ensured that the visiting team’s counter-attacks repeatedly came to nothing.

This stalemate lasted into the second half.

Klopp was the first to make a change in the 60th minute.

He substituted off right-sided player Luman and midfielder Antônio da Silva in one go.

Yang Cheng also brought on Ashley Young for Ribéry, who was running out of steam.

The Frenchman had first played for the national team, then played successive matches after returning to the club. In this game, he was heavily marked by Mainz and his performance was rather average.

By the 74th minute, a fruitless Mainz made their final substitution.

Centre-forward Benjamin Auer replaced midfielder Fabian Gerber, further bolstering their attack.

At this point, Mainz’s formation had shifted to a 4-4-2.

Yang Cheng acted decisively, calling the young Walcott from the bench to warm up.

Soon, the young English player was back by Yang Cheng’s side, listening to his head coach’s instructions.

“See that number 28?”

Walcott nodded. “Mathias Abel.”

“Good. When you go on, have Ashley Young move to the right wing, and you play on the left.”

Walcott looked at his head coach with some surprise.

He was a right-footed player, and playing on the left would make it awkward to cross the ball.

Yang Cheng saw Walcott’s confusion, put a hand on his shoulder, and spoke patiently, “Your left foot is pretty good. You need to have more confidence in yourself.”

“Abel is 1.88 meters tall and has played two games in a row. He’s very tired. His pace and agility are his weaknesses, but that’s precisely your greatest strength.”

Mainz’s left-back was number 24, Benjamin Weigelt, who was quite fast.

Aaron Lennon had tried several fast counter-attacks but couldn’t get the better of him.

Klopp had first substituted the right-sided Luman, then Antônio da Silva, and now Gerber, changing to a 4-4-2. It was clear he wanted to strengthen the attack.

“I’ll have the midfield and Lambert set you up. Seize the opportunity, make a diagonal run in behind, and take the shot yourself!”

After speaking, Yang Cheng gave Walcott’s shoulder a firm pat of encouragement.

The young English player was only sixteen, but hearing Yang Cheng’s words sent waves crashing through his heart.

He was completely thrilled.

…

Walcott came on for Aaron Lennon.

No one knew what Yang Cheng intended for a 16-year-old to do on the pitch.

Walcott didn’t run to the right wing.

During his time at the Southampton youth academy, Walcott had played as a striker and on the right wing.

But he would occasionally fill in on the left.

This time, after coming on, he ran over to have a word with Ashley Young, who then moved to the right.

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, gesturing to Modrić and the others in midfield.

When he turned around, he happened to see Klopp, in front of the home team’s bench, looking over at him.

Yang Cheng responded with a confident smile.

The match resumed.

The situation didn’t seem much different from before.

The two newly substituted players, Ashley Young and Walcott, were both quite active.

This was normal.

Substitutes always have plenty of energy.

The Mainz players and staff didn’t pay it much mind and continued to press their attack.

After Benjamin Auer came on, he formed a “one tall, one fast” striker partnership with Zidan.

Klopp’s intention was obvious: use the centre-forward Benjamin Auer to engage in a physical battle with the centre-backs and free up Zidan.

The “Egyptian Zidane” had excellent speed and skill.

But Yang Cheng had no intention of letting him have his way.

Bayswater Chinese began to deepen their defensive line, pulling their midfield and attack back to further compress the space Zidan had to receive the ball.

On the pitch, this looked more like Bayswater Chinese was steadily retreating under Mainz’s full-blown assault.

The on-site commentator even cracked a joke.

“Benjamin Auer said not long ago that he’s in great shape, that he could even chase down antelopes while on vacation in Africa.”

“Now, he should show us that same form and speed from Africa.”

“Time is running out. Klopp’s team needs to hit the turbo!”

Not only did the commentator think so, and the fans in the stadium think so, but the Mainz players on the pitch thought so too.

…

Walcott didn’t need to understand German; he could feel the roar of the more than thirty thousand fans in the stadium.

But tonight, he was destined to be the enemy of those thirty thousand people!

After coming on, he ran incessantly.

Whenever his team had the ball, he would quickly move to a position that made it easy for him to sprint.

After playing for so many years, he knew exactly under what conditions he could launch himself with the most certainty and at his top speed.

But after waiting for several chances, his teammates could never find the right moment for a pass.

Mainz’s defense, especially their counter-press after losing the ball, was very intense.

In that respect, they were quite similar to Bayswater Chinese.

But Walcott kept running.

Football is the art of failure.

Out of 100 chances, failing 99 times doesn’t matter, as long as you succeed once. That’s enough.

The match entered the 80th minute.

Mainz was clearly intensifying their attack.

In the 83rd minute, a Bayswater Chinese pass was intercepted in midfield.

Captain Modrić quickly counter-pressed, chasing down Mainz’s holding midfielder, Peković.

Watching it even got Walcott fired up.

The 1.71-meter Modrić against the 1.89-meter Peković; whether in height or build, Modrić was at an absolute disadvantage.

But the Croatian stubbornly stuck to him, tangling with his opponent.

The tall and bulky Peković wasn’t great on the ball, and with Modrić hounding him, his footwork became messy.

In the midst of the chaos, the Croatian poked the ball.

Possession was lost.

Mainz immediately counter-pressed.

Andreassen rushed up, trying to kick the ball forward.

But it hit a defender and ricocheted in another direction.

In the confusion, Lassana Diarra got to the ball first, shielded it from the pressing Mainz player with his body, and passed it out to the right.

Piszczek made a quick overlapping run and kicked the ball forward.

The kick was part clearance, part long pass.

Lambert immediately started moving forward, constantly looking up to judge the ball’s trajectory.

Walcott, meanwhile, quickly got into position and shouted Lambert’s name.

The English centre-forward understood, positioned himself first, leaped high, and flicked the ball on with his head.

Lambert grazed the ball, sending it towards the front-left space behind the Mainz defensive line.

And at almost the exact same moment, Walcott, who had been coiled like a spring, shot out like a cheetah on the African savanna locking onto an antelope, leaving the Mainz defender Abel with nothing but a red blur in his wake.

So fast!

“Danger!”

“A counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“It’s Walcott, who just came on…”

Before the commentator could even finish his sentence, Walcott had already caught up to Lambert’s pass.

The Mainz defenders were all mercilessly left behind him.

The ball bounced upon landing.

Like a flash of lightning, Walcott caught up, knocked the ball forward with a touch, and chased it again, already inside the penalty area.

At this moment, the Mainz defenders were still outside the box, watching the red figure in despair.

One-on-one with the German goalkeeper Timo Wache, Walcott first slowed down, calmly adjusted the ball at his feet, and then decided against using his right foot.

Because he saw how Timo Wache was positioned.

So, he swung his left foot and shot.

Faced with such a strike, Timo Wache was powerless.

Walcott’s left-footed shot sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal!

The entire stadium erupted in gasps of astonishment.

Walcott turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting wildly.

“Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Mainz’s goal!”

“1-0!”

“It’s the young English player, Theo Walcott!”

“That goal reminds us all of Michael Owen in his early days!”

“No, Theo Walcott is even younger than Owen was.”

“16 years and 6 months old!”

“This is the second-youngest goalscorer in the history of the UEFA Cup!”

“Walcott surpasses Sweden’s Leif Andersson to become the second-youngest goalscorer in UEFA Cup history.”

“Ahead of him is the Ghanaian midfielder Nii Lamptey, who played for Anderlecht in 1991. He scored a goal against Roma at the age of 16 years, 2 months, and 18 days.”

“But Walcott is the youngest goalscorer in the UEFA Cup in the new century.”

The moment Walcott scored, Yang Cheng couldn’t suppress a cheer and applauded vigorously.

“This kid is going to be famous!”

Brian Kidd, also English and a former short striker himself, was particularly excited.

…

The match continued.

After Walcott’s goal, Yang Cheng felt much more relaxed.

Mainz began to counter-attack, but they had to be wary of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks.

Once the situation stabilized a bit, Yang Cheng was in the mood to walk back to the coach’s bench and chat with his assistants.

“Brian, I’m entrusting Walcott and Gareth Bale to you. You have to keep a close eye on them.”

Yang Cheng said jokingly as he took the water handed to him by a staff member.

It was a joke, but it was also serious business.

“The kid definitely has a lot of potential, especially that speed. It’s incredibly fast, absolutely on par with Lennon.”

Yang Cheng nodded. Their speeds were about the same.

For now, Aaron Lennon was more of a threat on the right wing than Walcott.

But Yang Cheng believed that with the right development, Walcott’s achievements could be even greater.

Because he listened to advice.

Lennon and Walcott shared a common trait: they were short and slender.

This meant they were weaker in physical confrontations on the pitch.

Even someone as talented and technically gifted as Messi had to undergo major recovery when he first started out due to his weakness in physical duels.

C. Ronaldo was also physically weak when he started, but he gradually built himself up.

For speedy players like Lennon, Walcott, and Robben, any collision during a high-speed sprint isn’t just a matter of falling down; it’s very easy to get injured.

This leads to the common problem of speed-based players being injury-prone.

There’s no magic solution for this, only strengthening their physical conditioning.

Yang Cheng had told Aaron Lennon many times that his technique, changes of direction, and feints were excellent, making him a real threat on the right. But to advance further, he needed to improve his physicality to become more well-rounded and adaptable.

But Aaron Lennon was very resistant to the gym and wasn’t keen on adapting to more changes.

That was his personality.

Walcott, on the other hand, had skills and fundamentals that were considered outstanding among his English peers.

Of course, compared to the exceptionally skilled players of his age from mainland Europe, he was only considered above average.

But he was fast, explosive, and very agile.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Arsenal fans liked to joke that Walcott’s dribbling ability was a “fall-down dribble.”

The reason behind this was his poor physical strength.

Numerous injuries had further exacerbated his fear of physical contact.

On top of that, injuries led to a decline in speed, weakening his advantage.

Think about it, given Wenger’s preference for technical players, if Walcott hadn’t shown a sufficiently excellent technical foundation at Southampton, why would Wenger have even noticed him?

Why would he have considered him the next Henry?

“Walcott has a lot of issues right now. Besides being too frail, his dribbling at high speed is fine, but the transition in his movements when changing pace or direction is very problematic. We have to help him find that rhythm,” Brian Kidd said, looking at Yang Cheng.

“Right now, his transitions from fast to slow and slow to fast, or when he makes sudden changes in direction, his technical movements aren’t smooth enough, and his rhythm is chaotic.”

These were things that could be improved with training.

But training alone wasn’t enough. He needed more match time to polish his skills and put them into practice.

To grow and improve by constantly making mistakes.

That’s how young players are. Some get it instantly and master it.

But others can’t. They need to keep making mistakes, correcting them, making more mistakes, correcting them again…

Neither Walcott nor Gareth Bale were the type of players who were particularly clever.

Incidentally, although both were incredibly fast and explosive, their characteristics were completely different.

Gareth Bale was the type with a direct, powerful style; his height meant he had to strengthen his upper body.

Just like in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

When breaking through at high speed, if a defender leaned in, Gareth Bale was the type who could use his physical attributes to drag the opponent along while sprinting. His greatest advantage was his stamina.

Therefore, he could maintain a top-speed sprint for a long distance.

Walcott, on the other hand, was the type to fall over with a nudge; after all, his height was what it was.

There was no good or bad between these two types; they could even complement each other.

That’s why Yang Cheng was willing to spend three million pound sterling to poach both players from Southampton.

Brian Kidd had developed many young players at Manchester United, including Ryan Giggs, who had an incredible sense of rhythm.

Yang Cheng believed his assistant could help him develop these two wingers well.

And for the time being, he would be very cautious in how he used them.

He would mostly bring them on as substitutes in the second half, because at that point, both teams would be tired, and speedy players like them could easily shine.

Just like tonight against Mainz.

When they perform well, their confidence grows.

And, they’re less likely to get injured.

The biggest taboo in developing young players is frequent injuries.

This brought them back to improving physical strength, where gym training was essential.

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a 1-0 victory in Germany, thanks to Walcott’s goal, killing the game against Mainz.

After the match, the whole of England was in an uproar!

England and Germany had long been rivals, with deep-seated animosity between them.

More importantly, Walcott’s goal as a substitute reminded so many people of Michael Owen in his prime.

The image of “The Boy Wonder” was still fondly remembered by countless people.

Media outlets like The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Mirror, and The Times all ran extensive reports on Walcott’s goal, hyping up the significance behind it.

The second-youngest goalscorer in the history of the UEFA Cup!

And he scored in his very first European match!

For an England that was desperately hoping for a genius to emerge, this was like a godsend.

The media hype grew more and more outrageous, even starting to call for Eriksson to select Walcott for the national team.

In response, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese adopted a cool-headed approach.

Yang Cheng first called Walcott in for a talk, reminding him not to be distracted by the outside world and to focus on football and improving himself.

“Brian Kidd and the coaching staff will be creating further strength training programs for you and Gareth, especially for your physical conditioning.”

“We have very high expectations for you. Don’t ever be satisfied with what you’ve achieved so far!”

After having cold water poured on him by the head coach, Walcott promised to continue working hard.

Still not entirely at ease, Yang Cheng called agent Jonathan Barnett, reminding him not to talk recklessly in interviews and disrupt the club’s rhythm in developing Walcott and Gareth Bale.

Additionally, Yang Cheng hoped the agent would step in to reassure the players’ families.

“Remember what I told you before?”

“You mean… Rooney?”

“That’s right. I don’t know if you believed me back then, but now, you should know I wasn’t talking nonsense.”

After Jonathan Barnett repeatedly said he wouldn’t dare, Yang Cheng continued, “We will do our utmost to develop these two players. As long as the players and their families cooperate, barring any accidents, their future achievements will be no less than Rooney’s.”

As an agent, Jonathan Barnett knew very well what “accidents” Yang Cheng was referring to, besides injuries.

“Don’t worry, Yang. I assure you again, I will cooperate to the fullest!”

Jonathan Barnett was desperate for one of his clients to become the next Rooney.

After receiving assurances from the player and the agent, Bayswater Chinese rejected all media requests to interview Walcott and also urged all media outlets to give the player a more relaxed environment to grow.

“He’s still just a kid!” the club’s CEO, Adam Crozier, appealed to the media.

…

After playing in Frankfurt, Germany on the 15th and returning to London, the 6th round of the Premier League welcomed them on the 18th.

This time, the opponent was Middlesbrough.

As it happened, just 13 minutes into the game, Australian centre-forward Mark Viduka scored with a header, breaching the goal guarded by Neuer.

After that, Bayswater Chinese frantically counter-attacked.

It wasn’t until the 68th minute of the second half that substitute Ashley Young made his mark.

The homegrown English player scored with a shot from an overlapping run, leveling the score for Bayswater Chinese.

Unfortunately, despite the home team’s relentless attacks, they ultimately failed to score again against Middlesbrough.

1-1, the two sides shook hands on a draw!

After 6 rounds, Bayswater Chinese remained undefeated with a record of 3 wins and 3 draws.

However, in the league standings, the team had lost its top spot.

Mourinho’s Chelsea was at the top of the table with 15 points from 5 wins and 1 loss.

Following them were West Ham United with 13 points, and then Bayswater Chinese, Charlton Athletic, and Manchester United, all with 12 points.

…

On the evening of September 20th, in the second round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bournemouth.

The last time they faced Bournemouth, Yang Cheng’s team was in the third tier, League Two, which was now League One.

Meeting again, Yang Cheng opted to field a full reserve team to give his main players a good rest.

In the past week alone, the team had played three consecutive matches. Although there had been rotation, the young players in the squad were still under a lot of pressure, and their form was not ideal.

The failure to defeat Middlesbrough was the best proof of this.

The Bayswater Chinese of today was no longer the team it once was.

Even with a full reserve lineup, they still controlled the game smoothly.

Up front, Yang Cheng even fielded a combination of Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Walcott.

The attacking trident took turns storming Bournemouth’s defenses.

But it wasn’t until the 76th minute of the second half that Džeko finally scored.

Throughout the match, they created quite a few chances, but for various reasons, they failed to convert them.

In the end, the team defeated Bournemouth 1-0 and advanced to the third round of the League Cup.

…

September 24th, afternoon. Goodison Park, Liverpool.

Premier League, Round 7. Bayswater Chinese challenged Everton away.

This season, Everton’s start had been terrible, with 1 win and 5 losses, currently placing them 19th in the Premier League.

Their home record was especially poor, with 3 losses in 3 games.

This had the outside world very worried about Everton’s performance.

David Moyes, playing at home, opted for a more cautious and stable 4-5-1 formation.

Throughout the first half, Everton’s solid defense managed to stifle Bayswater Chinese’s repeated attacks.

Former Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper Joe Hart performed well.

But The Toffees themselves failed to create any decent attacking opportunities.

Ultimately, the first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng made a decisive adjustment. With the attack at a stalemate, he encouraged Yaya Touré to make more overlapping runs and use his dribbling ability to create a threat.

Just over a minute into the second half, it was Yaya Touré who charged forward with the ball. Modrić sent a pass into the box trying to find Lambert, but it was blocked by centre-back Yobo.

The ball fell to the edge of the penalty arc.

Yaya Touré followed up quickly and hit it on the volley.

The ball skimmed across the grass and shot into the right side of the goal guarded by Joe Hart.

After conceding, Moyes went for broke.

First, in the 49th minute, he brought on centre-forward Marcus Bent for midfielder Kevin Kilbane.

Then, in the 58th minute, he brought on tall center-forward Duncan Ferguson for midfielder Simon Davies.

Both substitutions were a midfielder for a centre-forward.

Clearly, Moyes was trying to employ a tactic of “what we lack in quality, we make up for in quantity,” simply stacking up bodies.

But just as he did, in the 67th minute, after winning the ball back in their own half, a quick passing combination ensued.

A series of one-touch passes from the midfielders sent the ball to Ribéry on the left flank.

Ribéry’s form had been in a noticeable slump since returning from international duty.

After all, it was his first time playing for the national team, and it was normal for his form to fluctuate after the initial excitement wore off.

But this time, after receiving the ball, he broke past Phil Neville and dribbled into the left side of Everton’s penalty area.

Facing centre-back Yobo, who had tracked back to block him, Ribéry had a flash of inspiration and backheeled the ball.

Modrić, making an overlapping run, received the ball to the left of the penalty spot and slotted it into the left side of Joe Hart’s goal with a side-footed shot.

2-0!

Subsequently, Yang Cheng brought on Gareth Bale and Walcott in succession, allowing the two youngsters to continue their development.

This not only utilized their speed advantage to maintain a threat on the counter-attack but also saved energy for the midweek UEFA Cup match.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Everton 2-0 away from home.

…

After losing 1-0 at home to Bayswater Chinese in the first leg, Klopp had made a bold statement.

“We swear we will turn it around in the away leg!”

In the following three Bundesliga matches, Mainz had one win, one draw, and one loss.

First, a 2-1 home loss to VfB Stuttgart, followed by a 2-0 away win against Kaiserslautern, and finally a 1-1 home draw against Borussia Dortmund.

Compared to their previous four-game losing streak, Mainz’s performance had shown a clear improvement.

This gave Klopp more confidence.

Before he even arrived in London, he began to frequently provoke his opponents.

This was also one of his strategies.

Through such provocations, he aimed to build confidence in his underdog Mainz side.

His words were tough, but his actions were honest.

Unlike the 4-3-3 he deployed at home in the first leg, Klopp was more cautious in the away leg.

It still looked like a 4-3-3, but in reality, during the match, forwards Zidan and Thurk mostly roamed behind the centre-forward Auer.

The three midfielders were the same as in the first leg, but da Silva and Gerber dropped deeper, level with Peković, in a setup resembling a three-man holding midfield.

Only during attacks would they choose their moments to surge forward.

This made Mainz’s formation look more like a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree.

In a match, formations are static, but players are dynamic.

But Klopp’s mindset was clearly much more cautious than in the first leg.

Yet, no matter how cautious, he was still that passionate boxer.

…

Since the national team training camp, Ribéry’s form had taken a significant downturn.

Although he had a beautiful backheel assist against Everton, the media still didn’t let him off the hook afterwards.

Compared to the first four rounds, it was like Ribéry was a different person.

Many media outlets even worried whether the Ribéry of the first four rounds had been just a flash in the pan.

In response, during a team meeting in the dressing room, Yang Cheng repeatedly emphasized his faith and support for Ribéry.

“This is a normal fluctuation in form. I firmly believe he can get through it quickly.”

Yang Cheng also reiterated that, under any circumstances, Ribéry was the team’s most important core player.

This trust from Yang Cheng deeply moved Ribéry.

At the meeting, he personally promised that he would regain his form as soon as possible and hit back at the external criticism!

Yang Cheng guessed that, given Klopp’s personality and the first-leg deficit, Mainz would adopt a more ferocious, all-out attack at the start of the game.

At the very least, they had to snatch a goal first.

Both were new to European competitions.

Being a goal down for a long time would put immense pressure on the players.

The enemy on a football pitch is never just the opponent, but also time.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s opening tactic was to set a trap for Mainz to walk right into.

Then Bayswater Chinese would punch right back!

…

The evening of September 28th, Loftus Road Stadium, London.

UEFA Cup third round knockout stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Mainz.

Just over four minutes into the match, Mainz lost the ball during a forward attack.

Leighton Baines quickly initiated a counter-attack, passing the ball to Ribéry in the attacking half.

On the left wing, the French winger found himself double-teamed by defenders Abel and Gerber.

Everyone thought Bayswater Chinese’s quick counter-attack was dead in the water.

But unexpectedly, Ribéry, with deft footwork, used continuous changes of pace and direction to somehow dribble the ball out of the tight space on the flank.

In an instant, the entire Loftus Road Stadium, with over eighteen thousand fans, erupted in an uproar.

Even the on-site commentator couldn’t help but exclaim.

“He’s out!!”

“Ribéry brought the ball out!”

“Bayswater Chinese are on the attack!”

“Ribéry cuts inside with the ball…”

“A sudden stop, he’s beaten centre-back Friedrich…”

“He shoots!”

“GOAL!!!!”

“RIBERY SCORES!!!”

“An absolutely beautiful wonder goal!”

“A curling shot from the left side of the penalty arc, straight into the right side of the goal!”

“A shot from Franck Ribéry after cutting inside from the left wing!”

“That was brilliant!”

“In a tight space on the flank, he beat two defenders, then beat Friedrich as he cut inside.”

“Ribéry has exploded right from the start tonight!”

“Now, all doubts and worries about him can be put to rest.”

“This goal will silence everyone!”

“Less than five minutes into the game, Ribéry has given Bayswater Chinese the lead!”

In the stadium, all the fans leaped from their seats, screaming Ribéry’s name at the top of their lungs.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng also jumped up excitedly, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting Ribéry’s name.

Having coached for 30 years in his previous life, Yang Cheng knew all too well about players’ fluctuations in form.

Especially with these young players.

The media outside just wanted to create some news.

Yang Cheng quickly turned around again, waving his hands vigorously at the fans in the stands.

The atmosphere in the stadium immediately became even more fervent.

…

With Ribéry’s goal four minutes in, Mainz found themselves in a very difficult situation.

They were now two-nil behind on aggregate.

In such a desperate situation, many teams, especially a team like Mainz that was struggling in their domestic league, would naturally choose to give up.

Or even collapse.

But Yang Cheng didn’t believe it.

Because his opponent was Klopp.

As a team molded by Klopp, Yang Cheng refused to believe Mainz would be so easily defeated.

So, he repeatedly warned his players to be careful.

And he was right.

Conceding a goal four minutes in meant everyone knew the head coach’s starting tactics had been countered.

But Mainz’s attacks only grew fiercer.

It was as if their players completely ignored the score, didn’t care how many goals they conceded, and just attacked!

Single-mindedly attacking!

This wasn’t a difficult task for Bayswater Chinese.

They stuck to their opening tactic, continuing to set a trap for Mainz to walk into.

It was just that Mainz was more cautious now, so it took a little longer.

It wasn’t until the 34th minute that Bayswater Chinese seized another opportunity.

Lambert dropped back from the front line to link up with the midfield, completing a one-two with Modrić. The Croatian then burst into the center of the penalty area, drawing the attention of two centre-backs, before suddenly passing the ball to the left with his left foot.

Ribéry made a diagonal run into the left side of the box, caught up to Modrić’s pass, and slotted the ball into Mainz’s goal again.

A brace!

The French winger ran to the sideline, so激动 that he fell to his knees and roared at the sky.

Being two-nil down at halftime, three-nil down on aggregate, still didn’t stop Mainz.

After the break, the German team was still on the attack.

Especially at the beginning of the second half, Mainz created two very threatening chances.

First, a shot from Benjamin Auer hit the top of the crossbar.

Then, a header from Thurk was heroically saved by Neuer.

But just as Mainz thought they saw a glimmer of hope, in the 67th minute, a quick attack by Bayswater Chinese saw Ribéry pass the ball wide left. Leighton Baines overlapped and sent in a cross.

Lambert got to the ball first, heading it in from close range, and once again found the back of Mainz’s net.

3-0!

The entire crowd was cheering hoarsely.

This was a beautiful game!

The away team wasn’t conservative, the home team was more efficient, and the pace was fast. It was truly a great and exciting match!

As the match entered the 70th minute, Mainz, having played consecutive games, showed clear signs of fatigue.

Seeing that the outcome was decided, Yang Cheng made substitutions again.

Several of the team’s young players and substitutes were brought on for experience.

Mainz managed to score in the 81st minute from a corner kick. Friedrich got on the end of da Silva’s corner and headed the ball in.

It was Mainz’s only goal across the two legs.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 3-1 at home, defeating Mainz with a comprehensive 4-1 aggregate score.

…

Over the past few years, with the expansion of the Champions League, the influence of the UEFA Cup had been declining year by year.

But Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 home victory over Mainz still caught the attention of the European media.

Because the match attracted the attention of media and fans from England, France, and Germany.

The interest from England and Germany was a given, fueled by the long-standing rivalry.

The French media was more focused on Ribéry and Chimbonda.

Especially Ribéry.

As one of Domenech’s most highly regarded new talents for the national team, Ribéry’s excellent performance in the Premier League had French media and fans extremely excited, believing he could be the leader of France’s new generation after Zidane.

Ribéry’s recent slump in form had also caused concern among many in the French media.

But this brace silenced all the critics.

This was a great relief to the French media and fans, who naturally became even more optimistic about Ribéry.

The British media, on the other hand, was generally praising Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding performance.

As a newly promoted team, they remained undefeated in the Premier League with 4 wins and 3 draws.

They were also the only remaining unbeaten team in the Premier League.

With 15 points, the same as second-place Charlton, they were third in the Premier League, trailing Chelsea’s 18 points.

In the UEFA Cup, they had defeated Mainz in both legs to enter the group stage.

Such a performance, for a newly promoted team, was truly remarkable.

The evaluation of Bayswater Chinese by the British media and fans continued to rise.

As for the German media…

In recent years, the competitiveness of the Bundesliga had been declining annually.

They were used to it.

…

After the Mainz game, Yang Cheng turned his attention to the 8th round of the Premier League, a home match against Bolton.

Just as Yang Cheng had assessed Bolton before the season, they were another tough opponent.

Not only were the players brought in under the “Bolton model” of good quality, but head coach Allardyce was also a renowned English manager.

Yang Cheng dared not underestimate such a team.

Besides the league, the upcoming UEFA Cup group stage draw also caught Yang Cheng’s attention.

This time, Adam Crozier would personally travel to Nyon, Switzerland, to observe the draw.

Speaking of which, the current UEFA Cup group stage was quite complex.

After the third knockout round, the 40 qualifying teams would be divided into 8 groups.

Each group would have 5 teams, who would then play against each other.

But the UEFA Cup schedule had to align closely with the Champions League group stage schedule.

After the group stage, the top 3 teams from each group would advance, meaning 24 teams, who would then be joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the Champions League groups to form the round of 32, entering a two-legged knockout stage.

The UEFA Cup group stage started in October, and with one more team per group than the Champions League, a double round-robin format was impossible.

So, the UEFA Cup group stage schedule was that each team would play every other team in its group once, for a total of 4 matches.

Of these 4 matches, there would be exactly 2 home and 2 away games.

Who played whom at home and away was determined by the draw.

This format could easily produce major upsets.

For example, Moyes’ Everton suffered a 5-1 away defeat to Dinamo București of Romania in the first leg of the third knockout round.

Although they won the second leg 1-0 at home and were eliminated, they at least had a chance to turn things around.

If it were in the group stage, where they only play once.

This meant the home and away draw was very important.

To advance from the group stage, every match had to be fought for.

To balance the strength distribution in each group, UEFA used a system of seeded teams and pots.

But this meant that Bayswater Chinese, participating in a European competition for the first time, was destined to be placed in the last pot.

In other words, the possibility of being drawn into a “group of death” was not small.

This was a source of concern for both the external media and within the club.

Yang Cheng was naturally not unconcerned, but he knew that what was needed most at this time was not worry.

But confidence.

So, in the tactical meeting preparing for the Bolton match, he loudly “reassured” his players.

“Don’t worry about who we’ll draw. That’s something our opponents should worry about!”

“In all of European football, whoever draws us, they’re the ones who should be worried and feel unlucky!”

“We have absolutely no need for any psychological pressure or burden. We just need to play to our normal strength and beat our opponents. That’s enough!”

Yang Cheng’s confident declaration helped everyone on the team regain their self-assurance.

Chapter 85: Last-minute winner! Poaching from Barça

Yang Cheng’s eighth round in the Premier League began with a heated confrontation.

Facing the formidable Bolton, Bayswater Chinese immediately went on the attack, leveraging their home advantage.

However, it was Bolton who got the first shot off.

During a swift counter-attack, Matt Jansen sent a cross from the left. At the far post, Kevin Nolan beat José Fonte to the ball and connected with a sliding volley.

Neuer’s positioning was impeccable, and he securely caught the ball.

But the home team continued their offensive and soon won a corner kick.

Centre-back Škrtel rose fiercely in the left channel of the six-yard box for a powerful header, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

But before the team could celebrate, the head referee, Alan Wiley, blew his whistle, indicating a foul during the corner kick. The goal was disallowed.

The decision sent a roar of boos throughout Loftus Road Stadium.

Just two minutes later, Ribéry dribbled into the penalty area and went down under the close marking of centre-back Tal Ben Haim.

Yet again, the referee made no call.

Bolton seized the opportunity to launch a counter-attack. While Bayswater Chinese were protesting for a penalty, Bolton struck with devastating speed.

Diouf received the ball on the left and assisted Stelios Giannakopoulos, who broke through Neuer’s defense.

Alan Wiley blew his whistle. The goal stood!

This sequence of events enraged the Bayswater Chinese players and staff.

Yang Cheng was absolutely livid on the touchline.

The slow-motion replay on the stadium’s big screen clearly showed Ben Haim committing a foul on Ribéry with his hands.

It should have been a penalty kick for Bayswater Chinese!

Not only was the penalty denied, but it also led to an opportunity for the opposition to score?

For his overly aggressive protest on the sidelines, Yang Cheng was shown a yellow card by the referee.

“You just wait! I’m definitely filing a complaint against you!” Yang Cheng yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Alan Wiley.

The fourth official hurried over to defuse the situation.

This was also a strategy for crowd control.

If they sent Yang Cheng off, the situation would escalate even further.

And didn’t Yang Cheng know it?

He adopted this stance partly because he was genuinely furious about the incorrect call.

But he also wanted the players on the pitch to know that their head coach stood with them.

“Don’t overthink it! Keep going at them!”

Yang Cheng roared at his players on the field.

The match that followed became incredibly intense. Both sides tackled aggressively, and the atmosphere was tense.

Then, in the 10th minute, after a link-up with Leighton Baines on the left flank, Ribéry crossed the ball into the box for Lambert.

The cross was cleared by an opposing centre-back and fell to the right wing.

Ashley Young secured the loose ball, saw his moment, and sent another cross from the right.

But this time, he wasn’t aiming for Lambert; he was aiming for the far post.

Leighton Baines made a rapid diagonal run into the box, met Ashley Young’s cross, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that found the back of Bolton’s net. 1-1!

After that, the game was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading blows in a fiery contest.

But in the 32nd minute, another cross from Ashley Young on the right landed perfectly in the middle, just in front of the six-yard box. Lambert fought through his markers and tapped the ball into the goal.

2-1!

The turnaround!

The entire stadium erupted in a frenzy!

Furious at being overturned by Bayswater Chinese, Bolton ramped up the aggression in their defending.

Midfielder Kevin Nolan committed a malicious foul on Modrić.

But the referee was lenient once more, issuing only a yellow card.

Naturally, Yang Cheng again voiced his displeasure.

After half-time, Bayswater Chinese came out firing again.

In the 51st minute, Modrić drew a foul about 20 metres from goal in an advanced position.

Bayswater Chinese were awarded an attacking free-kick in a very promising spot.

Ribéry performed a feint, then gently tapped the ball.

Yaya Touré, storming in from behind, met the ball and unleashed a thunderous shot.

3-1!

Brimming with pent-up frustration, the home team pressed their advantage, continuing their relentless assault on Bolton.

In the 54th minute, Ribéry orchestrated a beautiful series of quick one-twos with Modrić and Lambert in the left channel.

As the Frenchman was about to burst into Bolton’s penalty area, Kevin Nolan, who had tracked back diligently but could no longer stop him, opted to commit a foul.

This time, the referee had no choice. He showed Nolan another yellow card, resulting in a red that sent him off the pitch.

Down a man, Bolton’s situation became even more dire.

In the 56th minute, Modrić threaded a lethal through ball. Ribéry broke into the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot into the net.

4-1!

Then, in the 71st minute, Yaya Touré made an overlapping run with the ball and chipped it forward from the edge of the box.

Ribéry dashed into the left side of the area and sent a pass across the middle for Lambert.

Somehow, despite being served the goal on a silver platter, Lambert, under pressure from two defenders, failed to convert.

Instead, at the far post, Ashley Young followed up and tapped the ball in with ease.

5-1!

Sometimes, scoring goals really is a matter of luck!

Yang Cheng himself never imagined the match would turn into such a resounding victory.

Seeing the aggrieved yet helpless expression on Allardyce’s face, he broke into a pleased smile.

With the victory secured, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions.

The team continued to create chances.

First, Džeko, who had come on as a substitute, hit the crossbar with a shot.

Walcott also had a goal disallowed for offside after the linesman raised his flag.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese crushed Bolton 5-1 at home!

After the match, Yaya Touré, who delivered an outstanding performance, was named Man of the Match.

However, in Sky Sports’ post-match ratings, Ribéry and Yaya Touré were tied, both receiving a score of 8.

It was an excellent result.

The Frenchman had successfully emerged from his recent slump, hitting another peak in form.

Unfortunately, after the Bolton match, it was time for another international break.

…

The day after the Bolton match, the UEFA Cup group stage draw was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Perhaps because Yang Cheng and the others had been somewhat pessimistic before the draw, they were actually quite satisfied with the result.

They were placed in Group D. Their opponents drawn, starting from Pot 1, were AZ Alkmaar from the Eredivisie, Hamburger SV from the Bundesliga, Grasshopper from Switzerland, and Dnipro from Ukraine.

Looking at the draw on paper, it seemed like a very tough group.

AZ Alkmaar’s head coach was van Gaal, and they were a very competitive team in the Eredivisie.

Hamburger SV, the formidable Kings of the North of the Bundesliga, needed no introduction, boasting tough players like van der Vaart and Nigel de Jong.

Grasshopper were no pushovers either, while Dnipro of Ukraine was simply too far away.

So why was the draw considered decent?

According to the rules, they would play four group stage matches: two at home and two away.

Bayswater Chinese’s two away games were against Grasshopper and AZ Alkmaar.

The slightly weaker Grasshopper were in Switzerland, while the stronger AZ Alkmaar were in the Netherlands, just across the English Channel.

As far as European away trips went, Yang Cheng considered this an ideal scenario.

At the very least, they wouldn’t have to travel to Ukraine in the freezing fourth quarter to play Dnipro.

Their two home games were against Dnipro and Hamburger SV.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese had a bye on the fifth and final matchday in mid-December.

Considering the schedule and opponents, the draw was indeed quite favourable for Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng had his own philosophy for leading the team.

“The goal for the group stage is to win all four matches. Whether we’re playing Hamburger SV at home or AZ Alkmaar away, we’ll give everything to secure victory.”

Aim for the best to get something good.

Yang Cheng had always practiced this, and the results had been impressive.

“The pressure on us in the upcoming matches is still immense. After the players return from the two-week international break, we’ll immediately face a continuous period of two games a week.”

“We must do everything we can to remain in the leading pack after the gruelling Christmas schedule, and we also have to advance from our UEFA Cup group!”

When Yang Cheng set such a goal for himself, everyone knew just how immense the pressure was.

For a newly promoted team to aim to be near the top of the Premier League after the demanding Christmas period while also qualifying from their UEFA Cup group—most would laugh it off as a joke.

But after several rounds of the Premier anier League, everyone realised this goal was quite achievable.

Yang Cheng also had his own predicament to deal with.

The Africa Cup of Nations.

The 2006 tournament in Egypt would take place from January to February.

As an international player for Côte d’Ivoire, Yaya Touré would certainly be called up.

This would undoubtedly impact Bayswater Chinese.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many head coaches disliked using African players precisely because of this damned Africa Cup of Nations.

…

During the international break, Yang Cheng kept an eye on his international players’ performances while focusing on training those who remained with the club.

At the same time, he was closely monitoring Adam Crozier’s reforms at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had given Adam Crozier the authority to reform the administrative departments.

And when that man got to work, he showed no mercy.

Anyone who failed to meet his standards was out.

Yang Cheng even suspected that if Lin Zhongqiu hadn’t already left, he would have been axed too.

However, when it came to hiring and appointments, Yang Cheng would have Xia Qing represent him to oversee the process.

This was a way to maintain balance in management.

For some crucial hirings and appointments, Yang Cheng would even intervene personally.

For example, he had personally recruited Chris Hunt, the head of infrastructure.

Yang Cheng had chosen Adam Crozier for his business management skills, and Crozier placed a particular emphasis on the commercial department.

He paid even closer attention to it considering the upcoming tour of Asia next year.

In the days following the Bolton match, Yang Cheng had personally met with a commercial director whom Adam Crozier had meticulously selected.

His name was Omar Berrada, and he was only 27 years old.

Berrada’s parents were Moroccan, but he was born in Paris, held French citizenship, yet grew up in the United States.

He first attended the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts before losing interest after three years. He then returned to Europe and enrolled in the business administration program at the EU Business School’s Barcelona campus in 1995.

In 1999, Omar Berrada graduated from EU Business School.

Berrada subsequently worked at Honda in Japan and the Spanish branch of the Italian telecommunications company Tiscali. During this time, he also pursued a Master’s degree in e-commerce at Ramon Llull University in Catalonia.

While serving as a marketing manager at Tiscali, he not only met his wife but was also presented with an opportunity to change career paths.

In 2003, his supervisor was invited to join Barça as the chief marketing officer and strongly recommended him to join the club as well, as a marketing and sponsorship manager responsible for global sponsorship deals.

When Yang Cheng heard the name Omar Berrada, he was quite surprised.

He had heard of this man frequently during his time coaching at Barça and Manchester City in his previous life.

He was highly capable, having expanded the commercial empires of both Barça and Manchester City.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had little contact with Berrada and wasn’t familiar with him.

Before he was reborn, Omar Berrada had worked at Manchester City for many years with remarkable success. There were rumours that Manchester United was interested in poaching him to be their CEO, though he wasn’t sure if that ever happened.

This alone showed that Berrada had been incredibly successful at both Barça and Manchester City.

But Yang Cheng was puzzled. How did Adam Crozier find this man?

“A headhunting firm.”

After they had met and finalised Omar Berrada’s appointment, Adam Crozier privately boasted of his achievements to Yang Cheng and Xia Qing.

“I told the headhunting firm that I wanted the best marketing expert in all of Europe. Over the past few weeks, they’ve introduced me to over a hundred marketing talents. After a painstaking selection process, I finally chose him.”

Yang Cheng glanced at Xia Qing, who happened to be looking at him at the same moment.

Their eyes met, and they exchanged an unspoken vote of no confidence.

You’d have to be a fool to believe him!

Adam Crozier’s silver tongue could talk the dead back to life and then sell them a life insurance policy.

Still, if Adam Crozier hadn’t dug him up, Yang Cheng would never have remembered the man.

After all, they had no relationship in his previous life.

“Seriously, I spoke with him many times and even flew to Spain specifically to meet him. It was a real struggle to poach him.”

Yang Cheng nodded. He believed that part.

But it surely wasn’t that simple.

This was poaching from Barça, after all!

“How did you find him?” Yang Cheng asked again with a smile.

Adam Crozier looked at Xia Qing, who couldn’t help but chuckle. He was speechless.

Neither of you believes a word I say, do you?

…

“Fine. Since you won’t believe anything I say anyway, I’ll just lay my cards on the table.”

Adam Crozier was exasperated with the two people in front of him.

But one was his boss and the other held the purse strings. He couldn’t afford to offend either of them.

He could only endure.

These days, to hold down a job, you have to strip down to your underwear for the boss’s inspection. Is there any justice in the world?

“In the 2002-03 season, before Laporta took over Barça, their revenue was 123 million euros, while their expenditure was a staggering 196 million euros.”

“Setting aside Barça’s previous debts, an annual loss of over 70 million euros was unsustainable. Laporta used this as a weapon to attack Gaspart and successfully won the presidency.”

“More than two years have passed. While keeping spending under control, Barça has significantly increased its operating income.”

“In the 2003-04 season, their revenue increased to 169 million euros, while expenditure dropped to 162 million.”

“In the 2004-05 season, their revenue rose to 208 million euros, with expenditure at 187 million.”

“They’ve achieved profitability for two consecutive years, and profits are still rising.”

“For this season, early estimates suggest Barça’s revenue will reach around 260 million euros, with expenditure rising to 221 million. Their profitability continues to grow.”

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing began to understand what Adam Crozier was getting at.

“I’ve studied Barça’s financial situation over the past few years. Their debt has been reduced from 200 million euros to 150 million, a substantial improvement, while the team’s overall competitiveness has soared.”

The current Barça was the Dream Team Two, one of the strongest teams in Europe.

“Their ability to achieve such a leap in revenue is simply down to increasing income and controlling expenses.”

“The so-called increase in income was led by Vice-Chairman of Finance, Ferran Soriano, who implemented a series of sustainable, healthy salary structures and transfer strategies for Barça.”

“While the overall strength of the team has greatly improved, the club’s expenditure has been effectively controlled.”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but turn to look at Xia Qing.

In this regard, Xia Qing’s contribution to Bayswater Chinese had also been enormous.

“But the most astonishing thing is on the revenue generation side. Over the past two years, Barça’s club image and commercial operation capabilities have improved dramatically.”

“In 2003, the impression everyone had of Barça was chaos, corruption, incompetence, a graveyard for stars…”

“Their brand image was in tatters. Their appearance fee was between 120,000 and 200,000 euros, probably worse than our Championship teams.”

“And now?”

“In 2004 and 2005, Barça had two tours of Asia. Their appearance fee for each was 2 million euros.”

As a head coach in his previous life who had managed many top teams, Yang Cheng knew how vast this difference was.

Some teams were very strong on the pitch but were poor at marketing and brand building, resulting in a poor image and almost no commercial value.

In other words, what’s the use of winning on the field?

Sponsors care about your brand value and the commercial return they get from sponsoring you.

A team’s appearance fee for friendly matches is a dark art.

Some clubs have no understanding of commercial operations. They might charge less, or even nothing, for teams they have good relations with.

The entire market was chaotic.

Why should sponsors pay for your erratic pricing?

Why is the appearance fee offered to another team so much lower than mine?

This chaos led to the collapse of commercial value.

The most typical example was Real Madrid after 2006.

The commercial value built by Florentino Pérez’s Galácticos was astonishing, but during the years under Ramón Calderón’s presidency, their entire commercial value and brand image were a complete mess.

Once commercial value collapses, it’s incredibly difficult to rebuild.

So, for Barça to jump from a few hundred thousand to 2 million euros in such a short time, was it just about the star players?

No, it was because Barça started to understand marketing.

“Over the past two years, Barça’s commercial revenue has grown at a rate of almost 50% per year. By the 2004-05 season, it reached 47.6 million euros.”

“This year, it’s projected to exceed 70 million euros, with the growth rate remaining unchanged.”

“But don’t forget, Barça still doesn’t have a front-of-shirt sponsor.”

Hearing this, Xia Qing looked shocked.

“When I was at Goldman Sachs, I studied this area. Based on current industry valuations, Barça’s shirt sponsorship is worth at least 15 to 20 million euros, possibly even more.”

At this point, Xia Qing couldn’t help but look at Yang Cheng.

“If that’s the case, Barça’s commercial revenue is close to 100 million euros.”

Adam Crozier nodded repeatedly. “Exactly.”

“It took Florentino Pérez’s Galácticos six years to build their commercial empire. Barça has caught up in just over two years, and their salary control is much better than Real Madrid’s right now.”

“They’re also building a new training facility, which is a considerable investment.”

Yang Cheng knew it was the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.

Adam Crozier’s words weren’t meant to prove that Barça was better than Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was the pioneer, blazing the trail. Barça was following the path they had forged.

The level of difficulty was different.

But there was no denying that Barça had been extremely successful.

This reminded Yang Cheng of someone else.

Currently, Barça’s vice-chairman in charge of marketing was Marc Ingla.

But interestingly, after leaving Barça, Marc Ingla wasn’t particularly sought after. Instead, two of his key subordinates were.

One was Omar Berrada, whom Adam Crozier had found.

The other was a Dane, Kasper Stilsvig.

Stilsvig probably hadn’t joined Barça yet.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, he was Omar Berrada’s deputy, but he was poached by Manchester United in 2008 and was responsible for the massive increase in their commercial revenue in the following years.

In 2016 he moved from Manchester United to Fulham, in 2019 to AC Milan, and in 2023 to Chelsea.

Almost everywhere he went, he brought a significant increase in the club’s commercial revenue.

This demonstrated just how successful Barça’s business model was in those years.

At least for other giants or top teams, Real Madrid’s model was impossible to replicate.

There weren’t that many superstars in the world to poach, and it was hard to do so anyway.

The Galácticos were one of a kind!

But Barça’s business model could be learned.

Thus, Adam Crozier’s intention was crystal clear.

“Berrada was responsible for global marketing and sponsorship at Barça. And for the past two years, Barça has been active in Asia. He possesses a vast network of commercial resources that we desperately need right now.”

“But funnily enough, Ferran Soriano is a cheapskate. Barça is nowhere near as generous with salaries as Real Madrid.”

At this, Adam Crozier couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Real Madrid’s superstar model was impossible to learn, that was one thing.

On the other hand, the salaries Real Madrid offered to talented staff were also the highest in the industry.

That’s why you rarely heard of people being poached from Real Madrid.

But under Soriano’s control, Barça was very strict with salaries to cut down on expenditure.

Later, Manchester City was the same.

Before his rebirth, Yang Cheng had heard a rumour that the reason Omar Berrada was considering a move from Manchester City to Manchester United was only partly due to the promotion to CEO; the pay rise was a key factor.

At the time, he was Manchester City’s chief operating officer, but his salary wasn’t high.

“Omar Berrada is very familiar with the Asian market, and our club’s relationship with Asia, especially China, is so close and special.”

“Therefore, the Asian region will be our key area of focus for the next few years.”

This was the strategy Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had previously agreed upon.

“Of course, this requires us to bring more to the table on the pitch, especially convincing results.”

Yang Cheng understood.

In competitive sports, at the end of the day, strength reigns supreme.

Barça’s business had been doing well in recent years because their results on the pitch had improved.

As for Manchester United in Yang Cheng’s previous life, their performance was poor, but their business was still booming—that was because Manchester United’s legacy was still intact.

If they were truly that powerful, why would Manchester United spend so much money on transfers every year?

Did they really think they had too much money and were just burning it for fun?

“What about the UEFA Cup?”

Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier and asked.

“Are you confident?” Adam Crozier’s eyes lit up.

“I’ll do my best. You can’t guarantee anything in these things.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng smiled confidently. “But I’m confident enough to give it a try.”

Yang Cheng’s confidence stemmed from the team’s performance.

From the start of the season, Yang Cheng was certain that a midfield consisting of Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra, supported by Inler, Andreassen, and Matuidi, would be very competitive in the Premier League.

And as it turned out, even against teams like Manchester United and Chelsea, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield could hold its own.

Now, Ribéry on the forward line was in explosive form, and Lambert, Aaron Lennon, and Ashley Young were also performing well.

All this gave Yang Cheng confidence and assurance.

Of course, even so, the pressure to maintain a high rank in the Premier League and also make a mark in the UEFA Cup was still immense.

In the past few years, apart from the Big Four, every Premier League team fighting on two fronts had failed.

Everton had made it to the Champions League once, earning a lot of money, but then had two consecutive poor seasons.

If you calculated it carefully, the money earned from the Champions League was probably less than what they lost from their lower league position.

This, in turn, proved one thing: Arsenal’s difficulty in securing a top-four finish in recent years wasn’t as great as people imagined.

For many teams, rather than investing, signing players, and fighting on two fronts like Everton, only to see their results slip, it was better to play it safe, focus on one front, and concentrate on the Premier League.

But Yang Cheng was different.

His ambitions weren’t that small.

He wanted to challenge the giants!

From their very first meeting, Adam Crozier had sensed this ambition in Yang Cheng.

It was why he had come to Bayswater Chinese.

“Yang, I promise you, for every match you fight for on the pitch, we will convert it into a piece of commercial revenue. We will not let you down!”

…

Once the triumvirate reached a consensus, many things became easier to handle.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada began establishing the club’s commercial department, as well as its marketing and promotion.

At the same time, the production of the team anthem was also progressing smoothly.

The symphony orchestra had already arranged the music and recorded a demo for Yang Cheng to listen to.

It was more powerful and passionate than the one he had heard in his previous life, leaving him utterly stunned.

During the international break, Adam Crozier arranged for an audition at The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon.

Such events weren’t common, but not unprecedented either, so the school was cooperative.

Yang Cheng even went to watch in person.

The school had few students to begin with, and it was restricted to girls, so not many people auditioned.

Among the auditionees, Yang Cheng didn’t find the iconic English rose, but rather a slightly shy, chubby girl.

But the moment she opened her mouth, Yang Cheng knew she was the one he was looking for.

After confirming her name and date of birth, there was no doubt.

Although he had already made his choice, he had to keep up appearances.

It was only after the auditions ended and they had returned to Bayswater Stadium that Yang Cheng told Adam Crozier his decision.

“I think this Adele’s singing infuses the song with such rich emotion, as if she’s ignited its very soul. It’s sure to resonate with fans all over the world!”

Adam Crozier had listened too and agreed she was quite good.

But Yang Cheng had another proposal.

“I suggest we sign a contract with her to have her sing at our stadium for every home game.”

Yang Cheng was inwardly gleeful.

A future world-class female singer would become their resident singer.

Just imagine, what other team in the world could boast such a luxury?

No matter how many years passed, this would surely become a topic of admiration around the world.

With the Adele situation sorted, Yang Cheng temporarily stepped back from administrative work and turned his attention to preparing for the league.

As the international players returned, the league was set to resume.

Bayswater Chinese were about to host Newcastle, The Magpies, at home.

…

On the evening of 15th October, Loftus Road Stadium, London.

Premier League Matchday 9, Bayswater Chinese versus Newcastle.

As the match reached the 85th minute, the score was still 0-0.

Both teams were affected by the international break, and their form was not at its best.

Just when everyone thought the match would end in a dull draw, Bayswater Chinese won the ball on their own right flank.

Piszczek launched a long diagonal pass towards the centre circle.

Lambert moved quickly, judged the trajectory, leaped, and flicked the ball on with his head.

The falling ball changed direction, dropping into the space behind Newcastle’s defensive line on the left side.

As Newcastle’s exhausted backline started to turn, right-back Carr chased after the second ball, but a red blur was faster than him.

Ribéry, who had just come on as a substitute, was full of energy.

Having experienced his second international call-up, Ribéry was now more seasoned.

He had returned to the club in good form.

But the head coach still had him on the bench, saving his energy for the midweek UEFA Cup match.

With the team struggling to break the deadlock, Ribéry was sent on.

Using his substitute’s stamina advantage, Ribéry got to the ball a step ahead of Carr.

The Newcastle defender shadowed Ribéry closely.

Scarface knew what Carr intended, but he didn’t care.

On the left touchline, level with the penalty area, Ribéry caught up to the ball Lambert had headed on.

But he didn’t try to control it.

His first touch was a gentle nudge towards the byline, keeping the ball in play.

It was also a move to bait Carr.

As expected, the Newcastle defender sensed an opportunity and lunged forward, going for a sliding tackle.

But Ribéry was prepared. He cut the ball inside a split second before, leaving Carr to slide into empty space.

By the time Carr turned to give chase, Ribéry was already cutting inside with the ball, facing former Chelsea player Parker, who had dropped back to defend.

The French winger first executed a feint, pretending to cut into the penalty area from the corner, which deceived the newly positioned Parker into shifting his weight.

In reality, it was just a jink. Ribéry changed direction and moved along the edge of the box, cutting inside horizontally.

After shaking off Parker, Ribéry had already reached the left side of the area’s edge.

He adjusted with a series of quick, small steps, and before centre-back Boumsong could close him down, he unleashed a powerful right-footed shot.

The ball flew like a precision-guided missile, carving a beautiful arc through the air, sailing past the outstretched hands of the leaping goalkeeper, Given, and into the back of the Newcastle net.

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“Ribéry!”

“It’s Ribéry again!”

“In the 85th minute, Franck Ribéry unleashes a spectacular long shot from outside the box to beat the Newcastle goalkeeper, scoring what could be the crucial goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

The passion of the entire stadium ignited in an instant.

Over 18,000 fans leaped from their seats, roaring in ecstatic celebration.

This was the magic of football!

The intense and tense match had merely been building up the fans’ emotions.

The moment the goal was scored, it erupted like a volcano, a torrent of unstoppable passion!

Ribéry was also overcome with emotion, sprinting towards the sideline, pulling at the club crest on the left side of his chest with his left hand while repeatedly pointing at it with his right, urging the fans to cheer even louder.

…

Yang Cheng also jumped up on the touchline, shouting Ribéry’s name in excitement.

He had high hopes for the French winger when he brought him on as a substitute.

And Ribéry had delivered.

Moreover, he had scored the goal through sheer individual skill.

“Last substitution,” Brian Kidd reminded Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng glanced over at the opposition’s bench and happened to see Newcastle’s right midfielder, Lee Clark, preparing to come on.

This made him smile wryly.

“At a time like this, Souness would never dare to substitute Shearer or Owen.”

Sure enough, Newcastle quickly made their change.

Lee Clark replaced left-back Elliott.

Brian Kidd shook his head with a sigh.

The 52-year-old Souness, once a manager of great expectations, had failed to live up to them.

Perhaps it was unkind of Yang Cheng to think so.

But Souness’s decision years ago to spend a fortune on Jon Stead was enough to show that, tactically, he was behind the times.

So, it wasn’t surprising at all that he had spent heavily on Michael Owen this summer.

His tactical philosophy was still stuck in the 1980s.

He was still nostalgic for the golden era of English football.

But times had changed!

Alan Shearer was already 35 and on the verge of retirement.

The Newcastle captain had only scored one goal in the first eight matches of the season.

And Michael Owen?

Two.

Yang Cheng wasn’t entirely satisfied with Lambert’s scoring rate, but the English centre-forward had still managed four goals in the first eight games.

What was the point of Newcastle’s two strikers?

Before the season, when Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd signed Michael Owen, he had excitedly proclaimed his intention to recreate the classic two-striker partnership from their national team days.

And the result?

“If you gave me 60 million pound sterling, and I didn’t get Newcastle into the top four, I’d resign on the spot out of shame and guilt!”

Yang Cheng was not impressed with Souness’s coaching ability.

Both this legendary Liverpool captain and the legendary Kenny Dalglish should just stick to being legends.

Coaching?

They truly couldn’t keep up.

“Souness probably won’t last much longer,” Brian Kidd said, with a hint of sympathy.

Of course he wouldn’t last.

Newcastle was heavily in debt, yet they had scraped together 60 million pound sterling for Souness to build his team.

After two years, there was not a single sign of a revival at Newcastle.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, Souness’s Newcastle perfectly illustrated the principle that when you’re heading in the wrong direction, the harder you work, the worse things get.

The 4-4-2 formation should have been abandoned!

Take this match, for example.

What did Alan Shearer and Michael Owen offer Newcastle?

Goals?

They had a combined three goals in eight matches.

Could you expect a 35-year-old Alan Shearer to defend tirelessly?

Or expect Owen to engage in a physical battle?

With two strikers up front, how do you set up the midfield?

You’re forced into a traditional 4-4-2. How could that possibly compete with Bayswater Chinese’s midfield?

And the defence was a complete mess, lacking organisation and any redeeming qualities. What could they do?

It was only because Bayswater Chinese were fighting on two fronts, resting their key international players, and not in peak form.

Otherwise, they could have easily handed them another thrashing.

And this was a team built with 60 million pound sterling!

If Souness wasn’t sacked, who would be?

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Newcastle 1-0 at home, thanks to Ribéry’s last-gasp winner.

Nine matches played, six wins, three draws, still undefeated.

This achievement immediately made Bayswater Chinese famous throughout European football.

By mid-October in the league season, only three teams in Europe’s top five leagues remained unbeaten.

One was Bayswater Chinese in the Premier League.

The other two were Serie A giants Juventus and Ligue 1 champions Lyon.

But unlike Juventus and Lyon, Bayswater Chinese were a newly promoted team.

This instantly shrouded the team in an aura of mystery.

Many media outlets even began speculating: could Bayswater Chinese become the Premier League’s Kaiserslautern and pull off a miraculous title win as a newly promoted team?

The media hype was intense, and Adam Crozier’s commercial department fired its first shot.

But Yang Cheng didn’t think it was possible.

Chelsea’s record was currently eight wins and one loss.

Mourinho’s team was as steady as a rock, utterly demoralising for their rivals.

…

After the Newcastle match, Yang Cheng and his team had no time to rest.

Following a brief recovery period, the team set off for Zurich to face Grasshopper.

Despite playing away from home, Yang Cheng still set up his team to attack.

The forward line consisted of Ribéry, Džeko, and Aaron Lennon.

The midfield was a trio of Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra.

And in just the 10th minute, after winning the ball in an advanced position, Lassana Diarra played a wonderful pass.

Inside the box, Džeko controlled the ball, beat a defender, and scored with a left-footed shot.

1-0!

This was the only goal of the match.

For most of the remaining time, Bayswater Chinese controlled the game, but Grasshopper also launched frenzied counter-attacks.

After a hard-fought 90 minutes, neither side could score again.

In the other group match, van Gaal’s AZ Alkmaar won 2-1 away against Dnipro.

Hamburger SV had a bye in this round.

…

After returning to London from Zurich, the team travelled north to Birmingham for an away match against Aston Villa.

After a tough midweek battle against Grasshopper, facing the team of renowned manager David O’Leary, Bayswater Chinese encountered fierce resistance.

A goal conceded in the 31st minute allowed Aston Villa to secure a precious three points at home.

0-1!

Bayswater Chinese suffered their first loss of the season.

However, since Manchester United drew 1-1 at home against Tottenham Hotspur in the same round, Bayswater Chinese remained in second place in the Premier League.

Chelsea also drew 1-1 away at Everton.

So, the gap in points hadn’t actually widened.

…

Three days later, the third round of the League Cup knockout stage.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Watford.

When old friends meet, no mercy is shown.

Yang Cheng continued to field a full second-string lineup, resting his key players.

First, the young Walcott scored a goal in the first half.

What pleased Yang Cheng the most was that in the second half, Džeko scored two goals in just five minutes, completing a brace.

Yang Cheng had high hopes for the Bosnian and Herzegovinan centre-forward.

Lambert’s ability was decent, but not exceptional.

Especially in high-stakes matches, his performance wasn’t ideal.

As fans would say, he was probably a starting-level player for a mid-to-lower table Premier League team, but only a substitute for a top club.

But Džeko was different.

Yang Cheng gave him more playing time to help him build physical strength, adapt to the English style of football, and gradually integrate into the team.

A goal in the UEFA Cup and a brace in the League Cup proved that Džeko had indeed improved significantly.

…

On the weekend, Premier League Matchday 11, Bayswater Chinese hosted Fulham.

In Yang Cheng’s plan, the UEFA Cup match against Dnipro at home next Wednesday was a must-win.

But Fulham was also a West London team.

In the eyes of many, this round had the flavour of a West London derby.

Fulham had even sacrificed their League Cup campaign to prepare for this match.

Under these circumstances, although Bayswater Chinese controlled the game, they could never convert their dominance into goals and break down Fulham’s defence.

Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions.

In the 74th minute, he even brought on Džeko for Leighton Baines, forming a twin centre-forward pairing of Džeko and Lambert, resorting to Mourinho’s tactic of piling on attackers.

But Fulham’s defence repeatedly thwarted the home team.

The match drew to a close, and in the second minute of stoppage time, disaster struck for the visitors.

A long shot from Inler outside the box deflected off a defender’s leg, and the loose ball fell to the right side near the edge of the penalty area.

Chimbonda, who had surged forward from the back, chased it down and, without a second thought, swung his foot at it.

The powerful long shot rocketed into the Fulham goal.

1-0!

A last-minute winner!

Happiness came so suddenly that the home fans went wild.

Yang Cheng was also incredibly excited.

Because in this round, Arsenal had drawn 1-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United had been thrashed 4-1 away by Middlesbrough.

Dave Kitson had done them a huge favour!

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese stood at 7 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, with 24 points, placing them second in the Premier League.

Chelsea was first with 9 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, accumulating 28 points.

But Bayswater Chinese had already set the best record for a newly promoted team in England’s top flight in 28 years.

The last newly promoted team to perform so brilliantly was the famous Nottingham Forest, back in the League One era.

Their record at this stage of the season was top of the table.

Not only that, but they also went on to win the League One title at the end of that season.

But Bayswater Chinese’s achievements were still remarkable.

After 11 Premier League matches, Yang Cheng’s team had scored 19 goals, tied with Manchester United for second in the league, only behind Mourinho’s Chelsea with 28 goals.

But Bayswater Chinese had only conceded 6 goals, tied with Chelsea for the best defensive record in the Premier League.

Manchester United had conceded 11.

As The Times commented in its post-match analysis:

Bayswater Chinese’s results are there for all to see, but the underlying problems are also very clear.

The team’s attack lacks a potent focal point.

Ribéry is outstanding, but he is not a prolific goalscorer.

Lambert?

Neither is he.

“As more opponents figure out Bayswater Chinese’s tactical characteristics, their situation will become increasingly difficult.”

“Both the Newcastle and Fulham matches were won with last-gasp goals.”

“This is no accident.”

Chapter 86: I’m Taking the Blame for This! Wenger, Have You No Shame!

“Calm down, calm down, everything is under control!”

In the head coach’s office, Yang Cheng patiently soothed Adam Crozier.

There was one downside to the training ground being so close to the administrative offices.

The suits, who had nothing better to do all day, would pop over whenever they felt like it.

If they were complete novices like Xia Qing, who generally didn’t interfere and offered unconditional trust and support to Yang Cheng, it would have been better.

But someone like Adam Crozier, who knew a little but not enough, was easily swayed by rumours.

This was, in fact, a major issue at all clubs.

“Don’t be so anxious. Take a look at this report first.”

Without giving Adam Crozier a chance to speak, Yang Cheng handed him a report submitted by the data analysis team.

Yang Cheng was perfectly clear about the team’s current problems.

He even had access to data that many in the media and the fanbase did not.

Starting from the second half of last season, the data analysis team, led by Gianni Vio, had integrated the sports performance evaluation methods of Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett to conduct more in-depth statistical analysis of the players’ performance in matches and training.

Many people might find it strange.

Bayswater Chinese had scored nineteen goals, the second-most in the Premier League, so why the dissatisfaction?

This was a classic case of data being misleading.

The data itself didn’t lie, but the truth behind the numbers could be hidden.

For example, those nineteen goals were scored by nine different players.

The top scorer for Bayswater Chinese was currently Ribéry, with five goals.

For a winger not particularly known for his scoring ability, this was an outstanding statistic.

But what about the centre-forward, Lambert?

Lambert had scored four goals this season, which also seemed decent.

However, it was important to note that of his four goals, apart from the first one against Charlton Athletic in the second round, the rest were merely icing on the cake.

He scored a brace against newly promoted Sunderland and the third goal against Bolton.

Even the goal against Charlton Athletic was practically served to him on a platter by Ribéry.

Before that, Lambert had squandered quite a few chances.

Of course, Lambert wasn’t the type of centre-forward renowned for his goal-scoring prowess to begin with.

But in terms of tactical contribution, the data analysis team’s report showed that his performance against top-tier teams and against mid-to-lower-tier teams was on two completely different levels.

To put it simply, he was effective against weaker teams but struggled in big matches.

At its core, this was an issue of individual ability.

The competition in the top flight was fierce, and head coaches adapted extremely quickly.

It was impossible for other teams not to see the problems with Bayswater Chinese.

And so it was: a narrow victory against Newcastle, a hard-fought loss to Aston Villa, followed by a last-gasp win against Fulham.

Yang Cheng was well aware of all the issues being discussed by the outside world.

Adam Crozier was quite surprised, especially when he saw the date on the report.

“You knew about this a month ago?”

“What do you think?” Yang Cheng chuckled.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I don’t plan on signing anyone.”

If he had a powerful centre-forward, the attacking firepower of Bayswater Chinese would skyrocket.

The problem was, he couldn’t find a suitable one.

The European football world was currently undergoing a tactical transition.

There were very few centre-forwards who met Yang Cheng’s tactical requirements and could make an immediate impact.

Most of them came with exorbitant price tags.

Take Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen, for instance. You couldn’t even get to the negotiating table with the club for less than fifteen million euros.

Besides, would Berbatov even be willing to come to Bayswater Chinese?

If Berbatov was too high-end, then looking down the list…

Diego Milito at Genoa, or Kanouté at Tottenham Hotspur—could you buy them without spending several million?

And even if you did, would they be able to adapt?

Bayswater Chinese had a ton of expenses right now; there was no way Yang Cheng would splash out that much money on a player.

If he were to settle for second best and buy some semi-finished products, they wouldn’t be cheap either, and crucially, he would have to develop them himself after purchase.

If that was the case, why not just focus on developing Džeko?

Yang Cheng had seen Džeko’s progress with his own eyes in the six months since he joined.

He had anticipated this situation at the beginning of the season.

It was within his range of acceptable outcomes.

Aside from club management considerations, Yang Cheng also had to think about the dressing room when it came to transfers and signings.

The first team currently consisted of twenty-three players, many of whom were young.

They were competing on three fronts: the Premier League, the League Cup, and the UEFA Cup.

This ensured that every player in the first team, especially the young ones, received sufficient playing time.

Even sixteen-year-old youngsters like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were getting plenty of minutes on the pitch.

Coaching and managing a team was a very complex systems engineering project.

There’s a saying in football: a new manager brings a new lease on life.

Why?

Because people are the most crucial element on the football pitch.

Lippi once said that attitude is everything.

As a head coach, you have to manage the technical and tactical aspects, but you also have to manage the players’ morale and attitude.

Neither could be neglected.

Yang Cheng mentally calculated the time and figured that the person he was waiting for should be at the door by now.

He immediately raised his voice and said loudly, “In short, I trust my players.”

Adam Crozier sighed, “If we don’t sign anyone during the winter break, what about our attack in the second half of the season?”

If they wanted to sign players in the winter, they needed to start the process now.

Any later, and time would be tight.

By then, they would be at the mercy of other clubs.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Our current squad is strong enough. I believe in Džeko!”

“Džeko?”

Adam Crozier was getting exasperated. “He hasn’t even scored a league goal yet.”

“But he’s performed very well in the cup competitions, and he’s constantly improving.”

“Are you sure?”

“I have complete faith in him!”

With Yang Cheng having said that much, there was nothing more for Adam Crozier to say.

He chose to trust Yang Cheng and hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

Just as the CEO stood up to leave and pulled the office door open, he saw the Bosnian centre-forward Džeko standing at the doorway. He had no idea how long he’d been there.

The moment the door opened, both of them were clearly startled.

How shrewd was Adam Crozier?

Seeing the deeply moved expression on Džeko’s face and recalling how Yang Cheng’s voice had been a bit loud just now…

He turned his head back and saw Yang Cheng standing there with a calm expression.

As if it were a complete accident.

I’ve been tricked!

Damn it, the young boss played me!

He had navigated the politics of the workplace for so many years, clashing with countless people.

Having survived places like The FA and Royal Mail, how could Adam Crozier not see through Yang Cheng’s little trick?

The problem was, for a young lad like Džeko, this method was effective!

They fell for this stuff!

As for himself, he had been cast as the villain for no reason.

If Džeko made it big in the future and wrote an autobiography, he’d probably be cursed to death by the fans.

“Edin, when did you get here? Come in, have a seat. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s feigned innocence and watching Džeko squeeze past him into the office, Adam Crozier felt utterly wronged.

I’m destined to take the blame for this!

But…

Is he really only twenty-five?

I just can’t bring myself to believe it.

…

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried that Adam Crozier would overthink it.

It was just a trivial matter.

He hadn’t expected Adam Crozier to show up in the first place.

Before calling Džeko over, he hadn’t planned this little act at all.

It was purely a chance encounter, and he had simply improvised to give Džeko a shot of adrenaline and some encouragement.

Yang Cheng didn’t know how much the Bosnian centre-forward had heard outside the door, but he had definitely heard what he was supposed to hear.

So, after the door was closed, Džeko repeatedly promised that he would work twice as hard.

“Don’t worry, boss. I will never disappoint you!”

Yang Cheng was very pleased with the result. After giving Džeko another round of hearty encouragement, he saw the Bosnian centre-forward out.

Transformation is not something that happens overnight.

But Yang Cheng believed that by the end of the season, Džeko’s abilities would have improved significantly.

There, he had saved a few million pound sterling again.

Living on a tight budget meant you had to be meticulous with your spending.

As for the family business back home, that belonged to his so-called father.

Yang Cheng had no desire to go back and inherit the family fortune.

He wanted to build Bayswater Chinese with his own hands and go toe-to-toe with the giants of European football!

…

On the evening of November 3rd, at Loftus Road Stadium.

In the second round of the UEFA Cup group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Ukraine’s Dnipro.

In the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese was heavily criticized for their lack of attacking prowess.

The Ukrainian team, playing away from home, even set up in a 5-5-0 formation.

Yes, don’t be surprised. They didn’t even field a striker, opting for a straight-up iron barrel defence.

Faced with their opponent’s conservative tactics, Bayswater Chinese had no brilliant solution other than to patiently attack.

It wasn’t until the 36th minute that Ribéry, relying on his individual skill, cut inside from the left to the edge of the box and played a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Aaron Lennon made an overlapping run to receive the ball, broke into the penalty area near the byline, and delivered a cut-back pass.

The French winger made a direct run into the box and slotted Lennon’s pass into the goal with a simple push.

1-0!

After the break, in the 50th minute, Aaron Lennon combined with Pascal Chimbonda on the right flank, drawing a foul and winning a free-kick in the attacking third.

Just as Dnipro braced for a set piece, the home team took the tactical free-kick quickly, passing to Modrić at the top of the arc on the right.

The Croatian midfielder delivered a through ball.

Džeko burst through the crowded penalty area and, after a slight adjustment on the right side of the box, unleashed a shot for the second goal.

2-0!

Six minutes later, Ribéry dribbled past a player on the left and sent a low pass to the near post.

This time, Džeko used his left foot, easily slotting the ball home. 3-0!

A brace!

Yang Cheng couldn’t stop smiling on the sideline.

Young people, so easily fired up.

But Džeko’s improvement was still very obvious.

This was a good thing for Bayswater Chinese.

It was just…

Poor Adam Crozier.

In the main stand, out of Yang Cheng’s view, Bayswater Chinese’s newly appointed Commercial Director, Omar Berrada, looked curiously at the glum-faced CEO.

The team was already leading 3-0, victory assured.

Why did his boss still look so unhappy?

That’s not right. Wasn’t he quite excited when Ribéry scored?

…

Bayswater Chinese, on the back of Džeko’s brace, comfortably defeated Dnipro 3-0.

In the other match played at the same time, Hamburger SV beat Grasshopper 2-1 at home.

AZ Alkmaar had a bye week.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese sat atop the group with two wins from two matches.

AZ Alkmaar and Hamburger SV both had one win.

Grasshopper had suffered two consecutive losses.

This was more or less in line with the group’s relative strengths.

Barring any surprises, Bayswater Chinese, Hamburger SV, and AZ Alkmaar should be the ones advancing from the group.

…

After the UEFA Cup match, the team faced their 12th Premier League fixture, an away game against Portsmouth.

Pompey’s head coach was Alain Perrin.

The Frenchman, who would go on to manage a certain magical team in the future, set his team up in a 5-4-1 formation for this match, clearly intending to defend with all their might.

They succeeded in shutting down Bayswater Chinese’s attack in the first half.

But just three minutes into the second half, Inler won the ball back with a counter-press in the attacking third and played a diagonal pass into the right side of the penalty area.

Pascal Chimbonda, making a run from deep, ran diagonally into the box, received the ball on the right, and fired a low shot past the Portsmouth keeper.

The French right-back had scored in two consecutive matches!

Then, in the 79th minute, it was Chimbonda again who sprinted eighty meters down the right flank to receive a pass from Ashley Young before delivering a low, driven cross from the byline.

In the centre of the box, Lambert broke free from his marker and slid in to turn the ball into the net.

2-0!

This was Lambert’s fifth Premier League goal of the season.

With Chelsea losing 1-0 away to Manchester United in this round, Bayswater Chinese successfully closed the gap in the league table.

Chelsea had twenty-eight points, while Bayswater Chinese had twenty-seven.

Only one point separated the two teams.

This once again sparked heated discussions across the British and European media.

No one had expected this newly promoted team to perform so brilliantly, even showing signs of reclaiming the top spot.

Chimbonda, with an assist and a goal in this match and having scored in two consecutive rounds, also caught the attention of the European media.

In their post-match analysis, Sky Sports stated that Chimbonda was a severely underrated player.

“Yang Cheng’s tactics have completely unlocked this French right-sided player.”

Amidst the chorus of praise for Bayswater Chinese’s quiet pursuit of Chelsea, there were also voices of reason.

After the 12th round, the Premier League went on another break.

Two weeks later, from the 13th to the 17th round, Bayswater Chinese would face a gruelling schedule.

Their five opponents were Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Charlton Athletic.

In between these five league matches, they also had two UEFA Cup games against AZ Alkmaar and Hamburger SV.

And their next opponent in the League Cup was Newcastle.

The schedule was packed, and the opponents were strong.

“This gruelling schedule will test just how dark this dark horse, Bayswater Chinese, truly is!”

…

While the national teams were busy preparing and drilling tactics for next year’s World Cup, Yang Cheng was not idle in London either.

The media was absolutely right.

The upcoming gruelling schedule would be the team’s biggest test.

Especially from the 13th round on November 19th to the 16th round on December 10th.

In just twenty-two days, Bayswater Chinese had to play seven matches.

Even more absurdly, all seven opponents were formidable.

Home against Arsenal, home against Tottenham Hotspur, away to Liverpool, away to Chelsea.

In the UEFA Cup, away to AZ Alkmaar and home against Hamburger SV.

In the League Cup, they had drawn Newcastle at home.

If they beat Newcastle in the League Cup and advanced to the quarter-finals, the team’s schedule would be horrendous all the way up to Christmas.

And after Christmas, it would be straight into the brutal winter fixture period.

Having coached for decades, Yang Cheng knew all too well how terrifying such a gruelling schedule could be.

One slip-up, and you could lose everything.

Not to mention, players were highly susceptible to injuries during such a packed schedule.

As the team’s head coach, he needed to have a firm grasp on every single aspect.

Especially the players’ mentality.

Playing consecutive matches, fatigue could have a huge psychological impact on the players.

Fortunately, during the two-week international break, none of the team’s international players came back injured.

This was also related to the fact that most of them were not regular starters for their national teams.

Take Chimbonda, for example.

Despite his outstanding performances in the Premier League, he was kept out of the France national team by Bayern Munich’s Sagnol.

Aaron Lennon was an even clearer case; he had Beckham in his way in the national team.

Yang Cheng dispatched all the staff he could, sending them out to track players and opponents.

He needed to gather information on all fronts to prepare for the long battle ahead.

The first and most pressing question was: how to play against Arsenal at home?

Although the Gunners were currently 7th in the Premier League, with an away record that was shockingly 18th in the league.

Six matches, two draws, and four losses, without a single win.

But who would dare to underestimate the Gunners’ strength?

Henry was in red-hot form right now.

The Gunners’ captain was in his contract year. Whether he stayed or left, he had to be at his best.

So, the first challenge in playing Arsenal was how to neutralize Henry.

This was a problem for every team in Europe.

Yang Cheng had been racking his brains for a solution.

Until Singles’ Day, when he, a single man, unexpectedly received a piece of good news.

…

“Clichy is injured?”

Yang Cheng was in disbelief when he heard Brian Kidd’s report.

“Are you sure the information is reliable?”

Brian Kidd chuckled. “The news came from White Hart Lane. I couldn’t believe it at first either, so I confirmed it multiple times, even specifically asking people at White Hart Lane. It’s absolutely true.”

Clichy was representing France U21 in the U21 European Championship qualifiers against England U21.

The match was played at Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane stadium.

And it was on Singles’ Day.

“Is it serious?”

“A fractured metatarsal.”

“He’ll need surgery for that.”

“That’s right. Arsenal is already contacting hospitals. They say he’ll have surgery tomorrow. He’ll be out for at least three months.”

Although Yang Cheng knew he shouldn’t be gloating over someone’s misfortune, he couldn’t suppress his joy.

Metatarsal fractures were common in the Premier League.

Beckham had suffered one, and Gary Neville, Danny Murphy, Rooney, Gerrard, and others had all been sidelined by it.

And these were just the famous ones; countless less well-known players had fallen victim to this particular bone.

Many people now called a fractured metatarsal the “Premier League disease.”

There were two reasons why it was a “Premier League disease.”

One was the dense fixture list in the Premier League, especially for top teams. With three domestic competitions and European fixtures, teams were fighting on four fronts. After the grueling Christmas period, the second half of the season was a high-risk time.

The second was the Premier League’s style of play, which had always been fast-paced and high-intensity.

The combination of these two factors made the metatarsal bone very vulnerable.

The most recent big-name star to be felled by a metatarsal injury was Arsenal’s left-back, Ashley Cole.

He had fractured the metatarsal in his right foot during training on international duty in October and was expected to be out for at least five months.

Now, not long after, Clichy had joined Ashley Cole on the sidelines.

Yang Cheng suppressed his excitement and immediately pulled over the tactics board, setting up Arsenal’s likely starting lineup.

Over the past few years, Wenger’s most-used formation was a 4-4-2 with two strikers.

The current first-choice strikers were Henry and van Persie.

On the flanks were Pires and Ljungberg, with Gilberto Silva and Fàbregas in the middle.

In defence, Campbell and Kolo Touré were a stable partnership. Senderos’s performances were still not very consistent.

That left the left-back position.

“Lauren or Cygan have both played in that position before,” Brian Kidd said.

Yang Cheng stood in front of the tactics board, frowning in thought.

He tried to put himself in Wenger’s shoes, to guess how he would arrange his team.

“First, Lauren’s left foot is decent, but he’s a right-footed player. Cygan, on the other hand, is a left-footed centre-back.”

Brian Kidd nodded.

When playing on the flank, the difference between a player’s left and right foot is quite significant.

“If Lauren plays on the left, what about the right?”

“Wenger doesn’t trust Eboué yet,” Brian Kidd said.

“So, the only option is to break up the stable centre-back pairing and move Kolo Touré to the right flank.”

“If that happens, then Cygan or Senderos would have to fill in at the centre.”

Having analyzed this far, Yang Cheng held up three fingers on his left hand.

“Wenger would have to change three positions at once. Not to mention, can Lauren, playing on the left, really handle the pressure from Aaron Lennon?”

“So, you think it’ll be Cygan?”

“Cygan is a left-footed player on the left flank, so the centre and right don’t need to be changed. But he has one problem.”

“He’s slow!” Brian Kidd pointed out Yang Cheng’s meaning.

“Exactly!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands together forcefully.

“Facing a super-striker like Henry, plus Pires, Ljungberg, and Fàbregas, it’ll be very difficult for us to defend. Instead of sitting back and taking a beating, let’s hit them by surprise!”

“If Wenger plays Cygan, he will definitely be wary of the fast Aaron Lennon.”

“We’ll use Aaron Lennon to pin him down, and Chimbonda behind him is also fast. We’ll run him ragged!”

With this thought, the situation for Bayswater Chinese suddenly became much clearer.

As for whether they could beat Arsenal, no one could say for sure.

After all, this season’s Gunners had the fighting power of a Champions League finalist.

Many people even felt it was an injustice, believing Wenger’s team should have won the title.

Against such a team, even at home, who would dare say they were guaranteed a win?

…

“Are you two done talking?”

Only after Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd had decided on the match strategy did Xia Qing, who had been sitting quietly to the side, suddenly speak up.

Yang Cheng only then noticed her and, somewhat embarrassed, apologized profusely.

“Sorry, Senior, for making you wait so long. Let’s go eat. My treat.”

Wasn’t it Singles’ Day?

There was no match, and many of the players weren’t at the club. Yang Cheng was all alone, so he had asked Xia Qing out for dinner.

Unexpectedly, while they were on their way, Brian Kidd had called.

As soon as he got the call, Yang Cheng had rushed back in a hurry.

“Brian, want to join us?” Yang Cheng casually invited.

Brian Kidd was about to accept when he saw Xia Qing looking over at him, and he swallowed the words back down.

He had lived long enough to have that much situational awareness.

“No, no, I’ll eat at home.”

It was the single guys who went out to eat. He had a wife; of course, he would eat at home.

Then he thought about the way Yang Cheng had rushed back…

No wonder he was celebrating Singles’ Day!

Seeing the two of them leave together, Brian Kidd watched their retreating figures and couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.

Xia Qing must have waited for at least an hour just now.

If that had been his wife, wouldn’t she have thrown a fit?

The key was, she was also so beautiful.

The two of them… so nice!

…

On the afternoon of November 19th, in the 13th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

It was another sold-out match.

Yang Cheng’s starting lineup for this game surprised many.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Chimbonda;

Midfield: Andreassen in a holding role, with Inler and Lassana Diarra in the centre;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Džeko, and Aaron Lennon.

Ribéry, Modrić, and Yaya Touré were all benched by Yang Cheng, kept in reserve.

This was partly due to the international break and partly to rest them for the UEFA Cup match next Thursday.

From the start of the match, the home team, Bayswater Chinese, understrength but playing at home, took the initiative.

Just over two minutes in, Ashley Young unleashed a long shot from the left side just outside the penalty area, creating a threat.

The home team then launched a series of attacks.

Arsenal, on the other hand, started cautiously.

As Yang Cheng had predicted, Wenger had indeed deployed Cygan on the left flank.

Bayswater Chinese naturally focused their attacks on that side.

But in the 11th minute, after Campbell intercepted the ball, Arsenal launched a swift counter-attack.

Van Persie received the ball in the left channel, shook off Škrtel, and cut inside to break forward through the middle.

With the home team’s defenders drawn away by Henry, van Persie let fly with an unexpected long shot.

Neuer had initially read the shot, but the ball took a slight deflection off José Fonte inside the penalty area.

The German goalkeeper was powerless to stop it.

1-0!

This was van Persie’s 6th goal in his last 5 matches!

Despite conceding first, both teams continued to battle fiercely for possession.

In the 14th minute, Arsenal attacked down the left. After a pass from Henry, Ljungberg broke through on the right and sent in a cross. Van Persie nearly scored again from close range.

Neuer made a flying save to avert the crisis.

Just four minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack, winning a free-kick on the left flank in the attacking half.

Leighton Baines took the free-kick, sending it into the penalty area.

Škrtel provided a flick-on, and Inler, coming from behind Kolo Touré, beat his man to the ball and headed it in from close range.

The Arsenal players protested, claiming Inler had pushed down on Kolo Touré with his hand as he jumped, but the head referee signaled that the goal stood.

1-1!

The two teams continued to trade blows in an end-to-end battle.

Bayswater Chinese maintained a compact formation, trying to limit the space Henry had to receive the ball.

But in the 21st minute, Henry still managed to seize an opportunity. Receiving a pass from Pires, he swept the ball into the net with a sliding shot from the right of the penalty spot.

2-1!

José Fonte had a look of helplessness on his face.

He had really done his best!

Henry was just unstoppable!

In the 28th minute, Bayswater Chinese passed the ball out from the back. Škrtel played it forward to Lassana Diarra.

The Frenchman carried the ball into the attacking half and passed it to Chimbonda, who had made a high-speed overlapping run into the right channel.

Aaron Lennon was used to making straight runs up and down the right flank, so Yang Cheng had specifically instructed Chimbonda to occupy the half-space.

As Chimbonda controlled the ball, he evaded Gilberto Silva’s block, drawing Cygan over before playing a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Aaron Lennon burst forward, beating Cygan to the ball, and powered into the right side of Arsenal’s box. Before Campbell could come out to challenge, he squared the ball across.

In the middle, Džeko was blocked by Kolo Touré and couldn’t get to it.

But Ashley Young arrived at the far post and swept it home with a simple finish.

The ball flew into the far corner.

2-2!

Bayswater Chinese were buoyed by the goal.

In the 36th minute, Ashley Young won a free-kick in the attacking half, but it came to nothing.

Instead, it was Arsenal who, in the 41st minute, won a free-kick on the left side outside the home team’s penalty area, about twenty-five meters from goal, after Lassana Diarra fouled Pires.

Henry delivered a free-kick of exceptional quality, curling it straight into the top corner.

3-2!

Just before halftime, Bayswater Chinese won another free-kick in the attacking half.

Under the touchline management of Gianni Vio, the team changed their strategy.

Leighton Baines delivered a precise kick. Inside the box, a flurry of runs from the players distracted the defenders. The taller players like José Fonte, Škrtel, Džeko, and Andreassen all interfered with the Arsenal defenders but didn’t win the ball.

Instead, at the far post, Chimbonda leaped high and headed the ball in from close range.

3-3!

The French full-back was ecstatic, almost going crazy!

He had scored in three consecutive matches!

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Six goals in one half of football.

It was insane!

…

“Henry is just too strong!”

After the first half ended, Yang Cheng sent his players back to the dressing room, exchanged a look with Wenger in the opposition’s dugout, and remarked with heartfelt emotion.

Wenger looked even more frustrated than Yang Cheng.

The Gunners’ current league position was not ideal. Before the match, Wenger had been determined to get three points from this West London team.

More importantly, Arsenal was also feeling the threat from Bayswater Chinese.

When they were building their new stadium, the plans were well-laid.

Wenger had even assured the lending banks that he would continue to coach Arsenal for the next five years, ensuring the team finished in the top four.

Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal.

Wasn’t that the perfect top four?

Who could have expected the sudden emergence of Bayswater Chinese?

Moreover, they were a club from the north of Hyde Park, not far from Arsenal.

The rise of Bayswater Chinese was certainly the biggest threat to Chelsea, but the Gunners were also affected.

David Dein had previously commissioned a third-party agency to conduct a study. If this stadium north of Hyde Park were to be built, offering similar amenities, who would Arsenal sell the two hundred VIP boxes in their new stadium to?

That was tens of millions of pound sterling in annual revenue!

This was more of an arch-rival than their actual arch-rival!

Of course, this was all for later.

Bayswater Chinese’s stadium was still an unfinished project with a planned capacity of only ten thousand, not even a single VIP box.

To occupy such a prime location and let it go to waste was a crime against nature!

“I think Wenger is even more frustrated than you are,” Brian Kidd chuckled.

The 3-3 scoreline was within Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd’s acceptable range.

Hadn’t they seen that Ribéry, Modrić and the others hadn’t even come on yet?

Did they really think Yang Cheng was just keeping his core players on the bench for show?

Both teams had players returning from the two-week international break. Arsenal had more internationals, and they were all starters, so their fatigue was greater.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s strategy for the first half was to wear Arsenal down.

The second half was when the home team would really push.

“That guy Henry is truly a god. I assigned Chimbonda and Škrtel to mark him, and they still couldn’t stop him.”

Yang Cheng was full of praise for Henry.

“We limited his ability to receive the ball, and what does he do? He scores a direct free-kick. His arsenal is just too vast.”

Brian Kidd nodded repeatedly.

This was the most dangerous marksman in the Premier League, and perhaps all of Europe, at that moment.

However, Yang Cheng’s specific tactical setup for this match had made Brian Kidd see him in a new light.

As a superstar striker in the Premier League, Henry had a large operational range. He could dribble, shoot, pass, and control the ball—he was an all-around player.

But no one is perfect.

Beckenbauer once said that on a football pitch, the strongest point is often also the weakest.

This applied to tactics, and it applied to players.

Henry’s greatest strengths were his speed and physical presence.

But his biggest weakness also stemmed from this.

At 1.88 meters tall, his center of gravity was high; that was an objective fact.

Henry was fast and had a wide range of movement, so he liked to run down the flanks, receive the ball, and then accelerate at high speed to break past or shake off defenders.

This style of play was very entertaining and also very lethal.

Henry’s first touch was excellent, and combined with his speed, his dribbling and evasion skills were very strong.

But once he reached top speed, in order to beat a man, he had to make changes of pace, direction, and feints.

At that point, his 1.88-meter height became his biggest weakness.

He would get past the defender, but his overall center of gravity would often become unstable, and the connecting moves after beating his man would lose their form.

Many people wondered why Henry had failed to make it at Juventus.

This was the reason.

In a top-tier league, no head coach, no team is foolish.

Wenger could see Henry’s ability; did the people at Juventus, who saw him train every day, not see it?

The problem was that in the defensively rigid Serie A, Henry’s strengths were greatly diminished, while his weaknesses were laid bare.

In the faster-paced, more open Premier League, Henry got more space on the ball and naturally thrived.

By the same token, did Premier League managers not know Henry’s strengths and weaknesses?

Anyone who did a little research would know.

Didn’t Manchester United’s Wes Brown repeatedly shut Henry down completely?

But knowing was one thing; being able to stop him was another.

Just like today, Yang Cheng had assigned Chimbonda to mark Henry, with Škrtel providing support.

To counter Henry’s characteristics, Chimbonda had speed and physical presence but lacked strong defensive skills.

Škrtel was a physical beast with strong defensive skills, but he wasn’t agile and was slow to turn.

As a result, two men marking one Henry, and he still scored a goal against them.

The second goal was a free-kick.

That was Henry!

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, among the strikers of Henry’s era, the most unstoppable was a healthy Ronaldo during his time at Barça.

As a striker, Ronaldo back then not only possessed all of Henry’s strengths but also had virtually no weaknesses.

In the Premier League, the developing C. Ronaldo at Manchester United would also be slightly better than Henry in his final two years at the club.

As for Henry’s time at Barça, that was another story.

The French striker was best suited to a two-striker system.

In Barça’s 4-3-3 system, whether playing as a left winger or a centre-forward, Henry always looked awkward.

“We’ll keep defending him like this in the second half. I refuse to believe it!”

Yang Cheng was getting fired up.

The arrow was nocked; it had to be fired.

…

The second half began.

Bayswater Chinese tightened their marking on Henry and van Persie.

Especially Henry.

Whenever Chimbonda wasn’t involved in an attack, he was practically glued to Henry.

This made it very uncomfortable for the French striker.

Henry had already gotten a taste of his new national teammate’s abilities in the first half.

Strong in attack, weak in defence, but fast, physical, and excellent at hassling opponents.

This was to be expected.

If he could shut down Henry, it would be a surefire way to make a name for himself in European football. Who wouldn’t give it their all?

In the second half, the two teams continued their back-and-forth battle.

Arsenal held the initiative and had more chances, but none were particularly threatening.

In the second half, Henry’s stamina clearly began to decline.

In the 52nd minute, Henry dribbled past Chimbonda from the left, but as he was about to shoot, the onrushing Škrtel blocked his shot.

It happened again not long after.

When Henry was no longer as threatening, Arsenal’s attack suffered greatly.

In the 65th minute, Yang Cheng made his long-planned substitutions.

He brought on two players at once, with Ribéry and Modrić replacing Aaron Lennon and Lassana Diarra.

It’s worth mentioning that Lassana Diarra was, up to this point in the season, the player with the most tackles in the Premier League.

And by a wide margin.

After the changes, Bayswater Chinese sounded the horn for their counter-offensive with a long shot from Inler in the right channel.

The home team’s strong fightback threw Arsenal into disarray.

Especially Ribéry, who came on to play on the right wing, clearly targeting Cygan.

Starting from the 66th minute, the home team repeatedly launched attacks down the right flank, relentlessly exploiting Arsenal’s weak spot.

They pressed so hard that Arsenal was forced to retreat.

Just six minutes later, Wenger immediately had players warming up.

In the 75th minute, Flamini came on for Pires, and Bergkamp replaced van Persie.

Flamini was brought on to strengthen the midfield defence, but more so to protect Cygan on the left.

The French midfielder was capable of playing as a makeshift left-back.

Only after making two changes did Arsenal manage to steady themselves.

But Yang Cheng quickly made his third substitution, bringing on the young Walcott for Ashley Young.

Ribéry moved back to the left flank.

In the 80th minute, Walcott, having just come on, received the ball on the right and tried to use his pace to get past Flamini but was fouled.

Flamini, who hadn’t been on the pitch for long, received a yellow card.

Bayswater Chinese took the free-kick quickly, passing it to Džeko in the middle.

The Bosnian centre-forward controlled the ball with his back to goal, turned past Campbell, and broke into the penalty area.

At the crucial moment, Lehmann came off his line.

Džeko hesitated slightly with his shot, and Lehmann saved it.

But that control and turn showed incredible skill.

It not only earned a loud cheer from Yang Cheng on the sideline but also made Wenger so nervous he lost his composure, shouting at Campbell.

Yang Cheng saw an opening.

Veterans were still veterans.

He immediately signaled for the team to focus their fire on Campbell.

Just one minute later, it was Džeko again, dropping deep into the right channel to receive the ball. He shook off Campbell, broke into the right side of the box, and delivered a cross.

Ribéry made a high-speed run into the left side of the box. Lauren next to him was desperately pulling at the French winger, even ripping his jersey.

Because Ribéry was focused on attacking and forgot to go down, the head referee turned a blind eye.

In the final few minutes of the match, Arsenal’s defence was leaking all over the place.

On the left, Cygan couldn’t handle Walcott. On the right, Lauren couldn’t contain Ribéry. In the middle, Campbell couldn’t cope with Džeko…

This forced Arsenal into a full retreat, and they looked extremely ragged.

Wenger, on the sideline, also appeared exceptionally worried.

Fortunately, the score was still 3-3!

In the 86th minute, Wenger made his third substitution, bringing on Senderos for Ljungberg.

The Professor had given up!

He had conceded defeat!

To secure this one point, he had cast aside all pride!

After the substitution, Arsenal defended even more conservatively and resolutely, even adopting a 5-man defence with 3 holding midfielders.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, played with increasing verve, launching a frenzied assault.

But it had to be admitted that when the Gunners adopted a tight defensive strategy, breaking them down was no easy task.

In the end, the head referee blew the final whistle.

3-3!

The two teams shook hands on a draw!

But the moment the whistle blew, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff behind him, as well as the fans in the stands, all rose to their feet and applauded the players.

“Bayswater Chinese put on a fantastic performance today.”

“They were slightly second-best in the first half but still traded blows with Arsenal.”

“In the second half, especially the last thirty minutes, Bayswater Chinese completely dominated the game.”

“Arsenal was suppressed and looked very ragged.”

“Bayswater Chinese truly deserves this round of applause!”

…

“Where did you find that Bosnian centre-forward?”

After the match, Yang Cheng, as the home team’s coach, went over to meet Wenger, and they chatted for a bit.

Out of courtesy, neither of them brought up the match.

Wenger’s failure to win, especially after the last-ditch, face-losing tactics, had put him in a foul mood.

But Džeko had clearly left a very deep impression on him.

In the final period of the match, Campbell simply couldn’t handle Džeko.

You can tell if a player is good or not just by watching him play one game.

“Professor, do you think I can tell you something so confidential?” Yang Cheng was in a good mood, pleased that a player he had developed had caught Wenger’s eye.

This was recognition for him and for Džeko.

When Yang Cheng had applied for the Special Talent Clause for Džeko, the whole of England had laughed at him.

After this match, he wondered what those who had mocked him were thinking now.

“His physical presence is still a bit lacking. If…”

“Don’t, Professor. We know that ourselves.” Yang Cheng wasn’t about to accept this unsolicited advice.

Who knew what Wenger might use هذا ‘favor’ for in the future?

Wenger was somewhat exasperated.

This kid was truly stingy, unwilling to give an inch.

Did he have no respect for his elders?

At the very least, I’m older than you, and I’ve been coaching for longer, right?

“But, Professor, there’s something I have to remind you of,” Yang Cheng suddenly softened his tone.

“Speak,” Wenger replied curtly.

“We are growing more and more confident with every game, because we’re discovering that the Premier League’s Big4 aren’t as strong as we thought.”

Wenger’s eyelid twitched.

What was that supposed to mean?

The Premier League’s Big4 weren’t strong?

Who was he talking about?

And true to his word, Yang Cheng had faced three of them so far.

He had beaten Chelsea in the first round, then drawn with Manchester United away, and now drawn with Arsenal at home.

That was a solid, undeniable record.

“So, Professor, you all need to work harder. I’m just afraid that if, and I’m just saying what if, we break into the top four, and you guys…”

Yang Cheng didn’t finish his sentence, already breaking into laughter.

The Master of the Top-Four Finish?

With me around, can you still comfortably secure your fourth place?

“Bullshit!” Wenger blurted out, unable to hold back a curse.

“The season isn’t even halfway over. Aren’t you celebrating a bit too early?”

Yang Cheng actually agreed with that sentiment, so he nodded very seriously, looked at Wenger, and said, word for word.

“Then we’ll see!”

With that, he turned and walked away with a flourish.

Leaving Wenger alone, staring blankly at the young man’s retreating back, his mind in turmoil.

Chapter 87: A Flash of Genius! Yang Cheng: Shameless!

Arsenal Forces Draw Away at Bayswater Chinese!

This was the headline in the British media after the match.

That’s right. The vast majority of mainstream media outlets, including The Sun and The Times, believed that Arsenal had forced a draw against Bayswater Chinese.

This was because in the final period of the match, the home team clearly had the upper hand.

Especially in the final moments, forcing Wenger to adopt a conservative 5-3-2 formation was a rare sight indeed.

At the post-match press conference, Wenger complained about Bayswater Chinese’s first goal.

The Professor pointed out that the goal was a foul and should have been disallowed.

He was attempting to salvage Arsenal’s pitiful confidence.

Due to not having a coaching license, Yang Cheng wasn’t officially listed with the team.

He wasn’t even considered an assistant coach.

As for the post-match press conference, he would attend if he felt like it, and if not, he would send Brian Kidd.

This time, Brian Kidd, on behalf of Yang Cheng, issued a tearful accusation, believing that the Premier League referees were helping Arsenal.

The evidence?

Ribéry’s jersey had been torn. If that wasn’t a penalty, what was?

Judging from the subsequent media coverage, Arsenal was in an unfavorable position.

Given the strength Bayswater Chinese displayed during the match, they should have earned a victory.

Among the reports, The Times specifically mentioned Yang Cheng’s squad selection and touchline management.

His decision to rest players like Ribéry and Modrić, only to bring on Ribéry and Theo Walcott in the second half when the Arsenal players were tiring, had nearly overwhelmed the Gunners’ defense.

“Wenger really threw caution to the wind.”

“Had he hesitated even slightly, he might not have left Loftus Road Stadium.”

“This was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a carefully laid trap by Yang Cheng before the match.”

“For Bayswater Chinese to storm into the top four of the Premier League table as a newly promoted team, Yang Cheng’s contribution has been indispensable.”

“In fact, based on the past few matches, he is the number one hero behind this West London team’s rise!”

After thirteen Premier League matches, Bayswater Chinese was in second place with eight wins, four draws, and one loss, accumulating twenty-eight points.

Chelsea led the League table with thirty-one points.

Following them were Manchester United with twenty-seven points and Arsenal with twenty-three.

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted before the season, Mourinho’s Chelsea was as steady as a rock.

…

Speaking of AZ Alkmaar from the Eredivisie, many fans probably wouldn’t recognize the name.

Even in the Netherlands, they weren’t considered a top team.

In 2002, the famous Dutch coach and attacking fanatic, Co Adriaanse, took over AZ Alkmaar.

In three years, he took this unremarkable Dutch team to third place in the Eredivisie and the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

As early as January 2005, Adriaanse announced he would be leaving at the end of the season.

His next stop was Porto in the Primeira Liga.

The AZ Alkmaar management contacted the world-renowned coach Louis van Gaal, who had just left his position as technical director at Ajax.

From then on, the team entered a new era.

If Adriaanse had injected attacking DNA into AZ Alkmaar, then van Gaal saw the team’s flaw: its terrible defense.

So, after taking over, van Gaal built upon Adriaanse’s 4-3-3 tactical framework and brought in several experienced veterans, including Shota Arveladze.

Van Gaal wanted to use the experience and ability of these older players to compensate for AZ Alkmaar’s shortcomings.

At the same time, away from the power struggles of bigger clubs, van Gaal was able to fully dedicate himself to rebuilding the club, providing targeted training for players, and subsequently building a highly competitive team.

Now, after twelve Eredivisie matches, AZ Alkmaar was ranked third, behind PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

But the team had continued Adriaanse’s powerful attack, making them the highest-scoring team in the Eredivisie.

At the same time, their defense had also improved significantly, second only to PSV Eindhoven, making them the team with the second-fewest goals conceded in the league.

It could be said that van Gaal’s rebuilding and training had produced immediate results.

As soon as the UEFA Cup group stage draw was announced, Yang Cheng had marked AZ Alkmaar as their toughest opponent.

Not just because of van Gaal, but also because the third-round match was away from home.

This round was crucial.

AZ Alkmaar’s excellent performance in the Eredivisie this season was in no small part due to the Georgian striker, Shota Arveladze.

The 32-year-old Georgian striker had previously played for Ajax in the Netherlands and Rangers in Scotland.

This summer, due to his age, Scottish club Rangers did not renew Arveladze’s contract.

At the time, Arveladze had wanted to return to Ajax, but Ajax also rejected his return due to his age.

Unexpectedly, after joining AZ Alkmaar under van Gaal, Shota Arveladze scored nine goals and provided five assists in the first five Eredivisie matches of the season, helping AZ Alkmaar to five consecutive wins.

At that time, the entire European football world was shocked.

Everyone knew that goal stats in the Eredivisie were inflated.

But surely not to this extent?

Creating fourteen goals in five matches was simply insane!

But soon, after the initial novelty wore off, Arveladze was gradually figured out.

From the sixth round to the twelfth, Arveladze only managed to score three goals and provide one assist.

The numbers were still decent, but it was a clear downturn compared to his frantic form in the first five rounds.

The reason wasn’t hard to understand.

Arveladze was getting on in years. At 1.81 meters, he was proficient with both feet and possessed excellent technical skills.

He wasn’t a powerful centre-forward, but a flexible, technical striker.

Yang Cheng was quite confident in defending against such a player.

Thus, he once again deployed the partnership of José Fonte and Koscielny.

Before the match, he specifically instructed Koscielny to mark Arveladze tightly.

Even if the Georgian striker dropped deep, he was to follow him.

Both teams used a three-man midfield, but Yang Cheng fielded a trio of Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra.

They completely suppressed AZ Alkmaar’s midfield combination of Schaars, Arjan de Zeeuw, and Landzaat.

Upfront, Yang Cheng deployed an attacking trio of Ribéry, Lambert, and Aaron Lennon.

For this match, Yang Cheng had even gone so far as to rest several players against Arsenal.

Thanks to meticulous preparation, after weathering AZ Alkmaar’s initial home-turf advantage, Bayswater Chinese controlled most of the match at the Alkmaarderhout, AZ Alkmaar’s stadium.

But the team couldn’t break the deadlock.

Yang Cheng waited on the sidelines.

The first half ended, and the score was still 0-0.

In the second half, the team still couldn’t convert their dominance into goals.

Centre-forward Lambert missed several consecutive chances.

This made Yang Cheng on the sidelines gradually lose his patience.

…

“AZ Alkmaar’s two centre-backs aren’t tall, but they complement each other well.”

Brian Kidd watched as another Bayswater Chinese attack came to nothing, feeling a sense of helplessness.

“Kew Jaliens is fast, covers a lot of ground, and likes to press and mark tightly.”

“Joris Mathijsen plays deeper, is excellent in physical confrontations, but is slow in speed and acceleration.”

“Lambert really doesn’t have an advantage against these two centre-backs.”

Yang Cheng remained silent.

Hearing this, he glanced at his assistant and smiled faintly.

He knew full well that Brian Kidd was making excuses for Lambert.

The assistant coach’s assessment was correct.

The partnership of Mathijsen and Jaliens performed excellently, jointly neutralizing Lambert.

So far in this match, Bayswater Chinese had dominated possession but couldn’t break the deadlock.

Lambert being neutralized was the biggest problem.

The two centre-backs really complemented each other well, but both were only 1.83 meters tall.

According to Yang Cheng’s pre-match plan, even if Lambert couldn’t dominate the opponent, he should at least be able to hold up the ball for teammates around and behind him, creating chances and fulfilling his tactical role.

The problem was, not only did Lambert waste several chances, but his tactical contribution was also greatly diminished.

Of course, Jaliens sticking to him like glue was the real issue.

It could only be said that Lambert had basically hit his ceiling.

“Make a substitution!” Yang Cheng decided decisively.

It was only the 60th minute, the perfect time for a change.

Brian Kidd had no objections.

To win, they needed to make an adjustment.

“Bring on Džeko for Lambert.”

The assistant coach immediately went to the bench, called Džeko, and told him to warm up quickly.

Three minutes later, Džeko returned to the dugout and stood before Yang Cheng.

“We need someone now who can receive the ball in front of their defensive line, especially in the half-spaces on either side of their holding midfielder, turn, and then either dribble or pass to a teammate.”

“Especially on Mathijsen’s side. He’s a left-footed centre-back playing on the left, usually drops deep, and doesn’t press aggressively.”

At this point, Yang Cheng turned to look at Džeko.

Lambert is 1.88 meters tall, which is quite tall.

Džeko is even taller at 1.93 meters, a full 10 centimeters taller than AZ’s two centre-backs.

If that were all, Yang Cheng wouldn’t value Džeko so highly.

What was most surprising about the Bosnian centre-forward was his footwork.

Coming from a midfield background, he wasn’t slow, had refined technique, and was proficient with both feet.

His biggest weaknesses right now were that his physical strength in duels wasn’t strong enough, and his heading ability wasn’t yet outstanding.

This would take time.

Physical strength aside, heading heavily relies on the strength of the core abdominal muscles.

These were things to be worked on in the gym.

Everything had to be taken one step at a time.

Džeko was only nineteen, and this was his debut Premier League season. They couldn’t rush things.

“Don’t worry, I can do it!”

Džeko was very grateful for Yang Cheng’s trust.

Bringing him on as a substitute when the team was in difficulty was also a show of that trust.

…

In the 63rd minute, Džeko replaced Lambert.

Although Yang Cheng was not satisfied with Lambert’s performance, he still gave him a hug and offered words of comfort and encouragement.

Lambert would still be needed to contribute in the upcoming league matches.

After Džeko came on, Bayswater Chinese’s tactics changed.

Van Gaal made only a minor adjustment, but no major moves.

The Dutch coach didn’t fully trust the young Ron Vlaar, so he didn’t consider using the taller Vlaar to mark Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward’s first touch after coming on was in the right half-space.

Džeko didn’t drop back, instead using his body to shield the ball from Mathijsen while receiving a pass from Lassana Diarra.

Although 10 centimeters shorter, Mathijsen was pinned behind Džeko. But the cunning Dutch centre-back took advantage of the moment Džeko controlled the ball to give him a nudge from behind, causing Džeko to lose his balance and fall forward.

The head referee didn’t blow the whistle, and AZ Alkmaar launched a quick counter-attack.

But once they reached the attacking third, Bayswater Chinese quickly won the ball back.

As soon as Yaya Touré got the ball, he took a step forward and, before even crossing the halfway line, sent a direct pass forward.

Džeko dropped back to the right side of the centre circle and surveyed his surroundings before receiving the ball.

As the head coach had predicted, Mathijsen didn’t press high.

Jaliens liked to press, but as the right centre-back, it was difficult for him to press into this area.

So, after controlling the ball, Džeko immediately turned.

The control and turn were very fluid.

Džeko immediately dribbled forward.

But just as he entered AZ Alkmaar’s final third, Džeko was first bumped from behind by a tracking Landzaat, then brought down by a sliding tackle from Mathijsen.

He was down.

The ball was lost.

And no foul.

The entire stadium erupted in cheers from the AZ Alkmaar fans.

Yang Cheng strode to the touchline, applauded vigorously, and called out to Džeko.

“It’s okay, keep your head up, keep playing like that, believe in yourself!”

“You can do it, Edin!”

At this moment, Yang Cheng was sure the television commentators were complaining that Džeko was holding onto the ball for too long.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, this was precisely where Džeko’s greatest tactical value lay.

As is widely acknowledged in the industry, only a player who can receive the ball with his back to goal and turn can be considered a top-class centre-forward.

Among tall centre-forwards over 1.9 meters, those who can consistently drive forward with the ball are extremely rare.

The most famous one is that guy just below God.

Saying he holds the ball too long? That showed a complete lack of understanding of the immense tactical value a tall centre-forward over 1.9 meters brings by being able to do that.

And Džeko had a great engine.

He could always run into scoring opportunities.

…

“You can do it, Edin!”

As Džeko picked himself up from the grass, full of frustration, he heard the head coach’s shout from the sideline.

He turned his head and saw Yang Cheng applauding him.

This made him feel a deep sense of warmth.

Yang Cheng had always supported and trusted him unconditionally.

“Who says small countries can’t produce football geniuses? Who says a player with a low transfer fee can’t be a genius?”

“He, Edin Džeko, is a genius!”

Even though it had been over half a year, Džeko still often recalled Yang Cheng’s words at The FA hearing, where he argued vehemently with people from the Home Office, the Department for Sport, and The FA.

He wanted to prove that Edin Džeko was a genius!

This moved Džeko deeply.

And not long ago, standing outside his office, Džeko had personally heard him say those words to Adam Crozier.

“I have no intention of signing a striker during the winter break. There’s absolutely no need.”

“We have Džeko!”

“I believe in Džeko!”

As he thought about it, the Bosnian centre-forward’s eyes reddened.

His whole body felt like it was on fire, burning hot.

He started to run tirelessly on the pitch.

Although he was very tall, his running ability was good, and he had come on as a substitute.

He was like a heavy tank charging into a crowded city, crushing everything in its path and putting immense pressure on AZ Alkmaar’s defense.

This pressure was not just technical and tactical, but also psychological.

And Džeko wasn’t running aimlessly.

He knew that AZ Alkmaar often played the ball out through Mathijsen. He kept an eye on it, waiting for an opportunity.

In the 70th minute, AZ Alkmaar won the ball back in their own half again.

Bayswater Chinese immediately launched a counter-press.

The ball was at the feet of the left-back, Tim de Cler.

Džeko saw Aaron Lennon immediately closing down on him, and he followed suit.

But the Bosnian was clever, always keeping an eye on Mathijsen.

Sure enough, under pressure from Aaron Lennon on the left flank, Tim de Cler chose to pass back to Mathijsen.

Džeko’s heart leaped with joy. He suddenly accelerated, dashing towards Mathijsen.

The 1.83-meter-tall Mathijsen felt the pressure of the 1.93-meter Džeko bearing down on him before he even received the ball.

This stunned Mathijsen, whose technique wasn’t great and whose movements weren’t very agile.

It happened so fast!

Van Gaal had a very particular preference for his centre-backs.

He liked to use a left-footed centre-back on the left and a right-footed one on the right.

The advantage of this was to facilitate playing the ball out from the back.

Before the match, when deploying the team’s tactics, the head coach had emphasized this point.

Džeko remembered it well.

At this moment, as Džeko closed in on Mathijsen, he didn’t watch his right foot, but focused intently on his left.

When the pass from de Cler on the left arrived, coupled with the pressure from Džeko, Mathijsen instinctively extended his left foot to control it.

Since Aaron Lennon was close to de Cler, Mathijsen couldn’t pass the ball back to him.

His idea was to control it, shield it from Džeko, and then pass back to the goalkeeper.

But under heavy pressure, his first touch was a bit heavy, sending the ball slightly out of his control.

On a fast-paced football pitch, even a one-meter heavy touch can be fatal.

Džeko, with his height and long legs, saw the opponent’s heavy touch as he closed in and immediately, decisively poked the ball away just before Mathijsen could reach it.

Mathijsen was horrified and immediately gave chase.

Džeko had already taken a step, using the outside of his right foot to knock the ball further outside and using his body to shield it from Mathijsen.

Mathijsen knew he had made a huge mistake and immediately stuck close to Džeko, not allowing him a chance to turn and face the goal.

Although Džeko was tall, his physical strength was relatively weak, and he couldn’t go head-to-head with Mathijsen.

The Bosnian centre-forward skillfully dribbled the ball to the right side just outside the penalty area.

Just when Mathijsen and everyone at AZ Alkmaar breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the danger had passed, Džeko suddenly stopped, dropped his left shoulder, and feigned a move towards the byline.

Mathijsen, positioned just inside the right edge of the penalty area, naturally couldn’t let him do that and immediately followed.

Unexpectedly, Džeko used his left foot to cut the ball back to his right, successfully turning to face his own half and taking a step back with the ball.

While dribbling, Džeko also glanced over his shoulder at the penalty area.

Mathijsen reacted quickly and closed in again, fearing Džeko would break into the box.

But the Bosnian centre-forward had no intention of entering the penalty area.

Before Mathijsen could catch up, Džeko swung his long left leg and chipped the ball.

Inside the box, both AZ Alkmaar’s goalkeeper Henk Timmer and centre-back Jaliens were all gathered at the near post.

This was the normal choice for any defending team.

Ribéry was surrounded by them.

But Džeko’s chipped cross flew in a beautiful arc and landed at the unguarded far post.

Just as everyone was wondering, a red figure rushed forward, met Džeko’s chipped cross, and headed the ball into what was essentially an undefended goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 71st minute, Bayswater Chinese has breached the AZ Alkmaar goal!”

“It’s from their captain, midfielder Luka Modrić!”

“It’s a wonderful combination from two genius players!”

“Modrić was the first player in English football history to use the Special Talent Clause in 2003, and Džeko used the Special Talent Clause in 2005.”

“Now, the combination of these two players has opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-0!”

…

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng had leaped up in excitement, clapping his hands.

“He actually saw him!” Brian Kidd was also very excited.

“This proves that our special training recently has been effective,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Brian Kidd nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Yang Cheng.

Back before the start of the summer training camp this season, Yang Cheng had advocated for adding a special training regimen.

The goal was to improve the team’s ability to play the ball out under the higher intensity pressure of the Premier League and to improve their spatial awareness and anticipation.

Everyone knows that passing accuracy is highest when the target is stationary.

The faster the target moves, the longer the pass, and the greater the pressure on the passer, the larger the margin of error will be.

This involves anticipating space.

Moreover, both the passer and the receiver must make the same anticipation simultaneously.

Only then is a successful pass possible.

In his previous life as a coach, Yang Cheng loved to attend lectures at the Coverciano training base in Italy.

Once, he was listening to a professor’s lecture that mentioned American NFL teams, whose coaching staffs often have over twenty people, with specialized coaches for each position, conducting very detailed analysis and training.

Among other things, they use meticulous planning and repetitive training to help players accurately predict the receiver’s position and timing.

American football training methods aren’t suitable for football.

But the success of the NFL in America proved one thing.

The ability to play the ball out under pressure and the ability to anticipate space are things that can be improved through training.

Yang Cheng was very interested in this and discussed it extensively with that professor, but it was all theoretical.

No one knew how to put it into practice.

Because in the football world, everyone felt that this was just a “feel” for the game.

The gift of a top passer!

But Yang Cheng didn’t see it that way. He believed that talent certainly existed.

Some people are naturally more sensitive to space and have a stronger understanding of the game.

But the point wasn’t to turn every player into a 100-out-of-100 passing master.

Wouldn’t it be enough to train players to an 80-point, or even a 75-point level?

In his previous life coaching in the Bundesliga, Yang Cheng had experienced the German engineering mindset, especially the so-called “Footbonaut.”

So, not long ago, during the second phase of construction at the Brent training ground, Yang Cheng proposed building a simulation space.

Similar to the Footbonaut popular in German football.

The difference was that the surrounding walls would be filled with round holes, each slightly larger than a ball.

These holes are normally closed, but during training, one would open randomly, and the player’s task would be to pass the ball into that hole.

Not only that, the entire room would be captured by high-definition cameras from all angles, recording the timing, force, and angle of each of the player’s passes.

On the pitch, this corresponds to the timing, trajectory, and distance of a pass.

But currently, there was no corresponding data analysis software in the industry.

So, Yang Cheng had Gianni Vio start building a data analysis model.

This model used a three-dimensional coordinate system. The axes were the pass’s timing, trajectory, and distance obtained from the training in the Footbonaut, as well as other supporting data like the number of steps and stride frequency before the pass.

In addition, this data analysis model could also analyze player data from matches and training sessions.

The three coordinates were the passer’s passing timing, the receiver’s running timing, and the pass distance.

This would allow for a good analysis of who deserved credit for a successful pass.

And if a pass failed, where did the problem lie?

Once everything was ready, players would get accurate data feedback after every match, every training session, and every Footbonaut session.

But this alone wasn’t enough.

So, Yang Cheng had already started working with the coaching staff over the entire summer to create some targeted special training routines for the team.

There were small-sided games and passing-and-moving drills on a standard pitch.

Since the second phase of construction at the Brent training ground had just begun and the Footbonaut was still being custom-built by a company, Bayswater Chinese was primarily doing special training this season.

It was scheduled twice a week, for about fifteen minutes each time, all integrated into the regular training schedule.

Over the past period, there had been many instances where the team’s passing showed significant improvement.

Džeko’s pass just now was also deeply impressive.

That’s why Brian Kidd was so excited.

However, it wasn’t time to celebrate yet.

“Džeko’s physique is still too weak. We need to find a way to strengthen it as soon as possible.”

Yang Cheng remembered how the Bosnian centre-forward had been tackled and brought down twice right after coming on.

That level of physical confrontation would be tough in the Premier League.

Brian Kidd quickly nodded in agreement.

…

With Modrić’s goal, the stalemate on the pitch was broken.

Van Gaal also made a decisive substitution.

Dutch right winger Martijn Meerdink came on to strengthen the attack.

Clearly, van Gaal was unwilling to let Bayswater Chinese take three points from his home ground.

After taking the lead, Yang Cheng signaled for the team to continue with the same tactics.

Especially Džeko up front.

The Bosnian centre-forward became even more active, constantly pressuring AZ Alkmaar’s defense, making life miserable for the two centre-backs, Mathijsen and Jaliens.

The height difference was so large, and Džeko could run and wasn’t slow. The pressure was immense.

But just as everyone was focusing on the active Džeko, Ribéry, who had been contained and had a quiet match, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and launched a brilliant attack.

After receiving a pass from Leighton Baines, Ribéry, facing the tall 1.89-meter full-back Grétar Steinsson, knocked the ball past him on the left and sprinted around the defender. After catching up to the ball on the left side of the penalty area, he gently chipped it with his left foot.

In the middle were the two 1.83-meter centre-backs, Jaliens and Mathijsen.

In this situation, the 1.93-meter Džeko stood out from the crowd.

How could the Bosnian centre-forward miss such a golden opportunity?

Džeko, like a heavy tank, charged into the AZ Alkmaar box, leaped high, and powerfully headed the ball towards the left side of the goal.

Goalkeeper Timmer was still moving towards the right side of the goal. How could he possibly react to Džeko heading it in the opposite direction?

“GOAL AGAIN!!!”

“2-0!”

“Edin Džeko from Bosnia and Herzegovina scores another for Bayswater Chinese!”

“After this 19-year-old tall centre-forward came on, he completely changed the game.”

“His assist and goal have secured the victory for Bayswater Chinese.”

“2-0!”

“This scoreline is enough for Bayswater Chinese to walk out of AZ Alkmaar’s Alkmaarderhout with their heads held high, and with three consecutive group stage wins, they have qualified early!”

…

“Today’s match reminded me of the second El Clásico of the 03/04 La Liga season.”

After the match, when van Gaal came over to Yang Cheng, his mood had already recovered.

After so many years of coaching, he had long become philosophical about wins and losses.

But he was clearly more interested in the substance of the match.

“How so?” Yang Cheng vaguely guessed what he meant but pretended not to know.

Van Gaal gave Yang Cheng a deep look and chuckled.

“The entire team setup is too similar.”

“Is it?” Yang Cheng laughed.

He didn’t take it as mockery; it felt more like a compliment.

In football, there’s no such thing as plagiarism, nor is it possible.

There are no two identical players in the world, so how could you copy?

“When Frank Rijkaard was coaching Barça, he was still experimenting. Before Edgar Davids joined, the team was 12th in La Liga.”

“With Davids’ arrival, that Barça team went on a seventeen-game unbeaten streak in La Liga, with fourteen wins and three draws, and beat Real Madrid 2-1 away in the second El Clásico.”

Yang Cheng was also extremely familiar with this match.

It could be said that this match was the battle that marked the rise of the Barça ‘Dream Team Two’ dynasty!

“I still clearly remember, the midfield was Edgar Davids and Xavi, with Phillip Cocu in the holding role.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

As a first-team head coach, knowing all these matches like the back of his hand was a basic skill.

“Your midfield is Lassana Diarra, Modrić, with Yaya Touré in the holding role.”

At this point, van Gaal looked deeply at Yang Cheng and asked softly, “Similar, right?”

Yang Cheng shook his head, “Lassana Diarra’s dynamism isn’t as good as Davids’, Modrić’s stability isn’t as good as Xavi’s, and Yaya Touré’s defending isn’t as good as Cocu’s.”

Hearing this, van Gaal couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“You only mention the inferior parts, why not talk about the superior aspects?”

Yang Cheng was silent.

“Barça’s front line had Ronaldinho on the left and Marc Overmars on the right. Your front line has Ribéry on the left and Aaron Lennon on the right, isn’t that also very similar?”

“But the most surprising thing was the centre-forward, and the course of the match.”

“In that match, Barça’s midfield had the upper hand, but Real Madrid scored first, with Solari scoring in the 54th minute. In the 57th minute, Rijkaard substituted Patrick Kluivert for Javier Saviola.”

“One minute after coming on, Kluivert equalized for Barça, sounding the charge for Barça’s comeback.”

After Kluivert came on, Real Madrid’s defense completely collapsed.

Figo’s second yellow card in the 69th minute was the best proof of that.

And Barça scored another in the 86th minute.

Yang Cheng also remembered this match vividly.

Was it similar?

It was very similar.

Football tactics, through different paths, often arrive at the same conclusion.

For example, what kind of midfield configuration, what kind of wing configuration—if you look closely, you’ll easily find that successful teams often have similarities.

In the summer of ’04, Barça chose not to sign Davids because they had a more suitable candidate.

The future soul of Dream Team Two, Deco.

So, van Gaal was praising Bayswater Chinese.

“That substitute centre-forward fits your tactics better than Lambert.”

Yang Cheng didn’t comment.

“Your current midfield is excellent, but it’s a bit too defensive. Yaya Touré’s ability is stronger than Cocu’s back then. What you need is a Deco to share Modrić’s pressure.”

“That would give your midfield more control and creativity.”

The midfield of Lassana Diarra, Modrić, and Yaya Touré allowed Bayswater Chinese to hold their own, even against the top teams in the Premier League.

In fact, they often dominated the midfield.

The team’s excellent defense this season was due to the strength of their midfield.

Van Gaal’s assessment was spot on.

To put it another way, if you were to replace Lassana Diarra with a “Deco” type, wouldn’t that be Real Madrid’s “Ceremony Trio”?

Toni Kroos, Modrić, and Casemiro.

This is what’s known as all roads lead to Rome.

But the problem was, with Bayswater Chinese’s current standing, they couldn’t find a Toni Kroos-type player.

Not only did a player need exceptional movement and support play, and outstanding passing stability, but also the ability to hit accurate long-range passes to switch play.

Pirlo, Carrick, Scholes, or Xabi Alonso could all do it.

The question was, who could Bayswater Chinese pry away?

The answer was, not a single one.

In terms of passing, control, and creativity, Real Madrid’s Ceremony Trio was indeed inferior to Barça’s Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio.

But the Ceremony Trio was more well-rounded and durable.

Barça’s trio would be far less effective in the Premier League.

The Ceremony Trio would not.

That was the difference.

Yang Cheng had tried a combination of Inler, Modrić, and Yaya Touré. Against some strong teams, the effect was not as good as with Lassana Diarra.

The French midfielder’s tackling and passing were both very good.

Under Yang Cheng’s guidance and urging, his playing habits had improved a lot.

So, until he found a more suitable player, Yang Cheng wouldn’t easily break up this combination.

“They have technique, physicality, and they dare to play a high line. The key is that they’re so young…”

As van Gaal said this, his eyes, looking at Yang Cheng, were filled with memories.

“It’s been a long time since European football has seen such a stunning team!”

Yang Cheng rolled his eyes, almost blurting out a curse.

If you want to praise yourself, just praise yourself. Why be so indirect?

The last team like this, wasn’t it your Ajax?

Shameless!

…

However, sometimes, certain things are just incredibly annoying.

He had just been chatting with van Gaal in the Netherlands about Barça and Edgar Davids.

After returning to London, Bayswater Chinese hosted the 14th round of the Premier League.

The opponent was North London’s Tottenham Hotspur.

Just eight minutes into the game, Ribéry capitalized on a mistake by the Tottenham defense and scored.

After that, the match was a back-and-forth affair, with the game largely deadlocked.

Bayswater Chinese was fighting on two fronts, while Tottenham was well-rested, but the home team still had the advantage on the pitch.

The centre-back pairing of Ledley King and Michael Dawson was very solid, once again containing Lambert and blocking Bayswater Chinese’s attacks time and again.

In the 77th minute of the second half, Edgar Davids, who had transferred from Inter Milan, received the ball on the left, took long strides, and rapidly advanced with the ball.

Škrtel decisively pressed forward, trying to intercept Davids at the halfway line.

However, Davids played a one-two give-and-go with Carrick, broke through Škrtel’s defense, and burst into the left side of the penalty area ahead of José Fonte.

Neuer came off his line to the center, and Davids decisively took a shot.

The ball went under Neuer and into the net.

1-1!

They’d leveled the score!

The 32-year-old Dutchman had run nearly sixty meters with the ball. Incredible!

In the end, the two sides shook hands on a 1-1 draw.

…

Mid-week, in the League Cup Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese hosted Newcastle.

The continuous clashes between top teams left the Bayswater Chinese squad, fighting on two fronts, feeling exhausted.

Yang Cheng was especially frustrated when, in the 30th minute, José Fonte twisted his leg while challenging Shearer for the ball and had to be substituted due to injury.

In the second half, Yang Cheng successively brought on players like Leighton Baines to strengthen the attack.

In the 78th minute, Theo Walcott, on the right wing facing Elliott, executed a brilliant move where he knocked the ball past his opponent and used his speed to break through Newcastle’s defense, reaching the byline on the right side of the penalty area and cutting the ball back to the center.

Džeko deftly received the ball, turned, and shot with his left foot, scoring against Newcastle.

1-0!

This was the only goal of the match.

Bayswater Chinese narrowly defeated Newcastle and advanced to the quarter-finals.

After the match, José Fonte’s examination confirmed only a minor sprain. It was nothing serious, and he would need one to two weeks of rest.

…

On Saturday afternoon, in the 15th round of the Premier League, at Liverpool’s Anfield.

When head referee Uriah Rennie blew the final whistle, Yang Cheng waved his hand in frustration.

1-0!

That was the final result on the scoreboard.

After the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese had seized the initiative and continuously created chances.

Ribéry, in particular, created two corner kick opportunities from the left wing.

On one of those corners, a header from Škrtel hit the crossbar, nearly resulting in a goal.

This forced Benítez’s team to pay more attention to their defense.

But in the 19th minute, during a quick Liverpool counter-attack.

Crouch’s shot from outside the box deflected off Leighton Baines’ leg and looped up.

Neuer didn’t expect the ball’s trajectory to change so suddenly. Though he reacted quickly enough, immediately changing his strategy to try and palm the ball away from goal.

He managed to get a hand to it, but because it was a high ball, it hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced back into the goal.

0-1!

If it were just that, it would have been bearable.

Just before the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese hit the post again.

Yang Cheng was utterly frustrated.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks, while Liverpool defended solidly and looked to counter-attack.

It had to be admitted that Benítez’s team was very tightly organized in defense.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team lost 0-1 at Anfield.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s second defeat of the season so far.

After fifteen matches, Bayswater Chinese had a record of eight wins, five draws, and two losses, with twenty-nine points, placing them third in the Premier League.

Chelsea was first with thirty-seven points, and Manchester United was second with thirty-three points.

Behind Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool had twenty-eight points, while Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bolton all had twenty-six points.

…

After the away loss to Liverpool, Yang Cheng and the team had no time to dwell on their disappointment.

Four days later, the team hosted Hamburger SV from Germany.

This was the final round of the UEFA Cup group stage.

Since the team had already qualified, Yang Cheng made extensive rotations for this match, adopting a defensive counter-attack strategy.

Hamburg’s core midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart, was out with an ankle injury sustained in the league.

This severely affected Hamburg’s organization and attack.

In the 30th minute, on a quick counter-attack from the home team, Theo Walcott dribbled at full speed down the right wing and played a diagonal pass into space in the right half-space.

Džeko controlled the ball, turned past Hamburg’s centre-back Van Buyten, and scored with a shot.

1-0!

After that, no matter how Hamburg attacked, they couldn’t break through the defensive pairing of Škrtel and Koscielny.

In the end, the team secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Hamburg.

…

On the weekend, in the 16th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Chelsea.

Due to the rotation in the mid-week UEFA Cup match, Bayswater Chinese’s players were more rested and in better condition.

Defensive stalwart José Fonte had also recovered from his injury and returned to the starting lineup.

On Chelsea’s side, Makélélé was out with an injury.

Mourinho, playing at home, fielded a more attacking midfield lineup.

Joe Cole and Lampard played centrally, with Essien in a single holding midfielder role.

According to Mourinho’s plan, he hoped to control the game through Joe Cole’s ball-retention skills.

But during the match, he was frustrated to find that this midfield setup still couldn’t suppress Bayswater Chinese.

During the game, Chelsea’s midfield controlled the ball mostly in their own half around the bottom of the centre circle.

Moreover, their passing was predominantly sideways and backward.

Forward passes were mostly directed to the wings, for Robben and Duff to run onto.

Yang Cheng was well-prepared for this, with Leighton Baines and Pascal Chimbonda jointly neutralizing Robben and Duff.

Thus, Mourinho made an adjustment in the 25th minute.

Joe Cole moved further forward, operating in the half-spaces to support Robben and Duff.

This still failed to breach Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

But Chelsea had some luck.

In the 32nd minute, Robben received a pass from Joe Cole on the left, and while attempting a forceful breakthrough, won a corner kick.

Lampard took the corner, and Terry outjumped the recently-recovered José Fonte to score with a header.

1-0!

This goal completely ignited the passion at Stamford Bridge.

At the same time, it made the Chelsea players incredibly excited.

Three seasons!

They had faced Bayswater Chinese three times and lost them all.

This was the fourth match!

No matter what, they had to win this one!

Chapter 88: Conquering Stamford Bridge! Picking Up a Hat-trick

“Did you not see my hand signals? Did you not hear me shouting?”

During halftime, Yang Cheng was very dissatisfied with the team’s first-half performance.

In his view, they shouldn’t have played like that at all.

Chelsea had huge vulnerabilities in the first half.

Especially in midfield.

How did the team end up playing so poorly?

“Luka, I told you to pay attention to Lampard. Didn’t you notice the problem?”

Modrić looked completely bewildered.

The head coach had told him to watch Lampard’s position, and he had.

Chelsea’s midfielders had barely participated in the attack for the entire first half.

Joe Cole, on the other hand, had been very active.

Seeing the confused Modrić, Yang Cheng suddenly realised that the Croatian midfielder was only twenty years old.

With that realisation, Yang Cheng immediately understood.

His players were still too young.

Young players lack experience and the ability to adapt during a match.

Crucially, they had failed to grasp his intentions in time.

Pulling over the tactics board, Yang Cheng quickly illustrated Chelsea’s player positioning and areas of activity.

“Look closely. Essien hangs back, but one Essien isn’t enough. He’s never been the kind of midfielder who can sit in front of the defence and protect it.”

Why was Essien called the “Ghanaian Bison”?

Because he could run tirelessly.

If Makélélé was a shield, then Essien was a sweeping machine.

“Joe Cole was Chelsea’s main attacker in the first half. Initially, he concentrated in the middle, but we blocked off the flanks.”

“So, Mourinho made an adjustment, and Joe Cole started moving frequently in the two half-spaces.”

“He’s become something of a number 10 player, responsible for connecting the left and right flanks, supporting their attacks to create two-on-one situations.”

With Yang Cheng’s breakdown, the players gained a much clearer understanding of the first half’s dynamics.

“Where is Lampard?” Yang Cheng asked.

Modrić looked at the tactics board and suddenly understood what the head coach meant.

“He’s not making forward runs; he’s mostly protecting Joe Cole.”

“That’s right. He’s been providing defensive cover for Joe Cole, afraid to push forward.”

Among English players, Joe Cole was an anomaly, possessing excellent technique and creativity.

But he was also vulnerable.

If Joe Cole were to be dispossessed, Essien would be the last line of defence. If no one in between intervened in time, Essien would have to leave his position to press forward.

With the ability of Bayswater Chinese’s midfielders, they could completely break through Chelsea’s midfield.

Modrić instantly understood the head coach’s intent.

When Yaya Touré was helping to defend against Joe Cole, he had been worried about Lampard and dropped back too deep.

In reality, Lampard was more focused on covering for Joe Cole.

“They have no one in this area in front of the penalty box. So, as long as we cut the link between Joe Cole and the two flanks, they’ll either lose the ball or pass it back.”

Ordinarily, Chelsea would have another option: have Drogba drop back.

But since Drogba had been playing continuously and was carrying a minor injury, Mourinho had put him on the bench for this match.

The starting striker was Argentine forward Crespo.

“We won’t have much time in the second half, so we have to seize the moment.”

Yang Cheng immediately laid out Bayswater Chinese’s counter-tactics on the board.

“Mourinho playing Gallas on the right in this match is clearly a sign of how wary he is of Franck.”

So far this season in the Premier League, Ribéry had been the most eye-catching left winger. Not only were his statistics impressive, but his individual skill was also outstanding.

Neither Ferreira nor Geremi before him could stop Ribéry.

That’s why Mourinho was playing Gallas on the right.

“After winning the ball in midfield, we’ll use quick pass-and-move plays, down the right side.”

“Lennon.”

Yang Cheng pointed at Aaron Lennon.

“Your job is to take on Del Horno and pull Chelsea’s defenders over to that side.”

“Džeko, you also need to drag the centre-backs towards our right.”

“Gallas is a centre-back. Although he can play as a full-back, he rarely plays at right-back. He’s still accustomed to playing as a centre-back.”

“In the first half, I saw him subconsciously drift towards Terry, towards the centre, a few times inside the penalty area. That’s a habit formed from playing centre-back for a long time.”

“Franck.”

Yang Cheng looked at Ribéry.

“You know what to do, right?”

“Understood. I’ll drift towards the middle and then make a run into the left side of the penalty area.”

“Excellent. We must launch a swift offensive right from the start and fight for a goal!”

“Peter, I heard that with Arsenal moving from Highbury to their new stadium this new season, their matchday revenue has skyrocketed?”

During the halftime break, in a private box on the West Stand of Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich questioned Chelsea’s CEO, Peter Kenyon.

He was the business talent he had specifically poached from Manchester United.

With the team leading one-nil at halftime, the Russian was in a very good mood.

“That’s right. It’s expected to increase from less than forty million pound sterling to ninety million,” Peter Kenyon replied.

A flicker of intense interest flashed in Abramovich’s eyes.

More than doubled.

“What about our ticket reforms for the new season?”

“A plan has been drafted, but it hasn’t been announced publicly yet.”

“Tell me about it.”

Peter Kenyon was a capable man.

Upon arriving at Chelsea, his primary mission was to help the club increase its revenue as quickly as possible.

Ticket reform was a top priority.

How to maximize revenue under the current conditions?

The fans would have to bear the burden.

“Stamford Bridge has four stands. The West Stand is the newest and has the best view, especially the upper tier.”

The entire stadium hadn’t been built in one go but was the result of a long, drawn-out investment.

It wasn’t until Ken Bates acquired the team that Chelsea completed the stadium’s renovation.

The West Stand, in particular, was only completed in 2001.

This gave the West Stand the best sightlines, and all fifty-one private boxes were located on this stand.

“We plan to raise the ticket prices for the entire upper tier of the West Stand. The Season ticket price will be set at 1,250 pound sterling.”

The number of seats in the West Stand’s upper tier was significant. After the price increase, Chelsea’s ticket revenue would rise to a new level.

“Below the boxes in the upper West Stand, there’s a section with about 2,500 seats. We plan to designate this area as a VIP area under a sponsor’s name and sell seats in a manner similar to executive boxes.”

“We don’t have exact figures yet, but we’re certain that starting from the 06/07 season, our matchday revenue will see a very substantial increase.”

Abramovich nodded. “You must manage the fans’ emotions carefully.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll speak to the major fan organisations beforehand,” Peter Kenyon said, already well-versed in how to raise ticket prices.

“It’s a shame that the north and east sides of Stamford Bridge are completely surrounded by railway lines, and there’s no room to expand on the south and west. Otherwise…”

Peter Kenyon stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Abramovich’s expression turn grim.

He instantly knew he had misspoken.

He had long heard that Chelsea wanted to acquire the land for Bayswater Chinese’s stadium but had been unable to negotiate a deal.

“Just wait. In two years at most, that piece of land will be mine!” Abramovich said fiercely.

“Two years?” Peter Kenyon was somewhat surprised.

Beside him, Marina Granovskaia answered on behalf of her boss, “When that group of Chinese got the land approved, they promised the Westminster City Council that the stadium would be completed before 2008.”

“Look at them now. Do they look like they have the money to build it?”

Peter Kenyon smiled and nodded. “I hear their debt pressure is also very heavy right now.”

Trying to wear a hat that’s too big for your head.

Spending twenty million pound sterling on a training ground was just madness!

Before the halftime break began, no one could have predicted that the course of the match would change so dramatically.

Right from the start of the second half, Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative.

Chelsea still hoped to continue their first-half performance and further extend their lead.

But once the game resumed, they were frustrated to find that Bayswater Chinese were not following the script.

Joe Cole still drifted towards the flanks to control the ball.

But he found Lassana Diarra and Yaya Touré constantly blocking his path.

Just two minutes after kickoff, Lassana Diarra successfully tackled the ball from Joe Cole’s feet on the right side of the halfway line.

After winning the ball, the French midfielder took a step forward himself and, before Lampard could catch up, quickly passed to Modrić.

Modrić sent a through ball behind the defensive line.

Džeko made a run between Chelsea’s two centre-backs, breaking into the right side of the penalty area.

Unfortunately, by the time Džeko reached the ball, the shooting angle was too narrow and completely blocked off by Čech.

But this attack sounded the clarion call for Bayswater Chinese’s comeback.

On the sidelines, Mourinho also sensed that something was wrong and immediately urged his players to strengthen their defence and steady themselves.

Bayswater Chinese launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the 54th minute, Yaya Touré won the ball with a tackle and passed it to Chimbonda on the right.

The French right-back had been outstanding this season. He sprinted forward with the ball along the right flank with great strides.

After crossing into Chelsea’s half and seeing Aaron Lennon pulling wide, Chimbonda decisively cut diagonally towards the penalty area with the ball.

This indeed drew the attention of Essien and Del Horno.

Spotting his chance, Chimbonda delivered a through ball, sliding it between Del Horno and Terry towards the outside of the penalty area on the right.

Aaron Lennon, who had been poised and ready, charged forward almost along the right edge of the penalty box.

Terry and Del Horno both rushed back immediately, trying to pincer Aaron Lennon.

Džeko also shifted to the right at once.

Carvalho naturally moved over as well to maintain the team’s shape.

On the right side of the penalty area, Aaron Lennon had no intention of breaking into the box. Instead, he played a cutback, passing the ball back.

Modrić made a diagonal run from the edge of the arc towards the right of the penalty spot.

He had just entered the box, arriving just in time for Aaron Lennon’s pass.

Without taking a touch, the Croatian cleverly flicked the oncoming ball.

The chipped ball flew over the head of Gallas, who was positioned too centrally, and dropped towards the unguarded left post.

Ribéry arrived at full tilt behind Gallas and, completely unmarked, headed the ball in from close range.

The ball hit the back of the net!

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 54th minute, Franck Ribéry has breached Chelsea’s goal!”

“1-1!”

After scoring, Ribéry was so ecstatic he lost all composure, rushing to the sideline, cheering and shouting non-stop.

The entire Bayswater Chinese contingent rushed out to celebrate with him, surrounding him in a tight circle.

They were level!

Mourinho immediately realized his team’s problem.

Chelsea’s attack simply couldn’t penetrate Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

After seeing his team’s lead erased, the Portuguese Special One acted decisively, bringing on Drogba for Duff.

Instantly, Chelsea switched to a 4-4-2 formation, with Drogba partnering Crespo up front.

Just five minutes later, Mourinho made his second substitution, with Gudjohnsen replacing Robben.

He had put on three centre-forwards!

Mourinho was still using his old trick.

What we lack in quality, we make up for in quantity.

But one had to admit, Chelsea’s three centre-forwards were all different.

Gudjohnsen was good at holding up the ball and linking play, Drogba was incredibly strong in physical contests, and Crespo was adept at seizing opportunities and scoring goals.

Yang Cheng also made a decisive substitution, bringing on Andreassen for Aaron Lennon.

Since Mourinho had taken off two wingers, Yang Cheng decisively changed his formation as well, adopting a 4-3-2-1.

However, Leighton Baines and Chimbonda pushed further forward, shouldering the team’s attacking responsibilities on the flanks.

This adjustment allowed Bayswater Chinese to withstand Chelsea’s onslaught.

Mourinho’s changes failed to produce a noticeable effect.

The more than forty thousand Chelsea fans in the stadium were roaring at the top of their lungs.

On the pitch, however, the Blues’ players were helpless against Bayswater Chinese’s defensive setup.

A lack of creativity in the final third had been a persistent problem under Mourinho’s management.

Apart from a long pass from Lampard in the 74th minute that forced Neuer to come out, and a shot from Drogba in the 76th minute from the left side of the box that Neuer held onto, Chelsea struggled to create shooting opportunities for most of the remaining time.

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, waiting silently.

He still had one more ace up his sleeve!

“Hold the line! Hold the line!”

Modrić’s shouts echoed from within the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

Chelsea had a set piece opportunity on their attacking right, which was Bayswater Chinese’s left.

Leighton Baines, defending against Lampard just outside the left corner of the box, had decisively committed a foul.

Lampard stood near the spot, awaiting his chance.

José Fonte was constantly directing his teammates, organizing the defence.

As the team’s defensive linchpin, José Fonte was increasingly showing the composure of a great general.

His teammates around him were also happy to listen to him.

Once everything was in place, José Fonte clapped his hands forcefully, encouraging himself and his teammates.

“Stay sharp, stay focused, defend this ball!”

His teammates responded with a unified shout.

This made the Chelsea players all turn their heads.

They noticed that the young Bayswater Chinese team was playing with more and more fighting spirit.

What a strange team.

Who would have thought that this team, the youngest in the Premier League and even across Europe’s top four leagues, a newly promoted team, had actually broken into the Premier League’s top four.

It was simply unbelievable.

Only after a hard-fought battle with this team could one understand the stubborn resilience of Bayswater Chinese.

Soon, with a blow of head referee Howard Webb’s whistle, the penalty area descended into chaos.

Chelsea had amassed all their tall players inside Bayswater Chinese’s box.

Terry, Gallas, Carvalho, Crespo, Drogba, and Gudjohnsen.

Outside the box, there were still Joe Cole and Essien.

The match was already in the 86th minute; there was no reason to hold anything back.

But just as Lampard took the corner kick, Bayswater Chinese’s players suddenly pushed forward in unison. What’s more, none of them were watching the ball; they were all marking their men.

They weren’t trying to win the ball.

They were trying to interfere with Chelsea’s players’ attempts to win the header!

On the sideline, Mourinho was so agitated he jumped to his feet.

“What the hell kind of tactic is this?”

But the Chelsea players were disrupted and failed to jump in time to meet Lampard’s free-kick.

The ball was supposed to land in the centre, near the penalty spot.

In the end, no one got to it, and it fell to the left of the spot.

Gallas wanted to rush for it, but a mountain stood in his way.

Ivorian midfielder Yaya Touré used his body to block Gallas, chesting the ball down towards the outside of the penalty area.

The French defender reached out, trying to stop Yaya Touré, and also slammed his shoulder into him.

Though not tall, Gallas was confident in his physical strength.

But this time, it was like running into a brick wall.

Yaya Touré only swayed slightly, while Gallas himself stumbled.

Too damn strong!

He was like another Drogba!

Yaya Touré quickly charged out of the penalty area and powerfully knocked the ball he had just controlled forward.

“Bayswater Chinese are on a fast counter-attack!”

Joe Cole, who was closest, failed to press in time and was blown past by Yaya Touré.

Essien had originally intended to retreat, but he was shocked to see Joe Cole let Yaya Touré through his zone so easily. Surprised, he abandoned his retreat and went to press.

At the same time, Essien was shouting at Del Horno, signaling for him to get back quickly.

Yaya Touré’s dribbling speed increased, and he soon crossed the halfway line.

At the bottom of the centre circle, Essien charged towards Yaya Touré, trying to force him towards the right sideline.

The two African players became physically entangled.

The slightly shorter Essien was very tenacious in close quarters.

Yaya Touré, trying to shield the ball, had to slow down and keep the ball on his right foot.

Just as he eased his pace slightly, a familiar voice came from the right flank.

“Here!”

Yaya Touré caught a glimpse of a red shirt in his peripheral vision and passed without a second thought.

Chimbonda sprinted rapidly along the right touchline, caught up to Yaya Touré’s pass, and continued to surge forward.

Seeing that Yaya Touré had released the ball, Essien gave up the struggle and immediately tracked back.

Yaya Touré also followed right behind Essien, sprinting forward.

In the middle, Džeko slowed down slightly, while at the far post, Ribéry was keeping pace with Lampard.

Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was executed with extreme determination.

Chimbonda relentlessly pushed forward with the ball on the right, charging into Chelsea’s 30-metre area before slowing down and cutting diagonally towards the box, forcing Del Horno to retreat towards the penalty area.

Del Horno’s attacking ability was strong, but defending was not his forte.

Since joining Chelsea, he had made a series of errors, putting him under immense media pressure.

At this moment, he was the team’s last defender. Watching Chimbonda approach, he kept reminding himself to stay calm, always positioning himself to block Chimbonda’s path to the box.

As long as he kept him out of the penalty area, he would have done his job.

Under immense mental strain, as Chimbonda closed in, he suddenly dropped his left shoulder as if to cut inside. Startled, Del Horno instinctively shifted his weight to block the move.

But unexpectedly, Chimbonda suddenly flicked the ball with his left foot towards the outside of the penalty area on the right.

To go down the byline!

Del Horno reacted quickly, adjusting immediately and lunging again.

But he was a fraction of a second too late.

Chimbonda burst forward with a sudden acceleration, chasing his own pass on the right side of the box, and glanced into the penalty area.

Yaya Touré had already stormed in, hand raised high, demanding the ball.

Džeko behind him and Ribéry at the far post had also caught up.

Chimbonda didn’t hesitate for a moment. After catching up to the ball, he whipped in a cross with his right foot.

Near the edge of the six-yard box, Yaya Touré was like a heavy tank, storming into Chelsea’s penalty area. He met the dropping cross from Chimbonda and leaped high into the air.

At that moment, the Ivorian midfielder looked like a god descending from the heavens.

Essien, blocked behind him, could only look up in awe.

Yaya Touré flung his head, directing Chimbonda’s cross towards the far post.

Čech’s reaction was also lightning-fast as he dived in an attempt to save it.

The angle of the header was extremely tricky, and Čech had stretched his arm as far as he could.

But unfortunately, his fingertips only grazed the ball, failing to alter its course.

The ball once again crashed into Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“86th minute, the 86th minute, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!!”

“A header from Yaya Touré!”

“This is an absolutely crucial, last-minute winner!”

“The Ivorian midfielder has breached Chelsea’s goal with a ferocious and perfectly placed header!”

“2-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese have completed the comeback!”

After scoring, Yaya Touré was so thrilled that he turned and ran.

But he had just turned around when Džeko, catching up from behind, wrapped him in a tight hug.

Then came Ribéry, and the others.

One by one, the Bayswater Chinese players caught up, piling on Yaya Touré inside the Chelsea penalty area.

On the sideline, in front of the away team’s dugout, Yang Cheng was already shouting and cheering wildly, releasing all his built-up excitement and elation.

This formed a stark contrast with the gloomy expression on Mourinho’s face in front of the home team’s dugout.

When Yaya Touré finally got up from the grass, he looked towards his head coach on the sideline, clenched his right fist tightly, and let out another roar.

This was not a show of defiance, nor an outburst of frustration. It was more like an expression of gratitude to Yang Cheng.

He was telling Yang Cheng: I didn’t disappoint you!

The moment the goal was scored, Stamford Bridge fell into a deathly silence.

It was then followed by a deafening chorus of boos.

No one knew whether the boos were for the home team or the away team.

“We still have time!”

An announcement came over Stamford Bridge’s public address system.

“There are still five minutes of the match left, plus stoppage time. We have enough time to equalise, or even turn the score around.”

“Chelsea players, don’t lose heart at this moment!”

“This is Stamford Bridge!”

“We haven’t lost a match at this stadium for a very long time. We can definitely equalise, and even come back to win!”

“Come on, Chelsea!”

“Come on, warriors of the Blues!”

The home fans seemed to have their passion reignited, and they all began to chant excitedly.

In front of the home dugout, Mourinho also snapped out of it, rushing to the sideline and shouting non-stop at his players.

Since he took charge of Chelsea, the Blues had never lost a game at home!

Although they had lost twice to Bayswater Chinese before, one was in the League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The other was an away game.

Mourinho had always been proud of his unbeaten home record.

He would absolutely not allow his team to lose to Bayswater Chinese!

“Get them!”

Sitting in the stands, despite the roaring crowd, Abramovich and the others could still hear Mourinho’s furious bellow.

The Chelsea players also went berserk.

After the kickoff, they all charged recklessly into Bayswater Chinese’s half, towards their goal!

The away team, meanwhile, retreated to the edge of their penalty area, setting up a tight defensive block.

Andreassen dropped back into the defensive line, and Modrić also tracked back promptly, the team’s formation shifting to something resembling a 5-3-1-1.

Chelsea had three centre-forwards up front, but against Bayswater Chinese’s compact formation, they had no one in midfield who could hold onto the ball.

In the end, they were even forced to resort to long balls aimed at their three strikers.

But what effect could such an attacking strategy possibly have?

From the 87th minute onwards, Chelsea didn’t even manage a single shot from inside the penalty area.

Their long passes were either cleared, or they resorted to long shots from far out.

None of these posed a serious threat to the goal guarded by Neuer.

When the time was up, Howard Webb blew the cruel final whistle.

The entire stadium was suddenly at a loss.

The players on the pitch were stunned.

Mourinho’s face was a mask of dejection.

The fans in the stands sat frozen in their seats, as if turned to stone.

Inside Stamford Bridge, only the Bayswater Chinese players were cheering and running.

Head coach Yang Cheng also excitedly ran onto the pitch, leaped directly onto Yaya Touré’s back, and waved his arms, celebrating and shouting with unrestrained joy!

They had beaten Chelsea!

At Stamford Bridge!

This wasn’t the first time.

But this time was different, its significance far more profound!

Because this was Mourinho’s Chelsea!

The news of the Stamford Bridge battle spread across the world with incredible speed as soon as it ended.

All countries and regions covered by the Premier League broadcast reported the news immediately.

With two goals from Ribéry and Yaya Touré, Bayswater Chinese had conquered Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge!

Media and fans worldwide showered this Premier League newcomer with praise.

Twenty days ago, everyone had sympathised with Bayswater Chinese over their gruelling schedule.

Even for a strong team, facing such a fixture list, with so many tough opponents in quick succession, maintaining good results was considered almost impossible.

Many had predicted that Bayswater Chinese would be brought crashing back down to earth.

But unexpectedly, after completing the gruelling schedule, Yang Cheng’s team had a league record of one win, two draws, and one loss in four games. While not fantastic, it wasn’t bad either, earning them five points.

This allowed them to remain in 3rd place in the Premier League with 32 points.

Ahead of them were Manchester United with 34 points and Chelsea with 37.

Liverpool followed closely behind Bayswater Chinese with 31 points.

Not only that, Bayswater Chinese had defeated Newcastle in the League Cup to advance.

In the UEFA Cup group stage, they won all four matches, finishing top of their group.

In both the league and the cup competitions, Bayswater Chinese had withstood the pressure and held on tightly to their position in the Premier League’s leading pack.

“The schedule of the past twenty days has put enormous pressure on us, but it has also given us a very valuable opportunity to test ourselves.”

“Through this period, our players have grown and improved.”

“More importantly, we have gained confidence.”

“We have held our own in our clashes with strong teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea.”

“This has made us firmly believe that we have the strength to continue competing with these top teams!”

The media interpreted these words from Yang Cheng’s post-match press conference as a declaration of war from Yang Cheng, on behalf of Bayswater Chinese, challenging the giants of the Premier League!

From this declaration, the whole world could clearly see that Bayswater Chinese, this newly promoted team, was no simple matter!

On the afternoon of December 17th, at Loftus Road in London.

In the 17th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Charlton Athletic.

At the start of this Premier League season, the two most eye-catching teams were Bayswater Chinese and Charlton Athletic.

Even at the end of October, both teams were still in the top four of the Premier League, attracting a great deal of attention.

But upon entering the more congested schedule of November, the two teams went down completely different paths.

Starting in November, Charlton first suffered a crushing 1-4 away defeat to Blackburn Rovers, followed by a 1-3 home loss to Manchester United.

Then came a 0-1 away loss to Aston Villa, and a devastating 2-5 home defeat to Manchester City.

After four consecutive losses, they finally managed a 2-0 home victory against fellow newly promoted team Sunderland in the 16th round of the Premier League.

Moreover, they were also eliminated from the League Cup by Blackburn Rovers.

During these same five rounds, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was even more packed, and their opponents were stronger.

Yang Cheng’s team achieved a record of 2 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.

Although their ranking had dropped slightly, they were still third in the Premier League.

The 2-1 comeback victory away at Chelsea, in particular, had sent shockwaves throughout England.

Even now, the English football world disliked the wealthy and powerful Chelsea.

Too much of a rich oaf, too dominant!

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

After the run of fixtures in November and December, the whole of England finally started to pay real attention to Bayswater Chinese.

Charlton’s head coach, Curbishley, stated in a media interview, “I hope my team can prove our strength with a victory away from home!”

But to Curbishley’s surprise, not only did his team fail to deliver on his wish, but they had their last fig leaf torn away at the away ground.

Their goal was breached after only nine minutes.

As Džeko’s performances grew more and more impressive, Lambert, as the team’s number one centre-forward, began to feel the pressure.

Faced with the challenge from the Bosnian centre-forward, his response was to fight back.

And with a powerful punch at that.

Just nine minutes into the game, the English centre-forward unleashed a sudden long shot from outside the penalty area.

The shot was powerful and unexpected, catching Charlton’s goalkeeper Dean Kiely off guard.

1-0!

This was also the first time this season that Lambert had opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

After that, the match completely fell into the home team’s rhythm. Charlton could only adopt a defensive counter-attack strategy, trying to use the speed and power of Darren Bent.

But in the 51st minute of the second half, taking advantage of an early attacking spell, Ribéry broke into the left side of the penalty area. After receiving a long pass from Modrić, he volleyed the ball across the face of the goal.

Both Charlton’s centre-back Hreiðarsson and goalkeeper Kiely mistakenly assumed the other would clear it, and the ball somehow slipped through.

Lambert was gifted a golden opportunity in front of goal and easily poked it in.

2-0!

A brace!

The English centre-forward was absolutely overjoyed!

What was even more unexpected was that under the relentless attack of Bayswater Chinese, Charlton presented them with another gift.

In the 61st minute, a precise cross from Leighton Baines on the left was aimed for Lambert in the box.

Charlton centre-back Chris Perry got there first with a header to clear.

However, whether it was a problem with his jump or something else, Perry’s header was miscued, directly “assisting” Lambert.

The English centre-forward was standing on the penalty spot, hardly able to believe his luck.

It was one thing for Ribéry to spoon-feed him a goal, but for Charlton’s centre-back to be so cooperative?

Had he placed a bet on the game?

Of course, Lambert wasn’t going to be polite. He blasted a powerful shot that once again found the back of Charlton’s net.

3-0!

Hat-trick!

Lambert was practically delirious with joy.

He never would have thought he would keep picking up such easy chances.

The fans in the stadium also enjoyed the spectacle immensely.

After the arduous gruelling schedule, Bayswater Chinese had a week to rest. Facing a weaker opponent in Charlton, they finally unleashed another exhilarating attacking display.

While Bayswater Chinese were defeating Charlton 3-0 at home, Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 away.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2-0 away.

Tottenham Hotspur drew 3-3 away at Middlesbrough.

Bolton trounced Everton 4-0 away.

The highlight match of the round, eagerly anticipated by fans worldwide, was Arsenal hosting Chelsea at Highbury. In the end, Chelsea, with goals from Robben and Joe Cole, defeated the Gunners 2-0.

After this battle, Chelsea continued to lead the League table.

Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese, and Liverpool followed behind.

The Gunners, however, dropped from 6th directly to 8th, ranked even lower than Bolton and Manchester City.

After this match, Arsenal, with only 26 points from 17 league games, was basically out of the title race.

This was hailed as the earliest season in Arsenal’s history that they had dropped out of title contention.

After the match, Wenger accused Chelsea midfielder Essien, arguing the Ghanaian should have received a red card during the game.

Mourinho retorted, stating it was merely Wenger’s impotent rage.

“If anyone in this match deserved a red card, it was Senderos.”

“His foul on Drogba should have been a red card, and then he had another go at Robben, which should have been a red card too.”

The British media generally believed that Chelsea had torn off Arsenal’s last fig leaf.

The Sun, always eager to stir up trouble, published a photo of Chelsea captain Terry hugging Arsenal captain Henry after the match.

Although there were no words, everyone could read the loneliness in Henry’s posture.

And far away in Catalonia, Spain, the News of the World wrote an article.

“With Arsenal’s title hopes reduced to a mathematical possibility, a lonely Henry is actively preparing his escape from Highbury.”

This sent Arsenal fans into a panic.

Vieira was gone.

Henry’s importance to the Gunners was growing ever greater.

Even the British media generally considered the current Gunners to be Henry’s team.

This was both an acknowledgment of Henry, but also a slight on Arsenal’s declining strength.

If Henry really left, what would be left of the Gunners?

“The fans’ reaction is very strong. We have to find a way to keep Henry.”

The defeat to Chelsea left everyone at Arsenal feeling down.

Club chairman Peter Hill-Wood and vice-chairman David Dein made a special trip from the city centre to the Colney training ground. After comforting the players, they met with Wenger in his office.

Although chairman Peter Hill-Wood was not directly involved in managing the club, leaving most matters to David Dein, he still cared deeply about the Arsenal fans’ reactions.

Wenger glanced at David Dein, who immediately took over the conversation.

“We have already started preparing a new contract extension. Henry’s salary can be increased to 125,000 pound sterling.”

This was a weekly wage.

Currently, the highest weekly wage in the Premier League was Liverpool’s Gerrard, at 100,000 pound sterling.

A key reason Arsenal was in a hurry to extend Henry’s contract was that his current deal expired in 2007.

Under his current contract, Henry’s weekly wage was 75,000 pound sterling.

This salary increase was indeed enough to demonstrate Arsenal’s sincerity in wanting to renew.

“I’ve spoken with Henry.”

Wenger knew that the two most powerful figures at Arsenal had come together to finalise this matter.

“He said he wants to see the club’s ambition. He’s very disappointed with the current situation.”

Hill-Wood and David Dein exchanged a look, both sensing the complex emotion in the other’s eyes.

A bit of helplessness, and also a bit of resentment.

Why couldn’t Henry understand the management’s difficulties?

“Can’t he see that we’ve invested 350 million pound sterling to build a brand-new football stadium, which is, to date, the best in the Premier League and even in England? Isn’t that enough?” Hill-Wood retorted.

His family had always taken pride in Arsenal, and naturally, he hoped Henry felt the same.

Wenger was somewhat at a loss for words.

He couldn’t defend Henry in front of the chairman and vice-chairman.

Could he really say that Henry had already given more than enough?

“Let’s offer the contract first, see what Henry’s side says, and then decide,” said David Dein, seeing his friend’s predicament.

That was the only way forward.

David Dein intentionally shifted the topic to the team’s current state.

“Right now, we are 8th in the Premier League. The fans are very unhappy about this,” Hill-Wood added.

Wenger wanted to say that he himself was very unhappy too.

But what could be done?

“The players and I have done our best, but we must strengthen through signings and improve the team’s quality.”

David Dein understood football. “Which positions do you want to reinforce?”

“Left-back, winger, and centre-forward.”

“Any candidates in mind?”

“None for left-back yet. There’s no timetable for Ashley Cole and Clichy’s return, and I don’t have a single available left-back at my disposal.”

David Dein nodded in understanding.

“However, the winter transfer window is tricky. Top players generally don’t enter the market at this time, and high-level players are restricted by European competition rules.”

Currently, UEFA’s regulations for registering players in European competitions stated that a player could not represent two different teams in continental competitions in the same season.

Although there had been loud calls for reform, it certainly wouldn’t be possible this season.

“We can play them in the league,” Wenger replied.

David Dein and Wenger were old friends; he knew exactly who Wenger wanted to sign.

Wenger had spoken to him many times about Bayswater Chinese’s Ribéry.

“But we can’t pay a huge transfer fee for a player who can only play in the league.”

David Dein rejected Wenger again.

“Perhaps, Arsène, we can consider acting next summer.”

Wenger sighed with some disappointment. “You know, in the match against Chelsea, Ljungberg was our worst performer. He’s not the Ljungberg of a few years ago.”

Ljungberg had once been Wenger’s favourite, but his form this season had indeed been poor.

Wenger had his own calculations.

Pires was getting older, his contract expired next year, and the club was not considering renewing it.

That meant they would need to sign a left winger next summer.

If they couldn’t manage to sign a right winger during the winter break first, then signing players for both flanks at the same time would be even more difficult given Arsenal’s current financial situation.

Wenger was no fool.

With his background in economics, he also understood something about managing up.

“For the centre-forward position, I already have a suitable candidate: Adebayor from Monaco in Ligue 1. His transfer fee should be within our acceptable range.”

This player had also played for Monaco in the UEFA Cup, so he couldn’t play for Arsenal in the Champions League.

But that wasn’t important.

“As for the winger, I still hope to sign Ribéry from Bayswater Chinese. This would greatly weaken the competitiveness of our West London rivals,” Wenger advised.

David Dein and Hill-Wood exchanged a look, both appearing thoughtful.

After the gruelling schedule, Bayswater Chinese’s strength had been proven.

That this West London team could be 3rd in the Premier League was a surprise to everyone.

Head coach Yang Cheng was universally acknowledged as the primary reason for their success.

Ribéry was Yang Cheng’s most trusted general and the best-performing winger in the Premier League this season.

Even better than Chelsea’s Robben and Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo.

“I’m afraid that’s beyond what we can accept.”

But weakening Bayswater Chinese was indeed a very good idea.

And at the same time, it would strengthen Arsenal.

If possible, Arsenal preferred not to make signings in the winter window.

Besides the two reasons mentioned above, there was another important factor: whether the player could integrate into the team.

The summer transfer window had the entire pre-season training camp, allowing players to integrate more quickly.

But the winter window did not.

This made signings in the winter window riskier.

However, if it was a player from the same league, the same city, and someone they were familiar with, it could be considered.

Chapter 89: Charging Towards Every Title! Which of Ribéry’s Legs Do You Want to Buy?

On the evening of December 20th, at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

In the League Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bolton.

Having just played the 17th round of the Premier League and with the terrifying Christmas schedule looming, both teams made significant rotations.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese seized the advantage and attacked first.

Allardyce’s Bolton once again set up in a 4-4-2 formation and successfully withstood the home team’s initial onslaught.

But just before the end of the first half, Ashley Young first delivered a brilliant pass from the left channel just outside the penalty area.

With his tall frame and long legs, Džeko beat centre-back Tal Ben Haim to the ball and fired a low shot past Bolton’s goalkeeper.

This goal threw Bolton into disarray.

During first-half stoppage time, Džeko received a pass from İnler in the centre, turned, and drove forward with the ball before launching an unexpected long shot that once again breached Bolton’s goal.

2-0!

After switching sides in the second half, Allardyce made consecutive substitutions, but he couldn’t alter the course of the match.

For this game, Yang Cheng had started İnler, Matuidi, and Andreassen, completely dominating the midfield.

In the 70th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Gareth Bale for José Fonte.

Andreassen dropped back to partner Koscielny at centre-back.

Ashley Young moved into the attacking midfielder position.

Bayswater Chinese switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Gareth Bale playing as the left winger.

Compared to Bolton, who stuck rigidly to their 4-4-2, Bayswater Chinese were far more dominant in the second half.

Ashley Young even had a one-on-one chance after receiving a pass from Džeko and breaking into the box.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t seize the opportunity.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bolton 2-0 at home to advance smoothly to the semi-finals.

The other three teams to reach the semi-finals were Manchester United, Arsenal, and Blackburn Rovers.

After this League Cup match, the team officially began their Christmas schedule.

This was a World Cup year, so the fixture list was compressed, making the Christmas period particularly tight.

From Boxing Day on the 26th to January 2nd, a total of eight days, the Premier League would play four rounds of matches.

That meant a match every two days.

It was a pace designed to drive the players mad!

Bayswater Chinese’s four opponents were Manchester City at home, West Ham United away, Blackburn Rovers at home, and Birmingham City away.

The only good news was that the first two matches, on the 26th and 28th, were both in London.

The weekend after the Birmingham match was the third round of the FA Cup, and the team had drawn Championship side Leeds United.

The match would be held at home.

This was where Bayswater Chinese had been luckiest this season.

All their single-leg knockout matches in the League Cup and FA Cup had been home fixtures.

The not-so-good news was that in the League Cup semi-final draw, Manchester United drew Blackburn Rovers, while Bayswater Chinese drew Arsenal.

Three days after the FA Cup match against Leeds United would be the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, at home against Arsenal.

This meant most of their games during this period would be in London.

This was somewhat beneficial for Bayswater Chinese’s rest and preparation.

On a side note, there was the UEFA Cup.

According to the draw rules set by UEFA for this season, the first-place team from the UEFA Cup group stage would draw a third-place team from another group, while the second-place teams would face a third-place team eliminated from the Champions League group stage.

This was why every team fought tooth and nail for first place in their group.

A third-place team from the Champions League was much tougher to deal with than a third-place team from the UEFA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese drew FC Basel from Switzerland.

They were a decent team, and the travel distance for the away leg was reasonable.

The benefit of finishing first in the group was playing away first and then at home, giving them an advantage in the schedule.

With the Premier League and UEFA Cup on a temporary break and the winter transfer window yet to open, the various clubs were already busy operating behind the scenes.

Taking advantage of the time before Christmas, Yang Cheng called all the club’s senior management together for a meeting.

In just two and a half years, Bayswater Chinese was now quite rich in talent.

The CEO was Adam Crozier.

The Chief Financial Officer was Xia Qing.

The Head of Infrastructure was Chris Hunt.

The Commercial Director was Omar Berrada.

These were the senior members of the administrative suits.

Over at the Brent training ground, Yang Cheng also decided to initiate a new round of reforms starting in 2006.

Over the past year or so, the integration of the club’s youth academy, the development of youth teams, and the expansion of the youth scouting network had all produced satisfactory results.

Therefore, Yang Cheng naturally wanted to reward them further.

Head of Youth Development Dan Ashworth was promoted to director of football, taking full responsibility for all matters concerning the youth academy while also overseeing logistics for the first team, alleviating some of Yang Cheng’s workload.

Head of Scouting Gary Worthington’s position remained unchanged, but Yang Cheng not only gave him a raise but also increased his responsibilities, hoping he would further improve the scouting network, especially by creating a modern, information-based system.

After Dan Ashworth’s promotion to director of football, his former position as Head of Youth Development was filled by Development Coach Matt Crocker, who had demonstrated strong capabilities over the past year and a half.

Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg also remained in his position, but like Gary Worthington, he received a raise and more responsibilities.

Notably, he would begin to get involved in the work of the first team.

This was also intended to lighten Yang Cheng’s burden.

In the past, Bayswater Chinese’s management structure was not yet perfected, and Yang Cheng had the final say on many matters, big and small.

To put it nicely, this was called being decisive.

To put it less nicely, it was called monopolizing power.

It was certainly satisfying, but it was also incredibly tiring.

Especially after the team was promoted to the Premier League, the number of tasks grew, becoming more and more complex.

So, Yang Cheng was now distributing some of his authority to the director of football and the Chief Talent Officer.

But the two roles were different.

The Chief Talent Officer was more focused on personnel matters.

For example, if a coach at the club were to resign.

The Chief Talent Officer would need to produce a list of candidates in the shortest possible time to ensure the stability of the team’s operations.

After this round of reforms, Bayswater Chinese’s entire management team had become quite substantial.

And highly professionalized.

The content of the meeting was to summarize the past year of 2005 and look forward to 2006.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the team’s current development. Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada’s business plans were progressing steadily.

The budgets for the youth academy, scouting department, medical centre, data analysis centre… all departments were being managed in an orderly fashion by Xia Qing.

Chris Hunt had gotten up to speed extremely quickly, identifying three potential sites for youth training centres: one in northeast London, one in southeast London, and another in the southwest of Greater London.

All three were bankrupt youth clubs whose grounds met Yang Cheng’s requirements, and the prices were very reasonable.

However, a more detailed investigation and study were needed before a decision to purchase could be made.

After all, building Satellite Training Centres was a long-term strategy, making site selection particularly important.

Chris Hunt was also responsible for the construction of the second phase of the Brent training ground, and progress was generally in line with expectations.

It was initially estimated that it could be officially put into use between the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.

After listening to each other’s reports, everyone at the meeting was very satisfied with the club’s current development.

Even surprised.

In less than three years, Bayswater Chinese had become a force to be reckoned with in English football.

All of this was thanks to the team’s results on the pitch.

It was also inseparable from the joint efforts of everyone present.

On behalf of Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng thanked all his colleagues at the club.

Regarding the club’s plans for the winter transfer window, Yang Cheng remained firm: there were no plans for new signings.

The gruelling schedule proved that Yang Cheng’s pre-season strategy was correct.

The first team squad was not large, but every player was getting plenty of playing time.

Even youngsters like the 16-year-old Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott had made multiple substitute appearances in the Premier League and cup competitions.

Walcott had already delivered some very eye-catching performances and had even scored in the UEFA Cup.

Additionally, players like Matuidi had performed very well in the League Cup match against Bolton.

He was only 18 years old.

There was also the competition between Džeko and Lambert; by December, both were fighting fiercely.

The result was that Bayswater Chinese’s performance was guaranteed.

In soldiers, quality is better than quantity. This was a strategy.

Yang Cheng certainly wouldn’t be like Pep Guardiola, who wanted to get through an entire season with just 19 players in the first team.

That wasn’t realistic in the Premier League.

For now, a 23-man squad was just right.

But their competitors didn’t see it that way.

“Ferguson’s Manchester United has finally decided to buy defenders.”

Adam Crozier said with a smile, sharing news from the transfer market.

“They’re genuinely feeling the threat from us, and at the same time, they see a chance to catch up to Chelsea.”

Currently, Manchester United was three points behind Chelsea and two points ahead of Bayswater Chinese.

This gave Ferguson a sense of crisis.

“They wanted to sign Škrtel before, but we turned them down.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

He knew about this matter; he was the one who had instructed them to refuse.

“There’s news that Ferguson wants to sign the Serbian Vidić from Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League. The player is valued at around seven million pounds.”

A little over ten million euro.

Not cheap.

“In addition, Ferguson has his eye on Monaco’s left-back, Evra. The transfer fee is expected to be five million pounds.”

Ferguson’s transfer strategy had always been relatively rational.

In European football at the moment, there was a shortage of midfield talent.

Excellent midfielders commanded high prices.

For example, Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves.

The Sun reported that Ferguson had been tracking him for a long time, but Bayern Munich wouldn’t even discuss it with Manchester United.

There were also reports that Bayern had set a very high price, reaching twenty million pounds.

That was thirty million euro.

It was precisely because of the shortage of midfield talent that Chelsea hadn’t found a suitable signing either.

The Blues were still thinking about further strengthening their squad.

That was simply terrifying!

“Liverpool has made a decision. They’re trading Josemi to Villarreal in La Liga in exchange for Kromkamp.”

“They also expressed interest in Škrtel, but we turned them down as well.”

“It’s said they’re considering signing Daniel Agger from Brøndby IF in Denmark, for a fee of around six million pounds.”

Based on Škrtel’s performance in the Premier League this season, neither Daniel Agger’s nor Vidić’s transfer fee would be enough to buy him.

At the very least, the Slovakian centre-back had proven himself in the Premier League.

Moreover, with José Fonte as a comparison, Škrtel’s performances were exceptionally impressive.

Even Drogba hadn’t been able to get much out of him.

On that basis alone, Škrtel’s price couldn’t be low.

“What about Arsenal?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

The situation for The Fourth Place Fiend was a bit dire at the moment.

Wenger’s team might not be able to secure a top-four finish this season.

“They spent seven million pounds to sign Adebayor from Monaco.”

Monaco again.

The Ligue 1 team was indeed full of talent, but it was also heavily in debt.

Not to mention, for a Ligue 1 team, they had recruited famous players like Vieri and Di Vaio.

The transfer fees weren’t high, but their salaries were exorbitant.

In the coming years, Monaco would vividly demonstrate to everyone how to squander a good hand.

Oh, right, aside from Evra on the left, Monaco also had Maicon on the right.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Maicon was supposed to have signed a pre-contract with Inter Milan this winter and officially joined next summer.

Interestingly, Inter Milan didn’t seem to be making a move now; instead, they had previously sent someone to scout Chimbonda.

This Butterfly effect was becoming more and more interesting.

“Arsenal also made an offer for Ribéry, for just fifteen million pounds.”

Yang Cheng laughed. “Which one of Ribéry’s legs does David Dunn think he can buy for that?”

Everyone else laughed as well.

“I’ve already rejected it, but I expect Arsenal will continue to increase their offer. Also, I heard that if a team is willing to make an offer, Arsenal will consider selling Reyes.”

The Spanish genius had joined Arsenal from Sevilla for twenty million pounds, which was thirty million euro.

He performed well initially after joining, but problems soon emerged.

Now, Reyes’s value had been halved; he could probably only be sold for around eleven million pounds.

That was about the same as the current market value of Aaron Lennon at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was just thinking about it casually.

But he never imagined that while Bayswater Chinese was busy organizing its Christmas celebrations, Arsenal would suddenly send a second offer.

But this time, their target wasn’t Ribéry.

Instead, they wanted to trade Reyes for Aaron Lennon.

News of Arsenal’s bid for Aaron Lennon quickly spread.

Bayswater Chinese responded swiftly.

Adam Crozier simultaneously clarified to the media and on the official website that the club had rejected the offer from Arsenal.

At the club’s arrangement, Lennon also gave an interview to reporters, stating that he had no plans to join Arsenal.

“I am very happy playing for Bayswater Chinese. I am very grateful for the interest from Arsenal, but right now I just want to focus on playing for my team.”

But this still couldn’t quell the speculation from the outside world.

Especially since Arsenal quickly made a second offer.

Thirteen million pounds.

According to the current market valuation of Aaron Lennon, the 18-year-old English youngster was hailed as the future king of England’s right wing.

Especially after Shaun Wright-Phillips’s big-money move to Chelsea had produced far less than expected results, Aaron Lennon was seen as England’s future hope.

Moreover, he was a current England international player.

Under these circumstances, signing Aaron Lennon for thirteen million pounds would undoubtedly be a very shrewd deal.

Wenger also publicly expressed his interest in Aaron Lennon.

“Aaron Lennon is a very young player, but he has already shown immense potential at Bayswater Chinese.”

“He possesses astonishing speed and excellent technique; he is the kind of winger that any team would desire.”

“If we can sign him, he will definitely bring a huge boost to our team.”

The Sun also quickly revealed an inside story.

According to an internal source at Arsenal, the reason The Gunners decided to bid for Aaron Lennon instead of continuing to pursue Ribéry was largely because, “David Dunn believes that a major transfer like Ribéry’s should be left for the summer.”

“Signing Aaron Lennon in the winter transfer window would not only boost Arsenal’s right-wing attack but also significantly weaken Bayswater Chinese’s competitiveness, which is crucial for Arsenal’s return to the top four of the Premier League.”

But this offer was once again rejected by Adam Crozier.

Yang Cheng also personally spoke with Aaron Lennon.

Aaron Lennon assured Yang Cheng that while Arsenal’s interest was exciting, he preferred to stay at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng also advised him that it was too early to go to a giant club at only 18 years old.

After being promoted to the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese’s financial income had increased substantially.

The Christmas activities from last year were arranged again this year.

Not only that, the players split into several groups and visited community nursing homes, hospitals, and kindergartens around the Brent training ground.

This was also an annual Christmas tradition.

Just like last year, Yang Cheng once again invited the families of all the players to London.

The club hosted a grand Christmas dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, north of Hyde Park.

All employees, players, and their families were invited to attend.

This was the first time Adam Crozier had spoken on behalf of the management as the club’s CEO.

Besides informing the players and their families about the achievements the club had made in the past year, he also thanked everyone for their hard work.

Many people, including the players themselves, only realized at this moment how much the club had accomplished without them even noticing.

Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had reached a new all-time high.

So far this season, all nine of the club’s home league games and three home UEFA Cup games had been sold out.

They were the only team in the Premier League to have a full house for every single match.

Adam Crozier’s words made the atmosphere in the room extremely lively.

Yang Cheng, however, was secretly amused.

This was the art of public speaking.

Everything Adam Crozier said was true.

So far in the entire Premier League, no other team had sold out every home game.

Why could Bayswater Chinese?

Because the capacity was only just over 18,000.

The average attendance in the Premier League so far was over 33,000.

In other words, even with a sell-out every game, Bayswater Chinese’s attendance was only about half the Premier League average.

Of course, this was due to the stadium’s limited capacity.

By the same token, Bayswater Stadium was now worthless to Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng had previously made a special call to his so-called father to ask why the stadium was designed for only 10,000 people.

And what was the answer?

His so-called father said, no money!

Apart from a tycoon like Roman Abramovich, how many people could casually pull over a hundred million pounds from their business to build a stadium?

Putting aside whether the funds from China could even be transferred, even if they could, would the business back home still operate?

So, now that Yang Cheng had completely cut ties with his past in China, Bayswater Chinese had become his private property.

He was determined to rely on his own strength to build a new, more magnificent and luxurious stadium!

After Adam Crozier finished speaking, Yang Cheng, as the club’s owner and head coach, went on stage to give a speech.

His words were brief.

“After the first 17 rounds, we are five points behind Chelsea and two points behind Manchester United, with Liverpool chasing us just one point behind.”

“Yesterday, our management team just had a meeting. The club has decided to offer a massive bonus of up to five million pounds, to be spent across the Premier League, UEFA Cup, League Cup, and FA Cup!”

Below the stage, not only the players, but even their families broke into an uproar.

A five-million-pound bonus!

Although it was to be divided among the league and multiple cup competitions, it was still a very generous amount.

More importantly, it showed the ambition of Yang Cheng and the club!

“We are a young team.”

“Every match, every training session, we are growing, we are improving.”

“We’ve played 17 rounds in the Premier League and made it through the group stage of the UEFA Cup. I believe everyone now has a certain understanding and awareness of the league and the cup competitions.”

“I believe that you, like me, are full of confidence and desire for the future!”

“Here, on behalf of the club, I promise everyone that we will release the five-million-pound bonus plan as soon as possible. We will never fail to reward every ounce of effort the players put in on the pitch, and we will never let you down!”

“After this Christmas, we have only one goal: charge!”

“Charge towards every title!”

Just as Yang Cheng returned to his seat, Adele’s enchanting and powerful voice came over the banquet hall’s speakers.

The song “Dream It Possible” slowly began to play.

It was the first time everyone had heard this song, and they found it incredibly catchy.

Gradually, as the song progressed, more and more instruments began to join in, and the emotion continued to build.

Especially during the chorus, everyone in the entire banquet hall was completely captivated.

【From the bottom to the top, we’re a wildfire that can’t be tamed.

Never giving up, never backing down, for the rest of our lives, we’ll keep on fighting.

No longer afraid to fall, until the moment you spread your wings and fly!】

Adele’s ethereal voice resonated in everyone’s ears, as if it had penetrated to the deepest part of their souls, and everyone couldn’t help but be moved by her emotion.

Many people in the audience couldn’t help but shed tears.

The players’ feelings were even more profound than anyone else’s.

Adele’s voice, combined with the powerful and magnificent symphony, was like igniting their souls. Every drop of blood in their veins felt like it was burning, boiling.

When the song ended, everyone in the audience felt an exhilarating sense of release!

Even Xia Qing, who had heard it several times, couldn’t help but be immersed in it each time, her eyes welling up with tears.

Looking at Yang Cheng sitting beside her, she suddenly felt a very strange sensation.

She really wanted to know, what kind of person was he?

Adam Crozier took the stage again and announced the name of the song, as well as its lyricist and composer.

When everyone present heard that the lyrics and music for the song were both written by Yang Cheng, the entire banquet hall erupted in an uproar.

Was there anything he couldn’t do?

Originally, the plan was to release this song along with a cultural promotional video.

But due to the slow progress of the promotional video’s filming and Yang Cheng’s insistence on prioritizing quality, it was decided to release the song first for the time being.

Furthermore, on December 26th, 2005, during Bayswater Chinese’s home game against Manchester City, Adele would be there in person to sing this team anthem.

This would be the song’s first public debut!

Over the next two or three days, Yang Cheng gave the team a break.

Since there was a match on the 26th, the players couldn’t go home, but they could spend time with their families in and around London.

The day before Christmas, Arsenal once again made an offer for Aaron Lennon.

This time, the offer was increased to fifteen million pounds.

But it was still rejected by Yang Cheng.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was during this very summer that Wenger paid twelve million pounds for Southampton’s Walcott.

At that time, Walcott had just made his debut and had only played a few games in the Championship.

But what about Aaron Lennon?

Equally young, Aaron Lennon had been tested in both the Championship and the Premier League, had proven himself in the UEFA Cup, and had even been called up to the England national team.

In terms of speed, Aaron Lennon was in no way inferior to Walcott.

In fact, at this current stage, Lennon’s attacking prowess was far superior to Walcott’s.

Under these circumstances, it would be crazy for Yang Cheng to accept a transfer fee of fifteen million pounds!

After being repeatedly rejected, Arsenal seemed to back off for the time being.

The Sun revealed that The Gunners were starting to shift their focus, showing interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Czech midfielder, Rosický.

But Yang Cheng knew better.

The reason Wenger wanted to sign Aaron Lennon was ultimately because his attacking tactics aligned with those of Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng used Ribéry, who had excellent ball control, on the left wing; Wenger used Pires or Hleb.

With one side holding the ball and the other stretching the play, Yang Cheng used the lightning-fast Aaron Lennon on the right.

Arsenal’s problem was that Ljungberg’s performance had declined sharply this season, causing Arsenal’s attack to suffer as well.

In 17 matches, The Gunners had only scored 22 goals.

How bad was that record?

The Gunners were 8th in the league table, and 9th-placed West Ham United had scored 25 goals.

13th-placed Middlesbrough had scored 23 goals.

If the attack was poor, a good defense might compensate.

But The Gunners’ defense wasn’t good either.

With 16 goals conceded, they were currently ranked 6th in the Premier League for defense, tied with two other teams.

So, it was normal for Wenger to be anxious.

The reason David Dunn was relentlessly targeting Bayswater Chinese was to weaken their strength.

Among the top-four teams in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had the thinnest squad.

If they could weaken a competitor through poaching while strengthening themselves, then Arsenal’s return to the top four would not be a problem.

Compared to the Champions League, what was a little extra money to sign Aaron Lennon or Ribéry?

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier were both aware of Arsenal’s intentions, so they weren’t bothered by the rumors.

On Christmas Day, the entire team had the day off to celebrate with their families.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were both alone.

So, the two of them decided to go for a stroll around the streets of London together.

To be honest, since transmigration, Yang Cheng had never really had a proper look around London’s streets.

Especially strolling through Knightsbridge with a female friend.

This was his first time.

On the morning of Boxing Day, as scheduled, all the first team players returned to Bayswater Stadium one after another.

Yang Cheng had the coaching staff conduct physical check-ups on them, and everyone was in good shape.

At 4:00 PM that afternoon, the team faced Manchester City at Loftus Road Stadium.

Before the kick-off, Adele, dressed like an English lady in a black knee-length dress, gracefully walked to the center of the pitch and sang the Bayswater Chinese team anthem.

As Yang Cheng and the others had expected, the reaction from the fans in the stadium was extremely enthusiastic.

After Adele sang it once, the stadium’s public address system repeatedly played the song on a loop.

Right up until kick-off.

Yang Cheng was well aware of the importance of the Christmas gruelling schedule.

So he was extremely well-prepared for this match.

Manchester City’s head coach, Stuart Pearce, was also treating it like a major battle, setting up in a 4-4-2 formation, ready to defend.

But before the match, inspired by the team anthem, the Bayswater Chinese players were like they’d been injected with adrenaline, charging at Manchester City with frenzy.

Soon, the defense of The Blue Moons crumbled.

In the past two seasons, Manchester City had lost their Boxing Day matches.

This made everyone at The Blue Moons take the Boxing Day fixture very seriously.

But sometimes, the more you focus on something, the more likely things are to go wrong.

In fact, Manchester City started the game quite well.

Bayswater Chinese, using their home advantage, tried to overwhelm Manchester City from the start.

The Blue Moons held their defense steady and even managed to create a very threatening attack.

But the shot was saved by Neuer.

This was the first shot of the entire match.

After that, Manchester City started to lose their rhythm.

With 4 matches to play in 8 days, Yang Cheng made rotations.

In this match, Matuidi partnered with Modrić, with Yaya Touré behind them.

After gaining control of the tempo, the home team began to create chances continuously.

In the 14th minute, after winning the ball in his own half, Chimbonda quickly passed it to Aaron Lennon.

Aaron Lennon then passed it to Modrić.

Since Matuidi was left-footed, he played as the left central midfielder in this match, with Modrić returning to the right central midfielder position.

After receiving the pass from Lennon, the Croatian turned, adjusted, and sent a long pass forward.

The ball was intended to go over Manchester City’s backline.

Centre-back Distin successfully headed the ball down.

But after heading it down, Distin failed to clear it in time, and Ribéry, who had been lurking nearby waiting for an opportunity, pounced on the second ball.

After winning the ball, the Frenchman launched a quick counter-attack, dribbled into the left side of Manchester City’s penalty area, and, facing goalkeeper David James, calmly slotted the ball into the far corner.

1-0!

Just 14 minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese took the lead.

The poor results from the past two seasons, coupled with conceding the first goal, caused Manchester City to play even more out of rhythm.

On the contrary, the home team was completely dominating Manchester City.

In the 21st minute, with support from an overlapping Chimbonda, Aaron Lennon forced his way past Manchester City’s left-back, Ben Thatcher.

The English winger broke into the right side of the penalty area and crossed the ball.

Yaya Touré, who had charged all the way into the box, headed the ball in from close range to score another goal.

2-0!

After conceding two goals in a row, the Manchester City players finally woke up.

In the 35th minute, The Blue Moons created a counter-attacking opportunity.

Barton won the ball from Matuidi, combined with striker Vassell, broke into the penalty area, and scored with a chip shot.

1-2!

Conceding a goal, instead of making Bayswater Chinese more cautious, spurred them to attack even more fiercely.

Just before the end of the first half, Manchester City’s backline once again exposed its problems under immense attacking pressure.

While contesting a first ball, Distin and Thatcher actually collided with each other.

Lambert once again got lucky.

When the ball came to him, the English centre-forward dribbled into the penalty area and scored with a one-on-one finish.

3-1!

After switching sides in the second half, Manchester City briefly tried to launch an all-out attack, but they were quickly suppressed by the home team again.

In the 55th minute, while facing Ribéry’s dribble, centre-back David Sommeil was deceived by the French winger’s feint and lost his position, hastily getting nutmegged.

Ribéry broke into the left side of the penalty area and, facing goalkeeper James, calmly chose to make a square pass to the better-positioned and unmarked Aaron Lennon.

The young English player easily tapped the ball into the empty net.

4-1!

This was Lennon’s third Premier League goal of the season, his first since the 4th round of the Premier League!

Although he didn’t score many goals, Lennon’s ability to attack down the right flank was very impressive.

Yang Cheng then substituted Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott for Ribéry and Lennon.

The two youngsters came on just as Manchester City was launching an all-out attack.

Compared to Gareth Bale, who actively tracked back to support Leighton Baines, Theo Walcott on the right wing was very impressive on the attack.

Two counter-attacks down the right in the 77th and 83rd minutes were both threatening.

Unfortunately, neither Lambert nor Matuidi, who were on the receiving end, could convert the passes into goals.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Manchester City 4-1 at home.

Meanwhile, Arsenal defeated Charlton Athletic 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Reyes.

Chelsea defeated Fulham 3-2 at home.

Liverpool defeated Newcastle 2-0 at home.

Manchester United comfortably beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at home.

The top teams in the league table basically all won their matches.

December 28th.

Manchester City, who had just lost 1-4 in London, returned to Manchester to host Chelsea.

The two teams were evenly matched, and The Blues won 1-0 thanks to a 79th-minute goal from Joe Cole.

This handed The Blue Moons their second consecutive defeat of the Christmas schedule.

Arsenal, on the other hand, thrashed Portsmouth 4-0 at home, with Henry scoring twice.

In contrast, Manchester United was a bit unlucky.

The Red Devils were away at Birmingham City, and despite taking the lead twice, they were pegged back by Birmingham twice.

Uruguayan striker Pandiani, who had yet to score this season, gave his first goal of the season to Manchester United.

Ferguson was furious, and Manchester United stepped up their recruitment efforts after the match.

Liverpool, meanwhile, won the Merseyside derby, beating Everton 3-1 away.

Bayswater Chinese’s away match against West Ham United went smoothly.

With such a dense schedule, West Ham manager Alan Pardew rotated his squad and changed his formation, but the effect was poor.

From the very beginning, Bayswater Chinese completely controlled the game.

In the 13th minute, a long pass from Leighton Baines accurately found its way behind the defense.

Aaron Lennon was like an arrow, instantly piercing West Ham’s defensive line and slotting the ball into The Hammers’ goal in a one-on-one.

1-0!

And just before the end of the first half, a cross from Ashley Young was received by Džeko in the penalty area. He skillfully sidestepped centre-back Anton Ferdinand before shooting and scoring.

2-0!

This was Džeko’s first ever Premier League goal since joining Bayswater Chinese.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese had another excellent opportunity.

A long shot from Gökhan İnler hit the crossbar and bounced back. Džeko’s follow-up shot went straight into the arms of goalkeeper Roy Carroll, missing a chance to score a brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated West Ham United 2-0 away.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese, with their three points, caught up with Manchester United in the league table.

Both teams were on 41 points, but Bayswater Chinese, with a goal difference of 24, edged out Manchester United’s 20 to sit second in the table, behind only Chelsea’s 46 points.

Mourinho’s Blues were unbelievably stable.

15 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses. They had scored the most goals in the Premier League and conceded the fewest.

This kind of dominant performance made many opponents feel hopeless.

But, that did not include Bayswater Chinese.

December 31st.

The Gunners failed to win away at Aston Villa in this round.

0-0, the two sides shook hands on a draw.

But Chelsea, with goals from Crespo and Robben, beat Birmingham 2-0 at home.

Liverpool, thanks to a goal from Crouch, beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at home.

Manchester United beat Bolton 4-1 at home, with C. Ronaldo scoring a brace.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Blackburn Rovers.

15 minutes into the game, Chimbonda took a free-kick from the right, and Modrić chipped it to the edge of the box.

İnler unleashed a long shot with his left foot, breaking the deadlock against Blackburn.

After that, the match entered a stalemate.

With the continuous dense schedule, even with Yang Cheng making rotations, the players’ performances were still unsatisfactory.

But in the 53rd minute of the second half, Ashley Young sent in a cross from the right.

After the ball was cleared, former Arsenal player David Bentley failed to clear it in time. Chimbonda intercepted the ball, broke into the penalty area, and fired a powerful shot that once again breached Blackburn’s goal.

2-0!

But in the 85th minute, Blackburn’s substitute striker, Bellamy, scored for Blackburn from a counter-attack.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Blackburn 2-1 at home.

January 2nd, 2006.

Premier League Round 21.

Chelsea, playing at home, defeated West Ham United 3-1 with goals from Lampard and Crespo.

Mourinho’s team performed with extreme consistency.

Liverpool challenged Bolton away. Despite falling behind twice, they equalized twice but were ultimately unable to take the lead.

2-2, the two sides settled for a draw.

Manchester United, on the other hand, drew 0-0 with Arsenal away from home.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Birmingham away.

Steve Bruce’s team was extremely valiant at home, but in the 20th minute, Gianni Vio’s set piece tactics worked again. Škrtel headed in a free-kick from Leighton Baines on the left to score against Birmingham.

But in the 33rd minute, Birmingham also scored against Bayswater Chinese from a counter-attack down the right.

Neither side was able to score again after that.

In the end, a dull 1-1 draw.

Bayswater Chinese’s performance in this match was far from ideal.

But Yang Cheng was very understanding.

After all, with such a dense schedule and constant rotations, it was unrealistic to expect the team to perform at their peak in every match.

Unless they had a squad as deep as Chelsea’s.

Having survived the crazy gruelling schedule, Bayswater Chinese had overcome another hurdle.

A record of 3 wins and 1 draw in 4 matches made everyone marvel at head coach Yang Cheng’s control over the team and his skillful rotation strategy.

After Bayswater Chinese’s match against Birmingham, The Guardian wrote an article specifically about them, which was published on the front page.

After 21 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had a record of 13 wins, 6 draws, and 2 losses, earning them 45 points. With a superior goal difference, they suppressed Manchester United to sit 2nd in the Premier League.

Chelsea led with 52 points, extending the gap to 7 points.

But no one would question Bayswater Chinese because of this.

After all, Chelsea’s squad was so large it was almost unbelievable.

The Guardian focused its analysis on Bayswater Chinese’s Christmas schedule.

4 matches, 3 wins, 1 draw, 9 goals scored, 3 goals conceded.

The most incredible part was that the 9 goals were scored by 8 different players.

Only Aaron Lennon scored 2 goals.

This was something worth looking into.

The Guardian analyzed Yang Cheng’s team selection and formation in these 4 matches and came to a conclusion.

“Yang Cheng’s use of players in these 4 matches is simply breathtaking.”

“He has maximized the potential of every single player in the current Bayswater Chinese squad.”

“Even in some matches where they clearly didn’t have the advantage and weren’t in great form, like the match against Birmingham, he withstood the home team’s attacks and managed to snatch a point away from home with a set piece.”

“He doesn’t look like a 25-year-old young man at all; instead, he resembles a world-class manager with a wealth of experience.”

The Guardian’s praise was not mere flattery.

After the 21st round of the Premier League, in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on the weekend, at home against Leeds United.

Bayswater Chinese was plagued by bad luck.

After playing 4 rounds of the Premier League in a row, the team had not had a rest, and the players were not in good condition.

Key midfielder Yaya Touré was called up to the national team and returned to Africa for the Africa Cup of Nations.

In 3 days, they would face the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal.

On top of that, the team had injuries, with José Fonte, Modrić, and others sidelined…

Under numerous unfavorable circumstances, Yang Cheng fielded a full backup lineup at home against Leeds United.

Witnessed by 10,000 fans, the two sides fought hard for over an hour.

The away team, Leeds United, actually took the initiative in the match, creating more chances.

But backup goalkeeper Danny Coyne and backup centre-back Roger Johnson both showed good quality, stubbornly maintaining a 0-0 scoreline.

It wasn’t until the 88th minute that Danny Collins made a tackle and passed the ball to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman sped down the left flank with the ball. Just after crossing the halfway line, he sent a diagonal long ball in behind the defense.

Walcott was like a flash of red lightning, instantly penetrating Leeds United’s defense and catching up to Gareth Bale’s pass.

He controlled the ball, feinted, rounded the goalkeeper, and shot into the empty net!

1-0!

Walcott, filling in for the injured Lambert as the team’s striker, scored a last-minute winner at a critical moment!

Bayswater Chinese eliminated Leeds United 1-0!

Chapter 90: Wenger’s Crazy Decision! Arsenal Are Rolling in It!

On the evening of January 10th, at Loftus Road in London.

In the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

Due to injuries to several players, Yang Cheng was unable to field his strongest lineup for the match.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Pascal Chimbonda;

Midfield: Andreassen in a holding role, with Inler and Lassana Diarra in front of him;

Forwards: Ribéry, Džeko, and Aaron Lennon.

José Fonte had only just returned from injury on the eve of this match.

Otherwise, Yang Cheng feared he would have had to field the centre-back pairing of Roger Johnson and Koscielny from their League Two days.

Like Bayswater Chinese, Wenger’s side was also affected by injuries.

Goalkeeper: Almunia;

Defence: Lauren, Campbell, Senderos, and Kerrea Gilbert;

Midfield: Hleb, Gilberto Silva, Fàbregas, and Ljungberg;

Forwards: Henry and Reyes.

The Gunners had a serious injury crisis on their left flank, with both Ashley Cole and Clichy out for the long term.

For this match, Wenger opted not to use the left-footed centre-back Cygan, instead playing right-back Lauren at left-back.

The right-back position was filled by the young Kerrea Gilbert.

But this turned out to be the very opportunity Bayswater Chinese needed.

…

Both sides started the game cautiously.

But Yang Cheng quickly noticed the problem in Arsenal’s defence and gestured for Ribéry to press Kerrea Gilbert relentlessly.

In the 6th minute, under Ribéry’s constant pressure, he won a corner kick from Gilbert.

Andreassen’s header went just over the crossbar.

Arsenal soon mounted a counter-attack.

In the 9th minute, Ljungberg’s shot sailed high over the bar.

Although the Swede was only twenty-eight, his form had declined rapidly.

In the 16th minute, Aaron Lennon broke through on the right and delivered a cross, giving Džeko an excellent heading opportunity near the penalty spot.

But Džeko’s header went just wide of the far post.

Yang Cheng immediately spotted the lack of coordination between Arsenal’s two centre-backs and quickly reminded Džeko to look for opportunities between Campbell and Senderos.

For that last header, Džeko had won the ball right between the two tall centre-backs.

Unfortunately, the Bosnian centre-forward’s heading ability was still not strong enough.

This was an area that needed improvement in the near future.

Before Yang Cheng’s tactical adjustment could take effect, another threat was created on the left flank.

Facing Kerrea Gilbert, Ribéry used a series of feints to suddenly shake off the young right-back, intending to cut inside with the ball.

In his haste, Kerrea Gilbert pushed Ribéry from behind.

The head referee, Howard Webb, blew his whistle without hesitation, awarding a free kick and issuing a yellow card.

Gianni Vio once again rushed out of the dugout, directing the team’s free-kick routine from the touchline.

Leighton Baines stepped up to take it, delivering a precise ball into the box.

In the ensuing chaos, Koscielny got ahead of Sol Campbell and, from close range, flicked a header into the bottom-left corner of the net. 1-0!

After taking the lead, the match gradually entered a stalemate.

Bayswater Chinese began to focus more on defence.

Chimbonda, in particular, stuck to Henry like glue, giving him no room to breathe.

This made it difficult for Arsenal’s attack to get going.

In the 33rd minute, Džeko attempted to break the offside trap but was pulled down from the side by Senderos.

Webb didn’t make a call, much to the displeasure of the home fans.

Just before the end of the first half, Aaron Lennon dribbled past his man on the right and sent in a diagonal pass.

Džeko shook off Campbell and broke into the penalty area, taking a shot from near the spot.

However, the onrushing Almunia dived to save the shot.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese’s attack showed no signs of letting up.

Aaron Lennon on the right wing was particularly lively.

Facing the right-footed Lauren, Lennon repeatedly caused problems down the flank.

In the 51st minute, Lennon broke through on the right and crossed, but Inler’s attempt to get on the end of it in the box once again went over the goal.

This sounded the charge for the home team’s offense.

Aaron Lennon’s constant threat from the right forced Wenger to make a substitution.

The left-footed midfielder Flamini came on for Ljungberg. Hleb moved to the right, and Reyes returned to the left.

Flamini, Gilberto Silva, and Fàbregas formed a three-man midfield.

Arsenal switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

But this meant Henry was now playing more centrally.

Chimbonda began to find more space.

In the 67th minute, Chimbonda first supported Aaron Lennon, who went to the byline to cross.

Two minutes later, Chimbonda made a high-speed overlapping run on the right, completed a neat one-two with Aaron Lennon, and broke into the right side of the box, only to be brought down in a sandwich tackle by the recovering Campbell and the advancing Almunia.

Referee Webb still did not call a foul.

The stadium erupted in a torrent of boos.

The Bayswater Chinese players also protested loudly.

This was the second time in the match!

…

“This kid is ruthless!”

Wenger glanced at Yang Cheng in the home team’s dugout and gritted his teeth.

“Look at his lineup, then look at his touchline management. Does he really seem like a twenty-five-year-old kid?”

“If you told me Ferguson was managing this match tonight, I don’t think anyone would be surprised.”

As he spoke, Wenger looked thoroughly dejected.

Arsenal had been on the back foot for the entire game.

There was nothing they could do. They couldn’t stop them in midfield, and the defence was shaky.

“Bayswater Chinese are truly performing at their peak under him. This group of young players all have unique qualities and have improved immensely,” said assistant coach Pat Rice.

That’s how it is with young players.

Put them in the right tactical environment, give them the freedom to express themselves and consistent playing time, and their rate of improvement will shock everyone.

Just like Fàbregas.

Isn’t he only eighteen?

He’s already become Arsenal’s core midfielder.

But the most incredible thing about this Bayswater Chinese side was that Yang Cheng, from who knows where, had unearthed a group of talented youngsters and tailored a tactical system perfectly suited for them.

If the league was a test of a team’s overall strength and long-term consistency, which worked against this young team…

Then in the cup competitions, Yang Cheng’s tactical acumen and touchline management were on full display.

These were not skills a twenty-five-year-old should possess.

Being a head coach was a job that heavily valued experience and tactical philosophy.

But Yang Cheng’s appearance had subverted everyone’s expectations.

“The Dutch media says van Gaal holds them in extremely high regard.”

Despite his failures at Barça and setbacks at Ajax, van Gaal was still one of Europe’s top managers.

His words still carried a lot of weight.

“At the rate Bayswater Chinese is improving, perhaps as early as next season, or by 2008 at the latest, they will definitely become one of the most competitive teams in the Premier League,” Pat Rice said with a sigh of both admiration and helplessness.

Wenger let out a cold snort. “They won’t get that much time.”

“You mean…”

“That old codger Ferguson will never let them develop. Liverpool, Chelsea, even Tottenham Hotspur, none of them will give them that chance.”

As Wenger spoke, a cruel smile touched his lips.

“It’s the law of the jungle. Bayswater Chinese isn’t the first, and they won’t be the last.”

“Ever since the Bosman ruling, the rules of the game have changed!”

Pat Rice nodded.

Dark horses were like shooting stars—a moment of brilliance, then gone in a flash.

Because this was the era of capital.

Without money, you couldn’t talk about anything.

If a giant club couldn’t beat you on the pitch, they would poach your players off it until you were crippled.

It was a standard tactic for all the big clubs.

Setting aside the fact that Bayswater Chinese was currently saddled with debt, even teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, could they hold onto their players?

The Premier League giants, even just Arsenal, could go to the Bundesliga and sign whomever they wanted.

The British media had just reported that Arsenal was interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Czech international, Rosický.

Shortly after, Rosický was in the German media, expressing his interest, saying he looked forward to playing alongside Henry and that it was his dream to play at Highbury.

Give me a break!

To put it bluntly, the Bundesliga just wasn’t competitive enough!

“Do you think if his players get poached, he could develop another batch?” Pat Rice suddenly asked.

If they weren’t currently losing the match and the timing wasn’t so bad, Wenger might have laughed.

“Transfers are high-risk. Do you really think the big teams are idiots? Chelsea would rather overpay for players who have already proven themselves. Are they stupid?”

“Ultimately, they’re using money to reduce the risk of their signings.”

“Besides, even if Yang Cheng could find another group of talented young players, how long would it take to develop them? Wouldn’t it affect their competitiveness in the Premier League?”

“And most importantly, after you painstakingly develop another group, the big teams will just pull out their wallets and buy them again.”

Pat Rice nodded gravely.

European football was a pyramid, and the Premier League was no different.

The meaning behind Wenger’s words was clear.

To maintain a team’s competitiveness, you either develop talent or you spend money.

For Arsenal to get back into the top four, it was too late to develop talent.

Without spending money, it would be very difficult!

“I’m even starting to suspect that Yang Cheng fellow is doing this on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, ever since we submitted our bid, Aaron Lennon’s form has been getting better and better.”

This was actually quite normal.

Young players who aspired to join stronger teams would naturally give their all to showcase their abilities.

It was the same principle as players playing their hearts out in a contract year.

But Wenger had a feeling that Yang Cheng had no intention of reining Aaron Lennon in. Instead, he seemed to be further unleashing Lennon’s ambition and drive, making him even more incisive on the pitch.

It was more like he was putting on a show for potential buyers.

The thought made Wenger’s skin crawl.

I want to buy your Aaron Lennon, so you let him play his heart out to thrash me, and then you use it as an opportunity to demand a higher price?

Damn it all, you get all the benefits, and you’ll probably play the victim in front of the fans later and cry foul!

This is criminal!

…

Just as Wenger was mentally cursing Yang Cheng, on the pitch, Bayswater Chinese once again sounded the charge.

In the 78th minute, Aaron Lennon received a pass from Lassana Diarra on the right flank and drove forward, forcing Lauren and Flamini to retreat.

Arsenal’s defensive line also fell back into their penalty area.

But just then, Lennon suddenly played the ball back.

Chimbonda charged forward from deep, received Lennon’s pass, glanced at the penalty area, and before Flamini could close him down, he whipped in a waist-high diagonal ball, precisely shifting it to the top of the arc.

Senderos and Campbell had dropped back into the box. Džeko, who had been positioned between them ready to pounce on goal, saw Chimbonda’s pass and immediately dropped back to the arc.

The Bosnian centre-forward, facing the right wing, chested the ball down towards the right side of the arc.

That touch was just enough to evade Campbell.

The Arsenal defender was older, slower, and more cumbersome.

Džeko controlled the ball to the right of the arc, took a stride to catch up to it, and as the ball dropped, he struck it with a right-footed volley.

The Bosnian centre-forward’s technique was on full display in that single shot.

The volleyed shot flew out like a rocket, and with lightning speed, it zipped past Almunia’s outstretched hands and into the Arsenal net.

2-0!

The entire stadium erupted in an instant!

Yang Cheng was so excited he jumped into the air.

Only in the visitors’ dugout, Wenger wore a look of utter dejection, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

“For fuck’s sake, can’t I just buy Chimbonda too?”

“And Ribéry, I’ll take them all as a package deal!”

Pat Rice’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Keep dreaming, Professor!

Dreaming doesn’t cost anything, after all.

…

Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 2-0 at home.

Koscielny and Džeko each scored a goal.

But the most talked-about players of the match were Ribéry and Aaron Lennon, who had been frequently linked with Arsenal.

After the game, the performances of both players received unanimous praise from the media.

Especially Aaron Lennon.

As a local player, the eighteen-year-old Aaron Lennon was currently the hottest right winger in England.

At the same time, he was hailed as the future king of England’s right flank.

After all, at the end of this season, Beckham would be thirty-one years old.

There was Shaun Wright-Phillips, but after his transfer to Chelsea, his performance and form had declined sharply. Now, Aaron Lennon was the one drawing the most attention.

Before the match, many media outlets had suggested that this League Cup tie was an audition for Arsenal.

Now the game was over, and Aaron Lennon’s attacking prowess on the right had completely shredded Arsenal’s defence.

One had to wonder if Wenger was satisfied with this result.

After the match, many media outlets criticized Arsenal’s performance and Wenger’s tactics.

But the real bombshell came from Henry’s post-match outburst.

The Gunners’ captain was disappointed with the two goals conceded.

“This game was a microcosm of our entire poor season.”

“The attack up front doesn’t get effective support, and the defence at the back can’t hold anything.”

“If we continue like this, it will be too hard to win games, too hard to get back into the top four.”

When reporters asked Henry to name names, the captain did not answer directly.

“We have already paid too much, and the price has been too high.”

“If making one mistake allowed the team to learn a lesson and strengthen itself, then we should have become much stronger long ago.”

Without a doubt, Henry was pointing the finger directly at the club’s management.

And even at Wenger.

After Vieira’s departure, the Gunners had not signed a high-level player in midfield.

This in itself was a terrible decision.

That was Arsenal’s captain, a world-class holding midfielder. Could his departure really have no impact on Arsenal?

Impossible, right?

No signings before the season, and once the new season started, opponents found they could slice through Arsenal’s midfield with ease.

How were they supposed to play?

When Vieira was there, he not only ensured the midfield’s intensity and stability but could also support the attack and protect the defence.

And now?

Was relying on Gilberto Silva alone to defend enough?

If Henry’s anger exposed the conflicts in Arsenal’s dressing room, then the problems that followed were continuously brought to light.

The Sun revealed that Valencia was willing to offer Pires a two-year contract.

This further fueled the concerns of Arsenal fans.

Pires was in good form, far better than Ljungberg on the right wing.

But Arsenal had always adhered to their tradition of offering only one-year extensions to players over thirty.

Pires was not happy with this, and contract renewal talks had stalled.

Now, Valencia had made the first move, proving Pires still had value in the market.

In another six months, the Gunners midfielder would be available on a free transfer.

A Catalonia daily in Spain reported that Barça would sign Henry for a transfer fee of ten million pounds sterling at the end of the season.

The reason was that Henry’s contract expired in 2007.

This undoubtedly put Arsenal in a corner.

Pires and Henry, both Wenger’s French compatriots, both instrumental figures for Arsenal.

How to choose?

To make matters worse, after losing the first leg of the League Cup semi-final 0-2 to Bayswater Chinese, their chances of reaching the final were slim.

After twenty-one rounds, they were 6th in the league, six points behind 5th-placed Tottenham Hotspur, let alone catching up to 4th-placed Liverpool.

It seemed that the possibility of returning to the top four was not high.

Losing out on the Champions League would mean a loss of at least twenty million pounds sterling.

It was under these difficult circumstances, with troubles both internal and external, that the Gunners returned to Highbury for the 22nd round of the Premier League.

Just when everyone was worried about the Gunners’ form, Henry exploded.

The French striker scored a hat-trick and provided an assist, helping Arsenal thrash Middlesbrough 7-0 at home.

The young Reyes contributed four assists, delivering a dazzling performance.

Pires also got on the scoresheet in that match.

The Gunners had an all-round offensive explosion!

Meanwhile, Manchester United, who had just drawn 1-1 away at Blackburn in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, lost the Manchester derby 3-1 away to Manchester City.

The Blue Moons had tenaciously halted the Red Devils.

Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home.

Chelsea came from behind to beat The Black Cats, Sunderland, 2-1 away.

Bayswater Chinese, hampered by a packed schedule and injuries, drew 1-1 at home against The Baggies, West Bromwich Albion.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese, with their one point, moved ahead of Manchester United.

Arsenal closed the gap on Tottenham Hotspur.

…

January 21st, the 23rd round of the Premier League.

The week-long rest was incredibly precious for Bayswater Chinese.

More importantly, injured players like Modrić also returned to action one by one this week.

Only Yaya Touré was still away with Côte d’Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Since they were due to travel to Highbury to go all-out against Arsenal mid-week, Yang Cheng decided to rotate his squad appropriately for this match.

However, the team’s early attacking blitz paid off.

Just forty seconds in, a long pass from Andreassen found Ribéry on the left. He controlled the ball, cut inside, beat a man, and played a diagonal pass to the center outside the box. Inler followed up with a powerful shot, opening the scoring for the visitors.

1-0!

Then, in the 29th minute, from a free-kick opportunity in the attacking third, Andreassen scored with a header.

2-0!

It wasn’t until the 66th minute of the second half that Middlesbrough pulled one back with a header from Hasselbaink.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 away from home.

In the same round, Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 at home against Aston Villa.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home against Charlton Athletic.

Mourinho’s Iron-blooded Blues were finally showing signs of fatigue.

The main reason was that players like Drogba and Essien were participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, which had a significant impact on the Blues.

Manchester United, however, defeated Liverpool 1-0 at home thanks to a last-minute winner from Ferdinand.

But Arsenal lost 1-0 away to Everton.

Fàbregas even got a red card at the end of the match for retaliating against an opponent.

This battle saw the points gap between the Gunners and Tottenham Hotspur widen to four points once again.

Wenger’s team suffered a heavy blow.

…

On the evening of January 24th, at Highbury in London.

In the second leg of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese challenged Arsenal away from home.

For Wenger, it was a rollercoaster of a match.

His mood fluctuated with the twists and turns of the game.

Although the match was held at Highbury, Yang Cheng’s team played like the home side, taking the initiative early on.

But they were unable to convert their pressure into goals.

The entire first half was an evenly matched contest.

With a two-goal advantage from the first leg, Yang Cheng had more chips to play in the second leg.

Bayswater Chinese focused more on defence, creating fewer chances than Arsenal but posing a greater threat.

This was especially true in the final moments of the first half when Ribéry, cutting in from the left, dribbled past four Arsenal defenders before breaking into the box and passing to Aaron Lennon on the right.

At the crucial moment, if Gilberto Silva hadn’t risked an own goal with a sliding tackle to put the ball out for a corner, it would have been a certain goal.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese continued to use their wing play to pin back Arsenal’s defence.

In the 51st minute, Aaron Lennon once again broke through on the right and delivered a low, driven cross.

Džeko darted from in front of the two centre-backs to their blind side, but his attempt at a first-time shot hit the post.

For the first hour, Wenger watched with his heart in his throat.

It wasn’t until Henry’s goal in the 65th minute that Arsenal’s hopes were reignited.

Despite Wenger’s many refutations, he had to admit that Henry was now Arsenal’s most crucial player.

But then, the match once again descended into a tense and fierce battle.

Both teams could create chances, but none were clear-cut opportunities.

Wenger stood on the touchline, watching silently.

He only made two substitutions.

One was bringing on Diaby for Flamini to strengthen the midfield.

In the 80th minute, he substituted van Persie for Henry.

Because there was an FA Cup match away to Bolton at the weekend.

Arsenal needed Henry.

Sounds of dissatisfaction rose from the fans at Highbury.

Wenger could understand.

Taking off Henry almost meant that Arsenal would have little chance of threatening the Bayswater Chinese goal again.

The substitute, van Persie, was completely neutralized by the combined efforts of José Fonte and Koscielny.

On the other hand, there was Yang Cheng.

That damned Chinese manager had once again brought on three young players: Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Matuidi.

These newborn calves who fear no tiger, came on in the 83rd minute.

Their most threatening moment came in the 87th minute when Campbell fouled Walcott just outside the box, giving the opponents a free kick.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese failed to seize the opportunity.

During stoppage time, there was an unpleasant incident on the pitch.

After being dispossessed by Leighton Baines, Reyes chased him all the way back into his own half to try and win the ball back, but ended up committing a foul.

After the foul, the young Spaniard, still fuming, slapped Leighton Baines.

Leighton Baines immediately fell to the ground.

The referee, Phil Dowd, showed a straight red card.

Two matches, two red cards!

Wenger stood on the touchline, covering his face with his hands.

“We’ve been under too much pressure lately,” assistant coach Pat Rice explained.

Neither Fàbregas nor Reyes were players with particularly difficult personalities, yet they both received red cards for irrational actions on the pitch, both near the end of their respective matches.

There was only one explanation.

Pressure!

Everyone on the team knew the club was burdened with heavy debt from the new stadium and had to finish in the top four to secure a Champions League spot.

Everyone was giving their all.

But they just couldn’t pull it off!

How could Wenger not know this?

“It’s all that damned Yang Cheng’s fault!” Wenger cursed through gritted teeth.

Although he had a personal relationship with Yang Cheng, he truly hated the situation.

If it weren’t for Yang Cheng building up Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal wouldn’t be in such a passive position.

Two years ago, when the banks loaned Arsenal the money to build the new stadium, it was Wenger who personally gave his guarantee.

He would continue to manage Arsenal and ensure the team qualified for the Champions League every year.

And now? The new stadium wasn’t even finished, and they were about to lose their Champions League qualification?

The thought made Wenger feel sick to his stomach.

All he could think about now was how to get the team into the top four.

If they failed to make it, their income would plummet, and Arsenal’s financial situation would be unsustainable.

The slightest misstep could lead to a vicious cycle, which would be disastrous.

Thinking of this, Wenger clenched his jaw hard.

The Professor, cautious and meticulous his entire life, made a crazy decision this time!

…

In the second leg of the League Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-0 to Arsenal away from home.

But they defeated the Gunners 2-1 on aggregate, reaching the League Cup final for the second consecutive season.

At Old Trafford in Manchester, Manchester United defeated Blackburn 2-1 with goals from Van Nistelrooy and Saha.

Thus, this season’s League Cup final would be Manchester United versus Bayswater Chinese.

The match was scheduled for February 26th at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

After the League Cup semi-final, Arsenal once again sent a bid to Bayswater Chinese.

This time, they directly raised Aaron Lennon’s transfer fee to eighteen million pounds sterling.

Yang Cheng once again instructed Adam Crozier to reject the Gunners’ offer.

Three days later, in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The Gunners lost 1-0 away to Bolton.

Bayswater Chinese lost 1-0 away to Manchester City.

Both teams were knocked out, but their situations were completely different.

Yang Cheng’s team had reached the League Cup final and was second in the league table.

Wenger’s team was 6th in the table, and apart from the Champions League, their hopes of winning any silverware were all but gone.

On the day after the FA Cup match, Arsenal’s vice-chairman David Dunn personally came to Bayswater Stadium.

He presented Adam Crozier with three transfer bids!

…

“What did you say?”

At noon on the day after the FA Cup, Yang Cheng had just finished lunch with Xia Qing and returned to the executive office for a short while when Adam Crozier brought him the shocking news.

“Not one offer, but three. They want to buy three of our players as a package.”

Even as Adam Crozier relayed the message, his voice trembled with a little excitement.

This was completely unexpected.

“Three players?”

Yang Cheng shot up from his seat, equally astonished.

Had Arsenal gone mad?

But he quickly understood.

“Wait, do they have the money?”

Adam Crozier nodded. “Based on their income, if they stretch themselves, they should have it.”

That summer, Arsenal had received a hefty transfer fee for selling Vieira, but they had also signed players like Hleb, Alex Song, and Carlos Vela.

After all was said and done, Vieira’s transfer fee was mostly spent.

But the problem was…

“From what I heard, aren’t Arsenal likely to post a loss this season based on their current income and expenses?”

A so-called loss wouldn’t necessarily translate into debt.

The main reason for the Gunners’ loss was the huge interest payments on the loans for the new stadium.

Of course, there was also the Gunners’ ever-increasing wage bill.

To some extent, Yang Cheng could understand Arsenal’s hesitation in renewing contracts for Henry and Pires.

A renewal would, at the very least, mean maintaining their current salary levels.

Arsenal’s current wage expenditure was already quite high as a percentage of their total revenue.

In the 2005-06 season, the Gunners’ total wage bill exceeded seventy million pounds sterling, accounting for 63% of their revenue.

According to outside reports, renewing with Henry and Pires, with Henry’s salary rising to a weekly wage of 120,000 to 130,000 pounds sterling, would certainly further increase Arsenal’s wage pressure.

Of course, the Gunners’ only trump card was the opening of the new stadium this summer, which would more than double Arsenal’s matchday revenue, and the percentage of wage expenditure would consequently drop.

But it would still exceed 50%.

Under such circumstances, could the Gunners still afford to buy players?

“They want to sign Ribéry, Aaron Lennon, and Chimbonda.”

“The offer for Ribéry is twenty million pounds, Aaron Lennon is also twenty million pounds, and Chimbonda is ten million pounds. The package price for all three players is fifty million pounds.”

Speaking of this, Adam Crozier himself was a little excited.

That was fifty million pounds sterling!

But when he saw Yang Cheng’s expression remain unchanged, he couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.

As expected of a rich kid who’s seen the world.

To be faced with a fifty million pound offer and not even bat an eye.

Xia Qing, standing nearby, was also moved, but she habitually looked at Yang Cheng, her eyes filled with admiration.

If converted to yuan, that would be five hundred million.

It was simply outrageous!

How could he remain so calm!

“Do they have the money?” Yang Cheng asked again.

Adam Crozier could only smile wryly.

He wasn’t sure either.

“If the Gunners still want to play these little financial tricks, we’re not playing along.”

Yang Cheng gave his instructions, but he quickly realized another issue.

“It seems Lauren’s injury is quite serious.”

Adam Crozier’s eyes lit up, instantly understanding Yang Cheng’s meaning.

After the FA Cup match, there were rumors that Henry and Lauren had suffered thigh muscle strains, and Gilberto Silva had a calf injury. The Gunners not only lost the FA Cup match but also gained three more injured players.

For Wenger to want to buy Chimbonda, Lauren’s injury must be severe.

Currently, both of the Gunners’ left-backs were out.

If the right-back Lauren was also injured, and Kolo Touré was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and played more as a centre-back anyway…

Then Arsenal’s problem would be very serious.

This was actually Wenger’s own fault for his player management.

It wasn’t the first time.

Almost every season, around the winter break and in the second half of the season, Arsenal would be plagued by injuries.

That’s why Ferguson’s Manchester United was so often able to stage a comeback during the winter break and the latter half of the season.

If it happened once or twice, you could call it bad luck.

But if it happened every time, was it still bad luck?

Right now, the Gunners had seven players on the sidelines. There was definitely a problem.

“How do they plan to sign them?” Yang Cheng asked with interest.

“Half fixed, half in add-ons.”

Yang Cheng chuckled; he had guessed as much.

There were many tricks in the transfer market.

For example, when Reyes transferred from Sevilla to Arsenal, the publicly announced fee was 23.2 million pounds sterling, which converted to thirty-five million euros.

But what was the reality?

Of that 23.2 million pounds, only 10.5 million was a fixed fee, and even that was paid in installments.

The rest of the fee was tied to numerous additional clauses, such as appearance numbers and player performance, which Arsenal would only have to pay if the conditions were met.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the reason the Gunners later decided to loan Reyes to Real Madrid was to circumvent these clauses and prevent Reyes from meeting the transfer conditions.

It was said that in the end, Arsenal only actually paid 17.5 million pounds.

Possibly even less.

“Tell them we have no intention of selling Ribéry and Chimbonda.”

Yang Cheng knew that after this period of back-and-forth, he had pretty much squeezed Arsenal for all they were worth.

“If they want to sign Aaron Lennon, then they need to put up twenty million pounds. It can be in installments, but I don’t support variable clauses. I want a solid twenty million pounds.”

“Understood.”

This was, in effect, a veiled price increase.

“But will Arsenal agree?” Adam Crozier asked with a smile.

“They should.”

“Why?”

“It’s simple. They need to weaken us to fight for a top-four finish.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “More importantly, our Professor is being uncharacteristically impulsive for once. I reckon he can persuade the board, simply because they’re out of options.”

“The Gunners are operating at a loss this year. If they don’t make it into the Champions League next season, even with the new stadium, their situation will be very difficult. So they have to take a gamble.”

“There are only two ways to get into the Champions League: either finish in the top four, or do what Liverpool did.”

Adam Crozier had a sudden realization and nodded repeatedly.

Liverpool had only finished 5th in the Premier League last season, so why were they playing in this season’s Champions League?

Because they had performed a miracle in Istanbul.

UEFA made an exception, allowing Liverpool to participate as defending champions, but they had to start from the first qualifying round.

For Arsenal, whether it was finishing in the top four or winning the Champions League, they had to give it everything they had!

…

It was already the 28th, with only a few days left before the transfer window closed.

After talking with Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier immediately contacted David Dunn to convey Bayswater Chinese’s position.

The Gunners were clearly determined to sign Aaron Lennon.

After considering for just one afternoon, David Dunn replied to Adam Crozier.

Twenty million pounds sterling!

Arsenal agreed to Bayswater Chinese’s terms.

However, the payment would be made in four installments over two years.

The advantage of both clubs being based in London became apparent at this moment.

That evening, the teams from both clubs began handling the various paperwork, and Arsenal also started negotiations with the player’s team and agent.

Aaron Lennon was thrilled at the prospect of joining a top club like Arsenal.

Moreover, the salary offered by the Gunners was much better than what he earned at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng didn’t think much of the transfer.

Aaron Lennon was performing very well at the moment, but he wasn’t irreplaceable.

Besides, the transfer fee from Arsenal was incredibly generous.

When Beckham transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid, the fee was just over twenty million pounds.

So, selling him wasn’t a big deal.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng had already sent Mike Rigg out to negotiate for Aaron Lennon’s “successor.”

And the progress was very smooth.

That was why Yang Cheng had decided to sell.

Besides, from the way Lennon feigned compliance with his special training, Yang Cheng knew this was as far as the English winger would go—a role player on the right flank.

Or perhaps, at best, he would be another Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The next day, Aaron Lennon’s transfer sent shockwaves through the entire British media.

No one had expected Arsenal to sign the homegrown right-wing prodigy for twenty million pounds sterling during the winter transfer window. The Gunners fans were ecstatic.

In the past two League Cup semi-final matches, Aaron Lennon had given Arsenal’s defence a torrid time.

Now, that was sorted.

Although Aaron Lennon couldn’t play for Arsenal in the Champions League, as long as he played in the league, that would be enough.

But what Yang Cheng had never expected was that on the morning the media reported Lennon’s transfer, after the training session, Chimbonda’s agent came to see him.

He represented the player and stated very clearly that he hoped the club would consider the offer from Arsenal.

“You know, he’ll be twenty-seven in February.”

“For my player, this might be the last chance in his life to join a major club. We don’t want to give it up.”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

He was certain that Arsenal must have approached Chimbonda and his agent behind his back.

They had likely even reached some kind of agreement.

What about Ribéry?

After meeting Chimbonda’s agent, Yang Cheng immediately went to find Ribéry.

After confirming with him several times, Ribéry repeatedly assured him that neither he nor his agent had had any contact with anyone from Arsenal.

“Boss, I promised you that before the World Cup, I would not consider a transfer under any circumstances. I will keep my word!”

Ribéry’s firm promise put Yang Cheng at ease.

This was the agreement he had made with Ribéry earlier.

After the World Cup, if there was a suitable offer, Yang Cheng would let him go.

Until then, Ribéry would focus on playing for the team.

As for Chimbonda, Yang Cheng hadn’t thought that Arsenal would be interested in the French international.

However, Yang Cheng was truly a bit hesitant.

He already had a suitable replacement in mind, but there was a drawback.

He would be ineligible for the UEFA Cup.

Similarly, even if Arsenal signed Lennon and Chimbonda, they couldn’t play in the Champions League.

That was UEFA’s rule.

Last summer, the team had signed Chimbonda for five hundred thousand pounds sterling, a move that all media outlets had hailed as the best signing of the Premier League season.

This was because Chimbonda was the best-performing right-back in the Premier League in the first half of the season, bar none.

He might even have been the best-performing right-back in European football.

This was thanks to the freedom Yang Cheng gave him on the right flank, allowing him to showcase his attacking prowess with overlapping runs.

At twenty-seven years old, and given that Chimbonda’s style of play was very physically demanding, Yang Cheng estimated that he could maintain this form for two more years at most.

Under these circumstances, should he sell?

While Yang Cheng was deliberating, Adam Crozier came to find him again, bringing a new offer from Arsenal.

The Gunners had offered twelve million pounds sterling for Chimbonda.

A full twenty-four times the transfer fee from six months ago!

But that wasn’t surprising; Bastia had been relegated, and Yang Cheng had picked him up for a steal.

Chimbonda’s quality was there for all to see.

Moreover, Wenger had always had a soft spot for French players.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng immediately instructed Adam Crozier to give them their asking price.

Fifteen million pounds sterling.

Take it or leave it, no more haggling!

At the same time, Yang Cheng also told Mike Rigg to quickly finalize the deal he was working on, to be prepared in advance.

It was the 29th.

There wasn’t much time left for either side to complete the transfer.

And just as Yang Cheng had predicted, Arsenal’s right-back Lauren was likely to be out for the rest of the season.

This left Arsenal with only a group of young prospects.

Neither Kerrea Gilbert nor Eboué had made many appearances this season.

This left Wenger with a real shortage of options.

Especially with the need to fight on two fronts in the Premier League and the Champions League.

With the pressure to get results on one hand and a lack of players on the other, David Dunn quickly made a decision.

Spend the money first, secure the results!

Thus, on the afternoon of the 29th, Arsenal agreed to Bayswater Chinese’s asking price.

Fifteen million pounds sterling, still to be paid over two years.

Arsenal are rolling in it!

After the two clubs reached an agreement, Yang Cheng immediately called Mike Rigg, telling him to wrap up his business and fly to France as soon as possible.

Relying solely on Piszczek to handle two competitions was clearly unrealistic.

Chapter 91: Signings and Hijackings! We’re Moving into Wembley Stadium!

Before Andrei Arshavin’s parents divorced, before his mother passed away, and before he was introduced to football, he loved checkers and dreamed of becoming a professional player.

That memory had grown hazy over time.

But the experience had left him with a profound understanding of life.

In checkers, choosing your path is paramount—which step to take first, which to take next—you must consider the entire board.

Your opponent will try to block you.

That’s when you must learn how to build bridges and use them.

To move quickly and jump far, you must have a long-term vision.

These life lessons, derived from a board game, continued to have a deep impact on Arshavin.

It affected not only his life, but his football as well.

That was why, before becoming a professional player, he had studied at a university in St. Petersburg.

He was a rare university student on the Zenit team.

Unfortunately, because of football, he never graduated, but he did find love.

In Russia, Zenit St. Petersburg had never been a powerhouse.

On the contrary, they were poor.

So poor that they had to survive by selling players almost every season.

In December 2005, the Russian gas company Gazprom began acquiring shares in Zenit.

There were rumors that the corporate giant would inject capital into the club and help it rise.

But so far, there had been no official news.

Who knew what the future held?

Due to its geographical location and climate, the Russian Premier League operated on a different schedule from Europe’s major leagues.

The season began in mid-March and ended in November.

Because Zenit was participating in the UEFA Cup, they still had matches in December.

The 2006 season would also begin in mid-February.

Last season, Zenit had only finished sixth in the Russian Premier League, but thanks to their strong performance in the first half of the season, they had secured a spot in the UEFA Cup.

This was Arshavin’s second time participating in the competition.

The first was in 2002, but Zenit had been knocked out in the first round of the main tournament.

Arshavin still remembered that their opponent had been Grasshopper Club Zürich from Switzerland.

Unlike his smooth sailing at Zenit, where he had even become team captain, Arshavin’s career with the Russian national team had been fraught with difficulty.

At twenty-one, he was selected for the national team by the then-coach Oleg Romantsev, but he failed to make the final squad for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

This was partly because his technical style didn’t fit with the national team, and partly due to his personality.

The subsequent coach, Valery Gazzaev, held a similar view.

He went so far as to exclude Arshavin from the squad entirely.

That incompetent fool almost cost Russia a place in the Euro 2004 finals.

Fortunately, he was replaced by Georgi Yartsev.

Failing to make the national team left Arshavin with a burning desire to prove himself.

He was desperate to show that Romantsev and Gazzaev were wrong!

So, he poured all his energy into his matches with Zenit.

Finally, after Euro 2004, on the back of his excellent performances for Zenit and the retirement of a generation of older national team players, Arshavin became a regular fixture in the squad and a core member of the team.

However, due to the personnel changes in the national team, Russia regrettably failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany.

For this very reason, Zenit became the most important bridge for Arshavin.

He had worked so hard for so many years, hoping to use this bridge to leap out of Russia.

He longed to go abroad, to explore, to have an adventure!

Just like all the young people in Russia.

Cruyff’s Barça “Dream Team” was Arshavin’s favorite, and he dreamed of playing for them.

But before that, he felt he needed to build one more bridge.

At the end of January 2006.

An Englishman named Mike Rigg, braving the heavy snowstorm in St. Petersburg, managed to get through to Andrei Arshavin on the phone.

Although Gazprom had acquired shares in Zenit last December, the integration process was still ongoing.

Many things were still up in the air.

Would they really inject capital?

No one knew.

Therefore, Zenit took the offer from the Premier League club extremely seriously.

Their thinking was that after selling Arshavin for a high price, they could sign more affordable and high-value players from Eastern Europe or Brazil to compensate for the club’s loss.

Arshavin’s transfer fee was benchmarked against the £7 million Manchester United paid for Spartak Moscow’s centre-back, Vidić.

Vidić was the best centre-back in the Russian Premier League and the 2005 Serbian Footballer of the Year.

The Serbian national team’s defense, which he led, had conceded only one goal in ten World Cup qualifiers for Germany, ensuring the team remained undefeated and even earning special praise from FIFA.

A player like that had a transfer fee of only £7 million.

So, what about Andrei Arshavin?

The Russian’s transfer valuation was around €9 million, or £6 million.

While he certainly wasn’t as decorated as Vidić, he was an attacking player and the captain of Zenit.

After multiple discussions and negotiations, Adam Crozier even flew to St. Petersburg personally.

In the end, after a great deal of effort, the CEO of Bayswater Chinese managed to negotiate the transfer fee.

£6 million.

…

“Sign him!”

From his office in London, Yang Cheng received the call from Adam Crozier and immediately gave him the authorization.

“I’ve also spoken with Arshavin. He and his family are very much looking forward to life in London.”

Adam Crozier reported on his work in St. Petersburg. “The trickier part now is that he’s still a student at a university in St. Petersburg, and his English isn’t good. He’ll need a crash course.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Coordinate with him, see what he needs, and we’ll definitely provide assistance from our end.”

“Also, please pass on a message from me. Tell him I have full confidence in him and I’m certain he will improve the team and succeed in the Premier League.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up with Adam Crozier, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but feel a little amused.

He’s a university student, and his English is still poor?

This reminded him of another Russian player.

A legendary goalkeeper from a generation of Football Manager, Igor Akinfeev.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Manchester United had once tried to sign Akinfeev in 2009 to replace Edwin van der Sar.

In the end, Akinfeev refused.

The reason was that he didn’t speak English and found learning it too annoying.

At that time, the Russian domestic league was full of tycoons, and player salaries were very high. This led to many talented Russian players lacking the desire to play abroad.

Akinfeev’s potential was ultimately wasted.

Situations like this were very common in European football.

Fans only saw the ninety minutes of the match on the pitch.

But players had to live through countless ninety-minute periods, dealing with every little detail of life.

A problem with any random detail in their lives could seriously affect the players’ well-being, which in turn would impact their form and performance.

That was why Yang Cheng had always found it strange that European clubs didn’t place more importance on helping players settle in.

Perhaps in their eyes, these players were just lifelike consumables.

If this one messes up, isn’t there always the next one?

But Yang Cheng knew very well that to build a team with true fighting spirit, you had to be meticulous, attentive, and even more attentive.

This was something Bayswater Chinese had been practicing for the past two or three years.

When it came to Arshavin, Yang Cheng saw not just the present, but the future.

When he decided to sell Aaron Lennon, Yang Cheng actually had another option.

Nani from Sporting Lisbon.

The winger could have almost perfectly filled the void left by Aaron Lennon, and his price would have been lower than Arshavin’s.

But in the end, Yang Cheng chose Arshavin.

Because he had a premonition that Ribéry would be difficult to hold onto this summer.

In that situation, it would be extremely difficult for Bayswater Chinese to find a replacement for Ribéry.

After Gazprom acquired Zenit, they would start injecting funds in mid-2006.

By then, trying to poach players from Zenit would be a different level of difficulty and expense.

Moreover, after the investment, Arshavin’s salary and benefits would also increase substantially.

Taking everything into account, now was the most opportune time to move for Arshavin.

£6 million. This also set a new record for the highest transfer fee in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

As for the future, Yang Cheng wasn’t really concerned.

Just like how Lassana Diarra had bluntly told him upon joining that he wanted to move to a bigger club in the future.

Yang Cheng had no problem with that.

In fact, he liked players with ambition, hunger, and desire.

Because they saw their goals and were willing to fight desperately for them!

Just like Arshavin.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, why was there such a huge disparity in his performance during his first two and last two years at Arsenal?

Was his rapid decline in form due to age?

Clearly, that wasn’t the whole story.

Yang Cheng believed the more critical factor was hunger; he had lost his ambition.

He was getting older, the Russian national team was failing to qualify for major tournaments, Arsenal was fighting for fourth place every year, and then they sold Fàbregas, surrounding him with a group of youngsters who might not even be able to play in the top four leagues…

How was he supposed to lead that team?

All of this made Arshavin feel that Arsenal had lost its ambition.

His own career had completely lost any possibility of further advancement.

With that mentality, perhaps he still wanted to try hard on the training ground and on the pitch, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never go back to his old self.

He might have even grown tired of football from the bottom of his heart.

Examples like this were everywhere among professional players.

This was why Yang Cheng was willing to sell Aaron Lennon, Pascal Chimbonda, and might even sell Ribéry in the future.

Ultimately, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for either the player or the club.

Forcing them to stay, on the other hand, would likely result in a lose-lose situation.

And one day, Yang Cheng would turn Bayswater Chinese into a top European giant that all professional players would flock to, a club they wouldn’t want to leave once they arrived!

…

January 30th was destined to be a busy day.

The day before the transfer window closed, Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal simultaneously announced that England international Aaron Lennon and French international Pascal Chimbonda had successfully joined The Gunners.

This immediately sparked heated discussions throughout the European football world.

The 2006 Winter transfer window was very sluggish, with no major moves in the top four leagues.

So far, Manchester United had made the biggest splash, signing Vidić for £7 million and Evra for £5 million.

These were already considered major moves.

Everyone predicted that Ferguson’s team would stage a comeback against Bayswater Chinese in the second half of the season and chase down Chelsea.

In addition, Liverpool, in a bid to secure a top-four finish, was also increasing their recruitment efforts.

The additions of players like Kromkamp, Daniel Agger, and Fowler all strengthened Liverpool’s squad.

In La Liga, Real Madrid took center stage, spending €13.5 million on Cicinho and Cassano for their Galácticos.

In Serie A, Inter Milan was relatively active, bringing in several quality players, including Lazio midfielder César and Ajax left-back Maxwell.

Under these circumstances, Arsenal’s sudden move to sign Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda from Bayswater Chinese for £35 million sent shockwaves through European football.

Both transfers were staggering.

Aaron Lennon was a homegrown international, but he was only eighteen. Could he really be worth £20 million?

Pascal Chimbonda had joined Bayswater Chinese from Bastia for just £500,000 six months ago, and now he was being sold for £15 million?

Making money couldn’t be that easy, could it?

How else could one describe Arsenal but as incredibly wealthy?

The most regretful party was Bastia in the French Second Division.

Why hadn’t they included a sell-on clause?

The heartache…

After selling their two key players to Arsenal, Bayswater Chineseannounced the club’s first transfer on the afternoon of the 30th, signing Andrei Arshavin from Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg for £6 million.

But after the transfer was announced, no one knew who Arshavin was!

The only thing known was that he had played for Zenit in this season’s UEFA Cup, so he was cup-tied.

Then, on the morning of the 31st, Bayswater Chinese made another official announcement: they had signed Brazilian right-back Maicon, nicknamed “Little-Little Cafu,” from Ligue 1’s Monaco for a transfer fee of £4 million.

Why “Little-Little Cafu”?

Because Cicinho, who had been signed by Real Madrid, was nicknamed “Little Cafu.”

Maicon wasn’t considered as good as Cicinho, hence “Little-Little Cafu.”

Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport even revealed that Maicon was originally a player Inter Milan wanted to sign. They had already entered into substantive talks with Monaco, and the two sides had even agreed on a formal transfer in June.

“At the final moment, Bayswater Chinese from the Premier League swooped in, waving their pound sterling, and snatched the Brazilian player.”

But there was one major obstacle for Maicon to land in the Premier League.

A work permit.

…

Maicon hadn’t even arrived in London, let alone had his medical, but things were already in full swing at Bayswater Chinese.

The match schedule was pressing and waited for no one.

Although neither Maicon nor Arshavin could play in the UEFA Cup, they were still very much needed for the Premier League.

The two players’ situations were different.

Although Arshavin had rarely played for the national team before 2004, he had appeared in every match since then.

So, his work permit was not an issue.

Maicon’s situation was more complicated.

He was selected for the Brazilian national team in the summer of 2003 and played in every Gold Cup match.

But that was only because established European stars like Cafu hadn’t returned to play for their country.

After the Gold Cup, Maicon was once again left out of the national team.

During that period, besides Cafu, Juliano Belletti was also performing impressively in Europe.

For the 2004 Copa América, the Brazilian team was once again primarily composed of domestic players, so neither Cafu nor Belletti participated. Maicon became an undisputed starter and helped Brazil win the championship.

It was because of his performance in this Copa América that Maicon joined Monaco from Cruzeiro for €3 million.

After the Copa América, the situation returned to where it had been.

Cafu was still going strong, and a new Cafu, Cicinho, had emerged in Brazil.

In the 2005 Confederations Cup, Brazil’s two right-backs were Cicinho and Maicon.

Without a doubt, Cicinho was the starter, and Maicon was again a substitute, making only two appearances.

Since joining Monaco in 2004, Maicon had played under Didier Deschamps.

In the 2005/06 season, Deschamps was sacked due to poor results, and renowned Serie A manager Guido Guidolin took over the team on October 4th.

Both coaches were a great help to Maicon.

They not only molded him into a full-back with European tactical awareness but also significantly improved his physical attributes, leading to a huge leap in his overall ability.

He could not only run up and down the right flank but could also fill in at centre-back.

But since the 2005 Confederations Cup, Maicon had not been called up to the national team again.

What bad luck to be stuck with Cafu, right?

Looking at Maicon’s national team career to date, he had always been in Cafu’s shadow.

First, it was Cafu and Belletti, then Cafu and Cicinho.

Whenever Cafu was unable to play for the national team, Maicon would be selected.

…

“Let’s try to build our case from this angle.”

Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier, who had just returned to London from Monaco, and instructed him.

“If it were any other country, there would be nothing to argue about, but we’re talking about Brazil, and Maicon has already proven his ability in Ligue 1.”

“Anyone who has to compete with Cafu is doomed.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They were talking about Cafu, one of the greatest legendary right-backs in history.

Even an aging Cafu was not someone who could be easily replaced.

In Brazil, there were countless examples like this.

Therefore, when discussing work permits in the UK, Brazil was a very special case.

“Based on the evidence and information we currently have, the work permit definitely won’t be a problem. The trouble now is…”

Adam Crozier looked at Yang Cheng, looking somewhat troubled.

Yang Cheng, of course, knew this matter wasn’t easy to handle.

“Don’t use the Special Talent Clause unless it’s absolutely necessary. I have other plans for that opportunity.”

Yang Cheng’s idea was to play the Brazil card.

Being unable to get into the Brazilian national team under Cafu’s shadow was no disgrace!

Coupled with his performances in Ligue 1 and the fact that Inter Milan had taken an interest, what more proof was needed?

“It’s alright, you do your best to handle it. I’ll find some time to meet with Geoff Thompson.”

Yang Cheng had a pretty good relationship with The FA Chairman.

Although he was set to retire in 2007, he later took on important roles at UEFA and FIFA, so his influence was still quite significant.

“And Brian Barwick. I’ll have a chat with him,” Adam Crozier said.

The FA had been in quite a mess these past few years.

After David Davis’s transitional period, Brian Barwick, who had done well at ITV, took over as the head of The FA.

Adam Crozier had a decent relationship with him.

“If possible, sound him out about Wembley Stadium too. Brian Barwick has been raising money everywhere recently, so he should be interested,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

After Adam Crozier took over the team, he repackaged and promoted Bayswater Chinese’s image. Combined with the team’s impressive results and affordable ticket prices, attendance had remained consistently high.

Loftus Road Stadium could no longer meet the team’s needs.

But there were no larger stadiums nearby.

Rent from Chelsea?

Yang Cheng couldn’t bring himself to do that.

So, in the end, Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier both set their sights on the yet-to-be-completed Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had previously made a special trip to inspect the Wembley construction site.

The stadium’s roof was complete, and the heating and drainage systems were finished, ready for the turf to be laid at any time. All that remained was some of the exterior facade, the hardening of the grounds outside the stadium, and the interior decoration and facilities.

According to The FA’s original plan, this season’s FA Cup Final was supposed to be held at Wembley Stadium.

But not long ago, Wembley’s construction company announced that the project would not be completed on schedule.

The specific reason was funding issues.

As early as August 2005, the construction company had announced a full-year loss of £26.1 million, citing rising costs.

The company requested an additional payment from The FA to cover the increased costs, but The FA refused, in turn accusing the company of deliberately delaying the project.

Both sides were constantly making statements to the media, engaging in a back-and-forth battle.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the final resolution to this matter was that The FA paid the construction company a sum of £36 million.

As a result, the payment was made at the end of October 2006, and the stadium was completed, approved, and put into use by March 2007.

But right now, The FA was scrambling to raise money to fill this gap.

Yang Cheng was no fool; of course, he wasn’t going to help The FA pay such a large sum.

His idea was for Bayswater Chinese to pre-pay rent to lease partial usage rights to Wembley Stadium for the next few years.

It was partial because Wembley had to host England national team matches, some FA finals, as well as some commercial activities and concerts outside of football.

“You can try to negotiate a rent of £5 million a year and see if you can pull it off,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Adam Crozier squinted, mentally calculating. “Including all the stadium maintenance costs?”

“Of course. Otherwise, when they host the League Cup final, the FA Cup final, various promotion and relegation playoffs, and England national team matches, how would we ever calculate it clearly?”

The venue would be used jointly, so it was more appropriate to handle the maintenance together.

“That might be a bit difficult. A large stadium like this has an annual maintenance cost of several million pounds.”

Before Yang Cheng could speak, Adam Crozier changed the subject and also started to laugh.

“But even if they let it sit idle, they’ll still have to spend a lot of money on maintenance. We’re helping them generate income.”

Yang Cheng burst out laughing. “Right, right.”

Sitting to the side, Xia Qing listened and rolled her eyes.

She really wanted to pull open the office door and let the employees outside see this. It was like two old foxes plotting in secret.

However, when Yang Cheng looked over at her, Xia Qing gave a slight nod.

“We should solve their funding gap in one go. It’ll be easier to press for a lower price. It should be possible. I’ll scrape together £20 million on my end.”

Renting for four years at once wasn’t bad.

Yang Cheng thought about it himself; the timing wasn’t long enough.

“£30 million, for a 6-year lease.”

From the current outlook, the Brent training ground wouldn’t be operational until the summer of 2007 at the earliest.

And that wasn’t even considering whether there would be enough funds to start the project.

Even if there were, they would still have to demolish the original Unfinished building, and then find people to design and plan it. All in all, it would be impossible to complete the construction in less than five or six years.

Besides, the timeframe Yang Cheng had in mind for taking out a loan was 2009.

Xia Qing looked a little troubled, her brow furrowed. After considering it, she nodded and said, “I’ll figure something out.”

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier looked at each other in surprise.

She really could get it!

“Our club has that much liquid capital right now?” Adam Crozier was very surprised.

Bayswater Chinese was so rich, and he, the CEO, had no idea.

How incredible!

“Over the past two years, we’ve sold quite a few players, like Jon Stead and Joe Hart. The payments for these players have been coming in gradually over the last year or two, and our finance department has been constantly chasing those clubs for the money.”

Xia Qing’s expression seemed to ask: You don’t actually think I, the Chief Financial Officer, do nothing but sit around and count money, do you?

“Now, the down payment for the two transfers from Arsenal has arrived. Combined with the Premier League broadcasting fees, scraping together £30 million should be no problem.”

The Premier League broadcasting fees weren’t paid in one lump sum at the end of the season either. They were paid in installments during the season, with a final settlement after the season to make up the difference.

That was why many teams relied on this broadcast money to buy players during the summer transfer window before the season started.

Yang Cheng immediately broke into a smile.

It seemed he had really picked the right steward back then.

No matter what he wanted to do, Xia Qing could always raise the money to support him. She was truly his strongest backer!

“When you’re negotiating, there will be many specific details. You handle them, try to focus on the big picture and let the small things go,” Yang Cheng instructed Adam Crozier for the upcoming negotiation.

If they could lease Wembley Stadium for £5 million, it would indeed be a fantastic deal.

If nothing else, the cross-promotional marketing and piggybacking off the popularity and buzz of the England national team would be worth it.

After all, Queens Park Rangers had rented their stadium to Bayswater Chinese for two years now, and Bayswater Chinese’s home games were sold out every time.

And Queens Park Rangers?

They were lucky to get 10,000 spectators, with attendance lower than before.

In their words, Bayswater Chinese had sucked them dry.

As for other expenses, like stadium security, those weren’t insignificant either.

Yes, that’s right. For every football match in England, you had to pay the police department to maintain security on-site.

And the rates varied from city to city.

In London, a football match lasts for about six hours from start to finish.

A Chief Inspector-level officer costs £61 per hour, Inspectors and Sergeants cost £56, and police constables cost £46. An officer with a police dog costs £66.

The mounted police on horseback looked the coolest, but they were also more expensive, at £75.

When you add it all up, the annual security costs paid to the police department amounted to several hundred thousand pounds.

Of course, the situation varied by location, and some cities even offered subsidies.

For example, the police in Lancashire charged very little, only £7,700 per match.

But in a place like London, it was impossible for it to be cheap.

Compared to stadium rent and maintenance fees, the police security fees and other expenses were minor expenditures.

For a Premier League team, these were somewhat negligible.

…

Both Arshavin and Maicon arrived in London on the afternoon of the 31st and checked into the Royal Lancaster Hotel, which the club had arranged for them.

Although there was a Premier League match that evening, Matchday 24, at home against Everton, Yang Cheng still found time to meet with the two players separately.

Yang Cheng welcomed and encouraged both players and invited them to watch the match at Loftus Road Stadium that night.

The next morning, the club would arrange for staff to accompany them to a partner hospital for a detailed medical examination.

Yang Cheng also made a point to reassure Maicon, telling him that the work permit would not be a problem.

As for Arshavin, Yang Cheng didn’t speak Russian, but he spoke with him for a long time through a translator.

Genius players like him always had particularly delicate and sensitive minds, so the first impression and the content of their conversation were crucial.

Naturally, Yang Cheng took extra care.

He told Arshavin to prepare himself in advance; as soon as his playing eligibility came through, he could be on the pitch at any time.

Both Arshavin and Maicon were full of anticipation and excitement for their upcoming journey in the Premier League.

After all, Bayswater Chinese was currently ranked second in the Premier League.

It wasn’t just them who couldn’t play; Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda, who had transferred to Arsenal, also couldn’t participate in Arsenal’s home game against West Ham United.

The reason was that the match paperwork had not yet been processed.

This made Wenger furious, and he once again spewed a mouthful of criticism at The FA.

…

The 24th round of the Premier League was destined to be a Waterloo for the top teams.

After the grueling Christmas schedule, another packed January followed.

By the 31st, all the teams were physically and mentally exhausted.

Manchester United lost 4-3 away to Blackburn Rovers.

This was the debut for their two strong winter transfer window signings, Vidić and Evra.

In the end, they conceded four goals to Blackburn.

Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 away to Fulham.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Aston Villa.

Arsenal had the worst of it, losing 3-2 to West Ham United at Highbury.

Wenger was furious after the match, extremely dissatisfied with the result.

Because after losing this game, The Gunners’ ranking dropped back to eighth in the league.

Liverpool didn’t have much luck either.

Despite Birmingham City receiving a red card in the 28th minute, the final result was a 1-1 draw.

In the 88th minute, Xabi Alonso “helped” Birmingham score against Liverpool’s goal.

Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, faced stubborn resistance from David Moyes’ Everton.

The two sides fought hard for 45 minutes, and the score remained 0-0.

Just in stoppage time of the first half, after receiving a back pass from a teammate, Neuer launched a long ball towards the front field.

Lambert won the flick-on.

Ribéry made a high-speed diagonal run behind the defense, controlled the ball, broke into the penalty area, and scored with a shot from in front of the six-yard box.

1-0!

This was also the only goal of the match.

Bayswater Chinese took all three points at home.

…

Four days later, Premier League Matchday 25.

Arsenal finally had something to cheer about, winning 2-0 away against Birmingham City with goals from Adebayor and Henry.

Manchester United, playing at home, defeated Fulham 4-2, with a brace from C. Ronaldo.

Chelsea, also at home, beat Liverpool 2-0 with goals from Gallas and Crespo.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Allardyce’s Bolton.

Yang Cheng continued to field a depleted squad and lost 1-0 away to Bolton.

After 25 matches, Chelsea led the League table with 60 points.

Mourinho’s team was in a league of their own, and their performance was remarkably consistent.

Bayswater Chinese was in second place in the Premier League with 52 points, from 15 wins, 7 draws, and 3 losses.

Manchester United was in third place with 51 points.

Liverpool followed closely behind with 48 points.

Thanks to the three points from this round, Arsenal climbed to sixth place in the league table, with Tottenham Hotspur still between them and Liverpool.

…

After the 25th round, there was a week-long break.

Yang Cheng first gave the players a holiday to let them rest well.

Then he began to make adjustments with great intensity, focusing on preparing for the upcoming UEFA Cup and the League Cup final.

Soon, Yang Cheng received good news from Adam Crozier.

Arshavin’s work permit had come through before the Bolton match.

But considering his long journey and lack of adaptation to the Premier League, Yang Cheng did not include him in the squad.

Yang Cheng planned to use this week to let Arshavin train well with the team and get familiar with things.

Maicon’s work permit was more troublesome.

But with Yang Cheng’s personal intervention, plus Adam Crozier’s connections within The FA and UK government departments, although there were some minor obstacles, it was successfully processed.

Moreover, they did not use Bayswater Chinese’s Special Talent Clause for 2006.

In team training, Yang Cheng also noticed that Maicon was integrating into the team very quickly.

It could even be described as a seamless transition.

The Brazilian had a strong physique, was very fast, possessed great stamina to run up and down the right flank, and had good technical skills. He was a complete player, adept in both attack and defense.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t represent Bayswater Chinese in the UEFA Cup.

According to Yang Cheng’s plan, since Arshavin and Maicon couldn’t play in the UEFA Cup, Piszczek would be needed at right-back.

Up front, they would have to rely on Ashley Young.

Yang Cheng believed it wouldn’t be a huge problem.

After all, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield could hold its own even against Chelsea.

At least so far, no team had really managed to get the better of them.

Even while Yaya Touré was at the Africa Cup of Nations, Andreassen’s performances had been very stable.

If the midfield was solid, then other problems were manageable.

Another piece of good news was that The FA was very interested in Bayswater Chinese’s proposal to lease Wembley Stadium.

For them, aside from the England national team’s matches, Wembley would only host a few finals and playoff matches each year.

On most days, the stadium would be largely idle.

But idle or not, the turf maintenance still had to be done, right?

The staffing couldn’t be cut either, could it?

And a whole series of other expenses still had to be paid.

Under these circumstances, renting the stadium to Bayswater Chinese and receiving an annual sum was a very attractive proposition for The FA.

At the very least, it could help subsidize the expenses, couldn’t it?

However, The FA would certainly not agree to Yang Cheng’s proposal of £5 million which also included covering the regular maintenance costs.

And so, the former CEO, Adam Crozier, and his team, argued fiercely with the current CEO, Brian Barwick, at The FA headquarters for a week.

Adam Crozier’s negotiation tactics were also very skillful.

He didn’t lay out his bottom line from the start, but rather revealed it slowly, bit by bit.

At the same time, he was probing The FA’s bottom line.

When the time was right, Adam Crozier finally threw out his King bomb on the spot.

Bayswater Chinese would rent Wembley Stadium for 6 years for a total price of £30 million, with a down payment of £15 million.

The remaining £15 million would be paid in three installments during the last three years of the contract.

This was incredibly attractive to the cash-strapped FA at the moment.

You have to remember, that damned Wembley Stadium had been under construction for a full seven years.

It was a protracted affair that had nearly driven English football fans mad with complaints.

Now, just as it was nearing completion, more unforeseen trouble had cropped up.

Bayswater Chinese showing up at this time was simply a godsend.

Geoff Thompson personally met with Yang Cheng, not only helping to sort out Maicon’s work permit but also settling on the payment method.

The down payment would be £20 million, with the remaining £10 million paid in five installments of £2 million per year.

From Geoff Thompson, Yang Cheng learned that The FA had truly scraped the bottom of the barrel and had only managed to raise a little over £10 million.

They really couldn’t squeeze out any more money.

Building such a stadium was so damn difficult!

Since the payment method had changed, Yang Cheng naturally had to voice his own opinions.

He demanded that The FA must press the construction company to have Wembley Stadium officially operational before the start of the 2006/07 season.

“For the new Premier League season, we’re moving into Wembley Stadium!”

Geoff Thompson and Brian Barwick gave their personal promise and had it written into the lease contract.

After both sides had reached an agreement, Yang Cheng took the time to visit the Wembley Stadium construction site with Xia Qing and Adam Crozier for an inspection.

…

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, given the progress at Wembley, if this were in his home country, it would be finished in two months at most.

But in England, they were still hemming and hawing after half a year.

Yang Cheng also made a request to the construction company: they must get the usable spaces inside the stadium ready as soon as possible and hand them over to Bayswater Chinese for renovation and decoration, so they could be used in the new season.

Since they didn’t have ownership, they could only create some temporary commercial facilities.

For example, bars, and food and beverage shops.

This would require another investment of money.

Yang Cheng noticed that Xia Qing had her assistant taking notes on a laptop.

“Honestly, leasing Wembley Stadium is only £5 million, so why spend so much money to build a stadium?” Xia Qing stood beside Yang Cheng and voiced the question on her mind.

“Your question is the same as the logic of buying versus renting a house.”

After making her smile, Yang Cheng continued, “Don’t think that our current contract is a great deal. Just think, The FA is short on money, and we took advantage of them. In six years, when the contract expires, will the rent still be the same?”

This was the same principle as when Arsenal was building their new stadium and Emirates took advantage of their situation.

Who asked you to be short on cash?

Seeing that Xia Qing still didn’t quite understand, Yang Cheng knew what was up.

He certainly couldn’t tell Xia Qing that in his previous life, ten years from now, when Tottenham Hotspur rented Wembley Stadium, the rent was £15 million, a full three times the current rate.

“Actually, there’s a more important reason. The stadium facilities are not ours, so you see, we can only do temporary renovations. We can’t transform this stadium according to our own ideas and needs.”

“If it were up to me, our stadium would have huge bars, dining spaces that could accommodate tens of thousands of people shopping and consuming at the same time, and pubs where fans like to gather before and after the game…”

“Don’t ever underestimate these things. Not counting anything else, just catering alone, if operated properly, could generate revenue of over one million pound sterling per match,” Yang Cheng said with great certainty.

“Over one million pound sterling?”

Not just Xia Qing, even Adam Crozier was taken aback.

Over a million in one match? How many home games were there in a season?

But on second thought, it seemed normal.

Assuming £1 million, with 50,000 fans attending each match, the average spending per person would only be £20.

“And that’s not including the fan shops, bars, VIP boxes, and a whole series of other ancillary revenues.”

“And I’m even giving a conservative estimate. You know, in the United States, the income from an NFL football home game is astonishing. Compared to them, our £1 million in catering revenue per home game is small change.”

“No wonder you said before that in the future, our home stadium should encourage fans to ‘arrive early and leave late’ as much as possible,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

In simple terms, it meant providing all the leisure and entertainment facilities that fans wanted and needed, so they would stay at the stadium for as long as possible.

Not just to watch a ninety-minute match.

“Exactly. That’s why we need a stadium of our own. We want to completely subvert the stadium operating model in European football and create a multi-functional football stadium that integrates leisure, entertainment, and consumption.”

“This is something Wembley Stadium can never give us.”

Why did Yang Cheng never consider competing with West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur for the 2012 Olympic Stadium?

Because in his previous life, West Ham only got the usage rights for football matches.

If that stadium were used for concerts, baseball games, or other major events and exhibitions, it would have nothing to do with West Ham United.

The Hammers had no power to make any alterations to the stadium.

To put it simply, winning the rights to that stadium, apart from boosting matchday ticket revenue, was basically useless.

How was that any different from the clubs in Serie A?

The situation with Wembley Stadium was the same now.

In the short term, renting was definitely more cost-effective.

But if you looked at the long term, you still had to build your own.

What’s more, Yang Cheng’s plot of land was in the prime real estate of Hyde Park!

Not building?

Yang Cheng would be a fool!

…

After inspecting Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng left the renovation plans to Adam Crozier and Chris Hunt.

Speaking of which, Chris Hunt now held great power and was deeply trusted by Yang Cheng.

After a week of rest, the Premier League once again ignited with action.

The upcoming period would be another gruelling schedule for Bayswater Chinese.

On February 11th, they would play Liverpool at home, and on the 15th, they would travel to Switzerland to play against FC Basel.

On the 19th, they would face Tottenham Hotspur away, and on the 23rd, they would host FC Basel.

Next up, both the League Cup final and the 28th round of the Premier League were against Manchester United.

One match would be at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and the league match would be at home.

In other words, during this period, every single match for Bayswater Chinese was crucial, with no room for error.

Yang Cheng told his players that the upcoming schedule would determine the team’s success for the entire season.

Three competitions were intertwined, and he didn’t want to give up on any of them.

“Just like it says in our team anthem.”

The song, released since Christmas, had quickly become a favorite among the players and fans of Bayswater Chinese.

Especially Adele.

At every home game, she would appear at the stadium to sing.

She was not only loved by Bayswater Chinese fans but had also been widely reported on by the British media.

Just as Yang Cheng had said before, anyone who heard her sing would be mesmerized by her ethereal and powerful voice.

“We will shine a light in the dark!”

“Never give up! Never back down! For the rest of our lives! We’ll never stop fighting!”

Finally, Yang Cheng clenched his fist tightly.

“I firmly believe that we have the strength to achieve our goals and fulfill our aspirations!”

His confidence and fighting spirit infected every single player of Bayswater Chinese.

Chapter 92: C. Ronaldo Has Transformed! Liverpool are mine for the taking tonight!

At noon on February 11th, at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

In the 26th round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese were hosting Liverpool.

A black suit, a white shirt, neatly styled hair, and leather shoes polished to a brilliant shine.

This had already become Yang Cheng’s signature look.

In just over half a year, football fans around the world had come to know of a 26-year-old genius coach in the Premier League.

And crucially, he was also very handsome!

Yang Cheng didn’t deliberately dress himself up.

From FIFA to UEFA to The FA, the dress code for head coaches required them to attend in formal wear.

At the very least, they had to be appropriately dressed.

His attire was simply the standard.

Most importantly, he was used to dressing this way and found it comfortable.

Every time he stood on the touchline, he had no mind to pay attention to his own clothes.

His thoughts were entirely consumed by the upcoming match.

Benítez’s Liverpool had always had one problem: their attack.

He took over the team in 2004, the same year Michael Owen moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid.

In the 2004/05 season, Liverpool scored fifty-two goals in the Premier League, tying for fifth place.

Digging deeper, not a single Liverpool player managed to reach double digits in goalscoring in the league.

For a team in the top four, this was truly absurd.

For comparison, Manchester United’s top scorer, Van Nistelrooy, was frequently injured during the 2004/05 season and performed poorly, scoring only six league goals.

But Ferguson’s new signing, Rooney, scored eleven goals.

Manchester United’s season goal tally was fifty-eight.

Consequently, the two teams finished third and fifth, respectively.

In fourth place was David Moyes’ Everton.

This season, Liverpool seemed to have learned their lesson and began signing forwards.

They signed Crouch in the summer and veteran Fowler during the winter transfer window.

But the Reds’ attack still showed no signs of improvement.

So far this season, after twenty-five rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool had scored just twenty-nine goals.

This goal tally ranked fourteenth among the twenty Premier League teams.

It was even two goals fewer than seventeenth-placed Middlesbrough.

And in their last four matches, Liverpool had only scored two goals.

Benítez defended his team, arguing that their opponents in the last four rounds had been very strong.

A home game against Tottenham Hotspur, an away game against Manchester United, an away game against Chelsea…

But he dared not mention the 24th-round home game against Birmingham City.

Despite their opponents receiving a red card in the 28th minute, Liverpool managed to score only one goal.

Even more ridiculously, they were eventually held to a draw by a ten-man Birmingham.

Yang Cheng had always firmly believed that one should not listen to what the opponent says, but watch what they do.

In these recent matches, Benítez had tried almost every possible combination of forwards.

Crouch, Cissé, Morientes, Fowler…

He constantly assembled different forward pairings.

But nothing worked.

Speaking of which, Yang Cheng rather admired Gerrard.

As soon as Owen decided to leave Real Madrid, Gerrard had been constantly calling for his return.

During the winter transfer window, when the team was struggling to score, Gerrard once again mentioned Owen, who was at Newcastle.

“I have a very good relationship with Owen. I know what he’s thinking. As long as the club is willing, he can return to Anfield at any time.”

“We need Owen!”

“Crouch needs a prolific scorer alongside him, and there’s no one more suitable than Owen!”

Gerrard had really hit the nail on the head.

No matter how Benítez adjusted the forward line, he couldn’t change one cruel fact.

In the current Liverpool squad, only Crouch was a decent option.

But the question was, where should Liverpool utilize Crouch’s height advantage?

Inside the penalty area?

Or should he drop back and take on more tactical responsibilities?

Have him drop back?

Fine, but who would be tasked with scoring goals?

Have him push up?

Then how would Liverpool get the ball to his feet?

For this match against the Bayswater Chinese, Benítez did not field his signature 4-2-3-1 formation, but opted for a 4-4-2.

Goalkeeper: Reina;

Defense: Warnock, Hyypiä, Carragher, and Finnan;

Midfield: Gerrard, Hamann, Xabi Alonso, and Kromkamp;

Forwards: Crouch and Fowler.

Clearly, this was not very Benítez-like at all!

Especially on the flanks, playing right-back Kromkamp as a right midfielder was a move born of desperation.

Yang Cheng stuck with his 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Maicon;

Midfield: Andreassen in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin, Lambert, and Ribéry.

This was the first appearance for the two new winter signings, Maicon and Arshavin.

Yaya Touré had performed brilliantly in the Africa Cup of Nations, helping Côte d’Ivoire reach the final.

Unfortunately, they lost to Egypt in the final and failed to win the trophy.

He had arrived in London on the morning of the 11th.

Yang Cheng didn’t include him in the squad, letting him get some much-needed rest.

At this moment, the Ivorian was sitting in the stands.

…

Playing at home against a Liverpool side struggling for goals, Yang Cheng had no intention of being conservative.

But Liverpool were very wary of the Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

After the home team kicked off, Liverpool immediately pressed forward.

This was a hallmark of Benítez’s tactics.

But a long pass from Andreassen from the backfield sent the ball into the attacking third.

Lambert used his body to shield the ball from Hyypiä, controlled it with his chest, and passed it to Arshavin on the left.

This earned Lambert applause from Yang Cheng on the touchline.

As a product of Liverpool’s own youth academy, Lambert was always fired up when playing against them.

The reason Džeko wasn’t chosen for this match was due to the physical aspect of the game.

If it had been Džeko just now, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hold off Hyypiä.

Their first attack didn’t come to anything.

But soon, the Bayswater Chinese organized another attack.

In the 2nd minute, when Lambert once again switched the play to the left channel, everyone was surprised to find Ribéry on that side, and he even pulled off a beautiful combination with Arshavin in the half-space.

Arshavin played a through ball down the left channel, and Ribéry broke past Finnan on the left before whipping a cross into the box.

Lambert was a step too slow to get on the end of it.

The ball was intercepted by Reina.

But the stadium still erupted in warm applause from the fans.

Just a minute later, it was Ribéry and Arshavin again, combining on the left side just outside Liverpool’s penalty area.

Ribéry dribbled in from the wing, and Arshavin ran over to support, receiving Ribéry’s pass and flicking it over the Liverpool defense with his right foot in one motion.

Ribéry burst into the left side of the penalty area and crossed.

At the crucial moment, Carragher got ahead of Lambert and cleared the ball away.

Less than four minutes into the game, two threatening attacks had both been launched from the left flank.

The tempo of the match was pulled up to a very high pace.

Liverpool’s defense was extremely cautious, afraid of making any mistakes.

They were especially on high alert whenever Ribéry, Arshavin, and Modrić were together.

But in the 7th minute, Maicon received a pass from a teammate on the right, and from deep inside his own half, he surged forward along the right touchline. After crossing into Liverpool’s half, he cut inside diagonally and laid the ball off to Ribéry.

The Frenchman, who had been on the left earlier, was now on the right. He controlled the ball, beat Warnock, and burst into the right side of the penalty area. Using his speed, he powered past Hyypiä and sent a low cross across the face of the goal from the byline.

Incredibly, at the vital moment, Lambert skied his shot!

“I hate to say it, but he just can’t deliver when it counts!” Yang Cheng pointed at Lambert on the field and cursed with a laugh.

Brian Kidd and the others all roared with laughter.

Although the match had only been going for a few minutes, everything was proceeding as the coaching staff had expected.

Even with only a few minutes played, the Bayswater Chinese had successfully seized the initiative.

Moreover, judging from their link-up play, Arshavin’s performance was excellent.

He was a player who could execute quick, short-passing combinations with Ribéry and Modrić.

This was a testament to his ability and awareness.

Most importantly, like Ribéry, he was two-footed.

This meant that Yang Cheng’s previous idea of swapping the left and right wingers could now be tested.

And then there was Maicon. His forward run down the right flank just now, especially the way he evaded Gerrard’s defense and cut inside after entering Liverpool’s half, had the distinct flavor of a Brazilian full-back.

There was a general consensus in European football.

There were two types of full-backs: Brazilian full-backs, and everyone else.

And the most obvious contribution of a Brazilian full-back was their overlapping runs in attack.

Before signing Maicon, Yang Cheng had discussed Sevilla’s Dani Alves with Brian Kidd.

Brian Kidd’s assessment at the time was that his technique was excellent, but his physique was probably not suited for the Premier League.

Moreover, Brazilian players had always had a difficult time in the Premier League.

Maicon was different. His physical attributes and defensive awareness were clearly superior.

…

Although Liverpool’s attack was weak, Benítez’s ability to organize a defense was still very strong.

He had clearly anticipated that Yang Cheng would go on the offensive.

Therefore, Liverpool started the game very cautiously.

After an initial flurry of attacks, the Bayswater Chinese failed to achieve the desired result but still maintained a high tempo.

This was Yang Cheng’s game plan.

The Bayswater Chinese were technically superior to Liverpool. By keeping the pace high, the home team could still maintain their fluid passing combinations, but Liverpool could not.

More importantly, Yang Cheng had specifically instructed Modrić and Lassana Diarra to mark Xabi Alonso.

At this stage, Xabi Alonso was the most underrated player in the Liverpool squad.

To what extent was he underrated?

Even his own head coach, Benítez, didn’t think Xabi Alonso was particularly important.

That was why he allowed him to transfer to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009.

This sort of thing was quite common.

For example, players like Carrick and Busquets were often looked down upon by many fans, even their own.

But Yang Cheng’s instructions to Modrić and Lassana Diarra were that at all times, one of them had to be near Xabi Alonso.

The moment the Spanish midfielder received the ball, they had to close him down and stick to him.

Because Xabi Alonso was Liverpool’s primary outlet when they won possession.

With Xabi Alonso neutralized, Liverpool’s midfield passing became fraught with errors.

In the first twenty-five minutes of the match, they didn’t even manage a single shot on goal.

And then, in the 26th minute, Maicon carried the ball past the halfway line on the right and played a square pass to Andreassen.

The Danish midfielder then passed to Leighton Baines on the left wing.

Baines then played a diagonal ball to Modrić in the half-space.

The Croatian midfielder faced the left touchline, using his body to shield the ball from Xabi Alonso. He controlled the ball with one touch, and with the next, he poked a through ball with the outside of his right foot.

The ball zipped precisely between Finnan and Carragher.

A red-shirted Arshavin was seen making a late run from deep, catching up to Modrić’s pass on the left side of the penalty area.

Facing Hyypiä, who had come over to provide cover in time, Arshavin slowed down and paused for a moment.

This move deceived Hyypiä.

Ribéry was more likely to pass in such situations.

So Hyypiä instinctively assumed that Arshavin’s pause was to set up a pass to the center or the right.

But to his surprise, after the slight hesitation, the Russian didn’t bother with pleasantries. He immediately swung his right foot and shot.

The ball flew over Reina’s head and nestled into the Liverpool net.

“GOAL!!!”

“My word!”

“In the 26th minute of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese take the lead!”

“It’s from their new winter signing, the Russian player Andrei Arshavin!”

“Modrić’s through ball was perfectly timed, and Arshavin’s finish after receiving it was simply breathtaking!”

“What a beautiful piece of combination play!”

Yang Cheng leaped into the air on the touchline, ecstatic.

He truly hadn’t expected Arshavin to score on his debut!

Could it be that Liverpool’s goal was just laid out for him?

The entire stadium was cheering.

This was against Liverpool!

One of the Premier League’s Big Four!

Since when had the Bayswater Chinese become so dominant that a Big Four-level team couldn’t even get a shot off?

Amidst his excitement, Yang Cheng was also delighted.

This was exactly the result he wanted to achieve.

Both Arshavin and Ribéry possessed sharp dribbling skills and delicate footwork.

But they were different.

Ribéry preferred to control the ball and pass, whereas Arshavin was an attacker at heart.

This tactic of having the wingers switch sides would give defenders a massive headache.

“Liverpool are ours for the taking tonight!”

“I guarantee it!”

…

With Xabi Alonso neutralized and the flanks unable to break through, Liverpool’s attack faced a very grave problem.

How were they going to get the ball to their forwards?

Gerrard was a right-footed player playing on the left, and Kromkamp was clearly not a very attack-minded presence on the right wing.

Were they supposed to rely on Hamann in midfield?

In this situation, Liverpool had only one option: long balls.

Crouch was like a busy little bee, constantly running everywhere.

The poor, lanky English beanpole, at 2.01 meters tall, was running himself ragged, chasing down aerial balls all over the pitch.

In the 36th minute, after another back pass, centre-back Carragher launched a long ball forward for Crouch.

But Crouch was simply too tired.

Škrtel got there first, heading the ball down directly to a back-tracking Lassana Diarra.

After controlling the ball with his chest, the French midfielder even showed off a bit of skill, juggling it two or three times while spinning around.

Only when Hamann approached did he pass the ball to Maicon.

When Škrtel had gone up for the header, Maicon had instinctively tucked inside to cover the space behind the right centre-back.

This was a very Italian move.

It was something Monaco head coach Guido Guidolin had taught him.

But upon seeing Škrtel head the ball to Lassana Diarra, he decisively sprinted straight forward through the half-space.

As he passed Škrtel, he didn’t forget to give him a signal.

The two couldn’t yet communicate verbally, but on a football pitch, many things were understood implicitly.

Just as Lassana Diarra finished showing off and was facing Hamann, Maicon charged up beside the Frenchman.

“Here! Here!”

Maicon had spent a year and a half in Ligue 1, so he knew some simple French.

Lassana Diarra, terrified of losing the ball and a two-hundred-pound sterling fine, quickly passed the ball into Maicon’s running path.

Maicon could be seen streaking past like a whirlwind. After catching up to the ball, he took long strides forward.

Hamann turned to track back, doggedly pursuing him.

On the right flank, Ribéry didn’t move towards the ball but ran forward with Maicon, drawing Warnock’s attention.

Gerrard was behind Ribéry, also tracking back.

The Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack immediately accelerated.

Lambert stuck close to Carragher as he ran, while Hyypiä was face-to-face with Maicon.

Upon entering Liverpool’s final third, Hyypiä refused to retreat any further.

Hamann was also closing in, and the two were poised to trap him.

Moreover, Hyypiä was very experienced; he positioned himself slightly towards Warnock’s side.

If he didn’t, Maicon could simply knock the ball past him and Warnock and use his momentum to run onto it.

Hyypiä had no answer for that.

But with the Finn’s repositioning, Maicon was out of options.

Hamann was blocking the inside, so even if Maicon wanted to go through the middle, it wouldn’t work.

Just as the two were about to successfully spring their trap, Lambert suddenly peeled away from Carragher, took a step back, and raised his hand for the ball.

This step gave Maicon a passing lane.

The Brazilian quickly played a square pass, breaking free from Hamann and Hyypiä’s pincer move.

The moment Lambert controlled the ball, only Carragher stood before him.

Hyypiä no longer cared about Maicon; he immediately ran to Carragher’s side to prevent Lambert from creating a shooting angle.

Hamann also charged towards Lambert at once.

These were the instincts of defenders.

At this moment, everyone’s attention was on Lambert and on Arshavin, who was running over from the left to provide support.

But just then, Maicon suddenly ran into the gap between Hyypiä and Warnock, to the right of the arc at the top of the penalty area.

“Here! Here!” Maicon shouted, using the English words he had just learned.

Lambert, facing Carragher, was hesitating whether to shoot when he heard Maicon’s unfamiliar shout.

The gesture of raising his hand for the ball was also easy to understand.

Lambert slotted a diagonal pass that went right between Hyypiä and Hamann.

Maicon, wary of being offside, restrained his urge to burst forward. As soon as the ball arrived, he took a touch with his right foot, and his whole body surged past the Liverpool defensive line, darting forward in a single motion.

He had beaten the offside trap!

As Maicon caught up to his own touch to the right of the penalty spot, goalkeeper Reina had just charged out to the edge of the six-yard box.

The Brazilian didn’t hesitate for a second. Upon reaching the ball, he unleashed a furious shot.

The ball shot into the right side of the goal at high speed.

Although Reina made a diving save, he was a step too slow.

“GOAL!!!!”

“36th minute, the Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“It’s the Brazilian right-back, Maicon!”

“My God, what kind of day is this?”

“Both of the Bayswater Chinese’s goals have come from players who just joined during the winter transfer window.”

“2-0!”

“Maicon scores another goal for the Bayswater Chinese!”

…

On the sideline, Yang Cheng could hardly believe his eyes.

He was stunned for a moment, then burst into a loud cheer, roaring his approval for Maicon’s goal with all his might.

This was completely beyond his expectations.

He never would have thought that both players making their debuts would score.

Even more absurdly, Maicon was a defender.

Wasn’t this just too incredible?

“Am I seeing things? Was that really Maicon?”

Even Brian Kidd suspected his old eyes were playing tricks on him.

But the stadium announcer called out Maicon’s name, and the Brazilian right-back had already excitedly turned and run off the pitch.

Not just Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd, everyone found it hard to believe.

Two players on their debuts, and both had scored.

It was too mind-boggling!

“He’s made several forward runs today, this is just the one that paid off.”

After calming down, Yang Cheng thought about it again and felt it was actually quite normal.

Gerrard was a right-footed player playing on the left, which was inherently awkward for him.

Maicon’s run from the half-space was also timed perfectly, hitting the seam in Liverpool’s defense.

“This kid is even better than Chimbonda!” praised technical coach Danny McGrain.

He had been a right-back during his playing days, and he had a good eye for talent.

Especially for right-backs.

“Of course, I spent four million pound sterling on him!” Yang Cheng was not at all modest.

For both Arshavin and Maicon to score on their debuts was definitely a wonderful story.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Amid the laughter, the looks of admiration in their eyes as they gazed at Yang Cheng grew even stronger.

Chimbonda had only cost five hundred thousand pound sterling, and six months later, he was sold for fifteen million.

A thirty-fold return!

Judging by their performances in this match, Maicon and Arshavin had cost more, but they were also more talented.

After all, not every deal could be a rock-bottom bargain like Chimbonda.

The Bayswater Chinese were now very focused on their immediate strength, especially during the winter transfer window.

Yang Cheng wasn’t stingy with his money; he believed in spending it where it mattered most.

Right now, the team needed players who could make an immediate impact, so he was willing to spend big to sign players like Arshavin and Maicon.

And sure enough, after these two players arrived, they slotted in seamlessly.

Scoring on their debuts—what better start could there be?

…

From the moment the match began, the expression on Benítez’s large, round face had not relaxed once.

He knew his team’s attack was weak, but he never imagined they would be pushed to this extent by the Bayswater Chinese.

Throughout the entire first half, Liverpool had failed to create even a single threatening attack.

Not even one!

This left the Spaniard feeling incredibly frustrated and annoyed.

But he still remained calm and rational.

At halftime, he brought on Harry Kewell for Kromkamp.

He moved Kewell to the left and shifted Gerrard back to his familiar position on the right.

At the same time, he gave his team a clearer division of labor in attack.

Crouch was tasked with winning the first ball, while Fowler roamed around him, looking for shooting opportunities.

In the second half, Liverpool still wanted to try and launch attacks from the wings.

But the master tactician could never have imagined that this very substitution would set the stage for the tragedy that was to unfold in the second half.

Just three minutes after the restart, Arshavin was tackled by Finnan while trying to dribble past him on the left.

In his attempt to counter-press, the Russian knocked the ball out of play.

Finnan quickly took the throw-in, throwing it directly to Hyypiä.

The Finnish centre-back then switched the play to the left, passing to Warnock.

As Warnock carried the ball forward, before Ribéry could close him down, he kicked the ball forward to Kewell.

Under pressure from Maicon, Kewell tried to pass first-time to Xabi Alonso in the center.

But Lassana Diarra was nearby.

The Frenchman took two quick strides forward and launched into a sliding tackle, intercepting the ball just before it reached Xabi Alonso.

Still on the ground, seeing the ball he had tackled away land at the feet of his teammate Maicon on the right wing, Lassana Diarra excitedly shouted, “That’s 800 pounds!”

But at this moment, no one was paying any attention to what the eccentric Lassana Diarra was shouting.

As soon as Maicon got the ball, Kewell and Xabi Alonso converged on him from two sides.

The Brazilian shifted the ball between his feet and dribbled it forward, but he couldn’t shake the two defenders.

Just before the halfway line, he saw Ribéry running into a passing lane in the center and immediately passed to the center circle.

Liverpool’s left-back, Warnock, was extremely aggressive, flying in with a slide tackle low to the ground.

Having played in the Premier League for two or three years, Ribéry was no stranger to such challenges. As he received the ball, he flicked it up and jumped, narrowly avoiding Warnock.

Chasing the ball down, he poked it ahead to Lambert before Hyypiä could get there, while he himself made a diagonal run towards the left channel.

Lambert understood perfectly and sent the ball forward, right into Ribéry’s path.

But this time, the Frenchman didn’t receive it.

Because his run overlapped with Arshavin’s.

The two, playing together in a competitive match for the first time, nearly collided.

For ordinary players, this chance would have been lost.

But Ribéry and Arshavin were no ordinary players.

Ribéry slammed on the brakes.

Arshavin took the ball and dribbled towards the center, using his娴熟控球 to draw Carragher’s attention while also waiting for Ribéry to make another run.

As the Frenchman burst forward again, Arshavin played a through ball.

The whole sequence sounds long, but it all happened within two seconds.

By the time Ribéry charged into the left side of the penalty area and received Arshavin’s pass, the outcome was sealed.

Scarface coolly slotted the ball past Reina and into the Liverpool goal.

3-0!

In an instant, the entire Loftus Road Stadium erupted!

All eighteen thousand-plus fans were wildly chanting Ribéry’s name.

“That was magnificent!”

“The Bayswater Chinese’s quick counter-attack was brilliantly executed.”

“Especially Ribéry!”

“He received the ball on the right side of his own half, made a diagonal run all the way to the left side of the penalty area, and combined with two teammates. It’s truly breathtaking!”

“And Arshavin as well.”

“A newcomer, scoring one and assisting another on his debut. Especially for the third goal, his combination with Ribéry was clearly not well-rehearsed, but there’s a kind of resonance between them that excellent players share!”

“This is their first match playing side-by-side, but they’ve already given us several brilliant combinations!”

“It looks like it will be very difficult for Liverpool to escape unscathed tonight!”

…

At this point in the match, the result was no longer in doubt.

Benítez’s substitution had failed to have an effect and had instead “directed” the Bayswater Chinese’s third goal.

This goal came right after the halftime substitution, dealing a huge blow to Liverpool.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was on the touchline, constantly shouting at his players, urging them to press on and extend their lead.

But while Liverpool’s attack might be lacking, their defense was still solid.

Benítez knew the match was difficult, so he focused on shoring up the defense first to avoid conceding more goals.

In the 63rd minute, Benítez made his second change, bringing on Luis García for Fowler.

At this point, Liverpool reverted to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Gerrard played in the number 10 role, with Kewell, Crouch, and Luis García forming the attacking quartet.

But it was too late to pose a real threat to the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng subsequently substituted Ribéry, Modrić, and other players.

In the final thirty minutes, both sides created a few chances, but none resulted in a goal.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese claimed a resounding 3-0 victory over Liverpool at home!

…

God probably didn’t know what was so special about February 11th.

At 2 PM that day, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Liverpool 3-0 at home.

Second in the Premier League table beating fourth in the Premier League table by three goals at home.

This was definitely big news.

What’s more, the Bayswater Chinese were a newly promoted dark horse!

And one had to consider that they had just sold two key players during the winter transfer window and brought in two new ones.

The most incredible part was that both new signings had scored.

Two new signings, both scoring on their debuts.

It was truly something hard to believe.

But it had happened.

The Bayswater Chinese’s performance in this match was utterly convincing.

Liverpool remained in fourth place, but the most significant impact of this heavy defeat for the Reds was on their morale.

As Benítez said after the match, this game showed them the gap.

At 4 PM, Arsenal hosted Bolton at Highbury.

Ordinarily, this should have been a surefire victory.

But no one could have predicted that Wenger’s team would fail to win against Bolton at home.

Instead, in the 12th minute, a goal from Kevin Nolan put Bolton ahead.

The Gunners only managed to equalize in stoppage time of the second half, with Gilberto Silva scoring from a Fàbregas assist.

1-1, the two teams shook hands on a draw.

As West Ham United had beaten Birmingham City 3-0 at home, they caught up to Arsenal on league points.

This was another surprising development.

Two newly promoted teams: the Bayswater Chinese were second in the Premier League table.

West Ham United were level on points with Arsenal, only behind on goal difference, sitting in seventh.

But the real shock came in the evening.

Chelsea challenged Middlesbrough away from home.

Everyone had seen how stable Mourinho’s team had been this season.

But the Blues stunningly capsized away from home, and in a way that left everyone speechless.

Two minutes in, Dave Kitson opened the scoring for Middlesbrough.

Stewart Downing then added another.

By the time the final whistle blew, everyone was shocked to see the score was 3-0!

Not only had Mourinho’s team lost, but they had conceded three goals without reply.

By the time night fell and Manchester United defeated Portsmouth 3-1 away, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, everyone was already numb.

Because February 11th had simply been a day of too many surprises, too many upsets!

After the 26th round of the Premier League, Chelsea led the table with sixty points.

The Bayswater Chinese were second with fifty-five points from sixteen wins, seven draws, and three losses.

Manchester United were third with fifty-four points.

Liverpool were fourth with forty-eight points.

Further down were Tottenham Hotspur with forty-five points, and Arsenal and West Ham United with forty-one points.

From the current situation, it would be very difficult for the Gunners to break into the top four.

Therefore, the media reported that Wenger’s strategy was a two-pronged approach.

Continue to strive in the Premier League, and give it their all in the Champions League.

…

Midweek brought the first leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

The Bayswater Chinese traveled to Switzerland to face FC Basel.

Gökhan İnler was very active against his old club.

Less than a minute in, he threatened Basel’s goal with a long shot.

But precisely because of this, he lost his usual composure.

In the 15th minute, Leighton Baines took a quick free-kick from the left, delivering a wonderful pass. Ribéry controlled the ball, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and scored with a low shot.

1-0!

And just ten minutes later, it was Ribéry again who drew a foul with a dribble on the left side, just outside the penalty area.

Leighton Baines curled a precise direct free-kick that once again found the back of Basel’s net.

2-0!

The real turning point of the match occurred in the 32nd minute.

Basel’s centre-back Patrick Müller was caught by the referee making a malicious elbowing motion while marking Džeko and was immediately shown a red card.

At that moment, Basel had completely lost any chance of a comeback.

Yang Cheng also brought on young players in the second half to give his starters more rest.

In the end, thanks to a goal and an assist from Leighton Baines, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Basel 2-0 away from home.

The English left-back received a wave of praise.

Many media outlets were even calling for Eriksson to take Leighton Baines to the World Cup in Germany.

With Ashley Cole yet to return from injury, Leighton Baines’s rise provided England with another option.

…

Back in the Premier League, it was time for the 27th round.

The Bayswater Chinese challenged Tottenham Hotspur away.

Thanks to an aggressive start, the team earned a set piece in the attacking third in the 10th minute.

After the free-kick was taken, Škrtel inside the box won the header, flicking it back towards the edge of the penalty area.

After the heartbreak of the Africa Cup of Nations final, Yaya Touré had been resting since returning to England, not even traveling to Switzerland.

This time, he was full of energy. He chested the ball down into the penalty area, followed up with menacing intent, and unleashed a powerful shot that flew past Paul Robinson into the net.

1-0!

But not long after, a mistake in their offside trap gave Defoe a one-on-one opportunity, and he beat Neuer.

1-1!

In the second half, it was Yaya Touré again with a driving run from deep. He played a one-two with Modrić, burst into the center of the penalty area, and scored with a powerful shot, completing his brace.

2-1!

But in the 78th minute, a long pass from Michael Dawson was flicked on by Mido, and Defoe chipped the ball over the onrushing Neuer from behind José Fonte, leveling the score once again.

2-2!

Despite rotation, the constant matches were causing fluctuations in player performance.

In the end, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw.

In this round, Chelsea defeated Portsmouth 2-0 at home.

Liverpool beat Manchester City 1-0 at home.

Manchester United secured a narrow 1-0 victory over West Ham United at home.

Only the unlucky Arsenal lost 1-0 away to Blackburn Rovers.

The stronger teams participating in the Champions League were all playing at home and had also rotated their squads, but they managed to scrape wins.

Only Arsenal faltered away from home after rotating.

To some extent, this reflected the difference in squad depth among the top teams.

…

Midweek, it was the second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

With the League Cup final on the weekend, Yang Cheng rested key players for this match and also gave the team’s young players a chance.

After all, they had won the first leg 2-0 away, and their opponent’s key centre-back, Patrick Müller, was suspended with a red card.

It was highly probable that the Bayswater Chinese would overcome their opponents.

And so it proved.

In the 21st minute of the first half, İnler scored with a late run from deep to give the team the lead.

But in the 56th minute of the second half, Basel equalized.

In the 78th minute, a dribble and cross from Theo Walcott on the right wing found Lambert, who headed home to put them back in front.

2-1!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese won 2-1 at home, defeating Basel 4-1 on aggregate and advancing smoothly to the Round of 16.

After the draw, their opponent in the Round of 16 would be Steaua București of Romania.

…

At 2:00 PM sharp on February 26th.

The League Cup final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium kicked off with a long pass from Manchester United right from the start.

A long ball from Ferdinand in the backfield bypassed the pressing midfielders and forwards, sailed over the halfway line, and dropped just in front of the Bayswater Chinese’s final third.

Saha and Rooney both appeared in this area.

And both were in the center.

In the end, it was Rooney, on the right side (the Bayswater Chinese’s left), who won the first ball. With his back to goal, he cushioned it perfectly with his chest.

He controlled it, turned right, and then laid the ball off to the right half-space.

If time were to freeze at this moment, everyone would notice something very interesting.

In the frame, there were only two Manchester United players, Saha and Rooney.

But for the Bayswater Chinese, besides the three defenders—Škrtel, José Fonte, and Leighton Baines—there were also Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, and Modrić.

This was a characteristic of the Bayswater Chinese.

Their transition speed between attack and defense was incredibly fast!

Where was C. Ronaldo?

The live broadcast camera certainly couldn’t capture him.

But on the sideline, Yang Cheng had been keeping an eye on C. Ronaldo.

He had just tracked back to his own half’s 30-meter area and was now sprinting forward at full speed, having just crossed the halfway line.

Ribéry, playing on the left, was sticking to him like glue, and the two were physically entangled.

Yang Cheng felt a wave of emotion. If this scene were captured by the broadcast, how many fans would reminisce about it in the future?

It was under these circumstances that Rooney chose to pass, distributing the ball to the right half-space.

It was as if he was absolutely certain that C. Ronaldo would be able to catch up to it.

Leighton Baines, who had been marking Rooney from behind, immediately abandoned him and chased diagonally after the ball.

Two seconds, no, maybe just a little over one second.

With lightning speed, C. Ronaldo instantly appeared in the camera frame.

He had left Ribéry far behind, and there was no stopping the Portuguese player who had already built a body of lean muscle.

Fans not watching the match live could never feel that sense of shock.

C. Ronaldo’s speed was pushed to its absolute limit in that instant. He was like a bolt of lightning, streaking across the Cardiff sky with a crackle, stunning everyone.

Even the Manchester United fans were already on their feet in excitement.

In the end, Leighton Baines got there a fraction of a second earlier, but not daring to control it, he kicked the ball out for a throw-in.

A throw-in for Manchester United.

The Bayswater Chinese’s left-back was not tall, but he was by no means slow.

…

“This kid has truly transformed!”

Watching C. Ronaldo sprint all the way back to the vicinity of his own penalty area, Brian Kidd was also taken aback.

If Leighton Baines had hesitated even slightly in his clearance, that would have been a dangerous situation.

And this was just the start of the game.

“He’s still not consistent enough, but he’s already dazzling,” Yang Cheng nodded.

His use of the word “dazzling” to describe the current C. Ronaldo was not a slight in any way.

Because C. Ronaldo had only recently begun this transformation.

And the transformed C. Ronaldo was truly a sight to behold.

Strictly speaking, it was in the match against Bolton on December 31st, where he scored a brace, that C. Ronaldo began to show his true potential.

After several rounds of experimentation, C. Ronaldo had scored a brace in each of his last two matches, signaling a breakout period.

But he still lacked consistency.

The reason for C. Ronaldo’s breakout was that he was no longer obsessed with the showy, tricky style of play from his past. Instead, he was utilizing his keen sense for finding space and exploiting opportunities, combined with his astonishing speed and explosive power.

Years of hard training had given him a physique of finely toned muscle, exceptional stamina, and outstanding box-to-box ability.

He could maintain sprints like the one just now for the entire match.

Neither Fulham nor Portsmouth could handle the transformed C. Ronaldo.

It could be said that this season’s transformation laid the foundation for the man who would become one of the two all-conquering titans of his generation!

But after his transformation, C. Ronaldo also presented Manchester United with a few problems.

For C. Ronaldo to leverage his strengths, he needed space. Therefore, he needed someone up front to absorb the pressure from the defensive line for him.

In that last attack, Saha and Rooney played such a role.

Of the two, Saha was the most suitable, as he had excellent hold-up play.

This was why Van Nistelrooy had been cast aside by Ferguson.

Then there was Rooney.

Rooney was also accustomed to operating in the central areas.

It was one thing when Saha or Van Nistelrooy were there; they could hold up the ball and take the defensive pressure, allowing Rooney to thrive around them.

But C. Ronaldo?

He was now starting to drift into central positions, towards the penalty area, and he also needed someone to absorb defensive pressure for him. This not only made the central area more crowded but also put Rooney in an awkward position.

Just like a moment ago, wasn’t Rooney playing Saha’s role, becoming a supporting act for C. Ronaldo?

The average fan would find it difficult to see the underlying issues. Even during a match, they might only sense something was slightly off.

But the professionals, especially those within Manchester United, were well aware of the situation.

This was why rumors of a conflict between Rooney and C. Ronaldo had emerged.

And this conflict would reach its peak at the 2006 World Cup.

But Ferguson was all too aware of C. Ronaldo’s importance and value.

Rooney was good, but he was already on a different level from the transformed C. Ronaldo.

That was why, after the World Cup, Ferguson fought tooth and nail to keep C. Ronaldo, even at the cost of sacrificing Rooney, forcing him to begin to “swallow his pride”.

This was also why, during those years, many veterans and legends of Manchester United would praise Rooney, saying he saw the bigger picture and was the team’s most important player.

Facing a C. Ronaldo who had scored a brace in each of his last two games and was in scintillating form, Yang Cheng had made thorough preparations for this match.

If they couldn’t stop C. Ronaldo, they could forget about winning this League Cup!

First update of the day, asking for monthly votes!!

Chapter 93: Defending the League Cup! The Greatest Newly Promoted Team in History

What is the most important quality of a top manager?

Tactical acumen?

The ability to select and arrange a team?

The art of touchline management?

The skill of communicating with players?

Perhaps excelling in any one of these areas to an extreme degree could indeed make someone a world-class manager.

But to become a truly top-tier manager, all these are merely the basics.

The most crucial element is, in fact, character!

It is courage and responsibility!

It’s the ability to steadfastly adhere to the path one believes is correct, even in extremely difficult situations with no easy choices.

Things in this world are achieved through action, not simply by choosing.

Take Ferguson, for example.

The conflict between Van Nistelrooy and C. Ronaldo had been simmering for years, but he had always kept it under control.

He understood C. Ronaldo’s personality, knowing the Portuguese’s competitive and ambitious nature, so he deliberately used this dynamic to spur C. Ronaldo’s development.

Over the past few years, C. Ronaldo had trained with an almost paranoid intensity, sculpting his muscular physique.

Ferguson had always watched from the sidelines, a silent observer.

It was only recently that he sidelined Van Nistelrooy and promoted C. Ronaldo.

Everyone thought Ferguson had gone mad!

It was surely the craziest decision in the world!

This was Van Nistelrooy they were talking about!

So far this season, Van Nistelrooy had already scored twenty-two goals, still a world-class centre-forward by any measure!

To just cast aside a player like that midway through the season?

If dropping Roy Keane last year was because the Manchester United captain was aging and past his prime, then dropping Van Nistelrooy now seemed like self-sabotage.

But Ferguson did it anyway!

The moment C. Ronaldo began to show the fearsome potential of his transformation, Ferguson saw the immense talent latent within the Portuguese.

As for the doubts from the outside world?

Did they matter?

Last season, under Yang Cheng’s management, Bayswater Chinese insisted on fighting on two fronts in the League Cup and the Championship, even when the cup run occasionally affected their league results.

This sparked huge controversy and a tide of criticism.

But what was the final result?

Because of their success in the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese underwent a complete transformation, their entire spirit renewed.

Even this season, when facing Premier League teams, Yang Cheng and his players showed no fear, daring to draw their sword.

That was the significance of persisting in the League Cup last season!

But all things are achieved through action.

If C. Ronaldo had failed to develop as Ferguson expected, becoming just a flash in the pan; if Bayswater Chinese hadn’t won the double last season, but instead lost the League Cup final and missed out on promotion…

Then, without a doubt, both Yang Cheng and Ferguson would have been vilified!

But could they shy away from action for fear of being condemned?

When faced with a choice, be it conservative or aggressive, both paths carry risks.

The key is what you do after making the choice, and whether you can see it through!

It was precisely because Yang Cheng and Ferguson were the same kind of person that he understood Ferguson’s choice better than anyone.

Therefore, the focus of his defense in this match was C. Ronaldo.

…

Manchester United deployed a 4-4-2 formation for this match.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Silvestre, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Gary Neville;

Midfield: Park Ji-sung, Ryan Giggs, O’Shea, and C. Ronaldo;

Forwards: Rooney and Saha.

New signing Evra was on the bench.

This was also a clear signal.

Ferguson was still wary of Bayswater Chinese’s wing play, especially from Ribéry and Andrei Arshavin.

Yang Cheng, on his side, stuck with his 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Lassana Diarra and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ribéry, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Yang Cheng was also fielding his strongest lineup.

In comparison, Manchester United’s midfield was at a disadvantage.

Giggs was clearly not suited to playing in the center, and O’Shea, a defender by trade, lacked the running and coverage ability for a midfield role, but his passing was his worst attribute.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was very confident that his team could dominate the midfield.

On the left, Park Ji-sung was also tasked with providing more support to the center.

The key focal point up front was the first ball.

If Saha challenged for the first ball, Rooney would immediately pounce on the second.

Manchester United were still playing a typical 4-4-2. C. Ronaldo was the right midfielder, positioned deeper than a winger, which maximized his ability to make overlapping runs from deep and utilize his blistering pace.

So, strictly speaking, C. Ronaldo often made diagonal runs, cutting in from behind into the penalty area.

The flank was left for Gary Neville’s overlapping runs.

For the Manchester United captain, this was his bread and butter.

It was how he used to play when he linked up with Beckham.

In this match, Yang Cheng made a very targeted adjustment.

Lassana Diarra appeared as the left central midfielder.

The French midfielder’s most important task was to shadow C. Ronaldo.

Just moments ago, during Manchester United’s first attack, Lassana Diarra failed to close down C. Ronaldo in time. Yang Cheng immediately went to the touchline to remind him, telling him not to be so fixated on winning the ball all the time.

“Your assignment! Your assignment!”

Yang Cheng shouted loudly at Lassana Diarra.

“If you lose your man again, I’m docking your wages. One week’s pay for every time!”

Lassana Diarra blinked, his lips a little dry, and stared wide-eyed at his head coach as if to complain, A whole week?

Boss, you might as well just kill me!

Having worked together for two seasons, Yang Cheng was a man of his word. He used a carrot-and-stick approach with Lassana Diarra, which made the French midfielder respect him.

Now that he was being threatened with his most cherished possession—money—Lassana Diarra immediately snapped to attention.

He looked again at the impeccably coiffed C. Ronaldo.

Was that his defensive assignment?

No, that was a pile of pound sterling!

“Our boss told me to mark you out of the game.”

As Lassana Diarra got close to C. Ronaldo, he spoke softly to the Portuguese.

“So, just do me a favor and cooperate. Ninety minutes will fly by.”

After saying this, the French midfielder even grinned, thinking himself quite amiable.

“I’ll be sure to thank you.”

The twenty-one-year-old C. Ronaldo, however, wore a look of prideful coyness, staring at Lassana Diarra as if he were an idiot, and couldn’t be bothered to respond.

…

Soon, as the match resumed, C. Ronaldo gradually dropped his haughty demeanor and began to take the opponent in front of him seriously.

He was confident in his speed.

But Lassana Diarra was quick too.

At the very least, the French midfielder could just about keep up with his pace and rhythm.

This rendered C. Ronaldo’s attempt to shake him off with speed a failure.

But no matter, he had another trick up his sleeve.

Lassana Diarra was only 1.73 meters tall, while C. Ronaldo stood at 1.86 meters, a full thirteen-centimeter difference.

Not to mention, C. Ronaldo had spent years building his physique and was confident in his muscular frame.

Thus, he changed his strategy, attempting to overpower Lassana Diarra physically.

But to his surprise, though his opponent was short, he was incredibly agile.

And the French midfielder’s ability to handle physical contact wasn’t lacking at all.

The two even had a solid collision, and C. Ronaldo failed to gain any advantage.

What frustrated C. Ronaldo the most was that this kid was exceptionally tenacious in defense, clinging to him like glue and using a plethora of sly, minor fouls.

The moment he sensed he couldn’t stop him, he would foul decisively.

Although Gary Neville also pushed forward to join the attack, Lassana Diarra had Leighton Baines behind him for support.

This made Bayswater Chinese’s left-flank defense incredibly tight.

A prime example was in the 11th minute when Manchester United attacked down the right. Gary Neville attempted a diagonal pass into the box for Saha.

Škrtel headed the ball clear.

The ball fell to the right side and was collected first by C. Ronaldo.

Lassana Diarra was right behind the Portuguese, sticking to him like a shadow, preventing him from turning and forcing him continuously towards the sideline.

Finally, with no other option, C. Ronaldo had to turn and kick the ball against Lassana Diarra, deflecting it out of play for a throw-in.

By this point, C. Ronaldo had dismissed any notion of underestimating Lassana Diarra.

From the resulting throw-in, Gary Neville quickly threw the ball back into play, and O’Shea sent a long pass into the penalty area.

Rooney competed for the header with José Fonte.

The Portuguese centre-back headed it clear.

Yaya Touré won the ball and, under pressure from Manchester United players, shielded it before passing it promptly to Modrić.

The Croatian carried the ball forward, initiating a counter-attack.

Manchester United tracked back quickly.

Ribéry received a pass from Modrić, looking to launch a counter-attack down Manchester United’s right flank. But by the time he reached their thirty-meter zone, the Red Devils’ defensive line had already retreated.

Forced to reconsider, Ribéry passed back to Modrić to regroup.

Modrić passed it horizontally to Maicon.

The Brazilian, marked by Park Ji-sung, took a step infield and played a through ball with the outside of his boot.

Andrei Arshavin, on the right side just outside the penalty area, received the ball with his back to goal, but Silvestre behind him gave him no chance to turn.

Maicon made a quick forward run, attempting a crossover play.

But Silvestre, experienced and perceptive, anticipated it and decisively stuck out a leg to trip him, preventing Maicon from receiving the ball.

Andrei Arshavin reacted quickly, immediately shielding the ball with his foot and passing it to Džeko just before Silvestre could make another challenge, though he was tripped by the Manchester United left-back in the process.

The head referee immediately blew his whistle, awarding Bayswater Chinese a free-kick in an attacking position.

Inside the stadium, the Bayswater Chinese fans erupted in cheers.

At this time last year, in this same sixty-six-thousand-seater stadium, they had faced Chelsea.

For that match, Bayswater Chinese had only attracted about ten thousand fans.

But today, fans wearing Bayswater Chinese jerseys occupied nearly half the stands, easily matching the number of Manchester United supporters.

Gianni Vio once again rushed eagerly to the touchline, constantly shouting at his players and making all sorts of gestures and signals.

The television broadcast captured this scene, along with an interesting expression on Ferguson’s face in the adjacent technical area.

Disgust, contempt… mixed with a hint of fear.

Ever since their time in the Championship last season, Bayswater Chinese’s set pieces had been lethal.

“Let’s see this free-kick, it will be taken by Ribéry.”

“He begins his run-up.”

“Chaos in the penalty area!”

“The kick is delivered, landing at the near post.”

“Škrtel gets to it first, flick-on header to the far post.”

“José Fonte with the header!!”

“GOAL!!!”

“1-0!”

“At a crucial moment, Bayswater Chinese’s Portuguese centre-back, José Fonte, finds the net with a header!”

“It’s another goal from a set piece!”

“Set piece attacks have now become a vital offensive weapon for Bayswater Chinese.”

“Manchester United are in a precarious position now.”

“Just twelve minutes into the match, the Red Devils have conceded the first goal.”

…

Watching the opposition score first, Ferguson was furious, stomping his feet in rage.

The Manchester United players began to mount a comeback.

But just two minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Ribéry received the ball in the center of the pitch, shook off O’Shea, but was then confronted by Vidić.

The Serbian centre-back tried to use his body to muscle Ribéry off the ball, but the French winger held his ground against Vidić, dribbling all the way towards the penalty area. Just before entering the box, Vidić slid in and tackled the ball away.

Ribéry went down in the penalty area as a result.

Vidić was terrified, jumping to his feet and vehemently shouting that Ribéry had dived.

He desperately slapped his left arm, indicating that Ribéry had been pulling on it the entire time.

“The slow-motion replay shows that Ribéry was indeed holding onto Vidić’s left arm, which is why he wasn’t pushed away.”

“When Vidić went to ground, Ribéry didn’t have time to let go and naturally fell with him.”

“The head referee, Alan Wiley, did not award a foul and signalled for play to continue.”

“That was a very accurate call.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly on the sideline.

He wasn’t too concerned about the call itself.

The chances of a penalty being awarded in that situation were slim.

After all, Ribéry had been plastered to Vidić’s side.

What interested him more was Vidić himself.

“Have you noticed? Of the two centre-backs, Vidić frequently pushes up into midfield to press.”

Brian Kidd nodded repeatedly. “I’ve seen it. After losing Roy Keane, their midfield defense and interception ability has dropped significantly.”

But this meant Ferdinand had to shift more towards the center.

And Silvestre also had to frequently cover for Vidić.

On the right, Gary Neville often pushed forward to join the attack.

As Yang Cheng thought about this, he became utterly convinced.

As long as they continued to dominate the midfield, neutralize C. Ronaldo, and thwart Manchester United’s attacks, Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacking ability would undoubtedly be Manchester United’s undoing!

…

Ferguson was a top-tier, world-class manager.

When he realized that C. Ronaldo was being shackled by the combined efforts of Lassana Diarra and Leighton Baines, he immediately made an adjustment.

C. Ronaldo started appearing on the left flank, directly facing Maicon.

But Yang Cheng instantly made an irritating change of his own, having Lassana Diarra follow him over to the right.

The game plan was simple: stick to him.

Eventually, the young C. Ronaldo clearly started losing his composure.

In the 40th minute of the first half, after being hassled by Lassana Diarra into losing the ball, he shoved the Frenchman and received a yellow card warning from the referee.

Ferguson, watching from the sidelines, could only shake his head.

“This kid is so damn annoying!” Ferguson cursed angrily.

Sitting beside him, Carlos Queiroz was also speechless but said nothing.

Because just before this match, Ferguson had been musing about whether they could poach Lassana Diarra.

Manchester United’s midfield was desperately short of players at the moment.

Captain Roy Keane had left the team after a falling out with Ferguson, and Scholes was out with an eye injury and had yet to play.

This left Manchester United with no viable options in midfield.

That was why they had fielded the combination of O’Shea and Giggs.

But this created a significant problem with the team’s passing from midfield.

“Actually, if we had signed Carrick during the winter transfer window, things would be much better now,” assistant coach Carlos Queiroz muttered.

Ferguson glanced at his assistant, pursed his lips, but didn’t say much.

How could he not know that Queiroz was complaining?

From a technical and tactical standpoint, Manchester United absolutely had to buy players during the winter transfer window.

Ferguson wanted to buy as well.

But the problem was, he needed money.

Buying players in the winter window, Tottenham Hotspur were asking for an exorbitant price. You want to buy Carrick?

“It’s become very clear this season that whoever controls the midfield gains the advantage.”

Queiroz knew Ferguson didn’t want to discuss it further, but he still wanted to emphasize the importance of the midfield.

“Chelsea’s stability for two consecutive seasons is built on their powerful midfield with Lampard and Makélélé. This season they’ve added Essien. Their midfield is second to none, even in Europe.”

“And I heard they’re looking to strengthen it even further, with their sights set on Ballack.”

“Liverpool’s midfield is also very strong. Gerrard and Xabi Alonso are both exceptional players. Arsenal’s Fàbregas is improving very quickly, and his partnership with Gilberto Silva in midfield is a perfect blend of offense and defense.”

Among the traditional Big Four, Manchester United’s midfield was currently the weakest link.

“The reason Bayswater Chinese has risen so strongly this season, still occupying a top-three spot in the Premier League, is also due to their powerful midfield. Otherwise, with their forward line, they wouldn’t have reached this position.”

Queiroz’s assessment of Bayswater Chinese matched Ferguson’s impression.

The team’s defense was solid, but their attack wasn’t particularly impressive.

Their current top scorer was Ribéry, who had only scored ten goals in the Premier League, while Lambert had scored nine.

But the problem was, everyone knew Lambert was a flat-track bully.

Next on the list was Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian midfielder was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Modrić, Lassana Diarra, and Yaya Touré—Bayswater Chinese’s midfield trio had skill, they had strength; they were arguably on par with Chelsea’s.

But the most ridiculous part was their age; they were young, with astonishing potential.

The oldest, Yaya Touré, was only twenty-two.

Youth meant potential, it meant they were constantly improving.

Not to mention, they had other excellent players on the bench like Gökhan İnler, Andreassen, and Matuidi.

“From what we’ve seen, as long as their midfield remains stable, their performance next season will certainly not be poor,” Queiroz said with conviction.

Looking at the overall Premier League situation, Chelsea’s advantage would be further reduced.

Right now, the big question was whether Arsenal could return to the top four.

If they could, who would be pushed out?

Bayswater Chinese?

Judging by their performance this past season, it seemed unlikely.

But this was only one season.

“Do you think it’s possible to poach Yaya Touré?” Ferguson asked, looking covetously at the Ivorian on the pitch.

You could tell how good a player was just by watching them in a match.

To play like this at twenty-two, that kid would surely be a world-class midfielder in two years.

“Difficult, unless Yang Cheng himself is a fool,” Queiroz shook his head.

Ferguson sighed.

He certainly didn’t think Yang Cheng was a fool.

Judging by his past signings and sales, Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength was steadily improving, and their results were climbing step by step, which proved Yang Cheng knew what he was doing.

He had a clear plan for who to buy and who to sell.

“I heard that at Christmas, Yang Cheng proposed contract renewals for several players, with the highest weekly wage in the team set to rise to twenty thousand pounds. That’s a clear statement of intent to keep his players.”

The way smaller clubs and powerhouse teams operate is markedly different.

Powerhouse teams have the luxury of haggling with players over salaries and contract renewals.

But smaller clubs can’t afford to; they need more security.

Timely contract renewals not only win over players but also extend their contracts.

This way, even if a giant club comes poaching, they have to negotiate with the club, giving the smaller team the upper hand in transfer talks.

Unless you encounter a player determined to force a move, players will generally cooperate with their club.

“It’s truly enviable! With a top weekly wage of just twenty thousand pounds, he can get this group of players to fight for him!” Ferguson sighed with a wry smile.

What was a weekly wage of twenty thousand pounds at Manchester United?

Not even mid-tier.

Rooney was already earning thirty thousand pounds a week at Everton, and upon joining Manchester United, it immediately jumped to fifty thousand.

Vidić, transferred from Russia, was on a twenty-five-thousand-pound weekly wage.

And that’s not even counting stars like Giggs, Gary Neville, and Ferdinand.

Yet Bayswater Chinese’s highest weekly wage was only six thousand pounds.

Comparisons are odious!

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Bayswater Chinese’s operational strategy was the most sound.

One step at a time, living within one’s means.

Now, with the top weekly wage rising from six thousand to twenty thousand pounds, it meant that poaching their players in the future would become even more difficult.

…

The second half began after the teams switched sides.

During the halftime break, Ferguson made a tactical adjustment.

Although C. Ronaldo had created some threats from both flanks, he hadn’t achieved significant results.

Bayswater Chinese’s strategy of using their midfield to protect the defense had plunged Manchester United’s attack into a stalemate.

With the wings shut down, Manchester United’s attack was forced to go through the middle.

As a result, C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Saha became congested.

But they were all players who needed space.

The positional conflict between C. Ronaldo and Rooney, in particular, was completely exposed.

How to allocate positions, possession, and responsibilities between the two young players had become a major headache for Ferguson.

At halftime, Ferguson tried to make adjustments, moving Saha out to the wing, while Rooney and C. Ronaldo were given free roles between the midfield and the forward line.

Saha possessed excellent hold-up play; he was responsible for winning the first ball, with Rooney and C. Ronaldo looking to attack off the second ball.

This proved very effective at the start of the second half.

In a span of about ten minutes, Manchester United launched a wave of attacks.

They even created a chance in the 54th minute. After some intricate play involving Giggs, C. Ronaldo, Gary Neville, and Saha, Rooney got a close-range shot off from in front of goal.

But Neuer made a heroic save, parrying the ball away.

This gave Manchester United a taste of success.

Yang Cheng immediately made an adjustment, signalling for Modrić and Lassana Diarra to drop back and protect Yaya Touré’s flanks.

Ribéry and Andrei Arshavin also dropped their positions back slightly.

This was a clear signal that they were setting up for a defensive counter-attack.

Just three minutes later, a dribbling run by Andrei Arshavin down the right wing, followed by a cross from the byline, caused a mistake in the Manchester United box.

As Van der Sar came off his line to collect, Ferdinand, instead of holding back, tried to flick the ball to his keeper.

The result was the ball heading straight for the empty net.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the tall, long-limbed Van der Sar turned and punched the ball over the byline.

It was a moment that sent a cold sweat down everyone’s spine.

Seeing his attack rendered ineffective as Bayswater Chinese compressed their lines, Ferguson made a decisive move.

In the 65th minute, Van Nistelrooy replaced C. Ronaldo.

In a way, this was a signal.

Manchester United’s new direction was set. If Van Nistelrooy wanted to stay, he needed to prove he could be an effective impact substitute.

But in reality, after coming off the bench, Van Nistelrooy’s performance was dreadful.

The proud and arrogant Dutchman was likely bottling up a storm of frustration.

In the 76th minute, José Fonte even made a sliding tackle in the box to dispossess Van Nistelrooy at his feet.

Modrić, who had tracked back into the box, was first to the loose ball, carried it out of the area, and passed to Yaya Touré ahead and to the side.

The Ivorian immediately took off, charging forward with long, powerful strides.

“A swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“He’s quickly across the halfway line, not a single Manchester United midfielder is stepping up to intercept.”

“Let’s see how he handles this.”

As Yaya Touré carried the ball past the center circle and prepared to enter Manchester United’s thirty-meter zone, a 4-on-3 situation rapidly developed up front.

Andrei Arshavin was on the left, Ribéry on the right, and Yaya Touré in the middle.

Džeko was the furthest forward, running to the right side of the edge of the arc to offer support.

Behind Džeko was Ferdinand, the last man back.

Seeing this, Yaya Touré sensed an opportunity, especially as Vidić moved up to press and O’Shea retreated.

“Just as the boss predicted!”

The Ivorian quickly passed the ball to Ribéry in the left channel and accelerated his forward sprint.

Džeko was also very clever. Marked by Ferdinand, he decided not to block his teammate’s path on the perimeter and instead ran to the center of the arc.

This created a vacuum between Ferdinand and Vidić.

As Yaya Touré sprinted forward, he saw this gap and immediately made a diagonal run behind Vidić.

In this situation, O’Shea had to follow him.

The Manchester United defender had no time to check what was behind him; he just ran with Yaya Touré.

What if he didn’t?

Ribéry would immediately play the pass, and Yaya Touré would be through on goal for a one-on-one.

But as he tracked the run, Ribéry suddenly feinted, shaping to pass to Yaya Touré, but instead cut inside and played a diagonal pass.

O’Shea, who had rushed to block the edge of the arc, failed to coordinate with Vidić to stop Ribéry’s pass.

The ball was sent straight into the left side of the penalty area.

At this moment, Andrei Arshavin, who had been lurking on the left edge of the penalty area to avoid being offside, made a quick diagonal run forward. He caught up to Ribéry’s pass on the left side of the box and unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball carved a graceful arc before crashing into the right side of Manchester United’s net.

Van der Sar was utterly powerless against such a shot!

“GOAL!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“It’s the new signing Andrei Arshavin again!”

“At a crucial moment, the young Russian attacker scores the team’s second goal.”

“This could very well be the goal that clinches the victory!”

“Let us reacquaint ourselves with this player from Russia, Andrei Arshavin!”

The entire stadium erupted with chants for Bayswater Chinese.

Thirty thousand fans leaped from their seats, all screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

Last season, in this very stadium, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea.

But for that match, only ten thousand fans had made the trip.

Now, however, they had become one of the most competitive teams in the Premier League.

Even against Manchester United, they could more than hold their own.

They had even scored twice to take the lead!

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng was equally thrilled.

Was this cup a chicken rib?

Perhaps.

But for Bayswater Chinese right now, they desperately needed a championship to validate their status!

Just as Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had said before, the Premier League has enormous appeal throughout Asia, but Bayswater Chinese were a newly promoted team.

Therefore, the team needed more trophies to make more fans aware of them!

…

When the head referee, Alan Wiley, blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese players, both on and off the pitch, exploded in celebration.

The players from the bench stormed onto the field, celebrating with their teammates.

In the stands, the fans were also cheering, celebrating the team’s victory.

“The match is over.”

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese.”

“Successfully defending the League Cup is a great affirmation for this newly promoted Premier League team.”

“After enduring the gruelling Christmas schedule, the winter fixtures, and the recent gruelling schedule in February, I believe everyone has seen this team’s resilience.”

“Last year, many media pundits predicted that Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t last until January. Then it became February, and now it’s March. I believe after this match, they will have to postpone that date once again.”

“Yang Cheng’s team isn’t perfect. They still have very obvious shortcomings and weaknesses, and their players are still very young. But we have every reason to believe that this young team already has the strength to go toe-to-toe with the Premier League’s Big Four.”

“From a 3-0 home victory against Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the League Cup final, Yang Cheng’s team has achieved stunning results in both the league and cup competitions.”

“Most importantly, the performances of the two new signings, Maicon and Andrei Arshavin, since their arrival have left a deep impression on us.”

“They have both integrated almost seamlessly and quickly justified their price tags.”

“In today’s League Cup final, they both displayed exceptional ability.”

In stark contrast to the jubilation of Bayswater Chinese, the Manchester United players looked resentful.

As an established giant of the Premier League, Manchester United simply didn’t pay much heed to other teams.

That even included their long-time rivals, Arsenal.

As for Chelsea, they were just nouveau riche upstarts. How long could they strut around?

But this season, a series of setbacks had left everyone at Manchester United feeling deeply frustrated.

Now, even a newly promoted team like Bayswater Chinese could lord it over them. How could the proud Red Devils accept that?

Amidst all the discordant scenes, Yang Cheng noticed one particularly special moment.

After the match ended, Van Nistelrooy did not linger on the pitch. Instead, with his head down, he walked directly off the field and into the players’ tunnel.

From start to finish, he didn’t acknowledge any of his surrounding teammates, nor did anyone try to greet him.

He didn’t even stop by the coaching bench to speak with Ferguson on his way off.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng sighed inwardly.

Van Nistelrooy’s days at Manchester United were numbered.

Sometimes, when you think about it, it’s quite cruel.

But such is professional football.

While Yang Cheng was feeling sorry for Van Nistelrooy, his own players suddenly appeared from behind.

A boisterous group hoisted him up and threw him into the air.

…

“Congratulations, Yang!”

After Yang Cheng had celebrated with his players, Ferguson came over to shake his hand.

“You performed better and deserved this trophy.”

“Thank you for the kind words, Sir,” Yang Cheng said politely, shaking Ferguson’s hand.

In his past life, the two were quite familiar, but now they were more like strangers.

Ferguson was interested in many things about Bayswater Chinese but didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask.

His expression became particularly awkward when he saw Brian Kidd about to come over and celebrate with Yang Cheng, only for Kidd to see Ferguson and retreat.

After another brief greeting to Yang Cheng, Ferguson turned and walked away.

Yang Cheng looked at Ferguson’s back, then at Brian Kidd hiding by the dugout, and found it amusing.

It really proved the saying: men will be boys.

The two old friends didn’t have a major conflict; it was more about differences of opinion in their earlier years and diverging career plans that caused a rift.

For example, Ferguson was furious with Brian Kidd’s sudden decision to manage Blackburn Rovers.

He was also very unhappy that Kidd had communicated with the board behind his back several times.

And what about Brian Kidd?

He felt Ferguson had become obstinate and self-opinionated, no longer listening to advice as he used to, and that he himself was no longer valued. At the same time, he was eager to prove himself at Blackburn Rovers.

Fine, for all the issues at Manchester United, it’s hard to say who was right or wrong.

But when he was managing Blackburn, not doing well, and under pressure from the media, why did Ferguson have to step in and put the boot in?

In Brian Kidd’s mind, without that kick from Ferguson, he wouldn’t have been sacked by Blackburn Rovers.

At least, not so quickly.

Given more time, he might have turned things around.

Strictly speaking, the two had never even had an argument, let alone a fight.

Yet, it was a case of “I don’t like you, and you don’t like me,” much like primary school kids ignoring each other and not speaking.

After Ferguson left, Brian Kidd and the others soon came over.

They were followed by Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

Speaking of which, Xia Qing, as the club’s Chief Financial Officer, had yet to make a public appearance.

She once jokingly explained: “I’m in charge of the money, I’m afraid of being kidnapped.”

“With this trophy, our summer tour of Asia will have even more backing!” Adam Crozier was now full of passion and ambition.

He wanted everyone to see him in a new light!

“I’ve already called the marketing department. Over the next two or three days, we will launch a publicity campaign across Asia. With our current league position, this League Cup title, and being a newly promoted team, it’s sure to generate a lot of buzz among the fans.”

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded. “This is just the beginning. We still have the league and the UEFA Cup to fight for.”

Whether facing the media or the fans, he always projected a determination to fight Chelsea to the very end.

But with years of coaching experience, he knew very well that the chances of overtaking Chelsea in the league were slim.

Unless Mourinho’s team were to suffer an unexpected defeat.

But that was largely unrealistic.

Stable for most of the season, only to lose control for no reason at the end?

You definitely wouldn’t dare write that in a football novel, unless it was fantasy.

Yang Cheng’s goal was to secure a top-four finish in the league while trying his best to challenge for the UEFA Cup.

His thinking wasn’t born from arrogance.

Among the sixteen teams left in the UEFA Cup, he felt there weren’t many truly strong ones.

Teams like Serie A’s AS Roma, La Liga’s Sevilla, and the Bundesliga’s Schalke 04 were the ones he thought could pose a threat to Bayswater Chinese.

As for teams like Hamburger SV, Marseille, Udinese, and Palermo, it wasn’t that Yang Cheng didn’t take them seriously, but he was confident.

Zenit St. Petersburg, having lost Andrei Arshavin, would likely be eliminated in the round of 32.

All things considered, Yang Cheng felt they had a decent chance to compete for the UEFA Cup.

If they could actually win the UEFA Cup, with two trophies from the UEFA Cup and League Cup, plus a top-four finish in the Premier League, this would make them the most legendary newly promoted team in Premier League history.

…

An amusing incident occurred when Bayswater Chinese received the championship trophy at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

This time, The FA insisted on having Yang Cheng go up on stage to receive the award.

And it was The FA Chairman, Geoff Thompson, who personally came down to invite him.

According to Geoff Thompson, The FA had been heavily criticized by fans and the media last season.

He was in a bind. He owed Yang Cheng a favor for Maicon’s work permit and later for the lease of Wembley Stadium. Could Yang Cheng refuse?

He could only obediently let Geoff Thompson take his hand and lead him onto the stage to receive the award.

At that moment, the entire stadium erupted in warm applause.

The television broadcast also captured Ferguson, who had just received his runner-up medal, standing below the stage and clapping.

Actually, many in the media had misunderstood.

Ferguson did have a coaching license. It was just that after UEFA’s reforms, early British coaching certificates were no longer recognized, requiring retraining and re-certification.

At the time, this applied to all coaches in Britain, and the vast majority went back to get re-certified.

Of course, it was mostly a symbolic process, just going through the motions.

But Ferguson stubbornly refused!

Thus, he was one of the few head coaches in England still using an old coaching certificate.

Both The FA and UEFA turned a blind eye to this.

Yang Cheng’s situation was different; he had never taken the exams.

He had never even attended a single day of class.

This made things very complicated.

Both The FA and UEFA found it a headache.

To just give him one, he was perfectly qualified, but it would violate procedure.

Not to give him one, and Yang Cheng would remain without a coaching license. The more successful he became, the more awkward it was for them.

Previously, a member of the coaches’ committee had spoken out, saying Yang Cheng shouldn’t even be allowed in the stadium, let alone on the bench.

But England had a long tradition of allowing this.

For Yang Cheng, the better the team performed, the less he wanted to take the exams.

What if he failed? That would be far too embarrassing!

The most troublesome part was that the better Bayswater Chinese did, the more the media fixated on Yang Cheng, watching to see if he would take the exams or not.

And so, the whole matter was simply dragged on.

…

After returning from Cardiff to London, the team held a brief celebration ceremony outside Bayswater Stadium.

Though small, it had all the necessary elements.

Bayswater Chinese also had a dedicated trophy room.

However, this room currently housed only two League Cups, one League Two title, one Championship title, and one Football League Trophy.

It was a bit sparse, but at least there was something!

After the celebrations ended, Yang Cheng composed himself and held a team meeting to get everyone on the same page.

Yang Cheng’s main message was to admonish everyone that the League Cup victory was in the past.

Everyone had to refocus and dedicate themselves completely to the upcoming league and UEFA Cup matches.

“A five million pound sterling bonus. The club will absolutely keep its word. There will be no delays and no deductions!”

Yang Cheng’s words were still ringing in their ears.

That very evening, all the players began receiving bank transfers from the club.

Following the previously agreed-upon distribution method, the club paid out the League Cup winning bonus to every player on schedule.

This had been Yang Cheng’s consistent practice since taking over the team.

Under no circumstances would he allow players’ salaries and bonuses to be delayed!

As a result, morale in the dressing room soared.

After a rest, the team immediately faced their 28th league match, which was also the final game of their gruelling schedule.

A home game against Manchester United!

While the team was resting, the British media, aside from hyping Bayswater Chinese’s cup win, also broke two explosive news stories.

One came from the Daily Mirror, which revealed that Van Nistelrooy had decided to leave Old Trafford in the summer.

Since the Dutchman had two years left on his contract with Manchester United, his transfer fee was estimated at ten million pound sterling.

Several major clubs, including AC Milan and Real Madrid, were currently paying close attention to Van Nistelrooy’s situation.

Another star player on the transfer market, German midfielder Michael Ballack, had long ago decided not to renew his contract with Bayern Munich and would leave on a free transfer in the summer.

This sparked a chase involving numerous giants such as Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, and Chelsea.

The Sun revealed that Ballack had more or less finalized his next club and would transfer to Chelsea after the World Cup.

“With Ballack’s move to Chelsea all but confirmed, Ferguson has turned his attention to Bayswater Chinese’s young midfielders, Yaya Touré and Lassana Diarra.”

“Also on Ferguson’s transfer shortlist are Tottenham Hotspur’s Carrick and Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves.”

“Of these four midfielders, Manchester United is determined to sign two to strengthen their weak link in midfield from this season and challenge for the Premier League title next season!”

Bayswater Chinese paid no attention to the rumors from the outside world.

That night, at Loftus Road Stadium, the two teams engaged in their second bloody battle in a short period.

This time, Bayswater Chinese did not back down at all, using their home advantage to repeatedly attack Manchester United, creating numerous threats and forcing the visitors to adopt a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

In the 59th minute of the second half, a swift counter-attack from Manchester United saw Rooney drift to the right to receive a pass from C. Ronaldo. He then delivered a cross from the right into the box, where C. Ronaldo, who had made a blistering run, arrived in front of goal and out-jumped his old teammate José Fonte to head the ball home.

1-0!

After conceding, Yang Cheng decisively pushed his team to attack.

In the 73rd minute, a series of one-touch passes between Ribéry, Modrić, and Andrei Arshavin on the left side of the penalty area tore Manchester United’s defense apart.

Andrei Arshavin played a clever pass to Lambert, who unleashed a furious shot from the edge of the arc.

Van der Sar parried the shot, but Ribéry was there to follow up and slot home the rebound.

1-1!

But Bayswater Chinese were not content with a draw and continued to attack.

Chapter 94: A Master of Making Money! From Victory to Victory

“Let’s look at this Manchester United attack.”

“It’s gone out to the left again, to Cristiano Ronaldo.”

“He tries to break through, but Maicon’s defending is very solid.”

“He doesn’t look like a Brazilian player at all; he’s more like an Italian defender.”

“C. Ronaldo passes it forward to Saha.”

“Saha’s hold-up play is excellent. Even with Koscielny and José Fonte on him, he manages to protect the ball.”

“He passes to Rooney.”

“A chance!”

“Rooney takes a shot!”

“It’s over the bar.”

“A long shot from outside the box by Manchester United. Rooney was too hasty with that one.”

“It’s the 86th minute, and the score is still 1-1!”

…

As Neuer walked toward the side of the goal, a ball boy had already thrown a football over.

The German goalkeeper nodded at the ball boy, who was named Harry Kane, and skillfully dribbled the ball before bringing it to the edge of the six-yard box. After stopping it, he slowly backed away.

Why did he know Harry Kane?

Because the chubby kid had just asked for his autograph and boldly declared that he would one day score against him.

Neuer, of course, didn’t take it seriously, just smiling as he teased, “Then you’ll need to lose some weight.”

Only after coming to the Premier League did Neuer discover that you actually had to pay to be a ball boy.

Yes, you read that right. You had to pay to retrieve balls on the pitch!

It was simply outrageous!

In the Premier League, apart from giants like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, most clubs charged an application fee for matchday ball boys, and it wasn’t cheap.

The cheapest was several tens of pounds, while the most expensive could be two or three hundred pounds.

Note, this wasn’t for a season, but for a single match.

Chelsea used to charge as well, but after Roman Abramovich’s takeover, they abolished the fee to curry favor with the fans.

Bayswater Chinese also didn’t charge ball boys; instead, the opportunity was open to season ticket holders for free.

As long as one signed up and passed the club’s review, they could serve as a ball boy on matchdays.

The club’s youth academy players received special priority.

Harry Kane had gotten in through this channel.

This was something the German-born Neuer found a bit hard to get used to; it felt like money, interests, and calculations permeated every aspect of the Premier League.

Soon, the German keeper pushed the thoughts from his mind, glanced ahead, and took a quick run-up.

Bang!

Neuer launched a long ball directly into the opponent’s half.

All his teammates knew about Neuer’s powerful kick and his long passes, so they had pushed up the pitch.

In and around Manchester United’s 30-meter area, everyone was anticipating the ball’s trajectory and landing spot.

Džeko, who had come on as a substitute, looked up at the ball, immediately retreated from the edge of the penalty area, and, upon reaching the drop zone, secured his position.

Džeko was tall and had been working on gaining muscle and strength since joining Bayswater Chinese.

He didn’t look as skinny now.

But as the ball came down, he felt a tremendous force from behind, pushing him forward involuntarily.

Vidić!

The Serbian centre-back’s strength was immense.

Džeko simply couldn’t hold him off.

But he was smart.

As he leaned forward, he planted his left foot and, with a scorpion-kick-like motion, used the outside of his right foot to flick the descending ball toward his rear flank.

As he was dropping back, he had seen Ribéry moving from the right wing to a position behind him.

After flicking the ball, Džeko lost his balance and fell to the ground.

As expected, Ribéry was right behind Džeko, ready to pounce on the second ball.

The Frenchman knew how to deal with Premier League defenders.

With his back to the goal, he leaned back, shielding Ferdinand. As the ball dropped, he chested it forward.

Then he quickly moved to control the ball he had just brought down.

The ball seemed glued to his feet.

With Džeko on the ground and no longer a threat, Vidić immediately turned and charged toward Ribéry.

At that moment, the French winger controlled the ball, turned, and used his body to block Vidić while skillfully manipulating the ball with both feet.

Arshavin quickly ran to the top of the arc, to Ribéry’s left-front and to Ferdinand’s left, shouting for the ball.

At this instant, three of Manchester United’s defenders formed a triangle, tightly containing Ribéry.

Ferdinand and Silvestre formed the base, blocking the front of the penalty area, while Vidić was at the apex, standing behind Ribéry.

Arshavin’s sudden shout startled Ferdinand, who glanced back to check the Russian’s position.

When Ferdinand turned back, he saw Ribéry dip his left shoulder and move the ball with his left foot, as if preparing to break through on the left.

If he got past, he could find a gap to pass to Arshavin, which would be a one-on-one with the keeper.

Without a moment’s thought, Ferdinand moved to cut off the connection between Ribéry and Arshavin.

But in doing so, a gap opened up between him and Silvestre.

Ribéry was short and had a low center of gravity. He cut the ball with his left foot, knocked it forward with his right, and burst into a sudden sprint, charging right through the gap between Ferdinand and Silvestre and into the penalty area.

The whole sequence was chaotic and incredibly complex.

It even looked as if Ferdinand had intentionally opened up a path for Ribéry to enter the box.

The fans in the stadium erupted into a frenzy of cheers.

But Edwin van der Sar reacted extremely quickly, decisively rushing out of his goal.

To the right of the penalty spot, with Silvestre and Vidić behind him and the advancing Edwin van der Sar with arms outstretched in front, Ribéry had a decision to make.

Shoot himself?

At the critical moment, Ribéry feigned a shot with his right foot but changed his technique, instead passing the ball diagonally to the unmarked left side of the six-yard box.

Arshavin was still at the top of the arc. Who else could be there to receive the pass?

“Modrić!!”

“It’s in!!!”

“Luka Modrić!”

“2-1!”

“An absolutely brilliant and unexpected piece of combination play!”

“Ribéry, surrounded by three Manchester United defenders, managed to weave his way out and deliver a perfect pass.”

“Modrić’s late overlapping run at the crucial moment allows Bayswater Chinese to score another goal.”

“They’ve turned it around to lead Manchester United 2-1!”

When Modrić tucked Ribéry’s pass into the Manchester United net, Loftus Road Stadium absolutely exploded!

The Croatian midfielder turned and ran off the pitch in excitement, with Ribéry and the others chasing after him, all looking ecstatic.

A 2-1 comeback against Manchester United!

This wasn’t just three points in the Premier League; it represented the team’s fighting spirit!

“This is unbelievable!”

“After going a goal down, Bayswater Chinese scored two in a row to complete the comeback.”

“What’s most incredible is how Ribéry completely toyed with three Manchester United defenders, making them look like training cones.”

“With one goal and one assist, the Frenchman has been the more eye-catching player in this direct showdown with C. Ronaldo!”

Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, was equally thrilled.

After taking the lead, Manchester United had focused heavily on defense.

Just equalizing was hard enough.

He never expected the players to actually turn the game around!

Yang Cheng never paid much mind to the media’s talk of a direct showdown between Ribéry and C. Ronaldo.

Ribéry would soon be twenty-three, while C. Ronaldo was only twenty-one.

Although a two-year gap wasn’t huge, comparing a twenty-three-year-old Ribéry to a twenty-one-year-old C. Ronaldo was, in itself, a recognition of C. Ronaldo’s talent.

Besides, Ribéry had indeed been outstanding.

“Our players have been tempered by more and more matches. As we go from victory to victory, their confidence has been steadily building, making us stronger and stronger!” Brian Kidd remarked with emotion.

Once upon a time, Manchester United were the invincible overlords of the Premier League.

Whenever the Red Devils played in the league, they were always dominant and imposing.

This unique aura allowed them to pull off many great comebacks.

And this aura wasn’t innate, nor was it just a reflection of Ferguson’s personality. More importantly, it was forged through years of hard-fought victories in grueling battles.

Bayswater Chinese were still very young, not yet a truly strong team.

After all, the team’s performance this season wasn’t conclusive enough.

But without a doubt, everyone could see the immense potential in this young squad.

This filled Brian Kidd with a deep sense of satisfaction.

His risky decision to join Bayswater Chinese back then was damn right!

…

Chelsea defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away.

Arsenal thrashed Fulham 4-0 away.

Liverpool drew 0-0 with Charlton Athletic at home.

After the 28th round of the Premier League, the league table had changed once again.

Chelsea continued to lead with sixty-six points.

Bayswater Chinese, with a record of seventeen wins, eight draws, and three losses, had fifty-nine points and were in second place.

Manchester United, having lost their head-to-head match against Bayswater Chinese this round, remained on fifty-seven points.

Further down were Liverpool with fifty-two points, Tottenham Hotspur with forty-nine, and Arsenal with forty-four.

Although the Gunners’ four-goal away victory this round was impressive, it was unlikely Wenger’s team could reclaim a top-four spot.

A gap of eight points was very difficult to close.

However, Henry scored a brace in this round, continuing to lead the Premier League’s top scorer chart.

…

After the 28th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had a brief rest in London before immediately setting off for Romania.

It was a long journey to a faraway land.

Coupled with the recent packed schedule and an unfamiliar away ground, Yang Cheng’s strategy for the away game was relatively cautious.

Years of experience in European competitions from his past life told him never to underestimate seemingly weaker teams like Steaua București.

These teams might not have big names, but they were regular participants in European competitions and domestic giants in their own countries.

One could say they had assembled the strongest group of players in Romania.

With home advantage, a moment of carelessness could lead to an unexpected defeat.

Therefore, Yang Cheng made some rotations for this match, focusing more on defense away from home and aiming to settle the tie in the second leg at home.

Steaua București knew this as well.

If they couldn’t win the first leg, they would be at the mercy of their opponents in the away match.

So, the Romanian team took advantage of their home ground and launched an all-out attack from the very beginning.

But Bayswater Chinese were not a pushover.

Even with rotations, key players like Andreassen and José Fonte were on the field and performed solidly.

During the match, Steaua București once managed to score past Neuer, but the head referee ruled it offside, disallowing the goal and sparking strong protests from the home fans.

In the end, the two teams shook hands on a 0-0 draw.

After the match, Yang Cheng specifically watched the replay; it was indeed offside.

Bayswater Chinese had not performed ideally in this game.

But regardless, a 0-0 away draw was a decent result.

…

Premier League, round 29.

Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home.

Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0, thanks to a brace from Rooney.

Arsenal, with a brace from Henry, defeated Liverpool 2-1.

Winning this crucial battle was immensely important for the Gunners.

The original eight-point gap was now suddenly reduced to five, no longer an insurmountable distance.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, faced Sunderland away.

Yang Cheng was confident about this match because the Black Cats currently had only ten points and were at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Moreover, they were both newly promoted teams, so Yang Cheng knew them relatively well.

To prepare for the second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 16 next Wednesday, Yang Cheng continued to rest his key players.

And the match went as Yang Cheng had predicted; the battle was over by halftime.

Sunderland held on for thirty minutes before their goal was breached by a header from Danny Collins during a set piece.

Just before the end of the first half, Lambert first assisted Inler for a goal in the 40th minute.

Then, in the 43rd minute, Lambert scored one himself.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sunderland away from home.

…

In his so-called father’s words, Bayswater Chinese coming to China was like coming home.

But with such a large group of people, many things still needed to be planned in advance.

The capabilities of Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada were fully demonstrated in the planning of this Asia tour.

After the team finished the 29th round match against Sunderland, they presented the entire itinerary and plan for the Asia tour to Yang Cheng.

It clearly listed all the specific arrangements for the trip.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, by 2024, European teams had accumulated a wealth of experience with pre-season tours to the Far East and North America.

This wasn’t just because of convenient transportation, but also a series of targeted strategies.

For example, first the Galácticos of Real Madrid, then Barça, and other giant clubs all had their pre-season preparations and, consequently, their season’s performance, affected by Asia tours.

What were the reasons?

They boiled down to three main factors.

One was the ineffectiveness of the training camp.

To solve this, there were two options: either arrange the training camp in Asia, or complete a period of fitness reserve training in Europe first before flying to Asia for friendlies.

The approach of playing friendlies while preparing for the season often yielded very poor results.

Another factor was the poor quality of the friendly opponents.

It was undeniable that there was a significant gap in skill between Asian and European football.

If a team didn’t face strong opponents and undergo sufficient tests during the summer preparations, many problems would remain hidden, planting seeds of trouble for the new season.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s requirement was that the Asia tour must include high-intensity friendlies.

The last factor was fatigue.

This was a very common yet often overlooked problem.

The most typical example was Real Madrid’s 2003 Asia tour, where they were both training and making money, scheduling four friendlies in just nine days, which left the players exhausted.

Keep in mind, these four matches were held in different cities.

This meant the players couldn’t even get basic rest. Often, after playing a match, they would rush to the next destination, sometimes only able to sleep in cars or on planes.

Coupled with the fact that Real Madrid’s players were older on average and recovered more slowly, it severely affected their performance in the new season.

To solve the problem of fatigue, the best way was to make the schedule as reasonable as possible.

Combining his coaching experience from his past life, Yang Cheng gave Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada a lot of advice.

…

“Our main sponsor for this Asia tour is Puma.”

Adam Crozier reported on the achievements he and the commercial team had made over the past six months or so.

“We have decided to terminate the kit sponsorship contract with Umbro early, but we will continue to retain their sponsorship on the shirt sleeves and authorize them to use our brand for their fashion and leisure apparel in Asia.”

This decision had been made recently.

The main reason was that Puma had come knocking, and they were offering far too much.

With Chelsea switching to Adidas, Manchester United to Nike, and teams like Arsenal and Liverpool also joining the ranks of the two giants, Puma had almost no presence in the Premier League.

This year was the World Cup in Germany, and Puma sponsored many national teams.

But at the club level, in professional leagues, especially the Premier League with its massive fan base, Puma had a void.

Adam Crozier revealed that Puma had been in contact with Tottenham Hotspur, but in late December last year, they had established contact with Bayswater Chinese, hoping to cooperate.

While the two giants, Adidas and Nike, focused more on the “Big Four,” they weren’t particularly interested in a newly emerged team like Bayswater Chinese and wouldn’t offer a high price.

On the other hand, brands like Puma were also challengers, and Puma was willing to pay a higher sponsorship fee for Bayswater Chinese.

The two sides hadn’t initially reached an agreement, but after the team won the League Cup, defeated Manchester United, and returned to second place in the league, Puma immediately changed its mind and agreed to Adam Crozier’s demands.

They officially signed a five-year sponsorship contract worth ten million pounds sterling per year.

At the same time, they would collaborate on the Asia tour.

Yang Cheng was quite surprised by this.

In his previous life, Puma was supposed to have started sponsoring Tottenham Hotspur in 2006 for five or six million pounds.

He hadn’t expected them to go for Bayswater Chinese instead.

But on second thought, it wasn’t surprising.

Tottenham Hotspur’s current performance was considerably worse than Bayswater Chinese’s.

As for retaining Umbro’s sleeve sponsorship and granting brand usage rights for fashion apparel in Asia, it was mainly due to the Yang family’s business in China.

The Umbro brand was currently being marketed in China as a sports and leisure fashion label, targeting the mid-to-high-end market, and its expansion was going well.

After discussing it with his so-called father, Yang Cheng decided to continue the sponsorship, changing it from the main shirt sponsor to a sleeve sponsor.

Of course, this time, they had to pay.

Puma disagreed at first but later changed its mind, demanding that the small Umbro logo on the sleeve be altered.

At the very least, it shouldn’t look so much like Umbro.

Coincidentally, the domestic side was already considering redesigning a more fashionable and youthful logo for Umbro, so it was a perfect match.

As for compensating Umbro’s losses, there wasn’t much.

The original contract was only for two years, so a small token gesture was enough.

It was just bad luck for Umbro.

In just one year, they went from being a sweetheart to yesterday’s news.

It was all because Bayswater Chinese had developed too quickly.

Puma naturally became the main sponsor for Bayswater Chinese’s first-ever Asia tour.

“For this Asia tour, we’ve arranged three high-quality friendlies against Bordeaux from Ligue 1, Villarreal from La Liga, and Lazio from Serie A. All are teams sponsored by Puma,” Adam Crozier explained.

The main reason was that they were cheap.

“Our first match will be in Hong Kong, followed by Shenzhen across the river, then Shanghai and Beijing. There’s still time for one more friendly, which hasn’t been finalized yet.”

“In Hong Kong, we’ll be playing against a local team and participating in some commercial activities for Prudential.”

Prudential plc is the largest insurance company in the UK and a renowned name globally.

For the past few years, Prudential had been developing the Asian market, with its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong, so they were naturally interested in Bayswater Chinese’s upcoming Asia tour.

This was actually a consensus reached after discussions between Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and Omar Berrada.

Bayswater Chinese should act as a platform.

Not only to help Chinese and Asian companies and brands go global but also to help global companies and brands enter Asia and China.

This would maximize the advantages of Bayswater Chinese.

Attracting a company like Prudential for the Asia tour was the best proof of this.

“We are currently negotiating with Prudential for the shirt-front advertising sponsorship. There are still many details to iron out.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

He was tired of being taken advantage of by his so-called father.

The old debt had been cleared. Starting from the new season, Bayswater Chinese would be entirely his, so of course, he would find a new sponsor.

Prudential’s opening offer was five million pounds sterling, and Adam Crozier still hadn’t agreed.

Would his so-called father be willing to pay that price?

“In addition, we are currently in contact with several European, Asian, and Chinese companies. We are confident that we will sign several sponsorship deals during this Asia tour.”

Yang Cheng heard the unspoken message: several deals.

Seeing the confident expressions on Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada’s faces, he knew it was a sure thing.

Adam Crozier was not a pushover, and Omar Berrada had brought sponsorship resources from Barça.

Although the prestige was different, so was the price.

“You guys go ahead and do what you need to do, but you must pay attention to the itinerary, and accommodation. Everything must be arranged well.”

Yang Cheng thought about the lack of professionalism and commercialization in Chinese football. Fearing that disputes might arise, he recounted some cases he had encountered or heard about in his past life to Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

He hoped to prevent the team from running into trouble during the upcoming Asia tour.

Furthermore, the background and strength of the sponsors had to be thoroughly investigated.

This was something that major clubs later took very seriously.

After all, the club was endorsing the sponsor’s brand. If the sponsor had problems, it would reflect poorly on the club’s image.

Omar Berrada was specifically in charge of this area of business, and he wouldn’t be in London for a long time to come.

…

“I have to admit, Adam Crozier is a real genius when it comes to making money!”

After the core management meeting, Xia Qing stayed behind in Yang Cheng’s office, speaking with admiration.

“In just one year, he’s not only managed the club impeccably but has also made great strides in the commercial department, especially in securing deals with Puma and Prudential. That’s not simple!”

Yang Cheng also admitted it was quite unexpected.

According to the information Adam Crozier had revealed, he hoped to sign both sponsorships for ten million pounds sterling each.

But Prudential was only willing to offer five million, so they hadn’t reached an agreement.

However, a consensus on cooperation for the Asia tour had already been reached.

This meant both parties had a strong intention to cooperate.

The only thing left was to agree on a price.

“He also hired a few people recently and started planning. He said he wants to promote the private boxes and tickets for the new Wembley Stadium next season.”

At this, Xia Qing smiled sweetly at Yang Cheng. “I think you’ll have to give him a big bonus.”

“He deserves it. And Omar Berrada’s contribution has been huge too,” Yang Cheng said happily.

The sponsorship resources brought over from Barça were incredibly useful for Bayswater Chinese.

In this regard, Yang Cheng was very generous.

After all, the club was earning more.

And talent, if you weren’t willing to pay for it, would eventually be poached.

Hearing Yang Cheng also mention Omar Berrada, Xia Qing felt a flicker of anticipation, her eyes fixed on him.

But then she realized that Yang Cheng had nothing more to say.

An empty feeling crept into her heart, and the smile on her face faded.

This junior of hers was truly brilliant, but his mind was completely focused on football.

Just as Xia Qing was feeling down, Yang Cheng noticed the sudden silence, and the air seemed to become awkward.

He understood immediately and chuckled.

“Actually, the person who deserves a bonus the most, and the biggest one at that, is you, Senior.”

As if her thoughts had been read, Xia Qing became flustered. “Me? What contribution have I made?”

“Putting everything else aside, our team’s salary structure and financial management are your great achievements. In my heart, that’s more important than how much money we make.”

“Nonsense,” Xia Qing chided softly, but her face bloomed into a smile.

“I’m not short on money anyway. You should focus on people like Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.”

So, this junior of hers wasn’t completely clueless about social etiquette.

“By the way, Senior, are you going back to China with us this time?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Xia Qing’s attention was successfully diverted. “I’ll go. My mom has called many times. I didn’t even go back for the New Year. If I don’t go back this time, they’ll probably call the police.”

Yang Cheng chuckled. “You’re from Beijing, right, Senior?”

“My family’s roots aren’t there, but my grandfather’s generation settled in Beijing. Now my parents and my older brother all work in Beijing. They originally wanted me to stay there too, but I escaped for university.”

As she finished, Xia Qing smiled brightly.

At this moment, she truly had the proud air of a rebellious girl.

“In that case, why don’t you just go straight to Beijing instead of coming with us to Hong Kong? You can spend more time with your family.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “But we have to agree. You must promise me you’ll come back to England with me. You can’t be cruel and abandon me to stay in China. If you really do that, I won’t be able to survive in England.”

Seeing his exaggeration, Xia Qing couldn’t help but chuckle again.

Hmm, this feeling of being valued and relied upon is quite nice.

Seeing how well Yang Cheng could talk, Xia Qing felt quite pleased. She decided to call her brother again tonight to see if there was anything else she could do to help with Bayswater Chinese’s Asia tour.

Even if it was just simple promotion, it would be good.

…

On the evening of March 15th, at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

UEFA Cup Round of 16, second leg. Bayswater Chinese hosted Steaua București.

If Steaua București had flexed their muscles with impunity using their home advantage in Romania, now that they were in London, they still hadn’t tucked their tails between their legs.

The Romanians wanted to turn the tables on the hosts and catch them off guard.

A fine idea in theory, but reality was harsh.

Andrei Arshavin and Maicon were both ineligible to play for the team in the Champions League, so Yang Cheng started Ashley Young and Piszczek.

From the kickoff, Bayswater Chinese gave the Romanians a proper taste of the Premier League’s tempo.

The fast-paced attack and high-intensity pressing in the midfield and attack made Steaua București seriously wonder if the Bayswater Chinese they had faced at their home ground was a fake.

Their tactic of launching an early offensive not only failed but also resulted in them being completely pressed by the home team.

Struggling to cope, Steaua București managed to hold on for sixteen minutes thanks to excellent defending.

In the 16th minute, after winning the ball in their own half, a swift counter-attack saw Piszczek and Ashley Young combine on the right flank.

Ashley Young used his speed to break through and sent a cross into the box.

Džeko, almost completely unmarked, couldn’t miss such an opportunity and slotted the ball home.

1-0!

The goal was a blow to Steaua București’s morale.

But the Romanians weren’t ready to give up; they still wanted to fight back.

However, just three minutes later, another quick counter-attack after winning possession saw Ribéry break through on the left and deliver a cross.

Džeko made a run into the center, and goalkeeper Fernandes rushed out, beating him to the ball and punching it to the right.

Ashley Young followed up with a shot, once again finding the back of Steaua București’s net.

2-0!

Two goals in just three minutes.

The Romanians were stunned.

But only nine minutes later, Ribéry won a corner kick.

Modrić took the corner, and Koscielny headed it in.

3-0!

Conceding three goals in less than thirty minutes.

Steaua București was clearly starting to fall apart.

In the 33rd minute, centre-forward Džeko controlled a pass with his back to goal and then delivered a beautiful through ball.

Ribéry burst into the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot into the net.

4-0!

And in first-half stoppage time, Piszczek received a pass from Ashley Young on the right and crossed it to the far post.

Džeko drew the defenders’ attention in the middle, leaving Ribéry unmarked at the back post to easily score with a header.

5-0!

Five goals in one half!

The entire Loftus Road Stadium was in a state of euphoria.

No one had expected this seemingly evenly matched game to turn into a one-sided slaughter.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack for a while.

But after halftime, Steaua București had regrouped and reorganized their defense.

Starting from the 60th minute, Yang Cheng began making substitutions, bringing on Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Matuidi to let them get used to the pace of the game and gain some European experience.

In the 79th minute, Walcott broke through on the right, stormed into the penalty area, and unleashed a powerful shot that the goalkeeper fumbled. However, Gareth Bale at the far post was too slow to follow up, missing a golden opportunity.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Steaua București 5-0 at home to advance to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

After the draw, their next opponent was the Bulgarian team, Levski Sofia.

This time, Bayswater Chinese would play the home leg first.

…

Bayswater Chinese’s impressive run in the UEFA Cup was highly praised by the British media.

Premier League teams had not performed well in European competitions this season.

So far, only Bayswater Chinese remained in the UEFA Cup.

Other teams like Bolton had all been eliminated.

And in the most prestigious Champions League, the recently concluded Round of 16 was also very disappointing for British fans.

Since Liverpool participated as the defending champions, the Premier League had five teams in the Champions League this season.

Besides the traditional Big Four, there was also Everton.

But David Moyes’ team lost 2-4 on aggregate to Villarreal of La Liga in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

They were defeated in both legs.

It was very disappointing.

Villarreal was fourth in La Liga, but Everton was also fourth in the Premier League. When they met, Everton’s performance was abysmal.

What was even more ridiculous was that in the group stage, Liverpool and Chelsea were drawn into the same group.

Just when everyone thought the two English powerhouses would eliminate each other, they both advanced together.

In contrast, Manchester United, drawn with Villarreal, Benfica, and Lille, finished bottom of their group and were eliminated.

Bottom!

They didn’t even qualify for the UEFA Cup.

In the Round of 16, Arsenal drew Real Madrid and eliminated the Galácticos with a 1-0 away win and a 0-0 home draw, a narrow victory.

But Benítez’s Reds, after losing 1-0 away to Benfica, lost 0-2 at home, getting knocked out 0-3 on aggregate.

And Mourinho’s Chelsea, the team with the highest expectations, fell to Barça.

Thus, only Arsenal remained in the Champions League.

The whole of England was in a state of reflection.

Many media outlets and fans were asking: what’s wrong with the Premier League teams?

Could it be that the strength of the Premier League was just a bubble?

…

Yang Cheng didn’t have time to bother with the media’s soul-searching.

After defeating Steaua București, his team immediately faced Manchester City in the 30th round of the Premier League. They won 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Škrtel from a corner kick.

Manchester United defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away with a brace from Saha.

Arsenal beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 at home.

Liverpool defeated Newcastle 3-1 away.

What excited Yang Cheng the most was that Chelsea lost 1-0 away to Fulham.

After this round, Chelsea had sixty-nine points, Bayswater Chinese had sixty-five, Manchester United sixty-three, Liverpool fifty-five, Tottenham Hotspur fifty-two, and Arsenal fifty.

Mourinho was very dissatisfied with the result, believing that this loss gave the chasing pack confidence.

But the Portuguese manager stated that the team was affected by being “robbed” of qualification by Barça in the Champions League Round of 16, which was why they had faltered in the league.

In the final eight league matches, Chelsea would aim to win them all.

…

After a week’s rest, the 31st round of the Premier League arrived.

Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2-0 at home with a brace from Drogba.

Liverpool beat Everton 3-1 at home, winning the Merseyside derby.

Arsenal drew 1-1 away with Portsmouth.

Manchester United thrashed Birmingham City 3-0 at home.

Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at home.

Bayswater Chinese defeated West Ham United 2-1 at home.

…

On the evening of March 30th, the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Levski Sofia.

Yang Cheng’s team, with home advantage, launched a fierce attack on Levski Sofia from the very beginning.

This Bulgarian team had reached the quarter-finals thanks to its solid defense.

After the group stage, they had conceded only one goal in four knockout matches in the Round of 32 and Round of 16.

This included a two-legged tie against Udinese of Serie A.

Yes, they had defeated Udinese 2-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

Playing away in London, they adopted a completely defensive stance, determined to defend with all their might.

Moreover, their style of play was rather rough.

This made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese to find a way to break through their goal in the first half.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng pointed out the problems in the team’s attack, especially with centre-forward Džeko.

He hoped Džeko could take on more responsibility in such a tough, grueling situation.

Especially in terms of threatening the goal.

This was a serious problem for Bayswater Chinese this season.

Ribéry himself was not a prolific scorer. Ashley Young could play as a forward, but his performance was inconsistent.

Arshavin was ineligible for the UEFA Cup.

So, Yang Cheng hoped Džeko would step up.

He even told Džeko, “When you see a chance, just take the shot without hesitation!”

This was tantamount to giving Džeko an unlimited license to shoot.

And just four minutes into the second half, the Bosnian centre-forward blasted a shot from the edge of the penalty area, piercing Levski Sofia’s goal.

After scoring a goal, Bayswater Chinese played with more and more fluency.

Amid the cheers of the home fans, their attacks came in waves, pushing Levski Sofia back.

In the 73rd minute, following a brilliant pass from Ribéry after a breakthrough on the left, Džeko flicked the ball over a defender, turned, and shot with his right foot.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the end of the match.

…

“Well done, Edin!”

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, welcoming the triumphant players.

When it was Džeko’s turn, he gave him a big hug.

“Remember this feeling from the second half. I need you to maintain this form and score more goals.”

Džeko nodded eagerly.

It had been several months since he had transitioned to playing as a centre-forward, and he had played many matches.

Even he himself was gradually adapting to the role.

But he still wasn’t scoring a lot of goals.

This was partly because the level of competition he faced was very high, either in the Premier League or the UEFA Cup.

But more importantly, it was due to himself.

He hadn’t fully adjusted from his role as a midfielder to having the mentality of a centre-forward.

The two were different.

A midfielder’s role was more about passing and even considering defense.

But a centre-forward?

Their job was to attack and score by any means necessary!

Someone once rightly said that a forward who isn’t selfish isn’t a good forward.

Džeko’s personality meant he wasn’t a lone wolf, which required coaching to adjust.

“Believe me, Edin, and believe in yourself. You will become one of the most lethal scorers in European football!”

Yang Cheng had high hopes for Džeko.

“I understand!” Džeko nodded heavily.

…

Weekend, Premier League, round 32.

Mourinho’s team, after a week’s rest, defeated Birmingham City 1-0 away.

Liverpool beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 away.

Manchester United drew 2-2 away with Bolton.

Arsenal thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at home.

Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-3 away to Newcastle.

Yang Cheng’s team, however, struggled to break down Blackburn Rovers away from home and were caught on a counter-attack in the 84th minute, conceding a goal.

0-1, Bayswater Chinese returned home empty-handed.

Due to the loss in this round, Bayswater Chinese’s league position dropped to third, one point behind Manchester United.

Arsenal, meanwhile, caught up to Tottenham Hotspur but were still seven points behind Liverpool.

Yang Cheng did not blame his players for this defeat; instead, he constantly reassured them.

Playing on two fronts consecutively was already a remarkable achievement for a team with an average age of only twenty-one. Yang Cheng was proceeding with caution, afraid of any mishap.

But under fatigue and heavy pressure, it was inevitable that the players’ form would fluctuate.

This match also further confirmed for Yang Cheng that Roger Johnson was no longer suitable to remain with the team.

The loss was due to one of his mistakes.

Roger Johnson’s ability wasn’t bad; even without many games this season, he had improved significantly.

But Yang Cheng estimated that at best, he was at the level of a starting centre-back for a bottom-half Premier League team. He could be a substitute for a mid-to-upper-table team, but establishing himself in a team competing for European spots, especially the Champions League, would be difficult.

In that case, Yang Cheng didn’t intend to waste any more of each other’s time.

Letting him go would allow him to play more games.

By freeing up a valuable spot, Yang Cheng also wanted to sign a long-awaited centre-back.

In his mind, this centre-back was far better than Gerard Piqué.

He could even be considered the strongest centre-back of the post-1980 generation in world football.

Bar none.

And for this reason, he had always had Adam Crozier keep the Special Talent Clause in reserve.

Chapter 95: A Long Run! The Kid’s Finally Got It!

April was underway, and the race for the Premier League title was all but decided.

The only remaining question was: could Arsenal fight their way back into the top four?

Even the media pundits and fans who had previously hoped for Bayswater Chinese to collapse and slide down the table were now thoroughly disappointed.

Yang Cheng’s team and Ferguson’s Manchester United continued their back-and-forth battle.

On April 5th, Arsenal drew 0-0 away against Juventus in Turin.

Having won the first leg 2-0 at home, The Gunners eliminated Juventus 2-0 on aggregate to advance to the semi-finals.

Wenger’s team was clearly putting all their eggs in the Champions League basket.

Meanwhile, Bayswater Chinese, who had also won their first leg 2-0 at home, traveled to Bulgaria to face Levski Sofia and came away with a 3-1 victory.

They advanced to the semi-finals with a comfortable 5-1 aggregate score.

The other three teams to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals were Sevilla, Schalke 04, and AS Roma.

The draw pitted Bayswater Chinese against the Serie A side, the Giallorossi, AS Roma.

…

Returning to the Premier League, it was immediately time for the 33rd round. Bayswater Chinese hosted Birmingham City.

Birmingham, kicking off first, tried to seize the initiative with an early onslaught.

But the moment the ball entered the Bayswater Chinese half, José Fonte won it back.

Škrtel launched a counter-attack with a long ball. Ribéry broke through on the right wing and crossed into the box, where Lambert met it with a powerful shot, which the goalkeeper managed to push behind for a corner kick.

Modrić took the corner from the right. Lambert, Yaya Touré, and Škrtel all contested for the ball at the near post and in the center.

The Slovakian centre-back’s header struck the goalkeeper’s legs and rebounded out.

José Fonte, following up in front of goal, pounced on the loose ball and slotted it home.

1-0!

Conceding a goal just one minute into the game threw Birmingham into disarray.

A mere two minutes later, Yaya Touré played a pass to Andrei Arshavin, who delivered a beautiful ball from the left, sending Lambert through for a one-on-one.

However, the English centre-forward’s shot struck the post.

But in the 9th minute, Ribéry received a brilliant through ball from Modrić, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and scored with a right-footed shot.

2-0!

Just five minutes later, Bayswater Chinese won the ball and launched another counter-attack. Maicon carried the ball from his own half, surging fifty meters forward before passing to Arshavin.

The Russian broke into the right side of the box for a one-on-one, attempted to dribble past the keeper, and was brought down.

The head referee awarded a penalty kick.

Lambert, who had missed several good chances in the match, stepped up and converted it coolly, making the score 3-0!

Having conceded three goals, Birmingham’s head coach, Steve Bruce, could no longer sit still.

He made a substitution as early as the 24th minute.

Then, in the 35th minute, he made a second change.

Coming on this time was an old acquaintance of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese: former Arsenal youngster Jermaine Pennant.

But this was not enough to stop the relentless onslaught from Bayswater Chinese.

In the 39th minute of the first half, Lassana Diarra unleashed a strike from outside the area, blasting a long shot that found the back of the net, further extending the lead.

4-0!

At this point, it seemed the home team could create danger with every attack.

With the victory virtually sealed by halftime, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions in the second half.

Birmingham, on the other hand, tried to seize the opportunity to claw their way back.

In the 70th minute, Theo Walcott, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes, received a pass from Modrić on the right, launched a quick counter-attack, broke into the box, sidestepped the goalkeeper, and scored with a right-footed shot.

5-0!

However, seven minutes later, Birmingham managed to pull one back.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 5-1 victory over Birmingham City at home.

…

In other matches, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Manchester City 2-1 at home.

Chelsea came from behind to beat West Ham United 4-1 at home.

Liverpool edged out Bolton 1-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated Arsenal 2-0 at home.

After Round 33 of the Premier League, Chelsea remained at the top, with Manchester United in second, one point ahead.

Bayswater Chinese held their position in third.

But the points gap between them and Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Arsenal had widened further.

This was especially true for Arsenal.

The Gunners had gone all-out against Juventus mid-week, and the fatigue showed in their lackluster league performance.

With only five rounds left in the Premier League, The Gunners were a full ten points behind Liverpool. Their chances of finishing in the top four were now purely theoretical.

If Wenger’s team wanted to qualify for next season’s Champions League, they had only one path left.

Win this season’s Champions League!

After Round 33 concluded, Bayswater Chinese, who had been explosive in their recent match, received a flood of praise.

Throughout the season, their performances had earned them the recognition of the media and fans alike.

The general consensus was that under Yang Cheng, Bayswater Chinese had developed the strength to compete with the Premier League’s traditional “Big Four,” at least for this season.

As for next season?

That was hard to say.

After the 33rd round, some media outlets, ever eager to stir up trouble, created news by mocking Birmingham’s winger, Pennant.

It was a classic case of enemies being bound to cross paths.

The public, not knowing the full story, still believed that Pennant had rejected Bayswater Chinese back then, even mocking Yang Cheng’s team.

As a result, Yang Cheng had been forced to change targets and sign Aaron Lennon from Leeds United.

Six months later, Pennant left Arsenal for Birmingham City.

But who could have predicted that Aaron Lennon would make huge progress at Bayswater Chinese, earning the admiration of Wenger, and joining Arsenal—the very club Pennant longed to stay at but was unceremoniously sold from—for a high transfer fee.

And now, Bayswater Chinese, the team Pennant had once mocked as being unable to even survive in the Championship, had just thrashed his Birmingham side 5-1.

Some reporters even had the gall to run up to Pennant after the match and ask if he regretted not joining Bayswater Chinese back in the day.

The English winger completely lost his composure, erupting in a furious tirade and telling the reporter to get lost.

…

As far as Yang Cheng was concerned, Pennant had never been on his radar.

He naturally had no interest in participating in such topics.

Nor did he have the time.

After the 33rd round of the Premier League, there was a week-long break.

Yang Cheng gave his players a holiday, but he himself couldn’t rest. He had very important business to attend to.

Contract renewals.

In Yang Cheng’s mind, the most crucial position in the current Bayswater Chinese squad was the midfield.

Whether in his past life as a coach or his current one, Yang Cheng had always felt that even after being schooled by renowned managers like Wenger, Houllier, Benítez, Mourinho… and even later ones like Pep Guardiola and Pochettino, the technical and tactical level of the Premier League was still relatively crude and lagging.

In his previous life, he had been asked several times why the Premier League was the world’s number one league yet couldn’t match La Liga in European competitions.

Many fans would try to explain it through factors like the league format and competitiveness.

While those factors certainly played a part, they weren’t the whole story.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the most important reason was that the overall technical and tactical level in the Premier League was rather behind.

Many fans probably hadn’t noticed, but whenever a Premier League team possessed an outstanding, controlling midfield, they tended to perform well in Europe.

Take this season’s Arsenal, for example.

Players like Fàbregas, Pires, and Hleb gave The Gunners’ midfield great creativity and control.

Liverpool also boasted a world-class organizing midfielder in Xabi Alonso.

After Liverpool’s era, Manchester United would enjoy a peak period in European competition, with Carrick and the reinvented Scholes in their midfield.

When Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, their midfield featured Mikel and Juan Mata.

In the 2017/18 season, Liverpool had Henderson, Wijnaldum, and Milner in midfield, but in the Champions League final, they lost to Real Madrid’s Ceremony Trio.

A year later, Liverpool signed Brazilian holding midfielder Fabinho for a huge fee, and their midfield strength skyrocketed. They even managed a massive comeback against Barça in the semi-finals to win the Champions League.

And there was no need to mention the 2020/21 season, where both Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Tuchel’s Chelsea placed immense importance on the midfield.

By the 2021/22 season, when the aging Ceremony Trio, leading a group of young Real Madrid players, won the Champions League yet again, the importance of the midfield needed no further explanation.

The famous British sports columnist Jonathan Liu once wrote an article expressing his viewpoint.

He believed that Premier League teams lacked a certain on-field intelligence.

“The Champions League is a cup competition.”

“In a cup competition, every opponent and every match is different, bringing different challenges.”

“At such times, a team needs an on-field commander, a midfielder who can solve problems at critical moments, and a defender who can read the game.”

So, why was the Premier League’s European performance so inconsistent?

The answer was already clear.

Yang Cheng could say, with some audacity, that no head coach in the Premier League at this moment valued the midfield as much as he did.

Including Mourinho.

The midfield he had meticulously crafted for Bayswater Chinese—Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra—had shone brightly in the Premier League this season.

Even players like İnler, Andreassen, and Matuidi had performed exceptionally well.

Therefore, Yang Cheng prioritized the contract renewals of his midfield players.

During the team’s week-long break, Yang Cheng spoke with every one of his midfielders.

Modrić was the easiest to persuade.

As the team captain, the Croatian was very grateful for how Yang Cheng had promoted and nurtured him. Plus, he was still very young and had never even considered leaving.

It was rather amusing.

The player Yang Cheng considered the most important midfielder for Bayswater Chinese was the one least valued by the outside world.

They paid more attention to Yaya Touré and Lassana Diarra, whose strengths and advantages were obvious.

Modrić?

His attacking contributions weren’t particularly eye-catching, and he looked frail in defense.

Modrić promised to complete contract negotiations with the club as soon as possible.

Yang Cheng was willing to give him the team’s top salary, a weekly wage of twenty thousand pounds.

With Modrić, he appealed to emotion. With Lassana Diarra, Yang Cheng used incentives.

He told the French midfielder that the team would be competing in the Champions League next season. If he stayed, not only would his salary increase, but he would also get more opportunities to play and develop, which would give him more leverage when negotiating with big clubs.

At the very least, he could demand a higher salary.

“After 2007, I can’t speak for English teams, but I can promise that if any of the major clubs from other leagues want you and make a good offer, I’ll let you transfer.”

“You’re only twenty-one. You don’t really think you can just walk into a major club and become an undisputed starter, do you?”

With Yaya Touré, Yang Cheng used reason.

The Ivorian would be twenty-three at the end of the season and was gradually entering his prime.

Yang Cheng pointed out that he had only had one breakout season. Although many clubs were high on him, it was just potential they saw.

“Your brother plays for Arsenal. I’m sure you know a thing or two about the internal competition at big clubs.”

“If you go to a big club now, you have no advantage.”

“But what if you put up even better performances with our team and achieve solid results? Do you think the situation would still be the same?”

“By then, top clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United will be knocking on your door, begging you to join them.”

Yang Cheng deliberately mentioned Arsenal to provoke Yaya Touré.

He had once had a trial at Arsenal and even played in a friendly for The Gunners, but his performance was poor, and Wenger shut the door on him.

By bringing it up now, Yang Cheng wanted to tell Yaya Touré not to bow down so easily to the big clubs.

Back then, they couldn’t be bothered with you. Now, you should make them feel they can’t afford you!

If you go running to them the moment they beckon, will they cherish you? Will they value you?

After several days of conversation, Yang Cheng finally convinced Yaya Touré and Lassana Diarra, solidifying their decisions to stay with the team.

Before the team traveled north to Newcastle for their Premier League Round 34 match, Bayswater Chinese announced to the public that they had officially begun contract renewals for the new season.

“We have officially initiated contract renewal talks with players including Luka Modrić, Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, and Gökhan İnler. We aim to complete these renewals before the end of the season!”

This official announcement from Adam Crozier undoubtedly crushed the hopes of clubs coveting these players.

It was also a move to stabilize the team’s morale.

By keeping the squad intact, Yang Cheng would have the confidence to make a strong push in the Champions League next season!

Premier League teams don’t do well in Europe?

That depends on who’s in charge!

…

On the afternoon of April 15th, in the 34th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Newcastle away from home.

With the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final coming up in mid-week, Yang Cheng implemented a heavy rotation for this match, changing a full six positions in the starting lineup.

Players like Modrić, Ribéry, and Yaya Touré were all on the bench.

Džeko didn’t even make the matchday squad.

In the match itself, Yang Cheng also changed his usual style of controlling possession and tempo, adopting a more direct attacking approach.

The plan was to build from a solid defense, move the ball quickly through midfield, and create attacking advantages through the two wings.

This was evident from Yang Cheng’s midfield selection.

Gökhan İnler and Matuidi, partnered with Andreassen—this midfield trio was tough!

From the start of the match, İnler and Matuidi repeatedly committed fouls in the middle and attacking thirds, much to the frustration of the home side, Newcastle.

The home fans relentlessly booed the away team’s players.

Newcastle also appeared exceptionally cautious.

They had expected Bayswater Chinese to continue with their high-tempo attacking tactics, so they started with a very defensive posture.

Unexpectedly, Bayswater Chinese adopted an even more defensive stance.

Having no choice, they had to take control of possession.

But Newcastle soon discovered that it was very difficult for them to advance the ball through midfield.

The away team’s midfield was too tough and too aggressive.

Matuidi, in particular, was like a “mad dog,” running tirelessly and chasing down every ball.

Bayswater Chinese effectively stifled their opponents. Despite having possession, Newcastle could only pass the ball back and forth in their own half or run in circles, struggling to get it to Alan Shearer up front.

This dull affair continued for over half an hour.

In the 35th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball and launched a quick counter-attack.

Arshavin received the ball on the left and sent in a cross towards the edge of the penalty area.

Gökhan İnler provided a flick-on, directing the ball to Lambert, who was positioned on the right side of the D.

The English centre-forward controlled the ball with his chest with his back to goal and laid it off.

İnler made an overlapping run and, from the edge of the box, hit a shot that found its way into Newcastle’s goal.

1-0!

But Newcastle were no pushovers.

Especially at home.

After falling a goal behind, the entire team launched a furious offensive.

In the 44th minute, Solano delivered a cross from an attacking free-kick, and Ameobi outjumped Koscielny to head the ball into the net, successfully equalizing.

1-1!

The two teams went into halftime with the score level.

After the break, Yang Cheng made a decisive move, launching an all-out attack.

In the 55th minute, Ashley Young, with support from Maicon on the right, broke through Newcastle’s defense. From the right side outside the penalty area, he sent a diagonal pass to the far post where an unmarked Arshavin was waiting.

The Russian struck the ball first-time, sending it into the Newcastle goal.

2-1!

After conceding again, Newcastle grew desperate.

Especially their defender, Jean-Alain Boumsong.

In the 62nd minute, as Arshavin dribbled into the box, Boumsong, after failing to clear the ball, deliberately pulled Arshavin down.

The head referee unhesitatingly awarded a penalty kick and showed a red card.

Lambert stepped up and converted the penalty.

3-1!

With the victory secured and the opponent down a man, Yang Cheng immediately made substitutions to rest players for the mid-week UEFA Cup match.

In the 80th minute, İnler switched the play to the right flank.

Maicon made an overlapping run to receive the ball and charged down the right sideline, reaching the edge of the box before delivering a cross towards Lambert.

Lambert challenged for the ball in the box, heading it back to the left side of the penalty area.

Substitute Gareth Bale followed up with a shot that found the back of Newcastle’s net.

4-1!

This was also the young Gareth Bale’s first ever Premier League goal!

In the previous round, his roommate and best friend Theo Walcott had scored his first career Premier League goal, and Gareth Bale had been very envious.

Walcott’s performances this season had been more impressive than Bale’s, and he had garnered a lot of attention, especially after his breakout performance in the UEFA Cup.

Moreover, he was an English player.

Gareth Bale, on the other hand, had chosen to represent Wales.

Now, Bale had scored a goal of his own.

Incidentally, although the club’s history was short, Walcott’s league goal in the previous round didn’t make him the youngest professional league goalscorer in Bayswater Chinese history.

The English youngster was only second on the list.

First place belonged to Huddlestone.

He had scored in the 13th round of the 2003/04 League Two season, in a 6-0 home victory over Tranmere Rovers.

At the time, Huddlestone was still two months shy of his seventeenth birthday.

Walcott, by contrast, had just turned seventeen.

But now, Gareth Bale’s goal had broken Huddlestone’s record, making him the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history. He would not turn seventeen until July 16th.

He had beaten Huddlestone’s record by a month.

Yang Cheng didn’t really care for such records, but he was unsparing in his praise for Gareth Bale’s goal, showing great excitement.

This further motivated the Welshman.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese routed Newcastle 4-1 away from home.

Since Manchester United were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Sunderland in this round, Bayswater Chinese moved back up to second place on the League table.

…

On the evening of April 20th, at Loftus Road Stadium in London.

In the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted AS Roma.

Back in February, Roma’s captain, the “Wolf King” Totti, had suffered a fracture and was sidelined for an extended period.

Head coach Spalletti still deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Doni;

Defense: Cufre, Chivu, Mexès, and Panucci;

Midfield: De Rossi and Dacourt formed the double pivot, with Mancini, Perrotta, and Tommasi in front of them;

Forward: Taddei.

With his new strikers failing to deliver and veteran Montella no longer reliable, Spalletti had a rough first half of the season.

But soon, he gradually honed a brand new tactical system.

It was a 4-2-3-1 tactic with the “Wolf King” Totti as the attacking fulcrum.

This would later become famous among fans as the “Wolf Pack Tactics” or the “false nine formation.”

Totti played the role of the “1” in the 4-2-3-1 formation.

This was the most crucial part of the system.

With this innovative tactical approach, Spalletti’s team went on an eleven-game winning streak in Serie A and a thirteen-game unbeaten run. It was a truly impressive and stunning achievement.

Although Totti’s fracture at the end of February halted Roma’s winning and unbeaten streaks, their performance afterward was still commendable. They only lost 3-2 away to Ascoli.

In other words, Roma had lost only one of their last nineteen Serie A matches.

This filled the Giallorossi with immense ambition.

Even in London, they were determined to eliminate this newly promoted Premier League team.

Roma, wearing their white away kits, went on the attack from the very beginning.

But what Spalletti didn’t expect was that Yang Cheng was far more familiar with the false nine formation than he was.

Yang Cheng had also studied this Giallorossi team thoroughly.

Just five minutes into the game, Ashley Young failed to break through on the right wing but managed to pass the ball to Piszczek near the right sideline.

Facing Cufre, the Polish player came to a sudden stop, feigned a shot, then abruptly knocked the ball towards the byline, using his speed to shake off Cufre.

After catching up to the ball on the right side of the penalty area, Piszczek didn’t continue towards the byline. Instead, just before Chivu could close him down, he whipped in a cross.

To everyone’s surprise at Roma, the cross wasn’t aimed at the towering Džeko in the box. Instead, it was sent towards the edge of the area, on the right side of the D.

Then, everyone saw a powerful red figure charging forward at high speed. On the right side of the arc, he met Piszczek’s cross without taking a touch and unleashed a thunderous volley.

A dull thud echoed through the stadium, and the ball, like a heavy missile, shot into the goal guarded by Doni with lightning speed.

In an instant, the entire stadium erupted.

“Yaya Touré!!”

“An absolutely beautiful volley!”

“From the Ivorian midfielder, Yaya Touré!”

“This young midfielder has been Bayswater Chinese’s best performer in the middle of the park this season.”

“Just a couple of days ago, he announced he was in contract renewal talks with the club, and now he opens the scoring for his team with a stunning volley!”

“The two players linked up perfectly.”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay again.”

“Piszczek’s overlapping run was very decisive and purposeful. He didn’t go all the way to the byline, nor did he look for Džeko or Ribéry. Instead, he chose to pass back to the edge of the box.”

“Yaya Touré’s run from deep was perfectly timed.”

“This leads us to believe that this must have been planned by the head coach before the game and practiced in training sessions, which is why they were able to execute it with such perfect understanding.”

“A magnificent volley from Yaya Touré!”

“1-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese takes the lead.”

…

Conceding an early away goal did not cause Roma to panic.

Their strategy for this match was still to attack.

Spalletti wanted to secure an away goal.

This plunged both sides back into a fast-paced, end-to-end battle.

Moreover, the atmosphere grew a little tense.

The game became somewhat chaotic, as Roma’s 4-2-3-1 formation featured several midfielders who were excellent runners and tacklers.

Once they won the ball, the Giallorossi would launch a decisive attack.

Yang Cheng’s specific defensive strategy was to shut down Taddei, suppress Roma’s wings, and be wary of Perrotta’s late runs.

Especially Mancini on the left wing.

In the 29th minute, Lassana Diarra tracked back to support Piszczek, and together they dispossessed Mancini.

After winning the tackle, the French midfielder, faced with Mancini’s on-the-spot counter-press just outside his own penalty area, showed off some flair, flicking the ball over his opponent.

Yang Cheng felt like slapping him.

But he had to admit, Lassana Diarra’s skill was genuinely impressive.

After flicking the ball over Mancini, he quickly passed it to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian was in superb form tonight. He took off like a flash, carrying the ball forward like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep, bulldozing his way into Roma’s final third.

The three forwards were already in position.

Yaya Touré passed to Ribéry on the left side of the D.

The Frenchman used his signature move—controlling the ball and beating a player in a single touch—but failed to get past Panucci.

However, Ribéry reacted quickly. A sharp stop, a feint, a change of direction—a series of slick moves allowed him to shake off Panucci and play a through ball behind the defense from the edge of the area.

Džeko, who had been waiting for the opportunity, made a diagonal run towards the left of the penalty spot, held off the young French centre-back Mexès with his arm, and fired a powerful left-footed shot.

The ball hit the back of the net.

2-0!

The entire stadium erupted once more!

The Bosnian centre-forward sprinted off the pitch, roaring continuously, venting his excitement.

This was the UEFA Cup semi-final!

He himself could hardly believe it. A year ago, he was playing domestic football in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and now, he had scored in a UEFA Cup semi-final?

It all felt like a dream.

But his teammates came running, mobbing him, all of them shouting in his ear, telling him this was not a dream!

…

Even after going two goals down, Roma showed no signs of backing down.

Their recent winning streak had instilled immense confidence in the Giallorossi, and they were full of ambition to make their mark in the UEFA Cup.

But soon, Bayswater Chinese sounded another warning shot.

This time, it came from a long ball from the back.

Džeko made a quick forward run into the space in the left channel, controlled the ball on his chest, and faced Panucci directly.

In a one-on-one situation, Džeko dribbled past his opponent and sent a diagonal cross towards the center with his left foot.

Ribéry and Ashley Young sprinted desperately to get on the end of it, but they were a step too slow and missed the brilliant pass, squandering a golden opportunity!

Amidst the sighs of disappointment from the entire stadium, Yang Cheng, on the sideline, was grinning from ear to ear.

He turned to Brian Kidd on the coaching bench and said loudly, “Did you see that? The kid’s finally got it!”

Brian Kidd was equally pleased.

Knowing Yang Cheng’s entire plan, he understood exactly what this meant.

…

Back when Yang Cheng first crossed over and decided to personally coach Bayswater Chinese, with the goal of turning the team into a top European powerhouse, he had been pondering one question.

What kind of tactics were best suited for the Premier League?

For the past three years, Yang Cheng had been thinking about this question constantly.

He had considered many options, such as Ferguson’s Treble-winning team and the 2008 Manchester United side, Wenger’s Invincible Arsenal, Benítez’s Liverpool, Mourinho’s Chelsea…

He had even thought about teams that might not even exist in this timeline, like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Klopp’s Liverpool.

Yang Cheng had also lamented that he had crossed over too late.

If he had arrived earlier, he could have poached Messi from Barça or snatched C. Ronaldo from Manchester United. Then things would have been much simpler.

He could just build his tactics around these two superstars, couldn’t he?

But now?

For the next decade or so, the two most talented superstars in world football would be his rivals!

The thought was actually a little exciting, wasn’t it?

Ferguson’s Treble-winners, Wenger’s Invincible Arsenal, Benítez’s Liverpool, and Mourinho’s Chelsea—these four teams were the first ones Yang Cheng discarded.

The reason was quite simple.

The Manchester United of the Treble era was no longer in line with the current and future trends of football.

Benítez’s Liverpool was too focused on balance, whereas Yang Cheng preferred attacking football.

Mourinho’s Chelsea was weak in midfield control and creativity, which wasn’t Yang Cheng’s style either.

Wenger’s Invincible Arsenal was very balanced in attack and defense, with no shortage of fine technique and creativity, but Yang Cheng actually preferred the post-Vieira and Henry era, when The Gunners were known for their pass-and-move style.

Interestingly, the pass-and-move Arsenal and the 2008 Manchester United had many similarities.

For example, they were both very fast in attack, and both had a centre-forward who acted as a pivot.

Many fans said that the 2008 Manchester United played a “run around like headless chickens” style.

What did that mean?

It meant the midfielders, Carrick and Scholes, were responsible for passing, while the forwards, C. Ronaldo, Tevez, and Rooney, would just run wild.

This wasn’t entirely wrong.

Because they were running all over the place, even their own coach couldn’t predict how they would link up, let alone the opposition.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t completely random.

Rooney played a very important role in this system.

Even with C. Ronaldo scoring so many goals, many people still believed that Rooney was the most important player for Manchester United.

Because he was the pivot!

Manchester United’s system was a bit like Spalletti’s Roma, and also a bit like Guardiola’s Barça after moving Messi to the center—they were all false nine formations.

Spalletti’s false nine at Roma was born out of necessity, but it was indeed very interesting.

With the number 10 player, Totti, pushed up to the centre-forward position, he became the fulcrum of the attack, and the wingers and attacking midfielders all made their runs around him.

If Totti drifted wide, a winger would cut inside to play as the striker.

If Totti dropped deep, the attacking midfielder, Perrotta, would surge forward.

In this system, Totti played a crucial role as a free-roaming attacker.

The Italian midfielder had exceptional skill, great passing ability, outstanding technique, and a strong goal-scoring instinct, making him a complete player who could pass, shoot, control, and dribble.

But the most crucial thing was his ability to receive the ball with his back to goal and turn away from defenders.

This was an essential skill for all forwards, especially central strikers.

Particularly now, as defenses became more organized and the pressing zones expanded, wingers and forwards would face pressure from behind even when they dropped deep to receive the ball.

The ability to play with one’s back to goal was becoming increasingly important.

By the same token, at Manchester United, why couldn’t C. Ronaldo play as a centre-forward?

Because he couldn’t hold up the ball with his back to goal.

When an attacker lacks this ability, he must be paired with a player who possesses it to be effective.

At Manchester United, Saha, Berbatov, Rooney, and even Tevez could play this role.

But Van Nistelrooy couldn’t!

At Guardiola’s Barça, Messi also had exceptional ability to play with his back to goal, which was why he thrived in the false nine system.

In fact, in Guardiola’s mind, the most suitable player for the centre-forward position was Ibrahimović.

That was why Guardiola was willing to pay a fortune to sign Ibrahimović back then.

Of course, this was purely a technical and tactical consideration. The ultimate failure was due to non-tactical factors.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the Premier League was not suited for slow, methodical possession football, but rather for fast-paced passing and movement.

Although Guardiola’s Manchester City was very consistent and dominant in the Premier League, it was a different story in the Champions League.

This was the biggest problem with his tactical philosophy.

An overemphasis on technique and possession meant that the players in the team were generally weaker in physical confrontations.

This was true not only in midfield but also in attack and defense.

In the league, against weaker teams, this wasn’t a problem. But in the Champions League, especially in the knockout stages against strong teams that were not tactically inferior, the issue was easily exposed.

In this respect, Real Madrid’s Ceremony Trio was more adaptable and more durable.

Modrić’s control and dribbling, and Toni Kroos’s precise long passing and midfield organization would also be very suitable for the Premier League.

Unfortunately, Toni Kroos became famous at a young age and quickly attracted the attention of big clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. In 2005, Bayern moved first and signed him.

Bayswater Chinese did not yet have the standing to compete for such talented players.

In Yang Cheng’s mind, once the midfield was controlled, the pace of the two wingers would be the key to the attack.

This was why he had such high hopes for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

In this context, the all-around Džeko became a very important part of Yang Cheng’s tactical system.

He never intended to turn Džeko into a tactical target man or have him just hold up the ball.

On the contrary, he had always encouraged Džeko to run.

Džeko wasn’t slow. He could pass, shoot, dribble, and control the ball, and he was 1.93 meters tall.

What would it look like to have such a centre-forward playing as a free man up front, surrounded by other talented attackers?

It would be unstoppable, wouldn’t it?

For Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, this was a multi-year strategy.

As of now, many pieces were still not in place or not fully developed.

For example, the midfield still lacked a precise long passer.

This would maximize the threat posed by the centre-forward and the two speedy wingers.

Previously, Džeko wasn’t mature and hadn’t quite “got it,” and Lambert was clearly not the centre-forward Yang Cheng was satisfied with.

The winger situation was also a case of time and tide wait for no man. He had finally signed Arshavin, but if Ribéry left this summer, he would be short-handed again.

The defense was good, though. Leighton Baines, Maicon, and Piszczek all had strong attacking capabilities from the flanks.

But this was professional football!

Yang Cheng had been coaching for decades and was used to it.

Right now, he was focused on developing Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, helping these two youngsters mature as quickly as possible.

When that time came, Bayswater Chinese would truly take off!

Now, seeing Džeko finally get it, Yang Cheng had undoubtedly taken a big step forward in his plan.

…

Sometimes, football is all about enlightenment.

When a player finally “gets it,” many things that were once difficult suddenly become crystal clear.

Just before the end of the first half, Roma launched an offensive wave, with even their defenders pushing high up the pitch.

The Giallorossi’s intention was clear: to pull a goal back before halftime.

But they never expected that a long shot from De Rossi would be blocked by Yaya Touré and rebound back.

Modrić got to the ball first, chipped it over Dacourt, and passed it to Džeko.

Yes, at this moment, Džeko had dropped back into his own final third.

Facing the direction of attack, Džeko calmly controlled the ball with one touch and took a step forward.

Behind him, De Rossi was quickly tracking back to close him down, while in front, Mexès was pressing.

Caught between them, Džeko moved first, passing the ball to Ribéry on the left and continuing his run forward.

Ribéry sprinted towards the ball.

Panucci also had his eyes on Džeko’s pass, trying to judge if he could intercept it before Ribéry.

The Roma defender immediately made his decision and gave chase.

But Panucci didn’t expect Ribéry to suddenly accelerate, moving faster than he had anticipated.

The Frenchman had been deliberately holding back his speed.

By the time that thought crossed Panucci’s mind, Ribéry was already ahead of him. He knocked the ball inside, made a diagonal run forward, and brushed past Panucci.

The entire stadium erupted again.

“A quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Ribéry is on the ball, moving at incredible speed.”

Chivu and Cufre were the last men back.

Seeing Ribéry break past Panucci, Chivu, who was originally in the center, immediately moved over to intercept him.

But in the middle of the pitch, Džeko was sprinting forward at full tilt, shouting Ribéry’s name and pointing ahead of himself.

Ribéry’s strength was his explosive burst of speed. After shaking off Panucci, his usual habit would have been to slow down as Chivu approached.

Control the ball, wait for teammates.

But Džeko’s run gave Ribéry another option.

Before Chivu could get close, the Frenchman played a forward pass and slowed down himself.

I’m done running!

Chivu didn’t expect it, overran the play, and slammed on the brakes. By the time he turned around, he saw Džeko sprinting at full speed.

The Bosnian centre-forward wasn’t known for his pace, but that was because his tall frame meant he lacked explosive acceleration.

But once he got up to speed, his long strides covered a lot of ground, and he was quite fast.

At least, Cufre, running alongside him, couldn’t keep up and was being left behind.

By the time Džeko caught up to Ribéry’s pass at the top of the penalty arc, facing the onrushing Doni, he sold a dummy that sent the keeper diving to the ground. He then cut the ball to the right, rounded Doni, and slotted it into the empty net with his right foot.

The Bosnian centre-forward didn’t slow down, continuing his run off the pitch.

The entire stadium exploded in an instant!

Over eighteen thousand fans were madly chanting Džeko’s name.

The Bosnian centre-forward, overcome with excitement, ran off the pitch and towards the sideline, roaring at the fans in the stands.

“Astonishing!”

“Edin Džeko from Bosnia and Herzegovina!”

“A run of a full seventy meters!”

“This is simply incredible!”

“Edin Džeko has scored a brace!”

“This is definitely the most exciting goal of the night!”

“The young Bosnian, in whom Yang Cheng has placed so much faith, has finally delivered a stunning performance! With his brace, he has secured victory for Bayswater Chinese in this home leg!”

“3-0!”

“Last summer, when Yang Cheng decided to use the Special Talent Clause for Džeko, many in the media, and even many experts, mocked him, thinking he was abusing the rule.”

“A fifty-thousand-pound Bosnian midfielder, and Yang Cheng insisted he was a centre-forward, a genius centre-forward at that. Wasn’t that ridiculous?”

“But now, after watching today’s match, watching Džeko’s performance, it’s just astounding!”

“I can’t believe my eyes! Is he really 1.93 meters tall?”

“With that height and that weight, to be able to make a long-distance run like that… If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.”

Even Yang Cheng himself couldn’t believe it.

He knew Džeko was finally getting it.

Whether it was drifting wide earlier or dropping deep this time, Džeko had done it well.

But Yang Cheng had never expected Džeko to suddenly embark on such a long solo run.

Even when he reached the edge of the box, he didn’t think to pass to the unmarked Ashley Young on the right, but instead chose to take on the goalkeeper himself and shoot.

If it had been anyone else, Yang Cheng would have thought, “what a selfish player!”

But with Džeko, Yang Cheng wanted to applaud.

This showed that Džeko was becoming more and more confident, and developing the hunger of a true goalscorer.

“Brian,” Yang Cheng turned to his assistant coach, laughing with satisfaction, “do you think all those critics from last summer will be eating their words now?”

Chapter 96: It’s Gone Viral! Final League Standings

The UEFA Cup semi-final match held at Loftus Road Stadium concluded with a 3-0 victory for Bayswater Chinese over AS Roma. The Giallorossi failed to score an away goal.

Keeping a clean sheet at home, Džeko scored a brace.

In the dressing room after the match, Yang Cheng was ecstatic as he praised his players.

He gave particularly high praise to Džeko’s performance.

This was, after all, a crucial part of his future strategy.

If he lost Džeko, how long would he have to wait for another centre-forward as well-rounded as him?

In the other semi-final, Schalke 04 drew 0-0 at home against Sevilla.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese’s decisive win over AS Roma, the clash between the La Liga and Bundesliga teams seemed to be an evenly matched affair.

After the two matches, some German media compared Neuer with Schalke 04’s goalkeeper, Frank Rost.

They discovered that Neuer, who had just turned twenty, had actually performed better than the long-established Rost.

This left a sour taste in the mouths of Schalke 04 and German football fans.

The fans of Schalke 04 were filled with regret, especially when the media reported that Germany’s national team head coach, Klinsmann, was scouting Neuer.

They should never have let Neuer go.

And for such a cheap price, no less!

On the current German national team, there were four goalkeepers with the most support for a World Cup spot.

Bayern Munich’s Oliver Kahn, Arsenal’s Lehmann, Hannover 96’s Robert Enke, and VfB Stuttgart’s goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand.

Among them, Kahn and Lehmann were widely recognized as the first and second-choice goalkeepers.

Kahn of Bayern Munich had always been the starter, but as he grew older, Klinsmann gradually replaced him with Lehmann after taking charge.

Speaking of which, both legendary goalkeepers were born in 1969; Kahn on June 15th, and Lehmann on November 10th.

It was precisely because both main goalkeepers were aging that the succession plan for Germany’s national team was a topic of intense focus.

Hildebrand had once been a very popular candidate, but after a disappointing spell in La Liga, he had never regained his form.

Besides, he was already twenty-seven years old.

Robert Enke, born in 1977, had recently earned praise for his outstanding performances in the Bundesliga.

Under these circumstances, the three young goalkeepers in the German national youth team were receiving a great deal of attention.

Michael Rensing from Bayern Munich, René Adler from Bayer Leverkusen, and Manuel Neuer from Bayswater Chinese.

Rensing was the first to capture the attention of German fans, as he was heavily promoted by Bayern Munich and was unanimously considered the successor to the “Lion King” Kahn, making his first team debut for Bayern at the age of nineteen.

For the past three years, Bayern had spared no effort in developing Rensing, helping him to gradually take over from Kahn.

Rensing’s performance had been consistently good and widely acclaimed.

This was especially true in February of this season when he played for Bayern in the home leg of the Champions League Round of 16 and performed well, conceding only one goal.

In contrast, it was Kahn who conceded four goals in the away leg, leading to Bayern’s elimination.

Since then, the calls for Rensing to replace Kahn had grown ever louder.

René Adler had yet to make an appearance for Leverkusen’s first team and was only playing for the B team, where he was performing well.

Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer, who had initially been the least noticed and almost forgotten, quickly established himself after transferring from Schalke 04 to Bayswater Chinese.

Previously, when he was in the Championship, fans generally didn’t think much of it, considering it just match experience.

But this season, as Bayswater Chinese dazzled in the Premier League and repeatedly defeated strong opponents in the UEFA Cup and League Cup, Neuer delivered one outstanding performance after another.

This caused the young German goalkeeper’s profile to soar.

Among the three young goalkeepers, he had the most match experience and the best performances.

Even VfB Stuttgart’s Hildebrand, also in the UEFA Cup, did not perform as well as Neuer.

This led to increasing calls for Neuer to be selected for the national team.

German fans generally believed that Kahn and Lehmann’s successors must be identified as soon as possible.

Unlike in Yang Cheng’s previous life, this time, Neuer was ahead of Rensing and Adler.

Besides Neuer, another player who sparked heated public debate was the Bosnian centre-forward, Edin Džeko.

The British media, of course, would not engage in self-reflection; they only cared about traffic.

After Džeko scored a brace to help Bayswater Chinese advance to the semi-finals, they frantically hyped up Džeko’s “genius,” asserting that the Bosnian centre-forward displayed a delicate technique and speed rarely seen in a tall striker.

England’s lanky Peter Crouch was known for his technique, but in the match against AS Roma, Džeko showed better technique, greater speed, and superior running ability.

Džeko’s all-around versatility amazed everyone.

At this point, no one would dare question whether Džeko was a so-called “genius.”

According to The Times, if every player brought in under the Special Talent Clause could reach Džeko’s level, the overall quality of the Premier League would rise by a notch.

Then there was Ribéry.

As the best-performing player in the Premier League this season, Ribéry had reached double digits in both goals and assists, and he also had the most successful dribbles in the league.

This not only caused the Frenchman’s value to skyrocket but also made him a strong contender for the Premier League Player of the Season award.

However, his chances of winning the award were not very high.

Because Ribéry had a very formidable competitor: Arsenal’s Henry.

Although Arsenal’s performance in the Premier League had been poor this season, Henry’s performance was there for all to see. He harvested goals as easily as reaping cabbages, excelling in both scoring and assisting.

On the weekend, the 35th round of the Premier League.

Having just had a grueling home game against AS Roma and with an away trip to Italy next Wednesday, Yang Cheng continued to rotate the squad for this match.

Since it was a home game, the rotation was not extensive.

O’Leary’s Aston Villa, on the other hand, wanted to take advantage of Bayswater Chinese fighting on two fronts to launch a sneak attack.

Therefore, at the start of the match, it was Aston Villa who had the upper hand.

The turning point of the game occurred in the 25th minute. After successfully winning the ball in midfield, Matuidi drove forward to orchestrate a counter-attack. Receiving a brilliant pass from Ribéry on the left side of the penalty area, he struck the ball with his left foot into Aston Villa’s net.

Unexpectedly, after switching sides in the second half, Aston Villa launched another offensive.

In the 53rd minute, Colombian centre-forward Juan Pablo Ángel scored for Aston Villa, leveling the score.

Seeing his team unable to break the deadlock, Yang Cheng made a substitution in the 55th minute.

Džeko came on for Andreassen, forming a two-striker partnership.

This adjustment immediately turned the tide of the match.

Just two minutes after coming on, Džeko received the ball with his back to goal outside the penalty area, turned to shake off a defender, and delivered a sublime pass.

Ribéry broke into the left side of the box and fired a low shot past the Aston Villa goalkeeper, putting his team back in the lead.

2-1!

Just five minutes later, it was Džeko again, dropping deep to receive the ball and distributing it to the right flank. Andrei Arshavin dribbled into the right side of the penalty area and, having lost the angle to shoot, squared the ball across the face of the goal.

Lambert couldn’t get there in time, but Ribéry arrived at the far post to tap the ball into the empty net.

3-1!

This scoreline held until the end of the match.

Thanks to Ribéry’s brace, Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 3-1.

In this round of matches, Liverpool thrashed Fulham 5-1 at home.

Chelsea defeated Everton 3-0 at home.

Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away.

Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-1 away.

Therefore, there was little change in the league table standings, except that Arsenal had once again closed the gap on Tottenham Hotspur.

On the evening of April 27th, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

In the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese challenged AS Roma away from home.

If Yang Cheng were to describe this match in one sentence, he would say: It was a match where a team of leaderless wolves made a desperate last stand at home.

After Totti’s leg fracture, Spalletti had been trying to use the Brazilian player Taddei to replace him.

This player was indeed quite versatile.

But Taddei was not Totti, and he couldn’t fulfill Totti’s role.

When the core player in the attack ailed to effectively link up with the surrounding players to form a cohesive unit, AS Roma’s Wolf Pack Tactics looked more like chaotic and disorganized tactics.

Every player seemed to be working hard, lacking no fighting spirit, repeatedly attempting to attack and diligently participating in defense.

But there was simply no method to their madness.

After establishing a three-goal lead at home, Yang Cheng’s team played with more composure in the away game. He, Brian Kidd, and the others took the opportunity to observe AS Roma’s tactics and exposed weaknesses more closely from the sidelines.

Gianni Vio, in particular, was very interested in this aspect.

Was AS Roma’s only problem Totti?

“Totti’s presence masked AS Roma’s lack of organization in midfield. He’s too good. He can single-handedly push forward on attack and also drop back to participate in midfield organization and build-up play. He’s truly doing the job of both a father and a mother!” Gianni Vio sighed.

He was also Italian, and now he was helping Bayswater Chinese defeat a team from his home country, which made him feel a little wistful.

But the lack of creative midfielders in Italy was a long-standing problem.

In the past few years, besides Pirlo, how many other Italian midfielders with outstanding organizational skills had emerged?

Inter Milan’s current core midfielder, Cambiasso, was a player Real Madrid had cast aside.

The same went for Figo and Solari.

Serie A might seem glamorous now, still basking in the glow of its “Little World Cup” era, but in reality, its decline was already an open secret.

“If their midfield were good enough, Totti’s absence wouldn’t have affected them this much,” Brian Kidd agreed with Gianni Vio’s assessment.

De Rossi, Dacourt, and Perrotta were not the kind of players who could organize and control the midfield.

Yang Cheng thought of Aquilani, but strangely, the midfielder wasn’t in the squad for either match. He was probably either injured or still too young.

“We still need to strengthen our midfield, especially in terms of organization and distribution. Relying solely on Modrić is a bit of a strain,” Gianni Vio offered his suggestion.

Whether for long-term strategic development or immediate needs, this was a pertinent piece of advice.

“You’re not thinking of having me compete with Manchester United for Carrick, are you?” Yang Cheng asked with a laugh.

But from the look on Gianni Vio’s face, that was exactly what the Italian scholar had in mind.

Academics were always too idealistic.

If they could really snatch Carrick, it would not only be a blow to Manchester United but also a significant boost to Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

Yang Cheng didn’t even have to think about it. He could directly switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Carrick and Yaya Touré or Lassana Diarra forming a double pivot, and Modrić would have no problem playing in the number 10 role.

This would elevate the overall strength of the midfield to another level.

But the problem was, Carrick was expensive!

Not just expensive, but ridiculously expensive!

Based on current transfer market estimates, Carrick should be worth around twelve million pound sterling.

After all, Tottenham Hotspur hadn’t achieved much this past season, and Carrick was the type of unassuming midfielder who didn’t grab headlines.

But what happened?

Not long ago, when Manchester United inquired about his price, Tottenham Hotspur quoted twenty-five million pound sterling.

That was absolutely asking for an exorbitant price!

Why?

Daniel Levy said that if Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon could each sell for twenty million pound sterling, Carrick would only be more expensive.

Listen to that. Was that something a sane person would say?

He was actually comparing prices!

Did he think he was shopping on Taobao with a price comparison extension?

There were rumors that after Yaya Touré and Lassana Diarra decided to renew their contracts, Manchester United had already set their sights on Carrick and Owen Hargreaves.

The transfer fees for both players would be very high.

At least at this stage, Bayswater Chinese didn’t have that kind of spending power and could only watch from the sidelines.

Yang Cheng felt that his current midfield was already competitive enough, even for the Champions League.

Without finding a suitable player, he had no intention of breaking it up!

In the away game, Bayswater Chinese ultimately drew 1-1 with AS Roma.

Moreover, both goals came from set pieces.

At the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Spain, Sevilla and Schalke 04 played to a 0-0 draw in ninety minutes.

The two sides went into extra time, where Navas assisted Puerta for a last-minute winner that knocked Schalke 04 out.

Thus, this season’s UEFA Cup final would be a showdown between Bayswater Chinese and Sevilla.

The 36th round of the Premier League was a round of settled fates.

Despite having a one-man advantage over Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal drew 1-1 at home, failing to defeat their North London arch-rival.

This meant the two teams were still separated by one point.

Arsenal had 61 points, while Tottenham had 62.

In this round, Liverpool defeated West Ham United 2-1 away, thanks to a brace from Cissé, reaching 73 points.

In other words, both North London teams were already destined to miss out on the top four.

Since Bayswater Chinese had already secured a top-four finish and won the League Cup, it didn’t really matter whether they finished 5th or 6th, as they would qualify for next season’s UEFA Cup regardless.

Perhaps for this reason, The Gunners weren’t too concerned.

In the Champions League semi-finals, Wenger’s side had eliminated Villarreal 1-0 on aggregate to reach the final.

Their opponent in the final was once again Barça.

Since Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda were ineligible for the Champions League, Yang Cheng had no idea if Arsenal could defy destiny this time.

Manchester United drew 0-0 at home against Middlesbrough, while Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 away.

Bayswater Chinese scraped a 1-0 away win against Fulham.

After this round of matches, Chelsea led the table with 87 points.

Bayswater Chinese, with 24 wins, 8 draws, and 4 losses, had 80 points and sat in 2nd place.

Manchester United was in 3rd place with 77 points.

After this round, there wasn’t much suspense left in the season.

The rankings were pretty much set.

The only area of interest was the relegation zone.

18th-placed Birmingham City was just two points behind 17th-placed Portsmouth.

Therefore, the last two rounds were crucial.

As for Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng began to focus more of his energy on the upcoming UEFA Cup final.

Premier League teams had an advantage, as this year’s final was being held just across the English Channel in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

After securing the title early, Chelsea still didn’t let up.

In the subsequent 37th round of the Premier League, they thrashed Manchester United 3-0 at home.

Ferguson’s team once again exposed its midfield problems.

Facing Chelsea’s powerhouse midfield, Ferguson’s side was truly helpless and was beaten soundly.

From the 0-2 loss to Bayswater Chinese to the current 0-3 loss to Chelsea, Manchester United’s midfield had reached a point where changes were imperative.

After this round, some pundits even argued that if Manchester United didn’t make up their minds to strengthen their midfield through signings, they would have no hope for the title next season either.

In fact, Arsenal was a cautionary tale for The Red Devils.

Because of this, Ferguson repeatedly urged the club in front of the media to do everything in their power to sign Carrick and Hargreaves to bolster Manchester United’s midfield strength as soon as possible.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, defeated Portsmouth 2-1 at home, thanks to a goal and an assist from Ribéry.

Pompey was in a critical period of their relegation battle and fought fiercely.

As for Yang Cheng’s side, if it hadn’t been a home game, he wouldn’t even have played his starters.

Arsenal defeated Sunderland 3-0 away.

Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

Tottenham Hotspur narrowly won 1-0 at home against Bolton.

Since Birmingham City drew 0-0 at home against Newcastle, the question of who would take the final relegation spot remained a mystery until the final round.

The 38th round of the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-2 away to West Ham United, causing the North London team to lose the advantage in the battle for 5th place.

Although the prize money difference between one rank higher or lower wasn’t that significant, it was still frustrating.

Manchester United, however, found their form in the final round, routing Charlton Athletic 4-0 at home.

Yang Cheng and Wenger also completely let loose.

The Gunners had to prepare for the Champions League final, while Bayswater Chinese had to consider the UEFA Cup final, but this was also the very last match at Highbury.

After this game, Highbury would be demolished, and Arsenal would move into the newly built Emirates Stadium.

Under these circumstances, The Gunners fielded their full-strength lineup, while Bayswater Chinese played a mix of starters and backups.

In the first half, Henry scored in the 8th minute.

But soon after, Yaya Touré and Ribéry each scored a goal, successfully turning the score around.

Henry equalized just before the end of the first half.

In the second half, Yang Cheng went even wilder, bringing on Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

In the 56th minute, a brilliant pass from Fàbregas led to Henry drawing a foul inside the penalty area.

The French striker took the penalty himself and converted it, completing his hat-trick.

But in the 76th minute, during a swift counter-attack, the young substitute Walcott made a long run with the ball and assisted Džeko for a goal.

In the end, the two sides shook hands on a 3-3 draw.

The Premier League season had officially come to a close.

Chelsea topped the league table with 90 points, successfully defending their Premier League title.

Bayswater Chinese finished 2nd in the Premier League with 25 wins, 9 draws, and 4 losses, amassing 84 points.

Manchester United ranked 3rd with 80 points.

Liverpool finished 4th with 79 points.

These four teams will represent the Premier League in next season’s Champions League.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur finished with the same number of points, 65, but The Gunners placed ahead due to a superior goal difference.

Both North London teams qualified for next season’s UEFA Cup.

Because of the emergence of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal’s strategy of securing a top-four finish was thwarted this season.

This caught Yang Cheng’s attention.

Looking at the current Premier League landscape, as long as Bayswater Chinese didn’t run into problems, it would be basically impossible for The Gunners to secure a top-four finish as easily as they did in his previous life.

On one hand, there was the immense pressure of loans taken out to build the new stadium, and on the other, the real pressure of results and a revenue crisis. Yang Cheng couldn’t imagine how Arsenal would solve these issues for the time being.

He could only wait and see.

In terms of relegation, Birmingham City ultimately fell.

The three relegated teams from the Premier League this season were Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, and Birmingham City.

This once again confirmed the pre-season sentiment.

Money, or your life?

West Ham United chose life, so they finished in 10th place and secured their survival early on.

It might seem like Bayswater Chinese had players coming and going, but what was the reality?

The two million pound sterling for Leighton Baines, two million for Yaya Touré, plus the three million pound package for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott—all these deals strengthened Bayswater Chinese.

Even when compared to some of the upper-mid-table Premier League teams, Bayswater Chinese’s investment was quite impressive.

Of course, the funds for these investments came from the transfer fees received for selling players like Huddlestone and Kitson.

In contrast, The Black Cats, Sunderland, had basically no ins or outs.

In 38 league matches, they only managed to get 15 points, winning just 3 games all season.

Such a record was truly dismal.

In the Championship, the butterfly effect caused by Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese was particularly obvious.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Dave Kitson should have been playing for Reading, where he performed exceptionally well, helping them get promoted to the Premier League.

But in reality, the English centre-forward was now at Middlesbrough.

Coppel’s Reading only managed to finish 3rd in the Championship this season.

Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United won the title and runner-up spots, respectively.

In the promotion playoffs, although Reading eliminated Leeds United in the first round, they lost to Watford in the final.

In the end, Reading was denied promotion to the Premier League.

Wigan Athletic, Sheffield United, and Watford were promoted successfully.

This surprised Yang Cheng once again.

His first reaction was: Čech’s head has been saved!

In his previous life, after Reading was promoted, in October 2006, they had caused a severe head injury to Čech, who was at the peak of his powers. This incident caused the goalkeeper, who had been like a god, to suffer a significant decline in ability, never to return to his former glory.

Now, with Reading failing to get promoted, how could they possibly injure Čech?

Cup competitions?

They couldn’t be that unlucky, right?

Although Yang Cheng was Chelsea’s rival, he was quite happy about this turn of events.

Whether as a fan or a head coach, he did not want such a tragedy to occur.

So, this was good.

Just as the league season ended, the Premier League announced a piece of good news.

The bidding for the domestic broadcasting rights for the next three years, from the 2007/08 season to the 2009/10 season, had just concluded.

Sky Television’s exclusive monopoly on the Premier League had finally been broken.

This time, the Premier League divided the broadcasting rights into six packages. Sky Television only won four, with the remaining two being snatched up by Setanta Sports.

The two broadcasters paid a total of 1.7 billion pound sterling for the three-year broadcasting rights, far exceeding the previous 1 billion pound sterling.

This season, champions Chelsea could expect to receive around 30 million pound sterling. Second-place Bayswater Chinese could only rank fourth in terms of broadcast revenue but still earned over 27 million pound sterling.

The main reason was that they had fewer televised matches than Manchester United and Liverpool.

These two established clubs had even more televised matches than Chelsea.

And Sunderland, at the bottom of the table, would still receive 14 million pound sterling.

From 2007 onwards, this figure would leap even further.

The title-winning team could potentially earn over 50 million pound sterling, while even the team at the bottom was guaranteed 25 million.

For the Premier League, this was fantastic news.

And this was just for the domestic broadcasting rights.

The Premier League was also in the process of selling global broadcasting rights and other copyrights, with total revenue expected to exceed 2.5 billion pound sterling.

What do you call a money league?

This is it!

As soon as the Premier League announced the results of the broadcasting rights auction and overseas copyright sales, Adam Crozier confidently told Yang Cheng two things.

First, to be prepared for a new round of skyrocketing player salaries.

And second, that more and more foreign capital would be paying attention to and entering the Premier League.

Because it was profitable!

What?

Football isn’t profitable?

Club operations don’t make money?

Then please explain, how did the Glazer family acquire Manchester United in a leveraged buyout, then use Manchester United’s money to pay off their loans? Was that not profitable?

Yang Cheng had painstakingly managed Bayswater Chinese for three years. If he decided to sell now, how much could he get?

Was that not profitable?

When the Premier League began to operate like a capitalized business, the rules and the entire game had to change with it.

Yang Cheng knew that everything Adam Crozier said would come true.

By the 2007/08 season, when the Premier League experienced another wave of salary hikes, Bayswater Chinese’s 20,000 pound sterling salary cap would be considered third-rate.

He wouldn’t even have to wait that long; it was already looking inadequate now.

Especially when compared to the top six teams, with weekly wages in the tens of thousands, the gap was too large.

This kind of thing could only be approached gradually.

If you take too big a step, you might pull something.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier were all on the same page, sticking to the original plan of steadily increasing salaries and benefits.

But some things had to be done urgently.

Two days after the final round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng sat for an exclusive interview with a media team composed of UEFA and several authoritative media outlets in the modest conference room at Bayswater Stadium.

This was a routine practice for teams in European competition finals.

Not only the head coach but also some of the players were interviewed.

What was supposed to be a routine affair, Yang Cheng intentionally or unintentionally steered the topic towards the long-criticized Unfinished building of a stadium.

He mentioned the support Bayswater Chinese had received from the Westminster City Council when the club was in its most difficult financial situation, on the brink of bankruptcy. He also mentioned the care shown by the London government and The FA.

“Now, our club’s operations have improved significantly. If it weren’t for our substantial investment in building the training ground, we could be profitable right now. This is in line with the expectations of the government, The FA, UEFA, and the fans.”

“After discussing with CEO Adam Crozier and other senior management, we all agree that we can no longer hold back London’s urban development. With the London Olympics coming up in 2012, we cannot leave this scar north of Hyde Park until then!”

“Therefore, we plan to invest at least one billion pound sterling over the next six years to build the world’s most top-tier, luxurious, and advanced modern super stadium north of Hyde Park!”

“It will incorporate the best architectural technology and the most advanced science from around the world to provide fans with the ultimate live match experience.”

“We will not hold back London’s development; we will turn this stadium into a new landmark for London!”

The media personnel present were all stunned!

Weren’t we here to interview about the UEFA Cup final?

Why did he suddenly drop such a bombshell?

It’s gone viral!

Completely viral!

Once the transcript of Yang Cheng’s interview was released, it not only detonated public opinion in the UK but the entire European football world, and indeed the whole world, went into an uproar overnight!

It was too damn crazy!

Investing one billion pound sterling to build a new stadium?

Do you know what that means?

Have you ever seen what one billion pound sterling looks like?

Public opinion completely exploded!

Doubts, approvals, expectations, refutations…

It was a chaotic scene.

Everyone thought this young rich kid from Bayswater Chinese was insane.

Wouldn’t it be better to just focus on playing in the Premier League with your team?

But many people were also very expectant and curious about what a one billion pound sterling stadium, as described by Yang Cheng, would look like.

How much did Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium cost to build?

Even the new Wembley Stadium, which can hold 90,000 people, only had an investment of 780 million pound sterling.

And who knows how much of that was skimmed off by those guys at The FA.

Moreover, everyone knew about The FA’s competence and efficiency.

If even the new Wembley cost less than 800 million pound sterling to build, Bayswater Chinese’s stadium was going to cost one billion?

He was either crazy or talking nonsense.

Take your pick!

But some media outlets pointed out that some of Yang Cheng’s previous statements had later come true.

As for bragging, if you can actually make it happen, it’s not bragging anymore.

It’s being a badass!

Other media pointed out that Bayswater Chinese’s revenue this season would probably not even reach 50 million pound sterling.

With that kind of income, they wanted to invest one billion pound sterling to build a new stadium?

“Your entire team would have to work for twenty years without eating or drinking to earn one billion pound sterling!”

“Anyone who makes such a boast is an idiot! And whoever believes such a brag is also an idiot!”

Just how explosive was public opinion?

The next day at noon, Yang Cheng received several phone calls in a row.

First was Lin Zhongqiu.

Although old Mr. Lin was in China, his heart was always with Bayswater Chinese.

As soon as he saw the news, he immediately called Yang Cheng to ask where he would get one billion pound sterling.

It was clear he was genuinely afraid that Yang Cheng was being too aggressive and taking too big a risk.

Next, Yang Cheng’s parents called.

Yang Jianguo, however, laughed heartily and even praised Yang Cheng for daring to think and speak big.

“You’ve got more guts than me. That’s one billion pound sterling, ten billion yuan! My god!”

Yang Cheng knew that no one believed him.

But it didn’t matter.

If even his parents in China had seen the news, it proved that the story’s spread was incredibly explosive.

Needless to say, it had probably reached every corner of the planet.

“So, to help me gather that one billion pound sterling as quickly as possible, starting next year, your Yang’s Group’s sponsorship fee can’t be a penny less. In fact, it has to go up.”

“You little rascal, what do you mean our Yang’s Group? Won’t it all be yours in the end? Is there a need to be so clear-cut about it now?”

“Business is business. Even close relatives should keep clear accounts. What if you and Mom have a second child and don’t leave the family fortune to me?”

On the other end of the line, Li Hongying was so exasperated she laughed.

A second child.

Could she even have one?

“Also, I’m officially informing you now, Chairman Yang, that we will not be renewing the front-of-shirt sponsorship contract with Yang’s Group.”

“Found a new sponsor?”

“Of course. And it’s all settled.”

“Which one?”

“Prudential plc.”

“Damn, that’s a huge corporation.”

“They’re paying a high sponsorship fee, too.”

“How much?”

“Eight million pound sterling.”

“That’s not that much more than us, only…”

“Only two or three times as much. The point is, they actually pay up, Chairman Yang.”

“A Cheng, let me tell you, if you keep being so snarky, I’ll…”

Yang Jianguo was thoroughly exasperated into laughter.

Although Yang Cheng had gotten a few jabs in, he still felt delighted inside.

The thought of his precious son doing so well made it impossible for him to be angry; instead, he was so happy he wanted to laugh.

So satisfying!

So vindicating!

It was more pleasing than earning a few hundred million himself.

“You signed with Puma before, and now you’re signing with Prudential. Your income has increased, but it’s still not enough. Where are you getting one billion pounds from?” Yang Jianguo did a quick calculation himself and felt puzzled.

It had been three years.

His precious son had changed so much and grown up so fast.

“I have no choice. That Russian from Chelsea is constantly networking, trying to pressure us through the Westminster City Council to buy this piece of land from us.”

“Adam Crozier and I thought about it, and instead of always being on the defensive, it’s better to take the initiative.”

“But what about the money?”

“No rush. It’s not that easy to build this stadium. The mess you left behind back then…”

“Ahem!” Yang Jianguo coughed heavily on the other end of the line.

Let’s talk nicely, son.

Don’t hit a man in the face.

“I am determined to demolish this Unfinished building and build a new, big one. We’re currently renting Loftus Road Stadium, with a capacity of just over 18,000, which is not enough. You want me to build another one with a capacity of 10,000?”

Yang Jianguo strongly agreed with Yang Cheng’s point of view.

Even though he was no longer young, he still had the boldness from his business days.

“You know as well as I do, building a stadium in the UK isn’t easy, especially when you have to demolish one first. It requires navigating a lot of bureaucracy.”

Yang Jianguo had experienced it firsthand, so he knew it was a truly prolonged process.

First, you have to present a preliminary proposal and consult with the local residents to get approval from the Westminster Development Control Committee.

Is that it?

No, only after getting that approval can you start planning and designing, and then submit the construction plan.

Once everything is ready, it’s submitted to the Westminster City Council for approval and the entire plan is publicly displayed.

After the Westminster City Council approves it, the whole plan is compiled into an application and submitted to the Mayor’s Office and the UK Home Office for review by the Mayor and the Home Secretary.

Only after both the Mayor and the Home Secretary have given their approval can the Westminster City Council sign off on the proposal.

Only then can construction begin.

Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was announced at the end of 1999. Public consultation began in early 2000, and it received approval from the Islington Development Control Committee.

The plans were submitted at the end of 2000 and were not approved until December 2001, at which point they were submitted upwards.

Approval from the Mayor’s Office and the Home Office, followed by the signing of the proposal by Islington, didn’t happen until mid-2002.

In other words, from start to finish, it took Arsenal about two and a half years.

After that, The Gunners immediately began construction, and the stadium was officially opened in the 2006/07 season, taking four years to build.

If Arsenal took that long, Tottenham Hotspur took even longer.

Speaking of Tottenham’s new stadium, that was a truly tearful story.

To be eligible for government public funding subsidies, Tottenham included the new stadium construction in a “Northumberland Development Project,” combining it with the government’s urban renewal plan.

This was originally intended to speed up the process.

But unexpectedly, they ran into land acquisition problems.

It dragged on from 2009 to 2015 before construction officially began.

It took a full four years to complete.

A major reason why Yang Cheng decided to launch this plan as soon as possible was time.

Under normal circumstances, especially in a prime location like Hyde Park and Notting Hill, how difficult would it be to build a new stadium and undertake such a massive project?

But right now, wasn’t London preparing for the Olympics?

Bayswater is located in the most prosperous core area of London, and the Queensway Underground station at the north gate of Hyde Park is also world-famous.

Standing at the exit of Queensway station and looking north, one would see the famous Queensway.

Queensway is the main thoroughfare of Bayswater and a famous commercial street in central London.

The current state of Bayswater, to put it nicely, is “vintage,” but to be blunt, it’s “old.”

For many years, the London government had intended to carry out large-scale reconstruction in Bayswater.

As the core of Bayswater, Queensway was naturally a top priority.

Bayswater Stadium happens to be located just 250 meters north of Queensway Underground station, on the west side of Queensway.

The entire plot of land is nearly 500 meters from east to west and 350 meters from north to south, definitely qualifying as a core area of Queensway.

If Bayswater was to be redeveloped, this piece of land would certainly be a centerpiece.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the London government was determined to redevelop Bayswater after the Olympics.

The Queensway renovation project became a key project, with an investment of three billion pound sterling.

What Yang Cheng wanted to do was to ride the wave of the Olympics and advance the entire Bayswater reconstruction plan.

Now that Bayswater Chinese was willing to invest one billion pound sterling, wouldn’t the government’s pressure to renovate Queensway be greatly reduced?

More importantly, the land for Bayswater Stadium did not conflict with any other individuals or businesses.

It was a neat square, surrounded by major roads, making the kind of land acquisition disputes that Tottenham Hotspur faced impossible.

Therefore, Yang Cheng wanted to seize this opportunity, gathering all the bargaining chips he could, to negotiate with the London government.

I’m putting up this much money, shouldn’t you relax the regulations a bit during the approval process?

For example, letting me build some hotels, department stores, and so on around the stadium.

What?

The zoning for this land is for a stadium or training ground, not for hotels and department stores?

No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood. We’re building the club’s offices, a trophy hall, a fan shop, a ticket office…

Aren’t these all standard features of a stadium?

You can’t build high-rises in the city center?

Of course, it won’t be high. It will absolutely match the style of the surrounding environment, no more than five floors.

Anyway, I have a large land area. Whether it’s department stores, shopping centers, or high-end hotels, five floors is more than enough space.

The hotels in the Bayswater area were as numerous as hairs on an ox.

Adam Crozier had said before that if they could really build it, wouldn’t the world-famous hotel chains be eager to get involved?

Wouldn’t the department stores specializing in high-end luxury goods come knocking on their door?

All of this was money!

Adam Crozier knew quite a few people in the British government and had some inside information.

Under normal circumstances, it would be quite difficult for Bayswater Chinese to pull off something this big.

But wasn’t London currently preparing for the Olympics?

This was a golden opportunity!

Yang Cheng had also deliberately leaked the news during the interview with UEFA and the media group to stir up an incredible amount of hype, creating momentum. He then dangled the one billion pound sterling investment in hopes of gaining the support of the London government.

Yang Jianguo was in real estate back in China; he knew this game all too well.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s proposal, he immediately supported his son’s decision.

He even offered to invest, which frightened Yang Cheng into a quick refusal.

His so-called father’s money was not that easy to take.

If he really took it, and his father wanted to voice an opinion later on, should he listen or not?

Therefore, Yang Cheng preferred to rely on himself.

He didn’t need that bit of money!

Things went exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted.

As the news fermented, the Westminster City Council received the message.

The Mayor of London’s office was also paying close attention to the matter.

The day before the UEFA Cup final, as Yang Cheng was about to lead the team to the Netherlands, Adam Crozier suddenly received a phone call.

The Mayor of Greater London, Ken Livingstone, would be taking time out of his schedule to travel to Eindhoven, Netherlands, to cheer on Bayswater Chinese!

When Adam Crozier told Yang Cheng this news, the two looked at each other and both smiled.

He took the bait!

This was a one billion pound sterling investment!

If this were in China, it would be ten billion yuan. Forget having the mayor come to one football match, he’d come to ten!

Besides, in Europe, isn’t it perfectly normal for a mayor to attend a football match to support a competing team?

Oh, Ken Livingstone was also invited to Arsenal’s Champions League final, but the Mayor’s Office said he didn’t have time?

Perfectly normal.

A mayor’s schedule is packed. He can’t spare time every day.

Perhaps he just happened to be free on the day of the UEFA Cup final.

“Seize the opportunity, have a good talk,” Yang Cheng instructed Adam Crozier.

But he also had Xia Qing accompany him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Adam Crozier, but rather that he trusted Xia Qing more.

“What if he asks about the source of our funds?” Adam Crozier needed to have an answer ready.

These people were all sharp. You couldn’t just fool them with a few bold statements.

At the very least, you had to prove you had the capacity, right?

“Just play it by ear. Our Yang’s Group is doing quite well in China. The real estate business has been booming these past few years, and there’s also the footwear and apparel side. We’re currently one of the top three companies in the country, and we’re collaborating with Umbro.”

“Understood,” Adam Crozier nodded.

It was all about bluffing with a powerful backing.

In the early stages, the club would invest slowly.

When it came to the real money-burning construction phase, they would get a bank loan!

Chapter 97: UEFA Cup Final! I Want to Go to a Big Club!

“Is he out of his mind?”

On the morning of the UEFA Cup final, Roman Abramovich was so agitated by the news he saw at his Knightsbridge home that he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“One billion pound sterling? He couldn’t fetch that much even if he sold himself!”

Abramovich had been keeping a close eye on Bayswater Chinese’s movements.

This whole thing was just too absurd!

It completely defied logic!

“Is he talking about pound sterling or yuan?”

After a pause, Abramovich waved his hand dismissively. “Even in yuan, it’s not that much money.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s revenue this season is fifty million pound sterling at most. Where would they get one billion pound sterling?”

His personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia, nodded beside him. “Could it be funds from China?”

Abramovich fell silent.

That was a possibility.

Because of that plot of land, he had been monitoring the situation closely.

Yang’s Group was doing bigger and bigger business in China. They were a sportswear brand to begin with, and after partnering with Umbro, they had grown to become one of the top three in China, with incredibly rapid momentum.

Their business had taken off like a rocket, especially after signing an Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles as their spokesperson in 2004.

And then there was Umbro.

While their business was struggling worldwide, it was flourishing in China.

Last year, they even signed a female tennis player as a spokesperson, targeting the mid-to-high-end fashion sports market.

China’s economy had developed too quickly in recent years.

But for Yang’s Group to suddenly produce one billion pound sterling was unrealistic.

That much cash, let alone a manufacturing enterprise like Yang’s Group, would be impossible even for someone like Abramovich, who sold oil, to pull out all at once.

For traditional manufacturing businesses, even some world-renowned corporations, taking out one hundred million pound sterling in liquid capital would be enough to kill them.

“Impossible. They can’t come up with that much money. He’s just bluffing!” Abramovich quickly made his judgment.

Granovskaia nodded again. “But many people believe it now, especially that Mayor of London.”

“He’s just gone mad for money!” Abramovich said, somewhat resentfully.

He was skipping Arsenal’s Champions League final to go to the Netherlands for the UEFA Cup final. Wasn’t that insane?

“This Mayor of London has always been a troublemaker in British politics. He’s poured everything into this Olympic bid. I heard he plans to run for a third term in 2008 so he can personally witness the London Olympics.”

As Granovskaia spoke, she glanced at her boss and, seeing his expression was still calm, continued.

“From the looks of it, he doesn’t have much support within his own party and is a thorn in the side of the opposition. It’s very likely he wants to use this opportunity to make a big play.”

“You mean the Queensway renovation project that’s been rumored for years?”

That project had indeed been talked about for a long time.

London had long been fed up with Bayswater’s dilapidated state and wanted to give the entire core area a facelift through renovation, while also further boosting the value and appeal of central London.

But urban renewal requires money.

Hosting the Olympics was already such a huge effort; investing in urban renewal on top of that was largely unrealistic.

But what if someone stepped forward at this moment, willing to shoulder a large chunk of the cost?

In British politics, London was a place of considerable importance.

Both parties were determined to win London.

Ken Livingstone definitely wanted to use this opportunity to gain more leverage for his re-election in 2008.

Abramovich’s face darkened.

He didn’t think Yang Cheng was deliberately siding with Ken Livingstone; no one would be that foolish.

When doing business, you just stick to the facts and remain neutral.

One could only say that some of his current ideas happened to align with Ken Livingstone’s interests.

Besides, at their level, they certainly had to grease palms on all sides and play both sides.

No matter who was elected, they wouldn’t be affected.

Abramovich even had close ties with the British royal family, lending his yacht to Princes William and Harry for their outings.

With things having developed this far, Abramovich had to admit he had truly underestimated Yang Cheng.

“I never thought this kid could stir up so much trouble!” Abramovich said, gritting his teeth.

“The key is that his every move is fast and precise, as if he has the ability to see the future,” Granovskaia also found it very strange.

She had witnessed the three-year feud between Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese firsthand.

With Abramovich’s and Chelsea’s financial might, not only had they failed to suppress Bayswater Chinese, but they had watched the nearly bankrupt team struggle step by step to its current position of second in the Premier League.

If this were written into a novel, readers would curse it for being ridiculous.

But reality is sometimes just that ridiculous.

“I have to say, he’s played this move brilliantly. I estimate that both the London City Council and the Parliament of the United Kingdom will give him the green light all the way. In two years at most, they’ll complete the procedures and get the construction permit.”

Abramovich let out a heavy sigh as he said this.

For some reason, the scene of Yang Cheng telling him that story popped into his mind.

If Yang Cheng really managed to pull it off, then he would have no chance at all.

For a long time to come, Chelsea would be in a suppressed and frustrated position.

With Stamford Bridge’s conditions, matchday revenue could never be high.

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Abramovich’s mind.

If he were to approach Yang Cheng for an investment now, for shared use of the stadium in the future, would he agree?

Abramovich himself was startled by this thought and quickly dismissed the possibility.

Then, he thought of another possibility.

Renting Wembley Stadium!

The massive ninety-thousand-seater stadium might also be a way out.

But what about Stamford Bridge? Just abandon it?

Also, Bayswater Chinese had signed a six-year lease with The FA.

Oh, right, six years again!

Abramovich slapped his thigh hard, a wave of realization washing over him.

Damn it, could this guy have planned everything from the start?

This was too outrageous!

He was only twenty-six!

…

There was no red carpet, only a few British media outlets and some English fans at the airport to greet them.

This made Yang Cheng feel quite emotional.

The UEFA Cup was a shadow of its former self.

And Bayswater Chinese didn’t receive the kind of treatment top clubs enjoyed, being mobbed by fans wherever they went.

However, on the afternoon of the day before the match, when Yang Cheng led the team to the stadium to familiarize themselves with the pitch for training, the many fans who had made a special trip from London moved him and his players deeply.

So, he specifically set aside plenty of time for the players to interact with the fans.

PSV Eindhoven’s Philips Stadion could only hold thirty-five thousand people.

According to official UEFA sources and reports from the Spanish media, only twelve thousand fans from Sevilla had come to watch the game live.

Of the remaining twenty-three thousand, the vast majority were from England.

In other words, supporters of Bayswater Chinese.

Of course, this didn’t mean Bayswater Chinese had more hardcore fans than Sevilla.

A significant reason was that Spain was quite far from the Netherlands, and the UEFA Cup didn’t have much influence, so Spanish fans were not very keen on making the trip north.

Moreover, Sevilla was also just on the rise.

For both Bayswater Chinese and Sevilla, it was the first time in their club’s history they had participated in a European final.

Yang Cheng’s team, in fact, was in their debut European competition and had gone straight to the final.

This in itself was a great story.

Incidentally, Sevilla was founded in October 1905, making this their centenary year.

Before the UEFA Cup final, they had urged more fans to travel north with the team, using the centenary slogan.

But it seemed the fans weren’t particularly buying it.

On the morning of the match, Yang Cheng only had Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett lead the players through some simple exercises in the hotel gym to activate their muscles and physical state.

The real main event was the pre-match tactical meeting.

Over the past period, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had already instilled the tactics for dealing with Sevilla into the players and had also conducted many targeted drills.

How effective they would be would have to wait for the match.

Strictly speaking, Sevilla’s rise should be credited to their former head coach, Joaquín Caparrós.

This guy’s coaching style was notoriously rough, a consensus in La Liga.

The most typical example was Real Madrid defender Ramos, who was a player developed by Caparrós.

Caparrós not only led Sevilla to promotion to La Liga but also laid the foundation for their defense.

For the past few years, Sevilla had consistently been one of the best defensive teams in La Liga, with their defensive level always ranking in the top five.

Juande Ramos, on the other hand, had built on Caparrós’s foundation, further strengthening the team’s midfield organization and forward attack.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was at Juande Ramos’s request that Tottenham Hotspur signed Modrić.

Furthermore, after Frank Rijkaard was dismissed and before Pep Guardiola was appointed, the frontrunner for the Barça coaching job was actually Juande Ramos, personally recommended by Cruyff.

So, strictly speaking, Juande Ramos was not a conservative coach.

Many described him as a combination of Spanish attack and Italian defense.

And this guy liked to use a 4-4-2 formation.

…

Goalkeeper: Palop;

Defense: Castedo/Antonio Puerta, Escudé, David Navarro, and Daniel Alves;

Midfield: Adriano, Maresca, Renato, and Jesús Navas;

Forwards: Fabiano and Kanouté/Javier Saviola.

Yang Cheng listed Sevilla’s starting lineup on the tactics board.

This was, of course, a guess from him and his coaching staff.

The left-back and one of the striker positions were uncertain, leaving room for ambiguity.

“We have one advantage in this match, and that’s the schedule.”

“La Liga has just finished round 37, but there are actually two more matches to play: the rescheduled match from round 34 and round 38. For both of these matches, Sevilla will be at home, against Barça and Real Madrid respectively.”

“Currently, Sevilla is fifth in La Liga, level on points with fourth-placed Osasuna.”

“They will definitely fight for a Champions League spot for next season.”

“But in their last match, round 37 away against Málaga, Sevilla rotated their squad heavily, so our advantage in terms of fitness won’t be that great.”

There was definitely an advantage, as Yang Cheng had used almost all substitutes in Bayswater Chinese’s final league match.

“As I’ve mentioned to you all repeatedly, Sevilla’s defensive line is quite high, always around fifteen to twenty meters outside the penalty area. They don’t drop back very deep, and their defenders are more aggressive when defending.”

To put it simply, they liked to press aggressively.

“In Sevilla’s lineup, there’s one person you must keep a tight watch on, especially you, Franck.”

Yang Cheng pointed at Ribéry. “Daniel Alves. Your job in this match is to pin him down, lock him into his defensive position, and make sure he doesn’t dare to venture forward.”

Yang Cheng knew Ribéry’s individual ability.

Going one-on-one against Alves, he might not gain much of an advantage.

But as long as he could contain Alves, that was enough.

“On the left, whether it’s Castedo or Antonio Puerta…”

Yang Cheng pointed to Ashley Young. “Ashley, you need to keep a close eye on them too.”

Both Ribéry and Ashley Young were tasked with making the best defense a good offense.

As for the left midfielder Adriano and the right midfielder Navas, Yang Cheng assigned Piszczek and Leighton Baines to handle them.

Yaya Touré’s task was to help the centre-backs and guard against Sevilla’s two strikers.

“Both Renato and Maresca have a strong ability to score from overlapping runs. This is also a common tactic for Sevilla. So, Lassana, Luka, you need to stay alert in the central midfield.”

“Especially Maresca.”

Sevilla was characterized by its large number of South American players.

In the starting lineup, Alves, Adriano, Renato, Fabiano, and Saviola were all South American.

The characteristic of these players was their strong individual ability.

Juande Ramos, however, was a coach who placed great emphasis on the team as a whole, and he had molded these players into a cohesive unit, resulting in exceptional combat effectiveness.

Facing such an opponent, trying to defeat them in one fell swoop was unrealistic.

Additionally, Yang Cheng reminded his players to be prepared for a tough, protracted battle.

…

May 10th, Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands.

The UEFA Cup Final, Bayswater Chinese versus Sevilla.

Just eleven seconds after the start, Sevilla, who kicked off first, had barely passed the ball past midfield when Yaya Touré won it back and passed to Lassana Diarra ahead of him.

The French midfielder carried the ball over the halfway line and sent a diagonal pass to the right for Ashley Young.

The English winger controlled the ball and turned, but just as he was about to burst forward, he was pushed from behind by a back-tracking Adriano.

Ashley Young stumbled but managed to shield the ball.

But just as he took another step forward, Italian midfielder Maresca saw his chance.

The Italian cut into the space between Ashley Young and the ball, turned, and used his rear to block Young, deftly stealing the ball away.

The Englishman raised his hand, signaling that Adriano had pushed him.

But the German referee, Herbert Fandel, waved him on, indicating for the game to continue.

This scene drew a chorus of boos from the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium.

Neither team was known for sitting back, which meant the tempo of the match was fast from the very beginning.

The players were concentrated around the halfway line, fighting back and forth for possession, with neither side willing to give an inch.

Sevilla gradually began to reveal their strategy for the match.

For example, in the third minute, their two strikers, Fabiano and Saviola, both pressed Yaya Touré at the same time.

The Ivorian had to quickly pass the ball to the right, to Piszczek.

Who then passed it forward to Ashley Young.

However, as soon as the Englishman received the ball, Adriano charged in, using his body to bump Ashley Young again, causing him to lose the ball on the spot.

This frustrated Brian Kidd, who was behind Yang Cheng, and he shook his head repeatedly.

“What the hell? How is this a European team? They play like a Brazilian team!”

Yang Cheng chuckled, wanting to ask, “Do you have some beautiful misunderstanding of La Liga?”

La Liga football has always been Latin in style; in fact, the entire Iberian Peninsula is.

So La Liga defenders are dirty, with a ton of little tricks up their sleeves. That’s nothing new.

What’s more, Sevilla had many South American players.

For instance, the left midfielder Adriano, isn’t he Brazilian?

“They run very actively, and they like to press in pairs,” Brian Kidd added.

Yang Cheng nodded.

Wherever the ball went, in addition to the player directly challenging for it, another nearby player would actively run over to create a two-on-one numerical advantage.

At least, that’s how it had been since the start of the game.

Yang Cheng wasn’t in a hurry, quietly observing the development of the situation on the field.

It was interesting.

Sevilla’s most dangerous player was Alves.

Bayswater Chinese’s was Ribéry.

One was a right-back, the other a left winger—a direct matchup.

Yet, since the game began, the ball had spent most of its time on the opposite flank.

It had to be said, Yang Cheng and Juande Ramos were really on the same wavelength.

After a few probing exchanges, neither side had managed to create any good attacking chances.

Both Bayswater Chinese and Sevilla’s defenses were well-organized and cohesive.

In midfield, Bayswater Chinese had Lassana Diarra and Yaya Touré, while Sevilla had Maresca and Renato—all of whom were tough and tactically disciplined.

As a result, in the first ten minutes, neither team managed to create a threatening shot on goal.

Each had one shot, both long shots from outside the box.

In Yang Cheng’s view, this was more like them feeling each other out.

It was a final, after all!

But after ten minutes, Yang Cheng had basically figured out Sevilla’s game plan and promptly made the first move.

He walked to the sidelines and shouted to the players on the field.

Especially Džeko.

“We can see Bayswater Chinese’s twenty-six-year-old head coach directing the game from the sidelines.”

“From his hand gestures, we can see he’s probably telling Džeko to change his approach.”

“But as for the specific instructions, we’ll likely have to wait and see in the game.”

“He’s also shouting at Modrić.”

“We can tell from this gesture that he’s probably telling Modrić to change the direction of attack.”

“Indeed, from the start of the game until now, for over ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese has mostly been attacking down the right flank, but with little success. Ashley Young has had almost no advantage against the combined defense of Adriano and Antonio Puerta.”

“Piszczek, on the other hand, has to be wary of the forward Fabiano, who often drifts wide.”

“Another thing Bayswater Chinese needs to pay attention to is how quickly Sevilla tracks back.”

“Apart from a couple of strikers, nearly everyone gets back in an instant to form two defensive lines.”

“Faced with such a defense, what strategy will Yang Cheng employ?”

…

From the thirteenth minute, Bayswater Chinese gradually gained control of the midfield.

Then, the team steadily pushed forward.

As Yang Cheng had said, Sevilla’s defensive line was always positioned fifteen to twenty meters in front of the penalty area, reluctant to retreat.

Their two strikers loitered near the halfway line, not actively pressing the centre-backs, but instead focusing their fire on Yaya Touré.

This distance ensured that when Sevilla lost the ball, their midfield could always track back immediately.

Maintaining two defensive lines with eight players committed to defense at all times was a headache for any team.

However, after Yang Cheng’s adjustments, and with Bayswater Chinese having stabilized their midfield advantage, the two wings began to gradually apply pressure forward, with Ribéry and Ashley Young increasingly drifting into the half-spaces.

In the nineteenth minute, after Leighton Baines made an overlapping run down the left flank, he passed to Ribéry in the half-space.

Because Navas had moved forward to press Leighton Baines, Ribéry dropped back to receive the ball in the left channel, almost level with Sevilla’s two midfielders.

This prompted both Alves and Renato to close in on him immediately.

But at that moment, after controlling the ball and turning, before the two defenders could trap him, Ribéry flicked the ball with a chipped pass forward.

Džeko suddenly dropped back from the front line, controlling the ball with his chest in the gap between the defensive line and the midfield.

Renato and Maresca in front of him, David Navarro and Escudé behind him—the four Sevilla players in white shirts formed a square, trapping Džeko in the middle.

But as Renato and Maresca turned to challenge, Džeko, having just brought the ball under control and unable to turn, immediately laid it back.

The ball passed right between Renato and Maresca, landing at the feet of the unmarked Modrić.

If time were to freeze at this moment, everyone would see that Sevilla had a full eight players in defensive positions.

But the area around Džeko and Ribéry had attracted six of them.

The reason was simple: they were operating in the seams between the defensive zones of Sevilla’s players.

When a player receives the ball in such an area, it’s not clearly one person’s responsibility, but every player fears being held accountable, so they all react to defend.

This led to a concentration of defenders.

With Džeko dropping back, Ashley Young had been poised, waiting for Džeko’s turning pass to make a late run for a counter-attack.

Seeing that Džeko had no opportunity and chose to pass back to Modrić, Ashley Young ran back from the right side of the arc into an open space, raising his hand for the ball.

Antonio Puerta followed Ashley Young closely.

Adriano stood in the half-space, occasionally glancing at the distant Piszczek.

He was wary of the Polish right-back’s forward runs.

Although the distance was considerable, when an attacker sprints head-on, the defender is at a great disadvantage.

But at that moment, Modrić passed to Ashley Young.

The Englishman received the ball with his back to goal, shielding Antonio Puerta behind him.

Maresca from the center and Adriano from the right both immediately closed in.

Modrić, meanwhile, took a step to his right and slightly back, just enough to evade Maresca and keep the passing lane open.

As soon as Ashley Young controlled the ball and saw the defenders swarming, he immediately passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder didn’t wait for Maresca and Antonio Puerta to get close, instead playing a diagonal ball over the top towards the right side of the penalty area.

Piszczek, who had been lagging behind just moments ago, was suddenly seen sprinting at top speed, darting past Adriano from behind and chasing after the ball.

The Brazilian had actually been on alert and reacted instantly, turning to give chase.

But it was offense versus defense, and with the attacker charging forward, the defender was at a severe disadvantage.

Modrić’s pass was perfectly weighted, the timing impeccable, landing just as Piszczek caught up to it.

The Pole, upon reaching it, took a light touch into the penalty area, chased it down, and just before Adriano could close him down, sent a high cross with his right foot toward the left side of the penalty spot.

At almost the same instant, Džeko, who had been outside the box laying the ball off, was now in full sprint.

David Navarro was only 1.82 meters tall, and Escudé was only 1.84 meters; both were significantly shorter than Džeko.

The big Bosnian might not have a huge physical advantage in the Premier League.

But in La Liga, especially against two centre-backs a head shorter than him, the advantage was glaringly obvious.

It was a complete mismatch!

Džeko charged forward, reached the left side of the penalty spot, and leaped high into the air.

David Navarro and Escudé didn’t even have a chance to jump; they could only watch as Džeko met the ball with a powerful header.

Palop reacted quickly, but his positioning was slightly to the right due to the influence of Piszczek and Ashley Young.

Now, facing Džeko’s header, he dived with all his might but was powerless to stop it.

The ball hit the back of the net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Džeko scores with a header!”

“The centre-forward from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Džeko, opens the scoring for Bayswater Chinese in the nineteenth minute with a header!”

“A beautiful series of passes!”

“From Leighton Baines to Ribéry, then to Džeko, Modrić, and Ashley Young—all through skilled positioning and continuous passing and moving, they finally created a crack in Sevilla’s defense.”

“Brilliant!”

“This is Bayswater Chinese’s football!”

“They are always able to catch their opponents off guard with their slick passing exchanges and telepathic off-the-ball movement!”

The moment Džeko scored, Yang Cheng leaped up in excitement.

Brian Kidd even rushed out of the dugout, shouting and yelling randomly at the sidelines, looking exceptionally thrilled.

Everyone knew what it meant to score first in such a crucial final.

“The kid didn’t disappoint!” Brian Kidd praised loudly.

He was praising Džeko.

In that goal, apart from scoring, Džeko’s role in the build-up was also crucial.

In fact, without Džeko’s contribution, the entire passing sequence for the goal would not have been possible.

When he received the ball in the space between Sevilla’s defense and midfield, slightly to the left of center, there were five defenders around him, four of whom were directly involved in closing him down.

The Bosnian centre-forward had enough technical ability to control the ball with his chest and then pass it to Modrić before the opponents could block him.

This highlighted the importance of his technical skill.

If he had taken a poor touch or handled it with a hint of panic, he would never have been able to make that pass.

Yang Cheng walked straight to the sidelines and extended his right hand from a distance.

Seeing this, Džeko, who had just finished celebrating with his teammates and was heading back, immediately ran over and slapped a high-five with his head coach.

“Keep playing like this, Edin. Look to receive the ball in the space between their lines. Get them to pass to you there more often.”

“Sevilla’s defenders and midfielders aren’t tall enough to handle you.”

“Besides, they won’t dare to foul you easily in that area.”

Why?

Don’t forget how lethal Bayswater Chinese’s set piece attacking routines were.

Previously, a media outlet had even compiled a list ranking Bayswater Chinese’s set piece attacks as the best in European football.

This didn’t count goals from direct free kicks, only tactical plays.

Therefore, Sevilla wouldn’t dare to foul Džeko lightly in that area.

As a result, whether in terms of physicality or technique, Sevilla had no good answer for Džeko.

…

After opening the scoring, Bayswater Chinese began to control the midfield.

Especially Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward frequently dropped back to receive the ball, giving Bayswater Chinese a stable outlet in a key area of the final third, which caused a major headache for Sevilla’s defenders.

Neither David Navarro nor Escudé had an effective solution for Džeko.

Technically, they were far inferior to him; physically, they held no advantage either.

Ordinarily, they might have committed a foul or two.

But before this match, head coach Juande Ramos had explicitly forbidden them from committing fouls around the penalty area.

When the defenders were helpless against Džeko, Bayswater Chinese’s advantage in the attacking third became even more pronounced.

Yang Cheng was not surprised by this situation.

Although Sevilla was on the back foot, their defense was still well-organized.

After conceding a goal, they quickly stabilized, and thanks to goalkeeper Palop’s performance, they hadn’t conceded again.

This also made Yang Cheng’s brow furrow once more.

“We need to launch another wave of attacks before the end of the first half, try to score another goal.”

Yang Cheng stood in front of the dugout, his eyes fixed on the pitch, but his words were for Brian Kidd and his other assistants.

“Are you saying Juande Ramos will make a substitution at halftime?” Brian Kidd guessed.

Along the bench, the assistants pondered the conversation between Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd.

“He definitely will!” Yang Cheng said with great certainty.

From a head coach’s perspective, Džeko’s advantage was too obvious.

If Juande Ramos couldn’t figure out a way to contain Džeko, then Sevilla might as well not play the second half.

As fatigue set in, Bayswater Chinese’s advantage would only grow more apparent.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they ran up a big score.

“Don’t forget, he has Aitor Ocio on the bench.”

David Navarro and Escudé’s physical abilities weren’t bad; they were considered quite good in La Liga.

But compared to the Premier League, they certainly had no advantage.

However, being smaller gave them an advantage in agility and speed.

When Bayswater Chinese pressed high like this, using Džeko to suppress the opposition, Sevilla was very passive.

Aitor Ocio was also a Spanish centre-back, 1.87 meters tall, and his strength lay in his powerful physique.

His weakness was his poor technique and lack of agility.

This kind of player wasn’t very useful in La Liga on a regular basis, but in European competitions, against teams with powerful, tall center-forwards, his value could be seen.

Some might wonder.

Why not have players who possess technique, agility, and speed, as well as strong physical ability?

They exist. Sergio Ramos, apart from being a bit short, is pretty good in all aspects, isn’t he?

But as soon as he emerged, he was bought by Real Madrid.

And then there’s Pepe.

In terms of overall physical attributes, strength, and agility, besides Lúcio, how many centre-backs could compare with him?

The key is, his technical skills were also excellent, a true Brazilian player.

The problem is, Sevilla couldn’t buy them.

Even if they occasionally struck gold, they couldn’t hold on to them.

This is the tragedy of small and medium-sized clubs.

In the pyramid of professional football, they can only play the role of developing talent for the giants at the top.

Don’t want to?

Fine, then climb up.

Once you reach the top of the pyramid, your luck will change!

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Brian Kidd nodded deeply.

If he were the head coach, he would probably make a change quickly too.

“Then we really do need to try and score another one in the first half.”

Just as Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were discussing this, a sudden change occurred on the pitch.

Sevilla launched a quick counter-attack.

Maresca received the ball in the middle and pushed it past the halfway line.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense also tracked back very quickly.

With no forward passing options, Maresca spread the ball out to the right.

The unmarked Alves received the ball on the right flank, took a touch to set himself, and delivered a diagonal cross.

Alves’s diagonal ball from the right was fast, with a low trajectory but an accurate destination.

It landed precisely around the six-yard box line.

Fabiano, Škrtel, and José Fonte all charged for it at the same time.

But in the end, it was goalkeeper Neuer who came off his line and punched the ball away.

After the three almost collided, Neuer quickly scrambled back up and retreated to his goal line.

Fortunately, the punched ball was collected by Leighton Baines, preventing a second wave of attack.

“Luka.”

Yang Cheng walked to the sideline and called out to Modrić, signaling for him to pay attention to Alves on the wing.

But after thinking about it, he still felt uneasy.

So, he walked to the sideline again and gestured for Lassana Diarra to move to the left and Modrić to the right.

Lassana Diarra was a utility player, to be moved wherever needed.

The kid was truly useful in defense.

Under Yang Cheng’s constraints, his dribbling and ball-carrying had been significantly reduced.

After all, he was worried about the financial penalties.

It’s just that his brain would short-circuit from time to time, making him want to show off.

This always made Yang Cheng feel that old habits die hard; if he couldn’t continuously restrain him, the kid would probably go down the same old path as in his previous life.

But it had to be said, with Lassana Diarra moved over, Alves became frustrated.

Around the thirty-fifth minute, Yang Cheng gave an instruction, signaling the team to prepare for another attack.

With their attack up front struggling, Alves started to become more active on the right flank.

In that case, Ribéry should also be activated.

The best defense is a good offense!

If Ribéry wasn’t more active, Alves would have fewer defensive worries.

…

“Wenger likes you very much. He hopes to get you at the end of the season!”

This was what Ribéry’s agent, Bruno Heiderscheid, had secretly told him before the UEFA Cup final.

Bruno Heiderscheid had a small reputation in France, but not a big one.

After Ribéry came to Bayswater Chinese, he needed someone to help handle some off-field matters, so he hired him.

From his tone, it seemed he had at least been in private contact with Arsenal.

“There’s also Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barça, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan. They are all closely watching your every move.”

“So, this UEFA Cup final is very important. You have to give your best performance to attract those big clubs to make a move!”

“Twenty-three years old, Franck. It’s a good age to go to a big club.”

During a lull in the game, the agent’s words flashed through Ribéry’s mind.

He never hid his desire to join a top club.

Because he couldn’t wait any longer!

He wanted to prove himself on a bigger stage!

But he would always be grateful to Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese in his heart.

If possible, he even hoped to return to this team when he retired.

People are always complex.

The only regret was that the club’s promotional film based on his life story hadn’t been finished yet.

Not only did Ribéry not hide it himself, he had even told Yang Cheng.

He had even mentioned the matter with his agent.

Yang Cheng was completely different from other head coaches; he never used sentiment or morality to emotionally blackmail or criticize his players. So at Bayswater Chinese, players never felt there was anything they couldn’t discuss openly.

As soon as Lassana Diarra joined the team, he was already clamoring about going to a bigger team in the future.

If this had happened at any other club, it would have caused an uproar.

But at Bayswater Chinese?

He was still used heavily, and his contract was renewed all the same.

Yang Cheng respected Ribéry’s choice, but he had two conditions.

One was that he was not allowed to cooperate with another club to pressure Bayswater Chinese.

Since a transfer would inevitably involve a transfer fee, the player should remain neutral.

The other was no talks before the World Cup.

Want to buy him?

Fine, come back after the World Cup.

Why?

Ribéry found it strange.

“Because I’m certain you will soar to stardom at the World Cup!”

Major tournaments like the World Cup and the European Championship could either be a bonus or a disaster, exposing one’s true colors.

Yang Cheng’s words warmed Ribéry’s heart.

In his three years at Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had treated him with utmost sincerity.

For no other reason than that, Ribéry had to give his all in this match!

When the Frenchman looked up again, his eyes were filled with determination.

Especially when he turned to look at the sidelines, at his head coach Yang Cheng, who always stood ramrod straight, a surge of passion rose in his heart.

You believe in me, so I will never let you down!

…

In the thirty-ninth minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half.

Yaya Touré took a step forward and quickly passed to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder continued to carry the ball forward. Just as he crossed the halfway line, Maresca came to press him.

“Here!”

As Modrić was about to pass, Ribéry suddenly ran over, demanding the ball in the left channel.

The Croatian almost instinctively passed the ball to him.

Brazilian midfielder Renato rushed towards Ribéry, trying to prevent him from receiving the pass.

But Ribéry was faster, getting his foot to the ball first, knocking it behind the onrushing Renato. He then twisted his body and, like an eel, swiftly slipped past Renato.

They brushed past each other.

In the next step, he had already caught up to the ball he had just knocked forward.

Instantly, the entire Philips Stadion erupted.

Gasps of astonishment filled the air.

No one had clearly seen just how Ribéry got past his man.

After Scarface caught up to the ball, he didn’t accelerate but continued to dribble forward.

Alves was still tracking him on the left, and there were two centre-backs ahead.

David Navarro was positioned to the left, Escudé to the right, sandwiching Džeko between them.

A two-on-two situation.

Ribéry made a split-second decision.

Džeko understood immediately, dropping back and moving towards David Navarro.

Ribéry played a short pass to Džeko’s feet, then suddenly accelerated, sprinting forward and shaking off Alves.

Džeko abruptly halted, used his body to shield David Navarro, and then flicked Ribéry’s pass to his own left, right into Ribéry’s sprinting path and out of David Navarro’s reach.

David Navarro, blocked by Džeko, had no idea things would change so suddenly.

Ribéry accelerated, caught up to the ball, and knocked it into the left side of the penalty area, instantly breaking through Sevilla’s defensive line and creating a one-on-one.

Goalkeeper Palop decisively came off his line.

But the Frenchman was quicker. After catching up to the ball, he chipped it into the unguarded net behind the keeper.

2-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Franck Ribéry!”

“The second goal of the match!”

“In the thirty-ninth minute of the first half, Ribéry scores another goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“This is an absolute display of Ribéry’s individual ability—so confident, so fast!”

“Sevilla’s defense was very solid, but they still couldn’t stop Ribéry’s breakthrough.”

“Modrić’s pass, Džeko’s combination play, all were perfectly timed, helping Ribéry complete a magnificent goal!”

“2-0!”

“Sevilla is in a very difficult position now!”

Yang Cheng jumped up, shouting Ribéry’s name at the top of his lungs.

The entire stadium echoed with the fans’ cheers.

Ribéry’s goal was crucial!

At this point, Scarface hadn’t suffered any major injuries yet. At twenty-three years old, he was still incredibly fast.

Short, fast, with superb technique—he was simply unstoppable!

Looking over at Sevilla’s dugout, Yang Cheng saw Juande Ramos shouting at the pitch in disappointment.

If it were 1-0, they would still have a fighting chance in the second half.

Now, at 2-0, it would be a huge blow to Sevilla’s morale.

With the situation as it was, Yang Cheng could now be certain of Juande Ramos’s strategy for the second half.

Barring any surprises, Sevilla would launch an all-out attack at the start, trying to score a goal to turn the tide.

That would bring suspense back into the match.

But in defense, Ocio would definitely have to come on.

Without him, no one could contend with Džeko!

Under these circumstances, there weren’t many moves Juande Ramos could make.

With a two-goal lead, Yang Cheng could afford to sit back and watch.

Let’s see what Juande Ramos pulls out in the second half, and he would adapt accordingly!

Chapter 98: Record Transfer Signing! A New Beginning! European Giants, Are You Ready?

Juande Ramos did indeed make changes at halftime.

And he made two at once.

This came as a surprise to Yang Cheng.

But it also showed just how disappointed Juande Ramos was with the first half.

First, he brought on Spanish midfielder Martí for Saviola.

The Argentine striker had contributed almost nothing throughout the entire first half.

Juande Ramos’s original idea was for Fabiano and Saviola to charge at the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

The two South American forwards possessed formidable individual skill; they were capable of it.

But the Bayswater Chinese defense gave them no such opportunity.

Replacing Saviola with Martí created a three-man holding midfield alongside Renato and Maresca.

It was a clear signal to reinforce the midfield.

Juande Ramos was obviously well aware that losing control of the midfield was the key reason they had been so thoroughly overwhelmed in the first half.

The other substitution was bringing on centre-back Aitor Ocio for left-back Puerta.

Escudé was left-footed and could also play as a left-back.

After Ocio came on, he partnered with David Navarro.

But Juande Ramos’s plan was clearly not that simple.

As the match resumed, Yang Cheng noticed that after the two substitutions, Sevilla’s Daniel Alves on the right flank was positioned much further forward than in the first half, and he was far more actively involved in the attack.

To some extent, he was throwing everything into attack.

Additionally, Brian Kidd reminded Yang Cheng that Kanouté had been warming up the entire time.

For Sevilla at this moment, too many problems were being exposed, and their substitutions needed to be prioritized.

The issues in midfield and defense were the most severe.

They had to be plugged first.

Only by preventing Bayswater Chinese from scoring could Sevilla’s comeback be meaningful.

Otherwise, Sevilla would just have to keep reinforcing their defense.

…

At the start of the second half, Sevilla immediately pressed forward, trying to use their numerical advantage in midfield to overwhelm Bayswater Chinese.

First, in the 47th minute, Renato unleashed a long shot that flew over the crossbar.

Then, Alves cut in from the right flank with a diagonal run into the half-space and fired a low shot that went wide of the goal.

It wasn’t until the 53rd minute that Bayswater Chinese managed their first shot of the second half.

But Džeko’s shot was blocked by Ocio for a corner kick.

The corner kick failed to result in a goal.

Under the ferocious pressure from the opposition, especially as Sevilla intensified their attack, Modrić and Yaya Touré began to feel the strain, dedicating more of their energy to defending.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng adjusted his team’s formation while calling for the players to remain calm.

Sevilla appeared to have great momentum, and their pressure after the substitutions was immense, but in reality, the holes in their defense would only grow larger.

The current Sevilla was burning its bridges.

Give them one goal, and they would go into a frenzy!

But concede one more, and they would collapse.

In this situation, Bayswater Chinese needed to be even more composed and calm.

The team Yang Cheng had assembled consisted mostly of players who were famous stars in his previous life; each possessed a strong mentality.

They might be young, but when it mattered most, none of them flinched.

If they were the type to falter, they never would have made it in his previous life.

In the 60th minute, Alves once again tried to cross the ball into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

José Fonte got there first and headed the ball clear.

Maresca collected the ball outside the penalty area.

But before he could control it, Yaya Touré charged at him aggressively.

The former Juventus player was once a key member of Lippi’s squad, hailed as Nedvěd’s best partner.

His flamboyant personality made it impossible for him to stay at Juventus.

After arriving at Sevilla, he was revitalized in Juande Ramos’s 4-4-2 system.

Compared to Sevilla’s other two central midfielders, Renato and Martí, defending and organizing were not Maresca’s strong suits; he was better at attacking.

This was evident from his goal tally.

He had scored eight goals in La Liga this season, making him Sevilla’s top scorer.

This was an old tradition at Sevilla.

For example, Júlio Baptista, who was sold to Real Madrid for a high fee, was a midfielder who excelled at scoring goals with overlapping runs.

Maresca was not as physically dominant as Baptista.

When he got the ball outside the penalty area facing Yaya Touré, he wanted to dribble past the Ivorian, create an angle, and take a shot.

He was quite confident shooting from this area.

Even if he didn’t score, he could create chaos in the box, giving his teammates a chance to capitalize.

But just as Maresca tried to dribble past Yaya Touré, the Ivorian did something completely unexpected. He charged forward powerfully, forcing his massive, strong body between Maresca and the ball.

The feeling was utterly crushing for Maresca.

After losing possession, the Italian reached out to pull Yaya Touré.

He got a hold of him!

Maresca felt a flicker of joy.

But Yaya Touré paid him no mind at all. He kept the ball at his feet, adjusted his steps, and drove forward.

Maresca felt as if he was being dragged by a bull, his body pulled forward involuntarily.

After playing for so long, Yaya Touré’s arm was sweaty and slippery. There was no way Maresca could hold on. His hand slipped, and he could only watch helplessly as his opponent charged away with the ball.

Cheers erupted once again from the fans at Philips Stadion.

Martí and Renato both rushed towards Yaya Touré.

But after a quick glance ahead, the Ivorian played a diagonal pass, precisely switching the ball to the right flank in the attacking third.

After passing, Yaya Touré didn’t stop; instead, he sprinted forward at an even greater speed.

Ashley Young, making an overlapping run, skillfully brought Yaya Touré’s pass under control.

Escudé, who was covering, immediately rushed over to defend.

Ashley Young couldn’t find a way through and was forced to cut inside towards the middle.

Džeko was originally level with the two centre-backs, preparing to get into the box for a cross.

Seeing the situation, he immediately chose to drop back and raised his hand, calling for the ball.

Ashley Young passed the ball to Džeko’s feet.

Almost at the exact moment Džeko received the ball, Yaya Touré, who had been sprinting all the way, arrived to his right and pointed forward.

Džeko understood perfectly. He turned, controlled the ball with his left foot, and sent a diagonal pass with his right.

The pass landed perfectly on the right side of the penalty arc.

Renato and Martí were chasing Yaya Touré from behind, but the two of them were no match for the Ivorian bull.

Just near the line of the penalty area, he controlled Džeko’s pass forward with his right foot, took a quick stride to catch up, and unleashed a thunderous shot.

Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was swift, and Yaya Touré’s furious shot was packed with power.

But the veteran goalkeeper Palop was fully focused. He dove to his side and parried the ball away.

The shot was too powerful; Palop couldn’t possibly hold onto it.

After pushing it away, Palop was still uneasy. He lifted his head from the ground and looked towards the left side of the large penalty area.

He saw a red figure rapidly closing in from the left, reaching the corner of the six-yard box. Meeting the ball Palop had just parried, he struck it instantly.

The ball shot like a bullet in a straight line, finding the back of the Sevilla net.

“It’s another goal!!!”

“Ribéry!”

“It’s Franck Ribéry again!!”

“A brace!!”

“My God, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese! Yaya Touré’s shot forces a save from Palop, who can’t hold on, and Ribéry scores another goal!”

“3-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s performance tonight has been absolutely astonishing!”

“Both teams are in a European final for the first time in their history, but this newly promoted Premier League team has not only stunned everyone in the Premier League but has also been a true dark horse in European competition!”

“Especially Franck Ribéry!”

“The French winger has been one of the best attacking wingers in the Premier League and in Europe this season. He is now seen by French fans as the great hope, the man who will lead the new generation of French football after Zidane’s retirement!”

“The Sevilla players are utterly dejected.”

“Yes, they must be gutted, but Bayswater Chinese has simply been the better team.”

“It’s the 60th minute. With half an hour left, being three goals down is cruel for Sevilla, but hopefully, they can pull themselves together and continue to compete.”

“It must be said, although the chances are slim, they still have a chance. They can’t give up!”

…

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted, after conceding the third goal, Sevilla’s morale plummeted to rock bottom.

To come back from three goals down in such an important final—did they think Bayswater Chinese was AC Milan?

After the restart, you could clearly feel the fighting spirit draining away from the Sevilla players. They were beginning to lose their will to fight.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was wary of a Sevilla backlash, and Yang Cheng reminded his players from the sideline to stay focused on defense.

Specifically, in the 65th minute, he substituted Matuidi for Ashley Young.

Modrić moved to the right, and the central midfield became a combination of French powerhouses in Matuidi and Lassana Diarra.

To Yang Cheng’s surprise, however, Sevilla offered none of the spirited fightback he had anticipated.

Their attack was listless.

By the 70th minute, Juande Ramos could bear it no longer and made his final substitution.

Kanouté came on for Fabiano.

He hoped this change would reignite his team’s attack.

Especially with the 1.92-meter-tall Kanouté.

But it was all for naught.

In the 76th minute, Ribéry even seized another opportunity. Taking advantage of the defensive gap left by Alves’s forward run, he broke past David Navarro, surged into the left side of the penalty area, and was brought down by the onrushing goalkeeper, Palop.

The head referee did not award a penalty kick this time.

But everyone knew it was a gesture of consideration for Sevilla.

They were already three goals down; there was no need to add a penalty to their misery at this point.

Almost all of the Sevilla players had surrendered.

Seeing that the outcome was settled, Yang Cheng made two substitutions in the 78th minute.

He brought on Gareth Bale for Ribéry.

And Theo Walcott for Modrić.

Instantly, all the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium rose to their feet, applauding Ribéry and Modrić.

Especially Ribéry, who had scored a brace.

He was undoubtedly the star of the night, and of Bayswater Chinese’s entire season!

The final ten minutes of the match were largely uneventful.

The only noteworthy moment came in the 91st minute.

Matuidi carried the ball forward and played a through pass.

Gareth Bale surged down the left wing, with Alves in hot pursuit. The two competed in a battle of speed.

Clearly, Alves lost.

As they reached the edge of the penalty area on the left, just as it looked like Bale was about to storm past him, Alves opted for a foul.

As the last man in defense, such a tactical foul from Alves would typically result in a red card.

But the German head referee was lenient once again, showing only a yellow card.

Gareth Bale’s explosive run down the wing showcased his astonishing speed and power.

The Welshman was quite tall now, though he still looked a bit thin.

It made Alves, beside him, seem a whole head shorter.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd both thought that once he built up more muscle, Gareth Bale could be even faster.

The same went for Walcott.

In the end, the match concluded with a 3-0 scoreline!

The moment the German referee, Mr. Fandel, blew the final whistle, all the Bayswater Chinese players on the bench stormed onto the pitch.

More than half the fans in the stadium stood up, cheering and celebrating for their team.

Some were even singing “Dream It Possible.”

This pleased Yang Cheng greatly.

Thanks to Adele’s performances over the past six months and media coverage, the song had already become widespread.

In fact, Adele had become famous because of it.

She had even mentioned to Yang Cheng that a record company wanted to sign her and release an album for her.

Now, hearing a mass sing-along of this song at the Philips Stadion in the Netherlands, on the very night his team won the UEFA Cup, Yang Cheng felt a surge of emotion!

My team has set sail!

Giants of Europe, are you ready?

…

“We are a very young team. Winning the UEFA Cup was never our ultimate goal.”

As Modrić received the UEFA Cup trophy from UEFA President Lennart Johansson and paraded it around the stadium, Yang Cheng, having received his medal, appeared in the mixed zone by the pitch to speak with reporters.

“This is a starting point!”

“For us, in the moment Modrić lifted that trophy, we were the UEFA Cup champions.”

“Now that moment has passed, we must move on as quickly as possible.”

“We will use this UEFA Cup title as a brand-new starting point to advance to the next important one.”

Despite his youth, Yang Cheng was not intoxicated by victory and silverware.

This surprised the reporters on site.

Many of them felt they had to re-evaluate Yang Cheng.

Was this really the same person who, just a few days ago, had declared he would invest one billion pounds to build a new stadium?

Many fans around the world had called Yang Cheng a boastful madman.

But now, he didn’t seem like one at all. Instead, he resembled a courteous gentleman.

“We have always been an underdog team, but tonight, we have tasted European victory. We have felt the glory of being champions. This will motivate us to work even harder and keep moving forward.”

Regarding the club’s future, Yang Cheng said they still needed to be cautious.

“I know our results this season have been quite good. We finished second in the Premier League, won the League Cup, and tonight we won the UEFA Cup. I suppose you could call us nominal double champions.”

At this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

The reporters gathered around him all laughed as well.

It was a slightly hollow “double,” but it was a double nonetheless.

“Over the years, European football has never lacked teams that shine brightly for a moment.”

“For instance, Kaiserslautern, who once achieved the miracle of winning the title as a newly promoted team; Everton in the past; and even traditional giants like Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.”

“We can learn many lessons from their experiences.”

“Running a club doesn’t just depend on results on the pitch. A single match, a cup competition, or even a single season—these are all short-term, temporary achievements.”

“But to manage this club well, what we need even more is a long-term strategy!”

“Our excellent performance this season has given us a great start and more confidence to continue moving forward.”

The club was based in London, arguably the most competitive city in the world, surrounded by other Premier League teams like Fulham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, and Charlton Athletic.

This season, there were a full seven Premier League teams from London.

If you included the newly promoted Watford, which is just on the outskirts of Greater London, that made a total of eight Premier League teams.

How could Bayswater Chinese survive among these established clubs?

“For that question, I’ll have to try to answer in my capacity as the Vice-Chairman of Bayswater Chinese.”

That’s right, Yang Cheng was still the Vice-Chairman.

The club’s Chairman was still his so-called father.

But this Vice-Chairman’s power was greater than the Chairman’s.

“I’ve never believed that the competition between London clubs is a zero-sum game. London has a huge population, fully capable of supporting this many teams. So, all we need to do is perform well and attract more fans.”

“As I’ve said before, we hope to bring the most entertaining and attacking football to our fans on the pitch.”

“At the same time, we will do everything in our power to provide our fans with the best possible matchday experience.”

Yes, Yang Cheng had once again steered the conversation back to the stadium.

As expected, the journalists couldn’t hold back any longer and immediately asked about the one-billion-pound plan for a new stadium.

Yang Cheng laughed heartily, saying he hadn’t expected it to cause such a huge controversy.

Of course, whether the media believed him or not was none of his concern.

“When I said that in the interview, I was speaking from the heart. I believe the viewing experience in Premier League stadiums is currently very poor.”

“I haven’t been to Arsenal’s new stadium, so I can’t comment on it, but every other stadium I’ve visited, including Old Trafford and Anfield, has given me a very poor impression.”

“I’ve been to the United States. I’ve personally experienced the enjoyment of watching NBA and NFL games live.”

“Fans spend a lot of money to buy our tickets and come to our stadium. That’s a form of trust in us. I feel we have an obligation to change the current situation, which is why I said we needed to build a new stadium.”

“Why invest one billion pounds?”

“That’s just a preliminary internal estimate. It might even be more.”

Everyone was taken aback.

One billion pounds was already staggering, and it might be more?

“We are currently in communication and coordination with various levels of government in London and hope to have further news soon.”

“But I can guarantee that everything I’ve said before will become a reality in the near future.”

“I hope to build the world’s most advanced, most fantastical, most luxurious super stadium for our Bayswater Chinese fans, providing them with the best viewing experience in the world!”

Yang Cheng also reiterated that the Yang family’s ambitions in investing in Bayswater Chinese would not change.

“Our investment in the training ground in Brent has already exceeded twenty million pounds, and the total projected investment will surpass twenty-five million pounds.”

“We have invested over ten million pounds in our youth academy, and we will continue to invest in the coming years.”

Yang Cheng spoke with tremendous confidence.

Because these were all real figures.

As for where the money was spent, he didn’t elaborate.

For example, the ten million pounds for the youth academy included the cost of acquiring three bankrupt youth clubs.

“Many media outlets have said our players’ wages are relatively low. They calculated our income from player sales over the past few years, then our revenue, and concluded that my family and I have siphoned off tens of millions of pounds from Bayswater Chinese.”

“That is a rumor!”

“To date, we have not taken a single penny from Bayswater Chinese. As for myself, I have yet to see a single payslip.”

“For the past three years, I haven’t taken a single penny in salary.”

Speaking of which, Yang Cheng really hadn’t paid attention.

In the very beginning, the club was severely short on cash. After Yang Cheng took over the team, he neither signed a contract nor discussed salary matters.

After Xia Qing took over, she did mention it to him once.

But later, he got busy and never followed up on it.

He’d have to check later and see how much salary he had actually been paid.

…

If Yang Cheng’s previous talk of one billion pounds was an exaggeration meant to create a media storm, then now, he was trying to balance it out by appearing exceptionally modest.

This was a form of public relations and marketing for the club.

It was also a suggestion from the club’s press and public relations department.

After the interviews and the celebrations at Philips Stadion concluded, Yang Cheng led the players back to the dressing room.

Everyone showered, changed, and packed up before boarding the team bus, which took them directly from Philips Stadion back to their hotel.

Bayswater Chinese was not a wealthy giant, but Yang Cheng was always generous when it came to the players’ food and accommodation for away games, so the team was staying in a five-star hotel.

The club had already made arrangements with the hotel beforehand.

If the team won the cup, they would book the entire hotel banquet hall for a lively victory celebration in the form of a buffet, along with some planned festive activities.

This time, the entire first team, regardless of whether they were in the matchday squad, had traveled with the team for the away game.

Adding the coaching staff and club employees, it was a large group.

This was the UEFA Cup, after all, so the British Royal Family had also arranged for Prince William and Prince Harry to attend and support the team.

This was an old tradition among the royal families of various countries.

By the time Yang Cheng and the players arrived at the hotel, it was already past midnight, but the atmosphere was still incredibly enthusiastic.

Adam Crozier’s social skills were on full display now.

He moved among the many guests, creating a very lively atmosphere.

When Yang Cheng arrived, Crozier took him first to meet and greet Prince William and Prince Harry, and then to find the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

The Mayor of Greater London had come specifically because of that one billion pounds.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Ken Livingstone had been the hot favorite when running for his third term as Mayor of London in 2008. Many even thought his victory was a sure thing.

But somehow, in the end, he was unseated by that blond-haired fellow, Boris Johnson.

Of course, some said Ken Livingstone lacked support from his own party.

The man was a bit of a troublemaker, a maverick who alienated both sides.

But he got things done, and he could deliver.

This was evident from his meeting with Yang Cheng.

He got straight to the point, asking if he really intended to invest one billion pounds to build a new stadium.

As he asked, his eyes were fixed on Yang Cheng, giving him no opportunity to evade or dodge.

Adam Crozier, standing to the side, couldn’t help but wipe away a bead of sweat.

This felt like an interview.

But what hadn’t Yang Cheng seen before?

He nodded very seriously, with great solemnity.

“One billion pounds. I’m actually worried it won’t be enough!”

“Where will you get that much money? As I understand it, your family’s business in China isn’t particularly large. You’ve started in real estate in recent years, but that’s a cash-burning industry.”

“So, we will fund the initial stages ourselves, but afterward, we will need government support and bank loans.”

“Government public funds cannot be invested in a private club like yours. The controversy would be enormous,” Ken Livingstone said, thinking Yang Cheng was aiming for government subsidies.

This was not the same as subsidies for youth academies.

Youth academy subsidies supported youth development and had a public welfare aspect.

Now, Bayswater Chinese wanted to build a stadium, which was a commercial venture.

“We don’t need government subsidies. We will raise the funds or take out loans ourselves,” Yang Cheng replied without a moment’s hesitation, not mincing his words.

“You’ve only been on the rise for one year,” Ken Livingstone reminded him.

Yang Cheng smiled confidently. “Next year, we’ll still be in the top four!”

That simple sentence not only showed Yang Cheng’s confidence but also conveyed a great deal of information.

Still in the top four meant they would still qualify for the Champions League, guaranteeing at least twenty million pounds in revenue each year.

A top-four finish also came with a substantial share of the broadcasting rights fees.

More importantly, it was widely rumored that Ribéry would be leaving this summer.

If that were true, how high would Ribéry’s transfer fee be?

If they could sell him for that much money and still finish in the top four, they would have a large amount of cash on hand.

Thinking about it that way, it did seem possible.

The only question was, did Yang Cheng have the ability to pull something like that off?

“Have you heard about the government’s plan to redevelop Queensway?” Ken Livingstone changed the subject.

Yang Cheng nodded. “I’ve heard a little, but I don’t know the details.”

“Your plot of land was sold to you by my predecessor.”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London in 2000. Yang Cheng really didn’t know who his predecessor was.

It seemed his so-called father had never mentioned this to him.

“This plot of land is very large. It occupies a core location in Bayswater and is also in the heart of the Queensway area. Therefore, we are taking your new stadium project very seriously.”

Ken Livingstone paused here, looking at Yang Cheng again.

“Of course, we welcome foreign investors to London, and we naturally support your construction of a brand-new football stadium. But we have requirements as well, which is that it must maintain the overall architectural style of the entire Queensway area.”

“Understood. We will invite the world’s best architects to lead the design,” Yang Cheng tossed out another piece of chocolate.

Hiring the best architects would also cost a lot of money.

“I’m afraid only a British architect can truly capture the essence of Queensway,” Ken Livingstone hinted.

“Understood,” Yang Cheng nodded.

“You should prepare a preliminary plan and submit it to the City of Westminster for approval first.”

Ken Livingstone clearly didn’t intend to delve any deeper.

“Our city government will also reorganize the redevelopment plan for Queensway. If possible, we can carry out both projects simultaneously and aim for completion and inauguration before the London Olympics!”

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded.

That’s exactly what I wanted!

…

The day after the UEFA Cup final, the Bayswater Chinese contingent returned to London in grand style.

The team held a modest celebration around Bayswater Stadium.

Although it was a weekday, tens of thousands of fans still gathered, spread across the Bayswater, Notting Hill, and Hyde Park areas, creating quite a stir.

This indirectly reflected what Adam Crozier had mentioned before.

According to the 80/20 rule, the loyalties of most fans are quite flexible.

In other words, they support whoever is stronger and whose games are more entertaining.

In smaller towns, fan loyalty might be higher because they have fewer choices, perhaps only that one team.

But London is different.

The residents of this international metropolis come from all over Britain and even the world.

Britain’s deep-rooted football culture means many of them have a habit of watching matches.

But truly die-hard fans of a single team are a minority.

With current Premier League ticket prices, how much does it cost for a family of three to watch a match?

How much does that add up to over a year?

Why did the old First Division resist television broadcasts for so long?

It was because they firmly believed that once matches were televised, fewer fans would be willing to buy tickets to attend in person.

Why have ticket prices for Premier League teams and Sky Television’s domestic broadcast rights become increasingly expensive over the past years and into the future?

Yang Cheng had read a financial report from Wembley Stadium in his past life.

Inside the 90,000-seat stadium, 80,000 people bought tickets but made almost no other purchases after entering.

Why?

Because the ticket prices were too expensive.

But the remaining 10,000-plus high-spending individuals would also enjoy other additional services after entering, such as dining, shopping, and entertainment.

Eighty percent of Wembley Stadium’s revenue came from these 10,000-plus people.

Therefore, the Wembley report stated that all their high-level, refined services were tailored for this customer group with strong spending power.

And those 80,000 who could afford the high-priced tickets were already considered high-end among the fan base.

Fans with lower spending power mostly watched on TV in pubs or at home.

So, they were never obligated to support just one team.

The simplest example is Chelsea.

Before Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea, what was the attendance at Stamford Bridge?

Not even talking about before the stadium’s renovation, just take the 2001/02 season after it was renovated. Apart from a few clashes between top teams, Stamford Bridge, with a capacity of 42,000, often had fewer than 35,000 attendees.

Some matches even had around 30,000.

These were Premier League figures, not cup competitions.

After Abramovich’s takeover, especially in the last two or three years as their results skyrocketed, every match at Stamford Bridge last season had over 40,000 fans in attendance—completely full.

Where did all these fans come from?

There just aren’t that many die-hard fans, especially as ticket prices rise and televised broadcasts become more widespread.

After Peter Kenyon took over at Chelsea, his first move to increase revenue was to renovate the stands on the two sides of the pitch, where the most seats were. One side was targeted at family users—those who come with their families, primarily with family season tickets.

The other side was for tourists and individual ticket buyers, with higher prices.

This is the reality of the London football market.

Incidentally, to this day, many clubs still advertise on television to promote ticket sales.

This channel started when television entered football and is a long-standing tradition.

Take West Ham United, for example. Their attendance looks decent, but in reality, the stadium is never full.

What do they do?

On match days, they offer discounts under various pretexts, including student tickets, senior tickets, and so on.

The population of East London is not small, and West Ham is the only Premier League team in the east. Where have all the die-hard fans gone?

The truth is, Britain’s football community culture isn’t about ticket sales and stadium attendance, but about the coverage of youth academies.

To put it simply, every community has its own dedicated youth academy or football club.

This increases the number of people playing football, and with youth development widespread in communities, it creates a strong football atmosphere.

But when it comes to ticket sales, especially in a global metropolis like London, getting fans to willingly spend so much money to buy a ticket to a match is a commercial activity.

It’s equivalent to selling a product.

This involves packaging, promotion, marketing, service…

So, after Abramovich took over Chelsea, they spent wildly, brought in so many stars, their results improved dramatically, and with some promotion and marketing, more fans were willing to buy tickets.

Additionally, Adam Crozier also brought up a few interesting points.

In Britain, many companies directly provide season tickets to a partner club as an employee benefit.

“Do you know why London’s nightlife is so vibrant?”

“Do you know why drunken hooliganism among British fans is a persistent problem?”

“Do you know why the UK has such a high rate of infidelity, to the point where even the royal family has a tradition of extramarital affairs?”

“Because people are bored!”

“Come evening, come holidays, there’s nothing to do!”

“Do those hooligans who drink and cause trouble do so only because they’re watching football?”

“No, it’s because they drink and cause trouble in their daily lives anyway, and they just happen to like football, and most pubs show football matches.”

“Compared to the other stupid things young people do, don’t you think going to a football match is a pretty good consumer habit?”

Amazingly, Yang Cheng was actually convinced by him.

So the boom in the British football market was all because they didn’t have a 996 work culture.

Seriously, Yang Cheng had even read a report in his past life that came to one conclusion: the more depressed the British economy, the more booming the football market.

Yang Cheng guessed it was because when the economy was down, people couldn’t afford high-end consumption, so they could only go watch a football match.

A classic case of consumption downgrade!

…

Over the past season, every match for Bayswater Chinese at Loftus Road Stadium was sold out.

But the matchday revenue was actually not that high.

According to Xia Qing’s statistics, the matchday income for the past season was only sixteen million pounds.

This figure was at the bottom among the twenty Premier League teams.

Also a newly promoted team, West Ham United played far fewer matches than Bayswater Chinese, but their matchday income exceeded twenty million pounds.

Because their stadium had a larger capacity and higher ticket prices.

The Premier League broadcast rights would probably bring in over twenty-seven million pounds. Add to that the prize money for winning the League Cup and UEFA Cup, plus Umbro’s sponsorship fee, and all told, not including player transfer income, last season’s revenue was only around fifty million pounds.

This was just a preliminary estimate; Xia Qing’s finance department would provide a precise report later.

Compared to the past, it was a huge leap forward.

But such an income was still on the low side in the Premier League.

“In the coming period, I’ll need a budget to promote and sell next season’s tickets. We also need to hire some staff to improve the matchday service level at Wembley Stadium.”

Adam Crozier was also under a lot of pressure now.

Wembley Stadium has a capacity of ninety thousand. With Bayswater Chinese’s current appeal, let alone filling it or even half of it, Yang Cheng would be thrilled if they could get thirty thousand.

If stadium attendance is low, the whole place feels empty, and the atmosphere can’t be good.

A poor atmosphere also affects the sales of private boxes and VIP seats.

And yet, this was a long-term battle!

For Bayswater Chinese, renting Wembley Stadium was a huge challenge.

But staying at Loftus Road Stadium would directly cap their potential.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier had considered it several times and all unanimously decided to accept the challenge.

“Our flagship competition for next season is the Champions League!”

Adam Crozier laid out his plan.

“I’m working with the ticketing company. We’re considering bundling the three Champions League group stage matches with the league season ticket.”

“Apart from Arsenal, the other clubs sell their Champions League tickets separately, and at a higher price. What makes us unique next season is that we’ll be playing in the Champions League.”

“There are only two teams from London in the Champions League—us and Chelsea. That’s our biggest selling point.”

Arsenal’s ticket prices were so high, so why was their market still so hot?

Because they bundled the Champions League group stage into their season tickets.

This method was also a way for Bayswater Chinese to attract fans.

“If we can break out of the group stage and get into the knockout rounds, we will definitely attract more fans. This will be a huge help to our overall ticket sales, so we have to take the Champions League seriously,” Adam Crozier advised.

Yang Cheng nodded, “With our current European coefficient, we’ll be in Pot 3 at best, but most likely Pot 4. That basically means we’ll be drawn into a group of death.”

The European coefficient was calculated over the past five years, but Bayswater Chinese had only played one year in the UEFA Cup.

Even though they won the trophy, it would probably be difficult to get into Pot 3.

Adam Crozier wasn’t ignorant about football; he knew how fierce the competition in the Champions League was.

“If we actually draw some of the giant clubs, that wouldn’t be bad either. At least it would boost our home game attendance,” the CEO said, putting a positive spin on a potentially bad situation with a laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out!” Yang Cheng smiled confidently.

This made Xia Qing, sitting beside him, feel a little strange.

In her impression, Yang Cheng was always like this, taking the hardest tasks upon his own shoulders.

“Adam, you just focus on making money. I’m still confident about the team’s results!”

This time, participating in the Champions League, Yang Cheng didn’t dare to speak too boldly.

The main reason was being placed in Pot 4.

That made them very reliant on the luck of the draw.

If their luck was terrible and they faced all strong teams, then it would be hard to say.

If their luck was a bit better and they were drawn into a 2+2 type of group, Bayswater Chinese could still fight for it.

No matter what, they had to give it their all in the Champions League.

After all, it was not just about results and prize money, but also about home ticket sales.

Whenever Yang Cheng thought about the vast expanses of empty seats at Wembley Stadium next season, he got a major headache.

The team also needed to find a way to play more attractively to retain more fans.

…

As soon as the Premier League season ended, news from the transfer market began to flood in.

The two most anticipated blockbuster transfers of the summer were both revealed.

Italian football was in an uproar over the Calciopoli scandal.

AC Milan, deeply embroiled in the scandal, was also at the center of controversy.

After the season ended, club president Berlusconi revealed in an interview that the team’s star striker, Shevchenko, would be joining Chelsea.

This immediately set the world ablaze.

Such a massive transfer, announced so casually?

Shouldn’t there have been a soap opera drawn out first?

Following Berlusconi’s statement, the British media quickly followed up, immediately revealing that Shevchenko’s transfer fee was as high as thirty-five million pounds, and his weekly wage would break the Premier League record at one hundred thirty thousand pounds.

The transfer fee set a new record in Premier League history!

The weekly wage also set a new high in Premier League history!

The entire European football world was stunned.

Another blockbuster transfer was Arsenal’s captain, Henry.

First, the British media reported that Henry had once again rejected Arsenal’s contract extension offer.

After The Gunners missed out on the Champions League, Henry had temporarily shelved his contract renewal negotiations with the club.

The Guardian revealed that Henry would announce his future after the Champions League final.

At the same time, The Guardian also reported that Barça star Ronaldinho, in an interview with their reporter, said that Henry was in very close contact with him, preparing to join Barça.

Since Henry’s contract only had one year left, The Gunners captain’s transfer fee would not be high.

The transfers of these two ace strikers undoubtedly dropped two bombshells on this summer’s European transfer market.

From the current situation, the transfers of the two superstars were pretty much set in stone.

Gazzetta dello Sport reported that after receiving the transfer fee for Shevchenko, AC Milan would sign either Ibrahimović from Juventus or Crespo from Chelsea.

Another candidate was Fernando Torres from Atlético Madrid.

But no matter which transfer it was, it would be difficult to surpass Shevchenko’s.

The Ukrainian Nuke had essentially locked up the title of this summer’s record transfer signing ahead of time.

…

After the team disbanded, Yang Cheng began to focus on the World Cup and the international players in his squad.

With the rise of Bayswater Chinese, many things were changing.

For example, the England national team.

Walcott was not selected for this year’s World Cup squad.

Yang Cheng was actually happy about this.

In his previous life, Walcott went but was just a benchwarmer. He gained a lot of empty fame, which put him on a pedestal and was detrimental to his growth.

But Leighton Baines was selected instead of Bridge.

The reason was simple: Bridge had barely played any games in the Premier League last season.

Besides Leighton Baines being called up to the England national team, Piszczek was selected for the Poland national team, and Neuer also edged out Timo Hildebrand to make the Germany national team.

Yaya Touré was selected for the Côte d’Ivoire national team, Gökhan Inler for the Switzerland national team, and Modrić for the Croatia national team.

The France national team had the most call-ups, with both Ribéry and Lassana Diarra selected.

This meant that Bayswater Chinese had a total of eight players participating in the World Cup in Germany.

This also made the fans very happy.

If you counted Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda, who were transferred during the winter transfer window, that made a total of ten.

Among them, Maicon’s failure to make the Brazil national team was what Yang Cheng regretted the most.

Cafu and Cicinho were selected instead.

In comparison, Maicon’s reputation was indeed the lowest.

Yang Cheng made a special effort to console Maicon, encouraging him to deliver even better performances to secure a firm place in the national team.

While everyone’s attention was on the upcoming World Cup in Germany, Yang Cheng quietly set his sights on a player he had been observing for a long time.

Chapter 99: The Battle for a Genius! Snatching Another World’s Best

Yang Cheng had originally planned to go to Paris to watch the Champions League final.

But after thinking it over, he decided against it.

He had too many things to take care of in London.

Perhaps it was because he wasn’t there in person, but Wenger’s team still lost to Barça in the Champions League final, just as they had in his previous life.

The difference this time was that The Gunners were soundly beaten, with no excuses.

Lehmann didn’t get an early red card, but Arsenal still had no answer for Frank Rijkaard’s Dream Team Two.

This once again proved that while luck is important on the football pitch, strength is what ultimately decides the outcome.

Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, David Dein, contacted UEFA, hoping for special treatment.

Doesn’t the Champions League winner automatically qualify for the next season’s competition?

What about the runner-up?

After all, they did make it to the final!

As it turned out, UEFA’s answer was a decisive: No!

This wasn’t surprising.

An exception for the champion was barely justifiable, but if reaching the final guaranteed a spot in the next Champions League, then wouldn’t the semi-finalists demand the same?

Following that logic, quarter-finalists and last-16 teams could all be guaranteed a place.

It made no sense!

This was a massive blow to Arsenal.

Although they finished 5th in the Premier League, failing to qualify for the ChampionsLeague meant a painful loss in revenue.

However, Arsenal’s foundation was still strong, so it wouldn’t be a major issue in the short term.

The day after the final Premier League match was played at Highbury, demolition began.

Everyone was now eagerly waiting for Highbury to be torn down and the land used to build apartments. The quick sale of these apartments would bring in some capital, greatly alleviating Arsenal’s financial pressure.

Only Yang Cheng felt pessimistic about this.

He knew that Arsenal’s real estate project would be hit by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, followed by the European debt crisis.

The UK’s property market would plummet from its peak.

By then, this real estate project that everyone was pinning their hopes on would not become Arsenal’s lifeline, but rather a burden.

That would be when The Gunners’ real crisis began!

He predicted it would happen sometime between 2008 and 2009.

…

Temporarily setting aside his work in London, Yang Cheng flew to Porto, Portugal, with Mike Rigg.

The two first checked into a hotel, made a phone call to arrange a meeting, and headed straight for the Estádio do Dragão.

Greeting Yang Cheng at the entrance was Porto’s director of football, Antero Henrique.

Many fans probably wouldn’t recognize him.

But he was a talented individual who would later be poached by the deep-pocketed Paris Saint-Germain.

“Hello, welcome to Porto!”

Antero Henrique shook hands with Yang Cheng and Mike Rigg in turn, then led them into his office.

In the meeting room, Yang Cheng also met Porto’s Chairman, Pinto da Costa, and Vice-Chairman, Reinaldo Teles.

There was another big shot present who surprised Yang Cheng.

The famous Portuguese agent, Jorge Mendes.

Yang Cheng had an appointment with Porto, but Mendes’s presence could only mean one thing: Porto’s collaboration with Mendes was very deep, which was intriguing.

Mendes smiled and explained his presence, saying he happened to be in Porto on business. When he heard Yang Cheng was coming, he shamelessly asked to stay.

“I also wanted to meet and get to know the renowned Genius Coach of European football.”

Mendes’s words made everyone in the room laugh.

Yang Cheng felt flattered, so he couldn’t very well hold the agent’s presumptuousness against him.

The man was truly eloquent, but also incredibly cunning and calculating.

However, to become one of the world’s top agents, he couldn’t be purely mercenary.

If he were, he wouldn’t last long in this business.

The most important quality for an agent is to be a smooth operator, adept at balancing the interests of the club, the player, and the agent himself.

Mendes was the best at this.

But Yang Cheng still had a poor impression of him.

It couldn’t be helped; their interests didn’t align, so a good impression was out of the question.

Once the pleasantries were over and everyone was seated, Yang Cheng got straight to the point.

“We’re here to talk about Pepe.”

As soon as Yang Cheng said this, the Porto officials showed varying expressions.

Some were surprised, some were puzzled, and some simply nodded.

It seemed they had been trying to guess the purpose of his visit.

Porto currently had a number of famous stars.

For example, the talented Portuguese winger Quaresma, and the Argentine international midfielder Luis Óscar González, also known as Lucho González.

Then there were Diego, Pepe, Anderson, McCarthy, Postiga, Bosingwa, Ricardo Costa, Raul Meireles, Hugo Almeida, Baía…

Right now, the most sought-after players on the transfer market were actually Diego and Anderson.

Diego was a long-established name in Brazil, hailed as one of the “twin stars” alongside Robinho. His talent and skill were undeniable, but he hadn’t performed well at Porto.

This was especially true this season, after Dutch head coach Co Adriaanse took over and showed little fondness for the Brazilian attacking midfielder.

Anderson was another highly-regarded player at Porto, nicknamed the “second Ronaldinho.”

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this young player was signed by Manchester United for a high fee.

Unfortunately, Ferguson later forcibly converted him into a midfield workhorse.

As a centre-back, Pepe had been a starter for Porto this season.

But he had only just completed his first season as a regular. He started at Marítimo and transferred to Porto in the summer of 2004 for two million euros.

Last season, he was a rotational centre-back. The turning point came in the seventh round of the Primeira Liga this season, a home game against Benfica.

Before that, Porto’s centre-back pairing was Pedro Emanuel as the starter, with Bruno Alves and Ricardo Costa rotating as his partner. Pepe was the fourth-choice centre-back.

But in the seventh round, Pedro Emanuel was out with an injury. The partnership of Bruno Alves and Ricardo Costa lost 0-2 at home to Benfica.

In a fit of anger, head coach Co Adriaanse banished Bruno Alves to the reserves, moved Ricardo Costa to the bench, and promoted Pepe to start alongside Pedro Emanuel.

From then until the end of the season, Pepe’s performances were excellent.

In the 27 league games Pepe played, Porto conceded only 10 goals and lost just twice.

It was fair to say that the 2005/06 season was when Pepe improved the most and truly came of age.

Yang Cheng was very optimistic about the Brazilian centre-back.

It wasn’t just because he had coached Pepe in his past life, but more importantly, he believed that among all the centre-backs born in the 1980s, Pepe’s overall ability was definitely in the top three, perhaps even the best.

Ramos’s individual defensive skills were outstanding, but he was limited by his height, a critical weakness.

This was why he was prone to fouling when up against tall center-forwards.

If you can’t stop them, you have to foul them.

Vidić was also formidable, especially with his brute strength—after all, he was a man who could take on Drogba one-on-one.

But the Serbian centre-back was a bit cumbersome, slow to turn, and lacked agility. He clearly struggled against pacey forwards like Torres.

Because of his excellent passing ability, Piqué’s physical strength was often underestimated. Overall, he was a world-class centre-back.

But he lacked aggression and tended to be soft in crucial moments.

Thiago Silva was a very balanced type, but he wasn’t adept at pressing forward to challenge attackers; he preferred to play a holding role and cover.

You couldn’t say which type of centre-back—one who presses up or one who drops back—was better, and there was no need to compare them.

But anyone who has played football knows that the rarest defenders aren’t the ones who stay deep, but those who dare to rush up and challenge under pressure at critical moments.

If you challenge and win the ball, it’s expected. If you fail, it’s a fatal mistake.

Some might ask, if the risk is so high, why press up at all?

But if everyone just sits deep, aren’t you just handing the defensive initiative to the opponent?

It’s precisely because of the importance of an aggressive, front-foot centre-back that even with all his mistakes, a player like David Luiz was still sought after by a host of top clubs. Pep Guardiola also rated him very highly.

It’s the same principle as passing.

In a certain team that shall not be criticized, a captain with the surname Feng once explained why he played at two completely different levels for his national team and his club.

It was because on the national team, when he wanted to pass, he saw his teammates running away from the ball.

The pressure was too great; they were afraid of making a mistake and didn’t dare to receive a pass!

Isn’t that how the phrase “the ball is a hot potato” came about?

Applying this to defending, whether you can win the tackle is a matter of ability.

Whether you dare to press up is a matter of attitude!

Of course, fielding two aggressive, front-foot centre-backs wouldn’t work either.

Take, for example, the early pairing of Pepe and Ramos at Real Madrid.

And Pepe’s greatest advantage was that he could both press up and drop back to defend deep.

If Yang Cheng had to say, Brazil’s biggest loss was not calling up Pepe in time, allowing him to join Portugal.

Otherwise, a centre-back pairing of Pepe and Thiago Silva could absolutely have helped Brazil win the World Cup.

As for Pepe’s early rough fouls, especially his various “atrocities” after joining Real Madrid, and his later stage at Real Madrid where he became as calm as a saint, Yang Cheng felt it had a lot to do with the team’s tactical style.

When Pepe first joined Real Madrid, he carried the hefty 30-million-euro price tag and was desperate to prove himself, giving his all in every match.

But Real Madrid had huge problems at that time, especially in defense, which lacked any system.

An interesting story from that time:

After joining Real Madrid, Pepe was playing alongside Cannavaro.

During one defensive play, Pepe alerted Cannavaro before rushing up to challenge an attacker.

They conceded a goal.

Pepe, frustrated, asked Cannavaro why he hadn’t provided defensive cover.

Guess what Cannavaro said?

“At Real Madrid, every defender fends for himself. We don’t have the habit of playing together.”

Listen to that—those were the words of Italian centre-back Cannavaro!

In fact, Cannavaro himself didn’t perform well at Real Madrid.

It wasn’t just him. Samuel, Woodgate, Cannavaro, Pepe, Ramos…

In those years, almost every defender who came to Real Madrid failed to perform well.

The root cause was that Real Madrid had no stable defensive system whatsoever.

That’s why Cannavaro said every defender fended for himself.

This collapse of the defensive system began during the Galácticos era, saw some improvement under Capello, but quickly fell into disarray again.

The real transformation came in 2010, after Yang Cheng took over as Real Madrid’s head coach and rebuilt the Galácticos’ defensive system.

From then on, the overall performances of Pepe and Ramos took off as if they were reborn.

That was why Yang Cheng had come to Porto.

…

“Pepe is a very important player for us.”

Porto’s Chairman, Pinto da Costa, looked at Yang Cheng with a smile.

Yang Cheng was all too familiar with this kind of opening line.

He almost couldn’t resist retorting: “Hey, buddy, can you not steal my lines?”

“Pepe’s current valuation is eight million euros…”

“A correction, Chairman da Costa. His valuation on Transfermarkt is six million euros,” Yang Cheng interjected with a smile, offering a reminder.

That was a two-million-euro difference.

Da Costa and Mendes exchanged a knowing glance and smiled.

Yang Cheng cursed inwardly, Two old foxes.

“How about this? Eight million euros, and you can take Pepe,” da Costa said, looking very magnanimous.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “This price is far beyond our expectations.”

Beyond your expectations?

“Then what price range of centre-back are your Bayswater Chinese looking to sign?” agent Mendes chimed in at this point, asking the question da Costa was too polite to ask.

Right, he was also Pepe’s agent.

“I have many others, at all price points. We can talk.”

After saying this, Mendes laughed heartily.

It seemed like he was promoting himself, but in reality, he was helping Porto probe Yang Cheng’s price limit.

“As far as I know, Porto currently has four excellent centre-backs. Pepe has only played one season as a starter, and his performances haven’t been very consistent…”

“Your Chimbonda only played for half a season, and you sold him for fifteen million pounds,” Vice-Chairman Reinaldo Teles said calmly.

Yang Cheng knew very well that whether it was third-party ownership held by agents like Mendes or the business model of a selling club like Porto, it was a bit like trading used cars.

The most important thing wasn’t how much you made on one car, but moving it quickly—buy low, sell high, and cash out.

Profit is only profit when it’s in your hand!

In the summer of 2004, Pepe joined Porto for only two million euros.

“I’ll make an offer. You can consider it.”

Yang Cheng remained very calm.

Da Costa, Mendes, and the others all turned to look at him.

“Five million,” Yang Cheng said, holding up his right hand.

“Pounds?” Da Costa’s eyes lit up.

Yang Cheng caught the signal.

“Euros!”

…

“That’s a pretty big gap in price.”

On the taxi ride back to the hotel after leaving the Estádio do Dragão, Mike Rigg frowned.

Yang Cheng had offered five million euros, but Porto was sticking firmly to eight million euros.

That was a three-million-euro difference.

For a transfer like this, that gap was quite large.

Of course, the next step would depend on the sincerity of both parties.

If the Bayswater Chinese were genuinely keen on buying, and Porto genuinely wanted to sell, then a deal could still be negotiated.

But not now.

“You underestimate Porto and Mendes,” Yang Cheng said with a slight smile.

Having lived three lives and coached for decades, Yang Cheng knew the tactics of Porto and Mendes like the back of his hand.

Take, for instance, how they hyped up Pepe in the summer of 2007.

At that time, European football was indeed experiencing a centre-back panic.

It wasn’t that centre-backs were unavailable, but that excellent ones were extremely scarce.

Porto and Mendes began to heavily publicize the so-called centre-back shortage. At the same time, rumors circulated that many teams needed to sign a centre-back, creating a situation of high demand and low supply in the transfer market.

It even led to multiple clubs pursuing Porto’s Pepe simultaneously.

Before the transfer market hysteria, Inter Milan had inquired about Pepe’s price. At that time, Porto’s asking price was nine million euros, which was roughly his valuation on Transfermarkt.

But what happened?

After a round of hype, Pepe’s value skyrocketed, jumping to 18 million euros in a very short time.

It even reached 20 million euros.

It doubled!

That was already outrageous, wasn’t it?

This kind of manipulative tactic directly scared off many top clubs.

But there are always a few irrational actors in the transfer market.

For example, those two guys at Real Madrid who thought they were clever but were actually complete fools.

Chairman Ramón Calderón and technical director Predrag Mijatović.

Of course, it was later said that they both profited from the transfer, but no one knows for sure.

Yang Cheng, however, thought that given their methods, they probably weren’t competent enough to secure a kickback.

Why?

Mendes and Porto weren’t idiots. When two suckers stubbornly refused to leave the table, if you didn’t fleece them then, when would you?

When Real Madrid remained at the negotiating table, dead set on getting Pepe, Mendes and Porto had already locked onto their target and brandished their butcher’s knife.

In the end, Pepe’s transfer fee was 30 million euros.

An utterly absurd figure!

It was even more ridiculous than Aaron Lennon’s 20-million-pound fee.

At least Aaron Lennon had the advantage of his homegrown player status and his young age.

From nine million euros to 30 million euros, all within a single transfer window.

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t tell Mike Rigg about his past life. He simply explained Porto and Mendes’s hype tactics, along with some of their operational methods.

As the Chief Talent Officer for the Bayswater Chinese, Mike Rigg would have to deal with these people frequently in the future.

“When negotiating with these people, you can’t let your guard down for a second. You must stick to your bottom line. Let them name whatever price they want, we won’t budge. If it really doesn’t work out, we’ll find someone else.”

Yang Cheng then explained the used car business model to Mike Rigg.

It was very similar to the methods used by Porto, Mendes, and others.

“Professional football is a special, people-centric industry. No one knows what will happen in the next match.”

“Especially with young players, one injury can jeopardize their future.”

“So, they focus on quick turnover. One misstep, and the asset is stuck on their hands.”

Cases like these were countless.

If Porto’s asking price for Pepe to Inter Milan was only nine million euros next summer, then it would be impossible for them to demand eight million euros this summer.

As far as Yang Cheng knew, Pepe would perform even better next season.

Of course, in terms of achievements, Porto were the Double champions of the league and domestic cup this season, so their record was better.

Mike Rigg listened, stunned.

He had never heard of many of these secrets and intricate maneuvers, let alone executed them.

Hearing Yang Cheng’s explanation, he was truly astonished.

He never realized there were so many behind-the-scenes dealings involved in a player’s transfer.

“By the way, Yang, how did you find all this out?” Mike Rigg asked casually out of curiosity.

Yang Cheng paused for a moment.

I’ve lived three lives and watched football for decades. How could I not learn?

“For the past few years, I’ve been personally handling all the club’s player transfers. I come into contact with these things often. By listening, observing, gathering information, and analyzing, you naturally start to understand a lot of it.”

Mike Rigg had a sudden realization.

Since he was going to be the Chief Talent Officer, he had to learn diligently from his young boss!

Although they didn’t manage to seal the deal on this trip, it wasn’t a total loss.

From Mendes, Yang Cheng obtained a very valuable piece of intelligence.

Pepe was in the process of applying for Portuguese citizenship!

And it was very likely to be approved before August.

This meant that by the start of the new season, Pepe could have a Portuguese passport, allowing him to play as an European Union player. This would save the Bayswater Chinese from using one of their Special Talent Clause slots.

Originally, Yang Cheng had a tough choice between two Brazilian players.

Now that Pepe wouldn’t need a slot, the problem was solved.

It had been five years since he arrived at Marítimo in 2001, which met the Portuguese government’s residency requirement.

Therefore, Yang Cheng believed the information from Mendes was genuine.

“Mike.”

Yang Cheng made a swift decision.

This was a god-sent opportunity; he was going to snatch another world’s best player!

“Don’t come back to London with me. We’ll part ways in Lisbon. I need you to fly to South America and do two things for me.”

As the club’s Vice-Chairman and head coach, Yang Cheng had far too much on his plate to make another trip to South America himself.

Especially considering he had more important things to deal with.

For example, Wembley Stadium, the construction of the new stadium, the Brent training ground, and the Satellite Training Centres.

Even more important was the upcoming pre-season tour of Asia.

The list of major and minor tasks was simply endless.

…

After returning to England from Portugal, Yang Cheng became incredibly busy.

He spent a few days, accompanied by Xia Qing and Chris Hunt, inspecting the three Satellite Training Centres the club had recently purchased.

If you were to draw circles on a map, these three training centers were not only conveniently located with good transportation links and surrounded by densely populated towns, but more importantly, they were about a 90 to 120-minute drive from the Brent training ground.

In other words, they perfectly expanded the coverage of their youth academy network.

Chris Hunt, focused on optimizing this youth development network, mentioned that his next priority would be to scout a location for a larger-scale Satellite Training Centre, probably in the southeastern suburbs, about a three-hour drive from the Brent training ground.

This would allow the most promising older youth players from the surrounding satellite centers to be gathered at this main satellite facility for continued development.

Yang Cheng was very confident in Chris Hunt’s abilities.

After acquiring the three youth clubs, Hunt had established partnerships with the local councils, ensuring that most of the subsidies and supportive policies were continued, thus reducing the financial burden on the Bayswater Chinese.

Since the three youth clubs already had established youth teams, the Bayswater Chinese were currently in the process of integrating them.

The next step would be to upgrade the hardware and software of these three Satellite Training Centres and provide staff training.

Yang Cheng’s inspection tour was warmly welcomed by local council dignitaries.

Putting everything else aside, the Bayswater Chinese had been on a powerful upward trajectory for the past two or three years, growing rapidly. Their promise to invest in youth development was a timely assistance for these communities.

If these youth clubs had gone bankrupt, the council members’ reputations would have been affected as well.

After inspecting the three satellite centers, Yang Cheng went to the Brent training ground.

Speaking of which, Yang Cheng had to admire Xia Qing.

She truly managed the club’s finances impeccably. No matter the project, she could always find the money.

Now, the second phase of construction was in full swing.

The entire north bank of the Brent Reservoir was a hive of activity.

Yang Cheng personally entered the construction site to inspect the progress and was quite satisfied with it.

Of course, this was by British construction standards.

If you compared it to China’s legendary efficiency in construction…

Well, it was better not to say anything.

For the future new stadium, Yang Cheng had actually considered hiring a Chinese construction company.

But Adam Crozier had warned him that it wouldn’t be possible.

One reason was that the project was tied to the redevelopment of Queensway, which made it impossible to award the contract to a Chinese firm.

This was especially true given its connection to the London Olympics.

If they were to do that and the public found out, there would be an uproar.

Furthermore, even without the Queensway redevelopment and the Olympics, hiring a Chinese construction company would be very difficult.

The issue of local jobs had to be considered.

If a Chinese company was only brought in to contract the work, but the jobs remained in the UK, what would be the point?

Adam Crozier proposed a different idea: play the Olympics card.

Since they were spending so much money anyway, they might as well piggyback on the Olympic hype to win the favor of British fans.

I’ve spent over a billion pounds to support Britain hosting the Olympics. Can’t I at least get some publicity and win over the local fans?

So what if the club is owned by Chinese investors?

We are sincerely committed to Sino-British friendship, supporting the UK in hosting the Olympics, and investing in English football.

Don’t believe us?

The investment of over a billion pounds is the best proof!

This involved the club’s brand marketing and image management.

In Adam Crozier’s words, in London, the majority of the demographic that actually buys tickets and consumes merchandise is not mindlessly xenophobic.

On the contrary, most people are rational and are more likely to wonder, “What’s in it for me from this partnership?”

For example, are there any profitable projects in China?

Nothing is more persuasive than a tangible investment!

Reputation and image are all about packaging.

Adam Crozier had convinced Yang Cheng.

…

In June, as the World Cup in Germany was about to kick off, Adam Crozier, who had been coordinating with the London and Westminster governments, brought Yang Cheng further news about the new stadium.

They could now begin conducting public opinion surveys among the local residents.

At the same time, they were to prepare a preliminary proposal for submission to the Westminster Development Control Committee for review.

As for the design firm for the new stadium…

“After much communication and coordination, I believe there is one person who can leave all of Britain speechless.”

“Who?”

“Norman Foster.”

Yang Cheng knew of him, a world-class British architect.

“Many designs will inevitably cause controversy, but with Norman Foster’s endorsement, I believe there will be far less of it. Besides, you heard what Ken Livingstone said that day.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

This wasn’t necessarily Ken Livingstone scheming something; it was likely a move to minimize negative impact.

A building designed by Britain’s most famous architect, along with the redevelopment of Queensway, would certainly spark debates about aesthetic preference, but there would be no questions about its legitimacy.

“Norman Foster doesn’t personally participate in many designs these days; it’s mostly his firm that takes on projects. Getting him to design it himself will be quite difficult.”

Yang Cheng had heard of this.

It would be very difficult, but if he designed it, the project would instantly become world-famous.

“However, if we package our new stadium together with the Queensway redevelopment and offer the whole thing to him, I believe he’ll be very interested. This is a major project of considerable importance in Britain.”

“The design fee will likely be quite expensive, though.”

At this, Adam Crozier looked at Yang Cheng with a questioning gaze.

“How expensive?”

“For a major project like this, the fee is typically between three to five percent of the budget. Given Norman Foster’s standing, it would likely be five percent.”

In other words, with a one-billion-pound investment budget, the design fee would be 50 million pounds.

Yang Cheng was a bit taken aback, and a news story from his previous life immediately came to mind.

Norman Foster chasing the Indian local government for a 600-million-dollar design fee.

“Indeed, it’s the professionals who make the most money!” Yang Cheng sighed with emotion.

Fifty million pounds?

Pay it!

Of course, this sum wasn’t a one-time payment. It would be paid in installments over the entire course of the project, which often spanned several years.

So, the Bayswater Chinese could afford it for now.

It just stung a little.

…

The 2006 World Cup in Germany kicked off with a thunderous strike from German full-back Philipp Lahm.

Overall, the tournament unfolded much as Yang Cheng remembered.

After all, the strength of many teams was what it was.

Yang Cheng’s butterfly effect wasn’t as significant as he had imagined.

For example, in the German squad, Neuer was the third-choice goalkeeper, behind Lehmann and Kahn.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Neuer would see no action in this World Cup.

This was a kind of tradition of succession within the German national team.

The Polish national team had an addition in Piszczek, who played at right-back and performed reasonably well.

But as a team sport, the addition of one defender didn’t have a major impact on the overall performance of the team.

The result against Ecuador, originally a 0-2 loss, became a 1-2 loss instead.

They were still weaker than their opponents; a loss was still a loss.

It was like playing Football Manager against a tough team.

Even after reloading the save multiple times, you would still lose more often than you won.

England’s situation was similar.

After being selected, Leighton Baines was essentially Ashley Cole’s backup, with little chance of usurping him.

The French team, however, saw a more significant change.

Unlike in his previous life, where Ribéry was a newcomer to the World Cup, he was now a sharp weapon for the France national team.

In the past, the Scarface had been nervous in his World Cup debut and failed to perform.

But this time, not only was he the best player on the pitch, but he also scored the only goal of the match.

It came in the 69th minute of the second half. France had been attacking relentlessly to no avail, with many players, including Henry, wasting numerous chances.

After creating excellent scoring opportunities for Henry, Vieira, and Zidane, only for them to be missed, Ribéry decided to take matters into his own hands.

Zidane delivered a brilliant pass, and Ribéry broke into the left side of the penalty area, receiving the ball for a one-on-one with the keeper and coolly slotting it in with his right foot.

It was the only goal of the match.

In the end, France won all three of their group stage matches, finishing first in their group.

Ribéry became one of the French team’s most outstanding players in the group stage.

The 23-year-old was giving his all, determined to unleash his talent on the World Cup stage for more top clubs to see.

Unfortunately, although Modrić became a starter, Croatia still couldn’t overcome Brazil and Australia, ultimately being eliminated in the group stage.

As for the group stage, besides his own players, the one who left a deep impression on Yang Cheng was Ecuador’s Antonio Valencia.

The player had a very eye-catching performance at the World Cup, helping Ecuador advance from their group.

Manchester United’s Dark Quartet: Valencia-who-won’t-shoot, Young-who-can’t-get-past, Nani-who-doesn’t-pass, and Welbeck-who-doesn’t-score.

In reality, all four of these players were very talented.

The key was how to use them.

The problem with players of this caliber is that they can’t be the main stars for a top club; their ability isn’t quite at that elite level.

But with the right tactical setup, they could be excellent supporting players.

The most typical example was another player, Argentina’s Di María.

Di María’s skill was superior to that of the Dark Quartet, but asking him to be the core player and single-handedly break down an opponent’s defense wasn’t his forte.

But he could be the best support player alongside a core star.

That’s why he excelled at Real Madrid, with the Argentine national team, and at Paris Saint-Germain.

Why did he fail at Manchester United?

Because Manchester United’s core players weren’t good enough, their tactics were poor, and their head coach was ineffective.

…

After the group stage, the situation remained largely unchanged.

At most, the scores were different, but the teams that were supposed to win generally did.

For example, France advanced through the knockout rounds with some close calls but without major incident.

In fact, Domenech’s 4-2-3-1 formation was truly despair-inducing for opponents.

The double pivot of Makélélé and Vieira, combined with a rock-solid defense, was enough to strike fear into any team.

Upfront, they had Ribéry’s sharp dribbling, Henry’s individual brilliance, and Zidane’s orchestration.

This French team might have been a bit old, but their strength was terrifying.

More importantly, they played as a cohesive unit.

Take Brazil, for example.

In terms of on-paper strength, Brazil was undoubtedly the strongest team at this World Cup.

Ronaldo was still a force to be reckoned with, and Ronaldinho had won the Ballon d’Or and the Champions League, making him a bona fide global superstar.

They also had superstars like Adriano, Carlos, and Kaká.

But Brazil’s biggest problem was that they played too loosely.

This reminded Yang Cheng of a saying.

Someone once joked that for the Brazil national team, playing in the World Cup was like a group of people going on a lively vacation—they’d barbecue, dance the samba, and pick up the World Cup trophy along the way.

The first part of that wasn’t far from the truth.

Especially in recent tournaments, every time Brazil won the World Cup, it was thanks to strict discipline and solid team defense.

As long as they got those two things right, Brazil’s attack would always take care of itself.

But when a team has so many big-name stars, reining them in is no easy task.

So, in the end, Brazil, the big favorite with the strongest team on paper, lost to an aging French side.

It was no injustice.

But the score wasn’t 1-0 like in the previous life; it was 2-0.

Because in the second half, Ribéry received an assist from Henry and once again beat the Brazilian goalkeeper in a one-on-one.

In the end, with their formidable attacking trio of Henry, Ribéry, and Zidane, France fought their way into the final.

Unfortunately, they came up against an Italian team pushed to the brink by the Calciopoli scandal.

Lippi’s Italian army put up an impenetrable fortress, holding the match to a 0-0 draw until the very end.

In the final moments of the game, Zidane lost his cool after an exchange with Materazzi, headbutting the Italian centre-back and receiving a red card.

This became one of the World Cup’s greatest regrets.

But it was also an iconic moment etched in the memory of countless fans.

Italy ultimately won on penalty kicks against a French team that was mentally fragile after losing Zidane.

…

As soon as the World Cup ended, the European transfer market immediately burst into life.

This was especially true for players who had performed exceptionally well in the tournament.

After Shevchenko’s 35-million-pound move to Chelsea, Henry also announced his transfer to Barcelona.

The transfers of these two superstars completely ignited the transfer market.

With the World Cup’s conclusion, the 23-year-old winger Ribéry, who had been a standout performer for France, became the darling of the transfer market. Numerous top clubs, including Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barça, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan, were all paying close attention.

In the just-concluded 2005/06 season, Ribéry had achieved double digits in both goals and assists in the Premier League.

His goal tally in the league reached 17.

He was also the best player in the UEFA Cup and the MVP of the final.

Now, on the World Cup stage, Ribéry had once again shown everyone his skill and potential.

As the German magazine kicker commented:

“At 23, Ribéry is already over the age limit for FIFA’s Best Young Player award; otherwise, there would be no suspense.”

At the same time, kicker also asserted, “Ribéry is becoming, and perhaps already has become, one of the best players in the world!”

When the World Cup ended, Arsenal was the first club to make an offer for Ribéry.

The Gunners’ first bid was a surprising 25 million pounds.

But the Bayswater Chinese rejected Arsenal’s offer without hesitation.

Are you kidding? Only 25 million pounds?

The Bayswater Chinese didn’t even bother to make a counter-offer.

As Arsenal made their move, other top clubs also began to take action.

Rumors about Ribéry’s transfer were flying everywhere.

…

Besides Ribéry’s transfer saga, another major protagonist in the transfer market was Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo.

Due to his on-field clash with Rooney during the World Cup, which led to the English star being sent off with a red card, C. Ronaldo became the number one scapegoat for England’s defeat. Some furious fans even went to smash the windows of his house in Cheshire.

The enraged English fans were so hostile that the Portuguese player didn’t dare to return to the UK.

Spanish media revealed that C. Ronaldo intended to leave Manchester United and move to La Liga’s Real Madrid.

This once again captured the attention of fans worldwide.

But Ferguson was truly remarkable.

The team had not yet reassembled, but Ferguson cut his vacation short, contacted C. Ronaldo through his agent Mendes, and flew directly to Lisbon to meet with him. He personally convinced C. Ronaldo to stay, promising him that he would become the core player of Manchester United.

This not only resolved the World Cup feud between C. Ronaldo and Rooney but also settled the debate from the previous season about who was Manchester United’s attacking core.

Furthermore, Manchester United decided to extend C. Ronaldo’s contract with a weekly wage of 100,000 pounds.

From the World Cup controversy to Ferguson stepping in to resolve it, the whole affair took only about 10 days.

Once Ferguson decided to keep C. Ronaldo and build the attack around the Portuguese star, the fate of the Dutchman Van Nistelrooy was sealed as a tragedy.

Subsequently, Manchester United and Real Madrid simultaneously announced that Ruud van Nistelrooy had transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid for a fee of 10 million pounds.

Real Madrid’s new chairman, Ramón Calderón, was thrilled when officially announcing the transfer, praising Van Nistelrooy as a world-class goalscorer.

“We have every reason to expect that the world-class forward combination of Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo will bring us a constant stream of goals.”

In an interview with the media, Calderón also announced that Real Madrid’s transfer business was not yet finished.

Before signing Van Nistelrooy, Real Madrid had already signed Cannavaro and Emerson from Juventus.

The Old Lady was set to be relegated due to the Calciopoli scandal, and the team was falling apart.

Head coach Capello took Cannavaro and Emerson with him to Real Madrid, while Vieira and Ibrahimović went to Inter Milan, and Zambrotta and Thuram went to Barcelona.

Spanish media revealed that after signing three world-class players, Real Madrid’s next target was French star Franck Ribéry.

Zidane himself had publicly endorsed him as the most talented midfielder in France after his own retirement.

More importantly, he was only 23 years old.

Real Madrid’s technical director, Predrag Mijatović, stated, “We hope Ribéry can fill the void left by Zidane’s retirement. This will be a crucial piece of our team’s tactical puzzle.”

Moreover, the newspaper Marca revealed a secret from the transfer market.

While Real Madrid was determined to sign Ribéry, Barça was unusually quiet.

This was strange.

Because there had been persistent rumors that Barça was also interested in Ribéry.

So why the silence now?

Marca revealed that after Arsenal’s bid for Ribéry, Barça had indeed contacted the Bayswater Chinese and inquired about his price.

“The Bayswater Chinese made a demand that was unacceptable to Barça: include Messi in the deal and add cash on top.”

“Barça has given up on their pursuit of Ribéry because Frank Rijkaard considered this an unacceptable condition.”

…

While the entire transfer market was in an uproar, the Bayswater Chinese officially announced the signing of Brazilian centre-back Pepe from Primeira Liga side Porto for a fee of 4 million pounds, or 6 million euros.

Among the many star transfers, this deal did not attract much attention.

The transfer fee was also not high.

At the same time as announcing the signing of Pepe, the Bayswater Chinese also officially announced that they had sold their fourth-choice centre-back, Roger Johnson, to newly promoted Sheffield United for 2.5 million pounds.

Subsequently, the Bayswater Chinese announced the signing of Brazilian U17 international Marcelo from Brazil’s Fluminense for 1 million pounds, and the signing of young Argentine Di María from Argentina’s Rosario Central for 1 million pounds.

The British tabloid The Sun revealed that both youngsters had only just begun to make their mark in their respective first teams, and mostly as substitutes, when they were spotted by Bayswater Chinese scouts.

The Bayswater Chinese would use a Special Talent Clause for Marcelo.

Di María had an Italian passport, so he could easily obtain a work permit.

Just as the Bayswater Chinese were signing two young talents, Real Madrid, who had been biding their time, finally made their move.

The Galácticos submitted a transfer offer for Ribéry worth 30 million pounds, or 45 million euros!

In an instant, the entire transfer market erupted with excitement.

Chapter 100: A Record-Breaking Price! Let’s Go Head-to-Head with Real Madrid!

Säbener Strasse, Harlaching, Munich, Germany, the headquarters of Bayern Munich.

Due to the World Cup, the team had not yet assembled.

But on this day, the offices at Bayern’s headquarters were buzzing with unusual activity.

If any media reporters or fans familiar with Bayern were present, they would have been utterly shocked by the scene.

Franz Beckenbauer, the “Emperor” of German football and Chairman of Bayern’s Supervisory Board, who had just garnered significant attention at the World Cup.

Herbert Hainer, Chairman of the Board at Adidas and Vice-Chairman of Bayern Munich’s Board.

Karl-Gerhard Eick, a board member at Deutsche Telekom and a member of Bayern Munich’s Supervisory Board.

Dieter Rampl, Chairman of HypoVereinsbank and a member of Bayern’s Supervisory Board.

Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Audi Group and a member of Bayern’s Supervisory Board.

Helmut Markwort, editor-in-chief and management committee member of the world-renowned media company Hubert Burda Media.

When this group of titans, who commanded immense influence in Germany’s manufacturing, finance, media, and telecommunications sectors, arrived simultaneously at Bayern Munich’s headquarters, everyone realized their visit was anything but ordinary.

The magnates stepped out of their cars one by one at the entrance, where the three giants of Bayern’s Executive Committee were already waiting to welcome them.

Chairman of the Executive Committee Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Vice-Chairman and General Manager and CEO of Sporting Affairs Uli Hoeneß, and Executive Committee Member and CFO Karl Hopfner, who was responsible for finance, legal, human resources, and retail.

Anyone witnessing this lineup would have to marvel at the powerful backing Bayern possessed.

It wasn’t just the famous triumvirate that fans talked about; the roster of the Supervisory Board was a luxurious assembly, unique in the world of football.

The group ascended the steps and entered the administrative offices of Bayern’s headquarters.

Soon, they were seated in the second-floor conference room reserved for high-level meetings.

Staff had already prepared everything needed for the meeting.

The time of these influential men was incredibly valuable.

The moment they entered the room, the meeting began.

…

The meeting had been convened by Bayern’s Executive Committee, so it was chaired by Uli Hoeneß.

As a true powerhouse at Bayern, Hoeneß commanded immense respect.

He began by thanking all the attending Supervisory Board members for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend, demonstrating their affection for Bayern and their commitment to the club’s development.

Next, he briefly summarized Bayern’s achievements from the past season.

Bayern had won the Double, securing both the Bundesliga and the German Cup titles.

But for Bayern, this had become routine.

To put it dramatically, it was bigger news when Bayern didn’t win a title.

So, the Supervisory Board members present didn’t pay it much mind, instead focusing on the documents in front of them.

The materials were about a player.

A player they had been hearing about constantly over the past few months, especially during the just-concluded World Cup in Germany.

Franck Ribéry.

This was the purpose of their visit.

“Gentlemen, for the past several years, we have been waiting for the emergence of a world-class player.”

“We once thought Michael Ballack would be that person. He gave us wonderful expectations and many championships, but unfortunately, we couldn’t keep him.”

“Even after we told him about our transfer plans, he still chose to join Chelsea.”

Everyone present was German, and they all felt a sense of regret over Ballack’s departure.

He was the only active German player with a global superstar’s influence.

“We have decided to sign the Dutch midfielder van Bommel from Barça. The technical team believes he can fill Ballack’s position and become a vital part of our midfield.”

“But that is far from enough!”

As Hoeneß spoke, he displayed a PowerPoint presentation on the large screen—one he and his team had shown the Supervisory Board before. It was a structural diagram of the team’s composition.

All positions were built around a core player.

The global competitiveness of this core player, and the strength of the platform built for him, represented Bayern Munich’s competitiveness in European football.

In recent years, the team’s core midfielder, Ballack, had not met the expectations of Bayern’s management.

But it wasn’t entirely Ballack’s fault.

For the past few years, Bayern had been facing a dilemma.

On one hand, German football’s youth development was in trouble, with a talent gap that made it unlikely for a world-class star to emerge in the next few years.

The earliest they could hope for was when the post-1990 generation matured.

On the other hand, due to the state of the Bundesliga, Bayern lacked appeal for Europe’s most promising stars. They preferred to go to La Liga, the Premier League, or Serie A, not the Bundesliga.

Many had placed high hopes on Deisler, but sadly, he was unable to overcome his battle with depression.

“Since 2003, the European football transfer market has undergone a significant transformation. The frenzy brought by Chelsea has made the entire market increasingly irrational.”

“At the same time, they’ve been wildly recruiting numerous football prodigies, like Robben, Essien, Drogba, and others.”

“We also considered Robben, but the Dutchman chose the Premier League.”

“This season, with Juventus being relegated, we considered competing for players like Ibrahimović and Vieira, but none of them chose the Bundesliga.”

“What I’m trying to say is, we have lost our appeal to world-class stars.”

Everyone in the room was silent.

The decline of the Bundesliga was obvious.

Apart from Bayern, almost no other Bundesliga team was competitive in Europe.

In recent years, even Bayern lacked its former competitiveness.

Coupled with Bayern’s complete dominance of the league, the Bundesliga’s global influence paled in comparison to the Premier League, Serie A, and La Liga.

Under these circumstances, it was normal for world-class stars to be unwilling to come.

“But now, we have an opportunity!”

“A landmark signing opportunity that could change the history of Bayern!”

On the large screen behind him, Hoeneß displayed a picture of Ribéry in action at the World Cup.

Everyone’s first reaction was: ugly.

But incredibly good!

Anyone who had watched the World Cup knew just how good he was!

“We can’t compete with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barça, or even a team like Arsenal for stars. Rosický from Borussia Dortmund chose the Gunners over Bayern.”

“But Ribéry isn’t from one of these giants. He comes from Bayswater Chinese.”

“A team that only appeared in the Premier League last season and still doesn’t have its own home stadium!”

“He is completely different from C. Ronaldo, Messi, Robben, and Kaká. He has no experience at a major club; he is a player developed by Bayswater Chinese themselves.”

“At the same time, he is recognized by everyone in world football today as a budding superstar with the quality of a top-tier player!”

The reason he was a “budding” superstar was that Ribéry had never played for a top club.

Given his performance last season, if he had been at Arsenal or Manchester United, he would have been considered a superstar long ago.

“Our technical team rates him extremely highly. They believe he will be the new leader of France after Zidane, a superstar capable of contending for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award!”

“He is the signing opportunity we have been waiting years for!”

Bayern didn’t believe they had the appeal to poach players from giant clubs.

But Bayswater Chinese was no giant.

“I heard the Premier League’s top four, Real Madrid in La Liga, and Inter Milan in Serie A are all watching him,” said Herbert Hainer.

He was the head of Adidas, while Bayswater Chinese was signed with their arch-rival, Puma.

From both a competitive standpoint for Bayern and a business perspective for Adidas, he supported signing Ribéry.

“From what we understand, Bayswater Chinese is unwilling to let Ribéry join another Premier League club. Besides, right now, no Premier League team likely has the ability to sign Ribéry.”

“Arsenal did get a sum of money from selling Henry, but their own financial situation isn’t ideal.”

“Chelsea has the financial muscle, but they are arch-rivals with Bayswater Chinese. Their relationship became very strained because of the stadium land dispute.”

“As for Liverpool, we don’t even need to mention them.”

“Manchester United’s priority right now is strengthening their midfield, not their attack. Ferguson probably can’t spend a huge amount on Ribéry.”

“As for Inter Milan in Serie A, after signing players like Ibrahimović and Vieira, they’ve adopted a wait-and-see approach. Moratti doesn’t have that much money either.”

“Right now, our biggest competitor is Real Madrid. They have already made a sky-high offer of 30 million pounds, which is equivalent to 45 million euros.”

Ribéry’s value had changed dramatically before and after the World Cup.

Before the tournament, that price would have likely been enough to secure him.

But after his stellar performance at the World Cup, Bayswater Chinese clearly felt the price was too low, so they had yet to respond to Real Madrid.

They were waiting, wanting to see if any new buyers would emerge.

“Our Executive Committee and technical team are unanimous in their belief that this will be a landmark signing in the club’s history. Ribéry will lead Bayern to a comprehensive revival.”

“Therefore, we hope to get the support of the Supervisory Board to officially make an offer for Ribéry and compete with Real Madrid!”

As he finished, Hoeneß clenched his fists tightly, displaying an ambition and passion that had been suppressed for years.

For the past few years, Real Madrid had been the most influential super-battleship in world football.

Everyone said that there was no player Real Madrid coveted that they couldn’t buy.

And the stars themselves considered it an honor to join the Bernabéu.

But now, Bayern wanted to use this transfer deal to tell the world that the Bundesliga champions were back!

The Bayern Munich that once swept across Europe, invincible and unstoppable, was on the verge of a revival!

This couldn’t be achieved just by shouting slogans.

It required a series of blockbuster signings and reinforcements, the introduction of exciting superstars.

More importantly, Bayern’s revival would inevitably drive the revival of the entire Bundesliga.

As the champions of the Bundesliga, Bayern had always felt this sense of mission.

“What is the club’s current financial situation?” Dieter Rampl asked, looking at Karl Hopfner with concern.

“Since winning the Champions League in 2001, apart from Makaay and Lúcio, we haven’t made any signings with a transfer fee exceeding eight figures. So, financially, we are actually in a very healthy position. Competing for Ribéry is not a problem,” Hopfner replied.

“Additionally, we are considering selling Hargreaves to Manchester United to recover some funds.”

The Bayern management had been saving money for years, waiting for a great signing.

After signing Ribéry, Bayern would inevitably make a series of complementary signings in the coming years to build an exciting team with strong competitiveness in European football.

“Then let’s go head-to-head with Real Madrid for him!” Beckenbauer declared loudly.

The members of the Supervisory Board all nodded and voiced their agreement.

This invigorated Rummenigge, Hoeneß, and the others.

After several years of silence, Bayern Munich was finally ready to shake off its past decline and rise again!

…

Yang Cheng was unaware of what was happening in far-off Munich, Germany.

Right now, he had two matters before him.

One good thing.

While everyone was still immersed in the World Cup frenzy, Edin Džeko had returned to the team early and actively requested to begin intensive physical training, hoping to build up his muscle mass.

He wanted to take on more responsibilities in the new season.

Clearly, the Bosnian centre-forward had seen a glimmer of hope in the latter half of last season and wanted to challenge for the team’s starting centre-forward position early this season.

Yang Cheng was happy to see this kind of competition and naturally gave his full support.

Thad Foucher and his team designed a specialized physical enhancement program for Džeko to improve his strength in physical confrontations and the power of his core muscle groups, which was crucial for a centre-forward.

One bad thing.

Premier League club Newcastle had sent a fax to Bayswater Chinese with a transfer offer.

The Magpies hoped to sign Bayswater Chinese’s Danish midfielder, Leon Andreasen, for a transfer fee of 5 million pounds.

Just as Yang Cheng was about to refuse, he received a call from Andreasen’s agent.

His player wanted a transfer.

Why?

Because Andreasen felt that if he stayed at Bayswater Chinese, he would still be a backup for Yaya Touré.

Going to Newcastle was closer to Denmark, and The Magpies promised him a starting position.

This put Yang Cheng in a difficult position.

…

Why had Yang Cheng never advocated for a large squad?

A crucial reason was that he wanted every player on the team to get enough playing time, to be able to contribute, and to receive enough training and development.

This wasn’t just because the team was very young.

The same principle had been proven true at many other clubs.

A large squad isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Take Chelsea, for example.

Why was Gallas so insistent on leaving Stamford Bridge?

It was because he felt he wasn’t being treated fairly.

Terry and Carvalho always held the starting centre-back positions, forcing Gallas to play as a full-back, which made the Frenchman very dissatisfied. That was why he wanted to leave.

As a certain tech mogul once aptly put it.

There are only two reasons for leaving a job: either the pay isn’t enough, or your heart feels wronged.

Yang Cheng considered himself quite fair in this regard.

Apart from the very young players born in 1989, like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, who played more in the reserve team matches, all other first-team players received significant playing time.

Even Matuidi, born in 1987, got a lot of minutes and his overall ability improved rapidly.

Not to mention Andreasen.

The Danish midfielder’s performance last season was also outstanding, capable of playing as a holding midfielder and a centre-back.

Especially during the period when Yaya Touré was at the Africa Cup of Nations, he single-handedly held the fort for Bayswater Chinese on two fronts, the Premier League and the League Cup, and his performance earned everyone’s approval.

At 23 years old, to get such opportunities and deliver such a performance was more than enough.

But sometimes, that’s just how things are.

When a player’s performance reaches a certain level, he is no longer satisfied with the status quo and wants to take the next step.

From a professional football perspective, this is both inevitable and a good thing.

But from the club’s standpoint, it creates a difficult dilemma.

The reason Andreasen wanted to leave was that he believed he could be a starter for a mid-to-upper-table Premier League team.

This had been proven last season.

Newcastle finished 8th in the Premier League last season and was a traditional, long-standing club in the league.

Stay at Bayswater Chinese and continue to be Yaya Touré’s backup, playing a rotational role?

Or go to The Magpies, be a starter, and earn a higher salary?

There were pros and cons to both.

After all, Bayswater Chinese could play in the Champions League, while Newcastle didn’t even have European football.

In the end, Andreasen chose Newcastle.

Yang Cheng now faced a tricky problem.

Don’t sell?

Whether a forced marriage could be happy was one thing, but it would definitely create a rift in the dressing room.

How many players’ forms had nose-dived, with some even throwing tantrums and seeing their values plummet, because a transfer was blocked?

Sell.

Who would replace Andreasen?

It’s said for a reason that finding a qualified backup is harder than finding an excellent starter.

And what’s more, only Yang Cheng could make this kind of decision.

…

In the conference room, the senior management of Bayswater Chinese all looked at Yang Cheng.

Everyone could feel the difficulty of this decision.

One wrong move, and the entire season could collapse.

Transfer in the winter window?

That was just asking to be ripped off by becoming a sucker.

“Are you sure Wenger isn’t signing any forwards after selling Henry?” Yang Cheng looked at Mike Rigg.

“Absolutely certain. Arsenal is tight on funds right now.”

Yang Cheng knew Arsenal didn’t have much money.

In his previous life, Henry should have transferred to Barça in 2007.

But now, because Arsenal had failed to qualify for the Champions League, he left a year earlier.

It was said that Henry had made his decision right after the Champions League final.

This meant that the Gunners’ new season would feature Adebayor and van Persie as the main strikers, both of whom were 23 years old.

In midfield, apart from the 29-year-old Gilberto Silva, the Gunners were now fully embracing youth.

19-year-old Fàbregas was already an undisputed starter, and this season they had signed an 18-year-old Brazilian player, Denílson.

Add to that the 18-year-old Alex Song and the 20-year-old Diaby.

The oldest was the 22-year-old Flamini.

But this French midfielder was an interesting case. He always exploded in his contract year, and after signing a new contract, his form would decline.

Moreover, his entire career was made up of free transfers.

I really don’t know whether to praise him for being so clear-headed or so calculating.

The Gunners weren’t just like this in midfield.

In defense, the 21-year-old Clichy and the 22-year-old Senderos were already considered veterans.

19-year-old Djourou, 16-year-old Traoré, 16-year-old Gibbs, 19-year-old Kerrea Gilbert, and others were all part of Wenger’s plans and were being heavily nurtured.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng thought about it and felt genuinely sorry for Wenger.

But on second thought, the Wenger of his past life could break into the top four with this group of young guns. Could he possibly do worse?

Bayswater Chinese’s current players were generally around 20 years old, with better ability and talent than the young starlets in Wenger’s squad.

What was there to worry about?

Thinking this, Yang Cheng’s mind cleared completely.

“Send a fax to Newcastle. They can have Andreasen for 7 million pounds.”

Yang Cheng said this to Adam Crozier.

He had set Andreasen’s price at 7 million pounds.

“Understood,” Adam Crozier nodded. “Then about Real Madrid’s offer for Ribéry…”

“You keep stalling Mijatović. Continue the negotiations, and see if Inter Milan makes a move,” Yang Cheng said.

Inter Milan had been interested in Ribéry for a long time and had maintained contact with Bayswater Chinese.

As for Arsenal?

Yang Cheng could only chuckle.

Wenger had once told him to give him a call when he was ready to sell Ribéry.

Yang Cheng did call. Real Madrid’s offer was 30 million pounds.

That shut Wenger up immediately.

With Wenger’s stingy nature, would he ever be willing to spend on a transfer that exceeded his expectations?

On the contrary, there was Moratti. After the Calciopoli scandal, Inter Milan was set to dominate Serie A. Old man Moratti was full of ambition, aiming to win the Champions League and restore the glorious era of the great Inter Milan.

It was also interesting that after Yang Cheng had poached Maicon, Inter Milan had made no moves in that area.

Perhaps Zanetti was still going strong.

…

“Mike, take a trip to Serbia.”

After the meeting, Yang Cheng asked Mike Rigg to stay behind to give him an assignment.

“Serbia?”

Mike Rigg was very surprised.

He had just returned from a trip to South America, why was he being sent to Serbia now?

“About 50 kilometers south of their capital, Belgrade, there’s a city called Lazarevac.”

“In the northern part of Lazarevac, there’s a football club called FK Kolubara. It’s very easy to find. Go there and buy a player for me named Nemanja Matić.”

“If my information is correct, Matić hasn’t signed a professional contract with Kolubara. Kolubara is just a club in the Serbian third division. After you contact them, just bring Matić back directly.”

How did Yang Cheng know this?

Because in his previous life, he had coached a team that played a friendly match against Kolubara, which Matić himself had helped arrange.

He even knew that Matić’s hometown was Ub, 20 kilometers west of Lazarevac.

Yang Cheng had even been a guest at Matić’s home.

But there was no need to go into these details. He would let Mike Rigg discover them for himself.

“Serbian players don’t have EU eligibility yet. Has he played for the national team?” Mike Rigg asked.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “He’s only 18 and hasn’t even played in a professional league yet.”

Mike Rigg frowned at this. How could he play in the Premier League?

“But he has Slovakian citizenship.”

Mike Rigg’s face lit up with understanding.

As for how exactly Matić had dual Serbian and Slovakian citizenship, Yang Cheng didn’t know.

“Oh, right, he’s an attacking midfielder.”

“An attacking midfielder?” Mike Rigg was stunned again.

Weren’t they looking for Andreasen’s replacement?

Why choose an attacking midfielder?

Yang Cheng chuckled, not sure how to explain.

Nemanja Matić’s career could be described as full of ups and downs.

His father was a football player who taught him to play from a young age and was very strict.

At the age of 5, he began his youth training at his hometown team, FK Vrelo, coached by his father.

This club was located in the northern suburbs of Ub, next to a cemetery. Later, after Matić became famous, they renamed the stadium the Matić Centre Pitch.

In 1997, when Matić was 9, he was scouted by Obrenovac 1905, the best youth academy in Serbia at the time. He joined them, participated in the national championship, and won.

It was because of his outstanding performance at Obrenovac 1905 that Matić caught the eye of Serbia’s giants, the two Belgrade teams, Red Star and Partizan.

He chose Red Star.

However, after four years of youth training at Red Star Belgrade, due to his underwhelming performance, he was forced to leave and join the city’s other team, Partizan Belgrade.

But he only stayed at Partizan Belgrade for a few months before being let go, again for poor performance.

So, he had no choice but to return to his hometown of Ub and join the youth team of the professional club Jedinstvo Ub.

He only stayed at Jedinstvo Ub’s youth team for one year.

In 2005, he moved from Ub to Lazarevac and joined the Serbian third-division club FK Kolubara.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, he would have moved to the Slovak Super Liga club MFK Košice in January 2007.

Later, he transferred from MFK Košice to Chelsea.

As a former attacking midfielder, Matić possessed excellent technique and passing ability. At the same time, his towering 1.94-meter frame and outstanding physical attributes gave him a natural advantage in physical contests.

But this also brought a problem.

As he played in higher-level competitions with increasing intensity, this problem became particularly obvious.

With such a large frame and weight, his movements were slower, and his body lacked agility.

It was a similar situation to when Pirlo played as an attacking midfielder at Inter Milan.

Therefore, at Chelsea, Matić was not highly regarded.

In those years, Chelsea’s player development was highly problematic.

On one hand, they recruited many talented young players, but on the other, they didn’t give them opportunities, opting instead to loan them out.

Matić was one of them.

He was loaned out to Vitesse in the Netherlands.

In 2011, thanks to his excellent performance at Vitesse, Matić was used as a makeweight in Chelsea’s deal to sign David Luiz and was sold to Benfica in the Primeira Liga.

It was at Benfica that head coach Jorge Jesus adjusted his position, moving him back from the number 10 role to the number 4 role, turning him into a holding midfielder.

This change led to a huge leap in Matić’s growth and development.

Two years later, Chelsea re-signed Matić for a sky-high price of 21 million pounds.

This is how the Premier League fans’ beloved chant was born: “Forward, forward, old Matić!”

Matić’s story was a perfect testament to Yang Cheng’s long-held belief.

As long as young players found the right position and utilized their strengths and advantages, they could perform exceptionally well, even at a young age.

Scholes once praised Matić, saying his style was similar to Carrick’s, but even better than Carrick.

Carrick lacked the kind of aggression Matić possessed.

Moreover, Matić had excellent technique, could control the ball and tackle, and also had outstanding organizational and playmaking abilities in midfield.

As an Englishman, Scholes’ assessment of Matić, especially the comparison with Carrick, was certainly worth considering.

“After you’re done in Serbia, take another trip to Warsaw, Poland, and sign Robert Lewandowski.”

Yang Cheng thought to himself, since they were already signing Matić, they might as well get Lewandowski too.

Bayswater Chinese had been monitoring Lewandowski for a year. Ever since signing Piszczek, Yang Cheng had been keeping a close eye on Legia Warsaw.

When Legia Warsaw signed Lewandowski last year, Bayswater Chinese’s scouts had been watching him.

Last season, Lewandowski had played 12 matches in the Polish third division, scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists.

For a 17-year-old, this was truly excellent.

Originally, Yang Cheng hadn’t planned to sign him, but now he thought it would be better to sign him and develop him themselves.

Neither Matić nor Lewandowski would lack playing time after coming to Bayswater Chinese.

They could play for the youth team and in the Premier League Reserve League.

More importantly, after three years, he would be a homegrown player for Bayswater Chinese.

Of course, if Lewandowski preferred to return to Poland for official matches, they could find a suitable team to loan him back to, and he would just need to return for training camps each year.

…

Bayswater Chinese finally completed its signings before the start of the team’s summer training camp.

Mike Rigg personally flew to Serbia and successfully signed Nemanja Matić.

And it was a free transfer, costing nothing.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese’s Chief Talent Officer flew directly from Belgrade to Warsaw, Poland. At Legia Warsaw’s B team youth academy, he signed Polish striker Robert Lewandowski for just 10,000 pounds.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese sold Danish international Leon Andreasen for a transfer fee of 7 million pounds.

Several transfers were completed with remarkable efficiency.

While Bayswater Chinese was finalizing its transfers, other Premier League teams were also busy with their signings.

Chelsea finally signed Ashley Cole as they had wished.

The Gunners had no choice; Ashley Cole was determined to leave.

In exchange, Arsenal received French centre-back Gallas from Chelsea.

In addition, Chelsea spent another 16 million pounds to sign Mikel from Norway.

The reason for such a high price was mainly because Mikel had already signed a contract with Manchester United back in April.

The Red Devils had signed John Obi Mikel from Lyn in Norway for 4 million pounds.

But Chelsea intervened and secured Mikel for themselves.

An enraged Manchester United went to war with Chelsea.

This was too much!

When they poached Robben, one could argue that Manchester United hadn’t signed a contract. But now they had a signed contract, and Chelsea was still poaching him?

Did they think the Red Devils were a pushover?

However, anger was one thing. In the end, Chelsea slammed down 12 million pounds, leaving Manchester United speechless.

This once again proved the old adage.

There is no such thing as a “not-for-sale” item on the transfer market, nothing that cannot be traded.

If there is, it’s just because the money offered isn’t enough.

Manchester United’s 12 million pounds, plus the 4 million pounds for Lyn, came to exactly 16 million pounds.

For a time, the entire European football world was stunned.

Especially in England.

The question was asked: if Mikel was worth that much, was 20 million pounds for Aaron Lennon still expensive?

After receiving the 12 million pounds, plus the 10 million pounds from selling Van Nistelrooy, Manchester United turned around and spent 25 million pounds to sign Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur.

This transfer was even more expensive than the 18.6 million pounds in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Tottenham Hotspur knew how to jack up the price.

But then, Manchester United made another bid for Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves.

The English midfielder had performed impressively at the World Cup, winning Ferguson’s approval.

According to The Sun, Manchester United had initially wanted to sign Cambiasso from Inter Milan.

Unfortunately, Inter Milan simply wouldn’t sell.

Manchester United and Bayern negotiated back and forth, eventually settling on a fee of 20 million pounds.

They had no choice. The entire European football world knew Manchester United needed a midfielder, and everyone wanted to take the opportunity to fleece them.

Ferguson was frustrated.

He hadn’t reinforced the midfield before, and now that he was, it was costing him even more money.

45 million pounds, just for one Carrick and one Hargreaves.

It hurt!

Real Madrid was also a big sucker.

While the transfer market was buzzing about midfielders, Real Madrid bought Mahamadou Diarra from the vampire club Lyon for 30 million euros, 4 million euros more than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

And in their pursuit of Ribéry for the attack, Mijatović made two trips to London but failed to secure the French winger.

The two sides were stuck haggling over the transfer fee.

Just when everyone thought Ribéry’s transfer to Real Madrid was a done deal, Bayern Munich, having just sold Hargreaves, finally made their move.

The Bundesliga champions came in with an offer of 35 million pounds, over 50 million euros, almost matching Shevchenko’s transfer fee.

Football fans all over the world went into a frenzy.

No one had expected that the final bidder would be Bayern Munich, not Inter Milan.

The Bundesliga giant had seemed so honest and unassuming, but they were secretly scheming in the background.

Real Madrid’s chairman, Ramón Calderón, had already promised during his election campaign to sign superstars, including Ribéry.

Now, with C. Ronaldo, Kaká, and Robben out of reach, Ribéry became the key to fulfilling his campaign promise.

So, Real Madrid raised their offer again.

38 million pounds!

More than Shevchenko!

The entire European football world was electrified.

The media and fans were ecstatic.

The record transfer!

A definite record transfer!

No one could have imagined that Ribéry’s transfer fee would surpass Shevchenko’s!

As the German newspaper Bild analyzed, Ribéry had already shown world-class quality.

But he was only 23 years old.

More importantly, his salary at Bayswater Chinese was not high.

Bild did the math: considering the transfer fee plus the annual salary, the total cost for Ribéry was less than for Shevchenko.

Not to mention, Ribéry was much younger than Shevchenko and could play for at least 10 years.

After several years without a title and his unexpected election as chairman, Calderón was also determined to get Ribéry.

But he began to regret it, wishing he hadn’t negotiated the transfer of Mahamadou Diarra with Lyon so early, which had left Real Madrid’s transfer budget looking a bit thin.

Helpless, Real Madrid gritted their teeth, scraped together funds from here and there, and raised their offer again.

40 million pounds!

That was 60 million euros!

This brought Ribéry’s value level with Luís Figo’s, second only to Zidane’s 77.5 million euros!

The world’s media and fans went wild.

No one had expected the wealthy Real Madrid to pay such a high transfer fee for Ribéry.

Even Bayswater Chinese themselves hadn’t expected it.

It felt a bit like the bidding war had gotten out of hand.

But just when everyone thought Bayern Munich would back down, the Bundesliga champions also made an offer of 40 million pounds.

Although the two offers were the same, the clauses within them were very different.

For example, Real Madrid’s clauses were stricter, including one that required Ribéry to win the Ballon d’Or.

With all the demanding conditions combined, the maximum transfer fee was 40 million pounds.

In contrast, Bayern Munich only stipulated standard clauses like playing time, which, given Ribéry’s ability and current status, would be easy to meet.

In addition, Real Madrid’s payment plan was spread over 5 years.

And Bayern Munich?

They promised to complete the payment within 3 years.

Not only that, but Bayern Munich also showed tremendous sincerity. The two giants, Rummenigge and Hoeneß, personally flew to France to meet with Ribéry and his agent, explaining Bayern’s team-building strategy to the Frenchman.

They convinced Ribéry.

So, the Frenchman made a phone call to Yang Cheng, saying he was more inclined to join Bayern.

Real Madrid was certainly more glamorous, but the Galácticos had been in chaos for years, and no one knew how much longer the turmoil would last.

Bayern, on the other hand, was more sincere and more ambitious.

After the player made his choice, Bayswater Chinese granted his wish.

Ribéry ultimately transferred from Bayswater Chinese to Bayern Munich for a sky-high price of 40 million pounds, 60 million euros.

This not only set a new Premier League transfer record but also a new German football transfer record.

…

When the news of Ribéry’s transfer to Bayern Munich spread, at Chelsea’s training ground north of Heathrow Airport in London, Mourinho stood at his office window, staring blankly towards the city in the east for an entire afternoon.

At Manchester United’s training ground in Carrington, west of Manchester, Ferguson made a rare appearance on the training pitch, personally overseeing the team’s training, working the Manchester United players to the point of misery.

No one understood why the old gaffer was so fierce today.

And at the Colney training ground in North London, Arsenal head coach Wenger sat in his office, letting out a heavy sigh, completely relieved.

“Although it’s a pity we couldn’t sign Ribéry, Bayswater Chinese losing their key player is a godsend for us.”

“We must return to the top four this season!” Wenger declared emphatically.

He felt that he was back in the game!

…

Due to the World Cup, Yang Cheng gave the participating players a vacation, so each player’s return time was different.

There were players like Džeko, who returned early in late June to start his own physical strengthening training.

Most of the players reported back a few days before the training camp began.

The team’s summer training camp still focused primarily on building up their physical reserves.

Not many players had participated in the World Cup, and after Ribéry’s transfer, the only one who had made it to the final was Lassana Diarra.

The key was that he hadn’t played.

Even so, Yang Cheng still gave him and Ribéry, who hadn’t transferred at the time, a week’s vacation.

On July 10th, the first-team players of Bayswater Chinese began to assemble.

The team’s new signings also arrived to report for duty.

This season, the team had sold 3 players: Ribéry, Roger Johnson, and Leon Andreasen, and signed 5 players: Pepe, Marcelo, Ángel Di María, Matić, and Lewandowski.

This brought the number of first-team players to 25 for the season.

The oldest was the substitute goalkeeper Danny Coyne, who was 33 years old.

The youngest was Gareth Bale, who would only turn 17 on July 16th.

There were 7 players under the age of 20 on the team.

The average age was 21.32.

Last season it was 20.95.

This proved that Bayswater Chinese was gradually maturing.

Although they had lost the core combat power of Ribéry, they had brought in Arshavin during the winter transfer window.

Coupled with the maturity and progress of the players, Yang Cheng believed that the team’s overall competitiveness would not be weaker than last season’s.

The league and the Champions League would be Bayswater Chinese’s main battlegrounds.

The League Cup and FA Cup would be left to the younger players on the team.

During the training camp, Yang Cheng also made some tactical adjustments.

First, Yang Cheng would give more responsibility to Džeko.

After more than half a month of muscle-building and physical strengthening training, the 20-year-old Bosnian centre-forward had shown obvious results.

His overall performance in training was also quite good.

Yang Cheng adjusted the team’s attacking tactics around Džeko.

Tactically, Yang Cheng gave Džeko and Lambert more freedom, essentially letting them be free-roaming players in the attack. they could push forward, drift wide, and drop back at will, making full use of their versatility.

Arshavin was different from Ribéry.

Ribéry was more of a ball-controlling attacking midfielder on the wing.

Although he had scored 17 league goals as the team’s attacking core last season, this was not his specialty; it was more out of tactical necessity.

Arshavin, on the other hand, was essentially a support striker, with greater speed and explosiveness, and a better scoring ability.

Yang Cheng’s current strategy was to leverage Džeko’s all-around ability and the advantage of Arshavin and Ashley Young being proficient on both wings, having the attacking trident frequently interchange positions.

The midfield would focus on direct passes. Yaya Touré would have more freedom to make overlapping runs from deep, Modrić would still be responsible for ball control and organizing the midfield, and Lassana Diarra would continue to handle sweeping and tackling.

In defense, the two full-backs would boldly push forward.

The forwards, Arshavin and Ashley Young, would make more diagonal and half-space runs, while the flanks would be covered by the overlapping full-backs.

In terms of the team’s overall attacking tactics, the plan was to advance quickly through multiple channels, utilizing the individual abilities of the forwards and their active running, creating small-group combinations through interchanges, and a multi-layered attack with overlapping runs.

With the foundation laid over the past few years, Yang Cheng was very confident in the team’s new style of play for the upcoming season.

Moreover, the players had been playing together for at least half a year, some even for a year or two, so they were familiar with each other.

The team’s overall framework basically continued the foundation Yang Cheng had laid when he started coaching the team three years ago, with very few changes.

Especially in midfield.

Yang Cheng had gone to great lengths to keep this midfield combination together.

Among them, Modrić and Yaya Touré were the team’s top earners, with a weekly wage of 20,000 pounds.

Lassana Diarra was the second-highest earner, with a weekly wage of 15,000 pounds.

The wage structure clearly showed the importance Yang Cheng placed on the midfield.

…

After the training camp started on the 10th, the team scheduled two pre-season friendlies on the 19th and 23rd.

The opponents were Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers, respectively.

The first match, against Crystal Palace, ended in a 3-3 draw.

The match against Queens Park Rangers was more like a farewell to Loftus Road Stadium.

Because starting from the new season, Bayswater Chinese would be moving to Wembley Stadium.

This made the Queens Park Rangers fans very envious.

Their former arch-rivals were now the Premier League runners-up and UEFA Cup champions.

And what about them?

Forget about promotion to the Premier League; last season they had narrowly avoided relegation.

There was no suspense in this farewell match either; Bayswater Chinese defeated Queens Park Rangers 2-0.

In this situation, another group of Queens Park Rangers fans chose to switch their allegiance to Bayswater Chinese, buying season tickets for the new season at Wembley Stadium.

After the farewell match, Yang Cheng led the team away from London, flying to Hong Kong, China, to embark on the club’s first-ever China tour in its history.

Chapter 101: Mourinho’s Three-Year Promise! England’s Talent Treasure Trove

Upon their smooth arrival in Hong Kong from London’s Heathrow Airport, the young players of Bayswater Chinese were filled with a fresh excitement and anticipation for their Asia Tour.

The club was, after all, named Bayswater Chinese.

Following Premier League custom, the Barclays Asia Trophy would be scheduled for the following year, which would see Premier League teams come to Asia to play. Adam Crozier had already made arrangements with the Premier League for Bayswater Chinese to return to Asia then.

The Premier League’s influence in Asia was immense.

Never mind that Bayswater Chinese were the Premier League runners-up, League Cup champions, and UEFA Cup champions; even teams like Fulham and Bolton would receive a warm welcome in the region.

As a newly promoted team with a legendary and outstanding record, coupled with their Chinese background, Bayswater Chinese felt the passion of the Hong Kong fans the moment they landed.

As the contingent walked out of the airport, they saw rows of banners held up by the welcoming fans.

Nearly every player’s appearance drew excited screams from the crowd. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch, especially when Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier emerged at the end.

The familiar black hair and yellow skin felt so welcoming!

Over the past three years, Yang Cheng’s legendary exploits in England had long since spread throughout China and Asia, earning him immense popularity in the region. The whole world knew that a genius football coach had emerged from China.

Being back in his homeland, Yang Cheng made a point to set aside some time to interact with the Hong Kong fans who had come to greet them, doing his best to accommodate their requests.

It wasn’t just at the airport.

Whether the team was at their hotel, the training ground, a commercial event for Prudential, a local orphanage, or a charity function… nearly every location drew large crowds of Hong Kong fans.

In between activities, Yang Cheng also made time for an interview on a Hong Kong television program.

During the show, Yang Cheng answered the host’s questions directly in Chinese, introducing the history of Bayswater Chinese and their achievements, including both the first team and the youth academy.

“This is our club’s first Asia Tour, and everyone on our team is thrilled. The players are very much looking forward to this journey.”

He was inevitably asked about the new season and Ribéry’s transfer.

Yang Cheng was candid, admitting that Ribéry’s departure was a significant loss for Bayswater Chinese.

“But we still have many other outstanding players, such as Andrei Arshavin.”

“Many fans might have only noticed him in the second half of last season’s Premier League, but believe me, in two or three years, he will become one of the most famous players in the world.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about the new Premier League season.

“We are a unit. Ribéry’s transfer will not affect our competitiveness.”

Yang Cheng stated that the new Premier League season would be different from the last.

“When the new season begins, everyone will see that many other teams, including Manchester United, Liverpool, and us, Bayswater Chinese, are closing the gap with Chelsea.”

“It won’t be so easy for them anymore.”

Many in the media also believed it would be difficult for Bayswater Chinese to replicate last season’s glorious success.

Yang Cheng simply smiled.

“I’d say we’re at about the same level as last season, and we might even be better. We’ve signed many new players, and the abilities of many players on our team are clearly stronger than last season.”

For example?

“Džeko. He started training with the team in late June and has been working very hard to build muscle. His physical condition is fantastic right now, and he’s in great form. I think he will be a nightmare for Premier League defenders this season.”

Who was most likely to win the title?

“That’s really hard to say. Chelsea, Manchester United, us, Liverpool, and even Arsenal all have a chance.”

“No one knows what will happen over a long league season. We can only do our best to prepare for the unknown challenges. That’s what makes football interesting.”

The match in Hong Kong was against South China AA and was held at the Hong Kong Stadium.

The stadium, with a capacity of forty thousand, sold thirty-five thousand tickets, which was an excellent result.

On the morning of the match, Bayswater Chinese and Prudential plc jointly held a lively signing ceremony. The CEO of Prudential had flown from England to Hong Kong specifically for the signing.

The two parties signed a five-year sponsorship contract. Prudential would pay Bayswater Chinese eight million pound sterling per year for the shirt sponsorship.

In the match that evening, Bayswater Chinese defeated South China AA 3-1.

…

The next day, after a recovery training session in Hong Kong, Bayswater Chinese traveled by bus across the border into Shenzhen.

There, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada officially presented a progress report that had been a whole year in the making.

Bayswater Chinese held a grand collective signing ceremony.

Huawei, a communications network and LAN service provider; Midea, a home appliance company; and LTC, an LCD screen and television manufacturer, all became sponsors of Bayswater Chinese.

According to Adam Crozier’s sponsorship hierarchy, these three sponsors would each pay one million pound sterling per year.

As part of the deals, Huawei would handle the construction of all communication networks and LANs at the Bayswater training ground; Midea would provide all home appliances except for air conditioners, air purifiers, and water purifiers; and LTC would supply televisions and various LCD display devices.

All three companies were determined to expand internationally and enter the European market, and they all had a strong interest in sponsoring Bayswater Chinese. Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had visited each of these companies before deciding to sign the contracts.

The team subsequently participated in three commercial events hosted by the sponsors, receiving a warm welcome from the fans in Shenzhen.

In the friendly match that followed, Bayswater Chinese drew 2-2 with Bordeaux from Ligue 1.

…

From Shenzhen to Shanghai, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule wasn’t tight, but there were plenty of activities.

One of the most important was with the sponsor of this China Tour, Puma.

In Shanghai, Bayswater Chinese officially signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Puma, worth a staggering ten million pound sterling per year. This was almost the most lucrative sponsorship contract Bayswater Chinese could possibly secure at the time. Outside of the Premier League’s Big Four, this contract was one of the most substantial.

Having taken their money, it was only natural to put in more effort.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese also entered a strategic partnership with Alibaba. In addition to Alibaba sponsoring Bayswater Chinese for one million pound sterling annually, the club would also open a store on Taobao to sell jerseys, match tickets, and various fan merchandise and souvenirs.

This made them the very first sports club in the world to open an online store in China.

Yang Cheng expressed his immense pride!

In Shanghai, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Serie A’s Lazio.

…

Beijing was the final and most important stop on Bayswater Chinese’s China Tour.

Upon arrival, the club’s first order of business was to make an appearance for China Umbro, celebrating the opening of their largest flagship store in the country in Beijing.

Yang Cheng’s parents, Lin Zhongqiu, and others made a special trip to Beijing.

When they saw the formidable Bayswater Chinese team, they were all overcome with emotion.

They recalled how much manpower and financial resources they had expended, only to fail to get promoted to League One—now the Championship—and instead end up on the brink of bankruptcy.

It had only been three years since Yang Cheng took over, and now Bayswater Chinese were Premier League runners-up and UEFA Cup champions.

Putting everything else aside, they had no choice but to admire his ability.

Lin Zhongqiu felt both embarrassed and happy. The happiness was self-explanatory; the embarrassment stemmed from the fact that he had consistently opposed Yang Cheng in the past. From taking out loans to pay off debts, to building the training ground, to signing players… facts had proven that Bayswater Chinese had grown bigger and stronger rapidly under Yang Cheng.

Over the past few years, Yang Jianguo’s business in China had grown very quickly. Both his apparel and real estate ventures were flourishing. Yang Cheng admired this about him. Sometimes, a bold and adventurous personality, which might seem risky, was actually what led to success. It proved the old saying: a scholar’s rebellion won’t succeed even in three years.

“A Cheng, let me discuss something else with you.”

The moment his so-called father said this, Yang Cheng immediately waved his hand.

“Don’t. There’s not much basis for cooperation between us. It’s best we stay out of each other’s way.”

After speaking, Yang Cheng couldn’t resist adding, “You can’t be a penny short on the money you owe. Two million pounds is already a friendship price.”

He was referring to the sleeve advertising sponsorship.

To be fair, after China Umbro redesigned their logo, it actually looked quite good on the jersey sleeve.

“Do you think I’m concerned about that two million pounds?” Chairman Yang retorted with the air of a tycoon. “Don’t worry, you’ll get every penny.”

Only then did Yang Cheng nod in satisfaction. “In that case… Chairman Yang, please speak.”

“Show some respect!” Yang Jianguo chided irritably.

“Are you really planning to build a department store and a hotel next to the stadium?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why would I need to invest so much money?”

“Will the London government approve it?”

Yang Cheng smiled. “That’s why we’re paying a huge sum to hire a world-class designer like Norman Foster. Once the design is out, they’ll approve it.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng looked at his so-called father warily. “What… are you planning to do?”

“Last time, I was having drinks with an old friend who’s a big shot in a state-owned real estate company. He mentioned that the number of Chinese tourists going to Europe has been increasing these years, and they’re looking into investing in Europe to provide supporting services for them.”

“Are you thinking of doing it yourself?”

“I just feel that since the land is our own, it’s better to earn the money ourselves rather than letting others have it. Besides, this is a long-term business. Look at Harrods, isn’t it popular?”

“The question is, can you do it?”

“I can find people who can,” Yang Jianguo said, full of confidence.

Yang Cheng thought to himself that this was probably the biggest difference between him and a businessman.

“Anyway, it’s not my problem. I’m just responsible for leasing the space. As long as you pay the market rate, it’s all the same to me who I rent it to.”

Yang Jianguo got the message. It seemed his precious son was determined to “split the family assets” with him. The problem is, he thought, it’s not like I’m planning to have a second child, so what’s there to split?

“Alright, you don’t have to be on guard against me all the time. Relax, I promise you, I will absolutely not interfere in your affairs. I’m swamped with work every day; where would I find the time to worry about you?”

Only then did Yang Cheng nod in satisfaction.

“By the way, your mother bought you an apartment in Beijing. See when you need it and get it renovated.”

“When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?” Yang Cheng was astonished.

Damn, is this how you rich people operate? Buying me an apartment just like that? Did I even agree to it? That was my precious first-time homebuyer status, which comes with a discounted mortgage rate.

“Just a few days ago. It’s in Xicheng, in a building I think is called Triumphal Arch, or something. The best unit, best school district, a north-south facing top-floor duplex. She said it’s for when you get married.”

After saying that, he shook his head with a pained expression. “Over thirty thousand per square meter. The property in this city is so damn expensive!”

“Get married?” Yang Cheng was even more confused. Where was this all coming from?

At the mention of marriage, Yang Jianguo leaned in with a grin. “Let me tell you, I did some digging on the sly. Guess what Xia Qing’s family does?”

“How would I know?” Yang Cheng had genuinely never asked.

“I only heard about it by chance.”

By chance? Yang Cheng didn’t believe it. Given his so-called father’s personality, he had probably made a special effort to find out. It wasn’t surprising, really. After all, Yang Cheng had entrusted his entire fortune to Xia Qing. Parents always tended to worry a little more.

“Her family is Red Second Generation. Her father is the chairman of Zhongxin Bank, her mother is a distinguished professor at one of China’s top universities, and her brother works in the Secretariat Bureau of the Central Committee’s General Office.”

“For real?” Yang Cheng was dumbfounded. That was one hell of a background. Zhongxin Bank was a very famous commercial bank in the country. But then again, in those days, a person who could go abroad was either wealthy or from a powerful family.

“This China Tour of yours went so smoothly, I heard her brother Xia Xi called in a lot of favors from his friends to help you guys out.”

It all clicked for Yang Cheng. He had been wondering how Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, no matter how competent, had managed to develop the Chinese market so smoothly. It wasn’t that there was anything fishy about the commercial sponsorships, but rather that all the channels had opened up at once. Building commercial channels was supposed to be a very difficult task. With this foundation, developing the Chinese market in the future would be much easier for Bayswater Chinese.

So that was how it was. He owed a really big favor now. How could he possibly repay it?

…

Even before the team had set off, Yang Cheng had already received the performance report from the commercial department for the past year.

During this Asia Tour, Bayswater Chinese would be signing multiple sponsorship contracts.

The two main sponsors were Puma and Prudential.

Next were the automotive sponsor, Mercedes-Benz from Germany, and the beer sponsor, Budweiser. There was also the shirt sleeve sponsor, China Umbro.

Puma’s deal was for ten million pound sterling, Prudential’s was eight million, and Mercedes-Benz, Budweiser, and China Umbro were all for two million each.

Then there were LTC, Huawei, Midea, Alibaba, and soon to be signed in Beijing, Lenovo and Longi Solar. These six Chinese brands each provided a sponsorship fee of one million pound sterling per year.

Originally, Bayswater Chinese had no plans to go to Japan. But then, the Japanese company Daikin sponsored them for two million pound sterling per year and also provided the central air conditioning, air purification, and water purification systems for the Brent training ground for free.

So, for the sake of money, Bayswater Chinese decided to play a friendly in Japan against Kashima Antlers.

Puma, Prudential, Mercedes-Benz, and Budweiser were European companies, while the other sponsorships were all from Asian enterprises.

Bayswater Chinese’s Asia Tour was definitely a massive financial success, bringing in at least thirty-two million pound sterling in revenue for the club each year.

Although Xia Qing and her brother had been helping quietly behind the scenes, it truly showed Yang Cheng Adam Crozier’s commercial operational abilities. Of course, it still couldn’t compare to his glorious achievements at The FA. After all, Bayswater Chinese didn’t have the same level of influence as the England national team.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with Omar Berrada’s negotiation skills and the resources he brought to the table. With their help, Bayswater Chinese’s commercial income had skyrocketed.

Since they would be participating in the Champions League in the new season, the club’s overall revenue was certain to hit a new all-time high. If they performed well in the Champions League and the attendance at Wembley Stadium was decent, they had a good chance of surpassing one hundred million pound sterling.

This figure would likely rank fifth in the Premier League and somewhere outside the top ten in European football. According to the latest intelligence, Liverpool’s revenue ranked tenth in Europe at around one hundred and twenty million pound sterling, while top earners like Real Madrid were already approaching two hundred million. More importantly, these powerhouse clubs were still growing at a double-digit rate annually.

For Bayswater Chinese, with their inherent disadvantage in home game revenue, they had no choice but to rely on commercial income to make up the difference.

…

While the income was impressive, the team’s expenditures had also surged.

This season, the team’s top weekly wage leaped from the previous six thousand pounds to twenty thousand pounds. According to Xia Qing’s data models, the team’s player salary expenses alone would reach fifteen million pounds for the new season.

Since becoming Chief Financial Officer, Xia Qing had always advocated for incentive-based compensation. That is, lower salaries but higher bonuses.

Based on Xia Qing’s preliminary estimates, when combining player salaries and bonuses with the compensation and bonuses for all club employees, the total wage expenditure for the new season could be close to forty million pound sterling.

For instance, due to the excellent execution of the Asia Tour, Yang Cheng was planning to give Adam Crozier a bonus of one million pounds and Omar Berrada a bonus of seven hundred thousand pounds. That was another one million seven hundred thousand pounds gone.

Incidentally, the appearance fee for Bayswater Chinese’s five matches on the Asia Tour was only six hundred thousand pound sterling per game, similar to Liverpool’s fee. This meant the total income from the five matches was just three million pounds. Compared to the powerhouse clubs, it was indeed quite modest.

…

The match against Villarreal in Beijing was Bayswater Chinese’s last in China.

The day before the game, Xia Qing came to get tickets and met with Yang Cheng.

She made no mention of her brother’s help, acting as if she knew nothing about it. Yang Cheng was happy to go along with it; their usual dynamic remained unchanged. But he would definitely remember this favor.

However, he was a little surprised to see her take such a large stack of tickets.

“You’ve taken so many tickets. Did you pay for them?” Yang Cheng teased deliberately.

Xia Qing shot him a fierce glare, her eyes seeming to say: You bosses are all stingy.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be deducted from my salary.”

The ticket sales revenue didn’t belong to Bayswater Chinese but to the event organizers. These tickets were for good seats that Xia Qing had obtained through internal channels.

“Who are you inviting?” Yang Cheng asked casually.

“My parents, grandparents, my brother, some relatives and friends from my family, and some of my brother’s friends.”

A thought struck Yang Cheng, and he had a rough idea of what was happening. Her brother’s friends were probably the ones who had helped out, though Yang Cheng didn’t know them. This silly girl was probably planning to pay for the tickets herself to repay some of those favors.

“Alright, since we’re here on your doorstep, I can’t be stingy. I don’t want people saying I mistreat my staff, right?”

For once, Yang Cheng was refreshingly generous. “These tickets are on me.”

“Really?” Xia Qing was skeptical.

Yang Cheng was now one hundred percent certain that his public persona was a failure. He was supposed to be a rich kid, so why was he like this?

“Senior, please mind your phrasing. You should be saying, ‘Thank you, boss.’”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright then, thank you, boss.”

“You’re welcome.”

“By the way, boss, my dad’s a football fan. He loves watching matches, but he’s usually very busy and rarely gets to see one live. This is a rare occasion for him, so you’d better play well and don’t lose, okay?” Xia Qing encouraged, her eyes filled with anticipation.

Yang Cheng chuckled confidently and waved his hand dismissively.

He had originally planned to use two different lineups, one for each half. Now, it seemed he had to field all his starters.

Women, they really slow down my pre-match preparations!

…

The match against Villarreal in Beijing was a perilous one for Bayswater Chinese.

The Yellow Submarine had been a semi-finalist in the previous season’s Champions League, and their overall strength was exceptional. Although they were also in their pre-season preparations and hadn’t hit peak form, they were still very strong.

Diego Forlán, in particular, was a constant threat. In midfield, Marcos Senna created numerous problems for Bayswater Chinese.

However, playing a real, competitive match against such a team was excellent for practical training and highly valuable for the team’s development.

In the end, the team secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory. Both teams played an open game, and Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Villarreal with a second-half set-piece goal.

Afterward, the team departed for Tokyo, Japan.

In Yokohama, Bayswater Chinese comfortably defeated Kashima Antlers 2-0.

Although the name “Bayswater Chinese” had “Chinese” in it, they were still warmly welcomed by numerous fans in Japan. After all, this was the Premier League runner-up and the champion of the UEFA Cup!

Moreover, Modrić, who had helped Croatia eliminate Japan in the group stage, played for Bayswater Chinese. At the time, when Croatia faced Japan, Modrić scored the only goal of the match, leaving a very deep impression on the Japanese. That goal condemned Japan to three straight losses in the group stage, conceding seven goals while scoring two, and finishing last in their group.

But strangely, Japanese fans had started following Modrić and Bayswater Chinese because of it.

…

After flying back to London from Tokyo, Bayswater Chinese’s pre-season preparations entered the final sprint.

Upon returning, all the team’s training sessions were moved from Bayswater Stadium to Wembley Stadium. It was a brand-new stadium that could hold a staggering ninety thousand fans. It was equipped with all sorts of advanced facilities, which left the players astounded. The spacious dressing rooms, in particular, were miles better than those at Loftus Road Stadium.

The problem that came with it, however, was that Wembley Stadium’s attendance was likely to set a new record low in the Premier League, and perhaps even in England’s top flight.

According to Adam Crozier’s report, as of now, Bayswater Chinese had only sold twenty-five thousand season tickets, and that was with three Champions League group stage matches bundled in. It was entirely predictable that Wembley Stadium would feel very empty. With such season ticket sales, breaking thirty thousand in attendance would be a remarkable achievement.

Both Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier estimated that the Champions League group stage matches should draw much better crowds. As the CEO put it, he was now genuinely hoping the team would draw powerhouses like Barça or Real Madrid to boost the market and attract more fans.

Despite the disappointing season ticket sales, Bayswater Chinese had no intention of lowering prices. Even after moving to Wembley Stadium, ticket prices remained largely unchanged. The lowest tier was still thirty pound sterling, making it the cheapest among all Premier League teams in London so far.

After moving into their new stadium this season, Arsenal’s most expensive ticket for the new season had reached ninety-four pounds. Last season at Highbury, the most expensive ticket was only fifty-four pounds. Of course, this was the price for matches against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, and Bayswater Chinese.

Yes, thank you, Arsenal! They had classified their home game against Bayswater Chinese as a top-tier match. The prices for this tier ranged from a high of ninety-four pounds to a low of forty-eight pounds. For matches against other teams, the prices were between thirty-three and sixty-six pounds.

Arsenal’s season tickets ranged from eight hundred ninety-three pounds to one thousand eight hundred twenty-five pounds. Tottenham Hotspur’s lowest-tier season ticket was six hundred and fifty pounds. West Ham United’s was five hundred eighty-five pounds.

Bayswater Chinese’s lowest-tier season ticket was six hundred sixty pounds, which seemed expensive but actually included twenty-two matches: nineteen Premier League games and three Champions League group stage games. If you only counted the Premier League, it came out to five hundred seventy pounds, cheaper than West Ham’s. Of course, this was for the lowest tier. Bayswater Chinese still kept their average ticket price around forty pounds.

However, of Wembley Stadium’s one hundred sixty-six VIP boxes, Bayswater Chinese had only sold thirty, mostly the cheaper ten-person boxes. Wembley’s boxes were divided into six tiers, with prices ranging from two thousand four hundred pounds to forty thousand pounds. Although only thirty had been sold, they had already brought in over two million pounds in revenue for Bayswater Chinese. Moreover, these three hundred VIP clients would generate more spending on match days.

Of course, this two million-plus pounds didn’t come from nothing. The services provided with the boxes were excellent, from catering packages, dedicated parking spaces, private entrances, route guidance, to personal service throughout, everything was top-notch. According to Adam Crozier, if all the boxes were sold, they could generate over thirty million pounds in revenue each season. This was the biggest difference between a new stadium and an old one.

…

While Bayswater Chinese was worrying about season ticket sales, Manchester United proudly announced that their sales for the new season had reached a record sixty-four thousand. This created a very ironic situation. Staunch Manchester United fans were continuously launching the “Anti-Glazer” movement, yet season ticket sales at Old Trafford were hitting an all-time high. It was truly surreal.

Besides the news from Manchester United, another story broke in the Premier League during Bayswater Chinese’s Asia Tour. American sports tycoon Randy Lerner acquired a fifty-seven percent stake in Aston Villa for sixty-two million six hundred thousand pounds, becoming the club’s majority shareholder. Randy Lerner was also the owner of the American professional football team, the Cleveland Browns.

As for the upcoming Premier League season, the general consensus was that Chelsea remained the biggest favorite. In an interview with British media, Chelsea head coach José Mourinho boldly declared that he would lead Chelsea to a third consecutive title.

“After I take over a team, it usually takes three years to bring it to its true peak.”

“This is my third season at Chelsea. The team has brought in superstars like Shevchenko and Ballack, and our overall strength has been greatly enhanced.”

“Our goal is no longer just the Premier League and domestic cup competitions; we hope to conquer European football.”

“This new season, our goal is to win all the titles. We are determined to win the Premier League and the Champions League!”

…

Due to the Asia Tour, Yang Cheng had let many things slide and hadn’t had time to deal with them. So, as the team began its final push for the new season, Yang Cheng had to work overtime, using his spare moments to handle other matters, such as the youth academy, which he valued greatly.

Yang Cheng and the first-team coaches had been unable to attend this year’s selection day. Taking advantage of the time spent training and familiarizing themselves with Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng made several trips to the nearby Brent training ground to visit and see if they had unearthed any treasures this year. Having discovered Luke Shaw and Sterling last year, he had gotten a taste for it and was somewhat addicted.

Chelsea’s Cobham training ground was still under construction. Since the Blues’ current first-team training facilities were so poor, the first phase of their project was dedicated to the first team. This was why it hadn’t been opened yet. It was expected to be ready in 2007. Only after the first phase was completed and in use would they begin construction on the second phase for the youth teams.

Currently, Chelsea’s youth academy structure was very incomplete, so their youth development was naturally not very good. As for Fulham, their resources were limited, and their youth academy had always been lackluster.

So, in the entire West and Southwest London area, there were currently two Premier League teams: last season’s newly promoted Bayswater Chinese, and this season’s newly promoted Watford.

With Bayswater Chinese’s investment in youth development, their reputation had soared. Combined with the top-class hardware, software, and talent pool at the Brent training ground, the youth academy was already taking shape. On the first team, Yang Cheng was known for his glamorous attacking football and his boldness in promoting young players.

Under these circumstances, the footballing talent from the entire West and Southwest regions was basically flocking to Bayswater Chinese. According to Dan Ashworth’s report, even more young players had participated in the youth academy trials this year than last, which was an affirmation of Bayswater Chinese’s investment.

Yang Cheng browsed the list of new recruits for this year’s youth academy. He was pleasantly surprised to find two familiar faces on the list.

One was Declan Rice.

Interestingly, he was also from Kingston, a suburb in southwest London, the same place as Luke Shaw. Yang Cheng first checked his date of birth and found that it matched his memory from his previous life, confirming that this was indeed the future starting holding midfielder for the great British Empire. This made him very happy.

“This is called the Dicky Ditch Adventure Playground… is it a youth club?” Yang Cheng looked at the strange name, which sounded more like a children’s playground.

Dan Ashworth laughed. “They do have youth coaching credentials, but they are also a children’s playground.”

After a pause, Dan Ashworth explained, “The road next to this youth club is called Dickerage Road, and it’s located in a park called Dickerage.”

“Strictly speaking, none of this is theirs. They rent the Dickerage Community Sports Centre, where they run a playground and also offer sports training for children, including football, basketball, tennis, you name it.”

Yang Cheng understood. So that was how it was.

“Declan Rice is the best young player this club has produced. He’s only seven, but he’s already showing talent. Chelsea had contacted them before, too.”

“However, Declan Rice’s family felt that Chelsea’s youth academy setup was incomplete. Cobham is close to them, but it will take at least three more years to be built. So, they ultimately decided to try their luck with us at Bayswater Chinese.”

So that’s what happened, Yang Cheng thought to himself.

“What do you think of him?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“The kid’s good!” Dan Ashworth praised.

“Then pay close attention to him and cultivate him well.”

There was another player on the list, but he was not at the Brent training ground but at the Satellite Training Centre in the southeast suburbs of London. His name was Eddie Nketiah.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Nketiah was a striker for Arsenal who had been selected for England’s national teams at all levels and had an extremely high goal-scoring rate.

His situation was different. If you looked at a map of London, following the River Thames, the Isle of Dogs where Canary Wharf is located stands out. Continuing south from the Isle of Dogs across the Thames, you’d find a large area predominantly inhabited by Black communities. Starting from around the 1980s, Black immigrants began to gather in this area. At almost any time of day, in any park, green space, or open field in this large area, you could see many Black children playing football. They even organized children’s football tournaments for the surrounding areas.

This rich football culture could be traced back decades. Arsenal legend Ian Wright came from here. Future Liverpool right-back Nathaniel Clyne and the much-talked-about “king of the ball” Wilfried Zaha also hailed from this region. Just thinking about how many Black players would be in the future England squad, and how many of them came from London, one would know that this place was truly a talent treasure trove.

However, the youth development here was not very good. If you were to divide it by spheres of influence, this area should belong to Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, and Millwall. That’s why both Nathaniel Clyne and Wilfried Zaha were products of the Crystal Palace youth academy.

But now, a training centre bearing the name of Bayswater Chinese had raised its flag here.

“In the coming years, we need to pay even more attention to densely populated areas like Lewisham and Brockley.”

Lewisham and Brockley were both areas with large Black populations.

Dan Ashworth nodded. “I’m already making arrangements. We’ll assign more staff to this satellite training centre, and Gary Worthington’s side will also assign more scouts.”

The topic was a bit sensitive, and Yang Cheng and Dan Ashworth had a tacit understanding. The Black communities were generally poorer, but that didn’t matter. According to Premier League statistics, most footballers came from the working class; there were almost none from the middle class. And Black people had physical genetics that were naturally suited for sports; they possessed formidable physical attributes.

Take C. Ronaldo, for example. Many people talked about his discipline, but the question was, if you took someone without Black ancestry and made them go through the same masochistic, intense training, they probably wouldn’t last long before getting injured. This was not to deny C. Ronaldo’s efforts, but to state an objective fact.

So, Dan Ashworth knew very well what Yang Cheng meant. The people here were relatively poor, and their physical genes were well-suited for sports. It was a place where many youth academy gems could be unearthed. Of course, no matter how visionary Dan Ashworth was, he could never see the future that Yang Cheng could.

In the future of European football, Black players would be the mainstream.

…

Regarding the youth academy, Yang Cheng made some more high-level strategic plans and arrangements.

Afterward, he went to Bayswater Stadium in central London. Adam Crozier had arranged for the famous architect Norman Foster and his assistant team to go “shopping”—no, that’s not right—to survey the site.

The London city government was still going through the procedures, but it was basically confirmed that the construction of Bayswater Chinese’s stadium would be combined with the renovation project for Queensway.

As Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had expected, Norman Foster, being British, was very interested in the project. They hit it off almost immediately, and he was very straightforward.

The design fee? He offered a discount.

But a discount on a master’s fee was still a bone-crushing amount.

When Yang Cheng arrived at Bayswater Stadium, he met Norman Foster and his team. After some pleasantries, they walked north from Queensway, first strolling along the avenue. Then they walked around the entire plot of land before returning to Queensway.

Standing at the Porchester Park intersection across from Bayswater Stadium, Norman Foster observed the surroundings.

After a long while, he turned to Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier.

“These surrounding buildings have a very long history. Many of them are protected national buildings. Even with renovation, the facades won’t change much, but the overall style will become cleaner and more modern.”

“That’s for sure,” Yang Cheng nodded. Londoners wouldn’t agree to any drastic changes.

“In terms of site planning, I think the stadium should be placed in the very center, with four buildings constructed at the four corners. Each pair of buildings would be fifty meters apart, leaving a large open space for fans and tourists to move freely in and out.”

“The four buildings will face the street. There are height restrictions, a maximum of six floors, so they’ll be significantly shorter than the stadium.”

“Each building will face two streets, forming a corner, with a beautiful curved design on the back side. This will maximize the space around the stadium, creating a garden-style public space for leisure, entertainment, sports, and socializing, seamlessly integrated with the bustling surrounding streets.”

“Look at where we’re standing now. By leaving fifty meters of open space, not only does it connect with Queensway, but more importantly, we can see the entire stadium inside very clearly.”

“We will then design the landscape for each street corner specifically. Once it’s built, I guarantee it will become a landmark that tourists from all over the world will flock to!”

Yang Cheng was completely bewildered. No matter how he looked at it, all he saw was an unfinished building; he couldn’t possibly imagine the global landmark the master was describing.

So, he looked at Xia Qing and Adam Crozier with a questioning gaze. Did you two understand any of that?

Adam Crozier rolled his eyes. What do you think?

Xia Qing was speechless. She had understood every single word, but put together, it made no sense at all.

Yang Cheng was reminded of his previous life when he had hired an interior designer. The designer had sketched a rough draft, talking about how inspired it was, how great the ideas and creativity were, but he hadn’t understood a word.

In the end, there was only one solution. Renderings!

However, Yang Cheng did grasp some of Norman Foster’s ideas. Simply put, the surrounding buildings shouldn’t be connected. On the four streets—north, south, east, and west—there would be fifty-meter-wide open channels. These would both serve as entrances for fans and integrate the stadium and its surrounding public spaces with the bustling streets outside, maximizing foot traffic.

The idea was indeed excellent. Building up the entire area would maximize profit, of course, but having the stadium enclosed in the middle would feel very oppressive and suffocating. It would be better to have an open design, allowing tourists to come and go as they pleased, which would boost the stadium’s popularity. If it really became a viral spot that tourists from all over the world flocked to, that would be even better.

And for the new stadium, Yang Cheng had many more fantastic ideas.

For example, a “skywalk” glass path on top of the stadium. Why? Because once completed, the stadium would be the highest point in central London. It would be a waste not to capitalize on such a great tourist resource.

Also, a huge circular screen had to be hung in the middle of the stadium, just like the one at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles from his previous life.

Now it was Norman Foster’s turn to be baffled.

A circular screen? How would that work?

“On our trip to China, we found a company called LTC that specializes in making TVs. They said their lab is already researching large curved screens. Mass production might be difficult in a few years, but creating a custom one for us is something they could try.”

Yang Cheng adored this circular screen; it was so futuristic! For the manufacturer, it would also be a great way to show off their technical prowess, so they were very willing.

Norman Foster didn’t understand the technology, but he just needed to ensure the design had enough load-bearing capacity; they could just hang it up later.

Yang Cheng also planned to have a retractable pitch, like Real Madrid’s. The Bernabéu Stadium had a subway line underneath, so the space for storing the pitch was very small. Here at Bayswater, the south side of the plot was next to the Bayswater tube station entrance, but if the stadium was built in the middle of the plot, there would be no such problem. They would only need one basement level to store the pitch in three sections.

Strictly speaking, achieving this with current technology wasn’t particularly difficult. It just burned money. But in Yang Cheng’s view, if he could afford to burn one billion pounds, what was a little more? Besides, this was a very profitable business. In the future, once the pitch was retracted, they could host concerts, exhibitions, and all sorts of events. It would be incredibly lucrative! It would be a divine punishment to not utilize the resources of such a prime location!

Also, the roof had to be retractable. On rainy or snowy days, they could just close it up. It would be perfect.

Norman Foster listened, stunned. After being a master architect for so many years, and a high-tech one at that, this was the first time he had been so shocked by a client’s demands for advanced technology.

This was just too… something else, wasn’t it? No wonder it was going to cost one billion pounds!

Chapter 102: Manager of the Season! At This Moment, His Ball Control Was Like Henry’s!

Before the new season even began, Bayswater Chinese received a piece of good news.

In the selection for the 2005/06 Premier League Manager of the Season, Yang Cheng beat out renowned managers like Mourinho, Ferguson, and Wenger to claim the title.

The Player of the Season award went to Henry, who had already transferred to Barcelona.

The French striker was the best goalscorer in the Premier League last season.

Therefore, at the FA awards ceremony in Soho Square, Yang Cheng was the only one present.

Initially, Yang Cheng didn’t want to go. He didn’t have a coaching license, so what kind of manager was he?

But he had no choice. The FA insisted he attend, with both the Chairman and the CEO making several phone calls. Not going would have been a great disrespect.

Sometimes, he thought, they really had it tough.

Based on last season’s performance, would it have made sense to give the award to Mourinho?

The high-spending Chelsea had only won a single Premier League title.

Bayswater Chinese, as a newly promoted team, had finished as Premier League runners-up and won both the League Cup and the UEFA Cup—a true Double champion!

Giving it to Yang Cheng was the logical choice, but the problem was, he wasn’t qualified to receive the award.

On the roster submitted by Bayswater Chinese, the head coach position was listed under Brian Kidd’s name.

This truly put the FA in a bind.

So much so that when Yang Cheng, having received his award, sat in the press conference hall for interviews, the very first question came from a reporter from The Sun who revealed that the FA had asked them beforehand not to ask about the coaching license issue.

“Excuse me, what are your thoughts on the FA’s actions? Would you consider it an infringement on the freedom of speech?”

The room instantly erupted in roaring laughter.

The cheek of it!

Yang Cheng turned his head and saw Geoff Thompson and Brian Barwick looking like they wanted to crawl under the table.

“You know, the problem lies with me.”

Yang Cheng, acting quite gallantly, took the blame.

He was the star of the press conference, so shouldering this responsibility was of little consequence to him; in fact, it could win him points with Geoff Thompson and Brian Barwick.

Of course, he was also the main culprit.

“I think, perhaps we can discuss this. I’ll take the exam, and if—and I’m just saying if—I fail, you’re not allowed to report it,” Yang Cheng said with great sincerity.

The room burst into another round of laughter.

But a reporter immediately followed up, “Are you accusing the FA’s coach training courses of being disconnected from practical application? Otherwise, how do you explain your team’s excellent results, while you can’t pass the coaching exams?”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but smile.

Being surrounded by these ancestors of the paparazzi was truly pitiful.

Soon, the FA’s spokesperson steered the conversation to a different topic.

After that bit of chaos, the atmosphere in the room livened up considerably.

Ordinarily, they interviewed a bunch of middle-aged men, or even old geezers.

Who among them would interact with the press like this?

Yang Cheng had certainly left a very good impression on them.

And the topics the reporters were interested in always revolved around the players and the new season.

Regarding the new season, Yang Cheng stated that he was still full of confidence.

“I know Chelsea has signed three superstars in Shevchenko, Ashley Cole, and Michael Ballack, along with other talented players like Boulahrouz, but I want to say, if you could win matches and championships just by stacking stars, would football still be interesting?”

Yang Cheng’s words earned the approval of many reporters in the room.

But some reporters, looking to stir up trouble, deliberately set a trap for Yang Cheng, asking if he thought Chelsea’s signing of three major stars would lead them down the same path of failure as Real Madrid, with problems arising in the dressing room.

Another reporter pointed out, did Yang Cheng believe that this season’s Premier League title would no longer belong to Chelsea?

Having held so many press conferences, Yang Cheng certainly wasn’t going to fall into those traps.

He sidestepped every single one of them.

Regarding the players, Yang Cheng reiterated his stance: Ribéry’s departure had indeed affected Bayswater Chinese.

“But our team’s overall strength will not be weakened. On the contrary, we will be stronger than last season!”

Yang Cheng’s confidence stemmed from the team’s average age.

Bayswater Chinese was a team composed mainly of young players. They had a full season of growth behind them, which meant the team’s overall strength was improving.

This was the advantage of a young squad.

Of course, Yang Cheng refuted some of the unfavorable opinions circulating about Bayswater Chinese.

Many were saying that Bayswater Chinese’s performance last season was a fluke, a one-time burst, and that they would be brought back down to earth this season.

“How we perform, everyone will see in the new season!”

“We also welcome more fans to Wembley Stadium. You will see a Bayswater Chinese team that is different from any other in the Premier League, one full of attacking prowess!”

…

Yang Cheng’s interview quickly spread throughout England and Europe.

His remarks were met with mixed reviews from the media and fans, both praise and criticism.

Yang Cheng paid them no mind.

In the first round of the season, Bayswater Chinese was at home at Wembley Stadium, facing Middlesbrough.

Interestingly, Middlesbrough’s head coach was the future manager of the great British Empire, Mr. Impostor—uh, no, that’s Mr. Southgate.

He was also a legendary captain of England.

This was the first official match of his managerial career.

Yang Cheng could only say, he wished him luck!

Two days before the first-round match, Bayswater Chinese simultaneously released their long-awaited official football culture promotional short film on their official website, YouTube, and several other platforms.

The short film was based on the stories of three individuals: Ribéry, Modrić, and Harry Kane.

One was tragically disfigured in a childhood car accident and bullied by those around him; one was a shepherd boy scarred by the poisons of war; one was constantly hitting walls because of his weight…

But all three shared a common belief: they all loved football!

The background music for the short film was Bayswater Chinese’s team anthem, “Dream It Possible.”

As the song flowed gently, the three storylines in the film intertwined, allowing everyone to feel their hardship, their perseverance, and their dedication, as well as the never-give-up spirit within them.

The short film was the work of a movie director. The cinematography was brilliant, the narrative was complete, and the emotions it conveyed were incredibly rich, pulling the audience along with the film and the team anthem, with emotions building and building.

When the three finally came together at Bayswater Chinese, the short film reached a grand emotional climax.

The song’s soaring chorus was paired with the director’s edited footage of Ribéry, Modrić, and others displaying their skills in the Premier League and the UEFA Cup, along with the entire process of Harry Kane playing, training, and losing weight in the youth team.

Everyone was completely moved, their blood feeling as if it had been set on fire!

As one American user on YouTube commented after watching the short film, “Watching this got me totally fired up! I really want to go play football!”

“Where is this Bayswater Chinese? I want to go see a game!” said another.

“So well made, I cried through several tissues.”

“Dude upstairs, what’s a grown man crying for?”

“Piss off, I’m a woman.”

“My god, this short film is so good. Do people like this really exist?”

“Of course! The team is in the Premier League, buddy!”

“I can’t believe it, I never knew football could be so inspiring.”

“As an Englishman, I’m proud that we have football. And a little PSA for my American friends: this Bayswater Chinese team achieved a dark horse miracle last season. As a newly promoted team, they finished as Premier League runners-up and won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup, a double! They are the most legendary dark horse in Premier League history!”

“That’s right, seconding the comment above! Bayswater Chinese’s football is always so exciting!”

“I’ll never tell you guys that I had a season ticket for Bayswater Chinese last season. Here’s a pic to prove it, hehe…”

“It’s a shame Ribéry transferred to Bayern Munich.”

“What can you do? Bayswater Chinese is still a small club. Give them a bit more time, and they’ll definitely become strong.”

“I totally get the power this short film conveys! Go, Bayswater Chinese!”

“Although the club’s name is a bit weird, the film looks great. I like their football culture.”

“Why don’t they come to America? If they did, I’d definitely buy a ticket to support them!”

“My heavens, is that shepherd boy who lived through a war really playing football? Is he any good?”

“Of course he is, mate! His name is Luka Modrić, and he’s the captain of Bayswater Chinese!”

“Poor, precious Modrić! I wish there were no wars in this world!”

“Their head coach said Modrić will become the best midfielder in the world!”

“Incredible, that would be a legend in the making!”

“That’s right, and not just him, this club will become a legend too!”

“Stop it, everyone. If you keep talking like this, I’m going to want to go to England. Damn it, why don’t we have a team like this in America?”

“I’m from France. In France, there’s also a very legendary team, Auxerre. Ever heard of it?”

“Oh, my God, I just Googled it. Bayswater Chinese really exists. I thought it was fake.”

“I’m right here in London. After watching the Bayswater Chinese promotional film, I bought season tickets for my whole family. Not many, just 5. I hope Bayswater Chinese continues to do well in the new season!”

“I bought a season ticket too and recommended it to my colleagues. We’re all young people, we like teams for young people!”

“I’ve seen their news. That young Genius Coach is so handsome!”

…

“Damn, I knew we should have pushed them to release the promotional film sooner!”

On the morning of the Premier League’s first round, Adam Crozier came to Yang Cheng’s office.

The first thing he did upon entering was complain.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Cheng was a little puzzled.

For the past two days, he had been buried in preparations for the opening match of the season, oblivious to the outside world.

“Our promotional film has gone viral online.”

“Viral?”

“Yeah, I was originally worried it wouldn’t get much attention, but who would have thought, it just blew up.”

Yang Cheng was a bit skeptical. “Viral all over the internet?”

“Not that exaggerated, but a lot of people have watched it, and the comments are very positive. Everyone is sharing it. And guess what our season ticket sales are like now?”

“They’ve blown up too?” Yang Cheng immediately grinned.

“We’ve broken thirty thousand, and according to the back-end data, most of the fans who’ve booked tickets in the last few days are young people.”

Yang Cheng truly hadn’t expected such a bonus.

“Then we should seize this opportunity right away. Use the momentum to push a little more and try to attract more fans.”

Adam Crozier nodded. “I’ve already arranged for that. We need to keep this momentum going. It’s basically like paying for advertising.”

Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

The key wasn’t just this one time.

Once these fans bought a ticket, they could be targeted with precision marketing in the future.

“I have a feeling that when the Champions League group stage draw comes out, we can make another big push.”

Bayswater Chinese’s situation right now was that their tickets were the cheapest in all of London, even cheaper than those for Queens Park Rangers, who were fighting relegation in the Championship.

Why?

To attract a fanbase!

There were actually many ways to raise ticket prices.

The key was to get more fans into the stadium first.

If no one showed up to watch, all talk was useless.

After the Champions League group stage draw, the allure of European football would entice more interested fans to attend.

In terms of ticket pricing, individual Champions League tickets were quite expensive.

This was a consensus among all Premier League teams.

But if bought as part of a package with a Bayswater Chinese season ticket, it became a very good deal.

“We also need to pay more attention to the internet. A lot of young people like to surf the web these days. We need to follow this trend,” Adam Crozier said.

Yang Cheng nodded. “Young people nowadays don’t like boring matches, so we’ll play a more open, more attacking style this season and try to keep every fan who comes through the gates.”

This was a form of accumulation.

What else could they do, given Bayswater Chinese’s thin foundation?

With the first league match of the season imminent, Adam Crozier didn’t disturb Yang Cheng any further.

After seeing the CEO off, Yang Cheng was also in high spirits.

For the first round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng had done his homework.

Gary Worthington’s scouting team had long ago assigned people to track Middlesbrough’s pre-season matches, and their report indicated that Southgate was still using a 4-4-2 formation.

This made Yang Cheng quite sentimental.

You couldn’t entirely blame Southgate.

After England’s head coach Eriksson stepped down, Middlesbrough’s head coach from last season, Steve McClaren, had taken over the national team, and Southgate had taken McClaren’s place.

Naturally, he continued the 4-4-2 formation from the previous season.

“Don’t blame me, Southgate. Every manager has to pay their dues!”

…

Starting from the second half of last year, before every home game, Bayswater Chinese would invite Adele to perform the team anthem. Sometimes, the song-loving English girl would sing a few extra songs.

As a result, she had been reported on by several media outlets and had gained a bit of fame.

Later on, a record company decided to sign her and began preparing to record an album for her.

But before all that, Adele was still that English girl who loved to sing.

So, for the new season, she was still following Bayswater Chinese, coming to Wembley Stadium to sing.

The stadium’s big screen was looping the club’s football culture promotional video, while Adele’s powerful voice filled the air.

The English girl was especially grateful to Bayswater Chinese for this opportunity. She also knew that ticket sales weren’t great and the club was worried about a dull atmosphere, so she deliberately sang a few extra songs, specifically choosing more explosive ones to ignite the passion of the fans present.

According to Bayswater Chinese’s official count, the attendance for this match was only around thirty-five thousand people.

This was the absolute maximum number of fans the club could currently muster.

It could be said that for the first match of the new season, Bayswater Chinese had used every resource at their disposal.

Apart of from self-destructive tactics like giving away tickets or offering heavy discounts, every possible method had been employed.

And this was the result!

Most of the fans were concentrated in the stands behind the goals.

The reason was that the ticket prices for those sections were cheaper.

This resulted in the side stands being very empty, making it impossible for the atmosphere to feel good.

It couldn’t be helped. With only thirty-five thousand people in a ninety-thousand-seat stadium, it would be strange if the atmosphere was good.

Both Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier were psychologically prepared for this situation.

This kind of thing could only be tackled one step at a time.

The most difficult thing in the world is to get consumers to open their wallets.

…

As Adele sang her heart out in the middle of the pitch, Middlesbrough’s head coach Southgate, having just watched his team finish their warm-up, stood at the entrance of the players’ tunnel in the corner, listening.

After hearing the Bayswater Chinese team anthem, his first reaction was that it was quite catchy.

But singing before a football match was nothing but showboating.

Especially when he saw the empty stands on the opposite side.

The match was scheduled to start at 3 PM, and it was just after 2 PM. The sun was slanting onto the opposite stand, so many fans had avoided the middle seats, leaving most of that entire section deserted.

“Wearing a hat too big for your head—ridiculous!” Southgate said with a cold laugh.

For his generation of English players, Wembley Stadium held a very special place in their hearts.

Even the new, rebuilt Wembley Stadium, they wouldn’t want to see it leased out long-term to a club.

Especially a club owned by foreign investors.

And now look, what a joke, right?

The attendance rate was less than half.

This was an utter disgrace to Wembley Stadium!

What’s that?

Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium also has terrible attendance?

A thirty-five-thousand-seat stadium only seats twenty thousand?

Please, what does that have to do with my criticism of Bayswater Chinese?

Uh, okay, fine, some lower-league play-offs or cup finals are also held at Wembley with even lower attendance, but those aren’t long-term leases.

Bayswater Chinese are like thieves!

Even if they paid for it!

At this thought, a sense of grandeur surged within Southgate.

In the upcoming match, I, Gareth Southgate, will vindicate English football!

I will lead Middlesbrough to defend Wembley’s honor!

…

In the home team’s dressing room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng was playing a short video for all the players.

It was a compilation of comments from YouTube and other platforms, all from people who had watched the football culture promotional film.

Many of the comments were quite touching, and really well-said.

Yeah, they should say more things like that next time.

Yang Cheng had translated them all and relayed them to the players in the dressing room.

He himself stood silently to one side.

On the tactics board behind him were the starting lineups for both Bayswater Chinese and Middlesbrough for this afternoon’s match.

Bayswater Chinese was sticking with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfielders: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Arshavin, Džeko, and Ashley Young.

Starting the newcomer Pepe in the first league match was a bit of a gamble, but Yang Cheng had his reasons.

The Premier League started with two games a week, with a midweek match, so the team needed rotation.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, was using a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Schwarzer;

Defenders: Julio Arca, Bogarde, Riggott, and Parnaby;

Midfielders: Downing, George Boateng, Fábio Rochemback, and James Morrison;

Forwards: Dave Kitson and Viduka.

After transferring to Middlesbrough, Kitson had performed well in the Premier League, forming a two-striker partnership with Viduka.

Just moments ago, when the two teams came onto the pitch to warm up, Kitson had made a point to come over and greet Yang Cheng and his familiar teammates from Bayswater Chinese.

But once they were on the pitch, there would be no pleasantries.

The reason Yang Cheng had decided to start Pepe was actually because Kitson was very familiar with Bayswater Chinese’s other centre-backs.

Pepe, on the other hand, he had never seen before.

After the players had finished watching the comments, Yang Cheng slowly walked over.

“After watching that, what are your thoughts?”

Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

But no one answered him.

“Let me tell you mine. I feel the weight on my shoulders is even heavier now.”

“Most of these netizens online aren’t here in the stadium right now, but they might be sitting in front of their TVs, watching the live broadcast of our match.”

“Somewhere in those stands, maybe one of the netizens whose comment you just saw is sitting right there, full of anticipation, waiting to see our performance. They are expecting us to bring them a spectacular victory.”

“A thoroughly satisfying football feast!”

“Gentlemen!”

Yang Cheng spread his arms wide, turning in a circle on the spot, his gaze sweeping over every player.

“Every single one of you was personally chosen and nurtured by me. I know each and every one of you, not just your technical skills, not just your personalities, but also your pasts!”

“I know that deep in your hearts, each of you holds a burning desire, a craving to let the whole world see you!”

“And I know even better how difficult a journey it has been for you to get to this day, to step into this stadium.”

“And it is precisely because I know this that I want to tell you: do not leave any regrets for yourselves, for the fans outside, for the netizens who are following us online!”

“I have never doubted that this team of ours will make history time and time again!”

“And time and time again, we will shock the world!”

…

As the two teams of players entered the pitch, everyone could feel the grim determination on their faces.

Clearly, both head coaches had given rousing speeches in the dressing rooms.

This made the players, as they stepped onto the pitch, look like a group of warriors entering a gladiatorial arena.

And as soon as the match started, an intense battle immediately unfolded between the two teams.

Although Middlesbrough was playing away, Southgate’s team showed no fear. Instead, they were the first to attack, attempting to seize control of the game.

Especially just one minute and thirty-eight seconds into the match, following a pass from midfielder James Morrison, Kitson unleashed a cannon of a shot with his left foot from the right side just outside the penalty area.

But the shot was held firmly by Neuer.

It was clear to see that after playing in the Premier League, Kitson had become noticeably more confident.

Bayswater Chinese’s start was not as aggressive as Middlesbrough’s.

After all, it was the first round of the new season.

And a home game.

The task Yang Cheng had given the team was to control possession and tempo at the start of the game.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s strength, and what the team did best.

As long as they controlled possession, everything else would fall into place.

After Middlesbrough’s opening shot, they were quickly suppressed by Bayswater Chinese.

Especially in the midfield.

The midfield trio of Yaya Touré, Modrić, and Lassana Diarra had been forged through the trials of the Premier League and the UEFA Cup last season.

Never mind Middlesbrough; they could even hold a slight advantage against Manchester United and Chelsea.

In the 6th minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese executed a coordinated press near the halfway line.

Yaya Touré used his powerful physique to knock over the ball-carrier, Rochemback, and tackled the ball to the backtracking Lassana Diarra.

After controlling the ball, the French midfielder turned and passed it to Modrić.

Modrić, without taking a touch, passed it forward immediately.

Džeko, with his back to the goal, used his body to shield the ball from Bogarde, controlled it, turned to his right, and played a diagonal pass to Ashley Young on the right wing.

“Bayswater Chinese on the counter-attack.”

“Ashley Young with the ball on the right flank.”

“He’s got no one marking him on this side, this is a chance.”

“Ashley Young dribbles to the right side of the penalty area, Julio Arca comes over to defend.”

“Let’s see what Ashley Young does here.”

“Still taking it towards the byline, he should cross it.”

“Ashley Young crosses!”

A gasp went through the crowd.

But Arshavin, waiting at the far post, couldn’t get to it, as a timely-recovering Parnaby blocked it out for a corner kick.

That was a very dangerous moment.

It was almost an own goal.

“Ashley Young deliberately slowed down and took the ball to the byline to wait for Arshavin and Džeko to get up there.”

“Unfortunately, a very good opportunity was missed.”

“A corner kick for Bayswater Chinese.”

“We can see Gianni Vio, the Bayswater Chinese coach, has also come to the touchline to give instructions.”

“It seems he’s not just in charge of free-kicks now, but also devising set-piece routines for corners.”

“The penalty area is packed with players.”

“Both teams are taking this corner very seriously.”

“Ashley Young will take it.”

“Let’s see where this one will land.”

“The head referee blows his whistle.”

“It’s chaos in the box.”

“The far post!”

“There’s a chance!”

“Yaya Touré with the header!”

“Goal!!!”

“I told you, with Gianni Vio out there directing, this was a chance!”

“Yaya Touré!”

“Just six minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese capitalizes on a corner kick opportunity. Yaya Touré makes a sudden circling run, avoiding the congested near post and central areas, and at the unguarded far post, delivers a header!”

“A very clever corner kick tactic.”

“No one expected Yaya Touré to make that run, bypassing the crowd.”

“A brilliant start to the match!”

“Bayswater Chinese has gotten off to a dream start!”

“1-0!”

Although the attendance at Wembley Stadium was low, the roar of over thirty thousand fans cheering simultaneously was still immense.

To Southgate, standing in front of the away team’s dugout, the sound was particularly grating.

He was frustrated, unable to understand how they had lost track of Yaya Touré.

What exactly had happened in the penalty area just now?

Unfortunately, a live match wasn’t like a television broadcast; there were no slow-motion replays.

But the score on the scoreboard had already changed to 1-0!

Southgate quickly walked out of his technical area, clapping his hands forcefully and shouting at his players, demanding they lift their spirits. It was only one goal, no big deal.

“Come on! Come on! Steady yourselves, we’ll get that goal back!” Southgate yelled.

Just as if he were still on the pitch himself.

And next to him, in front of the home team’s dugout, Yang Cheng was extending his hand, high-fiving Yaya Touré and the others as they returned from celebrating the goal, while also applauding his players loudly.

“Keep the momentum going, press them, don’t give our opponents a chance to breathe!”

“Go! Go! Go!!”

“Try to break through their goal again!”

When Andrei Arshavin passed in front of him, Yang Cheng pulled the Russian in front of him.

“Do you remember what I told you on the first day of the summer training camp?” Yang Cheng asked with great solemnity.

Andrei Arshavin nodded heavily, then looked back at his head coach, his eyes gleaming with a sharp edge.

“I won’t be that cat fattened on cream!”

With that, the Russian turned resolutely and walked back onto the pitch.

Behind him, a smile bloomed on Yang Cheng’s lips.

Very good, Andrei. Now, prove it to me!

…

Before the summer training camp, after Arshavin had returned to London from Russia, Yang Cheng had made a point to have a long chat with him.

The conversation had been quite lengthy.

From his life in London over the past six months, to his family, to football.

Bayswater Chinese had done an excellent job of settling him in, going to great lengths to resolve all of Arshavin’s issues.

His English had also improved rapidly; he could now hold general conversations not just within the team, but also when he was out and about.

Arshavin was quite satisfied with everything.

But that was not the focus of their conversation.

In the middle of their talk, Yang Cheng had mentioned some of the team’s plans.

Ribéry hadn’t transferred yet at that point, but Yang Cheng had told him in advance that the Frenchman would definitely be leaving.

The only question was to which team.

“This is Franck’s own decision. He yearns for a grander stage to prove himself, and we respect his choice.”

Arshavin, in truth, was not surprised by this.

He had guessed as much.

So the purpose of this conversation was…

As expected, Yang Cheng soon laid it bare.

“We need you, Andrei!”

“After Franck leaves, we will need a new, incredibly strong attacking core.”

“You are the best candidate on our team!”

Although Arshavin had been mentally prepared for this, he still felt a rush of excitement.

He was a person who was easily swayed by emotion, and this feeling of being valued, of being needed, was intoxicating to him.

It was the same at Zenit as it was at Bayswater Chinese.

So, he told Yang Cheng that he would give it his all!

At the end of their conversation, Yang Cheng had shared an allegory with Arshavin that he had never heard before.

A family had a mouse problem, so they bought a cat.

This cat was a very skilled mouser, striking fear into the hearts of all the mice.

The owner also loved and trusted it very much, rewarding it with its favorite food for catching mice.

The mice, cowering in their holes, knew that this cat loved cream, so they devised a plan to steal more cream and place it before the cat.

The cat, with a clear conscience, enjoyed the offerings from the mice, feasting without restraint on the readily available cream.

Gradually, it grew fatter and lazier.

At some point, it lost its speed, lost its keen sense of smell, became clumsy, and grew fond of napping. Many times, it would just curl up and fall asleep on the owner’s sofa.

The mice in the house multiplied, and the cat tried hard to catch them, but it couldn’t catch any.

At first, the owner tolerated it, but gradually, they could no longer bear to watch.

Finally, on a rainy day, their patience ran out, and they threw the cat, fattened on cream, out of the house.

Standing in the rain, the dejected, fat cat looked back with longing, only to see, at the mouse hole under the closed door, hordes of mice waving goodbye to it.

Yang Cheng didn’t tell him why he told him this allegory, nor did he know its origin.

But Arshavin had tasted something more in the story, and it served as a secret warning to himself.

I will not be that cat fattened on cream!

…

The match restarted.

Buoyed by their one-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack Middlesbrough.

They were actively pressing high up the pitch, whether at centre-forward or on the two wings.

And at the same time, they were constantly creating chances.

In the 14th minute, Arshavin and Modrić executed a clever give-and-go in the left channel, breaking through to the left side of the D, where Arshavin unleashed a powerful right-footed shot.

It went just wide.

Just over two minutes later, it was Arshavin again who drew a foul on the left flank after receiving the ball, winning an attacking free-kick.

Unfortunately, from the resulting free-kick, Džeko’s header went over the bar.

The Bosnian centre-forward still needed to work on his heading.

In the 19th minute, Arshavin again received a pass from Modrić on the left. Squeezed between two Middlesbrough defenders, he skillfully dribbled, cutting inside, brought the ball out, and laid it off horizontally to the right side of the D.

Lassana Diarra followed up with a thunderous shot.

Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper Schwarzer made a diving save to his side, pushing the long shot, which was headed for the bottom right corner of the goal, out for a corner.

Corner kick.

Ashley Young took the corner again, but this time Pepe’s header went high.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacks came in waves.

The tempo of the game was also very fast.

This got the fans in the stadium fired up, and they all became excited.

Although their numbers were not large and the stadium was rather empty, the gasps, applause, and cheers from the fans were constant and unending.

Middlesbrough managed to launch a quick counter-attack in the 23rd minute.

A long pass found Viduka in the forward line, who then passed it to Dave Kitson.

As soon as Kitson received the ball, he was tightly marked by Pepe.

The English centre-forward first tried to use his body to overpower Pepe, but discovered that Pepe’s physical strength was in no way inferior to his own. In fact, Pepe forced him to move to the left just to be able to control the ball.

But after getting the ball under control at the left corner of the penalty area, the angle for an attack was much smaller.

This new kid is no joke!

Subsequently, Kitson ended Middlesbrough’s counter-attack with a hasty long shot.

Just one minute after Kitson’s unsuccessful counter-attack, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half and launched a quick counter of their own.

Modrić carried the ball forward into the center circle in his own half. Seeing George Boateng closing in, he played a straight pass into the space behind Boateng.

Džeko dropped back from the front line, controlled the ball in the open space, turned, and played a through ball.

The football could be seen threading precisely through the gap between right-back Parnaby and centre-back Riggott.

Arshavin darted forward at high speed. Just as he caught up to Džeko’s pass outside the left corner of the penalty area, Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper made a decisive move, rushing out of the penalty area to try and clear the ball.

The Russian got there a step ahead. With a seemingly magical touch, he pulled the ball back, then nudged it forward with his left foot, evading Schwarzer’s slide tackle while keeping the ball firmly under his control as he burst into the penalty area.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

No one even saw clearly what kind of footwork Arshavin had used.

But what was certain was that he had gone straight past Schwarzer.

Riggott sprinted desperately towards the goal.

But Arshavin’s shot came a step before him, crossing Middlesbrough’s goal line.

“Goal!!!!”

“In the 25th minute, Andrei Arshavin scores another goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“An unstoppable wave of attacks!”

“We’re seeing in today’s match that Bayswater Chinese’s attack is incredibly sharp, threatening Middlesbrough’s goal time and time again.”

“Especially that last attack, the link-up between Modrić, Džeko, and Arshavin tore through Middlesbrough’s defense.”

“2-0!”

…

After scoring two consecutive goals, Bayswater Chinese’s morale was sky-high, and they intensified their attacks on Middlesbrough even further.

In his first match as a head coach, Southgate’s on-field reactions were clearly a bit slow, and he failed to make timely adjustments.

This led to Middlesbrough facing one dangerous situation after another in the subsequent period of the match.

In the 33rd minute, Džeko received a half-high ball from Yaya Touré, chested it down, shielded the ball with his body, and passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian played a diagonal pass.

Arshavin received the ball between the two defenders, Parnaby and Riggott, and drove forward.

Relying on his superb and skillful footwork, Arshavin went on a tear, breaking into the left side of the penalty area.

Under the close watch of Parnaby and Riggott, the Russian suddenly came to an abrupt halt, stopping dead in his tracks.

Parnaby couldn’t stop his momentum and overran him.

Riggott, being slower, managed to stop in time.

But Arshavin immediately followed up with a feint, as if to chip the ball with his left foot, tricking Riggott into lunging for a block without a second thought.

To his surprise, the Russian nonchalantly pulled the ball back and swung his right foot, unleashing a powerful shot.

The ball carved a beautiful arc, flying over Schwarzer’s head and dipping into the right side of the goal behind him.

In an instant, Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of the fans once more.

“Arshavin scores another goal!”

“A brace!!”

“My God, the Russian has been absolutely brilliant today!”

“3-0!”

“I can’t believe it. Bayswater Chinese have been outstanding in this first half!”

“Their possession rate has reached an incredible 72.8%!”

“They’ve also had eleven shots, resulting in three goals.”

“This is simply astounding!”

…

When Yang Cheng saw Arshavin complete his brace, he was so excited he jumped to his feet, clapping loudly for the Russian.

A glance over at the away team’s dugout showed that Mr. Southgate had lost all of the arrogance he had displayed before the match started.

At this moment, he was thoroughly exasperated.

However, no matter how foolish he was, he knew it was time to make an adjustment.

If they didn’t, and continued to play like this, they were truly going to be on the receiving end of a thrashing.

“Middlesbrough’s defense has huge problems. The defenders are all too slow,” Brian Kidd said with a smile.

Yang Cheng nodded.

The defenders in question were Parnaby, Riggott, and Bogarde.

Among them, Riggott and Bogarde, as centre-backs, were slow and lacked agility, which was common in the Premier League.

Parnaby, as a right-back, was also quite slow, which was a bit unusual.

Their usual left-back was the Frenchman Franck Queudrue, but after an excellent season, he had been bought by Fulham for a high price.

So, for this match, they had to play the Argentine left-midfielder, Julio Arca, in his place.

In the build-up to Ashley Young’s assist earlier, Arca was clearly out of position.

Everyone thought Yang Cheng would focus his attacks on Julio Arca’s position.

But Yang Cheng had deliberately targeted Arshavin’s side.

And the Russian had not let him down, proving his worth with a brace.

“This kid is very emotional, very sensitive and delicate. He also needs more care and affection,” Yang Cheng instructed Brian Kidd.

The latter, having worked with Yang Cheng for three years, knew he was talking about Arshavin.

Yang Cheng had told Brian Kidd that Arshavin had had a rather unfortunate childhood.

His parents had divorced early on, and he lived alone with his mother in considerable poverty.

Later, even his mother passed away, leaving him all alone.

People with such experiences often have a deep-seated need for affection and a craving for the attention of those around them.

But on the outside, they can appear extremely arrogant, even coldly imperious, as if nothing matters to them.

Some said Arshavin was an artsy sentimentalist.

Yang Cheng thought he was simply a pitiable soul.

In his previous life, the way Wenger had treated him was fundamentally unreasonable, especially putting him on the bench in hopes of admonishing him. That approach was useless with Arshavin.

What he needed was trust, not suppression.

That kind of pressure would only amplify his inner insecurity, which in turn would magnify his negative emotions.

Of course, Wenger was an extremely rational and calculating person. Under the pressure for results, even if he knew this, he might not have been willing to give Arshavin that kind of trust and support.

…

If Southgate had been stunned in the first half, he clearly came to his senses after the last ten or so minutes of transition.

He began to recognize the reality of his situation.

Thus, he adopted a posture of defending with all one’s might.

During halftime, he substituted Andrew Davies for Julio Arca to strengthen the defense.

This was followed by a series of other changes.

In Yang Cheng’s memory, Middlesbrough only truly started to show improvement that season when they brought Woodgate back on loan from Real Madrid just before the transfer window closed, which shored up their back line.

But today, at Wembley Stadium, he was finished.

In the 70th minute of the second half, Yang Cheng brought on the young Walcott to replace Arshavin.

It was a like-for-like substitution.

Yang Cheng sent Walcott on to play on the left wing, allowing Arshavin to conserve some energy for the midweek league match.

The young Tiger, coming off the bench, used his speed and dribbling to relentlessly tear at the opponent’s defense.

In the 79th minute, he created a dangerous situation with a solo run, cutting into the box from the left.

In the 84th minute, it was Walcott again, receiving the ball on the left side just outside the penalty area with his back to goal. He shielded it, turned flexibly, then stopped abruptly, accelerated again, went to the byline, and delivered a cross.

At this moment, his ball control was really like Henry’s!

Džeko, in the center, met the cross with a simple tap-in, sending the ball into Middlesbrough’s goal.

4-0!

When celebrating the goal, the young Tiger jumped onto Džeko’s back, dancing with excitement.

He was only seventeen years old!

Chapter 103: A Perfect Start! The Duel of Geniuses

Some found joy, others found sorrow.

There was no better way to describe the opening round of the new Premier League season.

Benítez’s Liverpool played the season opener, an away game against Sheffield United.

The result was a 1-1 draw for the Reds away from home.

Not only that, but they paid the price of losing two key players, Riise and Carragher, to injuries in the first half.

The centre-back pairing of Jagielka and Roger Johnson almost perfectly shut down Liverpool’s attack.

But most importantly, Liverpool were without Xabi Alonso for this match.

That was the crux of the Reds’ poor performance.

In London, another 1-1 draw caught the attention of countless fans.

It was Arsenal, having just moved into their new stadium, hosting Aston Villa.

Before finalizing the schedule each season, the Premier League sends inquiries to every club, asking for their opinions and preferences on fixture arrangements, including which opponents they hope to face and when.

Rumor had it that in their submission, Arsenal requested a home game for the first round.

After all, it was their first official match at the Emirates Stadium and the opening game of the new season, making it an occasion of unusual significance.

The Gunners got their wish.

And the opponent arranged for them was not particularly strong: Aston Villa, who had finished sixteenth last season.

Logically, with Arsenal’s quality, they shouldn’t have failed to defeat Aston Villa.

Thus, over sixty thousand Gunners fans packed the Emirates Stadium, filling it to the brim.

Unexpectedly, not only did Arsenal trail for a long time, but the final score was only 1-1.

The two teams shook hands on a draw.

No matter how you looked at it, this was a rather unsporting move by Aston Villa.

Martin O’Neill had boasted before the match that he would spoil Arsenal’s party at their own ground.

And as it turned out, he actually managed to do it.

Of course, the way Aston Villa secured a precious point away from home was a bit unsightly.

They spent nearly the entire game defending with all their might.

Having lost Henry, Wenger fielded a two-striker combination of Adebayor and van Persie.

But from a tactical perspective, neither could replace Henry’s impact.

And in the entire midfield, Hleb, Fàbregas, and Ljungberg were all skilled on the ball but lacked pace.

This meant that in the face of Aston Villa’s impenetrable fortress, the Gunners had plenty of passing but no real threat.

It wasn’t until the second half, after Aaron Lennon came on as a substitute, that he used his speed to tear open a gap on the right flank, assisting Gilberto Silva to equalize.

Furthermore, the Gunners’ defensive line also had significant problems.

The centre-back pairing of Gallas and Kolo Touré was decent, but they were vulnerable to high balls.

With Ashley Cole’s departure, Clichy was still recovering from a serious injury, so the young Hoyte played in this match but performed poorly.

On the right was Eboué, who also presented a liability.

The Gunners’ problems were now quite interesting.

Henry had only one year left on his contract, so his transfer fee was not high, just fifteen million pound sterling.

Given Arsenal’s current financial situation and having missed out on Champions League qualification this season, the losses were substantial.

Therefore, Wenger had no intention of signing new players, opting instead to promote young players from within.

The problem was, the young players within Arsenal’s squad weren’t all that impressive.

Take Aaron Lennon, for example.

He had been playing brilliantly at Bayswater Chinese and was in excellent form.

Yet for the league opener, Wenger still started Ljungberg.

It was hard to say whether Wenger was being overly cautious or just conservative.

If Liverpool and Arsenal both stumbled in the opening round, then Manchester United were on fire.

Ferguson’s team thrashed Fulham 5-0 at home.

The biggest change for the Red Devils in this match was in their midfield and attack.

Up front, Rooney not only scored a brace but also provided an assist.

Ferguson’s team still played a 4-4-2 formation.

The forward line featured Saha partnering with Rooney.

The midfield, from left to right, consisted of Ryan Giggs, Carrick, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo.

The backline was largely the same
as last season’s configuration: Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Vidić, and Evra.

Judging from the match, C. Ronaldo linked up excellently with Rooney and Saha.

The Portuguese star scored a goal.

With Carrick and Scholes anchoring the midfield, the entire attack became very fluid.

Adding to that, Giggs on the left flank was in great form.

Manchester United unleashed an offensive storm in their season opener.

In the post-match press conference, Ferguson even publicly challenged Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese.

The Manchester United godfather stated that in the new season’s Premier League title race, these were the two teams he was most concerned about.

The implication was that he didn’t rate Arsenal, Liverpool, or even Tottenham Hotspur, whom many favored.

Of course, who knew if he was being sincere or deliberately belittling Arsenal and Liverpool?

“The rise of Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese has forced us to be on our toes. We have to give it our all from the very first round of the league!”

“This will be a brand new test for any team aspiring to win the Premier League title.”

Knowing Ferguson’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t leave it at that.

He quickly changed the subject.

“Of course, I am very satisfied with the current team. We’ve achieved the club’s best-ever start in Premier League history!”

See? In the end, it was all about self-praise!

…

Mourinho’s Chelsea was the most-watched team among all Premier League clubs this season.

It was also the team Yang Cheng was monitoring most closely.

There was no other reason; he simply wanted to see how Mourinho would solve the problem of getting his superstars to coexist.

In the Community Shield, Mourinho paired Shevchenko with Drogba as two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation.

This was a very logical approach.

How could he not use such a high-profile superstar?

The midfield consisted of Essien, Lampard, Ballack, and Robben.

As a result, they lost to Liverpool in the Community Shield.

Returning to the league for a home game against Manchester City, Mourinho was clearly more confident. He dropped Ballack, played Robben and Shaun Wright-Phillips on the wings, with Essien and Lampard in the center.

The Blues comfortably won 3-0 against Manchester City.

But many problems were still exposed.

First, the two strikers.

Drogba and Shevchenko seemed to have no chemistry; they just didn’t click together.

Shaun Wright-Phillips performed poorly on the right, and Ferreira wasn’t adept at providing support from the back.

Chelsea’s overall attack was heavily skewed to the left.

Finally, the central midfield.

Neither Essien nor Lampard was skilled at organizing play, and their defensive positioning was also lacking.

Yang Cheng watched the live broadcast of this match and also sent a scout to see it in person.

If Mourinho dared to field such a lineup against Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng would make him regret it!

Of course, on second thought, Mourinho was in a tough spot.

Shevchenko had been forced upon him.

He was bought for a sky-high price; could they afford not to play him?

And given Drogba’s tactical importance, it was impossible not to use him either.

So, a two-striker formation was set.

Then how to choose the remaining midfielders?

A 4-4-2 is completely different from a 4-3-3.

Makélélé could excel as the holding midfielder in a 4-3-3, but given his age and running ability, he would likely struggle to meet the demands of a 4-4-2 midfield now.

As for playing Shevchenko on the wing, that was out of the question.

To put it bluntly, it was pure nonsense.

The Ukrainian Nuke was already thirty years old and had been a striker his entire life. Now you want him to play on the wing?

Did he have the speed and explosive power?

No?

Then he’d probably be worse on the flank than Shaun Wright-Phillips.

All in all, Mourinho hadn’t just bought a superstar; he’d bought himself a huge problem.

…

In the first round of the league, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Bayswater Chinese were the teams that stole the show.

After the games, Manchester United sat at the top of the table, closely followed by Bayswater Chinese, with Chelsea in third.

The media praise was all within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

But what surprised him was that Theo Walcott was in the spotlight again!

The Times published an article written by the renowned journalist Ralph Joy, titled “A New Hero for the New Wembley Stadium”.

What a piece of work!

He was clearly playing for Bayswater Chinese, yet they managed to connect him to Wembley Stadium and, by extension, the England national team.

The Observer was even more direct. When rating the Bayswater Chinese players, aside from Arshavin who scored a brace, they gave Walcott the second-highest score.

The reason was that his introduction made the game more entertaining to watch.

Yang Cheng was completely baffled.

Were they really sucking up to him that much?

Yang Cheng had placed Walcott on the left wing in this match with the aim of getting him accustomed to more positions and developing his versatility.

For instance, the cross he delivered to Džeko was made with his left foot.

These things represented the progress he had made over the past period.

And the result?

The Sun directly described him as the new Henry, believing that with Henry’s departure to La Liga, Walcott would become the new icon on the Premier League’s left wing.

“His speed, technique, dribbling, and his ability to shield the ball are really like Henry’s!”

Some media outlets even baselessly criticized Eriksson.

Why didn’t England go far in the World Cup?

“Because he didn’t listen to me and forgot to bring Walcott!”

“At only seventeen, is he a once-in-a-generation talent in English history?”

“What? Too young?”

“No, no, no, a seventeen-year-old Pelé had already won the World Cup!”

Seeing how shameless the English media could be, Yang Cheng was finally relieved.

He now had a deeper understanding of why England produced so many “geniuses.”

But privately, he warned Walcott not to pay any attention to the media hype and to continue improving with his feet firmly on the ground.

…

Premier League Round 2.

Chelsea’s situation unfolded just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

After Middlesbrough suffered a crushing 0-4 away defeat to Bayswater Chinese in the first round, Gareth Southgate learned his lesson. At home, he set up a 5-4-1 formation, determined to play on the counter-attack.

As it turned out, Middlesbrough really did beat Chelsea 2-1 at home.

Shevchenko only managed three shots in the entire match, scoring one goal.

Drogba had a few shots but failed to find the net even once.

After the match, numerous media outlets criticized Mourinho, arguing that his 4-4-2 tactic failed to provide Shevchenko with support from midfield.

Three shots in an entire game for a striker of Shevchenko’s caliber was simply a disgrace!

How could he score goals without a sufficient number of shooting opportunities?

In this round, Manchester United crushed Charlton Athletic 3-0 away from home.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated Newcastle 2-0 at home, thanks to a goal and an assist from Xabi Alonso.

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Wigan Athletic, with a goal from Adebayor in the eighty-eighth minute.

Yang Cheng’s team faced stubborn resistance from Aston Villa in their away match.

Martin O’Neill’s side had successfully spoiled Arsenal’s party in the previous round and wanted to give Bayswater Chinese a hard time at home in this one.

However, just four minutes into the game, a goal from Arshavin made them recognize the reality of the situation.

The Russian had scored in two consecutive Premier League matches.

In the sixty-first minute of the second half, a goal from Inler helped the team seal the victory.

However, Gareth Barry managed to breach Neuer’s goal with a long shot in the eighty-first minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 2-1 away from home.

After two rounds, both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had six points.

Ferguson’s team sat at the top of the Premier League table due to a superior goal difference.

…

After the second round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese began to actively prepare for the weekend’s UEFA Super Cup.

As last season’s UEFA Cup winners, the team would face the Champions League winners, Barça.

It really spoke to the lack of professionalism in European club pre-season preparations at the time.

Barça had gone on a tour of the United States this summer, though it was only for ten days.

But those ten days took a huge toll on Barça. Not only did they play matches, but they also traveled to multiple cities and participated in numerous commercial activities, with a very tight schedule.

If that was all, it might have been manageable.

But the schedule after returning to Spain was also incredibly packed.

On August 17th, they played the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

Barça defeated their city rivals Espanyol 1-0 away.

On the 20th, they played the second leg, defeating Espanyol again, this time 3-0 at home.

Winning both legs, they claimed the Spanish Super Cup with a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Then, on the 22nd, came Barça’s traditional event, the 41st Joan Gamper Trophy at the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich.

Frank Rijkaard’s team crushed the Bundesliga champions 4-0.

The UEFA Super Cup was held on the 25th, with a three-day gap in between.

But what happened?

On the afternoon of the 24th, Barça’s players traveled to Monaco to attend the UEFA awards ceremony and the Champions League group stage draw.

In other words, since the start of their US tour and upon their return to Europe, Barça had been stretched to the limit.

On the other hand, the two big victories in the Spanish Super Cup and the Joan Gamper Trophy, combined with their excellent record in the US, had created an atmosphere of extreme excitement among Barça and throughout Catalonia.

The Diario Sport published on the 24th even posed an arrogant and conspicuous headline on its front page.

“Next up, Monaco. How many goals will we win by?”

…

After the third qualifying round of the Champions League, the British media had already widely reported the coefficient rankings of the thirty-two teams in the group stage.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first time participating in the Champions League and their second time in a European competition.

Although they had pulled off a major upset by winning the UEFA Cup last season, the European coefficient is calculated based on results over the past five years.

The final result was that Bayswater Chinese were still placed in Pot 4.

This created a very interesting situation.

Among the Pot 4 teams in this season’s Champions League group stage, besides teams with difficult away grounds like Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, and Spartak Moscow, there were also Bayswater Chinese and Hamburger SV.

The Kings of the North from the Bundesliga had also been quiet in European competitions for many years.

Not only that, among the Pot 3 teams, besides clubs from the Primeira Liga and Ligue 1, there was also Werder Bremen from the Bundesliga.

That team was also very troublesome.

Furthermore, teams like Chelsea were only in Pot 2.

Bayern Munich was also in Pot 2 due to their poor European results in recent years.

Also in Pot 2 were AS Roma from Serie A, Lille from Ligue 1, and Celtic from the Scottish Premiership.

Therefore, many said that whoever drew Bayswater Chinese would almost certainly be in a group of death.

Since the UEFA awards had little to do with the UEFA Cup, Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese players didn’t travel to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco in advance to attend the ceremony like Barça did.

They completed their afternoon training session in London, packed up, and then headed to Heathrow Airport to catch a flight to Nice.

One of the team’s buses, sponsored by MAN from Germany, had already arrived at Nice airport in advance.

After picking up Yang Cheng and the others, it drove them directly to Monaco.

Upon arriving at the pre-booked hotel and completing the check-in procedures, Yang Cheng received a call from Adam Crozier.

…

Pot 1 drew Real Madrid.

Pot 2 drew Bayern Munich.

Pot 3 drew Sporting Lisbon.

When the draw results were announced, Brian Kidd’s expression changed.

Wasn’t this too outrageous?

They talked about a group of death, and they really ended up in one?

“I seriously suspect there’s something fishy going on here. UEFA loves doing this kind of thing, making players face their former clubs!”

Adam Crozier, who had just arrived from the Grimaldi Forum, couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard this.

“Brian, didn’t we say this was a high-probability event?”

“I know it’s a high-probability event, but why couldn’t we get the low-probability one?”

Adam Crozier turned to Yang Cheng with a speechless expression, who was also laughing heartily.

“Alright, alright, Brian, sit down. Calm down.”

“I can’t calm down!” Brian Kidd was still indignant.

Yang Cheng knew, of course, that the rules of the game were designed to limit the rise of new teams.

Chelsea was so strong, yet they were still in Pot 2. Who could you complain to?

Manchester City would have it even worse in the future. How many times would they be drawn into a group of death?

“Actually, our situation is not too bad. At least we didn’t get teams like AC Milan or Inter Milan.”

The two Milan giants from Italy were the real headache right now.

With Juventus’ downfall, Inter Milan had feasted.

After Vieira and Ibrahimović joined, their overall strength had significantly improved.

Previously, after failing to sign Ribéry, they had been very close to signing Robben.

Luckily, Chelsea didn’t go through with the deal in the end; otherwise, Inter Milan would have really taken off.

And then there was AC Milan.

Under the management of that fatty Ancelotti, AC Milan was incredibly tough to play against this season.

With their Christmas tree formation, their defense would lock you down tight, while up front, they’d just let Kaká run wild.

The key was that they had passers like Seedorf and Pirlo in midfield.

How could you possibly beat that?

More importantly, with little hope in the league, AC Milan was focused entirely on the Champions League.

Facing such a team was a headache for anyone.

Of course, Capello’s Real Madrid was also difficult, but by comparison, Real Madrid’s shaky defense was not in the same league as AC Milan’s.

Bayern was a bit of a problem. After Ribéry joined, their overall strength was quite good.

The 0-4 loss to Barça in the Joan Gamper Trophy was because Bayern weren’t playing at full strength.

The Bundesliga had already started, so Bayern had taken a break to play that friendly. Many key players were rested, and Ribéry didn’t even play.

So, Yang Cheng found it very strange.

What were the Catalan media and fans so happy about?

Was beating a Bayern B team 4-0 really something to be so proud of?

They even put it on the front page, asking how many goals they would win by?

They were truly courting disaster!

“Adam, you saw the Barça players at the Grimaldi Forum. How did they look?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

This was something Yang Cheng had specifically instructed him to do earlier: to pay close attention to the Barça players.

“Most of the players were there. They seemed alright, just a bit lacking in spirit.”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly.

The current Barça team was indeed formidable.

In the just-concluded UEFA draw, out of a total of five awards, Barça alone took home four.

The Best Goalkeeper award went to Arsenal’s Lehmann.

Best Defender went to Barça’s Puyol.

Best Midfielder went to Barça’s Deco.

Best Forward went to Barça’s Eto’o.

And Best Player went to Barça’s Ronaldinho.

Wasn’t Barça dominant right now?

What was even more dominant was that after winning the Champions League last season, they had added Thuram, Zambrotta, Gudjohnsen, and Henry this summer.

This made Rijkaard’s Dream Team Two even more star-studded.

“Do you think Rijkaard will adjust the lineup for this match and let the new signings play?” Adam Crozier asked.

Yang Cheng shook his head; he didn’t know either.

“It depends on his attitude.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng continued, “If he’s been blinded by the recent string of victories and thinks we’re an easy target, then he’ll probably still choose to go on the strong attack.”

“In that case, Thuram, Zambrotta, and Henry clearly haven’t had enough time to integrate with the team.”

These three players had all played in the World Cup final, then had a fairly long vacation before reporting to Barça.

By then, Barça had already started their US tour.

From this perspective, the three superstars had not had enough time to gel with the Barça players.

If Rijkaard wanted to go on an all-out attack, the insufficiently integrated new signings wouldn’t play.

But Barça itself was already strong enough.

Their front three trident: Ronaldinho, Eto’o, and Messi.

The midfield iron triangle: Deco and Xavi, with Thiago Motta in the number four role.

How strong was that midfield and attack combination?

“So, your strategy is…” Adam Crozier looked at Yang Cheng with concern.

“A battle of attrition, a battle of speed. We must not let Barça control possession, the rhythm, or the game.”

“From the very beginning, we have to drag the tempo into the high-paced, high-intensity style we’re most familiar with from the Premier League.”

“Even if we can’t score in this high-paced, high-intensity game, we must drain as much of Barça’s stamina as possible, then finish them off in the second half!”

Hearing this, Adam Crozier’s confidence grew immensely.

He turned to look at Brian Kidd and found that the assistant coach, who had been so down just a moment ago, also became excited at the mention of the Super Cup.

They had been preparing for this match for several days.

The opportunity to compete against a top-tier team like Barça was truly rare.

More importantly, Yang Cheng, who would turn twenty-seven in September, displayed a ruthlessness and sophistication that completely belied his age, firmly grasping Barça’s weak point for this match.

“Diario Sport asked how many goals we could win by, didn’t they?”

“We’ll answer them with this match!”

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Stade Louis II in Monaco!”

“The match about to begin is the 2006 UEFA Super Cup!”

“It features the La Liga giants Barcelona against last season’s big dark horse from the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese!”

“Both teams achieved excellent results in European competitions last season. Barça are the Champions League and La Liga champions, while Bayswater Chinese are the UEFA Cup winners and Premier League runners-up.”

“Therefore, the British media have high hopes for this match.”

“They all hope that Bayswater Chinese can avenge Chelsea’s grievances from last season.”

“As the camera pans, we can see in the stands Barça Chairman Laporta and former IOC President, and also a Barça member fan, Juan Antonio Samaranch.”

“Incidentally, this is also the first time in history that Bayswater Chinese has participated in the UEFA Super Cup.”

“This team was a newly promoted team in the Premier League last season, but their achievements have been outstanding.”

“And, most amazingly, their head coach, who is also the club’s owner, Yang Cheng from China, is only twenty-six years old!”

“He is a very young genius coach.”

“So, many people are saying that tonight’s match is the most talented team meeting the most talented coach—a duel of geniuses!”

“The two teams are now entering the pitch, led by the Italian head referee, Stefano Farina.”

“We can now see the starting lineups for both teams.”

“First, let’s look at Barça.”

Goalkeeper: Valdés;

Defense: Sylvinho, Puyol, Márquez, and Belletti;

Midfield: Thiago Motta in a holding role, with Deco and Xavi in the center;

Forwards: Ronaldinho, Eto’o, and Messi.

“Both teams are using a 4-3-3 formation. Now let’s look at Bayswater Chinese.”

“Their lineup has some adjustments tonight.”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Maicon.

“As for their specific midfield arrangement, we’ll probably have to wait until the match starts to see clearly.”

“Because in addition to the usual starters, Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, and Modrić, there’s also Gökhan Inler.”

“These four are all midfielders. Could it be that Bayswater Chinese is going to use a four-man midfield tactic tonight?”

“Up front, it’s Džeko partnering with Arshavin.”

…

Just six seconds after the match began, Bayswater Chinese, who kicked off, made no secret of their attacking intentions.

As soon as a teammate in the center circle passed the ball back to Yaya Touré, before Eto’o had even charged forward, Touré passed it to Inler.

The Swiss midfielder launched a long pass forward.

Džeko, on the left side of the center circle in Barça’s half, controlled the ball with his chest and passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian didn’t trap the ball, instead playing a direct pass forward to Arshavin.

Arshavin tried to dribble through the gap between the two defenders, Belletti and Márquez.

However, after a solid collision with Márquez, the ball was stolen by Belletti.

Possession lost.

After winning the ball, Barça quickly passed it forward, crossing the halfway line to Messi on the right.

But as soon as the Argentine received the ball, Inler closed him down. With a turn of his back, Messi crashed solidly into Inler.

As a result, Inler was fine, but Messi almost fell from the impact.

The referee immediately blew his whistle, signaling a defensive foul by Inler.

The free-kick was quite far from the penalty area and posed no danger.

But through this test by Inler, the Bayswater Chinese players now had a good idea.

Refereeing in European competitions was stricter than in the Premier League.

Every head referee has different standards, so it’s always good to test the waters at the start of the game.

That’s what Inler was just doing.

If Barça had attacked down the left flank with Ronaldinho, Lassana Diarra would have been the one to test the referee.

But it wasn’t just a test.

Yang Cheng’s strategy for the team was not to shy away from using their physicality.

This was an advantage for Bayswater Chinese.

When Barça restarted play, Belletti had already pushed forward but was being marked by Leighton Baines. He passed to Messi in the half-space.

As soon as the Argentine got the ball, Inler closed in again.

Messi immediately passed the ball, trying to find Xavi in midfield.

But Yaya Touré suddenly pressed forward and intercepted the ball mid-pass.

The Ivorian charged into the center circle with the ball, looking menacing.

In front of him, Xavi and Deco were a good head shorter and a lot slimmer.

It had to be said, he looked really imposing.

Especially when charging forward with the ball, it felt like a heavy truck colliding with a mini car.

Yaya Touré was also a bit of a show-off.

Before he even got close to Deco and Xavi, he suddenly spun, attempting a Marseille turn.

But he stumbled, failing to complete the turn, and hastily passed the ball to Modrić midway through.

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng quickly covered his face.

“What a bunch of unreliable guys!”

…

From the moment the match started, the pace was pulled very fast.

Bayswater Chinese had committed a large number of players to the midfield.

After just two or three minutes of play, everyone could basically see Bayswater Chinese’s tactical approach.

The backline was mostly unchanged, but the midfield had shifted.

Inler, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra looked more like a three-man holding midfield.

Arshavin was pushed forward to partner with Džeko.

Modrić played in an advanced midfield role.

It somewhat resembled a 4-3-1-2 formation.

But it was also very different.

Džeko’s position was very flexible, and he often drifted to the wings.

Arshavin, on the other hand, roamed around, especially near Barça’s defensive line.

This was Yang Cheng’s strategy.

Leverage Džeko’s ability to hold up the ball in the final third and Modrić’s dribbling and passing skills to create more opportunities for forward runs, allowing Arshavin to charge forward.

Additionally, Maicon and Leighton Baines were not pushing up as aggressively as usual, instead keeping a close watch on Ronaldinho and Messi.

The role of Inler and Lassana Diarra was that whichever side the ball was on, the player on that side had to quickly get into position to prevent Ronaldinho or Messi from cutting inside or making diagonal runs into the half-spaces.

This targeted defensive approach was quite effective against Barça.

In the opening minutes, Ronaldinho and Messi had difficulty even holding onto the ball, let alone penetrating deep into Bayswater Chinese’s territory.

After winning the ball, Bayswater Chinese didn’t build up through the midfield like Barça.

They mostly played direct, medium-to-long-range passes to find Džeko up front.

Sometimes, if Džeko couldn’t control the ball, he would lay it off to Modrić.

If Bayswater Chinese were treating this match like a great battle, on high alert, then Barça was clearly playing much more relaxed.

Whenever they had the ball, their players would pass it around the pitch.

It was clear they were confident in their possession-based football and wanted to slow the rhythm down.

But Bayswater Chinese would immediately counter-press and quicken the tempo.

This style of play made Barça very uncomfortable. Not only their three midfielders but also Ronaldinho and Messi were making a relatively high number of passing errors.

However, the action was mostly confined to the area around the halfway line.

Barça’s two centre-backs were the 1.83-meter Rafael Márquez and the 1.78-meter Puyol.

Both players were at a physical disadvantage when facing Džeko.

Before the match, when Yang Cheng received the starting lineup, he specifically reminded his players to pay attention and pass to Džeko more often.

For the first ten minutes, the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth tug-of-war, with neither able to create any truly effective scoring opportunities.

In fact, neither side had even managed a shot on goal.

Then, in the eleventh minute, Messi received the ball in the attacking half again.

Inler pressed him closely, forcing Messi to pass to Belletti.

But as soon as he released the ball, Messi regretted it.

Leighton Baines stepped in first, deflecting the ball behind Messi.

Inler quickly moved forward, getting to the ball before Xavi, and played a low, direct pass across the halfway line.

The pass was at least twenty-five meters long.

Džeko dropped back from the front line, preparing to receive the ball to the left of Thiago Motta, but Rafael Márquez stuck to him like glue, making it difficult for Džeko to control the ball comfortably.

The Bosnian centre-forward glanced ahead and, instead of trapping the ball, simply pushed it with his foot.

The ball was pushed back towards the halfway line by Džeko, landing at Modrić’s feet.

Modrić ran over quickly, controlled the ball, and before Xavi could close him down, he took two steps forward and sent another low, direct pass of about fifteen meters.

It was for Džeko again.

The Bosnian centre-forward was making a quick run but stopped again, controlling the ball and passing it back to the center for Modrić.

The two seemed to have completed a fifteen-meter one-two.

Modrić used this opportunity to evade Xavi.

But at that moment, Thiago Motta rushed towards him, intending to double-team him with Xavi.

Džeko was about to sprint.

If he started his run and Modrić passed the ball, he could get to it first and then try to set up Arshavin.

But upon seeing Thiago Motta’s movement, he abandoned his forward run and ran back instead, shouting Modrić’s name.

“Luka, here!”

Modrić was facing a double-team but still skillfully dribbled the ball, created an angle, and sent a chipped pass with the outside of his foot.

As Džeko ran back, he saw that Arshavin had been hugging Barça’s defensive line, poised to strike.

The Bosnian centre-forward knew what to do.

Receiving Modrić’s chipped pass, Džeko chested the ball to his right, turning his body in the same direction to evade Márquez, and then sent a low, through ball behind the defense with his right foot.

At almost the same instant, Arshavin, who was slightly behind Puyol, suddenly accelerated, sprinting forward with incredible speed, successfully beating the offside trap. He left Puyol behind and chased down Džeko’s pass.

The entire stadium gasped in unison.

Goalkeeper Valdés decisively rushed out of his goal.

But just as he reached the penalty spot, Arshavin had already taken large strides, knocking the ball towards the left side of the penalty area. He then caught up to it and fired a powerful shot into the Barça net.

The Russian didn’t slow down, continuing his run off the pitch.

Only then did the entire stadium erupt in thunderous applause.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the eleventh minute, Bayswater Chinese tears open Barça’s defense with a series of passes following a counter-attack from an interception.”

“1-0!”

“The goalscorer is Andrei Arshavin from Russia!”

Arshavin excitedly ran to the sideline, pointed at the television camera, pulled out the Bayswater Chinese crest on his chest, and kept pointing at it, muttering something in Russian.

But soon, he was mobbed by his teammates who had caught up from behind.

…

Scoring in the eleventh minute was truly a perfect start for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng applauded his players vigorously from the sideline.

At the same time, he was urging his players to maintain their pressure on Barça, especially in disrupting their rhythm.

When the match restarted, Barça discovered to their frustration that even with a one-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese stuck to the same tactics from the start of the game, and the pace remained incredibly fast.

What was even more ridiculous was that not only was the pace fast, but they also loved to foul.

Whenever Barça tried to build up fluid passing combinations, they would commit a foul.

And they did it very decisively.

This greatly frustrated Barça.

If it seemed normal for Barça to have no shots in the first ten minutes, as the game progressed and they still hadn’t had a shot, things started to get interesting.

By the twentieth minute, even the commentators had noticed the pattern.

“Barça has possession, but their passing is very disjointed.”

“More importantly, when they get to the final third, to Ronaldinho and Messi, they find it very difficult to pass the ball forward.”

“In other words, they lack the final ball!”

When did Barça have their first shot?

The twenty-third minute.

It came from a foul by Modrić on Xavi as he was tracking back to defend.

Ronaldinho took the direct free-kick, but it went over the bar.

With the Brazilian genius and Messi isolated, Eto’o clearly lacked the awareness to link up the two wings.

This left Barça’s front three looking like three separate islands, each player fighting their own battle whenever they got the ball.

Tonight, Yang Cheng had assigned Koscielny to mark Eto’o, with José Fonte still sweeping behind.

The Cameroonian striker was also being effectively contained.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, were a different story.

Every time they won the ball, they immediately passed it forward quickly.

And they almost always looked for Džeko.

After a summer of specialized training, Džeko’s physical strength and ability to handle contact had improved significantly, giving him more confidence when holding up the ball in the attacking half.

He was also a two-footed player. Whether on the left or right, once he received the ball, as long as he could turn, he could find a way to deliver a threatening pass.

Arshavin’s speed when attacking the goal also caused Barça a lot of headaches.

It wasn’t until the thirty-fifth minute that Barça started trying long shots.

But it goes without saying how inefficient such attacks were.

Neuer gave Barça no opportunities whatsoever.

In the end, the first half concluded with Bayswater Chinese leading 1-0.

…

The moment the halftime whistle blew, Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, closely observing the Barça players.

He noticed that several players, including Ronaldinho, Deco, and Eto’o, were breathing heavily.

In the distance, Xavi even had his hands on his hips.

Clearly, the high pace of the first half had taken a huge toll on their stamina.

Of course, if they had been able to skillfully control possession and slow the game down to their preferred tempo, it would have been a nightmare for Bayswater Chinese.

The premise for Yang Cheng’s tactics to work was that the Bayswater Chinese players were also expending a lot of energy.

They just had better stamina.

“They’re on their last legs!”

After returning to the dressing room, Yang Cheng excitedly shared his observation with the players.

In fact, the Bayswater Chinese players had also expended a lot of energy.

They just weren’t as exhausted as the Barça players.

“I believe they’ll start making substitutions in the second half, and that will be our chance!”

With that, Yang Cheng pulled over the tactical board.

Based on some situations from the first half, Yang Cheng pointed out the problems.

He repeatedly emphasized that Maicon and Leighton Baines should minimize their forward runs in this match.

“Remember, your job is to defend!”

“You are facing two of the world’s most talented players, Ronaldinho and Messi!”

“Don’t give them any space on the ball. You must stick to them like glue.”

“And Inler and Lassana Diarra, you too. Don’t slack off for a moment, and don’t get complacent!”

The players whose names Yang Cheng called out all nodded repeatedly.

“We have a one-goal lead, so we can play with more patience.”

“In the second half, we need to compress the opponent’s space on the ball even further. Our formation needs to be more compact, understand?”

“When we win the ball, we play a quick, direct pass to a teammate and launch a counter-attack.”

“After the counter-attack, whether it succeeds or not, we must first maintain a compact overall formation. Do not leave the opponent more than twenty meters of passing space. This is a strict order!”

Rijkaard’s team was not like Pep Guardiola’s; their passing was not as intricate.

Although the current Barça had many talented players and played a possession-based game, they were also adept at medium-range passes, long balls, and even crosses from the wings.

Their attacking methods were more varied.

“I’ll give you all a piece of information.”

All the players immediately looked over.

“In the second half, whoever scores the next goal will determine the course of the match.”

Yang Cheng said with great certainty.

In his three years of coaching the team, his predictions had almost always been accurate.

So the players had great faith in his judgment.

“But…”

Yang Cheng added more emphasis to his tone.

“While thinking about scoring, it’s more important to think about how to avoid conceding.”

“For us, ensuring we don’t concede is more important than scoring!”

They were already leading by one goal from the first half.

Yang Cheng believed the players understood this principle.

But he still had to emphasize it to make sure they remembered it firmly.

…

The second half began.

As the two teams walked onto the pitch, Yang Cheng noticed a change on Barça’s side.

Rijkaard had made a substitution during the halftime break.

Iniesta came on for Xavi, partnering with Deco in midfield.

It had to be said, this was quite a surprise to him.

Combining this with the sight of Xavi with his hands on his hips, gasping for air towards the end of the first half, he vaguely guessed the problem.

If even Xavi was that exhausted, then the others couldn’t be in much better shape.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng stood on the sideline and shouted reminders to his players.

As soon as the match started, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative.

Barça wanted to use the kickoff to have their centre-backs pass the ball back and forth in their own half, trying to slow the game’s tempo down.

But Bayswater Chinese an pressed high up the pitch.

Led by Džeko, Arshavin, and Modrić, along with the midfield, they all pushed forward.

This forced Puyol to play a long ball directly towards the front, trying to find Eto’o.

Koscielny outjumped the Cameroonian striker and headed the ball to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian used his body to shield the ball from the very active substitute Iniesta, protecting it before passing to Lassana Diarra nearby.

Bayswater Chinese once again played a direct pass forward, looking for Modrić.

The overall tactical approach was basically a continuation of the first half’s trend.

Chapter 104: England’s Twin Stars! I will lead them to sweep across Europe!

“We were fully prepared for this match.”

In the stands, Barça chairman Laporta smiled at the former president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was seated beside him.

He tried his best to convey his confidence through his smile.

“You know, we have the strongest squad in the world. Everyone says we’re the best team in the world.”

Samaranch was a Barça member and fan.

Although Barça were currently trailing, he was still confident.

It was only one goal, wasn’t it?

With the quality of players like Ronaldinho and Eto’o, once they found their rhythm, scoring would be a piece of cake.

“Many people say that we have the strength to challenge for the Treble this season.”

Seeing Samaranch nod, Laporta’s smile grew wider.

“In Spain, no team has ever won the Treble. We have a great chance to make history.”

“Add to that the Spanish Super Cup and tonight’s UEFA Super Cup, we have the ability to win a Grand Slam!”

Samaranch could also see Laporta’s soaring ambition.

Putting everything else aside, with last season’s Double champion squad, plus the addition of superstars like Thuram, Zambrotta, and Henry, Barça’s overall strength was undoubtedly one of the best in European football.

“Still, we can’t be careless. That fellow Capello is still very resourceful,” Samaranch reminded him.

Laporta gave a cold laugh and shook his head. “Real Madrid is rotten to the core.”

Perhaps noticing that Samaranch’s gaze was fixed on the match, Laporta turned to look as well.

The Barça chairman didn’t forget to add another comment while watching.

“Just you watch. We’ll equalize soon, and then turn it around!”

“We have plenty of experience playing against Premier League teams!”

But just as Laporta’s words fell, the fans in the stadium once again let out a gasp of surprise.

After a series of passes, Barça had entered the area within 30 meters of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

When Iniesta got the ball, he tried a chip pass, hoping to lift the ball over the defensive line and into the penalty area for Eto’o to chase.

José Fonte timed his move perfectly, positioning himself to head the ball back out.

But Eto’o still managed to get to the ball first.

Pressured by Inler, who had tracked back in time, the Cameroonian player dribbled towards the left side of the Bayswater Chinese half, looking to link up with Messi.

Leighton Baines, near the penalty area, teamed up with Inler to contain Eto’o at the left corner of the box.

Eto’o had no choice but to pass back to the unmarked Belletti, who was making a run from deep.

However, the pass was a bit too strong and the line wasn’t great. Caught off guard, Belletti tried to control it with his foot but missed completely.

The ball skimmed past Belletti’s foot and rolled towards the halfway line behind him.

At that moment, Andrei Arshavin, who was running back from the front, happened to receive the ball.

Just as he controlled the ball and turned, Rafael Márquez was already charging up behind him.

Without thinking, the Russian knocked the ball forward and burst into a sprint, chasing after it.

Márquez’s reaction was also incredibly quick.

The Mexican defender first tried to pull Arshavin’s right arm.

Because of the Russian’s quick start, they both stumbled for a moment.

But Arshavin adjusted faster, regained his balance, and continued to sprint forward.

Márquez chased desperately from behind.

However, Arshavin was faster. He gradually extended his one-body-length lead to two.

This forced Puyol, who was originally tracking back in the center, to hurry over and block him.

While sprinting, Arshavin didn’t forget to glance over at the middle.

Džeko was slow to start, but once he got up to speed, his long legs and huge strides made him quite fast.

With that thought, Arshavin was relieved. Upon reaching the left corner of Barça’s penalty area, the Russian suddenly halted, forcing Puyol to brake sharply.

Unexpectedly, Arshavin then poked the ball towards the byline, accelerated after it, and sent in a cross with his left foot.

By the time Puyol reacted, turned around, and threw himself into a desperate sliding tackle to block it, it was too late.

The Barça captain ended up sliding past the byline.

But the ball had already been crossed by Arshavin.

In the center, Džeko, with Thiago Motta in hot pursuit, held his breath and sprinted towards Barça’s penalty spot. He finally caught up to Arshavin’s cross and side-footed it.

The ball, coming from the left, immediately changed direction and flew into the bottom right corner of Barça’s goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“DŽEKO!”

“DŽEKO SCORES!!!”

“In the 51st minute, a passing error from Barça during their attack.”

“Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity and, with a razor-sharp counter-attack, have once again breached Barça’s goal!”

“The goal comes from Edin Džeko!”

“2-0!”

The entire stadium erupted in cheers in an instant.

The more than ten thousand fans were stunned by the sudden, rapid counter-attack.

Then came a wave of ecstatic joy.

It was 2-0!

Was the invincible Barça about to lose?

And at almost the same moment, in the stands, Laporta, who had just confidently declared that Barça would equalize soon, was now so embarrassed he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

Could that “face-slap” have come any faster?

Five minutes after conceding the second goal, Frank Rijkaard made his second substitution.

He brought on Gudjohnsen for Thiago Motta.

Clearly, Gudjohnsen was meant to play as a tactical centre-forward.

Rijkaard hoped he could win more balls for Barça in the final third.

But it was precisely this substitution by the “Black Swan” that sowed the seeds for another goal conceded in the 67th minute.

At that time, Barça was trying to pass the ball through midfield, getting tangled up with the Bayswater Chinese players.

Ronaldinho dropped back from the front line to the center to receive the ball.

But just as the Brazilian received it, Lassana Diarra darted out from the side, using his body to nudge the Brazilian aside and successfully steal the ball.

Ronaldinho chased after Lassana Diarra, kicking at him twice in an attempt to foul him.

But both attempts missed the Frenchman.

Lassana Diarra was short, quick, and agile. After winning the ball, he dribbled forward.

Under pressure from Deco, he passed it to Yaya Touré, who was making an overlapping run.

The Ivorian launched a long ball towards the right side of the attack.

Modrić quickly surged forward, joining Džeko and Arshavin to instantly create a three-on-two counter-attack.

This sent the entire stadium into another frenzy.

Just as Modrić dribbled to the right corner of Barça’s penalty area, Puyol had already tracked back and positioned himself sideways, using his body to block Modrić’s cross.

The ball didn’t go towards the goal as intended but fell behind Džeko and the others.

At the crucial moment, Márquez used his backheel to clear the ball just before Džeko could reach it.

The cross from the right corner was deflected, then blocked by Márquez, and the ball landed at the top of the arc.

Only then did everyone suddenly realize that Thiago Motta had been substituted off.

Every defender who could get back was already inside the penalty area.

There wasn’t a single player outside the box.

And in midfield, Deco’s stamina was nearly depleted. How could he have any energy left to track back?

Yaya Touré charged up from behind, controlled the ball, took a few running steps, and unleashed a thunderous strike.

The ball rocketed into the right side of Barça’s goal at incredible speed.

Goalkeeper Valdés was helpless.

3-0!

Yaya Touré was so excited that he roared at the sky!

This was Barcelona!

I scored against Barça!

The entire stadium was in an uproar.

No one had expected the match to turn out like this.

It was already three goals!

When the score became 3-0, the result was more or less decided.

Yang Cheng also made a substitution in the 60th minute.

He brought on Gareth Bale for Arshavin.

And Ashley Young for Modrić.

There were two reasons for this.

In this match, Arshavin and Modrić had expended a tremendous amount of energy.

More importantly, after playing the UEFA Super Cup, the team had to return to London and then travel north to face Wigan Athletic.

This was the rescheduled match for the third round of the Premier League.

Due to the UEFA Super Cup, this match had been postponed by three days.

Such long-distance travel, combined with facing a formidable opponent like Barça, had taken a heavy toll on Bayswater Chinese.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that in the 72nd minute, Rijkaard substituted Belletti for Ludovic Giuly.

At this point, Barça had Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Gudjohnsen, Messi, and Giuly on the pitch.

A staggering five forwards.

This was simply absurd!

After making two substitutions himself, Yang Cheng immediately signaled for his team to drop back and adopt a defensive counter-attack strategy.

However, they still maintained an aggressive defensive approach in midfield.

After the substitution, Barça began to have a numerical advantage up front, and the players started linking up more.

But on one hand, their own stamina was also severely depleted.

On the other hand, with more players, the final third actually became very crowded.

Other than one shot inside the box from Eto’o that Neuer saved, most of their attempts were long shots.

Ronaldinho also had a free-kick, but it was well below his usual standard.

In the 87th minute, Barça attempted a long pass, looking for Gudjohnsen.

Yaya Touré, just outside the penalty area, headed it clear.

The ball fell back into midfield.

The two teams began another battle for possession in the middle of the park.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese successfully moved the ball to the left flank, giving it to Gareth Bale who had dropped back.

The young Welshman received the ball with no one marking him on the wing and was quickly closed down by Iniesta.

But Gareth Bale took a touch and pushed forward along the left flank. Spotting an opportunity, he sent a diagonal pass to the feet of Džeko ahead of him.

Džeko had dropped back specifically to provide an option.

Receiving the ball just to the left of the center circle in Barça’s half, he saw Gareth Bale take off down the left touchline. The Bosnian centre-forward understood immediately, sending a diagonal pass with his left foot into the space behind, returning the ball to the left wing.

Puyol, who was marking Džeko, sensed the danger and immediately gave chase.

Puyol’s sense of danger was correct.

Gareth Bale was like a Ferrari with its pedal to the metal, sprinting wildly down the left touchline. In a flash, he caught up to Puyol and then to Džeko’s pass.

The Barça captain, also known for his speed, tried to intercept Gareth Bale.

The Welshman met Džeko’s pass with one touch, knocking the ball forward and accelerating after it again.

Puyol, with his vast defensive experience, reached out and grabbed Gareth Bale, leaning his whole body into him, trying to use his superior physical strength to muscle him off the ball.

In a physical contest, the 17-year-old Gareth Bale was no match for Puyol.

But the Barça captain didn’t dare make his actions too obvious, as he wasn’t sure if he was the last defender.

And once Gareth Bale was in full flight, he was impossible to hold back.

In the end, the Welshman forced his way into the left side of Barça’s penalty area.

At this point, there wasn’t a single defender in Barça’s six-yard box.

Only one Bayswater Chinese player in a white away shirt was waiting there.

As soon as Gareth Bale crossed the ball, he would have a shot.

Both the Welshman and Puyol clearly saw him.

Puyol desperately tried to push Gareth Bale towards the byline, forcing him out of play.

But Gareth Bale shielded the ball near the byline, using his shoulder to hold off Puyol’s challenge.

Having finally battled his way to the edge of the six-yard box, Gareth Bale suddenly slammed his right shoulder into Puyol.

The collision caused Gareth Bale to lose his own balance, but it also prevented Puyol from making the next block.

The Welshman kept the ball under control between his feet. In the instant he lost his balance and fell, he passed the ball with his left foot.

Goalkeeper Valdés was completely stunned.

He was guarding the left post, and the sudden pass left him no time to react.

Instead, it was Ashley Young, standing near the penalty spot, who ran onto the pass and side-footed it with his left foot, keeping the shot down and sending it into the empty net.

The whole sequence sounds long, but it happened very quickly.

From winning the ball to the counter-attack to the goal, Barça’s centre-back Márquez had sprinted all the way back, only arriving behind Ashley Young just as he scored.

Barça’s goal had been breached once again.

4-0!

When head referee Farina blew the final whistle, the entire Barça team dejectedly stopped in their tracks.

Some stood where they were, looking around in a daze; others hung their heads, too ashamed to face anyone.

For the defending Champions League champions, to lose in such a manner in the UEFA Super Cup was an epic disaster.

Especially when they were at their strongest and most imperious!

Before this match, the Catalan media had completely looked down on Bayswater Chinese.

Diario Sport even ran a headline on its front page that was like a betting proposition, asking fans to wager on how many goals Barça would win by.

And now?

Probably not a single fan could have guessed this outcome.

Barça “won.”

That’s right, winning with a goal difference of negative four still counts as a win, doesn’t it?

Let the music play, let the dancing continue!

Only the players on the pitch knew in their hearts that they had been utterly defeated in this match.

For Barça, tonight’s game was special.

Because over the past period, they had endured a hellish schedule.

And ironically, this schedule wasn’t set by any official body, but was foolishly created by Barça’s own management.

But, saying all this now was useless.

Rijkaard had drawn the home team’s dressing room for the night, so after the match, he was the first to walk over and shake hands with Yang Cheng.

“Congratulations!” Rijkaard said, not very willingly.

“You played very aggressively, and we were a bit dazed at the start.”

“Once we fell behind, we desperately tried to catch up, but instead, we lost our own advantages and just made one mistake after another.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly and didn’t say much to Rijkaard.

In truth, the Black Swan’s touchline management had always been terrible.

Whether he was willing to admit it or not, in this match, everyone—including him and the Barça players—had been proud and complacent.

From last season until now, they had been invincible.

The recent Spanish Super Cup and Joan Gamper Trophy, in particular, had completely gone to their heads.

They truly believed they were strong enough to be unbeatable!

A poor schedule, physical exhaustion, and psychological carelessness—these were the reasons for Barça’s crushing defeat.

“I hope we have a chance to meet again in the Champions League this season. We will definitely wash away the shame of tonight.”

As they parted, Rijkaard showed a hint of Wile E. Coyote in him.

Yang Cheng just smiled again.

He really wanted to tell Rijkaard: You and Mourinho really have great chemistry.

They both said pretty much the same thing after losing.

However, he would suggest Rijkaard ask Mourinho if the Portuguese Special One had ever managed to win once.

Having lived three lives and coached in two, Yang Cheng knew the ins and outs of his own coaching ability and the teams he had built.

If they were to meet again in the Champions League, it was hard to say who would win or lose.

Of course, tonight’s match was indeed special.

It was a bit like Barça had lowered their own health bar by 50% before engaging in a bayonet fight with Bayswater Chinese.

If Yang Cheng couldn’t thrash them by a large margin, he would have considered it a failure himself.

“Everyone says Barça is the best team in the world, but tonight, I’m proud to say that we defeated Barça!”

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng had no intention of mincing his words.

Since he had won, he wanted to use this victory to boost the team’s morale and build a foundation of confidence for the rest of the season.

If they could beat the strongest team in the world, what was impossible?

Yang Cheng didn’t hesitate to praise his team’s outstanding performance.

He believed that in this match, Džeko’s tactical role was very clear, while Arshavin, with a goal and an assist, was the best player on the pitch.

As Yang Cheng had said, Arshavin was a sensitive and emotional genius.

What he needed was care and support.

So, Yang Cheng gave him very high praise at the post-match press conference.

“He was the key to our victory over Barça in this match!”

As for Gareth Bale, who put in an eye-catching performance after coming on as a substitute, Yang Cheng believed it wasn’t the time to praise the young player yet.

“Without a doubt, his speed and performance were impressive, but I don’t think he should receive too much praise.”

“Whether it’s him or Walcott, they are only 17. They need a more relaxed environment to grow.”

“Too much interference from the outside world, whether it’s praise or criticism, is detrimental to their development!”

In contrast to Yang Cheng’s side.

Rijkaard stated at his post-match press conference that he was very frustrated with the loss.

“I’m very disappointed with the result of the match, but we must pull ourselves together as soon as possible.”

“Next, we have a league game against Celta Vigo.”

“We learned a lot from this match, and from our opponents. I believe we will soon find that winning feeling again.”

Rijkaard made no attempt to hide the reasons for the team’s crushing defeat.

“Including myself, and all the players, we have always said that we don’t need flattery and complacency, that we should focus all our attention on the pitch.”

“But unfortunately, none of us did that.”

“It wasn’t our opponent who beat us today, it was ourselves!”

Rijkaard stated that reflection and introspection would definitely be conducted within the team and would not be shared with outsiders.

“What we need to do next is to prepare for matches on a psychological and physical level.”

Captain Puyol also apologized to the Barça fans on behalf of the dressing room when speaking to reporters.

“When everyone said we were strong and amazing, we really believed it.”

“That’s why we lost.”

But Puyol said that this loss was not necessarily a bad thing.

However, Deco didn’t see it that way.

The Portuguese midfielder told reporters, “We all did our best, but the final result is what you see. It’s not the players’ fault.”

So what exactly was the problem?

Deco didn’t name names directly, but pointed to the schedule.

“The schedule over the past period has been simply inhuman!”

Deco also revealed that the team’s physical problems were exploited by the opponent.

“At half-time, we could clearly feel that not only Xavi, but several other players were physically on the verge of their limits. This is something that has never happened before.”

Deco did not deny that Bayswater Chinese’s fast-paced, high-intensity style of play exacerbated Barça’s physical exhaustion.

“But it’s not like we haven’t faced teams like this before. It’s never been to this extent.”

This was clearly aimed at the Barça management.

From the U.S. tour to the Joan Gamper Trophy, to the two Super Cups, why was the schedule so dense?

Was this a distortion of human nature? Or a moral decay?

Although Yang Cheng repeatedly urged the English media to exercise control and moderation when hyping up young players, it was clear that they had no intention of listening.

Following Walcott’s eye-catching performance as a substitute in the second round of the Premier League, Gareth Bale’s one-on-one duel with Puyol in the UEFA Super Cup became the talk of the town for countless English media outlets.

Gareth Bale had not yet decided on his national team allegiance.

Therefore, many English media outlets believed that the England national team should call up Gareth Bale to the national team setup as soon as possible.

If so, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott would become the future twin stars on the wings for English football.

Moreover, the two close friends had been best buddies since their days at the Southampton youth academy.

The English media were also full of praise for Bayswater Chinese’s 4-0 thrashing of Barça in the Super Cup.

Last season, Barça had eliminated Chelsea in the round of 16 through a controversial decision, and then defeated Arsenal in the final to win the title, creating a personal rivalry with the Premier League.

This time, Bayswater Chinese’s 4-0 rout of Barça in the UEFA Super Cup was undoubtedly a form of sweet revenge.

On a side note, in the just-concluded Champions League group stage draw, there were two “groups of death.”

One included Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Sporting Lisbon.

The other group featured Barça, Chelsea, and Werder Bremen.

Compared to the Bayswater Chinese group, Barça’s group was slightly less deadly, but it could still be called a group of death.

Everyone was also eagerly anticipating whether the Premier League could regroup and redeem itself on the Champions League stage this season after last season’s setbacks!

Yang Cheng had no time to pay attention to all the news from the outside world.

After playing the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on the 25th, it was already late at night, so they rested at the hotel.

The next day, the team traveled to Nice and then flew back to London from Nice.

But by then, it was already afternoon.

On the 27th, the team rested in London and held two training sessions.

On the morning of the 28th, Yang Cheng led the team north for an away game against Wigan Athletic.

The match was still held at 3 PM that day.

This was because many players had to catch flights that evening to report for national team duty.

The qualifying matches for the 2008 European Championship were to be played in September.

Among the players participating in the qualifiers, Arshavin had the most troublesome journey, as his was the longest.

Numerous unfavorable factors, coupled with the exhaustive battle against Barça, had led to immense physical fatigue.

When facing Wigan Athletic away, they played very poorly in the first half.

Heskey.

Yes, that England international who was ridiculed by countless people for not being able to shoot or score.

He actually breached the Bayswater Chinese goal in the 38th minute.

Could Yang Cheng tolerate this?

Thus, he flew into a rage during the half-time break, and the team launched a frenzied counter-attack in the second half.

Especially in the 65th and 70th minutes, Yang Cheng made two more substitutions, deploying a dual centre-forward formation with Džeko and Lambert, relentlessly bombarding Wigan Athletic’s goal.

In the end, from an attacking free-kick, Škrtel headed the ball into the net.

This was already the 87th minute.

Ultimately, the two sides shook hands on a 1-1 draw.

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s first draw of the season.

As the other teams had already finished all their matches on the 26th, after three rounds of the Premier League, only Manchester United had a perfect record of three wins.

Ferguson’s team defeated Watford 2-1 away in this round.

With the additions of Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, plus Vidić and Evra who joined during last year’s winter transfer window, the strength of Manchester United’s midfield and defense had improved significantly.

Ferguson was clearly very satisfied with the three consecutive wins at the start of the season.

Liverpool, meanwhile, came from behind to beat West Ham United 2-1 at home.

Interestingly, Benítez had used three different starting lineups in these three matches.

The two most surprising results of this round were Everton’s 2-0 away victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, despite being a man down since the first half.

Arsenal, on the other hand, lost 1-0 away to Manchester City.

After three rounds, Manchester United led the table with 9 points.

But there were four teams with 7 points.

Among them, Redknapp’s Pompey were the most surprising.

They had not conceded a single goal in their first three rounds and had scored six, making them the only team in the Premier League yet to concede, a truly eye-catching performance.

Therefore, Pompey were second in the league table.

Bayswater Chinese, with a goal difference of five, were third.

Following them were arch-rivals Liverpool and Everton, in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Chelsea, with two wins and one loss, were in sixth.

As the third round of the Premier League concluded, players returned to their national teams.

But the transfer market, as it neared its end, became increasingly frantic.

First, Middlesbrough loaned Woodgate from Real Madrid to strengthen their defense; then came rumors that Manchester United wanted to sign French centre-forward David Trezeguet from the relegated Juventus.

Tottenham Hotspur also wanted to bring back former player Mido after a home defeat.

But the most astonishing news involved two Argentinian players, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Both players were highly sought after.

There had been previous rumors that Ferguson was interested in Tevez.

The Sun also revealed that Arsenal wanted to sign both Tevez and Mascherano in a package deal.

But to everyone’s shock, at the very last moment of the transfer window, the two Argentinians transferred to West Ham United.

It was a permanent transfer, not a loan.

The MSI Group, which orchestrated the deal, thus came to light.

Agent Kia Joorabchian also started to become a familiar name.

The trend of capitalization in the Premier League could not be more obvious!

With the rise of Bayswater Chinese, the number of international players in the squad was also increasing.

Whenever there was a national team training camp, the training ground would seem quite deserted.

In the first team, players not on national team duty would usually get a few days off.

For those players from foreign countries, the club would provide a fixed number of round-trip tickets each season, making it convenient for them to visit family back home, or for their families to come to London.

In terms of humane treatment, Yang Cheng felt he had done his utmost.

But not everyone went home as soon as they had a break.

For example, players like Pepe from Brazil, Matić from Serbia, Lewandowski from Poland, and Di María from Argentina.

They didn’t have national team duties, but they had lessons to attend.

English lessons.

Bayswater Chinese arranged for special English training for these newly joined players.

With matches and training on normal days, scheduling classes was not convenient.

During national team training camps like this, the teachers would arrange lessons.

So, they basically stayed at the club.

Young players are always carefree.

Even though they were now looking forward to their Premier League journey, worrying about when they could get more game time…

But overall, they had the least pressure and worries at this time.

Every day was just English class, and then kicking a ball around on the training pitch.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng really had to admire the players from Brazil.

They are naturally very positive and optimistic.

More importantly, they are truly infectious when it comes to football.

Last season, the team only had Maicon as a South American player, and it wasn’t really noticeable.

This season, with the addition of Di María, Pepe, and Marcelo, the number of South American players increased to four.

My goodness, these four players got together, roped in a few others, and actually managed to start up indoor small-sided football matches.

They weren’t picky about the venue at all.

They found an empty space on the ground floor of the Unfinished building at Bayswater Stadium, found some steel bars, pulled some ropes, and made two goals.

Whether it was 3-on-3 or 5-on-5, they just played.

The key thing was that they actually managed to gather a stable group of players, and their daily games were played with great enthusiasm.

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett had both spoken to Yang Cheng several times, insisting that he needed to tell the players to control themselves.

Although the physical exertion of small-sided indoor games wasn’t as much as a full-sized pitch, it was still exertion.

But how could this group of youths, around 18 to 20 years old, control themselves?

No matter how tired they were, they would go home, lie down for a nap, and be full of life again the next day.

According to Yang Cheng, it was better to let them play indoor football than to have them go out and fool around in London’s nightclubs.

So, he had someone purchase equipment and set up a simple version of an indoor football pitch.

As for things like table tennis, billiards, and video games, they had been equipped long ago.

At this moment, Yang Cheng was standing on the sidelines of the indoor football pitch, watching the players compete.

Some of them had just finished their English class and were pulled over to form teams.

“Matić’s technique is really good,” Brian Kidd praised repeatedly.

Yang Cheng completely agreed. “It’s just that he doesn’t have an advantage playing this kind of indoor football.”

He’s too tall, so his movements are slower.

Džeko had the same problem.

“Logically speaking, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade are both established powerhouses with excellent player development capabilities. Why didn’t they value Matić?” Brian Kidd was very curious.

Yang Cheng shook his head.

It was a complicated matter.

Take Matić, for instance. Anyone who saw his technique would think he was genuinely good.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, his technique, even after he became famous, was considered very good for a holding midfielder.

Now, it was even better than back then. After all, he hadn’t bulked up yet, and his overall training hadn’t been strengthened towards the holding midfielder role.

A so-called genius is someone who trains every day and works hard to become talented.

Yang Cheng believed that in a team like Bayswater Chinese, which emphasized passing, movement, and technique, even if Matić were converted into a holding midfielder, his skills would remain excellent.

At least better than in his previous life.

This was the influence of the environment and atmosphere.

As for why he wasn’t valued at the two Serbian giants?

He didn’t stay long at Partizan; it was more like a trial.

As for his time at Red Star, who knew the specific situation?

Perhaps the coach didn’t like him?

It was even possible that he didn’t bribe the coach.

In short, there could be all sorts of reasons.

“He just needs to strengthen his right foot now,” Yang Cheng instructed.

He actually quite liked two-footed players.

Just like in the match against Barça.

A two-footed player like Džeko could turn and pass from either side, which made him very difficult for opponents to defend.

“Also, arrange for some special defensive training for him.”

Brian Kidd nodded in agreement beside him.

Bayswater Chinese was fond of specialized training, using coaches who were experts in certain areas to provide specific training for players and improve their abilities in those aspects.

Currently, the first team’s coaching staff numbered more than a dozen people.

In the current Premier League, this was considered a very large scale.

Even Ferguson didn’t have such a setup.

Gianni Vio’s data analysis team now had seven people as well.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s salary expenditure on coaches was not much less than that on players.

Of course, the core coaching staff consisted of just a few people.

It was like a hierarchical management system.

If Yang Cheng encountered any issues, he would find the coach specifically responsible for that area.

For example, for fitness, he would go to Oliver Bartlett.

For technical issues, he would go to Danny McGrain.

For player performance, he would find Thad Foucher.

For goalkeepers, he would talk to Pedro Jaro.

Of course, he more often just gave instructions to Brian Kidd, who would then coordinate and execute them.

This minimized Yang Cheng’s workload as much as possible.

Otherwise, his days would be filled with endless meetings.

“How is Lewandowski doing in the reserve team?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“He’s okay, but he’s still not used to it.”

Which meant, not very well.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

When he first met Lewandowski, he gave him a choice: stay in England or be loaned back to Poland.

Lewandowski chose to stay.

Yang Cheng had extremely high hopes for this Polish centre-forward.

He wasn’t worried at all about whether Lewandowski could adapt; it was just a matter of time.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Lewandowski had moved from Legia Warsaw’s B team to Znicz Pruszków in 2006.

Both teams were in the Polish third division.

At Znicz Pruszków, in the 2006/07 season, he scored 16 goals and provided 5 assists in 27 matches, helping the team get promoted from the third to the second division.

In the 2007/08 season, he played 32 times in the Polish second division, scoring 21 goals and providing 3 assists, helping Znicz Pruszków get promoted again, this time to the top division.

Moreover, in those two seasons, Lewandowski won the Golden Boot for the third and second divisions respectively.

In 2008, Lewandowski moved to Lech Poznań. In his first season in the top division, he had 14 goals and 7 assists in 30 appearances, but he didn’t win the Golden Boot that time.

He did win Best Newcomer, though.

But in the 2009/10 season, with 18 goals and 8 assists in 28 matches, he won the Golden Boot again and came very close to winning Polish Footballer of the Year.

At that time, Lewandowski was only 22 years old.

From this part of Lewandowski’s history, one could clearly see the trajectory of his career development.

His rate of improvement was simply too fast!

From the third division to the second, to the top division, he won the Golden Boot three times in four years, and he even transferred once in between.

This proved that Lewandowski’s adaptability was superb, and he was also very well-rounded with extremely strong individual abilities.

When he suddenly jumped from the Polish third division to the Premier League, even though it was just playing for the reserves, the challenge was naturally huge.

But for a player like Lewandowski, such a challenge would actually push him further, stimulating him to grow at an even faster rate.

Of course, what Bayswater Chinese needed to do now was to give him more trust, support, and encouragement.

Let him improve himself to his heart’s content, without any pressure.

“Brian, I need you to keep a close eye on him for me,” Yang Cheng said with a smile, looking at Brian Kidd.

This was the ace coach who had nurtured Manchester United’s Class of ’92!

“These players, including the likes of Gareth Bale, Walcott, and others—they are our Class of ’92!”

“Give them a little more time, and I will lead them to sweep across the European football world, to build a more outstanding and greater legacy than Manchester United’s Class of ’92!”

Brian Kidd was stunned.

If anyone else had heard this, they would surely think Yang Cheng was being arrogant.

But Brian Kidd believed it without a doubt.

From the time he met Yang Cheng three years ago, almost every word Yang Cheng had said, he had achieved!

“Senior, why the sudden desire to eat at Hakkasan?”

In the evening, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing walked side by side along Queensway towards the Queensway Underground station.

“Weren’t you the one who said you’d treat me to a meal to celebrate?” Xia Qing turned to him, a charming smile on her face as she retorted.

Yang Cheng laughed along.

He had said that yesterday.

He hadn’t expected to have to make good on it today.

“Let’s just consider it an early birthday celebration for you.”

“Huh?”

Yang Cheng looked at Xia Qing in surprise, only to find her seemingly looking elsewhere nonchalantly.

“Oh, right. I would have forgotten if you hadn’t mentioned it. My birthday is coming up,” Yang Cheng said with a wry smile.

Growing up, his family never really had a tradition of celebrating birthdays.

Back in China, he was busy with school and spent most of his time boarding.

Couldn’t be helped; his parents were busy with their business.

There was never much ceremony around birthdays.

So, most of the time, Yang Cheng himself would forget.

Not just his own; he couldn’t even remember his parents’ birthdays right now.

It was quite shameful when he thought about it.

“Should we take a cab?” Yang Cheng suggested when they reached an intersection.

I am the head coach of Bayswater Chinese, after all. It would be so awkward to be recognized squeezing onto the tube.

“Let’s walk. It’s not far.”

Yang Cheng had no objection.

On his birthday, he had the first match of the Champions League group stage, a home game against Sporting Lisbon.

And the celebration Yang Cheng had mentioned yesterday wasn’t about his birthday, but about season ticket sales.

Being drawn into a group of death in the Champions League had a silver lining for Bayswater Chinese: it boosted ticket sales.

According to Adam Crozier’s statistics, the total number of season tickets sold had already exceeded 35,000.

The Champions League draw, in particular, had triggered a recent sales surge.

It was estimated that they could reach 40,000.

Furthermore, many individual tickets for the home games against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich had already been sold, and the attendance rate was expected to set a new, astonishing record.

After all, the influence of these two giants was undeniable.

For the upcoming group stage match against Sporting Lisbon, the attendance should also be close to 50,000.

This was the power of the Champions League.

What was even more advantageous for Bayswater Chinese was that their home games in the Champions League group stage were staggered with Chelsea’s.

This meant that during those weeks, for anyone in the Greater London area who wanted to watch a Champions League match live, Bayswater Chinese was the only option.

The two of them strolled side by side through the beautiful Hyde Park.

The weather was lovely today.

Under the evening glow, the lawns of Hyde Park seemed to be tinged with a poetic hue.

The scene and the atmosphere were perfect for a heart-to-heart talk.

“You know? Actually, I’m really, really envious of you.”

Perhaps it was the surroundings, or perhaps something was weighing on her mind, but Xia Qing suddenly spoke on a whim.

“What’s there to be envious of about me?”

“At least, you always know what you love to do,” Xia Qing turned her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on Yang Cheng.

“You don’t?”

Xia Qing shook her head and sighed softly.

“My dad was originally a very promising civil servant, and my mom was a tenured teacher. I have an older brother, but then they accidentally had me.”

As she said this, Xia Qing’s face broke into a smile, but it carried a faint hint of bitterness.

“My parents ignored everyone’s advice and decided to have me, but my dad sacrificed his career for it. He was forced to transfer, and his future in politics was greatly affected.”

At this moment, Yang Cheng played the role of a diligent listener.

“They don’t know that I heard about this when I was very young. They love me very much, but I don’t want to be a burden to them anymore. So, I refused to go to the school where my mother worked, and I refused the job they arranged for me…”

“I don’t want to cause them any more trouble!”

“But, I have no idea what I want to do, or what I like to do.”

She sounded a bit lost.

“They asked you to go back to China again?” Yang Cheng understood.

Xia Qing gave a slight smile, pretending to be relaxed. “And I refused again.”

Yang Cheng smiled along with her, but then he winced. “Senior, if I remember correctly, you should be three years older than me. You’re 30, right?”

“No way! I’m only 29 in actual years, okay?”

Xia Qing was suddenly displeased. She pointed at Yang Cheng. “Yang Cheng, I’m starting to realize you really don’t know how to hold a conversation. Here I am, about to pour my heart out to you, and you just have to bring up such an awkward topic?”

“You’ve made it awkward for me!”

After saying that, she shot him a fierce glare and walked ahead quickly.

Yang Cheng chuckled and hurried to catch up.

I was just… afraid you’d be sad, you know?

Chapter 105: King of Crosses! The Premier League’s Fastest Goal

A strong, stable team is one that can consistently secure victory, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

Even if they are outplayed for the entire match.

Manchester United was exactly like that.

The Red Devils, with their many international players, were plagued by the effects of national team duty. With a Champions League match looming midweek, Ferguson had no choice but to rotate and adjust his squad. As a result, in their fourth Premier League match, a home game against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United’s performance was quite ordinary.

But in the end, thanks to a ninth-minute goal from Ryan Giggs, the Red Devils defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home.

The Bayswater Chinese were in a similar situation.

For their home game against Manchester City, Yang Cheng rested several key players.

Unlike Manchester United, however, the Bayswater Chinese capitalized on their midfield advantage to suppress Manchester City.

The Blue Moons spent the entire match playing on the defensive counter-attack.

Their defenders, Sylvain Distin, Richard Dunne, and Micah Richards, all performed exceptionally well.

But in the thirty-second minute, the Bayswater Chinese scored from an attacking free-kick, with José Fonte finding the net.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Manchester City at home.

Chelsea’s situation was even more interesting.

In their match, Mourinho deployed Shevchenko on the left wing, hoping to continue with his 4-3-3 formation.

As it turned out, the Ukrainian’s performance was an absolute mess.

Ultimately, Chelsea scraped by with a 2-1 home victory over Charlton Athletic, thanks to goals from Drogba and Carvalho.

Arsenal and Liverpool, on the other hand, had it rough.

Liverpool suffered a crushing 0-3 away defeat to Everton in the Merseyside derby.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Middlesbrough.

Some said that after moving to their new stadium, the Gunners had been cursed with an inability to win at home.

In reality, it had only been two home games.

But the Gunners’ start to the season was certainly unsatisfactory.

After four rounds, Manchester United led the pack with four consecutive wins. Portsmouth, Everton, and the Bayswater Chinese were second, third, and fourth respectively, with all three teams on ten points.

Chelsea had nine points.

Liverpool had dropped to eighth place.

Arsenal had fallen even further, to eleventh.

On the evening of September 13th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the first round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Sporting Lisbon.

Thirty-seven-year-old Portuguese manager Paulo Bento walked confidently into this magnificent temple of English football.

He had long been looking for an opportunity to see this super stadium, built at a cost of nearly eight hundred million pounds, or one point two billion euros.

But upon entering, he was, frankly, a little disappointed.

According to the information he had received before the match, attendance had reached fifty thousand.

It sounded like a lot, but standing on the pitch and looking around, he could see many empty seats.

The atmosphere in the stadium wasn’t great either.

The female singer who performed before the kickoff, however, had a particularly clear voice, and the song was beautiful.

He just didn’t know her name.

This was the first European match of Paulo Bento’s coaching career!

It was also his first full season in charge of Sporting Lisbon.

So far, after two rounds in the Primeira Liga, Sporting Lisbon had two consecutive wins.

For this away trip to challenge the Bayswater Chinese, Paulo Bento had come with the determination to win!

Being drawn into the group of death was indeed terrible.

Given Sporting Lisbon’s strength, trying to compete with top giants like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for a qualification spot was extremely difficult.

Therefore, Paulo Bento’s plan was to fight and strive with all his might, but to secure third place at all costs.

And to do that, they had to eliminate the Bayswater Chinese!

He had specifically watched the 4-0 UEFA Super Cup match and felt that many media outlets were overhyping it.

Anyone who truly understood football knew that Barça was completely out of form, their players suffering from severe fatigue.

Paulo Bento believed that if his Sporting Lisbon had faced a Barça of that caliber, they would have played better than the Bayswater Chinese and scored even more goals!

Even though it was an away game, Paulo Bento stuck with the 4-4-2 diamond midfield formation they used in the Primeira Liga.

Goalkeeper: Ricardo;

Defence: Marco Caneira, Anderson Polga, Tonel, and Abel Ferreira;

Midfield: Miguel Veloso in a holding role, with Nani and Leandro Romagnoli on the wings, and Moutinho in an advanced position;

Forwards: Liedson and Yannick Djaló.

As for the home team, they stuck with their most familiar 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Arshavin, Lambert, and Ashley Young.

Just moments ago in the dressing room, Paulo Bento had warned his players that, no matter what, they had to assert control and suppress their opponents in the opening stages of the match.

“This is their first time playing in the Champions League, and they’re so young. They’re bound to make mistakes sooner or later.”

“And that Pepe, he played very recklessly in the Primeira Liga.”

“José Fonte only joined the Bayswater Chinese because he couldn’t make it in our youth academy!”

“Even on their home turf, we must be the first to break through their goal!”

“Take them down!”

Paulo Bento’s words truly boosted the players’ morale.

As they walked out onto the pitch, they all held their heads high, brimming with fighting spirit.

But…

“Whoosh!!!”

Amidst a collective gasp from the fans in the stadium, a sudden long shot from Lambert flew straight out of the pitch and into the stands, causing a stir among the fans on the opposite side.

“Thirty-six seconds into the game, the Bayswater Chinese have taken their first shot.”

“That was a well-executed fast break.”

“Ashley Young’s cross from the right wing was very precise. Lambert hit it with a direct volley but couldn’t keep the ball down.”

In front of the home team’s technical area, Yang Cheng applauded his players vigorously, signaling for them to keep pressing and maintain the pressure on Sporting Lisbon.

Ashley Young’s nickname was ‘Young the Left Emissary,’ also homophonous with ‘Can’t cross,’ and his most potent weapon was, of course, a cross that even he himself couldn’t always control.

But few people probably knew that his fame at Watford and Aston Villa was built precisely on his crossing.

In the 2007-08 season, Ashley Young recorded seventeen assists, second only to Arsenal’s Fàbregas.

He ranked third in the number of crosses from the wing, and his crossing accuracy was the best in the Premier League, making him the veritable king of crosses.

As for why he lost this signature skill after joining Manchester United…

That was a question for Manchester United.

Yang Cheng’s strategy for this match was to use their home advantage to completely destroy Sporting Lisbon.

He wanted this Primeira Liga team to experience what Premier League speed was all about!

After the restart, the two teams fought fiercely in midfield.

Sporting Lisbon typically had four players in midfield.

While it was called a diamond midfield, it was more of a small diamond than a large one.

Nani operated more in the left channel.

With current football trends, employing a large diamond formation was practically asking for trouble.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, had positioned Lassana Diarra on that side.

And as the match reached the third minute, José Fonte saw his chance and suddenly pushed up to press, successfully intercepting Moutinho’s pass before it could reach Yannick.

The Portuguese centre-back had indeed come from Sporting Lisbon, and he still remembered his experiences in their youth academy.

This motivated him even more to prove his worth.

After intercepting the ball, he carried it forward a couple of steps before passing to Arshavin in the left channel.

The Russian controlled the ball with his side to the pitch, lifted it over Abel Ferreira, and quickly launched a counter-attack.

But just as he entered Sporting Lisbon’s thirty-meter zone, he was fouled by a timely challenge from Tonel, stopping him on the left side of the area.

Free-kick!

Leighton Baines quickly ran over, stood near the spot, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

At that moment, José Fonte, Pepe, Yaya Touré, and Lambert—the four tallest players—all charged into Sporting Lisbon’s penalty area.

It was only then that Paulo Bento, in front of the away team’s technical area, started to get nervous, shouting at his players to stay alert and mark their men.

The height difference was significant.

Anderson Polga and Tonel were both just over one point eight meters tall.

In terms of both height and physical strength, they had no advantage against the Bayswater Chinese players.

And that damned Italian coach was on the sidelines giving out instructions again.

A sense of foreboding flashed through Paulo Bento’s mind as he cursed inwardly.

Leighton Baines took a quick run-up and delivered a beautifully curved free-kick.

Chaos erupted in the penalty area as players jostled for position.

Somehow, in the confusion, José Fonte was left unmarked.

The Portuguese centre-back took a few quick strides, sprinted forward, leaped into the air, and met the ball with a close-range header, powerfully directing Baines’ centrally-delivered free-kick into the Sporting Lisbon goal.

The entire stadium erupted in an instant!

Just over three minutes into the game, the Bayswater Chinese had taken the lead!

“A goal from José Fonte!”

“This Portuguese centre-back came from Sporting Lisbon’s youth academy but was never called up to the first team. He joined the Bayswater Chinese on a free transfer.”

“Now, with a magnificent header, he has delivered his response to his old youth club.”

“In his three years in England, his improvement has been there for all to see.”

“Although he may not be a top-tier Premier League centre-back, he has always been a defensive cornerstone that Yang Cheng trusts completely.”

“And just three days ago in the league, it was José Fonte’s header that secured three points for the Bayswater Chinese!”

José Fonte had scored in two consecutive matches, putting in a dazzling performance.

But after the celebration, before heading back, he made sure to wave his arms at the fans in the stands, urging them to be more passionate.

This drew waves of cheers from the supporters.

With the first goal scored, the match quickly shifted into high gear.

Even though it was the group stage, where away goals weren’t a factor, Sporting Lisbon had come tonight with the intention of grabbing all three points.

So, after conceding, they changed their approach and started to play more aggressively.

The Bayswater Chinese were not to be outdone. With midfield pressure, forward runs, and both full-backs actively overlapping, their attack was flying.

This period of end-to-end action was not only fast-paced, but both teams also showed excellent passing combinations.

The inevitable result was more goals.

In the sixteenth minute, José Fonte and Pepe, who had been in sensational form recently, had a miscommunication in defense.

After receiving the ball, Nani burst forward through the left channel and played a brilliant pass to an overlapping Moutinho, who broke into the box and beat Neuer.

1-1!

The teams were level again.

But just six minutes later, Ashley Young dribbled down the right flank and delivered a cross. In the center, Lambert rose above both of Sporting Lisbon’s centre-backs to head the ball into the net.

2-1!

The lead was restored!

This back-and-forth offensive battle was thrilling to watch, and the fans in the stadium were roaring with excitement.

But on the pitch, neither team was willing to back down.

Sporting Lisbon was still desperately trying to equalize.

Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines, constantly encouraging his players to keep attacking and apply more pressure.

Sporting Lisbon hadn’t submitted yet!

Only by beating them into submission would they finally retreat!

But the battle was fierce.

Sporting’s Liedson, Moutinho, and Veloso all received yellow cards.

The Bayswater Chinese also picked up two yellow cards, one for Pepe and one for Yaya Touré.

All five of these yellow cards were issued between the 25th and 40th minutes, indicating just how intense the contest was during that period.

Then, in the forty-first minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield.

When Modrić passed to Lambert, the English centre-forward failed to control it properly, and Tonel poked it away.

But the ball fell to Arshavin.

The Russian dribbled from the half-space into the left side of the penalty area, faced goalkeeper Ricardo, and with a delicate, placed shot, sent the ball into the Sporting Lisbon goal once more.

3-1!

At this point, the state of the match was clear.

In the second half, Paulo Bento had clearly learned his lesson and began to play more cautiously.

Sporting Lisbon shifted their focus to defense, using players like Nani and Yannick for counter-attacks.

But Yang Cheng made adjustments accordingly, instructing his team to calmly control the tempo and possession.

At one point, while the Bayswater Chinese were making a substitution, Sporting Lisbon even tried to launch an attack.

But two counter-attacks from the home team nearly resulted in goals, and they quickly retreated back into their shell.

Yang Cheng glanced at Paulo Bento on the sidelines. The man’s expression was truly awful.

“I bet he understands the situation now!”

In this group of death, the only teams qualified to sit at the table, besides Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, were the Bayswater Chinese.

Sporting Lisbon?

Go back to your Primeira Liga and play there!

After the first round of the Champions League group stage was completed, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Sporting Lisbon 3-1 at home, securing a winning start.

The British media wasn’t too surprised by the team’s victory.

It would have been real news if they had been upset at home by Sporting Lisbon.

After last season, pretty much everyone had come to recognize the strength of the Bayswater Chinese.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, defeated Real Madrid 2-0 at home, with goals from Ribéry and Pizarro.

This was a very surprising result.

After their match against Sporting Lisbon, Yang Cheng specifically sought out a recording of the game to watch it.

After all, both teams were future opponents for the Bayswater Chinese.

As he watched, he discovered something particularly strange.

Capello had set up his team in a 4-4-2 formation.

The backline was Carlos, Cannavaro, Ramos, and Cicinho.

How did they concede the first goal?

It came from a cross from Schweinsteiger on the right. Cannavaro and Ramos couldn’t stop Pizarro, who headed it in.

Neither of Real Madrid’s centre-backs was particularly tall.

And Pizarro himself was only 1.84 meters.

This wasn’t about stats; it was a matter of comparison.

What Yang Cheng couldn’t understand at all was the midfield and attack.

Cassano, Mahamadou Diarra, Emerson, and Beckham.

Up front, it was Raúl partnering with Van Nistelrooy.

“Why does Bayern get all the luck?” Yang Cheng felt speechless.

Capello’s lineup looked incapable of taking on Bayern.

No wonder his teams, whether it was AS Roma or Juventus, could only dominate domestically in Italy.

On the European stage, they were taught a lesson in minutes!

Why?

What era was this? Why was he still using such a system?

At the very least, where was your pace?

Okay, so you don’t want pace, fine. But do you have technique?

During the Galácticos era, they at least had fluid passing combinations and creativity, right?

The individual abilities of the superstars were no joke.

What?

You don’t have that either?

Damn, so what do you have?

The answer was: nothing.

As a result, they were run ragged by Bayern Munich in the first half.

Yang Cheng was so frustrated watching it that he wanted to grab Bayern’s forwards and ask them, “You really wasted several goals that Ribéry served up on a platter for you.”

Given the situation in the first half, Yang Cheng wouldn’t have been surprised if Real Madrid had conceded five or six goals.

But in the second half, Capello made adjustments. The defense tightened up, and he brought on Reyes and Robinho.

Now they had some pace.

“Look, even when they were 2-0 down, Capello refused to change his double pivot. Mahamadou Diarra and Emerson played the full ninety minutes. After the 65th minute, they switched to a 4-2-3-1,” Brian Kidd pointed out.

Capello had taken off Cassano, Beckham, and Raúl, bringing on Reyes, Guti, and Robinho.

“Real Madrid’s backline is too shaky. Capello didn’t dare take the risk,” Yang Cheng speculated on Capello’s thoughts.

After a pause, a confident smile appeared on Yang Cheng’s face.

“However, after watching this match, I suddenly know how we should play in the next group stage match at the Bernabéu!”

On the afternoon of September 16th, in the fifth round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese traveled to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.

When head referee Andre Marriner blew the whistle to start the match, no one could have guessed what would happen next.

Not even the Bayswater Chinese themselves.

At the center circle, Džeko kicked the ball to Arshavin and immediately sprinted forward.

This was the head coach’s pre-match instruction.

He wanted the team to launch an aggressive opening attack.

Moreover, Sheffield United’s centre-back Jagielka was not tall, and Roger Johnson was a former teammate Džeko knew well. He knew how to deal with them.

The Bosnian centre-forward charged directly at Jagielka, completely ignoring the path of the ball behind him.

Sheffield United’s defenders, however, were focused on Džeko.

Arshavin passed Džeko’s kickoff straight back to the holding midfielder, Yaya Touré, and also sprinted forward.

It wasn’t just him; on the right, Ashley Young had already surged up the pitch.

Inler and Modrić were also making rapid forward runs.

When Yaya Touré received the ball, Sheffield United’s forwards were still some distance away. The Ivorian controlled the ball with his left foot, shifted it past his body, and with his right foot, sent a pass into the open space on the left flank.

Leighton Baines sprinted to catch up, controlled the ball, and looked upfield.

When he saw Džeko had already reached Jagielka’s vicinity, he swung his left foot and launched a long pass.

Leighton Baines’ long ball was fast and sudden.

At this moment, Sheffield United’s left-back, David Unsworth, hadn’t yet retreated to be level with his defensive line.

But the ball was already flying over.

The English defender looked up to judge its trajectory; he simply couldn’t retreat any further.

At one point eight seven meters tall, he was a rather cumbersome type, and at thirty-two years old, his speed had long since faded.

With no other choice, he had to take a gamble. Unable to backpedal, he leaped up to contest the header.

But the ball practically grazed his hair and dropped behind him.

He’d misjudged it!

At almost the same instant, Džeko cut sharply to Jagielka’s left, using his body to shield the defender and forcing him toward the penalty area.

Jagielka, at only one point eight meters tall, was at a disadvantage in height and strength. Pinned by Džeko, he was unable to move and could only hold his ground, trying to stay between Džeko and the goal.

That was all he could do.

When the football landed, Džeko controlled it steadily with his left foot.

Džeko used his left foot to stop the ball, and although Jagielka was right-footed, he couldn’t reach it.

The moment Džeko stopped, without even a glance behind him, he nudged Jagielka with his right shoulder and dribbled with his left foot, bursting into the penalty area.

Jagielka was not a pushover and immediately gave chase.

Seeing Džeko about to shoot, he instantly put in a challenge to block the shot.

But unexpectedly, the Bosnian centre-forward’s move was a feint; he had actually pulled the ball back with his left foot.

This move exposed the space behind Jagielka.

Džeko pulled the ball back with his left foot and sent a square pass across with his right.

Only then did Roger Johnson and Chris Morgan, who had arrived at full tilt in the center, reach the scene, but neither could get to the pass.

Instead, on the right side.

Ashley Young, who had been lurking near the touchline, suddenly burst forward, beating everyone to Džeko’s pass and unleashing a furious right-footed shot that tore past goalkeeper Bennett and into the net!

It was only then that a collective gasp erupted from the Sheffield United fans.

This was followed by the referee Marriner’s whistle, signaling a valid goal.

Then, the entire stadium erupted in boos.

“My God, I can’t believe it!”

“Thirteen seconds into the match! No, to be precise, thirteen point four five seconds! The Bayswater Chinese have scored against Sheffield United! It only took thirteen seconds!”

“A goal from Ashley Young!”

The English winger was so excited he ran off the pitch, sprinting wildly in celebration.

Džeko and the others chased after him, all celebrating with abandon.

A goal in thirteen seconds!

Could it get any faster than this?

“This actually isn’t the fastest goal in Premier League history, but it’s very likely the fastest goal of this season!”

“Sheffield United were a bit careless at the start.”

“Of course, we must also acknowledge that Leighton Baines’ long pass was absolutely beautiful.”

“Džeko’s physical strength has also improved a lot from last season. We saw him completely dominate Jagielka.”

“After all, the difference in their height and weight is there for all to see.”

“This goal was so sudden, so unexpected.”

Yang Cheng was also very surprised.

He had instructed the team to start with an aggressive attack, but he never imagined they would score so quickly.

This kind of goal was simply not something a head coach could plan for.

Scoring in thirteen seconds was a good thing.

But what Yang Cheng valued more was the opening wave of attacks.

Precisely because of that early goal, Sheffield United became noticeably more cautious, resulting in a much tighter defense for the remainder of the game.

Sheffield United’s head coach, Neil Warnock, was an old rival from their Championship days. He had set his team up for a battle, even employing a defensive 4-4-2 counter-attacking tactic.

But in the twenty-fifth minute, their goal was finally breached again by the Bayswater Chinese.

It came from an exquisite chipped pass from Modrić.

Džeko used his body to overpower Jagielka, controlled the ball with his chest inside the box, and, before Roger Johnson could intervene, fired a shot into the net.

2-0!

Faced with the Bayswater Chinese’s style of play, Sheffield United had no effective answer and could only further reinforce their defense.

Ultimately, Sheffield United failed to put any sustained pressure on the Bayswater Chinese for the entire match.

The final score was locked at 2-0!

After the match, Sheffield United’s head coach Neil Warnock complained to Yang Cheng with a wry face.

The fifty-seven-year-old renowned English manager was blunt in his commentary to Yang Cheng, “Your midfield is absolutely suffocating!”

Yang Cheng could tell it was a compliment, so he responded with a smile.

He really wanted to be smug and say: And I even rested Lassana Diarra, my best ball-winner, for this match.

But he was afraid he’d get punched.

“Seriously, you guys have improved so much since your time in the Championship,” Neil Warnock sighed.

How could they not?

How old was Roger Johnson, one of their main centre-backs back then?

Last season, he couldn’t even get a game for the Bayswater Chinese anymore.

The key thing was, after this lad came to Sheffield United, he had firmly secured a starting position.

That was the gap in quality!

The real reason Neil Warnock had come over for a chat was that he had another idea in mind.

To build a good relationship with Yang Cheng.

For a team like the Bayswater Chinese, there would surely be more players like Roger Johnson in the future.

When that time came, Neil Warnock could just follow in Yang Cheng’s wake and pick up the players he didn’t need, and he would benefit immensely.

Round five of the Premier League featured two clashes between top teams.

Chelsea hosted Liverpool, and Manchester United hosted Arsenal.

As it turned out, both matches ended 1-0.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 home victory over Liverpool thanks to a goal from Drogba.

Manchester United, however, lost 0-1 at home to Arsenal, with Adebayor being the goalscorer.

This largely reflected the current trend in football.

The role of the centre-forward was becoming increasingly important and indispensable.

The two matches were different in their own ways.

Although Liverpool lost to Chelsea, their overall performance was actually better than Chelsea’s.

Mourinho’s team still hadn’t figured out how to properly utilize Shevchenko.

But with the Ukrainian being such a big name, it was impossible not to play him.

This put Chelsea in a very awkward position during matches.

And yet, they still won.

Sometimes, football matches are just like that.

The situation between Manchester United and Arsenal was different. The Gunners not only won on the scoreboard but also dominated the game.

The problem exposed for Manchester United in this match was that Vidić had just recovered from a knee injury, and Ferguson put him on the bench.

The starting partnership of Wes Brown and Ferdinand couldn’t contain Adebayor.

In midfield, although Ferguson had brought in Hargreaves and Carrick, he still tended to rotate.

Not only were veterans Giggs and Scholes part of the rotation, but even O’Shea was included.

It was precisely after Carrick came on for O’Shea that the entire Manchester United midfield began to operate more logically.

But due to continuous matches and Carrick only coming on in the seventy-fifth minute, it was too late for Manchester United to turn the tide.

After losing this match, Manchester United relinquished their position as league leaders.

Redknapp’s Portsmouth, with an astonishing record of four wins and one draw, nine goals scored and zero conceded, sat at the top of the Premier League table.

The Bayswater Chinese were in second place.

Manchester United and Chelsea followed closely behind.

According to this season’s League Cup schedule, teams participating in European competitions did not have to play in the second knockout round.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese had a full week of rest between the fifth and sixth rounds of the league.

But a week later, the sixth round of the Premier League was a home game against Manchester United, followed by a trip to Madrid, Spain, to face Capello’s Real Madrid away.

Both were tough battles!

On the evening of September 23rd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League, Round 6, Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United at home.

Before the match, in the dressing room.

On the tactics board behind Yang Cheng, the numbers of the starting players for both teams were laid out.

Manchester United was employing a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Van der Sar;

Defence: Heinze, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Gary Neville;

Midfield: Carrick and Hargreaves formed the double pivot, with Giggs, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo ahead of them;

Forward: Rooney.

The Bayswater Chinese were also using a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Škrtel, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Arshavin, Džeko, and Ashley Young.

The Bayswater Chinese had faced Manchester United several times before, so the players were no strangers to this team.

More importantly, in the three seasons under Yang Cheng’s management, the Bayswater Chinese had a proven track record against strong opponents.

This gave the Bayswater Chinese players immense confidence.

At the very least, they had never lost in clashes between top teams.

This confidence was a great thing for the entire team.

Moreover, the whole world knew that the Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was balanced in attack and defense and possessed immense pressing power.

Tonight, playing at home, all three starting midfielders were on the pitch.

Yang Cheng was not holding back for next Wednesday’s Champions League away match against Real Madrid.

But the tactical details that needed emphasizing had to be reiterated.

“Our attack will continue to focus on the two flanks. Andrei, Ashley, I don’t care which side you’re on during the game, you must pay attention and constantly pressure Gary Neville and Heinze.”

“Especially Heinze!”

The Argentine defender was making his return from injury; this was his first match of the season.

Ferguson, perhaps wary of the Bayswater Chinese’s wing attacks and thus opting for the more defensive Heinze, or perhaps for rotation reasons, had started Heinze in this match.

As for Evra, he wasn’t even on the substitute list.

“Heinze is a good defender, very aggressive, and good in physical contests, but his attacking is rather average.”

“Or perhaps, he just doesn’t like to make forward runs.”

“On the other hand, Gary Neville on the right loves to push forward.”

“When we’re attacking, we need to make good use of that.”

Arshavin and Ashley Young both nodded.

“If Manchester United’s backline has the ball, try pressing Heinze.”

“In midfield, the focus is on Carrick. Whenever he has the ball, someone must press him. Even if you can’t win the ball, you must disrupt Manchester United’s midfield organization.”

This was a task for Lassana Diarra and Modrić.

“In defense, we must pay special attention to Rooney and C. Ronaldo.”

“So far this season, apart from his brace and one assist in the opening round, Rooney hasn’t contributed anything in the other matches. He’s been completely silent.”

This was actually quite unusual.

One Champions League match and five league matches without a single contribution.

For a forward like Rooney, in whom Manchester United had invested so many resources, this was truly unacceptable.

Of course, Yang Cheng wasn’t complaining.

Džeko only had two goals so far himself.

Arshavin also scored a brace in the first round and another goal in the second; his situation was only slightly better than Rooney’s.

But he had assists.

So, for now, the Bayswater Chinese had no right to mock Rooney’s goal drought.

“No one knows when Rooney will have a mass release, and for a striker like him, the longer he’s suppressed, the more terrifying his outburst will be. So we must take him seriously.”

Saha had a slight calf muscle strain for this match, just like Maicon.

So both Saha and Maicon were rested for this game, preparing for the Champions League match next Wednesday.

Yang Cheng had started Piszczek.

“Łukasz, your task in this match is to mark C. Ronaldo closely, if he comes over to the right side.”

Yang Cheng was confident in Leighton Baines’ defensive abilities; he had faced C. Ronaldo before and had done a decent job.

If it were Maicon, Yang Cheng wouldn’t have given special instructions.

But with Piszczek, Yang Cheng still reminded him to be wary of C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese player didn’t stick to one side these days; he often roamed around.

The only constant was his relentless drive toward the goal.

“Remember, stick to him, don’t let him shake you off, and don’t let him get a shot off easily. Not even a long shot!”

Piszczek nodded heavily.

“OK!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly, getting everyone’s attention.

“Gentlemen, today we face Manchester United, one of the strongest teams in the Premier League.”

“This will be a very fast-paced, high-intensity, and fierce contest. It will demand a great deal from our stamina, our overall technical and tactical execution, and our teamwork and understanding!”

“But we’ve been through this before. We’ve never been afraid of clashes between top teams, have we?”

Yang Cheng’s resonant question was met with a unified answer from all the players.

“No, that’s right!”

“Excellent, boys. I trust that you won’t disappoint me! And you won’t disappoint the fifty thousand fans who have come here tonight!”

“Take down Manchester United!!”

Tonight, Wembley Stadium was once again filled with fifty thousand people.

Clashes like this between top teams never lacked for attention from fans in the Premier League.

Especially in London.

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

From the first minute of the match, the two teams engaged in a fierce battle.

Rooney was clearly aware of his recent goal drought and played with great hunger.

Just one minute and thirty seconds into the game, he unleashed a long shot from twenty-three meters out.

And the quality of this long shot was very high.

Although Neuer managed to hold onto the ball, he nearly fumbled it.

However, the Bayswater Chinese were not to be trifled with. They soon responded with a long shot of their own, an angry strike from Arshavin from the left channel that went just wide.

Perhaps feeling that his earlier long shot was slightly inferior to Rooney’s, Arshavin, a minute later, broke through on the left and delivered a chipped cross to the center.

Džeko leaped between Vidić and Ferdinand, and although he got to the ball first, his header was off-target.

At this point, only five minutes had passed.

But the two teams had already created three shots.

The fans in the stadium were loving the spectacle.

The end-to-end battle continued.

Manchester United struggled to find a solution for the Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Even with their 4-2-3-1 formation, which gave them a numerical advantage, and with a double pivot of Hargreaves and Carrick, they still couldn’t dominate the midfield against the Bayswater Chinese.

The Times had once written a dedicated article about Yaya Touré, noting that although the Ivorian liked to make overlapping runs, he would focus on defense when the team needed him to.

A defensively focused Yaya Touré was strikingly similar to the Vieira of old.

But once he started to surge forward, he was simply unstoppable.

Facing Manchester United, and with the game just starting, Yaya Touré was mostly sitting in the defensive midfield.

Struggling in midfield, Manchester United frequently resorted to long shots.

After two consecutive long shots failed to produce a result, C. Ronaldo sent a pass in the eleventh minute to Rooney inside the penalty area.

Rooney’s physical strength was truly incredible.

He managed to get a hold of the ball and take a shot while being double-teamed by José Fonte and Škrtel.

But due to the interference from the two defenders, his shot lacked power.

Manchester United had their spell of attack and took a moment to breathe.

At this point, the Bayswater Chinese began to exert their power.

They launched a series of attacks that put Manchester United’s defense under pressure.

In the fifteenth minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the halfway line. Džeko dropped back to receive the ball, turned, and sent a diagonal pass.

Arshavin received the ball at the left corner of Manchester United’s penalty area, closely marked by Ferdinand.

The Russian used a series of feints to successfully shake off Ferdinand before cutting inside horizontally.

Vidić immediately rushed forward to block him, but Arshavin played a diagonal pass into the right side of the penalty area.

Ashley Young used his speed to get past Heinze and broke into the box.

His shot, however, was gathered by the onrushing Van der Sar.

Ashley Young gave Arshavin a thumbs-up from a distance.

It was a beautiful pass, just a little too close to the six-yard box.

If it had been a bit wider, Ashley Young would have been more confident.

Subsequently, the corner kick taken by Ashley Young failed to create a threat.

As the Englishman was jogging back, he heard his head coach shouting to him from the sideline.

“Ashley, Ashley, over here.”

Since the Bayswater Chinese were attacking from left to right, Ashley Young was on the same side as the technical area.

Hearing Yang Cheng’s call, he immediately ran over.

“Heinze doesn’t seem to be at his sharpest tonight. Push harder, take him down!”

“I’ll have them pass to you!”

Yang Cheng’s words filled Ashley Young with boundless confidence. He nodded emphatically in agreement and quickly ran back onto the pitch.

The players on the field soon received Yang Cheng’s instructions.

The Bayswater Chinese began to push up.

A minute later, still on the left flank, a long shot from Arshavin deflected off Hargreaves and went out for a corner.

Another corner kick.

Ashley Young took it again, but Škrtel’s header went over.

Their efficiency from set pieces was not that high.

But then, in the eighteenth minute, Manchester United had possession in their defensive third.

Džeko made a token press towards Ferdinand and Vidić.

The ball was passed to Heinze.

The moment the Argentinian defender received the ball, Ashley Young suddenly appeared in front of him, startling Heinze, who instinctively passed the ball towards Carrick.

But no one expected that just as Carrick was about to receive the ball, Lassana Diarra would suddenly come flying in from the side with a sliding tackle, intercepting the ball first.

The ball went back to the right wing.

Ashley Young and Heinze both sprinted towards it.

The English winger got to the ball first. Heinze immediately got tight behind him, preventing him from turning and trying to force him to pass backward.

But Ashley Young first feigned a move to cut inside, throwing Heinze off balance, then suddenly turned to the outside and knocked the ball behind Heinze.

Immediately after, Ashley Young burst into a sprint, chasing down his own pass at top speed. He reached the right side of Manchester United’s penalty area and delivered a low, driven cross.

Two players were waiting in the middle and at the far post.

In the end, it was Džeko at the near post who made a quick run in front of Ferdinand and, from eight meters out, poked the ball past Van der Sar and into the goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the eighteenth minute, Džeko breaks the deadlock against Manchester United!”

“This is the Bosnian centre-forward’s third Premier League goal of the season!”

“1-0!”

“It came from a cross from the right by Ashley Young.”

“Heinze has to take responsibility for that goal.”

“He was deceived far too easily by Ashley Young, and then he failed to get back into position in time to block Ashley Young’s cross, which led to the goal.”

After conceding, Manchester United began to play with more ferocity.

The Red Devils were not a pushover.

The teams coached by Ferguson were renowned for their domineering presence.

But the Bayswater Chinese were no less formidable.

The two teams continued their earlier end-to-end battle, a back-and-forth affair with neither side willing to yield.

But starting from the twentieth minute, C. Ronaldo switched from the right wing to the left.

At first, Yang Cheng was worried that Piszczek wouldn’t be able to handle him alone, so he had Ashley Young track back more to support him.

In the twenty-third minute, it was Ashley Young, tracking back on defense, who fouled C. Ronaldo, giving Manchester United a free-kick.

C. Ronaldo’s shot was saved by Neuer.

But after defending against him a few times and seeing Piszczek successfully contain C. Ronaldo’s dribbling runs, Ashley Young started to get more involved in the attack again, dueling with Heinze.

In the forty-first minute of the first half, Yaya Touré suddenly surged forward from deep in his own half. After receiving a pass from Modrić, he dribbled past Carrick and carried the ball all the way to the edge of Manchester United’s penalty arc on the right.

Just as everyone was bracing for a shot from Yaya Touré, the Ivorian suddenly delivered a chipped pass.

The football sailed over Manchester United’s defenders and landed in the unmanned area behind Heinze.

Ashley Young made a quick run, getting there before anyone else. He controlled the ball with his chest, turning his body, and then casually flicked it with his right foot.

The curve on the ball was bizarre; it looked like a shot, but it wasn’t quite.

The Manchester United defenders in the penalty area couldn’t make an effective read on it.

Especially Gary Neville at the far post.

It wasn’t until the ball had crossed the middle of the box and was dropping into his zone that the Manchester United captain snapped to his senses.

But Arshavin, who had been ready all along, rushed forward, beat Gary Neville to it, and ducked his head to nod the ball into the Manchester United goal once again.

2-0!

Chapter 106: Conquering the Bernabéu! Only Bayswater Chinese Could Do It!

On the evening of September 26th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

Champions League Group Stage, Matchday 2: Bayswater Chinese away to Real Madrid.

From the very first second of the match, everyone watching—whether live at the Bernabéu or in front of a television—could sense that this was no ordinary game.

No one could put their finger on exactly what was different.

But there was a very special feeling in the air.

Sky Sports, which broadcast both the Premier League and the Champions League, had commentators who were very familiar with Bayswater Chinese, yet they could only point out that the positioning of a few players was unusual.

“Real Madrid’s starting lineup is still Fabio Capello’s customary 4-4-2 formation this season.”

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defence: Carlos, Cannavaro, Mejía, and Ramos;

Midfield: Guti, Mahamadou Diarra, Emerson, and Reyes;

Forwards: Van Nistelrooy and Raúl.

“Clearly, Capello has learned his lesson from the 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the first round of the group stage, starting the faster Reyes and the better passer, Guti.”

“As for right-back, Cicinho is out with a fracture sustained in the league, and the veteran Salgado is also injured. Therefore, Capello has moved Ramos to the right flank, with Mejía starting alongside Cannavaro.”

“This will likely be an area that Bayswater Chinese will target during the match.”

“Bayswater Chinese have largely stuck with the lineup that beat Manchester United 2-1 at home last weekend, but with a minor adjustment—Pepe has replaced Škrtel.”

“Last weekend, a defensive error from Škrtel in the second half gave C. Ronaldo the opportunity to score, and he faced considerable criticism after the match. Yang Cheng defended his player, but for this game, he has still chosen to start Pepe.”

“Bayswater Chinese are continuing with their 4-3-3 formation.”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Džeko, and Arshavin.

“Yes, you’re not seeing things.”

“The match hasn’t even started, but we can see Ashley Young positioned on the left wing.”

“Conversely, Arshavin is on the right side of the center circle, and there’s no one on the right wing.”

“From the positioning of these two players, we can also see that Arshavin seems to be drifting towards the right.”

“This is quite strange.”

“This season, Yang Cheng has always wanted Arshavin and Ashley Young to actively switch flanks, but the results haven’t been particularly effective.”

“So, in this match, is his decision to play Ashley Young on the left and Arshavin on the right a temporary arrangement specifically for Real Madrid? Or is he planning to permanently swap their positions?”

As soon as the head referee’s whistle blew, Real Madrid’s Raúl and Van Nistelrooy kicked off from the center circle.

Everyone watched as Bayswater Chinese began to press forward in numbers.

The Sky Sports commentator was not surprised.

“An opening blitz!”

“This has been a consistent tactic for Bayswater Chinese in recent matches. They’ve even scored the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, so Real Madrid needs to be careful.”

But before the commentator could finish his sentence, Bayswater Chinese’s high press had already forced the ball back to the feet of goalkeeper Casillas.

Džeko even looked like he was about to charge forward as Casillas controlled the ball, startling the keeper into snatching it up with his hands.

Real Madrid’s star goalkeeper quickly threw the ball out to Carlos on the other side, but Arshavin was already closing in, forcing a pass to Cannavaro.

The Italian centre-back, acting almost on instinct, immediately launched a long clearance upfield.

Pepe, challenging Raúl, won the initial header.

The two teams began a fierce battle for possession around the halfway line, in Real Madrid’s half.

Because Bayswater Chinese were pressing so high up the pitch, playing with a single holding midfielder, and even with their full-backs positioned aggressively, Guti soon received the ball in the left channel, shook off Lassana Diarra, and played a through ball.

Van Nistelrooy made a quick forward run.

But the moment he received the ball, the linesman raised his flag, signaling that Van Nistelrooy was offside.

The Dutchman clapped his hands together hard in frustration and questioned the head referee.

He was sure he hadn’t been offside when he started his run.

But the referee pointed to the linesman and explained, “My colleague had a very clear view. The moment before you started your run, the last defender, José Fonte, moved forward, which put you offside.”

Van Nistelrooy shook his head, annoyed, and walked back.

On the sidelines, Capello stepped out of the home dugout, shouting to Van Nistelrooy, telling him not to rush.

Yang Cheng, who understood their conversation, smiled faintly. He also walked to the touchline and called out to Lassana Diarra, reminding the Frenchman to be more mindful of his defensive duties and not let them pass so easily again.

“You haven’t even earned any money tonight, and you’re already fined two hundred!”

Lassana Diarra spread his hands innocently, then turned to glare at Guti with a look of pure grievance.

“This is all your fault! You owe me two hundred!”

…

“I still think our tactics for this match are too risky!”

After the game restarted and Yang Cheng returned to his spot in front of the dugout, Brian Kidd voiced his concerns.

The tactics for tonight’s game had been planned right after their first group stage match.

Yang Cheng had been inspired by watching Real Madrid’s game against Bayern Munich. Combining that with his own team’s current situation, he wanted to make some changes.

He always felt that Bayswater Chinese’s potential had not been fully unleashed yet.

For instance, Ashley Young’s best position was actually on the left. His renown was built on his performance there.

But in a 4-3-3, Arshavin’s best position was also on the left.

So, a sacrifice had to be made.

However, based on his performances this season, especially after his explosive debut, Arshavin had been consistently underwhelming.

It was a far cry from what Yang Cheng expected of him.

The problem wasn’t the player, but the tactics.

With his years of coaching experience, Yang Cheng knew the technical characteristics of every player and how to arrange tactics, but the question was, could the players execute them to his expectations?

For example, he wanted Ashley Young and Arshavin to interchange positions and create fluid movement with Džeko.

But in reality, they couldn’t pull it off effectively.

Or rather, the effect was minimal.

This required the head coach to constantly adjust and find the right balance.

In this match, Arshavin wasn’t really playing on the right wing either; he had been completely let off the leash, playing as a free-roaming forward.

Ashley Young, on the other hand, was playing his best position as a left winger.

With this setup, the interaction and connection between Džeko, Arshavin, and Modrić became crucial.

And what about the right flank?

It was entrusted to Maicon!

Previously, with Ashley Young on the right, Maicon’s forward runs were somewhat restricted.

Now, with Arshavin as a free-roaming player, the entire right flank became the Maicon corridor.

Not only that, Yang Cheng pushed Leighton Baines further up the pitch as well.

This resulted in both full-backs taking up very advanced positions.

Often, only the two centre-backs were left at the back.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng’s greatest asset was his team’s powerful midfield.

Without this midfield anchor, Yang Cheng wouldn’t dare to play so boldly.

Having only two centre-backs also had an advantage: it was perfect for an offside trap.

The biggest risk of an offside trap is the coordination among four defenders.

Now, there weren’t four, only two.

In fact, even Pepe often pushed up to press.

Why did they concede a goal in the second half against Manchester United last weekend?

With only fifteen minutes left in the match, Yang Cheng had wanted to experiment with this system.

As it turned out, Škrtel didn’t step up in time, and C. Ronaldo broke the offside trap.

Although they ultimately defeated Manchester United 2-1, how could Yang Cheng dare to use Škrtel in this match?

Between the very fast Pepe and Koscielny, Yang Cheng chose the more individually skilled Pepe.

And Real Madrid’s two forwards, Van Nistelrooy and Raúl, were not known for their pace.

So, even if the offside trap failed, Pepe’s recovery speed would be enough to catch up.

“The rougher the seas, the pricier the fish, Brian!” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

On the pitch, Real Madrid began to focus their attacks on the right flank, where Reyes was positioned.

Capello was using Reyes, but not on the left; he was having the left-footed player play on the right.

This was very interesting.

An inverted right midfielder.

On the left, Guti was primarily responsible for the final ball.

“You know, when our defense pushes up collectively, leaving a huge amount of space behind them, what do you think the Real Madrid players feel when they see that?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

Having been a player and a coach himself, Brian Kidd knew, of course.

Isn’t that how many fans feel when watching a game?

Just hoof a long ball over the top…

“Exactly. Let them play long balls. Real Madrid doesn’t have much passing and possession ability anyway. With that midfield of theirs, can they really string passes together?”

“Let them play long balls. With José Fonte and Pepe, whether one-on-one or together, Van Nistelrooy and Raúl won’t get any advantage.”

The only potential risk was Pepe’s tendency for petty, dirty fouls.

It was a common flaw among all Brazilian players.

“We just need to use a high press, force Real Madrid to play long balls. With our two centre-backs and the offside trap we’ve been drilling for so long, and especially with José Fonte commanding the backline, there’s nothing to worry about!”

José Fonte was an interesting centre-back. In terms of individual ability, he was actually quite average.

The strange thing was, he was a true commander of the backline, a player who used his head.

Moreover, his communication skills were maxed out; he got along well with everyone in the dressing room, and players like Pepe were willing to follow his lead.

This type of player wasn’t unheard of; for example, Demichelis from Argentina.

Isn’t it amazing?

He seems to have a lot of problems and his ability isn’t great, yet he somehow manages to be a starter.

If José Fonte weren’t on the pitch tonight, Yang Cheng would never have dared to push his defensive line so high, let alone play an offside trap.

Judging from the first few minutes of the game, Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about the defense.

What he was really worried about was the attack.

“If our attacking tactics work tonight, Brian, we’re going to turn European football and the Premier League upside down this season!”

Yang Cheng’s words were filled with bold confidence.

How important were tactics?

One only needed to look at Ferguson’s Manchester United and Wenger’s Arsenal to know.

Many fans often said that Ferguson left behind a championship-winning squad.

True, they did win the title.

But how poor was that squad in terms of talent?

It became glaringly obvious after Ferguson retired.

Some people might ask, then why could they win titles when Ferguson was in charge?

Because Ferguson’s tactics were superior.

And this superiority wasn’t something his successor, David Moyes, could simply replicate by following in his footsteps.

It was a tactical understanding that could only be grasped intuitively, not explained in words.

Then there was Wenger’s Arsenal. How many of the young players Wenger relied on, like Denílson and Diaby, managed to establish themselves in a top league after leaving Arsenal?

Yet Wenger consistently secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with that group of young players.

He relied on tactics!

Currently, Bayswater Chinese’s squad was much stronger than the Arsenal team Wenger had at his disposal.

If Yang Cheng could really get them firing on all cylinders, he was determined to make a huge splash!

…

Yang Cheng’s high defensive line was indeed a massive temptation for Real Madrid.

It was like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, constantly beckoning the Real Madrid players to attempt a long pass.

Coupled with the high press in midfield and attack, it was only natural for Real Madrid to opt for more long balls.

A prime example came in the 12th minute.

Real Madrid’s Ramos launched a long pass directly from the right side of his own penalty area.

The pass was so sudden that José Fonte and Pepe had no time to set the offside trap, and the defense was split wide open.

But Pepe’s recovery speed was incredibly fast. He immediately chased after Van Nistelrooy.

Starting from at least two body lengths behind, he sprinted until he was nearly level.

As the ball dropped, Pepe jumped first, using his hand to press down on Van Nistelrooy, preventing the Dutchman from getting off the ground.

He didn’t get the ball himself either.

As a result, the ball flew over both their heads, landing to the left of the arc at the top of the penalty area.

By this time, Neuer had already rushed out of his box.

When Yang Cheng decided to employ a high defensive line, he also further liberated Neuer’s area of operation.

After charging out of the penalty area, the German goalkeeper faced the advancing Van Nistelrooy. He cut the ball to his left with his right foot, evading the striker, and then sent a long pass upfield with his left.

This not only stunned Van Nistelrooy but also surprised the fans in the stadium.

What was even more outrageous was that his long pass landed directly behind Real Madrid’s double pivot, finding Džeko.

If it were a rushed long clearance, it would be nothing special; all goalkeepers do that.

A long pass?

Not unheard of, but accuracy is always a gamble.

But for a player like Neuer to dribble past Van Nistelrooy and then deliver a long pass with his left foot, accurately finding the withdrawn centre-forward Džeko—that was simply absurd!

He was a right-footed player, and his long passing with his right foot was also excellent.

But most shocking of all was his calmness and rationality when facing pressure from Van Nistelrooy.

Before the Bernabéu fans could recover from the shock of Neuer’s incredible long pass, they heard Cannavaro’s urgent shout.

Neuer’s long pass had found Džeko perfectly.

The Bosnian centre-forward had dropped back from the front line to the center circle in his own half. With his back to Mejía, he chested down the long pass, flicked it with his foot, turned, and then sent another lofted through ball.

The entire sequence was incredibly smooth and elegant.

It wasn’t until Cannavaro’s shout rang out that everyone noticed a red figure sprinting forward at incredible speed, leaving the aging Carlos behind, shrugging off the recovering Cannavaro, and piercing through the white defensive line like a sharp blade.

After catching up to the pass outside the Real Madrid penalty area, Arshavin took a touch to his left, held off Carlos with his arm, and then chased after it, carrying the ball into the penalty area with his left foot.

At that moment, Carlos dared not make any move.

Cannavaro, chasing from behind, was equally hesitant.

Both could only watch as Arshavin bore down on Casillas, who had advanced to the edge of the six-yard box.

The Russian shot with his left foot.

The ball flew like a straight line, rocketing into the Real Madrid goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 12th minute, Real Madrid’s goal has been breached!”

“It’s the Russian player from Bayswater Chinese, Andrei Arshavin!”

“My God, that counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese was so fast!”

“Real Madrid’s defensive line was torn apart in an instant.”

“It’s simply unbelievable!”

“Just moments ago, we were saying that Bayswater Chinese’s tactics tonight were too aggressive, especially their high defensive line, leaving a huge amount of space for Real Madrid’s players to exploit.”

“Unexpectedly, right after we said that, Bayswater Chinese turned the tables and tore through Real Madrid’s backline.”

“1-0!”

“Capello needs to seriously reconsider his approach now.”

Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement, cheering loudly for his players on the pitch.

…

After conceding the first goal, Real Madrid was clearly playing with a sense of urgency.

They had already lost their opening Champions League group stage match 2-0 away to Bayern Munich.

Now, playing at home against Bayswater Chinese, if they failed to win again, they would likely be torn to shreds by their own fans. Every player was putting in extra effort.

But there’s a saying that’s very true.

When you’re heading in the wrong direction, the harder you try, the worse the outcome.

Real Madrid’s current situation was that they could clearly see the vast space behind Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

If they could just get the ball over the top and have a player run onto it, they could create a one-on-one situation.

But it was in the execution of the pass and the run that they kept failing.

First, they tried to use Reyes’s pace.

The young Spanish player had speed and technique, making him ideal for breaking the offside trap.

But he was playing as a right midfielder, and the distance he had to cover to run onto a long pass was too great; he was always a step too slow.

What about Van Nistelrooy and Raúl up front?

They simply didn’t have the pace to exploit that space.

In the ten minutes following the goal, Guti attempted two through balls.

Both times, the pass was either blocked or the intended target couldn’t reach it in time.

Worse still, Van Nistelrooy wasn’t very committed to pressing from the front.

He was thirty years old and had barely played in the second half of last season. His main priority now was to maintain his goal-scoring efficiency and live up to his title as the king of the six-yard box.

But now, with Bayswater Chinese pushing their defensive line so high, he was rendered completely ineffective.

If he stayed too far forward, he was offside.

If he dropped back, he was too far from the goal.

This left both Van Nistelrooy and Raúl increasingly frustrated.

In those ten minutes, Real Madrid were caught offside twice—once Raúl from a Guti pass, and once Reyes.

By the 20-minute mark, even the Real Madrid fans in the stands could see what was happening.

Capello’s team had absolutely no answer to these tactics.

Were they supposed to rely on Mahamadou Diarra and Emerson?

Oh, dear God, all they did was sit back and protect the defense.

Right now, this Real Madrid team could only bully weaker teams in La Liga.

Even when they attempted long passes, their accuracy was very low.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese first created a chance when Maicon made a long run down the right flank, broke into the final third, and delivered a cross that nearly resulted in an own goal from Mejía.

The Real Madrid centre-back, challenging Džeko in the air, almost headed the ball into his own net.

Then, in the 25th minute, as Real Madrid midfielder Emerson attempted another through ball, José Fonte intercepted it just before it reached Van Nistelrooy, deflecting it to the oncoming Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian controlled the ball and turned without any pressure.

As he carried the ball forward to the halfway line, Mahamadou Diarra finally decided to close him down.

Yaya Touré chose not to take him on, and seeing Džeko dropping back, he immediately played a medium-range pass.

Džeko once again dropped back into the unguarded area in the right channel, with his back to goal, holding Cannavaro behind him. He controlled the ball, turned, and played another through ball.

This time, Arshavin appeared in the center, having shaken off his marker, Emerson. He sprinted forward, caught up to Džeko’s pass, and drove towards the goal with long strides.

But he couldn’t create a one-on-one this time, as Mejía was covering.

Mejía stuck to Arshavin tightly, forcing the Russian to slow down upon entering Real Madrid’s thirty-meter zone, turn his back to goal, and shield the ball.

On the left, Ashley Young was making a quick forward run, but Ramos was tracking him all the way.

Džeko was also pushing forward.

The Bosnian centre-forward made a diagonal run from the right channel, moving in front of Arshavin to receive the ball.

If he got the ball, he would be facing the goal.

Dealing with the situation from there would be much easier.

Cannavaro knew this, so he stayed glued to Džeko.

Under these circumstances, Carlos could no longer stay on the left; he chose to run towards Arshavin, ready to help Mejía at any moment.

At this point, Real Madrid’s defense seemed to have stabilized.

But in the next instant, another red figure appeared like a bolt of lightning, hurtling into everyone’s view at incredible speed.

The entire right side of the pitch was devoid of a single defender!

Arshavin had initially intended to pass to Džeko, but upon seeing Maicon, he chose to distribute the ball wide.

Maicon sprinted to the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area, caught up to Arshavin’s pass, took a touch into the box, accelerated again, and, before Casillas could react, unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball once again flew over Casillas’s head and into the empty net behind him.

Maicon himself seemed a bit stunned.

But soon, the Brazilian let out an excited roar, turned, and ran off to celebrate.

“Oh my word, oh my word, Bayswater Chinese have scored another goal!!”

“It’s the Brazilian right-back, Maicon!”

“It’s not even been half an hour, and they’re already two goals ahead!”

“There was no one on the entire left flank to stop Maicon in time! All the attention was drawn to Džeko and Arshavin in the middle, and they completely overlooked Maicon’s late overlapping run, giving the Brazilian right-back a golden opportunity!”

“Before the match, Capello was very satisfied with his defense.”

“But now, we see that it’s precisely the defensive line he was most proud of that has been breached time and again by Bayswater Chinese. In less than half an hour, they’ve already conceded two goals!”

“We have to admit, the entire Real Madrid team is severely off their game tonight!”

“This is a very dire situation.”

…

Having conceded two goals, Real Madrid had descended into a state of utter panic.

It wasn’t just the scoreline; it was the entire flow of the game. They simply couldn’t find a way to counter their opponents.

They allowed Bayswater Chinese to press them high up the pitch, yet they lacked the ability and the speed to penetrate their backline, leaving the Real Madrid players extremely frustrated.

The fans at the Bernabéu were also highly dissatisfied with their team’s performance, and the jeers were deafening.

From the latter days of the Galácticos to the present, Real Madrid had failed to deliver a satisfactory performance.

Now, with a new Chairman and a new head coach, and after countless player changes, they were still playing this shakily.

Losing 2-0 away to Bayern Munich was one thing, but to lose like this at home was unforgivable!

The boos from the stands further fueled the anxiety and unease of the Real Madrid players.

After finally succeeding in beating the offside trap, Raúl, despite having a passing option, chose to shoot himself.

The shot was saved comfortably by Neuer.

This earned Raúl a chorus of boos from his own fans.

Amidst this anxiety and turmoil, Real Madrid’s defense collapsed once again.

After Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the halfway line, Modrić initiated a counter-attack.

Both Emerson and Mahamadou Diarra chose to retreat immediately rather than press him.

This gave Modrić the space to drive forward with the ball.

The Croatian capitalized on the gap left by Real Madrid’s double pivot, who were not yet in position, and the right-back Ramos, who had rushed forward to join the attack and hadn’t tracked back in time. With a feint, he made it seem like he was going to pass to Džeko but suddenly played a diagonal pass to the left.

Ashley Young made a quick diagonal run, carrying the ball down the left side to the edge of Real Madrid’s box. As Mejía came out to challenge him, he sent a low, driven cross into the space behind the defense with his right foot.

Džeko, following up in the center, arrived at full tilt. He used his body to hold off Cannavaro and then swept Ashley Young’s cross into the bottom right corner of the Real Madrid goal with his left foot.

3-0!

The collapse was like a landslide!

None of the Bernabéu fans could believe what they were seeing.

The glaring scoreboard displayed a result they simply could not accept.

It was only the first half, just over thirty minutes gone!

What was even more unacceptable was that less than seven minutes after the third goal, in the 44th minute, just before the end of the first half, Yaya Touré played a through ball to Arshavin in the final third.

The Russian drove forward with the ball through the center and, before Emerson and Mahamadou Diarra could close him down, he threaded a pass that precisely split Real Madrid’s two defensive lines.

From the double pivot to the two centre-backs, Arshavin’s pass, as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel, completely dissected Real Madrid’s defense.

Džeko quickly chased after it, using his body to shield the ball from Mejía. He then came to a sudden halt and, with the outside of his right foot, flicked the ball to the right of Cannavaro.

Cannavaro had completely overcommitted.

By the time the Italian centre-back turned around, he saw Džeko already unleashing a powerful shot.

The tall, long-limbed Bosnian striker’s shooting motion was incredibly fluid, possessing an indescribable grace.

But the resulting shot mercilessly pierced through Real Madrid’s goal.

That was the fourth goal conceded in the first half!

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines, laughing as he watched his players celebrating wildly on the pitch.

Džeko had scored a brace.

Whether facing Mejía or Cannavaro, he had a clear advantage in both physique and skill.

“So, what do you think, Brian?” Yang Cheng asked Brian Kidd, his voice thick with pride.

“Are you satisfied with this catch?”

Brian Kidd was grinning from ear to ear.

He never in his wildest dreams imagined the game would turn out like this.

He knew Yang Cheng hadn’t expected it either.

Who would dare to think they could score four goals against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in a single half?

Bayswater Chinese could!

“I’m convinced!” Brian Kidd admitted, completely won over.

He had genuinely thought Yang Cheng’s tactics tonight were risky and aggressive.

If the offside trap hadn’t been set up perfectly, Real Madrid could have torn them apart in minutes.

Just like the goal they conceded against Manchester United.

But now, he had to eat his words.

“This system, I think it works!” Brian Kidd had changed his mind.

The proof was right there before his eyes. If it could do this to Real Madrid, what more needed to be said?

More importantly, everyone was firing on all cylinders—the front three, Maicon, the midfield, even the goalkeeper.

“However, in the Premier League, we probably can’t be this adventurous. We can’t leave too much space for the opposition to run into behind the defense,” Brian Kidd advised.

Yang Cheng nodded.

He had considered that as well.

The Premier League was full of fast players; almost every team had two or three.

That would be very troublesome.

However, it wasn’t an insurmountable problem.

Bayswater Chinese’s biggest advantage right now was their midfield.

After being honed last season, this season’s midfield trio was noticeably stronger.

On the bench, Inler was also an excellent player, and Matuidi could fill in capably.

Only the position held by Nemanja Matić was a bit thin.

But they could adapt as needed.

As long as the midfield remained stable, everything else was manageable.

It could be said that after several rounds of experimentation this season, Yang Cheng had now basically found the tactical system best suited for Bayswater Chinese.

The next step was to make further minor adjustments and improvements, and then make appropriate targeted arrangements based on the opponent.

At the thought of this, Yang Cheng’s heart pounded with excitement.

In his past life, he had never won an influential trophy!

That’s why many fans didn’t recognize him as a world-class manager, and some even looked down on him.

Now, although he had won the UEFA Cup, the prestige of that competition was certainly debatable.

But Yang Cheng could clearly feel it now.

This team of his had what it took to challenge for championships!

Putting everything else aside, looking at the current football world, which team could claim to have beaten Barcelona 4-0 and Real Madrid 4-0?

None, right?

But Bayswater Chinese had done it!

Not only had they done it, but they had also achieved two feats that others wouldn’t even dare to dream of, all in one go!

If you had said this before the season started, who would have believed it?

…

Fabio Capello was, after all, a world-class manager.

After conceding four goals in the first half, he made a crucial substitution during the halftime break.

He brought on Beckham for Reyes.

Since Reyes couldn’t break through Bayswater Chinese’s defense, and since they liked to play an offside trap, he would bring on a long passer to counter it with long balls.

Guti on the left, Beckham on the right.

That was Capello’s strategy.

As soon as Beckham came on, Yang Cheng knew it would be almost impossible to maintain the momentum of the first half.

From then on, Bayswater Chinese began to shift their focus to defense.

Capello made his second change in the 65th minute, bringing on Ronaldo for Van Nistelrooy.

At that point, Yang Cheng completely abandoned any thoughts of continuing to attack, instead starting to strengthen his midfield defense and control, looking to hit Real Madrid on the counter-attack.

In the 75th minute, Capello used Robinho to replace Raúl.

But by then, it was too little, too late.

The Bernabéu fans were even booing when their own players had the ball.

In front of the away team’s dugout, another thought occurred to Yang Cheng.

Could he possibly sign Beckham?

Or rather, would it be worth it?

From a tactical perspective, Yang Cheng’s team was currently lacking a long passer of his caliber.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many people didn’t place much importance on this type of player.

For example, Capello currently didn’t value Beckham much and would even go on to bench him.

In 2009, Benítez didn’t think highly of Xabi Alonso either.

And even in 2024, many fans would still ask, what exactly did Toni Kroos do in the ‘Ceremony Trio’?

Besides stable passing and distribution, what else?

Just that one long pass?

Did he deserve such a high salary?

When Capello’s Real Madrid reinstated Beckham in the second half of the season, when Liverpool lost Xabi Alonso in 2009…

Everyone could clearly see just how important it was for a team to have such an outstanding long passer!

They could successfully switch the play to any part of the pitch, to any defensive weak spot, at almost any time.

It was a strategic-level weapon!

When you have such a player, you might think they’re nothing special, quite inconspicuous.

But once you lose them, the regret is immense.

This was true for Capello’s Real Madrid, for Benítez’s Liverpool, and Yang Cheng believed that when Toni Kroos eventually retired, it would be the same for Ancelotti’s Real Madrid.

And Beckham was different from other players; he had immense commercial value.

Of course, his salary was also very high.

The thought gave Yang Cheng a headache.

He quickly dismissed the tempting idea.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current income, they couldn’t afford Beckham.

Even if they managed to scrape it together, it was hard to say how much their commercial revenue would increase.

But one thing was certain: the team’s midfield would be thrown into chaos.

Not to mention anything else, Modrić and Yaya Touré were untouchable, which would mean dropping Lassana Diarra.

But doing so would significantly reduce the midfield’s pressing intensity.

Lassana Diarra’s contribution shouldn’t be underestimated. His presence not only protected the right flank when Maicon went on an overlapping run but also allowed him to cover for Yaya Touré when the Ivorian pushed forward.

His role was still very important.

Beckham could provide long passes, but he couldn’t offer Lassana Diarra’s running coverage and pressing ability.

So, it was better to forget it.

Yang Cheng thought about waiting a bit longer and seeing when he could snatch Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich.

In fact, he had been in contact with Toni Kroos back in 2005 and had even spoken to him on the phone.

But unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

Between a newly promoted team in the Premier League and a German giant, as a German, Toni Kroos made a very wise choice.

…

Chelsea beat Levski Sofia 3-1 away.

Liverpool narrowly defeated Galatasaray 3-2 at home.

Manchester United beat Benfica 1-0 away.

All three of the Premier League’s powerhouses won their Champions League group stage matches.

This had many Premier League fans worried: could Bayswater Chinese escape the Bernabéu Stadium unscathed?

They weren’t asking for a win, just a draw.

At the very least, they shouldn’t lose too badly, right?

Just as the renowned Manchester Evening News columnist, Sadler, had asserted after Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese had already given up on the Champions League to focus on the Premier League.

His reasoning was, given their squad depth, after going all-out against Manchester United at home, what did they have left to compete with Real Madrid away?

After all three traditional powerhouses had won, another journalist from the Manchester Evening News, Hans, wrote an article that, on the surface, expressed hope for Bayswater Chinese, but in reality, put them on a pedestal.

In the words of Chinese netizens, it was stirring up drama, setting them up for a fall by过praising them.

The traditional big three all won. If Bayswater Chinese can’t win, aren’t they just embarrassing the Premier League?

Aside from the Manchester Evening News, the rest of the British media were also watching the show.

For them, football equaled traffic.

But at that very moment, an unbelievable 4-0 result emerged from the Bernabéu Stadium!

This insane victory not only shocked the entire English football world but also stunned all of Europe, and indeed, the entire world.

No football fan could believe it.

Capello’s Real Madrid lost 4-0 at the Bernabéu Stadium?

That was just too ridiculous!

But the facts were right there.

The initial reaction of the British media was also: fake news.

But after confirming it and receiving affirmation, they were basically dumbfounded.

How was this possible?

That was Real Madrid!

Although Real Madrid had been weak in recent years, they were no lambs to the slaughter.

Especially this season, under the management of Capello, a notoriously tough and disciplined coach.

To be beaten 4-0, and at home no less!

Once the news was confirmed to be true, all of Fleet Street absolutely erupted!

Bayswater Chinese had conquered the Bernabéu!

In the face of this 4-0 victory, the matches of the traditional big three suddenly seemed completely unremarkable.

More importantly, the style of football Bayswater Chinese displayed in this match, especially the devastating, high-tempo attacking storm in the first half, was just exhilarating to watch.

Four goals, all in the first half!

The famous Daily Mail journalist Martin Samuel swore in his column.

“If someone ever told you that there was a team in the world that could, in the space of a month, first thrash Barcelona 4-0 and then beat Real Madrid 4-0 at the Bernabéu, what would your reaction be?”

“You would absolutely never believe it!”

“It’s not real!”

“No one can do that, not even God!”

“Right?”

“But, now, a team has done it!”

“Not only did they beat Barça 4-0 to win the UEFA Super Cup, but they also beat Real Madrid 4-0 at the Bernabéu.”

“Both matches were clean sheets!”

“Such a ridiculous, unbelievable miracle actually damn well happened!”

“And that team is Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese!”

The Guardian also reported on and analyzed the match immediately.

They believed that Yang Cheng’s team had found their optimal combination at the Bernabéu, completely unleashing the team’s attacking firepower.

The 20-year-old Džeko scored a brace at the Bernabéu.

Arshavin, Ashley Young, Maicon, Modrić…

“All of Bayswater Chinese’s players performed exceptionally well.”

“In that first half at the Bernabéu, Yang Cheng and his team defined what perfection is!”

“Perfect players, a perfectly matched tactic!”

“They utterly destroyed Real Madrid’s confidence!”

The Times reported in its front-page headline that Bayswater Chinese was a team meticulously crafted by Yang Cheng.

The midfield had been磨合and tested over the previous season and was now quite mature.

The 23-year-old Yaya Touré, and the 21-year-olds Modrić and Lassana Diarra.

This midfield trio was not only supremely talented but also had a wealth of match experience.

Among them, Modrić had been playing for Bayswater Chinese since they were in League Two.

“He was the first player Yang Cheng signed, and also the first talented midfielder in the history of the English leagues to be signed using the Special Talent Clause.”

“Now, no one should doubt Yang Cheng’s eye for talent anymore.”

And then there was José Fonte.

The centre-back had joined Bayswater Chinese on a free transfer after he could no longer find a place at Sporting Lisbon.

The Times believed that this match at the Bernabéu signaled that Bayswater Chinese was entering a completely new stage of development.

“This team has clearly found the tactics that suit them best. What kind of fighting power Yang Cheng’s team will unleash next, let’s wait and see!”

What the Bayswater Chinese players completely did not expect was that when the team returned to London from Spain, fans actually came to Heathrow Airport to greet them.

This was a first for them, truly!

Although there were only a few dozen people, it was still very heartening.

When the team arrived at Bayswater Stadium, a crowd of fans had already gathered, all cheering for the team.

Some even shouted that they would follow the team to away games next time.

To miss such a spectacular clash was a huge loss for any fan who loved football and loved Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng and the players were all a bit overwhelmed by the attention.

They really hadn’t expected this huge victory to bring them such an unexpected reward.

After Yang Cheng had delegated all the necessary tasks, Xia Qing and Adam Crozier brought him another piece of good news.

The club’s season tickets were still selling!

“And, from last night to today, there’s been a small peak in sales!”

The season tickets being sold now were discounted for the games already played, so the price was lower.

“In addition, individual tickets for our remaining two Champions League group stage matches have also seen a small sales spike.”

Yang Cheng felt nothing but joy.

Chapter 107: I’m Going for the Title! Go on, Wenger, I Believe in You!

“We’ve got a problem this season!”

After Ferguson watched the Champions League match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid—or rather, after watching just the first half—he knew he was in trouble.

Big trouble.

“That kid is a monster!” Ferguson said, gritting his teeth.

He had high hopes for this season.

He believed that signing Evra and Vidić during the winter transfer window had shored up their defensive weaknesses. The summer acquisitions of Carrick and Owen Hargreaves had also strengthened the midfield. Offloading Van Nistelrooy clarified the team’s tactical direction. Keeping C. Ronaldo and persuading Rooney had settled the dressing room.

All of this made Ferguson feel that Manchester United had a real chance this season!

Especially after seeing Chelsea sign Shevchenko. That was practically signing up for a massive headache.

And now, Bayswater Chinese had come roaring back!

“They really do look stronger than last season!” Queiroz said with a helpless smile. He would never dare say such a thing in public.

“The key is Yang Cheng.”

Ferguson sighed. “If we were facing the Bayswater Chinese from the sixth round of the Premier League, honestly, I’d be a little worried, but not overly concerned. But this team that played against Real Madrid…”

“That tactical adjustment was bloody brilliant!”

Even Ferguson couldn’t help but swear. His words held a mix of admiration for a fellow head coach and resentment for a rival.

Queiroz nodded in agreement.

Giving Arshavin so much freedom was something even Ribéry hadn’t enjoyed before. And that Džeko, his tactical authority was also immense. Conversely, Ashley Young’s move from the right to the left flank had also turned out to be very effective.

Judging by the first half alone, Yang Cheng had played the hand he was dealt to perfection.

“Still, it’s a good thing. The game’s more fun with a rival!” Ferguson let out a hearty laugh. His words sounded bold, but they also carried a hint of self-encouragement.

Rising to a challenge had always been Ferguson’s trademark.

“The season is long, and there are still many unknowns,” Queiroz said with a nod and a smile.

In-game adjustments, player injuries, fluctuations in form, even tactics being figured out by opponents…

Too many factors could cause a rapid decline in Bayswater Chinese’s performance. If one spectacular victory was enough to win a league title, would football still be so interesting?

“The challenge now for Yang Cheng is to solidify the team’s current tactics and maintain this form for as long as possible. If he doesn’t handle it well, it could all vanish in an instant.”

Queiroz was speaking the simple truth.

“Let’s just focus on ourselves and minimize our mistakes!”

Having lost to Bayswater Chinese at Wembley Stadium in the sixth round, Manchester United was currently in fourth place.

Bayswater Chinese led the league table with five wins and one draw.

Chelsea followed closely with fifteen points.

Portsmouth had thirteen.

Manchester United and Everton both had twelve.

…

“Hmph, nouveau riche!”

At the Chelsea training ground north of London’s Heathrow Airport, Mourinho watched the Champions League match at the Bernabéu. Seeing the tidal wave of praise from the media, he uttered the comment with utter disdain.

For him, even if he agreed with it in his heart, he would never show it.

Because they were his arch-rivals!

Not just the team, but that damn head coach too!

“Against a team coached by Fabio Capello, even I could have gone there and banged in four goals.”

After a pause, Mourinho’s brow furrowed again.

“But it doesn’t matter. I’ll give you another half a month, and then I’ll come to Wembley Stadium and kill you myself!”

“I will avenge my defeat!”

…

In North London, at the Colney training ground.

Wenger watched the battle at the Bernabéu with a worried heart, the lines of age on his face deepening. His already melancholic expression looked even more bitter.

“They lost Ribéry, so how come they’re completely unaffected?”

“And that Arshavin, from Russia, how is he so good?”

“Damn you, Yang Cheng! Damn you, Bayswater Chinese!”

“With you guys playing like this, what’s going to happen to my top-four finish?”

“Am I really going to be stuck playing in the UEFA Cup again next season?”

Wenger had always been a deep thinker. Now, after watching the game at the Bernabéu, he suddenly realized that his own team might not be up to the task.

What was he to do?

…

Yang Cheng, of course, had no idea what his rivals were thinking.

Upon returning to London from Madrid, the team received a hero’s welcome for the first time. Even the atmosphere within the squad had improved.

But as the team’s head coach, with years of experience, Yang Cheng knew very well that this victory was already in the past. Now, he had to find a way to prolong the team’s current run of form.

So he immediately called a meeting with the entire first-team coaching staff to discuss the upcoming training schedule.

Any fan familiar with football knows that team training should simulate real-game situations as closely as possible. This is because the purpose of training is to prepare for matches.

Therefore, this simulation isn’t just about the size of the pitch, the intensity of contact, player selection, or positional arrangements; it also includes the simulation of tactics and techniques.

If you’ve ever watched a professional training session, you’d notice that teams rarely practice formations like 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 directly. Those are more for defining player positions on the pitch. In training, it doesn’t usually work like that.

Instead, the team is divided into various small groups. For example, in an attack vs. defense drill, a 4-v-5 scenario might involve just the four defenders if the focus is on the backline. Previously, when Bayswater Chinese practiced the offside trap, it was just the back four working as a unit. If they were practicing play on the right flank, it would involve the right-back, right-sided centre-back, and right-sided midfielder. Who specifically participated depended on the coaching staff’s plan. The same principle applied to left-flank play and attacking combinations.

But during training, the coaching staff can’t just dump all their requirements on the players at once. That’s unrealistic. Even in school, students need to understand the material in a textbook and do homework exercises to reinforce it. This is a deeper level of practice and collaboration.

After so many years of development in professional football, countless predecessors have figured it out: in training, you have to break down what the coach wants to instill in the players, incorporate it into various drills, and let the players understand and experience it for themselves.

Not only that, for the same training drill, the coaching staff usually designs scenarios with varying levels of difficulty. Starting from the basics and progressing to more complex situations, players are gradually led to grasp the head coach’s intentions.

What if a player can’t understand? Or understands but can’t execute?

Well, there’s not much you can do. If a young player encounters this, they’ll usually perform poorly, fail to integrate into the team, and get labeled a flop. Sometimes, it can even lead to a case of wasted potential.

So, on what basis does the coaching staff arrange and design these training programs?

It’s not as if the head coach can just say, “I want to play possession-based football,” and the coaching staff arranges it accordingly. It’s not that simple.

If a head coach were to say that, they’d be considered an amateur. Football already involves possession. What kind of possession do you want to play? Like Barça? What aspects of Barça’s play do you want to emulate? Oh, small-group passing among three to five players? Fine, no problem. To what level do you want to master it?

In the end, it’s about constant refinement and getting more specific. The head coach must provide a very clear training guideline so that the entire coaching staff knows how the team is supposed to play, how they should coordinate, and what results they aim to achieve.

Finally, the coaching staff takes the head coach’s guidelines and refines them further, designing all sorts of game-simulation training scenarios, categorizing them by difficulty level, and allowing the players to master them progressively through training. The coaching staff must also constantly monitor the team’s training progress to control the difficulty.

Every training session must be moderate, designed to make the players give their all to complete it. If they don’t give their all, it means the training load is insufficient; if they can’t complete it, it will damage their confidence. There’s a deep science to this.

Only when players give their all to complete a task will they feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Then, the difficulty can be appropriately increased. This is how you guide players to improve and progress, step by step.

And the prerequisite for all of this is: what is the head coach’s training plan?

Now, Yang Cheng had made it very clear to everyone that the tactical results shown in the match against Real Madrid were exactly what he wanted going forward. This proved that the team’s training over the past period had been effective.

The next step was to build on this foundation, to dig deeper, solidify it, and guide the players to work hard and improve.

If they were to employ a high press, with Arshavin as a free-roaming forward and Ashley Young on the left, then the team’s defensive structure had to change accordingly. Many of the team’s upcoming training drills would also need to be adjusted.

For instance, the situation would be very different with Arshavin on the left wing compared to Ashley Young. By the same token, after the adjustment, the right-sided defense would also change. Maicon’s training had to be adjusted—when to make forward runs, when to track back.

This is another aspect that many fans easily overlook. On the pitch, what often appears to be a player’s individual skill is, in fact, something that has been repeatedly practiced in the team’s daily training. It’s also something the coaching staff intentionally cultivates.

For example, Yaya Touré’s ability to drive forward with the ball. When should he push forward? This was something Yang Cheng had been training Yaya Touré on for a long time. But on the pitch, it simply looked like the player’s individual talent.

Then there was Arshavin. During the team’s pre-season training this summer, the coaching staff noticed an issue. Arshavin loved to hit powerful, driven shots. But he also liked to aim for the corners. This often caused his powerful shots to go wide because he was trying too hard to be precise. So, the coaching staff implemented targeted training to help him master the use of other shooting techniques in various situations.

And Džeko was another clear example. In the game against Real Madrid, his two instances of holding up the ball with his back to goal, controlling it with his chest, and then turning to play a through pass were all moves he had practiced repeatedly in training.

With a single word from Yang Cheng, the entire coaching staff got busy. All the team’s training programs had to be reviewed and adapted to meet the head coach’s requirements, even the simplest and most basic passing and moving drills.

For example, there was a passing drill Yang Cheng had been using since his League Two days. Inside a 20x20 meter square, two teams of four players each were formed. Two players were inside the square, and two were positioned on opposite sides. They would practice in a 4-v-4 scenario. The benefit of this was ensuring that every player, both inside and outside the square, could consistently pass, move, and find space.

Yang Cheng was very fond of this drill from his past life. It could be so detailed that it simulated your body position and angle when receiving the ball, which foot and which part of the foot to use, and where to control the ball to. This was because inside the square it was 2-v-2, and the two players outside could only move along the lines to receive the ball and had to play one-touch passes.

For the past three years, the players of Bayswater Chinese had been cultivated through this kind of fundamental passing and moving drill. Now, it had even been rolled out across the entire youth academy, becoming a basic training exercise.

But what if you wanted to increase the intensity? You could add or remove players, impose various restrictions, and so on.

There were also other, more interesting drills. For instance, to improve a defender’s anticipation and positioning, what could be done? A special drill was arranged where defenders were not allowed to make slide tackles. This forced them to defend by anticipating passing lanes and improving their positioning.

Players like Gareth Bale, Nemanja Matić, and Ángel Di María were restricted by Yang Cheng from using their left foot in training. Theo Walcott was not allowed to use his right. In reality, if you watched them day-to-day, their weaker feet were quite strong; they were just not accustomed to using them in games. This kind of restrictive training could help change that habit.

…

Besides the large-scale adjustments to training, Yang Cheng also held a meeting with Xia Qing and Adam Crozier. He requested that the administrative department provide excellent logistical support moving forward, especially during the international break in October. The travel arrangements for the international players had to be meticulously handled.

“This is a war!”

“Logistical support is key to whether our team can win on the pitch!”

“I’ll be blunt. After the game against Real Madrid, my confidence is sky-high. I want to make a run for the league title!”

“So, I need every single one of you here to give your absolute best!”

Yang Cheng’s words were filled with confidence.

The team was currently at the top of the Premier League table. They had also thrashed both Barça and Real Madrid 4-0 in back-to-back games, making a name for themselves globally. Under these circumstances, it wasn’t a huge shock for Yang Cheng to declare his intention to challenge for the league title.

Instead, it filled everyone at Bayswater Chinese with excitement.

The title?

That was once such an unattainable dream!

Even Adam Crozier looked on in disbelief. He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to set this target so soon. But this only fueled his fighting spirit!

Xia Qing looked at Yang Cheng, her eyes soft, a sweet smile gracing her lips.

This is how a man should be!

Daring to fight, daring to charge forward!

…

On the afternoon of October 1st, at the Boleyn Ground in London.

In the seventh round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced West Ham United in an away game.

In the 1st minute and 32nd second of the match, Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz paid off.

The young winger Di María received the ball on the left, used a series of feints to beat American right-back Jonathan Spector, and was tripped by Spector near the 30-meter area as he tried to cut diagonally into the box.

The head referee, Uriah Rennie, unhesitatingly awarded the foul. Spector received a yellow card and gave Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

Leighton Baines quickly stepped up. After West Ham had set up their wall, he began his run-up.

The lethality of Bayswater Chinese’s attacking set pieces was likely known throughout Europe. West Ham was naturally on high alert.

Unexpectedly, this time, although it looked like Leighton Baines was going to whip the ball into the box, he suddenly changed his technique and played a short pass sideways.

Midfielder Gökhan İnler was waiting in a central position. As the ball arrived, he controlled it with his right foot, shifting it to his left to neatly evade the onrushing Yossi Benayoun, and then unleashed a powerful shot with his left foot.

The ball shot off his boot like a cannonball, flying past the West Ham goalkeeper, Roy Carroll, and into the back of The Hammers’ net.

1-0!

The entire Boleyn Ground was stunned!

“Unstoppable!”

“Incomparable!”

“Unbelievable!”

“A worldie!!”

The Sky Television commentator was practically speechless.

A wonder goal scored less than two minutes into the game.

Most importantly, how did Bayswater Chinese have so many different free-kick routines?

They never seemed to repeat themselves!

It was absurdity on a whole new level!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated West Ham United 1-0 thanks to İnler’s world-class strike.

Throughout the match, The Hammers were thoroughly pinned back by their opponents. Alan Pardew’s team, defending with all their might in a 4-4-2 formation, combined with an excellent performance from goalkeeper Roy Carroll, managed to avoid conceding any more goals.

Elsewhere in this round, Liverpool lost 2-0 away to Bolton.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home against Aston Villa.

Manchester United won 2-0 at home against Newcastle.

Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 away at Charlton Athletic. It was worth noting that van Persie scored twice, showing his class.

Yang Cheng had always felt that van Persie’s career was hampered by injuries. If not for so many injuries, he would have become famous much earlier, and his peak wouldn’t have been so short.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese remained undefeated with six wins and one draw, accumulating nineteen points to stay top of the table.

Chelsea, with the draw, only reached sixteen points, placing them second.

Manchester United was in third with fifteen points.

Further down, Arsenal and Bolton were tied with fourteen points.

…

After the seventh round of the Premier League, there was a two-week international break.

With Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding performance, more and more of their players were being called up to their national teams.

Thinking back three years, when Jon Stead was selected for the England youth team, Yang Cheng and the others were overjoyed for days.

But now?

There were international players everywhere.

After Cicinho’s injury, Maicon was also called up to the Brazil national team.

Then there was Pepe. Dunga personally came to London to meet with Pepe, hoping he would join the Brazil national team. But for some reason, Pepe refused Dunga and was waiting for a call-up from the Portugal national team.

It was also perfectly normal for other players who were performing well to be selected for their national teams.

Nowadays, an international player was no longer a novelty for Bayswater Chinese.

Once the international players returned from their national duties, Yang Cheng began to prepare the team for the upcoming eighth round of the Premier League: a home game against Chelsea.

Both teams were heavily affected by the international fixtures and also had to divert their attention to the midweek Champions League group stage matches.

Bayswater Chinese were hosting Bayern Munich, a tougher fixture than Chelsea’s.

Both Yang Cheng and Mourinho opted for tactical rotations.

Even so, Bayswater Chinese went on the attack from the very beginning. With Arshavin rested, Yang Cheng played Ashley Young in his position, with the young Argentine Di María on the left. Since Džeko had also been on international duty, Lambert started as the striker. The midfield trio consisted of Matuidi, İnler, and Lassana Diarra, with İnler playing the holding role.

From the kick-off, Yang Cheng’s team pressed Chelsea relentlessly. Especially in midfield, where Chelsea lined up with Lampard, Essien, and Mikel, Bayswater Chinese’s tireless running made it difficult for Chelsea to play out from the middle, forcing them into frequent long balls towards Drogba.

Kept in check by Pepe, Drogba was also somewhat neutralized. Furthermore, on the left, Robben was shackled by Piszczek, while on the right, Shevchenko was a ghost. The Ukrainian Nuke only managed a single long shot from over 25 meters out the entire game. For the rest of the match, it was hard to even get a close-up of him on the live broadcast, let alone in the match highlights.

However, Chelsea’s defense was also incredibly solid. The combination of Bridge, Terry, Carvalho, and Ferreira, along with goalkeeper Čech, held firm and protected Chelsea’s goal.

In the end, despite completely dominating the game, Bayswater Chinese drew 0-0 with Chelsea.

Although the Blues managed to snatch a point, they were met with a torrent of criticism. Almost all media outlets believed that Mourinho was far too conservative.

You really couldn’t blame Yang Cheng or Bayswater Chinese for this. The main issue was that Mourinho had made too many enemies. He had fallen out with the entire British press, even calling them dogs. Now that they had an opportunity, why wouldn’t they stomp on him? They even used his own past words against him.

Mourinho had once said that he played conservatively because he had no other options available. Well, now you have a superstar of Shevchenko’s Ballon d’Or-winning caliber, so you should be using him properly. What has Shevchenko been reduced to? Just one pathetic shot all game. Milan fans would weep if they saw it.

Then some media outlets started reporting that Abramovich was very dissatisfied with Mourinho for failing to get the best out of Shevchenko.

In short, Mourinho was in trouble.

In this round, Arsenal defeated Watford 3-0 at home. Manchester United won 3-1 away against Wigan Athletic. Liverpool drew 1-1 at home with Blackburn Rovers.

Bayswater Chinese now had twenty points, just two points ahead of Manchester United. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Bolton were all on seventeen points.

…

Three days later, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayern Munich.

The home team, having rotated their squad over the weekend, tested Oliver Kahn’s goalkeeping skills just two minutes into the game. The German Lion King did not lose his focus. Faced with a long shot from Arshavin in the left channel, he fumbled the save but quickly gathered the ball.

But Bayswater Chinese’s opening offensive continued.

Yang Cheng essentially stuck with the same lineup that had played against Real Madrid. Arshavin continued as the free-roaming forward, and Ashley Young returned to the left flank. With Ribéry playing on the left, directly opposing Maicon on the right, Maicon was under pressure in this match.

However, the home team’s attacks down the left flank were still creating momentum, forcing Bayern to retreat and defend their goal.

Tonight, Magath had even deployed a double pivot with van Bommel and Demichelis, and on the right was Schweinsteiger, known for his defensive work rate. It was clear that Bayern was very wary of Bayswater Chinese’s attack. That first half against Real Madrid away from home had put all their future opponents on edge.

But even so, Yang Cheng’s team still found a way.

Just as Bayern thought they had stabilized their defense and could breathe a sigh of relief, in the eleventh minute, Yaya Touré suddenly made a quick overlapping run from deep. Just outside the box, he received a square pass from Ashley Young and unleashed an unexpected long shot.

The shot was powerful and sudden. Kahn, in his attempt to save it, couldn’t hold onto the ball and fumbled it.

Chaos erupted in the penalty area. Both Lúcio and Daniel Van Buyten were focused on Džeko. But the short, incredibly fast, and agile Arshavin darted through like an eel, arriving in front of the goal. Despite having his jersey pulled by Lahm, Arshavin still managed to poke the ball into Kahn’s net.

1-0!

The Russian celebrated wildly, running off the pitch to accept the cheers of the more than fifty thousand fans in the stadium. Yes, tonight, the attendance at Wembley Stadium once again surpassed fifty thousand, approaching fifty-five thousand.

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued their fierce assault on Bayern Munich and created several excellent scoring opportunities. First, Ashley Young went on a solo run, but his shot went wide. Then, Džeko also had a shot that was saved by Kahn and went out for a corner. From the resulting corner kick, Pepe couldn’t get the better of Lúcio and failed to get a shot off.

But in the 26th minute, Bayern launched a swift counter-attack. Ribéry dribbled down the left flank, beat Maicon with a series of feints, and broke into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area from the byline before playing a cut-back pass to the center.

Podolski made a timely run and scored with a simple tap-in, breaking through Bayswater Chinese’s defense and successfully leveling the score.

1-1!

But just six minutes later, Arshavin, dribbling down the right flank, drew a foul from Lahm, earning his team an attacking free-kick. Ashley Young came over to take it, but this time it didn’t result in a goal.

For the final fifteen minutes, Bayswater Chinese maintained their offensive pressure, but Magath’s Bayern defended resolutely. They seemed impenetrable.

The first half ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

…

When Yang Cheng entered the home dressing room, he noticed that many of the players looked a bit deflated. Some were even frustrated.

In the first half, Bayern’s defense had indeed been very successful. It was less of a 4-4-2 and more of a 4-3-1-2. Although Ribéry often moved on the left, his position was very free. Schweinsteiger was on the right but frequently dropped back into the holding midfield role. They had no choice; Bayswater Chinese had not only Arshavin but also Modrić. In addition, Lassana Diarra and Yaya Touré could also make late runs from deep.

Especially Yaya Touré. That thunderous overlapping run and shot early in the game had left a very deep impression. Magath had no choice but to bolster his central defense.

Yang Cheng understood the emotions of these young players. So, after entering, he first remained silent, letting them stew for a bit.

When the time was right, he finally spoke with a smile, “So? Is Bayern an easy team to play against?”

The players were all silent. Bayern was tougher to deal with than they had imagined, especially after acquiring Ribéry. Perhaps it was an illusion created by the transfer fee, but it felt like Ribéry had gotten even better since joining Bayern. Especially his confidence!

“Actually, a 1-1 draw is nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve pushed Bayern this far; we should be proud.”

Saying this, Yang Cheng took out the real-time data he had just received from the analysis team.

“Our possession rate is 67%, we’ve had twice as many shots as Bayern, and our overall performance has been a level above our opponents. So, there’s nothing to be frustrated about.”

“When we play at our best, so do our opponents.”

“They will use every trick in the book, try everything they can to neutralize us and prevent us from playing to our strengths.”

“So, we should be proud. This is the recognition our opponents have given us, isn’t it?”

Yang Cheng’s rhetorical question was met with nods from the players.

“Of course, we’re not going to be satisfied with 1-1, are we?”

This time, the players nodded even more eagerly.

“In the second half, let’s try to create something down the left. Schweinsteiger often drifts towards their three-man midfield.”

“Leighton!”

Yang Cheng pointed at Leighton Baines. “You need to be more decisive with your forward runs.”

“Ashley, Luka, your job is to draw their players to the center, then switch the ball to the left for Leighton.”

“Edin, you provide support in the middle, try to find opportunities between Lúcio and Van Buyten.”

“Remember, Leighton, play low, driven crosses. High balls…”

Yang Cheng spread his hands with a helpless expression. Everyone chuckled at his gesture. Džeko himself looked a bit embarrassed. Between Lúcio and Van Buyten, he really had no advantage in the air or physically.

“Let’s stick to this plan and try to go on the offensive for a spell in the second half!” Yang Cheng instructed.

Just then, Leighton Baines raised his hand. “Podolski is often active on that side. Will that be a problem?”

Yang Cheng turned to look at José Fonte. The Portuguese centre-back understood immediately and nodded. “You just go forward without worry. I’ll keep an eye on Podolski for you.”

Leighton Baines had no more questions.

“Right, one more thing. Watch out for van Bommel’s overlapping runs.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Gentlemen!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Because we’ve performed so well, we’ve successfully attracted the focused attention of Europe’s top clubs.”

“From Chelsea to Bayern, they are all studying how to contain us.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means these powerhouse clubs recognize and acknowledge us!”

“Don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do. Take Mourinho, for example. That bastard’s actions are always more honest than his words!”

Drawing 0-0 at home against Chelsea had left Yang Cheng seething inside. When they next went to Stamford Bridge, he vowed to avenge this defeat.

“So, be a little more patient with yourselves, and have confidence in yourselves.”

“We are no longer the newly promoted team from last season, nor the lower-league side of the past. We are now a team that every powerhouse in Europe is wary of!”

“We don’t need to target any specific opponent. We just need to play our own game. Understand?”

“Understood!”

After Yang Cheng’s analysis, adjustments, and motivational speech, the players left the dressing room with their confidence and fighting spirit restored!

…

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese continued to take the initiative. Bayern still wanted to defend deep and counter-attack, waiting for their moment.

But in the 51st minute, Bayswater Chinese had possession in the final third. Ashley Young cut inside from the left channel, drawing Sagnol towards the center, then laid the ball back to Modrić. The Croatian played a first-time diagonal pass over the top to the left side of the Bayern penalty area.

Leighton Baines was sprinting forward at full speed. By the time Sagnol abandoned Ashley Young and turned to chase back, he was already more than half a step behind.

After controlling Modrić’s pass, the English left-back delivered a low, driven cross towards the center of the six-yard box near the byline.

Džeko was caught between Lúcio and Van Buyten. He made a quick forward run to get on the end of it, but his jersey was pulled by Van Buyten, causing him to be half a beat late and unable to reach the ball. Van Buyten also failed to reach it.

Lúcio, who was in front, tried to block the ball, but it took an awkward bounce in the six-yard box, causing his clearance to go awry. The ball hit his foot, changed direction, and flew towards his own goal. This kind of situation could easily lead to an own goal!

At the crucial moment, the veteran keeper Kahn reacted quickly enough to parry the ball away with one hand.

The penalty area was in chaos. Van Buyten was startled by the sudden turn of events. Seeing the ball rebounding off Kahn and coming towards him, he hastily tried to smash it clear. The tall and burly Van Buyten was not particularly agile, and in his haste, he swung his leg and completely mishit the ball.

This was a fatal mistake!

Džeko had been a step behind Lúcio because Van Buyten had pulled his shirt. One step slow meant every step was slow. He hadn’t even been in a position to pick up a loose ball. But who would have thought that Van Buyten would fluff his lines?

The ball was right in front of him. Kahn was on the ground, Lúcio was on the ground, and after his miskick, Van Buyten was frozen to the spot in disbelief.

Of course, the Bosnian centre-forward was not going to miss such an opportunity. He met the ball and gently guided it home.

Hey!

Just like that, the ball trickled into Bayern’s net.

All the fans in the stadium instantly jumped out of their seats.

2-1!

A thunderous cheer erupted throughout Wembley Stadium!

All the Bayswater Chinese players were ecstatic. The goalscorer, Džeko, on the other hand, felt it was no big deal. He had just picked up a tap-in for no reason. If anyone deserved credit for the goal, it was Leighton Baines, the number one hero. That low cross was… simply filthy!

…

Having tasted success, Bayswater Chinese continued to intensify their attacks.

Yang Cheng knew that Magath would react quickly. So, before Magath could, he wanted to take advantage of the chaos following Bayern’s conceded goal and score another.

In the 58th minute, it was another attacking combination down the left. Leighton Baines carried the ball to the edge of the box and passed it to Ashley Young. Ashley Young chipped a pass into the left side of the Bayern penalty area.

Džeko made a diagonal run into the box, getting ahead of Lúcio. Meeting Ashley Young’s chipped pass, he flicked the ball over Lúcio. As Džeko turned, he controlled the falling ball. Just as he evaded Van Buyten and was about to shoot, a black shadow in a red shirt suddenly rushed in, got to the ball before him, and poked it towards Kahn’s goal.

The Bosnian centre-forward took a closer look.

Damn it, Lassana Diarra!

Why the hell aren’t you back there defending properly? What are you doing up here scoring goals?

And you stole my goalscoring opportunity, have you no shame?

Scoring is a striker’s job, got it?

After scoring against Bayern, Lassana Diarra was so happy he didn’t know which way was up. He sprinted off the pitch, running wildly, and Džeko couldn’t catch him no matter how hard he chased.

3-1!

…

Conceding two goals in quick succession, the Bayern players completely lost their composure.

In the 63rd minute, Bayswater Chinese once again attacked down Bayern’s right flank. As Sagnol tracked back into the penalty area, he got into a tangle with Džeko and threw a clear elbow, knocking Džeko to the ground.

Just then, Modrić, who had just run into the vicinity, saw the whole thing happen and was the first to rush over, giving Sagnol a forceful shove. The French defender staggered back two steps, hesitated for a moment, and then fell to the ground.

The head referee quickly ran over and was immediately surrounded by players from both teams, each arguing their case. Yang Cheng and Magath were also on the sidelines, backing their respective players.

The referee for tonight’s match was the Dane, Rune Hauge, the same one who had given Chelsea a red card in their match against Barça last season. This time, he was clearly much more cautious. He first separated the players from both teams to get each side of the story.

Džeko had been caught on the cheek by Sagnol’s elbow, and his lip was even bleeding, which was evidence enough. But Sagnol claimed it was unintentional. On the other hand, he pointed out that Modrić had come over and pushed him to the ground.

In the end, Hauge punished both sides equally, showing a yellow card to both Sagnol and Modrić.

“That kid. Doesn’t he see he’s a whole head shorter than Sagnol!” Yang Cheng chuckled from the touchline.

Having coached for so many years, Yang Cheng was used to such incidents in a match. Sagnol was also known for playing dirty. Two goals down, his frustration got the better of him, and sometimes he just lost control. A player with a bit more class would have come over to apologize and make peace after the match.

What Yang Cheng hadn’t expected was for Modrić to stand up for his teammate. So young and small, yet he was the first to charge in.

“He looks gentle, but he’s incredibly resilient and tough on the inside. People like him are very stubborn!” Brian Kidd added with a smile.

He was increasingly convinced that Yang Cheng’s decision to make Modrić the team captain was a very wise choice. If nothing else, the way he had just stood up for Džeko would earn him unanimous respect in the dressing room. Who wouldn’t want a few teammates like that by their side? At the very least, you wouldn’t feel so alone in a fight, right?

However, Yang Cheng noticed something else. While the Bayern players were crowding around the referee to pressure him, Ribéry was on the periphery, checking on Džeko’s injury. The kid still had a conscience.

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Bayern 3-1 at home.

In the other match in the same group, Real Madrid beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 away. Since Sporting Lisbon had lost 1-0 at home to Bayern in the second round, the Primeira Liga team had now lost all three of their matches and had zero points.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had won all three of their matches, accumulating nine points to top the group. This was something no one had expected before the season started.

Even more surprising was that in three matches, Bayswater Chinese had scored ten goals and conceded only two. Both their attack and defense were remarkably impressive. Their 4-0 thrashing at the Bernabéu and the 3-1 home victory against Bayern Munich had forced everyone to re-evaluate the strength of this Premier League team.

Bayern Munich was in second place in the group with two wins and one loss, earning them six points.

Real Madrid was third with one win and two losses, giving them three points.

The Spanish media was very uneasy about the situation in this “group of death,” especially regarding Real Madrid’s prospects. Next, Real Madrid faced Sporting Lisbon at home, Bayern at home, and Bayswater Chinese away. Given the current standings, the road ahead looked very dangerous.

As the mouthpiece for Real Madrid, AS newspaper pointed the finger directly at Fabio Capello, stating that if Real Madrid failed to advance from the group stage, Capello would be the primary culprit and should resign.

Marca also believed that if Real Madrid missed out on the Champions League knockout stage, it would be a disaster.

This made everyone eagerly anticipate the upcoming group stage matches.

And among the many teams, Bayswater Chinese was undoubtedly the most outstanding. Especially recently, not only was their attack flowing freely, but they had also repeatedly defeated strong opponents in the Premier League and the Champions League, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

After playing Bayern, Bayswater Chinese returned to the Premier League and immediately faced Wenger’s Arsenal. This was another clash between top teams.

The match was held at Wembley Stadium again, and once more it attracted over fifty thousand fans.

While Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, Wenger’s team had to travel to Turkey on Thursday, which made the Professor very unhappy with the Premier League’s schedule. Wenger believed that such fixture scheduling was unreasonable.

Yang Cheng rarely attended press conferences, but this time he made an exception. Not only did he attend, but he also “supported” Wenger’s accusations against the Premier League schedule.

Unreasonable?

Of course, it’s unreasonable!

We’re at such a disadvantage. One big game after another. We play Chelsea, then Bayern, then Arsenal. It’s killing me!

Arsenal has to travel to Turkey?

It’s just a slightly longer flight, isn’t it?

The opponents in the UEFA Cup are so much easier, right?

“I think the Turkish teams will hardly pose a threat to Arsenal. Wenger’s team has a great advantage in the UEFA Cup!”

As last season’s UEFA Cup champion, Yang Cheng expressed that he had high hopes for Wenger!

Go on, Professor!

Wenger, far away in Turkey, nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Go on my ass!

Who gives a damn about the UEFA Cup?

We want to play in the Champions League!

Chapter 108: Invincible Kings! This Is What a True Title Contender Looks Like!

On the afternoon of October 22nd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The ninth round of the Premier League: Bayswater Chinese versus Arsenal at home.

After so many years of coaching, Wenger still possessed a fundamental tactical intuition.

During preparation, and even just before the players took to the pitch, Wenger had been like a nagging old woman, repeatedly stressing to his players that they had to be careful in the opening stages of the match.

Bayswater Chinese were masters of the lightning attack!

Arsenal’s morale wasn’t great this season.

Losing two captains in two consecutive years and missing out on Champions League qualification was a painful blow to the Arsenal players. As such, Wenger had always paid close attention to their psychological state.

Just three days prior, his team had stumbled in Turkey.

They lost by only one goal.

They had actually equalized just before the final whistle, but the goal was disallowed for a supposed foul.

This left Wenger and everyone at Arsenal feeling extremely dissatisfied.

Whether it was public opinion or the atmosphere within the team, Wenger was worried.

And yet, this match was crucial!

Standing in front of the away team’s technical area at Wembley Stadium, Wenger wiped his face, trying to conceal his inner turmoil.

He knew the true measure of his team all too well.

Goalkeeper: Lehmann;

Defence: Djourou, Gallas, Kolo Touré, and Justin Hoyte;

Midfield: Rosický, Gilberto Silva, Fàbregas, and Hleb;

Forwards: van Persie and Adebayor.

Why wasn’t Pascal Chimbonda playing?

He was injured.

Aaron Lennon had played the full ninety minutes in the UEFA Cup away game.

More importantly, Wenger was wary of Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Rosický and Hleb could effectively support the midfield and form a possession-based unit with Fàbregas.

This would, in theory, prevent them from being overwhelmed by their opponents, a situation that could leave their midfield unable to get the ball out.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was ridiculously good; their pressing was astonishingly intense!

Moreover, their press wasn’t the brute-force style of Chelsea.

They were tenacious, and they didn’t lack delicate skill or creativity.

That was the most frightening part.

What worried Wenger most, however, was his backline.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. We’ve prepared for so long, and we’ve been playing quite well during this four-game winning streak,” said assistant coach Pat Rice.

Wenger was just the type to overthink things, something of an intellectual.

“Besides Manchester United, what’s there to say about the other three games?” Wenger’s brow furrowed even deeper.

This was precisely the mentality he feared the players might have.

That was the most dangerous thing.

Two newly promoted teams and Charlton Athletic—wasn’t defeating those three teams to be expected?

Pat Rice was suddenly at a loss for words.

At that moment, the head referee, Alan Wiley, blew his whistle to start the match.

…

The attendance rate tonight was decent, and the atmosphere was good too, at least not as empty as rumored.

As soon as the whistle blew, Bayswater Chinese, as usual, initiated a high press.

The Gunners quickly passed the ball back, but the home team’s players continued to close them down, rapidly approaching Arsenal’s defensive line.

The Gunners tried a long ball to find Adebayor, but Škrtel got there first and headed it back.

Lassana Diarra won the ball, turned, and passed it to Andrei Arshavin.

At that moment, Arshavin received the ball in the right channel of Arsenal’s half.

The Russian controlled the ball, turned, shook off Fàbregas, and charged forward along the right channel.

Gilberto Silva, Djourou, and Gallas combined to try and box him in.

Inside the penalty area, they didn’t dare make any rash moves.

But Arshavin managed to dribble between the three defenders. Just as their pincer movement was about to close, he made a deft shimmy, creating a gap, and broke through towards the byline before lofting a high cross with his right foot.

The ball sailed over Gallas’s head and dropped into the six-yard box behind him.

The English centre-forward Rickie Lambert, starting in place of Džeko for this match, rushed in, overpowered Kolo Touré, and thundered a close-range header into the Arsenal net.

In that instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted!

The clock showed 53 seconds!

The head referee Alan Wiley blew his whistle—the goal stood!

Lambert clenched his fists in excitement and let out a roar.

The entire stadium was infected by his passion, cheering wildly.

Meanwhile, by the away team’s technical area, Wenger, who had been fraught with worry moments ago, now wore a look of utter dejection, shaking his head incessantly.

This was what he had been dreading.

The more he worried, the more it became reality!

Everyone thought Bayswater Chinese would attack Hoyte’s flank.

Because that side was the weakest!

Only Wenger knew that the side holding all the cards could attack however they pleased!

Hoyte was weak, but wasn’t Djourou’s lack of pace also a problem?

…

“The current Arsenal is a world away from the team of the ‘Invincibles’ season.”

Wenger’s predecessor, former Arsenal manager George Graham, was serving as a guest pundit for this crucial match.

“As a former manager, I’m absolutely certain Wenger made specific preparations before the game, because no team wants to concede right at the start.”

“Bayswater Chinese are very good at these lightning attacks. Yang Cheng has found the most suitable tactical approach for his squad.”

“Look at that just now. As soon as Arshavin got the ball, he didn’t care about anything else, he just charged forward. He knew that if he lost the ball, someone behind him would win it back, and if he got forward, a teammate would be there to support him.”

“That’s the kind of trust you only see in a very mature team.”

“The Gunners used to have that, but they’re really lacking it now.”

The match restarted, and Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward.

Arsenal were still reeling from the early goal and looked passive on the pitch.

“This is what I was talking about. Conceding so early is fatal.”

“Wenger’s lineup for this match is also a bit problematic. Without Aaron Lennon’s speed, the Gunners’ attacking threat is significantly reduced.”

“Arsenal’s problem right now still lies with Wenger. He puts his faith in players like Hleb, Rosický, and Fàbregas. They are comfortable on the ball, but they aren’t the type to chase down opponents and fight desperately to win it back.”

“If you compare them to Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal’s midfield lacks players like Yaya Touré and Lassana Diarra. Even Gökhan Inler and Modrić work their socks off.”

“I don’t understand why Wenger didn’t rate Yaya Touré all those years ago.”

“In terms of overall quality, compared to the Invincibles of 03/04, this current Gunners squad only has three players who are truly capable of challenging for the Premier League title.”

“Gallas, Fàbregas, Adebayor, and van Persie.”

“Four?”

“No, Adebayor and van Persie each count as half.”

…

Just how ferocious was the Bayswater Chinese attack?

In the first eleven minutes, the home team had unleashed six shots, three of which were on target.

Gilberto Silva was over thirty now and could only sit in front of the backline.

This only served to fuel the Bayswater Chinese onslaught.

Especially in midfield, where they completely dominated Arsenal.

The Gunners were pinned back, almost unable to move.

Although Bayswater Chinese eased off slightly after about ten minutes of constant attacking, the home team still enjoyed 64.3% of possession in the first thirty minutes.

This left Wenger speechless.

He had started Hleb and Rosický specifically to strengthen control in midfield.

But in the end, they couldn’t control the ball at all.

On the contrary, their opponents had a much larger share of possession than Arsenal.

After a period of readjustment, Bayswater Chinese gradually began to exert their dominance on the pitch again.

In the 31st minute, Ashley Young received the ball on the left, successfully beat Hoyte who was marking him, created an angle, and sent in a precise diagonal cross with his right foot to the right side of the box.

Maicon suddenly made a diagonal run into the area, met Ashley Young’s cross, and unleashed a furious shot.

The ball was lightning-fast but whistled just past the post.

That shot sent a cold shiver down the spines of everyone associated with Arsenal.

They had completely lost track of Maicon!

Then, in the 34th minute, Modrić played a through ball from the center. Arshavin broke into the right side of the penalty area and took a shot, which goalkeeper Lehmann fumbled.

Unfortunately, Lambert, who was following up in the center, was tied up by Kolo Touré and couldn’t pounce on the rebound, missing a golden opportunity.

Four minutes later, another attacking run from Arshavin drew a foul from Djourou, earning a free-kick on the right side of the pitch, about twenty-five meters from goal.

The Gunners defended as if facing a great enemy, on tenterhooks.

But this time, Leighton Baines opted to shoot directly, and it posed no threat.

However, in the 40th minute, as Ashley Young received a pass from a teammate, Arshavin suddenly appeared in the left channel, and the two of them executed a beautiful one-two on the left flank.

The Russian dribbled into the left side of the penalty area, near the penalty spot, cut past Kolo Touré, and lofted a curling shot into the far right corner of the goal.

2-0!

After halftime, Bayswater Chinese launched another fierce attack.

But this time, it came unexpectedly from the right flank.

Modrić, Maicon, Arshavin, and Lambert—four players on the right wing—completed a series of fluid, continuous passing and movement, tearing Arsenal’s defense apart.

Lambert delivered a killer through ball, and Arshavin shook off Djourou, breaking into the right side of the Gunners’ penalty area for a one-on-one.

Despite having a clear opportunity to shoot himself, the Russian chose to pass it across the goal.

An unmarked Ashley Young easily tapped the ball into the empty net.

3-0!

Wenger was finally jolted into action and made a substitution.

Júlio Baptista, on loan from Real Madrid, replaced Adebayor.

At this point, Arsenal’s formation resembled a 4-2-3-1, with van Persie as the lone striker and Baptista playing in the number 10 role.

But just three minutes after the change, Ashley Young once again delivered a deadly through ball.

Arshavin broke into the left side of the box again and, despite being hounded by Kolo Touré, managed to unleash a powerful shot with his left foot.

The shot was saved by Lehmann, but this time Lambert seized the opportunity, pouncing on the rebound to score.

4-0!

Another 4-0!

“Whether Wenger admits it or not, the current Gunners team does not have the quality to challenge for the league title.”

“Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, are showing the aura of an invincible king.”

“4-0 against Barça, many people questioned its legitimacy, saying Barça was suffering from fatigue.”

“4-0 against Real Madrid, and at the Bernabéu no less, left everyone with nothing to say.”

“Then a 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, and now a 4-0 against Arsenal…”

“What else is there to say? What else is there to doubt?”

“Yang Cheng’s team is undoubtedly in a fantastic state right now, and their players are growing and improving at an extremely fast pace.”

“This is very frightening!”

George Graham was clearly also very disappointed with the current Arsenal side.

“Both teams are predominantly made up of young players, both focus on passing and movement, but Yang Cheng’s team is clearly more competitive than Arsenal.”

“Let’s just talk about Ashley Young.”

“He’s very mobile, very agile, his positioning is excellent, and he plays with great creativity.”

“Hleb actually has all these qualities.”

“However, Ashley Young is a typical English player. He has a fighting spirit that Hleb lacks.”

“Yang Cheng was right to play him on the left. On the left, Ashley Young’s right foot is activated. On the right, he mostly just crosses, but on the left, he can do more, and do it better.”

“And then there’s Arshavin. He’s now one of the most talented stars in the Premier League, and a very mature one at that.”

“He’s already twenty-five years old.”

“At Arsenal, since Henry left, they haven’t had a star of his caliber.”

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Arsenal 4-0 at home, securing another stunning victory!

After the match, the whole of England was in shock.

In his post-match press conference, Wenger believed that the early goal had a massive impact on his team.

“Any team that wants to survive near the top of the table must possess some crucial qualities, like patience and a more solid defense, ensuring you don’t concede before your opponent. This is very important.”

But the Daily Mail openly questioned Wenger: if you can say it so well, why can’t Arsenal do it?

If it were against any other team, Wenger might have been able to argue that his fixture schedule was too tight.

But against Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal couldn’t even find an excuse.

Their opponents had just played three clashes between top teams in a week. Who could they complain to?

Three games, two wins, one draw, unbeaten!

That was the kind of performance expected from a team aiming to challenge for the title!

The Sun continued its role of hyping up English talent, writing a commentary piece suggesting that Arsenal were very lucky to have only lost by four goals.

In the final half-hour of the second half, Yang Cheng brought on youngsters Theo Walcott and Ángel Di María.

As a result, the Gunners’ flanks were repeatedly torn apart by these two young players.

“Facing Djourou, Walcott was at a complete physical disadvantage, but he was smart enough to use his speed.”

“As long as he got the ball in the right areas, one burst of acceleration was all it took to easily shake off Djourou. After that, whether it was a deep cross or a clipped ball, he handled it with ease.”

“If Lambert’s finishing had been a bit better, he could have scored a hat-trick.”

“After coming on, Walcott contributed four brilliant passes and three shots, including the one where Lambert hit the crossbar.”

Thus, in the post-match ratings, Sky Sports gave him an 8.

To be rated 8 after playing for only half an hour was truly remarkable.

On the left wing, Di María’s performance was far less active than Walcott’s; he was clearly still adapting to the rhythm of the Premier League.

His performance was inconsistent, and his physique was still too frail.

But whether it was Walcott, Di María, or others like Gareth Bale and Matuidi, the raw talent of Bayswater’s group of youngsters was impossible to hide; it was overflowing.

In contrast, what about the young prodigies handpicked by the discerning Wenger?

After the crushing defeat to Bayswater Chinese, Wenger’s team had only seventeen points, placing them fifth in the Premier League, once again dropping out of the top four.

Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the league table with twenty-three points.

Manchester United defeated Liverpool 2-0 at home in this round, following closely behind with twenty-one points.

Chelsea and Bolton were both on twenty points.

Everyone knew that, based on the performance of Wenger’s team this season, the league title was basically an unrealistic dream.

This also caused a great deal of dissatisfaction among many Arsenal fans.

For the past few years, they had been selling players every year, all supposedly to fund the construction of the new stadium.

They endlessly touted how the new stadium would generate revenue and that once it was built, everything would get better.

And the result?

No, they were still selling their captain!

Ticket prices had gone up, and the results were this bad. How could people be expected to continue their support?

…

“Right now, the fans outside are grumbling and complaining.”

In Colney, North London, inside the head coach’s office at the Arsenal training ground, Vice-Chairman David Dein, who had made a special trip, was having a secret meeting with Wenger.

“Bayswater Chinese are indeed very strong. I played all my cards. A loss is a loss.” Wenger wasn’t without his own grievances.

He had truly given his all for Arsenal.

He shouldered all the blame.

Surely the board wasn’t going to criticize him for poor results at a time like this?

If they had the ability, let someone else try and manage the team!

“Arsène, I’m not criticizing you in any way. I know the difficulties you’re facing.”

David Dein and Wenger were old friends of many years; it was Dein who had brought Wenger to coach at Arsenal.

“The current situation is very different from our initial expectations. At the very least, we never anticipated the rise of Bayswater Chinese, did we?”

Wenger was silent.

Three years ago, when Arsenal had to seek a loan from the bank, the bank required Wenger to personally make a promise and sign a guarantee.

He had to promise that the Gunners would qualify for the Champions League every year.

The purpose of this commitment was to ensure Arsenal had enough revenue to repay the loan.

As for Wenger’s guarantee, it was that he would continue to coach Arsenal and not leave the club.

Only with this guarantee and promise was the bank willing to provide the loan.

But now, the situation had completely changed.

Back then, Chelsea had not yet established their powerful dominance of the past two seasons.

Bayswater Chinese were still struggling in League Two.

Who could have possibly imagined that three years later, things would turn out like this?

Thinking of this, Wenger let out a heavy sigh.

“The only thing that never changes in this world is that it’s always changing!”

Wenger’s words sounded almost like a mantra.

David Dein knew him well and followed up on his statement, saying, “Exactly, so we have to change with it, we have to adjust.”

Wenger knew his old friend well and could read between the lines.

“You mean…”

David Dein glanced warily at the closed office door, then leaned closer to Wenger and said in a low voice, “A few days ago, someone suggested to me that we could consider bringing in foreign investors.”

Wenger’s eyes widened, his look at David Dein seeming to say: Old friend, have you lost your mind?

If word of this got out, the old guard on the board would tear him to shreds!

The Gunners’ board was full of old diehards.

David Dein nodded and winked, as if to say, that’s why I’m telling you this in secret.

If I could do this openly, would I need to be so covert?

“Where would these investors come from?”

“There are some from America, some from Russia, and some from the Middle East.”

Wenger grew restless, wanting to stand up but feeling it was inappropriate.

For David Dein to say this, he had clearly been secretly preparing for some time.

Knowing him as Wenger did, he might have even made private contact already.

“Are they reliable? Don’t let it be a mess like the Glazer family. They didn’t spend much of their own money to acquire Manchester United. Now, all the debt has been transferred to the club. They basically pulled off a leveraged buyout.”

Wenger had studied economics and understood the financial maneuvering of the Glazer family.

“You can’t trust those Yanks!”

As a Frenchman, Wenger declared, I just don’t like the look of Americans!

Especially after what happened with the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United.

“The Russians are very wealthy and willing to invest. His motives are the same as Roman Abramovich’s.”

Transfer assets, build an international reputation, and in return, integrate into European high society.

“They won’t allow a Russian to buy Arsenal,” Wenger said with conviction.

David Dein also knew it would be a difficult task.

But difficult or not, it had to be done.

“Look at the situation in the Premier League now. Given our current state, if we just sit and wait for disaster to strike, I’m telling you, Arsène, by the 08/09 season, we might not be able to give you a single penny for transfers!”

“Is it that bad?” Wenger frowned. “Aren’t they planning to build apartments at the Highbury site?”

“Still waiting for approval. It won’t be that fast.”

“But you know how huge the loss from missing the Champions League is—at least twenty million pounds a year!”

David Dein grew agitated just talking about it.

Arsenal’s revenue for the 04/05 season was 120 million pound sterling, and for 05/06 it was 145 million pound sterling.

The growth rate was still decent.

But considering Arsenal reached the Champions League final in 2006, that had a huge impact on revenue.

So, the club’s original revenue forecast for 06/07 was 180 million pound sterling.

After all, a Champions League final brings not only direct income but also the potential for increased influence and revenue in the following two to three years.

There was also the increase in matchday income after moving into the new stadium.

The performance prerequisite for this target was a top-four finish in the Premier League and reaching the Champions League round of sixteen.

Unexpectedly, they failed to qualify for the Champions League this season, and the loss was massive.

Worse still, without the Champions League, Henry stopped contract renewal negotiations and transferred to Barça.

So, selling two captains in two consecutive years was a huge blow to Arsenal.

Even the sponsors were unhappy.

Under these circumstances, David Dein’s initial estimate was a loss of at least twenty million pound sterling.

The revenue target for this season had been revised down to 160 million pound sterling.

Still growth?

Please, that included the transfer fee from selling Henry!

“We have to turn this situation around now. If we continue like this, this stadium will drag us down completely!” David Dein said, his face etched with pain.

Did Wenger not know this?

The main problem was the interest rates were too high!

Moreover, the contract they signed with the bank included a grace period for repayment, which only started after the new stadium opened in 2006.

In other words, the hard times were just beginning.

“Arsène, in our current situation, either you lead the team back into the Champions League and guarantee we stay in it for at least ten consecutive years, or we bring in external investors to inject capital into the club.”

“Otherwise, our situation will only get more and more difficult!”

David Dein’s words left Wenger speechless, able only to remain silent.

Did he envy Mourinho?

Frankly, it would be a lie to say he didn’t.

But he didn’t like investors like Roman Abramovich.

Whether it was the treatment of Ranieri or the signing of Shevchenko this summer against Mourinho’s wishes, these were not things Wenger admired.

More importantly, Wenger had always believed that a healthy club should be able to operate independently and be self-sufficient.

Chelsea?

Without Abramovich’s investment, the club would fall apart immediately.

Peter Kenyon’s promise from a few years ago to turn a profit now sounded like a joke.

Chelsea’s commercial revenue wasn’t even as good as Bayswater Chinese’s.

At the very least, Adam Crozier’s operational abilities had been endorsed by The FA.

Therefore, Wenger remained wary of David Dein’s desire to bring in foreign investors.

No one could know what the future held.

Which of these super-rich individuals with vast capital were simple people?

Were they guaranteed to deliver on every word they said?

In the world of business, which of those ruthless people who had fought their way to the top were honest?

Thinking of this, Wenger felt a sense of weariness.

Suddenly, he felt lost.

Completely at a loss.

…

The 4-0 victory over Arsenal earned Bayswater Chinese thunderous applause.

But for Yang Cheng, it was quickly in the past.

Three days later, they faced the third round of the League Cup, an away match against Championship side West Bromwich Albion.

This time, Yang Cheng fielded all his young and backup players.

Even the striker position was filled by Robert Lewandowski.

Di María and Walcott were on the wings, forming a front three.

The midfield consisted of Inler and Matuidi, with Nemanja Matić in the holding role.

West Bromwich Albion were performing very well in the Championship this season, and playing at home, they saw Bayswater Chinese fielding a young lineup and were ambitious about defeating their opponents.

But once the match started, The Baggies frustratingly discovered that even with their young players and reserves, Bayswater Chinese were no pushover.

Being a Championship team, their defensive organization was decent.

Bayswater Chinese still controlled the situation and the tempo.

Then, in the 34th minute, after winning the ball in their own half, Inler played a ball in behind the defense.

Walcott burst through The Baggies’ defensive line like a flash of lightning, chased down the ball on the left wing, and assisted Di María, who scored to break the deadlock.

1-0!

Right after the second half began, Bayswater Chinese launched a fierce attack.

Just four minutes in, amid a scramble, Walcott received a lay-off from Lewandowski from the right side of the box and coolly finished from close range, changing the score to 2-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 away from home.

The front three all had brilliant performances.

What pleased Yang Cheng was that over the past year, the technique of both Walcott and Gareth Bale, who came on as a substitute, had clearly improved significantly, especially the fluidity and sensibility of their technical actions.

This had become a key factor in Walcott’s increasingly good performances this season.

…

Over the weekend, in the tenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Portsmouth.

Redknapp’s Pompey had been having a tough and demoralizing time lately.

The sixth league match was a watershed moment.

In the first five rounds, against weaker opposition, Portsmouth had achieved an impressive record of four wins and one draw, even sitting top of the table at one point, earning praise from many fans.

But when it came to the clashes between top teams, Redknapp was out of his depth.

First, they lost at home to Bolton, then away to Tottenham Hotspur.

They beat West Ham United at home in the eighth round, but in the ninth, they lost away to Chelsea.

After nine matches, Portsmouth’s ranking had dropped to sixth in the Premier League.

Redknapp was unwilling to accept this and felt defiant.

Thus, he wanted to go toe-to-toe with Bayswater Chinese.

Knowing Bayswater Chinese were adept at lightning attacks, he made thorough preparations.

After so many years of coaching, Redknapp had his own team-building strategy.

At the very least, anyone looking at the current Portsmouth team would praise it as being decent.

The goalkeeper was former England international David James.

The centre-back was former Arsenal captain Sol Campbell.

The two central midfielders were also renowned figures in European football: former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Sean Davis and Pedro Mendes, who had won the Champions League with Mourinho’s Porto.

The centre-forward was even more impressive: former Inter Milan and Arsenal star Kanu.

This entire spine was Portsmouth’s greatest asset.

Apart from being a bit older, there were basically no flaws.

Bayswater Chinese’s players were on the younger side and had a lot of initial impact, but what would happen once that opening burst was weathered?

Redknapp believed that with the experience of Portsmouth’s veterans, they could definitely control the game.

With this mindset, the Portsmouth team walked onto the pitch at Fratton Park.

Their carefully prepared opening did indeed help them withstand Bayswater Chinese’s initial onslaught.

Yang Cheng’s team also had to keep one eye on their crucial Champions League showdown in Munich, Germany, the following Wednesday.

Redknapp even repeatedly reminded his players to minimize fouls outside the box, as set pieces were one of Bayswater Chinese’s most threatening attacking weapons.

For the first ten minutes, Portsmouth completely repelled Bayswater Chinese’s repeated attacks.

But in the eleventh minute, a quick overlapping run by Maicon on the right led to a cross from near the byline, which was blocked out by Sol Campbell.

Corner kick.

Ashley Young took the corner.

Amid a chaotic scramble in the box, Yaya Touré, Koscielny, and Lambert drew the attention of the defenders. Then, Koscielny suddenly broke free, heading the ball in at the far post to open the scoring for Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

One slip in a foolproof plan!

The one that got away!

On the sideline, Redknapp was in such agony that he squatted on the grass, shaking his head nonstop.

He’d told them ten minutes, and they had only held out for exactly ten minutes!

How could they have possibly lost track of Koscielny?

Where was José Fonte?

Why wasn’t he playing?

If Yang Cheng had heard the questions in Redknapp’s mind, he would have answered with great sincerity.

“José Fonte has played many consecutive games, and he has to go all-out against Bayern next. I’m just giving him an extra game to rest.”

…

After going a goal ahead, Portsmouth became even more passive on the pitch.

Bayswater Chinese, in complete control of the midfield, continually organized and orchestrated attacks.

But Lambert’s efficiency was indeed a bit low. He missed several good chances in succession and failed to score again.

It wasn’t until the second half, in the 53rd minute, that he finally seized an opportunity, converting a cross from Ashley Young on the left with a close-range header. 2-0!

Then in the 66th minute, another corner kick opportunity arose.

This time, Sol Campbell headed the ball to the edge of the area. Yaya Touré controlled it, advanced back into the box, and unleashed a powerful shot that pierced Portsmouth’s goal. 3-0!

However, just before the end of the match, in the 84th minute, Kanu also capitalized on a corner kick, scoring from a flick-on by Sol Campbell, to get one back for Portsmouth.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Portsmouth away from home.

…

In this round, all the top teams, after a week’s rest, showed a clear return to form.

Chelsea beat Sheffield United 2-0 away.

Manchester United, thanks to a hat-trick from Rooney and a goal from C. Ronaldo, thrashed Bolton 4-0 away.

Liverpool also beat Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

All three of the Reds’ goals came in the first half.

Only Arsenal drew 1-1 at home against Everton.

The Gunners were really in trouble.

Anyone who had watched Arsenal’s games this season would easily see that after losing Henry, Wenger’s team had a very obvious weakness in attack.

That is, when the opposition set up a deep, defensive block and defended patiently, the Gunners had possession but were utterly clueless about how to break them down.

This meant the Gunners performed very poorly against teams with strong defenses.

This match against Everton was a case in point.

Furthermore, their generally short defense made Arsenal vulnerable to set pieces and high balls.

That’s exactly what happened against Everton.

They conceded from a corner kick just eleven minutes in, and for the rest of the game, it was Arsenal attacking and Everton on the counter-attack.

As a result, The Toffees actually had more threatening shots than Arsenal.

So how did the Gunners score?

A direct free-kick from van Persie!

In open play, Arsenal couldn’t do a thing against Everton.

Wenger’s predecessor, George Graham, mentioned this while commentating for Sky Sports.

He believed that when Wenger’s team played against lower-table teams, their attack often flowed smoothly, and they looked invincible.

This was because lower-table teams had more fragile defenses.

Against mid-table teams, they ran into trouble, finding it somewhat difficult to cope, with inconsistent performances.

Once it came to clashes between top teams, Wenger’s team went soft.

With such performances, forget about winning the league title; they might not even be able to secure a top-four finish.

After ten rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten with eight wins and two draws, leading the table with twenty-six points.

Manchester United had eight wins and two losses, earning twenty-four points.

Chelsea had twenty-three points.

Arsenal, however, only had eighteen points, sitting in fifth place, clearly having fallen behind.

Liverpool, who had a terrible start to the season, had recently seen their form improve steadily. They were now in eighth place, only four points behind Arsenal.

Bolton was in fourth place.

…

Three days later, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese faced Bayern Munich away.

Compared to Bayern, who were playing at home and also under threat from Real Madrid, Yang Cheng’s team held the initiative in terms of group qualification.

Despite playing away, Yang Cheng still opted for an attacking strategy.

And in the 16th minute, Arshavin broke the deadlock from the left channel, scoring against Bayern Munich.

This prompted both teams to play with more abandon.

Six minutes later, Bayern successfully equalized.

An assist from Ribéry on the left flank led to a crucial goal from Pizarro.

Then, in the 39th minute, it was Ribéry again.

This time, the Frenchman suddenly appeared on the right, beat two defenders, and sent a low cross into the box for Pizarro to score another goal.

2-1!

Bayern had turned it around!

Both sides played relatively cautiously in the second half.

But Yang Cheng could clearly sense that Arshavin still showed signs of wanting to compete with Ribéry.

The media had hyped this up before the match.

The two successive attacking cores of Bayswater Chinese, both proud and arrogant players, naturally wanted to prove who was better.

In the 72nd minute of the second half, Arshavin and Modrić, in a central area slightly to the left of the box, completed a beautiful sequence of passes between four Bayern defenders before Arshavin shot and scored from inside the box.

2-2!

Anyone who watched Bayswater Chinese train would easily recognize this as being almost identical to the team’s common 4-on-4 drill within a twenty-meter square.

Arshavin and Modrić were playing the roles of the two ball-carriers inside the square.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich away from home.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, scraped a 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon at home, thanks to an own goal.

As a result, the fifth group stage match, Real Madrid versus Bayern Munich at home, would be key to deciding who qualifies from the group.

…

Returning to the Premier League for the eleventh round.

Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away at Liverpool.

This time, it wasn’t Yang Cheng’s team that scored first, but Benítez’s.

In the 14th minute, they scored on a counter-attack, with Kuyt beating Neuer.

Benítez truly deserved his reputation as a tactical master.

Something so many had failed to do, he had managed to crack.

Liverpool not only withstood Bayswater Chinese’s opening onslaught but also scored on the counter.

It wasn’t until the 73rd minute that Bayswater Chinese equalized.

After that, no matter how hard Bayswater Chinese attacked, they couldn’t score again.

Ferguson’s Manchester United were giving their all to compete with Bayswater Chinese.

This round, they thrashed Portsmouth 3-0 at home.

But Arsenal lost 1-0 away to West Ham United.

Chelsea lost 2-1 away to Tottenham Hotspur.

After eleven matches, Bayswater Chinese had surrendered their position as league leaders.

Bayswater Chinese were one of only two teams in Europe’s top five leagues to remain unbeaten so far.

They had eight wins and three draws.

Inter Milan in Serie A had seven wins and three draws.

But Ferguson’s Manchester United had managed an astonishing record of nine wins and two losses in the first eleven rounds.

That’s right, not a single draw.

Both teams had twenty-seven points, but Ferguson’s team had a goal difference of a full twenty-one goals.

In terms of attacking firepower, Manchester United were superior to Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, Manchester United had leapfrogged them to the top.

After the match, many in the media believed that what Bayswater Chinese needed most now was to sign a high-efficiency, top-class striker.

With the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and their ability to create chances up front, if they had an efficient goalscorer, their goal tally would surely take off.

Who was Bayswater Chinese’s current striker?

Lambert, a centre-forward they’d been using since their League Two days, whose reputation as a flat-track bully last season had drawn considerable criticism.

See, even the national team wouldn’t call him up.

Then there was Džeko, only twenty years old.

And an eighteen-year-old Robert Lewandowski sitting on the bench.

To be competing in the Premier League with such a lineup and to have held on for this long was already incredibly badass.

But in an interview with the media, Yang Cheng once again stressed that the team would not be signing anyone in the winter transfer window.

“I am very satisfied with the current state of the team.”

“I don’t know why some people are questioning our attacking firepower.”

“In fact, in the first eleven league games, we’ve scored twenty-one goals and conceded only four.”

“We are the second-highest scoring team in the Premier League and also the best defensive team.”

Yang Cheng also pointed out another fact, “These twenty-one goals were scored by ten different players, which is enough to prove that we are a team that emphasizes collective effort. I don’t see any problem with that.”

Whether it was for Lambert, Džeko, or Lewandowski, Yang Cheng gave them his utmost trust.

Especially Džeko and Lewandowski.

“Yes, they are still very young, but I am willing to give them time, to help them grow and improve.”

“Just like when we signed Ribéry and Modrić, many people were skeptical, thinking we had done a very foolish piece of business. But now?”

“I don’t know when Džeko and Lewandowski will mature. It’s like a sapling; we need to constantly water and fertilize it, and then give them enough care and sunlight. One day, they will mature.”

Yang Cheng’s response also received the support of the players in the dressing room!

They were not world-renowned prodigies.

Quite the opposite, from their debut until now, most of them had struggled and fought their way to where they were today.

Therefore, they were particularly grateful to a head coach like Yang Cheng, who was willing to trust them and give them opportunities.

In the subsequent League Cup round of sixteen, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Port Vale from League One with a brilliant 4-0 victory at home, comfortably advancing to the quarter-finals.

Robert Lewandowski scored a brace.

And in the twelfth round of the Premier League on the weekend, Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium. After a sustained but fruitless period of attack at the start of the game, they went behind in the 24th minute to a counter-attack goal from Robbie Keane. However, the team scored twice before halftime to turn the game around.

Leighton Baines and Modrić each scored one.

In the second half, Džeko scored another goal.

3-1! With their morale soaring, Bayswater Chinese secured another three points!

Chapter 109: Elimination! Injury! A Real Man! Yang Cheng, I’m Waiting for You at Old Trafford!

While Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at home, in the northwest of England, Manchester United eked out a 1-0 away victory against Blackburn Rovers.

French striker Saha scored the only goal of the match.

In two other games in London, Chelsea thrashed Watford 4-0 at home, thanks to a hat-trick from Drogba.

Arsenal defeated Liverpool 3-0 at their home ground.

When Ferguson led his team back to Carrington from Blackburn and received the match reports from the south, his first reaction was excitement.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this fired up!”

The Manchester United patriarch rubbed his hands in anticipation, unable to contain his inner thrill.

Just how long had it been?

In any case, Carlos Queiroz hadn’t seen him like this in all his time at Manchester United.

Ever since Beckham left for Real Madrid in 2003, Manchester United’s midfield had been plagued by significant problems.

Although they had brought in Verón for a time, the overall balance was still affected.

Ferguson had long wanted to reform Manchester United’s entire tactical approach, which led to Queiroz’s arrival.

Starting in 2003, first came Arsenal’s invincible season, followed by the rise of Mourinho’s Chelsea, while Manchester United remained mired in their own various issues.

Many people were actually unaware.

They signed C. Ronaldo in 2003 and Rooney in 2004.

But initially, C. Ronaldo was not part of Ferguson’s plans.

In the summer of 2003, the player Manchester United wanted most was Ronaldinho.

Talks with Ronaldinho were nearly complete at the time, and everyone believed the Brazilian genius was certain to join Manchester United.

Ferguson himself thought so too.

But in the end, due to some issues with Ronaldinho’s agent and brother, the Brazilian went to Barça instead.

Only then did a frantic Ferguson sign C. Ronaldo for a sky-high fee.

And what about 2004?

Besides Rooney, Manchester United had also wanted to sign another very important player.

PSV Eindhoven’s winger, Arjen Robben.

How important was Robben?

Ferguson had started negotiations with PSV Eindhoven and the player almost a year in advance, and they had more or less reached an agreement.

Van Nistelrooy’s earlier transfer had given Manchester United a good reputation with PSV Eindhoven, and the Dutch club was willing to sell Robben to them. The two sides had hit it off immediately.

Imagine an attacking combination of Robben on the left, Rooney in the middle, and C. Ronaldo on the right. How terrifying would that be?

But unexpectedly, Chelsea suddenly swooped in.

The transfer market itself is a war for talent!

What Chelsea gained, Manchester United lost.

For the past few years, Manchester United had truly been stifled!

But now, Ferguson was beginning to rediscover a taste of the ambition from the Red Devils’ dominant era.

This energized his entire being.

“It seems our young friend really intends to make a run for the league title!” Ferguson said with a smile.

“That’s normal. With the team adjusted to this level and possessing this kind of strength, it would be strange if they didn’t make a push.”

“But challenging for the title requires staying power!” Ferguson huffed a laugh. “Can he handle it?”

Everton’s David Moyes had always regarded Ferguson as a mentor. He would even make a special trip back to Scotland to attend any classes Ferguson taught, and they frequently exchanged coaching insights.

His coaching ability was quite good, but he still couldn’t manage the dual demands of the Premier League and the Champions League.

What?

He was in the Premier League, League Cup, and UEFA Cup last season?

Was that the same level of difficulty as challenging for the Premier League title while competing in the Champions League?

“Their squad is too young right now,” Queiroz said with a nod.

“Do you know why Wenger has won so few titles over so many years?” Ferguson asked Queiroz.

Queiroz shook his head.

“Because he’s greedy and doesn’t know how to make sacrifices!”

Ferguson smiled proudly, a hint of a grand strategist in his demeanor.

“There have been many times when Arsenal were still competing on four fronts in January, but the point where their chain is most likely to break is precisely after they’ve been fighting on multiple fronts.”

“When one front collapses, it immediately triggers a chain reaction, and the other fronts will quickly crumble as well.”

“It can happen in just one month, sometimes even in two or three weeks. They go from competing on four fronts to ending up with nothing!”

“Wenger is a man of a thousand virtues, but he has one flaw.”

“When it matters most, he’s not man enough!”

As he finished, Ferguson puffed out his chest, as if to say: I am a real man!

Queiroz was silent.

He had personally coached Real Madrid.

Before that, he prided himself on his tactical prowess and believed he had accumulated enough experience at Ferguson’s side.

Real Madrid was, at the time, the team with the most superstars and the strongest squad in the world, so he wanted to prove himself there.

In the end, he was utterly defeated!

His time at Real Madrid taught him one thing.

Coaching a team is never an easy task.

Especially a powerhouse club in a top league!

People only see the glamour of the successful, but they never see the mountain of bones left behind by the failures.

How many, like Queiroz, after one crushing defeat, lost the courage or the opportunity to try a second time?

He also didn’t know how Yang Cheng, at such a young age, could do so well.

Perhaps, Yang Cheng was truly a genius.

But even geniuses need to be tested and tempered by fire.

“Carlos, tell our players that from now on, we’re going to war!”

As Ferguson said this, his entire demeanor became exceptionally calm and composed.

“I’m determined to win this season’s league title!”

“No one is going to take it from me!”

Queiroz nodded heavily.

It had been many years since he had seen Ferguson this fired up.

It seemed Yang Cheng had truly lit a fire under him.

“Whether you’re a real man or not is decided after you survive the winter period!”

…

Between the 12th and 13th rounds of the Premier League was an international break.

So after round 12, many international players rushed off to report to their national teams.

After hastily playing a friendly for their countries mid-week, they rushed back for the league fixtures over the weekend.

This constant travel clearly affected the teams with many international players.

Arsenal drew 1-1 at home against Newcastle.

Wenger’s team continued their inconsistent form this season, with performances fluctuating wildly.

Sometimes, they would thrash an opponent one week, only to suffer a heavy defeat the next.

Manchester United, meanwhile, were away against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United. After conceding first, Rooney scored a brace to successfully turn the match around.

Chelsea hosted West Ham United, and the match was extremely perilous. In the end, they relied on a goal from Geremi to defeat The Hammers 1-0 and secure three points.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Middlesbrough.

Bayswater Chinese continued their season’s blitzkrieg style. In the 18th minute of the match, Maicon assisted an Andrei Arshavin goal against Charlton Athletic.

After that, the match remained a stalemate.

It wasn’t until the 72nd minute that Lassana Diarra assisted Lambert to score another goal.

2-0, Bayswater Chinese defeated Charlton.

With this victory, Bayswater Chinese continued to maintain pressure on Manchester United.

The two teams were level on points.

At the post-match press conference after this round, Ferguson made a bold declaration that Manchester United would vow to win the league title next May!

“Our form this season has shown that we have the strength to win the championship.”

“There is no doubt about it.”

“If our players can stay healthy, then we will definitely be able to do it. I am very sure.”

“Rivals on the path to the title?”

“I think our most likely competitors will be Chelsea. They have a very deep squad and will be very strong in the latter half of the season, especially during Christmas, the winter transfer window, and in February and March. That period of the schedule is very challenging.”

“Bayswater Chinese?”

“No, I don’t think they have a chance to win the title. They are too young.”

“When a team has too many young players, it often means their squad is too thin.”

“No, no, no, they are completely different from the Class of ’92 that I coached. My squad wasn’t this young back then.”

Then a reporter asked Ferguson a question.

He had a habit of inviting the opposing manager for a drink after home games.

But it seemed he had never once invited Yang Cheng.

The 21st round this season fell right during the Christmas schedule. Would Ferguson invite Yang Cheng for a drink?

At this, Ferguson burst out laughing.

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“But I’m not sure if he’ll be in the mood to have a drink with me by then.”

When the media relayed Ferguson’s comments, Yang Cheng had only one reply.

“If Ferguson’s Manchester United were as formidable on the pitch as he is with his mouth, perhaps we would feel more threatened and challenged!”

Internally, he told his players not to take Ferguson’s words to heart.

“He’s not underestimating us. He’s genuinely treating us as a rival!”

“He’s deliberately saying this to provoke us!”

…

In the fifth round of the Champions League group stage mid-week, Bayswater Chinese traveled to Portugal to challenge Sporting Lisbon.

This was a very interesting matchup.

Sporting Lisbon’s hopes were dashed. With four losses in four games, qualifying from the group was basically impossible.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had three wins and one draw, securing their spot in the knockout stage ahead of schedule. The only question was whether they would finish first or second in the group.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng fielded a full lineup of substitutes.

It was almost like a League Cup match.

This also gave the young players in the squad invaluable Champions League experience.

For many of them, this was an opportunity they had previously only dreamed of.

Therefore, this group of young players played with extra effort and excitement in the away game.

Sporting Lisbon themselves were somewhat demoralized.

But it was their home ground, after all.

In the end, after a hard-fought ninety minutes, the young Bayswater side returned home with a bitter 1-0 defeat.

While comforting his players, Yang Cheng wasn’t disappointed by the loss. In fact, he was a little pleased.

Sometimes, a loss can teach players more than a victory.

Especially when this group of young players had already given their all.

In another stadium, Real Madrid drew 2-2 at home against Bayern Munich.

Ribéry was brilliant, contributing one goal and one assist.

His forty million pound sterling price tag was being justified in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League this season!

As a result, the suspense of the Champions League group stage would carry over to the final round.

Bayswater Chinese now had 10 points with 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.

Bayern Munich had 8 points with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.

Real Madrid had 7 points with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses.

Thus, the situation in the Champions League group had become extremely confusing.

In the final round, Bayern Munich would host Sporting Lisbon, and Bayswater Chinese would host Real Madrid. Both matches would be the most highly anticipated fixtures of the Champions League group stage this season.

Whichever team was eliminated from the group would capture the attention of countless fans.

Less than two days after the fifth round of the group stage was completed, Adam Crozier reported on the ticket sales for the December 6th match against Real Madrid.

Including season ticket holders, the number of fans attending that match had already exceeded sixty thousand.

And there was still half a month to go before the game.

The day after Yang Cheng returned to London from Lisbon, he received some very bad news.

…

Ever since taking over Bayswater Chinese, everything Yang Cheng had done was for the club’s development.

As a head coach with decades of experience, he was more familiar with the ins and outs of planning and arranging many things than others.

For example, he placed great importance on the medical department.

Previously, Bayswater Chinese had no money, so the medical department was rudimentary.

But after Yang Cheng earned some money, the first thing he did was to establish a proper medical department and hire excellent team doctors.

David Fevre and Rob Price joined Bayswater Chinese during that time.

Now, one was the Head of Medical Services, and the other was the Head Physiotherapist.

The medical department quickly expanded to dozens of people, overseeing Bayswater Chinese’s first team, youth academy, and Satellite Training Centre, a scale that could be considered the largest in the Premier League.

Yang Cheng also insisted on annual investment. Whether it was acquiring advanced facilities or recruiting high-level professionals, he never scrimped.

Many outsiders said that Bayswater Chinese was shabby, even renting their home stadium.

But only those inside the club knew that the team’s spending on medical, youth development, and coaching staff in recent years far exceeded that of other Premier League and even European teams.

Therefore, for the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had consistently had the fewest injuries among Premier League teams.

Especially after establishing the sports analysis system with Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett, and importing a series of advanced instruments and equipment from the United States for more detailed and in-depth monitoring of the players’ physical condition and gathering more comprehensive data, Bayswater Chinese players rarely suffered major injuries due to man-made factors like fatigue.

Even though uncontrollable injuries were still frequent, they were generally not severe.

Injuries, in the world of professional football, are basically impossible to eliminate.

Just like Yaya Touré’s case this time.

A strain of the biceps femoris muscle in the back of his thigh.

Why did he get injured?

There was no physical collision, no excessive fatigue, not even a knock.

It happened during a training session. While trying to win the ball, the player suddenly stopped, turned, and then accelerated into a sprint. He then began to feel discomfort and could no longer continue training.

After being sent to the medical department for an examination, the preliminary diagnosis was a biceps femoris strain.

He was immediately sent to the hospital for a more detailed examination.

“It’s confirmed, a strain of the biceps femoris muscle in the back of his thigh.”

When a relatively major injury occurred in the first team, Head of Medical Services David Fevre naturally had to get involved personally.

He went to the hospital, obtained the detailed firsthand information, and came back to report to Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

“This muscle is injured very frequently. It usually happens during short sprints.”

“Based on my discussion with the doctors at the hospital, the initial prognosis is four to six weeks, but with muscle strains, we can’t give a very specific timeline. We need to refer to the player’s actual recovery progress.”

After reporting, David Fevre glanced at Yang Cheng and sat back down.

Yang Cheng had long been accustomed to all sorts of injuries and was used to having his plans disrupted by them.

In a long season, who doesn’t encounter injuries?

“Thad,” Yang Cheng looked at Thad Foucher. “What’s your take?”

Thad Foucher stood up and displayed a PowerPoint slide.

“The biceps femoris muscle is in this area. As David said, it’s frequently injured. More than half of all hamstring strains occur here.”

“After Yaya Touré joined our team, when we were creating a tailored physical training plan for him, we first focused on training his gluteal strength.”

“This way, when he has his back to goal and is under pressure, he gets more space and it benefits his movements. We have similar arrangements for other players who often engage in hold-up play.”

No one had any objections to this.

Often, hand and hip movements, which might seem unrelated to playing football, are very useful on the pitch.

For example, Yaya Touré often turns to shield the ball and uses his hips to hold off an opponent.

Don’t get the wrong idea.

It’s purely a footballing necessity, and it’s very effective.

Imagine, at 1.91 meters tall, if he slightly bends his body and has sufficient hip strength, defenders would have no chance of getting the ball from his feet.

“The coaching staff has always emphasized that our team values speed and technique. We also pay special attention to this in training. For example, when training players, we try to find ways to avoid affecting the flexibility and agility of their technical movements while they gain muscle.”

“There are many things involved here, so I won’t go into detail.”

“Normally, when we train players who need to make frequent short sprints, like Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Ribéry, Ángel Di María, and Andrei Arshavin, they all need to do repeated short-distance sprints.”

“In the past, many teams’ physical training for this type of player only focused on the concentric contraction of the hamstrings. This was to further improve the player’s power output, which is of course very important.”

“But this type of player also desperately needs more eccentric muscle strength training.”

“During a short sprint, the hamstring muscles require a great deal of eccentric muscle strength to stabilize the knee and pelvis. This is why players who excel at short sprints are prone to knee injuries.”

“From the very beginning, we have strengthened the eccentric muscle training for these players, which provides them with crucial protection.”

“But Yaya Touré was not among them. He is a full 1.91 meters tall and plays in a holding midfield role. His strength training needed to be invested in other, more important areas. We really didn’t expect him to injure his biceps femoris this time.”

“Next, we will refer to the training footage, as well as the degree and location of the muscle strain and other factors, to conduct an in-depth discussion on this issue and find ways to prevent it and improve training.”

“At the same time, we will be deeply involved in his recovery training.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

The medical department and the sports analysis team had basically done all they could.

The next step was to mitigate the negative impact of Yaya Touré’s injury.

Regarding diagnosis and rehabilitation, Yang Cheng laid out his requirements.

“Last season, a man-made disaster occurred at Arsenal.”

“First, Ashley Cole fractured a bone, then Clichy fractured a bone. Both left-backs fractured bones at the same time and were out for long periods. This was a huge blow to Arsenal.”

“Especially Ashley Cole. I don’t want something similar to happen in our team. I have a responsibility to my players; they are our club’s most precious assets!”

“So, I hope everyone takes this as their starting point. As for the matches, we will find a way to overcome it, OK?”

Yang Cheng set the tone for the matter.

Why did he refer to Ashley Cole’s situation as a man-made disaster?

Ashley Cole, then still playing for The Gunners, was injured during the national team training camp in early October 2005. At the time, Eriksson even issued a press release stating that a scan showed a bone fracture and he would be out for a month.

Later, Arsenal’s medical staff also examined him and confirmed it would be four to six weeks.

Doesn’t that sound a lot like Yaya Touré’s situation now?

But then the situation changed again and again.

Ashley Cole didn’t return until mid-January 2006.

But this comeback lasted only 56 minutes, as he helped Arsenal thrash Middlesbrough 7-0.

As it turned out, this return was not a sign of his recovery but instead further aggravated his injury.

Ashley Cole then entered another long period of recuperation, not returning again until April 29th.

From early October to mid-January, from mid-January to the end of April, Arsenal’s medical staff perfectly demonstrated how an injury that should have taken four to six weeks could ultimately turn into a disaster.

Later, Clichy also experienced a long spell on the sidelines for several months.

Of course, Yang Cheng wasn’t saying it was all the medical staff’s fault.

But by calling it a man-made disaster, his purpose was simple: he hoped the medical department and sports analysis team would treat player injuries objectively and meticulously. If an expert was needed, they should find one, and not delay the treatment.

Everyone present knew what had happened at Arsenal and naturally understood the meaning behind Yang Cheng’s words.

…

Yaya Touré’s injury did not attract much attention from the outside world.

Such things were too common.

In the subsequent 14th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng deployed a different midfield combination.

Modrić and Lassana Diarra remained unchanged, with Gökhan Inler playing as the holding midfielder.

The first half of this West London derby away against Fulham was not ideal.

The players were familiar with each other, but with one player changed, many things needed to be re-calibrated, causing the team to function poorly in the first half.

The turning point came in the 50th minute.

Fulham’s manager, Chris Coleman, made a substitution.

As Bayswater Chinese’s attacks grew fiercer and the pressure on his defense mounted, he brought on the former Barça centre-back, Frenchman Philippe Christanval, for midfielder Diop.

This substitution completely liberated Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Five minutes after the substitution, Andrei Arshavin dribbled into the box, drew a foul, and earned a penalty kick.

Modrić converted it coolly, opening the scoring for the team.

1-0!

In the 60th minute, Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick from an attacking play.

Pepe headed the ball back across from the far post, and Koscielny connected with a header to score.

2-0!

Just six minutes later, it was another corner kick, another flick-on from Pepe, this time from the near post to the far post. The goalscorer was Ashley Young.

3-0!

And just before the end of the match, substitute Gareth Bale also scored, changing the scoreline to 4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese completed a four-goal rout of Fulham.

In this round, Liverpool defeated Manchester City 1-0 at home.

Manchester United were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Chelsea.

Chelsea’s goal came from Carvalho, who scored from a corner kick.

Combined with the two goals from corner kicks against Fulham, several media outlets, including The Times, joked after the match: “Corner kicks have pushed Bayswater Chinese back to the top of the table!”

Meanwhile, Arsenal suffered a crushing 1-3 defeat away to Bolton.

The Gunners’ form was just that unpredictable.

No one knew how Wenger’s team would play in the next round.

…

Yaya Touré’s injury finally became a problem in the 15th round of the Premier League.

At St. James’ Park, Yang Cheng’s team faced stiff resistance from Newcastle in their away match.

Their opening attacking blitz failed to work, and instead, they conceded a goal from a counter-attack in the 23rd minute.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Bayswater Chinese launched a furious assault.

Andrei Arshavin scored two in quick succession, helping the team turn the game around.

But in the second half, the incredibly fast Martins scored in the 57th minute to level the score.

Then, in the 84th minute, a long shot from former Inter Milan midfielder Emre secured all three points for Newcastle at home.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first defeat of the season.

Their unbeaten league run ended at 20 matches.

This included 14 matches this season and 6 from last season.

Yang Cheng believed this loss wouldn’t have too great an impact on the team.

“For us, this was like an accident.”

“No team can remain undefeated forever.”

After Bayswater Chinese lost to Newcastle, Serie A’s Inter Milan became the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to remain unbeaten so far this season.

After the Calciopoli scandal erupted, Inter Milan was now completely dominant in Serie A, and their momentum was hard to stop. Teams including AC Milan and AS Roma could hardly compete with them.

Among them, Ancelotti’s AC Milan began to focus their efforts on the Champions League.

While Bayswater Chinese lost, Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Everton.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Bolton.

Liverpool were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Portsmouth.

Arsenal lost again, 1-2 away to Fulham.

After 15 rounds, Bayswater Chinese, who had just climbed to the top of the league, were kicked back down.

Manchester United led with 37 points, followed closely by Bayswater Chinese with 36, while Chelsea had 33 points.

Further down, Arsenal had only managed 22 points, falling far behind the top three teams.

…

Mid-week, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Real Madrid.

As this match would determine the final standings of the Champions League group, it attracted a large number of fans.

Even many Spanish fans traveled for the away game.

Over sixty thousand people attended the match.

Everyone wanted to witness the flair of the Real Madrid stars.

On the Bayswater Chinese side, since they had already qualified from the group, there was no pressure.

But what about Real Madrid?

They needed an away win against Bayswater Chinese to have a chance.

Under these circumstances, Fabio Capello could no longer afford to be cautious, fielding almost the strongest attacking lineup he could assemble.

Superstars like Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Robinho all started, along with other well-known stars like Carlos, Cannavaro, Salgado, and Emerson.

Wembley Stadium instantly became star-studded.

Especially Cannavaro.

In the recently announced European Ballon d’Or results, Cannavaro was named the 2006 winner.

He was the first defender to win the award since Sammer in 1996.

He was also the first Italian to win the Ballon d’Or since Roberto Baggio in 1993.

Many had even begun to predict that the FIFA World Player of the Year award in mid-December would also be his for the taking.

This undoubtedly made the match at Wembley Stadium even more appealing.

Unlike Real Madrid’s cautious approach, Bayswater Chinese, despite also fielding a full-strength team, played with exceptional aggression.

From the very beginning, Yang Cheng was on the offensive, attacking Real Madrid’s defense with the team’s signature blitzkrieg.

In the 13th minute, a brilliant chipped pass from Modrić helped Džeko beat Cannavaro in the penalty area and head the ball into the net.

1-0!

This immediately ignited the atmosphere in the entire stadium.

To score a goal over the head of the Ballon d’Or and World Player of the Year!

The significance was extraordinary!

This goal also sounded the horn for an all-out offensive battle between the two teams.

Real Madrid began to push forward, launching attacks with reckless abandon.

Bayswater Chinese, in turn, started to strengthen their midfield defense and play on the counter-attack.

In the 27th minute, during a quick counter-attack after winning the ball in midfield, Andrei Arshavin dribbled past Mahamadou Diarra’s defense and sent a through ball.

After receiving the ball and breaking into the penalty area between Cannavaro and Mejía, Džeko unleashed a powerful shot that once again beat Casillas.

2-0!

But just before the end of the first half, Ronaldo collected the ball outside the penalty area, broke past Pepe, and sent the ball into the goal past Neuer.

1-2!

After the break, Yang Cheng’s team struck first, trying to launch a fierce attack. They did create a threat and came very close to scoring.

But in the 48th minute, a diagonal long pass from Beckham was perfectly delivered behind the Bayswater Chinese defense. Ronaldo made a quick run, found himself one-on-one with the keeper, and scored again.

2-2!

The game was back on level terms.

But for Real Madrid, this was far from enough.

The two sides engaged in a fierce contest. The game was very open, with a fast tempo.

Compared to Real Madrid, Bayswater Chinese had already qualified and had less psychological burden.

In the 76th minute, Andrei Arshavin received a cross from Ashley Young, broke into the penalty area, and fired a low shot that once again found the back of Real Madrid’s net, putting his team ahead again.

3-2!

But in the 88th minute, Inler fouled Robinho, giving Real Madrid a free-kick in an advanced position.

Beckham coolly stepped up to take it, sending a curving free kick like a crescent moon, which accurately flew past Neuer and into the goal.

3-3!

Ultimately, this scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid shook hands on a draw.

In the other stadium, Bayern Munich drew 1-1 with Sporting Lisbon.

As a result, the final standings of this group were: Bayswater Chinese with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, earning 11 points to finish first.

Bayern Munich finished second with 9 points from 2 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.

Real Madrid finished third with 8 points from 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses.

Sporting Lisbon finished at the bottom of the group with 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 losses.

Bayswater Chinese and Bayern Munich advanced together, while Real Madrid were eliminated in third place and would drop down to the UEFA Cup. Sporting Lisbon were out completely.

This result immediately sent shockwaves throughout the European football world!

In the past few years, although Real Madrid had been weak, they had at least managed to get through the group stage every year.

But now?

The Chairman was replaced, the head coach was replaced, and half the superstars were cleared out, yet the result was a failure to even get out of the group stage.

This was an absolute humiliation!

The Real Madrid fans who had traveled to the away game began to boo at Wembley Stadium.

That night, when the Real Madrid team returned to Madrid by charter flight, they were greeted by angry fans.

Yang Cheng wasn’t concerned about Real Madrid’s affairs, but he paid close attention to the upcoming Champions League round of 16 draw.

According to the rules, group winners could draw a second-placed team.

But the second-placed teams this year were quite formidable.

Teams like Inter Milan, Barcelona, AS Roma, and Bayern Munich were all group runners-up.

Since they were in the same group, they wouldn’t draw Bayern, but what about the other teams?

…

In the 16th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Bolton at home, thanks to a goal from Lambert.

The goal came in the 73rd minute of the second half.

The entire match was very difficult.

But regardless, after their 20-match unbeaten run was halted, a 1-0 home win against Bolton signified that the team was moving out of the shadow of defeat and avoiding a losing streak.

In Yang Cheng’s view, this was already a very good result.

Manchester United, meanwhile, beat Middlesbrough 2-1 away from home.

The Red Devils’ victory was also hard-fought.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 home win against Newcastle.

The top three teams largely maintained their previous rankings.

…

A week later, the Premier League entered its 17th round.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Watford.

Just four minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese’s blitzkrieg was effective again.

Ashley Young, assisted by Andrei Arshavin, opened the scoring for the team.

And just before the end of the first half, a goal from Džeko extended their lead.

Just three minutes into the second half, Ashley Young delivered a cross, and Džeko scored with a left-footed volley in the penalty area.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese completed a 3-0 away victory over Watford, securing another three points.

Slightly later, Manchester United also employed an early onslaught tactic in their home game.

Interestingly, the rhythm of Manchester United’s goals was somewhat similar to Bayswater Chinese’s.

Rooney opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 6th minute.

Just before the end of the first half, Saha scored another for the team.

But the second half was different.

Manchester City’s right-back Trabelsi pulled one back in the 72nd minute.

C. Ronaldo only scored the third goal in the 84th minute.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Manchester City 3-1 at home.

The next day, Chelsea drew 1-1 at home with Arsenal.

After this round of matches, Manchester United led with 43 points, with Bayswater Chinese just behind on 42.

Chelsea began to fall further behind, with only 37 points.

Arsenal was currently in 4th place, but with only 26 points.

This meant The Gunners were a full 17 points behind Manchester United, and 16 points behind Bayswater Chinese.

But after the match against Chelsea, Wenger, at the post-match press conference, spoke for the first time about this season’s Premier League title.

The Gunners’ manager said, “If you ask me who I favor to win the Premier League title this season?”

“Manchester United? Bayswater Chinese? Chelsea?”

“None of them!”

“My answer is, Arsenal!”

During the match, The Gunners had been the better team for large spells, but the Blues played exceptionally well in the last 20 minutes and successfully leveled the score.

This was what frustrated Wenger the most.

They clearly could have taken all three points.

But Mourinho was also not satisfied with this result.

The Portuguese Special One stated that Arsenal’s possession was indeed better, and The Gunners were leading for a long time in the match; he admitted all that.

He believed Arsenal severely lacked ambition.

Because in the final 20 minutes, especially after Chelsea equalized, Arsenal adopted a tactic of defending with all their might.

“What I can’t understand is, a team that keeps talking about challenging for the title, they are now 17 points behind the league leaders, yet they are still confidently believe they have a chance to win it.”

“This inexplicable confidence, I really can’t understand it.”

“I don’t think such a team has the ability to win the league title!”

“They lack that kind of ambition!”

Mourinho said with prideful coyness, “We earned a respectable result at Stamford Bridge and won the respect of our fans.”

“We have won the Premier League title for two consecutive seasons, and we will continue to do so this season.”

“Being six points behind Manchester United now is not a problem for us at all.”

In the end, Mourinho couldn’t resist taking a swipe at Wenger.

“In the future, if our North London neighbor again uses their squad and age as an excuse, then I will invite him to go north of Hyde Park to visit and learn.”

“I don’t want to mention that team, but I must admit, they have done a much better job than Arsenal.”

“At the very least, they are 16 points ahead of the North London team.”

“Oh, right, Arsenal also lost by four goals, while we drew 0-0!”

“Of course, Bayswater Chinese can’t win the title either!”

“Because the title will belong to us, Chelsea!”

Wenger was very displeased with Mourinho’s statement.

Arsenal had indeed encountered many problems this season, both internally and externally.

The reason Wenger had declared they would win the title was not because he was blindly arrogant enough to truly believe Arsenal could turn the situation around.

Instead, he wanted to use this opportunity to boost the team’s morale.

Unexpectedly, it attracted Mourinho’s mockery and sarcasm.

So, Wenger immediately retaliated, calling Mourinho a dishonest liar.

“The fact is, we were the team that most desperately wanted to win, and we almost did.”

When had Mourinho ever admitted defeat?

He immediately struck back.

When Yang Cheng learned from reporters that he had been dragged into the war of words between Mourinho and Wenger for no reason, he said he was very innocent.

The crucial point was that both teams were claiming they would win the title.

Go ahead and shout, but why are you looking down on us?

Damn it, have you looked at the gap in the league table? Have some shame!

“I have no interest in getting involved in the boring spat between two noisy neighbors.”

“I also don’t think Chelsea or Arsenal have a chance to win the title.”

“This season’s Premier League title will only belong to us, Bayswater Chinese!”

“Chelsea? Arsenal? They can talk after they manage to beat us!”

Only at this moment did everyone realize that Chelsea and Arsenal had yet to win a single match against Bayswater Chinese.

With Yang Cheng now involved, the war of words escalated and became even more interesting.

Especially when Ferguson subsequently commented on the season’s title race, he once again stated that he was not optimistic about Bayswater Chinese.

Why?

Besides being young and having a thin squad, the schedule was also a major factor.

“We all know how important the Christmas schedule is. It could even decide the entire season’s title race.”

“This year’s Christmas schedule has three matches: on the 26th, 30th, and the 1st.”

“In these three rounds, we have two home games and one away, Chelsea also has two home and one away, while Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal both have one home and two away.”

“But Arsenal’s two away games are both against newly promoted teams.”

“Among Chelsea’s three opponents, two are not particularly strong.”

“Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, will face a huge challenge, because they have to play two consecutive away games, against Chelsea and Manchester United.”

Ferguson then grinned from ear to ear, saying he had already prepared a case of fine wine and was just waiting to entertain Yang Cheng at Old Trafford. He hoped that Yang Cheng would still be in the mood to have a couple of drinks with him then.

“Although it’s a bit irresponsible to say this, I really think the outcome of this season’s title race will probably be decided in January.”

The implication was that Manchester United held an absolute advantage.

Bayswater Chinese would be left behind by Manchester United during the Christmas schedule at the end of December.

At that point, who could stop Manchester United from winning the title?

Chapter 110: A Future England Star! Take Down Chelsea and Win the West London Derby!

Christmas was fast approaching.

While the war of words raged off the pitch, performances on it varied wildly.

In the eighteenth round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at home.

After a fruitless first half of attacking, they conceded in the forty-first minute.

But in the second half, the team fought back with goals from Ashley Young and Lambert, scoring twice to secure the comeback victory.

At home, the Bayswater Chinese had remained undefeated for over three years.

Meanwhile, Arsenal, after going two goals down at home, scored twice in the second half to salvage a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth.

Chelsea twice came from behind to equalize against their opponents.

Terry’s absence due to a back injury had a significant impact on Chelsea.

Ultimately, they managed a 3-2 away victory over Everton, thanks to a last-minute winner from Drogba in the eighty-seventh minute.

Manchester United, playing away against West Ham United, only broke the deadlock in the seventy-fifth minute with a goal from Carrick, securing a 1-0 win over the East London team.

After this round, The Gunners dropped one place in the table to fifth.

Liverpool surged ahead, overtaking The Gunners to claim fourth place.

The top three remained largely unchanged: Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese, and Chelsea.

As The Times’ Premier League experts wrote in their columns, with Christmas nearing and after a long stretch of matches, every team was dealing with injuries and player fatigue. At times like these, head coaches needed to find ways to motivate their players.

A war of words was a simple, practical, and economical method that required minimal resources.

…

Premier League, Round 19.

This was the final match before Christmas.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-0 away, courtesy of a brace from C. Ronaldo.

Chelsea, after taking a two-goal lead, allowed Wigan Athletic to score twice and level the match. They narrowly secured a 3-2 victory thanks to a last-minute winner from Robben in stoppage time.

Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 at home.

Arsenal went on a rampage, thrashing Blackburn Rovers 6-2 at home.

Wenger had reason to hold his head high once again.

But The Gunners’ biggest problem had never been a single match; it was consistency.

Playing away, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Everton 2-0, with Ashley Young contributing a goal and an assist, and Džeko adding the other.

Both goals came early in each half.

Four minutes into the first half and two minutes into the second.

The lightning attack was gradually becoming the Bayswater Chinese’s most lethal weapon.

The elusive Andrei Arshavin, the increasingly impressive Yang Cheng, and the ever-more-efficient goalscorer Džeko were all causing major headaches for Premier League defenders.

Among them, Ashley Young had now scored in three consecutive Premier League matches.

…

With the nineteenth round of the Premier League completed, the festive rhythm of Christmas began to set in.

Since Adam Crozier took the helm, Christmas at the club had become increasingly busy, with more and more community and charity events being organised.

Most of these events didn’t require players to make public appearances.

However, visits to local orphanages, children’s hospitals, and nursing homes were mandatory annual appearances for the players.

It was worth noting that as the former Chairman of The FA, Adam Crozier was very knowledgeable about the various aspects of football’s integration into the community.

He had even established a Community Fan Services Department, specifically dedicated to community engagement.

During major holidays like this, the entire department was run ragged. They delivered goods to the lonely elderly in the community, gave presents to children in orphanages, and organised first-team players’ visits to the local areas…

Due to their weak foundation, the Bayswater Chinese were currently focusing not only on the areas around Bayswater and Notting Hill but also heavily on the communities surrounding the Brent Reservoir.

Especially after renting Wembley Stadium as their home ground, the residents around Wembley became a key focus for development.

This was also one of the most densely populated areas in London.

But what surprised everyone the most was that Adele and her song “Dream It Possible” were becoming increasingly popular, and the trend was only growing stronger. In the process, it also brought a lot of attention to the Bayswater Chinese’s football culture promotional video.

Before Christmas, the club’s senior management held a regular high-level meeting.

During the meeting, Adam Crozier, full of surprise, shared some good news with everyone.

“We just commissioned a third-party agency to conduct a study, and the results show that the team anthem and the football culture promotional video have had a hugely positive impact on our team’s brand image and commercial value.”

“The youth academy mentioned that many young kids were influenced by the promotional video and have subsequently transferred to our youth camp and Satellite Training Centres.”

“This proves that we still have enormous untapped potential!”

All the senior executives present broke into applause, looking at Yang Cheng with admiration.

He felt a little embarrassed by the attention.

From the team anthem to the promotional video, Yang Cheng had produced and planned everything himself.

Even the final products were personally approved by him.

For achieving such results, Yang Cheng deserved the primary credit.

The best advertising was never about selling products, but about selling values.

The Bayswater Chinese’s football culture short film was promoting the club’s football values.

Whether it was Ribéry, Modrić, or Harry Kane, everyone could see a reflection of themselves in the three of them, which created a sense of identification.

The most magical part was, when combined with Adele’s voice that could penetrate the deepest parts of the soul and the cinematic narrative shots, it easily created a spiritual resonance in everyone.

As one popular comment on YouTube said:

“You may not like this team, but at least you won’t hate it!”

This was incredibly important for a club’s image!

Moreover, in the future, as players like Ribéry, Modrić, and Harry Kane became famous, and as Adele became a star, the value and influence of this song and promotional video would only continue to grow.

Not long ago, Yang Cheng had received a report from the youth academy.

Indeed, some young players who were originally in the Arsenal and Chelsea youth academies had transferred to the Bayswater Chinese after watching the promotional video.

Yang Cheng didn’t know how many future star players were among them.

But players handpicked for Arsenal’s and Chelsea’s youth teams couldn’t be bad, right?

Yang Cheng even went into the system to check the list of these young players.

As it turned out, there was a familiar name on it: Reece James.

Another future England star!

He had just turned seven. His father was a football coach of Grenadian descent, and his mother was English.

Many people have probably never heard of Grenada.

It’s an island country in the Commonwealth, located in the Caribbean Sea, on an island northeast of Venezuela, with a population of only about one hundred thousand.

Thanks to his father, Reece James started playing football at a very young age.

His family lived in Redbridge, in northeast London.

In simple terms, they lived quite close to Harry Kane’s family.

Furthermore, he wasn’t playing right-back at the moment but was a striker, and his idol was Drogba.

Yes, a kid whose idol was Drogba had transferred to the Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy.

The reason was that after watching the team’s promotional video, he really liked the club’s football culture.

Of course, a more important reason was that the Chelsea youth system he belonged to was not yet fully developed.

The Bayswater Chinese’s Satellite Training Centre in northeast London was very close to his home.

Having been signed by Chelsea’s youth academy at the age of six, Reece James’s talent and potential were evident.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, if this kid hadn’t refused hamstring surgery to participate in the World Cup, which led to recurring injuries and a gradual fragility, his future would have been limitless.

Therefore, Yang Cheng instructed the youth academy to keep a close eye on this boy.

The reason was also quite sound.

The lad had come over from an arch-rival with sincerity; they had to treat him well.

It was like buying the bones of a prized horse for a thousand pieces of gold to show one’s sincerity—you get the idea, right?

As the team anthem and promotional video gained popularity, Adele’s value soared.

Not only did her record company start paying more attention to her, but the market also grew to recognise this soul singer, and her fame grew day by day.

She was already attracting a great deal of attention with just one song, even before her album was released.

Adele now also strongly identified with the Bayswater Chinese. She not only publicly declared herself a die-hard fan but also performed at every home game, frequently appearing in the newspapers.

It was a case of mutual success for both parties.

…

“It’s hard to say what our revenue for this year will be just yet, but our target is one hundred million pound sterling.”

As the club’s Chief Financial Officer, Xia Qing also reported on the club’s income and expenditure over the past half-season.

“Our revenue is mainly divided into three major categories.”

“For matchday revenue, our target is to reach thirty-five million pound sterling.”

“We calculate this matchday revenue based on twenty-three matches, which includes the Premier League, the Champions League group stage, and one Champions League round of sixteen knockout match.”

Based on the team’s current attendance rate, they could maintain an average of around forty thousand, but the average ticket price was not as high as it was at Loftus Road Stadium, at only about thirty-five pound sterling.

This was mainly because sales in the higher-priced areas on the side stands were not very good.

If you watched a live broadcast of a Bayswater Chinese home game, you would easily notice that the attendance in the stands behind the goals was significantly higher than in the side stands, by a considerable margin.

In other words, at this stage, the large number of fans the Bayswater Chinese were attracting were mainly price-sensitive, neutral supporters who also enjoyed watching the Premier League.

There were some high-end fans, but not many.

It was even possible that some high-end fans also preferred to buy tickets for the stands at either end.

The atmosphere was great, and the tickets were cheap—what’s not to like?

This was a long-term operational issue!

“For commercial revenue, we’re currently at about thirty million pound sterling per season.”

“For broadcasting rights income and prize money, combining the Premier League and the Champions League, we expect our revenue to exceed thirty-five million pound sterling.”

When calculating Champions League revenue, teams generally aggregate broadcasting rights, commercial sponsorships, prize money, and matchday income.

What Xia Qing was reporting now, however, separated these figures.

The Premier League’s broadcasting revenue share was about twenty-seven million pound sterling.

That meant the Champions League’s broadcasting share and prize money would have to exceed eight million pound sterling, which is twelve million euro.

This was actually pretty close.

In the Champions League prize pool, the Premier League did indeed receive the most, but it was split among four teams.

And all of them had made it to the knockout stage.

“We are very confident in achieving this revenue target!” Adam Crozier promised with great confidence.

Last season’s revenue exceeded fifty million pound sterling, but this year it had doubled.

This growth rate was indeed astonishing.

But it wasn’t surprising.

Commercial revenue alone had skyrocketed by thirty million pound sterling.

Furthermore, participating in the Champions League also brought in a substantial amount of income.

All this added up could indeed surpass the one hundred million pound sterling mark.

But the growth would likely not be this rapid from now on.

Unless, of course, Yang Cheng could lead the team to major success on the pitch, further expanding the market and increasing matchday and commercial revenues.

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, was carefully examining the club’s financial statements.

The current revenue structure was quite good, with the three main categories well-balanced.

Starting next season, the Premier League broadcasting fees were set to increase, and the money the club received would rise accordingly.

That was also something to look forward to.

With a significant increase in revenue, the club’s expenditure was also rising sharply.

Xia Qing stated that the finance department always kept the club’s wage structure under the fifty percent red line.

So what about the other fifty percent?

The club had a host of other areas that required investment.

These included the Satellite Training Centre, the initial investment for the new stadium, the construction of the Brent training ground, and even various other investments, facilities, and so on.

Everything required money.

As the enterprise expanded, so did the areas where money was spent.

Putting other things aside, just keeping the wage bill at fifty percent was already giving Xia Qing a bit of a headache.

Because if the team performed well this season, bonus payouts would also be a significant expense.

And then there was Christmas, with all its associated costs, including gifts for the community, nursing homes, orphanages, and participation in various charity events—all of which cost money.

For example, when Yang Cheng took the team for away games, he had high standards for hotels.

That cost money, right?

The team bus had to be driven to the away city in advance, and things like drinking water and food supplies were transported by the bus. That cost money, right?

They needed extra bus drivers, didn’t they?

Xia Qing had mentioned to Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier that in terms of logistics, facility support, and the first-team coaching staff alone, the Bayswater Chinese’s expenditure was much higher than that of other clubs.

The salaries were indeed lower, but spending was high in these other areas. Overall, their expenditure wasn’t much different from that of an upper-mid table Premier League team.

At best, one could say that Yang Cheng was putting his money where it mattered most.

And when it came to rewarding the club’s senior management, Yang Cheng was also quite generous.

Adam Crozier was directly awarded one million pound sterling.

Omar Berrada was also rewarded with seven hundred thousand pound sterling.

Other department heads, important employees, and so on, all received something.

Even the groundskeepers at Wembley Stadium, who were technically employed by The FA, received special treatment. Yang Cheng had prepared fifteen red envelopes for the team of fifteen, with a particularly thick one for the head groundskeeper, a man named Carl Standley.

…

“I don’t get it. They’re not even our club’s employees. Why did you give him such a big red envelope?”

After the meeting, the two had arranged to have dinner together.

It was Xia Qing’s treat—beef hot pot.

Since Yang Cheng had given her a large red envelope, she felt she had to reciprocate.

But she still had some objections to some of Yang Cheng’s lavish spending.

“You’re really starting to act like a meticulous manager,” Yang Cheng teased with a grin as he swished some beef in the pot.

Once the beef was cooked, he placed it in Xia Qing’s bowl.

“I have enough here. Your bowl is still empty. You should eat more.”

Yang Cheng put all of it into Xia Qing’s bowl before starting to cook a portion for himself.

“Do you know how important the condition of the pitch is for a football match?”

“No.”

Yang Cheng had expected as much and smiled. “Then do you know that when it comes to pitch management, especially sports turf research and care technology, England is number one in the world?”

Xia Qing looked up at Yang Cheng, a little surprised.

“That’s right. Carl Standley at Wembley is the best groundskeeper in England, which means he’s the best in the world.”

“But wait, isn’t he not even thirty yet?”

“That’s normal. In this field, England has a whole system for training. They even have dedicated research centres, one in West Yorkshire. Warwickshire has the world’s best mower blade sharpening system, and Staffordshire and Derbyshire specialise in high-end mowing and maintenance equipment.”

“England’s entire set of stadium equipment has formed a closed-loop industry chain. The whole world uses it, though it’s not very conspicuous. Its annual output is only a few hundred million pound sterling.”

A few hundred million pound sterling? Only?

Xia Qing was a bit astounded.

“No wonder people say the Premier League pitches look the best. A lot of people thought it was because of the broadcast technology.”

“How could that be? It’s taken them years of research, development, and iteration to get to where they are today.”

Who would pay attention to such a niche industry?

But England was number one!

And by extension, English groundskeepers were also the best in the world, supplying talent globally.

“By building a good relationship with Carl Standley now, he’ll help us take good care of the pitch. After all, it’s The FA’s money being spent, and it’s within his scope of authority, so of course he’s happy to do it.”

“Otherwise, do you think the pitch for every one of our home games could be so well-maintained? Mowed to perfection?”

Both The FA and UEFA have guidelines for grass height, recommending it be kept between twenty-four and twenty-eight millimeters, which means it requires daily maintenance.

It even gets as detailed as which direction and at what angle to cut the grass.

This involves numerous factors like the stadium’s lighting, wind direction, and humidity.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Pep Guardiola, at Barcelona, demanded a pitch height of nineteen millimeters.

The reason was that it reduced the friction of the grass on the ball, which suited his team’s possession-based style of play.

In response, Mourinho would deliberately let the grass grow a little longer and even once had sand added to the pitch.

Don’t think it’s outrageous; there’s normally sand in the turf, Mourinho just had the groundskeepers add a little extra.

Carl Standley had once complained to Yang Cheng that Wembley Stadium was like a shoebox.

From a turf maintenance perspective, its design had many flaws.

For example, the surrounding stands were fifty meters high. Given England’s geographical location, from September to March each year—right during the league season—the angle of the sun would cause the stands to cast shadows on the pitch.

During these months, the grass growth at Wembley would become “lazy,” or even wither and die.

To remedy this, he had to invest in research, use certain tools and special materials, and even specially transport sand from Surrey to modify the root zone beneath the Wembley turf.

Does that sound a bit like a dark art?

No, Carl Standley’s scientific basis was that London’s natural soil is clay, which has poor drainage, so sand needed to be added to improve it.

See, that’s science.

Yang Cheng had even discussed a very academic question with him: whether it was possible to cut the entire pitch into three large sections, supported underneath by huge steel boxes containing the soil root zone and turf, and then use machinery to rotate them underground.

Underground, they could perform maintenance work like artificial lighting and watering as needed.

The idea gave Carl Standley a headache.

Because up until now, no one had ever done it like that.

Schalke’s Veltins-Arena in Germany also had a retractable pitch, but they laid tracks directly inside the stadium and slid the entire pitch outside to get sunlight.

Yang Cheng’s idea was to do the maintenance right there, underground.

This presented a massive challenge.

But Carl Standley was also very interested and said he would discuss it with his peers.

As he had said before, what looked like an ordinary patch of grass was actually a giant combination of chemical substances.

And if it was a combination of chemical substances, there had to be a solution.

Yang Cheng was also doing this in preparation for the new stadium in the future.

…

“You’re quite the shrewd calculator, aren’t you?”

After hearing Yang Cheng’s elaborate explanation, Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh.

She was actually just worried that Yang Cheng was being too generous and would be taken advantage of.

Now, seeing how calculating he could be, she felt relieved, but couldn’t resist a playful jab.

“Senior, let me tell you, this isn’t shrewd calculation. This is rational analysis.”

“Right, so rational. A hopelessly clueless guy. No wonder you’re still single.”

“What does this have to do with me being single?”

“How does it not? Feelings are never rational.”

Yang Cheng looked at her, all ears.

“Have you ever read those domineering CEO novels?”

“No.”

“The male leads in them are sharp and decisive in the outside world, but as soon as they’re in front of the female lead, they become like docile little lambs, completely losing all rationality, loving her to the point of recklessness.”

Seeing her getting a bit carried away, Yang Cheng burst out laughing. “Senior, do you think that’s possible?”

“I already said it’s a novel; of course it’s impossible. But that’s what women want. No matter how powerful a man is on the outside, at home, he still has to love me to the point of madness.”

Yang Cheng nodded with a chuckle. “Well, have you found that man who loves you to madness and is also a decisive force in society?”

Xia Qing herself couldn’t help but laugh. “I was talking about most women, not including me.”

“So what kind of man are you looking for?” Yang Cheng asked casually.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt it was inappropriate.

The topic was too sensitive.

Looking at Xia Qing, she seemed slightly shy but not annoyed, which put him at ease.

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“But back at university, I heard a lot of guys were pursuing you and even wrote you love letters.”

“Please, I don’t believe in campus romances, okay?”

“What about in England?”

“I came here to study, to spend money on learning. Should I be spending money on dating instead of making the most of my time to learn?”

Yang Cheng couldn’t hold back another laugh. “No wonder you’ve been single since birth.”

“Get lost!” Xia Qing did not appreciate that comment. “You say that as if you’re so experienced in love.”

“To be honest, I… don’t have any experience either.”

Xia Qing was visibly stunned, looking at Yang Cheng in disbelief. “You? No experience?”

Yang Cheng nodded with absolute sincerity and one hundred percent certainty.

In this life, he had never been in a relationship.

His previous life?

He had been with many women—models, actresses—but it was rarely about feelings. If they clicked, they were together; if not, they went their separate ways.

The life before that, he’d also been single since birth.

“And you still talk like you’re an expert,” Xia Qing’s mood suddenly improved dramatically.

“Does whether I’ve been in a relationship or not have anything to do with my ability to analyze your love life?”

“Fine then, go ahead and analyze me.”

Yang Cheng was now in his element. He put down his chopsticks and looked at Xia Qing opposite him with a serious expression.

“Senior, look, you’re so beautiful, yet at your age, you still haven’t had a boyfriend…”

“Ahem!” Xia Qing coughed loudly and looked up at Yang Cheng menacingly, a murderous glint in her eyes.

Little brother, you can eat whatever you want, but you’d better watch what you say.

What do you mean, ‘at my age’?

Explain yourself!

What age?

“My mistake!” Yang Cheng burst out laughing and quickly raised his hands in surrender.

To show his sincerity, he hurriedly cooked another spoonful of beef for her.

“Generally speaking, for a girl as beautiful and outstanding as you to still be single, there are two types.”

“The first type is the innocent one, who still holds beautiful fantasies about love, still waiting for her Prince Charming to appear.”

“The second type is the one who sees the world for what it is.”

“Unfortunately, Senior, you’re both.”

Xia Qing was slightly taken aback, looking at Yang Cheng with surprise, as if he had hit the nail on the head.

After a long pause, Xia Qing regained her composure. Biting her lower lip, she picked up a piece of beef from her bowl and asked, seemingly casually, “Have you said this to a lot of girls?”

“Not at all. I swear on my life, you’re the only person I’ve ever talked about this with.”

Lost in thought, Xia Qing bit down a little too hard and almost broke the skin on her lip.

The sting of pain brought her back to her senses.

“Good. It seems treating you to this meal wasn’t a complete waste.”

…

Sometimes Yang Cheng felt that the notorious playboys were never the most handsome guys.

So what did women like about them?

Later, he figured it out.

Emotional value.

So, Xia Qing was right. The vast majority of women are emotional creatures.

Women who are clear-headed and rational are still too few.

This also explained why a “triple-high” dreamboat like Yang Cheng—high looks, high education, high assets—couldn’t get a girlfriend.

It was just like when he walked Xia Qing back to her rented apartment near Notting Hill and subconsciously declined her invitation to come up for a bit.

His mind was completely consumed with thoughts of the match against Chelsea on the 26th.

He needed to get back quickly to do some homework.

By the time he realised what he’d done, he was already back at the entrance of Queensway Underground station.

He remembered the furious and utterly speechless look in Xia Qing’s eyes just now and instantly knew he’d done something incredibly stupid, something a hopelessly clueless guy would do. He wanted to slap himself.

He deserved to be single since birth!

But to turn back now… he didn’t have the face!

And besides, he really was worried about the Chelsea match!

Bayswater Chinese currently had Yaya Touré injured, while Chelsea was missing Terry.

Just before the eighteenth-round match against Everton, Terry had needed surgery for a back injury and was expected to be out for about six weeks.

In the following two matches, they won 3-2 against Everton and 3-2 against Wigan Athletic.

In both matches, Boulahrouz was brought in to replace Terry, partnering with Carvalho.

From their performances, it was clear that the gap between Boulahrouz and Terry was quite significant.

So what about the match on the 26th?

Facing the Bayswater Chinese, would Mourinho still dare to play this way?

Furthermore, Makélélé was about to turn thirty-four. He had played in the nineteenth-round match on the 23rd, so would he play again on the 26th?

That was another question.

Recently, Mourinho had reverted his tactics to a 4-3-3 formation, pushing Shevchenko out to the wing.

Well, that move to the wing created even bigger problems.

Chelsea’s attack from the flanks had been poor all season.

On the left, Ashley Cole, after a long absence due to a fracture last season, had yet to return to his peak form this season.

On the right, Ferreira was not the type of attacking full-back.

Up front, Robben was frequently injured. After selling Duff, Wright-Phillips on the right didn’t have Mourinho’s full trust, and Shevchenko, playing on the wing, lacked explosive pace.

Under these circumstances, Chelsea’s entire attack had run into serious trouble.

One could even say that Drogba was holding it all together by himself.

In theory, whoever could shut down Drogba could beat Chelsea.

Of course, everyone wanted to do that, but no one had managed to contain the beast.

All in all, how to play against Chelsea was still a major headache.

Ever since he had transmigrated, Yang Cheng had basically been living at Bayswater Stadium.

At first, he lived in that small office. Later, a space was partitioned off and simply renovated into a suite for him.

The administrative offices were all partitioned in the same way.

Just as Yang Cheng returned to his room and was about to turn on his computer to watch recordings of Chelsea’s recent matches, his phone rang.

It was Xia Qing.

“Senior.”

“Are you back?”

As soon as the call connected, they both spoke at the same time.

“Just got back.”

Yang Cheng felt a warmth spread through him. He suddenly remembered Xia Qing’s expression downstairs at her apartment building, and his heart stirred.

“Senior, actually…”

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he found it hard to say them.

Damn that Jay Chou and his stupid songs!

“What is it? Just say it.” Xia Qing’s tone seemed to hold a hint of anticipation.

“It’s just… I forgot to ask you earlier. Do you think it’s really romantic when those domineering CEOs drive up to a girl’s dorm with a trunk full of flowers?”

Xia Qing giggled on the other end of the line, her tone chiding. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, I just couldn’t figure it out.”

“It’s alright, I guess. At least, I don’t think anyone would object.”

“What if he made an even bigger scene?”

“Even bigger?” Xia Qing sounded surprised. “How big?”

“Very, very big.”

“I don’t know about that.”

But she quickly changed the subject. “However, I think if the girl really likes the domineering CEO, she’d probably love anything he does.”

“But he can’t just do nothing, right?” Xia Qing added at the end.

“Why?”

“Things like this… it’s not really right for the girl to make the first move, is it?”

Yang Cheng almost blurted out: Hey, Senior, that’s gender discrimination. Why should the guy always have to make the first move? There’s no law about that, right?

Fortunately, he held his tongue.

That would be a suicidal move, something he absolutely could not do.

“You’re right, you’re right.” His survival instinct made Yang Cheng choose to agree.

“Are you worrying about the match on the 26th?”

“Yeah, I told you, I’m going for the title this season!”

Xia Qing paused for a moment on the other end of the line, then said softly, “I believe in you. You can do it!”

After hanging up, Yang Cheng placed his left hand over his chest.

I’m done for!

These damn hormones, I think I’m falling for her!

It was mainly Xia Qing.

Her every smile and frown were just too attractive to him.

Even for him, who had seen countless beautiful women in his past life, after spending so much time together, he was starting to find it hard to resist.

Spurred on by his male hormones, Yang Cheng even found himself pondering a ridiculously absurd question.

Based on the domineering CEO romance novels he’d read in his past life, given Xia Qing’s background, if he made a move on her, would her dad and brother send people to kill him?

Assassins, special agents, or something?

Or would they just make trouble for him?

Most importantly, there wasn’t even a rival love interest. How could he stand this?

Don’t all novel plots require a villain to show up, so the domineering CEO can step on them a few times and win the beautiful girl?

How come there’s nothing like that for me?

Which bastard author came up with this crap? Show yourself, see if I don’t beat the life out of you, you son of a turtle!

…

Since there were only the 24th and 25th between the 19th and 20th rounds, strictly speaking, the club only gave the players Christmas Day off.

This year, the team once again invited all the first-team players’ families to the training ground.

Not only that, the club also specially bought them tickets for the match at Stamford Bridge on the 26th.

A club bus would also be provided for their transport.

On the morning of the 26th, the day after Yang Cheng’s dinner with Xia Qing, the players reported back to the team.

Since the match was in the afternoon, after everyone returned, they had a very simple, low-intensity recovery training session at Bayswater Stadium, mainly to adjust the players’ physical condition and stimulate their muscles.

Fortunately, it didn’t snow in London this Christmas.

If it had, given the training conditions at Bayswater Stadium, they would have had no choice but to cancel training.

Because of Christmas, the scouts couldn’t get a complete picture of Chelsea’s real situation. No one knew exactly how Mourinho planned to set up his team.

As for Yang Cheng himself?

He still decided to go on the attack.

Yaya Touré hadn’t fully recovered yet and was unable to play.

Yang Cheng planned to have Gökhan İnler continue to fill in, partnering with Lassana Diarra and Modrić.

This was probably the best midfield combination for the Bayswater Chinese at the moment.

Matuidi had been performing well and could also play, but he wasn’t well-suited for a single holding midfielder role.

As for Nemanja Matić, it was too risky.

If a young player plays in such a high-stakes clash between top teams, a good performance would be cause for celebration, but a poor one could shatter the player’s confidence.

It was a huge gamble.

Moreover, there were three matches over the Christmas period, and the London derby was a must-win.

The hardest part was that the last match was at home, while the matches against Chelsea and Manchester United were both away.

This effectively forced Yang Cheng to go all out to win all three matches.

Just thinking about it gave Yang Cheng a headache.

There was no other way. He had to take it one game at a time.

…

On the morning of the 26th, The Observer published an exclusive interview with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

There had been prior reports that Abramovich had sold his Siberian oil company in Russia and resigned from all his positions.

At the same time, to align with Russia’s leader, he had chosen to acquire a controlling stake in a state-owned steel company and support the Russian national team, among other things.

This time, Abramovich’s interview was to explain Chelsea’s investments and strategy for the next few years.

The Russian clearly stated that his determination to run Chelsea would not change.

And that he would be even more resolute in investing in various charitable activities.

Most of this was official rhetoric. What interested Yang Cheng the most was Abramovich’s comments on Mourinho and Chelsea’s transfers, responding to the ongoing controversies in the media and among fans.

Was Shevchenko really a signing he had pushed for?

Abramovich said, “Mourinho and I are very close, but we are not friends.”

“I never interfere with the starting lineup in the dressing room, but I can’t say that I’m not involved in the decisions to sell players.”

“Of course, if my head coach doesn’t want to buy a certain player, I will never force him.”

Everyone basically understood what Abramovich meant.

At the same time, everyone was watching to see how Mourinho would set up his starting lineup for this crucial match.

The day before Christmas, in an interview with reporters, the Portuguese manager had made a prediction.

“In the past, I fully supported Shevchenko, but now, I have to give others some chances.”

Was this statement a smokescreen?

Or was it true?

After a long season, it was clear to everyone that there were many conflicts and problems between Shevchenko and Mourinho.

In addition, before the winter transfer window, the Daily Mirror reported that Chelsea intended to spend twenty million pound sterling to sign Manchester City’s young talent Micah Richards during the window.

If successful, this would be another astonishing transfer!

Over the past few years, the transfer fees for young English players had also been rising, becoming more and more expensive.

…

Noon on the 26th.

Stamford Bridge in London was packed with 41,885 fans.

That was nearly a thousand more than the stadium’s total capacity.

Chelsea had not only sold out all the seats and boxes but had also sold tickets for some of the aisles and flexible spaces.

This showed just how much attention the London fans were paying to this clash between top teams.

Chelsea versus the Bayswater Chinese!

As Sky Sports put it, this match was finally starting to feel like a West London derby.

Because this battle would affect the future and fate of both teams.

Manchester United was at the top of the table, closely followed by the Bayswater Chinese, with Chelsea in third.

Whoever lost this match would suffer a major blow in the subsequent title race.

By the 26th, Yang Cheng had cast aside all his worries, focusing his entire mind on preparing for this match, especially on the players’ training and team meetings.

While the team was warming up at Stamford Bridge, the eager fans had already started pouring into the stadium.

Just as Sky Television had hyped, this match was increasingly taking on the atmosphere of a derby.

The Chelsea fans were booing the Bayswater Chinese players ferociously.

Some even threw objects down onto the pitch, at one point disrupting the players’ warm-up.

When Yang Cheng returned to the dressing room and got Chelsea’s starting lineup, he was a little surprised.

His first reaction was, “Robben is injured too.”

The Dutchman was always injured, to the point where you never knew when he was playing through an injury and when he would be absent.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defence: Bridge, Carvalho, Ferreira, and Geremi;

Midfield: Lampard, Essien, and Ballack;

Forwards: Kalou, Drogba, and Shevchenko.

Mourinho still didn’t dare to start Boulahrouz.

“He knew we would definitely target Boulahrouz,” Brian Kidd said.

Boulahrouz’s biggest problem was his terrible performance against fast players.

In the last two games, Chelsea had conceded four goals, and Boulahrouz’s contribution to that had been indispensable.

It was perfectly normal for Mourinho to drop Boulahrouz at this point.

“Makélélé is not starting, probably being saved for the next round. Lampard, Ballack, and Essien cannot be underestimated.”

Originally, Yang Cheng had planned to rest Maicon and start Piszczek, specifically to counter Robben.

But with Robben out, he should still be effective against Kalou.

However, starting Carvalho and Ferreira as centre-backs was a bit of a strange move.

But then again, it made sense.

After selling Gallas, Chelsea only had three reliable centre-backs left.

With Boulahrouz being shaky and Terry injured, they were really short on centre-backs.

The Dutch centre-back and Carvalho were actually similar types of players, both liking to press high.

At Chelsea, Terry usually played a holding role while Carvalho pressed.

Boulahrouz also liked to press high, and when paired with Carvalho, it was hard for them to form a cohesive partnership.

Even worse, Boulahrouz had very poor defensive habits, often throwing himself to the ground for a slide tackle. Against a faster player, he was done for.

If he failed to win the ball with the first challenge, he would be in a very passive position.

This is why aggressive, front-foot centre-backs are disliked by many fans.

But an excellent front-foot centre-back is indispensable. For example, the partnership of Carvalho and Terry, one pressing and one covering, complemented each other perfectly.

“Mourinho is probably playing Ferreira to cover for Carvalho,” Brian Kidd said, looking at Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng understood.

Shevchenko’s destructive effect on Chelsea was not just about what position he played or the issue of co-existence.

It was that he had completely disrupted the original 4-3-3 system.

That was why Mourinho had been oscillating between 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 this season.

Without a fixed formation, lineup, or personnel combination, cohesion and understanding were lost.

This was the reason why Chelsea, who had been unstoppable for the past two seasons, had declined so rapidly this season.

As for the so-called “Mourinho’s third-season syndrome,” Yang Cheng preferred to analyze each case individually.

After receiving Chelsea’s starting lineup, Yang Cheng had a clear idea of how to approach this match.

“Gentlemen, today’s match is being promoted worldwide by Sky Television and other broadcasters!”

“To say it’s highly anticipated is no exaggeration at all!”

“In 2005, when we had just been promoted to the Premier League, Mourinho made a bold statement, saying he would kick us right back down to the Championship!”

“For the past few years, Chelsea has been riding high, sweeping across Europe, invincible.”

“But I want to say, we are arch-rivals! This is a derby!”

“From the moment we step into Stamford Bridge, we only have two paths!”

“Either they die, or we perish!”

“How do you choose?”

Finally, Yang Cheng roared with all his might.

“Take down Chelsea!” The players in the dressing room, fired up as if on stimulants, shouted back with force.

Chapter 111: A Four-Goal Haul! Sack Him, Mourinho Out!

December 26th, afternoon, 1:57 PM.

Mourinho had just returned to the home dugout after shaking Yang Cheng’s hand by the away dugout.

Standing in front of the home team’s technical area, Mourinho’s expression was grim as he watched the two teams lined up on the pitch.

In the end, he had chosen Shevchenko.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, stuck with his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Gökhan Inler in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra ahead of him;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Mourinho had a healthy respect for this Bayswater Chinese lineup.

In this match, the opening period was the most critical.

His biggest worry right now was whether his team could withstand Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attack.

This prompted Mourinho to walk to the touchline again, shouting at Ferreira and Carvalho, gesturing for them to maintain their focus from the start and, no matter what, to keep the defensive formation stable.

Before the match, his assistants had suggested using Essien as a centre-back.

That way, Ferreira could play on the right, as Geremi wasn’t very reliable.

Essien was decent at man-marking and had good pace.

Aside from high balls, the centre and the right flank would be more stable.

But the problem was, it would create issues in midfield.

Makélélé was finding it difficult to play two games a week consecutively.

After all, his age was a factor.

If Essien played centre-back, the holding midfielder would be Geremi or Mikel, neither of whom Mourinho could fully trust.

He had to remember they were about to face Arshavin.

Everyone had seen how outstanding the Russian had been this season, especially recently.

This season, Chelsea had signed three superstars.

Ashley Cole was fine.

Shevchenko had become a huge problem.

Michael Ballack was integrating reasonably well, and his partnership with Lampard was growing more cohesive.

The two had an understanding of who should push forward and who should stay back.

Under these circumstances, how should he set up the team?

Mourinho was in a quandary.

…

The head referee for this match was the renowned English official, Howard Webb.

Before the coin toss, he made a point of speaking to both team captains, Lampard and Modrić.

He told them he hoped to see a fluid and exciting football match.

“It’s Boxing Day, and everyone’s still in the Christmas spirit. Don’t ruin the fans’ festive mood, okay?”

Both teams nodded in agreement.

The Chelsea fans in the stadium were already creating a deafening roar.

At the coin toss, Lampard chose the side that favoured his team, naturally ceding possession to Bayswater Chinese.

Afterward, the two teams returned to their respective halves, called over their teammates, and huddled in a circle to pump themselves up.

By the time both sides had largely taken their positions, everyone could see the starting lineups.

Arshavin was still in the centre circle with Džeko, preparing for kick-off.

Clearly, he would continue to play in a free role.

This was the greatest sign of Yang Cheng’s trust in him!

And no one knew that, at this very moment, in a private box at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich was watching Arshavin on the pitch with a very complicated look in his eyes.

As Arshavin rapidly rose to fame in the Premier League, his reputation in Russia also soared.

When Abramovich returned home, many people had asked him about Arshavin.

There were even many Russian fans calling for Abramovich to sign Arshavin.

But he knew it would be difficult.

Very difficult.

Bayswater Chinese would never sell Arshavin to Chelsea.

“Tell me, how on earth did Yang Cheng know about an Arshavin at Zenit? And how did he decide to sign this player?” Abramovich was curious.

He wanted to understand Yang Cheng’s entire operational process.

Unfortunately, among those around him—including Chelsea’s CEO, the Chairman, his personal assistants, and famous agents—not a single person could give him an answer.

But Yang Cheng’s operation had indeed been extremely successful.

After selling Ribéry for a sky-high price, Arshavin’s performances had only gotten better.

The talent he possessed was impossible to hide.

Abramovich glanced at the group with a hint of disappointment before turning his gaze back to the pitch.

His eyes fell on Shevchenko.

For this match, Mourinho had positioned the Ukrainian Nuke on the right wing.

Once again, far from the goal!

Abramovich was somewhat disappointed.

He would rather see Shevchenko leading the line and scoring goals for Chelsea.

But clearly, that was not what Mourinho wanted.

“We should be able to win this match, right?” Abramovich muttered to himself.

Beside him, Peter Kenyon heard him and smiled faintly. “At the very least, we won’t lose.”

Abramovich nodded.

It was a Boxing Day match, a home game. A loss would cause a huge uproar.

…

With a blow of referee Webb’s whistle, the match officially began.

Džeko kicked the ball to Arshavin, and the Russian immediately passed it back before surging forward himself.

The Bosnian centre-forward charged to the front line.

It was just as Yang Cheng had instructed before the game.

Whether it was Essien or Ferreira, their biggest weakness was defending against high balls.

“So, Edin, your task in this match is to win the first ball in the attacking third and lay it off for your teammates!”

“Especially Arshavin!”

Thinking of this, Džeko immediately understood what he needed to do.

“Andrei,” Džeko called out as he ran just ahead of Chelsea’s defensive line, turning around and getting into position.

Arshavin understood and slowed down as well.

His job was to roam around Džeko, ready to receive the ball.

They had executed this routine many times before and knew what to do.

Often in football, specific tactics are an open secret.

For instance, Mourinho also knew that Ferreira and Carvalho were at a height disadvantage against Džeko.

Therefore, Chelsea would also be well-prepared for this.

They would harass Džeko as he challenged for headers, double-team the Bosnian centre-forward, or have Essien mark Arshavin.

They might even put more pressure on the ball in midfield and attack, reducing the number of passes to Džeko.

These were all tactical counters against each other.

In the first three-plus minutes, Bayswater Chinese tried to pass forward several times, but none of their attempts were successful.

After a few tries, Bayswater Chinese began to shift their attack to the wings.

On the right, the young Piszczek was still cautiously testing the waters against Kalou.

So, the team attacked down the left first.

Shevchenko wasn’t very diligent in defence and wasn’t good at playing on the flank, so Leighton Baines exploited this by actively pushing forward to support Ashley Young.

In the 4th minute, a cross from the left by Leighton Baines was blocked out of play by Ballack.

A throw-in.

“Chelsea have started the game very cautiously.”

“Their defence is also very targeted.”

“Bayswater Chinese have been trying to play through Džeko, but they haven’t had a chance yet.”

“Let’s see what happens with this throw-in.”

Ashley Young ran back from his forward position to receive the ball, causing Ballack to immediately shift towards him.

But Leighton Baines suddenly threw the ball directly towards the opposite side.

Modrić, who had just run over, lofted a high pass into the attacking third with a single touch.

In the central area of the attacking third, just outside Chelsea’s 30-yard zone, Džeko was judging the flight of the ball.

As the ball dropped, he leaped high, flicking it on with a header to Arshavin.

The Russian, next to Essien, controlled the ball and was about to break towards the right side of the penalty arc.

Essien stuck to Arshavin like glue, giving him no space.

Arshavin, with his skillful footwork, called out to Džeko, then came to an abrupt stop, pulled the ball back with his right foot, and nudged it forward with the outside of his left, creating space before passing back to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward had now reached the edge of the penalty arc. Hearing Arshavin’s call, he knew his teammate was in trouble. He immediately stopped, turned, and used his body to shield Carvalho, securing the most advantageous position.

After passing, Arshavin ran horizontally, temporarily shaking off Essien.

But the Ghanaian “Bison” immediately gave chase.

Džeko’s technique was also excellent. Facing Arshavin’s hurried pass, he controlled it steadily. Seeing Arshavin running across, he immediately passed to his right.

Arshavin quickly caught up, bringing Džeko’s pass under his control and driving into the arc at the top of Chelsea’s box.

The two players had just completed a brilliant exchange in a tight space!

A murmur of shock rippled through the entire stadium.

As Arshavin dribbled into the arc, Ferreira was the first to rush over to block him.

The Russian performed a nimble elastico, deceiving Ferreira and shifting his defensive balance in a single move.

Ferreira was no centre-back!

After beating Ferreira, he faced Geremi, who had dropped back into the penalty area. Arshavin feinted to cut the ball back with his left foot, once again fooling Geremi, before pushing the ball horizontally to the left with the outside of his left foot.

Having created an angle, Arshavin quickly followed and unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

Čech had already sensed danger the moment Geremi was beaten.

He immediately rushed off his line.

But just as he reached the left corner of the six-yard box, Arshavin’s shot came.

In his haste, the Czech goalkeeper dove to the ground, trying to block the shot.

But the ball was too fast; he didn’t have time.

The ball zipped under his body and into Chelsea’s net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Just four minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese have taken the lead!”

“It’s the Russian international, Andrei Arshavin!”

“Only four minutes!!”

“It’s another one of Bayswater Chinese’s trademark lightning attacks!”

Arshavin was so excited he sprinted towards the touchline, sliding on his knees and making a heart shape with his hands on his chest.

It was his signature celebration.

Behind him, his teammates all swarmed over, surrounding him completely.

“Unexpected, truly unexpected. Just four minutes in, Arshavin opens the scoring.”

“This is bound to be a thrilling match.”

“Both teams came into this game very well-prepared.”

“But Bayswater Chinese’s opening was clearly more targeted.”

“Especially Džeko. His two touches were key to that goal.”

On the sideline, Yang Cheng was so thrilled he leaped into the air.

Behind him, the coaching staff were already in a group hug, celebrating the goal.

Brilliant!

A goal four minutes in. Could there be a more wonderful start?

But amidst the celebration, Yang Cheng quickly walked to the edge of his technical area, shouting at the celebrating players, signalling for them to get back in position after the restart and keep up the pressure.

Strike while the iron is hot and finish off Chelsea!

…

The match resumed.

After seizing the early initiative, Bayswater Chinese were brimming with confidence.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was to launch an all-out assault from the start, hoping to completely overwhelm Chelsea.

Arshavin’s goal gave everyone hope.

As a result, the Bayswater Chinese players fought even harder.

Chelsea, in contrast, were more focused on shoring up their defence.

They knew full well how much Terry’s absence affected them.

Bayswater Chinese dominated the midfield, their high press in the middle and attacking thirds throwing Chelsea’s midfield into chaos.

This was something Yang Cheng had mentioned before.

Mourinho had never been good at utilising creative midfielders.

Chelsea’s midfield was very powerful, mostly full of physical players, but it lacked ball-playing individuals and sufficient creativity.

Even with the signing of Ballack, the situation hadn’t improved.

This meant that under Bayswater Chinese’s high press, their midfield simply couldn’t hold onto the ball.

They would win it and lose it, lose it and win it back, only to lose it again.

But the problem was, if you keep losing the ball like that, even in a foolproof plan, there will be a slip. There will be a time when you lose it and can’t win it back right away.

What then?

Moreover, given the ball-playing ability of Chelsea’s defenders and midfielders, how could they ensure they could pass with ease while facing Bayswater Chinese’s almost suffocating high press?

A near-disaster occurred in the 7th minute.

While receiving a back pass from midfield, Ferreira was pressed by Džeko. His return pass was too rushed, and he didn’t see where Čech was positioned, almost passing it into his own net.

That’s right, it was only because he miscued the pass that he didn’t score an own goal.

If his passing technique had been slightly better, it would have been an own goal.

Thanks to Ferreira’s hurried mistake, it wasn’t an own goal but a corner kick.

Still, Chelsea’s players were on edge.

Because they knew how terrifying Bayswater Chinese’s set piece tactics were!

Especially when that balding Italian walked to the touchline, the fans in the stands immediately let out a chorus of boos, trying to distract Gianni Vio and prevent him from directing his players.

At referee Webb’s whistle, Leighton Baines began his run-up.

Just as chaos erupted in the box and everyone thought he would whip it directly into the penalty area, Leighton Baines suddenly changed his technique, passing the ball to Ashley Young, who was waiting on the left side of the box.

The Chelsea players in the area simultaneously thought, What the hell!

They’re a bunch of goddamn actors!

If you weren’t going to cross it into the box, why take such a long run-up?

Ashley Young was already waiting there.

When the ball arrived, he controlled it with the inside of his right foot, turned, and glanced at the penalty area.

He saw two players raising their hands at the far post.

That was the signal from his teammates.

Far post!

Ashley Young whipped in a diagonal cross with his right foot.

The ball travelled from outside the left corner of Chelsea’s box diagonally towards the far post.

Under pressure from the Chelsea players, especially Carvalho who had almost completely blocked the path to goal, both Pepe and Džeko went up for the header.

In the end, Pepe was in the best position to jump and headed the ball back towards the centre.

For the initial corner, José Fonte and others had made runs towards the near post.

Now, as Pepe headed it back to the middle, those players all charged back.

But just as Lampard was about to clear the ball, someone in the chaos was faster.

Arshavin, as slippery as an eel, appeared out of nowhere and stabbed at the ball first-time, diverting Pepe’s knock-down header into the left side of Chelsea’s goal.

Čech was somewhat stunned.

His entire weight had been shifting towards Pepe, but then the ball was suddenly headed back to the centre, followed by another shot from Arshavin.

He was truly helpless.

When Howard Webb’s piercing whistle blew again, all the fans in the stands stared at the pitch in disbelief.

They couldn’t have imagined it. Eight minutes in, and they had conceded two goals?

How were they supposed to play this match?

“They’ve scored another goal!”

“It’s Arshavin again!”

“We can see the Russian is extremely fired up today!”

“As the camera pans, we can see his girlfriend in the stands cheering for him!”

“That must be the source of his motivation!”

“Two goals, a brace! This must be the best Christmas present Arshavin could give his girlfriend!”

“Chelsea need to be careful.”

“Their defensive line is just too fragile.”

“Conceding two goals in less than 10 minutes is truly unbelievable.”

…

No one knew what the Chelsea fans in the stands were thinking at that moment.

But everyone could see Mourinho on the touchline, roaring at his players with immense dissatisfaction.

The Portuguese manager clearly hadn’t expected his team to pull something like this on him at such a crucial time on Boxing Day.

He didn’t believe the players were trying to get him sacked.

It could only be that they had completely panicked!

Conceding in the 4th minute, their winless record against Bayswater Chinese over the past three years, and the absence of core players like Terry had all contributed to the panic running through the Chelsea camp.

What was even more outrageous was that those bastards from Bayswater Chinese, already leading by two goals, were still high pressing, still pushing relentlessly.

How hard was Chelsea being pushed?

It wasn’t until the 12th minute that they managed a single pass into Bayswater Chinese’s 30-yard area.

A long ball from Essien in his own half found Drogba up front.

Drogba won the first ball, flicking a header to Kalou on the left.

But Piszczek was a step ahead and cleared the ball.

Then, Bayswater Chinese resumed their high press, continued to try and attack, forcing Chelsea to retreat and defend.

…

“This can’t go on. They’re clearly targeting our defensive line.”

Assistant coach Faria analyzed from the side.

“We’re losing the midfield battle right now. I suggest we pull back completely, stabilize the defence first.”

Pull back?

Mourinho hesitated.

That meant being conservative!

In his three seasons managing Chelsea, the thing he was criticized for most was being conservative.

Some people even said he played more conservatively than Fabio Capello. How could he tolerate that?

No matter how bad I am, I’m not as bad as Capello, am I?

“Our possession rate is less than 35% right now,” Faria said worriedly.

The defence was in poor form and disorganized, and the possession rate was abysmal. Any slight mistake could lead to another goal.

“Fucking hell!”

Mourinho cursed through gritted teeth.

Especially when he saw Shevchenko running on the pitch, a fire of frustration ignited within him.

If it weren’t for the trouble Shevchenko had brought, his Chelsea wouldn’t have collapsed so quickly.

Did he really have to resort to defending with all his might?

“We can’t hesitate any longer!” Faria urged.

He knew it was Boxing Day, a home game, in front of more than 40,000 fans. If they could turn this around, it would be a legendary tale. But if they lost, Mourinho would be torn to shreds again.

It was not an easy decision to make.

But Bayswater Chinese’s opening salvo had been far too fierce!

They were charging forward as if they had limitless energy!

Just as Mourinho had made up his mind and was about to walk to the touchline to shout instructions and adjust the team’s tactics, Chelsea’s Ballack tried to pass the ball back to Essien.

Unexpectedly, Modrić suddenly darted out from the side, intercepting the ball just before Essien could reach it.

After winning the ball, Modrić immediately launched a counter-attack, distributing the ball to the left flank.

Ashley Young drove forward with the ball down the left, advancing to the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area on the left side, drawing Geremi out before passing horizontally to Arshavin in the half-space just outside the box.

When the Russian received the ball, he controlled it steadily, then performed a series of feints, shaking off the lunging Ferreira. After taking a step horizontally with his right foot, he unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball sailed over the heads of the players in the box, curved through the air, and crashed into the right side of Chelsea’s goal.

3-0!

Hat-trick!

“Wow! Wow!”

“Arshavin!”

“It’s Arshavin again!”

“My God, he’s breached Chelsea’s goal once more!”

“This is absolutely unbelievable, he’s completed a hat-trick!”

“This is his first hat-trick in the Premier League!!”

“3-0!”

“What on earth is wrong with Chelsea tonight?”

“Why is their solid defensive line being broken time and time again by Bayswater Chinese?”

“Mourinho should really reflect on his team selection and formation for this match!”

“This is just incredible!”

“It’s only been 18 minutes, 18 minutes!”

“Bayswater Chinese already have a three-goal lead.”

“It’s Boxing Day!”

“The Chelsea fans walked into Stamford Bridge filled with Christmas cheer.”

“But after 18 minutes, they probably don’t have the stomach to enjoy this West London derby football feast any longer.”

“Because they have witnessed their own team being ravaged at Stamford Bridge by their West London arch-rivals.”

“Remember this name!”

“Andrei Arshavin!”

“He has scored a hat-trick tonight, and it only took him 18 minutes.”

“This is the fastest hat-trick in the history of Premier League football.”

“On February 25th, 2001, in the match where Manchester United thrashed Arsenal 6-1, the Red Devils’ striker, one of the ‘Black Wind Dual Devils,’ Dwight Yorke, scored a hat-trick.”

“And the time he completed his hat-trick was the 22nd minute of the match.”

“But today, that historical record has been broken by Andrei Arshavin.”

“The Russian only took 18 minutes to complete the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.”

“Simply incredible!”

…

As the entire stadium of Chelsea fans gave the celebrating Arshavin a roaring round of applause and cheers, up in the private box, Abramovich’s face turned incredibly ugly.

If not for the live broadcast cameras scanning the stands, he would have definitely lost his temper by now.

“What kind of football is this?”

Abramovich couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Is this the team we spent hundreds of millions of pounds sterling to build?”

In his rage, the Russian actually let out a laugh.

“The team we spent hundreds of millions on is being humiliated like this by a ragtag team that came from the amateur leagues?”

In Abramovich’s mind, Bayswater Chinese would always be that broken, amateur team struggling in the lower divisions.

But tonight, he had been utterly humiliated by this broken, amateur team!

Trampled mercilessly in front of more than 40,000 fans!

“Peter, how much did they spend to assemble this team?”

Abramovich held up two fingers, “Was it as much as twenty million pounds sterling?”

Peter Kenyon stammered, hesitating for a moment. Feeling Abramovich’s sharp gaze, he could only reply, “I… think so.”

He wasn’t entirely sure either.

But at this point, whether it was or wasn’t no longer mattered.

Even if it was twenty million pounds sterling, so what?

Compared to Chelsea’s star-studded lineup, what was that small investment?

So why was the heavily invested Chelsea playing like this at home? Being so thoroughly humiliated by a team built for twenty million pounds sterling?

“Can anyone tell me why?”

No one could answer Abramovich’s question.

Football has never had a single correct answer.

If investment guaranteed returns, would football still be football?

But no one dared to say that.

Just as no one dared to defend Mourinho and his Chelsea.

With so much money spent to build a world-class squad, why were they losing so badly?

It was like how Mourinho couldn’t answer why he just couldn’t get the best out of Shevchenko.

Why did the Ukrainian Nuke and Drogba just not click?

“You saw The Observer. I just said in the interview that I don’t care about the result, I care more about the process.”

“But now, what am I supposed to say?”

The box fell into a sudden silence.

It was at this moment that the agent Pini Zahavi suddenly spoke up, “Sack him!”

“Get Mourinho out!”

He was a friend of Abramovich and was once Chelsea’s transfer consultant.

But after Mourinho became the head coach, Mendes had taken his place.

However, his private relationship with Abramovich remained.

His sudden words at this moment startled everyone in the room.

“No!” Peter Kenyon immediately intervened.

He was genuinely afraid that Abramovich, in his fury, would actually sack Mourinho.

“Sacking Mourinho now is definitely not a wise choice. We should at least wait for him to finish the season.”

Abramovich was no fool.

To have reached his level of success, how could he not understand?

Pini Zahavi’s words had even startled him.

But this option, which hadn’t been in his mind before, was also dismissed just as quickly.

Mourinho was a head coach who had made great contributions to the team. Sacking him now was impossible!

“Pini, that joke isn’t funny at all,” Abramovich forced a smile, suppressing his anger, and pointed at Pini Zahavi as he chuckled.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let’s keep watching the game, keep watching.”

But everyone noticed.

After telling everyone to continue watching the match, he turned his head, and the smile on Abramovich’s face quickly vanished.

His eyes, for no apparent reason, became even sharper.

As if they carried a murderous intent.

Sacking Mourinho, an option that had not previously existed, had now surfaced.

…

When Chelsea conceded three goals in a row, Mourinho himself was shocked.

He truly hadn’t expected Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attack to be so sharp, nor for Yang Cheng to be so aggressive.

More importantly, their efficiency was also quite high.

Arshavin was playing like he was on drugs tonight.

However, Mourinho quickly made adjustments. The team began to adopt a strategy of dropping back and defending.

At the same time, he pulled back both wingers to strengthen the midfield’s defence and protection.

Only Drogba was left up front.

This way, although a bit conservative, the defence was at least stabilized.

Bayswater Chinese also knew when to ease off.

Starting from the 20th minute, they gradually controlled possession with composure, rather than continuing their aggressive high press.

This put Mourinho somewhat at ease.

But after the disastrous start, Chelsea were clearly stunned by Bayswater Chinese.

It wasn’t until the 32nd minute that they had an attack that reached Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

It was a counter-attack initiated by a through ball from Lampard.

Kalou on the left made a quick run to beat the offside trap.

But Neuer rushed off his line, charging to the edge of the penalty area to claim the ball.

The German goalkeeper’s range was truly vast.

He even frequently charged out of his penalty area.

Three minutes later, Chelsea had their first shot of the entire match.

A free-kick from Lampard, 30 yards from goal, was hit high over the bar.

Subsequently, Ballack played a diagonal pass to the right. Shevchenko controlled the ball and sent in a cross. Drogba hit a volley on the edge of the box, which also went over.

Those were Chelsea’s only two shots in the entire first half.

…

“Chelsea will definitely make adjustments in the second half.”

“But right now, we don’t know what kind of tactics and substitutions they will make.”

Yang Cheng was still very confident about the upcoming second half.

But this confidence wasn’t about defending the current scoreline.

What he wanted was to extend the lead.

Since it was a life-or-death West London derby, he naturally had to do everything he could to gain a bigger lead, to completely crush the opponent, preferably to the point where Chelsea would have a mental block whenever they faced Bayswater Chinese in the future.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

“I guess there are only two paths for them. Take off a midfielder, bring on a winger like Shaun Wright-Phillips, move Shevchenko back to the front line, and strengthen the attack!”

Yang Cheng felt this was a very likely option.

Go for broke!

It was Boxing Day, a home game, and they were playing like this. They had to at least get one goal back, otherwise, Mourinho would truly be unable to face the Stamford Bridge fans.

“The other option is to go completely conservative. Substitute Shevchenko, bring on Mikel, and reinforce the midfield.”

But doing so would send a negative signal to everyone.

With Mourinho’s personality, either choice was possible.

Yang Cheng couldn’t guess Mourinho’s thoughts, so he could only walk the players through both possibilities and tell them how to respond.

No matter how Chelsea adjusted, they couldn’t solve the biggest weakness in their defence.

Ferreira and Carvalho.

Both players were just over 1.8 meters tall.

In terms of aerial duels and controlling the first ball, they were far inferior to Džeko.

So, most of the time, they could only chase after Džeko.

This, in turn, could easily disrupt their defensive formation.

Add Essien to the mix; he was not a midfielder with great positional sense to begin with.

The Ghanaian Bison’s greatest strength was his ability to run all over the pitch. Asking him to play as a lone holding midfielder was like asking for his life.

Yang Cheng even wondered if using Ballack in that role would be better than Essien.

But Ballack’s defensive positioning wasn’t much better either.

Many people overlooked one point.

Makélélé’s role in Chelsea’s midfield wasn’t just defensive.

The French midfielder’s passing couldn’t compare to that of top playmakers, but he could effectively link the midfield and defence, making him a crucial member of the Chelsea team.

Drogba up front, Makélélé in midfield, Terry at the back, and Čech in goal—this was Chelsea’s most important spine.

Lampard?

He certainly scored a lot of goals, but tactically, that was about it.

So, with Makélélé absent, Lampard couldn’t maintain stable control of the midfield.

…

The halftime break ended, and the two teams returned to the pitch.

Everyone noticed that Chelsea had made a substitution.

Shaun Wright-Phillips came on for Geremi.

After the change, Essien dropped back to centre-back, partnering with Carvalho.

Ferreira returned to the right-back position.

Chelsea’s midfield was now Kalou, Lampard, Ballack, and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The front line was a combination of Drogba and Shevchenko.

Even at this stage, Mourinho had not taken off Shevchenko, instead switching to a 4-4-2.

Yang Cheng was a bit stunned, unable to figure out what Mourinho was thinking.

Shevchenko barely touched the ball in the entire first half, so why keep him on?

Changing to a 4-4-2 now, was he underestimating Džeko’s movement?

But soon, Yang Cheng noticed a change in Chelsea’s defending.

Lampard and Ballack were both sitting deeper, closer to the centre-backs.

Both Ballack and Lampard were box-to-box midfielders, so playing in the centre of a 4-4-2 wasn’t out of the question.

Ballack, in particular, was tall and strong, and excellent in the air.

Mourinho’s intention was to shut down Džeko, preventing him from dropping between the midfield and defence to win headers and receive the ball as he did in the first half.

It was an interesting idea.

After a few more minutes, once Yang Cheng figured out Mourinho’s tactics, he immediately made an adjustment of his own, pushing Džeko further up the pitch.

I don’t care anymore, I’m not going to play tactical games with you. I’m just going to simply and brutally exploit Džeko’s aerial advantage.

Last season, Yang Cheng might not have been so confident.

But now, after a summer and several months of strength and conditioning training, Džeko’s physical power, whether in challenges or core muscle strength, had clearly improved.

Coupled with his 1.93-meter height, a full head taller than both Carvalho and Essien, how could he not have an advantage in the air?

After a few attempts, in the 56th minute, Yang Cheng’s adjustment created a threat.

From a cross by Piszczek on the right, Džeko headed the ball towards goal from near the penalty spot.

But the header was too central and was caught directly by Čech.

This was a very positive sign.

Chelsea quickly launched a fast break of their own.

After being marked by Piszczek on the left, Kalou passed back to Lampard.

The Chelsea captain took a long shot from 23 yards out, but it went wide.

Both teams’ attacks were gradually picking up.

In the 59th minute, Leighton Baines received a pass from Ashley Young on the left, went to the byline, and crossed to the far post.

Džeko made a feint at the near post, while Arshavin at the far post challenged Lampard for the header, but it went wide.

Just two minutes later, Ballack chipped a pass to the right from outside the box. Shaun Wright-Phillips burst into the right side of the penalty area and took a shot.

The angle was tight, and Neuer confidently blocked it, holding onto the ball.

The attacking momentum of both sides was gradually building.

Chelsea were unwilling to be 3-0 down and wanted to salvage some pride.

Bayswater Chinese still controlled possession and the rhythm of the game, patiently pressing Chelsea.

Sixty minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate remained around 60%.

Then, in the 63rd minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Leighton Baines made a pass, and Ashley Young controlled it with the outside of his right foot, creating distance from Ferreira before suddenly delivering a diagonal pass with his right.

Ashley Young’s diagonal passes from the left had been a major attacking route for Bayswater Chinese this season.

At the far post, Džeko made a quick forward run, overpowerig Carvalho to head the ball towards goal. He was aiming for the top right corner, away from Čech who had moved to the left side of the goal.

Džeko made good contact with the header but was aiming too precisely for the corner. The ball struck the crossbar and bounced back out.

Almost at the same instant, Arshavin, who had been lurking at the top of the arc, darted forward. Meeting the rebounding ball, he controlled it with his chest. Before Essien could close him down, he took a touch to his left with his left foot, just evading Essien, then took another step and unleashed a furious shot with his left.

Arshavin’s entire sequence of movements was fluid and seamless, leaving Essien with no time to even attempt a block.

The ball flew in a straight line, rocketing into Chelsea’s goal.

4-0!

“A FOUR-GOAL HAUL!!!”

“My heavens, Arshavin has completed a four-goal haul!!”

“It’s the 63rd minute of the second half, and the Russian international, Arshavin, has completed a stunning four-goal haul!”

The entire Stamford Bridge stadium erupted into chaos.

In the stands, there were cheers, boos, angry curses, and roars from the fans…

It was all a jumbled mess, impossible to distinguish.

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players were already frantically rushing towards Arshavin.

The Russian was celebrating wildly, lost in the moment.

No one could have imagined that he would score four goals today!

It was simply unbelievable!

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, also watching the celebrating players in disbelief. He turned to look at Brian Kidd, and the two of them broke into a smile simultaneously.

“Let’s keep pressing them for a while longer. Once we’ve secured the win, we need to make some substitutions.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he let out a sigh.

On the 30th, they had an away game against Manchester United.

If this match against Chelsea was the West London derby, then the game against Manchester United was a key battle that would decide the fate of the Premier League title.

With the current schedule, Yang Cheng couldn’t say for sure what result he could achieve at Old Trafford.

But at the very least, he had to keep pace with Manchester United.

Brian Kidd nodded.

Bayswater Chinese’s gruelling schedule was indeed a bit much.

Especially this Christmas period, with consecutive matches against strong teams, all away from home.

What could be done?

In the 70th minute, Yang Cheng made his first substitution of the match.

He brought on the young Theo Walcott for Arshavin.

Then, he replaced Modrić with Matuidi.

This was to conserve energy for the upcoming battle at Old Trafford.

But after the substitutions, Chelsea began to launch a comeback.

Just three minutes later, Shaun Wright-Phillips tried to break through on the right against Leighton Baines and was tripped.

Lampard took the free-kick quickly, sending a low ball to the penalty spot, but no one was there to meet it.

At the far post, Kalou followed up with a cross, which was blocked out for a corner by Piszczek.

Corner kick.

Chelsea took the corner quickly. Ballack’s header went just wide.

The Blues were clearly trying to step up their attack.

Bayswater Chinese quickly responded in kind.

Piszczek broke into the right side of the penalty area and crossed for Džeko. The Bosnian centre-forward hit a volley that went just wide.

Soon after, it was Shaun Wright-Phillips again, dribbling near the byline and delivering a cut-back pass, which José Fonte cleared ahead of Shevchenko for a throw-in.

Throw-in.

Chelsea’s most dangerous attack of the entire match came in the 83rd minute.

Lampard played a precise diagonal pass to the right. Shaun Wright-Phillips made a run in behind Leighton Baines, controlled the ball near the byline, broke into the box, and played a cut-back pass to the centre.

However, Drogba, who had the chance to shoot first-time, took a touch, which allowed the timely advance of Neuer to smother his shot.

The Ivorian’s shot went straight into Neuer’s arms.

This was the most threatening attack Chelsea had created in the entire match.

After missing this chance, Chelsea began to intensify their attacks.

But in the 88th minute, Chelsea won a corner. Bayswater Chinese cleared it with a header from inside their box.

The Blues had pushed too far forward, leaving no one back.

Walcott, like a flash of lightning, chased down the cleared ball at incredible speed, taking a heavy touch forward before accelerating again to catch up.

The young English forward was seen sprinting from the edge of his own penalty area, storming out of his 30-yard zone, crossing the halfway line, and charging into Chelsea’s 30-yard area…

Bridge chased desperately behind him, head up, running for his life.

But he couldn’t catch the streaking Walcott.

Ferreira, the last man back, became Chelsea’s only remaining hope.

But as Walcott charged into Chelsea’s 30-yard area, before anyone could react, he played a diagonal pass behind Ferreira.

Ashley Young was seen making a quick run to beat the offside trap, latching onto Walcott’s diagonal pass, and slotting the ball into Chelsea’s goal once more.

5-0!

Chapter 112: King of Finals! First Slay the Blues, Then Destroy the Red Devils!

In December, the days in England always get dark particularly early.

Though it was just approaching 6 PM, the outside was already pitch black.

Manchester United’s home game against Wigan Athletic had started at 4 PM and was just now concluding.

Old Trafford had transformed from the slanted rays of the afternoon sun to the brilliant glow of floodlights.

The final score was 3-0!

Thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, Manchester United secured a resounding victory at home against Wigan Athletic.

The seventy-six thousand fans in the stadium erupted in celebration!

In the stands, the suits sitting in their offices were concerned with how many fans had spent money, how many steaks had been sold.

How were the sales of the dining packages? Was the food decent?

Were the distinguished guests in the VIP boxes satisfied with the service?

Ferguson wasn’t worried about any of that.

He had conserved his team’s energy for this match.

C. Ronaldo had only come on in the second half.

Additionally, players like Scholes and Evra were substituted around the sixty-minute mark.

Meanwhile, Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, and Ferdinand had all been rested by Ferguson, saved for the next match!

During the grueling Christmas schedule, every team had to rotate its squad.

Otherwise, there was no hope of getting through it!

This was the priceless wisdom Ferguson had accumulated over decades of battling this damned schedule.

Of course, how to rotate was a measure of a head coach’s skill.

Some coaches rotated and rotated, only to end up getting themselves replaced!

Manchester United hadn’t actually played that well in this match.

For the entire first half, they dominated possession but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Rooney’s form had been up and down all season, which was a constant headache for Ferguson.

Back when Van Nistelrooy was here, he could provide the team with a stable expectation of goals.

But now…

Fortunately, C. Ronaldo scored twice after coming on in the second half.

The young Portuguese player was improving rapidly, his scoring efficiency high.

Hopefully, he would maintain this form for the upcoming match against Bayswater Chinese.

Beat Bayswater Chinese at home, widen the points gap, and the second half of the season would be much easier.

If Yang Cheng’s team were to stir up trouble again, the match on January 1st could be a disaster.

A fervent heat rose in Ferguson’s chest at the thought.

It had been far too long since he had tasted a Premier League title.

On impulse, Ferguson turned to his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, who was behind him. “What was the result from Stamford Bridge this afternoon?”

The battle at Stamford Bridge had taken place just before Manchester United’s match. To prevent it from affecting his and his players’ mentality, Ferguson had forbidden anyone from discussing it, including the result.

That Mourinho kid was playing at home; he wouldn’t let him down, would he?

He wasn’t asking for a home win against Bayswater Chinese, just a draw would be enough.

That should be the bare minimum!

Ferguson still had great confidence in Mourinho, so his expression was relaxed.

“Five to nil!”

“What?” Ferguson cried out before Queiroz could finish.

Then, a wave of ecstasy washed over the Manchester United patriarch, and he burst into loud laughter.

“What the hell, damn it, since when was Mourinho so badass?”

“He actually thrashed Bayswater Chinese 5-0?”

“I told you, when it counts, the youngsters can’t handle the pressure. They’ve finally cracked, haven’t they?”

“Haha, 5-0! Let’s see what Yang Cheng brings to Old Trafford now!”

Seeing Ferguson’s almost delirious laughter, Queiroz and the surrounding Manchester United coaches exchanged uneasy glances.

The pressure was just too great!

So far this season, Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese had been taking turns at the top, a situation of “your turn is over, now it’s my turn to take the stage.”

This put immense pressure on both teams.

And both Ferguson and Yang Cheng were the type of head coaches who shouldered all the pressure themselves to relieve their teams, which meant they bore an even heavier burden.

Now that he was letting it out, this was the result.

The other coaches all looked at Queiroz, as if waiting for him to step forward and shatter the old gaffer’s beautiful misunderstanding.

“It seems Bayswater Chinese couldn’t take the pressure. Next, at our home ground, we’ll deal them an even more painful blow and end the suspense of this season’s Premier League title race for good!”

Ferguson spoke with excitement, even shaking his fist.

But soon, he noticed the strange expressions on the faces of Queiroz and his assistants.

“What’s wrong with you all? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Queiroz glanced around, licked his somewhat dry lips, and finally spoke.

“It was Bayswater Chinese who won.”

“What?” The smile on Ferguson’s face vanished instantly.

“How is that possible?”

“It’s absolutely true. Bayswater Chinese beat Chelsea 5-0 away. The media, the internet, the TV stations—they’ve all gone crazy!”

Ferguson’s mind was in turmoil.

One moment he was overjoyed, the next he was told it was all a lie.

No, it wasn’t just a lie; it was the worst possible outcome.

“Mourinho’s defense has always been excellent. Playing at home, and on Boxing Day… has he gone mad? Was he too aggressive?” By the end of his sentence, Ferguson was almost seething with rage.

The wonderful mood from his 3-0 victory was completely shattered.

More importantly, the situation he had been planning for so long had now been completely upended.

In Ferguson’s eyes, the best result would have been a draw between his two rivals, with each taking one point.

That way, Manchester United would have been the biggest beneficiary.

After all, both teams were potential threats to Manchester United’s title charge.

And a draw was also the most likely outcome.

Although Mourinho’s team was missing Terry and Makélélé couldn’t play, their defense had always been solid.

Wasn’t Bayswater Chinese also missing Yaya Touré?

But who could have imagined that the result wouldn’t be a draw?

If Chelsea had won, that would have been a good thing for Manchester United too.

But of all outcomes, Bayswater Chinese had to be the one to win.

And by a score of 5-0, no less!

Ferguson now felt an impulse to completely lose his mind.

He wasn’t the least bit concerned about his earlier gaffe.

If he cared about saving face, he wouldn’t be Ferguson!

His biggest worry now was the upcoming clash at Old Trafford.

“Carlos, get someone on it immediately. I want to see the recording of that match right away.”

“Right.”

Queiroz turned his head and looked at a coach behind him, who immediately went to take care of it.

“Also, arrange for two scouts to go to London at once. For the next few days, they are to do nothing but keep a close watch on that shabby training ground of theirs. I need to know what they’re up to.”

“Most importantly, has Yaya Touré recovered from his injury or not?”

“Understood.”

Ferguson could feel his blood pressure rising.

It was spiking again!

All because of that damned Yang Cheng!

He wanted to come to Old Trafford for a drink?

Drink my foot!

He could drink piss for all I care!

According to previous intelligence, Yaya Touré’s return from injury should be around this time.

Would he be fit for the match against Manchester United?

The presence or absence of Yaya Touré had a huge impact on Bayswater Chinese.

The midfield trio of Yaya Touré, Modrić, and Lassana Diarra was a perfect blend of steel and silk, balanced in both attack and defense. Forget the Premier League; even in European football, they were likely one of the strongest midfields.

It was all that damned Wenger’s fault! He deserved to be shot!

How could you have been so blind back then and not kept Yaya Touré?

Before the match, everyone from the Premier League to Sky Sports, to all the major British newspapers, media outlets, and websites, had been frantically hyping and building up this West London derby.

In their words, this was the first true West London derby in Premier League history.

What about Fulham and Chelsea in the past?

Didn’t count!

The two teams were worlds apart in terms of strength. Fulham could never truly compete with Chelsea, so the so-called West London derby had no real appeal.

But Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea were different. These were both title-contending teams.

A derby like that was worth watching.

And before the game, from the bookmakers to the fans and the media, almost everyone believed that a draw was the most likely outcome, with Chelsea having a slight edge.

But the margin of victory or defeat was expected to be a single goal.

In other words, everyone thought the two teams were evenly matched.

Yet no one could have ever imagined that the final score would be 5-0!

It was like a massive bomb had been suddenly dropped on British soil, leaving everyone stunned and disoriented.

No one could believe it.

Mourinho’s Chelsea had lost 0-5 at home?

Even a novel wouldn’t dare to write a plot like this, right?

The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, The Independent…

Almost every media outlet immediately published commentary, reporting extensively on the match.

Andrei Arshavin, who had scored a four-goal haul, was especially in the spotlight.

Everyone was greatly surprised by the Russian star.

They knew he was good, but to be this good… wasn’t it a bit outrageous?

The Russian had already scored twelve goals in the Premier League this season.

That kind of scoring rate was indeed quite impressive.

At the same time, since switching to left winger, Ashley Young had scored in four consecutive games, and his league goal tally had reached seven, which was equally stunning.

Remember Manchester United’s twin stars, Rooney and C. Ronaldo, who had been praised to the high heavens, with people saying they had exploded this season? And the result?

Both of them had only eight goals so far.

And Rooney only had seven assists, fewer than both Arshavin and Ashley Young.

C. Ronaldo had a mere one assist.

Bayswater Chinese’s lack of attacking firepower had been hyped up by the media not long ago, with Lambert and Džeko bearing the brunt of the criticism.

But now, Džeko’s goal count for the season had also reached seven.

Drogba, who many considered to be having a breakout scoring season, had only scored ten goals so far.

What is a treasure team?

Bayswater Chinese is!

Previously, so many media outlets and fans had simply followed the herd, holding onto the stereotype that this was just another newly promoted team.

When the media claimed Bayswater Chinese had a low scoring rate and poor finishing, everyone looked at the stats and agreed, as they weren’t eye-popping.

But now, this 5-0 victory had laid everyone’s cards on the table.

The stats aren’t good?

Comparing them side-by-side, Bayswater Chinese’s front three was already one of the most potent attacking combinations in the Premier League.

Even Lambert, who many critics claimed could only bully weaker teams, had scored six goals this season.

And Manchester United’s Saha?

He only had eight.

With this comparison, everyone could see the truth.

It wasn’t that Bayswater Chinese was weak, but that the media’s narrative had been misleading.

This was, without a doubt, a Premier League treasure team!

Attacking football, slick passing combinations, beautiful style of play, unbeaten at home, and lots of goals.

Most crucially, their home tickets were the cheapest in London.

Cheaper than teams like West Ham United, Fulham, and Charlton Athletic.

It was simply incredible, wasn’t it?

And on January 1st, West London’s Bayswater Chinese would be hosting East London’s West Ham United at home.

This was set to be another London derby!

In an instant, there was a mad rush for tickets to the match at Wembley Stadium for round 24 of the Premier League season.

Unless they were die-hard supporters of another team, fans were eager to see a Bayswater Chinese football match.

To see just how strong this misunderstood treasure team really was.

What’s more, it was a derby between East and West London!

As Pini Zahavi once again arrived at Queensway and walked towards Bayswater Stadium.

The Israeli’s heart was filled with emotion.

He had been here three and a half years ago.

It was still the same unfinished building.

Due to a directive from the London city government to improve the city’s appearance, Bayswater Chinese had made some minor cosmetic changes to the stadium’s facade over the past three years, making it look less like an abandoned project.

But the overall layout of the stadium grounds hadn’t changed at all.

What had changed was Pini Zahavi’s state of mind.

Back then, he had arrived with a sense of superiority.

He represented the Premier League giants Chelsea, facing a rubbish team struggling in League Two on the brink of bankruptcy.

Now, he returned to face a team aiming to challenge for the Premier League title.

A team that had just trampled his high-and-mighty Chelsea 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.

This made Pini Zahavi much more cautious.

It was a stark contrast to the arrogance he displayed on his previous visits to Bayswater Stadium.

As an agent, he had clearly realized that he should build a good relationship with Bayswater Chinese.

Who knows, maybe he could do business with this club in the future?

What if?

“Yang, the match on January 1st is very important. You have to find a way to win it!”

Just as Pini Zahavi appeared outside Bayswater Stadium, Adam Crozier, accompanied by Omar Berrada, arrived at Yang Cheng’s head coach office.

Taking advantage of a break in team training, they started discussing the next home game.

“Do you know how many tickets we’ve sold for this match?”

“How many?”

“Sixty thousand already.”

“That many?” Yang Cheng was surprised.

This season, Bayswater Chinese’s home attendance had surpassed sixty thousand, but that was for Champions League matches against top-tier giants like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

In regular league matches, apart from a few clashes between top teams, the attendance had remained stable at around forty thousand.

Why the sudden surge?

“I told you before Christmas, our ticket sales have been on a steady rise, and they still are. Especially in the last few days, we’ve hit another sales peak.”

“That 5-0 victory was just too shocking!”

No one had expected Bayswater Chinese to thrash Chelsea 5-0 away from home.

Since both teams were from West London, this gave the ticket market a huge boost.

For a long time, the media had been biased against Bayswater Chinese.

This was typical for teams promoted from the lower leagues.

But now?

That 5-0 match forced everyone to see Bayswater Chinese in a new light.

The tickets were cheap, it was the Christmas season when all fans had the habit of watching football, so the attendance naturally went up.

And Bayswater Chinese’s numbers were still considered relatively low.

“In the Premier League round that just finished, Tottenham Hotspur beat Aston Villa 2-0. White Hart Lane had 36,170 people, their highest attendance record this season. A full house!”

White Hart Lane’s total capacity is 36,284, but teams generally don’t sell every single seat, always leaving some for contingencies.

Or some seats are not sold for special reasons like accessibility, fire exits, and so on.

Of course, some teams would try to create temporary seating in various passageways.

For the Chelsea versus Bayswater Chinese match, the attendance at Stamford Bridge actually exceeded its total capacity.

“West Ham United lost 1-2 to Portsmouth, with 34,913 fans in attendance, a full house.”

“Charlton Athletic drew 2-2 at home against Fulham, with 26,803 fans, a full house.”

“Even suburban Watford, who lost 1-2 at home to Arsenal, drew a crowd of 20,750, a full house.”

Adam Crozier presented a series of figures to show Yang Cheng that while the Christmas schedule was a headache for all teams, the excellent attendance rates were a huge temptation for everyone.

Not to mention that during this festive period, fans’ spending power upon entering the stadium was far greater than usual.

“It’s not just the 26th. On the 30th, Charlton hosts Aston Villa, Chelsea hosts Fulham, Tottenham hosts Liverpool, West Ham hosts Manchester City, Watford hosts Wigan Athletic…”

“See a pattern? They are all playing at home, and their tickets are all sold out.”

“Even for the matches on January 1st, almost all tickets in London are sold out.”

In the round on January 1st, Arsenal would host Charlton, Fulham would host Watford, and Bayswater Chinese would host West Ham United.

Other London teams like Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were all playing away.

“Right now, in all of London, we’re the only ones who still have tickets on hand…”

Adam Crozier looked rather embarrassed as he said this.

This wasn’t hoarding tickets; this was just plain shameful!

It proved that Bayswater Chinese’s appeal in the ticket market wasn’t strong enough yet.

But it also proved something else.

Following the explosion of that 5-0 result, the attendance for the January 1st match was very likely to set a new league record.

New Year’s Day is also a public holiday in England.

In Adam Crozier’s view, the market on January 1st would definitely be strong.

Sixty thousand was a baseline, and tickets were still being sold steadily.

A regular home game for the England national team easily draws around ninety thousand fans.

Greater London has that kind of fan base, which is why there are so many Premier League teams.

He wanted to take it a step further.

How could they keep this flock of fickle fans at Wembley Stadium and turn them into long-term supporters of Bayswater Chinese?

They didn’t have to be die-hard fans, just willing to buy tickets and attend.

Right now, Bayswater Chinese’s low-priced tickets were almost sold out. The remaining fans coming in would certainly be buying mid-to-high-priced tickets. These fans had purchasing power and were definitely high-net-worth individuals!

If they could retain this group of fans, would the stadium’s attendance and match-day revenue be a problem in the future?

“I understand, but all I can say is I’ll do my best!” Yang Cheng said calmly.

From the perspective of the club’s CEO, Adam Crozier’s reminder to Yang Cheng was part of his job.

But West Ham United were no pushovers.

Curbishley was a renowned Premier League manager, so Yang Cheng needed to carefully consider his tactics.

Playing Manchester United was about the league title.

Playing West Ham United was about the ticket market.

Yang Cheng was under immense pressure right now.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada knew this, so they didn’t press him.

In fact, with the team performing as well as it had, their operations department had already benefited greatly.

“Don’t blame me for being impatient, Yang. This really is a godsent opportunity. Let’s work hard together!” Adam Crozier encouraged, clenching his fist.

Yang Cheng chuckled. “Get lost. Besides flapping your gums, what hard work have you done?”

Adam Crozir burst into laughter as well.

Having spent time with Yang Cheng, he truly felt that Yang Cheng was an exceptionally magical and badass person.

But he was so young, how did he know so much?

“Hey, by the way, Yang, the way you just said ‘Get lost’ was very similar to Miss Xia!”

After saying this, both Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada couldn’t stop grinning.

With the looks they were exchanging, who couldn’t tell?

If there really wasn’t something going on, would Yang Cheng entrust his entire fortune to Xia Qing?

Just as Yang Cheng was about to “fly into a rage,” Adam Crozier’s phone rang.

The caller ID showed: Pini Zahavi.

“This guy scheduled a meeting with me. I’ll go and hear what he wants.”

With that, Adam Crozier waved goodbye to Yang Cheng and left with Omar Berrada.

Over half an hour later, Adam Crozier knocked on Yang Cheng’s office door again.

“Guess what that old fox wants?”

This time, Adam Crozier came alone.

Upon entering, he unceremoniously sat down opposite Yang Cheng.

“Still trying to buy our stadium?” Yang Cheng laughed.

Pini Zahavi had come over several times for that very reason.

“The whole world knows we’ve invited Norman Foster to design a new stadium. Even if Chelsea wants to buy it, I doubt they have the financial clout for it anymore.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

According to media reports, Roman Abramovich had been investing heavily in Russia recently, even sponsoring the Russian national team, supposedly to curry favor with the country’s leaders and Russian fans.

Who knew?

“The old fox is very polite now. He’s here on behalf of Chelsea to ask if Arshavin is for sale.”

“Who?”

“Andrei Arshavin.”

Yang Cheng was genuinely taken aback for a moment.

He truly hadn’t expected this.

Just yesterday they got thrashed with a four-goal haul, and today they’re here poaching the player?

“What did you say?”

“Of course not for sale!” Adam Crozier replied without hesitation. “Our team is finally in a great position. You’re up front charging for the league title, so we in the back office will definitely provide you with logistical support.”

“Selling Arshavin now, wouldn’t that be throwing away all our hard work?”

This was why Yang Cheng respected Adam Crozier.

The man looked like a shrewd calculator, but in reality, his grasp of the big picture was spot on.

Take the layoffs at Royal Mail, for instance.

Many people cursed him for doing it for his own bonus.

But what was wrong with cutting redundant staff?

This matter was the same.

“Well done. We won’t sell, not for anything!” Yang Cheng said decisively.

“I’ve heard that Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal are also interested in Ashley Young and Arshavin. They’re all watching.”

Yang Cheng was aware of this; he had seen related reports.

“Same answer, not for sale!”

Yang Cheng paused, then added, “Try to control the media narrative. Get in touch with the media outlets we have a good relationship with. We need to do everything we can to create a good environment for the games.”

“Understood. Leave it to me!”

“Also, be discreet. Pick a time to meet with a few agents. After this season, we’ll give out another round of pay raises!”

Now that the club’s revenue was catching up and the team’s competitiveness had improved, it was necessary to increase the players’ salaries.

Bayswater Chinese’s pay scale was not low in the Premier League.

Teams that came up from the Championship like Wigan Athletic and Watford had much lower wages than Bayswater Chinese.

Not to mention, Bayswater Chinese’s bonuses were also very high.

If you were to rank salary tiers in the Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester United would be in a league of their own.

Liverpool and Arsenal would be in the second tier.

These were the traditional Big Four, after all.

Bayswater Chinese’s current salary level was probably somewhere between the third and fourth tiers.

But wage structure itself is a very complex systemic project.

Take Tottenham Hotspur in the third tier, for example.

Currently, Tottenham Hotspur’s highest-paid player is the “Dutch Wild Boar,” Edgar Davids.

The thirty-three-year-old Dutchman joined Spurs in the summer of 2005 and received the highest weekly wage in the team at the time, £47,000, breaking Tottenham’s wage structure.

Consequently, Tottenham initiated a series of contract renewals.

Robbie Keane’s weekly wage rose to £45,000, catching up with Edgar Davids.

After that, Defoe also received a weekly wage of £45,000.

But this had clearly placed a heavy burden on Tottenham Hotspur.

So, they had already decided to sell Edgar Davids, letting him return to the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian centre-forward Berbatov, currently on Tottenham’s roster, had a weekly wage of only £22,000 when he transferred from Bayer Leverkusen.

This season, Berbatov has performed excellently, and it is expected that Tottenham will definitely initiate contract renewal talks after the season ends.

At that time, his weekly wage would surely be over £40,000.

If you purely counted weekly wages, Bayswater Chinese was much lower than Tottenham.

But if you included both weekly wages and bonuses, the gap between the two teams was not actually that large.

Xia Qing had told Yang Cheng that she had commissioned a third-party study. Bayswater Chinese’s compensation level, including weekly wages and bonuses, was roughly in the upper-middle class of the Premier League.

In terms of competitiveness, Tottenham could forget about poaching players from Bayswater Chinese again.

Xia Qing’s point was that the players had now made a name for themselves, and the finance department was fully staffed. It was time to redesign the salary structure and treat different players differently.

For example, a player like Yaya Touré, who was now famous, needed a higher weekly wage with reduced bonuses.

This way, although the overall income increase might not be huge, the player would have a stronger sense of gain.

It’s a bit like a salesman’s basic salary plus commission.

Bonuses are the commission.

But that part fluctuates, is quite volatile, and doesn’t offer much security.

The basic salary, however, is guaranteed regardless of performance.

For young players, it’s best to motivate them with high bonuses.

But for established stars, a higher weekly wage is needed to retain them.

In the past, Bayswater Chinese was understaffed and couldn’t be so meticulous.

Times have changed, and Xia Qing was determined to refine this compensation system.

But in the short term, it was impossible for Bayswater Chinese to offer weekly wages of £100,000 or even more, like the giant clubs. That was unrealistic.

Moreover, with the construction of the new stadium on the horizon, the club would also have to bear the pressure of loans.

Last season, the team’s wage-to-revenue ratio was about 40%, far from the 50% mark.

This season would likely be similar, perhaps even lower.

But expenditures in other areas were higher than other teams, including the youth academy, the training base construction, and the initial investment in the new stadium. All these required money.

In this regard, Xia Qing had always maintained tight control.

Otherwise, did they really think she was a god of wealth, able to pull money out of thin air for whatever Yang Cheng wanted to do?

For now, Bayswater Chinese’s compensation could be slightly increased.

A top salary capped at £40,000, plus bonuses, should be about right.

It couldn’t be raised further in the short term.

Yang Cheng also had to guard against a risk common to Premier League teams: the problem of inflated salaries.

Every time broadcasting rights revenue increased, player salaries followed suit.

A typical example was Rooney.

This was certainly not a good trend.

If those giant clubs really wanted to poach players, then let them.

As long as they were willing to pay up, Yang Cheng wouldn’t mind them poaching!

As for the homegrown player quota, that wouldn’t come into effect until 2008 or 2009.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried.

This season, Bayswater Chinese had seven British homegrown players, including three from Wales.

They were Gareth Bale, substitute goalkeeper Danny Coyne, and substitute left-back Danny Collins.

They also counted as homegrown players.

The so-called “Homegrown player status” actually had two types.

One was players from the home nations of the UK, which was the easiest to identify; the seven above were examples.

The other type was players who were registered with an English club for three years before the age of twenty-one, commonly known as “homegrown youth academy” players.

Although Bayswater Chinese only had seven players from the home nations, in reality, their homegrown youth academy players included Modrić and Koscielny.

That meant they had a total of nine.

After this season, Neuer, Piszczek, and Matuidi would all qualify.

It was a bit of a shame for Lassana Diarra, who was just a few months short.

And there was no need to mention the future; players like Robert Lewandowski, Nemanja Matić, Marcelo, and Ángel Di María would all belong to the club’s homegrown youth academy.

If that still wasn’t enough, they could just pull a few from the youth team to make up the numbers.

So, in this regard, Bayswater Chinese had the least to worry about.

At 3:00 PM on December 30th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Premier League Round 21, Bayswater Chinese challenged Manchester United away.

The match attracted 76,000 fans, packing Old Trafford to the rafters.

In the official statistics, Old Trafford’s capacity was only 74,879.

God knows where Manchester United squeezed in over a thousand temporary seats.

Bayswater Chinese, fresh from their 5-0 demolition of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, marched north with the momentum of a great victory. Manchester United, having also secured a 3-0 win, were ready and waiting.

This match would decide the Premier League leader!

Without a doubt, this was not just a highly anticipated clash in England; it had sparked heated discussions across the globe in every region covered by Premier League broadcasts.

The head referee was the very experienced Mike Dean.

Ferguson had rotated his squad in the previous round, and for this match, he fielded his strongest lineup.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Silvestre, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Wes Brown;

Midfield: Park Ji-sung, Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, and C. Ronaldo;

Forwards: Solskjær and Rooney.

Don’t assume from this lineup that Ferguson was taking it easy or rotating.

The reason Wes Brown was at right-back was mainly because Gary Neville was injured. O’Shea had been rotated for Hargreaves in the last round specifically so the midfielder could start this game.

The left side had also been rotated.

Ryan Giggs, Scholes, and Fletcher were all on the bench.

The veterans couldn’t withstand the test of such a grueling schedule and were mostly used as substitutes.

Solskjær was an exception.

He was Manchester United’s most in-form and consistent goalscorer recently, aside from C. Ronaldo and Rooney.

Ferguson’s strategy was clear from his lineup.

At home, attack!

Bayswater Chinese had also made significant rotations.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Danny Collins, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Maicon;

Midfield: Matuidi, Pepe, and Lassana Diarra;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Džeko, and Modrić.

Yang Cheng’s starting lineup surprised everyone.

They hadn’t expected Arshavin, who had scored a four-goal haul in the last round, to be on the bench for this match.

Even more surprising was that he had deployed three centre-backs.

Was he planning to defend with all his might?

From the kick-off, home team Manchester United launched the first attack.

Just one minute in, Solskjær received a pass from Park Ji-sung on the left and tried to break past Maicon, but failed.

The ball deflected off Maicon’s foot and went out for a byline.

Manchester United won a corner kick.

The Red Devils began to press forward in numbers.

The corner didn’t pose a threat, but Ferguson’s team had already shown immense determination.

It was only then that everyone noticed that while Manchester United stuck to their 4-4-2 formation, Yang Cheng’s changes were much more significant.

Pepe appeared in a holding midfield role.

But in the actual game, he was positioned closer to the two centre-backs.

The three centre-backs formed something of a triangle, with Pepe at the apex.

Maicon and Danny Collins were positioned further forward, but not by much, focusing more on protecting the flanks.

Coupled with Matuidi and Lassana Diarra in the middle, the two players were completely let loose, sweeping through the midfield and attacking third.

This formed Bayswater Chinese’s defensive posture for their visit to Old Trafford.

Yes.

The grueling Christmas schedule, playing strong teams away from home consecutively—even a squad as strong as Yang Cheng’s couldn’t handle being overused like this.

Not to mention, they still had a home game against West Ham United up next.

Choices had to be made.

But making choices didn’t mean giving up.

For the battle at Old Trafford, Yang Cheng opted for a pragmatic defensive counter-attack.

Džeko remained up front, as a stable point-man to hold up the ball was needed.

Modrić would play the first half, and Arshavin would come on in the second.

This was what Yang Cheng had instructed before the match.

This way, both key players could still play in the next round.

On the left, Ashley Young was rested.

Yang Cheng had considered Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Of the two, Walcott’s performance this season had been better than Di María’s.

But in the end, Yang Cheng chose Di María.

This wasn’t a whim, but a carefully considered decision.

Based on Yang Cheng’s understanding of the three players, Di María had the strongest mental resilience and the most resolute will among them.

Starting a young player away at Manchester United was a huge risk.

A single mistake could be costly.

In such situations, a young player’s mentality was exceptionally important.

What was Di María’s nickname?

Argentina’s Executive Vice-King of Football?

The golden leg that C. Ronaldo, Messi, and Neymar all clung to?

None of those.

His nickname was the King of Finals!

Some even said that the reason Argentina didn’t win the 2014 World Cup final was because Messi was without Di María.

And look, in the 2022 World Cup final, after Di María came on, Messi got his trophy.

How else could you explain it?

Di María’s ability to seize opportunities and his performance in crucial matches all demonstrated his exceptional mental fortitude.

So, Yang Cheng used him!

Before the match, Yang Cheng had specifically talked to Di María, repeatedly emphasizing that the team needed him for this game, telling him to give it his all, and that no matter how he played, it wouldn’t affect his standing in Yang Cheng’s eyes.

But Yang Cheng had also pulled a little trick.

He arranged for all the players’ families who had been at Stamford Bridge for the last round to come to Old Trafford to watch this match.

Including Di María’s parents and family.

Manchester United attacked from the very beginning.

But breaking through Bayswater Chinese’s goal was no easy task.

With two midfield destroyers like Matuidi and Lassana Diarra, the pressure on the defensive line was greatly reduced.

This was also related to Manchester United’s midfield setup for this game.

Neither C. Ronaldo nor Park Ji-sung were the type of players who excelled at breaking down a packed defense.

Carrick was good at passing and distributing the ball, while Hargreaves was good at defending.

Up front, neither Solskjær nor Rooney could easily hold the ball up in
a congested area.

This led to a match that looked intense and had a fast pace, but was ultimately not very exciting.

Bayswater Chinese’s first shot of the game came in the eleventh minute, a long shot from Džeko near the edge of the box after receiving the ball and turning, but it went wide.

In the thirteenth minute, Manchester United launched a quick counter-attack.

Wes Brown made an overlapping run on the right, received a pass from C. Ronaldo, then played a through ball to help C. Ronaldo get past Danny Collins. However, he was quickly blocked just outside the right of the penalty area by the covering José Fonte.

A cross was sent in, but Neuer came out to claim the ball.

Yang Cheng noticed that when José Fonte was pulled wide, Pepe’s retreat was not decisive enough.

So, he immediately walked to the sideline, shouted for Pepe, and reminded him to be more determined when tracking back.

As for Lassana Diarra and Matuidi, they could cover a lot of ground, but during transitions from attack to defense, they needed to get back in time.

In contrast, Yang Cheng demanded that Modrić not drop too deep.

He was crucial for the counter-attack!

Džeko was responsible for winning the first ball.

But if Džeko couldn’t win it, then the counter-attack had to go through Modrić.

With Modrić’s speed, if he dropped too far back, he wouldn’t be able to carry the ball forward.

Moreover, Yang Cheng wanted Modrić to press Carrick.

Ferguson wanted to use C. Ronaldo’s ability, adopting the principle of the best defense is a good offense, so Wes Brown would frequently push forward.

Both of Manchester United’s full-backs in this match had issues.

Especially as the game progressed.

Bayswater Chinese focused more on defense.

A draw was an acceptable result for Yang Cheng.

Manchester United’s strategy was to attack, wanting to win at home against Bayswater Chinese.

The two teams’ different strategies meant that after Manchester United’s attacks were thwarted, they began to gradually up the ante.

The first to do so was Wes Brown on the right.

He needed to get forward more to support C. Ronaldo.

By the twenty-fourth minute, Wes Brown had charged all the way to the byline of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area, and just before the ball went out, he crossed it into the box.

Koscielny leaped fearlessly to contest the header with Solskjær, clearing the ball but getting knocked dizzy in the process and falling to the ground.

Fortunately, it was nothing serious, and he quickly got up to rejoin the game.

Just two minutes later, it was Manchester United’s right flank again. A combination between C. Ronaldo and Wes Brown created an attack, but the ball was blocked out by José Fonte for a corner.

Carrick quickly took the corner, and C. Ronaldo headed the ball from the edge of the six-yard box.

The header was powerful, but Neuer made a desperate save to parry it away.

Solskjær was there for the follow-up.

Pepe threw himself in front of the shot, blocking the ball with his body just short of the goal line.

“Bayswater Chinese’s defense is incredibly resilient.”

“But Manchester United’s attacking desire is also extremely strong.”

“Ferguson made a bold statement before the match, saying they must win this game no matter what!”

“If they keep defending like this, Bayswater Chinese probably won’t be able to hold out for much longer.”

Everyone could see that after twenty minutes, Manchester United’s attacks were getting more and more ferocious.

Although Bayswater Chinese had committed a large number of players to defense, even the most foolproof plan can have a slip-up; there would always be some gaps.

Just as the danger mounted in front of their goal, a passing error occurred in Manchester United’s midfield.

Under constant harassment from Modrić, Carrick tried to pass to his teammate Hargreaves, but Matuidi suddenly pressed forward, intercepting the ball with a poke just before Hargreaves could reach it.

Modrić, being the closest, reacted the fastest and rushed towards it.

But Carrick was right behind him, making it impossible to move forward.

If he tried to control the ball, the best opportunity for a counter-attack would be lost.

So, Modrić had a flash of inspiration. He shouted for Džeko, kicked the ball towards him, and made a quick diagonal run to the left and forward into open space. Then, he raised his hand for the ball, yelling, “Here!”

Džeko’s technique was excellent. The moment the team transitioned from defense to attack, he was ready. Hearing Modrić’s shout and seeing the pass, he immediately understood, ran over to support, and completed a one-two pass.

After passing, the Bosnian centre-forward took off, sprinting forward.

Manchester United’s defensive line was rapidly retreating; he wasn’t afraid of being offside.

Hargreaves immediately chased after Modrić but could only get level with the Croatian. However, the ball was at Modrić’s right foot.

The Manchester United midfielder desperately used his shoulder to barge him, trying to disrupt Modrić’s rhythm and make him lose the ball.

At the very least, he had to slow him down so Carrick could catch up and double-team him.

But how clever was Modrić?

After taking two touches, he saw Di María on the left had already started his run. He immediately sent a diagonal pass with his right foot.

Wes Brown had pushed forward earlier and hadn’t tracked back yet.

In front of Di María was a vast, empty no-man’s-land.

The Argentinian gritted his teeth, pushing off with all his might with every stride. His eyes were bloodshot and slightly red from the exertion.

Because he knew, for him, this was a godsent opportunity!

He was facing Manchester United!

And in the stands sat his parents, who burned charcoal for a living, and his sisters.

From a young age, he had vowed to change his and his family’s fate through football.

This was a chance!

A chance he had to seize, no matter what, even if it killed him!

Fast!

Very fast!

But it wasn’t the kind of lightning speed that takes your breath away!

Compared to the blistering pace of players like Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott, Di María’s speed wasn’t as shocking.

But from the moment he caught up to Modrić’s pass to his continuous dribble forward, his speed never dropped, allowing him to quickly shake off the pursuing defenders.

However, Ferdinand and Vidić were constantly cutting off his connection with Džeko.

By the time the Argentinian had carried the ball to the edge of Manchester United’s box on the left, Ferdinand closed in.

The moment Ferdinand approached, Di María suddenly slowed down, feigning a cut inside. After tricking Ferdinand into shifting his center of gravity, he poked the ball towards the left byline of Manchester United’s penalty area and then burst forward with a sudden acceleration, overtaking Ferdinand to chase it down.

In that single encounter, Ferdinand was almost left completely for dead.

But the Manchester United centre-back was no pushover. Experienced as he was, he was prepared and immediately got back on his tail.

Di María sprinted at top speed, and only when he was near the byline did he manage to create a body’s length of separation from Ferdinand.

The Argentinian immediately chose to play a pull-back with his left foot.

Now, it was all up to Džeko.

The ball was passed back from near the byline on the left side of the box to the area just outside the left corner of the six-yard box.

But Di María’s momentum carried him off the pitch, and he collided with the advertising hoardings near the byline.

Ever since Ferdinand had gone to intercept Di María, Džeko had been fighting for a favorable position.

At this very moment, he seized his chance, darting to the edge of the six-yard box and sweeping Di María’s pull-back into the bottom left corner of Manchester United’s goal with his left foot.

Van der Sar really had no answer for such a close-range shot.

1-0!

On the sideline, the moment the goal was scored, Yang Cheng yelled out in excitement.

He had been holding it in for half an hour, just waiting for this moment!

So damn satisfying!

First slay the Blues, then destroy the Red Devils!

This is Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 113: The Last-Gasp Goal! Ferguson: I Can’t Take It, My Blood Pressure Is Rising Again!

Di María’s assist for Džeko’s goal was like lighting a fuse.

After conceding, Manchester United could no longer afford to hold back.

The Red Devils launched a truly frenzied assault on the Bayswater Chinese.

Ferguson was, after all, a head coach renowned for his attacking philosophy.

Any fan who regularly watches football knows that once a deadlock is broken, the match becomes incredibly exciting.

Soon after, during a Manchester United attack, C. Ronaldo dribbled down the right flank, used a series of feints to shake off Danny Collins, and then crossed the ball to the center from the byline.

Solskjær, who had been in red-hot form recently, got in front of José Fonte and found the net with a header.

1-1!

José Fonte, Koscielny, and Pepe all raised their hands immediately, signaling that Solskjær was offside.

But the linesman’s flag stayed down, and the head referee indicated the goal was valid.

However, the slow-motion replay showed that Solskjær was indeed offside.

Of course, it wasn’t glaringly obvious, and in an era without VAR, whether the referee could spot it was a matter of luck.

After equalizing, The Red Devils intensified their attack.

Just three minutes later, C. Ronaldo unleashed an unexpected long shot from outside the penalty area.

But it was confidently saved by Neuer.

Manchester United continued to press forward, trying to take the lead as quickly as possible.

But in the 39th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half and quickly passed it forward.

Džeko won the first ball, controlled it with his chest, and laid it off to Modrić.

Facing the direction of the attack, the Croatian sent a diagonal pass over the top, delivering the ball into Manchester United’s half.

Di María made a quick run from deep, sprinting after it at full tilt.

Just as he was about to reach the ball, Ferdinand came charging in from the side with a sliding tackle, knocking the ball out for a throw-in.

The Manchester United defense scrambled back.

Bayswater Chinese took the throw-in quickly. Danny Collins threw the ball to Modrić.

The Croatian played a direct pass to Di María’s feet.

Di María, who had grown to his full height of 1.83 meters, looked incredibly thin.

That’s why in Argentina, he had a nickname: Fideo, or “Noodle Man.”

This gives you an idea of just how skinny he was.

But having grown up playing against people who were stronger and bigger than him, Di María knew how to handle such opponents.

The moment he received the pass from Modrić, his back was to the left touchline, and he was side-on to Wes Brown.

The Argentine was fearless. He first feinted as if to cut inside, then suddenly chopped the ball to go down the byline.

Wes Brown didn’t fall for the initial move and followed Di María towards the byline.

But the Argentine immediately came to a screeching halt, forcing the just-accelerated Wes Brown to stop abruptly as well.

Although Di María was tall, he was light and his legs were exceptionally agile. After stopping on a dime, he was ready to accelerate again.

This was a method he often used back in Argentina to shake off defenders.

Wes Brown was heavier, had more inertia, and was less flexible. He was instantly left behind by Di María.

Just as the Argentine was about to burst past him, the experienced Wes Brown resorted to fouling, grabbing Di María’s jersey and pulling him down on the left side of the penalty area.

A collective gasp echoed through the stadium.

If Di María had broken through that time, the situation would have been very dangerous.

Mike Dean ran over immediately, showed Wes Brown a yellow card, and awarded Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

“Manchester United need to be careful!”

“Gianni Vio is out on the touchline again!”

“For Bayswater Chinese, an attacking free-kick is also a very important weapon for scoring.”

“Let’s see this time…”

“Wait, it’s not Modrić taking it, but Di María.”

“The young Argentine, Di María, will take this attacking free-kick.”

“Ángel Di María, nicknamed ‘Noodle Man,’ also known as ‘Angel’.”

“Born on February 14, 1988, he’s not even nineteen yet.”

“But since coming on today, he’s left a deep impression with his touches on the ball.”

“Let’s see how Di María will take this one.”

“A left-footed player taking a free-kick from the left side. It’s likely he’ll cross it in.”

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, watching Gianni Vio’s signals while also noticing a change in the team’s set piece routine.

Typically, during attacking set pieces, the full-backs are responsible for providing defensive cover at the back.

Of course, this wasn’t a strict rule, but it was common practice.

But if one paid close attention, they would notice that Maicon and Danny Collins were both on the edge of the penalty area, while Matuidi and Lassana Diarra were the ones hanging back.

C. Ronaldo and Rooney were in the defensive wall.

Clearly, as soon as the ball was kicked, they would be the first wave of Manchester United’s counter-attack.

At the referee’s whistle, Di María took a deep breath, took a quick run-up, and struck a curling shot with his left foot.

The penalty area instantly descended into chaos.

A group of steel-hard men jostled and crashed into each other inside the box.

But the decisive moment came in a split second.

As Pepe made a run to the near post to draw attention, Koscielny suddenly burst out from the pack, leaped high, and flicked Di María’s free-kick.

The ball’s trajectory changed, flying horizontally from the near post towards the right side of the six-yard box.

At the far post, Silvestre and Hargreaves both rushed out to intercept.

But a figure in white shot out, meeting the ball that Koscielny had nodded on, and powered a header into the right side of Manchester United’s goal.

Wes Brown, standing on the goal line, was helpless to stop it.

The ball hit the back of the net and dropped to the ground.

2-1!

“DANNY COLLINS!!!!”

“What a surprise!”

“My God!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s set piece techniques are always so unexpected!!”

“A powerful header from Danny Collins!”

“Many people might have forgotten that Danny Collins can play both centre-back and left-back. He is an important backup player for Bayswater Chinese’s left defensive flank.”

“He hasn’t had much playing time this season, but his defending has always been solid.”

“Now, with this header, he has shown us his quality!”

…

Falling behind again, Manchester United once more launched a fierce offensive.

But they failed to break through the Bayswater Chinese goal before the end of the first half.

After the break, both teams made substitutions.

A match on the 30th, one day of rest, then another match on January 1st.

With such a dense schedule, it was practically unrealistic not to rotate key players.

But Manchester United were trailing, so Ferguson brought on Ryan Giggs for the underperforming Park Ji-sung.

The Korean’s performance in this match had been truly mediocre.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, replaced Modrić with Arshavin.

Having each of his two key core players play half a game was a strategy Yang Cheng had decided on before the match.

Giggs’s introduction immediately revitalized Manchester United’s attack.

Just as Yang Cheng had feared, Manchester United’s midfield lacked the means to break down a compact defense, especially in their passing.

Giggs was a strong passer, and although his dribbling speed had slowed, his sense of rhythm was excellent.

This created huge problems for the players defending against him.

Manchester United were actually wary of Bayswater Chinese’s high press, so they continued to press aggressively at the start of the second half to pin them back.

Ferguson’s strategy was simple: the best defense is a good offense, forcing you to defend.

What followed was a continuous wave of attacks from Manchester United.

First, a pass from Carrick led to a shot from Rooney that went over the bar.

Then, on a fast counter-attack, C. Ronaldo played a through ball to Rooney, but it still didn’t threaten the goal.

But in the 56th minute, Giggs sent a diagonal pass from the left. C. Ronaldo made a swift diagonal run into the right side of the box, out-jumped José Fonte, and headed the ball, only for goalkeeper Neuer to tip it over the crossbar.

That attack was extremely dangerous!

The Portuguese player’s speed on his diagonal run into the box was incredible, and his jumping height was astonishing.

Before Bayswater Chinese could recover from the scare, Manchester United took the corner kick, and it was C. Ronaldo again with a header that beat Neuer. 2-2!

Another equalizer.

…

“Substitution!”

Yang Cheng turned and shouted to Brian Kidd.

Kidd immediately walked towards the bench.

A moment later, Walcott was running out to warm up.

This scene was naturally captured by Ferguson and the television cameras.

Walcott had made several substitute appearances this season and had been very impressive.

“Yang Cheng is bringing him on now, probably to strengthen the attack again.”

In the 60th minute, after giving him some last-minute instructions on the touchline, Yang Cheng sent Walcott on, replacing Pepe, who had played two consecutive matches.

In this match, Pepe had been playing as a holding midfielder, and his overall performance was decent.

Whether in direct defending or dropping back to help the centre-backs, he did a good job.

This was thanks to his versatility.

Yang Cheng sent Walcott on with only one objective: to attack Silvestre’s position.

This was a target he had identified before the match.

But whether it was Modrić or Arshavin, he had kept them on the field without making a move.

Since joining Manchester United, Silvestre had first partnered Stam, and later Ferdinand.

When Ferdinand was banned due to the drug test scandal, he even partnered with Wes Brown.

The French defender could play both left-back and centre-back, so he had been highly valued by Ferguson over the years.

But he was relentlessly criticized by the fans.

Because he made too many mistakes!

His individual quality wasn’t strong enough, his concentration often lapsed, and Manchester United’s defense during those years was never truly satisfactory, which led to Silvestre frequently making blunders.

Almost all of his highlight performances came when he had a badass partner beside him.

For example, Stam or Ferdinand.

With the arrival of defenders like Evra, Heinze, and Vidić, and the development of players like O’Shea, Silvestre’s playing opportunities had dwindled this season.

So far this season, Manchester United had played 26 matches in the Premier League and Champions League, and Silvestre had only appeared 6 times, mostly when teammates were injured.

Moreover, his playing time was very sporadic.

How could a player in such a situation maintain his form?

So, Yang Cheng’s instruction to Walcott was to go on and target Silvestre’s side on the right wing.

…

The next match was in two days.

Both Ferguson and Yang Cheng wanted to end this game as soon as possible to give their players more rest.

However, in the first half, it was Manchester United attacking and Bayswater Chinese defending.

But in the second half, the situation completely changed.

Especially after the substitutions.

Bayswater Chinese began to commit more players to the attack.

Both Di María on the left and Walcott on the right targeted Manchester United’s full-backs.

Manchester United gradually lost control of the game and began to transition to a defensive counter-attacking style.

And in the 67th minute, after Manchester United won the ball in their own half, Giggs got the ball just left of center, shook off Lassana Diarra, and played a through ball.

C. Ronaldo timed his run perfectly, breaking the offside trap at incredible speed. He burst through the gap between Danny Collins and José Fonte, penetrating the Bayswater Chinese defense. After chasing down Giggs’s pass, he calmly slotted the ball home in a one-on-one.

3-2!

Ferguson was so happy he almost jumped for joy!

All seventy-six thousand fans in the stadium were screaming C. Ronaldo’s name at the top of their lungs.

Last summer, this Portuguese player, whom they had wanted to hound out of the country, had now become the darling of Old Trafford.

He was even outperforming Rooney!

After taking the lead for the first time, Manchester United became even more focused on defense.

In the 72nd minute, Ferguson immediately made a substitution.

Fletcher came on for C. Ronaldo to strengthen the midfield defense.

Clearly, he wanted to save some energy for the March North to face Newcastle in two days.

That was also a very important match!

The entire Manchester United crowd rose to their feet again to applaud C. Ronaldo.

Just three minutes later, Ferguson made his final substitution of the match.

Left midfielder Kieran Richardson came on for Rooney.

After the change, Giggs moved into the center, playing behind Solskjær.

Manchester United switched to a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Ferguson’s intention was crystal clear.

He wanted to defend the 3-2 lead!

For Manchester United, getting these three points, and then beating Newcastle in two days to end the Christmas period with three straight wins, would be perfect!

By then, they would have also opened up a gap on Bayswater Chinese!

In fact, if this match hadn’t been so closely contested, Ferguson’s original plan was to substitute C. Ronaldo and Rooney before the 60th minute, or even at halftime.

Playing three games in a row was too taxing!

Seeing Manchester United make two consecutive substitutions, Yang Cheng decisively signaled for his team to press forward with full force, pushing the defensive line to its highest point and pinning Manchester United back.

Ferguson was prepared for this, so Manchester United retreated almost their entire team to defend.

In the 80th minute, Yang Cheng also used his last substitution.

Lambert came on for Lassana Diarra.

The French midfielder was also feeling the strain after playing two intense matches back-to-back.

At this moment, bringing on Lambert was to bolster the attack up front.

Two centre-forwards, two wingers, plus a free-roaming Arshavin—Bayswater Chinese threw five attacking players forward, practically besieging Manchester United.

This made the Manchester United fans in the stands extremely uncomfortable and very worried.

…

Time ticked by, second by second.

In the stands, the Manchester United fans were relentlessly cheering on their players.

They could all feel the tension and pressure of this match.

This was a match to decide who would be the league leader!

Many even said this could be a title-deciding showdown!

Bayswater Chinese’s ferocious counter-assault put immense pressure on Manchester United’s defense.

On the flanks, whenever Wes Brown or Silvestre got the ball, Di María and Walcott would furiously close them down, trying to win it back.

It wasn’t just them; Bayswater Chinese’s two centre-forwards were also prowling in and around the penalty area.

In truth, Ferguson’s substitutions made it clear that he wanted to defend and hold onto the lead until the final whistle.

But Bayswater Chinese were not willing to accept defeat.

Many people kept glancing at the time on the scoreboard.

They all felt that time was passing incredibly slowly.

Every minute, every second, felt like a snail crawling along, slow and cumbersome.

Manchester United’s defense, with help from their midfield, repelled Bayswater Chinese’s attacks time and time again.

Hargreaves and Carrick worked together, and Arshavin failed to replicate his magical performance against Chelsea.

Even the Russian could get tired.

87… 88… 89…

The fourth official on the sideline raised his board.

Mike Dean indicated two minutes of stoppage time.

“What is this? The added time is way too short!”

Yang Cheng deliberately complained loudly when Mike Dean looked his way.

But Mike Dean just smiled and shook his head at him.

…90!

The Manchester United fans began to get excited.

Only two minutes left!

Many players were already exhausted.

The Bayswater Chinese players started to get a bit anxious.

Time was running out.

Yang Cheng shouted from the sidelines again, signaling for them to stay calm.

On one occasion, Arshavin received the ball, managed to shake off Carrick’s challenge, and drove forward, but was quickly harassed by Richardson, who came over to help defend.

The Russian played a pass with his left foot, which looked like it was intended to go behind the defense between Vidić and Silvestre.

But the pass was wayward, too close to Silvestre.

This was the result of Richardson’s interference!

But just as the Manchester United fans were about to applaud, celebrating another successful defensive stand against Bayswater Chinese, Silvestre didn’t clear the ball immediately. Instead, he tried to control it.

Yes, the French defender took a touch!

Perhaps he just wanted to control it before clearing; or perhaps he wasn’t confident in clearing it first time with a big kick…

But whatever the reason, he chose to take a touch.

And then, the ball slipped slightly out of his control.

His technique was actually quite good, and he was decent at passing; he had even managed two assists in one game against Chelsea before.

But Arshavin’s pass was meant to be a through ball, so it had a lot of pace on it.

Silvestre hadn’t anticipated it, and his first touch was a bit heavy.

When the French defender realized this, he immediately tried to chase it down and clear it, but a figure flashed before his eyes.

Then, he went into a tackle with that player.

Silvestre didn’t put much force into the challenge, surrounded as he was by Bayswater Chinese players.

As a result, both Silvestre and his opponent stumbled, but the ball slid behind Silvestre.

The French defender’s heart sank into an icy pit, and he immediately tried to turn.

But Walcott, in his white jersey, was faster, more explosive. With a sudden stride, he instantly shook off Silvestre, and with another burst of acceleration, he even overtook Vidić.

Everyone watched in disbelief as the dramatic turn of events unfolded on the pitch.

Even Ferguson rushed to the edge of the technical area, his face a mask of shock.

After knocking the ball into Manchester United’s penalty area with a single touch, Walcott chased after it himself.

Van der Sar reacted quickest, decisively rushing out of his goal to close down Walcott.

The Englishman reached the ball first, and facing the onrushing Van der Sar, he stepped out with his right foot first, feinting and unbalancing the keeper, then flicked the ball to his left with the outside of his left foot.

In martial arts, as in football, there is no defense against pure speed.

As long as you’re fast enough, even the simplest of moves, like a step-over, can be devastatingly effective.

In an instant, Van der Sar dived the wrong way.

Walcott took a step to his left and, before Ferdinand could get a foot in, smashed a powerful shot with his left foot!

In that moment, the English winger was incredibly grateful to Yang Cheng!

Grateful to the Bayswater Chinese coaching staff!

Because for a long time, they had been forcing him to practice with his left foot.

That was why his entire motion was so coherent, so skilled, so fluid.

The moment his left foot struck the ball, Walcott knew it was a goal!

The young English player was so excited he sprinted towards the stands.

His parents and family were sitting there.

He had to run over, he wanted them to see him!

Behind him, Mike Dean’s whistle blew, signaling a valid goal.

Di María was the first to reach Walcott’s side, and the two of them sprinted to the sideline to celebrate together.

More and more Bayswater Chinese players chased after them, all gathering around the two young starlets.

At this moment, the Manchester United fans in the stands were still in shock.

They couldn’t believe the final score would be 3-3!

There was only 1 minute and 23 seconds left!

How could they not hold on for just 83 seconds?

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players were celebrating wildly.

They looked as if they had already won the league title!

But on the sideline, in front of the home team’s dugout, Ferguson was fuming.

To make such a stupid, terrible, basic mistake at the very end!

What happened?

Yang Cheng was completely satisfied!

He let out a long, heavy breath.

He was very happy with a draw in this match!

It wasn’t that he lacked ambition, but this stretch of the season was just too difficult.

If he had gone all out against Manchester United tonight, victory was not guaranteed.

At least, he wasn’t confident!

But in two days, for the home game against West Ham United, Bayswater Chinese would likely struggle.

Adam Crozier was absolutely right.

What Bayswater Chinese lacked most right now were home fans.

As for the title, if they didn’t win this match, there would be other opportunities; the league season was still long.

But if they couldn’t seize the Christmas and New Year’s holidays to retain the sixty or seventy thousand fans they had so painstakingly attracted, when would such an opportunity arise again?

A 3-3 draw away at Manchester United was a result both sides could probably accept.

…

The moment the final whistle blew, Yang Cheng laughed heartily as he watched Ferguson approach.

The two shook hands.

Yang Cheng could feel the unwillingness and anger in Ferguson’s eyes.

Of course, these emotions weren’t entirely directed at him.

Probably, when Ferguson got back to the dressing room, the Manchester United players would once again experience the old gaffer’s exclusive product: the explosive-temper hairdryer treatment.

“By the way, Sir Alex, didn’t you mention a case of good wine? When and where?”

Yang Cheng had gotten the result he wanted and was in an excellent mood.

But it was a different story for Ferguson.

Three points that were firmly in his grasp had suddenly turned into one.

The chance to open up a gap had vanished, and the title race remained tight.

Even more ridiculously, this had happened at Old Trafford.

Didn’t that basically mean Manchester United had lost?

Besides, how could Ferguson not see the mockery in Yang Cheng’s words?

“You want a drink?” Ferguson’s voice was heavy as he looked at Yang Cheng.

“Mhm,” Yang Cheng nodded.

“I’ll send you a case! Take it home and drink it slowly yourself!” Ferguson seethed, grinding his teeth.

Damn it, if you had lost, I’d still be in the mood for a couple of drinks with you.

Now, you old rascal, you steal three points from me and you want me to drink with you?

Go drink piss!

Yang Cheng was about to burst out laughing.

How could he not see that Ferguson was barely suppressing his rage?

He had to admit, the old gaffer still had class.

To be so angry and still offer a case of wine was not easy.

A gentleman!

A true gentleman!

With that thought in his mind, he turned to look at the players coming off the pitch, and Yang Cheng immediately opened his arms like a general welcoming his triumphant soldiers, embracing the players returning from the battlefield.

“My heroes, you were magnificent! I am so proud of you!”

“Oh, God, Theo, that last goal of yours was brilliant! You’ll definitely be on the front page tomorrow!”

“Ángel, you were fantastic today!”

“Andrei, that final pass… was it intentional?”

In the distance, Ferguson, who had just walked back to the home dugout, heard Yang Cheng’s last sentence and stumbled.

What the hell!

Are you trying to take credit for our mistake too?

How could a pass like that be intentional?

Intentional my ass!

At that moment, he felt a strong urge to turn around, walk over, and pick a fight with Yang Cheng.

But considering he was old and probably couldn’t win, he could only忍 it.

No, my blood pressure is rising again!

…

After last season’s adjustment period, the British media had gradually become familiar with some of Yang Cheng’s habits.

For example, whenever he achieved a psychologically expected result in an important match, he would attend the post-match press conference in high spirits.

Conversely, if he didn’t attend, it was either because the match wasn’t important, or his result wasn’t very good.

There was nothing they could do; even the uncrowned kings of the press had to accommodate him.

Who was he to argue? He wasn’t a real head coach, after all.

And after the battle at Old Trafford, Yang Cheng appeared at the post-match press conference with a reserved smile.

Before he even began to answer the reporters’ questions, Yang Cheng spoke first.

“I’d like to thank Sir Alex Ferguson for the red wine!”

His tone was perfect for a livestream on some social media app.

“I heard from the staff at Old Trafford that the case of red wine was specially brought by Sir Alex from his personal wine cellar. It makes me feel the deep care an elder has for a younger colleague.”

“I believe Sir Alex will continue to take care of us in the remaining league matches this season.”

“Thank you very much!”

Everyone in the room was a little stunned.

Ferguson gave him wine?

But after a moment’s thought, they all began to sense a different meaning.

Was he really talking about wine?

Regarding the match, Yang Cheng’s summary was, “Perhaps we didn’t perform as well as we or the outside world expected, but I’m very happy that we got the result we wanted.”

The subtext was clear: we are very satisfied with drawing away at Manchester United!

As for the match itself, Yang Cheng felt that both teams performed more or less equally.

“In the game, Manchester United had a period where they dominated, and so did we. Overall, a draw is a fair result.”

Yang Cheng also didn’t hesitate to praise Old Trafford.

“A perfect atmosphere!”

“This must be one of the best away atmospheres we’ve experienced this season. I’d rank it third.”

“The top two? Stamford Bridge and the Bernabéu.”

Yang Cheng’s answer nearly made all the media reporters in the room fall over laughing.

So that was his rating criteria.

With the match ending in a draw, the gap with Manchester United remained the same.

As for the upcoming title race, Yang Cheng expressed great confidence.

How so, specifically?

“I think we first need to focus on solving the various problems we’ve exposed.”

“For example, in this match, we did encounter many difficulties, but we also revealed quite a few of our own issues.”

“As we solve these problems, our strength will continue to grow.”

“For this match, what I’m most satisfied with is seeing a spirit in the players of fighting until the very last second. I was infected by their fighting spirit, and I feel proud of them.”

“Any regrets from the match?”

“Indeed, we missed a few chances. We could have won.”

“Solskjær’s goal was offside, absolutely!”

Who was the most impressive player from the Manchester United team?

Yang Cheng mentioned C. Ronaldo.

“In my opinion, he is a magical player, but I don’t agree with many who say he has transformed this season.”

“In fact, he was already performing exceptionally well last season, but I believe that Manchester United, on a tactical level, have not yet fully unlocked his role and abilities.”

“His performance, his quality, even now, is still vastly underestimated.”

And what about the young starlet from Bayswater Chinese, Theo Walcott?

“If I were to evaluate him, I would hope he learns from C. Ronaldo, or Henry. That would be good too.”

“At this stage, Walcott is still a very young player. He needs more time to grow and improve.”

“Especially for a player of his type, we have always been very cautious.”

“We all know that speed-based players are often plagued by injuries, and a very important reason is that when they are young, especially before they have undergone proper muscle-strengthening training, they play too many games. This can plant hidden dangers.”

Ronaldo, Robben, Owen…

Almost all speed-based players faced such problems.

A very important reason was that they did not receive scientific, systematic protection when they were young.

Once they started performing well, the clubs would use them to death.

Team doctor David Fevre had mentioned to Yang Cheng before that injuries like muscle strains, hamstring pulls, or knee problems were often caused by excessive fatigue during their youth.

At a young age, it might not seem like much, and recovery is fast, but it actually sows the seeds of future trouble.

No one knows when this hidden danger will erupt.

The scariest part is that it can slowly turn into a chronic condition that haunts the player forever.

Not just for their entire career, but for their entire life.

Yaya Touré could have actually played in the game at Old Trafford.

But Yang Cheng ultimately chose not to.

As Yang Cheng told Yaya Touré when he explained his decision:

“At Bayswater Chinese, you are not just a player, an asset, but a living, breathing person!”

“You chose Bayswater Chinese, so we have a responsibility to you!”

…

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

The day after the match, Bayswater Chinese’s 3-3 away draw with Manchester United became the headline story for media across the UK, and even across Europe.

It even graced the front pages of many British newspapers.

Yang Cheng’s team selection and tactics in the match, as well as his tactical battle with Ferguson, showed everyone Yang Cheng’s coaching prowess.

Bayswater Chinese also demonstrated in the match that their strength was on par with Manchester United’s.

C. Ronaldo was the best player on the pitch, earning the man of the match award.

It was well-deserved.

But Bayswater Chinese’s two young starlets also received a flood of praise after the match.

Di María’s technique and speed on the counter-attack left a very deep impression.

The characteristic traits of a small, quick, and agile South American forward made Di María stand out in the Premier League, and his style of play was unique.

After all, very few South American players, especially attacking wingers, had succeeded in the Premier League.

But the player the British media focused on the most was still Walcott.

His crucial, last-minute equalizing goal made the little tiger the center of media attention after the match.

This was not the first time Walcott had stunned everyone.

But this time, he had scored against Manchester United.

That carried a special significance.

Many English media outlets began comparing him to his predecessor, Owen, believing both rose to fame as teenagers and were players known for their speed.

But from the look of the game, Walcott, under the influence of Bayswater Chinese, had noticeably better technical skills on the ball than Owen, and even better than the version of himself from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

This led everyone to have high hopes for Walcott, believing he would be a future leader of English football.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were drawing 3-3 away with Manchester United, Chelsea were hosting Fulham at home.

With two consecutive home games, both against their West London arch-rivals, The Blues’ performance also drew a lot of media attention.

But perhaps still affected by the 0-5 drubbing in the previous round, Chelsea actually conceded first at home again.

Although they later scored two to take the lead, Fulham equalized just before the end of the match.

It ended in a 2-2 draw.

Two consecutive matches without a win, and this round against a mid-to-lower table Fulham, they couldn’t even secure a victory at home. This was clearly unsatisfactory.

What was even more surprising was that Shevchenko was a substitute this round.

Players like Drogba, Carvalho, Ferreira, Essien, and Makélélé all played the full match.

This made many people worry.

In two days, how would they play in their away match against Aston Villa?

Another team that disappointed was Arsenal.

The Gunners had won 2-1 away at Watford in the previous round.

But this round they were away again, and lost 0-1 to relegation team Sheffield United.

Liverpool, meanwhile, secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

As a result, after 21 rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United were top of the League table with 17 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, totaling 53 points.

Bayswater Chinese were in second place with 16 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 52 points.

The two teams were neck and neck. The fact that Manchester United couldn’t crack the tough nut of Bayswater Chinese at Old Trafford made people hold high expectations for the West London team.

The suspense of the title race continued.

Due to their heavy defeat to Bayswater Chinese and another draw this round, Chelsea, after dropping points consecutively, now had only 44 points, trailing the top two teams by 9 and 8 points respectively.

The media generally believed that The Blues had already lost hope of challenging for the title.

This once again confirmed the widespread view.

The Christmas schedule plays a crucial role in determining the ownership of the title.

Bolton, in fourth place, had 39 points.

They were another surprising team this season.

Liverpool were fifth with 35 points, Arsenal sixth with 33, and Portsmouth seventh with 32.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal had been disappointing this season and were gradually falling behind the top three.

Bolton’s current ranking was good, but whether they could maintain it was the key.

Because of this, rumors had been circulating that both Liverpool and Arsenal would strengthen their squads when the winter transfer window opened.

Due to the special circumstances of the winter transfer window, Premier League teams generally turned their attention to domestic players.

For example, players like Everton’s midfielder Joey Barton, West Ham United’s midfielders Rio-Coker and Javier Mascherano, and Manchester City’s Micah Richards were all attracting attention from many clubs.

Chelsea, for instance, were targeting Micah Richards.

But Manchester City’s asking price was as high as twenty million pound sterling.

This was indeed a bit outrageous.

Mourinho publicly commented on the matter in the media, stating that if the asking price was too ridiculous, he would consider finishing the season with his current squad.

But there were also reports that Mourinho wanted to include Shaun Wright-Phillips in a deal for Micah Richards.

There was no further news on how the negotiations were progressing.

There were also many transfer rumors related to Bayswater Chinese.

For example, Arsenal’s Wenger was very interested in left wingers Di María and Gareth Bale.

The Gunners’ head coach believed the two players’ positions at Bayswater Chinese overlapped, and he wanted to buy one of them.

Benítez, on the other hand, hoped to strengthen his defense.

He was very interested in Bayswater Chinese’s defender, Škrtel.

But the first player Liverpool inquired about was Pepe. Adam Crozier didn’t even bother to look at the offer, let alone reply.

In addition, midfielder Gökhan İnler was also beginning to make a name for himself, attracting interest from several clubs.

After all, the Swiss midfielder was a box-to-box player, not only a skilled passer but also possessing a formidable long shot.

As Bayswater Chinese’s performance continued to improve, it was inevitable that their players would attract more attention from other clubs.

For established stars like Arshavin, ordinary clubs wouldn’t even dream of trying to sign them. But for some of the team’s well-performing rotational or substitute players, many clubs were interested.

Yang Cheng had instructed Adam Crozier to reject all offers for players.

Bayswater Chinese did not want to buy or sell in the transfer market.

Yang Cheng’s meaning was very clear: the team’s top priority right now was to concentrate all their efforts on competing with Manchester United for the league title.

Selling players at this time would be tantamount to weakening the team’s competitiveness.

Yang Cheng had already communicated with the players before Christmas.

Adam Crozier had also contacted the players’ agents and arranged to talk in detail after the holidays.

Therefore, the atmosphere within Bayswater Chinese was very good. The players were generally settled, and everyone was looking forward to winning a Premier League title with the team this season!

This would not only be an honor for Bayswater Chinese, but for all the players as well!

…

While the media and fans were fervently following the European winter transfer window, especially speculating which powerhouse could snatch Beckham from Real Madrid, Yang Cheng was focused on preparing his team.

He certainly wouldn’t spoil it for anyone by revealing that Beckham had probably already been in contact with LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

If that got out, who would believe it?

A superstar in his prime and still in great form, choosing to go to the MLS for retirement?

Later on, Beckham’s repeated attempts to return to Europe on loan showed that he must have regretted that choice.

But that was from a career perspective.

If viewed from a life-planning perspective, Beckham’s choice wasn’t wrong.

Didn’t he later become an owner in the MLS?

Yang Cheng shut out the external noise and focused on the Premier League’s 22nd round on New Year’s Day.

After 21 matches, West Ham United were 18th in the Premier League. Both their results and ranking were unsatisfactory.

Although West Ham had signed the two stars Tevez and Mascherano from agent Kia Joorabchian last summer, both had performed poorly overall.

Mascherano had very little playing time and was simply not trusted by Alan Pardew.

Tevez had become a starter, but had yet to score a single goal or provide an assist, and his performance was also disappointing.

Alan Pardew was sacked after a 4-0 away loss to Bolton in the 17th round.

The new head coach was Curbishley, who had managed Charlton Athletic for over a decade.

After taking over, Curbishley first lost at home to Manchester United, then drew 0-0 with Fulham.

Entering the Christmas period, his team first lost 1-2 at home to Portsmouth, then lost 0-1 at home to Manchester City.

It could be said that West Ham United’s situation this season was already dire.

This was clearly not a problem of the team’s quality, but a man-made disaster.

Yang Cheng had no interest in getting involved in West Ham’s internal problems.

He was more concerned with how to secure a victory against West Ham at home.

Not just to win, but to win beautifully, to conquer the fans in the stadium!

That’s why he had specifically rotated some players in the match against Manchester United, to save energy for dealing with West Ham at home.

But West Ham’s head coach, Curbishley, seemed not to have sensed the impending crisis.

The Hammers’ new boss was still encouraging his players in the media, saying that West Ham was still playing in London and had a chance to ambush the physically and mentally exhausted Bayswater Chinese at Wembley Stadium.

Or perhaps, he had sensed it, but there was nothing he could do.

Chapter 114: A Frenzied Massacre! Jonathan, You’ve Been Getting a Little Out of Line Lately!

On the afternoon of January 1st, at Wembley Stadium.

When Hatem walked out of the Wembley Park tube station with his wife and two children, he was greeted by a sea of people.

His eldest daughter, Kaya, grew excited.

“There are so many people, Mommy and Daddy.”

Children just love a bustling atmosphere.

Hatem and his wife exchanged a smile.

Looking at the teeming, diverse crowd around them, they felt a sense of belonging.

Each parent holding a child’s hand, they merged into the swelling tide of people and walked north toward Wembley Stadium.

In England, just hearing their names, people could guess that they were immigrants from North Africa.

The couple had come to England for university and stayed on to complete their doctorates.

They both worked in middle management at a multinational corporation in London, and their family lived in Notting Hill, in West London.

The very same place where the bookstore from the movie Notting Hill was located.

Their home was very close to the bookstore and the famous Portobello Road Market.

Hatem had loved playing football since he was a child and was a big fan.

He and his wife had met at a university football match.

While dating, their most common activity was going to watch football matches. They watched Chelsea, Arsenal, England, and even lower-league teams like Queens Park Rangers.

It was just like going to the movies for them.

After getting married and having children, they settled down in Notting Hill, but their time for watching matches dwindled.

It wasn’t until this year, when the two children were a bit older and could be taken out, that they started planning to take them to a game.

Their first football match of the Christmas period was at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.

It was the Boxing Day game.

The family of four sat in the East Stand of Stamford Bridge and witnessed Bayswater Chinese thrash Chelsea 5-0. The shock of it left a lasting impression.

Unlike the fury of some die-hard Chelsea fans, what they felt was mostly astonishment.

Astonishment at the powerful, incisive, attacking football of Bayswater Chinese.

And, of course, at Andrei Arshavin.

On the 30th, they went to Stamford Bridge again.

This time, Chelsea drew 2-2 with Fulham.

The match was truly dull, and the children didn’t enjoy it much.

So, what to watch for the third game?

The children didn’t want to see Chelsea again; they never seemed to win, which was no fun.

Arsenal against Charlton Athletic?

They should be able to win that one.

Or Fulham against Watford?

Or perhaps, Bayswater Chinese against West Ham United?

When his wife suggested to the children, “How about we go see that really amazing player, the one who scored four goals in one game?”

And while they were at it, why not check out the legendary super-stadium, Wembley, which was rumored to have cost nearly 800 million pound sterling to build?

The children instantly cheered and clapped their hands in delight.

People living in Notting Hill were no strangers to Bayswater Chinese.

Just like Hatem’s family.

Their home was only a one-kilometer walk from Bayswater Stadium.

Recently, the community had been notified that Bayswater Stadium was going to be redeveloped, which might affect the travel of residents near Notting Hill. The club hoped for their understanding and support.

Bayswater Chinese had even sent people into the community to do outreach.

The London City Government had decided to renovate Queensway, believing the decision would be of great benefit to all residents north of Hyde Park.

Why?

When anyone mentioned Notting Hill, they would think of the Hollywood movie, of the carnival at the end of August, of the colorful candy-hued houses, and of that charming, artsy vibe.

Hatem’s wife had chosen to settle in Notting Hill for this very reason.

But after moving in, the local residents and merchants felt a bit of a disconnect.

If London’s image was one of classic elegance, then Notting Hill seemed a bit showy and gaudy.

Many years ago, this area was a residential district for immigrants.

Many native Brits weren’t particularly fond of it. In their eyes, it had a bohemian, street-market vibe, full of cheap goods.

This was a stereotype, a prejudice.

So, apart from the carnival at the end of August, Notting Hill was only slightly lively during the weekend market.

On weekdays, there weren’t many tourists.

More importantly, the half-kilometer-long Portobello Road was packed with over a thousand shops.

As a result, most of the time, there were more locals than tourists.

The London City Government had commissioned a third-party agency to conduct a study, which concluded that the core reason was the lack of sufficient attractions for tourists in the entire area north of Hyde Park.

Simply put, there was no way to draw the densest flow of tourists from near Knightsbridge to the northern side of Hyde Park.

Thus, they believed that the new stadium for Bayswater Chinese, along with the renovation of the entire Queensway, would completely change this situation, attracting tourists from the south of Hyde Park to the north.

Hatem was also happy to see his property value increase.

So, like most of his Notting Hill neighbors, he signed “agree” on the survey form.

He heard that the resident survey for Bayswater Chinese had already passed.

Just this past Christmas, Bayswater Chinese had even arranged for staff to visit the community, giving gifts to the elderly living alone, as well as to kindergartens and primary schools. They also visited the children’s hospital to see the young patients who were hospitalized over Christmas.

This left a very good impression on the residents around Notting Hill.

It was for this reason that Hatem’s family took the tube to Wembley Stadium.

…

Hatem bought a family package ticket for two adults and two children. The children’s tickets were discounted, and they even came with souvenirs.

Following the signs for their ticket section, they entered Wembley Stadium.

The entire experience on the way in was stunning.

The stadium was truly massive and magnificent!

No wonder it cost 780 million pound sterling.

“It must cost Bayswater Chinese a lot of money to rent this place for matches, right?” his wife said in disbelief.

Hatem nodded. “Definitely. With a stadium this big and so many people providing services and working, how much must one game cost?”

Even the number of police officers on duty outside was far greater than at Stamford Bridge.

From the concourse, they entered the stands and easily found their seats following the signs.

They had bought tickets in the second tier on the side of the pitch. They were more expensive, but the view was excellent.

Since it was still early, they took a special trip to the shopping area behind the stands to browse.

To their surprise, there was a supermarket, a bar, and even stalls making hot food.

Perhaps because it was the family section, there was even a dedicated children’s play area behind the stands.

“This is really nice,” his wife said, happy to see her two children playing joyfully.

Hatem nodded repeatedly. “It’s nothing like other stadiums.”

Hatem hadn’t been to see what Arsenal’s new stadium was like, but other grounds like Stamford Bridge and Highbury mostly lacked these amenities.

The children played for a while in the entertainment area with many others their age.

When it was almost time, the family went to buy more snacks and drinks to keep the two little ones settled during the match.

The tickets included some basic food and drink, but it wasn’t enough.

When the family of four returned to the stands, they found that the seats around them were already full.

“There are so many people here!” their elder daughter Kaya exclaimed excitedly.

Hatem was also a little surprised.

Hadn’t the news been saying that Bayswater Chinese’s attendance at Wembley was terrible?

It didn’t look that way.

Oh, right. If you looked closely, there were still quite a few empty seats.

But for a 90,000-seat stadium, having this many people was already very impressive.

Especially for a team that had just been promoted from the lower leagues.

When Hatem led his children to their seats, he noticed many other families like theirs, out to watch the game together.

Coincidentally, a few of the children were the same ones they had just played with in the play area, and a lively atmosphere immediately formed.

The adults also chatted casually for a bit.

They discovered that most people were also here watching a game for the first time.

“Although it’s my first time, my next-door neighbors come to every single match.”

“Where from?”

“Hounslow.”

“Isn’t there a pretty famous club over there called…”

“Brentford.”

“Right, they’re in Hounslow. Why come all the way to Wembley?”

“Because it’s exciting! My neighbor used to be a Brentford fan, but then I think he heard a song online, watched a promotional video, and came to Wembley to see a game. He even recommended we come too.”

“Are their home games that good?”

“Extremely. Three and a half years, from League Two until now, they haven’t lost a single home game!”

“For real?”

“That’s seriously impressive.”

“Yeah, I mean, even though watching football is about enjoying the process and you don’t always have to win, winning is definitely better.”

“Exactly. We mainly came here because the other stadiums were full. If it’s really good, I’ll buy season tickets later and come here for all the games.”

“The tube is very convenient, the stadium is huge and spacious, and the atmosphere seems great.”

“My neighbor also said a singer is coming to perform later, and we have to listen.”

“Why? Is she famous?”

“I read a report about her. Adele. Not very famous, but I heard her voice can pierce the soul.”

“Damn it, is she really that good?”

“Here she comes, here she comes! Look, it’s that one in the black dress, the chubby one. That’s Adele.”

Just then, the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium erupted in fervent applause and cheers.

Many were even chanting Adele’s name.

Adele had been performing at Bayswater Chinese for a year and had long since become familiar with the fans.

“Hello, my dear Bayswater Chinese fans, good afternoon!”

The atmosphere in the stadium was steadily building.

When Adele began to sing, her unique and captivating voice truly seemed to resonate deep within everyone’s soul, its power was immense.

Since Adele’s album was still in preparation, she usually chose to sing well-known songs that everyone was familiar with.

Of course, the copyright issues had been sorted out.

This led many fans at the stadium to spontaneously sing along.

Especially when she began to sing “Dream It Possible.” When she reached the chorus, all the fans in the stadium joined in for a massive sing-along.

The power of their voices, the atmosphere—it was absolutely explosive!

It gave almost everyone in the stadium a thrilling sensation, goosebumps rising on their skin.

After Adele finished her last song and left the stage, the football match was about to begin.

At this point, the stadium announcer began to introduce the starting lineups and players for both teams.

Curbishley was a well-regarded English manager, quite famous in London after having managed Charlton Athletic for over a decade.

But for this match, he still opted for a conventional 4-4-2 formation.

However, the team’s most famous players, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, were not playing.

Midfielder Reo-Coker, who had been linked with many clubs during the winter transfer window, was in the starting lineup.

When the announcer introduced West Ham United’s players, the crowd’s reaction was muted, with even a few boos.

After all, they were the away team!

When the Bayswater Chinese players came out, a thunderous cheer erupted from the stands.

Especially as the announcer introduced each player’s name—he would call one out, and the fans would roar. The atmosphere was incredibly fiery!

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Pepe, Škrtel, and Piszczek;

Midfield: The young Matić in a holding role, with Inler and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Lambert, and Arshavin.

When Arshavin’s name was called, countless fans in the stadium chanted along with it.

The Russian excitedly waved to the fans in the stands.

“We see that on the bench, Yaya Touré, who has been out for a long time, is also present!”

Another wave of cheers swept through the stadium.

This was Yaya Touré’s first time back in the squad after being sidelined with an injury for a month and a half.

“We also see the young star from Wales, our very own Gareth Bale!”

And again, another cheer.

“And let’s not forget our young London prodigy from Stanmore, Theo Walcott!”

The atmosphere in the stadium was instantly pushed to a new peak.

…

Yang Cheng had just gone over to the away team’s dugout to shake hands and exchange greetings with Curbishley. As he returned to the home dugout, he heard the fans cheering Walcott’s name.

He wasn’t surprised.

Walcott’s hometown of Stanmore was in the northwest suburbs of London, only six or seven kilometers from Wembley Stadium and about five kilometers from the Brent training ground.

Local players from London often ignited the passion of the home fans most easily.

Even if he was just sitting on the bench.

This was, in fact, the importance of homegrown players.

They made the local fans feel a closer connection.

For this match, Bayswater Chinese did not field all of its primary starters, but most of those who could play were on the pitch.

In the dressing room moments ago, Yang Cheng had only one request for his players.

Give it their all and deliver a belated Christmas gift to the nearly 70,000 fans who had come to the stadium!

Yes, Wembley Stadium had drawn nearly 70,000 fans tonight.

For teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, or even Chelsea, this might not be much.

But for Bayswater Chinese, it was undoubtedly a day to remember.

Of course, everyone knew in their hearts that this was just a one-off surge.

The Christmas holiday, the new Wembley Stadium, and the recent news generated by the team’s title push had caused many fans from the London area to pay attention to Bayswater Chinese.

How to retain more of these fans and get them to keep coming back to this stadium in the future—that would depend on what Bayswater Chinese could do.

In terms of stadium atmosphere, Adam Crozier had also done a great job.

The mood in the stadium was truly fantastic.

But the most important thing was the football on the pitch!

…

As soon as the match started, Bayswater Chinese launched a lightning attack.

The moment the whistle blew, the tempo of the game was cranked to the maximum.

West Ham United knew Bayswater Chinese’s plan, so they were cautious from the start, focusing on defending and counter-attacking.

Bayswater Chinese, however, besieged West Ham United with a barrage of attacks.

The fans in the stadium watched with great excitement.

It was like a boxing match where one fighter immediately pounced on the other, relentlessly throwing punches, instantly stirring up everyone’s blood and passion.

Combined with the pre-match warm-up, the entire stadium’s atmosphere was set ablaze.

To counter-attack, you first have to be able to defend.

West Ham United, whether in terms of their performance this season or their players’ morale, was clearly lacking.

In the 12th minute, left-back Leighton Baines pushed forward on an attack and delivered a 45-degree cross, precisely finding Lambert near the penalty spot in the box.

The English centre-forward towered over Christian Dailly and Anton Ferdinand, heading the ball home to break through the goal guarded by Robert Green.

1-0!

The moment the goal was scored, the atmosphere in the stadium exploded.

They were both Ferdinands, but Anton Ferdinand was much weaker than his older brother.

After the goal, Bayswater Chinese played even more aggressively, while West Ham United was forced into a continuous retreat.

Just two minutes later, following a pass from Inler, Ashley Young cut inside from the left past a defender and curled a right-footed shot into the far corner, once again breaching West Ham United’s goal.

2-0!

Everyone in the stadium was stunned!

Could football be played like this?

Incredible!

Less than 15 minutes into the game, and they had already scored two goals?

Bayswater Chinese was shockingly fierce!

Two quick goals completely ignited the atmosphere, getting the fans fired up.

Afterward, the home team continued to launch a wave of attacks.

The players’ skilled passing and movement, and the eye-catching individual performances on the pitch, left an incredibly deep impression on the fans.

Even in the current Premier League, teams that played with technical skill were extremely rare.

Arsenal was one, but their results weren’t great.

Bayswater Chinese was now considered the leading team of the technical, passing style in the Premier League, and they played attacking football.

In the 30th minute, Arshavin made a breakthrough in the attacking third and took a shot, which was blocked by a defender out for a corner kick.

Leighton Baines took the corner, and Škrtel scored with a header. 3-0!

In the 36th minute, Modrić delivered a deadly through ball. Lambert broke into the box, used his body to shield the centre-back, and fired a shot into the net, extending the lead once again.

4-0!

…

Yang Cheng himself was stunned watching from the sidelines.

He really hadn’t expected West Ham United to be this weak.

It didn’t make sense!

“They’ve fallen into the relegation zone, their form is so poor, they’re on a losing streak, and it’s the packed Christmas schedule…”

Brian Kidd also sighed with emotion.

Last season, West Ham United finished 10th in the Premier League. Among the newly promoted teams, their performance was second only to Bayswater Chinese.

This summer, they signed Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, which made them seem even stronger.

But who could have predicted this?

“Actually, West Ham brought this upon themselves. The management is the biggest problem!”

Yang Cheng felt that West Ham United’s experience should serve as a warning to all newly promoted teams.

An established club, an experienced head coach, and a very good first season after promotion to the Premier League.

And then what?

They got a little money and wanted to upgrade their equipment.

This was normal.

Yang Cheng was doing the same thing, continuing to improve the team’s strength and competitiveness.

From the record-breaking seven million pound sterling signing of striker Dean Ashton in January 2006 to the astonishing transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano this summer, this was just the tip of the iceberg of West Ham United’s transfer dealings.

They signed centre-back Matthew Upson from Birmingham City for eight million pound sterling and left midfielder Luís Boa Morte from Fulham for 4.5 million pound sterling.

Add to that goalkeeper Robert Green, Carlton Cole, centre-back Lucas Neill, Lee Bowyer…

West Ham United had virtually overhauled their entire squad, from top to bottom, in a single summer.

Officially, they had invested at least fifty million pound sterling in 2006, cleansing the entire lineup.

Weren’t they just digging their own grave?

Did they really think finishing 10th in the league last season was so remarkable?

This season, apart from a 1-0 home win against Arsenal and a 3-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in the opening round, which were somewhat bright spots, they had mostly been losing game after game.

As for why they did it, there were many rumors circulating.

Some said it was to facilitate a takeover, an attempt to gamble on something big.

That’s why the ownership of players like Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano has still not been clearly explained.

At the end of November, West Ham United was acquired by Icelandic tycoon Magnússon and banker Guðmundsson for 85 million pound sterling.

Not long after the takeover, Alan Pardew was sacked following a 0-4 loss to Bolton.

Curbishley took over soon after, but there has been no significant improvement.

But no matter what, West Ham United’s season was definitely ruined.

Whether they could avoid relegation was still up in the air.

…

During the halftime break, seeing that the result was all but decided, Yang Cheng began to make some substitutions.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were brought on.

Yang Cheng also made a point to praise Matić.

This was his first start for Bayswater Chinese, and Yang Cheng felt he had performed well.

Younger players like him needed their teammates to guide them, to help them slowly get accustomed to and integrate into the team. Once they found their place, their rate of improvement would be very fast.

Arshavin had scored a four-goal haul against Chelsea.

But it seemed his passion for the game had been completely spent in that match.

In the following two games, he didn’t seem particularly excited.

Of course, it might also be related to the fixture schedule.

So Yang Cheng planned to give him more rest.

If necessary, he even considered giving Arshavin a holiday, letting him take his family out for a few days to properly recharge.

For West Ham United’s players, the second half was just a long wait for the final whistle.

But for the freshly substituted Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, their match was just beginning.

The two youngsters were incredibly energetic after coming on.

Bayswater Chinese, playing with wild abandon, still wanted to score more.

The fans in the stadium were also eagerly anticipating more goals from the home team.

The more, the better!

And in the 53rd minute, a through ball from midfielder Inler caused chaos in the penalty area.

West Ham’s defender Dailly failed to clear the ball far enough, and it fell to the edge of the penalty arc.

Modrić made an overlapping run, chested the ball down, took it into the box, and shot again.

The ball flew straight into the right side of West Ham United’s goal.

5-0!

At this point in the match, there was no suspense left at all.

The fans in the stands were completely captivated.

In the 65th minute, Yang Cheng made his final substitution early.

He brought on Yaya Touré for midfielder Modrić.

This was the Ivorian midfielder’s return to the pitch after a month and a half out with an injury.

The fans gave him a warm round of applause.

And unexpectedly, in the 73rd minute, he unleashed a long shot from outside the box that pierced West Ham United’s goal, extending the score to 6-0!

Bayswater Chinese continued its fierce assault.

After Yaya Touré came on, Matić remained in the holding midfield position.

As Bayswater Chinese had dominated the entire match, Matić hadn’t faced many challenges defensively.

In terms of orchestrating the midfield, however, Matić’s skill was evident.

His excellent technique on the ball, his steady passing ability, and his past experience as an attacking midfielder allowed him to organize the midfield with great composure.

But it was difficult to shine in his position.

Moreover, this was his first time playing in the Premier League, so he was naturally more cautious, sticking strictly to the tasks Yang Cheng had given him, afraid to make the slightest mistake.

“The lad is very conscientious,” Brian Kidd said with a smile.

“He still needs to appropriately strengthen his defense and some physical tackling techniques,” Yang Cheng pointed out some of Matić’s issues, which were common among young players.

Matić was only eighteen years old, still far from the age to bulk up.

But the development of his defensive skills and awareness could basically begin now.

“You were right to play him in the Number 4 role. It maximizes his strengths.”

Brian Kidd’s admiration for Yang Cheng’s eye for talent was growing.

Just like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, and Ángel Di María, who had impressed in the last round at Old Trafford, all of them had performed exceptionally well.

“Later, you arrange it. For the FA Cup on the weekend, let Gareth Bale, Walcott, Matić, and Matuidi all play. Oh, and Robert Lewandowski too.”

Playing in the FA Cup over the weekend was a precious opportunity for the main players to rest.

It was a common strategy for big clubs to let their young players take the field.

Bayswater Chinese’s current squad depth couldn’t sustain fighting on multiple fronts continuously.

Letting the youngsters play was a good idea.

The first team regulars could focus on the upcoming Premier League and Champions League matches.

“Okay,” Brian Kidd agreed.

Yang Cheng let out a deep breath.

After surviving the Christmas schedule, everyone else could take a breather, but he couldn’t.

Because he needed to meet with those damned agents.

Some people had certainly been getting a little bold lately.

…

Even with a 6-0 lead, Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters showed no signs of letting up.

They frequently launched attacks, threatening West Ham United’s goal.

The Hammers had truly been hammered this time.

In the 88th minute of the second half, Walcott was driving with the ball towards West Ham’s penalty area when he was decisively fouled by Reo-Coker just outside, earning the home team a free kick in the attacking third.

The position was excellent.

Slightly to the right of the arc, about 23 meters from the goal.

With Ashley Young substituted off, Leighton Baines was the designated free-kick taker, but surprisingly, the young Gareth Bale stepped up and asked to take it.

And he looked incredibly confident.

Yang Cheng had no problem with it, of course.

They were already leading by a huge margin.

The young Welshman placed the ball, took his steps back, and after finding his position, regulated his breathing.

The wall was set up in the box.

With a blow of the referee’s whistle, Gareth Bale took a quick run-up and struck a curling shot with his left foot.

The arc of the free kick was a little high, but the ball was fast, flying directly into the upper right section of the goal.

West Ham’s goalkeeper, Robert Green, didn’t even react.

7-0!

No one in the stadium could believe it.

It was a beautifully taken direct free kick!

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed over to celebrate with Bale.

The young Welshman excitedly roared towards the stands and the broadcast cameras.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were not surprised.

Gareth Bale had been diligently practicing his free kicks, and the kid truly had a high aptitude for them.

“Looks like you’ll have more to worry about,” Brian Kidd laughed.

After scoring that free kick, Gareth Bale would surely become famous.

The pressure Yang Cheng would face from agents would also increase.

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately routed West Ham United 7-0 at home!

After the match at Wembley Stadium ended, this news quickly ignited the entire English football world.

Everyone was shocked by the result.

The Christmas schedule, three games in a few days, and in the very last one, they could still achieve such a massive victory?

It was simply unbelievable!

But upon closer analysis of this match and the three league games since Christmas, it was easy to see that Yang Cheng had played every card in his hand to perfection.

Every player had fulfilled their role.

The outstanding performances of several young players on the team also gave the outside world a deeper understanding of Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

Although it wasn’t the final two rounds of the Premier League, on January 1st, all the matches started around 16:00, finishing around 18:00.

But not every team had it as easy as Bayswater Chinese.

Liverpool defeated Bolton 3-0 at home.

Arsenal crushed Charlton Athletic 4-0 at home.

But The Gunners were somewhat lucky in this match, as Charlton had a player sent off with a red card in the 29th minute. Before that, the score was 0-0.

The one not having a good time was Chelsea.

Mourinho’s Blues drew 0-0 away at Aston Villa.

Manchester United, in their away match against Newcastle, encountered stubborn resistance.

James Milner scored first for The Magpies.

Just before halftime and at the start of the second half, Scholes scored a brace.

But in the 74th minute, Manchester United conceded again.

Perhaps because they were old rivals, Newcastle’s performance in this match was truly surprising.

The Magpies had suffered numerous injuries recently, but the team’s morale was very high, and they fought desperately in the match.

After the 2-2 draw with Newcastle, some media outlets reported that Ferguson was furious after the match.

He believed the team had lost the initiative in the race for the league title!

After 22 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had overtaken Manchester United to reach the summit.

17 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss, for a total of 55 points.

Manchester United had previously led Bayswater Chinese by one point, but because of this draw, they now trailed by one point, with 54 points.

Further down, Chelsea had managed just two draws and one loss in their last three Premier League matches, earning only two points.

Therefore, they currently had only 45 points.

Arsenal’s record in the last three Christmas fixtures was two wins and one loss, earning them six points.

Their total league points stood at 36, placing them 6th in the Premier League.

Liverpool was 5th with 38 points.

The Reds’ Christmas record was also two wins and one loss.

Bolton, who were already ranked high, had surprisingly weathered the pressure of the Christmas schedule, achieving a record of two wins and one loss, putting them 4th in the Premier League with 39 points.

This made the entire Premier League situation very interesting.

Everyone was speculating that if Bolton could really hold on until the end of the season and secure a top-four finish, it would inevitably further change the landscape of the Premier League.

Thus, throughout the entire Christmas schedule, the team with the best performance was Bayswater Chinese.

Two wins and one draw, securing seven points, and they had even surpassed Manchester United to lead the Premier League table.

This made the outside world more convinced of Bayswater Chinese, the new league leader.

At the very least, their credentials were solid.

…

After finishing the Christmas schedule, the team had no time to relax.

The FA Cup was on the weekend, and the League Cup was next Wednesday.

Yang Cheng planned to have the young players on the team handle these two cup competitions, allowing the main players who had just endured the grueling Christmas schedule to get some well-deserved rest.

It would also allow the coaching staff to re-evaluate the team’s physical conditioning.

Such a grueling schedule took a huge toll on the players.

The day after the match, he received good news from Adam Crozier.

The match against West Ham United had set new club records for both the number of attending fans and matchday retail revenue.

In addition, sales at the fan shop also set a new record.

All sorts of data indicated that Bayswater Chinese was flourishing.

But sometimes, a club’s rapid development doesn’t necessarily align with that of its players.

On the afternoon following the match, Yang Cheng met with agent Jonathan Barnett in his office.

The moment the famous English football agent saw Yang Cheng, he showered him with a torrent of compliments, laying it on thick.

But Yang Cheng had no time for that and got straight to the point.

“Jonathan, you’ve been getting a little bold lately.”

“How is that possible? I’ve always followed your lead. Haven’t we been cooperating very well?”

Jonathan Barnett’s first reaction was denial.

“Then what’s the deal with Ashley Young and Gareth Bale?”

Yang Cheng didn’t even need to elaborate; Jonathan Barnett knew what he was talking about and immediately gave a wry smile.

As Bayswater Chinese’s performance improved, the players on the team were more likely to be scouted.

Take Gareth Bale, for instance.

The Sun, always known for its transfer rumors, revealed that Gareth Bale had attracted the attention of at least eight Premier League clubs.

A homegrown talent, brimming with skill, he was naturally a hot commodity.

Then there was Ashley Young.

After being moved to the left wing by Yang Cheng this season, the homegrown player had performed exceptionally well, also attracting the interest of many clubs.

Unlike with Gareth Bale, the teams interested in Ashley Young were mostly giants, the traditional Big 4!

The problem was this.

Bayswater Chinese was developing rapidly, but no matter how fast, it wasn’t as fast as joining a giant club in a single step.

How did Yang Cheng know Jonathan Barnett was up to something?

Because The Sun had reported that a team was willing to offer Ashley Young a weekly wage of 50,000 pound sterling, three times what he was currently earning at Bayswater Chinese.

And for Gareth Bale, a team was willing to offer a weekly wage of 15,000 pound sterling to poach him.

Yang Cheng realized the problem was a bit serious, which was why he decided to intervene personally.

Adam Crozier couldn’t handle this.

“I’ll be frank with you, Yang,” Jonathan Barnett sighed.

“It’s true that some clubs have contacted me, but I haven’t agreed. However, the players’ families are tempted. That’s normal.”

“Take Gareth Bale, for example. You currently have Di María, Walcott, and Gareth Bale on your team. Who are you focusing on developing? Gareth Bale’s parents are concerned about their child’s future, that’s normal too, right?”

“At a time like this, a team offers a contract with a 15,000 weekly wage. I ask you, Yang, if it were you, wouldn’t you be tempted?”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Continue.”

“The news about Ashley Young has nothing to do with me. You know how persistent reporters can be. But I’ll be honest, with a 50,000 pound sterling weekly wage, even if he trusts me completely, there’s not much I can say.”

Jonathan Barnett was an agent, and a major one at that.

But no matter how big he was, he was responsible for the interests of his clients.

Everyone knew that from a career development perspective, Bayswater Chinese was in an excellent position right now.

But a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

No matter how good the situation was, it would take several years to be on par with the giants.

Right now, there’s an opportunity to join a giant club and earn a higher salary. Do you take it or not?

An agent like Jonathan Barnett could be fired in a minute if he had a falling out with a player.

In the end, it was because the salaries at these giant clubs were just too damn high!

Never mind Bayswater Chinese—Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Everton…

Almost any rationally run club that strictly controlled its wage structure couldn’t withstand their poaching.

Fifty thousand pound sterling was a mid-level income at Manchester United and Chelsea.

But if Bayswater Chinese were to give a raise now, the highest they could go was 40,000. How could they compete?

And Tottenham Hotspur, their highest wage was only 45,000 pound sterling.

Even at a club like Arsenal, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, wasn’t van Persie poached by Manchester United?

For the title?

Was it really just for the title?

Please, what so-called passion for championships?

Even if it existed, it wasn’t that strong!

If he was so desperate for a title, why didn’t he leave earlier?

To put it bluntly, at Arsenal, van Persie’s weekly wage was 75,000 pound sterling. When he went to Manchester United, it shot up to 240,000 pound sterling.

How do you compare?

Earn a higher salary and win some trophies on the side—who wouldn’t know which to choose?

“Just one thing!” Yang Cheng understood the situation and didn’t intend to drag it on.

To obstruct someone’s path to wealth is like killing their parents.

You can’t force things to work out.

“Before the end of this season, I don’t want to hear any more transfer speculation, and I certainly don’t want it affecting the players’ preparation and form. Tell him to get his head in the game and focus. I’ll let him go in the summer!”

Yang Cheng’s words were not just for Jonathan Barnett, but also to be relayed through him to Ashley Young and his family.

The agent’s role was to be the buffer between the club and the player.

If Yang Cheng had to have this conversation face-to-face with Ashley Young, how could they work together afterward?

It would be awkward just seeing each other.

“Understood. I’ll definitely convince him,” Jonathan Barnett nodded in agreement.

With Yang Cheng’s assurance, he could now move freely to arrange Ashley Young’s summer transfer.

When the time came, Bayswater Chinese would get a transfer fee, he as the agent would earn his commission, and Ashley Young would join a giant club with a higher salary. It was a win-win-win situation, happy all around.

“Gareth Bale is staying. I will absolutely not let him go. We’ll renew his contract this summer, a weekly wage of 10,000 pound sterling, but I can give him a higher bonus.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng looked at Jonathan Barnett. “You should know how much I value him, and don’t forget what I told you before!”

“He and Walcott must stay. Not a single one is allowed to leave!”

Jonathan Barnett suddenly remembered.

Back when he had taken Yang Cheng’s advice and gone to Southampton to poach Gareth Bale and Walcott for Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had asked him if he had ever thought about having a player like Rooney in his portfolio.

At the time, Jonathan Barnett thought Yang Cheng was just selling him a dream, but he had enjoyed hearing it.

As time went on and things got busy, he had forgotten about it.

But thinking back now, Yang Cheng must have been talking about Gareth Bale and Walcott.

In fact, the performances of these two young starlets had been quite stunning.

Yang Cheng had developed them very well, and they were showing signs of catching up to the momentum Rooney had at their age.

Jonathan Barnett nodded. “Then Di María…”

“We’ll be competing on multiple fronts in the future. Will just Gareth Bale and Walcott be enough?” Yang Cheng countered.

Just in the past few days, he had spoken with both Gareth Bale and Walcott.

The players seemed fine, with no issues or complaints about the team.

This proved that the rumors flying around weren’t coming from the players.

That meant it was their families.

This was another tricky problem.

Young players were minors, and many decisions were made by their parents.

Gareth Bale’s family was probably just trying to put a little pressure on the club.

Yang Cheng didn’t mind that, as long as it didn’t go any further.

After all, every parent cared about their child’s future.

It was only human nature.

The reason he had signed Di María was partly because the team genuinely needed him.

A South American player like Di María had exceptional individual ability and was almost impossible to stop one-on-one.

This was true not just in the Premier League, but in La Liga as well.

The three of them could form a competitive and cooperative unit, ensuring the strength of Bayswater Chinese on the wings.

As for Ashley Young.

Yang Cheng didn’t really think he was that important.

A right-footed player playing on the left, who wasn’t adept at cutting inside to score and relied more on passing and crossing—this inherently limited Ashley Young’s development prospects.

Di María, on the other hand, had performed well this season, could play on both the left and right wings, and could even play in central midfield. Such a versatile attacker would definitely be a key player to nurture going forward.

This was Argentina’s Executive Vice-King of Football. Was that a joke?

Chapter 115: A Stunning Comeback! The Fierce Title Race

After the match against West Ham United, the cup competitions were next on the schedule.

The 23rd round of the Premier League wouldn’t be until January 13th.

Many of the first-team players had been under immense pressure recently.

The combination of the Premier League, the Champions League, and the packed Christmas schedule had taken a huge toll on their stamina.

So, Yang Cheng made an executive decision to give players like Andrei Arshavin, Luka Modrić, José Fonte, Pepe, Maicon, and Manuel Neuer a holiday. He told them to take their families, especially their girlfriends, and go out of town for a few days.

Yang Cheng granted them a three-day break.

Arshavin was an exception.

Yang Cheng could clearly sense that after his four-goal haul at Stamford Bridge, the Russian seemed to have expended all his passion. In the subsequent matches against Manchester United and West Ham United, he didn’t appear particularly excited.

Therefore, Yang Cheng even told Arshavin to go and enjoy himself on paid leave.

He could come back whenever he felt better!

The others, of course, did not receive such special treatment.

Especially the younger players, for whom the upcoming string of cup matches would be their stage.

But the players didn’t take that much time off either.

Modrić only took a two-day break, saying he took his family around London for some shopping before rejoining the team.

Oh, and he also looked at some houses on the side.

This made Yang Cheng very happy.

Starting to buy a house in London was a sign that he intended to settle down, that he felt a sense of belonging. This was a good thing.

Yang Cheng didn’t have any specific recommendations about the location, only reminding him that the club would definitely be moving the first team’s training facilities to the Brent training ground, so he should plan ahead.

José Fonte, Pepe, and Neuer all took their full three days off before returning to the team to resume training.

Arshavin, however, took a full week off.

When Arshavin returned, his mood had clearly improved, and Yang Cheng knew the break had been effective.

In training, the Russian was noticeably more engaged and active, and he quickly regained his form.

Of course, all this happened later.

…

On January 5th, the team traveled for an away game against Plymouth Argyle.

This was the third round of the FA Cup.

Yang Cheng fielded a lineup consisting entirely of substitutes and young players.

Goalkeeper: Danny Coyne;

Defence: Marcelo, Laurent Koscielny, Martin Škrtel, and Łukasz Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Ángel Di María and Blaise Matuidi in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

In this match, Yang Cheng experimented by playing Di María as a left-sided central midfielder.

On one hand, it was to give him match experience and help him adapt to different positions.

On the other hand, he wanted to see if Di María could adapt to the role.

This arrangement still looked like a 4-3-3, but in reality, Di María’s position was flexible. Matuidi was responsible for mopping up, while Matić handled holding and intercepting.

The two full-backs, Marcelo and Piszczek, were very bold in their forward runs.

Plymouth Argyle were no pushovers.

They were performing well in the Championship, sitting in the upper half of the table, and they were playing at home.

Facing a group of young players, especially with a lineup that was clearly experimental, Plymouth was not going to be polite to the Bayswater Chinese.

From the start, both teams went at it.

As a result, in the 13th minute, Piszczek provided an assist for Lewandowski to score from inside the box.

The young Polish player seized a very good opportunity.

But five minutes later, Plymouth equalized.

The two teams engaged in an end-to-end slugfest.

In the 27th minute, after a beautiful combination on the left flank, Gareth Bale and Di María created a sublime pass.

Di María broke into the penalty area and fired the ball into the net.

2-1!

Plymouth Argyle had finally figured it out.

These so-called young players were not simple at all.

If they continued trading blows like this, Plymouth would surely suffer a miserable defeat.

Remember Ian Holloway?

He was the bald English coach who managed Queens Park Rangers during Yang Cheng’s first two years in charge of the team.

He was fired by Queens Park Rangers in February 2006 and was now managing Plymouth.

The man was all too familiar with Yang Cheng. As soon as he saw things going south, he immediately started to focus on defence.

In the end, the 2-1 scoreline surprisingly held until the final whistle.

Neither team managed to score again.

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with this result.

…

Three days later, in the League Cup quarter-finals, the Bayswater Chinese faced Charlton Athletic away from home.

At that time, the first team regulars had just returned from their break and were undergoing recovery and fitness training.

Yang Cheng had no intention of fielding them in this match.

Thus, the same group of youngsters from the FA Cup match took to the field again.

To be honest, Yang Cheng was mentally prepared for a loss.

But to his surprise, these young lads brought him a huge gift.

Not only did they go toe-to-toe with Charlton Athletic for the entire match, but in the 35th minute, Walcott launched a swift counter-attack, dribbled past two Charlton defenders, and calmly slotted the ball past the keeper in a one-on-one.

1-0!

After that, no matter how hard Charlton Athletic tried, they couldn’t breach the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Even Yang Cheng was surprised. They had advanced!

When he saw the excitement on the players’ faces in the dressing room, he personally fulfilled his pre-match promise: they would play the semi-finals as well.

Back when he was in League Two and the Championship, why did Yang Cheng dare to fight on multiple fronts, to compete in the UEFA Cup while focusing on the league?

Because he was confident in the league!

Moreover, at that time, the Bayswater Chinese desperately needed a trophy to boost morale!

So he went all out in the cup competitions.

But things were different now.

The competition in the Premier League was too fierce, and with Manchester United breathing down their necks, Yang Cheng couldn’t afford to make a single mistake.

He had to give his all in every upcoming Premier League match until the team secured the title!

Of course, if they still couldn’t win the championship after all that, he would have to admit he wasn’t good enough.

They would just have to try again next season!

Ferguson’s thinking was different from Yang Cheng’s.

He had given up on the League Cup early on.

It wasn’t so much giving up as his young players and substitutes not being up to the task.

But he was giving the FA Cup his full attention.

This was in line with the status of the FA Cup.

After defeating Charlton in the League Cup quarter-finals, they advanced to the semi-finals and, as luck would have it, drew Chelsea.

Home first, then away.

The other semi-final was a clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

…

After the League Cup, they returned to the Premier League for the 23rd round.

After more than ten days of adjustment, Mourinho’s team had recovered their form.

More importantly, Shevchenko was not in the starting lineup.

The forward line was a combination of Kalou, Drogba, and Robben, with Lampard and Michael Ballack in midfield, and Makélélé in the holding role.

Essien partnered Carvalho as a centre-back.

As a result, The Blues cleanly dispatched Wigan Athletic 4-0 at home.

This once again proved that the 4-3-3 formation was the most suitable tactic for Mourinho’s team.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 away from home.

Liverpool beat Watford 3-0 away.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

In this round, the Bayswater Chinese played Everton away.

David Moyes had always considered himself a disciple of Ferguson and naturally hoped to thwart a rival for his mentor.

This season, Yang Cheng’s team had been renowned for their lightning attacks.

He never expected that after a lifetime of hunting eagles, he’d be blinded by a goose.

Just over a minute into the game, Everton launched a surprise attack and won a corner kick.

Arteta took the corner, and Lescott headed the ball in at the near post. 1-0!

After taking the lead, Everton launched a furious assault, pressing relentlessly in the opponent’s half.

In the 12th minute, Leighton Baines fouled Arteta, giving Everton a free kick in an advanced position.

The direct free kick struck Lassana Diarra, who was near the wall, and deflected into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Neuer was completely stunned.

He had anticipated the ball’s trajectory, but not a wicked deflection like that.

To be two goals down within the first twelve minutes was absurdity on a whole new level!

Yang Cheng also realized that after the Christmas schedule, the team had been too relaxed over the past ten days or so. The whole squad’s mental state was a bit slack, and their rhythm was slow.

To put it simply, they hadn’t gotten into the game!

There was nothing for it. Yang Cheng had originally wanted to cultivate the persona of a gentlemanly coach, to appear as graceful as possible.

Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to lose his temper and get the players to take it seriously.

The Bayswater Chinese’s performance gradually improved, but Everton retreated and parked the bus.

That Moyes was a cunning one.

A quick blitz at the start, steal a goal, then park the bus.

Shameless!

However, just before halftime, in the 37th minute, the Bayswater Chinese managed to create an opportunity.

Ashley Young delivered a diagonal cross from the left into the box, and Džeko charged into the six-yard box to poke it in. 1-2!

Buoyed by the goal, the Bayswater Chinese pressed on.

In stoppage time of the first half, Arshavin was fouled while dribbling down the right wing, earning a free kick.

Ashley Young took the free kick, and Pepe’s header was deflected out for a corner.

Another corner kick.

Ashley Young took it again, but this time he didn’t send it into the box. Instead, they played a short corner.

Modrić received the ball on the left outside the penalty area and passed it horizontally across the edge of the box.

Leighton Baines made a rapid overlapping run, met Modrić’s pass, and unleashed a ferocious shot, blasting a worldie into the net.

2-2!

The lifelong Toffees fan was fired up to perform at Goodison Park today.

He hadn’t expected to concede a goal from a free kick he gave away, which had left him feeling quite bitter.

Now, he had redeemed himself with a wonder goal.

In the end, the two teams went into the halftime break tied at 2-2.

…

“Everton’s 4-2-3-1 formation is very compact and dense.”

In the away team’s dressing room during halftime, Yang Cheng was discussing the second-half tactics with the players, using the tactics board.

All the players were focused intently on him, listening to his instructions.

Everton’s defensive strength was undeniable.

The iron barrel formation Moyes set up was truly difficult to break down.

But they had to score again in the second half.

Otherwise, they would once again surrender their position as league leaders to Manchester United.

Breaking down a packed defence is most effectively done by constantly stretching them horizontally.

The problem was, the Bayswater Chinese currently lacked an excellent long-ball passer.

Leighton Baines could switch play with long passes, but they weren’t fast or accurate enough.

How to put it?

Slow, high-arcing long balls were essentially useless.

By the time the ball arrived, the opponent’s defence would have already readjusted.

The truly threatening long passes were like those from Toni Kroos, Pirlo, or Xabi Alonso—fast, low-trajectory, but with pinpoint accuracy.

You use the attacking strength on one side to draw the opponent’s defence over, creating space on the other side, and then suddenly switch the play.

This is why full-backs have become increasingly important.

Usually, the full-back on the opposite flank receives such a pass.

Upon receiving the ball, the full-back initiates the attack.

Right now, they clearly didn’t have that.

So, what to do?

“Andrei, you need to try to get on the ball and dribble more, draw defenders towards you, then find a way to pass it to the other side.”

Modrić’s long passing was also decent.

“Gentlemen.”

Just before they went back on the pitch, Yang Cheng looked at his players with a solemn expression.

“This match is a test for us.”

“A test of whether we are fully prepared, whether we have what it takes to lead the Premier League, and even challenge for the title!”

Everyone looked up at their head coach, clearly taking his words to heart.

“True champions aren’t people who don’t make mistakes.”

“On the contrary, everyone, including the strong, makes mistakes. That’s normal.”

“What sets champions apart from others is that when they make mistakes, they have the ability, the willpower, and the determination to correct them and ensure they do better next time!”

All the players nodded in agreement.

“We made a mistake at the start of the first half, but we corrected it just before the break, which is why the score is 2-2.”

“But I want to tell you, if we want to challenge for the Premier League title, if we want to face even greater challenges, then just doing this is not enough!”

“We need to do better, better than the best!”

“We need to push our limits in every single game. No matter how big or difficult the obstacles we encounter, we must overcome them and solve all problems.”

“Everton is a very tough team, especially at Goodison Park.”

“I believe that with your performance today, you can show everyone—be it Everton or any other team—that nothing can stop us from moving forward!”

“This season in the Premier League, we have only one goal.”

“And that is to be champions!”

…

After play resumed in the second half, the Bayswater Chinese finally unleashed the threat of their lightning attack.

But Everton were clearly well-prepared, remaining dug in within their own half.

Arshavin, remembering Yang Cheng’s instructions, began to get on the ball and dribble more on the right flank.

First, the Russian won a corner kick while dribbling down the right wing.

But the subsequent corner attack did not result in a goal.

Afterward, Arshavin orchestrated several more attacks from the right and tried to switch the play, but the results were not very effective.

Yang Cheng immediately walked to the touchline and gestured for Maicon to increase the intensity of his forward runs to support Arshavin.

This adjustment quickly paid off.

Due to the immense attacking pressure from the right side, Everton’s defence began to shift towards their own left flank.

The side defended by Joseph Yobo and Alan Stubbs.

Then, in the 53rd minute, Arshavin passed the ball to Modrić.

Under pressure from both Phil Neville and Arteta, the Croatian somehow dribbled his way into space and delivered a surgical through ball, precisely slicing open Everton’s defense.

The right-sided centre-back, Lescott, a left-footed player, had the connection between him and right-back Tony Hibbert cut open by Modrić’s pass.

Ashley Young made a quick forward run, received the ball between the two defenders, broke into the box one-on-one with the keeper, and coolly finished with his right foot, sending the ball into Everton’s net. 3-2!

This goal signaled the start of the Bayswater Chinese’s comeback.

After taking the lead, the away team seemed to have found the key to unlocking the attack.

Everton had no choice but to continue to defend with all their might.

But it was becoming increasingly difficult to stop the Bayswater Chinese from scoring.

In the 63rd minute, Arshavin was dispossessed while dribbling on the right, but Lassana Diarra, making a run from deep, intercepted the ball in time and carried it forward.

Outside Everton’s penalty area, Lassana Diarra passed the ball to the right flank before quickly making a run into the box himself.

Maicon broke into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a low cross.

Lassana Diarra, who had just scored an own goal, made a timely run to the right side of the six-yard box and, getting ahead of the defender, poked the ball past goalkeeper Iain Turner.

4-2!

Now two goals ahead, Everton completely lost their composure.

Moyes brought on strikers James Beattie and Andy van der Meyde in an attempt to bolster the attack.

But soon, the Bayswater Chinese would make him regret that decision.

In the 78th minute, Arshavin suddenly appeared on the left flank. After receiving a pass from Modrić, he controlled the ball and beat Phil Neville in one motion, then played a neat one-two pass with Džeko on the edge of the area.

The Bosnian striker’s horizontal pass perfectly set up Arshavin, who dribbled into the left side of the penalty box.

Facing the onrushing keeper Turner, Arshavin performed a skillful step-over, created a shooting angle, and slotted the ball into the empty net.

5-2!

This goal completely shattered any lingering hopes Moyes had of fighting back.

Afterward, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions.

In the end, after being two goals down, the Bayswater Chinese staged a stunning 5-2 comeback away from home!

Having completed an epic comeback on the road, Yang Cheng’s team once again received widespread praise from the media and fans, especially with the return to form of several players, including Arshavin.

This would be a huge boost for their upcoming title charge.

…

Midweek, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Chelsea.

In this match, Yang Cheng largely fulfilled his promise to the young players.

He started all the same youngsters from the quarter-final, but at centre-back, he paired the mature and reliable José Fonte with Koscielny.

The experienced Danny Coyne remained the starting goalkeeper.

This wasn’t really a breach of contract by Yang Cheng.

The centre-back position was always rotated, and aside from commanding the backline, an important part of José Fonte’s job was to guide Matić and ensure the stability of the team’s defence.

After all, it was a home game, and Yang Cheng did not want to lose.

Mourinho was also under immense pressure in the league, so he didn’t field his strongest lineup either.

For instance, his forward line consisted of Bridge, Kalou, and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Yes, he played left-back Wayne Bridge as a left winger, with Kalou as the striker.

The midfield was composed of Mikel, Makélélé, and Michael Ballack.

After the rotation, Chelsea’s attack was terrible.

Although the Bayswater Chinese players were young, they were more energetic and had strong individual abilities.

In the first half, Gareth Bale came close to scoring from a Lewandowski pass, almost beating Chelsea’s substitute goalkeeper Henrique Hilário.

Later, in the 77th minute of the second half, Walcott delivered an assist from the right wing, and Lewandowski seized the opportunity in the middle, getting to the ball before Ferreira and Essien to put it into Chelsea’s net.

This was the only goal of the match.

The Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Chelsea at home.

According to post-match media reports, neither side went all out in the game.

But the Bayswater Chinese clearly performed better, and several of their young players were more eye-catching than the likes of Kalou.

Considering they only conceded one goal away from home, Mourinho was expected to go all out in the home leg.

…

On the weekend, it was the 24th round of the Premier League.

Anyone could see that the title race between the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United was heating up.

The fact that Yang Cheng fielded young players even in a League Cup semi-final made it clear to everyone that he was committing all his forces to winning the league.

Before the match, Yang Cheng also actively engaged in a war of words with Ferguson.

In this round, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Sheffield United.

Manchester United, on the other hand, had to travel to the Emirates Stadium to challenge Arsenal.

At the pre-match press conference, Yang Cheng publicly stated, “I don’t think Manchester United will be able to leave with all three points.”

“I know Wenger. He won’t allow his team to miss out on the Champions League for two consecutive seasons. He will fight with everything he’s got.”

“The Gunners have the quality to beat Manchester United at home.”

Since the Bayswater Chinese’s match was before Manchester United’s, Yang Cheng declared, “We will beat Sheffield United at home and leave all the pressure on Manchester United!”

Sure enough, that evening, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Sheffield United.

Their initial lightning attack failed, leading the team into a stalemate.

But just before halftime, a goal from Arshavin gave the team the lead.

At the beginning of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese launched another blitz, and in the 50th minute, Arshavin scored again to complete his brace.

Then, in the 55th minute, Keith Gillespie, who had been brought on less than five minutes earlier to strengthen the midfield defence, was booked for a foul on Arshavin.

Just four minutes later, he committed another foul in defence.

This time, on Modrić.

The head referee, Mark Halsey, showed him a second yellow card, sending him off.

Getting a red card less than ten minutes after coming on nearly made Sheffield United’s manager, Neil Warnock, cough up blood in anger.

Then, in the 70th and 73rd minutes, the Bayswater Chinese scored two more goals.

One was a corner kick goal from Škrtel.

The other was a shot from an overlapping run by Yaya Touré.

In the end, the team secured a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Sheffield United at home.

Unfortunately, the resounding victory for the Bayswater Chinese did not manage to put pressure on Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team was also known for its resilience.

The Red Devils came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 away, with goals from C. Ronaldo and Rooney.

But Chelsea definitely felt the pressure from the Bayswater Chinese, as they lost 2-0 away to Liverpool.

Benítez’s team had been rather interesting lately.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese were adept at lightning attacks, but recently, these blitzes had often been ineffective.

Opponents were now well-prepared for their opening onslaught, marking them tighter and refusing to be caught off guard.

Liverpool, in contrast, had scored within the first ten minutes in three consecutive rounds, looking as if they were inheriting the Bayswater Chinese’s mantle.

This was, of course, a joke.

But Yang Cheng could indeed feel that opposing teams were developing increasingly meticulous tactical plans to counter the Bayswater Chinese.

In particular, many teams adopted a noticeably more conservative style of play when facing them.

This was a mixed blessing.

The good news was that it proved that these Premier League teams, including strong sides like Everton, now regarded the Bayswater Chinese as a top-tier team on the same level as Manchester United and Chelsea.

It was a recognition of the team’s strength.

The worry was that the team had to learn to overcome this pressure.

The Times analyzed the Bayswater Chinese’s recent performance, especially in the five games from Boxing Day to the present, in which they had scored 24 goals and conceded 5, with three clean sheets.

The authoritative British newspaper believed that the Bayswater Chinese had become increasingly mature, with the air of a top team.

While possessing a formidable attacking force, their defensive level has remained consistently high, and their overall performance stable.

“The Christmas schedule was a very rare and valuable baptism for this young team.”

“The thrashing of Chelsea, the draw with Manchester United, and the resounding victory over West Ham United, especially leapfrogging Manchester United to top the league table, have all filled the Bayswater Chinese with confidence.”

“Nowadays, this team is becoming increasingly difficult to defeat.”

“This was a quote from David Moyes after losing at home.”

…

Losing to Liverpool in the league completely shattered Chelsea’s dream of a third consecutive Premier League title.

Mourinho was under immense pressure, especially with frequent media rumors of his impending dismissal, which greatly displeased the Portuguese manager.

In the midweek second leg of the League Cup semi-final, Chelsea fielded all their regulars.

Mourinho deployed every key player he could.

He even started a two-striker partnership of Drogba and Shevchenko up front.

Yang Cheng really didn’t know how to explain this phenomenon.

Shevchenko and Drogba had shown absolutely no chemistry throughout the season.

But as if by some devilish twist of fate, in this match, Drogba first assisted Shevchenko to take the lead in the 22nd minute of the first half.

Then, in the 69th minute of the second half, it was Shevchenko’s turn to assist a Drogba goal, extending the lead.

Hey, the two of them were actually linking up, give and take.

In the end, Chelsea defeated the Bayswater Chinese 2-0 at home, advancing to the League Cup final with a 2-1 aggregate score.

This was the first time the Bayswater Chinese had missed out on the final after winning the League Cup for two consecutive seasons.

In the other match, the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur was also a fiery affair.

In truth, neither side went all out, both saving energy for the league.

Especially Arsenal.

They were not even guaranteed a top-four finish in the league.

The first leg at White Hart Lane ended in a 2-2 draw. The second leg at the Emirates Stadium finished 1-1 in regular time.

But in extra time, Arsenal scored two goals.

Among them, Pascal Chimbonda scored the crucial first goal.

Arsenal advanced to the final with a 3-1 aggregate score.

…

On the weekend, it was the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Coincidentally, the Bayswater Chinese’s opponents in this round were Barnet, from north London.

This was a third-tier League One team, formerly of the League Two level.

The Bayswater Chinese once again fielded their young players for the away match against Barnet.

Having just played Chelsea midweek, the young players, despite their quick recovery, were not quite in top form.

As a result, the team’s performance was subpar for the first hour of the match.

But their overall quality was on a different level, and Barnet could hardly compete with the Bayswater Chinese.

The gap in strength between the two sides was simply too vast.

It wasn’t until the 67th minute of the second half that Koscielny opened the scoring for the team with a header from a corner kick.

In the 83rd minute, substitute Gareth Bale scored the second goal.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Barnet 2-0 away, smoothly advancing to the 5th round of the FA Cup.

…

On January 31st, it was the 25th round of the Premier League.

What goes around, comes around.

Last time, the Bayswater Chinese played first, and Yang Cheng tried to put pressure on Manchester United.

This time, it was the other way around.

Manchester United first played at home, thrashing Watford 4-0 with goals from C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and winter signing Henrik Larsson.

Ferguson also laid a trap for Yang Cheng in the post-match press conference.

The Bayswater Chinese’s opponents were Wigan Athletic, a team just north of Manchester. Ferguson was very familiar with them and played the sentiment card.

He even offered Wigan advice, saying he would tell them the secret to defeating the Bayswater Chinese.

“Even though they’ve lost seven in a row, I still believe they have a chance to stop the Bayswater Chinese and prove their quality.”

Sometimes, Yang Cheng was left speechless.

He couldn’t understand how Ferguson had the gall to say such praise for Wigan Athletic.

But whether it was the pressure from Ferguson or the players’ own issues, just over two minutes into the match, the Bayswater Chinese’s defense made a mistake.

It was a failed offside trap.

The usually very reliable José Fonte was a fraction too slow in stepping up, allowing a pass to be played in behind him.

That world-famous, first-generation Premier League meme king, the great English centre-forward who supposedly took 4000 shots without scoring, who dribbles like Messi but shoots like Heskey, beat the offside trap and coolly scored in a one-on-one.

Although Džeko later scored a brace with his head and feet to give the Bayswater Chinese a 2-1 comeback win over Wigan Athletic, Yang Cheng still felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

This was just ridiculous!

Shevchenko and Drogba have no chemistry all season, but when they play against the Bayswater Chinese, they suddenly start assisting each other?

The great Comrade Heskey, a terminal case of goal-phobia who couldn’t score in 4000 shots, actually scores a one-on-one just two minutes into the game?

“If this were a damn novel, the first thing I’d do is chop off the author’s little willy!”

In all his decades of coaching, he had never encountered anything so absurd.

“Actually, Heskey isn’t that bad,” Brian Kidd offered in the striker’s defense.

Heskey was certainly not a prolific goalscorer, but his tactical value was quite good.

Brian Kidd didn’t understand why Yang Cheng was so upset about Heskey scoring against his team.

In this round, Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-1 away.

Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-1 at home.

Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 at home.

…

Time moved into February.

The winter transfer window in European football closed.

In the Premier League, the top teams made very few significant moves.

Liverpool was arguably the most active, but they only signed Álvaro Arbeloa from La Liga’s Deportivo La Coruña and brought Emiliano Insúa on loan from Boca Juniors.

The loan deal for Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano from West Ham United was still being processed, and he had yet to receive clearance to play.

This led many to speculate whether there was something wrong with Mascherano’s transfer paperwork.

Since last summer, many had been questioning what kind of fishy business was involved in the transfers of Mascherano and Carlos Tevez to West Ham United.

Manchester United made a targeted reinforcement, loaning striker Henrik Larsson from Helsingborgs IF.

Chelsea was linked with players like Micah Richards, but no transfers materialized in the end.

According to The Sun, Roman Abramovich had halted Chelsea’s winter transfer activity.

The specific reason was that Chelsea was very likely to change managers in the summer.

Under these circumstances, if they followed Mourinho’s wishes and spent big in the winter window, would those players still fit the new manager’s tactical style in the summer?

Therefore, Chelsea’s strategy was not to sign anyone in the winter window and to demand that Mourinho produce results this season to prove himself. Otherwise, he would likely be sacked at the end of the season.

This led many in the media to mock Mourinho’s earlier claims of reaching a peak in his third year.

Truly, Mourinho’s third-season syndrome!

Many of the Bayswater Chinese’s players were being watched by other teams, and there had been constant rumors that they would be transferred during the winter window.

It was an interesting pattern.

In the four seasons Yang Cheng had coached the Bayswater Chinese, the team had sold players during the winter window in the first three.

From Jon Stead to Joe Hart, and then last year, Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda.

It led many to say that Yang Cheng liked to sell players in the winter window to rip off his rivals.

But this year, the Bayswater Chinese had no arrivals or departures.

The teams making the biggest moves were those in the relegation zone.

West Ham United invested heavily, poaching many players in a desperate bid to stay up.

Watford was even more drastic, bringing in eight players on loan and signing two permanently, practically rebuilding the entire team.

Wigan Athletic also brought in five new players during the winter window, some on loan, some on free transfers. Only a striker named Fran, signed from Chesterfield, cost a fee of five hundred thousand pounds.

But it wasn’t the Uruguayan Diego Forlán.

If we were to talk about the biggest movers in this winter transfer window, it would undoubtedly be Real Madrid.

The two Argentine players, Higuaín and Gago, cost Real Madrid thirty-three million euros.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, moved to AC Milan for seven point five million euros.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Marcelo should have joined Real Madrid around this time for a fee of eight million euros.

But now, the Bayswater Chinese had already snapped him up.

The Bayswater Chinese were currently focused on helping Marcelo integrate into the team.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about this.

Many people say that Brazilian players can’t adapt to the Premier League.

It is indeed difficult.

But it’s not entirely true.

Take full-backs, for instance. In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the brothers Fábio and Rafael da Silva once played quite well for Manchester United.

But perhaps due to the difference in football philosophy between the Premier League and mainland Europe, Yang Cheng always felt that Ferguson’s development and use of the brothers were strange, and the same went for players like Anderson.

There’s a saying in mainland Europe: there are two types of full-backs, Brazilian full-backs and the rest.

Why the distinction?

Because Brazilian full-backs have good technique and strong attacking abilities.

Note, when you use a Brazilian full-back, you are primarily valuing their ability to contribute to the attack with overlapping runs.

But during their time at Manchester United, the Rafael and Fábio brothers were often pushed to develop in the mold of Gary Neville, with a constant emphasis on physicality and defence.

This was very strange.

If you wanted good physical confrontation and excellent defending, why would you use a Brazilian full-back?

Maicon was an anomaly among Brazilian full-backs.

Someone like Dani Alves was the norm.

So, when Yang Cheng poached Marcelo, he was essentially conducting an experiment.

He refused to believe that Brazilian full-backs couldn’t succeed in the Premier League.

…

On February 3rd, it was the 26th round of the Premier League.

Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Middlesbrough.

Liverpool drew 0-0 at home against Everton.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Charlton Athletic.

After a 0-0 first half, Manchester United scored four goals in the second half to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 away from home.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, in their away match against Manchester City, struggled to break down The Blue Moons’ goal for the first 80 minutes.

But Arshavin, whom Yang Cheng brought on in the 65th minute, provided two assists in the 83rd and 89th minutes, setting up goals for Yaya Touré and Modrić respectively, helping the team secure a 2-0 victory over Manchester City.

Everyone could feel the pressure of the title race between the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United.

The two teams were neck and neck in the league table.

Over the past month, both had been gritting their teeth, refusing to give an inch.

At this critical juncture, whoever lost first—no, even whoever drew first—could see the momentum shift, or even the title slip away.

Under these circumstances, both teams were holding on for dear life.

This tense stalemate not only brought immense psychological pressure and burden to the two title contenders but also made the observing media and fans feel the intensity and fierceness of this season’s Premier League title race.

Neither the Bayswater Chinese nor Manchester United could afford to let go.

All that was left was to see who would make the first mistake.

…

“Looking at the upcoming fixtures, the only team that could realistically cause trouble for Manchester United is Liverpool in round 29, when they visit Anfield.”

Brian Kidd and Yang Cheng were in the office, studying the upcoming schedules for both the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United.

This would help them get a clear picture of the situation for both sides.

“If even Liverpool can’t stop Manchester United, then we’ll probably have to wait until round 34, when they travel to Stamford Bridge.”

Yang Cheng listened to Brian Kidd’s analysis while looking at the fixture chart and matchup list, searching for clues.

“In round 29, we’re also away at Arsenal.”

“Also, in round 31, we have to play Tottenham away, and then Liverpool at home in round 32.”

“Don’t forget, between rounds 27 and 28, there’s an international break, as well as an FA Cup match and the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.”

Interestingly, both teams’ opponents were from Ligue 1.

The Bayswater Chinese were up against French champions Lyon.

Manchester United’s opponents were Lille.

The 27th round of the Premier League was on February 10th, followed by the international break.

The 17th was the 4th round of the FA Cup.

The 20th and 21st were the first legs of the Champions League Round of 16.

Only then would the 28th round of the Premier League take place.

It was safe to say the schedule was incredibly packed, and the challenge immense.

They couldn’t afford a single misstep from here on out.

One wrong step, one dropped point, could very well cost them the title.

“Ferguson is very experienced. The more critical the moment, the more steadily he’ll secure points. And his teams have always been good at picking up points in February and March.”

Brian Kidd shook his head and sighed at this point. “Aside from the clashes between top teams, honestly, I can’t see where he’ll drop points.”

Unexpected things can always happen.

But the current Bayswater Chinese couldn’t pin all their hopes on their rival having an accident.

What if they had an accident first?

“Brian, I’ll think more about the team’s situation, but there’s something that must be done as soon as possible.”

Yang Cheng said this seriously, and Brian Kidd immediately agreed, “Go on.”

“I’ve already asked Adam Crozier to quietly look for an excellent sports psychologist.”

“A sports psychologist?” Brian Kidd’s brow furrowed.

Any normal person would inevitably frown upon hearing that term.

Psychological issues always carried a somewhat negative connotation.

“The pressure on our team is immense right now. The players are clearly struggling to handle it, and just relying on us to counsel them isn’t very effective.”

Yang Cheng was the head coach, and Brian Kidd was the assistant coach. They naturally held a position of authority in front of the players.

No matter how good their relationship was on a daily basis, the head coach was still the head coach.

There were many things players would never tell their manager.

Not even if you beat it out of them.

Like the pressure of a match, would they admit to it?

If they did, wouldn’t that be showing weakness? Would they still have a place in the starting lineup?

At a time like this, having an excellent psychologist to guide and counsel them becomes particularly necessary.

English football was actually still very conservative.

For example, they were reluctant to let women into the dressing room.

They were also quite resistant to psychology, believing that those who were crushed by pressure were cowards.

Even someone like Dalglish believed that fatigue could be overcome by a player’s own mental willpower.

You talk science with them, they talk玄学 (A dark art) with you.

There was no basis for communication.

That’s why Yang Cheng wanted to handle it discreetly.

“This has never been done before. If word gets out, it won’t look good,” Brian Kidd said, expressing his doubts.

People who didn’t know better might think the players had mental illnesses, which would be disastrous.

Yang Cheng understood.

Never mind now, even a few years later, when sports psychologists first started joining teams, it was done very cautiously, sometimes even under a different title.

But gradually, once the precedent was set, everyone realized how beneficial it was.

These psychologists could genuinely talk to the players, they knew how to communicate with them, help alleviate pressure, and manage emotions.

Pep Guardiola later conducted an experiment specifically using psychological counseling to help players build a stable mental mechanism, enabling them to remain composed and in control of the ball no matter the situation in a match.

But that was still more than a decade away.

“I’ve already decided on this matter. Just do it. You make the arrangements,” Yang Cheng said, not intending to discuss it further, but to give a direct order.

Brian Kidd had no choice but to comply.

Chapter 116: The Unstoppable Bayswater Chinese! C. Ronaldo: I’m the Best in the World!

There were no upsets in the 27th round of the Premier League.

Although Liverpool lost 2-1 away to Newcastle, in everyone’s eyes, the Magpies were never a weak team.

Bayswater Chinese’s home game against Aston Villa was the first match of the round, and their victory was a steady and stable one.

Yang Cheng knew very well that the more critical the moment, the more caution was needed.

What if the opening blitzkrieg didn’t work?

No problem, no rush.

In the 16th minute, Lassana Diarra assisted Modrić for a goal.

Then, just before the end of the second half, Džeko provided another assist, and Modrić scored again.

A brace!

The Bayswater Chinese captain didn’t score often, keeping a low profile, but when the team needed him, he exploded.

Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at home, with Drogba also scoring a brace.

Manchester United also had a solid performance, defeating Charlton Athletic 2-0 at home.

Arsenal, at home, came from behind after conceding first, scoring two goals at the death to seal a 2-1 comeback victory over Wigan Athletic.

This confirmed what Ferguson had said before: Wigan Athletic was not a weak team. This loss marked their ninth consecutive defeat, and the key reason likely lay within the club itself.

After the 27th round of the Premier League, the international players successively reported to their national teams. But this time, the training camp was only a week long, with just one match.

Yang Cheng took advantage of this week to carry out some long-planned preparations.

In the past two years, many people who met Tim Harkness would jokingly say to him, “My God, you look so much like Gordon Ramsay from Hell’s Kitchen.”

Tim Harkness was a bit baffled at first.

He hadn’t watched Hell’s Kitchen and didn’t know who Gordon Ramsay was.

Later, he finally watched the American Fox Broadcasting Company’s cooking reality show.

And what do you know, he really did look like him.

But he couldn’t cook.

He was a psychologist, and more specifically, a sports psychologist.

Tim Harkness was South African, grew up in Durban, came from a well-off family, attended Michaelhouse, the best private school in South Africa, and then spent seven years at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, earning a Master of Arts.

Yes, he had been interested in the humanities since he was a child.

In 1990, the year he entered the University of KwaZulu-Natal, he began working for SCUBA, the international diving organization. Over five years, he served as an instructor and an instructor trainer, working in places like Durban and Sodwana Bay.

As part of his master’s degree, he also spent a lot of time studying the baboons of the Drakensberg mountains, observing the internal social behaviors of their groups.

He obtained his master’s degree in 1997 and became a psychologist in 1998, running a psychology clinic in Durban. Business was always good, and he helped many children and adults with psychological barriers.

Later, athletes also began to seek his help.

Starting in 2001, he served as a psychological consultant for a health consulting firm, where he began to interact with a wider variety of people, including bank executives, corporate elites, rising political stars, and entertainment celebrities.

He had the most contact with athletes, including professional rugby, cricket, golf, and surfing competitors. He discovered that many athletes had a need for this kind of help, but very few people could provide them with professional services.

This was because in the competitive sports world, psychological issues were often seen as a sign of cowardice or weakness.

That was wrong.

Not long ago, Tim Harkness had just taken on a client from India.

His name was Abhinav Bindra, a 24-year-old 10-meter air rifle shooter. He came from an aristocratic family that was extremely wealthy; his father was India’s largest exporter of shooting products. He had been around guns since childhood and showed a talent for shooting at the age of 15. His father spent a great deal of money to hire professional coaches for him.

From then on, he trained diligently every day, and his results improved steadily. In 2005, in Bangkok, Thailand, he finished 4th in the Asian Championships. In 2006, in Zagreb, Croatia, he won 1st place at the World Championships.

But then he started to get “sick.”

In the history of India, no individual had ever won an Olympic gold medal. For a great nation with over a billion people, this was absolutely intolerable.

Therefore, India was full of expectations for Abhinav Bindra, hoping he could help the country achieve a breakthrough and win its first individual Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

The expectations of his family and the hopes of the entire nation became an unbearable weight for the 24-year-old.

Who would have thought that a young man born with a silver spoon, a winner in every aspect of life, would have such needs?

So, he found Tim Harkness, hoping for help.

Tim Harkness had only met Abhinav Bindra once, but they had a good conversation, and both sides were considering a long-term collaboration. The Indian side hoped Tim Harkness could help Abhinav Bindra on his journey to the 2008 Olympics.

But unfortunately, it seemed that was now off the table.

Because he had received another, more attractive offer.

It came from Bayswater Chinese, the Premier League leaders.

But what truly convinced him was a phone call from Yang Cheng.

Upon arriving in London, Tim Harkness was immediately picked up at the airport by someone in a Mercedes-Benz.

He was checked into the Lancaster Hotel, north of Hyde Park.

The next day, the same driver took him to visit the Brent training ground in West London. There, Harkness saw a youth academy with state-of-the-art facilities and a very forward-thinking philosophy, as well as the bustling construction site of the new training pitches.

After that, he was arranged to visit Wembley Stadium.

He was truly awestruck by the magnificent stadium. It had cost a staggering 780 million pound sterling, making it look as if it were built of gold.

It wasn’t until the third day of his stay in London that he was invited to Bayswater Stadium.

It was an unfinished building located north of Hyde Park in London, near the Queensway Underground station, in a prime section of Queensway.

Standing outside Bayswater Stadium, he finally understood why they had gone to such great lengths to show him the training ground and Wembley Stadium first.

If they had brought him to this unfinished building first, his initial reaction would have been to run.

This didn’t look like a wealthy club at all!

“Hello, Tim, welcome to London.”

Following a staff member into the administrative office, he recognized Yang Cheng immediately. They had spoken on the phone, and Yang Cheng’s voice had left a particularly strong impression. Before coming to London, he had specifically researched the club and this man.

“Hello, Yang, it’s a great honor to meet you.”

Yang Cheng introduced him to the club’s two senior executives, CEO Adam Crozier and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Xia Qing.

Additionally, Yang Cheng made special introductions for assistant coach Brian Kidd, performance analyst Thad Foucher, fitness coach Oliver Bartlett, and the head of the data analysis department, Gianni Vio.

He also introduced Neil Cannon, the nutritionist the team had hired last year. Cannon had graduated with a master’s degree in Sports and Exercise Physiology & Nutrition from Loughborough University and had worked for several sports clubs in England, including rowing, tennis, athletics, and football, earning a good reputation in the industry.

Yang Cheng knew of Tim Harkness from his previous life.

In 2008, Tim Harkness coached the first individual Olympic champion in India’s history, which made him famous overnight. But now, who knew if the Indian shooter could still win the gold?

In 2009, Harkness was hired by Chelsea for a hefty sum and joined the Blues as a sports psychologist. During his time at Chelsea, his greatest contribution was safeguarding the mental well-being of the players.

But one of his research projects greatly interested Yang Cheng: his “Confidence in Action” initiative.

The so-called “Confidence in Action” was, of course, not just simple psychological counseling, but a long-term construction of an athlete’s mental defenses. Peter Čech had also been very supportive of this initiative when he was Chelsea’s technical advisor.

To put it simply, he attempted to use modern scientific methods and data science to psychologically code players.

What did that mean?

By analyzing a player’s behavior in training, matches, and daily life, he conducted a psychological analysis and assigned scores to their actions.

For example, in a match, one of two players might perform very well, but might actually exhibit many actions that lack confidence. Another player might not perform as well, but dares to make confident, bold decisions. By observing match footage, all of this could be seen and assigned a certain score.

There were also things like a player’s concentration, motivation in a game, and how they handled actions under pressure.

By scoring all of these, a player’s psychological code could be obtained. After long-term tracking and statistics, a clear understanding of a player’s mental state could be established.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had often heard people talk about Eden Hazard. They believed that the Belgian had received excellent psychological counseling and emotional guidance at Chelsea, but Real Madrid had not done enough in this area, which led to him developing many problems.

There were many other aspects, touching on all facets of the game.

When Yang Cheng coached Arsenal in his previous life, he had specially invited a well-known psychologist from the industry to provide counseling. The first thing he did was to change how players addressed each other within the team—they couldn’t use surnames.

Why?

Because surnames were their symbols on the pitch, on television, in newspapers, and on their jerseys. The media and fans outside the team called them that. If the team also addressed them that way internally, it would be subtly reminding them that they were commodities that didn’t belong to themselves.

So he encouraged the players to choose a nickname or a first name they liked to be called by.

“Athletes have money, fame, and influence. They’re also young and have tons of fans. But the one thing they aren’t is themselves. So we have to try to help them rediscover the positive side of their humanity.”

What could be gained on the pitch by rediscovering the positive side of their humanity?

“If you look closely, Yang, from the past to the present, you’ll find that the partners who are particularly in sync on the pitch, the pairs that achieve a 1+1 greater than 2 effect, are often good friends in real life.”

“Ronaldinho and Deco in Barça’s Dream Team Two, the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio and MSN in Dream Team Three, Toni Kroos and Modrić in Real Madrid’s Ceremony Trio, and C. Ronaldo and Marcelo…”

“We can even trace it back further, to Manchester United’s Class of ’92…”

“You’ll find that when players are on the pitch, playing with good friends they get along with, they can often unleash unimaginable strength.”

“Many times, the head coach doesn’t even need to tell them what to do. They know what they have to do for each other, without expecting anything in return, willingly and gladly.”

“Isn’t that more important than anything?”

“And players who don’t get along well off the pitch find it very difficult to form a cohesive force on it. Forget 1+1 equals 2; it might even be less than 2.”

This was also what Yang Cheng had been promoting at Bayswater Chinese.

To be a football club with a human touch!

That was why he told Yaya Touré that he was a living, breathing person.

At the same time, he also placed more emphasis on signing young players.

According to Yang Cheng’s plan, the sporting department would undergo some functional reorganization to form a sports science department.

Sports science meant exactly what it sounded like.

Thad Foucher’s performance analysis team would fall under this department. The first team currently had five fitness coaches, managed by Oliver Bartlett, but Oliver Bartlett would also join the sports science department.

Then there was psychologist Tim Harkness, nutritionist Neil Cannon, data analysis expert Gianni Vio, Head of Medical Services David Fevre, Head Physiotherapist Rob Price…

In short, this sports science department was like a platform for inter-departmental cooperation.

“As professional football has developed, with the advancement of science and technology and the continuous improvement of training levels, it has inevitably led to greater specialization and refinement,” Yang Cheng explained the necessity of this departmental reform.

“This is bound to have an impact on the traditional coaching staff model, perhaps even completely subverting it.”

No one knew what it was like at other clubs, but at Bayswater Chinese, this was indeed the case.

With more departments and increasingly specialized divisions of labor, communication problems followed.

When a player got injured, it involved numerous departments, almost all of them. This would lead to significant communication costs and even mutual finger-pointing.

In the past, the coaching staff consisted of just a few people who would discuss and decide things together.

But now?

Each department had several people under it, some with two or three, others with four or five.

Just like when Yaya Touré was injured, everyone had to sit down for a meeting with Yang Cheng presiding.

What if Yang Cheng wasn’t there?

Ha, needless to say, they would just pass the buck.

A simple, moderate muscle strain could involve many departments. One might say the fitness department’s training intensity was too high, another might say the nutritionists gave him the wrong thing to eat, and yet another would say the data was wrong. Someone might even say the medical team’s prevention measures were inadequate…

This was a very real issue!

Almost all companies, upon reaching a certain size, encounter similar problems.

So, Yang Cheng’s idea was to have a unified department from now on: the Sports Science Department. All you department heads are in this department. When the team needs something done, we’ll discuss it together and divide the work scientifically. If a problem arises, no one can shift the blame. When there’s a problem, the first thing to do isn’t to shirk responsibility, but to find a solution.

Yang Cheng could have made these decisions on his own, but he still wanted to push for departmental reform because he didn’t want to repeat Ferguson’s mistakes.

As long as he was there, everything would be fine. But he couldn’t stay in this position forever, could he?

Besides, how much energy could one person have to do so many things?

Couldn’t he go and do some of the things a rich kid is supposed to do?

Like, picking up a girl, going on a date?

Smart people just need to talk; they shouldn’t work themselves to death.

Of course, for Bayswater Chinese’s first team, with its thirty-plus employees, this approach was still feasible. If the number of staff grew in the future, they would need to find another solution.

In addition to establishing the sports science department, Yang Cheng also decided to implement a paperless office in the sporting and administrative departments.

Yang Cheng would hire a dedicated assistant to record various meetings, organize and summarize them for easy retention, records, and notifications. Everyone would work directly from their phones or laptops, join group chats, and communicate directly within the groups.

The coaching staff at Bayswater Chinese had one characteristic: they were young. The oldest was Brian Kidd. Therefore, implementing a paperless office was feasible and would significantly improve efficiency.

On the afternoon of February 17th, it was the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Derby County from the Championship.

Derby County was performing well in the Championship this season and had the strength to challenge for promotion to the Premier League.

However, Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve lineup, saving his strength for the Champions League match next Wednesday and the league game next weekend.

Ángel Di María was outstanding in this match, contributing a goal and an assist to help the team defeat Derby County 2-0.

The team smoothly advanced to the 6th round, the quarter-finals.

On the evening of February 20th, at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, France.

In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Bayswater Chinese faced Lyon away from home.

As the champions of Ligue 1, Lyon had already won five consecutive titles, and judging by their performance this season, a sixth straight title was all but certain.

The current Lyon team was formidable. Their defense boasted famous players like Abidal, Cris, and Squillaci. The midfield featured Juninho, Portuguese midfielder Tiago, and French midfielder Alou Diarra.

Up front, Malouda, Fred, and Govou were all top-class European stars.

And sitting on the bench was a young Karim Benzema.

Actually, Yang Cheng had seriously considered Benzema at one point. But Lyon was a difficult club to deal with, and their chairman, Jean-Michel Aulas, was an insatiably greedy vampire. Besides, they wouldn’t let Benzema go easily.

After much consideration, Yang Cheng chose Robert Lewandowski. He was a great value, high-performance option, and most importantly, the Polish centre-forward had immense talent.

When Yang Cheng, standing in front of the away team’s dugout at Stade de Gerland, saw the still-very-young-looking Benzema on the home team’s bench, his first thought was…

I should give Lewandowski more opportunities.

He can’t be worse than Benzema, can he?

This season, Robert Lewandowski trained with the Bayswater Chinese first team but mostly played in reserve and youth team matches, while also competing in the League Cup and FA Cup. All in all, he was getting plenty of match opportunities at a reasonable level of intensity. For an 18-year-old, this level of game time was sufficient for his development, and his performances had been quite good.

As for Lambert, Yang Cheng increasingly felt he was no longer able to meet the team’s demands. He was fine as a substitute, but he wasn’t strong enough to play a major role.

So, Yang Cheng decided that after returning to London, he would have a talk with Lewandowski, give him a shot of adrenaline, and push him to work even harder, increasing his playing time.

In front of 40,000 French fans, Bayswater Chinese, dressed in their white kits, relentlessly attacked Lyon right from the kickoff.

Premier League teams were used to Bayswater Chinese’s blitzkrieg and even had countermeasures prepared. Lyon had certainly heard of it, but they had never experienced it firsthand.

Football matches are like that; until you’ve experienced it, you can never truly simulate the intensity and pressure of a real game.

Just over two minutes into the match, Džeko unleashed a long shot from outside the box. The Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-forward was playing with more and more confidence. The shot was saved by goalkeeper Coupet.

But immediately after, Arshavin also took a long shot, a few meters closer than Džeko’s, causing Coupet to fumble the ball. Unfortunately, Džeko’s attempt to pounce on the rebound was a moment too late.

Lyon’s head coach was Gérard Houllier, the same manager who had led Liverpool to a cup quadruple. This opening wave of attacks from Bayswater Chinese made the old manager’s heart race, nearly triggering another heart attack. He was constantly on the sideline, shouting at his players, reminding them to watch out for this and be wary of that.

He turned to glance at the away team’s dugout, where Yang Cheng stood ramrod straight. A wave of emotion washed over Houllier.

Thank God I’m not managing in the Premier League anymore.

Otherwise, how could my fragile heart withstand this?

High pressing, simple and efficient passing and movement, attacks like a torrential downpour, and lightning-fast transitions between offense and defense.

Then, in the 6th minute, Bayswater Chinese’s attack in the final third resulted in a corner kick.

Leighton Baines took the corner from the left. He sent it neither to the near post nor the center, but to the far post. Džeko leaped high, delivering a flick-on towards the middle.

Yaya Touré, who had been lurking around the edge of the penalty arc, suddenly charged in like a heavy tank, bulldozing his way to the edge of the six-yard box and smashing a header into the Lyon goal.

Houllier stood on the sideline, stunned.

Did Lyon not have a physical beast of their own?

No, he had specifically played one: Alou Diarra. At 1.89 meters tall, of Malian descent, his physique was also very strong, seemingly on par with Yaya Touré. In fact, many media outlets had hyped him up as a less technically skilled version of Yaya Touré. Alou Diarra was also two years older than Touré.

But just now, facing the rampaging Touré, Alou Diarra couldn’t stop him at all.

Having scored just over six minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese’s offensive momentum surged. They didn’t seem to care that it was an away game, attacking relentlessly whenever they had the chance.

Lyon’s first shot of the entire match came in the 16th minute. Juninho took a corner from the left, and Govou’s header went wide.

But Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack came swiftly. First, Džeko received a through ball from Maicon and was flagged for offside. Only two minutes later, Modrić sprayed a pass out wide. Ashley Young drove into the left side outside the box, suddenly stopped, switched the ball to his right foot, and sent a diagonal cross to the near post. Džeko’s header hit the post.

By now, 22 minutes had passed.

As the champions of Ligue 1, Lyon seemed to have no effective answer to Bayswater Chinese’s style of play and were already down an away goal.

However, from the sideline, Yang Cheng noticed something very interesting, especially after he saw Džeko flagged for offside yet again.

“How many times is that?” Yang Cheng asked Brian Kidd next to him.

“The fourth time.”

As Brian Kidd answered, his eyes met Yang Cheng’s, and they both understood what the other was thinking.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking tempo was very fast, with a lot of through balls. Lyon’s two centre-backs, the Brazilian Cris (1.83m) and the Frenchman Squillaci (1.85m), were not fast, lacked agility, and were slow to turn. They were at a disadvantage when facing Džeko’s direct runs during a defensive transition.

So, Houllier opted for an offside trap.

This became especially clear in the 33rd minute, when Arshavin played a through ball during a fast counter-attack. Džeko had just made his run and was offside again.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

He immediately walked to the sideline and gestured to Džeko and Arshavin, signaling them to switch roles. He also relayed the instruction to Modrić.

In the 35th minute, another Bayswater Chinese attack.

Maicon once again made an overlapping run down the right. After receiving a pass from Lassana Diarra, he didn’t stay wide but cut into the half-space. Just as everyone thought Bayswater Chinese would play a ball in behind again, Džeko suddenly dropped deep and raised his hand, gesturing for the ball.

This sudden move made Cris instinctively follow him forward. At almost the same instant, a white figure sprinted past Cris, surging forward. Maicon’s pass arrived right on cue.

Arshavin took a touch to knock the ball past the defense and sprinted at top speed, instantly shaking off Squillaci and finding himself one-on-one with the keeper.

In that moment, the entire Stade de Gerland erupted.

After dribbling into the penalty area, Arshavin faced the onrushing goalkeeper Coupet. With a skillful feint, he went past Coupet and slotted the ball into the empty net.

2-0!

The first half ended 2-0.

But Lyon was now facing a dilemma. If they pushed forward to attack, they risked conceding more goals. If they focused on defense first, they would remain very passive.

Conceding two away goals in the first leg at home would make the second leg extremely difficult. The chances of a comeback were extremely low.

Fortunately for Lyon, this was never really a problem. Reaching the round of 16 was already a mission accomplished for them.

So, for the entire second half, Lyon was mostly on the defensive.

In the 60th minute, Houllier brought on Benzema, clearly intending to give the young player some experience. At the same time, he substituted former Arsenal player Wiltord for Govou.

Yang Cheng also made substitutions. Walcott came on for Arshavin.

In the 74th minute, the young Englishman received a pass on the right flank, used his speed to break past Abidal, and then, on the right side of the box, faced Squillaci. He executed two consecutive step-overs to get past him before taking a left-footed shot from the right edge of the penalty arc, which went over the bar.

Although the shot was high, Yang Cheng still clapped for Walcott from the sideline. It wasn’t just because he shot with his left foot and his aim wasn’t bad. More importantly, under Yang Cheng’s guidance, Walcott was clearly becoming more confident on the ball, more willing to cut inside, and more daring to take players on.

This confidence didn’t appear out of nowhere; it had been built up month by month, year by year.

Then there was Gareth Bale on the left wing. He was a different type of player from Walcott. He was taller and physically stronger, which meant his footwork couldn’t be as nimble as Walcott’s. But Gareth Bale’s ability to directly attack and score was stronger.

Of the three, Ángel Di María had the best technique and one-on-one dribbling ability. He looked slender but was actually very durable.

In Yang Cheng’s plan, these three were the future of Bayswater Chinese!

With goals from Yaya Touré and Andrei Arshavin, Bayswater Chinese defeated Lyon 2-0 away from home.

This victory was a statement of intent for Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League knockout stages. Everyone was further convinced that this team was truly formidable.

Manchester United, meanwhile, secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Lille.

Liverpool defeated Barcelona 2-1 away.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away with Porto.

Overall, the Premier League teams were performing much better this season than before. This made the fans even more certain that Arsenal was the one bad apple ruining the league’s reputation.

Why?

Because they were too complacent.

When Arsenal was in the competition, the Premier League teams didn’t perform well.

Now, aren’t they all doing great?

What’s that?

Arsenal made it to the Champions League final last season?

Then why aren’t they in the Champions League this season?

Will they even make it next season?

At noon on February 24th, at Craven Cottage in West London.

Premier League, Matchweek 28, Fulham vs. Manchester United.

The match was about to end.

Ferguson’s face was grim as he stared intently at the pitch.

Next to him, Fulham’s manager Chris Coleman was already preparing to celebrate.

For them, this was a great “victory”!

And likely for London teams in general.

But for Manchester United, it was an utter failure!

Due to the Champions League and FA Cup, Ferguson had been forced to rotate his squad to compete on multiple fronts, which had affected the team’s overall performance.

Early in the game, McBride scored for Fulham. The damn American had a knack for scoring against top teams this season and had already netted nine goals.

Manchester United relentlessly attacked Fulham. In the 29th minute, Giggs played a through ball to Rooney on the left. Rooney crossed it back to an unmarked Giggs, and the Welshman headed home to equalize for Manchester United.

But after that, the score remained deadlocked.

Manchester United dominated possession and created more chances, but none were truly threatening.

Fulham, on the other hand, nearly scored right at the start of the second half with a fierce attack.

Thank the great Edwin van der Sar!

The Dutch god between the sticks made a divine save to deny Fulham, keeping Manchester United’s hopes alive.

But not long after, in the 52nd minute, Fulham attacked again. Simon Davies hit a spinning volley towards the bottom right corner of the goal. It was almost a certain goal.

But it was Van der Sar again!

The Dutchman produced another great save.

And in the 54th minute, Fulham hit the crossbar.

For the first ten minutes of the second half, Manchester United played like crap. Ferguson was fuming on the sideline, jumping up and down in anger.

But he also knew it was because the players were exhausted. So, he substituted Vidić for O’Shea, which barely managed to stabilize the defense.

Yet, Fulham was going toe-to-toe with Manchester United, even having a slight edge. The Red Devils, for their part, couldn’t find an effective way to attack.

Rooney… was silent!

Larsson… was also silent!

C. Ronaldo… zero shots on target tonight!

In the 67th minute, Ferguson even brought on Saha, creating a front three of Saha, Larsson, and Rooney.

Add to that Giggs, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo.

The Manchester United gaffer had gambled everything!

He had used up all three substitutions and had no intention of making any more adjustments.

It was all-out attack!

If they couldn’t beat Fulham tonight, the title was gone!

He knew the team was under immense pressure and carrying a heavy burden. For the past while, Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese had been neck and neck in the table, going all-out against each other. But the schedule was so packed, and the pressure on the players was immense.

But Ferguson believed that as Manchester United players, they had to learn to handle this kind of pressure!

As time ticked away, Ferguson stood anxiously on the sideline. Every few seconds, he would look up at the scoreboard. The score was still 1-1. But the clock was mercilessly changing.

89 minutes!

The fourth official on the sideline held up the board: 2 minutes of stoppage time.

The final three minutes!

Ferguson closed his eyes.

He could already see the celebrations of Bayswater Chinese tonight, and even tomorrow!

In the midweek Champions League match against Lille, C. Ronaldo was substituted off after 67 minutes.

This made him very unhappy because the score was 0-0 at the time. After he came off, Giggs scored in the 83rd minute. But he didn’t know that at the time.

So, in a fit of anger, he kicked a water bottle on the sideline.

This immediately made him the focus of media reports after the match. The vast majority accused him of arrogance and being a prima donna.

But no one ever considered that it was because he wanted to stay on the pitch, to keep creating goals for the team!

He didn’t want to be substituted!

But no one believed him!

They preferred to believe he was just untamable, had a bad temper, and was acting like a superstar.

Ferguson believed him.

So, after the match, the Manchester United gaffer told him, “Even if you had mouths all over your body, you could never out-talk the media!”

“You can never convince someone who argues with you with their ears covered!”

“You can only show them the facts!”

So, in this match, C. Ronaldo was extremely active. He constantly looked for chances, created chances, and took shots. But today, his luck seemed particularly bad. The more he wanted to score, the further the goal seemed to move away from him.

Today, Manchester United could not accept a draw!

That was what Ferguson had said before the match and at half-time.

So, he brought on Saha. Now, the final third was packed with attacking players.

Everyone was trying to find a way.

No one had given up, not even in the final moments of the game.

But it wasn’t enough!

The problem now was that the ball from the back simply couldn’t reach the forwards.

C. Ronaldo saw all of this clearly.

The Portuguese player lifted his head and glanced at the scoreboard.

It was almost 90 minutes.

No more time!

When he saw the defenders passing the ball among themselves in the back, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He ran back down the left flank, past the halfway line, and into his own half, about thirty meters from the goal.

Hugging the left touchline, C. Ronaldo raised his hand and shouted, “Give it to me!”

Vidić heard C. Ronaldo’s shout and immediately passed the ball forward.

Two Fulham defenders immediately closed in on C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese player couldn’t think about anything else; he had only one thought in his mind.

No more time!

If I don’t score now, the title is gone!

This would be his first major league trophy since joining Manchester United!

He would not allow anyone to take it from his hands!

In that instant, flashes of everything he had endured at Manchester United over the past few years raced through his mind.

He had arrived with the halo of being Beckham’s successor, but he had faced nothing but humiliation.

Everyone mocked him for being all style and no substance, everyone ridiculed him for being ineffective.

His teammates, Roy Keane, Van Nistelrooy, and many others who hadn’t shown it to his face…

He didn’t know how many there were.

But he didn’t care anymore!

At last summer’s World Cup, he became public enemy number one in England, but he didn’t care about that either!

Right now, he had only one thought, one intention.

I want to win the title!!

At the intersection of the halfway line and the left touchline, C. Ronaldo knocked the ball past an onrushing Fulham defender and ran around him, suddenly accelerating to chase after the ball. Another midfielder in a white jersey charged over, attempting a sliding tackle to knock both him and the ball out of bounds.

But C. Ronaldo reacted faster, poking the ball forward just in time and accelerating past him. The opponent only tackled thin air.

After beating two players, he faintly heard the surprise from the home fans.

When he reached the edge of Fulham’s penalty area on the left, he clearly saw Fulham’s right-back, Rosenior, quickly coming across to double-team him with a teammate.

In the distance, Giggs, who had switched to the right, was raising his hand; he was wide open.

But C. Ronaldo had no intention of passing.

At this moment, he only trusted himself!

He had to score this goal himself!

C. Ronaldo dribbled from the left corner of the box into the left side of the penalty area. Facing Rosenior, he used a series of body feints to deceive him, then suddenly cut the ball horizontally with the outside of his right foot, slipping between the two Fulham defenders.

Before he was even completely past them, C. Ronaldo used the momentum of his sprint to unleash a powerful right-footed shot.

The shot was full of power.

The force of it even caused the Portuguese player to jump into the air.

The ball rocketed into the Fulham goal with the force of a thunderbolt, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.

“Ahhh!!!”

C. Ronaldo let out a roar, turned, and sprinted towards the sideline.

The entire stadium was stunned.

The Manchester United players frantically rushed towards the Portuguese star.

Giggs jumped straight onto C. Ronaldo’s back, cheering and shouting with equal excitement.

All the players rushed over, swarming around C. Ronaldo.

On the sideline, the substitute players and the coaches on the bench all ran towards C. Ronaldo like madmen.

Ferguson, in his technical area, couldn’t contain his excitement either, running onto the pitch and shouting non-stop.

Everyone seemed to have lost their minds.

No one who hadn’t been through what they had could ever understand what four years without a league title meant to Manchester United.

No one could understand the weight C. Ronaldo had carried all these years.

This goal was his fist, punching out at the entire world!

He was telling the world: Scold me, humiliate me, mock me all you want—I will be the best!

I will make you all shut up, so you can’t say another word!

The players gradually returned to the pitch, and the game restarted.

But the score on the scoreboard had changed from 1-1 to 1-2.

The Manchester United players breathed a huge sigh of relief.

When they looked at C. Ronaldo again, their eyes held a clear new level of respect and recognition.

The football pitch is a place where strength always speaks loudest.

The goal C. Ronaldo scored at that critical moment was a testament to his strength!

Ferguson calmed his players on the sideline, gesturing for them to hold their ground and not make any mistakes.

There were less than two minutes left.

Fulham tried a long ball, attempting to hit it directly into the Manchester United box, but it was ineffective.

The partnership of Vidić and Ferdinand stood like a rock in front of the Manchester United goal.

When the time was up, head referee Peter Walton blew the final whistle.

At that moment, the Manchester United players all rushed onto the pitch to celebrate as if they had just won the title.

“Carlos, I now believe we have what it takes to challenge for the title!”

“All the titles!” Ferguson said to Queiroz, his confidence brimming.

Queiroz had watched C. Ronaldo grow up, and one could even say he had personally nurtured him. Seeing C. Ronaldo deliver such a performance made him incredibly happy.

Hearing Ferguson’s words, Queiroz knew in his heart that the old gaffer had truly, from the bottom of his heart, accepted C. Ronaldo as the team’s core.

The other teammates on the pitch clearly felt the same way.

This was an eternal truth on the football pitch!

To win everyone’s recognition, you have to deliver an outstanding performance on the field.

Today, C. Ronaldo had done something that no one else—not Rooney, not Giggs, not Scholes—could do.

So he deserved to be the core!

“I think we can give him more freedom, let him take on more responsibility,” Queiroz suggested.

He felt that Yang Cheng was right.

The current C. Ronaldo was not yet the best C. Ronaldo.

He still had a huge amount of potential to be unlocked.

Hearing this, Ferguson was obviously reminded of Yang Cheng.

While Manchester United was playing away in London, Yang Cheng’s team was traveling north to Middlesbrough to challenge Boro away from home.

“I wonder what the result of their match is?”

Having won the game, Ferguson was in a better mood, and a smile appeared on his face.

Chapter 117: Villains Always Die From Talking Too Much! Bayswater Chinese Is Finished!

The afternoon of February 24th.

Bayswater Chinese’s match kicked off a little later than Manchester United’s.

Yang Cheng was unaware of what had transpired at Craven Cottage in London.

He had no idea that while C. Ronaldo was tearing down the pitch on a 70-meter run, smashing a thunderous shot past Fulham’s keeper, another dramatic event was unfolding at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. Australian centre-forward Mark Viduka had just headed the ball into the back of the Bayswater Chinese net.

1-1!

The two sides were level.

Gareth Southgate’s team was clearly more formidable than when the two teams had first met. The addition of defensive stalwart Woodgate had significantly bolstered Middlesbrough’s defense.

Yang Cheng immediately made a substitution.

He called over team captain Modrić from the bench. The Croatian had already warmed up.

“When you get on, tell Lambert to push forward and apply more pressure. Their protection in front of the penalty area is weak. You and Andrei need to get on the ball more in that zone and figure something out.”

“Tell Gökhan he can take more shots from the edge of the box.”

“Understood.”

Yang Cheng looked at Modrić intently. The Croatian noticed his head coach’s gaze, gave a slight nod, and walked toward the touchline. He said nothing, but his mind was already made up.

…

The final thirty minutes were an agonizing ordeal for both teams.

Southgate’s strategy for the match was astute. Knowing that Bayswater Chinese had to win and were also feeling the effects of their midweek Champions League match, he opted to sit back, conserve energy, and hit them on the counter-attack. This played to the strengths of both him and Middlesbrough.

Yang Cheng had anticipated this and had taken precautions against their key counter-attacking threats, like Stewart Downing. In fact, Bayswater Chinese had managed to score just seven minutes into the game, with Lambert finding the net.

But for most of the match, Lambert had little success against Woodgate. The relentless schedule was taking its toll on the Bayswater Chinese players, the pressure mounting like a mountain on their shoulders.

This was the test!

Only the team that could endure it would be worthy of talking about winning the championship!

After Modrić came on, there was still half an hour to play. The Croatian brought Yang Cheng’s latest instructions: everyone was to remain patient, control the tempo and possession, and slowly probe for an opening in Middlesbrough’s defense.

Within five minutes of Yang Cheng’s substitution, Southgate made two of his own, using up all his changes. The first was a like-for-like swap in midfield to inject more energy. The second was to take off a striker for a midfielder, reinforcing his defense. With this, Viduka became the lone focal point up front.

This was a clear signal of Southgate’s intentions. He was going to see his defensive counter-attack strategy through to the end.

Time ticked by, second by second. As the remaining time dwindled, the match grew more tense, more fierce. The atmosphere was suffocating.

Bayswater Chinese kept pushing forward, relentlessly trying to create chances.

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng made his third and final substitution.

Ángel Di María replaced Yaya Touré.

Before he went on, Yang Cheng draped an arm around Di María’s neck, pulling him close. He leaned in and whispered in his ear, “When you get on, go to the right wing.”

Di María nodded repeatedly, listening intently.

“Taylor is young, only twenty. He often loses track of the player he’s marking.”

“And then there’s Bogarde. He always drops very deep. I want you to try cutting in from the right towards the top of the arc, or even to the left of the arc. Give them the fatal blow!”

“Do you understand?” Yang Cheng asked forcefully.

Di María’s face was dotted with teenage acne, but his eyes were fixed on Yang Cheng with unwavering determination. “I understand.”

“Remember, Ángel, we need a goal!”

“Got it!”

“Bring us some luck, Angel!”

With that, Yang Cheng gave Di María an encouraging pat on the back and sent him onto the pitch.

…

With Di María on the field, Bayswater Chinese now had a host of attacking players piled up front.

Lambert occupied the central position, with Ashley Young on the left and Di María on the right. In the middle were Inler, Modrić, and Arshavin. Modrić, assessing the situation on the pitch, dropped a little deeper with Inler. The Swiss midfielder wasn’t having his best day; several of his shots had sailed high.

Following the substitution, Bayswater Chinese began to launch their assault down the right flank. Piszczek became more active, frequently overlapping to join the attack. After the 80th minute, he was almost exclusively an offensive player.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, had retreated into a deep defensive shell. This made the game even more deadlocked, even more difficult.

Time slowly trickled away, and soon the match entered its 85th minute. But there was still no breakthrough. Attack after attack was repelled. Nearly every time Bayswater Chinese entered Middlesbrough’s final third, they were met with at least five, sometimes even six, defenders packed inside the penalty area.

It was the very definition of defending with all one’s might.

The Bayswater Chinese players surged forward, every one of them desperate to break into the box and find an opportunity to shoot.

Di María remembered what the head coach had just told him.

Crossing from the byline wasn’t going to work. They were dropping too deep, with five or six players camped inside the area, leaving no space for a cross to get through. Moreover, they were on high alert for long shots from outside the box. Inler had tried a few, but to no effect.

That left only one option.

Force them deep into their penalty area, then strike from the outside!

With this in mind, Di María looked at the nearby Piszczek, pointed to himself, and made a horizontal motion with his hand. The Pole understood his meaning and nodded.

It was worth a try!

Soon, Di María reached a tacit understanding with Arshavin. In fact, the two had already discussed the plan.

“Where do you feel most confident shooting from?” Arshavin asked.

“The right side of the arc. I’ll hit it with my left foot, curl it towards the far corner.”

“Get Piszczek to pass to me. I’ll set you up!” Arshavin decided instantly.

…

Another attack was launched.

After receiving a pass from Modrić in the right channel, Di María pushed forward relentlessly, forcing Taylor to backpedal. Middlesbrough’s defensive line retreated again and again.

Outside the top right corner of the penalty area, Di María drew the attention of two defenders. The left midfielder, Arca, had also tracked back. But the Argentine came to a sudden halt, evading Arca who was chasing him from behind, and shielded the ball.

Piszczek made a quick overlapping run down the flank.

Di María immediately laid the ball off to him, while he himself made a diagonal run towards the right side of the penalty arc.

Taylor and Arca had both been drawn towards Di María near the right edge of the box. Piszczek knocked the ball towards the byline and chased after it, finding himself inside the area on the right side.

He glanced into the box. Lambert was making a run towards the six-yard box, while Arshavin was pointing behind himself. No words were spoken, but the gesture was understood by all.

Piszczek saw a passing lane.

It was a lane Arshavin had created with his movement.

From the halfway point of the penalty area’s right boundary, he drilled a low cross. The pass was incredibly fast, slicing through Middlesbrough’s defense and heading towards the penalty spot.

Lambert had dragged the centre-backs with him towards the six-yard box. Everyone had expected Piszczek to go to the byline and cross, and they were all positioned to defend against that. Woodgate was already near the right corner of the six-yard box, ready to intercept.

But no one expected Piszczek’s low, driven cross.

Near the right side of the penalty spot, Arshavin suddenly turned, his back to the left side of the pitch, and controlled the ball with his right foot. As soon as he trapped it, Middlesbrough defenders like Boateng swarmed him. The Russian turned again, his back to the goal, seemingly shielding the ball.

He had two options now.

Inler was in front of the box to the left, but he was a bit far, and Downing was tracking back near him.

The only other option was Di María.

Arshavin gently nudged the ball forward, towards the point where the arc met the penalty area line.

The defenders had all been drawn into the box, leaving this area a vacuum.

Di María, who had been waiting on the periphery, suddenly accelerated. Using his momentum, he met Arshavin’s pass with his left foot and unleashed a powerful shot.

The Russian’s pass had been perfect for shooting—slowed down and with no spin. Di María struck it cleanly. The ball soared into the air, flying over everyone in the penalty area, carving a beautiful arc before clipping the inside of the left post and nestling into the Middlesbrough net.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 87th minute, the 19-year-old starlet from Argentina, Ángel Di María, breaks the deadlock with a curling shot from the edge of the box!”

“2-1!”

“My word, in the final moments of the game, Bayswater Chinese have scored again!”

“This is an absolutely golden goal!”

“It’s Di María!!!”

After scoring, Di María was so ecstatic that his mouth hung open as he roared in celebration, sprinting off the pitch. His teammates chased after him, mobbing him in a joyous huddle. Someone, in the heat of the moment, even planted a firm kiss on the Argentine’s acne-covered cheek!

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Middlesbrough 2-1!

A narrow victory!

Yang Cheng felt completely drained. The pressure of a match like this was utterly torturous.

“That was a fantastic game. You deserved the win,” Southgate said as he came over to shake Yang Cheng’s hand.

“Thanks, Gareth. You guys also played exceptionally well. You gave us a huge amount of trouble.”

“But we still lost in the end,” Southgate sighed helplessly.

“Keep up the good work. I hope you have a good result this season,” Southgate encouraged.

Yang Cheng thanked him.

After seeing Southgate off, Yang Cheng walked back to the dugout and asked for a bottle of water.

“What was the result from the Manchester United game?”

Gianni Vio had already checked.

“They also won 2-1. In the final moments, C. Ronaldo scored from a long run, breaking through Fulham’s goal.”

Yang Cheng was slightly stunned, but he quickly understood. Bayswater Chinese was feeling mountainous pressure, but wasn’t Manchester United in the same boat? At this stage, a slip-up could happen in any match. Whoever slipped up first would lose the initiative in the title race.

Bayswater Chinese’s advantage was their lead. As long as they didn’t make a mistake, the pressure would be transferred to Manchester United.

Next round, Manchester United faced the Northwest Derby, an away game against Liverpool.

Bayswater Chinese had an away match against Arsenal.

Both matches would be incredibly, incredibly difficult.

…

After the 28th round of the Premier League, media and fans not just in England but around the world were buzzing.

It had been a very long time since they had seen such a fierce title race. In recent years, be it Arsenal’s unbeaten season or Chelsea’s two consecutive dominant campaigns, the Premier League title had been decided early, losing all suspense.

But this season, the neck-and-neck battle between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had exhilarated and excited Premier League fans worldwide.

Especially in this 28th round, Liverpool had thrashed Sheffield United 4-0 at home. Arsenal had beaten Aston Villa 1-0 away. Both teams had shown excellent form recently.

Liverpool’s head coach Benítez even declared that he would not let Manchester United take even a single point from Anfield.

When the media jokingly asked Wenger if he would deliberately go easy on Bayswater Chinese because of his old feud with Ferguson, Wenger’s response was, “What are you thinking? They’re our arch-rivals in London!”

The entire country was captivated by the race for this season’s Premier League title.

Ferguson, meanwhile, launched a psychological war in the media.

On one hand, he told the press that for Bayswater Chinese to have held on this long was already a very successful season.

“Last season, they fell out of the title race early on, but now, they’re still fighting.”

Ferguson’s underlying message was: you’ve fought this far, even if you lose now, it’s still pretty good.

In addition, Ferguson commented on the fixture list, suggesting that Bayswater Chinese’s upcoming schedule would be the real test.

After playing Arsenal, they had the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, followed by the FA Cup quarter-finals, and then the 30th round of the Premier League at home against Portsmouth. Redknapp’s team was one of the best defensive sides in the league this season.

After that came a two-week international break, and upon their return, an away match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Ferguson stated confidently, “We have a more favorable schedule than Bayswater Chinese, but that’s no reason for us to let our guard down. We will give our all in every single match.”

“I believe the championship is beckoning to us!”

…

On the afternoon of March 3rd, at the Emirates Stadium in London.

Premier League, round 29. Bayswater Chinese away to Arsenal.

When Gilberto Silva calmly dispatched a penalty in the 51st minute of the second half, beating Neuer, the home team’s manager, Wenger, pumped his fists in excitement in front of the dugout, cheering for his player with all his might.

Then, the Frenchman elegantly turned, walked back to the home dugout, and plonked himself back down in his seat.

The scoreboard, which had read 0-1, now showed 1-1.

The teams were level.

Bayswater Chinese had scored their goal in the 16th minute of the first half. It came from a corner kick. Pepe met Leighton Baines’s delivery to give Bayswater Chinese the lead.

After that, the two teams were locked in a stalemate. Arsenal couldn’t find a goal, but their defense was solid.

This continued until the second half.

Rosický drifted into the left channel to receive a pass from Fàbregas, then fed the ball to the overlapping Clichy on the left wing. Clichy charged into the penalty area and was tripped by Škrtel on the right side of the box.

In his heart, Wenger knew full well that Clichy was somewhat suspected of diving.

But this was professional sport! Who told Škrtel to get so close to him?

“Have the results from Anfield come in yet?” Wenger asked his assistant coach, Pat Rice.

“They have. 1-0. Manchester United scored in the second minute of stoppage time.”

Wenger paused for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. “Damn, that was a close one!”

“Tell me about it,” Pat Rice said, his heart still pounding at the thought.

If something like that happened to Arsenal, it would be unimaginable. Over the past few years, Wenger had engaged in many such high-stakes battles with Ferguson, but had always failed to hold on in the end, allowing Manchester United to stage great comebacks time and time again.

This had become a source of pain for Wenger. For others, it was a one-time pain; for him, it had happened several times over.

“Tell the fans behind us to shout about it, let them know the result,” Wenger said with a mischievous, cunning grin.

Pat Rice looked at him in disbelief, but quickly did as he was told.

A hooligan isn’t scary. What’s scary is an educated hooligan.

When Wenger plays dirty, what chance do you have!

In the stands, a few fans soon started shouting that Manchester United had won. At first, it was just a scattered few voices, but soon more and more people joined in.

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players clearly heard it.

Yang Cheng immediately yelled at his players on the field, gesturing for them to stay focused and ignore everything else.

This made Wenger, sitting in the home dugout, chuckle.

“You’ve got yours coming, kid!”

“Once Bayswater Chinese lose their composure, we’ll have our chance.”

Pat Rice nodded repeatedly.

At a time like this, a team’s morale could easily shatter. This was an even greater test of a head coach’s control over his team. Without enough authority, there was no way to keep the players in line.

However, from what they could see, Yang Cheng had been the one on the touchline directing and commanding the players from start to finish. It was clear that the head coach of Bayswater Chinese was Yang Cheng, not Brian Kidd, as some conspiracy theories suggested.

“You know, Pat? Actually, we all quite admire him.”

Wenger suddenly said this out of the blue.

Pat Rice was a little surprised. “We?”

“Yes, me, and David.”

Pat Rice knew Wenger was referring to Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, David Dein.

“I had dinner with him once. Back when they were still in the lower leagues. I had my eye on Ribéry, so I invited him to North London, to a restaurant near my house.”

“Back then, he wasn’t as full of confidence as he is now. I heard he was drowning in debt, his team was in a low division, and Chelsea was eyeing their land. Everyone thought they wouldn’t survive.”

It hadn’t been that long ago. Pat Rice knew about Bayswater Chinese’s history. The media was now constantly hyping them up, talking about how legendary the club was. The story was known all over the world.

“You know, I once told him that if he ever wanted to sell Ribéry, he should give me a call.”

Wenger felt a little ashamed as he said this.

“I never thought the little rascal would actually call me later and ask if I wanted to buy…”

By the end of his sentence, Wenger couldn’t help but laugh. At his age, things like shame and pride weren’t that important anymore. Tangible achievements were what they valued most. Just look at Ferguson; he would do anything to snatch points and undermine his opponents, his thick skin could probably stop a bullet. Did any media or fans ridicule him for it?

“At the time, David and I both thought he would probably sell the stadium land to Chelsea. So we prepared a contingency plan, just in case Chelsea built a stadium there, and worked out how we would respond.”

Pat Rice was aware of this. But in the end, despite Chelsea’s repeated attempts, the acquisition never succeeded. Now, Bayswater Chinese was about to start building its own.

Only Arsenal, having gone through the process of building a stadium themselves, knew just how difficult it was!

If even Arsenal found it difficult, then it would surely be even harder for Bayswater Chinese!

And the most ridiculous part was that they had boldly announced they would spend one billion pound sterling on it. It was simply beyond belief.

“No one thought he could actually lead Bayswater Chinese to the Premier League, let alone to the position they’re in today.”

Wenger’s voice was filled with emotion as he said this.

The rise of Bayswater Chinese had had the biggest impact on Arsenal. The most direct consequence was that The Gunners had missed out on the Champions League.

But even so, as a competitor, Wenger couldn’t bring himself to hate Yang Cheng and his team. They were a truly respectable opponent. Just like Ferguson.

“Do you think they can win the title this season?” Pat Rice asked, concerned.

He probably shouldn’t have asked that. Arsenal had always considered themselves a top club. If this question got out, the Arsenal fans would crucify him. But Pat Rice was curious.

“Impossible!” Wenger said without any hesitation.

“Why?”

Pat Rice wasn’t surprised by the answer, but rather by how resolute Wenger was. He didn’t even need to think about it.

“Do you know what the most fearsome thing about that old fellow Ferguson is?”

Before Pat Rice could answer, Wenger spoke again.

“His ability to learn and evolve? His outstanding tactical knowledge? His incredible grasp of tactics? Or his lineups? His touchline management?”

Wenger shook his head.

“His lineups aren’t actually that great. At his core, that old git is just a stubborn Scot. Without Queiroz, he would have been crushed to dust long ago by me, by Mourinho, by Benítez.”

“So why has he been able to maintain Manchester United’s success for so many years?”

“Because he is the symbol of Manchester United, their greatest spiritual strength!”

“The most direct manifestation of this strength was in ’99, when they continuously overcame strong opponents, staging one comeback after another.”

“Over the years, he has relied on this spiritual strength to lead Manchester United to great comebacks in the league time and time again.”

“Many people might think I must be ashamed of being on the receiving end of those comebacks, but actually, I’m not.”

“On the contrary, I feel deeply honored to have such a head coach as an opponent, and to have even beaten him on multiple occasions.”

“Of course, I don’t mind saying, I suspect Ferguson feels the same way about me.”

As he said this, a faint, proud smile appeared on Wenger’s face.

“Going all-out against an opponent like that isn’t just a battle of skill. It’s a battle of the team’s spirit, from top to bottom, the mental fortitude of every single person, the overall cohesion of the squad, and their tenacious will to fight for the team until the very last second.”

“Compared to that, factors like talent, squad depth, and overall preparation are merely the foundation.”

Hearing this, Pat Rice immediately understood what Wenger meant.

“You think Bayswater Chinese is too young?”

“The players are young, and the head coach is even younger. Even if he started coaching from the day he was born, he wouldn’t have as much experience as Ferguson, not to mention Ferguson was a professional player himself.”

“When it comes to the most crucial moment, he won’t be able to hold on. And neither will Bayswater Chinese.”

Just like in today’s match.

But Wenger kept this last sentence to himself. He didn’t say it out loud. He had a feeling that villains always die from talking too much. Saying that extra sentence might just jinx it.

“Give them another two years!”

But then Wenger smiled. “But they might not have another two years.”

Pat Rice knew what Wenger meant. It was the standard practice of all top clubs.

If I can’t beat you on the pitch, I’ll gut you in the transfer market!

…

Yang Cheng started making substitutions in the 65th minute.

First Theo Walcott, then Ángel Di María. But this time, the Argentine replaced Ashley Young.

Wenger was well-prepared. In the 70th minute, he made two consecutive substitutions. First, he brought on Diaby for Rosický to strengthen the midfield’s interception and defensive capabilities. Then, he replaced Aaron Lennon with Adebayor, pairing Adebayor with van Persie in a two-striker formation.

Both sides were making targeted adjustments. This tit-for-tat battle made it difficult for either team to create clear-cut chances. Especially when Arsenal switched to a double pivot, their midfield became even more solid in defense. Gilberto Silva and Diaby formed a wall, firmly blocking the area outside the penalty box.

This was the biggest difference between Arsenal and Middlesbrough. The Gunners had better overall quality.

In the 81st minute, Yang Cheng finally made his last substitution. Džeko came on for Škrtel. A centre-back off for a centre-forward.

Wenger immediately responded, bringing on Senderos for Baptista. Arsenal took off an attacking midfielder for a centre-back. This was another targeted change. The goal was to shut down Bayswater Chinese’s two centre-forwards. After all, Kolo Touré and Gallas were not tall, and dealing with Lambert was already a strain. Bringing on another tall striker like Džeko would increase the pressure. So Wenger brought on Senderos, switching to a three-man defense to contain Bayswater Chinese’s twin strikers.

After the substitution, Wenger sat back down in the dugout, waiting for the final whistle.

But in the 84th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Leighton Baines pushed forward on the left. Outside Arsenal’s final third, he received a pass from Modrić and took a moment to set himself up. Once his teammates up front had all pressed forward, he delivered a 45-degree cross.

Leighton Baines’s crosses had always been precise. This time was no exception. The ball flew in an arc towards the top of Arsenal’s penalty area.

Džeko charged forward, drawing away Senderos and Gallas. But Lambert suddenly dropped back, using his body to shield Kolo Touré. Near the penalty arc, he leaped high from a standing start to meet Baines’s cross, heading the ball with an upward flick.

Lambert got a touch, flicking the ball on behind the defensive line and into the right side of the penalty area.

Before Clichy could react, Walcott zipped past him like a flash of lightning, so fast that the French defender didn’t even have time to commit a foul.

Walcott made a diagonal run into the right side of the box, perfectly timing it to meet Lambert’s flick-on. He turned and chested the ball down.

Just when everyone thought Walcott would shoot, The Little Tiger instead chipped the ball with his right foot.

The ball was lifted high again, dropping towards the center.

It was only then that everyone at Arsenal realized the true danger.

Džeko powered through Senderos and, from close range, headed the ball, smashing Walcott’s chip into the Arsenal net.

2-1!

In that instant, the entire Emirates Stadium fell silent. For eighty-four minutes!

“Bayswater Chinese have scored at a crucial moment once again!!”

“Džeko, who just came on as a substitute, scores with a header!”

“My God, how many times has this happened?”

“Yang Cheng’s touchline management is so crucial. Every one of his substitutions is deadly!”

“This time, substitutes Walcott and Džeko have delivered another crucial, timely, golden goal for Bayswater Chinese.”

“2-1!”

The moment Džeko scored, Wenger shot out of the dugout as if electrocuted. He stood there, stunned, watching the celebrating Bayswater Chinese players run across the pitch. He didn’t know how to react.

Another goal in the final few minutes!

Another goal from a substitute!

Why was he so much like that damned old man?

Wenger numbly walked back to the dugout and sat down, feeling completely deflated. He had no intention of getting up again until the match was over.

Villains really do die from talking too much!

Even just thinking it wasn’t safe!

…

Last-gasp goals!

Scorers who all came on in the second half!

The difference was that Manchester United won 1-0 at Anfield, with the goal coming in stoppage time. Bayswater Chinese won 2-1 at the Emirates, their goal coming a bit earlier.

But the result was the same.

When the results for round 29 came in, Premier League fans around the world erupted once more.

So intense! So brutal!

Both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had fought until the very last moment. Both teams had faced tough opponents away from home, but both had tenaciously defeated them.

Alan Hansen and Gary Lineker, on the BBC’s football program Match of the Day, gave both teams high praise, stating that this season’s Premier League was showcasing a spectacular title race, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in years.

“Relatively speaking, Manchester United’s star players are of a higher caliber.”

“C. Ronaldo has delivered high-level performances for two consecutive rounds. This round, O’Shea’s last-minute goal came after Reina fumbled C. Ronaldo’s direct free kick, and O’Shea scored in the ensuing chaos.”

“Looking at their recent matches, Manchester United have mostly relied on outbursts from stars like C. Ronaldo to secure victories.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s situation is somewhat different.”

“The West London team relies more on the collective.”

“They have players who have left a deep impression on us, like Arshavin, Džeko, and Ashley Young, but they don’t have a top superstar with the immense quality of someone like C. Ronaldo.”

“But it’s precisely because of this that we realize how remarkable Bayswater Chinese’s achievement is. They represent the rise of the underdog!”

But Gary Lineker offered a different perspective from Alan Hansen.

“You’re absolutely right, but if they continue to play like this, I’m afraid they won’t be able to last until the end.”

“In terms of schedule, theirs is tougher. They still have to play Tottenham and Liverpool, and there’s a two-week international break. This will be a terrible nightmare for Bayswater Chinese.”

“Although Manchester United also has an away match against Chelsea, we have to say that Bayswater Chinese’s challenge is more daunting. They might not even last until round 34.”

“But no matter what, for Bayswater Chinese to have held on until now, to have consistently led the Premier League table, that in itself is an incredibly legendary feat.”

“Remember, two years ago, they were in the Championship.”

…

March 6th, Champions League Round of 16, second leg. Bayswater Chinese hosted Lyon.

Having won the first leg 2-0 away and having just gone through a grueling battle with Arsenal over the weekend, Yang Cheng had no choice but to rotate his squad to ensure his players could perform better.

But just eight minutes into the game, Juninho bent a direct free kick into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese had been beaten by their own specialty: the lightning attack!

After that, despite Bayswater Chinese’s relentless attacks and the roar of over 60,000 fans cheering them on, they couldn’t break through Lyon’s goal.

The fierce battles in the league had clearly affected their performance in the Champions League knockout stage. But the team held firm and didn’t concede again.

Trailing by a goal at halftime, the situation didn’t improve much after the break.

But in the 61st minute, Yaya Touré played a through ball. Arshavin beat the offside trap, breaking into the box for a one-on-one with the keeper. He calmly slotted the ball past Coupet to level the score.

1-1!

This goal instantly ignited the passion in Wembley Stadium. A 0-1 loss would have still seen them advance on aggregate, but their unbeaten home record would have been broken. Now, at 1-1 at home, everyone could accept the result.

The fans could feel the team’s struggle on all fronts over the past period, especially in the league. Manchester United was breathing down their necks, with just a one-point gap. One mistake, and the title would be lost. The fans could feel the immense pressure weighing on the team amidst this tense, deadlocked battle.

Just when everyone thought the match would end in a draw, in the 82nd minute, Džeko received a cross from Maicon from the right. Inside the box, he used his body to hold off Cris and tried to turn and shoot, but Cris pulled him down.

The head referee blew his whistle without hesitation.

Penalty kick!

Modrić was the team’s designated penalty taker. But since this wasn’t a crucial goal and it was Džeko who had won the penalty, Modrić let Džeko take it himself.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-forward certainly didn’t refuse.

Taking a deep breath, he ran up and struck a clean, powerful shot, sending the ball into the net.

Coupet even dived the wrong way.

2-1!

All the Bayswater Chinese fans at Wembley Stadium were overjoyed. They had been prepared to accept a draw, but now they had won!

With a 4-1 aggregate score, the team smoothly advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals!

…

Manchester United beat Lille 1-0 at home, completing a double over them and advancing to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 aggregate score.

Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Barça, but thanks to their 2-1 away win, they advanced on away goals, knocking out Barça.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away and won 2-1 at home, advancing 3-2 on aggregate.

All four Premier League teams had advanced to the quarter-finals, making up half of the final eight!

The other four teams were AC Milan and AS Roma from Serie A, Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga, and Valencia from La Liga.

In the end, during the draw, Bayswater Chinese were drawn against Kaká’s AC Milan.

This placed a mountainous pressure on Yang Cheng.

According to the schedule, the two legs of the quarter-final would be played on April 3rd and April 10th. Before the 3rd, the 31st round of the Premier League would take place right after the two-week international break, with the team facing Tottenham Hotspur away. After that was a home game against Liverpool. This meant the team had to play three matches in one week, all against strong opponents.

Around the 10th, they had an away match against Charlton in round 33 and a home match against Fulham in round 34.

What truly worried Yang Cheng was the first leg. To make matters worse, the first leg was at home. A home-then-away tie schedule wasn’t normally an issue, but right now, it felt like a death sentence.

…

Over the weekend, in the 6th round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Blackburn Rovers.

Yang Cheng once again took an entire squad of young and backup players up north. But despite this, he refused to concede anything. In an interview with the media, Yang Cheng repeatedly stressed his faith in the young players, confidence that they would deliver a satisfying performance away from home.

“I know Mark Hughes’s team has been performing very well this season, but we also have a group of talented young players.”

“We will not easily give up on any single match, not even in a cup competition.”

“We will all give our absolute best. That is our style!”

Yang Cheng encouraged the young players on his team, hoping they would put on their best performance to prove themselves to everyone.

And as it turned out, the group of young players did indeed perform very well. The team dominated Blackburn for the entire match, with the young players repeatedly attacking Blackburn’s defense.

Mark Hughes’s team was known for its aggressive style of play. They had already received three yellow cards in the first half. But in the 28th minute, they scored from an attacking free-kick, with centre-back Aaron Mokoena finding the net to give Blackburn the lead.

However, in the 65th minute of the second half, Mokoena received his second yellow card and was sent off.

Now with a man advantage, Bayswater Chinese intensified their attacks, launching a fierce assault on Blackburn. The young players saw an opportunity, a glimmer of hope.

Mark Hughes, however, spent the final half-hour with his entire team defending in and around their box, completely abandoning any pretense of attacking. They grimly held on to their 1-0 lead.

In the end, Bayswater’s young guns couldn’t overcome their opponents on the road.

0-1, Bayswater Chinese were knocked out of the FA Cup.

…

Following their elimination from the FA Cup, many media outlets began to speculate that Bayswater Chinese, like Arsenal in the past, would collapse on all fronts after faltering on one.

Especially in the league.

In the 30th round of the Premier League, in a home game against Portsmouth.

Yang Cheng’s team did indeed face staunch resistance. Pompey set up in a 4-4-2 formation with a double pivot, making it clear they intended to defend with all their might.

Although Yang Cheng had given his main players a week’s rest, they still struggled to find a way through Portsmouth’s parked bus, forced to probe patiently.

Meanwhile, in a match played a day earlier, Manchester United had beaten Bolton 4-1 at home. This added even more pressure on the team.

The stalemate on the pitch continued until the 81st minute.

Lassana Diarra intercepted a pass in the attacking half, first laying it off to Arshavin before making a quick forward run himself. The Russian, under pressure, passed the ball to Džeko. The Bosnian centre-forward, with his back to goal, saw Diarra’s run and chose to lay the ball back. The Frenchman burst into the box and unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball skimmed past the right post and into the net.

1-0!

It was the only goal of the match.

Lassana Diarra had only scored two Premier League goals this season, and this one had unexpectedly earned the team a precious three points.

After the match, Yang Cheng showered Lassana Diarra with praise.

…

After the 30th round of the Premier League, international players from all levels began to leave the club to report for national team duty.

This made Yang Cheng very worried.

With the rise of Bayswater Chinese, the number of international players on the team was growing. Walcott was selected for the England U21 squad, and Gareth Bale had been called up to the Wales national team by John Toshack last year.

Due to the European Championship qualifying schedule, some national teams, including England, France, and Croatia, had to play two matches during the March international break, while others only had one. Unfortunately, most of Bayswater Chinese’s international players were in the former group.

In addition to that, the international players from South America and Africa had to endure long-haul flights and extensive travel, which was physically draining.

By the time they all returned to the club, it would be time for the 31st round of the Premier League. This time, Bayswater Chinese were away at White Hart Lane.

As it turned out, Yang Cheng’s team unleashed 21 shots away from home but squandered chance after chance. This included hitting the woodwork twice, missing a one-on-one, and having a goal disallowed for offside.

Instead, in the 44th minute, just before halftime, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane scored a one-on-one on a counter-attack.

Even though Yang Cheng made continuous substitutions and adjustments in the second half, and even had a goal scored but ruled out for offside, the magical comeback failed to materialize this time. They couldn’t even find an equalizer.

0-1, Bayswater Chinese fell at White Hart Lane.

Meanwhile, Manchester United, thanks to four second-half goals, defeated Blackburn 4-1 at home.

Chapter 118: A Great Legend! Who Can Stop the March to the Treble?

Xia Qing and the senior staff of Bayswater Chinese sat in the stands of White Hart Lane.

They had declined Tottenham Hotspur’s hospitality, choosing instead to sit with the away fans.

The moment the final whistle blew, some of the fans around them actually started to cry.

Quite a few of them.

The ones who followed the team to an away game were mostly die-hard supporters who had been with them through the past few years.

They never missed a match.

They had watched this team struggle, stumbling forward every step of the way.

They had hoped to challenge for the league title, only to be dealt a crushing blow.

The feeling was truly awful.

Xia Qing lifted her head and looked towards the away team’s technical area in the distance.

Tottenham had placed them in a remote corner of the stands, quite a distance from the away dugout.

But from Xia Qing’s vantage point, Yang Cheng stood alone in the technical area, like a general fighting a solitary battle.

He had lost, but he still held his head high with pride.

For some reason, seeing this scene and hearing the choked sobs of the surrounding fans, a wave of sadness washed over Xia Qing, and she felt the urge to cry.

He was having such a hard time.

“It’s alright. We lost this season, we’ll come back next season!” Adam Crozier’s eyes were also a little red.

He had truly poured his heart and soul into this club.

Now, to lose the title race at the final hurdle was a bitter pill for him to swallow.

“Honestly, I think we were a bit too optimistic before,” Omar Berrada sighed.

Adam Crozier nodded. Who could argue?

A team that had only been promoted to the Premier League for two years wanted to go toe-to-toe with numerous giants and powerhouse teams for the league title?

Crucially, the average age of the Bayswater Chinese squad was so young. How was that possible?

Moreover, looking at the schedule, Bayswater Chinese was at a significant disadvantage.

All their clashes between top teams were clustered together.

“The press department needs to get to work. Minimize the pressure from public opinion as much as possible, especially from that damned media. They’ll definitely go on a frenzy, tearing us down,” Adam Crozier reminded Omar Berrada.

“I’ll arrange it.”

“It’s fine. We lost this season, we’ll come back next season!” Adam Crozier let out a heavy, frustrated breath.

But when he turned and saw Xia Qing, then followed her gaze to Yang Cheng, an involuntary sigh escaped him.

Xia Qing, meanwhile, was thinking to herself.

She didn’t know what she could possibly do to help Yang Cheng.

…

If Yang Cheng knew what was going through the minds of Adam Crozier and the others in the stands at this moment, he would probably laugh and scold them.

You guys are so dramatic!

I haven’t taken much of a hit at all, okay?

It’s only round 31. There are still seven rounds left in the league. So what if we’ve surrendered the top spot?

Who said we’ve given up?

Did they really think his decades of experience as a Perpetual Runner-Up were for nothing?

Let alone the fact that the title wasn’t lost yet; even if it were, his composure wouldn’t be shaken.

He certainly wouldn’t be dealt any kind of blow.

Right now, he was just thinking about what to do next.

The first and foremost issue was the media.

He could imagine that tomorrow, the major media outlets in England, and even across Europe, would be scrambling to report on this.

That was their nature.

Whether it was Bayswater Chinese or Manchester United, as soon as they lost a match, the media would celebrate as if it were a holiday, tearing them down with glee.

Without tearing someone down, how would they sell papers?

At that point, Yang Cheng would become the target of public criticism.

They would attack him for fighting on multiple fronts—the Champions League, the Premier League, and the FA Cup.

He didn’t have the strength for it, yet he wanted everything. Serves him right!

Yang Cheng wouldn’t bother explaining himself.

Because it would be useless.

He had consistently used young players for the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Fighting on two fronts in the Champions League and the Premier League was his idea, but what was wrong with that?

The media would just run their mouths, saying he should have made choices and compromises.

Fine, then please tell me, what choices? And when?

They wouldn’t have an answer.

Were they suggesting he should just give up in the Champions League Round of 16 before the match was even played?

Who plays football like that?

If he did that, he wouldn’t even need the media to say anything; the players in his own team would be the first to rebel.

Without the test of real combat, who could know the limits of this team?

What are limits?

It means that if you don’t push yourself to the brink, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.

Everyone talks about Ferguson’s legendary Treble in 1999.

That’s because he won!

Before playing each of those matches, did he know he could stage a comeback?

He knew nothing of the sort!

He just gritted his teeth and pushed himself and his team to their absolute limits, and that’s how he forced out a Treble.

In the Champions League final, they were getting battered by Bayern Munich.

What “strength” was there to speak of?

The media only ever criticizes, only ever relies on imagination.

If you’ve never played, you’ll never know the result. You can’t imagine it.

But if you play, there will inevitably be wins and losses.

If you win, everything you did was right?

If you lose, everything was wrong?

That’s black-and-white thinking.

If you try to manage a team with that kind of mindset, you’re doomed to fail.

Yang Cheng had to give his players a heads-up, to minimize the impact of the media’s impending attacks tonight and tomorrow.

Otherwise, they might as well not play the rest of their matches and just surrender.

Moreover, Yang Cheng could foresee that old fox Ferguson taking the opportunity to kick him when he was down.

If their roles were reversed, he would do the same.

As for the criticism being directed at him, Yang Cheng didn’t really care.

He was thick-skinned and could take it.

So, Yang Cheng stood right where he was, mentally preparing what he would say when he entered the dressing room—planning his words, deciding what angle to approach from, what rhythm to use…

It was all very complex.

There was no time for melodrama.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng had done this sort of thing countless times in his previous life, so he had experience.

He knew what to do to get the best result.

…

When Yang Cheng walked into the away dressing room at White Hart Lane, the sweat-drenched players were all sitting in their spots.

Not a single one had gone to shower.

The dressing room was utterly silent.

The coaching staff and other personnel all stood silently to the side.

Even the masseurs, who should have been the busiest at this time, were looking at the players, unsure of what to do.

The moment Yang Cheng pushed the door open, the players all looked up.

Perhaps it was a kind of telepathy, or perhaps not.

They just knew their head coach had arrived.

And then, they all looked at him.

Some eyes held shame, others panic. Some were filled with unwillingness, others with aggrieved frustration…

But all of them held a plea for help.

A signal of helplessness, of not knowing how to face the situation.

Yang Cheng turned his head, nodded at Brian Kidd and the others, and gave a hand signal.

Brian Kidd understood immediately and gestured for everyone else to leave.

Soon, only Yang Cheng and his players were left in the dressing room.

“You probably won’t believe this, but actually, I’ve failed many, many times. Perhaps… countless times.”

Hearing this, the players were all very surprised. They looked at Yang Cheng in disbelief.

Did he look like someone who had failed many times?

Didn’t everyone say he was a chosen one, a Genius Coach?

“A failure like today’s, to be honest, doesn’t feel particularly special to me.”

“Of course, if we had lost a league title today, I might have felt a bit worse.”

“Maybe I’d lose my appetite for dinner? Or be in a bad mood? Or want a drink?”

“But once tonight passes, it’ll be nothing.”

Yang Cheng spoke very calmly.

“But I wasn’t always like this.”

“I still remember the first time I suffered a major failure. I locked myself away, too afraid to see anyone.”

“I regretted living in a world full of acquaintances. I was terrified of running into them, terrified of seeing the look in their eyes.”

“Maybe they didn’t mean it that way, but I felt that everyone around me was looking at me with scom and a desire to see me crushed. So I didn’t dare to look at them, and I didn’t want them to see me.”

The players all lowered their heads.

This was exactly how they felt at this very moment. Exactly the same.

It turned out the head coach really did understand.

“Only later did I realize what a naive, immature, fragile, and cowardly mentality that was!”

“Just like right now, you are all looking at me, and I am looking at you. You look at your teammates around you, and they are looking back at you. Put aside all those messy, random thoughts in your head and take a good look. Do you see any of that?”

After hearing Yang Cheng’s words, the players all raised their heads and looked at their teammates.

José Fonte threw an arm around Pepe’s shoulder. Pepe put his arm around Maicon, who put his arm around…

Gradually, everyone realized that the things they were afraid of didn’t actually exist.

The people around them were their teammates, who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

“We are a unit, lads!”

“We lost the match, so let’s all bear the consequences together.”

“I want you to believe in one thing.”

“Don’t mind what others say about you not being good enough, because the people who truly care about you, who love you, won’t keep focusing on your flaws. They will value your strengths and your progress even more!”

The players looked at one another, their arms draped over each other’s shoulders, nodding continuously.

“I often say, the media are a bunch of selfish snobs.”

“They will never see things from our perspective or consider our situation. They only think about themselves.”

“Today they can stomp us into the ground, but tomorrow, if it benefits them, they’ll get on their knees and shamelessly lick our boots!”

“The media and those who hope to see us collapse will always use the same logic to judge us.”

“They use one small failure to negate all of our success!”

“What they’re best at is using the loss of a single match to write off all the hard work we’ve put in over the entire season!”

“But football isn’t like that!”

“Football shouldn’t just be about winning titles!”

“Those teams that only think about championships and ignore everything else will never achieve success!”

As Yang Cheng reached his conclusion, he became more and more agitated.

His emotion quickly infected everyone in the dressing room.

All the players were won over by his words.

“What I want to tell you is that the correct mindset is, after we experience a failure, big or small, we shouldn’t care at all. We must resolutely continue to move forward.”

“We need to learn from our experiences and make ourselves better and better.”

“When that time comes, we will find that in the eyes of others, you won’t be the person who once failed, but the person right in front of them who is constantly improving!”

“When we become the butt of jokes and gossip, don’t mind it.”

“Because the progress and breakthroughs we achieve through our repeated efforts and by bravely accepting challenges belong to us.”

“And when the moment of our success arrives, those who once mocked, ridiculed, and belittled us will become the joke themselves!”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he took in the expressions and actions of all the players.

He knew he had achieved his goal.

“Finally, I want to tell you this: it’s only round 31, lads.”

“Manchester United won, and they’re two points ahead of us. So what?”

“In the upcoming matches, we won’t be playing for Manchester United, not for the title, not for what the media says about us.”

“We will play for ourselves, and for our Bayswater Chinese fans!”

The moment Yang Cheng finished speaking, the dressing room erupted in fervent applause and cheers from the players.

When Yang Cheng walked over and opened the door, and Brian Kidd and the others came back in, they found that the players were all fired up again.

Some were heading to shower, some were busy looking for their things, others were chatting idly, and some were calling for the masseurs…

Someone was even parading around in the nude…

All this seemed particularly magical to Brian Kidd and the staff.

Looking again at Yang Cheng, they were filled with amazement and disbelief.

In just a few short minutes, he had managed to rally the players’ spirits completely.

…

Things unfolded just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

That night and the following day, major websites and forums across England, Europe, and even the world were all reporting on Bayswater Chinese’s defeat at White Hart Lane.

Almost everyone was proclaiming that after Ferguson’s Manchester United had stormed back to the top, they would go on to win this season’s Premier League title.

At the post-match press conference after their 4-1 home victory over Blackburn, Ferguson, though still stressing that the team couldn’t get complacent and that their lead wasn’t significant enough, couldn’t help but say with a touch of arrogance when commenting on Bayswater Chinese, “They’re still too young.”

Regarding the upcoming schedule, Ferguson stated that Manchester United needed to strive for victory in all their matches.

But he also knew it would be difficult, as they also had the Champions League to contend with.

It was clear Ferguson had no intention of giving up on the Champions League easily.

So he repeatedly emphasized his belief in his team’s ability to advance on both fronts.

After Manchester United’s comeback to the top of the table, every word Ferguson said was deemed correct, and every decision he made was considered brilliant.

The media also generally believed that Manchester United was indeed capable of fighting on two fronts.

Some media outlets had even begun to sketch out a great Treble!

Yes, Manchester United had also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The league, the Champions League, the FA Cup—wasn’t this a repeat of the 1999 Treble?

The British media whipped up a frenzy, sparking heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Everyone was looking forward to Ferguson and his Manchester United once again achieving a great legend!

…

Midweek, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted AC Milan.

Yang Cheng took this match very seriously.

The team had just suffered a setback at White Hart Lane and had not yet recovered their morale. With a home game against Liverpool on the weekend, they had to give it their all, so Yang Cheng made some appropriate rotations.

Ancelotti’s 4-3-2-1 tactic made his defense as solid as a fortress.

Bayswater Chinese’s attack struggled to create any real threats.

But this time, Yang Cheng focused on defense and didn’t allow AC Milan to gain an advantage in positional play.

He paid special attention to containing Kaká.

The turning point of the match came in the 50th minute of the second half. Kaká broke through the middle with the ball, drawing a foul from the young Matuidi who was tracking back. This gave AC Milan a direct free kick.

Pirlo calmly took the shot, and a brilliant dipping free kick drew a collective gasp from the more than seventy thousand fans in the stadium.

1-0!

But soon after, in the 63rd minute, Bayswater Chinese also won a free kick in the attacking third. It was an indirect one, and Pepe connected with a header to level the score for Bayswater Chinese!

This Brazilian centre-back was also a threat in attack!

Then, in the 78th minute, from almost the same spot and in the same manner, Pepe scored another goal, completing his brace.

Both free kicks were won by Andrei Arshavin.

And the assists both came from Ashley Young.

But in the final moments of the match, in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Kaká broke through with the ball into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area. He drew a foul from José Fonte, earning AC Milan a penalty kick.

It was an indisputable penalty.

Kaká coolly converted, levelling the score.

2-2!

Bayswater Chinese were held to a bitter draw at home by AC Milan.

Meanwhile, Manchester United lost 2-1 away to AS Roma.

…

First a loss to Tottenham, then a draw with Milan.

After two weeks of the international break, Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm had been disrupted.

Everyone realized that in this kind of gruelling schedule, once you lose your rhythm, it’s all over.

Sure enough, in the 32nd round of the Premier League over the weekend, playing at home against Benítez’s Liverpool, Bayswater Chinese conceded a goal just 15 minutes into the game.

It was another set-piece attack, with Crouch assisting a goal by Kuyt.

Although Bayswater Chinese launched relentless attacks afterwards and managed to equalize through a Yaya Touré goal during an early second-half offensive burst, they couldn’t find the back of the net again.

1-1!

The two teams shook hands on a draw.

In just one week, facing three top teams, Bayswater Chinese had two draws and one loss.

Such a record wasn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t enough for a team aiming for the championship.

But a comparison of fortunes told another story.

Also playing a continuous string of matches, Manchester United lost 2-1 away to Redknapp’s Pompey.

Redknapp’s team had taken the lead in the 30th minute.

Later, Ferdinand even scored an own goal.

Manchester United only managed to pull one back in the final moments of the game, courtesy of O’Shea.

But they ultimately lost 2-1 to Portsmouth.

This confirmed Yang Cheng’s earlier judgment.

Manchester United’s schedule looked good on paper, but it was also fraught with peril.

Just as Portsmouth had given Bayswater Chinese a tough time at Wembley, they would be even more formidable a foe for Manchester United at their home ground.

If Bayswater Chinese’s record of two draws and one loss was considered poor, was Manchester United’s record of one win and two losses—against opponents far weaker than Bayswater’s—any better?

Of course, in terms of points, it was slightly better.

After this round of matches, Manchester United was one point ahead of Bayswater Chinese.

…

FA Cup semi-final, Watford versus Manchester United.

Before this match, Watford had considered approaching The FA to rent Wembley Stadium for the game.

So, Yang Cheng had wanted to take the opportunity to watch Manchester United play live.

But in the end, due to disagreements over the rental fee, the venue was moved to Birmingham, renting Aston Villa’s Villa Park.

Compared to Vicarage Road, Villa Park’s capacity was more than double.

The former held only 20,000, while Villa Park could accommodate 42,000.

Although the match was far away in Birmingham, it still attracted nearly 40,000 fans.

“What a shame. A single FA Cup semi-final, and they made over a million pound sterling from ticket sales alone.”

Yang Cheng said with a smile as he looked at the bustling crowd.

Sitting next to him, Xia Qing gave him a completely speechless look, not knowing what to say.

Originally, when Yang Cheng had asked her out, he only said he wanted to go for a stroll and didn’t tell her what they were doing.

She had thought it was…

But it turned out he had made a special trip to Birmingham to watch a football match.

Truly worthy of having been single his whole life!

However, if Yang Cheng had been honest from the start, she would have come with him anyway.

Even if she had no interest in watching this match at all.

“Do you think Watford can stop Manchester United?” Xia Qing asked with concern.

Yang Cheng smiled and shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Junior, you’re a real conversation killer,” Xia Qing was speechless again.

Wasn’t he very talkative when he was with his players?

Why wasn’t he making an effort now?

“I really don’t know. That’s just how football is.”

“Actually, a lot of the time, nobody knows when they’re going to lose, and there’s never an absolute guarantee of winning.”

“If you ever feel like you’re one hundred percent going to win, then you’re done for. You’re probably going to lose.”

Xia Qing pondered Yang Cheng’s words. He actually made a lot of sense.

“Honestly, I’m not sad at all, and I haven’t taken a blow. You don’t have to keep thinking I’m just putting on a brave face.”

“Have I been?” Xia Qing retorted.

“Then who was it that called, sent messages, and even offered to treat me to hotpot?”

Xia Qing’s face flushed red, and she became a little flustered.

So, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

“For us this season, whether we win the title or not, it’s a victory. It’s just a matter of how big a win it is.”

Seeing the conversation circle back to football, Xia Qing felt a pang of disappointment.

But she understood what Yang Cheng meant.

This season had been incredibly valuable for the development of Bayswater Chinese’s young players.

Winning the title would, of course, be a reason to celebrate.

But even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t be for nothing.

With such a young squad, given a little more time, they would definitely have a chance to claim the league championship.

…

Why did Yang Cheng want to watch Manchester United play?

Because Ferguson had been adjusting his tactics recently.

He had started playing a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The backline was standard, and the double pivot needed no mention. But the ‘3’ and the ‘1’ up front were quite interesting.

The lone striker in this match, the ‘1’, was Alan Smith.

The English forward had been out for a long time after breaking his leg, but his performances since returning had been decent.

His greatest strength was his tireless running.

As Yang Cheng had said before, Ferguson was always looking for a striker who could get the best out of C. Ronaldo and Rooney.

Neither of Manchester United’s twin stars could directly take on a defensive line by themselves.

Especially C. Ronaldo.

He desperately needed space to sprint into and utilize his strengths.

This required someone up front to occupy the centre-backs for him, like Saha.

But Saha was often injured and not very consistent.

Ferguson had once wanted to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Berbatov, but he was snatched up by Tottenham Hotspur.

Now, he was using Alan Smith.

Behind him was the ‘3’: Rooney in the middle, Ryan Giggs on the left, and C. Ronaldo on the right.

But in reality, C. Ronaldo’s position was fluid. He often roamed across the front line—left, centre, and right—drifting wherever there was space.

In this situation, Alan Smith’s role as the ‘1’ became crucial.

He was physically strong, able to hold off defenders, and had a massive work rate.

This allowed him to frequently appear on the left, in the middle, or on the right—almost everywhere—to link up with his teammates in small-sided plays.

For instance, just seven minutes into the game, Carrick played a through-ball from midfield.

Giggs and Alan Smith both deliberately let it run, allowing Rooney, near the left edge of the penalty area, to receive the ball, cut inside, and score with his right foot.

Later, Watford managed to equalize.

But just two minutes after that, Alan Smith drifted to the right to challenge for a header, winning the first ball.

Rooney quickly controlled the second ball and assisted C. Ronaldo for a goal.

The two goals in the second half were even more telling.

A pass from Giggs was intercepted by a defender, but Alan Smith pressed high up the pitch, won the ball back, and sent in a cross for Rooney to score from close range.

The final goal also came from an assist by Alan Smith.

Essentially all four of Manchester United’s goals were related to Alan Smith.

Watching from the stands, Yang Cheng could only shake his head.

Aidy Boothroyd’s tactics and formation, as well as his touchline management, were abysmal.

Watford’s defensive shape was also too rigid.

As a result, they had no answer for a constantly moving striker like Alan Smith.

“Manchester United won.”

As Xia Qing spoke, her eyes were fixed on Yang Cheng, concerned about his mood.

To her surprise, Yang Cheng actually smiled.

“Good that they won.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Manchester United’s current style of play is quite good.”

“Are you genuinely complimenting them?”

“What else?” Yang Cheng chuckled.

After a pause, he explained, “You know, for us head coaches, there’s a saying: never change a winning team.”

“So?”

“Manchester United won by a large margin today, and they played beautifully and fluently. I guess Ferguson will continue to play this way.”

Xia Qing didn’t understand.

Yang Cheng certainly wasn’t going to tell her that this formation was great for bullying weaker teams, but not as effective in clashes between top teams.

Against a team with a more open style of play, they could really rack up a huge score.

But if they faced a team that put them under intense defensive pressure, they would probably struggle.

Of course, you could never be sure about a match.

What if something unexpected happened?

Watching Alan Smith actually reminded Yang Cheng of something else.

No, someone else.

Someone who had also broken their leg.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, that guy’s story was also incredibly inspirational.

If it weren’t for the leg break, he should have been able to achieve much greater, perhaps even extraordinary, success.

Most importantly, he was a domestic player.

…

In the 33rd round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese traveled to The Valley to challenge Charlton Athletic.

Having been knocked out of the FA Cup and recently enduring a winless run of two draws and one loss, Yang Cheng stuck to the team’s familiar style of play.

They took the initiative from the start, dominating possession and trying to establish an early advantage despite being the away team.

Charlton Athletic’s head coach, Alan Pardew, was well-prepared, deploying a heavily fortified defense and focusing on counter-attacks.

But even so, they couldn’t stop Bayswater Chinese’s assault.

Just five minutes into the game, Maicon sent a cross from the right flank into the penalty area.

All the defensive attention was drawn to Džeko and the surging Yaya Touré, the two tall players.

Unnoticed, Andrei Arshavin, lurking behind them, headed the ball in from eight metres out. 1-0!

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese began to play more cautiously.

But they still maintained firm control over possession and the tempo of the game.

Charlton Athletic managed to stay patient in the first half.

But by the second half, they couldn’t hold back any longer.

They launched an offensive at the start of the second half, trying to grab a goal and equalize.

This did cause some trouble for Bayswater Chinese for a while.

But in the 56th minute, Yaya Touré launched a long pass from deep in his own half, initiating a counter-attack.

Andrei Arshavin, on a high-speed run, was the first to get to the ball, heading Touré’s long pass forward to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward quickly followed up with a placed shot, once again breaching Charlton’s goal.

2-0!

Later, in the 64th minute, Bayswater Chinese had another chance to score.

After Arshavin broke through the middle with the ball, he was surrounded by three defenders but managed to pass the ball out in time.

Ashley Young followed up with a shot, but it was saved by goalkeeper Carson, missing the scoring opportunity.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Charlton Athletic 2-0 away from home.

At the same time, Manchester United beat Sheffield United 2-0 at home.

Yang Cheng specifically watched the recording of Manchester United’s match.

Sure enough, Ferguson once again deployed Alan Smith as the team’s lone striker.

This essentially confirmed Yang Cheng’s earlier speculation.

With Saha not performing well, Ferguson wanted to use Alan Smith to support Rooney and C. Ronaldo.

…

On the evening of April 11th, at the San Siro in Milan.

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese against AC Milan away.

With the first leg ending in a 2-2 draw, Yang Cheng didn’t really have many good options.

The opponent had two away goals. Not taking the initiative to attack was basically out of the question.

Ancelotti once again employed his most frequently used Christmas tree formation this season.

Goalkeeper: Dida;

Defense: Jankulovski, Maldini, Nesta, and Oddo;

Midfield: A three-man defensive midfield of Ambrosini, Pirlo, and Gattuso, with Seedorf and Kaká in front of them;

Forward: Inzaghi.

Before this match, both Maldini and Gattuso had been carrying injuries and had missed the league game.

But they both made timely returns for this match.

This was crucial for AC Milan.

In Serie A, AC Milan had no chance of challenging Inter Milan for the league title, so Ancelotti was more focused on the Champions League.

Their most recent match was a home game against Empoli.

Ancelotti calmly rotated his squad heavily and comfortably defeated the opponent 3-1.

So, in terms of physical fitness, AC Milan had a clear advantage.

At the very least, Bayswater Chinese were still fighting for the Premier League title!

Yang Cheng, for this match, continued with his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the centre;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Yang Cheng’s game plan was very clear.

Even away from home, they had to do their utmost to dictate the tempo and drag AC Milan into their preferred rhythm.

Facing this AC Milan side was a headache for any team.

Because their defense was excellent, and their counter-attacks were equally superb.

This left most teams without a good solution.

What was even more absurd was that you couldn’t just let them control the tempo either.

Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaká, and others were all excellent passers, plus they had Inzaghi up front.

This gave their opponents a huge headache.

If you didn’t press forward to attack, AC Milan would seize control of the rhythm.

Their continuous passing combinations were also very slick.

This was not a typical Italian team.

On the contrary, Pirlo, Seedorf, and Kaká were all number 10 players.

This was a highly technical team.

If one had to point out a weakness in AC Milan, it would be their age.

Their high average age meant they were slow to get into the rhythm of a match.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had to seize the tempo and attack from the start.

Another factor was working against Bayswater Chinese.

“This damned weather!”

Yang Cheng put on his raincoat, held out his palm, and it was immediately filled with rainwater.

He looked up at the Milan night sky and saw the rain was getting heavier.

Despite being from rainy England, Yang Cheng despised such heavy rain.

Bayswater Chinese excelled at passing and moving, but in this downpour, both the ball and the pitch would be very slippery.

…

As the match began, Bayswater Chinese immediately went on the offensive.

The Premier League team, skilled at launching early attacks, unleashed a wave of assaults.

A diagonal pass from Ashley Young on the left was cleared by Maldini just before Džeko could reach it.

But the ball was still at the feet of a Bayswater Chinese player.

The team reorganized their attack.

A little over a minute in, Arshavin dribbled into the penalty area, shook off Maldini, and delivered a low, driven cross from the right side of the box.

Džeko was about to shoot when Nesta lunged in to block it out.

Corner kick.

Soon after, Pepe met a corner from the left with a header, which went just over the bar.

But in the 3rd minute, Bayswater Chinese’s attack came again.

This time it was a long shot from outside the box.

Modrić unleashed an unexpected long shot, which Dida tipped over the crossbar.

Another corner kick.

But this one was delivered too close to the goal and was caught by the onrushing Dida.

Later, in the 7th minute, Maicon sent in a cross from the right. Arshavin got on the end of it and shot directly.

The shot lacked power and was easily collected by Dida.

AC Milan also launched a counter-attack in the 13th minute.

A long shot from Kaká outside the box was gathered by Neuer.

This was AC Milan’s first shot of the match.

From the start, Bayswater Chinese had taken the initiative and played more aggressively.

But after 10 minutes, especially from the 15-minute mark onwards, as AC Milan’s counter-attacks began to show promise, Yang Cheng signaled for his team to proceed steadily and surely, and to focus on their defense first.

Kaká’s form this season was just too good!

They had already experienced how sharp his counter-attacks were in the first leg.

AC Milan was very experienced, and with two away goals from the first leg, they were in no hurry.

But in terms of specific defensive tactics, the sweeping and blocking of Gattuso and Ambrosini provided excellent protection for AC Milan’s defensive line—this was the benefit of a three-man defensive midfield.

Pirlo orchestrated from the middle, flanked by the protection and sweeping of Gattuso and Ambrosini. Their energetic running and coverage made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese’s attack to be effective.

Their containment of Arshavin, in particular, was very well executed.

The Russian was adept at dribbling in the half-spaces and even on the wings.

But no matter where he went, he found it hard to shake off the entanglement of Gattuso and Ambrosini.

Apart from the first 10 minutes, this stalemate persisted for almost the entire first half.

AC Milan focused on counter-attacking, but Kaká was also being heavily marked by Bayswater Chinese.

The away team wanted to attack but struggled to create clear-cut chances.

And they had to constantly worry about the threat of counter-attacks from behind.

This stalemate continued for the entire first half.

But at the beginning of the second half, Bayswater Chinese missed two very good opportunities in quick succession.

The first was in the 48th minute, when Maicon sent in a curling cross from the right. Džeko drew the defenders at the near post, but Ashley Young, arriving at the far post, swung his foot at the ball and missed completely, squandering a golden opportunity.

Then in the 53rd minute, Seedorf was dispossessed in midfield. Lassana Diarra initiated an attack and passed the ball to Arshavin.

The Russian shook off Ambrosini and was dribbling into the penalty area when he was tripped by a timely challenge from Maldini.

The players from both sides got into a dispute.

Bayswater Chinese argued that the foul occurred inside the box and should have been a penalty.

But AC Milan contended it was a foul outside the area.

In the end, the head referee gave a yellow card and a free kick.

Leighton Baines took the free kick, but it hit the wall and posed no threat.

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, that really was a penalty.”

“But the situation on the field was a bit chaotic, and it is AC Milan’s home game, so the referee was probably being a bit cautious.”

“Goal kick for AC Milan.”

After continuously missing scoring opportunities, Bayswater Chinese finally paid the price.

Yang Cheng had been paying close attention to Pirlo all game.

As a result, Pirlo hadn’t had any good opportunities for long passes.

But this time, it wasn’t Pirlo; it was Nesta.

A long pass from the back went straight to the feet of Kaká, who was waiting for a counter-attacking opportunity.

The Brazilian controlled the ball, turned, and charged forward, directly facing José Fonte.

Pepe had to mark Inzaghi, leaving José Fonte in a one-on-one situation.

The Brazilian first burst forward with acceleration, knocking the ball deep into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area. After chasing it down, he suddenly came to a sharp stop and pulled the ball back.

The pitch was wet and slippery. José Fonte, sprinting at high speed, couldn’t stop his momentum and slid down inside his own penalty area.

Kaká seized the golden opportunity, took a step sideways, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that flew into the back of the Bayswater Chinese net.

1-0!

This was the 62nd minute of the match.

Kaká had given AC Milan the lead!

After conceding the goal, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions, further strengthening the attack.

Although he already knew deep down that there was little chance left in this match.

But he still wanted to make one final effort.

AC Milan, on the other hand, began to retreat and fortify their defense, looking to hit Bayswater Chinese on the counter.

The rest of the match became a battle of attack versus defense.

Bayswater Chinese consistently failed to create any clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities.

AC Milan had several threatening counter-attacks but failed to score as well.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team lost 1-0 away to AC Milan.

The aggregate score was 3-2. They were eliminated, their Champions League semi-final dream over.

…

Regarding the defeat, Yang Cheng commented, “Our opponents were more energetic, their defense was better, and their counter-attacks were sharper. All of these created a lot of trouble and pressure for us.”

“Congratulations to AC Milan, they are the deserving winners!”

Yang Cheng admitted that due to their league campaign, the pressure on Bayswater Chinese was immense.

“Ancelotti rested six key players in the league and still easily defeated their opponent, but we can’t do that.”

“We’ve been fighting with all our might, in every single match. This kind of schedule, these kinds of opponents, it’s just too difficult for us.”

But then, Yang Cheng changed his tune.

“But I’m very happy that in such a difficult environment, my players still gritted their teeth and never gave up.”

“In this match, our biggest takeaway is a defeat, but it’s more than just a defeat.”

“Even up to the final moment of the game, every single one of us was still fighting hard, pressing, and challenging. We didn’t give up, not even in the last minute.”

“We are a very young team, and being tested by this kind of failure is a valuable asset for us.”

“But that isn’t to say that failure itself is the lesson.”

“The most important thing is the resilience and tenacity we showed in the face of adversity, sticking it out to the end. That is our greatest and most precious reward.”

Finally, Yang Cheng once again congratulated Ancelotti and his AC Milan, and also congratulated Kaká.

“He is truly, truly outstanding.”

From beginning to end, Yang Cheng made no excuses for his defeat.

A loss was a loss.

He and his players could afford to lose.

This, in fact, earned him a great deal of respect from the media and fans after the match.

Many things were objective facts that everyone was aware of.

Bayswater Chinese faced difficulties and a tough schedule, but AC Milan was no different—they had their own challenges.

Making excuses and finding reasons is a form of avoidance.

That was not Yang Cheng’s style.

…

Eliminated from the FA Cup, overtaken by Manchester United in the league, and now, knocked out of the Champions League.

Everyone began to worry about Bayswater Chinese’s prospects for the season.

Especially the British media.

They all declared that Bayswater Chinese would end the season with nothing!

In contrast, Ferguson’s Manchester United, after losing the first leg 2-1 away to AS Roma, returned home and thrashed The Giallorossi 7-1, securing a resounding victory.

All of England was singing the praises of Ferguson and his team.

Almost everyone believed that Ferguson and his Manchester United would ride this momentum, sweep through the Premier League and the entire European football scene, and recreate the miracle of the 1999 Treble!

A 7-1 victory in the Champions League quarter-finals!

They were playing like a team possessed!

Yang Cheng took another look at Manchester United’s starting lineup: it was still Alan Smith, Rooney, C. Ronaldo, and Giggs.

This attacking combination had secured large-margin victories for several consecutive matches.

The media believed that Ferguson had found the winning formula for Manchester United.

The Red Devils would, with overwhelming force, conquer the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League!

No one could stop Manchester United’s march towards the Treble!

It was amidst this chorus of high praise.

It was at a time when fans all over Britain, all over Europe, and even all over the world had high hopes for Manchester United.

In their subsequent Premier League match, round 34, Manchester United drew 0-0 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

It seemed as though Ferguson’s team had expended all their goal-scoring luck on AS Roma.

At Stamford Bridge, C. Ronaldo, Rooney, Alan Smith, Giggs…

All the Manchester United players looked as if they had forgotten how to play football.

They were completely lost within Mourinho’s impenetrable defensive fortress.

The entire world was once again in an uproar.

Football, it is forever so unpredictable!

Chapter 119: We Are the Champions! Excuse Me, Can You Receive the Trophy Without a Coaching License?

Wembley Stadium, London.

In the thirty-fourth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Fulham.

This was not a contest between equals.

Especially not at Wembley Stadium.

As the Premier League title race intensified this season, although Bayswater Chinese had been overtaken by Manchester United in the league table, London fans were still turning out in droves.

Now, the attendance for every home league game was approaching fifty thousand.

For this particular fixture against Fulham, the crowd even surpassed fifty thousand, nearing fifty-five thousand.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was a number to be proud of.

Spurred on by the home crowd, Bayswater Chinese launched a fierce assault on Fulham from the moment the first whistle blew.

They managed their first shot in just the second minute.

After that, the team continued to press forward relentlessly.

In the tenth minute, a flick-on from Lambert set up an overlapping Ángel Di María, who nearly broke the deadlock.

The Argentinian was kicking himself for missing the chance.

The sheer difference in quality allowed Bayswater Chinese to dominate possession.

Then, in the fifteenth minute, Gökhan Inler made an overlapping run and, from the left of the penalty spot, fired a shot that pierced Fulham’s goal, opening the scoring for his team.

1-0!

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued their onslaught.

Having lost their Champions League match mid-week and facing a barrage of criticism and accusations from the media, Bayswater Chinese was under immense pressure.

They needed a victory.

From the twentieth minute onwards, Modrić put on a one-man show.

In the twenty-first minute, he delivered a sublime pass to Theo Walcott on the right, whose powerful shot flew just wide.

In the twenty-third minute, it was again Modrić who sent a diagonal pass from the right, and Lambert’s sliding shot at the goal line was nearly a goal.

In the twenty-fifth minute, Modrić once again drove the ball forward and laid it off horizontally at the edge of the penalty area.

Yaya Touré, who had surged up from the back, unleashed a long shot that the goalkeeper acrobatically saved.

In the twenty-seventh minute, Modrić chipped a pass forward. Lambert’s header in the box struck the right post.

Modrić was creating a scoring opportunity nearly every two minutes.

It was a staggering display that left everyone dumbfounded.

Then, in the thirty-first minute, Modrić distributed the ball to Walcott, who played a straight pass down the right.

Lambert moved to the right side of the box to receive it, then sent a low, driven cross from near the byline.

Ángel Di María arrived at the far post and, not missing his chance this time, tapped it in with ease.

2-0!

The match continued with Bayswater Chinese in constant attack.

Over the entire first half, the home team enjoyed a staggering seventy percent of possession.

They had a total of fourteen shots on goal.

The home fans were completely captivated.

And just thirty-three seconds into the second half, Bayswater Chinese showed everyone once more what a lightning attack looked like.

After kicking off, Bayswater Chinese passed the ball back to their centre-backs.

Škrtel passed it back to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian launched a long ball to Lambert up front.

The English centre-forward won the initial header, nodding it down to Modrić at the top of the penalty arc.

Modrić, who was in sensational form, controlled the ball, sidestepped a defender, and fired a shot into the net.

3-0!

Just thirty-three seconds!

The goal was pure lightning!

With the victory secured, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions.

The team still managed to spurn a few chances.

Including one in the seventieth minute.

Substitute Gareth Bale crossed from the left, and another substitute, Nemanja Matić, made a run into the box. Unmarked, about seven meters from goal, Matić somehow headed the ball wide.

The Serbian midfielder had missed his chance for a first Premier League goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 home victory over Fulham.

The moment the final whistle blew, Yang Cheng, who had been struggling to contain himself on the sidelines, burst onto the pitch.

Dressed in his suit, he pumped his fists and roared as he ran.

Everyone was startled by the sudden scene.

The players on the pitch and the fans in the stands all stared in astonishment at their manager’s uncharacteristic display.

It wasn’t until an announcement came over the Wembley Stadium speakers that they understood.

“In the match that just concluded at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Chelsea!”

“The great Bayswater Chinese! The great players of Bayswater Chinese!”

“We’re back on top of the table!”

The players all froze for a second, then rushed towards their manager in a frenzy.

The entire stadium erupted in cheers.

Countless fans leaped from their seats, showering their manager and players with applause and roars of approval.

We’ve reclaimed it!

We’re leading the Premier League again!

With Bayswater Chinese’s 3-0 victory over Fulham and Manchester United only managing a single point against Chelsea, Bayswater had turned a one-point deficit into a one-point lead.

No one could comprehend the immense pressure Bayswater Chinese had been under.

They had endured attacks, accusations, ridicule, and scorn from the media.

Everyone mocked them, calling them arrogant for trying to compete on multiple fronts.

In contrast, they practically fawned over Manchester United.

Whatever Ferguson and Manchester United did was right!

Whatever Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese did was wrong!

But now?

The tables had turned!

Everything was different!

Surrounded by his players, Yang Cheng raised his fists high, shouting and venting his emotions.

All the players celebrated with their manager.

Yang Cheng was too emotional.

He had completely forgotten his usual persona.

Only when he had calmed down slightly did he realize that the head referee and the opposition players were still on the pitch.

He had run all the way to the center circle.

“Sorry, Mason.”

Yang Cheng walked over to shake hands and embrace the head referee, Lee Mason.

“Good thing you rushed on after the whistle, or I would have had to book you,” Lee Mason said with a smile.

In truth, he completely understood Yang Cheng’s excitement.

It had been so difficult!

To be locked in such a back-and-forth battle with Manchester United, with the top spot changing hands so many times.

In the end, this young team had once again climbed to the summit.

“Keep it up, Yang.”

“Thank you, Mason.”

After bidding farewell to the referee, Yang Cheng heard the thunderous applause from the entire stadium.

He raised his hands high, applauding the fans who had come to support them.

Modrić, José Fonte, and the other players gathered around their manager, all looking ecstatic.

“The last four matches, we absolutely cannot give up!”

“We have to push on in one final effort and charge straight for the title!”

“Can you do it?” Yang Cheng yelled himself hoarse.

“Yes! We definitely can!”

All the players roared in unison.

Only after losing something do you learn to cherish it, to understand its value!

Bayswater Chinese had lost it once, and the experience left them all in pain, filled with regret, shame, and guilt.

Now, they had another chance.

They would not let it slip away again!

“I didn’t expect things to turn out like this. This is a very poor result.”

“We’ve performed exceptionally well recently, as everyone has seen, but at Stamford Bridge, everything was ruined.”

In his post-match press conference, Ferguson immediately pointed the finger at Mourinho.

In reality, Chelsea had dominated Manchester United for the entire match.

The Red Devils’ crushing offensive power from recent games was completely neutralized by Chelsea’s ironclad defense.

But Ferguson believed his team lost due to bad luck.

“Our luck was terrible. We actually had two very good opportunities, but the players couldn’t convert them.”

“And we did control the game at one point, but our opponent’s conservative approach was unexpected.”

When a reporter reminded Ferguson that Manchester United had been on the back foot for the whole match, as evidenced by all the statistics, Ferguson denied it.

“No, no, no, you can’t just look at the stats. You have to see that on the pitch, at certain moments, we gained the upper hand, but we failed to seize those opportunities and turn them into goals.”

As for the performance of his star players, Ferguson offered no criticism, instead directing his ire at the head referee.

“Graham Poll might have been a good referee once, but his officiating in this match was very disappointing to me, because he didn’t control the situation well.”

“This should have been a fantastic match.”

“And the timing of the final whistle—we were in the middle of an attack. I feel that three minutes of stoppage time is far too little for such an intense game.”

“I protested during the match, but he dismissed it.”

Ferguson was disappointed at losing the top spot in the league but refused to admit defeat.

“In fact, this isn’t the first time this season we’ve surrendered the top position.”

“There are four rounds left in the league. I think we are fully capable of taking the lead back.”

“Bayswater Chinese is a very resilient team. They’ve held on, which has turned the title race into another tug-of-war, but that’s not a bad thing.”

“We welcome the competition!”

“But the title will definitely belong to us, Manchester United!”

Ferguson also made a point of mentioning the Champions League, where Manchester United had reached the semi-finals to face AC Milan.

The Manchester United manager considered this a joyous occasion.

“We will continue to fight in the Champions League, the league, and the FA Cup. We are the only team in European football still competing on three fronts, and that speaks volumes.”

Ferguson’s underlying message was clear: Manchester United was still the strongest team in Europe.

Besides Ferguson, Manchester United’s players also came forward to make statements to the media.

From Gary Neville to Ferdinand, to C. Ronaldo and Rooney, they all stepped up to rally for themselves and their team.

The major British media outlets also threw their weight behind Manchester United, backing the Red Devils to fight until the very last moment.

Fight for the Treble!

But it was obvious that the match at Stamford Bridge had dealt a massive blow to Manchester United.

After finally snatching the top spot in the league, they had handed it right back to Bayswater Chinese.

Morale was low throughout the Red Devils’ camp.

More importantly, they also had to divide their attention with the Champions League.

A week later, in the thirty-fifth round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese’s match against Bolton was scheduled for noon.

As it turned out, Yang Cheng’s team, with their morale soaring, was virtually unstoppable on the road. A brace from Džeko and a goal from Yaya Touré secured a brilliant 3-1 victory over Bolton.

Later that evening, Manchester United hosted Middlesbrough.

Wanting to conserve energy for the mid-week Champions League fixture, Ferguson rotated two or three positions.

The start was very smooth, with Kieran Richardson opening the scoring for Manchester United in the third minute.

It seemed to signal Manchester United’s dominance.

But after that, the Red Devils’ attack stalled.

It was clear to everyone that Manchester United had a problem in their offense.

The attacking trio of Alan Smith, C. Ronaldo, and Rooney was completely neutralized by Middlesbrough’s defense.

Woodgate, in particular, was in heroic form.

The match was fiercely contested.

Just before halftime, Middlesbrough launched a swift counter-attack. Stewart Downing broke down the wing and sent in a cross.

Mark Viduka outjumped O’Shea and headed the ball into the net, equalizing for Middlesbrough.

This ignited the tempers of both teams.

Ferguson’s original plan was to crush the opposition in the first half, make substitutions at halftime, and rest players for Wednesday’s home Champions League semi-final.

Unexpectedly, they were now bogged down by Middlesbrough.

Not only were they bogged down, but tempers flared in the second half.

A total of seven yellow cards were issued, a testament to the ferocity of the contest.

Ferguson eventually made substitutions to strengthen his attack.

But C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Scholes stayed on, while Richardson, Alan Smith, and Ferdinand were taken off.

In the end, however, Manchester United couldn’t find a way past Middlesbrough’s goal again.

1-1, the two teams shook hands on a draw.

With this result, Bayswater Chinese’s lead expanded from one point to three.

After this round of matches, the tone of the British media began to shift.

Many outlets, including authoritative papers like The Times and The Guardian, changed their stance, believing that Bayswater Chinese now held the advantage in the title race.

“After two consecutive draws, Manchester United has surrendered the initiative in the title race.”

“Ferguson’s team clearly hopes to focus on the more important Champions League.”

The Manchester Evening News also suggested that temporarily setting aside the league was a strategic choice by Ferguson and Manchester United.

“For any team, the Champions League is more important.”

“To focus on the Champions League semi-final against AC Milan, Manchester United needs to concentrate all its energy and resources.”

This was a rather different tune from before.

At least “fighting for the Treble” had become a “strategic choice.”

Yang Cheng was used to the media’s flexible positions.

He couldn’t even be bothered to argue with them.

But when it came to Manchester United, he didn’t mind kicking them while they were down.

“We’ve played against both teams. If I were to give my personal, subjective opinion, I think AC Milan has a better chance of winning because their defense is outstanding and their counter-attacks are razor-sharp.”

“More importantly, their midfield has excellent control.”

“If Manchester United wants to win, they will need to suppress AC Milan in the midfield.”

Unlike in his past life, the current Manchester United had Owen Hargreaves.

But the bad news was that in the past life, Manchester United had all but secured the league title by this point.

The current Red Devils, however, had just lost the initiative in the title race.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng had no idea who would ultimately prevail.

While Yang Cheng was at Bayswater Stadium, focused on preparing for the weekend’s league match, Manchester United was hosting AC Milan.

The result was stunning: Manchester United lost 1-2 at home to AC Milan.

Kaká scored a brace for AC Milan.

Ryan Giggs scored Manchester United’s only goal.

This left all of England disappointed and regretful.

A home loss basically meant Manchester United would miss the Champions League final.

The Treble that the media had been hyping up had vanished into thin air.

Although Ferguson remained confident about the second leg, the media and fans had already lost hope.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised by the result.

Kaká was in incredible form.

C. Ronaldo and Rooney, on the other hand…

As if to prove a point, Ferguson once again started Alan Smith as the lone striker, with Giggs, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo behind him.

But this formation had repeatedly failed in the league, and it proved ineffective in the Champions League as well.

Yang Cheng couldn’t quite understand why Ferguson was doing this.

It might have been to protect Alan Smith’s feelings.

As Yang Cheng had always said, Ferguson was, at heart, a very traditional Englishman with a special affection for homegrown players. So, when Alan Smith performed well, Ferguson didn’t hesitate to make him a starter.

The same was true in the competition between C. Ronaldo and Rooney. Initially, Ferguson had leaned towards Rooney.

In fact, he had always favored Rooney.

It was only when C. Ronaldo’s performances became increasingly spectacular, coupled with the incident at the 2006 World Cup, that he was forced to make a choice. Ferguson had to sideline Rooney to fully elevate C. Ronaldo.

In the current situation, dropping Alan Smith would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to the player.

That was something Ferguson was unwilling to see.

But this was precisely what Yang Cheng had always tried to avoid.

Why did Yang Cheng scout players like Robert Lewandowski, Džeko, Ángel Di María, and Marcelo?

And why did he bring them to the team at such a young age to develop them?

Because of the restrictions on homegrown player quotas.

For many years, England’s youth development system had been a mess, producing very few promising talents.

The moment a potential star emerged, they would be snatched up by the big clubs.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were signed early; otherwise, Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Even after securing them, weren’t other clubs still trying to poach them?

And even a player like Rooney, whether in terms of talent, individual ability, or technical attributes, was a far cry from the top prodigies in world football.

Never mind comparing him to super-talents like C. Ronaldo and Messi.

Among strikers alone, Benzema, Suárez, Lewandowski, even Džeko—which of them wasn’t better than Rooney?

To some extent, for Premier League clubs, homegrown players were a drag.

A severe drag.

This situation would persist for another decade, only improving slightly when a new generation of youth products like Luke Shaw and Sterling emerged.

England’s youth academy reforms began in 2012.

But before that, homegrown players were a serious liability.

From this perspective, Wenger’s strategy was correct.

Chelsea’s aggressive poaching of young players was also correct.

Manchester United, in contrast, was always focused on developing homegrown talent.

From Ferguson’s or an Englishman’s perspective, this was a matter of sentiment, of responsibility.

But from a purely footballing standpoint, it was a terrible decision.

Even a young talent like Pogba couldn’t be kept at Manchester United and was sent to Juventus, only to be bought back years later for an exorbitant price.

And this obsession with homegrown players at Manchester United, after seeing off a batch of excellent foreign players like Vidić and Evra, led to the rapid collapse of their dynasty.

Especially after Ferguson’s retirement, this system at Manchester United simply stopped working.

So, when Ferguson continued to start Alan Smith, Yang Cheng already had a good idea of the outcome.

When the news of Manchester United’s loss to AC Milan arrived, Yang Cheng was in his office, looking at league statistics.

After thirty-five rounds, Bayswater Chinese had 28 wins, 5 draws, and 2 losses, for a total of 89 points.

Manchester United had 86 points.

In any other year, Bayswater Chinese’s point total would have been enough to all but secure the league title.

But this year, they were only 3 points ahead of Manchester United.

Yang Cheng was paying attention to Manchester United’s goal difference.

According to Premier League rules, if two teams are level on points, goal difference and goals scored are the first tiebreakers, followed by their head-to-head record.

This was why the media was now changing its tune and starting to back Bayswater Chinese.

So far, Bayswater Chinese’s goal difference was +63, while Manchester United’s was only +54.

The most significant contribution to this was the series of big wins following the 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea.

During that period, Bayswater Chinese scored 24 goals in 5 matches.

In terms of head-to-head results, Bayswater Chinese had a 2-1 home win and a 3-3 away draw, giving them the edge over Manchester United.

This meant that if they won their matches in the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh rounds, they would win the title regardless of the final round’s result.

Coincidentally, both of those matches were at home.

The opponent in round thirty-six was Newcastle, and in round thirty-seven, it was Watford.

Manchester United’s next two games were away, against Everton and Manchester City respectively.

So, for Manchester United to turn things around and win the title, they not only had to win all their remaining games but also hope that Bayswater Chinese dropped points in at least two of their last three matches.

At the very least, one draw and one loss.

That was a tall order.

What Yang Cheng was considering was that, if everything went smoothly, the title would be clinched in the thirty-seventh round.

At home against Watford.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng heavily circled that day and that match on his fixture list, then drew a massive exclamation mark!

“Hey, Adam, it’s me. I need you to do something for me.”

Yang Cheng made a call to Adam Crozier.

Returning to the top of the table had a huge psychological effect on Bayswater Chinese.

Especially the atmosphere within the team.

Almost everyone was fired up, determined to give their all in the final three rounds.

As José Fonte said in the dressing room: If we surrender the top spot again, we’ll only have ourselves to blame!

Even God won’t forgive us!

So, in their thirty-sixth round Premier League match at home against Newcastle, Bayswater Chinese played with extraordinary effort.

The home fans were also fantastic.

For this match, the crowd at Wembley Stadium exceeded 55,000, approaching 60,000.

Amid the cheers of nearly sixty thousand fans, just thirty-eight seconds after kickoff, Modrić sent a long pass into the penalty area.

Andrei Arshavin made a quick run to the edge of the six-yard box but couldn’t quite reach the ball.

But in just the seventh minute, Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attack proved effective again.

Džeko received the ball with his back to goal, turned, and played a through ball.

Arshavin broke into the right side of the penalty area and fired a shot into the bottom right corner.

1-0!

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks.

In the eighteenth minute, Lassana Diarra won the ball in midfield, played a through ball, and Arshavin beat the offside trap to go one-on-one with the keeper again. This time, however, he chose to pass it horizontally.

Džeko followed up and smashed the ball into the net.

2-0!

At this point, everyone could pretty much relax.

But Bayswater Chinese’s assault continued, constantly threatening Newcastle’s goal.

Leading by two goals at halftime, the team’s offensive intensity didn’t wane after the break.

In the sixtieth minute, Yang Cheng substituted Robert Lewandowski for Džeko. Just one minute later, Arshavin dribbled through the center, beating two defenders before laying a low pass to the left of the penalty spot.

Lewandowski fired a shot that found the back of Newcastle’s net.

3-0!

This was the Polish centre-forward’s first Premier League goal since joining Bayswater Chinese.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward.

In the seventy-ninth minute, after a break upfield, Lewandowski delivered a sublime pass.

Gareth Bale, who had come on for Arshavin, made a diagonal run from the right and shot with his weaker right foot.

The ball went in, but he was flagged for offside, and the goal was disallowed.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a clean and decisive 3-0 home victory over Newcastle.

In the same round, Chelsea drew 2-2 at home with Bolton.

Manchester United, meanwhile, came back from 2-0 down away to Everton, scoring four unanswered goals to win 4-2.

After staging a spectacular comeback, Ferguson proudly declared that the title race was not over.

“We will fight until the very last moment of the season!”

“As long as the winner hasn’t been decided, we will fight to the death!”

Ferguson didn’t forget to keep piling pressure on Bayswater Chinese, suggesting the team would be under immense strain in their next two league matches.

“We still have a chance!”

Incidentally, in that match, Ferguson once again started Alan Smith but rested C. Ronaldo, who only came on in the second half.

Interestingly, all four goals in Manchester United’s great comeback were scored after the sixtieth minute, precisely when C. Ronaldo replaced Alan Smith.

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if it’s coincidence or quality.

Or perhaps, both.

Three days later, Manchester United traveled to Milan, Italy, for their away game at San Siro.

Down 1-2 from the home leg, everyone expected Ferguson’s team to attack from the outset.

They had no other choice.

Ancelotti’s lineup was nothing out of the ordinary, sticking to his preferred 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation.

But his specific tactics were very interesting.

He sent his team out to attack from the kickoff.

Ancelotti’s move was a bit like, “I’ll take your path, leaving you with nowhere to go.”

Ferguson’s starting eleven was exactly the same as in the first leg, without a single change.

The Manchester United manager seemed determined to stubbornly stick to his guns.

This was quite surprising.

Having lost the home leg 1-2, one would expect some adjustments for the away leg.

At the very least, a change in position or tactics?

But Ferguson was just that willful.

Absolutely no changes!

Yang Cheng wondered if this was a case of being obstinate.

Countering all changes by remaining unchanged?

But as it turned out, this strategy did not work.

AC Milan’s opening blitz led to a goal from Kaká in the thirteenth minute.

The 1-0 scoreline held for the rest of the match.

Ferguson made only one substitution, bringing on Saha for O’Shea in the second half to bolster the attack.

But it had little effect.

In the end, Manchester United lost 1-2 at home and 0-1 away, losing 1-3 on aggregate to AC Milan and crashing out in the semi-finals.

In the other semi-final, Benítez’s Liverpool defeated Chelsea in extra time to set up a final against AC Milan.

The two teams from the 2005 miracle of Istanbul would meet again.

This time, the final would be held in Athens, Greece.

Afternoon of May 5th.

Premier League, Round 37.

The Manchester derby kicked off at 12:45 PM.

The timing was to accommodate fans in Asia.

The other matches were scheduled for 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

Only the other marquee match of the round, Arsenal versus Chelsea at home, was scheduled for the afternoon of the 6th.

But the result of the Gunners’ and the Blues’ match had no bearing on the league title race.

Currently, the Gunners were battling with Liverpool for a top-four finish.

Liverpool had 64 points, while Arsenal had 60, a difference of just 4 points.

Even more interesting, Liverpool’s goal difference was +31, and Arsenal’s was +28, also very close.

So, the last two league games were crucial for Arsenal; they had to fight to the death.

As it was a city derby, both teams started at a fast pace.

Early in the match, Manchester City’s centre-back Ball kicked C. Ronaldo in the stomach while he was on the ground, sparking a confrontation between the two sides.

But the head referee didn’t even punish Ball.

The current Manchester City played a very rough style of football.

Manchester United soon used their overall superiority to gradually suppress Manchester City, frequently threatening their goal.

But being knocked out of the Champions League and in a disadvantageous position in the title race had taken a heavy toll on the Manchester United players’ morale.

It wasn’t until the second half that C. Ronaldo, on the right side of the area, single-handedly dribbled into the box, shook off City’s centre-back Ball, and fired a low shot into the goal.

By then, it was already the seventy-fourth minute.

Later, from a corner kick, the Portuguese received a pass from Giggs and flicked a header to the far post, where Ferdinand headed it home. 2-0!

The score remained until the final whistle.

Manchester United won the city derby 2-0 away from home.

3:00 PM.

The match in Manchester had just ended, and the game at Wembley Stadium was about to begin.

Yang Cheng received the result from Manchester.

He wasn’t surprised.

But he didn’t tell his players. Instead, he repeatedly encouraged them to play to their full potential and strive for a magnificent victory.

“If we win, the title is ours!”

In reality, Yang Cheng didn’t need to motivate them; the players already knew.

Because the Premier League trophy had already been delivered to Wembley Stadium.

If Bayswater Chinese won the match, the award ceremony could take place immediately.

Their final match of the season was away.

Of course, if they failed to beat Watford, the trophy would likely be sent to Old Trafford for the next match.

This was the first major championship trophy of Yang Cheng’s coaching career.

It was also the first top-flight league championship for all of Bayswater Chinese’s players.

Everyone was filled with desire, yet also incredibly nervous.

It was a terrible state of mind.

Yang Cheng had done his best to diffuse the tension and calm them down before the match.

But the anxiety was palpable.

So, tactically, Yang Cheng abandoned the idea of an opening blitz or taking the initiative, opting instead to stabilize the rhythm first.

The two teams were in completely different leagues of quality.

Watford was currently at the bottom of the table, while Bayswater Chinese was at the top.

Winning should have been a given, right?

But Bayswater Chinese’s first-half performance was truly awful.

It wasn’t that the players played poorly; they were just chaotic.

The players couldn’t get on the same page.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng sternly criticized the players.

He also made two substitutions.

He brought on Theo Walcott for Lassana Diarra and Ángel Di María for Ashley Young.

This made everyone aware of the head coach’s dissatisfaction.

After the second half began, the team’s performance was immediately transformed, showing signs of improvement.

In the sixtieth minute, Džeko drifted to the right, received a pass from Maicon, and the Bosnian centre-forward drove forward before playing a diagonal ball in behind the defense.

Walcott, with his blistering pace, beat the offside trap, collected the ball, and burst into the box to score a precious goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

This afternoon, a total of seventy thousand fans had flocked to Wembley Stadium to witness Bayswater Chinese clinch the title early.

When Walcott broke Watford’s goal, everyone in the stadium leaped from their seats, roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs.

Many fans were chanting Walcott’s name.

The Little Tiger was also ecstatic, waving his hands to pump up the crowd.

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to press Watford.

The home team created several good scoring chances in the opposition’s box but failed to convert them.

It wasn’t until the eighty-fifth minute that Di María swapped positions with Walcott and received the ball on the right wing.

Facing the opposition’s left-back, Di María suddenly burst forward. Instead of cutting inside as expected, he went straight to the byline, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a rabona cross into the box.

The sudden cross caught everyone by surprise.

Goalkeeper Ben Foster came off his line but couldn’t hold onto the ball, only managing to palm it away.

But he didn’t palm it far.

Inside the box, Džeko judged the flight of the ball, leaped high into the air, and headed it into Watford’s goal.

2-0!

This was the Bosnian centre-forward’s fifth goal in the last five Premier League matches.

Both Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd could clearly see the progress Džeko had made this season.

Yang Cheng had a strong premonition.

Next season, Džeko was going to have a massive breakout year.

In fact, Džeko had already scored seventeen goals in the Premier League this season, tying him with C. Ronaldo for second place on the top scorer chart.

Andrei Arshavin had also scored seventeen goals.

There were a total of four players with seventeen goals.

The last one was Blackburn Rovers’ Benni McCarthy.

At the top of the scorer chart was Chelsea’s Drogba, with nineteen goals.

This season’s Premier League top scorer list was relatively low-scoring.

After all, with the departure of prolific scorers like Van Nistelrooy and Henry, the list looked a bit meager.

On the assist chart, however, Ashley Young was leading by a wide margin with sixteen assists.

One of the main reasons for the English midfielder’s high assist count was that he took set pieces.

Bayswater Chinese’s set pieces were a crucial attacking weapon, and Gianni Vio’s work was no longer a secret.

Ashley Young was one of the players with the best technique on the team, the other being Leighton Baines.

So, the team’s corner kicks and free kicks were mostly taken by the two of them, which led to Ashley Young’s high number of assists, almost as if he were padding his stats.

But regardless, Ashley Young was the Premier League’s assist king this season.

In addition to his sixteen assists, Ashley Young also had nine league goals.

Among English homegrown players, this goal tally ranked him seventh, alongside established players like Crouch and Agbonlahor.

When head referee Dermot Gallagher blew the final whistle, all seventy thousand fans in the stadium rose to their feet, giving Bayswater Chinese the most resounding applause and cheers.

All the Bayswater Chinese players swarmed onto the pitch, celebrating wildly.

Even all the staff members from the coaching bench rushed in.

Everyone had worked together for a whole season, and at this moment, their efforts were finally rewarded.

The entire Wembley Stadium was engulfed by the fans’ cheers!

While everyone else was celebrating wildly, Yang Cheng stood frozen on the spot.

When Džeko scored the second goal, he already knew the match was won.

He was overjoyed at that moment.

He had even planned a cool celebration for when the whistle blew.

A knee slide like Mourinho?

Or punching the air like Klopp?

Or maybe, a suave walk to the center of the pitch to strike a cool pose?

But in the end, he did nothing.

He just stood there dumbly until he was tossed into the air by his players, at which point he was jolted back to reality.

He finally knew what it felt like to be overwhelmed by a championship victory!

And a Premier League championship at that!

My God, this feeling was absolutely wonderful!

So, even as he was being thrown into the air by his players, he kept cheering, not feeling a shred of fear.

Preparations had already begun on the sidelines before the match ended.

The moment the whistle blew, stadium staff rushed out to quickly assemble a temporary awards podium on the pitch and set up the presentation lane.

Wembley Stadium had its own presentation area, but the Premier League’s sponsor was Barclays Bank, so a special platform had to be set up for each award ceremony, which was also broadcast live to the world.

Once the podium was ready, Yang Cheng led his players to the presentation lane to wait.

This time, he wasn’t being polite; he stood right at the back of the line.

Brian Kidd stood beside him, watching with a hint of envy.

“So, when it comes to good things like this, you get to go up, and I’m just your backup tool, is that it?”

Everyone around them burst into laughter.

“You can go up next time, I promise,” Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh as well.

This was the first major championship of his coaching career; of course, he had to go up and receive it himself.

Are you kidding me?

If the Premier League didn’t allow it, Yang Cheng would have torn the whole stage down.

So what if he didn’t have a coaching license?

He still won the Premier League, didn’t he?

When Yang Cheng and the players went up to receive their awards, Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore once again poked fun at his coaching license, feigning ignorance as he asked the people beside him.

“Can he go on stage to receive an award without a coaching license?”

Everyone knew it was just a joke.

Scudamore was, after all, an administrator hired by the Premier League clubs. How could he dare to offend Yang Cheng, one of his twenty bosses?

The moment Modrić, representing the team, lifted the championship trophy high, the entire stadium once again erupted into a sea of celebration.

At the same time, the climax of the team anthem blared over the stadium’s speakers, sending a surge of adrenaline through everyone present.

For Bayswater Chinese, winning the Premier League title this season was a legend in itself!

Especially after such a tumultuous journey!

After the awards, the players ran around with the championship trophy.

As was customary, Yang Cheng was supposed to go to the mixed zone to be interviewed by the media.

But he didn’t.

He first chatted for a few moments on the stage with Scudamore and the others.

Both the Premier League and The FA were quite interested in Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

But it was still in the design phase with Sir Norman Foster, and the drafts weren’t out yet.

When Yang Cheng saw Adam Crozier waving at him from a distance, he immediately excused himself and walked off the podium.

When he reached the area below the Royal Box stands, Modrić and the others were already waiting with the championship trophy.

At some point, the trophy had been filled with roses.

“Go for it, boss!”

“Have a little courage.”

“You can do it, go!”

Yang Cheng grinned at them, then took the trophy filled with roses in both hands and began to climb the steps to the Royal Box.

One hundred and seven steps.

He climbed each one with firm purpose.

Finally, he reached the Royal Box and stood before Xia Qing.

In May, the London air was still quite cool.

Xia Qing was dressed in her signature professional attire: a black suit jacket over a white, open-collared shirt.

But unlike usual, her hair wasn’t tied up today. It fell loosely over her shoulders, giving her an exceptionally gentle look.

When she saw Yang Cheng suddenly appear, holding a championship trophy filled with roses, she was completely stunned.

Seeing Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and the others retreat outside, how could she not understand what was happening?

Almost simultaneously, down on the pitch, stadium staff and players had been busy carrying roses.

Soon, at the edge of the pitch below the Royal Box, a giant heart formed from 9,999 roses was unveiled.

In an instant, a clamor went through the entire stadium.

It wasn’t just them; even Scudamore and The FA’s Geoff Thompson on the awards stage were dumbfounded.

What was this?

Such a lavish display!

They all crowded over to get a better look.

Yang Cheng smiled at Xia Qing and handed her the championship trophy.

“Do you remember that question I asked you?”

Xia Qing had just remembered, and her heart filled with a mixture of shyness and joy.

She had never expected Yang Cheng to be so bold.

“This is not like you at all,” Xia Qing teased, though she was beaming inside as she took the championship trophy with both hands.

She held it tightly, examining it carefully.

She saw that among the roses in the trophy were two red hearts pierced by a golden arrow.

Then, seeing the giant rose heart below the Royal Box, she felt almost intoxicated.

She really wanted to cry!

Xia Qing turned, opened her arms, and wrapped them tightly around Yang Cheng.

At that moment, all around them, in the stands outside, throughout the entire stadium, thunderous applause and cheers erupted.

Chapter 120: Happy Events One After Another! A Task Not Even a Transmigrator Can Handle!

Beijing, China.

As the youngest and most cultivated talent in his department, Xia Xi had been swamped with work every day for the past few years.

It was a rare opportunity to be able to sit comfortably at home like tonight, sipping wine and watching a football match.

The only person who could make him do this was his father, Xia Anmin, the chairman of Zhongxin Bank.

And the only person worth doing this for was his younger sister.

Xia Anmin was even busier. At his level, there was an endless stream of work and troubles every day.

But a week ago, he had instructed his secretary to clear his entire schedule for this evening, turning down all meetings, banquets, and invitations.

That was how he got the chance to sit at home with his son and comfortably watch the match.

Because of Xia Qing, and because of the team’s name, they both supported the Bayswater Chinese.

“This team plays really well!”

After seeing the Bayswater Chinese score consecutive goals, Xia Anmin commented with the air of a football connoisseur.

Xia Xi scoffed inwardly. Yeah, right, you self-proclaimed expert.

But on the surface, he just munched on peanuts and nodded in agreement.

Right, right, whatever Chairman Xia says is right.

“I heard my sister is a core member of this club. She’s in charge of setting the salary plans and expense budgets—the God of Wealth.”

“Of course she’s a core member. Without the God of Wealth’s approval, no policy, no project, can ever get off the ground.”

When the camera panned to Yang Cheng on the sidelines, Xia Anmin clicked his tongue in amazement again.

“Tell me, was this young man this impressive back when he was in China?”

“I don’t know. I heard he was very low-key in China.”

“It’s probably because the football environment in our country isn’t any good.” At home, Xia Anmin spoke more casually than he would outside.

“If he were in China, he probably wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything. He doesn’t have a coaching license,” Xia Xi said with a laugh.

Xia Anmin also smiled and nodded. “He’s a talented young man. Not bad at all!”

The father and son’s joy grew, especially when they saw the electric atmosphere at the stadium after the match ended.

“Come on, Xia Xi, we have to have a drink to this.”

“Cheers, Dad.”

It was difficult for the father and son to even share a meal on a normal day, let alone sit together and watch a game.

Every time Xia Xi came home, his mother, Cao Wenhui, would try to set him up with her female students, leaving him so traumatized that he had moved out.

Moments like this, sharing a drink and watching football, were becoming increasingly rare for them.

And given their status, doing this out in public was inconvenient and could easily attract trouble.

It was much better to be at ease at home.

But soon, a scene on the television spoiled their mood.

Just as the broadcast was about to end, for some reason, the camera suddenly switched to the stands.

There, Yang Cheng was holding a championship trophy filled with fresh flowers. He ran into the stands and handed it to Xia Qing.

Down on the pitch below the stands, a giant heart had been laid out with flowers.

What shocked them most was that not only did Xia Qing accept it, she also threw her arms around that rascal with a look of pure emotion.

“What’s going on?”

Xia Anmin shot to his feet, pointing at the television as he questioned his son.

Xia Xi was stunned as well. “I… I have no idea.”

“You don’t know? What’s her relationship with him?”

“Col… College classmates.”

“Classmates?”

“Well, not really. He’s three years younger than Qingqing, so there’s a two or three-year gap.”

“Were they dating in college?”

“No, I really don’t know.”

“Nonsense! Starting last year, you’ve been pulling strings and asking for favors for them everywhere. People even asked me about it. And you’re telling me you don’t know?”

Xia Xi was speechless.

He truly knew nothing.

But now he was in a situation where he couldn’t clear his name, no matter what he said.

“Dad, calm down first. Don’t be rash. Let me think, let me sort this out.”

Both father and son had been drinking and were not thinking clearly.

But this was a big deal.

Xia Qing was the family’s treasured princess, doted on since she was a child. Now she was dating someone?

And they had no idea.

How could they tolerate this?

“Forget sorting it out. Call her. Tell your sister to get her ass back here right now. I’ll ask her myself,” Xia Anmin ordered fiercely.

Normally, they’d let her have her way with many things, but this was not something to be taken lightly.

“Dad, I’m telling you, calm down. Let me think.”

Their family wasn’t that autocratic, and Xia Xi dared to push back.

Besides, if you’re so tough, why don’t you call her yourself?

See if she listens to you.

Xia Anmin had no other choice but to sit back down.

“Listen, Dad, I’ve thought about it. I reckon the two of them just got together.”

“Just got together?”

“Yes, based on my understanding of Qingqing, I should be right. Don’t you know her personality?”

Xia Anmin was clearly taken aback.

“Back in high school, how many boys chased her all the way to our doorstep? How many of them were from good families and handsome? Have you ever seen her show any interest?”

Hearing this, Xia Anmin couldn’t help but nod.

His daughter had always been level-headed since she was young; she never gave them anything to worry about.

“Also, I just talked to her a few days ago. I joked that Mom wanted to introduce her to a boyfriend. From her tone, she wasn’t keen, but she didn’t let anything slip either.”

“I guess they just haven’t made it official yet.”

“And look at that scene just now. It looked like a declaration of love, not a marriage proposal.”

After hearing this, Xia Anmin’s anger subsided slightly.

Thank goodness, their family’s precious cabbage was still safe in the garden.

But the thought of his precious daughter dating someone made Xia Anmin inexplicably irritable.

It wasn’t about Yang Cheng, but rather a common sentiment among fathers.

“Dad, I think if they’re really dating, it’s a good thing.”

“What do you mean, a good thing?” Xia Anmin’s irritation returned.

“I mean, I’ve looked into it, and Yang Cheng seems like a decent guy. He’s very capable. Weren’t you just praising him?”

“That was before I knew!”

“Dad, now you’re just being unreasonable.”

“How do you know he’s a decent guy?”

“Simple. Think about how developed the media is in England. If Yang Cheng were the type to fool around, don’t you think the media would have exposed him by now?”

“Their club’s CEO is a playboy, and how many scandals has he been in? Yang Cheng has been there for years, and there hasn’t been a single story about him. That says a lot about his character…” Xia Xi gave a thumbs-up in admiration.

Xia Anmin had nothing to say to that.

It made sense.

He instantly felt much better.

“Also, I’ve actually looked into his family. They’re in business, a private enterprise. They started with footwear and apparel and are doing quite well. They’re on track to become a leading domestic brand. They’ve also ventured into real estate in recent years and have been very successful.”

“I know.”

Xia Anmin had also secretly investigated. Their bank had some business dealings with the Yang’s Group, so he was familiar with the company. They had indeed performed very well in recent years.

He had looked into it back when Xia Qing was going to work at the club.

Now, it was about becoming in-laws, which was different.

Actually, Xia Anmin wasn’t a feudal, autocratic parent.

He had just had a sudden, stressful reaction that was hard to accept.

After Xia Xi laid it all out, he felt much better.

Xia Anmin felt guilty towards Xia Qing.

His daughter’s birth had been an accident, a decision made by her parents.

When she was in elementary school, a gossipy relative mentioned this to her, which created a lasting insecurity in Xia Qing’s heart. She always felt that she had been a burden on her father’s career and on her mother.

Xia Anmin and Cao Wenhui knew about this, but there was nothing they could do except dote on their daughter even more.

Sometimes, it wasn’t a good thing for children to be too well-behaved and sensible.

After a few glasses of red wine and the recent emotional rollercoaster, a wave of melancholy washed over him. Xia Anmin, who always appeared strong in front of others, couldn’t help but feel his eyes redden and his nose tingle.

“Dad.” Xia Xi understood his parents.

“Tomorrow, call your sister and have her bring him home for us to meet,” Xia Anmin said with a soft sigh.

Unknowingly, his daughter was already thirty years old.

As for his son, he had been focused on his career for years and still hadn’t found a girlfriend.

It was truly worrisome.

…

“Hello, Mom, what’s up?”

Standing outside the home team’s dressing room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng answered a long-distance call from China.

“Two things,” Li Hongying said, sounding very happy on the other end of the line.

“Okay, go ahead.”

“Your father wants to know when you’re bringing her home for us to meet.”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

It seemed his parents had seen the live broadcast.

It all felt a bit absurd.

“Haven’t you all met before?”

“That’s different. Business is business. You have to bring her for a proper meeting.”

“Alright, I’ll ask her.”

“Second thing, when are you two getting married?”

“Not yet, we’ve only just started.”

“You’re about to turn twenty-eight. Back in our hometown, people your age have kids who are about to start middle school.”

“Is it that exaggerated?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s hard to say right now.”

“Don’t you mess around, kid. Xia Qing is a good girl. If you let her down, I’ll hold you accountable,” his father, Yang Jianguo, yelled from the side.

“I know, I know.”

“Also, the live broadcast was seen all over the country. I bet Xia Qing’s family saw it too. You need to be mentally prepared. As a man, you need to show some responsibility.”

“I know, I’ve got things to do here.”

“One last thing,” his so-called father hurriedly shouted, afraid he would hang up.

“Go on.”

“This Xia Qing… Your mother and I are very satisfied with her.”

Yang Cheng hung up with a smile.

Although he would make his own decisions when it came to relationships, it was nice to have his parents’ support.

Thinking of Xia Qing, his whole heart and being felt warm.

He had originally thought that after living three lives and having played the field so much in his previous life, he wouldn’t get into a serious relationship again.

He never expected to fall for Xia Qing.

Indeed, men are just animals ruled by testosterone!

Still, this was nice.

…

Bayswater Chinese winning the title with a game to spare sent shockwaves around the world.

In recent years, the Premier League had begun to break away from its traditional power structure.

First, Chelsea, backed by big capital, broke the duopoly of Manchester United and Arsenal.

This year, the Bayswater Chinese, in only their second season in the Premier League, were able to go toe-to-toe with Manchester United, even surpassing the Red Devils to claim the Premier League title.

This left Premier League fans all over the world in utter shock.

The Bayswater Chinese’s legendary journey filled fans everywhere with amazement.

But what was truly surprising was how things unfolded next.

In the final round of the Premier League, having already secured the title, the Bayswater Chinese fielded a team of young players for their trip to face Blackburn Rovers up north.

The result was a 3–3 draw against Blackburn.

Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and Ángel Di María each scored a goal.

Interestingly, in the final round of the previous season, the Bayswater Chinese had also drawn 3–3 in an away game against Arsenal.

With that, all the Premier League matches for the season were completed.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool finished in the top four, qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, and Bolton followed, finishing from fifth to eighth place.

But that wasn’t the most surprising part.

A week after the Premier League concluded, the FA Cup final took place.

Manchester United and Chelsea battled it out at Wembley Stadium.

The Red Devils lost 0-1 to Chelsea.

This came as a surprise to everyone.

No one had expected that Manchester United, who had been backed by the entire British media and had boldly declared their intention to win the Treble, would end up empty-handed.

This put enormous pressure on Ferguson.

In a subsequent interview with the media, the Manchester United godfather stated that if Manchester United wanted to regain their competitiveness in the Premier League, they had to increase their investment in new players.

Especially in the midfield and attack.

According to media reports, besides Bayswater Chinese’s Ashley Young, Ferguson was also interested in Džeko.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Berbatov was also on Ferguson’s transfer list.

Young talents like winger Nani from Sporting Lisbon in the Primeira Liga and midfielder Anderson from Porto were also key targets for Ferguson, indicating that Manchester United would be spending heavily this summer.

Besides Manchester United, Chelsea had also initiated their transfer plans early.

According to French media, Chelsea was making an offer for Lyon’s winger, Malouda.

Bayswater Chinese’s Ashley Young was also under consideration by Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Mourinho had lost faith in Robben, and Real Madrid was eager to sign the Dutch winger.

After being upstaged by the Bayswater Chinese, both Manchester United and Chelsea were making moves.

The teams promoted from the Championship to the Premier League this season were also soon confirmed.

The Black Cats, Sunderland, had once again fought their way back into the Premier League.

And this time, they were rumored to be strengthening their squad, determined to stay in the top flight.

Sunderland had been promoted to the Premier League at the same time as the Bayswater Chinese, but their reluctance to sign new players led to their ignominious relegation back to the Championship at the end of the season.

It seemed they were planning to invest more heavily this time.

The other two newly promoted teams were Birmingham City and Derby County.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Reading had lost to Derby County in the playoffs.

Another traditional powerhouse, Southampton, had also lost to Derby County in the playoffs.

…

The Bayswater Chinese would not be making many signings this summer.

Yang Cheng still adhered to a strategy of minor adjustments.

He had already reached a consensus with several of his key midfielders.

Including Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, Matuidi, and Modrić, they were all willing to renew their contracts and stay with the team.

The next step was contract negotiations.

Yang Cheng’s current transfer strategy was very cautious. He had to ensure the team’s competitiveness above all else.

For example, he would not easily let go of any player without securing a stronger midfielder as a replacement.

This midfield lineup was the Bayswater Chinese’s most powerful weapon for competing in the Premier League and the Champions League.

In the attack, Ashley Young might be transferred.

Yang Cheng had promised him this before and had now authorized Ashley Young’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, to proceed. The rest depended on which team offered the highest price.

Nine goals and sixteen assists in a single season, and he was a homegrown player—how much was he worth?

Any interested powerhouse would have to weigh that carefully.

Teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton were basically out of the running; they couldn’t afford him.

The other positions were fine, but there was one more problem facing Yang Cheng.

Danny Coyne.

The former Welsh international had joined the Bayswater Chinese in 2004, playing with the team in the Championship for three years now.

In the past three years, the Bayswater Chinese had developed very rapidly.

By the end of August, Danny Coyne would be thirty-four years old.

But now, he actually wanted to leave for Tranmere Rovers in League One.

Yang Cheng couldn’t understand this at all.

At Bayswater Chinese, although he was a substitute, he could still play in cup competitions occasionally.

He’d won his fair share of trophies, hadn’t he?

If he were to move to a Premier League or Championship team to be a starter, that would be understandable, but League One?

Tranmere Rovers didn’t seem like the kind of club that could offer a lot of money.

In any case, Yang Cheng had no idea what he was after.

But since the man said he wouldn’t renew his contract and wanted to leave, what could Yang Cheng say?

Beg him to stay?

But one thing was troublesome: once Danny Coyne left, the backup goalkeeper position would become very awkward.

Neuer was currently in a period of rapid development in his career. His form was getting better and better, and his performances were increasingly outstanding. He was practically Germany’s future number one.

At this point, whoever came to the Bayswater Chinese as a goalkeeper would be a backup.

And here lay the awkwardness.

The Bayswater Chinese were now positioned as a top-four Premier League team and a Champions League participant.

If Neuer got injured, they needed a decent goalkeeper to step in, right?

But as long as Neuer wasn’t injured, this goalkeeper would have to endure the loneliness of sitting on the bench.

Awkward, isn’t it?

The first person Yang Cheng thought of was Liverpool’s Jerzy Dudek.

He had fallen out with Benítez, and after Liverpool signed Reina, Dudek had fallen out of favor.

Although the guy was getting on in years, his market value was good, and crucially, his salary wasn’t low.

If they really brought this big shot over, Neuer would probably revolt.

Why?

The starting goalkeeper’s salary wouldn’t be much higher than the backup’s?

Was that fair?

Yang Cheng also considered another option, Manchester United’s backup goalkeeper, the American Tim Howard.

In a way, this was Yang Cheng’s fault.

In his previous life, Tim Howard was supposed to go to Everton.

But now, Everton had Joe Hart, so there was no place for Tim Howard.

But this deal was also a no-go.

The reason Tim Howard wasn’t renewing his contract with Manchester United and was leaving on a free transfer came down to two things.

A high salary and a starting position.

Unfortunately, the Bayswater Chinese could offer neither.

After going through all the options, Yang Cheng discovered a rather tragic fact.

He couldn’t find a suitable backup goalkeeper.

Either they were restricted by work permits, or by transfer fees and salary demands, or by the demand for a starting position.

In short, finding a backup goalkeeper who met all these conditions was difficult!

Yang Cheng thought about it and felt a pang of sorrow for the entire transmigrator legion!

Damn it, a dignified transmigrator couldn’t even sort out a backup goalkeeper. It would be humiliating if word got out!

In the end, Yang Cheng tossed the problem to Mike Rigg to handle.

He was the Chief Talent Officer, after all.

Just after the season ended, Mike Rigg presented Yang Cheng with two candidates.

One was Asmir Begović, a Bosnian goalkeeper from Portsmouth’s youth team.

The goalkeeper was about to turn twenty, held Bosnian, Canadian, and English citizenship, and had come to England at sixteen, making him a proper homegrown player.

For the past few years, he had been constantly loaned out by Portsmouth, but he was always just a backup on loan, never getting a chance to develop.

Begović’s current market value was actually very low, just one hundred thousand pounds.

This showed that he hadn’t made a name for himself in the past few years, hadn’t played much, and had just been repeatedly loaned out.

And always to lower-league teams.

Mike Rigg said, “A player like this probably wouldn’t refuse to join our team, even as a backup.”

Plus, he was young, had a high ceiling for growth, and had a low salary.

The biggest problem was that Portsmouth saw his potential and probably wouldn’t sell him at market price.

Yang Cheng hadn’t really noticed this person, but now that he was mentioned, he remembered.

He later joined Chelsea.

If he could join Chelsea, nothing more needed to be said. His ability was definitely not an issue.

Another option was Carlo Nash from Championship side Preston.

This player was the same age as Danny Coyne, born in September 1973, making him thirty-three now.

He was a starter for Preston in the Championship.

In January, Wigan Athletic had loaned him in as a backup goalkeeper, but he didn’t play a single match.

Now he was back at Preston.

Currently, Wigan Athletic and Preston were discussing his transfer.

“Preston is asking for three hundred thousand pounds. Wigan Athletic probably isn’t very willing and they’re still negotiating.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng basically didn’t need to think any further.

“Talk to Portsmouth about Begović. As long as it’s under five hundred thousand pounds, we won’t even consider Carlo Nash.”

Mike Rigg nodded in agreement.

He had considered these two together because Begović represented the future, but also risk.

A young player could perform very well, or very poorly.

Carlo Nash represented immediate combat strength. At his age, he could step in as a backup goalkeeper right away, which was more suitable than Begović, but the downside was his age.

But for Yang Cheng, this was the most obvious deal ever.

Of course, he would choose Begović.

Never mind five hundred thousand pounds, even if it were a bit higher, it would still be Begović.

Train him for a few years, let him shine in cup competitions, and then, at the right moment when some team is desperate for a goalkeeper, fleece them for a hefty sum. If they didn’t offer at least three to five million pounds, how dare they even approach?

It was a huge profit, okay?

…

After dealing with club matters, Yang Cheng took some time to go shopping with Xia Qing in Knightsbridge, London.

The two were now openly together.

They walked down the street hand in hand, full of affection.

The media?

Take all the pictures you want.

Want us to strike a pose, maybe give you a kiss for the camera?

This left the British media reporters thoroughly stuffed with a public display of affection.

Why did their romance have to involve force-feeding everyone else?

The last person to be so openly in love and followed by the British paparazzi was David Beckham.

But a head coach as open about his love life as Yang Cheng? There was really no one else.

Other head coaches were all much older. If they were in a new relationship, it was usually an affair with a mistress. Who would dare to be so public about it?

What’s more, Yang Cheng’s relationship was already known to the world.

The British paparazzi were indeed formidable.

They quickly found out that Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had been shopping for gifts for several consecutive days.

There were high-end cosmetics and designer bags for women, as well as luxury belts and fountain pens for men.

So, the media speculated that good news was on the horizon.

…

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing returned to China quietly.

Xia Xi picked them up from the capital’s airport.

In a black Bora.

He drove very cautiously and by the book.

This was Yang Cheng’s first impression of Xia Xi: practical and steady.

“Ahem.”

While Yang Cheng was observing Xia Xi in the driver’s seat from the back, his future brother-in-law was also secretly glancing at the two in the back seat, who were practically glued to each other.

“Hey, sis, when we get home, you should try to tone it down a bit.”

“I won’t!”

Xia Qing sounded almost coquettish.

This was a side Yang Cheng had never seen before.

In his impression, Miss Xia had always been a strong, independent, and heroic figure.

“If you’re envious, just go find a girlfriend yourself. Dad and Mom would thank me for it.”

Xia Xi was clearly powerless against his younger sister.

But to be honest, watching the two of them being so affectionate, he was a little envious.

That kind of deep, heartfelt affection was impossible to hide.

“A Cheng, you need to control her. Don’t spoil her. She’s been spoiled rotten by my parents!” Xia Xi said, deliberately trying to sound tough.

Yang Cheng chuckled, knowing his brother-in-law was setting a trap for him.

“She’s the one who controls me now—when to eat, when to sleep…”

As Yang Cheng let it slip, Xia Qing pinched his arm hard and shot him a shy glare.

How could you say even that?

I… it was an accident…

In the front seat, Xia Xi almost died laughing.

So they had already reached that stage?

Poor Dad. You thought our family’s prize cabbage was still growing in the garden, but it’s long since been picked.

If he hadn’t met them and found out about this, Xia Xi would surely have felt a bit awkward, maybe even a little angry.

After all, she was his sister.

But seeing them so happy together, he let it go.

Yang Cheng was genuinely a good guy!

“Listen, my dad is used to being a minor leader at work, so he can be a bit short-tempered at home. He likes to order people around and his tone isn’t always great. Don’t take it personally later,” Xia Qing said softly, leaning her whole body against Yang Cheng’s shoulder.

From the driver’s seat, Xia Xi heard everything.

His sister was smart, giving him a heads-up first.

Hmm, learned something new.

“Also, my mom is a teacher. She likes things to be orderly and for people to be obedient. Just try to go along with her.”

“Mm, I know.” Yang Cheng was mentally prepared.

And here Xia Qing thought he knew nothing.

“A Cheng, actually, my family are all very nice people, including my maternal and paternal grandparents. They’re all great, so don’t you worry,” Xia Xi said from the front, sensing Yang Cheng’s anxiety.

Which prospective son-in-law wasn’t nervous on his first visit?

One of his buddies was so scared on his first visit to his girlfriend’s house that he couldn’t even bring himself to walk through the door.

…

On the way from the airport to the city, Xia Qing and her brother kept prepping Yang Cheng.

But the actual situation was completely different from what they described.

Yang Cheng hadn’t expected the chairman of Zhongxin Bank to live not in a mansion or a villa community, but in a residential complex not far from Peking and Tsinghua Universities.

And it was in one of those large, single-floor apartments in a slab-style building.

When the door opened and he heard Xia Qing and Xia Xi call out “Dad,” Yang Cheng knew it was Xia Anmin and immediately greeted him with “Uncle.”

Xia Anmin smiled warmly, called him “Little Yang,” and welcomed him in enthusiastically, patting his shoulder and saying he was much more handsome in person than on TV and in the papers, and that he had watched several of his matches.

Inside, he saw Xia Qing’s paternal and maternal grandparents.

They were all gray-haired retirees who didn’t usually live there.

Both families had only had one child since Xia Anmin’s generation, so Xia Qing bringing a boyfriend home was a major event for them, and of course, they had to come and see.

Yang Cheng followed one principle: be a sweet-talker.

Upon meeting them, he immediately followed suit and called them “Grandpa,” “Grandma,” “Grandpa,” and “Grandma.”

He then presented the gifts Xia Qing had prepared beforehand, and in an instant, he had won over the entire family.

Yang Cheng’s gifts for Xia Anmin were a belt and a fountain pen, both quite expensive.

Xia Anmin, of course, recognized their value, accepted them with satisfaction, and pulled Yang Cheng aside. “Do you drink?”

On an occasion like this, Yang Cheng would, of course, risk life and limb to keep him company.

Xia Xi, the life of the party, immediately signed up.

The three-man drinking squad was successfully formed!

Xia Qing stood aside with a grin, watching Yang Cheng be so quickly accepted and integrated into her family. The knot of anxiety in her heart finally loosened.

In her heart, she understood that Yang Cheng was doing all of this for her.

Next, when she went home with Yang Cheng, she would do the same.

“Silly girl, are you happy now?” Cao Wenhui came up behind Xia Qing and hugged her daughter from behind.

Seeing Xia Qing’s face, her unrestrained joy was written all over it.

As for Yang Cheng, the more she looked at him, the more she liked him.

At first, she had been worried about Yang Cheng’s personality, but now it seemed her worries were unfounded.

Not just Yang Cheng, but her husband Xia Anmin and Xia Xi too.

The reason they were all doing this was because of Xia Qing.

This is what it means to be a family!

“I still remember you once told me that you wouldn’t fall for someone easily, but once you did, it would be for life,” Cao Wenhui said, reminiscing about a secret conversation they once had.

“So? Now that you’ve decided, when are you getting married?”

Xia Qing’s happy smile instantly vanished.

Oh no!

Is this a marriage ambush?

…

Yang Cheng stayed in Beijing for a week.

However, due to the sensitive nature of the situation, he didn’t stay at Xia Qing’s house, opting to stay in a hotel instead.

As for the reason, well, it would just be awkward.

But he ate at least two meals a day at Xia Qing’s home.

Xia Anmin was extremely busy, but for these few days, he came home on time almost every day to eat with everyone.

When he had free time, he would pull Yang Cheng aside to chat about everything under the sun, from football to other topics, even including their family’s business in China.

It turned out Xia Anmin had met Yang Jianguo at some events before, but they didn’t know each other, both attending as guests.

During the day, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing would explore Beijing together.

He also took the opportunity to show Xia Qing the house his mother had bought for him in the city.

When it was time for the two of them to head south, Xia Anmin specially asked Yang Cheng to arrange a time for the two families to have a meal together and get to know each other.

Yang Cheng readily agreed.

Cao Wenhui, on the other hand, had Xia Qing pack a large pile of things, from Beijing specialties to other souvenirs.

It was a huge amount.

Their luggage was overweight when they boarded the plane.

This was the first time Yang Cheng had returned to his hometown since transmigrating.

He himself felt like a stranger.

But his so-called father and mother personally drove to the airport to pick them up.

The moment they saw Xia Qing, they showered her with compliments, completely ignoring Yang Cheng and leaving him to be the free luggage carrier.

Back when they were in London, Yang Cheng’s mother had already taken a great liking to Xia Qing.

Now that she saw her precious son had won her over, she was overjoyed.

She was especially delighted when she received the gifts Xia Qing had specially prepared for them, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

Yang Cheng’s family lived in a high-end villa complex in the city center.

The neighbors were all business owners from the same city, and they were all very familiar with each other, many of whom had business dealings.

They had long heard about Yang Cheng’s achievements.

Previously, when the Bayswater Chinese won the League Cup and were promoted to the Premier League, many domestic media outlets had reported on it.

Later, when they won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup, the authoritative domestic media gave him special treatment with extensive coverage.

And the Bayswater Chinese’s Asia Tour had also garnered significant attention in the country.

While that was the case with national media and the internet, it was even more so with the local city newspapers and television stations. They practically promoted him as a city icon.

This time, when Yang Cheng returned with his girlfriend, they naturally all came over to meet them and get acquainted.

Some with stronger connections had even known about Xia Qing’s background for a while and were secretly envious of Yang Jianguo.

His son was so successful, and now he had a daughter-in-law with such a strong background, not to mention she was so beautiful. It was simply incredible!

For this group of entrepreneurs who could afford to live in the most luxurious villa complex in the city, making more money was certainly a reason for happiness.

But they all placed a greater emphasis on their descendants.

To put it bluntly, in business, fortunes rise and fall. No one could say for sure.

But no matter how much you earned, what was the use if your successor couldn’t carry the torch?

This was precisely what made them most envious of Yang Jianguo.

Setting everything else aside, just looking at his son and daughter-in-law, their future was bound to be extraordinary.

…

Bringing Xia Qing back with him truly gave Yang Jianguo a great sense of pride in front of his relatives and friends.

He no longer cared when people praised how big his business had become.

Having a successful son was more important than anything else.

When Yang Cheng graduated from university and was sent to England by him, he disappeared without a trace, leading many to think he was just a spoiled rich kid.

But now?

He was going to build a stadium for one billion pounds!

That was ten billion yuan!

Never mind this city, or even this province, in the entire country, how many twenty-seven-year-olds could pull that off?

The only regret was that his son was in England, and so was Xia Qing.

But that was fine. They were still in good health and in the prime of their careers.

Yang Cheng had given him several pointers that had made Yang Jianguo’s business flourish.

This led Yang Jianguo to admire Yang Cheng more and more.

This time, upon his return, he pulled Yang Cheng into his study for a private consultation.

Yang Cheng didn’t hold back, directly telling him that after the 2008 Olympics, the sportswear industry would face a period of overcapacity.

They needed to prepare for this in advance, as there would be a wave of liquidations.

Those who couldn’t withstand it would be eliminated.

Even some who managed their transition poorly would suffer great losses.

Yang Jianguo instantly knew what to do.

As for real estate, Yang Cheng didn’t have any particularly good advice; he didn’t know much about it himself.

But he made one point: don’t pursue fast turnover. Rapid expansion was meaningless. Proceed steadily and surely, focus on quality, build a good reputation, and maintain financial health.

This might be slower, but it was very stable.

And this “slow” was only relative to other real estate companies focused on fast turnover.

With the entire market taking off, how slow could it be?

To be blunt, in the next few years, you could make money in real estate just by buying a random piece of land.

“No wonder you suggested Old Lin go work at the real estate company. So you were keeping an eye on me,” Yang Jianguo immediately understood.

Yang Cheng smiled to himself.

His so-called father was bold, but sometimes he took too many risks.

With someone as cautious as Lin Zhongqiu watching over things, Yang Cheng could rest assured.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you.” Yang Jianguo wasn’t one to dawdle.

Yang Cheng also gave some investment suggestions.

Because the Yang’s Group now also invested in some companies in their supply chain, such as a company specializing in R&D of shoe materials.

Yang Cheng was very supportive of this kind of independent research and development.

He also mentioned BYD and JD.com as potential investments.

When he was in Beijing, he had learned some information from Xia Anmin that JD.com was currently seeking funding.

BYD was listed in Hong Kong.

Yang Cheng specifically looked it up; the current stock price was around eight Hong Kong dollars, about the same price Warren Buffett paid.

But Yang Cheng vaguely remembered from his previous life that BYD’s stock had once dropped to just over four.

So, he advised his so-called father that when BYD’s stock price fell to five, he could start buying heavily. Buy as much as you want; you can’t go wrong.

As for JD.com, however much they wanted to raise, just invest that much.

Trust in Brother Dong, you can’t go wrong!

Yang Jianguo secretly took note of all this.

In his mind, Yang Cheng had been abroad all this time, so how could he know about these things?

He must have heard some whispers while talking with Xia Anmin.

In this day and age, what kind of information was more profitable than this?

So, he didn’t doubt it at all.

In his heart, he became even more certain that Xia Qing was a truly excellent daughter-in-law!

…

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing stayed in their hometown for a while.

Unlike at her family’s home, at Yang Cheng’s house, they lived together openly.

This made Yang Jianguo and his wife indescribably happy.

According to Xia Qing, Yang Cheng’s mother had already started calculating how many kids they should have.

Preferably in the next few years while she was still able and mobile, so it would be convenient for her to help take care of them.

In a few more years, when she was older, it wouldn’t be as convenient.

However, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were not ready yet.

The two had just gotten together. Wasn’t it nice to enjoy their time as a couple?

By June, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had to prepare to return to Europe.

So, Yang Jianguo and his wife accompanied them back to Beijing.

Lin Zhongqiu was with them as well.

They were preparing to go talk to Brother Dong about financing.

Speaking of financing, Yang Cheng remembered something.

After asking Xia Qing, he found out that she had been depositing his salary into his bank card every month.

It had been three years since she took office.

But since Yang Cheng rarely used that card, he had no idea.

When he checked, he found there was over six million pounds in wages.

It was only then that Yang Cheng discovered that he was actually the highest-paid person at the Bayswater Chinese.

What should he do with this money?

Yang Cheng wanted to buy a house in London.

But unexpectedly, just as he was making plans, his mother laid down the law.

She told Yang Cheng that once he got to London, he should look for a house he liked, preferably one closer to where Xia Qing worked.

Most importantly, the neighborhood had to be safe and secure.

Because Yang Cheng often traveled with the team for away games and wasn’t at home.

“You go ahead and look. I’ll pay for it, no matter how much it costs.”

Yang Cheng was truly surprised that his so-called mother had so much money.

“I didn’t really do much, just partnered with your uncle to open a cardboard box factory to support our sportswear business. I get a huge share of the profits every year.”

“Also, I’m in charge of selling all the scraps from our apparel factories, which brings in several million a year.”

Needless to say, the money from selling scraps definitely didn’t go to the company.

Yang Cheng was speechless.

For the first time, he discovered that even if he did nothing, he could still live a life of luxury.

So this is how awesome it is to be a rich kid!

In Beijing, Yang Cheng arranged a gathering, inviting Xia Qing’s parents, grandparents, and Xia Xi to have a meal with his own family.

It was at this dinner table that Yang Cheng heard that Xia Xi also had a girlfriend.

And she was a tenured civil servant in a ministry.

He was quite surprised!

Not bad, brother-in-law.

Getting a girlfriend just like that. So it was that you didn’t want one, not that you couldn’t get one.

Xia Xi, feigning nonchalance, grinned at Yang Cheng. “Weren’t you the ones who force-fed me all that lovey-dovey stuff for days?”

But it was precisely because of this that Xia Anmin and Cao Wenhui’s impression of Yang Cheng improved even more.

He was practically a lucky star for their family.

Cao Wenhui had lost countless brain cells over the years trying to get her son to date.

And then, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing came back, showed off their love, and problem solved!

If she had known this trick worked, she would have used it long ago. She’d be holding her grandchildren by now.

With multiple happy events coinciding, both families were overjoyed, and the meal was delightful and harmonious.

Yang Jianguo was a straightforward businessman, and Xia Anmin was also sincere in his dealings. The two men hit it off at their first meeting over a drink.

As they say, a person’s character is reflected in how they drink.

…

While Yang Cheng was in China, the Bayswater Chinese’s operations in England did not stop.

Mike Rigg personally went to Portsmouth to negotiate, and in the end, Asmir Begović joined the Bayswater Chinese for a transfer fee of three hundred thousand pounds.

At the same time, the traditional Big Four, including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool, all began to make offers for Ashley Young, mostly around twenty million pounds, but all were rejected by the Bayswater Chinese.

And what no one expected was that another team was also participating.

That team was Manchester City.

The Blue Moons had been acquired this summer by Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand.

Thaksin acquired Manchester City for a total of 81.6 million pounds.

Of this amount, 21.6 million was for purchasing the club’s shares, while the remaining 60 million pounds was to settle the team’s debts.

The debt-ridden Manchester City naturally would not refuse such an acquisition.

The Manchester City club’s managing committee agreed almost immediately.

After acquiring Manchester City, Thaksin immediately injected funds into the club and began operations in the transfer market.

Thaksin declared that this summer, Manchester City’s transfer budget would exceed fifty million pounds.

And their primary targets were two players from the Bayswater Chinese.

Ashley Young and Gökhan İnler.

Actually, Manchester City’s top target was Yaya Touré, but they were rejected by the Bayswater Chinese, which led them to turn their attention to İnler.

Just after the season ended, Manchester City’s key midfielder Joey Barton was transferred to Newcastle for six million pounds.

But Manchester City’s first offer for İnler was a staggering ten million pounds.

Chapter 121: Transfer Battle! Two Young Prodigies, Secured!

Since his promotion to Head of Scouting, Gary Worthington had been swamped with work.

Yang Cheng had high standards for the scouting department, demanding that he establish a complete scouting network as quickly as possible.

France was a crucial link in this network.

As a region teeming with young talent, French football had always been a vital supplier for the Premier League.

For example, Arsenal’s Wenger was particularly fond of poaching young players from France.

Gary Worthington dared not be complacent.

The club invested a substantial amount of money in the scouting department each year, and he had to deliver results to convince the management.

Especially the God of Wealth among the suits.

She was the boss’s future wife, after all.

Everyone at Bayswater Chinese, including Gary Worthington, held an almost god-like reverence for Yang Cheng.

Love me, love my dog—that sentiment naturally extended to Xia Qing, whom they held in high regard.

Accompanied by the scout for the Paris region, Gary Worthington got into a Citroën and headed east.

Their destination was Torcy.

It was an area where many African immigrants lived.

“Are we going completely internet-based now?” asked the French scout, whose name was Emmanuel.

His tone carried a hint of complaint.

“Of course. Back at our London headquarters, we’ve invested over a million pounds to build a comprehensive database. We also hired professional software engineers to write a custom management system, all to facilitate internet operations.”

Gary Worthington communicated the club’s requirements with a serious expression.

A paperless office was Yang Cheng’s mandate.

“In the past, the video tapes you mailed over were blurry, the recording quality was poor, and they were prone to problems. Isn’t it much more convenient now to transfer them over the network?”

“But it’s such a hassle to carry a laptop everywhere,” Emmanuel grumbled.

“You’ll get used to it. Smartphones will become more and more advanced. In the future, you’ll be able to do everything with one phone, from shooting footage to data entry, all in one go.”

“Really? That sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. When will that happen?” Emmanuel laughed.

He didn’t believe it.

Nokia’s so-called smartphones were nothing special.

He had heard that Apple in the US had released a phone, but not many people were using it. It didn’t even have 3G. It looked like a gimmick—a big screen that could easily shatter if dropped. An expensive, impractical toy.

Gary Worthington didn’t want to dwell on the topic.

The little he knew, he had heard from Yang Cheng.

As for how this future would be realized, he had no idea.

But he couldn’t show any weakness in front of his subordinate.

“Less complaining, more working.”

“I am driving, aren’t I?” Emmanuel chuckled.

The two chatted and laughed along the way. After about 25 kilometers, they arrived in Torcy.

Emmanuel had already checked the map. After a few turns, he pulled up to a club surrounded by residential buildings.

The club had two standard football pitches, with a row of low, single-story buildings situated between them.

That was where the club’s dressing room, equipment room, and administrative offices were located.

Gary Worthington also noticed that the eastern pitch had an athletics track around it.

“That’s for community sports meets. It’s subsidized by the government and the community,” Emmanuel explained.

Gary Worthington nodded.

Only someone who had worked in youth development would understand the concept of “for every policy from above, there’s a countermeasure from below.”

Grassroots youth development was a chaotic and varied world.

By the book?

Most wouldn’t survive.

Even Bayswater Chinese’s Satellite Training Centre, which was considered quite professional, wasn’t truly at the grassroots level.

They still selected talent from grassroots youth clubs.

“See that iron fence on the other side of the athletics track?”

After getting out of the car, Emmanuel pointed to a distant iron gate that appeared to be locked.

Beyond the gate was another pitch, a very small one, about half the size of a regular football field.

“There’s another youth club there, called Roissy-en-Brie.”

“What’s the relationship between the two?”

“I don’t know,” Emmanuel shook his head. “But there must be a connection, being so close to each other.”

“Roissy-en-Brie specializes in recruiting poor black children and giving them basic football training.”

“If someone shows promise, Torcy will select them for further development and then send them to professional clubs for trials. If they’re picked, Torcy lets them go unconditionally.”

Gary Worthington nodded. “And they get a cut of future transfer fees.”

“Exactly. In 2005, Torcy had a kid named Christopher Jullien, also born in ’93. He was outstanding for his age and was snapped up directly by Auxerre.”

“In 2004, Roissy-en-Brie had a black kid named Nicolas Isimat-Mirin who was also brilliant. Clairefontaine took him. It’s been exactly three years, and I heard he went to Rennes this summer.”

Gary Worthington was starting to see his French scout in a new light. “You seem to know quite a lot.”

The man was in his early thirties but seemed sharp and resourceful.

Most importantly, his information channels were excellent.

“This is our bread and butter. If we don’t know more than the average person, we can’t do this job.”

As they talked, they approached the low buildings. Emmanuel offered another piece of advice.

“When you meet Sambu Tati, Torcy’s owner, be careful. Read the contract closely. It’s best to have a professional lawyer look it over to avoid any problems.”

Gary Worthington gave Emmanuel a long look and nodded.

He made another mental note about the scout: he was honest.

People at the grassroots level employed all sorts of tricks.

As a scout himself, Gary Worthington had seen it all.

Whether in France or England, it was the same story.

The only difference was the unique circumstances in each country.

The most troublesome region was Latin America. That place was a nightmare.

Gary Worthington had come on this trip primarily to scout one player.

Paul Pogba.

Born in 1993, he was only thirteen years old.

But that wasn’t a problem. FIFA’s regulations weren’t strictly enforced back then, and there were ways to circumvent them.

However, after meeting Sambu Tati, it seemed the owner was trying to hike up the price on the spot. He mentioned that Le Havre AC was also interested in Paul Pogba, but Sambu Tati despised that club.

Why?

Because they hadn’t contacted Torcy at all and had gone directly to Pogba.

This was a clear breach of etiquette!

Emmanuel immediately berated Le Havre AC, which quickly convinced Sambu Tati to agree to Pogba’s transfer to Bayswater Chinese.

However, whether the deal could be sealed depended on their ability to persuade the player himself.

Of course, this kind of youth “transfer” still required a formal contract.

This would be the legal basis for Torcy’s future cut of any transfer fees.

A person’s reputation precedes them.

As the reigning Premier League champions and a legendary team rapidly rising in European football, Bayswater Chinese had considerable appeal.

At the very least, they were far beyond what a French Second Division team like Le Havre AC could compare to.

More importantly, Yang Cheng’s earlier proclamation that he would invest tens of millions of pounds in youth development had made a name for him across Europe.

Now, everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese was not short of money and placed a high value on its youth academy.

Their first team had the youngest average age in the Premier League, and perhaps in all five major leagues.

Sambu Tati was more than happy to see Paul Pogba move to Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy.

So, he made a call and summoned Pogba and his mother to meet with Gary Worthington in person.

On one side was a French Second Division team; on the other, the Premier League champions. How to choose?

Both clubs would require him to leave home. One was in London, west of the English Channel; the other on the west coast of France, east of the Channel.

The biggest obstacle, oddly enough, was language.

Gary Worthington explained that Bayswater Chinese had a complete and well-established player settlement program.

Upon arriving in London, Pogba could live directly at the Brent training ground.

He could attend school just like his peers.

Language barrier?

Not a problem. Bayswater Chinese would arrange for special tutors to provide him with English language training.

There was no need to worry about school, academic studies, or anything of that sort; the club would place great importance on it.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese offered special perks to outstanding players selected through this process, including scholarships, monthly allowances, round-trip airfare, and more.

The terms offered by Bayswater Chinese sounded far superior to those of Le Havre AC.

And the club was much bigger.

Therefore, Pogba and his mother agreed almost on the spot.

Seeing that they were interested, Gary Worthington decided to strike while the iron is hot.

In a few days, the club would be holding a selection day. Many talented prospects from all over the world, as well as from within England, would be participating.

Pogba was invited to attend. Bayswater Chinese would cover the round-trip airfare for the player and his family, as well as their food and accommodation in London.

Upon hearing this, they had no more hesitation.

They needed to see London for themselves to feel at ease.

Once everything was settled and contact information exchanged, Gary Worthington left the Torcy club.

As soon as he got in the car, he took out his phone and sent a text message to Yang Cheng, who was far away in China.

“Pogba, secured.”

Ten kilometers north of Cardiff, Wales.

Caerphilly Castle is a very famous tourist attraction in the UK and a symbol of the small town of Caerphilly.

The entire town seemed to be built around this castle.

About 300 meters north of the castle lay Virginia Park.

It was the liveliest park in town.

Every day, many children, boys and girls alike, would run and play on the park’s lawns. Many also played football there, sometimes even having matches.

There was also a football club named after Caerphilly Castle, which trained children in the park.

Aaron Ramsey was the town’s football star.

When he was only eight, he participated in the Welsh Junior Football Championship and performed so exceptionally that he attracted the attention of many clubs, including Cardiff and Newcastle.

But he ultimately chose Cardiff, just ten kilometers to the south.

It was a Welsh team, but it played in the English league system.

Since 1998, Aaron Ramsey had been commuting between Cardiff and Caerphilly.

Unbeknownst to him, eight years had passed.

He was now sixteen.

In the final minute of the 45th round of the Championship last season, in a home game against Hull City, head coach Dave Jones brought him on as a substitute.

The score was 0-1 at the time.

He was on the pitch for only one minute before the game ended.

But for both Aaron Ramsey and Cardiff, that one minute was extraordinary.

He broke the historical record set by John Benjamin Toshack at Cardiff, becoming the youngest player ever to appear for the club.

Sixteen years and 124 days old.

Toshack was the pride of Cardiff City. Not only did he have a distinguished playing career with Cardiff and Liverpool, but after retiring, he also managed Swansea City, Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid, the Wales national team, and Deportivo La Coruña.

He was now in his second stint as the manager of the Wales national team.

That one minute represented Cardiff’s high hopes for Aaron Ramsey.

Aaron Ramsey was also a key player for the Wales U17 national team.

Not long ago, Brian Flynn, the head coach of the Wales U21 national team, gave him a call, telling him to be prepared.

He planned to include Aaron Ramsey in the U21 national youth team’s training camp in Sweden in August.

This made Aaron Ramsey incredibly excited.

He had made the U17 team at fifteen, and now he was getting into the U21s at sixteen.

He felt deeply honored.

Thanks to his immense talent and impressive resume, Aaron Ramsey had become a local celebrity.

Especially when he came to Virginia Park to play football, many people would come over to greet him.

Some would even chat with him about Cardiff or Welsh football in general.

Recently, the most talked-about Welsh player was Gareth Bale, who played for Bayswater Chinese.

Ever since Yang Cheng converted him into a left winger, he had completely unleashed his potential.

Many said he would become the pride of Wales.

“You will too!”

After discussing Gareth Bale, people would always turn to encourage Aaron Ramsey.

They would ask him about Cardiff’s situation and lament the decline of Welsh football.

For historical reasons, three Welsh clubs competed in the English league system.

But their results were far from ideal.

Cardiff was the best of the three, but they could only manage a mid-table or even lower-mid-table finish in the Championship.

In the just-concluded 2006/07 season, Wrexham, competing in the third-tier League One, was relegated.

And Swansea City, another team with high hopes, finished only seventh in League One, failing to secure promotion.

This left the people of Wales deeply disappointed.

The performance of the three Welsh teams was getting worse and worse.

Meanwhile, English players were getting stronger and stronger.

People would often sigh at the widening gap and repeatedly tell Aaron Ramsey that he should go to a better team if he had the chance, preferably in the Premier League.

Just like Gareth Bale.

If Gareth Bale had stayed at Southampton, would he be as famous and outstanding as he was now?

“Don’t be silly. I’m still a long way off. No team would be interested in me,” Aaron Ramsey said humbly.

The people around him showered him with more praise.

In the young man’s heart, playing in the Premier League was also his dream.

Even though he was only sixteen.

He didn’t tell those who cared for him that Premier League teams were, in fact, already interested.

Clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Chelsea were all closely monitoring his every move.

And Everton.

Before the end of last season, Everton had sent representatives to Cardiff to negotiate.

They hoped to sign Aaron Ramsey for one million pounds.

But Cardiff rejected Everton’s offer.

The reason was explained to Aaron Ramsey and his family.

Everton’s offer was actually only 200,000 pounds upfront. The remaining 800,000 pounds were dependent on his performance, including appearances, goals, assists, and various other metrics, up to a maximum of 800,000 pounds.

This was completely unacceptable to Cardiff.

Another unnamed London club, also in the Premier League, made a similar offer, which was also rejected.

Aaron Ramsey wondered if this club was Bayswater Chinese, where Gareth Bale played.

He didn’t know.

The information coming from these two Premier League clubs suggested they were cautious about Aaron Ramsey.

At just sixteen, with a market value of only 50,000 pounds, an initial payment of 200,000 pounds was four times that amount.

It was a very reasonable offer.

But Cardiff was short on cash at the moment, and they didn’t want to sell their top prospect for that price.

Aaron Ramsey understood the club’s position and was grateful for Cardiff’s dedicated nurturing over the past eight years.

So, he was more than willing to leave a sum of money for the club when he departed.

The exact amount depended on Cardiff’s negotiations.

If a transfer didn’t happen this summer, Cardiff would promote him to the first team to gain experience in the Championship and improve his skills.

As long as he performed well, there would be no shortage of interested clubs.

That’s why, even during his vacation, Aaron Ramsey would come to Virginia Park to train by himself.

Just as the disciplined Welsh teenager was training, a car pulled up at the entrance to Virginia Park. A middle-aged man got out and called his name from a distance.

“Aaron, Aaron, come here.”

Aaron Ramsey looked over and saw it was his father, Givens Ramsey.

His mother, Marlene, was in the passenger seat.

He was a little surprised, but he immediately scooped up the ball and ran quickly towards his father.

“Just got a call from the club. They want us to go over right away.”

His father opened the car door for Aaron Ramsey to get in, saying as he closed it.

Once he was in the car, they quickly headed south towards Cardiff.

“What’s it about, Dad?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I heard another London team has made an offer.”

Aaron Ramsey’s heart skipped a beat.

The thought of a transfer made the teenager feel apprehensive.

“Don’t worry, Aaron. It’s Bayswater Chinese.”

“Huh?” Aaron Ramsey was stunned. “Is that the team Gareth Bale plays for?”

“Yes.”

“Did Cardiff agree?”

“They must have. Why else would they ask us to go?”

“What’s the offer?”

“I heard it’s one million pounds.”

“That’s about the same as Everton and Liverpool’s.”

“It’s different, Aaron. It’s still one million pounds, but this time, I heard it’s a one-time, full payment.”

In his young mind, he didn’t yet have the concept to understand why a full payment was better than installments for the same one-million-pound fee.

He had only heard that with installments, the buying club could easily try to cheat them.

“They’re the Premier League champions. Am I good enough?” Aaron Ramsey still found it hard to believe.

“You’re a champion too, Aaron,” his mother said, turning back from the passenger seat with a smile.

“That’s right. You were the 2005 Welsh Schools’ pentathlon champion, and you finished fourth in the UK U17 Athletics Championships last year. That’s already incredible,” Givens said, feeling very proud of his son.

The pentathlon is a highly comprehensive sport.

The 100-meter sprint tests an athlete’s speed and explosive power; the long jump tests explosive power and coordination; the shot put tests strength and explosive power; and the high jump tests explosive power and flexibility.

Finally, there is the 1000-meter run, which tests an athlete’s endurance and speed.

It could be said that this is a very challenging sport that tests an athlete’s all-around ability.

To achieve a good ranking in this sport showed that Aaron Ramsey possessed exceptionally outstanding athletic genes.

And these came from the genetic inheritance of Givens and Marlene.

The Ramsey family arrived in Cardiff.

Soon, they met the representative from Bayswater Chinese.

Chief Talent Officer, Mike Rigg.

The friendly-looking Englishman told the Ramsey family that Cardiff had accepted Bayswater Chinese’s offer.

One million pounds. Aaron Ramsey officially belonged to Bayswater Chinese.

All that remained was for the two parties to negotiate the terms of his contract.

Ramsey’s parents were delighted.

Although Bayswater Chinese had risen to prominence only recently, they were last season’s Premier League champions.

Moreover, Gareth Bale had been developed very well at the club and had even made the national team.

This gave them a positive first impression.

Aaron Ramsey wasn’t particularly concerned about his salary; he left that for his parents to discuss.

He cared about one thing.

“Will I get to play?”

Mike Rigg smiled and nodded. “You are a player our head coach, Mr. Yang Cheng, who is also our owner, personally requested we sign. He will definitely arrange the most suitable development plan for you, just like he did for Gareth Bale.”

Aaron Ramsey felt a little more at ease after hearing that.

“In our first team, the number of players is actually quite small, unlike other clubs that have many unregistered young players after filling their 25-man roster. We’re not like that.”

“For the past few seasons, our first team registration has always been 25 players. This ensures every player gets enough match time and opportunities to play. Only with sufficient match practice can players grow and improve.”

Givens Ramsey and his wife nodded repeatedly.

Now that’s what you call professional!

“You know, last season we were under a lot of pressure with the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, and FA Cup. We play a lot of matches every year, so we let the young players handle the League Cup and FA Cup, and they performed very well.”

At this point, Mike Rigg looked at Aaron Ramsey and smiled slightly. “You will definitely play in the League Cup and FA Cup. When the time comes, I hope you can give it your best performance.”

After several years of working together, Mike Rigg had unwavering faith in Yang Cheng’s judgment.

More importantly, Aaron Ramsey had shown astonishing talent from a very early age.

Not only was he a pentathlon champion, but more importantly, he also displayed a delicate touch and excellent imagination rarely seen in British players, which were extremely scarce qualities.

That was why not just the Big Four, but also clubs like Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, were all eyeing Aaron Ramsey.

Why hadn’t they made a move?

Because their one-million-pound offers were rejected.

Offer more?

Which of these clubs had that much spare cash right now?

It wasn’t Mike Rigg boasting, but among the Premier League teams, there was probably no one other than Bayswater Chinese willing to splash out one million pounds in cash for a sixteen-year-old prospect.

Manchester United and Chelsea had money, but would they be willing to pay that price?

Arsenal and Liverpool?

They were so poor they were about to sell their own backsides.

Their transfer fees were squeezed out, and they delayed and owed wherever they could.

That’s why Cardiff agreed to sell to Bayswater Chinese.

“Mr. Yang asked me to tell you to get ready for the pre-season training with the team. Also, we’re going to Asia again this year, so you’ll need to sort out some paperwork in advance.”

Aaron Ramsey nodded silently.

He still felt a bit dazed, unable to quite believe it.

Have I really made it to the Premier League?

Though still in China, Yang Cheng began to remotely direct transfer operations in Europe.

Adam Crozier was stationed in London, responsible for negotiating with the various clubs trying to poach their players.

The main focus was on Ashley Young and Gökhan İnler.

For Gökhan İnler, the only interested party was Manchester City.

According to Yang Cheng’s wishes, he didn’t actually want to sell İnler.

The Swiss player was a well-rounded midfielder, adept in both attack and defense, with good passing ability and a tough style of play.

Last season, İnler had scored several important goals for the team, even securing three points on multiple occasions.

But Manchester City was simply offering too much.

They not only promised İnler a starting position but also showcased their grand ambitions to the Swiss midfielder.

After receiving an injection of capital from Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, their transfer targets included talented players like Fiorentina’s Bojinov and Atlético Madrid’s established star Petrov.

There were also hot commodities on the European transfer market like Elano from Shakhtar Donetsk and Ćorluka from Dinamo Zagreb.

Each of these players came with a hefty price tag.

Gökhan İnler was tempted.

He believed that Manchester City under the Thai Prime Minister’s ownership would become another team like Chelsea.

Thus, through his agent, he conveyed his desire to leave to Bayswater Chinese.

Adam Crozier had discussed the matter with Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng also personally called Gökhan İnler, hoping he would stay.

With the Champions League and the league in the upcoming season, they desperately needed familiar players like Gökhan İnler for rotation.

But the Swiss midfielder was still set on leaving.

He believed he had the ability to be a starting midfielder for a Premier League team, especially an ambitious one like Manchester City.

He was eager to prove himself.

Since it had come to this, what could Yang Cheng say besides wishing him well?

Adam Crozier began negotiations with Manchester City.

And you couldn’t say Thaksin hadn’t invested real money.

After several rounds of negotiations, Manchester City finally signed Gökhan İnler from Bayswater Chinese for 13 million pounds.

After settling Gökhan İnler’s transfer with Manchester City, Bayswater Chinese responded swiftly.

Mike Rigg personally flew to Switzerland and, after two days of negotiations with FC Basel, signed the 18-year-old talented midfielder Ivan Rakitić, who held dual Croatian and Swiss nationality, for a transfer fee of 3.5 million pounds.

In the previous Swiss Super League season, this player had made 33 appearances, playing 2,282 minutes and scoring 11 goals.

For the first 11 rounds, he was mostly a substitute.

But in the subsequent 25 rounds, after becoming a starter, he contributed 11 goals and 1 assist, putting on a very eye-catching performance.

It was this outstanding performance that attracted the attention of numerous Bundesliga clubs.

Bayswater Chinese, however, swooped in from nowhere and signed the young talent for 3.5 million pounds.

Incidentally, when Yang Cheng decided to sell İnler, he had considered Bayern’s Toni Kroos.

The player was set to be promoted to Bayern’s first team this season.

But after careful consideration, Yang Cheng decided not to make a move for the time being.

For a player like Toni Kroos, especially given Yang Cheng’s sensitive identity, you either don’t make an offer, or if you do, you have to secure him. Otherwise, there would likely be no second chance.

Unlike previous years, the 2007 European summer transfer window could only be described as treacherous and unpredictable.

Every individual and every club caught in the middle found it difficult to see the full picture.

In the Premier League, Thaksin Shinawatra had injected a significant amount of capital into Manchester City, vowing to initially invest 50 million pounds and add more if needed.

Chelsea was also sitting on a pile of cash, watching eagerly.

After missing out on Champions League qualification for two consecutive seasons, Wenger’s Arsenal was finally ready to increase their spending.

Liverpool, the previous season’s Champions League runners-up, were more ambitious than ever.

La Liga was equally chaotic.

After defeating Barça to finally win a league title after many years, Real Madrid’s chairman Ramón Calderón was full of ambition, launching an offensive for Chelsea’s winger Robben and also targeting Kaká, vowing to sign both superstars this summer.

Barça, having lost the league title, saw their Dream Team Two teetering on the verge of collapse. Laporta and Frank Rijkaard also decided to increase their transfer spending.

But the most surprising of all was Atlético Madrid.

The Mattress Makers had been languishing for years but were also ramping up their investment this summer.

In Serie A, Inter Milan’s chairman Moratti was determined to win the Champions League, increasing investment to further solidify Inter’s dominance in Italy while also beginning his assault on Europe’s premier competition.

But this season, with Juventus’s successful promotion, The Zebras also became one of the most-watched teams in the transfer market. The Old Lady’s first signing was Salihamidžić on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.

The Zebras had fired the first shot of their return to Serie A.

From the Premier League to La Liga to Serie A, the entire European football landscape had been thrown into a chaotic mess.

The whole transfer market had become bewildering and impossible to comprehend.

It was around this time, starting from the end of June, that a piece of information began to circulate in the European football transfer market.

A centre-back crisis.

At first, not many people paid attention.

How could there be a shortage of centre-backs?

There were so many excellent centre-backs in European football, how could there be a crisis?

But gradually, everyone began to realize that something was wrong.

Chelsea needed a centre-back; everyone knew that.

Arsenal also lacked a centre-back, as did Liverpool.

In La Liga, both giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, were short on centre-backs.

In Serie A, Inter Milan and Juventus were both scrambling for centre-backs.

If everyone had thought it impossible, a mere panic-mongering rumor before, a quick review revealed that a majority of Europe’s top clubs were genuinely lacking in the centre-back department.

When this group of giants simultaneously lacked a player in a certain position, that position would undoubtedly become the most sought-after resource in the transfer market.

Looking across the European football scene at that moment, the most sought-after centre-back was undoubtedly AS Roma’s Chivu.

How much attention did Chivu attract?

Serie A’s Juventus and Inter Milan, La Liga’s Real Madrid and Barça, and the Premier League’s Chelsea.

These five wealthy giants were all simultaneously eyeing The Giallorossi’s centre-back.

This caused Chivu’s transfer fee to start climbing, reaching 18 million euros.

But was that all?

As numerous giants turned their attention to Chivu and made offers, the Romanian centre-back’s agent, Becali, made a demand: any club that wanted Chivu had to offer an annual salary of five million euros after tax.

Whichever team paid that money, Chivu would join them.

This was sheer madness!

The transfer market began to sink into a state of panic.

Especially for teams in desperate need of a centre-back.

Barcelona was the quickest to react.

Laporta quickly shifted his target, no longer pursuing Roma’s Chivu, and instead swiftly signed Gabriel Milito from Zaragoza for a transfer fee of 20.5 million euros.

It’s worth mentioning that Gabriel Milito refused to join Real Madrid.

The reason was that when he first came to La Liga from Argentina, he was originally supposed to join Real Madrid.

But Real Madrid backed out during the medical examination, which led him to Zaragoza instead.

Under these circumstances, he was unwilling to join Real Madrid again.

And this indirectly benefited Barça.

Because Milito wouldn’t go to Real Madrid, Barça became the best option.

But even so, Barça still paid a hefty 20.5 million euros for a player valued at only 14 million euros on the German transfer market website.

That kind of premium was truly something else.

This showed that the entire transfer market had completely gone off the rails.

Juventus was just as sharp as Barça.

The Zebras quickly changed targets, signing Andrade from Deportivo La Coruña for 11 million euros.

For The Zebras, abandoning the pursuit of a top-level centre-back in favor of a more cost-effective deal was not a bad option.

Besides, for Juventus, signing a top-level centre-back wouldn’t necessarily improve their results.

If Barça and Juventus wisely chose to change their targets, then Real Madrid and Inter Milan stubbornly stuck to their path.

Real Madrid’s transfer chief lacked experience and negotiation skills, constantly being led by the nose by AS Roma.

In addition, Real Madrid was simultaneously working on Lyon’s Malouda, as well as Metzelder on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund, and Javier Saviola on a free transfer from Barça.

Not to mention Chelsea’s Dutch winger, Robben.

This meant Real Madrid never fully focused on Chivu, nor did they shift to other targets.

Inter Milan, relatively speaking, was not as financially powerful as Real Madrid, but they had players to offer.

Gazzetta dello Sport revealed that Inter Milan wanted to use Samuel plus half of Pizarro’s ownership, plus five million euros in cash, to sign Chivu from AS Roma.

This once again sent shockwaves through the entire transfer market.

It was absolute madness!

As July approached, all the transfer dealings were becoming clearer.

Lyon’s vampire, Aulas, was very astute and had hoped to use the competition between Real Madrid and Chelsea to drive up Malouda’s transfer fee.

But Malouda made it clear that he refused to join Real Madrid and would only go to Chelsea.

Not only that, the player also refused to have any contact with Real Madrid.

This caused Real Madrid’s transfer operation to hit a wall, while Chelsea immediately reached an agreement with Lyon.

In the end, The Blues took Malouda from Lyon for a transfer fee of 20 million euros, or 13.5 million pounds.

What was even more unexpected was that the same thing happened with Roma’s centre-back, Chivu.

During negotiations with Real Madrid, Chivu’s agent, Becali, repeatedly insisted on a salary of five million euros after tax.

Why that specific number?

When negotiating with Inter Milan, the salary demand was only 4.5 million euros after tax. Why was it five million euros after tax for Real Madrid?

Becali’s explanation was that the tax rate in La Liga was lower.

At first, Real Madrid managed to remain calm.

General Manager Predrag Mijatović even told the media that Real Madrid had already signed Metzelder, and with Cannavaro staying, their need for a centre-back was not particularly urgent.

Furthermore, right-back Ramos could also fill in at centre-back.

“We are in no hurry to sign Chivu. Even if the player and his agent intend to drag this out, we are not afraid.”

Moreover, Real Madrid’s 18 million euro transfer offer had already been accepted by AS Roma.

So, Real Madrid felt confident.

But unexpectedly, just as Mijatović finished speaking, Inter Milan raised their offer to 18 million euros, matching Real Madrid’s bid, which was also accepted by AS Roma.

Not only that, Inter Milan had a very good relationship with Chivu’s agent, Becali.

This threw Real Madrid into a panic.

Mijatović, who had just been talking about dragging things out, immediately issued an ultimatum, demanding that Chivu and his agent give a response within 48 hours on whether to accept the contract offered by Real Madrid.

In the eyes of Calderón and Mijatović, no one could refuse an invitation from Real Madrid.

Chivu and his agent were simply using Inter Milan to negotiate a better salary of five million euros after tax.

Especially since Chivu had repeatedly stated that he would be honored to join Real Madrid.

But what Calderón and Mijatović never expected was that the cooked duck would fly away.

Just as his ultimatum reached Italy, Chivu’s agent, Becali, seemed to be angered and announced to the public that his player had rejected the offer to join Real Madrid and would accept Inter Milan’s contract.

Now, Real Madrid was truly panicking.

Mijatović immediately flew to Rome.

The news that awaited him was that Chivu had accepted Inter Milan’s contract and officially transferred to The Nerazzurri.

At the same time, he received further intelligence.

Why was Becali so insistent on a five million euro after-tax salary from Real Madrid?

Because Real Madrid hadn’t offered him any kickbacks.

Inter Milan had promised that if Chivu transferred to The Nerazzurri, Becali would receive a commission of 1.5 million euros.

If Chivu did not transfer this summer and left on a free transfer when his contract expired next summer, Inter Milan was willing to pay Becali a commission of three million euros.

The harsh reality of the transfer market slapped Calderón and Mijatović in the face, teaching them that the transfer market was a treacherous game, not child’s play, and certainly not their own wishful thinking.

The Real Madrid of today was a far cry from its glory at the turn of the century.

From Malouda to Chivu to Gabriel Milito, numerous stars had shied away from Real Madrid.

And now, Real Madrid was faced with a problem.

The new coach, Schuster, had made it clear that with only Cannavaro and Metzelder, Real Madrid could not last a whole season.

Signing a centre-back was imperative!

While the entire European football world was focused on the centre-back battle in Italy and Spain, in the Premier League, Chelsea quietly recalled Brazilian centre-back Alex from PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal, meanwhile, signed 16-year-old talented defender Nordtveit from Norway’s FK Haugesund.

Cash-strapped Liverpool concentrated all its firepower on Atlético Madrid’s centre-forward, Torres.

Benítez hoped to use Torres to boost Liverpool’s attack.

He believed this would surely lead to better results for Liverpool in the new season.

After selling Heinze to Real Madrid for eight million pounds, Manchester United sold Italian striker Rossi to La Liga’s Villarreal for six million pounds.

Kieran Richardson was transferred to Sunderland for 5.5 million pounds.

Finally, he even sold Alan Smith to Newcastle for six million pounds.

This also marked the failure of Ferguson’s experiment in the final stages of last season.

Ferguson handpicked West Ham United’s forward, the Argentine beast Carlos Tevez, to join Manchester United.

According to media reports, Kia Joorabchian paid two million pounds in compensation to West Ham United in exchange for Tevez’s freedom.

At the same time, Manchester United paid a loan fee of 10 million pounds to Joorabchian’s company for a two-year loan.

This meant Tevez’s annual loan fee was five million pounds.

After the two-year loan contract expired, Manchester United would have the priority to sign him permanently for three years.

In addition, Manchester United had earlier signed Nani from Sporting Lisbon for 17 million pounds.

And then signed Anderson from Porto for another 17 million pounds.

The Red Devils had invested quite heavily in this summer’s transfer market.

On the first day of July, Manchester United officially announced that they had successfully beaten Chelsea to sign Ashley Young from Bayswater Chinese for a transfer fee of 27 million pounds.

It was at this time that Yang Cheng ended his vacation in China and returned to London with Xia Qing.

Bayswater Chinese announced the signing of young prospect Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff for one million pounds.

As for Paul Pogba’s transfer, since he was a young player, Bayswater Chinese did not make a public announcement.

The French midfielder went directly into the youth teams at the Brent training ground.

With two talented youngsters secured, Yang Cheng was very satisfied!

In addition, the team signed the young goalkeeper Begović, who held Bosnian, English, and other nationalities, from Portsmouth for 300,000 pounds. He would fill the void left by Danny Coyne’s departure in the new season.

Upon his return to London, Yang Cheng began to handle the team’s summer training camp, transfer market dealings, and numerous other matters. At the same time, he and Xia Qing started looking for a house in London.

His mother had made a bold promise to pay for it, so Yang Cheng definitely had to search carefully.

He was tired of living in the temporary partitioned room at Bayswater Stadium.

Wouldn’t it be nice to find a house and hold his girlfriend to sleep every night?

It was at this very moment that Real Madrid, having been repeatedly rebuffed in the transfer market, in a state of desperation, sent an offer to Bayswater Chinese.

Chapter 122: We Sold Him Too Cheaply! Bring It On, We’re Going for the Title!

Real Madrid’s first offer was immediately ignored by Bayswater Chinese.

They wanted to get their hands on Pepe, who had just been called up to the Portugal national team.

Did they really think Yang Cheng would just roll over for them?

Sell a world-class centre-back he had painstakingly poached from Porto, one he held in such high regard, to Real Madrid?

In their dreams!

But soon, Real Madrid submitted another offer. They wanted to sign Škrtel from Bayswater Chinese.

And they immediately bid 13.5 million pounds.

That was a transfer fee of around 20 million euros.

This came as quite a surprise to both Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

“This is a pretty good offer.”

Adam Crozier smiled at Yang Cheng, a questioning look in his eyes.

“It seems Real Madrid is really desperate right now.”

“Of course they are. The whole of European football is short on centre-backs. Wealthy clubs like Real Madrid can still make some noise, but broke teams like Arsenal daren’t even make a peep,” Adam Crozier said, taking a sharp jab at Arsenal.

Why?

Because Wenger had said that the European transfer market was currently in chaos, with the prices for centre-backs being ridiculously inflated, so he didn’t dare make a move.

That was the polite way of putting it.

To put it bluntly, it just meant he had no money to buy anyone.

That’s why the media and fans were all mocking them.

With that little investment, they still wanted to fight for a top-four finish?

The Sun had even declared that Arsenal had already locked in 5th place in the league!

To be targeted like this before the season even started was truly frustrating.

One had to wonder if Wenger had lost his composure yet.

“From the club’s perspective, can we sell him?” Adam Crozier asked.

From the beginning of the conversation until now, Yang Cheng had been staring at the laptop in front of him. It contained information on several players he had asked the scouting department to gather, with his main focus being on matches involving Brazil’s Fluminense.

The domestic league in Brazil was not yet synchronized with the European leagues; it didn’t run across two calendar years.

Their league ran from May to December.

But before the league began, they had their domestic cup competitions.

Thiago Silva had transferred back to Brazil in January 2006 from Dynamo Moscow in Russia.

During his time in Russia, he had contracted tuberculosis, nearly died, and spent half a year in the hospital.

After returning to Brazil, his overall performance was mediocre.

Fluminense’s performance was equally average, finishing 15th in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, close to the 17th-place relegation spot.

As a defender, the backline led by Thiago Silva conceded 58 goals in 38 matches.

Thiago Silva played in 31 of those games.

This wasn’t surprising.

It would have been truly bizarre if a man who almost died from tuberculosis, rested for half a year, and then returned to the pitch, could immediately deliver his best performance.

In the first half of 2007, Fluminense bought out Thiago Silva’s contract from Dynamo Moscow for two million euros.

And then, both the team and the man began to explode.

In the recently concluded Brazilian Cup, Fluminense were crowned champions.

Thiago Silva started all 12 matches, played every minute, and even scored 3 goals.

Most importantly, Fluminense conceded only 11 goals.

In a country like Brazil, which loves to attack, this was a truly remarkable achievement.

Yang Cheng also took a special look at Fluminense’s transfer activity and found that not only had they not made any major signings, their squad was basically the same as last season’s. They had even sold a centre-back, Renato Silva.

So now they only had three centre-backs: Thiago Silva, Luís Alberto, and Roger Machado.

Among the three, Thiago Silva was the pillar of the defense.

After reviewing Thiago Silva’s performance, Yang Cheng turned his attention back to Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

José Fonte, nicknamed the “Commissar,” was indeed a very good centre-back and served as a stabilizing presence in the dressing room.

But his skill level was starting to fall behind the club’s current standing.

Bayswater Chinese were Champions League quarter-finalists and Premier League champions.

It was admittedly difficult for José Fonte to continue leading the backline with his current ability.

Pepe and Koscielny were both excellent. They both had speed, could track back quickly, and were aggressive in winning the ball back.

Škrtel was tall and powerfully built, a beast of a man at first glance, but his turning speed was a bit slow.

Since the middle of last season, Yang Cheng had started to change the team’s tactics, pushing the entire defensive line higher up the pitch.

This was a disadvantage for Škrtel.

Especially when facing faster forwards.

In terms of pure ability, Yang Cheng felt Škrtel was even slightly stronger than the current Koscielny.

But in terms of technical characteristics, Koscielny was a better fit for the current Bayswater Chinese side.

When he factored in Thiago Silva, the answer was obvious.

Hearing Adam Crozier’s question, Yang Cheng nodded slightly. “We can definitely sell.”

“I’ve always said that there’s only one indispensable person at Bayswater Chinese.”

There was no need to say who it was; everyone present knew.

“But Real Madrid is clearly in a state of chaos right now, especially Calderón and Mijatović. Do they even know how to handle transfers?”

Adam Crozier was the sharpest of the bunch and immediately caught the undertone in Yang Cheng’s words.

“You mean, we should fleece them?”

As he spoke, he even made a chopping motion with his right hand, as if slicing vegetables.

This sent everyone in the meeting room into a roar of laughter.

“Think about it. A fat sheep has served itself up on a platter. If you don’t fleece it, would you be doing right by the sheep?”

Yang Cheng now completely understood why, in his previous life, Real Madrid had been ripped off so badly by Porto.

“So, what price do we quote?” Adam Crozier asked with a particularly cunning smile.

“Thirty million…”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. That was a great price.

“…pounds sterling!”

Everyone in the room nearly fell over.

Was he insane?

“Thirty million pounds? Forty-five million euros?” Even Adam Crozier was flabbergasted.

“Yes, quote them that price.”

“There’s no way Real Madrid will agree.”

“Even better. We don’t want to sell him anyway!” Yang Cheng laughed.

He wanted to create the illusion that Real Madrid was desperately begging them, and Bayswater Chinese, left with no other choice, threw out a sky-high price to scare them off.

That way, it would be easier for the fans to accept.

“Not only that, while you’re quoting the price, you need to keep shouting to the press that Škrtel is not for sale.”

The first rule of being a ruthless businessman was playing the saint while acting the sinner.

If you didn’t possess such fine moral character, what kind of ruthless businessman could you be?

“You know our players’ weekly wages aren’t high. Although the transfer fee is large, when you factor it in, the total cost over the contract period isn’t that much different from other players.”

The total cost over the contract period was the transfer fee plus the total salary for that period.

But the total salary also had to include taxes.

Take Chivu, for instance. He was demanding a net annual salary of five million euros, which worked out to be about seven million euros before tax.

Foreign players in La Liga enjoyed tax benefits for their first three years under the Beckham Law, but not after.

Averaged over five years, that would be roughly seven million euros pre-tax.

That’s 35 million euros in salary, plus an 18 million euro transfer fee.

In other words, Real Madrid’s five-year cost for the Chivu transfer would be about 53 million euros.

Škrtel’s annual salary wasn’t that high. Based on his performance last year, he was on about one million pounds, or 1.5 million euros.

Real Madrid could give him a raise, say, straight to three million euros.

That’s after tax. Before tax, it would be about 4.2 million euros.

Over five years, Real Madrid’s salary cost would be around 21 million euros.

Add the 45 million euro transfer fee, and the total comes to around 66 million euros, which is 13 million euros more than Chivu.

See? It’s not as much as you’d think, is it?

Besides, Real Madrid wasn’t stupid. Wouldn’t they try to bargain?

If Calderón and Mijatović were really so generous as to not haggle at all, then there was nothing Yang Cheng could do about it.

“In the current market, Real Madrid doesn’t have many choices!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

This brought him back to that classic word problem.

I’m in the desert and run into the richest man in the world. He’s dying of thirst and wants to buy a bottle of water from me. How much should I charge him?

After making the decision, Yang Cheng handed the specific negotiations over to Adam Crozier.

He was now trying his best to extricate himself from these day-to-day affairs.

With Xia Qing overseeing the administrative department and Adam Crozier handling operations, Yang Cheng felt at ease.

On a side note, after returning to London, Yang Cheng openly packed his bags and moved directly into the apartment Xia Qing was renting.

The apartment wasn’t far, but it wasn’t large, and there were many neighbors.

Xia Qing had been agonizing over where to find a place in London.

But Yang Cheng was completely clueless about such matters.

So, he grabbed Chris Hunt and tasked the Head of Infrastructure with finding a place.

What?

The Head of Infrastructure isn’t responsible for finding houses?

I’ll give you a chance to say that again.

Does the boss’s house not count as infrastructure?

Under Yang Cheng’s combination of threats and enticements, Chris Hunt could only swallow his pride and sacrifice his personal time.

As expected of someone who handled bankruptcy and restructuring, he quickly found quite a few options.

There were properties in the areas surrounding Bayswater.

From Notting Hill to Westminster, and further south to the areas around Knightsbridge and Holland Park.

Expensive, cheap, detached mansions, townhouses, apartments… there was everything.

So, Yang Cheng took a day off, brought Xia Qing along, and, with Chris Hunt as their third wheel, went house-hunting all over West London.

The Notting Hill area was very close to Bayswater, but the options were either flats or townhouses whose styles Yang Cheng and Xia Qing didn’t particularly like.

On the east and west sides of Holland Park, there were many mansions, but the prices were exceptionally high.

You couldn’t even think about buying a house in this area for one or two million pounds.

But this area had its advantages: it was a wealthy enclave with a great environment.

To the east was Hyde Park, to the west was Holland Park, and to the north and south were large shopping centers and streets. It was perfect.

Especially west of Holland Park, there were many detached villas.

The rarest feature was that the houses had courtyards in the front and gardens in the back, a 999-year lease, and were very spacious.

Yang Cheng remembered that in his previous life, after the British Prime Minister Cameron stepped down and moved out of Downing Street, he moved into a residence west of Holland Park.

But he lived on Ilchester Place, the best part of the area, which was all large detached houses. At the time, his was said to be worth 16 million pounds, and its value later rose to over 20 million.

Because a former prime minister had moved in, there were police officers standing guard at the end of the street every day, making the security exceptionally good.

Of course, this area was already London’s most secure wealthy district.

The house Chris Hunt showed Yang Cheng was also a detached villa.

It had three floors, a total area of about 700 square meters, and a separate garage on the side.

From here to Bayswater, it was a little over 2 kilometers on foot, and about the same by car.

From the location to the security to the environment, everything was indeed quite good.

The only issue was that the interior design style was a bit old-fashioned, a sort of old-money look that neither Yang Cheng nor Xia Qing liked.

And since it hadn’t been renovated in many years, many parts were old and dilapidated, not entirely suitable for living.

It was precisely for this reason, plus the fact that the owner was a foreigner, that it was put up for sale.

“Since last year, the UK has started to control mortgage lending, so the luxury housing market as a whole isn’t doing particularly well. A house like this currently has a market price of around 3.5 million pounds.”

The moment Chris Hunt finished speaking, Xia Qing was startled.

“Three and a half million pounds?” she said, looking at Yang Cheng as if to say: Do we really need to buy such a nice house?

“And that’s just the initial cost. After buying it, you’ll definitely need to renovate, and that will be another huge expense. The cost of renovating a detached villa is also very expensive,” Chris Hunt reminded them.

Xia Qing did a quick calculation in her head and estimated the total cost would be around seven million pounds, which was 70 million yuan.

Good heavens!

“Let’s just live in Notting Hill. I quite like it there,” Xia Qing suggested, tugging at Yang Cheng’s hand.

This was just too expensive!

“By the way, what are the property management fees?” Yang Cheng asked.

“It’s ten pounds per square foot per year, so the total comes to around 70,000 pounds.”

“That’s enough to rent a place for a whole year,” Xia Qing said, feeling the pinch.

It really was too expensive.

But Yang Cheng was thinking about something else entirely.

It seemed expensive now, but it wouldn’t in the future.

In the coming years, the UK’s base interest rate would drop to almost zero. At that time, investors from all over the world would pour in like crazy, causing ordinary property prices in the UK to plummet, while luxury properties in London would soar.

For example, didn’t the tycoon Wang Dawan buy a mansion right next to Holland Park as an investment?

So, this was a worthwhile purchase.

Having made up his mind, Yang Cheng immediately put Chris Hunt in charge of it.

The renovations also needed to be put on the agenda.

Coincidentally, hadn’t they hired Norman Foster to design the stadium?

No point in troubling two different people for two different matters. He’d just have him help with this as well.

In a few days, Yang Cheng, as the client, would have to listen to Norman Foster’s design report anyway to finalize the plans.

“Are you sure you want to buy it?”

Xia Qing still felt it was too expensive.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Yang Cheng said, reassuringly wrapping an arm around her soft shoulders with a smile.

“You know Mom has a lot of private savings now, and we’ll be living in England for a long time. If I don’t get some of it from her, what if she and Dad have another son or daughter for me? I’d be at a huge disadvantage, wouldn’t I?”

Xia Qing was amused by Yang Cheng’s words but chided him playfully, “Don’t talk such nonsense all the time.”

Although she hadn’t known them for long, she could see that Yang Jianguo and his wife doted on Yang Cheng to no end.

Yang Cheng wasn’t really talking nonsense.

His parents in this life certainly wouldn’t be having any more children, but Yang Cheng had no idea how to be a proper rich kid.

He had absolutely no experience with it.

Since his mother had told him to spend her money, he might as well do it.

Besides, they did have a real need for a house.

“Alright, I’ll take care of this, but there’s something you need to help me with.”

“Name it.”

“The six million pounds in my account, help me invest it in the US stock market. Buy Apple Inc.”

“Why?”

“There’s no point in just letting the money sit there,” Yang Cheng said matter-of-factly.

Over the past few years, he had been so incredibly busy that he had paid no attention to his finances.

But now that he had money on hand, he wanted to make some long-term investments.

Like buying Apple stock.

The stock market was volatile, and for a half-baked investor like Yang Cheng, short-term trading was out of the question.

So, he would follow Warren Buffett’s method: pick a stock, buy it, and then not look at it for over a decade.

Apple had a 2-for-1 stock split on March 1, 2005. The price was 90 dollars at the time, dropping to 43 after the split, before slowly climbing back up to around 100 dollars now.

The first-generation iPhone had been released, but its sales were mediocre, and it didn’t have the earth-shattering, era-defining impact that people would later attribute to it.

All that was defined in hindsight.

Right now, that crappy phone couldn’t even use 3G and was so expensive. How many people would buy it?

At the very least, you couldn’t even buy it in England yet.

Before 2005, Yang Cheng genuinely had no money.

Now that he did, he wanted to invest all six million pounds in Apple.

That would get him about 120,000 shares.

By 2014, with a 7-for-1 split, that would become 840,000 shares.

And then in 2020, with a 4-for-1 split, it would be 3.36 million shares.

By its peak in 2024, with Apple’s stock price exceeding 200 dollars, that would be…

Uh… less than 700 million US dollars.

That doesn’t seem like that much, actually.

It’s not even enough to build a stadium… how disappointing!

How did all those other transmigrators make a killing in the stock market?

I’m sorry, I’ve brought shame upon us transmigrators!

Oh well, I’ll just treat it as earning some pension money.

If worse comes to worst, I’ll just have to go back to China and inherit the family’s billion-dollar fortune.

With one hand on BYD and the other on JD.com, I’ll just lie flat and no amount of prodding will wake me!

Real Madrid was indeed taken aback by Bayswater Chinese’s offer.

Thirty million pounds?

Dream on!

Combined with Adam Crozier’s statements to The Times, where he stressed that Škrtel was crucial to the team and that they would not sell him, it looked for all the world like Bayswater Chinese was trying to scare Real Madrid off with an outrageous price.

But this time, the deadbeat playboys at Real Madrid were different.

Florentino Pérez was a true player, the kind who “walks through a field of flowers without a single petal sticking to him,” and he knew all the ins and outs of the transfer market.

Calderón and Mijatović were not. They were pretenders.

Not only were they not true players, they were more like “phoenix men” who had come from humble beginnings.

They lacked the mindset and skills of a true player but insisted on acting the part of a great lover.

Their handling of the Chivu transfer clearly showed how clumsy they were.

They tried to play the field with multiple targets at once and ended up with none.

Barça and Juventus had already moved on to other targets, and Chivu had made it clear he wanted to go to Inter Milan, yet they insisted on hanging themselves from this one tree.

What was the point? To show how devoted they were?

Now, after being rejected by Bayswater Chinese, Calderón and Mijatović were even more fired up.

Mijatović personally led a delegation that descended upon London with great fanfare.

Their slogan was: bring Robben and Škrtel home!

Robben’s situation at Chelsea was also quite awkward at the moment.

His ability was undeniable, but the key problem was his frequent injuries. He couldn’t be counted on in crucial matches.

This was a huge problem.

Mourinho’s original plan was to sign another high-level winger to complement Robben.

But the Dutchman wasn’t happy and rejected the contract extension offered by The Blues.

Under these circumstances, Chelsea had to take preemptive measures and signed Malouda from Lyon in Ligue 1.

This was a very clear signal that Robben was leaving.

The British media had also been reporting that Robben had refused to renew his contract with Chelsea and was preparing to leave.

Under these circumstances, Mijatović’s delegation arrived in London and ultimately signed Arjen Robben from Chelsea for 24.5 million pounds, which was about 36 million euros.

While they were negotiating for Robben, they were also talking to Bayswater Chinese.

From Bayswater Chinese’s perspective, Calderón and Mijatović had many flaws, but they had one good quality.

They didn’t approach the player behind the club’s back.

So, in their negotiations with Bayswater Chinese, the two sides were constantly haggling over the transfer fee.

Bayswater Chinese held firm: not for sale.

Real Madrid held firm: we have to buy, but you must lower the price.

Yang Cheng’s confidence came from the transfer market; there were no other excellent centre-backs available.

Škrtel had performed well in both the Premier League and the Champions League last season, proving his quality.

This reassured everyone at Real Madrid.

After several days of negotiations, Real Madrid kept increasing their offer, but Bayswater Chinese rejected it time and time again.

Adam Crozier was a true playboy himself, spending his free time after work chasing women.

People like him were masters at playing hard to get.

His womanizing skills were on full display in the negotiations with Real Madrid.

When you hesitated, I’d tease you a little; you take a step forward, I’d reluctantly shift a bit; you take two more steps, I’d coyly take another…

Just like that, the distance between them slowly closed.

Finally, the two sides reached an agreement on a price.

23.5 million pounds, which converted to 35 million euros.

Why this figure?

Because Mijatović was on the verge of tears by the end.

If the fee really surpassed Robben’s, he wouldn’t be able to face the fans back home.

If Bayswater Chinese really wouldn’t sell, then Real Madrid would just have to give up.

Seeing that there was no more money to be squeezed out, Adam Crozier could only nod in agreement, while also doing Mijatović a big favor.

I’m only selling him to you at this price because I can see how difficult this is for you!

My boss is going to kill me for this!

In the end, Škrtel transferred to Real Madrid for 23.5 million pounds.

“How much?”

“Twenty-three and a half million pounds?”

In his Knightsbridge mansion, Roman Abramovich almost jumped out of his skin.

The figure was just outrageous.

“We only sold Robben for 24.5 million pounds, and they sold a centre-back for that much?”

The Russian might not understand football, but even he knew that forwards were more expensive than defenders.

Moreover, Robben was a superstar.

“We sold him too cheaply!” Abramovich shook his head, full of regret.

He really hadn’t expected that pair of buffoons from Real Madrid to be so incompetent.

“But, this is good too. They’ve sold a centre-back, so their defense will be greatly affected. They’ll probably have problems next season,” Abramovich quickly adjusted his mood.

He turned to look at his personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia.

“The team’s American tour this year is also very important. Last year, Bayswater Chinese made a fortune in Asia. We need to make sure we earn a good sum this year too. We can’t always rely on my investment.”

Granovskaia nodded.

She knew this was the message her boss wanted her to convey to Peter Kenyon and the others.

“Next season, we have to beat Bayswater Chinese, no matter what!”

“And then there’s Shevchenko…”

Just thinking about The Ukrainian Nuke gave Abramovich a headache.

That bastard Mourinho had absolutely no consideration for him.

He wouldn’t even let Shevchenko play in the pre-season friendlies.

This was making Abramovich lose face.

He had forgiven the 0-5 home loss to Bayswater Chinese last season…

And Mourinho still wouldn’t show him this little bit of respect!

“He’s really sold?”

North London, Colney training ground.

Upon hearing the news that Bayswater Chinese had sold Škrtel, Wenger’s mood brightened considerably.

“Confirmed, he’s sold.”

Pat Rice nodded with absolute certainty.

“Also, we’ve received word that Manchester City are bidding for Danny Collins.”

“That left-back?” Wenger immediately broke into a smile.

“He can also play as a centre-back.”

Wenger nodded. He knew the player.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese’s starting left-back was Leighton Baines. Danny Collins had come on as a substitute in many matches and was an important rotation player for the team.

He never expected him to be poached.

This was one of the difficulties of managing a team.

Many people think the starting lineup is the most crucial part.

That’s true, but in reality, the backup squad can also be a huge headache.

Take players like Danny Collins or Gökhan İnler.

Once these players perform well and reach a certain level, they will seek to join other clubs, even mid-to-lower table Premier League teams, to become starters.

After all, being the main man and starting regularly can improve and showcase one’s abilities far more than being a rotation player or a substitute at a top club.

What’s more, the wages at Bayswater Chinese were indeed low.

“They’ve sold Ashley Young, and now they’ve sold Škrtel. Add İnler and Danny Collins to that, and it looks like our hopes for the top four this year are good!”

At this thought, Wenger was filled with anticipation.

He felt that his Arsenal was back in business.

“They sold that many players?”

By the time Ferguson received the news, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City had already made the official announcement.

Danny Collins had transferred to Manchester City for ten million pounds.

They had sold four players in one go, with Ashley Young and Škrtel being important starters.

İnler and Danny Collins were rotation players.

And on top of that, there was the backup goalkeeper, Danny Coyne.

It was impossible for Bayswater Chinese’s squad not to experience some turmoil.

“Yang Cheng hasn’t made any signings?”

“He signed the backup goalkeeper Begović earlier, the 18-year-old midfield talent Rakitić from FC Basel in Switzerland, and the local Welsh talent Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff,” reported his brother, Martin Ferguson.

He was Manchester United’s chief scout.

Ferguson listened and nodded.

Rakitić was a renowned midfield talent in European football, but he was only 18.

There were many young talents in European football these days, but very few actually made it to the top.

Ferguson felt a little regretful about Aaron Ramsey.

He had been keeping an eye on that young player for a long time.

Why hadn’t he made a move?

Because Ferguson had decided to sign Anderson.

He was also a young player, a Brazilian, nicknamed the “second Ronaldinho.”

Having missed out on Ronaldinho in 2003 was a deep regret for Ferguson.

Now that he had the chance to sign this second Ronaldinho, Ferguson naturally wanted to nurture him carefully.

Aaron Ramsey?

Let him continue to level up at Cardiff.

Ferguson was certain at the time that Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea all had the same idea.

As for the bids from teams like Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, they were irrelevant to the top giants.

In fact, they would have been happy to see a team like Everton sign Aaron Ramsey and carefully develop him for a few years. Then, when the time was right, they would swoop in, waving their cash, and snatch him up.

Isn’t that how all the big clubs operated?

They just hadn’t expected Bayswater Chinese to make a move.

But it was fine.

Ferguson had it figured out now.

For many years to come, Bayswater Chinese would be very short on cash.

“I heard they’ve quietly signed a 22-year-old centre-back from Brazil and are preparing to use the Special Talent Clause for him.”

“That kid is meticulous with his calculations, using it once every year,” Ferguson couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“He used it last year too, right? Who was it for?” Ferguson suddenly couldn’t remember.

“Last year? Maicon? No. Di María? Not him either…”

Martin Ferguson slapped his hand. “Right, it was a kid named Marcelo. He’s 19 now.”

Ferguson nodded slightly, committing the name to memory.

From what he knew of Yang Cheng, this kid was definitely not simple.

“I’ve also heard another piece of news,” Martin Ferguson added.

“What is it?”

“Back in May, weren’t there rumors that David Dein had found an outside investor?”

“That American, Kroenke, didn’t he already buy 9.9% of Arsenal’s shares from Granada Ventures, a subsidiary of ITV?”

“Yes, and I’ve heard he’s recently contacted another one.”

“Another one?” Ferguson was somewhat surprised.

Just how promiscuous was Arsenal?

Did they want to be served by two men at once?

“I hear he’s a Russian super-tycoon.”

These days, hearing such news just made Ferguson irritable.

Manchester United was currently being dragged down by the Glazer family.

Initially, the Americans had delivered on many of their promises to him.

But Ferguson never could have imagined that they would shift their debt onto Manchester United.

Now, they had pulled off a leveraged buyout, and Ferguson was being cursed to death by the fans.

“Arsenal has failed to qualify for the Champions League for two seasons in a row, and the debt pressure from the new stadium is immense…” Martin Ferguson sighed.

Arsenal was now trapped in an awkward, vicious cycle.

To alleviate the debt, they had to get into the Champions League; to get into the Champions League, they had to improve the team; to improve the team, they had to strengthen their signings; to strengthen their signings, they had to invest.

The problem was, the club had no money at all right now!

If they were to take on more debt, setting aside whether any bank or institution would be willing to lend to them, even if they could, the debt would only increase further.

Why did Henry refuse to renew his contract with Arsenal after the Champions League final and move directly to Barça?

Because Arsenal couldn’t play in the Champions League.

Henry’s departure at least brought in some funds for Arsenal.

But this year?

The Gunners had no one left to sell!

In the end, they sent off Reyes, Ljungberg, and others in exchange for some funds, which they used to sign Eduardo da Silva, Sagna, and Fabiański.

After all was said and done, they basically broke even.

Under these circumstances, it was hard to say whether Arsenal could fight their way back into the top four.

Because Liverpool had no money either.

“If another super-tycoon like Abramovich comes in, the Premier League is going to get more and more intense,” Martin Ferguson lamented.

Before Abramovich arrived, Manchester United was practically invincible in the Premier League.

That was the glorious past that all Manchester United fans now missed.

Before the start of the summer training camp, Yang Cheng specifically made time to visit the Brent training ground to attend the annual youth academy selection day.

This was also a positive signal of the club’s emphasis on its youth academy.

With Bayswater Chinese’s continuous investment over the past few years, the number of participants in the youth academy selections grew larger every year.

Of course, there were also some players mixed in who had already been unofficially selected.

Like Paul Pogba.

There was no doubting the French midfielder’s ability and talent.

The biggest mistake he ever made was returning to Manchester United.

Given his trajectory at Juventus at the time, if he hadn’t gone back to Manchester United and had gone to Real Madrid or another team instead, he would have been a bona fide core player.

Especially considering the level of skill he displayed at the 2018 World Cup.

Pogba’s best position wasn’t as a holding midfielder, but as a left central midfielder.

In that position, Pogba was undoubtedly one of the world’s top superstars.

But at the time, some wire must have been crossed at Manchester United, as they insisted on transforming a world-class attacking player into a holding defensive midfielder, and then blamed him for poor performances.

Isn’t that just bizarre?

At the very least, they could have paired him with an enforcer to provide some protection.

But Manchester United was just that willful. An investment of over a hundred million pounds in transfer fees and wages was thrown away just like that.

This wasn’t the first or second time something like this had happened.

Just as Yang Cheng couldn’t understand at the time why Ferguson didn’t use Pogba and let him leave Manchester United.

Pogba was now 14 and would go straight into the U16s after joining Bayswater Chinese.

But over the past few years in France, he hadn’t received a very good academic education.

So, Yang Cheng’s requirement was that his academic studies must be strengthened.

At the highest level, a professional player’s career comes down to their education.

Without a good education, you’re capable of doing all sorts of ridiculous, stupid things, and you’d dare to take any old dubious medicine.

Take the wrong thing, and you get banned!

Yang Cheng would never allow such a thing to happen in his team.

During the youth academy selection day event, there was another person who surprised Yang Cheng.

Jadon Sancho.

The kid was only seven years old, born in Kennington.

Note, not Kensington.

Kensington is near Hyde Park in the city center; Kennington is on the south bank of the River Thames, in an area predominantly populated by black communities.

It was the very area Yang Cheng had previously asked Dan Ashworth to focus on developing.

In 2023, data showed that 10% of Premier League players came from this area on the south bank of the Thames, within a 10-kilometer radius.

Born in Kennington, Sancho had moved with his parents to Northwood in northwest London at a young age.

Northwood is northwest of the Brent Reservoir and Wembley Stadium, next to Theo Walcott’s hometown of Stanmore, and closer to Watford.

Therefore, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Jadon Sancho had joined Watford’s youth academy.

But now, he had been recommended by a coach to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng specifically watched him play, and among his peers, his performance truly stood out from the crowd.

“This kid needs to be developed properly. He has a boundless future,” Yang Cheng praised casually.

It didn’t cost anything, after all.

Speaking of which, this was another player ruined by Manchester United.

Yang Cheng always stuck to one principle when looking at things.

Once is a coincidence, twice is bad luck, but if it happens repeatedly, there’s definitely a problem.

And Manchester United was just like that.

If you have a problem and refuse to admit it, then just keep being stubborn and see who gets beaten down by reality.

During his time at the Brent training ground, Yang Cheng also inspected the progress of the second phase of the training base’s construction.

The structure was now complete, and the next stage was interior finishing.

It was expected to be operational by the summer of 2008.

Work on the indoor training ground was currently underway.

On a side note, at the players’ request, Yang Cheng had an extra indoor football court built inside the main training building.

He couldn’t help it. With the infectious enthusiasm of several Brazilian and South American players, the trend was becoming more and more popular within the team.

It wasn’t doing any harm, so of course, Yang Cheng supported it.

The Satellite Training Centre project was still moving forward. Three centers were already in use, and their renovations were mostly complete.

Chris Hunt had found two more youth clubs, and negotiations were currently in progress.

In terms of both hardware and software, the first phase of the Brent training ground was undoubtedly second to none among all youth academies.

From the young players’ recreational areas to their study areas and living quarters, everything was the best.

Not to mention the training facilities outside.

The quality of the youth coaches was also excellent by industry standards.

Not just from England, but to absorb the training advantages of Spanish youth academies in technique, creativity, and other areas, Yang Cheng had specifically hired several Spanish youth coaches to come to London to learn from each other’s strengths.

Yang Cheng’s stance remained the same: persistent investment, absolutely no slacking!

On the drive back from the Brent training ground to central London, Yang Cheng received a call from Adam Crozier.

He had some new intelligence regarding Arsenal.

David Dein had found a Russian super-tycoon who wanted to invest in Arsenal.

“What was Hill-Wood’s reaction?” Yang Cheng’s focus was different from everyone else’s.

In his previous life, David Dein had always wanted to bring in foreign investment, from Kroenke to Usmanov, he was always working on it.

But, in August of this very year, David Dein was ousted by the Arsenal board, led by Hill-Wood.

This meant that the Arsenal board, led by Hill-Wood, was rejecting a foreign takeover.

Of course, the fact that he was later gradually infiltrated by Kroenke and ultimately forced to sell to him to fend off Usmanov is another story.

What Yang Cheng was most concerned about was the current attitude of Arsenal’s management.

After returning to Bayswater Stadium, Yang Cheng went straight to Adam Crozier’s office.

Crozier had also gathered the latest intelligence.

Hill-Wood and the others had no intention of ousting David Dein!

“They don’t want to preserve Arsenal’s purity anymore?” Yang Cheng was surprised by this.

“Hmph, purity. I heard that since Arsenal has missed the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, their losses have been huge. The Highbury apartment project has been suspended, and if they can’t raise more money, they’ll probably have to start selling players again from the 2008/09 season to survive.”

Adam Crozier sneered.

He didn’t have a good impression of Arsenal.

“Who else can they sell?” Chris Hunt asked with a smile.

“Fàbregas, van Persie, Adebayor, Aaron Lennon… they still have a few they can sell.”

Strangely enough, Pascal Chimbonda’s form had plummeted after he joined Arsenal.

Could it be that the Gunners came with some kind of debuff?

If Yang Cheng had to choose, he would consider signing Wilshere.

Purely because he felt it was a shame.

Among the English players, there were very few of Wilshere’s type.

Of course, Aaron Ramsey’s talent was in no way inferior to Wilshere’s, and he was more athletic.

As for Fàbregas, whoever wants him can buy him. He’ll just end up back at Barça anyway.

“From what I understand, Arsenal is indeed very short on cash right now, and the team lacks competitiveness. The consensus among Hill-Wood and the others is that the investor provides the money and gets shares, but doesn’t participate in decision-making.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Is the investor insane?”

Damn, this is some “domineering CEO falls madly in love with me” type of plot.

Is this a romance novel for women?

Everyone else also shook their heads.

They were really treating the investor like a fool. Did they really think so highly of themselves?

But you know, many old-fashioned British die-hards were exactly like this, still basking in the glory of the British Empire.

However, the situation was clearly different from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

David Dein not being ousted proved that many things were changing.

This was normal. Arsenal had missed the Champions League for two seasons in a row. If they couldn’t find money soon, they’d probably have to sell their captain again.

They’d sold so many that it had become a habit.

“There’s still about a year left. I expect the various parties will continue to engage in contacts and negotiations. We’ll see who wins in the end.”

In the current situation, no one could clearly see how things would develop.

“David Dein’s move is very clever,” Yang Cheng still gave him a thumbs-up.

“The whole world knows that Arsenal is short on cash. If they only found one investor, they would definitely get ripped off. Arsenal doesn’t have many bargaining chips.”

“But now, he’s found two at once, one American and one Russian. This pits the two investors against each other, allowing Arsenal to get the maximum benefit.”

It was like a woman with skills.

I’m for sale anyway, so you two can bid for me. Let’s see who offers more.

“Among all the executives in the Premier League, David Dein is quite formidable,” Adam Crozier added a word of praise.

Back when he was the CEO of The FA, he had been outmaneuvered by David Dein and others.

They forced him to step down in disgrace.

Because of this, he held no goodwill toward Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, or any of the other big clubs.

If he had to choose, he would probably be more inclined to pick Chelsea.

Compared to Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, Chris Hunt, and even Xia Qing were somewhat worried about the upcoming Premier League competition. After all, if Arsenal received foreign investment, they would make a strong comeback.

Not to mention Manchester City under Thaksin Shinawatra next door.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t worried.

Thaksin Shinawatra’s assets and accounts were about to be frozen. The one arriving next year was the real terror.

Not only did he have endless money to spend, but crucially, he was also very patient, investing continuously year after year.

Abramovich could no longer invest as recklessly as he had in the previous two years.

And then there was Manchester United. With a debuff like the Glazer family, The Red Devils were doomed sooner or later.

As for Liverpool, there was even less to say. For the next few years at least, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese had nothing to fear from them.

Thinking about it this way, no matter how bad things got, they should at least be able to secure a top-four finish in the league, right?

If it really came to it, they could just learn from the Wenger and Arsenal of his previous life and become the “Fourth Place Fiend” for a few years. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Of course, Yang Cheng was talking about a last resort.

As things stood, Yang Cheng still dared to say one thing confidently to all the other Premier League teams…

Bring it on, we’re going for the title!

Chapter 123: This is What a Master Looks Like! Ferguson Always Gets This Kind of Advantage!

Goalkeepers: Neuer, Begović;

Defenders: Pepe, José Fonte, Koscielny, Thiago Silva, Maicon, Piszczek, Leighton Baines, and Marcelo;

Midfielders: Yaya Touré, Nemanja Matić, Modrić, Rakitić, Lassana Diarra, Matuidi, and Aaron Ramsey;

Forwards: Džeko, Robert Lewandowski, Lambert, Ángel Di María, Andrei Arshavin, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott.

This was the Bayswater Chinese first team squad for the year.

A total of twenty-four players.

During this summer’s transfer window, Danny Coyne had moved to Tranmere Rovers on a free transfer.

The team sold Škrtel, Danny Collins, Ashley Young, and Gökhan Inler.

A total of five players departed, bringing in seventy-three million five hundred thousand pounds sterling.

But they only signed four players.

They were Begović, Aaron Ramsey, Thiago Silva, and Rakitić.

The club spent a total of seven million three hundred thousand pounds sterling on new signings.

In other words, the club’s investment in new players was exactly 10% of their transfer income.

This caused a panic among the media and fans.

In an environment as fiercely competitive as the Premier League, investment was key to guaranteeing results.

Just look at Arsenal. Their spending over the past few years hadn’t been insignificant, yet their performance just couldn’t pick up.

Then there was Sunderland.

When they were promoted to the Premier League alongside Bayswater Chinese, they stubbornly refused to believe in the necessity of spending. As a result, they were sent packing back to the Championship. After fighting their way back this season, they signed twelve players in one go.

Aside from two players on free transfers, like Andy Cole, the other ten players cost a total of thirty-five million pounds sterling.

And mind you, this was their net spending.

Although Sunderland sold four players, they were all free transfers.

It wasn’t just Sunderland.

Fellow newly promoted team, Derby County, also invested thirteen million pounds sterling to sign ten players.

Birmingham City similarly spent eleven million six hundred thousand pounds sterling.

This didn’t even include players on free transfers like Ridel, Parnaby, and Richard Kingson.

The British media had previously calculated that Bayswater Chinese’s transfer income was the highest in the entire Premier League, and perhaps even in all of European football.

But what about their transfer spending?

Among the twenty Premier League teams this summer, they ranked fourth from the bottom.

They spent only slightly more than Bolton, Blackburn Rovers, and Wigan Athletic.

But Blackburn Rovers spent three million five hundred thousand pounds sterling to sign Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich and didn’t sell anyone.

And while Bolton only spent three million two hundred thousand pounds sterling, they signed four players on free transfers and brought in others on loan, including Mikel Alonso and Guthrie.

This was Bolton’s consistent strategy: free transfers plus higher wages to sign players who could contribute immediately.

As for Wigan Athletic, they spent six million three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling but also brought in nine million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

Therefore, some media outlets said that Bayswater Chinese and Wigan Athletic were the only two teams in the Premier League that dared to turn a profit in the transfer market.

Especially Bayswater Chinese.

After selling two core players and two key rotation players, they were still unwilling to invest in new signings.

Many media outlets had already begun making bold predictions: Bayswater Chinese would definitely regret it in the new season.

…

“Actually, our club’s accounts are very healthy right now.”

In public, Xia Qing was, as always, unconditionally supportive of Yang Cheng.

She would never embarrass him or put him in an awkward position in front of others.

But in private, back at their apartment, she didn’t hide her worries.

The media was making such a fuss, and Yang Cheng’s decision to sell players was very concerning.

“Didn’t we make money last summer too?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

He wasn’t worried at all.

Because he knew the quality of the players under his command.

Especially the starting lineup.

“Last year we earned forty-nine million five hundred thousand pounds, but Ribéry alone accounted for forty million. We also spent six million on signings…”

“Wrong!” Yang Cheng raised a hand to interrupt Xia Qing. “It was six million and ten thousand pounds.”

After saying that, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Who did that ten thousand pounds buy?

Wasn’t it Robert Lewandowski?

Of course, the other party wasn’t stupid.

When Lewandowski made a name for himself in the future and was sold for a high price, they would still get a share of the fee.

It just wouldn’t be much.

“Be serious, I’m being serious with you.” Xia Qing’s brows furrowed slightly, looking genuinely worried.

Yang Cheng immediately wiped the smile from his face, pulled her into his arms, and said softly, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. This squad is good enough.”

“Don’t listen to the media’s hype. Just trust me. Last year, our average age was 21.2; this year, it’s 21.125.”

“Overall, it’s about the same.”

The youngest, Aaron Ramsey?

Yang Cheng had the highest expectations for this kid.

You want to know why?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, why did Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal fight tooth and nail for Aaron Ramsey?

Because he had an outstanding performance in the FA Cup, helping Cardiff City reach the final!

So, don’t be fooled by his young age; he was not lacking in ability at all.

Moreover, every young player at Bayswater Chinese now possessed astonishing talent. Who knew what results these players could achieve when brought together?

On a side note, although they had sold Ashley Young and Danny Collins and lost Danny Coyne, which meant a loss of three homegrown player slots, Bayswater Chinese still had ten homegrown players.

Besides the six British players—Lambert, Leighton Baines, Theo Walcott, Bale, Begović, and Ramsey—Modrić, Koscielny, Matuidi, and Piszczek all counted as homegrown players.

By January, Neuer would also qualify as a product of the club’s youth academy.

In other words, Bayswater Chinese was not short on homegrown players.

They just had slightly fewer English players.

But who could blame them when the English youth development system was so poor?

“You have to keep a close eye on this money for me. We’ll need a lot for the initial investment when we start building the stadium.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye on it.”

“The contract renewals are about to start, so you’ll be busy for a while, but our overall income is expected to increase significantly this year.”

As he spoke, Yang Cheng’s hands began to wander, slipping inside the open collar of her pajamas.

Only by getting hands-on did he realize what a fantastic figure she actually had.

He had misjudged.

Xia Qing’s face blushed, but she let him be mischievous. “This Asia Tour should bring in some more revenue, but the main income will be from the Premier League broadcasting rights. The new contract will significantly increase our share.”

Starting from the new season, the Premier League would be operating under a new broadcasting contract, and all teams’ shares would increase dramatically.

They could expect to receive at least around twenty-five million pounds sterling.

In other words, it was more profitable than playing in the Champions League!

The team’s contract renewals weren’t something to be done all at once; they would be handled in batches.

If they were all crammed together, how could they possibly manage to renew them all at the same time?

So, there was a science to how and when to renew contracts, and in what order.

“About that house in Holland Park, I’ve already spoken to my mom. She’ll cover the down payment and the monthly mortgage. She’ll talk to you later about how to transfer the money.”

“Mm,” Xia Qing hummed softly, tilting her head up slightly to look at Yang Cheng, her eyes filled with a watery tenderness.

Yang Cheng’s heart stirred. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Senior.”

Xia Qing gave him a shy glare and主动 hugged him.

It was strange.

The Xia Qing who always presented a decisive and capable executive image in public was actually very gentle and affectionate in private.

And what surprised Yang Cheng the most was that after they got together, she became particularly sensitive to the title “Senior.”

It was as if the word touched on some taboo of hers, making her completely unable to resist its allure.

Before they were together, Yang Cheng had called her that all the time, so why wasn’t it an issue back then?

Because of this, Yang Cheng actually enjoyed calling her that in public even more.

It was a secret that only the two of them knew.

Next, Bayswater Chinese would have a two-week training camp in London before heading to Asia.

The two of them would definitely be apart for a while.

This made Xia Qing cherish the time she could spend snuggled up with Yang Cheng.

…

On July 3rd, the Bayswater Chinese summer training camp officially began.

Except for right-back Maicon, who was representing the Brazil national team in the Copa América, all other twenty-three players were present.

They underwent medical examinations in the morning, and in the afternoon, they headed to Wembley Stadium for the new season’s kit launch ceremony.

Since becoming Bayswater Chinese’s sponsor last year, Puma had placed great importance on this partnership.

This year, they had invested a great deal of effort into the new season’s kit.

Yang Cheng had previously communicated with Puma through Adam Crozier, mainly focused on designing a kit style completely different from other teams, targeting the younger fanbase of Bayswater Chinese.

Bayswater Chinese’s home kit was red.

This year’s Pantone Color of the Year was Chili Pepper red.

According to Pantone, it was a captivating, resonant shade—very stylish, bold, sophisticated, and charming.

Chili Pepper red also represented an outgoing, confident, and design-oriented spirit.

Puma’s designers used a new high-tech fabric with the Pantone Color of the Year, Chili Pepper red, as the main color.

The designers also creatively used a dense diamond-grid pattern down the center of both the front and back of the shirt, which not only improved breathability but also gave the entire jersey a very strong sense of design.

The collar and sleeve stripes, the sponsor’s name on the chest, the Puma logo on the right, the club crest on the left, and the Umbro text logo on the sleeves were all done in last year’s Pantone Color of the Year, Sand Dollar.

This color was very subtle, somewhat like sand in a desert or the glint of a gold coin—a very elegant, pale yellow.

This made the entire kit look exceptionally fashionable, exuding a vibrant and dynamic feel.

In contrast to the home kit, the away kit was reversed.

The main color was last year’s Pantone Color of the Year, Sand Dollar, while all the stripes, logos, and the crest were in Chili Pepper red. This gave the jersey a completely different style.

It was elegant yet infused with passion, offering a completely different feeling from the home kit.

Dozens of media outlets were invited to the event.

Puma’s designers explained the design concept behind the kit and the ideas behind every detail.

After winning the Premier League title, Bayswater Chinese had become the undisputed flagship team in Puma’s camp, so the German brand had invested a great deal of energy and resources into Bayswater Chinese.

Puma’s CEO confidently stated that this was a jersey full of design sense, a work of art among football kits, and he believed it would surely attract more fans, especially young ones.

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had both seen the kit and were very satisfied with its overall texture and design.

Most kits nowadays were basically just template-based.

What did that mean?

It meant that every team’s kit looked more or less the same, just with a different color, lacking individuality.

Even a team like Manchester United had a red shirt with a white rectangular box drawn around the AIG logo on the chest. Combined with the white Nike swoosh and club crest, it was just plain ugly.

Adam Crozier had once conducted a survey among fans, and the results showed that almost all fans disliked their kits because of the old-fashioned styles, feeling they lacked design sense.

Thus, Bayswater Chinese, together with Puma, launched this set of a design-rich home and away kits.

The price remained the same as before.

In terms of kit pricing, Bayswater Chinese was on par with other teams, including the giants.

After all, the production costs were what they were.

Furthermore, Puma would be launching this kit simultaneously through all its sales channels worldwide.

Bayswater Chinese would also launch the kit on its official website, in its fan shops, and in its Taobao store in China.

And it would be a globally unified price.

Judging from the feedback of the journalists present, it was clear they were also impressed by this innovative move from Bayswater Chinese and Puma.

But no matter what, sales figures would be the ultimate measure of success.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current level of influence, it would still be difficult for them to compete with traditional giants in terms of kit sales.

Especially considering the team lacked any major superstars.

However, Bayswater Chinese did have a new heartthrob on the team for the new season.

Aaron Ramsey.

This kid was genuinely handsome!

Yang Cheng felt he was probably about seventy or eighty percent as good-looking as himself.

He had great potential as a shirt-seller!

Since Maicon was still with his national team, the full team photo would have to wait until after the Asia Tour.

…

Once the team began training, Yang Cheng became busy as well.

Midway through last season, Yang Cheng had already largely established the team’s tactical approach.

Within the 4-3-3 formation, Arshavin acted as a free-roaming attacker in the front line, Maicon would boldly press forward on the right flank, and Lassana Diarra was responsible for sweeping and protecting the right side.

This system was already well-drilled from last season.

But with Ashley Young’s departure, Yang Cheng had to make a change.

Thus, he began to focus on deploying the 19-year-old Ángel Di María as the left winger.

Di María had a completely different style from Ashley Young.

Young, despite his decent speed, was better at passing, especially crossing.

But he was a right-footed player, so his crosses from the left were often delivered with his back to the left touchline, using his right foot for an inswinging pass.

Di María was different. He was fast, had strong individual skills, was sharp in one-on-one situations, and was left-footed.

Therefore, he could dribble and break through more often on the left flank.

This would greatly alleviate the pressure on Arshavin.

Then there were Leighton Baines and Marcelo.

When Di María was on the left, the two full-backs could press forward more aggressively and find more space to attack.

After all, Ashley Young mostly operated around the edge of the penalty area on the left side and rarely went to the byline.

After changing the player, the tactics had to change accordingly.

Next, the coordination between players like Modrić and Di María also needed to be adjusted.

The interplay between the attacking players up front, like Džeko and Arshavin, also required adjustment.

Di María could not only play on the left; last season, Yang Cheng had also used him as a left central midfielder and a right winger.

Although his performances varied, Yang Cheng was very confident in the player’s versatility.

So how could they bring that out on the pitch and get results?

That needed to be honed during the pre-season preparations.

…

During the team’s training camp, the main focus was on physical conditioning.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng took time out to attend a briefing on Norman Foster’s master plan for the Bayswater Stadium site and the design proposal for the Queensway renovation project.

The London city government placed great importance on this project.

Mayor Ken Livingstone personally attended the briefing, and all relevant department heads were present.

Because of this, Adam Crozier’s presence alone would not have been sufficient, so Yang Cheng led the delegation personally, accompanied by Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others.

The briefing was not held at Bayswater Stadium, but at London’s City Hall.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that the total budget for the project was not the three billion pounds sterling he remembered from his previous life.

Instead, it had reached four billion pounds sterling.

Clearly much larger than in his past life.

Yang Cheng had been a bit puzzled at first, but after talking with Norman Foster and others, he understood where the problem lay.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the three billion pounds sterling was for renovating Queensway.

Although it included the Bayswater Stadium area, it was only the part facing the street.

But now?

Bayswater Chinese’s stadium extended all the way to the vicinity of Notting Hill.

This greatly increased the scope of the project, so the budget naturally went up.

This brought the total budget to four billion pounds sterling.

Bayswater Chinese would contribute one billion pounds sterling, and the London city government would provide three billion pounds sterling.

Norman Foster was England’s best architect, so there was little to criticize about a design he personally created.

Just by looking at the renderings, one could feel a very elegant, modern, and high-class British style.

It gave Yang Cheng a feeling.

If the entire street could be restored to the effect in the renderings—no, even if it just captured that atmosphere—this street would definitely become a new popular tourist destination in London, attracting visitors from all over the world.

The renovation of Queensway was mainly focused on the facades.

The goal was to preserve the original silhouette while incorporating elements that aligned with modern aesthetics.

This was a true test of a designer’s skill.

But Norman Foster did an exceptionally good job.

He also answered many questions, including those about materials and functional planning.

When it came to Bayswater Stadium, the moment the first image appeared, there was an audible gasp from the audience.

Everyone was amazed.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

Looking at Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others, it was clear they were also stunned.

Yang Cheng remembered very clearly that the angle of the rendering was exactly from the spot where he and Norman Foster had stood across the street that day. At the time, Foster had told him a lot about his inspiration and ideas, but Yang Cheng had been completely bewildered.

Now, the rendering was out, and the effect it presented was absolutely explosive.

Aside from a mental “holy shit,” Yang Cheng had no other words.

Is this the power of a master?

Standing at that street corner that day, looking at an unfinished building, he could “see” this image?

But what was truly shocking came next, as Norman Foster first presented four scenes of the stadium viewed from the east, west, north, and south.

Just as he had told Yang Cheng before, four buildings would be placed at the four corners, with a 50-meter gap between each one.

At six stories high, the 50-meter distance would allow anyone passing by to have a full view of the stadium nestled in the middle, as well as the public areas around it, perfectly showcasing the stadium’s magnificence.

Coupled with the design and functional division of the surrounding public spaces and the curved design of the four buildings, the entire project’s architectural design was like a work of art, leaving one breathless with admiration.

Norman Foster also explained that during the design process, they had fully considered various natural conditions such as lighting and ventilation to ensure the functionality of the stadium in the center was maximized.

In addition, the public space around the stadium would be planned and designed to integrate seamlessly with Queensway outside.

The public space would also be given various public functions based on the actual situation on Queensway.

For example, green landscapes, leisure areas, play areas, and so on.

All of these would be meticulously designed by Norman Foster to ensure a unified overall style.

But for now, the design for this part had not yet begun.

In fact, the entire project had only completed the surveying, planning, and preliminary design stages so far.

Next, once all parties had confirmed this design, Norman Foster’s team would proceed with the full design, which would then become the actual construction blueprints.

Although it was just a design rendering, Yang Cheng was still deeply impressed.

Especially by the stadium.

After the briefing, Mayor Ken Livingstone found Yang Cheng to talk about the project.

He believed that Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium would be the core of the entire project, playing a vital role.

He asked with concern whether Yang Cheng was confident enough to complete this project.

Yang Cheng’s response was affirmative.

As long as the London city government approved the design, Bayswater Chinese would build this stadium and its surrounding facilities, even if it meant selling everything they owned.

Everyone here was sharp; no one could be fooled.

Just one look at the design and you knew what Yang Cheng’s plan was.

Ken Livingstone wasn’t some inflexible bureaucrat; on the contrary, he was very adept at this sort of thing.

Rather than letting the entire plot of land rot there and become a scar on West London, it was better to take this opportunity to make use of it.

“I’ll say it again: this project must be completed before the Olympic Games!” Ken Livingstone emphasized once more.

Yang Cheng also gave a confident assurance.

Now it was up to Ken Livingstone to negotiate and communicate.

All Bayswater Chinese needed to do was prepare the money.

As the client for the entire project, Yang Cheng righteously found Norman Foster after the meeting to ask about more detailed aspects.

For example, the stadium’s capacity.

Norman Foster revealed that based on their on-site surveys, the maximum capacity of the stadium would be sixty-five thousand.

Fans might not have a concept of this, thinking that increasing a stadium’s capacity just means adding more tiers to the stands.

That’s not actually the case.

While raising the stands is necessary, they also need to have a certain gradient, an angle of inclination.

If the stands are to be raised higher, the entire stadium must expand outward.

Simply put, the higher the stands, the larger the stadium’s footprint.

Norman Foster said that after their team’s calculations, they found that sixty-five thousand was the maximum. Any larger, and it would encroach on the public space, making the stadium and the four surrounding buildings feel too close together.

This would create a suffocating and oppressive feeling.

In contrast, by controlling the stadium’s capacity as it was now, the entire space felt exceptionally open, and everyone inside would have a very good experience, and the same would be true inside the stadium itself.

Yang Cheng basically agreed.

Sixty-five thousand was already very good for Bayswater Chinese.

If they could really fill it up for every game, that would be fantastic!

And when Yang Cheng mentioned his idea of a design where the pitch could be split and lowered underground, Norman Foster said he would find time to communicate with a professor at Cambridge to see if such a mechanical device could be designed.

Especially the weight-bearing capacity.

Their preliminary estimate was that after splitting the turf into three sections, the weight would be at least several hundred tons.

The main issue was the length.

Assuming the pitch was 110 meters long and 75 meters wide, after being divided into three sections, each would be 110 meters long and 25 meters wide. How could they ensure that the steel containers holding the turf could withstand such immense weight without deforming?

Other factors, such as stress distribution, also needed to be fully considered.

And if the turf was actually moved underground, could issues like maintenance and lighting be resolved?

All in all, the architectural design was actually the simplest part.

“You’ve really given us a huge challenge,” Norman Foster said with a wry smile.

Yang Cheng immediately laughed as well. “No problem. Maybe after building it, you can win another Pritzker Prize.”

Norman Foster smiled slightly upon hearing this.

He certainly wasn’t going to tell Yang Cheng that you can only win the Pritzker Prize once.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t in the architecture industry, so it was normal for him not to know this.

Besides, embarrassing the client is not something a good contractor does.

Yang Cheng then happened to mention his detached villa on the west side of Holland Park, hoping Norman Foster could also help design it when he had time, including the facade renovation and interior decoration.

“I plan to renovate this for my wedding. You have to design it well for me!” Yang Cheng wasn’t shy with him; after getting to know him, he found Norman Foster to be a pretty good guy.

“Alright, for that alone, I’ll take the job!” Norman Foster glanced at the slightly shy Xia Qing and readily agreed.

…

The entire briefing concluded successfully.

But the new stadium wouldn’t be starting so soon.

Next, Norman Foster’s company would provide a master plan, floor plans, and the overall construction plan, which would need to be submitted to the Parliament of the United Kingdom for approval, a process expected to take at least a year.

During this year, Norman Foster’s company would need to further refine the complete set of drawings, including the construction designs.

The club also needed to start looking for a suitable construction company.

The earliest it could likely be approved would be mid-2008.

The earliest they could start construction would be the end of 2008.

And they would have to demolish first, then build.

While Bayswater Chinese was in its pre-season training, some complications arose with the pre-season friendlies in Asia.

According to the team’s original schedule, this year’s Asia Tour would again visit China, Japan, and South Korea, and they would also participate in the Premier League Asia Trophy, playing two matches against Portsmouth and Fulham.

During their time in Asia, Bayswater Chinese was first set to participate in an invitational Peace Cup tournament in South Korea.

A total of eight teams were participating, divided into two groups of four. After three group stage matches, the top team from each group would play in the final. The invited teams were all well-known from various continents.

Bayswater Chinese was drawn in a group with River Plate, Lyon, and Shimizu S-Pulse, all of whom were strong opponents.

This was also a great opportunity for a warm-up and practice.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese also wanted to take the opportunity to break into the South Korean market.

Besides, the South Koreans were offering a lot of money.

The appearance fee for a single match was one million pounds sterling, which was one million five hundred thousand euros.

Not only that, but if they won the tournament, there was a prize of two million euros.

With the South Koreans offering so much and the opportunity for good warm-up matches, there was no reason for Bayswater Chinese to refuse.

After the Peace Cup, the team was scheduled to play one Premier League Asia Trophy match each in China and Japan.

The original plan included another friendly match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but because the Asian Cup final was also being held in Kuala Lumpur and the date was close to what Bayswater Chinese had booked, the AFC President, Hammam, requested that Bayswater Chinese cancel their trip.

The main concern was that the Bayswater Chinese friendly would affect the Asian Cup final, especially by drawing away some of the fans.

This was a relatively common type of unexpected change when arranging pre-season friendlies.

Currently, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada were traveling across Asia, hoping to discuss with various sponsors and partners to ideally find a new location, such as Singapore, Indonesia, or Thailand.

Basically, just avoid the Asian Cup final in Kuala Lumpur.

If, in the end, it really couldn’t be arranged, then they would have no choice but to cancel this final match.

This was a force majeure that Bayswater Chinese could not refuse.

Not only AFC President Hammam, but even FIFA President Blatter had called Yang Cheng to help persuade him on behalf of Hammam.

If you want to make it in the football world, you have to give face to these big shots.

…

After a week of physical conditioning training in London, Bayswater Chinese played their first pre-season friendly of the summer.

The opponent was Brentford from West London.

And it was an away game.

Nowadays, Bayswater Chinese had a certain box-office appeal, and this friendly match also brought a considerable amount of income for Brentford.

The final result was a narrow 1-0 victory.

During the physical conditioning phase, Bayswater Chinese’s form was not particularly good.

Although the opponent was not strong, the players were not in form and couldn’t perform at their usual level.

After playing against Brentford, Yang Cheng led the team out of London and flew to Seoul, South Korea.

Although the team had been to South Korea last summer, this time was clearly different.

This year, Bayswater Chinese arrived in Seoul with the aura of Premier League champions.

The most obvious difference was that quite a few fans came to the airport to greet them.

After arriving in South Korea, in addition to training, the team also participated in a charity event at a local orphanage in Seoul.

Following that, Yang Cheng led the team to attend a signing ceremony with the famous South Korean tire brand, Hankook Tire.

Starting in 2007, Hankook Tire would officially sponsor Bayswater Chinese for three years, with the specific sponsorship fee not disclosed to the public.

In addition to sponsoring the club, Hankook’s advertisements would also be displayed on the pitch-side advertising boards during all home games in the new season.

This brought Hankook’s annual sponsorship fee to two million pounds sterling.

Additionally, Bayswater Chinese signed another sponsorship deal, partnering with KT Corporation of South Korea.

Currently, the largest mobile telecommunications operator in South Korea was SK Telecom, with nearly half of the market share.

KT Corporation hoped to leverage Bayswater Chinese’s influence to challenge SK Telecom’s dominance.

This sponsorship contract was for one million pounds sterling per year, but the scope of the sponsorship was limited to South Korea.

Before even playing a single match, Bayswater Chinese had already signed two sponsorship deals, generating three million pounds sterling in revenue.

This earned high praise from the South Korean media, who believed that the Premier League champions had a powerful appeal in South Korea.

After arriving in South Korea, the team continued to train diligently.

On the 12th, the team played a friendly match against River Plate from Argentina.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s second pre-season friendly, and the team ultimately defeated River Plate 2-1.

Then, on the 15th, the team drew 1-1 with Ligue 1 side Lyon.

But in the final group stage match on the 18th, the team decisively defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0, securing first place in the group.

In the Peace Cup final on the 21st, Bayswater Chinese narrowly beat Guadalajara of Mexico 1-0 to win the Peace Cup championship.

They earned four million pounds sterling in appearance fees from the four matches, plus the two million euro prize for winning.

And two commercial sponsorships.

Bayswater Chinese had truly made a fortune in South Korea, returning home with their bags full.

The South Korean fans were also overjoyed.

After all, this was a chance for them to see the Premier League champions play right on their doorstep.

…

After finishing the Peace Cup in South Korea, Yang Cheng led the team to Japan on the 22nd, where they rested and adjusted for two days.

During this time, the team participated in a sponsorship event in Japan.

NTT sponsored Bayswater Chinese for three years at an annual fee of one million pounds sterling.

But their rights were limited to Japan, so it did not conflict with KT Corporation in South Korea.

This was an adjustment, or rather an upgrade, to Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship system by Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

The main reason was the large number of companies wanting to sponsor them.

For example, in South Korea, Cass Beer wanted to sponsor Bayswater Chinese and offered a good price.

But Bayswater Chinese’s beer sponsor was Budweiser, and that deal was exclusive and global, so it wasn’t possible.

There were also other Japanese and South Korean brands interested in sponsoring Bayswater Chinese, but for various reasons, deals could not be reached.

This involved the exclusivity of sponsorship brands.

So, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada adopted this regional partner approach.

Japan’s NTT was limited to Japan, and South Korea’s KT Corporation was limited to South Korea.

Of course, sponsorships like Hankook Tire were global and exclusive.

On the 24th, in Yokohama, Japan, Bayswater Chinese played a Premier League Asia Trophy match against Fulham.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese’s Asia tour, Fulham had flown over specifically for the two Premier League Asia Trophy matches.

Having traveled a long distance and still being in the preparation and adjustment phase, Fulham’s overall performance was not very good.

Bayswater Chinese defeated their opponents 2-0.

…

After the match in Japan, Bayswater Chinese took an overnight flight to Shanghai, China, that same evening.

Although it was already quite late, enthusiastic fans were still there to greet them at the airport.

This deeply moved everyone on the team.

Over the next three days, Bayswater Chinese adjusted while participating in activities organized by the Premier League, as well as an event for Umbro China and a new product launch for Puma.

All of these itineraries had been communicated and arranged in advance.

On the 28th, in Shanghai, Bayswater Chinese narrowly beat Portsmouth 1-0.

By this match, Yang Cheng could clearly feel that Pompey’s strength this season was no less than last season.

Under Redknapp’s coaching, Portsmouth had improved even further.

Also in Shanghai, Brazilian international Maicon, who had participated in the Copa América, rejoined the team for training.

In the just-concluded Copa América, Maicon had played in five of the Brazil national team’s six matches, all as an undisputed starter, and his performance was excellent, scoring one goal and providing two assists, helping Brazil win the Copa América title.

In the final, they defeated Argentina 3-0.

Judging from his training upon his return, Maicon’s overall condition was well-maintained.

Since the friendly match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had been canceled and a suitable replacement venue could not be found on short notice, Bayswater Chinese returned to London after the match in Shanghai.

…

As August approached, the Premier League fixture list was officially released.

As many fans were familiar with.

The Premier League schedule each season was always quite chaotic, often with both matches between two teams occurring in the first half or the second half of the season.

Even the scheduling didn’t strictly follow a home-and-away pattern.

This was mainly because, before the schedule was compiled, each club received a questionnaire.

It basically asked for their thoughts on the previous season’s schedule and to provide some suggestions.

It also asked them to write down suggestions about which teams they wanted to play and when.

Of course, when compiling the schedule, the different requests and wishes of each team would be fully considered, but it was impossible to follow them completely, as the schedule couldn’t be arranged that way.

Yang Cheng had also made some requests, hoping to space out the clashes between top teams, especially during the gruelling Christmas schedule, which was too difficult.

It not only affected the results of the participating teams but also the viewing experience for the fans.

After all, with such a dense schedule, the team’s performance would also be affected.

It was said that Ferguson and Chelsea had also made this request.

When the schedule came out, everyone was a bit stunned.

During the three rounds over Christmas, there were indeed no clashes between top teams.

But Newton’s laws tell us that energy is conserved; the clashes between top teams had to be played.

If not at Christmas, then at some other time.

Bayswater Chinese had a gruelling schedule right from the start.

They would play Chelsea in the Community Shield, then face Manchester United away in the first league match, followed by a home game against Chelsea in the second round.

And the second round match was a midweek game.

But this wasn’t someone trying to screw Bayswater Chinese over with the schedule.

Arsenal didn’t have it much better.

They played Liverpool away in the 11th round, Manchester United at home in the 12th, and Bayswater Chinese away in the 13th.

Chelsea played Bayswater Chinese in the 2nd round, and then Liverpool in the 3rd round on the weekend.

If there was one team with the best schedule, it was definitely Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team did not have consecutive matches against strong opponents in their schedule.

The Red Devils’ matches against teams like Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal this season were all spaced out.

This kind of schedule was very good.

“Ferguson always gets this kind of advantage!”

After looking through all the teams’ schedules, Brian Kidd said with disdain.

Yang Cheng just smiled upon hearing this and didn’t take it to heart.

Brian Kidd could never see Ferguson in a favorable light.

But it was an objective fact that the Red Devils had an advantageous schedule.

“Actually, the first three rounds are all very tough,” Yang Cheng said with a frown.

The third-round match was at home against Everton.

This was another tricky team.

Although it was said there are no weak teams in the Premier League, there was still a clear distinction between the strong and the weak.

David Moyes’s team was indeed a tough nut to crack.

“Our match strategy for the new season will be the same as before. The League Cup and the FA Cup will be left to the youngsters and the backup squad. We’ll see how far they can go.”

“Our starting lineup will focus on the league and the Champions League.”

Even so, the pressure of the fixtures was still immense.

Especially since 2008 was a European Championship year, the season’s schedule would be compressed, and playing two games a week would become the norm.

The most ridiculous part was that there were national team training camps in September, October, and November.

There were also some training camps for the national youth teams.

For example, Aaron Ramsey was called up for a training camp in Sweden.

Following the team’s excellent performance last season, players like José Fonte were all selected for their national teams.

Rakitić was also selected for the Croatian national team for the September break.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese had more and more international players, and the impact of national team training camps would become greater.

Bayswater Chinese had one anotherslight difference from other top clubs.

Yang Cheng had signed many players from countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, and Côte d’Ivoire. This meant the team had more international players than some other giants.

This was like a double-edged sword.

Players from these countries were cheaper and had good quality, but the threshold for being selected for their national teams was also much lower than for major footballing nations.

England was an exception.

Because a whole bunch of people outside were starting to hype up Walcott for a call-up to the new national team squad.

Yang Cheng really wanted to ask those guys: Do you find it meaningful to constantly hype up an 18-year-old kid?

On a side note, the former England national team head coach, Eriksson, would be managing Manchester City in the new season.

That guy had been completely torn apart by the British paparazzi over the past few years.

After the schedule was released, the Bayswater Chinese coaching staff also began preparing for the new season.

Yang Cheng and everyone else carefully went over the fixture list and began to formulate a strategy for the season.

On the other hand, the team began its final preparations.

Before the new season began, Bayswater Chinese would face FA Cup champions Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

This would be the first match of the new season.

Although there had always been a so-called curse in the outside world that the team that wins the Community Shield often fails to win the Premier League title that season.

But having reached this point, who cared about that?

Of course, they would win the Community Shield first to get the new season off to a good start, and then slowly prepare for the league.

Could it be that they should give up this trophy for some baseless, so-called curse?

Anyway, Yang Cheng would not do something so foolish.

Just as Yang Cheng was focused on leading the team to prepare for the Community Shield match against Chelsea, an open letter from Mourinho dropped a bombshell on the calm pre-season.

Chapter 124: Genius Shines in the Community Shield! Mourinho Still Couldn’t Last 3 Years!

“I am proud of my work at Chelsea.”

“I believe my decision to come to England to coach in 2004 was a great one!”

“This was a wonderful, golden period in my coaching career.”

“I want to thank all the Chelsea fans. Our love will never end.”

“I also wish the club great success in the future!”

“I wish all the players happiness in their football careers and family lives!”

…

“Thank you to all Chelsea fans!”

“We are saddened by José Mourinho’s decision to leave Chelsea. He has made enormous contributions to the club and to English football.”

“Today, we announce that Chelsea and José Mourinho have formally terminated his coaching contract by mutual consent.”

“Over the past few months, some differences have arisen. All parties have made great efforts, but many issues could not be effectively resolved.”

“Avram Grant and Steve Clarke will officially take over the team today.”

…

Chelsea and Mourinho simultaneously published two open letters to the fans.

The news instantly sent shockwaves throughout Britain, Europe, and even the entire world.

As early as the end of last year, after Chelsea’s disastrous 0-5 home defeat to the Bayswater Chinese, the British media had been speculating that The Special One was on his way out.

During the winter transfer window, the media even revealed that Roman Abramovich had halted several transfers, intending to wait until the end of the season and a change of manager before making any decisions.

But for some reason, Mourinho remained in his post.

There were rumors that the few head coaches Abramovich originally favored were unable to take the Chelsea job.

In short, there were all sorts of stories.

The final outcome was that Mourinho stayed.

But even so, Chelsea remained embroiled in controversy.

The first and foremost issue was Shevchenko.

As the biggest star on Chelsea’s squad, The Ukrainian Nuke was the superstar the club was determined to promote.

The Blues had spent a fortune to bring in Shevchenko with the aim of boosting the team’s influence.

But what about Mourinho?

Starting from the US tour, he had given Shevchenko the cold shoulder.

In the end, he simply left him out of the matchday squad entirely.

His stance could not have been clearer.

Sources revealed that the suits, including Peter Kenyon, were extremely dissatisfied with Mourinho’s decision.

The team’s biggest star was benched, not even making the squad list?

Was that acceptable?

Mourinho’s response was that Drogba was in excellent form.

The Ivorian had been scoring continuously in the recent pre-season friendlies, looking unstoppable.

Previously, the Daily Mail, which has close ties to the Chelsea dressing room, had reported that the Chelsea hierarchy believed Mourinho was deliberately creating a false impression that Shevchenko and Drogba could not coexist.

This became a suspicion that was difficult to disprove.

Drogba’s tactical importance was plain to see, but the Ivorian certainly lacked Shevchenko’s influence and commercial value.

Ideally, having both superstars coexist would have been the best outcome for Chelsea.

But now, it seemed only one could stay.

Wasn’t that ridiculous?

Thus, the media gradually began to point to Mourinho as the root of the conflict.

In the end, Mourinho still couldn’t last three years.

…

“The timing of this conflict’s eruption was quite a coincidence.”

In the manager’s office at Bayswater Stadium, Brian Kidd was sorting through the intelligence on Chelsea.

“Since the start of this summer’s pre-season preparations, Chelsea has had an endless stream of injuries. Right now, Makélélé and Terry are both recovering.”

Makélélé was getting older, so it was understandable that he was injury-prone.

Terry had been injured in training and was expected to be out for at least a month.

“Drogba also played in the friendly against Brøndby IF a few days ago and even scored, but his knee felt a bit sore after the match. The team doctor diagnosed it and thought it would only take a few days to heal, so he’d be ready for the Community Shield.”

“But as the Community Shield approached, Drogba’s recovery was delayed. Pizarro, the striker who just joined from Bayern Munich this summer, also got injured. Shevchenko himself has a minor injury. Chelsea’s forward line injury crisis is out of control.”

“After a further diagnosis of Drogba, the preliminary conclusion is that the Ivorian will definitely miss the Community Shield, and it’s even a question whether he can make it for the first two rounds of the new season.”

“Consequently, Mourinho flew into a rage and wanted to fire the team doctor on the spot.”

Yang Cheng shook his head as he listened.

Just how bad was Chelsea’s situation right now?

The fans probably couldn’t imagine it, and the media wouldn’t report on it much.

This season’s two new signings, Malouda and Pizarro, had transferred from Lyon and Bayern Munich, respectively.

But after arriving, both were found to be carrying injuries.

Pizarro went straight into recovery, while Malouda could still play through his.

Currently on Chelsea’s roster, Kalou, Makélélé, Bridge, Michael Ballack, and Terry were all injured.

Malouda, Essien, and Lampard were playing through knocks.

The situation was simply unimaginable.

It had even led Mourinho to aim his fire at Chelsea’s suits in an interview, believing they were responsible for the team’s current injury crisis.

And what about Chelsea’s management?

They, in turn, believed that Mourinho’s training methods were the problem, which was why the injuries were so severe.

From Yang Cheng’s not-so-neutral but still relatively objective third-party perspective, both sides were at fault.

Many of Chelsea’s players were older, which was an objective fact.

The suits’ poor recruitment and the team doctor’s misdiagnosis were also undeniable facts.

Mourinho’s training methods and match tactics were extremely physically demanding on the players.

It hadn’t been a problem for the past two years, but now, as the players aged, the problems were constantly being exposed.

Drogba’s injury seemed to be the final outlet, causing the long-simmering tensions between all parties to completely erupt.

So, Mourinho resigned, and Chelsea didn’t try to keep him.

This was exactly the kind of problem Yang Cheng had always tried to avoid.

When a club develops such internal conflicts and they aren’t resolved in a timely manner, it will inevitably lead to very serious consequences.

For Chelsea, encountering such a problem, especially Mourinho’s departure, right before the season started was definitely a massive blow!

Avram Grant had some ability, but not much.

It remained to be seen if he could sort out the dressing room at the start of the season.

…

Mourinho’s resignation was indeed a major event for the Premier League.

Head coaches including Yang Cheng, Ferguson, Wenger, and Benítez all came forward to speak highly of him, considering his departure a loss for the Premier League.

Ferguson, who had a good relationship with him, directly criticized Chelsea’s handling of the situation, believing it showed a lack of respect for the head coach.

Of course, whether Ferguson’s move was also an attempt to strike at a competitor, Yang Cheng didn’t know.

Judging from the current situation, Manchester United had the best schedule in the Premier League this season.

Furthermore, Ferguson had brought in a group of high-level players, strengthening their overall quality.

The Red Devils’ gaffer was clearly ambitious, wanting to make a comeback and contend for the Premier League title.

The Bayswater Chinese had sold four key players, and their overall strength had certainly declined somewhat, but the starting lineup was continuing to mature.

So, for now, no one was sure just how this team would perform.

Publicly, of course, Yang Cheng was full of ambition, but privately, he wasn’t so confident.

The league season is long; who knows what might happen?

If they were to suffer an injury crisis like Chelsea’s, not even a god could save them.

No team would stockpile a huge squad just to prepare for an injury crisis that might appear at any time and only happens once every few years.

That would be unhealthy and unrealistic.

If one had to find a weakness for the Bayswater Chinese, it would be that the first team’s backup players were on the younger side.

But that wasn’t a major issue.

With a bit more time, these players would gradually develop.

The situations at Arsenal and Liverpool were different from the other three teams.

Their more realistic goal was to challenge for a top-four finish.

After finishing fifth in the Premier League for two consecutive seasons, Wenger was now fired up and ready to fight for it.

The Guardian had already reported on Arsenal’s financial crisis.

Everyone could see the predicament the Gunners were facing.

It was a vicious cycle that was difficult to break.

One could only say that Arsenal had shouldered too much for their new stadium.

However, the media reports had, in a way, made many Arsenal fans aware of the club’s crisis, making them more tolerant of potential foreign investment, or even a takeover of Arsenal.

In today’s Premier League, there were quite a few clubs under foreign ownership.

Bayswater Chinese was acquired by a consortium from China; Chelsea by Russia’s Roman Abramovich; Manchester United by the Glazer family from the United States.

Just in February 2007, Americans Gillett and Hicks had joined forces to acquire Liverpool.

The total acquisition amount reached 470 million pound sterling.

This summer, these two Americans also proposed to build a new stadium with a capacity of 80,000.

But compared to the praise the Bayswater Chinese received, they were mostly met with ridicule and sarcasm.

The man behind Pompey, Portsmouth, was a Russian-Israeli; West Ham United was backed by Icelandic tycoons Magnússon and Gudmundsson.

Fulham had been acquired by foreign capital even earlier, bought by Egyptian Al-Fayed for 32 million pound sterling in 1997.

Then there was Aston Villa, acquired by the American Lerner.

This season’s newly promoted team, Birmingham City, was also acquired in July by a betting tycoon from Hong Kong, China, but for only 15 million pound sterling, for a 30% stake.

And more recently, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra acquired Manchester City.

In other words, of the 20 Premier League teams, 10 were now controlled by foreign capital.

And this was just the beginning.

Right now, America’s Kroenke and Russia’s Usmanov were both looking to acquire Arsenal, while American tycoon Daniel Williams was planning to buy Blackburn Rovers.

If both of these deals went through, the number of foreign owners in the Premier League would reach 12.

Yang Cheng was not surprised by this situation at all; he even found it commonplace.

But for everyone in Britain at the time, especially in English football, it was quite shocking.

And their feelings were very conflicted.

This conflict was exactly like Arsenal’s current situation.

On one hand, they knew they were powerless to change the status quo, to break the deadlock.

If Arsenal continued to drag on like this, they would just keep selling captains and players.

As Premier League broadcast revenues continued to climb, the Gunners’ financial situation would gradually improve, but how many years would that take?

Yang Cheng knew, but did these people now?

No one knew!

Without the ability to prophesize, Arsenal had only two paths: either sink into decline like Newcastle, a fallen giant.

Or sell the club.

But many people found the idea of selling awkward and couldn’t get past it.

Just like Arsenal’s chairman, Hill-Wood, and others, who were clearly coveting their money yet had to act as if they were being begged.

This was the conflict and纠结 of many English people at the moment.

…

On the afternoon of August 5th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Community Shield, Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

Yang Cheng followed the players of both teams onto the Wembley pitch.

He didn’t go to the away team’s technical area but walked straight to the home team’s and shook hands with Avram Grant, who was standing at the front.

The two didn’t really know each other, so they just exchanged a few simple words before Yang Cheng returned to the away team’s technical area.

Tonight’s match, although held at Wembley, was an FA competition, and the Bayswater Chinese were the away team.

It felt a bit strange, thinking about it.

But when he looked up at the packed stadium, he was filled with emotion.

Over 80,000 people!

A full 80,000!

My God, if the Bayswater Chinese could have 80,000 fans at every match, how much money would they make?

Never mind the VIP boxes, just the tickets.

Let’s not even raise the prices. At an average of 40 pound sterling, that’s 3.2 million pound sterling per match.

With at least 22 matches a season, that would be 70 million pound sterling.

Just thinking about it was exciting.

But reality is a cruel mistress.

Although the Bayswater Chinese had won the Premier League title last season, their season ticket sales had just broken 40,000.

Manchester United and Arsenal had sold sixty or seventy thousand, and they were long gone.

Comparisons are odious!

“What are you thinking about?”

Brian Kidd was a bit puzzled, watching Yang Cheng walk over, looking behind him one moment and at the other side the next, his expression constantly changing. It was strange.

Could he have gotten into an argument with Grant?

“Nothing, just thinking, when can we get 80,000 fans?”

Brian Kidd couldn’t help but laugh.

Only at times like this would he remember that Yang Cheng was truly a young man.

Sometimes he was really fanciful.

“How many stadiums in European football can hold 80,000? Besides, isn’t our new stadium designed for 65,000?”

Yang Cheng shot Brian Kidd a slightly disdainful look and sighed again.

“Brian, you’re just getting old. You’ve lost the courage to even dream.”

Before Brian Kidd could retort, Yang Cheng’s words left him speechless.

“If our attendance could reach 80,000, believe it or not, I could get Norman Foster to conjure up an 80,000-seat stadium for me.”

“How would he do that?” Brian Kidd chuckled, clearly not believing him.

It just wasn’t realistic.

“You think I’d tell you?” Yang Cheng grinned.

What he really wanted to say was: This is why I’m the boss and you’re just an employee.

I don’t know how either.

But I’d just tell Norman Foster to make it happen.

How?

That’s for the contractor to figure out.

Brian Kidd clearly took Yang Cheng’s words as a joke.

They both turned their gaze towards the pitch.

The coin toss was complete.

Modrić had won, so he chose the side that was more advantageous.

It was exactly 3:00 PM, and the sun was slanting west.

Chelsea’s starting lineup tonight was a 4-3-3, which was likely inherited from the formation Mourinho had been working on during the summer.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Tal Ben Haim, Carvalho, and Glen Johnson;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Lampard and Essien in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Shevchenko, and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

This starting lineup alone showed that Chelsea’s injury situation was indeed grim.

The Premier League season was set to start on August 11th, which was next weekend.

So, for both participating teams, the Community Shield was essentially a slightly more prestigious and valuable pre-season friendly.

This time, Yang Cheng didn’t rotate his squad as he had in the other friendlies, but fielded his starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Apart from Leighton Baines being out with an injury, which allowed Marcelo to start, the other positions were basically the Bayswater Chinese’s main lineup for the new season.

Judging from the overall performance so far, on the left flank, Di María still had a slight edge.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott could both play there, and Yang Cheng would continue to focus on developing these two players.

Up front, Džeko had solidified his starting position, and Robert Lewandowski had also performed well in the pre-season friendlies.

With these two major competitors, Lambert’s situation would likely become rather awkward.

Just as Brian Kidd had said.

Lambert had followed the team all the way from League Two to the Premier League, and now to Premier League champions.

This was his limit.

Yang Cheng also gave preferential treatment to these loyal retainers who had followed him from the beginning.

Next, players like Thiago Silva, José Fonte, and Koscielny would compete for spots.

If the Portuguese centre-back lost the competition and even his starting spot, Yang Cheng would still keep him on the team.

Having a player like him in the dressing room was just too valuable.

…

From the very start of the match, the Bayswater Chinese took the initiative and attacked.

The front three of Di María, Džeko, and Arshavin took turns to assault Chelsea’s defense.

The Blues had just undergone a managerial change and their squad was severely depleted, so they opted for a more cautious start.

The contest was fierce, but the tempo was as fast as ever.

This was, after all, the first match of the new season, and it was clear that neither team had fully hit their stride, still in the process of recovering their form.

For example, in the 7th minute.

After winning the ball in midfield, Lassana Diarra immediately sent a ball in behind.

As Arshavin chased it, he was blocked off by Ashley Cole.

The Chelsea left-back had intended to use his body to shield the ball from Arshavin, but somehow, both of them ended up falling in Chelsea’s thirty-meter zone on the right side.

Just before he hit the ground, Ashley Cole reacted quickly, managing to kick the ball out of bounds.

Later, when Mikel passed back to his goalkeeper, he was clearly a bit hesitant, and the pass was too close to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward, tall with long legs, reacted quickly and stuck a foot out.

In his haste, he failed to intercept the ball.

By the time he chased it into the penalty area, Čech had already rushed out to claim it.

All signs pointed to the players on both teams not being in top form.

Chelsea’s first relatively threatening attack occurred in the 18th minute.

Shaun Wright-Phillips tried to break through with the ball but was tied up by Modrić and Marcelo. He managed to play a through ball behind Marcelo.

Shevchenko quickly drifted wide to receive it, attempting to get past José Fonte, but the Portuguese made a brilliant sliding tackle.

This spectacular tackle earned José Fonte a round of applause.

Yang Cheng also applauded continuously.

José Fonte was a strange player.

He gave off the impression of being very mature, even old.

But in reality, he was only 23.

Younger than Pepe.

Yang Cheng felt that since José Fonte hadn’t gone through the struggles of his past life and had instead steadily developed with the Bayswater Chinese, his overall ability was stronger than in his previous life.

Coupled with his age of 23, his future would surely be greater and more successful.

As for Marcelo.

It was normal for his defending to be poor.

For a Brazilian full-back, it would be abnormal if his defending was too good.

As for why Yang Cheng didn’t buy Dani Alves and chose Marcelo instead…

Was there even a need to ask?

He was cheaper, of course!

If Alves was sold for the price of Marcelo, not even the same price as Maicon, Yang Cheng wouldn’t hesitate for a second.

But regardless of whether it was Alves or Marcelo, there was a problem.

If the team’s attack couldn’t pin the opponent down, the defending on that flank would likely get torn apart.

After watching 20 minutes of the match, Yang Cheng noticed that Chelsea’s right-back, Glen Johnson, was often out of position, always pushing too far forward.

Speaking of which, the kid wasn’t that young anymore, 23 years old, but he still played recklessly.

This was a common problem among young English players.

They did a poor job of developing tactical discipline in their youth players.

The simplest example: Di María adapted to multiple positions much faster than Gareth Bale and Walcott.

Going even further back, why couldn’t Gerrard and Lampard coexist in the national team?

Besides both players trying too hard to accommodate each other, could it also be due to their lack of tactical discipline, which meant they could only function as specialist players rather than the team’s core midfielder?

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese had also started to focus on this aspect in their youth academy.

Yang Cheng had even poached many excellent youth coaches from Italy.

Even the first team had Italian coaches, and young players like Gareth Bale and Walcott had to undergo regular tactical training.

But Glen Johnson’s problem was the Bayswater Chinese’s opportunity.

Yang Cheng immediately walked to the sideline and relayed his instructions to Modrić.

…

Just as the Bayswater Chinese wanted to attack Chelsea’s right flank, Chelsea was equally keen to attack the space behind Marcelo.

The Brazilian had been actively involved in attack since the start of the game, looking very lively.

In the 24th minute, Essien attempted a pass, trying to play it in behind Marcelo.

But before Shaun Wright-Phillips could make his run, José Fonte took a step forward and intercepted the ball.

After winning the ball, José Fonte quickly passed it forward to Marcelo.

The Brazilian took a step forward, looked up, and immediately sent a straight pass down the left touchline.

Glen Johnson had pushed into the Bayswater Chinese’s half and was clearly still hesitating whether to press Marcelo when he suddenly realized his flank had been exposed.

He saw the red-shirted figure of Di María sprinting into the space behind him at incredible speed.

Glen Johnson immediately knew he was in trouble and sprinted back.

The English defender wasn’t slow, but Di María was fast.

Even with the ball at his feet, Glen Johnson couldn’t catch Di María.

By the time Di María reached the edge of the penalty area on the left, Glen Johnson was still a step behind.

Fortunately, Carvalho had tracked back diligently, blocking the inside channel and preventing Di María from cutting into the box.

But Di María didn’t dwell on the ball, instead delivering a low, driven cross with his left foot.

The ball skimmed across the grass, traveling horizontally from the left side of the penalty area.

Džeko had deliberately slowed his run.

He knew he didn’t have the advantage in speed and might not get there even if he chased, so he chose to slow down, drawing the attention of Ben Haim and Mikel.

When Di María made the cross, everyone’s attention was on Džeko, who was arriving in the middle.

But at that moment, the Bosnian centre-forward had only just reached the edge of the D.

Danger averted?

No!

The next second, a red figure streaked into everyone’s line of sight.

Arshavin made a high-speed run, charging all the way to the right corner of the six-yard box. He met Di María’s cross and, without taking a touch, hit a first-time shot with his right foot.

Ashley Cole was the quickest to react.

He turned and chased back immediately.

Especially when he saw Malouda tracking back behind him but unable to stop Arshavin, he knew it was bad news and immediately threw his body into a slide, trying to block Arshavin’s shot.

Too late!

The Russian’s right-footed shot sent the ball precisely into the goal guarded by Čech.

No matter how magical the Czech goalkeeper was, he was helpless against such a close-range, low shot.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Andrei Arshavin!!”

“In the 24th minute, the Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Chelsea’s goal!”

“A goal from the Russian star, Arshavin!”

“1-0!”

“That counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese was incredibly fast.”

“Especially down the left flank. As the starting point of this counter, Di María’s pace with the ball was so fast that Chelsea’s defense didn’t even have time to organize.”

“Completely different from last season’s Ashley Young, Di María’s blistering speed and sharp dribbling, especially his left-footed crosses, have really shown another attacking dimension for the Bayswater Chinese on the left wing.”

“Chelsea were clearly caught off guard.”

“To be honest, even if it wasn’t Glen Johnson, but Ferreira instead, it would probably have been difficult to stop Di María’s attack.”

“Now, Grant needs to seriously reconsider his options.”

…

“Listen, brother, you have so much more talent than me, a better team, and a manager who trusts you so much. You should work harder, push yourself, and you can achieve things you can’t even imagine!”

This was what his older brother, Kolo Touré, who played for Arsenal, told him when the Touré brothers returned to Côte d’Ivoire for their vacation this summer.

He felt that his younger brother was still a bit lazy and hadn’t fully tapped into all his talent.

Kolo Touré was two years older than Yaya Touré.

Growing up, Yaya had always trained with his older brother; the two always worked hard together.

Even after his brother joined Arsenal, he didn’t forget to find an opportunity to bring his younger brother before Wenger for a trial.

As it turned out, Wenger wasn’t impressed.

After several twists and turns, Yaya Touré finally made it to the Premier League and made a name for himself.

He once looked up to his brother with envy.

But now, he had become the one his brother looked up to.

This filled Yaya Touré with a sense of accomplishment!

But after being tempered by the Premier League, and especially after the baptism of the Champions League, he was no longer content with the status quo.

At only 24, he felt he had not yet reached his peak!

He was eager to prove himself further.

Whether in the Premier League, the Champions League, or even the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup.

He still remembered the scene of losing the Africa Cup of Nations final in a penalty shootout in 2006; he also remembered the feeling of losing in the Champions League at San Siro last season…

He didn’t want to repeat any of that.

He wanted to become stronger!

Even the strongest!

The head coach once told him he was the best midfielder in the world!

He still clearly remembered the English grammar the head coach used when he said it.

It wasn’t in the future tense.

Yang Cheng said, now!

This summer, the Bayswater Chinese had signed him to a brand new professional contract.

A weekly wage of 40,000 pound sterling.

Although not particularly high compared to other teams, it was the top salary at the Bayswater Chinese.

So this summer, during the team’s training camp, Yaya Touré trained extremely hard.

He wanted to push his career even higher!

Because the head coach also said he could be even better!

And in matches, he was determined to change some of his old playing habits, to start disciplining himself, trying to become more focused and more invested in the game.

This gave him a deeper understanding of football and a more profound control over the game’s situation.

For example, in the 37th minute, when Marcelo carried the ball up the left touchline, Yaya Touré just glanced ahead and noticed Di María drifting towards the center. He immediately shifted slightly to the left and no longer pushed forward easily.

Because he needed to be in a position to receive a back pass at any time.

Normally, he would have charged forward without hesitation.

But now, he would first think, is there a need to make a forward run?

And, with more experience, he gradually discovered that often, you don’t necessarily have to surge forward to be effective.

Marcelo and Di María’s link-up on the left this time didn’t create a threat.

Shaun Wright-Phillips tracked back, and together with Essien and Glen Johnson, the three of them created a numerical advantage on Chelsea’s right flank.

Although Modrić also shifted over to support, they still couldn’t break through.

The ball was won by Essien, who hoofed it forward with a big kick.

A bit of a shame.

If that pass had gone through, it was on.

Just a little bit off!

Yaya Touré sighed and quickly ran towards the center.

Because he saw Essien’s clearance landing in his area.

When Chelsea was under attacking pressure, their midfield and wingers dropped back quite deep, leaving only Malouda on the left and striker Shevchenko up front.

The Ukrainian mostly stayed high up the pitch.

Yaya Touré received the ball with no one marking him.

Of course, by this time, he was already in the center circle inside his own half.

Stopping the ball, the Ivorian looked ahead.

He found that when he started to pay attention, he could often notice details that he would have easily overlooked on a normal day.

For example, at this very moment, he saw Chelsea’s defensive formation, which had just tilted towards the right flank, was now gradually shifting back.

The most obvious were the positions of Mikel and Carvalho; they were both moving back to the center.

But Marcelo was still in Chelsea’s half.

So was Di María.

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Yaya Touré’s mind.

He realized a possibility, but he wasn’t sure if it would work.

This was something he had never experienced before.

He decided to give it a try.

After stopping the ball, Yaya Touré suddenly hit a diagonal long pass, sending the ball back towards the left flank.

The trajectory of this diagonal long pass was quite low, the ball speed was fast, but he controlled the height perfectly, just enough to go over the heads of Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The two Chelsea players probably cursed in their minds.

Damn it, picking on us because we’re short, huh?

The ball dropped onto the left side of Chelsea’s defense.

Marcelo quickly shook off Shaun Wright-Phillips, sprinted forward two steps, and perfectly met the dropping ball.

The Brazilian full-back’s technique was on full display at this moment.

Marcelo lifted the inside of his left foot to control the ball.

The first touch, the ball bounced up slightly, but landed steadily in front of him.

That one touch alone would make countless professional players feel ashamed.

On the second touch, the Brazilian pushed the stopped ball, which hadn’t yet hit the grass, to Di María, who was running towards the center to support.

These two actions were so quick, executed in one smooth motion, that the chasing Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips behind him couldn’t stop him from passing.

After passing, Marcelo shouted to Di María and sprinted forward.

Di María, with almost no hesitation, followed the trajectory of Marcelo’s pass and sent it forward with his left foot.

A direct one-two pass.

The ball went past Essien and beside Glen Johnson, rolling towards the left byline.

Marcelo quickly chased after it, with no defenders near him.

Ben Haim rushed out, trying to block Marcelo.

But the Brazilian full-back didn’t even let him get close before crossing with his left foot.

And it was a high ball.

It dropped right at the edge of the six-yard box.

The ball arrived, and so did Džeko!

Using his running start, the Bosnian centre-forward leaped high into the air, making his already tall frame seem even more imposing.

Carvalho stood beside him, looking up in despair, watching helplessly as the Bosnian centre-forward powered a header into the goal guarded by Čech.

“GOAL AGAIN!!!”

“2-0!!”

“A brilliant one-two from the two South American players!”

“Absolutely beautiful!”

“That little piece of skill was so slick, it’s the kind of play you’d expect from Latin American players.”

“Such neat combinations are extremely rare in the Premier League, especially Marcelo’s touch to Di María.”

“Although Marcelo’s physical strength is weak, one has to admit his technique is indeed very refined.”

“And of course, that long pass from Yaya Touré.”

…

Yang Cheng, standing on the sideline, was completely stunned when he saw the goal.

It wasn’t Marcelo and Di María’s combination, nor was it Džeko’s header.

Such displays of South American skill were not uncommon among the Bayswater Chinese players.

They often played like that in indoor football.

What surprised Yang Cheng was Yaya Touré.

This wasn’t in the script!

“There’s something different about that kid!” Yang Cheng found it strange.

Brian Kidd deeply agreed. “Is he starting to look like a playmaker?”

Yang Cheng immediately smiled. “Exactly. I was wondering if I was seeing things.”

Experts see the technique, while laymen watch the spectacle.

The fans would surely be raving about Marcelo and Di María’s interplay.

And that wasn’t wrong.

It was certainly entertaining to watch.

However, the most crucial part of this attack was, in fact, Yaya Touré’s diagonal long pass.

“In the past, he would have chosen to carry the ball forward, charging to the edge of the box, or even inside it. That’s the Yaya Touré we’re familiar with.”

That diagonal long pass just now was clearly not that.

At that moment, Chelsea’s defensive line was shifting, so he deliberately played it back to the left, and with a diagonal long pass at that, catching all of Chelsea’s defenders by surprise.

Of course, Marcelo and Di María also performed brilliantly.

Especially Marcelo’s first touch.

If the kid wasn’t so physically weak, Yang Cheng would have wanted to make him a permanent starter.

“He’s improved, and he’s matured!” Brian Kidd said with satisfaction.

Yang Cheng knew he was talking about Yaya Touré.

“That diagonal long pass just now, the technique was excellent, the accuracy was very good, and the speed of the ball was fast enough.”

Speaking of which, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

We can finally play the long ball game too!

Before, Modrić and Inler could play long passes, but their positions were more advanced.

If Yaya Touré could truly develop an accurate long pass from his position, it would be incredibly lethal.

But what pleased Yang Cheng the most was Yaya Touré’s reading of the game, his control of the situation.

This showed that he was really putting his mind to it.

And he had truly improved.

Of course, this might just be a flash of inspiration.

The key was to see if, over the next period, he could turn this occasional spark of genius into consistent performance.

But regardless, Yang Cheng was delighted to see this kind of progress in his player.

This was far more valuable than a Community Shield trophy!

…

With the Bayswater Chinese scoring two consecutive goals, Chelsea was feeling the threat of their opponent’s sharp attack.

Just as the television commentator said.

Although the Bayswater Chinese had sold Ashley Young and Leighton Baines was out injured, the left-wing attack of Di María and Marcelo was still causing problems in this match.

On the other hand, Chelsea’s right-wing attack, formed by Glen Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips, failed to create much of a threat and instead kept having problems defensively.

Trailing by two goals, Grant’s priority was defense.

So, Chelsea began to sit back again.

The first half ended 2-0.

After the break, Chelsea tried to mount an offensive.

But in the 49th minute, it was Di María and Marcelo again.

The Brazilian left-back supported Di María on the wing, and after the latter beat Glen Johnson, he went to the byline and crossed.

The ball found Arshavin in the box, who shot, but it was saved by Čech.

The Czech goalkeeper was no pushover.

It was a brilliant save.

Afterward, the Bayswater Chinese continued to ramp up their attack, trying to extend their lead.

Chelsea, however, set up a deep, defensive block, adopting a counter-attacking strategy.

In the 55th minute, Grant made a substitution, bringing on Pizarro for the underperforming Malouda.

The Frenchman had been effectively neutralized by Maicon in this match.

After the substitution, Chelsea started playing a 4-4-2 with two strikers.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, made two changes in quick succession in the 65th and 70th minutes.

The twin stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, came on as substitutes again.

This had become a routine operation.

As early as last season, whenever the Bayswater Chinese had established a comfortable lead, Yang Cheng would bring these two youngsters onto the pitch for some experience, and they would occasionally produce an eye-catching performance.

For instance, this time.

In the 73rd minute, Gareth Bale successfully beat the offside trap on the left wing, receiving a through ball from Modrić.

What kind of player was Gareth Bale?

He and Di María were two completely different styles.

If Di María was a nimble and creative South American winger, then Gareth Bale was a rampaging English truck.

As soon as he caught up to the ball and saw Ben Haim rushing out, Bale, without a second thought, knocked the ball past him and ran around him, instantly leaving the Chelsea centre-back in his dust, the kind where you can’t even see the taillights.

But after all the flashy moves up front, when he caught up to the ball again, facing the timely recovery of Carvalho, his handling of the situation was a bit crude.

He actually tried to dribble past Carvalho inside the penalty area before shooting.

Yang Cheng covered his face.

That’s not your style at all, is it?

If it were Walcott, there might be a chance.

Failing that, didn’t The Little Tiger still have his specialty, the falling-down dribble?

Just kidding. In fact, under the careful guidance of the Bayswater Chinese, Walcott had mostly stopped falling over.

Perhaps spooked by Gareth Bale’s shot attempt, Grant hastily brought on new signing Steve Sidwell for Glen Johnson to further strengthen the defense.

At this point, everyone basically accepted that the result was settled.

But Walcott had a chance to beat the offside trap as well in the 84th minute.

He suddenly switched positions to the left channel, received a pass from Džeko, and broke into the left side of the penalty area, but his shot was jointly blocked by Čech and Carvalho.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese couldn’t add to their lead in the second half.

Thanks to the first-half goals from Arshavin and Džeko, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-0 to win the Community Shield!

Chapter 125: Unstoppable C. Ronaldo! A Good Centre-Forward Is Worth Two!

In the wake of Mourinho’s resignation, Bayswater Chinese defeating Chelsea 2-0 was not at all surprising.

The British media’s reaction was also relatively calm, as if this were the natural outcome.

But this, in turn, proved their affirmation of Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

One positive outcome, however, was that Yang Cheng’s team had, at the very least, proven its capabilities.

It convinced everyone that even after selling four key players over the summer, the overall strength of Bayswater Chinese was still formidable.

Perhaps even stronger than last season.

This further boosted the team’s season ticket sales.

The day after the Community Shield match, season ticket sales surpassed 45,000.

Of course, this season’s tickets were still bundled with the three Champions League group stage matches.

With five days until the start of the league and nine days until the first home game, Adam Crozier and the administrative team were in the final sprint.

They were making a last-ditch effort through all channels—online, television, and others—hoping to break the 50,000 mark.

A higher attendance rate at home games would, at the very least, look better, wouldn’t it?

However, this was, after all, just the Community Shield.

After playing the Community Shield, Yang Cheng was primarily focused on the final preparations for the league.

Because the first round was an away game against Manchester United.

The Red Devils were much stronger this season.

Having brought in players like Carlos Tevez, Ashley Young, Nani, and Anderson, their overall strength was a level above last season’s.

Yang Cheng knew this better than anyone.

Manchester United’s peak was with the trident of Tevez, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo.

With playmakers like Carrick and Scholes in midfield, Manchester United’s “run around like headless chickens style” in attack possessed astonishing firepower.

And at the back, Vidić and Ferdinand were as solid as a rock.

Facing such a team was indeed a huge headache.

A slick, fluid passing and possession style like Barça’s might work.

But the problem was, in the entire world, besides Pep Guardiola, how many could pull that off?

They just didn’t have that DNA!

Nor did they have a lineup of youth academy players like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and Messi.

So, Manchester United was genuinely a tough opponent.

But there was one advantage to it being the first league match.

According to reports from the scouts, Ferguson hadn’t completely settled on his attacking trident yet.

He was mostly testing the combination of Ashley Young, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo.

This matched Yang Cheng’s impression of Ferguson.

…

Manchester United had an excellent pre-season.

Not only did they win all their matches, but they won them all by large margins.

The stars in the squad all shone brightly in the friendlies.

So much so that many were worried about how Ferguson would manage the playing time of all these stars in the new season.

In response, at the pre-match press conference for the first league game, Ferguson smiled and said, “That has never been a problem.”

“We have ample squad depth to compete on multiple fronts!”

The old gaffer clearly hadn’t forgotten last season’s humiliation.

After a hard-fought season, they had been dreaming of the Treble.

In the end, one night sent them back to square one.

They finished the season empty-handed.

With Ferguson’s personality, it would be inexcusable if he didn’t get his own back.

Many Premier League pundits believed that after the summer transfer window, Manchester United’s squad was close to perfect.

They had a host of superb attacking players like C. Ronaldo and Rooney, while Carlos Tevez and Ashley Young had also proven themselves in the Premier League.

They had outstanding midfield organizers like Carrick, Ryan Giggs, and Scholes.

They had world-class defenders in Evra, Ferdinand, and Vidić.

If one had to point out a weakness in this team, it would undoubtedly be the right-back position.

The old captain, Gary Neville, had been injured since March of last season and still hadn’t recovered.

During this time, Ferguson had deployed Wes Brown in that position.

How should one evaluate Wes Brown as a player?

He had many moments of brilliance for Manchester United, but he didn’t leave a lasting impression.

For a defender, consistency is paramount.

And that was precisely what Wes Brown couldn’t provide.

Because he was constantly getting injured over the years.

Whenever he wasn’t injured and found some stability, he could always produce impressive performances.

For example, in the 2000/01 season, his centre-back partnership with Stam helped Manchester United secure the club’s first-ever three-peat in the English top flight.

That was also only the fourth three-peat in the history of English top-flight football.

This was why, despite Wes Brown’s fluctuating form in the subsequent years, Ferguson was always reluctant to sell him and continued to have high hopes for him.

A healthy Wes Brown could consistently perform at a very high level.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was in the 2007/08 season that Wes Brown, alongside Ferdinand, Vidić, and Evra, formed a super defense on the right that countless Manchester United fans would rave about for many years to come.

If there was an issue, it was that Wes Brown didn’t offer enough support to C. Ronaldo in attack.

Unlike Gary Neville, who loved to make overlapping runs, Wes Brown’s strength was in defending.

But it was precisely because of this that Ferguson completely unleashed Evra on the left flank.

That was why the British media considered Manchester United’s squad to be near perfect.

Of course, Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength was not to be underestimated either.

Especially after their 2-0 victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield.

A backline of Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon was considered among the best, not just in the Premier League, but in all of European football.

Last season in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese’s defense conceded only 24 goals in 38 matches.

In second place were Manchester United and Liverpool, both of whom conceded 27 goals.

The standard of defending in the Premier League had indeed been raised a level since Mourinho’s arrival.

It couldn’t be helped.

In the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, Chelsea conceded only 15 and 22 league goals respectively.

You have to remember, in the past, conceding fewer than 30 goals in the Premier League was considered an outstanding achievement.

Arsenal’s Invincibles season was dominant, right?

They conceded 26 goals.

Manchester United fans often reminisced about Stam; in the 2000/01 season, they conceded 31 goals.

Conceding 30 goals was nothing special in the Premier League at the time.

But there were exceptions, like Arsenal in the 1998/99 season.

Nowadays, whenever people mention Wenger, they think of intricate passing, beautiful football, and so on…

But in the early days of his tenure at Arsenal, the man was as conservative as anyone.

What elevated Manchester United to legendary status in the 1998/99 season was a series of comebacks.

In the league, one of those comebacks was against Wenger’s Gunners.

Arsenal had driven everyone to despair by conceding only 17 goals in the entire season.

That’s right, seventeen.

In second place was the Chelsea side managed by the Italian Vialli, who conceded 30 goals.

Ferguson’s Manchester United conceded 37.

Back then, Wenger was quite similar to Mourinho a couple of years ago.

It was only in recent years, as Arsenal’s results improved and their overall strength grew, that Wenger gradually “cleaned up” his image and earned halos like “Gentlemanly coach” and “Professor.”

Many people would ask, why do leg-breaking incidents always happen to Arsenal?

Why does it feel like the entire Premier League is targeting Arsenal?

The reason is simple: that’s how Arsenal used to play against others.

Even in their invincible 2003/04 title-winning season, the Gunners were still one of the dirtiest teams in the Premier League.

Back then, Vieira was a top-tier enforcer in the Premier League, on par with Roy Keane.

When you were strong, others couldn’t do anything about how you treated them. Now that you’re weaker, they’ll surely find a chance to get back at you.

What goes around, comes around.

What you do to others will eventually be done to you.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was different.

The biggest difference between Yang Cheng’s team and the Arsenal of old or the later Mourinho was that, in addition to a solid defense, their attack was incredibly fluid, a relentless tide of offense.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese scored a total of 92 goals.

In second place was Ferguson’s Manchester United, who scored 83, nine fewer than Bayswater Chinese.

The strongest defense in the Premier League, combined with the sharpest attack.

This was the secret to Bayswater Chinese’s title win last season!

Most critically, Yang Cheng’s team was one of the least penalized teams in the Premier League.

Even more interesting, among the top six teams in the league, Bayswater Chinese was fouled the least in the attacking third.

Not long ago, a small Fleet Street tabloid used this as evidence to float a conspiracy theory: why did Bayswater Chinese perform so well?

Because other Premier League teams were going easy on them!

This claim was quickly debunked by major newspapers, including The Times and The Guardian.

Why were they fouled the least in attack?

Because their scoring rate from attacking set pieces was so high!

As The Times put it, “Whenever Gianni Vio steps out of the dugout, the opposing head coach trembles with fear.”

Under such circumstances, who would dare to casually give Bayswater Chinese an attacking set piece?

If you don’t dare, you have to reduce your fouls.

And when opponents reduce their fouls, don’t Bayswater Chinese’s players have more freedom to exploit their technical advantages?

This became the biggest question in the Premier League before the new season started.

Who could stop Bayswater Chinese?

Ferguson also gave his answer.

Whether out of psychological warfare or objective analysis, the Manchester United godfather believed that Bayswater Chinese’s new season would be more difficult than the last.

“Because they are the defending champions!”

“In the past few years, Bayswater Chinese has always played the role of the chaser, which is why they would often take the lead for a while, only to inexplicably lose the top spot.”

“Because they are very young.”

“Young players have skill and drive, which is suitable for breaking new ground and conquering territories.”

“But to defend that territory, you can’t just rely on drive alone. Stability and experience are more important.”

“Especially after their outstanding performances over the past two seasons, more and more teams will definitely adopt a more pragmatic approach when facing Bayswater Chinese.”

Finally, Ferguson smiled and stated that for the new season, all the pressure was on Bayswater Chinese.

“Now, we are the chasers!”

…

On the afternoon of August 11th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The first round of the Premier League: Bayswater Chinese away to Manchester United.

The very first match of the new season featured a heavyweight clash between top teams, which undoubtedly ignited the entire Premier League at once.

Fans all over the world were waiting in eager anticipation.

The Premier League and its global partners also went into overdrive with their promotional efforts.

The match time was specially scheduled for 3 PM.

Old Trafford, with an official capacity of 74,000, was packed with nearly 76,000 fans.

This showed just how much the English fans were looking forward to this match.

After a summer of transfer dealings and pre-season training, both teams fielded their strongest possible lineups.

To win the title, you have to win these clashes between top teams.

Playing at home, Manchester United stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that Ferguson had been honing last season.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Wes Brown;

Midfield: Owen Hargreaves and Carrick formed a double pivot, with Ashley Young, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo ahead of them;

Forward: Rooney.

Just as Yang Cheng had expected, Ferguson started Ashley Young in the first league match.

Carlos Tevez and Nani were on the bench.

Also on the Manchester United bench was a player familiar to Yang Cheng, Gerard Piqué.

The young lad was still waiting patiently for his chance at Manchester United.

Bayswater Chinese also fielded their strongest side.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Lassana Diarra and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Marcelo had performed well in the Community Shield, but Yang Cheng didn’t feel he could rely on him for this match.

Bayswater Chinese’s left flank would be up against Manchester United’s right flank, featuring C. Ronaldo. Asking Marcelo to mark C. Ronaldo at this stage of his development was tantamount to suicide.

In the choice of centre-back, Yang Cheng had considered Thiago Silva.

But for one thing, the Brazilian centre-back was a newcomer.

His language skills weren’t up to par yet, and communication with his teammates would be an issue.

So, after much consideration, Yang Cheng chose José Fonte.

Yang Cheng knew what his vice-captain was capable of.

Both Yang Cheng and Ferguson were scheming against each other.

Ferguson knew deep down that against Bayswater Chinese, his midfield had to hold its own.

Even if they couldn’t dominate, they couldn’t afford to be completely overrun.

Otherwise, Bayswater Chinese would eat them alive, leaving not even the bones.

Therefore, Ferguson had put a lot of thought into his midfield for this match.

Not only did Hargreaves and Carrick form a double pivot, but Scholes also frequently dropped back.

At the same time, Manchester United maintained a very compact defensive shape, leaving plenty of space for Rooney and C. Ronaldo to make runs from deep.

From the kick-off, neither team held anything back.

Bayswater Chinese continued with their trademark lightning attack, pressing hard from the start.

Just 48 seconds in, Andrei Arshavin won a set piece for Bayswater Chinese in the attacking third.

Ferguson was so furious on the sideline that he was practically jumping up and down, almost rushing onto the pitch to tear apart Carrick, who committed the foul.

He had repeatedly told them to reduce fouls, reduce fouls, why wouldn’t they listen?

Fortunately, the set piece did not result in a goal.

Manchester United were playing at home but didn’t adopt a conservative approach. While maintaining defensive stability and a compact midfield, they fully utilized the speed and impact of their attacking players.

For example, in the third minute, Carrick launched a long pass from the back, aiming for Rooney up front.

At the same time, C. Ronaldo was making a high-speed diagonal run from the right.

If Rooney could win the header, C. Ronaldo would be there for the second wave of attack.

Pepe confidently won the first ball.

When it came to speed, he was not intimidated by Rooney.

But soon, Manchester United continued to employ this kind of rapid counter-attack that bypassed the midfield.

In the 11th minute, Yang Cheng noticed something else.

When Manchester United’s fast breaks didn’t come off, besides Scholes, they would also pass to Ashley Young.

The former Bayswater Chinese left winger would receive the ball and then play a diagonal through ball with his right foot.

Rooney and C. Ronaldo would take turns making runs to attack that space.

Realizing this, Yang Cheng immediately signaled to Maicon to position himself a little further forward when defending, to put pressure on Ashley Young.

Of course, he also had to be mindful of his defensive position.

Although they were both fast, Ashley Young could still get past him.

Ferguson had a strategy for Bayswater Chinese, and Yang Cheng had one for Manchester United.

Lassana Diarra was positioned on the left side for this match, his main task being to stick to C. Ronaldo and harass Scholes.

In this game, Yang Cheng wasn’t particularly targeting Carrick.

He knew Ferguson had started Scholes assuming he would press Carrick, but he deliberately did the opposite.

You like long balls?

Go ahead and play them.

As long as my defense can control Rooney, you can pass all you want.

In attack, Yang Cheng was banking on Manchester United’s reluctance to commit fouls in the 30-meter area. So he fully utilized the technical skills of players like Ángel Di María, Andrei Arshavin, and Džeko, using ground-based penetration and combination play to attack.

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s most proficient attacking method.

Ángel Di María was sharp on the left wing?

His direct opponent, Wes Brown, was tasked with keeping an eye on the Argentine.

As the saying goes, when masters duel, victory is often decided in an instant.

When both teams employed such mutually restrictive tactics, and neither head coach made any major errors, and both teams were very familiar with each other, the result was a fiercely contested, fast-paced match.

But there were no goals.

…

“Hey, do you think that bastard Yang Cheng changed his bet with Lassana Diarra?”

“Instead of the number of tackles, maybe it’s whether he can win the ball off Cristiano?”

The bet between Yang Cheng and Lassana Diarra was apparently renewed every season.

Only they knew the specifics of the wager.

But what was undeniable was that Lassana Diarra’s performance was getting better and better.

In the past, the lad was just good at winning the ball, but now?

His passing was quite good too, and he could even carry the ball forward.

He was truly being developed step by step by Yang Cheng, becoming more and more well-rounded.

His only weakness was his penchant for showing off his skills.

But as long as it didn’t affect the game, nobody really bothered him about it.

Sometimes, he could even be brilliant.

Ferguson saw Lassana Diarra constantly shadowing C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese player’s attack down the right wing came to nothing. He moved to the center, but still ended up taking a long shot.

He switched to the left, and Lassana Diarra followed him to the left.

Harassed to the point of desperation, he managed to cross the ball, but Rooney couldn’t get on the end of it.

Thirty minutes had passed, and both teams had had a few shots, but neither could find the back of the net.

Lassana Diarra, meanwhile, had chased C. Ronaldo all the way from the right wing to the center, and then to the left.

He was sticking to him like super glue.

Even Ferguson couldn’t help but complain to himself.

If he were his own player, he would be praising him to the high heavens, but unfortunately, he was the opponent.

So damn annoying!

“Something’s strange.”

Sitting beside him, Carlos Queiroz stroked his chin, frowning.

Ferguson was taken aback. “What?”

“I’m saying, I feel like something is strange.”

“Tell me.”

“I can’t put my finger on it, but it just feels like Bayswater Chinese is still sticking to ground penetration and passing moves. It seems like a waste of Džeko up front.”

Džeko, the centre-forward, was becoming more and more impressive.

Mainly because he was just so complete.

Especially since last season, after his physical attributes had improved, his overall performance was like that of a completely different player.

Logically, with such a complete tall center-forward, there was no reason not to utilize him.

By always playing through the ground, their attacking patterns became one-dimensional and not too difficult to defend against.

But if they could also leverage Džeko’s advantage as a tall center-forward, wouldn’t their attack become multi-dimensional?

On the other hand, Queiroz was thinking, with his understanding of Yang Cheng, could he really not have thought of this?

That’s why it was strange.

Last season, Džeko had scored 17 goals.

A decent performance.

After Queiroz mentioned it, Ferguson himself also noticed.

It was indeed a bit strange.

…

The match reached the 42nd minute, and Bayswater Chinese once again launched an attack from the left.

Ángel Di María, Modrić, and Andrei Arshavin all appeared on that side, drawing Manchester United’s entire defensive attention over.

First, Džeko, acting as a tall center-forward, received the ball and laid it off to Modrić.

The Croatian then passed to Andrei Arshavin, who spread it to the left for Ángel Di María, who then passed it back to Modrić.

This continuous passing pulled Manchester United’s defensive formation entirely to one side.

But just as Manchester United’s midfielder Owen Hargreaves was about to charge at Modrić, the Croatian was “forced” to pass the ball back to Yaya Touré, who was in an open space.

The Ivorian controlled the ball directly in front of him, glanced upfield, then quickly chased after it and launched a long ball over the top.

The pass was perfectly flighted from the center towards the left channel behind Manchester United’s defensive line.

Almost at the same instant, Džeko made a run from the left channel at top speed, chasing the trajectory of the long pass.

Ferdinand was not slow either, but at that moment he was facing his own goal. When Džeko started his run, he was alerted.

But by the time the Manchester United centre-back turned to chase, he was already half a step behind.

A step behind, always behind.

Džeko instantly reached the edge of Manchester United’s penalty area on the left. Just before Ferdinand could reach him, he leaped slightly and headed Yaya Touré’s long ball over the top into the box in front of him.

Džeko was tall and a step ahead; he barely needed to jump to get to the ball first.

Ferdinand grabbed at Džeko, and as he jumped, he was pulled off balance and nearly fell.

When Džeko landed, the ball was right in front of the Bosnian centre-forward. He beat Ferdinand to it again, trapping the ball under his foot, shifting his entire center of gravity to his right shoulder to shield the ball from Ferdinand.

The Manchester United centre-back was not going to be knocked over by a single push from Džeko, but he couldn’t get around him either.

Džeko controlled the ball with his left foot, with his right shoulder blocking Ferdinand, making it impossible for him to intervene.

The Bosnian centre-forward carried the ball, dragging Ferdinand along with him, to the edge of the six-yard box on the left. Facing Edwin van der Sar, who had come halfway out, he unleashed a powerful shot with his left foot.

By the time Edwin van der Sar dived, the ball had already passed under him and was rocketing into the Manchester United net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s first goal of the new season!”

“Edin Džeko!”

“Another long ball over the top from Yaya Touré, timed to perfection.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack was executed with great
method.”

“This was definitely something they’ve practiced in training.”

“First, they used their technically gifted players to draw the defensive attention through continuous dribbling and passing combinations, then passed it out wide for a long ball played directly in behind.”

“Manchester United’s defense has been breached just like that.”

“A truly brilliant idea!”

“Especially Džeko, the 21-year-old Bosnian centre-forward can now go toe-to-toe with Ferdinand.”

…

The moment Džeko leaped and headed Yaya Touré’s long pass into Manchester United’s penalty area, two words flashed through Ferguson’s mind.

Oh no!

Then, he saw Džeko score with his left foot.

At that moment, he finally understood that Queiroz’s concerns were justified.

This was absolutely something they had practiced in training.

“Damn it!” Ferguson cursed under his breath, feeling indignant.

Conceding a goal was the last thing he wanted.

“Džeko has improved so much these past two seasons, especially recently. His physique is clearly much better, and his technical movements haven’t become stiff. Yang Cheng’s coaching staff is quite capable.”

Queiroz also felt a sense of helplessness.

In a situation like the one just now, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was Ferdinand or even Beckenbauer back on the pitch; there was probably nothing they could do.

When a defender and a forward are in that kind of situation, the defender is at a huge disadvantage.

If Ferdinand had managed to stop Džeko, it would have been a heroic act.

The most absurd part was that Džeko was a freakishly two-footed player.

If he were a right-footed player, he wouldn’t have scored that goal.

“They had Džeko drop deep just now to make us push our defensive line up.”

“As soon as Di María got the ball, Wes Brown had no choice but to move further forward.”

“That way, Džeko had a chance to go one-on-one with our centre-backs, either Vidić or Ferdinand.”

Vidić also struggled against pacey forwards.

Ferguson had noticed this in the Premier League last season.

When Vidić first arrived, Ferguson wanted him to press forward, expand his defensive range, and support the weak midfield, specifically the holding midfielder area.

But that was a necessity at the time because the midfield was weak.

Later, as the midfield was strengthened, and seeing as Vidić struggled against fast forwards, Ferguson changed his strategy, signaling him to narrow his defensive range.

As a result, when Džeko made his late run, Ferdinand couldn’t stop him, and Vidić couldn’t reach him either.

Yaya Touré’s long pass was also perfectly delivered.

But right now, what was giving Ferguson the biggest headache was Manchester United’s attack.

C. Ronaldo was being shackled by Lassana Diarra.

The French midfielder was like chewing gum; once he stuck to you, you couldn’t shake him off.

The same went for Rooney; Pepe was practically his shadow.

Ashley Young?

He did receive the ball and make a few passes on the left, but he was also being contained by Maicon.

Ferguson glanced at the ecstatic Džeko, who was running around the pitch celebrating, and felt a sour taste in his mouth.

Actually, before buying Carlos Tevez, Manchester United had indeed inquired about Džeko’s price.

A good centre-forward is worth two.

Ferguson was willing to spend the money.

But Bayswater Chinese refused to sell.

The role of a centre-forward is to have someone who can hold his ground and control the ball in the most tightly defended area of the pitch.

As long as the centre-forward can hold up the ball, the players around him can build the attack.

But this match proved that Rooney still couldn’t hold it up.

Of course, this was against Bayswater Chinese and Pepe.

Against other Premier League teams, he might have been able to.

The defensive intensity and the quality of the centre-backs were different, after all.

“How about we bring on Tevez in midfield? Or put Nani on the left to run at them?”

Queiroz suggested from the side.

Now that they were a goal down, the team had to open up its attack.

Ferguson mulled it over, a little hesitant.

He wasn’t doubting Queiroz’s suggestion.

He was just hesitant about the impact it would have on Ashley Young to be substituted at halftime.

This was a player he had spent a lot of money on, a homegrown talent he had high hopes for.

“Let’s wait a bit longer.”

…

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading 1-0 thanks to Džeko’s goal.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng first gave his team high praise for their first-half performance.

He believed the team had largely suppressed Manchester United.

Bayswater Chinese held the advantage in all key statistics, such as possession rate and the number of threatening attacks created.

“But I must remind you all that we are facing Manchester United!”

Yang Cheng said that Manchester United would definitely make adjustments in the second half.

And the most likely player to come on would be Carlos Tevez.

The Argentine beast, true to his name, played football with three words in mind: fight, fight, fight!

The key was that he wasn’t tall and was very agile, yet he was also exceptionally strong.

So Yang Cheng reminded his defenders to keep a close eye on Carlos Tevez.

And C. Ronaldo.

In the first half, C. Ronaldo was neutralized to the point of being invisible, which was an excellent sign, but they couldn’t get complacent.

“The Cristiano Ronaldo of today is definitely one of the most terrifying and top-tier assassins in the world. Never underestimate his desire for goals and victory!”

At halftime, Manchester United made no changes.

After the break, the Red Devils tried to seize the initiative, launching a fierce wave of attacks.

But Bayswater Chinese was well-prepared.

Manchester United created shooting opportunities, but none truly threatened the goal.

The most dangerous chance came when C. Ronaldo dribbled down the right wing, used his pace to narrowly shake off Lassana Diarra, then cut inside past Leighton Baines and suddenly unleashed a shot from 23 meters out.

And it was with his left foot, a powerful drive.

The ball skimmed just wide of the right post, giving everyone a cold sweat.

If that had gone in, it would have been a worldie!

Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, also shook his head.

All the defensive work you do can, to the greatest extent possible, prevent the opponent from creating clear-cut chances.

The kind of chances where you’re more likely to score than not, the ones you get blamed for missing.

But you can’t stop a player’s moment of genius on the pitch, or those instances of “power creating a miracle.”

C. Ronaldo’s shot just now had a bit of both, which made it even more dangerous.

Ferguson made a substitution in the 60th minute.

He brought on Carlos Tevez for Ashley Young.

This was in line with Yang Cheng’s prediction at halftime.

The Bayswater Chinese players adjusted accordingly.

From then on, the two sides began to trade blows.

Both teams prioritized their defense, specifically nullifying their opponent’s strengths, and then used their attacking players to try and land a killer blow.

This made the pace of the game incredibly fast.

Especially Manchester United.

As soon as they won the ball, they would pass it forward, completely bypassing any midfield build-up.

Because they had no advantage in midfield.

But by the 70th minute, Yang Cheng had to make a change.

Midweek, they had a home game for the second round of the Premier League against Chelsea.

Yang Cheng’s first substitution was bringing on Theo Walcott for Andrei Arshavin.

In the 75th minute, he replaced Džeko with Robert Lewandowski.

After these two changes, the overall situation remained relatively stable.

Theo Walcott had also featured frequently in the Premier League over the last two seasons, especially last season, where his performances were commendable.

Moreover, The Little Tiger was incredibly fast, and his ability to burst forward was a major concern for Manchester United’s defenders.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued to put pressure on the Manchester United backline.

But just as Yang Cheng was breathing a sigh of relief, in the 79th minute, a Manchester United attack that had entered Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter area was broken up by a tackle from Lassana Diarra.

Lassana Diarra passed to Modrić to orchestrate an attack.

But before Bayswater Chinese could even cross the halfway line, Owen Hargreaves intercepted the pass and launched a counter-attack.

The ball found its way to C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese player sprinted forward with the ball.

Lassana Diarra chased back with everything he had.

After breaking into the 30-meter zone, seeing that he couldn’t stop his opponent and that Manchester United’s attacking trident was in position, Lassana Diarra decisively committed a foul, tripping C. Ronaldo while trying to win the ball, and conceding an attacking free-kick.

He also received a yellow card.

Worth it!

If Manchester United’s counter-attack had been allowed to develop, with their front three combining, it would have been very dangerous.

Yang Cheng thought to himself on the sideline.

The location of the foul was just a bit too close to the center. The distance was about 25 meters.

A bit dangerous.

C. Ronaldo stood at the spot. After placing the ball, he slowly backed away.

The Portuguese player stood with his feet apart, arms outstretched, his whole posture resembling Ultraman.

Bayswater Chinese also set up a wall, ready for the challenge.

But as soon as the head referee’s whistle blew, the Portuguese player took a quick run-up and struck the ball with his right foot, hitting a dipping free kick.

If it had been an ordinary dipping free kick, it wouldn’t have been a huge problem.

But after clearing the wall, the ball began to swerve erratically, which affected Neuer’s judgment.

The German goalkeeper dived sideways.

As a result, the ball flew at high speed into the top right corner of the goal.

Not an absolute top corner, but close enough!

Ferguson let out a roar in an instant, his entire body rushing out of the technical area, looking exceptionally excited.

Yang Cheng, in the away team’s technical area, slapped his forehead hard.

He had prepared for everything, but he just couldn’t defend against the Portuguese player’s free kicks!

There was truly nothing he could do!

…

The match ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw.

Ferguson walked over, beaming all the way, looking to be in a particularly beautiful mood.

Of course, Yang Cheng was not happy.

Three points had turned into one.

Who would feel good about that?

Especially seeing Ferguson’s face, which looked like he had just found a pot of gold.

Yang Cheng swore that the old man had never expected C. Ronaldo to score that free kick.

He had just lucked into a point.

“Got any wine?” Yang Cheng was in a bad mood.

If I can’t take away three points, I can at least take away a few glasses of wine, right?

Everyone says you, Ferguson, treat the away team’s coach to a drink after every home game, so why not me?

“What are you thinking?”

That old man Ferguson must have studied face-changing; his expression shifted in an instant.

“You’ve just gotten lucky and walked away with a point, and you still want me to treat you to a drink?”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng was not pleased. “Clearly, you’re the one who got a point for free, okay? We should have taken away three.”

“Nonsense, everything was under my control!”

It was only at this moment that Ferguson suddenly realized: wait, what the hell am I so happy about?

Damn it!

Playing at home, failed to get three points, only got a draw, so why am I acting like I’ve found a treasure?

When did Manchester United become so unambitious?

It had to be said, this was purely a matter of psychological expectation.

As the match approached the 80th minute, Ferguson himself didn’t have much hope left.

Who would have thought C. Ronaldo would score a spectacular free kick for you?

Wasn’t that just like picking up a freebie?

Who wouldn’t be happy about that?

…

In the end, there was no wine from Ferguson.

The old gaffer said that when Yang Cheng left three points behind, he would treat him.

Yang Cheng could only reply helplessly that he was destined never to share a drink with Ferguson in this lifetime.

After all the first-round Premier League matches were played, most of the top teams did not have a very good start.

Arsenal, after going a goal down at home, scored twice to come from behind and beat Fulham 2-1.

Liverpool, after taking the lead through an own goal, were pegged back by Aston Villa, but in the final moments of the match, a goal from Gerrard secured three points for Liverpool on the road.

Chelsea also had a rough time.

Grant set his team up in a 4-4-2 formation for the match, but they conceded a goal right from the start against newly promoted team Birmingham City.

They later scored two to turn it around, but in the 36th minute, they conceded again, and it was a worldie.

There’s really nothing you can do about goals like that.

It wasn’t until the second half that a goal from Essien saved Chelsea.

In the end, Chelsea narrowly won 3-2 at home against Birmingham City.

The teams that performed best in the first round were, paradoxically, Newcastle and Manchester City.

The Magpies beat Bolton 3-1 away from home.

Manchester City defeated West Ham United 2-0 away.

The other matches were mostly decided by a single goal.

But one thing worth noting was that all ten matches in the first round of the new season had goals.

After the first round of matches, everyone could clearly feel that the overall strength of the Premier League, especially the teams in the middle and lower tiers, had significantly improved.

This was true for teams like Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Manchester City, as well as newly promoted sides like Birmingham City and Sunderland.

Even Derby County, who were considered the biggest underdogs, managed a 2-2 draw at home against Portsmouth.

This was largely in line with the summer transfer market trends.

The purchasing power of the Premier League was getting stronger and stronger.

When teams like Sunderland, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur could easily spend ten to twenty million pound sterling, or even more, on transfers, their overall strength also improved.

The result was that the competition in the Premier League was becoming increasingly fierce.

Yang Cheng clearly remembered that in the first round of last season, there were several matches won by three or more goals.

…

Returning from Manchester to London, Yang Cheng had no time to rest.

Bayswater Chinese immediately entered the preparation rhythm for the midweek league match.

After several years of development, Bayswater Chinese had already established an effective training method and preparation process for both one-game-a-week and two-games-a-week schedules.

Yang Cheng left these tasks to the coaching staff while he began to study Chelsea’s tactics.

The first order of business was to watch Chelsea’s 3-2 home victory over Birmingham City.

Both of Birmingham City’s goals came from their own left wing, which was Chelsea’s right flank.

“Grant changed to a 4-4-2 for this match, originally aiming for balance, but it seems there are still major problems.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

Grant’s two strikers were Pizarro and Shevchenko.

The central midfielders were Essien and Lampard.

This created a problem: Chelsea’s midfield still lacked organization and creativity.

So their attacks always went down the flanks.

And from the match against Birmingham City, it was clear that they were still more accustomed to attacking down the left.

The side with Ashley Cole and Malouda posed a greater threat and had a sharper attack.

The flank with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Glen Johnson had already been targeted by Yang Cheng in the Community Shield.

It now seemed that Chelsea had no good solution for this.

With their injured players not yet back, their right flank could not be shored up.

At the very least, using Ferreira would be better than using Glen Johnson, right?

But just as Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others were finalizing their strategy, two days before the second round of matches, the scouts received news.

Drogba was back from injury!

Not only Drogba, but Ferreira was also back from injury.

This instantly frustrated Yang Cheng.

“Just as I thought, I don’t have the fate of a novel’s protagonist!”

Which of those novel protagonists isn’t some overpowered hero who slays gods and buddhas in his path?

But what about himself?

Drogba and Ferreira could have returned anytime, but they just had to pick the time they were playing against him to make their comeback.

Are they doing this on purpose?

Of course, that was just a joke.

But the upcoming match against Chelsea was genuinely going to be a tough battle.

And to make matters worse, it was a home game.

Adam Crozier had previously reported that by the first home game, they should be able to sell nearly 50,000 season tickets, and the number of fans in attendance would exceed 60,000.

Yang Cheng was definitely going to go all-out.

Losing in front of so many fans would be a painful blow to the club.

Who would want to buy a ticket and travel all the way to Wembley Stadium just to watch a loss?

“Since there’s no other way, let’s just fight them!”

Yang Cheng also made up his mind.

So what if it’s a head-on collision, a battle of attrition?

I’ll take you on!

Let’s see who destroys who!

Ferreira has just returned from injury, so I’ll target his flank.

Not just Ferreira’s right flank.

Ashley Cole’s left flank is supposed to be so good, right?

I’ll target that side too!

Anyway, the plan is to attack, to completely tear Chelsea’s entire backline to shreds!

Chapter 126: That Bolt of Lightning in the Wembley Night Sky! Guys, Are You Padding Your Stats?

Avram Grant had never thought that he would one day become the head coach of a Premier League team.

Especially not a top club like Chelsea.

He had never even dreamed of it.

At fifty-two, he had spent most of his life in Israel.

First, he was a youth academy coach for over a decade, then he went on to manage several Israeli teams, including Maccabi Haifa.

His results were decent, which led to him coaching the Israeli national team starting in 2002.

But that didn’t mean much.

In European football, Israel was never a powerhouse.

Especially not for Western Europe.

At most, they were just a slightly longer away trip.

During his time as Israel’s head coach, he met Alexandre Gaydamak.

A twenty-nine-year-old businessman involved in international trade, a rich kid with a complicated background.

Gaydamak’s father had once been investigated by the government for involvement in illegal transactions.

Under these circumstances, the father, Arkady Gaydamak, wanted to secure a fallback plan for his son and transfer some assets in the process.

This was something all wealthy people around the world did.

So, they decided to acquire Portsmouth of the Premier League.

But they knew nothing about football.

Therefore, they sought out Avram Grant.

As the Gaydamak family’s football advisor, Grant participated in the entire acquisition process, offering strategic advice.

After the acquisition was complete, Grant became Portsmouth’s technical director, representing the Gaydamak family’s interests.

Back then, Portsmouth was just a relegation-zone team in the Premier League, not particularly strong overall.

Under Grant’s direction, Portsmouth underwent a massive transformation, spearheaded by the arrival of head coach Redknapp, which led to Pompey’s rapid rise.

By the 2006-07 season, in just a year and a half, Portsmouth was already ninth in the Premier League.

For a relegation team with a modest budget like Pompey, this was a remarkable achievement.

The Gaydamak family, like Roman Abramovich, were Russian-born Israelis.

In reality, everyone knew what that implied.

Even after arriving in the Premier League, they maintained a close relationship.

With Israeli agent Pini Zahavi pulling the strings between them, Grant naturally came to know Abramovich.

In the 2006-07 season, a dressing room crisis erupted at Chelsea.

Shevchenko.

A Ukrainian.

Abramovich had pulled many personal strings to persuade Shevchenko to transfer to Chelsea.

Unexpectedly, after joining, Shevchenko never received the support of head coach Mourinho, which left the owner, Abramovich, feeling extremely displeased.

On one hand, the team’s results had declined, and Mourinho no longer held the same authority he had in the previous two years.

On the other hand, Abramovich worried: was the current Chelsea his Chelsea, or Mourinho’s Chelsea?

The Portuguese “Special One” was taking his salary and spending his transfer funds, yet he wanted to become Chelsea’s Ferguson?

Was that even possible?

But Abramovich wasn’t a fool.

He knew very well how important Mourinho was to this Chelsea team.

Aside from Shevchenko, Mourinho’s relationship with the suits was also deteriorating.

He believed that the management team, led by Peter Kenyon, was not fully cooperating with his work, especially regarding player recruitment.

But sometimes, Abramovich really wanted to ask Mourinho: “You bloody well won’t listen to my opinion and embarrass me over the Shevchenko situation, yet you still expect me to fork over my money for you to buy players?”

What do you take me for?

But he held his tongue and didn’t ask.

Asking such a question would likely burn all bridges.

So, Abramovich came up with a compromise.

He wanted to hire someone with extensive football experience, professional knowledge, who could get along with Mourinho, and who also had the trust of himself and the suits, to serve as a liaison between the head coach, the suits, and Abramovich himself.

In Abramovich’s circle, the one who met all these conditions was Grant.

At the very least, he had done a truly excellent job at Portsmouth.

Thus, in July 2007, Grant officially joined Chelsea as sporting director.

He even took a seat on Chelsea’s coaching bench.

His first and foremost task was to mediate the relationship between Shevchenko and Mourinho.

However, Grant had vastly underestimated the difficulty of this task.

Especially when he had to face Mourinho directly.

The Israeli tragically discovered that Mourinho didn’t trust him at all.

Not even a single word.

Mourinho even believed that Grant was a “watchdog” sent by Abramovich and the suits to monitor him.

With that, the situation spun completely out of control.

No one knew whether the situation spiraled first, or if Mourinho’s training started to have problems, or if the team was hit by an injury crisis…

In any case, everything happened at once.

It was all a mess.

Especially after Mourinho demanded to sign Sevilla’s right-back Daniel Alves, a request that was rejected by the suits.

Sevilla had once shopped Alves around, but their asking price was not low.

Chelsea had hoped to sign the Brazilian full-back for twenty million euros, but Sevilla demanded his release clause of forty million euros, not a penny less.

One side wanted to sell, the other was asking for an exorbitant price.

Of course, they couldn’t give in to that.

That wasn’t how transfer negotiations worked.

Later, as the two sides gradually negotiated, their prices began to converge.

Abramovich personally instructed Peter Kenyon, stating that he was willing to pay up to twenty-five million euros.

Peter Kenyon eventually raised the offer to twenty-seven million euros, the maximum he was authorized to offer as Chelsea’s CEO.

He figured Abramovich wouldn’t quibble over the extra two million euros.

But Sevilla held firm at thirty-six million euros.

Everyone had grown accustomed to quoting higher prices whenever Chelsea came calling.

In the end, Alves did not come.

Then came Drogba’s injury, and Mourinho wanted to fire the medical team.

Later still, the Portuguese resigned in a fit of rage, and Grant took over.

When Grant suddenly found himself promoted from sporting director to head coach, he was stunned.

Before this, the highest-profile team he had ever managed was the Israeli national team.

How on earth was he qualified to coach a top-tier European giant like Chelsea?

Setting everything else aside, would the big-name players in the squad even trust him?

Everything was in chaos.

The atmosphere in the dressing room was terrible; an undercurrent of unease had been brewing among the players since last season.

Mourinho’s departure only made it worse.

The media criticism of Chelsea from the outside was relentless.

Conservative tactics, 1-0-ism…

Grant knew full well that he had no ability to change the current situation.

Or rather, he didn’t think anyone could change Chelsea’s predicament.

When Shevchenko and Drogba had to play at the same time, when the two flanks were always Chelsea’s key offensive weapons, when the team’s backline had to withstand the attacks of the strongest forward lines in European football, like Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese…

What could he do?

He could only play a 4-4-2, just like Mourinho.

At best, he could make some minor adjustments to the details.

For instance, he hoped Drogba and Shevchenko wouldn’t stand parallel to each other, but rather in a one-forward, one-back formation.

This would give Chelsea’s attack more depth.

Once the league campaign started, it wouldn’t give any person or any team a chance to catch their breath.

Even knowing it was a mistake, they could only press forward!

In the first round, a narrow 3-2 home victory against Birmingham City, Grant had already sensed a dangerous signal.

He was very worried about the second-round trip to Wembley Stadium.

This was the world-famous West London derby!

And the opponent was Bayswater Chinese, the team Abramovich detested most.

They had to win, no matter what!

“Worst case scenario, you must first ensure you can walk away unscathed,” Abramovich’s personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia, reminded Grant over the phone.

She didn’t say whether these were Abramovich’s exact words.

But as his personal assistant, no one understood Abramovich’s thoughts better than she did.

…

On the evening of August 15th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 2, Bayswater Chinese hosted Chelsea.

When the match reached the thirty-third minute, Bayswater Chinese won a free kick on the left side of the attacking third.

The ball was a bit far from the goal, over thirty meters.

Leighton Baines ran up, preparing to take the free kick.

Chelsea’s defenders all retreated to the edge of the penalty area.

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized how short Chelsea’s players were.

Ashley Cole was 1.76m, Carvalho 1.82m, Tal Ben Haim 1.83m, Paulo Ferreira 1.83m, Lampard 1.84m, Essien 1.78m, Shevchenko 1.83m, and Drogba 1.89m.

In contrast, look at Bayswater Chinese.

When their players surged into Chelsea’s penalty area, their size and presence were enough to overwhelm Chelsea.

Just to name a few, those over 1.85m included José Fonte at 1.87m, Pepe at 1.86m, Yaya Touré at 1.91m, and Džeko at 1.93m.

Moreover, all these tall players were skilled in the air.

Not to mention, full-back Maicon was 1.84m, and left winger Gareth Bale was 1.85m.

In terms of both numbers and skill, everyone was breaking out in a cold sweat for Chelsea.

With a blow of the head referee’s whistle, Leighton Baines took a quick run-up and struck a precise curling shot with his left foot.

Everyone was rushing into the penalty area.

But the ball avoided the near post and the center, where Drogba and Carvalho were, and flew directly towards the far post.

Pepe was seen charging forward on the right side of the penalty area. He leaped high into the air, towering over Ashley Cole and Essien who were marking him, and headed the ball back towards the middle.

And it was a high, looped header.

The landing spot of Pepe’s header was perfectly judged.

The edge of the six-yard box, slightly left of center, was exactly in a position where it was difficult for Čech to come out.

Just as Chelsea’s players scrambled to challenge for the header, José Fonte leaped high and headed the ball directly into the bottom right corner.

Čech’s position had been constantly shifting with the movement of the ball.

At this moment, he was moving to his left.

When the ball was suddenly headed back to the bottom right, Čech, having already shifted his center of gravity, was unable to make the save despite his dive.

The ball hit the back of the net.

1-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in an instant!

Another successful set piece combination in the final third!

And this time, there was little finesse involved; it was pure dominance through physical superiority.

They were just bullying Chelsea for being short!

…

The first half ended with a score of 1-0.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with this result.

Throughout the first half, from the opening whistle, both teams had engaged in a frantic, end-to-end battle.

Grant had clearly decided to go for broke, hoping to suppress Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz with an all-out attack of his own.

And it did have a good effect.

But gradually, Chelsea lost control of the midfield, and this kind of open battle couldn’t be sustained, and they were soon pinned back by the home team.

For this match, Yang Cheng had started Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Arshavin, with a midfield trio of Matuidi, Yaya Touré, and Modrić.

The defense remained largely unchanged.

Under these circumstances, the team smoothly seized the initiative and continuously created problems for Chelsea down both flanks.

For the second half, Yang Cheng insisted on continuing with the same approach as the first half.

Especially on the left wing.

“Ferreira has just returned from injury and isn’t in top form yet. Judging from his performance in the first half, he still hasn’t found his rhythm and isn’t looking very solid.”

The whole world knew Ferreira was one of Mourinho’s men.

Even when Mourinho was still here, he had already been looking to sign Alves.

Now, with Mourinho gone, Ferreira’s situation was even more precarious.

“Gareth, we’ll try to create chances for you in the second half. Find a way to break through Ferreira.”

Gareth Bale had just turned eighteen, but he was already starting in a match against Chelsea.

This made the Welshman incredibly excited.

Especially upon hearing that the head coach was entrusting him with such an important task, Gareth Bale was practically bursting with adrenaline.

“Use your speed and dribbling to destroy Ferreira!”

…

Just one hundred seconds into the second half.

A chipped pass from Yaya Touré in the center sent the ball directly into the left channel of the attacking third.

Džeko quickly dropped back, overpowering Essien, and leaped up for a flick-on.

With a touch from Džeko’s head, the ball was flicked on behind Chelsea’s defensive line, down the left flank.

That afternoon, it had just rained in London.

The air was humid and stuffy.

The ventilation at Wembley Stadium wasn’t particularly good either.

This made many fans feel uncomfortable.

But right at that moment, a red bolt of lightning instantly tore through it all.

Gareth Bale was seen shrugging off Ferreira at incredible speed, charging towards the through ball Džeko had headed on.

Ben Haim immediately rushed over to intercept.

Before the Israeli centre-back could get close, Gareth Bale poked the ball towards the byline, then exploded with another burst of power, surging past Ben Haim’s defense at an even greater speed.

The Israeli chased desperately from the inside track, but Gareth Bale was simply too fast.

No matter how hard he chased, he couldn’t catch him.

Gareth Bale charged to the left side of the penalty area, already at least two yards ahead.

When the Welshman reached a position almost level with the six-yard box, he glanced towards the middle and sent in a low, driven cross with his left foot.

The afternoon rain had left the Wembley pitch relatively slick.

As the football skimmed across the grass, you could almost see the water droplets splashing up.

But Arshavin, who was following up, met the ball with a powerful shot from his left foot, blasting it towards the goal guarded by Čech.

The moment the football crashed into Chelsea’s net, the water droplets in front of the six-yard box had only just settled.

But a thunderous roar erupted throughout Wembley Stadium.

More than sixty thousand fans leaped from their seats, screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

2-0!

But what was most important was that red bolt of lightning.

Fast!

So fast!

The admiration for speed is an innate human instinct.

That’s why at the Olympics, track and field events are always the most prestigious.

And on the football pitch, while beautiful ball control is mesmerizing, it’s lightning-fast speed that provides the most visceral, shocking stimulation!

On this night at Wembley, Gareth Bale delivered a profound shock to everyone in the stadium.

…

The match restarted.

Conceding a goal so soon after the start of the second half was a huge blow for Chelsea.

But while Grant was still hesitating about whether to make a substitution to shore up the defense, just three minutes later, another incident occurred near the halfway line.

While clearing the ball from the back, José Fonte lofted a high ball towards the left side, just outside the center circle.

Gareth Bale instantly sprinted forward, trying to get to the ball’s landing spot.

But Modrić was a step ahead, positioning himself under the ball on the left side of the halfway line.

Seeing this, Gareth Bale didn’t go to challenge for it, but instead continued his forward sprint.

The Welshman just kept accelerating from the left of the center circle, getting faster and faster.

Under pressure from Lampard, Modrić flicked the ball on with his head, another high pass, sending it directly into Chelsea’s half, near the thirty-meter area.

The ball was faster than Gareth Bale.

Džeko was right there, having claimed the best position, and with another touch of his head, he flicked it on again into space.

By now, Gareth Bale was at full speed.

He had sprinted all the way from his own thirty-meter area, along a straight line down the left channel and the left side of the center circle, at an incredible pace.

He ran all the way to the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area, to the left of the D.

Along the way, he didn’t know how many players he had run past.

He couldn’t even see how astonished the coaches on the sidelines or the fans in the stands were.

He was just single-mindedly charging forward!

The feeling was as if he was about to take flight!

He had never felt like this before, as if his entire body was overflowing with power.

He had to unleash it all!

In a flash, Gareth Bale had reached the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area, to the left of the D.

The ball, headed on by Džeko, landed on the grass and bounced up.

It was only then that Gareth Bale noticed there was only one defender around him.

He couldn’t quite tell who it was, only that he was wearing a blue shirt and was quite short.

But he saw the penalty area line.

To hell with it, just go for it.

Gareth Bale slowed down slightly, swung his right foot, and knocked the ball ahead to his left, while simultaneously using his right shoulder to firmly shove the defender aside.

He had already thought it through: his physical strength wasn’t great yet, so if he couldn’t push past, he would just go down.

At the very least, he could try to win a penalty kick.

But to Gareth Bale’s surprise, the opponent couldn’t withstand his push, lost his balance, stumbled, and went tumbling into the penalty area.

But at this moment, Gareth Bale couldn’t be bothered with that.

After quickly catching up to the ball he had controlled, he glanced at Čech, who had advanced to the left of the six-yard box, and unleashed a shot with his left foot.

The ball traveled in a straight line, past Čech’s left side, and into Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese have scored again!!!”

“3-0!!”

“It’s the eighteen-year-old youngster from Wales, Gareth Bale!”

“My God, he’s so fast!”

“He’s like a bolt of lightning!”

“It’s absolutely unbelievable.”

“He ran at least seventy meters with the ball! Such explosive power, such speed, such stamina! I can’t believe he’s only eighteen years old!”

After scoring, Gareth Bale was so excited he ran off the pitch, sprinting wildly.

The atmosphere in the entire stadium was completely ignited!

Nothing could stir humanity’s deepest, most primal instincts like pure speed.

They were utterly conquered by Gareth Bale’s devastating pace!

The Welshman ran to the sideline, repeatedly roaring at the fans in the stands.

The entire stadium was chanting Bale’s name at the top of their lungs.

…

Yang Cheng stood in front of the home team’s technical area, laughing and applauding for Gareth Bale.

The Bayswater Chinese players all chased after him, celebrating with Bale by the sideline.

The shock delivered by that speed was simply too astonishing!

“This kid has improved a lot,” Brian Kidd praised repeatedly.

Since Di María’s arrival, Gareth Bale had actually been under a certain amount of pressure.

It wasn’t just him; Di María and Theo Walcott were in the same boat.

Five players competing for two positions; there was no other way.

But last season, Yang Cheng had cleverly balanced the playing time of each player.

Especially for Di María, Gareth Bale, and Walcott.

This maximized their potential.

And indeed, whether it was Di María, Walcott, or Gareth Bale, all had made impressive progress.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Gareth Bale transferred from Southampton to Tottenham Hotspur for ten million pound sterling in the summer of 2007, he quickly put in some excellent performances.

He started and played the full match in the fourth round of the Premier League away against Manchester United.

In the fifth round, away at Fulham, he registered a goal and an assist.

In the sixth round against Arsenal, he scored again.

Then, in a midweek League Cup match against Middlesbrough, he scored yet again.

At that time, Gareth Bale’s momentum was incredible.

But then came the injuries.

First, a foot injury that kept him out from October to November.

Then, in early December, a torn ankle ligament ended his season.

By the time he returned from injury, the head coach had changed from the famous Dutch manager Martin Jol to the Spaniard Juande Ramos.

Come the 2008-09 season, it was the story all fans are familiar with: every time he played, the team either lost or drew, and he was seen as a jinx.

One could say that Gareth Bale’s entire career was a battle against injuries.

But at Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale received the best development and care.

His technical ability now was definitely stronger and more outstanding than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

This season, after establishing the sports science department, Yang Cheng’s first task for them was to conduct more in-depth research and exploration—building on the foundation laid by Thad Foucher and others—on how to protect speed-based players through training.

After all, the team had quite a few pacy players.

Of course, at only eighteen, it was still a bit early for adding muscle and intense extra training.

So, Yang Cheng had to be a bit cautious in how he used him.

But on the technical side, there were no such issues.

“He still needs to strengthen his right foot,” Yang Cheng said.

Brian Kidd was taken aback. “He just controlled the ball with his right foot, and he did it well.”

He now completely believed what Yang Cheng had said, that this group of young players would become Bayswater Chinese’s “Class of ’92”.

So, just as he had protected Ryan Giggs, Scholes, and the others in front of Ferguson back in the day, he now defended Gareth Bale.

This protective nature of his was getting stronger with age.

“He still needs more practice, and his shooting too. We need to strengthen that next.”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but picture a scene in his head.

Doesn’t Manchester United have Rooney, Tevez, and C. Ronaldo?

Bayswater Chinese has Gareth Bale, Di María, Walcott, Džeko, and Lewandowski.

We both run around like headless chickens, but my midfield is better than yours!

Just watch me thrash that damned old codger Ferguson!

…

If anyone were to ask what the paparazzi of England’s Fleet Street love to do most?

The answer would undoubtedly be: creating stars!

What kind of stars?

Talented new starlets!

It got to the point where people joked that if England’s youth academies could produce young players at one-tenth, no, one-fiftieth the speed of Fleet Street’s star-making machine, then England would absolutely never lack football talent.

To say they hyped up a new talented wonderkid every month was indeed an exaggeration.

But to hype one up every two or three months was an understatement.

After the second round of Premier League matches, Manchester United drew 1-1 away at Portsmouth.

Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Newcastle.

Liverpool, on the other hand, thrashed West Ham United 4-0 at home.

Torres, who had just joined from Atlético Madrid, scored a hat-trick.

This was quite surprising.

Torres’s scoring rate at Atlético wasn’t very high, and his goal tally each season was never particularly eye-catching, but after joining Liverpool, he performed exceptionally well.

Everyone was saying that Benítez finally had a centre-forward who could score goals.

After the matches were finished, Bayswater Chinese had one win and one draw from two games, earning four points and sitting in fourth place on the Premier League table.

Ahead of Bayswater Chinese, there were three teams with a perfect record.

Liverpool at the top, followed by Everton and Manchester City.

Unfortunately, in the third round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese would be playing Everton.

It was a schedule that gave everyone a headache, but that didn’t stop the British media from blowing Gareth Bale’s a goal and an assist performance out of all proportion. Some media outlets shamelessly praised him, saying Bale had the talent of a footballing king and the potential of a legend.

Yang Cheng wanted to just pick up a toilet and smash it over their heads.

Damn it!

Aren’t you ashamed of hyping up an eighteen-year-old kid like this?

Isn’t this just setting him up for a fall?

But the media didn’t care about that; their only job was to hype him up.

If he didn’t perform well in the future, well, it wouldn’t be because they were wrong to praise him back then, it would be his own problem.

And then they would dig up a mountain of dirt on him.

It’s the same story everywhere; birds of a feather flock together.

When Ronaldinho was in good form, his nights out at clubs were just celebrity gossip.

When his form dipped, it was suddenly a lack of self-control and professional ethics.

Yang Cheng not only had the press relations department decline all interviews but also called Gareth Bale into his office for a chat.

After talking to the player, he called Jonathan Barnett, asking him to manage the family’s expectations.

It was good to become famous early.

But Gareth Bale was already famous, and he couldn’t be burdened by that fame.

The same went for Walcott, Di María, and the others.

…

On the afternoon of August 18th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The succession of clashes between top teams, especially the midweek game, forced Yang Cheng to once again rotate his squad for the match against Everton.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Rakitić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Di María, Lambert, and Walcott.

Yang Cheng’s rotation was extensive, but he remained cautious in many key positions.

David Moyes’s team had secured two consecutive wins in their first two rounds.

A 2-1 home victory against Wigan Athletic and a 3-1 away win against Tottenham Hotspur; their momentum was formidable.

This led Moyes’s team to display an aggressive attitude from the very start.

Moyes was clearly hoping to seize the initiative as the away team, capitalizing on the immense pressure Bayswater Chinese was under after two consecutive tough matches, their squad rotation, and other factors, to gain more control.

And maybe even take three points home from the away game.

In their previous match against Tottenham, they had scored in the second minute from a corner kick, with Lescott breaking the deadlock.

That was how they seized control of the match.

Unfortunately for him, this time he was facing Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had rotated his squad heavily for this round, so they started the match rather cautiously.

Especially upon seeing Moyes’s team take the offensive, he signaled for his team to stabilize their defense first.

It wasn’t until the nineteenth minute of the first half that Walcott launched a quick counter-attack down the right flank, sending in a cross that found Lambert in the box.

The English centre-forward’s shot went just wide.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first shot of the match, but it was also the first threatening attempt from either team.

Bayswater Chinese’s problem was the number of rotated players and the fact that the season had just begun; they needed some time to gel.

By the time the team had gradually adapted to Everton’s pressure, half an hour had already passed.

From then on, the home team began to shift into attack.

With Lassana Diarra sweeping and intercepting in midfield, the defensive burden on Rakitić and Matić was much lighter, allowing them to focus more on organization and attack.

Especially Rakitić.

The midfielder, who had just been called up to the Croatian national team, was playing with great effort.

Matić was also hoping to use this start to show the head coach the fruits of his labor over a season in the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese began to gradually control the midfield and regain their advantage on the pitch.

But Everton was indeed very strong.

This stalemate continued into the second half.

Just three minutes in, Di María and Walcott created a two-on-one situation on the left, forcing their way past Hilbert, but the subsequent pass was cleared for a throw-in by Lescott.

Throw-in.

Marcelo quickly ran over. Wiping the water off the ball with his jersey, he scanned his teammates’ positions.

The Brazilian quickly threw the ball to Lambert, who had come to receive it.

With his back to the penalty area, the English centre-forward chested the ball down and passed it to Di María.

Di María played a one-touch pull-back.

Marcelo, who had just been off the pitch taking the throw-in, was now back on, facing away from the left touchline. He took a step back with the ball before playing a diagonal pass into the box.

Lambert, having just chested the ball down, was now turning and running into the penalty area.

Marcelo’s pass went right between two Everton defenders.

Lambert immediately shielded the ball with his body, keeping Lescott behind him, and laid it off to the D with one touch.

A sharp red figure came flying in.

Walcott met Lambert’s pass and unleashed a furious shot.

The football rocketed off Walcott’s right foot and shot into Joe Hart’s goal at lightning speed.

1-0!

After scoring, “The Little Tiger” was ecstatic.

Like Gareth Bale, he was also eighteen and was working hard to improve himself!

…

Having conceded just three minutes into the second half, Everton tried to mount a comeback.

But they were quickly suppressed.

The speed of Di María and Walcott had Everton’s defense on edge.

The most dangerous moment was Lambert’s long shot in the fifty-third minute.

Once Everton’s counter-attack subsided and Bayswater Chinese began to push forward, Moyes signaled for his team to adopt a defensive stance, using counter-attacks to deal with Bayswater’s offense.

But soon, Moyes noticed something very strange.

Since when did Bayswater Chinese love long shots so much?

Lambert had a threatening long shot, and as a centre-forward, it was normal for him to take a crack whenever he got the chance.

Di María and Walcott were wingers with scoring duties, so their long shots were also understandable.

Rakitić’s long-range efforts looked decent, so that was fine too.

But Lassana Diarra, Matić, and others were all taking long shots as well?

Guys, are you trying to pad your shooting stats?

The most ridiculous part was that the kid named Aaron Ramsey, who had just come on as a substitute in the second half, also had a go from distance.

For the first time, Moyes realized that his defense was so strong that it had completely neutralized Bayswater Chinese’s attack, forcing them to resort to frequent long shots.

Even the Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but jest, “This isn’t Bayswater Chinese, this is the Bayswater Long Shot team!”

Yang Cheng himself felt innocent.

He had just told the players at halftime that Everton’s defense was solid and that they should consider shooting if they got an opportunity.

Isn’t there a famous saying?

If heaven had feelings, it too would grow old; if you see Hart in goal, just have a go.

Who knew these guys would keep trying to get lucky…

Damn it, are you guys shooting?

Or are you just padding Joe Hart’s save stats?

To be fair, two of their shots were of very good quality.

One was from Rakitić, and the other, surprisingly, was from Aaron Ramsey.

But both were saved by Joe Hart.

See, I’m just not destined to be a novel protagonist!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 home victory over Everton, thanks to Walcott’s goal.

And the most baffling thing was that Bayswater Chinese had a total of eighteen shots in this match.

Twelve of them were long shots.

How awkward!

…

Noon, August 25th.

Premier League Round 4, Bayswater Chinese away against Bolton.

After a week’s rest, Yang Cheng’s team traveled with its strongest lineup.

Just eleven minutes into the game, Džeko broke the deadlock for the team with a powerful shot from inside the box, putting them ahead.

1-0!

In the first half, Bayswater Chinese dominated their opponents but couldn’t find another goal.

After the break, in the sixtieth minute, Di María delivered a wonderful pass, and Arshavin broke into the box from the left channel and scored with a neat finish, extending the lead.

2-0!

Then, in the seventy-fifth minute, Arshavin drew a foul while dribbling, winning a set piece in an attacking area.

The position was excellent, and the angle was good.

Leighton Baines calmly stepped up and sent the ball into Bolton’s goal.

3-0!

But in the eighty-first minute, Bolton pulled one back.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bolton 3-1 away from home, securing their third consecutive win.

…

After four rounds, Chelsea beat Portsmouth 1-0 at home.

Arsenal beat Manchester City 1-0 at home.

Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 away.

Manchester United, meanwhile, secured a narrow 1-0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur.

This was The Red Devils’ first win in four league games this season.

In their previous three rounds, they had two draws and one loss.

The reason for such a poor performance was that their star player, C. Ronaldo, had received a red card in the match against Portsmouth. Not only was he sent off on the spot, but he was also given an additional two-match ban.

C. Ronaldo replicating Zidane’s World Cup final classic came at a steep price.

This time, headbutting a defender earned him a three-match ban.

But this also made everyone understand even more deeply the importance of C. Ronaldo to the current Manchester United side.

Without C. Ronaldo, Manchester United’s attack fizzled out.

After four rounds, two teams had three wins and one draw, amassing ten points.

Liverpool and Bayswater Chinese.

The two teams were level on points, but Liverpool, with a goal difference of seven, edged out Bayswater Chinese to claim the top spot.

The Spaniard Torres’s contribution was indispensable.

In four matches, he had scored four goals and provided one assist.

Bayswater Chinese had a goal difference of six, placing them second in the Premier League.

Eriksson’s Manchester City also performed well, with three wins and one loss, earning nine points to sit third in the Premier League.

Arsenal had two wins and two draws, giving them eight points and fourth place.

Manchester United, on the other hand, only had five points, placing them tenth.

Everyone knew the league had just started, and these standings didn’t mean much yet.

But compared to Bayswater Chinese’s stability, Manchester United’s performance this season was somewhat surprising.

…

A week later, Premier League Round 5.

Manchester United still showed no signs of improvement.

The pain of losing C. Ronaldo was still tormenting Ferguson.

Although they managed a narrow 1-0 home win against Sunderland, their overall performance was far from satisfactory.

Chelsea fared even worse, losing 0-2 away to Aston Villa.

It was one of the biggest upsets of the round.

Everyone clearly realized that after Mourinho’s departure, The Blues were on a downward slide.

The most surprising result of this round came from Liverpool.

Benítez’s team thrashed Derby County 6-0 at Anfield.

The two Spaniards, Torres and Xabi Alonso, both scored a brace.

Benítez’s team had kicked off the season with a storm of tidal-wave-like attacks.

Especially Torres.

Scoring six goals in five matches was a stunning performance, exceeding everyone’s expectations.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Portsmouth 3-1 at home.

Bayswater Chinese returned home and secured a convincing 3-0 victory over West Ham United.

Yang Cheng continued to insist on his lightning attack strategy, going on the offensive from the start.

Just six minutes in, Gareth Bale, who had been in fine form recently, assisted Arshavin on a quick counter-attack to open the scoring.

Then, early in the second half, it was another cross from Gareth Bale on the left that led to a goal by Džeko.

Before the end of the match, it was Džeko again who scored to seal the victory for the team.

In the end, thanks to Džeko’s brace, Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 at home against West Ham United.

The Bosnian centre-forward had also scored four goals in the first five league games of the season, a truly eye-catching performance.

After this round of matches, Liverpool continued to lead the pack, with Bayswater Chinese hot on their heels.

Following them were Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea, and Newcastle.

Manchester City and Manchester United were in eighth and ninth place, respectively.

…

After the fifth round of the Premier League, the league paused for a two-week international break.

But before the international break, UEFA held its annual awards ceremony and the Champions League group stage draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Bayswater Chinese had reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season but were eliminated at that stage.

Based on their coefficient, they were currently in Pot 3 among the thirty-two teams.

From this, it was almost certain they would draw a “group of death.”

In contrast, the other three Premier League teams, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea, were all seeded in Pot 1.

Under these circumstances, the remaining options for Bayswater Chinese were just five teams.

AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barça, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

And in Pot 2, there were also teams from the top four leagues like Valencia, AS Roma, Werder Bremen, and Sevilla.

Or traditional powerhouses like Lyon, Porto, and Benfica.

So, no matter how the draw went, it was basically going to be a group of death.

Yang Cheng was more concerned about Pot 4, which included Serie A’s Lazio, Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv, and Turkish teams like Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe.

How to put it?

Whether they faced Lazio, a team from a snowy place like Ukraine, or had to make a long trip to Turkey, it would be a massive headache.

The impact on the domestic league would be huge.

The luckiest draw would be Glasgow Rangers from the Scottish Premiership.

But clearly, Yang Cheng didn’t have the best luck.

Out of eight possibilities, his group drew Serie A’s Lazio.

But what was most surprising was that Bayswater Chinese had once again been drawn against Real Madrid in the group stage.

A one-in-five chance, and they drew Real Madrid again.

Far from being unhappy, Yang Cheng actually laughed heartily.

Why?

Because out of those five teams, he was most confident against Real Madrid.

“No one knows how to beat Real Madrid better than me!”

As soon as the draw results were out, Yang Cheng felt the draw was pretty good.

Of course, to those around him, it seemed like he was trying to make the best of a bad situation, putting a positive spin on a disaster.

Who would want to face Real Madrid?

From Pot 2, they drew Bundesliga’s Werder Bremen.

Well now, this group was something else.

The La Liga champions, the Bundesliga’s third-place team, the Premier League champions, and Serie A’s third-place team.

It was the most deadly group of death imaginable!

Chapter 127: Premier League Speed! They’re So Rough! Are We Talking About Money?

“Come on, can’t you guys have the slightest bit of faith in me?”

Yang Cheng really couldn’t stand these guys anymore; every single one of them was “doubting” his brilliant and wise leadership.

Simply unforgivable!

So what if it’s Real Madrid?

When I take on Real Madrid, what’s there to even discuss?

Didn’t I stick four goals past them at the Bernabéu last season?

“Real Madrid signed a lot of players this summer,” Brian Kidd reminded him.

“That’s right, and they’re all very strong, like Robben, Sneijder, Škrtel…”

Škrtel was even sold by the Bayswater Chinese.

Whenever Adam Crozier pictured Predrag Mijatović’s face, an inexplicable sense of amusement would well up inside him.

He really wanted to ask: Mr. Mijatović, when are you coming to visit again?

It’s been too long; we miss you dearly.

Yang Cheng was aware of all this, of course.

“But have you ever considered that Real Madrid’s problem is precisely that their squad has changed so much? They have new players on every line, and every position is in flux. That in itself is their biggest problem.”

After Yang Cheng said this, Brian Kidd and the others thought about it and realized it made sense.

Their strength had indeed increased, but the players were all new, so their coordination would be rusty, lacking chemistry.

There were pros and cons to everything.

“For years, Real Madrid’s defense has never been systematic. Even last season, under Fabio Capello, they still failed to build a complete defensive system.”

“And is Schuster’s coaching ability that great?”

Yang Cheng snorted with contempt.

In European football, there was never a shortage of impostors.

What did that mean?

It was a very bizarre phenomenon.

A bit like the revolving door in American politics.

Players who had once made great contributions to their clubs would retire and morph into so-called club legends. Then, on a certain day in a certain month of a certain year, when the team was in need, they would suddenly emerge as the head coach or a member of the management.

In the past, Yang Cheng didn’t understand the intricacies of this and would even applaud it.

These legends knew football. If they were running the club, there would surely be no problem.

Indeed, the fans’ logic was just as simple.

So, whenever a club ran into trouble, they would trot out a club legend to appease the fans.

See? I even brought so-and-so out of retirement.

Some legends could actually get things done, some were purely mascots put on a pedestal, and some even caused damage…

Yang Cheng later discovered it was all calculation.

These so-called legends had never been good students. Their academic performance was a complete mess. What the hell did they know about running a business? What did they know about team-building strategy?

To put it bluntly, if they used their own money to start a business, they’d lose everything down to their underwear. And they were supposed to run a football club?

If you were really that interested, you should have gone for some training early on, gotten a degree or something. That would have been more convincing.

Relying on your status as a club legend to make a living?

In the end, it was all about using the legend’s influence to win over fans and leveraging their network in European football to pull some strings.

Eventually, Yang Cheng even figured out a pattern.

To see if a club legend had real substance, you just had to look at whether they could still find a foothold in European football after being fired.

For example, Frank Rijkaard. Where did he go after leaving Barça?

And then there was Real Madrid’s Schuster.

Where did he go after leaving Real Madrid?

Don’t talk about a “Waterloo at Real Madrid” or anything like that.

After leaving the manager’s seat at Real Madrid, didn’t guys like Pellegrini, Benítez, and Juande Ramos still find work in the top four leagues?

The key was whether you showed your true colors while coaching Real Madrid.

The title “club legend” looked intimidating, but once the illusion was shattered, it wasn’t fun anymore.

Perhaps some fans would argue, “That’s not right. If Schuster was so bad, how did he beat Barça to the title?”

Please, my friend, who was the runner-up in the 2007-08 season?

Before Atlético Madrid’s rise, La Liga was a two-horse race between Barça and Real Madrid.

Barça imploded from internal strife, so didn’t Real Madrid just get lucky?

Why did Real Madrid keep getting knocked out in the Round of 16?

To be frank, before the Round of 16, they could rely on the individual brilliance of their stars or their offense to win games.

But once it came to the knockout stages, sorry, besides testing individual ability and offensive firepower, defense and team cohesion were also crucial.

A poor defense and a lack of team unity meant everything was for nothing.

To forge a defensive system or unite this group of Real Madrid stars required a strongman.

“Among these three teams, I personally feel their strengths are about the same. It’s a ‘one superpower, three strong powers’ situation.” Yang Cheng revealed a confident smile.

If the media outside said “one superpower, three strong powers,” they would definitely consider Real Madrid the superpower.

But Yang Cheng’s meaning was clear: the Bayswater Chinese were the superpower.

…

At this year’s awards ceremony, Čech won the Goalkeeper of the Season.

Maldini was named Defender of the Season.

Seedorf was the Midfielder of the Season.

And Kaká single-handedly swept both the Forward of the Season and the Player of the Season awards.

Having been defeated by Kaká in the knockout stage, Yang Cheng had to admit that the Brazilian genius was truly unstoppable in the past 2006-07 season.

Especially within AC Milan’s Christmas tree formation, he could completely unleash his talent and characteristics.

Whether it was this award or the subsequent Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, they were all well-deserved.

According to the Champions League group stage schedule, the first match was a home game against Lazio.

Adam Crozier said the club needed to focus on promoting this Champions League match to boost ticket sales.

Before the new season began, season ticket sales had just surpassed fifty thousand.

The club’s CEO had barely managed to meet the target he had set for himself.

And for the two home games of the new season, attendance was around sixty thousand for each.

This left Yang Cheng and the others very satisfied.

Based on the current average ticket price of forty pound sterling, each home game brought in two point four million pound sterling.

Adding in retail consumption on match days, the total revenue was quite substantial.

Although the specific revenue figures hadn’t been compiled yet.

But one thing was certain.

As the team’s performance improved, it attracted more and more fans.

Adam Crozier even joked, “In the long run, will a capacity of 65,000 be enough?”

Believe it or not, that remark actually got Yang Cheng thinking.

In his previous life, he had seen some statistics.

It was attendance data from the Premier League, covering the period from the 2013-14 season to the 2022-23 season.

In the 2013-14 season, the average attendance for a Premier League match was 36,657.

So what was it now?

For the just-concluded 2006-07 season, the figure was 34,359.

By the 2018-19 season, the average attendance had reached 38,188.

And by the 2022-23 season, that number became 38,557.

One must consider a very practical issue here: the construction of new stadiums.

From the 2006-07 season to the 2022-23 season, how many Premier League teams actually built new stadiums?

Without new stadiums being put into use, all teams basically made appropriate renovations and upgrades to their existing ones.

For example, Manchester City expanded their stadium several times.

So, this Premier League data wasn’t of great reference value.

To put it simply, if everyone scored a hundred on a test, some did it because the test was only out of a hundred, while others did it because a hundred was the best they could do.

In the example above, the top Premier League teams clearly belonged to the former category.

As a point of comparison, the stadium capacities in the Championship were decent, but they were never full.

In the 2006-07 season, the average attendance in the Championship was 17,027.

By the 2013-14 season, it had declined slightly to 16,609.

But by the 2018-19 season, the average attendance had risen to 20,138.

And by the 2023-24 season, it was 22,350.

Overall, the attendance rate in the Championship was trending upwards.

From the 2023-24 season to the 2006-07 season, there was a solid thirty percent increase.

By the same token, almost no Championship teams built new stadiums during these years.

This trend wasn’t unique to the English leagues, nor was it limited to the top four leagues.

The German second division, Spanish second division, and Italian second division all saw significant increases in attendance over the years.

They even recovered quickly after the pandemic.

Among them, from the 2013-14 season to the 2023-24 season, the German second division had the fastest growth in average attendance, close to sixty percent. The Italian second division had fifty-five percent, and the Spanish second division had forty percent.

Only the French Second Division grew relatively slowly, at just seven percent.

Of course, one couldn’t just look at the growth rate; the average attendance figures also mattered.

The German second division grew the fastest, but many of their stadiums had standing sections.

The Italian second division had the next highest growth, but their baseline was terrible; in the 2013-14 season, it was only 5,641.

The Premier League was all-seater, tickets were expensive, and the fan base was already huge, yet it still maintained a thirty percent growth rate, which was quite remarkable.

Besides the broader environment, there was the local situation in London.

This season, London had six teams: Chelsea, Arsenal, the Bayswater Chinese, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Fulham. Charlton and Watford were in the Greater London area but had been relegated.

Among these teams, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur were relatively stable.

The Bayswater Chinese would definitely be one of them too.

What about the other teams?

They were mostly up and down.

Yang Cheng remembered hearing before he transmigrated in his previous life that Arsenal felt the Emirates Stadium’s capacity was insufficient and wanted to expand it.

They were talking about expanding from sixty thousand to seventy-five thousand.

However, this plan wasn’t feasible.

Both the east and west sides of the Emirates Stadium were flanked by railway lines.

The north and south ends were also blocked by buildings.

So, in the end, Arsenal decided to squeeze out as much space as possible within the stadium itself.

Match day revenue might seem small, but it was very stable.

Just like before Yang Cheng transmigrated, Chelsea’s average attendance was the lowest in the entire Premier League.

This led to Chelsea’s total match day revenue being unable to compare not just to Arsenal’s, but even to teams like Tottenham Hotspur with their new stadium and West Ham United renting the London Bowl. They were all miles ahead of Chelsea.

Thus, a new stadium had always been a thorn in Roman Abramovich’s side.

“Adam, I want you to commission a study on this.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t entirely sure about this matter either.

With the entire football market growing significantly, and given all the factors, as long as the team’s performance stayed strong, there was absolutely no need to worry about attendance in a place like London, especially in the very heart of the city center.

The larger the stadium, the greater the potential revenue would be.

This was why giants like Barça and Real Madrid were desperate to build new stadiums.

For now, 65,000 was definitely enough.

But what about the future?

In a place like central London, the chance to build a new stadium was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In the future, forget about building; even renovating would probably be difficult!

Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge was a case in point.

Therefore, Yang Cheng felt it was better to be cautious.

…

Adam Crozier had a few more things to report to Yang Cheng.

It was about internet promotion and marketing.

Nowadays, major clubs were paying more attention to this new field, but they were taking different approaches.

Some outsourced it directly to third-party companies, while others handled it in-house.

Yang Cheng’s suggestion was that, at least for the English-speaking market, the club should manage it themselves.

For example, YouTube. They had to run that themselves.

Previously, Adam Crozier had assembled a new media promotional team and even poached talent from related fields to join.

Over the past period, they had been posting things like daily interviews and club promotional content on YouTube.

But the results weren’t very good.

The most popular content was still the club’s football culture promotional short film.

Even now, that short film was still being continuously shared and spread.

Adam Crozier presented the new media team’s suggestion: they hoped to get permission to film some of the players’ daily training sessions at the training ground.

They would then pick out some interesting content to post online.

Yang Cheng, of course, gave this the green light.

Having come from the mobile internet era himself, he naturally knew that traditional media’s promotional methods wouldn’t work on the internet.

Or rather, their effect was very limited.

“Filming more of the daily training and details of the players’ lives is a good idea, but the specific content must be coordinated with the coaching staff. There must be a clear line on what can and cannot be filmed.”

Yang Cheng instructed.

Actually, daily training sessions were also open to fans, so filming wasn’t a big issue.

It was during more sensitive times, such as targeted tactical training, that they would definitely have to stay away.

“Actually, I think you could go and talk to the Premier League, Sky Sports, and the BBC.”

“Talk about what?” Adam Crozier was a little surprised.

“It’s simple. Get some highlights from our matches. After every game, post them directly online for all fans to watch for free.”

Adam Crozier nodded slightly. “We’ve thought about what you’re suggesting, but you know, highlights are also sold for money.”

The Premier League sold off everything it possibly could.

Match highlights were one of those things.

“We don’t have to use their highlights; we can edit our own. That would be beneficial for them too, wouldn’t it?”

There were certainly benefits, but whether they were significant enough was something the major broadcasters would have to consider for themselves.

“I think they’ll probably still ask us to pay.”

“Not too much,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Paying was acceptable, but not too much.

We’re editing our own match highlights. Giving you a little something for your trouble is already doing you a favor, okay?

Of course, considering production costs, getting it for free was basically unrealistic.

“Alright, I’ll go communicate with them on this and see if we can move it forward,” Adam Crozier agreed.

He also thought it was a good idea.

Mainly because these kinds of match highlights were short and sweet, perfect for online viewers.

…

After the big meeting with Adam Crozier and the others, Yang Cheng had a smaller meeting to attend.

A meeting with just him and Xia Qing.

They first went to look at the villa on the west side of Holland Park.

While Yang Cheng was flying around Asia, Norman Foster had fulfilled his promise and started preparing the designs.

By now, the entire area around the villa was already cordoned off.

Standing beside him, Xia Qing rattled off a list of expenses for Yang Cheng.

She found that the money in their pockets was disappearing incredibly fast, just like a Gold-swallowing beast.

“For that new stadium project, we haven’t even done anything yet, and thirty million pound sterling is already gone.”

Xia Qing was at a loss for words.

This included design fees, survey fees, and various administrative fees and deposits.

“And this villa of ours is a little Gold-swallowing beast too.”

“So…”

At this point, Xia Qing looked at Yang Cheng. “Boss Yang, I’m very sorry, but I have to give you a raise.”

Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment, and then cursed internally.

“Senior, is this how you give people raises now, all meek and subservient?”

After saying that, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, it’s only for you, Boss Yang. Otherwise, look, money is being spent everywhere. If we don’t increase it, we won’t be able to make ends meet at home.”

“Besides, did you know? Your current salary isn’t high.”

Of course, Yang Cheng knew that.

“Alright, since you’ve put it that way, I can only reluctantly accept.”

“Later, you can discuss it with Adam Crozier and submit it to me for my signature.”

Xia Qing gave him a speechless look, thinking the guy was just putting on an act.

But she had to admit, to give head coach Yang Cheng a raise, it really did require Vice-Chairman Yang Cheng’s signature.

Thinking about it, Xia Qing felt a bit like a woman serving two husbands, which was quite exciting.

“Hey, I’m telling you, keep a close eye on Norman Foster’s side. He promised me he would personally design this villa. Don’t let him pawn me off on someone from his company,” Yang Cheng urged.

Xia Qing nodded. “I know, you’ve said it before. Norman is a man of his word.”

“I don’t trust that old man.”

Fearing that Xia Qing wouldn’t take it seriously, Yang Cheng quickly added, “Think about it, a personal design by Norman Foster versus a design by Foster’s company—how big is the difference?”

Xia Qing giggled. She had long guessed Yang Cheng’s scheme, but she hadn’t expected him to say it so “shamelessly” to her face.

Still, she was very supportive!

He who doesn’t take an advantage is a fool.

As the saying goes, people of a feather flock together.

She and Yang Cheng were family.

Yang Cheng hadn’t told her yet that old Norman Foster was getting lazier and lazier. In the future, forget about villas like this; for many major engineering projects, the old man would just lend his name and make an appearance without doing much of the work himself.

But the old man’s status in the industry was getting higher and higher.

Putting everything else aside, years from now, when those foreign land barons come to London to invest and see this villa personally designed by the great Norman Foster, what will its value be?

Are we talking about money right now?

Wrong!

We’re talking about art, about luxury goods, about a magnificent creation!

…

The two-week international break was a packed one for Yang Cheng.

But he kept a close eye on the every move of the players who went to their national teams.

He was especially on edge about injuries.

Fortunately, this time, all the Bayswater Chinese players returned from the international break in one piece.

They were just a bit tired.

After all, many of them had played the full two international matches.

Coupled with the first round of the Champions League group stage coming up next Wednesday, the league round following the international break generally saw poor performances from major teams.

Manchester United won 1-0 away against Everton, with Vidić only scoring from a corner kick in the eighty-third minute.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Portsmouth.

Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 away.

Chelsea drew 0-0 at home against Blackburn Rovers.

And the Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away against the Black Cats, Sunderland.

The Bayswater Chinese conceded first in the twenty-ninth minute of the first half.

But just two minutes into the second half, Matuidi equalized for the team.

Their winning streak from the start of the season came to a halt at four games.

With four wins and two draws in six matches, earning them fourteen points, the Bayswater Chinese remained second in the Premier League.

…

On the evening of September 18th, Wembley Stadium, London.

Champions League group stage, Round 1, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Lazio.

Before the match, Lazio’s head coach Delio Rossi looked at his team sheet and sadly realized that his entire squad, including himself, had only four people with any European competition experience.

That’s European competition experience, including the UEFA Cup.

And among those four was the forty-three-year-old goalkeeper, Marco Ballotta.

At the pre-match press conference, Rossi was very low-key and pragmatic, stating that Lazio, as the visiting team in London, would continue with their consistent defensive counter-attack tactics.

“Getting one point from London would be a victory for us!”

And as it turned out, Rossi did exactly that.

He set his team up in a 4-3-1-2 formation for this match.

In front of the defensive line, he placed three holding midfielders, a clear sign that he intended to defend with all his might.

It even felt like he was determined to [defend from the first second of the match to the very last].

For a Premier League or La Liga team, this would be an intolerably conservative and passive tactic.

But for a Serie A team, this was their specialty.

Yang Cheng had suffered enough from AC Milan’s three-holding-midfielder system in last season’s knockout stage.

But that was AC Milan!

They at least had a Pirlo, a Kaká!

The Rossoneri’s counter-attack was still enough to make him wary, not daring to go all out.

But what did you, Lazio, have?

Thus, Yang Cheng didn’t hold back against Lazio.

As he told his players in the dressing room just before they took the pitch: “Let our opponents feel what Premier League speed is all about!”

Rossi and his team lacked European experience.

Lazio hadn’t played in the Champions League for four years.

In those four years, they had only played in the UEFA Cup once.

Although they had played in friendlies, those were more of a pre-season warm-up nature.

This was an official match now.

And they never expected the game to be played at such a fast pace from the very beginning.

Almost from the moment the opening whistle blew, the entire Bayswater Chinese team pressed forward, launching a fierce assault on Lazio.

In the 1-1 away draw against Sunderland last weekend, Yang Cheng had rotated many players, allowing the international players who had participated in the break to get ample rest.

For this match, every one of them was in top form.

Just four minutes into the game, the Bayswater Chinese engaged in a counter-press in the attacking third.

After successfully winning the ball, Di María passed it to Modrić in the left channel.

The Croatian sent a through ball behind Lazio’s defense.

Džeko made an overlapping run, received the ball, rounded the aging goalkeeper Ballotta, and slotted it into the empty net. 1-0!

Rossi, on the sidelines, was a bit stunned.

It had only been just over four minutes.

By the time the Bayswater Chinese finished celebrating their goal and returned for the restart, it was just past the five-minute mark.

Damn it, isn’t this a bit too fast?

But just three minutes later.

In the eighth minute, Di María received the ball on the left wing, one-on-one against De Silvestri.

De Silvestri was originally a centre-back but was later converted to a full-back.

He stood at one point eight five meters and was very strong.

But when he faced Di María one-on-one just outside the penalty area, the Argentinian’s skillful dribbling and series of feints, though not completely fooling De Silvestri, still allowed him to find an opportunity near the byline and break into the box.

Near the left byline of the six-yard box, Di María played a cut-back pass.

Džeko, who was making a run into the middle, was marked, and the keeper was in front of him, so he deliberately let the ball run past him.

Arshavin followed up from the right and tapped the ball into the empty net.

2-0!

At this point, the match hadn’t even reached the nine-minute mark.

Rossi, standing in front of the away team’s technical area, was already in complete despair.

What the hell kind of tempo is this?

Going so fast right from the start?

Can their stamina hold up?

There was no choice. After conceding two quick goals, Lazio could only retreat further into their defensive shell.

They truly started to defend with all their might.

The subsequent part of the match became somewhat dull.

Lazio was purely on the defensive, while the Bayswater Chinese controlled possession and tempo, patiently organizing and building up play.

But with a two-goal lead, the team didn’t need to go all out; they just needed to patiently look for opportunities.

In the thirty-first minute, the Bayswater Chinese seized another chance.

Arshavin successfully beat the offside trap, broke into the box, and took a shot, which was saved by goalkeeper Ballotta.

After the second half resumed, Lazio continued to struggle, unable to find an effective way to contain the Bayswater Chinese.

Instead, in the fifty-fifth minute, Di María received a through ball from Arshavin after a dribble, broke into the box, collected the ball, rounded Ballotta, and scored into the empty net.

But the head referee blew his whistle, and the linesman raised his flag.

Di María was offside, goal disallowed.

After the sixtieth minute, Yang Cheng also began to make substitutions.

The key players still had Premier League matches to play.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Lazio at home.

Throughout the entire match, the Serie A team managed a meager four shots, with zero on target.

This led the Italian media to widely criticize Lazio after the match.

They all believed that Rossi’s tactics at Wembley Stadium were too conservative, showing no determination or fighting spirit to get a point away from home.

“They deserved the 2-0 scoreline!” the La Repubblica mocked.

What could the hapless Rossi say?

He could only swallow his tears and cry inwardly, screaming in his heart.

Was it that Lazio played poorly?

No!

They were just so rough!

We weren’t even ready and they just…

…

If Yang Cheng were asked to judge which Premier League head coach had the highest level of coaching ability…

He probably couldn’t answer.

Because he would be too embarrassed to say: Me.

But he was unwilling to choose Ferguson or Wenger.

However, if he were asked to choose which Premier League head coach and which team paid the most attention to players’ fitness and injury prevention, Yang Cheng would dare to answer very loudly: “Me!”

Not to mention the lower leagues.

In their two seasons since being promoted to the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese had consistently been the team least affected by injuries.

And so far, no player had suffered a major injury that kept them out for months.

Furthermore, the Bayswater Chinese’s foul count was also among the lowest for Premier League teams.

From the medical staff setup to the team’s software and hardware facilities, Yang Cheng was extremely willing to invest in injury prevention and player physical monitoring, one could even say he spared no expense.

As they were renting Wembley Stadium, they shared it with the England national team.

During the recent September international break, England played two European Championship qualifiers, both at home.

On September 8th, they beat Israel 3-0 at home.

On September 12th, they beat Russia 3-0 at home.

After England’s match against Russia, Yang Cheng personally went to Wembley Stadium to inspect the pitch.

He found that after two consecutive matches, the condition of the field was quite poor.

So he immediately contacted the stadium groundskeeper to study the potholes and various problems on the pitch, and finally decided to carry out partial turf replacement.

Since the Bayswater Chinese were playing away at Sunderland for the sixth round of the Premier League on September 15th.

So, Yang Cheng’s reaction was very timely.

By the time the team played Lazio in the Champions League, the pitch was practically brand new.

This was just a small part of the daily work of Yang Cheng and his coaching staff.

Normally, from training to matches, the players’ physical health was meticulously cared for.

But sometimes, when injuries come knocking, there’s no escaping them.

On September 22nd, Premier League Round 7, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Wigan Athletic.

Even before the match started, as the players entered the pitch for their warm-up, Džeko approached team doctor David Fevre, complaining of some discomfort in his knee.

After a preliminary check, Fevre advised him to go to the hospital for a detailed examination after the match to confirm the situation.

Yang Cheng made a decisive call, changing the starting lineup at the last minute, with Robert Lewandowski replacing Džeko.

Since it was a home game, Yang Cheng took it very seriously.

He fielded his strongest available lineup for this match.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, José Fonte, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Andrei Arshavin.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Wigan Athletic decisively changed their manager, replacing Paul Jewell with the current Chris Hutchings.

Chris Hutchings was a typical English manager. He first coached at Bradford but had poor results and was quickly dismissed. Since 2001, he had followed Paul Jewell to Wigan Athletic as an assistant coach.

This summer, when Paul Jewell was let go, Hutchings was promoted.

Therefore, he was eager to prove himself and secure a long-term, stable coaching contract.

Because of this, Wigan Athletic’s play was a bit rough, and the head referee, Mike Riley, was lenient with his officiating.

But overall, it was relatively controllable.

The initial part of the match proceeded as usual.

The Bayswater Chinese wanted to press the attack, but Wigan Athletic defended stubbornly.

At most, there were just a few more fouls.

But only eleven minutes into the game, during a defensive track-back, Yaya Touré couldn’t continue and sat down on the grass.

The medical staff immediately came on to carry him off. After a brief treatment, he returned to the pitch.

But five minutes later, the Ivorian couldn’t carry on and raised his hand, signaling for Yang Cheng to make a substitution.

Yang Cheng had no choice but to make a change.

After some consideration, he brought on Rakitić to replace Yaya Touré.

French midfielder Lassana Diarra dropped back to the holding midfielder position, playing as the sole pivot.

Modrić and Rakitić formed the central midfield partnership.

With the two Croatian international midfielders playing together, they didn’t need time to build chemistry and smoothly organized the midfield.

But just as the team’s attack was beginning to show signs of life in the thirty-second minute, José Fonte collided heads with a Wigan Athletic player while challenging for a header, and both went down.

The unlucky part was that José Fonte had to be stretchered off.

Wigan’s centre-back, Bramble, was quickly back on his feet.

Of course, this time it was an accidental clash while both were challenging for the ball, not intentional.

Bramble was one point nine two meters tall, very powerfully built, and José Fonte was under considerable pressure when defending against him.

Yang Cheng was out of options and had to make his second substitution.

Thiago Silva came on for José Fonte.

In the end, the first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

But the Bayswater Chinese had already used up two of their substitution slots.

…

“Good news!”

During the halftime break, in the home dressing room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng waved the Nokia phone in his hand and shouted to the players.

Everyone instantly looked over.

“We just got news from the hospital. All three of them are fine.”

Initially, only José Fonte and Yaya Touré had been sent to the hospital, but later Yang Cheng thought it over and decided to send Džeko along as well, just to be safe.

Džeko was fine, Yaya Touré had a muscle strain and would likely be out for one to two weeks.

José Fonte was also fine, but he had a mild concussion and should be out for about a week.

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Having three players injured in one match was really unlucky.

At the start of the season, everyone had seen Chelsea’s injury crisis, which was truly terrifying.

So, they were also worried that the team might encounter an injury crisis of its own.

Now it seemed there was nothing major to worry about.

“Alright, the medical team will take care of them. Now, let’s talk about the rest of the match.”

With one sentence, Yang Cheng brought everyone’s attention back to the game.

Right now, the score was still 0-0.

This result was certainly not satisfactory.

Considering the two injuries in the first half, it was a bit unlucky, so the scoreline was understandable.

“In the second half, we must give the sixty thousand fans who came here today an answer!”

Yang Cheng sternly reminded everyone that this was a home game!

“Our problem in the first half was obvious. First, we were too slow.”

“We need to speed things up in the second half, especially during the transition from defense to attack. Be quick, no dilly-dallying.”

“Wigan Athletic only dares to play defensively and counter-attack tonight, so we only need to think about one thing: how to break down their defense. That’s it. Our defense is fine, okay?”

Yang Cheng’s question was met with a chorus of affirmation from the players, who all nodded.

“One more thing, our defensive line needs to press forward in the second half, past the halfway line.”

“Thiago, Pepe.”

Yang Cheng called out to the two centre-backs, Thiago Silva and Pepe. “You two need to pay attention. You must push the defensive line up. Don’t be afraid of Bent getting in behind. I have confidence in your speed, understand?”

Thiago Silva and Pepe looked at each other and nodded in unison.

Wigan Athletic’s striker was Marcus Bent, not Darren Bent.

Darren Bent was extremely fast and had just transferred from Charlton Athletic to Tottenham Hotspur this summer for a fee of seventeen million pound sterling.

Marcus Bent was a tall center-forward, standing at one point eight eight meters.

Interestingly, the two were not related in the slightest.

Last season, in his first Premier League season after joining the Bayswater Chinese, Pepe received a total of six yellow cards.

So far this season, he had only received one yellow card, which was in the match against Manchester United.

This, in turn, proved that Yang Cheng’s previous judgment about Pepe was correct.

His rough style at Real Madrid was more due to the team’s factors and the head coach’s influence.

For example, Mourinho.

Yang Cheng believed that with the speed of Thiago Silva and Pepe, even if Marcus Bent got in behind them, their recovery ability would be more than enough.

“Full-backs, Maicon, Leighton, your job is to support the attack.”

At this point, Yang Cheng walked back to the center of the dressing room, in front of the players.

“Gentlemen, we must win this match today.”

“When you go out for the second half, don’t think about anything else. All of you just need to think about one thing: how to get the ball into Wigan Athletic’s goal for me.”

Yang Cheng’s gaze moved across the players, and wherever it landed, the player would nod vigorously.

…

As soon as the second half began, the Bayswater Chinese demonstrated their attacking intent with a quick passing and moving sequence.

From Leighton Baines on the left, to Lassana Diarra, to Thiago Silva, and then to Modrić, it was all continuous one-touch passing.

Rakitić sent a straight pass forward to Robert Lewandowski’s feet.

As the Polish centre-forward controlled the ball and turned at the edge of the box, his touch was a bit heavy, and the ball was cleared by a defender.

His body still wasn’t strong enough to hold off his opponent.

If he were a bit stronger, he would have controlled the ball more steadily, and a simple touch and turn to shoot would have created a threat.

On the football pitch, in the end, it always comes down to physicality.

Wigan Athletic quickly launched a counter-attack.

But as the ball entered the Bayswater Chinese’s final third, just as their centre-forward Marcus Bent received it, Pepe proactively pressed forward, and with a sliding tackle, successfully stopped the ball with both feet.

After winning the ball, Pepe, still on the ground, flicked the ball to Lassana Diarra.

The Frenchman controlled it, turned, and sent a through pass forward.

Lewandowski dropped back to receive the ball, then distributed it to the left flank.

Gareth Bale immediately took off, charging forward like an untamed horse at incredible speed.

But the Welshman was too fast.

By the time he reached the left side of the penalty area and put in a cross, Arshavin hadn’t arrived yet.

A collective sigh echoed through the stadium.

Arshavin gave Gareth Bale a thumbs-up from afar.

He had truly given his all to sprint, but Gareth Bale was just too fast.

And then there was Theo Walcott.

Perhaps only The Little Tiger could keep up with him.

Arshavin felt he was still better at controlling the ball at his feet.

The Bayswater Chinese’s attack soon came again.

This time, the team advanced into the final third and pinned Wigan Athletic inside their own thirty-meter zone.

It ended with Maicon delivering a diagonal pass from the right flank to the edge of the penalty arc.

Lewandowski controlled the ball with his chest and laid it back for Modrić.

The latter chipped a pass in behind.

The Polish centre-forward turned and charged forward, trying to head the ball, but under interference from the opposing centre-back, he couldn’t connect.

The ball was collected by the onrushing goalkeeper.

Lewandowski protested to the referee, Mike Riley, that his opponent had held his arm, preventing him from jumping.

But the referee did not give a foul.

Many such physical challenges were commonplace in the Premier League.

Later, the Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick.

But the team played a short corner, and Lewandowski’s header inside the box lacked power.

The continuous attacks made the atmosphere at Wembley Stadium increasingly electric.

Especially with the Bayswater Chinese’s fast-paced offense, everyone’s emotions were gradually ignited.

The speed was fast, the passing and moving was fluid, and most importantly, the players were working incredibly hard.

Take Lassana Diarra, for example.

It was rare for him to play as a lone holding midfielder, but this time, he was practically everywhere.

In the fifty-first minute, during a defensive track-back, he chased all the way to the left side outside the box and, together with Thiago Silva, won the ball from Marcus Bent.

After getting the ball, the French midfielder drove forward a couple of steps. When he reached the center, he wanted to play a through ball to find Lewandowski.

However, two Wigan midfielders successfully closed him down and intercepted the ball.

But their attack this time also failed to create a threat.

The ball went to the Bayswater Chinese’s right flank, and before it even reached Maicon, it was swarmed by the relentlessly pursuing Lassana Diarra, who successfully tackled and won the ball back.

The French midfielder’s brilliant tackle earned a warm round of applause from the fans in the stadium.

Yang Cheng also applauded him, but he couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“That kid clearly could have passed to Modrić or Rakitić, or even out to the wing, but he just had to try the through ball to Lewandowski.”

Why?

Because that kind of pass is the most threatening and can increase the tempo!

The opponent had clearly anticipated his intention.

Brian Kidd, listening beside him, couldn’t help but laugh.

Lassana Diarra really didn’t have many flaws now, just a small issue with his passing.

Like just now, he won the ball back himself.

He was probably afraid Yang Cheng would scold him.

Yang Cheng’s molding of Lassana Diarra could be considered a great success.

Nobody’s perfect. How could you possibly sculpt a player to have no weaknesses or flaws?

That’s just unrealistic.

Chapter 128: Top of the League Table! Score, Bayswater Chinese!

“Sam, is this what you call the most exciting football in England?”

In the north stand of Wembley Stadium, a group of young men and women were boisterously watching the game.

Judging by their age and attire, they all seemed to be university students.

Each held a cup of English milk tea, some with a slice of cheesecake, which they ate with relish.

“It’s been an hour and not a single goal. Sam, football isn’t exciting at all. It’s not as thrilling as American football back home.”

Hearing the American student, Ben Turner, speak, many of his classmates nodded in agreement.

It was clear they were all disappointed with the football match.

“It’s just bad luck today. You saw two of their main players get injured in the first half.”

Sam was a little anxious and quickly explained.

“I can guarantee you, Bayswater Chinese is definitely the most exciting team to watch in the Premier League.”

“Haha, Sam, of course, I believe you. But if the most exciting team in the Premier League plays like this, then football is destined to be replaced by American football!”

Ben Turner, buoyed by the support of his classmates, grew even more smug.

“Right now, it’s just that our NFL hasn’t come to play in England. Otherwise, you just wait, it would definitely sweep the entire country.”

Following Ben Turner’s words, everyone started to discuss it amongst themselves.

“The NFL is actually pretty good. I went to the States and saw a game, it was very exciting.”

“Football matches are just this boring. It’s possible to go ninety minutes without a goal.”

“Exactly, it’s pretty dull to watch.”

“Let’s not talk about it, save Sam some face. He’s the one who treated us to this.”

“Haha, Sam, thanks for the treat, but please don’t invite us next time.”

“Seriously, Sam, football really isn’t fun to watch.”

“I’ve seen their football culture promotional videos, and they were well-made, but the matches themselves are pretty average.”

“That’s just how it is. With eleven players, football is all about tactics and team cohesion. It’s very difficult to make it look good.”

“I, on the other hand, think football has more depth, which is why it’s the world’s number one sport.”

“The world’s number one sport? Like this?” Ben Turner scoffed.

The surrounding students were also quite exasperated.

Ben Turner had never liked football; he was on the American football team at university and had always preached that the NFL was the best sports league in the world.

“Give them a little more time, Ben. I believe they can score,” Sam said, desperately trying to keep his classmates from leaving.

He was English and had loved football since he was a child. Unfortunately, his family had always pushed him to study and forbidden him from playing.

But in his heart, he always had a football dream.

Bayswater Chinese’s football philosophy perfectly embodied his own ideals about the sport.

Anything is possible!

“Come on, Sam, we’ve seen other matches before. Remember Chelsea? They played so ugly.”

“And Arsenal, they weren’t that great either.”

“Now it’s Bayswater Chinese, and I still think it’s just average, not exciting.”

Ben Turner retorted bluntly.

“We came out on a weekend to relax, to watch a great show, not to see twenty-two people on a pitch performing effort, understand?”

The words were a bit harsh, but they were realistic.

The tickets for their seats were quite expensive, costing over fifty pounds each.

“Yeah, Sam, don’t waste your money like this next time.”

“Watching them work so hard to play to a 0-0 draw… I really can’t watch anymore.”

“I also really hate watching football matches with no goals.”

“Me too.”

“It can’t be helped, football is often like this. You’re lucky if there’s even one goal in a match.”

Sam sat to the side, listening to his classmates’ discussion, feeling anxious himself.

They were from the University of London, with classmates from all over the world.

Sam always felt they were prejudiced against football and really wanted to show them what English football had to offer.

But over a long period, he had invited them out to several matches, and none of them had been satisfactory.

Sam was very anxious about this, silently chanting in his heart: Score a goal, Bayswater Chinese!

Aren’t you advocates of attacking football?

Hurry up and score!

…

On the pitch, when Arshavin received the ball from Rakitić, he was standing just inside Wigan Athletic’s half, slightly to the right of the center circle.

The moment he received it, the Russian looked up and glanced ahead.

He noticed that Wigan Athletic had just been on the counter-attack, and at this very moment, their defensive structure was not yet organized.

Their defense was still relatively loose.

For example, there were three defenders near Arshavin, but no one immediately ran over to press him; they were all trying to hurry back into position.

More importantly, their speed in getting back into position was a bit slow.

With this thought, an idea sparked in Arshavin’s mind, and he immediately pushed the ball forward.

The Russian was very fast. As soon as he started, he burst between two of Wigan’s defenders with the ball.

Australian midfielder Josip Skoko rushed over to intercept, but Arshavin continued to drive forward.

Skoko got close to Arshavin, trying to use his right shoulder to push him, but Arshavin still skillfully controlled the ball.

He charged all the way to the right side of the penalty area.

The atmosphere in the entire stadium was instantly ignited.

Just when everyone thought Arshavin would go to the byline and cross, the Russian suddenly came to a sharp stop on the right side of the penalty area and pulled the ball back.

He cut the ball with his right foot, creating a passing lane past Skoko, and smoothly chipped a half-high cross with his left foot.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick run, controlled the ball with his abdomen, used his back to shield it from the centre-back, and stretched out his foot to get the ball under his control.

But another Wigan Athletic player immediately rushed over to defend.

Seeing that he was about to be double-teamed, Lewandowski had no choice but to pass the ball back to the right wing.

Arshavin didn’t stop the ball, directly sending a high cross with his right foot towards the far post, looking for Gareth Bale.

The young Welshman leaped high for the header, but the opposing defender got to the ball a step ahead and headed it away.

The header went high but not far, and when it came down, it was still inside the penalty area.

And it was to the left of the penalty spot, where there was nobody.

In the instant the football dropped, a red figure rapidly charged in, used his body to block the Wigan defender on the right, and met the dropping ball with a left-footed volley.

In that moment, the entire stadium erupted.

Behind the Wigan Athletic goal, it was a sea of red.

Countless Bayswater Chinese fans, all wearing the new season’s red jerseys, leaped from their seats in excitement.

The ball flew at incredible speed, grazing the underside of the crossbar and rocketing into the Wigan Athletic goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 53rd minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese’s number ten player, on-field captain Modrić, opens the scoring for his team!”

“1-0!!”

“That was a fantastically coordinated attack!”

“Arshavin’s drive through the right half-space created an excellent opportunity.”

“Wigan Athletic’s defense was very tight, but unfortunately for them, Bayswater Chinese’s attack is very layered.”

“Modrić’s overlapping run was perfectly timed!”

…

After conceding the first goal, Wigan Athletic began to look a bit disorganized on the pitch.

After the restart, they started trying to press forward to create scoring opportunities.

In the 56th minute, Wigan Athletic played a diagonal long pass from the left, aiming for centre-forward Marcus Bent up front.

The ball was sent to the left side of the arc at the top of the penalty area.

Thiago Silva was not as tall as Marcus Bent, but he kept his eyes on the ball’s trajectory.

When the ball was about to arrive, Thiago Silva decisively moved in front, leaped into the air, and headed it to his teammate Lassana Diarra.

The French midfielder had just controlled the ball when he immediately passed it to Thiago Silva, who was running forward after landing.

The Brazilian waved his hands, signaling for his teammates to press forward.

He clearly remembered the head coach saying that the defensive line must be pushed up as much as possible.

Thiago Silva dribbled forward for a good three or four steps, and only when Lewandowski in front of him raised his hand did he play a direct pass forward.

Lewandowski dropped back into his own half’s center circle to receive the ball, but he didn’t stop it, instead one-touching it to Modrić.

Modrić understood perfectly. After catching up to the ball on the left side of Wigan’s center circle, he played a through ball behind Wigan’s defensive line.

Almost at the same time, Gareth Bale burst into a sprint.

The Welshman’s speed was incredible; from being several body lengths behind, he suddenly surged past everyone.

Gareth Bale raced forward, caught up to Modrić’s pass, and powered towards the left side of the penalty area in huge strides.

Seeing that no one was yet in the middle to receive a pass, Gareth Bale came to a sudden halt and pulled the ball back.

Marking him was former Chelsea right-back Melchiot.

The Dutch full-back was tall but lacked agility. He had been chasing desperately, and when Bale stopped abruptly, he couldn’t check his momentum and slid to the ground at the edge of the box.

Gareth Bale took the opportunity to cut inside the penalty area from the left.

At that moment, Arshavin also arrived at full tilt.

After drawing the defenders towards him, the Welshman passed the ball to the penalty spot in the nick of time.

Arshavin followed up with a simple side-footed shot, sending the ball into Wigan Athletic’s goal.

2-0!

The atmosphere in Wembley Stadium instantly reached a fever pitch!

All the fans were cheering wildly.

…

Conceding two goals in such a short span of time genuinely rattled the Wigan Athletic players.

As the team’s captain, Modrić had a very clear grasp of the situation on the pitch. He immediately realized this was an opportunity.

He promptly made a hand signal to Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng signaled back for him to control the game based on his own judgment.

And so it proved.

Whenever Wigan Athletic won the ball, Bayswater Chinese would opt for a quick retreat.

After conceding two goals, Wigan were seeing red.

To their frustration, they found that every time they advanced into Bayswater Chinese’s half, their opponents had already set up their defensive line.

What should have been a counter-attack immediately turned into a siege.

Take the attack in the 61st minute, for instance.

Marcus Bent had no choice but to drop back to receive a pass from a teammate.

He received the ball with his back to goal, but Pepe was constantly harassing him from behind, sticking to him tightly and preventing him from turning.

Marcus Bent had no option but to pass it back.

Wigan’s midfield, still unwilling to give up, tried to pass it back into the box.

Lassana Diarra got there a step ahead, getting a touch on the ball mid-pass.

Thiago Silva rushed out of the penalty area, intercepted the ball, and passed it to Rakitić up ahead.

Rakitić, facing sideways to the direction of attack, controlled the ball, turned, and looked forward.

Gareth Bale was already poised.

The Croatian midfielder’s long-passing ability wasn’t the best, but a ball like this was simple: just a big boot forward and let Gareth Bale chase it down.

The football traced a beautiful arc through the Wembley sky, dropping towards the left side of Wigan Athletic’s penalty area.

Gareth Bale, like a bolt of red lightning, tore through the Wembley night sky, making everyone in the stadium scream for him.

His blistering speed left everyone utterly stunned.

But no one knew that, at that moment, the Welshman was internally complaining about Rakitić.

That was an average long ball!

Still, Gareth Bale managed to get a foot to the ball and stop it just before the byline.

By this point, he had already sprinted half the length of the pitch and was running on fumes.

And the defenders were closing in.

So, Gareth Bale could only shield the ball, take a step back, and pass it to the overlapping Leighton Baines.

The English left-back took a touch, then lofted the ball with his left foot, a diagonal cross to the near post.

Robert Lewandowski met it directly with a header.

The football grazed the left post and nestled into the back of Wigan Athletic’s net.

3-0!

“It’s another goal!!!!!”

“In less than ten minutes, Wigan Athletic has conceded three goals!”

“My God, I can’t believe my eyes!”

“Bayswater Chinese has scored three goals in just under ten minutes!”

“3-0!”

“Gareth Bale on the left wing has been outstanding, especially his speed, which has left an incredibly deep impression on us.”

“And Bayswater Chinese’s attack is so well-layered, with lightning-fast transitions between offense and defense.”

“The most obvious contrast is that every time Wigan Athletic wins the ball and transitions to attack, Bayswater Chinese already has their defense set.”

“But on the flip side, when Bayswater Chinese wins the ball and launches a counter-attack, Wigan’s defense isn’t ready.”

“This puts them in a very passive position.”

“Especially when their players have no individual advantage, it’s easy for Bayswater Chinese to overwhelm them.”

“3-0!”

“Hutchings needs to seriously think about his defense now.”

…

If everyone was relatively unfazed by the first goal, the subsequent barrage of goals left the fans in the stands completely stunned, driving them wild!

Especially Sam and his classmates.

When had they ever seen such electrifying, fast-paced attacking football?

Ten minutes—no, strictly speaking, just over eight minutes—and they had scored three goals with headers and kicks.

It was either no goals at all, or three in a row!

This was simply insane!

“What… what kind of football is this?”

“My God, who is that number sixteen? He’s so fast, I’d even bet he could outrun Bolt.”

“His name is Gareth Bale, he’s Welsh, and only eighteen years old,” Sam answered proudly.

“Only eighteen? My goodness, he has so much room to grow. He should be in track and field.”

“Oh my god, I never knew that when a football offense gets going, it can be so fierce, so thrilling! The excitement comes in wave after wave, it gives you goosebumps. It’s just too awesome, too addictive!”

“You’re telling me? I was practically holding my breath!”

“Incredible! I’ve never seen such beautiful football!”

“My God, I’m about to become obsessed with this team!”

“I swear, these ten minutes are the best football I have ever seen.”

Sam shared in the glory as his classmates went from skepticism to admiration.

“This is what football is like. It’s full of tactics, like a war without gunpowder. Both sides have to probe first, find the opponent’s weaknesses and shortcomings, and then strike with full force to crush them.”

Sam’s words won everyone’s approval.

Even Ben Turner from America was a bit dazed.

“Ben, is your American NFL this exciting?” Sam asked smugly.

Ben Turner was at a loss for words.

To be honest, he himself had been completely engrossed.

That feeling, especially combined with the atmosphere in the stadium, was truly incredible!

“Sam, after the match, take me to buy tickets. I’ll come with you next time.”

“Count me in.”

“Me too. I think I’m starting to like football.”

“Me too. A team like this, football like this, you have to support it.”

“I’ll buy one too.”

Sam nodded continuously.

The English university student looked around the stadium.

He believed that, from last season until now, there must be many, many organic supporters like him, silently championing Bayswater Chinese.

Every such fan would attract and inspire their relatives, friends, and classmates.

At every match, in every stand, there must be many unfamiliar fans attending for the first time.

Perhaps not everyone would choose to stay, but some would fall in love with this team, with this kind of football.

Gradually, the number of fans in this stadium would grow and grow.

And this team would surely become stronger and stronger!

…

After scoring three goals, the attack eased up a little.

Seeing that the outcome was decided, Yang Cheng also made some substitutions.

Theo Walcott came on for Arshavin.

But then, in the 73rd minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield.

Lewandowski dropped back, and along with Modrić and Rakitić, the three of them ganged up on two Wigan players, managing to wrestle the ball away.

After receiving the ball, Modrić played a through ball down the left side of the pitch again.

Gareth Bale once again took off down the left flank, a blur of motion. No matter how hard Melchiot chased, he couldn’t even see the Welsh winger’s taillights.

After catching up to Modrić’s pass, the Welshman didn’t hesitate, delivering a direct cross with his left foot.

At that moment, no one on the pitch could match his speed.

Except for Walcott!

The Little Tiger arrived like a whirlwind, meeting Gareth Bale’s cross and tapping it into the goal.

4-0!

The two Bayswater Chinese youngsters ran to the sideline, embracing each other excitedly.

The atmosphere in the stadium was pushed to even greater heights.

Everyone was shouting Gareth Bale’s and Walcott’s names.

Bayswater Chinese’s Twin Stars!

They had finally shone brightly under the Wembley night sky!

…

Yang Cheng marveled at how Norman Foster could look at an unfinished building and “see” a fantastical super-stadium.

Brian Kidd, on the other hand, was stunned by how Yang Cheng, when he decided to sign Gareth Bale and Walcott all those years ago, had already “seen” the scene playing out on the pitch today.

The two youngsters combined on the pitch to devastating effect.

Their speed completely shredded Wigan Athletic’s defense.

Especially Gareth Bale.

The Welshman, on the left wing, repeatedly broke through Wigan’s defenses time and time again.

“Is this the football you wanted?” Brian Kidd asked, full of awe.

Yang Cheng had once outlined for him the framework of future football.

A sharp attack up front; a midfield with control, balanced in both attack and defense; and a flexible, mobile, and solid defensive line.

Was this what he was seeing now?

“We’re far from it,” Yang Cheng laughed.

They were just getting started.

The centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Pepe was one he relied on heavily.

They would even be the future backbone of Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

But they were still a bit too young.

The midfield still had some problems as well.

The midfield trio of Modrić, Lassana Diarra, and Yaya Touré was indeed very strong, and getting stronger.

But in terms of organization and creativity, it was somewhat lacking, and their control wasn’t sufficient.

Case in point, with Yaya Touré injured today, moving Lassana Diarra into a holding role and playing Modrić and Rakitić in midfield made the team’s attack much more direct and powerful.

But if he were to drop either Yaya Touré or Lassana Diarra, the team, at its current strength, probably couldn’t handle it.

The Premier League was a different beast from La Liga and the Bundesliga.

La Liga was a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Barça; even with Atlético Madrid’s rise, you could at least guarantee a Champions League spot.

The Bundesliga was even less of a contest; Bayern Munich could do as they pleased with little danger.

But the Premier League was different; the competition was too fierce.

Bayswater Chinese had too many young players, so the midfield had to be stable.

Yang Cheng would rather be a bit more conservative.

As long as the midfield was stable, the team’s results wouldn’t be poor.

At the very least, they had to secure a top-four finish.

Who told Yang Cheng to decide to build this new stadium?

Therefore, Yang Cheng would fight tooth and nail to keep Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, and Modrić.

Of these three players, Yaya Touré and Modrić were both on the team’s top salaries.

Lassana Diarra’s current weekly wage was also as high as 35,000 pounds.

From this, one could see the importance Yang Cheng placed on his midfield.

…

Even with a 4-0 lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to work hard to create chances on the pitch.

The two wings, in particular, were playing with increasing verve.

The midfield players constantly supplied them with ammunition.

In the 77th minute, as Modrić received the ball in midfield, he saw his three forwards were level with Wigan’s defensive line.

The Croatian was delighted.

Such a golden opportunity?

Without a second thought, he launched a long ball over the top with his right foot.

The arc of the ball wasn’t quite low enough, but the speed was decent, and the placement was accurate.

Walcott on the right had come on as a substitute and was full of energy. He sprinted at top speed, shook off his defender, broke into the right corner of the box, controlled the ball, chased it down, and unleashed a powerful shot.

The goalkeeper, Kirkland, was helpless.

But the shot struck the crossbar squarely and rebounded out.

Just two minutes later, Maicon sent in a chipped pass from the right.

Lewandowski drifted to the right, headed the ball to Walcott, and then immediately turned and ran.

The Little Tiger played a through ball.

Lewandowski made a diagonal run into the right side of the box, and just before the recovering defenders could get back in position, he delivered a diagonal pass.

Gareth Bale sprinted at full tilt, and on the verge of not reaching it, threw his entire body forward in a sliding shot, sweeping the ball towards the goal.

Kirkland smothered the ball, holding it tightly in his arms.

The relentless attacks, although they didn’t breach Wigan’s goal again, left all the fans in the stadium utterly mesmerized.

Such high-tempo football, with fluid passing and movement,嫻熟熟的配合, and, crucially, a tide of attacks, was a rare sight in the Premier League.

Even Arsenal, known for their passing game, would find it difficult to play like this.

Of course, this was hard on Wigan Athletic.

Hutchings clearly knew that the game was basically over.

The main priority was now to stabilize the defense and try to minimize further goals.

So, he started to play more conservatively.

But in the 83rd minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another quick attack.

Walcott on the right used a series of feints to try and beat his defender, but his cross was blocked out of the box by a defender.

Modrić tried to pass it back into the box, but it was headed away again by a centre-back.

Rakitić collected the ball on the edge of the area and passed it to Modrić.

The Bayswater Chinese captain dropped back to the 30-meter area to receive the ball, raising his hand to signal everyone to control the tempo a bit.

The fast break was no longer on.

Modrić was actually waiting for the full-backs to push up.

Once Leighton Baines and Maicon were up, Modrić immediately organized another attack, passing the ball to Rakitić and gesturing for him to pass it to the right wing.

Rakitić understood and sent a diagonal pass behind the defense.

Maicon made a high-speed overlapping run, caught up to Rakitić’s pass on the right side of the box, and without taking a touch, delivered a first-time cross into the center of the penalty area.

The two youngsters, Walcott and Gareth Bale, both jumped to challenge for the header.

But Robert Lewandowski in the center got to the dropping ball first, leaping between two centre-backs to head the ball into the back of Wigan Athletic’s net.

5-0!

A brace!

The entire stadium once again erupted with the tide-like passion of the fans!

Everyone was roaring and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Lewandowski was so excited that he ran to the sideline and slid to his knees in front of the fans’ stand.

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack is very three-dimensional and extremely well-layered.”

“This kind of wave-after-wave offense makes it very difficult for the opponent to contain.”

“Just now, for example, Wigan thought they had weathered Bayswater Chinese’s fast break and were safe.”

“But they never expected that Maicon would then deliver another lethal cross.”

“As Ferguson said last season, Manchester United is missing a Džeko-esque centre-forward.”

“Now, the Manchester United manager is probably very envious of Bayswater Chinese’s forward line, because besides Džeko, there’s also Lewandowski, who scored a brace. His performance today was also extremely bright.”

“And what’s astonishing is that Bayswater Chinese only spent 10,000 pounds to sign him.”

…

Although Gareth Bale didn’t get a goal, he was named Man of the Match after the game.

This was the first time the Welsh youngster had received the Premier League’s Man of the Match award in his career.

He was also the first of the three young wingers in whom Yang Cheng had placed high hopes to receive this honor.

After the match, the British media gave Bayswater Chinese’s performance extremely high praise.

The 5-0 scoreline was certainly impressive, but more importantly, it was the brand of football that Bayswater Chinese displayed throughout the second half.

Wigan Athletic was so suppressed they could barely breathe.

Wigan’s head coach Chris Hutchings stated at the post-match press conference that his team had performed well in the first half, going toe-to-toe with Bayswater Chinese.

“But everything completely changed after halftime.”

“I don’t know what happened during their halftime break, but in the second half, Bayswater Chinese played with more aggression, more cutting edge, and were also much harder to defend against.”

Chris Hutchings said, “My team did their best, but tonight’s game belonged to our opponents.”

A 5-0 scoreline?

Hutchings admitted he was thoroughly beaten.

Bayswater Chinese’s captain, Modrić, represented the dressing room in an interview with the media.

He was satisfied with the team’s performance.

“This was a very difficult match for us. Before the game, Džeko felt unwell during warm-ups, so we had to make a change.”

“In the first half, two of my teammates also suffered injuries and were forced off.”

“This was definitely our worst start to a Premier League match.”

“But my teammates and I worked very hard; we all gave it our absolute all.”

“The one who gave us strength was our head coach. During halftime, he told us how we should play, pointed out what we were doing wrong, and how to improve.”

“We’ve gotten used to unconditionally following his arrangements, so, as you all saw, in the second half, we were unstoppable and achieved our most spectacular victory of the season.”

Regarding Gareth Bale and Walcott, Modrić said, “They are still very young.”

After a pause, perhaps realizing that he too was young, the Croatian added, “Our entire team is still very young. We have a great deal of potential yet to be unlocked.”

“I think we can play even better!”

The stunning 5-0 victory sent shockwaves through the entire English football world.

But what was most important was the football displayed in the match, especially in the second half.

The Times gave high praise, stating that Yang Cheng had presented the Wembley fans with a magnificent footballing feast.

“Ever since they were promoted to the Premier League in 2005, they have consistently been the team with the most attractive style of play.”

“They are the banner of attacking football in the Premier League!”

The Guardian similarly offered high praise for Yang Cheng and his team.

“To be able to play such exhilarating attacking football even after two players were forced off with injuries, Yang Cheng’s team deserves to be at the top of the league table!”

And more media outlets continued to focus on the brilliant performances of Gareth Bale and Walcott.

These two “Twin Stars” of Bayswater Chinese had long become well-known local talents in the Premier League.

Only eighteen years old, but already so impressive in the league.

Gareth Bale and Walcott had even attracted the attention of traditional giants including Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, especially Chelsea.

The Daily Mail even revealed that Chelsea was interested in signing the two local talents.

Bayswater Chinese simply ignored such rumors.

It was hard to say what was really going on behind the scenes.

The Daily Mail has close ties with Chelsea, so it was possible that Chelsea had deliberately leaked the story to test the waters.

Who knew?

Since they had no intention of selling, there was naturally no need to pay it any mind.

…

In the seventh round of the Premier League, Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-0 at home.

In that match, Ferguson fielded a combination of four players: Carlos Tevez, Rooney, C. Ronaldo, and Ashley Young.

The first goal was an assist from Ashley Young for Tevez.

Moreover, both goals were scored in stoppage time of the first and second halves.

It was clear that after losing Mourinho, Chelsea’s overall performance would continue to decline.

This round, Liverpool drew 0-0 with Birmingham City at Anfield.

Benítez’s team had been very impressive so far this season.

But failing to win at home against Birmingham caused Liverpool to surrender their position as league leaders.

Arsenal, on the other hand, thrashed Derby County 5-0 at home.

This match profoundly reflected the ever-widening gap in quality between the Premier League and the Championship.

As a newly promoted team from the Championship, Derby County had invested a considerable amount this season.

But since the season began, Derby County had a record of one win, one draw, and five losses.

This included a 0-4 away loss to Tottenham Hotspur, a 0-6 away loss to Liverpool, and now another 0-5 away loss to Arsenal, all of which were crushing defeats.

It could be said that Derby County had already locked in a relegation spot early.

And it was only September!

It was cruel, but that’s how it was.

After seven matches, Bayswater Chinese had five wins and two draws for seventeen points, the same as Wenger’s Arsenal.

That’s right, Wenger’s Gunners also started the season with five wins and two draws.

But in terms of goal difference, Bayswater Chinese, with a +14 goal difference, edged out Arsenal’s +11 to claim the top spot on the Premier League table.

…

On the evening of September 26th, in the third round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese faced Sheffield Wednesday away.

Yang Cheng stuck to his original plan, fielding a full reserve and youth lineup for the cup competition.

In addition to players like Gareth Bale and Walcott, the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Marcelo all featured.

Since Lewandowski had started and played the full match in the league, Lambert started this game.

As former rivals from the lower leagues, Bayswater Chinese’s success had soared since their promotion to the Premier League, especially after beating Manchester United to win the title last season.

This had steadily increased Bayswater Chinese’s influence in English football.

This match attracted over 16,000 fans.

Interestingly, the game seemed to be a carbon copy of the just-concluded seventh round of the Premier League.

The first half ended 0-0.

The home team resisted stubbornly, defending with all their might, while Bayswater Chinese boldly pressed forward on the attack but failed to score.

The turning point of the match occurred in the 60th minute when Lambert scored.

From then on, the game completely fell into Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm.

Lambert went on to score a brace and also assisted Walcott for a goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 away victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

England’s cup competitions have always been rife with upsets, and this time was no exception.

Only this time, it was Ferguson’s Manchester United’s turn.

Manchester United played a full reserve squad, with players like Nani, Anderson, Evans, O’Shea, and Piqué all starting.

Key players like C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tevez were nowhere to be seen.

But at Old Trafford, in front of more than 70,000 fans, they lost 0-2 to Coventry.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese had won 3-0 away at Sheffield Wednesday.

The British media loves to hype things up for traffic, and they immediately seized on this to create a story.

The content was nothing more than saying that Manchester United’s young players were not good enough, far worse than those at Bayswater Chinese.

Ferguson, for his part, was very disappointed with the result.

“We got a right hiding in our own backyard!”

Ferguson stated that he didn’t want to make any excuses to cover up the defeat.

“All I can say is, it was a terrible game!”

The Manchester Evening News and other media outlets pointed out that Manchester United’s starting lineup contained five players born in 1987, a fact that many in the British media scoffed at.

“They should look at Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup, which is already featuring players born in 1990.”

Who?

Aaron Ramsey!

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s development of young players was there for all to see.

It was conceivable that Manchester United’s youth academy was going through a lean period.

When Yang Cheng saw the news reports about Manchester United’s loss to Coventry at home, his perspective was different from everyone else’s.

He felt that, ultimately, the responsibility lay with Ferguson.

The old gaffer’s greatness was beyond doubt.

But he wasn’t a perfect man; he had his own stubbornness, shortcomings, and biases.

Putting other things aside, was Manchester United’s starting lineup for that game really that bad?

O’Shea, Evans, Piqué, Anderson, Nani, and Campbell… were they really that terrible?

Surely not so bad that they couldn’t even beat a Championship team at home?

And to lose so badly at that.

Yang Cheng, for one, didn’t believe it.

And then there was Piqué.

Why did Gerard Piqué later return to Barça without any hesitation? Wasn’t it because he wasn’t getting opportunities at Manchester United?

Fàbregas’s transfer saga at least had its twists and turns, but Piqué didn’t even look back.

The key was, the transfer fee wasn’t even expensive.

The Piqué of today was one who had been tempered at Zaragoza.

He played very well in La Liga last season.

At twenty years old, he was still a bit green, but he wasn’t bad.

At the end of the day, it was Ferguson’s own issue.

He would rather use old players like Ryan Giggs and Scholes than give more opportunities to the younger ones.

If one thought Bayswater Chinese didn’t count because of Yang Cheng, then fine, look at Arsenal.

The Gunners beat Newcastle 2-0 at home, with goals from Bendtner and Denílson.

Bendtner and Denílson were both born in 1988, only eighteen years old.

Not to mention Traoré, born in 1989.

In the Arsenal team that defeated Newcastle, young players constituted the majority.

So the key issue was never whether the young players were good enough, but whether one was willing to give them a chance.

Yang Cheng had always said that Ferguson, at his core, was an old British man with a serious case of local sentiment.

He always considered British domestic players first, a philosophy that started from the youth academy.

Of course, he did indeed nurture many outstanding local players, such as the Class of ’92.

But his disdain for foreign players, especially young foreign players, was a long-standing tradition of Ferguson’s.

Deep down, Ferguson knew better than anyone that the team-building philosophy for a Premier League team should be strong foreign imports plus domestic players.

For example, Cantona in the early days, and during the 1999 Treble season, when United’s defense was weak, he brought in Stam.

Now, it was C. Ronaldo.

He signed C. Ronaldo in 2003, before Rooney had burst onto the scene.

When Rooney emerged, Ferguson didn’t hesitate to spend big money to sign him.

This led to the later disputes between C. Ronaldo and Rooney.

But Ferguson’s stubbornness lay in the fact that he clearly knew English domestic players weren’t good enough, yet he refused to admit it, insisting on propping them up.

From a foreigner’s perspective, Yang Cheng could understand and respect it.

But he would never do it himself.

…

On the weekend, in the eighth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese played away against Portsmouth.

Pompey’s home ground could be considered the Waterloo for Premier League powerhouses this season.

Manchester United had stumbled here to a 1-1 draw.

Liverpool had also hit a wall here with a 0-0 result.

Now, it was Bayswater Chinese’s turn.

Many believed that Yang Cheng’s team was very likely to be ambushed by Redknapp in this match.

At least, judging by the 0-0 scoreline at halftime, it certainly seemed possible.

Redknapp set his team up in a 4-4-2 formation to face Bayswater Chinese, but it was mostly based on defense and counter-attacks.

With Yaya Touré absent, Yang Cheng started Matuidi and had Lassana Diarra drop back to play as a single holding midfielder.

After all, it was an away game, so it was better to be cautious.

The first half ended 0-0, but less than a minute into the second half, on Bayswater Chinese’s first attack, Džeko created a chance up front, assisting Di María for the opening goal.

1-0!

Just three minutes later, Di María forced his way past Glen Johnson on the left, crossed into the box, and assisted Džeko for a header, making it 2-0!

In less than four minutes, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals.

The lightning attack once again took everyone by surprise.

Glen Johnson, in particular, who had transferred from Chelsea, was on the verge of despair.

He was tormented by Di María at the start of the season when he was at Chelsea, and now, after transferring to Portsmouth, he was still being tormented by Di María.

It was simply outrageous!

After taking a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese began to play with more patience, focusing on controlling the game first.

Playing at home, Portsmouth couldn’t accept a 0-2 result and had to take the initiative to attack.

In the 79th minute, a diagonal pass from Leighton Baines found Walcott, who had just come on as a substitute. The youngster timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, collected the ball for a one-on-one, broke into the box, and calmly slotted it home.

3-0!

This was also the young Walcott’s third consecutive game with a goal.

Like Gareth Bale, Walcott’s performance this season was getting better and better, and his rate of improvement was accelerating.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 victory away at Portsmouth.

In this round, Manchester City defeated Newcastle 3-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated West Ham United 1-0 away.

Liverpool defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 away.

Chelsea drew 0-0 with Fulham at home.

Manchester United, meanwhile, scraped a 1-0 win over Birmingham City thanks to a goal from C. Ronaldo.

The league rankings remained largely unchanged, with Bayswater Chinese continuing to lead the table.

Chapter 129: Another Four-Goal Haul! Yang Cheng: How Can You Call It a Scam? It’s Football Business?

On the evening of October 3rd, at the Weser Stadium in Bremen, Germany.

In the second round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese challenged Werder Bremen away from home.

Long before this match, the media had been speculating: what would be the result when the Premier League’s most attack-minded team faced the Bundesliga’s most potent attacking force?

The German media was also filled with anticipation.

Due to the prohibition on selling standing-room-only tickets, only 37,500 fans flooded into the Weser Stadium.

They packed the stadium to the rafters, creating an overwhelming atmosphere, hoping to give the team from the Premier League a taste of a demonic German home ground.

But as soon as the match began, Werder Bremen’s head coach, Thomas Schaaf, realized that things were not what they seemed.

Despite their bombastic pre-match rhetoric about going head-to-head in an all-out attacking battle with Werder Bremen at their home stadium, Bayswater Chinese played with remarkable stability after the kickoff.

It even felt like they were playing a defensive counter-attack.

Playing at home and having lost the first group stage match 2-1 away to Real Madrid, Werder Bremen was determined to win this home game at all costs. Thus, Thomas Schaaf adopted an aggressive, attacking strategy.

He had originally thought that in an offensive duel, Werder Bremen wouldn’t necessarily lose to Bayswater Chinese.

But now, the Premier League team had seemingly chickened out!

This made Thomas Schaaf both angry and worried.

Yang Cheng, you’re nothing but a coward!

Even with Yaya Touré back from injury, you don’t even have the courage to face Werder Bremen head-on. How can you have the audacity to claim you believe in attacking football?

For this match, Werder Bremen stuck to their Bundesliga 4-4-2 diamond formation.

This was especially true up front, with a trident composed of Rosenberg, Almeida, and Diego.

From the start, they relentlessly attacked the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

But Bayswater Chinese established a solid footing from the outset, patiently waiting for their opportunities.

In the 11th minute, Werder Bremen’s Brazilian prodigy Diego carried the ball from the left-of-center, attempting to break through the Bayswater Chinese defense, only to be dispossessed by the combined efforts of Yaya Touré and Marcelo.

Yaya Touré won the ball, and Marcelo poked it forward a step ahead.

As he chased it down, the Brazilian launched a low, long pass.

Marcelo’s long ball cut through Werder Bremen’s defensive line, landing in the unguarded space on the left flank.

Džeko sprinted to the left wing, caught up to Marcelo’s pass, and tapped it forward with a big touch, continuing his run.

Werder Bremen’s Finnish right-back, Pasanen, was slower and had pushed up earlier, leaving him trailing behind Džeko.

When the Bosnian centre-forward got going with the ball at his feet, he was quite fast.

Right-sided centre-back Mertesacker kept backpedaling, retreating all the way into the penalty area.

Džeko carried the ball into the box from the left corner, setting up a one-on-one with Mertesacker.

Facing the two-meter-tall Mertesacker, Džeko appeared surprisingly agile.

A series of quick, small steps adjusted his position and confused his opponent. Džeko first feigned a move, then lightly tapped the ball sideways with his right foot, chased after it, and unleashed a powerful strike with the same foot.

The shot was powerful and fierce, and the angle was incredibly tricky.

Goalkeeper Vander stretched out his hand in a desperate attempt, but the ball flew over his head and into the back of the net.

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“Just eleven minutes into the match, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Edin Džeko, in a one-on-one against Mertesacker on the left flank, scores with a magnificent strike, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-0!”

On the sidelines, Thomas Schaaf leaped into the air.

He angrily roared at his players on the pitch.

Standing in front of the away team’s technical area, Yang Cheng found Schaaf’s loss of composure rather amusing. While applauding Džeko’s brilliant goal, he made sure to wave over Pepe.

The Brazilian—er, no, the Portuguese centre-back ran to the sideline to congratulate Džeko before immediately jogging over.

“Tell Thiago that we need to keep the defense stable. They will push back hard.”

“Try to score one more and win this match!”

“Go!”

Pepe nodded at Yang Cheng and quickly ran back onto the field.

After sending Pepe off, Yang Cheng suddenly felt a strange sensation. He turned his head and met Thomas Schaaf’s resentful gaze, which resembled that of a spurned lover in a lonely chamber.

A chill ran down Yang Cheng’s spine, and he quickly walked back to the away team’s bench.

It’s only October, why has the weather in Germany turned so cold so quickly?

“Thomas Schaaf must be furious,” Brian Kidd remarked with a laugh, having also noticed Schaaf’s expression.

“You spent the whole pre-match talking about going head-to-head with him, but you ended up playing a defensive counter-attack.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t having it. “Let me correct you, Brian. It’s not a defensive counter-attack. We’re the away team, so we sought stability at the start.”

That wasn’t the same as a defensive counter-attack.

After a pause, Yang Cheng chuckled.

“Honestly, playing against Werder Bremen isn’t that hard. As long as you can withstand their attacks and hit them on the counter, it’s a done deal.”

Under Thomas Schaaf, Werder Bremen was renowned in European football as a team that would attack relentlessly, with a death-or-glory mentality.

In the previous Bundesliga season, they conceded forty goals and scored seventy-six in thirty-four matches.

Their goal tally was the highest in the league, while their goals conceded ranked mid-table.

And Thomas Schaaf was the stubborn type.

This season, in their home game against Bayern Munich, they went on the offensive and were promptly thrashed by four goals.

Away against Borussia Dortmund, they continued their attacking approach and were beaten by three goals.

However, they were also incredibly formidable.

Before playing Bayswater Chinese, they had demolished Arminia Bielefeld 8-1 at home.

Under these circumstances, all Yang Cheng had to do was utter a few provocative words and make some bold statements to get Werder Bremen fired up, right?

Besides, having lost the first round to Real Madrid, their situation would become dire if they failed to secure a win at home against Bayswater Chinese.

“It’s easy to say, but not many teams can actually do it,” Brian Kidd said.

“That’s in the Bundesliga,” Yang Cheng showed no mercy to the home team. “The Bundesliga isn’t very competitive right now. A team like Werder Bremen gets taught a lesson the moment they step onto the European stage.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t crazy.

When facing a team like Werder Bremen, why wouldn’t he use a more efficient method to secure points instead of going all-out in a slugfest?

For what?

Just for the reputation of playing attacking football?

Please, our goal count speaks for itself, and our style of football is there for all to see. You can’t judge whether we play attacking football based on a single game.

Any team in the Champions League that doesn’t know how to be flexible with their tactics and sticks to a one-track mind will meet a miserable end.

Even a team like Pep Guardiola’s!

…

After conceding a goal just eleven minutes into the first half, Werder Bremen continued to press forward, trying to equalize.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, focused on a solid defense and counter-attacking.

To be fair, Werder Bremen’s offense was quite threatening.

Especially during one instance in the 28th minute of the first half.

At that time, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack. A passing combination between Di María and Marcelo was intercepted, and the ball was played directly into the space behind Marcelo.

Rosenberg went on a blistering run down the left flank of Bayswater Chinese’s defense and sent a cross into the penalty area for Almeida.

At the crucial moment, Thiago Silva got a foot in first, blocking the ball out of the box.

If Almeida had gotten to that ball, it would have been a certain goal.

The defense on Marcelo’s side was indeed a problem.

But Yang Cheng’s stance remained the same: he used him for his attacking abilities.

As for his defending, he would figure something out.

Bayswater Chinese soon returned the favor.

Yaya Touré, returning from a two-week injury layoff, was fired up for this match.

In truth, he had been mostly recovered for a while, but Yang Cheng had insisted he wait a little longer.

Seeing Werder Bremen exert themselves, Yaya Touré unleashed his fury.

In the 32nd minute, it was Yaya Touré who charged forward with the ball from the midfield, bulldozing his way through Werder Bremen’s midfield.

He even physically forced his way past holding midfielder Frings, reaching the edge of the arc before lofting a pass over the defense.

With Džeko drawing the defenders away, Arshavin made a decisive forward run, beat everyone to the ball, controlled it with his chest, and fired home with his left foot.

2-0!

With that, Werder Bremen could finally calm down!

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading 2-0.

After switching sides in the second half, Yang Cheng’s team seized the initiative as the away team, launching an early offensive wave to suppress Werder Bremen’s momentum.

After that, the game entered a bit of a stalemate.

Thomas Schaaf didn’t dare to continue pushing forward recklessly either.

It wasn’t until the 75th minute that he brought on forward Sanogo for midfielder Fritz to bolster the team’s attack.

And in the 82nd minute, Rosenberg, with the ball on the right wing, powerfully broke past Marcelo and sent a cross into the box.

Sanogo outjumped Thiago Silva and scored with a header.

1-2!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Werder Bremen 2-1 away, securing two consecutive wins in the group stage.

Meanwhile, in the other match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Real Madrid twice took the lead but were pegged back twice by Lazio.

Van Nistelrooy and Pandev both scored a brace.

The final score was a 2-2 draw.

After two rounds of group stage matches, Bayswater Chinese topped the group with two consecutive wins. Real Madrid had one win and one draw, Lazio had one draw and one loss, and Werder Bremen had suffered two straight defeats.

Yang Cheng even made a point to watch the Real Madrid vs. Lazio match.

As he had expected, Real Madrid’s defense was as shaky as ever.

…

At noon on October 7th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the ninth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Derby County.

Although Derby County were the whipping boys of the season, the perfect team to rack up goal difference against, Yang Cheng showed them full respect. He repeatedly warned all his players to be extremely careful and not to fall victim to a surprise upset by Derby County.

The gap in strength between the two sides was indeed vast, but it was in matches like these that Yang Cheng dared not be careless.

Of course, due to the midweek Champions League fixture, he still rotated the squad as needed.

From the start, the match was completely under the control of Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team launched wave after wave of attacks.

Derby County, on the other hand, set up in a 4-5-1 formation, determined to defend with all their might.

Twenty minutes into the game, Di María played a through ball, and Lambert successfully beat the offside trap. He broke into the penalty area and scored, opening the scoring for the team.

1-0!

Then, in the 28th minute of the first half, a through ball from Modrić found Arshavin breaking into the right side of the box. His clever shot found the net, extending the lead to 2-0!

Just before the end of the first half, Arshavin dribbled past two defenders and passed to an unmarked Di María, who scored with a powerful left-footed shot. 3-0!

They had already secured a three-goal lead by halftime.

The teams switched sides for the second half.

Just two minutes after the restart, Lambert dropped back to receive the ball and delivered a brilliant pass.

Di María made a diagonal run in behind, latching onto Lambert’s pass on the right side just outside the box, before passing it back to Arshavin.

The Russian slotted it home, scoring his second of the game. 4-0!

In the 54th minute, Matić sent a through ball forward. Lambert, once again beating the offside trap, had his shot from near the penalty spot saved by the goalkeeper.

Gareth Bale, who had just come on as a substitute for Di María, tapped it into the empty net. 5-0!

Just two minutes later, Gareth Bale delivered a wonderful pass from the left flank. Arshavin unleashed a spectacular, powerful shot from inside the area, once again blasting through Derby County’s goal to complete his hat-trick. 6-0!

Then, in the 62nd minute, another through ball from Modrić found Arshavin breaking into the left side of the box. He scored with a low left-footed shot. 7-0!

The Russian had once again scored a four-goal haul!

Everyone in the stadium was roaring with excitement.

This was an absolute masterclass in bullying a weaker team!

After Yang Cheng substituted Arshavin and others, the team appropriately slowed down their attack.

Even so, in the 86th minute, Lambert still had a long shot from outside the box that struck the right post.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese recorded a rampant 7-0 victory over Derby County at home.

In this match, Bayswater Chinese unleashed a total of twenty-eight shots.

And Derby County?

Only two.

Bayswater Chinese had thirteen shots on target, scoring seven goals.

Derby County had zero shots on target.

Even more absurdly, they didn’t even win a single corner kick.

Logically, Derby County had also invested over ten million pound sterling during the summer transfer window.

But judging by their performance this season, let alone avoiding relegation, it was hard to say if they could even win one more match.

But for this team, a single season in the Premier League meant捞ing a cool thirty million pound sterling to take back to the Championship. Coupled with the future parachute payment protection policy, it was enough for them to live comfortably for a few years.

If their management played their cards right, they could completely accumulate strength in the Championship and aim for a return to the Premier League.

…

Every time the international break came around, Yang Cheng would face a dilemma.

As Bayswater Chinese’s results improved, the number of international players in the squad grew.

A serious problem with an international squad is that the players are scattered all over the globe.

Guess how many international players Bayswater Chinese had now?

Seventeen!

They had the most players called up to their national teams of any club in the Premier League.

They might even have the most international players of any club in the top five leagues.

This included established national team pillars like Modrić, Arshavin, and Džeko, as well as newly capped internationals from recent months like Robert Lewandowski, Piszczek, Nemanja Matić, José Fonte, and Aaron Ramsey.

And that didn’t even include players participating in national youth teams like Theo Walcott, Matuidi, and Marcelo.

If you counted those youth team players, then apologies, but during the international break, only Begović, Koscielny, and Lambert would be left at the Bayswater Chinese training ground.

This also put Yang Cheng in a very difficult position.

Only three people left… maybe they could start a game of Fight the Landlord?

But that wasn’t what truly troubled Yang Cheng.

The growing number of internationals brought with it the problem of player travel.

This was especially troublesome for away matches.

Take England, for example. Leighton Baines wasn’t a starter, but his excellent performances for Bayswater Chinese had earned him a consistent spot in the squad as Ashley Cole’s backup.

England had two international matches in October, first at home against Estonia, then away to Russia.

Russia was better off, only playing that one home game against England.

Poland and Croatia both had two home games.

Bosnia and Herzegovina had a tough schedule.

Džeko had to first report for training in Bosnia, then travel to Greece for an away game, and then return to Bosnia to play against Hungary.

Wales had it the worst, with both matches away from home.

First, they had to travel to play Cyprus, then to San Marino. It was incredibly exhausting.

Yang Cheng had originally been worried about the African national teams, but Côte d’Ivoire was holding their training camp directly in Austria.

But in January 2008, there was the Africa Cup of Nations, and Yaya Touré would have to leave for a period of time.

Of all of them, Maicon had the most grueling travel schedule.

First, he had to return to Brazil for a training camp, then travel to Colombia for an away game, and then host Ecuador at home.

Currently, Maicon was still the starting right-back for the Brazil national team.

One of the coaches in the staff even calculated the total distance for the first team’s internationals and found that the seventeen players would be flying nearly fifteen thousand kilometers.

It was truly unbelievable.

But there was nothing Yang Cheng could do.

It was either European Championship qualifiers or South American World Cup qualifiers. What reason did he have to prevent his international players from going?

The only one he could potentially stop was Yaya Touré from going to the training camp in Austria.

But Côte d’Ivoire had already scheduled their camp in Austria. How could he not let him go?

Wouldn’t that be a bit unreasonable?

In short, one word: annoying!

And many national teams were utterly ruthless when it came to using players.

Helpless, Yang Cheng could only ask his coaching staff and medical team to keep a close watch.

Of course, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t the only club complaining.

Almost all the major clubs were complaining.

To appease them, FIFA had even set up a committee to discuss a viable solution.

For example, compensating clubs for releasing players for international duty and addressing issues like injuries sustained while on national team duty.

But these were not Yang Cheng’s primary concerns.

…

During the international break, Adam Crozier brought Yang Cheng some good news.

This season, another twenty boxes had been sold at Wembley Stadium.

The number wasn’t huge, but it made Adam Crozier very happy.

And surprisingly, six of them were from the entertainment industry, specifically the recording industry.

This took Yang Cheng by surprise, and he quickly asked what was going on.

“Speaking of which, we really have to thank Adele for this.”

“What do you mean?” Yang Cheng was puzzled.

“Hasn’t she been singing for us here all this time?”

“Yes.”

“She’s been preparing her album recently. Her record company originally wanted her to suspend her performances at our home games, but she refused.”

“Because of the contract?”

Adam Crozier shook his head. “No. She said it’s because our club has brought her good luck and given her a stage to sing on, so she’ll continue to sing until the end of this season.”

Yang Cheng thought about it, and it made sense.

Their contract with Adele was on a year-to-year basis.

After all, you couldn’t sign a long-term contract for something like this.

Even if they did, Adele’s record company wouldn’t allow her to keep singing here.

Moreover, for a future superstar like Adele, the most important thing was to build a good relationship and have her owe them a favor, which was more valuable than having her as a resident singer.

So, in every aspect, Yang Cheng treated Adele as well as possible.

“But Adele mentioned our club a few times to people at her record company and her friends, praising us for bringing her good luck, calling us her lucky star.”

“Many people at her record company proactively booked our boxes through Adele.”

So that was it.

Yang Cheng more or less understood.

To put it bluntly, people in the entertainment industry were quite superstitious about things like feng shui.

Of course, foreigners didn’t have the concept of feng shui, but the principle was the same.

Otherwise, how could there be so many so-called curses in English football?

An idea suddenly struck Yang Cheng.

“Adam, what do you think? Should we ‘promote’ ourselves in this direction?” Yang Cheng said with a knowing smile.

Adam Crozier was taken aback. “Which direction?”

Xia Qing, who was listening nearby, was also completely baffled.

Right, which direction?

Yang Cheng was a bit speechless.

Adam, our minds haven’t been in sync lately.

“Just what you said. The entertainment industry, luck, lucky star…”

“You mean…”

“Exactly!” Yang Cheng nodded before Adam Crozier could finish.

“But why would people believe it?”

“It’s simple. As long as Adele becomes more and more famous, it will work.”

What did that mean?

It meant that the more deeply associated one was with Bayswater Chinese, the better their luck would be.

Don’t believe it?

Just look at Adele!

The hardest part of something like this was getting it started and making people believe.

Yang Cheng remembered reading a report in his previous life that said Adele had saved the British record industry.

Adele’s debut album was an instant hit, selling nearly ten million copies worldwide and earning her two Grammy nominations.

Her second album sold over thirty million copies, which was an insane number.

Why did Yang Cheng come up with such a devious plan?

It was simple. Weren’t a few VIP boxes sold to record companies?

The British record industry had been in a slump for years, but after Adele’s emergence, it began to revive.

This proved that professionals in the recording industry would also benefit.

And just like that, the story would come full circle.

Do you believe that Bayswater Chinese is a lucky star?

No?

Look at Adele, look at those people in the record industry. Haven’t they all become lucky?

Not all of them?

The unlucky ones, that’s due to their own problems!

Bayswater Chinese is still very effective.

Otherwise, how else could you explain that Adele and several others from the record companies have all started to have good fortune?

Charlatans always have a market because once they become famous, a steady stream of people will seek them out.

After each person consults them and leaves, some will have good outcomes and some bad; not every result will be positive.

But those who benefit will naturally believe more strongly; those who don’t, some will reflect and continue to believe.

As for those who leave, well, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Most crucially, in the eyes of the general public, they often only see the ones who benefited, the successful, shining examples.

Without a doubt, Adele was Bayswater Chinese’s biggest calling card!

What fit perfectly was that Adele herself often said that Bayswater Chinese brought her good luck.

And people in the entertainment industry often couldn’t sit with regular fans, so VIP boxes were the most suitable option for them.

“Is this considered scamming people?” Xia Qing was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

How did this turn into being a charlatan?

“Hey, hey, hey, Senior, watch your words. How can marketing in our football industry be called a scam?”

“That’s right, it’s just marketing,” Adam Crozier chimed in.

Xia Qing was rendered speechless by these two.

She found that Adam Crozier was becoming more and more like Yang Cheng’s lackey.

Was this the same man who was once the CEO of Royal Mail? The highest-paid public servant in Britain? The CEO of The FA?

“But, Yang, how can you be so sure Adele will become famous?” Adam Crozier asked a key question.

If Adele didn’t become a hit, wouldn’t all this effort be for nothing?

“Nonsense. Just listen to her voice. If she doesn’t make it big, I’ll…”

Yang Cheng paused, then changed the subject. “How about this? Let’s make a bet on her new album. I bet it sells at least five million copies. Care to take that bet?”

“Five million copies?” Adam Crozir was shocked by Yang Cheng’s claim.

In the current sluggish record market, selling five million copies?

“I mean worldwide.”

“Even worldwide, that’s an exaggeration. She’s still a newcomer.”

Yang Cheng just smiled and said nothing.

I’m definitely not going to tell you that she sold over nine million copies worldwide.

…

In the end, considering Yang Cheng’s track record and credibility over the past few years, Adam Crozier didn’t dare to take the bet.

But he was very interested in Yang Cheng’s proposal.

The two of them huddled together, scheming ominously for a while, and finally decided to call Adele over.

Adele was busy preparing her album.

But as soon as she received Yang Cheng’s call, she made time to come over that same day.

Yang Cheng knew she was busy, so he got straight to the point. He told her that to thank her for promoting Bayswater Chinese, the club had decided to give her a complimentary VIP executive box at Wembley Stadium for the entire season.

If he wasn’t afraid of scaring the young woman, Yang Cheng would have considered naming it after her directly.

Something like the Adele Box.

The slightly chubby English girl was genuinely moved.

She wasn’t a star yet; her album hadn’t even been released.

The little fame she had was all thanks to Bayswater Chinese.

Now, Yang Cheng was treating her so generously, which truly touched her.

If it weren’t for the beautiful and charming Xia Qing sitting next to Yang Cheng, Adele might have suspected that this handsome man had ulterior motives.

“Really, we just wanted to thank you for helping us with promotion. You know, your friends booked several boxes with us,” Adam Crozier said with great sincerity and earnestness.

Yang Cheng also nodded. “You don’t have to worry about our matters anymore. Just focus on recording your album. When you become famous in the future, you can help us with more promotion.” As he finished, Yang Cheng flashed a very sunny, guilt-free smile.

This almost made Xia Qing crack and give the game away.

What kind of people are these?

What kind of spell was I under to fall for a guy like this?

He didn’t use the same tricks on me, did he?

Adele thought Yang Cheng was concerned for her and looking out for her best interests, and she was moved to tears, thanking him profusely.

She also mentioned a proposal from her record company.

They hoped to include Bayswater Chinese’s team anthem on Adele’s new album.

“Is that okay?” Yang Cheng was very surprised.

But Adele was even more surprised than him. “I was afraid you would refuse.”

On second thought, it made sense.

Bayswater Chinese was far more famous than Adele at the moment.

It was likely that the record company intended to ride on the coattails of Bayswater Chinese’s popularity.

And sure enough, that was exactly the case.

One of the promotion strategies the record company had devised for her new album included performing a new song at Wembley Stadium.

“Of course, we have no problem with that,” Yang Cheng agreed readily.

As for the copyright fees…

“No problem, feel free to use it. We’re very happy if it can help your new album. As for the fee, you can just give me a share after it starts selling,” Yang Cheng said with exceptional generosity.

Adele was truly touched.

What a wonderful person!

And so handsome!

And such a talented coach!

If he didn’t have a girlfriend, I would even want to…

Ahem!

…

“A Cheng, how come I never realized you were such a smooth talker before?”

After seeing off Adele and Adam Crozier, Xia Qing felt like she was getting to know Yang Cheng all over again.

“Me? A smooth talker? Senior, you must be joking. I’m known for being an honest man.”

“You, honest? Just now, you…”

“Wasn’t I good enough just now? She wants to put my song on her new album, piggybacking on our team’s popularity. I agreed, for free. Piggyback boldly, piggyback with confidence. I’m taking a big loss here.”

“She introduced a few friends to buy boxes from us, and I even gave her one for free. It’s only for one season, after all, we’re not rich. Even a six-person box isn’t cheap, and we have to cover the catering package and service fees… my heart aches…”

“Senior, think about it. I’m making selfless contributions!”

Yang Cheng was almost moved to tears by his own selfless internationalist spirit.

If he didn’t get an award for being the ‘New Era Good Youth of Bayswater District, City of Westminster, London’, would that even be fair?

Xia Qing found his rambling rather amusing and couldn’t stop giggling.

He really had his act down.

But honestly, if she didn’t know Yang Cheng, she might have actually believed him.

“Senior, I just thought of something very serious.”

“Go on.”

“If, and I mean if, one day in the future, England decides to sanction China and wants to seize our club and our villa, what do you think we should do?”

“That’s impossible. Private property is inviolable. It’s enshrined in the British constitution.”

Yang Cheng was speechless.

Indeed, before something like that happened, no one would ever believe such an absurd thing could occur.

“Besides, with economic globalization, business is booming. Even with some trade conflicts, they wouldn’t resort to sanctions so easily, let alone sanctioning ordinary citizens. If any government officials were to act so recklessly, we would sue them!”

Yang Cheng really wanted to say, I support you, Senior. When the time comes, you can help Roman Abramovich sue the British government.

But Yang Cheng certainly couldn’t explain that clearly.

He could only say that it was one of his wild thoughts, but he wanted to prepare for such a possibility.

“Use an offshore company. In fact, a lot of real estate in London is currently held by offshore companies,” Xia Qing said after some thought.

“If a country’s government is really determined to destroy us, there’s not much we can do. This is the most we can do to protect ourselves.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

He didn’t understand how it worked, but it sounded very impressive.

His only requirement was that if it really happened in the future, he would have an escape route.

Xia Qing didn’t understand why Yang Cheng was worrying about something so impossible.

But since Yang Cheng insisted, she could only comply.

She would look into the relevant information later.

Let’s not forget, she came from Goldman Sachs.

…

During the two-week international break, another piece of news broke.

FIFA announced the list of candidates for the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year.

As the champions of the previous Premier League season, it was unfortunate that Bayswater Chinese didn’t have a single player on the list.

There was Ribéry, but he had been sold to Bayern Munich.

So, Bayswater Chinese had none.

It was quite speechless.

Unless you were at a powerhouse club, getting on such a list was basically a joke.

England did have four players who made the list: Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, and Terry.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng didn’t care too much about it.

His players were still young.

One day, Yang Cheng would not only get his players onto this list one by one, but he would also have them win the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award!

…

After the two-week international break, the players returned one after another.

Yang Cheng’s biggest fear did not materialize.

None of the players suffered injuries during the national team training camps and matches, which was a huge relief for him.

But the long-distance travel and constant back-and-forth had taken a heavy toll on the international players.

On the weekend, they had an away game against Blackburn Rovers, followed by a trip to Madrid on Wednesday to face Real Madrid.

Considering the crucial importance of the Champions League match, Yang Cheng made appropriate rotations to the team’s lineup for the away game against Blackburn.

As a result, in the 22nd minute of the match, David Dunn assisted Paraguayan centre-forward Santa Cruz, who scored past Neuer.

This was the only goal of the match.

Bayswater Chinese suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 1-0 away to Blackburn Rovers.

The team’s unbeaten streak ended at sixteen matches.

Nine of those were from this season, and seven from the last.

In the same round, Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 away.

Chelsea defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 away.

Arsenal beat Bolton 2-0 at home.

Manchester United thrashed Aston Villa 4-1 away.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese, with a record of seven wins, two draws, and one loss, ranked second on the League table.

At the top of the table were The Gunners, Arsenal.

Wenger’s team had remained unbeaten so far this season with eight wins and two draws.

However, there was no need to question it, nor to praise Arsenal excessively.

Because out of their ten matches so far, The Gunners had not yet faced Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, or Bayswater Chinese. So, it wasn’t surprising that Wenger’s team was able to maintain their unbeaten record.

The next three rounds would be Wenger’s biggest test.

Round 11, away to Liverpool.

Round 12, home against Manchester United.

Round 13, away to Bayswater Chinese.

This would be the real litmus test for Wenger’s team.

…

On the evening of October 24th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese challenged Real Madrid away from home.

As the Norwegian referee, Tom Henning Øvrebø, led the two teams out onto the Bernabéu pitch in formation, Yang Cheng had just reached the players’ tunnel.

He could hear a roar of cheers from outside at the Bernabéu.

The Real Madrid fans were welcoming their players with enthusiastic applause.

But the next moment, when Yang Cheng stepped out of the tunnel, the cheers instantly turned into a deafening chorus of boos.

This caught him off guard, and he looked around in a daze.

It was only when he saw himself on the big screen that he realized the Real Madrid fans were booing him.

Well, well, it seems I’ve become the most unwelcome person at the Bernabéu!

“You beat them by four goals here last season and humiliated them. Did you expect them to give you a warm welcome?” Brian Kidd couldn’t help but laugh as he saw Yang Cheng emerge.

“Come on, that was all the media. I didn’t say anything,” Yang Cheng said with an innocent look on his face.

“Nobody cares about that. Unless you lose tonight’s match, they’ll boo you next time you come here too.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng chuckled. “In that case, I’d rather they just keep booing. As long as they don’t throw a pig’s head at me!”

The surrounding coaches also laughed.

Brian Kidd saw Schuster walking towards them and gave Yang Cheng a meaningful look.

It was customary for the home team’s coach to greet the away team’s coach before the match.

Schuster had a peculiar temperament.

Yang Cheng had heard about it long ago.

But he never expected the man to be this strange.

Normally, the pre-match handshake was a way to show mutual respect.

If you really disliked someone, you could just shake their hand, turn around, and walk away, and no one would say anything.

But this guy, after shaking hands, stood there and said to Yang Cheng, “Before this match, many people mentioned that 0-4 from last season to me.”

Yang Cheng didn’t answer, instead looking at him silently, waiting for him to continue.

“Although I wasn’t in charge of the team for that match, I have an obligation to reclaim that pride at our home stadium!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng immediately understood his meaning. He smiled faintly and retorted, “So?”

“Tonight, you will undoubtedly lose!” Schuster said, pointing at Yang Cheng.

It was a very rude gesture.

But Yang Cheng didn’t fuss over it.

He maintained his faint smile and asked back, “Do you have what it takes?”

“We’ll see.”

With that, Schuster turned and walked away.

…

The highly anticipated showdown at the Bernabéu began with a long shot from Yaya Touré.

Right from the kickoff, Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative as the away team and took the offensive.

Real Madrid stuck to their usual 4-4-2 formation for the season.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Drenthe, Metzelder, Cannavaro, and Ramos;

Midfield: Robinho, Fernando Gago, Guti, and Sneijder;

Forwards: Van Nistelrooy and Raúl.

Škrtel was injured and therefore missed the match.

Additionally, Mahamadou Diarra and Robben were also injured.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, lined up in their signature 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in central midfield;

Forwards: Di María, Džeko, and Arshavin.

Yang Cheng had fielded his strongest lineup.

Unlike the Real Madrid players who had played in La Liga last weekend, Yang Cheng’s lineup had been rotated, so his players were clearly in better shape, both physically and mentally.

After kicking off the match with a long shot to make an early statement, Bayswater Chinese proactively launched their attack.

This was especially evident in their high press in the midfield and forward areas.

Yang Cheng chose the centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Pepe specifically to push the entire defensive line up, using the press in the midfield and attack to harry Real Madrid.

Real Madrid held nothing back either.

Schuster was clearly aiming to use the home advantage to create chances from the get-go.

Just two minutes into the match, Guti delivered a very threatening through ball.

Despite his numerous flaws and shortcomings, “Guti the Golden Wolf” had one quality that everyone had to acknowledge.

That was his deadly through ball.

It was truly menacing.

A single pass, like a surgeon’s scalpel, sliced through both of Bayswater Chinese’s defensive lines.

And it went right through the gaps between players.

Raúl made a late run, chasing after the ball.

But Neuer was quick to come off his line, rushing out of the penalty area. He controlled the ball with his foot and, before Raúl could reach it, passed it to Thiago Silva.

“The Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper has come all the way out of his penalty area.”

“Their defensive line is pushed up very high.”

“Although Robben is out with an injury for Real Madrid, they still need to be wary of Robinho.”

“The Brazilian is not slow either.”

The Bernabéu crowd erupted in a torrent of boos.

Clearly, their impression of Bayswater Chinese was extremely negative.

The main reason was that 0-4 defeat from last season.

That was a disgrace at the Bernabéu!

Especially after the match, Real Madrid was brutally humiliated by the media.

And tonight, in the eyes of everyone at Real Madrid, was an opportunity for revenge.

Yang Cheng ignored the fans’ provocations, focusing instead on studying Real Madrid’s tactics.

Even when facing Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid’s two full-backs still dared to push forward aggressively in attack.

This made Yang Cheng admire Schuster’s courage.

But on second thought, it seemed quite normal.

In a 4-4-2 formation, Van Nistelrooy was the centre-forward, and Raúl was not the kind of player who could link the midfield and the attack.

On the left was the step-over artist Robinho, and on the right was Sneijder.

In this situation, to pose a threat from the wings, they really had to rely on the overlapping runs of the full-backs.

Especially Drenthe on the left.

The Dutchman was seen by many as the successor to the “Pitbull” Davids. Although he was a left-back, he effectively patrolled the entire left flank.

He was extremely active from the start of the match, playing almost like a left winger.

It was clear that Schuster hoped to use the combination of Drenthe and Robinho on the left to create an opening and score.

And so, in the 13th minute, it was Drenthe’s forward run, combined with Robinho, that drew a foul from Maicon on the left flank, earning them a free kick.

Guti took the free kick, but it hit the wall.

Just two minutes later, Robinho showed his excellent form. On the left side of the penalty area, facing his national teammate Maicon, he performed a series of step-overs and delivered a low pass with his left foot.

Pepe positioned himself first and cleared the ball, preventing Robinho’s pass from threatening the goal.

But on the edge of the area, Guti controlled the loose ball and fired a long shot that went high over the bar.

From the start of the match, Real Madrid’s attack was vibrant and threatening.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese, apart from that opening long shot, seemed to pose little threat.

This made the Bernabéu fans extremely excited and full of anticipation.

Chapter 130: A Thrashing! A Feast of Goals! Real Madrid, How Will You Respond?

In modern football tactics, there’s a saying every fan knows by heart.

He who controls the midfield controls the game.

Some might wonder, if this is a principle that even fans understand, why are there still teams that don’t prioritize the midfield?

The answer is actually no, that’s not the case.

There isn’t a single team that doesn’t value its midfield.

But building a team is a systematic project.

From Chelsea signing Shevchenko, which led to the collapse of the entire team’s tactical system, to Mourinho’s eventual departure, one can see the importance of transfers to a team.

A football club is never just about the team and the coach.

There are many other people and considerations involved.

For example, is Roman Abramovich a fool?

Why sign Shevchenko?

Because Chelsea needed a superstar with market appeal and commercial influence!

In the football landscape at the time, was there a more suitable candidate than Shevchenko?

Moreover, it was Abramovich who made several overtures to persuade Shevchenko to join.

As head coach, Mourinho, from his professional standpoint, didn’t like Shevchenko. There was nothing wrong with that.

As the club’s CEO, Peter Kenyon needed Shevchenko to boost the team’s commercial value. There was nothing wrong with that either.

As the team’s owner, Abramovich was willing to spend big money on a superstar who also met the team’s commercial needs. There was even less wrong with that.

So, where did the problem lie?

Running a football club has always been an incredibly complex, systematic undertaking.

What made Ferguson so incredible was his ability to single-handedly influence Manchester United’s overall decisions, while also skillfully considering the team’s technical and tactical aspects, commercial factors, and managing internal relationships.

Under such circumstances, his obsession with homegrown players and his family profiting from the club’s transfers were minor, almost insignificant, issues.

But it was precisely for this reason that Manchester United collapsed the moment Ferguson retired.

In the current Real Madrid squad, one could also see many fragmented traces.

Why sign Van Nistelrooy?

The technical and tactical level of the Premier League generally lagged behind continental Europe, so why would Real Madrid sign a centre-forward who had been phased out at Manchester United in the Premier League?

Because Calderón and Mijatović needed a superstar.

But they lacked the ability to bring in superstars like C. Ronaldo, Kaká, or Ribéry.

They could only settle for the next best thing.

Raúl was a tragedy of an era.

This was true both for the Spanish national team and for Real Madrid.

He could no longer adapt to the changes in modern football.

But he was the soul and banner of the team; no one had the courage to drop him.

Consequently, Van Nistelrooy and Raúl’s positions were fixed.

Robben and Sneijder were big-money signings and were in good form this season, so they had to be used heavily.

Robinho was a talented youngster, also in good form this season, so he too had to be used heavily.

With that, the attacking positions were more or less set.

Therefore, a 4-4-2 formation became almost an inevitability for Real Madrid.

Some might argue that if you’re going to play 4-4-2, the central midfield is crucial and must be prioritized.

Last season, Real Madrid actually had a strong midfield configuration.

Besides Mahamadou Diarra, players like Emerson and Pablo García could play in midfield, as could Beckham and Iván Helguera.

But during the summer transfer window, most of these players were gone.

The moment Mahamadou Diarra got injured, everyone started to panic.

There was no one left in midfield.

Thus, the midfield pairing of Guti and Fernando Gago was deployed.

And in this match at the Bernabéu, when Real Madrid started with a fierce offensive, Yang Cheng believed that Schuster must have been worried about his midfield’s defending, which was why he chose to attack proactively.

Of course, they were also playing at home.

Yang Cheng and his players, however, patiently shored up their defense, letting Real Madrid launch their attacks.

It wasn’t until the 17th minute, when Real Madrid’s midfield made a mistake, that Lassana Diarra successfully intercepted the ball and passed it to Yaya Touré.

Only then did Yang Cheng play his ace.

I unleash Yaya Touré!

Real Madrid, how will you respond?

…

“A quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese after winning the ball in midfield.”

“Yaya Touré charges forward with the ball.”

“He’s very fast!”

“Real Madrid are retreating quickly.”

“Let’s see what Yaya Touré does here.”

“A diagonal pass to the right, to Arshavin.”

“Arshavin is at the right corner of the box, facing Metzelder, one-on-one!”

“The Russian uses a series of fakes, his technique is exquisite.”

“Metzelder isn’t beaten, but he’s on the back foot.”

“Drenthe comes back to double-team him.”

“Arshavin continues to drive forward, he cuts in from the right side of the box, going down the byline.”

“Metzelder uses his hands, but can’t stop Arshavin.”

“He goes for a sliding tackle!”

“Oh no, he missed.”

Metzelder was tall and not very agile. After missing the first tackle, he immediately scrambled up and gave chase.

But Arshavin had already reached the byline.

The Russian didn’t continue to drive into the box.

Not because Metzelder had caught up, but because he saw the target he had been waiting for.

From near the byline on the right side of the box, Arshavin played a cut-back pass back towards the right side of the penalty area.

At that moment, Yaya Touré, who had been surging forward, came crashing through like a freight train.

Fernando Gago simply could not stop this African bull!

Yaya Touré charged into the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area, met Arshavin’s cut-back pass, and unleashed a thunderous shot.

The ball shot out like a missile, flying at incredible speed into the Real Madrid goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 17th minute, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break the deadlock at the Bernabéu!”

“It’s an overlapping run and a powerful shot from the Côte d’Ivoire midfielder, Yaya Touré!”

“Real Madrid’s midfield defense has problems; they have no one who can stop the big and strong Yaya Touré.”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay that Fernando Gago gave it his all, trying to stop Yaya Touré from breaking into the box, but there was simply nothing he could do.”

On the sideline, in front of the away team’s dugout, Yang Cheng simply clenched his fists when he saw Yaya Touré’s thunderous shot find the net.

He wasn’t surprised by this result.

He had always said that Real Madrid was in a state of internal chaos.

No, it wasn’t just him saying it.

The Brazilian midfielder Emerson, who had just transferred from Real Madrid to AC Milan, had said as much in an interview.

He once wanted to retire at Real Madrid, which was why he chose to join them after the World Cup.

But the moment he arrived at Real Madrid, he regretted it.

Why?

“The environment at Real Madrid is terrible. All I can do now is forget everything that happened there.”

As professional players, no one would reveal what truly happened in the dressing room or at the club.

But to say something like that in an interview, combined with Beckham’s experience last season, many things became self-evident.

When a team is full of superstars one season, then brings in a 1-0-ism practitioner like Fabio Capello the next, and then opts for a coach like Schuster the season after that…

And when the squad is repeatedly purged and changed every season, it would be an absolute miracle if they could achieve results.

Hmm, they won La Liga?

That only proved that Barça was even worse at the time.

…

After scoring in the 17th minute, Bayswater Chinese continued to be in a secure position and wait for developments.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, continued to press forward with their attacks.

The pre-match atmosphere had been built up to a point where Real Madrid had to win against Bayswater Chinese at home.

If they didn’t take down Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid would probably be drowned in the fans’ criticism.

Schuster could only let his team continue to attack.

But in the 38th minute of the first half, another quick counter-attack followed a turnover in midfield.

This time, however, Real Madrid tracked back quickly.

When Modrić distributed the ball to the right wing for the rapidly advancing Maicon, the Brazilian broke into the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area. At that moment, one could see that five of Real Madrid’s defensive players had already retreated into the box.

But at this point, there was not a single person in the area just outside Real Madrid’s penalty box.

A huge swath of space was completely empty.

However, Maicon didn’t choose that area, instead delivering a cross from the right to the far post.

Džeko leaped high on the left side of the six-yard box, towering over Cannavaro to head the ball back towards the center.

Inside the box with his back to goal, Arshavin was blocked by Metzelder. In a flash of inspiration, he executed a perfect overhead kick, sending Džeko’s flick-on into the Real Madrid goal.

“An overhead kick!!”

“My God!”

“A stunning overhead kick inside the box from the Russian genius, Andrei Arshavin!”

“Real Madrid’s defenders were like wooden posts; not a single one of them managed to interfere.”

“That kind of defending is far too loose.”

“2-0!”

After scoring, the Russian was so excited he ran off the pitch, sprinting wildly to celebrate the spectacular goal.

The Real Madrid players, meanwhile, stood frozen in place, as if stunned into silence.

They clearly found it hard to accept conceding this goal.

They had already conceded two!

“Real Madrid’s fragile backline has once again become their Achilles’ heel!”

“As early as the last group stage match, away against Lazio, we already said that if it wasn’t for Casillas’s heroic performance, Real Madrid would have been torn to shreds by Lazio, instead of drawing 2-2.”

“Now, we see that Real Madrid simply cannot stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

“The midfield pairing of Gago and Guti, while capable of passing and organizing, has defensive shortcomings that offer no effective deterrence to the opposition.”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay that even if Maicon hadn’t passed to Džeko, the entire area outside the penalty box was full of holes.”

“Look closely again. In this shot, there’s only one player in that area outside the box.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s Yaya Touré. He’s waiting for an opportunity.”

“This defense is just too fragile!”

…

The first half ended with a score of 0-2.

After the break, Real Madrid stuck to the same tactical approach they had used in the first half.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t make many changes or adjustments either.

But in the 67th minute, a link-up between Arshavin and Di María on the left flank resulted in a foul by Gago.

The Argentine received a yellow card for his troubles.

Leighton Baines took the free kick. He delivered a precise, waist-high ball to the near post.

As a crowd of players rushed towards the near post, amidst the chaos, Yaya Touré jumped first and connected with a right-footed volley, sending the ball into Real Madrid’s goal.

3-0!

The entire Bernabéu once again erupted in a torrent of boos.

In last season’s Champions League, on this very pitch, they had lost 0-4.

Now, facing Bayswater Chinese again, they were still losing.

All the Real Madrid fans found this result hard to accept.

They had spent so much money, brought in so many stars, so why couldn’t they perform?

…

In the end, the match at the Bernabéu concluded with a 3-0 scoreline.

Bayswater Chinese had once again thoroughly defeated Real Madrid away from home.

Yang Cheng was satisfied with this result.

At the post-match press conference, he stated, “Real Madrid should thank Casillas.”

“In the first half, he saved one of our very good goal-scoring opportunities, and in the second half, he saved two certain goals.”

Yang Cheng’s implication was clear: if it weren’t for Casillas, we would have run up a huge score against you tonight.

Such fresh and stimulating remarks immediately sent the media into a frenzy.

Some Spanish media outlets pointed out that Real Madrid had a slight overall advantage, with a possession rate of 58%.

“But they had only half as many shots as we did, 9 to our 17.”

What’s the use of having possession?

We deliberately conceded it.

In fact, Real Madrid only managed a meager two shots on target, whereas Bayswater Chinese had eleven.

Yang Cheng was right. If not for Casillas, Real Madrid really would have been torn to shreds.

If Yang Cheng’s words were somewhat controversial, the words of Casillas in a post-match interview were truly heartbreaking.

“I don’t know how to describe a match like this.”

“My feelings right now are extremely conflicted, extremely complicated.”

“We lost a very important match at home, conceded 3 goals, but everyone is telling me I’m the best goalkeeper. I feel incredibly ashamed of that.”

“As a goalkeeper, my job is to stop the opponent from scoring, but they put 3 past me. Some I couldn’t stop, some maybe I could have, but I didn’t.”

Regarding the team’s defeat, Casillas believed the main issues were the team’s defending and everyone’s overestimation of their own abilities.

“In truth, before the match, we never thought we would lose, let alone lose so badly.”

After the match, the British media universally showered Bayswater Chinese with high praise, which went without saying.

The Spanish media also had words of admiration for Bayswater Chinese, but they focused more on analyzing Real Madrid’s problems.

Almost everyone pointed fingers at the weak midfield and the porous backline.

Even AS newspaper said, “Casillas is the only Real Madrid player who can hold his head high.”

“He alone is defending Real Madrid’s last shred of dignity!”

“He is a god of war in the eyes of the Bernabéu fans!”

“If Real Madrid wants to return to the pinnacle of Europe, they need eleven Casillases.”

Real Madrid manager Schuster’s series of pre-match statements were also repeatedly flogged by the media after the game.

He had boasted about avenging last season’s defeat at home and claimed this season’s Real Madrid was stronger than last season’s.

“Yes, this season, Schuster’s team has made remarkable, great progress.”

“They conceded one less goal than last season!”

…

Bayswater Chinese brought a 3-0 victory back from Spain, once again reshaping everyone’s perception of the West London team.

Even against Real Madrid, they displayed a formidable attacking prowess.

In the other group match, Werder Bremen defeated Lazio 2-1 at home.

Bayswater Chinese already had one foot in the Champions League knockout stage.

This made the next group stage match, Bayswater Chinese versus Real Madrid at home, even more highly anticipated.

It would be crucial for determining who would advance from the group.

After the battle at the Bernabéu, tickets for the next group stage match once again sold out rapidly.

Meanwhile, Bayswater Chinese returned to London without stopping to face their 11th Premier League fixture.

This was destined to be a round of matches worth discussing.

Due to their Champions League commitments, Bayswater Chinese’s match was scheduled a day later than the other teams’.

On the 27th, Manchester United thrashed Middlesbrough 5-0 at home.

This match completely sounded the horn for a Premier League goal-scoring frenzy.

Later that day, at home, Chelsea, thanks to a brace from Drogba and a hat-trick of assists from Lampard, demolished Manchester City 6-0.

Eriksson’s team was simply powerless to stop Chelsea.

Yang Cheng even made a point to watch the live broadcast of this match.

If you were to ask what had changed or was different about Chelsea in this match, the truth was, not much.

The players were the same.

It was just that Grant had completely abandoned the previous two-striker formation, the Shevchenko-Drogba partnership, and reverted to the 4-3-3 tactic from the Mourinho era that the players were most familiar with.

Drogba played as the lone striker, with Kalou and Joe Cole on the wings.

The midfield trio consisted of Lampard, Mikel, and Essien.

As a result, hosting Manchester City at home, Chelsea experienced a long-awaited mass release.

They actually thrashed The Blue Moons with six goals.

“What a slap in the face!”

After watching the match, Brian Kidd shook his head with a cynical smile.

It wasn’t a slap in Manchester City’s face.

The Blue Moons’ quality was what it was; there was still a clear gap between them and the top teams.

It was a slap in Roman Abramovich’s face.

Yang Cheng didn’t deny Abramovich’s genuine feelings for Chelsea, nor his investment now, in the past, and in the future.

But on this particular matter, he had really made a mess.

“The players are just holding in their frustration, wanting to prove to everyone that Mourinho was not wrong!”

“They’ve now gone back to Mourinho’s old system: move the ball quickly through midfield and use the physical advantage of the midfielders and centre-forward to overpower the opponent.”

“The most ironic part is that after Shevchenko came on for Joe Cole in the second half, he still made no impact.”

“It wasn’t until Pizarro replaced Drogba that he managed to get a goal.”

That was hardly proof of anything.

After all, Chelsea were already leading by five goals at that point.

It only showed that Chelsea was still best suited to Mourinho’s style of play.

Of course, that was a correct but useless statement.

Because these players were originally signed by Mourinho to fit his tactics.

They just had a Shevchenko forcibly inserted into the mix for no good reason.

Presumably, all the Chelsea fans who watched this match would be missing Mourinho more than ever.

Also in this round, Liverpool drew 1-1 with Arsenal at home.

…

On the evening of October 28th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Newcastle.

As head referee Phil Dowd blew the opening whistle, Bayswater Chinese immediately launched a high press against Newcastle.

The home team, fresh off a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabéu Stadium, was brimming with morale.

Newcastle had also recently secured two consecutive wins.

Allardyce’s team was in fine form as well.

“Bayswater Chinese has only rotated a few positions, but the team’s overall framework remains unchanged.”

“After years of coaching from Yang Cheng, this team is already very mature and stable.”

“Their average age is still a bit on the young side.”

“For example, on the left flank tonight, we see the 18-year-old Welsh youngster, Gareth Bale.”

“He has also been outstanding this season.”

“Newcastle needs to be especially wary of Bayswater Chinese’s specialty: the opening blitz.”

“Especially their lightning attack.”

“Last season, many teams fell victim to this, so they must be careful in the opening period.”

“It’s worth noting that anchoring Newcastle’s central midfield today is Leon Andreasen.”

“He was once a midfielder for Bayswater Chinese. Today, he partners with Butt, formerly of Manchester United, to form Newcastle’s central midfield barrier.”

Right from the kick-off, the tempo of the match was cranked up to full throttle.

Just over two minutes in, under the fast-paced offense and defense, Newcastle’s midfield made a mistake.

“Joey Barton has the ball on the right side of midfield.”

“Modrić steals it.”

“A brilliant piece of defending.”

“The ball is passed to Lassana Diarra.”

“Let’s see what Lassana Diarra does.”

“A through ball to Džeko.”

“Newcastle centre-back Cláudio Caçapa goes in for a slide tackle.”

“He didn’t get the ball!”

“Džeko… a beautiful first touch and turn!”

“He charges forward with the ball!”

“Look at this!”

“Džeko has a chance!”

“He shoots!!!”

“GOAL!!!”

“2 minutes and 48 seconds into the match, Džeko scores with a long shot from the arc of the penalty area, breaking through Newcastle’s goal.”

“Newcastle’s goalkeeper, Shay Given, had no answer for Džeko’s long shot!”

“1-0!”

“We were just saying how sharp Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz is and that Newcastle must be careful.”

“Before we could even finish our sentence, The Magpies have conceded.”

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, we can see Džeko’s goal was absolutely beautiful.”

“From the first touch and turn, to driving forward with the ball and shooting from the arc, the entire process was seamless.”

“This is already Džeko’s 6th league goal of the season!”

…

Conceding a goal in under three minutes was a significant blow to Newcastle.

The Magpies quickly regrouped, trying to steady themselves.

But it was clear that Bayswater Chinese’s high press was making them very uncomfortable.

Especially in today’s match, Yang Cheng had pushed his entire defensive line very far forward.

Lassana Diarra and Modrić were directly pressing Newcastle’s two central midfielders, and even their defenders.

This created a very difficult problem for Newcastle.

Playing the ball out from the back.

In the 10th minute, a passing error from the back was intercepted by Lassana Diarra, who quickly played it to Džeko up front.

The Bosnian centre-forward received the ball with his back to goal, held it up, then turned and played a diagonal pass with his left foot to the left flank.

Gareth Bale burst forward at incredible speed, caught up to the ball, took a touch into the left side of the penalty area, powered past Newcastle’s right-back Habib Beye, went right to the byline, and delivered a low, driven cross.

At almost the same moment, as Džeko dropped deep to receive the ball, Arshavin pushed forward to fill the space.

Now, the Russian arrived at full tilt in front of goal and converted with a tap-in from the edge of the six-yard box, sending the ball into Newcastle’s net once again.

2-0!

Inside Wembley Stadium, more than sixty-five thousand fans roared with all their might.

Everyone was marveling at the lightning-fast interplay that led to Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Two goals in the opening ten minutes.

Could there be a more thrilling start than this?

…

After conceding two consecutive goals, Newcastle’s rhythm was completely disrupted.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, were riding a wave of morale, their players’ form irrepressible.

The team’s front line relentlessly attacked Newcastle.

The front three, in particular, were extremely active.

One moment Arshavin would have a shot, the next Džeko would deliver a clever pass.

Gareth Bale also had a long shot from the left corner of the box, which was collected by goalkeeper Shay Given.

With a continuous, high-tempo attack, Bayswater Chinese were practically pinning Newcastle in their own half.

The fans in the stadium were roaring with excitement.

Cheers erupted intermittently, and moments of surprise were constantly created.

Then, in the 25th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese produced another brilliant attacking combination, this time involving the entire front three.

Yaya Touré sent a medium-long through ball from his own half, precisely finding Džeko up front.

The Bosnian centre-forward held his position outside the arc, chested down the dropping ball, and laid it off directly to the onrushing Arshavin.

After passing, Džeko immediately turned to sprint forward.

But Arshavin, without taking a touch, met Džeko’s pass with a lethal through ball of his own.

The ball split right between the right centre-back Abdoulaye Faye and the right-back Habib Beye, into the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed diagonal run into the box, latching onto Arshavin’s through pass.

The pass was a bit long and the ball was traveling fast, making it very difficult to control.

Under hot pursuit from Beye, the sprinting Bale used his left foot to control the ball.

As he trapped it, Bale also executed a slight drag-back, turning his body in the process.

At that moment, Gareth Bale perfectly shielded the ball from both Beye and Faye with his body.

The ball was near his left foot.

After planting his right foot firmly, the Welshman swung his left and shot again.

The ball flew at high speed into the bottom corner of Newcastle’s net.

Given was a step too late with his diving save.

The entire Wembley Stadium instantly exploded!

3-0!

The fans were cheering wildly.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng also pumped his clenched right fist, clearly very pleased with the start to the match.

“That goal just now was of very high quality,” Yang Cheng said with a smile after high-fiving Brian Kidd to celebrate.

Receiving a high-speed pass while sprinting at full tilt, especially with defenders breathing down your neck, is easy to mess up, and the ball can just get away from you.

Gareth Bale’s technique was solid, but his first touch wasn’t considered exceptional.

But his handling of that situation was very simple and effective.

He directly used his body to shield the defender.

Controlling with his left foot while using his body to shield, unless the opponent committed a foul, there was no way they could stop him from shooting.

But that was inside the penalty area, who would dare to foul?

“I’m actually a bit unsure now,” Yang Cheng said with a wry smile.

Brian Kidd smiled along with him.

The so-called uncertainty was due to the astonishingly rapid pace of Gareth Bale’s improvement.

The Welshman’s physical attributes were already quite good—he was tall, and fast—which meant his ability to attack the box was even stronger than that of Di María and Walcott.

That last goal was already his third time attacking the box from the left side in this match.

But in any case, it was a happy problem to have.

…

After conceding three unanswered goals, Newcastle had basically accepted their fate.

In the 36th minute of the first half, they fouled Arshavin, who was dribbling past them just outside the penalty area.

The offender was none other than Leon Andreasen.

The Danish midfielder had been performing well since joining Newcastle.

But at this moment, facing his old club, he felt a tinge of disappointment.

Even when he committed the foul, not many people at Wembley booed him.

It was clear that the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium no longer remembered him as a former player.

The current Bayswater Chinese was developing too fast.

So fast that Leon Andreasen had been left far behind.

Gareth Bale stepped up to take the free kick.

The Welshman’s left-footed direct free kicks were very dangerous.

After a short run-up, he struck a curling shot with his left foot. The ball flew over the wall and into the left side of the goal.

4-0!

A brace!

All the fans were overjoyed.

Newcastle was, after all, a traditional powerhouse in the Premier League, yet they were being so thoroughly dismantled at Wembley Stadium.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng was full of praise for the team’s first-half performance.

He also encouraged the players to keep up the momentum and maintain their advantage in the second half.

Allardyce, on the other hand, made two substitutions, bringing on former Manchester United player Alan Smith and Charles N’Zogbia, in an attempt to strengthen the midfield’s tackling and defensive capabilities.

The second half began with Gareth Bale making another direct run into the box from the left before unleashing a powerful shot, opening the curtain on Bayswater Chinese’s second-half offensive.

The Welshman’s shot was incredibly powerful and nearly breached Shay Given’s goal again.

In the 52nd minute, Modrić lofted a pass from outside the box towards the area just outside the right corner of the six-yard box.

Džeko charged forward and met it with a header.

Given reacted quickly and blocked the shot.

But Newcastle’s penalty area was already in complete chaos.

Arshavin pounced on the loose ball amidst the confusion and stabbed it into the net.

5-0!

In the 61st minute, Arshavin received the ball on the right and attempted to cut into the half-space before laying it off to the right byline.

Maicon made a high-speed overlapping run, chasing it down to the byline before crossing it into the six-yard box.

Džeko outjumped two Newcastle centre-backs and headed the ball in from close range.

6-0!

This was an absolute massacre!

No, not just this match.

This round, Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Chelsea all mercilessly thrashed their opponents.

Seeing that the outcome was settled, Yang Cheng made his substitutions.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese had more chances to score, but they were either saved by Given or missed the target.

Ultimately, the match ended 6-0!

Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Newcastle at home!

…

After the 11th round of the Premier League, the entire British media landscape went into an uproar.

Three matches featuring a feast of goals left fans utterly mesmerized.

No one had expected such astonishing form over a weekend with two games a week.

After 11 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had 8 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, earning them 26 points and placing them second in the league table.

Manchester United also had 26 points, but due to goal difference, they were in 3rd place.

Arsenal remained unbeaten with 8 wins and 3 draws.

But the most surprising performer of this round was Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale.

No one had thought that after winning Man of the Match previously, the young Welshman would score a brace in this round, delivering a truly brilliant performance.

He was only 18 years old.

Yang Cheng also changed his previous protective stance towards Gareth Bale and publicly praised the Welsh winger’s outstanding performance.

“Although, I must still say, he is very young, but he has already shown exceptional qualities.”

“I hope he can maintain his current momentum of improvement and work hard to enhance his abilities.”

“I believe that in the near future, he will definitely have the chance to become one of the best players in the world!”

The British media, of course, would not let such a god-given opportunity pass, and they dug deep into Gareth Bale’s story.

From his experiences in Wales to the entire process of joining Bayswater Chinese.

Only then did everyone realize that Gareth Bale’s career had not been smooth sailing.

He was even once on the verge of being kicked out by Southampton.

Who would have thought that this young man, shining so brightly at Bayswater Chinese, had only cost 1.5 million pound sterling back then.

From Gareth Bale to Theo Walcott, The Times considered this a victory for Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy!

The authoritative British media outlet believed that Bayswater Chinese, unlike other teams, did not blindly pursue superstars and spend huge sums on signings. Instead, from the very beginning, when they were still in the lower leagues, they had always been investing heavily in their youth academy.

“According to data we’ve obtained, Bayswater Chinese has spent over 50 million pound sterling on its youth academy from 2003 to the present.”

“Among all Premier League teams, they have invested the most.”

But The Times also believed that Bayswater Chinese’s returns were extremely high.

From the once-famous England youth international centre-forward Jon Stead, to the current England international goalkeeper Joe Hart, to Aaron Lennon, and later transfers like Ribéry, Ashley Young, and Škrtel.

All these players came to Bayswater Chinese at a young age, developed under Yang Cheng’s tutelage, improved and progressed, and then left the team.

From the transfers of these players, Bayswater Chinese had made a fortune.

“Last season, when Ashley Young chose to join Manchester United, everyone was worried about Bayswater Chinese, thinking their attacking firepower would be severely affected.”

“But in reality, so far this season, Gareth Bale has already scored 4 Premier League goals, Di María has 2 league goals, and Walcott has 3 league goals.”

“Džeko has also scored 7 goals in the league, and Arshavin has scored an incredible 10 goals.”

Add to that Robert Lewandowski and Lambert.

The Times finally came to a conclusion.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower this season, far from being weakened by Ashley Young’s transfer, had actually been further unleashed.

And the most stunning among them were the British twin stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Both players possessed lightning speed and solid fundamental skills.

More importantly, they both had impressive dribbling ability and the knack for breaking into the box to score.

This was something Ashley Young lacked.

For example, both being left wingers, Gareth Bale and Di María’s ability to burst down the flank left Ashley Young in the dust.

…

Yang Cheng was indeed very surprised by Gareth Bale’s recent outbreak of form.

But considering both his age of 18 and his relative physical weakness, Yang Cheng did not plan to give him more game time.

Just like now.

Arshavin was the starter, while the three young players—Di María, Walcott, and Gareth Bale—rotated.

This was the best arrangement.

The players had a certain level of competitive pressure among themselves, motivating each other to perform better.

At the same time, it prevented them from playing too many matches at a young age and ending up with a career plagued by injuries.

Additionally, Yang Cheng had Adam Crozier increase the intensity of his appeals at The FA and the Premier League, and in every possible venue.

He hoped The FA and the Premier League would pay more attention to the standard of officiating in the Premier League.

Especially cases involving injurious tackles.

This was an old problem in the Premier League.

Defensive challenges were too rough, which was not conducive to the development of young players.

Moreover, Yang Cheng clearly remembered that Arsenal’s Brazilian-born Croatian forward, Eduardo da Silva, suffered a broken leg this very season.

Last season, he had successfully helped protect Čech’s head, but now, he was powerless to help Eduardo da Silva.

Over the past few years, Yang Cheng had been constantly appealing in various settings, hoping to raise sufficient awareness.

If for no other reason than to protect his own group of players at Bayswater Chinese.

…

Midweek, in the League Cup Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese faced Coventry away.

The Championship team had knocked out Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford in the previous round.

Unexpectedly, they were now facing Bayswater Chinese.

Many onlookers were eagerly anticipating whether they could continue to play the role of giant-killer.

Yang Cheng didn’t care much, still fielding a full lineup of substitutes and young players.

For the first hour, the two sides were locked in a 0-0 stalemate, with neither able to get the upper hand.

But in the 68th minute, Coventry broke the deadlock with a long shot that beat Begović.

Just three minutes later, Di María dribbled past two players and assisted Robert Lewandowski to level the score for the team.

As the match neared its end, it was Di María again, launching a quick counter-attack from the left channel and setting up Walcott for a one-on-one goal.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese narrowly defeated Coventry away from home!

…

Weekend, Premier League, week 12.

With the crucial fourth round of the Champions League group stage against Real Madrid at home on Wednesday, a match that could decide their qualification from the group, there was much at stake.

Yang Cheng hoped the team could secure their spot in the knockout stage early, which would allow them to relax for the remaining two rounds.

Furthermore, 75,000 tickets had been sold for this match.

This would be the most attended match since Bayswater Chinese moved to Wembley Stadium.

Therefore, defeat was absolutely not an option.

Yang Cheng rotated his squad appropriately, hoping to rest his starting lineup to be at full strength for the home game against Real Madrid.

Unexpectedly, in the 18th minute, Fulham launched a quick counter-attack. Diomansy Kamara won a penalty after being fouled in the box.

Simon Davies calmly converted, giving Fulham the lead.

After that, Fulham began to defend with all their might.

Bayswater Chinese launched wave after wave of attacks, but couldn’t find an effective way to score.

In the second half, Yang Cheng decisively brought on Lambert to further strengthen the attack.

In the 54th minute, from an attacking free-kick opportunity, Leighton Baines delivered a perfect pass, and Lambert’s header found the net, successfully equalizing the score.

1-1!

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack.

But in the 67th minute, defender Elliott Omozusi committed a foul and received his second yellow card, resulting in a red card.

From then on, the entire Fulham team dropped back to defend, managing to hold on to the 1-1 scoreline until the end.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Fulham away from home.

In the same round, Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Blackburn Rovers.

Chelsea beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 away.

After Grant’s team reverted to Mourinho’s tactical system, Chelsea’s performance had been steadily improving.

The headline match of the round was Manchester United’s away trip to face Arsenal.

In the end, The Red Devils, thanks to an own goal from Gallas and a last-minute winner from C. Ronaldo in the second half, defeated Arsenal 2-1 away.

With that, after 12 rounds of matches, Manchester United had overtaken the top spot with 29 points.

Bayswater Chinese followed closely behind with 27 points.

Arsenal also had 27 points but were in 3rd place due to a worse goal difference than Bayswater Chinese.

Liverpool had 25 points, while Chelsea was in 8th place in the Premier League with 21 points.

After finishing the 12th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng and his team began to focus their preparations at Bayswater Stadium for the Wednesday Champions League group stage match.

But on Monday morning, Reuters suddenly dropped a bombshell.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov had purchased another block of Arsenal shares on the previous Friday.

To date, the Russian billionaire now held over 25% of Arsenal’s shares, making him the club’s second-largest shareholder.

Among the shares he had acquired was the 14.65% stake held by Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, David Dein.

This meant that David Dein, the club’s Vice-Chairman, no longer held any shares in Arsenal.

The news sent shockwaves throughout the English football world.

After all, since becoming involved with Arsenal in 1983, David Dein had always been the chief architect of The Gunners.

From hiring famous managers like George Graham and Wenger, to a series of major signings, to the construction of the Emirates Stadium, David Dein’s influence was behind it all.

He was also a leader in the Premier League’s reform, the Vice-Chairman of The FA, and the Chairman of the European G-14.

What on earth was such a powerful and influential figure in the football world up to?

Chapter 131: King of London! Long-Distance Sprint! Yang Cheng: I Want to Buy Arsenal!

“David, we need a reasonable explanation.”

In a conference room at Arsenal’s headquarters in the Emirates Stadium, several members of Arsenal’s board of directors, who were also major core shareholders, were gathered.

This was an emergency board meeting.

It had been called by the Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood.

A man who had been at the helm of Arsenal since 1962.

The special meeting’s agenda involved a titan of European football who had served as the club’s vice-chairman since 1983.

David Dein had also been Arsenal’s representative in the Premier League and European football for all these years.

This time, the attendance was high.

Major shareholders Danny Fiszman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, and representatives from the Carr family were all present.

Clearly, everyone was shocked by David Dein’s actions.

“Usmanov offered seventy-five million pounds sterling to buy my shares,” David Dein stated frankly.

He had never intended to hide it.

He felt that the problem had to be brought into the open for Arsenal to have a future.

This board meeting was something he had anticipated.

Seventy-five million pounds?!

Everyone present was first doubtful, then astonished.

This meant Usmanov was valuing Arsenal at five hundred million pounds.

Everyone here was a businessperson. They immediately began calculating in their heads how many shares they held and how much money they could get at that valuation.

Was it worth it?

For reference, the Glazer family’s acquisition of Manchester United from 2003 to 2005 cost a total of 790 million pounds.

Peter Hill-Wood was already in his seventies, and his children had no interest in running a football club.

But he and his family were die-hard Arsenal supporters.

That was why he had always refused to sell Arsenal, rejecting offers from the American Stan Kroenke and the Russian Alisher Usmanov.

But he never expected that his trusted right-hand man of many years would secretly “betray” him.

“You’ve broken our agreement, David. You didn’t breathe a word to me about this,” Hill-Wood said, somewhat enraged.

“I’m sorry, Peter, but I believe it’s a fair price, and the terms Usmanov offered are quite good.”

David Dein naturally wouldn’t reveal the specific details of those terms.

Usmanov had promised that if he bought Arsenal, David Dein would continue to steer the Gunners.

This would allow his son, Darren Dein, and the agent Jerome Anderson to continue their business.

Kroenke, however, refused to make any such promises to David Dein.

This was hardly a secret in the Premier League.

Ferguson’s son was also an agent, and his brother was Manchester United’s chief scout.

As long as it benefited the club, what was wrong with insiders doing business with the club?

But for now, David Dein didn’t want to discuss that topic.

Everyone present was a major shareholder, but it was clear they hadn’t yet realized the gravity of the situation.

“In front of each of you is a copy of our club’s actual financial statements for the past three years.”

David Dein looked at the shareholders before him, his face grim.

“This is our club’s biggest secret. It can only be viewed in this conference room. Not a single word of this is to leave this room.”

The shareholders were surprised. They all opened the documents in front of them, and the financial data within was shocking.

“I want to say that losing out on Champions League qualification for the past two seasons has had a far greater impact on our club than we initially estimated.”

Arsenal’s finances were never made public.

This concealed many secrets, such as the salaries and benefits of David Dein and the board members.

And a whole host of other things.

Everyone on the outside said that Arsenal was drowning in debt from building the new stadium.

But how much did they actually owe?

In fact, it was only 260 million pounds.

Back in 1999, the initial project estimate was 150 million pounds, but it later exceeded expectations, reaching 300 million.

By the time the project was completed and the final accounts were settled, the actual cost was 470 million pounds.

Arsenal’s debt primarily consisted of 260 million pounds borrowed from several banks in 2003. The loan term was fourteen years, which was relatively short, creating significant annual repayment pressure.

So, in 2006, David Dein, Hill-Wood, and other board members unanimously decided to issue bonds on the open market, using the completed Emirates Stadium as collateral. They took out 210 million pounds in fixed-rate bonds and 50 million pounds in floating-rate bonds.

The interest rates were 5.14% and 5.97%, with repayment terms of up to twenty-five years.

They used this money to pay off the bank loans.

Why issue bonds to repay bank loans?

Arsenal’s public explanation was that bonds had longer repayment periods and more favorable interest rates.

But what was the reality?

The purpose of paying off the bank loans was to secure another loan from the banks.

In 2006, Arsenal also invested in a massive apartment real estate project.

The plan was to demolish the old Highbury stadium and build apartment buildings on the site.

So, in 2006, after issuing bonds and paying off the bank loans, Arsenal turned around and took out another short-term loan of 133.5 million pounds for a four-year term.

Therefore, from 2006 to 2010, besides repaying the principal and interest on the initial 260 million in bonds, Arsenal also had to repay the principal and interest on this latter 133.5-million-pound short-term loan.

That amounted to at least 56 million pounds every year.

See the problem?

Neither the bank loans for the stadium construction nor the bonds used to repay them were beyond Arsenal’s means. What was truly crushing the club was the loan for the apartment real estate project.

In the 2005/06 season, Arsenal’s revenue was around 145 million pounds.

The club had originally projected it would reach 180 million pounds by the 2006/07 season.

At that rate, repaying 56 million pounds annually would be difficult, but not fatal.

Moreover, once the apartments were completed and sold, the funds would flow back in.

But what about now?

The club had lost out on Champions League qualification for both the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons, resulting in a loss of at least twenty million pounds each year.

Revenue had fallen far short of expectations.

Selling Henry had brought in a transfer fee, which helped them scrape by for a while.

But now?

It’s important to note that the transfer fees for buying Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda would be amortized over six years.

But the income from Henry’s transfer was recorded immediately.

At the time, Arsenal’s thinking was to sign Lennon and Chimbonda to patch up the club’s weaknesses and break into the Champions League places.

But who could have predicted they would ultimately fail?

Not only did they fail, but Chimbonda’s performance after joining Arsenal was far below expectations.

On one hand, there was the 56 million pounds in annual principal and interest payments, plus the club’s payroll and various expenses. On the other, the club’s revenue, instead of growing, had stalled.

“We have incurred massive losses for two consecutive seasons. By the 2008/09 season, our finances will no longer be sustainable.”

David Dein very seriously warned all the shareholders present that the situation was extremely dire.

Peter Hill-Wood closed the report in front of him and sighed. “Let’s hold on a little longer. The situation is good this year, maybe we can return to the Champions League. The apartment project is nearing completion too. Once we sell them, the funds will come in, and the pressure will be greatly reduced.”

“Peter!”

David Dein said loudly, “Let’s stop deceiving ourselves, shall we?”

“America, just across the Atlantic, they have been continuously cutting interest rates and injecting capital to save the market.”

“The subprime mortgage crisis has already erupted. It can’t be covered up anymore.”

“Look at the UK property market right now. Even if we finish building the apartments, can we sell them?”

The shareholders present all knew in their hearts why they had decided to build the apartments in the first place.

To put it bluntly, everyone wanted to make money.

Since they made the decision back then, and now the gamble had failed, they had to accept the loss.

David Dein pointed out a very cruel reality.

Arsenal wouldn’t survive until 2009!

In fact, if they couldn’t alleviate the club’s financial pressure soon, they would have to continue selling players in the summer of 2008.

And if they sold, the team would become even less competitive.

“The Premier League today is completely different from the Premier League when we decided to build the new stadium in 1999, or when we took out bank loans in 2003. The times have completely changed.”

“Back then, we never could have imagined that Roman Abramovich would completely change the rules of the game in the Premier League.”

“We certainly never imagined that a lower-league team north of Hyde Park would transform into the new powerhouse of the Premier League.”

“We’ve missed out on the Champions League for two straight seasons. This season, can we afford to gamble?”

None of the shareholders present could answer David Dein’s question.

Compared to ordinary people, they were all wealthy tycoons, members of the upper class.

But compared to Abramovich, compared to those nouveau riche who burned money on football, their assets were nothing.

Over the past few years, David Dein had discussed with these shareholders many times about either providing loans to the club themselves to ease the financial pressure.

The money would be considered a loan.

But no one was willing to invest any more money.

“Right now, we only have two choices. Either we all go down together—I’ve already sold my shares, anyway.”

“Or, we accept outside investors.”

At the mention of investors, the shareholders fell silent again.

Everyone looked to Peter Hill-Wood for leadership.

The septuagenarian was the most resistant to outside investors.

Back in 2003, he had rejected Abramovich’s takeover bid.

This year, he had done the same with Kroenke and Usmanov.

But now, circumstances were beyond his control, and he could no longer afford to be stubborn.

“We can accept a capital injection to alleviate the club’s financial pressure. They can join the board, but only as non-executive directors.”

Upon hearing this, David Dein let out a cold snort.

“Peter, do you take them for fools?”

Peter Hill-Wood’s face flushed with anger, but he quickly sighed.

“I’ll say it again. We have no choice. Either we accept a capital injection and dilute everyone’s shares, or we sell our shares to one of the investors, let him acquire all the club’s shares, and then inject capital.”

Neither option was something the current Arsenal shareholders were willing to choose.

After speaking, David Dein reminded everyone present that this financial report absolutely must not be leaked.

Then he stood up and left.

He left the few people in the conference room looking at each other, clearly unable to make a decision.

On the evening of November 6th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Real Madrid.

Just one hundred seconds into the match, Bayswater Chinese threatened Casillas’s goal with an overhead kick from near the penalty spot.

It was a masterpiece from Andrei Arshavin.

The Russian was clearly addicted to overhead kicks.

This immediately ignited the atmosphere in the stadium.

Bayswater Chinese used their home advantage from the start, launching wave after wave of attacks on Real Madrid’s defense.

Unlike the last match, several of Real Madrid’s injured players had returned for this game.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Heinze, Škrtel, Cannavaro, and Ramos;

Midfield: Sneijder, Gago, Mahamadou Diarra, and Robinho;

Forwards: Raúl and Van Nistelrooy.

Schuster’s team still employed a 4-4-2 formation.

The main difference from the first leg was that Robinho was playing on the right wing.

It was a clear attempt to attack Bayswater Chinese’s left flank.

Because Leighton Baines was carrying a minor injury, Marcelo was starting this match.

Schuster obviously knew that Marcelo was strong in attack but weak in defense, so he wanted to exploit that side.

Yang Cheng also knew what the opponent was planning. Instead of trying to compensate, he wanted to go head-to-head with Real Madrid and fight it out.

He had the confidence to do so!

Moreover, he wanted to bring a more spectacular football feast to the home fans.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese held little back from the very beginning, charging directly at Real Madrid’s defense.

Real Madrid themselves were strong in attack and weak in defense, with a host of defensive problems.

As a result, the two sides ended up in a slugfest.

In the 14th minute, as Bayswater Chinese pressed high up the pitch, Real Madrid’s defensive line made a passing error.

Heinze’s pass to Škrtel was intercepted by Džeko, who got there a step ahead.

After winning the ball, the Bosnian centre-forward broke into the penalty area, shook off Škrtel, and laid the ball off to his left. Arshavin made an overlapping run and slotted it home, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

But just five minutes later, Bayswater Chinese’s defense was caught out by Real Madrid.

During a swift counter-attack, Sneijder sent a diagonal pass, and Robinho quickly cut in from the right, finding himself one-on-one with the keeper. He fired a low shot past Neuer, successfully equalizing the score.

1-1!

The two teams were going at it tit for tat, neither willing to back down!

In the 24th minute, a Bayswater Chinese attack earned them a corner kick on the left side.

Modrić took the corner, sending it precisely to the near post.

Pepe won the first ball, flicking it on with a header.

At the far post, Yaya Touré out-jumped both Cannavaro and Ramos to head the ball, smashing it into Real Madrid’s goal.

2-1!

The home fans were ecstatic.

Have you ever seen a football match like this, where both teams just ignored defense and went straight for the jugular?

A goal down, Real Madrid were fired up and began to press forward and attack.

In the 31st minute, Gareth Bale received a pass from Modrić on the left flank. Under pressure from Ramos, he unleashed a long shot that went high over the bar.

The Welshman, who had been in excellent form recently, was being tightly marked by Ramos in this game, and his performance suffered as a result.

This was a common issue for young players—their performances tended to fluctuate.

But in the 35th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield. After making the tackle, Lassana Diarra wanted to play a through ball to find Džeko, just like in the previous match against Newcastle.

The French midfielder was hooked on the idea.

However, the intention of the pass was too obvious and it was blocked by Mahamadou Diarra.

The ball fell to Modrić’s feet.

The Croatian took a touch and immediately sent another through ball forward.

This pass was as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel, gliding over twenty meters along the turf to the feet of Džeko inside the penalty area.

The Bosnian centre-forward controlled the ball and shot in one fluid, incredibly graceful motion.

The ball drilled into Real Madrid’s goal.

3-1!

Afterward, both teams continued to create chances and take shots frequently.

But neither side managed to score again.

Neither team made any substitutions at halftime.

After the break, in the 54th minute, Robinho was brought down by Marcelo while dribbling down the right wing, earning Real Madrid a free kick in an attacking position.

Sneijder took the free kick, and Ramos headed the ball into the net. 2-3!

Real Madrid were still trailing and continued to attack.

Although Bayswater Chinese were a goal ahead, they showed no mercy.

When it came to an attacking showdown, Bayswater Chinese had never feared anyone!

Yang Cheng soon brought on Theo Walcott, replacing Džeko, who had played two consecutive matches.

The Bosnian centre-forward had been outstanding in this game with a goal and an assist.

The fans in the stadium rose to their feet, giving Džeko a warm round of applause.

Even after a series of substitutions, both teams maintained their open, attacking posture, with neither showing any intention of backing down.

The fans in the stadium were having the time of their lives.

In the 87th minute of the second half, Real Madrid won a corner kick in an advanced position.

Sneijder sent the ball into the box, but it was headed out by a defender.

The ball fell to Gago and others on the edge of the area.

Gareth Bale contested the header with Gago, nodding the ball to an unmarked Walcott in the left channel.

The Little Tiger immediately knocked the ball ahead of himself and took off like an arrow released from a bow.

Everyone saw a red figure, moving at incredible speed, catch up to the ball, power it forward again, and then chase after it once more, without losing any momentum in his sprint.

In an instant, he had blazed past one white-shirted defender after another.

Over seventy thousand fans in Wembley Stadium erupted in frenzied screams.

The sheer impact of such lightning speed sent adrenaline coursing through everyone’s veins.

Walcott burst through the entire defense at breakneck speed, charging into Real Madrid’s penalty area to face the last defender.

With a skillful one-two shuffle, the Little Tiger instantly evaded the diving Casillas and slotted the ball into the empty net with his left foot.

The moment the football rolled into Real Madrid’s goal, all seventy-five thousand fans in the stadium went wild, chanting Walcott’s name.

There was nothing that could ignite a crowd’s passion more than a spectacular long-distance sprint.

Especially after such a thrilling end-to-end battle, Walcott’s solo run provided the perfect conclusion to the entire match!

After rising from their seats, countless fans in the stands never sat down again.

They continuously applauded the players on the field.

The thunderous applause echoed through every corner of Wembley Stadium.

It was a clear sign of the fans’ satisfaction with the match.

4-2!

A total of six goals!

There wasn’t a single dull moment in the entire game.

Both teams had completely forgotten about defending, attacking with relentless ferocity.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese’s attack proved to be a cut above Real Madrid’s.

After the match at Wembley, the game received high praise from all over Europe.

In the ninety-minute showdown between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid, the two teams combined for a staggering forty-one shots.

It was an absolutely insane tempo!

On average, a shot was taken every two minutes.

One can only imagine what kind of a match that was.

In terms of shot count, Bayswater Chinese had twenty-three to Real Madrid’s eighteen.

However, in shots on target, Bayswater Chinese had fourteen, scoring four goals, while Real Madrid had only seven, scoring two.

Both teams were quite impressive in terms of both the number of attacks and their shooting efficiency.

Especially Bayswater Chinese.

Fourteen shots on target, yet only four goals scored.

The most telling result was that, after the match, Casillas was named the man of the match.

Despite the loss, AS newspaper gave Real Madrid high praise, believing they had shown many bright spots in the battle at Wembley.

From Sneijder to Robinho, both were brilliant.

Additionally, Gago’s passing and distribution in this match were also well-executed.

But AS newspaper also mentioned that Sneijder and Robinho needed to deliver consistent, stable performances.

The British media also showered Bayswater Chinese with high praise, noting that after this victory, a fourth consecutive win, they had secured the top spot in the group and advanced to the Champions League round of sixteen ahead of schedule.

This was the second consecutive season that Bayswater Chinese had reached the Champions League round of sixteen.

Everyone believed that, given the standard of play they had demonstrated, Bayswater Chinese definitely had a chance to achieve an even better result than last season.

After all, Modrić, Lassana Diarra, and Yaya Touré in midfield were all more mature and stronger than they were last season.

Many media outlets were focusing on Bayswater Chinese’s young players.

Walcott and Rakitić both performed very well, and although Marcelo had a tough time against Robinho, his contribution on the offensive end was also significant.

By English standards, Marcelo’s performance was indeed highly controversial.

On one hand, his offensive abilities—be it technique, first touch, passing, or even long balls—were all very polished. His overall quality was truly impressive, making him look like a typical Brazilian full-back.

His long diagonal passes from the left flank were particularly threatening.

On the other hand, his defending was genuinely shaky.

Otherwise, Schuster wouldn’t have immediately shifted Robinho to the right wing upon seeing him in the starting lineup.

The player who received the most praise was Walcott.

His long-distance solo run after coming on as a substitute made the British media as happy as if it were a national holiday.

Everyone said he had the flair of a young Owen.

Yang Cheng was already used to the British media’s habit of hyping up local stars.

In his view, Walcott, Gareth Bale, and Aaron Ramsey were all very disciplined and had no bad habits.

Most importantly, they listened to advice.

The biggest danger for young players is thinking they’re invincible after just starting to make a name for themselves.

Having personality and pride is a good thing.

Young players should be like that.

But they must be able to take advice and distinguish what is good for them.

Those who insist on going their own way, no matter how talented, rarely fulfill their potential.

At noon on November 10th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the 13th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

As the match reached the 44th minute, the score on the scoreboard was still 0-0.

An attack down the right flank by Bayswater Chinese resulted in a corner kick.

Modrić quickly ran over to take it.

The Bayswater Chinese players swiftly surged into the Arsenal penalty area.

At that moment, all sixty-five thousand plus fans in the stadium were roaring at the top of their lungs.

On the sidelines, in front of the away team’s technical area, Wenger stared nervously at the pitch, silent.

He desperately tried to hide his inner anxiety, but his eyes betrayed him.

With a blow of his whistle, head referee Rob Styles signaled for the kick. Modrić took a quick run-up and whipped in a curling ball.

The trajectory of the ball was quite low, heading towards the near post of Arsenal’s goal.

A very, very near post.

Koscielny rushed forward and, unmarked, flicked the ball with his head.

The ball dropped even faster towards the goalmouth.

Arsenal’s penalty area was already in chaos.

Many players’ attention had been drawn to Koscielny.

As a result, when the ball fell into the six-yard box, the few players gathered at the near post all missed it.

They either didn’t react in time or swung and missed.

There were players from both Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal.

It was the same for everyone.

But right in front of the six-yard box, a tall, sturdy red figure came charging in.

He stormed into the six-yard box with the force of a heavy truck plowing through a crowded pedestrian street.

Who could stop him?

Right in front of Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Almunia, Yaya Touré got a touch on the ball.

The ball squeezed under the outstretched hands of the Spanish goalkeeper and into Arsenal’s net.

Referee Styles immediately blew his whistle!

Yaya Touré had already turned and run. The Ivorian midfielder was incredibly excited, waving his arms all the way, shouting as he ran to the sideline, and opened his arms wide to the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands.

At this moment, the score on the board changed to 1-0!

All the fans in the stadium were chanting one name.

Yaya Touré!

Wenger had always believed he had an excellent memory.

He was particularly sensitive to all sorts of data.

He could remember things, numbers, from a long time ago with perfect clarity.

However, he had forgotten when Yaya Touré had come to Arsenal for a trial, and for how long.

The only thing he could be sure of was that it must have been during the summer of 2003, when the team was in pre-season training.

At that time, Kolo Touré had approached him, asking if his younger brother could have a trial at Arsenal.

The Ivorian defender was performing well, and Wenger did him the favor and agreed.

Not long after, the player from a lower-tier Belgian league arrived at Arsenal.

Wenger’s memory of him was faint. He only remembered him training with the team, playing in midfield.

It was hard to say which specific position, because he played all over the place.

He supposedly played as an attacking midfielder, central midfielder, holding midfielder, centre-back, and he could even play on the wing.

In short, he said he could play anywhere.

All to be able to stay at Arsenal.

Wenger was used to such declarations from young players. His first impression of Yaya Touré was: he’s really strong!

When he got on the pitch, he discovered his technique was actually quite good.

He just held onto the ball a bit too much.

This was a common flaw in players who hadn’t gone through formal youth academy training and refinement, possessing a strong street football style.

Wenger couldn’t remember how long Yaya Touré had been on trial at Arsenal.

He seemed to recall him playing in a pre-season friendly.

He had specifically arranged for him to play, but he messed it up.

And at that time, he couldn’t get a work permit.

Oh, right, Wenger remembered now.

July.

Because the British media had reported on a work permit at that time.

A team from the third division had applied for England’s first-ever work permit, and it was for a scrawny-looking kid from Croatia.

The most absurd part was that the rich kid owner of that third-division team had audaciously claimed that the skinny kid would be a midfield genius!

In short, at that time, the whole of England treated it as a joke.

Many even felt it would become another laughingstock for The FA.

But times had changed.

Four years had flown by.

Now, that third-division team had transformed into the reigning Premier League champions, his opponent in today’s match, and the new powerhouse of European football.

The laughingstock everyone talked about, the skinny kid looked down upon by so many, was now the captain of Bayswater Chinese and the core of their midfield.

Modrić was very low-key, and his stats weren’t particularly eye-catching, but anyone who knew football knew he was a true genius!

And the rich kid who made those audacious claims back then had created all of this!

Yaya Touré, for whom Wenger had been unwilling to apply for a work permit all those years ago, had just, a moment ago, scored against the Gunners, representing that former third-division team.

All these memories intertwined in Wenger’s mind in an instant, forming a very absurd and, at the same time, somewhat difficult-to-accept recollection.

Wenger could well understand why Yaya Touré was always so fired up whenever he played against Arsenal.

Many players were like that.

They simply wanted to make people like Wenger regret everything they had done back then.

Wenger silently turned around and returned to the manager’s bench.

After sitting down, he simply closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and tried to suppress the frustration in his heart.

Because he really did regret it!

The first half ended with Yaya Touré’s goal giving them a 1-0 lead.

But there was still the second half to play, and it was far from time to let their guard down.

“Arsenal is one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the top five leagues this season!”

In the dressing room at halftime, Yang Cheng was rallying all his players.

“Facing a team like this, we must give two hundred percent commitment.”

Yang Cheng was not satisfied with the team’s performance at the start of the first half.

Bayswater Chinese had started very poorly, which led to the tempo of the entire first half being dictated by Arsenal.

If it weren’t for that corner kick in the final stages, if it weren’t for Yaya Touré’s goal, this would have been a very difficult match for Bayswater Chinese.

Now, he needed his players to make a change.

“Arsenal won’t choose to defend, because they can’t!”

Yang Cheng was absolutely certain.

With Gilberto Silva out injured, Wenger’s two central midfielders for this match were Flamini partnered with Fàbregas.

Coincidentally, this was not Flamini’s contract year.

Arsenal’s performance throughout the first half proved they were not at their best.

They had just been knocked out of the UEFA Cup.

Arsenal’s situation this season was good. They were currently third in the Premier League, and Wenger wanted to fight for a top-four finish to secure Champions League qualification for next season.

But the Gunners’ squad depth was clearly insufficient to compete on multiple fronts simultaneously.

So Wenger had to make some choices.

Everyone knew which choice to make.

“In the second half, they will definitely come out and attack!”

“And our job is to beat back their attack!”

“This isn’t just about three points. This is about Arsenal’s challenge to us on the league table!”

“I want you to use this match to show the sixty-five thousand fans in the stadium, to show all of London, who the true King of London is!”

After the second half began, the situation unfolded exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Arsenal, who kicked off, immediately launched an attack.

In less than a minute, the Gunners managed two consecutive shots from the left side of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area, but both were blocked and failed to threaten the goal.

But the Gunners were not satisfied and continued to press forward.

But in the 48th minute, Arsenal’s midfielder Fàbregas was on the ball and got tangled up with Modrić.

The two were jostling for the ball near the center circle in Arsenal’s half.

In the end, neither of them won it.

The ball broke free from their control and rolled to the left.

Ángel Di María was the first to react, rushing over and poking the ball forward just before Fàbregas could get to it, before accelerating to chase after it himself.

At this time, Džeko up front had already started his run.

Arsenal’s two centre-backs were a bit too far apart.

Di María played a through ball, aiming for the space right in front of Džeko, between Kolo Touré and Gallas.

The Bosnian centre-forward charged forward, got to the ball a step ahead, used his body to shield it from Kolo Touré, and carried it into Arsenal’s penalty area with his right foot. Just before the onrushing goalkeeper Almunia could reach him, he executed a chip shot.

The ball sailed over Almunia’s head and dropped into the unguarded net behind him.

Gallas chased back desperately, trying to clear the ball off the goal line.

But the ball was faster than the man!

“GOAL!!!”

“Just three minutes into the second half, Bayswater Chinese have breached Arsenal’s goal again.”

“2-0!”

“That was a beautiful through ball from Di María.”

“Edin Džeko’s overlapping run was also very clever. Kolo Touré was at a physical disadvantage.”

The entire stadium echoed with the sound of fans chanting Džeko’s name.

Everyone was cheering.

As the match neared its end, Arsenal won a corner kick.

The resulting corner caused chaos inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

Amidst the scramble, Hleb spotted a sliver of an opportunity and, taking advantage of the confusion, stabbed the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s net.

1-2!

By this point, it was already the 87th minute.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 2-1.

The moment the final whistle blew, a deafening cheer erupted throughout the stadium.

All the fans stood up, giving their team a roaring ovation and enthusiastic applause.

Arsenal’s unbeaten record was finally broken!

From now on, there was only one unbeaten team left in the top five European leagues this season.

That team was Liverpool!

In the same round of fixtures, Liverpool defeated Fulham 2-0 at home.

Chelsea, after a few excellent rounds, were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Everton.

Manchester United, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home.

After thirteen matches, Manchester United led the league table with thirty-two points.

Bayswater Chinese were close behind with thirty points.

Arsenal were level on points with Liverpool at twenty-seven.

Manchester City were in fifth with twenty-six points, and Chelsea were sixth with twenty-five.

After the match, Yang Cheng went over to shake Wenger’s hand and greet him.

As was customary, he politely asked if he wanted to go for a couple of drinks.

In the past, Wenger had always refused.

But today, for some reason, he actually agreed.

Now the one who was embarrassed was Yang Cheng.

I was just asking casually, just to be polite. Why’d you take it seriously?

I haven’t prepared any wine!

Seeing Yang Cheng’s expression, Wenger’s bitter mood from the loss instantly improved.

You hypocrite, your mask’s been torn off now, hasn’t it?

“All of England knows you’re a vampire who only takes and never gives. What? You can’t even spare a bottle of red wine for a guest?” Wenger teased.

How could Yang Cheng let Wenger get the better of him?

What was that saying?

What you can’t win on the pitch, don’t expect to win at the bar!

Yang Cheng was on good terms with the stadium managers at Wembley. He could just borrow some from them. He was sure they drank.

So, he invited Wenger over and had Brian Kidd find someone to borrow from.

Sure enough, a short while later, the wine arrived.

“This wine… is not good,” Wenger said with a hint of disdain.

Yang Cheng chuckled. “In your current mood, even the best wine would taste sour to you.”

Wenger didn’t argue.

Seeing Yang Cheng pour two glasses, he picked one up, clinked it against the other, took a sip, and smacked his lips twice.

Indeed, the wine was no good.

Who knows where this cheapskate had scrounged it up from on such short notice.

“You’ll have to understand, I don’t usually invite people for drinks at this stadium.”

“That’s why everyone says you’re the stingiest manager in the Premier League.”

“Since you knew I was stingy, why did you agree? That makes you the most tactless manager in the Premier League,” Yang Cheng retorted.

Wenger laughed out loud.

When it came to thick skin, he really couldn’t beat Yang Cheng.

They bantered back and forth for a bit, their conversation meandering.

Yang Cheng suddenly thought of some recent news and couldn’t resist asking gossip-style.

“Hey, how come I’m hearing your team is up for sale?”

“Fake news,” Wenger said impatiently.

He was tired of being asked that question.

Seeing his expression, Yang Cheng became even more certain.

If that news was fake, then pigs could fly!

“Even The Guardian reported it, and there was that news from Reuters about Usmanov before. Surely it can’t all be fake?”

Wenger retorted irritably, “We’re arch-rivals. Why do you care about this?”

“I’m preparing to buy Arsenal!” Yang Cheng joked with a perfectly straight face.

Wenger was genuinely amused.

That’s how comedy works.

“Are you really planning to sell?” Yang Cheng pressed on.

Wenger grunted twice. He seriously suspected this kid was just trying to feel him out.

“If we really get taken over by a tycoon and I get a huge transfer budget, the first thing I’ll do is poach all of your players.”

Yang Cheng broke into a smile.

He wasn’t about to fall for Wenger’s trap.

“Go ahead. As long as you’re willing to pay, I’ll sell you anyone you want!”

Wenger was a little surprised. His shrewd old eyes stared at Yang Cheng, as if trying to detect a hint of bluff on his face.

But who was Yang Cheng?

Having lived three lives, how could he be seen through by Wenger?

“I really don’t understand you,” Wenger sighed. “How can you be so confident?”

Yang Cheng grinned. “Because you simply can’t afford the prices I’d ask!”

Wenger was stumped, speechless.

This guy was no fun. He always knew how to kill the conversation.

If he put it that way, of course I can’t afford it.

For example, for Gareth Bale, you could just demand one hundred million pounds.

Even if I could afford it, I’d have to be crazy to spend one hundred million pounds on Gareth Bale.

I could go to Ferguson and try to buy C. Ronaldo, and it probably wouldn’t cost that much.

Failing that, I could go to Barça and buy Messi!

“So, you really are planning to sell.” Yang Cheng changed the subject, steering the conversation back to Arsenal.

“That means the rumors are true. If you can’t find more money, if you don’t get into the Champions League again, you’ll be in for a very rough time.”

“So, you see what you’ve done? Is that something a decent person would do?” Wenger conceded.

This sort of thing wasn’t exactly a top secret.

Besides, in a while, once the dust settled, everyone would know anyway.

“Is it the Russian? Or the American?” Yang Cheng continued his gossip-mongering.

“I don’t know,” Wenger shook his head.

How would the board ask for his opinion on such matters before they had a general direction?

Yang Cheng was just a detached observer of these things, certainly not interested in participating.

Whether it was Kroenke or Usmanov, who could guarantee if they would be good or bad?

At the end of the day, those guys were all driven by profit.

Did people really think they were running charities?

It was just that the benefits they sought were different.

Even Abramovich’s love for Chelsea… true love?

Nonsense!

However, there was one thing Yang Cheng could cooperate with Wenger on.

This was the reason he had decided to invite Wenger for a drink.

It was to call on the Premier League to strengthen its refereeing standards on fouls, especially serious ones, such as tackles with intent to injure, which should be met with severe punishment and heavy penalties.

Wenger was in favor of this with both hands and feet.

Over the past few years, in order to “pay off its debts,” Arsenal had been bullied by other Premier League teams to no end.

Yang Cheng’s proposal was a perfect match.

It wasn’t about preventing mid-to-lower table teams from using tactical fouls, but at the very least, a distinction had to be made between malicious fouls and tactical ones.

The Premier League’s tolerance for malicious fouls was still far too lenient.

This was detrimental to young players and technical players alike.

On this point, Yang Cheng and Wenger’s positions were aligned.

But Bayswater Chinese was currently isolated and weak. Adam Crozier could say a few words and rally support for a while, but they needed people like Arsenal, David Dein, and Wenger to lend their support.

This was something that would benefit both sides.

Perhaps it could even prevent the leg-breaking incident involving Eduardo da Silva from ever happening.

It would also be a boost to the Premier League’s overall image and commercial promotion.

Wenger agreed on the spot.

As for how the two clubs would cooperate, how they would promote and advocate for this, and how they would contact more teams, Wenger said he would communicate with David Dein after he returned.

At that point, the two sides would coordinate at the club level.

Chapter 132: A Wonder Goal! Ender of Unbeaten Streaks! Not All Players Born in ’88 Are Trustworthy!

Following the thirteenth round of the Premier League and the match against Arsenal, the players immediately departed for another two-week international break.

As a head coach, Yang Cheng was truly being driven mad by this season’s international fixtures.

A two-week break in September, another in October, and yet another in November.

The league was constantly coming to a halt.

What was most ridiculous was that each break involved two consecutive matches, which was simply draining.

For a club like Bayswater Chinese, which was full of international players, it was genuinely agonizing.

And there was no legitimate reason to refuse the call-ups.

The only consolation for Yang Cheng was that none of his internationals had returned with injuries.

Still, the constant back-and-forth travel was a genuine torment.

Bayswater Chinese had already secured early qualification from their Champions League group.

For the fifth group stage match, an away game against Lazio, Yang Cheng had no intention of fielding his strongest lineup.

However, after the players returned, Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett carefully considered the physical condition of the internationals and ultimately advised Yang Cheng to rotate the squad for the fourteenth league match.

As a result, in the fourteenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 away to Manchester City.

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese played poorly.

Yet, they managed to go into halftime level with Manchester City at 1-1.

In the second half, the team’s performance showed a marked improvement. Their ability to create chances increased significantly, and they generated a continuous stream of scoring opportunities.

But whether it was Džeko or Lewandowski, neither seemed to have their shooting boots on today.

Džeko missed a one-on-one opportunity in the 71st minute.

Lewandowski didn’t fare much better.

After the Polish centre-forward came on as a substitute, with two strikers on the pitch, he latched onto a chipped pass from Yaya Touré just outside the box in the second minute of stoppage time. Beating the offside trap, he controlled the ball with his chest and unleashed a shot from close range, only to send it straight into the arms of Manchester City’s goalkeeper, Isaksson.

It was at that moment that Isaksson quickly launched a counter-attack with a throw. Giovanni delivered a sublime pass, and midfielder Stephen Ireland struck a volley near the penalty spot, beating Neuer.

Yang Cheng was disappointed with the result.

However, in the dressing room after the match, he didn’t blame the players, instead expressing his understanding.

Returning after a two-week international break, filled with long-distance travel and many players having played two full matches, it was no wonder their form was off.

…

After the fourteenth round of the Premier League, Manchester United lost 0-1 to Bolton.

Chelsea, on the other hand, secured a 2-0 away victory against Derby County.

Arsenal narrowly defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 at home.

The Gunners only managed to score twice as the match was drawing to a close.

Meanwhile, Liverpool triumphed over Newcastle with a 3-0 away win.

The top two teams in the league table both lost.

However, the league rankings remained unchanged.

Manchester United continued to lead the table with thirty-two points.

Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, and Arsenal were all on thirty points.

But Yang Cheng’s team held second place thanks to a superior goal difference.

Manchester City was fifth with twenty-nine points, and Chelsea was sixth.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng proactively defended his players, directing his criticism at FIFA’s international schedule, which he argued was extremely unreasonable.

Did other top clubs face the same problem?

Yes, but they didn’t have as many international players as Bayswater Chinese did, so his team suffered the most!

…

Three days later, Bayswater Chinese faced Lazio in an away match in Serie A.

Since the team had already qualified from the group stage, Yang Cheng fielded a lineup of reserves and young players.

Surprisingly, the young Bayswater Chinese players, free from any psychological pressure or burden, played exceptionally well in the first half.

In the 30th minute, Theo Walcott even scored for the team.

Yang Cheng had been pondering how to best position Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Both players shared common traits: solid fundamentals but lacking refined technique.

Gareth Bale was actually easier to figure out; the benchmark was a left-footed C. Ronaldo.

Both possessed outstanding physical attributes, and Bale’s explosive pace was even greater.

Walcott’s situation was more awkward.

Michael Owen?

Please, Owen himself was in an awkward phase of his career.

In the current football landscape, strikers like Owen had very little room to survive and were often pushed out to the wings.

The reason was simple: he was short and couldn’t handle the physical side of the game.

If you looked closely, who were the not-so-tall centre-forwards who had established themselves in the Premier League?

Suárez, Agüero, Rooney, Tevez, Gabriel Jesus.

They all had one thing in common: they weren’t tall, but their physical strength was not lacking.

And they had to have skill on the ball.

Why was Rooney’s position as a centre-forward always a subject of debate?

It was because his technique wasn’t good enough; he often couldn’t hold up the ball.

In contrast, a player with Walcott’s slender frame would have his bones shattered by defenders if he played as a centre-forward.

So, what were Walcott’s strengths?

Besides his blistering pace, Yang Cheng noted that his ball control and dribbling were decent.

Moreover, Walcott had excellent off-the-ball movement and a keen sense for goal-scoring opportunities.

When he played, it was mostly on the right wing. He could go to the byline and deliver crosses, and his crossing technique was quite good.

He could also cut inside.

Yes, a right-footed player on the right wing who could cut inside and make diagonal runs into the half-space to attack.

He could do the same on the left flank as well.

This was quite similar to Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo.

The club’s current development plan for Walcott was to mould him into a versatile attacking player.

In the future, when he was older and the time was right, he would need to start building muscle, especially in his upper body.

The sports science department had specifically researched this.

Take Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, for example.

Both were incredibly fast, but their physical builds were different.

The biggest difference was height and strength.

Gareth Bale was confident in his physical power. When pressed, his first instinct was to use his body to shield the ball before making a move.

What about someone like Walcott?

His physical strength was lacking, so his form would often break down under contact.

But in the Premier League, physical confrontation was unavoidable.

Often, in such situations, they would try to get a foot on the ball first to protect it.

This made them highly susceptible to injuries.

This was essentially the reason for what many fans jokingly called Walcott’s “stumbling dribble.”

After building muscle and increasing his strength, while he might not become as robust as Rooney or Agüero, he would at least be able to hold his own in physical duels and not be at a significant disadvantage.

Furthermore, strong muscles are effective in preventing injuries during physical contests.

To put it simply, if players like Gareth Bale and C. Ronaldo were off-road SUVs, then someone like Walcott was a supercar.

But both types of players shared a common tactical requirement.

Space.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese often pushed too far forward, mainly to leverage Arshavin’s strengths.

In the future, the team’s overall formation would surely have to drop back a bit, leaving enough space up front for players like Gareth Bale, Di María, and Walcott to exploit with their pace.

At times like this, Yang Cheng found himself missing Toni Kroos even more.

Back when Bayern Munich was trying to sign Ribéry, Yang Cheng didn’t include Kroos in the deal for two main reasons.

First, Bayswater Chinese’s tactical environment wasn’t mature enough yet, and Kroos himself wasn’t fully developed.

Signing him at that point would have meant a slow, gradual nurturing process.

Second, Bayern still held him in high regard at the time.

If Yang Cheng had proposed it and Bayern had refused, it would have complicated future dealings.

Instead, the current situation was better. Yang Cheng kept tabs on Kroos through his scouts and occasionally passed messages to his agent, letting him know that someone across the English Channel was quietly watching over him.

When the time was right and Kroos had leveled up, Yang Cheng would definitely come calling to bring him to London.

With Kroos’s long passes, Gareth Bale, Di María, and Walcott would truly take flight.

This would realize Yang Cheng’s beautiful vision.

Midfield interplay as beautiful as a painting, with the forwards wreaking havoc up front.

…

Although Walcott scored first for Bayswater Chinese, they conceded two goals in the second half in Rome, losing 1-2 to Lazio away from home.

But no one cared about the result.

Bayswater Chinese had already qualified from the group.

Returning to the Premier League for the fifteenth matchday, Bayswater Chinese secured a decisive 3-0 victory against Middlesbrough at home.

Di María assisted Arshavin for the opening goal in the 21st minute of the first half.

Džeko scored another goal in first-half stoppage time.

Yaya Touré then sealed the win with a goal in the 70th minute of the second half.

In other matches that round, Chelsea defeated West Ham United 1-0 at home.

Grant’s team had been remarkably consistent recently.

Arsenal, meanwhile, came from behind to win 2-1 away at Aston Villa.

Having been knocked out of the UEFA Cup, Wenger was now fully focused on the Premier League, aiming for a top-four finish.

Liverpool thrashed Bolton 4-0 at home in the same round.

Manchester United, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, beat Fulham 2-0 at home.

…

On the evening of December 8th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Matchday 16, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

The halftime whistle blew.

The first-team players from both sides made their way back to their respective dressing rooms.

On the pitch, many substitute players were warming up.

By the sidelines, a stage and scenery were being hastily set up for a performance by a well-known London band and singer.

This was one of the ways Bayswater Chinese attracted fans.

In the stands, many fans stood up, preparing to leave their seats temporarily.

At this time, the concession areas behind the stands would be teeming with people, with long queues at every shop and stall.

No one seemed anxious about the 1-2 score displayed on the scoreboard.

They all knew that in recent years, Bayswater Chinese had never lost a home game.

Passing through the bustling players’ tunnel, one arrived at the home team’s dressing room.

Yang Cheng stood before all his players. Behind him was a tactics board displaying the starting lineups for both teams.

Bayswater Chinese were still in their preferred 4-3-3 formation.

But Liverpool, who usually employed a 4-2-3-1, had surprisingly changed their usual tactics for this match, also opting for a 4-3-3.

Benítez’s move had caught everyone off guard.

With Daniel Agger out injured, Benítez’s starting centre-backs for this match were Hyypiä and Carragher.

On the flanks were Riise at left-back and Álvaro Arbeloa at right-back, with Reina in goal.

If the injured Daniel Agger had replaced Hyypiä, this would have been Liverpool’s primary defensive line for the season.

In midfield, Javier Mascherano played a holding role, with Mohamed Sissoko and Gerrard positioned further forward.

The forward line was also quite unique.

Ukrainian striker Voronin, towering Englishman Crouch, and Spanish Golden Boy Torres.

Before the match, the Sky Sports commentators had joked about Liverpool’s starting lineup, saying that Benítez had put all the forwards and all the defensive midfielders he possibly could on the pitch.

With Xabi Alonso frequently absent due to injury this season, Benítez had become a master of tactical tinkering.

A week prior, in the fourteenth round of the Premier League, they had used a 4-4-2 formation and thrashed Bolton 4-0 at home.

Just when everyone thought Benítez would stick with that successful formula, he switched it up again.

Initially, everyone assumed it was a 4-2-3-1, with Mohamed Sissoko and Mascherano forming a double pivot.

But once the match began, it became clear that this was not the case.

Sissoko was deployed in a more advanced position, with Mascherano as the sole holding midfielder behind him.

In the match itself, Liverpool’s tactics were predominantly defensive-minded, focused on counter-attacks.

Sissoko acted like a midfield disruptor, relentlessly hounding Modrić and the others.

To put it simply, Liverpool wasn’t trying to control the midfield; they just wanted to prevent Bayswater Chinese from controlling it.

Sissoko was there purely to cause disruption.

Bayswater Chinese had started the game well.

They took the lead in the 8th minute.

Arshavin dribbled into the penalty area and was fouled by Carragher, winning a penalty kick.

Modrić coolly converted the spot-kick to open the scoring.

However, in the 26th minute, Liverpool launched a swift counter-attack. Torres broke into the box and was tripped by José Fonte.

The head referee awarded a penalty kick as well.

Gerrard calmly scored from the spot.

1-1, level again!

Then, in the 38th minute, a long ball from Reina sailed over the defense. Crouch controlled it with his chest on the edge of the box, moved back out of the area, and laid it off horizontally to the overlapping Torres.

The Spanish Golden Boy burst into the penalty area and fired home.

2-1!

Liverpool had turned it around!

Looking back at the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was completely disrupted by Liverpool, losing its rhythm.

Liverpool’s simple and direct approach mainly utilized their front three, especially the centre-forward roles of Crouch and Torres. They would receive the ball, lay it off, and create threats for the second wave of attackers like Voronin or Gerrard.

This was highly effective against Bayswater Chinese, who favored a high press.

Bayswater Chinese, however, were also constantly creating threats.

The biggest problem with Liverpool’s 4-3-3 formation was on the wings.

Sissoko and Gerrard were positioned centrally and rarely ventured out to the flanks.

The same went for Torres and Crouch.

This left Liverpool’s flanks exposed.

Consequently, Bayswater Chinese frequently created danger down the wings in the first half.

However, their attempts to transition the play from the wings to the center were not very effective.

Additionally, Reina and Carragher were both in excellent form.

…

“Actually, we played very well in the first half.”

With that one sentence, Yang Cheng set the tone for his halftime assessment.

The players all looked up at their head coach.

They had been worried he might lose his temper.

But Yang Cheng knew better. The players had indeed performed well; it was just that Liverpool’s disruptive tactics had made things difficult for Bayswater Chinese.

“Although we’re currently trailing 1-2, that’s not the main point.”

“I have absolute confidence in our attack. As long as we get our organization right, turning the score around is definitely not a problem.”

The players nodded in agreement.

“Liverpool’s problem is still on the wings, so in the second half, we’ll continue to attack down both flanks and avoid their congested center.”

That Sissoko was a real handful—big, athletic, and a tireless runner.

Neither Modrić nor Lassana Diarra had an advantage when facing Sissoko and Gerrard.

“There’s one player in Liverpool’s defense you need to focus on.”

Yang Cheng picked up a pen and circled number 23, Carragher, on the tactics board.

“Carragher has played every single minute of every match for Liverpool so far this season, with the exception of the Bolton game where he only played fifty-one minutes.”

“Also, he’s on four yellow cards. One more, and he’ll be suspended for the next match at home against Manchester United.”

“That’s why Carragher played so gentlemanly in the first half.”

Yang Cheng’s use of the word “gentlemanly” to describe Carragher drew knowing smiles from the players.

As an English defender, how could Carragher possibly be gentlemanly?

Ultimately, he was afraid of a yellow card and suspension.

“Three days from now, Liverpool has a do-or-die Champions League match against Marseille.”

Since Liverpool had lost two games in the group stage, this match against Marseille would determine their qualification.

“So, as you can see, after taking the lead, several Liverpool players, including Riise, were clearly holding back. I believe this will continue into the second half.”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he pointed his pen at the players on the tactics board.

“Mascherano’s area of activity has also been smaller than usual today. I don’t know if it’s because he’s played too many games and his stamina is low, if it’s an instruction from the coaching staff, or if he’s just used to a double pivot.”

“This has resulted in poor protection for Liverpool’s flanks and half-spaces.”

“Sissoko’s passing is terrible. The stats I just saw show his pass completion rate tonight is very poor, and yet we haven’t been pressing him hard enough.”

“So, in the second half, when our midfielders lose the ball, we need to aggressively press Sissoko and force him into making mistakes.”

The players all nodded.

“Next Wednesday, Liverpool has a life-or-death Champions League group stage match. Therefore, I predict that Benítez’s mindset for this game is actually to aim for a draw. Now that they’re leading, their tactics in the second half will be more conservative.”

“They might even make substitutions after the 60-minute mark to save energy for the Champions League.”

Bayswater Chinese also had a Champions League match to play.

A home game against Werder Bremen.

The difference was, Bayswater Chinese had already qualified from the group.

So, Yang Cheng would also rotate his squad heavily for that match, just needing to ensure they didn’t lose at home.

But Liverpool’s situation was different.

They were facing a must-win situation in their Champions League group.

They had to beat Marseille.

From what he’d seen in this match, Liverpool’s tactics were rather crude, even having a very English feel to them.

It was all about long balls to the centre-forward.

Simple, direct, brutal, but effective.

Yang Cheng’s plan was clear: in the second half, he would continue to go all-out against them, focusing on the wings.

At the same time, he’d target the weaknesses in their midfield and defense.

If worse came to worst, he still had Lambert on the bench, and Rakitić in midfield, ready to come on at any moment.

“Finally, lads!”

Yang Cheng glanced at the time; it was almost up.

“It’s already December.”

“Liverpool is the only team in Europe’s top five leagues that is still unbeaten.”

“They are not an ordinary team. This is a team that reached the Champions League final last season and has significantly strengthened its squad this season.”

All the players nodded in agreement.

Everyone acknowledged Liverpool’s strength.

“But we are not an ordinary team either.”

“How many top teams have we taken down so far?”

“We did the double over Real Madrid, we defeated Arsenal!”

“Yes, that same Arsenal that was also unbeaten until December!”

“What I want to say is, we have never been an ordinary team. We face every formidable opponent without fear!”

“We never back down from any challenge, especially at our home ground!”

By the end of his speech, Yang Cheng was practically shouting, his fists clenched, his jaw set.

This was the confidence of Bayswater Chinese!

“A 1-2 scoreline is nothing to be afraid of. We still have the second half.”

“What we need to do is follow my instructions and give Liverpool a taste of their own medicine in the second half!”

“We’ve already ended one team’s unbeaten run; we don’t mind ending the last one!”

“Today, at Wembley Stadium, in front of nearly seventy thousand fans, we have only one goal.”

“And that is victory!”

“I will not accept any other result!”

The players were inspired, feeling their head coach’s determination and fighting spirit.

José Fonte gave a shout, and everyone stood up, forming a circle with Yang Cheng, shoulder to shoulder, heads together, cheering for their teammates and for themselves!

…

After the second half began, Liverpool, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, played more defensively.

A 2-1 score was good enough for Liverpool.

But Bayswater Chinese didn’t think so.

Especially after being motivated by Yang Cheng during the halftime break and given a clear attacking direction, Bayswater Chinese played with even more aggression.

In the 51st minute, the team launched a series of attacks down the right flank.

Maicon made an overlapping run and sent a diagonal cross into the penalty area.

Džeko rushed to the near post, controlled the ball with his chest, and shot.

The ball hit Hyypiä and rebounded out.

Arshavin followed up, shooting again from the right side of the penalty spot.

Carragher turned his body and blocked the shot.

At that moment, Liverpool’s penalty area was packed with players.

The ball fell to the edge of the box, where Modrić struck it from the arc of the penalty area, but it was blocked again by Mascherano.

Three consecutive shots, all blocked.

Finally, Lassana Diarra tried a long shot, which went over the bar.

A collective sigh of disappointment rippled through the stadium.

But the fans continued to cheer for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng clapped continuously.

He also noticed that on the Liverpool bench, players seemed to be preparing to come on, frequently running out to warm up.

Yang Cheng shouted to Lassana Diarra and Modrić, reminding them to keep Sissoko in check.

That midfielder’s passing was truly atrocious.

From the start of the second half, Bayswater Chinese relentlessly attacked, and the players showed immense effort.

In contrast, Liverpool was a bit too conservative.

By the 58th minute, Yang Cheng could even see Australian international Harry Kewell standing next to Benítez, clearly having finished his warm-up and ready to come on at any moment.

But just then, Sissoko won the ball near the center circle, and Modrić immediately pounced on him again.

The Croatian midfielder may not be tall and looked lean, but when it came to fighting spirit, he was second to none.

Modrić closed in, hassling Sissoko so much that he almost lost the ball and was forced into a hurried pass.

Lassana Diarra a had great understanding with Modrić. He knew exactly how the Croatian would press and which passing lane Sissoko would be forced to use.

Diarra lunged forward and intercepted the ball mid-pass.

Gerrard immediately tried to counter-press, but Diarra quickly passed back to Modrić.

As Sissoko turned to close down Modrić again, the Croatian flicked the ball to Di María on the left side of the center circle.

Di María didn’t dribble towards the middle.

He saw Mascherano closing in on him.

Going central would be a dead end.

So, Di María dribbled diagonally towards the left.

Full-back Leighton Baines was also sprinting down the left touchline.

The two quickly created a 2-on-1 situation on the flank.

Mascherano, wary of Baines, kept backing away, easing the pressure on Di María.

The Argentine came to a sudden halt and delivered a diagonal pass with his left foot.

On the left side of the penalty area, Džeko, with his back to the goal, used his body to shield Carragher and controlled the ball.

His first touch wasn’t perfect; the ball got away from him slightly.

Džeko took a step forward to catch up to it and poked it towards Arshavin at the arc of the penalty area.

The moment the Russian received the ball, three defenders converged on him simultaneously.

Centre-back Hyypiä, the tracking-back Gerrard, and left-back Riise cutting inside.

All three closed in on Arshavin.

But the Russian skillfully shielded the ball, turned, and just before the three could surround him, he slipped a horizontal pass through the gap.

The ball traveled towards the right side of the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area.

Maicon arrived at full tilt, racing onto the ball at incredible speed, and before Gerrard could intercept, he unleashed a furious shot.

A long shot from the right edge of the box sent Wembley Stadium into a frenzy once again.

Especially when this powerful wonder goal crashed past Reina and into the net, the entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

An ecstatic Maicon turned and ran off the pitch, fists clenched, shouting a celebratory roar all the way.

“Another attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“2-2!”

“A wonder goal from Brazilian right-back Maicon!”

“The build-up play for this goal was excellent, fully showcasing Bayswater Chinese’s multi-dimensional attack.”

“It must be said, Bayswater Chinese truly deserves its reputation as the most potent attacking team in the Premier League, and perhaps even in European football this season.”

“Liverpool’s defense was very compact, but they still managed to create an opportunity.”

“Now, the game is back on level terms.”

…

When Maicon’s wonder goal pierced Liverpool’s net, Yang Cheng saw Benítez wave Kewell away.

The Australian international returned to the bench.

Clearly, Benítez was holding off on his substitution.

The goal had disrupted his plans.

The match on the pitch continued.

Yang Cheng gestured for Lassana Diarra and Modrić to continue pressing Sissoko, Gerrard, and Mascherano in midfield, with Yaya Touré joining in.

Buoyed by the recent goal, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared.

On the field, they executed Yang Cheng’s tactics with extra vigor.

In the 71st minute of the second half, they won the ball in midfield again.

After a tackle, Yaya Touré passed to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder was immediately pressed by both Gerrard and Mascherano.

But at that moment, Džeko suddenly raised his hand and ran horizontally towards the left, creating a passing lane for Modrić.

The Croatian immediately chipped the ball over to him.

Džeko controlled it with his chest, brought the ball under his spell, used his body to shield it from Álvaro Arbeloa, and then, before Gerrard could arrive, turned and sent a diagonal pass towards the center.

Di María, who had dropped back to help in midfield, saw Džeko pull wide and immediately sprinted towards the center. He suddenly accelerated down the middle.

The Argentine’s pace was also astonishingly fast.

Di María surged forward, beat Gerrard to the ball, knocked it into the penalty area, and then accelerated again to chase after it.

As goalkeeper Reina rushed out to the left of the six-yard box, the Argentine feinted, tricking Reina. He then nudged the ball to the left with his right foot, followed it, and calmly slotted it into the empty net with his left.

Gerrard desperately sprinted back but was not faster than the ball, watching helplessly as it crossed the line.

An ecstatic Di María ran off the pitch, leaped over the advertising hoardings, and rushed straight towards the fans.

The entire stadium was chanting the name of the pimple-faced Argentine player.

In the stands behind, countless fans jumped out of their seats, cheering and applauding for Di María!

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed over, celebrating Di María’s goal.

3-2!

Yang Cheng also clenched his fists in excitement.

If Liverpool hadn’t held back in the second half, the final result of this match would have been far from certain.

But that’s how the league works.

Who was to blame for Liverpool losing two of their Champions League group stage matches?

…

From 2-1 to 2-3.

The Liverpool players clearly couldn’t accept this.

In the 75th minute, Benítez made two quick substitutions.

Kewell replaced Torres, and Babel replaced Gerrard.

Liverpool switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Then, in the 80th minute, Benítez made his third substitution, bringing on the young centre-back Hobbs, born in 1988, for Carragher.

The Liverpool vice-captain was visibly struggling in defense in the second half, looking somewhat overwhelmed.

Under these circumstances, Benítez had no choice but to make a change.

Moreover, Carragher was also a key starter for the upcoming Wednesday match.

But just six minutes after this substitution, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack down the right.

The substitute youngster Theo Walcott drew a foul from Riise.

He was just too fast!

Riise had to make a cynical foul; otherwise, the defense would have been in grave danger.

Riise even received a yellow card for his troubles.

But Bayswater Chinese quickly took the free kick from the right side.

From the right of the penalty area, Pepe challenged at the near post, flicking the ball with his head towards the outside of Liverpool’s left post.

José Fonte, who had been lurking there all along, followed up with a simple tap-in, sending the ball into the net.

4-2!

The entire stadium erupted once more!

And the player who had lost track of José Fonte was none other than the young substitute, Hobbs.

Yang Cheng watched from the sidelines, laughing heartily.

That goal was quite unexpected.

As for the youngster Hobbs, Yang Cheng had a faint memory of him, but his future development wasn’t great.

Both were born in 1988, but Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters were Matić, Di María, Marcelo, Lewandowski…

How could their quality possibly be the same?

Benítez, oh Benítez, not all players born in ’88 are trustworthy!

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to defeat Liverpool 4-2 at home.

The Reds’ unbeaten run was over!

After the match, when Yang Cheng went to shake hands with Benítez, the Spanish manager’s face was grim, looking like he could kill someone.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was in high spirits.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng showered his players with praise, especially for their second-half performance.

“This was a very morale-boosting victory for the team. I believe we will only get better and better!”

Benítez, however, was disappointed with the result.

He believed Liverpool’s defeat was due to a lack of concentration from his players after taking the lead in the second half.

After the match, the British media sang the praises of Bayswater Chinese.

The Sun even gave Bayswater Chinese a nickname that made Yang Cheng himself feel a bit awkward: the Ender of Unbeaten Streaks!

The reason was that after ending Arsenal’s unbeaten record, Bayswater Chinese had now ended Liverpool’s unbeaten record at home.

These two teams had the longest unbeaten streaks in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

And both had fallen at the feet of Bayswater Chinese.

It had to be said, this was a kind of destiny.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese had a record of eleven wins, three draws, and two losses, with thirty-six points, placing them second in the Premier League.

Manchester United defeated Derby County 4-1 at home, with Carlos Tevez scoring twice, and continued to lead the table with thirty-eight points.

After their defeat to Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool were now level on points with Arsenal, both with thirty-three.

The Gunners lost 1-2 away to Middlesbrough in this round, failing to capitalize on Liverpool’s dropped points.

Manchester City also lost away to Tottenham Hotspur in this round.

Chelsea, on the other hand, defeated Sunderland 2-0, climbing to fifth place in the table.

The Premier League landscape was now relatively clear.

The top teams—Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea—were all very close to one another in the standings.

This was generally in line with external predictions.

This season, both Liverpool and Arsenal had improved their overall strength.

Liverpool, in particular, had seen a significant improvement in their attack since signing Torres.

Such a tense and exciting Premier League title race had fans all over the world even more excited.

…

After the Liverpool match, the final Champions League group stage game was a midweek home fixture against Werder Bremen.

Although qualification was already secured, the match still drew over sixty thousand fans.

As Bayswater Chinese’s results improved and Adam Crozier placed greater emphasis on home game management, a variety of fan-attracting initiatives were rolled out, using almost every conceivable method to draw in supporters.

As a result, the home attendance rate had seen a very significant increase this season.

In the first five group stage matches, Bayswater Chinese had four wins and one loss, earning twelve points.

Real Madrid had two wins, one draw, and two losses, with both losses coming against Bayswater Chinese, giving them seven points.

Lazio also had two wins, one draw, and two losses, with seven points.

Only Werder Bremen was at the bottom, with just three points.

According to the Champions League group stage rules, teams level on points are separated by their head-to-head record.

Werder Bremen and Lazio had both won their home fixtures 2-1.

Therefore, they were level on both head-to-head results and away goals. However, in the final tiebreaker, overall goal difference, Werder Bremen lost out to Lazio.

As for their record against Real Madrid, Werder Bremen had been defeated by them both at home and away.

Under these circumstances, the Bundesliga team was essentially eliminated early.

And they were guaranteed to finish last in the group.

As such, Thomas Schaaf began to focus more of his resources on the Bundesliga.

However, when visiting Wembley Stadium, despite fielding a reserve lineup, Werder Bremen persisted with their attacking brand of football.

In the 12th minute of the match, Rakitić capitalized on a counter-attack with a long shot, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

The two teams then traded blows.

It wasn’t until the 70th minute of the second half that Lewandowski scored a goal.

Four minutes later, Gareth Bale scored another goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Werder Bremen 3-0 at home.

The team advanced to the round of sixteen with a record of five wins and one loss.

In the other crucial match, Real Madrid defeated Lazio 3-1 to qualify as the group runner-up.

After failing to reach the Champions League knockout stages last season, Schuster’s team had finally made it back to the round of sixteen.

However, having qualified in second place, Yang Cheng was not optimistic about Real Madrid’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

They were likely to remain the Champions League’s “Round of 16 regulars.”

…

On the weekend, Premier League Matchday 17.

Liverpool, having fought a tough battle against Marseille midweek to secure their place in the Champions League knockout stages, returned home only to lose 0-1 to Manchester United.

Benítez’s team was clearly very tired, but they still put up a tenacious fight.

The importance of the Northwest Derby needs no further explanation.

In the end, however, Liverpool’s luck ran out.

A goal from Carlos Tevez decided the match.

Arsenal, at home, narrowly defeated Chelsea 1-0, thanks to a last-minute winner from Gallas.

The Gunners only had this one match to play all week, but Grant’s team was defensively solid, preventing Arsenal from finding a breakthrough until the very end, when they finally scored from a corner kick.

Yang Cheng’s team, facing Birmingham away, scored just four minutes into the game.

Džeko opened the scoring for the team.

Later in the second half, Arshavin scored another goal.

2-0, Bayswater Chinese easily dispatched Birmingham.

…

Midweek, the League Cup quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese played away against Everton.

Yang Cheng continued to field a lineup of reserves and young players.

In the 12th minute of the first half, Lewandowski scored first, giving his team the lead.

But in the 40th minute, David Moyes’ team equalized, with Osman scoring past Begović.

However, it wasn’t until the 88th minute of the second half that Tim Cahill secured the victory for Everton.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese’s young players were knocked out of the League Cup in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool and Manchester City also exited at the quarter-final stage.

The teams that advanced to the semi-finals were Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Everton.

…

December 22nd, Premier League Matchday 18.

This round kicked off with the North London Derby.

Arsenal, playing at home, secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Adebayor and Bendtner each scored a goal.

Bendtner, in particular, scored the winning goal.

Among the new strikers emerging in the Premier League this season, setting aside the 1989-born Walcott and Gareth Bale, the most impressive true centre-forwards were the 1988-born Bendtner and Lewandowski.

Both strikers served as rotational and substitute players for their teams, but they consistently delivered strong performances whenever they played.

Many people even compared Bendtner to Ibrahimović and Džeko.

Yes, after his excellent performances last season, Džeko had reached an even higher level this season and was now considered a rising star among centre-forwards by many.

He was even being used as a benchmark for comparison.

And now, the story of Yang Cheng using the Special Talent Clause for a fifty-thousand pound sterling midfielder, while insisting he was a talented centre-forward, had become a much-talked-about anecdote among fans in Europe and around the world.

From Modrić to Džeko, Yang Cheng’s use of the talent clause had almost never been wrong.

This led many enthusiasts to shift their focus, closely watching Bayswater Chinese’s two most recent special talents.

Marcelo and Thiago Silva.

Thiago Silva’s performance this season had been quite good, solid and dependable.

After all, he was a newcomer, and it wasn’t realistic to expect him to deliver eye-catching performances right away.

But at the very least, his ball-playing ability and individual skills were very strong.

Marcelo, however, was a mixed bag.

In attack, his talent and flair were obvious.

But in defense, his shakiness was also well-known.

This made him a very contradictory player.

Those who liked Marcelo loved him, while those who disliked him felt he was useless for anything other than attacking.

All in all, it was rather interesting.

After two consecutive defeats, Liverpool bounced back with a 4-1 home victory over Portsmouth, thanks to a brace from Torres.

Manchester United, meanwhile, beat Everton 2-1 at home, with C. Ronaldo once again scoring twice.

The Portuguese player was truly having a breakout season, with his goal tally steadily climbing.

Setting aside his five goals and one assist in six Champions League group stage matches, C. Ronaldo had already scored eleven goals in the Premier League.

And this was despite being suspended for three matches at the start of the season for replicating Zidane’s classic headbutt.

On the Premier League’s top scorer chart, the current leader was Arshavin with twelve goals.

However, four of those goals were scored in the match against Derby County.

Behind Arshavin were C. Ronaldo and Džeko, both with eleven goals.

In this round, Džeko contributed a goal and an assist in Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 home victory over Sunderland.

The other two goalscorers were Yaya Touré and Pepe.

With eighteen matches played, the Premier League officially entered the Christmas period.

Manchester United continued to lead the table with forty-four points.

Bayswater Chinese followed closely behind with forty-two points.

Further back was Arsenal with thirty-nine points.

Due to their two recent consecutive defeats, Liverpool currently had only thirty-six points.

Chelsea remained in fifth place with thirty-four points.

From the current standings, this season’s title race was even more intense.

Chapter 133: Over Budget! Massive Bonuses! A Goal Fest! The Year-end Summary!

As Xia Xi put it, ever since Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had made their relationship official, they had been so disgustingly sweet that even a dog would turn its nose up at them.

Yang Cheng also had an excellent impression of his older brother-in-law.

After listening to the complaint, he landed a devastating blow.

“Isn’t that right? You’ve always found us annoying.”

Xia Xi, the “dog” in question, was so thoroughly crushed he nearly coughed up blood.

Both Yang Cheng and Xia Qing felt that his rush to find a girlfriend was a direct result of their public displays of affection.

After returning to Europe, Yang Cheng went a step further, entrusting all his assets to Xia Qing.

He was even gradually delegating some of his authority at the club.

This way, he could dedicate more time and energy to his football career.

This was a critical moment to build his enterprise!

The vast majority of Bayswater Chinese’s success had been earned by Yang Cheng on the pitch!

Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others were merely riding his coattails!

This was especially true now and for the next few years.

Bayswater Chinese had to maintain this excellent momentum, and that meant results on the pitch were non-negotiable.

Xia Qing and Adam Crozier understood this point clearly.

Continuing the tradition of the past few years, the club organized various activities every Christmas.

From community work to visits to orphanages, children’s hospitals, and special schools.

The presence of Bayswater Chinese could be felt everywhere.

Their representatives appeared everywhere from Notting Hill to the areas around the Brent Reservoir and Wembley.

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier took this matter very seriously.

They had just played the 18th round of the Premier League on the 22nd, had training on the 24th, a day off on the 25th, and an away game on the 26th.

The first team didn’t have much time to participate in all the activities, so they could only pick the most important and meaningful ones that represented the club’s image.

For example, visiting children who were hospitalized over Christmas.

Or delivering gifts to an orphanage.

On the 24th, the club’s senior management would hold their annual summary meeting.

But before that, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing held a small family meeting of their own.

Yang Cheng also reviewed some of the club’s income and expenditure statements for the season.

The figure that surprised him the most was the matchday revenue.

As Yang Cheng had mentioned before, the Premier League schedule was not arranged symmetrically.

So, in the first 18 rounds, some teams had only played eight home games.

Chelsea, for example.

Other teams had already played ten home games.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool were among them.

If one considered the entire season, Chelsea’s potential for a strong finish was significant.

After all, for top Premier League teams, home games were generally expected to yield a full three points.

But their luck this season hadn’t been great; all their League Cup matches had been away games.

So, up to this point, Bayswater Chinese had played 13 home games.

The current average home attendance was just over sixty thousand.

This figure was already very satisfactory.

The average ticket price was around forty pound sterling.

This meant that ticket revenue for a single match was about 2.4 million pound sterling.

This didn’t include the VIP boxes.

All things considered, the 13 matches had generated over 31 million pound sterling in revenue.

Adding in matchday retail spending, fan shop sales, and VIP box income, Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue from 13 home games had reached 43 million pound sterling so far.

This genuinely exceeded Yang Cheng’s expectations.

The benefits of Wembley Stadium’s large capacity were just that obvious.

Although Bayswater Chinese had the lowest ticket prices in London and the worst attendance rate among the 20 Premier League teams, so what?

Only the gossip-hungry paparazzi would seize on the rock-bottom attendance rate to make a story.

They never bothered to look at the fact that Wembley Stadium had a capacity of ninety thousand.

An attendance rate of 65% certainly looked bad compared to other teams’ rates of over 95%.

But they couldn’t compete with the sheer size of the base number.

Now, Yang Cheng fully understood why Adam Crozier had said a capacity of 65,000 was too small.

With that kind of location, it would essentially be a one-shot deal.

The advantages of a large stadium were self-evident.

The attendance issue could be addressed slowly, through long-term management and development.

What if it wasn’t full in five years?

He would meticulously manage it for ten years.

But if they didn’t go all out and build the stadium as large as possible this time, there wouldn’t be another chance like this in the future.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng made his decision.

It was time to take a gamble and turn this bicycle into a motorcycle!

…

According to the new Premier League broadcast deal, the top four teams in the 07/08 season should all have a chance to exceed 50 million pound sterling.

And that was just the Premier League broadcast revenue share.

There was also the Champions League.

Their final earnings would depend on how far the team progressed.

Commercial revenue was currently over 40 million pound sterling annually.

With the three main revenue streams advancing in lockstep, Bayswater Chinese’s financial situation was now very promising.

“Adam Crozier is truly brilliant when it comes to business operations.”

Xia Qing now had a great deal of admiration for Adam Crozier.

His private life might be a bit wild, but his professional ability was undeniable.

“Based on last season’s revenue figures in European football, we’ll definitely break into the top ten this season.”

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had just missed the top ten.

The gatekeepers to the top ten were Italy’s Inter Milan and AS Roma, both with revenues of just over one hundred million pound sterling.

But with Serie A’s current growth rate, it couldn’t possibly keep up with the Premier League.

If nothing else, the increase in the Premier League’s broadcast rights this season was something Serie A couldn’t match.

Therefore, given Bayswater Chinese’s current performance, entering the top ten for revenue in European football was a certainty.

The real question was how high they could climb.

For comparison, Liverpool’s revenue last season was 134 million pound sterling, but that was because they reached the Champions League final.

Data from Deloitte showed Arsenal’s revenue was just over 150 million pound sterling, nearly 30 million less than projected, because they had failed to qualify for the Champions League.

This figure already included the growth from selling Henry and moving into their new stadium.

In terms of commercial activities, Arsenal had achieved almost nothing.

The same was true for Liverpool.

This season, the Premier League’s broadcast revenue share would increase significantly.

Reportedly, Arsenal’s projected revenue was only 160 million pound sterling, a growth rate that was less than the increase from the broadcast rights alone.

The main culprit for Arsenal’s slow revenue growth was that they hadn’t sold their captain this summer.

“I did some calculations myself, on the quiet.”

Xia Qing leaned closer to Yang Cheng. “It’s basically certain that our club’s expenditure budget for this year is one hundred million pound sterling.”

Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up. He looked at Xia Qing in disbelief.

She smiled sweetly and nodded. “That amount will be more than enough.”

“Including transfer income?”

“All the initial transfer payments received this season are included, but from next season on, none of the installment payments will be.”

That was another huge sum.

“So, this year, we can allocate at least fifty million pound sterling towards the new stadium’s infrastructure. If the team performs even better in the Champions League, we can allocate even more.”

Yang Cheng burst out laughing. He reached out, cupped Xia Qing’s face, leaned in, and gave her a firm kiss.

“You’re such an amazing household manager!”

To free up that much money in a single year, likely tens of millions of pounds…

Yang Cheng felt a thrill just thinking about it.

“Don’t get too happy just yet. If you and Adam Crozier go with your idea of building an even bigger stadium, I estimate the one billion pound sterling budget will definitely be exceeded.”

This was also something that left Xia Qing speechless.

The Brent training ground was supposed to have an infrastructure budget of 20 million pound sterling.

And the result?

It had already surpassed 20 million.

The second phase wasn’t even completed and accepted, and the upcoming third phase was already completely over budget.

And all those Satellite Training Centres were also running over budget, one after another.

You couldn’t blame Chris Hunt or the people under him.

The main reason was Yang Cheng himself. He had very high standards for everything and wanted to get things done perfectly in one go.

Chelsea’s Cobham training ground was already in use.

They moved in before the first phase was even finished.

But Yang Cheng?

No, he insisted on finishing the first phase, having the player dormitories decorated, and…

It was the same with the training ground as it was with the renovation of their villa at home.

It was designed by Norman Foster, and the construction was contracted to a renovation company they had a long-term partnership with.

The requirements for materials, craftsmanship, and everything else were extremely high, demanding perfection.

The result was: over budget, over budget, over budget!

Anyway, he wanted the best materials and the best work.

If you don’t manage the household, you don’t know the cost of living.

Er, alright, this particular bill was being paid by her future mother-in-law.

But Xia Qing still gave Yang Cheng a raise.

Adam Crozier and the others had unanimously agreed to increase Yang Cheng’s annual salary to 4 million pound sterling after taxes.

This was currently the highest annual salary in the Premier League.

Even higher than Mourinho’s before he was sacked by Chelsea.

“Let it go over budget. It’s fine, I’m not worried. Just you watch, the subprime mortgage crisis has erupted in the US, and it’s going to have a huge impact over here in Europe. Those countries that are dragging the European Union down will pull the entire EU in with them.”

Xia Qing nodded in agreement.

She had come from Goldman Sachs and was very well-informed on these matters.

“When that happens, all these European countries will cut their interest rates, and they’ll cut them even more ridiculously than the US,” Yang Cheng said, barely able to contain his excitement.

“I’ve been keeping in touch with several banks, and I still talk regularly with my former colleagues at Goldman Sachs. When the time comes, I’ll figure out the loans. It won’t be a problem,” Xia Qing said, also pleased.

She had already fully assumed the role of Yang Cheng’s capable partner.

“Also, Deloitte has been tracking the numbers, and Premier League teams’ salaries are generally on the rise this season.”

Xia Qing’s words silenced Yang Cheng once again.

The various figures leaked by the media were all just rumors.

As for how much players at each club actually earned, not only were the media and fans in the dark, but even the players in the dressing room didn’t know what their teammates made.

And no one would talk about it.

There were confidentiality agreements involved.

However, accounting firms like Deloitte had channels to obtain relatively accurate information.

That’s why they published a report every year.

Yang Cheng was already mentally prepared for this situation.

Hadn’t someone said it before?

All of the Premier League’s broadcast revenue was converted into players’ salaries and compensation.

“Honestly, the situation changes every year. At our current salary level, we’ll definitely have to increase it again next season,” Xia Qing said resignedly.

This was something beyond Bayswater Chinese’s control.

When the club’s revenue went up, the players’ compensation had to follow.

Take Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, for instance.

Keep them or not?

After painstakingly developing them for two or three years, were they just going to sell them off?

Wouldn’t that be like letting someone else pick the fruits of their labor for free?

To keep them, their salaries would have to be raised.

If the club’s revenue hadn’t increased, it would be a simple matter. They could just sell the players.

After all, we have no money.

“No contract renewals this season. We’ll pause, and then deal with them one by one next season. Anyone who dares to cause trouble, sell him!”

Yang Cheng made a swift decision.

They couldn’t let this become a habit, or the club would appear too weak.

“I was thinking the same thing. And the increase can’t be too large this time. I think the maximum should be sixty thousand a week, no more than that.”

“Agreed.”

“I plan to design a bonus system. Didn’t we win the Premier League last season? This season, we can set aside a sum, up to eight million pound sterling, and if we win the Premier League and Champions League double, the entire amount will be awarded to the players.”

“I’ve done the math. If we really do win the Premier League and the Champions League, we’ll generate at least fifteen million pound sterling in direct additional income. That’s not even counting the subsequent benefits of winning the titles, especially the Champions League, where the potential earnings are also staggering.”

It was the same old strategy: if the salary isn’t enough, make it up with bonuses.

After her calculations, Xia Qing determined that offering an 8-million-pound sterling reward would not result in a loss for the club.

On the contrary, it would be a massive gain.

“Alright, but let’s split it into three tiers. The undisputed key players who have a certain amount of playing time and perform exceptionally well get the largest share.”

“Players who have a certain amount of playing time but aren’t undisputed starters, or those who haven’t played as many games but have performed well, get the second tier.”

“The rest will get the third tier.”

Yang Cheng was much more adept at managing the dressing room than Xia Qing.

With other teams all increasing salaries, Bayswater Chinese’s decision not to raise salaries but to offer a substantial bonus instead served as a form of motivation for the players.

This would appease the players as much as possible.

“As for the salaries and bonuses for the suits and staff, you can communicate with each department and take full charge,” Yang Cheng said, smiling at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing was taken aback at first, then she felt the deep trust and support radiating from Yang Cheng’s eyes.

This was the most lucrative and influential job.

When Yang Cheng entrusted this power to her, it proved that he trusted her completely, from the bottom of his heart.

What makes a leader?

One hand on personnel, the other on finances.

That’s a leader with real power.

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t make this appointment lightly.

He wasn’t some love-struck idiot from a romance novel.

Most importantly, Xia Qing had done an excellent job at Bayswater Chinese over the past few years.

Yang Cheng had great confidence in her abilities.

Besides, with Bayswater Chinese now employing over a hundred people in its management team and a total staff of over three hundred, how could Yang Cheng possibly oversee everything?

He now only managed the heads of core departments.

For example, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt, as well as the first team coaching staff.

There were also a few senior executives from the youth academy, like Dan Ashworth.

If he were to meddle in every single detail, big and small, Yang Cheng simply didn’t have the time or the energy.

Of course, Xia Qing wouldn’t be doing everything herself either.

Her finance department was now well-staffed.

When a club developed to the scale of Bayswater Chinese, it was already equivalent to a fairly large enterprise.

With an annual revenue of over one hundred million pound sterling, that was over a billion yuan.

If this were in China, it would be considered a large-scale enterprise, one that could command the attention of the top official in a prefecture-level city.

Not to mention, football clubs possessed enormous social influence and market appeal.

Furthermore, their impact on stimulating local consumption and creating jobs was also massive.

For every home game, Bayswater Chinese had to hire several thousand temporary workers.

The City of Westminster was indeed very wealthy.

But they also highly valued the growing influence of Bayswater Chinese. What if they left?

It was the only football club in the City of Westminster.

Moreover, it was tied to the renovation and upgrading of Queensway and the entire Bayswater district.

Therefore, the City of Westminster’s attitude towards Bayswater Chinese was now quite different.

Yang Cheng could no longer manage the entire club by himself, handling every single detail as he had in the past.

…

After the small meeting came the medium-sized one.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing called Adam Crozier and the others together for a meeting of the core senior management from all departments.

Then came the general meeting.

Bayswater Chinese officially announced a series of major initiatives for 2008.

The one that attracted the most media attention was the massive 8-million-pound sterling bonus.

Even now, many people still thought of Bayswater Chinese as that same small, dirt-poor club.

They couldn’t compare to traditional giants like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool.

They were even considered a tier below teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

This was a prejudice that had formed over many years.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese had always given off the illusion that “we are really poor,” quietly raking in the cash through their operations while constantly selling players.

This didn’t have the aura of a big club at all.

It was precisely because of this that the 8-million-pound sterling bonus had a surprisingly powerful effect.

Not only was the media in an uproar, but the dressing room was also buzzing with excitement.

All the players were thrilled.

According to Xia Qing’s tiered bonus system, a core player could receive up to 350,000 pound sterling.

That was equivalent to an extra two months’ salary.

It was basically like receiving 14 months’ pay in a year.

The players in the dressing room were all overjoyed.

Yang Cheng could only shake his head as he watched.

Indeed, it was the same all over the world.

No matter how much professional players earned, they were still wage slaves at the end of the day.

After a year of grinding hard to earn a 14-month salary, look how happy they were.

Did you really think I’d tell you that my wife secretly gave me a 2-million after-tax raise without my knowledge?

So, the lesson is, no matter how well you work, it’s not as good as finding the right wife!

…

The annual Christmas parties held by various teams were never big news.

Bayswater Chinese also had a party every year.

But this year was clearly a bit different.

First, Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was arrested by local police in Merseyside for assaulting two men with two friends on Christmas day.

Stars getting into fights was nothing new.

What made it news was that Barton’s two friends were a man and a woman, it happened in the early morning hours, all three were heavily drunk, and they brawled with two men on the street.

This wasn’t Barton’s first fight either.

When he played for Manchester City, he was constantly in trouble, even once assaulting a fan.

Barton’s news was just an appetizer.

Then, News of the World revealed that Manchester City defender Micah Richards, only 19 years old, and a teammate had been “playing Fight the Landlord” with a girl under 20.

These young people were quite forward-thinking; they even filmed a video.

The video contained some very “technical” scenes that are truly indescribable in words.

The most outrageous part was that after filming the video, Micah Richards sent it to everyone.

This made Yang Cheng realize: being uncultured is truly terrifying!

It also brought to mind what Adam Crozier had once said: in England, going to watch a football match is a really good habit.

These guys just had too much free time. They should really be put on a 996 grind.

The real big news was that Manchester United’s centre-back Evans was suspected of rape, and it happened at the Manchester United players’ Christmas party.

It was said that due to the tight schedule, Manchester United had not officially organized a Christmas party, but the players had organized one themselves.

With the exception of C. Ronaldo, all the first team players attended.

The most sensational detail was that none of the attending players brought their wives or girlfriends.

The media had gotten wind of it early and were waiting at the entrance of the party, where they found a large crowd of women who had come, drawn by the players’ fame.

“But only the most beautiful women were allowed inside.”

Everyone knew exactly what that meant.

And at this party, centre-back Evans went upstairs with one of the women, a 26-year-old, and into a room.

After they came out, the woman accused him of rape.

The British media reported that Ferguson was furious, vehemently scolding Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, and Gary Neville.

Especially Ferdinand.

He had organized the party, spending 100,000 pound sterling.

The whole affair caused a massive stir, making for a very lively Christmas.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, didn’t have any particular feelings about such things.

At best, it was a case of each taking what they needed.

For example, that woman, and all the other women there—why were they at that place?

Did that even need to be said?

Then why did she turn around and accuse him?

That was more complicated.

Perhaps they couldn’t agree on a price, or there was some other conflict.

The British paparazzi love to spend money to buy more juicy details from the “victims.”

And the “victims”?

They were eager to use the opportunity to become famous.

Some of the more capable ones could even become sought-after football socialites overnight.

Like that The Sun Page 3 girl who shared a name with an NBA legend.

More mature teams certainly had ways of dealing with such incidents.

It was usually a matter of exchanging favors with the media to suppress the news, then reaching a settlement with the “victim” to turn a big issue into a small one, and a small one into nothing.

To put it bluntly, a football player’s job is to play football.

As long as they perform well enough on the pitch, the public couldn’t care less about these things and would just treat it as gossip.

Like Ronaldinho, and C. Ronaldo.

The reason the Portuguese star didn’t attend the party this year was likely related to his own recent rape allegation.

…

The entire Christmas period passed in this chaotic atmosphere.

At the same time, the major media outlets were busy hyping up various rankings and awards.

Bayswater Chinese was certainly in no position to be shortlisted for the FIFA World Player of the Year or the Ballon d’Or, but they shone brightly in the young prospect awards.

The authoritative British magazine FourFourTwo recently selected its Top 20 list of the most promising rising stars in world football.

The selection was limited to young talents under the age of 20.

Bayswater Chinese had a staggering five players selected, making up a quarter of the 20-man list.

They were Rakitić, Robert Lewandowski, Ángel Di María, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott.

Rakitić was a talented midfielder who had long been famous in European football. He was technically very skilled and had performed exceptionally well for FC Basel in the first half of 2007.

After transferring to Bayswater Chinese, he also showed extraordinary potential for development.

Di María, on the other hand, had won the U-20 World Cup in Canada this year.

Before the tournament, all eyes were on Argentina’s star player, Agüero, but to everyone’s surprise, it was Di María who performed the best.

After Ashley Young’s transfer to Manchester United, Di María successfully took over as Bayswater Chinese’s left winger and had been very impressive.

Gareth Bale and Walcott needed no introduction. They had long been hyped to the heavens by the British media, and it was widely acknowledged across European football that these two starlets were among the most promising young players for the future.

Lewandowski was a more surprising choice on the list.

But after joining Bayswater Chinese, especially this season, the Polish centre-forward had gradually surpassed Lambert to become the team’s rotation striker, and his performances had been commendable.

Besides Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal’s youngster Denílson, born in 1988, and Mexican forward Vela were also included.

Manchester United had Gerard Piqué on the list, while Liverpool had Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva.

Aside from Piqué and Vela who didn’t get much playing time, Denílson and Lucas Leiva had already made many appearances for their first teams.

And that’s not to mention Bayswater Chinese’s five young players.

Among the young players on the continent, the hottest names were Atlético Madrid’s Agüero, Lyon’s Benzema, Barça’s Bojan and dos Santos, AC Milan’s Pato, and Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos and Breno.

At this year’s U-17 World Cup in South Korea, Toni Kroos, as captain of the German youth team, failed to lead his team to victory but won the Golden Ball and was lauded by FIFA as the future number 10 for Bayern and Germany.

With five goals and four assists, he showcased his ability.

Football emperor Beckenbauer presented him with the award, praising him, “I have never seen a player of his age perform with such maturity and composure.”

In addition to the U-17 World Cup, Toni Kroos was also outstanding in the U-17 European Championship qualifiers.

In the three matches played in the last three months of 2007, he scored three goals and provided one assist.

At the club level, Toni Kroos had very little playing time this season, but he left an incredibly deep impression.

On September 26th, in the 7th round of the Bundesliga, Bayern’s home game against Cottbus, Toni Kroos came on as a substitute for 18 minutes, becoming the youngest player ever to appear for Bayern.

And in those 18 minutes, Toni Kroos delivered two assists.

Toni Kroos had made a sensational debut!

But everyone, including head coach Hitzfeld and the Bayern board, adopted a strategy of pouring cold water on the hype.

They urged the media not to pay too much attention to him.

Bayern Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated to the media that Toni Kroos was not yet capable of getting more playing time in the first team. “His most important task right now is to learn and improve.”

The German media believed that Bayern didn’t want the excessive external attention to place too much pressure and burden on the youngster.

Yang Cheng had been closely following Toni Kroos’s every move.

After he played against Cottbus, Yang Cheng even sent him a congratulatory text message after the match.

Toni Kroos replied with a thank you text.

Their communication ended there.

…

This year’s Christmas schedule still consisted of three matches.

The 26th, the 29th, and the 1st.

Playing three matches in just seven days was an intensity that not just anyone could handle.

And everyone agreed that the most difficult was the away game on the 26th.

The match was scheduled for 1:00 PM.

If it was a city derby, the situation was better. If it was a longer distance, the team had to set off early in the morning.

It meant that on the morning after Christmas, before you even had a comfortable sleep, you had to be dragged up to leave.

This was where the pre-season feedback collection on the schedule showed its effect.

Looking at the 19th round, all the away games were either city derbies or between teams located very close to each other.

For example, Blackburn Rovers playing Manchester City, or Arsenal playing Portsmouth.

The two cities were very close.

Not to mention matches like Bayswater Chinese against West Ham United, or Fulham against Tottenham Hotspur, which were all city derbies.

Sometimes, when you think about it, scheduling the Premier League fixtures must be really difficult.

Bayswater Chinese’s away game against West Ham United was also played poorly in the first half.

It wasn’t until the 42nd minute of the first half that Yaya Touré broke through West Ham’s goal with a lobbed shot.

In the 61st minute of the second half, Leighton Baines assisted Lewandowski for the second goal.

Ultimately, the team defeated West Ham United 2-0 away from home.

In this round, Chelsea drew 4-4 at home against Aston Villa.

With Drogba injured, Shevchenko scored a brace, thanks to a penalty.

But in the first half, Chelsea’s goal was breached twice by Aston Villa’s quick counter-attacks.

The turning point of the game came in first-half stoppage time, when Ballack charged into the Aston Villa box and was brought down from behind by Knight. The head referee awarded a red card and a penalty.

Shevchenko converted the spot-kick.

But post-match replays showed that the foul was questionable, and Aston Villa would be appealing.

In the second half, the head referee sent off Chelsea’s Carvalho and Ashley Cole, which seemed somewhat like an attempt to balance things out.

In the end, the two sides settled for a 4-4 draw.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated Derby County 2-1 away, with goals from Torres and Gerrard.

Manchester United thrashed Sunderland 4-0, thanks to a brace from Saha.

Arsenal drew 0-0 away at Portsmouth.

…

The day after the 19th round of the Premier League, on the 27th, Bayswater Chinese received their first transfer offer of the winter transfer window.

Chelsea hoped to purchase Russian star Andrei Arshavin for 20 million pound sterling.

Russian players had been performing brilliantly in the Premier League this season.

But Bayswater Chinese rejected Chelsea’s offer.

Subsequently, Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon called Adam Crozier to ask if they were willing to sell Arshavin.

Following the strategy previously laid out by Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier stated clearly that Bayswater Chinese would not be making any transfers during the winter transfer window.

Afterward, the British media reported that Chelsea had shifted their target, locking onto Bolton forward Anelka.

Premier League Round 20.

With a schedule like the Christmas period, all competing teams had to rotate their squads heavily.

It was impossible for any team to play three matches with the same lineup.

So, how to rotate became very important.

And the risks that came with rotation were equally huge.

After failing to secure a win against Aston Villa at home in the last round, Chelsea’s performance was lackluster again in this round.

Essien scored first in the first half.

But Newcastle equalized in the second half.

Then, in the 87th minute of the match, a very, very clear offside goal by Kalou was somehow judged to be valid.

This caused strong dissatisfaction from Newcastle.

A red card turned the tide against Aston Villa in the last round, and an offside goal secured victory in this one. Chelsea’s two consecutive dishonorable wins sparked heated debate in the media.

Manchester United, on the other hand, lost 1-2 away to West Ham United.

The Red Devils once again exposed a very interesting problem in this match.

Despite having defenders of the caliber of Ferdinand, Vidić, and Wes Brown, they conceded two consecutive headers.

This made everyone notice that Manchester United’s impenetrable fortress still had a fatal weakness.

This round, Arsenal, after going a goal down, came back to score four, reversing the game 4-1 against Everton away.

Interestingly, the goal The Gunners conceded was also a header.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Manchester City.

But the most surprising result of this round was Bayswater Chinese’s away challenge against Tottenham Hotspur.

The match at White Hart Lane ignited the atmosphere from the 6th minute onwards.

Marcelo’s left flank once again became the opponent’s main target.

With Yaya Touré rotated out for this match, neither Nemanja Matić nor Matuidi could adequately protect the team’s left side, leading to Robbie Keane breaking through on that flank in the 6th minute to assist a Berbatov goal.

Due to their similar technical characteristics, the Bulgarian centre-forward had often been compared to Džeko this season.

There had even been persistent rumors that Manchester United would choose between Džeko and Berbatov next summer.

Playing against Bayswater Chinese in this match, Berbatov was particularly fired up.

Conceding so early was completely unexpected for Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

But at this point, there was nothing to be done.

Yang Cheng decisively changed the team’s tactics and launched an all-out attack.

In the 16th minute, after Gareth Bale’s free kick was blocked by the wall, Bayswater Chinese reorganized their attack.

A powerful shot from Marcelo from the left edge of the penalty area breached Tottenham’s goal, leveling the score.

The Brazilian left-back had made amends for his earlier mistake.

After that, the game spiraled even further out of control.

First, from a corner kick opportunity, Koscielny scored with a header to give them the lead.

Then, again on Bayswater Chinese’s left flank, Defoe crossed, and Berbatov once again got to the ball first, scoring to level the score at 2-2!

The starting centre-forward, Džeko, seemed to have been provoked by Berbatov. Soon after, he capitalized on a cross from the left side of the attack, heading the ball into Tottenham’s net to put his team ahead once more.

3-2!

After the break, it was still on Bayswater Chinese’s left flank that Tottenham’s attack created a free kick opportunity. Berbatov scored again, completing his hat-trick.

3-3!

Soon after, Rakitić delivered a through pass. Džeko broke through with the ball, received it outside the box, and dribbled past two of Tottenham’s centre-backs. Ledley King and Kaboul were powerless to stop him, watching helplessly as the Bosnian and Herzegovinian striker burst into the box and shot.

4-3!

The game had gone completely wild.

Both Yang Cheng and Juande Ramos wanted to make substitutions to adjust.

But the rhythm of the game was already completely out of their control.

The players on both teams were playing like madmen.

In the final moments of the game, Robbie Keane dribbled from the right wing into Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

Marcelo chased him relentlessly, but fell for the opponent’s trick, tripping Robbie Keane and giving away a penalty.

Robbie Keane converted the penalty.

4-4!

This goal fest had the fans at White Hart Lane roaring with excitement.

But after the match, it also brought immense pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s youngster, Marcelo.

In the first 19 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded 11 goals, the second-fewest in the Premier League after Manchester United, while also being the highest-scoring team.

However, at White Hart Lane, in a single match, Bayswater Chinese’s goal was breached four times.

This was the first time in goalkeeper Neuer’s professional career that he had conceded four goals in a single game.

In the dressing room after the match, before Yang Cheng arrived, Neuer had already criticized the defensive line.

Although he didn’t explicitly name Marcelo, everyone knew where the problem lay.

The other defenders and midfielders were also disappointed with the left-sided defense in this match.

Especially that final penalty.

It was obvious that Robbie Keane was trying to draw a foul.

And yet, Marcelo still made the tackle.

When Yang Cheng entered the dressing room, he also sensed the strange atmosphere.

At the very least, he could see the problem from the coaches’ expressions.

But he pretended not to know.

He didn’t even make a special effort to console Marcelo.

Yang Cheng said he could accept the draw, but the team’s defending was poor.

“This isn’t just the defense’s responsibility. Were there no problems in the midfield?”

“Were there no problems with the forwards?”

In this match, the players on both teams had lost their heads.

Faced with Yang Cheng’s questioning, no one dared to offer an explanation.

Finally, Yang Cheng stated that the match was over, and the matter would not be brought up again.

As for Marcelo, Yang Cheng didn’t offer any special comfort.

Given Marcelo’s characteristics, situations like today’s would continue to happen.

Yang Cheng felt that he should learn to adapt to this kind of pressure.

He never doubted the Brazilian’s talent or his flair in attack.

But a disciplined Brazilian is the strongest!

It was just like the saying in football: as long as the Brazilian team plays with discipline, they can win the World Cup.

One goal scored, and four conceded from breakthroughs on the left flank—that was Marcelo’s specialty.

…

Although he didn’t say anything in the dressing room, Yang Cheng made a point of attending the post-match press conference.

He publicly defended his player, Marcelo.

He stated that Marcelo was a player he held in high regard and would continue to have his trust.

“As a young player who is only nineteen years old, I don’t think he should bear any responsibility for this match.”

“If someone has to be responsible for these four goals, it should be me, the head coach.”

Yang Cheng also said that he would continue to rely on Marcelo.

“I don’t know how others see it, but in my eyes, I focus more on his goal and the brilliant flashes he shows in the game.”

“I hope everyone can see more of that as well.”

The implication was, you media folks should stop staring at the poor performances and look more at his good qualities.

But would the media listen to Yang Cheng?

The next morning, when many media outlets reported on the match, they focused on the 4-4 goal fest, while also repeatedly bringing up Marcelo’s poor performance for criticism.

Ever since joining Bayswater Chinese, Marcelo’s left flank had been criticized for being strong in attack but weak in defense, earning him no shortage of rebukes from journalists.

But this particular match was simply too outrageous.

All four goals were scored from his side.

Especially the final penalty.

Was it necessary to foul him?

Clearly not.

At that moment, Bayswater Chinese’s defense was already in position. Even if Robbie Keane had gotten past him, it was unlikely he would have scored.

But once Marcelo committed the foul, it was a penalty for the opposition.

It wasn’t just the media; many Bayswater Chinese fans also criticized and blamed Marcelo.

With Manchester United losing, it was a golden opportunity for Bayswater Chinese to surge to the top of the table.

In the end, it was this penalty that ruined the excellent situation.

Many even believed that Danny Collins, who had joined Manchester City, was a more suitable backup for Leighton Baines than Marcelo.

At the very least, he was a homegrown player and was defensively solid.

“Letting Danny Collins go and keeping Marcelo was the biggest mistake Yang Cheng made in the summer transfer window!”

…

Yang Cheng ignored the external public opinion and offered no explanation.

The year turned to 2008.

January 1st, Premier League Round 21.

Bayswater Chinese were at home to face Pompey, Portsmouth.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese came out of the gates in stunning form.

Marcelo, who had performed poorly in the last round, was replaced by Leighton Baines.

Just four minutes in, Baines made a run down the left byline and pulled the ball back, setting up Yaya Touré for a long shot from the edge of the box.

After that, a cross from Maicon on the right was headed wide by Walcott.

With continuous attacks, especially the lively performances on both flanks, Bayswater Chinese completely suppressed Portsmouth.

And between the 13th and 16th minutes, in just four minutes, Arshavin scored two goals.

One of them was a volley from near the penalty spot, connecting with a cross from Di María on the left.

Although Portsmouth pulled one back in the second half, Džeko also scored a brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Portsmouth 4-1 at home.

This victory greatly eased the pressure on Marcelo.

After all, the Brazilian wasn’t a regular starter for the team.

This round, he didn’t even make the squad list.

Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Fulham 2-1 away.

Interestingly, the winning goal came from a penalty, which was also controversial.

Manchester United also had a poor game this round, but they still managed to beat Birmingham City 1-0, thanks to an early goal from Carlos Tevez.

Arsenal defeated West Ham United 2-0.

Liverpool drew 1-1 with Wigan Athletic.

After 21 rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with 15 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses, had 49 points and were in 2nd place in the Premier League.

Manchester United were at the top of the table with 50 points.

Arsenal were in 3rd place with 46 points, while Liverpool and Chelsea both had 41 points, but The Reds were in 4th place thanks to a better goal difference.

This caused panic among many Blues fans.

Could it be that Chelsea was about to repeat Arsenal’s fate?

Chapter 134: The Cornerstone of a Dynasty! A Bloody Battle with Manchester United

If he were to write an autobiography, Marcelo honestly wouldn’t know where to begin his story.

Was it the summer camp when he was six?

Or was it the graffiti he and his friends painted on the streets before the 1994 World Cup?

Or perhaps, the first time he felt like Ronaldo, at the age of nine?

But maybe, just maybe, it should start when he was invited to join Fluminense at fifteen, and with his grandfather’s orange Volkswagen Beetle.

In Brazilian football, turning eighteen is a very special age.

It means you can go abroad to play football and earn money.

Every year, countless European teams scout across Brazil.

Everyone knows that Brazilian players are incredibly talented, so they love to buy players around eighteen years old.

It’s a bit like gambling.

Eighteen-year-old players are still half-finished products. After they’re sold to Europe and developed, if they succeed, they’re sold to better teams for a higher price.

If they fail, they’re sold back to Brazil at a low price.

This has already become a mature industrial chain.

By the time Marcelo turned eighteen, many European teams were already watching him.

For example, CSKA Moscow from the Russian Premier League.

Russian and Ukrainian teams have been fond of buying Brazilian players in recent years, so playing there wouldn’t be lonely.

Then there was Sevilla from La Liga.

That team had gathered many Brazilian players and had developed quite a few of them; they were growing fast.

Marcelo was genuinely tempted when he was in contact with Sevilla and had asked many people about the team.

But for some reason he couldn’t explain, he ultimately chose London, England.

Fluminense readily accepted the offer from Bayswater Chinese and then informed Marcelo and his agent.

The next day, Marcelo and his agent met with Bayswater Chinese’s representative, Mike Rigg, at a hotel and had a phone call with the head coach, Yang Cheng.

The call wasn’t long, about ten minutes.

But on the phone, Yang Cheng spoke fluent Portuguese, communicating smoothly with Marcelo, which left a very positive impression on him.

He began to look forward to his journey to the Premier League.

The day after his chat with Yang Cheng, he received a call from England.

Bayswater Chinese’s settlement officer asked him about his situation, such as whether he had a girlfriend, who he would be living with, what size house they needed to prepare…

In an extremely short period, he successfully joined Bayswater Chinese.

From the warmth of Brazil, he arrived in the cold, damp climate of England.

Frankly, the weather wasn’t a major issue for him or his girlfriend.

In London, the hotel arranged by the club was very comfortable, and the house they found for them was very cozy.

Everything was arranged perfectly.

Marcelo still clearly remembered meeting Head Coach Yang Cheng on his very first day at Bayswater Chinese.

The two of them had a conversation that lasted a full half-hour.

Just like on the phone, Yang Cheng made an excellent impression on him.

Very young, with a lot of common ground.

But he also seemed to know and understand him very well.

This made Marcelo feel very reassured.

Afterward, Yang Cheng called over José Fonte.

A Portuguese player, the team’s vice-captain.

José Fonte helped him integrate into the team, introduced him to all the players, and gave him his mobile number.

“If you need anything, anything at all, just call me.”

Marcelo still remembered those words clearly.

Although there was a language barrier, the atmosphere within the team was great, and Marcelo received help from many people.

His life quickly settled down.

He began to study English diligently and actively integrate into the team.

But for Marcelo, everything was still happening too fast.

From leaving Fluminense to joining Bayswater Chinese, he hadn’t even completed the transition of his role before he was participating in the team’s training camp, then traveling to Asia, and then returning to play in the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, FA Cup…

The Premier League schedule was dense, with endless matches every week.

In his first season, his agent had even warned him that he might be sent out on loan.

After all, he hadn’t been called up to the senior national team yet, having only played for Brazil’s U17s and been selected for the U20s.

But to their surprise, Bayswater Chinese used the Special Talent Clause for him.

It was said that each Premier League club could only use it once a year.

This showed just how precious the slot was.

His first season was more about familiarizing himself and adapting, while also learning and improving.

The style of football in the Premier League was completely different from Brazil.

The tempo was too fast.

Every time he got the ball, before he was even ready, a defender would already be right in front of him.

And as it happened, Marcelo was the type of Brazilian who loved to have the ball at his feet.

He was working hard to adapt to the Premier League.

This season, with Danny Collins’ departure, the left flank was left with just Leighton Baines and Marcelo.

His playing time increased, and his responsibilities in matches grew heavier.

Marcelo’s earlier worries about not getting game time vanished.

But in their place, he found that his performance wasn’t quite meeting expectations.

England and Brazil had very different understandings of football, especially for the full-back position.

Back in Brazil, he was primarily responsible for attacking.

Losing the ball in the opponent’s half wasn’t considered a problem in Brazil.

In fact, nobody would even think about it.

But in England, that was unacceptable.

More and more people began to notice his attacking strengths and defensive weaknesses, and more and more media outlets criticized his poor defensive performances.

At first, the head coach and his teammates would comfort him.

Especially the head coach.

He always emphasized, “You have to have faith in yourself, and have faith in me!”

To help him, the coaching staff even arranged specific targeted drills in training. During matches, José Fonte, Yaya Touré, and Thiago Silva would constantly remind him.

Assistant coach Brian Kidd was nice to others, but he was extremely strict with him.

He would demand that Marcelo could push forward, but he had to guarantee that after every time he lost the ball, he could sprint back in the shortest possible time.

Could he do that?

Then he could attack however he wanted.

But if he was late getting back?

Then Brian Kidd’s shouts would be waiting for him.

After every training session and match, Brian Kidd would point out many of his problems and tell him where he could have done better, which mistakes were caused by his own foolishness…

Although Marcelo was awed by Brian Kidd’s strictness, he was more grateful that Brian Kidd was helping him improve and progress.

So, Marcelo learned quickly.

But like all Brazilians, he always found European tactics particularly strange.

Even incomprehensible.

Marcelo couldn’t describe the feeling.

He knew what he had to do and tried hard to do it well, but he just couldn’t get it right.

It was like, whenever he had a bad performance, everyone around him would tell him not to worry about the opinions outside.

But it was impossible for him not to pay attention to those outside opinions.

Even reporters from Brazil would ask him if playing in the Premier League was really that bad.

He supposed so.

No Brazilians liked the Premier League.

To this day, you could count the number of Brazilians who had succeeded in the Premier League on one hand.

This began to turn into Marcelo’s nightmare.

He started to doubt whether he would become the next Brazilian to fall in the Premier League.

He tried so hard to do everything right, to play every match well.

But sometimes, the harder he tried, the worse the result.

Just like the match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Especially that final penalty.

He threw away the team’s three points, threw away a precious opportunity to reach the top of the table.

He might have even thrown away the team’s chance to win the league title.

This made him feel even worse, even more doubtful of himself.

Especially after the match, he even began to worry, would he be isolated by his teammates?

On New Year’s Day, he didn’t even make the squad list.

This worried him even more.

The New Year’s Day match was in the afternoon, finishing in the evening.

The head coach invited the whole team for a meal together.

After dinner, Marcelo caught the head coach just as he was about to leave on a date with his girlfriend.

The head coach had said it before.

If he had any problems, he could find him anytime.

…

The two stood on the top floor of the Royal Lancaster Hotel where the dinner was held, gazing west towards Bayswater Stadium.

It was pitch black over there now.

“You have two problems right now.”

Yang Cheng had been swamped with work lately, with almost no personal time.

It was a rare day off, and he was planning to take Xia Qing for a stroll around Knightsbridge before heading home for some sleep.

So, he didn’t plan to beat around the bush with Marcelo.

“First, you’re not confident enough right now.”

Marcelo looked up at the head coach, somewhat in disbelief.

He felt as though the head coach knew all his worries, all his thoughts.

And knew them crystal clear.

“Second, you lack experience and practical match training. You haven’t found your own balance between attack and defense, between the Brazilian way and the Premier League way.”

Marcelo was completely won over.

He didn’t know how Yang Cheng did it.

The head coach was only twenty-eight, but how did it seem like nothing could be hidden from him?

“These seem like two problems, but they are actually one and the same.”

Confidence is something that is built up slowly by playing.

The same goes for match experience and practical training.

“From the moment I signed you, I’ve been telling you that I know what kind of player you are and what level you can reach, but it seems you’re doubting me, and doubting yourself.”

Marcelo didn’t know how to answer.

Because Yang Cheng was right.

“Honestly, there’s no perfect solution for this situation. There are only two options.”

“First, I loan you out. Right now, during the winter transfer window, I can help you pick a suitable team where the match pressure and media attention isn’t as intense. You can go on loan for a year or two.”

“As long as you perform well out there, work hard in matches and improve yourself, I’ll bring you back in a year or two.”

“The second option is, you stay with the team, continue playing as you are now. I’ll try to give you more playing time. You can slowly play, slowly accumulate experience, slowly build your confidence, and things will get better.”

What Marcelo felt was a profound sense of trust and support.

This was the second professional club he had played for.

But at Fluminense, he had never felt the kind of trust and support he was receiving now.

Honestly, Marcelo was deeply moved.

For the first time, he felt an impulse to play for Yang Cheng, to give his all for him.

“I don’t want to leave!” Marcelo said resolutely.

He had never been one to give up easily.

More importantly, he was afraid that if he left, he would never be able to come back.

“Then just focus on training, playing, and improving. Brazilians generally have a lower level of tactical discipline, but that’s all the more reason to work hard to learn a bit more, to understand a bit more. No one is born knowing everything.”

“Also, Brazilians are resistant to physical challenges and hate gym training. I’m not saying you need to become a muscleman, but at the very least, you should ensure you don’t lose out in physical duels at this level, right?”

Marcelo nodded repeatedly.

“All of us will help you, but this will take time. Maybe a year, two, or even three years.”

“I have faith in you, so don’t you give up either!”

Marcelo was truly touched, listening to his head coach’s guidance and nodding continuously.

…

“I can tell you think very highly of Marcelo.”

After Marcelo left, Xia Qing came to Yang Cheng’s side, speaking with particular curiosity.

The media’s opinion of Marcelo was very low.

Especially after the draw at White Hart Lane, Marcelo had practically been nailed to a pillar of shame.

Yang Cheng smiled slightly, leaning back against the railing and looking at Xia Qing. He reached out and pulled her to his side.

“He will become the best left-back in the world. No one else will come close.”

Xia Qing was quite surprised.

She hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to rate Marcelo so highly.

“I remember you said Maicon would be the best right-back in the world. So now…”

Yang Cheng laughed out loud. “Maicon was born in ’81, Marcelo in ’88. There’s a full seven-year age gap between them.”

Their peak periods were completely staggered.

Why did Yang Cheng value Marcelo so much?

Besides the fact that he was a world-class left-back, there was another very important reason: Toni Kroos.

Marcelo was actually a very, very, very special full-back.

He was very different from other full-backs.

Defensively, we don’t need to say much. Marcelo’s characteristics lie in his attack.

European full-backs generally focus on crossing, whether it’s an early cross or one from the byline. This is a characteristic of European full-backs.

But they rarely dribble past players.

Take Ashley Cole, renowned for his attacking ability, who is one of the most offensively gifted full-backs on the European continent. He isn’t tall and has good technique at his feet.

Ashley Cole’s overall pass completion rate exceeded 85%, and in his own half, it reached 95%.

But his number of successful dribbles was pitifully low; his attacking style was still primarily based on crossing.

Leighton Baines averaged 0.6 dribbles per game, but his pass completion rate was a notch lower than Ashley Cole’s, with an overall rate of 80% and around 90% in his own half.

And the success rate of his crosses was at best one in four.

In this era, the efficiency of wing crosses wasn’t that high.

Even Maicon from within the Bayswater Chinese squad, who was a very mature right-back, had a success rate around that figure.

But Maicon’s long passes from the right were very accurate, reaching 60%.

In recent years, full-backs on the European continent have mostly followed this pattern. Even top-tier players like Lahm considered one successful dribble per match to be quite good.

Their passing was still mainly focused on crosses and long balls.

This situation would continue for another ten years, until a new generation of full-backs like Alexander-Arnold and Theo Hernández emerged.

Influenced by the overall football environment of that time, the development and demands on full-backs changed significantly.

Theo Hernández rarely crossed the ball, focusing more on long passes and link-up play.

Alexander-Arnold, influenced by the Premier League and Liverpool’s tactical system, still retained a strong crossing ability and his long passing was also outstanding.

To put it simply, Alexander-Arnold was like a right-sided Ashley Cole.

But Alexander-Arnold’s passing ability was far inferior to Ashley Cole’s, by at least 10 percentage points.

This was the mainstream full-back in continental Europe.

So why were Brazilian full-backs so special?

A very important reason was that they dared to take on players and dribble on the flanks.

Whether it was Ashley Cole, Lahm, or others before them, European full-backs basically didn’t dare, or rather, wouldn’t dribble past players on the wing.

Theo Hernández was one of the few exceptions.

The French full-back possessed a dribbling ability on the wing that was on par with the Brazilians.

Even someone like Maicon maintained an average of over 1.5 dribbles per game.

Such dribbling stats left many European wingers in the dust.

Marcelo’s and Dani Alves’s dribbling abilities would be even stronger.

And these two Brazilian players shared another common trait: they both had exceptionally delicate footwork.

Especially Marcelo, whose first touch and passing were even better than Alves’s.

Most precious of all, his right foot was also very strong.

This meant that he could launch attacks along the flank, and once in the final third, he could choose to cross, or make a diagonal run or cut inside horizontally.

So, if you watched Marcelo, you’d easily notice that he was often active on the wing and in the half-space.

This was somewhat akin to a wide holding midfielder, or even a wide attacking midfielder.

Statistically, he would have many through balls.

Maicon and Alves in their prime were much the same.

Whether it was crossing from the wing, dribbling past opponents, or cutting inside on a diagonal run to play a through ball, they could handle it all with ease.

This was the biggest difference between Brazilian and European full-backs.

And among European full-backs, even one with strong dribbling ability like Theo Hernández actually had very few, if any, through balls played in behind the defense.

To some extent, the inverted full-back style of play was a school of thought pioneered by Brazilian full-backs.

And only Brazilian full-backs could take this style to its ultimate expression.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, whether it was Maicon at Inter Milan, Alves at Sevilla and Barça, or Marcelo at Real Madrid, they were all representatives of this type of all-round wide playmaker.

Rafael da Silva at Manchester United once played in this Brazilian full-back style too, with excellent dribbling ability on the wing, but later, his development under Manchester United and Ferguson gradually shifted towards the European continental style.

This trend was vividly reflected in a series of Rafael’s match statistics.

Here, another player must be mentioned in passing: Piszczek.

The Pole, having started as a forward, possessed sharp speed, excellent technique, and strong dribbling ability on the wing.

But in the previous life, two hip surgeries had a huge impact on him.

The first was in the 2008/09 season while he was still at Hertha BSC, which sidelined him for eight months.

Then, in the 2012/13 season, he was injured again, this time at Borussia Dortmund, and he was out for over half a year again. As a result, his speed and dribbling ability were completely wiped out.

From then on, Piszczek began to change his style of play, and his injuries became more frequent.

But at Bayswater Chinese, Piszczek was still perfectly fine.

It was just that Maicon was performing so well that the 22-year-old Pole was finding it difficult to earn a starting spot for now.

…

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many people spoke of Real Madrid’s ‘Ceremony Trio’ with endless praise.

But fans still easily underestimated Marcelo’s tactical importance.

The Brazilian full-back’s exquisite footwork and sharp dribbling on the wing made him an immense threat on the flank.

More importantly, his small-scale passing combinations with Toni Kroos on the left side of midfield, coupled with C. Ronaldo ahead of them, was something no team dared to ignore.

Therefore, they could only shift their defensive focus towards that side.

In this situation, the effectiveness of Toni Kroos’s long passes to switch the play could be maximized.

And once the ball reached the right side, the combination of Modrić and Carvajal could also quickly draw defensive attention.

At this point, C. Ronaldo would drift towards the center, and the defenders would follow, leaving Marcelo alone on the left.

Modrić and Carvajal would also promptly switch the ball to the left side.

In this scenario, Marcelo, with his strong one-on-one dribbling ability, was utilized to his full potential.

In the Bayswater Chinese team that Yang Cheng was currently building, there was one area where they surpassed Real Madrid: Carvajal’s dribbling ability on the wing wasn’t strong.

The Real Madrid full-back’s average dribbles per game was around 0.6, similar to Ashley Cole, Alexander-Arnold, and others.

And Piszczek?

Currently at Bayswater Chinese, being uninjured, his stats were basically the same as Maicon’s, both above 1.5.

This was the biggest difference.

By then, Bayswater Chinese’s attack would be even sharper than Real Madrid’s.

The threat from both flanks would be even greater.

If peak Barça had the right flank of Alves and Messi, and peak Real Madrid had the left flank of Marcelo and C. Ronaldo, then now, Bayswater Chinese had highly attacking full-backs on both the left and right flanks.

When that time came, if they faced off, who would win was still uncertain!

But with Modrić and Toni Kroos in hand, plus Marcelo and Piszczek, Yang Cheng was absolutely confident he could compete with peak Barça, or a Real Madrid with C. Ronaldo!

There was no other way.

The peerless duo were simply too strong.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t have a superstar with such overwhelming individual ability, so they could only compensate through collective strength.

But Yang Cheng believed that this would surely be a powerful cornerstone, enough to establish a dominant dynasty in the Premier League.

This was also why Yang Cheng had been waiting so patiently for Toni Kroos.

…

The Premier League’s grueling Christmas schedule was indeed very difficult.

After surviving Christmas, the FA Cup matches followed immediately.

Therefore, many Premier League teams, especially the top ones, often chose to rest their main players in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Sometimes even giving them a holiday.

Yang Cheng had given Arshavin a vacation last year.

It was the same this year.

Because after the 3rd round of the FA Cup, the League Cup semi-finals were scheduled for midweek.

But Bayswater Chinese had already been eliminated from the League Cup, so they didn’t have that pressure.

This meant that after playing the 21st round of the Premier League on January 1st, many of the first team’s key players could get about ten days of rest.

Yang Cheng gave his core players a three-day holiday in one go, letting them rest well and spend time with their families.

On the afternoon of January 5th, in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese faced a very interesting opponent.

Queens Park Rangers.

This wasn’t some trick; it was pure coincidence.

Even more coincidentally, Bayswater Chinese drew a home game.

Due to their past association, Bayswater Chinese was very generous.

Adam Crozier proposed that each team sell their own tickets.

Wembley Stadium was so huge anyway, how could it possibly be sold out?

So, each team sold their own tickets, and the revenue from the tickets sold belonged to them.

When Adam Crozier made this suggestion, he secretly told Yang Cheng that he wanted to take this opportunity to poach another wave of Queens Park Rangers fans.

In the end, the match drew over seventy thousand fans, of which more than twenty thousand were Queens Park Rangers supporters.

This also showed the heritage of the West London team.

Even after Bayswater Chinese had already drawn away a portion of their fanbase, they could still mobilize so many fans to support them at Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng had to admire the club, while also giving Adam Crozier a good “talking to.”

The pull wasn’t strong enough!

Yang Cheng fielded a lineup of all substitutes and young players for this match.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Koscielny, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in the holding role, with Rakitić and Aaron Ramsey;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Yang Cheng had originally intended to start Matuidi, but the French midfielder got injured in training.

He had no choice but to have Rakitić step in.

Although the lineup was young, its strength was not to be underestimated.

After the match started, the midfield trio of Matić, Rakitić, and Aaron Ramsey demonstrated strong passing and ball control abilities.

All three midfielders possessed excellent technique.

Queens Park Rangers tried to launch an all-out attack from the start, but it was like punching cotton.

After Bayswater Chinese calmly controlled the tempo of the game and possession, they began to exert their strength starting from the 15th minute.

In the 21st minute, Walcott dribbled past two defenders on the right wing and sent a low cross to the right side of the six-yard box.

Lewandowski made a run to meet it, tapping the ball into the Queens Park Rangers’ goal.

1-0!

In the 29th minute, a brilliant pass from Gareth Bale on the left found Lewandowski just outside the penalty area on the left. He controlled the ball, shook off a defender, and then unleashed a furious right-footed shot, once again beating the goal guarded by Lee Camp.

2-0!

The relentless attacks left Queens Park Rangers scrambling.

Especially on the two flanks.

Marcelo and Piszczek were very active on the wings.

The gap in quality between the two teams was just too vast.

This meant that Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line was under very little pressure, allowing Marcelo and Piszczek to throw themselves into attack to their heart’s content, without worrying about what was behind them.

Queens Park Rangers, on the other hand, were playing on tenterhooks.

Just before halftime, a long shot from Rakitić once again breached the Queens Park Rangers goal.

3-0!

After the break, Gareth Bale first scored with a direct free kick from over 35 meters out.

Later, former Bayswater Chinese midfielder Martin Rowlands also tried a long shot, but it was collected by Begović.

In the 58th minute, Aaron Ramsey received the ball in the right half-space, broke through a double team from two defenders, and then delivered a through ball from the right edge of the penalty area.

Lewandowski shot from the right side of the six-yard box, sending the ball into the net again.

5-0!

The Polish centre-forward completed his hat-trick!

After that, Bayswater Chinese eased off.

After all, they were both West London teams and had previously shared the same stadium.

But on the pitch, the team still created numerous dangerous situations.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Queens Park Rangers 5-0 at home.

Yang Cheng didn’t think there was much to say about this victory.

The head coach of Queens Park Rangers was the Italian Luigi De Canio, who had previously managed several Serie A teams.

Yang Cheng wasn’t familiar with him and just exchanged a polite handshake.

It was Martin Rowlands who was different.

After the match, the Republic of Ireland international player specifically came over to shake hands with Yang Cheng.

When he saw Koscielny and Lambert, his expression clearly became very complicated.

It was interesting, really. In his first year after leaving Bayswater Chinese, Martin Rowlands’ development was not bad.

He was earning a higher salary, and although it was bittersweet to watch Bayswater Chinese get promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, the money helped soothe the feeling.

But as Bayswater Chinese’s performance got better and better, especially last season when they won the Premier League title, he felt even more conflicted.

Since July 2004, he had not been called up to the Republic of Ireland national team again.

Years had passed. He watched his former midfield partner, Modrić, who hadn’t performed as well as him back then, now a renowned core midfielder in the Premier League and the captain of Bayswater Chinese.

He watched his former substitute centre-forward Lambert also make a big name for himself, and while Koscielny wasn’t a starter, he too had earned a good reputation.

In contrast, although he was a regular starter at Queens Park Rangers, his performance had been declining.

Queens Park Rangers were now almost in the Championship relegation zone.

Martin Rowlands had seen and understood it all now.

His success back at Bayswater Chinese wasn’t because of how strong he was.

It was because he fit Head Coach Yang Cheng’s tactics and was able to play to his own strengths and advantages within that system.

Having left Bayswater Chinese, he was like a bird that had lost its wings. Though he could still run on the ground, he could no longer fly.

“If I hadn’t chosen to leave back then, maybe everything would be different.”

Martin Rowlands left with those regretful words.

Yang Cheng wore a smile the whole time, but he didn’t think so in his heart.

Different?

Perhaps.

If Martin Rowlands had found a team with a compatible technical style, he probably could have been a substitute for a mid-to-lower-table Premier League team.

But being a starter would be difficult.

More importantly, in Bayswater Chinese’s three-man midfield, he couldn’t replace anyone.

So, the result would probably have been the same.

…

January 12th, Premier League, Round 22.

The round of matches began with Chelsea beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home.

The Gunners, Arsenal, were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Birmingham City.

This was a minor upset.

Birmingham City was currently fighting for survival, and for Arsenal to only manage a draw at home was indeed a bit embarrassing.

Liverpool, meanwhile, drew 1-1 away at Middlesbrough.

Manchester United, on the other hand, thrashed Newcastle 6-0 at home, thanks to a hat-trick from C. Ronaldo and a brace from Carlos Tevez.

Ferguson’s team, as always, hit their stride around Christmas and the winter break.

With both Arsenal and Liverpool dropping points, this thrashing by Manchester United was a huge morale booster.

Bayswater Chinese’s match this round was away against Aston Villa.

Martin O’Neill’s team had been strengthening for two consecutive seasons and was a formidable force.

The team boasted famous Premier League players like Gareth Barry, Carew, Agbonlahor, Petrov, Bouma, and Reo-Coker.

The tall-and-fast combination of Carew and Agbonlahor was a major headache for all teams.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese went into this match with all their key players, but Yaya Touré had been called up to the national team for the Africa Cup of Nations.

So, Yang Cheng started Matuidi, with Lassana Diarra as the lone holding midfielder.

At the beginning of the match, the team still wanted to play offensively but failed to score.

Instead, in the 14th minute, Carew laid the ball off for the advancing midfielder Gareth Barry, who scored with a low shot from the edge of the area, breaking the deadlock for Aston Villa.

1-0!

But just nine minutes later, Bayswater Chinese equalized.

Maicon and Arshavin played a one-two on the right, and the Brazilian crossed from the right flank.

Džeko won the ball in the center and laid it back for the overlapping Modrić.

The Croatian passed it sideways, and Matuidi burst into the box, unleashing a furious left-footed shot from near the penalty spot to level the score.

1-1!

After that, Bayswater Chinese launched a series of attacks.

Matuidi even had a long shot that hit the post.

But in the 36th minute, another precise cross from Maicon on the right found Džeko, who out-jumped two opposing centre-backs to head the ball in from close range, turning the score around.

2-1!

In the second half, neither team could find the net again.

In the end, this scoreline held until the final whistle.

…

January 19th, afternoon, Wembley Stadium, London.

Premier League Round 23, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

This was a top-of-the-table clash watched by the whole world.

Both teams were aiming for the title, and they were only separated by a single point in the League table.

Furthermore, since Yang Cheng took over, Bayswater Chinese had never lost a home game.

But the team’s biggest problem now was that their core midfielder, Yaya Touré, was away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

In the last round, Yang Cheng used Matuidi to cover, with Lassana Diarra as the lone holding midfielder, but the effect wasn’t very good.

So, for this match, Yang Cheng chose to start Matić.

This was a very bold decision, and it also represented Yang Cheng’s intentions.

To defend might not be enough, so it was better to take the initiative and attack!

Ferguson needed to leave Wembley Stadium with at least a point to maintain their position as league leaders.

And Manchester United had just thrashed Newcastle 6-0 at home in the previous round; their momentum was unstoppable.

Ferguson’s idea was also ambitious: he wanted to destroy Bayswater Chinese away from home in one fell swoop.

To crush the opponent with Manchester United’s greatest strength—their attack!

Not only to extend their lead in the league table, but also to demoralize Bayswater Chinese.

For this reason, from the very first minute, both teams presented the seventy-five thousand fans at Wembley Stadium with an open, attacking game.

Just forty-two seconds into the match, C. Ronaldo linked up with Tevez and Rooney, dribbled to the edge of the penalty area, and took a shot.

This was the first shot of the match.

Ferguson also held the same idea: to out-attack Bayswater Chinese and prevent them from launching their own offensive blitz.

But in the 9th minute, while Wes Brown had the ball in his own half, he was dispossessed by Di María’s pressing.

The Argentinian cut in on a diagonal run into the left side of the box and unleashed a furious shot, which was saved by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

At the crucial moment, Džeko arrived at full tilt, using his body to shield Vidić away before tucking away the rebound. 1-0!

The atmosphere in the entire stadium was instantly ignited!

Seasoned fans could guess that in this kind of end-to-end game with an early goal, the final score would surely be high.

Manchester United began to launch fierce attacks, especially their front three, who looked particularly formidable.

Bayswater Chinese was not to be outdone.

Although Yaya Touré was absent, the team’s midfield was running smoothly.

In the 20th minute, Manchester United launched a swift counter-attack.

Tevez held up the ball and then played a through pass.

Rooney made a quick forward run, received the ball, and found himself in a one-on-one situation.

Facing the onrushing Neuer, Rooney rounded him and slotted the ball into the empty net.

1-1!

But Bayswater Chinese’s response came quickly.

First, a curling long shot from outside the box by Modrić was brilliantly saved by Van der Sar.

Then, a shot from a tight angle by Džeko from the right side of the six-yard box was blocked for a corner kick by Vidić’s body.

The subsequent corner kick failed to create a threat.

And in the 28th minute, an attacking free-kick from Leighton Baines just grazed the top of the crossbar near the top right corner and went out.

Just three minutes later, during a quick counter-attack, Džeko, facing a double team from Ferdinand and Vidić, unleashed a hasty long shot from 35 meters out that nearly beat Van der Sar, hitting the post and bouncing back.

While Manchester United’s goal was under siege, the same was true for Bayswater Chinese.

The difference was that Rooney, C. Ronaldo, and Tevez were clearly not having their best shooting day.

Yang Cheng once again deployed Lassana Diarra to mark C. Ronaldo. The Portuguese seemed to have a mental block against Lassana Diarra, taking frequent shots, but all of them were wild.

And in first-half stoppage time, Maicon made an overlapping run from the right, received a through ball from Arshavin, broke into the right side of the box, and sent a low cross to the far post.

Di María followed up and poked it in with his left foot, putting his team ahead once again.

2-1!

After halftime, in the 57th minute, despite being hassled by Matić, Rooney still managed to pass the ball to C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box and sent a cross towards the front of the goal.

Tevez threw himself forward, sliding both himself and the ball into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

2-2!

After equalizing, Manchester United decisively changed their tactics.

Ferguson started making substitutions, bringing on Fletcher for Tevez.

At the same time, Manchester United adjusted their team’s tactics, switching to a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Rooney and C. Ronaldo as the forward pair.

Now, Hargreaves, Carrick, and Fletcher formed a three-man holding midfield, with Scholes in front of them.

Yang Cheng guessed Ferguson’s intention.

But he wanted to take a gamble!

Bayswater Chinese were still one point behind Manchester United and had to win this match to leapfrog them in the table.

What’s more, this was their home ground.

So, Yang Cheng signaled for the team to continue strengthening the attack.

In an instant, the area outside Manchester United’s penalty box was in a state of alarm.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacks resulted in shot after shot.

Van der Sar suddenly became the busiest man on the pitch.

Especially in the 65th and 67th minutes, they came agonizingly close to scoring on two occasions.

The first was a cross from Maicon on the right, with Džeko hitting a volley from the left side of the box that was almost destined for the back of the net, only to be miraculously saved by Van der Sar.

But Bayswater Chinese continued to press, forcing Vidić to misjudge a header in the 67th minute.

Yes, Manchester United’s defense had a major problem this season: defending high balls.

Ferdinand, Vidić, and Wes Brown all had decent heading ability and height, so how could they repeatedly concede headed goals?

But they had a critical problem: their concentration occasionally lapsed when defending high balls.

Vidić’s misjudged header this time was a case in point.

Arshavin broke into the box, rushing towards the penalty spot.

However, Van der Sar abandoned his goal and charged out, plucking the ball from the air just before Arshavin could reach it.

The two collided solidly.

But the Manchester United goalkeeper held onto the ball tightly.

A minute later, Bayswater Chinese’s pressure forced Ferdinand to commit a foul and receive a yellow card.

Another crack appeared in Manchester United’s impenetrable fortress.

But just as Bayswater Chinese seemed on the verge of breaking through Manchester United’s defense, in the 77th minute, Fletcher blocked a Bayswater attack. Scholes sent a deadly through ball, and C. Ronaldo sprinted forward at immense speed.

Facing a combined block from defenders Pepe and Thiago Silva, the Portuguese used his speed to force his way through, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and scored with a shot, 3-2!

Manchester United began to defend even more resolutely.

Ferguson even brought on Giggs for Scholes, continuing to employ a defensive counter-attack strategy.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, kept ramping up the attacking intensity.

A crucial top-of-the-table clash, a multi-year unbeaten home record, the cheers of seventy-five thousand fans…

All of this made Bayswater Chinese pour everything they had into the match!

Especially after the 86th minute, Bayswater Chinese’s attack reached a point where they were completely disregarding defense.

In the 88th minute, Rooney sent a pass that let C. Ronaldo charge into Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area, once again creating a one-on-one.

But Neuer decisively rushed out of his goal and, to the right of the penalty spot, managed to poke the ball away from C. Ronaldo’s feet.

Then, the German goalkeeper, beating Rooney to it, sprinted out of the box and kicked the ball upfield.

Such a valiant performance further ignited the fighting spirit and morale of the home team’s players.

It wasn’t until the 92nd minute that Arshavin, on the left side just outside the penalty area, received a lay-off from Džeko, powered past Fletcher, and shot with a right-footed curling shot.

The ball curled, hit the inside of the right post, and went into Manchester United’s goal.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in frenzied cheers!

3-3!

Chapter 135: The Tsar is Mighty! Ferguson: The Rules of the Premier League Have Changed!

“No wonder Wenger said you’re the stingiest head coach he’s ever seen in the Premier League.”

After the match, Yang Cheng and Ferguson were having a drink in one of the stadium’s VIP boxes.

Ferguson had brought the wine himself.

If he had lost the match, the old man certainly wouldn’t have been willing to bring it out.

He seemed quite satisfied with the 3-3 draw.

“Me, stingy?”

Yang Cheng chuckled and pointed at the surrounding environment and the box.

Through the box door, one could see the groundskeepers below tidying up the pitch.

It was a routine task after every match; any turf torn up by players’ tackles had to be repaired immediately.

“Do you know how much a box like this costs?”

Before Ferguson could answer, Yang Cheng threw out the answer himself.

“Over ten thousand pounds, the rental for one match. I’m treating you to a drink in a box that costs over ten thousand pounds, and you still call me stingy?”

Ferguson couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

He knew Yang Cheng was fuming inside.

That was normal.

A draw at home would infuriate anyone.

But he was very happy right now.

Bayswater Chinese’s unbeaten home record was no joke.

Ferguson was satisfied with taking a point and maintaining their lead.

“Stop pretending in front of me. This box of yours probably couldn’t be rented out anyway.”

Yang Cheng felt a bit guilty.

It was true; it hadn’t been rented out.

Otherwise, he’d have to be crazy to use it to entertain this damned old codger.

“Besides, the ten thousand-plus pounds for the box is for the expensive hospitality package, not the box itself. At most, you’ve wasted a little on cleaning fees. Maybe if you clean it up yourself later, you’ll even save on that.”

Yang Cheng snorted coldly and ignored him.

Ferguson was sharp about these things.

Neither could fool the other.

“Look at me, I come to your home ground, bring my own wine, and even treat you to a drink. Aren’t you the cheap one?”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng snorted again. “You were the one who wanted to treat me to a drink. I never planned on treating you.”

“So, when all is said and done, you’re the cheap one.”

Having won a verbal spar, Ferguson was in a good mood. He poured another glass for himself and Yang Cheng.

“I heard from Wenger that the wine you treated him to last time was terrible, who knows where you got it on short notice. So I thought, with your stingy character, if I won, you’d probably treat me to a Coca-Cola. That’s why I brought my own.”

After speaking, Ferguson laughed to himself, looking rather smug.

Yang Cheng cursed inwardly: Treat you to Coca-Cola?

In your dreams!

“Actually, we could have won this match. A draw is unfair to us,” Ferguson sighed with regret.

That was the last straw. Hearing him say that made Yang Cheng’s blood boil.

“With your performance, especially in the second half, turtling up like that, and you call it unfair?”

After a pause, Yang Cheng complained in exasperation, “If Yaya Touré had been here, you wouldn’t have walked out of Wembley Stadium today!”

Nemanja Matić certainly had a lot of potential, but he was still a far cry from Yaya Touré.

The main issue was that Matić wasn’t mature enough.

Yaya Touré was already twenty-four years old and was gradually entering the prime of his career.

Manchester United, on the other hand, had a strong and well-equipped squad, with Ferguson deploying all his key players.

In defense, they used Manchester United’s impenetrable fortress to block Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

Up front, C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Carlos Tevez launched counter-attacks.

This style of play was indeed a huge headache.

Matić had actually done a decent job, but ultimately, he was no match for Yaya Touré.

The young Serbian hadn’t made any mistakes; it was just a gap in overall ability.

“That’s why I’ve never liked using African players. Having to play in the Africa Cup of Nations every two years is just so annoying.”

Yang Cheng gave this old humblebragger a sidelong glance, a wave of impatience washing over him.

“Can you please stop spouting such shameless nonsense in front of me?”

“You don’t like African players? Who was it that fought with Chelsea over Michael Essien?”

“And which shameless person tore his face off with Chelsea over Mikel, only to make twelve million pounds off them?”

At Ferguson’s age, he had pretty much reached the stage where he could lie through his teeth without batting an eye.

“That’s all in the past. Look at our team now, how many African players do we have?”

Then, he adopted a condescending, I’m-older-and-wiser tone. “You’re still young. You didn’t take this into account when building your team. The number four position is so important. With Yaya Touré gone, what’s the impact?”

Had Yang Cheng not considered it?

Not really.

The Africa Cup of Nations schedule was right there; how could he have not noticed?

It was a matter of comprehensive consideration.

For example, Yaya Touré would be gone for about a month for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Was it worth signing a high-level player for just that one month?

If the player wasn’t good enough, it was better to develop from within. Rakitić, Matuidi, and Matić could all fill in.

If the player was good, would he be willing to come for just over a month?

Even if he was, how much would his salary be?

Any team considering this issue had to make a comprehensive plan.

Except for the mega-rich teams.

Chelsea already had plenty of forwards, but they still wanted to sign Anelka.

The Frenchman’s salary was by no means low.

“Have you heard? Manchester City is being sold,” Ferguson said suddenly.

Yang Cheng nodded with an “Mm.”

Thaksin Shinawatra’s assets had been frozen.

So, he wanted to sell Manchester City to raise some capital.

There had been persistent rumors that a consortium from the Middle East was coming in, specifically Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.

Fans could only get bits and pieces of information from the media, but as Premier League clubs, they naturally had more intelligence.

After all, any acquisition of a Premier League club had to be approved by the Premier League.

And the Premier League wasn’t so much a governing body as a steward-like organization.

Many specific decisions required consensus among the twenty clubs.

Of course, although it was twenty clubs, many were yo-yo clubs, seemingly just there to cash in on the Premier League.

These clubs had little say in the Premier League.

“The rules of the Premier League have changed. From now on, teams like us that build steadily will be at an even greater disadvantage.”

The “us” Ferguson referred to clearly included Bayswater Chinese.

Both were foreign-owned, but the biggest difference between Bayswater Chinese and other teams was that Yang Cheng’s team had come up from the lower leagues.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese almost never competed with the giants for star players.

On the contrary, Yang Cheng was always selling star players.

This business model was actually welcomed by established giants like Manchester United.

In the foreseeable future, Bayswater Chinese was bound to continue with this model.

It was all for that new stadium, after all.

Yang Cheng finally understood why Ferguson wanted to have a drink with him.

In the end, he wanted to sound out Bayswater Chinese.

“We’re a small club. Right now, we’re even renting our home stadium. We don’t have the ability to participate in, let alone change, this trend.”

Yang Cheng immediately changed the subject. “Arsenal is also going to be sold.”

“To whom?”

“It’s not certain yet, but I’ve heard some news. The American, Kroenke, is unwilling to spend money. Even the acquisition funds are mostly from loans. There might be some debt restructuring after the acquisition.”

“The Russian, on the other hand, is very wealthy and has made grand promises, saying that after the acquisition, he’s willing to splash cash on transfers for Arsenal, to get the Gunners back to the top of the Premier League in the shortest time possible.”

Ferguson smiled faintly upon hearing this. “Then David Dein will definitely support the Russian. He’s even sold his shares. Wenger might lean a bit towards the American. He’s always liked being financially self-sufficient and independent.”

“But now, circumstances are stronger than people,” Yang Cheng said blandly.

Ultimately, Wenger also had his own interests to consider.

After Yang Cheng renewed his contract with Bayswater Chinese for an annual salary of four million pounds, Wenger’s contract extension talks with Arsenal had been ongoing.

His contract was set to expire in 2008.

He was probably hoping to use this opportunity to gain some leverage in negotiations, to get a better deal on his renewal, and to secure promises from the new owner.

So, one shouldn’t always think of Wenger as a pushover.

The old man just looked a bit miserable; his mind was full of schemes and shrewdness.

“You can’t trust the Yanks!” Ferguson grumbled softly.

Yang Cheng also laughed. “The Russians aren’t popular in England either.”

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

This was Arsenal’s dilemma.

Previously, the media had revealed that the Abu Dhabi consortium was actually very interested in Arsenal before approaching Manchester City.

But both Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov refused to sell their shares, blocking the Abu Dhabi consortium from entering the picture.

The implication was that Arsenal could only choose between the two foreign shareholders.

As for what would happen after the decision, how Kroenke and Usmanov would negotiate for each other’s shares, that would depend on their negotiating skills.

Yang Cheng had heard one theory.

Kroenke was acquiring Arsenal more for profit. If Usmanov completed his takeover of Arsenal, he could buy out Kroenke’s shares as long as the price was right.

But the Russian had made a bold statement: even if Kroenke acquired Arsenal, he would not sell his own shares.

So, for Arsenal, selling to the American might not solve their current financial predicament.

What’s more, Kroenke was either unwilling or unable to invest more money.

“Player values are probably going to rise again,” Ferguson said helplessly.

Yang Cheng didn’t seem to mind.

He was on the selling side. A rise in player values was only good for him.

Of course, he would also lose out if salaries rose accordingly.

All in all, this situation had more pros than cons for him.

But for a team like Manchester United, it was different.

Imagine, without Chelsea, how much stronger would Manchester United be now?

Robben, Essien, Mikel would all belong to Manchester United.

Too many monks, not enough porridge.

Before, it was just Chelsea. If Arsenal and Manchester City were really sold to tycoons, the competition for players would become even more fierce.

And to make matters worse, the damn Premier League had work permit restrictions.

Manchester United had been eyeing Essien as early as 1999, but work permits didn’t allow it back then, and there was no Special Talent Clause.

Thinking of this, Ferguson let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

When he turned to look at Yang Cheng again, he saw that he was perfectly calm.

Suddenly, Ferguson understood everything.

To put it bluntly, even if Manchester City and Arsenal were acquired by foreign capital and their new owners started spending money like crazy, the impact on Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t be that significant.

At this thought, Ferguson’s previously good mood instantly soured.

“I hear you and Arsenal are discussing a proposal to call for stricter enforcement of foul regulations?” Ferguson revealed another purpose of his visit.

“Yes. Want in?” Yang Cheng asked.

“Alright.” Ferguson nodded readily. “Also, I think we can try to get Chelsea and Liverpool on board.”

In essence, raising the refereeing standards was a limitation on mid-to-lower table teams.

Whether in the Premier League or other European leagues, when a weaker team played a stronger one, they generally employed the same set of tactics.

Defensive counter-attacks and tactical fouling often went hand in hand.

If the standards for fouls were raised, the shackles on weaker teams would become even heavier.

Of course, the current officiating standard in the Premier League was indeed too rough.

Some on-pitch violence had also negatively affected the overall image of the Premier League.

Therefore, teams like Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool—in fact, any Premier League team that had ever thought about developing a global market—would support it.

It could improve the team’s competitiveness, enhance its global commercial image, and protect players—a win-win-win situation.

But some mid-to-lower table teams would definitely oppose it.

Teams like The Thugs, for instance.

But as long as they took the moral high ground and raised the banner, an alliance of several top teams could definitely push it through.

After all, the Premier League also needed to develop overseas markets.

Unlike the distribution model for domestic TV rights, the revenue from the sale of overseas TV rights was divided equally among the twenty teams.

The elite clubs had always had an issue with this.

Everyone knew that the overseas rights were driven by the top clubs, and the development of those markets was largely thanks to them.

But the money earned had to be shared equally?

Over the past few years, teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea had repeatedly proposed reforms, wanting to incorporate the overseas rights sales model into the domestic rights sales model.

That way, the big clubs would get a larger share.

Ferguson believed that, at the right moment, this could be brought up for discussion in the Premier ALeague as leverage through the reform of overseas rights revenue sharing.

Either reform the revenue sharing model, or raise the officiating standards.

Yang Cheng also thought this was a good idea.

“Adam Crozier is a capable man. Just have him contact the other top teams. When the time is right, bring it to the table!”

Yang Cheng naturally had no objections.

The more Bayswater Chinese took the lead in proposing suggestions, especially those that were adopted, the more it would continuously enhance the club’s influence within the Premier League.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down?

Please, with Ferguson’s Manchester United and Wenger’s Arsenal at the forefront, what was there to fear?

…

English football has one very distinct feature compared to other leagues on the European continent.

They have two extremely important competitions.

The FA Cup and the top-tier league.

These two competitions are hailed as the twin towers of English football, both of paramount importance.

Therefore, in terms of scheduling, the FA Cup is always arranged to be held on weekends.

Yes, no matter how congested the league schedule is, the FA Cup is always on the weekend.

It can even push league matches to be played mid-week.

In 1961, when Tottenham Hotspur won the Double, the only match broadcast live on television was not a league game, but the FA Cup Final.

This shows the weight of the FA Cup in English football.

The participants in the Premier League’s Community Shield are the league champion and the FA Cup champion.

The League Cup?

Go play somewhere else!

But this situation began to change gradually after the turn of the new millennium.

In January 2006, The Times wrote a commentary that caused a huge stir in the British media.

The FA Cup is becoming a consolation prize.

Only teams that can’t compete for the title would want to challenge for the FA Cup!

In 2005, after being held to a draw by a lower-league team in the FA Cup, Ferguson once said something.

“Being held to a draw, or even eliminated, in the FA Cup, the shame only lasts a day or two.”

“Then, it’s all over.”

The Times reviewed this statement, remarking that if it were ten years ago, an early exit from the FA Cup would have cost the head coach his job.

This is an irreversible process.

A single position in the Premier League table carries far more weight than the FA Cup.

For many teams with a chance to compete in the Champions League and a chance to consistently win the league title, the FA Cup is merely icing on the cake.

After The Times’ article, almost every January when the FA Cup schedule begins, the media will hype up the decline of the FA Cup.

Since the FA Cup is on a weekend, many teams will indulge the nostalgic sentiments of local fans and insist on using their starting lineup in the FA Cup, especially for home games.

Bayswater Chinese’s 4th round FA Cup match was at home against Derby County.

Although Derby County was currently at the bottom of the Premier League table, they were still a Premier League team.

But Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese didn’t have many concerns.

They even released news early on that they would field a full team of substitutes and young players.

Why?

Playing at home, fans buy tickets to see a win.

If they didn’t go all out, but instead played substitutes and young players and lost at home, wouldn’t they be flamed by the fans?

As a result, Wembley Stadium was only filled with just over thirty thousand people for this match.

And that was only because FA Cup ticket prices were lower.

Unexpectedly, Bayswater Chinese’s substitutes and young players played exceptionally well.

Just fourteen minutes into the game, Gareth Bale assisted Robert Lewandowski for the opening goal.

In the 33rd minute, Aaron Ramsey received the ball in midfield, shook off a defender, and sent a through ball behind the defense. Theo Walcott successfully beat the offside trap, broke into the box, and scored in a one-on-one.

2-0!

Just before the end of the first half, Lewandowski again controlled the ball in the penalty area, dribbled past a defender, and once again found the back of Derby County’s net.

3-0!

In the second half, although Derby County pulled one back, Bayswater Chinese’s substitute Lambert scored a goal in the final moments of the match, sealing the score at 4-1!

Conversely, another match that Yang Cheng was paying close attention to.

Chelsea challenged Wigan Athletic away from home.

Grant’s team faced staunch resistance from the home side.

The Blues played with a rotated squad in this match and ended up losing 1-2 to Wigan Athletic away, getting knocked out of the FA Cup.

Chelsea was clearly conserving energy, preparing for the 24th round of the league three days later.

Bayswater Chinese would be visiting Stamford Bridge again!

…

Three days later, Premier League Round 24.

After Bayswater Chinese’s 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge during last year’s Christmas schedule, their return to Stamford Bridge a year later was met with intense hostility from Chelsea fans.

Before the match, Chelsea’s hardcore fan organizations issued a stern warning, vowing to make Bayswater Chinese play in a hellish atmosphere.

The Blues’ recent form had also been terrible.

If Yaya Touré’s absence had a big impact on Bayswater Chinese, then the Africa Cup of Nations was nothing short of a nightmare for Chelsea.

Drogba, Essien, Mikel, and Kalou had all left the team to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

This was equivalent to losing half of their starting lineup in one go.

Facing a clash between top teams at such a time was also critical for the Blues.

Grant’s decision to play a full substitute lineup in the FA Cup was precisely to muster all his forces for this game.

Everyone at Chelsea gave Grant their full support.

Owner Roman Abramovich not only personally oversaw the match at Stamford Bridge but also offered a substantial bonus.

Every player would receive an extra bonus if they could beat Bayswater Chinese at home.

Offering a bonus specifically for one match was not a common occurrence.

But it also made this West London derby all the more significant.

The Premier League also cooperated with global broadcasters to heavily promote and advertise this match.

Coupled with the hype from the British media, the anticipation for this match was extremely high.

As for the match itself.

Grant still deployed Chelsea’s familiar 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Carvalho, Alex, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Makélélé in a holding role, with Michael Ballack and Lampard in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Anelka, and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Shevchenko still didn’t get a start.

Even on the substitute bench sat Peruvian striker Pizarro.

The Ukrainian Nuke’s situation at Chelsea had truly hit rock bottom.

And aside from the injured Terry, Grant had fielded the strongest possible lineup at his disposal.

Bayswater Chinese also played a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Di María, Džeko, and Arshavin.

As soon as the match started, Bayswater Chinese launched an opening blitz.

This was Yang Cheng’s signature tactic.

Chelsea, on the other hand, adopted a stable defensive strategy. Grant was clearly wary of Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

Both sides employed targeted tactics.

Chelsea, in particular, was thoroughly prepared in defense.

But what no one expected was that after just eight minutes of play, Chelsea’s midfield made a passing error under the relentless pressure from Bayswater Chinese.

Inside his own thirty-yard area, as Lampard received a pass from Makélélé, he was pressed by Modrić.

Just as Lampard was about to pass, the Croatian midfielder stuck out a foot first, blocking the ball.

After successfully intercepting the ball, the Croatian immediately turned to shield it, skillfully dribbling with both feet.

Lampard immediately applied pressure from behind.

But Modrić faked a turn to his left, towards the center, tricking Lampard, before suddenly turning to his right, towards the left side of the pitch.

The ball rolled obediently between his feet.

Having created an opening, Modrić faced the left flank and immediately used his left foot to deliver a chip pass into the open space in front of Di María.

The Argentine made a quick forward run, catching up to Modrić’s chip pass. Without stopping the ball, he saw Arshavin making a diagonal run from the center. He met the falling ball with his left foot and chipped it again.

This chip sent the ball directly over Chelsea’s defensive line, landing on the left side of the penalty area.

How brilliant was Di María’s chip pass?

It sailed over the defense and barely bounced after landing.

Arshavin beat the offside trap, caught up with the ball, gave it a slight touch to adjust the angle, and, just before the onrushing Čech could leave his six-yard box, he drove a low shot with his left foot.

Because the Russian’s footwork was so quick, he made a subtle feint before shooting, deceiving goalkeeper Čech and making the Czech keeper think he was going for the near post. Čech immediately moved to block it.

As a result, the ball went right between Čech’s outstretched right leg and into the Chelsea goal.

1-0!

“ARSHAVIN!!!”

“Just nine minutes into the game, Andrei Arshavin has breached Chelsea’s goal!”

“Last season at Stamford Bridge, Arshavin earned the nickname ‘The Tsar’ with a stunning four-goal haul.”

“Today, back at the Stamford Bridge that made his name, he has scored just nine minutes into the match.”

“For this goal, Arshavin should thank his two teammates.”

“Modrić, who made the interception, and left winger Di María.”

“It was this kind of brilliant combination play that completely tore through Chelsea’s defensive line.”

“Impossible to defend against!”

…

After taking a 1-0 lead, Bayswater Chinese didn’t rest on their laurels but continued to press their advantage.

Since it was a duel between arch-rivals, it was naturally a fight to the death.

What’s more, Chelsea was also affected by the Africa Cup of Nations in this match.

At the very least, in terms of pressure on the defense, Anelka posed a much smaller threat than Drogba.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s attack was very aggressive, with the whole team pushing forward, putting immense pressure on Chelsea.

Just three minutes after the goal, another series of quick passes between Di María, Modrić, and Arshavin on the left side saw Modrić brought down by a sliding tackle from Lampard as he advanced with the ball.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a free kick in the attacking third.

Leighton Baines ran over, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

At this moment, everyone held their breath.

A free kick in the attacking third was Bayswater Chinese’s specialty.

When Leighton Baines took the free kick quickly, attacking players led by Pepe and Džeko immediately sprinted towards the near post and the center.

This caused Chelsea’s defenders to instinctively follow them.

But unexpectedly, Leighton Baines’s kick precisely landed near the right corner of the six-yard box.

Thiago Silva sprinted into position, leaped high into the air, and headed the ball, smashing it into Chelsea’s goal.

“IT’S IN AGAIN!!!”

“In just four minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in a row!”

“Another well-worked set piece from the attacking third!”

“From the Brazilian centre-back, Thiago Silva!”

“Čech was clearly powerless to stop it.”

“This is what many people have been saying: Bayswater Chinese’s set pieces and corner kicks are devilishly effective.”

“Whenever Gianni Vio appears in the technical area, all opponents tremble in fear.”

…

Having conceded two goals, even if Grant were a fool, he would realize the team needed to stabilize its defense immediately.

In fact, he didn’t even need to say it; the Chelsea players on the pitch did so themselves.

This was no joke.

With Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower, if they were allowed to play freely, it was entirely possible they could rack up a big score.

And when Chelsea stabilized their defense, Bayswater Chinese also appropriately slowed down their attack.

But the initiative of the match remained firmly in the hands of the away team.

Chelsea’s defensive stance lasted through the rest of the first half and into the second.

Originally, Grant had planned for an attacking blitz in the second half.

But in the 52nd minute, Neuer launched a long kick from his own half, sending the ball directly behind Chelsea’s defensive line.

Džeko beat the offside trap and earned a one-on-one opportunity.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-forward dribbled all the way into Chelsea’s penalty area, but was disturbed by the advancing Čech. His rushed chip shot was tipped over the byline by the quick-reacting Czech keeper.

The ball grazed the post on its way out.

From then on, Chelsea continued to defend.

Grant couldn’t come up with a good solution.

In the 65th minute, he brought on Joe Cole for Shaun Wright-Phillips and Pizarro for Malouda.

He wanted to exploit Nemanja Matić’s weakness to attack Bayswater Chinese.

But this substitution was not effective.

Yang Cheng had started Thiago Silva and Pepe in this match precisely because this centre-back pairing had a large defensive coverage area, able to provide enough support for the inexperienced Matić.

Not to mention, Matić also had Modrić and Lassana Diarra flanking him.

This thwarted Chelsea’s plan.

…

“Grant just isn’t up to it, in the end.”

In a box at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich felt a sour taste in his mouth as he watched the game being completely controlled by the opponent.

They had mentally prepared for a loss in this match long before it started.

Otherwise, Abramovich wouldn’t have offered such a large bonus.

He just didn’t expect the terrible situation of conceding two goals at the start and then defending for the rest of the game.

“The Africa Cup of Nations has had too great an impact on us,” Pini Zahavi said, defending his fellow Israeli.

Abramovich glanced at the Israeli, understanding in his heart.

But he said nothing.

In his position, he was used to the people around him having their own agendas.

He didn’t care.

As long as these people needed to depend on him, were willing to cooperate with him, and followed his instructions, he didn’t mind.

“Arshavin has scored 16 goals now, hasn’t he?” Abramovich asked.

The Tsar is mighty!

“Today’s was his 16th, tying him for third on the top scorer chart.”

Currently, the top scorer in the Premier League was Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo, who had scored nineteen goals in twenty-four league rounds.

And this was after he had been suspended for three matches due to a red card at the beginning of the season.

In reality, he had scored nineteen goals in twenty-one appearances.

The Portuguese had truly exploded this season, with astonishing stats.

In second place was Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko, with seventeen goals.

There were two players tied for third: Bayswater Chinese’s Arshavin and Arsenal’s Adebayor, both with sixteen goals.

The top scorer chart also showed just how strong Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower was this season.

They occupied half of the top four spots on the chart.

This was a massive slap in the face to the media and fans who had speculated at the beginning of the season that Bayswater Chinese’s overall performance would decline significantly after losing Ashley Young.

And judging from this match, Chelsea’s overall strength was indeed inferior to Bayswater Chinese’s.

Of course, after Drogba, Essien, Kalou, and Mikel left for the Africa Cup of Nations, the gap became even wider.

“Should I… take another trip up north?” Pini Zahavi guessed Abramovich’s thoughts.

As a Russian, Abramovich was keen on pleasing his home country.

That’s why he tried everything to sign Shevchenko.

But now, the Ukrainian Nuke’s situation at Chelsea was irreversible.

After Mourinho was sacked, Grant had briefly tried to give Shevchenko a key role, but it didn’t work.

To put it bluntly, Shevchenko’s career had been completely derailed after joining Chelsea, and it was hard for him to return to his former glory.

Especially considering his age.

Under these circumstances, Arshavin’s meteoric rise undoubtedly gave Abramovich another option.

Chelsea’s technical team had also studied the tactical implications of Arshavin’s potential arrival and had given it a very high rating.

If the Russian were to truly come to Stamford Bridge, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the creativity and technical quality of Chelsea’s attack.

With a powerful centre-forward like Drogba leading the line, it was indeed an excellent choice.

The only obstacle was that his transfer fee would be very high.

Transfermarkt currently valued him at thirty million euros, which is twenty million pounds.

But everyone knew that it was basically impossible to sign the twenty-six-year-old Arshavin for that price.

But regardless of the price, this was not a transfer that could be arranged during the winter transfer window.

“We’ll talk about it in the summer!” Abramovich sighed.

If they were to try and push for this deal during the winter transfer window, it wasn’t even a question of whether Bayswater Chinese would sell.

Even if they managed to persuade them, they would probably be fleeced.

It would be better to wait until the summer transfer window, when there would be more time.

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-0 away from home, thanks to goals from Arshavin and Thiago Silva, successfully securing three points.

But in the same round of league matches, Arsenal won 3-0 at home against Newcastle.

Liverpool lost 0-1 away to West Ham United.

Manchester United, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, beat Portsmouth 2-0 at home.

This made the league situation clear to Yang Cheng and everyone else.

After twenty-four rounds, Liverpool was gradually falling out of the leading pack.

Benítez’s team had improved considerably after signing Torres.

But now it seemed that Arsenal’s improvement was even greater.

Although the Gunners didn’t seem to have made massive signings, their team was very young, and many players in the squad performed outstandingly.

Players like Fàbregas, van Persie, and Adebayor all shone brightly.

Manchester United was first with 59 points, while Bayswater Chinese had 58.

Arsenal had 54 points, and Chelsea had 50.

But fifth-placed Liverpool only had 43 points.

From the current look of things, Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League were shrinking.

And if one were to look closely at Liverpool’s problems, it’s not hard to see that Liverpool had actually only lost three games so far.

Their real problem was too many draws.

Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Chelsea all currently had five or six draws.

Manchester United had lost three but only drawn two.

And Liverpool?

They lost three and drew ten.

This could only prove that the Reds lacked effective attacking methods against teams weaker than themselves, and their efficiency in securing points was too low.

The 4-2-3-1 formation that Benítez had relied on was gradually becoming his biggest problem.

As someone who knew what would happen, Yang Cheng guessed another layer of the problem.

That was Xabi Alonso’s frequent injuries, which had led to the Spaniard’s poor form this season.

Xabi Alonso had started ten games so far, and Liverpool’s record was five wins, four draws, and one loss.

In the fourteen games the Spanish midfielder missed, their record was six wins, six draws, and two losses.

Therefore, when interviewed by the media, Benítez repeatedly denied that Xabi Alonso’s injury was the cause of Liverpool’s anemic attack.

After all, the difference with or without Xabi Alonso wasn’t that big.

Even after Christmas, when Xabi Alonso returned from injury, Benítez specifically rotated him out twice.

As a result, both games were draws.

All in all, Liverpool’s current problems were more internal than external.

With Benítez’s prestige at the club, losing the Champions League this season probably wouldn’t get him sacked, but his situation would only become more difficult.

…

On the weekend, Premier League Round 25.

This was destined to be a round full of draws.

Especially for Bayswater Chinese.

After consecutive matches against Manchester United and Chelsea, they faced Bolton on the weekend.

Yang Cheng’s team drew 1-1 at home with Bolton.

Manchester United also drew 1-1 away to Tottenham Hotspur in this round.

Arsenal defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at home.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away to Portsmouth.

Liverpool, however, won 3-0 at home against Sunderland.

…

After the 25th round of the Premier League, all the international players were called up for national team duty.

European teams were preparing for the 2008 European Championship, so a friendly match was scheduled for mid-week.

This dealt a huge blow to Bayswater Chinese.

Yaya Touré hadn’t even returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, and now the squad was gutted by national team call-ups.

They went to play a friendly for their national teams mid-week, and upon returning, they had an away game against Everton on the weekend.

As a result, Yang Cheng’s team lost 0-1 away to Everton.

Yang Cheng was disappointed with this result.

“Losing is truly, truly disappointing.”

“We played very poorly at Goodison Park.”

But one couldn’t judge things solely by the result.

Yang Cheng stated that the loss in this match was due to two main factors.

The first and most important reason was that the team had too many international players.

“We have more than twice the number of international players as Everton. Over the past week, they have been focused solely on preparing for this match at home, so they had the advantage in terms of physical fitness.”

“But we are different. The mid-week national team games disrupted our training and preparation. We have about ten players who even played the full 90 minutes in the mid-week games.”

“Many of our players didn’t even make it to a training session after returning to the team; they just traveled north with the squad directly.”

“This is the main reason for our poor performance today.”

Yang Cheng said this was not the first time.

Bayswater Chinese had suffered greatly from national team training camps this season.

“After every national team training camp, we always perform worse than usual in the following match.”

Because of the above reason, the players’ mentality during the game was a bit too anxious.

“Our players really wanted to win, but precisely because everyone wanted to win so badly, and wanted to score as soon as possible, we actually did poorly in the opening phase, lost our rhythm, and lacked our usual imaginative teamwork.”

Yang Cheng believed that David Moyes’s targeted tactics were also crucial.

“Everton’s running and counter-attacks were outstanding, which led to our third loss of the season.”

Regarding this loss, Yang Cheng said it was in the past.

“We must forget this match as quickly as possible and throw ourselves into the new battle.”

“The championship is a long-haul battle. Regardless of the result of Manchester United’s match tomorrow, for us, the most important thing is every single match that follows. We are still strong, and we still have the ability to fight for the league title!”

Yang Cheng’s call received the support of the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

But for the media outside, they were clearly no longer optimistic about Bayswater Chinese.

Dropping points at a critical moment was fatal during the title race.

More importantly, Manchester United’s match this round was the Manchester derby, and it was at home.

Under these circumstances, Ferguson’s team had no reason to lose.

Bayswater Chinese was already one point behind. If Manchester United beat Manchester City, the gap would widen to four points.

The situation would be completely different from before.

Manchester United would have the absolute upper hand on the road to the title.

But to the utter surprise of all the media, the Manchester United they were so confident in actually lost 1-2 to their city rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford the next day.

They conceded two goals in a row and only managed to score one through Carrick in stoppage time.

Their performance was even worse than Bayswater Chinese’s.

It was an almost complete defeat!

The Manchester United godfather flew into a rage in the dressing room after the match.

It was said that even the Manchester City players could hear his roaring.

Ferguson even refused to attend the post-match press conference, sending assistant coach Carlos Queiroz in his place.

This made everyone feel Ferguson’s fury.

What a great opportunity to extend their lead!

And the reason Queiroz gave was, incredibly, the same as Yang Cheng’s: it was the national team training camp’s fault.

Chelsea, on the other hand, drew 0-0 at home with Liverpool.

The Blues were now winless in three rounds.

Arsenal defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home.

This made the entire Premier League title race even more unpredictable.

…

A week later, FA Cup 5th Round.

The most surprising match of this round was undoubtedly Manchester United hosting Arsenal.

The Gunners fielded a rotated squad and were thrashed 4-0 at Old Trafford by a full-strength Manchester United.

Wenger was utterly humiliated.

Coincidentally, Liverpool lost 1-2 at home to Barnsley.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Wolves 2-0 at home, thanks to goals from Lewandowski and Rakitić.

Yang Cheng also fielded a young and substitute lineup for this match.

…

Three days later, Yang Cheng’s team traveled to Italy to face AC Milan away.

This was the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout stage.

Just twelve minutes into the game, AC Milan launched a counter-attack. The young Brazilian, Pato, took a shot from the edge of the box, which deflected off the back-tracking Pepe and went out for a corner.

AC Milan was awarded a corner kick.

The home team quickly took the corner.

Maldini leaped high at the near post, heading the ball towards the far post.

Bayswater Chinese’s German goalkeeper, Neuer, reacted with lightning speed, reaching out to punch the ball away.

He managed to touch the ball, but its trajectory didn’t change, and it flew into the right side of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

The entire San Siro erupted in an instant!

Chapter 136: Ancelotti: Everything’s Under Control! We’re Taking Down the Defending Champions!

“YES!!!”

The moment Maldini’s header found the back of the net, Ancelotti, standing in front of the home team’s technical area, leaped into the air with excitement, raising his fists and shouting in celebration.

AC Milan hadn’t performed particularly well in the Champions League group stage this season, only managing to finish second in their group.

This led to them being drawn against the Bayswater Chinese in the Round of 16.

Everyone at AC Milan was quite troubled by this opponent.

They were last season’s Premier League champions and were currently neck and neck with Manchester United in the league. Their strength was not to be underestimated.

However, AC Milan had eliminated the Bayswater Chinese in the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions League, so the Rossoneri were still confident and self-assured this time around.

It wasn’t just Ancelotti; everyone on the AC Milan bench was visibly excited.

“What a perfect start!” said assistant coach Giorgio Ciaschini with a smile.

He was not just Ancelotti’s assistant, but also his close friend.

In 1992, after retiring as a player, Ancelotti went straight to the Italian national team to be an assistant coach under Sacchi.

In 1995, he left the national team for his first solo coaching job at Reggina.

And at that time, his assistant coach was Giorgio Ciaschini.

The 60-year-old Ciaschini had followed Ancelotti all the way from Reggina to Parma, then to Juventus, and finally to AC Milan. The two had always worked together in perfect harmony.

“The main thing is that our targeted tactics were well-executed,” another assistant coach, Mauro Tassotti, also broke into a smile.

For this match, AC Milan had done their homework on targeted tactics.

The team didn’t stick with their previous 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation. Instead, they took off Seedorf and brought on the master of beating the offside trap, Inzaghi, adopting a two-striker tactic.

It resembled a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Inzaghi and Pato forming the strike partnership.

Pato had speed and strong individual ability, while Inzaghi was adept at seizing opportunities.

This was a tactical preparation specifically for the Bayswater Chinese.

In defense, the three holding midfielders remained, but the defensive line was adjusted.

The old captain, Maldini, played at left-back, with Kaladze and Nesta as the two centre-backs, and Oddo at right-back.

One could say they had stacked their entire defensive configuration.

With three holding midfielders unchanged and this defensive line, AC Milan’s intentions were crystal clear.

Defensive counter-attack!

“The Bayswater Chinese are extremely good at attacking with overall team movement. So, they definitely wanted to speed up the tempo right from the start, use that fast pace to drag us along, and then use a high press to suppress us.”

Ancelotti smiled as he explained the intent behind his targeted tactics to his two assistants.

“But to do that, they have to push their defensive line forward and counter-press immediately after losing the ball. That’s why they’re so good at the opening blitz. To put it bluntly, it’s about controlling the match’s tempo and suppressing the opponent.”

The Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attacks were famous throughout European football.

A fast-paced offense and defense was a characteristic of Premier League teams.

Serie A, on the other hand, had always leaned towards rigorous tactical systems and a slower tempo, and was particularly weak on the flanks.

Ancelotti targeted this point by deploying the Pato and Inzaghi combination up front.

So, you Bayswater Chinese like to push your defensive line forward?

I’ll use the fast, individually skilled Pato and the man who lives on the offside line, Inzaghi, to get you!

You win the ball in midfield or defense?

I’ll bypass the midfield and hit a long ball in behind.

I have Pirlo, and players like Maldini and Nesta are also capable of it.

The quality of the long passes might vary, but that’s fine. If just one gets through, you’re done for.

Sure enough, after the opening whistle, the Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative, controlling the tempo and gaining an advantage.

But just as the Premier League team was repeatedly attacking AC Milan’s defensive formation, a long ball from Pirlo went straight in behind.

Pato sprinted behind the defensive line to receive the ball.

Pepe and Thiago Silva’s recovery speed was indeed very fast, but Pato’s shot still created a corner kick.

And so, Maldini’s header that had just occurred came to be.

1-0!

Everything’s under control!

Ancelotti was brimming with confidence.

He even thought that if things went smoothly, he might actually have a chance to defend the Champions League title this season!

Since the format change, no team had ever defended the Champions League title.

The thought alone was thrilling!

“They must be in a tough spot now, right?” Tassotti laughed.

Ancelotti and Ciaschini both nodded.

Being one goal down in an away game wasn’t a huge problem.

The key was, how to play next?

AC Milan had made it clear they were going for a defensive counter-attack. Bayswater Chinese, how will you respond?

Continue to press forward?

Then AC Milan will keep hitting balls in behind.

Don’t press up?

Then how will you maintain pressure on AC Milan’s midfield and defense?

If you don’t, Pato and Kaká will start to run wild.

Especially Kaká.

“This kid is in a real bind,” Ciaschini teased, referring to Yang Cheng.

At 60, it wasn’t out of place for him to call the 28-year-old Yang Cheng a kid.

Ancelotti also noticed Yang Cheng in front of the away team’s technical area, his gaze carrying a hint of a senior looking down on a junior with amusement.

If he were in Yang Cheng’s current situation, he too would find it a massive headache.

The most likely choice would be to stabilize the defense first.

But doing so would put them on the back foot not only for the first leg but also for the second.

Wasn’t defensive counter-attacking what AC Milan did best?

Therefore, Maldini’s goal was crucial.

Ancelotti had thought through everything he could think of, and everything his opponent might think of.

In the end, his conclusion was that the situation looked bleak for Bayswater.

“He’s still too young!” Ancelotti sighed.

Tassotti and Ciaschini both nodded in agreement.

Youngsters were always eager for merit, rash, and fearless.

They could never understand that against an Italian team, a single goal could be a matter of life and death!

This was the essence of Italian football’s technical and tactical mastery!

…

After conceding, the Bayswater Chinese were a bit disorganized.

The players were somewhat at a loss.

They weren’t fools; they all understood the consequences of conceding first.

At the same time, they all understood AC Milan’s plan.

What should they do next?

Their thoughts began to diverge.

Naturally, their midfield was suppressed by AC Milan.

“We have to give clear instructions as soon as possible.”

Watching AC Milan earn two more corner kicks in succession, Brian Kidd was getting anxious.

The disarray on the pitch was mainly because the players lacked a unified direction.

For this match, the Bayswater Chinese had deployed their full-strength squad.

Yaya Touré was back from the Africa Cup of Nations, and Yang Cheng had even rested him in the league for this match.

If they were truly overwhelmed by AC Milan like this, then not only the second half, but the second leg would be difficult to play.

A team like the Bayswater Chinese, primarily composed of young players, relied on momentum.

Almost all of their losses started with a poor opening.

AC Milan had just landed a punch right on the Bayswater Chinese’s fatal weakness, and it was a critical blow!

This was also a characteristic of Italian teams.

Their tactics were highly targeted and lethal.

Brian Kidd looked worriedly at the troubled Yang Cheng.

Honestly, if it were him, he wouldn’t know what to do either.

Press up, and the space behind would be very dangerous.

Don’t press up, and they were already a goal down. Once AC Milan were relieved of the pressure, Kaká would come alive.

For this match, Yang Cheng had specifically assigned Lassana Diarra to mark Kaká.

What to do?

Brian Kidd had no answers. He could only turn to Yang Cheng, waiting for him to make a decision.

At this moment, inside San Siro, no one noticed that the Champions League live broadcast cameras were intermittently cutting to the sidelines, focusing on Yang Cheng.

It was clear that the experienced director knew that Yang Cheng’s choice would decide the fate of the Bayswater Chinese.

In England, in London, and all over the world, countless fans of the Bayswater Chinese were also focused on Yang Cheng through their television screens, hoping he would quickly come up with a response.

“AC Milan’s counter-attack is very sharp. Perhaps the Bayswater Chinese should prioritize defense,” the TV commentator analyzed, offering his own opinion.

After all, it was only one goal conceded, and it was an away game.

There was still a home game in the second leg.

“But from this match, looking at the first 15 minutes, the Bayswater Chinese’s greatest strength, their wing play, has failed to gain any advantage against AC Milan.”

“Maldini and Oddo on the flanks are defending with veteran composure.”

“On the contrary, it’s the Bayswater Chinese whose defensive line is pushed too far forward. AC Milan has repeatedly created threats by hitting balls in behind and has already earned three corner kicks.”

“Maldini’s goal just now came from a corner kick attack.”

As everyone was guessing whether Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese should fall back and defend, as the whole world waited for AC Milan’s next goal, Yang Cheng finally made his decision.

“Luka.”

Yang Cheng waved at Modrić on the pitch.

During a break in play, Modrić jogged over to the sideline, to his head coach.

“Tell them we have no way back. We must push forward, keep pressing!”

“They want us to retreat right now, but the more they want that, the more we cannot retreat. Keep pushing forward, keep pressing for me. The fiercer the press, the better. Completely suppress their midfield and defense.”

“Tell them, the fiercer the press up front, the less of a threat their long balls in behind will be, understand?”

Modrić nodded and immediately ran back onto the pitch.

Soon, Modrić relayed Yang Cheng’s instructions to every teammate, and the message quickly spread.

The whole team’s thinking was instantly unified.

Regardless of victory or defeat, regardless of the final result, the head coach’s orders were clear: continue the high press, continue to suppress AC Milan’s midfield and defense.

Brian Kidd stood right beside Yang Cheng.

Despite the deafening noise around them, he had heard everything clearly.

It left him shocked.

“Isn’t this too risky?” Brian Kidd asked, concerned.

This was his job.

Yang Cheng had always been quite aggressive; having a cautious and steady person behind him made for a better partnership.

“The opening gambit has been played. If we retreat now, do you think Ancelotti doesn’t have a counter-move?”

Yang Cheng’s rhetorical question left Brian Kidd speechless.

How could a contest between famous managers be a one-move affair?

“Ancelotti’s opening tactic was indeed extremely targeted. He wants to force us to retreat.”

“That defensive line of theirs, what’s their average age?”

Maldini was 39; Kaladze was 30; Nesta was about to turn 32.

And Oddo, he was 31.

Besides the defense, look at the midfield.

Ambrosini was 30.

Pirlo was 28.

Gattuso was also 30.

With a midfield and defense like that, did Ancelotti not have his own calculations?

“They’re afraid of getting into a high-tempo war of attrition with us!”

This was precisely Yang Cheng’s pre-match strategy: to use a fast pace to drag AC Milan in.

“Once the bow is drawn, the arrow cannot be taken back. The starting tactic has been set. Instead of regretting it midway, it’s better to be decisive and see it through to the end. We will play with more resolve!”

Yang Cheng declared with conviction.

No regrets once the move is made!

Find life in a dead-end situation!

After making his decision, Yang Cheng immediately walked to the sideline. He first called over Lassana Diarra, signaling him to keep sticking to Kaká.

Then he called over Leighton Baines, who was closer to his side.

During a stoppage in the attacking third, the English left-back ran over.

“Remind Pepe and Thiago Silva to keep a close eye on Pato and Inzaghi.”

“You and Maicon, the two full-backs, must stay focused at all times, tuck in promptly to help Pepe and Thiago Silva contain Pato and Inzaghi.”

“They don’t have wingers, so we don’t need to worry about defending the flanks, understand?”

“Also, pay attention to controlling the first ball from their long passes. Maintain layers in defense. Don’t let their entire line be breached if one player gets past someone.”

Leighton Baines nodded emphatically and quickly ran back onto the field.

…

Following Yang Cheng’s series of instructions, the Bayswater Chinese quickly stabilized.

Especially after the 20-minute mark, the Premier League team began to launch a more ferocious high-pressing attack.

The entire defensive line pushed up.

And in defense, by having the full-backs tuck in promptly, they created defensive layers from front to back.

Whether it was the 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation or today’s 4-3-1-2, AC Milan had one very obvious problem.

The disconnect between their attack and defense.

In the Christmas tree formation, the team’s attack relied more on the link-up play and forward drive of Kaká and Seedorf.

In the 4-3-1-2 formation, Seedorf was replaced by Pato.

But because AC Milan wanted to play direct long balls in behind, Pato mostly stayed close to the Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line instead of dropping back to link up play.

This resulted in Kaká being the sole link between AC Milan’s midfield and attack.

But Yang Cheng had specifically arranged for Lassana Diarra to shadow Kaká and for Yaya Touré to protect the defensive line.

With Kaká contained, AC Milan’s ball progression ran into trouble.

Yang Cheng further increased the intensity of the team’s press in the midfield and attacking third, which greatly affected the success rate of AC Milan’s long balls.

With Pato and Inzaghi controlled and the forward outlets lost, the threat from long balls on the counter-attack gradually disappeared.

When long balls were no threat and ground passes weren’t smooth, AC Milan’s control of the game waned.

By now, 30 minutes had passed.

To the fans and others watching, it looked more like an intense battle on the pitch with players from both sides vying for control. In this fierce contest, the Bayswater Chinese gradually took control of the game and gained the upper hand.

The most obvious change was that Ancelotti, Tassotti, and Ciaschini, who had looked relaxed before, now wore grave expressions.

“This kid has some real nerve!” Tassotti said with a frown.

“Tell me about it. In that dilemma earlier, knowing he was being targeted, he didn’t change a thing and just kept pushing forward. He’s either a clueless greenhorn who knows nothing, or a top-class manager with immense experience and tactical cunning.”

Ciaschini glanced at Yang Cheng. “He looks like a greenhorn!”

Just as the AC Milan coaching staff was discussing this, a sudden change occurred on the pitch.

Arshavin drifted to the right flank to receive the ball and then cut inside with it.

The Russian consecutively dribbled past Ambrosini and Pirlo before playing a diagonal pass to the left side of the penalty area from in front of the arc.

Ángel Di María made a high-speed run into the left side of the box, controlled the ball with his left foot just before Oddo could reach it, used his body to shield the defender, and then shot with his right foot.

As it turned out, the Argentine’s right-footed shot blazed high over the bar.

Ancelotti glanced at the away team’s technical area and saw Yang Cheng covering his face, looking too embarrassed to watch.

Then he faintly heard a sentence drift over, “He’s going to practice until he drops when we get back. If he doesn’t sort out that damn right foot, I’ll take his surname!”

Ancelotti almost wanted to laugh.

But he couldn’t.

That was too dangerous.

Fortunately, Oddo was experienced and had prepared well before the match, successfully locking down Di María’s left foot.

The Argentine’s right foot was indeed quite average. Sometimes when playing on the right wing, he would rather use a rabona than his right foot.

But that attack just now served as a reminder to Ancelotti.

AC Milan’s defense also had its weaknesses.

They were dropping too deep.

Pirlo was mainly afraid of being pressed.

Thinking of this, he walked to the sideline, shouted for Pirlo, and signaled for the entire midfield and defense to push up a bit.

…

Ancelotti realized the problem with his defense, and Yang Cheng sensed an opportunity.

He immediately walked to the sideline, called for Modrić, and gestured for him to make better use of the area in front of the penalty box and to link up with Arshavin.

The most threatening aspect of the Bayswater Chinese’s attack was their continuous, quick passing and movement in tight spaces.

Modrić, Arshavin, Di María, and Džeko all possessed this ability.

Once the Bayswater Chinese suppressed AC Milan, they could launch such attacks just outside the opponent’s penalty area.

At the same time, Yang Cheng gave a clear instruction.

Attack the left flank, then switch play.

Why not the right?

Maldini was in excellent form tonight.

The older that guy got, the more monstrous he became!

Most importantly, Maldini rarely pushed forward.

Oddo, on the other hand, would surge forward whenever he got the chance.

In the current overall tactical system, midfielders seem to run a lot, but in reality, their position is not the most physically demanding.

Of all positions, full-backs require the most stamina.

From Ancelotti’s decision to play Maldini at left-back, it was clear that this side was meant to be primarily defensive.

No matter how much of a monster Maldini was, he couldn’t possibly be sprinting up and down the pitch at his age, right?

Therefore, tonight, Maldini’s forward runs were rare.

Yang Cheng instructed the team to attack the left flank to pin down Oddo.

This way, the Bayswater Chinese’s pressure on AC Milan would be even greater.

Moreover, if they could break through on the left, it would be a huge blow to AC Milan’s morale.

…

Time ticked by.

The Bayswater Chinese gradually increased their attacks down the left flank.

Leighton Baines actively pushed forward, combining with Di María ahead of him.

With Modrić and Džeko also frequently drifting to that side, the Bayswater Chinese’s left-sided attack became very potent.

Gattuso and Oddo were struggling to cope.

Especially Oddo.

As the right-back, he was looking quite beleaguered.

Ancelotti also sensed the danger and immediately had Pato and Inzaghi increase their pressure on the Bayswater Chinese’s centre-backs.

In the 37th minute, when the Bayswater Chinese passed back to a centre-back, Pepe controlled the ball near the halfway line.

Pato immediately closed in on Pepe.

The Bayswater Chinese’s two centre-backs were spread a bit wide. Without taking a touch, Pepe swept the ball laterally with his right foot to Thiago Silva on the other side of the center circle.

After controlling the ball, the Brazilian centre-back dribbled forward a couple of steps. As he was about to cross the halfway line, he passed to Yaya Touré.

Apart from some slight pressure from Inzaghi up front, Yaya Touré wasn’t under much duress and played a pass to Modrić, who had dropped back to receive the ball.

The Croatian received the ball between Kaká and Inzaghi. He first feinted as if to pass to the left flank, looking for Leighton Baines.

But then he suddenly stopped, pulled the ball back, flicked it sideways with the outside of his right foot, and then played a through ball.

The ball went right past Kaká and landed perfectly at the feet of Džeko in the left channel of the attacking third.

The moment Modrić got the ball, Di María had already run to the left touchline, preparing to receive a through ball from Leighton Baines.

This also helped pull Oddo away from Džeko.

When Džeko controlled Modrić’s through ball on the left side, just outside the penalty area, Oddo immediately rushed over, intending to double-team him with Nesta.

Di María, meanwhile, was ready to make a run towards the byline.

At that moment, the best option seemed to be a direct pass towards the left byline for Di María to cross.

That’s what the AC Milan defenders thought as well.

But to everyone’s surprise, Džeko suddenly stopped and played a square pass.

The ball traveled in front of Nesta towards the arc of the penalty area.

There, Arshavin was seen shaking off Pirlo and arriving at full tilt.

Just moments earlier, Pato and Inzaghi had pressed high, causing AC Milan’s midfield to naturally push forward a bit.

Modrić’s through ball was hit so quickly that they hadn’t had time to retreat.

As Arshavin reached Džeko’s pass just outside the arc, he first feinted as if he was going to surge into the right side of the box. This tricked Kaladze into making an immediate block, trying to prevent the Russian from entering the penalty area.

But unexpectedly, Arshavin’s reaction was quicker. After the feint, he pulled the ball back with his right foot and then knocked it into the penalty area with his left.

With a single move, he instantly shook off Kaladze.

Before the turning Nesta or the recovering Kaladze could close him down, Arshavin created a sliver of space and swung his left foot.

A powerful shot flew off Arshavin’s left boot.

AC Milan’s goalkeeper, Dida, had also been fooled by Arshavin and Kaladze’s initial movements. By the time he reacted, he made a diving save.

The Brazilian goalkeeper’s reflexes were quick, and his dive was fast.

But Arshavin’s shot was faster.

The ball flew straight into the top left corner of the net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 38th minute, Arshavin equalizes for the Bayswater Chinese!”

The camera quickly followed Arshavin.

The Russian sprinted off the pitch and did a knee-slide by the sideline.

The Bayswater Chinese players all ran out to join him.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng was even more ecstatic, raising both fists high and roaring with excitement, practically mimicking Ancelotti’s celebration of Maldini’s goal.

Then, Yang Cheng turned and high-fived and hugged Brian Kidd and the others who had rushed over.

“The Bayswater Chinese have breached AC Milan’s goal!”

“From the 30th minute onwards, we could clearly see the Premier League side starting to dominate the game and create several threatening attacks.”

“This attack once again highlighted the role of their centre-forward, Džeko.”

“In the Bayswater Chinese’s attacking system this season, Džeko plays a crucial role. He’s involved in almost every one of the team’s attacks.”

“AC Milan’s impenetrable fortress has finally been cracked!”

“1-1!”

“The two teams are back on level terms.”

“Uh, wait, the Bayswater Chinese have secured a precious away goal.”

“Now let’s see what moves the two teams will make next.”

…

“AC Milan won’t dare to make changes easily!”

The first half ended 1-1.

During halftime, in the away dressing room, Yang Cheng analyzed the second half for his players.

“Their players have a natural weakness: their age.”

The Bayswater Chinese players were also exhausted.

Every one of them was panting heavily, but their eyes, fixed on Yang Cheng, were shining with light.

Because they saw hope!

In the first half, Yang Cheng’s decision had surprised everyone.

But the Bayswater Chinese players had no doubts; they all obeyed unconditionally.

And so, they successfully equalized.

This made them trust Yang Cheng even more.

Yang Cheng’s authority in this team was built over the past few years, match by match, victory by victory.

On the ever-changing football pitch, even if their ideas differed from Yang Cheng’s, they would obey without question.

“Their age dictates that they can’t afford a war of attrition with us.”

“It’s tough for us, but it’s even tougher for them.”

“The tempo after the 20-minute mark in the first half was beyond their expectations. They’ll find it even more uncomfortable than us now, but they won’t dare to make a move!”

It was 1-1, a scoreline AC Milan had struggled to maintain.

Given the situation in the first half, making a change could very well make things worse.

Besides, what options did Ancelotti have left?

Seedorf?

Bring him on to free up Kaká?

If Ancelotti did that, Yang Cheng’s first choice would be to unleash both full-backs.

Di María and Arshavin, or Džeko, might not have much of an advantage in a one-on-one against Maldini and Oddo on the wings, but if the full-backs overlapped, the situation would be completely reversed.

One year’s time!

Don’t underestimate it.

For AC Milan, the past year meant they were a year older.

But for the Bayswater Chinese, it meant they had a year of growth.

One wanes while the other grows; the situation was now completely different.

“In the second half, the overall approach will be the same as the first. We’re not in a hurry, but we must maintain a fast tempo.”

“Drag them into our rhythm, wear them down further.”

The players all nodded.

“I’ve noticed that towards the end of the half, AC Milan barely played any long balls. So, one of the two full-backs can stay back, just in case, while the other can actively push forward to attack.”

Leighton Baines and Maicon both nodded.

They exchanged a look, and without a word, they knew how to coordinate.

“Midfield roles remain the same. Lass.”

Yang Cheng looked at Lassana Diarra. “You did a great job in the first half. You dispossessed Kaká twice when he tried to dribble. Keep sticking to him like that, don’t let up. If we win this match, I’ll give you the main credit!”

Hearing the last sentence, Lassana Diarra immediately grinned. “That’ll cost extra!”

The whole dressing room burst into laughter.

From his very first day on the team, Lassana Diarra had been an out-and-out money-grubber.

Everyone knew that.

But precisely because of this, a very good atmosphere had formed at the Bayswater Chinese.

At least, in Yang Cheng’s view, it was quite good.

No one was shy about talking about money.

Of course, with confidentiality agreements in place, no one would reveal exactly how much they earned, but they never hesitated to discuss money matters with Yang Cheng.

It wasn’t uncommon for someone like Lassana Diarra to openly ask for more money.

It was mainly because Yang Cheng had just said he would give him the main credit.

In Lassana Diarra’s view, credit was less tangible than cash.

“We need to slightly adjust our attack in the second half.”

“In the first half, we focused our attacks on the left flank. AC Milan will definitely be prepared for that. In the second half, we’ll attack through the middle, with the wings providing support. We’ll use our pass-and-move combinations to penetrate their core, then pass it wide. The primary target is the space behind their full-backs.”

“So, the central midfielders will have to work harder, push up in time, and also be able to track back quickly.”

Modrić and Yaya Touré both nodded.

Lassana Diarra’s task was to contain Kaká.

The energetic box-to-box roles Yang Cheng described could only fall to Modrić and Yaya Touré.

“If I’m not mistaken, Ancelotti won’t rush into substitutions in the second half, at least not until after the 60th minute. The most likely candidate is Gilardino.”

“Bringing on a centre-forward to replace either Pato or Inzaghi.”

The purpose of Pato and Inzaghi was to beat the offside trap.

But now that the long balls were ineffective, what was the point of keeping two forwards for that purpose?

Gilardino, on the other hand, could be more effective as a traditional centre-forward.

“Gentlemen!”

Seeing that time was almost up, Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“After playing this far, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but personally, I’m filled with confidence!”

Almost all the players nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

“A year ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals, we fell at the hands of AC Milan.”

“At that time, we were facing a team that was about to become the Champions League winners!”

“But now, a year later, I believe you’ve all noticed that we’re no longer facing last year’s champions, but an aging Serie A team.”

“I hope that we not only achieve victory, but also strive for more away goals.”

“We will walk out of San Siro with our heads held high and avenge last season’s defeat!”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, the players thought back to their defeat at San Siro last season, and they all became fired up.

Defending champions?

We’re taking down the defending champions!

…

After the second half began, the situation unfolded exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Ancelotti did not change his tactics, continuing with the same approach from the first half.

The Bayswater Chinese did the same.

This meant that the Bayswater Chinese continued to dominate possession.

But that was nothing new.

For AC Milan, being at a disadvantage in terms of possession was something they were long accustomed to.

The Bayswater Chinese, however, seized the rhythm of the game right from the start of the half, sped it up, and forced AC Milan to keep pace, dragging them into a war of attrition.

In fact, Yang Cheng found that against AC Milan, the Bayswater Chinese’s pass-and-move style could be played even more fluently than in the Premier League.

The main reason was that Premier League teams were always physical, constantly engaging in challenges, and fouls were frequent.

Moreover, Premier League teams placed great emphasis on pressing.

AC Milan and other Serie A teams were different; they preferred to establish their defense first, and there were not as many physical collisions as in the Premier League.

Most importantly, Yang Cheng felt that the AC Milan players in midfield and defense were generally older.

A prime example was in the 53rd minute.

The Bayswater Chinese were attacking outside AC Milan’s penalty area. After Di María’s attempt to break through on the left and cross was cleared by Nesta out of the box, Modrić chested the ball down before Gattuso could get to it and then lofted a pass over the top.

Džeko made an overlapping run, chested the ball down, and was about to shoot.

However, the onrushing goalkeeper Dida managed to smother the ball.

The Bosnian centre-forward was tall, and his movements were a bit slow.

If it had been a more agile, smaller striker, he probably would have shot instantly.

But Yang Cheng was very satisfied with this attack.

At the same time, it served as a wake-up call for AC Milan.

Ancelotti also seemed to be losing his patience.

From the 55th minute, AC Milan’s assistant coach Ciaschini was seen instructing Emerson and Gilardino on the bench to warm up.

Clearly, they were preparing for substitutions.

As for how they would be used, no one knew.

And Ancelotti himself seemed not to have made up his mind yet.

Then, in the 61st minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half and quickly passed it to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian played a diagonal pass, switching the play to the right flank in the attacking half.

Arshavin chested the ball down, cut inside, was impeded by Maldini, and laid it off to Modrić.

In front of AC Milan’s 30-meter zone, Modrić passed to Džeko, who had dropped back to offer support.

The Bosnian centre-forward simply played a one-touch pass back to Modrić, who had run into space.

AC Milan’s Gattuso and Pirlo were both closing down Modrić.

The Croatian looked around and still moved towards the right channel, looking to link up with Arshavin.

The Russian received the ball in the right channel.

At this point, even Maicon had made a quick forward run, reaching the right side of the penalty area.

But Arshavin was contained by Ambrosini and was forced to pass back to the unmarked Modrić, who had retreated outside the 30-meter zone.

The Croatian midfielder first feinted as if to pass to the right again but suddenly cut the ball to his left and quickly played a low, diagonal pass, switching the play to the area just outside the left corner of the penalty box.

Di María calmly controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot.

AC Milan’s defensive formation immediately adjusted.

Right-back Oddo instantly rushed towards Di María.

The Argentine was waiting for him.

Di María feinted a diagonal run into the box from the corner, dropping his right shoulder, causing Oddo to shift his feet and turn his body slightly to block either an inside cut or a diagonal run.

But unexpectedly, the Argentine suddenly poked the ball towards the byline. With a sudden burst of acceleration, he instantly gained half a body length on Oddo, dribbled to the byline, and crossed with his left foot.

Oddo was experienced and quick to react, but he was no match for Di María’s speed.

Having lost the initial advantage, he couldn’t catch up.

Meanwhile, in the center of the penalty area, Džeko, who had earlier dropped back to support Modrić, was already in position. He raised his hand to signal to Di María where he wanted the pass. Like a heavy tank, he charged towards the far post. Just outside the right post, he outjumped Kaladze and headed the ball into the net from close range.

A collective gasp erupted throughout San Siro.

Then came the piercing sound of a whistle.

Džeko, ecstatic, sprinted out of AC Milan’s penalty area, running all the way to the sideline, roaring in celebration for the broadcast cameras.

“GOAL!!!!”

“2-1!!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have completed the comeback!”

“A close-range header from Edin Džeko!”

“Di María’s cross was absolutely perfect, delivered with pinpoint accuracy.”

“Džeko used the advantage of his late run to overpower Kaladze and score with a header.”

“That was a truly beautiful attack from the Bayswater Chinese!”

The entire stadium was filled with boos.

And the cheers of the Bayswater players.

Yang Cheng was also incredibly excited.

This goal was crucial!

This was the role of a centre-forward.

At a key moment, it was Džeko who held up the ball up front and laid it off for Arshavin.

Now, it was Džeko’s header in front of goal that completed the turnaround.

In contrast, AC Milan had no centre-forward, not a single player up front who could hold onto the ball.

…

The moment the goal was conceded, Ancelotti, furious, kicked a water bottle that was nearby.

He was clearly tremendously disappointed with the result.

They had conceded again!

But Ancelotti immediately made an adjustment.

Gilardino replaced Inzaghi, and the team adjusted its tactics.

AC Milan now had a combination of Gilardino and Pato up front.

As a centre-forward, Gilardino could provide the team with enough pressing up front to relieve the pressure on the midfield and defense.

The Bayswater Chinese still made no changes.

After taking the lead, Yang Cheng signaled for the team to press their advantage.

This was an away game, and the first leg. As long as their attack was threatening, it was AC Milan who should be worried.

Especially as the match wore on, the AC Milan players’ stamina began to decline.

Or rather, after the 60-minute mark, players on both sides were getting tired. As their stamina dropped, the pace of the game inevitably slowed down a little.

But in comparison, the Bayswater Chinese were in much better shape than the aging AC Milan squad.

The most telling moment came in the 69th minute, when Modrić actually managed to tackle Pirlo and win the ball.

If not for a timely clearance from Nesta, Džeko’s shot would have been another goal.

This showed just how much AC Milan’s stamina had plummeted.

After the 75th minute, Ancelotti substituted Pato for Seedorf, hoping to further liberate Kaká.

The Brazilian had been shackled by Lassana Diarra the entire match and hadn’t been able to perform, failing to even produce a single threatening dribble.

To some extent, he had been completely neutralized.

After Seedorf came on, AC Milan began to intensify their attack.

At this point, it was the Bayswater Chinese who seemed to drop back a bit, focusing on defense.

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng made his first substitution, bringing on Gareth Bale for Di María.

The Argentine had played exceptionally well, but he was physically spent.

With the team now sitting deeper, Gareth Bale’s speed could pose an even greater threat.

And then, in the 79th minute, Lassana Diarra, in midfield, combined with Modrić to dispossess Seedorf. The ball was passed to Yaya Touré.

Seeing no defenders in front of him, the Ivorian immediately charged forward with long strides, shaking off Seedorf, Kaká, and others, and dribbled all the way up the pitch.

The Bayswater Chinese immediately launched a swift counter-attack.

As he crossed the halfway line, Yaya Touré spread the ball to the right wing.

Arshavin’s stamina was also low, but he still sprinted to the right flank in the attacking half to catch up to Yaya Touré’s pass.

The moment the Russian received the ball, he executed a feint, making Maldini think he was going to the byline. Instead, he suddenly changed direction and cut inside, leaving Maldini behind.

Ambrosini had already retreated to near the right corner of the penalty area, preparing to double-team Arshavin with Maldini.

Just after shaking off Maldini, Arshavin expertly dragged the ball to his right with his left foot, evaded Ambrosini, and squeezed between the two defenders to break into AC Milan’s penalty area.

After entering the box, Arshavin dribbled diagonally towards the goal, drawing Kaladze’s attention, then suddenly played a cutback with his right foot.

Just at that moment, a towering, mountain-like figure in red arrived at full tilt. Meeting Arshavin’s pass, he unleashed a thunderous shot.

The ball skimmed across the turf and flew into the bottom right corner of AC Milan’s goal at incredible speed.

Goalkeeper Dida dived, but couldn’t get a hand to it.

“THEY’VE SCORED AGAIN!!!”

“A swift counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Arshavin delivered a brilliant pass after beating two defenders, and Yaya Touré smashed it into the net!”

“3-1!”

“What a magnificent comeback!”

“At San Siro, the Bayswater Chinese have finally avenged last season’s defeat!”

“With only about ten minutes left in the match, AC Milan is in a very precarious position!”

“Tonight’s match belongs to the Bayswater Chinese!”

“It belongs to Arshavin, with one goal and one assist!!”

Chapter 137: The Heaviest Fine in History! I Really Don’t Want to Go to Camp Nou!

The Tsar’s goal and assist orchestrate a comeback!

Yang Cheng praises the away victory, cheering the team’s formidable spirit!

AC Milan’s ace completely neutralized, the French warrior proves to be a hidden gem!

Terrifying stats light up the San Siro, the Rossoneri’s loss was well-deserved!

Overpowering the Rossoneri with skill, Yang Cheng avenges last year’s defeat!

Another key man besides the Tsar; Bosnian centre-forward completes a magnificent transformation!

A crushing defeat tears away Milan’s fig leaf as the Rossoneri crash out in the Round of 16!

…

The moment Bayswater Chinese overturned a deficit to beat AC Milan 3-1 away from home, media outlets and fans around the world clamored to report on it. No one had expected such a result.

Kaká, who had just won both the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards a little over two months ago, was completely neutralized in this match by Lassana Diarra.

As the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport commented, “The Brazilian looked like he was sleepwalking through the entire game.”

It would be unrealistic to say Kaká made no contribution at all.

But when the team was in trouble, it was an undeniable fact that Kaká failed to step up, and his performance was even sluggish.

Lassana Diarra, on the other hand, made a name for himself with this spectacular performance.

Although Lassana Diarra wouldn’t turn twenty-three until March 10th, the French midfielder had already been the Premier League’s top tackler for two consecutive seasons.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if he defended that title again this season.

Tireless stamina, a talent for tackling, and decent passing ability—that was everyone’s impression of Lassana Diarra.

Previously, in a match against Manchester United, he had neutralized C. Ronaldo.

And this time, he completely locked down the Ballon d’Or winner, Kaká.

Gazzetta dello Sport believed that the link between Pirlo and Kaká had always been AC Milan’s most crucial passing channel in midfield, but on this night at the San Siro, that channel was severed by Lassana Diarra.

“He was like an upgraded version of Gattuso, providing immense coverage for this match. His astonishing work rate was dumbfounding, and it successfully limited Kaká’s impact.”

Gazzetta dello Sport listed several instances in the match where Kaká encountered Lassana Diarra and failed to gain even the slightest advantage, which was simply incredible.

Of course, the Italian media also found a plausible excuse for Kaká’s poor form.

“He is paying the price for the recent grueling fixture schedule!”

But Kaká being neutralized was the key factor in AC Milan’s lackluster performance.

Besides Kaká, the Italian media also believed that AC Milan was defeated because their greatest strength was suppressed by Bayswater Chinese.

That strength was their ball control.

In Serie A, AC Milan was known as a team that excelled at possession-based football.

But in this battle at the San Siro, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate was as high as 57.3%, creating fifteen shots, seven of which were on target, resulting in three goals.

Both their possession rate and the efficiency and quality of their attack were commendable.

More importantly, post-match statistics from ESPN showed that the player who ran the most for Bayswater Chinese was Lassana Diarra, with Modrić running just a few hundred meters less than the Frenchman.

Every player on the team, except for the goalkeeper, ran over ten thousand meters.

Seven players even surpassed eleven kilometers.

In contrast, only Gattuso reached eleven kilometers for AC Milan; the rest fell short.

The disparity in both possession and distance covered was a stark reflection of AC Milan’s disadvantage in this match.

And everyone knew the root cause of this problem: the Rossoneri’s average age.

“The team with the oldest average age in Europe’s top five leagues faced the team with the youngest, and the result was 1-3!”

The Italian media concluded that AC Milan had to begin rebuilding.

…

In contrast to the Italian media’s criticism of AC Milan, the British press was full of praise for Bayswater Chinese.

Arshavin, who was named man of the match, received special acclaim.

The Times once again brought up Yang Cheng’s positional adjustment for Arshavin, which began last season, calling it a highly creative decision that completely unleashed both Arshavin and Maicon.

In a way, Arshavin played more like a second striker, or a free-roaming forward.

He could appear anywhere on the pitch at any time.

And in the match against AC Milan, “this seemingly frail Russian contributed a running distance of eleven kilometers, four key passes, four tackles, four interceptions, and three fouls.”

Arshavin not only made a huge contribution on the offensive end but also produced very impressive stats in high pressing and defense.

“Behind Džeko, Arshavin can maximize his advantages in ball control and dribbling, with elusive runs that make it difficult for opponents to predict his next move.”

“Every time he gets the ball, it’s like he’s electric. He can do almost anything on the pitch, and aside from fouling him, it’s hard to find an effective way to stop him.”

“Besides his exquisite and delicate footwork and his devilishly effective changes of pace and direction, his speed is also outstanding, which allows him to handle any opponent with ease.”

The Times believed that Arshavin’s biggest weakness was his lack of physical strength.

But playing behind the strong and burly Džeko, he had no such worries.

“He is already one of the best superstars in the world!”

Džeko, who also contributed a goal and an assist, was equally praised by the British media.

As the leading scorer on the Premier League’s top scorer chart this season, Džeko had long attracted a great deal of attention from major European clubs.

Powerhouses like Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barça, and Bayern Munich were all closely monitoring Džeko’s every move.

And at the San Siro, the Bosnian centre-forward demonstrated his all-around ability.

Even when facing Nesta, he could hold up the ball steadily.

Whether going it alone or linking up with teammates, Džeko could handle it with ease.

His proficiency with both feet and his refined technique gave Džeko excellent ability to handle the ball on the pitch.

“This season, Džeko has been involved in almost every single one of Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.”

The Guardian was even more direct, simply listing a number: 7.05 million pound sterling!

What did it mean?

The Guardian revealed that the combined transfer fees for the four best-performing players in the away victory against AC Milan was only 7.05 million pound sterling.

That was roughly equivalent to ten million euro.

The most expensive of them was Arshavin, who cost a full six million pounds.

Lassana Diarra?

A free transfer.

Džeko?

Fifty thousand pounds.

Ángel Di María?

One million pounds.

All added up, didn’t it come to exactly 7.05 million pounds?

The Guardian stated that Bayswater Chinese truly had a unique talent for scouting and developing young players.

Arshavin joined the team for six million pounds. After his performance at the San Siro, his value had reached at least twenty-five million pounds.

A fourfold increase.

And Džeko?

The Bosnian centre-forward, who joined for fifty thousand pounds, was now worth twenty million pounds.

Di María’s value had also reached fifteen million pounds.

And then there was Lassana Diarra, who cost nothing at the time. Now?

You want to take him from Bayswater Chinese? Not without twenty million pounds.

The Guardian also listed other Bayswater Chinese players, such as Modrić, Maicon, and Leighton Baines.

After joining Bayswater Chinese, the market values of all these players had increased significantly.

“For the past few years, Yang Cheng’s team has been like the Premier League’s armory.”

“Every summer, fans worry whether Bayswater Chinese can maintain their competitiveness after selling players.”

“But at the end of every season, people can’t help but marvel that the more they sell, the stronger Bayswater Chinese becomes!”

The Guardian noted that there were many teams like Bayswater Chinese in world football.

For example, Sevilla in La Liga, Porto in the Primeira Liga, and Lyon in Ligue 1 were all teams known for selling players.

But in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese was one of a kind!

…

Regarding the comeback at the San Siro, Yang Cheng expressed his excitement at the post-match press conference. “We made a mistake at the start of the game and conceded a goal, which was disappointing.”

“But we quickly found our form and turned the match around!”

“The battle at the San Siro was a very important game for us. It showcased the strong spirit of our Bayswater Chinese, our team’s unyielding determination and fighting spirit when facing adversity, even when pushed to the brink!”

“We will carry this spirit, this fighting will, this determination forward!”

When a reporter asked what Bayswater Chinese’s goal was for the season, now that they had practically one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after their 3-1 away win over AC Milan, matching last season’s achievement.

Was it the title?

Yang Cheng replied in a joking tone, “Why not?”

“I’ve always felt that we have the strength to compete with any opponent, and even defeat them!”

“We are a very young team. In some ways, this can be a weakness, but it can also be an advantage.”

“I believe we are still far from reaching our peak!”

Ancelotti, on the other hand, was disappointed with the loss.

But the Italian refused to concede that they had lost the tie.

“We still have ninety minutes of football to play.”

“Of course, a 3-1 home defeat is hard to accept, but we have had many precedents where we faced even bigger setbacks and still managed to mount a comeback against our opponents.”

“I think we still have a chance in the away leg!”

Was Ancelotti talking about the night in Istanbul?

No, no, no.

The affable Italian was talking about Deportivo La Coruña.

…

The news of Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 comeback against AC Milan didn’t stay in the headlines for long.

Three days later, the Premier League entered its 27th round.

The very first match of the round was Arsenal’s away game against Birmingham City.

Just two minutes and thirty seconds into the game, Birmingham centre-back Martin Taylor launched a vicious flying tackle, catching Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva on his left shin.

Eduardo da Silva’s left leg bent at an unnatural angle, and he collapsed to the ground.

The head referee immediately showed Martin Taylor a red card.

Medical staff rushed onto the pitch to provide emergency treatment, even using an oxygen mask.

The game was consequently paused for seven minutes.

Sky Television urgently cut away from the slow-motion replay of Eduardo da Silva’s injury, citing the graphic nature of the footage.

In the end, The Gunners defeated Birmingham 2-0.

But after the match, Wenger was extremely furious about Martin Taylor’s vicious foul.

“I believe a player like him should never play football again!”

A post-match examination revealed that Eduardo da Silva had broken both his tibia and fibula.

It was expected that he would be battling this injury for a very long time.

This wasn’t the first time such a vicious foul had occurred in the Premier League or English football.

Back in 2006, when Manchester United played Liverpool, Alan Smith suffered a similar severe leg fracture.

Coincidentally, another similar incident of barbaric violence occurred in the Championship during the same weekend.

This immediately sparked public outrage.

After the 27th round of Premier League matches concluded, Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, David Dein, held a press conference at the Emirates Stadium.

The FA Vice-Chairman expressed his regret and sorrow over Eduardo da Silva’s injury.

“But beyond expressing deep regret and sorrow, I feel we must take some practical action.”

David Dein listed several incidents of severe injuries caused by barbaric violence in the Premier League from 2000 to the present day.

“For all these years, we have been condoning this kind of malicious foul!”

“In fact, even today, we can still hear a group of so-called Premier League legends, led by Steve Bruce—they are like a bunch of cold-blooded butchers—actually arguing that Martin Taylor’s foul wasn’t even worthy of a yellow card!”

“I don’t know what his basis is. Perhaps that’s how they played football, taking pleasure in willfully injuring others. But I want to say, this is a disgrace to everyone who works in the Premier League and to all the fans who love the Premier League!”

“An absolute disgrace!”

Steve Bruce previously managed Birmingham City and had mentored Martin Taylor, only moving to manage Wigan Athletic in November 2007.

Immediately after the match, he came out and argued that there was nothing wrong with Martin Taylor’s challenge, and that it didn’t even warrant a yellow card.

David Dein used this as a point of counterattack.

“This is not a simple case of an injury caused by an ordinary foul.”

“Sports medicine expert Tim Allardyce gave a preliminary assessment: with Eduardo da Silva’s foot broken and twisted like that, the bone has pierced the skin, his entire lower leg is in an L-shape, and the vascular system may have been severely damaged. The worst-case scenario could be amputation!”

“I want to remind everyone that we are talking about a single, vicious, malicious foul in a football match that has not only ended the career of a promising 25-year-old professional player but might even leave him permanently disabled!”

“And then, Steve Bruce tells us it wasn’t a foul? That it didn’t even deserve a yellow card?”

David Dein also cited the consequences of such malicious fouls, the most typical being the negative influence on young people.

After the match, Birmingham’s young midfielder Sebastian Larsson accused Wenger of being naive.

“Although it looked horrific at the time, everyone knows that Martin Taylor didn’t mean to injure him.”

“Wenger’s accusations against him only prove that Wenger is a loser, and so is the entire Arsenal team.”

David Dein used Sebastian Larsson as an example.

The player had transferred from Arsenal to Birmingham in the summer of 2007 for one million pounds.

It was clear he held a grudge against Arsenal.

But that wasn’t David Dein’s point.

“These are the words of a 22-year-old player. He doesn’t even take this malicious foul seriously, showing absolutely no concern for the pain Eduardo da Silva has suffered.”

David Dein argued that the Premier League and The FA had to set a new standard for young players.

The Arsenal Vice-Chairman stated that the incessant malicious fouls were damaging the commercial image of the Premier League.

This was definitely not a good thing for a league striving for global expansion.

And it wasn’t necessarily beneficial for any Premier League team either.

“If we don’t start taking this seriously, I don’t know who the next player to suffer malicious harm will be!”

…

After David Dein’s public appeal, Bayswater Chinese’s Adam Crozier immediately followed suit.

The CEO of Bayswater Chinese, and former CEO of The FA, held a press conference at Bayswater Stadium to publicly support David Dein.

“Over the past few years, there have been more than one incident of similar malicious, serious injuries in the Premier League. This is absolutely not allowed!”

Adam Crozier argued that from a business perspective, no league and no club would want to be associated with such brutal and malicious incidents of harm.

“The Premier League and The FA need to step up and do something!”

“The referees’ committee must also take more measures to regulate and improve the referees’ officiating abilities and standards!”

In Manchester, Manchester United CEO David Gill also held a press conference, publicly echoing the calls of David Dein and Adam Crozier, stating that the Premier League should crack down hard on such malicious fouls.

Manchester United had been a victim themselves when Alan Smith was seriously injured against Liverpool in 2006.

“Whenever a malicious foul occurs, everyone says the perpetrator didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Yes, we believe he didn’t do it on purpose.”

“But that cannot be a reason for us to turn a blind eye!”

“We should find ways to prevent and restrain similar malicious fouls.”

David Gill stated that such incidents were rare on the European continent, but the culture in the Premier League had been encouraging these malicious fouls.

In London, Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon also voiced his support, believing that the Premier League and The FA should intervene, strengthen regulations in related areas, and introduce corresponding policies.

Subsequently, teams like Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur also spoke out one after another.

Yang Cheng also gave a special interview to Sky Sports, stating that he had watched the entire foul and had watched it very carefully.

“I don’t have any strange quirks; I just wanted to understand the whole incident clearly.”

Yang Cheng believed that all claims that Martin Taylor did not intentionally injure the player were untenable.

“We all know that football is a dangerous sport, and fouls are everywhere.”

“But it has rules!”

“For a long time, many players, including some of our own at Bayswater Chinese, will try to do something in the early stages of a match, like intimidating the opponent or testing the referee’s officiating standards.”

“But we must learn self-restraint. We all know very well which challenges are for the ball, which are for the man, and which are intentionally aimed at causing injury.”

“I don’t know what Martin Taylor’s intention was at that moment. Maybe he just wanted to slightly injure Eduardo da Silva, to scare him. Maybe he didn’t intend for things to get this bad.”

“But that doesn’t matter!”

“No one knows what he was really thinking.”

“But his foot landed squarely on Eduardo da Silva’s shin—not his instep, not his ankle, but the middle of his shin. And it was very fierce, possibly even using a great deal of force.”

“This gruesome scene appeared in a live Premier League broadcast. It is one of the most bloody and brutal scenes in modern football history, in recent decades!”

“And it will surely become a stain on the Premier League!”

“Because it was seen by fans all over the world through live television.”

“No one knows if he did it on purpose. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but does it matter?”

“As adults, what we see is the result.”

“Everyone must pay the price for their actions!”

“There are many ways to intimidate an opposing player. Why did he choose to harm someone’s body? Is that allowed in football?”

“I know many people will tell me about fouls that were worse than this…”

“But I want to remind everyone that this scene, presented live to fans all over the world, will likely be reported by countless countries and media outlets. This will be a huge blow to the Premier League!”

“I believe the Premier League and The FA must step up and do something.”

“At the very least, they have the responsibility and obligation to protect the image of the Premier League and English football!”

Besides Yang Cheng, other famous Premier League managers like Ferguson and Benítez also spoke out.

The media and fans were also growing dissatisfied with the increasing number of malicious fouls, and public opinion intensified.

Under pressure, the Premier League and The FA immediately came forward, stating that they would conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

The FA convened an emergency board of directors meeting to discuss Eduardo da Silva’s leg-breaking incident.

The referees’ committee also held an internal meeting to discuss the officiating in this incident and some loopholes in the rules.

Within the Premier League, representatives from the twenty teams also held an emergency ad-hoc meeting.

At the meeting, several teams led by Adam Crozier proposed that the Premier League should step forward to urge The FA and the referees’ committee to strengthen restrictions on malicious fouls, increase the severity of punishments, and also proposed to enhance referee training.

At the same time, the Premier League’s officiating standards should be further refined to fully align with UEFA’s standards.

This time, no club, including Birmingham, raised any objections.

The reason was simple. Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore had already hinted that if officiating standards were not reformed and malicious fouls were not severely punished, the top teams in the Premier League would propose reforms to the distribution of overseas broadcast revenue.

In the end, the Premier League clubs quickly reached a consensus and formally notified The FA and the referees’ committee.

In just three days, The FA made its ruling.

The perpetrator, Martin Taylor, was found guilty of a malicious foul during the match, causing serious injury to Eduardo da Silva, and was given an additional suspension of three months!

It was only late February.

This meant Martin Taylor’s season was completely over.

This was the heaviest penalty ever handed out for a malicious foul in the history of the Premier League.

It immediately sparked heated discussions among the British media, fans, and football professionals.

The FA stated that it would cooperate with the referees’ committee to issue new guidelines specifically targeting malicious fouls, and that fouls like Martin Taylor’s, which cause malicious injury, would be severely punished!

At the same time, The FA also promised to further improve the level of refereeing and refine the Premier League’s officiating standards.

…

In the same 27th round of the Premier League, Liverpool defeated Middlesbrough 3-2, thanks to a hat-trick from Torres.

Manchester United, meanwhile, thrashed Newcastle 5-1 away, with both C. Ronaldo and Rooney scoring a brace.

In this round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

In the 32nd minute, Gareth Barry opened the scoring for Aston Villa with a penalty kick.

But after the second half began, Bayswater Chinese started to turn on the heat.

In the 48th minute, Theo Walcott broke through on the right wing. When he tried to cross from the byline, he won a corner kick.

After Rakitić took the corner, José Fonte headed the ball at the far post, but it was saved by the keeper.

In the ensuing chaos, Walcott flicked his right foot, backheeling the ball into the net.

1-1!

The score was level!

Bayswater Chinese intensified their attack.

In the 51st minute, it was Walcott again who received the ball in the middle, broke past the defenders, and sent a through ball.

Robert Lewandowski burst into the penalty area and fired a low shot from near the penalty spot, sending the ball into Aston Villa’s net and turning the score around.

2-1!

The quick succession of goals sent the fans at Wembley Stadium into a frenzy.

Just four minutes later, Bayswater Chinese produced the most brilliant piece of combination play of the match.

Bayswater Chinese cleared the ball from their penalty area.

Nemanja Matić received the ball outside the box, shook off a defender, turned, and sent a long pass.

The Serbian holding midfielder’s long ball landed precisely near Aston Villa’s 30-meter area.

Bayswater Chinese’s front three were all sprinting at full speed, creating a 3-on-4 situation up front.

Lewandowski got to the ball first, heading it down.

But before the Polish centre-forward could bring the ball under control, Walcott made a diagonal run from the right channel, beating the Aston Villa defenders to knock the ball forward.

After getting past the Aston Villa defender, Walcott dribbled the ball forward.

As he reached the edge of the arc of the penalty area, facing the retreating Curtis Davies, Walcott executed a skillful feint, and after a dummy, suddenly pushed the ball to his left.

The incredibly fast Little Tiger used this move to create a path to the goal, and unleashed a shot with his left foot.

This shot from the arc of the penalty area was brilliantly executed.

He struck it with the outside of his left foot, aiming for the bottom right corner.

Goalkeeper Scott Carson, positioned more to the left, couldn’t reach it, and the ball hit the back of the net.

3-1!

A brace!

Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers, with everyone chanting Walcott’s name.

In the 77th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Left-back Marcelo carried the ball past the halfway line and delivered a through ball into the left channel, behind the defensive line.

Lewandowski made a diagonal run into the left side of the box, caught up to Marcelo’s pass, and chose to cross it from the edge of the area.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt, met Lewandowski’s pass, and tapped it into the goal with his left foot.

4-1!

This scoreline held until the final whistle!

Due to the Champions League fixture, Yang Cheng had rotated his front three.

Unexpectedly, Walcott put on a heroic performance, scoring two goals and providing one assist.

Lewandowski contributed one goal and two assists.

Gareth Bale also got on the scoresheet with a goal.

18+18+19!

After the match, The Times used these three numbers as a headline, lavishing praise on the performance of Bayswater Chinese’s three youngsters.

Although their first-half performance was subpar, their second-half explosion, scoring four goals, left an incredibly deep impression.

Especially Walcott.

The Little Tiger had orchestrated three goals himself, truly like a fierce tiger descending from the mountains!

But the most important thing was the combination play of the front three, with their interchanging runs.

In the words of The Times, it was very reminiscent of Manchester United’s front line—the unpredictable, free-flowing brilliance of Rooney, Tevez, and C. Ronaldo!

…

A week later, the Premier League welcomed its 28th round.

With the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 just three days away, Yang Cheng continued to rest his players for this match.

The front three, who had shone so brightly in the previous round, were silenced by Middlesbrough’s defense in this one.

That was the way with young players—their form tended to fluctuate.

Moreover, Middlesbrough’s defensive abilities were also outstanding.

Woodgate was certainly no pushover.

If not for his injury problems, he would undoubtedly be one of the world’s top centre-backs.

After a tough battle that lasted over an hour, Gareth Bale was fouled while dribbling into the box from the left, and the head referee awarded a penalty.

Middlesbrough protested, claiming it was not a foul but a dive.

But the slow-motion replay from Sky Sports showed it was indeed a foul.

Gareth Bale calmly converted the penalty, opening the scoring for his team.

Then, just before the end of the match, a long shot from Matuidi pierced Middlesbrough’s goal, extending the lead.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 away from home.

In the same round, Manchester United beat Fulham 3-0 away.

Chelsea thrashed West Ham United 4-0 away.

Arsenal drew 1-1 at home against Aston Villa.

Liverpool defeated Bolton 3-1 away.

…

On the evening of March 4th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese hosted AC Milan.

The match attracted nearly eighty thousand fans.

This set a new record for the highest attendance since Bayswater Chinese moved into Wembley Stadium.

This wasn’t just due to the home team’s appeal, but also the “charm” of AC Milan.

All the fans wanted to see just how Bayswater Chinese would eliminate the defending champions.

Before the match, all the media outlets were speculating about Yang Cheng’s team selection.

With a 3-1 lead from the first leg, everyone felt that Bayswater Chinese already had victory in their grasp.

But how would they play in the second leg, at home?

Since Yang Cheng took over, Bayswater Chinese had never lost at home—a truly magical record.

It far surpassed Mourinho’s home unbeaten record at Chelsea.

This gave even more fans confidence in Bayswater Chinese.

Many media outlets and pundits offered their advice, suggesting that Yang Cheng should play it safe in the home leg.

The reasoning was to let AC Milan press forward, allowing Bayswater Chinese to hit them on the counter-attack.

This was the majority view.

But Yang Cheng’s choice was different from the vast majority.

He chose to take the initiative and attack!

As a head coach with extensive experience in the Champions League knockout stages, Yang Cheng knew very well that if he dwelled too much on the 3-1 first-leg lead, the second leg would be very dangerous.

This was especially fatal when the head coach subconsciously believed that his team had already secured victory.

How disastrous could opening the champagne at half-time be?

Yang Cheng only had to walk a few steps to the visiting team’s dugout and ask Ancelotti to find out.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese was a very young team, and they also lacked experience in the Champions League knockout stages.

They were even less aware of the formidable nature of AC Milan.

Especially Kaká.

With a superstar of his caliber, the slightest bit of complacency could change the course of the entire match.

Therefore, before the game, Yang Cheng did a lot of work with the team, especially on the mental side.

He demanded that everyone, upon entering the pitch, must forget about the first leg and treat this match as a final.

Not only that, but all of the team’s preparations were exactly the same as usual, meticulous and without the slightest slack.

Yang Cheng wanted to use a series of details, every little thing, to warn his players that there could be no carelessness in the Champions League knockout stage.

In terms of specific tactics, it was actually quite similar to before.

Lassana Diarra was still tasked with limiting Kaká.

The difference, however, was that Ancelotti reverted to the 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation for this match.

The backline and the three holding midfielders were identical to the first leg; the only change was Seedorf in for Inzaghi.

The front three became Pato leading the line, with Seedorf and Kaká in the middle.

From the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese pressed high up the pitch.

This was also the home team’s signature tactic.

Through this lightning attack, Bayswater Chinese wanted to drag the game into the fast tempo they were most familiar and skilled with.

AC Milan started cautiously, focusing on defense.

So, for the first ten minutes or so, the game was almost entirely one-sided.

Bayswater Chinese repeatedly created dangerous situations in front of AC Milan’s goal.

The most threatening of these came in the 10th minute.

After Džeko dropped deep to receive the ball in the middle, he sent a wonderful pass.

Arshavin broke into the box from the right corner and cut the ball back to the center.

Yaya Touré made a run from deep and received the ball for a one-on-one chance.

However, the Ivorian’s shot was saved by Dida and went out for a corner, missing a golden opportunity.

The entire stadium sighed in regret for Yaya Touré.

The subsequent corner kick also failed to result in a goal.

AC Milan then launched a counter-attack, and it wasn’t until the 15th minute that they managed their first shot of the game.

It came from the youngster Pato.

But afterward, the match remained under the control of Bayswater Chinese, who launched wave after wave of attacks, showing no signs of complacency despite their first-leg lead.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese even forced AC Milan to defend with all their might.

The first half eventually ended 0-0.

After the break, AC Milan was the first to show urgency.

Ancelotti’s team could no longer afford to play it safe.

Two goals down away from home, and having conceded three away goals, meant they needed to score three goals to turn the tie around.

They were out of time!

Yang Cheng had long anticipated that AC Milan would counter-attack in the second half.

Because the pace of the first half was controlled by the home team, AC Milan had played very uncomfortably.

If Ancelotti didn’t start pressing forward, it would be tantamount to surrender.

The situation changed dramatically.

AC Milan took the initiative to attack, while Bayswater Chinese defended and counter-attacked.

In the 60th minute, as AC Milan were pouring forward, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back just outside their own penalty area.

Modrić sent a diagonal pass.

Di María charged forward with the ball on the left flank, storming into AC Milan’s half. Under pressure from Oddo and Gattuso, he passed diagonally to Džeko in the middle.

The Bosnian centre-forward was forced to stop to receive the ball.

Džeko controlled the ball, turned, skillfully evaded Kaladze, and slid a pass in behind the defense.

Arshavin surged forward at an even greater speed, getting to the ball before Nesta and poking it into AC Milan’s penalty area.

After catching up to it, the Russian coolly slotted the ball into the far corner, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

In an instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted.

The cheers of nearly eighty thousand fans at the same moment swept through the stadium, filling every corner.

Even Yang Cheng, standing in front of the home team’s dugout, looked up in disbelief at the sea of people in the stands.

That was nearly eighty thousand people!

Yang Cheng still clearly remembered that two years ago, when the team moved into this stadium, the attendance rate was less than half.

But now?

It was almost full.

League games certainly didn’t draw this many, but he still found it incredible.

“We have officially informed Norman Foster, requesting that he further expand the capacity of our new stadium. We want him to find any way possible to make it as big as it can be!”

Yang Cheng looked around at the fans in the stands, full of amazement.

Many of them weren’t even Bayswater Chinese fans; you could tell from their clothes.

A true die-hard Bayswater Chinese fan would at least be wearing the club’s jersey.

But it didn’t matter.

Just as Adam Crozier had said.

As long as they were willing to come to the stadium, for whatever reason.

Whether it was for the Champions League, for AC Milan, or even just because Bayswater Chinese had the cheapest tickets, it was all fine.

Once you have the first time, there will be a second, and then they will keep coming.

At this stage, Bayswater Chinese had to try every means possible to attract more fans to the stadium.

How to keep them could be figured out later.

“Norman Foster is probably going to be furious, isn’t he?” Brian Kidd couldn’t help but laugh after hearing what Yang Cheng said.

As a designer, the thing they probably hated most was a client changing the requirements at the last minute.

Especially a request that would give the designer a massive headache.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but smile too.

He had played the role of an unscrupulous client this time.

But he had no choice. After thinking it over and over, he still felt that a capacity of 65,000 was too small.

Especially considering long-term development and the fact there would be almost no room for future expansion, getting it right in one go now was essential. So, Norman Foster would have to bear with it.

“He wouldn’t dare say anything to my face, but I bet he’s cursing me up a storm behind my back,” Yang Cheng could guess.

“So, is there a way?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “I don’t know. Let him figure it out.”

After a pause, he added, “Norman Foster said there are height restrictions in central London, so if we exceed the height limit, it’s definitely a no-go. So, if we really want to do it, we’ll have to dig down, dig another level underground.”

“That’s a huge amount of work,” Brian Kidd said, amazed.

Yang Cheng nodded. The amount of work was indeed substantial, so the investment would increase accordingly.

In Xia Qing’s words, she was already numb to it.

Why?

Because everything was over budget.

The Brent training ground was over budget!

The several Satellite Training Centres were over budget!

Even the interior and exterior renovations of their own villa were over budget!

What was so strange about a new stadium, plus four adjacent commercial buildings, going over budget?

“But honestly, if we could have over eighty thousand, or even ninety thousand, fans for every match, the atmosphere would be absolutely electric!” Brian Kidd said with great anticipation.

Across European football, stadiums with a capacity of ninety thousand were extremely rare.

Barça’s Camp Nou was one of them.

That’s why the atmosphere at Camp Nou was so terrifying.

Speaking of which, since he had traveled to this time, Yang Cheng had been to the Bernabéu twice, but he had never been to Camp Nou.

…

After Arshavin scored, the match was effectively over.

It was highly unlikely that AC Milan could score four goals in the remaining time.

Ancelotti and the AC Milan players had essentially given up their futile resistance.

They had a league match to play on the weekend.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated AC Milan 1-0 at home, thanks to Arshavin’s goal.

They advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 4-1.

This could be considered avenging last season’s defeat, knocking the defending champions out of the Champions League.

At the same time, the other three Premier League teams all eliminated their opponents and advanced to the quarter-finals.

As a result, four of this season’s Champions League quarter-finalists were from the Premier League, occupying a full half of the spots.

This clearly demonstrated the current dominance of the Premier League.

Incidentally, the unlucky Real Madrid were once again eliminated in the Round of 16.

Just as Yang Cheng had said, Schuster’s team still lacked sufficient top-tier quality.

After the Champions League Round of 16, UEFA held the draw for the quarter-finals at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

As it turned out, Bayswater Chinese was drawn against Barcelona from La Liga.

This left Yang Cheng a bit stunned.

During the match against AC Milan, he had just been thinking to himself that he had never played at Camp Nou.

And then, the draw came out!

How could it be so spot on?

Are you sure The FA isn’t pulling some strings?

But I really don’t want to go to Camp Nou!

Of the four Premier League teams, Bayswater Chinese drew Barça, while Manchester United drew Liverpool.

A Northwest Derby in the Champions League quarter-finals was also full of hype.

More importantly, this way, the Champions League semi-finals wouldn’t be an all-English affair.

Or perhaps it should be said that UEFA would not allow a situation where four Premier League teams monopolized the Champions League semi-finals.

Chapter 138: The Aura of a Champion! God, Why Aren’t We That Lucky?

After the Champions League Round of 16, the FA Cup quarter-finals arrived immediately.

This time, Bayswater Chinese hosted Portsmouth.

Chelsea played away against Barnsley.

Manchester United was also away, facing Middlesbrough.

West Bromwich Albion travelled to face Bristol Rovers.

Before the season even started, Yang Cheng had made it clear to the young players on his team that the League Cup and the FA Cup were theirs to play.

So, even now in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, facing a Premier League team, Yang Cheng didn’t change his approach.

In the home game against Portsmouth, the front three was still the trident of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

The midfield combination was Rakitić, Nemanja Matić, and Aaron Ramsey.

This lineup played a brand of football very different from the starting squad.

Their passing and movement were more fluid and faster.

The understanding between the players was more imaginative.

This made the entire midfield more controlling and dynamic.

Throughout the consecutive cup competitions, Aaron Ramsey had fully demonstrated his technical characteristics.

His footwork was delicate, his passing imaginative.

He could pass, dribble, control the ball, and make overlapping runs from deep. Crucially, his stamina was exceptional, allowing him to cover a large area of the pitch.

Just eight minutes into the game, he received the ball in midfield, skillfully evaded the challenge of Portsmouth’s Muntari, and charged towards the edge of their penalty area.

Just when everyone thought he would pass to Lewandowski, he unexpectedly played a square pass.

The ball travelled across the edge of the box, through a crowd of Portsmouth midfielders, and landed in the open space on the left side of the arc.

At that moment, Rakitić, arriving from deep, swung his right foot and unleashed a furious shot.

The ball slammed into the net, piercing David James’s goal.

1-0!

Then, in the 23rd minute of the first half, it was Aaron Ramsey again on the ball in midfield. He dribbled forward from the right channel, but just as he was about to pass, he was brought down by a sliding tackle from Muntari.

The young Welshman won a free kick in a dangerous area for Bayswater Chinese.

At the same time, he earned thunderous applause from the home fans.

Rakitić took the free kick and delivered a magnificent pass. Koscielny connected with a close-range header, sending the ball into Portsmouth’s goal.

2-0!

In the end, thanks to a goal and an assist from Rakitić, Bayswater Chinese defeated Portsmouth 2-0 at home, advancing to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Chelsea lost 1-0 away to Barnsley.

Manchester United secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Middlesbrough.

West Bromwich Albion thrashed Bristol Rovers 5-1 away from home.

In the FA Cup semi-finals, Bayswater Chinese would travel to face West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester United would play away against Barnsley.

…

Midweek brought several rescheduled matches for the 29th round of the Premier League.

As the original Round 29 fixtures coincided with the FA Cup, the matches for the Premier League teams participating in the cup were postponed to midweek.

Manchester United played away against Derby County.

Everyone expected it to be a very easy match.

After all, Derby County was just too weak.

But unexpectedly, Manchester United found themselves in a perilous fight.

It wasn’t until the 76th minute that a goal from C. Ronaldo secured a narrow 1-0 away win over Derby County.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, hosted Manchester City.

Manchester City’s performance this season could be summed up in one phrase: their success was thanks to Thaksin Shinawatra, and so was their failure.

Thaksin Shinawatra’s investment brought substantial funds to Manchester City, allowing them to constantly sign players like Inler, which significantly improved the team’s overall strength.

Eriksson was also a reputable manager with decent coaching abilities.

However, ever since news broke in February that Thaksin Shinawatra had returned to Thailand to stand trial, a sense of panic had gripped Manchester City.

They had dropped from 6th to 8th in the Premier League, suffering two consecutive defeats.

To everyone’s surprise, during this period, there were constant reports that Thaksin Shinawatra was actively trying to sell the club.

After a failed bid for Arsenal, an Abu Dhabi consortium from the Middle East showed great interest in Manchester City.

Under such circumstances, Manchester City’s predicament was obvious.

Yet, Eriksson’s team played with extraordinary effort. From the first whistle, they engaged in a back-and-forth battle with Bayswater Chinese.

The Blue Moons held on tenaciously for 60 minutes.

It wasn’t until the 61st minute that Neuer launched a long kick from his own half, sending the ball directly into the final third.

The German goalkeeper’s distribution was incredibly accurate.

Džeko flicked the ball on with his head, directing it to the left side of the attack.

Di María surged forward at high speed, broke through on the wing, and delivered a cross. Arshavin arrived at full tilt to slot the ball into the net.

1-0!

After conceding, Manchester City launched a frenzied counter-attack.

For the Manchester City players, regardless of The Blue Moons’ future, they needed to perform better to secure their own.

This posed a huge threat to Bayswater Chinese.

The situation remained tense until the 88th minute. Džeko received a pass from Arshavin, cut in from the right into the box, and fired a low shot with his left foot, sending the ball into Manchester City’s goal once again.

That finally settled the matter.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Manchester City at home.

The Blue Moons had truly shown remarkable resilience in the match.

…

On the weekend, it was the 30th round of the Premier League.

Derby County, having just nearly upset Manchester United at home, suffered a crushing 6-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

At home, Manchester United defeated Bolton 2-0, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo.

In truth, Manchester United didn’t look particularly convincing for the whole match, but an explosive first 20 minutes from C. Ronaldo saw him score twice.

Arsenal, meanwhile, was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw away at Wigan Athletic.

This round, Yang Cheng led his team to Anfield.

Despite playing away, Bayswater Chinese started on the front foot and won a free kick in an attacking area in the 3rd minute.

A foul by Álvaro Arbeloa on Gareth Bale gave Bayswater Chinese a well-positioned free kick on the left.

Gianni Vio once again rushed out of the dugout to direct from the sidelines.

Leighton Baines took the free kick. The ball was delivered into the box but was headed clear.

Yaya Touré, lurking on the edge of the area, controlled the ball with his chest and unleashed a long shot from outside the arc, which flew past Reina and into the net, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Afterwards, Bayswater Chinese continued to press their advantage, but Liverpool quickly stabilized their defense.

It wasn’t until the 19th minute that Liverpool’s Babel played a pass from the left. At the arc of the penalty area, in almost the exact same spot as Yaya Touré’s goal, Javier Mascherano fired a shot that beat Neuer.

The two goals were practically carbon copies!

Yang Cheng, watching from the away team’s dugout, was left speechless.

“Is that his first goal of the season?” Yang Cheng turned and asked Gianni Vio.

The Italian nodded. “Not just his first of the season, it’s his first career Premier League goal, and his first goal since joining Liverpool.”

Yang Cheng was at a loss for words.

He felt like he was back in his younger days playing Football Manager.

Every damn player who scored against him was scoring their first goal.

Unbelievable!

It was a good thing to see a rare flower bloom.

But why did it always have to be in his own front yard?

Couldn’t it happen somewhere else?

The first half ended with both teams locked in a fierce, back-and-forth contest.

Just three minutes into the second half, Babel on Liverpool’s left flank won a free kick in an advanced position.

Gerrard delivered the cross, and Torres headed it in at the far post.

2-1!

A comeback!

The Spanish Golden Boy had been in scintillating form recently.

This was his 20th league goal of the season.

After falling behind, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack.

In the 61st minute, a pass came from the back, and Džeko provided a delightful through ball.

Gareth Bale used his pace to burst past Álvaro Arbeloa, carrying the ball into the left side of Liverpool’s penalty area before firing a left-footed shot across goal and into the far corner.

2-2!

Both Yang Cheng and Benítez made substitutions, both looking to strengthen their attack.

Liverpool was fighting for a Champions League spot, while Bayswater Chinese was fighting for the title.

But in the end, neither side could find another goal.

2-2. Bayswater Chinese came away with a draw.

After this match, Manchester United’s lead at the top extended to three points.

For Liverpool, the possibility of finishing in a Champions League spot seemed increasingly slim.

…

A week later, the 31st round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Birmingham City.

Because of the Martin Taylor incident, Birmingham had been hit with a heavy penalty by The FA, losing their main centre-back.

The club had also faced criticism from numerous media outlets and fans.

This had a significant impact on Birmingham.

But at Wembley Stadium, they set up with a five-man defense, determined to defend with all their might.

It wasn’t until the 28th minute that a direct pass from Thiago Silva accurately found Arshavin in the attack.

The Russian unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the box, breaking Birmingham’s defense.

Then, just before the end of the first half, a Leighton Baines free-kick from the left was delivered into the box, assisting Džeko for a headed goal.

2-0!

After the break, Modrić received the ball, shook off a defender, broke into the penalty area, and played a square pass to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward easily tapped it in from near the penalty spot, completing his brace.

3-0!

In the 63rd minute, Di María dribbled into the left side of the box. His shot was saved by the goalkeeper, but the Argentinian followed up on the rebound to score, extending the lead to 4-0!

Later, substitute Theo Walcott, in the 78th minute, beat two defenders outside the box and fired a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that found the back of Birmingham’s net.

5-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Birmingham City 5-0 at home.

The visitors suffered their fourth consecutive away defeat.

In the same round, Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-0 at home.

The Reds’ heavy defeat was largely due to Javier Mascherano being sent off with a red card in the first half.

This made Yang Cheng sigh in frustration.

“God, why aren’t we that lucky?”

Chelsea, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1, thanks to a brace from Drogba.

…

After the 31st round of the Premier League, the international players were once again called up for national duty.

Almost the entire Bayswater Chinese squad was drafted away.

This left Yang Cheng feeling quite helpless.

As soon as the internationals returned, it would be time for the 32nd round.

After playing the Premier League’s 32nd round on March 29th, the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona at home was on April 1st.

There was almost a month-long gap between the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 and the first leg of the quarter-finals.

During this month, Bayswater Chinese had done everything possible to mobilize their publicity machine, promoting the match relentlessly to attract all kinds of fans to the stadium.

As a result, the attendance for the first-leg match against Barcelona at Wembley Stadium would exceed eighty-five thousand.

And tickets were still selling in the days leading up to it.

This was undoubtedly the highest attendance in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

By then, the entire Wembley Stadium would be nearly full.

Such was the influence of the Champions League.

On April 1st and April 2nd, there were only two football matches in all of England.

Even the lower leagues had no games.

Those matches were Bayswater Chinese versus Barcelona at home, and Manchester United versus Liverpool at home.

One in the south, one in the north, they captured the intense focus of football fans across the entire country.

As for Manchester United, it went without saying that tickets for Old Trafford had long been sold out.

And, as shrewd as The Red Devils were, they were selling them at inflated prices!

Although Bayswater Chinese’s ticket prices were also slightly higher than for a league match, it wasn’t by much, with an average increase of only five pound sterling.

Adam Crozier confidently told Yang Cheng that on April 1st, Wembley Stadium would definitely be at full capacity!

It was safe to say that these two matches in England were the center of national attention.

After careful consideration, and upon the staggered return of his international players, Yang Cheng had them undergo medical checks and held discussions with them.

In the end, he decided to field a rotated lineup for the home game against Blackburn Rovers.

As expected.

Although Blackburn was mid-table and seemingly had little to play for, the prize money for Premier League placings was substantial, and they fought with ferocious intensity.

Mark Hughes’s team was very strong overall.

In the 19th minute of the first half, Paraguayan centre-forward Santa Cruz opened the scoring for Blackburn.

Don’t be mistaken, this time it wasn’t Marcelo’s left flank that was breached, but Piszczek’s right.

Pedersen broke through on the left and delivered a cross, which Santa Cruz headed in from the center.

After conceding, Bayswater Chinese launched a comeback.

In the 39th minute, a long pass from Neuer was flicked on by Lewandowski’s head. Walcott, fast as lightning from the right wing, instantly pierced through Blackburn’s defense. After breaking into the penalty area, he skillfully evaded their centre-back Samba and chipped the ball into the net with his right foot.

1-1!

Bayswater Chinese had levelled the score.

After that, the two teams were locked in a stalemate again.

Neither could break the deadlock.

It wasn’t until the 86th minute of the second half that Gareth Bale, after a powerful run and cross from the left, found Lewandowski at the near post, who dummied the ball. The young Aaron Ramsey, making an overlapping run, tapped it in from close range, breaking through Blackburn’s goal.

2-1!

This was also Aaron Ramsey’s first Premier League goal since joining Bayswater Chinese.

More than sixty thousand fans in Wembley Stadium stood up to applaud Aaron Ramsey.

The handsome young Welshman had already become a fan favorite due to his excellent performances in the cup competitions this season.

Now, having scored in the Premier League, his future looked incredibly bright.

While Bayswater Chinese secured a 2-1 comeback victory against Blackburn, Manchester United thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 at home, with C. Ronaldo contributing three assists and one goal.

The Portuguese was truly on fire this season!

It was almost fair to say that as long as C. Ronaldo performed at his normal level, Manchester United could usually beat their opponents by a large margin.

With such a solid defense, a greatly improved midfield, and such potent firepower up front, Ferguson had grand ambitions for this season after ending the last one empty-handed, especially with two runner-up finishes.

The Red Devils had the foundation for such confidence.

Especially after acquiring Ashley Young, Nani, and Anderson, Manchester United’s midfield strength and squad depth had improved dramatically.

This was why Manchester United was still competing on three fronts at this stage of the season!

…

On the evening of April 1st, London, Wembley Stadium.

There was still some time before kick-off.

The players from both teams were still on the pitch warming up.

But at this moment, the three tiers of stands at Wembley Stadium were already almost completely full.

The stadium was buzzing with a deafening roar.

Everyone was filled with anticipation for the upcoming, globally-watched showdown.

As Adam Crozier had predicted, Wembley Stadium was packed with ninety thousand people for this match.

Yang Cheng didn’t know the exact figure, but the report he received stated that every single ticket had been sold.

And that was the day before the match.

Last season, the team was eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals.

For a team with an average age of just over 21, this was already a remarkable achievement.

But Yang Cheng and his players still felt deeply disappointed.

Returning this season for another attempt, they were full of anticipation for this match.

Every single one of them was rubbing their hands in anticipation, eager to get started.

All the first team players who weren’t in the matchday squad were seated in the stands.

The opponent for this match was Barcelona.

Frank Rijkaard’s team had been plagued by disasters this season, with constant conflicts and a never-ending stream of injuries.

First, Eto’o suffered a serious injury, then came the controversy surrounding Ronaldinho’s fitness, and now it was Messi’s turn.

The Argentinian had torn his left biceps femoris muscle in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 and had been out of action ever since.

Why was Ronaldinho’s injury a source of conflict?

The matter was complicated.

As early as mid-March, the Spanish media had exposed Barça’s practice of concealing player injuries.

It all started when Ronaldinho’s brother, Assis, revealed to the public that Ronaldinho was carrying an injury.

But Barça’s official channels quickly issued a statement, insisting that Ronaldinho was not injured.

Well, this immediately put the Brazilian superstar in the awkward position of being accused of ‘feigning injury’.

Ronaldinho himself immediately gave an interview, stating that he had been playing through injury for the past few months, but it had been deliberately concealed by the club and the medical staff. The main injuries were two-fold: a pulled muscle in his right leg and a pubic bone issue.

This incident immediately caused a huge uproar.

It was plain for all to see that Ronaldinho’s performance had declined over the last two seasons.

Not only that, the Brazilian had also been involved in various off-field controversies, which left the media and fans deeply dissatisfied.

Now, with Barça facing a rebuild, this news of a ‘feigned injury’ at such a critical juncture immediately drew intense scrutiny from the media and fans.

Consequently, both parties conducted a new examination.

The results proved that Ronaldinho’s leg injury did indeed exist.

Barça’s official statement quickly changed, clarifying that the right leg muscle was pulled during training last Thursday and did not contradict the announcement from mid-March.

As for the pubic bone injury, the Barça medical staff stated that neither the club nor the doctors were at fault, even going as far as to say:

“If you compare the examination results, Gabriel Milito’s pubic bone injury is even more alarming, but isn’t the Argentinian still insisting on playing?”

This was tantamount to admitting that Ronaldinho was injured, that the medical staff had diagnosed it, but they had concealed it, wanting the player to play through the pain, which Ronaldinho refused.

Barça’s official defense was that they hadn’t disclosed Ronaldinho’s injury to protect the player’s privacy.

Ronaldinho’s brother, Assis, immediately retorted: the club publicly declared the player uninjured without their consent.

Moreover, Assis began to appear frequently in London and Milan.

With things escalating to this point, everyone knew what was going on.

Barça was trying to “force” Ronaldinho out!

Besides the Brazilian superstar, midfielder Deco was also facing a precarious position.

Frank Rijkaard had long been handed a death sentence.

Barça would undoubtedly change managers this summer.

The media had even been suggesting for some time that Mourinho would take over at Camp Nou this summer.

It was in this environment of internal strife that Barça, despite having lost the La Liga title race early on, had advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals, largely thanks to a favorable draw against Celtic of the Scottish Premiership in the Round of 16.

And now they faced Bayswater Chinese.

Due to all the aforementioned issues, Frank Rijkaard fielded a star-studded, yet depleted, lineup at Wembley Stadium.

…

Goalkeeper: Valdés;

Defense: Abidal, Milito, Puyol, Zambrotta;

Midfield: Rafael Márquez in a holding role, with Iniesta and Xavi in the center;

Forwards: Henry, Bojan, and Eto’o.

This season, the post-90s born Bojan had been outstanding, his status within the Barça squad even eclipsing Messi’s. He was considered the future top dog of Barça by the management and countless media outlets.

As Yang Cheng set up Barça’s starting lineup on his tactics board, he felt a wave of emotion.

Why could super-clubs like Barça and Real Madrid always achieve good results?

Because their squads were truly strong.

On the bench, they still had players like Thuram, Sylvinho, Edmílson, Dos Santos, and Gudjohnsen.

Not to mention, through their own self-inflicted drama, they’ve sidelined players like Ronaldinho and Deco, and Messi was injured.

This lineup was genuinely strong!

Teams like this are often their own worst enemy.

“The current Barça is very different from before.”

With this simple sentence, Yang Cheng gave his analysis of Barça.

“The Dream Team Two era of Barça had a strong high-pressing ability in the final third, but that has now almost completely vanished.”

The most famous example was the El Clásico where they thrashed Real Madrid.

In that match, Barça’s superstars pressed relentlessly, suppressing Real Madrid for the entire game.

Unlike the later Dream Team Three, Barça at that time played more directly and with more threat, their attacks sharper, though their passing and possession weren’t as intricate as Guardiola’s Dream Team Three.

If you ever saw the passing map of the Dream Team Three, you would be amazed.

It was dense, like a giant web.

And you rarely saw long passes.

But the Dream Team Two was different; they played more directly.

If you dig deeper, a significant reason for the change in Barça’s pressing style was the subtle psychological shift in players after achieving great success.

The departure of Frank Rijkaard’s assistant coach, Henk ten Cate, was a signal.

Everyone knew that Rijkaard had a good relationship with the superstars, but Ten Cate was the one who enforced discipline.

Once Ten Cate left, discipline in Barça’s dressing room grew increasingly lax.

“Last summer, Barça’s pre-season training was very poor. Their fitness reserves were insufficient, leading to many player injuries and terrible stamina throughout the season.”

“Now, their overall tempo is quite slow.”

“So, in the match, we must immediately quicken the pace from the first minute. We will go for a blitz attack!”

Yang Cheng’s words had all the players nodding in agreement.

A lightning attack—this was Bayswater Chinese’s advantage.

“Barça’s defense has always had problems. Defenders like Zambrotta, Abidal, and Thuram are simply not suited for them.”

This was a point of reflection even among the Catalan media.

The best isn’t always the most suitable.

In 2006, when Juventus was relegated due to the Calciopoli scandal, Barça snapped up Thuram and Zambrotta.

But at Camp Nou, these two superstars never managed to replicate their peak performances.

On the contrary, they always seemed out of place in Barça’s tactical system.

Why?

Because Barça’s full-backs play high up the pitch, taking on more attacking responsibilities.

But neither Zambrotta nor Abidal were that type of full-back.

“The connection between the full-backs and centre-backs is a long-standing issue for Barça. Coupled with Rafael Márquez in the Number 4 role, it makes Barça’s defense very weak against powerful attacks.”

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Barça’s most impressive defensive midfielder this season was Yaya Touré.

In the Number 4 role, Yaya Touré was not only strong and defensively solid, but he also frequently made overlapping runs and scored with long shots. He also had delicate footwork, allowing him to link up with Xavi, Iniesta, and others through short passes.

One could say that Yaya Touré’s presence injected power into Barça’s midfield and defense.

But now, the Ivorian was at Bayswater Chinese.

“At Barça, so far, no forward possesses true centre-forward abilities.”

This included Bojan, Eto’o, and Henry. None of them fit the bill.

What does it mean to have centre-forward abilities?

It’s not just about poaching goals or occupying space; it’s about linking up the right and left wings, as well as the midfield and the forward line.

Like Patrick Kluivert.

Or Džeko and Ibrahimović.

None of Barça’s current three forwards had this.

They weren’t even as good as Gudjohnsen in that regard.

“So, they tend to play more as individuals, getting bogged down in one-on-one battles.”

“In this match, our defensive focus is not on their front line.”

“We will defend against their trident with a coordinated effort from our backline, isolating them and cutting off their connections and link-up play.”

Everyone nodded.

If Ronaldinho and Messi were playing, the team might not be able to do it.

But now, with the two geniuses absent, Bayswater Chinese was fully capable.

“The key is to suppress their midfield, especially Xavi and Iniesta.”

“Lass, Luka, that’s your job.”

Modrić and Lassana Diarra both nodded.

“Finally!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully.

“This is the first leg of the quarter-finals, and it’s a home game. Me, and the ninety thousand fans out there, are all filled with anticipation for this match, and filled with confidence in you.”

“After kick-off, play exactly as we’ve prepared!”

“At home, we are going to prepare a lavish banquet for our guests who have come from afar!”

“Don’t let our guests down!”

…

With a blow of the whistle from Greek head referee Vassaras, and amidst the thunderous cheers of ninety thousand fans, the highly anticipated showdown officially began.

Before the match, Yang Cheng made a point of going to the visiting dugout to shake hands with Frank Rijkaard, where he also saw his assistant coach, Neeskens.

After Ten Cate’s departure, Neeskens had taken over the Dutchman’s duties as Rijkaard’s assistant.

After a brief chat, Yang Cheng returned to the home team’s dugout.

Soon after, the match started, and he remained standing on the sidelines.

From the kick-off, Barça clearly wanted to establish control.

Especially Xavi and Iniesta, who weren’t rushing their passes forward, but rather trying to slow the tempo down.

But Bayswater Chinese were like a young challenger trying to overwhelm a seasoned master with a flurry of punches. They came out swinging, disregarding all convention, forcing Barça to speed up the game.

One minute and thirty-eight seconds into the match, Arshavin carried the ball through the middle and played a diagonal pass.

From the left channel, twenty meters out, Di María shot directly at goal.

The shot was on target, but the angle wasn’t great, and Valdés gathered it comfortably.

Bayswater Chinese’s aggressive, no-nonsense style made Barça uncomfortable, but they soon seized an opportunity of their own.

Henry received a pass from Iniesta on the left. Facing Maicon, he made a series of feints, suddenly cut inside on a diagonal run into the box, and took a shot. The ball deflected off Pepe and went out for a corner kick.

Xavi took the corner quickly, but Bayswater Chinese easily cleared the danger.

Barça’s lack of height was a serious problem.

In their starting lineup, the tallest player was left-back Abidal, at 1.86 meters.

Zambrotta was 1.81 meters, and the Number 4, Rafael Márquez, was 1.84 meters.

However, the two centre-backs, Gabriel Milito and Puyol, were 1.79 meters and 1.78 meters, respectively.

Both were smaller, agile centre-backs, and both were good at pressing high.

Such a central defensive pairing often presents a problem: during a match, who presses and who covers?

More often than not, it relied on the players’ on-the-fly decisions and understanding.

But that often meant mistakes.

A match changes in an instant; sometimes there isn’t even time to shout a word.

Bayswater Chinese were well aware of Barça’s weakness, so they made it clear they intended to bully them, pressing and attacking with the entire team from the start.

The most outrageous moment came in the 6th minute.

Džeko and Arshavin closed in on Valdés from different directions at the same time.

The Barça goalkeeper, receiving a back-pass, decided to play with fire. Instead of clearing it immediately, he tried to dribble and was nearly dispossessed by Arshavin.

Forced into a corner, Valdés kicked the ball out over the byline, conceding a corner.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng smiled slightly, called out to Yaya Touré, and gestured for the team to push up even further.

This sent a clear signal: Bayswater Chinese’s high press was effective.

If he didn’t continue to press now and further suffocate the opponent, Yang Cheng’s reputation as a world-class manager would be a laughing stock.

The home fans were also delighted to see Bayswater Chinese pressing so aggressively.

They loved this kind of fast-paced game.

Then, in the 11th minute, as Barça launched an attack from midfield, Iniesta tried to drive forward with the ball, looking to link up with the forwards, but he was successfully dispossessed by Lassana Diarra.

After winning the ball, the French midfielder was immediately subjected to a counter-press from Iniesta.

But Lassana Diarra quickly passed the ball back to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian received the ball in an unmarked space.

He took a touch, looked up, and quickly launched a long pass.

The ball carved an arc through the air, rapidly descending towards the edge of Barça’s penalty area.

Džeko surged forward at top speed, with Gabriel Milito in hot pursuit.

The two reached the right side of the penalty area almost simultaneously.

As the ball dropped, Džeko turned, using his body to shield it from Gabriel Milito behind him.

There was a significant height difference between them, and their strength and weight were in completely different leagues.

When Džeko leaned in, Milito could barely hold his ground against him.

There was no way he could also free a hand to interfere with Džeko’s control of the ball.

The ball settled on Džeko’s chest. The Bosnian centre-forward controlled it, turned, hooked the ball with his right foot, and burst forward, instantly breaking through Milito’s defense.

Abidal, who had been tracking back, immediately moved to intercept.

But Džeko, with his long legs, poked the ball forward a step ahead, avoiding Abidal, and then chased after it himself, storming into the penalty area.

On the right side of the box, Džeko caught up to his own touch, took a moment to adjust, and before Valdés could close him down, he unleashed a furious shot.

The ball flew past Valdés’s left side, grazed the inside of the right post, and nestled into the back of the Barça net.

1-0!!!

In an instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted with incredible passion.

Ninety thousand fans cheered and roared in unison, their voices echoing through the London night sky.

From controlling the ball to turning, then dribbling past defenders, and finally shooting, Džeko’s entire sequence of movements was perfectly fluid.

Barça’s defense was utterly helpless.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng threw a triumphant punch into the air.

He was confident about this match.

But he hadn’t expected to score so early.

This proved one thing.

His tactics were right!

This was how you had to play against Barça!

With a tall center-forward like Džeko, it would be foolish not to play to his strengths!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to relentlessly attack Barça.

Having seized the early advantage, the home team completely dominated their opponents.

Three minutes after the goal, another pass came through the middle.

Modrić delivered a chip pass, Arshavin made a quick diagonal run to the left, and then suddenly played a through ball.

Džeko laid it off to the left side of the penalty area.

Di María controlled the ball, turned, and shot with his left foot.

Although it went just wide of the goal, it still earned a round of enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

Just two minutes later, it was Di María again on the left, this time completing a beautiful one-two pass with Arshavin.

As the Argentinian tried to force his way past Zambrotta, he was tackled, and the ball went out for a throw-in.

Leighton Baines ran over and, with all his might, hurled the ball with both hands into Barça’s penalty area.

Džeko won the initial header, flicking it on towards the penalty spot.

Abidal headed it clear, sending the ball out of the box.

But just outside the area, Yaya Touré controlled the ball with his chest and, before any defenders could close him down, swung his right foot and unleashed a long shot.

The shot was powerful and aimed for the right side of the goal.

Valdés reacted quickly, adjusting his position and stooping to catch the ball.

But the ball was too fast and too powerful; Valdés fumbled it.

The quickest to react was Di María, who pounced on the loose ball, but Valdés dived at the same time.

Di María’s shot went straight into Valdés’s arms.

The Barça goalkeeper still couldn’t hold on to it at first, and it rebounded out, but luckily he quickly reached out and gathered it back into his grasp.

“It’s absolute chaos in front of Barça’s goal right now.”

“This isn’t the first time Valdés has made a mistake like this.”

“He needs to be more composed. Playing on a knife’s edge like this will inevitably lead to problems.”

“On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese, with their storm-like attacks and brilliantly fluid passing since the start of the game, have been truly stunning.”

“This is definitely not an ordinary team!”

As Bayswater Chinese continued to intensify their high press and attacks, it became increasingly difficult for Barça to play the ball out from the back.

The forwards—Henry, Bojan, and Eto’o—were mostly waiting for passes from the midfield and defense.

Xavi and Iniesta had to drop deep frequently just to receive the ball.

In the 23rd minute, Iniesta drifted to the left flank to receive a pass from Abidal.

With his back to the attack, just as Iniesta was about to control the ball, Lassana Diarra nipped in from behind and poked it away.

Arshavin collected the ball, turned, and dribbled horizontally across the edge of the penalty area.

Rafael Márquez immediately gave chase.

But Arshavin was quicker, playing a direct pass into the right side of the penalty area to find Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward shielded the ball from Milito, controlled it with his right foot, and shot with his left.

Puyol rushed out at the crucial moment, blocking Džeko’s shot with his body.

The ball hit Puyol and rebounded to the area between the penalty spot and the arc.

Arshavin closed the gap in a few strides, and without taking a touch, met the bouncing ball with a left-footed volley.

The ball flew in a straight line, rocketing into the left side of Barça’s goal, almost scraping the post as it went in.

“Goal!!!”

“In the 23rd minute, Arshavin scores with a left-footed volley, breaking through Barça’s goal once again!”

“2-0!”

“This goal came from winning the ball high up the pitch and launching an immediate counter-attack.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s offensive wave since the start of the match has been incredibly fierce, and Barça is clearly struggling to cope.”

“Especially with their fragile defense.”

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in an instant.

No one had expected the match to turn into such a one-sided affair.

Even a team as strong as Barça was being battered so badly by Bayswater Chinese’s relentless assault.

More importantly, even with a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese showed no signs of letting up.

The ninety thousand fans in the stadium were utterly captivated by the torrential, storm-like attack.

Many of them were seeing a Bayswater Chinese football match live for the first time, and they had never imagined such a fast-paced, attacking style. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Bayswater Chinese pressed on, throwing everyone forward.

In the 27th minute, Maicon made a quick overlapping run down the right flank. After receiving a pass from Lassana Diarra, he first paused on the right side of the box, then suddenly accelerated, bursting past the byline into the area and delivering a cross that found Arshavin.

The Russian’s shot was brilliantly saved by Valdés.

The Barça goalkeeper was like that, somewhat erratic.

He could be divinely inspired one moment, and then make a basic error the next.

After that, Di María on the left also began to exert his influence.

First, he cut into the left side of the box and shot himself, which was saved by Valdés. Then, he broke through on the left and crossed for Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward’s header was caught directly by Valdés.

Wave after wave of attacks came, with no sign of slowing down.

The fans in the stadium were having the time of their lives.

The roar of the crowd never ceased!

In the 37th minute, it was Maicon again, making an overlapping run down the right. After a feint as if to cross from the byline, the Brazilian full-back suddenly cut inside.

Abidal, who had been fooled by Maicon, reacted instantly and decisively chose to commit a foul.

Bayswater Chinese earned a free kick on the right side of the attack.

Modrić went to the spot, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

At this moment, Bayswater Chinese’s aerial threats, including Yaya Touré, Pepe, Thiago Silva, and even Maicon, were all positioned near the penalty area line.

As soon as the referee’s whistle blew, Modrić took a quick run-up and sent a curling shot towards the right side of the six-yard box, in an area just off the right post.

When Modrić struck the ball, the Barça defenders’ attention was drawn to the tall players at the far post.

Yaya Touré had initially been at the back post with Pepe, Džeko, and the others.

But when the whistle blew, while everyone else rushed towards the far post, Yaya Touré quickly circled towards the center, then suddenly made a diagonal run to the near post, getting ahead of Puyol. He leaped high into the air and met the ball with a close-range header.

Modrić’s curling free kick was headed into the right side of Barça’s goal by Yaya Touré.

The entire stadium once again erupted in thunderous cheers.

The Ivorian, overcome with excitement, turned and ran off the pitch in celebration.

“Another goal!!”

“3-0!”

“My God, Bayswater Chinese are three goals ahead in the first half!”

“Yaya Touré, with a powerful header, out-jumped Puyol to once again breach Barça’s goal.”

“Right now, the situation is extremely dire for Frank Rijkaard and Barça.”

“They must stabilize themselves as quickly as possible.”

“Throughout the entire first half, whether it’s possession rate, number of shots, or number of threatening attacks, Barça has been completely outclassed in every aspect.”

“On the contrary, it is Bayswater Chinese who have truly shown the powerful aura of a champion in this match!”

“We have every reason to believe that if Bayswater Chinese can maintain this form and stick to this game plan, they will definitely have a chance to challenge for the title!”

Chapter 139: The Tycoon Arrives! We’re Going for the Treble!

“Alright, another interception in midfield!”

“A quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“The ball is passed to the left flank again, to Ángel Di María.”

“Let’s see what Di María can do with this dribbling run on the left.”

“Zambrotta’s defensive positioning is excellent.”

“Di María crosses it to the edge of the penalty area.”

“Andrei Arshavin with a direct volley!”

“The ball hits Milito and is still inside the box.”

“Džeko shields Puyol with his body, controls the ball, no chance to turn.”

“He passes it out of the box, back to Di María.”

“Di María crosses again.”

“To the back post, Arshavin!”

“He couldn’t get his head to it.”

“Since the second half began, Bayswater Chinese has maintained a ferocious attack, creating very threatening chances.”

“Especially on the left flank.”

“Ángel Di María has been incredibly active since the start of the second half.”

“If Bayswater Chinese focused their attacks on the right flank in the first half, then Di María’s side has now become a crucial offensive weapon.”

“The score remains 3-0!”

“Frank Rijkaard doesn’t seem to have any good solutions.”

“He doesn’t even show any intention of making a substitution.”

“At this point, Barça should really be shoring up their defense.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack is so fierce, and they’ve repeatedly created danger inside the penalty area.”

“If Barça continues like this, they are very likely to concede again.”

…

“Barça’s midfield combination.”

“Xavi passes the ball to the right side of the attack.”

“Eto’o passes horizontally, looking for Bojan.”

“Thiago Silva slides in with a tackle.”

“Bojan is down, but the referee doesn’t blow the whistle.”

“Yaya Touré quickly passes to Modrić.”

“A quick counter-attack by Bayswater Chinese.”

“Barça’s defenders need to hurry back.”

“Let’s see, Modrić pushes past the halfway line and plays a through ball behind the defense, looking for Di María again.”

“Di María and Zambrotta are in a footrace.”

“The Argentine is quicker, gets to the ball first, and takes it into the penalty area.”

“A sudden stop, a cutback…”

“A feint!”

“Di María, like the Noodle Man, weaved past Zambrotta, went down the byline, and sent in a cross.”

“Puyol makes a crucial clearance with a header.”

“The ball lands outside the penalty area.”

“Modrić has come up.”

“Let’s see what he does this time.”

“He dribbles towards the left side of the arc, chips it to the left, still looking for Di María.”

“The Argentine doesn’t take a touch, crossing it immediately—a low ball this time.”

As Di María sent that cross in, Džeko was to the left of the penalty spot, completely blocked off by Puyol.

The Bosnian centre-forward had no way to charge forward.

Instead, it was Modrić who, after passing the ball out from the crowd, quickly made a forward run himself.

But could he possibly be faster than the ball?

Just when everyone thought the pass would find no one, a red figure suddenly darted from the right of the penalty spot straight towards the right side of the goal.

As Di María’s cross came in, Andrei Arshavin threw his entire body forward.

This was a very dangerous play.

The slightest miscalculation and he could collide with the post.

But Arshavin couldn’t worry about that now.

Because he was facing Barça!

A team he had adored since he was a child, a team he dreamed of joining.

Even before he decided to join Bayswater Chinese, he had already made up his mind.

The Premier League was just a stepping stone for him, and Bayswater Chinese was just a bridge to Barça.

He yearned to play for Barça!

He hoped to have a dream career at Barça!

And the best way to join Barça was to give his best performance in a match against them, to show them what he was capable of!

So, Arshavin threw himself forward without a second thought.

Even if it meant crashing into the right post, he would not hesitate.

The Russian’s fearless approach stunned even Gabriel Milito.

He desperately tried to block Arshavin, but it was useless.

The Argentine centre-back could only watch as Arshavin slid past him and, with a sliding shot, sent both himself and the ball into Barça’s goal.

He had almost hit the right post!

So dangerous!

But…

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“Andrei Arshavin scores another goal!”

“A brace!”

“The Russian’s fighting spirit is incredible! He was willing to risk injury to seize this opportunity and score another goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“4-0!”

“A defeat is like a landslide!”

“This match tonight reminds me of the UEFA Super Cup in late August 2007 at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.”

“That match also ended 4-0!”

“The difference is, Barça was defiant in that defeat, believing their packed schedule had led to excessive fatigue, which allowed Bayswater Chinese to take advantage.”

“But now, the two teams meet in the Champions League quarter-finals, and away at Wembley Stadium, Barça have suffered another crushing 0-4 defeat. Frank Rijkaard’s team is essentially eliminated from the Champions League.”

“This is bound to be a painful blow for Barça.”

…

When Arshavin’s sliding shot sent both him and the ball tumbling into Barça’s goal, Yang Cheng, on the touchline, could no longer contain his excitement. He clenched both fists and roared towards the pitch.

4-0!

Another 4-0!

“Our destiny with Barça is all about 4-0!”

Brian Kidd was ecstatic as well, rushing out from the dugout, grabbing Yang Cheng’s shirt, and shouting nonstop.

The entire stadium was engulfed in a tidal wave of cheers.

Standing in the middle of it all, Yang Cheng felt as if he were in the midst of a roaring ocean.

This feeling was absolutely incredible!

The brilliant performance of the players on the field, the passionate cheers of the fans in the stands…

Everything filled Yang Cheng with an unprecedented sense of pride and ambition!

“Brian!”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s full-throated shout, Brian Kidd quickly looked over.

He saw that Yang Cheng’s smile had vanished, but his expression was one of intense excitement.

“This season, we’re going for every trophy!”

“The Premier League, the FA Cup, the Champions League—we want them all!”

“Not a single one left behind!” Yang Cheng said through gritted teeth, with all the strength he could muster.

Brian Kidd was thrilled to hear this.

He had rarely seen Yang Cheng lose his composure like this.

Over the past few years, he had always felt that Yang Cheng possessed a maturity and calmness that completely defied his age.

For example, he never made promises or set goals he wasn’t confident in achieving.

This time, he had actually declared they were going for the Treble!

It was an undeniably exciting and thrilling goal.

Even though the deepest, most rational part of Brian Kidd’s mind told him this goal was too aggressive, he couldn’t help but nod in support of Yang Cheng’s decision.

How many chances like this does one get in life?

Brian Kidd had already missed out on one Treble.

Because he left midway to manage Blackburn Rovers.

So, Manchester United’s Treble in 1999 didn’t really have much to do with him.

It was the biggest regret of his life.

He had personally coached those players; he was very close with every single one of them.

But when they celebrated their success, there was no place for Brian Kidd.

Therefore, Brian Kidd dreamed of winning a Treble.

Was the goal too aggressive?

Then let it be aggressive!

The worst that could happen was failure, a humbling experience!

But to have such an opportunity and not fight for it, not strive for it—how regrettable would that be?

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Barça 4-0, thanks to Andrei Arshavin’s brace and goals from Džeko and Yaya Touré.

News of this victory quickly spread throughout European football and around the world.

Countless media outlets and fans rushed to report on it.

No one had expected that the beleaguered Barça would suffer such a humiliating defeat away from home.

If the 0-4 drubbing in the 2007 UEFA Super Cup could be explained away as an accident, what was the excuse now?

The Catalonian media was the first to attack, aiming their criticism squarely at Frank Rijkaard.

Diario Sport argued that Rijkaard’s touchline management was severely flawed, as he failed to change the team’s formation and tactics in a timely manner, allowing Bayswater Chinese to score again and again.

“This is the darkest match in the history of Barcelona!”

Diario Sport believed that Rijkaard’s incompetence and the ineptitude of Barça’s star forwards led to this crushing defeat.

“On this night at Wembley in London, not a single player on the pitch was worthy of wearing the Barça shirt. That is the most tragic part!”

Even players like Puyol, Xavi, and Iniesta failed to deliver convincing performances.

Barça’s midfield was even dominated by that of Bayswater Chinese.

“The passing that Xavi and Iniesta are best at was ineffective at Wembley Stadium. They were repeatedly dispossessed in midfield, leading to one counter-attack after another.”

As for the backline, there was no need to say more; it had been criticized countless times this season.

This was not the first time Barça had suffered such a heavy defeat.

In La Liga, they lost 1-3 away to Villarreal.

And 2-4 away to Atlético Madrid.

Not to mention losing 0-1 at home and 1-4 away to Real Madrid.

The poor state of Barça’s defense this season was no secret.

It was just that no one expected Barça to lose so badly in London.

They couldn’t even manage a single away goal.

Didn’t that mean they were effectively knocked out in the first leg?

Mundo Deportivo also wrote an article accusing Rijkaard’s players of lacking motivation.

“In this match at Wembley in London, Barça was unrecognizable.”

“In this game, not a single person delivered a satisfactory performance.”

The forwards played as individuals, the midfield struggled to move the ball, and the defense was in shambles.

Even the goalkeeper, Valdés, made several basic mistakes during the match.

Such a Barça was unbelievable, and they offered not a glimmer of hope.

“The calls for Rijkaard’s dismissal emerged as early as last summer, but the management decided to give him another chance.”

“But now, it has been proven that he simply cannot save Barça.”

Mundo Deportivo believed that of all the currently unemployed managers, Mourinho was the biggest name with the greatest ability.

Moreover, Mourinho was skilled at organizing a defense. His appointment to manage Barça would undoubtedly be a great way to sort out the team’s tactical system and, at the same time, control the dressing room.

This was what Barça urgently needed right now.

However, not everyone saw it this way.

In his column, Cruyff made no secret of his disappointment with Barça’s devastating loss.

“The better team won. Bayswater Chinese deserves credit.”

As for Rijkaard’s team, Cruyff believed the main problem was psychological.

“There isn’t much wrong with the team’s overall quality, but the players are facing a severe psychological crisis.”

How to solve it?

Cruyff did not think Mourinho was the most suitable person to solve Barça’s current crisis.

On the contrary, he believed the Portuguese Special One’s coaching style, temperament, and tactics were not a good fit for Barça.

“If he comes to coach, it will be a nightmare for Xavi, Iniesta, and even Messi!”

If not Mourinho, then who?

Cruyff strongly recommended the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, Juande Ramos.

As early as last summer, he believed Juande Ramos had the ability to coach Barça.

If Juande Ramos was not an option, Cruyff thought Pep Guardiola, the coach of Barça’s B team, would also be a very good choice.

“But I’m not yet sure if he is ready.”

As for the remainder of the season, especially the second leg in a week’s time, Cruyff reiterated his viewpoint.

“I gave a warning long before the team left for London.”

“Reduce the number of lateral and back passes, because Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks are extremely fast, and their transition from defense to offense is highly efficient. With our fragile backline, it’s very difficult to defend against them.”

“And as a result, everyone saw what happened!”

Cruyff believed that the return leg at Camp Nou was a match to restore their honor, and they should no longer dwell on the result.

The most important thing was to play with Barça’s own tactical identity.

“Try to suppress Bayswater Chinese in their own half.”

“It’s been proven that if you can’t suppress your opponent, our backline simply can’t hold up. We’re doomed!”

Cruyff also gave high praise to Bayswater Chinese.

Especially Džeko and Andrei Arshavin.

Cruyff believed that Džeko had grown into Europe’s most complete and capable centre-forward this season.

“He can play almost any role at the centre-forward position, and his tactical discipline is very high.”

“I can’t imagine a better centre-forward than him.”

“Ibrahimović? Perhaps he’s stronger, but I like Džeko!”

“Andrei Arshavin is a star who easily leaves a deep impression. He displays a technical ability on the pitch that is superior to everyone else, and he is very fast.”

“He’s been a Barça fan since he was a child and likes the Dream Team?”

“That’s great. I think he’s the kind of player who was born to play for Barça.”

…

Compared to the Spanish media, the British press was more focused on praising Bayswater Chinese’s spectacular performance.

Especially Andrei Arshavin.

In this season’s Premier League, C. Ronaldo was undoubtedly the hottest star player.

But Arshavin’s performance was in no way inferior to C. Ronaldo’s.

Although he had fewer goals, Arshavin had many more assists than C. Ronaldo.

More importantly, the quality The Tsar displayed on the pitch was clearly a cut above everyone else.

This was extremely rare.

As early as the winter transfer window, the media had reported that powerhouse clubs, including Chelsea and Real Madrid, were coveting Arshavin and hoped to sign the Russian Tsar this summer.

And not long ago, The Sun broke a major story, saying that the battle for Arsenal had reached a fever pitch.

The Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov made a promise that if he took full control of Arsenal, he would bring Andrei Arshavin to the club, which would be a revolutionary signal!

From now on, Arsenal would no longer sell players, but would instead sign stars!

This also sparked widespread discussion among Arsenal fans.

Maintaining the club’s British tradition was indeed important.

But in the current Premier League environment, signing superstars to improve the team’s strength was also very tempting.

After Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea, The Blues’ traditions didn’t seem to change much, but their overall strength improved immensely.

What’s more, among the top five teams in the Premier League, all but Arsenal were now controlled by foreign capital.

Manchester United had the American Glazer family, Bayswater Chinese had the Chinese Yang family, Liverpool had the Americans Gillett and Hicks, and Chelsea had Russia’s Roman Abramovich.

Only Arsenal was the last one standing.

Under these circumstances, did The Gunners want to maintain their so-called tradition?

Or keep up with the times, bring in foreign investment, and enhance their own competitiveness?

This sparked heated debates not only in the British media but also among Arsenal fans and even within the Arsenal board of directors.

All sorts of opinions existed, and all of them seemed to have their merits.

Regarding the media discussions, Bayswater Chinese only had Adam Crozier come forward to repeatedly state that Andrei Arshavin was a core player and not for sale.

Beyond that, they did not get involved in anything else.

But privately, Yang Cheng held a short, secret meeting with Adam Crozier.

“Before the European Championship ends, refuse to negotiate with anyone. It’s the same old line…”

“He’s not for sale!” Adam Crozier had now mastered the art of the shrewd businessman.

Yang Cheng laughed.

In his previous life, he had never managed Arshavin, so he didn’t know and just assumed The Tsar had a fluke run of amazing form at the European Championship.

But now, he was confident that Arshavin would shine at the tournament.

Because he was mustering all his strength, even pinning all his life’s hopes on this one European Championship.

He had missed the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, and the 2006 World Cup in Germany for various reasons, and this was Arshavin’s greatest pain.

The 2008 European Championship was his first major international tournament to date.

Moreover, he was in excellent form right now, at the peak of his career.

So, at this European Championship, no one would be able to stop Arshavin.

As for how high he could soar, Yang Cheng didn’t know.

“I heard you’re going for the Treble?” Adam Crozier had heard the news too.

The goal set by the coaching staff was no secret within the team.

Yang Cheng nodded.

The goal had been set in a moment of excitement, but thinking about it afterwards, it was normal.

Having come this far, would it be right not to have the courage to declare it?

Goals are tricky things; no one knows if they’ll be achieved. But if you don’t even dare to announce them, that’s just too cowardly.

“Then the FA Cup semi-final…”

In the FA Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese would be playing away against West Bromwich Albion.

“We’ll still field a full reserve and youth team.”

Yang Cheng nodded solemnly. “This is what we promised the players at the start of the season. No matter how far we get, we’ll let them play in all the cup competitions. We have to keep our word.”

Even with a reserve and youth team, Yang Cheng was very confident against West Bromwich Albion.

In the dressing room, a head coach should not make promises lightly, but once a promise is made, he must follow through.

Why did Gallas fight tooth and nail to leave Chelsea?

Because Mourinho didn’t keep his promise to him.

And that was just one player.

What if it was the entire dressing room?

A promise made must be a promise kept. Yang Cheng was a man of his word!

…

Three days after the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, the Premier League entered its thirty-third round.

The most watched match of this round was Arsenal’s home game against Liverpool.

Before the season, everyone thought The Gunners were a lock for their usual spot.

But unexpectedly, Liverpool’s performance this season had been even shakier than Arsenal’s.

The points gap between the two teams had already widened to six points.

This head-to-head clash would undoubtedly be a crucial factor in the final standings.

If Liverpool could win away at Arsenal, there was still hope.

Whether it was a loss or a draw, The Reds would face great difficulty ahead.

In fact, their fate would pretty much be sealed.

But for some reason, Liverpool’s opening tactic was to cautiously probe their opponents.

As a result, the game was naturally dominated by Arsenal, who were superior in passing and possession.

By the time The Reds’ performance picked up and the match became a back-and-forth affair, a good half an hour had passed.

It wasn’t until the forty-second minute of the first half that Crouch broke through The Gunners’ goal.

In the second half, Arsenal continued to employ a quick counter-attacking strategy, leveraging the speed of Aaron Lennon on the right flank.

But in the fifty-fourth minute, Arsenal won a free kick on the left. Fàbregas assisted Bendtner, who scored with a close-range header, successfully equalizing.

In the end, the two teams settled for a draw.

This battle essentially sealed Liverpool’s fate.

With only five rounds left in the Premier League, the six-point gap between Liverpool and Arsenal was almost impossible to close.

The Gunners’ return to the Champions League this season was pretty much guaranteed.

This left Yang Cheng somewhat disappointed.

He had originally thought that Wenger’s team had broken free from the curse of The Fourth Place Fiend.

But unexpectedly, after all was said and done, they were back in the top four.

Also in this round, Manchester United drew 2-2 away at Middlesbrough.

C. Ronaldo and Rooney each scored a goal, but they still couldn’t secure a win against Boro.

Bayswater Chinese, in their away game against Newcastle, conceded a goal from Martins just eighteen minutes into the match, but managed to equalize in the first half with a goal from Theo Walcott.

In the second half, Robert Lewandowski turned the score around in the fifty-eighth minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 2-1 away, completing a comeback against Newcastle.

Chelsea, in this round, beat Manchester City 2-0 away.

Thus, after the thirty-third round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had closed the gap with Manchester United and were now just one point behind.

It was also worth mentioning that the youngster Theo Walcott had scored in three consecutive Premier League games.

Especially in the last two rounds.

The script for the last two games had been very similar.

Bayswater Chinese had conceded around the same time and fallen behind.

Then Walcott would score the equalizer.

Yang Cheng, Gianni Vio, and the others had carefully analyzed this issue. It was partly a coincidence, but not entirely.

If you looked closely at the timing of Bayswater Chinese’s conceded goals, it was easy to see that after an initial opening blitz, if they failed to score, they were very susceptible to conceding in the period that followed.

This was not just a problem for Bayswater Chinese.

Their opponents were also exploiting this rhythm. They would first withstand the opening blitzkrieg, and then, just as Bayswater Chinese were catching their breath, hit them on the counter-attack.

Therefore, they were very vulnerable to conceding between the tenth and twentieth minutes.

Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle were no pushovers. It was normal for them to be caught on the counter after their opening attack failed to produce a goal.

But Yang Cheng’s coaching staff would definitely need to prepare for this.

Conceding like this all the time was not a good thing.

…

After the thirty-third round of the Premier League, Arsenal had more or less secured their Champions League qualification for next season.

This immediately sparked a frenzy of celebration among The Gunners’ fans.

But in the capital markets, many things were already moving forward irreversibly.

Following the home draw against Liverpool, The Independent, a newspaper with close ties to Arsenal, was the first to report that the club’s takeover had achieved a substantive breakthrough and progress.

This was the first time The Independent had disclosed specific details of the negotiations.

According to the pro-Arsenal media outlet, the prices offered by the two potential buyers were similar.

Both Alisher Usmanov and Kroenke hoped to acquire Arsenal at a valuation of five hundred million pound sterling.

But their acquisition methods were completely different.

Both had set up a company specifically for the purpose of acquiring Arsenal, but Kroenke couldn’t come up with that much money himself and was looking to complete the takeover of Arsenal primarily through bank loans.

This was a standard practice in capital operations.

The real difference was that after the acquisition, Kroenke was more inclined to help Arsenal out of its difficulties through debt restructuring, and the club would be financially self-sufficient in the future.

The apartment property project built on the site of the old Highbury stadium was on Kroenke’s list to be sold.

Alisher Usmanov, on the other hand, was far more extravagantly wealthy. He had set up a company specifically to acquire Arsenal.

He promised that after acquiring The Gunners, he would not only provide a sum of money to help Arsenal solve its financial difficulties and take over all of Arsenal’s projects and debts, but he would also provide funds to help Arsenal sign new players.

Especially Andrei Arshavin.

“Alisher Usmanov from Russia has a special fondness for Andrei Arshavin, believing The Tsar is the most talented star in the Premier League and should play for Arsenal!”

The Independent believed that Usmanov’s promises were more appealing to the Arsenal board.

Currently, the two sides had essentially reached an agreement. Hill-Wood and other members of the Arsenal board had already decided to sell their shares at a valuation of five hundred million pound sterling.

“But the biggest obstacle right now is the Arsenal shares held by Kroenke.”

“According to an internal Arsenal source, Usmanov is negotiating with Kroenke’s team through David Dunn, hoping to buy his stake at a reasonable price.”

“Kroenke’s acquisition of Arsenal was originally for profit. As long as Usmanov’s offer can satisfy him, it is believed that reaching an agreement will not be a big problem.”

Once this news broke, it immediately shocked the entire English football world.

The takeover of The Gunners by foreign capital meant that all of the top five teams in this season’s Premier League table no longer belonged to Englishmen.

This also seemed to be a signal!

But Manchester City’s progress was much faster than Arsenal’s.

Just after the thirty-third round of the Premier League, the Manchester Evening News revealed that Thaksin Shinawatra was transferring his shares in Manchester City to a consortium from the Middle East.

At first, everyone thought it was a Middle Eastern businessman named Suleiman Al-Fahim.

But it later turned out that Suleiman Al-Fahim was merely a consultant.

The real person taking over Manchester City was Mansour from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, with personal assets of at least seventeen billion pound sterling and control over assets exceeding one trillion US dollars.

As the wealthiest emirate in the UAE, Abu Dhabi attached great importance to this acquisition of Manchester City.

This made Manchester City fans almost ecstatic.

After witnessing Chelsea’s overnight rise to riches and their meteoric improvement in overall strength, which Premier League team wouldn’t want the same?

Especially Manchester City.

Over the past years, they had suffered no small amount of frustration from Manchester United and endured plenty of Ferguson’s taunts.

Now, with the arrival of such a wealthy tycoon who had money to burn, Manchester City was transformed into the richest club in European football.

The Manchester Evening News revealed that according to a source close to Mansour, the acquisition would be completed before the end of this season. The Abu Dhabi consortium would take full control of Manchester City and inject funds.

“What is certain at the moment is that they will build a world-class training ground for Manchester City, similar to Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training ground.”

“At the same time, they will invest heavily in the transfer market to strengthen Manchester City’s competitiveness.”

“Head coach Eriksson and the club’s management will be retained as deemed appropriate.”

“And as for the summer transfers that all fans are very concerned about, the Abu Dhabi consortium will not set a transfer budget limit. All the hot stars in the transfer market will become Manchester City’s targets!”

This simple sentence alone showed the power and dominance of Manchester City’s new owner.

The arrival of the tycoon owner sent shivers down the spine of the entire Premier League!

…

When Yang Cheng received the news of Manchester City’s acquisition, his first reaction was that it was a bit earlier than in his previous life.

But the competition in the Premier League was indeed more intense than before.

And the changes were getting bigger and bigger.

“It seems very likely that Usmanov will take over Arsenal now.”

Adam Crozier analyzed and judged the situation based on the news he had heard.

“This guy is not like the Americans. I heard he’s really willing to spend money on Arsenal.”

Usmanov’s and Abramovich’s motives were likely similar; they both wanted to buy a protective talisman with their money.

Coincidentally, he was also an Arsenal fan.

Under these circumstances, it was not surprising that he was willing to spend money on Arsenal.

The real question was, how much could he actually spend?

Another headache for Yang Cheng was Manchester City.

“From the looks of it, with the Abu Dhabi consortium taking over Manchester City early, Eriksson is unlikely to be sacked.”

Speaking of which, Eriksson was rather unlucky.

The Swedish manager’s coaching ability was undeniable. His experience coaching and consolidating the team at Lazio was exactly what Manchester City needed now.

His biggest problem was that his experience managing the England national team had backfired on him.

Without that stumble, Eriksson’s reputation would be even greater now.

One had to remember that Abramovich had tried every trick in the book to lure Eriksson back then.

Given the current situation, the Abu Dhabi consortium would probably struggle to find a better top-class manager than Eriksson.

Mourinho?

That guy was currently completely focused on Barça, and considering his history with Chelsea, he probably wouldn’t coach Manchester City so easily.

“The Premier League is going to be harder and harder to survive in!”

Yang Cheng complained with a smile.

To Adam Crozier and the others, this sounded less like a complaint and more like eager anticipation.

It seemed that far from being disheartened by the strengthening of their rivals, Yang Cheng had become excited.

It was like the excitement of a master about to face another master.

“Will this have a big impact on us?” Adam Crozier asked with concern.

He had always had great faith in Yang Cheng’s foresight.

“If we look at the team’s strength on the pitch, we have nothing to worry about. With our current squad, we will be the strongest contenders in the Premier League and the Champions League for years to come!”

As Yang Cheng said this, he exuded a strong sense of confidence that surprised Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and the others, and they were deeply inspired by it.

The most fundamental aspect of a football club is the football played on the pitch.

If Yang Cheng had such confidence and self-assurance, what did they have to fear?

As for whether Yang Cheng was bluffing?

Just look at Yang Cheng’s brilliant track record over the past few years!

This was a record that even top-class managers like Ferguson and Wenger might not have been able to achieve, alright?

Not to mention, Yang Cheng had also nurtured so many young players for the team.

“For the next few years, we’ll stick to our old ways, continue to develop our youth academy, improve our ability to cultivate young players, and at the same time, lie low and snatch titles!”

Lie low and snatch titles?

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada found this phrase quite novel.

But on second thought, it made sense.

From the looks of it, the scale of this new stadium project was getting larger and larger.

Everyone supported building a bigger stadium; sixty-five thousand seats was indeed too small.

Especially considering there would be no room for expansion in the future.

But to build it bigger, Norman Foster said they would have to dig underground, basically digging out an entire tier of stands.

This meant the overall workload of the project would increase significantly.

Even the entire design and planning would have to be redone.

After all, digging a tier of stands underground meant many other things would have to be adjusted accordingly.

Add to that the four surrounding buildings and the series of advanced technologies Yang Cheng demanded.

A conservative estimate was that one billion pound sterling would definitely not be enough.

As for how much it would go over, no one would know until it was completed.

And yet, Yang Cheng had given them a command: absolutely do not follow Arsenal’s example.

What did that mean?

It meant not selling off the new stadium’s naming rights, the team’s long-term sponsorship contracts, and so on, at a cheap price.

“Even if I have to sell everything I own, I will never do such a thing!”

Yang Cheng’s words, spoken with such awe-inspiring righteousness, were still ringing in everyone’s ears.

Those sponsorship and naming rights deals Arsenal had with Emirates Airlines were indeed sold for cheap.

Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium was located in the heart of London.

Putting everything else aside, how could Arsenal’s advertising value even compare?

So, Yang Cheng would absolutely not sell cheap!

Adam Crozier and the others thought that Yang Cheng was supporting the team’s commercial development, willing to endure hardship rather than adding to their burden, so they were quite touched.

But how could they know that Yang Cheng was certain in his heart that the UK would soon be rapidly lowering its base interest rate.

With loan interest rates so low in the future, only a fool would sell cheap.

I’ll find a way to borrow money from the bank. Isn’t that a better deal?

…

On the evening of April eighth, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese played away against Barcelona.

At the pre-match press conference, when interviewed by reporters, Yang Cheng insisted that even with a 4-0 lead from the first leg at home, he and his team would still maintain an attacking mindset in the away game!

“For us, attacking is like a gene flowing in our blood. We won’t change it easily.”

But in reality?

Of course, Yang Cheng did not play very conservatively.

That would be a very foolish choice.

He still chose to go head-to-head with Barça, but with a greater emphasis on defense.

Therefore, in the thirty-third round of the Premier League last weekend, Yang Cheng had rested many key players.

Including the likes of Lassana Diarra, Yaya Touré, Pepe, and Maicon.

There was another major piece of good news for Bayswater Chinese in this match: Messi was still unable to play.

The Argentine was not even included in the squad.

Frank Rijkaard basically used the same lineup as in the first leg, only replacing Gabriel Milito at centre-back with the French centre-back Thuram.

Thuram was already thirty-six years old and had lost his starting position this season, but in the first leg, Gabriel Milito was clearly torn apart by Džeko.

As a precaution, Rijkaard chose Thuram, who was stronger in physical contests and more experienced.

All other positions remained unchanged.

Bayswater Chinese fielded the same lineup as in the first leg, with Yang Cheng making no substitutions.

After the kickoff, the Premier League team seized the initiative as the away team, launching an early assault on Barcelona.

Just two minutes and twenty-one seconds in, Džeko received the ball up front, turned, and sent a through ball.

Andrei Arshavin made an overlapping run, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and took a shot, which was saved by goalkeeper Valdés.

Just three minutes later, a through ball from Modrić sent Di María into the left side of the box. He fell under pressure from Rafael Márquez, but the referee refused to award a penalty.

After that, Bayswater Chinese launched a continuous wave of attacks.

First, Džeko dribbled past Thuram and shot, only to be denied by a heroic save from Valdés.

Then, Modrić completed a beautiful one-two pass with Džeko, broke into the box, and was tripped by Thuram. But the referee still refused to award a penalty, giving a free kick just outside the area instead.

He ruled that the foul occurred outside the box.

Having learned their lesson, Bayswater Chinese’s wave of attacks lasted for more than twenty minutes, unleashing a relentless torrent of offense that truly overwhelmed Barça.

It wasn’t until the twenty-sixth minute that Barça managed a counter-attack.

Eto’o made a quick break down the right flank, shook off Leighton Baines, and passed back from the right side of the box.

The youngster Bojan followed up with a shot that was securely held by Neuer.

This was Barça’s first shot of the entire match.

But the two teams soon engaged in a back-and-forth attacking battle.

This was also part of Yang Cheng’s plan.

Facing a team like Barça, especially away from home, the biggest advantage was not having conceded an away goal in the first leg.

If Bayswater Chinese scored just one goal, Barça would be completely finished.

And in the thirty-ninth minute, Džeko drifted wide to receive the ball and sent in a cross.

Di María made a run from deep, broke into the left side of the box, and scored with a low left-footed shot.

But the referee blew the whistle, and the linesman raised his flag, signaling that Di María was offside on his overlapping run.

The entire Camp Nou erupted in a chorus of boos.

But this “goal” clearly made Barça much more cautious.

Frank Rijkaard’s team could not afford to concede again.

If they conceded one more goal, they would need to score at least six.

So, they began to strengthen their defense in midfield and at the back, managing to hold on until halftime.

Yang Cheng was certain that Barça would become even more desperate in the second half.

And the counter-strategy Yang Cheng came up with was: an opening blitz!

If they could score just one more goal, Barça would be completely crushed!

Of course, even if they didn’t score, Barça was almost already in despair, just not quite dead yet.

As the second half began, Bayswater Chinese once again launched an opening blitz.

In just over two minutes, Yang Cheng’s team executed a beautiful piece of combination play on the left flank.

Di María played a through ball, Džeko drew defenders away in the center, and Arshavin made a quick run from deep, beating the offside trap to receive the ball and break into the left side of the penalty area.

Goalkeeper Valdés decisively came off his line, but when he was halfway out, Arshavin nonchalantly chipped the ball over him and into the unguarded net.

1-0!

After the goal, Yang Cheng quickly made substitutions.

Youngsters like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were brought on.

The team began to play a stable, counter-attacking game.

They used the lightning speed of the two wingers to attack Barça’s backline.

Conceding a goal meant the match was decided for Barça.

But this was at Camp Nou.

If they conceded more goals and lost too badly, their situation would become even worse.

So, without any instruction from Frank Rijkaard, the players on the field spontaneously adopted a more cautious tactic, especially focusing on defending the flanks.

Why?

Because Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were playing at Camp Nou for the first time, and they were absolutely buzzing with excitement.

Every time they got the ball, regardless of the consequences, if there was space up front, they would just charge forward with it.

This was driving the Barça players insane.

They were already leading by so much, yet they wouldn’t let up? Still attacking?

The most typical example was in the sixty-ninth minute, when Walcott received the ball on the right, sprinted forward with it, broke into the box, and sent in a low cross.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt from the left.

If not for Puyol getting there a step ahead and clearing the ball behind for a corner, disrupting the attack, Gareth Bale’s run into the center would have resulted in another goal.

The two youngsters were simply too fast!

They couldn’t be caught!

But with these two youngsters pressing up front, Barça didn’t dare to commit fully to the attack.

So, the match remained in a stalemate until the end.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 1-0 away, securing a 5-0 aggregate victory over Barça and smoothly advancing to the semi-finals.

Chapter 140: A Plea for Monthly Tickets & An Update for Next Month

A Plea for Monthly Tickets & An Update for Next Month

It’s the end of the month, so I’d like to ask for your monthly tickets. While I’m at it, I’d also like to ask for your guaranteed monthly tickets for next month.

As of today, I’ve written nearly nine hundred and eighty thousand characters.

You all probably remember that when the novel went premium, it was at two hundred and eighty thousand characters.

That means in the first month after going premium, I wrote a full seven hundred thousand characters!

I’m truly going mad from exhaustion!

I have to give myself a huge thumbs-up!

I’m sure you can’t imagine what I’ve been through this month.

I slept five or six hours a day, and the rest of the time, aside from eating, was spent writing.

I had to let go of all my responsibilities at home. My wife had to work, pick up and drop off our child, and still come home to cook for me…

My parents called every week, asking when I’d bring my child home for a visit…

After keeping up this routine for a month, I really can’t take it anymore.

But there was one benefit: the fingers on my left hand have almost completely regained their flexibility. Only when I make a tight fist do I feel a slight strangeness; otherwise, they’re no different from normal. I joked with my doctor that it was thanks to typing for over ten hours every day, haha…

And here, I can also proudly tell you all that I have fulfilled the promise I made before the novel went premium!

Of course, I’m also incredibly grateful to all my subscribing readers. Thank you all for your tremendous support this past month!

Next month, I really need to slow down and recharge. So, I’ll be switching to a single daily update, scheduled for 8 AM every morning. It will definitely still be a substantial mega-chapter of over ten thousand characters.

I ask for your understanding. This past month has been truly exhausting!

It’s like I always say: your subscriptions and support are my motivation to keep writing!

I will definitely keep working hard!

Lastly, thanks again to all the readers who have subscribed and supported me!

My deepest thanks to you all!!

Chapter 140: The Terrifying C. Ronaldo! The Premier League’s Era Has Arrived!

After a crushing 4-0 home victory over Barça in the first leg, everyone was certain that Bayswater Chinese already had one foot in the semi-finals. So, it came as no surprise when they secured a 1-0 win over Barça at Camp Nou in the second leg.

This season, Barça truly seemed on the verge of giving up.

Frank Rijkaard was on his way out, and no one knew who would take over the team next.

But a major clear-out was inevitable, with players like Thuram and Zambrotta on the list of those to be sold.

Under such circumstances, could anyone really expect the players to stay focused on the game?

Especially with their two genius stars, Ronaldinho and Messi, both absent.

If the Catalan media had been wildly attacking Rijkaard and criticizing the players after the first leg, they turned their guns on Bayswater Chinese after the second.

Their rhetoric was nothing more than accusations that the Premier League team had secured a dishonorable victory.

Both Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo began to emulate Wile E. Coyote, making empty threats toward Bayswater Chinese.

Next season, when we stage a comeback, we’ll destroy you!

…

The lineup for the Champions League semi-finals was fresh out of the oven.

Manchester United had defeated Liverpool 2-1 over two legs, successfully winning the Northwest Derby.

The other two teams were the Blues, Chelsea, and from the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Bayern Munich hadn’t qualified for the Champions League this season.

But after Ribéry’s transfer to Bayern in 2006, their strength had increased dramatically.

When Hitzfeld took over mid-season, Bayern rode the momentum and ultimately secured a precious Champions League spot.

This season, under Hitzfeld’s guidance, Bayern had also cut a path through their opponents. Combined with some good luck in the draw, they had avoided the powerhouses of the Premier League and Serie A, successfully reaching the semi-finals.

This season’s Champions League semi-final matchups were Manchester United versus Bayern Munich.

And Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

After signing Ribéry for a sky-high fee in 2006, the Bundesliga giants had invested nearly sixty million euros again this summer.

Their overall strength could not be underestimated.

The renowned manager Hitzfeld was equally formidable.

This became a focal point that many in the media and the fans were eagerly anticipating.

The 1999 Champions League final, wasn’t it Manchester United against Bayern Munich, Ferguson against Hitzfeld?

As for the West London derby between Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea, it was also eagerly awaited by fans around the world.

For two rivals with a long and tangled history to meet in the Champions League semi-finals was a compelling story in itself.

More importantly, for two consecutive seasons, three Premier League teams had reached the Champions League semi-finals, a fact that deeply impressed upon the global media and fans the strength of the English clubs.

Once or twice might be a coincidence, but this had now happened for two seasons running.

Moreover, from the current outlook, these Premier League teams were all exceptionally competitive.

As Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport put it, “The Premier League’s era has arrived!”

In Serie A this season, all teams had been eliminated before the quarter-finals.

AC Milan had even been knocked out by Bayswater Chinese in the Round of 16.

…

At 2 PM on April 12th, in the 34th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Fulham.

Strictly speaking, this was also a West London derby.

But the two teams’ strengths were clearly not on the same level.

Yang Cheng had already conserved his team’s energy during the away game against Barça.

So this time, players like Džeko and Andrei Arshavin were all in the starting lineup.

In the 24th minute of the first half, Modrić assisted Džeko for a goal.

After the break, Fulham still failed to threaten Bayswater Chinese.

In the 60th minute, Arshavin scored another goal, with Modrić once again providing the assist.

The Croatian midfielder’s two assists earned him Man of the Match.

In the same round of fixtures, Liverpool defeated Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at home.

Manchester United, after conceding first, came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 with goals from C. Ronaldo and Owen Hargreaves.

This left Yang Cheng very disappointed in Liverpool.

If he weren’t on unfamiliar terms with Benítez, he would have loved to call the Spaniard and ask: Do you regret it?

If they had just beaten Arsenal away from home back then, they would be level on points right now.

Most importantly, Yang Cheng couldn’t understand Benítez’s tactics at the time. Why so conservative at the start?

Chelsea was held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Wigan Athletic.

…

After finishing the 34th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng and his team earned a precious week of rest.

This brought a huge sigh of relief to everyone.

Over the past period, everyone had been on edge.

Since the FA Cup semi-finals were on the weekend, Yang Cheng gave several key players, including Arshavin, a full two-day break, all at the same time.

The rest of the players followed the usual routine of a one-day rest.

When the weekend arrived, while other teams were playing the 35th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were playing in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Bayswater Chinese once again fielded a full reserve and youth lineup for their away match against West Bromwich Albion.

Yang Cheng kept his promise, once again deploying the combination of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott up front.

The midfield trio consisted of Matuidi, Nemanja Matić, and Rakitić.

The backline was Marcelo, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Piszczek.

The goalkeeper was Begović.

Interestingly enough, José Fonte and Koscielny had been the team’s starting centre-backs in the Championship, and now they were still playing in the Premier League and Champions League.

With the arrivals of Pepe and Thiago Silva, Koscielny had gradually lost his position as a core starter but remained an important rotation player, performing well whenever he appeared.

José Fonte’s position had also been affected by Thiago Silva, but his overall performance was very good.

This was a normal phenomenon.

As a team continues to develop, it’s inevitable that more and more people will leave, and more and more new faces will arrive.

Except for Modrić.

The Croatian had followed the team all the way from League Two to the present, and he had always been a core starter.

Everyone had come to realize that Yang Cheng’s emphasis on and evaluation of Modrić back then had been true.

The Modrić of today was absolutely a world-class midfielder.

Ever since Wembley Stadium was officially opened, it had been customary for all FA Cup matches from the semi-finals onward to be held there, but this time, Bayswater Chinese was playing away.

West Bromwich Albion fielded their strongest lineup, while Bayswater Chinese used a rotated squad.

The two sides were evenly matched.

It wasn’t until the 54th minute of the second half that Bayswater Chinese’s young players finally broke through West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

Gareth Bale sent in a cross from the left, and Robert Lewandowski tapped it in from close range.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a narrow one-goal victory over West Bromwich Albion, successfully advancing to the final.

There were two FA Cup semi-finals, one at 12:45 PM.

The other was at 4:00 PM.

Manchester United defeated Barnsley 1-0, thanks to a goal from C. Ronaldo in the 9th minute.

Thus, the two opponents for this season’s FA Cup final were set: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United.

The date was May 17th.

Only three days separated it from the Champions League final on May 21st.

…

Midweek saw the rescheduled matches for the 35th round of the Premier League.

Both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were playing away.

The Red Devils were away at Mark Hughes’s Blackburn Rovers.

Ferguson’s team was clearly affected by the consecutive matches.

Especially their front three trident.

As the attacking combination of Carlos Tevez, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo became more potent and their coordination smoother, Ferguson used these three players on almost every front.

Other players, including Nani, Ashley Young, Park Ji-sung, and Saha, were all used as substitutes.

They would only play when one of the three was unavailable.

Or they would come on as substitutes when the outcome of the game was already decided.

Under these circumstances, the three players were heavily taxed.

In midfield, the two veterans, Scholes and Ryan Giggs, played a crucial role.

Ferguson was also extremely reliant on them.

As a result, in a period of continuous matches like this, the form of these players was very poor.

The front three trident had all played in the FA Cup semi-final.

This led to a sluggish performance by Manchester United against Blackburn.

In the entire first half, they only managed two shots.

During the halftime break, Ferguson replaced Giggs with Ashley Young.

This substitution changed the game.

It was Ashley Young’s cross from the left in the 86th minute that found Carlos Tevez, who headed it in from close range for the only goal of the match.

Although Manchester United’s attack was lackluster, their defense was as solid as ever.

Like Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese also played away, but their opponent was stronger.

Arsenal!

Yang Cheng’s team launched an aggressive press from the very beginning.

Just five minutes in, Gilberto Silva made a passing error, sending the ball directly to the feet of Lassana Diarra, and the Frenchman immediately initiated a counter-attack.

However, the attack did not result in a goal.

For the first ten minutes, Arsenal was constantly on the back foot.

But in the 11th minute, van Persie crossed from the right, and Adebayor got to the ball in the box, heading it towards goal.

It went just wide.

Bayswater Chinese quickly responded with a long-range lob from Arshavin, which nearly breached the goal guarded by Lehmann.

The two teams traded blows, playing a back-and-forth game.

But in the 29th minute, Kolo Touré sent a long pass forward.

Adebayor used his body to hold off Thiago Silva, controlled the ball with his chest, then turned and broke into the penalty area, slotting a shot into the bottom right corner to open the scoring for The Gunners.

1-0!

Just six minutes after Arsenal’s goal, Bayswater Chinese’s sustained attacks paid off.

Modrić advanced with the ball and completed a one-two pass with Džeko before suddenly delivering a clever backheel pass.

The ball was flicked back by Modrić to the arc of the penalty area.

At that moment, Yaya Touré made an overlapping run from deep, arriving at full tilt to meet the ball with a thunderous shot.

Gallas, in the penalty area, ducked his head, trying to clear it.

But how could he possibly reach it?

Goalkeeper Lehmann dived, getting a hand to the ball, but couldn’t keep it out.

1-1!

Level!

The game was back to square one.

…

“Damn it!”

The moment he saw Yaya Touré score, Wenger leaped up as if he’d been electrocuted.

He was about to lose his mind!

“Why does this bastard always play so fiercely against us?”

Wenger pointed at Yaya Touré, who was running off to celebrate by the sideline, and roared in a furious inquiry.

We were only ahead for six minutes!

Just six minutes!

I hadn’t even savored it enough, and you’ve already equalized?

Wenger muttered a silent curse in frustration.

He was feeling very agitated right now.

Before this round, Arsenal’s lead over Liverpool was only three points.

It was all that damned Ferguson’s fault!

And now, he had to deal with the damned Yang Cheng!

“No, no matter what, we have to win this match!”

Wenger was starting to lose his composure.

This had nothing to do with the club’s takeover.

It was mainly because Arsenal’s situation was now very precarious.

If they couldn’t beat Bayswater Chinese, a draw would shrink their lead to just one point.

If they lost, the two teams would be level.

According to Premier League rules, if points are tied, goal difference is the first tiebreaker, followed by total goals scored.

As of the 34th round, Arsenal’s goal difference was +35, while Liverpool’s was +34.

But in this round, Liverpool had beaten Fulham 2-0.

If Arsenal lost, they would definitely be overtaken by Liverpool.

That would drop them back to 5th place.

After a whole season of hard work, to be set back to square one?

“Absolutely not!” Wenger also became determined.

…

The first half ended 1-1.

In the remaining time, neither team could score again.

But after the second half began, Arsenal was the first to attack.

The Gunners’ formation in this match was something like a 4-4-2, with van Persie and Adebayor as two strikers.

The left and right wings were Hleb and Aaron Lennon, with Fàbregas and Gilberto Silva in central midfield.

In reality, however, van Persie’s position was very flexible, and he often drifted wide.

Due to a lack of centre-backs, Wenger had Alex Song partner Gallas in central defense for this match, with Kolo Touré at right-back and Clichy at left-back.

In the second half, when Arsenal started to attack, Clichy began to make frequent overlapping runs to support Hleb in attack on the left flank.

The most dangerous of these came in the 55th minute, an attack from the left. Van Persie received a pass from Hleb on the left side of the box and shot directly, scoring past the Bayswater Chinese keeper.

But the head referee blew his whistle, and the linesman raised his flag for offside.

This sent Wenger into a rage on the sidelines.

For the usually mild-mannered Wenger to lose his composure showed just how dire the situation was.

After missing out on Champions League qualification for two consecutive seasons, and with it seemingly within reach this season, could Wenger let a cooked duck fly away?

With this thought, Wenger made a substitution.

In the 60th minute, Arsenal brought on Eboué for Kolo Touré to strengthen the attack on the right flank.

Just five minutes later, Yang Cheng also made a change, bringing on Theo Walcott for Lassana Diarra.

Modrić dropped back to partner Yaya Touré in a double pivot.

Bayswater Chinese shifted to an asymmetrical 4-3-3, or what could be considered a 4-2-3-1.

…

Walcott came on with a mission from Yang Cheng.

“The boss said to suppress Arsenal’s two flanks.”

The left flank was naturally entrusted to Di María.

The right was given to Walcott.

Arshavin occupied the central position.

The Russian was almost directly facing Gilberto Silva and Fàbregas.

Both teams had made substitutions, so in the following minutes, neither managed to create any threatening attacks.

But just six minutes after The Little Tiger came on, near the center circle in Arsenal’s half, Yaya Touré played a diagonal long pass to the right side of the attack.

Walcott received the ball and dribbled forward.

Facing Clichy, Walcott first made a powerful surge, then suddenly slammed on the brakes on the right side just outside the penalty area.

He knew the French left-back was also very fast.

After the sudden stop, The Little Tiger took a series of quick, small steps, expertly controlling the ball with his left foot as if to cut inside.

Clichy immediately turned his body sideways to block.

But unexpectedly, Walcott’s move was just a feint. He pulled the ball back with his left foot and charged towards the byline.

Anyone who has seen Walcott play knows how fast he is.

Once he accelerated, Clichy was almost out of options and went in for a slide tackle.

The ball was already past him towards the byline, but he brought Walcott down.

The head referee immediately blew his whistle, ran over, and showed Clichy a yellow card.

After receiving the yellow card, Clichy was fuming, glaring at Walcott.

The kid wasn’t tall, but he was incredibly agile, with excellent footwork. His feints, whether cutting inside or going to the byline, were a mix of real and fake, making him very difficult to defend.

One moment of inattention, and if he seized the initiative, a foul was the only way to stop him once he started running.

Any hesitation, and he’d be past you.

He was just too fast!

To make matters worse, he was a threat whether he cut inside to shoot with his left foot or went to the byline to cross with his right.

He was becoming more and more of a problem!

This foul occurred just outside the penalty area on the right, a very dangerous zone.

Especially for Bayswater Chinese, who were extremely adept at set pieces in the attacking third.

In this situation, Arsenal was on high alert.

Modrić stepped up to take the free kick from the right.

Almost all of the team’s taller players pressed forward.

Wenger now also felt the threat.

Neither Gallas nor Song were tall, so he had to call back both Adebayor and van Persie, leaving only Aaron Lennon up front.

With a blow of the referee’s whistle, Modrić quickly took the free kick from the right, delivering it precisely to the near post.

Yaya Touré, like a heavy tank, made a late run from deep, overpowering his brother Kolo Touré to head the ball from close range towards Arsenal’s goal.

A loud thud echoed as Yaya Touré’s header struck the post and bounced back.

The penalty area immediately erupted into chaos.

Finally, Gallas kicked the ball out for a throw-in.

Maicon quickly ran up, caught the ball thrown by the ball boy, placed it on his shirt, wiped it clean, and looked towards the penalty box.

The position of this throw-in was similar to the previous free kick, just one was just outside the penalty box, and the other was off the pitch.

The Brazilian spotted his chance and quickly threw the ball into the penalty area.

Džeko leaped high, flicking it on with a header towards the space behind him.

At that moment, Di María, lurking to the left of the penalty spot, rushed in and struck it with his left foot.

But the shot hit the defending Gilberto Silva and took a deflection, nearly resulting in an own goal.

Fortunately, Lehmann reacted swiftly, diving to his side and parrying the ball out for a corner with one hand.

A corner kick from the left!

The entire Emirates Stadium broke out in a cold sweat.

First a free kick, then a throw-in, now a corner…

What’s next, a penalty kick?

Wenger was trembling on the sidelines.

It was Modrić again who went over to take it.

The Croatian took a quick run-up and precisely delivered the corner kick.

This time, the ball didn’t go to the near post but dropped towards the right side of the penalty area.

Pepe leaped high at the far post, heading the ball towards the near post by the left upright.

And just as many people had yet to fully react, a powerful figure jumped up swiftly, heading the ball flicked on by Pepe into the right side of Arsenal’s goal from close range.

Lehmann’s reaction was also quick; he moved over immediately.

But Yaya Touré had aimed for the right side of the goal.

The German goalkeeper’s outstretched hands couldn’t reach the ball in mid-air, and he could only watch helplessly as it found the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!”

“It’s Yaya Touré again!”

“The Ivorian midfielder scores a brace!!!”

“My God, he always delivers a divine performance whenever he plays against Arsenal!”

“I can’t believe it.”

“He already hit the post once just now.”

“And this time, Yaya Touré seized the opportunity and breached Arsenal’s goal again.”

“2-1!”

“The Gunners are in danger!”

…

As soon as Yaya Touré scored with the header, Yang Cheng immediately made a tactical adjustment.

He signaled for the team to focus more on defense.

Yaya Touré was not to advance so readily and should concentrate on protecting the backline.

The same went for Maicon and Leighton Baines.

Yang Cheng’s adjustment showed his intentions.

We’re going to play defensive counter-attack!

Wenger was fuming and immediately made his second substitution.

Bendtner came on for Hleb.

With this change, Arsenal now had three centre-forwards on the pitch: Bendtner, van Persie, and Adebayor.

But Bayswater Chinese was not a pushover.

Yang Cheng might have said to stabilize the defense, but it didn’t mean the team would completely sit back.

The team quickly made a substitution of their own, with Rakitić replacing Džeko.

Arshavin was pushed further upfield.

Now, the intention to play on the counter-attack was even more obvious.

At the same time, in midfield, Bayswater Chinese was still not afraid to press high and compete aggressively for the ball.

Especially against Fàbregas.

With Hleb off the pitch, the Spaniard became Arsenal’s most important playmaker.

Caught between Rakitić and Arshavin, Fàbregas was frequently thwarted.

In the 83rd minute, it was Rakitić who dispossessed Fàbregas and passed to Arshavin.

The latter launched a counter-attack and played a brilliant pass.

Walcott surged forward through the right inside channel, carrying the ball into the right side of Arsenal’s penalty area. Facing the retreating Clichy, Walcott executed another sudden stop, pulling the ball inside with his left foot.

This time, Clichy couldn’t stop his momentum and overran it. By the time he regained his balance and tried to catch up, he was cursing in his mind.

This time it was for real!

After taking a small touch with his left foot, Walcott shot again, a powerful strike with his left.

The shot was aimed at the bottom left corner of the goal.

Goalkeeper Lehmann dived.

In the end, the ball hit the base of the bottom left post and bounced back, landing right in Lehmann’s arms.

Every Arsenal fan in the stadium was scared into a cold sweat.

Even Wenger on the sidelines turned pale with fear.

Walcott, however, clutched his head in frustration and turned to run back.

“I still need to practice my shooting!”

He loved shooting, loved getting closer to the goal.

In the role Yang Cheng had defined for him, he wasn’t a pure winger.

Whether on the left or the right, his primary role was to make diagonal runs into the box. While crossing from the wing and dribbling past opponents were part of his duties, scoring goals was just as essential.

In fact, Walcott had already scored seven Premier League goals this season.

For The Little Tiger, who had just turned nineteen, this was already a very impressive performance.

Not to mention, he had performed even better in the FA Cup.

As agreed before the season, he could represent the team in the FA Cup final, against Manchester United!

He, Gareth Bale, and all their other young teammates were filled with anticipation for that match!

…

Ultimately, thanks to Yaya Touré’s brace, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to defeat Arsenal 2-1.

After the match ended, the entire Emirates Stadium erupted in a storm of boos.

“They’re probably all booing us, right?”

As Wenger came over to shake hands, Yang Cheng asked with a thick-skinned smile.

“What do you think?” Wenger retorted irritably.

“Not necessarily, what if they’re booing you?”

Wenger nearly couldn’t stop himself from cursing out loud.

But on second thought, there seemed to be a real possibility of that.

English fans were not a forgiving bunch.

After fighting so hard to get into the top four, they had now fallen out again.

“Tell me honestly, what did that bastard Benítez give you? What makes it worth helping him this much?”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily. “Listen to you, aren’t we still fighting for the title ourselves?”

Wenger was indeed fuming, so focused on the top-four race between Arsenal and Liverpool that he had forgotten that Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were only one point apart.

Thinking about it, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and anger.

“By the way, aren’t you going to buy me a drink?”

Wenger’s expression immediately changed, and he replied coldly, “I didn’t prepare any.”

“You really are… I’ve never seen a head coach in the entire Premier League as cheap as you!”

“I…” A curse was on the tip of his tongue.

Weren’t those the exact words he had used to complain about Yang Cheng to Ferguson?

That damned old codger who shoots his mouth off, stirring up trouble everywhere, he really is a nasty piece of work!

“Yang, I’m rooting for you. Beat Ferguson and come from behind to win the title!”

Yang Cheng chuckled inwardly.

What good is your support?

If Grant had said that, I might have listened, since Chelsea is hosting Manchester United in the next round.

As for you guys?

Go find a cool corner and stay there!

“You have my number, right?”

Yang Cheng suddenly asked this out of the blue.

Wenger was confused, unable to guess his intention, and could only nod.

“Didn’t you say it before? If your club gets bought by a tycoon, the first thing you’ll do is gut us Bayswater Chinese. We have a good relationship, so remember to give me a call before you make a move.”

“Apart from the not-for-sale items, as long as you make a suitable offer for any other player, I’ll sell them to you!”

The way Yang Cheng said this, his tone, his expression, made him seem incredibly generous, magnanimous, and righteous!

If Wenger didn’t know that this kid was full of tricks, he probably would have bowed his head in allegiance, ready to swear a blood oath on the spot.

So he was holding a grudge!

Wenger almost couldn’t help but laugh.

It was just a joke back then.

And now he was bringing it up to tease him?

But soon, Wenger figured it out.

That sentence was full of traps.

Who were the not-for-sale items?

What constituted a “suitable price”?

This was straight out of a cunning merchant’s playbook!

“Alright, that’s it, I’m leaving.”

Yang Cheng paid Wenger no more mind.

As he turned to leave, Yang Cheng didn’t forget to wave goodbye to Wenger.

In his heart, he was silently thinking.

Baldy Benítez, this is as much as I can help you!

The rest is all up to you guys.

If you still can’t secure a top-four spot, then you deserve it!

…

Yang Cheng fought tooth and nail against Arsenal, but it certainly wasn’t for Liverpool’s sake.

He was more concerned with competing against Manchester United for the league title.

But Yang Cheng had never expected that after losing Xabi Alonso, Liverpool would become so shaky.

In the 36th round of the Premier League over the weekend, Liverpool, having already fought their way back into the top four, conceded two goals and ultimately drew 2-2 away at relegation-zone Birmingham City.

Seeing this result, besides being completely stunned, Yang Cheng didn’t know how to react.

I’ve already force-fed you the Champions League qualification spot, and you just had to spit it out.

What else can I do?

Being as righteous as I am, there’s no one else like me!

Look at Arsenal, thrashing Derby County 6-2 away from home.

Liverpool deserves to miss out on the Champions League!

Yang Cheng’s team, on the other hand, secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over Wigan Athletic, thanks to a goal from Robert Lewandowski.

The goal was scored in the 27th minute of the first half.

So for the entire match, Yang Cheng was conserving energy for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final next Wednesday.

Manchester United, meanwhile, was in a tough battle away at Chelsea.

Yang Cheng paid extremely close attention to this match.

On one hand, Manchester United was their direct competitor for the title.

On the other, Chelsea was their opponent in the Champions League semi-final in three days.

Both teams made some rotations.

But not very significant ones.

Chelsea mainly rotated players like Makélélé, Anelka, Malouda, and Lampard, but Drogba, Terry, Carvalho, and others all started and played the full ninety minutes.

After all, they were facing Manchester United.

The Red Devils, for their part, rotated players like Evra, Scholes, C. Ronaldo, and Carlos Tevez.

As a result, in the first half, Manchester United’s goal was breached by Chelsea.

After the break, in the 56th minute, Rooney equalized.

It was 1-1!

In the 65th minute, Ferguson decisively brought on C. Ronaldo for Rooney.

Ferguson still wanted to rotate.

Just three minutes after coming on, C. Ronaldo put Manchester United ahead with a direct free kick.

It was a brilliant dipping free kick.

After that, Chelsea launched a frantic offensive.

Players like Anelka and Malouda returned to the pitch.

And in the 86th minute, during a Chelsea attack, Carrick handled the ball inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty.

Michael Ballack converted it coolly, leveling the score.

Since Bayswater Chinese had won their match, if Manchester United were held to a draw, they would surrender their position as league leader.

With only two rounds left in the league, losing the top spot at this point meant they could basically forget about getting it back.

Everyone at Manchester United was attacking frantically.

Especially C. Ronaldo.

Since joining Manchester United, the Portuguese star had not yet won a league title, let alone the Champions League.

Especially last season, Manchester United’s failure to go all the way in the title race was a huge blow to C. Ronaldo.

This season, they had once again reached a crucial crossroads in the title race.

This time, C. Ronaldo was determined to push forward, no matter what.

Forward!

Forward!!

With just a few minutes left in the match, C. Ronaldo was playing like a man possessed.

First, from a full thirty meters out, he unleashed a powerful long shot with all his might, which went just wide of the goal.

Then, in the 89th minute, Ashley Young crossed from the left, and C. Ronaldo headed it at the far post.

The seemingly certain goal was miraculously saved by goalkeeper Čech.

The Portuguese star furiously pounded the turf in front of the goal and leaped up in anger.

The game resumed.

Time ticked by, second by second.

For the fans in the stands and in front of their TVs, every minute, every second seemed to pass with agonizing slowness.

But for C. Ronaldo on the pitch, time was flying.

So fast that in the blink of an eye, it was already the last minute of stoppage time.

He was out of options.

Seeing that his team still couldn’t break through Chelsea’s defensive formation, the Portuguese star knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Give me the ball!”

C. Ronaldo quickly ran to the left, raising his hand to call for the ball.

When Ashley Young passed the ball to C. Ronaldo’s feet, the Portuguese star exploded with a burst of speed, instantly shaking off Mikel and charging directly towards Chelsea’s penalty area.

But before he could enter the box, he was tripped by Carvalho, who had suddenly rushed out.

As they got tangled, Carvalho simply couldn’t stop C. Ronaldo and had to commit a foul.

A free kick on the left side, just outside the penalty area!

The position wasn’t great, a bit too far to the left.

C. Ronaldo exchanged a few words with Ryan Giggs, who had come over to take it, then quickly ran into the penalty area himself.

This had to be the last attack!

The last attack that would decide the fate of this season’s title!

Giggs took a deep breath, ran up quickly, and struck a curling shot with his left foot.

The ball evaded Ferdinand at the near post, bypassed Vidić in the middle, and dropped towards the far post.

At the very moment the ball arrived, C. Ronaldo charged towards Chelsea’s goal, leaping high from a standing start as if a god descending from the heavens.

The surrounding Chelsea defenders all jumped with him, but the Portuguese star still stood out from the crowd.

The ball arrived precisely at C. Ronaldo’s head.

The Portuguese star craned his neck and slammed the ball, forcefully smashing it into Chelsea’s goal.

Čech’s save couldn’t keep the ball out.

The moment he landed, C. Ronaldo clenched both fists, let out a huge roar, and turned to run.

All along the way, the Portuguese star roared continuously, venting the excitement in his heart.

Finally, he even ran to the broadcast camera, jumped towards it, and with a whoosh, spread his arms wide, striking his iconic pose.

At this moment, in the eyes of everyone, the Portuguese star truly looked like a god descended to Earth!

He was simply too strong!

And with C. Ronaldo’s last-gasp goal, Manchester United came from behind to defeat Chelsea 3-2.

…

Due to the staggered broadcast times.

Bayswater Chinese’s away match against Wigan Athletic was scheduled for 12:00 PM.

After that game finished, Manchester United’s match against Chelsea was scheduled for 2:00 PM.

On the long drive south from Wigan, everyone on the team bus was closely following every development at Stamford Bridge.

After C. Ronaldo came on as a substitute and scored a free kick, the mood of all the Bayswater Chinese players sank for a while.

But Ballack’s penalty kick made everyone excited again.

A few minutes later, the news of C. Ronaldo’s last-minute winner arrived, and everyone sighed in unison.

Especially Yang Cheng.

“How many times has C. Ronaldo saved Manchester United now?”

Yang Cheng shook his head, somewhat speechless.

No one knew.

Because there had been too many.

This season’s C. Ronaldo was truly, truly strong.

He hadn’t yet transformed into a dedicated goalscorer.

At this stage, C. Ronaldo could dribble, take on players, and shoot, though his assists were a bit lacking.

But he was already a very, very complete attacking player.

Just like that final goal.

He relied on his individual ability to charge forward and create the foul.

Was there a problem with Carvalho’s defending?

You couldn’t say there wasn’t, but you couldn’t really say there was either.

If he had let C. Ronaldo break into the penalty area, who knows what would have happened?

Instead of saying Bayswater Chinese was behind Manchester United, it was more accurate to say they were behind C. Ronaldo.

If it weren’t for the Portuguese star repeatedly giving them a lifeline, Manchester United would probably have been finished long ago.

“This kid is getting more and more ridiculous. It’s like he’s on the verge of becoming the best player in the world,” Brian Kidd also sighed.

To allow Manchester United to come back and get a lifeline at this stage, what more could be said?

In the last two rounds, Manchester United would play West Ham United at home and Wigan Athletic away.

With Ferguson’s ability, the chances of dropping points were slim.

For Bayswater Chinese to stage a comeback and claim the top spot was only a theoretical possibility.

In other words, C. Ronaldo’s brace had helped Manchester United win this Premier League title!

“This is just the beginning,” Yang Cheng said faintly.

“What?” Brian Kidd didn’t understand what Yang Cheng meant.

“He was born in ’85. He’s only 23 now.”

Yang Cheng fully understood how helpless a head coach could be when facing one of the two all-conquering titans of his generation like C. Ronaldo or Messi.

If Manchester United were facing Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng would have many different ways to limit and contain C. Ronaldo.

But this time, they were facing Chelsea.

Yang Cheng couldn’t exactly help Grant draw up a game plan, could he?

And what about the next match?

Yang Cheng could control his own team and could win against Manchester United, but he couldn’t control others.

A 23-year-old C. Ronaldo was already this terrifying.

According to the natural laws of human biology, the prime of his physical condition should be around the age of 25.

That would be when he would be at his most terrifying!

By then, it would be basically impossible for any team to completely stop C. Ronaldo.

The same applied to Messi!

Geniuses like them who appear once in a generation were truly not something mere mortals could stop.

“What do we do now?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng also noticed that the atmosphere on the bus was indeed quite gloomy.

Everyone realized that after beating Chelsea away, with two league games remaining, basically no one could stop Manchester United.

Even if Bayswater Chinese won all their remaining games, it would be futile.

This was a painful blow to everyone.

But this couldn’t continue!

Because in three days, the team would face Chelsea at home.

This was the Champions League semi-final!

To play against Chelsea with their current morale was no different from seeking death.

Although the Blues had lost at home to Manchester United, they had long been out of the title race. Today was just the loss of an insignificant game.

It wouldn’t affect their ranking, nor would it affect their title chances. It was just three points.

But for Bayswater Chinese, it was different.

“Gentlemen!”

Yang Cheng stood up from his seat, holding onto the back of a chair as he walked down the aisle to the middle of the bus.

The bus was traveling south on the motorway.

The driver, seeing the activity in the cabin through the rearview mirror, immediately slowed down slightly to drive more smoothly.

“I believe you all should have received the news.”

“Manchester United beat Chelsea 3-2 away from home.”

Everyone nodded.

Some had received push notifications on their phones, others had seen text messages, or read the news online.

“This is indeed a rather bad result, but we have to accept it!”

Yang Cheng didn’t want to talk about whether the title race was decided or what the chances were.

All of that was meaningless now.

“From this, I hope you all understand one thing, and that is to never place your hopes on your competitors making mistakes, because that is the most unreliable thing in the world!”

Yang Cheng’s words made everyone nod in agreement.

Wasn’t it true?

Once you fall behind, you lose the initiative and can only wait for your opponent to make a mistake.

But now, Ferguson was not making any mistakes.

“I want to say, we still have many games to play. We have two more league games, and two Champions League semi-final matches. If we beat Chelsea, we still have to go to Russia to play in the Champions League final.”

“We also have the FA Cup final!”

“Until the very last moment, we never know what will happen.”

“Don’t we?”

The players listened and nodded one by one.

“The upcoming Champions League semi-final is crucial for us. I believe that every single one of us in the team does not want to lose these two games against Chelsea.”

“I am even more confident that for every single one of us here, the greatest dream since childhood, apart from the World Cup final, is to play in the Champions League final!”

“Now, we are standing at the door to the Champions League final, and the key lies in our next two matches.”

“The opponent vying with us for this key is a team we haven’t lost to in the past few years, Chelsea!”

“Our West London arch-rivals!”

“I believe we have enough strength to defeat this opponent, just like Manchester United did today!”

“I am even more confident that we can definitely beat Chelsea, get this key, go to Russia, and win the Champions League final!”

“This should be your wish, our wish, the collective wish of all of us.”

“Right?”

Yang Cheng didn’t speak with great excitement but used a rather calm tone to motivate the players in the cabin.

Because many of them would be starting in three days.

As soon as Yang Cheng finished speaking, José Fonte also began to speak up.

As the team’s commissar, he echoed Yang Cheng, rallying his teammates.

Marcelo, like the team’s clown, was best at livening up the atmosphere.

After José Fonte finished, Marcelo jumped in to energize the cabin.

The kid was quite witty and playful.

Originally, Ribéry also had this kind of personality.

After the French Scarface left, Marcelo took over.

The Brazilian was a bit of a goofball, always able to create some hilarious situations that made everyone around him roar with laughter.

This was also why indoor football was so popular within the Bayswater Chinese team.

Marcelo could be credited with great contributions to promoting the sport!

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, watched all of this with a smile, secretly giving a thumbs-up to José Fonte and Marcelo in his heart.

Fortunately, there were still three days left, and he could slowly adjust the players’ mentality.

Having lost the league, he absolutely could not lose the Champions League semi-final as well!

Chapter 141: Advancing to the Final! Yang Cheng’s Eye for Talent is Simply Vicious!

Wembley Stadium, London.

Champions League Semi-Final, first leg. Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea at home.

A mere eight seconds after the match began, as Pepe brought the ball down in his own half, Chelsea’s midfield and defense were already retreating rapidly.

Pepe launched a long pass over the halfway line, sending it deep into the attacking half.

Džeko, with his back to the goal, ran back from his forward position.

The Bosnian centre-forward had covered the thirty-meter area just as the ball dropped.

He leaped high, flicking the ball with his head behind him.

Andrei Arshavin cut in diagonally from the right towards the center, getting to the ball just before Makélélé. With the outside of his left foot, he controlled Džeko’s flick-on.

At that moment, he was completely surrounded by players in blue shirts.

If time were to freeze, you would see no fewer than six of them.

And that didn’t even include Ferreira on the left, who was keeping an eye on Ángel Di María.

Arshavin’s first touch was sublime, but as soon as he had the ball under control, Makélélé closed in, using his body to press against the Russian.

The French holding midfielder was incredibly experienced and was clearly exploiting Arshavin’s relative weakness in physical contests.

Sure enough, as soon as Makélélé got close, Arshavin’s dribbling rhythm was disrupted.

Michael Ballack saw his chance and hoofed the ball forward.

It looked like a clearance, but it was also a pass.

Drogba ran back from the attacking half into his own, closely marked by Pepe.

But the Côte d’Ivoire centre-forward didn’t control the ball; he simply redirected Ballack’s pass to Malouda, who was near the center circle.

The Chelsea left winger controlled the ball, turned, and prepared to drive forward.

Maicon was already in position, tracking back directly in front of Malouda.

But just as Malouda dribbled past the halfway line, a player in a red shirt suddenly closed in on him.

Lassana Diarra was not tall, but he was excellent at using his body. He cut in from Malouda’s side, using his rear and back to muscle Malouda off the ball before cleanly intercepting it.

It was like a highway robbery!

What was most absurd was how smoothly Lassana Diarra executed the entire sequence, giving Malouda no chance to react at all.

Practice truly makes perfect!

Who knows how many times he’d done that before!

After losing the ball, Malouda immediately tried to counter-press. Seeing Lassana Diarra about to launch a counter-attack, he reached out and grabbed his arm.

Pulled off balance, Lassana Diarra tumbled to the ground.

The head referee immediately blew his whistle.

A foul by Malouda.

The Chelsea left winger threw his hands up in frustration at the referee.

You didn’t blow the whistle when he used his butt to push me, but you call a foul when I just pull his arm slightly?

Malouda turned around and saw Lassana Diarra grinning, revealing a set of white teeth. He was even smiling as he held out a hand, waiting to be helped up.

The French international reluctantly pulled Lassana Diarra to his feet.

What could he do? They were national teammates, after all.

They all say this kid is like Makélélé.

They really weren’t wrong!

Same height, same build, even the same pestering defensive style!

…

From the very beginning, the match descended into a bloody, close-quarters battle.

Neither side was willing to show any weakness.

The clash between Malouda and Lassana Diarra was merely a small episode in the game.

Chelsea quickly returned the favor.

When Leighton Baines played a straight pass down the left flank, looking to link up with Di María for a breakthrough, Ferreira committed a foul near the halfway line, tripping the Argentine.

The Portuguese knew full well that if he let Di María build up speed, he wouldn’t be able to stop him.

This was Chelsea’s strategy for the night.

Foul early!

Never let it get into their own half, especially the thirty-meter area.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese had Gianni Vio.

Conceding an attacking free-kick was not a good idea.

The start of the game was intense, but both sides were actually very cautious.

Bayswater Chinese did not unleash their trademark high-tempo opening blitz.

The main reason was that the team had just suffered a setback in the league, and Yang Cheng wanted to give them some time to recover.

Chelsea, on the other hand, wouldn’t dare to press forward recklessly.

In the past few years, every encounter with Bayswater Chinese had left Chelsea bruised and battered.

How could Grant dare to be careless?

Yang Cheng’s opening gambit was to play it safe, while also aiming to secure possession.

He intended to use his team’s superior passing and movement to slowly penetrate Chelsea’s half.

The Blues’ midfield consisted of Makélélé in a holding role, with Lampard and Ballack in the center.

This midfield unit was defensively solid but also capable of launching counter-attacks.

Up front were Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka.

The backline was composed of Ashley Cole, Terry, Carvalho, and Ferreira.

Apart from Essien on the bench, Grant had fielded virtually the strongest lineup available to him.

Even with Essien, the biggest debate wasn’t about which midfielder he should replace.

It was about Ferreira.

Di María had been outstanding in the Premier League this season, especially his dribbling and breakthroughs down the left flank, which were incredibly sharp and fast.

And Ferreira?

His attacking and defensive abilities were rather mediocre; he might not be able to contain Di María.

Not to mention, there was also the unpredictably drifting Andrei Arshavin.

Therefore, many believed Essien should have started.

But the Ghanaian Buffalo was a midfielder by trade, and his defensive positioning could be a major issue.

In the end, Grant opted for Ferreira.

Yang Cheng was in no hurry.

He wanted a steady start, using his team’s advantage in passing and possession to gradually dominate the game.

After the first few minutes of warming up, Yang Cheng saw that his team was playing steadily. He walked to the sideline and signaled for Maicon to press further forward and get more involved in the attack.

Lassana Diarra was behind him to provide cover.

Bayswater Chinese were attacking from left to right, and Maicon was right on Yang Cheng’s side of the pitch.

Upon receiving the instruction, he immediately began making more aggressive forward runs.

The first time the ball entered Chelsea’s penalty area was in the 4th minute. Maicon dribbled to the right side of the box and, facing Ashley Cole, suddenly whipped in a cross toward the far post.

Unfortunately, Di María couldn’t get there in time, and the ball went out over the byline.

…

“This defensive system Mourinho left behind is truly formidable!”

Seeing Yang Cheng walk back towards the coach’s bench, Brian Kidd handed him a bottle of water and sighed helplessly.

“Combined with this group of players, they don’t seem to make a single mistake.”

More than ten minutes had passed, and Chelsea was on the back foot, barely having any time on the ball.

Being without the ball for long periods is fatal for any team.

It’s mainly a psychological thing for the players.

No one likes to be constantly on the defensive.

Yet, this group of Chelsea players defended flawlessly.

They didn’t give away even the smallest of openings.

When the ball went high, Džeko was restricted by Terry.

On the ground, Chelsea’s central area was packed with players.

“In this match, they’re technically playing with three holding midfielders. Both Ballack and Lampard are dropping back to help defend the half-spaces.”

“So, they’re deliberately ceding the flanks to us, concentrating their forces in the center and the half-spaces.”

Yang Cheng had figured out Grant’s intentions.

Chelsea was set up to play defensive counter-attack tonight.

And a rather cautious, conservative version of it at that.

“The attacking methods we’ve excelled at in the past aren’t very effective against Chelsea tonight.”

The instruction Yang Cheng had just given was to calm the players down, telling everyone to remain patient and continue to slowly build up with passing and movement.

There was no need to rush.

Rushing could easily lead to mistakes. If Chelsea capitalized on a single error and they conceded first, the consequences would be very troublesome.

Right now, the entire match had seen only a single shot on goal.

A long shot from Bayswater Chinese.

Chelsea hadn’t even had a single shot yet.

But the game wasn’t ugly or dull.

It was just that Bayswater Chinese had been unable to penetrate Chelsea’s penalty area.

The Blues’ defense was like an impenetrable wall erected outside the box, with no visible cracks.

Although Bayswater Chinese controlled possession, they also committed heavily to defense whenever they lost the ball.

The Blues had no opportunities either.

Especially Drogba.

Yang Cheng had assigned Pepe to mark him closely for this match.

As a result, The Blues hadn’t managed a single shot.

“Gianni.”

Yang Cheng looked at Gianni Vio sitting on the coach’s bench and chuckled. “We might have to rely on you later.”

Gianni Vio waved his hand, indicating it was no problem.

Brian Kidd and the others couldn’t help but laugh.

If you were to ask who was the most important member of the coaching staff, it would certainly be up for debate.

But if you were to ask who could best help the team score…

It would undoubtedly be Gianni Vio.

The whole world knew that this Italian data expert, formerly a banker, had over a thousand set-piece routines in his arsenal. In recent years, he had also been studying corner kicks and various other match data.

Every time he stood on the sidelines, the opponents of Bayswater Chinese would tremble with fear.

Therefore, everyone, including Brian Kidd, admired and even worshipped Yang Cheng all the more.

When Yang Cheng first invited Gianni Vio to join, no one thought much of it.

It’s just set pieces, right? Just data analysis?

But now, set pieces had become a crucial weapon for Bayswater Chinese.

On several occasions, they had turned the tide of a crucial match.

Every time Gianni Vio’s set-piece weapon proved effective, everyone’s respect for Yang Cheng deepened.

If it weren’t for his foresight back then, where would Gianni Vio be now?

Inter Milan had even tried to poach Gianni Vio recently.

The Italian turned them down on the spot.

His reason was that he had grown accustomed to life in London.

But everyone knew that he truly enjoyed his work and life at Bayswater Chinese.

And in this match between Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea, why was the team able to remain so composed?

Why did no one ever doubt they could win?

It was precisely because they possessed the weapon of set pieces!

As for Gianni Vio, no one knew how he managed to design so many routines.

Somehow, he just always managed to come up with them.

…

Time ticked by.

The two teams continued their test of patience.

It was a waiting game to see who would make the first mistake.

Although there were few shots and not many threatening attacks, the back-and-forth nature of the contest between the two teams kept the tempo relatively high.

Like the play in the 28th minute.

After Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Chelsea immediately launched a counter-press near the halfway line.

Modrić quickly passed back to the defense.

Leighton Baines, receiving the ball with the outside of his left foot, pulled it towards the left sideline, spotted an opening, and launched a long pass.

The English left-back wasn’t actually known for his long passing, but this ball flew perfectly behind Ferreira.

Di María made a high-speed run, got to the ball before Ferreira, and brought it under control.

By now, the Argentine had reached the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area, at the left corner.

Facing the retreating Ferreira, Di María skillfully dribbled the ball, his small, quick steps constantly adjusting, his whole body swaying with a unique rhythm and cadence.

It was somewhat reminiscent of a willow branch swaying in the wind.

Because Di María was tall and slender, with long, thin legs, his swaying movements made him look a bit like springy noodles. That’s why he had earned the nickname “Noodle” when he played in Argentina.

At this moment, with a one-on-one opportunity against Ferreira, he used his relentless, choppy-stepped dribble, combined with body feints, to force Ferreira to react.

The moment Ferreira committed, Di María, as if by reflex, accelerated and dribbled towards the byline, shaking off Ferreira in an instant and delivering a curling cross with his left foot.

It was only then that everyone realized he hadn’t been deliberately delaying the play.

On the contrary, he had been waiting for Džeko and Arshavin to make their runs from behind.

He even deliberately put an inward spin on the cross.

As the ball reached the space above Chelsea’s six-yard box, it had an outward curve.

This made it perfect for the onrushing Džeko to generate power with a direct diving header.

The delivery was superb, and Džeko’s header was equally brilliant.

But what no one expected was that goalkeeper Čech’s save was even more spectacular.

Čech stretched his body to its absolute limit, managing to parry Džeko’s header away with one hand.

Only then did the entire stadium erupt in a collective gasp from the fans.

Followed by disappointed sighs.

Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, clutched his head, not quite sure how to react.

Damn it, I saved the wrong Czech’s head! After all the effort I put into saving your head, you turn around and pull off a save like that against me!

It had to be said, a Čech who hadn’t had his head bashed in was truly incredible!

“It’s alright, it’s alright!”

Yang Cheng quickly walked to the sideline, clapping his hands forcefully and shouting encouragement to his players.

“Keep playing the way you are. Don’t rush, proceed steadily and surely!”

Di María’s cross and Džeko’s header just now had been the most threatening attack of the match so far.

It also highlighted the difference Di María made for Bayswater Chinese compared to Ashley Young.

The Argentine’s ability to dribble and break through on the left was something Ashley Young, while not incapable of, couldn’t match in terms of strength.

So, Yang Cheng signaled for the team to start focusing their efforts on the left flank.

Di María, in turn, began to exert pressure along the left touchline, stretching Chelsea’s defensive formation.

…

Spurred on by that near-goal, Bayswater Chinese’s morale gradually began to build.

The players started to play with more freedom on the pitch.

Especially the attacks down the left flank, targeting Ferreira.

Di María soon got another chance on the ball.

This time, it came from a pass by Modrić.

Di María again controlled the ball close to the left sideline. Facing Ferreira, he used a series of feints, then suddenly, out of nowhere, poked the ball through Ferreira’s legs, ran around him, and chased after it.

Even in such a tight space on the flank, he could create something beautiful.

That kind of individual skill was something only South American players could pull off.

But this time, Carvalho was prepared.

As Di María was about to break into the penalty area, Carvalho rushed over. Unable to get the ball, he tripped Di María, conceding an attacking free-kick to Bayswater Chinese on the left side of the field.

The entire Wembley Stadium, with its ninety thousand fans, erupted in applause.

The applause became even more thunderous when they saw Gianni Vio rush out from the coach’s bench to direct things from the sideline.

Bayswater Chinese fans loved seeing Gianni Vio!

“Not long ago, the British media conducted a survey.”

“Gianni Vio is the most popular coach on the Bayswater Chinese staff, aside from head coach Yang Cheng.”

“Many people say that every time he appears on the sideline, they anticipate a goal.”

“But this is also Chelsea’s nightmare.”

“The Blues are treating this as if facing a formidable enemy…”

Just when everyone thought Bayswater Chinese would make the most of this attacking free-kick, especially with Gianni Vio on the sideline directing, everyone assumed they would at least wait for Pepe and Yaya Touré, their two aerial threats, to get into the box.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Di María placed the ball, Arshavin ran over, and the two had a quick chat.

The Russian pretended to bend down and adjust the ball, then suddenly kicked it to Di María and quickly ran horizontally away.

Di María, equally sharp, didn’t control the ball but pushed it straight back into Arshavin’s path.

After receiving the ball on the edge of the penalty area at the left corner, the Russian curled a shot with his right foot, which dropped right in front of the six-yard box.

Džeko first feinted a run to the far post, then suddenly cut towards the front of the six-yard box. Meeting the descending ball, he directed a header towards the left side of the goal.

The entire sequence happened so fast that before anyone could react, the ball was already in the back of Chelsea’s net.

“GOAL!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese with a quick free-kick!”

“Arshavin delivered a precise, wonderful pass, and Džeko scored with a close-range header!”

“It’s the 32nd minute of the first half, and Bayswater Chinese has opened the scoring!”

The stadium instantly erupted with the wild cheers of the fans.

The Chelsea players were still protesting.

But the head referee indicated that the goal, resulting from the quick free-kick, was valid.

Not only was everyone in the stadium stunned, but Yang Cheng and his staff were also taken by surprise.

They had no idea the players were going to take a quick free-kick.

Then they looked at Gianni Vio.

The old Italian gentleman, with an air of calm and composure, walked back to the coach’s bench and sat down again.

He looked every bit the reclusive master who had retired from the world of martial arts.

Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others all burst out laughing.

“Gianni,” Yang Cheng called out loudly.

Gianni Vio immediately turned his head.

“I’ll give you an extra chicken leg when we get back!” Yang Cheng said with a loud laugh.

An extra chicken leg?

What the hell?

If the Italian’s bewildered expression had been caught on camera, it would have surely been made into a meme.

However, the expression on Grant’s face on the opposite bench was particularly interesting.

The goal had come so suddenly that he was caught completely off guard.

…

After conceding the first goal, Chelsea started to get a bit anxious.

At the very least, they could no longer maintain their steady defensive system.

At this point, the best result for Chelsea would be to snatch an away goal.

But The Blues had a strategy.

They started to apply pressure from the 35th minute.

Making full use of Drogba’s height advantage, they first laid the ball back to the edge of the box, where Ballack took a long shot.

Next, another flick-on from Drogba set up an overlapping run from Lampard, whose header was held securely by Neuer.

Pepe was shown a yellow card for a foul on Lampard just outside the penalty area.

This meant the Portuguese centre-back would miss the second leg between the two sides.

After that, Ballack’s free kick went high over the bar.

But just as Chelsea was launching their attack, in the 43rd minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back on the right flank.

After winning possession, Lassana Diarra quickly gave the ball to Maicon.

The Brazilian knocked the ball down the right sideline, broke through Chelsea’s high press, and immediately launched a long diagonal pass toward the left side of the attack.

Both Di María and Ferreira were sprinting at full speed.

In the end, it was the Argentine who got there first, catching up to Maicon’s pass. He then knocked the ball past the onrushing Carvalho, who had come over to provide cover, and crossed it to the front of the six-yard box.

Džeko was about to score with another diving header.

Terry was already behind Džeko and couldn’t stop him.

But at the crucial moment, Čech rushed off his line and punched the ball clear with both hands.

The Chelsea keeper collided with both Džeko and Terry.

All three fell to the ground.

The cleared ball fell to the edge of the penalty area. Arshavin had deliberately slowed his run, and now he seized the opportunity.

He chested the ball down and, before Lampard, Makélélé, and the others could close in, he fired a volley with his right foot.

The ball flew at high speed into the unguarded net.

“GOAL AGAIN!!!”

“43rd minute of the first half! In the space of just 11 minutes, Bayswater Chinese have scored two goals!”

“This time it’s from Andrei Arshavin!”

“But a huge amount of credit for this goal goes to Maicon.”

“That pass from the Brazilian was absolutely beautiful.”

“Chelsea pushed up a little too far and were caught out behind their defense.”

“2-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese are now firmly in control of their path to the final.”

…

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading by two goals.

During halftime, Yang Cheng singled out his players for praise for their excellent performance, but he also pointed out some issues the team had in the first half, though they were mostly minor.

But for the second half, Yang Cheng demanded that everyone pay close attention to Drogba.

For a long stretch of the first half, Chelsea had preferred to play on the ground, looking for Drogba directly.

Pepe had done a good job defending against that.

But in the latter part of the half, Chelsea began to play more high balls, and Pepe’s weakness was exposed.

To be honest, in European football today, there wasn’t a single centre-back who could confidently claim to be able to completely neutralize Drogba.

Those who were stronger than him weren’t as mobile or as fast; those who were as mobile and fast as him weren’t as strong.

Most absurdly, this behemoth had decent footwork too, and it felt like he was getting freakishly better with age.

So, how do you defend him?

Yang Cheng reckoned you’d probably need a peak Lúcio to have a chance against Drogba.

As for Pepe, he still lacked a bit of seasoning.

Yang Cheng specifically reminded his players that Chelsea would undoubtedly launch an all-out attack in the second half.

For Bayswater Chinese, the most important thing was to find opportunities for threatening counter-attacks.

As long as their counter-attacks were a threat, Chelsea wouldn’t be able to commit fully to their attacks.

As it turned out, Yang Cheng’s prediction was correct.

Right from the start of the second half, Chelsea launched a determined blitz.

The tempo of the game instantly shot up, and both teams engaged in a high-speed battle.

Chelsea’s attacks still revolved around Drogba.

First, he helped set up Malouda for a long shot that threatened the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Then, Anelka received a pass from Drogba, shook off Leighton Baines, and shot high.

The most dangerous chance came in the 54th minute. An overlapping run from Ashley Cole led to a cross. Pepe and Drogba went up for the header together, but neither could get a clear advantage.

Thiago Silva reacted faster, clearing the ball first.

After that, Ballack had a long shot, followed by another from Lampard…

In the first ten minutes or so of the second half, Chelsea managed a total of six shots.

To put that in perspective, they had fewer shots in the entire first half than in that short spell.

Bayswater Chinese were no pushovers either.

In the 58th minute, Arshavin broke past Lampard on a counter-attack and played a straight pass.

Maicon sprinted down the right flank, charged into Chelsea’s penalty area, sold Terry a feint, cut inside, and shot, only to be denied by a flying save from Čech.

It was a very high-quality shot!

A cold sweat broke out on everyone.

Especially the Chelsea players and staff.

It was only then that they remembered Maicon was also Brazilian.

Even if his style of play seemed very European, a Brazilian is a Brazilian. Give him an inch, and he’ll take a mile!

After that, Chelsea slowed their attack slightly.

But Bayswater Chinese dared not let their guard down.

Grant was the first to make a substitution.

In the 70th minute, he brought on Joe Cole for Ballack.

This was a change intended to strengthen the midfield’s passing and dribbling ability.

Yang Cheng made no adjustments.

The team’s entire attack and midfield were currently stable.

The defense had no major problems either.

The only significant concern was Pepe.

With a yellow card to his name, Pepe was inevitably a bit hesitant in his defensive actions.

Especially when marking Drogba.

But there was nothing to be done about it.

Right now, within the Bayswater Chinese squad, Pepe was the only one who could somewhat contain Drogba.

Thiago Silva was a strong defender, but he was a bit short and at a significant disadvantage against Drogba.

Koscielny and José Fonte couldn’t stop Drogba either.

So, Yang Cheng had Yaya Touré drop back a bit to provide some support for Pepe.

The game returned to the kind of equilibrium seen in the first half.

Only now, the roles of attack and defense were reversed.

Chelsea patiently tried to build threatening attacks, while Bayswater Chinese defended solidly and looked to counter.

The battle was mainly concentrated around the halfway line.

Although Chelsea had Drogba as an aerial threat, they couldn’t find a good way to break down the Bayswater Chinese defense.

At the 80-minute mark, Yang Cheng brought on Gareth Bale for Di María to provide some fresh impetus down the left flank.

Time flew by quickly.

Suddenly, it was the 88th minute.

Just as the match was about to end, Chelsea won the ball in their own half and launched a quick attack.

A long pass from the back again found its way to the right side of the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

Drogba was all alone up front. Using his body to shield the ball from Pepe, he chested it down and passed it to Malouda.

The two had developed a great understanding during their time in Ligue 1.

After coming to Chelsea, Malouda continued to be a key supporter for Drogba.

The Frenchman didn’t take a touch, simply pushing the ball back to Drogba.

Using his back to hold off Pepe, the Ivorian turned to receive the ball and was about to break through.

Under normal circumstances, Pepe would have probably made a decisive tackle.

But now, with a yellow card, his actions were a bit more cautious.

Moreover, Thiago Silva was already rushing over from the side.

Just as the two were about to form a pincer to trap Drogba, the Ivorian suddenly unleashed a ferocious shot.

From a distance of about twenty-three meters, Drogba’s powerful strike flew towards the Bayswater Chinese goal at incredible speed.

Neuer had been focused the entire time and reacted quickly, diving to his side.

He got a hand to the ball.

But he couldn’t push it away.

The shot was too fast, too powerful. After touching Neuer’s hand, it changed direction slightly but still crashed into the Bayswater Chinese net.

2-1!

A collective gasp finally rippled through the stadium’s fans.

In front of the away team’s technical area, Grant cheered excitedly, as if he had just seen Santa Claus.

Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others shook their heads in resignation.

“Truly Drogba!” Yang Cheng couldn’t help but praise.

A goal like that is simply unstoppable!

If one had to find fault, it would be that Pepe was a bit hesitant to commit.

But the problem was, he was already on a yellow card. If he made another tackle and got another card, it would be a red.

More importantly, the distance was too great.

Who would have thought that after eighty-eight minutes, Drogba could still hit a long shot with that much power?

“Pepe’s suspended for the next match. Figuring out how to defend Drogba will be a problem,” Brian Kidd sighed.

Yang Cheng nodded.

But there was nothing to be done.

“Fortunately, there’s only one Drogba in world football!” Yang Cheng said.

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home.

After the match, many in the media believed that the two teams were evenly matched.

Bayswater Chinese had a slight advantage, but Chelsea was not without the ability to fight back.

In the first half, the home team’s advantage was very clear, but in the second half, it was The Blues who seized the initiative.

“Drogba’s goal has kept the flame of hope alive for Chelsea.”

“The second leg at Stamford Bridge is bound to be a fierce battle of titans!”

Coincidentally, in the other semi-final, Manchester United drew 0-0 away to Bayern Munich.

The two teams failed to produce a single goal in ninety minutes of play.

Hitzfeld’s ability to build a defensive system was renowned, and Ferguson’s Manchester United was also known for its unbreakable defense and sharp counter-attacks.

In the end, neither side could find the back of the net.

As The Times analyzed:

“Reaching the Champions League semi-finals, all four teams are clearly playing more cautiously.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s passing and movement style is in a class of its own among the four teams.”

“But playing away at Stamford Bridge, Yang Cheng’s team faces a multitude of crises.”

Chelsea’s head coach, Grant, publicly praised Drogba’s goal at the post-match press conference.

The Israeli believed that the Ivorian centre-forward’s goal had laid a good foundation for the second leg.

“We will overturn the result against Bayswater Chinese at Stamford Bridge!”

Especially considering Pepe’s suspension.

This was a huge blow to Bayswater Chinese.

The media also offered various suggestions, but everyone agreed that Drogba was in excellent form and would likely be very difficult to stop.

In terms of betting odds for winning the title, all four teams were surprisingly close.

Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese had a slight edge, but Chelsea and Bayern Munich were not far behind.

Such an intense Champions League semi-final had captured the attention of football fans all over the world.

…

Back in the Premier League, it was the 37th round.

Manchester United’s opponent was West Ham United.

The Red Devils opened the scoring in the 3rd minute through C. Ronaldo.

In the 24th minute, the Portuguese scored another goal, extending the lead to 2-0!

In the 26th minute, C. Ronaldo assisted Carlos Tevez for the third goal.

Ferguson made substitutions right at halftime, conserving energy for the second leg.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

Yang Cheng also rotated his squad.

In the 16th minute, Theo Walcott provided an assist from the right for Robert Lewandowski to score.

After that, Bayswater Chinese settled into a defensive counter-attacking mode.

This was the most energy-efficient way to play.

With speed-based wingers like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott up front, Tottenham Hotspur dared not press forward too recklessly.

In the second half, Yang Cheng made a series of changes, using up all three of his substitution slots early.

In the end, they secured a narrow 1-0 victory at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

This was also Lewandowski’s second consecutive game-winning goal, both 1-0 victories worth a total of six points.

The Polish centre-forward’s performance had been getting better and better in the second half of the season, showing very clear signs of improvement.

…

Stamford Bridge, London. The Champions League semi-final second leg.

Bayswater Chinese away to Chelsea.

The two sides entered the second leg with the score at 2-1.

Both teams made some adjustments to their lineups.

Chelsea brought in Joe Cole for Anelka, starting him on the right wing.

At the same time, Essien replaced Ferreira, who had performed poorly in the first leg.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had Koscielny step in for the suspended Pepe, who had accumulated too many yellow cards.

While everyone was guessing what tactics Bayswater Chinese would adopt under pressure away from home, Yang Cheng dropped a king bomb right from the start.

Bayswater Chinese once again unleashed their signature opening blitz, confronting Chelsea with suffocating high pressing.

The Blues were not to be outdone. Playing at home and trailing on aggregate, they also wanted to level the score as quickly as possible.

Thus, the match immediately descended into a fast-paced, end-to-end battle.

The very first shot of the game was orchestrated by Joe Cole in midfield, with Ballack providing the through ball.

Drogba took a long shot from almost the same position as in the first leg.

But this time, Neuer confidently parried the ball behind for a corner.

Chelsea’s momentum surged.

But in the 10th minute, Di María tracked back to defend, stole the ball from Joe Cole’s feet, and launched a counter-attack.

The Argentine’s forward drive was incredibly fast. In an instant, he crossed the halfway line and reached Chelsea’s thirty-meter area.

Bayswater Chinese’s front three worked together with perfect understanding.

Seeing Essien press forward, Džeko immediately made a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area.

But Di María didn’t pass to Džeko; instead, he played a horizontal pass.

Andrei Arshavin from the center was quickly catching up.

The moment Arshavin received the ball, Džeko had already run to the area near the left side of the arc of the penalty area.

Carvalho was in hot pursuit.

But the Bosnian centre-forward suddenly stopped, glanced at Arshavin, timed it perfectly, and then quickly started again, this time cutting diagonally towards the penalty spot and raising his hand for the ball.

Džeko’s hand was like a beacon.

Arshavin had been waiting for it.

The Russian caught up to the horizontal pass before Lampard and Ballack, and without taking a touch, he played a direct through ball.

The ball skimmed past Makélélé and went past Terry into the penalty area.

Džeko arrived at full tilt. Near the penalty spot, he controlled the ball with his left foot and immediately struck a low shot with his right.

The ball traveled in a straight line into the bottom right corner of Chelsea’s goal.

Despite a desperate dive, Čech could not prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net.

On the sideline, the moment he saw the goal, Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement.

Brian Kidd and the others also rushed out of their seats, all shouting in exhilaration.

“Just 10 minutes into the match, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Brilliant combination play from the front three, a precise through ball from Andrei Arshavin, and a very calm finish from Džeko, who seized this crucial opportunity!”

“1-0!”

“3-1 on aggregate!”

“But the most important thing is the away goal!”

“Chelsea got a precious away goal in the first leg, but now, Bayswater Chinese have also secured an away goal.”

“The rest of the match will be very difficult for Chelsea.”

“The Blues now have to consider whether or not they should press forward and attack.”

…

To everyone’s surprise.

After Bayswater Chinese scored, Chelsea chose to defend.

But the away team, Bayswater Chinese, took the initiative and continued to employ a high press.

Not only that, Yang Cheng’s team repeatedly threatened Čech’s goal.

Grant clearly had his own plan.

It was true that Chelsea now needed two goals to level the tie.

But if they conceded another away goal to Bayswater Chinese, they would need to score at least four.

For a Chelsea side whose attack wasn’t particularly potent, this would be an incredibly daunting challenge.

Faced with a dilemma, Yang Cheng chose to be aggressive, taking the initiative.

Grant chose to defend and counter-attack.

There was nothing wrong with either choice; what mattered was whether it could lead to victory.

In defense, Yang Cheng’s choice of Koscielny to replace Pepe was in itself a signal.

Bayswater Chinese was going to be attack-oriented in this away game.

The defensive line had to be pushed high.

How to neutralize Drogba?

No, they wouldn’t neutralize him!

The strategy Yang Cheng gave was to push the defensive line up, let Drogba win the first ball, and have Bayswater Chinese focus all their efforts on controlling the second ball, trying to shut down Chelsea’s attacks as much as possible.

This defensive strategy worked very well during the match.

Although Drogba’s advantage was very clear, Malouda was positioned too wide, and Joe Cole was better at holding the ball and passing.

As for Lampard and Ballack, as long as Bayswater Chinese applied enough pressure in midfield, they wouldn’t dare to venture forward rashly.

This was vividly demonstrated in the first half.

Chelsea struggled to create any real threat from their counter-attacks.

On the contrary, it was Bayswater Chinese who created several dangerous situations in front of Chelsea’s goal.

It was just a pity that they couldn’t score again.

When Chelsea focused on defending, it was not easy to breach their goal.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese still chose to take the initiative, continuing with their first-half tactics.

Chelsea, meanwhile, made a substitution in the 55th minute.

Anelka replaced Joe Cole.

This was a return to their previous approach, adding a second player to win the ball around Drogba.

This substitution quickly paid off.

In the 62nd minute, Drogba received a long pass during a counter-attack, held up the ball, and laid it off. Anelka controlled it, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and shot.

Neuer reacted with lightning speed and parried the ball away.

But unexpectedly, Drogba, who had followed up in the center, unleashed a fierce shot, once again breaking through the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-1!

Over the two legs, the Ivorian had scored two goals!

The entire Stamford Bridge was chanting Drogba’s name.

Everyone was cheering.

Grant made his second substitution, bringing on Kalou for Lampard to bolster the team’s attack.

In the final half-hour, they had to score at least one more goal.

Yang Cheng remained unmoved.

The team on the pitch was the strongest lineup Bayswater Chinese could field.

At this stage of the game, he could only choose to trust his players.

Time ticked away.

Chelsea was not just in an all-out battle with Bayswater Chinese, but also in a race against time.

The pressure on The Blues’ players was mounting.

And in the 76th minute, Chelsea tried to pass the ball into the box to find Drogba.

Yaya Touré headed the ball clear from the arc of the penalty area.

Modrić controlled the ball with his chest. Facing Lampard, he first executed a deft feint, then suddenly turned to his right.

Due to the physical challenge from Lampard, Modrić lost his balance and slipped.

But before he fell, the Croatian midfielder managed to kick the ball to Arshavin in front of him.

The Russian ran in from the right half-space, shaking off Ballack as he received the ball, and charged forward.

When Makélélé rushed over, the supremely skilled and bold Arshavin showed no fear, dribbling straight at him.

The Russian feinted as if to break to the right, then suddenly cut the ball back, changing direction diagonally to the left. He squeezed through a gap he created past Makélélé and sent a through ball with his left foot.

Inside the box, Džeko used his body to shield the ball from Carvalho. With his back to the goal, he controlled the ball, turned left, and shot with his left foot.

The entire sequence was executed in one fluid motion.

By the time Čech dived, the ball was already in the net, just inside the left post.

The fans at Stamford Bridge were stunned into silence.

All anyone could hear were the cheers and shouts of the Bayswater Chinese players.

Even the players on the bench rushed out without a second thought, running to the sideline to celebrate in a massive huddle with Džeko and the others who had come running over.

“2-1!!”

“It’s Džeko again!!”

“At a crucial moment, the Bosnian centre-forward scores a brace!”

“Arshavin’s run through the middle past two players was spectacular, but Džeko’s control, turn, and shot are equally worthy of admiration!”

“2-1, and 4-2 on aggregate!”

“Chelsea’s situation is becoming increasingly difficult!”

“They now need to score three more goals to overturn the deficit against Bayswater Chinese!”

“In a way, this goal from Džeko has directly killed the game!”

“Yang Cheng’s eye for talent is simply vicious!”

Chapter 142: The Strongest in History! Has Anyone Ever Seen Such a Legend?

When the Italian head referee, Roberto Rosetti, blew the final whistle, Stamford Bridge erupted with the boos of angry and dissatisfied Chelsea fans.

Clearly, their frustration was aimed squarely at the Bayswater Chinese.

The final score was 1-2!

The home team’s score was listed first, the away team’s second.

The aggregate score stood at 4-2.

In truth, both legs had been narrow victories.

In the last ten minutes of the match, Chelsea threw caution to the wind and launched an all-out assault.

Every player on the pitch frantically pushed forward.

Even the Bayswater Chinese had to temporarily retreat, choosing to defend with all their might.

For those final ten-plus minutes, the pitch was completely one-sided.

Experienced fans knew that the chances of Chelsea scoring three goals in the final stage were slim.

But no matter how slim, they had to try.

It was a matter of attitude!

“The semi-finals again!”

In the VIP box at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich was extremely disappointed with the result.

The league was already out of reach.

They had been knocked out of the FA Cup.

And now, their Champions League journey had ended in the semi-finals.

They had made it to the League Cup final, facing North London’s Tottenham Hotspur.

The match ended 1-1 in regular time, but they lost in extra time, missing out on the trophy.

In other words, Chelsea would end this season empty-handed once again.

“How many times have we been stopped in the semi-finals?” Abramovich asked with a frown.

Silence fell over the box.

Only Marina Granovskaia replied softly, “Since 2003, this is the fourth time.”

Abramovich was struck dumb.

From 2003 to now, in just five short years, they had been eliminated in the semi-finals four times.

It was truly difficult to accept.

In the 2003/04 season, under Ranieri, they lost to Didier Deschamps’s Monaco in the semi-finals.

In the final, Mourinho’s Porto defeated Monaco to claim the title.

And so, Abramovich hired Mourinho.

The following season, 2004/05, Mourinho’s team established an early lead in the league and also reached the Champions League semi-finals.

They ended up losing 1-0 on aggregate to Liverpool.

Later, Benítez’s team performed a miracle in Istanbul.

Fine, Abramovich accepted it!

The 2005/06 season was another story. They were drawn in the same group as Liverpool, finished second, and then faced the eventual champions, Barcelona, in the Round of 16. The two teams caused a massive stir, creating countless controversies.

And last season, Chelsea again faced Liverpool in the semi-finals, with the match going all the way to a penalty shootout.

Unexpectedly, this season ended yet again in the Champions League semi-finals.

“Could it be that we’re just not fated to win the Champions League?” Abramovich struggled to explain the phenomenon.

If you said they were weak, how could a weak team reach the semi-finals four times in five years?

But if you said they were strong, could a team that had been knocked out of the semi-finals four times in five years, without even reaching the final, be considered strong?

When it came to spending money, Abramovich could proudly say that no team in European football could compare to Chelsea.

And in the end, this was the result?

That Bayswater Chinese team hadn’t spent much money. Their investment and signings were a fraction of Chelsea’s. In only their third season in the Premier League, they had actually reached the Champions League final.

Moreover, they were still in the running for the Treble this season!

Yes, their league hopes were fading, but the final round hadn’t been played yet, had it?

Abramovich was completely bewildered.

Was it possible that the teams that didn’t spend money were more likely to reach the final?

“Actually, the opponents Bayswater Chinese have faced on their way here have been incredibly strong. The overall quality of their run has been the highest.”

Peter Kenyon, unwilling to flatter, stated an objective fact.

“In the group stage, they faced Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, and Lazio. That was an absolute group of death.”

“In the knockout stage, they faced the defending champions AC Milan, then Dream Team Two Barça, and in the semi-finals, us. Their journey, their opponents—it’s been tougher than anyone else’s!”

A hush fell over the room.

Everyone knew the truth.

The Champions League’s coefficient and seeding rules were designed to protect the strong teams.

Whether it was Chelsea a few years ago or Bayswater Chinese now, they had to earn their way up step by step.

In the beginning, the schedule was always incredibly difficult.

But Bayswater Chinese had done it!

“Peter, tell me, what’s the biggest difference between us and Bayswater Chinese? Why can they reach the Champions League final while we get stuck in the semi-finals time and time again?” Abramovich couldn’t understand.

Peter Kenyon knew a thing or two about football, having managed Manchester United’s business for so many years.

“Actually, the media has already pointed out our problem. We have plenty of power, but not enough finesse and a lack of creativity.”

Abramovich nodded silently, pondering the issue.

“Look at Bayswater Chinese. Their defense is excellent, right? But in their midfield, Yaya Touré is great at making overlapping runs and strong at carrying the ball forward. More importantly, they have Modrić.”

“From League Two to the Premier League to the Champions League, how many years has it been? Modrić has always been heavily relied upon by Yang Cheng, even being appointed team captain. His passing and control in midfield are phenomenal.”

“Our team has no one like that.”

The media had mentioned what Peter Kenyon said before; many experts had even said it.

But at this moment, in the face of such a bitter defeat, everyone had to take it seriously.

“And up front, why can’t a centre-forward like Shevchenko perform in our team?”

As soon as Peter Kenyon said this, the expressions of many people in the room changed.

The first reaction of anyone who understood the situation was that Peter Kenyon was preparing to shift the blame.

The number one rule of self-preservation in the workplace: when a deal goes south, the most important thing is not to be the one who takes the fall.

“Now look at Bayswater Chinese. Their centre-forward Džeko isn’t as physically imposing as Drogba, but his technique on the ball is much better, isn’t it?”

“Di María on the left, Andrei Arshavin on the right—they’re both technically brilliant players, full of creativity. We don’t have players like that either, do we?”

Abramovich had also thought about this problem.

He had even analyzed with others on several occasions why Shevchenko couldn’t succeed at Chelsea.

The answer everyone gave was that the tactics and personnel didn’t suit him.

To put it crudely, other teams’ midfields created chances, supplying blood to their forwards. Chelsea’s midfield, on the other hand, sucked the blood from their forwards.

This was why a striker like Shevchenko couldn’t last at Chelsea.

The Ukrainian Nuke himself had expressed his desire to return to Italy many times.

“So what are your thoughts on this summer’s transfer market?” Abramovich asked again.

Peter Kenyon thought for a moment and nodded. “Sign a creative and controlling midfielder, like Barça’s Deco. But personally, I think Bayswater Chinese’s Modrić would be best.”

“I don’t lack defensive midfielders or tough guys, but we lack a controlling midfielder in the mold of Deco or Modrić.”

“But Deco’s recent performances have been far below expectations. I personally feel that Modrić is the most suitable.”

Abramovich nodded, acknowledging the validity of Peter Kenyon’s analysis.

“Up front, I personally think Andrei Arshavin’s transfer fee will likely exceed thirty million pounds.”

“Thirty million pounds?” Abramovich frowned slightly. It stung a bit.

But it was still acceptable.

However, before Abramovich could respond, Marina Granovskaia, who was standing nearby, reminded him.

“After this season ends, Andrei Arshavin will be twenty-seven.”

The personal assistant rarely spoke, but every word was crucial.

Abramovich paused for a moment, then immediately understood.

Wasn’t that right?

He was twenty-seven.

Could he still sell for that much?

“In the transfer market, can you find a second player of Andrei Arshavin’s caliber?”

Peter Kenyon paused briefly here before continuing.

“For thirty million pounds, I personally think it’s worth considering.”

“If we can successfully sign these two players, I believe we’ll be fully capable of challenging for the Champions League title next season!”

A fervent glint flashed in Abramovich’s eyes.

Four semi-final eliminations in five years had not diminished his pursuit of the Champions League trophy.

…

Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 4-2 on aggregate, making a historic advance to the Champions League final!

After the match, the news spread like wildfire across the globe.

Countless media outlets and fans were clamoring to report on it.

Everyone was in disbelief at the achievements of this young Premier League team.

In their first season after promotion to the Premier League, they won the UEFA Cup and finished as league runners-up. In their second season, they won the Premier League title. This season, they were chasing the Treble. It was as if they were taking a giant leap forward every year!

No, even before the Premier League, back when they were in the lower divisions, they had already achieved remarkable feats time and again.

The media and fans all over the world were full of praise for this team.

Especially in recent times.

After the club’s football culture promotional video went viral online, it attracted even more attention from netizens worldwide.

Now, Bayswater Chinese’s entry into the Champions League final undoubtedly won them further goodwill from people across the globe.

Everyone is drawn to strength and marvels.

Bayswater Chinese perfectly embodied both of these elements.

Coupled with the club’s recent online promotion and marketing, particularly a series of short videos tailored to netizens’ tastes, they had already garnered a great deal of goodwill and attention.

Now, it all came bursting forth.

Online, many celebrities from the British entertainment industry also sent their congratulations to the Bayswater Chinese.

This immediately became a unique spectacle on the global internet.

Back in January, Adele had released her first album, “19,” which contained thirteen songs.

Upon its release, the album immediately caused a sensation in the UK.

In late February, Adele was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Award, Best British Female Solo Artist, and British Breakthrough Act at the 19th Brit Awards, ultimately winning the Critics’ Choice Award.

Adele’s new album was an instant hit.

The English girl suddenly became a hot new star in the British entertainment industry.

When accepting her award, Adele made a point to thank Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

Adele stated that without Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese helping her realize her musical dream at a critical moment, she would not have had the opportunity to release this album.

The story of Adele and the Bayswater Chinese was soon eagerly reported by the British entertainment media.

In Yang Cheng’s words, they had crossed over.

As Adele’s fame grew, a saying began to circulate in the entertainment industry.

Bayswater Chinese brings good luck to all its hardcore fans!

Adele was the best proof!

An English girl studying in school was discovered by a football club, sang the team anthem, made a name for herself, and released an album that shot her to fame.

The most incredible part was that Adele still sang at Wembley Stadium to this day.

And in the stands of Wembley Stadium, there was a private box exclusively for her.

It was as if she was to be permanently tied to the Bayswater Chinese!

This story spread by word of mouth, and gradually became widely known.

So, when Bayswater Chinese reached the Champions League final, numerous entertainment celebrities sent their congratulations.

Many stars even posted pictures of their match tickets online.

Whether they had time to go or not, the message was clear: I’ve bought a ticket.

…

In the other Champions League semi-final, Manchester United secured a 1-0 victory at home against Bayern Munich, thanks to a goal from Scholes.

They advanced to the final with a 1-0 aggregate score.

Thus, a very interesting scenario unfolded in the Premier League this season.

In the league, Bayswater Chinese trailed Manchester United by one point.

The final round would decide the champion.

It was essentially a final between Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese!

The FA Cup final also featured Manchester United against Bayswater Chinese.

Now, the Champions League final was a showdown between the same two teams.

Both teams were simultaneously chasing the Treble!

Such a spectacle, such a legend—had anyone ever seen anything like it?

Sports media outlets around the world were buzzing about this grand occasion.

Everyone was watching to see which of these two teams would ultimately win the Treble.

Or, how would the three trophies be divided between Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese?

Judging by the current situation, the league title was practically Manchester United’s.

Unless Ferguson’s Red Devils had some unforeseen trouble in the final round, but that was highly unlikely.

The gap in quality between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United was still quite large.

So what about the FA Cup and Champions League finals?

Numerous betting companies had also released their odds.

The Times, for one, analyzed the likely outcomes.

The authoritative British media outlet believed that Bayswater Chinese’s situation was relatively precarious.

They had already lost the initiative in the league, so there was little more to say.

The FA Cup final was also a major headache.

“Yang Cheng promised at the beginning of the season that the young players would play in the cup competitions.”

“Now, this group of young players has fought their way to the final. Does he let them play or not?”

The Times argued that at the start of the season, no one could have imagined things would turn out this way.

But now, if the young players were to play in the FA Cup final, Manchester United would undoubtedly be the overwhelming favorites to win.

But if the starting lineup played, what about the young players?

That was a problem.

If they lost the league and then the FA Cup, how would they approach the upcoming Champions League final?

Therefore, The Times believed that Bayswater Chinese was now facing a very difficult choice.

“If Yang Cheng doesn’t handle this well, they could very well lose all three trophies, repeating Manchester United’s fate from last season.”

“In that case, they would become the most tragic triple runner-up in history!”

…

After the Champions League semi-final, Yang Cheng found himself in a difficult position.

It wasn’t just him; the entire coaching staff was in the same boat.

The FA Cup final was on May 17th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Champions League final was on May 21st, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

There were three days between them.

For Yang Cheng, the FA Cup final didn’t carry the same mental burden as it did for many in England.

It was just a cup competition.

So, he still decided to play the young players.

No matter what, even if they lost, it would be valuable experience for them.

After all, it was a final against Manchester United.

Besides, wearing Manchester United out in this final wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

Furthermore, it wasn’t a given that Bayswater Chinese’s young guns would lose.

They had earned their spot in the final on merit.

The real difficulty was, if they lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United, how could they prevent it from affecting the subsequent Champions League final?

And also, how should they play against Manchester United in the final?

Bayswater Chinese had failed to beat Manchester United in their two encounters this season.

It was 1-1 at Old Trafford and 3-3 at Wembley Stadium.

Technically, Manchester United won on away goals.

Moreover, Yang Cheng had to admit that Manchester United’s squad this season was indeed very strong.

Their backline, in particular, was incredibly solid.

The current Manchester United could even be said to be the strongest in their history, even stronger than the Treble-winning team of 1999.

In midfield, the arrival of Owen Hargreaves had significantly improved Manchester United’s midfield.

The player’s only issue was his susceptibility to injuries.

But recently, Hargreaves had been in excellent form.

Add to that their front three.

It was safe to say they were a real headache.

Yang Cheng had played in several Champions League finals in his past life, though he had lost them all.

But he had experience.

So, he had already instructed psychologist Tim Harkness to prepare several effective stress-reducing activities.

The team bus, loaded with water, food, and other supplies, would also depart for Russia early.

That way, the club’s travel and meals in Moscow would be much the same as they were in London.

Adam Crozier even flew to Moscow personally to find a suitable hotel.

Everything was being prepared in an orderly fashion.

Only Yang Cheng felt the pressure mounting on his shoulders.

Especially with the external media opinion turning increasingly unfavorable for the Bayswater Chinese.

Xia Qing saw all this and felt anxious for him.

“How about I tell my parents and my brother, and your aunt and uncle, to come over after the matches are finished?”

The day before the final round of the Premier League, as Yang Cheng came home to the apartment for dinner, Xia Qing asked with concern.

“Why?” Yang Cheng was taken aback, finding it a bit strange.

Yang Cheng’s parents, Xia Qing’s parents, as well as Xia Xi and his girlfriend were supposed to come to London. It had been decided during the Spring Festival.

At that time, no one had expected the current situation to unfold.

The main reason was to celebrate the completion of their villa’s renovation and their moving in.

According to Chinese custom, both sets of parents should come to see it.

Especially Yang Cheng’s parents, who had contributed financially.

So, they had arranged to come to London together for a few days after the league season ended.

This was Yang Cheng’s own suggestion.

He had originally wanted to invite Xia Qing’s paternal and maternal grandparents as well, but the elderly were reluctant to travel.

“Aren’t we busy recently? We won’t have time to spend with them if they come,” Xia Qing said gently, finding an excuse.

Yang Cheng looked at her deeply, understanding her concern. He reached out and gently held her soft hand.

“I’m fine. Victory and defeat are common in a soldier’s life.”

“Besides, your aunt, uncle, and Xia Xi all had to take time off work, and my parents have made arrangements too. We can’t spoil their excitement.”

After speaking, Yang Cheng smiled. “I’ve already made the arrangements. We plan to invite all the players’ families to travel with the team for the FA Cup and Champions League finals.”

“So, isn’t it perfect that they’re coming?”

Xia Qing was still a little worried, feeling it was unnecessary to add more pressure on Yang Cheng.

“It’s really fine. Don’t feel burdened either. This kind of thing will become common in the future. We’re going to be in the Champions League final often, so as a family member, you’ll have to get used to it.”

Seeing that Yang Cheng could still joke, Xia Qing’s mood lightened a bit.

“You’ve been handling all the renovations and furnishing by yourself recently. It must have been hard work,” Yang Cheng said, gently squeezing her soft hand. It was very soft and comfortable.

“I’ll be quite busy then, so you’ll be in charge of hosting them. They can stay directly at our new house. I’ll stay here; it’s more convenient for work.”

Xia Qing had no objections.

She knew that when Yang Cheng was truly busy, he worked day and night.

…

The final round of the Premier League fixtures all kicked off at the same time.

The matches started at 2:00 PM.

Bayswater Chinese were away to Derby County.

Yang Cheng fielded his strongest lineup for this match, as it was the final game.

Although the chances of overtaking Manchester United to win the title were slim, Yang Cheng still went with his full-strength team.

After the match began, Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative as the away team and launched an attack.

Derby County had already been relegated.

The team had won only one match and drawn eight all season, earning a mere eleven points. They could almost be called the worst relegated team in Premier League history.

Just fifteen minutes into the game, Džeko laid the ball back inside the box, and Yaya Touré, making a late run, fired a long shot that pierced Derby County’s goal.

1-0!

Subsequently, Derby County committed a series of fouls and received yellow cards.

They really had no other options.

Without fouling, they simply couldn’t stop the Bayswater Chinese.

It wasn’t until the 37th minute that Modrić and Di María completed a one-two pass. Modrić broke into the box and squared the ball, and Džeko toe-poked it home from close range to extend the lead.

2-0!

Before halftime, Bayswater Chinese had several more excellent attacks that nearly resulted in goals.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese continued their relentless pursuit.

First, Maicon sent in a cross from the right, and Andrei Arshavin volleyed it home from inside the box. 3-0!

Just two minutes later, a long ball from the back found Džeko on the right. He controlled the ball, broke through, entered the penalty area, and fired a shot into the net. 4-0!

After that, Džeko scored again, completing his hat-trick.

This was Džeko’s first hat-trick in the Premier League, and also the first of his professional career.

After going up 5-0, Bayswater Chinese made a series of substitutions.

Afterward, Andrei Arshavin, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale all scored in succession.

In the end, the team thrashed Derby County 8-0 away from home.

When the final goal was scored, there were still fifteen minutes left in the match.

But Bayswater Chinese did not press their advantage further.

In another stadium, Manchester United also fielded their strongest lineup.

But Ferguson’s team struggled against Wigan Athletic’s defense.

For a long time, they couldn’t even manage a threatening shot.

But in the 33rd minute, a Wigan Athletic defender tripped Rooney inside the box, and the referee awarded a penalty kick.

C. Ronaldo converted the penalty.

Later, in the 80th minute, Ryan Giggs scored another goal for Manchester United.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 away from home.

The Red Devils also secured the 2007/08 Premier League title.

…

After 38 rounds, Manchester United successfully won the title.

Bayswater Chinese finished just one point behind them as runners-up.

Chelsea took third place.

Although Liverpool won their last two matches, Benítez’s team couldn’t overcome their earlier shaky form.

Especially in the 35th round, after Bayswater Chinese had helped them by defeating Arsenal, essentially handing them fourth place on a platter, they somehow managed to throw it away in the 36th round.

In the end, Arsenal finished fourth, and Liverpool had to settle for fifth.

Thus, the Premier League teams participating in next season’s Champions League would be Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

The Gunners had finally returned to the Champions League after a two-season absence.

After 38 rounds, the three relegated teams were Derby County, Birmingham City, and Fulham.

Eighteenth-placed Fulham was just one point behind seventeenth-placed Bolton.

The relegation battle between these two teams went down to the final round.

In the words of the British media, this was a contest for nearly thirty million pounds in television broadcasting fees and tens of millions in annual income.

In the end, it was West London’s Fulham who were relegated.

Yang Cheng was mentally prepared for this result.

Losing the league was always the more likely outcome.

As for Fulham’s relegation, he wasn’t particularly happy about it.

If Chelsea or Arsenal had been relegated, he might have applied to set off fireworks in Hyde Park to celebrate wildly.

But Fulham? Yang Cheng didn’t pay them much mind.

Instead, the media once again started a new round of frenzied speculation.

It was all about how, by losing the league, Bayswater Chinese had taken another step towards becoming “triple runner-up”.

In terms of player performance, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had their respective triumphs.

C. Ronaldo finished at the top of the scorer chart with 31 league goals.

Bayswater Chinese’s Bosnian centre-forward, Džeko, also had a breakout season, following closely behind with 25 goals.

Liverpool’s Torres and Arsenal’s Adebayor were tied for third with 24 goals each.

Further down, in fifth place, was Andrei Arshavin with 21 goals.

This was the highest-scoring season of the Russian’s career.

In terms of attacking combinations, Manchester United’s trio of C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Carlos Tevez scored 31, 12, and 14 goals respectively, contributing a total of 57 goals, making them arguably the most formidable attacking trio in European football today.

Bayswater Chinese’s front three didn’t fare as well. Džeko scored 25 goals and Andrei Arshavin 21, but Di María only managed 5, for a total of just 51 goals.

Although Di María’s goal count was low, he provided many assists, finishing the Premier League season second only to Fàbregas in the assist charts.

This was a testament to Di María’s characteristics.

Although the Argentine was a typical South American winger, he primarily focused on passing and assisting. Scoring was clearly not his forte.

In contrast, youngsters like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott both scored 8 Premier League goals this season.

In addition, the Polish centre-forward—wait, that’s Lewandowski not Džeko. The text says Džeko, the Bosnian centre-forward, but then later says the Polish centre-forward also scored 8 goals. This must be Lewandowski. Yes, Džeko is from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lewandowski is from Poland. So it should be Robert Lewandowski.

The text mistakenly says 波兰的中锋哲科 (Polish centre-forward Džeko). Džeko is Bosnian. It should be Lewandowski (莱万多夫斯基). I will correct this.

In addition, the Polish centre-forward, Robert Lewandowski, also scored 8 Premier League goals this season.

It was because of the excellent performance of these young players, coupled with Yaya Touré also scoring 8 goals, that Bayswater Chinese’s total Premier League goals for the season came to exactly 100.

This surpassed the 97 goals scored by the legendary 99/00 Manchester United team, making Bayswater Chinese the first team in Premier League history to score over 100 goals in a single season.

The 99/00 Manchester United team scored 97 goals and conceded 45.

This season, while scoring 100 goals, Bayswater Chinese conceded only 28.

Across the entire Premier League, their goals conceded tally was tied for second best, only behind Manchester United’s 22, and on par with Liverpool.

But The Reds had only scored 67 goals.

Even the media journalists who were pessimistic about Bayswater Chinese’s prospects had to admit that with their performance this season, if they hadn’t run into this historically strong Manchester United team, they might very well have swept the Premier League and won the Treble.

If nothing else, how many teams could withstand a team that scores over 100 goals in a season?

But Ferguson’s Manchester United not only had the most solid defense but also scored an impressive 80 goals.

If one had to find a flaw, it would be their over-reliance on the front three.

That was why no matter how Ferguson rotated his squad, he never dared to touch his front three.

Because, without them, the goal contributions from the rest of Manchester United’s players were paltry.

The highest scorer after them was Saha, with 5 goals. Ryan Giggs and Nani both had 3.

The drop-off was precipitous.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese had several young players with impressive goal-scoring records, and the distribution was very balanced.

The Sun even did a special report, noting that Bayswater Chinese had as many as 18 different goalscorers this season.

And Manchester United?

Only 13.

This was a very clear difference.

Yang Cheng’s team’s offense was a case of goals coming from all over the pitch.

The Red Devils, on the other hand, devoted the entire team to building up their front three, or even just C. Ronaldo.

This led to Manchester United’s dependence on their attacking trident.

They could rotate anyone, but they never dared to rotate the front three.

The moment they did, they would fall apart at a critical moment.

However, it was worth noting that the final round of the Premier League also decided this season’s Golden Glove award.

Back in the 2006/07 season, Neuer had won the Premier League Golden Glove award with 20 clean sheets.

At that time, Liverpool’s goalkeeper Reina finished second with 19, missing out on the award.

This season, the two top goalkeepers competed once again.

In the end, after 38 league matches, both had kept 18 clean sheets, sharing this season’s Premier League Golden Glove award.

After the match against Derby County, upon returning to London, Neuer received the award from the Premier League at Bayswater Stadium.

In his interview with the media, the German goalkeeper thanked his teammates and the team’s coaches.

He gave special thanks to head coach Yang Cheng.

Although there has always been some controversy surrounding the Premier League’s Golden Glove award being based on the number of clean sheets, it was undeniable that since joining Bayswater Chinese, Neuer had become one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, and even in European football.

Ample match experience allowed Neuer to improve very quickly.

At only 22 years old, having already won the Premier League Golden Glove award twice, Neuer’s talent and ability were evident.

While Neuer was receiving the Premier League Golden Glove award, Ferguson was in Manchester, giving an interview to the media as the new Premier League champion.

The Manchester United patriarch emotionally stated that he now had two goals, one long-term and one short-term.

The long-term goal was to win more titles for Manchester United and knock Liverpool off their throne as the club with the most championships.

The short-term goal was simpler.

“I hope to win the two crucial finals in the next ten days.”

What Ferguson was referring to were the FA Cup final and the Champions League final.

“I know it will be very difficult. Bayswater Chinese is a very strong team, but I have always believed that as long as we focus on the game, victory and the championship will belong to us!”

“We will first win the FA Cup final and then enter the Champions League final with the high morale of a Double champion!”

…

On the afternoon of May 17th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The FA Cup final, Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United.

To everyone’s surprise, Yang Cheng actually honored his promise to the youngsters and started them again.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Marcelo, José Fonte, Koscielny, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in the holding role, with Matuidi and Rakitić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

In contrast, Manchester United fielded their full-strength lineup.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Wes Brown;

Midfield: Ryan Giggs, Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, and C. Ronaldo;

Forwards: Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

As Yang Cheng had predicted, Ferguson never dared to rotate his front three.

Yang Cheng kept his promise, and as a result, Bayswater Chinese’s young players were fired up and played with immense亢奮, showing an aggressive spirit from the very beginning.

Less than a minute into the game, Matuidi threatened Edwin van der Sar’s goal with a long shot from outside the box.

In the 12th minute, Gareth Bale on the left received a pass from Matuidi, burst past Manchester United’s midfield with blistering pace, and sent a diagonal ball in behind the defense. Walcott beat the offside trap, broke into the box, and shot from the right of the penalty spot.

The shot was saved by a timely lunge from Edwin van der Sar, who had come halfway out.

A minute later, Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick in the final third.

Koscielny’s header went just wide.

The most dangerous moment came in the 21st minute. Gareth Bale crossed from the left, and Lewandowski received the ball in the box, shook off Ferdinand, and took a low shot from the edge of the six-yard box on the left.

The ball struck the base of the left post and bounced out for a goal kick.

Bayswater Chinese had missed a golden opportunity.

In the first 21 minutes, Manchester United had been so pressed by Bayswater Chinese’s young players that they failed to get a single shot off.

It wasn’t until the 24th minute that Manchester United finally threatened Begović’s goal with a long shot.

But Bayswater Chinese persisted with their attack.

First, they used a set-piece routine in the final third that gave everyone on the Manchester United side a scare.

Lewandowski’s header was just inches away from going in.

Then, in the 40th minute, Gareth Bale used his speed on the left to muscle past Wes Brown and deliver a cross from near the byline.

Lewandowski, at the near post, was about to make a run to toe-poke the ball in when he lost his balance and fell. Walcott at the far post attempted a sliding shot but was a fraction too slow, hitting the side netting on the right.

Lewandowski got up and protested to the head referee, claiming he had been pulled down from behind by Ferdinand, but the referee did not make a call.

Slow-motion replays showed that Ferdinand did indeed have his hands on him.

It could be said that for the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese’s young players had Manchester United completely on the back foot, their attacks ferocious.

But during the halftime break, Yang Cheng repeatedly warned his players that Manchester United had not yet truly exerted themselves.

Ferguson would surely be saving some energy for the upcoming Champions League final, and the Manchester United players were playing more relaxed.

So, in the first half, Manchester United was more focused on defense.

But given the poor state of affairs in the first half, this would surely change in the second.

Perhaps Ferguson was already delivering one of his famous motivational speeches in the dressing room.

Sure enough, after the break, Manchester United came out firing on all cylinders.

Led by C. Ronaldo, their attacking line launched a fierce assault on the Bayswater Chinese.

Their most threatening chance came in the 53rd minute, when C. Ronaldo used a backheel to set up Rooney, who broke into the box and shot, only for Begović to make a diving save, deflecting the ball out for a corner.

After Manchester United stepped up their game, Bayswater Chinese shifted more towards defense.

Matić’s current ability was indeed not yet on par with Yaya Touré’s, but the tall and sturdy Serbian, after a season of experience, had gradually adapted to the holding midfielder role.

Moreover, he was beginning to realize that he was more comfortable playing in this position.

With his technical characteristics, playing as a number ten would expose his weaknesses.

Dropping back to the Number 4 role amplified his strengths.

The only issue was that he needed to improve his defensive skills and awareness.

This required more game time.

Matuidi was another player on the pitch who greatly satisfied Yang Cheng.

At first glance, many would think Matuidi was a beast of a holding midfielder of African descent. His appearance had a rough-and-tumble quality, and he looked like he was not to be trifled with.

But in reality?

Not at all!

Matuidi’s passing ability was exceptionally strong, with his completion rate consistently around 90%.

However, he mainly used short passes and rarely attempted long ones.

More importantly, he had incredible stamina and was a great ball-winner.

In his years with Bayswater Chinese, his skills had improved dramatically.

Especially in the last two seasons, he had become a vital rotation player for the first team.

Whenever Lassana Diarra was injured, suspended, or on international duty, Matuidi would step in.

It was precisely because of Matuidi’s sweeping presence in midfield, plus Rakitić’s ability to attack and defend with superb running capacity, and Matić behind them, that Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was still able to withstand Manchester United’s repeated assaults.

The two teams battled fiercely until the 71st minute, when C. Ronaldo broke through on the right flank, cut into the box, and unleashed a powerful shot, which Begović parried.

Carlos Tevez got to the rebound before Koscielny and tapped the ball into the net from close range.

1-0!

Manchester United quickly made substitutions.

Nani replaced C. Ronaldo, and Ashley Young came on for Rooney.

Yang Cheng also made changes, bringing on Aaron Ramsey for Matić.

He then substituted Andrei Arshavin for Rakitić.

With these changes, Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey formed a double pivot, with Andrei Arshavin playing in the hole behind Lewandowski.

Bayswater Chinese switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

For the final 20 minutes, Bayswater Chinese relentlessly pressed Manchester United.

Especially in the last 10 minutes, even Marcelo and Piszczek were madly pushing forward, forcing Manchester United into an almost full-scale retreat.

Aaron Ramsey, in particular, was brilliant.

Although he was playing in a double pivot, he frequently made forward runs to link up with Andrei Arshavin in the attack.

The most threatening of these came in the 81st minute, when he played a through ball that Gareth Bale struck, but it deflected off Ferdinand and went out for a corner.

Aaron Ramsey took the corner kick, but José Fonte’s header was straight at Edwin van der Sar, who caught it easily.

Then, in the 89th minute, Andrei Arshavin delivered a superb pass, and Ramsey unleashed a powerful shot from the right side of the box, which Edwin van der Sar couldn’t hold.

But the Dutchman reacted quickly, pouncing on the loose ball immediately.

Lewandowski was a step too slow.

All the way into the 94th minute, Piszczek was still attacking on the right, his shot hitting the side netting.

Finally, head referee Mike Dean blew the final whistle.

Thanks to Carlos Tevez’s goal, Manchester United secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Bayswater Chinese.

But Ferguson, despite the win, didn’t seem to have the joyous celebration one would expect from a Double champion.

The way the match had unfolded was somewhat unexpected for him.

According to the Manchester United patriarch’s plan, if Yang Cheng had fielded his main team, then Manchester United would have gone all-out against them. After all, they would have to face off again in the Champions League final.

If he used substitutes, then that would be perfect. They could end the match early and conserve energy for the Champions League final.

But Ferguson had not expected that Bayswater Chinese, with their young lineup, would put up such a tenacious fight.

There were even several times when Manchester United almost couldn’t hold on.

This match had taken a heavy toll on his players.

Apart from C. Ronaldo and Rooney, and Hargreaves who was substituted later, everyone else played the full 94 minutes.

The first half was manageable, but the pace quickened in the second.

“Where on earth does he find so many young monsters?” Ferguson felt a headache coming on.

Carlos Queiroz was also excellent at developing young players. The talent displayed by Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters in the match was impossible to hide, and he was delighted to see it.

“In another two or three years, when these players have matured, they will form a whole new Bayswater Chinese team!” Queiroz praised with a smile.

Ferguson’s frown deepened.

He knew that as well.

“Do you think he intentionally lost the FA Cup? To save energy for the Champions League?” Ferguson asked.

Queiroz turned to look at Yang Cheng, who appeared calm, neither happy nor sad, as if he didn’t care much for this trophy.

“Intentionally? I doubt it. He gave his all in this match; he just didn’t field his main players.”

Everyone knew it was because Yang Cheng had made a promise to his players before the season.

“If I had such a group of young players, I would have played them too.”

“Oh?” Ferguson was surprised.

“Fighting for an FA Cup final against Manchester United will be hugely beneficial for their development. Even if they lost, it was worth it!”

Ferguson was somewhat moved.

Who was Carlos Queiroz?

He was the youth development master who had nurtured Portugal’s golden generation, led by Figo and Rui Costa.

He was definitely one of the best coaches in world football at developing young players.

Hearing him say that, Ferguson’s good mood from winning the Double suddenly faded.

He even began to feel a little worried.

The 21st, the Champions League final!

Chapter 143: Winning the Midfield Battle! To Hell with Your Treble, We Want the Champions League Too!

West of Manchester, at Carrington, the Manchester United training ground.

After the FA Cup final, Manchester United’s preparations shifted entirely to the Champions League final.

Carlos Queiroz was in charge of the team’s preparations; Ferguson trusted him completely.

But the real trouble was, how should they play the upcoming final?

“According to the weather forecast, it will rain in Moscow on the day of the match. We need to prepare for a wet game.”

Queiroz’s preparations were meticulous, always keeping an eye on important off-field factors like the weather.

“How’s Darren doing now?” Ferguson asked with concern.

Darren Fletcher, one of only two defensively-minded midfielders at Manchester United.

“He’s been working on his recovery, but his form isn’t great.”

Ferguson knew Fletcher’s abilities inside and out.

He wasn’t old, only twenty-four, but he had very distinct characteristics.

In the first half of the season, Fletcher consistently played in the Champions League, while Owen Hargreaves played in the league.

But since Fletcher’s injury, Hargreaves had shouldered the burden alone.

The most ridiculous part was the media.

When Fletcher played, Manchester United scored more, but also conceded more.

Hargreaves replaced Fletcher in the Champions League four times, and starting from the quarter-finals knockout stage, Manchester United kept a clean sheet in every game.

And so, they were now relentlessly hyping up Hargreaves while belittling Fletcher.

The insinuation was that if Hargreaves had been promoted sooner, Manchester United’s Champions League campaign would have been smoother.

Ferguson almost died laughing.

These idiots truly lacked dynamic thinking.

Many of them hadn’t even figured out the characteristics of the two players.

They said Fletcher and Hargreaves were both all-rounders, good in attack and defense.

And then?

What were their strengths? What positions did they prefer to play in?

Fundamentally, these two players were completely different types of midfielders.

Hargreaves was an atypical English midfielder.

He hadn’t come up through the traditional English youth academy system, so naturally, he hadn’t picked up some of the bad habits of English football.

His technique was decent, his defending was excellent, and his tenacious marking was very good, but his most important attributes were his stamina and versatility.

He could play in many different positions.

For example, when C. Ronaldo made a diagonal run into the box or left the right flank, he could push up to play as a right midfielder or even a right winger.

This, in turn, highlighted Hargreaves’ incredible work rate; he was seemingly everywhere.

Many people said he was like Keane.

Like hell he was!

Keane could play as a lone holding midfielder. If Hargreaves were asked to do the same, Manchester United’s defense would probably be torn to shreds.

That was why Carrick was the most important player.

Based on his characteristics, Hargreaves was suited to tactics that involved pressing forward in attack.

Making him play on the counter-attack would only expose his shortcomings in zonal defending.

Simply put, you had to let him run free.

But Fletcher was different.

If they were to play on the counter-attack, Fletcher was an excellent choice.

Like Hargreaves, Fletcher couldn’t play as a lone holding midfielder, but his ability to intercept in the midfield was exceptional. Most importantly, he possessed an instinct for tracking back and covering positions that Hargreaves lacked.

Protecting the centre-backs, helping out the full-backs—these were Fletcher’s specialties.

But Hargreaves couldn’t do these things.

That’s why Ferguson used Hargreaves in the league, because Manchester United invested heavily in attack in domestic matches.

In the Champions League, he used Fletcher to appropriately bolster the defense in the midfield and backline.

When Fletcher got injured, Ferguson only had Hargreaves left, so he naturally had to adjust the team’s tactics, making them more cautious.

This led to a situation where Manchester United actually played more openly when Fletcher was on the pitch.

In the knockout stages from the quarter-finals onwards, with Hargreaves in the team, Ferguson set them up to be more cautious and careful.

Sometimes, tactics are like that.

The final result, what the fans see during the game, can be completely different from what the head coach intended.

It was like how many people asked Ferguson why he had spent so much money to sign Ashley Young.

Ferguson really wanted to ask back: Weren’t you media folks the ones always clamoring for us to keep up with the times and play a 4-3-3?

In Barça’s Dream Team Two’s 4-3-3 system, wasn’t one of the most important attacking routines when Ronaldinho cut inside from the left and played a diagonal pass to find Eto’o and Ludovic Giuly?

Weren’t Ashley Young’s characteristics, demonstrated at Bayswater Chinese, and his title as the Premier League’s crossing king a perfect fit for this?

From a tactical perspective, the greatest significance of such a diagonal pass was that it forced the defending side to retreat while also shifting laterally, which greatly increased the difficulty for the opposing defenders.

Once the ball was moved to the right and the opposing defensive line shifted, wouldn’t the space in the center be exposed?

So, Ronaldinho plays a diagonal pass to Giuly, Giuly sends a horizontal pass from the right to the center, and Eto’o scores.

Wasn’t that how this classic attacking sequence came about?

It was just that as the season progressed, C. Ronaldo scored more and more goals, forcing Ferguson to temporarily shelve the idea.

Because C. Ronaldo would certainly not be happy playing the “Giuly” role.

In Ferguson’s original plan, with C. Ronaldo’s speed, one pass from Ashley Young could tear the defense apart. A subsequent pull-back would cause Rooney’s goal count to skyrocket.

Looking ahead, Nani had the potential to become the “Giuly”.

“What’s your take on this final?” Ferguson asked Queiroz.

Queiroz had worked with Ferguson for many years and was used to this kind of question.

“This team that Yang Cheng has built… it might not look like much on the surface, but in reality, they’re very difficult to contain.”

Ferguson nodded and smiled upon hearing this. “Over a hundred goals in a single season, you think that’s a joke?”

If they were easy to defend against, other teams would have neutralized them long ago.

There was another statistic that reflected the formidable attacking power of Bayswater Chinese.

This season, only one team in the Premier League had been held to a clean sheet just twice.

Bayswater Chinese.

And in both matches, the final score was 0-1.

The opponents were Blackburn Rovers and Everton, both away games.

“Yaya Touré is currently the holding midfielder for Bayswater Chinese who can hold his ground and also distribute the ball efficiently. Lassana Diarra excels at covering ground, sweeping, and tackling, while Modrić is good at driving the ball forward.”

At this point, Queiroz changed the subject, a glint of admiration in his eyes.

“Haven’t you been looking for a successor to Scholes? Personally, I think Modrić’s ability to drive the ball forward deep from midfield is exactly what our current team needs most. Anderson isn’t at his level.”

Ferguson wasn’t surprised at all.

Modrić was indeed low-key, but his importance and ability were well-known within the industry.

“Frankly, facing this midfield, it will be very difficult for us to stop them,” Queiroz gave his assessment.

It wasn’t just Manchester United; almost every team in European football would be at a disadvantage in the midfield when facing Bayswater Chinese.

Including Barça.

“Also, I think we need to assign someone to mark Maicon’s flank, or simply have C. Ronaldo play on the left to pin Maicon back.”

“Ever since Yang Cheng adjusted the team’s tactics mid-season last year, Maicon has been given a huge amount of freedom to operate on the right flank within the current framework. He covers an incredible amount of distance in every game, often exceeding 12,000 meters.”

If you only looked at the stats, Maicon might not seem particularly outstanding.

But if you actually watched the games, you would notice that Maicon was already one of the best right-backs in Europe.

Whenever an opponent left him space on the right flank, he would make them pay a heavy price.

“Finally, there’s the dual core of Andrei Arshavin and Modrić controlling the ball.”

Many people failed to notice just how important the connection between Arshavin and Modrić was.

The Russian was not only stable in possession and distribution, but his ability to read the game was outstanding.

He was proficient in passing, controlling, dribbling, and shooting, complemented by excellent positioning.

His dual core partnership with Modrić could often simplify a very complex stalemate.

On the pitch, this manifested as a seemingly effortless combination, a single pass, or even a sudden stop and change of direction, and that’s all it took.

But behind it was the manipulation and stretching of the entire defensive system.

It was a kind of incredibly sharp instinct, combined with superior anticipation.

He heard the kid used to play checkers.

“Hearing you say all this, how come I feel like our chances aren’t so good?” Ferguson chuckled.

Queiroz was a little embarrassed.

But his analysis was based on his own judgment.

Fortunately, Ferguson understood him; their partnership had always been like this.

“I have two ideas right now,” Ferguson said.

“First, move Rooney to the left to pin down Maicon on the right. Tevez drops back to receive the ball and link up play, and C. Ronaldo plays up top. We’ll play on the counter-attack.”

Tevez was a player who perfectly embodied the spirit of Manchester United, carrying a kind of Red Devils tenacity.

As a South American player, his strengths were holding the ball, linking up play, and making forward runs.

“The advantage of this is that Tevez and C. Ronaldo will form two attacking points, one behind the other.”

“But to maximize C. Ronaldo’s strengths, we need to keep him away from their centre-backs, which means our entire defensive line has to drop back. We’d basically be limited to playing on the counter-attack.”

Queiroz understood Ferguson’s point.

Playing on the counter-attack, especially against a Premier League team, was something he could never accept.

Call it the pride of a man who had achieved great success, or say he was protective of his reputation, but Queiroz believed it was more about Manchester United’s sense of honor.

In the Premier League, Manchester United could be pressed back, but they would never willingly choose to play on the counter-attack!

“Second option, Rooney still on the left, Tevez pushes up to go all-out against their centre-backs, and C. Ronaldo drops a little deeper.”

“But that way, our midfield has to press forward, the whole team has to push up. With Hargreaves in there, I’m very worried our midfield won’t be able to hold.”

Hargreaves was a player with many, many strengths.

But he also had weaknesses.

He was good at running, but often couldn’t get back in time.

That could be fatal.

Especially when both teams were committed to attacking.

Queiroz also fell silent.

Ferguson had thought it all through, but in reality, there were no great solutions.

It was all guesswork, all a gamble.

After Manchester United won the league and the FA Cup, the media relentlessly hyped up their chances of winning the Treble.

They also said that Manchester United hadn’t lost to Bayswater Chinese this season.

That was true.

But aside from the FA Cup final victory against Bayswater Chinese’s B team, Manchester United hadn’t won against them either.

For both teams to reach the Champions League final, there wasn’t much difference in their strength.

But Yang Cheng’s team had one very clear advantage.

Their ability to pass and control the ball was superior!

This was something Manchester United lacked.

Ferguson said he had two ideas, but Queiroz knew in his heart that with the old gaffer’s personality, he really only had one choice.

The reason he mentioned two was just to find a way to attack proactively without having to worry about defense.

But did such a way exist?

…

The great battle was imminent.

When both sets of parents, Xia Xi, and his girlfriend arrived in London, Yang Cheng made a special trip to the airport to pick them up.

He had been too busy lately to take care of himself.

Yang Cheng made sure to shave, get a haircut, and change into a sharp tracksuit before waiting with Xia Qing at the airport arrivals gate.

This was their arranged meeting spot.

Since they had timed it perfectly, they didn’t have to wait long.

Soon, they saw Yang Jianguo and his wife, Xia Anmin and his wife, and Xia Xi with his girlfriend—a group of six—emerging with smiles and conversation.

“Dad, Mom, hello Uncle, Auntie.”

Just as he had on his first visit to their home, Yang Cheng used his sweet-talking advantage and immediately went up to greet them.

“Welcome to London.”

As he spoke, he reached out to take the suitcase from Cao Wenhui’s hand.

Xia Qing, meanwhile, went to Yang Cheng’s mother, Li Hongying, and warmly took her suitcase.

“A Cheng, didn’t you say you were too busy to pick us up?” Cao Wenhui was growing more and more fond of her future son-in-law.

Not only was he handsome, but more importantly, he was capable.

“Auntie, what are you saying? You came all this way to see us. No matter how busy I am, I have to come and get you.”

Cao Wenhui was very pleased with Yang Cheng’s conscientiousness.

Xia Anmin and Xia Xi exchanged a look, as if both were relieved.

They had seen the news reports.

Ever since losing the FA Cup, almost all the media around the world were pessimistic about Bayswater Chinese’s chances.

They had been worried that when they saw Yang Cheng, he would be dejected and downcast, and they were trying to figure out how to comfort him.

But to their surprise, upon meeting, Yang Cheng was all smiles and full of energy. He didn’t look like a loser in the slightest.

They could tell at a glance whether he was faking it.

So, they were relieved.

Yang Cheng had arranged for three of the club’s courtesy cars, all provided by their automotive sponsor, Mercedes-Benz.

Xia Qing rode with her parents. Yang Cheng was supposed to ride with his parents, but Yang Jianguo told him to ride with Xia Xi.

The convoy of three cars left the airport and headed east.

Despite the long flight, everyone still seemed to be in high spirits.

And they had all agreed that upon arriving in London, they absolutely had to see Yang Cheng’s properties first.

So, after leaving Heathrow Airport, they passed through Hounslow, turned onto the A406 heading north, passed Wembley Stadium, and arrived at the Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

Crossing the Brent Reservoir, they came to Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training ground.

After several years of construction, the place was now largely complete.

Coming from Brent Cross, the youth academy was to the north, while the first team training area was to the south, adjacent to the Brent Reservoir.

The youth academy had been completed for two years and was already well-established, while the first team area was preparing for its final inspection before being handed over.

It would be officially opened this summer.

Now, only the third phase of construction next to the youth academy remained.

But actually, even if the third phase wasn’t built, it wouldn’t be a problem, as the facilities at the old Silver Jubilee Park in Hendon were still decent.

According to Bayswater Chinese’s plan, the next focus was on the new stadium in Bayswater.

So, the third phase would be temporarily put on hold.

The group first took a drive around the complex before getting out in front of the first team’s training center.

“It’s so huge! Is this entire area part of it?” Cao Wenhui was stunned.

She had heard that Yang Cheng was doing big things in London, but she had never imagined he had bought such a massive piece of land. It was truly astounding.

“Mom, this whole area is ours. We paid for the land and construction in full, without taking a single loan,” Xia Qing said with a touch of pride.

This time, even Xia Anmin was moved.

Despite his worldliness, he had to admit that pulling off a project of this scale even with loans would have been incredibly difficult.

Yang Cheng had paid for it all in cash.

That was even more incredible.

Yang Jianguo and his wife had visited once before, but there had been nothing here back then.

Now, returning to see what was hailed as the world’s most advanced football training facility, they were filled with excitement.

Whether it was grand or not didn’t really matter to them.

What mattered most was that this was the business their precious son had built!

“Such a huge piece of land, such a big project. No wonder it costs hundreds of millions,” Xia Xi couldn’t help but sigh.

He was definitely thinking in yuan.

A preliminary estimate put the total investment, including land and construction, at over thirty million pound sterling so far.

When they finished touring the first team training center and moved on to the players’ leisure and residential area, they were even more amazed. They hadn’t expected the players’ “dormitories” to be built to the standard of a five-star hotel.

It was too extravagant!

Cao Wenhui even joked, “We could just live here.”

After touring the training ground, they went to Wembley Stadium.

Everyone had long heard of this super stadium, which cost nearly eight hundred million pound sterling to build, but they had never experienced it in person.

And now, Bayswater Chinese played their matches in this very stadium.

But they were only renting it.

After a quick look, they headed to the city center, arriving in Bayswater, north of Hyde Park.

They had all heard of the famous Notting Hill and Hyde Park.

Not to mention Queensway.

Heading north along Queensway, after a short walk, they arrived at Bayswater Stadium.

The group gasped in amazement again.

Even Xia Anmin found it unbelievable.

“This is massive!”

To own such a large piece of land in the heart of London, where every inch is precious, how much must it be worth?

When Yang Cheng explained how much of a “headache” this Unfinished building had been for the London city government, everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

And when they saw the design plan from Norman Foster, they were utterly stunned.

Yang Cheng had specifically set up a display room in the Bayswater Chinese club offices.

Not only were the design drawings hung up, but there was also a striking architectural model, allowing everyone to get a clearer picture of the entire Queensway renovation project and the magnificence of the new Bayswater stadium.

“How much will this cost?” Xia Xi was shocked.

He knew what Yang Cheng was up to, but seeing it with his own eyes was still profoundly shocking.

It was too big.

“The original budget was one billion pound sterling, but now…” Yang Cheng’s embarrassment was tinged with pride.

Xia Qing took over: “According to their new plan, the entire stadium needs an extra tier of stands dug downwards. The amount of work is immense, so one billion pound sterling is definitely not going to be enough.”

Everyone was speechless.

If this were in China, it would be a project with an investment of over ten billion yuan.

Xia Anmin had seen the world. He took a deep look at Yang Cheng, sighing inwardly.

A hero emerges from the young!

Afterward, they toured the Bayswater Chinese offices.

Currently, all departments were working frantically on the upcoming Champions League final. Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada weren’t around; no one had time to host them.

So, after a brief tour, the group got back in their cars and drove from Bayswater to the luxury residential area west of Holland Park.

…

Yang Cheng’s new home was personally designed by Norman Foster.

From the exterior facade to the interior decoration, to the front courtyard and back garden, everything was the work of the master architect.

As a small detached house, it was not small in size.

Both sets of parents, Xia Xi and his girlfriend, and Xia Qing could all stay there without any problem.

The exterior looked similar to the neighboring detached houses, but once inside, you could see that Norman Foster had used a lot of modern, minimalist design styles, yet every detail exuded luxury and craftsmanship.

The space was very spacious and bright, and the layout was well-planned.

As soon as everyone walked in, they felt a special warmth and comfort.

It had all the amenities one would expect from a luxury home.

The only drawback was the lack of a swimming pool.

Not just this house, but none of the houses in the surrounding area had one.

But for Yang Cheng and Xia Qing, this wasn’t an essential need, so they didn’t care.

The property management was excellent, and Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had also hired a butler and servants, who had prepared all the rooms early in the morning.

A sumptuous dinner was also prepared.

“Dad, Uncle, Xia Xi, let’s have a couple of drinks.”

Before dinner, Yang Cheng suggested with a smile.

“This wine is from Ferguson’s personal collection. He gave me a case.”

“Really?”

Xia Anmin was also a football fan.

Any football fan would have a decent impression of Ferguson.

So, they ate and drank, and their evaluation of Ferguson’s collection was very high.

The old man had a wine cellar for his collection; anything that wasn’t top-quality wouldn’t even catch his eye.

“Dad, Uncle, since you like it, let’s split the bottles. I’ll have someone ship them back to China for you later.”

“You’re giving them all to us? What about you?” Xia Anmin smiled, looking particularly happy.

Wine from his future son-in-law, and from Ferguson’s personal collection at that—how could he refuse?

“When I win the Champions League final, I’ll go get another case from Ferguson,” Yang Cheng said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Everyone burst into laughter again.

It wasn’t entirely because of the wine, but because of the confidence radiating from Yang Cheng’s tone.

Clearly, their previous worries had been unnecessary.

Yang Cheng truly hadn’t let the recent league and FA Cup defeats get to him.

Gradually, the topic shifted back to the new Bayswater Chinese stadium.

Due to a last-minute change in key specifications from Bayswater Chinese, the design had to be redone, and many things needed to be adjusted. However, they expected to receive the official construction permit around September.

The reason it was so fast was that it was part of the Queensway renovation project with the London government.

When the government was involved, things moved quickly.

Xia Anmin was a banker, so he was naturally concerned about Bayswater Chinese’s finances.

Xia Qing gave a brief report on the situation.

For now, the start-up capital was not a major issue.

“As for the loan, I agree with A Cheng’s judgment. Wait a bit longer.” Xia Anmin’s position allowed him to receive more information from the global capital markets.

“Based on the current reactions in the global financial capital markets, the impact of the debt crisis in the United States has been severely underestimated. The reaction here in Europe will probably not be felt until the second half of the year at the earliest.”

“I did some research earlier. The UK already lowered its base rate from a high of 5.75% to 5.5% last December. The initial estimate at that time was that it would drop to around 5.25% by the end of 2008.”

“But by January this year, the market had lowered its expectations again, predicting the base rate would fall to 4.25% by the end of 2008.”

“We all know the situation is probably worse than that, so my personal preliminary judgment is that the base rate is likely to fall to between 3% and 3.5%.”

Xia Qing and Xia Xi were both calculating in their heads.

For a country’s base rate to plummet in such a short period was definitely not a good sign.

Yang Cheng, however, shook his head secretly.

It was already May 2008.

Even a banker of Xia Anmin’s caliber couldn’t make an accurate prediction, which just showed how terrifying this storm was.

3%?

If Yang Cheng told him that in January 2009, the UK would slash it to 0.5%, it would probably scare him to death.

The most absurd part was that the 0.5% base rate would last for ten years.

If he said that out loud, all the financial experts and bankers in the world would laugh their heads off.

But that was the truth!

However, even so, building this new stadium would not be an easy task.

Even if the base rate dropped to 0.5%, to get a long-term loan, the interest rate would probably have a 2% to 3% premium.

The actual rate would depend on negotiations with the bank.

Xia Qing was very confident in this regard.

Xia Anmin also offered a lot of advice and practical suggestions, especially regarding negotiations with banks.

When the time came, Xia Anmin could also use some of his own connections and resources.

Even if they negotiated an ideal outcome and got a loan rate of around 2.5%, for one billion pound sterling over twenty years, the annual repayment would be around seventy million pound sterling.

Arsenal was currently paying back less than sixty million pound sterling a year and was already struggling to breathe.

For Bayswater Chinese to repay seventy million pound sterling would still be a lot of pressure.

But for Yang Cheng, this wasn’t really a huge problem.

Because in the next few years, player values would skyrocket.

At worst, he could just sell one or two more players.

Once the new stadium and its surrounding projects were built, the benefits would be endless.

Xia Anmin, on the other hand, believed that for a major project like this, especially one in partnership with the UK government, they could definitely negotiate a lower loan rate.

As for potential financial difficulties during the loan period, there were many different ways to resolve them.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current assets, there was nothing to worry about.

“You’re in the UK, so just go for it. If there’s anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask,” Xia Anmin offered his full support.

If this were in China, Xia Anmin and Xia Xi could help in many more ways.

But this was, after all, in the UK.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing both said that it wasn’t a big problem and they should be able to handle it.

“If we really can’t handle it, Uncle, we’ll have to trouble you then,” Yang Cheng said, pouring Xia Anmin a glass of wine, and the two toasted again.

Beside them, Yang Jianguo and Li Hongying were also very happy.

They knew how extensive the Xia family’s connections and influence were in China.

For one thing, with Zhongxin Bank’s backing, the Yang’s Group’s development had a much stronger foundation.

Because of their children’s relationship, the two families were growing closer. Yang Jianguo and Xia Anmin had become good friends, and Yang Jianguo often received information and resources that others couldn’t, which were immense benefits.

Especially when the conversation gradually shifted to the topic of marriage, Li Hongying firmly stood on the same side as Cao Wenhui.

Xia Qing was already thirty, and Xia Xi was two years older. Although many young people in China liked to marry and have children late, they were indeed getting on in years and needed to hurry up.

Now they had a house, all that was missing were children.

Hearing the conversation veer in an uncontrollable direction, Yang Cheng quickly found an excuse, saying that things were very busy at the club and he had to go back to handle them. He would stay at Xia Qing’s old apartment for the night and not come back.

Then, under the utterly hopeless, losing-the-will-to-live gazes of Xia Qing and Xia Xi, he fled as if his life depended on it.

God only knew how the siblings would survive the night.

…

The Champions League final was held on May 21st.

But on the evening of the 19th, after the last training session, Yang Cheng and the 24 first team players had dinner together.

Afterward, the entire squad took a bus to Heathrow Airport and boarded a private jet to Moscow, Russia.

Yang Cheng brought all the first team players with him.

The families of the players and coaches, as well as club employees, would arrive in Moscow successively on the 20th.

Then there were the Bayswater Chinese fans.

Luzhniki Stadium had a capacity of 70,000, and each team was allocated 25,000 tickets.

For the current Bayswater Chinese, this was far from enough.

Therefore, this batch of tickets was sold exclusively to season ticket holders.

This was a way of giving back to the team’s most loyal fans.

By the time the team arrived at their hotel in Moscow, it was already the middle of the night local time.

After checking in, everyone went to their rooms to rest.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, the team took the familiar bus to the training ground arranged by the Moscow organizers for some simple, basic training, mainly to maintain the players’ condition.

In the afternoon, they went to Luzhniki Stadium to familiarize themselves with the pitch.

There, they could already see many fans who had arrived early.

This was the first time for the Bayswater Chinese players to participate in a Champions League final, and everything was new to them.

But the club had long since arranged everything down to the smallest detail, including all the precautions and procedures after arriving in Moscow, so the players didn’t feel out of place and just followed the schedule.

This was also a form of pre-match preparation.

Many teams lacked experience in preparing for such events and didn’t put in the effort, resulting in players feeling lost before the game.

After the training session, Yang Cheng attended the pre-match press conference.

As the head coach, he answered all sorts of questions in a very formulaic way.

That was all.

On the eve of the match, the team psychologist, Tim Harkness, became the busiest person.

Many players were extremely nervous.

Insomnia was a common occurrence, and some even developed physical injuries due to excessive psychological stress.

For example, many people say that Ronaldo’s sudden illness on the eve of the 1998 World Cup final was caused by extreme nervousness.

Tim Harkness had been preparing ever since the team reached the Champions League final.

Fortunately, the group of players Yang Cheng had selected were mentally tough.

…

The next morning, the official Champions League final schedule began.

Everything was geared towards the final, which was set to kick off at 10:45 PM.

On this day, May 21st, almost the entire world was frantically reporting on the match.

But there was a difference in the coverage.

Bayswater Chinese had risen late, had a shallow history, and there wasn’t much worth reporting.

Especially recently, after losing the league title and then the FA Cup, most of the world’s media and fans were concerned about Bayswater Chinese’s prospects.

Manchester United, on the other hand.

With two trophies already in hand, The Red Devils were determined to win this final, and most important, piece of silverware.

Manchester United’s rich history also provided much more material for reporting.

For example, the players from the ’99 Treble-winning Red Devils team all came out in force, giving interviews and appearing on major newspapers, magazines, and television channels in the UK and Europe, recounting the glorious deeds of that Treble-winning team.

For instance, Sheringham recorded a program on the BBC, talking about that year’s Treble.

The legendary English striker believed that the current Manchester United team was even stronger than the one from his time.

Winning the Treble would be just the beginning for this peak Manchester United team.

Others like David May, the Black Wind Dual Devils, and even Stam gave interviews offering their best wishes to Manchester United.

The world’s media and fans were also all reporting on Manchester United, believing that a Red Devils victory was a high-probability event.

This naturally created an overwhelming wave of momentum.

The heritage of a giant club truly showed at times like this.

Yang Cheng understood.

Take Bayswater Chinese, for example.

If they were to be reported on, what could be said?

There wasn’t much material.

But Manchester United?

From the Munich air disaster to the ’99 Treble, to their renewed pursuit of the Treble this season…

There were so, so many things that could be reported.

This, in turn, made Bayswater Chinese seem particularly lacking in momentum.

To the vast majority of ordinary fans, it felt as though a Manchester United victory was already a foregone conclusion.

…

On the 21st, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was much the same as any other match day.

After waking up in the morning, everyone had breakfast together.

They rested in their rooms, and then had a tactical meeting.

What was different from usual was that this tactical meeting didn’t focus much on tactics. Instead, everyone watched a carefully edited video montage of Bayswater Chinese’s journey over the past few years, from League Two to the Premier League, to the Champions League, all the way to today.

Yang Cheng didn’t say much throughout the video.

But everyone felt a certain weight.

For Bayswater Chinese to have come this far, they carried on their shoulders not just themselves, not just this season, but the collective efforts of everyone at the club over the years.

Everyone clearly saw the final sentence in the video.

“No regrets!”

This was likely the head coach’s message to them.

From morning to afternoon, everyone stayed in their hotel rooms.

There was no other choice.

The streets outside were swarming with fans, and the whole of Moscow was immersed in the atmosphere of the Champions League final.

Even the Russian media were reporting: British fans have conquered Moscow!

Yang Cheng and the psychologist, Tim Harkness, were responsible for going from room to room to check on the players.

When it was time, everyone set off, taking the bus to Luzhniki Stadium.

Although it was still early before kick-off, the area around the stadium was already packed with fans from both teams.

Since Manchester United was the home team tonight, they would be wearing their red jerseys, while Bayswater Chinese would be in their Desert Gold away kits.

All the fans who came to the stadium were also in uniform, all wearing the away jerseys.

Even the scarves and other souvenirs were all in the Desert Gold color.

In the stadium later, the red of Manchester United and the desert gold of Bayswater Chinese would form two distinct, well-defined blocks of color.

Luzhniki Stadium wasn’t huge.

At least, it was a tier smaller than Wembley Stadium.

But tonight was clearly different.

As the bus drove into Luzhniki Stadium, Yang Cheng could clearly hear the players’ gasps of awe.

The Champions League final had given this stadium a unique gravitas, making it feel exceptionally solemn.

When the Bayswater Chinese bus arrived at Luzhniki Stadium, the fans on site erupted in cheers.

But there were also boos mixed in.

Obviously, the cheers came from their own fans, while the boos came from Manchester United’s supporters.

The organizers had actually made arrangements long ago, and the two teams, as well as their fans, were kept apart.

Everyone knew that British fans were notoriously prone to trouble, especially after drinking. Fights involving knives were not uncommon.

The Moscow police were also taking this very seriously, trying to keep the two sets of fans separate.

But there were always some who slipped through the cracks.

When Yang Cheng led the team off the bus, they were greeted by the cheers of their own fans.

The players waved to the fans as they quickly walked into the tunnel.

Next came a flurry of activity.

Unpacking, changing clothes, going out to warm up, returning to the dressing room, waiting…

All 24 first team players were now in the dressing room.

Those who hadn’t made the matchday squad were dressed in club-issued suits and would be sitting in the stands later.

But at this moment, they all stood with their teammates.

Yang Cheng announced the starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Modrić and Lassana Diarra in the center;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Džeko, and Andrei Arshavin.

Bayswater Chinese had a full-strength squad.

Manchester United also fielded their strongest lineup.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Wes Brown;

Midfield: Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, and Scholes;

Forwards: Carlos Tevez, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo.

Yang Cheng wasn’t sure yet how Manchester United’s lineup would be arranged.

If they were playing a 4-4-2, Ryan Giggs would likely start, forming a midfield of Giggs, Carrick, Hargreaves, and C. Ronaldo, with Rooney and Tevez as the two strikers.

But for this match, Giggs was not starting; Scholes was.

If there were no surprises, they would be playing with a three-man midfield.

But how would the front three be arranged?

That was a question.

Or, would they switch to a 4-3-3?

Both sides kept their starting tactics secret. No one could guess what the other was thinking.

Often, head coaches would even make last-minute tactical adjustments based on the opponent’s starting lineup.

Some reaped miraculous results, while others just kept changing things until they turned themselves into Pep Guardiola.

Yang Cheng’s tactical plan, especially the specific arrangements to counter the opponent, had been set in stone back in London.

There was no need to say any more now.

With the game about to start, the most important task was motivation.

Yang Cheng specifically played the club’s football culture promotional video.

Accompanied by Adele’s singing, the match footage in the video made everyone’s blood boil.

Because these were all matches they had experienced firsthand.

“Over the past period, we’ve faced a great deal of doubt.”

“Almost everyone has pronounced our death sentence.”

“People always tend to believe in the past. They want to see Manchester United win the Treble!”

“But who thinks about us? Has anyone asked us if we’re willing?”

Yang Cheng’s question immediately fired up everyone in the dressing room.

This was a match that required no motivation.

Every single person would give it their all.

But Yang Cheng still wanted them to walk into that stadium with an unshakable will to win.

“When we lost the league title, did I blame you?”

The players all shook their heads.

Not only did Yang Cheng not blame them, he offered more encouragement and affirmation.

“When we lost the FA Cup, did I blame you?”

The players shook their heads again, including those in suits who hadn’t made the squad.

“But right now, I really need you!”

“I need you to do something for me, to help me fulfill a wish!”

“When everyone outside is against us, when they all look down on us, I want you to go out on that pitch, win this final, and shout the name of Bayswater Chinese to the entire world.”

“To hell with the Treble!”

“Why can’t we win the Champions League?”

“I know it’s hard, very hard. That’s why not every team is worthy of winning that trophy waiting for us outside that door!”

“But we can!”

“Tonight, we stand right in front of it, and we can do it!”

By the end, Yang Cheng was practically roaring.

Everyone was infected by his passion.

Following Yang Cheng’s gesture, Modrić, José Fonte, and others signaled for their teammates to stand up and gather around.

All 24 first team players, and all the coaching staff, including Brian Kidd, gathered together, tightly surrounding Yang Cheng.

“Now, I need a group of warriors!”

“I need you to support me, to trust me, unconditionally!”

“I will fight for this Champions League trophy!”

“Whether in attack or defense, I need every single one of you to give everything for this match!”

“I need you now, in your minds, in your hearts, to tell yourselves over and over again, we can do it!”

“Maybe, in the game ahead, we’ll face many difficulties, many unexpected things will happen, but as long as you hold on to this belief, this determination, we will win everything!”

As he finished, Yang Cheng opened his arms to the players.

Everyone let out wolf-like howls and swarmed in, embracing Yang Cheng in the middle.

Following a cry from José Fonte, everyone cheered, for themselves and for their teammates, spurring each other on!

Almost at that very moment, the bell for players to head out to the pitch rang sharply in the dressing room.

Yang Cheng stood at the door of the dressing room, embracing each player as they went out, offering them his blessings and encouragement.

Especially the last one, Andrei Arshavin.

As a Russian, tonight’s match was in the capital of Russia.

Arshavin was home!

“We need you, Andrei!” Yang Cheng encouraged.

Chapter 144: King of Finals! Yang, You Actually Did It!

When Yang Cheng and Ferguson finished their meeting and returned to their respective benches, ready for the match, both teams had already lined up on the pitch.

Manchester United, in their red kits, kicked off the first half.

Yang Cheng carefully observed Manchester United’s formation.

Carlos Tevez and Rooney stood at the center circle, ready to start, while Carrick and Scholes were positioned just behind them in their own half.

Owen Hargreaves appeared on the right flank.

C. Ronaldo was on the left.

“What’s going on?” Brian Kidd was a little flustered.

The Bayswater Chinese coaching staff had guessed Manchester United’s starting tactics and player positions wrong.

They hadn’t expected Ferguson to place C. Ronaldo on the left.

And Hargreaves was pushed all the way to the right flank. What was he planning?

“He’s probably planning an opening blitz against us,” Yang Cheng said calmly.

It was a plausible strategy.

Launch a blitz against Bayswater Chinese to prevent them from launching one of their own.

This was no empty threat.

But what truly caught Yang Cheng’s attention was C. Ronaldo on the left wing.

This was a move to suppress Maicon.

“This is clearly different from the intel we got before the match,” Brian Kidd said, at a loss for words.

Needless to say, it had to be Ferguson stirring things up again.

Yang Cheng, however, remained focused on the game.

The head referee for this match was Ľuboš Micheľ from Slovakia.

He had officiated Bayswater Chinese’s home game against Real Madrid this season.

In that match, Bayswater Chinese had defeated Real Madrid 4-2.

Therefore, they had some understanding of this referee’s officiating style.

After the kickoff, Manchester United attempted a long ball forward, but Pepe headed it down to Yaya Touré. However, Manchester United’s counter-press was fierce.

Yaya Touré passed it back to the goalkeeper, Neuer.

But just as Neuer stepped out of the six-yard box, near the left side of the penalty spot, to receive Yaya Touré’s back pass, C. Ronaldo suddenly charged towards the penalty area at high speed, closing in on him.

The German goalkeeper first received the back pass with his foot, but C. Ronaldo’s approach was so sudden and fast that he had no time to bend down.

In his haste, he could only kick the ball out of play, giving Manchester United a throw-in.

The stadium erupted with cheers from the Manchester United fans.

Yang Cheng applauded vigorously, giving Neuer a thumbs-up while making calming gestures.

They were still a bit nervous, unable to play freely.

Those basic mistakes you often see at the start of a match are almost always caused by nerves.

Especially in a Champions League final like this, even a player with nerves of steel like Neuer couldn’t help but feel some tension.

It was a testament to the immense pressure the players were under.

Just over a minute into the game, Manchester United had already taken a long shot.

But the Red Devils’ opening blitz continued.

In the early stages, C. Ronaldo was mostly on the left, facing off against Maicon.

In the second minute, just as the Portuguese was about to make a run, he was fouled by Maicon.

It was near the halfway line.

Evra, on the other hand, was very active.

When Scholes took a quick free-kick, C. Ronaldo made a run forward through the left channel, and Evra quickly made an overlapping run down the flank.

Lassana Diarra stuck to C. Ronaldo like glue, forcing the Portuguese to pass to Evra.

Maicon came over and made a sliding tackle, knocking the ball out for a throw-in.

“Both teams have started the match with an intense battle on Manchester United’s left flank.”

“It seems both sides have designated this as the main battleground.”

“We see Manchester United taking the throw-in.”

“It’s sent into the penalty area, and Pepe heads it clear.”

“Yaya Touré clears it with a big kick upfield.”

At the halfway line, on the right side for Bayswater Chinese, Džeko dropped back to receive the ball, intending to head it down.

However, Vidić rushed up from behind to challenge him for the header.

Vidić won the header, sending the ball back towards the front.

But Bayswater Chinese controlled the second ball and won possession.

Manchester United immediately launched a counter-press on the spot.

Lassana Diarra passed the ball to Maicon.

The Brazilian kicked it forward with one touch, sending it precisely to the right flank upfield.

At that moment, Džeko was making a swift run down the right.

Vidić had been marking Džeko and had pushed up to the halfway line.

This caused Manchester United’s entire back line to press forward as well.

Džeko’s forward run immediately triggered a rapid counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.

Andrei Arshavin and Ángel Di María surged forward at high speed from the center and the left, respectively.

Džeko reached the right side of Manchester United’s penalty area, slowed down, came to a sudden stop, cut inside, and delivered a horizontal pass with his left foot.

Arshavin burst into the right side of the arc of the penalty area, met Džeko’s pass, and hit a first-time shot.

In that instant, a thought flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind.

A drag-and-shoot finish!

If that had been Toni Kroos, it would have been a sure goal!

Arshavin’s shot went just wide of the right post.

But it was enough to give Manchester United a cold sweat.

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause.

Less than three minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had also managed a shot, and a very threatening one at that.

…

“What do you think he’s trying to do?”

On the Manchester United bench, Ferguson asked his assistant coach, Carlos Queiroz.

“Same as us. Using a strength to counter a strength,” Queiroz said, wanting to chuckle.

Ferguson had been very secretive before the match, but in the end, he had taken his advice and put C. Ronaldo on the left.

The idea was to suppress Maicon, the strongest point in the Bayswater Chinese back line.

And Yang Cheng?

He had moved Džeko to the flank, also aiming to pin down Evra.

Now Manchester United faced a choice again.

Should Evra push forward or not?

If he pushed up, the defense on the left would have to rely on Vidić shifting over.

But that would inevitably leave the center and the right exposed.

Wes Brown could play in the center, but they couldn’t forget that Ángel Di María was out on the left.

If Vidić didn’t cover the flank, Džeko would have free rein.

Ferguson had flexibly arranged his front three, and Yang Cheng was responding with his own flexible adjustments.

Less than three minutes into the match, the two head coaches were already engaged in a real tactical battle.

Now, for Ferguson, the question was whether to have Evra cut back on his forward runs.

The Manchester United godfather hesitated for just a moment before shaking his head. “Ten minutes. I told the players before the match: an opening blitz for ten minutes. Whatever the result, have Evra drop back after that.”

Queiroz nodded.

With Manchester United’s strength, ten minutes shouldn’t lead to any major problems.

Besides, if they could launch a wave of attacks during this opening period, score a goal, and establish an advantage, the situation would be completely different.

Queiroz felt it was a worthy gamble.

…

From the very first minute, both teams played at the fast pace characteristic of the Premier League.

This made the match incredibly entertaining.

But Manchester United’s pressing in the midfield and attack, especially C. Ronaldo and Evra’s quick attacks on the left, and the disruption caused by Hargreaves, Scholes, and Carrick, had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese’s midfield organization.

Especially Hargreaves.

The England midfielder had a very free role, not confined to the center.

He even pushed forward to put pressure on Leighton Baines on the left flank.

Moreover, Ferguson’s pressing wasn’t aimless.

They didn’t seem to be trying to win the ball so much as to disrupt Bayswater Chinese’s passing game.

Yes, disrupt.

Whenever Bayswater Chinese got the ball, they would decisively close in, either with physical challenges, fouls, or by blocking passing lanes.

In short, if they could interrupt the flow of the game, they would.

Adding to the difficulty, it was raining in Moscow tonight, and the pitch at Luzhniki Stadium was wet and slippery, making it hard for Bayswater Chinese to get their passing game going.

Manchester United, in contrast, played very straightforwardly and briskly.

After switching to the left, C. Ronaldo was given more freedom.

A right-footed player on the left wing, with his speed and technical skill, could easily get a shot off whether he was cutting inside or breaking through.

Since being established as Manchester United’s top scorer with an unlimited license to shoot, the Portuguese star didn’t hold back, taking a crack at goal whenever he had a chance.

But most of them were long shots.

Yaya Touré, in his holding midfield role, did a very good job of protecting the back line.

On Manchester United’s left, with Lassana Diarra and Maicon there, everyone felt relatively at ease.

As for Carlos Tevez and Rooney, they were mostly in the center of the attack, going all-out against Bayswater Chinese’s two centre-backs.

Tevez often dropped deep.

But with the play concentrated on C. Ronaldo’s side on the left, it was hard for him to get on the ball.

Bayswater Chinese were not having an easy time either.

Every time they got possession, Manchester United would disrupt them, and their passing game could never find its rhythm.

On the pitch, this manifested as Manchester United using their high press to suppress Bayswater Chinese.

Even the commentators believed that “Ferguson’s opening blitz tactic has worked.”

“He’s using Bayswater Chinese’s own specialty against them.”

“Now, the most important thing for Manchester United is to convert this advantage into a goal.”

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng remained unmoved, constantly adjusting his players’ positions and roles with hand gestures.

For instance, he still wanted Džeko to drift to the flank whenever possible.

Evra was a crucial part of Manchester United’s flank attacks.

In their attacking trident, neither Carlos Tevez nor Rooney were wingers who excelled at beating players on the flanks.

The issue with C. Ronaldo was that no matter where he started, he would eventually drift towards the penalty area.

Therefore, Manchester United’s attacking width was heavily dependent on their full-backs.

Wes Brown didn’t have that capability; he was more defense-oriented.

This made Evra exceptionally important.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was to avoid assigning a specific player to mark Evra.

Instead, he chose to have Džeko drift wide.

The advantage of this was obvious.

Evra wouldn’t dare push forward as freely, which in turn liberated Andrei Arshavin.

The Russian no longer had to get into a dogged fight with Manchester United’s players.

If you paid close attention to Arshavin’s position, he was always moving between Manchester United’s two centre-backs and Carrick.

This was the area of operation Yang Cheng had specifically assigned him.

As soon as Carrick got the ball, Arshavin would immediately press him.

So, Manchester United’s build-up play wasn’t much better.

Seeing that his team was struggling to pass the ball out, Yang Cheng signaled in the sixth minute for Arshavin to drop a little deeper to link up with Modrić.

This was crucial.

The connection between these two Bayswater Chinese players could always bring difficult balls out or pass them through.

They weren’t afraid of being pressed; they could turn complicated situations into simple ones.

Of course, Arshavin couldn’t drop too deep. He had to be in a position to make an overlapping run into the center to support Džeko whenever the striker received the ball.

Ángel Di María wasn’t a natural goalscorer, so Yang Cheng wasn’t comfortable leaving him as the sole attacking point up front.

An important task for the Argentine was to keep Wes Brown occupied.

In the eighth minute, Yang Cheng shouted to Modrić again, signaling for him to shift further to the right.

Yang Cheng noticed that Hargreaves was often pressing high up the pitch, and his positioning was skewed to the right, which was Bayswater Chinese’s left. So, having Modrić shift further right would create more distance from Hargreaves.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about Hargreaves.

Leighton Baines’s defending was quite solid.

Sometimes, the difference between life and death is just one step.

One step means gaining the initiative, and the initiative means an opportunity to pass or shoot.

So, as long as the overall direction was right, Yang Cheng mostly made minor adjustments.

Then, in the tenth minute, Yang Cheng noticed that Manchester United’s midfielder Scholes was no longer in a hurry to pass forward, instead intentionally slowing down the attack.

This gave him a clear idea of what was happening.

Having employed the opening blitz for so many years, with Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attacks renowned throughout European football, how could Yang Cheng not guess Ferguson’s intention?

He just wanted to press for a short period at the start.

He wondered if Ferguson knew that Bayswater Chinese were most vulnerable to conceding goals right after their own blitz.

So, he signaled for his team to slightly increase the tempo and for the midfield to press forward a bit.

This was like sticking to Manchester United, not letting them retreat.

Sure enough, in the 13th minute, both teams were locked in a battle near the halfway line.

Evra still hadn’t retreated. He was counter-pressing on the spot, engaging in a fierce contest with the Bayswater Chinese players.

Yaya Touré hit a low pass that went past Carrick.

Arshavin dropped back, received the ball between Carrick and Scholes with his back to goal, took a step back, and passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian took a step horizontally towards his own right flank, evading Scholes, and played a diagonal pass.

The ball went past Scholes, through Evra, and landed near the right touchline, almost level with Manchester United’s defensive line.

Vidić was positioned slightly more centrally. Although Evra was hugging the left touchline, he was near the halfway line.

This created a small gap in Manchester United’s left-back area.

Džeko was ready. He ran over quickly, received the ball, and dribbled forward along the right flank.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-forward was running at full tilt, using his long strides to build up a decent pace.

Soon, Džeko got ahead of Vidić and stepped onto the right byline of Manchester United’s penalty area.

Vidić immediately took a small step back, avoiding physical contact with Džeko.

The Bosnian striker paid him no mind. He continued to dribble towards the byline for one more step, then suddenly stopped, and with his right foot, played a cut-back pass towards the area between the penalty spot and the arc.

Along this diagonal line, not a single one of Manchester United’s midfielders had tracked back!

Evra was the closest, but he was too late to intercept Džeko’s cut-back.

The whole sequence was almost identical to Bayswater Chinese’s shot in the third minute.

The only difference was that the previous one was a horizontal pass, while this was a cut-back.

But the recipient was once again Andrei Arshavin.

The Russian followed up quickly, brought the ball under control with his left foot, moving it to his left front, just as Ferdinand was turning. He chased after it and unleashed a furious, low shot with his left foot.

The ball shot out at incredible speed, flying into the left side of the goal.

Neither centre-back Ferdinand nor goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar could do anything about it.

Wes Brown?

He was distracted by Ángel Di María and had drifted slightly to the right.

“GOAL!!!!”

“So, so sudden!!”

“Completely unexpected!”

“In the 13th minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Manchester United’s goal!”

“That was a truly astonishing strike!”

“At the same time, this is only Bayswater Chinese’s second shot of the match, and it has breached Manchester United’s net.”

“We already saw the danger in Manchester United’s defence with their first shot.”

“But Ferguson didn’t address it; he wanted to keep attacking.”

“Now, Manchester United have paid the price for their pride!”

“1-0!”

“While Manchester United have had six shots without a single one on target, Bayswater Chinese have scored a goal from two shots, breaking the deadlock!”

“That’s efficiency!”

As Arshavin ran off the pitch to celebrate, the entire stadium erupted with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans.

Many Russian fans in attendance were also cheering for Arshavin.

All the Bayswater Chinese players on the field dashed out, celebrating with wild abandon.

No one had expected the goal to come so suddenly.

But that’s football!

…

Yang Cheng calmly raised his right fist high.

But he was quickly surrounded by Brian Kidd and others rushing over from behind.

Everyone was incredibly excited.

Especially Brian Kidd.

He’d had enough of that damned Ferguson’s arrogance.

Still thinking about winning the Treble?

Dream on!

But at this moment, Brian Kidd had completely lost his composure. He grabbed Yang Cheng and kept shouting, “My God, you actually did it!”

“You were absolutely right, we really did score from there!”

Both shots came from Yang Cheng’s pre-match plan.

The routine was the same; the difference was the players’ on-field execution.

After all, no one knew how the defenders would react.

And it actually worked.

A lead just 13 minutes into the game!

…

“Woohoo!!”

Seeing Bayswater Chinese take the lead, Xia Xi, sitting among the Bayswater Chinese fans with the players’ families, couldn’t hold back. He leaped to his feet, cheering just like the fans around him.

“Well done, Yang Cheng!”

Xia Xi’s girlfriend was a bit embarrassed at first and tried to pull him back, telling him not to get too excited.

But when she saw that everyone around them was even more excited than he was, she gave up.

Xia Qing, Xia Anmin, and the others were also thrilled, all standing up to applaud.

“This is that move from our Chinese art of war: feigning retreat to lure them in,” Xia Anmin praised with a loud laugh.

“The lad knows how to be patient.”

“They were on the back foot at the start, but they held firm and then struck with a dagger at the crucial moment. Beautifully done!”

Yang Jianguo was equally excited. “To fool Ferguson is no simple feat. Our ancestors’ methods are still the best.”

“Isn’t that the truth?”

Xia Anmin was now in his element.

In Xia Xi’s words, he was a true football know-it-all.

But at this moment, combining the bloodless battle of football with ancient Chinese military strategy, he could speak eloquently and convincingly.

This made Xia Xi and Xia Qing look at each other and smile.

According to Yang Cheng, everyone has a different understanding of football, so their feelings about it will naturally differ.

But the essence of football remains the same.

In contrast, Li Hongying and Cao Wenhui, who didn’t enjoy watching football, were sitting together, shaking their heads.

“My heart almost jumped out of my chest, it’s too tense!”

“Just now, I was afraid they were going to score on us several times.”

“A Cheng is really amazing,” Cao Wenhui praised effusively.

…

After the restart, Manchester United’s players showed their experience, patiently trying to control the pace.

Having just conceded, rushing forward recklessly now could very well give Bayswater Chinese another dangerous opportunity.

But Bayswater Chinese had no such concerns and immediately pressed forward.

Yang Cheng quickly went to the touchline and signaled for his players not to be too hasty, to remain calm.

First, stabilize the defense, then slowly wear Manchester United down.

After Yang Cheng’s shout, the Bayswater Chinese players gradually regained their composure and began to patiently seek possession.

If Manchester United were to retreat, Bayswater Chinese would be able to take control of the midfield.

This was the advantage of having superiority in midfield and in passing and possession.

After all, in the Bayswater Chinese midfield, even a “Butcher” like Lassana Diarra possessed excellent passing and ball control skills.

In contrast, Manchester United’s trio of Carrick, Scholes, and Hargreaves didn’t have that kind of DNA.

But there was one instruction Yang Cheng gave very clearly.

Džeko was to continue drifting to the right flank.

As long as Evra didn’t push up, Manchester United’s attacking threat would be greatly diminished.

The biggest difference between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United in this match was that Yang Cheng remained patient, even choosing to defend deeper and cede the initiative when Manchester United pressed forward.

Manchester United were unwilling to do so.

But Ferguson also made adjustments quickly.

Soon, Rooney began to drift to the left, taking C. Ronaldo’s place as the left winger.

Carlos Tevez remained in the center.

C. Ronaldo’s position became much freer.

In midfield, Hargreaves was instructed to narrow his defensive range and move back alongside Carrick.

However, Wes Brown’s position shifted slightly forward.

Clearly, when necessary, Manchester United’s right-back could also join the attack.

After several adjustments, Manchester United’s attack gradually started to show signs of life again.

Ferguson clearly still didn’t want Bayswater Chinese to build up a fluid passing game, so Manchester United needed to keep pressing their opponents’ midfield.

By using the “disruption” tactic that had proven effective early on, they aimed to prevent Bayswater Chinese from passing and moving.

Yang Cheng, in turn, signaled for his team to drop back appropriately.

This resulted in the main battles for possession taking place between the halfway line and the 30-meter area of Bayswater Chinese’s half.

“Manchester United’s morale is still very high.”

“Clearly, they haven’t been discouraged by conceding first.”

“This is understandable.”

“At the pre-match press conference, Ferguson said that Manchester United has a very proud history in Champions League finals.”

“They have reached the final twice in their history and won the championship both times.”

“This season is their third time in the Champions League final.”

“The first was in the ’67/’68 season. The final was held at Wembley Stadium in London, and their opponent was Benfica from the Primeira Liga. Bobby Charlton scored first for Manchester United, but Benfica later equalized.”

“After the match went into extra time, it completely became Brian Kidd’s stage.”

“The legendary Manchester United forward scored one and assisted another in extra time, helping Manchester United score three consecutive goals to defeat Benfica 4-1, winning the club’s first-ever Champions League trophy.”

“Interestingly, tonight, Brian Kidd is sitting at Luzhniki Stadium, but on the Bayswater Chinese bench. He was once Ferguson’s trusted assistant during their Treble-winning season, but he left for Blackburn Rovers midway through.”

“In ’99, when they won the Champions League under Ferguson, they also came from behind to beat Bayern Munich after conceding first.”

“So, we have reason to believe that Ferguson must have prepared for the possibility of conceding first.”

…

After the 15th minute, a new situation emerged in the match.

Bayswater Chinese gradually strengthened their passing game, trying to control the ball and build fluid plays, but Manchester United clearly wouldn’t allow it.

As a result, Manchester United began to reinforce their midfield and attack again, especially increasing the pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s backfield.

At this point, Evra on the left flank started to get restless again.

The French full-back began to push forward frequently, supporting C. Ronaldo and Rooney on the left, hoping to create a threatening attack as soon as possible.

This allowed Manchester United to regain some advantage in the attacking third.

But in the 21st minute, a tackle from Lassana Diarra won the ball, which he passed to Pepe.

The Brazilian passed it directly to Yaya Touré.

After controlling the ball, Yaya Touré sent a diagonal long pass, switching the play to the right flank upfield.

Džeko once again made a diagonal run to the right, timed it perfectly, chested the ball down with his back to goal, and brought it under control with his feet.

Vidić was now sticking to Džeko, ready to make a challenge at any moment.

But the Bosnian striker gave him no such opportunity, dribbling back to evade Vidić. Seeing Arshavin rushing up, he immediately played a horizontal pass into the right channel.

The Russian sped forward, received the ball, and with a feint, tricked Carrick. He then tapped the ball horizontally with the outside of his left foot, instantly changing his direction from vertical to diagonal.

Arshavin took just one step diagonally towards the arc of the penalty area before quickly playing another diagonal pass towards the left side of the penalty box.

Near Wes Brown.

With Vidić pulled wide to follow Džeko, Ferdinand naturally shifted over as well, and Wes Brown tucked in near the penalty spot, always maintaining a safe distance.

But this left the entire left half of the pitch open.

Ángel Di María had initially also tucked in, but upon seeing Arshavin change the direction of the attack, he immediately started running, making a diagonal run at full speed into the space beside Wes Brown.

Arshavin’s pass was perfectly weighted, landing just in front of Di María, and the Argentine chased after it.

Hargreaves was also tracking back quickly.

When Di María entered Manchester United’s penalty area, to the left of the penalty spot, and controlled Arshavin’s diagonal pass with his left foot, Wes Brown was turning, but he had already lost the initiative.

Hargreaves was a step too slow and couldn’t catch up.

Van der Sar decisively rushed out of his goal.

After controlling the ball with his left foot, Di María took another step. Facing the onrushing Van der Sar, the Argentine feinted with his body, throwing the keeper off balance, and then nudged the ball past him with the outside of his left foot.

Chasing after it, he shot with his left foot from an awkward position.

After making the shot, Di María lost his balance and fell to the ground inside the box.

But the football still slowly rolled towards the Manchester United goal behind Van der Sar.

“GOAL!!!!”

“The second goal!!”

“From the Argentine forward, Ángel Di María!”

“In the 21st minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“Manchester United’s defense has been hailed as the most solid in European football this season.”

“But tonight, on this rainy night in Moscow, Russia, Bayswater Chinese have broken through Manchester United’s goal twice in just 21 minutes.”

“2-0!”

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players all rushed towards the fallen Di María, piling on top of him without hesitation, burying the Noodle Man at the very bottom.

On the sidelines, the moment Di María scored, Yang Cheng’s reaction was even more excited than before.

If the first goal was just a lead, then the second truly established an advantage.

And a very clear one at that!

And it had only been 21 minutes!

Yang Cheng even began to wonder if Di María really was the King of Finals.

Otherwise, how could one explain that he had only scored five goals in the Premier League this season, fewer than Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Robert Lewandowski?

But when it came to crucial moments, he could always seize the opportunity!

Look at how he controlled the ball to get past Wes Brown, shook off Hargreaves, and then calmly dribbled past Van der Sar with his left foot!

“Arshavin’s pass was brilliant, and Di María’s finish was very composed!” Brian Kidd offered his assessment.

Yang Cheng nodded.

A huge chunk of the credit for this goal had to go to Arshavin.

Of course, Džeko was also crucial.

After all, he was the one who received the long pass, breaking through Manchester United’s midfield.

Every time Džeko drifted wide, Arshavin would immediately run into the space between Manchester United’s centre-backs and their midfield, which made it very awkward for the defenders.

Especially in a situation like the one just now.

Vidić was pulled wide, so should Ferdinand step out to mark Arshavin?

What if Džeko broke past Vidić?

Džeko was not the kind of centre-forward who couldn’t hold up the ball or dribble past players.

This created some major problems for Manchester United’s defense and midfield.

On the sidelines, Ferguson could only shake his head as he watched.

It was Džeko drifting wide again, and on the left flank again!

…

In a lavish mansion somewhere in Moscow.

Roman Abramovich could have gone to watch the match live.

For ordinary fans, Champions League final tickets were almost impossible to get, but for him, they were easily obtainable.

But he was unwilling to support either Manchester United or Bayswater Chinese.

No matter which of these two teams won, he wouldn’t be happy.

So, he chose to stay home.

He sat in his living room, watching the highly anticipated clash.

He saw Arshavin’s goal and his fellow Russian’s assist.

He couldn’t help but jump up from his sofa.

“Arshavin…”

His personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia, nodded beside him. “He’s very good. Clearly a cut above the rest.”

Able to pass, shoot, control, and dribble, Arshavin could be described as an all-around attacker.

His only weakness was probably his height.

Of course, in the world of football, if Arshavin were any taller, he likely wouldn’t possess such agility and exquisite footwork.

“Inform Pini. After the Champions League final, contact Bayswater Chinese and inquire about Arshavin again,” Abramovich said, growing excited.

He could already see tomorrow’s newspapers in Russia, Europe, and even the whole world, filled with news and reports about Arshavin.

The Russian’s performance was simply outstanding.

It could almost be described as magical.

“Boss, I heard that Arsenal’s Alisher Usmanov also wants to sign him,” Granovskaia reminded him.

As soon as Abramovich heard the name of his “old friend,” his expression soured.

He could certainly guess what Usmanov was up to.

Moreover, the other party had acquired Arsenal, a traditional powerhouse also located in London.

Thinking of this, Abramovich huffed twice.

“Then let’s fight for him. You think I’m afraid of him?”

…

After Bayswater Chinese took a two-goal lead, the pace of the game slowed down slightly.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese further strengthened their advantage in passing and possession, gradually taking control of the midfield.

This also meant that Manchester United began to ease off their pressing in the midfield and attack.

And once the midfield was controlled, it became very difficult for Manchester United to get the ball through the middle.

This led to a scene that Yang Cheng was very happy to see.

Manchester United began playing long balls.

The target was Rooney.

But whether in the center or on the left, Rooney struggled to gain an advantage when receiving long passes.

Not to mention Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Yaya Touré, even Maicon had the ability to challenge Rooney for headers.

Maicon had averaged 1.2 successful aerial duels per game this season.

In comparison, what were Rooney’s stats?

An average of 0.8 successful aerial duels per game.

Of course, this was the season average.

It was hard to say for any specific match.

But it did reflect that Maicon was not inferior to Rooney in the air.

Therefore, Manchester United’s long balls posed little threat.

After Rooney was neutralized, they tried passing to C. Ronaldo a few times, but the Portuguese player’s nature was to shoot whenever he had a chance.

Almost half of Manchester United’s shots were taken by C. Ronaldo.

Moreover, C. Ronaldo couldn’t play as a centre-forward; his hold-up play was not strong.

After receiving a long pass, if he was marked, he often struggled with his next move.

After a few attempts, Manchester United stopped playing long balls.

As a result, the game gradually stabilized.

Half an hour had already passed.

It was only at this point that everyone realized that Manchester United seemed to have no good solutions against Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

On the contrary, after taking control of the midfield, Bayswater Chinese began to effectively organize attacks through their passing game, forcing Manchester United to gradually retreat into a defensive posture.

However, Yang Cheng felt something was missing.

“Don’t you think Manchester United has committed too few fouls in the final third today?”

Yang Cheng walked back to the bench and asked Brian Kidd.

The final third Yang Cheng was referring to was Manchester United’s own defensive third.

Brian Kidd almost chuckled, pointing a finger at Gianni Vio, the meaning clear.

When Bayswater Chinese had Gianni Vio sitting on their bench, any team had to seriously consider whether they could afford the price of committing fouls in their own final third.

“Besides, Ferguson definitely knows his team’s problems. He’s not stupid,” Brian Kidd laughed.

Yang Cheng sighed with a hint of resignation.

He had truly prepared a number of killer moves for this match.

Besides having Džeko drift wide, he had another tactic he was very confident in.

That was Manchester United’s weakness in defending high balls.

Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?

Ferdinand, Vidić, Wes Brown—these were all defenders with excellent aerial ability.

Logically, Manchester United’s aerial defense should have been very strong.

But what was the reality?

This season, several of Manchester United’s conceded goals were due to errors in defending high balls.

Not to mention distant examples, in the 33rd round of the Premier League, Manchester United conceded from a high ball during their away game at the Riverside Stadium.

In the 34th round, at home against Arsenal, they conceded another.

In the 35th round, away at Blackburn Rovers, they conceded yet another.

In the 36th round, away at Chelsea, again.

In fact, not just Yang Cheng, but everyone found it very strange and surprising.

How did Manchester United manage to have a rock-solid defense on one hand, yet repeatedly show lapses when defending high balls on the other?

Some might ask, if Manchester United has this weakness, why doesn’t everyone exploit it?

The reason was simple: high balls mostly came from long passes or crosses.

These were all inefficient offensive methods, so they weren’t used very often.

Moreover, Ferdinand and Vidić didn’t concede from high balls every time.

So, teams did use this tactic, but with varying results.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t actually use high balls much. Even when playing long passes to Džeko, they were usually not hit very high.

Crosses from the flanks were also relatively rare.

In this specific match, they hadn’t been able to properly exploit this weakness.

Gianni Vio had even prepared several set-piece routines specifically to take advantage of Manchester United’s vulnerability to high balls.

Now it seemed they wouldn’t be needed.

But that’s how football matches are sometimes.

A head coach’s meticulously prepared tactics might not necessarily be effective.

Or, you might prepare several plans, and only one of them works out.

There was nothing to be done about it. After all, while we are targeting the opponent, they are also targeting us.

…

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading 2-0.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng first affirmed the players’ performance, specifically praising several players including Arshavin. He also commended Lassana Diarra’s performance.

In the first half, he and Maicon had neutralized C. Ronaldo on the left flank several times.

The Portuguese later moved to the right.

So, Lassana Diarra swapped positions with Modrić and followed him.

Yang Cheng even thought that C. Ronaldo must get a headache just seeing the French midfielder, as he had failed to get the better of him in several encounters.

He was just too sticky!

The key was that he had truly built up experience in defending him.

But after the praise, Yang Cheng also delivered sharp criticism.

Especially at the start of the game, the players had seemed a bit nervous. And towards the end of the first half, with the team already two goals ahead, they had clearly become complacent, which allowed Manchester United to create a small spell of pressure in the final few minutes.

“If Manchester United’s players had been a bit more clinical, we would have been done for!” Yang Cheng reprimanded loudly.

He wasn’t actually angry.

Because Manchester United hadn’t created any clear-cut chances.

But this attitude couldn’t be allowed to grow. It had to be nipped in the bud during halftime and not carried into the second half.

Yang Cheng had no desire to become a textbook example of opening champagne at half-time.

“In the second half, I don’t want to see this happen again. If anyone can’t give me one hundred percent focus and commitment, I will substitute them!”

“I don’t care who it is!”

Yang Cheng’s “threat” had its effect.

At the very least, when the second half began, Bayswater Chinese played with more commitment, and the players were more focused.

Ferguson made no substitutions during halftime.

Putting himself in Ferguson’s shoes, Yang Cheng didn’t know who he would bring on either.

Manchester United’s entire technical and tactical setup this season was a bit skewed, overly reliant on the attacking trident up front.

Especially C. Ronaldo.

But the combination of the trident was not ideal.

Although their impact on the break was very strong, they were rather average in positional play.

Originally, Ferguson had high hopes for Louis Saha.

The Frenchman’s hold-up play was superb, and he would have been a perfect fit with Rooney and C. Ronaldo.

But since joining Manchester United, Saha had never had a stable run of games, plagued by injuries and other issues.

Why had Ferguson chosen Alan Smith to partner Rooney and C. Ronaldo last season?

He wanted Alan Smith to replicate what Saha could do.

But it turned out that Alan Smith was no Saha.

Manchester United lost crucial matches to Chelsea and surrendered the league title.

When Carlos Tevez arrived, the trident’s performance improved, and Ferguson had no reason to make changes.

The situation was actually quite similar to last season.

That’s why the British media had been constantly reporting that Ferguson wanted to sign one of Džeko, Berbatov, or Lyon’s Benzema this summer.

This proved that in Ferguson’s mind, he had always known that the combination of the trident was not ideal.

At the very least, their characteristics weren’t complementary enough, and they failed to deliver in key matches.

Just like this one.

In the second half, being two goals down and having lost control of the midfield, Manchester United’s attack could not create any threatening opportunities.

The three forwards could only rely on their individual abilities to try and create some chances.

But the effect was minimal.

On the contrary, it was Bayswater Chinese who nearly scored again in the 58th minute.

Maicon played a through ball down the right flank.

Džeko received the ball with his back to goal, shielded it from Evra, then dribbled horizontally, cutting inside, before suddenly unleashing a long shot with his left foot.

Fortunately, Van der Sar was fully focused and dove to his side to parry the ball away.

Otherwise, that would have been a worldie!

And this near-goal further damaged Manchester United’s morale.

Ferguson wanted to strengthen his attack, so he looked to bring on Ryan Giggs.

Yang Cheng had originally thought he would substitute Hargreaves.

But to his surprise, he chose to take off Scholes.

With that, Manchester United reverted to a 4-4-2 formation.

Giggs played on the left, C. Ronaldo returned to the right, and Carlos Tevez and Rooney occupied the center.

But this still failed to create any threat.

The midfield pairing of Carrick and Hargreaves was simply no match for Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, Manchester United’s attacking opportunities were few and far between.

They either came from players creating something on their own or from long shots.

This allowed Yang Cheng on the sidelines to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

Chapter 145: We Are the Champions! A New Sky-High Price in the Summer Transfer Market

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese players and coaches, who had been lying in wait on the sidelines, swarmed onto the pitch like a tidal wave.

A torrential downpour soaked the stadium, but no one paid it any mind.

They didn’t even care that their teammates on the field were drenched to the bone; they just threw their arms around them in celebration.

We are the champions!

We’ve won the title!

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“This young Premier League team has successfully won the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League!”

“This is the first Champions League trophy in their club’s history!”

“At the same time, they’ve become the 22nd team in the history of the Champions League to win the title!”

“What’s even more remarkable is that they have surpassed van Gaal’s Ajax to become the youngest champion team in Champions League history, with an average age of just twenty-two.”

“When van Gaal’s team won the Champions League in the 94/95 season, their average age was twenty-three.”

“This is truly something to be proud of. Tonight, all the fans have witnessed a new chapter of history being written.”

“Bayswater Chinese has a very short history.”

“This was an amateur team born in London’s Chinatown. In the late 1990s, they were acquired by a consortium from China. In 2003, Yang Cheng formally took over the team, and it began a period of rapid development.”

“In 2005, Bayswater Chinese was promoted to the Premier League. In 2007, they became Premier League champions. And in 2008, they have won the Champions League!”

“It’s fair to say that Bayswater Chinese is developing at the astonishing rate of one major step up each year.”

“More importantly, this team, with an average age of just twenty-two, is filled with a group of young players who are certain to become a formidable new force in European football for years to come.”

“Equally young is Bayswater Chinese’s head coach, Yang Cheng, who is only twenty-eight years old.”

“He is the youngest championship-winning coach in the history of the Champions League!”

When Yang Cheng, clad in a rainproof tracksuit jacket, stepped onto the pitch at Luzhniki Stadium, the downpour quickly soaked him.

But it couldn’t extinguish the fire of excitement in his heart.

This was the first Champions League title of his coaching career!

It was a championship he had longed for for decades!

He even felt the urge to roar at the top of his lungs!

But composure and reason guided him as he strode across the pitch, embracing each of his players one by one.

Not far from the Bayswater Chinese celebration, the Manchester United players looked utterly dejected.

C. Ronaldo had collapsed to his knees on the muddy grass, his head bowed to the ground, hiding his expression from everyone.

Before this match, their hopes had been so high, and they had been so proud of their pursuit of the Treble.

At this moment, their disappointment was just as immense.

Doubly, even triply so.

It couldn’t be said that they hadn’t played hard, but the entire match had felt disjointed for them.

Everyone knew it was because their head coach’s tactics had been suppressed.

Not only that, but Bayswater Chinese’s two first-half goals had completely shattered Manchester United’s impenetrable fortress.

Losing control of the midfield made it nearly impossible for Manchester United to turn the tables.

In the second half, fatigue also prevented the Red Devils from mounting a final, desperate offensive.

They had been happy to win the FA Cup final.

But in Moscow, they had paid the price.

…

“I’ve never seen you use this formation before. Don’t tell me you were deliberately hiding it?”

Ferguson walked up to Yang Cheng and extended his hand, congratulating him.

But he was extremely curious about Yang Cheng’s lineup and tactics for this match.

Even someone as proud as Ferguson had to admit that, in this battle of wits, he, as the head coach, had to shoulder the greatest responsibility.

Because he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Yang Cheng on a tactical level.

Everyone had always known that Ferguson’s tactical setups weren’t his strongest suit.

This was quite normal.

In recent years, England had fallen behind continental Europe in terms of technical and tactical football development.

In such an environment, no matter how good Ferguson was, he couldn’t compare to the famous managers who had grown up immersed in the continental football scene.

But Ferguson was a quick learner and adept at utilizing talent.

Carlos Queiroz had come to Manchester United under these circumstances.

And in this match, Ferguson had lost to Yang Cheng.

But he was also very curious. How on earth did someone as young as Yang Cheng manage to win?

“We’ve played four times this season. The first match was at the very beginning of the league; I hadn’t made up my mind yet.”

“The second was in mid-January. Yaya Touré was away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Our defense was unstable, and our midfield wasn’t strong. Would I have dared to play like this then?”

The third match, the FA Cup final, went without saying.

Yang Cheng had fielded a team of youngsters and substitutes, which was why they lost.

At this thought, Ferguson suddenly felt as if he’d been sucker-punched.

He even began to wonder if Yang Cheng’s decision to use his youth and reserve players in the FA Cup final was a deliberate move to spring a surprise in the Champions League final.

After all, if he had used this tactic in the FA Cup final, wouldn’t Ferguson have been prepared for it?

Thinking this, Ferguson’s mood plummeted.

He had been consoling himself: at least we’re Double champions.

But now, he realized that winning the FA Cup final had cost him the Champions League final, and a sense of unease settled over him.

Yang Cheng was right.

Yaya Touré was indeed crucial to this tactical system.

If anyone had bothered to track his stats, they would have noticed that Yaya Touré almost never pushed forward during the match.

The Ivorian was no fool.

On the contrary, he was exceptionally intelligent with a very high football IQ.

He knew what choices to make and how to execute them.

In such a critical moment, Yaya Touré was incredibly reliable.

He consistently occupied the holding midfield role, ensuring the stability of the back line.

“And you deliberately positioned Andrei Arshavin between my two centre-backs and my midfielders. Don’t tell me that was just a coincidence.”

The more Ferguson mulled it over, the more bitter he felt.

In this match, he had been completely played by Yang Cheng from start to finish.

Arshavin operated in the space in front of Ferdinand and Vidić, but behind Carrick and Scholes.

This created a massive headache for the Manchester United players.

How were they supposed to defend against that?

When Džeko drifted to the wing, he forced Manchester United’s defensive line to shift horizontally while retreating.

This inevitably opened up gaps in the center and on the left flank.

Arshavin exploited the space in the middle.

The first time, he took the shot himself. The second time, he used the gap to draw in Wes Brown before shifting the ball to the open space on the left.

Ferguson replayed the match in his head several times and realized there was no easy solution.

Perhaps things would have been slightly better if Fletcher had played.

But only slightly.

There was only one way to counter it.

Sit deep and counter-attack.

Compress the space in their own half, prevent Evra from pushing forward, and minimize the time Bayswater Chinese’s attackers had on the ball.

But that would mean ceding the midfield, relinquishing initiative, possession, and control of the game’s tempo.

It was only at this moment that Ferguson truly realized that Manchester United’s current tactics were headed in the wrong direction.

Their methods of attack in positional play were far too limited.

Most importantly, they lacked a powerful centre-forward.

At this thought, a whim seized Ferguson. He looked at Yang Cheng and asked, “Is Džeko for sale?”

Yang Cheng was momentarily stunned.

Damn it, big brother, we just won the championship, and you’re already trying to poach my players?

Aren’t you just trying to piss me off?

“Not for sale!”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. I wouldn’t sell him for anything!”

After all the hard work I put into developing him, with his prospects looking so bright, you want to come and reap the rewards?

Džeko is only twenty-two. He’s about to enter the prime of his career, improving year by year. And you think I’d sell him now?

Are you insane?

Besides, given the scarcity of top-class centre-forwards in European football right now, can Manchester United even afford him?

“Then Modrić must be for sale, right?”

Yang Cheng pointed at Ferguson. “You’re after my captain too?”

“Do you really think I’m Wenger?”

Even though Ferguson had just lost the Champions League final, and even though he was in a terrible mood, he couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Yang Cheng’s words.

If Wenger heard that, he’d probably cough up blood, wouldn’t he?

“If that’s not possible, we could really use Yaya Touré or Maicon. And Neuer… you know, Edwin van der Sar isn’t getting any younger…”

Yang Cheng nearly lost his mind.

You damned old codger, you’re a cunning one.

Targeting so many of my players at once?

“Why don’t you just go talk to the Glazers and have them buy our club outright?”

“Then you can buy whoever you want. How about that?”

With that, Yang Cheng turned and walked away.

He decided he would block Ferguson for at least a month.

Utterly shameless!

Behind him, Ferguson muttered to himself, “Why are you so stingy? What’s the difference who you sell to?”

But soon, his thoughts turned to acquisitions and money.

The Manchester United godfather’s mood soured even further.

That’s right, does Manchester United have any money?

…

As Yang Cheng and his players formed two lines in the tunnel beneath the chairman’s box to “welcome” the Manchester United players onto the stage to receive their medals, his smile vanished the moment he saw Ferguson, his face turning grim.

He especially wanted to rush forward and kick the damned old codger when he saw Ferguson pat Džeko’s head and shake Yaya Touré’s hand.

Get the hell away from my players!

Touching is free, isn’t it?

Since it was a one-way route, after receiving their medals on stage, the Manchester United players circled around and came back down the same way.

By now, Ferguson was holding his Champions League runner-up medal.

Purely out of spite, Yang Cheng immediately broke into a wide grin and approached him, extending his hand from a distance.

“Congratulations, congratulations, Sir! Congrats on the prize!”

Ferguson’s expression looked like he’d just been force-fed something foul; he was on the verge of exploding.

Congratulations my ass!

I got the runner-up medal!

But Ferguson knew full well this was Yang Cheng’s revenge on him.

This vindictive brat couldn’t stand even the slightest provocation!

When it was Bayswater Chinese’s turn to go up for their medals, Yang Cheng was at the very back of the line.

This brought up one of the happy problems that came with winning a title.

According to UEFA regulations, only forty medals are given to both the champions and the runners-up. Aside from the players and head coach who go on stage, it’s up to each club to decide how the remaining medals are distributed.

In addition to the first team players, there were also the coaches.

Yang Cheng now faced a problem.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t have many first team players, only twenty-four, but they had a lot of coaches.

There were several core coaches, each with their own assistants.

Then there were people like the psychologist Tim Harkness and the nutrition expert Neil Cannon.

Forty medals were simply not enough to go around.

After they had been on stage, after Modrić and the players had triumphantly lifted the trophy, and as they began to file off the presentation stage, Yang Cheng was pulled aside by UEFA President Platini.

It was about his coaching license again.

“Before this final, I discussed this with the coaching committee. You still need to obtain a coaching license.”

Platini’s tone was rather tactful.

In European football, strength speaks for itself.

Yang Cheng was now a Champions League-winning coach, carrying much more weight than before, and he was also the owner of Bayswater Chinese.

Even Platini had to be polite.

And Yang Cheng noticed that Platini had said “obtain.”

Not “take an exam for.”

“The coaching committee will issue a new regulation: a head coach who wins the Champions League can be awarded the highest-level coaching license without an examination.”

Yang Cheng was very satisfied upon hearing this.

Wasn’t this tailor-made for him?

“Thank you, Michel!”

Kind words cost nothing, so Yang Cheng certainly wasn’t going to be reserved with Platini.

What if Father Platini ended up taking a liking to Bayswater Chinese?

Of course, that possibility was slim.

Ultimately, the Premier League was too dominant.

For four consecutive seasons, a Premier League team had reached the Champions League final, winning the trophy twice.

For two consecutive seasons, three of the four semi-finalists were Premier League teams.

There were many unwritten rules in the Champions League that were never officially acknowledged, but everyone knew they existed.

For example, the semi-finals had never been monopolized by teams from a single country.

From both a commercial and a competitive standpoint, it was unrealistic.

That was why, in the past two seasons, the quarter-finals had featured matchups between English teams.

Why?

To ensure that at least one non-Premier League team made it to the semi-finals.

That way, a single league couldn’t sweep the board.

Faced with such a dominant league, it was impossible for UEFA to support Bayswater Chinese.

On the podium, Yang Cheng also saw FIFA President Blatter.

His relationship with Platini was still very good at this point.

Additionally, Yang Cheng saw a representative from the British Royal Family, Prince William, and the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Another person worth mentioning was the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

In the London mayoral election that had just concluded in early May, Ken Livingstone had successfully defeated Boris Johnson to win re-election.

In Ken Livingstone’s election platform, London’s bid and preparation for the Olympics, as well as the Bayswater renovation project, featured very prominently.

This massive municipal renovation project, costing up to four billion pounds, had won Ken Livingstone a great deal of voter support, allowing him to defeat Boris Johnson by a narrow margin.

This brought a small measure of relief to Yang Cheng.

In his previous life, Ken Livingstone had lost this very election to Boris Johnson.

Of course, for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, it didn’t matter who was elected.

Yang Cheng never took sides in such matters, nor was there any need to.

Boris Johnson’s team had also been in contact with Adam Crozier and had promised that if elected, they would continue to strongly support the Bayswater Chinese project.

But this was, after all, Ken Livingstone’s political achievement. By remaining in office, he would surely be more dedicated to it.

His flying to Moscow specifically to support Bayswater Chinese proved that he was still betting on Yang Cheng’s team.

After the award ceremony, Yang Cheng, along with the mayor and Adam Crozier, stood by the stadium stands, talking.

The topic, of course, was the new stadium project.

Ken Livingstone was quite concerned about Bayswater Chinese’s last-minute design changes.

This meant more time would be wasted.

After all, the London Olympics were only four years away.

To build such a large-scale project in Central London, four years was an extremely tight schedule.

Yang Cheng also presented some of his considerations, arguing that expanding the stadium was absolutely necessary.

“Our average attendance this season has already surpassed sixty thousand. We are very confident that it will exceed seventy thousand next season, perhaps even more. So, a capacity of sixty-five thousand is simply not enough to meet our needs.”

Yang Cheng also specifically mentioned that a larger stadium capacity would attract more fans, which would in turn boost consumer spending in the entire Bayswater area, especially on match days.

These fans might travel from all over, converging on the city center from the Greater London area and beyond.

Would they come just to watch a game?

Wouldn’t they inevitably walk around and do some shopping?

Wouldn’t they need to buy something to eat?

Some from further away might even consider staying overnight.

All of these were just indirect benefits.

What about the direct ones?

A larger capacity meant a significant increase in the need for temporary staff on each match day, creating jobs!

Furthermore, as stadium spending rose, so would tax revenues, generating income for the government!

Not to mention the increase in investment.

Ken Livingstone had run the numbers himself and had naturally seen the benefits.

“Alright, aren’t you moving into the new training center this summer?”

The London mayor was a man of action. “We’ll issue the demolition permits first, and let the design changes go through the approval process slowly. You can start demolishing your old stadium and get the digging done.”

“The bottom line is the same: it must be completed before the London Olympics!”

Yang Cheng, of course, readily agreed.

But unlike last time when he had thumped his chest and guaranteed he could secure the funding, this time he cautiously dropped a hint.

This was a suggestion from his “father-in-law,” Xia Anmin.

For a municipal project like this, a collaboration with the city government, shouldn’t there be some discount on commercial loans?

Ken Livingstone was a sharp man, not a fool.

He had guessed Yang Cheng’s intentions long ago.

So he didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, “How much are you planning to borrow?”

“We don’t need to yet,” Yang Cheng replied, suddenly appearing quite magnanimous.

“To be honest with you, we’ve already raised over one hundred million pounds. There’s no problem starting the project. I just wanted to get an idea of the situation first.”

“Where did you get so much money?” Ken Livingstone was astonished.

Is football that profitable?

Yang Cheng, of course, wouldn’t reveal a single detail. He just smiled enigmatically, radiating confidence.

“Alright then.” Ken Livingstone understood he had asked too much.

“When the time comes, we will provide some assistance and try to bring in some partner banks from the City of London to offer you low-interest loans.”

With that promise, Yang Cheng felt much more secure.

Even a slight drop in the interest rate was better than selling a player on the transfer market.

…

After Ken Livingstone left, Xia Qing came down from the stands.

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier relayed their conversation with the mayor to Xia Qing, so she would be aware of the situation.

Yang Cheng’s claim that Bayswater Chinese had raised over a hundred million pounds was definitely an exaggeration.

Otherwise, why did Yang Cheng always say that Xia Qing, his meticulous steward, was the one who put his mind at ease the most?

Although they had finished as runners-up in the Premier League this year, after winning the Champions League, the team’s prize money and broadcast revenue from the Premier League and Champions League alone reached eighty-five million pounds.

Combined with the club’s commercial income and match-day revenue, Bayswater Chinese’s total earnings had skyrocketed.

They had even far exceeded the team’s own projections.

The overall revenue was expected to break into the top five in European football, surpassing both Arsenal and Chelsea.

This was mainly due to the substantial increase in Premier League broadcasting rights, the rise in stadium attendance, and the prize money and income from this season’s Champions League campaign.

Especially winning the title.

To say nothing else, the three home games in the Champions League knockout stage against AC Milan, Barça, and Chelsea generated over fifteen million pounds in match-day revenue alone.

Having a large enough stadium had its perks.

Moreover, according to Adam Crozier’s estimates, Bayswater Chinese’s match-day revenue still had enormous potential to be tapped.

For example, match-day retail consumption revenue for Bayswater Chinese currently averaged five hundred thousand pounds per game.

This was on the lower end among the top clubs.

Based on data from Yang Cheng’s previous life, this figure should be around one million pounds.

They played twenty-five home games in the Premier League and Champions League this year.

If they could boost match-day retail sales, that would be an extra ten million-plus pounds per season.

After winning this Champions League title, their commercial income over the next two years would increase even further.

By then, the club’s revenue could reach another level.

Of course, all of this was predicated on the club being able to maintain its current momentum and competitiveness.

According to a private report from Xia Qing to Yang Cheng, the club could free up one hundred million pounds this year. Combined with the final installments of transfer fees from the past two or three years, there really wasn’t much of a problem starting the construction of the new stadium.

This was precisely why Yang Cheng had gone to great lengths to push Norman Foster to expand the stadium as much as possible.

The benefits of a large stadium were just too numerous!

The last two home games of the Champions League knockout stage were both sellouts, ninety thousand people.

With an average ticket price of fifty pounds, a single match generated four and a half million pounds in ticket sales alone.

Imagine, if league tickets were a bit cheaper, say an average of forty pounds, and if they could sell out every game, that would be three point six million pounds per match. For nineteen home games in a season, that’s nearly seventy million pounds in revenue.

And that’s not even counting the VIP boxes, which would bring in at least another twenty million pounds.

Then there’s the one million pounds in match-day consumer spending per home game. Over nineteen home games, that’s another twenty million pounds.

Not counting the Champions League or other cup competitions, a single season would bring in over one hundred million pounds. It was unbelievably profitable!

Most importantly, this was without raising ticket prices.

This was why, in the years just before Yang Cheng had been reborn, all the Premier League giants—Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal—were trying by all means to expand their stadiums.

Manchester United even talked about building a one hundred thousand-seater stadium, and Arsenal wanted to expand to over ninety thousand.

Ultimately, as long as you could attract more fans, the benefits of a large stadium were simply too good to pass up!

However, Xia Qing also reminded Yang Cheng that, transfers aside, it would probably be difficult to set aside so much money every year in the future.

This was because Bayswater Chinese was currently benefiting from its large stadium while the team’s overall wage bill was low.

But as the team’s success grew, the players’ salaries would definitely have to rise accordingly.

By then, it would be much harder to free up so much cash.

Of course, income from player sales was another matter.

…

The news of Bayswater Chinese winning the Champions League in Moscow spread across the globe in a very short time.

This was especially true in Asia.

The various sponsors all launched marketing campaigns, working hard to build up the hype for Bayswater Chinese.

This was one of the benefits of a sponsorship system.

The media lavished praise on Bayswater Chinese.

This was the youngest champion team in the history of the Champions League!

A year younger than van Gaal’s Ajax back in the day.

In short, however much they had praised Manchester United before the match, they were now praising Bayswater Chinese ten, even a hundred times more.

What could they do? They had backed the wrong horse.

The only thing that left Yang Cheng somewhat dissatisfied was that they almost universally considered it a major upset.

To this, Yang Cheng could only chuckle, not knowing what else to say.

In their Moscow hotel, everyone from Bayswater Chinese celebrated through the night.

Having learned a lesson from Manchester United’s Christmas party incident, Yang Cheng didn’t dare let this group of young players go out.

Who knew what kind of trouble they would get into out there?

After the wild celebration, they slept it off, and it wasn’t until noon the next day that the team officially assembled. They took a bus to the airport and flew to London.

Due to the time difference, it was only afternoon when they arrived in London.

At Heathrow Airport, Bayswater Chinese was greeted by a large number of fans.

As the team returned to the city, they were met with a continuous stream of cheers from fans along the way.

Many fans even followed the team’s bus all the way to Bayswater.

It was on the bus that Brian Kidd told Yang Cheng something he had completely overlooked.

“Before Bayswater Chinese, there was no Champions League-winning team in London!”

Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment. “None before?”

“None!” Brian Kidd said with certainty.

And it was true.

In 2006, Arsenal reached the Champions League final, which was the first time in the Gunners’ history they had ever done so.

Other London clubs, like Chelsea, hadn’t even come close to the final.

And as for teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, they weren’t even in the conversation.

In the entire Premier League, the only teams that had won the Champions League were Manchester United, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa.

Bayswater Chinese was the fifth.

As the capital, London fans had always been very proud.

Because it was home to the largest population in the UK.

The area south of the River Thames had produced a steady stream of Premier League stars.

Therefore, the city supported the most professional football clubs and top-flight teams in the world.

No other city was like London, able to sustain so many top-tier teams.

In English football, the North-South rivalry had always existed.

The traditional football powers of England, led by Manchester and Liverpool, had always looked down on London, believing it lacked footballing heritage.

And London, in turn, looked down on the North.

The North-South conflict in English football had been going on for many years.

Domestically, London couldn’t match the North in the number of Premier League and top-flight league titles.

But at least they had some.

Especially in recent years.

The rise of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Bayswater Chinese, all of whom had won the league title, had brought a great deal of honor to London.

The only exception was the Champions League.

“Do you know why Chelsea has always been so desperate to win the Champions League?”

Brian Kidd’s question almost made Yang Cheng blurt out the answer.

Wasn’t it because before Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea, he watched a Champions League match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford, became infatuated with the star-studded Real Madrid, and then…

But Yang Cheng quickly stopped himself.

He felt that Abramovich must have had more in mind than just that.

A super-billionaire of his level couldn’t be so driven by emotion.

“Among all the teams in London, whoever wins the first Champions League trophy will become the standard-bearer for London football!”

Brian Kidd’s words, this perspective, was something Yang Cheng had never considered before.

But on second thought, it made perfect sense.

Of course, this “standard-bearer” wasn’t some kind of “big brother” leader, and there wouldn’t be a scene where Bayswater Chinese raises a banner and all the other London teams bow in allegiance.

The so-called standard-bearer was more about appeal and influence among the fans.

Adam Crozier had once said: Everyone has a psychological need to show off.

The only difference is what they show off.

Some flaunt their wealth, some their reputation, some their good taste, some their education…

The same is true in the world of football.

This is why, when Bayswater Chinese made it to the Champions League final, so many fans flocked online to show off their tickets.

Conversely, what if Bayswater Chinese hadn’t made it to the final?

Would they still have shown them off?

Obviously not.

They were showing off because Bayswater Chinese had won.

They wanted to flex, to show everyone how unique their foresight was, how correct their decision to support this team had been.

Everyone could derive the Emotional value they sought from a Bayswater Chinese match, a star player, or a single event.

So, for so many years, with none of the numerous London teams able to win the Champions League, the sudden emergence of a team that could made its influence in the hearts of London fans extraordinary.

This was what all the London teams, from Arsenal to Chelsea, had been desperately chasing for all these years.

But Bayswater Chinese had beaten them to it.

“I really never thought of it from that angle before,” Yang Cheng said with some emotion.

Brian Kidd smiled faintly. “You only came to England in 2003. It’s normal that you wouldn’t know.”

“In the next few years, as long as we maintain our current momentum, I guarantee you, forget about a ninety thousand-seat Wembley Stadium, even if you build a one hundred thousand-seater, London will fill it for you!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng’s confidence grew even stronger.

…

After returning to London, the team held a simple ceremony at Bayswater Stadium to present the championship trophy.

Unlike usual, riding the wave of the Champions League final, the event attracted over a hundred media outlets.

In Adam Crozier’s words, it was as if all of Fleet Street was moving over.

That was an exaggeration, of course, but it showed that after winning the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese’s appeal had indeed grown, and the media was paying much more attention.

Yang Cheng gave a speech on behalf of the team, mostly consisting of familiar platitudes.

What was truly said behind closed doors, in the dressing room, was Yang Cheng informing all the players about the bonuses the club had promised.

Eight million pounds was the reward for a Double, but now they had won the Champions League and finished second in the Premier League.

Therefore, according to the originally established bonus rules, the team would still pay out six million pounds to reward everyone.

The amount each person received would be distributed proportionally into each player’s account according to the pre-agreed allocation model.

Since taking over the team in 2003, Bayswater Chinese was famous for being punctual with salaries and bonuses.

And this money had already been deposited the previous night.

When the players woke up, they were not only holding the championship trophy but also had a hefty bonus in their accounts.

In addition to the extra six million pounds, all salaries and bonuses for the season would be calculated within the next two days and paid into the players’ accounts within three days.

Everyone was very happy to hear this.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng told the players that the club would begin a new round of raises for players starting next season.

After the raises, the club’s top salary tier would be increased to eighty thousand pounds per week.

Everyone was stunned once again.

A top salary of eighty thousand pounds a week?

That was double the current amount.

It meant that almost everyone present would see their salary double.

Not only were the players happy, but the coaches were also excited.

Over the past season, Premier League broadcast revenue had soared, and all teams’ salary packages had risen significantly along with it.

This had also put pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

But what worried Yang Cheng the most were Arsenal and Manchester City.

Both teams had recently been acquired by tycoons and were now waving cash around, poaching players from everywhere.

Remember Arsenal’s holding midfielder, Flamini?

That guy was very shrewd; throughout his entire career, he never had a club pay a transfer fee for him.

He had just signed for AC Milan.

It was said that this deal was finalized even before Alisher Usmanov’s takeover was complete.

Flamini’s pre-tax weekly wage at Arsenal was fifty-five thousand pounds.

The UK tax rate is forty percent, which means Flamini took home about thirty-three thousand pounds a week.

In reality, it wasn’t much higher than at Bayswater Chinese, right?

But after moving to AC Milan?

His pre-tax weekly wage shot up to one hundred forty-four thousand pounds. After taxes, he was taking home over seventy thousand, even close to eighty thousand pounds a week.

So, of course, Flamini refused to sign with Arsenal and went directly to AC Milan.

At the time, Wenger was furious, saying things like, “At Arsenal, there are more important things than earning a few extra pounds.”

He also said, “Today is not an era where earning an extra hundred pounds elsewhere will make a huge difference in your life.”

In short, it was all: “Don’t talk to me about money, let’s talk about life, about ideals, about the future.”

And the result?

Hleb wanted to leave!

Adebayor wanted to leave!

Fàbregas wanted to leave too!

Even van Persie spoke out, saying, “Arsenal certainly shouldn’t pay ridiculous figures, but they do need to raise their level.”

“If a player can earn four times as much elsewhere, then I can understand why he would leave Arsenal for another team.”

So, the first thing Alisher Usmanov needed to do after taking over the team wasn’t to poach players, but to stabilize the ranks, quickly renew the contracts of these players, and raise the team’s salary structure.

Currently, Arsenal’s highest weekly wage was Gallas’s eighty thousand pounds. It was said that this would be raised directly to one hundred thousand pounds, and they wouldn’t even rule out offering a weekly wage of one hundred twenty thousand pounds to keep players like Fàbregas.

Yang Cheng was also very curious.

When Arsenal offered enough money, would Fàbregas (an ironic nickname) still choose to go to Barcelona?

Right now, the highest weekly wages in the Premier League were at Manchester United and Chelsea.

Both teams paid their top earners one hundred thirty thousand pounds a week.

But this situation was likely to be disrupted with the tycoon takeovers of Manchester City and Arsenal.

Because they also needed to sign players.

Take Manchester City, for example.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, when the Abu Dhabi consortium acquired Manchester City, the summer transfer window was already nearing its end.

Even so, they spared no expense to hijack Robinho’s move from Real Madrid, right from under Chelsea’s nose.

And now?

They had completed the acquisition early, giving them the entire summer transfer window to operate with plenty of time.

The transfer list drawn up by The Blue Moons was also incredibly lavish.

At the very top of the list was none other than AC Milan’s Kaká!

Just having Kaká on the list showed how terrifying their transfer targets were.

The Manchester Evening News revealed that Manchester City was willing to pay one hundred million euros for Kaká.

AC Milan was already very tempted.

That was one hundred million euros!

If the transfer went through, Kaká would become the first player in football history to have a transfer fee exceeding one hundred million!

At that point, Kaká’s weekly wage would also set a new sky-high price.

What would follow would be another wave of salary inflation.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier all felt that simply raising salaries to sixty thousand pounds was not defensive enough.

So, Yang Cheng waved his hand and raised it directly to eighty thousand pounds.

It really hurt the wallet!

But there was no choice.

If they didn’t raise salaries, the players would be poached sooner or later.

One or two leaving wouldn’t be a big deal; as long as the price was right, Yang Cheng could develop new ones.

The problem was that now Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, plus Real Madrid and Barça, were all eyeing the juicy prize that was Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had to prepare in advance.

If the team was gutted, who would they rely on to play next season?

Spend a few more years nurturing new talent?

That wasn’t realistic!

So, Bayswater Chinese decided to raise the top tier directly to eighty thousand pounds.

The second tier would be raised to fifty thousand pounds.

Xia Qing had also done her research. The current top-tier salary was a bit lower than Manchester United’s and Chelsea’s, about the same as Arsenal’s before their impending raises.

A second-tier salary of fifty thousand pounds, however, was comparable to those of the top clubs.

The goal was clear: to retain the core players.

Bayswater Chinese’s situation was different from other teams.

For example, Manchester United was terrified of C. Ronaldo being poached. No matter how much money they offered, they were still afraid.

Arsenal was equally afraid of losing Fàbregas.

But Bayswater Chinese?

Yang Cheng truly wasn’t afraid of Andrei Arshavin being poached.

As long as they were willing to pay!

Why?

Because he could just sign another one. He knew who had the potential to become the next superstar.

But teams like Manchester United and Arsenal didn’t.

For example, Ferguson signed Saha.

The target was clear, the player’s characteristics were distinct, and his role was well-defined. Saha perfectly fit Ferguson’s tactical requirements.

But what happened?

Saha was plagued by too many injuries.

What next?

Ferguson’s current targets were Lyon’s Benzema, Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Berbatov.

Among these three, who had the potential to become the next superstar?

Transfers were high-risk.

For Manchester United, if they sold C. Ronaldo, how long would it take them to develop their next talisman?

But Yang Cheng didn’t need to worry about that.

Besides, the transfer fee from selling one top star could pay for two or three core players.

…

While Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese were busy preparing their defenses, the poaching attempts began.

Just after the Champions League final, while the news was still hot, a dozen transfer inquiries landed on Yang Cheng’s desk.

The most interest was in Andrei Arshavin.

Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Barça, and Real Madrid were all interested in the Russian who had performed so brilliantly last season.

Džeko also attracted interest from many top clubs.

Barça, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City…

Then there were Yaya Touré, Lassana Diarra, Maicon, Modrić, and others.

In Adam Crozier’s words, at least half of Bayswater Chinese’s squad was being targeted by other teams.

This was extremely dangerous.

Yang Cheng was also on high alert.

For the current Bayswater Chinese, maintaining competitiveness was crucial.

So, who to sell and who to keep was a major test of the head coach’s management skills.

A bad sale could cripple the team, directly impacting the next season.

More importantly, after selling, how would they sign new players?

This was also a very important matter.

In the past, Yang Cheng’s ability to operate in the transfer market was there for all to see.

But this was the first time that so many of his players were being targeted by numerous giants at once.

In other transfer news, there was another blockbuster story.

The reason Barça was targeting Džeko was that Eto’o did not fit the requirements of their new coach, Pep Guardiola.

So, Barça wanted to use Eto’o to trade for a centre-forward.

The three centre-forwards Guardiola had named were Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko, Tottenham Hotspur’s Berbatov, and Inter Milan’s Ibrahimović.

But everyone knew that a superstar of Eto’o’s caliber was simply not someone Tottenham Hotspur could handle.

And Bayswater Chinese would have no interest in Eto’o either.

Signing the Cameroonian panther would completely blow up their salary structure.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the Eto’o-Ibrahimović swap had been rumored for two years before finally happening in 2009.

But now, he didn’t know how it would play out.

In any case, he had no interest in Eto’o.

As for Džeko, Yang Cheng had no intention of selling him either.

With three tycoon clubs—Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal—as well as Real Madrid and Barça all interested in Andrei Arshavin, it would likely be very difficult for Bayswater Chinese to keep him.

The Russian himself also wanted to move to a mega-club.

His dream destination was Barça.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, would see who offered the highest transfer fee.

Under these circumstances, selling Džeko as well would have a huge impact on the team’s attack.

Robert Lewandowski was very good and progressing quickly, but he wasn’t yet ready to carry the main load.

Especially with the Premier League and Champions League campaigns next season.

This was consistent with Yang Cheng’s transfer strategy.

Under controllable circumstances, he would sell at most one player from any single line (defense, midfield, attack) at a time to ensure the team’s competitiveness as much as possible.

As for who to sign after selling Arshavin, Yang Cheng already had a choice in mind.

With Ángel Di María, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott, Bayswater Chinese’s attack shouldn’t be a problem next season.

Chapter 146: History’s First Sky-High Price! Wenger: Yang Cheng, Go Rob a Bank!

The 2008 European summer transfer window kicked off with a series of bombshells that left the entire world stunned.

The first shot was fired by Adam Crozier, the CEO of the Bayswater Chinese.

In an interview with The Sun, the former FA Chief Executive practically tore into numerous Premier League giants with tears in his eyes.

“They have no respect for us at all!”

His reason was that these powerhouse clubs, emboldened by their ample transfer funds and wage budgets, were brazenly trying to poach players from the Bayswater Chinese. This was simply intolerable.

“If you don’t respect other clubs, you’ll lead your football down the wrong path!”

Adam Crozier stated that the Bayswater Chinese would not let go of any player on their team easily.

“We will never compromise!”

While the world’s media and fans were still reeling from the tragic tale of the new Champions League champions, Manchester United, who was on Adam Crozier’s list of culprits, also came out swinging.

The Red Devils’ target was Real Madrid.

Ferguson, in an interview with the media, declared that the Real Madrid Chairman’s comments were unacceptable.

Why?

Because Ramón Calderón had proclaimed to Manchester United from afar: “You can’t stop a player from leaving!”

Ferguson condemned Real Madrid’s actions of enticing C. Ronaldo as immoral.

“Big clubs should set an example. You can’t just be a giant and think you can brazenly entice any player in the world. That’s an irresponsible way to act.”

At the same time, Wenger also spoke out, accusing Real Madrid and Barça of trying to lure Fàbregas away.

The Professor pointed out, “Powerhouse clubs should all establish good values to set an example for other teams.”

Liverpool, on the other hand, lambasted Chelsea, believing The Blues’ attempt to lure Torres was highly unethical.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur went a step further and reported Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal to The FA all at once.

The North London club even submitted a formal report, accusing Manchester United of tapping up Berbatov, Liverpool of going after Robbie Keane, and Arsenal of also trying to poach players from Tottenham Hotspur.

Coincidentally, Aston Villa was also lodging complaints against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Because all three giants had their sights set on Gareth Barry.

The entire Premier League was thrown into utter chaos.

Everyone watched, dumbfounded.

When had anyone ever seen such a spectacular drama?

Big fish eating small fish, and small fish eating shrimp—this was on full display in the tumultuous war of words.

Finally, in an interview with The Times, Yang Cheng took a shot at everyone.

“I believe these big clubs lack mutual respect in the transfer market, which has turned the whole market into a mess and made the transfer system chaotic. This is unhealthy.”

“They have no right to call themselves victims, because they are all perpetrators!”

Just when everyone expected Ferguson, Wenger, Benítez, Schuster, and others to step up and “challenge” Yang Cheng, they all chose to remain silent.

They were too deeply in the wrong!

Daniel Levy, the CEO of Tottenham Hotspur, said just one thing in an interview with reporters.

“These giant clubs are all hypocrites!”

“They accuse others while doing the exact same thing.”

Were there no good guys among the Premier League’s top teams?

Daniel Levy pointed out, “The Bayswater Chinese have an impeccable reputation for their conduct in the transfer market.”

When Yang Cheng saw this interview, he couldn’t stop laughing.

Daniel Levy was one cunning fox.

The Bayswater Chinese had integrity?

Yang Cheng himself didn’t believe it for a second.

…

Before the transfer window had even opened, the war of words was already raging.

Yang Cheng did not participate.

After the Champions League final, he and Xia Qing handled various matters, big and small.

In their spare time, they accompanied both sets of parents and Xia Xi’s family on sightseeing trips around London and nearby cities.

It was a rare opportunity for their parents to travel abroad.

After spending a full week in England, they all returned to China together.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing definitely couldn’t go back this summer.

There was too much to do.

The demolition work for the new stadium project was about to begin, and Xia Qing, who managed the finances, needed to be present for many things.

The first team was officially moving into the Brent training center, a relocation that also involved a great deal of work and countless trivial matters.

Not only did Yang Cheng have to be there, but Brian Kidd and the heads of various departments also had to stay behind.

This was crucial for the stability of the new season.

Adam Crozier and Xia Qing also had to oversee the move of the administrative departments.

The club had already rented office space near the new stadium, where they would work during the construction period.

One thing led to another, and everything became jumbled together in a bit of a mess.

Because of this, the team had no travel plans this summer.

Originally, several parties, including Puma, had hoped to arrange a trip for the Bayswater Chinese to the United States.

A South African sponsor had also invited the Bayswater Chinese to play two pre-season friendlies in South Africa.

There were even invitations from partners in Asia.

But Yang Cheng had rejected them all.

2008 was a European Championship year, and the international players were already exhausted.

The club was also moving and adapting to a new environment; there were simply too many things happening.

Under these circumstances, traveling to Asia or the United States for pre-season friendlies would not have been a good idea.

To ensure the team’s stability for the new season, Yang Cheng chose to stay in England for training and arrange friendlies in Europe.

As for North America, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had been planning for a year. They aimed for a trip to North America in the summer of 2009, hoping to attract more sponsors by then.

…

As the European football world buzzed with commotion, the 2008 European Championship officially kicked off on June 7th.

Croatia, a team Yang Cheng was watching closely, secured their first victory of the tournament in their opening match against Austria, thanks to a goal from Modrić just over three minutes into the game.

The Bayswater Chinese captain delivered a sharp slap in the face to the host nation.

In the subsequent 2-1 victory over Germany, Modrić continued to play with composure.

The midfield combination of Modrić and Rakitić became the key to Croatia’s success.

Especially Modrić.

A small point of regret was that in the third group stage match between Poland and Croatia, Piszczek and Robert Lewandowski did not get to face Modrić and Rakitić.

Because Croatia had already secured two consecutive wins and qualified for the next round, Modrić and Rakitić were rested.

Even so, Croatia still defeated Poland 1-0.

The gap in strength between the two sides was not something that one or two players could bridge.

In another group, France’s situation was quite dire.

Despite being a key player for the Bayswater Chinese and attracting the interest of many top clubs, Lassana Diarra sat on the bench for all three matches.

Makélélé was the midfielder Didier Deschamps trusted most.

As a result, the French were sent packing with one draw and two losses.

And in Russia, the team Yang Cheng was most focused on, things were a bit different from his previous life.

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted, Andrei Arshavin truly had a breakout tournament.

This was the Russian’s first major tournament with the national team, and Andrei Arshavin continued his excellent form from his club.

In the first group stage match, although Russia ultimately lost 2-3 to Spain, Andrei Arshavin had a goal and an assist, putting on a brilliant performance.

In the second group match, it was again a goal and an assist from Andrei Arshavin that helped Russia defeat a Sweden side led by Ibrahimović 2-0.

And in the final group match, it was Andrei Arshavin’s goal that secured a 1-0 victory for Russia against Greece.

The Russian Tsar continued his outstanding club form.

And Hiddink’s use of him was largely consistent with his role at the club, allowing him to be a free man in the attack.

After reaching the quarter-finals, Modrić scored a last-minute winner to defeat Turkey 1-0, sending Croatia to the semi-finals.

Andrei Arshavin, once again, delivered a goal and an assist to help Russia beat the Netherlands 3-1.

Unfortunately, Russia met Spain again in the semi-finals.

Although Andrei Arshavin scored his fifth goal of the European Championship, it was not enough to prevent Spain’s victory.

1-3, Russia’s journey ended in the semi-finals.

In the other semi-final, Croatia, led by Modrić and Rakitić, drew 2-2 with Germany in regular time.

Modrić and Rakitić each provided an assist.

In extra time, the two showed incredible resilience.

Modrić, in particular, successfully shouldered the burden of the team’s midfield offense and defense.

Ultimately, Croatia defeated the German team coached by Löw in a penalty shootout, successfully advancing to the European Championship final.

Neuer officially replaced Lehmann in this European Championship, becoming Germany’s starting goalkeeper.

He largely continued his excellent form from the club, delivering a very impressive performance.

In the final penalty shootout, he saved two penalties in one go.

Unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t back him up, and they still failed to defeat Croatia in the shootout.

But in the final, the Chequered Ones were narrowly defeated 0-1 by Spain.

Torres scored the winning goal.

Spain successfully lifted the European Championship trophy.

Aragonés was instantly immortalized!

In the final Team of the Tournament, the champions, Spain, had the most players selected.

Modrić and Andrei Arshavin were both included in the best lineup.

Andrei Arshavin, with five goals, also won the Golden Boot for the tournament.

With this European Championship, Andrei Arshavin pushed his personal reputation to its peak.

Even before the tournament ended, just after Russia had played their semi-final, they were welcomed back home as heroes despite being eliminated. Major European media outlets vied to report on Andrei Arshavin.

The powerhouse clubs that had long coveted Andrei Arshavin frantically rushed towards the Bayswater Chinese.

But just as everyone was still immersed in the atmosphere of the European Championship, The Sun, always known for its transfer news, suddenly dropped a bombshell.

Manchester City’s deal to sign Kaká for one hundred million euros was essentially complete.

The Ballon d’Or winner would be joining the Premier League, becoming the first-ever Ballon d’Or recipient to play in the league!

And after joining Manchester City, Kaká’s weekly wage would be as high as three hundred thousand pounds!

This immediately caused the entire European transfer market to explode.

One hundred million euros, a three hundred thousand pound weekly wage—it was simply too outrageous, too unbelievable!

…

“Is the Kaká to Manchester City transfer for real?”

Brian Kidd asked Yang Cheng with a look of concern.

After several years of development, his sources were no longer as extensive as Yang Cheng’s, nor was his information as widespread.

Often, Yang Cheng would have received the news before Kidd had even caught a whiff of it.

“The Sun’s report was very detailed, it’s very likely true,” Yang Cheng said, not wanting to speak with absolute certainty.

That’s how things were in the transfer market; until the pen hit the paper and the contract was signed, anything could still happen.

No, even after it was signed, things could still change.

For example, when Gabriel Milito was supposed to transfer to Real Madrid years ago, he had signed the contract but they still found a way to back out.

That was why Gabriel Milito had refused to go to Real Madrid last summer, no matter what.

“Good grief, three hundred thousand pounds a week, isn’t that a bit ridiculous?” Brian Kidd was dumbfounded.

Currently, the highest weekly wage in the Premier League belonged to Chelsea’s John Terry, at one hundred and thirty thousand pounds.

This had already surpassed the previous record set by Shevchenko.

Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo’s weekly wage was only one hundred thousand pounds, not even the highest on his team.

The Red Devils’ top earner was Ferdinand, at one hundred and ten thousand pounds.

This meant that after joining Manchester City, Kaká would single-handedly increase the highest weekly wage in the Premier League by 2.3 times.

It was truly outrageous!

“If they do this, can they keep their wage structure under control?” Brian Kidd was utterly astonished.

That was a weekly wage of three hundred thousand pounds.

Yang Cheng just smiled, not knowing how to answer.

It was hard for him to describe exactly how rich the Abu Dhabi consortium was.

After thinking for a moment, he could only offer one sentence.

“Manchester City’s new owners have practically endless money.”

“How is that possible?” Brian Kidd was even more shocked.

“When they’re about to run out, they just draw a circle in their backyard, drill a well, and pounds will gush out of the oil well.”

Believe it or not, with Yang Cheng’s explanation, Brian Kidd immediately understood.

Put like that, it really was an endless supply.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, felt quite surprised himself.

He hadn’t expected Manchester City to move so quickly.

In his previous life, Kaká had almost transferred to Manchester City in January 2009.

But at that time, Florentino Pérez had intervened, promising to sign Kaká after he returned to the Real Madrid presidency in the summer. So, the Brazilian had rejected Manchester City and waited for half a year.

But now?

There was no sign of Florentino Pérez.

From a fan’s perspective, Kaká going to Manchester City wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

At the very least, Kaká’s style was a good match for the Premier League.

At Manchester City, he would become the team’s core player, and his development would likely be better than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

From the perspective of the Premier League as a whole, Kaká’s arrival would be a huge boost.

Especially in terms of commercial value.

But as a competitor, the perspective on this transfer was different.

At the very least, Yang Cheng felt a headache coming on.

Defending against Kaká would be a very frustrating task.

Especially having to play against him twice every season.

“Manchester City only finished 9th in the Premier League last season, they can’t even play in the Champions League. Why would Kaká go there?” Brian Kidd sounded a bit regretful.

A player like Kaká—handsome, with a good character, and excellent on the pitch—was likable everywhere he went.

“They say Manchester City’s new chairman, Mubarak, personally led a delegation with head coach Eriksson to Milan to convince Kaká. He was persuaded by Manchester City’s grand team-building plan,” Yang Cheng said calmly.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, why did Manchester City ultimately lose out on Kaká?

Was it just because of that one promise from Florentino Pérez?

No, it was because of Real Madrid behind Florentino, and his grand project.

Manchester City had made a fatal mistake back then.

Because the winter transfer window was too rushed, Manchester City had gone directly to AC Milan, throwing money at them.

But for a superstar of Kaká’s level, you had to convince not only the club but also the player himself.

Manchester City had never made contact with Kaká and his team.

So, Manchester City’s one hundred million euros lost to Florentino Pérez’s paper promise.

But this summer, Manchester City had plenty of time for contact and negotiations. Coupled with AC Milan’s desire for that one hundred million euros, the record-breaking transfer was ultimately sealed.

“Besides Kaká, Manchester City’s targets for the centre-forward position are also terrifying.”

Yang Cheng said with a grave expression.

“In addition to wanting to sign our Džeko, there’s Inter Milan’s Ibrahimović, Arsenal’s Adebayor, Lyon’s Benzema, Tottenham Hotspur’s Berbatov, and Liverpool’s Torres…”

“Manchester City will definitely sign a powerful centre-forward in the transfer market.”

All along, Yang Cheng had believed that Manchester City would be the Bayswater Chinese’s strongest competitor in the future.

The Abu Dhabi consortium was not just rich; crucially, they weren’t impulsive.

Roman Abramovich was the type who was rich but also rather impulsive.

If the Russian hadn’t messed around, and had built on the success of the first two years by using the money for Shevchenko in the third year to sign a creative midfielder like Deco, Chelsea’s overall strength would have improved by leaps and bounds.

Manchester City was different.

They had money but weren’t impulsive, and they invested continuously every year, constantly improving the team’s competitiveness.

They also had great trust in and support for their head coach.

This was what made them terrifying.

With the Abu Dhabi consortium backing them, with constant investment and continuous improvement in competitiveness, who could withstand that?

Moreover, their strategy was now out in the open.

We at Manchester City are not short of money; we’ll just smash it with cash.

As long as you’re willing to sell, even if it’s a bit more expensive, I’ll buy.

Signing Kaká for one hundred million euros was a grand gesture to attract talent, the best proof of the Abu Dhabi consortium’s determination!

“And in midfield, Valencia’s David Silva is also on Manchester City’s list of targets.”

The Spanish midfielder had performed very well in the European Championship and was being pursued by many teams, including Spanish giants like Real Madrid and Barça. His transfer fee would certainly not be cheap.

As for the winger position, the hottest names on the European transfer market right now were Real Madrid’s Robinho, Barça’s Ronaldinho, and the Bayswater Chinese’s Andrei Arshavin.

Among them, the Russian was the most sought-after.

Ronaldinho’s situation was well-known; it had been announced long ago that he would be leaving this summer.

As for Robinho, it was because Real Madrid had been constantly trying to lure C. Ronaldo, and there were even rumors of using Robinho as a makeweight to sign him. As a result, the Brazilian angrily announced his departure.

Currently, both Chelsea and Manchester City were vying for the Brazilian player.

The “brilliant” moves of Calderón and Predrag Mijatović were truly admirable.

…

While Manchester City was signing Kaká for a staggering price, their city arch-rival Manchester United was not idle either.

The Red Devils acted decisively, signing Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur for a hefty thirty-five million pounds.

This was a significant increase from the thirty point seven five million pounds in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Yang Cheng was also quite surprised by this outcome.

Ferguson’s transfer dealings had always been relatively rational.

For him to be willing to pay this amount proved that he felt the transfer fee was reasonable.

Thus, Yang Cheng gathered Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, Gary Worthington, and others for a meeting to discuss this summer’s transfer market.

As the club’s director of football, Dan Ashworth had previously been in charge of the youth academy.

This was mainly because the first team and the youth academy were in two different locations.

But now that the first team’s training center had also moved to the Brent Reservoir, his responsibilities had expanded.

This included coordinating with Mike Rigg to monitor the dynamics of the transfer market.

“Through our tracking and monitoring, we can basically confirm that a series of major deals have been brewing in this summer’s transfer market, but it’s not yet certain if they will go through,” Dan Ashworth presented the results of their work over the past month.

Chelsea wanted to sell Drogba, and Shevchenko had already confirmed his return to AC Milan.

But The Blues had four transfer targets: the Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko, Inter Milan’s Ibrahimović, Liverpool’s Torres, and Barça’s Eto’o.

Among them, the Bayswater Chinese had already made it clear that Džeko would not be on the market.

“Chelsea wants to trade Drogba for Ibrahimović.”

“Barça has also been trying to trade for Ibrahimović. Pep Guardiola is very high on the Swedish centre-forward, so they hope to sell Eto’o to Chelsea to raise funds to buy Ibrahimović.”

“After Mourinho took over at Inter Milan, he’s very interested in Drogba, so he’s leaning towards buying him.”

“We now have a confirmed piece of intelligence: Chelsea once made an offer to Liverpool, fifty million pounds, wanting to sign Torres. And we can be very sure that the salary Chelsea offered was a weekly wage of two hundred thousand pounds.”

“Torres’s current weekly wage at Liverpool is only ninety thousand pounds.”

“Inter Milan has also set their sights on another player, Arsenal’s Adebayor, but Wenger has made it clear that he wants to renew Adebayor’s contract. After Alisher Usmanov’s funds arrived, The Gunners are not short of money now.”

Arsenal’s biggest task right now wasn’t signing new players, but quickly renewing the contracts of their core players.

“In addition, Manchester City is interested in all of the players mentioned above.”

Chaos!

Utter chaos!

Not just Xia Qing, even Adam Crozier was completely bewildered.

All these interconnected dealings were a complete mess.

But this was the transfer market—incredibly intricate and complex, like a thick fog.

That was why Yang Cheng had specifically assigned Director of Football Dan Ashworth and Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg to monitor the transfer market.

This was well within their purview.

Don’t think for a moment that Chelsea was just messing around.

They weren’t.

This was how transfers were generally handled: you identify several targets, pursue them simultaneously, see which one shows progress or a breakthrough, and then focus on that player.

If you are too focused on one target, you might end up like Real Madrid being stood up by Chivu, becoming a laughingstock.

“The problem now is that Barça is willing to sell Eto’o, and Chelsea is willing to buy, but Eto’o’s salary is a bit high. For a transfer to the Premier League, he’s asking for a weekly wage of one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, which would break Chelsea’s wage structure.”

Chelsea’s current highest weekly wage belonged to Terry, at one hundred and thirty thousand pounds.

At that moment, Yang Cheng understood why Ferguson had acted so decisively.

“If the hottest position in the European transfer market last season was centre-back, then this summer, it’s definitely centre-forward. And judging by the market trends, centre-forwards will be the most sought-after position in the transfer market this year and next.”

Yang Cheng agreed with this assessment.

On one hand, there was an extreme scarcity of excellent centre-forwards. On the other, the emergence of Manchester City had intensified the demand for top players.

When supply is low and demand is high, the price inevitably rises.

More importantly, among the existing top teams, Chelsea’s Drogba was already thirty, and Real Madrid’s Van Nistelrooy was thirty-two. In the next year or two, both teams would face the problem of replacing their aging strikers.

And there were only so many excellent centre-forwards available.

With Berbatov gone to Manchester United, the pool had shrunk even further.

Yang Cheng mentally calculated that after Berbatov’s transfer to Manchester United for thirty-five million pounds, the price of centre-forwards would certainly rise even further.

After all, not every team had the ability to develop semi-finished products.

Look at Chelsea, for example. What had become of talented young players like Kalou?

Teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester City, and even Inter Milan, had virtually no environment for developing young players.

These teams could basically only rely on poaching.

The Bayswater Chinese had to respond to the current transfer market and act quickly.

The first priority was a new round of contract renewals and salary increases.

It wasn’t that Yang Cheng had miscalculated.

It was just that the transfer market was changing too quickly.

Arsenal was facing poaching attempts this summer.

Players like Flamini, Adebayor, Hleb, and Fàbregas were all being targeted.

Even van Persie spoke out, saying the club should appropriately increase salaries.

Given the current situation at the Bayswater Chinese, if they didn’t act fast, the club could face the same awkward predicament as Arsenal next summer.

Besides the players, the coaching staff also needed attention.

Even someone as formidable as Gianni Vio had received quite a few poaching offers.

Here, it was necessary to mention Yang Cheng’s management of the Bayswater Chinese.

Strictly speaking, the most important thing Yang Cheng had built was a system.

From the commercial to the sporting side, the Bayswater Chinese relied on a modern management system where everyone worked together with a clear division of labor.

Over the past few years, poaching attempts from the outside had never ceased.

But they had basically had no impact on the Bayswater Chinese.

Because ordinary employees were more like screws in a machine; if one was poached, they could simply be replaced.

What about core employees at the executive level like Gianni Vio, Dan Ashworth, and Mike Rigg?

It wasn’t that they hadn’t faced poaching attempts.

But on one hand, while the player salaries at the Bayswater Chinese weren’t the highest, the employee compensation was excellent.

On the other hand, their success was also dependent on the entire system at the Bayswater Chinese.

Especially after Yang Cheng implemented a series of modern corporate management models like the paperless office and networked office systems, even if these executives were to leave, they couldn’t take much with them.

They didn’t have the ability to go to another club and replicate the same system.

Even if they spared no expense to poach a large group of people at once, the system they would build by imitation would not necessarily be competitive.

This was what Yang Cheng had always emphasized.

There was only one indispensable person at the Bayswater Chinese.

Just like now, someone in a position as high as Adam Crozier, if he were to leave, Yang Cheng would promote Omar Berrada the very next day.

By the same token, what if Omar Berrada left?

Adam Crozier would immediately promote a capable subordinate from under Omar Berrada.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese did not fear poaching!

This applied to employees, and it applied to players as well.

Of course, on another level, while they weren’t afraid of poaching, they couldn’t be stingy either.

Especially now, during a period of growth and expansion, it was essential to provide enough incentives to unite everyone in the club, increase cohesion, and cultivate the club’s culture.

When it comes to running a football club, in the end, culture is extremely important.

…

As the transfer market reached a fever pitch, the entire European football transfer scene became even more bewildering.

All sorts of transfer rumors were flying around incessantly.

Not long after Manchester United signed Berbatov, Manchester City also officially announced that they had successfully signed powerful centre-forward Adebayor from Arsenal for a high price of thirty million pounds.

To secure the Togolese international, The Blue Moons not only paid the high transfer fee but also offered a weekly wage of one hundred and seventy thousand pounds, which made Adebayor switch to Manchester City without hesitation.

In addition, Belarusian player Hleb also transferred to Barcelona for ten million pounds.

Coupled with Gilberto Silva’s free transfer back to Brazil and Lehmann’s free transfer to Germany.

Arsenal lost five key players in one go.

However, The Gunners did manage to keep core players like van Persie and Fàbregas.

According to information revealed by The Independent, the most crucial factor in Wenger’s decision to finally let them go was salary control.

Wenger believed that if keeping these few players led to the collapse of the team’s salary structure, it would not be worth it.

But after selling these players, what was the plan?

Wenger immediately came up with a counter-strategy.

First, he signed promising goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from Ligue 1’s OGC Nice for seven million pounds.

Wenger had been eyeing Hugo Lloris since the winter transfer window, but he didn’t have the money back then.

Now, after selling players and with the injection of funds from Alisher Usmanov, The Gunners had plenty of cash.

After signing Hugo Lloris, Wenger shifted his focus again, signing 20-year-old talented centre-forward Benzema from Lyon for a high price of twenty million pounds.

This was another player Wenger had been watching for a long time but couldn’t afford, and he was also a fellow Frenchman.

Wenger greatly admired Benzema’s potential and talent, believing he had what it took to become a future top-class centre-forward.

Benzema was also full of admiration for Wenger’s Arsenal, hoping to shine at the club just as Henry had.

Originally, Wenger had also wanted to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, but Liverpool and Manchester City were also very interested in the homegrown player. After a round of public complaints, Aston Villa directly set a high price of twenty million pounds.

Both Liverpool and Arsenal were immediately scared off. Manchester City, on the other hand, readily agreed.

Thus, the Aston Villa captain transferred to Manchester City for twenty million pounds.

Wenger then turned around and signed midfielder Sulley Muntari from Pompey Portsmouth for fifteen million pounds.

The Ghanaian player had performed exceptionally well in the Premier League last season, helping Portsmouth finish 8th.

In addition, The Gunners also signed winger Nasri from Ligue 1’s Marseille for ten million pounds.

Wenger also spent ten million pounds to sign French midfield prodigy Gourcuff from AC Milan.

The 22-year-old French talent was a player Wenger was very fond of; he had publicly praised Gourcuff on more than one occasion.

Even though the French midfielder had failed to make his mark at AC Milan, Wenger still signed him.

In an interview with the media, Wenger even stated, “This is an exciting transfer!”

“He is a great talent and will be one of France’s most important players in the future!”

After Henry and Vieira both struggled in Italy before shining in the Premier League, Wenger believed Gourcuff would be next.

Right after his excitement, Wenger gave Yang Cheng a call.

To invite him for a meal!

…

Bayswater, Queensway.

Opposite Bayswater Stadium was an unfinished building. On the east side of Queensway, there was a Chinese restaurant called the Golden Mountain Restaurant.

If Yang Cheng and Xia Qing weren’t cooking at home, they usually ate here.

When Wenger took the initiative to invite him for a meal, Yang Cheng chose this place.

He even specifically picked a table by the window, from which you could see Bayswater Stadium being demolished.

“How big is your new stadium going to be?” Wenger asked with concern.

The media had already been reporting that the Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium was going to be expanded.

“I don’t know. The bigger the better, obviously, but we haven’t calculated it yet.”

Yang Cheng didn’t try to hide anything, because it really was unclear at the moment.

After a pause, Yang Cheng suddenly laughed. “How does it feel? Having money, buying whoever you want, feels good, right?”

Wenger froze, looking a bit awkward.

Before Alisher Usmanov took over Arsenal, although Wenger’s stance was relatively neutral, he actually leaned more towards Kroenke.

He hoped Arsenal could operate independently and sustainably.

Yang Cheng’s words were tinged with mockery, essentially teasing him about this.

But to be honest, buying players really was a great feeling.

And the more you bought, the better it felt.

Wenger now completely understood why women loved to go shopping.

Because you just can’t stop!

“You’ve spent nearly seventy million pounds in the transfer market. Don’t tell me you were forced to,” Yang Cheng added another punch.

Because he had already guessed the purpose of Wenger’s visit.

No matter how thick-skinned Wenger was, he couldn’t withstand Yang Cheng’s teasing. “If you weren’t building that stadium, you could be buying too.”

But it felt good, really good!

Many players he had admired before but couldn’t afford were now within reach.

Like Benzema and Gourcuff.

Buying these players made Wenger feel like a woman who had just bought a Hermès bag.

Yang Cheng just smiled and said nothing.

“What do you make of the threat from Manchester City?” Wenger changed the subject.

“For us, it’s nothing. Our goal is just a top-four finish,” Yang Cheng said with a grin.

The Fourth Place Fiend, that’s us Bayswater Chinese now!

But the word “just” made Wenger lose his composure a little.

“Yang, will you die if you don’t mock me a little?”

Yang Cheng burst out laughing. “I definitely won’t die, but I’ll feel a bit uncomfortable.”

“You know, we at the Bayswater Chinese are so poor, it’s given me a bit of a complex. I really, really don’t like the sight of rich clubs, especially the nouveau riche ones.”

Wenger’s smile truly froze on his face.

This meal was impossible to eat!

I shouldn’t have fucking come here to take this abuse!

“Out with it, what do you really want from me?” Yang Cheng had a lot of things to do and no time to waste with him here.

Wenger decided to get straight to the point. “I hope to buy a player from the Bayswater Chinese.”

Yang Cheng had an “I knew it” expression. “Hasn’t David Dein been in contact with Adam Crozier?”

After a pause, Yang Cheng looked out the window.

Due to its location in the heart of London, surrounded by old buildings, the demolition of Bayswater Stadium couldn’t be done with controlled explosions and had to rely on heavy machinery.

Working hours were limited, and they had to control dust and noise…

In short, it was very troublesome.

Wenger, unaware that Yang Cheng’s mind had wandered, smiled slightly. “I’m not talking about Andrei Arshavin.”

“Huh?” Yang Cheng brought his attention back to Wenger.

“Then who are you talking about?”

“Koscielny.”

Yang Cheng was a bit surprised. “You want to sign Koscielny?”

Wenger smiled slightly. “Actually, if you were willing to sell Thiago Silva or Pepe, I’d certainly be happier, but I know you definitely wouldn’t.”

No kidding!

Yang Cheng really hadn’t expected this.

“You’ve bought so many Frenchmen at once, won’t that cause problems?” Yang Cheng tried to change the subject.

Wenger was nonchalant. “Arsenal has always had strong French football DNA. There’s nothing unusual about it.”

After a pause, Wenger continued, “If Koscielny stays at the Bayswater Chinese, he’ll still be the third or fourth choice centre-back. If he comes to us at Arsenal, he can be a starter and get more opportunities to develop.”

This line was obviously not intended for Yang Cheng, but for the player and his agent.

Currently, Thiago Silva and Pepe’s positions were quite secure, and José Fonte’s role in the dressing room was significant. Koscielny got a decent amount of playing time, but he would definitely get more opportunities at Arsenal.

“He’s a homegrown player!” Yang Cheng said flatly.

“I know. We’ll add money!” Wenger was quite self-aware.

Yang Cheng was really not used to such a straightforward Wenger.

Nouveau riche, acting like a total tycoon!

Yang Cheng mentally calculated the team’s current number of homegrown player slots.

Whether Koscielny left or not wouldn’t have a huge impact.

Thiago Silva, Pepe, and José Fonte were all capable of playing in rotation.

But they would still need to bring in another centre-back.

Yang Cheng’s mind spun for a moment, and he immediately came up with a few suitable candidates.

After some thought, he had a plan.

“Fine, you can take Koscielny, for twenty million pounds!” Yang Cheng gave a firm price.

“Twenty million pounds?” Wenger almost jumped out of his seat. “Go rob a bank!”

“Alright then, I’ll go rob one for you to see later,” Yang Cheng replied with a cheerful smile.

Wenger was somewhat speechless.

Just this May, FIFA had introduced a 6+5 policy.

The so-called 6+5 meant that in a starting lineup of eleven players, there could be at most five foreign players, with at least six homegrown players.

Not only that, FIFA had also provided a very detailed timeline for its gradual implementation starting from 2010.

The starting point of this policy was to limit the development of European leagues.

To put it simply, the top four leagues had too many foreign players, and their overall competitive strength was too high.

This had also caused panic among many clubs and teams, and the value of homegrown players had risen accordingly.

“Let me tell you, twenty million pounds is already a friendship price. If Manchester City came asking, I’d add at least ten million pounds before even starting to haggle,” Yang Cheng said with extra confidence.

Arsenal actually wasn’t short of homegrown youth players, but having more was definitely a good thing.

Especially considering that Koscielny was a French player.

If Ferguson had a unique preference for British homegrown players, then Wenger had a soft spot for French players.

As for Yang Cheng and Chinese players… uh, let’s not go there.

“Yang, the 6+5 policy is being hyped up a lot now, but you and I both know that this policy violates the European Union’s labor laws, and the chances of it passing in the EU are very slim.”

Why very slim?

Because FIFA President Blatter had said that FIFA would communicate with the relevant EU authorities.

“Of course I know that, but you should also know that the value of homegrown players will only get higher. FIFA has started this, what’s to stop The FA from doing the same next?”

After a pause, Yang Cheng grinned. “David Dein is the Vice-Chairman of The FA. Don’t tell me he can’t see the writing on the wall.”

The England national team’s performance was weak.

After every major tournament, there was always talk of a renewed focus on homegrown talent.

For the 2008 European Championship, they didn’t even qualify for the final tournament, and public opinion was even more explosive.

This issue had been debated before, and recently, with the end of the European Championship, the media had brought it up for another round of hype.

Restricting foreign players and supporting homegrown talent was bound to happen sooner or later.

“I need to think about it,” Wenger sighed.

“No problem, of course,” Yang Cheng said. “But it’s better to be quick. You know, our team is about to start pre-season training, and I’m used to having all my players in place before it begins.”

Wenger glared at Yang Cheng, then shook his head helplessly.

“In the future, if I have any other choice, I’d rather die than buy a player from your Bayswater Chinese?”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily. “You can choose not to buy him now. Oh, by the way, speak a little louder. If you really mean it, I can call Fleet Street for you. I’m sure Man City, Real Madrid, Barça, and Chelsea would be grateful to you!”

Right now, five teams were competing for Andrei Arshavin, and Arsenal was one of them.

Of course, these teams weren’t completely brainless; they all kept the competition within a certain range.

Wenger became even more frustrated.

But on second thought, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sell them!

Sell as many as you can!

Our strength has improved, you keep selling. Once you’ve sold them all, I’ll crush you in the new season!

Chapter 147: A Frantic Transfer Window! Real Madrid Must Buy This Player!

Wenger quickly gave Yang Cheng a call.

Arsenal had agreed to sign Koscielny from the Bayswater Chinese for twenty million pounds.

The twenty-three-year-old French centre-back was officially joining The Gunners!

Yang Cheng also made a point to meet with Koscielny for a chat.

The players who had fought alongside him back in their League Two days were leaving, one by one.

Now, only Modrić and Lambert remained with the team.

Koscielny had long been looking forward to joining Arsenal.

Both teams were based in London, so he didn’t even have to move.

He was also genuinely grateful to Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

However, Yang Cheng soon found himself with a minor regret.

The offer had been a bit too low.

The day after Arsenal signed Koscielny for twenty million pounds, Manchester City announced they had signed Joleon Lescott from Everton for the same amount.

Lescott was an England international, twenty-seven years old, more mature, and an English homegrown player.

Koscielny was younger with greater potential and also had homegrown player status.

All in all, they both had their merits.

It was just that Yang Cheng felt if he had asked for a little more and dragged it out for a couple of days, Arsenal probably would have agreed.

In Yang Cheng’s view, earning less was as good as losing money.

Since when did that damned old codger Wenger have so much clout?

Besides Lescott, Manchester City also signed homegrown international goalkeeper Joe Hart from Everton for a transfer fee of fifteen million pounds.

It was clear The Blue Moons were in dire need of homegrown players.

Afterward, Manchester City signed Shaun Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge from Chelsea in a package deal for twenty million pounds, and Welsh international Craig Bellamy from West Ham United for ten million pounds.

They also spent another ten million pounds to sign Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong from Hamburger SV of the Bundesliga.

The entire European football world went completely insane!

A staggering one hundred and eighty million pounds!

The media and fans all over the world were in an uproar!

Who had ever seen such a tycoon?

In everyone’s memory, Roman Abramovich’s investment in Chelsea was already considered a crazy spending spree.

Who could have imagined that after the Abu Dhabi consortium acquired Manchester City, they would spend one hundred and eighty million pounds in a single summer, and their transfer business wasn’t even finished?

Pounds sterling!

What was even more ridiculous was that Manchester City’s transfer activity wasn’t over.

The Blue Moons were still competing with Arsenal and Chelsea for the Russian star Andrei Arshavin, as well as the Real Madrid winger Robinho.

According to The Sun, Manchester City’s transfer spending this summer would definitely exceed two hundred million pounds.

That was three hundred million euros.

…

While the whole world was marveling at Manchester City’s wealth, the Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal made a simultaneous announcement.

Russian star Andrei Arshavin had successfully transferred to The Gunners for a fee of fifty million pounds.

This was the second-highest transfer fee in the European market this summer, second only to Kaká.

Everyone was shocked.

The Sun revealed that before the European Championship, Real Madrid, Barça, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal had all made offers for Arshavin, but the initial bids had been low.

Only around thirty million pounds.

The reason was quite simple.

The transfer market was more rational at the time, and Arshavin was, after all, already twenty-seven years old.

But Kaká’s transfer detonated the entire European football scene.

The values of all players skyrocketed along with it.

The fact that two tycoons, Chelsea and Manchester City, were both determined to sign Arshavin only fueled the bidding war.

Especially after Arshavin’s brilliant performance at the European Championship, which caused a huge sensation worldwide.

His value naturally soared.

In a major tournament year, players who perform exceptionally well often see their market value skyrocket.

Once his price surpassed forty million pounds, Real Madrid and Barça announced their withdrawal, and Real Madrid stopped bidding.

In the end, it was the three tycoons—Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal—that drove the price all the way up to fifty million pounds.

Arsenal’s behind-the-scenes owner, Alisher Usmanov, personally met with Arshavin and persuaded the Russian to join The Gunners.

After missing out on Arshavin, Manchester City reacted even faster, signing Robinho from Real Madrid for a transfer fee of thirty million pounds.

The Brazilian player was also looking forward to his journey in the Premier League next season.

Especially after Kaká’s move to Manchester City was confirmed, Eriksson personally convinced Robinho to join.

Later, Manchester United signed Argentine right-back Pablo Zabaleta from La Liga side Espanyol for five million pounds.

By the time Chelsea signed Deco from Barça and came to their senses, they discovered that Robinho had already been snatched up by Manchester City.

This led The Independent, a newspaper friendly with Arsenal and notoriously hostile towards Chelsea, to write a sarcastic article, opining that Chelsea had woken up early only to arrive at the market late.

Chelsea was the first club linked with Kaká, but the Brazilian superstar went to Manchester City.

Then, in the transfer battle for Arshavin, Chelsea lost to their city rivals, Arsenal.

Finally, in the contest for Robinho, they lost to Manchester City again.

The Independent argued that the activities in the transfer market showed that the Premier League was no longer an era dominated by Chelsea.

The Blues were rapidly declining, both in terms of financial power and appeal.

In contrast, the owners behind Arsenal and Manchester City were clearly wealthier and more willing to invest.

Take Arsenal, for example. After signing Arshavin for fifty million pounds, The Gunners’ spending in the transfer market, though not as extravagant as Manchester City’s, still reached one hundred and thirty-two million pounds.

Even after subtracting the transfer income from selling Adebayor and Hleb, Arsenal’s net spending still exceeded ninety million pounds.

And Chelsea?

They brought in Deco for seven million pounds and Bosingwa for fifteen million pounds.

That was it.

This led many in the media and fans to sigh with emotion.

In the world of tycoons, there’s always a bigger fish.

In the past, they thought Abramovich was the epitome of a tycoon.

But now, compared to the Abu Dhabi consortium and Usmanov, Abramovich’s glory days were clearly behind him.

At the very least, the long-rumored signings of Ibrahimović and Torres had not materialized at Stamford Bridge.

The Bayswater Chinese sold Arshavin and Koscielny, recouping seventy million pounds.

Under the dazzling glare of the two giants, Manchester City and Arsenal, their activities barely registered with most teams.

And while no one was paying attention, the Bayswater Chinese signed Belgian centre-back Vincent Kompany from Bundesliga club Hamburger SV for five million pounds.

The twenty-two-year-old Belgian defender could also play as a holding midfielder.

He had clashed with Hamburg over his insistence on participating in the 2008 Olympics.

The Kings of the North of the Bundesliga were foolish enough to threaten Kompany with a breach of contract lawsuit to force him to return.

Furious, Kompany returned to Hamburg but got into a fierce conflict with the club.

Under these circumstances, two Premier League teams made simultaneous offers.

Blackburn Rovers, managed by Mark Hughes, and the Bayswater Chinese, managed by Yang Cheng.

Accompanied by his agent, Kompany met with Mike Rigg and subsequently agreed to join the London club.

After signing Vincent Kompany, the Bayswater Chinese spent another two million pounds to sign Belgian player Eden Hazard from the mid-table Ligue 1 team, Lille.

Eden Hazard was promoted to the first team in 2007 and signed a professional contract with Lille.

In the past season, he had only made four appearances for the first team, totaling thirty-three minutes.

But in Lille’s youth academy, Hazard had been outstanding, helping Lille finish fifth in their region and being named one of the top ten new talents in Ligue 1 by France Football magazine.

Furthermore, he had already been fast-tracked from the Belgium U17 national team to the U19 national team.

In a European football world where transfer fees routinely exceeded tens of millions, or even a hundred million pounds, the arrival of two young prospects did not attract much outside attention.

Even the media and fans who closely followed the Bayswater Chinese only knew that the club had signed two young players and nothing more.

…

“Hey, Adam, you’re here!”

At the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge, Real Madrid’s General Manager, Predrag Mijatović, had already been notified by the front desk and was waiting with the door open.

As soon as he saw Adam Crozier coming up the stairs, he immediately came forward to greet him.

The Real Madrid General Manager warmly welcomed Adam Crozier into his room.

A few days ago, in this very room, their negotiations for Arshavin had just fallen through.

Those Premier League clubs were simply too rich!

The final price they offered was something Real Madrid simply couldn’t accept.

They had no choice but to withdraw.

But Mijatović was back again.

“Adam, you have to help me this time,” Mijatović said, his face a mask of misery.

Adam Crozier worked hard to suppress the look of contempt in his eyes, putting on a buddy-buddy expression of solidarity. He sighed, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I’ve asked, I’ve hinted around, but Mr. Yang’s answer is still the same.”

“Džeko is not for sale!”

He assumed Mijatović was here for Džeko.

Real Madrid was currently being run ragged. The media and fans were on the verge of crucifying Calderón and Mijatović.

Why?

Because of their previous shenanigans, of course!

They tried to lure C. Ronaldo, and it was even leaked that they planned to use Robinho as a makeweight in the transfer.

The Brazilian was not a pushover, and he had quite the temper. In a fit of anger, he announced his transfer.

Now, not only had they failed to sign C. Ronaldo, but they had also lost Robinho.

Although Robinho hadn’t lived up to expectations, he was still a player beloved by the Real Madrid fans.

If they had managed to sign C. Ronaldo or Arshavin, it would have been a different story.

But now, they’d failed to sign a superstar and had given away one of their own.

You’d never seen such a disastrous transfer operation!

So, before coming to the meeting, Adam Crozier had communicated with Yang Cheng, guessing that it was most likely about Džeko.

But Yang Cheng really had no intention of selling!

He had already let Arshavin go. Džeko was set to play a very important role in the Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system for the new season. How could he possibly be sold?

“I know, I know, Adam. I’m not here for Džeko.”

Mijatović was also dejected.

He was now truly realizing that his own abilities were limited, and he wasn’t cut out for the job of Real Madrid’s General Manager.

“Then you’re here for…”

“The head coach, Schuster, wants to sign a defensive midfielder. We wanted to ask, is Lassana Diarra for sale?”

“Lassana Diarra?” Adam Crozier, recklessly, put on a look of surprise. It couldn’t hurt.

Mijatović had a good relationship with Adam Crozier. Seeing his expression, he actually felt a little ashamed, a little guilty.

“I have no other choice, my friend. If we don’t sign a player of substance soon to pacify the fans, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold on to my position as General Manager,” Mijatović said with a mournful face.

“But Lassana Diarra isn’t a superstar.”

Mijatović shook his head with a bitter smile. “You don’t understand, Adam. At Real Madrid, Makélélé is a sore spot for many fans. After he left, Real Madrid went several years without a title. Things have only improved in the last two years.”

“We signed Mahamadou Diarra before, but he’s a bit injury-prone and his performance hasn’t been great, so Schuster wants to bring in another defensive midfielder. Lassana Diarra looks a lot like Makélélé.”

“He’s much better than Makélélé,” Adam Crozier interjected forcefully, protective of his fledglings.

“Right, right, he is indeed better than Makélélé.”

“Seriously, he’s been the Premier League’s top tackler for three consecutive seasons, averaging four or five tackles and nearly three interceptions per game. His pass completion rate is ninety percent, and his long pass success rate is over seventy percent. Go look at Makélélé’s stats.”

“Even Makélélé in his prime, could he reach that level?”

This barrage of questions from Adam Crozier truly left Mijatović speechless.

At the same time, he was very impressed.

A true professional, he knew the stats of his club’s players like the back of his hand.

Lassana Diarra was indeed strong; otherwise, so many teams wouldn’t be after him.

“You’re right, Adam. So, you must help me with this.”

Adam Crozier clicked his tongue in annoyance, making it seem like Mijatović had presented him with a huge problem.

“It’s really not that I won’t help you, I just can’t.”

“Why?”

“Just a few days ago, before Manchester City signed de Jong, they sent our club an offer for Lassana Diarra. They offered twenty million pounds. I took the fax to Mr. Yang, and he gave me a proper dressing-down.”

As he spoke, Adam Crozier put on a wronged expression.

“You know, he really didn’t want to sell Arshavin, but Arsenal was dead set on poaching him. He couldn’t keep him, so he’s in a terrible mood, constantly asking me what we’re going to compete with in the Premier League and Champions League next season.”

At this point, Adam Crozier also looked innocent. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“Fifty million pounds, who can you even buy with that?”

Mijatović nodded incessantly. He understood that feeling.

It was just like his current situation. After selling Robinho, he got thirty million pounds in transfer fees, but he had no idea who he could buy to fill that gap.

“Money, that son of a bitch, is a real bastard!” Mijatović felt a pang of empathy.

“So, if I go to him about Lassana Diarra, he’ll definitely tear me to pieces. You’ll probably hear news of me being fired tomorrow.”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Why not? Which head coach has a good temper?”

That was true!

Mijatović was a former player, had played for many years, and was now a general manager. He had dealt with his fair share of head coaches.

In his experience, head coaches were all hot-tempered.

“Brother, you have to help me no matter what. At worst… at worst, we’ll offer a bit more for the transfer fee.”

“This isn’t a question of the transfer fee, don’t you get it?”

Adam Crozier became a little annoyed. “Without Lassana Diarra, we can’t play next season. The midfield will be a disaster.”

“Anyway, I can’t help you with this,” Adam Crozier said with a wave of his hand.

But he remained seated, showing no intention of getting up or leaving.

“How about this? We’ll add another five million pounds. Twenty-five million pounds.”

After a pause, Mijatović himself couldn’t help but wince. “For a defensive midfielder, that’s truly a sky-high price.”

“I told you, it’s not about the transfer fee. Why don’t you understand?”

With that, Adam Crozier stood up. “That fax from Manchester City for over twenty million pounds, Mr. Yang didn’t even look at it. He just tore it up and threw it at me. Do you think I dare go to him with another offer?”

He sounded agitated, but Adam Crozier still stood his ground, not moving an inch.

Mijatović was starting to get really anxious.

Before he flew from Madrid to London, Chairman Calderón had specifically instructed him.

He had to sign a big-name player, no matter what, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to quell the fans’ anger.

“How about this, Adam? Just give Yang Cheng a call. Tell him… tell him we’re willing to pay thirty million pounds for Lassana Diarra. See if he accepts. What do you think?”

“Thirty million pounds? Are you crazy?” Adam Crozier’s reaction was not what Mijatović expected.

This guy really was a loyal friend.

Still thinking of my best interests at a time like this. What a good man!

“Adam, we really must buy him!” Mijatović said with a look of utter sincerity.

His resolve strengthened.

What’s thirty million pounds?

Trading Robinho for the Premier League’s top tackler should be worth it!

Of course, it was a bit humiliating.

Buying a defensive midfielder for the price of a genius winger!

Adam Crozier let out a long sigh. “Alright, I’ll make a call, but I’m telling you beforehand, I can’t guarantee it will work.”

“Okay, thank you, Adam.”

Adam Crozier took out a phone Mijatović had never seen before. It had a huge screen, and the logo on the back was a bitten apple.

“New phone, Adam?”

“A gift from the boss. He said it’s a new phone from the United States, had someone bring it back specially.”

Mijatović smiled. “That proves the Bayswater Chinese still need you very much.”

Adam Crozier wasn’t very adept with the new phone yet. It was all touchscreen, unlike his old Nokia with buttons.

It was not easy to use at all!

After finding Yang Cheng’s number, he dialed it directly.

Upon receiving Adam Crozier’s signal, Yang Cheng on the other end of the line flew into a rage, cursing furiously.

Mijatović watched, shaking his head.

What a temper!

In the end, Adam Crozier tried every trick in the book and managed to “convince” Yang Cheng.

When the Bayswater Chinese CEO walked back, he looked at Mijatović and pointed an accusatory finger at the Real Madrid General Manager.

“If you don’t treat me to a proper meal at the Mandarin Oriental, I swear I’ll never forgive you. I got chewed out so badly!”

Mijatović laughed heartily. “So? Did he agree?”

“At first, he refused point-blank. But I told him Lassana Diarra’s head has been turned and we can’t keep him.”

“That’s right. I saw in the news that on his first day after joining you, Lassana Diarra challenged Yang Cheng, saying he wanted to join a big club in the future.”

“In that case, since he’s going to be sold anyway, thirty million pounds it is. We’ll sell him to you, Real Madrid.”

Mijatović clapped his hands together forcefully. “It’s a deal?”

“It’s a deal!”

Afraid that the Bayswater Chinese would back out, Mijatović quickly took out a pre-prepared agreement from his briefcase, filled in the transfer fee amount, and signed a provisional agreement with Adam Crozier on the spot.

The rest was for the two clubs to negotiate with their respective teams and legal departments, mainly concerning the terms and specific payment methods.

After settling the matter, not only did Mijatović treat Adam Crozier to a grand meal at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Late that night, the two of them also secretly went to a high-end nightclub and partied all night.

…

The next morning.

When a drained-looking Adam Crozier arrived at the Brent training center, he was in the head coach’s office in the first team’s training building, tearfully recounting how hard he had worked the previous day, how much talking he had done…

“Just cut it out right now. Believe it or not, I’ll have The Sun publish the photos of you and Mijatović coming in and out of that nightclub tomorrow.”

“What?” Adam Crozier was instantly wide awake. “I got photographed again?”

“Of course. They called me last night.”

“So you…”

“I told him Real Madrid provisionally signed Lassana Diarra, but the transfer fee won’t be disclosed for now, so…”

Yang Cheng pointed to the front-page headline of The Sun on his desk.

Premier League’s Top Tackler Close to Joining Real Madrid!

“I was careless!” Adam Crozier sighed helplessly.

“These paparazzi are just ridiculous now. I was being so careful.”

Yang Cheng grunted twice.

To him, this wasn’t really a problem.

Apart from chasing women, Adam Crozier didn’t really have any other vices.

Most importantly, the guy had principles.

Although he was a womanizer, he never touched his female colleagues in the office and was always serious and professional during work hours.

In this regard, at least, he was much better than his successor at The FA, Mark Palios.

“It’s fine, I’ve handled it. It’s an exchange of information. Just be more careful next time.”

Adam Crozier quickly raised his hands, indicating he understood.

“By the way, now that you’ve sold Lassana Diarra, who are you planning to sign?” Adam Crozier asked with concern.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “I’m not planning on bringing anyone else in.”

“Will that work?”

“Matuidi performed very well last season, and Rakitić was also quite good. I think those two should be able to fill the void left by Lassana Diarra.”

Under the current circumstances, if they didn’t sign anyone else, the first team would have just twenty-three players.

There would be two players for every position, with three for the centre-forward role.

Among them, Hazard could play in any attacking position, including the number 10 role.

This gave Yang Cheng a lot of tactical flexibility.

Of course, the Belgian was only seventeen, the youngest on the team.

Aaron Ramsey also performed very well in the FA Cup last season, and Yang Cheng definitely planned to give him more significant responsibilities in the new season.

Under these circumstances, there really was no need to sign any more players.

Besides, Ángel Di María could also play in midfield.

Yang Cheng had used him there last season.

In fact, Yang Cheng had been preparing for this ever since he decided to sell Arshavin.

At the time, he had considered many candidates for the wing, including Marco Reus, who was still at Rot Weiss Ahlen in Germany.

So why did he choose Hazard?

From a tactical fit perspective, Reus was actually a better fit for the current Bayswater Chinese.

The German player had speed, skill, and a good eye for goal, very similar to Di María, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott.

Most importantly, Reus was also very handsome.

Hazard, on the other hand, was more of a control-based winger like Ribéry.

But Yang Cheng had always felt that from a tactical diversity standpoint, having four speed-based wingers was not ideal.

Especially when trying to break down a tight defense, having a master of dribbling and control like Hazard would have obvious benefits.

Moreover, a long time ago, the winger combination of Ribéry and Aaron Lennon had been very effective.

Barça’s Dream Team Two had a front three of Ronaldinho and Ludovic Giuly, also one control and one speed.

So, after much consideration, Yang Cheng chose Hazard.

Furthermore, Rot Weiss Ahlen was located near Borussia Dortmund and was one of Dortmund’s satellite clubs.

Reus had actually been on Dortmund’s radar for a long time.

Even if he wanted to sign him, it wasn’t a sure thing.

Vincent Kompany was a long-term signing for Yang Cheng’s defense.

The Belgian could play in both midfield and at centre-back, possessing almost all the qualities a centre-back should have.

Speed, technique, physique, awareness—he lacked almost nothing.

His only weakness was that he was a bit young.

And also, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he had been quite injury-prone.

Yang Cheng was looking forward to having Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Kompany rotate.

For a top team competing on multiple fronts, rotating among three or four centre-backs was not an extravagance.

…

Before the team’s training camp began, after the coaching staff started work, Yang Cheng gave the sports science department a new task.

He planned to start intensive special training for Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Di María.

Among the attacking players, the twenty-two-year-old Džeko had already begun to build up his muscle mass, and his technical characteristics were quite mature.

He was going for all-around development.

Next, the most important thing for the Bosnian centre-forward was to increase his strength in physical confrontations while maintaining his delicate footwork.

At the same time, he needed to further improve his heading ability in aerial duels.

For a centre-forward, Džeko’s aerial dueling was still not strong enough.

This referred to contesting headers, not just heading the ball.

Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Di María were different.

As wingers, especially speed-based wingers, the three players had very different characteristics.

Yang Cheng needed to sculpt them accordingly.

For example, when it came to shooting.

Gareth Bale followed the C. Ronaldo path of “power creates miracles,” winning with ball speed and force.

Walcott, on the other hand, relied on finesse.

Di María was different from both of them; he needed to work on his right foot.

In reality, Di María’s right foot wasn’t as bad as many people imagined.

But in matches, he would always instinctively choose to use his left foot, even preferring a rabona to using his weaker right foot.

This was a long-ingrained habit, almost a conditioned reflex.

As a winger, especially in a 4-3-3 formation, cutting inside from the wing was inevitable.

And when you mentioned cutting inside from the wing, Yang Cheng believed that the first person any fan from 2024 would think of was Robben.

How did fans praise Robben?

Defenders knew he was going to cut inside, but they just couldn’t stop him!

This was no exaggeration.

Robben cutting in from the right and shooting was his signature move.

Cutting inside from the wing to shoot is a very common method for a winger to score.

So why was Robben in a class of his own?

Everyone would habitually say it was his speed, technique, rhythm, feel for the ball… and his shooting technique after cutting inside, etc.

But if you were interested, and you analyzed Robben’s movement of cutting inside and shooting frame-by-frame, and then compared it frame-by-frame with the movements of C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Messi, Salah, Neymar, and others.

You would easily discover an interesting phenomenon.

The time and distance between Robben’s last touch of the ball and his shot were the shortest.

Take C. Ronaldo, for example. When cutting in from the left, he often needed three steps to shoot, or a minimum of two.

Even the shorter Messi, after cutting in from the right and shaking off a defender, often needed two steps from his last touch to his shot.

But Robben?

After each cut inside, he often needed only one step before shooting.

To use gaming terminology, if cutting inside and shooting were a magic spell, Robben’s casting time was far shorter than anyone else’s.

The benefits of a short casting time are obvious.

Why was Van Nistelrooy the king of the six-yard box?

Because his shooting casting time was short, his leg backswing was small, so his shots were very threatening in a crowded penalty area.

The same was true for Robben.

During a frontal attack, a sudden cut inside after shaking off a defender could easily create shooting space.

Those with longer casting times needed more space, while those with shorter casting times needed less.

This wasn’t just a matter of fundamentals, ball feel, or changing direction, nor was it just a matter of shooting technique.

What was more important was actually the body’s second change of direction.

The first change of direction is easy to understand.

Using Robben as an example, it’s changing from a vertical run to a diagonal or horizontal one.

Robben’s body also had to turn with it.

After turning and changing direction, Robben’s back was to the right flank, and he was facing the left, dribbling horizontally.

But here was the problem: the goal was to Robben’s right.

Anyone interested can try it: imagine a football in front of you, and you have to shoot towards your right. What would be the result?

Someone with slightly poor balance would immediately lose their balance and fall over.

Even those with good balance could probably only manage the shot with difficulty.

How much power could you generate? How fast would the ball go? How would the angle be controlled?

These things would likely be difficult to control, right?

Let alone doing it as effortlessly as Robben.

Note, this is without any physical contact, at low speed, or even stationary.

What if it were on the pitch, at high speed, and under high-intensity physical pressure?

So where was the problem?

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had actually researched this.

Thanks to later advancements in science and technology, through various comparisons and analyses, especially the development of sports science, a conclusion was reached.

It was the second turn and change of direction before taking the shot.

The first turn and change of direction isn’t difficult because it doesn’t require generating power; it’s mainly about dribbling.

But the second turn and change of direction had to be done simultaneously with the shot itself.

From originally facing left, you turn to face diagonally towards the goal, or even directly at the goal.

So, whether it was C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Salah, Messi, or Neymar, as long as they were human, they all faced this problem of the second turn.

Otherwise, they couldn’t get power into their shot or control the angle.

So, the casting time between their last touch and their shot was actually them adjusting their steps and body orientation to facilitate power generation and angle control for the shot.

Many fans from 2024 would surely remember that at Chelsea, for a long time, Hazard was criticized for his lack of power in his shots. That was why he often didn’t shoot even when he had a chance.

Why?

The answer is actually quite similar.

When a winger cuts inside to the center and wants to shoot, they must make a turn.

But at high speed and under intense physical pressure, this turn places high demands on the player’s core muscle strength.

Simply put, the stronger your core, the more power you can generate when turning to shoot.

Later, once Hazard’s core strength improved, his goal-scoring threat increased accordingly.

Over the past three years, Gareth Bale and Walcott had been training under Yang Cheng’s supervision.

They had been growing and improving, taking one step up each year.

Especially last season, both scored eight goals.

In the Premier League, they were considered notable goal-scorers.

What Yang Cheng planned to do next was to solidify the progress they had made over the past three years and push them to the next level.

One very important aspect was that they needed to master shooting after cutting inside as soon as possible.

But Yang Cheng knew all this, while others didn’t.

If Yang Cheng simply gave orders and others followed, they would only know what to do, not why.

So, Yang Cheng specifically used this topic to get the sports science department to collaborate. He would provide a general direction and let them research the mechanics and then figure out how to help Gareth Bale, Walcott, Di María, and others improve.

Only by understanding the principles and the essence could they better help the players.

…

When Yang Cheng went to the sports science department to review the report submitted by Thad Foucher and his team, along with their suggestions for training the players, he was delighted.

The creation of the sports science department was the right decision!

When all departments worked together, many obstacles were overcome.

The training plan was comprehensive, covering everything from diet to psychology to training. The training was even broken down to specific muscles, how to train them, and to what extent, all clearly listed.

For instance, shooting after cutting inside was divided into two main categories: curling shots and power shots.

A curling shot produces a curveball, usually aiming for the far corner, and places a high emphasis on technique.

A power shot is a straight, fast ball, but it tests a player’s power.

These two types of shots are used in different scenarios, requiring players to make different choices based on the positioning of the goalkeeper and defenders.

And different shots require different “incantations” during casting, consuming different amounts of “mana.”

All of this required repeated practice.

One minute on stage, ten years of practice offstage.

There was real truth to that saying.

Besides checking on the tasks he had assigned earlier, Yang Cheng also took the opportunity to check on how things were going after the move to the Brent training center.

After moving to the new training base, the equipment in all departments had been comprehensively upgraded.

Not just the medical department, but also departments like the data analysis team had had their hardware and software completely upgraded.

In this regard, the Bayswater Chinese had always been very generous with their investments.

For example, at the Brent training center, a comprehensive indoor local area network had been implemented.

This was a first in European football.

…

The day before the team’s summer training camp began, Yang Cheng specifically called in Gareth Bale and Walcott for separate talks.

Yang Cheng explained their tasks for the new season, stating that he and the coaching staff would definitely be giving them more work.

Especially in matches, they would have to bear more responsibility, and the pressure would be greater.

Both players expressed that they would work even harder and were full of anticipation for the new season.

Arshavin’s departure represented an opportunity for them.

By the same token, with Lassana Diarra’s departure, opportunities would increase for Rakitić, Matuidi, and even Aaron Ramsey.

Yang Cheng communicated with each of them individually, offering them more encouragement.

Since he didn’t plan to go abroad for a training tour this year, Yang Cheng arranged eight pre-season friendlies, which included a training tour on the European continent later on.

This was very necessary.

Arshavin’s departure and the rise of Gareth Bale and Walcott represented a tactical shift for the Bayswater Chinese.

Previously, the team pressed forward as a unit, but now, Gareth Bale and Walcott needed more space.

Plus, without Lassana Diarra in midfield, Yang Cheng would consider using a midfield combination of Rakitić and Modrić in some matches to enhance the team’s midfield control and creativity.

Both players had been tested at the European Championship and had performed well.

So, the midfield would certainly not be pushed as far forward as before.

But the exact formation still required more pre-season friendlies for Yang Cheng to familiarize himself with and explore.

Since Manchester United won the Premier League and FA Cup double last season, this year’s Community Shield would be between the league champions, Manchester United, and the league runners-up, the Bayswater Chinese.

The match was scheduled for August 10th.

The Bayswater Chinese’s entire summer pre-season preparation was centered around this date.

The first round of the league was on August 16th.

Incidentally, this season’s opener was Arsenal at home against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion.

The Bayswater Chinese’s first-round match was also against a newly promoted team, Hull City.

Looking at the schedule, the Bayswater Chinese’s fixtures were actually a bit tight.

The second league match was at home against Arsenal, and the third was away against Manchester United.

But because the Bayswater Chinese had to play in the UEFA Super Cup, the schedule for August was quite packed.

Especially the second and third rounds, with tough opponents.

Another thing was that this year’s schedule was a bit chaotic.

For example, in week 13, the Bayswater Chinese would play Tottenham at home, and by week 19, they would be playing Tottenham away.

And week 19 happened to be Boxing Day.

This season’s Christmas schedule had two matches, on the 26th and 28th.

Both of the Bayswater Chinese’s matches were in London: away against Tottenham, followed by home against Chelsea.

Because they won the Champions League last season, the team also had to travel to Japan in mid-December to participate in the Club World Cup.

This would affect the 18th league match against Wigan Athletic.

Since the 18th league match was on December 20th and the Club World Cup final was on December 21st.

So, discussions were still ongoing about whether to postpone it by a few days or push it back to mid-to-late January.

In January, with the FA Cup and League Cup running concurrently, the schedule would be extremely dense.

In short, the Bayswater Chinese would not be short of matches this season.

The reason Yang Cheng decided to keep the first-team squad at twenty-three players was also to reasonably allocate more playing time to each player, give them more experience, and ensure their form and progress.

…

As the defending Champions League winners and with the official opening of the Brent training center, the club held a brief opening ceremony.

But the event still attracted over a hundred media outlets.

They had already reported on the Brent training center repeatedly.

Praised throughout European football and rated by many professionals as the most advanced and scientific training base in the world, the Brent training center was second to none in both aesthetics and functionality.

The media and fans were also full of praise.

The first day of training was mainly dedicated to player medicals.

Even Modrić and Rakitić, who had played in the European Championship final, returned to the team on time.

In a subsequent internal team meeting, Yang Cheng once again promised that all cup competitions would be given to the younger players on the team to play.

At the same time, he hoped everyone would continue to strive for better results than last season.

“Don’t forget, although we won the Champions League, we lost the league, the FA Cup, and the League Cup!”

For the new season, Yang Cheng stated that the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup were very rare honors.

“I hope everyone can perform at a higher level than last season!”

The players’ reactions were extremely enthusiastic.

Yang Cheng could see that it was mainly due to the internal competition within the team.

For example, with Arshavin’s departure, Di María, Gareth Bale, and Walcott were all eager and rubbing their hands in anticipation.

They were actually close friends off the pitch, but on the football field, no one was willing to concede easily.

Even players like Gareth Bale and Walcott, who had been best friends and roommates since their Southampton days, were still roommates after coming to the Bayswater Chinese.

Every time the team traveled for an away game, they chose to stay in the same room.

Now, having moved into the Brent training center with their own small independent suites, they still chose to be roommates.

But when it came to the training ground, both were giving their all, wanting to beat their rival in the competition for a spot.

The situation was much the same in midfield and defense.

Having players come and go each year was like introducing fresh water to the team, stimulating competition.

If the team always played with the same lineup, the players would eventually become complacent, and the internal atmosphere would become a pool of stagnant water.

In contrast, at the current Bayswater Chinese, everyone was training hard for a starting position.

Even though the pre-season fitness training was very tough, they all gritted their teeth and persevered, with each one putting in extra effort.

Both Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were very satisfied with this atmosphere.

But determining their actual combat strength would have to wait for the trials of the new season.

Chapter 148: The New Season’s Goal! The Man Who Covers 30% of the Earth

Goalkeepers: Neuer, Begović;

Defenders: Pepe, José Fonte, Thiago Silva, Maicon, Piszczek, Leighton Baines, Marcelo, and Vincent Kompany;

Midfielders: Yaya Touré, Nemanja Matić, Modrić, Rakitić, Matuidi, and Aaron Ramsey;

Forwards: Džeko, Robert Lewandowski, Lambert, Ángel Di María, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Eden Hazard.

This was the 23-man first-team squad for Bayswater Chinese this season.

The team’s average age had also risen from 21.125 last year to 21.82 this season.

Incidentally, this was the season with the highest average age for Bayswater Chinese since Yang Cheng had taken over.

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with the team’s current lineup.

Healthy internal competition ensured that no one dared to slack off.

Although they had to compete on multiple fronts in the new season, Yang Cheng believed this squad was more than sufficient.

After a week of training at the Brent training center, the team began playing pre-season friendlies around London.

The first opponent of the summer was Millwall, from the south bank of the River Thames.

This also demonstrated the importance Bayswater Chinese placed on the area south of the Thames.

This region was a talent pool for English youth academies.

Bayswater Chinese’s Satellite Training Centre was located in this very area.

The club hoped to build good relationships with surrounding teams through these friendly matches, laying a foundation for future cooperation.

After the first match against Millwall, the second was against Crystal Palace.

Both teams were in the Championship and based on the south bank of the Thames.

For Bayswater Chinese, they needed to play friendlies anyway, and most were away games.

Where they played made little difference.

But for teams like Millwall and Crystal Palace, it was a different story.

Take Millwall, for example.

Their stadium had a capacity of twenty thousand, and for a friendly against Bayswater Chinese, they sold out every single ticket.

The revenue was at least four hundred thousand pound sterling.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t take a single penny.

For Millwall, whose annual income was less than four million pound sterling, this was a very significant sum.

Practices like this were not uncommon among Premier League clubs.

For instance, Arsenal often played pre-season friendlies against Barnet, a team near their Colney training ground.

Their first pre-season friendly this summer was against Barnet.

Remember when Yaya Touré had a trial at Arsenal in 2003?

That match was also against Barnet.

With the competition for talent in European football growing fiercer, all clubs hoped to forge as many alliances as possible in their vicinity.

Yang Cheng stuck to his strategy of using two different lineups for each half.

The difference this time was that he mixed the starting lineup players with the younger ones.

The aim was to further assess the performance of all players in the squad.

Every player performed with exceptional effort.

In the 11th minute of the first half, Walcott received the ball, broke through the defense, and entered the penalty area for a shot.

The moves leading up to it were brilliant, but the final shot flew wide.

Later, Robert Lewandowski had a chipped shot in front of the goal. It was beautifully executed, but the angle was just slightly off, grazing the post and going out for a goal kick.

However, Lewandowski later assisted Rakitić on an overlapping run for a one-on-one.

The Croatian got his feet in a tangle and was intercepted by the onrushing goalkeeper.

Gareth Bale also delivered a cross from the left that almost resulted in an own goal.

Later, from a free kick, Gareth Bale’s shot struck the crossbar.

Yang Cheng nodded in approval as he watched.

“This kid really has a talent for free kicks. We need to develop it,” Yang Cheng said to Brian Kidd.

Gareth Bale’s free kicks were truly impressive!

Most importantly, the boy enjoyed practicing them.

In the 43rd minute, Walcott suddenly appeared on the left flank. After receiving the ball, he cut inside, shifted the ball to his right foot, and unleashed a curling shot from the left side of the penalty arc, which flew straight into the top right corner of the goal.

1-0!

It was a beautiful goal!

The curl on the ball was exquisite, and the rhythm was perfect.

“That last step was a bit too big, wasn’t it? Four steps?”

Brian Kidd nodded. “In the Premier League, that goal wouldn’t have gone in.”

The main reason was that with increased defensive intensity, attacking players would have less space.

Ultimately, he still needed more practice.

After making substitutions in the second half, the team’s overall performance declined.

Millwall even nearly capitalized on an opportunity to equalize.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese still defeated the Championship side 1-0.

After playing Millwall, Bayswater Chinese played three more pre-season friendlies in London.

They defeated a lower-mid-table Championship team, Crystal Palace, 2-1 away.

Then, they beat League One side Brentford 2-0 away.

This team was located in Hounslow, West London, another densely populated area.

The final match was in East London, where they defeated Leyton Orient 3-1.

This summer, Bayswater Chinese’s pre-season matches around London were primarily driven by youth development considerations, especially to support the operation and promotion of the Satellite Training Centre.

After completing four pre-season friendlies, Bayswater Chinese departed from London for Germany.

The first match of their European tour was against Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.

This match was arranged by the team’s car sponsor, Mercedes-Benz, and included an appearance fee.

Yang Cheng continued to use two different lineups for each half.

However, the starting lineup in the first half performed poorly.

The two most threatening shots both came from Džeko assisting Walcott.

As it turned out, the Little Tiger missed them both.

In this match, Yang Cheng placed Walcott and Di María on the left and right wings, respectively.

But it seemed they were still not quite accustomed to it.

In the second half, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions.

As a result, they conceded a goal not long after the restart.

Later, Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Aaron Ramsey each scored.

Among them, Gareth Bale contributed one goal and one assist, putting on a brilliant performance.

Aaron Ramsey’s goal came from a cross by Marcelo after he won the ball in the opponent’s half. The Welshman made an overlapping run, chested the ball down beautifully to the right of the penalty spot, and volleyed it in with his left foot.

It was an absolutely stunning goal!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1.

After playing Stuttgart, Bayswater Chinese travelled to Munich to face Bayern at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich’s pre-season performance this summer had been spectacular, marked by a torrent of goals.

Just before playing Bayswater Chinese, the Bundesliga giants had thrashed a German second division team 11-1.

Toni Kroos scored a hat-trick in that match.

Yang Cheng’s objective was to use Bayern Munich’s formidable attack to test his team’s defense.

Remember AC Milan’s tactics against Bayswater Chinese last season?

Ancelotti, that fat git, had adopted a strategy of defending with all his might and hitting on the counter-attack, which gave Yang Cheng a massive headache.

And there was really no good way to deal with that kind of approach.

Yang Cheng was inspired.

In the new season, Bayswater Chinese’s two flanks would need space to unleash their speed and dribbling advantages.

And what about the midfield and defense?

Yaya Touré’s long passing was now quite good, and both Modrić and Rakitić possessed decent long-range passing abilities.

More importantly, there was the defensive line.

Both Pepe and Vincent Kompany had solid passing skills, which was why Yang Cheng had chosen them.

For example, Pepe’s pass completion rate last season was as high as 88 percent.

And his long passes?

Out of 286 total long passes, 201 were successful, for a completion rate of 70 percent.

After Kompany joined the team, Yang Cheng had Gianni Vio specifically analyse his data as well.

As Yang Cheng had expected, the Belgian’s pass completion rate was similar to Pepe’s, as was his long-passing ability.

However, Kompany was still not as good as Pepe in aerial duels.

But the most ridiculous player on the team was Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian centre-back’s pass completion rate had always been stable, consistently over 90 percent.

For a centre-back, this was beyond ridiculous.

For comparison, in 2024, Gerard Piqué and Virgil van Dijk were both universally recognized as ball-playing centre-backs.

But for most seasons, the pass completion rates of these two players were about the same as Pepe’s.

At their peak, they could reach 90 percent.

But Thiago Silva was consistently over 90 percent.

And in terms of long passes, Piqué’s long pass completion rate was always between 60 and 65 percent. Van Dijk’s fluctuated more; during his time at Southampton, it was under 55 percent, and at Liverpool, it was around 60 percent, with his peak season at 62 percent.

Of course, this was also partly related to the team’s style of play.

For instance, Barça never really favoured long balls.

But this was enough to prove that Pepe and Kompany were both ball-playing centre-backs whose abilities were often overlooked.

It was no wonder the fans misunderstood.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Pepe’s partner at Real Madrid was Ramos, whose passing and long-passing abilities were slightly better than Pepe’s. In the 13/14 season, his long pass completion rate even reached 80 percent at one point.

Coupled with his playing style, it was inevitable that Pepe was overshadowed.

So, what about Thiago Silva?

With such outstanding passing ability, what about his long balls?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, during the 09/10 season, his first full season after joining AC Milan, he made 1,625 passes, completing 1,472 of them, for a success rate of 91 percent.

He attempted 292 long passes, completing 226, for a success rate of 77 percent.

In the 10/11 season, he made 1,981 passes, completing 1,820, for a success rate of 92 percent.

He attempted 407 long passes, completing 349, for a staggering success rate of 86 percent.

In terms of the number of passes, Thiago Silva was comparable to Pepe and Ramos at Real Madrid, and not far off from Piqué at Barça, with only a hundred or two hundred fewer passes over a whole season.

But his number of long passes was almost double theirs, with a completion rate of 86 percent.

To truly appreciate Thiago Silva’s ability, let’s use another point of reference.

In the same 09/10 season, at the same AC Milan, Andrea Pirlo, a universally acclaimed passer, made 2,511 passes, completing 2,219, for a success rate of 88 percent.

He attempted 468 long passes, completing 388, for a success rate of 83 percent.

These were pretty much Pirlo’s peak statistics.

Another universally acclaimed long passer, Toni Kroos, produced his peak passing stats in the 15/16 season: 2,425 passes, 2,277 completions, for a staggering 94 percent success rate.

He completed 233 of 262 long passes, for an astounding 89 percent success rate.

This is why everyone said that Toni Kroos could deliver long passes with an accuracy that others couldn’t even achieve with short passes.

And Thiago Silva?

His passing and long-passing abilities were, you could say, those of the “Toni Kroos” of centre-backs.

More importantly, as a centre-back, he never neglected his primary duties. Apart from his height limiting him slightly in aerial duels, all his defensive stats were at the level of a world-class centre-back.

Having joined a team like Bayswater Chinese, which placed a greater emphasis on passing and interplay, Thiago Silva’s passing and long-passing were further encouraged and improved.

His level last season was already comparable to his 09/10 season at AC Milan.

So, Yang Cheng was eagerly anticipating him taking another step forward starting this season.

Under these circumstances, dropping the midfield deeper, then using long balls from the centre-backs and full-backs to unleash the advantages of the two wings would undoubtedly become Bayswater Chinese’s most important attacking weapon.

At that point, all opposing teams would face the same dilemma Yang Cheng faced when playing against AC Milan last season.

Press high, and you get hit in behind.

Don’t press forward, and you effectively surrender possession and control of the game’s tempo.

With Bayswater Chinese’s midfield prowess, they could tear any opponent apart.

In the end, their opponents would have only one choice: to defend with all their might.

This was why Yang Cheng had given up on Marco Reus and chosen Eden Hazard instead.

When necessary, Modrić, Aaron Ramsey, Hazard, and Di María could all push forward and carry the ball in the final third.

Even if they couldn’t break through, they could win free kicks.

But before that, Yang Cheng needed to be sure.

He had to find out just how much pressure his team could withstand.

Especially the midfield.

So, Yang Cheng first fielded a midfield trio of Matuidi, Yaya Touré, and Modrić.

This midfield went toe-to-toe with Bayern in the first half, and neither side managed to score.

In the second half, Yang Cheng made a change, bringing on Rakitić for Matuidi and playing against Bayern for another twenty minutes.

After that, Matić and Ramsey were brought on in turns.

Overall, the team’s defensive organization was good.

Bayern never really had many clear-cut chances.

In the end, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

Yang Cheng was not disappointed.

For him, the most important thing in this match was to assess the team’s defense.

Being able to hold firm was a gain in itself.

Of course, this was just a pre-season friendly.

On a side note, after the match, Yang Cheng hadn’t originally planned to greet Toni Kroos.

The two had met in the players’ tunnel before the game and just nodded at each other.

Unexpectedly, after the final whistle, as they were leaving the pitch, the young German player walked over to shake Yang Cheng’s hand and chatted for a bit.

It was clear that his situation at Bayern was quite good at the moment, and he was full of expectations for the new season.

Having played well in the pre-season, he naturally hoped for more opportunities in the upcoming season.

“Keep it up, Toni. You’ll definitely become the best midfielder in the world!” Yang Cheng encouraged with a smile.

Moreover, he spoke in German.

Toni Kroos was very receptive and thanked him profusely.

Yang Cheng’s admiration for him was unconcealed.

Toni Kroos was no fool; of course he could feel it.

But right now, his only thought was to play for Bayern Munich and make his mark as soon as possible.

Yang Cheng didn’t mind.

Let nature take its course.

After the match against Bayern, Bayswater Chinese flew from Munich to Florence, Italy, for an away game against La Viola.

As last season’s 4th place finisher in Serie A, Fiorentina had a very good pre-season, winning all their matches.

And their style of play was not conservative.

Yang Cheng once again fielded two different lineups, but this time, the first half was dominated by younger players, and the team went down 0-1.

Centre-forward Pazzini scored for Fiorentina.

But in the second half, with all the regulars on the pitch, Yang Cheng implemented his earlier idea.

Džeko pulled out to the right edge of the penalty area to receive a long ball from deep, he sent a pull-back from the byline, and Walcott used a series of feints to shake off two defenders before scoring with a left-footed shot from a tight angle, equalizing the score.

Later, Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run in behind the defense, received a pass from Modrić, and his initial shot was saved by goalkeeper Frey. The Welshman followed up on the rebound and scored, making it 2-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Fiorentina 2-1 away.

After the match in Italy, Bayswater Chinese flew to Spain for their final pre-season friendly.

Their opponents were The Yellow Submarine, Villarreal.

With it being the last match, Yang Cheng let loose completely, engaging Villarreal in an end-to-end game.

Pellegrini’s coaching style had never been conservative, and Villarreal played with a strong Latin American flair.

Yang Cheng hoped to use them to test his team’s defense.

But sometimes, things are just strange.

Once both teams went all out, neither could find the back of the net.

The game was very open, a back-and-forth attacking contest with rapid transitions.

But it wasn’t until the 42nd minute that Villarreal broke the deadlock.

However, in the 67th minute of the second half, Walcott assisted Di María to score, levelling the score.

1-1.

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

After finishing their pre-season tour, the team returned to London.

If the four friendlies in London were against weaker opponents and played at a comfortable pace, then the four opponents on the European tour were all formidable, all from the top four of the Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga.

This was an extremely valuable experience for Bayswater Chinese.

Judging from the pre-season matches, the team’s overall performance was acceptable, but many problems were also exposed.

The response from these fixtures indicated that Yang Cheng’s tactical ideas for the new season were correct.

This approach would maximize the strengths of Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had no intention of abandoning the opening blitz advantage they had worked so hard to build, and at the same time, he wanted to further consolidate the team’s midfield superiority.

The only difference was with Rakitić and Matuidi. Depending on who partnered with Modrić, different technical and tactical characteristics would emerge, and the team would need to switch and adjust accordingly.

Previously, many, including Brian Kidd and the first-team players, had been worried about the team’s prospects for the new season.

After all, losing two core players like Andrei Arshavin and Lassana Diarra, as well as a key defensive rotation player like Koscielny—how could it not affect their strength?

But after a tour around Europe and four matches, everyone realised something.

The team’s strength hadn’t really declined much at all.

Was it that Arshavin and Diarra weren’t important?

Not at all.

The main reason was Yang Cheng’s tactical adjustments.

Of course, some players would inevitably be affected.

For example, Yaya Touré could no longer surge forward as freely as he did when Lassana Diarra was on the pitch; he had to be more cautious now.

Maicon on the right wing, on the other hand, had less of a problem.

Previously, Arshavin tended to drift towards the centre, leaving the entire right flank to Maicon.

While the Brazilian was very active, he was also under a lot of pressure.

Now, whether it was Walcott, Gareth Bale, or Di María playing on the right wing, Maicon received more support and could link up better, so he was no longer fighting alone.

French scout Emmanuel drove his Citroën west from the centre of Paris.

He turned south at Nanterre and arrived in Rueil-Malmaison.

Heading east near the Château de Malmaison, on the border of Rueil-Malmaison and Suresnes, there was a famous golf course.

North of the course, he turned onto Rue Alexandre Maistrasse.

Number 21.

JS Suresnes.

This was a sports club with a long history, tracing its roots back to the 1930s. It was said to have been founded by an Englishman named Paul Finch.

Initially, it wasn’t just football; there was also an athletics club, but that later disbanded.

Now, it also operated an archery hall.

The club was surrounded by buildings, with three football pitches laid out from south to north.

The northernmost one also had an athletics track.

The middle pitch had a standard football field to its west and an indoor stadium and archery hall to its east.

The southern plot was the reverse, with a standard football field to the east and a car park to the west.

At the southernmost edge of the complex was a row of low buildings, which housed the offices of Suresnes.

Emmanuel turned off Rue Alexandre Maistrasse and parked on the roadside right in front of the office.

As soon as he got out of the car, someone recognized him.

“Oh, my God, what are you doing here?”

Pierre Villiers, the vice-president of Suresnes, emerged from the open office to greet him.

“Just came to see you, my friend,” Emmanuel said with a smile as he walked over.

Pierre Villiers was a very friendly old man, always dressed in the blue Suresnes tracksuit.

Oh, right, the tracksuit was sponsored by Puma.

“It’s about that kid you introduced me to last time. I recommended him.”

As Emmanuel finished speaking, Pierre Villiers’ eyes lit up. “Has a team taken an interest in him?”

“You could say that.”

“I knew it. That kid has real potential. It’s just that he’s too short. Everyone thought he couldn’t play professional football. I thought so too at first, but then, he won me over.”

“You know, at seventeen, it’s rare to see someone so mature. He’s a poor kid; his father passed away when he was eleven, so he has to work harder, live a tougher life. He even travels far to collect rubbish to help support his family.”

“You’ve told me all this before,” Emmanuel said, a little impatiently. “You felt sorry for him and were worried he wouldn’t make it as a professional, so you offered him a part-time job at the club doing odd jobs.”

The old man was great in every way, except he loved to ramble.

Perhaps it came with age.

Pierre Villiers smiled awkwardly, patted Emmanuel on the shoulder, and welcomed him into the office.

Accompanied by Pierre Villiers, Emmanuel went to the office to meet the Chairman of Suresnes, Jean-Pierre Perrinelle.

The father of a 24-year-old professional footballer.

Every time he saw Emmanuel, Perrinelle would pull him aside to discuss his son’s career development.

Emmanuel had seen his son, Damien Perrinelle.

A 1.87-meter-tall centre-back who could also play on the right.

In Emmanuel’s opinion, Damien Perrinelle was actually quite capable, just incredibly unlucky.

For example, after leaving Suresnes, he joined the youth academy of French Second Division club Amiens SC and stayed for four years.

Then he moved to another French Second Division side, US Créteil.

A year later, he made a free transfer from Créteil to Clermont.

As it turned out, Clermont was relegated.

So, in 2006, he moved from Clermont to the third-tier National league club Boulogne.

This wasn’t some bizarre move by the player or his family; it was because both Créteil and Clermont were in arrears with his salary.

Just like that, a promising young lad was dragged down into the third division.

Speaking of Boulogne, everyone would surely think of Franck Ribéry, who, after shining at Bayswater Chinese, moved to Bayern Munich for a sky-high price.

“What a pity. Not long ago, I went to Boulogne, and they were full of regret, having missed out on several hundred thousand euro.”

Perrinelle couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the mention of this.

If Boulogne had been willing to take Ribéry in when he was without a club and had returned to his hometown, then when he moved to Bayswater Chinese and subsequently transferred to Bayern Munich, Boulogne would have been entitled to a portion of the fee.

Emmanuel couldn’t help but laugh as well.

By now, all the clubs around Paris knew that he was Bayswater Chinese’s full-time scout in France.

He also felt a sense of pride in the achievements of Bayswater Chinese.

“Well, don’t miss out this time,” Emmanuel interjected.

Perrinelle and Pierre Villiers exchanged a glance, their eyes lighting up.

For a small club like theirs, even the tiniest crumb that fell from the table of a big club was enough to ensure they had a prosperous year.

“Last time, didn’t Pierre recommend a player to me named N’Golo Kanté?”

Perrinelle looked at Pierre Villiers, who nodded.

“Kanté is indeed a good player. He has astonishing explosive power, and thanks to his hard life growing up, his running ability is incredibly strong, and his core strength is excellent, which allows him to change direction with agility.”

Perrinelle also started to sing his praises.

“Alright, I came today to formally inform you that Bayswater Chinese has decided to invite N’Golo Kanté for a trial.”

“Really?” Pierre Villiers was so shocked that he jumped to his feet.

“Bayswater Chinese?” Perrinelle was even more astounded.

How… how was this possible?

They were the defending Champions League champions!

And they were inviting Kanté?

“Do you really think I would drive all the way here just to play a joke on you?” Emmanuel said with a smile.

With that, he took a fax out of his briefcase, which detailed the trial arrangements.

Because it was an invited trial, all of Kanté’s travel expenses to London would be covered by Bayswater Chinese.

Furthermore, during his trial in London, he would be staying at the Brent training center.

The trial period was for two months.

Pierre Villiers looked at the fax and shook his head with a wry smile. “I still can’t quite believe it.”

“How could Bayswater Chinese possibly be interested in Kanté?”

“I don’t know their specific selection criteria, but I’m guessing it might have something to do with Lassana Diarra and Makélélé?” Emmanuel speculated.

“You mean…” Perrinelle wasn’t quite sure either.

“Lassana Diarra transferred to Real Madrid. He’s not tall either, only 1.73 meters, just 4 centimeters taller than Kanté. And then there’s Makélélé, he’s also a short midfielder.”

Hearing this, Pierre Villiers thought it was indeed possible. “Kanté’s fundamentals are very solid. His technique on the ball is very good.”

“Very good” here was, of course, judged by the standards of youth training.

Once on a real pitch, with physical challenges and increased intensity, nothing was certain.

“In any case, please inform him. Have him contact me, and I’ll arrange for him to go to London.”

“Okay, no problem,” Pierre Villiers said, equally excited.

He had always felt that Kanté was a pitiful but very self-disciplined and resilient kid.

That was why he was willing to give him a part-time job to help him support his family.

Now, with the opportunity to play for a world-class team like Bayswater Chinese, he was happy for Kanté.

This would be of great benefit to Suresnes as well.

If Kanté really did join Bayswater Chinese, Suresnes would immediately publicize it extensively.

After seeing Pierre Villiers off, Perrinelle specifically asked Emmanuel to stay, hoping to learn more about Bayswater Chinese.

In his view, if Emmanuel could recommend an inconspicuous kid like Kanté for a trial at Bayswater Chinese, perhaps he could also recommend his son, Damien Perrinelle?

“He’s already twenty-four,” Emmanuel said, somewhat amused.

Perrinelle smiled awkwardly, regretting internally.

If only he had gotten to know this scout earlier, perhaps he could really have recommended his precious son to the Premier League.

However, if Kanté could really join this time, it would also be an excellent thing.

Yang Cheng was unaware of what was happening in Paris, France.

For him now, it was just a small matter handled with a phone call.

He notified Gary Worthington to arrange for Kanté to come for a trial, and then received a call back from him.

N’Golo Kanté would be arriving in London soon.

Kanté was only seventeen and not even a professional player yet.

So, Yang Cheng’s intention was to have him train with the youth team first.

He then called Matt Crocker, the head of the youth academy, asking him to pay close attention to N’Golo Kanté.

“I think he will become an outstanding defensive midfielder, just like Lassana Diarra and Makélélé.”

As for how to develop him, Yang Cheng didn’t offer any suggestions.

Matt Crocker was the youth development expert; he knew exactly how to nurture players.

Moreover, Yang Cheng’s phone call would certainly make him take Kanté seriously.

This was the “superman” who could cover 30% of the Earth’s surface!

But soon, Yang Cheng put the matter aside.

When he returned to the meeting room, Brian Kidd, Gianni Vio, and the others were waiting for him.

They were holding their final preparation meeting before the first semi-official match of the season, the Community Shield.

The topic of discussion was the midfield lineup.

Following Lassana Diarra’s departure, there were currently two candidates: one was Rakitić, the other was Matuidi.

The coaching staff had differing opinions on which of the two should start.

Rakitić was a talented midfielder who had been well-known in European football for a long time, a technical type of player.

Although Matuidi’s passing was decent, it was mainly short passes, and his defensive ability was excellent.

Both players had strong running and coverage abilities.

In terms of specific defensive actions, Matuidi was different from Lassana Diarra.

Lassana Diarra primarily focused on tackles; he contributed an average of 3.9 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game last season.

Matuidi only had 2.8 tackles, but 3.4 interceptions and 1.9 clearances.

Tackles are mainly aimed at defending against a player, while interceptions are more about defending against passing lanes.

As for Rakitić, it goes without saying: 1.7 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game. His stats were not on the same level as the two defensive players.

But Yang Cheng was precisely the one who supported Rakitić starting.

“In terms of average ball recoveries per game, Lassana Diarra had 6.2, Matuidi had 5.6, while Rakitić had 6.6. His overall performance in defense is not bad at all,” Yang Cheng said.

Ball recovery, as the name suggests, means winning the ball back from the opponent.

The means include but are not limited to interceptions, tackles, clearances, and so on.

Some might find it strange that the sum of all of Rakitić’s defensive stats doesn’t even reach 6.6.

Yes, that’s correct.

This involves the definition of ball recovery.

Neither an interception nor a tackle necessarily guarantees possession is won back.

But there’s a situation where one player goes to challenge for the ball, and although he doesn’t win it, he forces the opponent to make a mistake.

At this point, another player from his team runs over and gets the ball. This counts as one ball recovery.

Another example is when an opponent’s shot is blocked by a defender and bounces to another player on the defending team, that’s also a ball recovery.

There’s also a situation where a player doesn’t make a defensive move, doesn’t try to tackle, but just sticks close to the ball carrier, applying pressure until a teammate comes to help, and together they make short work of the situation, forcing the opponent into an error.

In this way, even without a tackle or interception, possession is still won back.

See?

Winning the ball back has never been a one-man job; it’s the result of the entire team’s defense, of small-group defending within a zone.

On an individual level, the number of ball recoveries reflects a player’s proactiveness and ability in the team’s and the local area’s defensive efforts.

So, looking at Rakitić’s specific defensive actions alone—be it interceptions, tackles, or clearances—they aren’t eye-catching.

But his number of ball recoveries is very impressive, even more so than Lassana Diarra’s and Matuidi’s.

There are quite a few players like Rakitić.

For example, on Bayswater Chinese, there was Modrić.

His average ball recoveries per game was 6.2.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, during Barça’s Dream Team Three era, Xavi and Iniesta were both this type of player.

If you added up all their tackles, interceptions, and clearances, and even multiplied the sum by two, it might not exceed their number of ball recoveries.

Of course, generally speaking, players with good tackling stats also have a decent number of ball recoveries.

Interceptions, on the other hand, are not as certain.

But interceptions and tackles also have their differences.

An interception often cuts off a passing lane, and if successful, a counter-attack can be launched almost immediately.

A tackle, however, faces the possibility of a counter-press from the opponent.

In terms of the efficiency of transitioning from defense to attack, interceptions are better than tackles.

To add another point, many fans often say that Manchester United’s players aren’t particularly skilled, and their individual stats aren’t impressive, yet Ferguson was always able to win titles, and their defense was always so good.

This wasn’t just due to tactical factors.

Manchester United has long had a comprehensive off-the-ball movement system, from the nineties to the present day.

On the defensive side, Manchester United relied more on this off-the-ball movement from their players to disrupt the opponent’s passing lanes.

That’s why Manchester United’s players didn’t stand out in defensive stats, but they could all run a lot.

This was also the reason for Berbatov’s tragic spell at Manchester United.

Ferguson probably thought he could coach it into him, which was why he was willing to spend big money.

After Ferguson retired, no one could make that system work anymore.

In summary, various defensive stats each have their own reference value.

But they are just for reference.

One thing is certain: in the coming years, the ultimate goal of defending will be to win back possession as quickly as possible.

This is why the ball recovery stat will become increasingly valued.

For example, in the season when Kanté was deified by countless people, he averaged 9.2 ball recoveries per game.

That means, in that peak season, he won back possession once every ten minutes on average.

And note, that’s for the entire season!

So, when Yang Cheng saw N’Golo Kanté’s name in the club’s scouting database, his first reaction was: sign him immediately!

And for the new season, Yang Cheng had his own considerations.

Whether it was Barça’s Dream Team Three or Real Madrid’s Ceremony Trio, with a stable overall tactical framework, the three midfielders generally contributed around 17 average ball recoveries per game.

The number would fluctuate slightly, but not by much.

From the current look of things, with Yaya Touré and Modrić remaining unchanged, either Rakitić or Matuidi could basically fill the void left by Lassana Diarra.

In comparison, the number of chances Rakitić could create per game was far greater than Matuidi’s.

Moreover, his long passing was also better, with an accuracy rate of over 70 percent.

…

After Yang Cheng had explained so much, practically no one, including Brian Kidd, had any objections.

Even the cautious Brian Kidd felt it was worth a try.

“If necessary, Matuidi can come on at any time.”

As for the upcoming Community Shield, Yang Cheng wasn’t actually too concerned.

Because Manchester United’s recent situation was a bit dire.

This summer, Manchester United had remained unbeaten in their pre-season friendlies.

But the most significant result among them was a 0-0 home draw against Juventus.

The Red Devils had run into some problems during their summer tour this year.

They went to Africa, first to South Africa, then to Nigeria.

As it turned out, in Nigeria, both Carrick and Rooney were taken down by a virus.

The funniest part was that Manchester United used a lot of medical equipment and ran all kinds of tests, but to this day, they still haven’t figured out what virus Rooney and Carrick contracted.

So, they were given all sorts of preventive shots for malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis, and everything else.

C. Ronaldo would also miss the start of the league season due to ankle surgery.

Owen Hargreaves, Park Ji-sung, and others had relapses of old knee injuries.

So, Manchester United was currently riddled with injuries.

Ferguson was also furious about this.

He believed the only reason the club went to Africa was because the suits wanted to make money.

And look what happened. They came back from the trip, and half the team was down.

Who could he complain to?

But before the Community Shield, Ferguson still declared with confidence, “I’m not going to worry about the injuries. We can compete in the Premier League with the squad we have. We don’t lack experience or drive!”

Regarding playing Bayswater Chinese in the Community Shield, Ferguson said, “It’s an official pre-season friendly!”

Yang Cheng also expressed that the Community Shield wasn’t considered an official competitive match.

“But we will still do our best to defeat our opponent.”

“This is the style of Bayswater Chinese. We will not give up on any match, any trophy!”

Yang Cheng had always practiced this philosophy.

Regarding Manchester United, and especially C. Ronaldo’s decision to stay and not transfer to Real Madrid, Yang Cheng of course welcomed it.

If C. Ronaldo had gone to Real Madrid, where would Predrag Mijatović have gotten the thirty million pound sterling to buy Lassana Diarra?

“I’m very happy to see him stay. He is one of the best players in the world. For him to continue playing in the Premier League is a good thing for the league and for all the fans.”

Would C. Ronaldo staying strengthen Manchester United?

“We are never afraid of a challenge!”

“On the contrary, we welcome stronger teams, because challenges make us stronger!”

Yang Cheng didn’t reveal too much about the team’s goals for the new season.

“Many people say that our strength has been weakened.”

“But I want to say, that’s a misunderstanding!”

“This new season, we’re going to win back everything we lost last season!”

On the afternoon of August 10th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Community Shield: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United.

In the 13th minute of the match, Edwin van der Sar rushed out of his penalty area and, just before Džeko could reach it, launched a long ball upfield, directly behind the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

Carlos Tevez, Berbatov, and Nani all charged forward simultaneously.

But the Bayswater Chinese backline tracked back with extreme speed.

Pepe got ahead of Berbatov, used his body to secure a favourable position, and passed the ball to Thiago Silva.

On the left side of the penalty arc, Thiago Silva controlled the ball, turned, and before Nani could close him down, he took a touch forward and then launched a long pass.

Almost at the exact moment Thiago Silva made the long pass, a red figure suddenly burst forth from the right flank of Bayswater Chinese, like a flash of red lightning, instantly tearing through Manchester United’s defense.

He had beaten the offside trap!

Vidić and Ferdinand were left in his wake in an instant.

The passion of the entire stadium was ignited by his speed!

Walcott caught up to Thiago Silva’s pass at incredible speed, brought the ball down from mid-air, carried it into the penalty area, and faced with the onrushing Van der Sar, executed a skilful dummy.

The Little Tiger was too fast!

Van der Sar had no time to judge whether it was real or fake and was completely bypassed.

Walcott caught up to the ball again and easily slotted it into the empty net!

At that moment, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers from the fans!

Just thirteen minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese used a brilliant run to beat the offside trap, resulting in a one-on-one, to open the scoring!

Of the ninety thousand fans in the stadium, the majority were Bayswater Chinese supporters, and at this moment, they were all wildly cheering for Walcott’s goal!

On the sideline, Yang Cheng was beaming, unable to stop clapping for Walcott. He also called out to Thiago Silva and gave him a thumbs-up.

That long pass was truly excellent.

Before, the team didn’t play many long balls, so he hadn’t really noticed.

Now he suddenly realised, Yaya Touré can play long passes, Thiago Silva can play long passes… isn’t that a bit of a luxury?

But in reality, their long passes were mostly vertical.

Right now, Bayswater Chinese still lacked a long passer like Toni Kroos, who was proficient in both vertical and horizontal distribution.

The horizontal passes were for stretching the play.

Yang Cheng was full of anticipation for that.

And Ferguson…

When Yang Cheng glanced over, in front of the away team’s dugout, Ferguson was grim-faced, clearly frustrated at conceding a goal just thirteen minutes into the match.

Chapter 149: The High-Stakes Game to the Top! The Premier League is Too Terrifying!

A depleted Manchester United was simply no match for the Bayswater Chinese.

In the 35th minute of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese once again mounted a threatening attack.

Maicon sent in a cross from the right, looping the ball into the penalty area.

Vidić got to it before Džeko, heading the ball clear of the box.

The Bayswater Chinese immediately initiated a counter-press just outside the area, forcing Manchester United to move the ball to their right flank.

The moment Gary Neville received the ball, Gareth Bale was already upon him, dispossessing him directly.

After winning the ball, Gareth Bale dribbled towards the byline and sent a low, driven cross into the box.

Having failed to win the aerial duel moments earlier, Džeko made a quick run this time, bursting through between Ferdinand and Vidić to connect with a sliding shot, sending both himself and the ball into the goal.

2-0!

Was that it?

No. Just five minutes later, Gareth Bale shook off Gary Neville on the left flank, broke into the penalty area, chipped the ball over Ferdinand, and then rounded van der Sar.

However, when he went to shoot, his right foot failed to generate any power, and the shot was blocked on the goal line by a sprinting Vidić.

The young Welshman was so frustrated that he collapsed onto the grass, clutching his head in utter regret.

The series of moves leading up to the shot was brilliant, but the final finish was somewhat of an embarrassment.

The first half ended 2-0.

After the break, the Bayswater Chinese continued to apply pressure.

Gareth Bale was incredibly active on the left wing.

In the 48th minute, he was on a dribbling run down the left, attempting to force his way through when he was tripped by Garyeville Neville just outside the left side of the box, winning a free kick in an advanced position.

Since the ball was on the left edge of the area, a direct shot was nearly impossible, so Leighton Baines stepped up to take it.

Gareth Bale also moved into the box, ready to charge in for an aerial duel.

Leighton Baines took the free kick quickly.

Manchester United was prepared. Van der Sar came off his line and punched the ball away just in time.

As magical as Gianni Vio’s set-piece coaching was, it didn’t work every single time.

The ball dropped just outside the penalty area.

Rakitić controlled it with his chest and, seeing van der Sar off his line, unleashed a long shot from about 20 meters out without hesitation.

It was a very high-quality strike, aimed straight for Manchester United’s goal.

But it was just a fraction off, smacking against the crossbar and rebounding back into play.

By now, the penalty area was a chaotic mess.

Before anyone could react, Gareth Bale pounced with a close-range header, nodding the ball into the Manchester United net.

The Welshman turned and ran off the pitch in celebration.

Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous applause once more.

3-0!

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, smiling and applauding his players’ performance.

“Three years of development, and it’s finally bearing fruit!”

Watching Gareth Bale sprinting across the pitch, Yang Cheng felt a surge of excitement.

Both Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were players he had targeted back in 2005.

As homegrown English players, they would have a strong appeal among the local fans.

More importantly, they both possessed the potential to become top-tier superstars.

“I have a feeling we’ve got a real shot this season!” Brian Kidd was also overjoyed.

Many of the current players were products of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

If they truly fulfilled their potential, their influence would be no less than that of Manchester United’s Class of ’92.

Especially now, with information spreading so fast, their global impact would surely far surpass that of the Class of ’92.

“So, I’ve never understood why the media out there looks down on us so much,” Yang Cheng asked with a laugh.

Brian Kidd couldn’t help but smile.

Of course, he knew the reason, and Yang Cheng certainly did too.

The media always builds people up just to tear them down, all for the sake of creating headlines.

The Bayswater Chinese had just sold three players, so their overall strength was bound to be affected.

Under these circumstances, if the media didn’t paint a pessimistic picture, it would be like them willingly giving up on traffic and sales.

“Owen won the Premier League Golden Boot at eighteen and the Ballon d’Or at twenty-two. Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott are already nineteen, so they’re a bit behind.”

Although Yang Cheng said this, his tone was filled with affection for the two players.

He had spent three years meticulously nurturing them.

They were both set to be core members of the Bayswater Chinese lineup for years to come.

Currently, both Gareth Bale and Walcott were on a path of rapid growth.

They had already made huge leaps last season.

This season, they were certain to take another step forward.

The only things that could stop them were injuries, and themselves.

Therefore, Yang Cheng placed a special emphasis on injury prevention.

He spared no expense in his investment in the sports science department, the medical department, and other related areas.

Gareth Bale and Walcott were also receptive to advice, never cutting corners in their training, including their gym work.

At the same time, they unconditionally followed the diets prescribed by the nutrition experts.

Most importantly, they had virtually no bad habits.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many fans attributed Gareth Bale’s frequent injuries at Real Madrid to his muscle gain.

In reality, that wasn’t the case.

Proper muscle gain can effectively prevent injuries.

Of course, excessive muscle gain can make a player’s movements stiff; it’s a matter of finding the right balance.

The simplest proof was C. Ronaldo, whose well-developed physique and scientific training regimen helped him avoid major injuries for the most part.

Long before Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid, he was already suffering from frequent injuries.

In the six years from joining Tottenham in 2007 to joining Real Madrid in 2013, he suffered thirty injuries.

He had made a brilliant start when he first joined Tottenham, performing exceptionally well, scoring two goals and providing one assist in consecutive matches.

But this good form was cut short by injury.

First, a foot injury, then in December, he was injured by a tackle from Martin Taylor during a match against Birmingham City.

That’s right, the same thug who broke Arsenal forward Eduardo da Silva’s leg.

He had injured Gareth Bale in December, and then broke Eduardo da Silva’s leg in February.

Bale didn’t suffer a fracture that time, but a tear in his right ankle ligament, which sidelined him for over half a year.

This was why Yang Cheng had once wished for a lifetime suspension for that player.

The man was a repeat offender!

From then on, Gareth Bale became plagued by injuries.

A herniated lumbar disc, knees, ankles, hamstrings…

This wasn’t just a problem caused by a single injury, nor was it solely due to the player’s training and playing style.

In Yang Cheng’s view, all of this could have been avoided.

For example, what was the situation with Bale’s herniated disc?

It was an illness resulting from cumulative strain.

His back problems had actually existed for a long time.

In England, there was a long-standing tradition of playing through minor injuries.

So, for a long period, Gareth Bale played while injured, which eventually led to cumulative strain, turning into chronic lumbar muscle fatigue and causing severe consequences for his spine.

Yang Cheng remembered that in January 2011, after Bale left the pitch due to a back injury flare-up, Redknapp had said the Tottenham medical team couldn’t find the cause.

Why not?

The answer was simple: just look at Tottenham’s dreadful training ground.

Chelsea made world-class superstars like Drogba, Crespo, and Shevchenko train in a dilapidated warehouse north of Heathrow Airport, and Tottenham’s facilities were hardly any better.

Poor infrastructure, outdated medical methods, and an unscientific tradition of player usage were the real reasons Gareth Bale gradually became injury-prone at Tottenham Hotspur.

But now, at the Bayswater Chinese, none of this was happening.

Yang Cheng’s emphasis on medical care, his investment in both software and hardware facilities, and his protection of the players had made the Bayswater Chinese one of the teams least affected by injuries in the Premier League, and even in Europe.

Gareth Bale was now full of life and vigor, with not a hint of being injury-prone.

This filled Yang Cheng with confidence about his future!

To some extent, the progress of Ángel Di María, Gareth Bale, and Walcott would determine how much the Bayswater Chinese could achieve this season!

…

The Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Manchester United 3-0 to win the Community Shield!

Gareth Bale was named Man of the Match!

After the game, Ferguson, far from being dejected by the loss, actively sought out Yang Cheng to chat.

The damned old codger was up to no good, beating around the bush, thinking Yang Cheng couldn’t see his true intentions.

Ultimately, C. Ronaldo was still going to leave.

The agreement Ferguson had reached with C. Ronaldo was that he would stay at Manchester United for another year.

After that year, if a team made a suitable offer, Manchester United would let him go.

Therefore, Ferguson wanted to start scouting a replacement for C. Ronaldo in advance.

The Bayswater Chinese’s two wingers were obviously the most suitable candidates. They were homegrown, fitting Ferguson’s stubborn preference, and they were exceptionally talented with extraordinary potential and a limitless future.

But this time, Yang Cheng played it very cool.

Because he really didn’t want to sell.

No amount of money would make him sell!

More importantly, Yang Cheng could feel that the team’s tactical setup for this season had great potential.

At its core, it was similar in principle to AC Milan’s Christmas tree formation.

But the Bayswater Chinese were not so conservative; they just focused their ball-winning efforts around the halfway line.

This approach both left enough space for the forwards and ensured the stability of the defense in the midfield and backline.

“Sir, you’d better make Manchester United run a bit faster this season!”

Yang Cheng said it in a light, joking tone.

But he was also very serious.

Ferguson was a little surprised.

What did that out-of-the-blue sentence mean?

But Yang Cheng’s next words made his expression change.

“Don’t fall too far behind us, or you’ll lose sight!”

The tone was the same, yet it conveyed an incredibly strong sense of confidence.

It was as if Yang Cheng had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

Ferguson’s competitive spirit was instantly ignited.

As a Scotsman, that was his nature.

The stronger the opponent, the more excited he became.

“You know, in my twenty-two years of managing Manchester United, no one has ever talked to me like that!” Ferguson responded, full of bravado.

Yang Cheng chuckled. “That was in the past, Sir. Just as you said, times have changed, and the rules of the Premier League have changed too!”

“Then I’ll be waiting for you at Old Trafford!”

With a “We’ll see” expression, Ferguson turned and walked away.

Originally, the Bayswater Chinese were scheduled to play an away game against Manchester United in the last match of August.

Before that, in the second round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team was supposed to play Arsenal.

But due to a scheduling conflict with the UEFA Super Cup, this match was postponed.

The new date was yet to be determined.

…

After the Community Shield, there were still six days until the start of the Premier League season.

In addition to making targeted improvements for the problems the team had exposed recently, Yang Cheng also held a special meeting in Bayswater.

The club’s offices had moved out and were now located in a rented building nearby.

It wasn’t until the move that they realized just how large an enterprise the Bayswater Chinese had become.

Not including the employees at the Brent training center and the Satellite Training Centre, the number of administrative staff—the suits—at the Bayswater office alone exceeded two hundred.

And it was constantly growing.

For instance, when Yang Cheng arrived at the Bayswater office today, he met the head of a new department.

The High-End Client Services Department.

This was a new department recently established by Adam Crozier, and its head had an impressive resume.

He was the former marketing director of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, with over twenty years of experience in international high-end hotel management.

Not only that, but Adam Crozier had even poached the executive chef from The Langham, London.

The Langham was most famous for its afternoon tea and Western restaurant.

Besides these two, the High-End Client Services Department had poached quite a few others.

They included lobby managers and butlers from high-end hotels, as well as senior client managers who sold Rolls-Royces and Bentleys.

The most amusing part was that Adam Crozier had even managed to poach the sales director from Mercedes-Maybach London.

“They’re just our car sponsor. They give us cars and money every year, and you go and poach their sales director…”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Wasn’t that a bit ridiculous?

You’re in the football business, my friend!

Poaching hotel management and an executive chef is understandable, as VIP boxes offer such services.

But what are you going to do with someone who sells cars?

Xia Qing, standing nearby, also smiled wryly, but she was clearly in the know.

Adam Crozier had discussed this with her before.

“Because I’ve discovered that not just in the Premier League, but across all of European football, high-end client service is a complete mess.”

Adam Crozier said with a look of disappointment.

“Tell me more.”

“I recently used a friend’s connection to watch a match at the Emirates Stadium, using the separate entrance for the VIP boxes. Guess what I encountered?”

Yang Cheng shook his head, signaling him to continue.

“Arsenal’s VIP boxes are very expensive. The cheapest one for a year costs at least sixty thousand pounds, and parking at the Emirates Stadium is an extra charge. But the most absurd thing is, they don’t even have a designated waiting area for drivers.”

“Do they think all these high-end clients who come to watch the game drive themselves?”

“When we go to a high-end hotel, guest lounges, driver waiting areas, and tea break areas are all essential amenities. They even provide thoughtful complementary services in the underground garage, like car washing.”

Yang Cheng suddenly became serious as well.

It was true. Such details might seem small, but they were actually very important.

What defines “high-end”?

So-called high-end service is about providing thoughtful care 24/7, covering every possible angle.

This led to an interesting question.

Where do Rolls-Royce and Bentley owners get their cars washed?

“I believe the location of our new stadium is one of the most premium in the world. We will be catering to the most high-end clients in the world, so naturally, we must provide the most high-end services.”

“For these clients, they don’t care if your box costs sixty thousand pounds a year or one hundred thousand pounds a year. What they want is emotional value, and what they look at is the service we can provide.”

“So, right from the design stage of the new stadium, we need to involve professionals who understand the high-end demographic best. No one knows what these clients want better than the marketing director of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.”

“No one knows what these high-end clients like to eat better than the executive chef of The Langham.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

Adam Crozier’s points were very valid.

“Go on.”

“I believe the price of our boxes should be no less than one hundred thousand pounds. We can also offer a variety of value-added services, such as exclusive transportation, hotel reservations, flight bookings, restaurant reservations, and so on.”

“I even think we can learn from Rolls-Royce’s two-pronged service system.”

“The first prong is the bespoke customization for high-end clients. We can provide tailor-made, exclusive services, including personalized decoration and layout of the boxes. This would be very attractive to many high-end users, especially corporate clients.”

“The second prong is the comprehensive suite of high-end services we provide after they purchase our box, much like Rolls-Royce’s after-sales service guarantee.”

“For example, dedicated butlers, exclusive high-end client specialists, dedicated servers, and so on.”

“We need to reach a point where, from the moment our clients have the idea of coming to a match—no, even before they conceive the thought—we have everything prepared. From leaving their home to returning, we’ll take care of everything!”

As for other perks like luxury car transport, exclusive entrances, and private elevators, those would be standard.

Of course, the services Adam Crozier mentioned wouldn’t all be included in the box fee; they would be value-added services that incurred extra charges.

For these high-net-worth clients, that bit of money was nothing.

Since they booked a box, they were pursuing high-quality service.

As long as the service was excellent, the price was no object.

So why poach sales staff from luxury car brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley?

The reason was simple.

Through what channels would these high-end clients purchase the boxes?

Forget about the regular ticket sales staff; even salespeople from Mercedes, BMW, or even Porsche wouldn’t know how to sell a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley.

“How do all the current teams, from Manchester United to Arsenal, and even Real Madrid and Barça, sell their boxes?”

Adam Crozier spoke with a look of disdain, clearly unimpressed with the operations of these established clubs.

“Most are sold to long-standing clients accumulated over the years, or to new clients who approach them directly.”

“Therefore, their box sales are generally poor, and they can’t command high prices!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but smile and ask gossipingly, “So how do Rolls-Royce and Bentley find new clients?”

This was something he genuinely didn’t know.

Do these clients just walk into a dealership?

But they don’t have that many dealerships.

“Private viewings, salons, high-end business events, luxury hotels, and so on,” Adam Crozier replied.

“These high-net-worth clients aren’t the type to come to us to browse and buy. We have to go to them and promote our product proactively.”

“Moreover, handling these high-net-worth clients is not a job that an ordinary salesperson can handle.”

Yang Cheng understood this point.

If you sent a Mercedes salesperson to pitch a Rolls-Royce to a tycoon, their usual sales pitch would be completely useless.

To put it simply, to get these tycoons to spend, you had to resonate with them emotionally.

An ordinary person simply couldn’t do that.

Therefore, it had to be the elite of the elite!

Adam Crozier analyzed that brands like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Mercedes-Maybach mostly operated on a direct-to-consumer model. This was to protect the privacy of their high-end clients while ensuring they received the best exclusive service.

In simple terms, it was a bit like playing a game.

The high-rollers get to be capricious, playing however they want, and the game administrator acts as their personal concierge.

This applied even more so to football.

If the service was truly excellent, maybe one day a CEO would be so pleased that they’d decide to sponsor the Bayswater Chinese directly.

And most importantly, these high-net-worth clients were truly not short on cash.

For example, the umbrellas from Rolls-Royce, all high-end custom orders, were not for public sale and were exclusive to car owners, with ridiculously high prices.

Yang Cheng now fully understood.

According to Adam Crozier’s plan, the people they had hired so far were not enough.

Right now, they were just experimenting. When the new stadium was completed in the future, the High-End Client Services Department would definitely need to expand further.

It would be a many-to-one service model!

In short, apart from a few forbidden things, everything else would be arranged for the clients with impeccable clarity.

Naturally, the better the service provided, the more expensive the fee.

A £100,000 box fee was just the starting point.

Adam Crozier mentioned the Veblen effect from sales psychology.

“The higher the price of a commodity, the more it is favored by consumers, and the easier it is to sell.”

“This is because everyone has a psychological need for conspicuous consumption.”

“But it follows that the more expensive we sell, the better the service we provide to the customer, and the higher the quality, the more satisfied the customer will be, and naturally, the better it will sell.”

“In this way, we can attract a large number of consumers who originally purchased other brands’ products, creating a kind of headhunting effect.”

“By then, our stadium will become the most top-tier, luxurious venue for high-end business events in all of London—no, in all of Europe, and even the world.”

Yang Cheng’s blood pulsed with excitement as he listened.

The goal was truly thrilling!

If they could achieve this, it would be much more than just a football stadium.

At that point, wouldn’t the four surrounding buildings attract even more high-end complementary businesses?

Like luxury hotels, high-end shopping, and so on.

And, by then, would they have to worry about selling out the stadium’s boxes?

They would always be in short supply, right?

Furthermore, wouldn’t other major business events, exhibitions, concerts, and the like follow suit?

Isn’t that how a global landmark is built, bit by bit?

Once they successfully captured the minds of the high-end user group, wouldn’t the money just come pouring in?

By then, even the Bayswater Chinese brand would benefit. Would high-end commercial sponsorships be scarce? Would they be at the current price?

The reason Yang Cheng didn’t doubt the feasibility of Adam Crozier’s plan was because this was London!

The world’s second-largest financial center, a global metropolis!

The one thing this city didn’t lack was wealthy people!

Wealthy people from all over the world!

This was a high-stakes game that Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, and even Real Madrid and Barça couldn’t play.

Only the Bayswater Chinese could play this way, dared to play this way!

Because Yang Cheng had such a large piece of land in the heart of London!

By then, as long as the team’s results kept up, the Bayswater Chinese could become the most elite club in the world!

At this thought, Yang Cheng could barely contain his excitement.

“Do it!”

Yang Cheng made a swift decision, giving his approval.

“Adam, I’m giving you full authority over this matter. Go ahead with confidence and boldness!”

“If you need money, you’ll get money. If you need people, you’ll get people. We fully support you!”

Xia Qing, standing to the side, looked as if she wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent.

My dear brother, where do we even have money right now?

However, since Yang Cheng had made the decision, she could only try to figure something out.

Money, well, if you squeeze hard enough, you can always find some.

…

On the afternoon of August 16th, in the first round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese faced Hull City away.

In the season opener that had just finished at noon, Wenger’s Arsenal had secured a narrow 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, thanks to a goal from new signing Nasri.

The Baggies had put up a good fight, creating several decent scoring opportunities.

At one point, they had even driven Arsenal centre-back Gallas into a frenzy.

In his post-match press conference, Wenger said, “I thought at some stage they would collapse, but they didn’t, and they didn’t play dirty at all.”

Evidently, the severe punishment handed down to Martin Taylor last season had served as a powerful deterrent.

The Baggies’ impressive performance gave Hull City, another newly promoted team, high hopes for their upcoming match.

This was the first time in Hull City’s 104-year history that they were competing in the top flight.

Their yellow and black tiger-striped kit was the trademark of The Tigers.

The Kingston Communications Stadium had a capacity of only 25,586, but that afternoon, over 26,000 fans packed in.

This was a very high attendance for a city like Kingston upon Hull, with a population of only around 250,000.

Head coach Phil Brown was a former professional player who had played for Bolton. After retiring, he joined Bolton’s coaching staff as an assistant coach, working under Allardyce and Colin Todd.

He began managing Derby County in the summer of 2005 but didn’t last past the winter transfer window.

In October 2006, he joined Hull City, first as an assistant to head coach Phil Parkinson. In December, Parkinson was sacked, and Phil Brown took over, successfully leading the team to the Premier League.

Now, the 49-year-old Phil Brown was ambitious and wanted to establish a firm foothold in the Premier League.

He did not dare to underestimate the Bayswater Chinese.

From the summer friendlies until now, he had been preparing for this match.

At the same time, he strongly emphasized the players’ fighting spirit.

“Today’s match will reveal the spirit of a club!”

…

While Hull City entered the pitch fired up, the Bayswater Chinese were no less motivated.

Riding the momentum of their 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the Community Shield, the Bayswater Chinese arrived at the Kingston Communications Stadium with menacing intent.

Yang Cheng had only one impression of Phil Brown.

A true disciple of Allardyce!

What did that mean?

It meant the Bolton model of old.

This season, after being promoted to the Premier League, Hull City had signed nine players, making quite a splash. However, in reality, they had only paid transfer fees for two of them.

One was George Boateng from Middlesbrough for one million pounds.

The other was Hungarian midfielder Péter Halmosi from Championship side Plymouth Argyle for 2.5 million pounds.

The rest were either free transfers or loans, and most of them were older players.

The biggest name was the Brazilian midfielder Giovanni, who had previously played for Barça and Manchester City.

So, Hull City lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the system best suited to maximize the impact of a number 10 player.

The tall center-forward up front was former Leeds United striker Caleb Folan.

The greatest feature of the 4-2-3-1 formation is its versatility.

Whether you want to play defensive counter-attacks, possession-based football, or a high-pressing game, it works!

Phil Brown clearly intended to use this tactical setup to secure a winning start at home.

Against the Bayswater Chinese, a draw would be a victory!

Especially when Phil Brown came over to shake hands with Yang Cheng before the match, his expression was clearly filled with confidence.

“It seems he hasn’t yet realized the cruelty of the Premier League!”

After Phil Brown walked away, Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Brian Kidd turned his head, glanced at Phil Brown’s back, and silently prayed for him.

Unlucky fellow, you’ve walked right into the line of fire of a red-hot Bayswater Chinese team!

…

With a blast of head referee Mike Jones’s whistle, and amidst the cheers of 26,000 fans, Hull City’s first-ever English top-flight match officially began.

But what awaited them was a flurry of merciless blows from their opponents.

The Bayswater Chinese once again unleashed their signature opening blitz.

The front three, led by Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Walcott, attacked from the start, with the entire team pressing forward.

The midfield of Rakitić, Yaya Touré, and Modrić, and the backline of Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon—all three lines pushed up.

Under this overwhelming pressure, Hull City held out for less than three minutes.

Walcott won a corner kick after a dribbling run down the right.

Modrić went over to take the corner, delivering it precisely to the near post.

Under pressure from Pepe, Hull City’s right-back Ricketts inadvertently headed the ball into his own net while challenging for the aerial duel.

Own goal!

1-0!

The Bayswater Chinese had taken the lead.

Everyone in the stadium was stunned!

Even Yang Cheng himself was a little surprised.

The first goal of the new season was an own goal?

The Kingston Communications Stadium was in an uproar.

This was Hull City’s first Premier League…

Uh, wait, does this count as a goal scored? Or a goal conceded?

The impact of this goal on Hull City was palpable.

For a newly promoted team, in their debut match, to concede in such a way was completely beyond anyone’s expectations.

Even head coach Phil Brown was fuming on the sidelines.

What surprised Hull City even more was that, despite their misfortune of scoring on themselves, this pack of wolves from the Bayswater Chinese refused to let up and continued to attack.

Just nine minutes later, after winning the ball in their own half, the Bayswater Chinese quickly moved it to near the center circle.

Džeko dropped back, controlled the ball with his chest, then turned and played a through ball.

Walcott made a late run with lightning speed, instantly tearing through Hull City’s defense. He broke through one-on-one, and from near the penalty spot, calmly slotted the ball home.

2-0!

After scoring, The Little Tiger was so excited he leaped into the air.

Hull City, on the other hand, was in complete disarray.

Phil Brown signaled for his team to drop back and start defending compactly, to try to stabilize first.

After scoring two quick goals, the Bayswater Chinese also began to slow the pace, focusing on passing and movement to penetrate, which effectively conserved their energy.

Then, in the 31st minute, Modrić delivered a wonderful pass, precisely finding Džeko near the penalty spot. The Bosnian centre-forward controlled the ball, shook off a defender, and unleashed a furious shot, sending the ball into Hull City’s goal once again.

3-0!

The entire stadium was somewhat stunned!

Is the Premier League always this terrifying?

Before they could even find their footing, they were already down by three goals?

Phil Brown was also starting to panic.

Apart from gesturing for his team to defend, defend, and defend again, what else could he do?

At this moment, he was no longer thinking about a draw or scoring a goal.

His only wish was for this damn match to end as soon as possible.

The second half began.

Hull City strengthened their defense, bringing on right-back Bernard Mendy for right-winger Richard Garcia to add more protection to the midfield.

This barely managed to steady the ship.

But in the 63rd minute of the second half, Walcott executed a beautiful move on the right, knocking the ball past left-back Andy Dawson and running around him. He dribbled to the byline inside the penalty area and delivered a low, driven cross to the front of the six-yard box.

Džeko Arrived at full tilt and tapped it in with ease.

4-0!

Džeko had scored a brace!

Andy Dawson was the brother of Tottenham centre-back and England international, Michael Dawson.

Just five minutes later, Yaya Touré drove forward with the ball and played a lofted pass over the top to the left side of the attack.

Gareth Bale broke through at high speed, sprinting all the way. After entering the penalty area, he rounded the goalkeeper Myhill and slotted the ball into the empty net.

5-0!

The entire Kingston Communications Stadium fell silent!

There were still over twenty minutes left in the match.

They suddenly realized just how terrifying the Premier League was.

They hadn’t even prepared properly, and here they were, in their own home, getting thrashed by five goals.

It was simply horrifying!

After going five goals ahead, the Bayswater Chinese began to make substitutions, bringing on three young players.

But their attacks did not relent. They still firmly controlled the game, constantly trying to create more chances.

This was driving Hull City to the brink of collapse!

They had never imagined that after dominating the Championship, their first Premier League match would be such a brutal thrashing!

And to think they had harbored illusions of getting a result at home after seeing West Bromwich Albion nearly hold Arsenal to a draw away from home.

It turned out they were simply overthinking it.

…

The first round of the new Premier League season concluded, with mixed fortunes for the clubs.

The Bayswater Chinese thrashed newly promoted Hull City 5-0 away from home.

The attacking trident of Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Walcott scored four of the goals.

Džeko, in particular, scored twice, showing excellent goal-scoring form.

Yang Cheng was full of praise for Džeko after the match.

“I believe he will be one of the strongest contenders for the Premier League’s top scorer chart this season!”

As for the two youngsters, Gareth Bale and Walcott, Yang Cheng did not hold back his praise either.

The British media had already started hyping them up for Yang Cheng.

After all, they were homegrown, young, and had performed brilliantly, earning widespread acclaim.

Chelsea, meanwhile, thrashed Portsmouth 4-0 at home.

Deco scored on his debut for Chelsea.

New manager Scolari’s first match left a deep impression, and he delivered on his promise to play attacking football.

This was cheered by the entire British media.

The biggest upset of the round was Manchester United.

The Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Newcastle.

Without C. Ronaldo, and with a returning Rooney out of form, Manchester United’s attack was severely hampered.

The front three had shouldered the vast majority of Manchester United’s goal-scoring last season.

In the first round of the new season, the Red Devils looked somewhat toothless in attack.

However, some media outlets revealed that besides the issues with the front three, there was another crucial reason: Ferguson’s assistant coach, Carlos Queiroz, had left to manage the Portuguese national team. Consequently, Ferguson promoted Mike Phelan to assistant coach.

But Mike Phelan was clearly struggling to manage the tactical system left behind by Queiroz.

In recent years, Ferguson had largely stepped back from handling training and tactical planning.

Everyone knew that Ferguson’s time was increasingly occupied by matters outside of football.

Things like horse racing, social events, charity work, various banquets, and so on.

This left the old manager with little time and energy to focus on the myriad of trivial matters in football.

All of these had been handed over to Queiroz.

It was as if Ferguson had outsourced all duties except for team selection and touchline management to his project manager, Queiroz.

And Queiroz, in accordance with Ferguson’s wishes, pushed for a more continental style of play at Manchester United and also handled numerous signings, including C. Ronaldo, Nani, and Anderson.

This was why Ferguson had said several times that bringing Queiroz to Manchester United was one of the best transfers of his life.

Besides overseeing training and tactical planning, Queiroz was also the glue in the dressing room, as he was fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, and English.

This allowed him to communicate with any foreign player at Manchester United.

He even picked up some Korean after Park Ji-sung joined.

In mid-July, Ferguson had said that he would retire within three years and that Queiroz was his ideal successor.

This was seen as an attempt to persuade Queiroz to stay.

At the time, there were constant rumors in Portugal that the Portuguese Football Federation wanted to hire Queiroz to coach the national team.

In the end, Queiroz chose to leave Manchester United.

This left everyone worried about Manchester United for the new season.

…

A week later, Premier League Round 2.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal at home.

Before this London derby, the Bayswater Chinese announced that season ticket sales for the season had exceeded 65,000.

This set a new all-time record for the Bayswater Chinese.

Adam Crozier confidently stated that the average attendance at Wembley Stadium for the new season would exceed 75,000, far surpassing the club’s expectations.

The first home game had already attracted 85,000 fans.

For this match, Wenger once again fielded a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Gallas, Kolo Touré, and Sagna;

Midfield: Andrei Arshavin, Muntari, Fàbregas, and Nasri;

Forwards: van Persie and Benzema.

Although it was a 4-4-2, in attack, Nasri and Arshavin pushed further forward and weren’t confined to the wings, often operating in the half-spaces.

Due to a busy summer transfer window, Wenger was still fine-tuning his new lineup and tactics.

As a result, their performance in the first round of the season was not ideal.

At the start of this match, Arsenal tried to control the game.

The Bayswater Chinese, however, used their home advantage to launch the first attacks.

The most dangerous chance came in the 7th minute, a powerful long shot from Gareth Bale from outside the left corner of the box that gave Lloris a real scare.

In the 12th minute, Arsenal responded with a fine pass from van Persie that set up Benzema for a power shot from the edge of the box, which went wide.

But two minutes later, an overlapping run from Yaya Touré resulted in a long shot from outside the box that went just over the bar.

Neither team played conservatively in the opening stages.

After weathering the Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz, Wenger wanted to seize the opportunity to counter-attack.

Last season, this approach had caused the Bayswater Chinese a lot of trouble and cost them quite a few goals.

But Yang Cheng was well-prepared this time.

In the 20th minute, as Arsenal pushed forward to attack, the Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Maicon surged forward on the right and played a straight pass.

Walcott, quick as a flash, instantly broke past Clichy’s defense.

This time, the Little Tiger didn’t dwell on the ball. After catching up to it, he hit a diagonal long pass with his right foot, switching the play to the left side of the attack.

Gareth Bale surged forward at incredible speed, latched onto Walcott’s pass, used his pace to power past Kolo Touré, and broke into the left side of the penalty area before squaring the ball to the middle.

Džeko had just arrived at full tilt and, from near the penalty spot, guided the ball into Lloris’s goal with his right foot.

Wembley Stadium erupted in a deafening roar.

Over 80,000 fans cheered in unison.

Wenger stood on the sideline, completely stunned.

So fast!

So damn fast!

“How long did that attack take?”

Wenger turned his head, his face a mask of astonishment, and asked his assistant coach, Pat Rice.

“From Pepe’s tackle, to Maicon’s dribble and pass, to Džeko’s goal at the end, it was a total of eleven seconds!”

Eleven seconds!!!

Wenger’s head was spinning with exclamation marks.

He didn’t know how to describe his feelings at that moment.

He knew the Bayswater Chinese were fast, but he never expected them to be this fast.

“After their opening blitz, their tactics when they settled down were also clearly different from before. The two wings were like they had taken flight, advancing with incredible speed,” Pat Rice said, equally shocked.

Wenger nodded. Who could argue with that?

The speed of Walcott and Gareth Bale was simply terrifying.

Moreover, Walcott’s diagonal pass was brilliant, perfectly placed in front of Gareth Bale, allowing the Welshman to fully utilize his speed.

For a moment, he was reminded of Beckham.

“Damn it, has that bastard Yang Cheng given up on possession football now?”

Wenger couldn’t hold it in and let out a curse.

But who could give him an answer?

Chapter 150: A Dream Start! Player of the Season! Poaching from Manchester City

After conceding the first goal, Arsenal found themselves in a dilemma.

To score, they had to win back possession; to win back possession, they had to press forward.

But Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense had superb passing ability. If Arsenal pushed up, players like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Džeko could exploit the space behind them at any moment.

Wenger was faced with two choices.

He could either emulate Yang Cheng from last season’s Champions League knockout stage—grit his teeth, risk his defense being torn to shreds, and continue the high press, going all-out against Bayswater Chinese.

Or he could simply sit back and defend.

Wenger had never been a conservative man, so he chose to learn from Yang Cheng.

But he overlooked one crucial point.

AC Milan’s midfield and defense were aging and couldn’t withstand a war of attrition.

But the average age of Bayswater Chinese was under twenty-two; they could afford to run.

More importantly, almost every player in Bayswater Chinese’s backline was a skilled passer.

They had been playing one-touch passing for years, making them far more fluid than AC Milan.

The speed of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott up front was also on a completely different level than AC Milan’s.

And to top it off, they had an all-around tall center-forward in Džeko.

What Arsenal was facing was essentially an AC Milan that had been upgraded in both passing and speed.

In the 34th minute, a pass from the back found Gareth Bale, who shook off Sagna on the left flank and sent a cross to Džeko.

Under pressure from Gallas, the Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward’s header came agonizingly close to scoring.

At the crucial moment, Lloris managed to palm the ball out for a corner kick.

It was Rakitić’s turn to take it.

When Gianni Vio once again walked out of the dugout to direct the players during the corner kick, the eighty thousand-plus fans in the stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

They couldn’t help it; the man was just too damn likable!

Rakitić quickly took the corner.

The Arsenal penalty area descended into chaos.

But to everyone’s astonishment, this time the cross was not high but landed at the near post just outside the six-yard box.

And it came in at a low trajectory.

Was it a mistake?

Clearly not!

Amidst the scramble in the box, a powerful figure suddenly charged forward.

Yaya Touré, completely unmarked, rushed to the near post and met the falling ball with a first-time volleyed tap-in.

The ball immediately changed direction, swerving into Arsenal’s goal, almost scraping the post as it went in.

No matter how fast Lloris’s reflexes were, he was helpless against such a shot.

2-0!

Wembley Stadium erupted once more!

Every single fan shot up from their seat, cheering and screaming wildly.

“Another goal from a set piece!”

“That’s two consecutive matches where Bayswater Chinese have scored from a set piece!”

“One has to say, their set piece routines are incredibly varied and endlessly creative.”

“What’s even more surprising is that the goalscorer this time is Yaya Touré.”

“The Gunners’ nemesis!”

On the sidelines, in front of the away team’s dugout, the moment Wenger saw Yaya Touré’s volley find the net, a single thought crossed his mind: why him again?

Why is it always him?

“Does this kid really hate us that much?” Wenger felt utterly dejected.

“Why is he always so fired up whenever he plays against us?”

What could Pat Rice say?

This group of players Wenger almost signed!

It was all because of a misjudgment back then!

Yaya Touré’s attitude toward Arsenal now was much like Eto’o’s toward Real Madrid.

That’s why he was always fired up to play against them.

“Back then, my assessment of him was indeed a bit low,” Wenger reflected.

Pat Rice gave a wry smile. A bit low?

It was very low, wasn’t it?

After one friendly against Barnet, you rejected him outright.

At the time, Yaya Touré was at least playing professionally in Belgium, while Barnet was a lower-league team.

And it was just a pre-season friendly.

So, whether it’s fans or head coaches, judging based on a single game is never a good idea!

…

Leading by two goals at halftime, the game resumed after the break. In the 54th minute, Wenger made his first substitution of the match.

He brought on Alex Song for Benzema.

At that point, Arsenal switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

Strictly speaking, it was more like a 4-3-2-1, as Nasri and Arshavin tucked in more centrally to maximize the team’s defensive stability in the middle and back.

In a sense, this was a conservative move, an admission of being on the back foot.

But even after the substitution, Arsenal’s attack failed to show much improvement.

It wasn’t until the 72nd minute that Arshavin, dribbling on the right side of the attack, managed to break past Rakitić before being fouled by Yaya Touré twenty meters from goal.

The Gunners were awarded a free kick in a dangerous area.

Van Persie calmly stepped up and drilled a precise direct free kick that beat Neuer’s goal.

2-1!

After pulling one back, Wenger’s team seemed to see a glimmer of hope for victory.

The Gunners’ morale was reignited, and they started to believe in themselves again.

As a result, they began to intensify their attacks, and the entire team started to press forward.

But in the 79th minute, as Modrić was double-teamed by Muntari and Alex Song in midfield and passed the ball back to Yaya Touré, Arsenal’s entire defensive line had pushed up near the halfway line.

Yaya Touré launched a long ball over the top, and in an instant, Bayswater Chinese turned defense into attack.

The front three surged forward at high speed, joined by Rakitić, quickly creating a four-on-one situation up front!

Yes, that’s right, four-on-one!

When Yang Cheng saw this, he immediately cheered loudly.

Wenger, on the other hand, quickly covered his face, unable to watch.

Gallas, the last man back, found himself having to single-handedly take on Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Džeko, and Rakitić.

The Frenchman was truly in despair!

He had no idea who he was supposed to mark.

In the end, he positioned himself in the center.

Džeko laid the ball back to Rakitić, who then passed it to Walcott.

From the right side of the penalty area, The Little Tiger calmly slotted the ball home.

3-1!

The whole of Wembley Stadium erupted in celebration once again!

The fans were ecstatic, celebrating without a care in the world.

The final four-on-one situation was especially comical!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 3-1 at home!

…

“Let me give you a piece of advice.”

After the match, Yang Cheng generously invited Wenger for a drink in his VIP box.

But the Frenchman looked less like he was drinking alcohol and more like he was drinking… something else.

In any case, his long face looked even more bitter.

“Go back and study the sequence leading up to that four-on-one situation. Over and over again.”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but roar with laughter after saying this.

It was truly hilarious.

One pass over the top, and it directly leads to a four-on-one. Had anyone ever seen such a thing?

The most ridiculous part was that Arsenal’s defense wasn’t considered bad.

But for a top team to have their defense exposed like that was frankly a bit embarrassing.

If Yang Cheng had said anything else, Wenger would have certainly fired back.

But he knew Yang Cheng’s words were on point and brutally honest.

Even if the tone was a bit like kicking someone when they’re down and rubbing salt in the wound, it was the truth.

Over the years, Wenger’s biggest problem had been laid bare in that single four-on-one moment.

It was the team’s positioning when transitioning from attack to defense!

It wasn’t that the Gunners’ players didn’t try to get back into position, but that it took them too long.

Against a team like Bayswater Chinese that thrived on quick transitions, this weakness was completely exposed.

So why was their positioning an issue?

It was because Arsenal’s passing and moving game relied on players running tirelessly.

Wenger’s demands were even more extreme than Yang Cheng’s: passes had to be within ten meters, and there had to be at least two players available to receive the ball.

This not only forced the Gunners’ players to stay close to each other, but they also had to frequently move out of position to maintain passing lanes and support.

This was especially true for the midfielders and defenders.

When in possession, leaving one’s position is a good thing, as it creates more passing options.

But during the transition from attack to defense, how do you ensure that these players who have moved out of position can return to their posts in the shortest possible time?

Attack can be disorderly, but defense requires order and collective positioning.

This transition takes time.

And Arsenal’s transition time was a bit too long.

Barça and Bayswater Chinese also employed a lot of running and movement, so how did they manage it?

Two methods: counter-pressing on the spot and high-quality midfielders and defenders.

At the peak of their Dream Team Two era, Barça could beat Real Madrid 3-0 both home and away because the entire team pressed relentlessly all over the pitch, supported by their excellent midfield and defensive players.

Especially Puyol.

And what about Bayswater Chinese in this match?

Their counter-pressing and high press were consistently excellent.

Their midfielders and defenders were also incredibly talented.

From Yaya Touré to Pepe to Thiago Silva, all of them possessed strong individual abilities.

This gave Bayswater Chinese the capital to play this kind of tactic.

In contrast, Ferguson’s approach was to give freedom to the attack while maintaining a solid defense.

The Gunners’ biggest problem was the lack of players with outstanding individual ability in midfield and defense, and their counter-pressing up front was not particularly effective. This meant their defensive transition problem was constantly exposed and never effectively resolved.

It even led to embarrassing situations like this one, where they lost the ball and a single pass tore through their defense, creating a one-on-four predicament.

Building a team is not something that can be done overnight.

Especially in the past few years, Arsenal had grown accustomed to being frugal, and Wenger had always been very thrifty in the transfer market.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

The quality of their midfield and defense was plain to see.

“Give me two more years, and I will definitely build a team that can compete with you!”

Wenger’s words sounded exceptionally defiant, like Wile E. Coyote.

“They say the money in a man’s pocket is his courage. You seem quite brave now,” Yang Cheng laughed.

Wenger shot him an annoyed glance.

The Frenchman always found it strange; when talking to Yang Cheng, it was easy to forget his age.

He was actually only twenty-nine.

But he spoke with such maturity and didn’t seem like a young head coach at all.

His words and mannerisms were just like those of a world-famous manager who had been in the business for decades.

“I find it strange too. You don’t have much money in your pocket, so where does all your courage come from?” Wenger retorted.

It was common knowledge that Yang Cheng was heavily in debt.

Bayswater Chinese was still paying off loans for the construction of the Brent training center.

But to say Yang Cheng had no money was wrong, because his ambition was huge, and he embarked on one project after another.

Just after finishing the training center, work on the new stadium had begun.

The media had recently revealed that they planned to build a massive ninety-thousand-seat stadium.

To comply with the height restrictions in central London, they even had to excavate an entire tier of seating underground.

The scale of the project had skyrocketed, and so had the investment. One billion pound sterling was no longer enough to cover it.

“Our revenue last season surpassed Arsenal’s, and the gap will probably widen this season,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Wenger felt a pang of frustration at the thought.

Being surpassed in results was one thing, but being surpassed in revenue too…

Right now, the entire European football world was singing the praises of Adam Crozier.

Why?

Because the man knew how to make money!

Back at The FA, he had caused revenues to skyrocket year after year for two years, which led to the construction of Wembley Stadium.

Now, at Bayswater Chinese, he had once again caused the club’s revenue to soar, catapulting them into the top five in Europe.

At this thought, Wenger even lost the mood to drink.

But Yang Cheng had no intention of letting him off the hook just yet.

“Professor, you’d better hurry up. We sold you last season’s Champions League MVP, you know. If you still can’t get results, the pressure is going to be immense.”

After saying that, Yang Cheng laughed heartily again.

Wenger’s bitter face became even more so.

Although the UEFA awards ceremony hadn’t taken place yet, everyone knew that last season’s Champions League Player of the Season would almost certainly be Arshavin.

So, Yang Cheng’s statement was not wrong.

What Wenger had to do next was to integrate the team as quickly as possible and unleash the players’ fighting spirit.

Especially Arshavin.

Fifty million pound sterling!

That was a sky-high price, comparable to Zidane’s!

Wenger felt sick just thinking about it.

How could he get Arshavin to play at Zidane’s level?

Yang Cheng, oh, Yang Cheng, damn you!

…

Premier League, Round 2.

Liverpool, playing at Anfield, came from a goal down to score twice in the final moments of the game, securing a comeback victory against Middlesbrough.

The Reds had missed out on the Champions League this season, and the team’s morale had taken a big hit.

Chelsea, on the other hand, secured a 1-0 away victory against Wigan Athletic, thanks to a goal from Deco just over two minutes into the match.

The Portuguese midfielder had now scored in two consecutive rounds.

Manchester United managed a narrow 1-0 away win against Portsmouth, with a goal from Fletcher.

As a result, after two rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, and Liverpool all had two consecutive wins.

Yang Cheng’s team was top of the table with a goal difference of seven, Chelsea had five, and Liverpool had two.

Džeko, with three goals, was joint top of the scorer chart with Aston Villa’s forward, Agbonlahor.

Agbonlahor had scored a hat-trick in the Premier League’s opening round.

Having reached the top of the table from the first round and defeating a strong opponent in Arsenal in the second, Bayswater Chinese received unanimous praise from the media and fans.

Their start to the season was indeed quite stunning!

Before the season began, many people were worried about Bayswater Chinese’s prospects for the new season.

After all, selling Arshavin, Lassana Diarra, and Koscielny had significantly weakened the team’s overall strength.

Especially Arshavin and Lassana Diarra.

One was the core of the attack, the other the Premier League’s top tackler in midfield. How big was their impact?

In an article, The Times lavished praise on Yang Cheng.

“When everyone was worried, Yang Cheng delivered a stunning answer.”

“He moved away from last season’s more possession-based style, opting for a sharper, faster attacking approach up front, leveraging the speed of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott to repeatedly assault the opponent’s defense.”

“Hull City crumbled under the pressure from Bayswater Chinese, and the Gunners couldn’t hold them off either.”

The Times believed that this season, Bayswater Chinese’s tactics had a similar flavor to last season’s Manchester United, but were also very different.

Last season, Manchester United also played a fast-paced, whirlwind style of attack, which fans dubbed the “unpredictable, free-flowing style.”

Bayswater Chinese also played a fast-paced whirlwind style, but it wasn’t chaotic. They had an all-around center-forward like Džeko to anchor the attack.

In midfield, Bayswater Chinese’s trio of Modrić, Rakitić, and Yaya Touré was superior to Manchester United’s in terms of both passing and creativity.

“Even in running, which Manchester United players prided themselves on, Bayswater Chinese were their equals, if not better.”

Under these circumstances, the new season’s Bayswater Chinese presented a more dominant and sharper brand of attacking football than last season’s Manchester United.

“Yang Cheng has fully utilized the characteristics and strengths of the players at his disposal.”

“He used his technical and tactical prowess to fill the void left by the departure of key players.”

The Times believed this was the second time Yang Cheng had demonstrated the tactical acumen of a world-class head coach.

The first time was mid-season, when his adjustments to Arshavin and Ashley Young completely revitalized Bayswater Chinese’s attack and established their competitiveness in the Premier League.

And this time…

“He seems to have higher goals, and stronger ambitions!”

“Even before winning the Community Shield, Yang Cheng had said that he would win back everything he lost last season!”

Not just The Times, but media from various other countries were also paying close attention to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s tactics at the start of this season were also met with high praise.

…

After the second round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng and his team rested at the Brent training center.

On the morning of August 28th, after the training session, the team had an early lunch and set off for Monaco.

The UEFA Super Cup was scheduled for the evening of the 29th.

But Bayswater Chinese had to attend the UEFA awards ceremony and the Champions League group stage draw on the evening of the 28th.

This was a sort of unspoken agreement.

It was a cordial invitation from UEFA, and Bayswater Chinese certainly had to attend.

There were awards to be won, after all.

Before the ceremony, many of the awards had already been decided.

For example, the Best Player award would go to Arshavin, which was widely acknowledged.

He was one of Bayswater Chinese’s best players last season and the core of the team’s attack.

The Best Forward award would go to C. Ronaldo, which was also pretty much set in stone.

There was some suspense regarding the other positions, but Bayswater Chinese had players nominated in each.

By convention, they should get at least one, right?

They were the defending champions, after all!

The Champions League group stage seeding at that time was different from in 2024.

Even as defending champions, they received no special treatment.

The thirty-two teams were still ranked based on their UEFA club coefficients.

However, Bayswater Chinese had made it into Pot 2 this time.

This was already a remarkable achievement.

Other teams’ coefficients were calculated based on their performance over the past five years, but Bayswater Chinese’s could only be based on the last three.

Because three years ago, they were still in the lower leagues.

To break into Pot 2 with just three years of European competition points was a testament to how impressive Bayswater Chinese’s results had been.

The top-seeded teams in Pot 1 were Manchester United, Chelsea, Barça, Arsenal, Lyon, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.

The Galácticos had been knocked out in the Round of 16, and sometimes even the group stage, for several consecutive years, and their UEFA coefficient was steadily declining.

If they didn’t make a breakthrough this season, they would probably be pushed out of the top pot next season.

At that point, the Champions League draw would become even more interesting.

Pot 2 was also filled with formidable teams.

Bayswater Chinese were the defending champions, and besides them, Villarreal, AS Roma, Porto, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon, and Juventus were all well-known powerhouses in European football.

In Pot 3, Marseille, Zenit St. Petersburg, Bordeaux, and others were also strong contenders.

But the biggest headache was Pot 4, with teams like Shakhtar Donetsk, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Dynamo Kyiv, BATE Borisov…

They were either tough teams from the top four leagues or teams with devilishly difficult away grounds.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew Mourinho’s Inter Milan from Pot 1.

From Pot 3, they drew Marseille.

And from Pot 4, they drew Atlético Madrid from La Liga.

Yang Cheng was sitting in the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, and when the draw result was announced, he heard a gasp from the audience. Clearly, everyone was surprised by this group.

It brought together strong teams from Serie A, the Premier League, Ligue 1, and La Liga, and their overall strength was not to be underestimated.

Especially the formidable Atlético Madrid.

Just two days before the draw, The Mattress Makers had thrashed Schalke 04 4-0 at home.

This showed just how strong this team was.

So, everyone was shocked.

After all, the strength of the teams in this group was very close. Anyone could emerge victorious, and anyone could stumble.

But the group also had plenty of talking points.

After his return, Mourinho was now managing Inter Milan.

This would be his first return to face a Premier League side since leaving Chelsea.

The showdown between Yang Cheng and Mourinho would undoubtedly be a very eye-catching matchup.

But for Yang Cheng, the draw was actually acceptable.

Drawing Inter Milan from Pot 1 meant they avoided Pep Guardiola’s Barça, Real Madrid, and Bayern. They didn’t get the best possible draw in Lyon, but Inter Milan was a decent opponent.

Mourinho’s team was currently facing quite a few problems.

The teams in Pot 3 were all of similar strength. The worst draw would have been Zenit St. Petersburg, which was a long away trip against a tough opponent.

Pot 4 was also fine. Drawing Atlético Madrid meant facing the strongest team among the eight, but they also avoided a devil’s away trip.

If Yang Cheng were to say, the worst possible draw would have been Zenit St. Petersburg from Pot 3 and either Shakhtar Donetsk or Dynamo Kyiv from Pot 4. In that case, the away games would be almost impossible to play.

As it was, the draw was actually okay.

Moreover, facing teams from Serie A, Ligue 1, and La Liga would likely boost ticket revenue for home games.

A good thing!

Most importantly, he was confident in his own team’s strength.

…

The awards and the draw were interspersed.

The first award presented was Best Goalkeeper.

The four nominees were Chelsea’s Čech, Manchester United’s Edwin van der Sar, Bayswater Chinese’s Neuer, and Liverpool’s Reina.

All four goalkeepers had performed exceptionally well last season.

In the end, the twenty-two-year-old Neuer won the honor.

This was the first time a German goalkeeper had won a European-level award.

When former Manchester United goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel announced Neuer’s name, the German goalkeeper was so excited he jumped out of his seat.

His teammates around him all crowded around to congratulate him.

Neuer even made a point to go over to Yang Cheng and give him a hug.

In his acceptance speech, Neuer repeatedly thanked Yang Cheng, his teammates, and Bayswater Chinese.

The German keeper mentioned how Yang Cheng had contacted him in January 2005.

“At the time, I never would have imagined that this would be, to this day, the most important and greatest decision of my professional career. It has allowed me to stand on this stage today!”

The audience erupted in thunderous applause.

In January 2005, Bayswater Chinese was still playing in the Championship.

Who could have imagined that in just over three years, this team would transform into the Champions League winners?

All of this was thanks to Yang Cheng’s coaching.

Even the host, after hearing Neuer’s speech, couldn’t help but joke, “Actually, I think there should be a Best Coach award to reward the hard work of outstanding head coaches like Yang Cheng and Ferguson!”

Next was the award for Best Defender. Former Milan captain Franco Baresi presented the award to Ferdinand.

The Manchester United centre-back had been a strong favorite beforehand.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense was also excellent, and the partnership of Pepe and Thiago Silva had shown great strength, but in terms of individual performance, Ferdinand had the edge.

Even Yang Cheng had to admit that the Manchester United centre-back was indeed a bit better.

Pepe and Thiago Silva still needed to mature a bit more.

The Best Midfielder award went to Yaya Touré.

The award was presented by Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.

The Manchester United legend gave extremely high praise to Yaya Touré, calling him a world-class midfielder.

Yaya Touré was also visibly emotional.

Before going on stage to receive his award, just like Neuer, he hugged Yang Cheng and his teammates one by one.

This displayed the unity of Bayswater Chinese.

And in his acceptance speech, Yaya Touré was also very grateful to Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

“I never thought I would have such an opportunity, because I once doubted whether I could even become a good professional player.”

The period of self-doubt he was referring to was likely after his unsuccessful trial at Arsenal.

“But at Bayswater Chinese, I regained my confidence!”

Yaya Touré also thanked his teammates Modrić and Lassana Diarra, stating that it was with their help that he could fully showcase his talent and perform at his best.

Yang Cheng sat in the audience, joining everyone in giving Yaya Touré a warm round of applause.

In Yang Cheng’s view, Yaya Touré fully deserved this award. There was no question about it.

His performance was worthy of the honor!

But if Yang Cheng had to choose, he would have picked Modrić.

However, Modrić had a problem: in the current football environment and trends, he was easily overlooked.

This was because he didn’t produce eye-catching statistics, nor did he put in exceptionally flashy performances. On the pitch, it was even difficult to pinpoint his specific contributions.

On top of that, Modrić had a quiet, hardworking personality and was very cautious in his speech.

As a result, his fame was really not ideal.

Previously, a British media outlet had even claimed that in Bayswater Chinese’s midfield trio, Modrić was the one holding them back. They said that of passing, controlling, dribbling, and shooting, he only excelled at being loyal!

What did that mean?

It meant that Modrić was able to start for Bayswater Chinese and become captain simply because he was fiercely loyal to Yang Cheng, having followed the team all the way from League Two to the Premier League and even the Champions League.

In their view, if Modrić were replaced with Lampard or Gerrard, alongside Lassana Diarra and Yaya Touré, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield would be perfect.

Any fan who had actually watched Bayswater Chinese play would likely disagree.

But this also proved, in a way, just how inconspicuous Modrić was.

And it wasn’t just him; all players of his type were inconspicuous.

This was why so many clubs were trying to poach Lassana Diarra and Yaya Touré, but few were after Modrić.

Apart from a few experts like Ferguson, most showed no interest.

By the same token, Carrick, who was often criticized, was also underrated.

The third award, Best Forward, went to C. Ronaldo.

There was little debate about this one.

But the final award for Best Player went to Arshavin.

He was the first Russian to win this award!

Although Arshavin had already transferred to Arsenal, he still thanked Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

“I used to be a forward, then a winger, but one day, our coach told me that I should adjust my position to further improve my performance.”

“He told me a fable and hoped I would take on more responsibility. That fable inspired me and made me feel a strength I had never felt before.”

“After adjusting my position and playing style, I found the best version of myself and had a great season!”

At the end, Arshavin politely thanked Arsenal and Wenger as well.

Sitting in the audience, Yang Cheng more or less understood Arshavin’s meaning.

His gratitude was, of course, sincere, but there was also an element of him speaking to Wenger from afar.

He wanted to continue playing the role he had at Bayswater Chinese, as a free-roaming player in the attack, with more tactical freedom.

This was probably Wenger’s biggest headache right now.

Judging from the second round, the Gunners’ defensive transition problem hadn’t been solved. If Arshavin was given that much freedom, Arsenal’s entire attack and midfield would become even more “chaotic,” and the problems in transitioning from attack to defense would likely be further magnified.

This was an inevitable problem that came with the transfer of any star player.

But none of this had anything to do with Yang Cheng.

He just sold players; he didn’t provide an instruction manual.

…

The day after the Champions League draw, Bayswater Chinese faced UEFA Cup winners Glasgow Rangers at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

This was the first match since the summer training camp where Bayswater Chinese had their most complete squad.

Players who had participated in the Olympics, such as Di María, Marcelo, Matić, Kompany, and Hazard, had all returned to the team.

The Bayswater Chinese players had performed well at the Olympics this time.

Kompany had been forcibly recalled to Germany by Hamburger SV during the Olympics, and in a fit of rage, he transferred to Bayswater Chinese.

We won’t go into the details.

Di María reached the final and scored the only goal in the decisive match against Nigeria.

Angel’s wings had dazzled the world.

Marcelo represented Brazil and won the bronze medal match 3-0 against Belgium.

Marcelo also had an outstanding performance.

Matić played for Serbia at the Olympics. Although they didn’t make it out of the group stage, he himself performed well.

The Olympics had originally ended on the 23rd.

But after winning the championship, Argentina had to return home for celebrations.

He only rejoined the team mid-week and traveled with them for the UEFA Super Cup.

Although Glasgow Rangers from the Scottish Premiership were not on the same level as Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng still fielded his strongest lineup.

He only swapped Di María in for Gareth Bale.

On the left side of the defense, Marcelo replaced Leighton Baines.

The intention was very clear: attack.

Just two minutes into the game, continuing his excellent form from the Olympics, Di María received a pass from Marcelo on the left flank, beat a defender, and sent a cross to the penalty spot area.

Džeko made a late run and slotted the ball into the Glasgow Rangers’ goal with a simple push.

1-0!

After the experience of last season and winning the Olympics, Di María looked increasingly confident.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks against their opponents.

The most dangerous chance came in the 13th minute when Modrić sent a through ball, and Walcott broke into the right side of the penalty area, shooting from near the penalty spot, but the ball went just wide of the goal.

Then, in the 20th minute, Walcott won the ball back with a successful counter-press and delivered a brilliant pass.

Džeko unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box, which was saved by the opponent’s goalkeeper. Di María followed up on the rebound and sent the ball into the Glasgow Rangers’ net once again.

2-0!

In the 33rd minute, Marcelo and Di María executed a beautiful one-two on the left flank. Marcelo’s cross from the byline was blocked out by a defender for a corner.

Corner kick!

Bayswater Chinese took the corner quickly, passing to Marcelo, who was lurking outside the left corner of the penalty area.

The Brazilian sent in a cross, precisely finding the far post.

Thiago Silva made a quick run, and surrounded by three Glasgow Rangers defenders, he slid in and poked the ball into the net.

3-0!

The difference in quality between the two sides was too obvious!

In the end, thanks to goals from Džeko, Di María, and Thiago Silva, Bayswater Chinese defeated Glasgow Rangers 3-0 to win the UEFA Super Cup.

Meanwhile, the third round of the Premier League also took place as scheduled.

Arsenal beat Newcastle 3-0 at home, with a brace from van Persie.

Chelsea drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur at home.

Manchester City defeated Sunderland 3-0 away.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Aston Villa.

Due to the UEFA Super Cup, the matches for Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese were postponed, leaving both teams with a game in hand.

So after this round of matches, Chelsea leapfrogged Bayswater Chinese to the top of the table, with Liverpool in second.

Bayswater Chinese, with a game in hand, remained in 3rd place.

…

From Queensway Underground station at the north gate of Hyde Park, heading east along Bayswater Road, passing the famous Marble Arch Underground station, then north up Portman Square Road from Oxford Street.

The Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, on the west side of Portman Square.

A line of luxury cars was parked in front of the hotel’s magnificent, marble-floored lobby.

A valet politely stepped forward to open the doors, welcoming the distinguished guests and escorting them into the hotel lobby.

But every VIP entering the lobby would notice a conspicuous sign on the left side.

Conference Room Temporarily Closed. We Appreciate Your Understanding!

The guests staying at this hotel were either rich or noble.

But upon seeing the sign, and the stern-faced security guards in black suits standing around it exuding a “do not approach” aura, everyone instinctively kept their distance.

A question would also pop into their minds: what kind of meeting is going on in there?

The security is so tight!

The closed doors of the conference room prevented even a whisper of the heated argument inside from reaching the outside.

If a journalist had been able to enter the room, they would have been shocked by the sight of every single person present.

Manchester United CEO David Gill, Arsenal General Manager David Dein, Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier, Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon, Manchester City Chairman Mubarak…

The twenty most powerful figures in the Premier League, excluding the owners, from all twenty teams, were all seated in the conference room.

The meeting was chaired by Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore.

The topic that sparked the fierce debate came from a proposal by Bayswater Chinese’s Chief Executive Officer, Adam Crozier.

He wanted Premier League clubs to conduct a self-assessment of their financial health!

This drew unanimous opposition from almost every Premier League club, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool…

Richard Scudamore had an expression on his face that showed he wanted to laugh but couldn’t.

A troublemaker owner and a troublemaker head coach, and now his CEO was also a troublemaker.

How absurd must a proposal be to unite the entire Premier League against it?

The whole world knew that if they really investigated, only Bayswater Chinese’s finances would be in good shape.

But even that wouldn’t last long.

Because they were going to build a new stadium, which would inevitably require a loan.

So why propose this now?

“Two years ago, when Platini announced his candidacy for UEFA president and came to England to campaign, he specifically invited many influential media outlets from Fleet Street for afternoon tea in Mayfair.”

“At the time, he appeared completely harmless.”

“But now, two years later, just a short while ago, he, along with the industry regulators of five major European team sports, submitted a secret document to the European Union, requesting greater autonomy for six team sports, including football.”

“We all know this is to push for FIFA’s 6+5 policy, limit foreign players, ban the transfer of players under eighteen, restrict the number of televised matches, and tighten the management of agents.”

“There is also another point, which is to impose higher requirements on the financial management of professional clubs.”

Adam Crozier was not deterred by the overwhelming opposition; instead, he pressed on.

“We all know that the 6+5 policy is unlikely to pass, but the other proposed reforms have been accepted by the European Union and are about to be discussed.”

“Everyone can study the clauses carefully. I can almost certainly say that they are all aimed at our Premier League.”

Adam Crozier’s words instantly silenced the room.

Did they know this?

Not necessarily.

The twenty Premier League clubs were shareholders of the Premier League, but not every shareholder was qualified to speak on stage.

For many yo-yo clubs, they were just mascots sitting here.

But no one was a fool. They knew exactly who these new rules were targeting.

In the past few years, the Premier League had become too dominant!

Especially now, with capital pouring into the league, providing a continuous stream of funding for its development.

Without restrictions, all the star players in Europe would be bought up by the Premier League!

At that point, what would the other leagues have to compete with?

Before coming to the meeting, Adam Crozier had already discussed this with Yang Cheng.

So this time, he was very certain when he told everyone that UEFA’s suppression of the Premier League was now out in the open.

The reason he proposed the self-assessment was to prepare for the crackdown from UEFA as early as possible.

If, before, everyone in the room was strongly opposed to Adam Crozier’s proposal, now, after his well-reasoned analysis, everyone soberly realized the problem at hand.

UEFA was the industry regulator. They looked at the Premier League’s dominance from the perspective of European football as a whole.

Was one league’s overwhelming dominance a good thing for European football?

For the Premier League clubs, they didn’t care about European football; they only cared about the Premier League itself.

This was the conflict!

Now that Adam Crozier had exposed this conflict, everyone had to face it.

Even Scudamore had to admit that Adam Crozier’s proposal was very forward-thinking and necessary.

After the meeting, many of the bigwigs from the traditional top clubs, including David Gill and David Dein, came over to discuss the topic with Adam Crozier.

The traditional giants were regulars in the Champions League, so naturally, they were more concerned about UEFA’s pressure.

The mid-to-lower table teams, on the other hand, would be less affected.

This was another internal conflict within the Premier League.

Of course, the impact was only slightly smaller.

They also needed to sign players from the European continent.

The transfer fees for Premier League players were too expensive!

After chatting, they agreed to discuss it again at a later date and then went their separate ways.

But just as Adam Crozier walked out of the conference room and into the hotel lobby, about to leave through the main entrance, he was called out from behind by Mubarak, who had caught up with him.

It was the Manchester City chairman’s first time attending a Premier League shareholders’ meeting. He was still unfamiliar with everything and naturally hadn’t spoken, but no one would ignore this tycoon from the Middle East.

Everyone knew that the Abu Dhabi consortium behind Manchester City had virtually endless money.

If there were to be a financial self-assessment, Manchester City would be the most affected.

The two walked to the other side of the lobby, sat down in the guest area, ordered coffee, and chatted about some of the topics from the meeting.

Mubarak was clearly sincere about learning and familiarizing himself with the business.

“Honestly, Adam, my boss and I have carefully studied the management of every team in the Premier League and the Championship. We have a comprehensive understanding of their resumes, backgrounds, and work performance.”

When they had chatted for a while, Mubarak got straight to the point.

“We are very impressed with your work at Bayswater Chinese, and we highly commend the results you have achieved.”

“As you know, we at Manchester City are currently in the foundational stage. Although we have a group of outstanding players, we have yet to find a suitable person to run the club.”

“We have studied your profile, and you perfectly fit our requirements. We are very serious in hoping that you will consider coming to work for us at Manchester City!”

“Here, we can offer you a much broader stage than at Bayswater Chinese. We can also provide you with more resources and leverage than you have in London!”

“At the same time, we can guarantee that within the next two to three years, we will build the most powerful and luxurious super-battleship in the world!”

“And you, Adam, we hope you will be our helmsman!”

Chapter 151: Data is King! Establishing Dominance Against Atlético Madrid!

Adam Crozier never considered himself a man of great integrity.

Especially after becoming a professional manager.

People with too much integrity couldn’t do this job well.

From a prestigious advertising agency to The FA, then to the Royal Mail, every step he took was an effort to climb higher.

What attracted him was nothing more than money, status, and influence.

Moving from the Royal Mail to Bayswater Chinese felt more like an unexpected detour in his career path.

It had never been within his range of options!

But not only did he work at Bayswater Chinese, he did so for three years.

The money wasn’t great, the status wasn’t high, and the influence wasn’t significant.

Sometimes, looking back, he himself wondered why he had chosen Bayswater Chinese back then.

He must have lost his mind, been sweet-talked by Yang Cheng.

But when he calmed down and thought it over, he’d feel that working at Bayswater Chinese was actually quite good.

A trusting boss who granted him full authority, allowing him to manage all sorts of business operations—wasn’t this what every professional manager desired most?

The salary wasn’t high, but with bonuses, it was a considerable sum.

The status and influence were not great, but as Bayswater Chinese’s performance improved over the years, Adam Crozier’s standing and influence in English and European football had been steadily rising.

But most importantly, he was quite happy here.

Especially having witnessed, with his own eyes, a lower-league team grow stronger under his management, now having won the Premier League and the Champions League—what could be more fulfilling than that?

Therefore, he poured all his energy into planning the long-term development of Bayswater Chinese.

This included the high-end strategy he had proposed not long ago.

The goal was to seize the commanding heights of English, and even European, football.

And at this moment, faced with the invitation from Manchester City’s Chairman, Mubarak, Adam Crozier was genuinely in a daze for a moment.

According to his personality, he should have agreed, or at the very least, hesitated.

But his response was, “You must be joking, right?”

“No, no, we are very serious.”

Mubarak’s expression was indeed solemn. “Whatever your annual salary is at Bayswater Chinese, we’ll offer you three times that amount!”

Three times his annual salary!

Adam Crozier was truly taken aback.

His current annual salary was still one million pound sterling, as he and Yang Cheng had agreed upon back then.

But every Christmas, Yang Cheng would give him an extra red envelope containing one million pound sterling.

Even so, Manchester City’s offer of a three-million-pound annual salary was still incredibly tempting.

And what if bonuses were added?

“Frankly, I’m very happy working at Bayswater Chinese. Mr. Yang Cheng trusts me completely, and…”

Mubarak held up his hands, motioning for him to pause. “All the trust, power, and support you receive at Bayswater Chinese, we will give you double, or even more.”

“We’re new to this scene and are in desperate need of an experienced manager like you to oversee the entire operation.”

After a pause, Mubarak explained further, “Bayswater Chinese’s results in recent years have been truly impressive, but their future bottlenecks are also obvious. Especially with the construction of such a large-scale stadium, the investment will be staggering.”

“By then, they will be burdened with heavy debt. Arsenal is a cautionary tale.”

Arsenal?

The first person that popped into Adam Crozier’s mind was Yang Cheng.

He didn’t believe that Bayswater Chinese would become the next Arsenal.

Because Yang Cheng and Wenger were completely different.

In the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had won the league title with the salary budget of a Premier League relegation-zone team, and they had won the Champions League with the payroll of a mid-table Premier League team.

All of this was enough to prove that Yang Cheng was the core competitive advantage of Bayswater Chinese.

Becoming the next Arsenal?

Adam Crozier wouldn’t say it was absolutely impossible, but the likelihood was very small.

This was based on his understanding of and trust in Yang Cheng.

“At our Bayswater Chinese, only one person is irreplaceable!”

For some reason, this sentence from Yang Cheng surfaced in Adam Crozier’s mind.

Yang Cheng had been talking about the players.

But Adam Crozier felt it also included all employees, even himself.

To be honest, Adam Crozier believed he had made a significant contribution to Bayswater Chinese’s current success, especially in terms of business operations.

But was it really as great as the outside world claimed?

He knew the truth in his heart.

Almost every major decision had been backed by Yang Cheng’s support and guidance.

This brought Adam Crozier back to his senses.

“Thank you very much for your recognition, Mr. Mubarak!”

Adam Crozier maintained his politeness. “But I’ll say it again: I am very satisfied with my current job, and I do not believe Bayswater Chinese will become the second Arsenal.”

After a pause, Adam Crozier very courteously shared some of his high-level views on club management with Mubarak.

For example, he believed that modern professional football was long past the era where one or a few individuals could handle everything. It was all about the team, about systematic operations.

Every department of the club had made an indelible contribution to its development.

“So, I don’t believe that my moving to Manchester City would bring you much benefit, let alone replicate Bayswater Chinese’s success.”

Mubarak was somewhat disappointed.

They had conducted extensive research on Adam Crozier.

This included twice hiring third-party agencies to evaluate professional managers at major Premier League and even European clubs.

In every aspect, from ability to track record, Adam Crozier was a standout.

He even far surpassed Chelsea’s CEO, Peter Kenyon.

It was only after thorough preparation that Mubarak had approached him.

He just hadn’t expected to be rejected.

“It’s alright, Adam. We still have time. You can think it over,” Mubarak said, unhurried.

“There’s no need. Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Mubarak, but I have no intention of leaving Bayswater Chinese!”

“At least not in the foreseeable future. I have no such plans.”

Adam Crozier was never one to drag things out.

Just like back then, the moment he saw things going south at the Royal Mail, he decisively chose to resign.

Now, he didn’t want to get entangled in this matter, to avoid any negative impact on himself or Bayswater Chinese.

Hearing his firm tone, Mubarak could only sigh with regret.

…

Two days later, when Yang Cheng returned to his home west of Holland Park, Xia Qing had already cooked dinner and was waiting for him.

The couple discussed club affairs over their meal.

Xia Qing mentioned some news she had just received from several former colleagues.

Manchester City had once tried to poach Bayswater Chinese’s CEO, Adam Crozier.

“According to my sources, they made contact but failed, so the headhunting firm has been given a new assignment.”

If the approach had been successful, Manchester City would have had no need to commission a headhunting firm to find new candidates.

But soon, Xia Qing found Yang Cheng’s reaction strange.

He just kept eating, as if he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Did you already know about this?”

Yang Cheng didn’t answer, but instead smiled. “It seems your information network is quite effective.”

She’d gotten wind of it in just two days.

Xia Qing was a little speechless.

So Yang Cheng already knew.

“They met in the lobby of The Churchill Hotel after the Premier League shareholders’ meeting.”

Yang Cheng provided the very specific time and place.

“How did you know? Did he confess to you?”

As soon as Xia Qing said it, she figured it out. “No, he’s not that foolish.”

Adam Crozier was an extremely shrewd man, a seasoned professional in the workplace.

How could someone like that take the initiative to tell his boss he was being poached by a competitor?

To show loyalty?

On the contrary, that would signal danger.

As for using it as leverage for a higher salary, that was even more far-fetched.

Professional managers were not the same as professional players.

The latter were far rarer than the former.

Moreover, the professional players who were actually qualified to use a competitor’s offer to demand a higher salary were all top-tier talents, an extremely rare breed.

“Adam Crozier said nothing. Everything is as usual.”

Yang Cheng cleared up Xia Qing’s confusion.

“At the time, a reporter from The Sun had snuck into the hotel lobby and happened to take a picture of them meeting. Plus, Manchester City has been looking for a professional manager, so I put two and two together.”

Big clubs and the media often had many channels for exchanging information.

“So he really turned them down?” Xia Qing was a little worried.

That was Manchester City.

A team bankrolled by Middle Eastern tycoons who claimed to have no shortage of money.

“It’s simple. We’ll find out if we discuss a contract extension with him, won’t we?”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “Our club has developed very rapidly over the past two or three years. In terms of compensation, Adam’s salary package is only in the upper-middle range among the 20 Premier League professional managers.”

Arsenal’s David Dein, Chelsea’s Peter Kenyon, Manchester United’s David Gill, and even Tottenham’s Daniel Levy all had salaries considerably higher than Adam Crozier’s.

Of course, Yang Cheng gave him a large red envelope every year.

Whether the managers of other teams received such bonuses, Yang Cheng didn’t know.

“How much of a raise?” Xia Qing understood Yang Cheng’s intention.

If Adam Crozier had rejected Manchester City, it proved he had an attachment to Bayswater Chinese and was willing to stay.

Renewing his contract now would compensate for the loss of rejecting Manchester City’s offer and further solidify his relationship with the club.

If he had no intention of renewing, it meant he was determined to leave.

Bayswater Chinese now relied on teamwork. Adam Crozier’s departure would certainly have an impact on the team, but it wouldn’t be fatal, especially if they could prepare for the transition in advance.

After years of working together, they would part on good terms; Yang Cheng wouldn’t make things difficult.

It was a matter of mutual dignity!

“Double it. Two million pound sterling.”

This would make him one of the highest-paid managers in the Premier League.

If you included bonuses, you could probably remove the “one of.”

Of course, no one knew if Manchester City would offer more in the future.

Xia Qing understood Yang Cheng’s meaning. “Then the salaries of the other executives, including Omar Berrada, will probably need to be adjusted upwards as well.”

Better the devil you know.

The current team at Bayswater Chinese was well-integrated and competitive. It was best not to make any changes if they could be avoided.

…

After discussing the club employees’ salaries, Yang Cheng brought up the need for additional investment in the sports science and data analysis departments.

They needed to invest at least another two million pound sterling and also increase the department’s salary budget.

“They’re planning to hire a group of professionals in data analysis soon.”

“Data analysis?”

Nowadays, whenever Xia Qing heard the word “investment,” her head would start to ache.

“Our data department is already quite large. Besides, don’t we already buy a ton of data from companies like OPTA every year? Why do we need to invest more?”

“It’s not enough,” Yang Cheng replied.

“The data we can buy, others can buy too. We can commission data companies to customize all sorts of data for us, but other clubs can do the same.”

The application of data was becoming more and more widespread.

This was evident from the growth of OPTA.

Moreover, some football data analysis companies with a keen sense of the market were already starting to emerge.

Of course, for now, the data available to fans was still the most basic stuff.

For example, how far a player ran, the number of passes, and so on.

Slightly more advanced data included player heatmaps, pass counts, distribution, and routes, but these were all subscription-based at this stage.

Many clubs would then customize certain services they needed on top of this basic and advanced data.

For instance, scouting a particular player before a transfer or even analyzing a specific team.

But again, what Bayswater Chinese could buy, other clubs could buy as well.

For Yang Cheng, who came from the year 2024, all of this data was still too rudimentary.

Even the advanced data would be accessible to the average fan by 2024.

What about the high-level data that wasn’t accessible?

Those were basically paid projects.

Not to mention, many clubs’ core data was confidential.

In fact, with many clubs, even the head coach could only access the superficial layers of this classified data.

For example, the player growth data models used in youth academies.

Different clubs would create different big data models based on their own technical and tactical characteristics.

The youth academy could input various player data into the model, from basic stats like height, weight, bone age, and body fat, to more advanced metrics like left/right foot usage frequency, range of activity, sprint speed, and variations in running pace.

Through all sorts of very detailed data, the big data model could analyze a player’s strengths and weaknesses.

Scouts could also input various data, and the model could roughly deduce whether a player was worth monitoring and developing, thereby selecting talented youth prospects.

Of course, data is inanimate.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng was a firm believer in the saying: Discussing data without the context of the match, and discussing the match without the context of data, are both nonsense!

As a team sport, football generates an incredibly complex amount of data.

This makes data analysis very complicated and can easily devolve into a joke.

For example, Ferguson’s decision to sell Stam was supposedly due to a problem pointed out by data analysis.

Allardyce also relied heavily on data, but his coaching record wasn’t stellar.

But on the other hand, when De Bruyne renewed his contract with Manchester City, he hired a third-party data company to present a report to convince the club, securing a massive contract. This in itself represented Manchester City’s recognition of data’s value.

Memphis Depay entrusting a third-party data company to find a suitable club for him, which led to his transfer to Ligue 1’s Lyon where he dominated, also demonstrated the power of data.

And that’s not to mention a club like Brighton, whose owner came from a data background and relied on data for transfers and recruitment, with clearly visible results.

Therefore, data and the game itself are complementary.

In addition to the youth academy, Yang Cheng planned to build a big data model for the first team to score players’ on-field performances.

For example, an attacking score. A successful pass has completely different tactical values depending on where it occurs on the pitch.

To put it simply, a long pass from Thiago Silva and a long pass from Toni Kroos have completely different values.

By the same token, Džeko shaking off a defender on the edge of the box and Modrić doing the same in midfield have completely different tactical values.

This required digging deeper into the data and assigning scores.

There would be scores for offense, scores for playmaking, and scores for defense.

Such complex data analysis was impossible to do manually, which necessitated the creation of a big data analysis model exclusive to Bayswater Chinese.

In the future, as various data and broadcast videos became more complete, the amount of data would grow, and the results of the analysis would become more reliable.

But none of this could be bought on the open market.

It would become a core competency for major clubs!

The most typical example was Brighton.

And the cautionary tale was Manchester United.

After moving into the Brent training center, Bayswater Chinese had installed fourteen high-definition cameras around the first team’s training pitch, recording every action the players made.

Through a fully automated tracking system, the video captured by the cameras could be automatically converted into various data points.

Including things like passing accuracy, direction, and speed; a player’s sprint speed; and even detailed metrics like a player’s first-touch control, specifically the distance of the ball after the first touch.

As the volume of data increased, the data analysis team was becoming increasingly understaffed.

Therefore, Gianni Vio proposed recruiting some professional talent in data analysis from outside the club.

This could even include outstanding students from top universities like the University of London, Imperial College London, Oxford, and Cambridge.

Wasn’t this the biggest advantage of being in London?

Yang Cheng supported Gianni Vio’s proposal.

He was very optimistic about the future of big data and firmly believed that it would become a core competency for Bayswater Chinese in the years to come.

…

Speaking of data, Yang Cheng suddenly thought of another issue.

Whether in Europe or globally, there was very little investment in football and sports-related fields.

But was there a demand from the fans?

The answer was obvious.

A thought flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, walked over to the living room, opened his laptop, and went to a German Yellow Pages website to search for a company called 【Onefootball】.

The search turned up nothing.

“That’s not right. Wasn’t it founded in 2008?” Yang Cheng muttered to himself.

Xia Qing found Yang Cheng’s strange behavior odd and walked over with a look of concern.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had been invited to visit the Onefootball company and had spoken with its founder, Lucas von Cranach.

This man, born in the 1980s, was truly brilliant.

From 2001 to 2005, he studied Investment and Finance at the Technical University of Berlin.

While in university, he joined the famous German investment firm Bertelsmann Ventures as an analyst in 2002.

Through this connection, he spent six months studying financial management at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley in 2002, and then four months studying investment management at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2003.

After leaving Bertelsmann Ventures in 2003, he went directly to Siemens’ Spanish headquarters in Madrid as an analyst, and not long after, he moved to Summit Capital.

In 2006, he joined the Horstmann Group as a senior assistant.

He stayed there until 2008, when he left to start his own business.

Why did Yang Cheng have such a vivid memory of him?

Because the man was fluent in multiple foreign languages, his company gathered talents from different countries and linguistic backgrounds, making it very creative.

And when Yang Cheng visited their company, the two of them had communicated in German, Spanish, French, and English, which made for a very interesting scene.

Oh, right.

Yang Cheng almost forgot. At this point in time, the company probably didn’t have that name yet.

Yang Cheng quickly searched for Lucas von Cranach.

Sure enough, a company called Motain immediately popped up.

“Can you look into this company?” Yang Cheng asked Xia Qing.

Seeing Xia Qing’s puzzled expression, Yang Cheng explained, “I’m very interested in their business.”

Xia Qing knew that Yang Cheng never did things without a reason.

She immediately jotted down the name, returned to the dining table, picked up her phone, and found a colleague in Germany, asking them to help look into the company.

“Hurry up and eat. The food’s getting cold,” Xia Qing urged after finishing her call.

Only after Yang Cheng sat back down did she ask with concern, “Is there anything special about this company?”

“There are very few startups in football. This company mainly develops mobile applications, writing some basic apps for phones from Samsung, Nokia, Sony, and others, to provide real-time news and scores.”

Before Yang Cheng’s transmigration, there were two major players in the sports information sector. One was Onefootball.

The other was Minute Media, founded by an Israeli in 2011, which later moved its headquarters to London.

Onefootball focused on football, while Minute Media diversified across the sports industry.

But before Yang Cheng’s transmigration, both companies had very high valuations and enormous user bases.

This wasn’t really surprising.

For one thing, to this day, there weren’t many good fan communities anywhere in the world.

Additionally, Onefootball later became a data company specializing in football, collaborating with many major clubs and leagues.

So, while discussing investments in data with Xia Qing, this company had come to his mind.

People in the finance industry are incredibly efficient.

Most importantly, this company called Motain was utterly insignificant.

It only took the duration of a meal for Xia Qing to receive a call back.

It was a small company in dire straits, on the verge of bankruptcy, headquartered in Bochum, Germany.

“How about I make a trip to Germany?” Xia Qing knew Yang Cheng all too well.

Yang Cheng immediately smiled, not holding back. He nodded and said, “I’ll have to trouble you, then.”

“When I meet him, what should I say?”

“It’s simple. Show him the Apple phone in your hand and tell him, this is the future!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “We will only invest, not acquire. Let him continue to run the company. He can seek further financing in the future. But you can suggest he move to London. Tell them we have better channels in England and can provide him with assistance.”

With the influence Bayswater Chinese now wielded in English and even European football, facilitating some collaborations would be a piece of cake.

This would be a huge boost to the company’s development.

Especially considering that major leagues and clubs weren’t paying much attention to internet rights yet, they could secure some rights now to avoid future disputes.

“What if he doesn’t accept?” Xia Qing asked, concerned.

Yang Cheng replied without hesitation, “Then we’ll find people and do it ourselves!”

Since he had set his sights on this track, Yang Cheng was determined to claim this prize.

Lucas von Cranach was in a tough spot right now. Collaborating with Yang Cheng was his best way out.

If not, it wouldn’t be too difficult for Yang Cheng to assemble a team and do it himself.

It would just be a bit more work.

“Qing, this matter is of great importance. As I’ve told you before, the future is the era of the internet. Traditional media will decline, and whoever has the loudest voice on the internet will be the boss!”

Xia Qing immediately understood Yang Cheng’s vision and strategy. “I understand. I’ll make a trip to Germany tomorrow.”

…

Xia Qing personally made a trip to Germany.

Two days later, she brought Lucas von Cranach to London.

Yang Cheng met him at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, north of Hyde Park, where they had a long chat about the future.

Cranach revealed that the main reason he was interested in this market was because he was a fan of FC Köln.

And as a fan, his biggest pain point was that the SMS notification services from telecom operators were too expensive and often not timely.

So he wanted to develop a mobile application like this.

Yang Cheng told him directly that Apple was the future and that he should stop all development and investment on other platforms.

Especially now, when the Android system was far from mature.

“I’ve looked into the iPhone. Their sales are decent right now, but the platform is too small. They’ve only sold two or three million phones in total,” Cranach explained.

“Do you know how many users Nokia’s Symbian system has worldwide?”

“If worst comes to worst, there’s still Microsoft’s WP system.”

Yang Cheng said nothing. He simply took out a brand-new, unopened iPhone 3G, placed it in front of Cranach, and told him in a tone of absolute certainty, “In the next two to three years, this will completely replace Nokia and revolutionize the mobile phone industry!”

Not only that, Yang Cheng also told him that Apple had its own App Store.

So, they had to move fast.

Take advantage of the fact that Apple hadn’t yet become a dominant force, get in early, and capture the first wave of traffic.

Cranach was very conflicted.

After his conversation with Yang Cheng, he was very sure that Yang Cheng was a rational and calm investor.

But he couldn’t believe why Yang Cheng was so bullish on Apple and so bearish on Nokia.

This was the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world!

With Apple’s sales of only two or three million, they were going to replace Nokia in two or three years?

“I’m not just talking empty words. I’ve invested six million pound sterling in Apple, buying their stock!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Cranach was still not convinced.

Elites like him often had their own convictions and judgment.

He was dead set on the belief that the behemoth Nokia’s Symbian platform was the future.

There was a hint of European arrogance in that!

Even though Nokia was from Finland.

In the end, Yang Cheng proposed a compromise.

He would invest six hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling into Cranach’s company for a 45% stake.

This meant the company was valued at over two million euro.

For a startup on the verge of bankruptcy, this was quite a good deal.

Yang Cheng would establish a company in London called Onefootball, which would permanently buy the rights for the Apple and Android versions of Motain’s sports application, as well as share media resources for the next three years.

And Yang Cheng’s request was simple: he would fund Cranach and his team to develop an Apple app in the shortest possible time, get it on the App Store, and help set up the London team.

Of course, the London company wouldn’t have much to do with Cranach anymore.

This was equivalent to saying that Yang Cheng spent six hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling to buy 45% of Cranach’s company.

Then he spent another sum of money, borrowing a hen to lay eggs, to have an Apple app developed.

For the Apple app, Yang Cheng proposed a very important and unique feature.

Through Apple’s system interface, it would push real-time match information, allowing users to get immediate score notifications.

This feature was not difficult to implement, and Cranach agreed on the spot.

As for why three years?

Yang Cheng couldn’t be sure if Motain, having lost its Apple-platform business, would still exist in three years.

However, when the time was right, it might actually be possible to acquire Motain in return.

After all, after receiving funding, Cranach would surely focus on developing his business in the German football market.

One just had to wonder how Cranach would view today’s negotiation at that time.

As for Yang Cheng, he had done all he could.

What could he do if Cranach didn’t believe him?

…

Cranach received the six-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-pound investment from Yang Cheng and promised that the Apple app would be online within half a month.

Mobile apps were indeed quite simple back then.

As for building the London team, Cranach would also be fully responsible.

Xia Qing and the lawyers would follow up with the formal signing of the contracts.

After handling this matter, Yang Cheng turned his attention to Adam Crozier’s contract renewal.

To Yang Cheng’s surprise, when faced with the renewal, Adam Crozier didn’t hesitate at all.

He agreed to renew on the spot.

Two million pound sterling?

The man looked flattered, clearly surprised by the salary.

Yang Cheng, for his part, stated that under Adam Crozier’s management over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had been climbing steadily.

Therefore, it was only natural that Adam Crozier’s compensation should increase accordingly.

“Well then, thank you, boss!” Adam Crozier accepted with a cheerful laugh.

From beginning to end, neither of them mentioned Manchester City’s poaching attempt.

It was an awkward topic for Adam Crozier to bring up, being too sensitive.

Yang Cheng didn’t want to bring it up either, as he didn’t want to give the impression that he was only reluctantly giving a raise after a subordinate was headhunted.

Of course, without the drama stirred up by Manchester City, Adam Crozier’s raise would have been slightly delayed.

Delayed, but it would have arrived.

Once everything had settled down, the players also started returning from their national teams one by one.

The good news was that none of the international players had been injured during their national team duties.

The bad news was that during the two-week international break, many players had played the full ninety minutes in two matches.

Most of them were World Cup qualifiers.

Coupled with long-distance travel, many players were quite fatigued.

Right after the fourth round of the Premier League, there was the first match of the Champions League group stage, against Atlético Madrid.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had to take the players’ physical condition into full consideration.

However, the fourth-round match was a home game against Bolton, so Yang Cheng wasn’t too worried.

…

The highlight of the Premier League’s fourth round was the Northwest Derby.

Manchester United traveled to Anfield to challenge Liverpool.

Ferguson took a bit of a gamble in this match, as they also had to be mindful of the Champions League group stage game in the middle of the following week.

More importantly, in the last eight Northwest Derbies, Manchester United had an impressive record of seven wins and one draw.

On the other hand, Liverpool, with no Champions League pressure, seemed to be going all out.

C. Ronaldo had not yet returned, so Ferguson deployed a front three of Carlos Tevez, Berbatov, and Rooney.

But the midfield was composed of Anderson, Carrick, and Scholes.

This was very risky.

Especially Rooney, whose form had been very poor recently.

Just over two minutes into the game, Manchester United scored first.

Carlos Tevez opened the scoring for The Red Devils.

After that, the match completely became Liverpool’s stage.

The Reds continuously created chances.

Since Gerrard and Torres had just returned from injury, both were on the bench for this match.

In the 12th minute, Aurélio took a corner kick, and Edwin van der Sar fumbled the save.

After losing his balance and falling to the ground, the Dutchman still managed to save Kuyt’s close-range shot.

But unexpectedly, in a strange turn of events, the ball hit Wes Brown’s leg and bounced into the net.

Own goal!

Later, Riera dribbled past three defenders and went down in the Manchester United box.

The head referee Webb refused to award a penalty kick.

Liverpool completely dominated Manchester United in midfield.

After the second half began, Liverpool continued to hold the advantage.

After Gerrard came on as a substitute, Liverpool’s midfield superiority became even more pronounced.

In the 77th minute, a brilliant pass from Kuyt was met by a powerful shot from Babel, helping Liverpool secure a 2-1 comeback victory over Manchester United.

Ferguson paid the price for his gamble!

In another match played shortly after, Arsenal thrashed Blackburn Rovers 4-0 away from home.

Manchester City, meanwhile, hosted Chelsea and, thanks to a hat-trick from Adebayor and a goal from Robinho, defeated them 4-3.

The Blues had a brutal match.

In the 77th minute, Terry fouled Adebayor, not only conceding a penalty kick but also receiving a red card.

Subsequently, Manchester City scored two more goals to complete a 4-3 comeback against The Blues.

This showed everyone that after strengthening their squad in the summer transfer window, Manchester City’s overall strength had significantly improved.

The biggest test now was whether Eriksson could integrate this team as quickly as possible.

Judging from his previous tenure at Lazio, the renowned Swedish manager was still very capable.

In this round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bolton.

Yang Cheng made significant rotations to the squad.

Players like Nemanja Matić, Matuidi, José Fonte, and Robert Lewandowski all started.

Just three minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese completed a brilliant attacking sequence in the final third.

On the left wing, Gareth Bale received a pass from Matuidi and attempted a cross to find Theo Walcott at the far post.

Goalkeeper Jääskeläinen came out, trying to pluck the ball out of the air.

But unexpectedly, the usually reliable Jääskeläinen made a mistake, fumbling the ball.

At this crucial moment, Robert Lewandowski made a quick run and toe-poked the ball into Bolton’s goal.

Three minutes in, Bayswater Chinese had opened the scoring.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese continued to ramp up the pressure.

In the 26th minute, Walcott won a corner kick for the team on the right flank.

Modrić took the corner, creating chaos in the box.

The ball was cleared out of the penalty area.

But soon, Marcelo sent in another diagonal pass, precisely finding the far post.

The Little Tiger made a high-speed run and finished with a close-range volley, sending the ball into Bolton’s net.

2-0!

After scoring two goals, Bayswater Chinese’s attack slowed down slightly.

But Bolton took the opportunity to launch a counter-attack.

However, in the 42nd minute of the first half, Neuer intercepted a through ball from Bolton and launched a counter-attack with a powerful throw.

A series of quick passes between Matić and Modrić ended with the Croatian delivering a precise through ball.

Robert Lewandowski broke into the right side of the penalty area and calmly finished, scoring his second of the game!

3-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted!

The seventy-six thousand fans gathered, who had been worried about the team’s performance after the rotations, were now completely at ease with a 3-0 lead at halftime.

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese continued to dominate Bolton on the pitch, successfully maintaining the 3-0 scoreline until the final whistle.

After this round of matches, Liverpool stood at the top of the Premier League table with ten points.

Chelsea, having lost to Manchester City in this round, dropped out of the top four.

Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester City all had nine points, but with a superior goal difference and a game in hand, Yang Cheng’s team climbed to second in the league.

…

On the evening of September 16th, in the first round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Atlético Madrid at home.

This marked The Mattress Makers’ return to the Champions League group stage after an eleven-year absence.

The last time they participated was in the 1996/97 season.

At that time, The Mattress Makers were still basking in the afterglow of their Double-winning season, with stars like Kiko and Futre in their ranks.

But after 1997, The Mattress Makers had never managed to make it back to the Champions League.

Until this season.

And the well-known saying, “Atlético produces divine strikers,” was precisely from this season that fans became familiar with it.

This also reflected Atlético’s tactics, which were generally attack-oriented.

Just like in this away game at Wembley Stadium, Atlético’s Mexican head coach Aguirre still opted for a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Franco;

Defense: Antonio López, Ujfaluši, Heitinga, and Perea;

Midfield: Luis García, Maniche, Assunção, and Simão;

Forwards: Agüero and Diego Forlán.

So far this season, Atlético had played four matches.

Two Champions League qualifiers, where they lost 0-1 away to Schalke 04, but their squad was incomplete at the time.

Players like Agüero were representing their Olympic teams.

Once Agüero returned, Atlético immediately thrashed Schalke 04 4-0 at home.

The Argentine striker had two assists and a goal, delivering an incredibly eye-catching performance.

Players like Perea, Assunção, Simão, Luis García, and Maxi Rodríguez also performed well, leading Aguirre to exclaim: “Atlético has found its best combination!”

Sure enough, in the subsequent first round of La Liga, The Mattress Makers also routed Málaga 4-0 at home.

The successive high-scoring victories made Atlético the talk of the town.

However, after the two-week international break, Atlético lost 1-2 at home to Valladolid.

But everyone could see that The Mattress Makers were holding back in that match.

Key players including Agüero and Diego Forlán were all rested.

Aguirre also confidently stated that he would strive to defeat Bayswater Chinese in the away game!

Many players in the team also publicly stated in the media that they wanted to play well in their first Champions League match.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo even wrote an article, “Agüero makes his debut in the European Champions Cup, and he will lead Atlético to go further!”

Everyone had high hopes for this match, especially for Agüero’s performance.

The Argentine striker’s recent form had been simply too good.

And The Mattress Makers did not disappoint. Even playing away, they still adopted very aggressive, attacking tactics.

Just thirty-eight seconds into the game, Agüero received a pass from Diego Forlán, dribbled through the gap between Pepe and Thiago Silva into the penalty area, and took a shot from close range.

Fortunately, Neuer was extremely focused, decisively rushing out of his goal to smother Agüero’s shot in his arms, narrowly averting a scoring crisis.

This made the ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium gasp in unison!

The attack had come so suddenly.

Yang Cheng, watching from the sidelines, also nervously shouted at Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Yaya Touré, demanding they be more focused and committed.

Thirty seconds into the match, to be hit with such a threatening attack was just too frightening!

“The two wingers, Simão and Luis García, are responsible for stretching the play wide. In the middle, you have forwards like Diego Forlán and Agüero, who are unpredictable but have strong individual skills.”

“They cover for each other. There’s no designated main attacker. Diego Forlán is good at passing, while Agüero is good at dropping back and making late runs from deep, which gives defenders a real headache,” Brian Kidd said, shaking his head.

The attack just now was a perfect example: Agüero first dropped deep, then suddenly made a late run.

Diego Forlán drifted slightly wide to receive the ball, drawing defenders away and creating space for Agüero’s run.

Under such circumstances, it was indeed very difficult to defend against.

“The main thing was that Yaya Touré and Pepe were a bit unfocused at the start,” Yang Cheng said.

Atlético had indeed played well in that attack.

But it was mainly a problem with Bayswater Chinese’s own defense.

As for playing against Atlético, Yang Cheng was not completely unprepared.

He just hadn’t expected Aguirre to be so bold away from home, against Bayswater Chinese.

“It seems that even after winning the Champions League, our reputation in Europe isn’t strong enough. They don’t see us as a top team at all!” Yang Cheng snorted.

If they considered Bayswater Chinese a top team, Atlético would probably pay more attention to their defense instead of pressing high and attacking from the start.

But since that was the case, Yang Cheng didn’t mind making an example of Atlético to establish their dominance!

Chapter 152: A Tide of Offense! A Monumental Challenge! At the Meazza, I Will Make Them Show Their True Colors!

Having seized the momentum right from the start, Atlético Madrid grew more courageous with every attack.

Even before Diego Simeone took charge, The Mattress Makers were never a conservative team.

They were especially willing to commit men forward on the counter-attack.

And so, in the eighth minute, Maniche played a diagonal pass from midfield toward the left side, just outside the penalty area.

Luis García surged forward, beating Maicon back to the ball. He latched onto Maniche’s pass and sent a low cross toward the left of the penalty spot.

Agüero rushed in at high speed, getting ahead of Thiago Silva. He controlled the ball to his left with his right foot, used his body to shield it from Thiago Silva, and then unleashed a furious shot with his left.

This once again drew gasps from the entire Wembley Stadium!

But just in the nick of time, Neuer flew through the air like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate, diving to his side and blocking the ball away from goal with both hands.

The Argentine striker’s seemingly certain goal was miraculously saved by Neuer.

Wembley Stadium instantly erupted into thunderous applause and cheers.

“That’s his second crucial save already!”

“Neuer is incredibly focused!”

“The German goalkeeper seems a bit unhappy with his teammates’ performance. He believes the team’s defense shouldn’t be breached so easily.”

“But we also have to admit, Atlético Madrid’s counter-attacks are incredibly sharp.”

“Especially Agüero.”

“He’s a typical short South American striker—skillful, fast, and not bad in physical confrontations.”

“That first touch he just took, in particular, left Thiago Silva with no good options.”

Bayswater Chinese were attacking from left to right, so Maicon was on the same side as the manager’s technical area.

Yang Cheng quickly walked to the touchline and called Maicon over, signaling for him to hold his position for now and not push forward.

Atlético was currently playing something like a 4-2-4 formation.

Both wingers were pushed very high up the pitch, leaving only Assunção and Maniche in midfield.

Once Atlético won the ball back and quickly passed it forward, it was easy for them to create a three-man attacking situation.

This was very disadvantageous for the defense.

Just like the last play.

Maicon wasn’t back in position in time, so Luis García attacked the space behind him. Pepe had to pull out to cover, leaving only Agüero and Thiago Silva in the box.

The Agüero of today was different from the one who would later join Manchester City.

After moving to Manchester City, Agüero bulked up to adapt to the high intensity of the Premier League, transforming into a pure goalscorer, which caused his technical skills to decline significantly.

It was a bit like C. Ronaldo.

But the current Agüero possessed exceptional footwork.

However, Agüero also had some natural weaknesses.

Namely, his physique.

His height of one meter seventy-three put him at a significant disadvantage in physical duels.

This meant he always struggled when facing tight marking or a packed defense.

This was also the biggest difference between him and Carlos Tevez.

Although “The Beast” was also short, his physical strength was almost uncharacteristic for a South American player.

So, when Yang Cheng instructed Maicon and Leighton Baines to reduce their forward runs and for Yaya Touré to focus on protecting the backline, Atlético’s opening blitz was immediately stifled.

The wide players, Luis García and Simão, found it difficult to link up with Diego Forlán and Agüero in the center.

Thus, Atlético started crossing from the wings.

In the thirteenth minute, Simão crossed from the right, looking for Diego Forlán.

However, Thiago Silva got there first, launching into a diving header at the edge of the penalty area to clear the ball.

At this moment, Atlético’s entire defensive line had pushed up near the halfway line, showing every sign of wanting to overwhelm Bayswater Chinese in one fell swoop.

Because Maniche and Assunção were both positioned high up the pitch, there wasn’t a single Atlético defender in the area just inside Bayswater Chinese’s half, near the center circle.

When Thiago Silva’s headed clearance landed in this zone, Gareth Bale ran toward it. He let the bouncing ball go past his side before immediately setting off in pursuit.

The Welshman was tall, so his initial burst of acceleration was a bit slower, but once he got up to speed, no one could stop him.

Atlético’s right-back, Perea, rushed over immediately to intercept.

He was even prepared to foul if necessary.

But unexpectedly, Gareth Bale’s pace only increased, and he blew past Perea’s challenge. He surged forward along the left side of the center circle, still accelerating.

The fans at Wembley Stadium were already cheering ecstatically.

Many couldn’t contain their excitement and had jumped to their feet.

“Bale! Bale!! Bale!!”

By the time Gareth Bale reached top speed, he had already broken into Atlético’s final third, inside the 30-meter zone.

Heitinga was never one to sit back and defend. The moment he saw Gareth Bale charging forward, he immediately pressed him.

But before the Dutchman could close him down, Gareth Bale poked the ball past him, sprinted around the defender, and accelerated again to catch up to it.

“A beautiful knock-on and run!!”

“Gareth Bale has beaten two Atlético defenders!”

“He’s breaking into the box, this is a chance!!”

The moment he entered the penalty area, Gareth Bale’s mind was filled with only two things: the goalkeeper, Franco, in front of him, and the goal behind him.

Beyond that, no one stood in his way!

Franco didn’t hesitate either, decisively rushing off his line.

But after catching up to the ball, Gareth Bale took a light touch, knocking it past Franco towards the byline.

He went around the diving Franco, caught up to the ball he had just played, and guided it into Atlético’s goal with his left foot.

Without slowing down, the Welshman turned and ran off the pitch, doing a lap of honor around the stadium to the roar of the crowd, celebrating his goal.

“That’s Bayswater Chinese’s first goal in this season’s Champions League!”

“Scored by Gareth Bale!”

“A solo run of over fifty meters!”

“Gareth Bale’s speed and exquisite skill have left a deep impression on all of us!”

“Not a single player in Atlético’s backline could stop him!”

…

Gareth Bale’s goal completely ignited the passion at Wembley Stadium.

It also boosted the morale of Bayswater Chinese.

But Atlético Madrid was dealt a blow.

The tough team from La Liga began to launch even fiercer attacks.

The valiant Mattress Makers were determined not to back down until they had scored a goal.

But the more they pushed, the more their fragile defense was exposed.

In the eighteenth minute, Bayswater Chinese was being closed down in midfield by Maniche and Assunção. After a series of passes, Modrić spread the ball to the right.

Maicon made an overlapping run down the flank. Just after crossing the halfway line, he delivered a diagonal cross-field pass, sending the ball accurately into the final third.

If time were to freeze at this moment, a very interesting scene would emerge.

The Dutch centre-back Heitinga had tracked Džeko as he dropped deep, but when Džeko suddenly made a run forward, Heitinga didn’t immediately follow.

This meant that at the moment Maicon crossed the ball, Džeko was only facing one centre-back, Ujfaluši.

The Bosnian centre-forward leaped high at the arc of the penalty area, getting ahead of Ujfaluši. Turning his body sideways, he controlled Maicon’s pass with his chest.

After landing, he took the ball into the penalty area with his right foot, turned to chase it, and broke directly through Atlético’s defensive line. He then blasted a power shot with his right foot, sending the ball into Atlético’s goal before the onrushing keeper, Franco, could react.

2-0!

Two goals conceded in six minutes!

Wembley Stadium was celebrating as if it were a festival, cheering wildly.

On the touchline, in front of the away team’s dugout, Aguirre rushed out, shouting at his players, signaling for them to stabilize the defense first.

But in front of the home team’s dugout, Yang Cheng did the exact opposite of Aguirre.

He signaled for the whole team to press forward!

You think you can come to our home ground, run wild, leave two goals behind, and then just retreat?

Who do you think you are?

In your dreams!

Yang Cheng specifically called out to Modrić, signaling for them to control the midfield and put pressure on the opponent.

One wanes while the other grows.

As Atlético retreated, Bayswater Chinese closed in, using their superiority in passing and movement in midfield to control possession and tempo, while constantly launching attacks against Atlético.

Then, in the twenty-eighth minute, Bayswater Chinese produced a moment of brilliant team play involving fluid passing and movement.

From the center, Yaya Touré passed to Modrić, who then played it to Rakitić.

Džeko suddenly dropped deep from the front line, drawing Heitinga out of position. He controlled the ball, turned, and passed to Gareth Bale, who had pushed furthest forward.

The Welshman used his body to shield the ball from Perea, brought it under control, and then passed it horizontally to the arc of the penalty area.

Di María darted forward, getting there before Ujfaluši. Without taking a touch, he unleashed a fierce shot with his left foot, striking a powerful long shot.

Goalkeeper Franco was completely helpless, watching as the ball breached his goal once again.

3-0!

From start to finish, Atlético’s players were like wooden posts, utterly unable to stop the fluid passing and combination play of Bayswater Chinese!

“Brilliant!”

“Absolutely brilliant!”

“This is the Bayswater Chinese we know and love!”

“Their slick passing has left Atlético’s defenders completely disoriented.”

“The players use their intelligent movement to find deadly openings and deliver the fatal blow at the crucial moment!”

“3-0!”

“Aguirre’s team has conceded three goals in less than twenty minutes. It’s truly a rout!”

“This once again proves one thing.”

“At Wembley Stadium, Bayswater Chinese are unbeatable!”

…

For the final period of the first half, Atlético Madrid played in a state of panic.

Bayswater Chinese created two more very dangerous attacks.

Once, Džeko headed toward an open goal, only for the ball to hit the post.

Another time, Di María dribbled into the box and was brought down by Antonio López’s trailing foot, but the head referee didn’t call a foul, and thus no penalty kick was given.

During the halftime break, Aguirre decisively made two substitutions.

He brought on left-back Pernía for Luis García.

This was a signal to strengthen the defense on the left flank.

After the change, Pernía played as the full-back, with Antonio López moving to left midfield.

At the same time, he also brought on Raúl García for Agüero.

With these changes, Atlético switched to a 4-5-1 formation, and a defensive one at that with three holding midfielders.

It was clear that Aguirre had been spooked by Bayswater Chinese’s first-half onslaught.

The reason Diego Forlán remained on the pitch was mainly because Agüero wasn’t strong in physical battles and playing as a lone striker was not his forte.

Throughout Agüero’s career, he performed best when playing in a two-striker system.

But even with two changes at halftime, Bayswater Chinese had no intention of letting up.

Just as Yang Cheng had said during the halftime team talk.

“We must use this victory to send a warning to every opponent who comes to Wembley Stadium!”

“On our turf, anyone, any team, had better keep their heads down!”

Thus, in the second half, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack relentlessly.

Even though Atlético successively shored up their defense, especially after using up all three substitution slots as early as the fifty-sixth minute by bringing on Maxi Rodríguez for Simão to bolster the right flank.

But in the sixty-second minute, Bayswater Chinese still managed to create a corner kick opportunity when Di María dribbled down the right flank.

Modrić took the corner. Pepe suddenly made a run to the near post and headed the ball into the net, sealing the score at 4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Atlético Madrid 4-0 at home!

…

Bayswater Chinese thrashed Atlético Madrid 4-0 at home!

Chelsea thrashed Ligue 1 side Bordeaux 4-0 at home!

Manchester United drew 0-0 at home against Villarreal!

Arsenal drew 1-1 away to Dynamo Kyiv!

After the first round of the Champions League group stage for the four Premier League teams, the media’s reviews were mixed.

Bayswater Chinese received the most praise.

Facing a strong opponent like Atlético Madrid, despite being in a difficult situation at the start, Bayswater Chinese quickly turned the tables, scoring four unanswered goals to sweep aside The Mattress Makers and make a statement.

“This was the most exhilarating match of the sixteen games in the first round of this season’s Champions League group stage!”

The Times also gave special praise to young players like Gareth Bale, Di María, and Rakitić.

Around twenty years of age, they were full of boundless energy and performed exceptionally well.

Di María was even played on the right wing by Yang Cheng in this match, but he still delivered a top-class performance, not only scoring a goal but also proving to be a great threat with his dribbling on the right.

As for Gareth Bale, there’s no need to say more. The team’s first goal, a solo run of over fifty meters, was simply breathtaking.

“Without a doubt, Yang Cheng has used tactical adjustments to compensate for the problems caused by the departure of key players.”

“After the past two or three seasons, and especially with Bayswater Chinese’s soaring progress this season, no one will doubt Yang Cheng’s tactical acumen anymore!”

“This season’s Bayswater Chinese will continue to be the most exciting team to watch in the Premier League and in Europe!”

In comparison, Arsenal’s trip to Ukraine, ending in a draw with Dynamo Kyiv, wasn’t a terrible result.

But The Gunners had recently exposed some serious problems.

Namely, after signing several star players at once, the issue of integration was now front and center.

Andrei Arshavin was suited to a free role, but did Arsenal have such a role for him?

Manchester United’s situation was even more obvious.

After C. Ronaldo’s injury, the Red Devils suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to score.

But the Portuguese player’s misfortune turned into a blessing, as he became the frontrunner for this year’s European Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Although it was a major tournament year, Spain relied on collective effort, and the team lacked a superstar who stood out from the crowd.

Torres’s performances at the club level were not convincing enough; he hadn’t even qualified for the Champions League.

The Champions League winners, Bayswater Chinese, had produced Arshavin.

The Russian also shone brightly at the European Championship, delivering a very convincing performance.

But after moving to Arsenal, Arshavin also encountered problems with adaptation and integration.

As for the other players from Bayswater Chinese, they still lacked the necessary credentials at this stage.

Manchester United, on the other hand…

After C. Ronaldo’s injury, The Red Devils were in a prolonged slump, which only strengthened the belief that Manchester United’s Double champion success last season was due to C. Ronaldo’s mass release of form.

And now, with the Portuguese injured, Manchester United couldn’t score.

Moreover, Manchester United was a giant club, and promoting C. Ronaldo could further boost their commercial value.

Yang Cheng was quite philosophical about this.

What’s the most important thing for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year?

For any such award, a crucial point is to first consider influence.

When influence is comparable, or in the same tier, then performance is considered.

That’s why Figo won the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001, and Zidane in 2003.

It’s also why Messi and C. Ronaldo take turns winning the awards.

Another point is that powerhouse clubs have extraordinary capabilities in building up their players’ reputations and in “diplomatic” operations.

For example, in 2004, before Shevchenko won the European Ballon d’Or, Berlusconi, who was then the Prime Minister of Italy and a media tycoon, reportedly received a call from the editor-in-chief of France Football magazine.

Who knows what they talked about?

Some say that if it weren’t for that Ballon d’Or, Shevchenko would have moved to Chelsea in the summer of 2004.

In short, any award decided by people will inevitably have traces of human manipulation.

The only difference is whether the manipulation is done gracefully or not.

In this respect, Bayswater Chinese didn’t even have a seat at the table yet.

Even Arsenal lacked that kind of clout.

So, this year, Arshavin certainly wouldn’t win the Ballon d’Or or the FIFA World Player of the Year.

But on the flip side, if he were at Real Madrid, Barça, or Manchester United, as long as he was the team’s top star, with a Champions League title and his performance at the European Championship, he would have basically secured the award.

That’s the difference!

…

On the weekend, it was the fifth round of the Premier League.

Yang Cheng took his team north for an away game against Blackburn Rovers.

Due to the midweek Champions League match, Yang Cheng rotated the squad.

The Thugs lived up to their name, giving Bayswater Chinese a show of strength right from the start.

Left-back Warnock, while defending against Theo Walcott, simply rammed into him with his body.

Unexpectedly, The Little Tiger was indeed knocked dizzy, but he was largely okay.

It was Warnock himself who ended up being stretchered off the field.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a major issue, and he soon returned to the pitch.

Later, as Di María was breaking through on the left, Dutch international Ooijer took him out, ball and all, with a sliding tackle that sent them both out of play.

Although the Premier League and The FA had cracked down on violent conduct on the pitch, Blackburn’s style was rough, but not necessarily violent.

They intended to intimidate players, but they didn’t act to injure them.

But in the seventh minute, Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick in the attacking third.

Thiago Silva flicked it on at the near post, and Kompany headed it at the far post, but the ball hit the crossbar.

In the nineteenth minute, Džeko dropped deep to receive the ball and then played a through ball.

Di María made a quick diagonal run into the left channel of the box and, from the left of the penalty spot, struck a right-footed shot towards the right post, which went just wide.

The Argentine was about to go crazy!

As his reputation grew, more and more people began to notice his weak right foot.

Especially when he entered the penalty area.

When defending against him, opponents would often focus on shutting down his left foot and giving him space on his right.

But Di María was more willing to listen to advice than Aaron Lennon was back in the day, and he had been continuously practicing with his right foot.

Unfortunately, a kicking habit developed over many years was not something that could be changed in a short time.

Starting from the twenty-fifth minute, Bayswater Chinese completely controlled the game, dominating the midfield against their opponents, and relentlessly intensified their attacks, creating a wave of offensive pressure.

Players like Walcott, Džeko, Rakitić, and Di María all took turns shooting.

The most dangerous chance came in the thirtieth minute when Džeko laid the ball off inside the box for a charging Di María, whose left-footed power shot was spectacularly saved by the opposing goalkeeper, Brown, tipping it over the byline.

Corner kick!

Di María was on the verge of a breakdown.

Two golden opportunities, and he hadn’t converted either!

But this time, the corner wasn’t played directly into the box. Rakitić opted for a quick, short corner.

Marcelo crossed from the left, aiming for Kompany at the far post.

But Blackburn centre-back Samba got there first, heading the ball clear.

Modrić controlled the ball outside the penalty area.

The Croatian first feigned to chip the ball back into the box, but it was a feint. Instead, he played a diagonal pass to the right side of the arc.

Maicon made a speedy diagonal run to the edge of the area, passed the ball to Walcott, and then quickly darted into the box.

The Little Tiger understood perfectly and played a pull-back pass, which landed right at Maicon’s feet inside the penalty area.

The Brazilian smashed a power shot, sending the ball into Blackburn’s goal.

1-0!

Again from the right, and again involving The Little Tiger.

Just four minutes later, Džeko pulled out of the box to receive a pass and then played a through ball.

Walcott cut into the penalty area and took a shot.

But it was once again brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Brown.

Bayswater Chinese launched continuous, non-stop attacks that lasted until the end of the first half.

After the break, the home side, Blackburn, attempted to mount a comeback.

But Bayswater Chinese launched two attacks, in the fifty-third and fifty-ninth minutes, both from the left flank.

Once, Di María received a long pass from Thiago Silva and shot himself, with the ball grazing the post and going wide.

The second time, Džeko played a wonderful pass, but Di María’s shot went wide again.

Both were very good chances, but he failed to capitalize.

But then, in the sixty-third minute, Yaya Touré, Rakitić, and Modrić linked up with a series of one-touch passes, successfully moving the ball to the left and into the feet of Di María.

The Argentine faced Dutch right-back Ooijer, forced his way past him with the ball, and then crossed from near the byline to the far post.

Walcott arrived at full tilt and tapped the ball into Blackburn’s goal.

2-0!

Yang Cheng let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“If he hadn’t gotten that assist, the media would have definitely ripped Di María to shreds,” Yang Cheng said, amused.

Looking at the whole match, Di María’s performance was actually really good.

He was in great form.

It was just that his finishing was terrible.

And as it happened, in Yang Cheng’s 4-3-3 formation, a winger’s goal-scoring ability was quite important.

When Džeko dropped deep, weren’t the wingers supposed to push up?

“He’ll get there. It’s not like we just found out today that his goal-scoring is weak,” Brian Kidd said with a smile.

Last season, despite playing so many games, Di María scored fewer goals than Gareth Bale and Walcott.

The Argentine’s ability to assist was stronger than his ability to score.

Of course, wasting so many chances today was indeed a bit shaky.

It was quite possible that a fear of shooting was also contagious.

After Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions, the team continued to create chances.

In the seventy-second minute, Walcott received a through ball from Modrić and found himself in a one-on-one situation at the penalty spot.

However, facing the onrushing goalkeeper, he chose to chip shot, but sent the ball too high.

Two minutes later, Blackburn’s centre-back Samba, under pressure from Džeko, made a misplaced back pass. Džeko seized the opportunity, stole the ball, and was through on goal.

Just as he was about to round the keeper, he rushed his shot, and Brown reacted faster, blocking the ball with his foot.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated Blackburn 2-0 away from home.

…

Yang Cheng was satisfied with the result of the match.

But he also mentioned the team’s repeated wasting of too many chances.

“That’s the one blemish on an otherwise good performance today.”

Yang Cheng figured that since the media was going to criticize them anyway, he might as well get a few digs in himself first.

But unexpectedly, after the match, the media didn’t criticize them. Instead, they lavished them with praise.

This was because in this round of matches, the league leaders, Liverpool, were held to a surprising 0-0 draw at home by newly promoted team Stoke City.

Arsenal managed a 3-1 comeback victory away at Bolton.

The Gunners’ performance was also starting to look better.

Manchester City, meanwhile, thrashed Portsmouth 6-0 at home.

Players like Kaká, Robinho, and Adebayor played their most brilliant match since joining Manchester City.

The Blue Moons’ attack was like a rising tide, and they played beautifully.

Manchester United drew 1-1 away to Chelsea.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester City were all on twelve points.

Yang Cheng’s team had won their opening four games, scoring thirteen goals and conceding only one. With a goal difference of twelve, they sat at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal and Manchester City followed closely, both with a goal difference of nine, but Arsenal was ahead due to alphabetical order.

In its summary of the fifth round of the Premier League, Sky Sports commented that in the away match against Blackburn, Bayswater Chinese played their most exciting brand of attacking football of the season.

After winning the Champions League, Yang Cheng and his team showed a level of confidence that was a cut above their opponents.

“Affected by the Champions League, Yang Cheng adjusted his starting lineup, but they still insisted on playing attacking football and taking the initiative!”

Sky Sports broadcasted several exciting clips from the match, including videos of attacks that didn’t result in goals.

“Apart from Yaya Touré, Bayswater Chinese’s attacking players all have a large range of movement. They are very successful at stretching the space, and their overall formation remains quite compact.”

“Mark Hughes tried to press aggressively in this match, but was quickly caught out by Bayswater Chinese’s long passes and counter-attacks, which created several dangerous situations.”

“Subsequently, he gradually eased the pressure and pressing on Bayswater Chinese’s defense and midfield.”

“But what followed was that Yang Cheng’s team seized control of the midfield. Through their skilled passing and movement, and delicate footwork, they smoothly controlled possession and tempo, and used this to launch a wave of attacks, scoring two goals.”

Sky Sports believed that this would be the dilemma faced by many teams when playing against Bayswater Chinese this season.

“Press them?”

“Bayswater Chinese has excellent long-passing ability, a powerful centre-forward in Džeko in the middle, and lightning-fast players like Gareth Bale, Di María, and Walcott on the wings, who can effectively attack the space behind the defense.”

“Don’t press them?”

“Bayswater Chinese’s midfield will then easily control the middle of the park. Through passing, penetration, and player movement to stretch the defense, they will suddenly, at a certain moment, deliver a fatal blow to their opponents!”

Sky Sports also mentioned the difficulty of marking them.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking players all possessed outstanding individual ability.

If you used man-to-man marking, setting aside whether you could keep up with their speed, positioning, and rotations, even if you did, could you stop them in a one-on-one situation?

If you used zonal defending, could the movement of the entire formation keep up with the speed of their passing and movement?

Sky Sports finally came to a conclusion.

“If not for Bayswater Chinese’s poor finishing, this match would have ended with a much larger scoreline.”

“Di María would have surely scored a hat-trick, and Džeko and Walcott could have scored more goals.”

Sky Sports also offered a new outlook for this season’s Premier League.

“After Andrei Arshavin and Lassana Diarra left Bayswater Chinese, we all underestimated this team.”

“Especially the head coach, Yang Cheng.”

“The system he has tailored for the current players after selling two key stars is truly impressive.”

“At the same time, it has posed a monumental challenge for all their upcoming opponents.”

“How do you play against Bayswater Chinese?”

Besides Sky Sports, many British media outlets, including The Times, showered Bayswater Chinese with praise.

To reach the top of the table with a game in hand was indeed a very good start.

…

Midweek, the third round of the League Cup.

As per tradition, all four teams participating in the Champions League had home games in this round.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Championship side Ipswich Town.

They were an old rival of sorts.

As before, Yang Cheng fielded a team of all substitutes and young players.

He even specifically set up a front three of Hazard, Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

In midfield, Matić played in a holding role, partnered by Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey.

The defense consisted of Marcelo, José Fonte, Kompany, and Piszczek.

The goalkeeper was Begović.

Ipswich Town hadn’t had a good start to their season in the Championship, with two wins, two draws, and three losses in seven matches, leaving them in sixteenth place.

Because of this, they played in the League Cup with a lack of focus.

Playing away at Wembley Stadium, they opted for a defensive, counter-attacking approach.

As it turned out, they only managed to hold out for half an hour.

From the thirtieth minute onwards, the match turned into a one-sided slaughter by Bayswater Chinese.

First, Gareth Bale assisted Lewandowski to score in the thirty-first minute.

Then, in the forty-second minute, Aaron Ramsey dribbled through the midfield and played a through ball, and Lewandowski scored another goal!

2-0!

Just before halftime, Lewandowski played a brilliant pass, and Gareth Bale scored with a left-footed power shot from the right side of the penalty arc.

3-0!

After the break, Marcelo first sent a cross from the left to the far post, and Gareth Bale headed it in.

4-0!

In the fifty-seventh minute, the young Belgian, Hazard, dribbled past two defenders on the left, then played a horizontal pass. Matuidi broke into the box and scored with a left-footed blast.

5-0!

In the sixty-seventh minute, it was again Aaron Ramsey who dribbled through the center. His through ball once again accurately found Lewandowski in the box.

The Polish centre-forward calmly seized the opportunity, sending the ball into Ipswich’s goal to complete his hat-trick.

6-0!

After this round of matches, teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool all defeated their opponents.

Bayswater Chinese unleashed an offensive torrent, receiving praise and attention from the media.

Especially Lewandowski, who scored a hat-trick.

The Polish centre-forward had already scored two goals in the Premier League this season, scoring a brace in a single match, and now he had coolly completed a hat-trick in the League Cup.

The Guardian commented after the match that if Lewandowski had played in the game against Blackburn, it was very likely he would have scored another hat-trick.

Lewandowski’s statistics in all competitions this season showed a marked improvement over last season, which gave everyone high hopes for him.

The twenty-year-old Polish centre-forward was also very prolific.

What was even more surprising was that when Bayswater Chinese signed the Polish striker, it cost them only ten thousand pound sterling.

Now, Lewandowski’s market value had increased by more than a thousand times.

As for the other attacking player who performed exceptionally well, Gareth Bale, now hailed for his golden left foot, he was also quite stunning with two goals and one assist.

And his transfer fee at the time was only one million five hundred thousand pound sterling.

Not to mention Aaron Ramsey, who provided two assists from midfield, a renowned teenage prodigy in England.

In this match, the average age of the Bayswater Chinese team was only twenty, but the fighting spirit they showed was not at all like that of a team composed of young players.

The Daily Telegraph reminded all teams, “Don’t forget, this ‘Boy Scout’ team reached the FA Cup final last season, ultimately losing narrowly to Manchester United.”

“A year later, they are a year older, and now they are staging a comeback!”

…

On the weekend, the sixth round of the Premier League.

This was a round where the top teams all seemed to find their form.

After recovering from injury, Portuguese superstar C. Ronaldo first came on as a substitute for a while in the Champions League match against Villarreal.

Then he played a few minutes as a substitute in the league match against Chelsea.

In the League Cup on Wednesday, C. Ronaldo made his first start of the season, played for sixty minutes, and contributed a goal, opening the scoring for Manchester United in a 3-1 home win over Middlesbrough.

Come the weekend, in the sixth round of the Premier League, he started again, provided one goal and one assist, helping Manchester United to a 2-0 home victory over Bolton.

What makes a core player?

C. Ronaldo is the answer!

Even Ferguson was full of praise for C. Ronaldo’s performance after the match, calling the Portuguese Manchester United’s most important core player.

And everyone could see that without C. Ronaldo, Manchester United’s entire attack collapsed.

When C. Ronaldo returned, the goals returned with him. Even the out-of-form Rooney scored against Bolton.

Victories for the team also followed.

Liverpool also welcomed back their core player. Torres scored a brace to help Liverpool beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park, securing three points.

Chelsea, meanwhile, beat Stoke City 2-0 away from home.

But not all the top teams secured victories.

Arsenal suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat at home to Hull City.

Wenger’s team’s main problems were still integration and their long-standing issue with defending set pieces.

The first goal they conceded was a long shot after a fast counter-attack.

The second goal came from defending a corner kick.

Manchester City, in this round, lost narrowly 1-0 away to Wigan Athletic.

The Blue Moons’ situation was a bit like Arsenal’s; they had brought in too many players at once, leading to inconsistent team performances.

With the resurgence of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, and the slip-ups of Arsenal and Manchester City, Bayswater Chinese’s home local derby against West Ham United seemed all the more intriguing.

Bayswater Chinese had maintained an unbeaten home record so far, while West Ham had already lost two consecutive away games this season.

Including last season, The Hammers had suffered five consecutive away defeats.

Their last away win was on February 23rd, a narrow 1-0 victory over Fulham.

Under these circumstances, it seemed highly probable that Bayswater Chinese would win.

And since Yang Cheng took charge, Bayswater Chinese’s greatest characteristic was their stability.

This was also a consistent affirmation of Yang Cheng’s coaching ability from the outside world.

Just one minute and forty-eight seconds into the match, Maicon’s diagonal long pass from the right accurately switched the play to the left flank.

Di María controlled the ball on the left side of the box and passed it horizontally to the center.

Džeko arrived at full tilt and swept the ball into West Ham’s goal.

1-0!

Just three minutes later, another cross from Maicon on the right found Di María, who got a chance for a power shot from the left of the penalty spot, but he couldn’t get the angle right, and it went slightly wide.

In the fourteenth minute, Rakitić played a through ball, and Di María forcefully broke past the French right-back Faubert on the left.

The very same French full-back who, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, would join Real Madrid on loan in January 2009.

Di María breezed past him with incredible ease.

After breaking through, the Argentine winger crossed from the left.

Džeko in the center couldn’t keep up, but Gareth Bale, arriving at the far post, did. He unleashed a furious right-footed shot that pierced West Ham’s goal.

2-0!

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement, applauding loudly for Gareth Bale.

Mainly because he used his right foot!

For the past few years, Yang Cheng had been meticulously working on his weaker foot.

Now, it seemed the results were excellent.

To be able to keep that powerful shot down showed real skill.

With a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese hit a high point on the pitch.

First, a brilliant pass from Leighton Baines set up Di María for a shot that went wide.

But the most exciting moment was a through ball from Modrić. Džeko received the ball in the box with his back to goal, and facing three defenders, he managed to maintain control and create a shooting opportunity for himself.

Unfortunately, the shot was too central and was collected by goalkeeper Green.

But in the twenty-eighth minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield.

Di María received the ball in the left channel, turned, and played a through ball.

Džeko made a high-speed diagonal run into the left side of the box, received the ball, and powered past centre-back Upson before crossing it in front of the goal.

Gareth Bale rushed to the front of the goal with lightning speed and easily tapped it in with his left foot.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese had ended the contest in the first half!

After the break, Yang Cheng gradually made substitutions, resting players for the upcoming Wednesday trip to Milan to challenge Inter Milan.

West Ham, on the other hand, seized the opportunity to launch a few counter-attacks.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese, thanks to Gareth Bale’s brace, defeated West Ham United 3-0.

…

After six rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the league table with a perfect record of five wins from five games and fifteen points.

Since Arsenal and Manchester City both lost in this round, Bayswater Chinese gradually pulled away.

However, Liverpool, with a record of four wins and two draws, remained unbeaten and followed closely behind with fourteen points.

The British media widely praised Bayswater Chinese’s performance this season.

Especially the front trident, whose offense was like a rising tide.

In five matches, they had scored sixteen goals and conceded only one.

Liverpool, who had conceded only two goals, had scored a meager seven, less than half of Bayswater Chinese’s total.

Manchester City had also scored sixteen goals.

But The Blue Moons’ biggest problem now was actually in defense.

They had conceded a total of nine goals.

The Blue Moons didn’t have a good solution for their current situation.

But rumors were circulating that Manchester City might ramp up their defensive recruitment during the winter transfer window.

The European media generally had high praise for Bayswater Chinese’s strong form.

But there were exceptions.

In Italy, Inter Milan’s head coach, Mourinho, at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday, was not impressed by Bayswater Chinese’s so-called firepower.

“An average of three goals per game, for them, that’s an over-performance. But for me, it’s just business as usual!”

Mourinho’s Inter Milan had just drawn 0-0 away to AC Milan in the Milan Derby.

To turn around and make such a bold statement was somewhat surprising.

Regarding Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, Mourinho said, “They are a very attacking team. They can score a lot of goals, but the Meazza Stadium will be an exception!”

But immediately, a tactless reporter jumped out and pointed out that Mourinho’s Chelsea had once suffered a heavy defeat at Stamford Bridge to Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

This instantly infuriated Mourinho.

The Portuguese Special One publicly challenged the Italian media, even mocking them, “If you’re so capable, then you can arrange our starting lineup for the Champions League match, instead of just criticizing after the game.”

The reporter was also tough, firing back, “Fine, if you’re willing to share some of your nine-million-euro annual salary with me.”

Mourinho retorted with further mockery, “Not nine million euros, it’s eleven million euros. With sponsorships, I can make fourteen million euros a year!”

The Portuguese Special One was as flamboyant as ever, even going so far as to reveal his own salary.

Inter Milan’s core player, Marco Materazzi, also chimed in with comments echoing his coach, believing that Bayswater Chinese was nowhere near as strong as the rumors suggested.

“This London team has a very bad team name. I can’t even remember their full name.”

“After Arshavin left, do they still have any high-level players?”

“Alright, sorry, I really don’t know much about them. Maybe they do, but I don’t know them!”

“No matter how they perform in the Premier League, when they get to the Meazza Stadium, I will make them show their true colors!”

Chapter 153: Decisive Battle at the Meazza! Bayswater Chinese’s Truest Standard-Bearer!

“I heard you plan to make us show our true colors?”

When Slovakian head referee Ľuboš Micheľ led the teams onto the pitch at the Meazza Stadium, nearly eighty thousand fans were in attendance.

The stadium was a cauldron of noise, a sea of people.

As Yang Cheng walked out of the player’s tunnel, he spotted Mourinho.

The two hadn’t seen each other in quite a while. Yang Cheng smiled and walked over to shake his hand and give him a hug, but his words were anything but polite.

“You’ll see in a bit. If I don’t turn up the heat, you’ll never understand the terror of the Meazza.”

Mourinho’s face was as stubborn as ever.

“Then I’ll be looking forward to it!”

“After the match and the press conference, don’t leave right away. I’ll buy you a drink!” Mourinho had just turned and taken a few steps when he seemed to remember something, turning back and pointing at Yang Cheng.

“Well, you’re much more generous than old-timers like Ferguson and Wenger,” Yang Cheng laughed.

Mourinho loved hearing that and broke into a smile.

For head coaches, victory and defeat on the pitch had little conflict with their personal relationships off it.

There was a funny story about this.

Do you know why Mourinho had such a big problem with Ferguson and Wenger?

In truth, he had always respected them.

But when he was managing Porto, he attended his first UEFA Elite Coaches Forum. He saw Ferguson and Wenger and eagerly went over to greet them.

But the two old men were completely engrossed in their own conversation, ignoring him as if he wasn’t there, leaving Mourinho hanging.

How could the proud and arrogant Portuguese “Special One” accept that?

So he held a grudge.

But that was a long time ago.

Now, their relationships were all quite good.

Don’t be fooled by how Ferguson seemed to wish Wenger would get shot—that was directed at the Wenger on the pitch.

Privately, the two old men got along very well.

Of course, there was an even more amusing theory.

The rise of Chelsea had transformed Ferguson and Wenger from mortal enemies into comrades united against a common foe.

…

After taking over at Inter Milan, Mourinho abandoned the tactics Mancini had used, switching to a 4-3-3 formation.

It was the same system he had used at Chelsea.

But his lineup for this match was a bit of a surprise to Yang Cheng.

Goalkeeper: César;

Defense: Maxwell, Marco Materazzi, Córdoba, and Zanetti;

Midfield: Vieira in a holding role, with Stanković and Cambiasso in the center;

Forwards: Adriano, Ibrahimović, and Balotelli.

The aging Figo and the underperforming Quaresma were not starting, which was within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

What he hadn’t expected was that even Amantino Mancini was on the bench.

Mourinho had gone with three centre-forwards.

Especially the youngster Balotelli.

This talented centre-forward, born in 1990, was said to be world-class in every aspect—except for what was inside his head.

“He still wants to play with three holding midfielders,” Yang Cheng remarked.

Vieira was old, and neither Stanković nor Cambiasso was the type of player who could create chances or deliver killer passes from midfield.

Cambiasso’s passing and organizing were decent, but he lacked creativity.

There was a reason people said Inter Milan’s technical director, Branca, worked magic in the 2009 summer transfer window.

Ibrahimović was an incredibly gifted individual player, but as the main striker for a top club, his flaws were obvious.

His goal-scoring was inconsistent, and he tended to go missing in clashes between top teams.

This put the Swedish centre-forward in a very awkward position.

He was undeniably strong.

But he could never become the truly reliable core of a major club’s attack.

The rumors of swapping Ibrahimović for Eto’o, which had started in the summer of 2008, became a reality in 2009.

In addition to getting Eto’o, Inter Milan received a hefty transfer fee, which they used to sign Diego Milito, Sneijder, Thiago Motta, and Lúcio.

Every single signing was money well spent.

Diego Milito solved their problem of a weak centre-forward; Sneijder solved their problems with passing in midfield; Thiago Motta solved their issue with the holding midfielder role; and Lúcio single-handedly shored up their defensive weaknesses.

Looking at that summer’s business alone, Yang Cheng suspected Branca might also be a transmigrator.

It was simply divine!

Bayswater Chinese lined up in their usual 4-3-3 for this match.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Theo Walcott.

Currently, Yang Cheng’s strategy for his three wingers was to rotate them based on the opponent.

Against Inter Milan’s starting lineup, Bayswater Chinese’s advantage was in midfield.

So, the strategy Yang Cheng laid out was to control the midfield from the start and suppress the opponent.

Mourinho was well aware of this.

Inter Milan’s midfield configuration was no match for Bayswater Chinese’s.

Therefore, the Portuguese manager’s strategy was remarkably simple, direct, and crude.

From the kickoff, he would leverage the advantage of his three centre-forwards and press forward to attack.

Like a fool on a cold night, relying purely on brute strength!

Who cares if it works or not? With enough force, miracles can happen. Just take a few shots and see!

What if one actually went in?

…

This highly anticipated clash of giants began with Ibrahimović taking the ball down on his chest and unleashing a volley.

Just one minute into the game, the Swedish centre-forward attempted a difficult shot from near the penalty spot, but it flew high over the crossbar.

A mere two minutes later, Ibrahimović drifted to the left flank to receive the ball before crossing it into the box.

Adriano, whose form had recovered nicely after a six-month loan spell in Brazil, used his physicality to barge past Thiago Silva and hit a low shot with his left foot.

Neuer calmly blocked the ball.

Two consecutive shots ignited the passion of the Meazza Stadium.

Yang Cheng remained unmoved, standing on the sideline without any reaction.

It was as if he didn’t see anything wrong with it at all.

Once Inter Milan’s initial wave of attacks subsided, Bayswater Chinese began to settle down from the 5th minute onward. They gradually took control of the midfield and, in turn, started to pressure Inter Milan.

In the 8th minute, Yaya Touré made a sudden overlapping run and, from 25 meters out, unleashed an unexpected long shot—Bayswater Chinese’s first attempt of the match.

Although it didn’t result in a goal, it showcased the away team’s confidence.

The home team, Inter Milan, showed no fear either.

In the 10th minute, Inter Milan won the ball in midfield and launched a counter-attack down the left.

Adriano received the ball in the penalty area, but as he was about to shoot, Thiago Silva made a sliding block, deflecting the ball out for a corner.

Corner kick!

But Marco Materazzi’s header went just over the bar.

Three minutes later, Stanković tried a long shot from outside the box, which also went high.

Then, in the 18th minute, Thiago Silva brought down Ibrahimović from behind with a sliding tackle and was shown a yellow card by the head referee.

The physical disparity between the two was just too great.

Thiago Silva was clearly struggling to defend against him.

It had to be said, Mourinho’s three-centre-forward tactic carried the chaotic energy of a wild flurry of punches meant to overwhelm a seasoned master.

Aside from the slightly naive Balotelli on the right, Adriano and Ibrahimović were both renowned top-tier centre-forwards in European football.

They were putting a lot of pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

But Bayswater Chinese were not a team to be trifled with.

In the 21st minute, after gaining possession just outside his own penalty area, Pepe launched a long pass that sailed directly over the halfway line.

Walcott surged forward at incredible speed, caught up to Pepe’s long ball, and brought it down with a single touch.

But just as he controlled it, before he could accelerate, the towering Marco Materazzi burst out from the side with a ferocious sliding tackle, taking out both man and ball.

Foul!

Free kick!

But no card was given!

Materazzi’s tackle was clean, and his timing was perfect.

Cheers erupted from the Inter Milan fans in the Meazza Stadium!

The television cameras focused on Materazzi, who was seen muttering at the fallen Walcott as he walked back towards his own half.

He was always like this.

His challenges were unforgiving, and so was his mouth.

He had even provoked Zidane into getting a red card in a World Cup final.

From the away team’s technical area, Yang Cheng called out to Modrić, signaling for him to go and calm Walcott down.

Don’t fall for Materazzi’s tricks!

At the same time, Yang Cheng also shouted to Maicon, gesturing for him to push further forward.

With Ibrahimović and Adriano taking turns on the left wing, Maicon had been playing more cautiously, not providing enough support to his teammates up front.

Yang Cheng wanted him to be more aggressive in joining the attack.

In response, Yaya Touré could drop back a bit.

After all, Ibrahimović and Adriano were truly formidable in physical confrontations.

Thiago Silva was at a significant disadvantage against them.

But Inter Milan’s system had a problem of its own.

Neither Ibrahimović nor Adriano tracked back much to defend.

Therefore, a sudden overlapping run from Maicon could potentially break the deadlock.

…

“The boss wants you to push up!”

Modrić ran to the right flank to take the free kick and relayed the message to Maicon.

“Vieira’s range of movement isn’t what it used to be. There might be an opening in the half-space. I’ll have The Little Tiger pull wide. Should we try it, attack the half-space?”

“Same as always!” Maicon nodded.

Modrić understood.

The match restarted.

Modrić didn’t pass to Maicon, instead kicking it to Walcott.

The Little Tiger immediately passed it back to Maicon before running towards the right touchline.

This forced Maxwell to follow him all the way.

After receiving the ball, Maicon evaded Ibrahimović, cut into the right half-space, and passed to Modrić.

After making the pass, Maicon decisively made a diagonal run forward along the half-space.

As Modrić moved out, Stanković followed him.

But the Croatian played a first-time pass back to the rapidly advancing Maicon.

The two completed a brilliant one-two!

Maicon drove forward with the ball, immediately crossing the halfway line and surging into Inter Milan’s final third.

Just as Vieira moved to intercept, the centre-forward Džeko dropped back, pulling Materazzi with him.

As Džeko ran back, he pointed forward, indicating where he wanted Maicon to pass.

The Brazilian right-back immediately played the ball and then sprinted forward with even greater speed.

Džeko received the ball just to the side of Vieira, shielding it from Materazzi with his back.

As Maicon reached full speed, Džeko gently pushed the ball sideways.

Maicon brushed past Džeko, knocked the ball into the penalty area, and, without losing any momentum, burst past Materazzi’s zone, completing a beautiful move to beat the offside trap.

Instantly, gasps echoed throughout the Meazza Stadium.

No one had expected Bayswater Chinese to break the deadlock in such a manner!

Especially not Maicon.

He sprinted into the penalty area at top speed and, upon reaching the ball he had played ahead, met the onrushing César.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Maicon unleashed a furious shot.

The ball flashed past César at incredible speed and rocketed into the back of the Inter Milan net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“MAICON!!”

“The Brazilian right-back makes a sudden forward run, storms into Inter’s penalty area, and smashes the ball past César!”

“In the 21st minute, Bayswater Chinese take the lead!”

“Maicon’s overlapping run was so sudden, but so brilliant!”

“Especially with that slick give-and-go with his teammates.”

“Inter Milan’s defensive line was completely torn apart.”

“Materazzi reacted quickly, turning to chase, but he was powerless to stop it!”

The Italian centre-back chased all the way to the goal line, just as the ball rolled out of the net. Furious, he booted it away.

Before the match, he had vowed to make Bayswater Chinese show their true colors.

But to his dismay, it was Bayswater Chinese who had scored first!

And it was a defender, no less!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared.

Inter Milan, on the other hand, grew visibly frustrated.

Mourinho’s three-centre-forward tactic looked formidable, but in reality, the three strikers had no chemistry and couldn’t complement each other effectively.

So, while Inter Milan’s attacks seemed menacing, they were ultimately ineffective.

They were just swinging wildly, hoping to land a punch.

Even after conceding a goal, Inter Milan persisted in trying to use their centre-forwards to overwhelm the opposition.

At this point, Yang Cheng was already feeling much more at ease.

Mourinho was still the same old Mourinho!

Whether coaching Porto, Chelsea, or now Inter Milan, Mourinho’s ability to organize an attack in positional play had always been his weakness.

That was why a powerful centre-forward who could dominate defenders was so crucial to his tactics.

He consistently used a strong striker to compensate for his midfield’s shortcomings in building attacks and advancing the ball.

With Bayswater Chinese already a goal up, Inter Milan was still desperate to attack, to score quickly and level the match.

But in the 28th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield. Modrić spotted an opportunity and threaded a low through ball.

The pass bypassed Vieira and split Materazzi and Maxwell, piercing through Inter Milan’s defense.

Having been pulled out to the right touchline by Walcott earlier, which allowed Maicon to exploit the half-space, Maxwell had positioned himself a bit closer to Materazzi.

But this left Walcott with more space.

As the pass came from behind Modrić, Walcott cut in diagonally from the right touchline, running behind Maxwell at incredible speed.

With The Little Tiger’s pace, even deliberately starting two steps behind, he could still beat Maxwell in a straight sprint to reach Modrić’s through ball on the right side of the penalty area.

By the time Walcott controlled the ball, Maxwell and Materazzi had both tracked back into the box.

Hugging the right side of the area, The Little Tiger faked a move and then suddenly burst towards the byline, looking to cross.

Maxwell was focused, but the difference in speed was still apparent, and The Little Tiger shook him off, gaining half a step.

Walcott went to the byline and sent in a cross with his right foot, curling it past Materazzi at the near post and towards the center, just in front of the six-yard box.

The Little Tiger had deliberately paused for a moment earlier, waiting for Džeko and Gareth Bale to make their overlapping runs.

As the cross descended in front of the six-yard box, Džeko arrived at full tilt. Like a heavy tank, he charged in front of Córdoba, leaped into the air, and powered a close-range header into the net.

The ball was smashed into the right side of Inter Milan’s goal!

2-0!

“ANOTHER GOAL!!!!”

“A swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Just seven minutes! Only seven minutes have passed since the last goal!”

“Džeko’s header gives Bayswater Chinese another goal!”

Unable to contain his excitement, Džeko turned and ran off to celebrate.

Gareth Bale, who was running in at the far post, tried his best to grab him, but how could he possibly stop him?

Two quick goals for Bayswater Chinese left the entire Meazza Stadium in disbelief.

Nearly eighty thousand fans stared at the pitch, unable to believe what was happening.

They had hoped Mourinho’s management would bring change to Inter Milan.

They never imagined it would be the same old story!

…

In the final ten-plus minutes of the first half, neither side created any truly threatening attacks.

Bayswater Chinese were already two goals ahead.

Inter Milan, shaken by the two quick goals, focused on shoring up their defense first.

Everyone knew that Inter Milan’s chances of a comeback in this match were slim.

After the break, Inter Milan came out firing again for the second half.

Mourinho was still looking for a lifeline.

Just three minutes in, Inter Milan won a set piece on the left side of the attacking third.

Maicon had fouled Adriano.

Cambiasso took a quick free-kick. Near the left corner of the penalty area, Ibrahimović cut inside and unleashed a powerful right-footed long shot.

Pepe bravely threw his body in the way to block it. The ball struck him and deflected, but still landed inside the penalty area.

In the ensuing chaos, Adriano used his body to hold off Thiago Silva and hit a low shot with his left foot.

Neuer’s concentration was sharp, but there was nothing he could do about Adriano’s point-blank shot.

2-1!

The goal reignited Inter Milan’s hopes.

Mourinho quickly made a substitution.

In the 62nd minute, he brought on Amantino Mancini for Stanković.

Taking off a midfielder for a winger.

With this change, Inter Milan switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

Adriano and Ibrahimović now played as two strikers up front.

Just five minutes later, Mourinho made his second change, bringing on Quaresma for Balotelli.

Despite the youngster’s immense talent, Balotelli had been largely anonymous in this match.

He was still too young, after all.

With successive substitutions, Inter Milan looked poised to launch attacks down both flanks.

But at this crucial moment, in the 72nd minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield. From his own half, Thiago Silva played a direct pass to Modrić’s feet.

The Croatian midfielder launched a chipped diagonal long pass with his right foot, sending the ball directly behind Inter Milan’s defensive line.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale made a rapid run from the left wing, slicing through Inter Milan’s defense like lightning and leaving Zanetti in his wake.

The Welshman chased the ball down and, without jumping, headed Modrić’s long pass forward into his own path. He then caught up to it, carried it into the penalty area, and, before Córdoba could close him down, fired a shot with his left foot.

The ball flew into the bottom right corner of the net!

Yang Cheng leaped up from the sideline in excitement.

The goal was incredibly timely and crucial.

Modrić’s pass to switch the play was absolutely beautiful.

Of course, Gareth Bale’s speed and finishing technique were just as vital.

3-1!

Another hammer blow for Inter Milan!

…

“The way they’re playing this season really reminds me of how we were at Chelsea back in the day!”

On the Inter Milan bench, assistant coach Faria sighed repeatedly.

After a moment, he let out another soft sigh.

This was more like the tactical effect Mourinho and his team had wanted to achieve at Chelsea.

But in reality, everyone knew that Chelsea’s midfield had plenty of power but lacked creativity.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield possessed exceptional passing ability and creativity.

“Honestly, we’re missing a midfielder like Modrić, a centre-back like Pepe, and a holding midfielder like Yaya Touré.”

“Even more so, we’re lacking a speedy winger!”

Faria shook his head helplessly as he said this.

Inter Milan’s problems this season were still obvious.

Against teams with a more open style and less quality, like Marseille in their first Champions League game at home, or domestic teams like Turin, Inter Milan could play well.

Their 3-1 victory over Turin was particularly impressive.

But against Lecce, who parked the bus, Mourinho had to field five forwards just to scrape by with a narrow win.

Goals are hard to come by!

Ultimately, it was a midfield problem.

Mourinho’s preferred formation was 4-3-3, but Inter Milan currently lacked both the speed he wanted and the passers he needed.

Worse still, among all the forwards at his disposal, none were the type of centre-forward Mourinho favored.

“Don’t feel bad about it,” Mourinho said coolly, looking at his assistant.

“There’s still a gap in quality between us and Bayswater Chinese. They’re aiming for the Premier League and Champions League titles this season!”

“The Double Champion?”

“Haven’t you heard what Yang Cheng said? Whatever they lost last season, they’re going to win it all back this season!”

Faria was stunned.

“If they really manage to win the Premier League again this season, that would be truly badass!”

After a pause, Faria shook his head. “As for the Champions League, that seems unlikely. No one has ever defended the title.”

“But they are indeed very strong, and Yang Cheng’s coaching ability is truly remarkable. Even…”

Mourinho hesitated for a moment but decided to say it, since there were no outsiders around.

“Even, I think, on par with Ferguson or Wenger!”

Faria was completely surprised.

He never thought Mourinho would rate Yang Cheng so highly.

Wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?

“That’s not possible, is it? How old is he? Even if he’d been coaching and accumulating experience since he was in his mother’s womb, he couldn’t compare to Ferguson and Wenger.”

Coaching was something that truly depended on experience.

Even if one lacked coaching experience, playing experience counted.

Mourinho huffed twice. “Perhaps he’s an exception!”

If anyone else had said such a thing, Faria would have retorted sarcastically, Do you even know anything about football?

But he knew Mourinho too well.

It was absolutely impossible for the proud and arrogant Mourinho to say something like that if he didn’t mean it.

Mourinho let out a heavy breath, as if releasing a weight from his shoulders.

“It’s fine. I’ve always said that my teams tend to achieve results in the third year. This is only the first.”

“The stronger the opponent, the more interesting the challenge!”

In Mourinho’s mind, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese were already one of his two main targets for “revenge.”

The other was Pep Guardiola and his Barça!

That second team, especially, deserved to be damned!

…

Yang Cheng realized that if the media and fans knew what he and Mourinho were up to, they would undoubtedly be shocked.

One moment, at the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng and Mourinho were taking turns criticizing and attacking each other.

Mourinho claimed Bayswater Chinese were too conservative, not at all like a team of defending champions.

The implication was that Yang Cheng’s team had won a dishonorable victory.

“I think a draw would have been a more reasonable result.”

Yang Cheng, in turn, accused Mourinho’s team of being rough, making numerous small fouls during the game, and suggested the head referee was biased towards the home team, having missed several calls that should have favored Bayswater Chinese.

“If we had played in a fair environment, we would have scored at least two more goals.”

This made the reporters at the scene ecstatic.

But the next moment, in a VIP box at the Meazza Stadium, Mourinho had already opened a bottle of red wine and was waiting for Yang Cheng.

The “Special One” certainly wasn’t one for empty gestures.

He had been away from the top tier of European football for about a year, and now, managing a giant like Inter Milan, he naturally needed to familiarize himself with the landscape again as quickly as possible.

The topic they discussed most was the Premier League.

From their conversation, Yang Cheng could sense that Mourinho still hoped to return to the Premier League one day.

This wasn’t surprising.

Although most Premier League clubs had been creating positions like technical director, director of football, or sporting director in recent years to further limit the power of the head coach, the general environment was such that English clubs still granted their head coaches more authority than clubs in other European leagues did.

This was especially true for the top teams.

Even someone like Mourinho, at Inter Milan, mostly had only an advisory role in many matters.

So, as a head coach, it was perfectly normal for Mourinho to miss the Premier League.

But for now, there wasn’t really a team that suited him.

Previously, Manchester City had been linked with Mourinho, but at the time, he had his heart set on Barcelona.

It was all a matter of fate.

Who would have thought that Mourinho would end up at Inter Milan?

The conversation quickly shifted from leagues to teams, and then to players.

“Yang, give me a straight answer. Is Modrić for sale or not?” Mourinho asked out of the blue.

Yang Cheng was startled by the sudden question. Looking at Mourinho’s serious expression, he realized the man wasn’t joking and burst out laughing.

“Don’t be ridiculous, José. You wouldn’t know how to use Modrić.”

The wine glass nearly slipped from Mourinho’s hand.

He had imagined many different kinds of answers.

But frankly, he had never imagined Yang Cheng would reply like this.

Instead of being angry, he was fired up.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Who do you think you’re looking down on? I wouldn’t know how to use Modrić?”

“Don’t be so quick to disagree. You’ve never been good at using this type of controlling midfielder. It’s not just about your coaching style; it’s a matter of personality.”

“That’s bullshit!”

Mourinho raised his voice, sensing a hint of ridicule in Yang Cheng’s words. “Back in my Porto days, I, your father, used Deco just fine, didn’t I? And you’re telling me I wouldn’t know how to use Modrić?”

He raised his voice even louder on the last question for emphasis.

Don’t forget, I’ve won the Champions League too!

You don’t hit a man in the face.

Can’t you show a little respect?

Seeing him get angry, Yang Cheng just chuckled.

Serves you right, you old fox, always trying to poach my captain.

Do you really think I’m Wenger?

“Don’t try to twist things. How did you use Deco back then? You think I never watched Porto’s matches?” Yang Cheng retorted.

Mourinho was suddenly at a loss for words.

Truth be told, at Porto, Deco played as a number 10.

If you were to define his role, he wasn’t really a possession or controlling midfielder. He was more like an attacking midfielder who made late runs, similar to Lampard.

That was why Deco’s goal and assist numbers were so high during those years.

When Deco joined Barça, there was no number 10 role in Frank Rijkaard’s 4-3-3 system. With a master of cutting inside like Ronaldinho on the left, Deco was forced to drop deeper and transform into a number 8.

Pressed by Yang Cheng, Mourinho couldn’t come up with a good answer.

But he was still fuming internally.

One day, I’ll buy a controlling midfielder and show you how it’s done!

When that day comes, I’ll beat you so badly you won’t know what hit you!

…

While Bayswater Chinese defeated Inter Milan 3-1 away, Atlético Madrid beat Marseille 2-1 at home, with goals from Agüero and Raúl García.

After two rounds of matches in this group, Bayswater Chinese led the league table with two consecutive wins.

Atlético Madrid was in second place on goal difference, Inter Milan was third, and Marseille, with two straight losses, was at the bottom.

The next two rounds, 3 and 4, would feature home-and-away clashes between Bayswater Chinese and Marseille, and between Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan.

These two rounds would determine the qualification outcome for this group.

After the match, major European media outlets, especially the British press, showered praise on Bayswater Chinese for their away victory.

Yang Cheng’s team was simply unstoppable this season.

Based on their current performance, qualifying from the group didn’t seem to be a major issue.

The real suspense in this group was who would be the other team to advance.

Among the other three Premier League teams, Chelsea drew 0-0 away against CFR Cluj.

The Blues’ performance in this round was a bit off.

But since it was an away game, the result was acceptable.

After an impressive start, Scolari’s team had quickly become ordinary again.

Managing a national team and managing a club were clearly different things.

At the very least, club football’s technical and tactical level was far more advanced than the international game.

Manchester United, meanwhile, secured a convincing 3-0 away win against Aalborg BK. Their front four of C. Ronaldo, Berbatov, Rooney, and Nani put on an outstanding performance.

This once again proved the saying: when C. Ronaldo returns, Manchester United is completely revitalized!

Arsenal thrashed Porto 4-0 at home, with both Andrei Arshavin and van Persie scoring twice.

This was, by far, The Gunners’ best performance of the season.

…

Back in the Premier League, Yang Cheng and his team had a brief rest in London before traveling for an away game against West Bromwich Albion on the weekend.

Facing the newly promoted team, Yang Cheng once again made some rotations.

But after kickoff, the team still went on the offensive.

Just over a minute into the game, Džeko took a shot inside the box, the first of the match.

Following that, Bayswater Chinese unleashed a relentless attacking storm, completely pinning West Bromwich Albion in their own half and delivering a sound beating.

In the 15th minute, Džeko suddenly appeared on the left flank, played a one-two give-and-go with Ángel Di María, received the ball in the left side of the penalty area, and found himself one-on-one with the keeper. He scored with a left-footed power shot to open the scoring for his team!

1-0!

Nine minutes later, Matuidi played a through ball into the left channel. Ángel Di María got to the ball before the defender, poked it towards the byline, and accelerated to catch up before sending a cross to the far post.

Walcott shook off left-back Paul Robinson and calmly slotted the ball into The Baggies’ net.

2-0!

Even after scoring twice, Bayswater Chinese’s assault continued.

As the match progressed, Yang Cheng gradually identified the weaknesses in West Bromwich Albion’s defense.

Their left-back, Robinson, was not in good form.

In the 31st minute, Ángel Di María popped up on the right, linked up with Walcott, and drove into the penalty area before executing a sharp stop-and-turn to beat Robinson.

In his haste, Robinson stuck out a leg and tripped Ángel Di María.

But the head referee refused to award a penalty.

This sparked strong protests from the Bayswater Chinese players.

Just seven minutes later, it happened again on the right flank.

Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack. Modrić passed to Džeko, who then played a through ball behind the defense.

Walcott made a high-speed diagonal run into the box, collected the ball, and found himself one-on-one.

Just as he was about to shoot, Robinson suddenly appeared and fouled him from behind.

This time, the head referee immediately brandished a red card and pointed to the penalty spot.

Walcott converted the penalty kick, making it 3-0!

The Little Tiger had scored twice!

After the break in the second half, West Bromwich Albion, now down a man, began to focus on defense.

Bayswater Chinese were in firm control of the game.

In the 53rd minute, Maicon made an overlapping run and sent a cross from the right into the box.

Džeko calmly got on the end of it to score, extending the lead further.

4-0!

The Bosnian centre-forward had also scored a brace!

Then, in the 60th minute, Ángel Di María won a corner on the left. Leighton Baines took it, and Vincent Kompany headed the ball into the net, further increasing the score.

5-0!

This was also Kompany’s first goal since joining Bayswater Chinese!

Five minutes later, Ángel Di María received a through ball from Rakitić, sent in a cross from the left, and Džeko scored with a close-range header, completing his hat-trick.

6-0!

After a series of substitutions, in the 83rd minute, substitute Aaron Ramsey played a through ball, and Robert Lewandowski broke into the box and scored with a low shot near the penalty spot, once again finding the back of West Bromwich Albion’s net.

7-0!

…

After this round of matches, the entire Premier League was in an uproar!

Bayswater Chinese had thrashed The Baggies by seven goals!

Although the red card in the first half played a part, the result was still terrifying.

In six matches over seven rounds this season, Bayswater Chinese had scored 23 goals and conceded only one.

It was simply insane!

Everyone felt that Bayswater Chinese were playing like a team possessed this season!

Džeko was leading the top scorer chart with seven goals, Walcott had scored five, and both Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski had three.

The entire Premier League was feeling the force of the offensive storm unleashed by Bayswater Chinese.

In this round, Wenger’s team switched from their original 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1, moving van Persie to the left wing, with Benzema up front, Nasri on the right, and Andrei Arshavin in the number ten role.

Wenger was clearly hoping the team could build on their excellent Champions League performance and find a formation that best utilized their attacking power.

But unexpectedly, Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Sunderland.

Manchester United won 2-0 away against Blackburn Rovers, with C. Ronaldo providing an assist.

Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home.

Liverpool, after going two goals down away from home, came from behind to beat Manchester City 3-2, thanks to a brace from Torres.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese remained at the top of the league table with 18 points.

Liverpool followed closely with 17 points.

Further down, Manchester United and Chelsea were both on 14 points.

After this round of matches, many British media outlets published commentary articles arguing that Bayswater Chinese had a real chance of reclaiming the Premier League title.

Several authoritative sources, including The Times, even stated that if Yang Cheng’s team could maintain this momentum, “no one can stop them from reaching the summit!”

Analyzing the reasons for Bayswater Chinese’s explosive form this season, The Times identified five main factors.

“Young players like Ángel Di María, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott have stepped up into starting roles, taking on more important responsibilities, and all three have shown exceptional quality.”

“Rakitić has replaced Lassana Diarra as Modrić’s midfield partner. The combination of the two Croatian midfielders has made Bayswater Chinese’s midfield more creative, fully unleashing the speed of their wingers.”

“The defense has become increasingly solid. The partnership of Thiago Silva and Pepe is hitting its stride, and new signing Vincent Kompany has also performed well. Additionally, the defenders possess good passing and even long-passing abilities, enriching the team’s tactics.”

“Džeko has become a more complete player and is gradually hitting his peak.”

“But the most important factor is head coach Yang Cheng. He is the foundation of Bayswater Chinese’s title charge and their core competitive advantage!”

However, The Times also reminded Bayswater Chinese that their excellent start to the season was partly due to not having faced many strong opponents.

Apart from the home game against Arsenal in the second round, Bayswater Chinese had yet to face any of the top six teams, meaning their upcoming schedule would be filled with tougher challenges.

“Yang Cheng’s strategy is correct.”

“To challenge for the league title, you must minimize dropped points against weaker teams.”

“So far, Bayswater Chinese’s winning streak is very encouraging.”

“And in recent seasons, Bayswater Chinese have had a good record in clashes between top teams.”

Therefore, The Times believed that as long as Bayswater Chinese maintained this momentum, they had a very good chance of winning the title.

…

After the 7th round of the Premier League, the league paused again.

International players left London one by one to report to their national teams.

Yang Cheng once again entered a nerve-wracking two-week period.

He instructed his coaching staff, especially the medical department, to keep a close eye on the players and report on their status daily.

The season was going so well, and he didn’t want any problems to arise midway.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng took the opportunity to visit the youth academy, which was just across the road.

Due to a busy preseason, Yang Cheng had asked Brian Kidd to attend this summer’s player selection on his behalf.

With Director of Football Dan Ashworth and Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg also present, the lineup was more than sufficient.

Yang Cheng’s main reason for visiting the youth academy was to check on N’Golo Kanté’s progress.

The man who covers 30% of the Earth’s surface had always been on his radar.

It seemed Kanté was still in the process of integrating into the team.

His English, in particular, was still limited to simple exchanges, so he hadn’t fully settled in.

However, on the pitch, Kanté was performing quite well.

Mainly, he could run and tackle.

He was short, agile, and had great explosive power—such a player naturally stands out on the field.

But he was still too short and too thin.

Kanté was playing for the U18 youth team.

Then, Yang Cheng spotted another player: Harry Kane.

“This kid…”

“Hard to recognize him, isn’t it?” Matt Crocker asked with a laugh.

Yang Cheng could only nod.

He couldn’t very well say, Oh, I’m all too familiar with him.

“Harry Kane. He’s that chubby kid who joined right when our youth academy was founded. Remember him?”

“The chubby kid who was let go by Arsenal’s academy?” Yang Cheng played along, feigning surprise.

“Yeah, that’s him. After a growth spurt, he thinned out. But look at his frame—the build of a classic English centre-forward,” Matt Crocker said, clearly very fond of Harry Kane.

All in all, Harry Kane had been at the Bayswater Chinese youth academy for five years now.

He now truly embodied the characteristics of a Bayswater Chinese academy product.

His technique on the ball was excellent; his control, first touch, and passing all showed real quality.

“The little fatty used to be a goalkeeper before he joined us. After he came here, he played his way up from defense and is now a forward. I think he can play as a centre-forward. He runs tirelessly, has great stamina, and is physically strong.”

“His only flaw is that he’s not very fast.”

Speed was something that was really difficult to improve through training later on.

“He’s being developed as a centre-forward, right?”

Yang Cheng noticed that Harry Kane’s hold-up play and ability to turn with his back to goal were impressive, clear signs of specialized training.

“Definitely. I think this kid can be as good as Džeko and Lewandowski in the future,” Matt Crocker said, full of confidence in the player he had carefully nurtured.

Yang Cheng didn’t doubt it.

In his previous life, Harry Kane’s tendency to drop deep to link up play as a centre-forward was a compromise born of necessity.

It was mainly because he had suffered too many injuries during that period, especially to his ankles, which made it difficult for him to win physical battles against centre-backs anymore.

So, Harry Kane was forced to transform his game, adopting a style of dropping deep to receive the ball.

Although he did it very well, it was ultimately a bit of a shame.

A centre-forward is supposed to wreak havoc on defenders!

But in 2024, there were very few centre-forwards who could dominate defenders physically.

Right now, Bayswater Chinese was molding and polishing him to be a true centre-forward.

Harry Kane would become Bayswater Chinese’s truest standard-bearer!

“Right now, he looks like a slightly slower, but taller version of Rooney when he first burst onto the scene!” Mike Rigg added with praise.

“His technique is much better than Rooney’s,” Matt Crocker said.

Yang Cheng and the others all nodded in agreement.

After all, he had spent five years in the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

And they were the most crucial five years.

Chapter 154: Wholesaling English Prodigies! Who Can Stop the Bayswater Chinese Now?

Since Matt Crocker had brought Harry Kane to Yang Cheng’s attention, Yang Cheng formally took over his development.

This was a player mentioned in the Bayswater Chinese team anthem, so it was only natural to groom him as a future leader!

After all, the current captain was another player from the anthem.

After watching the training session, Yang Cheng received some analysis reports on Harry Kane from the sports science department.

The kid was truly well-rounded.

Comprehensively “mediocre”!

Why the quotation marks around “mediocre”?

Because it was relative to top-tier stars.

Why was Rooney so highly regarded from the moment he debuted?

Was it just because he ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run with a single goal?

That was the result, not the cause.

The reason was that, at that age, Rooney’s characteristics perfectly matched the preferences of English football fans.

Compared to the English players around him, Rooney’s technical skill with the ball was superior to most.

This made him seem technically gifted in the Premier League, playing for Everton.

But most importantly, he possessed outstanding physical qualities and speed, which gave him an almost brutish, unstoppable aura when he charged forward with the ball.

Make no mistake, English fans loved that kind of sheer, unadulterated force.

But what was the reality?

Never mind comparing him to a technical genius like Messi; even his Manchester United teammates, Carlos Tevez and C. Ronaldo, were miles ahead of Rooney in terms of technique.

This was also why, last season, when Rooney, C. Ronaldo, and Tevez formed the attacking trident, Rooney’s role as the central striker felt forced.

If Rooney had been a competent centre-forward, Manchester United wouldn’t have needed to buy Saha or Berbatov.

But Rooney possessed exceptional physical conditioning and strength in confrontations.

The nickname ‘Little Fatty Rooney’ was not undeserved.

Although Harry Kane was now taller than Rooney and was projected to grow even more—in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he reached 1.88 meters, the build of a typical English centre-forward—in terms of pure physical talent, Harry Kane was a considerable step down from Rooney.

The difference in speed was quite obvious, and that much was clear.

Almost all chubby kids, even after growing taller and slimming down, struggled to build up speed.

Rooney’s personality was brash and aggressive, whereas Harry Kane’s was more reserved.

On the pitch, a personality like Rooney’s was more endearing to the fans.

And if you looked closely at a full-body photo of Harry Kane standing straight, you’d easily notice that although he was tall, his torso was long and his legs were not.

Compare that to Džeko; the Bosnian was the tall, long-legged type.

Of course, none of this was Harry Kane’s fault; it was all about innate physical talent.

To some extent, if Harry Kane had been sent to any other Premier League club for development, many would have likely looked down on him.

At the very least, his evaluation would have been much lower.

But the Bayswater Chinese adhered to a passing and movement philosophy.

While Harry Kane’s physical talent wasn’t top-tier, he had no glaring weaknesses.

And his abilities were very well-rounded.

In his five years at the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, he had trained diligently for five years, and his technical skills had improved significantly.

His feel for the ball was also better than the Harry Kane Yang Cheng remembered from his past life.

This made his dribbling and passing excellent while on the move.

More importantly, he played very intelligently.

He knew his strengths, so his stamina was outstanding, he covered a lot of ground, and his technique, though excellent, was very concise. He always used the simplest technical actions to achieve his goals.

And his greatest advantages were his ability to read the game, his off-the-ball movement, and his instincts in front of goal.

To put it simply, his football IQ was extremely high!

This was why, despite being only fifteen, he had already been promoted to play for the U18s and had even represented the Bayswater Chinese in the European Youth Champions League.

…

“Given his current situation, we must be extra careful with his development.”

“One misstep could turn him into a jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” Yang Cheng reminded Matt Crocker.

The statement was simple but extremely incisive, pinpointing the biggest obstacle Harry Kane would face in the coming years.

It also made everyone around them nod in agreement.

Yang Cheng might be young, but when it came to developing young players, he was a master, and his judgment was top-notch!

“His physical conditioning certainly needs to be gradually strengthened. His lower body must be stable so he can hold his position, and his core strength needs to be sufficient so he can win aerial duels and secure the ball.”

“Of course, his excellent stamina must be maintained. Just like Drogba—if I can’t beat you, I’ll just wear you down to death!”

Yang Cheng’s final remark made everyone chuckle.

That was precisely how Drogba tormented defenders the most.

“His arsenal of weapons must be fully stocked, and he has to master a comprehensive range of shooting techniques. He’s already good with both feet, so we should train him to become proficient with both.”

“But above all, the most important thing is to let him continue accumulating experience and developing his game awareness. And don’t forget to keep refining his technique, especially his first touch.”

“Understood.” Matt Crocker nodded in complete agreement, utterly convinced.

Yang Cheng’s words weren’t just empty talk; they were targeted guidance for Harry Kane’s long-term development, addressing his current issues.

And Yang Cheng placed great importance on cultivating football IQ and technique.

This was the biggest weakness among English players.

England produced so many talented players, so why did so few of them ultimately succeed?

Besides the media’s shameless hype, another crucial reason was that English prodigies often had fatal flaws.

They peaked the moment they debuted!

Players like Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker belonged to an older era that suited the English football environment of their time, so they were an exception.

Since the turn of the century, Owen and Rooney were the two most representative examples.

They became famous so early, so why did they never live up to the public’s expectations?

Some believed Owen’s career was derailed by injuries.

But didn’t Robben have his fair share of injuries?

As a speed-based player, why did Owen’s career plummet after leaving Liverpool?

Ultimately, he lacked the skills of a winger and couldn’t play on the flank.

Rooney was much the same.

You could argue that he had to make tactical sacrifices when C. Ronaldo was at Manchester United, but what about after C. Ronaldo left?

After C. Ronaldo left Real Madrid, Benzema transformed from a kitten into a T-Rex. So why hadn’t Little Fatty Rooney transformed into Rooney the Colossus?

At the end of the day, the problems stemmed from their youth training.

They had shortcomings in awareness, tactical discipline, and technical ability.

If you looked closely at the players who had long, high-level professional careers, they were often a group with extremely high football IQs and outstanding technical skills.

And this was the biggest difference between the Bayswater Chinese youth academy and other English academies.

While others were desperately training physical strength and stamina to get results at the youth level, the Bayswater Chinese focused more on fundamentals, technique, and tactical discipline.

This made the Bayswater Chinese a unique case in English youth football.

Their results were decent but not spectacular.

This was an inevitable outcome.

At the youth level, physically superior young players had a massive advantage.

If Yang Cheng were to define a role for Harry Kane, he would want him to possess Sheringham’s intelligent movement and sharp instincts, Alan Shearer’s powerful attacking firepower, and the ability to shield the ball like Henry…

…

Since he was talking about Harry Kane, Yang Cheng didn’t mind mentioning a few others.

They were all U18 players.

But most were just a smokescreen.

The players Yang Cheng really wanted to discuss were Kanté and Pogba.

Both were already playing for the U18s.

Pogba was the easiest to assess; the kid’s talent was obvious.

Yang Cheng saw him as an attacking player.

He had no intention of repeating Manchester United’s mistake.

Kanté was not Lassana Diarra or Matuidi, nor would he be Essien or Makélélé. With the right development, he could do more than any of them.

Yang Cheng hoped Matt Crocker and his team could help him integrate into the team quickly and improve his passing and movement skills.

“He’s still on trial?” Yang Cheng asked, feigning surprise.

Then he had a “sudden realization,” as if he’d just remembered.

In that case, sign him up immediately.

And so, after training, Matt Crocker called Paul Pogba, Kanté, and Harry Kane over one by one to meet with Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng made a promise to each of them.

If they performed well in the U18s, they would be given opportunities to join the first team.

Whether it was playing in cup competitions or training with the first team while still playing for the youth or reserve teams, it was an excellent option for these young players.

After the previous season, everyone at the Bayswater Chinese knew that Yang Cheng was a man of his word!

The fact that he was willing to sacrifice the FA Cup title to start young players was the best proof of all!

But after meeting the three players, a new problem arose in Yang Cheng’s mind.

With more and more players coming out of their own youth academy, what would happen when the first team became overcrowded?

They simply wouldn’t have enough spots for everyone!

Soon, however, while habitually reviewing the list of talent scouted by the team’s youth academy this summer, Yang Cheng unexpectedly discovered another name.

Bukayo Saka!

Fearing he had misread, Yang Cheng carefully checked the date of birth and place of residence again.

September 5, 2001.

Currently residing in Greenwood, northwest of the Brent training center.

According to the file, he had been playing for a youth club in Greenwood called Celtic, but his older brother was in the Watford youth academy, so he had also spent some time there.

But this summer, he had participated in the Bayswater Chinese youth trials.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Bukayo Saka was supposed to have joined the Arsenal academy this summer.

But this turn of events wasn’t surprising.

Arsenal’s academy was at Colney in the northern suburbs, more than twenty kilometers from Greenwood.

And the Bayswater Chinese?

It was just a few minutes by car; you could even jog there.

Yang Cheng was truly stunned!

Who said England had no talent?

Step forward!

London alone was overflowing with it!

Harry Kane, Sterling, Luke Shaw, Sancho, Saka, Declan Rice, Reece James, Paul Pogba, Eddie Nketiah…

Yang Cheng even began to worry that, in the future, more than half of the England national team might be graduates of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

As these names swirled in his mind, were they just players?

No, they were assets!

Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and others were worth over a hundred million!

At that moment, Yang Cheng even wondered if he should try to poach Bellingham and Phil Foden as well.

Those two were the future crown jewels of English football!

Oh, right, and there was Jamal Musiala.

That kid also came through the English youth system, having spent time at both Southampton and Chelsea.

But Yang Cheng quickly suppressed the tempting thought.

It was beyond his reach.

Phil Foden himself was from the Manchester area, too far from London.

Bellingham was born in Birmingham, which was much closer, but still outside their scouting range.

It wasn’t practical for Yang Cheng to actively poach these young players.

But he could build up the reputation of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy. Once they became famous, perhaps they would be drawn to the club themselves.

That would make things much easier.

So, such matters also depended on fate.

Yang Cheng gave his full approval of the work done by Dan Ashworth and Matt Crocker.

At the same time, he once again promised that in the coming years, the club would continue, and even increase, its investment in youth development to support their work, hoping they would keep up the good effort.

“After reaching the FA Cup final last season, our reputation for developing young players has been established.”

“We will continue to increase our efforts in nurturing and training young talent. I am confident that we will become the best youth academy in England, in Europe, and even in the whole world!”

Dan Ashworth and Matt Crocker were both thrilled.

This represented an acknowledgment and affirmation of their work from Yang Cheng and the club.

…

During the national team training period, Yang Cheng found time to return to Bayswater.

After the Brent training center officially opened, matches were played at Wembley Stadium, training was in Brent, and he usually drove straight home to the west side of Holland Park.

So, it had been a while since Yang Cheng had been to Bayswater.

Demolition had begun in June, and by October, four months later, the original site of Bayswater Stadium was not only completely cleared but had also been excavated to a certain depth.

The flat ground was surrounded by high protective fences.

But today, Yang Cheng’s destination was a cleared plot of land directly opposite the Queensway Underground station, on the east side of the Queensway intersection.

At this moment, two rows of heavy excavators were on standby.

A red banner was stretched between them, reading: Bayswater Urban Renewal Project and Bayswater Stadium Groundbreaking Ceremony.

By the time Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others had toured their plot and returned, London Mayor Ken Livingstone had also arrived with a delegation of city officials.

Norman Foster and his team were also present.

When the various parties met, there was naturally another round of pleasantries.

Yang Cheng found Norman Foster and asked about the capacity of the new stadium.

The great British architect assured Yang Cheng with great confidence that a capacity of ninety thousand was not a problem.

Ken Livingstone, having successfully been re-elected as Mayor of London, was full of ambition, with all preparations geared towards the London Olympics.

To the east, construction of the London Bowl was already in full swing.

The Bayswater Chinese project was larger, and the schedule was tighter.

But Yang Cheng still confidently assured Ken Livingstone that the project would proceed without any issues.

“As you can see, for this stadium, we’re selling everything we own. This summer, we even sold core players like Andrei Arshavin and Lassana Diarra!”

“All three transfers were to raise funds for the construction of this stadium!”

Yang Cheng declared this with awe-inspiring righteousness.

Adam Crozier turned his head and nearly cursed when he saw the club’s public relations team hadn’t reacted yet.

How could they be so clueless? The boss’s words must be memorized; there would be a test later! Uh, no, that’s not right. They needed to publicize this properly!

He had no choice but to step away and remind the PR department to take plenty of photos and notes for a major publicity push later.

They were to issue press releases to the media and ride the wave of the London Olympics hype for all it was worth!

“For the next few years, we need to make sure that every resident in Britain, even a rat in London’s sewers, clearly understands our contribution to the London Olympics, understand?”

The PR department immediately grasped the executive’s thinking.

Why were they the executives, after all?

They were on another level!

With Yang Cheng pleading poverty and having genuinely sold players, Ken Livingstone, in front of the assembled media, naturally had many kind words to say.

It was mostly along the lines of thanking the Bayswater Chinese for their support of London’s urban development and the preparations for the London Olympics.

Finally came the words Yang Cheng most wanted to hear: Ken Livingstone promised that if the Bayswater Chinese encountered any difficulties, the London city government would do everything within its power to provide support and assistance!

Of course, in front of the media, Yang Cheng didn’t mention anything specific.

Many things weren’t meant to be discussed in front of the British public. They would be brought up slowly at an appropriate time and opportunity.

But as an important part of this project, Yang Cheng, representing the Bayswater Chinese, stood beside Ken Livingstone and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.

This urban renewal project, with a total investment of four billion pound sterling, was sure to attract attention throughout the United Kingdom, and even Europe.

Especially now, with the subprime mortgage crisis growing ever more severe.

…

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Yang Cheng chatted with various parties for a while longer.

He even made time for a joint interview on-site with several media outlets, including the BBC, The Sun, The Times, and The Guardian, answering some of their questions.

The overall tone was the same as always: playing the victim.

We, the Bayswater Chinese, will sell everything we own, even our own children, to support London in hosting the Olympics!

We will absolutely not let this scar on Queensway remain for the Olympics!

But after leaving the site and returning to the rented office building of the Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng immediately pulled Adam Crozier aside.

“We need to get a better handle on the PR department. Their reaction time is a bit slow.”

Adam Crozier nodded. “I already gave them a piece of my mind just now and reminded them. I’m planning to look around and poach someone sharper, with some connections. It would make coordination much smoother.”

“Get on that right away.”

The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Yang Cheng was no fool.

Having invested so much money and letting the London city government reap the benefits, he would feel seriously unbalanced if he didn’t find other channels to earn back some interest.

As for loans, the interest rates in the UK were falling, but the time wasn’t right yet.

Besides, they wouldn’t need a loan in the short term.

Xia Qing had scraped together one hundred fifty million pound sterling from various sources.

Given her personality, if she really tried, she could probably gather a lot more.

Yang Cheng knew her all too well; she was becoming more and more like a meticulous steward, only allowing money in, never out.

In the meeting room, Yang Cheng sat at the head of the table, flanked by Adam Crozier and Xia Qing, with Omar Berrada, Chris Hunt, and others seated further down.

The first item on the agenda was Christmas.

There were still over two months to go, but many things needed to be prepared in advance.

Adam Crozier proposed that due to the construction of the new Bayswater Chinese stadium, the previous noise and the constant coming and going of construction vehicles had caused significant disruption to the local residents.

Therefore, he hoped to use the occasion of Christmas to give some gifts to the surrounding residents.

Xia Qing also agreed to the gift-giving.

After all, these residents were the future core fanbase of the Bayswater Chinese.

But she wanted to control the budget, as they were spending money everywhere at the moment.

How to give gifts that would satisfy the local residents while staying within budget was a test of Adam Crozier and his team’s abilities.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to worry about this matter; he just had to give the final approval.

There were also some Christmas activities that required advance preparation, including charity events involving players.

Adam Crozier also mentioned that an American company had invited the Bayswater Chinese to participate in the inaugural World Football Challenge in the United States in 2009.

The appearance fee was quite good.

Coincidentally, the Bayswater Chinese had already planned to take a trip to the United States in 2009 anyway.

Yang Cheng knew that the World Football Challenge was the predecessor of the International Champions Cup, a tournament familiar to many football fans later on.

Thus, he agreed to Adam Crozier’s suggestion.

As for the itinerary and pre-season friendly arrangements for the US tour, those also needed to be prepared as soon as possible.

Adam Crozier mentioned another matter.

“Recently, after the project was basically finalized, several groups of interested investors have been contacting us, mostly from the hotel industry.”

“The hotel industry?” Yang Cheng pondered for a moment.

He wasn’t surprised by this.

The area north of Hyde Park, around Bayswater, was packed with hotels.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was a hotel every few steps.

The reason was simple: the transportation was incredibly convenient.

In the one-kilometer straight line from Queensway Underground station to Paddington, there were already two four-star Hilton hotels.

Not only that, there were rumors that another DoubleTree by Hilton was going to be built two hundred meters west of Queensway along Bayswater Road.

With hotel chains so densely packed, it went without saying for other hotels.

To be blunt, in terms of sheer number of hotels, Bayswater far surpassed the area around Knightsbridge.

Under these circumstances, it was not at all strange that hotel investors were interested in the Bayswater Chinese project.

“Adam, what are your thoughts?” Yang Cheng asked, without giving his own opinion first.

“Of the four buildings at the four corners of the plot, one will be our office building, and one must be reserved for a department store. The remaining two will definitely be open for investment, but my idea is, quality over quantity. We must elevate the overall tone.”

Yang Cheng immediately thought of the high-end VIP box strategy that Adam Crozier was pushing.

Given the surrounding conditions, renting out the two buildings would be no trouble at all.

The difference lay in how to use the leases to further increase the value of the area around the stadium and elevate the prestige of the Bayswater Chinese.

“What do you have in mind?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

“I’ve heard a rumor that Bvlgari Hotels is considering opening a location in London.”

“Bvlgari Hotels?” Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up.

That was the pinnacle of luxury.

So far, there were only two Bvlgari Hotels in the entire world.

One in Milan, Italy, and one in Bali.

Both hotels were incredibly expensive, the kind of ultra-luxury hotels that countless people dreamed of staying in for even a single night.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Bvlgari Hotels did indeed open its third location in London, and it was right in Knightsbridge.

It was directly opposite the world-famous One Hyde Park, and quite close to Harrods.

“I’ve heard that too, but supposedly they’re prioritizing Knightsbridge,” Yang Cheng said calmly.

Adam Crozier was a little surprised.

He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to have heard about this.

His boss was always full of surprises; he had no idea where his information came from.

“Knightsbridge is certainly bustling and prosperous, but it also has its limitations. More importantly, land there is incredibly expensive, which isn’t ideal for a hotel.”

“But here, we have Queensway, Notting Hill, Hyde Park… the surrounding transportation is so convenient. And most importantly, our entire project is designed by Norman Foster.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng almost burst out laughing.

It seemed they planned to milk Norman Foster’s name for all it was worth.

“But being next to a stadium means it will be very congested on match days when fans are coming and going,” Yang Cheng pointed out a disadvantage.

“True, but Knightsbridge isn’t exactly quiet either. And being close to a stadium is a matter of perspective; it has its pros and cons. But this project is bound to become one of Norman Foster’s signature works, a new landmark for London.”

Yang Cheng weighed the options in his mind.

If they could really lure Bvlgari Hotels over from Knightsbridge, it would absolutely boost the value of Queensway significantly.

The London city government would definitely be strongly supportive!

That was an ultra-luxury hotel Yang Cheng had never even stayed in during his previous life, rumored to cost two thousand pound sterling a night.

But it was undeniable that if Bvlgari came in, it would be a huge boost to the overall value.

“We can try to make contact!” Yang Cheng nodded.

Xia Qing then presented a statistical analysis she had prepared.

She believed that the current universal return on investment for commercial and hotel real estate was between five and ten percent.

Given the location of the new stadium, she felt it should be at least eight percent.

Therefore, she concluded that the annual rent for each of the four properties should be at least eight million pound sterling.

At that rate, they could recoup their investment in just over a decade.

Don’t think the rent seemed low.

This was a long-term business.

If bringing in a Bvlgari Hotel increased the value of the surrounding area, which in turn boosted property values, who would care about a little more or less in rent?

“I’ve already put out feelers through some third-party channels. Once we officially start construction, more interested partners will surely come knocking. Besides Bvlgari Hotels, there will definitely be other high-end hotels.”

Adam Crozier was clearly very optimistic about the project’s prospects.

Yang Cheng, however, thought of his so-called father’s proposal to create a home base for Chinese tourists visiting the UK here.

His real estate business in China had been booming lately, and his sports brand’s performance was also flourishing. He wondered if his father was still interested in the idea.

…

After the two-week international break, the players gradually returned to the club.

Yang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief once again.

Apart from Maicon, who came back with a minor injury, the other players were mostly fine.

Even Maicon’s issue was a minor one that would heal after two or three days of rest.

This was a great relief for Yang Cheng.

Upon the players’ return, the team immediately faced the eighth round of the Premier League.

A home game against the Black Cats, Sunderland.

This was a team whose goal for the season was to avoid relegation.

But the head coach of the Black Cats was former Manchester United captain, Roy Keane.

Before the match, Keane arrogantly boasted that he would teach the Bayswater Chinese a harsh lesson at Wembley Stadium.

This was because in the previous round, they had held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at home.

This had filled the Black Cats with confidence.

Unexpectedly, the Bayswater Chinese landed a heavy blow on the Black Cats right from the start.

Less than a minute into the game, Maicon’s cross from the right was blocked out by Sunderland’s centre-back McCartney.

The Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick right away.

But Modrić didn’t send it directly into the box; he opted for a short corner.

When Maicon crossed the ball, it hit Sunderland’s right-back, Pascal Chimbonda, and rebounded out of the penalty area.

Rakitić intercepted the ball and played a through pass.

Theo Walcott shot from the right side of the six-yard box.

Sunderland’s goalkeeper Fulop parried the ball away.

Inside the box, José Fonte seized the opportunity and tapped the ball into the empty net.

1-0!

The match clock had just ticked past sixty seconds!

After taking the early lead, the Bayswater Chinese continued their onslaught, constantly threatening Sunderland’s goal.

Roy Keane was a great player, but as a head coach, his skills were rather average.

And he had a terrible temper.

The relentless attacks finally paid off again in the sixteenth minute.

Theo Walcott sent a horizontal pass from the right, just outside the penalty area. Yaya Touré made an overlapping run and unleashed a furious shot from the edge of the box, blasting it past Fulop.

2-0!

Just seven minutes later, Gareth Bale dribbled down the left flank into the penalty area and crossed. Džeko headed the ball from the edge of the six-yard box. The ball struck Fulop’s leg and deflected into the net.

3-0!

In less than half an hour, the Bayswater Chinese had scored three goals!

The surging Bayswater Chinese continued to ramp up their attack.

In the thirtieth minute, Theo Walcott won an attacking free-kick on the right flank.

Modrić delivered the cross.

Sunderland’s goalkeeper Fulop came off his line but made a mistake and failed to get the ball.

José Fonte jumped and flicked the ball on. At the far post, Džeko tapped it in, sending the ball into the net once more.

4-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in cheers!

The performance of the Bayswater Chinese was often affected after an international break.

But this time, against Sunderland, Yang Cheng’s team continued their tidal wave of attacks.

This made the more than seventy thousand fans at Wembley Stadium as happy as if it were a holiday.

At least today’s ticket was well worth the price!

As the first half drew to a close, the Bayswater Chinese executed a series of quick, one-touch passes.

Theo Walcott, Modrić, Rakitić, and Gareth Bale moved the ball with continuous one-touch passing.

The four players shifted the ball from the right flank all the way to the left channel.

Finally, Gareth Bale played a pull-back to the center, where an unmarked Džeko easily tapped it in.

5-0!

Džeko had scored another hat-trick!

By the end of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese were leading by five goals!

…

A full-out assault in the first half, followed by substitutions in the second to conserve energy for the midweek Champions League match.

This was Yang Cheng’s pre-match strategy.

And the team did not disappoint, thrashing Sunderland with five goals in the first half.

However, after the substitutions in the second half, they failed to score again. Instead, Sunderland got a one-on-one opportunity by beating the offside trap in the sixty-seventh minute.

The scorer was the substitute French striker, Djibril Cissé.

He had joined Sunderland on loan from Ligue 1 side Marseille this summer.

But the Bayswater Chinese youngsters also launched an attack in the seventy-sixth minute. Marcelo crossed from the left, and Lambert headed the ball into the net, scoring another goal for the team.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese crushed the Black Cats, Sunderland, 6-1 at home.

In this round of matches, Chelsea thrashed Middlesbrough 5-0 away.

Arsenal came from behind to beat Everton 3-1 at home.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Wigan Athletic 3-2 at home.

Manchester United routed West Bromwich Albion 4-0 at home.

Manchester City, on the other hand, drew 2-2 away at Newcastle.

The Blue Moons’ problem was the same as ever: inconsistent performances and a shaky defense.

Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, with the three points from this match, continued to lead the League table.

Having scored a hat-trick for the second consecutive league game, Džeko received unanimous praise.

Especially this season, having scored ten goals in eight Premier League matches, Džeko’s performance was nothing short of unstoppable.

In fact, Džeko was involved in most of the Bayswater Chinese’s forward attacks.

This earned the Bosnian centre-forward recognition for his all-around ability.

His momentum was even threatening to overshadow Ibrahimović’s.

With Džeko’s outstanding performance and the Bayswater Chinese’s irresistible form, more and more media outlets were speculating: could anyone stop the Bayswater Chinese?

…

Three days later, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Bayswater Chinese were in unstoppable form, and Marseille had no choice but to be cautious.

Head coach Éric Gerets set up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation to counter the Bayswater Chinese’s 4-3-3.

Not only that, Marseille adopted a defensive, ‘parking the bus’ strategy right from the start, leaving only Senegalese striker Mamadou Niang up front for counter-attacks.

To some extent, this did manage to stifle the Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

But only temporarily.

In the seventy-first minute of the second half, Rakitić took a corner kick.

Džeko, from eight meters out, headed the ball into the net, opening the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

Then, in the eighty-fifth minute, Modrić delivered a wonderful pass. Ángel Di María broke through on the right flank, dribbling down to the byline inside the penalty area. He suddenly executed a rabona cross, sending the ball to the near post.

Džeko used his body to hold off a defender and poked the ball into the net.

2-0!

The Bosnian centre-forward had scored a brace!

Five goals in just four days!

Džeko’s form this season could no longer be described as excellent; it was terrifying!

Meanwhile, in another stadium, Atlético Madrid drew 1-1 at home with Inter Milan.

Mourinho’s team failed to crack the tough nut that was Atlético Madrid on the road.

…

On the evening of October 26, the ninth round of the Premier League.

The Bayswater Chinese played away against Portsmouth.

Facing Pompey’s defensive 4-5-1 formation, after a crazy goal-scoring streak, the Bayswater Chinese and Džeko finally came to a halt.

Especially Džeko.

After a series of consecutive matches, the Bosnian centre-forward’s form had clearly dipped. In this game, he was double-teamed by Distin and Kaboul and was not as active as before.

And the Bayswater Chinese, who had the most solid defense this season, conceded a goal in the fifty-first minute of the second half.

From a quick counter-attack, Defoe won an attacking free-kick, and Crouch broke through the Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

After that, Portsmouth defended even more resolutely.

“They probably wished they could park all eleven players in front of their goal!”

But after his initial frustration, Yang Cheng quickly made substitutions.

Lewandowski came on for Yaya Touré.

The team immediately switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

Lewandowski and Džeko formed a two-striker partnership, with Ángel Di María and Theo Walcott on the wings, responsible for stretching the attack.

Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines, constantly urging the team to press forward and be bolder.

In the seventy-first minute, Yang Cheng made his second substitution.

Hazard came on for Theo Walcott.

The Belgian went to the right wing, his main task being to dribble and break through.

Maicon was responsible for making overlapping runs to stretch the attack.

Portsmouth wasn’t just parking the bus; they were also well-prepared for defending set pieces, managing to block several of the Bayswater Chinese’s free kicks.

“Keep attacking!”

“We still have time, don’t lose heart!”

Yang Cheng shouted from the sidelines.

Modrić and Rakitić were in charge of organizing and passing in midfield, but they pushed forward whenever they had a chance.

The Bayswater Chinese tried all sorts of attacking approaches.

Especially after the eightieth minute, even the defenders frequently pushed forward to join the attack.

In the seventy-seventh and eighty-first minutes, Portsmouth’s midfielder Diop and left-back Belhadj both received yellow cards.

Both fouls were against Hazard.

Diop was a holding midfielder leaning to the left, and Belhadj was the left-back. The fact that both received yellow cards proved that Hazard was making an impact on that flank.

“Luka.”

Yang Cheng glanced at the time; there wasn’t much left.

Modrić took advantage of a stoppage in play to run to the sidelines and approach Yang Cheng.

“Exploit the gaps on their left flank and in the left channel. Put more pressure on our opponents!”

“They’re about to break!”

Modrić understood Yang Cheng’s meaning and immediately nodded in agreement.

In this round, Manchester United drew 1-1 away at Everton.

Liverpool, thanks to an own goal in the opening ten minutes, beat Chelsea 1-0 away.

Manchester City beat Stoke City 3-0 at home, with Robinho scoring a hat-trick.

Arsenal beat West Ham United 2-0 away.

If they couldn’t beat Portsmouth, the Bayswater Chinese would have to relinquish their position as league leader.

With only domestic competitions to focus on, Liverpool was performing very well in the Premier League this season.

Yang Cheng would absolutely not give his rivals such an opportunity!

“Push up, everyone up!”

Yang Cheng walked to the edge of his technical area, waving his right hand and shouting.

In the eighty-seventh minute, the ball once again came to Hazard.

Before Belhadj could get close, the Belgian executed a skillful dribble and took off.

Having just received a yellow card and being just outside his own penalty area, Belhadj didn’t dare make a reckless challenge, afraid of committing a foul. He could only watch as Hazard sped past him.

After beating Belhadj, Hazard charged to the edge of the penalty area. Facing the retreating Diop, he performed a skillful step-over, confusing Diop before suddenly changing direction and breaking into the box.

With Portsmouth having dropped back, the penalty area was crowded with players.

But Hazard’s run into the box successfully drew two defenders.

Inside the penalty area, they didn’t dare make a rash tackle, merely trying to force Hazard out.

The young Belgian was fast, agile, and had masterful footwork. With a series of shimmies and feints, he suddenly shifted the ball to his left foot and gently played it sideways.

The ball passed between the two defenders to the space behind them.

Centre-back Sylvain Distin rushed forward, trying to clear the ball with one kick.

But to his surprise, a red figure got to the ball before him. With a touch of his right foot, he pulled the ball to his left, narrowly avoiding Distin’s clearance attempt.

After pulling the ball away, he regained his balance, swung his left foot, and hit a lifted shot.

The ball flew through a gap between players and into Portsmouth’s goal before goalkeeper David James could react!

A collective gasp went through the stadium.

But the goalscorer, Modrić, didn’t run off to celebrate. Instead, he raced towards the goal.

He scooped up the ball from the back of the net and sprinted back towards his own half.

As he ran, he kept shouting at his teammates.

“Back on defense! Back on defense!”

“Six minutes left!”

Modrić was usually a man of few words, even a bit introverted.

But every time he spoke, his words carried a special force.

Especially at a time like this.

Upon hearing his shout, everyone naturally followed his command, quickly running back to their own half.

The ball was placed on the center spot.

The Bayswater Chinese stood ready!

Portsmouth, kick off!

This left the Pompey players somewhat bewildered.

It was the eighty-eighth minute!

The Bayswater Chinese had been attacking relentlessly for eighty-eight minutes, had finally equalized, and now they wanted to keep attacking!

Looking at the expressions in their eyes, the Portsmouth players all felt a sense of panic.

An opponent like this was terrifying!

So resilient!

It was as if, no matter what setback they faced, no matter what difficulties they encountered, they were fearless and would always charge forward!

And when the Portsmouth players restarted the game with this cloud of doubt hanging over them, the ball was quickly won back by the Bayswater Chinese.

It was Modrić again who got the ball and organized the play.

And again, he passed to Hazard on the right.

The Belgian tried to dribble past his men again.

This time, he was dispossessed by Diop and Belhadj working together, and the ball was poked away.

But the ball didn’t go far.

Maicon made a quick overlapping run and intercepted the ball.

The Brazilian glanced into the box, particularly at the runs of Džeko and Lewandowski, then took two steps forward along the right touchline to create space before delivering a diagonal cross with his right foot.

Džeko was the first to charge forward, heading for the near post, naturally drawing Distin and Kaboul with him.

Lewandowski was a step behind, keeping his distance from Džeko, but he made a run towards the far post, aiming for the space behind Kaboul.

As Maicon’s cross came down, the Polish centre-forward saw his chance. With no time to spare, he launched himself into a diving header!

Lewandowski clearly felt the impact of his head against the ball, and he knew exactly where it was going.

In that instant, he knew—it was in!

It was a sure thing!

The goalkeeper had been distracted by Džeko.

Just as Lewandowski expected, the ball flew into the left side of Portsmouth’s goal.

The Polish centre-forward landed face down near the six-yard line.

But after hitting the ground, Lewandowski excitedly pounded the turf.

Goal!

The comeback is complete!!!

Chapter 155: The Leader of a New Era! The Strangest Scene in Premier League History

After a narrow victory in the ninth round, Yang Cheng had to rotate his squad for the tenth round match against Wigan Athletic at home just three days later, giving Džeko and several other key players a much-needed rest.

But in the 10th minute, Marcelo sent a low cross from the left flank to the front of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski poked it in from close range, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

After that, the home team maintained control of the game.

It wasn’t until the 60th minute that Rakitić delivered a cross from an attacking free-kick. Amidst the chaos in the penalty area, Robert Lewandowski made a quick run to the far post and scored from a tight angle, completing his brace.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Wigan Athletic at home.

This also meant Robert Lewandowski had scored three goals in two consecutive rounds.

The Polish centre-forward had already scored six goals this season.

Both Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were satisfied with Robert Lewandowski’s performance this season.

As Yang Cheng had said before, his upward trajectory was very clear, improving steadily step by step each year.

In the same round, Manchester City lost 2-0 away to Middlesbrough.

Despite the loss, The Blue Moons had dominated Middlesbrough for the entire match.

But in the 53rd minute, Sturridge fouled White inside the penalty area, conceding a penalty.

Afterward, Manchester City grew desperate to score and were caught on the counter-attack, conceding another goal.

Eriksson’s team still had the same old problem: defense!

Chelsea defeated Hull City 3-0 away in this round.

At home, Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-0, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, Arsenal drew 4-4 with Tottenham in the North London Derby.

Liverpool hosted Portsmouth in this round.

Leveraging their home advantage, The Reds pressed Portsmouth for the entire game but simply couldn’t break through Pompey’s solid defensive wall.

It was not until the 75th minute of the second half that Diop inadvertently handled the ball in the penalty area, giving Liverpool a penalty.

Gerrard converted it coolly, sealing the victory.

…

“Have Liverpool been on something this season? How are they playing so fiercely?”

“Tell me about it. They’re right on our heels, and we can’t shake them off for the life of us!”

“We’ve only played one of the top six teams, Arsenal, but they’ve already gone up against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City. If we can’t extend the gap now, the pressure on us will be even greater later.”

After every round of matches, the coaching staff held a meeting to summarize and analyze.

Liverpool’s penalty victory over Portsmouth was the last match of the round.

In the bright meeting room, a shadow of gloom hung over everyone’s mood.

Being hounded by a team like this, the pressure would only continue to mount.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd arrived at the meeting room door at that moment. They exchanged a glance, and both saw the worry in each other’s eyes.

If the coaching staff felt this way, the players must be under even more pressure.

If the coaches brought that kind of pressure onto the pitch, the players’ burden would only be greater.

So, after a moment’s thought, Yang Cheng spoke up.

“Liverpool’s rise this season actually proves that our strategy over the past few years has been right and ahead of its time!”

Yang Cheng’s words instantly silenced the meeting room.

“Last season, what was the cause of Liverpool’s slump?”

Without waiting for the coaches to answer, Yang Cheng provided the answer himself.

The Bayswater Chinese coaching staff had already analyzed this.

“The midfield!”

“Especially Xabi Alonso’s frequent injuries, which had a huge impact on Liverpool.”

“But what about this season? Xabi Alonso is healthy, he’s played in every match, and you’ve all seen how well he’s performed. That kid is fired up, determined to embarrass Benítez!”

Last season, when Xabi Alonso was frequently injured, it was rumored that Benítez wanted to sell him.

This had made the Spaniard very unhappy.

Although he stayed this season, Xabi Alonso was playing with a vengeance, determined to make Benítez look bad, prove his own ability, and show that he was still the core of Liverpool’s midfield.

Anyone could see that there was already a rift between the manager and the player.

But on a tactical level, with the arrival of Javier Mascherano, they had formed a world-class double pivot with Xabi Alonso, while Gerrard was pushed forward into the number ten role.

Torres was positioned as the centre-forward.

On the left wing, they had Riera, Babel, and Dossena, while on the right, they had Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun, and Pennant.

Perhaps these players weren’t top-tier individually, but they fit perfectly into Benítez’s 4-2-3-1 system.

Today’s Liverpool had a solid midfield and a potent attack.

Torres had solved the frontline problem that had plagued Liverpool for years.

Gerrard had become the second attacking option behind Torres and was having a breakout season.

In a way, this season’s Liverpool was arguably the strongest they had been in recent years.

Even stronger than in 2005 and 2007!

And the most crucial part of the entire tactical system was the double pivot.

It was the key to a 4-2-3-1 formation!

At Valencia, Benítez had the top-tier double pivot of Albelda and Baraja. Now, he had found the combination of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

In some ways, Liverpool’s double pivot was even stronger than Valencia’s!

But ironically, this double pivot that Benítez had personally built would probably be dismantled at the end of the season.

Because last season, he had cast a vote of no confidence in Xabi Alonso.

Yang Cheng had actually followed Xabi Alonso, considered signing him, and even had the data analysis team run some simulations.

The results showed that if Bayswater Chinese were to sign Xabi Alonso, they would have to change their formation.

In the current 4-3-3 system, Xabi Alonso could only play as a single holding midfielder.

But in the current Premier League environment, playing Xabi Alonso as a single holding midfielder was too risky. One of the central midfielders, Modrić or Rakitić, would have to be dropped for Matuidi to maintain balance.

Overall, the effect might not even be positive.

Conversely, if you pushed Xabi Alonso into the number 8 role, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Xabi Alonso’s ability to receive the ball and evade pressure wasn’t strong. The further forward he played, the less effective he became.

And if you looked closely at Xabi Alonso’s long passes, it was easy to see that he couldn’t deliver precise long balls from the number 8 position like Toni Kroos.

It was the same old issue: his spell-casting time was a bit long.

The further up the pitch, the tighter the defense, and it was easy for his “spell-casting” to be interrupted midway.

So, Yang Cheng would continue to wait for Toni Kroos.

But this season, Liverpool’s success proved once again that Yang Cheng’s original decision was correct.

“In European football today, the midfield is the most decisive area!”

In the meeting room, facing dozens of coaches and staff, Yang Cheng gave his judgment with great conviction.

“Liverpool are just like us; in fact, they are learning and drawing from our experience.”

“Isn’t the combination of Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, and Javier Mascherano very similar to our previous trio of Lassana Diarra, Modrić, and Yaya Touré?”

The players had different characteristics and their roles on the pitch varied slightly, but their overall function was similar.

To put it bluntly, it was about breaking down the various functions of the midfield and assigning them to different players.

“So, we don’t need to worry too much about Liverpool’s success. On the contrary, it proves that we are on the right path, and we started on it earlier and faster than Liverpool!”

He who controls the midfield controls the game!

A simple phrase, but truly difficult to achieve!

And once you achieved it and stabilized, Liverpool’s rise this season was the best proof!

…

Premier League, Round 11.

It was another tough away game.

Bayswater Chinese travelled to Goodison Park to challenge Everton.

David Moyes’ team set up in a 4-5-1 formation, ready for battle.

After a recent peak in form, Yang Cheng’s team, coupled with the increasing strength of their opponents, was experiencing a rather sluggish overall performance.

But Yang Cheng was not completely unprepared.

Lambert, who came on as a substitute in the 81st minute, met a cross from Maicon on the right in the 87th minute and headed the ball into the net from inside the six-yard box, breaking the deadlock for Bayswater Chinese.

It was the only goal of the match!

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng praised Lambert’s performance.

“He has always been one of our most trustworthy players!”

As for why he continuously brought on centre-forwards in the second half, eventually playing a three-man striker formation?

“You can ask Moyes later why he kept bringing on defenders and defensive midfielders.”

“After the 80th minute, did they even have any forwards left on the pitch?”

Yang Cheng even jokingly teased Mourinho.

“Sometimes, just piling players up front works quite well. It’s simple, direct, and brutal!”

All the reporters in the room who got Yang Cheng’s joke burst into laughter.

This was Mourinho’s favorite trick.

Whenever his attack faltered, he would simply stack the forward line.

The most absurd instance was this season at Inter Milan, where he once had five forwards on the pitch.

Yang Cheng really wanted to say, “I only used three.”

But regardless, a 1-0 win was a good result.

After the match, the media also praised Bayswater Chinese for their victory.

Especially for Yang Cheng’s substitution of Lambert in the 81st minute.

At a crucial moment, this forward, who had been with the team since their League Two days, was still very effective.

As long as he was used in the right way.

In this round’s other matches, Chelsea thrashed Sunderland 5-0 at home.

Manchester United narrowly defeated Hull City 4-3 at home, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo.

At this stage, Manchester United’s attacking lineup had become very clear.

Rooney, Berbatov, and C. Ronaldo would form the team’s primary attacking trio.

To put it bluntly, Berbatov had taken on the role that Alan Smith used to play.

Many were even saying that Ferguson was learning from Bayswater Chinese.

Because Berbatov was seen as a scaled-down version of Džeko.

But this meant Tevez could only be a substitute.

Given the Argentine beast’s temperament, Manchester United’s dressing room was likely in for some trouble.

Arsenal, meanwhile, came from behind to win 2-1 away at Stoke City, with goals from Clichy and Andrei Arshavin.

Manchester City defeated Bolton 2-0 away, with a goal and an assist from Kaká.

But what made Yang Cheng happiest was Liverpool’s 1-2 away loss to Tottenham.

The Reds had dominated the entire match.

Kuyt had opened the scoring for Liverpool just three minutes in.

But with Torres out injured, Liverpool’s ability to convert chances up front dropped significantly.

His replacement, Robbie Keane, was far less efficient than Torres.

So, for the entire match, Liverpool had all the momentum but couldn’t score.

Then, in the 69th minute of the second half, an own goal from Carragher gave Tottenham Hotspur a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

So, in the final moments of the match, Redknapp’s substitution paid off when Pavlyuchenko scored another for Tottenham.

2-1, Tottenham staged a comeback against a wasteful Liverpool.

After Redknapp took over Tottenham mid-season, they had played beautifully in both matches.

First, a 4-4 away draw with Arsenal, followed by a 2-1 home comeback against Liverpool.

It really proved the saying: a new manager brings a new lease on life!

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the Premier League table with 30 points from a 10-game winning streak.

It’s also worth mentioning that so far this season, Bayswater Chinese had racked up 16 consecutive wins across all competitions.

This included 10 league matches, 3 Champions League group stage matches, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Community Shield, and 1 League Cup match.

The world was stunned!

Especially considering that Bayswater Chinese had sold two core players, Lassana Diarra and Andrei Arshavin, over the summer, yet they had bounced back stronger against the odds!

Yang Cheng’s coaching ability was elevated to another level in everyone’s eyes.

Especially in the league, where they were already leading by four points.

And don’t forget, Bayswater Chinese still had a game in hand.

Due to the continuous schedule of two games a week, the rescheduled third-round match between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had yet to find a suitable date.

With Bayswater Chinese’s excellent performance, more and more media and fans were paying close attention to the team.

Especially their technical and tactical approach.

France Football magazine wrote a special article analyzing Bayswater Chinese’s tactical style this season.

They argued that Yang Cheng’s tactics weren’t new at first glance, bearing some resemblance to the philosophy of Ancelotti’s Christmas tree formation.

But upon deeper inspection, one would find that while they looked similar on the surface, they were not alike at all.

In terms of zones, Yang Cheng’s team positioned their ball-winning area near the halfway line, not adopting AC Milan’s Italian-style defense.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking methods were more varied, and their firepower was stronger.

Their passing and possession in midfield were also more refined and superior to AC Milan’s.

And up front, the wings, comprised of Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, and Theo Walcott, were faster than AC Milan’s.

Džeko, moreover, was the all-round centre-forward Ancelotti dreamed of.

So, it was more like a comprehensively upgraded version of AC Milan.

“More importantly, this team’s transition from defense to attack is extremely fast. After winning the ball, they can always move it into dangerous areas up front before the opponent’s defense can set up, launching their attack.”

“This gives all teams a huge headache, and it’s very difficult to stop defensively!”

France Football believed that none of Yang Cheng’s concepts, taken individually, were truly innovative.

They were all things that had appeared before.

“But what’s interesting is that he has integrated all of these elements into a Premier League team, and combined them with the characteristic fast pace, speed, and impact of the Premier League, to create a highly innovative and groundbreaking team with a very entertaining style of play!”

France Football magazine opined that two very unique teams had emerged in European football this season.

One was Bayswater Chinese from the Premier League.

The other was Barcelona from La Liga.

Pep Guardiola had also inherited the passing and possession style passed down through the generations at Barça, from Cruyff to van Gaal to Frank Rijkaard.

On this foundation, he further enhanced Barça’s entire possession system, creating the team that was currently dominating La Liga.

Guardiola’s team had already won eight consecutive games in La Liga.

In those eight rounds, they had scored 33 goals and conceded only 6.

Both teams had a very unique character, but both flew the flag of attacking football, injecting a fresh stream of blood into European football this season.

“The 29-year-old Yang Cheng and the 37-year-old Pep Guardiola are both subverting the current technical and tactical systems in European football!”

“Let’s wait and see!”

“Let’s see which of these two teams will become the leader of the new era!”

…

After a period of peak form, entering November, the continuous, non-stop schedule of two games a week led to an inevitable dip in Bayswater Chinese’s form.

But this was an objective reality.

A truly strong team must be able to find ways to defeat their opponents even during a slump.

For example, on November 4th, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese played Marseille away.

The Ligue 1 team once again set up with a three-man holding midfield, defending resolutely at home and playing on the counter-attack.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, launched continuous attacks.

Yang Cheng’s team had already won three consecutive group stage matches. One more win would secure their qualification as group leaders ahead of schedule.

If they did, the pressure would be off for the remaining two matches.

But precisely because of this, the match became even more difficult.

Marseille also wanted to keep the flame of hope alive and played with extra effort at home.

The two teams fought to a stalemate for over an hour.

It wasn’t until the 71st minute, when other surrounding teams couldn’t find an effective way to attack, that Di María delivered a cross from the right with his signature Rabona, finding Modrić who had made a run into the right side of the box.

The Croatian beat the goalkeeper, Mandanda, with a low shot.

It was the only goal of the match!

Yang Cheng was so excited that he jumped up on the spot.

Everyone at Bayswater Chinese was equally thrilled.

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng uncharacteristically singled out and praised the team’s captain, Modrić.

“Some players are always making their voices heard on a daily basis, but they disappear in a crisis.”

“But Modrić is the exact opposite.”

“We rarely hear his voice normally, but when the team is in its most difficult moment, he is always the bravest one, the one who steps up!”

“I am proud of our captain!”

In response to the praise from his head coach, Modrić also expressed his gratitude in a subsequent media interview.

“Our start to the season has been fantastic. We’re playing the most beautiful football in all of England, maybe even all of Europe!”

“Whether it’s me or the whole team, our situation is very good. There are no problems between us!”

“As for the head coach, I want to use the best words in the world to praise him. He is an extraordinary person, and the one I respect and am most grateful to!”

“When I came to England, many people doubted me. I was too skinny at the time, and they doubted whether I could play in England, but you all saw what happened later.”

“Over the past few years, the head coach has always given me support and strength!”

“It’s a very happy thing to have someone who truly trusts you and sees your potential, constantly pushing you from behind.”

“So, I am very, very proud that I chose to come to Bayswater Chinese back then!”

“There are very few Croatians playing in the Premier League, but we have shown everyone that Croatians can adapt to the Premier League!”

“If I could write a script for my football career, I couldn’t write it any better than this!”

“And now, I hope to continue staying at Bayswater Chinese, to continue giving my all for this team, for these fans, for everyone!”

“Play in Italy or Spain?”

“I don’t know, many things are not up to me, but if I could decide, I would choose to stay!”

Modrić’s rare expression of his feelings immediately won unanimous praise from the Bayswater Chinese fans.

As the team captain, Modrić had been the subject of no shortage of rumors over the past two years.

Especially this past summer, he had been linked with Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, and even Barça, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan.

Now, Modrić’s comments, along with his crucial goal in Marseille, not only reassured the Bayswater Chinese fans but also led the British media to urge Bayswater Chinese to hurry up and secure the future of their star player.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, this statement had a deeper meaning.

Starting this summer, the team had begun a new round of contract renewals.

Modrić was the first in line for a new deal.

He was the team captain and had been the club’s top earner for the past few years.

His renewal would affect the subsequent renewals of many other players, so the negotiations between the two sides were not going very smoothly.

Modrić’s agent was not satisfied with the weekly wage of seventy thousand pounds offered by the club.

Because if Modrić moved to another team, he could earn at least one hundred thousand pounds.

Perhaps even more.

Previously, the media had reported that contract renewal talks between Modrić and the club had broken down.

But now, the Croatian’s statement was telling everyone that the negotiation issues were more about salary, and that he did not want to leave Bayswater Chinese.

Bayswater Chinese’s CEO, Adam Crozier, immediately came forward and told the media that the club would do its utmost to keep Modrić.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese immediately arranged a meeting with Modrić’s agent.

The two sides once again negotiated the contract extension.

Bayswater Chinese raised their salary offer again, to eighty thousand pounds.

This was already double the amount of his contract from two years ago.

Modrić’s statement had also made his position clear to his agent, so the agent quickly agreed to the new salary.

The two sides began to negotiate the finer details of the contract, such as match bonuses.

Soon, they reached a preliminary agreement.

The day after the team returned to London, Bayswater Chinese officially announced that they had reached a formal agreement with Modrić’s team on a contract extension.

The specific salary details would not be made public.

But the ever-present media reporters easily found clues, estimating Modrić’s weekly wage to be between seventy-five thousand and eighty-three thousand pounds, which was quite accurate.

Modrić’s contract renewal gave the dressing room and fans peace of mind.

It also set a good precedent for the team’s new round of renewals.

…

Premier League, Round 12.

The Gunners defeated Manchester United 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Andrei Arshavin.

Ferguson’s lineup and tactics in this match were a bit poor.

The main problem was in the midfield.

He had bafflingly deployed a midfield combination of Park Ji-sung, Carrick, Anderson, and C. Ronaldo.

Wenger stubbornly stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that had performed poorly before, and as a result, Arshavin completely tore Manchester United apart through the middle.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at home.

Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 away, courtesy of a brace from Anelka.

Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home with goals from Kaká and Robinho.

It’s worth noting that Eriksson’s team secured the three points at home even after Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong was sent off for two yellow cards in the first half.

They played with one less man than Tottenham for a long time but still managed to seal the victory with a counter-attacking goal from Kaká in the 64th minute.

This also proved Yang Cheng’s previous judgment correct.

After coming to the Premier League, Kaká indeed had no problems adapting or integrating.

Especially in Eriksson’s 4-2-3-1 system.

Adebayor was up front, with Robinho, Kaká, and Shaun Wright-Phillips on the wings, and the double pivot was anchored by quality players like Inler, Gareth Barry, and Nigel de Jong.

The only major weakness was the defense.

Manchester City’s current defensive line was indeed quite shaky, which had a huge impact on the team.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese hosted Newcastle at Wembley Stadium.

The match was still played at a rather sluggish pace.

Although Gareth Bale opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a low shot from the left side of the penalty area.

Newcastle equalized in the second half when Duff delivered a cross on a counter-attack, and Ameobi swept it in from close range.

After that, for most of the match, Bayswater Chinese struggled to threaten Newcastle’s goal.

It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Džeko, at a crucial moment, used his body to hold off Argentine centre-back Coloccini in the box, controlled the ball, turned, and scored with a low left-footed shot.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured another three points at home!

…

As the midweek fixture was the Round of 16 of the League Cup, Yang Cheng, as usual, planned to field a full lineup of young and substitute players.

So, after the Newcastle match, he immediately gave several of his main players a two-day break to rest well.

The weekend match was against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

That would be another tough battle.

In the midweek League Cup Round of 16 match, Bayswater Chinese faced The Reds, Liverpool.

Both teams fielded full reserve lineups, but Liverpool started Torres, who was returning from injury.

This was clearly a move to let Torres regain his form in the League Cup.

Although Bayswater Chinese fielded their reserves, their forward line still consisted of the trio of Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

This posed a significant threat to Liverpool.

Especially just before the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese launched a powerful wave of attacks in a short span of ten minutes.

The midfield, composed of Matuidi, Nemanja Matić, and Aaron Ramsey, continuously supplied ammunition to their teammates up front.

First, in the 37th minute, Walcott assisted a goal for Lewandowski.

Then, in the 41st minute, Hazard assisted Walcott for a goal.

This particular attacking move was one Yang Cheng had been preparing.

Hazard cut inside from the left with the ball, delivered a diagonal lob pass with his right foot to the right side of the penalty area, and Walcott made a quick diagonal run and shot directly.

The attacking coordination was beautiful, leaving Liverpool’s defense completely unable to stop it.

Inspired by this success, in first-half stoppage time, Marcelo copied the move, delivering another exquisite pass from the left. Walcott again made a diagonal run in behind, received the ball, and beat the Liverpool goalkeeper.

3-0!

Although Hyypiä scored from an attacking free-kick just two minutes into the second half.

Bayswater Chinese responded in the 51st minute when Aaron Ramsey played a through ball, and Lewandowski scored again.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Liverpool 4-1 at home.

But everyone could see that Benítez hadn’t fielded his main players at all.

This victory only proved that Bayswater Chinese had greater squad depth than Liverpool!

There was also an upset in this round.

Scolari’s Chelsea drew 1-1 at home with Burnley but lost the subsequent penalty shootout.

This left the more than forty thousand fans at Stamford Bridge very dissatisfied.

The main issue was that The Blues actually had many key players injured.

Including Drogba, Malouda, Kalou, Deco, Lampard, Mikel, Alex, Ferreira, Juliano Belletti, and others.

But to play like that was still very disappointing.

…

Weekend, Premier League Round 13.

With the support of the sports science department, Yang Cheng’s control over the first-team players’ physical and mental states was now clearly a level above what it was before.

After a two-day break and a week of adjustments, the Bayswater Chinese team that appeared at Wembley Stadium on the weekend showed a very noticeable recovery in form.

In this match, Redknapp arranged a 4-5-1 formation.

Not the 4-2-3-1 type of 4-5-1, but one with three holding midfielders, leaving only Darren Bent up front to play on the counter-attack, and a centre-back pairing of Ledley King and Woodgate.

It was a tactic that was almost like parking the bus.

This clearly showed Redknapp’s objective for the away game.

But even so, Tottenham only managed to hold out for 35 minutes.

Following a dribbling run and cross from the left by Di María, Džeko headed the ball into Tottenham’s goal.

After the break, in the 70th minute, it was Di María again who created a corner kick opportunity from the left.

Leighton Baines quickly took the corner into the box, and Pepe scored with a header, extending the lead.

2-0!

Tottenham managed to score a consolation goal in the 91st minute on a counter-attack, with Darren Bent finding the net.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham 2-1 at home, taking all three points!

But Liverpool also won 2-0 away at Bolton, with goals from Kuyt and Gerrard.

Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home, with goals from Benzema and Andrei Arshavin.

Manchester United thrashed Stoke City 5-0 at home, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo.

Chelsea also won 3-0 away at West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester City defeated Hull City 2-1 away.

Kaká scored a brace.

…

After 13 rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese were first in the Premier League with a 12-game winning streak and 36 points.

Following them were Liverpool with 32 points, and Chelsea and Arsenal in third and fourth with 29 points each.

Manchester United had 27 points, sitting in fifth place.

Manchester City were sixth with 25 points.

Regarding the current state of the Premier League, while the outside world was full of praise for Bayswater Chinese’s winning streak, there were also underlying concerns.

That is, so far, Bayswater Chinese had only played against one of the top six league teams, Arsenal.

The match against Manchester United had been postponed indefinitely.

The upcoming schedule would be a huge test for Bayswater Chinese.

Especially in December.

Bayswater Chinese had to play in the Club World Cup, and the back-and-forth travel would greatly affect their situation.

The only thing certain for now was that their 18th-round home game against Middlesbrough would be postponed due to the Club World Cup.

This would inevitably compress Bayswater Chinese’s schedule further in the second half of the season.

Bayswater Chinese themselves were also worried about the schedule.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had run simulations; if the rescheduled matches were played in January, it would be manageable.

Their biggest fear was the makeup games being scheduled for February or March.

At that time, the team would be fighting on multiple fronts and would also have to play rescheduled league matches, which would be the most taxing.

Of course, rescheduled matches couldn’t just be played whenever.

Just like this season, both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had been fighting on two fronts with almost no breathing room, which was why there had been no opportunity to reschedule the third-round league match.

In January, both teams would have to consider the cup competitions.

Yang Cheng couldn’t possibly say that the team should forfeit a cup competition just for one rescheduled match, could he?

Besides, even if Bayswater Chinese lost and freed up time, Manchester United and Middlesbrough also had to be available.

Otherwise, how could the matches be rescheduled?

So, the whole situation was very complicated.

Yang Cheng even made a special call to Ferguson, and they agreed that if they could find time in January, they should play the rescheduled match as soon as possible.

Neither of them wanted to leave such an important clash between top teams for February, March, or even later.

“Sir, if you lose to Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup quarter-finals on December 3rd, then we can play our rescheduled match in January.”

“At that time, we could even do you a favor, field two different lineups, and play on consecutive days!”

This rotten idea from Yang Cheng infuriated Ferguson.

Manchester United had already been pushed out of the top four this season, and now they had to take this?

“If you lose, we can also play on consecutive days,” Ferguson snorted.

“Is your squad deep enough for that?” Yang Cheng said with a chuckle.

“You’ll find out if it’s deep enough once we’re on the pitch!” Ferguson said maliciously.

It was clear that he was also very dissatisfied with Manchester United’s situation in the Premier League this season.

On one hand, their competitors had grown stronger, especially Arsenal and Liverpool, who were both performing very well this season.

Even Manchester City was catching up.

This put Ferguson under pressure.

…

With Bayswater Chinese growing stronger, the resurgence of Arsenal and Liverpool this season, and the rise of Manchester City, the Premier League was experiencing its most competitive season ever.

Not only was the points gap between the top six teams small, but the difference between 10th place and the relegation zone was also only four points.

This meant that the teams currently in the mid-table could drop into the relegation zone at any moment.

This was thanks to the strong purchasing power shown by Premier League teams over the summer.

The stronger the team, the harder it is to improve, and the higher the investment required.

The same ten million pound sterling investment could completely transform a mid-to-lower table team.

But for a top-ranked team, it was basically just a drop in the bucket.

And after the significant increase in Premier League broadcast revenue last season, the purchasing power of mid-to-lower table teams also rose accordingly.

This made the mid-to-lower table teams in the Premier League very close in strength this season.

There were no so-called weak teams.

Therefore, this season’s Premier League was being hailed as the most fiercely competitive since its inception in 1992.

Between rounds 13 and 14 was the November international break.

No one expected that after round 14 was played, the strangest scene in Premier League history would occur.

In this round, Bayswater Chinese visited Anfield to challenge Liverpool.

Yang Cheng’s team had 33 shots throughout the match.

Aside from the fact that many of their international players were fatigued and in poor form, Liverpool’s staunch defense was also a factor.

In the end, the two teams drew 0-0.

Chelsea drew 0-0 at home with Newcastle.

Manchester City drew 0-0 at home with Arsenal.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away at Aston Villa.

So far this season, the Premier League had averaged over 25 goals per round.

But in this round, only 12 goals were scored in total across all 10 matches.

The highest-scoring game was Bolton’s 3-1 away victory over Middlesbrough.

Portsmouth drew 2-2 at home with Hull City.

Those two matches alone accounted for eight goals.

Apart from the four matches involving Premier League top-six teams all ending 0-0, the remaining four matches were all decided by a single goal.

This created the strangest scene in the history of the Premier League.

None of the top six teams managed to win.

Not only did they not win, but not a single one of the top six teams scored a goal!

It was as if all the teams had “agreed” on it together.

The reason for this bizarre situation was actually quite simple: the international matches FIFA had scheduled in the middle of the week between rounds 13 and 14.

According to the previous schedule, there were no major international fixtures in November.

World Cup qualifiers were not scheduled for November either.

So, the international matches in November were friendlies, but they were still A-list official matches.

Under the existing regulations, clubs couldn’t prevent their international players from being called up.

And so, all sorts of bizarre things happened.

Among Bayswater Chinese’s international players, Argentina had it relatively easy, scheduling a friendly in Scotland, which was very convenient for Di María.

Bosnia and Herzegovina played a nearby match against Slovenia, but Džeko still had to fly over.

Germany played a friendly against England in Berlin, and Neuer, Walcott, and other internationals all went.

The most ridiculous of all were Brazil and Portugal.

They played a friendly match and called up a large number of their international stars.

Pepe, Marcelo, Maicon, Thiago Silva, and others were all on the list.

The most absurd part was that they actually scheduled this midweek friendly in Brazil.

And it was held in a small place on the outskirts of the Brazilian capital, Brasília, in a stadium that could only hold twenty thousand people.

So, after playing the 13th round of the Premier League, the international players rushed off to report to their national teams and then flew to Brazil.

By the time they travelled all the way there, played the match, and then travelled all the way back.

Manchester United’s performance this season was poor, and Ferguson was like a powder keg; he just exploded.

He publicly blasted FIFA and the Football Association in the media, arguing that such friendlies were meaningless except for making money.

“I don’t understand, what’s the point of FIFA forcing these dead-end tasks on the clubs?”

“We are powerless to protect our players, who have every right to get a proper rest!”

“Unfortunately, these matches are just a way to make money off their names!”

Wenger, who also had many internationals in his squad, equally despised this kind of match.

“To protect our players, we give up many money-making opportunities. I don’t know how many commercial matches we turn down every year. We get countless invitations, each worth one million pounds.”

“But they take our players away at the most crucial time of the season just to make money. This is outrageous!”

Former England national team manager Eriksson, who had often clashed with Ferguson and Wenger during his time as national team coach, was now on the same side, aiming his fire at the common enemy.

“In fact, a lot of the time, the national team managers are very unhappy about these matches, and the players are very frustrated too.”

“This is a completely unnecessary act. They completely disregard the interests of the clubs and the players.”

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t let this opportunity slip by. He pointed out in the media that to restrain national teams from calling up players, they should be made to pay for it, not just a fee, but also all salary expenses and club losses during periods of injury.

“I believe this is a way to effectively constrain national teams and regulate international matches.”

Yang Cheng’s proposal quickly sparked widespread discussion.

Ferguson, Wenger, Benítez, and even former national team managers Eriksson and Scolari, all strongly agreed.

With the managers of the Premier League’s top six teams all speaking out, combined with such a bizarre set of results, the media and fans around the world instantly erupted.

The British media launched an all-out offensive.

This was truly outrageous!

The national teams’ unscrupulous call-ups of international players were seriously affecting the clubs and the league.

The total number of goals was less than half the average.

Just think about it, it was beyond ridiculous!

The outcry started by the Premier League quickly garnered support from powerhouse teams in Serie A, the Bundesliga, La Liga, and other leagues.

It could be said that the teams in Europe’s major leagues had been suffering at the hands of national teams for a long time.

Amidst the impassioned public outcry, FIFA had no choice but to come forward and state that starting in 2009, they would carefully arrange the international match schedule to minimize its impact on the leagues.

Chapter 156: Has This Kid Finally Had a Breakthrough? A True Miracle at Wembley!

On the evening of November 26th, at the Calderón Stadium in Madrid.

In the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese faced Atlético Madrid in an away game.

As the team had already secured their spot in the knockout stage with four consecutive wins, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff decided to field a lineup of substitutes and young players for this match.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defence: Marcelo, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matuidi, Nemanja Matić, and Aaron Ramsey;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

For Bayswater Chinese, this match was very much an opportunity to give players experience.

But The Mattress Makers were still determined to fight Inter Milan for a place in the next round.

After four rounds, Bayswater Chinese had twelve points, Inter Milan had seven, Atlético Madrid had four, and Marseille had none.

Therefore, Atlético Madrid had to go all-out in their remaining two matches and try to win both.

That was their only hope of survival.

Because of this, The Mattress Makers launched a desperate, ferocious assault right from the start, catching the young Bayswater Chinese players off guard and completely disrupting their rhythm and control of the game.

In the 14th and 28th minutes, Atlético Madrid scored two consecutive goals.

However, after half-time, Bayswater Chinese managed to steady themselves.

At the beginning of the second half, Atlético Madrid attacked again, trying to extend their lead and boost their morale.

But just two minutes in, Agüero dropped back to receive a pass from Maxi Rodríguez and attempted to launch an attack from Atlético’s right flank.

Nemanja Matić promptly appeared on the left to support the defensively exposed Marcelo.

As Agüero received the ball and tried to break away, Matić, with his height and long legs, timed his tackle perfectly, intercepting the ball with a single kick.

Agüero lost his balance and fell, but the head referee didn’t blow the whistle, instead waving play on, indicating it was a clean tackle.

Amidst a chorus of boos at the Calderón Stadium, Matić carried the ball forward.

The Serbian midfielder then showcased the refined footwork he had developed playing as a number 10. Facing a three-man press from defensive midfielders Raúl García and Maniche, with Maxi Rodríguez chasing from behind, he remained composed.

Matić continued to dribble forward, compressing Atlético’s defensive formation while waiting for an opportunity.

As Robert Lewandowski made a diagonal run back from the arc of the penalty area to offer support, Matić, instead of passing to him, sent a precise through ball between the two holding midfielders.

The ball pierced through the defensive line of Raúl García and Maniche, zipping past Heitinga who had stepped up to challenge.

The Dutch centre-back stuck out a foot to intercept but missed, losing his defensive position in the process.

Lewandowski had already received a signal from Matić. He instantly stopped, turned, and made a quick forward run, breaking into the left side of the penalty area. He caught up to Matić’s through ball just before Ujfaluši could reach it and scored with a low shot from his left foot.

1-2!

After this goal, Bayswater Chinese’s performance improved dramatically.

Especially Matić.

The Serbian midfielder could be seen running tirelessly in the holding midfield role, his passing and organization displaying the commanding presence of a general.

Against Atlético Madrid, whether it was ground balls or aerial duels, he handled them with ease, directing play with composure.

More importantly, he was calm and unhurried whenever he had the ball and when he distributed it.

…

“Has this kid finally had a breakthrough?”

Yang Cheng, standing on the sideline, grew more delighted the more he watched. He walked back to the dugout and asked Brian Kidd.

Brian Kidd nodded repeatedly, smiling. “It’s about time he did.”

After a pause, Brian Kidd continued, “He’s been with our team for two or three years, hasn’t he?”

“He came in the summer of ’06,” answered technical coach Danny McGrain from the side.

For the past few years, Danny McGrain had been in charge of individual technical training for the players.

“That’s two and a half years, then,” Brian Kidd said with a sigh.

For many professional players, two and a half years could be enough for a complete transformation.

Matić’s progress was even a bit on the slow side.

Yang Cheng, however, was quite satisfied with his development.

Transitioning from a number 10 to a Number 4 role was indeed not easy.

It was especially important to consider that when Matić joined Bayswater Chinese, he had no professional match experience.

A blank canvas is easier to paint on, but the growth and improvement of a young player still take time.

“Over the past two to three years, he’s been consistently working on his defending, and since the start of this season, he’s been focusing on physical strength training. It’s about time he started to shine,” Danny McGrain analyzed.

Player development is a process.

Over the past couple of years, Matić had gotten plenty of playing time, and Yang Cheng had been carefully nurturing him.

Coupled with the coaching staff’s targeted training, his overall ability had been steadily improving.

“His game will develop very quickly from now on. We need to keep up with his training and match practice,” Yang Cheng instructed.

Brian Kidd and Danny McGrain both nodded.

They were skilled at developing young players and knew that every player goes through such a phase.

Take Džeko, for example.

His fastest period of growth wasn’t this season, but the previous two seasons, where he made enormous strides.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, had been improving steadily ever since joining the team and had reached a new peak this season.

Last season, he scored a total of only eight goals. So far this season, he had already scored six.

And that didn’t include cup competitions.

During a player’s fastest growth period, as long as they stay injury-free and get enough match experience, their ability will skyrocket.

For Matić and Lewandowski, there was no shortage of matches.

Yang Cheng’s only real concern was injuries.

“Have the medical and sports science departments pay special attention to him and report to me daily,” Yang Cheng ordered.

This made everyone feel the importance Yang Cheng placed on Matić.

Yang Cheng had his reasons for doing so.

In his mind, the strongest midfield combinations in the coming years would be the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio and the Ceremony Trio.

The debate over which of the two was superior was endless.

But one thing was certain.

The strength of the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio was built within Barça’s possession-based system and was most effective under Pep Guardiola.

And they had a certain Messi playing ahead of them!

Who could replicate such demanding conditions?

But the Ceremony Trio was different. They were not only more adaptable and balanced between attack and defence, but also offered a richer variety of tactical options.

Therefore, the strongest midfield in Yang Cheng’s mind had always been Toni Kroos paired with Modrić.

So what about the holding midfielder in the Number 4 role?

Yaya Touré?

Anyone who knew the Côte d’Ivoire midfielder would agree that he was a perfect fit.

But on one condition: he had to be disciplined enough to focus on defending.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t push forward, but that defence had to be his priority.

This season, with the rise of Rakitić, Yaya Touré had already expressed his feelings to Yang Cheng several times.

He preferred the days when Lassana Diarra was around.

During that time, he could make forward runs at will without any worries.

But that would diminish Modrić’s threat.

The Croatian wasn’t fast; his ability to carry the ball over short distances became more dangerous the closer he got to the goal.

But if he had to spend all his time covering for Yaya Touré, Modrić would naturally have to play a bit deeper.

Toni Kroos, Modrić, Xabi Alonso, Rakitić, and even Xavi and Iniesta all shared a typical trait: none of them were particularly strong in one-on-one defending, nor did they have explosive power.

Midfielders of this type often don’t commit to a tackle easily when defending. Instead, they prioritize staying with their opponent, maintaining a suitable distance from their teammates, and compressing the opponent’s space on the ball.

As a result, their ball recovery numbers were impressive, though their actual defensive statistics weren’t as flashy.

But their defensive style meant they had to work in tandem with the players behind them.

This made the Number 4 role extremely important.

For Yang Cheng, to maximize the abilities of Rakitić and Modrić, he had to limit Yaya Touré’s forward runs.

Conversely, to maximize the attacking threat of Yaya Touré’s overlapping runs, he would have to sacrifice some of the playmaking and attacking contributions from Rakitić and Modrić.

In the summer of

2009, Pep Guardiola’s Barça faced a similar choice.

And he chose Busquets.

Real Madrid chose Casemiro.

At Bayswater Chinese, for now, Yaya Touré’s situation was still within Yang Cheng’s control.

But as Yaya Touré’s performances grew more outstanding, he began to show some signs of restlessness.

For example, in this season’s contract renewal talks, Bayswater Chinese offered a weekly wage of seventy thousand pound sterling, but they had yet to reach an agreement.

His agent believed that Yaya Touré was the team’s most important player, bar none, and therefore demanded a salary higher than everyone else’s.

Not only that, but he also wanted more freedom on a tactical level.

So, at this juncture, Matić’s excellent performance was undoubtedly a crucial bargaining chip for Bayswater Chinese.

In fact, if looking purely at the Number 4 role, Matić, a former attacking midfielder, was a better fit with Toni Kroos and Modrić in terms of organization, passing, and reading the game than Yaya Touré.

From any angle, Yang Cheng wanted to go all-in on developing Matić.

…

Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 away to Atlético Madrid.

But the young players’ outstanding performance in the second half once again earned them unanimous praise.

Anyone could see that Bayswater Chinese’s group of young players displayed considerable talent.

This also led to a growing number of teams coveting Bayswater Chinese’s players.

It was under these circumstances that England’s top agent, Jonathan Barnett, arrived at Bayswater Chinese’s temporary office on the north side of Bayswater Road.

The receptionist was clearly expecting him and politely welcomed him into the meeting room.

Less than three minutes later, Xia Qing walked into the room.

“Hello, Jonathan.”

“A pleasure to see you, Miss Xia.”

Jonathan Barnett was extremely polite and courteous to Xia Qing.

Ever since Yang Cheng’s public declaration of love at Wembley Stadium in 2007, the media and fans around the world knew about Xia Qing.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese had a Chief Financial Officer of refined and exceptional beauty.

And in European football, Xia Qing was also highly praised.

Over the past few years, she had meticulously organized Bayswater Chinese’s financial system.

Especially the salary structure.

This was a challenge for all clubs, but Xia Qing had handled it remarkably well at Bayswater Chinese. She was lauded as Yang Cheng’s capable assistant, her contribution considered no less significant than Adam Crozier’s.

As Jonathan Barnett observed Xia Qing, she was also sizing him up.

Over the years, the English agent’s influence had grown larger and larger, and his collaboration with Bayswater Chinese had become deeper.

For instance, Bayswater Chinese’s current first team had quite a few of Jonathan Barnett’s players.

Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Leighton Baines, Aaron Ramsey, Begović, Lambert, and others.

Almost all the domestic players had now signed with Jonathan Barnett.

This was something Yang Cheng had tacitly approved of.

As Bayswater Chinese’s results improved, the players under Jonathan Barnett’s representation became more and more sought after.

Today, Jonathan Barnett was, in fact, England’s top agent.

But at Bayswater Chinese, he remained very courteous.

Others might not know, but Xia Qing knew the reason.

Years ago, Yang Cheng had promised him that he would help him develop two domestic players who would be no less talented than Rooney.

Looking at Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott today, Jonathan Barnett must have felt it even more deeply and with greater emotion.

“Jonathan, the main reason I invited you here today is to discuss the contract renewals for Leighton Baines, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott.”

“Here are the three contracts we’ve prepared. Please take a look.”

As soon as Xia Qing finished speaking, her female assistant stood up and handed over three documents.

Jonathan Barnett opened the first one. Leighton Baines’s renewal offered a weekly wage of sixty thousand pound sterling.

As an agent, Jonathan Barnett naturally had his own sources of information.

Unlike what the media reported, he had an inkling that Modrić’s renewed weekly wage was around eighty thousand pound sterling.

Offering Leighton Baines sixty thousand pound sterling a week clearly placed him in the upper tier of the second-level players.

The core strength of the team.

The second and third contracts were quite similar.

Gareth Bale and Walcott were hailed as Britain’s twin stars and were attracting more and more attention in the country.

Some weekends, fans from Wales or other cities in England would even drive all the way to London just to watch them play.

And the two were very similar in many respects.

For example, their contracts.

The renewal offered by Bayswater Chinese was for a weekly wage of forty thousand pound sterling, also in the second tier, but on the lower end.

Jonathan Barnett just glanced at the contract, and his first reaction was that it was too low.

With the development trajectory of these two young talents, if they went to another club, they could easily get one hundred thousand pound sterling, let alone forty thousand.

But Jonathan Barnett wouldn’t think that way. In fact, he would persuade the players and their families otherwise.

A lower salary wasn’t a big deal; the most important thing for young players was development.

As long as they developed well and improved their skills, wouldn’t making money be easy?

But as Jonathan Barnett read through the contract, he also noticed the bonuses.

Leighton Baines was a defender, so it was normal for his weekly wage to be relatively lower.

Gareth Bale and Walcott were offered forty thousand pounds a week, but their bonuses were very generous.

If the two youngsters performed well and the team’s results were good, their income would be no less than Leighton Baines’s.

This made Jonathan Barnett nod inwardly in approval.

Leighton Baines was already a relatively mature player, so a weekly wage of sixty thousand pounds with relatively smaller bonuses was appropriate.

But for the young Gareth Bale and Walcott, the focus was more on incentives. A lower weekly wage with higher bonuses would encourage them to perform better and earn more.

Besides, Gareth Bale and Walcott were so young; there would be more contract renewals in the future, so it was necessary to leave room for salary increases.

“You know, Jonathan, Mr. Yang values these players very highly. He has repeatedly stressed to me that we must complete the renewals as soon as possible. We don’t intend to haggle over salary and other terms, so the contracts we’ve offered are very sincere.”

Xia Qing paused, then smiled elegantly, a radiant smile that seemed to light up the entire meeting room.

Even the much older Jonathan Barnett was momentarily distracted.

“I believe that apart from Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea, if they were to go to any other team, the salary package they would receive probably wouldn’t be much higher than what’s in these two contracts. What do you think?”

Jonathan Barnett nodded.

That was a fair point.

Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea were all showing signs of losing control of their wage structures.

But their situations were different.

Manchester City had deep pockets and didn’t care about their wage structure when poaching players; Arsenal and Chelsea were in the process of rebuilding theirs.

Going to those teams might earn them a higher salary, but would they develop better?

“I’ll need to communicate with the players and their families, but I will certainly convey your sincerity!”

Xia Qing smiled radiantly again, giving a slight nod. “Then I’ll wait for your good news.”

When Jonathan Barnett said that, it meant there wouldn’t be a problem.

As for Leighton Baines, there weren’t many issues either.

However, Jonathan Barnett did ask a question that was likely on the player’s mind.

It was about Marcelo.

Anyone could see that Yang Cheng greatly admired Marcelo from Brazil.

The Brazilian player was also particularly strange.

Sometimes his performances were brilliant, but at other times, they were a complete mess.

His defending was the most criticized aspect of his game.

For example, in the just-concluded Champions League match against Atlético Madrid, his left flank had once again become a defensive disaster zone.

If it weren’t for Matić frequently providing support on that side in the second half, Marcelo would probably have been heavily criticized again.

“Mr. Yang mentioned to me that Marcelo is still very young. He was born in ’88, so he’s only twenty now. He’s being groomed for the future.”

After a pause, Xia Qing added, “It’s hard to say what will happen in the future. The team needs more competition. Leighton Baines is a homegrown player and is currently our most relied-upon left-back.”

“Understood,” Jonathan Barnett nodded.

After seeing Jonathan Barnett off, Xia Qing turned back and glanced at her assistant.

The female assistant immediately took a step forward. “There are two more meetings this morning. There’s a four-party meeting with the construction company, the design firm, and the city council about the new stadium, which you and Mr. Crozier need to attend.”

“There’s also the signing ceremony for the seventh Satellite Training Centre in South London. You promised Mr. Hunter you would go.”

“In the afternoon, there’s an internal team meeting, mainly to discuss the expenditure budget for December, and also…”

The assistant reeled off the day’s itinerary in one breath; it was packed.

Xia Qing was used to it.

She had already delegated all the trivial matters.

But as the Chief Financial Officer of Bayswater Chinese, there were many things she had to attend to and make decisions on personally.

“Make a call to Matić’s agent, schedule a time with him. Try to arrange a meeting this afternoon to discuss his contract renewal.”

This wasn’t a major issue for Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng had specifically instructed her about it last night, so Xia Qing wanted to get it done quickly.

“That would have to be after five p.m.,” the assistant said after checking the schedule.

“You arrange it.”

With that, Xia Qing quickly left the meeting room and headed towards Adam Crozier’s office.

Since it was a four-party meeting, many things needed to be communicated and agreed upon internally ahead of time.

Her assistant followed behind her, gazing at her graceful figure with eyes full of admiration.

The woman before her was a renowned power woman in the world of football.

The key was, she was also incredibly beautiful!

It was as if God had bestowed all the best things upon her.

…

After returning to London from Madrid, Yang Cheng began preparing for the fifteenth round of the Premier League.

Aston Villa were currently seventh in the Premier League, with a very impressive record.

More importantly, at Villa Park this season, they remained unbeaten against teams in the top six.

Manchester City had fallen here, while Liverpool and Manchester United had both drawn 0-0.

It was safe to say that Martin O’Neill’s team was absolutely stunning at home.

His 4-5-1 formation with three holding midfielders, focused on defensive counter-attacks, caused immense trouble for many of the top teams.

Just last week, Ferguson’s team had nearly been upset at Villa Park, which had left him so furious he lashed out at FIFA and the various national football associations.

Yang Cheng’s team had recently entered a period of adjustment, and their overall performance hadn’t been particularly good.

Although Bayswater Chinese went all out and smoothly took control of the game, Aston Villa would counter-attack at every opportunity.

Especially Agbonlahor up front, whose speed made their counter-attacks incredibly threatening.

In the 19th minute of the first half, Modrić once again broke through with the ball, bypassing two defenders and delivering a through pass behind the defence.

Di María made a quick diagonal run from the right, successfully beating the offside trap, but his right-footed chip shot was saved by goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

The Argentine really should have his right foot chopped off!

“As much as you love his left foot, that’s how much you hate his right!”

Yang Cheng was truly frustrated.

Against an iron barrel defence like Aston Villa’s, he didn’t know if they would get another good chance like that in the entire match.

And Di María had missed it!

“Actually, his right foot has improved a lot. We’ve really been helping him with it, and the player himself is working hard. It just takes time,” Brian Kidd said with a wry smile.

Perhaps Di María had heard Yang Cheng’s threat to chop off his right foot, because the Argentine’s performance in the second half was even better.

In the 83rd minute, it was his combination with Maicon on the right flank that created the goal. He played a through ball, and Maicon made a diagonal run towards the edge of the penalty area, completing a quick one-two pass with Džeko.

The Brazilian broke into the right side of the box and fired a power shot into the net with his right foot.

1-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a last-minute winner against Aston Villa thanks to Maicon’s goal!

…

After the match, many British media outlets defined Bayswater Chinese’s victory as a player’s individual brilliance.

“Maicon’s Goal Saves Bayswater Chinese!”

But some media argued that outstanding individual performances are also a part of a team’s strength.

Besides, Di María had missed a clear one-on-one opportunity.

“Whenever the team faces difficulties, someone always steps up in time to break the deadlock. This is a testament to the team’s formidable strength.”

“From Lambert to Modrić, and now to Maicon, Bayswater Chinese is increasingly showing the character of a top team!”

In this round, Manchester United defeated Manchester City 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Rooney.

Arsenal, meanwhile, beat Chelsea 2-0 away, with van Persie scoring a brace.

Andrei Arshavin provided two assists and put on a very eye-catching performance.

But what made Yang Cheng happiest was the final marquee match of the round, where Liverpool drew 0-0 at home against West Ham United.

When the news reached West London, the Brent training center erupted in celebration.

Though their buildings were separate, Yang Cheng, in his coach’s office in the training building, could hear the players cheering in the lounge area.

Liverpool drew!

This meant Bayswater Chinese’s lead at the top had extended to six points.

And with a game in hand!

After fifteen matches, they had thirteen wins and one draw, remaining undefeated!

This record was simply dazzling for Bayswater Chinese!

The next day, all major British media were reporting on the results of the fifteenth round of the Premier League.

Almost everyone believed that Liverpool’s draw brought Bayswater Chinese one step closer to the title.

The half-season championship was basically in the bag!

After fifteen rounds, Bayswater Chinese had 40 points.

Liverpool had 34, Arsenal 32, Manchester United 31, Chelsea 30, and Manchester City remained in sixth place with 26 points.

Before the first training session of the morning, Yang Cheng gave a brief speech.

He relayed the news of Liverpool’s draw against West Ham to the players.

Yang Cheng gave a very high appraisal of the team’s performance this season.

“This is the most dominant season I’ve ever had since I started coaching Bayswater Chinese!”

“The only thing I want to say to you all right now is: maintain the momentum we have, maintain the hunger in your hearts, and maintain this drive of ours!”

“I’ll say it again: what we lost last season, we’re going to win it all back this season!”

“Not only that, I want to set an even higher standard for you!”

All the players looked at their head coach with solemn expressions, each one visibly excited.

“This season, we will make the whole world, everyone, see the football of Bayswater Chinese in a new light!”

Yang Cheng declared forcefully.

“I’m proud of you, guys!”

Yang Cheng’s speech earned him a round of thunderous applause.

When a team is on a rapid rise, and everyone in the dressing room is united as one, the fighting power it can unleash is truly astonishing!

…

On the evening of December 3rd, in the League Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese faced Watford away.

As before, Yang Cheng fielded a full lineup of substitutes.

After conceding a goal from a counter-attack in the 12th minute of the first half, Robert Lewandowski equalized in first-half stoppage time.

After the break, Theo Walcott scored another goal, putting them ahead.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat Watford 2-1 away, successfully advancing to the semi-finals.

Yang Cheng had previously joked with Ferguson that if Manchester United were knocked out of the League Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese could field two different lineups and play the rescheduled match in January.

But unexpectedly, Manchester United defeated Blackburn Rovers 5-3 at home.

Argentine striker Carlos Tevez not only scored four goals himself but also provided an assist, being involved in all of Manchester United’s goals. He single-handedly carried Manchester United into the League Cup semi-finals.

This earned Tevez a standing ovation after the match.

It also created a massive headache for Ferguson.

Faced with a Tevez in such incredible form and with such immense ability, should Ferguson give him more opportunities?

Should he make adjustments to the starting lineup that he had finally established this season?

This was not just a tactical issue, but also one of dressing room management.

Of the other two teams that reached the semi-finals, Manchester United drew against Championship side Derby County.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, would face Tottenham in the semi-finals.

…

At noon on December 6th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the sixteenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester City.

The 91st minute of the match.

Rakitić flicked the ball up with his foot, held it against his chest, and used his shirt to vigorously wipe the rain from its surface before gently placing it back down in the corner arc.

At this moment, the entire Wembley Stadium fell silent.

The score displayed on the scoreboard was still 1-1!

The television camera panned to the sideline, settling on Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng had been drenched to the bone by the sudden downpour this afternoon, but he showed no intention of retreating to the dugout. He continued to stand on the sideline, his figure upright, like a lighthouse.

The Bayswater Chinese players had grown accustomed to his presence on the sideline.

At any time, in any situation, a glance towards their head coach standing on the sideline would bring them a sense of reassurance.

This was not a match that was going Bayswater Chinese’s way.

Eriksson had set up a 4-3-2-1 formation with three holding midfielders, imitating AC Milan’s Christmas tree, and challenged Bayswater Chinese with a defend-with-all-one’s-might approach.

What surprised Yang Cheng even more was that it started raining in London at noon, and the rain only got heavier.

Bayswater Chinese’s initial aggressive attacks had posed a threat.

But in the 9th minute, the slippery pitch caused a mistake in Bayswater Chinese’s midfield passing. Kaká went on a blistering run, surging to the edge of the Bayswater Chinese penalty area before playing a wonderful pass for Adebayor to score.

It wasn’t until the 29th minute of the first half that Bayswater Chinese equalized through Džeko.

After that, no matter how much Bayswater Chinese attacked, Manchester City’s 4-3-2-1 formation held firm, stubbornly defending the scoreline.

At one point, in the 75th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese thought they had scored.

But the head referee ruled that Gareth Bale was offside, and the goal was disallowed.

This meant that Bayswater Chinese were now pinning all their hopes of scoring on this corner kick.

Rakitić took a deep breath and started his run-up.

Under the watchful eyes of over eighty thousand fans, he delivered a high-quality corner kick, sending it directly towards Manchester City’s six-yard box.

The penalty area became a chaotic mess.

Eriksson had fielded a centre-back pairing of Lescott and Vedran Ćorluka today, with Bridge on the left and Zabaleta on the right.

In front of them were the three holding midfielders: Gareth Barry, Gökhan Inler, and Nigel de Jong.

At this moment, The Blue Moons’ penalty area was packed with players.

As the ball came in, Lescott got there a step ahead, leaped up, and headed it clear.

The ball was headed out of the penalty area.

A collective sigh of disappointment echoed through Wembley Stadium.

As expected, there was no miracle!

Gianni Vio’s set piece routines weren’t foolproof after all!

“A successful corner defence from Manchester City.”

“But it hasn’t gone far. Outside the box, Leighton Baines successfully intercepts the ball.”

“Bayswater Chinese still have possession.”

“Let’s see this time. Leighton Baines whips in a cross.”

“It hits Shaun Wright-Phillips and takes a deflection.”

“Modrić gets the ball.”

As the Bayswater Chinese captain received the ball, Manchester City’s midfield and attack tried to press forward.

To defend the corner, they had dropped too deep, causing their defensive shape to become too flat and leaving space outside the box.

A long shot now, though it might be blocked by players inside the box, could still pose a threat.

As soon as Modrić controlled the ball, he first faced to the left, waving towards Leighton Baines as if he was going to combine with him.

But the Croatian’s specialty was the feint.

The Bayswater Chinese players knew his playing style, and they had a great understanding with each other.

Just as the Manchester City defenders thought Modrić was going to pass to the left, the Croatian suddenly changed direction, turning to the right and seeing Maicon raising his hand for the ball.

Modrić elegantly pulled the ball with his right foot and then sent a low, diagonal long pass across the pitch.

The ball quickly skidded to the edge of the penalty area on the right.

Maicon controlled it with one touch and saw Bridge rapidly closing him down.

Manchester City’s entire defensive line was also shifting quickly.

The Brazilian had been coached by renowned managers like Didier Deschamps and Guido Guidolin in Ligue 1, and after coming to Bayswater Chinese, his tactical awareness had improved even further.

As soon as he saw Manchester City’s formation shift, he knew what he had to do.

Especially at this moment, with Bayswater Chinese players swarming the penalty area.

Maicon saw his chance, pushed the ball forward, and exploded with a burst of speed, leaving Bridge behind before delivering a high cross with his right foot.

The ball arced from the right side, just outside the box. It didn’t go to the near post, nor to the center, but headed straight for the far post.

Lescott, Vedran Ćorluka, and the others all looked up as the ball flew over their heads.

And amidst a sea of light blue shirts, a red figure rapidly charged forward. Meeting the descending ball, he planted his right foot and struck a left-footed volley.

Maicon’s cross was hit with such power that it rocketed into the Manchester City goal, a blur to the naked eye.

Only at that instant did the fans in the stadium react.

Then, Wembley Stadium erupted in a thunderous cheer.

“GARETH BALE!”

“GOAL!!!”

“2-1!”

“In stoppage time of a rescheduled match, Bayswater Chinese score the winning goal! Maicon with the assist from the right, Gareth Bale with the finish!”

“A last-minute winner!”

“A last-minute winner from the Welsh youngster, Gareth Bale!”

After hitting the volley, Gareth Bale had already turned and sprinted off the pitch, running wildly in celebration.

The entire stadium was chanting Bale’s name.

All the fans were cheering at the top of their lungs.

So, a miracle was truly happening at Wembley!

And they were all witnesses to this miracle!

In the final moments of the game, after more than an hour of relentless attacking, Bayswater Chinese had finally managed to turn the score around!

Yang Cheng himself was so overcome with emotion that he dropped to his knees in front of the dugout.

He didn’t care about the rainwater on the grass; he didn’t even care about the raindrops falling from the sky.

“So exhilarating!!”

“At the crucial moment, Gareth Bale steps up!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s performance tonight was better than Manchester City’s, but they were also quite unlucky.”

“Encountering such a torrential downpour, and at their home ground, for a team known for their passing and movement, the pitch and weather were certainly not in their favor.”

“But they withstood the pressure!”

“Yang Cheng’s team, in the final moments, has turned the game around against Manchester City, 2-1, thanks to Gareth Bale’s goal!”

By the time all the players had finished their celebrations and returned to the pitch, the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans still echoed around Wembley Stadium.

First, they chanted the name of the goalscorer, Bale!

Then, they began to sing their team anthem.

Louder and louder!

Eventually, it drowned out the sound of the rain, the sound of the players on the pitch, it drowned out everything, filling every corner of Wembley Stadium.

Only when the head referee blew the final whistle did they rise from their seats, singing even louder.

…

While Bayswater Chinese narrowly won their rainy afternoon clash with Manchester City 2-1, three hours later, Arsenal defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 thanks to a goal from Benzema.

The Gunners were having an excellent season.

Liverpool, meanwhile, beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 away.

The Reds won the match comfortably, but it exposed some problems.

For example, up front, Torres had been suffering from quite a few injuries this season.

In Torres’s absence, Robbie Keane, who was signed from Tottenham Hotspur for a hefty fee in the summer, had been too inefficient, completely unable to fill Torres’s shoes.

This forced Benítez to push Kuyt into the centre-forward position.

This move actually produced very good results in this match.

It’s worth remembering that in the Eredivisie, Kuyt had won the Golden Boot and was known for his goal-scoring efficiency.

It was only after coming to Liverpool that Benítez moved him to the wing, turning him into a right winger with a role similar to that of a utility player.

But regardless, Liverpool won the match and continued to keep the pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

Chelsea won 2-0 away at Bolton.

But the most dramatic result involved Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team played at home against relegation-zone Sunderland this round.

This should have been the most straightforward match.

And the course of the game largely reflected that.

85% possession, 31 shots to 3.

These two stats alone were enough to show how dominant Manchester United were in this match.

More importantly, this was C. Ronaldo’s first showcase match in Manchester after winning the 2008 Ballon d’Or in Paris.

Before the game, C. Ronaldo carried the still-warm Ballon d’Or trophy around the pitch, accepting the cheers of the Manchester United fans.

But unexpectedly, the Portuguese, eager to score, frequently took wild shots throughout the match, with an efficiency so low it was hard to believe.

And Manchester United, after 31 shots, finally scored in the final moments of the game. Vidić capitalized on the chaos created from a corner kick and an opponent’s mistake to grab the goal.

1-0!

Manchester United scraped a win at home against Sunderland.

After winning the Ballon d’Or, C. Ronaldo’s showcase performance was given a failing grade.

The Portuguese was still young, his temperament was not yet under control, and there was still a lot of room for improvement.

On a side note, Bayswater Chinese had four players in the top 30 for the Ballon d’Or voting this year.

They were Džeko, Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Pepe.

Among them, Pepe was tied for 26th at the bottom, without receiving a single vote.

Of the four players, Džeko ranked the highest, at 12th.

This set a new record for the highest Ballon d’Or ranking in Bayswater Chinese’s history.

As Yang Cheng had predicted, Andrei Arshavin finished fourth this time, not even making it into the top three.

The top three were C. Ronaldo, Messi, and Torres.

Torres’s ability to beat Arshavin to a top-three spot was mainly due to Spain’s victory in the European Championship and Torres’s own excellent performance in the tournament.

Arshavin’s stats were indeed impressive, but after his transfer to Arsenal, his performance had declined, clearly failing to continue the excellent form he had shown at Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was already mentally prepared for this.

In his opinion, no player at Bayswater Chinese currently had the ability to contend for the Ballon d’Or or the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Džeko was indeed very strong, and his stats were impressive, but at best, he was another Drogba.

The reason was simple: his national team was a weakness.

And the club currently didn’t add any extra points.

Bayswater Chinese still had a considerable way to go before they could be considered a European giant.

Kaká, on the other hand, was ranked 8th on the list, becoming the fastest-declining Ballon d’Or winner in history.

Many attributed Kaká’s fall to his move to Manchester City.

The Blue Moons were in neither the Champions League nor the UEFA Cup, and their performance in the Premier League this season was not satisfactory.

All these factors contributed to Kaká’s performance in the second half of the year being far worse than before.

Ribéry was ranked 16th on the list.

So, Bayswater Chinese set another record: out of the 30 players, a total of 6 were developed by Bayswater Chinese.

Although Arshavin wasn’t from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, he only rose to prominence and became well-known in the Premier League.

The same was even more true for Ribéry.

This had to be considered an interesting tidbit.

And on the 30-man shortlist, a full 20 players were from the Premier League.

This proved that the influence of the Premier League was constantly growing, and growing ever larger.

With the Bundesliga still slow to recover and Serie A gradually declining, La Liga was relying solely on Real Madrid and Barça to maintain its reputation.

But even so, Real Madrid hadn’t produced any decent performances in recent years, and their status as a giant had clearly slipped, leading players like Ribéry and Kaká to join other teams.

Robinho’s departure, in particular, had brought shame to Real Madrid.

However, the Spanish media reported that former Real Madrid chairman Florentino Pérez was actively planning a return to the Bernabéu.

With Kaká already at Manchester City and Benzema at Arsenal, it was unlikely that Real Madrid could poach these two players from the two nouveau riche clubs.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was also very curious to see how Florentino Pérez would recreate his 2009 magic in the coming summer.

Chapter 157: World Champions! Half-season Champions! Thrashing Mourinho

On the evening of December ninth, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the final round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Inter Milan.

This was Mourinho’s first time leading a team back to a Premier League stadium since his return to coaching.

The English fans, especially those in London, still had a soft spot for the Portuguese “Special One.”

Bayswater Chinese had already secured their spot in the knockout stage early on, so Yang Cheng had announced long ago that he would not be fielding his starting lineup.

Even so, the stadium was still packed with ninety thousand fans.

They came not only for Bayswater Chinese but also for Inter Milan and Mourinho.

Compared to Bayswater Chinese, Mourinho’s team had practically backed themselves into a corner.

After the fourth round, they had seven points, three more than Atlético Madrid.

This should have been a significant advantage.

Unexpectedly, however, Inter Milan lost 1-0 at home to Marseille in the fifth round.

Meanwhile, Atlético Madrid defeated a full reserve squad from Bayswater Chinese 2-1 at home.

After the fifth round, both Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan were on seven points.

In the final round, Atlético Madrid would challenge Marseille away, while Inter Milan would face Bayswater Chinese away.

For both Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid, this was a do-or-die match.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, were completely relaxed. Such was the comfort of qualifying from the group stage early.

What was even more unexpected was that the home team’s relaxed mentality carried over into the match.

Yang Cheng fielded his League Cup lineup for this Champions League game, comprised entirely of young players and reserves.

As it turned out, from the opening whistle, this group of young lads from Bayswater Chinese actually pressed Inter Milan.

Especially in the first ten minutes, they played so well that Inter Milan couldn’t muster any response.

The home team even won a series of corner kicks, each one putting Inter Milan, and especially Mourinho on the sidelines, on edge.

In the Portuguese manager’s mind, Wembley Stadium tonight was nothing short of a devil’s hell!

This made Yang Cheng’s lips curl into a smile time and again on the sidelines.

“I only told them to press early, not to beat them this badly!”

Yang Cheng returned to the dugout, almost doubling over with laughter.

“This group of youngsters is just inexperienced; they don’t know how to hold back!”

Brian Kidd and the others all burst out laughing.

If Mourinho had heard Yang Cheng’s “scolding,” he probably would have exploded.

For this match, Mourinho still employed a 4-3-3 formation, but his lineup was somewhat interesting.

He benched Ibrahimović, the notorious choker in the Champions League, and put his faith in Adriano, who had been in good form this season.

The two wings were occupied by Amantino Mancini and Quaresma.

The midfield trio remained Dejan Stanković, Vieira, and Cambiasso.

The backline consisted of Burdisso, Materazzi, Iván Córdoba, and Javier Zanetti.

Evidently, Mourinho wanted to generate attacks from the flanks to leverage Adriano’s strengths as a centre-forward.

On the other hand, he was also very wary of Bayswater Chinese’s wing play.

But to his surprise, Inter Milan completely lost control of the midfield.

Nemanja Matić continued his recent excellent form, putting in an even more outstanding performance in this match.

The combination of Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey ahead of him also helped Bayswater Chinese control the game.

Matić, who had just renewed his contract with the team, not only took on the roles of organizing and orchestrating play but also shouldered the heavy burden of midfield defense and interceptions, becoming the de facto pivot of the team’s midfield.

This caused Inter Milan’s midfield to virtually disappear.

In the twenty-eighth minute of the first half, Aaron Ramsey, on the right side of the attack, combined with Theo Walcott to press Burdisso on the flank.

Under pressure, Burdisso made a clearance, but it didn’t travel far and was successfully intercepted by Aaron Ramsey.

After winning the ball, Aaron Ramsey immediately drove forward.

Facing Vieira, who had rushed back to defend, the seventeen-year-old Welsh youngster used a series of quick, rhythmic dribbles and a clever feint to get past the aging Vieira. He then shifted the ball sideways with his left foot, creating a sliver of an opening to shoot at goal.

Ramsey took a step forward and quickly struck the ball with his left foot.

The ball shot like a meteor toward the top-left corner of the goal at incredible speed.

From the interception to the dribble, the feint to create space, and the final shot.

Aaron Ramsey executed the entire sequence beautifully!

The aging Vieira was powerless to stop him.

Goalkeeper César was also beyond reach.

This long shot from outside the penalty arc flew into the top-left corner of Inter Milan’s goal!

An unsavable shot!

“A worldie!!!”

“From the seventeen-year-old Welsh prodigy, Aaron Ramsey!”

“Another rising star for Bayswater Chinese!”

“At just seventeen years of age, Aaron Ramsey has pierced Inter Milan’s goal with a beautiful curler from outside the box!”

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in an instant.

Ninety thousand fans gave Ramsey their loudest applause and cheers.

The Welsh youngster turned and ran in celebration!

After the halftime break, Bayswater Chinese continued to pressure Inter Milan.

The home team launched a series of blistering attacks.

First, Hazard and Marcelo combined on the left wing before Marcelo sent a cross from the byline to the front of the goal. Lewandowski missed a golden opportunity, failing to arrive in time.

Next came an unexpected long shot from Matuidi from outside the box, which nearly found the net again.

Then, Lewandowski received the ball in the penalty area, shook off two defenders, and shot from a tight angle, only to be denied by a heroic save from César.

Bayswater Chinese took the corner kick, and Kompany leaped high for a header.

César was helpless. In a moment of despair, Javier Zanetti, positioned at the far post, cleared the ball off the line, saving Inter Milan once again.

This group of young players from Bayswater Chinese was like a herd of fearless young calves.

Once on the pitch, they rolled up their sleeves, clenched their fists, and just went for it, recklessly.

Their relentless attacks left Inter Milan looking truly overwhelmed.

What was worse, their midfield had vanished, their wingers were invisible, and Adriano’s performance was lackluster.

Finally, in the seventy-second minute, Matić intercepted a pass in midfield, cutting off Inter Milan’s attack and quickly launching a counter-attack.

The Serbian midfielder carried the ball forward a couple of steps himself before passing to Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey played a through ball towards the right side of the penalty area.

Theo Walcott made a quick overlapping run, getting to the ball ahead of Burdisso. After reaching it, he came to an abrupt stop, cut inside with his left foot past the backtracking Burdisso, causing the Inter Milan left-back to get his feet in a tangle and fall to the ground at the edge of the box.

After dribbling past Burdisso, The Little Tiger unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

César was fully focused and made a diving save to block the shot.

But the ball remained in the penalty area.

Robert Lewandowski seized the opportunity at the crucial moment, slamming a power shot into Inter Milan’s goal.

2-0!

Mourinho began to make substitutions, launching an all-out assault.

He brought on Mario Balotelli, Ibrahimović, and Maxwell one after another, all to strengthen the attack.

However, it wasn’t until the eighty-eighth minute that substitute Ibrahimović received a cross from the left. He controlled it with his chest, turned, and hit a right-footed volley, scoring with a very difficult shot that even had a bit of curve.

Moreover, the shot struck the inside of the right post before rebounding into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

The long description alone was enough to show how difficult the goal was.

But in the end, Inter Milan still lost 2-1 away to Bayswater Chinese.

…

“You’re getting more and more deceptive. You call this a reserve lineup?”

After the match, in a room at Wembley Stadium, Mourinho yelled at Yang Cheng, indignant.

He was in a terrible mood.

Just moments ago, he had received news that Atlético Madrid had drawn 0-0 away at Marseille.

This meant that after the final round of matches, Mourinho’s team had been leapfrogged by Atlético Madrid.

This nearly drove the Portuguese manager mad!

Yang Cheng just kept smiling, which made Mourinho really want to punch him.

“Look at our lineup, isn’t that proof enough?”

“Hazard is seventeen, Aaron Ramsey is also seventeen, Matić is only twenty, Walcott is nineteen, and Lewandowski is also just twenty.”

“Count them. How many are over twenty?”

Yang Cheng was really getting into it now!

When it came to Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters, Yang Cheng was truly energized!

He couldn’t help it; these handsome young lads were just that good.

He had originally just wanted to give them some experience, but he never thought they would end up thrashing Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

And if they were going to thrash them, they might as well thrash them this badly!

Looking at Mourinho’s livid face, well, not exactly bruised and swollen, but a face like thunder, Yang Cheng couldn’t be happier.

I already went so easy on you, and yet you still played like this. Is it my fault?

At that thought, Yang Cheng almost couldn’t hold back his laughter!

“My fault. I didn’t make it clear to these young lads before the match. They were a bit too rough!”

As soon as Yang Cheng said this, Mourinho’s expression turned even uglier.

Just a bit too rough?

Wait, that’s not the point, is it?

“I’m telling you, Yang, if you keep talking in this snarky way, we can’t drink together.”

Yang Cheng Burst out laughing and quickly tried to placate Mourinho. “Alright, alright. I’ll definitely give them a good talking-to when I get back.”

“They act without any consideration for the consequences, no sense of worldly wisdom!”

Mourinho shot a sideways glance at Yang Cheng, cursing him up a storm in his head.

That bastard really pulled off his act!

But he had to admit, Bayswater Chinese’s group of youngsters was truly impressive.

“Actually, José, to be honest, you can’t blame us entirely for this. Your own problems were bigger. If you hadn’t lost to Marseille last round, this wouldn’t have been an issue, right?”

Hearing this, Mourinho’s lungs nearly exploded.

Do you think I don’t fucking know that?

Do you need to teach me?

I… that… wasn’t that an accident?

“Forget it, forget it. Let’s not talk about it. It’s all in the past. You still have a great chance of chasing the Treble this season, and we’ll keep working hard too.”

Mourinho was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then he immediately understood.

The Treble?

Serie A, the UEFA Cup, and the Coppa Italia?

“Go on and gloat. Next time we meet, I’ll destroy you!”

With that, Mourinho abruptly stood up, ready to leave.

“Leaving already? Not drinking the wine?” Yang Cheng asked with a chuckle.

Mourinho had just reached the door when he heard Yang Cheng’s words. Something seemed to occur to him, and he turned and walked back.

Just as Yang Cheng thought he might have forgotten something, the man casually grabbed the wine glass from the table and downed the wine in one go.

He then took the recently poured bottle of wine and the cork with him as well.

As he walked away, he muttered under his breath.

“You can drink the north wind!”

Yang Cheng burst out laughing on the spot.

“Damn it, with your habit of never leaving empty-handed, it’s a shame you’re not a ride-share driver!”

…

The news that Inter Milan had been thoroughly thrashed by Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters and eliminated from the Champions League immediately received widespread coverage in the Italian media.

AC Milan’s General Manager Galliani was the first to speak to the media, saying sarcastically, “When it comes to the performance of Italian teams in Europe, you still have to look to us, the great Milan!”

This immediately sparked a flame war between AC Milan and Inter Milan fans.

The Italian media also criticized Mourinho’s performance this season.

Many had high hopes for Inter Milan this season, given Mourinho’s track record.

But they never expected the team to not even make it out of the Champions League group stage.

In the post-match press conference, Mourinho also harshly criticized his team’s performance.

Especially their lack of focus during the game.

“Over the past few years, our habitual complacency has cost us dearly time and time again!”

Many media outlets also questioned Mourinho’s lineup choices, especially regarding Ibrahimović’s goal.

If he could score after coming on as a substitute, what if he had started?

Why use Adriano instead of Ibrahimović?

Was it because Ibrahimović’s scoring rate in the Champions League had been low in recent years?

But he scored in this very match!

Mourinho was unwilling to explain his tactical decisions and refused to comment on Ibrahimović’s performance.

His only comment was, “My transformation of this team has just begun.”

“I’ve said it before, generally my teams start to produce results in the third year. I’ve signed a long-term contract with Inter Milan, and helping them rebuild is not something that can be accomplished overnight.”

As for Bayswater Chinese, the Italian media gave them high praise.

Especially their group of young players.

After reaching the FA Cup final last season, Bayswater Chinese’s youngsters had already caught the public’s eye.

Unexpectedly, their performance this season was even better than the last.

Especially Matić.

The Serbian midfielder, who had just renewed his contract, delivered a standout performance in this match, being one of the best players on the Bayswater Chinese team.

His consistently high-level performances led many to have high hopes for his future.

England’s The Sun revealed that after the Champions League match, several Premier League teams had already expressed interest in signing or loaning Matić during the winter transfer window.

“With Yaya Touré’s starting position being untouchable, a loan move to get more playing time would be an excellent choice for the young Matić.”

But Bayswater Chinese rejected all loan and transfer offers.

…

In the seventeenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Stoke City away.

From the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks, relentlessly threatening Stoke City’s goal.

In the fourteenth minute, Rakitić played a medium-range through ball into the penalty area.

Džeko successfully beat the offside trap, controlled the ball with his chest, and shot from the edge of the six-yard box, sending the ball into Stoke City’s goal.

1-0!

Afterward, the game entered a period of stalemate.

But just seventy-two seconds into the second half, Gareth Bale unleashed an unexpected power shot with his left foot from twenty meters out, breaking through the defense of Stoke City’s goalkeeper, Sørensen.

2-0!

In the sixty-sixth minute, Modrić won the ball with a tackle in the attacking half and passed it to a dropping Džeko.

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward turned and played a through ball behind the defense. Walcott made a quick diagonal run into the box and scored with a low shot from the right corner of the six-yard box, once again finding the back of Stoke City’s net.

3-0!

This was also the final goal of the match.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory away at Stoke City!

In the same round of fixtures, Arsenal defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 away.

Liverpool drew 2-2 at home against Hull City.

Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 at home, thanks to a last-minute winner from Kaká in extra time.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away against Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home against West Ham United.

After seventeen rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the Premier League table with an undefeated record of fifteen wins and one draw, accumulating forty-six points.

Due to their draw this round, Liverpool followed with thirty-eight points.

Arsenal also had thirty-eight points but were in third place.

Manchester United were in fourth with thirty-five points.

Chelsea had thirty-two points, and Manchester City had thirty, with the two teams in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Notably, both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had played one game fewer.

Leading by eight points with a game in hand, Bayswater Chinese’s performance this season had everyone seeing them in a new light.

Džeko was leading the Premier League’s top scorer chart with fourteen goals.

Fourteen goals in seventeen—or rather, sixteen—matches. The Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward was performing even better than last season.

Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski had both scored six goals each, while Theo Walcott had scored seven.

These three youngsters had all put in excellent performances, showing overall improvement from the previous season.

The only surprise was Ángel Di María.

The young Argentinian had yet to score a league goal so far this season.

This was indeed quite unexpected.

In terms of dribbling, passing, and even some defensive stats, Di María had shown very significant improvement over last season.

This proved that the Argentinian was in a period of rapid professional growth.

The only thing missing was goals; he had yet to find the back of thenet.

Brian Kidd and the sports science department had done a special analysis for him, identifying two main reasons.

One was a string of bad luck.

The other was that he was still in an adjustment phase, especially with his right foot.

The Argentinian was willing to work hard and had been practicing with his right foot, which was improving. The problem was that sometimes on the pitch, he seemed a bit unsure of what to do.

This kind of thing could only be resolved slowly over time.

Yang Cheng also repeatedly emphasized that he was full of confidence in Di María.

…

After playing the seventeenth round of the Premier League, the team had a short rest in London.

On December fifteenth, the team departed from London and arrived in Tokyo, Japan, to participate in the annual Club World Cup.

This was the first time in Bayswater Chinese’s history that they had participated in the Club World Cup.

After a two-year absence, Bayswater Chinese returned to Japan, this time to a much grander reception.

Because the current Bayswater Chinese were not just Premier League champions, but also Champions League winners.

The team’s first match in Japan, the Club World Cup semi-final, was against Gamba Osaka, who had just won the AFC Champions League in November.

The strength of this Japanese team was clearly not enough to threaten Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng still treated them with due respect.

Upon arriving in Tokyo, the team first checked into their hotel.

Three hours later, the team appeared at a sports center near the hotel.

This was a training ground arranged by the Japanese organizers of the Club World Cup, a comprehensive stadium in a small Japanese town.

The funny thing was, the organizers probably didn’t expect Bayswater Chinese to start training so quickly, and as a result, the stadium was completely unprepared.

Not only were the training facilities, which should have been prepared in advance, missing, but there weren’t even any footballs.

Left with no choice, Yang Cheng had to send someone to quickly gather some training balls from the surrounding area, which allowed the team to barely begin their recovery training.

The training intensity was not high, focusing mainly on recovery and adjustment.

It wasn’t until the training session was halfway through that the organizers hastily delivered the training facilities and match balls.

After the first training session, Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier attended a FIFA press conference together.

The team had traveled a long way to Japan to participate in the Club World Cup, a very arduous journey.

But Yang Cheng felt that as long as they could win the championship trophy, it would all be worth it.

“Before I came to Tokyo, many people in England told me that so far, no English team has ever won the Club World Cup. They hope we will be the first!”

“This is a great honor for us at Bayswater Chinese!”

“In my opinion, this is the goal our club strives for, and it is also the significance of this tournament for us!”

Yang Cheng stated that the long journey was indeed very tiring, especially considering the time difference.

But all of these challenges would be overcome.

“Before we came to Tokyo, we had already made mental preparations and plans.”

“We are able to participate in the Club World Cup because we won last season’s Champions League.”

“So, for us, this is a tremendous honor, and we even hope to be able to play in the Club World Cup every year in the future!”

Yang Cheng showed great respect for the other opponents in the Club World Cup, especially their semi-final opponent, Gamba Osaka.

“I have studied this team. They are the AFC Champions League winners, and they are very strong. They cannot be underestimated.”

Being in Japan and sponsored by Japanese brands, Yang Cheng didn’t forget to say a few nice words, acknowledging the progress of Japanese football.

“Every time I face a Japanese opponent, I repeatedly remind my players not to be complacent in the slightest. Every match will be a very difficult test.”

“Over the past few years, Japanese football has made very significant progress!”

“We have a slight advantage in terms of strength, but with the long journey and the eight or nine-hour time difference, the pressure on us is indeed great, so we must deliver our best performance.”

Yang Cheng’s statement immediately won him and Bayswater Chinese unanimous praise from the Japanese media and fans.

Praise from the Champions League winners, even if it came from a Chinese head coach and a team with deep ties to China, still sounded so pleasant to the ear.

But saying it was one thing; doing it was another.

…

On the evening of December eighteenth, at the International Stadium Yokohama.

The Club World Cup semi-final: Bayswater Chinese versus Gamba Osaka.

Yang Cheng’s starting lineup alone was enough to show his ambition to reach the final.

Playing two matches within four days, coupled with the long journey, led Yang Cheng to field a full reserve lineup for the semi-final.

Apart from starting Begović in goal, several other positions were also rotated.

This led to Gamba Osaka taking advantage of their home ground to launch a wave of early attacks after the match began.

But in the twelfth minute, Bayswater Chinese won a free kick in the attacking half, twenty-seven meters from goal.

Gareth Bale calmly took the kick, scoring with a stunning dipping free kick that pierced Gamba Osaka’s goal.

1-0!

In the twenty-ninth minute, Walcott dribbled down the right flank, evaded a defender, and crossed, but the ball was blocked out for a corner by a defender.

Corner kick.

Rakitić took the corner from the right, and Kompany headed the ball in at the far post, extending the lead.

2-0!

In first-half stoppage time, Lewandowski played a lay-off in the center, and Walcott made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box.

From the right of the penalty spot, The Little Tiger fired a low shot that found the back of Gamba Osaka’s net.

3-0!

Just in the first half, Bayswater Chinese had already established a three-goal lead.

This not only let all the fans at the stadium witness the formidable attacking power of Bayswater Chinese but also showed the Japanese fans the vast difference in strength between the two teams.

And the Premier League team wasn’t even at full strength!

Even the Japanese television commentator exclaimed repeatedly, if Bayswater Chinese went all out, how badly would they lose?

But it was precisely because of this that Bayswater Chinese’s excellent performance earned them the unanimous admiration of the Japanese fans.

In fact, the fans became even more enthusiastic.

Bayswater Chinese scored again in the fifty-first minute of the second half, with Lewandowski finding the net.

The Polish centre-forward scored again in the seventy-eighth minute, receiving a pass from Aaron Ramsey to score another goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Gamba Osaka 5-0.

In the last twenty minutes of the match, Yang Cheng had actually signaled for the players to conserve some energy.

At the very least, they should let Gamba Osaka score a goal to save face.

Everyone could see that Bayswater Chinese were intentionally holding back.

But unexpectedly, the Japanese team still couldn’t score.

This left Yang Cheng helpless.

He couldn’t possibly have his players kick the ball into their own net, like players from a certain other country, could he?

In the other semi-final match, Ecuador’s LDU Quito defeated the CONCACAF champions, Mexico’s Pachuca, 2-0 to advance to the final.

…

From a sporting perspective, the Club World Cup was an absolute disaster.

Before Christmas, during a packed schedule, to fly across the ocean to Japan just to play two completely mismatched games.

What was the point?

But from a financial perspective, the Club World Cup was actually not bad at all.

FIFA had piled up prize money for the Club World Cup to ten million seven hundred thousand pounds sterling.

If a team could win the championship, they would take home half of it, which was five million pounds sterling.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was definitely a very good deal.

More importantly, what Bayswater Chinese valued was not just the five million pounds sterling.

It was also the commercial market in Asia.

Accompanying Yang Cheng and the team on this expedition, besides Adam Crozier, were also commercial department staff like Omar Berrada. It was a star-studded entourage with the aim of further developing the Asian market.

In addition, sponsors like Puma also made their moves.

For example, when the team was greeted at the Tokyo airport, many of the fans there were wearing Bayswater Chinese jerseys.

During the semi-final match, countless people in the stands were wearing the team’s and players’ jerseys.

This was all a result of Puma’s prior promotion and advertising.

Jersey sales were a considerable source of income.

But not all plans went smoothly.

A week before Bayswater Chinese arrived in Tokyo, Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore had already led a delegation to Asia. This time, he also happened to come to Tokyo to oversee Bayswater Chinese’s Club World Cup campaign.

The day after the semi-final, Scudamore met with Adam Crozier and Yang Cheng at the team’s hotel.

The purpose of his Asia tour had already been exposed by the media.

The Premier League’s 39th round!

The so-called 39th round was, in reality, an official match co-organized by the Premier League and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Note, it was an official match, not a friendly.

The result of this round would count towards the total Premier League points.

According to the Premier League’s plan, this round could be scheduled in January or after the season ended.

The purpose was to further tap into the potential of the Asian market and expand the Premier League’s market influence in the region.

As soon as Scudamore saw Yang Cheng, he happily expressed that Bayswater Chinese’s two Asia Tours in 2006 and 2007 had generated intense interest among many fans.

The team’s participation in the Club World Cup this time had caused an even greater sensation in Asia.

The Premier League CEO praised Bayswater Chinese as the Premier League’s promotional ambassador in Asia.

But this time, the Premier League’s Asia tour was not going smoothly.

“I met with AFC President Hammam, and we had an in-depth discussion. He is very interested in the 39th round, believing it could significantly help raise the level of Asian football.”

“Many countries and regions from the Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and even North America are very eager to host this event and witness the style of our Premier League stars.”

After a pause, Scudamore sighed, “But neither FIFA nor UEFA supports us holding matches in Asia.”

Speaking of this, Scudamore’s face was filled with disappointment.

This was a project he had been pushing hard for.

Unexpectedly, the resistance came from FIFA and UEFA.

“On what grounds do they not support it?” Adam Crozier was a little annoyed.

So-called “not supporting” was essentially “opposing.”

If both FIFA and UEFA opposed it, many things would become difficult to manage.

“The reasons they give are, of course, very high-sounding, but in reality…”

Scudamore didn’t elaborate.

Yang Cheng, however, had some idea.

At the end of the day, it was a matter of splitting the pie.

With the development of professional football, intercontinental football competitions were now basically monopolized by FIFA.

For example, the Club World Cup that Bayswater Chinese was currently participating in was formerly the Toyota Cup.

FIFA’s efforts to acquire the Toyota Cup, rename it the Club World Cup, and offer huge prize money were all driven by interests and calculations.

This was the same logic behind UEFA’s monopoly on European transnational competitions like the Champions League and the UEFA Cup.

UEFA’s lack of support for the Premier League holding matches overseas was also a matter of profit distribution.

Of course, they wouldn’t say it so bluntly; they would use the fans’ interests as a pretext to block it.

“Did you know? Our overseas broadcasting rights sales are getting better and better, growing much faster than domestic rights. In the foreseeable future, our overseas rights sales could completely catch up with domestic rights.”

Scudamore was somewhat unwilling to give up. “If we could hold matches in the Middle East, Asia, and North America, I guarantee that with our influence, we could definitely sell out the stadiums.”

“But now, we can’t move at all.”

Adam Crozier nodded repeatedly. “Just look at FIFA. The Club World Cup is only a few matches, yet the prize money is ten point seven million pounds sterling. Knowing FIFA, the money they make must be several times that amount.”

The commercial revenue of a cup competition is not just from tickets and broadcasting rights, but also various commercial sponsorships and partnerships.

A major reason for the Toyota Cup’s financial struggles was that its organizers were not professionals, and their main business was not in the football industry.

Now that FIFA had taken over, the value of the Club World Cup had skyrocketed.

The current situation was that all twenty Premier League teams were happy to play matches overseas.

Even the head coaches and players agreed to play overseas, provided it didn’t add too much of a burden and affect domestic competitions.

As for holding cup finals overseas, it sounded good but was practically unfeasible.

The League Cup is usually in February or March, which is the busiest part of the schedule.

Holding it overseas, with all the travel back and forth, was unreasonable.

The FA Cup final’s timing was suitable, but who would dare to do that?

Whoever proposed it would be torn apart by the English fans!

Under these circumstances, holding cup finals overseas was basically a non-starter.

As for the Community Shield, it didn’t have enough influence.

“I actually think that since the 39th round is blocked, it would be better to simply continue to expand the Premier League pre-season.” Yang Cheng suggested.

Scudamore and Adam Crozier both turned to look at Yang Cheng.

A man who could single-handedly bring Bayswater Chinese to its current level certainly had an extraordinary vision.

Therefore, Scudamore had always held Yang Cheng in high regard.

“I feel that the current Premier League pre-season is still organized too crudely. It lacks organization, isn’t standardized enough, and is even a bit too casual.”

Even Scudamore couldn’t help but nod at Yang Cheng’s words.

The Premier League pre-season had been running for many years, but it had always been somewhat ad-hoc, squeezed in wherever there was a gap, and not at all formal.

Therefore, it had a very strong friendly match feel.

This reminded Yang Cheng of the International Champions Cup.

The success of that tournament precisely proved that there was a strong demand for summer matches in Asia and North America.

How popular was the International Champions Cup during those years?

Yang Cheng’s idea was to formalize the Premier League pre-season, turning it into a fixed tournament. The schedule of which teams would play where would be arranged well in advance each year.

The advantage of this was that it would facilitate commercial operations and allow for the centralized sale of broadcasting rights.

In contrast, the current Premier League pre-season was sometimes held, sometimes not. The participating teams were not fixed—sometimes three, sometimes four, sometimes none at all—which prevented any continuity.

Only with a stable tournament format could commercial operations be convenient.

“We also need to reasonably allocate and arrange, dividing into different zones.”

“For example, five teams to the North American zone, five teams to the Asian zone, plus a European zone, and maybe an African zone, etc.”

“In fact, if we really want to develop it, we could even include a South American zone!”

Yang Cheng’s final sentence made Scudamore and Adam Crozier laugh.

South America had always been La Liga’s private preserve.

It wasn’t that the Premier League wasn’t broadcast in South America, but its influence was far less than La Liga’s.

But Yang Cheng’s words did give Scudamore and Adam Crozier an idea.

“Making it a zone-based system, we could also invite influential local teams or powerhouse clubs from other European leagues to participate, quickly increasing the tournament’s appeal. I think this is really feasible,” Adam Crozier said, slapping the table in approval.

Scudamore was also calculating in his head.

The Premier League itself already had a huge influence in North America and Asia.

If they could leverage this influence to make the pre-season bigger and stronger, it would undoubtedly be a great way to generate revenue.

As for the tournament format, that was something the Premier League was well-versed in.

Even many commercial partnerships and resources were readily available.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, had his own considerations.

Did they know how much money the International Champions Cup made?

He couldn’t remember the earlier years.

Since its inception in 2013, ticket prices had risen year after year, increasing by four percent annually.

By 2015, the average ticket revenue per match reached eight million US dollars.

And that was just ticket revenue.

In the China zone, the organizers attracted a total of thirteen sponsors, and the television broadcasting rights covered one hundred seventy countries and regions.

It could be said that they made a huge profit, and the appearance fees offered to participating clubs also continued to rise.

But the organizers of the International Champions Cup also had many problems.

Their huge commercial success led them to be too blind in their expansion.

The most important factor was that the American organizers lacked experience in organizing football tournaments and didn’t understand the mechanisms of football events, leading to numerous organizational problems.

Coupled with some conflicts of interest with major European clubs, this led to several years of savage expansion before the International Champions Cup suddenly collapsed due to the pandemic.

But from this, it was clear that from the perspectives of fans, clubs, and the market, there was a huge demand for summer friendly tournaments.

But the prerequisite was to maintain the purity and professionalism of football tournaments, to create a valuable IP that could attract top Premier League teams and even European giants.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s analysis, Scudamore and Adam Crozier immediately saw the business opportunities within.

But this was a major undertaking, and even if they wanted to organize it, it couldn’t be done overnight.

…

On the evening of December twenty-first, at the International Stadium Yokohama.

The Club World Cup final: Bayswater Chinese versus Ecuador’s LDU Quito.

Unlike the semi-final, Yang Cheng fielded his full starting lineup for the final.

This was also a requirement from FIFA.

They had been a bit lenient in the semi-finals, but the requirements for the final were very strict; teams had to field their strongest players.

The match began with Bayswater Chinese immediately launching an attack.

In the tenth minute, Thiago Silva’s long pass from the backfield traveled over sixty meters, sending the ball directly to the edge of the penalty area.

Di María chested the ball down in the left channel, broke into the box, and made a horizontal pass to the center.

Džeko got to the ball before the defenders and swept it into the opponent’s goal.

1-0!

Just seven minutes later, Di María and Rakitić combined on the left.

The Argentinian started his run from the left, dribbling past three opposing defenders before passing horizontally to Džeko outside the penalty area.

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward’s furious shot hit the left post.

In the twenty-second minute, Modrić delivered a chipped pass over the top, precisely behind the defensive line. Walcott made an overlapping run and scored with a chip shot from near the penalty spot, once again breaching LDU Quito’s goal.

2-0!

The first half ended 2-0.

But just four minutes after the restart, LDU Quito capitalized on a mistake in the Bayswater Chinese backline and launched a counter-attack.

Argentinian forward Bieler scored past Neuer.

1-2!

After that, the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle of attack versus defense.

This team from Ecuador was not composed of typical South American players.

On the contrary, this team lacked the nimble and quick style characteristic of Latin America; instead, they adopted a defensive counter-attacking approach.

More physical contact and strength-based duels, a solid defense, and sharp counter-attacks.

This was related to their Argentinian head coach, Edgardo Bauza.

It was with this defensive counter-attacking style that this team won the Copa Libertadores.

And after pulling one goal back, they clearly became even more resolute.

It wasn’t until the seventy-third minute that Yaya Touré played a diagonal pass through the middle. Di María received the ball, turned to shake off a defender, and dribbled rapidly along the left channel into the box before playing a cut-back to the left of the penalty spot.

Džeko ran onto it and scored with a side-footed shot, once again finding the back of LDU Quito’s net.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately won the Club World Cup championship with Džeko’s brace, becoming the first team in English football history to win the Club World Cup!

Džeko was also named the best player of the Club World Cup thanks to his two goals in the final.

The prize was a car from the sponsor, Toyota.

However, since Bayswater Chinese’s sponsor was Mercedes-Benz, the prize would be cashed out.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were winning the Club World Cup in Tokyo, Japan, back in England, the eighteenth round of the Premier League was being played.

In this round, Arsenal and Liverpool, ranked second and third in the Premier League table, faced off at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners, with goals from van Persie and Benzema, defeated Liverpool 2-1, successfully overtaking them to become second in the table, pushing The Reds down.

Manchester United defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 with a goal from Rooney.

Chelsea drew 0-0 away at Everton.

As a result, after eighteen rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with two games in hand, still topped the table with forty-six points.

Arsenal followed with forty-one points.

Manchester United and Liverpool both had thirty-eight points, but The Red Devils were in third due to a better goal difference, with Liverpool in fourth.

Chelsea was in fifth place with thirty-five points.

Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away this round, earning thirty-three points and placing them in sixth.

Bayswater Chinese had already secured the Premier League’s half-season title ahead of schedule.

This drew unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide.

Before the season, who could have imagined that after selling a key player, Yang Cheng would still be able to produce such a stellar performance?

But the upcoming Christmas schedule would be a huge challenge for Bayswater Chinese.

An away match against Tottenham Hotspur on the twenty-sixth.

A home game against Chelsea on the twenty-eighth.

Chapter 158: An Angel Descends on Stamford Bridge! The Trailblazer

They brought England’s first-ever Club World Cup trophy back from Tokyo, Japan!

Upon arriving at Heathrow Airport, everyone from Bayswater Chinese could feel the warm reception from the British media.

This was undoubtedly a memorable event for English football.

Although Manchester United had won a Toyota Cup in 1999, that was just the Toyota Cup, which had the nature of a friendly match.

But this was the Club World Cup, an authoritative tournament organized by FIFA.

Whether in terms of background or prestige, the two were clearly not on the same level.

The British media also heaped praise on the team that Yang Cheng had built.

Notably, while Bayswater Chinese was away in Japan, in the 18th round of the Premier League, Liverpool had actually lost.

In the words of The Times, “This is the best Christmas gift Liverpool could give to Bayswater Chinese!”

Although Arsenal and Manchester United had caught up from behind, Liverpool’s loss dropped them directly to fourth place.

While the team was still at Heathrow Airport, a reporter asked Yang Cheng for his thoughts on the final results of the 18th Premier League round. He just smiled faintly and said, “Not bad.”

Not bad?

The reporters were a bit stunned.

“Actually, I would have been happier if they had all drawn,” Yang Cheng revealed the result he truly wanted.

Everyone present couldn’t help but laugh.

He really was quite frank!

Oh, if all his rivals drew, wouldn’t Bayswater Chinese’s overall lead be even more secure?

What a shrewd calculation!

But Yang Cheng also expressed his satisfaction with the outcome.

At the same time, Yang Cheng stated that winning the Club World Cup and being the Half-season champions served more as motivation for Bayswater Chinese.

“We are a very young team, and winning championships can bring us more confidence!”

Everyone agreed with Yang Cheng’s assessment.

Before the season, when Bayswater Chinese sold Andrei Arshavin and Lassana Diarra, everyone thought the team was doomed for the new season.

But who could have imagined that Bayswater Chinese would experience a complete breakout this season?

Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, and Theo Walcott filled the void left by Arshavin.

Rakitić and Matuidi also made people forget about Lassana Diarra.

Vincent Kompany’s performance was even more outstanding than Koscielny’s, leaving a deeper impression.

Under these circumstances, as the first half of the season concluded, everyone discovered that Bayswater Chinese’s strength had not been weakened by selling players; instead, they had grown stronger!

This was simply outrageous!

But it was precisely because of this that their evaluation of Yang Cheng was even higher.

As Bayswater Stadium was still under construction, the team’s trophy room was temporarily located at Wembley Stadium.

The team’s Club World Cup victory naturally attracted many fans and reporters.

A brief trophy display event was held on site.

In an interview with television stations and major media outlets, Yang Cheng said, “We are in a pretty good phase right now.”

“We are all working hard towards the same goal, which is very important for a team.”

What was the goal?

“We hope to win back everything we lost last season!”

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had lost the league title and the FA Cup final.

Although they ended up winning the Champions League, it was still somewhat regrettable.

They had nearly become the Triple runner-up!

For Yang Cheng to now say he wanted to win it all back undoubtedly referred to the Premier League and the FA Cup.

And of the two, the league was the most important!

But Yang Cheng also joked that after winning the Club World Cup, Bayswater Chinese had won almost every trophy available to them.

Except for the FA Cup!

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized this young team was a veritable trophy-harvesting machine.

They had won almost every championship a club could win.

The only one they had yet to claim was the FA Cup!

But Yang Cheng also reminded everyone that Bayswater Chinese’s upcoming schedule would not be easy.

In the newly released schedule, the date for Bayswater Chinese’s rescheduled 18th-round match was out.

It was tentatively set for January 14th.

Bayswater Chinese had originally hoped to play their rescheduled 3rd-round match against Manchester United as soon as possible.

For the 18th round, a home game against Middlesbrough, Yang Cheng was confident.

So, he wanted to take advantage of January to get the tough clash against Manchester United out of the way and put his mind at ease.

But unexpectedly, that old fox Ferguson went back on his word.

Why?

Because on January 11th, they were scheduled to play Chelsea.

Bayswater Chinese had a home game against Blackburn Rovers.

Therefore, Ferguson believed that scheduling the rescheduled 3rd-round match at this time would give Bayswater Chinese an advantage.

This infuriated Yang Cheng so much that he called him from Japan to question him, asking why he had broken their agreement.

Ferguson, however, was shamelessly unconcerned.

“You have two rescheduled matches, play the 18th-round one first.”

“Besides, isn’t this tentative? If there’s a draw in the FA Cup, won’t it just have to be postponed again?”

January 14th was the date for replays of the 3rd round of the FA Cup if the initial matches ended in a draw.

This was how the FA Cup was scheduled: the main matches were on the weekend, and any replays for draws were held midweek.

Yang Cheng was out of options.

He couldn’t possibly force Manchester United to play the rescheduled match, could he?

So, the match on January 14th was tentatively scheduled as the 18th-round makeup game.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese would have to play a full eight matches in a short span of twenty-six days.

If the team advanced to the 4th round of the FA Cup, they might even have to play nine matches.

That meant, basically, a game every three days.

In addition, weather forecasts in Britain were constantly issuing cold weather warnings, predicting that January 2009 would be very cold.

The most troublesome weather for English winters was fog, ice, and snow.

Although modern stadiums had relatively advanced undersoil heating and wouldn’t shut down as easily as in the past, if the temperature dropped too low, the heating wouldn’t be very effective.

The main concern was that rain, snow, and ice would make players more susceptible to injury during matches.

This required the club to make preparations as early as possible.

But whether it was the weather or injuries, many things were often uncontrollable, let alone preventable.

To make matters worse, with the Bank of England’s successive sharp interest rate cuts, the exchange rate of the pound sterling plummeted.

Before the season, the exchange rate between the pound and the euro was once as high as 1 to 1.5.

By the end of October, it had fallen to 1 to 1.287.

In recent days, it had dropped directly to 1 to 0.98.

In other words, the euro was now worth more than the pound!

“Standard Chartered’s chief economist has predicted that the pound will continue to fall over the next month, possibly to 0.9 or even lower. We must make some preparations as soon as possible.”

At the Brent training center, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, Chris Hunt, and other core executives sat in the conference room for a high-level meeting before Christmas.

And the top priority was the rapid depreciation of the pound.

In just a few short months, the pound had lost a third of its value. This was simply outrageous!

It was important to remember that it wasn’t just the pound falling; the euro was falling too.

It was just that the pound was falling even more dramatically.

“The situation out there is very bad right now. The exchange rates for the pound and the euro have fallen sharply, and the severity of the UK’s economic recession is far beyond anyone’s imagination, even more severe than in the Eurozone.”

“After three consecutive months of significant interest rate cuts, the UK’s base rate has dropped from 5% at the beginning of October to the current 2%, while the Eurozone’s current base rate is at 2.5%.”

“In addition to interest rates, the economic recession, rising unemployment, falling house prices, and rapidly increasing government debt have all contributed to a bleak outlook for the pound.”

Xia Qing’s words made everyone present furrow their brows in worry.

As of November 2008, the number of unemployed in the UK had risen to one million eight hundred and sixty thousand, the highest level since 1999.

An increase in unemployment was bound to trigger a series of social phenomena.

This was not just a social issue; its impact on football, especially the Premier League, would also be fatal.

To take the simplest example.

When the exchange rate between the pound and the euro falls to 1 to 0.9, the appeal of major European clubs to Premier League players will increase significantly.

For example, when Real Madrid signed Lassana Diarra, they spent thirty million pounds sterling, which was forty-five million euros.

And now, six months later?

The same thirty million pounds sterling, but in reality, Real Madrid would only need to pay twenty-seven million euros. A full eighteen million euros evaporated in the middle.

Under these circumstances, the top clubs, led by Real Madrid and Barça, would be even more aggressive in their poaching of Premier League talent.

And that was just the competition between leagues.

What about the players?

Take Modrić, for example. He was Croatian and lived in the Eurozone.

In the past, his weekly wage of forty thousand pounds sterling was equivalent to sixty thousand euros in the Eurozone.

And now?

A weekly wage of eighty thousand pounds sterling is only worth a little over seventy thousand euros in the Eurozone.

And that’s after a substantial pay rise.

What if there was no raise?

It would be a severe depreciation!

“Actually, our situation is relatively good at the moment.”

As Xia Qing said this, her calm eyes fell upon Yang Cheng.

“We started accelerating the pace of contract renewal negotiations since the summer. By now, most players’ renewals are either complete or nearly settled.”

“But other teams are not in such an optimistic position; things are getting worse and worse.”

For some reason, Xia Qing suddenly had a feeling, as if Yang Cheng had known this would happen all along.

That’s why he had been quietly making preparations behind the scenes.

Previously, she had always felt that Yang Cheng urging her to complete the renewal negotiations as soon as possible was a bit too hasty.

He had even raised the team’s maximum weekly wage from forty thousand pounds sterling to eighty thousand pounds sterling, which seemed a bit outrageous.

But looking at it now, it was so far-sighted!

If they had stuck to the original plan of sixty thousand pounds sterling, what would be the point of Modrić’s renewal now?

It would be like a pay cut in disguise!

But Xia Qing quickly dismissed this absurd thought.

Who could have predicted that the Bank of England would make such outrageous and consecutive interest rate cuts?

And who would have thought the pound would depreciate so quickly?

The depreciation of the pound was incredibly damaging to Premier League teams.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing exchanged a glance and a confident smile, then looked at Adam Crozier and the others, noticing their spirits were still quite low.

The main reason was the heavy blow from the pound’s depreciation.

For example, sponsorship deals signed previously looked terrible in hindsight, having shrunk dramatically.

But there was nothing to be done. This was a matter for the entire United Kingdom, something no one could control, an objective condition.

“The impact of the pound’s depreciation is indeed significant, but I don’t think it will last for a long time.”

Yang Cheng cautiously offered his opinion.

He wasn’t a finance major and didn’t understand these things, so he could only try to analyze the phenomena from his previous life based on his own understanding.

“I guess it will definitely appreciate in the coming months, but the base rate will certainly be cut again!”

Everyone immediately looked at Yang Cheng with curiosity, wanting to know on what basis he was making such a judgment.

“I’m not an expert either, it’s just a gut feeling, using common sense to deduce.”

“If the pound remains consistently lower than the euro, then consumption in the UK will be ruined.”

“As for things like being beneficial for exports and attracting more foreign tourists, it’s nothing compared to domestic consumption in the UK, so the British government will definitely stabilize the situation.”

“More importantly, is the situation in the Eurozone really better than in the UK? Those countries that are a drag on the Eurozone, can they really hold up? Are they tougher than the UK?”

“I definitely don’t believe that.”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily, feigning a relaxed demeanor.

Hearing this, Xia Qing’s eyes immediately lit up.

“That’s right. The Eurozone is different from the UK. Once those countries holding it back run into problems, they’ll drag the entire Eurozone into the mud.”

Exchange rates are a matter of comparison.

As long as the pound stabilized and the euro declined, the exchange rate would rise.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, when the PIIGS countries ran into trouble, the pound recovered.

Around mid-2009, it returned to a level of about 1 to 1.25.

After that, it remained relatively stable at that level.

“I personally think the base rate will definitely continue to fall. I don’t know to what extent, but the British government must rescue the market, and they will also introduce a series of policies to vigorously promote economic recovery.”

“This is our opportunity!”

In any country in the world, large-scale infrastructure projects are highly valued.

Once the British government introduced a series of policies, Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project would certainly receive attention.

At that time, with government support and the base rate hitting rock bottom, Yang Cheng was confident he could get the stadium built at the lowest possible cost!

However, this was all for 2009, or even for the coming years.

Right now, the most important thing for Bayswater Chinese was to reassure the players.

The shock of the pound’s rapid depreciation had a huge impact on them.

Many people only see the stars on the pitch, but the club also needs to see the players off the pitch, and their families.

For example, some of them had bought houses in London and in their home countries.

Their families lived in their home countries.

Would the rapid depreciation of the pound affect their lives and their families’ lives?

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese had to step up, provide a safety net for the players, and offer help when necessary!

It is in critical moments that a club shows its human touch and its player-centric philosophy!

The sharp decline in the pound sterling’s exchange rate also led to another amusing incident.

Manchester United announced that their revenue for 2008 was not the two hundred fifty-seven million, one hundred thousand pounds reported by Deloitte.

Because Deloitte had missed one item: the twenty-three million pound sponsorship fee Manchester United received annually from Nike, as well as their share of shirt sales.

If these two items were included, Manchester United would surpass Real Madrid’s two hundred eighty-nine million, six hundred thousand pounds to once again become the world’s highest-earning football club.

Manchester United had originally intended to announce this as good news.

But they never expected the pound to depreciate so rapidly in such a short time, making it impossible for Manchester United’s revenue to catch up with Real Madrid’s anymore.

This caused quite a bit of lament among the British media.

The Red Devils worked hard for a year, only to have their earnings wiped out by the pound’s depreciation in just a week or two.

Bayswater Chinese, on their end, had yet to compile their figures.

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier were busy reassuring players and employees.

Bayswater Chinese successively introduced a series of internal policies to provide a safety net for their players and employees.

Especially the players.

Yang Cheng communicated with each player one by one to understand their situation.

At the same time, Yang Cheng also told them that the depreciation of the pound was only temporary.

This was an economic crisis, and in any European country, it was basically impossible to escape this wave of harvesting.

Therefore, the most important thing for the players was to focus on playing football.

“By mid-2009 at the latest, everything will stabilize!”

To give the players and employees more confidence, Yang Cheng increased the Treble bonus for winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League last year from eight million pounds sterling to twelve million pounds sterling in one go.

He announced this decision at the team’s Christmas dinner.

In addition to the first team players, all players in the youth academy had their allowances appropriately increased to compensate for their losses in this currency depreciation.

These young players had a lower capacity to absorb risk than the first-team stars.

This measure meant Bayswater Chinese spent a large extra sum of money.

Xia Qing felt the pinch, but she still supported Yang Cheng’s decision.

Building a club with warmth and a sense of belonging was what Yang Cheng wanted!

And Xia Qing would definitely support him with all her might!

Bayswater Chinese had always been known for being stingy; their wage expenditure had always been last among the top Premier League teams.

But at a critical moment, Bayswater Chinese acted decisively, both providing a safety net for the players and introducing a series of measures. Compared to the laissez-faire attitude of other Premier League teams, this won them more recognition from players, media, and fans.

Especially the fans.

All fans hope that the team they support is a responsible one.

The media then followed up with a report that, in the midst of the economic crisis, Bayswater Chinese still gave out generous holiday gifts to residents in surrounding areas such as Bayswater, Notting Hill, and Wembley before Christmas.

At the same time, the club also increased its donations this year to public welfare institutions such as homes for the elderly and widowed, orphanages, children’s hospitals, and nursing homes.

This was actually something Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had decided on long ago.

At the time, they were considering reasons related to infrastructure construction and wanted to appease the residents of the surrounding communities.

But unexpectedly, with the sudden turn of events, Bayswater Chinese’s series of actions were instead interpreted as a righteous act of social responsibility during an economic crisis!

Not only did the British media continuously praise Bayswater Chinese’s actions in newspapers and on television, but even the London city government, and eventually even 10 Downing Street, stepped forward to call on all sectors of society to learn from Bayswater Chinese, play their part, and overcome the difficult times together!

This, in turn, unexpectedly pushed Bayswater Chinese into the eye of the storm.

“What the hell? They spent so little and got praised as a model example by 10 Downing Street?”

In Knightsbridge, London, Roman Abramovich was in his mansion, reading the lengthy news reports, his mood souring with every word.

“On what grounds?”

The more Abramovich looked at Bayswater Chinese now, the more he disliked them.

The first London team to win the Champions League.

And now, the first British team to win the Club World Cup.

Bayswater Chinese had snatched all the glory first.

It was infuriating just thinking about it!

“Marina, tell Peter Kenyon that we will also provide a safety net for the players, we will also introduce a series of policies.”

Abramovich said, somewhat petulantly.

“And Christmas… think of something.”

Marina Granovskaia glanced at her boss, hesitated for a moment, and then reminded him softly, “Boss, it’s too late.”

“What do you mean, too late?” Abramovich raised his voice.

“Right now, all the media and fans are praising Bayswater Chinese. No matter how much more we do, no matter how much more money we spend, we will still be seen as copying them. Everyone will think we are just following the trend, and even…”

Granovskaia paused before continuing, “The more people who follow the trend, the more praise Bayswater Chinese will receive, because they are now the ones leading by example!”

The one who eats the crab first is always the most favored, with the best effect.

Abramovich felt a headache coming on, cursing up a storm in his mind.

How did I end up with a neighbor like this?

“What’s the reaction from the players now?” Abramovich asked with concern.

“It’s chaotic.”

Abramovich looked up at his personal assistant.

“The team’s results are not great right now, our ranking isn’t climbing, and there are constant rumors that Scolari is going to be sacked. We have never given a clear statement, so the team is already in a state of panic.”

“Now, with the pound depreciating so severely, many people are quite unhappy.”

Earn in Britain, spend in Britain, not a penny to take back home.

Don’t assume that this type of player is unaffected.

With the depreciation of the pound, prices are also rising sharply, which invisibly increases the cost of living.

And then there are bank savings.

Players playing in the Premier League are mostly paid in pounds, so their savings are naturally in pounds.

Imagine if one day, your savings suddenly evaporated by a third, how would that feel?

You’d probably go crazy.

And for foreign players like Drogba and Anelka, who have loans or debts in the Eurozone, it’s enough to make them lose their will to live.

So, to some extent, Granovskaia really admired Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, they reacted quickly enough, and their decision to provide a safety net for the players was very timely.

Many clubs were already choosing to follow suit.

But most clubs were just watching coldly from the sidelines.

The reason was simple: to them, players were like cattle, what did their life or death have to do with them?

Many clubs had taken out loans from Eurozone banks and were on the verge of collapse themselves. Where would they find the time to care about the players?

This, in turn, also proved that Bayswater Chinese was genuinely wealthy now.

Due to the rapid depreciation of the pound sterling, Christmas 2008 was not a very cheerful one.

The same went for Bayswater Chinese.

After a long journey to Japan to win the Club World Cup, Christmas arrived immediately.

This disrupted the team’s entire preparation rhythm.

At noon on Boxing Day, the 26th, Bayswater Chinese traveled to North London to play away at White Hart Lane.

Since they were playing Chelsea at home on the 28th, Yang Cheng conserved energy in this match, making significant rotations.

As a result, at White Hart Lane, the two sides battled for nearly ninety minutes.

It wasn’t until the 87th minute that substitute Jamie O’Hara assisted Darren Bent, who beat the offside trap to score against Bayswater Chinese.

0-1!

Bayswater Chinese had fallen at White Hart Lane!

This was also the first league defeat of the season for Yang Cheng’s team!

In the dressing room after the match, Yang Cheng consoled the players.

At the post-match press conference, he took questions from reporters.

“For any professional team, losing is inevitable.”

“No team can keep winning forever, keep remaining undefeated. That’s unrealistic.”

“In the new season, we have 15 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 17 matches. I am very, very satisfied with this record, and I can’t possibly ask for more from my players.”

Yang Cheng frankly admitted that losing the battle at White Hart Lane was indeed regrettable.

“Looking at the course of the game, we performed better than our opponents, we created more chances.”

“But unfortunately, sometimes, playing well doesn’t guarantee a win.”

Yang Cheng congratulated Redknapp, but the loss was now in the past.

“For us, the most important thing is the upcoming home game against Chelsea.”

“We will walk out of the shadow of this defeat at our home ground!”

Thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez in the 82nd minute, Manchester United secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Stoke City.

Chelsea, with goals from Drogba and Lampard, defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at home.

Liverpool did even better, beating Bolton 3-0 at home.

Manchester City had the best performance, with both Kaká and Robinho scoring a brace in a 5-1 home thrashing of Hull City.

Arsenal, meanwhile, drew 2-2 away at Aston Villa.

After the Tottenham match at noon on the 26th, Yang Cheng received two injury reports from the team doctor in the evening.

Theo Walcott had a mild tear in his thigh muscle fiber, expected to be out for two weeks.

Next was Leighton Baines, who also had a mild thigh muscle tear and was also expected to be out for two weeks.

Judging from the injuries, they were both minor tears. Although there was discomfort like pain, swelling, and stiffness, the impact was relatively small.

Many teams would even just let the players play through the injury.

But the team doctor advised that the players should rest.

Yang Cheng approved.

The winter temperatures this year were lower than in previous years, and this was often a high-risk period for player injuries.

The situations of these two players were also slightly different.

Walcott was injured during the match against Tottenham.

Leighton Baines did not play in that match but was injured during training.

This meant that for the home game against Chelsea, the youngster Marcelo would have to continue to play.

Alternatively, Yang Cheng could arrange for other players to play on the left flank.

Like Gareth Bale.

After much consideration, Yang Cheng ultimately stuck with the 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Matuidi and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Ángel Di María.

Chelsea was also affected by some injuries, with captain Terry out due to injury.

Carvalho was also just returning from injury.

So, Scolari also had to make some rotations.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Alex, Ivanović, and José Bosingwa;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Deco and Lampard in front of him;

Forwards: Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka.

As soon as the match started, Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, showed an aggressive posture.

Yang Cheng knew very well that Chelsea would definitely target Marcelo’s flank.

So, he simply turned the tables and took the initiative to attack.

Just nine minutes into the game, Marcelo made an overlapping run to the edge of Chelsea’s 30-meter area, passed the ball to Gareth Bale, and then cut inside into the left channel.

Gareth Bale, ahead of Bosingwa, passed the ball horizontally to Marcelo.

The Brazilian, facing the left sideline, used his left foot to send a through ball behind the defense, towards the byline.

The Welsh winger took off at top speed and, amidst the cheers of ninety thousand fans, beat Bosingwa to Marcelo’s pass and sent in a low, driven cross with his left foot.

In the center of Chelsea’s penalty area, Džeko, Alex, and Ivanović were all surging forward.

Ivanović positioned himself in front of Džeko and threw his entire body into a sliding tackle to intercept.

It was a very risky defensive move; a slight miscalculation could result in an own goal.

Gareth Bale’s low cross was made with that possibility in mind.

But Ivanović did not score an own goal.

The ball was deflected by Ivanović and bounced up.

But to everyone’s surprise, Džeko, who had been sandwiched between two Chelsea centre-backs moments before, saw that Ivanović had gotten to the optimal position and didn’t continue forward. Instead, he deliberately hung back a couple of steps.

After hitting Ivanović’s leg, the ball bounced up a bit higher.

The Bosnian centre-forward quickly closed in and, before Alex could react, the tall, long-legged striker unleashed a power shot, sending the ball into Chelsea’s net.

1-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans.

But Bayswater Chinese’s lead lasted only nine minutes.

Deco sent a through ball that precisely cut through Bayswater Chinese’s defense, passing between Marcelo and Thiago Silva to the right side of the penalty area.

Drogba made a quick run forward, using his body to hold off Thiago Silva, and then blasted a shot with his right foot, beating Bayswater Chinese’s goalkeeper to level the score.

1-1!

The two teams were back on equal footing.

After that, both sides went back and forth, playing anything but conservatively, and wasting chances in the process.

In the 44th minute, a powerful shot from an overlapping run by Matuidi was saved by a flying Čech, deflecting it out for a corner.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a corner kick.

Modrić ran to the left corner flag and quickly took the kick.

Chelsea’s penalty area descended into chaos.

In the confusion, Mikel failed to keep up with the fast-moving Džeko.

Meanwhile, everyone else’s attention was drawn to Pepe and Yaya Touré.

As a result, Džeko charged towards the goal and met the ball with a powerful header, smashing it into Chelsea’s net.

2-1!

A brace!

After the break, Chelsea made a substitution.

Carvalho came on for Bosingwa.

This was a signal to strengthen the defense.

After the change, Ivanović moved to the right flank to mark Gareth Bale.

Carvalho and Alex formed the centre-back pairing.

Chelsea began to play on the counter-attack.

In the 70th minute, Deco attempted a long pass into the box to find Drogba.

Neuer decisively came off his line and, reaching the ball before Drogba, punched it away with both fists.

The ball flew out of the penalty area.

But Neuer and Drogba collided and both fell inside the box.

Outside the area, Yaya Touré failed to secure his position in time, and Lampard exploited the opening.

The Chelsea midfielder controlled the ball and, from a full twenty-five meters out, unleashed a long shot that found the back of the virtually unguarded net.

2-2!

The two sides were back on level terms again!

Chelsea made another substitution, with Essien replacing Malouda.

At this point, The Blues looked like they were playing a 4-4-2.

Drogba and Anelka were pushed up front, becoming two strikers.

Deco, meanwhile, shifted to the number 10 role.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng also made a quick change.

Eden Hazard replaced Matuidi.

Di María moved to left central midfielder, partnering with Modrić.

Hazard played on the left wing, and Gareth Bale moved to the right.

Yang Cheng’s intention was very clear: to keep attacking.

Continue to attack!

“Bayswater Chinese still has possession.”

“To Modrić, passes it on.”

“Gareth Bale cuts inside from the right, left-footed long shot!”

“Just grazes the post and goes out for a goal kick.”

“Bayswater Chinese has been relentless on the attack after the adjustment!”

“That was a very dangerous shot.”

“Look at this, Di María tries a through ball for Džeko.”

“Alex blocks it.”

“But it still falls to a Bayswater Chinese player.”

“To Yaya Touré.”

“The Ivorian makes an overlapping run, a one-two pass with Modrić.”

“Yaya Touré is a real beast!”

“He’s dragging Mikel along as he charges forward.”

“Yaya Touré takes a long shot!”

“Čech makes a flying save to hold onto the ball.”

“Chelsea’s defense is getting more and more solid.”

“The Iron-blooded Blues are no joke. From Ranieri to Mourinho to now, Chelsea has always been one of the best defensive teams in the Premier League!”

“Even for an attacking powerhouse like Bayswater Chinese, breaking down Chelsea’s defense in a set-piece battle is no easy task.”

“Hazard on the dribble.”

“He’s past them, two defenders!”

“The Belgian winger beats two men and passes to the edge of the penalty arc.”

“Substitute Lewandowski takes a direct shot!”

“Still just wide!”

“Bayswater Chinese is getting a bit anxious now.”

“The match is already in its 88th minute.”

“Chelsea is clearly satisfied with one point.”

“But Yang Cheng certainly doesn’t think so.”

“He’s thrown everything into this match, definitely wants to get the three points at home.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack has been truly ferocious, especially in these last twenty minutes.”

“But Chelsea has also set up a defensive formation like an iron barrel, leaving no gaps for Bayswater Chinese.”

As the match wore on and time ticked away, the atmosphere inside Wembley Stadium grew increasingly intense.

Even the ninety thousand fans in the stands could feel the tension and pressure of the game.

For Ángel Di María on the pitch, it was even more so!

His father was once a professional footballer, and when Di María was born, their family’s financial situation was actually quite good.

That’s why Di María, born on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, was named Ángel by his parents.

But later, because his father co-signed a loan for someone, the entire family was dragged into a quagmire.

From then on, Di María’s childhood was shrouded in darkness.

His father burned charcoal at home to sell, which left everything in the house coated in black soot.

Di María showed astonishing football talent from a very young age, making him the family’s hope to escape poverty and debt.

In those years, his mother would take him on a bicycle every day to the Rosario Central district, ten kilometers away, for football training.

Di María would never forget that summer of 2006.

The invitation from Premier League club Bayswater Chinese became the topic of discussion for his entire family.

As an Argentine, playing football in England was always particularly difficult!

But as Di María looked at the soot-stained living room of his home, at his father’s face covered in charcoal dust, he resolutely chose to come to England.

He still remembered the complex look in his parents’ eyes when he made that decision—a mixture of surprise and worry, of pride and guilt.

Every time he recalled it, his heart would fill with strength!

His football career at Bayswater Chinese had actually been wonderful.

Yang Cheng held him in high regard, not only promoting him to the first team early on but also putting him through a series of special training and strengthening programs.

He survived the difficult period of adaptation and integrated into the team.

None of this would have been possible without Yang Cheng’s support!

Especially when he encountered intimidation, threats, and even physical attacks from some extremist fans, Yang Cheng stepped up, shielded him from all the storms, and created the most relaxed football environment for him.

Yang Cheng also often chatted with him, showing concern for his well-being and asking about his family.

All of this, Di María would remember for the rest of his life!

Before, he never understood why some professional players could fight so desperately.

But now, he was willing to give his all for Bayswater Chinese!

This season, Di María had also felt the pressure from inside and outside the team.

As Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott’s performances improved, and they being local players, it was Di María who had yet to score a goal, which led to some questioning of Yang Cheng’s personnel choices from the outside world.

The English public wanted Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott to get more playing time!

But Yang Cheng still chose to rotate, still gave Di María unconditional support and trust.

Everything was the same as before, nothing had changed.

This moved Di María deeply, but also put him under immense pressure.

He knew he had never been a prolific goal-scorer.

But he had always been working hard to improve himself, practicing with his right foot, practicing his shooting…

He never slacked off!

He didn’t want to prove anything to anyone, because he never cared what those people thought.

He simply wanted to repay the trust and support from his head coach, to help this team, and to fight alongside his teammates!

Di María never spoke of his thoughts to anyone, but he was always working hard!

In this match against Chelsea, whether he was on the left wing, the right wing, or in the center, Di María never let up.

He kept running hard, patiently waiting for an opportunity.

“The boss said Mikel is right-footed, and so is Essien. If you get a chance, take the shot, don’t hesitate!”

This was the instruction Yang Cheng had relayed to him through Lewandowski.

In the final twenty minutes, Chelsea practically parked the bus, with all players defending, leaving no gaps for Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng saw a tiny crack.

Di María said nothing, but he was constantly looking for an opportunity.

A chance to prove himself, to help the team, to repay his head coach!

As time gradually slipped away, his mood grew heavier, and the pressure mounted.

But in the 90th minute, just as everyone was processing the sign for three minutes of stoppage time, Di María saw Marcelo dribbling forward.

The Brazilian had excellent technique.

Di María started running too, coordinating with Marcelo’s dribble.

But he kept a close eye on the positions of Mikel and Essien.

As expected, Essien would surely shift to the flank.

He wouldn’t be comfortable letting Ivanović defend against both Hazard and Marcelo alone.

So, Di María drifted slightly towards the center, appearing closer to Mikel.

This was to make Essien lower his guard.

Sure enough, when Marcelo dribbled into Chelsea’s 30-meter area, Essien immediately went out to meet him.

Di María immediately followed, calling out to Marcelo and raising his hand for the ball.

Marcelo was about to pass to Hazard but felt the opportunity wasn’t great.

Hearing Di María’s call, he glanced over and sent the ball with his left foot.

The ball passed by Essien towards the left channel.

Di María seized the moment, suddenly accelerated, and, getting ahead of Mikel, he controlled Marcelo’s pass with his left foot into the space in front of him and to his left, then sprinted after it.

Mikel, as an African player, was physically strong but slow.

With this burst of speed, Di María immediately created a gap past Mikel.

Before the defenders could react, the Argentine player had wound up and unleashed a long shot with his left foot.

After striking the ball, Di María’s whole body leaped into the air with inertia, almost losing his balance and falling.

The football shot out like a cannonball, flying at incredible speed over the edge of the penalty area, over the heads of the Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese players, before dipping so fast it was a blur to the naked eye and crashing into the right side of the Chelsea net.

How could Čech, standing on the left side of the goal, possibly save that?

The entire stadium fell silent for an instant!

Then, ninety thousand fans erupted in a frenzy of cheers!

Everyone shot out of their seats, all screaming Di María’s name at the top of their lungs!

“GOAL!!!”

“AN ANGEL DESCENDS!!”

“THE GREAT DÍ MARÍA!”

“HE SCORES WITH A LONG SHOT IN THE FINAL MOMENTS OF THE GAME!”

“A WORLDIE!!”

“THAT IS AN ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT WONDER GOAL!!”

“3-2!”

“BAYSWATER CHINESE HAS BREACHED CHELSEA’S GOAL ONCE AGAIN!”

“A WONDER GOAL FROM ÁNGEL DI MARÍA!”

When Di María regained his footing, the sight that met his eyes was his long shot bulging the back of Chelsea’s net.

His mind went completely blank.

Then, he sprinted off the pitch with abandon, shaking off the pulls and grasps of his teammates, running straight to the home team’s technical area, and jumped right onto Head Coach Yang Cheng.

The other Bayswater Chinese players all chased after him, surrounding the two of them in a tight circle.

Chapter 159: Overhead Kick! A New Premier League Record! He’s the Most Perfect Winger in My Eyes!

“Here, with me, Ángel Di María has always been an exceptionally outstanding player.”

“I’ve always believed that he wouldn’t let anyone down!”

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng singled out Di María for praise for his last-minute winner.

It was the Argentine’s first Premier League goal of the season.

He had often been criticized by the media and fans for his lack of goals.

Especially with Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott’s significant improvements this season, everyone felt that these two homegrown wingers deserved to be the undisputed starters and star players.

But Yang Cheng had always trusted Di María, rotating the three players.

This decision paid off in last season’s Champions League final.

Today, at Stamford Bridge, it had paid off once again.

“Di María is a very special player. He brings a unique quality to the team.”

After the battle at Stamford Bridge, Yang Cheng believed that Di María had withstood the pressure and was now entering a period of transformation.

This was a stage that all professional players go through in their development.

On the other hand, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott had yet to reach this stage.

As for the record of one win and one loss during this year’s Christmas fixtures, Yang Cheng expressed his satisfaction.

The away loss to Redknapp’s Tottenham was partly due to squad rotation and the Club World Cup disrupting the players’ rhythm.

On the other hand, Redknapp’s team had indeed performed very well, especially defensively.

And with this home victory over Chelsea, Yang Cheng’s team proved their strength once again.

The defense organized by Scolari was also quite formidable.

After defeating Chelsea, Bayswater Chinese had a record of 16 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 20 rounds, earning them 49 points and placing them at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal was second with 45 points, while Manchester United and Liverpool were tied at 44 points, ranking third and fourth respectively.

Chelsea was fifth with 39 points, and Manchester City was sixth with 37 points.

Overall, the power structure of the Premier League for the season had more or less taken shape.

After the match, the British media analyzed that Di María’s last-minute winner was worth its weight in gold.

Without that goal, the match would most likely have been a draw.

Bayswater Chinese would have been left with only 47 points, just a two-point lead over Arsenal, making the situation very precarious.

Of course, Yang Cheng wasn’t under too much pressure.

After all, Bayswater Chinese had two games in hand.

Although Manchester United had won both their post-Christmas Premier League matches 1-0, Ferguson was still very unhappy with the schedule.

After 20 rounds, he blasted the Premier League, arguing that in the first half of the season, all their matches against last season’s top 10 teams were away games.

Well, the third-round home game against Bayswater Chinese had been postponed.

So, Ferguson pretended that match didn’t exist.

“They told me it wasn’t intentional. All I can say is, to hell with it!”

The Premier League quickly replied, stating that scheduling was indeed very complicated.

To show their sincerity, they decided to invite club representatives to be present during future schedule planning for the sake of transparency.

…

On January 2nd, the third round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Southampton away from home.

Playing at St Mary’s Stadium, Yang Cheng continued to field a lineup of substitutes and young players.

The Saints were in a dire situation, currently ranked 23rd in the Championship. Although there was still hope of avoiding relegation, their position was perilous.

Yang Cheng’s team, however, went on the attack from the start at St Mary’s Stadium.

It wasn’t until the 17th minute that Robert Lewandowski’s clever backheel found Gareth Bale, who broke into the right side of the penalty area, shook off a defender, and scored with a power shot from his left foot.

1-0!

Then, in the 26th minute, Aaron Ramsey broke into the box and got a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper, calmly slotting the ball into the net. 2-0!

After the second half resumed, it wasn’t until the 81st minute that Eden Hazard dribbled from the left into the left side of the penalty area, beating three defenders. Instead of shooting himself, he chose to pass it across to the unmarked Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward made no mistake, sealing the score at 3-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Southampton, advancing smoothly to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

…

On January 6th, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals, Bayswater Chinese once again traveled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur.

This was the second meeting between the two teams since Boxing Day.

Due to Leighton Baines’ injury, Marcelo had played three consecutive high-intensity matches.

So for this game, Yang Cheng had to rotate again, placing Matuidi at left-back.

The midfield consisted of Nemanja Matić in a holding role, partnered with Rakitić and Aaron Ramsey.

Bayswater Chinese started the first half brilliantly, and in the 15th minute, Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock against Tottenham Hotspur, giving them the lead.

But after the second half began, Tottenham launched a comeback.

In the 47th minute, while defending against Pavlyuchenko, Vincent Kompany unfortunately deflected the ball into his own net.

It came from a low, driven cross from the left flank, the side Matuidi was defending.

These kinds of crosses are very prone to causing own goals, and Kompany was just one of the unfortunate ones.

But precisely because of this conceded goal, just four minutes later during a corner kick defense, Kompany lost track of Michael Dawson, who scored.

Two goals conceded in just five minutes.

Although Bayswater Chinese quickly stabilized, and Yang Cheng made successive substitutions to strengthen the attack, they still couldn’t turn the tide.

1-2!

Bayswater Chinese had fallen at White Hart Lane once again!

Having lost at White Hart Lane twice in a row, Yang Cheng had nothing much to say.

But he defended Kompany, calling it proof of the Belgian’s bravery.

He not only said this to the media but also praised Kompany in the dressing room.

Defending such a ball is inherently risky and can easily lead to an own goal. Kompany’s courage to make a play was worthy of affirmation.

In the other semi-final, Manchester United lost 1-0 away to Derby County.

…

On the afternoon of January 10th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the 21st round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Blackburn Rovers.

Just 1 minute and 43 seconds into the game, Di María received a pass from Maicon on the right. Inside the penalty area, facing a double team from Givet and Andrews, he weaved and dodged with the ball as if moving through an unguarded space.

From the right side of the box, he made a right-footed cross-pass, trying to find Džeko in the center.

But Blackburn’s entire defense had retreated, and centre-back Nelsen dropped back to the right corner of the six-yard box, blocking Di María’s cross.

The ball fell back to Di María’s feet.

The Argentine was in excellent form after a good rest.

The moment the ball came back to him, he took it with his right foot, feinted past Blackburn’s left-back Givet, and then knocked it sideways with his left, carrying it horizontally towards the center, past Andrews.

Nelsen immediately rushed out of the six-yard box to challenge, launching a sliding tackle toward the ball Di María had nudged forward.

But the Argentine was a step ahead. Without taking another touch, he struck it with his left foot, curling the ball.

The ball traced a graceful arc before hitting the side netting on the left side of the goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“Di María!”

“It’s Di María again!!!”

“Just 1 minute and 50 seconds into the match, Bayswater Chinese has breached Blackburn’s goal!”

“The Angel from Argentina, Di María!”

Di María made a heart shape with his hands in front of his chest and ran to the sideline, sliding to his knees below the fans’ stand.

The Bayswater Chinese players chased after him to celebrate the goal.

He only just scored his first league goal last round.

Who would have thought he’d score again this round!

Was that all?

No!

At 4 minutes and 16 seconds, Di María passed the ball to Modrić and ran towards the box.

Modrić then distributed the ball to the right flank.

Maicon surged forward at high speed along the right wing, using his pace to power past Givet before sending a cross toward Džeko from near the byline.

Nelsen, positioned near the right post, headed Maicon’s cross away.

But the clearance didn’t travel far, landing within the penalty area.

To the right of the penalty spot, Di María, who had slightly overrun the play, stopped abruptly, turned, and as the ball dropped, flicked it with his left foot over the Turkish midfielder, Tugay Kerimoğlu.

In sensational form, Di María didn’t turn back around after flicking the ball up. Instead, he flipped his body and executed an overhead kick, sending the ball into Blackburn’s goal once more with his left foot.

In an instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted!

“Overhead kick!!”

“Another goal from Di María!”

“A brace!!”

The ninety thousand fans in the stadium were cheering and screaming wildly.

Two goals in less than three minutes!

Was this the same Di María everyone criticized for not being able to score?

The Argentine winger once again made his heart sign and rushed to the sidelines to celebrate.

And just as everyone was still reveling in Di María’s feat of scoring twice in under five minutes, in the 16th minute, the attack came from the right flank again.

Modrić once more played the ball wide to Maicon, who used his speed to get past Andrews on the right and delivered a low, driven cross to the right side of the penalty area.

After receiving Maicon’s pass, Di María took a touch with his left foot, feigning to cut inside and curl it to the far corner.

Everyone knew Di María was left-footed; his right foot was as good as useless.

So, everyone—Tugay, Givet, and Nelsen—was focused on Di María’s left foot.

Tugay and Givet, in particular, moved simultaneously to block Di María’s left-footed shot.

But unexpectedly, after the touch with his left foot, the Argentine performed an elastico-like move, pulling the ball back to his right foot. He steadied himself, created an angle, and unleashed a furious shot with his right foot, once again piercing Blackburn’s goal.

Hat-trick!

Everyone was stunned!

Even the Sky Television commentator was completely shocked.

16 minutes into the game!!

Only 16 minutes!!

Di María had scored a hat-trick!

Didn’t they say the Argentine wasn’t good at scoring goals?

It seems the quiet ones are the most dangerous; once he starts scoring, he can’t be stopped!

“Blackburn’s head coach Mark Hughes must be feeling terrible right now.”

“Before the match, he confidently stated that Bayswater Chinese had been in poor form recently, losing consecutive games, and that Blackburn had a chance to take advantage.”

“But who would have thought that just 16 minutes in, Blackburn would be three goals down!”

“And all the goals came from attacks down the right flank.”

“Bayswater Chinese scored from their first two attacks, extremely efficient!”

“Ángel Di María!”

“The Angel of Wembley!”

“Everyone should remember this name because he has just made history!”

“Scoring a hat-trick in 16 minutes, Di María has set a new record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history!”

“This is simply unbelievable!”

“And what’s noteworthy is that the record Di María broke belonged to his former teammate, Andrei Arshavin.”

“During the 06/07 season, in the 20th round of the Premier League, the Russian Tsar scored a four-goal haul against Chelsea during the Christmas fixtures, also setting what was then the record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.”

“Arshavin took 18 minutes!”

“But now, Di María has improved that record to 16 minutes!”

“This is absolutely incredible!”

“In the last round against Chelsea, Di María scored his first Premier League goal of the season.”

“Who could have imagined he would score a hat-trick this round!”

…

“This kid is the very embodiment of an angel!”

In front of the home team’s coaching bench, Brian Kidd couldn’t help but cheer excitedly after seeing Di María score a hat-trick.

He had watched this group of kids grow up with his own eyes.

Although Di María had already made a name for himself last season, he wouldn’t turn 21 until February 14th.

He was very young.

But under the careful cultivation of Bayswater Chinese and hardened by countless matches, he had already displayed extraordinary talent. Especially in these last two rounds, he had revealed a terrifyingly sharp edge.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the current Di María was different from the Di María of his previous life.

In his past life, Di María’s technical characteristics were those of a South American forward, but he wasn’t particularly good at scoring.

This was likely determined by the course of his career.

Anyone who played on the same team as “ball hogs” like C. Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, or Mbappé could only be a supporting player.

It was fortunate, but also unfortunate.

The fact that Di María was hailed as the “King of Finals” was proof enough that he could handle the pressure in crucial moments, and his scoring ability was not in doubt.

His career had shaped his playing habits and technical characteristics.

But now, at Bayswater Chinese, in Yang Cheng’s 4-3-3 formation, both wingers had significant goal-scoring responsibilities. Without a superstar focal point like C. Ronaldo or Messi, the attacking authority was more balanced.

Therefore, Di María had more and better opportunities to face the goal directly.

Being not particularly adept at scoring was an advantage when Di María was alongside C. Ronaldo and Messi.

But at Bayswater Chinese, it became a weakness.

Thus, the Argentine had been working hard, constantly changing and adapting.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, the current Di María was more incisive and sharper than the one from his previous life.

To put it simply, he was like a Di María with enhanced scoring abilities.

“This kid’s style is completely different from Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Hazard.”

After the players finished celebrating and returned to the pitch, Brian Kidd said to Yang Cheng with a smile.

“Gareth Bale has the physique, physical strength, and exceptional speed; Walcott is physically weaker but incredibly fast, with an acute sense for off-the-ball runs and penetrating gaps; Hazard is skilled at dribbling and breaking through defenses.”

“But among these four players, Di María has the best teamwork awareness and passing ability. His technique is also outstanding, and he has the strongest individual ability of the South American players.”

After a pause, Brian Kidd added with a hint of regret, “He’s just a bit too thin.”

Danny McGrain, standing nearby, chimed in with a smile, “But his individual dribbling is excellent.”

“Don’t be fooled by how awkward his movements look. He just twists and turns, and somehow, he gets past you.”

With a 3-0 lead, everyone was relaxed and burst into laughter.

Di María’s dribbling had a strong South American flavor.

How to describe it?

It was unorthodox!

This wasn’t a criticism; for a South American player, it was a compliment.

Why is it that European players, despite not lacking in individual skill, are generally not great at one-on-one situations?

Ultimately, their movements are a bit too conventional.

To put it bluntly, the more successful a team or country’s youth academy is, the more standardized its players’ technical movements become.

When a player’s every move on the pitch is by the book, they are easily read by experienced defenders and can’t make anything happen.

Why are South American players different?

Because their movements are not standardized at all.

Nurtured with complete freedom from a young age, their minds aren’t constrained by rules and regulations. They play how they feel comfortable, how it’s effective. As a result, they always develop a set of technical skills perfectly suited to their individual conditions.

Frog hops, seal dribbles… a whole host of unconventional moves.

Looks awkward?

No problem. On the pitch, the results are fantastic!

And as fans watch, they start to see a unique rhythm and beauty in it.

Just like Di María.

As thin as a bamboo pole, nicknamed ‘Noodle Man’, he twists and turns on the pitch, looking awkward. But his movements are so quick that defenders don’t know how to stop him.

Yet, his entire set of moves flows like water, from passing and control to dribbling and shooting, all in one fluid motion, with hardly any mistakes.

Because this is the way he’s played since he was a child.

A unique set of moves, exclusive to him, Ángel Di María.

No one else can learn it!

This is the characteristic of South American players!

That’s why, when Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy was launched, Yang Cheng made a point.

Give more decision-making power to the players.

When designing training programs, the focus should be on stimulating the players’ creativity and imagination.

This was his understanding of youth development, gained over decades of coaching.

It might not achieve the same results as players nurtured in the unique environment of South America, but at the very least, it could help mitigate some of the shortcomings of European youth training.

“Actually, our team’s performance has been quite good recently. The overall tactical framework is stable, but fluctuations in player form have caused some problems in tactical execution.”

Yang Cheng gave his assessment of the team’s recent performance.

No matter how good the tactics are, they still need players to execute them.

The biggest problem with the English Christmas schedule is that it causes fluctuations in team form.

“Our speed in passing and advancing the ball has slowed down,” Brian Kidd agreed with Yang Cheng’s assessment.

The slowdown in their attacking transition was due to multiple factors, including the schedule, fatigue, fluctuations in form, match rhythm, and even injuries.

For Bayswater Chinese, once the speed of their attacking play slowed, many problems would be exposed.

For example, the wingers wouldn’t be able to receive passes that allowed them to accelerate.

Why not?

Because when you slow down, the opponent seems faster. Their defensive recovery speed increases, which reduces the space for midfielders to pass and for the two wingers to sprint into.

With less space for passing and sprinting, the wingers can only receive the ball while stationary, which further slows down the team’s transition speed.

Many people wonder why speed-based forwards like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Di María, and even Michael Owen from an earlier era could make a name for themselves at such a young age.

Because they don’t need to engage in much physical contact or strength contests with opponents, nor do they need to receive the ball with their back to goal.

What they need to do is use their speed advantage to charge forward and receive passes from their teammates.

To unleash their threat, someone has to be responsible for playing the kind of through balls with enough lead for them to run onto!

Conversely, it’s only when the play slows down that strength and hold-up play become necessary.

“Our excellent performance in the first half of the season has also led opponents to strengthen their defense against us. More and more teams are adopting a very defensive strategy when they play us.”

“Good guys like Mark Hughes are rare!”

Yang Cheng’s comment made his assistants chuckle again.

Mark Hughes was indeed a good guy, at least his initial setup wasn’t conservative.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese tore them to shreds, making a star out of Di María!

But after conceding three goals, he began to realize the problem and started to defend deeper.

That’s when it turned into positional play.

Of course, Yang Cheng also had ways to deal with positional play.

These included high balls to Džeko, dribbling from Di María and Modrić, and set pieces in the attacking third.

If necessary, Hazard could also come on to dribble and draw fouls.

As Yang Cheng had said before, Bayswater Chinese’s style of play would be a major headache for opponents.

If they pressed high, Bayswater Chinese’s players possessed excellent quick passing skills, making it easier to play balls in behind them.

If they didn’t press, the opposition would be on edge every moment due to the team’s possession play from the back and the passing ability of the midfield.

It was difficult to deal with either way!

But what gave Bayswater Chinese the most trouble were teams that dropped back and defended with all their might.

This was actually the biggest difference between Bayswater Chinese and Pep Guardiola’s Barça.

Guardiola’s Barça actually lacked speed.

Although they always pinned their opponents back and stretched their attacking formation wide, this was precisely because they lacked transition speed.

Because the first thing they did after winning the ball was to secure possession.

Their slow build-up, combined with wingers who lacked absolute pace, meant that Barça’s biggest fear wasn’t teams that parked the bus and defended stubbornly.

They were most afraid of teams that pressed high as a unit, could quickly play the ball behind them after winning it, and also had a fast defensive recovery.

As for the “Parking the bus” tactic that Hiddink’s Chelsea used in Yang Cheng’s previous life, any team would find that a headache.

And when Mourinho’s Inter Milan played Barça at home, they didn’t park the bus.

Later, teams like Arsenal and AC Milan repeatedly confirmed this when they faced Barça.

None of them copied Hiddink’s iron barrel defense; instead, they learned from Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

So, from a purely tactical standpoint, Yang Cheng believed that the current Bayswater Chinese was more well-rounded and harder to defend against than Barça.

To defeat Bayswater Chinese, aside from parking the bus, one could only hope that Bayswater Chinese themselves made mistakes.

Or be confident enough to outgun Bayswater Chinese in an open attacking game.

Otherwise, they would end up like Mark Hughes’s Blackburn, getting blown out right from the start.

…

In the 59th minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack that proved Yang Cheng’s point.

After winning the ball near the halfway line, the team moved it forward with a series of one-touch passes.

Di María sprinted to the edge of the box on the right, received the ball, and faced Givet and Tugay. He used a series of feints to deceive Givet and cut inside.

The Argentine found a passing lane between the two defenders and immediately sent the ball through.

Džeko, with his back to goal on the right side of the penalty spot, received Di María’s pass.

But with two centre-backs behind him, he didn’t turn or control the ball, instead laying it back directly to the arc of the penalty area.

After passing, Di María burst forward with a sudden acceleration, squeezing between the two defenders and running onto the ball at the arc.

At that moment, Blackburn’s Dutch right-back, André Ooijer, had shaken off Gareth Bale and was closing in on Di María.

The Argentine saw his chance and played a diagonal pass.

The ball went between Ooijer and centre-back Samba into the empty space on the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale surged forward at high speed and, without taking a touch, smashed it with his left foot, sending the ball into Blackburn’s goal again.

The entire sequence was as smooth as flowing water, clean and decisive!

4-0!

In the end, thanks to Di María’s hat-trick, Bayswater Chinese crushed Blackburn 4-0 at home!

After the match, the entire British media absolutely exploded!

All the media outlets dedicated extensive coverage to Bayswater Chinese’s big win and Di María’s hat-trick.

It even overshadowed Manchester United’s 3-0 home victory over Chelsea in the same round.

Almost all the media were praising Di María’s spectacular performance!

This was the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history!

No one expected that Di María, once he started scoring, simply couldn’t stop.

Four goals in two matches!

That didn’t seem like the stats of a winger!

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng once again heaped praise on Di María.

“He’s one of the most perfect wingers in my eyes!”

Yang Cheng specifically explained that in Bayswater Chinese’s 4-3-3 formation, the connection between the wingers and the centre-forward was a crucial attacking channel.

And Di María had virtually no weaknesses in this regard!

Of course, the British media always loved to set traps for people.

For instance, this time they asked Yang Cheng, with Di María in such scorching form recently, what about Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott?

In Yang Cheng’s mind, who among the three wingers was more important?

Yang Cheng initially tried to be evasive, but the media wouldn’t let him.

Finally, with no other choice, he had to think quickly on his feet.

“They’re like a person’s limbs. Tell me, is your left foot more important? Or your right foot? Is your left hand better? Or your right hand?”

“So, my answer is, they are all important, all indispensable!”

The media reporters present were amused by Yang Cheng’s wit and responded with a round of warm applause.

But with four goals in the last two rounds, especially his world-class performance against Blackburn, Di María had once again won everyone’s approval, and the doubts about him vanished into thin air.

As for the other matches in the same round, besides Manchester United’s 3-0 home win over Chelsea, Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Stoke City.

Benítez’s team had been continuously dropping points since Christmas and the winter transfer window, seemingly running out of steam.

Arsenal, on the other hand, defeated Bolton 1-0 at home.

Manchester City won 2-0 away against Portsmouth.

…

In mid-January, Britain was hit by severe cold weather.

On the day the 21st round of matches was played, many professional games were affected by snow, rain, and ice, forcing them to be suspended or even rescheduled.

However, this was mainly concentrated in the leagues below the Championship.

The reason was that lower-league teams had inadequate stadium facilities, especially under-soil heating systems, which not every stadium was equipped with. This made it difficult to play matches when snow, rain, and freezing weather arrived.

By midweek, both Bayswater Chinese and Middlesbrough had advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup, which didn’t affect their rescheduled match.

But the harsh weather still worried many.

There were even rumors that the match would be rescheduled.

Bayswater Chinese, however, insisted on playing it as scheduled.

They were already two games behind. If they didn’t catch up now, it would be a nightmare to reschedule them during the congested part of the season.

But Yang Cheng was certainly not someone who would gamble with his players’ safety.

For this match, Bayswater Chinese invested more manpower and resources to maintain Wembley Stadium, ensuring the game could proceed smoothly.

Thanks to the new stadium’s advanced and comprehensive facilities, including under-soil heating and drainage, the match went ahead as planned.

Mr. Southgate’s Middlesbrough still set up in their signature 4-4-2 double pivot formation, determined to play on the counter-attack.

But in the 40th minute of the first half, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Yaya Touré launched a counter-attack.

Di María broke through on the left and crossed, and Robert Lewandowski took a shot on the turn from the edge of the six-yard box.

Goalkeeper Turnbull produced a brilliant save, diving to his side to block the ball.

But near the arc of the penalty area, Yaya Touré, who had surged forward, controlled the ball, shifted it to his right foot, and unleashed a powerful, thunderous shot that broke the deadlock.

1-0!

After the second half resumed, Bayswater Chinese launched an early offensive.

In the 53rd minute, Leighton Baines, returning from injury, played a beautiful pass. Di María took a low shot with his left foot from inside the box, and the ball went through goalkeeper Turnbull’s legs and into the net.

2-0!

Just six minutes later, from the edge of the penalty area on the left, Di María sent a diagonal pass to the unmarked Theo Walcott on the right, who volleyed the ball into the goal.

3-0!

With a goal and an assist, Di María delivered a world-class performance for the third consecutive match!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Middlesbrough 3-0 at home.

After this round was completed, Bayswater Chinese had 18 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, accumulating 55 points and continuing to lead the Premier League table.

Arsenal followed with 48 points, trailing Bayswater Chinese by 7 points.

Manchester United had 47 points, ranking third.

Liverpool was fourth with 45 points.

Manchester City surpassed Chelsea with 40 points, taking fifth place in the Premier League.

Chelsea was sixth with 39 points.

And after the heavy defeat to Manchester United, rumors were circulating throughout England that Scolari would be sacked soon.

…

Over the weekend, in the 22nd round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced West Ham United away.

The cold snap sweeping Britain continued.

The poor pitch conditions caused significant problems for Bayswater Chinese.

Especially at the start of the game.

Just four minutes in, defender Vincent Kompany miscontrolled the ball, which was stolen by West Ham’s Italian forward David Di Michele. He then rounded the onrushing Neuer and slotted the ball into the empty net.

The Hammers had a dream start at home!

But in the 22nd minute, Gareth Bale received a pass from Marcelo and, from over 25 meters out on the left, unleashed a long shot that flew past West Ham’s keeper, leveling the score.

1-1!

After the second half resumed, Modrić made a sudden dribble into the penalty area and was fouled by centre-back Matthew Upson. The head referee showed a yellow card and awarded a penalty kick.

The Croatian converted it coolly, putting his team in the lead.

2-1!

Then, in the 76th minute, Walcott played a through ball, and Džeko shot low from inside the box, sending the ball into West Ham’s goal.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese came from behind to defeat West Ham away, taking all three points.

In the same round, despite centre-back Richard Dunne being sent off early with a red card, Manchester City managed a 1-0 home victory over Wigan Athletic thanks to a goal from Kaká.

Manchester United, in their away match against Bolton, fought hard for 90 minutes and secured a 1-0 victory thanks to a last-minute winner from Berbatov.

Chelsea, after going a goal down, scored twice to come from behind and beat Stoke City 2-1 at home.

Arsenal had a nervy but successful match, defeating Hull City 3-1 with goals from Benzema, Nasri, and Bendtner.

Among the top teams, only Liverpool dropped points, drawing 1-1 at home against Everton.

In this local derby, Benítez’s team failed to overcome their opponents.

Due to the continuous dropping of points after Christmas, Liverpool’s situation was now very worrying.

To some extent, The Reds could no longer realistically threaten Bayswater Chinese’s title charge.

Benítez should be more concerned about whether they can secure a Champions League spot for next season.

After this match, the British media turned their fire on Benítez.

To put it simply, Benítez was digging his own grave.

With one game a week, there was little pressure. They were already out of the League Cup and were fielding a reserve team in the FA Cup. Yet, Benítez insisted on rotating and tweaking the team.

As a result of all his tinkering, he’d crossed a wire and severed a major artery.

In Yang Cheng’s view, a key reason for their recent dropped points was the dismantling of the established midfield iron triangle.

Gerrard was a fixed starter, but either Xabi Alonso or Javier Mascherano was always missing.

The most bizarre thing was that in this round’s home game against Everton, when Xabi Alonso started, his partner was Gerrard.

Benítez abandoned his established 4-2-3-1 for a 4-4-2, somewhat reminiscent of Pep Guardiola.

As a result, Liverpool only managed 9 shots in the entire match, while Everton had only 7.

The game was unbelievably dull, and to make matters worse, they dropped points.

With Torres in poor form, Robbie Keane had been proven time and again to be unequal to the task.

Gerrard pushed further forward to take on more attacking responsibility and scored Liverpool’s only goal.

Consequently, the entire defensive burden in midfield fell on Xabi Alonso’s shoulders.

Liverpool played in complete disarray!

This wasn’t the first time Benítez had messed things up.

Yang Cheng had a nagging feeling that Benítez was actually competing with everyone.

What did that mean?

The whole world knew that Xabi Alonso was crucial to Liverpool and that Benítez had made a mistake last season.

But he wouldn’t admit it.

He refused to admit it, no matter what.

Not only did he not admit it, but he was determined to stick to his guns to the very end.

He was now trying to prove to everyone, through constant tinkering and rotation, that at Liverpool, only he was indispensable!

His will was not to be questioned!

Xabi Alonso?

Just a pawn in his tactical chessboard!

In a way, this wasn’t wrong.

If the gamble paid off, he could re-establish the head coach’s authority.

But now, the facts proved that he had lost the gamble.

Robbie Keane, Benayoun, Riera, and others couldn’t carry Liverpool’s attack and organization!

At least in the current Liverpool squad, an organizer like Xabi Alonso was still very much needed.

…

On January 21st, the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Yang Cheng once again fielded a team of substitutes and young players, and they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Tottenham Hotspur.

Redknapp’s team continued to defend with all their might, successfully stifling Bayswater Chinese’s organization and attack in the away leg.

In the end, Tottenham eliminated Bayswater Chinese with an aggregate score of 2-1, advancing to the final.

In the other semi-final, after losing the first leg 1-0 away to Derby County, Manchester United returned home and defeated Derby County 4-2 with goals from C. Ronaldo, Nani, and Carlos Tevez.

But with almost the same lineup, Bayswater Chinese defeated Everton 2-1 at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup knockout stage over the weekend.

In the 7th minute of the first half, Maicon’s cross from the right was met by Robert Lewandowski, who headed it in from close range.

Everton equalized in the 27th minute with a penalty kick created by Steven Pienaar after a dribble into the box.

But in the second half, Robert Lewandowski’s clever backheel set up Di María, who scored with a low shot from the left.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese smoothly advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

…

Midweek, the 23rd round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Sunderland away from home.

The continuous schedule of two games a week had Bayswater Chinese working non-stop, and the players were very tired.

But in the 55th minute of the second half, Gareth Bale’s power shot from the left was saved by Sunderland’s goalkeeper Fulop, but Džeko was there to tap in the rebound from close range.

This was the only goal of the match.

Meanwhile, Manchester United played West Bromwich Albion away.

After goalkeeper Paul Robinson was sent off early with a red card, Manchester United ran rampant, thrashing their opponents 5-0.

C. Ronaldo scored a brace.

Chelsea defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Kalou.

Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-1 with goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kaká.

Young centre-forward Andy Carroll scored a goal for Newcastle.

It was his second Premier League goal of the season.

Arsenal also faltered this round, drawing 1-1 away at Everton.

David Moyes’s team was as tenacious as ever.

Wenger was hampered by the absence of Fàbregas this round, and the substitute Gourcuff’s performance failed to meet expectations.

The talented French midfielder had not shown much improvement at Arsenal this season, still struggling to adapt to the fast pace of the Premier League. However, Wenger continued to admire the player and entrusted him with significant responsibility.

In another draw this round, Liverpool’s Benítez continued to shoot himself in the foot.

The midfield iron triangle was still missing Xabi Alonso.

For two consecutive rounds, Benítez tried to replace the Spaniard with Lucas Leiva, but neither attempt yielded the desired results.

Was Xabi Alonso injured?

No, he sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

In the end, Liverpool drew 1-1 away at Wigan Athletic.

After the match, Benítez was nearly drowned in criticism from the media and Liverpool fans.

The reason was simple.

After this round, Liverpool had 47 points, still in fourth place.

But Manchester City had reached 46 points and had successfully caught up.

Chelsea also had 45 points.

Who would have thought that Liverpool, who were in rampant form before Christmas and looked set to challenge Bayswater Chinese for the title, would see their performance plummet after the winter transfer window?

…

Seemingly affected by the continuous dropping of points, Benítez finally learned his lesson the hard way.

In the weekend’s 24th round of the Premier League, Liverpool adjusted their tactics, returning to their previous 4-2-3-1.

The midfield iron triangle—Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, and Gerrard—all started together.

As a result, Benítez’s team defeated Chelsea 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Torres.

In this round, Manchester United beat Everton 1-0 at home with a goal from C. Ronaldo.

Arsenal drew 0-0 at home against West Ham United.

Manchester City defeated Stoke City 1-0 away.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese hosted Portsmouth.

Džeko was in excellent form in this match, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese in the 14th minute after an assist from Di María.

But in the 27th minute, the Bosnian and Herzegovinan centre-forward pulled a muscle during a sudden stop and was forced to leave the pitch.

The substitute, Robert Lewandowski, scored twice in the 71st and 82nd minutes of the second half, both assisted by Walcott, to seal the win against Portsmouth.

Pompey managed to score a consolation goal just before the final whistle.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Portsmouth 3-1 at home.

The good news was that after an initial diagnosis from the team doctor, Džeko had only suffered a minor muscle strain. As a precaution, he would rest for two weeks but would not miss the Champions League match at the end of the month.

This was a great relief to Yang Cheng.

Chapter 160: The Premier League’s Darkest Hour! Ferguson: It’s All Your Fault, the Bayswater Chinese Came From Behind!

The winter transfer window of 2009 was rather quiet.

Aside from Real Madrid signing Huntelaar from Ajax for a transfer fee of 25 million pound sterling, there was hardly any major activity.

Six months ago, 25 million pounds would have been a blockbuster transfer worth nearly 40 million euros.

But on February 1st, 2009?

In reality, it was only 27 million euros.

Yes, the pound was now worth less than the euro.

As a result, there were almost no major moves in the Premier League during this winter transfer window.

The only noteworthy event was Tottenham Hotspur taking Robbie Keane back from Liverpool.

But that transfer didn’t cost much.

Why?

Because Liverpool probably hadn’t paid much of the transfer fee for signing Robbie Keane from Tottenham in the first place.

So, Tottenham Hotspur was truly a great club to do business with.

When you bought their players, you not only got a comprehensive warranty but also a six-month, no-questions-asked return policy.

Yang Cheng found himself pondering whether he should have a good chat with Daniel Levy one day to see if they could arrange for a refund without a return.

Now that would be a sweet deal!

The sharp decline in the pound’s exchange rate, coupled with the currently unfavorable situation for most Premier League clubs, had led to a widespread tightening of purse strings across the league.

The only clubs still capable of spending lavishly in the transfer market were Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

With the wealthy Abu Dhabi consortium backing them, the current situation should have been the perfect time for Manchester City to make their move.

However, due to the team’s poor results, there were rumors that Manchester City was preparing to sack Eriksson.

There were many potential successors, including former Inter Milan head coach Mancini, AC Milan head coach Ancelotti, and La Liga’s Villarreal head coach Pellegrini.

These were all some of the most sought-after and reputable managers in European football today.

Of course, these were all just media rumors.

But Yang Cheng knew that the reason Manchester City was unwilling to bring in new players during the winter window was that they were saving their strength to go for a big gamble in the summer.

Because they had spent a year finally convincing Ancelotti.

According to inside information Yang Cheng had obtained, the two parties had even reached an agreement.

Moreover, Ancelotti had already submitted his desired squad, transfer targets, tactics, and various data metrics to Manchester City, all of which had been approved.

Ancelotti would formally take office in June.

This was completely different from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Back in May 2008, before Kaká’s transfer to Manchester City, Ancelotti had met with Chelsea twice, once in Geneva and once in Paris, both during some official events.

But interestingly, Chelsea had demanded that both parties maintain strict secrecy.

Unexpectedly, a few hours later, the news of Ancelotti and Roman Abramovich’s meeting in Paris was on the front pages of major European newspapers. AC Milan’s General Manager Galliani immediately called Ancelotti to ask about it.

This made Ancelotti realize that Chelsea was a shambolic operation, leaking from all sides.

Later, Chelsea chose Scolari, giving Ancelotti the reason that the Brazilian’s English was better than his.

When Yang Cheng had run into Ancelotti earlier in the season, he had even deliberately joked with him about this incident.

Unlike Chelsea’s mess, Manchester City handled things with extraordinary professionalism.

While they were pursuing Kaká, they were also in contact with Ancelotti.

When Kaká was convinced by Manchester City’s grand project, he strongly recommended Ancelotti to manage the team.

Ancelotti, having had enough of his time at AC Milan, began to consider leaving Serie A.

His interactions with Manchester City had been positive, especially with the investors’ ambition and their trust and support for the head coach. This made Ancelotti feel that Manchester City had great potential.

Fans might think Manchester City was just an upstart, with no Champions League football and poor results…

But for a head coach, as long as the money was sufficient, improving results was a quick affair.

How long did it take Chelsea to improve their results?

Roman Abramovich invested for one summer, and Ranieri led the team to the Champions League semi-finals.

Ultimately, professional football was about burning money!

It all depended on whether you knew how to burn it!

It was said that during the Serie A winter break, Manchester City Chairman Mubarak personally traveled to Milan to meet with Ancelotti, and the two officially reached an agreement.

And according to the intelligence Yang Cheng received, the first transfer Ancelotti proposed to Manchester City was Pirlo!

This made Yang Cheng feel both pressure and excitement.

Ancelotti was going to Manchester City!

Who would have thought?

With Manchester City’s financial power, coupled with Ancelotti’s ability to tailor tactics to his players and integrate a team, The Blue Moons would rise much faster than Yang Cheng had anticipated.

As for Chelsea…

Yang Cheng could only say that some of Roman Abramovich’s actions fully justified the results he was getting now.

On a side note, Yang Cheng had also received another piece of intelligence.

The salary package Manchester City offered Ancelotti was 20 million pounds over three years.

His current annual salary at AC Milan was only 4.2 million euros.

…

The sluggishness of the Premier League’s winter transfer window was due to the exchange rate and club finances, but there was another piece of news that sent shockwaves through the whole of English professional football.

The UK government was going to raise the income tax rate for high-income individuals again.

For now, it was only media reports and had not yet been confirmed.

But everyone knew that the government’s way of doing things was always to leak information first, to set expectations, gauge market trends, and then officially announce it at the right time.

The so-called high-income individuals were those with an annual income of over 150,000 pound sterling.

The current tax rate was 40%, but the government wanted to raise it to 50%.

In other words, high-income individuals would have to pay half of their annual salary in taxes.

In comparison, Germany and Italy were at 43%, and France was at 40%.

Spain had the lowest rate; thanks to the “Beckham Law” back then, foreign players in Spain only paid 25% for the first three years.

“The current economic situation is very severe. The UK government now needs to stimulate the economy, so it has to keep cutting interest rates, but at the same time, it needs to stabilize the exchange rate.”

“Now, they’ve turned their scythes on the high-income earners. It’s not surprising.”

“Look, even the media isn’t reporting on it much, and the reaction from all sectors of society isn’t strong.”

Xia Qing’s view on the matter was that it was basically a done deal!

It was normal for the media not to report it and for society’s reaction to be muted.

But professional players, especially in the Premier League and the Championship, had a very strong reaction.

Because they were all basically part of the group about to be harvested.

“The pressure on us is getting bigger and bigger. The exchange rate with the euro has already dropped to 1 to 0.9, and now they’re going to raise taxes. Squeezed from both sides, our club will have a very hard time!”

Adam Crozier was also one of those due to be harvested, but he was still thinking about it from the club’s perspective.

Omar Berrada was the worst off, as most of his family lived in the Eurozone.

But for executives like them, they wouldn’t easily give up a quality job with so much growth potential like the one at Bayswater Chinese.

“My initial estimate is that it won’t happen so quickly. They’ll give a grace period. The earliest would be 2010,” Yang Cheng offered his judgment.

He didn’t dare to be too certain.

In his previous life, the tax increase began in April 2010.

The depreciation of the pound, even though it recovered to around 1 to 1.25 by mid-2009, combined with the April 2010 tax increase, caused the Premier League to lose a batch of high-level stars, ushering in its darkest hour!

C. Ronaldo, Fàbregas, Xabi Alonso, Alex Song, Javier Mascherano, and so on.

Real Madrid and Barça had almost no rivals in the Premier League.

In order to retain their players, Premier League teams had no choice but to once again wield the double-edged sword of salary increases, raising player wages to bear the full cost of the exchange rate and tax hike.

As a result, Premier League player salaries rose even further.

And this wave also caused a sharp decline in the competitiveness of the top Premier League teams after 2010.

La Liga’s 25% tax rate was simply too devastating!

For the same player to receive an after-tax annual salary of 5 million pounds, a Premier League club would have to pay out 10 million pounds.

And in La Liga?

They would only need to pay 6.66 million pounds.

And that was just for one person.

What about an entire club?

What about 20 clubs?

Not to mention the coaches and employees.

But there was really nothing to be done.

In the face of the national government, amidst a global economic crisis, a football club was simply too insignificant.

“We need to prepare for the impact in advance. Renew player contracts if we can, but no matter what, we must strictly adhere to our salary structure and keep enough ammunition for ourselves!”

Yang Cheng spoke very seriously to Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others.

“This is a prolonged war, not a battle that can be won overnight. We need to be fully prepared to respond.”

“We don’t care how other teams raise their salaries. By 2012, our top salary will increase to a maximum of 100,000 pounds per week!”

From the past to the present, in the constant wave of salary increases, Bayswater Chinese had always been pushed forward.

But Yang Cheng would never fire all his bullets at once.

Results were of course important, but the club’s financial health and long-term sustainability were the most crucial things.

Therefore, the new stadium had to be built, and investment in the youth academy had to continue.

The player salary structure had to be strictly controlled.

“Over the past few years, especially the last two, with the soaring value of Premier League broadcast rights and huge commercial success, Premier League teams have become more and more lavish in their spending, and player salaries have swelled.”

“Now, with the depreciation of the pound and the increase in income tax, two great mountains are pressing down. I wonder how many Premier League teams will get bogged down.”

“We, Bayswater Chinese, must not go down that road!” Yang Cheng said, his words spoken with force and clarity.

If they really couldn’t meet a player’s demands, then they would sell!

Sacrificing results to ensure the club’s financial stability was worth it!

“On the other hand, we need to speed up our commercial development, open up as many channels as possible, increase commercial income, and boost the club’s overall revenue.”

Speaking of which, Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

“Your commercial department needs to work harder. Try to go to the United States this year and pull off something big again.”

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada both nodded.

Bayswater Chinese’s US tour had been in preparation for two years, and many aspects were almost ready.

“Over the next period, we’ll both be making frequent trips to the United States for inspections and negotiations, and we’ll strive to deliver a brilliant report card!” Adam Crozier promised with a smile.

It was clear he was very confident.

Yang Cheng then turned to Chris Hunt.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese had opened its eighth Satellite Training Centre, but other Premier League teams didn’t seem to have reacted yet.

Perhaps they had noticed but were unwilling to follow suit.

But Yang Cheng still stood by his principle: investment in the youth academy would not waver.

“Chris, you have to keep a close eye on the new stadium’s infrastructure. Don’t cause any trouble. You see the situation now; all of us must be on high alert!”

Chris Hunt and Yang Cheng went way back. He immediately patted his chest and guaranteed that there would be absolutely no problems on his end.

The “trouble” Yang Cheng was referring to was mostly financial.

A third-party supervisor was responsible for quality, so Yang Cheng wasn’t worried.

As for the finances, Xia Qing was also managing them very strictly, with suppliers having been rigorously selected and compared.

But the day-to-day matters on the construction site were overseen by Chris Hunt, the head of the infrastructure department, so Yang Cheng naturally had to place the responsibility on his shoulders.

“In this current situation, for many teams like Newcastle, Everton, and Tottenham, it could be considered a critical period of life and death.”

The life and death Yang Cheng spoke of was not about results.

In the face of a club’s financial collapse, results on the pitch were nothing.

Unless you were relegated from the Premier League.

“But on the flip side, the more it comes to such a life-and-death juncture, the more it is a critical period for us to overtake on a corner and build our foundation. That’s why we need to strive even harder!”

Bayswater Chinese was in no danger of collapsing.

But what Yang Cheng wanted to do was to use this opportunity to achieve an “overtake on a corner” and firmly establish Bayswater Chinese’s foundation in the Premier League and in European football!

This foundation was not just built on results on the pitch, nor just on influence off the pitch, but on the overall strength of the club!

…

There was a week-long break between the 24th and 25th rounds of the Premier League.

Yang Cheng had originally suggested that Ferguson schedule the rescheduled match for that day.

The Premier League and the broadcasters had no major issues with it.

But Ferguson refused again.

This time, Yang Cheng accepted Ferguson’s reason.

From Christmas until now, the players of both teams had been playing non-stop.

Coupled with injuries, fluctuations in form, and other factors, neither team was in great shape at the moment.

Ferguson felt that since there was finally a week’s rest in early February, why not seize the opportunity?

If they kept playing non-stop, their form for the upcoming Champions League matches couldn’t be guaranteed.

But the rescheduled match couldn’t be postponed indefinitely, as the Champions League was about to restart.

So, Yang Cheng gave Ferguson another call.

“I’ve chosen. February 18th!” Ferguson said over the phone.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. February 18th.”

After saying that, Ferguson chuckled on the other end of the line, “Think about it. The weekend before the 18th is the 5th round of the FA Cup. The weekend after, you’re at home against bottom-of-the-table West Bromwich Albion, and we’re at home against Blackburn Rovers.”

“Speaking of which, we’re actually at a disadvantage.”

In the midweek of the 5th round of the FA Cup, there was a national team friendly, and the call-up list had already been announced.

If Ferguson hadn’t added that last bit about being at a disadvantage, Yang Cheng would have let it go.

But hearing the old man get a good deal and still act coy instantly annoyed him.

He couldn’t let him get away with it!

“Right, West Bromwich Albion is at the bottom of the table now, but they’re only two points behind Blackburn. They’re about the same in terms of strength.”

“But Sir, do you take me for a fool? In the 5th round of the FA Cup, you’re playing Derby County, and we’re playing Aston Villa!”

Exposed over the phone, even someone as thick-skinned as Ferguson had to laugh awkwardly to cover it up.

In the end, he had to offer some conciliatory words.

With so many matches, there were indeed a lot of troubles.

“Fine, fine, we’re magnanimous. We’re so far ahead of you, I don’t mind giving you a little leeway. February 18th it is, no changes!”

“Absolutely no changes!” Ferguson agreed.

Scheduling it on this day gave him a huge advantage.

“Alright, it’s a deal.”

After agreeing, both parties simultaneously faxed the Premier League to register the date.

The rescheduled match was officially set for February 18th.

Coincidentally, they would play at Old Trafford on February 18th, and then host Manchester United again on March 21st.

The two matches were only a month apart.

Yang Cheng actually had his own considerations.

In the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese was facing Real Madrid, while Manchester United had drawn Greece’s Panathinaikos.

If they dragged the schedule out any further, it would almost certainly be between the two legs of the Round of 16.

That would have a greater impact on Bayswater Chinese.

But letting Ferguson and Manchester United off so easily wasn’t Yang Cheng’s style either.

So, he took out his phone and made a call to Adam Crozier.

One reason was to inform him that the date for the rescheduled match had been set. The other was to have him notify the press department to “promote” it well.

Manchester United was afraid of Bayswater Chinese, which was why they had tried every means to delay the rescheduled match, finally choosing a time that was extremely favorable to them.

What was this?

This was being timid before the battle had even begun!

“I refuse to believe this won’t piss you off!” Yang Cheng hummed with a smirk.

…

A week later, the 25th round of the Premier League.

Upton Park, London. Manchester United was away to West Ham United.

In the 78th minute of the second half, C. Ronaldo received a brilliant pass from Scholes and charged into the West Ham penalty area. Centre-back Neill rushed over quickly.

With the Portuguese already having taken a step into the box, Neill couldn’t stop his momentum and crashed right into him.

The head referee, Phil Dowd, immediately blew his whistle, pointed to the penalty spot, and reached into his chest pocket for a yellow card.

This was already Neill’s second yellow card.

He had received one in the first half for a foul on C. Ronaldo.

Two yellow cards turned into a red, sending the West Ham right-back off for an early shower.

The entire Upton Park, with over 35,000 Hammers fans, erupted in deafening boos.

But in front of the away team’s technical area, Ferguson clenched his right fist tightly and yelled, “Yes!”

“After Zola took over West Ham, they’ve really been playing well. The whole team is very organized. He’s a true Italian head coach!”

Ferguson walked back to the away team’s bench, verbally praising West Ham’s head coach, Zola.

Those who knew him understood.

His intention in praising Zola was obvious.

Even someone this good ended up losing to me, losing to us, Manchester United, didn’t he?

“Next season, there will be another Italian in the Premier League. The competition will be even fiercer then!”

Ferguson was talking about Ancelotti.

From a technical and tactical perspective, since Zola had taken over mid-season to put out the fire, West Ham had indeed been playing well.

Their offensive transition was very successful, their ground-level combination play was very coordinated, they built up play layer by layer, and their tempo was quite fast.

Defensively, they were organized in layers, not easily giving opponents space or loopholes.

Zola himself had said more than once in the media that he was influenced by Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

But West Ham’s overall quality was still clearly a notch below Bayswater Chinese’s.

Still, they had created a lot of trouble for Manchester United.

The main issue was that the front three couldn’t all play.

“Ryan Giggs’s form is a bit poor. We need to think of something.”

Ferguson sat on the bench, sighing with some regret.

If it were before, when Carlos Queiroz was still here, after Ferguson said that, he would have immediately come up with several viable solutions and discussed with Ferguson which one was most suitable for Giggs at the moment.

But now, after Ferguson spoke, assistant coach Mike Phelan just stood there with a notebook, looking at Ferguson, ready to take notes at any time.

This made Ferguson think of Queiroz for no reason at all.

It had been over half a year since they parted ways. He missed him!

C. Ronaldo calmly took the penalty and converted it, opening the scoring for Manchester United!

But Ferguson was not in the mood to go out and celebrate.

On the contrary, many people around him seemed particularly excited.

After all, they had fought for nearly 80 minutes to get this goal.

Even if it was a penalty.

Ferguson could already foresee that after the match, many people would once again say that Manchester United had benefited from the referee.

At this thought, Ferguson’s mind turned to Yang Cheng.

That damned brat had leaked information to the media, hyping up the idea that Manchester United was scared of Bayswater Chinese and that Ferguson was wary of him, so he deliberately messed with the schedule!

Damn it, could you just say things like that?

The brat had no idea how much trouble he had caused Ferguson, how much of a mess he had to clean up.

“Bayswater Chinese is playing Wigan Athletic away, at 3 PM, right?” Ferguson suddenly asked.

“Yes,” Mike Phelan replied.

“Get me any news from there as soon as it comes in,” Ferguson said with a mischievous tone.

He wanted to cause some trouble for Yang Cheng too.

It would be best to let that brat know who the king of the Premier League was!

Manchester United ultimately scraped a 1-0 away win against West Ham, thanks to C. Ronaldo’s penalty.

And just as Ferguson led his players back to the dressing room, got changed, and finished the post-match press conference…

At the conference, some media outlet asked him about the schedule again, which almost made Ferguson turn and walk out in anger.

This bunch of media just loved to fan the flames and rub salt in people’s wounds!

When everything was dealt with, and Ferguson was boarding the bus with his players to return to Manchester, Mike Phelan brought some good news.

Wigan Athletic had scored!

“They really scored?” Ferguson was overjoyed.

At that moment, he truly felt that the glorious and mighty God had finally heard his prayers!

“Yes, the striker Mido won a corner kick. On defense, the clearance didn’t go far. Mido took a power shot from outside the box. It was a beautiful goal. Neuer was completely beaten,” Mike Phelan said with a laugh.

“Excellent! That kid Mido is really not bad. I had high hopes for him back in the day. It’s a pity, if he hadn’t almost killed Ibrahimović by mistake, I might have even signed him!”

Hearing the wonderful news, Ferguson felt a great sense of relief.

“Hey, by the way, don’t we have that 3G live stream now? Quick, open it for me. I want to watch the match live.”

…

JJB Stadium, Wigan.

Yang Cheng stood in front of the away team’s technical area, calmly observing the match on the pitch.

Wigan Athletic was playing quite well in this game.

Steve Bruce had boasted before the match that he would snipe Bayswater Chinese.

In this match, he充分 made full use of the physical advantage of Wigan’s players. He didn’t just defend with all his might but launched an aggressive press and pressure around the halfway line.

Through this tireless running and high-intensity physical contact, they completely disrupted Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm.

Of course, Yang Cheng also reflected on his own team.

For the past few months, the team had been on edge.

It was almost two games a week, every week.

Now, finally having a week’s rest, the players had relaxed a bit.

As a result, they were targeted by Wigan Athletic.

However, although Wigan played rather rough, their tackles weren’t over the top, which was why they had only received one yellow card.

This was partly due to the referee’s bias towards the home team.

Yang Cheng didn’t make any substitutions at halftime. Instead, he criticized the players, saying their poor performance was because they had relaxed their standards for themselves, which led to their passive position in the game.

For the second half, Yang Cheng still demanded that the players press forward actively and take control of the midfield.

“I don’t believe they can maintain this high-intensity running and physical contact for the entire match!”

“After the 55th minute, we will definitely be able to regain the advantage!”

After the start of the second half, both teams basically continued the trend from the first half.

Neither side could create any clear chances.

Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm was repeatedly broken.

Wigan’s two wingers, Hugo Rodallega and Antonio Valencia, were incredibly fast.

To some extent, you could see traces of Bayswater Chinese in this Wigan team.

Because they also played a formation similar to a 4-3-3, with the tall center-forward being Mido.

The only difference was the midfield.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield trio was not something that could be easily replicated.

There was also the individual ability of the players, and the overall team advantage built upon that individual superiority.

In the 59th minute, Antonio Valencia was dribbling down the right flank and broke into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

Thiago Silva saw his chance, cleverly got close, and cut in between Valencia and the ball, successfully tackling and clearing it away.

The ball eventually found its way to the Honduran left-back, Maynor Figueroa.

This was also a major part of Wigan’s team-building strategy.

Old man Whelan was very shrewd and calculating, gathering a group of international players from Colombia, Honduras, and Ecuador.

These players were talented but cheap.

For example, Hugo Rodallega was a Colombian international.

As Figueroa carried the ball forward along the left flank and reached Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter zone, Theo Walcott suddenly closed in, coordinating with Modrić to defend.

The Croatian poked the ball forward.

With Džeko injured, Robert Lewandowski started this match.

The Polish center-forward dropped back quickly, with his back to the goal, and without stopping, met the incoming ball with a sweeping, sideways pass.

The ball went to Rakitić’s feet.

Rakitić dribbled forward along the left side of the center circle.

After crossing the halfway line and charging towards the edge of Wigan’s 30-meter zone, Rakitić immediately played a through ball.

Ángel Di María was seen sprinting at top speed, instantly shaking off former Chelsea right-back Melchiot, bursting into the penalty area first to meet Rakitić’s pass, and delivering a low, driven cross with his left foot to the far post.

For a moment, everyone on the pitch, including goalkeeper Kirkland, seemed to freeze.

Lewandowski was still far away, and Rakitić hadn’t arrived.

Who was he passing to on the right?

But in the next second, a red figure, like a flash of lightning, ruthlessly burst into everyone’s view.

On this pitch, only one person possessed such astonishing speed.

“GOAL!!!!”

“WALCOTT!!!”

“Theo Walcott has scored a crucial goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-1!”

“The Little Tiger strikes again!”

“He should thank Di María for the assist!”

“But we must also acknowledge that Walcott sprinted a full 70 meters in an incredibly short amount of time.”

“That’s simply unbelievable!”

“Walcott’s speed is just too fast!”

Yang Cheng jumped up in excitement on the sidelines.

The assistants on the bench behind him all cheered wildly.

But soon, Yang Cheng gestured for the players to continue pressing forward.

He saw it.

Wigan’s stamina was almost depleted.

They had held on for an hour, running tirelessly, engaging in constant physical battles.

With their passing and possession abilities far inferior to Bayswater Chinese’s, they could only maintain their pressure on the game by burning through their own energy.

But stamina is not endless.

That they were able to hold on until the 60th minute was because Bayswater Chinese was not in top form today.

If it had been before, they would have surrendered in the first half.

Now, Yang Cheng issued his final command.

Press forward, attack!

…

Under Yang Cheng’s command, Bayswater Chinese began to launch their counter-attack.

Just six minutes after the goal, Di María was dribbling down the left flank, beating several players in a row, before being brought down by a tackle from the tracking-back midfielder, Melchiot, sending the ball out of play.

Leighton Baines quickly ran up, wiped the ball with his shirt, and upon seeing Rakitić coming over, immediately threw the ball in.

Rakitić controlled the ball before midfielder Michael Brown could get to it, only to be pulled down from behind.

It was a very obvious foul, happening right under the referee’s nose.

The whistle blew instantly.

Following protests from Rakitić, Leighton Baines, and others, the referee showed the second yellow card of the match.

After Leighton Baines placed the ball, the whistle blew, and he immediately passed it to Di María.

The Argentinian, without stopping the ball, passed it back to Rakitić and sprinted towards the byline.

Four Wigan defenders were marking three Bayswater Chinese players, but Rakitić played a direct pass towards the byline on the left side of the penalty area.

Di María shook off all the defenders, chased the ball down, and sent a low, driven cross into the six-yard box.

Vincent Kompany had scored an own goal from a similar situation before!

But this time, Lewandowski got in front of the two Wigan centre-backs and slid in to poke the ball into Wigan’s net.

“GOAL!!!”

“2-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese has completed the turnaround!”

“A goal from the Polish center-forward, Robert Lewandowski!”

“This is Lewandowski’s 9th Premier League goal of the season!”

“Surpassing his 8 Premier League goals from last season!”

“And he has scored in two consecutive league games, an excellent performance!”

In the 65th minute, Yang Cheng made his first substitution.

Gareth Bale replaced the youngster Theo Walcott.

Di María was moved to the right wing.

This was a signal to strengthen the team’s attack.

Walcott had played for over an hour, and his stamina was also running low.

Bringing on Gareth Bale at this time was clearly a move to push forward with fresh pace.

After the substitution, Bayswater Chinese played even more fiercely.

In the 77th minute, Maicon made an overlapping run on the right, combining with Di María in attack. He got down to the right side of the penalty area and delivered a cross to Lewandowski inside the box.

The Polish center-forward used his body to shield the ball from the defender, Bramble, and as he received it, he tried to turn.

Bramble was 1.92 meters tall and weighed 92 kilograms.

And Lewandowski?

The 20-year-old Polish forward was 1.85 meters tall but weighed only 80 kilograms.

Just the 20-odd pounds difference in meat alone meant Lewandowski couldn’t expect to get the better of Bramble in a physical contest.

When he tried to control the ball and turn, Bramble gave him a little contact from behind, causing him to stumble and hurriedly protect the ball.

At almost the same instant, Di María was running horizontally along the edge of the penalty area and called out to Lewandowski.

Although the Pole’s steps were messy, he managed to maintain his balance and kicked the ball over.

Di María took the ball sideways with his left foot, guiding it towards the right side of the arc of the penalty area, then chased after it and unleashed a power shot with his left foot.

It was a low, driven shot.

The ball practically skimmed the grass, but it took a noticeable bounce just as it reached the goal, skipping over goalkeeper Kirkland’s outstretched hand and crashing into the side netting on the left side of the goal.

“GOAL AGAIN!!!”

“3-1!”

“Di María scores again for Bayswater Chinese!”

“The Argentinian has been in excellent form recently. We can see that Bayswater Chinese’s attack in the second half has been incredibly sharp.”

“Wigan Athletic’s stamina is almost depleted, and they can no longer keep up with Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm.”

Steve Bruce had also made substitutions.

But the entire tempo of the game was now completely dictated by Bayswater Chinese, and the substitutions had little effect.

Wigan Athletic had completely lost their composure.

And this was happening at their home ground.

In the 83rd minute, Wigan won a free kick about 30 meters from goal.

But when the ball was delivered into the Bayswater Chinese box, Pepe was first to it, heading it clear.

Modrić brought the ball down and played a straight pass to the center.

Lewandowski went on a surging run, charging into Wigan’s half and breaking into the 30-meter zone.

While being pulled and dragged by defenders, Lewandowski managed to play a through ball.

But the pass was a bit rushed, not struck cleanly, and slightly under-hit.

Di María pounced on it immediately.

Just as Figueroa was about to clear the ball with one kick, Di María stuck out a foot in time to block it.

The ball hit Di María’s leg and rebounded towards the left channel outside the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick overlapping run, controlled the ball into the penalty area, chased after it, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that flew into Wigan’s goal.

4-1!

The Welshman turned and ran in excitement, celebrating his goal with a wild sprint.

The entire JJB Stadium fell silent!

Wigan’s morale was completely shattered.

But Bayswater Chinese did not stop their attack.

In Yang Cheng’s words, they had to teach their opponents the harshest, most unforgettable lesson!

When Bayswater Chinese pressed forward en masse, Wigan was truly helpless.

Especially as the game neared its end, their stamina was almost gone, and their movements couldn’t keep up.

A prime example was in the second minute of stoppage time, when Bayswater’s right-back Maicon suddenly sent in a cross.

Yaya Touré surged forward from deep, received the ball, and dribbled past three Wigan defenders, breaking into the right side of the box before unleashing a powerful blast that once again beat Kirkland’s goal.

5-1!

Everyone in the stadium was stunned!

In the first half, when they were leading, they had been so excited, so happy.

Now, they were just as devastated!

They had given it their all!

Especially Steve Bruce; he was still making substitutions in the 85th minute, still trying to strengthen his defense.

But what was the result?

They conceded again in stoppage time!

From a 1-goal lead to a 5-1 deficit, it all happened in the space of about half an hour.

“This is definitely Bayswater Chinese’s most inspiring performance of the season!”

“At the JJB Stadium, they have completely displayed their confidence, played with courage, and proven their determination!”

“Yang Cheng’s team has shown everyone that behind their powerful attack lies the tough and resilient fighting spirit of this team!”

“Steve Bruce’s tactics were only effective for 60 minutes, but Bayswater Chinese only needed 30 minutes to make Wigan’s steel defense completely collapse!”

“It’s not that Wigan played poorly.”

“It’s that their opponents were simply too strong!”

…

The Manchester United players didn’t know how to describe what they were feeling.

The journey from London back to Manchester was 340 kilometers, about four hours.

As soon as they got on the bus, they noticed that their manager, Ferguson, was watching the Sky Sports live stream.

On his phone, no less.

On that small Nokia screen, watching a football match was particularly awkward.

But he was watching with great interest, even adding his own commentary to the Sky Sports broadcast from time to time.

Everyone knew he was in a really good mood.

But as the bus entered the Birmingham area, Ferguson’s mood took a sharp downturn.

Especially when Bayswater Chinese, after equalizing, scored goal after goal.

Despite being behind for an hour, they had somehow turned it into a massive victory.

And at the very end, when Yaya Touré dribbled past three players and scored with a power shot, Ferguson was so angry he stood up from his seat.

“What the bloody hell is Wigan playing at?”

In his rage, Ferguson inadvertently slammed the hand holding the phone onto the guardrail in front of his seat.

The Nokia, tough enough to crack a walnut, was actually cracked by the impact.

The newly bought Nokia was instantly wrecked.

Inside the bus, apart from the players wearing headphones with their eyes closed, everyone was startled.

One by one, they all looked towards the front of the bus in terrified silence.

Ferguson was panting with rage and had no choice but to sit back down.

He looked at the wrecked Nokia in his hand and cursed inwardly, “Damn you, Yang Cheng, you owe me a new phone!”

“Bayswater Chinese is really strong right now. Wigan’s overall quality is still far behind them,” Mike Phelan tried to console him from the side.

He knew Ferguson hadn’t given up on the title race.

In his view, if Bayswater Chinese made a mistake and Manchester United won the next two direct encounters, who could say The Red Devils didn’t have a chance?

That was a nine-point swing!

But now, not only had Wigan lost, they had lost in such a manner, which would only boost Bayswater Chinese’s morale.

“It’s not uncommon for the underdog to win. Wigan just fought too hard in the first half!” Ferguson said in a low voice.

Mike Phelan wasn’t a complete amateur.

He wanted to say, if they hadn’t fought so hard in the first half, could they have held off Bayswater Chinese?

They might have been finished by halftime.

Ultimately, it was just that Bayswater Chinese was too strong!

But Mike Phelan also understood why Ferguson was angry.

After this round, it was the international break.

When the international players returned, it would be the FA Cup.

And after the FA Cup, it would be Manchester United hosting Bayswater Chinese in midweek.

Everyone could see that Manchester United’s recent form was not good.

But Bayswater Chinese’s 5-1 comeback win against Wigan, and away from home at that, meant they would be coming to Old Trafford riding a wave of momentum from a huge victory.

This was undoubtedly very disadvantageous for Manchester United.

“I shouldn’t have watched the bloody live stream!”

After saying this angrily, Ferguson turned his head and looked at Mike Phelan. “It’s all your fault. Why did you help me set up that 3G thing and buy a data plan? Look now, my phone’s broken, and everything’s a mess!”

Mike Phelan looked utterly wronged, feeling an overwhelming urge to scream at the injustice.

Heaven is my witness, Sir, you were the one who asked me to set it up!

You smashed the phone yourself, too.

And it’s all my fault?

But looking at Ferguson’s furious expression, no matter how wronged or unjustly accused Mike Phelan felt, he could only swallow his grievances.

However, Ferguson was the kind of person whose temper came and went quickly.

Those who knew his personality knew that when he got angry, he was uncontrollable, but once he vented, it was as if nothing had happened.

And sure enough, right after his outburst, he turned his head as if nothing had just occurred.

“When we get back, call a meeting with the coaching staff to analyze this match.”

“Come February 18th, at Old Trafford, I’ll make sure Yang Cheng and his team don’t leave in one piece!”

As he spoke the last words, Ferguson was already gritting his teeth.

The title, as expected, was something you had to take with your own two hands!

Chapter 161: An End-to-End Battle at Old Trafford! Thank you, Sir, you’re a good man!

After the 25th round of the Premier League, the international players reported to their respective national teams.

On February 11th, every national team had a friendly match scheduled.

This time, however, almost all of them were held in Europe.

It was clear that the recent uproar from the Premier League’s top clubs and Europe’s giants had some effect.

Fortunately, Džeko managed to dodge the bullet this time due to an injury.

After the players returned from international duty, the team faced the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa at home.

Yang Cheng rested key players like Robert Lewandowski, starting Lambert instead.

Just four minutes into the match, Nemanja Matić opened the scoring for the team.

It was the young Serbian’s first goal of the season.

But a mere four minutes later, James Milner equalized for Aston Villa.

Bayswater Chinese continued to press the attack.

In the 24th minute, an assist from Lambert allowed Aaron Ramsey to score another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

2-1!

From then on, Bayswater Chinese maintained their lead.

To conserve energy for the midweek rescheduled match, Yang Cheng made no substitutions.

It wasn’t until the 76th minute of the second half that, after a combination with Eden Hazard, the French midfielder delivered a beautiful pass, and Lambert found the net from inside the box.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa at home, smoothly advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Manchester United easily dispatched Derby County in an away game.

…

After playing the FA Cup match on the 15th, they had a rescheduled Premier League match from the 3rd round on the 18th.

Yang Cheng decided to arrive in Manchester a day early, on the evening of the 17th.

But somehow, the news had been leaked. Manchester United fans had caught wind of their arrival and were waiting, blocking the hotel entrance. As soon as they saw the Bayswater Chinese team bus, they went wild, as if they’d been shot with adrenaline, chasing after it relentlessly.

Some fans even threw stones, breaking a window on the team bus.

Fortunately, while Bayswater Chinese was stingy in other areas, they were famously good to their players.

Not only were the meal standards high, but the accommodation was top-notch as well.

This time, they were staying at a four-star Hilton hotel, where the security and soundproofing were quite good.

But the Manchester United fans were relentless.

Even after the Bayswater Chinese players had entered the hotel, the fans continued to make a racket downstairs, trying to disrupt their rest.

Luckily, Yang Cheng had always been prepared for this tactic.

Back when the team was selecting partner hotels in various cities, Yang Cheng had made soundproofing one of the key criteria for evaluation.

At first, the United fans tried throwing things at the rooms.

But they didn’t know which rooms the team was staying in and ended up hitting the wrong windows.

The hotel immediately called the police, and a few people were reportedly arrested.

After that, they stopped throwing things but continued to make noise downstairs.

The hotel called the police again, but it didn’t do much good.

This was Manchester, after all.

Manchester United’s turf!

“Tomorrow, I’m going to ask Ferguson why he always resorts to such dirty tricks,” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

Brian Kidd shook his head. “Ferguson is a cunning guy, but he’d never stoop to this.”

“I know, but anything that happens in Manchester, I’m blaming him for it,” Yang Cheng retorted, completely justified in his own mind.

Everyone chuckled.

The players had all gone to rest, but with the fans causing such a disturbance outside, the coaching staff wasn’t feeling very sleepy.

So, a few of them gathered in Yang Cheng’s room to chat about the next day’s match.

The rescheduled match was at 8:00 PM.

And it was being broadcast live globally.

Old Trafford had reportedly drawn a crowd of 76,000 fans.

And this was for a Wednesday match.

“What kind of tactics do you think Ferguson will use?” Yang Cheng started a new topic.

He looked first at Brian Kidd.

Having worked alongside Ferguson for over a decade, Brian Kidd knew him extremely well.

The Manchester United club legend answered almost without hesitation, “Playing at home, Ferguson will never be conservative.”

“He’s an incredibly proud and arrogant man. Even if it’s risky, he will definitely take the initiative to attack!”

He wanted to win, and win standing tall!

Across European football, there weren’t many head coaches who could say such a thing and actually do it.

But Ferguson was one of them.

This reminded Yang Cheng of Ferguson’s autobiography he’d read in his previous life, as well as several conversations he’d had with the man after his retirement.

Yang Cheng had once asked him why he chose to attack proactively in the 2009 Champions League final.

Ferguson’s reply at the time was:

“I’ve already proven that you can beat Barça with conservative tactics.”

“I used that negative approach once, and it worked, but I don’t want to use it again. I wanted to beat Barça fair and square with a more attacking style of play!”

Here, “fair and square” represented Ferguson’s personal football philosophy.

In his view, winning with overly negative and conservative defensive tactics wasn’t a proper victory.

At the time, Manchester United were aiming to defend their title, so naturally, they wanted to defeat Barça with a more positive and proactive strategy.

Under Ferguson, Manchester United rarely, if ever, used defensive counter-attacks against any team in the Premier League.

This was the pride of Ferguson, the pride of Manchester United!

And this time, it was at their home ground.

“The strongest C. Ronaldo was actually in the 06/07 season. While he scored a lot of goals last season, overall, he was too focused on scoring and lost the all-around game he had in 06/07,” Thad Foucher picked up where Brian Kidd left off.

“Judging from his performance this season, C. Ronaldo has seen a noticeable decline. Personally, I think this is temporary. Once he gets through this slump, he’ll reach an even higher peak.”

“But for now, his overall performance is indeed not as good as last season, mainly due to being over-exerted.”

Players are human, not machines.

It wasn’t a matter of running out of fuel, refueling, and then being completely revitalized.

It’s like a person working non-stop. Physically, they might be fine, but mentally they become exhausted, and their work performance suffers.

Having one day off a week is good; two is even better.

If you only had to work four and a half days a week and got a long paid vacation every year, you’d be in heaven.

C. Ronaldo’s current situation was a result of working non-stop last season, leading to mental fatigue.

He played in the European Championship in the summer of 2008, then got injured. After his return, he was thrown straight into a schedule of two games a week, so a drop in form was a normal phenomenon.

It wasn’t just C. Ronaldo; Rooney was the same.

His form this season had been terrible.

Remember, last season, Manchester United used their front three in almost every single match.

Those three players were unshakable starters.

To say they were overused would not be an exaggeration.

The one in the best shape was actually Carlos Tevez.

But he had lost his starting position to Berbatov this season and had gotten ample rest, so his form was, ironically, the best.

However, Tevez was currently in a dispute with Manchester United over a contract renewal.

United fans were very critical of him, partly because they felt the transfer fee to buy him outright was too high.

Moreover, Tevez’s salary demands were also high.

The Argentine striker, on the other hand, believed that the transfer fee was negotiated between Manchester United and his management team when he was first loaned, and had nothing to do with him.

Ferguson had promised to buy him, so he was committed to staying at United.

Otherwise, given his situation, why would he be content to be a substitute at Manchester United?

Besides, with the pound sterling depreciating so severely and taxes about to increase, was it unreasonable for him to ask for a higher salary?

In short, the whole affair was a public mess.

This was precisely why Yang Cheng still insisted on rotating Di Maria, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott.

Rotating three players, with the addition of Eden Hazard for cup competitions, maximized the players’ ability to perform consistently.

More importantly, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott weren’t as durable as C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tevez.

If they were overused, these two youngsters would become injury-prone in a heartbeat.

So, Bayswater Chinese’s current squad configuration and rotation system were working quite well.

Yang Cheng guessed that the front three of Berbatov, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo would start again.

In midfield, Fletcher was decent. Owen Hargreaves was already out for the season, and Anderson had recently suffered an ankle injury and would definitely miss this match.

Manchester United was seriously short-handed in midfield.

This was why Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others unanimously believed that United would press high and attack at home.

“To be honest, I really don’t understand what Ferguson is thinking right now.”

Yang Cheng was completely baffled.

Anyone could see that Manchester United’s midfield was severely lacking in personnel.

With Hargreaves out for the season, Fletcher was inconsistent, Scholes was old, and Anderson, a natural attacking midfielder, had been turned into a workhorse and was also unreliable.

Under these circumstances, why hadn’t Ferguson even considered buying a new player?

Sometimes, Ferguson seemed very astute.

But he was also extremely stubborn.

He had his own way of doing things, and no one could ever guess his logic.

It was like how no one could figure out why Benítez, with such a world-class midfield iron triangle, was so intent on digging his own grave.

“If you were to ask him that, I bet he’d just ask you back, ‘Are Modrić and Yaya Touré for sale?’”

Brian Kidd’s sudden remark made everyone in the room burst out laughing.

Ferguson had been coveting Bayswater Chinese’s midfield for a long time.

Of course, Yang Cheng would never let him have his way.

But he had a nagging feeling that this battle at Old Trafford might just decide the final direction of this season’s Premier League title race.

If Bayswater Chinese lost, the situation would become even more unpredictable.

But if they could win away at Manchester United, they would have essentially laid the foundation for their path to the championship!

Of course, a draw was a result that both sides could grudgingly accept.

In that case, the suspense of the title race would continue.

But Bayswater Chinese’s lead would remain unchanged, and for Manchester United, a draw at home was as good as half a loss.

At the very least, Ferguson would not have achieved his strategic goal for the season.

Yang Cheng had his own calculations.

If possible, he certainly hoped to seize the initiative in the title race as early as possible.

That way, the team would have a much easier time handling the upcoming Champions League and FA Cup matches.

The pressure of the matches would also be relatively lower.

…

On the evening of February 18th, Old Trafford, Manchester.

20:03:46.

In one of Manchester United’s quick-fire attacks right after kickoff, Rooney sent a cross from the left to the right side of the penalty area.

C. Ronaldo shook off Leighton Baines on the right, made a lightning-fast diagonal run into the right side of the box, and, getting there ahead of Thiago Silva, used the outside of his left foot to control Rooney’s diagonal pass toward the center.

The Portuguese winger quickly changed direction, trying to chase the ball he had just controlled.

Anyone could see that if C. Ronaldo reached it, he would unleash a power shot with his left foot.

Thiago Silva also adjusted quickly, immediately turning to pursue and getting entangled with C. Ronaldo.

The two battled physically as they both closed in on the ball.

The moment C. Ronaldo was about to shoot, Thiago Silva acted decisively, going straight in for a sliding tackle.

But unexpectedly, C. Ronaldo cut the ball back with his left foot, and Thiago Silva’s tackle caught his leg.

The Portuguese star instantly lost his balance and tumbled inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

The entire Old Trafford stadium erupted in a thunderous cheer.

“Penalty!”

“The head referee, Howard Webb, pointed to the spot without any hesitation!”

“Just over three minutes into the game, before Bayswater Chinese has even managed to organize an attack, Manchester United have been awarded a penalty.”

“Thiago Silva is shown a yellow card.”

“You have to say, C. Ronaldo is still C. Ronaldo. His footwork is so quick, and his reactions are sharp.”

“With that move in the box, he was probably trying to win a penalty.”

“There wasn’t really anything wrong with Thiago Silva’s defensive action, but this time he was up against C. Ronaldo.”

Thiago Silva slammed his fist on the turf before Pepe pulled him to his feet.

The whole of Old Trafford was roaring!

The Brazilian centre-back habitually turned his head to look towards the head coach standing in front of the away team’s technical area.

Yang Cheng was also looking at him. He didn’t say anything, just gave him a thumbs-up and then clapped vigorously.

The gesture instantly warmed the heart of the Brazilian centre-back who had just made a costly mistake.

He couldn’t understand how he had misjudged the situation.

But a mistake was a mistake.

Thiago Silva quickly walked over to Neuer, high-fived the German goalkeeper, as if to entrust everything to him.

But soon, C. Ronaldo took a quick run-up and calmly dispatched the ball into the net.

Neuer had guessed the wrong way.

1-0!

Old Trafford erupted once again!

…

Right now, Yang Cheng wanted to cry to the fans: The news reports are all lies, I can’t be your prince!

The so-called penalty note that Lehmann had used in the World Cup was completely useless!

At least, it had no effect at all on C. Ronaldo’s penalty just now.

A true penalty expert is constantly changing their technique and direction.

In the end, for a goalkeeper, saving a penalty still comes down to guessing.

Yang Cheng turned his head and saw Ferguson in front of the home team’s technical area, arms outstretched, cheering loudly. He really wanted to walk over and remind the old Scot.

Don’t get too excited, you’re still chewing gum!

What if you accidentally swallow it?

Besides, it’s just one goal, right?

I’ll spot you one!

With that thought, Yang Cheng strode to the touchline, called over Modrić and Yaya Touré, and gave them two instructions.

Yaya Touré was to provide more protection for the defensive line and reduce his forward runs.

Modrić and Matuidi were to put more pressure on Carrick and Scholes.

Rakitić had picked up a minor injury before this match and was left behind in London by Yang Cheng.

The French midfielder Matuidi was starting this match.

Manchester United was actually playing a 4-4-2 formation.

The midfield, from left to right, consisted of Ashley Young, Carrick, Scholes, and C. Ronaldo.

The two strikers were Rooney and Berbatov.

In defense, Manchester United started with Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and O’Shea.

That old man Ferguson still had a lot of nerve.

Facing Bayswater Chinese, he actually fielded a central midfield pairing of Carrick and Scholes.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment, then walked to the touchline again, signaling for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott to tuck into the half-spaces more.

He wanted his players to attack Manchester United’s two half-spaces.

Specifically, the gaps between Evra and Vidić, and between O’Shea and Ferdinand.

He felt that Scholes and Carrick didn’t offer enough protection in those areas.

Especially on Scholes’s side.

C. Ronaldo was focused more on attacking and could hardly provide effective cover for the flank.

But Ferguson was clearly aware of his own problems.

Therefore, Manchester United’s strategy was to use offense as the best defense.

Even after taking a one-goal lead, Ferguson’s team was still proactively attacking.

This style of play was very aggressive, but also very sudden.

At the very least, the opening penalty was completely unexpected for Bayswater Chinese, and perhaps even for Ferguson himself.

Of course, Howard Webb was ruthless enough.

Awarding a penalty just over three minutes into the game.

It was as if he was dying to see this match turn into an end-to-end game!

…

Bayswater Chinese’s first attack occurred in the 7th minute.

Walcott received a pass from Maicon on the right wing and suddenly burst into motion.

Facing three defenders—Evra, Carrick, and Vidić—the Little Tiger bravely charged forward, breaking through Manchester United’s defensive cordon and into the penalty area.

Vidić used his body to muscle Walcott off the ball in time.

The Little Tiger couldn’t handle the physical challenge and went down in the Manchester United box.

But Howard Webb didn’t call a foul.

His reasoning was that he deemed Vidić’s challenge to be within reasonable limits.

Just six minutes later, it was again down the right flank.

Maicon made an overlapping run and delivered a diagonal pass from the right to the feet of Walcott, just outside the penalty area on the right side.

The Little Tiger tried to take on Vidić head-on as he received the ball.

He got the ball past him, and he got past him too, but he was just a step too slow.

Edwin van der Sar decisively came off his line to collect the ball.

While Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward on the attack, Manchester United were not sitting idle either.

Although the Red Devils were a goal up, Ferguson’s team was playing anything but conservatively.

The home side, Manchester United, engaged in a fast-paced, end-to-end battle with Bayswater Chinese.

First, Scholes sent a brilliant pass, Berbatov turned and laid it off, and C. Ronaldo unleashed an unexpected long shot from outside the right corner of the penalty area.

But the shot flew high over the bar.

Later, C. Ronaldo dribbled down the right wing, powering past Leighton Baines before sending in a cross. Rooney took a power shot at the far post.

The ball hit Pepe’s leg and went out for a corner.

From the ensuing corner kick, C. Ronaldo leaped high for a header but couldn’t keep the ball down, and it went over again.

This back-and-forth attacking play from both teams had the home fans on the edge of their seats.

Especially with Manchester United leading by a goal.

The atmosphere at Old Trafford was absolutely electric!

Just as Ferguson had rallied in the pre-match press conference:

Win this match, close the points gap, and Manchester United will launch an all-out assault on this season’s Premier League title!

From the players’ emotions to the atmosphere in the stadium, Manchester United had reached their peak.

But on the pitch, as Bayswater Chinese settled down, they began to exert their influence in midfield.

Matuidi and Modrić were putting more and more pressure on Scholes and Carrick.

From the 15th minute onwards, Carrick was no longer able to receive the ball comfortably.

Almost every time he got the ball, Modrić was nearby.

Although Scholes made a few good passes, he struggled to control possession under Matuidi’s constant harassment.

He was mostly reduced to one-touch passes.

This forced Manchester United’s entire attacking rhythm to be very fast.

They would often play the ball behind the Bayswater Chinese defense after just two or three passes, letting their front three chase down opportunities.

But there was a drawback to this approach: the attack often became a one-shot deal.

Ultimately, when you lose control of the midfield and can’t hold onto the ball, this is the only way you can play.

So, while Manchester United’s attack looked very potent, they didn’t create many genuinely dangerous chances.

C. Ronaldo and Rooney’s form was also as underwhelming as ever.

On the pitch, this translated into a low offensive efficiency.

A prime example was in the 21st minute, when Manchester United had a free kick from 30 meters out.

C. Ronaldo stepped up and just unleashed a powerful shot.

He certainly had the ability to score from that kind of range, but the execution was shockingly poor.

Rooney also seemed a bit impatient.

Throughout this season, neither of Manchester United’s two superstars had been in particularly good form.

Of course, this “underwhelming” form was only when they were being tightly marked.

Try easing up on them?

They’d make you pay in a heartbeat!

But whether it was the fans in the stadium, the viewers at home, or even the Sky Sports commentators, everyone felt that Manchester United was playing well in this match, with a strong attack.

The only flaw was their lack of efficiency.

But it was precisely in this atmosphere, under these circumstances, that Manchester United’s defensive line was pushing higher and higher up the pitch.

26th minute.

Manchester United once again tried a through ball, aiming for the right side of the penalty area—Bayswater Chinese’s left—for C. Ronaldo to chase.

However, Thiago Silva was a step ahead, using his body to block C. Ronaldo outside the box while intercepting the ball. He then took two steps horizontally along the byline.

Berbatov didn’t immediately move forward to help C. Ronaldo press.

This was a classic trait of the Bulgarian centre-forward.

As a man with elegance and style etched into his very bones, his number one rule of football was: my head can be cut off, but my hairstyle must not be messed up!

Getting into a physical battle with these sweaty, smelly men? Was that something a suave man would do?

Inside his own penalty area, Thiago Silva took two steps sideways and, seeing no one coming to press him, looked up and scanned the field. He then unleashed a long pass with his right foot with all his might.

The trajectory of this long ball wasn’t particularly high, nor did it travel exceptionally far.

From near Bayswater Chinese’s own byline, it flew directly over the halfway line and landed in Manchester United’s final third.

The problem was, United’s defensive line had pushed up a bit too far.

Vidić and Ferdinand immediately started backpedaling, retreating quickly.

But Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were already poised to strike.

Especially Gareth Bale!

The Welshman could feel it; the ball was coming for him.

So, Gareth Bale sprinted forward at incredible speed.

Two Manchester United centre-backs in red shirts were retreating, with Gareth Bale in the Desert Gold kit sprinting behind them.

Everyone witnessed it. With a speed visible to the naked eye, Gareth Bale closed the distance step by step, going from being behind to catching up. Finally, inside Manchester United’s final third, he beat Ferdinand to the ball, heading Thiago Silva’s long pass forward for himself.

Ferdinand, who was backpedaling, was put off balance by Gareth Bale, fell to the ground, and was completely taken out of the play.

And to everyone’s astonishment, the Welsh winger was still accelerating!

“My God, he can go even faster!”

Gareth Bale flew towards the Manchester United penalty area, and before the covering defender Vidić could reach him, he poked the ball into the left side of the box and instantly blazed past the Serbian.

He was like a gust of wind!

At Old Trafford, under the stunned gazes of 76,000 fans, Gareth Bale burst into the Manchester United penalty area like a lightning bolt, caught up to the ball he had just knocked forward, and, before Van der Sar could get to him, fired a power shot with his left foot.

After the breathtaking spectacle of his long sprint, the final shot seemed exceptionally lethal!

The ball slid past Van der Sar, who had come halfway out, and nestled into the Manchester United goal behind the Dutch keeper.

1-1!

“GOAL!!!!”

“GARETH BALE!”

“A TRULY GREAT GOAL!!!”

“We just saw Gareth Bale’s long-distance sprint. His speed is simply incredible!!”

“The Manchester United defenders tried everything, but they still couldn’t stop the Welshman’s charge!”

“I don’t even know how to describe this attack, to describe this goal.”

“All I can say is, the moment Gareth Bale scored, I felt an urge to bow down in worship!”

“He is destined to become a superstar!”

“I swear, from this day forward, I am his fan!”

“Remember the name, Gareth Bale!”

A collective groan of anguish echoed throughout Old Trafford.

The lead Manchester United had established early in the game had been wiped out by a single counter-attack from Gareth Bale!

Yang Cheng leaped to his feet, cheering and applauding wildly.

When he turned to look again, he saw Ferguson with a pained expression, shaking his head repeatedly.

…

Gareth Bale’s goal completely ignited the fighting spirit of Bayswater Chinese.

It also thoroughly infuriated Manchester United.

Both teams started to play even more ferociously than they had at the start, and the pace of the game grew even faster.

Especially between the 28th and 30th minutes, in a span of about three minutes, Manchester United won two corner kicks and one attacking free kick.

But none of the three set pieces resulted in a real threat on goal.

Bayswater Chinese also launched continuous counter-attacks.

This fast-paced, back-and-forth attacking play was a thrilling spectacle for all the fans.

Even the Sky Sports commentator said, “This is the most exciting first half of the Premier League season!”

Maicon and Ferdinand both received yellow cards for fouls on Rooney and Gareth Bale, respectively.

But upon closer observation, it was easy to see that Manchester United’s attacking threat, aside from set pieces, came mostly from long shots.

The Red Devils couldn’t find an effective way to penetrate the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

Having lost the midfield battle, they were often forced to quickly pass the ball forward and rely on the individual skill of their attackers to create chances.

For example, in the 38th minute, C. Ronaldo received the ball in the final third, failed to break through, and laid it back for Carrick.

Carrick ran onto it and immediately fired a long shot from over 25 meters out.

But it was wildly off target.

Yang Cheng could also see that Ashley Young was struggling to be effective in Manchester United’s current system.

He might even be less effective than Park Ji-sung or Ryan Giggs.

Ferguson would definitely make changes in the second half.

It was just a question of when, and who he would bring on.

Then, in the 40th minute, Manchester United once again tried to play a through ball into the space behind the defense.

But Pepe, near the 30-meter line, was a step ahead and cleared the ball.

The ball flew over the halfway line and landed in Manchester United’s half.

Robert Lewandowski dropped back just outside the center circle and headed the ball back to Gareth Bale on the left side of the circle.

If time had frozen at that exact moment, one would have seen Theo Walcott already preparing to sprint.

Evra was also prepared, of course, but the Frenchman was turned sideways, watching Lewandowski’s aerial duel and trying to read the ball’s path. He didn’t notice Walcott stealthily drifting towards the center.

He was preparing to attack the gap between Evra and Vidić.

The ball dropped to the left side of the center circle.

Gareth Bale cut in diagonally from outside the circle to meet Lewandowski’s flick-on. With almost no touch to control it, he met the falling ball with a first-time diagonal pass with his left foot.

The ball zipped diagonally between Ferdinand and Vidić, into the space behind the Manchester United defensive line.

At almost the same instant, Walcott burst into motion, instantly slicing through the gap between Evra and Vidić, perfectly beating the offside trap.

The Little Tiger’s timing and instincts were absolutely superb.

Once he was through, there were no defenders behind him.

Like a flash of lightning, Walcott chased down Gareth Bale’s through ball near the arc of the penalty area. He took a touch into the left side of the box, which immediately neutralized the onrushing Van der Sar.

After catching up to his own touch, the Little Tiger swept the ball into the empty Manchester United net with his left foot. Without slowing down, he ran off the pitch, cheering ecstatically.

“IT’S IN AGAIN!!”

“Bayswater Chinese score once more!”

“2-1!”

“A goal from the Little Tiger, Theo Walcott!”

“A beautiful counter-attack, executed with incredible simplicity and speed.”

“Lewandowski’s flick-on, Gareth Bale’s diagonal ball in behind, and Walcott’s quick diagonal run to beat the offside trap for a one-on-one.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s rapid counter-attacking style has instantly dismantled the Manchester United defense!”

“They’ve turned it around!”

“Bayswater Chinese have completed the comeback in the first half!”

“Manchester United’s attacking efficiency just hasn’t been good enough!”

…

“Manchester United’s fatal weakness is their midfield!”

Returning to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead, Yang Cheng bluntly pointed out Manchester United’s problem.

“I predict Ferguson will definitely make substitutions in the second half, but my initial estimate is he won’t do it until the 60th minute at the earliest.”

“Maybe even later.”

“So, in the second half, we need to seize the moment and try to score another goal before they make their changes, to solidify our advantage!”

Yang Cheng pulled over the tactics board and pointed out several areas where Manchester United’s defense had lapsed in the first half.

Ferguson’s lineup and tactics for this match had been a bit too aggressive, perhaps even overconfident.

Did he really think that at Old Trafford, a central midfield pairing of Carrick and Scholes could stop Bayswater Chinese?

“Our strategy is simple. We keep attacking their half-spaces, especially with our two wingers.”

“At the start of the second half, don’t hold back. I want you to go on an all-out blitz!”

“In midfield, continue with the same approach as the first half. Suppress them and feed the ammunition to our forwards!”

“I don’t care what Manchester United’s tactics are in the second half. I have only one demand: get me another goal in the shortest time possible to establish a clear lead.”

“How Manchester United attacked us at the start of the game—I want to see you hit them back ten times, a hundred times harder!”

Yang Cheng’s instructions were crystal clear and very simple.

Attack.

Attack at all costs!

Because he wanted to achieve a strategic goal: to psychologically crush Manchester United!

You Red Devils think you’re so tough?

Your tactics are so aggressive?

You can even field a midfield duo of Carrick and Scholes, thinking Old Trafford is a fortress?

Fine. I will use the very thing you think is your strength to utterly crush you!

…

As soon as the whistle blew for the start of the second half, the Manchester United players realized something was wrong.

Being on the receiving end of a comeback in the first half had affected Manchester United’s morale.

Especially their confidence.

After Ferguson’s halftime pep talk, he had made some tactical adjustments.

But the main direction remained unchanged.

In the second half, Manchester United was still going to start with an attacking blitz, trying to equalize.

Then, Ferguson would make substitutions to further strengthen the attack and, in one fell swoop, break Bayswater Chinese.

Ferguson and Manchester United had used this game plan countless times in the past.

To a certain extent, they were doing something with ease from long practice.

But this time, they were up against Bayswater Chinese!

Less than three minutes into the half, Gareth Bale powered past O’Shea on the left and sent in a cross.

Van der Sar came off his line but fumbled the ball while competing with Lewandowski and Vidić.

Walcott’s subsequent shot nearly resulted in another goal.

The close call in front of their goal sent a cold shiver down the spines of everyone at Manchester United.

Bayswater Chinese had pinpointed United’s defensive weak spot.

O’Shea!

And so, the ball was passed to the left flank again and again.

Gareth Bale took on O’Shea time after time, leaving the Manchester United defender flustered and struggling to cope.

The Welshman not only had speed but also good technique, physicality, and a powerful shot. This made him an incredibly difficult and awkward opponent for O’Shea to defend against.

In the opening minutes, Manchester United were pinned back so hard they couldn’t even launch a single attack.

It was a complete replica of the start of the match, but with the roles reversed.

Then, in the 53rd minute, Bayswater Chinese suddenly changed the direction of their attack.

Modrić suddenly switched the play to the right flank.

Maicon, making an overlapping run, received the ball, carried it forward, and attempted a diagonal pass to Walcott.

The Little Tiger received the ball in the right half-space and tried to sprint forward, once again attacking the channel between Evra and Vidić.

But this time, Carrick reacted quickly, got into position, and committed a decisive foul.

The Manchester United holding midfielder received a yellow card and gave Bayswater Chinese an attacking free kick.

It was only about 20 meters from the goal.

Ferguson suddenly grew nervous.

He walked to the edge of his technical area, urging his players to stay alert.

Van der Sar was also on high alert, directing his teammates to form a wall.

Gareth Bale and Leighton Baines both stood over the ball.

They were both left-footed players with considerable free-kick ability, perfect for taking a free kick from the right half-space.

After the Manchester United wall was set, the two Bayswater Chinese free-kick takers glanced at each other.

When referee Webb blew his whistle, Leighton Baines didn’t move. Instead, it was Gareth Bale who made a quick run-up.

Everyone assumed that the first player to run up was usually a feint, meant to confuse the opponents for the teammate behind.

But to everyone’s surprise, after his run-up, Gareth Bale struck the ball directly with his left foot, sending a curling shot towards the goal.

The ball flew swiftly over the wall and into the right side of the Manchester United net.

After setting up the wall, Van der Sar had positioned himself slightly more towards the center.

When the ball was struck, the Dutch legend only managed to take one step to his right. Before he could even attempt a save, the ball was in!

A brace!

3-1!

“It’s Gareth Bale again!”

“This time, a direct free-kick goal!”

“A beautiful, lethal curve!”

“Van der Sar didn’t even react to it.”

“The Welsh youngster has scored a brace tonight!”

“This is definitely an exhilarating night!”

“I believe all the fans will remember tonight, especially the fans in Britain.”

“Because we are witnessing the rise of the Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott!”

“Tonight, they are shining brightly in the night sky over Old Trafford!”

…

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

After Bayswater Chinese scored their third goal, it dealt a devastating blow to Manchester United.

The entire Old Trafford stadium was plunged into despair.

For the Manchester United fans, this match was destined to be a painful one.

For the first twenty-odd minutes, they had been ecstatic and full of ambition.

But now, they were completely dejected.

Could they possibly turn things around when they were 3-1 down?

The answer was obvious!

It was highly unlikely.

Ferguson made two substitutions in the 68th minute.

He first brought on Ryan Giggs for Ashley Young, then Fletcher for Scholes.

Just three minutes later, he used his final substitution, bringing on Carlos Tevez for Berbatov.

This new lineup seemed like an attempt to revert to last season’s style, to recapture last season’s glory.

But times had changed.

Manchester United could never go back.

Giggs and Scholes were both a year older than last season.

For players of their age, a single year can make a world of difference in their form.

Fletcher wasn’t in great form either.

Otherwise, Ferguson would have started him.

As for Tevez, when he came on, Manchester United’s front line lost a stable point to hold up the ball.

Although the suave Bulgarian didn’t like to run much, he wasn’t particularly lazy. His powerful physique and excellent technique gave him a strong ability to hold possession.

With Berbatov off and Tevez on, who was supposed to hold up the ball up front?

This problem became glaringly obvious after the substitutions.

Manchester United’s entire midfield still couldn’t get going.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was completely dominating their opponents.

With the forwards unable to hold onto the ball, Bayswater Chinese launched a series of counter-attacks.

In the 79th minute, another counter-attack came from deep in their own half.

Thiago Silva once again sent a long pass forward.

Gareth Bale sprinted onto it at lightning speed, catching up to the ball and creating a one-on-one situation with O’Shea on the left flank.

The Welshman used a series of feints to deceive O’Shea, then suddenly knocked the ball towards the byline and accelerated after it.

He had passed to himself three seconds in the future!

Even the Manchester United fans at Old Trafford couldn’t help but cheer for Gareth Bale!

With their gasps of astonishment!

After catching up to the ball, the Welshman assessed the situation in the middle and drilled a low cross to the center of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick run forward and, from the edge of the six-yard box, tapped the ball into the net.

Ferdinand, Vidić, and Van der Sar could do nothing about it.

4-1!

The entire Old Trafford stadium fell into a stunned silence!

Against the unstoppable force of Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United was simply powerless!

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was celebrating wildly on the touchline, cheering loudly.

Then, he slowly began to make substitutions, killing off some time.

Until the final whistle.

Thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale and goals from Theo Walcott and Robert Lewandowski, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat Manchester United 4-1!

And they did it at Old Trafford!

…

The moment Webb blew the final whistle, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but let out a triumphant roar!

This game was incredible!

He was satisfied with everyone’s performance!

All the team’s careful preparation had paid off!

More importantly, Manchester United’s squad clearly had its shortcomings, and Ferguson’s lineup and tactics for a home game had been far too aggressive.

When Ferguson walked over to shake Yang Cheng’s hand, Yang Cheng was smarter this time.

He didn’t shake his hand right away, instead asking first with a grin, “Didn’t you say before the match that you’d buy me a drink afterwards?”

His cheeky expression made Ferguson so mad he nearly wanted to beat him up.

But considering his age and frailty, and the fact that he probably couldn’t win a fight against Yang Cheng, he chose to grin and bear it.

He had only himself to blame for being so arrogant before the match!

“I’ll have a case sent to you. You can take it home and drink it yourself!” Ferguson said through gritted teeth.

But what he never expected was that Yang Cheng, that shameless bastard, would cheerfully hold up two fingers.

“Nope, it has to be two cases this time!”

Why two cases?

A flicker of curiosity crossed Ferguson’s mind.

But now was clearly not the time to be curious. He was fuming, and pressing the issue about the wine wasn’t appropriate.

Besides, it was just two cases of wine, right?

He could afford it!

“Fine, two cases of wine for you!”

With that, Ferguson angrily extended his hand.

Yang Cheng immediately shook it firmly.

“Thank you, Sir. You’re a really good man!”

Ferguson almost couldn’t hold back. He angrily yanked his hand away from Yang Cheng’s, turned, and walked off.

When the surrounding assistants heard that Ferguson was giving Yang Cheng two cases of wine, their eyes lit up.

As Ferguson stormed off, they all started to crowd around Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng knew these guys all too well.

“Don’t try to get friendly. I’m keeping that wine for myself!”

Chapter 162: The Bernabéu Showcase! I’m Going to Give Florentino a Generous Gift!

In a residential complex in Beijing, China.

Xia Anmin and his wife Cao Wenhui, who were accustomed to waking up early, had gone out for their morning exercise and practiced a set of Tai Chi.

On their way home, they picked up a few newspapers.

Besides being concerned with national affairs and the finance section, Xia Anmin habitually flipped to the sports pages.

All the major domestic newspapers, including the authoritative ones, were reporting on the Bayswater Chinese’s 4-1 comeback victory against Manchester United in the rescheduled match. They all gave extremely high praise to this “Chinese team.”

Many professionals even asserted that winning the Premier League title this season was already a high-probability event.

“A Cheng is really incredible!” Xia Anmin was also a football fan, though he was busy these days and didn’t watch many games.

“Of course. Our little Qing has always had high standards.”

Cao Wenhui was also growing more and more satisfied with her prospective son-in-law.

There was truly nothing to complain about.

“Oh, right, I heard that England and Europe have been cutting interest rates recently.”

Xia Anmin was a little surprised. “Teacher Cao, since when did you start paying attention to financial news?”

He couldn’t help but laugh after saying it.

Cao Wenhui shot him an exasperated glance. “Our two children are starting a business over there. We can’t give them any substantial support, but shouldn’t we at least show some concern?”

Xia Anmin nodded slightly. “From October 2008 until now, Britain has cut rates six consecutive times, a cumulative reduction of 450 basis points. The base rate is now down to one percent.”

“That low?” Cao Wenhui was surprised.

“There’s news that at the monetary policy meeting in March, both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will cut rates again.”

“Another 50 basis points?” Cao Wenhui wasn’t an economics major, but as the wife of a banker, she knew a little.

“Probably. It’ll be 0.5 percent then.” Xia Anmin’s expression also grew a bit solemn.

From the perspective of the base rate alone, lower was definitely better.

After all, Yang Cheng and the others were about to take out a loan.

But the base rate was tied to many things and reflected the entire economic environment.

To say nothing else, the pound’s frantic depreciation recently was proof of this.

The pound was now cheaper than the euro.

“A few days ago, didn’t old Yang come to Beijing for business? When we had dinner, he kept praising little Qing, saying she helped him out in a huge way. He’s now in talks with the largest domestic property company and some hotel businesses from Hong Kong.”

“I think he’s really planning to expand into London, England.”

Old Yang was Yang Cheng’s father, Yang Jianguo.

The two families were on excellent terms now, and Xia Anmin and Yang Jianguo had become close friends.

“Is it that plan you mentioned last time, about building a shopping center next to the stadium?”

“Yes, a one-stop destination with high-end hotels, luxury shopping, and outbound tourism. It has a very promising future.”

Cao Wenhui trusted her husband’s judgment. “Old Xia, you have to help old Yang keep an eye on things. I keep feeling like his business is expanding a bit too quickly.”

“Both the real estate and sports markets are developing at high speed. He has to expand rapidly to gain a firm foothold and keep up with the trend, so there’s no need to worry too much.”

“However, A Cheng was right about one thing: finances must be tightly controlled. Old Yang is paying attention to this himself. You know Lin Zhongqiu, right?”

“That old Lin whom old Yang brought to our house last time.”

“Yes, he’s a very cautious man. I heard A Cheng specially arranged for him to return to China.”

“A Cheng arranged it?”

“Yeah, A Cheng also asked me to look after old Yang. That kid is very bold, but he’s meticulous despite his daring, and his thinking is very flexible. Our little Qing has a calm and steady personality; the two of them complement each other perfectly. It’s a great match.”

As Xia Anmin spoke, he began praising his future son-in-law again, making Cao Wenhui smile.

She knew her own children well.

Neither Xia Qing nor Xia Xi had the personality to go out and build a grand enterprise.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was perfectly to Xia Anmin’s liking.

Just as they were talking, Cao Wenhui’s phone rang.

Speak of the devil.

It was a call from Xia Qing. She said that Yang Cheng had scored a case of wine from Ferguson, and she was planning to have someone bring it back to China.

“Your dad even showed it off to his football buddies last time you sent some,” Cao Wenhui teased her husband.

Xia Anmin didn’t mind.

Nowadays, many friends in his circle, and even his superiors, had heard about his family and knew that his prospective son-in-law was Yang Cheng.

Some leaders from the sports administration had even asked him if it was possible to facilitate some kind of cooperation.

This gave Xia Anmin a great sense of pride.

“Little Qing, I have a task for you.”

Xia Anmin took the phone from Cao Wenhui. “I got news a couple of days ago that there’ll be another interest rate cut in March. Both the UK and the European Union are cutting by 50 basis points. You two need to be prepared.”

“Got it, Dad. I’m already prepared.”

“Also, I’ve contacted a few banker friends in the UK over the past few days. They’ve revealed some information. If the rate really drops to 0.5 percent, you can try to ask the British government and the London city government for some favorable policies.”

“Take those policies and negotiate with several banks at once. You should be able to get a very good loan interest rate.”

“They couldn’t promise anything for sure, but they did mention a number: one percent, not much more.”

“Really?” Xia Qing sounded very happy on the other end. “I’ll do some more research on my end then.”

“Remember, hold out for another two or three months. Coordinate with the release of Britain’s industrial policies, and ask the government for more policy support.”

“Yes, I understand. Thanks, Dad!”

With the size of the loan the Bayswater Chinese were taking out, even a few tenths of a percent would amount to several million pounds in interest per year.

“It’s nothing. Thank A Cheng for the wine for me.”

After a pause, Xia Anmin added, “And remember to send some to your Uncle Yang too.”

“I understand. Thanks, Dad!”

After hanging up, Xia Anmin’s mood brightened considerably at the thought of another case of Ferguson’s prized wine.

…

“Old Yang, what’s gotten you so happy?”

At noon, Yang Jianguo came home for lunch. Li Hongying found it strange that he had been smiling nonstop ever since he walked through the door.

“I met with people from the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotels Group this morning. It went quite well.”

“Just now, little Qing called me. She said that our rascal of a son scored another case of wine from Ferguson. Little Qing is having someone bring a case back for me. It should arrive in a while.”

Li Hongying was delighted to hear this.

“Little Qing is so thoughtful and considerate. She calls every few days. But our own rascal, if you don’t call him, he probably wouldn’t think to call home for months.”

“It’s different. A Cheng is too busy.”

“And little Qing isn’t busy? Didn’t you say last time that she found people in England to do some authoritative tourism market research for you, which helped you immensely? If you ask me, A Cheng is just thoughtless. Little Qing is the best!”

Hearing this, Yang Jianguo remembered a complaint from Yang Cheng.

“In this family, I’m already spilt water!”

Remembering the envious, sour tone in Yang Cheng’s voice when he said that, Yang Jianguo couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“That girl, little Qing, is steady, thoughtful, and meticulous in everything she does. She’s really wonderful!”

“Now all that’s missing is a child.” At this, Li Hongying nodded decisively. “No, I have to call little Qing later and talk to her properly. They need to have the wedding soon and have a child as early as possible.”

She realized that she now called Xia Qing far more often than her own precious son.

She couldn’t help it; Yang Cheng was just too busy.

Especially when there were two games a week, he was either playing a match or on his way to one.

In the Premier League, the schedule was relentless all season long.

Yang Jianguo didn’t feel that his wife was favoring Xia Qing and neglecting their son.

Ultimately, their affection for Xia Qing was because of Yang Cheng.

Conversely, every time he met with Xia Anmin and his wife, they were full of praise for Yang Cheng.

That’s how in-laws should be!

Their family doted on Xia Qing as if she were their own treasured daughter, and the Xia family would also treat Yang Cheng as their own son.

The two families were gradually becoming one. That’s what made them close.

…

“Did our dad really say that?”

When Yang Cheng returned home to their house west of Holland Park after a day of training, his face lit up with joy upon hearing Xia Qing’s report.

Having Xia Anmin helping behind the scenes brought countless benefits.

“What do you mean, our dad?” Xia Qing chided coquettishly. “Can you not just latch on whenever you see an advantage?”

When Yang Cheng said “our dad and our mom,” he meant Xia Anmin and Cao Wenhui.

If he said “my dad and my mom,” he was referring to Yang Jianguo and Li Hongying.

Sometimes, Xia Qing was worn out by his endless little tricks.

“Isn’t it going to happen sooner or later?” Yang Cheng was thick-skinned, wearing a cheeky grin.

Xia Qing felt a mix of shyness and delight in her heart, but she was at a loss for how to handle him.

“The construction of the new stadium is progressing smoothly for now. After getting the construction permit, the piling work started without stopping. The real money-burning phase is next,” Xia Qing reported, keeping a close eye on the project’s progress.

Yang Cheng was truly beginning to understand just how difficult it was to build a new stadium in London.

Forget everything else, just demolishing the unfinished building of a 10,000-seat stadium and excavating the underground space had taken more than half a year.

And don’t complain that it was slow; this was already considered very fast.

For instance, the construction waste from the demolition had to be disposed of somewhere, right?

In the UK, you couldn’t just dump construction debris wherever you wanted.

Also, having dump trucks moving in and out of a central, bustling area couldn’t possibly be done during broad daylight, could it?

In short, every aspect had to be considered and coordinated, and all of it cost money.

Here, one had to mention the benefits of being attached to the London city government’s Queen’s Avenue renovation project.

Back when Arsenal built their stadium, they didn’t build it on the original Highbury site but found a new piece of land, demolished the existing structures, and built anew.

The area where Emirates Stadium now stands was originally full of warehouses, industrial enterprises, and so on. The property rights were complex, and they had to negotiate with each owner one by one.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

The most troublesome part was a large community garbage recycling and processing center located there.

To build Emirates Stadium, Arsenal had to demolish this waste processing center and build a new one southwest of the city, which cost a full 60 million pound sterling.

That money came straight out of Arsenal’s pocket.

Besides Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium to the west also involved building a new waste processing center.

One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade.

This time, with the Bayswater Chinese cooperating with the city government, the government took the lead in coordinating. The two waste processing centers responded simultaneously, accepting construction waste from both Bayswater Stadium and the Queen’s Avenue renovation project.

Otherwise, just dealing with the construction waste would have been a protracted affair.

This was also why Yang Cheng had always felt it would be very difficult for Chelsea to build a new stadium.

Even if they started construction, the investment would be an astronomical figure.

The demolition of Stamford Bridge alone would be an astonishing investment of time and money.

“Let Adam Crozier handle the liaison with the government. That guy is very sharp; he knows how to handle it.”

Xia Qing nodded in agreement.

In this area, she truly wasn’t as good as Adam Crozier.

“How are the club’s finances right now?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“We can hold on for a few more months.”

If Xia Qing said they could hold on for a few months, it meant there was no problem for at least half a year.

Yang Cheng knew her very well.

And soon, the remaining payments from last summer’s transfers would start coming in.

Also, the annual sponsorship money would arrive.

Furthermore, after the Premier League season ended and the finances were settled, another large sum of money would come in.

Thinking it over, Yang Cheng felt they would be fine at least until the end of the year.

That was very safe.

“Then follow our dad’s suggestion. Wait for the industrial policies to be released, ask the British government and the London city government for more policy support, and then go talk to the banks.”

Xia Qing nodded. “I’ve also been in constant contact with several banks like Goldman Sachs and HSBC.”

She came from Goldman Sachs and had many acquaintances there, so her channels for information were reliable.

“Florentino Pérez wants to invite me to a meal.”

“Who?” The abrupt statement threw Xia Qing off.

“Florentino Pérez, the former Chairman of Real Madrid.”

Xia Qing immediately remembered. “Is he really coming back?”

“It’s more or less certain.”

If he didn’t plan to return, or wasn’t confident in returning, why would he invite Yang Cheng to dinner?

“The time is February 25th, when the team is in Madrid for the Champions League match. But I don’t plan to show up myself. I’ll let Adam Crozier go to avoid being seen.”

At that time, the Bayswater Chinese would be playing away against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

Yang Cheng would undoubtedly be the center of attention.

Going to meet and dine with Florentino Pérez could easily be exposed with the slightest misstep.

That wouldn’t be a good thing.

“What does he want?” Xia Qing asked.

“Poaching, of course. This former Chairman of Real Madrid is rubbing his hands in anticipation, full of ambition. He says he wants to poach all the top stars of Europe’s top four leagues overnight.”

From the current situation, C. Ronaldo from the Premier League was likely his most important target.

Last year, Ferguson promised C. Ronaldo that if he stayed for one more year and a club made a suitable offer, Manchester United would let him go.

Over the past year, with the devaluation of the pound and the British government’s tax hike, it was unlikely that C. Ronaldo would stay.

At his level, these two things had caused him to suffer heavy financial losses.

And it was basically impossible for Manchester United to compensate him for those losses.

Benzema and Kaká were almost out of the question.

Neither Arsenal nor Manchester City were short of money now.

Especially Manchester City.

They had just hired Ancelotti with a hefty contract and were trying to poach Pirlo. Their overall strength was set to improve dramatically.

Kaká was also highly unlikely to leave his team.

Therefore, some said that the top star in Serie A was Ibrahimović, and in the Bundesliga, it was Bayern Munich’s Ribéry.

There were also media reports that Florentino Pérez wanted to repeat the Figo incident, cripple Barça, and forcefully poach Messi.

The situation had completely changed now, and Yang Cheng wasn’t sure what Florentino’s game plan was.

But one thing was certain.

This summer’s transfer market was going to be very lively.

“So, he might really want to poach Maicon,” Xia Qing said with some concern.

This was something the media had been speculating about for a while.

Real Madrid wasn’t the only team interested in Maicon; Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal were also watching him.

In European football today, there was a severe shortage of full-backs.

Perhaps it wasn’t just full-backs; there was a shortage of all high-level defenders.

Not to mention, Maicon had delivered very high-level performances for two consecutive seasons.

“Don’t worry, I’m prepared. It’s not a problem.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “Maicon will be 28 at the end of July.”

Maicon’s contract renewal hadn’t been settled yet.

To put it bluntly, negotiating a renewal at his age, he would definitely want a lifetime contract.

The annual salary had to be substantial.

But this was something the Bayswater Chinese couldn’t agree to at the moment.

So, as soon as other clubs got wind of it, they all started paying attention.

Maicon’s contract was far from expiring, so the Bayswater Chinese held the initiative in selling him.

But if they couldn’t meet Maicon’s conditions for a contract renewal, selling him would be the best option.

Speaking of which, Maicon was already the oldest player on the team, with Lambert being the second oldest.

But Maicon and Lambert were different.

27-year-old Lambert hadn’t played many games this season, but he had shown great professionalism, whether in training or in the few games he played as a substitute.

As a veteran who had been with the team all the way from League Two, Lambert was completely dedicated to the club.

Another player whose contract renewal was pending was Yaya Touré, also stuck on salary terms.

Interestingly, Yaya Touré was also rumored to be on Florentino’s transfer list.

Yang Cheng figured that Florentino wanted to meet with him to discuss transfers.

Although many people had various opinions about Florentino, one thing was widely acknowledged.

This former Real Madrid Chairman had always been very bold in his signings, and his methods were grand.

His usual approach was to lock onto a target, and as long as the other party was willing to sell, the price was negotiable.

What was giving Yang Cheng a headache now was that if Yaya Touré really left, Nemanja Matić could fill his position, but they would be short one person for the Number 4 role.

There were very few players who met Yang Cheng’s requirements, were up to the Bayswater Chinese’s standards, and could actually be signed for the holding midfield role.

To some extent, this battle at the Bernabéu was really turning into a showcase for the Bayswater Chinese’s players.

…

On the evening of February 21, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

In the 24th round of La Liga, Real Madrid hosted Real Betis.

When head referee Mallenco blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the Spaniard Juande Ramos, who had taken over Real Madrid last December, couldn’t believe his eyes.

He was completely ecstatic.

He stood in front of the home team’s technical area, his fists clenched high in the air, cheering wildly.

And throughout the entire Bernabéu Stadium, 72,000 fans roared with applause.

6-1!

The scoreboard at the Bernabéu displayed an astonishing scoreline.

And mind you, this was only at halftime!

“Wow!”

There was still the second half to play, but Juande Ramos couldn’t help but celebrate.

He welcomed the heroes coming off the pitch with enthusiastic hugs.

This was a brilliant showdown!

Juande Ramos had deployed a 4-4-2 formation.

As a result, just seven minutes into the game, Raúl assisted Higuaín for the opening goal.

Then, Huntelaar scored a brace, Raúl also scored a brace, and Ramos scored just before halftime.

In 45 minutes of the first half, Real Madrid had scored six goals, and there had been seven goals in total between the two teams.

“I have a very strong feeling, Marcos.”

Juande Ramos turned to his right-hand man, fitness coach Marcos Álvarez.

He was a trusted assistant who had followed him from Sevilla to Tottenham, and now to Real Madrid.

“We are hitting our peak form, and the team and lineup have gelled!”

Ramos seemed exceptionally excited.

This season had been a rollercoaster for him.

The Tottenham team he managed had a terrible start to the season, and by October, they were at the bottom of the league table.

Under such circumstances, Juande Ramos had to resign.

But unexpectedly, his fortunes turned, and he took over Real Madrid in December.

After taking charge at the Bernabéu, Juande Ramos’s first game was the final round of the Champions League group stage, a 3-0 home win.

His second match was an away game at Camp Nou, which they lost 0-2 to Pep Guardiola’s Barça.

Since then, Real Madrid had been on a roll.

Including tonight’s 6-1, Real Madrid had won nine consecutive games.

What was most surprising was that in the past nine games, Real Madrid had scored 22 goals and conceded only 2.

Such a record truly made the entire European football world take notice.

“We have the strength to compete with any top team in Europe, including the Bayswater Chinese!”

Juande Ramos was filled with soaring fighting spirit.

Because he wanted to use an even better record to tell everyone that Tottenham’s Waterloo was not his fault!

He, Juande Ramos, was still one of the best head coaches in Europe!

“So, what’s the plan now?” Marcos Álvarez asked.

“Use all three substitution spots. Conserve energy for the match against the Bayswater Chinese next Wednesday!”

“So… who to sub off?”

“Cannavaro, Raúl, and Robben.”

“Understood.”

…

Real Madrid made three substitutions during halftime.

Not only that, but in the second half, the Galácticos played at a more leisurely pace.

In the end, Real Madrid thrashed Real Betis 6-1 at home.

Juande Ramos’s team received a standing ovation after the match.

From Chairman Calderón and General Manager Mijatović down to the Real Madrid fans, everyone believed that the best version of Real Madrid had arrived!

The Spanish media even proclaimed that the Bayswater Chinese would face an unprecedented challenge at the Bernabéu Stadium.

“This time, we vow to avenge our past defeat!”

Meanwhile, the Bayswater Chinese won a modest 2-0 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

Yang Cheng was also resting players for the midweek Champions League match, rotating his squad heavily.

Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in the first half.

But in the second half, substitute Džeko found the net.

This was the Bosnian centre-forward’s first match back from injury, and he scored in the 72nd minute.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were evaluating Džeko’s condition in preparation for the upcoming battle at the Bernabéu.

After defeating West Bromwich Albion 2-0, the Bayswater Chinese had also secured their ninth consecutive victory.

This streak included seven league matches and two rescheduled matches.

In these nine games, the Bayswater Chinese had scored 28 goals and conceded 6.

The British media also did their part to build up momentum for the Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, looking at goal difference, the Bayswater Chinese seemed slightly better than Real Madrid.

Of course, in terms of defense, Real Madrid was indeed better.

This clash had attracted intense attention from media and fans worldwide.

The most successful club in Champions League history was facing the defending champions, and both teams were on a nine-game winning streak and in excellent form.

This led everyone to believe that a spectacular showdown was bound to happen at the Bernabéu.

After the match against West Bromwich Albion, Yang Cheng told reporters during an interview, “I’m very impressed with Real Madrid’s defense since Juande Ramos took over.”

“But we are never afraid of teams that defend well!”

Yang Cheng also revealed that in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 away at the Bernabéu, the most important thing for the team was to focus on defense. “It will be a very tough match!”

“In the Champions League, not conceding is very important, especially at the Bernabéu. I know they’ve scored a lot of goals recently.”

“Our attack is also very good, so for us, as long as we don’t concede, we will definitely be able to break through Real Madrid’s goal.”

A Spanish media outlet asked what score Yang Cheng was hoping for.

“1-0, an away win for us!”

“I think that would be the best result!”

The reporters at the scene couldn’t help but laugh.

It seemed Yang Cheng was indeed wary of Real Madrid.

Regarding La Liga this season, Yang Cheng believed that it was becoming the strongest league in Europe.

“Pep Guardiola’s Barça has left a very deep impression on me. They are the strongest team in La Liga right now, bar none!”

“I hope not to encounter a terrifying team like Barça too early!”

Yang Cheng maintained a smile throughout, not letting anyone see his true thoughts.

…

“Our new press officer is pretty good.”

Walking out of the press conference room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng praised Adam Crozier.

“Of course. He’s worked for several newspapers before. He knows these media outlets inside and out,” the Bayswater Chinese CEO said with a hint of pride.

This was a talent he had poached with a hefty sum.

“We need to guide public opinion carefully from now on. I don’t want Real Madrid to play too conservatively at home.”

What Yang Cheng feared most were not teams that pressed forward to attack, but rather those that hunkered down and defended.

Especially strong teams.

“Then why did you mention Barça just now?” Adam Crozier was a bit puzzled.

He could guess the intention behind Yang Cheng’s other answers, but what was the reason for bringing up Barça?

“Real Madrid is on a roll right now. We need to use the media to build them up even more, to the point where Juande Ramos would be too embarrassed to play a defensive counter-attacking style!” Yang Cheng chuckled.

Real Madrid had always been like this.

They not only had to win, but they had to win beautifully.

In recent years, Real Madrid’s performance in the Champions League had been lackluster.

Now that they were finally resurgent, they would surely want to make a big statement.

Especially Calderón and Mijatović.

Unless they could win the Champions League this season, the Real Madrid chairmanship would change hands this summer.

Under such circumstances, they would do everything they could to please the Real Madrid fans.

And Yang Cheng’s mention of Barça was intended to further provoke a rebellious mentality within Real Madrid.

“Guess what Real Madrid will think when I praise Barça like that?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

Adam Crozier burst into laughter.

Watching Yang Cheng walk away laughing, the Englishman couldn’t help but shake his head.

His young boss was just too insidiously mischievous!

He had turned psychological warfare into such an art. The people at Real Madrid probably wanted to kill him.

Oh, right, Lassana Diarra and Škrtel probably wouldn’t.

But Škrtel likely wouldn’t play in this match; he had a minor injury.

The starting centre-backs would probably be Cannavaro and Metzelder.

…

As expected.

When the Bayswater Chinese, after resting for two days in London, arrived in Madrid the night before the match, they were greeted with a “warm” reception from Real Madrid fans as soon as they left the airport.

Along the way, there were people smashing the bus windows, shouting insults, and some even resorting to racial discrimination…

There was nothing to be done. UEFA’s rules only prohibited racial discrimination inside the stadium; who could control what happened outside?

Even after the Bayswater Chinese arrived at their hotel, the Real Madrid fans showed no signs of stopping.

This left Yang Cheng feeling rather speechless.

“Still the same old tricks, nothing new.”

That night, he slept soundly until morning.

The others, including the players, also seemed to be in good spirits.

They were staying in a five-star hotel of a very high standard.

After breakfast, Yang Cheng even took some time to read the newspapers.

Sure enough, almost all the Spanish news media were rallying behind Real Madrid, calling for them to crush the Bayswater Chinese.

Marca and AS newspaper, known as Real Madrid’s mouthpieces, were particularly displeased with Yang Cheng’s tactic of downplaying Real Madrid while praising Barça. They hoped that Juande Ramos would teach Yang Cheng and his team a harsh lesson at the Bernabéu.

Early on match day, some Real Madrid fans even tried to disguise themselves as hotel staff to sneak into the Bayswater Chinese’s hotel, but they were caught by hotel security when trying to access the team’s floor.

With all this news breaking, the media’s attention was almost entirely focused on Yang Cheng.

And it was precisely because of this that Adam Crozier and Florentino Pérez’s lunch was peaceful and uneventful.

In the afternoon, before the team departed, Adam Crozier returned to the hotel and went to Yang Cheng’s room.

“At lunch, I met with Florentino, Valdano, and Zidane.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

It was rumored that Valdano and Zidane would be key members of Florentino’s team for his second tenure.

“What did they say?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile.

“First, they asked about the progress of our new stadium to confirm whether we still needed to sell players.”

Adam Crozier also chuckled. “Florentino said that after he is elected Chairman of Real Madrid, he will have a transfer budget of 400 million euros. I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

Yang Cheng remained noncommittal.

He certainly wouldn’t reveal the future.

But Florentino Pérez did indeed have a huge transfer budget at his disposal.

This came not only from within Real Madrid but also from bank loans.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had been a head coach and hadn’t paid much attention to national affairs.

But now, he had a faint feeling.

The reason Florentino was making such a big move this summer, even spending lavishly on superstars at any cost, was that someone was backing him.

Was it just to lead Real Madrid’s revival?

Could it also be an attempt to boost Spanish football?

Spain’s economy was getting worse and worse, but its tourism industry was developing very rapidly. Football was undoubtedly a very beautiful postcard that Spanish tourism could play.

Especially considering the later era of La Liga’s two superpowers, Real Madrid and Barça, and the rivalry between the two titans of their generation, C. Ronaldo and Messi—all of this was inseparable from publicity and brand marketing.

To some extent, someone was definitely pushing this.

This was the broader environment.

More specifically, this summer, the European Central Bank repeatedly cut interest rates, and bank loan rates kept falling.

For the banks, were there any better loan recipients than member-owned clubs like Real Madrid and Barça?

So, it made perfect sense that banks like Santander would be willing to lend money to Florentino to buy players.

Ultimately, football was often about more than just football.

Especially during an economic downturn.

Otherwise, why would French President Macron intervene to persuade Mbappé to stay in Ligue 1?

“Did they reveal who they want to buy?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Adam Crozier immediately chuckled. “Džeko, Yaya Touré, Pepe, and Maicon are all on their target list, but they didn’t reveal much else.”

Yang Cheng understood. Nothing was set in stone yet, so Florentino would certainly not reveal his targets prematurely.

“So how did you answer?”

“I told him we’ll talk about it later.”

Yang Cheng burst into laughter.

That was a good answer.

Since Florentino was unwilling to reveal his targets too early, there was no need for the Bayswater Chinese to be overly eager.

Of the four players, the one Yang Cheng was considering selling was Maicon.

One reason was that he was indeed getting older. Renewing his contract now would essentially be a lifetime deal.

Moreover, the Bayswater Chinese would find it difficult to meet Maicon’s salary demands.

Rather than that, it would be better to take the opportunity to sell him.

The player Yang Cheng least wanted to sell was Pepe.

With the current strength and status of the Bayswater Chinese, three high-level centre-backs were a must.

José Fonte could only be a substitute in the Bayswater Chinese squad.

Furthermore, the Portuguese player’s role in the dressing room was very significant.

Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Kompany were the three main centre-backs in Yang Cheng’s mind.

Therefore, Yang Cheng would absolutely not relent easily.

It was no secret that the Bayswater Chinese needed to sell more players to fund the construction of their new stadium.

Many Premier League teams had their eyes on Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, but these were precisely the two players Yang Cheng would not sell.

Another one he wouldn’t sell was Modrić.

In his mind, Yang Cheng had long since evaluated the team’s lineup and considered potential signings.

He knew how to maintain the team’s competitiveness!

“Did they talk about the upcoming match?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Adam Crozier shook his head. “Florentino said that he and his friends would be watching the game from a VIP box at the Bernabéu.”

Yang Cheng laughed again upon hearing this.

“Alright then. Let’s play a great game and show the future Chairman of Real Madrid what we’re made of!”

“He invited you to dinner, so we’ll give him a generous gift in return!”

Adam Crozier understood Yang Cheng’s meaning and laughed. “Calderón and Mijatović also invited me to dinner tonight. Are you sending them a gift too?”

It was a customary tradition for the home team’s senior management to invite the visiting team’s senior management to dinner before a match.

It was a form of etiquette in European football.

…

On the evening of February 25, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

The first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, the Bayswater Chinese vs. Real Madrid.

Before the match, both teams announced their starting lineups.

The home team, Real Madrid, stuck with Juande Ramos’s preferred 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defenders: Heinze, Cannavaro, Metzelder, and Ramos;

Midfielders: Robben, Gago, Lassana Diarra, and Higuaín;

Forwards: Raúl and Huntelaar.

Apart from the injured centre-back Škrtel, this was the starting lineup that had secured Real Madrid’s nine-game winning streak recently.

And there were no major changes to anyone’s position.

The only variation was where Robben and Higuaín would play.

The Dutch winger was sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right.

Higuaín even occasionally appeared on the forward line, pushing Raúl out wide.

Real Madrid’s 4-4-2 was not really a flat formation, but more of a shallow dish shape.

The wide players—Heinze, Ramos, Higuaín, and Robben—were positioned further forward than the other players on their respective lines.

Up front, Raúl often dropped back to link up with the midfield, playing a more flexible role.

With a centre-forward like Huntelaar leading the line, Raúl was able to excel in his role as a shadow striker, which was why he was having an excellent season, enjoying a second spring in his career.

But this left Real Madrid’s central midfield looking a bit thin.

However, in the past nine games, whether playing against Valencia, Villarreal, or Deportivo La Coruña, Real Madrid’s midfield had not failed them.

Lassana Diarra was as formidable as ever.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, he held onto the ball a little too much.

Especially as he gradually established himself in Real Madrid’s midfield and earned the recognition of his teammates, you could see a change in Lassana Diarra from his passing statistics and his dribbling.

Of course, to some extent, this was also a requirement of Juande Ramos’s 4-4-2 midfield.

With only two players in central midfield in a 4-4-2, it was impossible to further divide them into attacking and defensive types, unless they were playing a diamond formation.

In a flat two-man midfield, both players were required to be competent in both attack and defense.

This further increased Lassana Diarra’s time on the ball.

The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in the holding role, with Matuidi and Modrić alongside him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Theo Walcott.

Ángel Di María had played the full match in the previous round and was being rotated for this game.

There was no issue with Rakitić, but Yang Cheng still chose Matuidi to replace him.

In the Champions League, especially in the knockout stage, Yang Cheng felt that the midfield would be more solid with Matuidi.

The French midfielder’s passing ability was not at all poor, with a pass completion rate of over 90 percent.

In terms of tactics, Yang Cheng believed that Real Madrid would launch an early offensive.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese needed to start steadily and let Real Madrid come at them.

…

As the match began, Real Madrid indeed launched an immediate attack.

Just 24 seconds in, Higuaín cut inside from the left flank and unleashed a powerful right-footed shot, but it went just over the bar.

This was the first shot of the match.

Just as Yang Cheng had anticipated, Robben actually started the game on the right wing.

The Bayswater Chinese took the goal kick and tried to launch an attack.

A minute later, Lassana Diarra intercepted the ball near the halfway line, drove forward to start a counter-attack, and quickly distributed the ball to the right for Robben.

Robben received the ball right on the touchline. Facing the tight marking of Leighton Baines, the Dutchman used a clever feint to deceive his opponent, then suddenly accelerated down the right wing.

In terms of speed, Robben was superior to Leighton Baines.

Especially after breaking through, he immediately cut diagonally into the right side of the penalty area.

Since Robben’s dribble wasn’t in a particularly dangerous area, Leighton Baines chose not to foul him.

Inside the box, facing Thiago Silva who had dropped back into position, Robben took on two defenders. After a sharp stop-and-go move, he tried to shake off Thiago Silva and deliver a cross with the outside of his left foot.

But Thiago Silva had anticipated it and made a timely tackle, intercepting the ball.

However, Robben’s pass was clearly intended to win a corner kick, as it was hit with a lot of power.

Although Thiago Silva intercepted the ball, it still went out over the byline.

Corner kick.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Robben who went over to take the corner from the right side.

And all four of Real Madrid’s defenders moved into the penalty area.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng shouted loudly at his players on the pitch, holding up four fingers, signaling them to watch out for number 4, Ramos.

That guy was an attacking defender!

To some extent, Ramos, Cannavaro, Metzelder, and Heinze all possessed decent heading ability.

Add to that Huntelaar, Higuaín, and Raúl.

Real Madrid’s set piece attack was quite potent.

Just as Yang Cheng issued his warning, the Italian head referee on the pitch, Roberto Rosetti, blew his whistle.

Robben took a quick run-up and struck a curling ball with his left foot.

The football spun in mid-air, heading towards the area just outside the left corner of the six-yard box.

As the ball dropped, in the chaotic penalty area, Ramos was somehow left unmarked.

The number 4 jersey suddenly dashed towards the left corner of the six-yard box, leaped high, and met Robben’s curling delivery with a direct header.

The ball was headed straight into the near corner. 1-0!

The entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted!

In an instant, 72,000 Real Madrid fans let out a deafening roar of celebration.

At that moment, the match clock had just ticked over to the two-minute mark.

Chapter 163: The Greater the Progress, the More Crushing the Defeat! The Title Belongs to Bayswater Chinese!

“Haha, it’s 1-0!”

“The very thing Yang Cheng was most worried about has happened!”

In the Chairman’s box at the Bernabéu Stadium, when Ramos headed the ball past the Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper, Real Madrid Chairman Ramón Calderón had already leaped from his seat in excitement, shouting Ramos’s name.

His elation was no different from that of the surrounding Real Madrid fans.

Recently, Real Madrid had been playing better and better, especially with their nine-match winning streak, which had greatly improved his position as Chairman.

But tonight’s match was the real test.

Real Madrid hadn’t made it to the Champions League quarter-finals in many years.

If they could achieve a breakthrough this season, and do it by defeating the defending champions, Bayswater Chinese, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to Calderón’s prestige and lay the groundwork for the summer’s presidential election.

“Juande Ramos is very capable. This recent winning streak is the best proof!” Predrag Mijatović added praise from the side.

Calderón nodded repeatedly. “As long as we can maintain this momentum, this summer, after I’m re-elected, he’ll stay on. Then we’ll buy C. Ronaldo, sign a few more stars, and our overall strength will rise to another level!”

As he looked to the future, Calderón’s eyes gleamed.

He had been holding it all in for far too long.

Especially the pressure from Florentino Pérez.

That damn guy was stirring up trouble everywhere. He wasn’t even an official candidate for the Real Madrid presidency, yet he acted as if the position was already his, putting Calderón in a very awkward situation.

But now, Juande Ramos had done him proud!

He really delivered!

“Come on, Juande!”

“Hala Madrid!”

“Let’s ride this momentum and crush Bayswater Chinese!”

“Yang Cheng was careless!”

Sitting in a VIP box at the Bernabéu Stadium, Florentino Pérez secretly shook his head when he saw Ramos score.

Sergio Ramos was a player he had brought in.

But he couldn’t feel happy at all.

“Didn’t he say before the match that not conceding was the most important thing? Why didn’t he focus on defense first after the kick-off?”

Florentino found this perplexing.

Yang Cheng’s start was conventional, a bit cautious, but not conservative.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, played very aggressively from the outset.

Juande Ramos’s strategy was clearly to launch an opening blitz, using their home advantage to control the game.

And it had worked, earning them a goal.

“Strictly speaking, this goal isn’t really the head coach’s fault,” Valdano explained from the side.

“How so?”

“Robben’s run didn’t even break through; they just got a corner kick. I also noticed that during the corner, Yang Cheng specifically held up four fingers, probably to remind the players to watch out for Ramos.”

Valdano shook his head as he spoke. “That’s how it is with set-piece defending. It’s chaotic, easy to lose your man.”

“Ramos is also genuinely a strong player,” Zidane added.

Everyone nodded.

Aside from being a bit reckless and having shortcomings in height and strength, there was really nothing wrong with Ramos.

“But now that they’re behind, the match will be difficult. If Juande Ramos decides to play defensively and counter-attack, Bayswater Chinese will have even fewer opportunities.”

As soon as Florentino finished speaking, Zidane and Valdano glanced at each other and both shook their heads.

“It’s not that simple. Don’t listen to what Yang Cheng said before the match; watch what he actually does. Besides, the shortcomings of Juande Ramos’s 4-4-2 formation are very obvious.”

“To put it bluntly, that nine-game winning streak was just them being flat-track bullies. Their opponents were far weaker than Real Madrid, so it’s not a very valuable reference.”

Zidane smiled slightly. “Bayswater Chinese’s midfield hasn’t even gotten going yet.”

“Juande Ramos’s big test has only just begun!”

“That’s right,” Valdano agreed with Zidane’s analysis. “At the very least, let’s wait until Real Madrid’s opening blitz is over before we judge.”

Florentino was a seasoned fan, but he didn’t know much about tactics and strategy.

After hearing their words, he began to feel a little expectant.

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline the whole time, watching the match silently.

Despite being 1-0 down, he wasn’t worried at all.

Not only was he not worried, but the coaching staff behind him wasn’t either.

Everyone knew that during that last defensive play, the players’ real problem was losing their man during a set piece.

In the fifth minute, Bayswater Chinese had launched a counter-attack.

After dropping into midfield to receive the ball, Džeko sent out a diagonal pass.

Heinze got there a step ahead of Theo Walcott and intercepted the ball in time.

The attack fizzled out.

Real Madrid didn’t just sit on their lead.

Juande Ramos clearly wanted to use the home advantage to crush Bayswater Chinese in one fell swoop.

After taking a one-goal lead, they continued to attack.

In the seventh minute, Raúl played a pass, and Huntelaar took a shot from twenty meters out.

But the shot was saved securely by Neuer.

Real Madrid launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the twelfth minute, Robben sent a through ball, and Raúl charged into the penalty area.

Neuer decisively rushed out, diving to smother the ball just before Raúl could reach it.

The relentless attacks built up Real Madrid’s momentum.

The Real Madrid fans in the stands, in particular, were all hyper-excited.

The Real Madrid players on the pitch had been suppressed for too long.

In recent years, Real Madrid had completely declined in the Champions League.

They were all fired up, wanting to prove themselves again!

Especially by breaking through the Round of 16!

In the fourteenth minute, Ramos surged forward on the right flank. After receiving a pass from Lassana Diarra, he sent a diagonal cross to the near post of the penalty area.

Huntelaar made a run to draw the defenders’ attention, and Raúl rushed to the near post, launching himself into a diving header, aiming for the far corner.

Neuer dove to his side, punching the ball away with one hand, narrowly averting the crisis.

This was the most dangerous attack Real Madrid had created since their goal.

As the German goalkeeper got up from the goal line, he angrily roared at his teammates, demanding they get their heads in the game.

Yang Cheng also walked to the sideline immediately, shouting to Matuidi, signaling him to provide more protection for the left side of the defense.

At the same time, Yang Cheng also signaled for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott to drop back a little.

Especially when Ramos and Heinze pushed forward, the two of them were to track back.

Pulling a fist back makes the punch stronger!

“Bayswater Chinese is retreating!”

“Under Real Madrid’s immense attacking pressure, the Premier League team couldn’t hold on and has decided to stabilize its defense first.”

“But Real Madrid is still trying to attack.”

No team can maintain a high-tempo attack for an extended period.

Especially a team like Real Madrid.

As a master of the opening blitz, Yang Cheng knew better than anyone where the drawbacks of a fast-paced start lay.

Real Madrid’s blitz lasted for fifteen minutes.

But just when they wanted to slow the tempo, they found that they couldn’t control the rhythm at all.

At the start, they were able to play fast by relying on tireless running and a high press all over the pitch.

The moment they wanted to catch their breath, they immediately found they couldn’t control possession.

Worse still, some of the specific tactical arrangements for the blitz, once the attack slowed and possession and rhythm were lost, would completely turn into their own weak spots.

For example, the full-backs pushing forward.

In the sixteenth minute, when Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Fernando Gago and Lassana Diarra both rushed towards Modrić and Matuidi.

But at that moment, Yaya Touré, who was playing a holding role, was left unmarked.

Raúl immediately charged towards Yaya Touré, but the Ivorian passed the ball to the left flank.

Before Robben could close him down, Leighton Baines passed it back to Thiago Silva.

Bayswater Chinese always had a free man.

Especially in midfield.

When Thiago Silva got the ball, he just took one look ahead and sent a low, driven diagonal pass with his right foot.

The ball quickly crossed the halfway line and landed on the left side of the attacking third.

Ramos had pushed up near the halfway line.

When the ball arrived, Gareth Bale used his body to shield him on the inside.

The Welshman didn’t try to control the ball, instead letting it slide past him.

Ramos immediately turned and chased after the ball.

The Spanish defender was considered quite fast.

But unexpectedly, Gareth Bale was even faster.

Ramos had just started sprinting when Gareth Bale had already caught up to him, and he was getting faster and faster.

The Spanish defender was shocked. Seeing that Gareth Bale was about to reach the ball, he went for a sliding tackle, trying to take out both man and ball.

He was willing to take a yellow card!

But Gareth Bale was just too fast!

So fast that before Ramos’s slide could connect, the Welshman had already poked the ball forward with one touch and accelerated after it.

Ramos’s slide only clipped the Bernabéu turf, completely losing any chance of catching Gareth Bale.

By the time the Welshman caught up to the ball again, he was on the left side of the penalty area.

Metzelder chased him all the way back into the box, blocking Gareth Bale’s path.

But without waiting for Metzelder to react, Gareth Bale glanced towards the middle, then suddenly accelerated, knocking the ball towards the byline. He used his sheer speed to create a sliver of space against Metzelder and delivered a low, driven cross with his left foot.

The ball skimmed across the turf at high speed, traveling along the six-yard box line from left to right.

In the middle, Džeko intentionally slowed down, leaving Cannavaro stranded near the penalty spot, powerless to stop the cross.

And on the right, Theo Walcott shot in like a bolt of lightning, making a diagonal run into the right side of the box. He met Gareth Bale’s cross and side-footed it with his right.

The Little Tiger’s shot was not only kept low but was also incredibly fast.

So fast that Casillas had no time to react before it was in the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!”

“Theo Walcott!!”

“In the sixteenth minute, Theo Walcott has broken through Real Madrid’s goal!”

“1-1!”

“Both teams are now back on level terms.”

“A swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“So fast!”

“Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott’s speed is just too much!”

“Real Madrid’s flanks simply can’t handle Bayswater Chinese’s Twin Stars!”

The moment they conceded, as Yang Cheng pumped his fist in celebration, he also noticed Juande Ramos’s shocked and furious roar in front of the home team’s dugout.

What was even more unexpected for everyone was that after the game restarted, less than thirty seconds after Real Madrid kicked off, they lost the ball in midfield. Gago’s pass was intercepted by Modrić.

The moment the Croatian won the ball, Bayswater Chinese’s front three were poised to strike.

Real Madrid immediately started to counter-press.

Juande Ramos was very demanding in this aspect.

But a problem quickly emerged.

Yaya Touré was unmarked.

A moment ago, Real Madrid was attacking, with Raúl making forward runs.

The next moment, they suddenly lost the ball and had to switch to defense. It was impossible for Raúl to track back immediately to mark Yaya Touré.

As soon as the Ivorian got the ball, he hit a diagonal long pass, precisely delivering it behind Real Madrid’s defensive line.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, successfully beating the offside trap to latch onto Yaya Touré’s pass. He brought the ball down with his left foot, broke into the penalty area, and found himself one-on-one with the keeper.

Facing Casillas, Gareth Bale calmly slotted a low shot with his left foot into the Real Madrid goal.

2-1!

“Oh my God!!”

“They’ve turned it around!!”

“Bayswater Chinese has completed a beautiful comeback!”

“Two goals in just three minutes!”

“Gareth Bale’s speed is simply terrifying!”

“Theo Walcott’s goal came from his assist, and now he’s scored a brilliant one-on-one goal himself to help Bayswater Chinese turn the game around against Real Madrid!”

“Juande Ramos was clearly celebrating too soon!”

“The opening goal made Real Madrid a bit too optimistic, causing them to forget that tonight they are facing the Champions League defending champions, Bayswater Chinese!”

“Now, Juande Ramos faces a choice.”

“Bayswater Chinese turned the scoreline around in just three minutes.”

“Will Real Madrid continue to go toe-to-toe, or will they opt for a more pragmatic tactical approach?”

As Bayswater Chinese equalized and then reversed the score, Juande Ramos discovered with frustration that he had set the tone a little too high.

Especially after conceding two goals in just three minutes, the Real Madrid players on the pitch, instead of being intimidated, played with even more ferocity.

Facing the wolf-like Bayswater Chinese, the Real Madrid players showed no signs of backing down.

In the twenty-second minute, Raúl played a through ball. Robben received it on the right, beat Leighton Baines, cut inside near the right corner of the box, and unleashed a curling shot with his left foot.

Neuer made a diving save, punching the ball away with both fists to deny Robben’s effort.

But just two minutes later, a through ball from Robben on the right sent Raúl into the box.

Thiago Silva used his body to hold off Raúl, forcing the Real Madrid captain to take a weak shot that lacked power and was completely off-angle.

Neuer easily collected the ball.

After picking up the ball, the German goalkeeper showed no hesitation and immediately charged towards the edge of his penalty area.

Neuer could be heard shouting loudly, “Counter-attack!”

As he ran, the German looked ahead. Seeing Modrić raise his hand for the ball, he reached the area where the penalty box meets the arc and threw the ball with all his might with his right hand.

The ball flew a long distance, landing precisely in front of Modrić.

The Croatian controlled it with his chest, executed a deft feint, and skillfully turned with the ball to his right. He used his left shoulder to hold off Gago, pushed forward quickly, and sent a through ball with his right foot into the space behind Heinze.

The weakness of Real Madrid’s advancing full-backs was exposed again.

The space behind Heinze was huge.

Theo Walcott sprinted down the right sideline like lightning, chased down Modrić’s pass, carried it towards the right side of the penalty area, and, just before Cannavaro could close in, hit a square pass.

Džeko arrived at full tilt, meeting Theo Walcott’s cross with a sweeping shot that sent the ball once again into the bottom left corner of Real Madrid’s goal.

Casillas was helpless against such a goal.

3-1!

“It’s only the twenty-fifth minute!”

“In less than ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese has scored three goals!”

“Juande Ramos’s team has seen its defense completely torn apart in a very short period.”

“All three of Bayswater Chinese’s goals have come from quick counter-attacks after winning the ball.”

“And the problems exposed for Real Madrid all stem from their defense, especially the full-backs.”

“Just as we were saying, the gap in midfield is too vast!”

In the VIP box, Valdano was completely pessimistic about the direction of the match.

Conceding three goals in less than ten minutes was a sign of a defensive collapse.

“If Juande Ramos doesn’t make adjustments quickly to stabilize the defense, this match is certain to end with a huge scoreline.”

Valdano shook his head repeatedly as he finished, clearly very disappointed with the situation.

“Ultimately, our defense is terrible, and the midfield is completely unbalanced. Juande Ramos’s lineup was too arrogant, and his tactics were too aggressive. The moment Bayswater Chinese found their footing, we immediately crumbled.”

Florentino was somewhat surprised. “You think it’s a midfield problem?”

“It is the midfield!” Valdano said with certainty.

“Our defense has many issues too. For example, Ramos, I’d rather see him play as a centre-back than a full-back.”

“But by comparison, the midfield is the biggest problem. On February 18th, in that rescheduled match between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United, Manchester United also lost control of the midfield and let Bayswater Chinese beat them 4-1.”

“The whole process was very similar to tonight. The home team was aggressive, scored first, and then let Bayswater Chinese score multiple goals in a row to turn the game around. The way the goals were scored was also very similar.”

“I wonder, did Juande Ramos not study that match?”

If so, it was definitely negligence on the head coach’s part.

If he had watched it and still arranged tonight’s tactics and lineup, the problem was even more severe.

“Yang Cheng’s pre-match psychological warfare also had a great effect,” Zidane added from the side.

Florentino didn’t immediately understand.

He didn’t really care what Yang Cheng had said before the match.

“That’s right,” Valdano nodded. “He kept emphasizing not conceding, making everyone think that he would adopt a more cautious and defensive approach for the away game at the Bernabéu.”

“In reality, he just hid the dagger up his sleeve, and when he struck, he was ruthless!”

Zidane gave a helpless smile. “Also, Real Madrid’s 6-1 thrashing of Real Betis, scoring six goals in one half, was met with universal praise from the media, the players, and the club’s management.”

“That provided fertile ground for Yang Cheng’s psychological tactics to work.”

So-called psychological warfare was never just about a head coach saying a few words.

It had to be combined with the current media environment, the objective circumstances of the teams, and sometimes even an analysis of the psychological state of specific players.

If a head coach could engage in psychological warfare just by shouting a few slogans, that would be far too easy.

“So, based on what you two are saying, how should we approach signings this summer?”

Florentino could hear the disappointment in the voices of Valdano and Zidane.

He had no doubt about the affection his two core assistants had for Real Madrid.

It could only be said that the current Real Madrid was genuinely very disappointing.

More importantly, Calderón and Mijatović showed absolutely no sign of being able to lead Real Madrid out of its slump.

“A large-scale clear-out and rebuild. Other than that, I can’t think of any hope,” Valdano said very firmly.

Florentino glanced at Zidane, who nodded, then turned back to Valdano.

“Jorge, in your opinion, which players from Bayswater Chinese are the ones we need?”

Valdano was clearly taken aback.

Judging by his expression, he wasn’t thinking about whether there were players Real Madrid needed, but rather deliberating on which ones Real Madrid didn’t need for now.

Finally, to Florentino’s stunned expression, he recited a string of names.

“Džeko, Gareth Bale, Modrić, Yaya Touré, Maicon, Pepe, Thiago Silva…”

Florentino was suddenly embarrassed.

You might as well just buy Bayswater Chinese outright.

Why bother with all the hard work of poaching players?

“I’m serious, Jorge.”

“I’m serious too,” Valdano replied with a determined look.

Now the atmosphere was truly awkward.

So they really were behind on all fronts!

The only names Valdano hadn’t mentioned were Robben on the right wing, Heinze at left-back, and the goalkeeper, Casillas.

If that was the case, it was truly no surprise that Real Madrid was losing to Bayswater Chinese right now.

The difference in quality was just too great!

“My favorite is Yaya Touré. I think he’s being held back a bit by Yang Cheng right now. When Lassana Diarra was still there, he was much more active, especially on the attack.”

Zidane paused for a moment before adding, “He is the best holding midfielder in world football today, bar none!”

That was incredibly high praise.

But it was no surprise that Zidane liked Yaya Touré.

Both possessed imposing, powerful physiques, yet also had delicate footwork.

If Zidane were active today, he would probably have to play a deeper role rather than as a number 10.

Florentino said nothing, but he secretly committed the name Yaya Touré to memory.

When a team is in overall difficulty, the players on the pitch will frustratingly find that nothing they do goes right.

Just like in the match against Real Betis.

Argentine midfielder Fernando Gago’s ball control, passing, and dribbling had earned him thunderous applause.

After that match, many people were even calling him the next Redondo.

This had made the Argentine feel quite pleased with himself, thinking he was finally about to make his breakthrough.

But against Bayswater Chinese, he discovered that things were completely different.

Take the thirty-third minute, for example.

As he carried the ball forward, trying to orchestrate an attack to support his teammates up front, Matuidi suddenly came out of nowhere from an angle and dispossessed him.

After winning the ball, Matuidi passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian quickly distributed it to the right.

Theo Walcott drove forward into the right half-space, but with Heinze and Cannavaro blocking his path, it was clear he couldn’t get through.

So, the Little Tiger laid the ball back.

Modrić received it facing the attack but was harassed by Lassana Diarra.

Without taking a touch, he passed it back to Džeko.

Džeko, with his back to goal, controlled the ball, turned his body sideways, and flicked it with the outside of his left foot to Gareth Bale. He then pointed forward, ran around Metzelder, and made a quick forward run.

Bale understood immediately. Also without taking a touch, he swept the ball that Džeko had passed to him directly into the left side of the penalty area with his right foot.

The Bosnian centre-forward surged forward, latched onto Bale’s pass, and, without controlling it, unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

A loud thump echoed through the stadium as the ball shot past Casillas, practically grazing the left post as it once again found the back of the Real Madrid net.

The entire goal-scoring sequence was incredibly fluid, without any hesitation.

Džeko turned and ran in excitement.

A brace!

The entire Bernabéu Stadium fell into a deathly silence.

If they had been full of confidence and high hopes for Real Madrid before this match, then now, they finally understood the despair Real Betis had felt in this very stadium just three days ago.

Not even a full half had been played, and they had already conceded four goals.

Could things get any worse than this?

A rout!

They couldn’t believe that the Real Madrid team at the Bernabéu tonight was the same one that had thrashed Real Betis with six goals in one half just three days ago!

It was simply unimaginable!

“From just the first thirty-odd minutes of the match, it’s not hard to see that the two teams are truly not on the same level of quality.”

“Juande Ramos’s team adopted a strategy of defending with all their might against Barça, but they still lost 2-0.”

“And now, playing at home against Bayswater Chinese, they tried to assert their attack, only to have Bayswater Chinese break through their goal four times.”

“This once again confirms the saying: Real Madrid’s dominance is only effective against La Liga teams other than Barça. When they step onto the European stage and face top teams of the same caliber from other leagues, Real Madrid’s true colors are revealed.”

The first half ended 4-1.

During the halftime break, Juande Ramos made a substitution.

He brought on Javi García for Huntelaar.

After the change, Gonzalo Higuaín and Robben were pushed up to the front line, with Raúl roaming behind them.

The midfield formed something akin to a three-man holding setup, with Gago, Javi García, and Lassana Diarra.

Javi García was tasked with the holding role.

This player had performed excellently while on loan at Osasuna, but after returning to Real Madrid, he had consistently been denied playing time and failed to continue his previous form.

After adopting a 4-3-1-2 formation, Juande Ramos proactively switched to a defensive, deep-lying tactic.

This largely stabilized Real Madrid’s defense.

Furthermore, with the result all but decided, Bayswater Chinese, seeing Real Madrid retreat, opted for more possession-based play to conserve energy.

During this period, Real Madrid tried to launch a few attacks, but each time they were left terrified by Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks.

Especially between the sixty-fifth and eightieth minutes, in that short fifteen-minute span, the match was completely controlled by Bayswater Chinese.

The away team launched attack after attack, repeatedly threatening Real Madrid’s goal.

If not for the heroic performances of Casillas, Ramos, and Heinze, who knows how many times Real Madrid’s goal would have been breached.

This included an instance where Cannavaro handled the ball in the box, but the head referee didn’t blow the whistle.

It was a very clear refereeing error.

What was truly embarrassing for Real Madrid was that from the moment they began to sit back completely in the second half, boos continuously rained down from the stands of the Bernabéu.

By the seventieth minute, many Real Madrid fans began to leave the stadium early.

As Bayswater Chinese unleashed a furious wave of attacks, threatening Real Madrid’s goal time and again, many Real Madrid fans couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

By the eighty-fifth minute, when the live broadcast cameras panned across the stadium, the Bernabéu was much emptier.

There were visibly empty seats, all left by Real Madrid fans who had departed early.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Real Madrid 4-1 away from home!

With this scoreline, especially in the first leg away from home, Yang Cheng’s team had practically already stepped into the Champions League quarter-finals!

“I must say, I have great respect for Real Madrid. They have an excellent attack and can score against us at any time, which is why I repeatedly reminded my players before the match to stay focused and concentrated.”

“I’m very happy that, although we made mistakes during the game, we did well for the vast majority of it.”

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng first offered praise and affirmation when commenting on his opponent.

When a journalist asked if this scoreline meant they had already advanced, Yang Cheng denied it.

“We have indeed taken a very solid step forward here, but against an opponent like Real Madrid, no one dares to say they’ve secured victory until the very last moment.”

Regarding the 4-1 score, Yang Cheng was beaming from ear to ear.

Anyone could read his mood from his face at that moment.

“We’ve achieved many high-scoring victories this season, including against opponents like Manchester United.”

“In each of these victories, we’ve demonstrated an extremely high level of performance, which fills us with confidence.”

“At the same time, it also helps us understand how we should fight for a win!”

“I’m very happy that in this match, we showed great maturity. When we were 1-0 down, we continued to play steadily, according to our own rhythm and style.”

Yang Cheng then lavished Real Madrid with more compliments.

But one particular statement left the journalists unable to grasp whether he was making excuses for Real Madrid’s heavy defeat…

Or just kicking them when they were down.

“With no disrespect, if Real Madrid’s players had been more enterprising and played with more fighting spirit, the match would have been more exciting, especially in the second half.”

“It would have been an extraordinary, extremely wonderful night!”

“I feel that compared to the last time I came to the Bernabéu, tonight’s Real Madrid has shown us progress!”

This sparked a great deal of discussion among the Spanish media.

Even protests.

A 4-1 loss, and you’re talking about progress?

Isn’t that just humiliating them?

Does it mean the more they progress, the more they lose?

A British journalist in the audience couldn’t help but laugh and kindly reminded his Spanish colleagues.

“When you go back, check the scores of Yang Cheng’s previous two visits to the Bernabéu.”

“At least you guys scored this time.”

“Isn’t that a form of progress?”

This group of British journalists couldn’t have been happier.

Bayswater Chinese was doing the Premier League and England proud!

Compared to Yang Cheng, Juande Ramos admitted right from the start of his press conference that with a 4-1 home defeat, Real Madrid’s chances of advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals were slim.

“We have to admit that Bayswater Chinese is a better team than us.”

Juande Ramos expressed with great regret that his players had done their best.

“We scored shortly after the start, which gave the team a huge confidence boost, but they quickly equalized and then took the lead.”

“That wave of attacks left us somewhat disoriented, especially for the entire first half.”

“At halftime, I could feel that our players were in a lot of pain.”

Juande Ramos gave Bayswater Chinese the highest of praise.

“The biggest difference in tonight’s match was that, apart from Barça, we haven’t faced an opponent as talented as Bayswater Chinese.”

Juande Ramos also defended himself, stating that he had managed a team in London before.

“When I was still coaching Tottenham, in our matches against Bayswater Chinese, they didn’t gain much of an advantage, and I even came close to winning.”

“I’m not trying to make excuses, but rather to say that the current Real Madrid does not have the strength to challenge Bayswater Chinese.”

And when the Spanish media relayed Yang Cheng’s comments on Real Madrid, especially the part about seeing their progress, Juande Ramos, not understanding the context, politely expressed his thanks and agreed that Real Madrid was indeed continuously improving.

It was only when the media presented the past head-to-head results between Real Madrid and Bayswater Chinese that Juande Ramos realized he had walked right into the journalists’ trap.

It wasn’t Yang Cheng’s fault; it was these damned journalists who had dug a pit for him!

When the news of Bayswater Chinese’s 4-1 comeback victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabéu spread, media and fans all over the world erupted in discussion.

Everyone generally agreed that Yang Cheng’s team would be a strong contender for this season’s Champions League title.

Juande Ramos, on the other hand, was crucified by the Spanish media and lambasted by Real Madrid fans for a slip of the tongue during the post-match press conference.

This became a striking sideshow after the Champions League match.

But in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t even the team that stole the most headlines.

Bayern Munich thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away. Ribéry single-handedly put on a hat-trick and provided two assists for Luca Toni’s goals, orchestrating all five goals himself. He was in the limelight like no other.

Arsenal also defeated AS Roma, The Giallorossi, 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Andrei Arshavin.

Overnight, media outlets worldwide turned their attention to Bayswater Chinese.

Not only had Yang Cheng’s team thrashed Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, but even the players they had transferred out, especially high-profile ones like Ribéry and Arshavin, had become the number one heroes in Bayern Munich’s and Arsenal’s victories.

This immediately sparked heated discussions in the global media.

Germany’s Bild, while praising Ribéry, also published an article commending Bayswater Chinese, calling them a breath of fresh air in European football.

While other top clubs were keen on poaching players, Bayswater Chinese was renowned for developing them.

Moreover, the players they developed all showed an exceptionally high level of quality.

Ribéry and Arshavin were the best proof!

France Football magazine also wrote a commentary in its Champions League special issue, analyzing how Bayswater Chinese could continuously develop high-level players while their team’s combat effectiveness not only didn’t decline but actually improved.

In the end, they came to one conclusion.

Head coach Yang Cheng was the most crucial, core soul of this Bayswater Chinese team.

“Every time he sells a core player, Yang Cheng makes targeted tactical adjustments to the team, helping them achieve better results and play more beautiful football!”

“This fully demonstrates Yang Cheng’s incredible tactical genius!”

“Not yet 29 years old, the youngest manager in world football, Yang Cheng is an out-and-out Genius Coach!”

After returning to London from Madrid, Yang Cheng took a short break.

On the afternoon of the 28th, the team traveled to the Emirates Stadium for an away game against Arsenal.

Both teams had played away games in the Champions League during the week, against formidable opponents.

This forced them to make some rotations for this match.

Yang Cheng’s team seized the initiative as the away team, launching an offensive from the start and completely dominating the first ten minutes, threatening Arsenal’s goal several times.

But Lloris was very solid in front of the goal.

The most dangerous moment came in the ninth minute when Ángel Di María delivered a Rabona cross from the right. After missing two golden opportunities, Robert Lewandowski headed the ball from close range.

The ball hit the top of the crossbar and bounced back.

Arsenal also took the opportunity to launch a comeback.

The two teams traded blows, but neither could break the deadlock.

The Gunners created their most threatening attack of the match in the thirty-fourth minute.

Andrei Arshavin sent a brilliant pass, giving van Persie a one-on-one opportunity near the penalty spot, but his shot was saved by the advancing Neuer.

Yang Cheng’s team hit the woodwork again in the fiftieth minute of the second half.

Interestingly, it was another header from Robert Lewandowski.

In the seventieth minute, Yang Cheng brought on Džeko to further strengthen the team’s attack.

But Wenger was well-prepared.

In the end, after a hard-fought ninety minutes, the two sides settled for a 0-0 draw.

After the twenty-seventh round of matches, the Premier League teams had mixed fortunes.

Manchester United defeated Portsmouth 2-0 at home, securing three points.

Chelsea narrowly beat Wigan Athletic 2-1.

Manchester City defeated West Ham United 1-0 away.

Liverpool lost 2-0 away to Middlesbrough.

After playing their two rescheduled matches, Bayswater Chinese now had seventy-four points from twenty-four wins, two draws, and one loss in twenty-seven games, leading the Premier League table.

Yang Cheng’s team had shown astonishing efficiency in gathering points this season.

Especially against mid-to-lower table teams, their goal-scoring rate was incredible.

Manchester United followed with sixty-five points, but the gap had widened to nine points.

Arsenal was in third place with fifty-six points.

Manchester City also had fifty-six points but was in fourth due to an inferior goal difference.

Liverpool had fifty-four points, and Chelsea had fifty-two, placing them fifth and sixth, respectively.

After two rescheduled matches, Bayswater Chinese’s lead in the Premier League had extended to nine points.

This left all their competitors in despair.

Even Ferguson publicly stated after the twenty-seventh round that the chances of a comeback were slim.

The reason was simple: it was already March.

This meant that Yang Cheng and his team had weathered the most difficult period.

In fact, the media had long anticipated this situation.

Previously, Bayswater Chinese was already leading the league table despite playing two games less.

In the subsequent two rescheduled matches, Bayswater Chinese won both, especially the 4-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, which cemented their lead.

Adding another six points to their existing lead made it undeniably substantial.

After the third rescheduled match was played, the British media had already begun to declare, “The title belongs to Bayswater Chinese!”

Now, it was merely further confirmation of their view.

Three days later, in the twenty-eighth round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Hull City at home.

The Tigers, visiting Wembley Stadium, set up to park the bus, defending with all their might.

After a tough ninety-minute battle, Yang Cheng’s team secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Hull City, thanks to a goal from Džeko.

Chelsea also managed a 1-0 away win against Portsmouth, with a goal from Drogba.

Arsenal defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-1 away.

Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 at home.

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-0 at home, with goals from Kaká and Robinho.

Manchester United came from behind to beat Newcastle 2-1 after conceding first.

Over the weekend, it was the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool at home.

With the second leg against Real Madrid coming up next Wednesday, and due to a prior agreement Yang Cheng had with his players, this match was again played with a full squad of substitutes and young players.

But Benítez’s Liverpool would not go easy on Bayswater Chinese for that reason.

The Reds fielded their starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Reina;

Defense: Dossena, Hyypiä, Carragher, and Álvaro Arbeloa;

Midfield: Lucas Leiva and Xabi Alonso formed a double pivot, with Riera, Gerrard, and Kuyt in front of them;

Forward: Torres.

Liverpool came to Wembley Stadium determined to win.

But Bayswater Chinese’s group of young players were no pushovers either. They had eliminated several strong Premier League teams to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Facing Liverpool, they remained incredibly tenacious.

Under Liverpool’s aggressive pressure, Bayswater Chinese’s young players still dared to attack and launched a sharp offensive right from the start, nearly overwhelming Liverpool.

Reina made a crucial save on a close-range effort from Robert Lewandowski.

Liverpool began to exert pressure in the latter part of the first half, but The Reds’ players were not in particularly good form.

Gerrard and Torres both missed chances consecutively.

This meant neither team could break the deadlock.

After the second half resumed, although both teams made frequent substitutions in an attempt to change the game, neither could score.

Ultimately, the match ended 0-0 after ninety minutes.

According to FA Cup rules, a draw in the first five rounds leads to a replay.

But from the quarter-finals onwards, it’s a single-elimination match.

The two teams headed into extra time.

Chapter 164: A Genius Like Messi! Charging Towards the Treble!

According to the rules of football, players are not allowed to return to the dressing room to rest after the ninety minutes of regular time end and the match enters extra time.

Therefore, when the head referee blew the final whistle, both teams returned to the area in front of their respective benches to rest.

Yang Cheng and Benítez each had one substitution remaining.

They had both already made two.

Benítez had brought on Yossi Benayoun for Kuyt in the second half.

He had also used Javier Mascherano to replace Riera.

So, at this moment, Liverpool actually had four central midfielders on the pitch.

Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Gerrard, and Lucas Leiva.

Mascherano had been brought on in the 80th minute of the second half with the intention of strengthening the defense.

Just five minutes earlier, Yang Cheng had replaced Matuidi with Modrić to partner Aaron Ramsey in midfield.

From then on, Bayswater Chinese continued to launch fierce attacks.

But ultimately, they failed to breach Liverpool’s goal.

In the final ten minutes or so, Liverpool wasn’t playing a 4-2-3-1 at all; instead, they adopted a three-man holding midfield.

It somewhat resembled a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation.

Both Gerrard and Benayoun tucked in closer to the center.

This was also a move to gain an advantage in midfield and suppress the Bayswater Chinese midfield.

More importantly, Liverpool’s overall tactics were relatively conservative, with their defensive line sitting quite deep.

This further increased the difficulty for Bayswater Chinese to attack.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was contemplating whether to use his final substitution to bring on another centre-forward.

Currently, Robert Lewandowski was the only one up front.

But the Polish centre-forward had been somewhat inefficient tonight, failing to convert several good opportunities.

In fact, his form hadn’t been great recently.

However, this was normal.

Youngsters are always like that.

More importantly, during a phase of rapid development, young players will always exhibit various kinds of instability.

Once they stabilize, their overall ability improves.

One last substitution!

What to do?

The players walked over to the sideline for a drink of water.

Brian Kidd and the others all looked at Yang Cheng.

Only the head coach could make this kind of decision.

And there wasn’t much time!

Yang Cheng hesitated for a moment, then made a decisive choice and walked over to his players.

“How is it? Are you guys okay? Do you have the stamina for another thirty minutes?” Yang Cheng asked with a concerned expression.

The players looked at each other.

Apart from Di María and Modrić, who had just come on as substitutes, the others were somewhat silent, clearly not very confident.

Aaron Ramsey was the exception.

The Welsh lad raised his hand high. “No problem, boss!”

Everyone looked at Aaron Ramsey in surprise, making the young man a little embarrassed.

The triathlon champion certainly had the confidence.

Even after playing a full ninety minutes, he was still so assertive.

Yang Cheng turned to Thad Foucher, his eyes questioning.

Foucher nodded slightly, indicating there was no problem.

Although Aaron Ramsey was only eighteen, his physical condition was top-notch.

This greatly pleased Yang Cheng.

Aaron Ramsey was the type of professional player that almost every head coach would love: low-key, reserved, diligent, and down-to-earth.

In terms of talent, his abilities were unquestionable—excellent in passing, dribbling, and shooting.

His diligent and steady personality gave him a very high floor.

That’s why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, even after suffering a leg-breaking incident that forced him to change his technical style and limited his career’s potential, Aaron Ramsey’s later development was still better than that of Arsenal’s “Young Master” Wilshere.

This was because Wilshere’s personality gave him a very low floor.

In England, there were far too many geniuses like Wilshere.

But players like Aaron Ramsey were truly rare.

Diligent and steadfast, just like Gerrard and Lampard, with excellent skills in passing, controlling, dribbling, and shooting, and refined footwork, giving him more potential for career development than his two predecessors.

Yang Cheng could now say with certainty that as long as Ramsey continued on his current trajectory, his future template would be a strengthened version of Gerrard with the passing and awareness of Scholes!

Bayswater Chinese had always followed this line of thought in nurturing Aaron Ramsey.

Time waits for no one.

After giving Aaron Ramsey an approving nod, Yang Cheng turned his head and looked at Nemanja Matić.

“Nemanja, you’ve played well in this match. For the next thirty minutes, leave it to your teammates!”

Matić immediately understood the head coach’s intention; he was about to be substituted.

Although a little disappointed, he still followed the arrangement.

Because the team needed to advance!

Yang Cheng hugged Matić. He had originally wanted to send him to the dressing room, but he insisted on sitting on the bench.

“Theo.”

Yang Cheng called out towards the bench.

Theo Walcott immediately jumped up and ran over.

“You’re going on in the second half, play on the right.”

“Di María.”

The Argentine immediately looked over.

“You play on the left.”

While Eden Hazard was looking a bit lost, Yang Cheng walked up to him and asked, “Eden, can you still keep going?”

“I… I have no problem!”

Stamina was not Hazard’s strong suit.

But the game had reached this point, and his teammates around him were all gritting their teeth and persevering. He couldn’t lose steam now, no matter what.

Even if he had to play until he coughed up blood, he had to see it through!

This was a common sight on a football pitch.

“Very good. At the start of extra time, we’ll go on the offensive. Hazard, you’ll play the number 10 role. I’m giving you absolute authority, a free role.”

The young Belgian looked up, barely able to believe his ears, and stared at the head coach.

Since joining Bayswater Chinese, he had played on the left and on the right, but never as a number 10.

That was because the position didn’t exist in Bayswater Chinese’s 4-3-3 formation.

“Don’t be constrained by your position, that’s not important. What’s important is that I need you to dominate this game completely according to your own ideas, your own will!”

“You’ve seen it too. Liverpool has set up a tight defensive formation in their half, and our players can’t break through. So, we need you to play a bigger role!”

As he spoke, Yang Cheng placed a hand on Hazard’s shoulder, making the young Belgian feel a profound sense of trust and reliance.

At his age, nothing could ignite his fighting spirit more than this!

“Don’t worry, boss, I’ll give it my all!”

Yang Cheng nodded repeatedly, looking very satisfied with his declaration.

The Hamburg King?

Not on my watch.

If I give him a shot of adrenaline now and then, sell him a dream or two, I refuse to believe he’ll still be as lazy as he was in my past life!

After instructing Hazard, Yang Cheng turned to Di María and Walcott.

Especially Di María.

You’re our Executive Vice-King of Football!

Right now, I’m entrusting King Hazard to your support!

Yang Cheng’s task for the two of them was to support Hazard, actively coordinating and linking up with him.

“In short, just one thing: don’t feel any pressure. We still have thirty minutes. Once you’re on the pitch, just charge forward. Use our attack to destroy Liverpool’s defense!”

“Don’t forget, we lost the FA Cup last season. This season, we’re taking it back!”

“No one is going to stop us!”

“Let’s go!!!”

By the end, Yang Cheng was practically roaring.

The young players of Bayswater Chinese, as if injected with adrenaline, started roaring along with him.

This stunned everyone on the Liverpool side.

What the hell? They’ve played for ninety minutes and are still this ferocious?

This was especially true for the Reds’ players.

They looked at Yang Cheng, then at Benítez, who was like a quiet, eccentric, sealed gourd.

Especially after assistant coach Pako Ayestarán’s departure, Benítez’s relationship with the dressing room had plummeted.

Many said that his relationship with Xabi Alonso had soured so badly precisely because he had lost Ayestarán as a lubricant.

Over on one side, Bayswater Chinese was brimming with passion; on the other, Benítez was, to put it nicely, calm. To put it bluntly, he was like a dead man, showing no reaction, his tone of voice unchanging.

…

If Yang Cheng were to return to 2024 and ask fans what position Eden Hazard played, they would probably all say left winger without hesitation.

But in reality, this wasn’t the position where Hazard made his name.

In Ligue 1, during his time at Lille, Hazard actually played more often as a number 10 in a 4-2-3-1 formation, acting as a free man in the attack, roaming unrestrained across the left, center, and right flanks.

Head coach Rudi Garcia would give him free rein to fully commit to the attack without any restrictions.

And the 4-2-3-1 is a formation that best utilizes the abilities of a number 10 player.

Therefore, Hazard played a crucial role in Lille’s system, which led to his meteoric rise to fame.

Now, in Bayswater Chinese’s 4-3-3 formation, there was no number 10 position.

Hazard had always been deployed by Yang Cheng on the left and right wings.

But he wasn’t a traditional winger, either.

This was a major feature of Yang Cheng’s 4-3-3.

Whether it was Hazard, Di María, Gareth Bale, or Walcott, they all possessed exceptional attacking talent and forward drive.

Forcing such players to hug the touchline and just cross the ball would be a colossal waste.

Therefore, the wingers in Bayswater Chinese’s 4-3-3 were basically more like attackers operating in the half-spaces, capable of playing both wide and central.

Hazard was even more different than the other three.

If he played on the left wing, he was essentially a free man in the left half of the pitch.

The same applied if he played on the right.

Hazard, being proficient with both feet, could handle both roles.

But in this match, at this point, against Benítez’s three-man holding midfield system, what Yang Cheng really wanted to do was to completely unleash Hazard.

Only then would they have a chance to break through Liverpool’s tight defense!

And after getting a shot of adrenaline from Yang Cheng, Hazard’s performance on the pitch was extremely impressive.

Just over a minute into extra time, he suddenly appeared on the right, received a pass from Walcott, and, while surrounded by three Liverpool defenders, managed to dribble the ball out with the agility of his smaller frame, twisting and turning.

In that instant, Hazard earned a standing ovation from Wembley Stadium.

He really was like Messi!

Unfortunately, his final pass wasn’t quite right.

From across the pitch, Yang Cheng and the others couldn’t even see clearly how he had done it.

But Hazard had somehow managed to carry the ball out from a dense pack of defenders.

Was it a threat?

One look at Benítez’s exasperated face on the opposite side was all the answer needed.

“The kid’s physical strength isn’t there yet. Once he matures a bit more, his performance will surely be even better.”

Brian Kidd was now in complete awe of Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

And it wasn’t just him.

Everyone around them felt the same.

They didn’t even know what criteria Yang Cheng used to select players.

But every single player he chose delivered a surprisingly impressive performance.

“We still need to be cautious. Gaining muscle has to be done carefully.”

Yang Cheng didn’t want the young players of Bayswater Chinese to end up like some of Barça’s geniuses.

Gaining muscle is inevitable for athletes.

Without muscle, injuries are more frequent, and physical contests are lost.

But gaining muscle inevitably increases weight, which puts more pressure on joints and ligaments like the knees and ankles.

Not to mention, after gaining weight, a player’s technical characteristics can easily be affected.

This is a law of nature that no one can change.

That’s why the sports science department, led by Thad Foucher, was constantly researching a stable and effective development mechanism.

To put it simply, they wanted to stretch out the muscle-gaining period, allowing players to continuously adapt to the changes over a long time, steadily improving other aspects of their physical functions. After they adapted, they would move to the next stage, gradually becoming stronger step by step.

Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Di María had already started this process.

Hazard and Aaron Ramsey were still too young.

They would have to wait until their bodies had fully matured and stabilized before they could begin.

The reason Yang Cheng invested heavily in the sports science department to research this area was that he had learned from Barça’s experience.

In the years before he traveled through time, how many of Barça’s geniuses had fallen due to fatigue from overplaying and issues with muscle gain?

…

While Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were discussing Hazard, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half.

After making the tackle, Vincent Kompany passed the ball to Modrić.

The Croatian dribbled forward a couple of steps, feinted a move towards the center, then suddenly played the ball to the front right with the outside of his right foot.

It was as if Modrić had eyes in the side of his head.

The ball was passed precisely to Hazard’s feet.

The Belgian ran over from the center, came to a sudden halt, and then veered forward.

This pause and change of direction perfectly used his body to block Lucas Leiva, who was chasing him from behind.

At that exact moment, the ball arrived in front of Hazard.

As the Belgian started to move, he expertly controlled the ball with his right foot, accelerating forward and instantly shaking off Lucas Leiva.

He was past his man, but Liverpool’s defense was still very tight.

Xabi Alonso immediately ran over to provide cover and block him.

Hazard passed the ball to the right wing, finding Walcott.

As The Little Tiger received the ball, before Dossena could close him down, he immediately played a through ball into the space behind.

Hazard, who had just passed the ball, was seen sprinting forward at top speed. Having shaken off Xabi Alonso, he made a direct run behind Dossena and caught up to Walcott’s pass just as he reached the edge of the penalty area.

Hazard didn’t dwell on the ball. Before Hyypiä could rush over, he sent a diagonal pass with his right foot towards the penalty spot in the box.

Robert Lewandowski had also been making a high-speed run forward, but Carragher stuck to him like glue, refusing to give the Polish striker any chance to receive the ball.

Moreover, Liverpool’s vice-captain was focused on marking Lewandowski’s left foot.

When the ball arrived at the penalty spot, the Spanish goalkeeper Reina had already rushed off his line.

He had played with Carragher for a long time and knew that Carragher had Lewandowski’s left foot covered. So, Reina dived towards the right, the two of them aiming to jointly block Lewandowski’s shooting angles.

It had to be said, Reina’s timing in coming off his line was excellent.

This had always been Reina’s strength!

If Lewandowski shot directly, the ball would have almost no chance of going in. The best he could hope for was for it to hit Reina and get a second chance from the rebound.

The experienced Reina was well-prepared for this as well.

But what no one expected was that after reaching the ball a step ahead, Lewandowski neither shot directly nor controlled the ball. Instead, he met Hazard’s pass with a backheel from his right foot, a move resembling a scorpion kick, flicking the ball behind him.

This shocked everyone.

Completely unexpected!

The next moment, a thunderous cheer erupted throughout Wembley Stadium.

Aaron Ramsey rushed up at speed. Near the arc of the penalty area, he met the ball from Lewandowski’s backheel and unleashed a powerful power shot.

The shot was taken in a hurry, but it was low and incredibly fast.

Carragher had no chance of blocking it.

The ball shot straight into the right side of Liverpool’s goal.

Aaron Ramsey himself was stunned for a moment, then let out an excited roar. He shouted and ran towards the sideline.

The entire Wembley Stadium was cheering for him.

“RAMSEY! RAMSEY!!”

…

The moment he saw the goal, Yang Cheng also leaped up in excitement, cheering loudly.

But unlike everyone else, besides shouting Ramsey’s name, he also gave a thumbs-up to Hazard and Lewandowski from afar.

So beautiful!

That passage of play was absolutely brilliant!

And Ramsey’s decisive finish made Yang Cheng feel quite emotional!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many Arsenal fans lamented Wilshere’s decline.

But in Yang Cheng’s opinion, Wilshere’s personality destined him for a troubled fate.

Almost all players with poor personalities ended up in tragic circumstances.

Like that Manchester United genius, Ravel Morrison.

Paul Pogba’s talent was high enough, right?

In Yang Cheng’s view, among the geniuses born in the 90s, if Pogba’s talent was second, probably no one would dare claim to be first.

But Morrison’s talent was in no way inferior to Pogba’s.

At least, that was the case during their time at Manchester United.

But a genius like Morrison ultimately fell due to his personality and his environment.

This was a common problem for English talents!

Wilshere was another case.

If Yang Cheng had his say, Arsenal’s biggest regret was Aaron Ramsey.

What style he had in his early days, excelling in every aspect: passing, dribbling, and shooting.

Crucially, he also had a particularly good personality.

Even now, Yang Cheng could still remember that when Aaron Ramsey’s leg was broken and he was being stretchered off the field, he was still waving to the fans, optimistically saying that he was fine and would definitely be back.

Everyone knew how much a leg-breaking injury could affect a player.

And how painful the recovery was—those who haven’t experienced it can never truly understand.

Especially for a professional player.

It was absolute physical and mental torment.

But Aaron Ramsey endured it!

Not only did he endure it, but when he returned to the training ground, he worked harder than anyone and trained more fiercely than anyone.

His leg was broken, so the technical movements he was familiar with were no longer possible.

So he changed, he adapted!

During that time, he was the hardest-working and most diligent player on the entire Arsenal team.

That’s why Wenger had always been very supportive of him.

Even when he performed poorly, was repeatedly criticized and humiliated by fans and the media, and was even nicknamed the Reaper—blackened to the point of being useless, good for nothing.

But he still worked without complaint, still ran tirelessly.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, endured, and once again conquered everyone!

For this reason alone, Yang Cheng was certain that Aaron Ramsey’s case was more regrettable than Wilshere’s!

And now, the Welsh genius’s fate had been completely changed.

Now, he hadn’t broken his leg, and he was receiving careful nurturing at Bayswater Chinese.

Watching the sprinting Aaron Ramsey on the pitch, Yang Cheng’s heart was also filled with excitement.

“He will definitely become a world-class midfielder!” Yang Cheng said with great certainty.

Brian Kidd nodded heavily.

He was also convinced of this.

…

After breaking the deadlock on the pitch, the whole situation changed dramatically.

And as everyone expected.

After conceding, Liverpool was the first to launch a counter-attack.

But to everyone’s surprise, Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was incredibly sharp.

In the 94th minute, Di María from the left initiated a counter-attack, then passed horizontally to the center to Aaron Ramsey.

The Welsh youngster controlled the ball with the inside of his right foot, planted his standing foot, and then sent a long, switching pass with his left.

The ball quickly moved from the left channel to the open space on the right.

Pišček chested the ball down, immediately dribbled forward, and quickly reached the right corner of the penalty area.

The Liverpool players quickly tracked back, but they retreated a bit too deep.

Pišček delivered a horizontal pass, moving the ball to the arc of the penalty area.

Hazard came charging in and, meeting the horizontal pass with his right foot, directly hit a push shot.

This attacking move was beautifully executed, but Hazard’s shot wasn’t kept down and went high.

A collective sigh of regret echoed through Wembley Stadium.

Liverpool continued to attack relentlessly.

But Bayswater Chinese soon seized another opportunity and launched a counter-attack.

It was Di María from the left again.

The Argentine dribbled all the way to the left side of Liverpool’s penalty area and sent a cross towards the arc.

Hazard was leading the charge and overran it.

But the Belgian was clever and quick to react. In a flash of inspiration, instead of turning to contest the ball, he used his back to meet the falling football, angling his body.

The ball hit Hazard on the back and rebounded into the path of the onrushing Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward chased it down and shot directly.

This shot forced a diving save from Reina.

But the ball grazed the outside of the right post and went out for a goal kick.

Wembley Stadium once again erupted in fervent applause!

“Who would have thought that after entering extra time, Bayswater Chinese would instead produce the more threatening attacks.”

“Especially the young star from Belgium, Hazard.”

“After Yang Cheng’s tactical adjustment, it’s as if he’s been completely activated.”

“A series of brilliant performances have left a deep impression on us.”

“Looking at this slow-motion replay again, it’s so imaginative, so inspired.”

“A player like this is truly a rare sight in the Premier League.”

“He is an out-and-out genius!”

“A genius like Messi!”

Under Bayswater Chinese’s continuous counter-attacks, coupled with the fact that Liverpool didn’t have many attacking players on the pitch, the Reds’ offense seemed somewhat toothless.

At the same time, they were getting anxious.

Bayswater Chinese wasn’t doing much better, really.

After playing ninety minutes, the players drew on their passion to launch a wave of impressive attacks.

As time went on and their energy levels dropped, their rhythm and performance declined.

Especially after the hundred-minute mark, they could no longer play that kind of fast-paced attack.

The same was true for Liverpool.

Then, in the 103rd minute, Pišček made a forward run to receive Modrić’s pass, carried the ball past the halfway line, and sent a diagonal pass to Hazard’s feet.

Near the bottom of the center circle in Liverpool’s half, the Belgian used his body to shield the ball from Lucas Leiva, receiving it side-on while shaking off the Brazilian holding midfielder.

The Brazilian midfielder already had a yellow card, so he didn’t dare make any rash moves.

He tried to pull Hazard back but couldn’t hold on, and Hazard broke free.

The Belgian dribbled forward, charging into Liverpool’s thirty-meter zone.

Xabi Alonso blocked him on the right side outside the arc, while Lucas Leiva chased him from behind. Seeing Hazard slow down, Lucas Leiva went straight in with a sliding tackle, trying to stop him there.

But Hazard suddenly faked, changed direction, and dribbled towards the right corner of the penalty area. At the same time he evaded Xabi Alonso, he also saw a path to the goal past Xabi Alonso and Hyypiä.

In that moment, Hazard remembered the trust Yang Cheng had placed in him, the great responsibility Yang Cheng had given him.

The Belgian gritted his teeth, chased after the ball, and unleashed a ferocious shot with his right foot.

To everyone’s surprise, from a full twenty meters away from the goal, Hazard unleashed an unexpected long shot.

The ball flew at great speed over the penalty area, over the hands of goalkeeper Reina, and dropped into the right side of Liverpool’s goal.

Only then did all the fans in the stadium once again burst into thunderous cheers.

“HAZARD!!”

“At a crucial moment, in the 103rd minute, Hazard scores another goal!”

“2-0!”

“Liverpool’s players are clearly exhausted, but Bayswater Chinese’s situation is no better, and the home team is even younger.”

“But after entering extra time, Bayswater Chinese scored two consecutive goals, producing a very beautiful wave of attacks!”

“Especially the young Belgian, Hazard, with a goal and an assist, he has left a very deep impression on us!”

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored two consecutive goals, Liverpool’s morale took a huge hit.

Especially during the halftime break of extra time, Torres suffered a cramp and collapsed on the sideline.

Benítez had to make his third substitution, bringing on Babel for Torres.

But in the final fifteen minutes, Liverpool’s only achievement was picking up a yellow card against Bayswater Chinese.

It came from right-back Pišček’s foul on Babel.

But after 105 minutes of play, both teams had truly reached their physical limits.

Apart from the players who had come on as substitutes, the others were basically spent.

Some were even completing their runs by walking.

One can imagine that both sides had truly reached their limits.

In the end, Liverpool failed to create any more threatening attacks.

With an assist and a goal from Hazard, Bayswater Chinese defeated Liverpool 2-0 at home, successfully advancing to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Interestingly, the other three teams to reach the semi-finals were Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea.

Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the semi-final would be Manchester United, an away game at Old Trafford.

After the match, the British media described it as a hard-fought victory.

This group of young players from Bayswater Chinese had truly given their all in the match against Liverpool.

Hazard and Aaron Ramsey, two youngsters born in the 90s, each scored a goal, earning unanimous praise from the media and fans.

The Belgian had a goal and an assist, and the Welshman, a home-grown player, both delivered commendable performances.

As The Guardian stated in its commentary.

“Yang Cheng is definitely not just shouting slogans!”

“He and his disciples are determined to return to the FA Cup final, to reclaim everything they lost last season!”

“The league title is already within their grasp; their next target is the FA Cup!”

“And possibly even the Champions League!”

The Guardian noted that in the history of English football, there have been three Treble-winning teams.

In the 83/84 season, Liverpool won the then-First Division title, the League Cup, and the European Cup.

But in the 98/99 season, Manchester United’s Treble completely overshadowed Liverpool’s.

The Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League!

Undoubtedly, Liverpool’s Treble in the 80s lacked prestige.

Because the League Cup has always been considered a chicken rib, its importance far less than the FA Cup’s.

Then, in the 00/01 season, Liverpool under Gérard Houllier won a treble: the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Cup.

Apart from the FA Cup, one couldn’t say these trophies weren’t official, but they certainly didn’t carry much weight.

Especially without the two most prestigious and authoritative titles: the Premier League and the Champions League.

Therefore, when British fans mention the Treble, they almost exclusively recognize Manchester United’s achievement in the 98/99 season.

“But now, we see that Bayswater Chinese has almost secured the league title, has one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals, and has now reached the FA Cup semi-finals.”

“Yang Cheng and his group of players have fought incredibly hard in every match, and each victory has been full of substance.”

“Whether it’s their substantial lead in the league, their journey from the Champions League group stage to the knockout stage, or their opponents throughout the FA Cup run, they have all been strong teams.”

“Unlike Ferguson’s Manchester United, which relied on comebacks, Yang Cheng’s team has played with dominance in the Premier League, the Champions League, and the FA Cup.”

“This fills us all with great expectations and high hopes for this young team!”

…

On the evening of March 10th, in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese hosted Real Madrid at home.

Tonight, Wembley Stadium was once again sold out!

To show they hadn’t given up, the visiting Galácticos, under Juande Ramos, still deployed a 4-4-2 formation, but with Sneijder on the left wing and Higuaín and Raúl up front.

But Yang Cheng’s team didn’t care how Real Madrid lined up.

The mid-week all-out battle with Liverpool had taken a huge toll on Bayswater Chinese.

Even the few players who came on as substitutes had fought extremely hard in that clash.

Therefore, for this match, Yang Cheng’s strategy was to leverage their home advantage and secure a quick victory!

From the start, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative and launched an aggressive attack.

Just three minutes in, Rakitić received a pass back from Di María in the left channel, then sent a diagonal ball to Džeko near the arc of the penalty area.

The Bosnian centre-forward used his body to hold off Cannavaro, cleverly flicking the ball behind both himself and Cannavaro. He then turned to his left, breaking past Cannavaro’s defense and storming into Real Madrid’s penalty area.

Casillas rushed out, but Džeko was faster. After catching up to the ball, he fired a powerful shot with his left foot, piercing through Real Madrid’s goal.

Just three minutes!

Bayswater Chinese had scored first.

The aggregate score was now 5-1!

What could be more daunting for Real Madrid than a goal like that?

The Galácticos had considered many possibilities, and they probably knew their chances were slim.

However, they likely didn’t imagine that the game they had carefully prepared for would see their goal breached so quickly.

Especially when Yang Cheng saw Juande Ramos on the sideline in front of the away team’s bench shake his head in disappointment and walk back to his seat, he knew that Real Madrid had already lost!

Often, football matches are just that simple.

When you can’t find an effective way to stop your opponent’s attack, and you can’t find an effective way to break down their defense…

How can you win?

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage, continuing to relentlessly attack Real Madrid.

This was also Yang Cheng’s strategy.

End the game as quickly as possible!

Real Madrid was forced to retreat, defending with all their might against Bayswater Chinese’s waves of attacks.

The Galácticos didn’t even get their first shot of the match until the 16th minute.

It was from a Sneijder free kick cross, where Ramos’s header went wide.

After that, the match was completely dominated by the home team.

After the 20-minute mark, Yang Cheng signaled for the team to slow down the attack slightly and focus on possession-based play.

This would effectively conserve the players’ energy.

But it didn’t look as exciting on the pitch.

There was no choice. The back-to-back matches, especially the mid-week battle against Liverpool, had genuinely drained Bayswater Chinese.

But even so, Bayswater Chinese still applied immense pressure on Real Madrid.

For the entire first half, the home team was largely in control of the game.

This was a source of great frustration for Real Madrid.

After switching sides in the second half, they tried to launch a counter-attack.

In the 46th minute, Ramos made a quick forward run along the right flank. After receiving a pass from Lassana Diarra, he surged forward on the right and sent a cross to the front of the goal.

Both Raúl and Higuaín arrived at the same time, but their close-range shot was caught by the well-prepared Neuer, failing to result in a goal.

And just as Real Madrid was preparing to ramp up their attack and commit more players forward, Yaya Touré intercepted a pass in midfield and charged forward with the ball himself.

When the Ivorian started running with the ball, Fernando Gago and Lassana Diarra simply couldn’t stop him.

Real Madrid’s two central midfielders were in a completely different class from Yaya Touré in terms of both height and physique. Yaya Touré powered right through them; they couldn’t even slow him down.

After reaching the attacking third, Yaya Touré passed the ball to the left, to the feet of Di María.

The Argentine, facing Ramos, used a clever feint before suddenly going to the byline and sending in a half-high cross to the edge of the six-yard box.

Džeko and Yaya Touré both charged in to get on the end of it.

Džeko at the near post was impeded by Škrtel and failed to reach the ball, but Yaya Touré in the center got there ahead of Cannavaro and neatly tucked the ball into Real Madrid’s goal with a precise push shot.

2-0!

Wembley Stadium erupted with the fervent cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans.

A goal at the start of the first half!

Another goal at the start of the second!

Anyone could see that Bayswater Chinese was not going all out due to the fixture schedule and other factors.

But even so, they had no trouble dispatching Real Madrid.

And the moment Real Madrid showed a bit of initiative, they were hit with a sucker punch on the counter-attack by Bayswater Chinese.

Juande Ramos’s team was truly out of options.

What could they do when they were simply outclassed?

…

In the end, with goals from Džeko and Yaya Touré, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid 2-0 at home.

Winning both legs, they ultimately thrashed Real Madrid 6-1 on aggregate!

After the match, the British media were, of course, overjoyed.

Especially for Bayswater Chinese.

Although Bayern Munich’s 12-1 aggregate thrashing of Sporting Lisbon (5-0 away, 7-1 at home) had set a brilliant precedent, Yang Cheng’s 6-1 demolition of Real Madrid was also commendable.

The British media believed that Bayswater Chinese’s performance this season had all the hallmarks of a champion.

Especially with a commanding lead in the Premier League, they could fully focus on the Champions League and the FA Cup.

At the post-match press conference after the Real Madrid game, Yang Cheng for the first time admitted that the team was indeed aiming for the Treble.

“I know we are still a very young team, but I believe no one will question whether we have the ability, because we have already delivered performances that are good enough!”

Yang Cheng believed that repeatedly defeating strong opponents this season had instilled immense self-confidence in his young players.

“We all firmly believe that we have the ability to defeat any strong enemy!”

Both the British and European media generally supported Bayswater Chinese’s declaration.

At this point, wasn’t it natural to aim for the Treble?

But some media outlets also reminded Yang Cheng.

Last season, Yang Cheng had also declared he would win the Treble, but in the end, he almost came away with nothing.

He successively lost the league and the FA Cup, finally defeating Manchester United in the Champions League final.

“Yang Cheng and his team should learn from last season’s experience and not be overly optimistic!”

Furthermore, all four Premier League teams had made it into the Champions League quarter-finals this season.

And after the UEFA draw, as was often the case, two Premier League teams were drawn against each other.

Bayswater Chinese drew Chelsea!

This was clearly not an ideal draw.

Because Chelsea had changed their manager in early February, with the famous Dutch coach Guus Hiddink taking over from Scolari.

Since taking charge, Hiddink had managed six matches, with a record of five wins and one draw.

Apart from a 2-2 away draw against Juventus, Chelsea had only conceded one goal in the other five matches.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, these were not his main concerns.

Under Hiddink’s management, Chelsea’s defense was extremely, extremely solid.

How strong?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, they had almost eliminated Pep Guardiola’s Treble-winning Barça in the Champions League semi-finals!

If it weren’t for Iniesta’s goal in the final moments of stoppage time in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, which helped Barça draw 1-1 and secure a precious away goal…

Then there probably wouldn’t have been any “Dream Team Three” for Guardiola, let alone the so-called “Cosmic Team.”

And at Camp Nou, Hiddink’s team had held the rampant Barça and Messi to a 0-0 clean sheet.

From this, one could see just how tight Chelsea’s defense was.

As Yang Cheng had always said, he wasn’t afraid of teams that came out to attack.

But Hiddink’s Chelsea was precisely the opposite; they were known for defending with all their might, even parking the bus.

This was what Yang Cheng least wanted to face.

However, Yang Cheng quickly calmed himself.

Since we’ve drawn them, then let’s fight!

This is what makes clashes between top teams interesting.

To strive for the championship, one cannot fear any challenge.

Especially a challenge like Hiddink’s Chelsea, an opponent specifically designed to counter his own team’s style!

Moreover, through such high-stakes encounters, the team’s quality and actual level could be better tested, exposing more problems and shortcomings, which would be greatly beneficial for the team’s development.

What was truly a headache was that between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese also had to play the FA Cup semi-final, an away match against Manchester United.

When all the matches piled up together, the pressure would be mountainous!

…

March 14th, Premier League Round 29.

After the Champions League Round of 16, various teams returned to league action.

But at this time, Liverpool, free from the pressure of Champions League matches, showed their advantage.

The Reds thrashed Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford.

This match shattered everyone’s expectations.

No one had expected Ferguson’s team to suffer such a painful defeat at home.

And the happiest person was undoubtedly Yang Cheng.

He even felt the urge to pick Benítez up and kiss him.

So helpful!

Like receiving a pillow just as you’re getting sleepy!

With this defeat, Manchester United’s points gap widened, and the pressure on Bayswater Chinese lessened even more.

Meanwhile, Arsenal thrashed Blackburn Rovers 4-0 at home.

Wenger’s team had improved in all areas this season, and their performance was commendable.

In Bayswater Chinese’s away match against Bolton, it wasn’t until the 42nd minute of the first half that Robert Lewandowski scored for the team.

But just before the end, Kevin Davies equalized for Bolton.

In the 55th minute of the second half, Theo Walcott scored another goal, putting them back in the lead.

It wasn’t until the 88th minute of the second half that substitute Džeko scored again.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bolton 3-1 away from home.

In another key match of this round, Hiddink’s Chelsea won 1-0 at home against Manchester City, thanks to a goal from Essien.

As a result, after 29 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had 26 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 80 points to sit at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United followed with 68 points, the gap now extended to 12 points.

Further back were Arsenal with 62 points, Liverpool with 60, Manchester City with 59, and Chelsea with 58.

The battle for the top four in the Premier League had completely reached a fever pitch.

And a week later, in the 30th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese would host Manchester United.

Chapter 165: The Opening Decides the Match! Poach Barça’s Core, but We at Manchester United Refuse to Overpay!

Afternoon of March 21st, Wembley Stadium, London.

Premier League, round 30. Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United at home.

By the 28th minute of the match, the score was still 0-0.

An attack initiated by Bayswater Chinese down the left flank created a corner kick opportunity.

Rakitić stood in the corner arc, raised his right hand high to signal his teammates in the box, and then quickly whipped in a fast, low corner.

At the near post, Pepe evaded his marker, leaped high, and headed the ball. It flew directly towards the right side of the Manchester United goal, leaving the diving Edwin van der Sar completely helpless.

At that moment, nothing could stop this goal.

Scholes, standing on the edge of the penalty area, was also out of options.

And so, he made a rather exaggerated defensive movement as if startled, raising both arms.

Pepe’s header struck Scholes’s right forearm and bounced away.

At first glance, one might easily mistake it for another header clearing the ball.

But the head referee, Phil Dowd, blew his whistle without hesitation.

Players from both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United swarmed him.

The home team players were shouting that it was a handball. Maicon and others, who were right there, kept patting their right forearms.

The Manchester United players argued that it wasn’t an intentional handball, but that the ball had simply struck Scholes’s arm.

Then why was his arm raised?

It was purely a subconscious defensive action!

Phil Dowd didn’t accept this explanation. He called Scholes over and showed him a red card.

This indicated that he believed Scholes had intentionally handled the ball!

The moment the red card came out, the entire crowd of ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium erupted in cheers.

Scholes didn’t argue further. He scratched his head and walked off the pitch.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a penalty kick.

Yang Cheng turned his head to look at the visiting team’s dugout, where Ferguson remained seated, his expression unreadable.

But he probably didn’t have a strong reaction.

“After that 1-4 drubbing by Liverpool last round, he’s probably given up on the league,” Brian Kidd guessed.

Yang Cheng nodded slightly.

Trailing by twelve points, an experienced manager like Ferguson would certainly know that the chances of a comeback were slim.

Yang Cheng could even state it bluntly: the Premier League title for this season was already decided!

Under these circumstances, it was understandable that Manchester United would perform poorly again in the league, even seeming to lack fighting spirit.

Džeko, as the team’s top scorer, was tasked with taking the penalty.

The Bosnian centre-forward took a quick run-up and coolly converted, sending the ball into the Manchester United net.

1-0!

Wembley Stadium instantly became a sea of celebration.

A one-goal lead and a man advantage—the outcome of this match was pretty much set in stone.

Since Scholes was a midfielder, Ferguson didn’t make a substitution, instead pulling Rooney back into the midfield.

The match continued.

Manchester United played even more conservatively, while Bayswater Chinese’s dominance became more pronounced.

After continuously creating chances, Bayswater Chinese struck again in the 77th minute of the second half. Džeko drifted to the right, received a pass from Maicon, and sent a cross to the front of the goal. Theo Walcott made a quick forward run, getting ahead of Vidić to chest the ball down before hooking it into the net with a volley, extending the lead.

2-0!

This was also the final score of the match.

With goals from Džeko and Walcott, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 2-0!

“This season is like a repeat of the last!”

After the match, Yang Cheng was treating Ferguson to fine wine and food in a room at Wembley Stadium.

He had asked Wenger to bring the wine back from France. It wasn’t a famous label, but it was excellent.

Besides keeping some to entertain guests, he had also sent some to his so-called father and future father-in-law back in China, as well as his future older brother-in-law.

“Both our teams are gunning for the Treble, but now…”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng immediately raised a hand to cut Ferguson off.

“Sir, a correction. We are gunning for the Treble. You’re still gunning for it?”

After saying this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

Ferguson’s expression changed, but he nodded slowly. “That’s right. So, you tell me, do we still have a chance?”

“You do, but…”

“As long as we have a chance, that’s enough!” Ferguson didn’t let Yang Cheng continue.

“Even if there’s only a 1% possibility, it’s still a possibility. Besides, we’re just a little far behind at the moment.”

“And anyway, when I said the Treble, I didn’t necessarily include the league.”

Yang Cheng was truly at a loss for words.

Come on, old gaffer. Can we not get more shameless with age?

You just said this season was a repeat of the last, with both teams chasing the Treble…

Oh, so Manchester United’s Treble is the League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League.

Right, that is indeed a Treble!

But that’s not what you said back when you were taunting Liverpool.

Talk about double standards!

So, the definition of a Treble is whatever you say it is!

Even with Ferguson’s thick skin, he felt a bit embarrassed under Yang Cheng’s gaze.

On March 1st, Manchester United had defeated Tottenham in the League Cup final to win the trophy.

“This season is completely different from the last. Last season, you didn’t have much of a lead in the league; the points were very tight. But this season, we’re already ahead by fifteen points.”

Yang Cheng grinned widely.

Ferguson grew even more morose.

Why?

Because of those fifteen points, at least nine had been dropped by Manchester United recently.

This included the rescheduled match from round 3, the home loss to Liverpool last round, and today’s away loss to Bayswater Chinese.

The difference between a win and a loss was enormous.

“Honestly, Sir, if you don’t strengthen your squad, especially the midfield, you’ll have no chance next season either!”

Yang Cheng was now bluntly pointing out Ferguson’s problems.

He believed Ferguson himself was well aware of them.

Last round’s thrashing by Liverpool seemed to be Vidić’s fault, but what was the real issue?

It was still the midfield.

Just as Yang Cheng had said when Manchester United signed Vidić.

In the partnership of Vidić and Ferdinand, Vidić was the one who pressed forward, while Ferdinand played a holding role.

The Serbian centre-back’s purpose in pressing forward was to support the midfield.

Why support the midfield?

Because the midfield was weak!

Especially after Owen Hargreaves was out for the season, and with Fletcher’s inconsistency, Manchester United was often forced to use random combinations of Carrick, Anderson, and Scholes.

If it weren’t for Manchester United’s off-the-ball movement system and their defensive style of disrupting passing lanes, they would have been finished long ago.

But this season was a turning point.

Simply put, the 27-year-old Vidić and the 30-year-old Ferdinand could no longer contain the opposition.

The defensive work from their midfield and attack was too weak!

Against Liverpool, Vidić was criticized to no end!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Vidić also started playing deeper from the next season onward.

That is, he stopped pressing forward and opted for a holding role.

By not pressing, the chances of making mistakes decreased.

In the eyes of fans and the media, a centre-back who makes fewer mistakes is a good centre-back.

But as a result, Manchester United’s defense crumbled.

The 2009/10 season wasn’t so bad, but by 2010/11, Manchester United had conceded a staggering 37 goals.

In the season Ferguson retired, Manchester United won the title but conceded 43 goals.

In the Premier League, conceding more than 35 goals is considered a lot for a title-winning team.

So, why did Manchester United collapse after Ferguson’s retirement?

That’s not actually the case.

Manchester United had been crumbling for a while.

It was just that Ferguson, with his formidable personal ability and immense prestige, had been desperately holding the team together, slowing down the rate of their collapse.

And back then, the competition in the Premier League wasn’t as fierce as it is now.

The emergence of Bayswater Chinese further intensified the competition in the Premier League.

This season, for instance, the race for the top four had already turned into a dogfight.

Based on Yang Cheng’s observations, Manchester City would definitely spend big again in the summer. If Chelsea wanted to rebuild, they would also have to invest heavily.

And then there’s Arsenal; the Gunners would surely sign new players as well.

Under these circumstances, what hope did Manchester United have?

“If you’re willing to sell Modrić to us, I’ll swallow my pride and fight to get that transfer fee from the Americans!” Ferguson said, looking at Yang Cheng with a hopeful expression.

Yang Cheng snorted and pointed at the appetizers on the table. “We’ve only had three dishes, and look how drunk you are!”

“What do you mean?”

“In your dreams!” Yang Cheng rejected him flatly.

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “How about I sell you Yaya Touré?”

Ferguson immediately grew angry. “Do you take me for a fool? Manchester City and Real Madrid are already eyeing him. I’ve also heard Barça and Arsenal are interested. Do you think I can outbid them?”

“Heh heh, you can help drive up the price. You’re quite good at that, aren’t you?”

Ferguson was baffled.

Since when am I good at driving up prices?

Who are you slandering?

Are we, Manchester United, that kind of low-class outfit?

But Ferguson finally got the message.

Yaya Touré was for sale, but Modrić was not, ever!

It had to be said, Yang Cheng was incredibly shrewd.

Speaking of shrewdness, Ferguson immediately thought of Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

He promptly lowered his tone and said softly, “How about you give me some advice?”

“Me? Give advice?”

“Yes.” Ferguson nodded. “I won’t let you do it for free. I’ll send you two cases of fine wine I’ve treasured for years.”

Yang Cheng pondered for a moment, then held up five fingers on his right hand. “Five cases.”

I need to send some to my so-called father and future father-in-law, and I have to keep some for myself, right?

“And I want that same wine you served Wenger last time.”

Ferguson instantly felt a pang of regret.

That wine was incredibly expensive, and he didn’t have much of it in his cellar.

But when he thought about Yang Cheng’s consistently accurate judgment, he gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and agreed.

“Five cases it is. I’ll have someone deliver them tomorrow.”

With that, Ferguson sat up straight and looked at Yang Cheng earnestly, waiting for him to speak.

“You know, your Manchester United isn’t like our Bayswater Chinese. You’re extravagantly wealthy, while we’re a small operation. So, when you sign players, you definitely need ones who can make an immediate impact, right?”

The flattery worked wonders on Ferguson, who nodded repeatedly.

“If I were the Manchester United head coach…”

“Wait, if you’re the Manchester United head coach, what does that make me?” Ferguson asked anxiously.

“If, if…”

“Oh, right. Continue.”

You’re an old man about to retire, what’s the rush?

No wonder Queiroz didn’t listen to you and ran off.

Heaven knows how many more years you plan to hang around.

“Barça’s Number 4, Busquets. He’s facing a lot of criticism right now, and his position isn’t exactly secure.”

Without Yaya Touré, Busquets’s rise had been quicker.

But he also faced more controversy.

However, with Pep Guardiola’s firm backing, Busquets’s position was quite solid.

Yang Cheng was just offering suggestions. Whether Ferguson could actually buy him was beyond Yang Cheng’s control.

These days, even matchmakers don’t guarantee children!

“Second, Bayern’s Schweinsteiger. It’s a waste to have that kid playing on the wing. I think he could be converted into a holding midfielder, and the results would be excellent.”

“Third, AS Roma’s De Rossi. That kid is absolutely a world-class midfielder, no doubt about it. I rate him very highly.”

Ferguson almost couldn’t stop himself from swearing.

I bloody well rate him highly too!

Of the three, De Rossi was the most highly regarded.

The question was, could he be bought?

All three players were clearly unrealistic targets.

Even if they tried to buy them, how much would it cost?

“Are there any cheaper, more attainable options?” Ferguson asked patiently.

Yang Cheng immediately let out a “tsk” of disdain. “You want a good player, but you don’t want to spend much?”

Ferguson nodded, a bit embarrassed.

“Alright, Lyon’s Toulalan. You could consider him.”

“There’s also an easy one to buy. Our own Yaya Touré from Bayswater Chinese. As long as you offer enough money, you can take him away anytime.”

Ferguson was now very certain that Bayswater Chinese had failed to agree on a contract extension with Yaya Touré.

At the same time, he was also very certain that Yang Cheng had already lined up a new midfield signing.

Look at the players he recommended. Their quality was undeniable, but so were their price tags.

Even for the cheapest option, Toulalan, Ferguson reckoned that dealing with that vampire Aulas at Lyon would require at least twenty million euros.

“Don’t look at me like that. I swear, Toulalan is indeed on my list of midfield transfer targets,” Yang Cheng said with great conviction.

It was as if to say, I’ve truly bared my soul for you.

Yes, he was on the list.

It was just… the list was a bit long, and his ranking was a bit… low.

But everything I, Yang Cheng, have said is the absolute truth!

“If I were you, I’d go all-out for Busquets from Barça. It’s not like you haven’t poached from them before. What’s there to be afraid of!” Yang Cheng urged.

Ferguson was completely speechless.

Busquets, Schweinsteiger, and De Rossi all had some name recognition, but at this stage, none of them were considered top-tier holding midfielders yet.

Yang Cheng’s words further solidified Ferguson’s belief in the futures of these three players.

But as for buying them, Manchester United was willing but lacked the means.

“Hey, I’ve laid all my cards on the table for you. Remember to send me those five cases of wine,” Yang Cheng reminded him.

I’m planning to use them to curry favor with my future father-in-law.

When it came to transfers, Ferguson was known for being particularly patient and generous with local players, but more conservative with foreign signings.

Especially in recent years, with Manchester United deep in debt, their transfer budget was not large, which made Ferguson even more cautious and careful.

He had even repeatedly refused to enter the transfer market because of inflated player prices.

In the end, it was all the Glazers’ fault!

After seeing Ferguson off and concluding the 30th round of the Premier League, the league took a temporary break.

March 28th marked the start of the international break.

The international players all went to report for duty with their national teams.

The next Premier League round was on April 4th, followed by the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at home against Chelsea.

So, during the international break, Yang Cheng did nothing but bury himself in studying Chelsea.

He watched tapes of every single match Chelsea had played since Guus Hiddink took over.

Hiddink was a truly formidable manager.

As a famous coach who had once managed Real Madrid, his abilities had been proven at PSV Eindhoven and later with national teams like South Korea and Australia.

Now, managing Russia, he had shone brightly at the 2008 European Championship.

For this reason, after Chelsea decided to sack Scolari, Hiddink, who had a very good relationship with Roman Abramovich, came to Stamford Bridge as Chelsea’s interim head coach.

Since taking over, Hiddink’s tenure had been very successful.

So far, in eight matches, he had an unbeaten record of seven wins and one draw.

Apart from a 2-2 away draw against Juventus, Chelsea had conceded only one goal in the other seven matches.

This was characteristic of Hiddink’s coaching style.

Tireless running, a very rigorous defensive system, and sharp counter-attacks—all these had made Hiddink’s coaching record very impressive.

Of course, he had also faced his share of criticism.

For example, when managing Real Madrid, he was sacked midway through the season due to poor results.

Later, when he managed Real Betis, his results were even worse.

Many people believed the reason was that Hiddink’s tactics were incompatible with La Liga.

His greatest strength was the defensive counter-attack, a style that was not popular in La Liga in the late 1990s.

Yang Cheng felt that the match that best embodied Hiddink’s coaching philosophy was the 2006 World Cup Round of 16 knockout match between Australia and Italy.

In that game, Italy’s centre-back Marco Materazzi was sent off with a red card in the 50th minute of the second half.

And what happened?

Hiddink didn’t even dare to strengthen his attack. He stuck to defending with all his might, trying to drag Italy into extra time and wear them down on the pitch.

Unexpectedly, in stoppage time just before the end of the match, the great Italian left-back created a penalty, and Totti sealed the deal!

And in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Hiddink took charge of Chelsea, he did indeed make Chelsea fans forget about Mourinho.

But against Pep Guardiola’s Dream Team Three, Chelsea still defended with all their might.

Many people only focused on the controversial refereeing in the second leg at Stamford Bridge but failed to notice that in the first leg at Camp Nou, Chelsea had also benefited from several refereeing decisions.

If one were to scrutinize it closely, the second leg should never have been a contest.

Barça would have ended the tie in the first leg!

But regardless, Hiddink’s Chelsea was very successful.

They even came close to扼杀ing Pep Guardiola’s Dream Team Three.

And they relied on their impenetrable fortress of a defense.

So Yang Cheng had to study carefully how to deal with Hiddink’s defense.

He not only watched tapes of Chelsea’s matches himself but also assigned the task to his coaching staff, especially Gianni Vio’s data analysis team, asking them all to study this Chelsea side under Hiddink.

The overall strategy was very clear.

The first leg was at Wembley Stadium, so Bayswater Chinese had to do everything possible to score first!

Scoring first meant seizing the initiative!

Taking advantage of the international break, Bayswater Chinese’s coaching staff and employees continued to operate like a well-oiled machine, each performing their duties in an orderly manner.

On the evening of March 28th, Yang Cheng received a message.

In the World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Sweden in Porto, Portugal, José Bosingwa went off injured.

“According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, we can be certain he’ll be out for at least three weeks.”

Chief scout Gary Worthington reported the news his scouts had gathered.

After hearing this, Brian Kidd immediately walked over to the large blackboard in the meeting room and drew a big question mark over the line connecting Bosingwa to Drogba.

Since the Portuguese defender joined Chelsea, his crosses from the right to find Drogba had become a very important attacking route for Chelsea. If Bosingwa was injured, neither Ferreira nor Ivanović could replicate that.

Their crossing was a clear step down from Bosingwa’s.

“He’ll probably start Ivanović,” Yang Cheng said with considerable certainty.

If he were Hiddink, he would also start Ivanović.

The priority would be to ensure defensive stability.

Ferreira hadn’t defended well in several clashes between top teams.

Hearing this, Brian Kidd immediately erased Bosingwa from the right-back position in Chelsea’s starting lineup on the blackboard and replaced him with Ivanović.

With this change, Chelsea’s backline would be Ashley Cole, Alex, Terry, and Ivanović.

The problem now was the midfield.

And the midfield was linked to the attack.

In the past few matches, Hiddink had used two tactical setups: 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1.

Lampard was an undisputed starter, while Essien, Mikel, and Michael Ballack were frequently rotated.

But Yang Cheng also mentioned another possibility: playing Essien as a right winger to neutralize the opponent’s left-back.

When did Hiddink use this tactic?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was in the semi-final first leg away at Camp Nou.

In that match, Hiddink employed a 4-2-3-1 formation.

He used Lampard in the number ten role to mark Barça’s holding midfielder, Yaya Touré, while Mikel and Michael Ballack formed a double pivot to intercept Iniesta and Xavi.

At the same time, he used the right-footed Bosingwa on the left flank to help the defense lock down Messi.

Hiddink’s specific defensive plan was very successful.

Although there were some favorable refereeing decisions, it was tactically effective.

Barça truly had no answer.

Yang Cheng himself had thought about this problem.

Bayswater Chinese was different from Barça.

Whether in Yang Cheng’s previous life or now, Barça lacked a true centre-forward.

Neither Eto’o nor Henry could link up the front three, which was why Pep Guardiola had to play Messi in the center and push Eto’o out wide.

But Bayswater Chinese had a powerful tall center-forward like Džeko, and their two wings were also very sharp.

Their midfield passing and possession were not as good as Barça’s, but they were just as capable of creating chances through pass-and-move combinations.

Therefore, Yang Cheng couldn’t guess what kind of specific tactics Hiddink would adopt.

But not being able to guess the opponent’s moves was normal.

The key was, how should Bayswater Chinese play?

“Over the past week or so, our data analysis team has been repeatedly running tactical simulations and models.”

Gianni Vio presented the interim results from their data analysis team.

“We’ve studied all of Chelsea’s defensive data and performances this season, especially since Hiddink took over. We firmly believe that to break through Chelsea’s defense in positional play, we still need to stretch them wide.”

“So, we can only attack down the flanks!”

“We need to use the two wings to stretch their defensive line as wide as possible, then try to get the ball back into the center to leverage the advantages of our tall center-forward, our two wingers, and the overlapping runs from our midfielders to create layers in our attack.”

Gianni Vio also mentioned, “Therefore, our recommendation is to commit numbers!”

Yang Cheng immediately understood what the Italian meant. “Have the full-backs press forward!”

“Exactly. Let the full-backs be responsible for creating width, forcing Chelsea to spread their defensive line. In the center, players like Džeko, Gareth Bale, Walcott, or Di María can make repeated runs through the channels.”

“Gareth Bale and Džeko both have a certain ability to hold up the ball in the final third.”

“Also, our midfield of Rakitić, Modrić, and Yaya Touré can form a second wave of attack with their aggressive overlapping runs.”

“So, over the past week, our data analysis team has designed over fifty opening attacking routines specifically targeting Chelsea’s players and defensive setup.”

“That many?” Yang Cheng was a bit surprised.

“This is just the preliminary stage; they’re still very rough and haven’t been practiced specifically. After filtering them, we’ll probably have a dozen or so that are usable, designed for different scenarios to allow the players to adapt on the fly.”

“Let’s hear them.”

With that, Gianni Vio and his data analysis team presented their attacking routines one by one.

Each routine came with a very detailed description, including which player’s weakness it targeted, a specific on-field possibility it addressed, and which strengths of their own players the tactic would leverage.

Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others listened with intense focus.

They were far more familiar with their own players than Gianni Vio and his team.

They also had a deeper understanding of Chelsea’s players.

So, they could immediately see that many of the tactics were not very feasible.

But many of them were highly viable.

For example, when it came to long balls aimed at Džeko for an aerial duel.

The data team provided the probability of success for Džeko in aerial duels against Terry versus Alex.

If he won the header, what was the next step, how should they combine?

If he lost the duel, where would the ball likely land, and how could they control the second ball to launch a second wave of attack?

Football is ever-changing and full of uncertainties. Sometimes, simulations and models just can’t predict everything.

The only thing Yang Cheng and the coaching staff could do now was to prepare as thoroughly as possible to help the team break through the opponent’s goal on the pitch.

In the end, after careful selection, they came up with 23 attacking routines.

And these had all been meticulously polished and perfected by the coaching staff over two full days.

There were also Gianni Vio’s specialty: set-piece and corner-kick attacks.

All these preparations were made thoroughly.

Once the players returned from international duty, they would have a short rest before immediately diving into specific training.

And in the 31st round of the Premier League, before the first leg against Chelsea, Yang Cheng’s team was scheduled to host Benítez’s Liverpool.

With a wave of his hand, Yang Cheng decided to use Liverpool as a test!

This was also very necessary.

After all, training can never fully replicate a real match.

But Yang Cheng wouldn’t be foolish enough to send out all his starters to go all-out against Liverpool.

On the contrary, Yang Cheng needed to save strength for the Champions League, so he only arranged for Di María, Džeko, and Modrić to start.

And it was agreed that they would be substituted around the 60-minute mark in the second half.

Evening of April 4th, Wembley Stadium, London.

Premier League, round 31. Bayswater Chinese versus Liverpool at home.

With the midweek clash against Chelsea looming, Yang Cheng made significant rotations for this match.

Everyone understood this decision.

With such a large lead in the league, it was natural to concentrate on the cup competitions.

From the kick-off, in Bayswater Chinese’s first attack, Di María received the ball on the left, took on Álvaro Arbeloa, and immediately shook off the Spanish right-back. After breaking into the left side of the penalty area, he delivered a cross.

Džeko got into position and outjumped Carragher to head the ball at goal.

Reina reacted with lightning speed, tipping the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

The subsequent corner kick also resulted in a shot, but it didn’t create a real threat.

Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz had Liverpool pinned back.

The Reds still employed a 4-2-3-1 formation, and their midfield iron triangle was all on the pitch, clearly taking this match very seriously.

Standing on the sidelines, watching the early onslaught, Yang Cheng’s biggest thought was: I miss Teacher Toni so much!

When Bayswater Chinese faced a team that defended deep, they relied more on short and medium-range passes to switch the play horizontally and stretch the opponent’s defensive line.

When the opponent’s defense was stretched, they would inevitably make mistakes while shifting horizontally.

This created attacking opportunities!

A long pass from Teacher Toni was equivalent to what others needed two or three passes to achieve; he could do it with a single kick.

This was why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Teacher Toni always liked to position himself on the left when playing for Real Madrid.

It maximized the effectiveness of his long passes.

But right now, Bayswater Chinese’s ability to switch play horizontally was still a bit weak.

On the other hand, their vertical long balls were quite effective.

In the 10th minute, after a midfield play was thwarted, Bayswater Chinese passed the ball back to Thiago Silva in the defensive line.

The Brazilian centre-back launched a direct long ball towards the attack.

Džeko dropped back, with his back to the goal, using his body to shield the ball from Carragher. He chested the ball down and then controlled it with his foot.

The ball stuck to Džeko’s feet.

Just as he controlled it, Džeko suddenly executed a backheel, flicking the ball behind him with the deftness of a dragon’s tail.

Almost simultaneously, Di María made a diagonal run from in front of Arbeloa to get behind Carragher, latching onto Džeko’s backheel pass. He quickly carried the ball into the penalty area for a one-on-one.

Facing the onrushing Reina, Di María calmly curled the ball with his left foot into the Liverpool goal.

1-0!

Seeing the goal, Yang Cheng applauded happily for Di María.

“Angel’s been in good form recently. We’ll use him on the left, and Gareth Bale on the right,” Yang Cheng instructed Brian Kidd.

Since the start of the match, the attack on Di María’s side had indeed been much more active.

Hazard, on the right, had been somewhat quiet.

This was understandable.

The Belgian had knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup, so Benítez had him heavily marked in this match.

Against Chelsea, the key was to break down a packed defense.

Gareth Bale had the advantage in physicality and strength, making him more useful than Walcott.

The Little Tiger and Hazard would be Yang Cheng’s trump cards, ready to be brought on to make an impact when needed.

For this match, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had defined its purpose as testing formations and practicing tactics.

The main focus was on the opening periods of both halves.

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese appropriately slowed down their attack, and the game became a more even contest with Liverpool.

The Reds even hit the left post with a shot from Torres during one of their attacks.

However, Rakitić later hit the crossbar with an overlapping run of his own.

After halftime, Bayswater Chinese launched another opening blitz.

This time, Liverpool was prepared and had a well-executed, targeted defensive plan.

Overall, Yang Cheng still believed that Hiddink would adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation.

This was very similar to Liverpool’s tactics.

So, in a way, Yang Cheng was actually hoping his team would expose more problems in this match against Benítez.

That way, when they faced Chelsea next Wednesday, Yang Cheng and his players would be more confident.

From the 60th minute, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions.

Liverpool gradually increased their attacking intensity.

But Benítez still didn’t dare to be careless.

His substitutions were mostly tactical adjustments, and he didn’t risk committing more players to the attack.

The FA Cup exit still left a bitter taste in Benítez’s mouth.

But in stoppage time, a substitute passed the ball to Gerrard.

In the ensuing scramble, Gerrard sent a through ball intended for Torres, but it was blocked by Kompany.

However, the Belgian’s clearance didn’t go far. Gerrard won the ball back on the counter-press, broke into the box, and scored from the right of the penalty spot, successfully equalizing.

By then, the match was already in the 92nd minute.

In the end, thanks to Gerrard’s last-minute goal in stoppage time, Liverpool managed a 1-1 away draw against Bayswater Chinese.

In the same round of league fixtures, Arsenal defeated Manchester City 2-0 at home.

Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-0 away.

And Manchester United, with a brace from C. Ronaldo and a 93rd-minute last-minute winner from Macheda, defeated Aston Villa 3-2 at home.

After returning to London from their away match against Newcastle, the first thing Guus Hiddink did was have his assistant, Roy Wilkins, gather the coaching staff to watch the Bayswater Chinese versus Liverpool match.

Everyone’s first reaction was that Yang Cheng was holding back.

“A fifteen-point lead really lets you do whatever you want!” Wilkins said with a hint of envy.

Hiddink remained noncommittal.

In contrast, Chelsea still had to fight for a top-four finish in the league.

Therefore, when Hiddink visited St. James’ Park, he fielded almost his full starting lineup.

There weren’t many highlights from the match, but besides securing three points, Hiddink used it to assess Mikel.

Few outsiders knew that Mikel had not met Hiddink’s standards in the previous few games.

As a result, he had been benched for the last two matches.

Hiddink would rather play Essien as a lone holding midfielder than give Mikel a single minute on the pitch.

In the match against Newcastle, with Drogba and Bosingwa both absent, Hiddink brought Mikel back and freed up Lampard.

In the end, Lampard, with a goal and an assist, was named man of the match.

But the best performer on the pitch was actually Mikel.

With him on the field, Lampard’s defensive duties were effectively reduced, and he also helped organize the midfield.

Based on this match, his impact was even greater than Ballack’s.

Therefore, Wilkins suggested that their three-man midfield should be Lampard, Mikel, and Essien.

“Do you think, with this midfield, our right flank can hold up defensively?”

“Considering Anelka isn’t particularly diligent in tracking back,” Hiddink reminded them.

If Anelka tracked back diligently, why play him?

The purpose of using Anelka or Kalou was for counter-attacking and offense.

Wilkins and the others hesitated.

From the match footage, both Di María and Walcott, who came on as a substitute, had caused a lot of trouble for Liverpool down the left flank.

Bayswater Chinese’s only goal was scored by Di María.

Arbeloa was a well-known defensive stalwart in the Premier League, and even he couldn’t stop Di María. Could Ivanović?

That was a problem!

“But if we play Essien on that side, the right flank will be defensively solid, but our attack on that side will be completely neutralized!”

Wilkins reminded Hiddink.

Outsiders had no idea that Chelsea had practiced this formation.

This involved a problem with the 4-3-3 formation.

The distance between the winger and the full-back was too great.

Much greater than in other formations.

So, to some extent, teams without strong individual players simply couldn’t make a 4-3-3 work.

In a 4-3-3, the full-back often has to face the opposing winger alone.

Hiddink had anticipated this, which was why he had practiced in-house with Essien on the right wing, with the aim of reducing the defensive pressure on the full-back.

If it were Bosingwa, the idea was to let the Portuguese attack with fewer defensive worries.

If it were Ivanović, it was to further protect the defensive line.

Hiddink, however, had his own considerations.

“From the perspective of a two-legged tie, what do you think is more important for us in the first leg away at Wembley: scoring, or defending?”

Faced with Hiddink’s question, Wilkins and the others were unsure how to answer.

The most interesting and challenging aspect of the Champions League knockout stage is the away goal rule.

The away team in the first leg, in particular, likes to snatch a goal.

One precious away goal is worth two home goals.

But now, they were facing Bayswater Chinese, a team renowned for its attacking prowess.

Was an away goal important?

Of course, it was; Chelsea definitely wanted one.

But wasn’t defending more important?

“If you ask me, our priority in the first leg away from home is defense. Only by holding off Bayswater Chinese’s attack can our counter-attacks pose a threat. We’ll still have chances to get an away goal.”

“And even if we don’t get an away goal, as long as we keep a clean sheet, a 0-0 result is still favorable for us!”

The second leg would be at Stamford Bridge.

Roy Wilkins looked around at the other members of the coaching staff, and they all nodded in agreement.

There was no absolute right or wrong here.

It purely depended on the head coach’s choice.

Just like now, everyone knew that Yang Cheng would definitely launch an opening blitz at home!

Look at their match against Liverpool; they attacked relentlessly at the start of both halves, clearly practicing for this.

By the same token, wasn’t Chelsea’s match against Newcastle also a drill?

Mikel was back in the starting lineup.

This was a clear signal.

Hiddink was assessing Mikel’s form.

And by now, Yang Cheng was probably very sure that Mikel would start.

Because his form was indeed very good.

In the world of professional football, there aren’t many surprise players or tactics that come out of nowhere.

If you try to spring a surprise with a drastic on-the-fly adjustment, you’re more likely to cripple your own team before you take down the opponent.

“My plan is to start Essien on the right. In the middle, it will still be Lampard, Ballack, and Mikel, in a standard triangle formation, with Lampard marking Yaya Touré.”

“Mikel and Ballack will be responsible for protecting the defense and suppressing Modrić and the other central midfielder.”

So far, Chelsea’s staff couldn’t be sure whether Yang Cheng’s other central midfielder would be Rakitić or Matuidi.

Both players were possibilities.

The former was a box-to-box player, good at passing, with an excellent work rate; Matuidi was skilled in defense, covered a huge amount of ground, and was adept at linking play and short passing.

In a sense, it didn’t really matter who was chosen.

However, Yang Cheng often used Matuidi in the Champions League.

This was also a sign of him playing it safe.

“Set aside a training session for us to properly drill our specific tactics, especially having Essien mark their left flank.”

“We’ll sacrifice our attack on the right, but concentrate all our forces on the left, with a focus on defensive counter-attacks!”

Wilkins nodded, understanding Hiddink’s intentions.

This head coach was really quite similar to Mourinho.

At crucial moments, he prioritized stabilizing his own side before slowly plotting for a goal.

This approach suited Chelsea very well and aligned with the players’ habits.

That’s why the Blues were able to accept Hiddink so quickly, and why many fans even said that with Hiddink, they had forgotten Mourinho. There was some truth to it.

At the very least, their tactical philosophies were very similar.

“Also, we need to pay special attention to their opening blitz!”

As he said this, Hiddink’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

He had also been watching tapes of Bayswater Chinese’s recent matches, and combined with this game against Liverpool, he found that Yang Cheng was very good at, and very fond of, launching an opening blitz.

Any team that wants to play on the counter-attack must be built on one foundation: being able to defend!

If you concede a goal during the opening onslaught, how can you play a defensive counter-attack?

You might as well just surrender.

“Have the video team clip together all the footage of Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitzes from their recent matches.”

“Arrange some time for the players to study it carefully.”

“This must be taken very seriously. We absolutely cannot concede an early goal!”

Hiddink’s tone was extremely resolute by the end.

He had a very strong premonition.

The battle at Wembley would be won or lost in the opening moments!

Chapter 166: A Complete Mismatch! Overtaking on a Corner! A Despairing Ashley Cole

On the evening of April 8th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese faced Chelsea at home.

Before the match, in the dressing room.

Yang Cheng got his hands on Chelsea’s starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defence: Ashley Cole, Alex, Terry, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Lampard, Mikel, Michael Ballack, and Essien;

Forwards: Malouda and Drogba.

Upon seeing this starting list, everyone, including Brian Kidd, looked at Yang Cheng in astonishment.

He had actually guessed it!

Before the match, Yang Cheng had been convinced that Guus Hiddink would adopt a more cautious, defensive stance.

Especially for the first leg.

Now, Hiddink had gone so far as to deploy four defensive midfielders.

Yang Cheng was almost certain that Essien would play on the right wing to support Ivanović.

Everyone else, including the players about to take the field, was buoyed by Yang Cheng’s foresight.

To be able to predict even the surprise player in the opposition’s starting lineup was simply incredible!

This made them all the more confident.

After Brian Kidd had written Chelsea’s starting lineup on the tactics board, Yang Cheng walked over to face the players.

“This is Chelsea’s starting eleven.”

“If I’m not mistaken, Essien will play on the right.”

“Hiddink’s intention is to have Essien support Ivanović and shut down our left-sided attack.”

As Yang Cheng had always said, the 4-3-3 formation was inherently attack-minded, and the distance between the wingers and full-backs was much greater than in conventional formations.

Typically, the full-backs would press forward to manage that distance appropriately.

That’s why the 4-3-3 formation usually employed attacking full-backs.

Like Ashley Cole, for instance.

Ivanović was more of a defensive player. He had some pace, but not enough to be a significant advantage.

If he were to push forward, the space behind him would become a liability, especially against speedy wingers like Ángel Di María and Gareth Bale. He would be at a severe disadvantage.

Yang Cheng guessed this was precisely why Hiddink wanted to use Essien on that flank.

“Chelsea has basically given up on attacking down their right flank, so they’ll focus their counter-attacks on their left.”

“Drogba and Malouda.”

Yang Cheng emphatically circled these two players on the tactics board to draw his players’ attention.

At the same time, he was reminding his own team to focus their attacks on Chelsea’s left side.

Since Hiddink had fielded Essien and abandoned his right-wing attack, Bayswater Chinese could, in theory, suppress Chelsea’s entire offense simply by pinning down their left flank.

“Gareth, Edin, your job is to be active on that side. Pin Ashley Cole down for me!”

Both players voiced their agreement.

“Everyone!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully, not only grabbing everyone’s attention but also prompting them to rise to their feet.

The players gathered around, forming a tight circle with Yang Cheng at its centre.

Even Brian Kidd and the other coaching staff, along with all the personnel, drew closer.

This had become a pre-match and pre-half ritual for Bayswater Chinese.

In Yang Cheng’s words, a sense of ceremony was absolutely necessary!

“I’ve said it before!” Yang Cheng raised the index finger of his right hand. “Everything we lost last season, we’re winning back this season!”

“I’m proud of you all, because we’ve built a massive lead in the league.”

“This allows us to devote more energy to our two other fronts: the FA Cup and the Champions League.”

“Without a doubt, this season is a fantastic opportunity for us, because we have enough energy and resources to compete on three fronts simultaneously!”

With a commanding lead in the league, Bayswater Chinese could afford to invest more in the cup competitions.

“Therefore, we will not give up on a single match. From here on out, every game, whether it’s the league or a cup tie, we give it our all!”

“I want to say, at this point, I’m no longer satisfied with just winning back the league and FA Cup we lost last season. I want us to push further, to keep challenging for the Champions League!”

“I know it’s difficult!”

“But it’s precisely because it’s difficult, precisely because no team has ever defended the title since the Champions League was rebranded, that we must rise to the challenge, conquer it, and do something no one has ever done before!”

“This is who we are! This is Bayswater Chinese!”

The players’ emotions were instantly ignited.

One by one, they all nodded in unison, their expressions turning fervent.

“Chelsea is a major obstacle on our path, but I believe in you. You have more than enough strength to conquer them.”

“And then, we march on and claim our tickets to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome!”

“Let’s go, warriors of Bayswater Chinese!”

Yang Cheng stretched out his hands with force.

All the players, employees, and staff reached out, placing their hands on Yang Cheng’s hands, shoulders, or back, or on their colleagues nearby, and responded in one voice.

“Let’s go, Bayswater Chinese!”

…

“To all our viewers at home, welcome to Wembley Stadium in London!”

“As our broadcast cameras show, the entire Wembley Stadium is packed to the rafters.”

“A full ninety thousand fans have gathered in this, England’s largest and most luxurious dream stadium, built at a cost of nearly eight hundred million pound sterling!”

“Coming up next is the first leg of the 2008-2009 season’s Champions League quarter-final knockout stage, with Bayswater Chinese hosting Chelsea!”

“We can now see the players of both teams, led by Danish head referee Claus Bo Larsen, making their way onto the pitch.”

“It’s Bayswater Chinese’s home game today.”

“And so, the stadium is resounding with the very passionate team anthem of Bayswater Chinese.”

“Next, let’s take a look at the starting lineups for both teams.”

“Bayswater Chinese are once again employing their favoured 4-3-3 formation tonight.”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the centre;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Džeko, and Gareth Bale.

“In previous Champions League matches, Yang Cheng would usually start Matuidi.”

“But tonight, his starting midfielder is Rakitić.”

“This clearly signals Bayswater Chinese’s tactics for the evening, which will likely lean more towards controlling the midfield.”

“Chelsea, on the other hand, has fielded a full four midfielders, indicating that Hiddink’s strategy tonight, as widely anticipated, will be to defend and counter-attack.”

“Now, the most important task for Bayswater Chinese is whether they can break down Chelsea’s defensive formation.”

“A wave of thunderous applause just erupted in the stadium.”

“We see Bayswater Chinese’s head coach, Yang Cheng, emerging from the player’s tunnel.”

“This 29-year-old Chinese head coach has, over the past few years, guided Bayswater Chinese from a lower-league team all the way to where they are today.”

“The current Bayswater Chinese are now a renowned powerhouse in European football.”

“Therefore, Yang Cheng is deeply loved and supported by his team’s fans.”

…

After exiting the player’s tunnel, Yang Cheng walked directly to the away team’s technical area and shook hands with Guus Hiddink.

The age gap between the two was considerable, and they were not familiar with each other, so their exchange was brief.

After the handshake, Yang Cheng turned and walked back to the home team’s technical area.

On the pitch, the two captains, Modrić and Terry, were at the coin toss.

As it turned out, Modrić lost the kick-off.

“I’ve discovered our captain isn’t very lucky. He never seems to win the kick-off,” Yang Cheng said, shaking his head in resignation.

Brian Kidd and the others chuckled.

You know, it really did seem to be the case.

From what Yang Cheng understood, whenever Modrić did the coin toss, he always let the opponent call it, and he lost more often than he won.

Sometimes, it really was a matter of personality!

Of course, the kick-off didn’t really matter. A loss was a loss.

While waiting for the start, Yang Cheng noticed that Lampard and Drogba were the ones standing in the centre circle for Chelsea.

Malouda was positioned on the left wing, while Essien was on the right.

“They’re looking to hit us with a blitz right from the start,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

This was a common tactic for many teams facing Bayswater Chinese.

With a blow of head referee Larsen’s whistle, Lampard passed the ball to Drogba. Malouda, instead of sprinting down the left touchline, made a quick diagonal run into the left channel.

But Gareth Bale tracked back defensively, Maicon immediately pressed forward, and Modrić shifted over to cover the flank.

When Drogba played the ball to Malouda, the French winger’s first touch was a bit heavy, allowing Gareth Bale to poke the ball away from behind him.

Possession changed hands!

A cheer erupted from the home fans.

After losing the ball, Chelsea didn’t immediately retreat but actively engaged in a counter-press in the attacking third.

This was to be expected.

No team charges forward only to retreat without firing a single shot.

Thus, the two teams engaged in a fierce battle in Bayswater Chinese’s half.

The home team tried to evade Chelsea’s press with slick, one-touch passing.

The Blues, meanwhile, committed six players to the counter-press in their attacking and middle thirds.

They came close to winning the ball back several times.

The most dangerous moment came on a back-pass to the keeper. Neuer couldn’t use his hands and had to control it with his feet first, nearly getting caught by Malouda.

Only a minute had passed, but both teams were already in top gear.

The tempo of the match was at its maximum from the get-go.

At one minute and nine seconds, Pepe launched a long ball from the back, aiming for Gareth Bale on the right wing.

The Welshman, near the halfway line in Chelsea’s half on the left side, went up for an aerial duel.

Though unchallenged by Ashley Cole, he couldn’t control the ball, and it went out for a throw-in.

It was Chelsea’s throw-in.

But after The Blues threw the ball in, they quickly passed it back towards Čech.

Inside the box, Čech, anticipating Gareth Bale’s run, cleared the ball upfield with a powerful kick.

The ball once again landed at the feet of a Bayswater Chinese player.

The entire stadium echoed with the cheers of the home fans.

After the cheers came their songs.

It had been three full years since they started leasing Wembley Stadium in 2006.

Over the past three years, Bayswater Chinese had implemented numerous strategies to cultivate a strong home atmosphere.

Now, while the atmosphere at Wembley might not rival that of Anfield or the intimidating home grounds of teams like Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, or Barça, it was still quite impressive.

Furthermore, after three years of painstaking effort, every home game for Bayswater Chinese now drew at least eighty thousand spectators. For clashes between top teams or Champions League matches, it was a full house every time.

Amidst the singing of ninety thousand fans, Bayswater Chinese began to build another attack from the back.

They once again targeted the right flank.

Which was Chelsea’s left.

Maicon, as the originator of the attack, positioned himself further forward.

After receiving the ball, the Brazilian passed to Modrić, who then played it to Yaya Touré, then to Pepe, and back to Maicon.

Gareth Bale, Modrić, Pepe, and again, the ball came back to Maicon.

Bayswater Chinese players interchanged positions on the right, all playing one-touch passes.

Chelsea could barely get a touch on the ball.

Then, at two minutes and thirty-four seconds, when Maicon received the ball on the right near the halfway line, instead of going forward, he made a diagonal run with the ball.

Upon reaching the half-space, he suddenly delivered a through ball.

Gareth Bale got to it before Ashley Cole, turning to face the right wing. He controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot, guiding it towards his right, making it impossible for Ashley to make a tackle.

The Welshman spun around, now facing the direction of attack.

Džeko also appeared in the right channel.

The Bosnian centre-forward had initially intended to drop back to receive the ball from Maicon, but upon seeing Gareth Bale in possession, he immediately turned and sprinted forward.

Ashley Cole held his position, marking Gareth Bale.

Without hesitation, Džeko pointed to his right-front, accelerating into the space behind Ashley Cole.

Gareth Bale, understanding immediately, sent a through ball into that space.

The ball arrived at the right side of Chelsea’s penalty area.

Alex tracked Džeko all the way, and Terry rushed out to cut him off.

Džeko controlled the ball a step ahead of them. After a feint as if to go to the byline, he used the outside of his right foot to knock the ball in the opposite direction, turning his body with the motion.

Terry stuck to Džeko like glue, and Ashley Cole had already recovered his position. The two formed a double team, keeping Džeko outside the penalty area.

Gareth Bale, meanwhile, made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box.

Alex immediately backed up to mark Gareth Bale.

Mikel also tracked Modrić, retreating into the penalty area.

Ballack, meanwhile, blocked the space outside the box.

At this moment, both Di María and Ivanović were in the centre of the penalty area.

The Serbian defender positioned himself in front of Di María, cutting off the Argentine’s connection with his teammates on the right.

On the right side of the area, as Džeko turned to face forward, his options multiplied.

Especially when he saw Maicon making a high-speed diagonal run from the right corner of the box. Džeko feinted as if he was going to cut inside to link up with Maicon.

Ashley Cole immediately stuck with Maicon, while Terry continued to press Džeko relentlessly.

That route was blocked!

Džeko suddenly changed direction, knocking the ball towards the byline with his left foot. He spun and chased after it, and just before Terry could close him down, he chipped it gently with his right foot.

The ball sailed over the heads of Terry and Alex.

At the right corner of the six-yard box, Gareth Bale took a step back, leaped into the air, and headed the ball towards the far corner.

Čech was extremely focused, and since Bale’s header wasn’t aimed with pinpoint precision, he managed to tip the ball away with one hand.

Only then did the Wembley crowd, who had been holding their breath, let out a collective sigh of disappointment.

This was immediately followed by a round of thunderous applause.

“It’s two minutes and forty-six seconds, and Bayswater Chinese have taken the first shot of the match.”

“A header from Gareth Bale!”

“Čech makes a solid save to tip it away, and now Bayswater Chinese have a corner kick.”

“We see Gianni Vio appearing on the touchline once again.”

“The Bayswater Chinese fans are cheering for Gianni Vio.”

“Let’s see this corner kick.”

“Rakitić delivers it… it falls to the middle… Pepe!”

“He has a chance!”

“A header!”

“Čech tips it over the crossbar again!”

“Another corner.”

“The atmosphere here is incredibly tense.”

“This West London derby has turned into a bloody, close-quarters battle right from the first minute.”

“This time it’s Modrić to take it.”

“Let’s see where this one lands.”

“He doesn’t cross it into the box, it’s a short corner.”

“Played to Di María, who passes it back.”

“Modrić is onside… he crosses it back into the penalty area.”

“Pepe with the flick-on… Yaya Touré with a header at the back post!”

“Čech saves the day!”

“The Czech god of goalkeeping pushes the ball past the byline!”

“Yaya Touré’s header was extremely dangerous, deliberately aimed at the bottom right corner.”

“All you can say is, unfortunately for him, he’s up against the Czech goalkeeping god Peter Čech tonight!”

“Another corner for Bayswater Chinese!”

“This is already their third corner since the start of the match.”

“The game has now reached a fever pitch.”

“It’s clear that both sides have made specific arrangements for their opponents, and both are placing extreme importance on the opening stages.”

“Bayswater Chinese want to score first, while Chelsea are defending with all their might.”

“Let’s see this one, Rakitić to take it again.”

“He finds the near post… Džeko with the header… just a little too high!”

“This wave of continuous attacks from Bayswater Chinese has been ferocious and very threatening.”

“The applause from the crowd is immense.”

“The fans have been on the edge of their seats since the very beginning.”

“It’s so tense, so exciting!”

…

Chelsea took the goal kick.

Čech launched the ball straight downfield.

Drogba won the initial header.

But the home team controlled the second ball.

The ball was once again at the feet of Bayswater Chinese.

The team quickly launched an attack.

Yaya Touré hit a diagonal pass into the open space on the left flank.

This was part of the team’s offensive strategy.

Since the start of the match, they had been attacking the right side, which Chelsea was prepared for.

This time, they switched it to the open left flank.

As Di María received the ball, he prepared to accelerate and shake off Ivanović.

However, the Serbian defender made a decisive challenge. He missed the ball but caught Di María’s foot, bringing the Argentine down.

Foul.

A free kick on the left side of the attacking third.

But the position was too far out and at too wide an angle.

Chelsea didn’t even bother setting up a wall.

Gareth Bale shook his head at Leighton Baines, indicating he wouldn’t be taking it.

Leighton Baines ran up and, before anyone could react, kicked the ball towards the centre.

Just as Yaya Touré controlled it, Lampard rushed towards him.

But the Ivorian midfielder played a sideways pass, switching the ball to the unguarded right flank.

The strength of Chelsea’s defensive organisation lay in their rapid movement and reactions.

By the time the ball was at Maicon’s feet, Malouda and Ashley Cole had already closed in.

Maicon could only pass back to Modrić, who played it back to Pepe.

When Pepe controlled the ball, he was already in his own half, to the right of the centre circle.

As a Brazilian-born centre-back, Pepe was confident in his abilities on the ball.

He took a touch that carried the ball into Chelsea’s half, wanting to see if anyone would press him.

But apart from Drogba up front, all of Chelsea’s other players had dropped back into two defensive lines.

Thiago Silva shouted, signalling for Pepe not to advance any further.

Pepe’s primary task was to mark Drogba.

If he pushed up too far and the ball was turned over for a counter-attack, Thiago Silva wouldn’t be able to handle Drogba alone.

However, Yaya Touré did immediately track back, dropping into his own half.

This was under Yang Cheng’s instructions.

Pepe glanced forward, saw Džeko raising his hand, and immediately sent a long pass.

The ball dropped towards the area just outside the arc of the penalty area.

Džeko and Terry both went up for it.

The powerful centre-forward and the powerful centre-back collided solidly.

Both men touched the ball, but neither could win it.

The ball fell towards the penalty area.

Alex ran in from behind and to the side, heading the ball clear towards the right side just outside the box.

Modrić ran back and, just before Mikel could get there, skillfully cushioned the falling ball with his foot.

The Croatian’s exquisite technique was on full display in that single touch.

The ball settled obediently, and Modrić first feinted to turn towards the centre before abruptly stopping and using the outside of his left foot to play a pass across to the right corner of the penalty area.

In the next moment, everyone noticed a red figure sprinting forward at incredible speed, leaving Malouda behind to latch onto Modrić’s pass.

If time had frozen at that instant, one would have seen Chelsea’s entire defensive line situated inside the penalty area.

But the moment Maicon caught up to Modrić’s pass, they almost instinctively retreated towards the six-yard box.

If Maicon broke through and delivered a low cross near the byline, it would be extremely dangerous.

Mikel, hailed as Chelsea’s Mascherano, was the midfielder with the best positional sense.

But as part of a double pivot, he had just been drawn forward tracking Modrić and couldn’t get back in time.

Ballack was positioned near the arc of the penalty area.

This was indeed his defensive zone.

But as the defensive line collectively retreated, Ballack didn’t immediately follow, failing to maintain the distance. This resulted in Chelsea’s defenders lining up near the six-yard box, while Ballack remained at the arc.

Between the two defensive lines, a massive vacuum appeared, devoid of any defending players.

And right in that vacuum, three figures in red jerseys appeared.

Di María on the left, and slightly more central, Gareth Bale.

And Džeko was near the penalty spot.

In this situation, no matter how Maicon passed, he would find a target.

The Brazilian right-back clearly saw Chelsea’s defence retreating. So, the moment he reached the ball, instead of taking a touch forward, he immediately delivered a cross with his right foot.

Frankly, the pass was a bit rushed and not of the highest quality.

But at least it was in the right direction.

Džeko, positioned near the penalty spot, met Maicon’s cross. Planting his left foot, he twisted his body and unleashed a power shot with his right.

The ball shot through the gap between Alex and Terry, rocketing into the bottom right corner of Chelsea’s goal.

Čech’s reaction was fast enough.

But his speed getting down to the ground was just a fraction too slow.

The ball drilled into Chelsea’s net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 8th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese have broken through Chelsea’s goal!”

“A cross from right-back Maicon, and Džeko with a brilliant turning power shot, pierces Chelsea’s net!”

“1-0!”

In an instant, Wembley Stadium erupted in a thunderous roar.

Ninety thousand fans were screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

Everyone was chanting Džeko’s name.

They’d finally scored!

They had been attacking for eight minutes, a full eight minutes!

Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement.

His assistants behind him all rushed out of the technical area.

Everyone was visibly ecstatic and thrilled.

This was one of the routines they had meticulously planned!

If Chelsea’s defensive line hadn’t retreated, Maicon would have gone to the byline.

But even from the byline, Maicon had several different passing options.

Džeko was at the near post, and Gareth Bale was a target for a high ball.

He could also play a cut-back to find Di María.

In short, Bayswater Chinese had studied for a full two weeks just for this opening!

At this moment, they finally reaped the reward of a precious goal!

Yang Cheng clenched his fists and let out a cathartic roar.

Then, he waved his arms repeatedly, signalling for all the fans to be even more passionate.

The fans in the stadium yelled even louder!

“There it is, Bayswater Chinese’s signature opening blitz!”

“One has to say, Yang Cheng’s opening blitz truly is incredibly sharp.”

“Many people said that Chelsea would adopt a strategy of defending with all their might.”

“Therefore, whoever scores first will completely change the course of the match.”

…

In the away team’s technical area, Guus Hiddink, wearing a black down jacket, sat next to Roy Wilkins.

“We couldn’t hold on after all,” Wilkins said, looking somewhat dejected.

Chelsea had also prepared extensively for this match.

The Blues were especially prepared for Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

But unexpectedly, they still couldn’t withstand it.

“Yang Cheng must have guessed our starting tactics,” Hiddink said calmly.

He had been coaching for decades and had seen it all.

In his mind, even if they lost this match 1-0, he wouldn’t be surprised.

That’s just how football is.

Especially in the Champions League knockout stage. You’re plotting against your opponent, and your opponent is plotting against you.

“No way, right? The coaching staff and the dressing room are all our own people, there can’t be a leak,” Wilkins said with some concern.

Hiddink shook his head. “It probably wasn’t a leak. He genuinely guessed it.”

After a pause, the Dutchman pointed to the resumed play on the field.

Bayswater Chinese were still avoiding Chelsea’s right flank and relentlessly attacking Ashley Cole’s left.

Yang Cheng was still on the touchline, waving his arms, instructing his players to continue pressing forward, to continue their blitz.

It was obvious he wanted to capitalize on the early goal and establish a commanding lead.

“He’s completely ignoring our left flank now, focusing solely on attacking our right. He’s trying to avoid our strength on the right.”

“And this must have been drilled specifically beforehand, so the players are familiar with it.”

A seasoned head coach could easily tell if an opponent’s coordination was rusty.

If a tactic was used on the pitch without being practiced, it usually required some time to gel.

But Bayswater Chinese’s opening strategy needed no such time.

Ten minutes had passed, and Chelsea hadn’t even managed a single shot—no, they hadn’t even had a single opportunity to attack inside Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

They were being completely pinned down.

One could imagine how passive they were on the pitch.

And they were a goal down.

Hiddink turned his head and looked towards the home team’s technical area, at the young man who was always standing on the touchline directing the game.

Always impeccably dressed in a suit, with short hair, looking exceptionally sharp.

In the head coach profession, even a 40-year-old was considered young, called a young manager.

Someone like Yang Cheng, who was only 29, was so young they didn’t even know what to call him.

Yet his track record was so brilliant!

If Yang Cheng had really guessed Hiddink’s starting tactics, the Dutchman was truly at a loss for words.

He had thought that playing Essien on the right would be a masterstroke.

But he never imagined that by nullifying his own right-wing attack, Bayswater Chinese would storm his left flank, causing Chelsea’s offense to completely collapse, unable to get going at all.

The young man who devised such a set of tactics was really only 29?

“What do we do now?” Wilkins asked with concern.

He couldn’t help but glance up at the stands.

Although he didn’t know the exact location, the owner, Roman Abramovich, had personally said before the match that he would be at Wembley Stadium to oversee the game.

If they lost to Bayswater Chinese again in this match, the boss would probably be furious.

Hiddink would be fine; he had a close personal relationship with Abramovich.

But others, including the players, would surely suffer.

“We just have to endure,” Hiddink said, also feeling helpless.

From the start of the game, Bayswater Chinese hadn’t given Chelsea any breathing room.

The attacks came one after another.

The Blues could barely fend them off, with no strength to even fight back.

Under these circumstances, all they could do was endure.

Endure this wave of attacks, hold on until Bayswater Chinese needed to catch their breath, and then try to turn the tide.

But just as the two were talking, Chelsea won the ball back and tried to launch an attack.

Bayswater Chinese retreated very quickly.

…

By the time Chelsea’s pass reached the halfway line, Bayswater Chinese had already fallen back into their own half.

The Blues’ midfield passed the ball back and forth near the halfway line but couldn’t find a way forward.

They switched play from the left flank to the right.

After dropping back to receive the ball, Essien, under pressure from Leighton Baines, passed it back to Ivanović.

Di María ran over, forcing the Serbian to pass to Alex.

Džeko ran into the space between Alex and Terry, applying some pressure on the centre-backs.

After receiving the ball, Terry immediately passed it to Ashley Cole on the left.

Ashley Cole was positioned near the left touchline to receive the pass, a little far from Terry.

Terry’s pass was slightly under-hit.

Gareth Bale suddenly accelerated, bearing down on Ashley Cole at incredible speed.

The English left-back was startled and immediately chased after Terry’s pass.

Terry immediately moved to the left to offer support, but Džeko was also nearby.

Mikel came over to help, but Modrić was right next to him.

Ashley Cole couldn’t find an immediate passing option, and the goalkeeper was too far away.

So, the English left-back’s first instinct was to shift the ball from his left foot to his right, intending to shield it first.

But in that instant, Gareth Bale charged over.

The Welshman was like an unstoppable, rampaging bull. As he closed in aggressively, he drove his right shoulder straight into him.

What was Ashley Cole’s height?

1.76 meters.

He only weighed 64 kilograms.

And Gareth Bale?

He stood 1.85 meters tall and weighed a solid 81 kilograms.

Leveraging his height, his robust physique, and the downward momentum, Gareth Bale slammed his right shoulder into him. With a powerful shove, Ashley Cole lost his footing and his balance.

His feet got in a tangle, he stumbled, and the ball slipped from his control. Ashley Cole felt the pressure lighten and thought to himself, it’s over!

And so, the English left-back crumpled to the ground.

The whole sequence happened in the blink of an eye.

To any observer, it looked like Ashley Cole had been directly knocked over by Gareth Bale.

But the linesman was right there.

The head referee wasn’t far away either.

If even challenges like that were called, then Premier League matches might as well not be played.

Just as Hiddink and Wilkins rushed anxiously to the edge of the technical area, yelling for a foul, Gareth Bale beat everyone to the ball that had escaped Ashley Cole’s control and drove it diagonally towards the penalty area.

With Terry still outside the box, Gareth Bale delivered a diagonal pass with his left foot, precisely to Džeko’s feet at the arc.

The Bosnian centre-forward controlled the ball with his left foot, carried it into Chelsea’s penalty area, and followed up with a furious right-footed shot.

Čech, standing just outside the six-yard box, had no time to react.

The ball was in the back of the net again!

At this point, only 11 minutes had been played.

As Yang Cheng raised his hands high in celebration on the touchline, he could clearly see Hiddink in front of the away dugout, staring blankly at the pitch.

If conceding one goal meant Chelsea still had a chance…

Then now, conceding a second goal was a blow that was not just double, but several times more devastating for The Blues!

…

After going 2-0 up, Bayswater Chinese appropriately slowed down their offensive pace.

But conceding two goals in quick succession was a huge blow to Chelsea’s morale.

More importantly, The Blues simply couldn’t threaten the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Starting from the 15th minute, The Blues tried to muster a wave of attacks.

And they did get a few chances.

For example, in the 18th minute, Drogba once again made a quick run into the box, and just as he was about to shoot after controlling the ball with his chest, the linesman’s flag went up for offside.

In the 22nd minute, Drogba also played a through ball, but Malouda, under pressure from Maicon, managed only a weak shot that sailed high over the bar.

Instead, it was Bayswater Chinese who once again won the ball back in the attacking third.

From 20 meters out on the left, Gareth Bale attempted a chip that ended up hitting the top of the crossbar.

Bayswater Chinese’s most threatening attack of the first half came in the 39th minute.

Di María, from the left, sent a diagonal pass towards Džeko in front of the arc.

Alex, Terry, and Džeko all went for the ball, and all three ended up on the ground.

Terry managed to get to the ball first, kicking it to Ashley Cole on the left flank just before he fell.

But as the English left-back was controlling the ball, Gareth Bale arrived first, overtaking on a corner, intercepted the ball, and charged into the right side of Chelsea’s penalty area.

Facing the onrushing Čech, Gareth Bale used a clever feint to create a shooting angle before slotting the ball towards the far corner with his left foot.

However, the shot lacked power and speed, and Alex, who had tracked back in time, managed to clear it off the goal line.

“Yang Cheng’s tactic of relentlessly pressuring Chelsea’s left flank has been a resounding success!”

“The Blues have barely had any chances in the first half; instead, their defence has been repeatedly unstable.”

“But the most crucial part was the opening blitz, which put Chelsea two goals behind.”

“Under these circumstances, Hiddink’s team could no longer afford to just sit back and defend.”

“Yang Cheng’s opening blitz has helped Bayswater Chinese gain a strategic advantage!”

…

After the second half began, Yang Cheng, seeing that Chelsea had made no substitutions, once again had his team launch another blitz.

But this time, it only lasted for about 10 minutes.

Seeing that they couldn’t break through Chelsea’s goal again, Bayswater Chinese wisely eased off.

Chelsea’s left flank remained under constant pressure from Bayswater Chinese.

Gareth Bale, in particular, had a clear advantage over his direct opponent, Ashley Cole.

In the 60th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Matuidi for Rakitić to strengthen the midfield’s interception and physicality.

Chelsea made their first substitution in the 65th minute.

Anelka came on for Mikel.

From a head coach’s perspective, the first goal wasn’t really Mikel’s fault.

In a double pivot, one pushes up while the other holds back; it’s a matter of division of labour.

But Ballack was not a traditional defensive midfielder, nor was he the kind of player who could provide a solid shield in front of the backline.

The German midfielder’s greatest strength was his overlapping runs.

Playing him in a double pivot was ultimately not stable enough.

But regardless, when a goal is conceded, the double pivot is bound to take the blame.

After Mikel was substituted, Anelka went to play right wing, and Essien moved back to a single holding midfield role.

Chelsea switched back to a 4-3-3 formation.

Before this tactical adjustment could show any effect for Chelsea, Bayswater Chinese launched another very dangerous attack.

Di María got a one-on-one opportunity against Ivanović on the left.

The Argentine, with the ball at his feet, feinted and shimmied in front of Ivanović like a noodle, managing to create an angle before delivering a through ball with his left foot.

Džeko made a diagonal run into the left side of the box, met Di María’s pass, and hit a first-time shot with his left foot.

Čech made another solid save!

“Chelsea’s best player tonight has undoubtedly been their goalkeeper, Čech.”

“If it weren’t for Čech’s repeated heroic saves to protect his goal, tonight could have been a one-sided slaughter.”

“But at crucial moments, Čech’s numerous saves have kept the embers of hope alive for Chelsea in the second leg.”

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng made his second change, bringing on Theo Walcott for Gareth Bale.

Ashley Cole must have been on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Just one minute after the substitution, a despairing Ashley Cole lost control and lunged into a challenge on Walcott, earning himself a yellow card.

He had been suppressed, even tormented, by Gareth Bale for the entire match, yet he had managed to grit his teeth and endure.

Just when Gareth Bale was starting to tire and his performance was dipping, Yang Cheng brought on a fresh and energetic Theo Walcott.

This was simply killer!

If Gareth Bale was like a greatsword, direct and brutal, then Walcott was like a rapier, all sharp edges and blinding speed.

The two were completely different types of players.

But in terms of their threat on the pitch, there really wasn’t much difference.

Hiddink probably saw Ashley Cole’s collapse as well. Although he didn’t make a substitution, for the last ten-plus minutes, Chelsea tightened up their defence, leaving no space for Bayswater Chinese to attack.

Chelsea made no further substitutions.

The match ultimately ended 2-0.

Džeko scored a brace, helping Bayswater Chinese defeat Chelsea and secure victory in the first leg!

…

The moment Danish head referee Larsen blew the final whistle, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted in a sky full of cheers.

All the Bayswater Chinese fans rose from their seats, cheering and applauding the players on the field.

Yang Cheng also raised his hands high above his head, clapping for his players.

Then, he walked towards the away team’s technical area.

As per custom, as the head coach, he should meet with Hiddink.

“That was a wonderful match!” Yang Cheng praised with a smile.

It was just a polite remark.

But as Hiddink shook Yang Cheng’s hand, he suddenly asked, “Did you guess that I would play Essien on the right?”

Yang Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

“We did, but it was just one of the possibilities we considered.”

“What do you mean?”

“In total, we studied dozens of attacking routines specifically for your Chelsea team for our opening blitz. At the same time, we also simulated many of your different potential starting lineups and our corresponding countermeasures.”

Yang Cheng’s words left Hiddink somewhat stunned.

He felt as though he and Yang Cheng weren’t even competing on the same level.

He had come to Stamford Bridge alone.

Chelsea had assigned Wilkins to assist him.

But Yang Cheng?

Bayswater Chinese was an entire team.

Just as Yang Cheng had said, they had dozens of specific attacking routines.

Even if Hiddink racked his brains, he couldn’t come up with that many.

Not to mention simulating starting lineups and various countermeasures.

Just thinking about it was enough to make one’s head spin.

“I’ve long heard that your Bayswater Chinese are ahead of the curve in many aspects of world football. It seems the reputation is well-deserved!”

Hiddink suddenly felt that his loss was not unjust.

“I hope I’ll have the chance to visit your Brent training center someday,” Hiddink said.

Yang Cheng nodded. “Of course, you’re welcome anytime.”

He even gave Hiddink his phone number.

Such exchanges were very common in European football and weren’t considered secrets.

Chapter 167: The Siege on Barça! The Best Centre-Forward in World Football!

Tactically successful, strategically a failure!

This was the verdict of the British newspaper The Times on Chelsea’s performance in the aftermath of their battle at Wembley Stadium.

The Times also gave Chelsea’s head coach, Guus Hiddink, a very high rating.

The paper believed that, aside from conceding two goals in the opening eleven minutes, Chelsea had done an excellent job of specifically defending against Bayswater Chinese for the vast majority of the match.

“Although they were on the back foot and even sat deep to defend at times, completely abandoning their attack.”

“But for most of the game, Chelsea didn’t let Bayswater Chinese get any advantage or score any goals.”

“In a sense, Hiddink’s targeted tactics were effective.”

The Times specifically highlighted Ivanović.

This was the Serbian defender’s second Champions League appearance of the season, and only his second match in three months.

But Hiddink had no choice. With Bosingwa injured, he didn’t trust Ferreira and had to rely on Ivanović.

To that end, he even placed Essien in front to protect Ivanović.

But this completely nullified Chelsea’s attack on the right flank.

“Whether in targeted strategy or on-field performance, Chelsea were in no way inferior to Bayswater Chinese.”

“This was a truly high-level contest!”

“From the head coach to the players, everyone displayed the highest level of technical and tactical skill in the Premier League today!”

Although the match was tense and fierce, it was relatively dull for long periods.

Because they neutralized each other, no goals were scored.

But why was it said that Hiddink succeeded tactically but failed strategically?

Because of the opening.

“Hiddink clearly did not anticipate that Yang Cheng would commit such immense, even reckless, resources to an opening blitz!”

“He underestimated the determination of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.”

“Yang Cheng was obviously well aware that once Hiddink’s team set up their defense, Bayswater Chinese’s attack would likely be thwarted, so he went all-out with an opening blitz from the very start.”

“It reached the point where they would not back down until they had scored!”

“Yang Cheng and his team have always been known for their effective opening blitzes, but never before have we seen them commit so many resources, even to the point of neglecting their own defense.”

The Times argued that from a grand strategic perspective, especially considering the two-legged home-and-away tie, Yang Cheng was correct.

If not for the two early goals, Bayswater Chinese might have been frustrated in their subsequent attacks, allowing Chelsea to seize an opportunity to score.

At best, the situation might have ended in a 0-0 draw.

But precisely because Yang Cheng had recklessly pushed for an opening blitz and secured the goals, Bayswater Chinese found themselves in a more comfortable environment for the rest of the match.

The players also played with more stability.

“When Yang Cheng strategically outmaneuvered Hiddink, daring to invest all resources in the opening blitz and succeeding in scoring, all of Hiddink’s targeted tactical arrangements for Chelsea became futile.”

“This battle has made everyone who ever doubted Yang Cheng’s coaching ability see him in a new light!”

“As Hiddink said at the post-match press conference, through this match, Yang Cheng has shown us all his maturity and transformation, truly possessing the coaching level of a world-class manager!”

But the beauty of the Champions League knockout stage lies in its two-legged format.

From the first leg, Bayswater Chinese deserved their 2-0 lead.

But there was still a second leg.

The Times believed that after their first encounter, Hiddink would certainly analyze the pros and cons of the first leg and, most importantly, gain a more comprehensive assessment of Chelsea’s strength.

“Back at Stamford Bridge, he will surely want to actively create goals.”

“Therefore, it’s highly likely that wingers like Kalou and Anelka will start.”

“Although Bayswater Chinese has a strong centre-back like Pepe, it was also obvious that Thiago Silva struggled against Drogba.”

“Chelsea will likely try to exploit this point to create an attacking threat.”

“But conversely, when Chelsea attempts to strengthen their attack, their defense will no longer be as solid as it was in the first leg.”

“Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese’s attacking prowess will have more room to shine.”

Finally, The Times concluded that a 2-0 home lead gave Bayswater Chinese the advantage and strategic initiative, but it was not enough to guarantee their progression.

The key would be the second-leg showdown at Stamford Bridge.

What was unfavorable for Bayswater Chinese was that between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals lay the thirty-second round of the Premier League.

In this round, Chelsea would host Bolton at home.

Bolton had nothing to worry about, neither relegation nor any chance of moving up the table.

Facing such an opponent, Chelsea would be under much less pressure.

Of course, to go all-out for a top-four finish, the Blues had to beat Bolton.

On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese had to travel to face Manchester City in this round.

Yang Cheng’s team had a commanding lead, but the Blue Moons were fighting for a top-four spot in the Premier League.

In this situation, Eriksson’s team would definitely go all-out against Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng would probably have to make some trade-offs.

…

After defeating Chelsea 2-0 at home, besides the wave of praise for Yang Cheng, Džeko, who scored a brace and was named Man of the Match, also received unanimous acclaim from media and fans worldwide.

As Bayswater Chinese’s top scorer, Džeko had scored over twenty goals for two consecutive seasons.

Last season, he scored twenty-five goals in the Premier League.

And this season?

So far, after thirty-one rounds, Džeko had already scored twenty-two goals.

This included several matches where he didn’t play or came on as a substitute.

Overall, Džeko’s goal-scoring efficiency was even better than last season.

This earned the Bosnian centre-forward a flood of positive reviews.

The Guardian wrote a feature article on how Džeko transformed from a midfielder worth only fifty thousand pounds sterling, who was labeled a “genius” by Yang Cheng to the ridicule of many, into a world-class goalscorer.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng specifically praised Džeko, calling him the best centre-forward in world football today!

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks, but in my heart, he is the best in the world!”

“Bar none!”

The Guardian opined that compared to other top centre-forwards, Džeko wasn’t the absolute best in many aspects.

For example, he wasn’t as physically strong as Drogba, not as explosive as Torres, nor as dominant in the box as Ibrahimović…

But none of this prevented Džeko from becoming a top-tier goalscorer.

Because he was incredibly well-rounded!

Even when compared to the equally versatile Ibrahimović, Džeko was superior in terms of tactical execution and contribution to the team.

Especially in scoring efficiency.

Džeko was the type of centre-forward who could provide a consistent supply of goals for his team, making him far more reliable than Ibrahimović.

The Sun also ran a lengthy report on Džeko, pointing out that his excellent performances over two consecutive seasons had won him the favor of more top European clubs.

“The Catalan media conducted a poll where thousands of Barça fans voted on who they would most like to see join the club. Džeko was the runaway leader, becoming the powerful centre-forward that all Barça fans desired most!”

“Head coach Pep Guardiola has also publicly praised Džeko on multiple occasions, stating that the Bosnian centre-forward is the one he wants most.”

“Meanwhile, in the Spanish capital of Madrid, both Marca and AS newspaper have reported that Florentino Pérez will return to Real Madrid this summer, and apart from C. Ronaldo, Džeko is the top star he is most eager to acquire!”

“Not to mention, in the Premier League, Chelsea hopes to sign Džeko to replace an aging Drogba; Manchester City wants to sign Džeko to further bolster their attack…”

The Sun was very certain that it would be difficult for Bayswater Chinese to keep Džeko this summer.

The player who once cost Bayswater Chinese a transfer fee of fifty thousand pounds sterling was bound to trigger a bidding war across European football this summer.

“The Bosnian centre-forward might even challenge C. Ronaldo’s position as the summer’s marquee signing!”

…

On the afternoon of April 11th, at the City of Manchester Stadium.

For Manchester City, this was a crucial battle!

Because they were aiming for a top-four finish.

After losing 2-0 away to Arsenal in the previous round, Manchester City’s situation was already less than ideal.

So for this round, Eriksson stated that the team must win against Bayswater Chinese at home.

Yang Cheng’s team had just gone through a grueling match against Chelsea in the Champions League and had to play the second leg on Wednesday. This was practically a gift to Manchester City.

The Blue Moons were well-rested and fully prepared, lying in wait.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, had to prepare for Wednesday’s battle at Stamford Bridge, so he made significant squad rotations for this match.

It could almost be said that he was using his cup competition lineup for a league game.

Their opening blitz failed to produce results. Instead, in the twenty-eighth minute, after Adebayor won the first ball in the attacking half, Kaká made a quick overlapping run and unleashed a furious shot from the edge of the box, beating Neuer.

Manchester City took a 1-0 lead!

After the start of the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

In the fiftieth minute, Robert Lewandowski scored with a low shot from near the penalty spot, equalizing for Bayswater Chinese.

Both sides made successive substitutions and continued to go all-out.

It wasn’t until the eighty-third minute that Robinho, after a dribbling breakthrough, delivered a pass, and Adebayor scored.

2-1!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Manchester City ultimately defeated Bayswater Chinese 2-1, thanks to Adebayor’s goal and assist.

…

Affected by the Champions League fixtures, several teams participating in the competition did not perform well in this round.

Chelsea narrowly defeated Bolton 4-3 at home, thanks to a brace from Drogba.

The scoreline didn’t accurately reflect the final result.

In the first hour, Chelsea scored four goals.

But in the last half hour of the match, Bolton launched a frenzied comeback, scoring three goals in just eight minutes.

For the final ten-plus minutes, Bolton was completely dominating Chelsea.

The Blues only managed to hold on to the 4-3 score at home by defending with all their might.

The key factor behind Chelsea’s contrasting performance was the substitution of Drogba and Lampard for Anelka and Deco.

The two substituted players had been performing exceptionally well.

Hiddink made the substitutions with Wednesday’s Champions League match in mind.

Unexpectedly, the changes crippled his own team.

Another factor was that Chelsea became somewhat complacent after taking a large lead, giving their opponents an opening.

For the last twenty minutes, Hiddink didn’t dare make any more substitutions, toughing it out by defending with all their might.

However, neither Essien nor Alex played in this match.

Clearly, they were also being rested for next Wednesday’s Champions League tie.

Yang Cheng also watched Chelsea’s game against Bolton. Drogba and Lampard were currently in excellent form.

If Hiddink wanted to turn the tie around in the second leg, those two players, along with the rested Essien and Alex, would play an even more crucial role.

Chelsea performed poorly, and so did Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team secured a narrow 2-1 victory away against the Black Cats, Sunderland.

Although Arsenal overturned a deficit to win 4-1 away against Wigan Athletic, which looked like a convincing victory, they were actually trailing and on the defensive for the first hour.

It was only after Andrei Arshavin came on as a substitute that Arsenal’s performance improved, and they scored four goals.

Meanwhile, Liverpool, unburdened by the Champions League, secured a clean 4-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.

As a result, after thirty-two rounds of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the table with eighty-four points, from twenty-seven wins, three draws, and two losses.

Since Bayswater Chinese lost to Manchester City this round, Manchester United closed the gap with seventy-one points, but they were still thirteen points behind.

With only six rounds left in the league, the chances of Manchester United staging a comeback were almost zero.

But Ferguson was still talking tough.

Just as he had previously cornered and questioned Yang Cheng: Almost zero is not zero.

Even the smallest possibility is still a possibility!

Therefore, Manchester United had not given up hope.

Ferguson’s slogans were even louder than Yang Cheng’s.

Yang Cheng was aiming for the Treble.

And Ferguson?

The old gaffer had already declared that Manchester United was still chasing the quadruple!

In any case, they had to have one more trophy than Bayswater Chinese!

Of course, everyone understood this was a slogan from Ferguson to boost his team’s morale.

But having won the League Cup, and still in contention for the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League, Manchester United’s performance wasn’t too bad.

After Manchester United’s recent run of dropped points, the teams behind them have also started to catch up.

In third place was Arsenal with seventy-one points.

In fourth was Liverpool with sixty-seven points.

In fifth was Manchester City with sixty-five points.

In sixth was Chelsea with sixty-four points.

From the current standings, Wenger’s Gunners undoubtedly had a certain advantage in the race for the top four.

But it was not secure.

The main issue was the schedule.

The Gunners’ final six matches included an away game against Liverpool, a home game against Chelsea, and an away game against Manchester United.

These three matches would all be very difficult.

Not to mention, the Gunners were still competing in the Champions League.

Fighting on two fronts, coupled with a tough schedule, would be a huge challenge for Arsenal.

In contrast, Manchester City’s schedule was relatively decent.

Apart from the away local derby against Manchester United, the other matches were tough but didn’t feature any top-six teams.

The strongest opponent was Everton.

For Manchester City, whether they could pick up points would be exceptionally important.

In an interview with the media, Eriksson said that Manchester City should learn from Bayswater Chinese.

When points were there for the taking, not a single one could be dropped!

This season, the efficiency of Yang Cheng’s team in securing points was truly astounding!

Liverpool’s schedule was arguably the best. Apart from a home game against Arsenal, their other matches were against weaker teams. Given Benítez’s standards, it was highly likely they could win them all.

Chelsea’s schedule fell somewhere between Manchester City’s, Liverpool’s, and Arsenal’s.

They also had to play top-ten teams like Everton and West Ham United, as well as a home game against Bayswater Chinese and an away game against Arsenal.

Moreover, these two difficult matches were back-to-back.

This undoubtedly presented a challenge for Hiddink.

In what was the most competitive season ever, there wasn’t much suspense about the Premier League title.

The real attraction was the battle for the top four.

Judging by the odds from betting companies, Liverpool had the highest probability of finishing in the top four.

Followed by Arsenal.

Manchester City and Chelsea were about the same.

This also showed that the Premier League landscape had truly been disrupted.

With the arrival of superstars like Robinho and Kaká, Manchester City’s overall strength had been significantly enhanced.

Coupled with Eriksson staying on, the team maintained stability and already had the strength to challenge for a top-four finish.

It was rumored that Roman Abramovich was earnestly trying to persuade Hiddink to stay on as Chelsea’s coach after the season.

To this end, he was willing to increase investment to quickly improve Chelsea’s strength.

Clearly, a new arms race was already imminent this summer!

…

On the evening of April 14th, at Stamford Bridge, London.

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese away against Chelsea.

With a 2-0 lead from the first leg at home, what tactics would the two West London teams adopt in the second leg?

This became the focal point of attention for media and fans worldwide.

Hiddink showed his intentions right from the starting lineup, which was refreshingly bold.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Alex, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Essien in a holding role, with Lampard and Michael Ballack in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka.

This was the strongest attacking lineup Hiddink could field at the moment.

With Deco out of form, Chelsea couldn’t put together a better attacking configuration.

From the starting lineup, it was clear that Hiddink’s theme for the second leg would be attack!

And what about Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese?

They continued with their preferred 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Theo Walcott.

Compared to the first leg, all the players started except for Pepe, who was suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Many had even speculated that Yang Cheng would use Matuidi to replace Rakitić.

That did not happen.

This fully demonstrated Yang Cheng’s determination.

Even with a 2-0 lead from the home leg, he would stick to his football philosophy in the away game.

And before the match began, during the coin toss between the two captains, Modrić actually won against Terry and got the kickoff.

That was quite rare!

Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, even smiled and gave Modrić a thumbs-up.

“That’s a good omen!” Yang Cheng laughed.

He had been trying to help the players relax before the game.

This relaxation wasn’t about being lax, but about approaching the game with a more relaxed and positive attitude.

The coaching staff and the sports science department were working at full capacity to provide the best possible logistical support.

Yang Cheng’s mood also infected the players on the pitch.

The head referee for this match was Luis Medina Cantalejo from Spain.

For Bayswater Chinese, Džeko and Rakitić stood in the center circle, ready for kickoff, with Gareth Bale and Walcott positioned on the wings.

When the referee blew his whistle, Džeko passed the ball to Rakitić, and the Croatian immediately sent a long pass back to their own half, to Thiago Silva.

Since joining Bayswater Chinese, the Brazilian centre-back had gradually established himself, earning the respect of all his teammates with his excellent and stable performances, becoming a cornerstone of the team’s defense.

Even Pepe was thoroughly convinced by Thiago Silva.

Thiago Silva was also a very intelligent player; he could always clearly understand the head coach’s intentions.

As soon as the whistle blew, Chelsea surged forward, launching an aggressive press.

Bayswater Chinese, however, passed the ball around in their own half.

The team’s entire formation quickly spread out, especially on the left and right flanks, stretching the pitch wide.

This posed a dilemma for Chelsea.

Trailing by two goals on aggregate, Chelsea had to take the initiative.

But now, Bayswater Chinese had possession at the back.

According to the pre-match instructions from Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, the centre-backs would hold the ball around their own thirty-meter area, while the two full-backs positioned themselves wider and further up the pitch.

The team’s midfield was situated around the center circle and the halfway line.

If Chelsea wanted to win the ball, they had to push their players forward.

Hiddink was actually very cautious.

At first, only Drogba pressed the two centre-backs.

Anelka and Malouda watched Leighton Baines and Maicon on the flanks.

Chelsea’s entire midfield and defense remained stationary.

But this was clearly ineffective.

When Drogba pressed, the two centre-backs didn’t even need to pass back to the goalkeeper; their own movement made it impossible for the Ivorian to get any chance.

So, Lampard also pushed forward.

At this point, Yaya Touré, Leighton Baines, and Maicon all dropped back.

Bayswater Chinese were inherently skilled at passing and moving. They had been playing this style for so many years that even the youth teams adopted this philosophy to develop players. The players were all very familiar with each other.

Chelsea simply couldn’t stop them.

After spotting an opportunity, Kompany launched a long pass from the back towards the front.

Walcott sprinted forward along the right wing.

Ashley Cole chased him relentlessly.

The English left-back was not as fast as Walcott.

But when The Little Tiger caught up to the ball and controlled it, he had to slow down.

Ashley Cole seized the opportunity to catch up and executed a perfect sliding tackle, knocking the ball out of play.

He didn’t even foul Walcott.

This brilliant piece of defending earned Ashley Cole applause from the Stamford Bridge crowd.

But it also served as a warning to Chelsea!

Don’t press too high!

Bayswater Chinese could get in behind you at any moment!

…

“Bloody hell, isn’t this just playing dirty?”

Roy Wilkins got agitated and jumped to his feet.

“If you’ve got the guts, come out and fight an open, honorable battle! What’s this nonsense about sitting deep and hitting long balls on the counter?”

“What era are we in, still playing long-ball tactics?”

Hiddink shot his assistant an awkward glance, then gestured with his hand, motioning for him to sit down and be patient.

Was this playing dirty?

Then wasn’t Chelsea’s tactic of sitting deep and defending in the first leg even more shameless?

Besides, had he ever seen long-ball tactics like those of Bayswater Chinese?

If the Premier League teams that played long-ball football had half of Bayswater Chinese’s passing, movement, and possession ability, The FA would be overjoyed!

Ultimately, both teams were playing to their strengths.

“Their two wingers are just too fast. Once they get running, you can’t stop them.”

“Plus the long passes from their players at the back…”

Hiddink paused, unable to find a better adjective, and tutted, “It really is so bloody shameless!”

But putting himself in Yang Cheng’s shoes, Hiddink would have played the same way.

Wasn’t this exactly how you were supposed to use a two-goal advantage from the first leg?

Oh, so you get a two-goal lead in the first leg, and in the second, you’re not supposed to take advantage of it but instead press forward and go all-out against them?

Only a fool would do that!

Now, Chelsea faced a dilemma.

To win possession, they had to press high.

Relying on just the three forwards, or even with the midfielders, wasn’t enough.

But if they pushed forward, their tight defensive formation in midfield and at the back would surely be full of gaps.

If they won the ball back, it was one thing. If they didn’t, and Bayswater Chinese penetrated their lines with their slick passing, it would be very dangerous.

If they wanted to maintain their defensive shape, they couldn’t press high.

Never mind how long Bayswater Chinese could stall.

They only needed to waste ten minutes or so to blunt Chelsea’s initial burst of energy, and the rest of the game would become even harder.

And just as Hiddink was talking with Wilkins, there was a sudden turn of events on the pitch.

The entire Stamford Bridge stadium gasped in unison.

…

“Ashley Cole has the ball at the back, Walcott immediately counter-presses.”

“He passes it back to Terry.”

“Chelsea looking to control possession for a moment.”

“Džeko closes down Terry.”

“Terry passes it across to Alex.”

“Alex is in danger!”

“Rakitić presses quickly.”

“Alex shields the ball, looking to clear it with a big boot.”

“The ball hits Rakitić’s leg and falls to the left side of the penalty area.”

“Gareth Bale rushes forward, getting to the ball just before Ivanović.”

“The Welsh winger carries the ball down the left and crosses it to the far post.”

“Džeko on an overlapping run with a header!”

“Čech makes a fantastic save!”

“The Czech goalkeeper tips Džeko’s header over the bar.”

“The Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge must have nearly had a heart attack.”

“That press from Bayswater Chinese was very quick and very sudden.”

“They obviously saw that Chelsea was consciously trying to gain possession and control the ball at the back.”

“But it must be said, not every team can play a possession game.”

“Especially for Chelsea, it’s really not in their tactical DNA!”

…

For the first time, Hiddink left the dugout and walked to the touchline, shouting at his players, signaling for them to be mindful of their defending.

Don’t play with fire at the back!

Influenced by that previous attack, Chelsea’s entire formation involuntarily retreated.

For the Blues, sitting deep to defend gave them a greater sense of security and was more familiar.

Since the 1990s, this team had been heavily influenced by Italian football, and later under Ranieri and Mourinho, the Blues’ tactical DNA was fundamentally defensive.

But as soon as Chelsea dropped back, Bayswater Chinese pushed forward.

A typical example was in the sixth minute.

After winning the ball in their own half, Chelsea quickly passed it to Michael Ballack.

From his own thirty-meter area, Ballack sent a medium-long pass, looking to find Drogba up front.

When the ball reached the attacking third, everyone realized that Drogba was the only Chelsea player up front.

Anelka and Malouda on the wings had both tracked back.

As soon as the Ivorian received the ball, he was marked by Thiago Silva.

Yaya Touré and Kompany quickly cut off the passing lanes around Drogba.

The ball was lost quickly.

After losing possession, Chelsea once again tried to organize a counter-press up front.

Drogba dropped back, and Lampard pushed forward to press.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese strung together a series of one-touch passes, and Lampard couldn’t even get close to the ball, let alone see its shadow.

Then, in the thirteenth minute, Bayswater Chinese seized an opportunity on the right wing.

After passing the ball to Yaya Touré, Maicon sprinted forward.

Walcott in front of him first made a horizontal run to create space for Maicon on the right wing. Seeing that Yaya Touré couldn’t pass back to Maicon, he immediately dropped back to receive the ball, raising his hand to call for it.

The ball came to Walcott’s feet.

By now, Maicon had already advanced to a winger’s position, drawing Ashley Cole away.

After controlling the ball and turning, Walcott pushed forward.

Lampard immediately rushed towards Walcott.

The Little Tiger, however, had spotted Modrić’s diagonal run behind Lampard and deftly flicked a pass into his path.

Essien immediately rushed towards the path of the pass.

Modrić knew that if he followed the ball’s trajectory, he would certainly be intercepted by Essien.

The Croatian chased the ball, and then, with the inside of his right foot, he flicked it behind him to his left.

Modrić himself came to an abrupt halt, changed direction towards the left, towards the center, and as he chased the ball, he glanced up at the field ahead.

By the time he reached the ball, he smoothly delivered a precise through ball with his left foot.

At the edge of the penalty arc, Džeko was waiting between Alex and Terry.

When the ball arrived, the Bosnian centre-forward took a quick step forward, controlled it with his left foot, broke into Chelsea’s penalty area, and then shot with his right.

From Walcott’s direct pass, to Modrić’s touch to beat Essien, to the exquisite through ball, and then Džeko’s left-foot control followed by a shot.

The entire sequence was incredibly smooth, with a perfect connection.

The Chelsea defenders didn’t even touch the player, let alone the football.

Džeko’s power shot went straight into the left side of Chelsea’s goal.

Čech dived, but he was a fraction too late!

“GOAL!!!”

“In the thirteenth minute, Džeko has breached Chelsea’s goal once again!”

“A brilliant assist from Modrić!”

“Chelsea’s defense was torn to shreds in that instant by Bayswater Chinese!”

“We can see that the Blues’ players were working hard, but their efforts were completely ineffective against the brilliant combination play of Bayswater Chinese.”

“The entire goal-scoring sequence was absolutely magnificent!”

On the sidelines, the moment Yang Cheng saw Džoko score, he jumped up in excitement.

Brian Kidd and the others all rushed out of the dugout, swarming around Yang Cheng.

1-0!

3-0 on aggregate!

But more importantly, Bayswater Chinese had an away goal.

This meant that Chelsea now had to score four goals!

Four goals!

This almost certainly pronounced Chelsea’s death sentence!

…

It’s over!

This season’s Champions League is over again!

The moment Džeko scored, Roman Abramovich, sitting in the VIP box at Stamford Bridge, slumped back into his seat, his expression utterly dejected.

Even if he didn’t understand football well, he could see that while Džeko was the goalscorer, a large part of the credit belonged to Modrić.

Especially the Croatian’s exquisite footwork to get past Essien, followed by the fatal through ball.

This made Abramovich feel incredibly frustrated.

Because he had once wanted to buy Modrić.

“Tell me, if we had bought Modrić back then instead of Deco, would things be better now?”

Abramovich’s low voice echoed in the VIP box.

Neither Chairman Bruce Buck nor Peter Kenyon could answer his question.

Deco had a much bigger reputation than Modrić.

After all, Deco was already a superstar at the time.

But who could have predicted that Deco’s form would decline so rapidly?

In the end, it was Pini Zahavi who knew and understood Abramovich best.

“Actually, when you asked me to try and poach Modrić back then, Bayswater Chinese simply wouldn’t sell. They weren’t even willing to negotiate.”

Abramovich’s expression eased slightly.

Pini Zahavi then raised an eyebrow at Peter Kenyon, as if to say: Brother, take notes. This is the art of workplace survival!

When a boss expresses regret, it doesn’t mean he’s genuinely regretting it. He wants us, his subordinates, to find him a way out, to smooth things over!

Understand?

Peter Kenyon nodded silently, getting the message.

Sure enough, after Abramovich’s mood improved, he looked at Pini Zahavi again.

“Pini, what do you think of Chelsea’s current situation?”

Pini Zahavi immediately grinned. “I think Hiddink is absolutely right. The current squad is already excellent. We just need to bring in reinforcements and strengthen a few specific positions.”

“This summer, the most important thing for the team is to keep Hiddink.”

“If you look at European football right now, head coaches like Hiddink, who fit Chelsea’s football philosophy and possess superb coaching abilities, are really very rare.”

Both Bruce Buck and Peter Kenyon, upon hearing this, secretly gave Pini Zahavi a thumbs-up in their minds.

No wonder this Israeli could always stay by Abramovich’s side. He knew exactly what Abramovich wanted to hear!

Signings?

Isn’t Chelsea’s current squad strong enough?

The only relatively obvious weakness was the centre-forward position.

Abramovich felt Drogba was too old and his goal-scoring efficiency wasn’t high enough, which was why he wanted to sign Džeko.

Additionally, Barça also wanted to sell Eto’o to raise a transfer fee to compete for Džeko.

So, there was really nothing wrong with Chelsea’s overall squad.

More importantly, Abramovich’s funds weren’t particularly ample at the moment.

Every word Pini Zahavi said resonated with Abramovich’s thoughts.

Especially keeping Hiddink!

“The Russian national team situation is a bit tricky,” Abramovich said, shaking his head.

“He can continue to manage both, just like now. I don’t see a problem,” Pini Zahavi said.

And believe it or not, Abramovich was actually tempted.

“I’ll think about it. You go and talk to Adam Crozier again about Džeko’s transfer.”

Abramovich was very fond of Džeko.

The tall centre-forward was so incredibly versatile, and his technical skills were excellent.

Most importantly, he was one of the best centre-forwards in world football right now!

Peter Kenyon opened his mouth slightly, but then thought better of it and said nothing.

He had wanted to remind Abramovich that poaching players from Bayswater Chinese was tantamount to helping them build their new stadium.

Initially, Abramovich had been dead set against doing that.

But on second thought, times had changed.

Suppressing the development of Bayswater Chinese was something from ages ago.

Could their West London arch-rival even be suppressed anymore?

They were developing even better than Chelsea!

If not for Abramovich’s money, Bayswater Chinese would have left them far behind by now.

Since they couldn’t be suppressed anymore, there was no need to worry about the new stadium.

Peter Kenyon didn’t dare bring up Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

That was Abramovich’s sore spot!

Anyone who mentioned it would set him off!

…

Hiddink was a very clever and also very decisive head coach.

After Džeko’s goal, the entire situation had completely changed.

Especially seeing the morale of the Chelsea players plummet, the Dutchman decisively adopted a tactic of sitting deep and defending with all their might.

This immediately shored up the team’s defense.

For the rest of the first half, Chelsea didn’t give Bayswater Chinese any more clear-cut chances.

In the second half, Chelsea made no substitutions, but their overall performance had noticeably improved.

At this point, the Blues adopted a slightly more aggressive approach and created a few chances.

But Bayswater Chinese also mounted several very good attacks.

Notably, in the sixty-third minute, Ashley Cole’s tactical foul on Maicon earned him a yellow card.

Gareth Bale took the free kick, which struck Chelsea’s crossbar and bounced back.

This sent a chill down the spines of everyone associated with the Blues.

Neither team managed to score again after that.

Yang Cheng made three substitutions, but Hiddink made none from start to finish.

Yes, Chelsea played with the same lineup for the entire match!

This, in fact, showed Hiddink’s attitude.

In the current Chelsea squad, the starting lineup was strong and formidable, but the bench had some weaknesses.

Comparatively, Hiddink was more worried that a substitution would lead to the team conceding another goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 1-0 away, with a 3-0 aggregate score.

With a double victory over their West London arch-rival, Yang Cheng’s team smoothly advanced to the Champions League semi-finals!

…

As Bayswater Chinese advanced to the Champions League semi-finals, the other three teams were also confirmed.

Meeting Bayswater Chinese in the semi-finals would be their fellow Premier League side, the Red Devils, Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team eliminated Porto in the quarter-finals to advance.

Thus, Yang Cheng’s team would once again face Ferguson’s Manchester United in the semi-finals, promising another fierce battle.

Wenger’s Arsenal advanced to the semi-finals by defeating La Liga’s Villarreal 3-0 at home.

They would face Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

Barça had thrashed Bayern Munich 4-0 at home in their quarter-final.

The ‘Football Emperor’ Beckenbauer was furious after the humiliating defeat, believing that this match exposed the huge gap between Bayern Munich and Europe’s top teams.

So, the Champions League semi-final matchups were: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United, and Barça versus Arsenal.

This was the third consecutive season that three Premier League teams had reached the Champions League semi-finals.

This clearly demonstrated the current strength of the Premier League.

Although the Premier League faced a more precarious situation due to the double pressure of a devalued pound sterling and a significant increase in income tax, the competitiveness of its teams was there for all to see.

After the four semi-finalists were confirmed, major European betting companies refreshed their odds for the title winner.

Bayswater Chinese, having done the double over Chelsea in two legs, was ranked second in the odds, behind La Liga’s Barcelona.

Guardiola’s team, with their stunning large-margin victory over Bayern, became the top favorite to win the title.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese had to go all-out against Manchester United, while the Gunners were considered a relatively easier opponent.

This was also reflected in the betting odds.

Wenger’s team was ranked last among the four semi-finalists, with Manchester United in third.

The three Premier League teams besieging Barça became a major highlight of the Champions League semi-finals.

Media and fans from all over the world were eagerly watching to see if Guardiola’s team could fight their way out of the Premier League’s encirclement and reach the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Interestingly, just after playing the Champions League on Wednesday, the FA Cup semi-finals arrived without stopping over the weekend.

This season’s English FA Cup semi-final draw was: Arsenal at home against Chelsea.

Manchester United at home against Bayswater Chinese.

The three teams in the Champions League semi-finals had all made it to the FA Cup semi-finals.

This was an unprecedented first in the history of the FA Cup!

Some even said that if Chelsea hadn’t drawn Bayswater Chinese so early, it might have been an all-Premier League top four in the Champions League semi-finals.

Wouldn’t that mean the FA Cup was as prestigious as the Champions League?

Chapter 168: Advancing to the Final! The Aggressive, Price-Hiking United!

Afternoon of April 19th, Wembley Stadium, London.

According to the FA Cup semi-final rules, the match was held at the neutral venue of Wembley Stadium.

The Bayswater Chinese were the away team, challenging Manchester United.

The match clock read 24 minutes and 12 seconds.

Ferdinand carried the ball forward from the right side of the center circle in Manchester United’s half.

From the kick-off, the two teams had engaged in a series of fast-paced attacks and defenses.

This time, the Bayswater Chinese had quickly fallen back into their own half, setting up a tight defensive formation.

After carrying the ball past the halfway line, Ferdinand, before Gareth Bale could close him down, sent a through ball forward.

Carlos Tevez made a horizontal run from the wing, received the ball with his back to goal, turned to shake off Matuidi, and drove diagonally towards the middle.

The Argentinian beast was like a rampaging bull.

Charging into the Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter zone, Tevez played a through ball before Nemanja Matić could approach.

Rooney received the ball just outside the arc of the penalty area and executed a beautiful one-two pass, a give-and-go, sending the ball right back to Tevez.

Tevez burst into the right side of the arc, feigned a shot to deceive the defenders, and then suddenly passed the ball out to the right flank.

Inside the penalty area on the right, C. Ronaldo took the shot first-time.

Vincent Kompany and Piszczek stood like two guardian deities, closing the gate simultaneously and blocking C. Ronaldo’s angle.

The Portuguese’s shot struck Kompany.

The Belgian centre-back intercepted the ball in time and passed it towards the edge of the box.

Piszczek immediately pulled out to his own right flank, received the ball, and powered forward, dribbling down the right touchline himself.

The Polish full-back’s pace was blistering, and he crossed the halfway line in an instant.

Up ahead, Robert Lewandowski was already in position, raising his hand to call for the ball.

Piszczek sent a diagonal pass with his right foot, aiming it directly towards Lewandowski’s head.

Near Manchester United’s 30-meter zone, the Polish centre-forward used his body to shield the ball from Vidić, jumped, and headed it towards the left wing.

At that moment, Gareth Bale was sprinting past the halfway line at incredible speed. He accelerated to chase the ball, getting to it just before O’Shea and poking it past him, causing the Manchester United right-back to kick nothing but air with his clearance attempt.

A gasp went through Wembley Stadium as O’Shea completely missed the ball.

Immediately after, Gareth Bale exploded with another burst of speed, sprinting forward at his absolute fastest.

In a straight-line sprint, the turning O’Shea was no match for Gareth Bale.

The Welshman flew towards the ball he had just poked ahead, quickly caught up to it, and drove straight into Manchester United’s penalty area.

Ferdinand, the last man back, rushed over immediately, but Gareth Bale reacted faster, using his raw speed to force his way past him.

Inside the left of Manchester United’s box, though harassed by Ferdinand and unable to cut inside, Gareth Bale still managed to deliver a diagonal pass with his left foot.

The ball traveled from the left side of the penalty area to the vicinity of the right corner of the six-yard box.

And at that very moment, another lightning-fast figure arrived at full tilt, meeting Gareth Bale’s diagonal pass with a simple push of his foot.

The ball shot into Edwin van der Sar’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“24 minutes in!”

“The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott, is the first to breach Manchester United’s goal!”

Walcott couldn’t wait, sprinting off the pitch and running wildly along the sideline, celebrating this crucial goal with unadulterated joy.

Behind him, Gareth Bale, Piszczek, Robert Lewandowski, and Aaron Ramsey all chased after him.

The Bayswater Chinese players huddled together on the sideline, celebrating their team’s goal.

“1-0!”

“In the end, Manchester United’s backline couldn’t withstand the repeated onslaughts from this group of young Bayswater Chinese players.”

“Manchester United fielded their starting lineup for today’s FA Cup match.”

“Ferguson’s team just finished a Champions League match, and despite deploying their best players, their overall performance has been overshadowed by the Bayswater Chinese’s group of youngsters.”

“Yang Cheng has once again delivered on his promise, still fielding a young lineup.”

“Unexpectedly, this group of young lads who lost to Manchester United in last season’s FA Cup final are playing with incredible excitement here at Wembley today.”

“They’ve shown an aggressive posture right from the kick-off.”

“Manchester United’s defense has been under immense pressure the entire time.”

…

The opening goal from the Bayswater Chinese only served to ignite the fury of the Manchester United fans who had traveled south with the team.

From the stands, they relentlessly created an atmosphere for their home team, their cheers echoing through the stadium.

In contrast, the Bayswater Chinese, playing away, remained steady and composed.

Nemanja Matić, in particular, anchored the single holding midfielder position with distinction.

His defensive coverage and interceptions were both outstanding.

This brought a nostalgic look to the face of Ferguson, seated in the manager’s box.

People often say that the older you get, the more you like to reminisce about the past.

Ferguson never used to believe it.

But now, he did.

The frequency with which he thought about past events was increasing, making him wonder if he was truly getting old.

“Mike, do you remember the FA Cup semi-final from the ’95/’96 season?”

Ferguson’s sudden question caught his assistant coach, Mike Phelan, completely off guard.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to respond.

Seeing his assistant’s blank look, Ferguson prompted him again, “It was also at a neutral venue, Villa Park. We were playing Chelsea.”

Mike Phelan looked a bit embarrassed.

“Sir, I was already at West Bromwich Albion by then.”

Ferguson was clearly taken aback for a second, trying to search his memory.

Mike Phelan used to be a midfielder, signed by Ferguson from Norwich, but Ferguson had forgotten the exact year. He knew Phelan had spent a few years at Manchester United before moving to West Bromwich Albion.

“I officially retired in the summer of ’96, but I’d already started coaching the youth team at Norwich in December of ’95.”

As Mike Phelan said this, he smiled. “I left Manchester United in ’94.”

It finally dawned on Ferguson as the memories connected.

“That’s right. We were undergoing another round of youth-focused reforms in those years.”

“Correct,” Mike Phelan nodded with a smile. “Back then, our team was very young. Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Scholes, Beckham, they were all in their early twenties.”

“Phil Neville was only 19.”

“Steve Bruce was still the captain, and King Cantona was still around.”

As Mike Phelan opened the floodgates of memory, Ferguson was drawn into reminiscence as well.

“Back then, our strongest rivals in the league were Newcastle. The London teams like Arsenal and Chelsea… they were a bloody joke back then!”

At this, Ferguson couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

“The ’95 league champion was Blackburn Rovers, with Souness as manager,” Mike Phelan added.

“That’s right. Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, the Crazy Gang Wimbledon, Coventry… they were all strong teams back then,” Ferguson said with a sigh full of nostalgia.

There was a downside to having such a long coaching career: you remembered many things more clearly than anyone else.

And it was easy to get them mixed up.

In Ferguson’s memory, those teams still felt like powerful competitors.

But in the blink of an eye, they had all but vanished.

Sometimes, if Ferguson didn’t specifically check the league tables, he wouldn’t even know which division they were in.

“The Bayswater Chinese back then were probably just an amateur team near Chinatown in central London, weren’t they?” Mike Phelan said, with a hint of sarcasm.

Ferguson didn’t comment.

“This current Bayswater Chinese team reminds me of the Manchester United from ’95/’96. They’re also a group of young players, and they’re also tearing through the league. But they’re doing even better than we did back then.”

The FA Cup in the ’95/’96 season was also legendary.

The semi-finals were Manchester United against Chelsea, and Liverpool against Aston Villa.

Ultimately, Manchester United and Liverpool met in the final.

Why did Ferguson suddenly think of that season’s semi-final?

Because in that very ’95/’96 FA Cup semi-final, in the home match against Chelsea, his team had also conceded a goal in the first half.

Gullit had opened the scoring for Chelsea.

But in the second half, Cantona first assisted Andy Cole for the equalizer in the 54th minute.

Five minutes later, Beckham scored the goal to put them ahead.

Back then, Ferguson wasn’t worried at all when his team fell behind.

Because his team was young, full of energy and vitality.

But now, after conceding a goal, Ferguson was very worried.

In his eyes, the Bayswater Chinese were more like that Manchester United of old!

Suddenly, Ferguson missed Beckham terribly.

He felt a pang of regret.

If he hadn’t pushed Beckham so hard back then, hadn’t interfered so much in his life, if he hadn’t made that kick…

Perhaps, right now, Beckham would still be running on the pitch, wearing a Manchester United shirt.

Ferguson abruptly turned his head to look at the away team’s dugout.

His best partner from back in the day, Brian Kidd, was now sitting on his opponent’s bench.

If Brian Kidd hadn’t left all those years ago, he was sure the two of them could talk for hours about the old days.

Manchester United and I… we’ve both grown old!

…

Given Ferguson’s personality and his current status, his moment of melancholy lasted only a few minutes.

The first half ended with the Bayswater Chinese holding a temporary 1-0 lead over Manchester United, thanks to Walcott’s goal.

But after the sides swapped ends for the second half, Ferguson once again launched a comeback.

In the 60th minute, he brought on Ashley Young for Scholes.

Manchester United immediately switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

Rooney and Tevez partnered up as two strikers, with Ashley Young and C. Ronaldo on the wings.

That left only Carrick and Anderson in the middle.

But the Bayswater Chinese soon created another chance.

In the 65th minute, they controlled the ball and advanced from the back, forcing Manchester United to retreat into their 30-meter zone.

On the left side of midfield, Nemanja Matić received a pass from Thiago Silva, shook off Tevez’s challenge, and pushed forward, drawing C. Ronaldo towards him before distributing the ball to the left flank.

Marcelo charged forward along the left touchline.

C. Ronaldo didn’t track back, allowing Marcelo to surge forward unopposed, driving all the way to the edge of Manchester United’s penalty area.

Anderson rushed out to provide cover, but Marcelo saw his moment and played a through ball.

The ball was passed from the outside towards the byline on the left side of Manchester United’s box.

Gareth Bale shook off O’Shea and sprinted to catch up to it, then sent a low, driven cross with his left foot to the front of the six-yard box.

Both Lewandowski, who was following up in the center, and Ferdinand failed to reach it, and the ball slipped past them.

On the right side of Manchester United’s box, Walcott chased it down. As he controlled the ball, he abruptly slammed on the brakes, pulling the ball onto his left foot, taking a touch horizontally past Vidić, and then unleashing a power shot with his left.

The ball flew straight into the left side of Manchester United’s goal!

Van der Sar, positioned on the right side of his goal, was left completely helpless.

2-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in the wild celebrations of the Bayswater Chinese fans.

The more than 30,000 Manchester United fans who had traveled south could hardly believe their team was losing so badly in their “home game.”

After conceding two goals, Manchester United launched a final desperate counter-attack.

In the 83rd minute, Ashley Young controlled the ball on the left, cut inside past Piszczek, and delivered a curling cross with his right foot towards the far post.

C. Ronaldo made a quick diagonal run towards the right post, out-jumped José Fonte, and headed the ball home, changing the score to 1-2!

In the final moments, Manchester United launched a frenzied assault.

But the Bayswater Chinese also continuously launched counter-attacks.

In the end, neither team could find the net again.

2-1!

Thanks to a brace from Walcott, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United to advance smoothly to the FA Cup final!

This was also the second consecutive season that the Bayswater Chinese had reached the FA Cup final!

…

“Brian probably curses my name quite a bit on a daily basis, doesn’t he?”

After the match, in the same room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng hosted Ferguson.

He was using the wine Ferguson had given him.

“He praises you and curses you in about equal measure,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

“He actually praises me?” Ferguson was genuinely surprised. “I don’t believe it.”

“Then you underestimate him. He has always been full of praise for your strengths.”

Of course, when it came to his faults, or some of the things he’d done in the past, Brian Kidd was merciless in his criticism.

Upon hearing this, Ferguson’s mood improved considerably.

He didn’t know why.

But hearing Yang Cheng’s words truly made him happy.

“The way you’ve developed Gareth Bale and Walcott is really excellent. Much, much better than how Liverpool developed Owen back in the day.”

With Liverpool being brought into it, Yang Cheng became more cautious.

Michael Owen was a Liverpool youth academy product, but unlike players like Gerrard and Carragher who trained at Liverpool from a young age, Owen only joined Liverpool’s academy at the age of 15.

He was more of a semi-finished product when he joined.

Back when Michael Owen burst onto the scene, he sparked a scramble among all the top clubs in English football.

The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool was the fiercest, but in the end, Owen chose Liverpool.

“You probably don’t know this, but I once invited Owen to Carrington. We talked in my office for a long time, but because of the rivalry between the two clubs, he wasn’t willing to join Manchester United.”

Even though so much time had passed, Ferguson still showed a hint of appreciation when speaking of the talented English striker.

“He and I both felt that Liverpool’s use of him was very problematic. They started overusing him when he was young.”

“Moreover, both in terms of the team’s tactics and his developmental path, they purely focused on exploiting his speed, while neglecting the improvement of his technical skills.”

“Do you know? After playing a full season, Owen still had to play for the national team. He never had enough time to rest, and he missed the best window to improve his technical skills!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but nod. “Yes, Owen was a real pity!”

As if encouraged, Ferguson launched into another tirade about Liverpool snatching Owen away from him back in the day.

Ultimately, it was a fair fight back then; Manchester United simply lost to Liverpool.

It was true that Liverpool’s conditions weren’t as good as Manchester United’s, and the coaches, from Evans to Houllier, were indeed a bit shortsighted in their development of Owen. After all, Owen was Liverpool’s star player at the time, their core weapon.

But this also led to Owen’s frequent injuries later on.

On the other hand, wasn’t Ferguson’s use of his front three last season the same?

How much had the form of C. Ronaldo and Rooney dropped this season compared to the last?

The only difference was that C. Ronaldo and Rooney were more durable than Owen and hadn’t suffered similar severe injuries.

But Yang Cheng did agree with one point Ferguson made: Owen had missed the best opportunity to improve his technical skills.

From his youth team days, especially after reaching the first team, the role Owen played was far too one-dimensional.

Gradually, from training to his playing habits, Owen would unconsciously lean towards that single dimension.

This was an inevitable part of professional football.

For example, many people remember Drogba as being very rough in his early days, with terrible shooting efficiency, only to suddenly evolve later on.

This was a superficial observation.

It involved how the head coach used the player, and how the player, in order to complete his tasks, had to make corresponding adjustments in his training and playing habits.

By the same token, what was the impression of Essien under Mourinho and the early days of Hiddink?

Why were his organizational and passing abilities suddenly unlocked when Ancelotti took over?

How were players like Mikel and Anderson gradually turned into workhorses, and how did their technical skills progressively roughen?

The most typical example was C. Ronaldo.

After he moved to Real Madrid, his gradual weakening of his dribbling and take-on abilities as a winger, while strengthening his scoring and physical confrontation, were all his personal choices.

And look at Barça’s Messi; he has also been constantly changing his style of play.

If he had stuck to the way he played when he debuted, Yang Cheng estimated that Messi would have also become a case of wasted potential.

In the end, a club’s development and positioning of a young player truly affects their entire professional career.

The path Yang Cheng was now taking with Gareth Bale and Walcott was different from Liverpool’s.

It was even different from the paths Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur took in his previous life.

And Yang Cheng could even say with great confidence that his method was the one most capable of unearthing and unleashing the potential of both players.

Of course, it would also take more time and require more patience with the players.

“By the way, Sir, are you signing anyone this summer?” Yang Cheng asked suddenly.

A hint of suspicion immediately appeared in Ferguson’s eyes. “What? You actually want me to help you drive up prices?”

Price-Hiking United?

Was this moniker going to start with Ferguson himself?

“I’m worried about you. Judging by the current situation, if you can’t find the money, you might not even secure a top-four spot next season!” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

Ferguson snorted coldly. “You should worry about yourselves.”

“If you really get picked apart this summer, you’ll be finished next season too!”

“What do I have to be afraid of?” Yang Cheng roared with laughter. “I know my own worth. If we were going to be picked apart, it would have happened long ago. Why wait until now?”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s confident words, Ferguson was genuinely moved.

He really wanted to ask Yang Cheng just how he picked his players.

How was his eye for talent so sharp?

“Ha, didn’t I tell you before? Barça’s Busquets is a sure thing. If you sign him, I guarantee you won’t have to worry about your midfield and defense for years to come.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added another highly provocative line. “Just like how you almost signed Pep Guardiola back in the day.”

When Guardiola decided to leave Barça, Ferguson had indeed come very close to signing him.

He had to admit, Ferguson was actually a bit tempted.

But then he remembered what a cunning rascal Yang Cheng was, and he couldn’t bring himself to trust him.

Could this be a ploy to trick Manchester United into an all-out war with Barça?

Yang Cheng, for his part, felt that among Barça’s Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio, Busquets was the only one who could be poached right now.

If he were really poached, Barça would be left crying.

And once Yang Cheng’s own ‘Ceremony Trio’ was assembled, wouldn’t they sweep across Europe, invincible?

As for Busquets joining Manchester United…

Well, that would certainly be very interesting!

But after thinking for a moment, Ferguson let out a helpless sigh.

It was clear he couldn’t get the money.

Just how much damage had the Glazer family done to Manchester United?

You could only say it was immeasurably vast!

Just like in 2024, many Manchester United fans were asking, with the team’s results being so terrible, didn’t the Glazer family care?

That was the charming naivety of fans!

Why should the Glazer family care about Manchester United’s results?

How much is a trophy worth?

Whether Manchester United’s results were good or bad, as long as it didn’t affect their personal financial interests, it didn’t matter.

The fans care about winning trophies; they only care about money!

Everyone knew that the Glazer family had pulled off a leveraged buyout, throwing Manchester United into chaos.

All the debt from their acquisition of the club was transferred onto Manchester United’s books.

And that was it?

No, no, no.

The three brothers all held positions at Manchester United, each drawing a handsome salary.

Furthermore, they took at least ten million pound sterling in dividend payments from Manchester United every year.

And that was it?

Not even close!

There were also consulting fees, management fees, and various other miscellaneous expenses, which added up to another huge sum.

Note, this was every year!

In other words, besides helping them pay off their debts, Manchester United was also being sucked dry by them.

For them, did it matter if Manchester United won a trophy?

Not at all!

They would only pay attention when Manchester United’s business performance declined to the point where it affected their profits.

And Manchester United wanted to invest money in signings?

Sure.

First, wait until the Glazer family has had their fill, paid off their debts, and then whatever is left can be used for transfers.

Want them to sacrifice their own interests?

In your dreams!

…

Because of the FA Cup semi-finals, the matches for the Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal were postponed to midweek.

In their FA Cup semi-final, after going a goal down, Chelsea scored twice through Malouda and Drogba.

In the end, The Blues staged a 2-1 comeback against Arsenal to advance to the final.

So, this season’s FA Cup final would be a West London derby between the Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.

It was worth noting that in the FA Cup semi-final, The Gunners did not start Andrei Arshavin.

In the midweek Premier League Matchday 33, in an away game against Liverpool, Arsenal drew 4-4, thanks to a four-goal haul from Arshavin.

Chelsea, meanwhile, drew 0-0 at home against Everton.

Manchester United, after going a goal down, came back to win 2-1 against Wigan Athletic with goals from Tevez and Carrick.

The Bayswater Chinese, playing away, defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 thanks to a goal from Džeko.

Since Manchester City won their home game 4-2 against West Bromwich Albion this round, the gap between Manchester City and Chelsea gradually widened after this matchday.

Manchester City, however, caught up to Liverpool with 68 points.

The two teams were now level on points, with The Reds ranked slightly higher due to goal difference.

But everyone could see it.

There was a high probability that Manchester City would turn things around.

…

On the weekend, Premier League Matchday 34.

Manchester City beat Everton 2-1 away, with goals from Robinho and Kaká.

Liverpool defeated Hull City 3-1 away, thanks to a goal from Xabi Alonso and a brace from Kuyt.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over West Ham United with a goal from Kalou.

Manchester United, after going two goals down, staged a remarkable comeback in the second half to beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2, with both C. Ronaldo and Rooney scoring a brace.

And Arsenal, at home, beat Middlesbrough 2-0 thanks to a brace from Fàbregas.

The Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, thrashed Stoke City 5-0 with a hat-trick from Džeko and goals from Maicon and Ángel Di María.

Stoke City’s performance this season had been decent, sitting 12th in the league and not in immediate danger of relegation.

In this match, they conceded three goals in less than 20 minutes.

By halftime, the Bayswater Chinese were already leading by five goals.

For the entire second half, Yang Cheng was essentially resting his players for the upcoming Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.

…

Three Lions vs. Barça!

This was how the media and fans around the world defined this season’s Champions League semi-finals.

And this was already the third consecutive season it had happened.

After Matchday 34 of the Premier League, Ferguson admitted for the first time that Manchester United’s dream of a quadruple was over.

But he believed that missing out on the league and the FA Cup in succession had only made everyone at Manchester United hungrier for the Champions League.

As for the Bayswater Chinese, Ferguson stated, “They are the best-performing team in European football!”

Ferguson believed that no team could easily defeat the Bayswater Chinese.

“We and the Bayswater Chinese are very familiar with each other. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so Wednesday’s match won’t be decisive.”

Ferguson felt that the players from both teams were in good form and largely injury-free.

The only question was who could successfully neutralize their opponent during the match.

“If we want to secure our ticket to the next round, we have to win our home game, and we cannot concede a goal.”

Ferguson repeatedly emphasized that keeping a clean sheet at home against the Bayswater Chinese was crucial.

“The two legs against Chelsea taught us that losing your home game can be fatal!”

This was identical to what Guus Hiddink had said after the Champions League quarter-finals: losing the first leg at Wembley and failing to score had decided the outcome of the two-legged tie.

But how to neutralize the Bayswater Chinese’s attack?

Ferguson admitted it was very difficult.

“Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Di María are still very young, but they are the fastest wingers in the Premier League.”

“Moreover, they have the best midfield combination in the Premier League, and perhaps in all of Europe.”

Ferguson confessed that the match would be extremely difficult, and Manchester United would have to give it their all.

“The same player can have a flawless performance in one match and make many mistakes in the next. These things are normal, and we can’t demand perfection.”

“But against the Bayswater Chinese, we must do our best to minimize our mistakes.”

“Because any single mistake could lead to a goal.”

Ferguson also took the initiative to talk about Tevez.

The Argentinian had been in terrifyingly good form recently, and C. Ronaldo and Rooney’s form had also clearly picked up.

Ferguson admitted that Tevez’s contract renewal had run into some problems, “But I am absolutely certain that he will stay at Manchester United!”

The outside world interpreted Ferguson’s comments as him taking a relatively conservative approach to the upcoming two-legged tie after consecutive losses in the league and FA Cup.

Meanwhile, at his pre-match press conference, after announcing the 18-man squad traveling to Manchester, Yang Cheng stated that the most important thing for the team in the first leg away from home was to secure an away goal.

“We are the defending champions. We should go for it, take some risks and try something!”

“In a match of this caliber, a Champions League semi-final, playing away from home often requires both courage and attention to detail.”

“I believe everyone understands the weight of a Champions League away goal, and we will do everything we can to get one!”

Yang Cheng didn’t reveal much about specific tactics, only repeating, “We, the Bayswater Chinese, will always stick to our past tactical approach.”

“We will not blindly change our tactics just because our opponent is Manchester United and the match is away from home. That is not our style.”

But everyone knew that both Yang Cheng and Ferguson were famously unpredictable in their strategies.

Although both renowned managers had stated their stances before the match—one defensive, one offensive.

Who could really say for sure before the game kicks off?

…

On the evening of April 29th, Old Trafford, Manchester.

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final, the Bayswater Chinese facing Manchester United away from home.

The match had been going for 70 minutes, and the score was still 1-0.

By international convention, the home team’s score is listed first, the away team’s second.

Manchester United had taken the lead in the 27th minute of the first half with a direct free kick from C. Ronaldo from a full 30 meters out, which beat Neuer. For the rest of the match, neither team had managed to score.

Surprisingly, both Yang Cheng and Ferguson had actually lived up to their pre-match statements.

Ferguson had said that the most important thing in the first leg at home was to keep a clean sheet against the Bayswater Chinese.

And in fact, that’s exactly what he did.

In his lineup, Ferguson fielded his in-form front three, dropping Berbatov and starting Tevez.

But the most important area was the midfield.

Ferguson deployed a midfield trio of Anderson, Carrick, and Fletcher.

The two veterans he had relied on most in the past, Scholes and Giggs, were both on the bench.

From this starting lineup, Ferguson’s tactical intent for the match was clear.

One word: fierce!

From the very beginning of the match, the home side, Manchester United, unveiled their trump card.

If they couldn’t defend by sitting back, and couldn’t win by out-attacking, then they would win by being aggressive!

From the kick-off, Rooney, Anderson, Tevez, and Fletcher frequently got overly physical.

Through relentless running, ferocious pressing, and aggressive defending, they constantly disrupted the Bayswater Chinese’s attacks and passing combinations.

Not only that, but Manchester United’s players actively sought physical contact.

In midfield, Anderson and Fletcher did just that against Rakitić and Modrić.

In defense, Manchester United’s defenders were the same when facing the Bayswater Chinese’s attacking players.

Especially Evra.

The French left-back’s defending was a major weak point in Manchester United’s backline.

Whether in the Champions League or the Premier League, many teams targeted Evra when playing against Manchester United.

However, tonight Evra, through tight marking, aggressive physical challenges, and decisive fouls, gave Walcott absolutely no advantage.

If, on the left flank, Gareth Bale had suppressed O’Shea, then on the right, Walcott was completely neutralized by Evra.

The French full-back was not only fast but also fierce in his defending. Coupled with Anderson providing cover on the left, Walcott really couldn’t find a way through.

By dropping the elegant Berbatov for the beastly Tevez, Ferguson had forged Manchester United’s front, middle, and back lines into a formidable, aggressive unit.

Furthermore, the head referee’s somewhat lenient officiating at Old Trafford only served to fuel Manchester United’s aggressive approach.

However, while Manchester United’s fierce tactics disrupted the Bayswater Chinese’s passing game, their own attack was also ineffective, relying solely on individual brilliance.

The Bayswater Chinese’s defense was certainly no pushover.

Only Leighton Baines on the left struggled slightly when marking C. Ronaldo, who was positioned on the right.

A foul during a defensive play in the first half gave Manchester United an attacking free-kick.

Unexpectedly, C. Ronaldo unleashed a direct free kick from about 30 meters out.

And it was a dipping free kick with a bizarre trajectory.

Neuer couldn’t do much about it.

After that, the two teams continued their intense, back-and-forth contest.

Neither could find a truly effective solution.

Yang Cheng had yet to make any substitutions, remaining as still as a mountain.

Manchester United had also made no moves.

…

When Yang Cheng glanced at the time and saw it was the 70th minute, he immediately walked back to the dugout and signaled for several players, including Di María, to start warming up.

Brian Kidd handed him a sheet of data he had just received from Gianni Vio.

“I didn’t expect us to be so evenly matched!”

Yang Cheng scanned the technical statistics; they were indeed interesting.

Possession: 48.8% to 51.2%.

Tackles: 27 to 26.

Tackle success rate: 74% to 73%.

Passes: 391 to 495.

Yellow cards: 1 to 0.

Fouls: 9 to 8.

Shots: 9 to 9.

Shots on target: 4 to 4.

Just a quick glance, and Yang Cheng found it almost absurd.

If this wasn’t a Champions League semi-final, he might have suspected the data was fabricated.

It was just too close!

But some stats weren’t so close.

For example, the number of passes.

And the time the ball was in each half.

For 55.9% of the time, the ball was in Manchester United’s half.

This was enough to prove that the Bayswater Chinese actually had the upper hand in terms of play.

But it didn’t show in the main statistics.

“They’re burning through their stamina, relying on physical confrontation and attrition to drag us down into the mud with them.”

To use a popular phrase from the future: Manchester United was dragging the technically superior Bayswater Chinese down to their level, then using a contest of strength to neutralize them.

It had to be said, this was indeed a valid strategy.

It was just incredibly draining!

That’s why Yang Cheng hadn’t made a move.

“What now?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng handed the data back to Gianni Vio and turned to look at the pitch.

The Manchester United fans in the stadium were roaring, creating an immense atmosphere.

Clearly, they all hoped The Red Devils could maintain the current scoreline.

1-0 wasn’t a big lead, but the clean sheet was what mattered.

For the second leg away from home, Manchester United would have more options.

“Let’s push a little harder. They’re bound to show a weakness. They won’t be able to keep this up physically,” Yang Cheng said with conviction.

With that, Yang Cheng turned to Gianni Vio. “Gianni, keep a close eye on the athletic performance of Manchester United’s players, especially their backline. That’s bound to be where their stamina suffers the most!”

Yang Cheng had always said that Manchester United’s squad was a bit thin.

Ferguson’s usual method was to squeeze his players for every last drop.

Last season, he had relentlessly overused his front three, running C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tevez into the ground.

This season, with the signing of Berbatov, the situation had improved slightly.

But now the backline had problems.

This season, due to injuries to Gary Neville, Wes Brown, and others, and with Evans not being up to the task, Ferguson had been using Vidić, Evra, and Ferdinand to death.

He had no choice; there was no one else!

In truth, for any other manager, these situations could have been avoided.

Wes Brown was constantly injured, and Gary Neville was already 34 years old.

But Ferguson stubbornly refused to sign reinforcements.

The midfield situation was similar. With Owen Hargreaves out for the season and Fletcher frequently injured, Ferguson had been constantly using Carrick.

This approach of Ferguson’s, especially over the last month or two, meant that neither Manchester United nor the Bayswater Chinese players had gotten any rest. But the Bayswater Chinese had squad rotation.

And Manchester United?

FA Cup, Champions League, Premier League—they had used pretty much the same lineup for everything.

Yang Cheng refused to believe it!

Were Manchester United’s players made of steel, able to run forever?

“Should we start making substitutions?” Brian Kidd asked, his face etched with concern.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “Wait a little longer. I’m guessing he’s waiting for us to make a move too.”

The “he” was Ferguson.

“Their players will tire out faster than ours!” Yang Cheng said with absolute certainty.

…

After the 70th minute, the pace of the game noticeably dropped.

By the end of April, all the players were feeling the immense strain.

For Ferguson to employ such a tactic at this stage was undoubtedly a huge risk.

By the 72nd minute, it was clear that Manchester United’s players were struggling.

So, Ferguson made two substitutions.

Scholes came on for Anderson.

The Brazilian midfielder had performed well in this match, running tirelessly in both coverage and defense.

Of course, he had also committed his fair share of fouls.

But both sides had a tacit understanding; there was only one yellow card in the entire match, given to Tevez.

And it was for a foul committed in the Bayswater Chinese half, when Tevez was counter-pressing Thiago Silva.

The other substitution was Tevez himself.

Berbatov came on.

Yang Cheng walked back to the dugout again and asked Gianni Vio, “Evra and O’Shea, whose stamina has dropped more?”

Years ago, after Yang Cheng hired Thad Foucher, he had established a system for evaluating athletic performance.

Over the years, the Bayswater Chinese coaching staff, especially the sports science department, had further refined this system, combining it with real-time data from the match to comprehensively assess the stamina consumption of players on both teams.

Of course, this was still just an assessment.

Some players, even if their stamina dropped significantly, could still perform flawlessly.

“Evra’s will have dropped more. He’s also played more minutes this season.”

Yang Cheng knew what to do. He turned to the bench and waved at Di María. “Ángel, come here!”

Di María immediately took off his warm-up jacket and ran over.

“You’re going on for Rakitić. Have Modrić support you.”

“Try to operate in the half-spaces of Manchester United, support the wingers and the centre-forward, especially on the side with Evra and Vidić.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng put an arm around Di María’s neck, pulled him closer, and said to him, word by word, “Ángel, remember, once you’re on, whether or not you can break through their defense is crucial, understand?”

“Understood!” Di María nodded emphatically.

“If you get a chance, make a forward run. If you can shoot, take it yourself. Don’t hesitate!”

“Got it!”

Yang Cheng patted Di María on the shoulder and gestured for him to run to the sideline, ready to be substituted in.

…

“He’s bringing on Di María.”

In the home team’s dugout, Mike Phelan had been closely watching Yang Cheng’s every move.

The moment he saw Di María run to the sideline, he immediately alerted Ferguson.

Ferguson saw it too.

“Who’s he coming on for?”

Just as Ferguson asked the question, the fourth official on the sideline raised the substitution board. Di María was replacing Ivan Rakitić.

This immediately made Ferguson frown.

He was clearly surprised by this substitution.

This was the second time Yang Cheng had surprised him.

Before the match, he had guessed that Yang Cheng would focus his attacks on O’Shea’s side, so he had set up his defense specifically for the right flank, especially with Fletcher.

But unexpectedly, Yang Cheng had only used Gareth Bale to pin O’Shea down.

Instead, on the left flank, where Evra was, Walcott had been given a heavy responsibility.

But The Little Tiger didn’t have many tricks up his sleeve against a defender like Evra, who could just about keep up with his pace.

This led to Walcott having a rather quiet game on that side.

Ferguson had originally thought that Yang Cheng would bring on Di María for Walcott.

He never expected it to be for Rakitić.

“He wants to strengthen their attack, especially in the half-spaces.”

Ferguson knew Yang Cheng all too well.

They had battled for years, playing so many matches each season. They were both fully aware of the tricks up each other’s sleeves.

But this led to another problem.

Manchester United still had one substitution left.

Should he use it?

And who should he bring on?

Ferguson glanced at his bench. If he needed to shut things down, there weren’t many players who could come on and make an impact.

Players like Giggs and Park Ji-sung were barely adequate for the task.

On the defensive line, there was only the youngster Evans.

But Ferguson had to be wary about Ferdinand.

The Manchester United centre-back had suffered a number of injuries this season, and Ferguson was constantly worried he wouldn’t hold up.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ferguson silently shook his head.

He immediately walked to the sideline and alerted Carrick, Scholes, and Fletcher, telling them to pay extra attention to Di María.

The last substitution slot…

He wanted to save it, just in case.

Chapter 169: A Ticket to Rome! Tonight, He Was the Best in History!

Tweet!

A sharp whistle echoed across Manchester’s Old Trafford.

The head referee quickly ran towards the penalty spot, beckoned Fletcher over, and reached into his chest pocket to pull out a yellow card.

The entire Old Trafford stadium erupted in a cacophony of boos!

The Manchester United fans had always been biased towards their own.

In their minds, on our turf, you don’t card our players!

But it was an undeniable foul, and even the Manchester United players didn’t dispute it much.

Di María had received a through ball from Yaya Touré in the left channel and was breaking forward. As he surged past Fletcher, the Manchester United midfielder, unable to stop him, pushed the Argentinian from behind.

To not give a card for such a foul wouldn’t just be lenient officiating; it would border on match-fixing.

Fletcher’s foul was also timely.

If he hadn’t committed the foul decisively, and Di María had broken through, Manchester United’s backline would have faced a massive threat, whether from a surging Gareth Bale or a pass to Džeko up front.

Stopping a dangerous Bayswater Chinese attack with one foul and a yellow card was worth it!

Gareth Bale walked over, helped Di María up, and placed the ball, which had been kicked back, on the spot.

The Welshman slowly took a couple of steps back.

The ball was about twenty-five meters from the goal, well within his range.

The position, slightly left of center, was also perfect for him to have a direct shot.

Within the Bayswater Chinese team, basically no one would contest his right to take the free kick.

Gareth Bale himself had earned it, his free-kick ability growing more and more impressive.

As the referee’s whistle blew, Gareth Bale started his run-up,冲ing towards the ball at incredible speed. After planting his right foot, his left foot whipped through, striking a curling shot.

Bale’s speed was already immense. Using the inertia from his run-up, combined with his kicking form, he poured almost all his power into this free kick.

Consequently, the direct free kick from the Welshman was extremely fast, and its trajectory was low.

It barely cleared the top of the wall before dipping sharply towards the left side of the goal.

The shot was incredibly fast and powerful. Even though Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, was fully focused and reacted quickly, he could only parry the ball away.

The ball struck van der Sar’s hands, impossible to hold onto, and immediately rebounded into the penalty area.

At almost the same instant, Theo Walcott, Ángel Di María, and Edin Džeko all charged after it at top speed.

Especially Walcott.

The Little Tiger’s reaction was the quickest, his speed the fastest, and his understanding with Gareth Bale the most intuitive.

He darted forward, entering the six-yard box. Just outside the left post, he met the falling ball with a power shot.

At the crucial moment, van der Sar threw his entire body forward, using it to block Walcott’s point-blank shot.

But the ball once again escaped van der Sar’s control.

Manchester United’s penalty area descended into chaos.

“A very dangerous direct free kick from Gareth Bale.”

“Walcott’s follow-up shot hits van der Sar.”

“There’s still a chance, Džeko shoots again!”

“Vidić blocks it with his body.”

“Manchester United are in a very dangerous situation.”

“A series of shots from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Carrick clears the ball out of play in the nick of time.”

“It’s a throw-in.”

“That was incredibly dangerous!”

“Bayswater Chinese have created the most threatening attack of the match so far.”

“It came from a direct free kick by Gareth Bale.”

“This kick had many similarities to C. Ronaldo’s free kick earlier, just one was from the right and the other from the left.”

“Gareth Bale’s strike was also extremely threatening; it almost resulted in a goal.”

The entire Old Trafford stadium broke out in a cold sweat.

The Manchester United fans cheered loudly, encouraging the Red Devils’ players.

Three consecutive shots, thankfully all were blocked.

Otherwise, Manchester United’s goal would have been breached!

The thought sent a shiver of fear through the Red Devils’ players.

Especially as the match entered the seventieth minute, they could clearly feel their own stamina and that of their teammates draining away. They were gradually failing to keep up with the tempo set by Bayswater Chinese.

In terms of fitness, Yang Cheng’s team was clearly superior.

Moreover, Ángel Di María, who had just been substituted on, was proving to be much more active.

The Argentinian’s dribbling and breakthroughs were also very threatening.

His direct, straightforward runs, in particular, were causing Manchester United’s defense a great deal of trouble.

…

“Don’t always try to force your way through them, thinking about dribbling past everyone.”

After Gareth Bale’s direct free kick failed to breach Manchester United’s goal, the subsequent throw-in also came to nothing.

As they walked back, Modrić came alongside Di María to offer some advice.

“Your strength isn’t your physique, it’s your technique and speed!”

“You need to pass more, run more!”

“We’ll all be there to support you!”

Di María understood that his style of play was sometimes not concise enough.

It was a common flaw among South American players.

Just like a moment ago, he could have broken through Fletcher’s defense more quickly, but his first touch on the ball had been a bit sluggish.

In a tight defensive system like Manchester United’s, that was truly fatal.

Neither Fletcher nor Scholes was particularly fast.

With Modrić’s reminder, Di María immediately realized that head coach Yang Cheng’s purpose in sending him on was to use his skill on the ball and his speed to create opportunities in the half-spaces and midfield.

“I understand,” Di María nodded, having learned his lesson.

Modrić patted Di María on the shoulder and turned to run off.

…

Time quickly ticked by to the eighty-third minute.

Bayswater Chinese had almost completely taken control of possession and the tempo of the game.

Manchester United could only passively absorb the pressure, organizing a tight defense.

The Red Devils were clearly hoping to hold on to their 1-0 lead until the end of the match and keep a clean sheet against Bayswater Chinese.

But the away team’s objective was to score.

Yang Cheng soon made his second substitution, bringing on Robert Lewandowski for Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger had indeed struggled today under Evra’s tight marking.

But Yang Cheng didn’t blame him.

Even players as great as C. Ronaldo and Messi have moments when they are neutralized, let alone Walcott.

It was especially difficult for Walcott to shine when Manchester United were defending deep.

After the substitution, the right flank was largely entrusted to Maicon.

In the eighty-sixth minute, Maicon dribbled the ball forward on the right and passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian waved for Maicon to press forward, indicating that he would cover the right flank defensively.

But as Maicon made a quick overlapping run along the right touchline, Modrić didn’t pass to him. Instead, he played a direct forward pass.

Di María cut in from the right wing, and as he received the ball, he instantly glided past Scholes.

The Argentinian’s sublime footwork was on full display in that moment. After receiving the ball and shaking off his man, Di María immediately accelerated and sent a through ball with his left foot towards the right side of the arc of the penalty area.

Maicon had pushed up to the right winger position, drawing Evra out with him.

Robert Lewandowski was positioned on the right side of the arc, while Džeko was inside it.

As Di María’s pass reached Lewandowski’s feet, the Polish centre-forward controlled it. Vidić immediately closed in from behind, while Carrick simultaneously tracked back to double-team him.

Ferdinand decisively moved forward.

The Manchester United centre-back saw Džeko entering the box and feared Lewandowski would pass to him.

Ferdinand’s positioning perfectly cut off the passing lane between Lewandowski and Džeko.

If the ball were passed, he could intercept it with a single step forward.

But Lewandowski used his arm to hold off Vidić behind him. As he turned to shield the ball, he saw that the pass to Džeko was impossible.

But he immediately thought of another option.

Di María had used his speed to shake off Scholes and was now sprinting forward.

The Argentinian shouted Lewandowski’s name.

The two were in perfect sync. The Polish centre-forward used the outside of his left foot to gently flick the ball to his side.

Di María swept past Lewandowski, knocking the ball into the penalty area and making a beeline for the right side of the six-yard box.

A charging Di María was like an eagle of the Pampas—incredibly fast. He instantly pierced through Manchester United’s defensive line, reached the ball just outside the right of the six-yard box, and, with a direct Rabona, chipped the ball into the center.

In the most critical moment, his body’s instincts took over, and he reverted to the method of play most familiar and natural to him.

The ball was chipped up by Di María and dropped into the middle of the six-yard box.

Almost simultaneously, two figures in gray-gold jerseys arrived at speed.

Gareth Bale and Džeko both leaped for the header, forming a double threat on goal.

In the end, it was Džeko, who was closer to the center and in a better position, who got there a step ahead. He headed the ball towards the far post, directing it towards the left side of Manchester United’s goal.

Gareth Bale, just behind him, headed nothing but air.

But the ball flew straight into the Manchester United net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“The eighty-sixth minute, the eighty-sixth minute!”

“Bayswater Chinese have breached Manchester United’s goal!”

“It’s the Bosnian centre-forward, Edin Džeko!”

“A golden header!”

“Džeko has leveled the score for Bayswater Chinese with a brilliant header!”

“1-1!”

“What a precious away goal!”

“Bayswater Chinese have finally broken through Manchester United’s defense!”

“Ferguson’s team defended with all their might for the entire match, but in the final moments, the substitute Di María assisted Džeko’s header with a magnificent Rabona cross!”

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed to the sideline, celebrating wildly.

Di María even leaped onto Džeko’s back, cheering with immense excitement!

The television cameras also focused on the touchline.

Yang Cheng jumped into the air, pumping his fists repeatedly, venting his inner excitement.

In the home team’s dugout, Ferguson shook his head with some disappointment.

Clearly, he was not satisfied with this result.

But there was nothing he could do!

…

After equalizing at 1-1, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared, and they continued to launch fierce attacks on Manchester United.

The Red Devils, on the other hand, defended with all their might.

Ferguson made his final substitution, bringing on Evans for Tevez to further strengthen the defense.

But even so, in the eighty-ninth minute, Di María got the ball on the right side of the attacking third and found himself cornered by two defenders, Evra and Evans.

The Argentinian first nutmegged Evra, then with a series of dribbles, he maneuvered around Evans, somehow managing to bring the ball out from the double-team.

However, his final cross with the outside of his left foot was met by Lewandowski at the near post, who hit the outside of the right post, and the ball bounced out for a goal kick.

The Polish centre-forward threw his head back and roared in frustration, looking exceptionally vexed.

That could have been a goal in the Champions League semi-final!

How many professional players go their entire careers without scoring one!

And he had just missed such a close-range shot!

Manchester United retreated even more compactly.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Manchester United away from home.

The moment the final whistle blew, Old Trafford was filled with a torrent of boos.

No one was satisfied with this result.

Except for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Especially when Yang Cheng saw Ferguson’s face after the match—he looked like he’d lost millions of pounds on a horse race—it felt incredibly satisfying.

“I told you, didn’t I? With your current squad, you can’t pull it off!”

There was still a second leg, and Yang Cheng didn’t mind kicking someone when they’re down.

If Manchester United couldn’t make it work now, they would be in even worse shape next season.

Because C. Ronaldo had already decided to leave this summer, and it was basically a done deal that he was going to Real Madrid.

Everyone knew this.

Ferguson was truly at a loss for words.

His strategic goal for this match was to defeat Bayswater Chinese, or at the very least, secure a draw while keeping a clean sheet.

But what now?

They got the draw, but they conceded an away goal.

This was below Ferguson’s bottom line.

A precious away goal would be truly fatal for Manchester United.

“You just wait for me at Wembley!”

Ferguson spat out a threat in a fit of anger and then stormed off.

“He’s rattled!”

Having secured a favorable result, Yang Cheng was in high spirits. He pointed at Ferguson and said to Brian Kidd with a laugh.

“Look at him, he’s completely rattled!”

But after the joke, both Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd’s smiles faded as they began to focus on the match itself.

Except for the beginning of the game and when clearing the ball, Manchester United hadn’t employed an all-out defensive strategy.

But Ferguson’s aggressive, physical style of play had still caused significant disruption for Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester United themselves couldn’t create many threatening attacks, but neither could Bayswater Chinese.

…

After the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese faced their Premier League matchday thirty-five over the weekend.

On matchday thirty-four, Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Stoke City 5-0, securing ninety points.

Meanwhile, second-placed Manchester United had only seventy-seven points.

Bayswater Chinese’s lead had stretched to thirteen points.

With only four rounds left in the league, Yang Cheng’s team had already clinched the league title ahead of schedule.

Therefore, for this round’s away game against Chelsea, which fell conveniently between the two Champions League semi-final legs, Yang Cheng fielded a team of all substitutes and young players.

All the regular starters were rested, allowing them to conserve energy and prepare to face Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

Chelsea, in contrast, were fighting with all their might for a top-four finish.

Guus Hiddink’s team had not given up yet.

Just fifty seconds into the match, Anelka scored the opener for Chelsea, assisted by Drogba.

It was his first goal in three months.

But just three minutes later, Bayswater Chinese successfully equalized.

After a dribbling run through the middle, Aaron Ramsey played a through ball. From the right edge of the penalty area, Lewandowski unleashed a long shot that pierced through the goal guarded by Čech, leveling the score.

However, in the tenth minute, Anelka played a through ball, Drogba crossed from the right, and Malouda made an overlapping run to score, putting Chelsea ahead once again.

But in the fourteenth minute, Eden Hazard made a series of dribbles down the left flank. After breaking into the penalty area, he was fouled by Alex and went down.

The head referee saw it clearly and awarded a penalty kick.

Lewandowski converted it coolly, scoring a brace and equalizing the score once more.

Subsequently, both sides had their chances, and the match remained deadlocked until the eighty-third minute of the second half, when Drogba scored another goal for Chelsea.

In the end, The Blues defeated Bayswater Chinese 3-2.

Although they lost the match, Yang Cheng’s group of young players performed commendably, earning unanimous praise from the media and fans.

Having already won the title and with their focus diverted to the Champions League, fielding a full substitute lineup and still managing to fight Chelsea’s main team to a 2-3 result away from home was a testament to the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s players.

It was worth noting that for the FA Cup final, Bayswater Chinese would also be fielding a team predominantly composed of young players.

Yang Cheng also repeatedly emphasized that the next three matches would provide more playing time for the younger squad members.

Among the other matches this round, Yang Cheng was most concerned about Manchester United.

The Red Devils were playing away against Mr. Southgate’s Middlesbrough.

Ferguson fielded a half-strength, half-substitute lineup.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 away from home, thanks to goals from Ryan Giggs and Ashley Young.

But players like Berbatov, Rooney, Vidić, O’Shea, Scholes, and Giggs all played the full ninety minutes.

Evra also played for eighty minutes.

Yang Cheng understood Ferguson’s arrangement.

To put it bluntly, Manchester United’s situation was not yet completely secure.

A top-four finish was highly probable, but they couldn’t afford to keep dropping points.

If they failed to beat Middlesbrough in matchday thirty-five, what if something unexpected happened in their next two matches, a home game against Manchester City on matchday thirty-six and a home game against Arsenal on matchday thirty-seven?

As fortunes ebb and flow, Manchester United’s top-four position would become precarious.

Therefore, Ferguson’s decision to field such a lineup against Middlesbrough was a necessary one.

In this round, Manchester City beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at home in a decisive victory.

Arsenal defeated Portsmouth 3-0 away.

Wenger’s team also fielded mostly substitutes, but the exceptional performances of Bendtner and Carlos Vela were too much for Portsmouth to handle.

Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 at home.

After thirty-five rounds of matches, Manchester United had eighty points, Arsenal had seventy-eight, Liverpool and Manchester City both had seventy-four, and Chelsea had seventy-one.

The race for the top four in the league had reached a fever pitch.

With three rounds remaining, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea could all potentially drop out of the top four.

Such a fierce battle for Champions League qualification had truly never been seen before in the history of the Premier League.

…

On the evening of May fifth, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, with Yang Cheng’s team securing a precious away goal.

This gave Bayswater Chinese a certain advantage in the second leg at home.

However, the starting lineups of both teams were rather surprising.

Yang Cheng stuck with his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Matuidi and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Walcott.

Addressing the issues exposed in the first leg, Yang Cheng made an adjustment in midfield, starting Matuidi instead of Rakitić.

Because Yang Cheng was certain that Ferguson would continue to engage Bayswater Chinese in a physical battle.

Matuidi could inject strength into the team’s midfield and apply more pressure on Manchester United.

More importantly, starting the French midfielder would bring more variation to the team’s midfield play.

As for the front three, despite a lackluster performance in the first leg, Yang Cheng still trusted Walcott, continuing to start the Little Tiger.

This was also a way of making a statement.

Ferguson’s starting lineup was also a statement of his intent.

Goalkeeper: Van der Sar;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and O’Shea;

Midfield: Anderson, Carrick, and Fletcher;

Forwards: Ashley Young, Rooney, and C. Ronaldo.

There were basically no changes in the defense and midfield, which indicated that Ferguson would continue with the same tactics from the first leg.

But there was a slight difference up front.

Ashley Young started instead of Tevez, playing as a left winger.

So where was Tevez?

The Argentinian beast was on the bench.

This was a very strange phenomenon.

In the league match last weekend, Tevez didn’t play at all.

At the time, everyone thought the Argentinian beast was saving his energy for the Champions League.

But now, it seemed Ferguson still hadn’t started him.

According to intelligence gathered by Yang Cheng and his scouts, it was likely related to Tevez’s contract renewal.

As the season neared its end, Ferguson was still hoping to apply pressure to force Tevez and his management team to relent, signing the Argentinian beast for a lower transfer fee and a lower weekly wage.

Before the match began, when Yang Cheng received Manchester United’s starting lineup, his first reaction was that it was a bit strange.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd even speculated that Tevez and Manchester United must have had a falling out.

“Only that can explain why Ferguson would drop Tevez in such an important match!”

Yang Cheng’s analysis was logical and reasonable.

Since they were using Ashley Young, Manchester United’s tactics would also have to change accordingly.

Bayswater Chinese’s specific tactics would also need to be adjusted in response.

…

After the match started, the home team, Bayswater Chinese, launched an initial offensive onslaught.

First, just two minutes in, Matuidi, after a series of slick one-two passes in the attacking third, unleashed a long shot.

Although it didn’t threaten Manchester United’s goal, it served as an early statement of intent.

After that, Bayswater Chinese created another wave of attacks, earning two consecutive corner kick opportunities.

Unfortunately, Manchester United were well-prepared for this.

Their defense on both corners was very successful.

After a ten-minute offensive burst, Bayswater Chinese deliberately slowed down their attack.

Manchester United seized the opportunity to launch a wave of attacks of their own.

It wasn’t until the thirteenth minute that the visiting Red Devils had their first shot of the entire match.

C. Ronaldo’s long shot was caught securely by Neuer.

From the fifteenth minute onwards, the match gradually settled into a steady state.

Bayswater Chinese still wanted to control possession and tempo, trying to break down Manchester United’s defense with their slick passing.

The Red Devils, on the other hand, continued to leverage their physical advantage, actively seeking confrontations and disrupting Bayswater Chinese’s passing and organization by breaking up their play.

This had been very effective in the first leg.

Especially in their defense and midfield, Manchester United’s defensive formation was like an impenetrable fortress, solid as a rock.

Yang Cheng had been observing constantly since the start of the match.

Especially Manchester United’s players.

Combining data and analysis from Gianni Vio and others, Yang Cheng made his first major adjustment of the match in the twenty-first minute.

During a break in play, he called over the right-back Maicon, who was closer to his side of the pitch.

“Tell Modrić and Matuidi to make fewer forward runs. You and Yaya Touré should push up more, especially you.”

“You and Walcott need to coordinate well, make more runs into their half-spaces!”

“Got it!”

Maicon nodded solemnly in agreement.

After taking a sip of water, the Brazilian full-back quickly ran back onto the pitch.

He soon relayed Yang Cheng’s instructions to his nearby teammates.

Yang Cheng quickly noticed that Maicon, on the side closer to him, began to push forward more aggressively and became more active.

As Ashley Young’s former head coach, Yang Cheng knew the player well and understood his technical characteristics.

He had good speed and some dribbling ability, but his biggest threat came when he received the ball on the left wing, cut inside, and passed with his right foot. This was Ashley Young’s greatest tactical value.

Ferguson obviously hoped to leverage this strength, having him look for the overlapping C. Ronaldo.

Standing on the sidelines, Yang Cheng had already seen Ashley Young consciously attempting this pattern several times.

But Yang Cheng immediately alerted Thiago Silva.

As a result, every time Ashley Young tried a diagonal pass to C. Ronaldo, it was disrupted by either Thiago Silva or Yaya Touré.

And since Ashley Young rarely made direct forward runs on the left, combined with his characteristics, Yang Cheng arranged for Modrić to stay back and cover, confident that it would be sufficient.

In the first leg, whether it was Rooney, Tevez, or even C. Ronaldo who appeared on the left flank on several occasions, they had all put immense pressure on Maicon.

But in the second leg, Ashley Young was not doing enough in this regard.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had to unleash Maicon.

Furthermore, the presence of Matuidi gave Yaya Touré more confidence to surge forward.

…

When the match reached the thirty-fourth minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back near the halfway line in a tackle.

After dispossessing Anderson, Modrić immediately launched a counter-attack, passing the ball to Maicon on the right.

Maicon sprinted down the right flank, caught up to Modrić’s pass, saw Walcott in the half-space, and immediately played a diagonal ball to him.

Manchester United’s defenders retreated very quickly. The Little Tiger had no opportunity, so he controlled the ball with his back to goal, dribbled back, and passed it back to Modrić.

By this time, Manchester United’s midfielders, including Anderson and Carrick, had all returned to their positions.

The Red Devils’ two defensive lines in their own half had basically taken shape.

On the left, Gareth Bale was pulling O’Shea wide.

Modrić advanced a step with the ball and saw Maicon making a diagonal run from the right touchline to behind Anderson, raising his hand for the ball.

Without a second thought, the Croatian sent a through ball.

The ball passed between Anderson and Carrick.

Maicon cut into the half-space, intercepting Modrić’s pass behind the two Manchester United midfielders and continued to drive forward.

Evra and Vidić were side-on, retreating while keeping a close eye on Maicon’s every move.

But Anderson and Carrick had both successfully turned and immediately closed in to sandwich Maicon.

There was also Ashley Young, diligently tracking back.

As Maicon entered Manchester United’s thirty-meter zone, there were astonishingly five defensive players in the right half of Manchester United’s defensive area.

Walcott made a clever forward run, positioning himself between Vidić and Carrick, ready to receive a pass from Maicon.

Džeko was between Vidić and Ferdinand.

Gareth Bale was near the left corner of the penalty area.

The entire front three were ready to make runs and attack the goal at any moment.

But Manchester United’s encirclement of Maicon was gradually taking shape.

Everyone knew that if the ball got through, it would undoubtedly be a very dangerous attack.

The problem was, Manchester United weren’t going to let Maicon pass.

And all of this happened in the blink of an eye.

After breaking into the thirty-meter zone with the ball, Maicon immediately made his decision.

Especially when he saw both Anderson and Carrick closing in on him.

This was a tactic Manchester United had used frequently in both legs.

But this tactic worked on Walcott, not on Maicon.

The Brazilian right-back used his left shoulder to hold off Anderson. Before Carrick could close in, the inside of his right foot suddenly swept the ball horizontally.

Carrick thought he was about to pass forward and immediately stuck out a leg to block.

Unexpectedly, Maicon’s horizontal pass went right through his open legs.

A brilliant horizontal pass that broke Manchester United’s defense.

Not only were Manchester United’s defenders deceived, but even the three Bayswater Chinese attackers up front were fooled. They were all surging forward, taking Manchester United’s defenders with them.

And just outside Manchester United’s arc, a tall, powerfully built man in a red jersey was seen charging up all the way from the back.

As Maicon’s pass arrived, Yaya Touré controlled it with the inside of his left foot, took another step forward, and swiftly struck the ball with his right.

The entire Wembley Stadium could clearly hear a dull thud, as if the very air had exploded.

The football shot out from under Yaya Touré’s foot like lightning, rocketing into the left side of Manchester United’s goal.

Van der Sar reacted quickly, diving sideways, but he was ultimately a fraction too late.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Yaya Touré!!”

“In the thirty-fourth minute, Yaya Touré has pierced through Manchester United’s goal with a long shot from outside the penalty area!”

“1-0!”

“The aggregate score is now 2-1!”

“That was a brilliantly executed counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Maicon, surrounded by five defenders, somehow managed to get the pass out.”

“And then, Yaya Touré’s long shot did not disappoint his teammate’s brilliant assist, smashing home a spectacular worldie!”

“Van der Sar really did his best!”

“At his age, to make such a save is truly remarkable, but Yaya Touré’s long shot was too fast and too powerful, there was simply no time to stop it!”

In an instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted!

Ninety thousand Bayswater Chinese fans were all cheering wildly, screaming hysterically!

If the away goal in the first leg had given the team an advantage, then Yaya Touré’s long shot had just further consolidated it!

…

“Bayswater Chinese are truly terrifying right now!”

In the Manchester United dugout, Mike Phelan, after seeing Yaya Touré score a worldie, shook his head with a look of helplessness, saying with no small amount of dejection.

“Their tactical options are too rich, too many variations!”

Before this match, the fact that Ferguson had benched Tevez was something that not just the outside world, but even the Manchester United coaching staff and dressing room, only found out at the last minute.

That’s why Tevez was even sitting on the bench.

Ferguson’s intention was clear.

Yang Cheng knew Ashley Young well, so he didn’t want to give Yang Cheng any time to react.

Unexpectedly, during the match, Yang Cheng used his starting lineup, utilizing the players at his disposal, to adjust his tactics and come up with different strategies to target the problems in Manchester United’s formation.

Many people said that Ferguson’s Manchester United was led by an ever-changing mastermind.

The reason was that Ferguson was very adept at using different players to create different attacking combinations.

For example, Park Ji-sung, Ashley Young, Nani, and others all displayed different characteristics under Ferguson’s management.

This made them a very difficult opponent to face.

But what about Yang Cheng?

Was he not also ever-changing?

Under Yang Cheng’s adjustments, even the same group of players could produce different attacking variations.

Is he really only twenty-nine years old?

How is that possible?

Besides tactical richness, Bayswater Chinese’s entire tactical system was also very stable.

As the team with the youngest average age in Europe’s top five leagues this season, Bayswater Chinese’s average age was only twenty-two.

This should have been a very unstable age group.

But somehow, Yang Cheng had integrated this group of young players into a mature and stable tactical framework, enabling them to play a very consistent and sharp brand of attacking football.

This made Mike Phelan feel very helpless.

If he were the head coach, facing such an opponent, he really wouldn’t know how to play.

“If you had to choose, who would you consider signing from Bayswater Chinese this summer?” Ferguson suddenly asked.

Mike Phelan was first stunned, then overjoyed.

Right, if we can’t beat them, can’t we just buy their players?

What are big clubs for?

Big clubs are for when I can’t beat you, but I can gut your team!

“Neuer, Maicon, Yaya Touré, Gareth Bale, Walcott, Džeko…”

“Wait!”

Ferguson hurriedly raised his hand to interrupt the jubilant Mike Phelan, a somewhat embarrassed look on his face.

If that bastard Yang Cheng were here, he’d probably say: Why don’t you Manchester United just buy our whole club!

Got the money?

Keep dreaming!

“I meant, who do we need the most.”

“The most needed?” Mike Phelan found it difficult to choose.

He felt that every one of Bayswater Chinese’s players was someone Manchester United desperately needed.

It felt like a waste no matter who he picked or left out.

“Yaya Touré.”

“Why?”

“Our midfield really needs strengthening. If we used a combination of Yaya Touré and Carrick, think about it. Carrick doesn’t often push forward, so Yaya Touré could be unleashed. Our midfield would definitely go up another level.”

After a pause, Mike Phelan added, “Actually, if this summer…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but implied, “I think Gareth Bale and Walcott would be excellent choices.”

Ferguson was actually very tempted.

He saw shades of Owen in Walcott, but Yang Cheng’s development of Walcott convinced him that the Little Tiger would definitely be better than Owen.

As for achievements, that might be difficult, because Owen was a Ballon d’Or winner.

Gareth Bale reminded Ferguson of C. Ronaldo; the two were very similar.

But Ferguson quickly shook off the tempting thought.

He knew that Yang Cheng would never sell Gareth Bale and Walcott.

Both of these domestic players were carefully nurtured by Yang Cheng and were beloved by the home fans.

As for Yaya Touré…

Ferguson thought for a moment. He decided to find an opportunity to talk to the Glazer family and try to sign Yaya Touré.

Just as Yang Cheng had said before, if they didn’t strengthen their squad with new signings after sending C. Ronaldo off this summer, how would Manchester United compete next season?

…

The first half eventually ended with Yaya Touré’s worldie.

After the teams switched sides for the second half, Manchester United tried to start with an offensive flurry.

First came a power shot from C. Ronaldo’s left foot, followed by a curling shot from Ashley Young’s right, but both were collected by Neuer.

Then, in the fifty-sixth minute, Bayswater Chinese turned the tables and quickly launched a counter-attack.

Maicon dribbled rapidly down the right flank. After crossing the halfway line, he immediately sent a through ball to the right side of the attack.

Džeko quickly pulled wide to the right to receive Maicon’s pass, where he was tightly marked by Vidić.

The Bosnian centre-forward first controlled the ball, turned, shielded it, then dribbled horizontally towards the center with his left foot. Before Evra could get back in position, he played a horizontal pass.

The ball was passed to the right half-space, into the path of the high-speed overlapping Maicon.

The Brazilian full-back ran from behind Evra, darting into the half-space. After receiving the ball, he passed it horizontally again towards the center, to Walcott who had been sprinting along with him.

The Little Tiger heard Maicon’s shout, immediately slowed down, caught up to the Brazilian’s horizontal pass, and then sent a chipped pass over the top with his right foot into the right side of the penalty area.

At almost the same instant, Maicon, who had been sprinting at top speed, burst into the right side of the penalty box. Meeting Walcott’s chipped pass, without taking a touch, he volleyed it with his right foot.

Van der Sar came out halfway, diving in an attempt to parry the ball away.

But Maicon’s volley was struck so fast and hard that it gave him no time to react.

The ball flew straight into the Manchester United net.

The entire Wembley Stadium once again erupted in celebration!

Ninety thousand fans simultaneously shot out of their seats, all wildly chanting Maicon’s name.

The Brazilian also ran furiously, leaving the pitch to celebrate his goal.

“Magnificent!”

“Absolutely magnificent!”

“Who would have thought that Bayswater Chinese’s most potent attacking threat in this match would be their right-back, Maicon!”

“This is simply unbelievable!”

“In the first half, Maicon already had a beautiful overlapping run that resulted in an assist.”

“This time, he simply did it himself, sprinting seventy meters, combining brilliantly with his teammates, and finally scoring with a stunning volley to once again breach Manchester United’s goal!”

“Ferguson’s defense stopped Bayswater Chinese’s front three, they stopped their midfield combination.”

“In the end, Manchester United fell at the feet of Maicon!”

“Who could have predicted it? Who would have dared to believe it?”

“Since joining Bayswater Chinese, Maicon’s performances have gotten better and better, especially in the last two seasons, sparking intense debate about whether he, Dani Alves, Lahm, or others is the best right-back in the world.”

“But I believe that after tonight, such discussions will become very, very rare.”

“It might not even be necessary to discuss it anymore.”

“With his outstanding performance this season, Maicon is undoubtedly the world’s best right-back, no questions asked!”

“Especially his performance in this Champions League semi-final tonight.”

“Looking back through the history of world football, it would probably be hard to find another right-back as outstanding as Maicon.”

“Tonight, his brilliance outshone his predecessor, Cafu!”

…

After Maicon scored the second goal, the aggregate score became 3-1.

Manchester United now needed to score two goals to turn the tide.

But Yang Cheng didn’t immediately switch to a defensive posture; instead, he continued to attack.

He seemed to have the idea of capitalizing on their momentum and trying to score more goals.

And Maicon became increasingly active on the right flank.

He first won an attacking free-kick on the right, then delivered a sublime pass. Walcott received the ball on the right, cut inside, shook off Evra, and his curling shot with his left foot aimed for the top-left corner almost went in.

Then, in the sixty-third minute, Gareth Bale suddenly cut inside from the left, reached the left side of the arc of the penalty area, and unleashed a long shot with his right foot, aiming for the bottom-left corner.

Fortunately, van der Sar was quick to react, making a diving save to tip the ball behind for a corner kick.

But it was enough to send a cold shiver down the spines of everyone at Manchester United.

Who would have thought that these two wingers from Bayswater Chinese could also cut inside and shoot.

If Gareth Bale were on the right and Walcott on the left, that would be normal.

But the problem was, one was on the left, and the other on the right, and both were using their weaker foot.

That was a bit frightening.

Ferguson was out of options. He immediately walked to the touchline and signaled for the team to retreat and defend.

They had no choice but to defend!

Bayswater Chinese’s momentum was too strong, their attacks too fierce. If they didn’t stabilize their formation quickly, who knew how many goals they would concede?

And as Manchester United fell back to defend, they surrendered all possession and control of the game.

Bayswater Chinese smoothly took charge, controlling the tempo with even greater ease.

Although Ferguson brought on Giggs and Scholes in the seventieth minute, hoping for a comeback to turn the tide, it was too late.

Manchester United’s morale was shattered, especially in midfield, where they had completely lost control.

This meant that under the overall pressure from Bayswater Chinese, although Manchester United managed to create a few somewhat threatening attacks, they could never create a clear-cut scoring opportunity.

Neuer stood firm in front of the goal, giving the Manchester United players no chance for a comeback.

As the match entered the eightieth minute, the listless performance of the Manchester United players made it clear to everyone that the Red Devils’ fate was sealed.

In the end, thanks to a goal and an assist from Maicon, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 2-0 at home.

With an aggregate score of 3-1, Bayswater Chinese had earned their ticket to Rome!

Chapter 170: Another Premier League Title! Barça, Do You Remember that 4-0 in Monaco?

“YES!!!”

The moment the final whistle blew, in the small town of Stourbridge on the western outskirts of Birmingham, a little boy with Ronaldo’s iconic 2002 haircut cheered excitedly.

At this moment, like countless children all over the world, he was celebrating the victory of the Bayswater Chinese.

Beside the boy, another child, around four years old, was held tightly by their Black mother.

But hearing his older brother’s cheers, the four-year-old also began to dance with excitement.

“The Bayswater Chinese won!”

The boy with the distinctive haircut turned excitedly and hugged his white father, looking exceptionally thrilled.

“They really won!”

“They’re in the Champions League final for the second year in a row!”

“This is amazing!”

The father had also enjoyed the match, but he wasn’t as ecstatic as his son. Instead, he looked at his wife with a sense of resignation.

The Black wife shook her head helplessly. “It’s all your fault for always taking him to play football. Now look at him, all he thinks about is playing and watching matches, completely neglecting his homework.”

“It’s fine. His skills are excellent. I believe he can become a professional player one day!”

“A professional player?” The mother let out a soft laugh. “You think it’s that easy?”

After a pause, she looked at her husband again. “You’ve played for over a decade, struggling in the amateur leagues. You’ve scored so many goals, yet you couldn’t make it to professional football. How can he?”

“He should focus on his studies, get into a university, and find a good job. Then the high tuition fees we pay every year won’t be for nothing.”

The young boy attended a private convent school in Edgbaston, a suburb southwest of Birmingham. The annual tuition was twenty to thirty thousand pound sterling, a significant burden for their family.

That was why the husband, a police officer, played amateur football matches every weekend.

Over the years, the white father had made a name for himself on the amateur circuit, known for his goal-scoring prowess. Many amateur clubs would invite him to “lend a hand,” calling it a transfer.

In reality, there was always an appearance fee.

The father relied on his salary and the appearance fees from football to support the family.

The Black mother was an employee at a company, working in Human Resources.

Their family was a bit unusual; the husband was only thirty-three, while the wife was already thirty-nine.

And in all matters, big or small, the wife usually had the final say.

Now that his wife had spoken, the husband didn’t say anything more.

It was the boy with the haircut who grew anxious.

“Mum, my teacher at school said I’m the best football player she’s ever seen.”

As he spoke, he affectionately hugged his mother’s arm. “Mum, I think I can be a professional player. Please let me try.”

He then turned and pointed at the television, which was showing the Bayswater Chinese players celebrating wildly.

“I’ll go to the Bayswater Chinese. You heard it just now, they’re the best and strongest team in England!”

“How is that possible? Don’t be ridiculous!”

The mother tried to soothe her son’s emotions, thinking it was just a child’s passing whim.

“Do you know how few players the Bayswater Chinese youth academy recruits each year? And do you know how many people apply?”

The boy was naturally clueless.

But he vaguely understood what his mother meant.

It was very difficult to get into this club’s youth academy!

“When I was playing in Leamington, a teammate of mine did take his kid to the Bayswater Chinese youth trials,” the husband casually mentioned from the side.

“See, see! Mum, Dad’s teammate did it too. Can we go try?”

The mother shook her head. “How is that possible? Aren’t there geographical restrictions for youth recruitment?”

“Usually, but some cases are special. Like us, he’s under six and hasn’t been registered with any other youth academy. If he really gets selected, there are many ways to get around the rules.”

“If it really comes to it, we could even move closer to there.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Hearing her husband say this, the mother became a little agitated. “It’s nearly two hundred kilometers from here to London. If we move the family there, how will you get back to work?”

The husband chuckled. “It’s manageable, just a bit far. But look, from Leamington to London, it’s only about a hundred kilometers.”

Leamington was a small town just south of Coventry, about one hundred and twenty kilometers from London.

The white father had “transferred” from his hometown team, Stourbridge, to Leamington in 2008.

“Denise, I really think we should give it a try,” the husband said earnestly.

His wife wasn’t an overbearing or completely unreasonable person, and she fell silent.

“I’ve heard from my teammates in Leamington that the Bayswater Chinese have the best youth academy in the Premier League, maybe even in Europe. Their academy is equipped with dormitories, and the hardware and software standards are world-class.”

“Besides, they place a huge emphasis on academics. They partner with good schools in West London, and the club hires excellent teachers at high salaries to specifically help the children with their homework and improve their studies.”

“That’s why their Key Stage 2 SATs have a one hundred percent pass rate at level 5 for English and Maths. Some kids even reach level 6.”

“That high?” His wife, Denise, was surprised.

Was this still a football club?

Even the private school her son was attending couldn’t guarantee a one hundred percent pass rate at level 5 on the SATs.

Level 4 was the most they could manage.

It might only be a one-level difference, but if a child wanted to apply to good private or public schools, the minimum SAT requirement was level 5 or higher.

“That’s what makes their youth academy so professional. If a child doesn’t meet the academic standards, their football training is suspended. It’s a way of being responsible to us parents. Even if the child doesn’t have the potential to make it in football, they can leave the academy and continue their education without any delay.”

Hearing her husband’s explanation, Denise was genuinely swayed.

The reason she spent so much money on a private school was so her children would study well.

If what her husband said was true, the Bayswater Chinese youth academy was far better than their current private school.

More importantly, it was free!

They would save twenty to thirty thousand pound sterling a year in tuition fees.

“But, Mark, do you think we have a chance of getting in?”

Her husband, Mark, nodded firmly. “We can try. If we fail this year, we’ll go again next year. He’s only six, so we can try for at least three more years.”

After a pause, he added, “This kid inherited your genes; he’s very athletic. Don’t be fooled by how skinny he is, he’s actually very fast and agile. He’s been training with me all these years and has a real talent for the game.”

“Over the next little while, I’ll focus on him, give him some special training. I believe he has a good chance.”

Denise was a very decisive woman. Upon hearing her husband’s words, she nodded immediately. “Alright then, let’s give it a try. If he gets in, we’ll figure out the rest. If he doesn’t, it’s all just talk.”

At this, Denise pulled the boy with the haircut close and looked at him seriously.

“Jude, are you sure you want to go to London to play football?”

The little boy was clearly frightened by his mother’s tone. He thought she was against it and was about to deny it.

But when he saw his father beside him, giving him encouraging looks, he mustered his courage.

“Yes, I want to play for the best club in England!”

“Good. Then you need to train hard. Mum will sign you up, and then Mum and Dad will take you to the trial!”

The little boy was instantly thrilled again, jumping up and down with joy. He was about to dash out the door to practice in the yard outside.

Mark and Denise could only look on, speechless.

What time was it!

Overnight, media outlets all over the world were scrambling to report that the Bayswater Chinese had reached the Champions League final for the second consecutive season.

Having already secured the league title, they had now advanced to the finals of both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

This left the media and fans worldwide in awe.

Could it be? Was the Treble really on the cards?

The Times published a commentary after the match, stating that the Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United to advance to the Champions League final was thoroughly convincing.

“Whether it was the 1-1 draw in the first leg at Old Trafford or the 2-0 victory in the second leg at Wembley Stadium, the Bayswater Chinese demonstrated outstanding dominance!”

The Times believed that Yang Cheng had clearly learned his lesson from last season’s “failure.”

The biggest change was in the Premier League.

With the maturation of Džeko and the rise of players like Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, and Theo Walcott, the Bayswater Chinese had been extremely efficient in accumulating points in the Premier League this season.

They not only performed well against top teams but also consistently secured points against mid-table and lower-table teams, allowing them to establish an early lead in the league.

It was this substantial lead in the Premier League that allowed the Bayswater Chinese to play with much more ease in the second half of the season.

“Fighting on three fronts has barely affected the Bayswater Chinese. When necessary, they can even afford to temporarily sacrifice the league!”

The Times also attributed the Bayswater Chinese’s excellent performance this season to the growth and improvement of their backup players.

Players born in the 90s, like Aaron Ramsey and Eden Hazard, had all performed splendidly this season.

“Backup centre-forward Robert Lewandowski has already scored 15 goals in the Premier League this season, ranking 3rd on the league’s top scorers chart, a very significant improvement from last season.”

“And what about the English Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott?”

“They have both scored 12 goals in the Premier League, also surpassing their tallies from last season.”

“And Ángel Di María, who was heavily criticized in the first half of the season, has so far scored 8 Premier League goals.”

“It can be said that the outstanding performance of the Bayswater Chinese is the result of a collective team explosion!”

The Times asserted that the current Bayswater Chinese team was undoubtedly the most competitive in the Premier League.

But this season, the best performer in the Bayswater Chinese squad was the Bosnian centre-forward, Džeko.

So far, no other player in the Premier League had scored more than 20 goals.

Including C. Ronaldo.

Džeko’s goal count had already reached 26, making him the most dangerous attacking player in the Premier League this season.

Looking across Europe’s top four leagues, only La Liga’s Eto’o, with 27 goals, was ahead of Džeko. Top scorers like Diego Forlán, David Villa, and Ibrahimović were all currently behind him.

With his outstanding performances over two consecutive seasons, the Bosnian centre-forward had joined the ranks of elite strikers.

More importantly, among all the top scorers, he had the most assists and was the most well-rounded centre-forward in terms of technical attributes.

Many media outlets even considered Džeko to be the most complete super centre-forward in world football today.

This was especially true after the 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the second leg.

The Times commented that Džeko’s performance, aside from not scoring, was nearly perfect.

“Facing Manchester United’s tight defense, Džeko’s movement effectively drew out Manchester United’s defenders.”

“For the first goal, the space for Yaya Touré’s long shot was created by Džeko’s forward run, which pulled back defenders like Ferdinand and Vidić.”

“The second goal is even more obvious; Džeko’s move to the flank and lay-off directly created space for Walcott and Maicon.”

In this context, Džeko had become the undisputed number one superstar in the Bayswater Chinese team.

And he was a year younger than C. Ronaldo.

“If Manchester United’s C. Ronaldo is worth one hundred million euros, then how much is the Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko worth?”

The day after the Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United with an aggregate score of 3-1, Barça beat Arsenal with an aggregate score of 5-2.

Wenger’s Gunners had drawn 2-2 with Barça at home in the first leg.

Back at Camp Nou, Pep Guardiola’s team defeated Arsenal 3-1.

It was worth noting that Barça was also running away with the La Liga title this season and had also reached the final of the Copa del Rey.

In other words, Barça was also challenging for the Treble this season.

If Guardiola’s team successfully won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, they would become the first Spanish team in history to win the Treble.

This had the media and fans in Catalonia extremely excited.

Some Barça mouthpieces had even started proclaiming Guardiola’s team as “Dream Team Three.”

As the final obstacle on Barça’s path to the Treble, the Bayswater Chinese naturally faced intense belittlement from the Catalan media and fans.

Europe’s three major betting companies released their odds.

William Hill gave the Bayswater Chinese odds of 2.00, and Barça odds of 1.73.

Bwin narrowed the gap slightly, with Barça at 1.80 and the Bayswater Chinese at 1.90.

This showed that the public generally favored Guardiola’s Barça more.

But whether in terms of odds or team strength, the difference was marginal.

Yet in the mouths of the Catalan media, this immediately became: “Barça are the clear favorites, Bayswater Chinese universally written off.”

The statement wasn’t factually wrong, but it was clearly stirring up drama!

The English media immediately launched a counterattack, predicting that the Bayswater Chinese would successfully defend their title in Rome.

“This will be the first time a team has successfully defended the Champions League title since its rebranding!”

The Daily Telegraph went a step further, listing multiple reasons why the Bayswater Chinese would defeat Barça.

Among them was their previous encounters in European competitions, where Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese held a superior record, which was enough to boost the Premier League team’s confidence.

“Barça, have you forgotten about that 4-0 in Monaco?”

As a Premier League head coach, Wenger was very disappointed with the result after his team’s defeat at Camp Nou.

He gave high praise to Guardiola’s Barça, admitting defeat gracefully.

However, Wenger believed it was hard to say who would come out on top in the Champions League final between Barça and the Bayswater Chinese.

“If the Bayswater Chinese want to win the final, they must figure out how to neutralize Messi!”

Wenger believed Arsenal’s failure at Camp Nou was due to their inability to contain Messi.

“I am very disappointed. We gave Messi too much space, which allowed him to score two goals. Otherwise, the match wouldn’t have been decided so early.”

Wenger thought that the Bayswater Chinese’s defense would be much better, and therefore, he favored them to win the Champions League final.

“Yang Cheng is just this season’s FA Cup and Champions League trophies away from true greatness!”

Wenger’s comments seemed to carry a hint of hoping Yang Cheng would avenge him.

However, judging from global public opinion, both the media and fans seemed to favor Barça more.

Despite being the defending champions, the Bayswater Chinese were the underdogs.

This was partly due to the curse of the defending champions, and partly because the Bayswater Chinese still lagged slightly behind Barça in terms of fan base and brand influence.

This led to Barça immediately becoming the top favorite to win as soon as the Champions League final matchup was announced.

After the Champions League semi-final, the Premier League returned for its 36th round.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

Džeko, who had missed several scoring opportunities and failed to score in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, was extremely active in this match.

Just six minutes into the game, Džeko received the ball in the penalty area and drew a foul from Aston Villa defender Luke Young, earning a penalty kick.

The Bosnian centre-forward stepped up and converted the penalty he had won.

The first half ended 1-0.

Aston Villa’s tight defense held firm for the remainder of the first half.

But just one minute into the second half, Luke Young, under pressure from Di María, made a misplaced pass. Džeko intercepted the ball in the attacking half and unleashed a long shot from the edge of the box, piercing Aston Villa’s goal once again.

2-0!

Then, in the 59th minute, the Bayswater Chinese won a corner kick.

Rakitić took the corner, sending it to the near post.

Pepe’s header was saved by goalkeeper Brad Friedel, but the ball fell into the box, creating a chaotic scramble.

Amidst the chaos, Džeko had a flash of inspiration, using a backheel—a dragon flicking its tail—to send the ball into Aston Villa’s goal. 3-0!

Hat-trick!

The Bosnian centre-forward was so excited that he sprinted off the pitch, receiving the cheers of over eighty thousand fans at Wembley Stadium.

In the end, thanks to Džeko’s hat-trick, the Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

In the same round, Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 away, with Gerrard scoring a brace.

But the real focus was on the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

Manchester United, fresh from their grueling Champions League semi-final against the Bayswater Chinese, returned to their home ground and showed an aggressive intent from the start, launching a series of early attacks.

But in the 6th minute, Robinho dribbled down the left flank and, after a brilliant combination with Kaká, Kaká feinted past Carrick on the left side of the box and fired a right-footed power shot into Manchester United’s goal.

After that, Manchester United launched continuous attacks.

But in the 29th minute, Manchester City scored again. Kaká broke through the middle and delivered a perfect pass at the edge of the penalty area. Robinho evaded the young Rafael da Silva and shot to score, extending the lead.

For the rest of the match, no matter how much Manchester United attacked, they couldn’t breach Manchester City’s goal.

It wasn’t until the 88th minute that C. Ronaldo scored with a direct free kick from about 25 meters out.

2-1!

Manchester City, with a goal and an assist from Kaká, defeated Manchester United away from home.

This was a minor upset!

Ferguson was furious after the match.

Losing the local derby was a huge blow to Manchester United.

Especially in the League table.

After 36 matches, the Bayswater Chinese had already clinched the title, which was a given.

Manchester United were on 80 points, followed by Arsenal with 78, Liverpool and Manchester City with 77, and Chelsea with 74.

With only two rounds left in the Premier League, the race for the top four was still on.

What made things particularly difficult for Manchester United and Arsenal was that in the upcoming 37th round, the Gunners would travel to Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United.

This was an absolutely crucial, life-or-death battle.

Therefore, the match attracted intense attention from fans all over the world.

Old Trafford, Manchester.

Premier League, round 37. Manchester United hosted Arsenal.

In the 13th minute, Arsenal’s midfield exchanged a series of passes, with Gourcuff and Fàbregas creating an opportunity through their interplay.

The Spanish midfielder switched the ball to the right wing. Andrei Arshavin shook off Evra, made a diagonal run into Manchester United’s penalty area, forced his way to the byline, and sent a cross in front of the goal.

Van Persie darted in from behind, getting ahead of Ferdinand to tap the ball into Manchester United’s net.

At that moment, Wenger, sitting on the bench in the away team’s technical area, leaped to his feet, cheering wildly, looking like he wanted to gloat right in Ferguson’s face.

Manchester United quickly launched a counterattack.

Unfortunately, five minutes later, a diagonal pass from Carrick found Rooney, whose header went just wide of the post.

After that, no matter how hard both teams attacked, they were always just a little off.

C. Ronaldo took three direct free kicks, but they were either blocked by the wall or missed the target.

By the end of the match, neither side managed to score again.

Ultimately, Arsenal, thanks to van Persie’s goal, defeated Manchester United 1-0 away.

Ferguson’s team had lost two consecutive home games!

This was truly quite unbelievable!

If the home loss to Manchester City in the previous round could be blamed on the Champions League semi-final, with Manchester United being distracted by fighting on two fronts while Manchester City were focused solely on the league…

Then this round’s loss to the Gunners revealed Manchester United’s predicament.

Especially regarding Carlos Tevez.

The Argentine “Beast,” who had been in excellent form previously, was continuously excluded from the squad, which was baffling.

After losing this match, the Gunners, with 81 points, leapfrogged Manchester United into second place in the League table.

After a long season, Wenger’s team finally showed the effects of their strengthened squad.

Both in attack and midfield, the Gunners had delivered very good performances.

Even Gourcuff, under Wenger’s guidance, had produced an impressive display in the second half of the season, forming a commendable dual core with Fàbregas.

Meanwhile, in their away game against Newcastle, the Bayswater Chinese conceded a goal in the 15th minute.

It was the same old problem.

They pushed too far forward. Nolan sent a through ball from midfield, and the lightning-fast Martins successfully beat the offside trap for a one-on-one, and scored.

But in the 41st minute of the first half, Džeko scored from close range in the six-yard box, leveling the score against Newcastle.

After the break, in the 60th minute, Newcastle centre-back Bassong fouled Džeko and was shown a direct red card.

The Bayswater Chinese were awarded a free kick, and Vincent Kompany headed home.

2-1!

The Bayswater Chinese had come from behind to win away at Newcastle.

In the same round, Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away.

Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 away.

Chelsea defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home.

After 37 rounds, the Bayswater Chinese continued to lead.

Arsenal, with 81 points, overtook Manchester United to become second in the Premier League.

The Gunners had leapfrogged Ferguson’s Manchester United with this victory.

This also created another incredible situation.

Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City were all on 80 points.

Chelsea, with their win, reached 77 points.

In other words, heading into the final round of the league, not only was the fourth spot undecided, but all the rankings from second to sixth were also still up for grabs.

Moreover, in the relegation battle, Sunderland, Hull City, and Newcastle were still fighting for survival in the final round.

In this unprecedentedly fierce Premier League season, both at the top and in the relegation zone, teams faced an extremely intense competitive environment. All clubs had to invest more to have a chance of retaining their Premier League status or securing a top position.

Thus, all eyes turned to the final round, the 38th round of the Premier League!

Wembley Stadium, London.

Premier League, round 38. The Bayswater Chinese hosted Everton.

Since clinching the title early, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff had shifted their focus to the two finals: the FA Cup and the Champions League.

The FA Cup was scheduled for the weekend after the league season ended.

The Champions League final was on the Wednesday after the FA Cup final.

So, there were only three days between the two finals.

It was exactly the same as last season, the only difference being the opponents.

Yang Cheng and his coaching staff had learned from last season’s experience and improved the team’s preparation plan.

For the Bayswater Chinese, the home game against Everton was just one part of their preparations.

For this match, Yang Cheng fielded a line-up of half regulars and half young players.

Everton, at this point in the season, had nothing left to play for. They focused on defending with all their might, at times appearing overly passive.

But just before halftime, Hazard broke through on the left wing and sent in a cross.

Džeko, who had followed up in the center, received the ball, rounded the onrushing goalkeeper, and slotted it into the net.

1-0!

After the break, the dynamic of the match remained unchanged.

The Bayswater Chinese continued to proceed steadily and surely.

It wasn’t until the 78th minute that Džeko, with his back to goal, received a pass from Hazard. He turned, shook off his defender, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that once again found the back of Everton’s net.

2-0!

The Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Everton, thanks to Džeko’s brace.

When the final whistle blew, thunderous applause erupted throughout Wembley Stadium.

Although the match wasn’t exactly a clash between top teams, the fact that there would be a league title award ceremony after the game meant that ninety thousand fans still filled Wembley Stadium to capacity.

As the whistle blew, the Bayswater Chinese players stormed onto the pitch.

The group of young players were all exceptionally excited and ecstatic.

Many of them had experienced the team’s title win two years ago.

But back then, many of them were not regular starters.

For them, this was the first Premier League title they had won as key players!

Yang Cheng, in contrast, appeared very calm.

For him, the real moment of celebration had already passed.

In fact, this season’s Premier League title had been in his grasp as early as February.

Yang Cheng first embraced his assistant team, coaching staff, and employees one by one, then went to the away team’s technical area to shake hands with David Moyes.

Although in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Moyes’s managerial career had taken a nosedive after he took over from Ferguson at Manchester United, from which he never recovered, the man was genuinely a very capable head coach.

From a purely coaching perspective, Ferguson hadn’t made a mistake in choosing Moyes.

Unfortunately, coaching Manchester United at that time, a giant club like Manchester United, coaching ability wasn’t the most important thing.

In fact, to put it bluntly, coaching ability was the least important thing!

“Congratulations, Yang!” Moyes offered his heartfelt congratulations.

Everton had no conflicts with the Bayswater Chinese, so he naturally had no issue with Yang Cheng.

And in many ways, Moyes was very much in tune with the times.

For example, his use of Mikel Arteta.

Among British head coaches, there weren’t many who could properly utilize a deep-lying playmaker.

Moyes was one, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Redknapp was another.

Because of this, Yang Cheng chatted a little longer with Moyes.

By the time Yang Cheng returned to the home team’s technical area, the waiting Bayswater Chinese players lunged at him like a pack of hungry wolves, lifted him up, and tossed him high into the air.

This had become a ritual every time they won a title.

After the players’ celebration ended, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and other executives came down from the stands to the front of the home team’s technical area to congratulate Yang Cheng and the players.

This past season, the Bayswater Chinese had not only achieved outstanding results on the pitch but had also performed very well in business operations.

Average attendance reached eighty-five thousand.

This season, in the Premier League and Champions League, the Bayswater Chinese played a total of 25 home games. With an average ticket price of 45 pound sterling, their ticket revenue alone reached a staggering 95 million pound sterling.

And that was just ticket sales.

So far this season, all 166 VIP boxes at Wembley Stadium had been sold out.

This was not only the first time in the history of the Bayswater Chinese that all their VIP boxes were sold, but also a first for Wembley Stadium.

Yes, you read that right.

Not even the England national team could sell out all 166 boxes.

But the Bayswater Chinese had done it!

Although detailed figures weren’t yet available, these 166 boxes would generate at least over 20 million pound sterling in revenue for the Bayswater Chinese.

This meant that even without including retail, merchandise sales, and other income, the Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue would exceed 120 million pound sterling.

Whether calculated in euros or pounds, this set a new historical high for the Bayswater Chinese.

Thanks to the significant increase in home matchday revenue, current estimates suggested that the Bayswater Chinese’s total revenue for the season would definitely exceed 250 million pound sterling, approaching or even matching Manchester United’s revenue.

Whether they could surpass Manchester United, however, remained to be seen.

However, La Liga’s Real Madrid and Barça were far ahead in terms of income.

A major reason why the Bayswater Chinese had closed the gap, and even caught up to Manchester United, was the substantial increase in matchday revenue brought by Wembley Stadium.

In this area, Manchester United was limited by the hardware of Old Trafford and couldn’t possibly keep up with the Bayswater Chinese.

For one, the stadium capacity difference was sixteen thousand, and ticket prices in London had always been the highest in England.

Add to that the income from 166 boxes.

Manchester United’s matchday revenue was now lagging behind that of the Bayswater Chinese.

This was the huge advantage that a large stadium brought.

According to Adam Crozier’s assessment, the Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue still had considerable potential to be tapped.

If they could maintain an attendance of ninety thousand, meaning a full house every match, matchday revenue could rise to another level.

Retail income also had great potential.

This was because the Bayswater Chinese’s average retail income per match this season was only eight hundred thousand pound sterling, which was lower than that of several giant clubs.

This was mainly limited by some of Wembley Stadium’s hardware.

To give the simplest example, the number of fans that the commercial spaces could serve during the 15-minute halftime break was limited.

If service capacity couldn’t be further improved, then revenue during the peak halftime consumption period would hit a ceiling.

That’s why Manchester United, despite having a capacity of only seventy-four thousand and far fewer boxes than Wembley, still achieved a matchday revenue of 100 million pound sterling.

With a strictly controlled salary structure and record-breaking revenue, knowing Xia Qing, Yang Cheng was sure they could extract at least another 100 million pound sterling this season to invest in the construction of the new stadium.

But it was still a tough situation.

Although construction had only been underway for a year, the Bayswater Chinese had already invested nearly 200 million pound sterling.

This money had been accumulated over the past few years through Yang Cheng’s scrimping and saving, selling every player he could.

Another 100 million pound sterling this season would barely be enough to feed the gold-swallowing beast that was the new stadium.

Fortunately, with the spread of the subprime mortgage crisis, the emergence of the European debt crisis, especially the depreciation of the pound and the continuous interest rate cuts by the Bank of England, various policies were being introduced.

Adam Crozier was actively liaising with the UK government and the London city government, seeking policy support.

Once the policies were in hand, they would immediately start negotiating loans with banks.

For Yang Cheng, the bigger the loan, the better. The interest rates were so low anyway.

Besides, with a larger loan, the Bayswater Chinese would face much less financial pressure.

However, Xia Qing also revealed that the banks would certainly not blindly offer an excessively high amount. Her initial estimate was a maximum of 400 million pound sterling, and the Bayswater Chinese would have to find a way to cover the rest.

This wasn’t surprising when you thought about it.

With Arsenal’s financial standing, they had only managed to secure a loan of just over 200 million pound sterling.

Even if Yang Cheng had to sell everything he owns and mortgage all his assets, getting a 400 million pound sterling loan would be a cause for major celebration.

Of course, this was a low-interest loan they could get from the banks.

They would take it and spend it first.

If the new stadium construction really ran into funding problems, they could ask the UK and London governments for help. If that didn’t work, there were many other ways to raise funds, just with higher capital costs.

The current Bayswater Chinese team would never find themselves in the same dire straits as in 2003.

“How did the talks go?”

Yang Cheng asked with concern when he saw Xia Qing and the others come down.

They had a very important task today: to host guests from Italy.

A business delegation led by Bvlgari Group CEO, Francesco Trapani.

A group of over a dozen people had come to London specifically to inspect the Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project.

This was another of Adam Crozier’s masterpieces!

The moment he heard that Bvlgari was planning to open a hotel in London, he acted decisively, pulling many strings to get in touch with the Bvlgari Group.

After a long period of contact, they had finally made some substantial progress.

“They no longer doubt the strength of our Bayswater Chinese. As for the location, they need to go back and discuss it further and conduct more inspections,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

This was already considered smooth progress.

This was a major project.

There were only two Bvlgari Hotels in the world at present, and the location of the third was eagerly anticipated.

An investment of this scale from the Bvlgari Group certainly required extreme caution.

“Did our Mayor of London come?” Yang Cheng asked, concerned.

Yang Cheng was now recklessly leveraging the Olympics for all it was worth, squeezing out every possible benefit.

No money?

Then endorse us!

Thus, for this meeting with the Bvlgari Group, Adam Crozier had even managed to invite the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

“He left after the match. He made a lot of grand promises and offered many attractive policies. He clearly did his best.”

Yang Cheng understood.

People in their line of work had their own set of rules.

“It’s good that he came. Let’s keep in touch with them,” Yang Cheng affirmed the efforts of Adam Crozier and his team.

If they could really bring in the Bvlgari Hotel, Yang Cheng would truly strike it rich.

If nothing else, his new stadium would become much more valuable!

“By the way, Adam, my father will be leading a team to London for an inspection in a few days. You need to prepare for their reception.”

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had known about this for a while.

Xia Qing had already made many preliminary preparations.

This time, the inspection team led by Yang Jianguo included not only people from Yang’s Real Estate but also the head of China’s largest high-end department store enterprise and the head of a Hong Kong-based global luxury hotel chain.

There were also top executives from several of China’s leading cross-border tourism companies.

This made Yang Cheng admire his so-called father’s abilities.

He said he wanted to open a department store and a hotel in London, and he was really preparing for it.

He didn’t know how?

He had the connections to find those partners.

When they heard that the Bvlgari Group was also coming to inspect, his so-called father and his associates became even more anxious and enthusiastic.

It was common knowledge that Bvlgari Hotels always had a Bvlgari boutique on the ground floor, a guaranteed traffic-driver among top luxury brands.

If they could open next to a Bvlgari Hotel, they would save a lot on advertising costs.

Although it was his own family’s business, Yang Cheng’s attitude was clear.

An idiom meaning that business is business, even among close family; accounts must be settled clearly.

All partnerships would be treated equally, and not a penny of the required payment could be short.

While Yang Cheng was talking with Xia Qing and the others, the FA Chairman, David Triesman, accompanied by CEO Ian Watmore and others, walked towards them.

Alerted by Xia Qing, Yang Cheng noticed them and immediately went to greet them.

David Triesman had succeeded Geoff Thompson as FA Chairman in December 2007.

Before that, he had always worked in the British government, once serving as the General Secretary of the Labour Party.

Before taking over the FA, he was the Minister for Education and Skills.

After leaving his post, Geoff Thompson became a Vice-Chairman of UEFA.

But as the saying goes, when a person leaves, the tea gets cold.

As soon as Geoff Thompson left, the former CEO, Brian Barwick, also stepped down. He was forced out by David Triesman, and the reason was rather ridiculous.

Brian Barwick had done a good job in business and commercial matters, but David Triesman felt that he had performed poorly in politics.

Or rather, he lacked political awareness.

To be even more blunt, he had backed the wrong side!

How was this demonstrated?

After forcing out Brian Barwick, in February 2009, David Triesman brought his own deputy from the Department for Education and Skills, Secretary-General Ian Watmore, into the FA as CEO.

The reason given was also compelling: Ian Watmore had 24 years of experience in the IT industry.

David Triesman believed that Ian Watmore’s IT industry experience could effectively promote innovation within the FA.

But shortly after he took office, the British media revealed that Ian Watmore’s background was even more complex than Barwick’s, and his political stance might not align with David Triesman’s.

For now, though, their relationship was still quite good.

Yang Cheng always stayed clear of political masters like David Triesman, but he handled the interaction with ease, being courteous and thorough, leaving the other party with no room for dissatisfaction.

Maintaining a harmonious relationship with the FA was also very necessary.

Fortunately, the interaction was brief.

Soon, the awards podium was ready.

As the star of the day, Yang Cheng took the opportunity to excuse himself and went over with his players.

Chapter 171: Specialist in Buying at Rock Bottom! If You Like Anyone From Bayswater Chinese, I’ll Poach Them!

As the final whistle blew on the thirty-eighth round of the Premier League, media and fans around the world breathed a collective sigh of relief.

It was too intense!

Who had ever seen a league season where, on the final day, five teams were still battling for three of the top four spots?

Unheard of, right?

This Premier League season was truly one of a kind!

The last few rounds, in particular, were a rollercoaster of emotions.

Bayswater Chinese had led the pack early on and secured the league title, which was ironically the least suspenseful part of the season.

Manchester United, on the other hand, went from competing with Bayswater Chinese for the title to being overtaken by Wenger’s Arsenal. Even on the final day, the Red Devils were in a precarious position.

All matches in the thirty-eighth round kicked off simultaneously.

Arsenal, playing at home against Stoke City, scored three goals in just seven minutes, establishing an early lead.

After a season of integration, Wenger’s team had clearly improved in overall strength.

Their performance in the second half of the season was particularly impressive.

Liverpool hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

Benítez’s team took the lead in the twenty-ninth minute with a goal from Torres.

From then on, the Reds kept Tottenham Hotspur pinned back.

Manchester City played Bolton at home, and just eight minutes in, Kaká opened the scoring.

At this crucial moment, the Brazilian demonstrated his tactical value.

Chelsea’s chances of finishing in the top four depended on Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City losing. Only then would they have a chance to stage a comeback.

Guus Hiddink’s team had a somewhat rocky match away against Sunderland, with the first half ending in a goalless draw.

But after the break, Hiddink went on the offensive, engaging Sunderland in an all-out attacking battle.

Anelka, Kalou, and Ashley Cole all found the back of the net.

Although their defense also conceded goals, they ultimately secured a narrow 3-2 victory over the Black Cats, Sunderland.

All the other contenders had won their matches; only Manchester United remained scoreless.

Ferguson’s team was playing away at Hull City, who were seventeenth in the Premier League.

Only four points separated sixteenth-place Sunderland from nineteenth-place Middlesbrough.

Sunderland was two points ahead of eighteenth-place Newcastle.

In other words, the final day’s relegation battle was incredibly fierce.

That’s why Sunderland fought tooth and nail against Chelsea.

Since joining the Premier League, Hull City had been thrashed all season, conceding a staggering sixty-eight goals, the most of any team in the league up to that point.

They had even conceded one more goal than the bottom of the table team, West Bromwich Albion.

Logically, facing a team like Hull City, even away from home, Manchester United should have had it in the bag.

But what was the result?

Ferguson’s team couldn’t break the deadlock against Hull City.

The Tigers, playing at home, displayed an unprecedented level of spirit and determination, fighting Manchester United as if their lives depended on it.

Phil Brown’s 4-2-3-1 formation showed no fear against a full-strength Manchester United side and even managed to put them under pressure at times.

They had no choice. A sum of forty to fifty million pounds sterling was at stake.

Relegation and survival were worlds apart.

Hull City was relentlessly pressing Manchester United.

The Red Devils had been eliminated from the Champions League and the FA Cup by Bayswater Chinese, missed out on the league title, and had been in poor form recently, losing at home to both Manchester City and Arsenal.

This had many people deeply concerned.

Facing a ferocious Hull City, Manchester United seemed to be out of ideas.

Fortunately, Ferguson’s team was solid in defense, stubbornly protecting their goal.

The stalemate continued.

With Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea all sealing their victories one by one, the pressure mounted on Manchester United.

But that was the thing about this Manchester United team.

Whether it was Rooney or C. Ronaldo, the more desperate they became, the less effective they were.

The match dragged on into the ninetieth minute of the second half, and even into stoppage time, Manchester United still hadn’t scored.

If the match ended with the current scoreline, Hull City would survive relegation, while Manchester United would be knocked out of the top four, replaced by Manchester City.

This was an outcome Ferguson could not accept under any circumstances.

In the final minute of stoppage time, with Ferguson and the Manchester United players having thrown caution to the wind in a frantic offensive, Ashley Young received the ball on the left flank, cut inside past a defender, and sent in a diagonal cross with his right foot.

The ball sailed over the sea of heads in the penalty area, dropping towards the far post.

At almost the same instant, C. Ronaldo darted forward like a lightning bolt, launching himself into the air. In a god-like leap, he drove a fierce and powerful header into the back of Hull City’s net.

Goalkeeper Myhill was helpless against the point-blank header.

C. Ronaldo was practically ecstatic!

This was his nineteenth Premier League goal of the season!

But it was, without a doubt, the most important one!

It had carried Manchester United into the Champions League.

The Sky Television commentator, losing his composure, screamed, “That goal is worth over thirty million pounds!”

“This summer, Manchester United must do whatever it takes to keep C. Ronaldo, to keep the hero who brought them into the Champions League!”

Manchester United had ultimately fought their way into the Champions League.

The unlucky ones were their cross-town rivals, the Blue Moons, Manchester City.

After all thirty-eight rounds were completed, Arsenal had eighty-four points. Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool all had eighty-three points, while Chelsea had eighty.

It was no surprise that the Blues missed out on next season’s Champions League.

Manchester City, however, had held a Champions League spot for nearly ninety minutes.

But at the last moment, C. Ronaldo’s header extinguished their hopes.

According to Premier League rules, when points are tied, goal difference is the first tiebreaker, followed by total goals scored, and finally, head-to-head results.

Thanks to the rules, Manchester United leapfrogged both Liverpool and Manchester City to finish third in the Premier League, with Liverpool in fourth.

At the final moment, Manchester City was pushed off the train to next season’s Champions League.

The three teams relegated from the Premier League this season were West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough, and Newcastle.

This sparked heated discussions among media and fans throughout England and across the world.

The Baggies were one thing.

But Middlesbrough was a well-known powerhouse in the Premier League.

And Newcastle was a former top-tier giant of the league.

Now, they had all been relegated.

This left many long-time Premier League fans sighing with nostalgia.

…

Yang Cheng, however, wasn’t sighing at all.

These old-school teams had long failed to keep up with the times. If they weren’t relegated, who would be?

Besides, Newcastle had been put up for sale by their chairman, Mike Ashley, on the shelves of The City of London for years, with no takers.

Why?

Because no one knew just how big Newcastle’s financial black hole was.

But Yang Cheng had a rather bad habit.

At the end of every season, he would scan the relegated teams from the top four leagues to see if there was anyone Bayswater Chinese needed.

It was an old habit he’d developed over the years.

He’d become something of a specialist in buying at rock bottom.

What could he do? His team was poor back then, wasn’t it?

Besides, to raise funds for the new stadium, didn’t they have to tighten their belts and be frugal?

Did he think pound sterling was like chives in a field, ready to be harvested crop after crop?

There was really no one on the West Bromwich Albion squad that caught Yang Cheng’s eye.

It wasn’t that he was being picky; the Baggies were just not that strong.

Middlesbrough was a bit better.

Yang Cheng could only express his admiration that Mr. Southgate, the future England manager, had managed to get such a decent team relegated.

The biggest name on that Middlesbrough team was undoubtedly international winger Stewart Downing.

But with Bayswater Chinese’s current winger lineup, if Yang Cheng hesitated on Downing for even a second, it would be a betrayal of the Executive Vice-King of Football, the English Twin Stars, and King Zha.

If West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough were considered commoner teams with limited strength, then there was Newcastle.

Yang Cheng genuinely didn’t understand how a team like this had managed to get relegated.

Coloccini, Bassong, José Enrique, James Milner, Joey Barton, Duff, Geremi, Gutiérrez, Kevin Nolan, Charles N’Zogbia, Xisco, Mark Viduka, Michael Owen, Martins…

Putting everything else aside, which of these players wasn’t a renowned and capable figure in European football?

Who among them didn’t possess considerable skill?

Yet, such a team had somehow been driven to relegation at Newcastle.

Although the mid-season departure of players like James Milner had an impact, that was the result of Newcastle digging their own grave in the first place.

At any rate, Yang Cheng really couldn’t figure it out.

And now, with Newcastle relegated, their squad was sure to fall apart.

Martins, Bassong, Duff, Habib Beye, and others were all hot commodities.

And then there was Michael Owen.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had actually found it strange that Ferguson would sign Michael Owen.

But after their last conversation, he realized the two had been flirting and had been involved for quite some time.

So now, Owen would most likely still go to Manchester United.

Yang Cheng, however, had his eye on another player.

Just as Yang Cheng was mulling over whether to make a move, the phone beside him rang.

It was Xia Qing.

She informed him that Yang Jianguo and his inspection team had arrived safely in London and were staying at the Royal Lancaster Hotel.

“Uncle invites you to come over for a meal and meet everyone!”

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t refuse.

These were the Gods of Wealth coming to deliver money; they certainly needed to be wined, dined, and well-received.

…

In Cobham, south of London.

Chelsea’s training ground was situated amidst a cluster of golf courses.

Yang Cheng had even joked about it with Gareth Bale in the team’s dressing room.

The result was him laughing heartily while everyone around, including Gareth Bale, was completely baffled.

Boss, that joke is freezing cold!

Not funny at all.

Well, Gareth Bale wasn’t obsessed with golf just yet.

But recently, the atmosphere at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground had indeed been very tense.

Especially when Roman Abramovich’s car slowly pulled into the Cobham training ground, the players watching from the rest area were all filled with apprehension.

This was the first time since Abramovich took over the team that they had missed out on Champions League qualification!

Public opinion was in an uproar, with everyone predicting that Chelsea would undergo a stormy clear-out and restructuring this summer, leaving everyone within the team feeling insecure.

If you had to name one person at Chelsea, from top to bottom, whose position was the most secure, it would have to be head coach Guus Hiddink.

Because Abramovich himself was eagerly begging Hiddink to stay.

The Daily Mail, which had close ties to Chelsea, had even conducted a survey of Chelsea fans, and over ninety percent hoped Hiddink would remain in his post.

But Hiddink never committed to staying.

According to his contract, he would leave his post at Chelsea after managing the FA Cup final over the weekend.

The media was anxious, the Chelsea fans were anxious, and the Chelsea players were the most anxious of all.

After arriving at the training building, Abramovich went straight to Hiddink’s office.

He came alone.

Apart from his long-time personal assistant Marina Granovskaia, not even Peter Kenyon or Pini Zahavi were with him.

This signaled the Russian’s attitude.

So, as Hiddink welcomed Abramovich into his office, Granovskaia turned and closed the door.

Time to get straight to the point!

“Guus, my friend, it’s just you, me, and her here, the three of us. Tell me, what will it take for you to stay?”

After sitting down on the sofa, Abramovich looked directly at his old Dutch friend.

Over the years, he had maintained a close relationship with PSV Eindhoven, and his friendship with Hiddink was also extraordinary.

Hiddink paused for a moment after hearing this, then gave a helpless, light laugh. After gesturing for Granovskaia to sit, he took a seat on the sofa opposite.

“Roman, I’ll be frank with you too. Chelsea looks strong on paper, but in reality, there are significant problems. The challenge is truly immense.”

Abramovich’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have much confidence in this weekend’s FA Cup final?”

“I can only say that the players and I will do our best!” Hiddink answered evasively.

With a sigh, the Dutchman added, “Bayswater Chinese is just too strong!”

“In European football today, perhaps only Barça can compete with them!”

Abramovich was somewhat surprised.

If it were just the media or fans saying this, he would dismiss it as hype.

But for Hiddink, his good friend, to say this to his face in private meant he knew it was true!

At the very least, this was the view of European professionals, especially top managers like Hiddink.

“But it’s only for this season. Look at their situation now. After this summer, they’ll definitely be finished. You can even tell me which Bayswater Chinese player you’ve got your eye on, and I’ll poach them!”

Hiddink chuckled at that. “Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, or Theo Walcott. At least one of the three!”

Abramovich was suddenly in a difficult position.

These three players were Yang Cheng’s treasures, and they were also homegrown talents from Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy.

That would be difficult!

“I’m not just shooting in the dark, Roman. I’m serious!” Hiddink’s smile faded, his expression turning solemn.

“You know, during the Mourinho era, Chelsea was a team with a solid defense and an explosive counter-attack.”

“The defense could withstand the opponent’s pressure and deliver a fatal blow at the right moment.”

“Why can’t we do that now?”

Sitting on the sofa, Hiddink turned, grabbed a pen and paper from the desk behind him, and, in front of Abramovich, quickly sketched a simple diagram of a football pitch.

“This season, Bayswater Chinese underwent a very interesting transformation, one that almost no media outlet noticed.”

“The starting point of Yang Cheng’s team’s attacks is often just outside their own penalty area.”

“Their transition from defense to attack is very quick. Once they lose the ball in the final third, they immediately switch to defending, with the midfield and defense quickly falling into position to form a layered defensive structure.”

“The purpose of this is to draw the opponent out, so every time they win the ball back, there’s a lot of space to attack up front.”

“But you may not have noticed that during Mourinho’s tenure, Chelsea’s attack also initiated from deep. At that time, we were a defensively solid team. While not a traditional counter-attacking side, we weren’t far off.”

“Due to the lack of comprehensive statistics back then, I can’t prove my point, but during my time in charge, this is how Chelsea played, which is why you see our defense is very solid.”

“And everyone on the outside feels like we’ve returned to the Mourinho era.”

Hiddink’s words left Abramovich a little bewildered. He didn’t fully understand, but it felt like he did.

It all sounded very impressive, very sharp, hitting the nail on the head.

“But do you know what the biggest difference is between us and Bayswater Chinese?”

Abramovich shook his head.

“Speed!” Hiddink declared definitively.

“Speed?”

“When Mourinho was in charge, we had exceptionally fast players like Robben and Duff. Bayswater Chinese now has incredibly fast players like Di María, Gareth Bale, and Walcott.”

On the diagram he had drawn, Hiddink traced a line from just outside their own penalty area directly to the opponent’s goal. “From here to here is a long way. Without speed, by the time our players get here, the opponent’s defense will already be organized and waiting.”

“Where Yang Cheng’s team is stronger than Mourinho’s Chelsea is that his midfielders and defenders have excellent passing and combination play, especially the ability to release the ball quickly, even with long passes.”

“When Mourinho was coaching, we had Robben and Duff, so we could do it too. If that didn’t work, Drogba could drop back to receive the ball. But now, apart from Drogba, we have nothing.”

“And the worst part is, Drogba is often injured.”

Hiddink had thoroughly laid out Chelsea’s problems over the past year or two.

“So, what you’re saying is…” Abramovich looked at Hiddink and asked.

“Two options. Either we maintain the status quo and push the team’s defensive line forward as a whole to shorten the attacking distance.”

“Or we sign attackers and playmakers with exceptional speed.”

If Yang Cheng had been there, he would have slapped his thigh and praised Hiddink’s analysis.

So insightful!

Later, when Ancelotti took over, he adopted the first approach: pushing the defensive line forward to shorten the attacking distance.

At the same time, he strengthened the midfield’s passing and possession game.

As a result, during that period, even Essien displayed decent organizational and passing abilities.

The second option was a return to the Mourinho-era approach.

Hiddink was neither Mourinho nor Ancelotti. He wouldn’t completely replicate Mourinho, nor could he master Ancelotti’s style of play.

Abramovich knew very well that Hiddink had never been a coach who excelled at possession-based football, and a high defensive line was not his coaching style.

Therefore, to keep Hiddink, he could only choose the latter option.

Let Hiddink continue to improve and coach the team based on the foundation laid this past season.

“Who do you want to sign?” Abramovich cut to the heart of the matter.

“If we can’t poach a winger from Bayswater Chinese, then I suggest we go for Ribéry from Bayern Munich, Sneijder from Real Madrid, Agüero from Atlético Madrid, Villa from Valencia, or Eto’o from Barça!”

Apart from Sneijder, every player Hiddink listed was incredibly expensive.

After he finished speaking, Marina Granovskaia was the first to speak up. “According to industry sources, Florentino Pérez has privately approached Bayern Munich to try and poach Ribéry.”

“The price Bayern quoted was one hundred million euros!”

One hundred million euros?

Abramovich and Hiddink exchanged a glance.

They both knew that, at present, a transfer fee of one hundred million euros meant Bayern Munich had no intention of selling Ribéry.

“I also heard that Ferguson is keeping an eye on Sneijder, since Ryan Giggs and Scholes are getting old,” the personal assistant added.

Good players were always in demand.

As a Dutchman, Hiddink knew Sneijder’s abilities better than anyone.

As for Agüero, Villa, and Eto’o, they were all forwards with impressive speed and power.

Anelka was actually quite good, but compared to these three, he was still a notch below.

To some extent, Eto’o was the most suitable option.

As early as last summer, Barça was trying to sell Eto’o everywhere.

At the time, they wanted to sell Eto’o to fund a move for Ibrahimović.

Pep Guardiola had been coveting the Swedish centre-forward for a long time.

There were even rumors that Barça wanted to use Eto’o plus cash in exchange for Ibrahimović.

This was considered a ridiculous decision.

Eto’o was a world-class striker by any measure. Trading him for an inconsistent goalscorer like Ibrahimović, and adding cash on top?

But now, it was said that Guardiola had changed his mind. His first choice was Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko.

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward was currently a sensation, much more dominant than Ibrahimović.

“I’ll go back and study this carefully with the technical team.”

Abramovich didn’t agree on the spot.

He, too, had been affected by many things in recent years.

Including his divorce and the economic crisis, all of which had significantly impacted his wealth.

Now, he was also considering tightening his purse strings a bit.

He never expected that this season they would drop out of the top four.

It was all that damned Yang Cheng’s fault!

“Guus, regardless of our final decision, and regardless of the result of the upcoming FA Cup final, we hope you will stay!” Abramovich’s tone was still very sincere.

Hiddink nodded slightly but didn’t give a definitive answer.

He knew that although Chelsea’s squad looked powerful, there were considerable underlying risks.

Moreover, seeing that Abramovich had come alone, without even CEO Peter Kenyon, Hiddink vaguely guessed that the Chelsea chief executive’s position was probably precarious.

…

While preparing for the FA Cup and Champions League finals, Yang Cheng’s life was basically a two-point line between his home and the Brent training center.

In between, he had a meal with his so-called father and took the inspection team from his home country to inspect the new stadium project on-site.

A year had passed, and the project was still in the foundation stage.

The trickiest part was the new stadium itself.

Not only was one tier of stands being excavated downward, but Yang Cheng had also requested a retractable pitch.

To meet this requirement, Norman Foster and his team had specially invited experts in mechanical engineering from Cambridge University to design and plan specifically for Yang Cheng’s request.

Only then did they come up with a feasible plan.

Norman Foster was also rather speechless.

The addition of the retractable pitch and the underground maintenance center not only added tens of millions of pounds to the cost but would also create more maintenance trouble in the future.

But Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and Omar Berrada had held a special meeting and even hired a third party to conduct research. The conclusion was that the commercial returns far exceeded the investment.

The current investment would bring long-term convenience in the future. It was a good deal!

In addition, Yang Cheng had already started collaborating with two major domestic sponsors, TLC and Huawei, to specifically develop the curved wrap-around screen.

Huawei had even been involved since the initial design phase of the new stadium project, using their expertise in communications and networking to turn the stadium into a smarter, more advanced, dream-like arena.

For example, the world’s first football stadium equipped with Wi-Fi!

Huawei also hoped to showcase their formidable technical capabilities to the world through this collaboration.

Yang Jianguo and his team watched a concept video produced by Norman Foster’s design firm, which gave them a very intuitive look at this dream stadium and the potential value of the surrounding area.

And then there was the stadium’s location.

Previously, his so-called father had been very tight-lipped, but this time, accompanying him on his inspection tour to England were senior executives from Hong Kong’s famous The Peninsula Hotels group, who had also been wanting to build a hotel in London.

Although a top luxury hotel isn’t affordable for the average person, such a uniquely advantageous location was indeed very attractive.

According to The Peninsula Hotels, it was second only to the location next to Buckingham Palace.

It was not even inferior to Knightsbridge.

“This place will definitely become a new landmark, famous not just in London, but throughout the world in the future!”

The Peninsula Hotels group’s intention was to see if they could buy a building outright.

But Yang Cheng was resolute: for lease only, not for sale!

What a joke.

Although Bayswater Chinese was short on cash right now, selling would be a one-shot deal.

If they leased it out, Yang Cheng could sit back with his legs crossed at home and still have money flowing in every year.

This was a long-term affair!

His so-called father had clearly planned this beforehand. This time, he had teamed up with China’s largest luxury department store company. They wanted to lease the building next to Bayswater station, on the southeast side of the stadium.

“A Cheng, we’re father and son. What’s mine will be yours sooner or later, so you have to agree!”

Yang Jianguo pulled Yang Cheng aside to play the sentiment card. “Besides, I was the one who bought this land back then, wasn’t I?”

“But you messed it up back then,” Yang Cheng retorted speechlessly.

Yang Jianguo nearly exploded.

Don’t hit a man in the face, especially when I’m your father!

“Alright, alright, Dad, let me tell you something from the heart,” Yang Cheng’s tone softened.

“Go on.”

“The most important thing for us right now is to lock in Bvlgari Hotels. They’re very interested at the moment. Once we get them on board, just think, how much will the value of the entire property increase?”

Yang Jianguo was incredibly shrewd. Being in real estate, he understood this better than anyone.

“So, they have to get first pick!”

“Exactly, Dad. But don’t worry, I’ll have Adam Crozier try his best to help you reserve the building by the tube station. But if Bvlgari really wants it, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“No problem. Now that you’ve put it that way, I understand.”

After a pause, Yang Jianguo pointed into the distance. “Actually, the one to the southwest isn’t bad either. It’s close to Bayswater Road, and not far from Bayswater, Queensway, and Notting Hill stations.”

All four buildings in the project were in prime locations; it was just a matter of choosing the best of the best.

“A Cheng, have you ever thought that putting the club’s offices next to the new stadium is a bit too extravagant?” After seeing off his so-called father, Xia Qing asked thoughtfully from the side.

“You mean…”

“After our recent interactions with Bvlgari, The Peninsula Hotels, Hilton, and others, I’ve noticed they’re all very optimistic about this location. I think we should lease out the building we originally planned to use for our offices.”

“I had someone do a preliminary assessment. We can probably collect about ten million pounds in rent per year for each building. The return on investment is quite substantial. That’s forty million pounds for four buildings.”

Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up.

That was practically making money while lying down!

“And think about it, the office we’re renting now costs one million pounds a year.”

Xia Qing made a gesture to Yang Cheng, as if to say: One million versus ten million, think about it carefully.

Yang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat.

That was a difference of nine million pounds.

“You know, with the current economic climate, the London property market is very sluggish. It’s not just businesses that are struggling; even the government is having a hard time.”

“What have you heard?” Yang Cheng knew Xia Qing too well.

“Chris Hunt told me that many government agencies are broke. What do they do? Sell their buildings!”

“You want to buy one?”

“Let me finish first,” Xia Qing said with a smile, calming him down. “After selling the building, they still need a place to work, right? So they have no choice but to lease.”

Yang Cheng instantly understood.

In other words, some government agencies, short on cash, were selling their buildings and then leasing them back, paying an annual rent.

“Chris Hunt and I did the math. The market right now is a buyer’s market. If we choose carefully, we can easily achieve a five percent annual rental yield. By then, we might not even have to pay rent for our own office.”

To put it simply, they would become sublandlords.

“But we’re building a new stadium and buying another building… the bank…”

“We won’t buy it in the club’s name. We’ll set up a company in our names to buy it, and then lease it to the club.”

Yang Cheng was a bit confused but had a feeling that this was brilliant even if he didn’t fully grasp it.

He thought being a sublandlord sounded pretty good.

Chris Hunt was an expert at buying at rock bottom from bankruptcies. It would be a waste not to use such resources and information.

“I think it’s a good idea. You handle this matter. But the location shouldn’t be too far, still in West London. We’re familiar with this area!”

Nowadays, Bayswater Chinese was a household name in the City of Westminster, and even throughout West London.

They had connections and resources in both political and business circles.

“If you agree, then I’ll start the preparations.” Xia Qing was also very happy to have Yang Cheng’s support.

However, Yang Cheng thought of something else.

After the outbreak of the European debt crisis, football clubs across Europe found themselves in dire straits.

Bankrupt clubs were everywhere.

Perhaps they could take the opportunity to buy a few clubs?

Just like what the Abu Dhabi consortium’s City Football Group, the Pozzo family, and the Red Bull Group did.

As long as they weren’t in the same league, it would be fine.

The benefits of operating multiple clubs as a group were also obvious.

Especially for Yang Cheng.

But soon, Yang Cheng temporarily pushed this tempting thought aside.

Bayswater Chinese hadn’t even found its firm footing yet.

Everything would have to wait until the new stadium was completed.

By then, Bayswater Chinese’s development would have entered a stable period, with income and everything else on the right track, and the debt pressure would be reduced. Then, Yang Cheng would have sufficient funds to invest in this plan.

…

On the weekend, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The FA Cup Final: Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

The guest of honor for this final was quite distinguished.

Besides the royal representative, Prince William, there was also former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Before the match, Annan, accompanied by FA Chairman David Triesman, walked onto the pitch and met the players from both teams.

It was Yang Cheng’s first time meeting the former UN Secretary-General, and he introduced each of Bayswater Chinese’s players to him.

Afterward, Hiddink did the same.

It’s worth mentioning that Chelsea midfielder Essien was a fellow countryman of Annan, and the two exchanged a few words.

For this match, Chelsea once again fielded their trademark 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Alex, and José Bosingwa;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Lampard and Essien in front of him;

Forwards: Malouda, Drogba, and Anelka.

Hiddink had arguably put out the strongest lineup available to him.

Yang Cheng also fielded a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Marcelo, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Right from the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative and went on the attack.

They were all too familiar with Wembley Stadium.

Although forty-five thousand of the ninety thousand fans in the stadium were Chelsea supporters, Bayswater Chinese still treated it as their home game.

Strike first!

This was Yang Cheng’s tactic against Chelsea.

He didn’t want to wait for Hiddink’s team to settle down and fortify their defenses before trying to break them down.

That would be the worst-case scenario.

What Yang Cheng wanted was to use the opening moments to overwhelm Chelsea’s defense in one fell swoop.

Just twenty-five seconds into the game, Marcelo, on an overlapping run down the left, sent a through ball forward.

Hazard beat the offside trap to receive the ball, dribbled past Bosingwa on the left flank, and crossed it in for Lewandowski.

But the ball was headed out of the box by Terry.

Aaron Ramsey collected the ball outside the area and chipped a pass over the top to the right side of the box.

Walcott made a diagonal run into the penalty area and let fly with a power shot.

Čech confidently smothered the ball.

But Bayswater Chinese’s offensive pressure continued.

Just three minutes later, Walcott won a corner kick on the right wing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t lead to a threat this time.

In the eighth minute, while defending against Hazard, Bosingwa fouled the Belgian winger from behind as he was breaking through and was shown a yellow card by the head referee.

A defender getting a yellow card just eight minutes into the match.

It was clear just how much pressure Bayswater Chinese was putting on Chelsea from the start.

Although they were fielding substitutes and young players, this group of Bayswater Chinese youngsters was playing in their second FA Cup final.

To put it bluntly, they had more experience in finals than Chelsea.

Bayswater Chinese tried to take a quick free-kick, but it was cleared by Alex.

However, the ball didn’t cross the halfway line.

José Fonte, on the left side of the center circle in Chelsea’s half, intercepted the ball in time.

Anelka and Drogba immediately closed in on José Fonte.

The Portuguese centre-back remained calm, playing a diagonal pass between Anelka and Drogba.

Matić ran over to receive it, playing it first-time out to the left.

Marcelo sprinted forward along the left touchline.

Hazard cut into the half-space.

As Bosingwa closed in, Marcelo played a square pass to Hazard.

At this moment, the young Belgian was positioned on the left edge of Chelsea’s penalty area.

Lewandowski was near the penalty spot, with his side to the goal, waiting for Hazard’s next move.

Essien and Mikel quickly retreated to the edge of the penalty area.

Essien, in particular, moved to pressure Hazard.

The Belgian wanted to break through but couldn’t find an opening.

He looked towards Marcelo, but Bosingwa was also watching him menacingly.

Hazard skilfully controlled the ball. Seeing the left side was blocked, he immediately turned and looked towards the center.

He saw Aaron Ramsey making a quick forward run and immediately passed the ball to him.

Aaron Ramsey, facing the goal, received the ball outside the arc of the penalty area and saw Lewandowski about to make a run.

The Welsh midfielder, before Mikel and Lampard could close him down, chipped a pass over the top, trying to find Lewandowski behind Chelsea’s defensive line.

But just then, Terry got there first and headed the ball clear.

The ball once again dropped outside the box, landing on the right side of the arc.

Because Lampard had shifted towards Aaron Ramsey, this right side was somewhat open.

Although Lampard immediately rushed over, intending to clear it with a big kick.

But Walcott reacted faster, lunging forward with his body sideways, blocking Lampard’s clearance back into the penalty area.

Lampard raised his right hand high, signaling for a handball foul by Walcott.

But the head referee ignored him.

The ball fell into the right side of the penalty area, behind Chelsea’s defense.

Lewandowski immediately pounced on it.

But the Polish centre-forward instantly realized he was in an offside position.

He had just made a run forward and hadn’t had time to retreat.

So, in a moment of brilliance, he didn’t go for the ball but stopped dead in his tracks.

This stop happened to interfere with Terry.

Walcott made a quick diagonal run forward, met the ball as it bounced, and hit a power shot.

The ball practically grazed the right post as it flew into the back of Chelsea’s net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the ninth minute, Walcott is the first to break through Chelsea’s goal!”

“We can see Chelsea’s players protesting to the head referee, Howard Webb, claiming Walcott handled the ball first and that the goal was offside.”

“But Webb shakes his head firmly, indicating the goal stands, and points to the center circle for the restart.”

“It was indeed difficult to see clearly.”

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that Walcott turned his body sideways to block Lampard’s clearance. His arm was tucked in against his body. Although it was hit, it wasn’t a handball.”

“As for the subsequent run, Lewandowski, who was in an offside position, didn’t touch the ball. He just cleverly held his position.”

“The controversy now is whether Lewandowski obstructed Terry.”

“But Lewandowski is also arguing that he didn’t intentionally block Terry. He was originally going for the ball but suddenly realized he was offside, so he stopped in time.”

“That explanation is indeed plausible.”

“The head referee, Webb, has accepted Bayswater Chinese’s explanation and ruled the goal valid.”

“One-nil!”

“A goal from Walcott, The Little Tiger!”

“In the ninth minute, Bayswater Chinese has taken a crucial lead!”

Hiddink was furious on the sidelines, feeling his team had been treated unfairly.

But the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium were obviously delighted with the decision, cheering and singing nonstop.

…

After scoring the opening goal, Bayswater Chinese did not ease up on their attack but pressed their advantage.

Yang Cheng had been coaching this team for six years.

It could be said that he had thoroughly instilled his will into this team, influencing every single player.

So, in moments like this, Yang Cheng didn’t even need to go to the touchline and say anything; the players themselves knew what the head coach wanted.

Bayswater Chinese created another chance in the thirteenth minute.

Again, down the left flank.

Marcelo made a high-speed overlapping run and delivered a through ball.

Hazard darted into the left side of the penalty area, shielding the ball before Bosingwa could get there. But with no opportunity to break into the box, he was forced to dribble back out.

By the time the ball was back at Marcelo’s feet, the Brazilian left-back had appeared in the half-space.

As Essien rushed up, Marcelo passed it horizontally to Matuidi.

The French midfielder unleashed a sudden long shot.

The shot was so unexpected that even Chelsea’s defenders didn’t react as it rocketed towards the goal.

Čech reacted but couldn’t reach it.

Unfortunately, the shot flew just over the crossbar and into the stands.

The stadium erupted once again with thunderous applause from the Bayswater Chinese fans.

Matuidi’s long shot sent a cold shiver down the spines of everyone at Chelsea.

Hiddink walked to the edge of his technical area, anxiously adjusting his team’s tactics.

Chapter 172: The Double! A Hat-trick! A record sealed for over half a century has been broken!

The biggest difference between league and cup competitions is that the league tests a team’s ability to perform at a high level consistently over a long period.

Fans who regularly watch the FA Cup or League Cup finals will easily notice a recurring phenomenon: even when there’s a huge gap in league standings, a vast difference in perceived strength, or even a top-tier giant playing a lower-division team…

In the final, the match can surprisingly be evenly contested, and sometimes even result in an upset.

Note that this isn’t uncommon during the knockout stages for various reasons.

But why does it still happen in the final, when both sides are taking it incredibly seriously?

The answer is that cup competitions, especially the final, are about concentrating everything into one single battle.

A one-match showdown!

When a team pours all its energy and resources, and through long-term preparation, tunes its players to their peak condition, it can unleash astonishing combat power in a single game.

This is also why winning the Treble is so incredibly difficult!

A team must not only maintain a high level of consistent performance throughout a long league season but also deliver its best in every do-or-die cup match.

Especially when competing in two different cup competitions.

The difficulty of this is far beyond anyone’s imagination!

Take this FA Cup match, for example.

Before the game, the vast majority of media outlets and fans favored the Bayswater Chinese and were pessimistic about Chelsea’s chances.

Why?

Chelsea had failed to secure a top-four finish in the league, missing out on next season’s Champions League, and the players’ morale had taken a severe blow.

Rumors of turmoil within the club’s leadership were constantly circulating. Reports suggested that Peter Kenyon would take the fall for failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Furthermore, whether Guus Hiddink stayed or left, sporting director Arnesen was set to resign in disgrace.

Then there was the matter of the team’s overhaul and new signings.

Drogba even publicly appealed to the media, stating that the striker he most wanted to partner with was Eto’o.

Of course, some media outlets ridiculed Drogba, saying his own position was unstable because Chelsea was looking to sign Džeko.

In short, all sorts of rumors, both internal and external, made it seem as if Chelsea were plagued by problems.

Faced with the unstoppable Bayswater Chinese, how could they win?

In the odds from the three major betting companies, the Bayswater Chinese were the overwhelming favorites.

The whole situation felt like if the Bayswater Chinese didn’t win, they must be throwing the game; it must be fixed.

And when the match began, the Bayswater Chinese had a brilliant start.

Yang Cheng’s trademark opening blitz proved effective once again.

For the first ten-plus minutes, they completely dominated Chelsea.

They took the lead with a goal in the 9th minute.

What could be better than that?

It felt as though everything was pushing the Bayswater Chinese toward victory.

But as the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng felt this situation was extremely dangerous!

After so many years of coaching, he never dared to underestimate any opponent.

Especially a strong team like Chelsea.

After Hiddink adjusted his tactics, Chelsea abandoned any pretense of fighting back, simply turtling up, setting up a defensive fortress, and hitting on the counter-attack whenever they had the chance.

The pride of a powerhouse?

They didn’t care!

They just wanted to win!

As a result, from the 15th minute onward, Chelsea defended with all their might, successfully withstanding wave after wave of attacks from the Bayswater Chinese.

The first half ended 1-0.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng repeatedly warned all the players, demanding that they remain vigilant at all times.

“Our opponent is Chelsea, one of the strongest teams in the Premier League and even in Europe!”

“Don’t have a single shred of complacency!”

Yang Cheng singled out Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey for praise.

Why?

Aaron Ramsey had run nearly eight kilometers in the first half alone.

What did that mean?

Some players might only run that much in a full ninety minutes, but he did it in forty-five.

Matuidi also covered an immense amount of ground in midfield and performed excellently in both attack and defense.

Yang Cheng had only one reason for praising them.

To tell everyone: You must have the right attitude and not let your guard down!

But just as the second half began, Chelsea suddenly launched a counter-offensive.

Accustomed to the rhythm of pinning their opponents back in the first half, the young players of the Bayswater Chinese were caught off guard and a bit stunned.

First, a long shot from Lampard nearly found the back of the net.

Then, a power shot from Anelka just outside the penalty arc grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

With two consecutive waves of attack, Chelsea had built up momentum.

The Bayswater Chinese, in turn, seized an opportunity to counter-attack.

After a brilliant one-two pass with Robert Lewandowski, Aaron Ramsey played a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Theo Walcott surged forward at high speed, broke into the box, and hit a low shot.

The ball was once again secured firmly in the arms of goalkeeper Čech.

Then, in the 62nd minute, Chelsea launched another counter-attack.

A shot from Anelka just outside the box was blocked in time by Nemanja Matić, preventing it from threatening the goal.

The ball fell to the right flank.

José Bosingwa sprinted forward, received the ball, made a slight adjustment, and sent in a diagonal cross.

The ball carved an arc through the air, landing precisely to the right of the penalty spot inside the box.

Drogba charged forward, used his body to shield the ball from Vincent Kompany, jumped, and chested it down.

Before the ball could hit the ground, the Ivorian turned and fired a volley with his right foot.

From the chest trap to the shot, Kompany was completely blocked behind Drogba, unable to do anything.

The shot came completely out of nowhere.

A moment earlier, Begović had been positioned on the left side of his goal, not expecting the ball to be switched to the right.

Despite the German keeper’s best efforts to dive across, he was a fraction too late.

The ball flew straight into the left side of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-1!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of Chelsea fans.

Over forty thousand supporters were roaring at the top of their lungs!

For Chelsea, nothing could be more satisfying than slaying the Bayswater Chinese in the final battle of the season!

Their West London arch-rivals had brought them too many painful memories over the years.

Especially this season.

The Bayswater Chinese were aiming for the Treble.

And they had already won the Community Shield, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, and the Premier League title.

If they added the FA Cup and the Champions League, it would be a six-trophy season!

Something unprecedented in the history of world football!

But what about Chelsea?

Not only were they empty-handed, but they had also been pushed out of the league’s top four, finishing 6th in the Premier League.

In the six years since Roman Abramovich took over the club, Chelsea had never failed to qualify for the Champions League.

For them, this was simply awful, utterly humiliating!

Especially when contrasted with their West London rivals.

So, they were more than happy to see Chelsea’s players take down the Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup final!

You want the Treble?

You want a six-trophy season?

To hell with that!

…

“They’re too young!”

Brian Kidd shook his head with a sense of helplessness.

No matter how good Yang Cheng’s tactics were, no matter how much he stressed it at halftime, youth was youth—lacking experience, not mature enough.

“This goal will have a huge impact!”

Having coached for so many years, Yang Cheng still had that sense of crisis.

“That’s right, their morale is soaring now,” Brian Kidd realized as well.

In the end, football matches are played by people.

If Chelsea were a volcano, their poor performance this season and all the negative factors were like stones sealing the crater, preventing them from erupting.

But now, that stone had been removed.

The magma within would continue to spew forth, becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

And the man spearheading it was Drogba!

That damn beast whom people both loved and hated!

“What do we do?” Brian Kidd asked Yang Cheng, a hint of unease in his voice.

After the game restarted, Chelsea, as expected, went on the offensive.

Having equalized, their morale, which had been so low before, was now sky-high!

All because of that single goal from Drogba!

“We can’t suppress it. We can only compete on raw strength!” Yang Cheng said decisively.

To retreat now would be suicide; it would only further boost Chelsea’s momentum.

Football was different from reality.

In reality, if the stone on a volcano is removed, piling more stones on top is just a temporary fix; it will inevitably erupt again.

But a football match is only ninety minutes long. As long as you can keep the pressure on until the final whistle, you’ve won.

“If they’re strong, then we’ll be stronger!”

“If we lose this fight, it means we’re not good enough, that we’re not worthy of the Treble!”

“If we win, these young players of ours will benefit immensely!”

Yang Cheng spoke with great conviction.

Brian Kidd understood what Yang Cheng meant and nodded forcefully.

Yang Cheng strode quickly to the touchline.

Just when everyone thought he was about to make a substitution, he used a break in play to call over the nearest player, Marcelo, and relay his instructions.

…

“He really didn’t dare to make a substitution!”

Chelsea’s assistant coach, Roy Wilkins, who had been watching Yang Cheng’s every move, let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“The Champions League final in three days is the match Yang Cheng values most.”

Guus Hiddink said calmly.

In his view, Chelsea had a slight advantage due to the schedule.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng’s starting lineup today was, after all, very young.

Hiddink couldn’t have planned for the goal.

But the Bosingwa-to-Drogba connection was an attacking route he had been focusing on strengthening.

The entire tactic was something he had been preparing for a long time.

But when Marcelo returned to the pitch and relayed Yang Cheng’s instructions to his teammates, and the Bayswater Chinese gradually began to adjust their tactics, Hiddink and Wilkins on the sideline once again wore grave expressions.

Yang Cheng indeed hadn’t made any substitutions.

But his adjustment was incredibly bold, far exceeding Hiddink’s expectations.

“He’s actually choosing to go head-to-head with us!”

Wilkins couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.

Their morale had just taken a hit after conceding the equalizer, yet Yang Cheng chose to press forward and attack.

It had to be said, this required immense courage.

“There’s more!” Hiddink saw something else.

“Marcelo and Piszczek have pushed up, the distance between José Fonte and Kompany has widened, and Matić has dropped deeper…”

After the game restarted, Hiddink watched the adjustments in the positions of the Bayswater Chinese players on the pitch, muttering to himself.

“Hazard and Walcott are tucking into the half-spaces more…”

Everything indicated that Yang Cheng was changing his formation.

The Bayswater Chinese players were altering the team’s formation and playing style, shifting their positions.

Changing formation mid-game was a huge taboo!

If Yang Cheng’s decision to press forward and attack Chelsea in an unfavorable situation required immense courage…

Then his choice to change formation during the match, without any substitutions, was practically suicidal!

“He’s crazy! Yang Cheng has lost his mind!” Wilkins couldn’t believe it.

“He wants to play a back three?”

At this, Wilkins couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “In the Premier League, he dares to play a back three?”

“I’m starting to wonder if his brain has rusted over. To make such a foolish decision… doesn’t he know that the Premier League’s specialty is relentless attacks from pacey wingers?”

Hiddink was also finding it hard to believe. “Is he underestimating the speed of our wingers?”

Malouda’s and Anelka’s pace wasn’t considered top-tier among wingers.

But no matter what, they were world-renowned players.

Especially Malouda.

Anelka was more adept at making runs and scoring, but Malouda was a winger through and through!

What on earth was Yang Cheng up to?

Hiddink turned his head and saw Yang Cheng standing constantly at the edge of the technical area, shouting at his players.

One moment he was calling to Hazard, the next to Marcelo, then to Walcott, then to Piszczek…

And also José Fonte and Kompany…

Hiddink gradually began to figure it out.

Yang Cheng was constantly adjusting his players’ positions.

Could it be that he really intended to play with a back three?

The whole world knew that the flanks were the weak point, the Achilles’ heel of a back-three defense.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to survive with it in Serie A, let alone in the Bundesliga or La Liga.

To dare to play a back three in the Premier League, a league rife with wingers?

Wasn’t that asking for death?

But looking at Yang Cheng’s constant adjustments, it was clear he wasn’t acting recklessly.

On the contrary, it seemed like he had come prepared!

Could it be that he had been planning to play a back three all along?

That the Bayswater Chinese had even practiced it specifically?

…

Having coached for decades, especially having lived through the era of the football tactics explosion in his past life, Yang Cheng’s understanding of technical and tactical football far surpassed that of any current head coach.

Including Pep Guardiola.

In his view, a back three was not some unpardonable sin or a self-destructive formation.

Not even in the Premier League.

Just as in his previous life, many had doubted that Guardiola’s football philosophy would work in the Premier League.

But in the end, it did, didn’t it?

Many also questioned whether Messi could succeed in the Premier League.

Although it was never proven, Yang Cheng believed he certainly could have.

Because players are adaptable!

Simply arranging formation diagrams and drawing positional maps was just a mechanical way of understanding football tactics.

What was the essence of football tactics?

Since ancient times, it has never changed.

It’s about creating a numerical advantage.

That’s why a red card is the ultimate punishment on the pitch!

Because it allows the advantaged team to easily create a numerical superiority, no matter what tactics they employ.

When any head coach sets up their tactics, they are always hoping to create a numerical advantage in a specific area of the pitch.

To some extent, players who can run tirelessly are a favorite of every head coach.

The benefits of a back three are obvious.

It allows you to stack more attacking players in the midfield and forward lines.

But football is a game of balance; where there are advantages, there are also disadvantages.

The biggest weakness of a back-three system is the relative emptiness of the flanks.

Especially in Yang Cheng’s current setup.

He was directly employing a 3-4-3 formation, not a 3-5-2 or a 3-6-1.

This made the flank defense extremely precarious.

If the opposition got in behind, the wide centre-back would have to quickly pull out to engage in a one-on-one duel.

Centre-backs like José Fonte and Vincent Kompany would be at a great disadvantage in one-on-one situations against attacking players like Malouda or even Anelka.

If they were beaten, there would be no teammate to provide cover, and the opponent would have a direct path into the penalty area.

This was a problem faced by every team that played a back three.

Guardiola’s Barcelona had also played a 3-4-3.

But what set Barça apart from all other teams was their superior possession and passing ability, which ensured the ball was at their feet for the vast majority of the game.

In other words, the opponent had very, very few opportunities to directly threaten their defense.

But even so, Guardiola’s 3-4-3 was frequently exposed and broken down by opponents.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was completely different from Barça’s.

The Bayswater Chinese did not possess Barcelona’s passing and possession skills, but they could compensate for it collectively.

In the back-three system, when the Bayswater Chinese faced a direct attack, if the ball was in the middle, it was straightforward.

When the ball was on the flank, for example, tonight against Chelsea, Yang Cheng’s focus was on attacking Chelsea’s right flank, using the side with Marcelo and Hazard as the main point of attack.

Therefore, Chelsea often won the ball back on that side.

When this happened, the Blues would find that the entire formation of the Bayswater Chinese was collectively tilted towards the left.

From Robert Lewandowski up front to Hazard and Marcelo, the Bayswater Chinese left flank was not empty.

They would also actively participate in defense.

What if they were hit by a quick counter-attack in the space behind Marcelo?

Yang Cheng had two contingency plans.

One was for Matuidi to quickly make a diagonal run to protect the flank, with Aaron Ramsey also shifting left. Piszczek would drop back into the defensive line, and Nemanja Matić would move up to the holding midfield position.

In this scenario, the Bayswater Chinese backline would become Matuidi, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Piszczek.

This was a relatively minor adjustment.

What if Matuidi couldn’t get back in time to defend?

Then José Fonte would directly pull out to the flank.

The backline would then become José Fonte, Nemanja Matić, Vincent Kompany, and Piszczek.

Yang Cheng had used this system before during the team’s training camp preparations.

But the complex rotations and the movement of the entire team formation tested the players’ coordination to its limits.

Even with the level of chemistry among the Bayswater Chinese players, mistakes were still easy to make.

And the biggest hidden danger was whether Matuidi and José Fonte could get back in time to cover the space behind Marcelo.

If they failed, all their efforts would be for naught!

Another point was that if Chelsea’s attack on the left was thwarted and they quickly switched the play with a long pass to the right to find Malouda.

If Piszczek had pushed too far forward in attack and couldn’t track back in time, the situation would become critical.

So, Yang Cheng stood on the touchline, constantly shouting at the players, reminding them to be aware of each other’s positions.

It wasn’t just him; José Fonte, Begović, Kompany, and others were also constantly reminding their teammates.

After conceding the goal in the 62nd minute, Yang Cheng immediately changed formations.

It took a full ten minutes or so to constantly adjust and fine-tune the team’s tactical approach.

Especially on the left flank.

During this period, the Bayswater Chinese completely pinned Chelsea back on that side.

The combination play between Marcelo and Hazard on the wing, coupled with Robert Lewandowski drifting wide.

Later, even Theo Walcott was frequently seen supporting the left flank, creating a huge numerical advantage.

This threw Chelsea’s entire right flank into a state of panic.

The surging Chelsea were even forced to retreat and defend.

This showed just how ferociously the Bayswater Chinese were playing during this spell.

And Chelsea’s counter-attacks struggled to pose a threat.

This, in turn, boosted the confidence of the Bayswater Chinese, who then attacked with even more conviction.

In the 76th minute, near the halfway line in his own half, Nemanja Matić passed the ball to Aaron Ramsey.

As the Welsh midfielder dropped back to receive the ball, he was surrounded by Chelsea defenders, so he immediately played it back.

After the back pass, Ramsey quickly moved forward into space.

Matić’s next pass split two defenders and found Ramsey’s feet with precision.

But the Welshman was immediately surrounded and forced to pass diagonally back to José Fonte.

The Portuguese centre-back controlled the ball, crossed the halfway line, and quickly hit a diagonal pass to find Marcelo on the left side, about thirty meters from goal.

The Brazilian was hugging the left touchline, and as soon as he received the ball, Hazard took off.

The Belgian made a sharp diagonal run from the left channel towards the byline, as if to receive a through ball from Marcelo.

This immediately drew Bosingwa out of the penalty area.

Essien dropped back at once, trying to cover the space left by Bosingwa.

But just then, Marcelo delivered a precise, medium-long pass with his left foot.

It wasn’t aimed at Hazard on the left wing.

The Belgian was just a feint.

Marcelo’s pass cut diagonally across the field, beating the retreating Essien and landing in the left side of the penalty area.

At almost the same instant, Robert Lewandowski surged forward, getting ahead of Alex, and chased down Marcelo’s pass near the byline on the left side of the box.

The Brazilian centre-back had been tracking Lewandowski all the way. Seeing the Pole reach the ball, he anticipated a cross and launched into a sliding tackle.

But unexpectedly, Lewandowski reacted faster, cleverly pulling the ball back with his right foot and dragging it away.

Alex slid completely past the byline, unable to stop the Pole from crossing.

And at almost the same time, Theo Walcott appeared like a ghost at the edge of the six-yard box, right behind Terry.

As Terry turned to close him down, the Little Tiger met Lewandowski’s cross with a diving header, powerfully directing the ball into the right side of Chelsea’s goal.

Čech had stretched every sinew in his body to make a flying save, but it was still beyond his reach!

The ball flew straight into the Chelsea net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have broken through Chelsea’s goal once again!”

“2-1!”

“A header from the Little Tiger, Theo Walcott!”

“A brace!!”

“It’s Walcott again!”

“The Little Tiger’s movement is so clever, his instincts are incredibly sharp, instantly sensing the most lethal opportunity!”

“This goal is a massive blow for Chelsea.”

“Chelsea defended resiliently for the entire first half and fought hard to equalize.”

“Now, they’re trailing once again.”

“This will be a fatal challenge for the Blues!”

…

As the Bayswater Chinese retook the lead, Hiddink immediately made substitutions.

And he brought on two players at once.

He replaced Mikel with Kalou.

And Essien with Michael Ballack.

With this, Chelsea seemed to switch to a 4-4-2 formation.

Malouda and Kalou occupied the two wings, Drogba and Anelka partnered up front, and Lampard and Ballack played in central midfield.

But in the actual game, Yang Cheng noticed that both Malouda and Kalou were positioned very high up the pitch, leaning more towards attack.

Even Ashley Cole and Bosingwa began to press forward aggressively.

While Chelsea were making their adjustments, Yang Cheng gave a wave of his hand, and the Bayswater Chinese switched back to their most familiar 4-3-3.

The 3-4-3 formation they had just used was essentially exploiting the fact that Chelsea’s wingers weren’t fast enough and that they lacked the ability to switch play with long passes.

Using such a back-three system for an extended period without it being perfectly drilled was highly likely to be exploited by the opponent.

Especially when he saw Hiddink switch to a 4-4-2, clearly intending to strengthen the attack on the wings, Yang Cheng immediately adjusted back.

One side was making substitutions, the other was adjusting formations.

For the next ten minutes or so, the game remained intense but reached a stalemate.

Neither side could create any clear-cut chances.

It wasn’t until after the 85th minute that Chelsea began to ramp up the intensity of their attacks.

Seeing that time was running out, they threw caution to the wind.

Even their defensive line pushed high up the pitch, committing more and more players to the attack.

In the 87th minute, Chelsea created another golden opportunity.

Lampard made a run to the edge of the box and played a horizontal pass to Ballack.

The German midfielder lofted a pass over the top into the penalty area.

Drogba used his body to hold off Kompany, jumped, and headed the ball towards the right corner of the six-yard box.

Anelka was already anticipating it, making a quick run behind José Fonte and getting a toe-poke on the ball.

The football was heading straight for the bottom right corner of the goal.

But at the crucial moment, Begović dove to his side and managed to parry the ball away with one hand.

Marcelo, following up, cleared the ball out for a throw-in on the left sideline.

The entire Wembley Stadium was in an uproar!

The Bayswater Chinese fans were cheering for Begović’s spectacular save.

The Chelsea fans, on the other hand, were filled with regret.

That was almost a certain goal, a sure thing.

But somehow, this little-known substitute goalkeeper for the Bayswater Chinese had managed to keep it out.

Yang Cheng clenched his fists on the sideline, shouting praise for Begović.

Brian Kidd, Pedro Jaro, and the others also looked exceptionally thrilled.

The coaching staff knew Begović’s quality very well from training with the team.

He was, simply put, a young player with immense potential.

Unfortunately for him, the Bayswater Chinese had a world-class goalkeeper like Neuer on their roster.

This meant Begović struggled to get opportunities with the team.

But for that very reason, every time Begović played, he gave it his all, cherishing every chance on the pitch, striving to showcase his skills and level, hoping to attract the attention of other clubs.

Facing Chelsea, he was eager to show more people what he was capable of!

In a way, Yang Cheng felt that this kind of setup was actually the best.

…

Chelsea quickly took the throw-in, but José Fonte got a foot in first, knocking the ball out for another throw.

It was still Chelsea’s ball.

Bosingwa threw it in again. This time, after two or three passes, just outside the box, Nemanja Matić made a timely interception, cutting out a pass intended for Lampard.

As soon as Matić won the ball, he took a step forward, adjusted his stride, and sent a low, medium-long pass with his left foot.

Hazard received the ball on the left, took a touch, and drove forward.

But Bosingwa had pushed up too deep and couldn’t get back in time. Alex shifted to the right flank to cover Hazard.

The Belgian suddenly came to a sharp halt, skillfully turned with the ball, and played it horizontally.

Robert Lewandowski sprinted to meet it, received the ball in the center, and then distributed it to the right channel.

It was only then that everyone noticed that Terry was the last man back, keeping an eye on Lewandowski, but both of Chelsea’s full-backs had pushed up, as had midfielders Lampard and Ballack.

The moment Lewandowski passed the ball, Walcott, who was completely unmarked, charged forward with the ball at his feet like a shooting star.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in cheers.

The Little Tiger carried the ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Terry chased back desperately and finally caught up with Walcott to the right of the penalty spot.

But just as the Chelsea captain closed in, Walcott suddenly stopped on a dime, pulled the ball back with his right foot, and then dragged it horizontally with his left.

The entire motion was incredibly fluid and clearly premeditated.

How could Terry possibly stop in time?

The Chelsea captain went flying straight past him.

After dragging the ball horizontally with his left foot, Walcott followed up with a shot.

Čech had originally been positioned towards the right side of the goal, but after Walcott’s sharp turn, he immediately shifted his weight towards the center.

It was a goalkeeper’s instinct; Čech thought Walcott would aim for the far corner with his left foot, so he had to adjust his position.

But what he didn’t expect was for Walcott to be so decisive.

He shot immediately after changing direction, striking with the inside of his left foot.

The ball traveled in an almost straight line, skimming the base of the right post as it flew into the Chelsea goal.

Čech had just shifted his weight and was completely powerless against Walcott’s shot, forced to watch helplessly as the football rolled into his net once again.

“HAT-TRICK!!!”

“THE LITTLE TIGER!”

“THEO WALCOTT HAS COMPLETED HIS HAT-TRICK!!”

“My God, the English striking prodigy has scored a hat-trick in this crucial FA Cup final!!”

“To all the fans watching on television, please remember this great moment!”

“In the 139-year history of the FA Cup, only three players have ever scored a hat-trick in the final.”

“But if we only count from the 20th century, after the competition’s format was standardized, only one player has accomplished this great feat!”

“That was in the 1952/1953 FA Cup final, right here at the old Wembley Stadium, when local centre-forward Stan Mortensen, playing for Blackpool, scored three times against Bolton to complete his hat-trick.”

“He is the only player in FA Cup history to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final at the old Wembley Stadium!”

“And now, we are witnessing another player do it!”

“Remember his name, Theo Walcott!”

“He has scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium!”

“He is also the 4th player in FA Cup history to score a hat-trick in the final!”

“The last time we saw a hat-trick in the FA Cup final was more than half a century ago.”

“Now, let us congratulate Walcott. He has created a magnificent legend!”

Walcott himself wasn’t even aware of it yet.

Obscure records like this weren’t something many people paid attention to.

But when the stadium announcer, in a rousing, heart-tearing roar, bellowed the news, the entire Wembley Stadium exploded once again. Countless fans in the stands began chanting Walcott’s name.

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed over to congratulate Walcott on his goal.

Even many Chelsea fans were applauding the Little Tiger.

No one had expected that the Little Tiger would, on this afternoon, break a historical record that had been sealed for over half a century!

It had to be said, it was truly surprising.

Yang Cheng himself found it a bit hard to believe.

“This kid hit the jackpot!”

Hearing this, Brian Kidd burst into laughter.

Was it just luck?

Yes, but also no.

Luck was important, but Walcott’s sharp instincts, searing pace, his increasingly娴熟 technique, his composure when shooting, and the application of his shooting technique—all these things combined to create that goal.

“This kid is about to become a superstar!” Brian Kidd couldn’t stop laughing.

Yang Cheng, however, felt a sense of helplessness.

Knowing the British media, the importance of the FA Cup, and the fact that a half-century-old record had been broken, Yang Cheng wouldn’t believe for a second that they wouldn’t hype this up to an insane degree.

In fact, given the British media’s personality of squeezing a toad until it pees, Walcott was definitely in for a rough ride.

“I need to have a talk with him, pour some cold water on this to cool him down!” Yang Cheng had acquired a happy problem.

Brian Kidd nodded continuously.

Walcott was too young.

Although he had been famous for years, he was actually only twenty.

If he became complacent because of this, if he got carried away, then his career would plateau.

But Yang Cheng’s expectations for him were much higher than that!

…

When Walcott scored his third goal, the match lost all suspense.

Chelsea, who had been playing with ferocious intensity just moments before, suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, their morale draining away at an incredible speed.

The Bayswater Chinese proceeded steadily and surely, successfully maintaining their 3-1 lead until the final whistle!

The moment the head referee’s whistle blew, Yang Cheng stood on the touchline, applauding his players vigorously.

A 3-1 scoreline looked like a comfortable victory.

But for those who had lived through it, the match had been exceptionally perilous.

Throughout the entire process, the slightest lapse in concentration could have been disastrous for the Bayswater Chinese.

Especially after Drogba’s equalizer.

During that period, the pressure on the Bayswater Chinese was immense.

Yang Cheng’s decisive change in formation, concentrating his superior forces to attack Chelsea’s right flank, successfully suppressed the unstoppable Chelsea and allowed them to retake the lead.

This led to the subsequent third goal.

At this moment, Yang Cheng truly let out a sigh of relief.

But he was also filled with an irrepressible joy and excitement.

The fifth trophy of the season was in the bag!

At the very least, we are Double champions!

The league and FA Cup titles we lost last season have finally been won back!

At this thought, Yang Cheng felt an urge to roar at the heavens.

But he restrained himself.

Because he knew that in three days, there was another, incredibly crucial final battle to be fought!

Yang Cheng turned his head to look at the coaching bench behind him.

Many of the coaches, staff, and employees had rushed onto the pitch with the substitute players.

Only Brian Kidd remained, standing silently behind Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng looked closely and saw that Brian Kidd’s old eyes were red!

Having worked together for so many years, Yang Cheng felt he understood Brian Kidd quite well.

His resentment and bitterness towards Ferguson stemmed largely from the drop-off he experienced after leaving Manchester United.

As a club legend at Manchester United, he had worked diligently, assisting Ferguson in building the most powerful Manchester United side ever.

But just as that team was about to reach its absolute zenith, its historical peak, he left.

The great Treble had nothing to do with him!

On the contrary, he faced skepticism at Blackburn Rovers, and his managerial career never recovered.

This contrast left his heart in turmoil.

That was why he resented Ferguson.

If Ferguson hadn’t been so obstinate and self-opinionated, leading to their conflict, why would he have wanted to leave Manchester United?

If he hadn’t left Manchester United, he would have been a part of that great Treble-winning team!

If Ferguson hadn’t kicked him when he was down, would he have been sacked from Blackburn Rovers?

All of it made Brian Kidd seek an outlet for his feelings; otherwise, he couldn’t even face himself.

And at this moment, another team he had poured his heart into was rising!

The Double!

They were just one step away from the glorious Treble!

In fact, if they won the Champions League this season, achieving the Treble, the Bayswater Chinese would surpass the achievements of the 1999 Manchester United team.

Because the Bayswater Chinese would have achieved the Sextuple!

The season after winning the Treble, Manchester United participated in the inaugural Club World Cup, where they were soundly humiliated by Romário’s Vasco da Gama.

And in the 2000 Community Shield—no, it was called the Charity Shield back then—Manchester United also lost to Chelsea.

So, as long as the Bayswater Chinese won the Champions League in three days, their historical achievement would surpass that of the 1999 Manchester United team.

This was an indisputable fact!

“Brian!”

Yang Cheng walked over to Brian Kidd’s side, slung an arm around his shoulder, and said with a spirited smile.

“Do you still remember what I told you the first time we met?”

Brian Kidd blinked hard, trying to hide his emotional state and control his overwhelming feelings.

“I remember it crystal clear!”

“Good!” Yang Cheng was still smiling, looking extraordinarily confident. “Then pull yourself together. In three days, after we snatch that last, most important trophy, I’ll consider it having made good on that grand promise I made you all those years ago!”

Hearing the last part, Brian Kidd let out a chuckle, which turned into a full-throated laugh.

“Six years, and you finally admit you were just bluffing me back then!” Brian Kidd laughed along heartily.

From the sound of his laughter, it was clear that even if he had been bluffed, he was more than happy with the outcome and would even welcome more of such bluffs.

…

As it turned out, Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were both right.

After the FA Cup final, the whole of England was in an absolute frenzy!

Besides celebrating the Bayswater Chinese’s double, it was also because of Theo Walcott’s hat-trick.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, England’s Twin Stars, were already established names, especially this season, where their overall performance had become even more consistent than the last.

And now, Walcott had scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup final, which was like an early Christmas for the English media.

Almost every media outlet was in hot pursuit, chasing any news related to the Bayswater Chinese.

After the FA Cup final, the Bayswater Chinese held a dinner party as was customary.

Since they won, it was a victory celebration.

A huge crowd of media and fans gathered outside, all there for the Bayswater Chinese and Theo Walcott.

The next morning, the team was scheduled for a recovery training session as usual.

But early in the morning, the road outside the Brent training center was completely blocked by reporters and fans.

Yang Cheng even had to call the police to maintain order so that he and the players could enter the training center.

The most outrageous part was that some more extreme fans even tried to force their way into the Brent training center.

This prompted Yang Cheng to instruct his staff to immediately upgrade the training center’s gates and security measures.

It was too dangerous!

But it also served as a wake-up call for Yang Cheng.

The upcoming Champions League final.

The whole world knew that fans from two countries were the most notorious.

England, with its abundance of football hooligans, and Italy, where racism was most rampant.

The fans from Spain’s Catalonia region, where Barça was from, were no saints either.

One could only imagine the scene when an English team and the flagship of Catalonia played the Champions League final in Italy.

Therefore, Yang Cheng specifically asked Adam Crozier to immediately arrange for people to go to Italy again to inspect the hotel, especially its security.

He also personally called UEFA President Platini to express his concerns about the security at the venue, and suggested that UEFA liaise with the local government and police in Rome to ensure the safety of the Bayswater Chinese fans attending the match, no matter what.

Not only that, but Yang Cheng also held a special press conference that afternoon, inviting media outlets including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror, The Sun, and The Guardian.

He issued an appeal, hoping that all fans would remain rational and calm.

Especially those traveling to Rome.

The Bayswater Chinese’s fan services department also sprang into action, rolling out a series of support measures for fans, including an emergency help hotline.

While the Bayswater Chinese were defeating Chelsea 3-1 in the FA Cup final, Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the Copa del Rey final in Spain.

At the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Barça were caught off guard early by Athletic Bilbao, but then turned the tide with a goal and an assist from Messi.

All four of their goals came in the second half.

This made many people worry about Guardiola’s team.

Yang Cheng’s team was also extremely good at launching an opening blitz.

Judging from Barça’s recent performances, they often didn’t look ideal at the start of games.

To put it simply, they were slow to get into the game.

This was normal.

They liked to control possession, to have the ball at their feet, so naturally, they needed time to find their rhythm, which meant they started slower.

Therefore, many also speculated that the key to this Champions League final would be the beginning!

It all came down to who would come out on top: Yang Cheng or Guardiola!

Chapter 173: This is a great match! Yang Cheng: We’re still playing too politely!

“There’s a saying in our hotel industry.”

The day after the FA Cup final, in the restaurant of the Royal Lancaster Hotel north of Hyde Park in London, the CEO of the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotels Group raised his glass to Yang Jianguo.

“Open a hotel where there are the most hotels!”

Yang Jianguo was a little puzzled. “What’s the logic in that?”

“Exactly. Isn’t it said that a first-class business district and a third-class location is the golden rule of hotel site selection?” the general manager of a leading domestic tourism company, who was sitting nearby, also found it strange.

A first-class business district meant there was sufficient foot traffic.

A third-class location meant the rent would be cheap, but the property costs for the hotel would be higher.

The CEO of The Peninsula Hotels group laughed heartily. “You’re talking about the details, while I’m talking about the big picture.”

Everyone in the inspection delegation was intelligent and a successful businessman with a keen sense of smell; they understood immediately.

“An area with many hotels often means there are many customers there. That’s why we can see that every city has at least one area where hotels cluster, and that place is certain to be the area with the highest foot traffic.”

“And this is the so-called first-class business district.”

“Then, within that first-class district, we choose a third-class location.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Jianguo couldn’t help but applaud in admiration, but he quickly added jokingly, “Well said, but I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed this time. On the plot for our new stadium, there really are no third-class locations, only first-class and super first-class ones.”

Everyone present burst into laughter.

When it came to business, Yang Jianguo was truly formidable!

“Chairman Yang, I agree with what you’ve said. In London, the area with the highest concentration of hotels is indeed Bayswater.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Over the past few days, as they had strolled around, they had discovered hotels everywhere, with more constantly being built.

From Queensway station to Notting Hill station, just a short walk, there were two Hilton Hotels.

Not only that, but Adam Crozier of the Bayswater Chinese had also revealed that the Hilton Group had contacted them about opening another one on Queensway.

It was simply outrageous!

The entire Bayswater area was densely packed with hotels.

It was clear just how fierce the competition was there.

On the other hand, it also showed that the area was genuinely popular, especially with tourists and even business professionals from all over the world.

The main reason was its convenient transportation. Several subway lines intersected, all converging in this area.

From here, it was incredibly convenient to get anywhere.

Moreover, it was surrounded by tourist attractions like Notting Hill, Hyde Park, Holland Park, Kensington Palace, Knightsbridge, Baker Street, and more, all just a short walk away.

“Most importantly, Chairman Yang, the prospects your club has outlined are truly excellent. A ninety-thousand-seat stadium, two to three hundred high-end VIP boxes, and the stadium will be a multi-functional venue for matches, exhibitions, and concerts in the future. This is very attractive.”

Everyone nodded again in agreement.

With such a location and scale, there would certainly be no shortage of exhibitions and events in the future.

This in itself was a very attractive resource.

Yang Jianguo also understood the unspoken meaning in the other party’s words and was overjoyed. “Then our partnership…”

“As soon as I get back, I’ll push it forward immediately. We at The Peninsula Hotels want to open in London before the 2012 London Olympics!”

He had made up his mind!

The most crucial factors were the influence of the Bayswater Chinese, the club’s investment, the support of the London city government, and the incredibly appealing blueprint for the future presented by the entire plan.

Of the four buildings, Bvlgari Hotels would take one, the department store another, and the Bayswater Chinese offices a third. If The Peninsula Hotels group hesitated any longer, they would likely end up with nothing.

Once the deal was agreed upon, many things became easier to handle.

Yang Jianguo had officially connected the entire business chain, forming a closed loop.

The next step was to return to China, sign the partnership agreements, and then gradually move things forward.

Everyone present was also very happy.

After all, this was a huge deal.

Yang Jianguo even magnanimously invited everyone to Rome, Italy, to watch the Champions League final.

“My son said that even though our opponent is Barça, who are said to be the best team in the world, we’ll still take them down and bring honor to us Chinese!”

Everyone present had seen the match against Chelsea and had thoroughly enjoyed it.

They had also felt the震撼 of ninety thousand fans in the stadium, venting their emotions hysterically.

But traveling from London to Italy to watch the match was simply not feasible.

Naturally, everyone heaped praise on Yang Jianguo, and especially on Yang Cheng.

Although they had only met a few times, they had toured the new stadium project, visited the Brent training center, and watched two matches where the Bayswater Chinese lifted two trophies.

It really brought them honor!

They all wished they could go to Rome to witness the birth of a Treble winner in person.

But their schedules just didn’t allow for it.

As high-level company leaders, they had already spent a lot of time on this trip.

It was more important to hurry back and finalize the details of the partnership!

Yang Jianguo didn’t insist, a wide grin hidden in his heart.

On this delegation trip, Yang Cheng had brought him immense face.

With such an outstanding son, all my hard work building this vast family enterprise hasn’t been in vain!

…

Yang Jianguo and the others left the day before Yang Cheng’s team departed for Rome, Italy.

Yang Cheng specifically made time to see them off at the hotel and had Adam Crozier drive them to the airport.

Yang Cheng was also delighted when he heard from his so-called father that the partnership had been finalized.

“After we get back, each company will arrange for people to come over for inspection and coordination. You need to make proper arrangements on your end as well,” Yang Jianguo instructed.

He had reached a strategic partnership with the largest high-end department store chain in China. In the future, Yang’s Real Estate’s commercial properties would all be developed in cooperation with them.

This would allow Yang’s Real Estate to take off!

After giving his so-called father a few more reminders, Yang Cheng asked about the sportswear business, urging him to start paying attention to the problem of overcapacity that would follow the post-Olympics economic crisis.

“You’ve mentioned this many times, and I take it very seriously. Old Lin has also been pushing for it, so you can rest assured. Our business is doing very well right now. We plan to spin off the sports company and list it in Hong Kong.”

In fact, Yang Jianguo had been pushing for a public listing for a long time.

But over the past few years, the business had grown larger and larger, and there were no financial difficulties. In 2007, when Nike acquired Umbro, the Yang’s Group even bought out the shares Umbro held in the Greater China region.

The reason for pushing for a public listing this time was to further increase research and development, complete brand and channel upgrades, and also allow the China Umbro business to develop more rapidly.

All of this required a large amount of capital.

Besides the sports company, Yang’s Real Estate was also preparing for a public listing.

In Yang Jianguo’s words, the accumulation over the past few years had allowed the two subsidiaries under the group to fully mature and gather their strength. After going public, they would go all out and usher in a new round of rapid growth.

“So, my boy, if you’re short on cash, just let me know!” his nouveau riche so-called father said, patting Yang Cheng’s shoulder.

Yang Cheng almost burst out laughing, but he nodded with a perfectly straight face.

“Dad, you know, we recently calculated it, and our funding gap is at least six hundred million pounds sterling. You don’t need to give too much, five hundred million pounds will be enough. I’ll figure out the rest myself.”

Next, Yang Cheng watched his so-called father’s expression shift from smug to embarrassed, and then to dejected.

Finally, the old man let out a deep sigh, with a feeling of lament that his son was grown and beyond his control.

“You’d better figure it out yourself. I’m heading back to China!”

With that, the old man walked away without a backward glance.

Leaving Yang Cheng completely dumbfounded.

What happened to ‘just let me know’?

“Did I ask for too much?” Yang Cheng tilted his head and asked Xia Qing.

Xia Qing rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”

…

Ever since Bayswater Chinese made it to the Champions League final, Yang Cheng had poured all his energy into preparing for it.

He took this match against Barcelona extremely seriously.

The entire preparation was meticulous, and the groundwork was thoroughly laid.

Not only were players regularly shown highlight reels of Barça’s matches, but the video analysts also created custom clips of Barça’s games for each player to help them better understand Barça’s style of football.

Yang Cheng also held regular meetings to study and discuss Barça’s tactics, encouraging all players to voice their opinions.

After meeting minutes were compiled, they were consolidated and repeatedly brought up for discussion to ensure no detail was overlooked.

Yang Cheng set the tone for this match very early on.

Against a team like Barça, being conservative was a death sentence!

But blindly pressing forward to engage in an all-out attack was also suicidal.

Furthermore, trying to fight Barça for possession was another dead end.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese had to be mentally prepared to be without the ball for long periods of the game.

This would be a huge test for them.

But Barça was just that formidable!

In Yang Cheng’s words, “Barça is the kind of team that can casually string together dozens of passes in a match while we can’t even get a touch on the ball.”

“This requires us to remain level-headed and rational at all times, analyzing the game situation.”

At this moment, Yang Cheng once again thought of Teacher Toni.

No matter the time or the difficulty, Teacher Toni was always so incredibly calm!

Yang Cheng had the coaching staff prepare a lot of material to inform the players about Barça’s strengths and weaknesses.

Where did Bayswater Chinese’s advantages lie, and how could they best utilize them?

All of this was just preparation.

In training, Yang Cheng would simulate the match environment against Barça as much as possible, helping the players get into the zone earlier and familiarize themselves with the opponent.

On the day the team was about to depart for Rome, Italy, Yang Cheng finally revealed his tactical ideas for the match.

First, do not compete with Barça for possession.

This was something everyone knew.

When defending, the objective for everyone was not to win the ball.

“Our goal is to disrupt their organized, threatening attacks and break their rhythm, not to steal the ball. So, don’t commit to a move lightly when defending.”

“Remember, Barça’s players will be faster than us, and their passing and receiving will be more fluid.”

Did this tactic sound familiar?

Yes, it was what Ferguson’s Manchester United had once used against Bayswater Chinese, and it had been quite effective.

Yang Cheng was now borrowing the tactic to use against Barça.

“Second, against key players like Messi and Iniesta, we must have at least two defenders in their vicinity.”

“I don’t care when it is or what the situation is, as long as they have the ball, there must be at least two people defending. Again, the goal isn’t to take the ball, but to box them in, squeeze their space on the ball!”

This led to the third point Yang Cheng wanted to mention: Bayswater Chinese’s advantage.

“Physicality!”

Against a ferocious team like Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese was indeed at a physical disadvantage.

But against Barça?

Especially against players like Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, Bayswater Chinese had a physical advantage.

Squeeze their space on the ball, engage in direct physical contests, and leverage Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

Finally, and most importantly.

Move the ball quickly through midfield. If possession is lost, nearby players immediately counter-press, while players behind them quickly fall back into position.

“Barça’s football philosophy is based on possession. So if we immediately counter-press after they win the ball, they’ll try to secure possession as quickly as possible. At this point, they’ll make relatively conservative passes, which will buy us time to set up our defensive structure behind them.”

“And once we win the ball, we move it quickly through the midfield.”

“Trust me, as long as we get past their midfield quickly, that line of defense can’t stop us. Once we reach their backline, they’ll be in serious trouble, because their defense is very weak!”

“So, for this match, Modrić will start, Rakitić will start, and so will Yaya Touré. On the left will be Gareth Bale, and on the right, Ángel Di María.”

“Our objective is clear. Everyone is a launchpad for the counter-attack. As soon as we win the ball, we immediately launch a counter, get it through the midfield quickly, and use our advantages in speed and passing to strike directly behind their defense.”

Yang Cheng also specifically reminded the players that once Barça started their passing and possession game, no one should try to press them. Let them pass the ball around.

“At this point, the most important thing for us is to conserve our energy and maintain the stability and order of our defensive formation!”

“Remember what I said, don’t always think about winning the ball from them!”

Yang Cheng’s repeated emphasis was to ensure the players would remember it well!

After a period of familiarization and study, the players basically understood what kind of team they were up against.

The series of targeted tactics Yang Cheng presented indeed surprised all the players.

But they also felt it was logical.

When it came to passing and possession, Bayswater Chinese was truly no match for Barça.

And everyone now had a clearer understanding of what they needed to do.

…

Before the team arrived in Italy, the team bus had already reached Rome three days in advance.

During those three days, not only did they deliver supplies to the hotel, but they also scouted various routes in Rome, driving back and forth from the hotel to the Stadio Olimpico several times.

They particularly focused on familiarizing themselves with the traffic conditions in Rome around the time of the match.

The Rome police were also very cooperative, providing all sorts of information.

According to feedback from the police, they had never seen a team prepare so meticulously as Bayswater Chinese.

But on second thought, it all seemed very reasonable and necessary.

When the team arrived in Rome, it was their own driver who came to pick them up in the team bus.

By then, they were already familiar with the route, and amidst the cheers of the fans at the airport, they headed to the hotel.

After a short rest, the team had a meal together.

After a noon break, the team officially headed to the Stadio Olimpico for a training session to familiarize themselves with the pitch.

It was worth mentioning that Yang Cheng specifically set aside some time before and after training for the fans who had traveled with the team to Rome.

They were all Bayswater Chinese season ticket holders.

As the number of Bayswater Chinese fans grew and season ticket sales increased, the club had implemented a points system.

Buying season tickets, spending money at the stadium, and other activities could earn points.

For major matches like the Champions League final, ticket sales were prioritized based on points; the higher the points, the better the priority.

So, to some extent, the Bayswater Chinese fans who appeared in the Stadio Olimpico this time were basically the die-hard supporters from the past few years.

After Bayswater Chinese finished their training and were interacting with the fans, Pep Guardiola also arrived at the Stadio Olimpico with the Barça players.

This was the first time Yang Cheng had met Pep Guardiola.

When they met, they shook hands and chatted for a few minutes on the sideline.

They mostly exchanged pleasantries, carefully avoiding any mention of the upcoming match or the past encounters between the two teams.

However, when Yang Cheng later appeared in the press conference hall at the Stadio Olimpico, he confidently declared, “No one knows how to beat Barça better than me!”

“We’ve always had a psychological edge against Barça!”

“This match will be no exception!”

The media reporters in attendance loved such statements and were all very excited.

Some reporters also pointed out that Yang Cheng’s pass-and-move style had many similarities to Barça’s possession-based style.

Did this mean their football philosophies were very similar?

Yang Cheng denied this.

“If I were to explain the differences in detail, it would take a very long time, but I can responsibly say that our football philosophy is completely different from Barça’s, fundamentally different.”

“To some extent, Barça’s is a kind of unconfident football.”

“They are so unconfident in themselves that they try every means to prevent the opponent from having the ball. This is actually another form of conservatism.”

Yang Cheng’s comments caused an uproar among the reporters.

This was an outrageous claim!

“I don’t think Barça represents beautiful football. On the contrary, based on their philosophy, I can see them playing a very boring, sleep-inducing brand of football in the near future.”

“Because their opponents can’t get the ball!”

As for Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng believed his team played a more confident, more proactive, and attacking style of football.

“Yes, theirs is control-based football, while ours is attacking football. The two are completely different!”

Regarding Barça, Yang Cheng didn’t think Pep Guardiola would change his tactics.

“And neither will we!”

“We just need to play our own style, and we will be able to beat Barça!”

“Yes, that’s right, I have indeed found the tactic to nullify Barça!”

Yang Cheng’s final statement was psychological warfare.

But it wasn’t aimed at the Barça players, but at Pep Guardiola.

He really hoped Guardiola would shoot himself in the foot, perhaps by dropping one of his midfield iron triangle.

If that happened, the match would be much easier for Bayswater Chinese.

Contrary to Yang Cheng, Pep Guardiola denied that Barça’s football was conservative.

But the Barça head coach did not believe that Yang Cheng had found a way to counter his team.

“This past season, almost every opponent we faced said the same thing, but hardly any of them could do it!”

Guardiola considered Bayswater Chinese a very respectable team. “They’ve reached the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons, but they won’t win it for two consecutive seasons!”

Regarding Yang Cheng’s team, Guardiola stated that the most dangerous player was Džeko.

“Džeko is extremely dangerous. His performance will have a decisive impact on the match.”

As for how Barça would mark Džeko, Guardiola said, “You’ll find out during the match.”

Guardiola also didn’t hide his admiration for Džeko.

“I’ve said more than once that Džeko is a player any head coach would want, especially me!”

…

On Match of the Day, Yang Cheng and the players were not involved in almost anything else.

From the moment they woke up, everyone was preparing for the evening’s match.

From meals to rest to relaxation, including the morning tactical meeting, everything was part of the final sprint for the evening’s game.

The match was scheduled for 7:45 PM.

The Bayswater team left the hotel early, taking the team bus to the Stadio Olimpico.

Barça had clearly not scouted their route in advance and got caught in Rome’s evening rush hour. By the time they arrived at the Stadio Olimpico, Bayswater Chinese were already on the pitch warming up.

They were a full seventeen minutes late.

When Bayswater Chinese finished their warm-up and returned to the dressing room, Yang Cheng brought out his secret weapon.

Back in last season’s Champions League final, he had specially commissioned a highlight reel of all the players’ performances over the past season, compiled into a video of about four minutes.

The background music was the team anthem.

He hoped this would inspire the players’ fighting spirit.

Judging from the result, the effect was indeed quite good.

This time, Yang Cheng used the same trick, but instead of a four-minute video, he had an eight-minute one.

In this eight-minute video, everyone could see more clearly and intuitively the battles they and their teammates had fought over the past season, the effort and struggle they had put in.

Every player had their own segment in the video.

Yang Cheng hoped this would awaken the players’ fighting spirit, allowing them to enter the Stadio Olimpico with even higher morale.

At the end of the video, a single sentence from Yang Cheng remained.

“I believe victory will ultimately be ours!”

Afterward, Yang Cheng conducted his final pre-match briefing and pep talk.

Everything that needed to be said had already been said.

Yang Cheng re-emphasized a few key points, especially regarding Messi.

When he finished, he gave a shout, and everyone gathered around him—including players not in the matchday squad, as well as the coaching staff and employees—forming a tight huddle.

“This is a great match!”

“And victory will ultimately be ours!”

“Come on! Come on!! Come on!!!”

Following Yang Cheng’s cry, the players roared along with him before breaking apart.

…

According to the pre-match draw, Bayswater Chinese would wear their red home kit.

Barça, on the other hand, wore their yellow away kit.

And on this night, sixty-seven thousand fans poured into the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The fans of the two teams were clearly separated on opposite sides of the stands, each wearing red and yellow jerseys, looking remarkably organized.

Led by Italian head referee Massimo Busacca, the two teams walked onto the pitch.

There were no surprises in either team’s starting lineup.

Bayswater Chinese stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Ángel Di María.

The somewhat controversial point was that Theo Walcott, who had just scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup final and was regarded by countless English fans as a genius and the future leader of England, was not starting this match.

He was on the bench.

This was indeed quite surprising.

Because Walcott was in excellent form.

Another surprise was that many had speculated Yang Cheng would start Matuidi in place of Rakitić.

But in the end, it was Rakitić who started.

This wasn’t exactly a surprise player, however, as Rakitić had been one of Bayswater Chinese’s starting midfielders this season.

There were no surprises on Barça’s side either.

Goalkeeper: Valdés;

Defense: Sylvinho, Puyol, Piqué, and Dani Alves;

Midfield: Busquets in a holding role, with Iniesta and Xavi in the center;

Forwards: Henry, Eto’o, and Messi.

This was the strongest lineup Barcelona could field at the time.

During the subsequent coin toss, Modrić once again lost to Puyol.

This made Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd on the sideline exchange a helpless look.

This Bayswater Chinese captain was good at everything except for his luck in gambling; he just couldn’t seem to win a coin toss.

After the coin toss, the two teams took their positions.

Messi and Eto’o stood at the center circle for the kickoff.

With a blow of Busacca’s whistle, the match began, and Barça immediately passed the ball back.

Bayswater Chinese pushed forward slightly.

Džeko, positioned at the very front, only advanced to the vicinity of Busquets.

Gareth Bale and Ángel Di María were relatively deeper, almost level with midfielders Rakitić and Modrić.

The team maintained its overall shape, pushing forward steadily.

This was also Yang Cheng’s strategy.

In a 4-3-3 formation, the distance between the wingers and full-backs could be quite large.

The advantage was that it facilitated attacks, but the disadvantage was the large defensive space it created.

So, often the full-backs had to press forward aggressively to shorten the distance.

But doing so made them vulnerable to being caught out behind.

Facing Barça, Yang Cheng’s opening strategy was not aggressive.

Before the match, he had devised two strategies: if they won the ball, they would attempt an opening blitz.

If they didn’t win the ball, they would try to maintain the stability of their midfield and defensive shape and bide their time.

After the kickoff, Barça smoothly controlled possession.

A series of quick one-touch passes made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese to get a touch on the ball.

Yang Cheng’s players weren’t anxious; they maintained a 4-1-4-1-like formation.

The players from both teams contested on the pitch.

But in reality, most of the possession was with Barça.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s overall formation was also quite high, placing the battleground near the halfway line, they weren’t putting much effort into winning the ball.

The players remembered Yang Cheng’s pre-match instructions.

Barça first tried to play balls in behind, but with little success.

Specifically, two over-the-top passes from Xavi and Iniesta intended for Henry and Eto’o were caught in the offside trap.

But interestingly, although Bayswater Chinese were at an absolute disadvantage in possession, the first shot of the match came from Gareth Bale.

The Welshman received a pass from Džeko, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and, under pressure from Puyol, took a shot.

Goalkeeper Valdés calmly saved the ball.

The second shot also came from Bayswater Chinese.

Again, it was Džeko dropping back to create the play. Gareth Bale took a hasty long shot from outside the left corner of the box, which went high.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng immediately walked to the sideline and shouted to Gareth Bale, signaling him to calm down and not be so anxious.

Gareth Bale raised his hand from afar, indicating he had heard.

…

“Ten minutes have passed.”

“Barça’s possession is at seventy-five percent, a bit high.”

When Yang Cheng returned to the dugout, Brian Kidd reported the latest situation.

This was within the expectations of Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

Unless they launched an opening blitz and pressed Barça from the start, it was only natural to have a lower possession rate.

“Before the match, everyone thought we would take the initiative and launch a blitz. As it turns out, it’s Barça who are blitzing us!” Yang Cheng found it somewhat amusing.

Guardiola obviously knew his team tended to start slow, while Bayswater Chinese excelled at the opening blitz.

What was the solution?

They took the initiative themselves, using their kickoff advantage to put pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

With Barça pressing forward to attack, Bayswater Chinese were unable to launch their own blitz.

But Barça’s start wasn’t great either.

On the contrary, it was Bayswater Chinese who had created two shots.

“We’re still playing too politely!” Yang Cheng shook his head.

Bayswater Chinese really wasn’t a team that enjoyed physical confrontations.

So, Yang Cheng had to walk to the sideline again, signaling the players to increase the intensity against Barça.

Don’t be so gentlemanly and let them control the ball!

Come on, guys, do you know what destruction means?

Destruction means violence! You need to show your brutal side!

Barça players dare to hold the ball?

Get them!

But just as Yang Cheng realized Bayswater Chinese’s problem, a mere five minutes later, Messi received a pass from Xavi in the right half-space.

At that moment, Rakitić immediately cut inside, trying to help Yaya Touré intercept Messi.

But the two players played a bit too politely, failing to apply pressure on Messi in time, leaving a gap between them.

After controlling the ball, Messi instantly accelerated. Like an eel, he deftly dribbled the ball and burst through the gap between them. Although he didn’t completely break through, the Argentine managed to play a through ball in behind.

At almost the same instant, Eto’o made a quick run forward, beating the offside trap. He broke into the right side of the penalty area, caught up to Messi’s through ball, and hit a low shot with his right foot.

Although Neuer rushed out quickly and dove to his side, he couldn’t stop Eto’o’s shot from finding the back of the Bayswater Chinese net.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“A goal from Barça!”

“Eto’o opens the scoring for Barça!”

“It came from a through ball by Messi after a dribbling run.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s defense ultimately couldn’t withstand Barça’s constant passing, and Messi’s sharp breakthrough.”

“Just fifteen minutes into the match, Barça have taken the lead!”

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, watching the pitch speechlessly.

He didn’t know how to describe his feelings at that moment.

Messi was very good, but Rakitić and Yaya Touré had already formed a joint defense. If they had been just a little bit tighter, there was no way Messi could have broken through.

Why didn’t they close the door on him, block him out, and instead let him poke his head through to deliver that through ball?

As this thought crossed his mind, Yang Cheng strode directly to the sideline and yelled angrily at the players on the pitch.

“What’s going on? What were my instructions?”

“Joint defense! Joint defense! Is that how you do a joint defense?”

“Ivan, Yaya, what on earth are you two doing?”

All the Bayswater Chinese players knew that Yang Cheng rarely lost his temper.

But if he did get angry, it definitely meant the players had done something terribly wrong.

Just like now.

Before Messi made that pass, Yaya Touré, Rakitić, and even the other nearby players probably hadn’t realized the seriousness of the situation.

Maintaining the overall defensive order, it didn’t seem necessary to put pressure on the opponent, no need to go all-out.

Besides, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t a team accustomed to battling opponents physically.

But when Messi’s pass went through, when Eto’o scored, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on all of them.

And in the dead of a December winter.

They were all wide awake now.

Especially after Yang Cheng’s furious outburst.

They realized they were facing Barça!

Even the slightest detail, if not executed perfectly, could be seized upon by Barça and converted into a goal!

…

Having conceded a goal, the Bayswater Chinese players were jolted awake.

But this Barça team was expert at pressing their advantage, striking while the iron was hot.

After the restart, Guardiola’s team pressed high up the pitch, launching a fierce press and pressuring Bayswater Chinese.

After winning the ball, they patiently passed and controlled it in the final third, trying to create chances.

Henry soon got a chance to shoot from the left side of the penalty area.

The shot was saved directly into Neuer’s arms.

But Barça’s attack continued.

Still in the final third.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense began to feel the pressure.

Although Yang Cheng repeatedly urged the team to push out, Barça’s attacking pressure forced Bayswater Chinese to retreat.

This retreat lasted for ten minutes.

However, there was one thing Bayswater Chinese did well.

That was, after conceding the goal, the players had woken up, and they applied more pressure on Barça defensively.

At the very least, the players started to frequently use their bodies, make challenges, and prevent Barça from creating any clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities.

Although there were many dangerous moments in front of their goal, and Barça’s attacks were repeatedly threatening, the actual number of shots was not high.

And once the defense stabilized, and the players gradually regained their composure, especially when they all experienced firsthand that the tactics set by head coach Yang Cheng were correct and very effective.

At that point, they would execute them with even more commitment and without hesitation.

In the 31st minute, Messi and Dani Alves tried to combine for an attack on the right side of the penalty area.

But Rakitić tracked back in time to support Leighton Baines, and the two of them worked together to nip Barça’s attack in the bud.

Alves played a casual back pass, looking to find Xavi to restart the attack.

But unexpectedly, Gareth Bale suddenly tracked back, popping out from the side and behind to intercept the ball first.

After winning the ball, Gareth Bale used his body to shield it from Xavi and passed it to Rakitić with his right foot.

He then passed it to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian held off the counter-pressing Eto’o, turned, and passed the ball back to Rakitić.

The Croatian then passed it to Modrić.

The captain, beating Iniesta to the ball, played a direct through ball to Džeko’s feet.

Džeko had dropped back to receive the pass, with Piqué right behind him.

In this match, Guardiola had Piqué stick to Džeko like glue.

As the Bosnian centre-forward received the ball, he executed a skillful turn, shielding Piqué with his right shoulder and playing a diagonal pass back to his left with his left foot.

Gareth Bale appeared like a red streak of lightning, having been sprinting forward at top speed. He instantly caught up to Džeko’s pass and took a powerful touch towards Barça’s penalty area.

Puyol rushed back quickly, keeping pace with Gareth Bale.

But after catching up to the ball, the Welshman took another touch and somehow accelerated again.

Puyol hadn’t expected Bale to be able to accelerate again. He reached out to pull Bale back, but to his surprise, Bale simply broke free.

The Welshman sprinted into the penalty area with great strides, catching up to the ball he had just knocked ahead.

Goalkeeper Valdés had already left his line and was rushing out.

But before he could get there, Gareth Bale had already reached the ball and unleashed a power shot with his left foot.

The ball flew past Valdés at high speed and nestled into the back of the Barça net.

“GOAL!!!”

“1-1!”

“Gareth Bale has equalized for Bayswater Chinese with a lightning-fast counter-attack!”

“A brilliant pass from Džeko!”

“The Welsh winger’s speed is simply incredible. Puyol couldn’t even manage to foul him before he was beaten.”

“This proves that Bayswater Chinese’s attack is still extremely sharp.”

“And as long as Barça’s midfield can’t stop Bayswater Chinese, as soon as the ball reaches Barça’s backline, the situation becomes very dangerous.”

“Now, both teams are back on level terms!”

…

The moment Gareth Bale scored, Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement.

Brian Kidd and the others were just as thrilled.

The assistant coach even grabbed Yang Cheng’s shirt and yelled, “You were right, Yang! Barça’s defense is really as flimsy as paper!”

Although Yang Cheng’s words were a slight exaggeration, they weren’t wrong.

As long as they could quickly get past the midfield, Barça’s defense couldn’t handle Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

But the problem was, the team had to be able to withstand Barça’s onslaught!

This couldn’t rely on individual performances; it was a test of their collective teamwork.

The goal they conceded was the best proof of that.

But after conceding, Barça began to launch an even fiercer counter-attack.

Especially Messi.

The young Argentine even dropped very deep to receive the ball.

Once he got it, he would quickly drive forward.

In the 35th minute, it was Messi who, after receiving the ball deep in the right half-space, dribbled past three Bayswater Chinese defenders and played a through ball at the edge of the penalty area.

Neuer decisively rushed off his line, and just before Eto’o could reach it, he dove to his side, securely smothering Messi’s pass in his arms.

Fortunately, Eto’o pulled out in time; otherwise, the Cameroonian striker would have kicked Neuer.

Yang Cheng immediately made an adjustment from the sideline, signaling for Rakitić to stick with Messi and apply some pressure on the Argentine.

Barça remained patient, constantly passing the ball back and forth.

At times, they even strung together a series of passes that made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese to get a touch.

The skillful passing and control of the two sides clearly took a toll on the Bayswater Chinese players, both physically and mentally.

But in this situation, Yang Cheng’s pre-match preparations paid off.

The players knew very well that the head coach had anticipated Barça’s tactics and the difficulties they would face in the match, and had provided targeted strategies.

This made them believe that Yang Cheng had a way to help them achieve victory and turn the tide.

In addition, during their preparations, Yang Cheng had focused on strengthening their training in this specific area through a series of simulation drills.

So, when Bayswater Chinese faced Barça’s continuous passing, the players remained unfazed, constantly moving and repositioning, but always maintaining their overall formation and order, denying Barça any opportunities to play forward passes.

As a result, Messi once again actively dropped back.

But in the 39th minute, as Messi dropped back to receive a pass, Rakitić suddenly rushed him, getting close and using his physical advantage to pressure Messi. Using both his hands and feet, he managed to rob the ball from Messi’s feet.

After being pushed aside by Rakitić, Messi desperately tried to push back, but ended up losing his balance and falling to the ground.

The Barça players were shouting for a foul.

Messi was rolling on the ground.

But the head referee Busacca made no signal.

Rakitić, undisturbed, quickly passed the ball to Modrić, who then passed it to Di María further down the line.

The Argentine’s first pass wasn’t great, he fumbled a bit, but he immediately turned to shield the ball and passed it to the right flank.

Maicon surged forward at great speed, knocking Di María’s pass ahead of him and dribbling down the right wing.

As he entered Barça’s final third, Maicon glanced ahead and sent a diagonal cross, delivering the ball precisely to the left side of Barça’s six-yard box near the byline.

Gareth Bale raced forward, leaving centre-back Piqué behind. He caught up to Maicon’s cross, and though he had already missed the perfect opportunity for a header, he leaped high and headed the ball back into the middle.

And it was a low header.

In the center of Barça’s penalty area, though slightly slower, the ever-pursuing Džeko arrived at full tilt. He used his body to forcefully shove Puyol aside, and just before the Barça captain could react, he got a foot to the ball with a tap-in, sending it into the nearby Barça goal.

Valdés was positioned more to the left, and although he reacted instantly, he had no chance against such a close-range tap-in.

The ball had once again breached Barça’s goal.

Džeko and Puyol both fell inside the penalty area, tumbling over Barça’s goal line.

Inside the box, Barça players, including Busquets, turned towards the referee Busacca, looking like they wanted to surround him.

But Busacca mercilessly blew his whistle and pointed to the center circle.

The goal stood!

In an instant, the entire Stadio Olimpico erupted!

Chapter 174: The Unprecedented Sextuple! The Most Exciting Champions League Final in History!

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 39th minute, Džeko has scored against Barça!”

“2-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese have completed a magnificent comeback!”

“A cross from Maicon on the right, a flick-on from Gareth Bale, and Džeko toe-pokes it in from right in front of the goal.”

“Just moments ago, Gareth Bale’s goal came from a pass by Džeko.”

“The Welsh winger is now returning the favor, repaying Džeko for the assist!”

“We can see that the Bayswater Chinese players are absolutely thrilled.”

“Throughout the first half, in about forty minutes of play, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate was only thirty percent. Barça can be said to have been overwhelmingly dominant.”

“But in terms of creating chances, especially threatening attacking opportunities, Bayswater Chinese have been no worse than Barça.”

“This is truly astonishing!”

“Before this match, we all thought that against a team like Barça, Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t have many options. Their safest bet would be to sit back and defend, waiting for an opportunity to counter-attack.”

“But at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Yang Cheng did not do as the world expected. Instead, he uncharacteristically took the initiative to press forward and engage Barça in an end-to-end game.”

“Although Barça scored first, Bayswater Chinese have scored twice in a row in the first half, and now the situation has completely turned around.”

On the pitch, all the Bayswater Chinese players rushed towards the stands where their fans were, celebrating the goal and soaking in the cheers.

The entire stadium of fans was chanting the players’ names.

On the other side, however, the Barça fans were rather quiet.

They had been very loud ever since the match started.

“This is a match that has completely subverted all conventional expectations.”

“Before the game, experts analyzed that Yang Cheng’s team would surely employ an opening blitz, aiming to establish an advantage from the start and use a tight defense to stifle Barça’s possession-based style.”

“As for Barça, starting slow has always been their old problem.”

“But once the match began, we were surprised to see Pep Guardiola’s team trying to execute a blitz of their own, covering up their tendency to start slow and scoring before Bayswater Chinese could.”

“And what about Yang Cheng’s team? After being hit by that opening blitz, they didn’t become conservative and retreat to defend. Instead, they went toe-to-toe, battling Barça directly around the halfway line.”

“It was an incredibly brave choice, and one that has yielded a rather good result.”

“We can see Barça’s players are still chasing after the head referee, Busacca, arguing that there was a problem with Bayswater Chinese’s goal.”

“Especially the foul on Messi.”

“But Busacca has made it very clear that the goal is valid.”

“From the slow-motion replay, we can also see that Messi going to ground was not a foul.”

“Of course, we can also see that Bayswater Chinese have adopted a more aggressive defensive style, and it has had a serious impact on Barça.”

“2-1!”

“The situation is now very unfavorable for Barça.”

“The first half is about to end. Pep Guardiola must make adjustments quickly to try and find an equalizer.”

“As for Bayswater Chinese, the most important thing now is to stabilize the situation and maintain their current advantage.”

“Perhaps Yang Cheng should consider adopting a more cautious tactic.”

“On their bench, they still have two midfielders in Matuidi and Nemanja Matić.”

…

The first half ultimately ended 2-1.

In the final few minutes, neither Bayswater Chinese nor Barça could find another goal.

When Yang Cheng walked into the dressing room, all the players looked up at their head coach.

Evidently, Yang Cheng’s anger when they conceded the first goal had left them feeling uneasy.

Although they had since turned the game around, conceding that goal was indeed a mistake.

“Overall, we played well in the first half!”

With that single sentence, Yang Cheng set the tone for their first-half performance.

The players in the dressing room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

That sentence proved the head coach was in a decent mood.

But Yang Cheng’s next words made their hearts leap into their throats again.

“But there were also quite a few problems!”

Ignoring the players’ reactions, Yang Cheng continued to point out the team’s issues from the first half.

One was in the opening stages, where the players were not resolute enough in executing the pre-match tactical plan.

This was especially true in some of the physical, close-quarters defending.

Bayswater Chinese were not used to this, but Yang Cheng had drilled it countless times before and had instilled in the players the importance of it.

If they wanted to win playing their own style, this was the way.

Otherwise, they could only retreat!

Just as Ferguson had said, you could beat Barça by sitting back and defending.

But even Ferguson disdained using such a method, and Yang Cheng also had his own principles to uphold!

Besides the lack of resolute execution, another major problem in the first half was that their cover defense was not good enough.

Yang Cheng specifically brought up Messi’s goal.

It was clear that Rakitić and Yaya Touré had not paid enough attention.

They particularly lacked a clear understanding of Messi’s abilities.

“You have to realize that tonight, you are facing Messi, Iniesta, Eto’o, Henry, Xavi… one of the very best football teams on this planet!”

“I emphasized this repeatedly before the match. You must burn it into your brains. The slightest bit of complacency, the slightest bit of wishful thinking, will lead to complete ruin!”

As he spoke, Yang Cheng turned and slammed his hand hard on the tactics board.

The sudden action startled Brian Kidd and the others standing next to the board.

“Messi’s goal is the best proof!”

All the players held their breath.

They were mentally prepared for this.

They could feel that the head coach was extremely dissatisfied with that conceded goal.

Because before the match, the team had drilled it over and over, and he had stressed it countless times.

And yet, a problem still occurred.

“Ivan, that defensive play later when Messi went down, you did very well. I hope you can continue to show that kind of ruthlessness in the second half and make Messi’s life hell!”

“Don’t let that kid get through your zone!”

Rakitić looked up and nodded heavily. “I promise, boss!”

Yang Cheng was reasonably satisfied with his attitude.

Even though, in my past life, you were Messi’s number one sycophant, right now, you are a Bayswater Chinese player, so you better lock Messi down and shut him out!

Having said his harsh words, Yang Cheng quickly softened his tone.

“Of course, I know that goal wasn’t entirely your fault.”

As Yang Cheng changed his tune, the atmosphere in the dressing room immediately eased.

Although Yang Cheng usually had a good relationship with his players, when he lost his temper, he was still very intimidating.

Every single player in this dressing room had been personally scouted, promoted, and developed by him from obscurity.

This kind of authority was built up over time, naturally.

It was an authority that no other head coach at any other club could compare to.

“Messi is the most terrifying player on the planet. In a situation like the one just now, any other player would never have been able to get that pass away.”

Yang Cheng’s words also served as an explanation for Rakitić and Yaya Touré.

Both of them nodded repeatedly.

Who could argue?

They both felt they had already been paying close enough attention.

They just never expected Messi to find such a tiny gap.

What was even more ridiculous was that after spotting it, he actually dared to charge forward with the ball, and even managed to dribble through the space between them to deliver a brilliant pass.

They had no idea how he did it!

“This incident also teaches us something. When defending against Barça, whether it’s Messi, Iniesta, Eto’o, or anyone else, you have to be one hundred and twenty percent focused. You have to be better and more concentrated than usual!”

The players all nodded in agreement.

“After the second half starts, Barça will continue to hold onto possession. What we need to do is use the kick-off to launch a quick blitz and try to extend our lead.”

“Defensively, we continue with the same tactics from the first half. Suppress their attack, and when we get a chance, launch a decisive counter-attack.”

Yang Cheng reiterated that Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks must be fast.

Move through midfield quickly, with swift, simple one-touch passing to tear open Barça’s defensive line.

The two goals in the first half were basically scored in this manner.

At the same time, Yang Cheng once again stressed the need to put more pressure on Barça defensively, to increase the intensity.

The players also needed to be mindful of providing defensive cover for each other.

Only by relying on the entire unit could they possibly contain Barça’s penetrating passing game.

“Lads!”

“Our first-half lead has given us a glimpse of successfully defending our title!”

Yang Cheng walked into the middle of all the players, his burning gaze sweeping over each of them.

“We are only forty-five minutes away from legend!”

“For this moment, we have fought for an entire season, maybe even for years, or even a decade or more!”

“We have no reason to let up at the very last moment, do we?”

The players all stood up, nodding heavily.

The determination in everyone’s eyes grew stronger, their fighting spirit soaring.

“For these final forty-five minutes, we fight with everything we’ve got! We are going to bring that championship trophy outside back to London!”

“Let’s go!!” Yang Cheng shouted with all his might.

“Let’s go! Bayswater Chinese!” the players roared in unison.

…

After the second half kicked off, just two minutes in, Bayswater Chinese launched a fast break.

The team attacked down the right flank.

Maicon and Ángel Di María combined on the right. As they reached the right side of Barça’s penalty area, Maicon couldn’t get past Sylvinho. As he passed to Di María, Puyol suddenly rushed forward and cleared the ball with a big kick, sending it towards the right side of the halfway line.

Pepe shifted to the right and managed to control the ball first.

As Henry quickly closed him down, Pepe passed horizontally to Yaya Touré, who had dropped back to receive the ball.

The Ivorian ran to collect the ball, turned, and quickly pushed forward.

Yaya Touré was like an angry bull, charging forward with the ball, crashing right into Barça’s defensive circle.

But he had the ability and the physique to shield the ball and pass it to Modrić.

After releasing the pass, he continued to surge forward himself.

Modrić had initially been running back to provide cover for Yaya Touré, but as soon as the ball arrived, he instantly understood and passed it back.

By the time Yaya Touré caught up to Modrić’s pass, he was already positioned on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

Džeko, who was at the arc of the penalty area, was about to offer support, but when he saw Yaya Touré break through the encirclement, he immediately turned, glanced back at Piqué, held his position, and raised his hand for the ball, signaling for Yaya Touré to play a high ball.

But upon reaching the edge of the box, before Puyol could close him down, the Ivorian unleashed a ferocious long shot with his right foot.

The ball shot like a thunderbolt towards the right side of Barça’s goal.

Valdés flew through the air, diving to his side, and managed to palm the ball out for a corner kick.

A collective gasp echoed through the stadium.

Yaya Touré clapped his hands in frustration.

He then saw Džeko ahead of him, hands spread wide, asking him why he didn’t pass.

The Ivorian just shook his head with a smile and turned to run back.

“Actually, with that play just now, if he had delivered a high ball into the box in time, Džeko would have been a massive threat.”

“But we also have to acknowledge that Yaya Touré’s ability to carry the ball forward like that was truly stunning.”

“After the second half started, Bayswater Chinese’s blitz has finally arrived!”

From the subsequent corner kick, Bayswater Chinese created a chance for Pepe to head the ball, but it went just wide.

However, after being bombarded by Yang Cheng during the halftime break, the players’ mentality had clearly become much more focused.

The most obvious change was evident in Barça’s next attack.

When Iniesta carried the ball into the center circle, before he even crossed the halfway line, Modrić had already seen his chance. He stuck to him like glue, grabbing, pulling, and tugging, forcing Iniesta to stop the ball.

When Messi dropped back to receive a pass, Yaya Touré similarly used his body to lean on him, using his hands as well, terrified of letting Messi slip past again.

Under this pressure, Barça could only pass back to maintain possession.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, continued to press forward.

By the time Barça passed the ball back and forth again and got it to Xavi near the center circle, another minute had passed.

This time, Rakitić timed his move perfectly, poking the ball to Yaya Touré.

The Ivorian used his body to shield the ball from Xavi, executed a deft Marseille turn to evade the Barça players’ press, turned, and sent a long overhead pass forward.

But the pass was a bit too rushed.

Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Ángel Di María up front were all preparing to make runs, but the ball went directly into the penalty area.

Valdés decisively came off his line to claim the ball.

Although it didn’t result in a threat, the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium still gave Yaya Touré a round of applause.

The next moment, as Valdés quickly threw the ball out and Busquets passed it to Messi ahead, the Argentine had just received the ball with his back to goal when Leighton Baines suddenly appeared behind him.

In the instant Messi received the ball and turned, Leighton Baines slid in for a tackle.

He didn’t get the ball, but he brought Messi down.

The stadium immediately erupted with boos from the Barça fans and cheers from the Bayswater Chinese supporters.

Busacca blew his whistle for a foul but did not show a card.

The tackle was clean; he didn’t get the ball, but he only tripped Messi.

The ball was still in Barça’s half.

After the restart, Barça continued to pass backward, and Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward.

“Since the second half began, a very interesting change has occurred in the match.”

“Barça are controlling the ball, but the game is consistently being played in Barça’s own half.”

“This hasn’t been for just a minute or two, but for a good four or five minutes.”

“Barça have been unable to consistently cross the halfway line.”

“Bayswater Chinese have continued to focus their defense around the halfway line, setting up several defensive lines there.”

“This has left Barça quite helpless.”

“They’ve tried several times to penetrate into Bayswater Chinese’s half with passes through the middle, but they haven’t succeeded.”

“There is space behind Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line, but Barça haven’t been able to exploit it.”

“Perhaps Pep Guardiola’s team should consider adding more long passes.”

“After all, Henry and Eto’o also have a lot of pace.”

…

This somewhat bizarre stalemate in the second half lasted until after the 55th minute.

Bayswater Chinese were finally unable to keep Barça pinned down indefinitely.

In the 56th and 59th minutes, Barça twice broke into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

One instance was Messi managing to get a shot off after a series of dribbles.

The shooting angle was mostly blocked by Thiago Silva, and Messi’s shot was too concerned with placement, trying to beat Neuer, but ended up hitting the side netting.

The other was a long shot from Eto’o, which went straight over the bar.

After being suppressed for a period, Barça began to commit men forward as soon as they broke through.

They were still trailing, after all.

In the 62nd minute, after a series of passes, Xavi received the ball on the right side of the center circle in his own half and sent a medium-range through ball to the feet of Eto’o up front.

The ‘Cheetah’, under pressure from Pepe, didn’t trap the ball as he dropped back, instead playing a first-time pass back to Iniesta.

Layman passed it forward again to Henry.

Facing Maicon, who had tracked back into position, Henry started his run, shook off Maicon, and cut inside.

Yaya Touré stood at the arc of the penalty area, blocking Henry’s path.

The Frenchman was forced to pass horizontally, shifting the ball to the right side of the arc.

Just as Messi received the ball, Thiago Silva poked at it.

But the Argentine reacted faster, turning instantly and backheeling the ball towards the right flank.

Dani Alves followed close behind, making a quick overlapping run, catching up to Messi’s pass, and breaking into the penalty area from the right corner.

Thiago Silva’s recovery speed was extremely fast. He immediately rushed towards Dani Alves, cutting off his path to the goal.

Dani Alves played a cut-back pass, returning the ball to Messi’s feet.

At this moment, Bayswater Chinese’s defense was in disarray.

Just as Messi received the ball, Pepe had already tracked back in time to position himself between Messi and the goal.

But on the left, Henry and Eto’o were both open, with only Maicon standing near the six-yard box.

Yaya Touré quickly dropped into position, standing to Messi’s side to block the passing lanes to Eto’o and Henry.

Messi had no choice but to dribble out of the penalty area, cutting inside horizontally, looking to pass back to Henry on the left.

Maicon was prepared, suddenly lunging forward to intercept the ball before it reached Henry and carrying it out of the penalty area.

Barça immediately launched a counter-press.

But Maicon passed the ball to Modrić in time.

The Croatian controlled the ball, turned, and immediately started a run, seizing the moment before Busquets could close him down to send a long pass to the left side of the pitch.

Gareth Bale was like a bolt of lightning, surging forward with incredible speed down the left channel.

Dani Alves’s earlier forward run had left Barça’s entire right flank exposed.

The Welshman sprinted down the field, and in an instant, he had broken into Barça’s final third.

Piqué and Puyol were both chasing back.

Puyol, in particular, as the last man back, stuck to Gareth Bale, refusing to let the Welshman make a diagonal run into the box for a clear shot at goal, trying to pin him to the left side of the penalty area.

Džeko was also storming forward, but he was slightly slower.

Piqué’s task for the match was to mark Džeko, so he followed him back.

As Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area, seeing that he couldn’t get past Puyol’s defense, he slammed on the brakes, stopping abruptly and cutting inside.

Puyol reacted instantly, using both his hands and feet to grab onto Gareth Bale as he caught up again.

Gareth Bale wanted to pass to the onrushing Džeko, but Piqué was in hot pursuit.

A high pass?

Puyol was marking his left foot, making it impossible to use, and he couldn’t pass with his right.

Just as Gareth Bale was hesitating, a red figure appeared in his line of sight.

And a familiar voice.

“Gareth, to your right!”

With his back to the left touchline, Gareth Bale instinctively sent a horizontal pass with his right foot.

The ball slid behind Piqué and Džeko, rolling towards the right side of the penalty area.

Piqué immediately let go of Džeko and turned to rush towards the direction of Gareth Bale’s pass.

The Bosnian centre-forward quickly ran horizontally, moving to the right corner of the six-yard box.

He was both creating a shooting lane for the diagonally running Ángel Di María and moving into an open space himself.

Ángel Di María arrived at high speed on his diagonal run, meeting Gareth Bale’s cross with his left foot and guiding a shot with the inside of his boot.

The ball skimmed past the side-on Piqué, traveling in a straight line towards the far post and nestling into the left side of Barça’s goal.

Goalkeeper Valdés was completely helpless!

3-1!

“GOAL!!!”

“Ángel Di María!!”

“At a crucial moment, the Angel descends!!”

“This is an absolutely crucial goal!”

“In the 62nd minute of the second half, at a key moment when Barça was starting to fight back, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese produced a moment of exquisite teamwork.”

“It was finished off by a wonderful left-footed shot from Ángel Di María, sending the ball into Barça’s net!”

“3-1!”

“That counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese was incredibly sharp!”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but I have to admit, at least in my eyes, this kind of lightning-fast passing and moving attack from Bayswater Chinese is more exciting and more thrilling than Barça’s continuous passing!”

“This is the showdown between the two strongest teams in European football right now!”

“Barça got the possession they wanted, while Bayswater Chinese got more goals!”

“The situation for Barça is now extremely dire.”

“There’s still half an hour of game time left. They are two goals down and must turn things around quickly!”

“And Yang Cheng!”

“In this match, he has demonstrated a completely new tactic to restrain Barça for all the other head coaches in Europe.”

“It turns out that you don’t have to just defend with all your might to neutralize Barça’s attack. A head-to-head, end-to-end game can also defeat Barça!”

…

After conceding the third goal, Pep Guardiola made his first substitution of the match.

In the 65th minute, Barça brought on Pedro for Henry.

Barça’s front three now consisted of Pedro, Eto’o, and Messi.

But because Messi often drifted into the right channel, or even central areas, and dropped back very close to midfield, he acted more like a free-roaming player.

Just five minutes later, Guardiola made his second change.

Seydou Keita came on for Eto’o.

If bringing on Pedro for Henry was understandable, because Henry’s performance tonight had indeed been average, as the French forward’s age was catching up to him and his form had declined sharply.

But now, replacing Eto’o with Seydou Keita was quite surprising.

Even more surprising was that after the change, Messi was moved to the middle, Pedro to the right, and Iniesta was pushed up to the left winger position.

Barça’s midfield now consisted of Seydou Keita, Busquets, and Xavi.

The front three was Iniesta, Messi, and Pedro.

Messi was very active in dropping back to link up play.

Instead, it was Iniesta on the left and Pedro on the right who were pushed furthest forward.

It was all a bit difficult to understand.

Only Yang Cheng sensed the danger.

The main issue was Messi.

At this point in time, the Argentine was truly unstoppable.

Except by fouling!

He had speed, he had dribbling ability, and his individual skill was immense. He was simply impossible to stop.

So, Yang Cheng quickly walked to the sideline and reminded his players, telling them they had to stay sharp.

Yang Cheng even specifically called Modrić over.

“Tell them, when Messi drops back to get the ball and starts to run, I want a decisive foul!”

“Don’t hesitate!”

But Bayswater Chinese still couldn’t stop him.

In the 76th minute, Bayswater Chinese had successfully suppressed Barça’s midfield passing.

But Messi suddenly dropped back to a position even deeper than Busquets, received a pass from Piqué, turned and played a one-two with Busquets, and then charged forward with the ball at his feet.

Just as he got up to speed, before Rakitić could get close, Messi passed the ball to Xavi again and made another quick forward run.

Xavi passed it back to Messi, completing a beautiful one-two with the Argentine.

By the time Messi received the ball again, he had instantly broken past Yaya Touré, who was trying to press him tightly, and dribbled straight towards the penalty area.

The Argentine went it alone, facing down the two centre-backs, Thiago Silva and Pepe, completely unfazed.

But just as Messi reached the arc of the penalty area, he suddenly stopped, feigned a shot, and dragged the ball horizontally with his left foot, creating a sliver of shooting space from Thiago Silva, and decisively took the shot.

Thiago Silva’s reaction was also quick enough. He turned his body and flew to throw himself in front of the shot.

Messi’s shot hit Thiago Silva and rebounded to the left.

Pepe rushed over to clear it, but Iniesta ran horizontally along the line of the penalty area and intercepted the ball first.

Layman chested the ball down, took a quick look, and sent a through ball.

Messi, who had just taken the shot, had now made a quick diagonal run from the arc to the left side of the penalty area, getting behind Pepe to chase down Iniesta’s pass.

Neuer’s reaction was very fast, his concentration absolute, and he decisively came off his line.

But Messi was faster.

The Argentine caught up to the ball and hit a low shot with his left foot, sending the ball under Neuer and into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

2-3!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Messi!! Messi!!”

“At a crucial moment, Messi has kept Barça’s hopes alive!”

“2-3!”

“At the most critical moment of the match, the Argentine produced a piece of brilliant individual skill. After a series of dazzling dribbles and link-up play with his teammates, he has pulled one back for Barça!”

“Barça still has a chance!”

“I have to say, this is definitely the most exciting Champions League final in recent years, perhaps even in the last decade!”

“Neither team has played conservatively.”

“Barça got their possession, and Bayswater Chinese produced a clinical attack.”

“More importantly, we’ve seen outstanding performances from players like Messi, Gareth Bale, and Džeko!”

“Absolutely brilliant!”

“Tonight’s Champions League final is truly breathtaking!”

“The match has repeatedly subverted our expectations, constantly surprising us.”

“Just when we thought the result was settled for Bayswater Chinese, Messi pulled a goal back through his individual brilliance.”

“Now, the match is back in the balance!”

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline and let out a soft breath.

He felt a little helpless.

Both goals were conceded after he had issued a warning.

Of course, he couldn’t blame his players.

Like that series of moves from Messi just now, it happened so fast they didn’t even have time to foul him.

There’s a limit to what a person can do.

Just like with C. Ronaldo’s headers—if you can’t win the aerial duel, you just can’t.

And his dipping free kicks, if you can’t save them, what can you do?

Yang Cheng quickly made a decision. He walked to the sideline, looked towards the bench, and shouted for Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger had already warmed up and was waiting over there.

The moment he heard Yang Cheng’s call, he jumped up, and without waiting to see if he was being brought on, he tore off his warm-up jacket and ran over.

“You’re going on for Rakitić. Have Ángel Di María play in Rakitić’s position.”

“Tell him to link up more with Modrić and Gareth Bale. We must try to create another goal.”

“Understood!”

“Also, tell them to think of something. We haven’t played enough high balls today, especially high balls to Džeko.”

“Got it!”

“Go on, I’m waiting to see your performance!”

Yang Cheng gave Walcott an encouraging pat on the back. The Little Tiger quickly ran to the sideline.

During a break in play a minute later, he replaced Rakitić.

Yang Cheng met Rakitić, hugged him, and offered some words of encouragement, affirming his performance.

Rakitić didn’t go back to the dressing room but went straight to the bench.

…

“Bayswater Chinese are also making a substitution.”

“The entire stadium is welcoming Theo Walcott with warm applause.”

“This Little Tiger scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup final three days ago, putting in an excellent performance.”

“We can see he’s come on with instructions from head coach Yang Cheng, and he’s relaying them to his teammates.”

“It’s clear that Yang Cheng still wants to attack.”

“In fact, at this stage, the players from both teams are extremely fatigued.”

“It’s now very difficult for Barça to play the same kind of high-pressure football they did in the first half.”

“So, Yang Cheng bringing on Walcott in the second half must have been a trump card he had prepared all along. He wants to use Walcott’s fresh legs to put pressure on Barça’s defense.”

“Don’t forget, Walcott has more than just speed!”

After coming on, Walcott quickly got a chance on the ball on the right wing.

The fresh-legged substitute instantly shook off Sylvinho upon receiving the ball, cut inside to the edge of the area, and with a series of feints and changes of pace in front of Barça’s defense, he managed to dribble to the right side of the arc and deliver a diagonal pass with his left foot.

Gareth Bale took a shot from the left side of the penalty area.

The shot was powerful, but a bit too central.

Valdés saved it.

Cheers and applause from the Bayswater Chinese fans rang out in the stadium.

Yang Cheng quickly made his second substitution.

Nemanja Matić came on for Yaya Touré.

If the previous substitution was to strengthen the attack, then this one was as well.

Yaya Touré’s stamina was running low.

Yang Cheng brought on Matić at this time, hoping to use the Serbian midfielder’s defensive abilities to solidify the back line while also activating the two full-backs, and at the same time allowing Ángel Di María and Modrić to join the attack with more confidence.

Matić had joined the team in the summer of 2006.

Before joining, he was a number 10, an attacking midfielder.

But in his three years with the team, Yang Cheng had always trained him as a holding midfielder.

This included defensive techniques.

After playing as a holding midfielder for three years, coupled with Bayswater Chinese’s careful nurturing, and especially Yang Cheng’s trust in him, Matić had grown accustomed to the position and had developed a full range of defensive skills.

He certainly wasn’t as well-rounded as Yaya Touré, nor did he possess the Ivorian’s powerful overlapping runs.

But his strengths were his defending and his passing organization.

After Matić came on, Bayswater Chinese continued to dominate Barça on the pitch while also constantly creating attacking chances.

Just when everyone thought that Barça would turn the tide after pulling one back and continue to press their advantage, Bayswater Chinese instead launched wave after wave of attacks.

Through his continuous substitutions, Yang Cheng projected an aura of wanting to completely pin Barça in their own half until the final whistle.

It wasn’t just Yang Cheng who had this mentality; the Bayswater Chinese players on the pitch had it too!

With the two full-backs unleashed, Leighton Baines was fine, but Maicon became exceptionally active, like a dragon in the sea, repeatedly linking up with Walcott to launch attacks from the front.

In the 87th minute, it was a combination between Maicon and Walcott on the right wing, trying to go to the byline and cross for Džeko.

The cross wasn’t good, and the ball was cleared from the near post by Puyol out of the penalty area.

Modrić intercepted the ball on the right side just in front of the box and immediately organized a second wave of attack.

The Croatian advanced with the ball, drawing the attention of Busquets and Seydou Keita, then suddenly played a low, horizontal pass.

The ball zipped past Busquets.

When Ángel Di María received the ball to the left of the arc, he glanced into the box and saw both Gareth Bale and Džeko with their hands raised.

But Xavi, who had tracked back in time, had cut off the angle, making it difficult for Ángel Di María to pass to Gareth Bale.

Džeko, on the other hand…

The Bosnian centre-forward shouldn’t have much trouble bullying Puyol!

In that instant, Ángel Di María didn’t hesitate, meeting Modrić’s pass with his left foot and chipping a high ball.

The ball quickly flew over Barça’s defensive line inside the box, dropping towards the right side of the six-yard box.

Džeko made a quick run forward. Puyol desperately tried to lean on the Bosnian centre-forward, but he couldn’t stop him.

It was like a Range Rover towing a Mini Cooper.

Džeko charged into the six-yard box, leaped into the air to meet Ángel Di María’s chipped pass, and powerfully headed the ball towards Barça’s goal.

The cunning Bosnian centre-forward even deliberately headed it down to make it bounce.

Goalkeeper Valdés reflexively reached out, trying to scoop the ball away.

But all he scooped was a handful of air.

The ball bounced under his hand and into Barça’s net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“87th minute!!”

“Džeko has scored a brace!!”

“My God, Džeko scores another goal, smashing the ball into Barça’s net with a header!”

“4-2!”

“Bayswater Chinese score again!”

“Six goals!!”

“A total of six goals!”

“Incredible!”

“I can hardly believe that such an exciting end-to-end match would happen in a Champions League final!”

“This is absolutely the most exciting Champions League final of the last decade, no, of all that I have ever seen!”

“From now on, if anyone ever says that big finals are never classic games, I will throw this Champions League final at them and tell everyone, this is a classic game in a major final!”

…

The moment Džeko’s header broke through Barça’s goal, the entire Stadio Olimpico completely erupted into a sea of celebration.

If Barça still had a glimmer of hope just moments ago, then with this goal from Džeko, assisted by Ángel Di María, all of Barça’s hopes were essentially extinguished.

Pep Guardiola still had one substitution left.

But suddenly, he didn’t know who to bring on.

Bojan? Or Gudjohnsen?

Neither seemed likely to have an effect.

He had brought on Seydou Keita to increase the intensity in midfield, hoping to maintain a balance in the direct confrontation with Bayswater Chinese.

But unexpectedly, after Seydou Keita came on, Barça’s passing errors in midfield started to increase.

Coupled with the players’ declining stamina, it led to Bayswater Chinese launching continuous attacks in the final period of the second half.

That crafty bastard Yang Cheng had actually bypassed Barça’s midfield and attacked down the two flanks instead.

Especially the right flank.

The whole world knew that Barça’s regular left-back was Abidal, but the Frenchman missed the final due to a red card against Arsenal in the semi-final.

Therefore, Guardiola had been worried all along that Bayswater Chinese would target Sylvinho on the left.

But as the game progressed, Bayswater Chinese didn’t seem to show any intention of doing so, keeping their attacks on both flanks relatively balanced.

At most, Maicon on the right was more active and threatening.

But Guardiola never expected that in the final, most critical moments of the match, the right-sided channel formed by Maicon and Walcott would repeatedly expose flaws in Barça’s defense.

With a complex expression, Guardiola looked at the wildly celebrating Bayswater Chinese, his eyes firmly locked on the tall center-forward, Džeko.

A brace!

The tall center-forward he admired most had scored twice against Barça!

Guardiola felt a mix of emotions.

He genuinely believed that Džeko was the centre-forward who best fit Barça’s tactical needs, even more so than the rebellious Ibrahimović.

At this thought, Guardiola let out a quiet sigh, his heart filled with bitterness.

Being defeated by a player you admire… this feeling really sucks!

…

When Bayswater Chinese scored their fourth goal, the match was pretty much over.

As the game entered stoppage time, Yang Cheng used his last substitution.

Aaron Ramsey came on for the captain, Modrić.

This was Yang Cheng’s reward for the young player.

Aaron Ramsey had performed very well this season, and as a homegrown player, Yang Cheng hoped he would continue to strive.

And after three minutes of stoppage time, the Italian head referee, Massimo Busacca, finally blew the final whistle.

At that moment, all of Barça’s players stood dejectedly in place.

Their dream of the Treble was completely shattered!

Everyone from Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, stormed onto the pitch in a frenzy.

Another Treble winner was born!

The first-ever single-season Sextuple winner in the history of the Premier League had appeared!

Yang Cheng, filled with immense excitement, was at the forefront of the charge. Not even his best defenders, Thiago Silva and Pepe, could hold him back.

“Let us congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“In this battle for the Treble, the Premier League team has come out on top!”

“They have become the second team in English football history to achieve the great feat of the Treble!”

“At the same time, they are the first team to successfully defend their title since the Champions League was reformatted!”

“Truly remarkable!”

“Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese have now won the Champions League for two consecutive seasons!”

“Now, this young Premier League team has become the most powerful team in European football.”

“Without a doubt!”

“Of course, we must also console Barça.”

“Although they couldn’t win the Champions League and achieve the Treble, their Double as winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey is also an outstanding achievement.”

“Especially tonight, where they joined forces with Bayswater Chinese to play out the most exciting final in Champions League history!”

“I believe all the fans are still wanting more!”

“Bayswater Chinese have once again defined their brand of football. They completely defeated Barça with an attacking style of play!”

“We must also thank the young Yang Cheng, and this young Bayswater Chinese team.”

“Thank you, for when the whole world couldn’t find a solution, they resolutely and courageously faced Barça head-on, using an unyielding, attacking tactic to defeat Barça 4-2!”

“Tonight’s championship, this season’s Treble, and the season’s Sextuple are all honors that Yang Cheng and his players deserve!”

Chapter 175: Revenue Soars! The Aura of a Top Club! Three Signings! A Club Record Fee!

All was calm and peaceful.

It was another beautiful day!

When Yang Cheng woke up from the soft Simmons mattress in his villa on the west side of Holland Park, he felt completely refreshed.

He got out of bed, walked over, and with a swish, pulled open the curtains. The bright sunlight streamed in, and his whole mood brightened instantly.

Winning the Champions League was already something that had happened the night before last.

After a night of non-stop celebrations in Rome, the team had only flown back to London at noon yesterday.

Upon their arrival, Heathrow Airport was swarming with fans there to welcome Bayswater Chinese.

After several years of painstaking management, especially with last season’s Champions League trophy, Bayswater Chinese’s influence in the London area had grown day by day.

Now, they had secured England’s second-ever Treble, and also the first team in English history to win the Sextuple in a single season.

This achievement surpassed that of Manchester United!

For the London area, this was definitely a joyous occasion worth a grand celebration.

In England, southern fans had always been looked down upon by northern fans, precisely because their teams’ results weren’t good enough.

But now, that had changed.

Bayswater Chinese had burst onto the scene.

Manchester United has a Treble?

So do we!

Liverpool won five trophies?

Heh heh, we won six!

By the way, which five trophies did Liverpool win?

Did they have a Premier League title? A Champions League title?

We have them all!

Are we proud? Are we pleased with ourselves?

In an instant, the whole of London was in an uproar.

Countless fans took to the streets; some weren’t even Bayswater Chinese supporters, but they cheered for them all the same.

This represented a victory for southern football!

The only slight regret was that the new stadium was still far from a reality, so the team’s trophy presentation had to be held at Wembley Stadium, which was somewhat of a pity.

The entire spectacular Treble celebration ceremony was even attended by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who came to offer his personal congratulations.

The British Royal Family and 10 Downing Street both sent congratulatory messages.

The British media, naturally, published extensive reports, singing high praises for Bayswater Chinese.

It was also in Rome, Italy, that Yang Cheng met with the decision-makers of the Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts Group, and the two parties officially reached an agreement.

Bvlgari Hotels will officially establish a presence in Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project.

The four buildings surrounding the stadium are only six stories high, with a relatively simple overall architectural structure. They are expected to be officially completed in 2010 and handed over to Bvlgari Hotels for renovation.

The stadium project itself, on the other hand, was on a rather tight schedule.

But all parties had made promises: as long as there were no issues with funding, the project would be completed and delivered on time, meeting all quality standards.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

This left Yang Cheng feeling particularly cheerful.

…

After washing up and leaving his bedroom, Yang Cheng heard sounds from the kitchen downstairs.

He didn’t need to guess to know it was Xia Qing preparing breakfast.

They had house staff, but she was still in the habit of doing it herself.

Hearing him come downstairs, Xia Qing turned her head, smiled sweetly at Yang Cheng, and said, “It’s almost ready.”

Before long, a rich and nutritious breakfast was laid out on the dining table.

After so many years in Europe, Yang Cheng was long accustomed to milk and bread.

But even so, Xia Qing could always conjure new and fresh flavors from simple ingredients.

Yang Cheng casually flipped through the morning papers and found that they were all filled with praise for Bayswater Chinese.

Some of the reports were so laudatory that he himself felt a bit embarrassed reading them.

But it had to be said that this kind of media hype was effective.

It would be of enormous benefit, especially for Bayswater Chinese’s upcoming series of commercial promotions.

Some say that a Champions League title can bring a club continuous revenue for at least the next two years.

Worth over a hundred million!

Yang Cheng now knew that this was a bit of an exaggeration.

Because it included the increase in the club’s brand value.

But the potential returns were indeed substantial.

And the more elite the team, the greater the returns.

Bayswater Chinese was undoubtedly now striding towards the top ranks.

Yang Cheng was also curious: how much of a boost could the halo effect of being the only team to successfully defend the Champions League title since its rebranding provide for Bayswater Chinese?

The morning was busy.

After breakfast, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing changed their clothes and left the house together.

This was a very rare occurrence.

Xia Qing’s office was in Bayswater, and Yang Cheng’s was in Brent; they were completely unrelated.

But today, they left together.

And they walked through Holland Park, strolling slowly northward.

As Bayswater Chinese’s operations grew better and better, the two of them became busier and busier.

Sometimes, when there was a string of away games, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing might not even be able to sit down for a meal together for a whole week.

But they had their own way of dealing with it: frequent phone calls.

No matter how busy they were each day, they would always find time to call each other.

They walked hand in hand, side by side.

But upon arriving at the Bayswater Chinese offices, they separated, maintaining a professional demeanor.

The office now employed over two hundred people, a considerable size.

Certain rules still had to be observed.

In truth, the whole world knew about their relationship.

So, when the elevator arrived, everyone else automatically waited for the next one, letting the two of them go up first.

In any case, the office building wasn’t very tall.

“By the way, Lucas von Cranach called me yesterday. He said he hoped to meet with you.”

In the elevator, Xia Qing suddenly remembered something.

Of course, Yang Cheng hadn’t forgotten him.

The founder of OneFootball, but currently, his business was limited to Germany and didn’t have Apple or Android versions.

“They’re probably on the verge of collapsing over there, while things are developing very quickly here in London,” Xia Qing said concisely.

This was well within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

The Apple version had developed the fastest, and leveraging the resources of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, it had successfully secured partial rights for all leagues in England.

They had even begun to set their sights on Italy, Ligue 1, and La Liga.

As soon as the app was launched on the Apple Store, it was immediately championed by Apple Inc., becoming a top 1000 application. The traffic was booming.

If the situation was still unclear a year ago, now, a year later, everyone had noticed that the era of smartphone intelligence was an unstoppable trend.

Putting everything else aside, the iPhone 3G had sold a full ten million units since its launch.

Its explosive sales had shocked the world.

Next up was the new generation phone to be released in early June, which was guaranteed to be another bestseller.

As more and more users adopted iPhones, this app would also become popular worldwide.

Von Cranach was no fool; he could see this trend.

“This guy is talented, and we don’t have time to get distracted by this part of the business. So, I’m thinking of giving him some shares and acquiring his German operations,” Yang Cheng stated his thoughts.

Xia Qing agreed.

Yang Cheng’s move into the mobile internet was primarily driven by his interest in this news and social media software; he wanted to control a media mouthpiece.

This was the same principle as Xiaomi making phones and investing in a host of self-media outlets.

And Yang Cheng had always deliberately maintained a distance from this company. To this day, probably very few people knew that he was its investor.

Therefore, giving Lucas von Cranach some shares and letting him continue to shine was the best outcome.

Yang Cheng would be responsible for pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

“I’ll prepare for it later.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng’s heart stirred. He turned his head and saw his wife, who was exuding more and more of a power woman’s aura. He couldn’t help but reach out and secretly tickle her palm.

Xia Qing’s face flushed slightly, but she maintained a serious expression. It wasn’t until the elevator door was about to open that she whispered softly.

“I’ll deal with you when we get home!”

Yang Cheng smiled and followed her out of the elevator.

…

Today’s meeting was a mid-level one, attended by the heads and deputies of all departments, large and small.

Even the staff from the Brent training center were all present.

Bayswater Chinese was now brimming with talent.

The already cramped conference room was completely full.

As the club’s CEO, Adam Crozier began by outlining the achievements of Bayswater Chinese over the past season.

There was no need to elaborate on their footballing success; everyone had witnessed it.

Adam Crozier focused on their business performance.

According to preliminary calculations, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue from broadcasting rights and prize money last season exceeded ninety million pounds sterling.

The final figure had not yet been determined because UEFA had not yet finalized its settlement.

But one thing was certain: as defending champions, Bayswater Chinese’s earnings from the Champions League would reach thirty-eight million euros.

About eighteen million euros of this was from Champions League television broadcasting rights.

Champions League revenue was divided into two parts. One was prize money: each of the thirty-two teams that entered the group stage received three million euros, with substantial bonuses for wins, draws, and advancing.

All that added up to the prize money.

Television broadcasting revenue was allocated by country and region.

For example, whatever amount the Champions League rights were sold for in the UK, UEFA would take a portion, and the rest would be distributed among the English league teams participating in the Champions League.

This was the so-called prize pool.

Among all countries, the UK had the highest prize pool, so the four participating Premier League teams received the most.

For instance, among the top ten highest-earning teams in this season’s Champions League, the Premier League occupied four spots.

Bayswater Chinese received thirty-eight million euros, which at the current exchange rate of 1 to 1.25 pounds to euros, was about thirty million pounds sterling.

Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga benefited the most. Because there were only three participating teams from Germany and the other teams performed poorly, Bayern, despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals, earned more than other teams, second only to Bayswater Chinese.

With a total income of nearly thirty-five million euros, they ranked second.

Barça, on the other hand, only earned around thirty million euros, ranking 5th, even less than Manchester United and Arsenal.

The reason for this was the smaller size of La Liga’s prize pool.

For example, for reaching the Champions League final, Bayswater Chinese could get eighteen million euros from the prize pool.

Manchester United and Arsenal, who made it to the semi-finals, could each get fifteen million euros.

And Barça?

A paltry eight million euros.

Because the Champions League rights in Spain were sold very cheaply.

This season’s Premier League prize money rankings were out, with Bayswater Chinese earning nearly sixty million pounds sterling.

Arsenal, in second place, earned fifty-six million pounds sterling, not much different from third-placed Manchester United, who had fifty-five million pounds sterling.

The main reason was that Manchester United had more televised matches than Arsenal.

The Gunners had spent a long time outside the top four, resulting in fewer broadcast games than Manchester United.

Adam Crozier’s report indicated that, including income from the FA Cup, Club World Cup, Community Shield, and other cup competitions, Bayswater Chinese’s total revenue from broadcasting rights and prize money for the 08/09 season would exceed ninety-five million pounds sterling.

It might even approach one hundred million pounds sterling!

This immediately electrified everyone in the conference room.

Nearly a hundred million pounds sterling just from broadcasting rights and prize money!

That was incredible!

This was the very picture of a top club!

On the matchday revenue front, Adam Crozier stated that in the second half of the league season, many of the team’s matches were sold out.

The total ticket revenue for the entire season exceeded ninety-five million pounds sterling.

In addition, there was twenty million pounds sterling from VIP box revenues and another twenty million pounds sterling from retail income.

Bayswater Chinese’s total matchday revenue would exceed one hundred thirty-five million pounds sterling.

Everyone was even more thrilled.

At this moment, they felt an urge to prostrate themselves before Yang Cheng in worship.

The decision to lease Wembley Stadium back then was so damn right!

How much was the rent for Wembley Stadium?

Five million pounds sterling a year.

But this ninety-thousand-seater stadium brought Bayswater Chinese one hundred thirty-five million pounds sterling in revenue each season.

Was there any business more profitable than this?

Everyone talked about the three-horse carriage of a football club’s revenue streams.

While matchday and broadcasting revenues had seen tremendous growth, Bayswater Chinese had not made significant breakthroughs in commercial revenue over the past two years.

It remained at around forty million pounds sterling annually.

Adam Crozier explained that this was mainly because Bayswater Chinese was constrained by existing contracts.

Many sponsorship deals were exclusive.

It couldn’t be helped. Back then, Bayswater Chinese had no prestige or influence; getting any sponsorship at all was a blessing.

Take the kit and shirt sponsorship, for example.

Bayswater Chinese’s kit sponsor was Puma, which paid ten million pounds sterling per season.

Sounds like a lot, right?

But what about Manchester United?

The Red Devils secured a sponsorship from Nike in 2002, with an annual fee as high as twenty-three million pounds sterling.

And Manchester United was still very dissatisfied with this sponsorship deal.

Not long ago, Manchester United had just announced a four-year, eighty million pounds sterling shirt sponsorship deal with the American insurance company Aon, amounting to twenty million pounds sterling per year.

Bayswater Chinese’s shirt sponsor was Prudential, paying eight million pounds sterling annually.

Additionally, Manchester United’s various other sponsorship fees were also higher than those of Bayswater Chinese.

Adam Crozier revealed that the club’s commercial team was currently working intensively, negotiating with partners around the world.

“Over the past two years, we have completely restructured the team’s sponsorship system and carried out a comprehensive upgrade.”

“We are confident that in the coming years, our commercial revenue will experience rapid growth!”

The so-called comprehensive upgrade didn’t need to be overthought; it was purely literal.

But many current sponsorship contracts were due to end after the 10/11 season, so they needed to be renegotiated.

Currently, the club had several sponsorship deals under negotiation, and progress was very good.

According to Adam Crozier’s estimates, in the 08/09 season, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue should rank 3rd or 4th in European football.

The exact position would depend on Manchester United’s revenue.

The Red Devils’ commercial income was still very high; Deloitte had previously estimated that Manchester United’s revenue would exceed three hundred thirty million euros.

But this was still behind Real Madrid’s four hundred million euros and Barça’s three hundred seventy million euros.

The two giants of La Liga were truly formidable, as their broadcasting rights revenue alone far surpassed that of all other teams.

Bayswater Chinese’s revenue might not exceed Manchester United’s, but it would definitely surpass Bayern Munich’s.

All of this was thanks to the team’s excellent results and the matchday revenue generated by Wembley Stadium.

And behind both of these major decisions was Yang Cheng.

This made everyone present look at Yang Cheng in a different light.

…

At this meeting, Yang Cheng also delivered a speech in his capacity as Vice-Chairman.

He first affirmed the efforts made by the senior management, led by Adam Crozier and Xia Qing, for the club over the past few years.

At the same time, he thanked his colleagues in every department.

Yang Cheng also announced that although the outside world was in an economic crisis, with many clubs and even external companies being severely affected, everything at Bayswater Chinese was stable.

“We are still in a period of rapid ascent!”

Not only would Bayswater Chinese not cut spending, but it also planned to give its employees a pay raise in 2010.

“This represents mine and the management’s confidence in the future of the club!”

Yang Cheng’s decision had been formulated by Xia Qing long ago.

The depreciation of the pound and the increase in income tax in 2010 would also have a significant impact on the club’s senior management.

Although they were in an economic crisis and the external market was bleak, the salary and benefits at Bayswater Chinese were still very competitive.

Introducing a pay raise at this time, even if not substantial, would have a very good effect and boost the team’s morale.

Adam Crozier was also in full agreement.

Finally, Yang Cheng hoped that everyone could perform their respective duties.

“We have the confidence and determination to build Bayswater Chinese into the best and most elite top club in European football!”

With two Champions League trophies in hand, it wasn’t an exaggeration for Bayswater Chinese to call itself a top club.

But it still lacked some heritage and accumulation.

This would require more time.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had increased very rapidly, and Adam Crozier’s contribution was indispensable.

But he would not be included in the pay raise.

With an annual salary of two million pounds sterling, plus a year-end bonus of one million pounds sterling, this guy was now firmly the highest-paid executive in the Premier League.

Even in European football, he would likely be among the top ranks.

One must remember that back when he was at Royal Mail, he was earning an annual salary of only one million pounds sterling plus a dividend, and he was heavily criticized for it.

Now, the compensation package at Bayswater Chinese was more than generous!

…

After the general meeting, Yang Cheng held another meeting with department heads like Chris Hunt, Adam Crozier, and Xia Qing, mainly to discuss the new stadium.

Currently, the new stadium project was primarily focused on pouring the foundations, especially the stadium’s foundation structure, which was very complicated.

Once the foundations were poured, the subsequent construction would proceed much faster.

The pace would slow down again only when it reached the interior finishing stage.

For the four buildings, they had already contacted three parties: Bvlgari Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, and Yang’s Real Estate for a shopping center.

But this was still just a preliminary intention.

For cooperation of this scale, the subsequent coordination and progression were key.

Otherwise, it could fall through at any time.

As the head of the infrastructure department, Chris Hunt’s tasks and pressure were still very heavy.

Previously, Xia Qing and Chris Hunt had studied the matter and proposed acquiring an office building in central London to serve as the club’s headquarters and to also become a landlord.

After Yang Cheng agreed, they began their investigation.

They eventually selected five relatively good properties, but their distances varied.

One was in Kensington, just east of Holland Park. It was the closest to Yang Cheng’s home and to Bayswater, but it wasn’t large, with only four floors and a single floor area of just seven hundred square meters.

This wasn’t much larger than the office building Bayswater Chinese was currently leasing.

The key was that the price wasn’t cheap either.

Another was near Canary Wharf, which had been London’s hottest area in recent years.

The office building was a full ten stories high, very new, very expensive, and the farthest away.

Of the other three, one was near Fleet Street, where Xia Qing used to work at Goldman Sachs’s headquarters.

One was near Liverpool Street station; its size and number of floors were more suitable, with seven floors, each of two thousand three hundred square meters.

It featured an all-glass curtain wall design, which was not common in central London.

Moreover, it was only about five hundred meters from Liverpool Street station.

A disadvantage was that this was also an area where London Underground lines converged, with five lines meeting at Liverpool Street station.

This made this property the most expensive of all the selected options, with the seller’s asking price reaching two hundred fifty million pounds sterling.

No matter how much they bargained, it would still be at least over two hundred million pounds sterling.

Another disadvantage was that it was a full eight kilometers away from the new Bayswater stadium.

“The most suitably located one is in Mayfair, an old Grade II listed building.”

Chris Hunt had taken many photos and made them into a PowerPoint presentation to show Yang Cheng and the others.

“This building is located between Marble Arch station and Bond Street station, near Grosvenor Square. It’s five stories high, with over three thousand square meters per floor. It’s currently semi-vacant, with the only remaining tenant being the UK government, which has several government agencies operating inside.”

This building had been sold by the UK government to an asset management company a few years ago. But in recent years, after experiencing the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis, coupled with the sharp drop in the pound since last year, many asset management companies had suffered huge losses.

“The reason it’s semi-vacant is that when the asset management company bought the building, they planned to renovate and refurbish it.”

“This is very common in central London. After renovation, the building area of each floor will reach four thousand square meters, adding a considerable amount of total floor space, and the facade will be more modern.”

“So, over the past few years, they have been clearing out tenants, including some multinational consulting firms, foundations, and commercial banks.”

“I even had someone look into it. When it was fully leased, the government contributed fifty percent of the rental income, and it was a long-term lease of about ten years.”

Mayfair was filled with various government departments from the City of Westminster and the Victoria area, while the adjacent Soho district was home to media, creative, fashion, and retail companies.

Back when Adam Crozier was at the helm of The FA, he moved its headquarters to Soho, near Soho Square.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Manchester United later also moved their headquarters to London, in Mayfair.

The reason both Adam Crozier and Manchester United valued London, especially Mayfair and Soho, was that it was more conducive to attracting global elite talent.

“Currently, this building has attracted the attention of many international investors. The asking price is sixty-five million pounds sterling, which isn’t too expensive. The problem is that after taking over this building, one would need to spend at least another fifty million pounds sterling to renovate it and re-lease it.”

This was indeed a deterrent for many international investors.

The advantage of this building was that it had a stable tenant, the UK government, which provided a steady rental income.

In fact, in London, this was a business in itself.

Many British asset management companies would buy such properties, renovate them, re-lease them, and after a few years of stable operation, sell them to foreign investors.

There was often a large price difference in this process.

But for foreign investors, it was also very advantageous, as an annual rental income of around five percent was a good deal.

Yang Cheng did not express an opinion but turned to look at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing nodded slightly. “I had someone investigate. The area from Marble Arch station to Bond Street station to Oxford Circus station is one of the busiest in London. There will be no shortage of people, let alone tenants.”

“If it can really be expanded to four thousand square meters per floor, the estimated annual rent would be around ten million pounds sterling, of which the UK government would contribute at least around four million pounds sterling.”

After a pause, Xia Qing said, “This deal is worth doing!”

The main reason was that Bayswater Chinese was familiar with the City of Westminster. After taking over, continuing with the renovation project should not be a major problem.

If it were other foreign investors, they might not have the courage.

“Then let’s do it!” Yang Cheng made a swift decision.

He trusted Xia Qing’s analysis and judgment.

If Xia Qing thought it could be done, then it should be done.

Xia Qing smiled happily. “I’ll figure out the funding.”

She clearly already had a plan.

Everyone present also felt Yang Cheng’s boldness.

In a few years, Bayswater Chinese would not only own the world’s most advanced dream stadium in the prime location of Bayswater but also have offices in London’s most prosperous Mayfair district.

Wasn’t this the setup of a top-tier European giant?

However, Chris Hunt’s recent focus on the new stadium and office matters had caused the Satellite Training Centre project to be delayed.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese only had eight Satellite Training Centres, failing to meet Yang Cheng’s previous expectations.

But Yang Cheng didn’t say anything.

Chris Hunt was indeed very busy and couldn’t spare the time.

The infrastructure department was also short-staffed at the moment.

This was the current situation at Bayswater Chinese.

The club was developing faster and faster; the commercial department was short-staffed, the infrastructure department was short-staffed…

In a few years, after the new stadium is completed, the infrastructure department will be even more understaffed.

Therefore, Yang Cheng repeatedly urged Chris Hunt to build up his team as soon as possible.

…

After the mid-level meeting, Yang Cheng held another meeting with Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others to discuss this summer’s trip to the United States.

On a side note, the proposal Yang Cheng had previously made to Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore to turn the Premier League preseason into an official tournament did not pass at the Premier League summit.

For many small and medium-sized clubs, there was no such demand.

Take Burnley, the newly promoted team for the new Premier League season, for example.

This team had narrowly defeated Sheffield United in the promotion play-offs to enter the new Premier League season.

But the city this team was from had a population of only eighty-eight thousand.

Even Burnley’s young head coach, Owen Coyle, joked, “When Bayswater Chinese plays at Wembley Stadium, there are more people there than in the whole of Burnley.”

After securing promotion, Burnley eagerly wrote sixty million pounds sterling into their financial report for the next season.

Why sixty million pounds sterling?

A Premier League team that finished bottom and was relegated could get thirty million pounds sterling, about eight million pounds sterling in matchday revenue, plus a fifteen million pounds sterling parachute payment, and other miscellaneous income.

They could earn at least sixty million pounds sterling.

And Burnley’s transfer budget was a mere three million pounds sterling.

So, how could a team like this possibly want to play matches overseas?

The Premier League of today was not the Premier League of 2024; the concept of globalization was not yet fully developed.

For many mid-to-lower-table Premier League teams, the overseas market was simply the big clubs carrying the smaller clubs along for the ride.

So they would never allow the big clubs’ proposal to reform the equal sharing model of overseas broadcasting rights revenue to pass.

And these clubs had more votes.

Adam Crozier’s idea was for Bayswater Chinese to take the lead, unite with the top-ranking Premier League teams, along with traditional giants like Real Madrid, Barça, AC Milan, and Inter Milan, to jointly fund and establish a company to specifically operate this project.

In addition to a fixed number of participating giants, other teams could be invited to play in regional group stages.

Yang Cheng had even thought of a name for it: the International Champions Cup!

In Yang Cheng’s view, there was no reason to let the Americans swallow such a large piece of the pie whole.

The most outrageous part was that they ended up messing it up.

This matter required long-term planning.

…

By the time Yang Cheng finished his discussion with Adam Crozier and the others, he realized that Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and others were still waiting for him in the office.

He checked the time; it was already noon.

So, Yang Cheng suggested everyone go to the Golden Mountain Restaurant on Queensway for lunch.

His treat.

A large group of them headed to Queensway. When they passed by the new stadium project, they took the opportunity to go in for an on-site inspection.

Upon arriving at Golden Mountain Restaurant and getting everyone settled, Yang Cheng called Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg aside and handed them a list.

“I need you to help me sign these three players.”

Yang Cheng had decided that this time, he would stay out of the limelight no matter what.

With Bayswater Chinese’s rising fame, Yang Cheng’s every move was now under intense scrutiny.

Under these circumstances, how could he dare to act recklessly?

“I won’t be involved in this summer’s transfer market. I’m leaving it all to you to handle and operate. You will negotiate for the three people on this list and report back to me at any time.”

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg huddled together and looked at the list.

Newcastle’s centre-forward, Andy Carroll.

The player wasn’t very familiar, but they had heard of him. A very promising young centre-forward, a great aerial threat with decent skills on the ground. He had been selected for the England U19 team, scoring four goals in eight appearances.

Now that Newcastle was relegated, The Magpies were in disarray. Although Andy Carroll had not yet proven himself in the first team and his current price was not high, convincing Newcastle to let him go would not be an easy task.

Yang Cheng’s target price was around three million pounds sterling.

The reason for choosing Andy Carroll was actually just as a stop-gap.

Harry Kane was still too young; he wouldn’t even turn sixteen until the end of July. It just wasn’t his time yet.

In the current situation, the chances of keeping Edin Džeko were low.

Relying solely on Robert Lewandowski and Lambert for the new season was clearly not enough.

Therefore, Yang Cheng needed a centre-forward.

Bayswater Chinese excelled at playing down the flanks, and as an aerial threat, Andy Carroll would undoubtedly be a good fit.

The second person on the list was Sheffield United’s Kyle Walker.

A fan from 2024 would surely have a particularly deep impression of this number one water-spitting strongman.

This English defender’s characteristics were very interesting: he possessed speed like the wind and a terrifying, devil-like physique.

It was said that those stronger than him were not as fast, and those faster than him were not as strong.

But in fact, many people were misled by Kyle Walker’s speed and powerful physique.

During his time at Tottenham, his pass completion rate was consistently stable at over eighty percent.

After joining Manchester City in the summer of 2017, in Pep Guardiola’s possession-based tactical system, his possession rate soared directly to ninety percent.

In other words, Kyle Walker’s technique and passing were underestimated.

Of course, this was quite normal.

For any defender like him, who enjoyed both spitting water and physical confrontations, everyone’s impression could be summed up in two words.

A brute!

But the data really doesn’t lie.

A player who consistently maintains such a high level of pass completion, a defender who caught Guardiola’s eye, could not possibly have poor technique.

But there was also competition for this player now, namely Tottenham Hotspur.

Sheffield United had lost to Burnley in this season’s promotion play-offs, missing out on the new Premier League season.

Luring Kyle Walker away shouldn’t be too difficult.

It was said that Tottenham Hotspur had their eyes on two of Sheffield United’s right-backs, Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton.

The former had barely played, while the latter was Sheffield United’s first-choice.

Yang Cheng’s transfer fee offer for Kyle Walker was a maximum of three million pounds sterling.

The first two players on the list were English: a centre-forward and a right-back.

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg could see at a glance that these were signings to replace Džeko and Maicon, mainly as backups.

The starting players were already in the team: Robert Lewandowski and Piszczek.

Both Polish players had been carefully nurtured by Yang Cheng for many years, and their abilities had long been proven.

The last player on the list came with a hefty price tag.

Javi Martínez of Athletic Bilbao.

He was a talented midfielder who had been famous in European football for many years.

Javi Martínez, who was about to turn twenty-one, was coveted by many top European clubs, including Barça and Real Madrid, who had taken a keen interest in him.

But so far, no club had been willing to make a bid for him.

The reason was simple: Athletic Bilbao was very peculiar.

The Basque Lions only recruited Basque players, so their talent pool was very narrow, and they valued their own players exceptionally.

Generally speaking, poaching a player from Athletic Bilbao was extraordinarily difficult.

“I’ve received news that Liverpool and Arsenal are also interested in Javi Martínez,” Dan Ashworth reminded Yang Cheng.

This was a hot commodity!

Midfielders were currently very scarce.

There was no need to say how popular Yaya Touré was.

The current Javi Martínez was not yet a holding midfielder or a centre-back, but a box-to-box midfielder who was good at both attacking and defending, skilled at passing, and had very good technique.

It was no surprise that he had attracted the attention of several major clubs.

The whole world knew that Bayswater Chinese and Yaya Touré had failed to agree on a contract extension, and the Ivorian was very likely to leave this summer.

Under these circumstances, although the team had Nemanja Matić, Yang Cheng still wanted to sign another defensive midfielder.

Javi Martínez was undoubtedly a very suitable player.

“What’s his current valuation?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Dan Ashworth looked at Mike Rigg, who thought for a moment and said, “The current estimate is around ten million pounds sterling, but it’s said that Athletic Bilbao’s demand is that anyone who wants to take Javi Martínez must pay his release clause.”

“Release clause…” Yang Cheng was at a loss for words.

Athletic Bilbao’s modus operandi had always been this way: if you wanted to poach their players, you had to pay the release clause.

Of course, release clauses in La Liga weren’t set arbitrarily.

Players weren’t stupid when they signed contracts.

The amount of the release clause was linked to the player’s annual salary and was generally negotiable.

“Javi Martínez’s current release clause is sixteen million euros, but there have been rumors that Athletic Bilbao wants to extend his contract, and the release clause will definitely increase then.”

Yang Cheng knew about this.

Javi Martínez renewed his contract around 2010, and his release clause rose to forty million euros.

That was why Bayern later spent a full forty million euros to sign Javi Martínez.

Yang Cheng actually had another candidate, Lucas Biglia, an Argentine midfielder from Anderlecht in the Belgian league.

This player had excellent vision and passing skills, as well as strong defensive abilities.

But he was not tall.

Yang Cheng still preferred Javi Martínez.

“A release clause is a release clause. Sixteen million euros, we’ll pay it!” Yang Cheng said readily.

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg were both somewhat taken aback.

They both stared at Yang Cheng with incredulous expressions, as if doubting whether they had heard correctly.

Yang Cheng himself was stunned for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

The two looked at each other and both shook their heads.

“If you have something to say, say it,” Yang Cheng urged.

“Yang, are you sure you want to spend sixteen million euros to buy Javi Martínez?”

Sixteen million euros was equivalent to twelve point eight million pounds sterling.

“Is there a problem?” Yang Cheng found it strange.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current income and status, was spending sixteen million euros on a player something to be surprised about?

“Yang, you know that over the past few years, our highest single transfer fee record was for Andrei Arshavin, which cost us six million pounds sterling, roughly nine million euros at the exchange rate back then,” Mike Rigg explained.

“And?”

Dan Ashworth took over with a wry smile, “To date, our club has never had a transfer fee exceed ten million euros, let alone sixteen million euros.”

It was a club record fee!

Yang Cheng suddenly understood.

So these two guys just weren’t used to it!

But thinking about it carefully, it was true.

Over the past few years, the team had always been frugal, and Yang Cheng had always been on the lookout for high-quality, low-cost players.

Transfers and signings were all about low investment and high returns.

But the problem was, as Bayswater Chinese continued to develop and improve, the requirements for players were also getting higher and higher.

Looking around the world, how many high-level players were there?

More importantly, Yang Cheng did not want to disrupt the technical and tactical framework that the team had painstakingly polished for many years.

Under these circumstances, it was difficult for transfers to adhere to the old cost-effective investment model.

When necessary, they had to be willing to spend big.

Besides, a transfer fee of sixteen million euros was really nothing for a top club.

“You’ll have to get used to it. There will be more and more big signings like this in the future!” Yang Cheng said with a laugh and a curse.

He always felt that his staff must be calling him stingy behind his back.

But the question was, without being stingy, how could Bayswater Chinese have reached its current position?

“Yang, I want to ask, isn’t it a bit early to make a move now?” Dan Ashworth inquired.

He was worried that if something unexpected happened with Yaya Touré and he stayed, what would they do about the Javi Martínez signing?

“Don’t worry. A player being watched by Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal all at the same time—do you think we can keep him?”

A smile played on Yang Cheng’s lips. He, for one, didn’t believe it.

“Alright, hurry up and get these three players signed. Be discreet,” Yang Cheng instructed.

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg both nodded.

After seeing the two of them off, Yang Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He could no longer handle everything personally.

The media was watching him, and other clubs were watching him.

So, he now had to let his subordinates do the work.

And he had decided that this summer, he would stay at the Brent training center and oversee the youth academy selections to divert attention.

In Yang Cheng’s plan, selling Džeko from the centre-forward position, Yaya Touré from midfield, and Maicon from defense should bring in a considerable transfer income.

While maintaining overall stability, the team’s overall strength would be affected somewhat, but not too much.

Moreover, the players would be a year more mature in the new season, and their overall strength was steadily improving.

Most importantly, for all three positions, there were currently players in the team ready to step up.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was still full of confidence for the new Premier League season.

Every time the transfer window came around, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but think of Teacher Toni.

Yang Cheng had always maintained personal contact with him.

In January 2009, he was loaned by Bayern to Bayer Leverkusen, where he played under Jupp Heynckes and performed well.

But Bayern Munich still held Toni Kroos in very high regard.

And although Teacher Toni resented Bayern Munich for slighting him, it hadn’t reached the point where he wanted to leave the team.

This left Yang Cheng unable to find an opportunity to make a move.

There were rumors before that Bayern was interested in Yaya Touré, and Yang Cheng thought he might have a chance.

As it turned out, Bayern Munich turned around and started making eyes at Real Madrid’s Robben.

Oh, Lord, when will my Ceremonial Midfield finally be assembled?

Chapter 176: Sky-High Prices! Sky-High Prices Everywhere! These Giants are Filthy Rich!

As the calendar turned to June, the Spanish football world witnessed a historic moment that shocked the globe.

Former Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez, who had stepped down more than three years ago, staged a king’s return. Running unopposed, he once again ascended to the throne of Real Madrid’s chairmanship.

On the first day of June, he officially announced his inauguration.

At the ceremony, Florentino proudly declared that Real Madrid would sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for ninety-four million euros, or approximately seventy-five million pounds sterling—the highest transfer fee in history.

“We have accomplished a mission that was nearly impossible!”

Florentino’s official announcement immediately sent shockwaves through European football.

It was no secret that C. Ronaldo wanted to leave for Real Madrid.

What was truly shocking was the transfer fee.

A staggering ninety-four million euros!

It was simply outrageous!

Not only did the Spanish media go into a frenzy, but media and fans from other European countries, and indeed the entire world, erupted in excitement.

It was thrilling!

European football hadn’t seen such an exhilarating superstar transfer in many years!

While officially announcing the signing of C. Ronaldo, Florentino repeatedly stressed that this was only the beginning of Real Madrid’s summer transfer operations. “Next, a group of world-class stars will join Real Madrid one after another!”

Florentino promised that in the past few years, Real Madrid had gone through a slump, and the value of its brand had been trampled upon.

But all of that was in the past.

Under his leadership, Real Madrid would once again become the most dazzling golden standard in world football, a hallowed hall that stars from all over the world would flock to!

Although Florentino did not reveal his transfer list in detail, as Real Madrid’s mouthpieces, AS newspaper and Marca successively exposed a list of the club’s transfer targets.

Džeko, Maicon, Yaya Touré, Xabi Alonso, Fàbregas, David Silva, David Villa…

AS newspaper even revealed that Florentino wanted to poach Messi and had personally called the Argentine to ask about the possibility of him joining Real Madrid.

“Florentino hopes to build a Galácticos team in a single summer, one capable of challenging Barça!”

Back in 2006, the term “Galácticos” was reviled, hated, and even looked down upon by all Real Madrid fans.

But in 2009, after three years and the era of Ramón Calderón and Predrag Mijatović, all Real Madrid fans were incredibly nostalgic for the Galácticos.

The same resources, the same position as Chairman of Real Madrid, how could the difference be so vast?

However, as Real Madrid waved its cash around, making big signings, an internal clear-out was also imperative.

AS newspaper revealed that Real Madrid’s first team currently had twenty-eight players. While bringing in stars, they had to offload a batch of players who did not meet the club’s standards.

Dutch players like Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder, Robben, Rafael van der Vaart, and Drenthe were all on the chopping block.

Additionally, head coach Juande Ramos would not be retained. Real Madrid was busy searching for a new helmsman for their Galácticos.

But at present, there weren’t many head coaches in European football who met Real Madrid’s requirements.

And famous managers qualified to coach a Galácticos team were even rarer.

Among them, former AC Milan head coach Ancelotti, once considered the top candidate to take over Real Madrid, was officially announced as Manchester City’s new manager on June 1st.

This created a problem for Real Madrid’s search for a coach.

…

Real Madrid’s transfer dealings naturally triggered a chain reaction across European football.

In contrast, Manchester United’s movements were not as significant.

After selling C. Ronaldo, Manchester United didn’t seem particularly eager to sign anyone.

The only news was that Ferguson had entered the race for Wigan Athletic winger Antonio Valencia.

The Manchester United head coach also admitted to the media, “We are indeed interested in Bayswater Chinese’s midfielder, Yaya Touré.”

Manchester United wasn’t the first club interested in Yaya Touré, nor would it be the last.

Especially after Manchester City appointed Ancelotti and then signed midfielder Pirlo from AC Milan for thirty million pounds sterling, or about 37.5 million euros, quality midfielders became even more sought-after.

On one hand, everyone could clearly see that the role of the midfield was becoming increasingly important.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese and Barça were the teams that paid the most attention to their midfields, and they also had the best results.

He who wins the midfield wins the world.

This saying had never been more widely recognized!

On the other hand, today’s top midfielders were either already spoken for or very difficult to poach.

Take Valencia’s David Silva, for example.

The Bats were deep in a financial crisis, but they still held on tight.

Spanish media revealed that Real Madrid had made successive bids for David Silva and David Villa, but Valencia refused to negotiate.

The reason was they would never sell Valencia’s players to Real Madrid!

What about other teams?

The transfer fees Valencia was quoting were also quite ridiculous, often fifty million euros or more.

As for players like Xabi Alonso, who had fallen out with Liverpool and was determined to leave, he attracted the attention of a host of top clubs.

But Xabi Alonso stated directly that he wanted to go to Real Madrid.

Other teams?

He probably didn’t rate them!

As Real Madrid’s arch-rival, Barça was also busy with their recruitment.

First and foremost was the centre-forward saga that had been hyped for two summers.

Last summer, it was rumored that Barça wanted to trade Eto’o plus cash for Ibrahimović.

Now, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport revealed that this transfer was a real possibility.

Barça hoped to exchange a transfer fee of twenty-five million euros, plus Eto’o, for Inter Milan’s Ibrahimović.

The source of the leak was Ibrahimović’s agent, Raiola.

But the Italian agent revealed that Barça’s offer had been rejected by Inter Milan.

This again shocked the European football world.

Twenty-five million euros plus Eto’o, and it was still rejected?

Besides a centre-forward, Barça also wanted to strengthen their defense.

Puyol was already thirty-one years old, and Pep Guardiola hoped to bring in a younger, high-quality centre-back.

According to the Catalan media, the player at the top of Guardiola’s centre-back wish list was none other than Thiago Silva.

The second on the list was Pepe.

…

“What’s the meaning of this?”

In the Bayswater Chinese office in London, Yang Cheng pointed at the tall stack of transfer faxes on his desk, feeling a mix of amusement, anger, and helplessness.

“There are so many teams in Europe, so why are they all trying to fleece us? Do they think we’re an easy target?”

“Look at that bald guy from Barça. The top two on his centre-back list are our starters.”

“Oh, so you lost the Champions League final, you’re not convinced, and now you want to win it back in the transfer market?”

“In his dreams!”

Sitting opposite Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and the others didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“There’s nothing we can do. It’s because we’re not powerful enough yet,” Adam Crozier said reassuringly.

“Yeah, they know we’re short on cash because of the new stadium, so naturally, they want to poach our players.”

As Dan Ashworth said this, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Starting from June 1st, in just three short days, the phone in my office has been ringing off the hook.”

“It’s either clubs trying to poach players, clubs wanting to poach players, or agents calling to inquire about the situation.”

This was actually a normal phenomenon.

The transfer market was inherently confusing and unpredictable.

The only difference was that Bayswater Chinese’s players were simply too popular.

The Sextuple winners from last season were short on cash and needed to sell players. What a great opportunity for the other giants!

“Mubarak and Florentino have both called me to get the details. I still don’t know how to respond to them,” Adam Crozier said, clearly troubled.

Manchester City, Arsenal, and Real Madrid were all clubs with deep pockets right now.

“How to respond?” Yang Cheng asked back with a smile. “To the highest bidder, of course!”

“They all want him? Fine, let them bid!”

Everyone had long guessed that Yang Cheng would do this.

The main reason was that the players Bayswater Chinese currently had were simply too sought-after.

Take Džeko, for example.

Looking around European football right now, where could you find a centre-forward as well-rounded and technically skilled as him?

Ibrahimović?

The Swedish centre-forward was notoriously rebellious.

More importantly, the salaries of Bayswater Chinese’s players were relatively low.

“The offer for Ibrahimović that the media exposed from Barça, they actually made the same one to us.”

Dan Ashworth continued, “Twenty-five million euros plus Eto’o, they wanted to trade for Džeko.”

Yang Cheng scoffed upon hearing this. “How did you reply?”

“Rejected!”

A hint of appreciation flashed in Yang Cheng’s eyes as he looked at Dan Ashworth with encouragement.

“Eto’o’s current contract expires in 2010, meaning he only has one year left. Based on current valuations, he’s worth about thirty million euros at most,” Dan Ashworth explained.

In fact, if Barça had been more decisive last summer and resolutely sold Eto’o when he was already causing trouble, they could have gotten a relatively better price.

But last summer, Barça’s handling of the situation was anything but decisive.

He stayed for another year, didn’t cause any major stirs, but fell out with Guardiola, and his contract now had only one year left.

And everyone knew that Barça was in a very passive position at this point.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many people were baffled as to why Barça would be so brain-dead as to trade forty-six million euros plus Eto’o for Ibrahimović.

In reality, there was nothing wrong with that deal.

At the time, Eto’o only had one year left on his contract and had fallen out with the club and the head coach. How much value could he have left?

More importantly, Eto’o’s salary demands were high, at ten million euros per year.

Forget a trade, let’s just talk about a direct transfer.

How many of the top clubs in European football could meet this series of demands?

Probably only two or three!

In contrast, Ibrahimović was a tall center-forward at the peak of his powers.

When Barça offered Eto’o in exchange for Ibrahimović, they were inherently devaluing Eto’o to the lowest possible point.

So, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that transfer.

What was the real problem?

It was Barça’s subsequent handling of things a year later.

Including Ibrahimović, and including Chygrynskiy.

Players bought for huge sums one year were sold off on the cheap the next. What was that all about?

Putting the sporting aspects aside, Barça as a club was truly outrageous.

It’s hard for superstars at top clubs to have a graceful exit. This wasn’t just a problem at Barça; almost all giants were like this.

But to handle it as poorly as Barça did was truly rare.

Including players like Ronaldinho, Deco, Rivaldo, Ibrahimović, and so on.

Not to mention, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Barça would casually drop over a hundred million in transfer fees to sign players.

Yang Cheng, for one, found it hard to understand.

“There’s news that Chelsea is in talks with Barça about Eto’o’s transfer,” Mike Rigg said.

Yang Cheng’s interest was immediately piqued. “Has Guus Hiddink really decided to stay?”

“It’s almost a sure thing,” Mike Rigg nodded.

Whether Hiddink would stay on had always been a major focus of the British media.

The Dutch manager’s coaching ability was there for all to see.

Although Chelsea would miss out on next season’s Champions League, if they could keep Hiddink, The Blues still had a lot of potential in the new season.

And there had been rumors that Hiddink had proposed Chelsea sign Sneijder.

Yang Cheng was not at all surprised by this.

To be honest, the transfer market was full of coincidences.

Take Sneijder, Robben, and Rafael van der Vaart, whom Real Madrid was now trying to offload; they were all hot commodities on the market.

For example, Sneijder was being watched by Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Manchester City.

And Robben, even more so.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bayern Munich… they were all keeping an eye on him.

Under these circumstances, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise whichever club they ended up at.

The only difference was that the memories from Yang Cheng’s previous life would be completely scrambled.

Especially with Arsenal now having considerable financial power.

Last season, Wenger led Arsenal to overtake Manchester United in the final stages of the league to claim second place.

This in itself proved Wenger’s coaching quality and gave everyone at Arsenal hope of a revival.

But after last season’s crazy spending spree, The Gunners’ main focus this season was to retain their players while further shoring up their weaknesses.

And the first priority was Fàbregas.

The Spanish midfielder was being courted by Real Madrid and Barça, which gave Wenger a huge headache.

Rumor had it that Wenger was considering throwing a blockbuster contract at Fàbregas to get him to sign an extension.

For Yang Cheng, the current European football landscape was becoming increasingly unfamiliar.

The transfer market was also becoming more and more confusing.

He was even finding it difficult to see the future trends clearly.

For instance, Benzema was at Arsenal, and Kaká was at Manchester City.

Would Real Madrid’s signings this summer still be as earth-shattering?

Based on the current situation, if Eto’o really went to Chelsea, could Mourinho’s Inter Milan still be revitalized?

Everything was filled with uncertainty.

…

Munich, Germany, Säbener Strasse 51, Bayern Munich Headquarters.

Second floor, turn right at the top of the stairs, first room on the right in the corridor.

The newly appointed sporting director, former German star Christian Nerlinger, was busy packing his things.

The thirty-six-year-old Nerlinger had previously been the club’s team manager.

But from now on, he would shine in the role of sporting director.

And the senior management at Bayern Munich all knew that for Nerlinger, this was more like an internal training opportunity.

His real next stop was to take over General Manager Uli Hoeneß’s position.

This was a reform initiated within Bayern Munich.

According to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Hoeneß, it was about learning from the best club in the world.

Who?

Bayswater Chinese!

This reform was not well-known to the outside world, but it had been brewing internally for a long time.

One of the most important aspects was the implementation of a paperless office.

Bayswater Chinese was the first club in Europe, and even in world football, to implement a paperless office, and also the most successful.

But within Bayern, people like Rummenigge and Hoeneß were complete computer Luddites and internet idiots.

They couldn’t even use the latest business smartphones like Apple or BlackBerry.

At Bayern, everything was still very traditional.

But the thirty-six-year-old up-and-comer Nerlinger was different; he relied on his computer and phone for work every day.

Many young people like Nerlinger were continually being given opportunities.

Knock, knock, knock.

Hearing the knock, Nerlinger looked up and saw the secretary who had just shown him to his office.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Hoeneß would like to see you,” the secretary said politely.

Nerlinger immediately put down what he was doing, stood up, grabbed the BlackBerry from his desk, and followed the secretary out of the office.

Their two offices were very close, separated only by their secretaries’ office.

In fact, if you raised your voice a little, you could hear each other.

This was also a long-standing tradition at Bayern.

The general manager and the sporting director were next to each other, making handovers and reports convenient.

Hoeneß was clearly waiting for him; the office door was open.

Nerlinger walked over and knocked on the door. “Uli, you were looking for me?”

“Christian, come, take a look at this.” Hoeneß seemed to have a headache.

He was leaning back in his office chair, pointing at the documents on his desk.

“What’s this?” Nerlinger walked over with a smile and picked up the top document.

Real Madrid had made an offer for Ribéry: eighty million euros!

Nerlinger was so shocked he could hardly believe it. He looked at Hoeneß with a questioning gaze.

Is this real?

Hoeneß nodded slightly.

“They must be insane!” Nerlinger gasped for air.

That was eighty million euros!

My God!

How could Real Madrid be so rich?

“What do you think?” Hoeneß, on the other hand, was relatively calm.

This question really put Nerlinger in a difficult position.

He had to admit, eighty million euros was very tempting.

Real Madrid’s new chairman certainly had guts, throwing out so much money at once. It was clear he didn’t want to give Bayern a chance to refuse.

But the question was, could they sell him?

From Bayern’s perspective, after signing Ribéry, the team’s performance had indeed improved significantly.

They spent sixty million euros back then, and selling him for eighty million now wouldn’t be a loss.

But…

This is like an entrance exam, Nerlinger thought to himself.

Realizing this, he immediately calmed down.

“I think we can’t sell!”

“Give me your reasons.”

“If we define our ambition as being content with the Bundesliga, then I think selling Ribéry now would be very profitable.”

Hoeneß didn’t react, just watched Nerlinger quietly, waiting for him to continue.

“But if we still want to conquer European football, if we still want to win the Champions League, then Ribéry absolutely cannot be sold. If we sell him, we will lose a top star and completely lose our competitiveness.”

Hoeneß remained noncommittal, offering no feedback. Instead, he said, “Someone on the technical team suggested selling Ribéry and getting Robben in return. What do you think?”

“I heard that Real Madrid’s management has given Robben an ultimatum. Is that true?” Nerlinger asked.

He had just been appointed as sporting director, and much of the information from the scouting department had not yet reached him.

“It’s absolutely true. And the message was delivered to Robben, his agent, and his father simultaneously. Real Madrid will not register Robben for any official competitions in the new season.”

Hoeneß’s words made Nerlinger frown slightly.

Not registering Robben was tantamount to nailing him to the bench.

The subtext was to force Robben and his team to transfer this summer.

Real Madrid’s methods were really quite unscrupulous.

“Is it possible for us to sign Robben?” Nerlinger asked in turn.

“Why?” A barely perceptible smile touched Hoeneß’s lips.

“Ribéry is good on the left, and Robben can play on the right. I believe if we sign Robben, our entire attack will get a massive boost. At that point, we will truly have the strength of a top European team!”

At that moment, a look of admiration appeared in Hoeneß’s eyes.

No wonder Nerlinger was appointed sporting director!

“It’s a bit difficult.”

“Why?”

“Those Premier League teams are watching him very closely right now. Apart from Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese, according to our intelligence, the other major Premier League clubs all want to sign Robben.”

Hearing this, a wry smile appeared on Nerlinger’s face. “The competition over there is too fierce!”

Isn’t it just?

Hoeneß felt a bit helpless.

The Bundesliga had no competitiveness in front of the Premier League.

The reason these Premier League teams hadn’t made a move yet was likely due to concerns about Robben’s injury-prone nature.

According to reliable information, Manchester United and Manchester City were the most aggressive pursuers.

Ferguson had almost signed Robben back in 2004, only to be hijacked by Chelsea.

Manchester City was also in dire need of a quality right-sided player. Since Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was signed for a large fee last season, had a poor performance, The Blue Moons wanted to sign Robben to replicate the former Real Madrid winger duo of Robinho and Robben.

Add to that Kaká, Pirlo, and head coach Ancelotti.

Manchester City was really starting to take shape.

“Take a look at the next one.” Hoeneß pointed to the other two documents on the desk.

Nerlinger opened it and saw an offer from Manchester City for Lúcio.

Seven million euros, meeting Bayern Munich’s asking price.

This was also the first team to make a move for Lúcio so far.

The one below was an offer from Arsenal, also for seven million euros, for Lúcio.

“Van Gaal has made it clear that Lúcio is not in his plans, and his contract expires on June 30, 2010. He’s already thirty-one,” Hoeneß said with some resignation.

Lúcio was still quite important to Bayern Munich’s defense.

Selling him would definitely have an impact.

But if they didn’t sell, they would have to meet Lúcio’s contract renewal demands and give him a three-year deal.

In terms of salary, Lúcio’s demands weren’t too high, around 4.5 million euros.

“Is Wenger interested in players over thirty now?” Nerlinger was quite surprised.

Hoeneß sneered. “Then take a look, how many top-class centre-backs are there still in European football right now?”

In the Bundesliga, the most sought-after centre-back this summer was Borussia Dortmund’s Subotić.

The young centre-back had performed exceptionally well at Dortmund, attracting the attention of Premier League clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City.

Many people compared him to his compatriot Vidić, who played for Manchester United.

But for giants craving immediate impact, Lúcio was the best choice.

Whether it was Manchester City or Arsenal, both offers were in line with Lúcio’s current situation.

The offer from Inter Milan was for Daniel Van Buyten.

But the Belgian international was in van Gaal’s plans, so Bayern Munich rejected it and recommended Lúcio instead.

They had not yet received any feedback from Inter Milan.

“I think we should accept,” Nerlinger replied after careful consideration.

Hoeneß thought about it, nodded, and said nothing more.

…

The entire development of the European football transfer market was completely beyond Yang Cheng’s expectations.

On the first weekend of June, Chelsea and Barça simultaneously announced that the African Cheetah, Eto’o, had transferred from Barça to Chelsea for a fee of thirty million euros.

This immediately caused a strong reaction throughout European football.

Previously, everyone had been speculating that Barça would use Eto’o to trade for Ibrahimović or Džeko.

But now, Eto’o had actually moved to Chelsea, which was truly surprising.

The Sun was the first to report that Barça had indeed made an offer for Bayswater Chinese’s Džeko, hoping to include Eto’o in the deal, but was firmly rejected.

Now that Eto’o had transferred to Chelsea, earning Barça a thirty million euro transfer fee, Barça once again made an offer for Džeko, this time directly for sixty-five million euros!

Although C. Ronaldo’s ninety-four million euro transfer fee had already set the European football world ablaze, Barça’s sixty-five million euro offer for Džeko was equally astonishing.

Everyone clearly realized that the entire European transfer market was about to enter an era of frantic spending!

After Barça made the first move, Manchester City quickly followed suit.

The Blue Moons were also determined to get Džeko, raising their offer to fifty-five million pounds sterling at one go.

That converted to about 68.75 million euros.

This once again triggered a massive earthquake in European football!

Real Madrid then made another offer, reaching fifty-eight million pounds sterling.

The media and fans all over the world were stunned.

Have you ever seen anyone fight over a player like this?

This was simply too ridiculous!

Manchester City, Barça, and Real Madrid were burning money without any regard for the consequences!

Barça quickly made a new offer, willing to pay a transfer fee of sixty million pounds sterling for Džeko.

Guardiola even made a public appeal to the media, believing Džeko was the final piece of the puzzle for Barça’s squad.

“He will become a legend in Barça’s football history!”

Džeko, through his agent, expressed his gratitude to Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Barça.

He said nothing else.

It was clear that Džeko still respected Bayswater Chinese in his heart and did not want to get involved in the club’s transfer negotiations.

But according to media reports, Džeko was actually more inclined towards Real Madrid and Barça.

The reason was simple: Manchester City had missed out on the Champions League!

Although Manchester City had Kaká and Robinho, as well as Pirlo and Ancelotti, the competition in the Premier League was simply too fierce right now.

Džeko felt his technical characteristics were a better fit for La Liga.

But even so, Manchester City gritted their teeth and made an offer of sixty-three million pounds sterling.

The Blue Moons were genuinely determined to sign Džeko.

This offer immediately scared off Barça.

Barça’s mouthpiece, Diario Sport, revealed that Barça Chairman Laporta clearly told Guardiola that sixty million pounds sterling, or seventy-five million euros, was the absolute limit Barça could offer.

When Barça announced their withdrawal from the race for Džeko, everyone’s eyes immediately turned to Madrid.

Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez reacted quickly, personally leading his two assistants, José Ángel Sánchez and Valdano, to London to meet with Bayswater Chinese’s CEO, Adam Crozier.

Soon after, Real Madrid raised their offer again, successfully signing the Bosnian and Herzegovinan centre-forward Džeko from Bayswater Chinese for a sky-high price of sixty-four million pounds sterling, which was eighty million euros.

This once again sent shockwaves around the world.

Signing C. Ronaldo cost ninety-four million euros, and now signing Džeko cost another eighty million euros.

How was Real Madrid so rich?

The Sun also quickly revealed more details of the transfer.

Including Real Madrid’s promise to pay the eighty million euros over three years.

“This will greatly alleviate the financial pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project.”

In addition, The Sun broke another piece of news: Real Madrid had agreed to cooperate with Bayswater Chinese to establish a new company to organize a summer warm-up tournament called the International Champions Cup.

“Currently, the teams confirmed to participate in this cup include Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City.”

“Now, Real Madrid has been added to the list!”

Not only that, The Sun also exposed another bombshell.

During his meeting with Adam Crozier, Florentino Pérez made another offer.

“Real Madrid hopes to sign Côte d’Ivoire midfielder Yaya Touré from Bayswater Chinese for a transfer fee of forty million pounds sterling.”

“This player was jointly recommended by Valdano and Zidane, who believe he will greatly alleviate the current midfield void at Real Madrid.”

But The Sun revealed that Bayswater Chinese was seriously considering the offer from Real Madrid.

The day after The Sun’s report, the Manchester Evening News disclosed that both Manchester United and Manchester City had sent offers to Bayswater Chinese.

Among them, Manchester United’s offer was also forty million pounds sterling.

But Manchester City’s offer reached forty-five million pounds sterling.

The Independent, which had close ties to Arsenal, also reported immediately that The Gunners had made an offer for Yaya Touré.

“Wenger’s team hopes to sign Yaya Touré for forty-five million pounds sterling!”

One player, with four giants bidding for him simultaneously—such a grand occasion was truly rare.

But before Bayswater Chinese could give any response, Manchester City proactively increased their offer.

The Blue Moons withdrew their previous offer and sent a new one. The latest transfer bid reached fifty million pounds sterling.

This maneuver showed everyone that after missing out on Džeko, Manchester City was determined to get Yaya Touré.

Fifty million pounds sterling, a full 62.5 million euros!

This was just insane!

No one could believe that this summer’s transfer market would be so lively.

Faced with the extravagantly wealthy and determined Manchester City, not only did Manchester United and Arsenal back down, but even the deep-pocketed Real Madrid, after signing C. Ronaldo and Džeko in succession, could not bring themselves to go all-in for Yaya Touré.

Manchester City’s series of wild moves seemed to be telling everyone: Go on, bid whatever you want!

Whatever you bid, we’ll bid more!

But did the other teams really dare to bid?

What if Manchester City didn’t follow?

The gamesmanship of the transfer market was just so thrilling.

In the end, Real Madrid regretfully announced their withdrawal from the race for Yaya Touré.

Manchester City defeated Manchester United, Arsenal, and Real Madrid to successfully sign the Ivorian.

After moving from Bayswater Chinese to Manchester City, Yaya Touré’s weekly wage shot up to 250,000 pounds sterling.

This was the second-highest salary in the Premier League, second only to Kaká.

While signing Yaya Touré, Manchester City officially announced that they had snatched Brazilian centre-back Lúcio from Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich for a transfer fee of seven million euros.

For Manchester City, whose defense was weak last season, this would undoubtedly be a huge boost to their back line.

After the club successively signed Yaya Touré and Lúcio, Ancelotti was grinning from ear to ear.

In an interview with reporters, the Italian said that the new season’s Manchester City would have an enviably strong squad and would be the most competitive team in the Premier League.

“Any other weaknesses?”

Ancelotti smiled and said, “I am very satisfied with the current squad, but if I had to point out a weakness, I would hope to strengthen the team’s left side.”

Manchester City’s left side was occupied by England international Bridge, but his overall performance could only be described as decent.

Following Ancelotti’s interview, the British media rushed to offer suggestions, listing numerous left-sided stars.

Even Manchester United’s Evra was included.

If they could poach Evra from their city arch-rival, it would definitely be a joyous occasion.

But Ferguson’s comment on this was just four words: “In your wildest dreams!”

…

The successive transfers of players like Džeko, Yaya Touré, and Lúcio naturally triggered a chain reaction in European football.

After missing out on Džeko, Laporta and others at Barça immediately changed their target, personally rushing to Milan, Italy, to meet with Inter Milan.

After several days of negotiations, Barça successfully persuaded Inter Milan.

Seventy million euros, Barça successfully signed Ibrahimović.

This was a full two million euros more than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

When Yang Cheng heard this news in London, he was completely stunned.

Inter Milan must have an expert negotiator!

Don’t underestimate those two million euros.

You have to remember, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Barça signed Ibrahimović for sixty-eight million euros, but that was because Eto’o was used as a makeweight, so they didn’t actually pay that much cash.

But now?

Barça paid a solid seventy million euros in transfer fees to buy Ibrahimović. This was completely different.

Not only that, Barça also signed Maxwell from Inter Milan for five million euros.

This was not surprising.

When Maxwell and Ibrahimović both played for Ajax, the two were inseparable.

Moreover, their agent was Raiola.

There must be some connection behind the scenes.

But what surprised Yang Cheng again was that after signing Ibrahimović, when Barça turned their attention to Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, they found that Arsenal had already beaten them to it.

The Gunners had paid twenty-five million euros, or twenty million pounds sterling, to successfully persuade Shakhtar Donetsk to sign Ukrainian centre-back Chygrynskiy.

Yang Cheng also got an inside tip that it was the behind-the-scenes owner Usmanov who finalized the deal.

Wenger originally wanted to sign Lúcio, but Manchester City got there first.

So, The Gunners turned around and signed Chygrynskiy.

Russian owners always had a soft spot for signing players from the former Soviet regions.

For example, Roman Abramovich spent eighteen million pounds sterling to sign Zhirkov from Russia’s CSKA Moscow.

And after missing out on Yaya Touré, Wenger turned around and signed midfielder Toulalan from France’s Lyon for a transfer fee of twenty million euros.

He also signed Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax for fifteen million euros.

Manchester United, who also missed out on Yaya Touré, immediately shifted their target.

When Ferguson sought Yang Cheng’s advice, Yang Cheng had emphasized Busquets.

He hoped that Ferguson’s Manchester United would go all-out against Guardiola’s Barça, preferably poaching Busquets to put an end to Barça’s Dream Team Three.

But Yang Cheng never expected that Ferguson was just as cunning and didn’t fall for the trap.

After missing out on Yaya Touré, Manchester United immediately shifted their sights to Rome, Italy, to poach the new generation leader of The Giallorossi, Daniele De Rossi.

According to media reports, Ferguson had been infinitely close to signing De Rossi as early as 2006.

At that time, the Italian midfielder even went to Old Trafford to meet Ferguson and was on the verge of joining Manchester United.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, De Rossi ultimately failed to land in the Premier League.

But Manchester United was plagued by Owen Hargreaves’ injuries, and Fletcher’s appearances were also inconsistent.

On many occasions, Manchester United was left with only Carrick as their holding midfielder.

This made Ferguson incredibly frustrated, which was why he was determined, even to the point of pressuring the management, to sign Yaya Touré.

Unfortunately, the Ivorian still went to Manchester City.

So, Ferguson turned his attention back to De Rossi.

Although AS Roma repeatedly rejected offers from Manchester United, they couldn’t withstand Ferguson’s well-wielded spade and checkbook, as he kept raising the bid.

In the end, Manchester United signed De Rossi from AS Roma for a high price of fifty million euros.

…

While Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City were all ambitious and continuously strengthening their squads, Bayswater Chinese and Liverpool seemed particularly low-key.

But the situations of the two teams were different.

Bayswater Chinese mainly needed to sell players to fund their new stadium.

And so, after selling Džeko and Yaya Touré, Maicon was also targeted by Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

These clubs all made offers, hoping to sign the Brazilian defender.

Liverpool’s situation was purely due to a lack of money.

The Reds simply couldn’t afford a large transfer fee.

And Xabi Alonso, after falling out with Benítez, was determined to leave.

In the end, Real Madrid successfully signed the Spanish international for a transfer fee of forty million euros.

Also transferring from Liverpool was Real Madrid youth academy product, defender Álvaro Arbeloa.

It is worth mentioning that in these two transfers between Real Madrid and Liverpool, former Bayswater Chinese centre-back, Slovakian player Martin Škrtel, unfortunately became a makeweight in the transfer, valued at fifteen million euros.

After his high-profile transfer to Real Madrid, Škrtel’s performance in La Liga was inconsistent. He struggled to adapt and never delivered a convincing performance, which left the demanding Real Madrid fans dissatisfied with him.

After Florentino’s inauguration, he was keen on maintaining a local core, so he spent fifteen million euros to sign Albiol from Valencia.

Under these circumstances, Škrtel became somewhat redundant in the Real Madrid squad and was sent to Liverpool as a makeweight in the Xabi Alonso transfer.

This caused many fans to sigh in lament.

Back in the Premier League, Škrtel had been a starting centre-back for Bayswater Chinese.

Who would have thought that after moving to Real Madrid, his career would decline so much.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese was performing better and better, having already won the Sextuple for the season.

After selling Xabi Alonso for a huge sum, Benítez immediately signed Aquilani from AS Roma in Italy.

But unexpectedly, Aquilani arrived at Liverpool carrying an injury, which was discovered during his medical.

This made many in the media very surprised by Liverpool’s move.

No one could understand why Benítez had to force out Xabi Alonso, breaking up the midfield iron triangle of Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, and Javier Mascherano, only to sign an injured player.

Including Yang Cheng, everyone felt pessimistic about Liverpool’s prospects.

No money, no players; a Liverpool like this was probably done for in the new season.

While all of Europe was discussing Aquilani, Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid made a joint official announcement.

Brazilian right-back Maicon had transferred from the Premier League to La Liga’s Real Madrid for a fee of thirty-five million pounds sterling.

The right-back had attracted the attention of quite a few teams, including Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea.

But these teams were unwilling to pay a high price for a twenty-eight-year-old defender, so their bids were more cautious.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, had been interested in Maicon for a long time, and Brazilian full-backs had always performed well in La Liga.

For example, Carlos in the past, or Barça’s current Dani Alves.

Speaking of which, in the Brazil national team, Maicon even kept Dani Alves on the bench.

Therefore, Real Madrid’s need for Maicon was more urgent.

While Bayswater Chinese was successively selling Yaya Touré, Džeko, and Maicon, Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg also completed the transfers assigned by Yang Cheng.

They signed Kyle Walker from Sheffield United for three million pounds sterling.

They signed tall center-forward Andy Carroll from the relegated Newcastle for three million pounds sterling.

And they paid the sixteen million euro release clause for Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martínez, paying 12.8 million pounds sterling to bring the talented Spanish midfielder to London.

Of these three transfers, only Javi Martínez attracted any outside attention; the other two went largely unnoticed.

But even with Javi Martínez, everyone felt that the Spanish midfielder would find it hard to fill the void left by Yaya Touré.

But not too many people would pay attention to Bayswater Chinese’s signings.

Because for the past few years, Yang Cheng had always focused on developing young players.

Conversely, the two players Real Madrid was determined to offload continued to attract a great deal of media attention.

Robben and Sneijder, where would they end up?

Just as the public speculation was rampant, Bayswater Chinese received another transfer offer by fax.

And Yang Cheng, far away at the Brent training center, received a phone call from a player.

Chapter 177: England’s Future Superstar! The Transfer Market is in Chaos, What will Mourinho Do?

“Alright, I understand. Give me some time to think it over.”

At the Brent training center, amidst the youth academy player selections, Yang Cheng answered his phone and spoke calmly.

With the bustling crowd, no one paid any attention to Yang Cheng stepping aside to take a call.

After hanging up, he composed himself, turned, and walked back into the selection area, approaching a middle-aged British man with thick, black-rimmed glasses and a short crew cut.

“Sorry about that, David. Let’s continue.”

Yang Cheng led the way, and David Pemsel quickly caught up.

The results of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy weren’t the absolute best, but they had always been quite impressive.

In every age group, they were among the standouts in England’s numerous youth systems.

However, other teams placed a heavy emphasis on physicality when selecting players, which was a disadvantage for Bayswater Chinese, who leaned more towards technical skill.

Even so, they had won many championships over the past few years.

Bayswater Chinese wasn’t a team that was working in isolation. On the contrary, the club had always advocated for an inclusive and diverse approach to youth development, arranging for many outstanding students to visit and learn from top youth academies on the European continent each year.

Some even stayed for several months.

Additionally, every age group had annual training tours and friendly matches.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s investment in its youth academy was plain to see. Coupled with years of continuous effort, it had gradually built a strong reputation, attracting more and more young players.

Now, the annual youth selections had become a major event for the academy.

As Yang Cheng and David Pemsel walked and talked, their conversation primarily revolved around football, Bayswater Chinese, the Premier League, and the future of the International Champions Cup.

It was no secret in football circles that Bayswater Chinese was heavily promoting the organization of the International Champions Cup.

So far, the teams that had decided to join included Premier League giants Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City. Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga and Real Madrid from La Liga had also agreed to participate.

In addition, Barça from La Liga, along with Serie A’s AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus, were all in discussions.

However, these powerhouse teams had differing ideas on how they should participate.

For example, Yang Cheng’s initial idea was to have twelve top teams as founding members with guaranteed participation each year and an equal share of the equity.

As the initiator, Bayswater Chinese would hold 12% of the shares, while the other eleven clubs would each hold 8%.

That seemed fair enough, right?

The clubs all agreed to this.

But when it came to putting up money?

Sorry, they needed to think about it.

These traditional giants were used to being paid to play in friendly matches.

Now they were being asked to invest money, something they weren’t accustomed to.

Besides, was it that easy to establish a new cup competition, even if it was just a series of friendlies?

The most agreeable of them all, ironically, was Manchester City.

The Middle Eastern tycoons had a simple message: as long as they were allowed to participate, they were fine with any arrangement.

Even the far-sighted Florentino Pérez was cautious about investing in the company and organizing this competition.

Ultimately, no one had ever done it like this before.

The old Toyota Cup had lost a fortune.

If the Club World Cup didn’t have FIFA’s backing, how could it possibly continue?

And so, the whole project was stuck at this stage.

David Pemsel currently worked for The Guardian Group in England as the director of the advertising and marketing department.

The Guardian Group’s business spanned the globe, with a particularly strong presence in North America and Asia.

Before joining The Guardian Group, he had been the group marketing director at ITV. He later left to start his own creative advertising agency, providing brand promotion for many famous companies, including Hovis, Daimler AG, and Disney, earning a solid reputation in the industry.

However, the company was dissolved due to a falling out between the partners.

He then joined Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine company, where a series of his marketing plans were wildly successful, helping them win an International Emmy Award in 2006.

His outstanding performance at Shine led to him being poached by The Guardian Group to take charge of the advertising department of the renowned multinational corporation.

For a traditional media outlet like The Guardian Group, the advertising department was one of its most crucial divisions.

When Xia Qing and Adam Crozier put David Pemsel’s resume in Yang Cheng’s hands after an initial screening, he recognized the man immediately.

He was the leading candidate to succeed Richard Scudamore as the CEO of the Premier League after Scudamore stepped down in 2018.

Apparently, he had done a phenomenal job at The Guardian Group, rising to become its CEO, but he missed out on the Premier League job due to a sexual harassment scandal, instead becoming the chairman of the British Fashion Council.

Why did Yang Cheng remember this so clearly?

Because the news at the time had been very interesting.

David Pemsel had helped The Guardian Group successfully transition and turn a loss into a profit, making a tremendous contribution, yet his annual salary was only 700,000 pound sterling, and that was before tax.

At the time, the Premier League CEO’s annual salary exceeded one million pounds.

So, poaching him hadn’t been difficult at all.

While The Guardian Group was a large and established company, it was also a traditional media firm with a rigid internal hierarchy and relatively low pay.

Sure enough, as soon as Bayswater Chinese made an offer, David Pemsel came.

…

David Pemsel was clearly prepared for the situation Yang Cheng was facing.

He had already been briefed by Xia Qing and Adam Crozier.

“Mr. Yang, if you are truly confident in this project, then I suggest that Bayswater Chinese takes full control of the operations. Give each founding club a small portion of dividend-only shares, say 3%, in exchange for licensing their brand.”

“That is the most valuable asset of this competition!”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly. He, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and Omar Berrada had also studied this issue and proposed the same idea.

Use dividends to secure their brand licenses, bring them on board, and then pay them an appearance fee for each match.

Of course, since there were dividends, the appearance fees would have to be offered at a discounted rate.

“Honestly, Mr. Yang, this project has tremendous potential. Having so many giants competing together will create a huge brand effect in itself, especially in a summer like this year’s, which is causing a worldwide sensation!”

David Pemsel, with his keen sense for brand marketing, immediately saw the explosive potential.

Every summer, the transfer market was full of bombshells, guaranteed to spark intense discussion around the world.

In such an environment, how could this competition fail to generate heat?

How much would they save on marketing costs alone?

For the other clubs, this distribution model meant guaranteed revenue regardless of the outcome.

They would get paid for playing in pre-season friendlies anyway.

Besides, in recent years, haven’t the European giants encountered plenty of trouble during their pre-season tours around the world?

How much controversy did Real Madrid and Barça’s Asia tours stir up?

Ultimately, the problem was a lack of regulation and professionalism!

Now, a company was stepping in to professionalize the operation of this tournament. The clubs could warm up, make money, and develop overseas markets at the same time. For the football giants, it was a multi-win situation.

But this way, all the pressure would fall on Bayswater Chinese.

“Let our Bayswater Chinese take the lead. I’ll set up a dedicated company to run this tournament. You go assemble a team. The Premier League has many experienced professionals in this area; I’ll poach a few to work with you.”

Over the past few years, the Premier League had been actively promoting pre-season tournaments, with their footprint spanning over twenty countries and regions in North America, Asia, and Oceania. They had already accumulated a great deal of mature experience.

Organizing such a tournament would certainly not be a problem.

Besides, there was still plenty of time.

According to Yang Cheng’s preliminary plan, the inaugural tournament should be scheduled for 2010, right after the World Cup in South Africa.

Based on intelligence Yang Cheng had received, the American tournament organizers were not planning to hold their event in 2010 to avoid clashing with the World Cup.

This was a perfect window of opportunity.

A year to prepare was more than enough time.

If it could become an instant hit, with so many top clubs choosing the International Champions Cup, would there even be a need for the American tournament to continue?

Besides, when it came to football, the Americans really weren’t up to snuff!

As for the possibility of FIFA and UEFA ganging up to suppress the International Champions Cup once it became established, Yang Cheng already had a plan to deal with that.

As long as he seized the right moment and established a firm foothold, it would be a case of sitting back and counting the money!

…

Having made the decision, Yang Cheng and Pemsel discussed the next steps of the plan.

David Pemsel was still employed at The Guardian Group.

For an executive at his level, it would take at least one to two months to leave his position.

However, David Pemsel promised that he would still set aside time during this period to help plan the establishment of the new company and the subsequent series of preparatory work.

This reminded Yang Cheng of someone.

It was Richard Masters, the man who took over as the Premier League CEO after David Pemsel missed out on the job in his previous life.

Right now, that man was the marketing director for the Premier League.

But what Yang Cheng valued most was his network.

Masters had entered the sports industry in 1994 and had served as the commercial director for the English Football League before joining the Premier League. He knew the football industry inside and out.

The fact that he would one day take over Richard Scudamore’s position was proof of his ability.

He was worth poaching.

With the Premier League’s current resources, there was no need to worry about the supply of talent.

But for the new company Yang Cheng was about to create, the more talent, the better.

After seeing David Pemsel off, Yang Cheng immediately called Adam Crozier and asked him to find a time to meet with Richard Masters for a chat.

He also arranged for David Pemsel to meet Richard Masters to see if they could create some sparks.

If it was a good fit, he’d have them form a team.

Yang Cheng was no longer the head coach from his previous life. It was no longer his style to handle everything himself.

He now had to be a proper leader.

No talent?

Then poach it!

With high-caliber, ready-made talent, how could he fail?

It was like when that smartphone company decides to build cars. If you lack the know-how, you just buy an entire R&D team from an established automaker. Problem solved.

Yang Cheng wasn’t being disparaging; he was endorsing this approach. This was how business was done.

Of course, after poaching them, he would still have to continue investing in R&D.

He was doing the same thing now, poaching people from everywhere he was short-staffed.

As for organizing the tournament, that wasn’t a major issue either.

European football was an industry with numerous companies in specialized fields providing support services.

With a year to prepare for such a tournament, as long as the money was right, there would be absolutely no problem!

Just as Yang Cheng finished his call and was strolling around the youth selection site, he suddenly heard an announcement over the broadcast.

Players in the seven-year-old age group were being called to gather on the field to prepare for their matches.

A name was called out that took Yang Cheng by surprise.

Jude Bellingham.

When Yang Cheng heard the name, his first reaction was that he must have misheard.

So, he quickly walked over to the selection area for the seven-year-old age group.

Many fans in the crowd recognized him, causing a commotion.

But Yang Cheng politely declined all interactions, stating that he was just there to observe the selections.

After getting the match roster from a staff member, he glanced over the names and indeed found Jude Bellingham.

Born June 29, 2003. Residence: Stourbridge.

It really was him!

England’s future superstar!

But when the players entered the field, Yang Cheng didn’t recognize him at first.

It wasn’t until the referee called his name that he got a clear look, and then he felt a sense of disappointment.

He was short and skinny, and to top it off, he had Ronaldo’s iconic 2002 haircut from the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

It’s 2009, brother, and you’re still rocking that hairstyle?

Even Beckham’s mohawk would look better than this, wouldn’t it?

Yang Cheng grumbled internally.

But as soon as the boy stepped onto the pitch, he immediately stood out.

Don’t be fooled by his skinny, short, and dark-skinned appearance. On the field, with the ball at his feet, he was like a flood dragon entering the sea—simply unstoppable.

If it were just his a formidable on-ball skills, that would be one thing. But the boy played in midfield, and his off-the-ball movement was also incredibly intelligent.

In fact, just by watching his off-the-ball runs, the fluid and skillful way he linked his movements after receiving the ball, and the calm, confident manner in which he evaded and dribbled past older seven and eight-year-olds despite being only six himself—it was all so natural, so self-assured.

Almost every time Bellingham got the ball, he created a moment of magic, drawing cheers from the onlookers.

Yang Cheng always said that football was the fairest sport of all.

The pitch doesn’t lie.

There’s no room for imposters in competitive sports!

When the fifteen-minute match was over, Bellingham, who was as skinny as a little monkey, ran toward his parents on the sidelines.

His father was white, his mother black.

After seeing them, Yang Cheng was basically certain.

So, he walked over with a smile.

“Hello, my name is Yang Cheng.”

Mark and Denise Bellingham, along with their two young sons, were stunned.

A look of disbelief spread across all their faces.

They had come to the Bayswater Chinese trial and had wondered if they might run into Yang Cheng or other Bayswater Chinese stars.

But they never expected Yang Cheng himself to approach them and start a conversation.

“H-hello, Mr. Yang,” Mark Bellingham said, a little flustered.

He was an amateur player himself, and he held Bayswater Chinese and Yang Cheng in the highest regard.

Especially this summer’s Sextuple—it was absolutely breathtaking!

Not just in London, but even in the areas around Birmingham, everyone was singing praises for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng led the family of four away from the noisy crowd and gave them a tour of the youth academy, showing them the players’ accommodations, recreational facilities, learning environments, and more.

Finally, they arrived at a lounge in the youth academy’s training building.

A staff member immediately brought coffee and juice.

“I play in Leamington, and I’ve been to many teams’ training grounds. Brent is the best and most top-class youth academy I’ve ever seen,” Mark Bellingham said, his voice still tinged with excitement.

“Thank you. I’ll take you to see the first-team facilities later. It’s even better over there,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

“Really?” young Bellingham exclaimed with excitement.

“Of course!” Yang Cheng affirmed. “If you keep working hard, I believe you’ll be able to play there one day, with the best players in the world!”

The six-year-old’s face filled with longing, as if he couldn’t wait to grow up right away.

Yang Cheng then turned to Mark and Denise.

“I watched Jude play just now. Even though it was only for fifteen minutes, he played exceptionally well. It’s clear he must train a lot. You’ve taught him very well.”

Mark and Denise exchanged a glance, both feeling incredibly happy and honored.

The man saying this was Yang Cheng, after all!

The head coach in European football most renowned for scouting players!

They just never expected him to be so young.

“I wanted to ask, since you live in Stourbridge, have you considered moving to London to have Jude join our Bayswater Chinese youth academy?” Yang Cheng asked with a look of concern.

Just because they came for a trial didn’t necessarily mean they were committed to joining.

It wasn’t a given.

Some parents would even bring their children to trials specifically to get an offer, which they would then use as leverage to negotiate with their original club.

This kind of thing was all too common.

To put it bluntly, it was a business!

For both the club and the parents.

Mark and Denise looked at each other, and Denise cleared her throat before answering, “Mr. Yang, to be honest, our son would love to join Bayswater Chinese and train at the best youth academy, but…”

“If you have any difficulties, please feel free to share them,” Yang Cheng said, maintaining a polite and courteous demeanor.

If they were going to ask for an exorbitant price, he certainly wouldn’t indulge them.

But from what he knew, Bellingham’s parents were very rational and calm, and they had always done an excellent job of planning his career, taking each step with great care.

Especially his mother.

Encouraged by Yang Cheng, Denise explained the problem their family was facing.

Mark Bellingham was a police officer in Stourbridge, and his mother’s job was also in the area, not to mention the children’s schooling…

Yang Cheng listened patiently. These were all very real and practical difficulties.

The child was still young, and they were reluctant to let him live in residence.

“Would you be open to moving?” Yang Cheng suggested with a smile.

“Moving?” Mark and Denise were both surprised.

“We can try to find a way to help you transfer your police job to a nearby town, but it would definitely be impossible to move it to central London. You know, that’s not easy,” Yang Cheng said realistically.

Police officers in London had high salaries and good benefits, making the positions highly sought after.

But for a small town like Stourbridge, Yang Cheng could try to pull some strings.

Bayswater Chinese paid so much in “contributions” to the London police every year; arranging for the transfer of one officer shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?

“As for Denise, we can’t directly offer you a job, but it shouldn’t be difficult for you to find work in London.”

Denise was quite confident about that herself.

“I can also give you a promise. Jude can directly enter our Bayswater Chinese youth academy, and your younger son can as well in the future. They will receive the best care and development, just like all the other children in our academy.”

“If they perform well, we also offer a generous scholarship every year.”

Mark and Denise stared at each other.

The problem that had been troubling their family for so long was just solved so casually?

“Thank you so much, Mr. Yang,” Mark Bellingham said, his excitement returning.

Yang Cheng smiled and soothed him.

To show his sincerity, he immediately called Matt Crocker.

As the head of the youth academy, Matt Crocker had already received the news and rushed over as soon as he got Yang Cheng’s call.

Hearing that Yang Cheng had resolved the matter so quickly, he immediately stated that he would follow up.

“Should I arrange for someone to take them to the first-team facilities for a tour?” Matt Crocker asked tentatively.

“No need. I have to go over there anyway. I’ll take them,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

This once again left the Bellingham family feeling both honored and overwhelmed.

Even Matt Crocker was surprised.

He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to place so much importance on this family.

He would have to see Jude Bellingham in a new light from now on.

…

Yang Cheng walked the Bellingham family from the youth academy to the first-team facility.

Along the way, he continuously highlighted Bayswater Chinese’s investments and its contributions to the surrounding community.

Currently, the entire training base was nearly complete, with only the third phase and an indoor football pitch remaining.

The indoor pitch was under construction, while the third phase, which included only a single pitch for the youth team, had not yet been started.

The original pitches were still usable for now.

“As you know, we are building a super stadium in Hyde Park that can accommodate ninety thousand people. Once that stadium is completed, we will begin the third phase of construction.”

Mark Bellingham had indeed visited many English clubs.

He could say with certainty that Bayswater Chinese’s facilities, both hardware and software, were second to none in England.

That was why the tycoon-backed team in Manchester, Manchester City, was also looking to emulate Bayswater Chinese by building their own training base and had even made several trips south to learn from them.

If the youth academy’s facilities had already left the Bellingham family in awe, the first-team area left them even more astonished.

There were all kinds of training pitches, an endless array of high-tech training equipment, and even numerous laboratories, a big data center, and more. Even the players’ rooms were decorated and maintained to the standard of a five-star hotel.

It was simply too luxurious!

No wonder the players could perform so well, training in a place like this!

Mark and Denise kept encouraging Jude Bellingham, hoping he would continue to work hard and one day play at a training center like this.

This made Bellingham wish he could grow up overnight.

After a tour of the training base, before they left, Yang Cheng had someone give the family of four souvenirs and gifts.

Jude Bellingham’s jersey was particularly special, as it bore Yang Cheng’s personal signature.

“I look forward to seeing you at the youth academy in the new season!”

Jude Bellingham nodded vigorously in agreement.

…

“Is the kid really that talented?”

When Yang Cheng saw the Bellingham family off and returned to his office, Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg were already waiting for him.

They had come over after receiving a call from Yang Cheng.

“It depends on how we develop him from here. Barring any surprises, I believe he will become a future leader for England, and even one of the brightest superstars in world football!” Yang Cheng said with a tone of absolute certainty.

This greatly surprised Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg.

Yang Cheng rarely offered evaluations of players, and this was an incredibly high praise.

“I’ll have Matt and the others keep a close eye on him,” Dan Ashworth said.

Yang Cheng gave a noncommittal response.

There were many things now that he no longer needed to worry about personally; he just had to remember them and check in from time to time.

“Let’s get back to business.”

Yang Cheng’s expression turned serious.

“I just received a call from Leighton Baines.”

“Leighton Baines?” Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg exchanged a surprised look.

“He knows that Manchester City wants to poach him, and he told me on the phone that his grandmother has always hoped he would go back to the north to play.”

Go back to the north?

That undoubtedly meant going to Manchester City.

“Isn’t the kid an Everton fan?” Mike Rigg asked, somewhat surprised.

Yang Cheng shook his head and smiled.

When a player claims to be a fan of a certain team, it’s like a film director saying, “This is the best movie I’ve ever made.”

Most of the time, it’s complete nonsense!

“This is tricky now,” Dan Ashworth said, a headache setting in.

“Based on his performance last season, Marcelo has no issues offensively, but defensively, he has significant problems.”

“If we let Leighton Baines go, our left flank’s defense could very well become our weak spot.”

Yang Cheng nodded. That was his concern as well.

In his original plan, he intended to sell Džeko, Maicon, and Yaya Touré.

But now, Leighton Baines was also being poached.

If he hadn’t called Yang Cheng, Yang Cheng would have definitely rejected Manchester City.

But making that call proved that Leighton Baines was tempted.

Yang Cheng had to admit, he couldn’t blame Leighton Baines. If it were him, he would probably be tempted too.

Why?

When Yaya Touré transferred from Bayswater Chinese to Manchester City, his weekly wage tripled.

Who wouldn’t be tempted by that?

Of course, everyone knew that the weekly wage Manchester City was offering was unreasonable.

What kind of bloody revenue did The Blue Moons have to sustain such high salaries?

Wasn’t it all thanks to the Abu Dhabi consortium propping them up from behind?

Both Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg looked at Yang Cheng, awaiting his final decision.

“Sell!”

Yang Cheng made a swift decision.

“Tell Adam Crozier to give Manchester City a price. Forty million pounds, and they can have Leighton Baines!”

Neither Dan Ashworth nor Mike Rigg was surprised.

This had always been the approach of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

You can’t force a melon to be sweet.

If a player truly wanted to leave, the club would not stand in their way.

But on one condition: Manchester City had to show enough sincerity.

And that meant the transfer fee.

A transfer fee of 40 million pounds for an England international left-back was a pretty good deal for the current Manchester City.

As for Bayswater Chinese, they weren’t lacking in homegrown players.

Especially now, with Lewandowski, Nemanja Matić, Marcelo, and Ángel Di María all considered homegrown players from the youth academy.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese had no shortage of home-grown player slots.

Not to mention, they had also signed two homegrown players this summer, Andy Carroll and Kyle Walker.

Since the decision was made to sell, the next step was to figure out how to solve the problem left behind, and that needed to be put on the agenda immediately.

Marcelo himself was not particularly reliable, but from Yang Cheng’s preference for Brazilian players over the years, everyone guessed that Marcelo would be promoted to the starting role.

But having only Marcelo on the left flank wasn’t enough.

“Give me a list of at least five players. The requirements are that they can’t be too old, their technical style must fit our club’s requirements for a full-back, and most importantly, they must be willing to compete with Marcelo for a spot.”

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg both nodded and immediately left to get to work.

Sitting in his office, Yang Cheng felt a genuine headache.

Marcelo wasn’t stable enough yet, and by poaching Leighton Baines, Manchester City had effectively dug a hole for Bayswater Chinese.

But since the player had decided to leave, there was no point in Yang Cheng forcing him to stay.

However, finding a replacement left-back after letting Baines go was indeed a difficult task.

A strong player certainly wouldn’t be willing to come.

And Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t be interested in a weaker one.

In truth, it wasn’t that Yang Cheng didn’t have a suitable candidate in mind, but he still delegated the problem to his technical team.

The main reason was his concern that Bayswater Chinese would follow the same path as Manchester United.

After Ferguson stepped down, Manchester United’s club management suffered a serious breakdown.

Wasn’t Bayswater Chinese in a similar situation now?

Just like a moment ago, weren’t Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg both waiting for Yang Cheng to make the decision?

If Yang Cheng had named a candidate, they would have immediately started making arrangements.

Wouldn’t that make it Yang Cheng’s one-man show?

When a head coach has too much authority, this is the inevitable result.

It was true for Ferguson, and Yang Cheng could not escape it either.

But he was consciously trying to train his team, to reduce the dependence of the team and management on him, and to get them more involved in the decision-making process.

That’s why they were handling the summer transfers this year.

In the future, Yang Cheng would gradually diminish his own role and hand over power to the management.

…

Once Yang Cheng made his decision, Bayswater Chinese’s negotiation team officially contacted Manchester City.

Surprisingly, the extravagantly wealthy Manchester City did not reject Bayswater Chinese’s demand of 40 million pounds but instead tried to haggle.

However, on one hand, Bayswater Chinese was reluctant to sell the player, and on the other, Manchester City genuinely wanted him.

After several rounds of back-and-forth, with Manchester City distracted by their negotiations with Real Madrid for Robben, they finally agreed to Bayswater Chinese’s demand, signing Leighton Baines for the high price of 40 million pounds.

Unlike Maicon, Leighton Baines was only twenty-four years old. He was an England international and was hailed as the next star to dominate England’s left flank after Ashley Cole.

Coupled with the halo of the season’s Sextuple and this summer’s frenzied transfer market, for Manchester City to poach this player for such a fee, while still inflated, wasn’t entirely outrageous.

However, after securing Leighton Baines, Manchester City hit a snag in their negotiations for Robben.

Since Real Madrid had already informed Robben that he had to be transferred this summer, his transfer fee could not be driven up.

Teams like Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal were only willing to offer 25 million euros.

This was, in fact, Real Madrid shooting themselves in the foot.

For no good reason, they had to force out Robben, and then they signed so many stars in one go, which meant Real Madrid now had to sell players to balance their books and control the team’s wage bill.

Moreover, Florentino Pérez was more or less trying to erase any trace of Ramón Calderón.

Under these circumstances, how could they possibly sell for a high price?

With everyone offering 25 million euros, the key came down to Robben’s own wishes.

Interestingly, the first to be eliminated was Inter Milan.

The reason was that when Robben transferred from Chelsea to Real Madrid, it was because he was unhappy with head coach Mourinho.

In this situation, how could he possibly go to Inter Milan?

Furthermore, Serie A’s defense was notoriously tight. If Robben went there, it would be difficult for him to perform.

As for Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich, Robben ultimately chose Manchester United.

It was said that Bayern’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß personally tried to persuade Robben, but Manchester United also dispatched Ferguson.

Robben had almost joined Manchester United years ago, and Ferguson had kept an eye on him all these years.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, a major reason Robben transferred to the Bundesliga was that he initially didn’t want to leave Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was also extremely hesitant about whether to keep Robben.

Therefore, the Premier League teams were slow to act.

It wasn’t until the transfer window was about to close that he was officially put on the market.

To some extent, Bayern Munich had indeed gotten a huge bargain.

Of course, Robben’s injury-proneness, combined with the 25 million euro transfer fee, also made many teams flinch.

A significant reason Manchester United was willing to sign Robben was that C. Ronaldo’s departure had left a void on their right wing.

Robben could fill that gap perfectly.

Moreover, with the Premier League competition being so fierce now, Ferguson didn’t dare to take any chances.

After all this time, Robben had unexpectedly returned to Manchester United, the club he had wanted to join back in 2004. This came as a great surprise to Yang Cheng.

Didn’t this mean that the “Robbery” partnership was broken?

And what followed, Sneijder’s transfer, shocked him even more.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Inter Milan were all very interested in Sneijder.

The transfer fee was similarly not high.

Like Robben, Sneijder was another player discarded by Real Madrid.

Fifteen million euros.

Every club could afford that price.

The key was that Sneijder himself was unwilling to leave Real Madrid.

After several contacts, Inter Milan’s head coach Mourinho personally called Sneijder to invite him to join Inter.

But unexpectedly, Chelsea’s head coach Guus Hiddink met directly with Sneijder in the Netherlands.

Compared to Inter Milan, Chelsea’s biggest disadvantage was their inability to participate in the Champions League.

But their biggest advantage was head coach Hiddink, and the fact that Chelsea played in the Premier League, which had the highest media exposure.

At the same time, the salary package offered by Chelsea was higher than Inter Milan’s.

After meeting with Hiddink, Sneijder finally nodded and agreed to join Chelsea.

Thus, The Blues successfully acquired the Dutch midfielder Sneijder for 15 million euros.

…

When Yang Cheng received the news, he was truly stunned.

His first reaction was: what will the Special One do?

They’ve all f*cking gone elsewhere, so who is going to win the Treble for Inter Milan?

Can Mourinho still win his second Champions League?

Keep in mind that for Inter Milan’s Champions League victory in 2010, while Diego Milito’s role was immense, the all-around improvement brought by Lúcio, Sneijder, and Eto’o was also crucial.

It could be said that none of Inter Milan’s signings that summer were a waste.

Every penny was spent wisely.

Now, Lúcio was at Manchester City, and Sneijder and Eto’o were at Chelsea.

Could Mourinho still pull off a Treble with last season’s squad?

No, forget the Treble, they would probably just mess around in Serie A and then get eliminated for sure in the Champions League.

His second reaction was that the Premier League was about to descend into chaos!

With the additions of Eto’o and Sneijder, Chelsea’s overall strength was enhanced.

They hadn’t spent a lot, but both players were crucial.

Eto’o was Drogba’s “hand-picked” choice, while Sneijder would significantly improve Chelsea’s midfield passing and creativity.

This had been Chelsea’s weakness for years.

The Blues’ midfield had always lacked passing and playmaking.

They finally brought in Deco, but his form had declined sharply.

Now, Sneijder filled that gap.

With Eto’o’s speed and scoring ability and Sneijder’s passing and creativity, Chelsea would be even tougher to play against in the new season.

Then there was Manchester City. Even if they missed out on Robben and Sneijder, and their pursuit of David Silva was not going smoothly, their squad was still intimidating enough.

The most outrageous part was they had Ancelotti, a coach adept at tailoring his tactics to his players.

Just thinking about the Premier League in the upcoming season made Yang Cheng’s head spin.

And after missing out on Robben and Sneijder, Manchester City turned around and signed the Argentine Beast, Carlos Tevez, from under Manchester United’s nose.

Pirlo, Yaya Touré, Leighton Baines, Lúcio, Tevez…

Every one of Manchester City’s signings this summer was a blockbuster!

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng received a transfer shortlist prepared for him by Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg.

They were all left-backs.

There were a full six players on the list, all young but having shown decent potential.

Fiorentina’s Peruvian left-back Juan Vargas from Serie A.

Deportivo La Coruña’s Brazilian left-back Filipe Luís from La Liga.

These two players were ready to make an immediate impact and were of high quality, but their transfer fees were also relatively high.

For example, Vargas transferred to Fiorentina last year for a fee as high as 12 million euros.

To poach him now would cost even more.

Filipe Luís’s transfer fee wouldn’t be cheap either, estimated at over 15 million euros.

Of course, there were also younger, cheaper options.

For example, Primeira Liga’s Benfica had a Portuguese left-back named Fábio Coentrão.

He had been consistently loaned out by Benfica to gain experience, was a regular for Portugal’s youth teams at various levels, had performed well, and could probably be signed for around five to six million euros.

There were also players from the Premier League itself.

Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs, Tottenham Hotspur’s Danny Rose, and Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand.

These three were all young, emerging English left-backs.

Yang Cheng had a deep impression of Gibbs, Rose, and Bertrand.

Gibbs, currently nineteen, was a young player being heavily promoted by Wenger and was currently Clichy’s backup.

The also nineteen-year-old Danny Rose could play any position on the left flank, from defense to attack, a versatile player.

And Ryan Bertrand was even more memorable. Born on August 5, 1989, he was also nineteen now.

This unlucky fellow’s most lasting impression was from 2012, when he made his first appearance for Chelsea in the Champions League final, and surprisingly, he played well.

In that match, Bertrand didn’t play in his most familiar left-back position but as a left-winger, in front of Ashley Cole.

Before Malouda replaced Bertrand in the 73rd minute, Chelsea had no problems and defended solidly.

But less than 10 minutes after the substitution, Bayern Munich scored.

And the most bizarre thing was that the goal came from the left flank.

At the time, many people discussed whether Bayern would have scored if Bertrand hadn’t been subbed off.

But that wasn’t even the funniest part.

The most amusing thing was that Bertrand himself had no idea he would be playing in such an important match.

So, before the Champions League final, he gave away all his tickets, not saving a single one for his parents or family.

As it turned out, not only did he make the matchday squad, but he f*cking started.

To play in the only Champions League final of his career, and win it, only to have it turn out like that, it was truly a lifelong regret!

Yang Cheng also remembered that the kid had a very good relationship with Ashley Cole. It was said that Ashley Cole thought highly of him and felt their playing styles were very similar.

Of course, amusing stories aside.

When it came to transfers, Yang Cheng was unwilling to interfere.

So, he left it directly to Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg to handle.

After more than a week of negotiations, Bayswater Chinese eventually signed Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea for 2 million pounds.

The reason was that their attempts to sign Filipe Luís, Vargas, and Coentrão had all failed. The clubs wouldn’t sell, and the players themselves were unwilling to come to Bayswater Chinese to compete with Marcelo.

Unless Yang Cheng was willing to promise them a starting position.

In the pursuit of the three young homegrown players, Arsenal’s Gibbs was the first to be rejected.

On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur’s Danny Rose was, for a time, very close to joining Bayswater Chinese.

As West London arch-rivals, Chelsea was unwilling to sell Bertrand to Bayswater Chinese.

But after the media reported Bayswater Chinese’s interest, Bertrand’s agent approached Chelsea, hoping to clarify the player’s position at the club.

Bertrand had transferred to Chelsea in 2005 from Gillingham’s youth academy, so he wasn’t exactly a homegrown Chelsea player.

Over the past few years, Bertrand had been successively loaned out to many teams: Bournemouth, Oldham Athletic, Norwich…

Now, if he stayed, he would be loaned out again.

This was unacceptable to the player, who hoped to stay.

But Chelsea obviously couldn’t accept the player’s demands, especially after signing Zhirkov, there was even less room for Bertrand in the first team.

So, after much consideration, while Bayswater Chinese was trying to persuade Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea made their decision first, quoting a price of 2 million pounds to Bayswater Chinese.

Dan Ashworth agreed immediately.

Thus, Ryan Bertrand transferred to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was actually a little surprised.

If it were up to him, he would have prioritized Coentrão, or even Osasuna’s right-back Azpilicueta from La Liga.

But in any case, Ryan Bertrand was a good signing.

This was a left-back who almost joined Manchester United in 2023. He couldn’t be bad!

Chapter 178: The “Broken Leg” Incident! Bayswater Chinese’s Evolution and Breakthrough!

Goalkeepers: Neuer and Begović;

Defenders: Pepe, José Fonte, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, Piszczek, Marcelo, Kyle Walker, and Ryan Bertrand;

Midfielders: Nemanja Matić, Javi Martínez, Modrić, Rakitić, Matuidi, and Aaron Ramsey;

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Lambert, Andy Carroll, Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, Theo Walcott, and Eden Hazard.

This was the first-team squad list for Bayswater Chinese in the new season.

Last season, the Bayswater Chinese U18 youngsters had performed well in both the English U18 league and the Youth Champions League. True to his word, Yang Cheng promoted several of the top performers to the first team.

They would temporarily join the team’s pre-season training camp, though their inclusion in the trip to the United States was still to be decided.

Among them were Harry Kane, Paul Pogba, and N’Golo Kanté.

The youngest of the group was Harry Kane.

But everyone knew the kid was a product of Bayswater Chinese’s own youth academy and was being heavily backed, so his promotion to the first team was expected.

When Yang Cheng called the three of them, they were all exceptionally excited.

Harry Kane, needless to say, was so thrilled he ran back to the training center, declaring he was going to do extra training to build up his physique and secure a spot in the first team as soon as possible.

This made Yang Cheng so angry he almost kicked him back to the U18s and told him to get lost.

The kid wasn’t even sixteen until July; what was the rush?

But his attitude was commendable.

Yang Cheng had called them up to the first team for pre-season training for two reasons. Firstly, to let them experience the first-team atmosphere and get used to the training intensity ahead of time.

Secondly, it allowed them to see up close how their exceptionally talented teammates trained and played.

It was a bit like a master-apprentice mentorship model.

But neither Harry Kane nor Paul Pogba was ready for the first team just yet.

They needed to continue playing for the U18s, or at most, get some minutes in the reserve league.

Still, every time Yang Cheng saw Harry Kane, he felt a pang of emotion.

Six years had passed in the blink of an eye.

The short, chubby little English boy from back then had grown tall and strong.

Of the players brought in when he took over the team in 2003, only Modrić and Lambert remained.

José Fonte, Matuidi, and Piszczek had arrived in the summer of 2004.

Neuer joined in January 2005.

Who would have thought that the German goalkeeping titan would now be considered a product of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy?

With the departures of Džeko, Yaya Touré, Leighton Baines, and Maicon, most of the players who helped the team win the UEFA Cup in the 2005/06 season were now gone.

Taking their places as the core of the team were the players who had joined in the summer of 2006: Lewandowski, Nemanja Matić, Ángel Di María, Marcelo, Pepe, and others.

Having coached for many years, Yang Cheng considered himself quite detached about these things.

But sometimes, when he looked back on a whim, he couldn’t help but feel a little sentimental.

Players come and go, but the club remains.

Fortunately, he had maintained a decent relationship with every player.

Whether it was Ribéry, Aaron Lennon, or others, they all kept in touch with him and the club.

Jon Stead would even pop back to visit from time to time.

Many might have forgotten, but the veteran named Steve Jenkins was now a youth coach at the Bayswater Chinese academy.

After retiring, he had approached Yang Cheng, expressing an interest in coaching.

For a player of his level, supporting his family after retirement was a genuine concern.

Yang Cheng encouraged him to take coaching courses. Jenkins worked hard, earned his coaching badges, and joined Bayswater Chinese. He was later sent on exchange programs to Barcelona in Spain and Clairefontaine in France for further development.

He was now coaching the U12 team in the youth academy.

Although Bayswater Chinese was ruthless when it came to selling players, never hesitating to drive a hard bargain, Yang Cheng believed that beneath the business-like exterior, the club had a human touch.

…

As the start of the training camp drew near, the coaching staff returned one by one.

The new season’s schedule was also officially released.

The three newly promoted teams in the Premier League this season were Burnley, Wolves, and Fulham.

This meant there would once again be three Premier League teams in West London.

However, with Fulham’s decline and Bayswater Chinese’s significant growth in recent years, the West London derby was no longer about the Cottagers.

Nowadays, when people mentioned the West London derby, they were almost exclusively talking about Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.

Of course, some Fulham fans disagreed.

They argued that since Bayswater Chinese was currently using Wembley Stadium as their home ground, which wasn’t in the core urban area but rather on the outskirts, it didn’t count as West London.

If your home ground isn’t even in West London, how can it be a derby?

After winning the Treble, Bayswater Chinese had several more matches to play than other teams in the new season.

These included the Community Shield, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Club World Cup.

As per tradition, since Bayswater Chinese had won both the Premier League and the FA Cup, their opponent in the Community Shield would be last season’s Premier League runner-up, Arsenal.

The match was scheduled for August 9th.

A week later, the Premier League would officially kick off.

Bayswater Chinese’s opening match was an away game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Starting the season with such a massive fixture was indeed a challenge.

“Looking at the schedule, there are pros and cons.”

After studying the fixture list, Brian Kidd and the others offered their assessments.

“With more and more strong teams in the Premier League, scheduling is bound to get tougher.”

“It’s practically impossible to avoid playing strong teams in succession.”

“Look, the away game against Arsenal in Matchday 9 is right after the October international break.”

“The home game against Manchester City in Matchday 11 and the match against Liverpool in Matchday 12 are scheduled right between Champions League group stage matches.”

“Not to mention the season opener away at Manchester United and the Boxing Day home game against Chelsea on Matchday 19.”

With the rise of Manchester City, there were now a full six teams in the Premier League with a genuine shot at the title.

Completely avoiding difficult runs of fixtures was simply unrealistic.

Especially when considering the impact of the Champions League and domestic cup competitions.

For a team like Bayswater Chinese, the current schedule was actually not too bad.

“Based on the schedule we have so far, the away game against Tottenham Hotspur on Matchday 4 clashes with the UEFA Super Cup.”

“Due to the World Cup in South Africa, Matchdays 16, 17, and 18 in December are all scheduled within a week, but we’ll likely be playing in the Club World Cup during that time.”

“So, Matchdays 17 and 18 will probably be postponed as well.”

“A compressed league schedule, on top of the League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League, plus the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup… the pressure on us will be immense.”

Brian Kidd’s analysis prompted the coaching staff present to take notes.

“Postponed matches have their advantages and disadvantages,” Thad Foucher, head of the sports science department, chimed in.

“We pulled away from the pack in the second half of last season thanks to two rescheduled matches, especially the one against Manchester United, which completely crushed the hopes of all the other teams.”

“However, it will also be a huge test of our players’ fitness and form.”

There were benefits, of course, but only if they could win on the pitch.

This meant that the sports science department, led by Thad Foucher, had to do everything in its power to provide logistical support.

They had to plan the players’ physical load distribution for the entire season right from the start.

Pre-season training became exceptionally important.

The advantage for Bayswater Chinese was that, through years of experience with overseas tours and the wealth of knowledge Yang Cheng brought from his previous life, the team had developed a mature system for these trips.

The team had decided last year to participate in the 2009 World Football Challenge, the predecessor to the International Champions Cup.

Only four teams were participating this year.

The biggest name was the Sextuple winners, Bayswater Chinese, along with the two Milan clubs from Serie A, and Club América from Mexico.

This alone showed the tournament’s lack of appeal.

As the main attraction, Bayswater Chinese’s three matches were scheduled for late July, to be played within eight days.

Afterward, the team would return to Europe to continue their preparations for the new season.

Before that, the club would hold a two-week training camp in London.

This approach would ensure the team could go on the US tour while also guaranteeing the effectiveness of their pre-season preparation.

Speaking of the US tour, it had been arranged last year.

But the organizational work on the American side was truly dreadful.

First was the scheduling.

Among the four teams, the three most anticipated matchups were the head-to-head clashes between Bayswater Chinese, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, which were the main draws of the entire tournament.

As it turned out, the organizers scheduled the three matches in Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts, on the East Coast, and Los Angeles, California, on the West Coast.

Since the matches were all within a week, the three teams would have to travel more than four thousand kilometers back and forth between the East and West coasts.

This was genuinely absurd.

Not to mention, the three European teams also had to play Club América at various other venues.

For instance, Bayswater Chinese’s match against Club América was scheduled at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It was a new stadium with a capacity of up to one hundred thousand people.

Bayswater Chinese would first have to go to Los Angeles on the West Coast to play Inter Milan, then fly over four thousand kilometers to Baltimore on the East Coast to play AC Milan.

Then, they would fly another two thousand-plus kilometers back to Arlington, Texas, in the southern US, to play Club América.

The situation was similar for Inter Milan and AC Milan.

What this revealed was the Americans’ unfamiliarity with the sport of football.

For a sport like football, such frequent and extensive travel was absolutely unacceptable.

Bayswater Chinese wasn’t the only one dissatisfied; Inter Milan and AC Milan also complained vociferously about the schedule.

Originally, the two Milan clubs had been cautious about a proposal from Bayswater Chinese. But after the tournament schedule was released, they immediately changed their tune, expressing strong interest.

It was simple: after dealing with the Americans, it became clear that they didn’t view European football as an equal.

The Americans, who prided themselves on their advanced sports industry, tended to see European football as backward and barbaric.

But regardless, a contract had been signed, and they had to see it through, even if it meant gritting their teeth.

On a side note, Yang Cheng wasn’t sure about the ticket sales for the other teams, but the sales for Bayswater Chinese’s three pre-season friendlies in the United States were extremely encouraging.

Except for the final match against Club América, the other two were completely sold out.

…

On the opening day of the summer training camp, the doors were, as usual, open to all fans and media reporters.

With the rise of Bayswater Chinese, the club was attracting more and more fans and journalists.

Following tradition, after the players completed their physicals, they attended a commercial event at Wembley Stadium in the afternoon.

A year ago, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had begun upgrading the team’s commercial sponsorship structure, completely redesigning the sponsor system.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese hadn’t signed a single sponsor for over a year.

At the time, many conspiracy theorists claimed that Bayswater Chinese lacked commercial appeal.

Little did they know, Bayswater Chinese was preparing to make a big move.

Taking advantage of the media gathering on the opening day, Bayswater Chinese officially announced three long-gestating sponsorship deals.

And all of them were from China.

First, the club signed a five-year sponsorship contract with a Chinese digital products company, AGZ, for a fee of five million pounds sterling per year.

Within the new commercial framework, AGZ would be Bayswater Chinese’s exclusive global partner in the digital electronics sector.

The chairman of AGZ and his senior management team attended the signing ceremony, which was broadcast globally, and presented all the Bayswater Chinese players with their latest high-end digital products.

According to the contract, AGZ would primarily sponsor a range of digital products including MP3 players, MP4 players, headphones, and cameras.

However, mobile phones were not included.

Furthermore, AGZ also became a sponsor for the sideline advertising boards at the home stadium for the next five years, at a cost of two million pounds sterling per season.

This meant that AGZ alone would contribute thirty-five million pounds sterling in revenue to Bayswater Chinese over the next five years.

At seven million pounds a year, this was higher than the shirt sponsorship of many Premier League teams!

Besides AGZ, Bayswater Chinese also secured two other sponsorships.

Uni-President Enterprises Corporation from Taiwan province of China became Bayswater Chinese’s exclusive global soft drink partner and also sponsored the sideline advertising, with an annual fee also totaling seven million pounds sterling.

Yuan Hua, an industrial equipment supplier also from Taiwan province of China, became a global partner of Bayswater Chinese, with an annual sponsorship fee of five million pounds sterling.

All three of these sponsorships were for five years.

Every media reporter at the scene was astonished.

Three major sponsorship deals, all from Asia.

Although the exact figures were not disclosed by any of the parties, the numbers reported by the media were no lower than those of top giants like Manchester United.

Now, who would dare question Bayswater Chinese’s commercial appeal?

In his speech, the club’s commercial director, Omar Berrada, stated that the club was currently in contact with several American companies and expected to formally sign contracts during the upcoming US tour.

Furthermore, with the comprehensive upgrade of the club’s commercial system, collaboration with sponsorship partners would become even closer, creating more value for both sides.

Therefore, over the next two years, Bayswater Chinese would continue to work hard and actively negotiate with existing commercial partners to achieve more comprehensive and in-depth cooperation.

To put it plainly, Bayswater Chinese was no longer the club it once was. Did the old sponsors want to renew?

They’d have to pay up!

Several sponsorship contracts signed previously, such as with Japan’s NTT, South Korea’s KT Corporation, and South Korea’s Hankook Tire, were all set to expire in 2010.

The prices had already skyrocketed across the board.

The club was actively engaging with these three companies to discuss renewals.

Of course, contacting other potential partners was not off the table either.

As long as the Bayswater Chinese brand could bring value to its partners and present commercial opportunities, there would be no shortage of collaborators.

In addition, Omar Berrada revealed that the club’s commercial department would also comprehensively upgrade its collaboration with players and agents in the commercial sphere to enhance the players’ value on a commercial level.

This was a long-planned initiative by the club.

In the past few years, Bayswater Chinese hadn’t really had the capacity to do these things for its players.

But now, as a newly risen top team in European and even world football, especially after last season’s Sextuple, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada felt the team’s brand was strong enough to empower its players.

To put it bluntly, it was about increasing the players’ commercial income.

Since the club held half of the players’ image rights from their contracts, generating income for the players also meant generating income for the club.

This was an area with huge potential.

For example, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, two homegrown players, had very high commercial value.

Aaron Ramsey, who was handsome, also sold a lot of shirts.

Now, Bayswater Chinese wanted to tap into this potential to generate revenue for both the club and the players.

In terms of shirt sales, Bayswater Chinese had been a relatively slow developer.

A major reason was the club’s lack of brand heritage.

For example, between 2005 and 2007, Manchester United and Real Madrid sold an average of 217,000 shirts each per year.

At an average price of fifty pounds per shirt for Manchester United, that translated to over ten million pounds in annual sales revenue.

But that was just sales revenue.

The current royalty percentage was between 7.5% and 15%.

Even if Manchester United got the top-tier 15%, that was only a little over two million pounds.

So, the claims that you could earn back a superstar’s transfer fee by selling shirts were all nonsense.

But that was data from around 2007.

By 2009, with the advent of the era of globalization, the growth in shirt sales for Premier League teams was incredibly rapid.

Manchester United’s shirt sales surpassed six hundred thousand in 2008 and were projected to exceed one million in 2009.

Real Madrid’s growth was slightly slower than Manchester United’s but still extremely fast.

Bayswater Chinese’s shirt sales had just surpassed one hundred thousand annually in 2007.

By 2009, they were projected to exceed four hundred thousand.

This rate of growth was already remarkably fast.

It was increasing by 100% every year.

But even so, Bayswater Chinese barely ranked in the top ten across Europe.

Giants like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool were all aiming for, or had already surpassed, the one million mark.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had analyzed this issue.

The main reason was the club’s weak foundation.

Although they were the earliest and most resolute in pursuing globalization, their weak foundation was a major handicap.

To be blunt, if sales were to suddenly jump from one hundred thousand to one million, Yang Cheng would be scared to death.

Who knows when it might suddenly plummet?

Instead, proceeding steadily and surely like this, in line with the times and achieving high-speed growth, was much better.

Of course, the fact that Bayswater Chinese had been consistently selling its star players over the past few years, lacking an attractive marquee player, was also a major problem.

Additionally, the club only signed with Puma in the summer of 2006, which was when shirt sales entered the fast lane.

All in all, Bayswater Chinese was still making up for its history.

This was a long-term process of accumulating brand prestige.

Based on the comprehensive assessment by Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others, combined with third-party market research, it was concluded that Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were currently the most suitable and commercially promising players at Bayswater Chinese.

They would be the ones the club would heavily promote next.

Over the past few years, thanks to promotion and hype from the British media, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, as the “British Twin Stars,” had already become a well-known attacking duo to fans around the world.

Especially in the UK, North America, and Asia.

This would make promoting them much more effective for Bayswater Chinese.

And by creating its own marquee stars, Bayswater Chinese’s commercial revenue would break through to a new level!

…

Based on the physical exams after the start of the summer training camp, the Bayswater Chinese players were generally quite disciplined.

Especially Hazard and Marcelo, whom Yang Cheng was paying close attention to; they were both in good shape.

At the end of the day, these two youngsters were still young and hadn’t made a name for themselves yet, so they didn’t dare to mess around.

After the team began training, Yang Cheng made a point to find time to speak with Lewandowski, Marcelo, Nemanja Matić, and Piszczek individually.

The core message was the same for each of them: “The coaching staff and I hope that you will take on greater responsibility in the new season!”

This was actually within the players’ expectations.

With the transfers of Džeko, Maicon, Leighton Baines, and Yaya Touré, it was natural for them to step up.

It would be difficult for the newly signed players to challenge their positions.

Yang Cheng also paid close attention to Andy Carroll.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the towering English center-forward had a disastrous time after joining Liverpool.

According to the player himself, the reason for his struggles was quite normal, though perhaps not something the media and fans would readily accept.

Andy Carroll said that Liverpool sold Torres to Chelsea on the last day of the winter transfer window and simultaneously signed him from Newcastle.

The young centre-forward had been in excellent form at Newcastle. He was completely unprepared psychologically when Newcastle sold him to Liverpool.

In his words, the club informed him, and that very day he traveled from Newcastle to Liverpool, into a completely unfamiliar environment.

He was not ready on any level—psychologically, mentally, or competitively.

He even had trouble accepting it.

He was young at the time, after all.

Moreover, he spent all of January and February recovering from an injury.

Why did Yang Cheng find this account credible?

Because such things were all too common.

The “flops” often talked about by the media were not necessarily lacking in ability.

The buying clubs weren’t fools; they did their scouting.

The reason players flopped was often due to a poor tactical fit, internal club conflicts, or the player’s psychological issues.

For example, Shevchenko and Torres at Chelsea were tactical problems.

Andy Carroll at Liverpool was a psychological problem.

And as club operations become increasingly professional, internal conflicts and psychological factors are often the primary causes.

Take Ángel Di María at Manchester United, for instance.

From a technical and tactical standpoint, there really wasn’t a problem.

It should have been an excellent transfer.

But due to various on- and off-field factors, the player psychologically no longer wanted to play for Manchester United.

Yang Cheng wasn’t saying that some of Di María’s extreme actions to force a transfer were right, only that for newly joined players, how the club helps them integrate is critically important.

For young players like Andy Carroll in his previous life, who join a top club for a sky-high price, the pressure they face if they fail to meet fans’ expectations is often unimaginable for ordinary people.

Similarly, players like Torres and Hazard faced much the same situation after their transfers.

In fact, the more responsible and professional a person is, the greater the pressure they often feel.

It was precisely because he understood this that Yang Cheng had established a dedicated settlement department at the club for players and employees, responsible for all logistical support in this area.

This covered everything from players’ accommodation, transportation, housing, dietary habits, and children’s schools, to even booking their flights for personal travel.

Everything had been digitized and systemized, and was accessible to Yang Cheng and the coaching staff at any time.

The club would provide all possible assistance and services to allow them to focus on training and matches without any distractions.

This time, the new signings like Andy Carroll and Kyle Walker all experienced this thoughtful service from Bayswater Chinese.

With the help of veterans like Modrić, José Fonte, and Lambert, they integrated into the team smoothly.

And Marcelo, that joker, was in a league of his own. He immediately recruited the newcomers into his indoor football team, getting them to play in the “Bayswater Chinese Cup” indoor football league.

This put Yang Cheng’s mind at ease.

The dressing room atmosphere, carefully cultivated over many years, was still pretty good.

…

Although Yang Cheng had entrusted all the club’s training matters to Brian Kidd and the coaching staff for years, he was still very busy.

For example, the completion and handover of the indoor training facility, the team’s upcoming travel arrangements and training venues in the United States, and so on.

All these things required his personal attention.

The players’ fitness and conditioning training, paradoxically, was the least of his worries.

But he was very concerned about the special training for some players.

For instance, the muscle-gaining programs for several young players.

Lewandowski had started bulking up last year, and the results were obvious.

The Polish centre-forward’s improvement over the past two seasons was very clear, taking a step up each year.

Lewandowski was a better fit for the traditional centre-forward mold, with an excellent physique, decent speed, and strong goal-scoring ability.

Compared to Džeko, Lewandowski was only 1.85 meters tall, but his average of 2.3 successful aerial duels per game proved that his ability to handle high balls was by no means inferior to Džeko’s.

But he could also run more than Džeko.

This was a disadvantage that came with Džeko’s height.

It was unrealistic to expect a player of Džeko’s 1.93-meter frame to run all over the pitch.

Lewandowski didn’t have this problem; his running distance was much greater than Džeko’s.

His speed was also faster than Džeko’s, and he was excellent at dribbling and ball control, though not as refined as Džeko.

However, since joining Bayswater Chinese, Lewandowski had focused on strengthening his centre-forward techniques, such as receiving the ball with his back to goal and turning. This was where he was better than Džeko.

In terms of athletic talent, Lewandowski was genuinely superior to Džeko.

Lewandowski had several other impressive aspects.

His pass completion rate last season was 76%, up 5 percentage points from 71% the season before.

A single statistic might not mean much to many people.

Suárez, as a technical forward, had a career-high pass completion rate of 77% in his best season.

For a centre-forward, this was truly very high.

Especially when looking at passing data over an entire season.

Of course, monsters like Messi, with pass completion rates over 80%, shouldn’t be counted among mere mortals.

Another statistic was that Lewandowski averaged 2.1 dribbles per game last season, up from 1.4 the season before.

For comparison, during Suárez’s time at Liverpool, his average dribbles per game were between 2.5 and 3.

But after transferring to Barça, it was around 1.5.

This actually reflected a very interesting phenomenon.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the turning point in Lewandowski’s career was the summer of 2014.

When he played for Borussia Dortmund, he was a very versatile and powerful centre-forward, skilled in passing, controlling, dribbling, and shooting. He also had a great work rate and covered a large area of the pitch—a comprehensive, all-around, and excellent centre-forward.

But after joining Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, he began to transition into a pure goal-scorer.

At Dortmund, he averaged 3 dribbles per game, but this plummeted to 1.4 immediately after joining Bayern, and then declined year after year.

This was not hard to understand. Guardiola’s Bayern always pressed their opponents, leaving very little space for him to dribble.

Yang Cheng was very confident that a player of Lewandowski’s age would reach another level in the new season.

When that happened, his stats would certainly look even better, and his overall performance would be a step above.

This was also why he and the coaching staff had agreed to sell Džeko.

…

When Yang Cheng arrived at the gym, apart from Džeko, many players were undergoing special physical training accompanied by coaches.

When he saw Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, he was suddenly taken aback.

The two lads were lying side by side on two adjacent training beds. One had his left leg, the other his right, wrapped in thick white bandages above and below the knee.

Did they break their legs?

It looked so serious.

Yang Cheng quickened his pace.

As he got closer, he heard a fitness coach call out, “Rest time is over! Second set, straight leg raises.”

They were training?

Yang Cheng was a bit stunned.

“Begin!”

At the fitness coach’s shout, both players began rapidly and uniformly raising and lowering their legs, raising and lowering…

The scene was particularly amusing.

No wonder they were hailed as the British Twin Stars!

“Daniel, what’s going on here?” Yang Cheng walked over and asked with a bemused look.

The fitness coach turned his head, saw it was Yang Cheng, and immediately greeted him.

“Don’t worry, their knees are fine. It’s just that some of our custom training equipment hasn’t arrived yet, so for now, we’re using bandages to restrict their knee joints to prevent them from bending during the leg raises.”

So it was a false alarm.

But the fitness coach’s explanation made Yang Cheng even more curious. “What’s the benefit of this exercise?”

“It’s mainly to train the players’ rectus femoris. This muscle helps extend the knee joint, and it’s the key muscle that provides power and control when we shoot the ball.”

Yang Cheng knew about that. “Didn’t we always do squats before?”

“Indeed. Compound exercises like squats or weighted squats involve simultaneous changes in the knee and hip joints, allowing us to train both the quadriceps and the gluteus maximus at the same time. The effect is excellent.”

“But this exercise also causes significant wear and tear on the knee joint.”

Yang Cheng had an epiphany. Knee injuries were one of the most common injuries for football players.

The human body is very peculiar; sometimes, fitness training can cause terrible damage.

This is why muscle gain for players is an extremely complex and systematic project.

Many players injure themselves while training under the direction of a fitness coach, let alone if they train blindly on their own.

But with the continuous development of technology and advances in sports science, research in this area has become more and more in-depth.

“For wingers like Bale and Walcott, their game is built on speed. Changing pace and direction is their forte, which puts a lot of strain on their ankle and knee joints.”

“So, when we plan their training, we appropriately reduce exercises like squats or weighted squats that wear down their knee and ankle joints, and add more exercises like supine straight leg raises.”

“The rectus femoris can be considered one of the key muscles for a football player. Squats make the rectus femoris contract isometrically, thereby promoting muscle growth. Supine straight leg raises can achieve the same effect, just not as efficiently as squats.”

“We still schedule squats, but less frequently. While supine straight leg raises are less efficient, we can compensate by increasing the number of repetitions and frequency, and the results are also very good.”

“Most importantly, during this exercise, there is no flexion or extension of the knee joint, nor is there any full-body weight bearing. This minimizes the wear and tear on the knee joint during training.”

“We have many exercises similar to supine straight leg raises, and we will tailor muscle-building training specifically for each player based on their technical characteristics!”

Although Yang Cheng wasn’t an expert in fitness training, he had seen a lot of it and understood immediately.

This was precisely why he had established the sports science department.

Right now, all other European clubs were still in a phase of relative blindness, relying more on experience.

This easily led to players getting injured for no apparent reason.

For example, without a targeted plan, if a player wanted to increase their shooting power and asked ten fitness coaches, nine and a half would recommend squats to train the rectus femoris.

But as the player trains, the muscle gain is good and the power increases, but the knee wears down, making them more prone to knee injuries.

What’s more troublesome is that knee injuries are very debilitating.

Although the sports science department at Bayswater Chinese couldn’t guarantee 100% prevention of training-induced injuries, they were constantly striving to reduce the negative impacts.

At that moment, Yang Cheng felt that his years of persistent investment had not been in vain!

“Keep up the good work!” Yang Cheng said, patting the young fitness coach on the shoulder encouragingly.

He wasn’t familiar with this fitness coach; he figured he must be one of the experts recently recruited from Loughborough University.

Seeing Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott lying side by side, competing to see who could finish a set of exercises faster, he was both exasperated and amused.

“You two, get your attitudes straight!” Yang Cheng walked over and said sternly.

Both of them were lying down and hadn’t seen Yang Cheng coming. Hearing his voice suddenly, they were both startled.

“No way, boss, we’re being very serious.”

“Yeah, boss, look how perfect my form is…”

Yang Cheng smiled helplessly and walked away.

Over the past years, Bayswater Chinese had invested a considerable amount, one could even say a fortune, in its training center, gym, and sports science department.

They not only recruited all kinds of talent and brought in various equipment but also had very in-depth exchanges with professionals in various fields in the UK and around the world.

All this had made Bayswater Chinese’s software and hardware technology second to none in the world of football.

Combining this with his coaching experience from his previous life, Yang Cheng estimated that Bayswater Chinese was at least five years ahead of other top clubs in this regard.

Take Manchester City, for example. Even if they talked about learning from Bayswater Chinese and were given five years, they might not be able to catch up, no matter how much they invested.

The Milan Lab was also far behind.

The main reason was that AC Milan’s investment had been shrinking in recent years, or there had been no investment at all.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had invested continuously, gradually widening the gap.

Equipment and technology could be imported, and talent could be poached. These aspects could be solved by throwing money at them.

But the most crucial thing was the entire effective operating system, and even the philosophy of the club from top to bottom.

So, when Yang Cheng said they were five years ahead, it was no exaggeration at all.

…

Bayswater Chinese trained in London for two weeks and played three pre-season friendlies.

The opponents were all small teams from around London, and the matches were arranged in coordination with the layout of the Satellite Training Centres.

They achieved a record of two wins and one draw in the three matches.

The opponents weren’t strong, and Bayswater Chinese had just gone through intensive physical conditioning, so their form wasn’t great either.

The overall performance was average.

After the third friendly, Bayswater Chinese took a short break and then boarded a flight to the United States.

Since several of the young players had performed well in training, Yang Cheng made an exception and brought them to the US.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first trip to the United States.

Despite the halo of being the season’s Sextuple winners, everyone at Bayswater Chinese couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

After all, the club was not an established giant like Manchester United or Arsenal.

But to the team’s complete surprise, when they arrived at San Francisco International Airport in California, American fans who had caught wind of their arrival had flocked to greet them.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had placed great importance on interacting with fans on the internet.

They had accounts on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, and their follower count was the highest among all sports clubs.

To this end, the club had even set up a new media department responsible for online publicity and promotional marketing.

This made Bayswater Chinese’s online presence quite formidable.

Especially in the United States.

After winning the Sextuple, this momentum quickly spread around the world, further fueling the online craze.

Bayswater Chinese flew from London to San Francisco a day ahead of schedule, rather than to Los Angeles where the first friendly was being held.

The distance between the two cities was six to seven hundred kilometers.

After arriving in San Francisco, the team checked into their hotel to rest.

The next day, accompanied by Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others, they visited Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, to tour and visit Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara.

This was the first time a football club had visited Intel’s headquarters, and they were received with a very grand reception.

According to Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, many of their company’s employees were fans of Bayswater Chinese.

“We are full of confidence in the prospects of our collaboration!”

Intel was sponsoring Bayswater Chinese for fifteen million pounds sterling over five years!

And their “Intel Inside” slogan and logo would be printed on the inside of the Bayswater Chinese jerseys.

This was actually an “idea” Yang Cheng had proposed earlier.

Unexpectedly, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada had actually managed to negotiate it with Intel.

The sponsorship fee was about the same as what Intel paid to sponsor Barça in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

The reason was that Bayswater Chinese, leveraging the broadcast reach of the entire Premier League, had a very large influence around the world, especially in Asia.

It was not even inferior to Barça’s.

Especially after last season’s Sextuple!

This time, Bayswater Chinese’s visit to Intel’s headquarters also gave Intel plenty of face.

If nothing else, the signing ceremony alone would be reported all over the world the next day.

Of course, Intel itself didn’t need to use Bayswater Chinese to promote its brand; this was just a marketing initiative from two powerhouses joining forces.

But not every sponsor received the same treatment as Intel.

After a day in San Francisco, Yang Cheng led the team south to Los Angeles.

The day after arriving in Los Angeles, after the morning training session, the team once again went out to attend a commercial event.

Bayswater Chinese officially announced that the American logistics company UPS had become its global partner.

Neither party announced the specific sponsorship amount.

But like the previous few Chinese sponsors, it was five million pounds sterling per year.

UPS also hoped to leverage Bayswater Chinese’s influence globally, especially in Asia, to continue to cultivate and explore this potential market.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the several sponsorship deals signed recently.

It wasn’t just that the sponsorship fees had increased, but more importantly, these were multinational corporations with huge brand influence of their own.

Besides Intel and UPS, when they traveled to the East Coast, they would also sign a sponsorship contract with the tech company Microsoft, also for three million pounds sterling per year.

But unlike with Intel, part of Microsoft’s sponsorship fee would be paid in products and services.

Yang Cheng hoped to use Microsoft’s platform and capabilities to further improve the club’s personnel efficiency and its system capabilities in software and data.

Microsoft was also very interested in Bayswater Chinese’s capabilities in sports data and sports science.

This was what led to the collaboration between the two parties.

Yang Cheng believed that through cooperation with famous multinational corporations like Intel and Microsoft, they could further enhance the brand value of Bayswater Chinese, and in turn, increase the club’s commercial potential.

That was why he had only asked for a three-million-pound sponsorship fee from these two companies.

Chapter 179: Champions! Goal Drought! It’s All That Incompetent Mourinho’s Fault!

On the evening of July 21st, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles.

In the second match of the World Football Challenge, Bayswater Chinese faced Inter Milan.

Just three days prior, Inter Milan had played a match at Stanford Stadium against Club América.

That game did not go well for Inter Milan; they ended in a 1-1 draw with the Mexican side.

According to the rules of the World Football Challenge, the two teams went to a penalty shootout, which Inter Milan lost.

So, when Yang Cheng saw Mourinho, the old fellow was in a foul mood, looking thoroughly displeased.

“I’ve already officially told Moratti and Branca that we’re not participating in trashy cup competitions like this anymore!”

The moment Mourinho saw Yang Cheng, his resentment shot to the heavens.

Yang Cheng found it amusing. “What’s wrong?”

“That stadium just hosted a graduation ceremony not long ago and hasn’t been properly maintained since. The turf condition was terrible. You have no idea, I almost twisted my ankle just stepping on it.”

Mourinho was surely exaggerating.

But from his resentful reaction, Yang Cheng believed the pitch conditions were indeed poor.

“Most importantly, there was practically no one there. The stadium holds over fifty thousand, but only thirty thousand showed up. Huge sections were empty. Plus, the stadium has no roof and the stands are very open, so you can imagine how awful the atmosphere was.”

Yang Cheng’s face immediately showed an expression of empathy, and he nodded. “No wonder you guys didn’t play well.”

“Tell me about it!” Mourinho immediately latched onto this excuse. “It’d be a miracle if we could play well in that kind of terrible atmosphere. They nearly drove me mad.”

“I can guarantee you, Yang, the organizers must have been unable to find a suitable stadium at the last minute, so they just threw in a university stadium to make up the numbers. That must be it!”

Yang Cheng just smiled, not bothering to argue with Mourinho over these things.

At that moment, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada were sitting in the stands with Inter Milan’s director, Branca, likely discussing the possibility of a partnership between the two sides.

In addition, David Pemsel and Richard Masters had also traveled with the team to the United States.

Their task was to investigate the American sports market in preparation for next year’s International Champions Cup.

Yes, Yang Cheng had really headhunted the top executives from The Premier League.

In a way, the more unprofessional the organizers of the World Football Challenge were, the more advantageous it was for the planning of the International Champions Cup.

“So, José, you’ve set up with three holding midfielders today, determined to win, is that right?” Yang Cheng asked with a grin.

Mourinho was speechless.

He hadn’t managed to sign the players he wanted, including Sneijder and Robben.

…

Inter Milan set up in a 4-3-2-1 formation for this match.

Yes, Mourinho was also learning from Ancelotti and using the Christmas tree formation.

Up front, Diego Milito was the lone striker.

But Inter Milan clearly had problems with their ball distribution from the midfield.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was simple: press forward right from the start.

Although the World Football Challenge contract didn’t explicitly require teams to field their strongest lineups, there were still considerable restrictions.

Furthermore, out of professional courtesy, Yang Cheng didn’t plan to play his starters for one half and his substitutes for the other.

Especially after the departure of four key players, Yang Cheng needed to integrate a new starting lineup as quickly as possible.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

From the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese completely dominated Inter Milan, launching wave after wave of attacks.

However, the Bayswater Chinese players had not yet settled into the match’s state and rhythm, leading to low efficiency and numerous passing errors.

The three forwards, in particular, missed several good opportunities.

But there was one very positive aspect.

With Robert Lewandowski replacing Džeko, and with Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott alongside him, they could apply much more pressure on the opponent’s defense.

These players were all strong runners with great attacking drive.

It wasn’t until the 13th minute, from a throw-in opportunity, that Marcelo threw the ball directly to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman, with his back to the goal, used his body to shield the ball from Inter Milan’s young right-back, Santon, and passed it to Rakitić.

The Croatian midfielder unleashed a shot from over 20 meters out, breaking through Inter Milan’s goal.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack relentlessly.

Inter Milan, on the other hand, adopted a defensive counter-attack formation.

But Yang Cheng could see the problem with Mourinho’s team.

They had defense, but no counter-attack.

They mostly had to rely on long balls.

In the second half, Mourinho changed his tactics, switching to a 4-3-3.

The front three were now Amantino Mancini, Diego Milito, and Mario Balotelli.

This gave Inter Milan’s counter-attacks a bit more threat, but not much.

It was only at this moment that Yang Cheng understood why Inter Milan had been held to a draw by Club América.

With a lineup like this, they would struggle in the new season’s Champions League!

Since the match was largely under Bayswater Chinese’s control, Yang Cheng began making substitutions from the second half onwards.

He made two changes at halftime, two more at the 60-minute mark, and another five consecutively between the 70th and 80th minutes.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Inter Milan.

After the match ended, the first thing Yang Cheng said to Mourinho was: “You should have gone all-out with Chelsea and signed Sneijder!”

“I did my best!” Mourinho got angry just thinking about it.

These days, there were far too few elite midfielders in Europe.

“He didn’t want to come to Serie A, what could I do?” The more Mourinho thought about it, the angrier he became.

In the current European football landscape, Serie A could only really compete with the Bundesliga for players.

No, they might not even be able to win players over from the Bundesliga.

Look at the past few years, didn’t Luca Toni, Barzagli, and others all go to the Bundesliga?

Serie A was like a retirement home.

“That’s because you didn’t throw enough money at him. If it were me, I’d fly straight to Madrid, take bundles of euros, and knock Sneijder out on the spot, then carry him back to Milan first and talk later!”

This made Mourinho even more furious. “You’re so badass, you’re amazing. If you’re so capable, why don’t you go sign someone for me to see?”

Yang Cheng brazenly spread his hands with a smile. “I’m not short on midfielders.”

Mourinho nearly coughed up blood on the spot.

Then what the hell are you talking to me for?

Yang Cheng genuinely hoped Inter Milan would knock Sneijder out with cash, because him going to Chelsea would be a greater threat to Bayswater Chinese.

It was all this incompetent Mourinho’s fault!

…

After playing their first challenge match in Los Angeles, Bayswater Chinese flew collectively to the East Coast of the United States, arriving in Baltimore.

The day after their arrival, the team participated in a commercial event: the signing ceremony between the club and Microsoft.

Then, on the evening of July 24th, they faced their second match, with AC Milan as the opponent.

The Rossoneri arrived in the United States at the same time as Bayswater Chinese, and they had lost their opening match 2-1 to Club América.

Leonardo’s team was clearly not well-integrated yet.

Having lost Kaká in 2008 and Pirlo in 2009, AC Milan’s entire squad was performing poorly.

Their midfield organization also had serious problems.

More importantly, the team was aging significantly.

Under these circumstances, AC Milan insisted on using a 4-3-3 formation to go all-out against Bayswater Chinese.

As a result, just seven minutes into the game, a direct pass from Thiago Silva near the center circle precisely split AC Milan’s defense, landing at the feet of Robert Lewandowski at the arc of the penalty area.

After controlling the ball and turning, the Polish centre-forward unleashed a thunderous shot that blasted into the top-left corner of AC Milan’s goal.

And at the very beginning of the second half, it was Bayswater Chinese on the attack again.

After advancing with the ball, Modrić delivered a through ball.

Lewandowski played a direct pass from the center into the right side of the penalty area, where Walcott made an overlapping run, received the ball, and fired a low shot, once again breaking through AC Milan’s goal.

2-0!

In the 56th minute, Walcott received the ball at the halfway line, turned to shake off Flamini, then suddenly accelerated, counter-attacking at high speed. He was brought down from behind by a closely pursuing Zambrotta.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a free kick from 28 meters out, in the right half-space.

Gareth Bale coolly took the kick, sending a magnificent dipping free kick through AC Milan’s goal.

3-0!

It wasn’t until the 78th minute of the second half that AC Milan managed to score, when Ronaldinho received the ball in the attacking half and laid it back for Pato.

The Brazilian youngster broke into the penalty area and scored.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated AC Milan 3-1, securing two consecutive wins in their pre-season friendlies!

…

The first two challenge matches were held in Los Angeles and Baltimore, respectively.

The first match at the Rose Bowl attracted a full house of ninety-three thousand people.

The second match, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, drew a total of seventy-one thousand two hundred people.

Both were sell-outs.

The third match moved to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and once again attracted seventy-seven thousand three hundred people.

Although the attendance rate wasn’t high in this new one hundred thousand-seat stadium, it was still impressive enough.

Because the opponent for this match was Club América.

Inter Milan’s match against Club América had only attracted thirty thousand fans.

AC Milan’s match against Club América had only drawn forty-eight thousand fans.

But Bayswater Chinese drew a total of seventy-seven thousand three hundred.

Before the match, Yang Cheng met with Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, David Pemsel, and Richard Masters, and they talked about these figures.

“It’s obvious that American fans love to see clashes between top European teams, especially duels between European giants. But the decline of Serie A is also a fact!”

Yang Cheng had obtained the latest set of data.

At Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the match between AC Milan and Inter Milan had only attracted 42,500 fans.

Was it because the stadium’s capacity was that small?

Not at all.

Gillette Stadium’s capacity was 68,756.

The reason for the Milan derby’s lack of appeal was simple: Serie A had declined.

Even giants like the two Milan clubs had little appeal in North America.

American fans now preferred to watch the Premier League giants, or La Liga’s top two, Real Madrid and Barça.

Of course, a match between a Serie A team and a team from another league might still have some appeal.

But when it came to a clash between two Serie A teams, American fans had voted with their feet.

Even Bayswater Chinese versus Club América could attract over seventy thousand people, while the Milan Derby only got just over forty thousand.

That was the difference!

“So, what I mean is, if the three Serie A teams continue to dither and hesitate, we’ll just stop considering them. We’ll announce the formation of the tournament directly, and if we need them in the future, we can invite them then!” Yang Cheng made a decisive call.

This trip to the United States had thoroughly shown him the weakness of the Serie A teams.

If they hesitated any longer, we wouldn’t wait for them!

To put it bluntly, Real Madrid and Barça were the top dogs, so it was understandable to be polite and courteous to them.

But if the Serie A teams still wanted to put on airs, then they could get lost!

“During this US trip, I also visited many friends, colleagues, and people in the media industry. I gained a lot.”

David Pemsel took over the conversation from Yang Cheng, sharing some of his own thoughts.

“When we are preparing, we need to establish a set of procedures, especially when signing contracts with stadiums. The terms must be clear and specific, and we must conduct spot checks to ensure the venues meet the required standards for hosting matches.”

“Additionally, I suggest that if we have twelve teams competing, we should divide them into three regions: the East Coast, the West Coast, and Asia. This will centralize the matches as much as possible and prevent teams from traveling back and forth like this.”

“Judging from the six matches so far, I believe the International Champions Cup has great potential.”

“I’ve done a rough calculation. Let’s not ask for too much. Using the average ticket price from the Bayswater Chinese and Milan club matches as a reference, let’s say one hundred US dollars. A conservative estimate of sixty thousand fans per game would be six million US dollars, which is four million euros.”

“We give each team an appearance fee of 1.5 to two million euros. After deducting various other expenses, such as stadium rental and security, and adding broadcast fees, sponsorship fees, and so on, we should basically be able to cover the costs.”

“Not to mention, we can develop other additional revenue streams like training ground tours.”

“This is just the beginning. Once the tournament matures, broadcast fees and sponsorship fees will skyrocket.”

By David Pemsel’s calculation, this business was definitely worth doing!

In North America, an average ticket price of one hundred US dollars for a clash between European giants was not cheap.

But American fans were more than willing to pay.

The average ticket price for Bayswater Chinese’s matches against the Milan clubs exceeded this amount, nearing one hundred and twenty US dollars.

The match against Club América wasn’t that high.

Yang Cheng wasn’t stupid; he could do a simple calculation himself and know that this was a business with enormous potential.

The prerequisite was that he had to be able to build this platform.

Most importantly, he needed to be able to invite these European giants. That was the key!

That was why Yang Cheng wanted to cooperate with the European giants, even offering them a share of the profits, hoping to bind them tightly to his side.

Frankly, for cup competitions like this, the support of the giants was paramount.

As long as Yang Cheng could rally these eleven giants to his cause, the World Football Challenge couldn’t possibly continue.

At that point, the International Champions Cup would be able to monopolize the entire summer market.

“You guys need to get started on the preparations quickly. We must be fast!”

David Pemsel and Richard Masters both nodded.

Both had backgrounds in marketing and significant resources in areas like television broadcasting. Furthermore, European football had no shortage of talent, teams, and supporting companies for event organization.

A year was more than enough time.

“I’ve spoken with Inter’s Branca and AC Milan’s Galliani. They both seem very interested.”

Adam Crozier was also full of confidence in this tournament.

“As soon as I get back, I’ll contact the other clubs to facilitate this cooperation as soon as possible!”

Yang Cheng nodded.

He had also asked Xia Qing in Europe to commission a third-party company to conduct market research on the North American football market and produce a report as quickly as possible.

No matter what, this tournament had to be launched next summer.

As long as the International Champions Cup could make a successful debut, there would be no need for the World Football Challenge to continue.

…

In their final challenge match in the United States, Bayswater Chinese fielded a rotated lineup and cleanly defeated Club América 2-0, ending the inaugural World Football Challenge with a perfect record.

It was only after Yang Cheng returned to Europe and received the market research report from the third-party company from Xia Qing that he further discovered some interesting phenomena about this cup competition.

For example, the appearance fee for Bayswater Chinese was currently two million euros, or three million US dollars.

The highest among the four teams.

They played three matches and earned a total of six million euros.

AC Milan and Inter Milan’s appearance fees were only 1.5 million euros, approximately 2.25 million US dollars.

Club América was even cheaper; it was said their appearance fee per match was less than one million US dollars.

Calculated this way, the total appearance fees for the four teams would be 25.5 million US dollars.

Adding in the costs of round-trip airfare, travel, accommodation, training, and a series of other expenses, the total expenditure on the teams would be around thirty million US dollars.

The four teams played a total of six matches, with a total attendance of 363,000.

With an average ticket price of one hundred US dollars, that’s 36.3 million US dollars.

After covering the costs spent on the teams, and adding other income from broadcasting rights and sponsorships, there would be no problem covering miscellaneous expenses like stadium rental, promotion, etc.

It was the first time holding the tournament, and half of the matches featured a less attractive team like Club América.

Even so, the revenue could still cover the costs.

This was already very impressive.

According to the investigation, this year’s broadcast fees were practically given away, as it was still in the market promotion phase.

By this calculation, this type of cup competition was definitely a huge money-maker.

The third-party company’s report also showed that the most important factor was the timing.

In the period from mid-July to early August, the entire world of football, and even the broader sports world, was in a vacuum.

But this was precisely when fans had the most free time.

That’s why the World Football Challenge created such a buzz in the United States.

Yang Cheng immediately called Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, David Pemsel, and Richard Masters for a meeting and distributed the report for them to study.

This was a huge piece of prime steak, just sitting there for the taking.

But there were challenges as well.

The report pointed out that holding the competition in the US wasn’t a big issue, as the sports market and industry were very mature.

The key was testing the organizer’s preparatory work and whether they could attract Europe’s top giants.

Yang Cheng was very confident about this.

The real challenge lay in the Asian region.

Asia’s football market was still very immature, and the industry was incomplete.

This would require more time and effort.

Yang Cheng remembered how in his previous life, when the International Champions Cup came to China, it ended up being a complete mess.

The main reason was the US-based RS Company’s agent in China, LeSports.

In order to expand its territory quickly, RS Company did not strictly vet its partners but blindly authorized agents, handing over all event preparation work to the inexperienced LeSports.

The Americans took a hefty agency fee, but LeSports made a mess of things domestically, and the clubs were full of complaints.

So Yang Cheng’s approach was not to seek rapid expansion, but to be professional!

Proceed steadily and surely, with a long-term perspective!

For example, Japan hosted the Club World Cup every year and had more experience in organizing events.

There were also places like Seoul in South Korea.

Several major cities in China also had the capability to host events.

Therefore, the Asian region didn’t need to be confined to China but should be viewed across the entire Asian continent.

“From this first International Champions Cup, the American organizers clearly lack experience, which is evident from their sponsor recruitment alone.”

David Pemsel also pointed out the problems he had observed during his US trip.

“That’s right. I heard from friends in the industry that they only started recruiting sponsors in March 2009. But generally, all major corporations finalize their sponsorship budgets for the following year by December of the previous year.”

Richard Masters was very experienced in this area.

“Under these circumstances, it’s very difficult for them to attract high-quality sponsors. Even if a company is interested in the event, they can’t come up with such a large sum of money for sponsorship; the budget has already been locked in.”

“So, this time we need to prepare and recruit sponsors simultaneously, aiming to finalize the entire event before December, especially the sponsorships. Otherwise, recruitment will be a major headache.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Experience, or the lack thereof, could be seen from a series of details.

“Nowadays, event rights are becoming more and more important, which is why rights for competitions like the Premier League and the Champions League are selling for increasingly higher prices.”

“But in the entire sports industry chain, rights are always in the middle. Further up the chain are the event resources themselves,” David Pemsel analyzed.

“Event resources compared to rights are like the relationship between a landlord and a tenant. There are only so many properties in a good location, but more and more people want to rent them, so the rent naturally gets more and more expensive.”

“Therefore, we should seize this opportunity to capture this valuable event resource!”

“One more thing,” Richard Masters added. “The support of local governments is also crucial. Government subsidies can be a significant source of income, and this is something we must pay close attention to.”

As Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier listened to the two of them talk so eloquently, they realized that they already had a clear and complete framework in mind.

Moreover, both were very experienced and were master marketers.

Richard Masters excelled in event preparation and had extensive resources in the football world.

David Pemsel had worked in the media industry for many years and had numerous resources in both traditional and new media.

With the two of them joining forces, Yang Cheng and the others felt very reassured.

“Then let’s get it done quickly. Come up with a complete plan as soon as possible, then negotiate with the various clubs. Early September is the national team training period, so invite all the clubs over for a meeting and finalize the plan directly!” Yang Cheng made an immediate decision.

Since the golden window for recruiting sponsors was before December, they had to be fast.

Time is money!

…

After returning to London from the United States, Bayswater Chinese hosted their last pre-season friendly of the season at Wembley Stadium.

They faced Valencia at home.

Unlike La Liga, which wouldn’t start until the end of August, the Premier League started early, especially with the Community Shield.

While Bayswater Chinese had already played a round of friendlies and were nearing peak condition, Valencia was still in the adjustment phase, so the match was lopsided from the start.

Both teams adopted the approach of fielding a different lineup for each half.

And the game was played quite openly.

From the kick-off, both teams engaged in an end-to-end game.

It wasn’t until the 21st minute that Robert Lewandowski delivered a wonderful pass, and Theo Walcott, getting to the ball before Valencia’s goalkeeper César, sent a chip shot into the net of The Bats.

But just five minutes later, Valencia responded in kind.

Baraja distributed the ball, and Joaquín on the right played a cut-back pass for Juan Mata to score past Neuer.

After that, both sides continued to play an open style, but neither could score again.

After the break, Valencia changed ten players, leaving only goalkeeper César on the field, while Bayswater Chinese swapped out all eleven.

Under these circumstances, bench depth became the decisive factor.

First, a cross from Ángel Di María on the right led to a header from Andy Carroll that found the back of Valencia’s net.

Later, it was Di María again, dribbling down the right flank. Andy Carroll drew the defenders’ attention up front, and Matuidi followed up with a long shot that flew into Valencia’s goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Valencia 3-1 at home.

In the last ten minutes of the match, Yang Cheng brought on two players, Kanté and Pogba.

Harry Kane?

The kid was still too young; he didn’t even make the squad list.

After the Valencia match, Yang Cheng and the team closed their doors to prepare actively for the new season.

The first match was the Community Shield, against last season’s runner-up, Arsenal!

Although Bayswater Chinese had performed quite well in the pre-season, Yang Cheng was still not completely satisfied.

His main concern was the team’s defense.

According to Yang Cheng’s original plan, Leighton Baines was definitely supposed to stay.

But unexpectedly, the Englishman chose to join Manchester City.

Now, promoting Marcelo and Piszczek as full-backs at the same time carried some risks.

Especially on Marcelo’s side.

For instance, in the match against Valencia, Joaquín broke through on Marcelo’s flank before making the cut-back pass that created the goal.

This exposed a defensive problem for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had actually considered replacing Rakitić with Matuidi.

This way, the Frenchman could provide better defensive cover on the left flank.

But doing so would affect the team’s midfield.

So, no matter what, Yang Cheng’s first choice was still Rakitić.

Whether it would work or not could only be known after testing it in a real-stakes match.

…

On the afternoon of August 9th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Community Shield, Bayswater Chinese versus Arsenal.

In their pre-match promotion, Sky Sports declared, “This is a pinnacle showdown between the two most stylish teams in the Premier League!”

Both Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal focused on passing and movement, featuring technical midfielders.

This meant both teams’ main objective was to fight for possession while trying to disrupt the other’s possession and rhythm.

Whichever team lost the ball would be led by the nose by their opponent.

So both teams played proactively and showcased their respective styles. The tempo was fast, many attacking chances were created, and the match was exciting from the very first minute.

Arsenal, departing from their usual 4-4-2, adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Gallas, Koscielny, and Sagna;

Midfield: Gourcuff and Alexandre Song formed a double pivot, with Arshavin, Fàbregas, and van Persie in front of them;

Forward: Benzema.

It was nominally a 4-2-3-1, but in reality, Arsenal’s formation was very fluid.

After a season of integration, Gourcuff’s position was now more like a deep-lying playmaker.

This, in turn, liberated Fàbregas further up the pitch.

Van Persie and Arshavin were on the wings, but they tended to make more diagonal runs into the box.

Benzema took on the role of the centre-forward, continuing to play the scapegoat.

This was the starting lineup Wenger had honed for Arsenal last season.

The signings of Vermaelen, Toulalan, and Chygrynskiy this summer were more to strengthen the team’s bench depth and build for the future.

Gallas was already thirty-two years old.

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, stuck with a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić holding, with Rakitić and Modrić in front;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

At the start of the match, on Bayswater Chinese’s right flank, Piszczek pushed forward and then suddenly made a diagonal run into the half-space. He received a pass from Modrić and blazed down the right, beating two defenders, Gourcuff and Clichy, before crossing from the right side of the box.

But Robert Lewandowski in the center couldn’t get there in time, and the ball was headed out of the box by Gallas.

Piszczek’s rapid advance on the right was incredibly fast, catching Arsenal off guard.

But The Gunners quickly responded.

Benzema dropped back into the 30-meter zone to receive the ball. Despite being tightly marked by Pepe, he controlled it, turned, and still managed to play a diagonal pass.

Van Persie made a quick diagonal run, getting ahead of Thiago Silva, controlling the ball with his right foot towards the center. He then cut inside horizontally and unleashed a shot with his left foot.

The Dutchman’s entire shooting motion was very graceful and fluid.

And the angle of the shot was very tricky.

Fortunately, Neuer reacted with lightning speed, diving to his side to parry the ball away.

Bayswater Chinese were no pushovers either.

Just four minutes later, Matić made a quick overlapping run and took a long shot from outside the box, forcing Lloris into a flying save and earning Bayswater Chinese a corner kick.

Unfortunately, the corner did not result in a threat.

Both teams played very aggressively and were anything but conservative.

Yang Cheng intended to use Arsenal to assess his team.

The Gunners also hoped to use Bayswater Chinese to evaluate their own squad.

Wenger’s team had great ambitions for the season.

In the 15th minute, Bayswater Chinese missed a golden opportunity in front of goal.

From an offensive move, Gareth Bale suddenly dropped back, pulling Kolo Touré out of position, allowing Marcelo to make a quick forward run.

Rakitić chipped a pass over the top, precisely sending the ball to the left side of the penalty area.

The Brazilian darted forward, brought the ball down with a touch, and, before Gallas could intervene, went to the byline and sent a low cross in front of goal.

Lewandowski, under pressure from Koscielny, ran in for a tap-in but somehow sent the ball high.

A shot from point-blank range!

Yang Cheng was a bit speechless.

“The pressure is getting to him.”

Yang Cheng walked back to the dugout and said to Brian Kidd.

Brian Kidd had been a forward himself; he understood this situation all too well.

That ball was inside the six-yard box. With a simple side-foot push, to put it bluntly, it was harder to miss than to score.

But Lewandowski had managed to sky it.

Anyone else might have thought the lad’s finishing was poor.

But everyone at Bayswater Chinese knew that Lewandowski’s scoring instinct was genuinely excellent, and his finishing was definitely not a problem.

That left only one explanation: pressure!

The more you want to score, the greater the pressure.

This is usually how a forward’s goal drought begins.

However, this back-and-forth, end-to-end battle between the two teams only lasted for twenty-three minutes.

Modrić dropped back to receive a pass from Pepe, turned to shake off Fàbregas, took a couple of steps forward, and then suddenly played a through ball.

It was a low, driven pass.

The ball was like a scalpel, traveling from Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter zone directly to the right side of the center circle.

Lewandowski, shielding the ball from Gallas with his back to goal, intuitively let the ball run past him the moment Modrić passed it, turning to sprint forward instead of receiving it.

Gallas tried to intercept the pass but missed, tripping Lewandowski slightly in the process.

The Polish centre-forward stumbled but quickly regained his balance and continued his charge.

Lewandowski caught up with the ball and dribbled forward at full speed.

Arsenal’s Clichy, Gallas, and Alexandre Song were all chasing behind him.

Only Koscielny stood in his path.

Just as Lewandowski entered Arsenal’s thirty-meter zone, he sent a diagonal pass with his right foot.

The ball traveled behind Koscielny, diagonally to the left side of the penalty arc.

Gareth Bale, in his red jersey, was like a flash of lightning. He quickly shook off Sagna, caught up to Lewandowski’s pass, took a touch into the box, and, before Gallas could close him down, fired a low shot with his left foot.

The ball shot in a straight line, drilling into Arsenal’s goal at high speed.

1-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with cheers from the Bayswater Chinese fans!

Gareth Bale was so thrilled that he ran off the pitch to celebrate on the sidelines.

His shot was as powerful and forceful as ever, the ball traveling incredibly fast, clean and decisive.

…

After Bayswater Chinese took the lead, they looked to press their advantage and finish off Arsenal in one fell swoop.

But The Gunners were not discouraged.

Although they were gradually losing the midfield battle, The Gunners remained resilient.

It wasn’t until the 39th minute of the first half that a series of crisp passes by The Gunners finally created an opportunity.

With Clichy’s forward run drawing Piszczek away, Arshavin suddenly appeared in the half-space. He received a pass from Gourcuff, controlled it, turned, and just before Pepe could close him down, from about 20 meters out, he struck a curling shot with his right foot.

The ball traveled at high speed, tracing a beautiful arc before nestling into the top-left corner of Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Neuer could do little against such a worldie.

1-1!

The two sides were level!

Just before halftime, Bayswater Chinese actually created another excellent chance.

Marcelo overlapped on the left and played a horizontal pass from the half-space.

Modrić controlled the ball, dummied past Gourcuff, and then passed it to Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward made a diagonal run from the right of the arc to the left of the penalty spot. As he received the ball, he smoothly bypassed Koscielny and took a power shot with his left foot.

However, the shot was too central and Lloris caught it securely.

Lewandowski’s finishing efficiency was indeed a bit low tonight!

Subsequently, in the dying moments of the first half, Bayswater Chinese launched a ferocious assault on Arsenal’s goal.

First, Walcott sent in a cross from the right. Lewandowski flicked it on with a header, and an overlapping Modrić hit a volley that was parried by Lloris.

Then, an advancing Rakitić tried a chip shot, aiming for the goal over the keeper.

But Koscielny, behind the grounded Lloris, headed the ball clear near the goal line.

Gareth Bale followed up with another powerful left-footed shot, but it was blocked by a defender.

The relentless attacks left Arsenal’s goalmouth in a state of panic.

After the break, it was another cross from Walcott on the right. Lewandowski controlled the ball on the edge of the six-yard box, turned, and shot.

The ball was once again pushed behind for a corner by Lloris.

Modrić took the corner, sending it precisely to the near post of the six-yard box. Pepe leaped high and powered a header, smashing the ball into Arsenal’s goal.

2-1!

This made Wenger, on the sidelines, scrunch up his entire face.

“Yaya Touré leaves, and this Pepe starts scoring!” Wenger’s face soured as if he had just eaten an unripe orange.

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack still has some problems. Judging from this match, I’m afraid Lewandowski might not be able to replace Džeko,” Pat Rice analyzed.

Wenger was noncommittal. “Being a substitute and being a starter are two completely different situations. He’s under a lot of pressure right now.”

After a pause, Wenger turned to look at Yang Cheng in the opposite dugout.

“However, that kid Yang Cheng is very methodical. He never fights a battle he’s not confident of winning. Daring to sell Džeko must mean he believes in Lewandowski.”

Last season in the Premier League, Lewandowski scored fifteen goals, a very impressive performance.

But that was as Džeko’s backup.

The most typical example was Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper, Michael Rensing.

The designated successor to The Lion King, handpicked by Bayern’s board and Oliver Kahn himself, how well did he perform when Kahn was around?

When Kahn retired and he had to take the lead, he was full of errors.

Ultimately, Kahn was like a great tree, sheltering Rensing.

When that great tree was gone, and Rensing had to face the media and shoulder all the pressure alone, he couldn’t handle it.

Lewandowski was in a similar situation now.

So were Matić, Marcelo, Piszczek, and others.

The more outstanding Džeko, Yaya Touré, Leighton Baines, and Maicon had been, the greater the pressure on their successors.

Combined with the fans’ expectations and the media’s scrutiny, all these factors made the succession process fraught with uncertainty.

And now, Bayswater Chinese were the holders of the Sextuple!

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored their second goal, Arsenal once again launched an offensive.

The two teams, renowned in European football for their stylish play, engaged in another end-to-end battle at Wembley Stadium.

Benzema had a shot that hit the post.

On one counter-attack for Bayswater Chinese, Walcott broke through, bursting into the box for a one-on-one, but was tripped by the onrushing Lloris.

However, the head referee didn’t award a penalty. Instead, he gave Walcott a yellow card, judging that The Little Tiger had been diving.

This decision immediately angered the Bayswater Chinese players, who surrounded the referee to demand an explanation.

Unfortunately, there was no video assistant referee back then, so there was no way to argue.

Neither Wenger nor Yang Cheng took the Community Shield too seriously.

Therefore, even though his team was trailing, The Gunners’ manager still brought on Toulalan for Gourcuff in the 61st minute.

This move was intended to strengthen the midfield’s interception and intensity, putting more pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng quickly made an adjustment as well, bringing on Matuidi for Rakitić.

Later, Yang Cheng successively brought on Eden Hazard, Aaron Ramsey, and Kyle Walker.

The Gunners also made continuous substitutions.

Yang Cheng kept Lewandowski on the pitch, hoping the Polish centre-forward could seize an opportunity.

And just in the 89th minute, after a series of dribbles, Eden Hazard played a through ball.

Lewandowski broke into the box near the penalty spot and slotted the ball past Lloris.

However, the linesman raised his flag, signaling that Lewandowski was offside.

This time, it was not a wrong call.

The slow-motion replay showed that at the moment Hazard passed the ball, Lewandowski was in an offside position.

The Pole was too eager to score and had made his run too early.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese narrowly defeated Arsenal 2-1 to win the Community Shield.

“In your current state, going to Old Trafford will be somewhat dangerous.”

After the match, when Wenger saw Yang Cheng, he showed no disappointment from the loss. Instead, he was smiling quite happily.

Yang Cheng felt that the old fox had seen Bayswater Chinese’s weaknesses.

These were the side effects of selling players in the summer.

And selling four players in one go, at that.

Džeko and Yaya Touré were both players on the team’s spine.

How could it possibly not have an impact?

“I’ve watched Manchester United’s pre-season games. After Ferguson bought De Rossi, their midfield has improved a lot, plus they have Robben…”

After a pause, Wenger looked at Yang Cheng with a grave expression and said, “You guys… you’re just too young.”

Yang Cheng scoffed twice, looking down on Wenger’s upstart attitude.

Speaking of being young, wasn’t Arsenal’s squad young before Usmanov’s investment?

Wenger’s approach was even more extreme than Yang Cheng’s, buying a bunch of eighteen-year-old youngsters to play as starters in the Premier League.

Oh, so now that you have money, you’re starting to show off?

“Young or not, it doesn’t matter. Being able to beat you is what matters most!” Yang Cheng retorted.

But Wenger’s “reminder” also touched upon a concern he had been harboring.

Manchester United had lost C. Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, but their overall competitiveness was actually stronger than last season.

Because De Rossi had filled Manchester United’s biggest gap!

Chapter 180: Consecutive Routs! The Sudden Rise of Drogba’s Successor

On the afternoon of August 16th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

In the first round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese challenged Manchester United in an away game.

This match at Old Trafford was Manchester United’s new season debut.

Ferguson deployed his strongest possible lineup for this battle.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Wes Brown;

Midfield: Carrick, De Rossi, and Fletcher;

Forwards: Rooney, Berbatov, and Robben.

Ferguson’s formation was decidedly cautious.

The midfield was focused on suppression and disruption, aiming to break up the Bayswater Chinese’s passing game and rhythm.

The attack was built around swift counter-attacks.

From the very beginning, the Bayswater Chinese seized the initiative and continuously created chances.

In contrast, Manchester United, the home side, didn’t manage their first shot of the match until the 14th minute.

With a powerful midfielder like De Rossi anchoring the team, Ferguson was clearly playing more boldly.

On the left flank, Evra played more aggressively, pushing forward like a winger during counter-attacks.

In the 34th minute, it was Evra’s high-speed burst down the left that led to a cross into the center.

Berbatov’s header was saved by Neuer, but Rooney pounced on the rebound and scored from close range.

After that, the Bayswater Chinese intensified their attacks.

Robert Lewandowski, however, was kept in check by the combined efforts of Vidić and Ferdinand and had a rather average performance.

Then, in the second half, Robben received the ball on the right, shook off Marcelo, cut inside and shot. The ball hit the post and rebounded back into the penalty area.

Berbatov’s first follow-up shot was blocked by Pepe’s sliding tackle.

The Bulgarian centre-forward made no mistake with his second attempt, sending the ball into the net.

Now two goals down, the Bayswater Chinese pushed forward relentlessly.

In the 78th minute, Marcelo played a through ball down the left flank. Gareth Bale used his pace to surge past his defender into the left channel of the penalty area and fired a left-footed power shot past Manchester United’s keeper.

1-2!

Yang Cheng began making substitutions, and the team ramped up their offensive pressure.

In the 91st minute, Ángel Di María cut inside from the right and delivered a clinical through ball.

Robert Lewandowski made an overlapping run, received the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and found himself one-on-one with the keeper.

But his final shot was poorly executed and saved by Van der Sar, who pushed it out for a corner.

The subsequent corner kick also failed to breach Manchester United’s goal.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese returned home with regret, having been defeated at Old Trafford.

The moment head referee Lee Mason blew the final whistle, Ferguson, standing in front of the home team’s technical area, had an old face that crinkled into a smile.

That red nose of his was particularly irksome.

2-1!

As is international custom, the home team’s score is listed first.

Manchester United had finally beaten the Bayswater Chinese at home!

As soon as the match ended, Ferguson laughed heartily and walked towards the visitors’ technical area, heading straight for Yang Cheng.

“Just like I said before the match, we need to be more efficient in picking up points in clashes between top teams. See…”

Ferguson spread his hands, a smug grin on his face.

“I’m telling you, selling Džeko will be your biggest mistake!”

Yang Cheng looked at Ferguson with disdain and replied coolly, “After losing so many times and giving up so many titles, you win one little game, and look how happy you are.”

“Manchester United has really fallen on hard times!”

This single sentence rendered the previously cheerful Ferguson speechless.

And wasn’t it the truth?

“It’s fine, you can keep being sour. All the titles we lost last season, we’re winning them all back this season!” Ferguson boasted with supreme confidence.

Those words sounded familiar!

“Wait until you’ve actually won them before you talk!”

After saying this, Yang Cheng deliberately muttered loud enough for him to hear, “I really can’t stand guys who just boast all day!”

Ferguson could tell Yang Cheng was in a foul mood from losing and didn’t argue with him.

“By the way, I’ll buy you a drink after the press conference.”

“No time!”

With that, Yang Cheng turned and walked away.

Ferguson was left standing there, chuckling as he watched Yang Cheng’s retreating back.

“Do you have to be so petty? When I lost, didn’t I still buy you a drink?”

After a pause, the old Scotsman pondered, “Did I?

“Hmm, I must have. I couldn’t possibly be that petty!”

“I have no worries or doubts about Robert.”

“Ups and downs in form are perfectly normal for a young player.”

“I don’t think the outside world needs to over-analyze it or put too much pressure on him.”

Yang Cheng listed several statistics, arguing that Lewandowski possessed a very strong desire to score.

After the Bayswater Chinese won the Sextuple, their main centre-forward had been squandering chances from the Community Shield to the first round of the league, drawing criticism from the media.

But Yang Cheng still expressed his trust in Lewandowski.

“He needs some time to rediscover the edge he had last season!”

As for losing the first league match, Yang Cheng didn’t think it was a big deal.

“Manchester United are not a weak team. Playing away at Old Trafford, of course we wanted to win, but a loss is within an acceptable range for me. Besides, we created more chances than Manchester United throughout the game.”

Regarding the new season’s Manchester United, Yang Cheng stated they would be a strong contender for the Premier League title.

“But we are the biggest favorites!” Yang Cheng remained full of confidence.

Unlike Yang Cheng, Ferguson was beside himself with excitement.

He stated that for any team to win the title, besides gaining as many points as possible from mid-to-lower-table teams, the efficiency in clashes between top teams was also crucial.

“Looking at the past few seasons, the point difference in these head-to-head matches often decides the champion.”

“I am very happy because we defeated the Bayswater Chinese!”

Ferguson declared that Manchester United would carry this momentum forward and go all out to challenge for the Premier League title!

The first round of the Premier League brought mixed results.

Manchester United secured a narrow victory, while the Bayswater Chinese suffered a bitter defeat.

Chelsea, playing at home against Hull City, came from behind to beat The Tigers, thanks to a brace from Drogba after conceding an early goal.

Manchester City beat Blackburn 2-0 away, with goals from Adebayor and Kaká.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Liverpool 2-1 at home.

If Benítez was still talking tough before the season started, losing the opening match to Tottenham cast a shadow over The Reds.

The main issue wasn’t the scoreline, but the performance.

Liverpool played in a chaotic and disorganized manner throughout the entire game.

Their only goal came from a penalty kick.

The loss of Xabi Alonso had plunged The Reds’ midfield into a crisis.

Arsenal, on the other hand, thrashed Everton 6-1 away at Goodison Park.

Wenger’s team unleashed the most brilliant attacking storm of the round.

And among all the players, the best performer was Fàbregas.

The Spanish midfielder completely dominated the match with two goals and two assists.

With this massive victory, The Gunners shot straight to the top of the table.

Incidentally, every single match in this round of the Premier “League had a winner; there were no draws.

Both the Bayswater Chinese and Liverpool lost 1-2, so they were tied for 11th place.

Paul Hart, fifty-six years old, was from Golborne in Lancashire, Northwest England.

A former professional player, Paul Hart was active in the old First Division during the seventies and eighties, playing for teams like Blackpool, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, and Birmingham City.

After retiring in 1988, he managed Chesterfield for two years before a long spell out of the game.

He was invited back into management in 2001 to coach Nottingham Forest, who had been relegated to a lower league.

He later had stints at Barnsley and Rushden & Diamonds, both lower-league teams, with unremarkable results.

In the summer of 2007, he was unemployed once again.

There’s a saying that goes, “When God closes a door, he always leaves a window open.”

It’s just that this window opened a bit late.

Two years later, Paul Hart himself would never have imagined he’d get a chance to manage again, and a Premier League team at that.

He took over Portsmouth, who were on the brink of relegation at the time.

Portsmouth’s 2008/09 season had been tumultuous.

Manager Redknapp, who had been in charge since 2005 and led the team to good results, accepted an offer from Tottenham Hotspur at the end of October and decamped to North London.

Assistant coach Tony Adams took over the team.

He was quite a figure, a legendary player for Arsenal in his day.

Before he took over Portsmouth, everyone was full of confidence in Tony Adams. After all, he was such a successful professional player and had been Redknapp’s capable assistant at Portsmouth.

But no one expected that after taking over in the 10th round of the Premier League, he would only win two matches, draw four, and lose ten by the 25th round, dragging a team that was 8th in the league into the relegation mire.

So, Portsmouth made an emergency managerial change.

But by then, Pompey had lost much of its appeal.

Coupled with Portsmouth’s financial problems, who would want to take on such a mess?

And so, Paul Hart, who had been out of work for two years, got his chance to manage in the Premier League.

No one had any confidence in a manager with a mediocre track record, who had been unemployed for two years and had mostly coached in the lower leagues.

But Paul Hart ultimately guided the team to safety, and he did so with room to spare.

As a result, he naturally stayed on and began his first full Premier League season as a manager.

The club had no money?

No problem. They sold valuable players like Glen Johnson, Crouch, and Kranjčar, bringing in over thirty million pound sterling.

Through loans and free transfers, they brought in a batch of capable players.

Portsmouth signed a total of twelve players, making them one of the most active teams in the Premier League transfer market.

In the first round of the league, they played Fulham at home. Although they lost 0-1, the team’s overall performance was decent.

For a team that had just been dismantled and rebuilt, this was an acceptable result.

Paul Hart was also very confident about achieving their season’s goal.

Relegation survival, he thought, wouldn’t be a problem!

Playing away at Wembley Stadium, he didn’t dare to be the least bit careless. He set up a 4-5-1 formation, vowing to snatch their first league point of the new season on the road.

The Bayswater Chinese had stumbled 1-2 at Old Trafford in the first league round.

Just three days later, they welcomed the second round of the league, and Yang Cheng made appropriate squad rotations.

By defending with all their might, Portsmouth successfully weathered the Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

This gave Paul Hart a surge of confidence.

Especially after fifteen minutes, with the score still 0-0.

“Our tactics are working, Paul!”

Paul Hart, in front of the visitors’ technical area, clenched his fists in excitement.

He was speaking to his assistant coach behind him, Paul Groves.

“Ferguson was right. Selling Džeko was the biggest mistake Yang Cheng has made!”

“Now, neither Lewandowski nor Andy Carroll can score!”

As he spoke, he could almost see his team securing a draw away from home against the Bayswater Chinese.

But just as he was speaking…

“The ball is still at the feet of the Bayswater Chinese.”

“We can see that tonight at Wembley Stadium, the Bayswater Chinese have overwhelming possession.”

“They are actively trying to leverage Andy Carroll’s height advantage in the center of their attack.”

“In fact, they are building their play around Andy Carroll as the high point, winning the first ball and organizing attacks for the second.”

“Since the start of the match, Portsmouth’s two centre-backs, Sylvain Distin and Kaboul, have done a good job.”

“This is also a problem for the Bayswater Chinese right now.”

“After Džeko’s departure, their goal-scoring has been a bit sluggish.”

“Let’s see this time, an attack down the left flank, they’ve worked it near the byline, Marcelo whips in a cross.”

“The ball is blocked out for a corner.”

“Corner kick.”

“Modrić will take this corner.”

“He sends it towards the far post, trying to utilize their aerial advantage.”

“But the ball is cleared by Distin, headed out of the box.”

“The match is now sixteen minutes in.”

“The Bayswater Chinese have had plenty of attacking opportunities, but no truly threatening ones yet.”

“Tonight, Yang Cheng has fielded a front three of Di María, Carroll, and Walcott, all of whom are very young.”

“Di María is only 21, while Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott are both 20.”

“The equally young Lewandowski is on the bench for this match after missing several good chances in a row.”

“Now the ball is passed back to midfield, to Aaron Ramsey, then to Modrić, to reorganize.”

“The ball is passed to the left flank again, to Marcelo.”

“Marcelo is pushing forward boldly.”

“We can see that the Bayswater Chinese are very determined in their attacks down the left.”

“Aaron Ramsey has also moved up to support Di María.”

“A very nice triangular passing move takes them to the byline.”

“Marcelo crosses from the byline!”

“Is there anyone in the middle to meet it?”

“Andy Carroll is on the edge of the six-yard box, a header!”

“GOOOOAL!!!”

“Andy Carroll scores with a header!”

“This is the English centre-forward’s first goal for the Bayswater Chinese!”

“It’s also his third career goal in the Premier League!”

“Between the two defenders, Distin and Kaboul, he used his physical strength and jumping ability to seize the opportunity for a header, opening the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-0!”

The moment Andy Carroll scored with a close-range header at the near post, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted!

The ninety thousand fans were momentarily stunned, then burst into thunderous cheers.

Especially when they saw the handsome young English centre-forward with his long hair run off to celebrate, the whole stadium was chanting Andy Carroll’s name.

A header!

It was exactly what you’d expect from someone with his 1.91-meter frame and powerful physique.

“A very powerful header!”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay that Carroll’s timing on the jump and the accuracy of his header were both perfect.”

“Truly lethal!”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay of this goal again.”

“At the moment he jumps and heads the ball, he really resembles the beast, Drogba!”

“That was a header from English centre-forward Andy Carroll!”

When Portsmouth restarted the game, the Bayswater Chinese quickly pressed them near the halfway line.

Possession soon fell back to the Bayswater Chinese.

Aaron Ramsey won the ball with a tackle on the left side of the center circle, passed it to Javi Martínez, who then gave it to Modrić.

At the beginning of the season, not everyone was in top form or had found their rhythm.

Starting consecutive games was quite demanding on the players.

So Yang Cheng implemented squad rotation.

But Modrić was an exception.

After receiving the ball on the right side of the center circle, the Croatian passed it forward to Carroll, who had dropped back to receive it.

The English centre-forward, who had just scored, was being tightly marked by a Portsmouth defence that was treating him as if facing a formidable enemy. Without taking a touch, he passed it straight back to Modrić.

The Croatian pointed forward, gesturing for the team to press on, while simultaneously distributing the ball to the right flank.

Piszczek sprinted forward along the right touchline, received the ball, and continued his run.

Upon reaching Portsmouth’s 30-meter area, Piszczek sent a diagonal pass with his right foot to Walcott, who was on the edge of the penalty area at the right corner.

The Little Tiger received his teammate’s pass near the right touchline and came face-to-face with Portsmouth’s left-back, Belhadj.

Walcott skillfully dribbled the ball, continuously closing in on Belhadj. Then, with a feint, he poked the ball with his right foot into the right side of the penalty area, while he himself suddenly accelerated, cutting inside of Belhadj and running diagonally behind him.

A knock-on!

The Little Tiger’s acceleration was incredibly fast, and the sudden knock-on caught Belhadj completely off guard, leaving him for dead.

The ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium were instantly electrified by Walcott’s move, erupting in thunderous cheers.

Walcott burst into Portsmouth’s penalty area from the right corner and caught up to the ball he had just played forward. By then, the left-sided centre-back, Distin, was quickly closing in.

As The Little Tiger reached the ball, he glanced towards the middle and saw Carroll rushing to the edge of the six-yard box, waiting for his pass.

But Distin was experienced and was blocking the passing lane.

If he tried a cross from the byline, it would most likely be blocked out for a corner by Distin.

Of course, he could also chip it high.

But Walcott had a better option.

So, just before Distin could close him down, he chose to play a square pass towards the penalty spot.

Aaron Ramsey, who had just made a tackle, had surged forward to the penalty spot. Meeting Walcott’s pass, he struck it with his right foot.

The football rocketed into Portsmouth’s goal.

2-0!

At that moment, the ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium absolutely exploded!

The goal was simply magnificent!

Less than two minutes after the previous goal, the Bayswater Chinese had breached Portsmouth’s goal once again.

Two goals in two minutes!

Could anything be more exciting than this?

Paul Hart was in a complete panic!

When they conceded the first goal, he was already a bit flustered.

He never expected to concede a second one so quickly.

This threw him into a total panic.

He didn’t know what he could do, or what he should do.

Because when Portsmouth restarted the game, they found the Bayswater Chinese were still pressing high up the pitch.

Especially when the ball was passed back to the defensive line, to Distin’s feet, Andy Carroll was already upon him.

This forced Distin to resort to a long clearance, just kicking the ball forward.

The price was another loss of possession.

With no other choice, Paul Hart had to walk to the touchline and signal for his players to strengthen their defense.

“The Bayswater Chinese are trying to press their advantage now.”

“We can see that this young team has many young players in their starting lineup today.”

“But this group of young players gives us the impression of being very mature and seasoned.”

“This is the benefit of having a complete and stable tactical system.”

“Yang Cheng’s team is indeed excellent.”

“In a fast-paced league like the Premier League, for this group of young players to execute such skilled passing combinations and deliver such a brilliant performance is truly remarkable.”

“Across European football, only the Bayswater Chinese can do this.”

“Arsenal has now increased their spending and no longer relies solely on young players.”

While the Sky Sports commentators were analyzing the game, the Bayswater Chinese skillfully passed the ball back and forth, constantly looking for opportunities.

Portsmouth, on the other hand, seemed to have lost their composure.

Especially in the 23rd minute, when the Bayswater Chinese chose to pass backwards, Pompey’s midfield and attack actually pushed forward.

Di María, Carroll, and Walcott all dropped back, which caused Portsmouth’s defensive line to move forward as well.

But just then, Thiago Silva suddenly launched a long pass, accurately sending the ball to the right side behind the defensive line.

Walcott surged forward at incredible speed, quickly catching up to Thiago Silva’s long pass. He controlled the ball in front of him with one touch, chased after it again, and broke into the right side of the penalty area. Before Distin could intervene, he sent a square pass across the box.

Racing in from the center, Andy Carroll arrived at full tilt and calmly slotted the ball into the net with his right foot.

3-0!

A brace!

When Yang Cheng saw Andy Carroll score, his first reaction was surprise.

Immediately after, he turned his head and glanced at Robert Lewandowski on the bench.

The Polish centre-forward’s expression was grim.

Then, he walked back to the front of the technical area and gave a somewhat helpless, wry smile to Brian Kidd.

“When one door closes, another one opens. Who would have thought he’d be the one to shine first!”

Brian Kidd was also rather speechless.

As an Englishman, he certainly hoped to see Andy Carroll rise, but he knew that Lewandowski’s overall ability was far superior to Andy Carroll’s.

The Pole was the one the Bayswater Chinese were carefully nurturing.

Of course, the two were not far apart in age.

Robert Lewandowski was born on August 21, 1988, and Andy Carroll on January 6, 1989.

There was actually only a little over four months’ difference between them.

Yang Cheng didn’t see it as a problem.

With the Bayswater Chinese’s ability to create chances, it would be strange if the forwards didn’t score.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Newcastle was relegated to the Championship, Andy Carroll immediately became the team’s top scorer, bagging many goals and providing numerous assists.

Thanks to him, Newcastle returned to the Premier League straight away.

In the 2010/11 season, Andy Carroll was the Premier League’s top scorer for the first half of the season. In 19 rounds—or more accurately, 18 matches, as he only came on as a substitute for about ten minutes in one—he scored eleven goals and provided eight assists in eighteen games.

“The white Drogba” — that nickname was for Andy Carroll.

Moreover, this guy’s stats weren’t padded by bullying weaker teams.

Apart from Manchester United, he had scored against all the top teams, including Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City.

So, his eleven goals and eight assists were of the highest quality.

Some might wonder, if Andy Carroll was really that good, why didn’t he make his mark at Newcastle last season?

The answer is simple: he didn’t get a chance to play.

Newcastle was in turmoil last season, going through four different managers.

The club’s management was a chaotic mess, senselessly hoarding forwards.

Not even mentioning the plethora of wingers and wide midfielders.

Just looking at centre-forwards and strikers.

For pace, they had Martins and Owen, as well as the Danish striker Peter Løvenkrands.

And for powerful centre-forwards?

Viduka, Ameobi, and Xisco, who was signed from Deportivo La Coruña.

Which of these players wasn’t a bigger name than Carroll, a youth academy graduate?

Under these circumstances, coupled with the instability of the coaching staff and the team’s plummeting performance, they were in a relegation battle the entire season.

Tell me, which manager would risk putting his faith in a young player?

If Newcastle hadn’t been relegated, Andy Carroll would never have had his chance.

But this, in turn, worked out for Yang Cheng.

If it were 2024, many fans would probably dismiss Andy Carroll as a flop.

But on the flip side, why would Liverpool have been willing to pay such a high transfer fee for him?

Yang Cheng remembered a statistic: after Newcastle returned to the Premier League, Andy Carroll had several eye-catching stats.

His goals and assists were a given.

His ability to create chances per game ranked first among all centre-forwards in the first half of the Premier League season.

His number of passes ranked fourth among all Premier League centre-forwards and fifth among all Newcastle players.

This meant Newcastle’s entire attack revolved around him.

What was the basis for this?

In those eighteen matches, he averaged 7.1 successful aerial duels per game.

What does that mean?

The 2009/10 season was arguably the peak of Drogba’s career. He scored 29 goals in the Premier League and averaged 1.8 successful aerial duels per game.

Of course, by that time, Drogba’s physical condition had already shown a noticeable decline.

In his prime, his numbers would certainly be much higher, but specific data is lacking.

Giroud is a well-known tall center-forward; the peak season of his career saw him average 4 successful aerial duels per game.

Spanish centre-forward Llorente’s peak was 4.3, in the 2010/11 season.

Andy Carroll’s figure was far ahead of anyone else in the Premier League at the time.

But this wasn’t even his peak.

After his failed stint at Liverpool, he transferred to West Ham United, where he posted a staggering average of 9.3 successful aerial duels per game, followed by seasons of 8.9, 8.6, and 9.

Even in recent years, from 2021 to 2023, at Reading, he still managed high numbers of 7 and 6.7 per game.

Was there anyone who could compete with Andy Carroll in successful aerial duels?

Yes, there were a few.

The over-2-meter-tall English beanpole Crouch, during the 2012/13 season with Stoke City, once achieved an astonishing 8.3.

But for most of the rest of his career, his aerial duel stats were between 3 and 5.

Another over-2-meter-tall Serbian centre-forward, Žigić, had his peak in the 2013/14 season with Birmingham in the Championship, with 33 league games and an average of 6.5 successful aerial duels.

All the above data is based on when the players were regular starters.

Crouch and Žigić’s peak numbers were flashes in the pan, but Carroll consistently maintained a high standard over a long period.

This proved that Andy Carroll was a true aerial master!

Of course, for a centre-forward, winning aerial duels is only part of the job.

Just like Drogba, his tactical role wasn’t just about winning headers, but also his extensive running and the way his high-intensity physical battles wore down defenders.

But Andy Carroll’s running and scoring abilities were not bad either.

Such astonishing aerial stats, combined with his powerful physique, made everyone believe he was a white version of Drogba!

In the season Carroll returned to the Premier League, from Manchester United to Chelsea to Arsenal to Liverpool to Manchester City, almost all the top clubs were eyeing him.

In fact, Chelsea had considered signing Carroll as Drogba’s successor even before Liverpool did.

It was only later that Liverpool became willing to sell Torres, and after weighing their options, Chelsea chose the bigger, more established name in Torres.

So why did Andy Carroll decline so rapidly after joining Liverpool?

The move to Liverpool was a major turning point, from which he never truly recovered.

The reasons, as mentioned before.

In addition, if you look at his injury history, you’ll easily find that he was truly plagued by misfortune.

During his time at Liverpool, he was injured frequently, and each injury would sideline him for one or two months.

At West Ham United, it got even worse, with injuries often lasting for over half a year.

An incident like that every season—the result is predictable.

This is a problem that almost all players who rely on their physique encounter.

For example, Drogba’s career was also plagued with injuries.

The difference is, Drogba was more durable than Andy Carroll.

At least his recovery times weren’t as long, and his appearance rate was still decent.

Yang Cheng was now using Andy Carroll just like Drogba.

Fully utilizing his aerial advantage and heading ability.

He just didn’t expect the kid to bag a brace right after getting on the pitch.

This, in turn, created a happy problem for Yang Cheng.

Over on the bench, Lewandowski was still in a goal drought.

What was this all about, you scoring goal after goal over here?

After scoring three goals in quick succession, the Bayswater Chinese slightly eased their offensive pressure.

Portsmouth felt as if they had stabilized their defense and felt much more at ease.

But when the team slowed their attack and settled into positional play, Andy Carroll’s aerial and heading superiority became prominent.

The Bayswater Chinese’s successive long balls from the back were all won by Andy Carroll, who frequently initiated attacks.

This made the English centre-forward exceptionally conspicuous.

Everyone realized that this vigorous and fierce fellow was an English beast!

Especially as the first half was drawing to a close.

When Marcelo played a diagonal long pass from the back, which landed on the right side of the arc of the penalty area, the quality of the pass wasn’t actually that good.

But Andy Carroll still managed to get ahead of Distin, flicking the ball with a header towards the right side of the penalty area.

Walcott made a high-speed run, delivered a low, driven cross from the right flank, sending the ball to the front of the left post.

Di María arrived with a late run and tapped the ball in, once again breaking through Portsmouth’s goal.

4-0!

And right after the second half started, the Bayswater Chinese launched another fierce attack.

In the 51st minute, the Bayswater Chinese attacked down the right.

Walcott and Piszczek completed a one-two, and the Polish right-back passed horizontally to Modrić, who was making an overlapping run.

The Croatian midfielder chipped the ball over the defense into the penalty area.

Andy Carroll was initially facing away from the goal, shielding Kaboul.

When he saw Modrić about to pass, he quickly turned and made a run, physically overpowering Distin. As the ball dropped, he didn’t take a touch, instead smashing a furious volley into Portsmouth’s goal.

Hat-trick!

The entire Wembley Stadium was first stunned with astonishment, followed by a tidal wave of cheers!

5-0!

No one could believe their eyes.

They never imagined that this young centre-forward, who had just transferred to the club, would score a hat-trick in his very first start for the Bayswater Chinese in a competitive match!

More importantly, the physical strength and heading ability he displayed were completely at odds with his age.

“Newcastle must be regretting this to death!”

“Such an outstanding centre-forward, and they only sold him for three million pound sterling!”

“I don’t even know how to describe this deal anymore!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have pulled off another incredibly shrewd piece of business!”

In front of the home team’s bench, Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd exchanged a smile.

No one had expected Andy Carroll’s explosion.

But with it came the consequence that the pressure on Lewandowski would be even greater.

How to balance the relationship between the two players and maintain stability in the dressing room would be a problem!

The Bayswater Chinese’s 5-0 thrashing of Portsmouth at home was their most brilliant victory of the new season so far.

Andy Carroll, with his hat-trick, made a spectacular name for himself after this match.

The Guardian published a lengthy report on the young English centre-forward, believing that he showed extraordinary power in the game.

“As long as he maintains his current level of ability, he will surely be able to carry the burden of scoring for England for the next ten years!”

The Guardian’s analysis noted that in this match, Andy Carroll successfully won twelve aerial duels, making him a true aerial master.

“With the beast Drogba gradually aging, Andy Carroll’s sudden emergence gives people infinite hope for his future!”

Drogba’s successor!

This was the praise The Sun bestowed upon Andy Carroll.

The Sun believed that the Bayswater Chinese’s transfer team had once again completed a stunning piece of business.

“Who could have thought that Carroll, who sat on the bench at Newcastle all last season and never got a chance to play, would score a hat-trick in his very first Premier League start!”

“It’s simply unbelievable!”

The Sun suggested that Newcastle’s owner, Ashley, was probably crying his eyes out in his own bathroom.

“By letting Andy Carroll go, Newcastle, already deep in a financial crisis, has lost tens of millions of pound sterling!”

The Sun also issued a plea on behalf of England fans, hoping that the Bayswater Chinese would carefully nurture Andy Carroll.

“He will form the perfect English forward line with Rooney!”

The Times also had high praise for Andy Carroll’s debut.

The authoritative British media outlet believed that Portsmouth was not a strong team.

On the contrary, Pompey’s goal for the season was to avoid relegation.

But for Andy Carroll to score a hat-trick against Portsmouth was, in itself, something highly commendable.

More importantly, it was the all-around game he displayed.

Besides his aerial dominance, his three goals came from a header, a poacher’s finish in front of goal, and an overlapping run followed by a volley.

“In Andy Carroll, we can see the exhilarating power and impact of a traditional English centre-forward, along with an all-conquering presence.”

“In this match, he was like a combination of Alan Shearer and Drogba!”

Not only did the British media widely report and hype him up, but even Sky Sports, after the match, included Andy Carroll in their Team of the Week and gave him a perfect score of 10.

“In just 51 minutes, this 20-year-old home-grown tall center-forward scored a hat-trick.”

“In addition, Andy Carroll had 6 shots on target, 3 key passes, and 2 clean tackles in this match, which demonstrates his very well-rounded characteristics.”

It could be said that after this one match, Andy Carroll had become an overnight sensation!

While the Bayswater Chinese were thrashing Portsmouth 5-0 at home, Chelsea, away, came from behind to beat Sunderland, The Black Cats, 3-1 with goals from Michael Ballack, Lampard, and Sneijder.

Guus Hiddink’s team started the season with two consecutive wins.

Manchester United, in this round, came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 away, with Carrick and De Rossi each scoring a goal.

Tottenham Hotspur, away, smashed Hull City 5-1, thanks to a hat-trick from Defoe.

Liverpool thrashed Stoke City 4-0 at home.

Arsenal continued their brilliant performance from the first round, coming back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 against Bolton.

Manchester City beat Everton 2-0 at home, with goals from Kaká and Yaya Touré.

After two rounds of matches, a total of seven teams maintained a perfect record.

Among them, Arsenal’s performance was the most incisive, having scored ten goals in the first two rounds, looking simply unstoppable.

Many in the media even believed that this season’s Gunners had the flair of the Bayswater Chinese from before.

Wenger also declared his vow to stick with attacking football to the end, to sweep all before them and win this season’s Premier League title!

Sure enough, The Gunners had really gone wild.

Come the weekend’s third round of the Premier League, Wenger’s team, at home at the Emirates Stadium, defeated Portsmouth 4-1, thanks to a brace from Diaby.

In three rounds, they had scored fourteen goals and conceded four. The Gunners were truly on fire!

Manchester City, at home, secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Wolves, thanks to a goal from Adebayor.

Manchester United, in this round, challenged Wigan Athletic away and thrashed their opponents 5-0, with Rooney scoring a brace.

Chelsea also won 2-0 away against Fulham, with goals from Drogba and Eto’o.

And after their resounding home victory against Portsmouth in the previous round, the Bayswater Chinese continued to play at home over the weekend, facing Stoke City.

When playing the Bayswater Chinese, you must defend resolutely from the start.

This has become a known secret among all teams.

This has made it increasingly difficult for the Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz to be effective.

But in the 24th minute, Robert Lewandowski delivered a sublime pass up front.

Gareth Bale opened the scoring for the team.

Just seven minutes later, with an assist from Rakitić, Gareth Bale scored another goal, completing his brace.

2-0!

Just before the end of the first half, Rakitić made an overlapping run and further extended the team’s lead.

3-0!

After the break, the Bayswater Chinese continued to apply offensive pressure.

First, in the 68th minute, Gareth Bale capitalized on a one-on-one opportunity created by a burst of speed to score another goal for the team, completing his hat-trick.

4-0!

After that, Eden Hazard also assisted Matuidi for a goal, 5-0!

With the outcome decided, Yang Cheng also made substitutions, bringing on Lambert.

Yang Cheng’s intention was clear: to help Robert Lewandowski break his goal drought!

But who would have thought that in the 87th minute, Lewandowski’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper and fell to the feet of the unmarked Lambert, and the English centre-forward scored with a follow-up shot.

6-0!

Two minutes later, Aaron Ramsey sent a wonderful pass, putting Lewandowski through on goal. As he shot, the onrushing goalkeeper saved it, and Eden Hazard picked up the loose ball and tapped it into the empty net.

7-0!

Yang Cheng was left utterly speechless on the sideline!

“Brian, tell me, what the hell is going on?”

Brian Kidd also had a wry, speechless smile on his face.

Seven goals, and all the attacking players on the pitch had scored.

Except for Robert Lewandowski!

Even Lambert, who came on as a substitute, had scored.

It wasn’t that Lewandowski was playing poorly.

He had at least one assist, and he was involved in every attack the team launched. His overall performance was very good.

So why couldn’t he score?

Yang Cheng had personally instructed Lambert, and after coming on, he did indeed intentionally or unintentionally try to create scoring opportunities for Lewandowski, but it was always just off.

In the end, Brian Kidd could only give a helpless, wry smile.

“A striker’s goal drought can be inexplicably strange sometimes.”

If even England’s legendary forward said so, what else could Yang Cheng say?

“I refuse to believe in this damn luck. As long as I keep giving him playing time, I’d like to see how long this goal drought of his can last!”

Yang Cheng was getting stubborn!

Goal droughts were a real thing, but Yang Cheng was determined to challenge it.

After so many years of coaching, Yang Cheng knew very well that behind every goal drought often lay a player’s self-breakthrough.

The longer the suppression, the more pent-up the player, and the faster the improvement after the breakthrough!

The existence of this goal drought will only make me trust Robert even more!

And in this round, the only top team to lose was Liverpool.

The Reds, at Anfield, lost 1-3 to Aston Villa.

The impact of Xabi Alonso’s departure was now very obvious.

But Benítez was still being stubborn, insisting that Liverpool had no problems and would definitely overcome their difficulties.

After playing the third round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese were originally supposed to communicate with their fourth-round opponents, Tottenham Hotspur, to try and move the match forward to midweek.

But because the entire Bayswater Chinese team was invited to attend the UEFA Champions League group stage draw and award ceremony, the match could only be scheduled for the 25th.

Tottenham Hotspur’s league match was on the afternoon of the 23rd.

So, in the end, Redknapp rejected the Bayswater Chinese’s proposal.

This match had to be postponed.

As for when the rescheduled match would be played, it would depend on both teams’ schedules.

Fortunately, Tottenham Hotspur had no European competitions.

But due to the compressed schedule this season, the league had started with two games a week, so fitting in another match would not be easy.

After the fourth round of the league was supposed to be played, Yang Cheng’s team rested in Brent before setting off for Monaco.

Chapter 181: Reassurance! A Double Award Win! Godfather Platini, Help Us, We’re Really Struggling!

In Monaco, at a five-star hotel near the Grimaldi Forum, UEFA had arranged for the entire Bayswater Chinese contingent to rest.

The awards ceremony and the group stage draw were scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Yang Cheng and the players had all brought formal attire and needed to get ready at the hotel.

The UEFA Super Cup match was scheduled for the next day.

Before they set off, Adam Crozier returned from his trip.

After the team returned from the United States, Adam Crozier had been flying back and forth between Germany, Spain, and Italy.

His main task was to liaise with the other eleven European giants.

In reality, it was mainly the other six.

The six Premier League teams had long since reached an agreement.

When it came to developing overseas markets, the Premier League had never been one to lag behind.

Interestingly, all six of these teams were foreign-owned.

“This year, will you be attending the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum?”

Adam Crozier first gave a concise summary of the latest developments.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment. “I don’t really want to go.”

It wasn’t that the Elite Coaches Forum was bad, but he was genuinely busy.

Over the past few years, UEFA had repeatedly invited him, but Yang Cheng had always made excuses.

It was obvious. A young man in his early thirties attending a summit of old men in their fifties and sixties—what was the point?

Of course, the summit was primarily for professional exchange.

If he had the time, Yang Cheng would have considered it.

But he simply had too much on his plate.

During the two-week international break in September, he had to attend a series of the club’s commercial activities.

Many of them required Yang Cheng, the club owner, to be present.

“You have something planned?” Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier.

The latter nodded. “I plan to invite the top figures from the other eleven clubs to London for a meeting to finalize the details of the International Champions Cup.”

Yang Cheng nodded. This was essential.

“Then I won’t go to Switzerland.”

But he quickly added a reminder, “Adam, remember to tell them to travel as discreetly as possible. Once they arrive in London, we will arrange their entire itinerary. We must maintain secrecy.”

Adam Crozier frowned. “Are you worried about…”

Yang Cheng nodded. “G-14 just disbanded at the start of last year. Now, we’re trying to create a summer pre-season league. If word gets out, what do you think UEFA and FIFA will do?”

Previously, when the Premier League merely tried to introduce a “39th game,” which was essentially a friendly, FIFA had already intervened forcefully.

If they were to make such a big move now, FIFA and UEFA would certainly get involved.

Adam Crozier suddenly understood. “No wonder you registered the company in the United States!”

It was a precautionary measure.

Knowing FIFA and UEFA, they would never allow Europe’s top clubs to form an alliance.

To some extent, they would rather see these giants fight to the death.

More importantly, FIFA had always considered intercontinental competitions to be their own lucrative territory; taking over the Toyota Cup and creating the Club World Cup was the best proof of that.

Under these circumstances, why would they allow a brand-new cup competition to emerge in the summer?

With the power of FIFA and UEFA, sabotaging this venture would be effortless.

Yang Cheng’s idea was to keep it a secret beforehand. By the time it was a done deal, it would be too late for them to stop it.

Once the major clubs got a taste of the profits, would FIFA and UEFA still be able to prohibit it?

An alliance forged by common interests is stronger than anything else!

A key reason the Premier League’s “39th game” proposal failed was that it was an official match.

This was explicitly forbidden by FIFA.

So, even if the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had reached an agreement with the Premier League, it would have been useless.

But now, what Yang Cheng wanted to organize was a friendly tournament, not an official competition.

This was tantamount to operating in a gray area.

As for whether this friendly tournament would, over time, feature ever-increasing prize money, with teams becoming more invested and matches growing more intense and exciting… who could say?

“I understand. I’ll arrange it,” Adam Crozier said, getting the message.

“Be especially careful with the media. Don’t let anything leak!”

“Right!”

England was the birthplace of the Paparazzi, but with only twelve teams’ representatives involved, it was still possible to evade them.

After all, in a global metropolis like London, with so many business people coming and going every day, who would notice?

…

While secretly plotting to undermine UEFA, Yang Cheng was all smiles when he met UEFA Chairman Platini at the Grimaldi Forum, making the Frenchman feel as pleasant as a spring breeze.

It truly proved the saying: Life is like a play; it’s all about the performance.

And wasn’t Platini the same?

The Frenchman chatted amicably with Yang Cheng, particularly showering praise on Bayswater Chinese for defending their title.

“You know, Yang? More than one person has told me that your team reminds them of Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan from the late eighties. It’s truly fantastic!”

“Really? You’re too kind!” Yang Cheng said, his face a picture of surprised delight.

Sacchi’s AC Milan was the last team to successfully defend the title.

But Platini stated with great conviction that he deeply admired Bayswater Chinese and had high hopes for Yang Cheng.

He even adopted a very serious tone, encouraging Bayswater Chinese to strive for a three-peat.

“You know, the last time we had a three-time consecutive winner in our Champions League was in 1976. It’s been thirty-three years.”

Yang Cheng didn’t care whether he was being sincere or not; humility was the right response.

Waving his hands dismissively, Yang Cheng shook his head. “If we could keep our squad together, I’d still have some confidence.”

Yang Cheng’s tone then shifted abruptly. “But as you can see, to fund the construction of our new stadium, we had to sell our stars. We sold off four key players—Džeko, Maicon, Leighton Baines, and Yaya Touré—in one go. Half of our starting lineup is gone.”

“This season, our goal is just to get out of the group stage. Really!”

“You’re too modest!” Platini burst out laughing.

It was only at this moment that Yang Cheng realized this was the news that genuinely pleased Platini.

Even for the defending champions, selling off half their starters would make struggling to get out of the group stage seem normal.

“Oh, by the way, is your new stadium really going to cost that much?” Platini asked with a look of concern.

“At least one billion pound sterling!”

“That much?” Platini quickly processed it. “I heard you’re building a 90,000-seat stadium. That’s huge.”

“It’s not what we wanted. The London city government is forcing us to build it for the Olympics.”

With that, Yang Cheng began to endlessly air his grievances.

The gist was: Godfather Platini, help us, we’re really struggling!

Selling players?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Look at us, running off to the United States in the summer for that whatever-it’s-called World Football Challenge, dashing thousands of kilometers back and forth between the East and West Coasts. I nearly died from exhaustion.

When you get down to it, isn’t it all for money?

What top club would want to participate in a rubbish tournament like that, aside from cash-strapped teams like Bayswater Chinese and the two Milan clubs?

“Indeed, I heard that Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich all refused,” Platini said, apparently convinced.

“Tell me about it! But we have no choice. It’s a few million euro in revenue, right?”

“And, Michel, if you read the papers, you’ll know we’re practically running a supermarket. As soon as a player performs well, he’s immediately targeted by other clubs. We can’t even keep them.”

Everyone’s happiness is built on the suffering of others.

Platini was no exception.

Hearing how much Yang Cheng was struggling, he seemed particularly happy. “Like that ‘English Drogba’ recently.”

“Yes, I have reliable information that those bastards from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City are already eyeing him. It’s outrageous!” Yang Cheng said with great indignation.

He went on to tell Platini that he was firmly on UEFA’s side. Homegrown talent must be prioritized, financial health must be implemented, and those damn foreign owners shouldn’t be allowed to go on a crazy spending spree.

This was music to Platini’s ears.

“Don’t worry, Yang. Clubs like yours, Bayswater Chinese, that insist on youth development and financial health, will definitely be the model clubs that we at UEFA will strongly support!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng felt a sense of relief.

Suppressing the Premier League was the overarching trend; that was unlikely to change.

Given the current dominance of the Premier League, if it wasn’t curbed, the Champions League might as well become the FA Cup.

Yang Cheng, however, adopted a low profile, trying to ensure Bayswater Chinese would suffer fewer losses and gain more advantages.

What?

An invitation to the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum?

I really, really want to go.

I swear to God, Michel, I am a huge supporter of UEFA!

But as you can see, once construction on the new stadium started, we’re just burning through money.

“I have to secure the loan this September, otherwise our cash flow might just break.”

After saying this, Yang Cheng continued to complain bitterly, asking Platini if UEFA could offer any support.

Platini, cornered by Yang Cheng’s pleas, quickly found an excuse to slip away. How could he even think about the Elite Coaches Forum anymore?

But one thing had become crystal clear to him.

This Bayswater Chinese club was truly in a tough spot!

Across the whole of European football, which other club could afford to splash out so much money to build a new stadium?

For one, only Arsenal had built a new stadium in recent years.

And that process saw the Gunners go from being in British hands to being owned by a Russian.

Tough! Tough! Tough!

…

When it came to Bayswater Chinese’s results, they were truly brilliant.

The European competition coefficient is calculated over the past five years. Bayswater Chinese had only participated in European competitions for four years, yet they had already managed to become a top-seeded team.

At present, the top seeds were still determined entirely by the coefficient, but any team that won the Champions League was almost guaranteed to be a top seed.

This season, all four Premier League teams were seeded.

The other four top-seeded teams were Barça, AC Milan, Sevilla, and Bayern Munich.

Yes, you read that right. Sevilla, on the back of their success in the UEFA Cup, had actually broken into the top seeds.

This was a rather odd phenomenon of the coefficient system.

Because the UEFA Cup and Champions League points were counted together, Sevilla ended up as a top seed in the Champions League draw.

In fact, Yang Cheng had always felt that La Liga teams like Sevilla and Atlético Madrid went all out in the UEFA Cup largely to boost La Liga’s European coefficient.

A club’s coefficient determines its pot in the draw, while a league’s total coefficient determines the number of Champions League spots it gets.

For example, the top three leagues in the coefficient rankings get four Champions League spots, while the fourth and fifth, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, only get three.

Around the turn of the century, the Premier League was only the third-best league, behind Serie A and La Liga.

Go back further to the 1990s, and it was even behind the Bundesliga.

When Serie A declined and the Premier League rose, La Liga also felt the pressure.

At that time, many teams emerged in La Liga, such as Celta Vigo, Valencia, and Villarreal, but they were mostly flashes in the pan, unable to maintain long-term competitiveness.

The only consistently stable forces were the two Spanish giants.

But over the past few years, as La Liga competed with the Premier League for supremacy while also trying to pull away from Serie A and the Bundesliga, the UEFA Cup became the perfect stage.

For teams like Sevilla and Atlético Madrid, racking up coefficient points in the UEFA Cup to get a shot at the Champions League—and directly entering Pot 2 or even the top seeds—was undoubtedly a shortcut.

Take Sevilla, for example.

Entering the group stage draw as a top seed this season, they were practically guaranteed a favorable draw.

In contrast, Premier League teams couldn’t care less about the UEFA Cup.

They even valued the FA Cup more.

Maintaining four Champions League spots was also beneficial for the many teams in La Liga.

And as it turned out, Sevilla really did draw what was almost a guaranteed pass to the next round.

Bayswater Chinese, a top seed, drew Real Madrid from Pot 2.

From Pot 3, they drew Marseille from Ligue 1.

From the final pot, they drew Debrecen of Hungary.

What to make of it?

It wasn’t a great draw, but it wasn’t a bad one either.

Based on strength, Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid should advance together; the only question was who would finish first in the group.

In the intervals of the draw, the UEFA awards ceremony was held.

Neuer won Best Goalkeeper of the Year.

He beat out Edwin van der Sar, Valdés, and Čech to claim the prestigious award.

In the Best Defender category, Thiago Silva successfully defeated Terry and Vidić to earn the honor.

Both players were from Bayswater Chinese, which made Yang Cheng, who was present, very happy.

However, in the subsequent award for Best Midfielder, Xavi was the winner.

The other two nominees were Iniesta and Yaya Touré.

This made Yang Cheng feel it was an injustice to Modrić.

Winning the Sextuple in a season wasn’t even enough to get Modrić a nomination.

Instead, Yaya Touré, who had been transferred, was nominated.

One could only say that Modrić’s style of play was truly not one to win popularity contests.

Best Forward went to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward beat Messi and C. Ronaldo to claim the prize.

Unfortunately, Džeko was now at Real Madrid.

As for the final award for Best Player, Platini announced Messi’s name without any suspense.

The Argentine’s performance was undeniable.

Moreover, Barça had indeed reached the final and won the Double.

The biggest disadvantage for Bayswater Chinese was that the team currently lacked a superstar who stood out from the crowd.

Both Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier were heavily promoting Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, hoping the two youngsters would step up.

…

Regarding the Champions League draw, Bayswater Chinese’s group was considered about average.

When interviewed by the media, Yang Cheng stated that he was satisfied with this season’s draw.

“According to the schedule, the third and fourth group stage matches will be very important. We play at the Bernabéu first, then return to Wembley.”

Yang Cheng said that Bayswater Chinese would do their utmost to win the first two group matches, and then try to get points from Real Madrid.

Almost every team was dreading Real Madrid this new season.

Their lineup was terrifying!

“Real Madrid is indeed one of the most powerful teams in world football today, but that’s just on paper.”

“Their actual combat strength on the pitch is still hard to say.”

“I think we can finish first in the group!”

But Yang Cheng also noted that Marseille was not without a chance.

Valdano, representing Real Madrid at the Monaco draw, told reporters that the top spot in the group would be decided between Real Madrid and Bayswater Chinese.

“We have a very strong squad and are determined to take first place in the group!”

However, Valdano also acknowledged that Bayswater Chinese would be a formidable opponent.

The British media generally believed that Arsenal was the luckiest, having received a veritable free pass.

Manchester United’s draw was also quite good.

Bayswater Chinese’s was average, while Liverpool had the worst luck.

Of the four Premier League teams, the Reds had also had the worst start to the season.

The British media analyzed that, judging from the group draw, none of the four Premier League teams had received any special treatment from UEFA.

Apart from Bayswater Chinese, none had been drawn against a top-tier powerhouse.

But viewed as a whole, Platini’s grand strategy of using Serie A and La Liga to suppress the Premier League was obvious.

Another thing was that, under Platini’s patronage, many obscure teams had made it into the Champions League group stage thanks to an incredibly lucky series of draws.

Examples included Debrecen, APOEL Nicosia, and Unirea Urziceni.

Most people had never even heard of these teams, but because they had faced weak opponents in the qualifiers, they had miraculously advanced to the group stage.

Everyone knew this was Platini paying back his voters.

After all, wasn’t it the votes from smaller nations that helped him defeat Lennart Johansson to become UEFA Chairman?

Using the profits of the Champions League group stage to reward the countries that voted for him, while using Serie A and La Liga to suppress the dominant Premier League—this was Platini’s plan.

Of course, not all teams from smaller nations were weak.

Take the Ukrainian Premier League in recent years, for example.

…

Both the Ukrainian and Russian Premier Leagues had heavily promoted Latinization in the past few years.

They had brought in many players from Latin America, especially Brazil.

For instance, Shakhtar Donetsk.

As last season’s UEFA Cup champions, Shakhtar Donetsk boasted well-known European players like Luiz Adriano, Willian, Fernandinho, Ilsinho, and Darijo Srna.

Each of these players was highly skilled.

Shakhtar Donetsk’s head coach, Lucescu, was also a renowned European manager with impressive coaching abilities.

In the UEFA Super Cup, facing Bayswater Chinese, Shakhtar Donetsk lined up in a 4-5-1 formation, clearly well-prepared.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, stuck to their 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

From the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese tried to control possession, patiently using passing and movement to stretch and break down the opponent’s defense to create chances.

Lucescu, being a famous European coach, did not opt for a purely defensive strategy. Instead, he employed a high-pressing tactic.

Through the relentless running of his players, he put pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s midfield, disrupting their offensive organization and passing game.

This caused considerable trouble for Bayswater Chinese.

It wasn’t until the seventh minute that either side managed a shot.

And it came from a long shot by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Bayswater Chinese had to wait until the eleventh minute, when a pass from Rakitić found Gareth Bale, who unleashed a sudden long shot from the left side of the box, but it went just over the crossbar.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese gradually gained the upper hand, thanks to their overall superior quality.

But Shakhtar Donetsk’s defense was extremely well-organized, almost impenetrable.

The team Lucescu had spent years building was capable enough to win the final edition of the UEFA Cup, and their overall strength was indeed impressive.

In fact, throughout the entire first half, they didn’t give Bayswater Chinese a single real opportunity.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng repeatedly encouraged the team.

With the opponent adopting a tight defensive strategy, Bayswater Chinese needed to come up with effective measures to break them down.

An attacking blitz at the start of an second half earned the team a corner kick and two attacking free-kicks.

But none of these three set pieces proved effective.

The only result of the blitz was drawing three yellow cards.

They went to the right-sided Brazilian player Ilsinho, right-back Darijo Srna, and centre-back Kucher.

In the sixtieth minute, Bayswater Chinese executed a brilliant combination on the right flank.

Di María dribbled forward, then suddenly stopped and cut inside, backheeling the ball back to the right.

Piszczek made a quick overlapping run along the right sideline and sent a cross from the byline to the center.

Under pressure from Shakhtar Donetsk’s two centre-backs, Lewandowski couldn’t get to the ball in time, and it was cleared away at the far post by Srna.

Yang Cheng, watching from the sidelines, could only shake his head.

“They are very strong physically, with many foreign players who don’t lack technical skill. Especially with so many Brazilian players, their individual abilities are a real headache.”

Brazilian players who could establish themselves and succeed in Ukraine were generally the type who were physically strong and had excellent individual skills, like Willian, Luiz Adriano, and Fernandinho.

This type of player was very difficult to handle.

They weren’t afraid of physical contact and were technically gifted.

Lucescu had coached Shakhtar Donetsk for many years and had molded the team into a very cohesive unit.

It was a really tough game!

With the defense packed in, Lewandowski couldn’t gain any advantage while being marked by two centre-backs.

The Polish centre-forward was still too young!

“Time for a substitution!” Brian Kidd suggested.

Yang Cheng nodded.

Soon, Andy Carroll, who was sitting on the bench, jumped up.

The tall English center-forward had been waiting for his chance.

In the sixty-fifth minute, Andy Carroll replaced Rakitić.

The team switched to a 4-4-2 formation, with Matić and Modrić forming the central midfield pairing.

With this substitution, Yang Cheng was sending a clear message to everyone: they had to ramp up the attack.

…

Yang Cheng dared to take off a midfielder largely because Bayswater Chinese had been almost completely dominant since the start of the second half.

Now, the most important thing was a goal.

The pressure on the midfield had actually lessened.

After the substitution, Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward in numbers.

In the seventy-third minute, near the right sideline outside his own box, Darijo Srna received a pass from Kucher.

The Croatian international, who had once been close to joining Manchester United but chose to stay in Ukraine, had just received the ball when Gareth Bale was already upon him.

The tall and powerful Gareth Bale charged forward menacingly, and with Andy Carroll also running over to help, it looked like they intended to pin Srna on the right flank.

Srna quickly passed the ball to Kucher on the edge of the box.

But Andy Carroll turned and immediately chased after the Ukrainian centre-back.

Kucher controlled the ball and, just before Carroll could close him down, tried to pass to Fernandinho further upfield.

But the pass was a bit long. With Bayswater Chinese pushing up, Matić suddenly lunged forward.

The long-legged Matić got to the ball before Fernandinho, successfully intercepting it.

After winning the ball, Matić dribbled forward himself and quickly passed it to the arc of the penalty area.

Lewandowski, who was initially facing away from goal, controlled the ball on the turn and immediately unleashed a furious shot.

The Polish centre-forward’s first touch and subsequent strike were incredibly fluid, and the shot was powerful, the ball traveling at high speed.

Moreover, the angle was excellent, aimed toward the left side of the goal.

But Shakhtar Donetsk’s goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov, reacted quickly, diving to his side and getting a hand to the ball, pushing it away.

A collective gasp echoed through the Stade Louis II.

It was a truly magnificent shot!

But it just didn’t go in.

After being saved by Pyatov, the ball was still inside the penalty area.

Carroll reacted fastest, being the first to judge its trajectory, but he was caught between Kucher and Srna.

The English centre-forward kept pushing from behind, trying to shove Kucher aside, desperately creating space for himself to jump.

As the ball came down, he leaped a fraction of a second earlier, getting ahead of Kucher to head the ball back towards the center of the box for Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward rushed forward, jumping to contest the header.

But Shakhtar Donetsk’s other centre-back jumped at the same time.

In the aerial duel, the ball didn’t head towards the goal as Lewandowski had intended. Instead, it went high but not far, dropping towards the left corner of the six-yard box.

While everyone else was still looking up, tracking the ball’s flight and anticipating where it would land, Andy Carroll had already started moving forward.

Goalkeeper Pyatov also came out decisively, hands raised, ready to punch the descending ball away.

But to everyone’s surprise, Carroll was faster. He leaped up and headed the ball in the opposite direction.

The ball flew between goalkeeper Pyatov’s hands and into the unguarded net behind him.

Pyatov’s goalkeeping gloves, however, struck Carroll on the head.

“GOAL!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese have finally scored!!”

“The seventy-third minute, the seventy-third minute!”

“Bayswater Chinese have finally broken through Shakhtar Donetsk’s goal!”

“One-nil!”

“A header from the twenty-year-old English centre-forward, Andy Carroll!”

“It has to be said, that was a very hard-earned goal!”

“Bayswater Chinese attacked for seventy-three minutes before getting this precious goal.”

“A beautiful header from Andy Carroll!”

“But more importantly, the young forward’s anticipation of where the ball would drop was incredibly sharp!”

After scoring, Andy Carroll once again sprinted off the pitch.

The long-haired English centre-forward had played less than five hundred minutes for Newcastle last season, scoring two Premier League goals.

This season, in one hundred minutes for Bayswater Chinese, he had already bagged four goals!

That was the difference a platform makes!

At Newcastle, as a substitute, he would never have gotten so many passing opportunities, nor would his teammates have created so many chances for him.

But at Bayswater Chinese, he received strong support!

Lewandowski hung his head in frustration, but he quickly joined Gareth Bale and the others in rushing off the pitch to celebrate with Andy Carroll.

In any case, scoring goals and winning was more important than anything else!

…

After Bayswater Chinese broke the deadlock, Shakhtar Donetsk could no longer afford to just defend.

In the seventy-fifth minute, Lucescu started making substitutions, and his team began to push forward to attack.

But in the eighty-first minute, the Miners launched an attack from the left, only to be blocked by Di María and Piszczek.

When the Ukrainian team tried to pass horizontally to the center, Modrić made a clever move to get in front of his man, intercepting the ball in mid-flight.

After winning the ball, Modrić immediately passed it forward to Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward let the ball run past him, turned, and chased after it, dribbling it up the field.

After crossing the halfway line and entering Shakhtar Donetsk’s final third, Lewandowski successfully drew Kucher towards him and played a diagonal pass to the left.

Gareth Bale made a late, high-speed run, controlled the ball, broke into the left side of the box, and scored with a shot.

Two-nil!

If Carroll’s goal broke the deadlock, then Gareth Bale’s goal sealed the victory.

After conceding the first goal, Shakhtar Donetsk’s morale had plummeted.

They knew it themselves.

Trying to score two goals back without conceding again was practically impossible.

In the end, thanks to goals from Carroll and Gareth Bale, Bayswater Chinese defeated Shakhtar Donetsk two-nil, successfully defending the UEFA Super Cup!

The only slight imperfection was that although Lewandowski had worked very hard, provided an assist, and made an indispensable contribution to Carroll’s goal, the Polish centre-forward still hadn’t managed to score himself.

…

When Bayswater Chinese brought the UEFA Super Cup back from Monaco, the British media sang their praises.

In the concurrent fourth round of the Premier League, Chelsea defeated Burnley three-nil at home.

Liverpool, after falling behind twice, came back to win three-two away at Bolton.

But as Bolton’s manager Gary Megson said, if their key midfielder Seán Davis hadn’t been sent off, Liverpool’s last two goals would never have happened.

The result of the match should have been two-one to Bolton.

It was also in this round that Manchester United hosted Arsenal.

After Andrei Arshavin gave the Gunners the lead, Manchester United came from behind to win two-one, thanks to a controversial penalty kick and an own goal from Diaby.

Wenger was extremely dissatisfied with the result, believing Manchester United’s penalty should never have been given.

“We all know that when we play against Manchester United, we always seem to be on the receiving end of some inexplicable decisions.”

But regardless, Wenger’s team had fallen at Old Trafford.

Manchester City, meanwhile, defeated Portsmouth one-nil away from home, with a goal from Adebayor.

After four rounds of matches, the previously unstoppable Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season.

Chelsea sat at the top of the table on goal difference.

Manchester United and Manchester City followed closely behind.

These three were the only teams in the Premier League to have maintained a one-hundred-percent record so far this season.

Bayswater Chinese, having played one game less and lost their opener to Manchester United, were currently in eighth place with six points.

But everyone knew that Yang Cheng’s team hadn’t hit their stride yet.

Especially after winning the UEFA Super Cup, both the media and fans generally believed that Bayswater Chinese were still strong contenders for this season’s Premier League title.

Though only four rounds had been played, many things were already becoming clear.

For example, the Gunners were as strong as ever.

Chelsea, after signing Eto’o and Sneijder, and with Guus Hiddink’s integration, had a very mature and solid defense, while their attack was ruthless and swift.

Manchester United, with the addition of De Rossi, had shored up their midfield weakness and remained highly competitive overall.

And Bayswater Chinese had brought the biggest surprise to English fans.

The highly-touted Robert Lewandowski had fallen into a goal drought, while Andy Carroll, a twenty-year-old homegrown centre-forward, had burst onto the scene, stunning everyone.

Of course, Yang Cheng constantly defended Lewandowski.

The so-called goal drought was, after all, simply a matter of not having scored yet this season.

Hadn’t the season only just begun?

…

After returning to London from Monaco, the team disbanded on the spot.

The international players began to report to their respective national teams.

The club had already arranged round-trip travel for the players based on their national teams’ schedules and match times.

Yang Cheng was not idle either.

He attended a series of commercial activities for Bayswater Chinese.

First was the signing ceremony between Bayswater Chinese and Bvlgari Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels group, and Yang’s Real Estate.

Three contracts were signed over two days in two separate ceremonies.

The venue for both was the press conference hall at Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center.

This showcased the results of Bayswater Chinese’s recent efforts in attracting business.

Of course, signing a contract didn’t mean it was set in stone.

Commercial partnerships like these could be subject to change at any time.

The key was to complete the construction of the four buildings as soon as possible, so that Bayswater Chinese could hand them over to these companies. Only then would the partnership officially begin.

At that point, Yang Cheng could sit back and collect the rent with peace of mind.

However, of the four buildings at the new stadium, three had been leased out, with one still available.

Many companies were interested, and negotiations were ongoing.

Taking advantage of his so-called father Yang Jianguo’s presence in London, Yang Cheng dragged him along to complete the ownership transfer for Bayswater Chinese.

From this day forward, the club, both in name and in reality, had only one owner.

And that was Yang Cheng.

After finalizing the Bayswater Chinese signings, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing attended another signing ceremony.

They had successfully purchased the five-story office building in Grosvenor Square for sixty million pound sterling.

According to the contract, after acquiring the building, the two would have to invest another fifty million pound sterling in renovations.

Considering that the renovation would expand the interior space, the deal was well worth it.

But since it was a Grade II listed building, the renovation work had to preserve the exterior facade.

As for the money to buy the building, Yang Cheng used his salary from last season, while Xia Qing contributed all her savings. They also took an advance on future rent from Bayswater Chinese.

Scraping everything together, they finally managed the down payment.

As for the fifty million pound sterling for renovation, Xia Qing had already arranged a bank loan. In the future, they would use the rental income to pay the mortgage. Coupled with Xia Qing’s salary, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Most importantly, the interest rates for mortgages and renovation loans were currently very low.

Buying property at rock bottom at this time was an absolute bargain.

Yang Cheng clearly remembered that in the coming years, hot money from all over the world would flood into England.

The world’s wealthy would eagerly speculate on London’s property market.

Both office buildings and luxury homes would become their focus.

At that time, the value of this office building would soar.

After buying the building, Chris Hunt also began preparing the applications for various permits and approvals, aiming for the club to officially move into the new office building in the summer of 2010.

After sorting out the leasing and property purchase, the bank loan was also approved.

Starting from March 2009, the UK’s base rate had been lowered to 0.5%. The UK government and the London city government had also introduced a series of supporting policies to stimulate the British economy.

Infrastructure was an eternal theme.

The London Olympics was also a project that both the UK and London governments valued highly. They hoped that by preparing for and hosting the Olympics, they could stimulate the UK’s economic growth and attract more foreign investment.

Bayswater Chinese leveraged its relationship with the London city government. Adam Crozier went to Ken Livingstone and relentlessly pushed for favorable policies, which ultimately led to the city government stepping in to mediate.

In the end, a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland, along with HSBC and Premier League sponsor Barclays Bank, provided Bayswater Chinese with a massive loan of four hundred million pound sterling.

The loan had a term of fifteen years, starting from 2011 and ending in 2025.

None of the parties would disclose the specific interest rate, but in reality, thanks to the endorsement of the UK and London governments and support from various policies, the loan rate was only 1.3%.

Based on current interest rates, Bayswater Chinese would have to repay a total of four hundred forty million pound sterling over the next fifteen years.

That’s about thirty million pound sterling per year.

However, the loan rate would adjust with changes in the Bank of England’s base rate.

In other words, if the Bank of England raised interest rates in the future, the monthly payments would increase.

This was already far better than Arsenal’s situation back then.

The Gunners’ loan rate at the time was over 6%.

If calculated at a 6% interest rate, for the same loan of four hundred million pound sterling, Bayswater Chinese would have had to repay a total of six hundred million pound sterling over fifteen years.

The interest saved amounted to one hundred sixty million pound sterling.

It could be said that in building this new stadium, purely from a financing perspective, Bayswater Chinese was in a much better position than Arsenal.

Of course, Yang Cheng had stubbornly relied on the club’s own funds in the early stages, holding out under pressure until 2009 and waiting for the successive rate cuts. He had managed to get a satisfactory result.

Both Xia Qing and Adam Crozier were in complete awe of his decision-making.

Although they had secured a four hundred-million-pound sterling loan, the funding gap was still significant.

Bayswater Chinese’s own initial estimate was that they had already invested two hundred million pound sterling. Adding the four hundred million from the loan brought the total to six hundred million. The future funding shortfall was at least another five hundred million pound sterling.

Xia Qing had previously told Yang Cheng that the club could currently come up with one hundred million pounds, and they could expect to receive over one hundred million pounds in transfer revenue over the next two years.

All told, over the next three years, Bayswater Chinese would have to continue tightening its belt and invest at least another three hundred million pound sterling.

That meant one hundred million pound sterling per year.

This was still very challenging for Bayswater Chinese.

Xia Qing had already prepared multiple contingency plans.

She had contacted several financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS Securities, and JPMorgan Chase, all of whom had promised to provide substantial funding if necessary to help Bayswater Chinese complete the rest of the new stadium project.

Of course, the interest rates from these banks and securities firms would certainly be much higher than those from commercial banks.

Therefore, Xia Qing did not intend to take their money lightly.

For the current Bayswater Chinese, there was no shortage of ways to find money.

Especially with a professional like Xia Qing by Yang Cheng’s side.

The only difference was the cost of capital.

For example, once the four surrounding office buildings were completed, they could be used as collateral for a bank loan at a relatively low interest rate.

Even if they had no other choice and had to use money from institutions like Goldman Sachs, they could still refinance through various financial means after the new stadium was completed, obtaining cheaper funds to pay back the financial institutions first.

In short, Xia Qing’s series of moves was meant to show everyone that Bayswater Chinese now had sufficient capability and funding to see the entire new stadium project through to completion!

This was a calming reassurance for the building contractors, tenants like Bvlgari Hotels, and many other potential future partners!

…

During the international break, Yang Cheng was rushing around, incredibly busy.

Only when everything had temporarily come to a close did he receive a message from Adam Crozier.

The representatives from the other eleven powerhouse clubs had arrived!

Some were represented by senior executives, some by the owners themselves, and some by the chairman along with key executives.

For example, Real Madrid sent its Chairman, Florentino Pérez, and General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez.

Barça sent three people: Chairman Laporta, financial Vice-Chairman Ferran Soriano, and commercial Vice-Chairman Ingla.

Bayern Munich sent two: Uli Hoeneß and sporting director Nerlinger.

AC Milan sent General Manager Galliani, while Inter Milan was represented by Moratti’s son, Moratti Jr., and technical director Branca.

The executives of these giants arrived in London quietly, were picked up by Bayswater Chinese, and taken directly to the Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The whole process was like they were thieves.

After checking into the hotel, no one went out again, simply waiting for the meeting to begin.

Chapter 182: A Hellish Start! Wembley’s New Darling! The Man Who Bakes a Bigger Cake

“Hello, Florentino!”

When Yang Cheng quietly arrived at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, his first order of business was to visit the Real Madrid Chairman.

“Hello, Yang. It’s truly a pleasure to see you!”

Florentino Pérez smiled and shook Yang Cheng’s hand.

The two teams might fight to the death on the pitch, but their private relationship was actually quite good.

Even being drawn into the same group wasn’t a problem.

For powerhouse clubs, victories and defeats were all part of the game.

More importantly, from a commercial perspective, clashes between top teams were beneficial for both sides.

Yang Cheng also politely shook hands with José Ángel Sánchez.

This was another major figure.

Back in 2003, when Real Madrid signed David Beckham from Manchester United, The Sun had snapped a photo outside a hotel of then-Manchester United General Manager Peter Kenyon meeting with a Real Madrid representative.

The man in that photo was José Ángel Sánchez.

From that moment on, his career had taken off like a rocket.

During the three years when Ramón Calderón and Predrag Mijatović replaced Florentino Pérez, they had purged almost all of Real Madrid’s core senior management, but the one person they kept was the Head of Commerce, José Ángel Sánchez.

After Florentino Pérez returned to his post, José Ángel Sánchez became even more highly valued.

“On my way here, I saw your new stadium from the car. It’s magnificent, quite impressive!”

There was a hint of envy in Florentino Pérez’s voice.

Upon resuming his role as Real Madrid’s Chairman, there were two main things he wanted to accomplish.

First, to lead Real Madrid to a revival; second, to become the greatest chairman in the club’s history after Mendoza and even Bernabéu himself.

Renovating, or even rebuilding, the Bernabéu had always been his ambition.

“Thank you,” Yang Cheng replied politely. “We also gave it our all, practically sold everything we own.”

Florentino Pérez chuckled. “But I hear you’re still performing very well this new season.”

“We’ve dropped to eighth in the league. You call that well?” Yang Cheng said self-deprecatingly.

Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez immediately burst into laughter.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese’s eighth-place standing was highly deceptive.

“So, can I take it that we’re a lock for first place in the group?” Florentino Pérez asked jokingly.

Yang Cheng replied with a grin, “We’ll have to see after we play.”

The three of them laughed heartily.

Under the guise of a joke, Florentino Pérez humbly asked for Yang Cheng’s opinion, requesting him to comment on Real Madrid’s current squad.

Yang Cheng believed that Real Madrid’s current lineup was indeed powerful, but it wasn’t yet time for them to achieve major results.

“The league is won in midfield, but in clashes between top teams, it all comes down to the attack and defense.”

Yang Cheng looked directly at Florentino Pérez, speaking frankly without holding anything back.

“Looking at Real Madrid’s current squad, the attack is indeed exceptional, but the midfield isn’t strong enough. The duo of Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso is quite good, but it’s not enough.”

“The defensive line will be Real Madrid’s weakness.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Florentino Pérez’s eyes, but he quickly nodded at Yang Cheng repeatedly.

Clearly, Real Madrid’s technical team, led by Valdano and Zidane, must have given him a similar analysis.

It was just like with Bayswater Chinese this season. Why did Yang Cheng dare to say the team would still challenge for the title?

Because the midfield was still very strong!

Rakitić and Modrić had both been tested last season. As long as Matić and Javi Martínez could seamlessly take over, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield might even be stronger than last season.

Add Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey to the mix, plus Kanté, whom Yang Cheng had promoted to train with the first team.

This group of players was now a year more mature, and their overall strength would rise accordingly.

As long as the midfield was strong enough to continuously supply ammunition to the front line and create chances, the forwards would not be short on goals.

To put it bluntly, if Yang Cheng wanted to, he could even turn Andy Carroll into a Drogba!

Don’t dismiss it!

The key was whether it was worth it.

Wasn’t this the same approach Borussia Dortmund used back in the day to develop young players?

But in clashes between top teams, where both sides had strong midfields, the test would be on the two ends of the pitch.

It came down to whether you focused on attack or defense.

Real Madrid’s current situation was that their defense was poor, so they had to rely on their attack.

Besides, Real Madrid didn’t have a defensive DNA.

The same situation applied to Barça.

Whether in years past or in the years to come, Barça’s defense was never good.

It was carried entirely by the midfield and attack, sustained by their possession-based system.

Real Madrid’s problem now was a severe lack of creativity and control in midfield.

Guti and Rafael van der Vaart could provide creativity and passing, but the problem was that using them left Real Madrid’s midfield imbalanced.

This wasn’t noticeable against weaker teams.

But in clashes between top teams, it was immediately exposed.

That was why Yang Cheng said it wasn’t Real Madrid’s time yet.

Regarding other teams’ affairs, Yang Cheng touched on them briefly before quickly shifting the conversation to the International Champions Cup.

This was the purpose of their trip.

Yang Cheng had already given everyone the research report that Xia Qing had commissioned from a third-party company. They should have all read it by now.

The market was truly massive!

“We all know that Real Madrid is a club with a long history and is highly respected.”

“You were one of the founders of the Champions League, a great initiative that completely changed the history and landscape of European football.”

“Today, European football must begin to change. Even the voting for the Ballon d’Or has started to go global, and it’s even more crucial for us clubs. Therefore, we must keep up with the times.”

“The International Champions Cup is the answer we’re providing!”

Yang Cheng’s words were very pleasing to Florentino Pérez.

Real Madrid’s history was indeed worthy of respect.

And if the International Champions Cup could truly change the landscape of European, and even world football, just as the Champions League did half a century ago, it would undoubtedly be a brilliant entry on Florentino Pérez’s résumé as Chairman of Real Madrid.

More importantly, it aligned with Real Madrid’s global strategy.

“You’ve certainly made a big splash in the United States this time. I heard you drew over ninety thousand people for a single match in Los Angeles?”

Florentino Pérez remained silent; it was José Ángel Sánchez who spoke up from the side.

“That’s right. Ticket revenue from that match alone exceeded ten million US dollars.”

José Ángel Sánchez believed this figure, as it would be difficult to fake.

“Mr. Yang, do you think this year’s World Football Challenge will be able to cover its operating costs?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not aware of the specific operations on the American side.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “And even if it doesn’t turn a profit in the first year, if it can maintain this momentum for several consecutive years, formalizing and standardizing the cup into a summer tournament brand, how much would that be worth?”

José Ángel Sánchez had clearly run the numbers himself.

Whether it could cover costs was hard to say, but the prospects were certainly bright.

“Mr. Yang, I’d like to ask another question. There’s already a cup competition in the United States. Why do you think we should create a new one instead of collaborating with the Americans?”

Yang Cheng was inwardly delighted. This was the real core issue.

Or rather, many powerhouse clubs, including Real Madrid, had the same question.

“It’s simple. Because the Americans don’t understand football, and they can’t run it well!”

“In fact, I can boldly say that even if we didn’t create a new tournament, the World Football Challenge was doomed to fail from the very beginning!”

Yang Cheng’s words stunned Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez.

Although the tournament was in its inaugural year, it was very popular.

The American organizers were also working hard to win the favor of European powerhouses, hoping to invite them to participate in the United States next year.

All the data was very encouraging.

Why was it doomed to fail from the start?

Seeing the doubt in Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez’s eyes, Yang Cheng was not unprepared.

“Because every decision the Americans make is, from the outset, aimed at making money. They have no intention of managing this football market for the long term. They just want to make a quick buck.”

“I heard they plan to suspend it in 2010, but then drastically expand it in 2011.”

“But what’s the cost of a drastic expansion? Given that they haven’t even run this year’s tournament well, they’re blindly expanding. Have they considered the level and quality of the organization?”

Yang Cheng listed various problems that had been exposed during this year’s World Football Challenge.

These had all been repeatedly reported by the media.

To put it mildly, the organization was terrible.

Under these circumstances, instead of thinking about changing the format and proceeding steadily, the American organizers were blindly expanding.

One could only imagine what the quality and level of the tournament would be like.

“Why do they want to expand so quickly?”

“Because their goal is to make money, and to make it fast!”

“They bring together powerhouse clubs like Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, and Bayswater Chinese, add some teams from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and have them all play together.”

“They think American fans will be willing to pay for it.”

“But think about it. Isn’t that just using our clubs’ reputations to endorse, or even take the fall for, their tournament?”

“What do American fans want to see? They want to see clashes between top European teams, superstars renowned throughout the world competing on the same field, not Real Madrid playing against some obscure Mexican team or a local American team.”

“Their reasons for arranging it this way ultimately boil down to two things.”

“First, they don’t have the ability to invite so many powerhouse clubs at once; second, teams from Mexico and the United States are cheap.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t just fearmongering.

This was the American organizers’ playbook.

And what was the price?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the inaugural World Football Challenge in 2009 had six matches with an average attendance of 56,135 fans.

It was an instant hit.

In 2011, after expansion, they held fourteen matches, and the average attendance dropped to 41,697.

At the time, many powerhouse clubs, including Juventus, were criticizing the organizers.

Because when these clubs went to North America, they were there not only to make money but also to develop the market and play high-level pre-season friendlies.

But what kind of matches were they getting?

Fans were complaining, and the media was dissatisfied.

So, Juventus didn’t participate in 2012, and in that year, the average attendance for nine matches was only 33,809.

Powerhouses like Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Liverpool were facing teams like Celtic, D.C. United, Los Angeles Galaxy, and the Seattle Sounders…

It wasn’t until 2013, when the American organizers found an investor, formed the RSG Company, and rebranded the World Football Challenge as the International Champions Cup, that things gradually improved.

Over the next two years, the invited teams were better, but it was still filled with many teams like Everton, Olympiacos, and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

But attendance gradually rose, returning to an average of 45,471 per match in 2014.

But by 2015, the organizers expanded blindly, establishing a China and an Australia division in addition to the North American one.

In China and Australia, they just took the agency fees and left everything else to local organizers.

For example, the China division was handed over to LeSports, and it turned into a disaster.

Although the powerhouse clubs got paid, they were also full of complaints.

Because many teams had to travel long distances, flying back and forth.

Real Madrid, for instance, played in the Australian division and then flew to the China division.

The cause of this problem was the American desire for rapid expansion and quick profits.

And the final result was a mess.

After the blind expansion, the quality of the tournament plummeted, the powerhouse clubs complained, and the level of play got even worse.

In many matches, the top clubs didn’t even play their starters, just sending out substitutes to go through the motions.

Under these circumstances, the fans weren’t happy, the sponsors weren’t happy, and the teams weren’t happy.

How could this possibly work?

Even with the golden reputation of the powerhouse clubs, attendance declined year after year, sponsorship dwindled, and by 2019, it was already becoming unsustainable.

Then in 2020, the pandemic hit, and it was suspended altogether.

“When the Americans try to run football the way they run their other sports leagues, it just doesn’t work!”

“Under these circumstances, I believe we should step up, seize this excellent opportunity, and have our clubs lead and operate this tournament ourselves!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng didn’t forget to prod Florentino Pérez a little more.

“Just like when the Champions League was founded back then, despite strong opposition from UEFA. The result is that the Champions League now…”

Yang Cheng didn’t need to finish. Everyone knew.

And Florentino Pérez was stirred.

What was the purpose of the G14 group back in the day?

Wasn’t it to challenge UEFA?

Why did it fail and disband in 2008?

Because the member clubs lacked a common interest.

That’s why Platini was able to pick them off one by one!

But what if, right now, there was a tournament that brought these powerhouse clubs together? And in the future, once it matured, it could expand further to attract more top European teams.

If all these clubs were united by a common interest, how great would the influence of this tournament be?

How powerful would the collective voice of these clubs become?

Would UEFA and FIFA still dare to treat the clubs as they pleased?

Would they still dare to unscrupulously call up and use the clubs’ international players?

Thinking of this, Florentino Pérez couldn’t help but look at Yang Cheng with renewed depth.

After a long while, the Real Madrid Chairman stood up, extended his hand solemnly, and said, “On this matter, on behalf of Real Madrid, I will stand with you and Bayswater Chinese.”

José Ángel Sánchez, standing to the side, also nodded in agreement.

He felt that Yang Cheng had thought everything through, even considering the interests of all parties, very carefully.

At the very least, it sounded far more reliable than the Americans.

“What do you think of him?”

After Yang Cheng had left, Florentino Pérez turned to ask José Ángel Sánchez.

“He’s young, has vision, drive, ambition, and ability. More importantly, he has the connections and resources. Forget the Americans; I think even UEFA will suffer a big loss at his hands in the future.”

“Most importantly, he has the ability to bake a bigger cake!”

Florentino Pérez nodded repeatedly.

The failure of the G14 group lay in their inability to bake a bigger cake.

The powerhouse clubs were just fighting for scraps within the existing cake, relying on the Champions League for their supper, so naturally, they could be picked off one by one by UEFA.

Yang Cheng was now proposing to bake a new cake, so there was no need to worry about UEFA using the same old tricks.

North America and Asia—all the top European clubs coveted these two massive markets.

That was why, in recent years, everyone had been desperately trying to break into North America and Asia.

Now, Yang Cheng was effectively raising a banner, calling on all the major clubs to unite and carve up the cake in North America and Asia together.

Only a fool would refuse such a partnership!

…

After leaving Florentino Pérez’s room, Yang Cheng successively visited Barcelona’s Laporta, Bayern Munich’s Uli Hoeneß, AC Milan’s Galliani, and Inter Milan’s Moratti Jr., among others.

What they discussed was largely similar to Florentino Pérez’s concerns.

Yang Cheng’s pitch was also basically the same.

The International Champions Cup was indeed very attractive.

The presence of the numerous powerhouse clubs already signified their interest; Yang Cheng was merely the final straw that helped them make up their minds.

The only difference was in Uli Hoeneß’s room.

Yang Cheng had developed a friendly relationship with Hoeneß when he sold Ribéry to Bayern Munich.

But this past summer, Bayern had been disappointed to miss out on Robben.

Hoeneß expressed his regret over this.

From his words, Yang Cheng vaguely guessed that he was interested in Ángel Di María.

This wasn’t surprising.

The Argentinian’s performance was there for all to see.

This made Yang Cheng chuckle inwardly.

You’re eyeing my Di María, while I’m eyeing your Toni Kroos.

Didn’t expect that, did you?

I made my move a long time ago!

“Actually, you guys don’t lack talented attacking players. For example, Thomas Müller is performing very well.”

“And that Toni Kroos, I hear Jupp Heynckes also thinks highly of him.”

Jupp Heynckes had taken over at Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

But so far, Toni Kroos was not yet a starter for Leverkusen.

He had been loaned to the club last season but had spent almost the entire season as a substitute, with very little playing time.

Even this season under Heynckes, they were still figuring out how to use him.

Most importantly, Leverkusen didn’t play with a number 10.

Heynckes’s Leverkusen primarily used a 4-4-2 formation with two centre-forwards, as he had two powerful, tall strikers over one meter ninety in Stefan Kießling and Eren Derdiyok.

This kind of tall centre-forward was still very lethal in the Bundesliga.

Let alone having two of them.

In a 4-4-2 formation, Toni Kroos’s position was indeed awkward.

After four rounds in the Bundesliga, Toni Kroos had played a total of one hundred and one minutes.

However, in the fourth round against Bochum, he appeared as a left midfielder, and after coming on as a substitute, he provided an assist.

Yang Cheng believed that with Heynckes’s coaching ability, he would easily see that left midfield was the most suitable position for Toni Kroos in a 4-4-2.

“Thomas Müller is indeed very good. We are all very much looking forward to his future performances.”

When Hoeneß mentioned Thomas Müller, a smile like that of a proud parent appeared on his face.

“But Toni Kroos still needs a bit more polishing.”

Yang Cheng nodded repeatedly. “I heard from the German media that you’ve long designated him as the core player for Bayern for the next decade, haven’t you?”

“That’s just media speculation,” Hoeneß laughed.

“The kid has high ambitions and quite a temper, but his current skill level isn’t that great, and his position… well, that’s not settled yet.”

Yang Cheng nodded again. “That’s normal. Young players need to be brought along slowly.”

This wasn’t an issue unique to Toni Kroos.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Modrić had also lacked a clear position for a long time.

And like Barça’s Xavi, before Frank Rijkaard, he had been developed for the holding midfield role.

Iniesta had also played in many positions.

Pirlo had even transformed from an attacking midfielder to a holding midfielder.

All in all, controlling midfielders known for their organization and passing ability often went through such a process.

“By the way, Yang, I wanted to know, have you considered selling Neuer?”

Almost as a reflex, Yang Cheng’s brow furrowed. He then looked at Hoeneß and remained silent for a long time.

“Don’t misunderstand. We don’t have any other contact with Neuer. We’ve just met a few times at some domestic events, which is normal.”

Yang Cheng’s brow furrowed even deeper.

Normal?

Right.

That’s what players always say before they cheat.

Hoeneß realized his explanation sounded weak and was only making things worse.

The German media had already hyped this up countless times.

“Let me put it this way. As you know, historically, the starting goalkeeper for the German national team has almost always come from Bayern. So, we are also very hopeful of bringing Neuer back to Germany.”

Several thoughts flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind, finally coalescing into a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, Uli. As you’ve seen, Neuer is one of the most important players on our team, and goalkeeper is a special position. So, we have no intention of selling him!”

Hoeneß smiled. “I understand, Yang, but please consider it. We are very sincere.”

“I’m sorry, we’re really not considering it!” Yang Cheng said with great determination.

After he spoke, Yang Cheng detected disappointment in Hoeneß’s eyes and felt a secret delight.

The cleverest hunter often appears as the prey.

A player never cherishes an easy conquest.

He needed to keep him on the hook, playing hard to get, and slowly he’d be able to have his way with him.

From this conversation, Yang Cheng was one hundred percent certain that Bayern had been in contact with Neuer.

They might have even discussed the issue.

This wasn’t surprising.

Back in the day, Ferguson had invited Owen to tour Carrington to discuss a transfer from Liverpool to Manchester United. It was Owen who, concerned about the reaction of Liverpool fans, declined Ferguson’s offer.

Bayern contacting Neuer was nothing special!

The key was, when would Bayern make their move?

With Michael Rensing not being highly regarded, Hans-Jörg Butt was already thirty-six years old.

It should be soon!

Yang Cheng was inwardly thrilled.

But on the surface, he remained exceptionally cool and distant.

…

That evening, in a premium conference room at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, the owners and senior executives of twelve powerhouse clubs gathered.

As the CEO of the newly formed ICC Company, David Pemsel delivered an excellent presentation.

In his report, David Pemsel provided a detailed analysis of every aspect of the International Champions Cup, from preparations to future market prospects, sponsorship, and operations.

He had even already contacted two very interested broadcasters.

Fox and ESPN in the United States.

Why were they interested?

Because Fox did not hold the broadcasting rights for any football competitions.

ESPN, as a veteran broadcaster, wanted to strengthen its position in football broadcasting.

The rights to the Premier League, the most popular league among American fans, had always been held by NBC.

Of course, these were just preliminary discussions at the moment.

And only for the North American region.

As a new tournament, the broadcasting fees for the first few years certainly wouldn’t be high.

In fact, when David Pemsel contacted them, he even told them he hadn’t yet secured the participation of the powerhouse clubs.

But for this tournament, David Pemsel stated that the market prospects were excellent.

“Summer is the most important vacation season, and most of North America’s dominant professional leagues are also in their off-season or pre-season preparation phase.”

“During this period, both North America and Asia have a void of high-quality sporting events.”

“Our International Champions Cup will have this golden period all to ourselves!”

David Pemsel also believed that the excitement of the European transfer market would undoubtedly further boost the marketing and promotion of the International Champions Cup. At the same time, the clubs could coordinate with the tournament to attract sponsors in North America and Asia.

The ICC Company would also do its utmost to help the various clubs facilitate these collaborations.

Following him, Richard Masters, who had extensive experience in organizing events and was also an expert in marketing and promotion, gave a presentation, primarily from the tournament’s perspective.

As a professional, Masters approached the topic from various angles, including event preparation, participating teams, and match venues, fully demonstrating the ICC Company’s professionalism in this area.

One very important point was the playing time of superstars and key players.

The two reports had a single purpose: to show the executives of the twelve clubs the investment and effort the ICC Company had put into preparing for this tournament.

David Pemsel returned to the stage, confidently stating that within the next five years, the International Champions Cup would be established as the benchmark event with the most influence and market appeal every summer.

“Our preliminary estimate is that the IP value of this tournament will exceed one hundred million euros within five years, becoming a world-renowned high-level sporting event!”

An increase in IP value would lead to higher broadcasting rights fees and commercial value.

That was all money in the bank.

Both David Pemsel’s and Richard Masters’ reports were brilliantly done.

The content was detailed, the logic clear, and most importantly, they both very clearly outlined the development blueprint for the International Champions Cup over the next few years, giving all the attending club executives a sense of confidence.

Not only that, but Bayswater Chinese also showed its sincerity.

For this collaboration, the plan Yang Cheng proposed was for the twelve clubs to invest their brand value for equity, each holding a 5% stake.

That is, 60% of the shares were given to all participating clubs.

The remaining 40% would be held by Yang Cheng.

At the same time, the actual operation of the tournament would be managed by the ICC Company, with the shareholding clubs only participating in profit-sharing.

This equity distribution was very satisfactory to the other eleven participating clubs.

They didn’t need to invest any money at all.

However, David Pemsel also mentioned that the preliminary plan was to offer appearance fees of up to two million euros for the next three years.

And the fees would not be the same for all twelve clubs.

The specific appearance fees would be discussed in detail later.

However, these were minor issues.

The clubs had basically no objections.

Although many of the powerhouse clubs present had big names, in reality, their appearance fees when acting alone were pitifully low.

Under these circumstances, participating in the International Champions Cup offered both an appearance fee and a share of the profits, which was quite good.

By the end, there were essentially no objections from any of the clubs, and they all signed a memorandum of understanding together.

David Pemsel also clearly stated that the inaugural International Champions Cup would kick off in 2010.

The preliminary plan was to have two divisions: North America and Asia.

The North American division would be split into East and West, while the Asian division would target China, Japan, and South Korea.

From now until mid-to-late July of next year, the ICC Company and the twelve clubs would use the memorandum as the basis for their cooperation, doing everything in their power to push forward the preparations for the International Champions Cup, aiming to make a big splash with the inaugural tournament next year!

…

After the meeting, Yang Cheng invited everyone to a dinner at the hotel to celebrate the signing of the memorandum.

Everyone was filled with anticipation for next year’s tournament.

After the banquet ended, the others returned to their rooms to rest, while Yang Cheng had Xia Qing drive him home.

As they passed the intersection at Queensway, Yang Cheng turned his head and glanced at the new stadium construction site in the distance, a strong sense of pride welling up inside him!

That was one of his greatest dreams since he’d crossed over!

It was the foundation upon which he would build Bayswater Chinese into a top-tier powerhouse!

And now, he had added the International Champions Cup!

As long as this tournament was successful, not only would Yang Cheng himself make a huge profit, but Bayswater Chinese would also rise into the ranks of the top powerhouses, standing toe-to-toe with teams like Real Madrid, Barça, and Manchester United.

“I told my dad about today’s meeting,” Xia Qing said as she drove.

“What did our dad say?” Yang Cheng was in high spirits and had drunk quite a bit.

“He praised you for a job well done,” Xia Qing said with a charming smile.

“My dad said that for many years, sports events from around the world have been more like a form of dumping into our country. Whether it’s football or the NBA, they take away hundreds of millions, even billions, in funds every year through their IP rights.”

“This is the first time we have a chance to control the most upstream tournament resources in the global football industry!”

Yang Cheng didn’t quite share Xia Anmin’s level of patriotic awareness.

He was doing it more for himself, and for Bayswater Chinese!

…

After two weeks of international duty, the players returned to the club one by one.

The good news for Yang Cheng was that none of the international players were injured, just slightly fatigued.

With the South Africa World Cup approaching, their duties with their national teams were gradually increasing.

Even national teams that didn’t qualify for the World Cup would be invited to play in some pre-season friendlies.

Under these circumstances, and especially considering that in three days the team would be traveling to Marseille, France, for their Champions League group stage debut, Yang Cheng decided to implement squad rotation.

From a strategic perspective for the group stage, the first two rounds were must-wins.

Only then would the team be in a more relaxed position for the third-round trip to the Bernabéu.

Therefore, for the fourth round of the Premier League, a home game against Aston Villa, Yang Cheng opted for a major rotation.

Martin O’Neill’s team had started the season poorly but had since found their form.

They lost their first two matches but won their third and fourth.

Notably, in the third round, they defeated Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield, which greatly boosted Aston Villa’s morale.

Before heading south to London, Martin O’Neill even boasted that his team would be hunting the Premier League’s top six this season.

Bayswater Chinese had undoubtedly become his next target.

Martin O’Neill’s confidence stemmed from the quality players at his disposal.

The goalkeeper was the American stalwart Brad Friedel.

The defense featured the likes of Warnock, James Collins, and Richard Dunne, all well-known players in the Premier League.

The midfield was even more impressive, with Petrov, Steve Sidwell, Reo-Coker, and Milner, all capable players.

With a strong and tough midfield and defense, Aston Villa was always a headache for other teams.

And up front was the speedy forward, Agbonlahor.

Any team facing such a lineup was in for a tough time.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese was fighting on two fronts and under a lot of pressure.

Yang Cheng was clear in his instructions: everyone must score first to seize the initiative.

From the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese launched a series of all-out attacks, creating a wave of offensive pressure.

In the fourth minute, the starting Andy Carroll, at the penalty spot, used his body to hold off Richard Dunne before turning and firing a powerful shot.

But the close-range shot was hit too centrally and was caught by goalkeeper Friedel.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese won corner kicks and free kicks but failed to create any real threats.

Both teams maintained a fast pace. The match was intense and difficult, but neither side could find the back of the net.

The first half ended 0-0.

Bayswater Chinese had a possession rate of 71% but struggled to break down Aston Villa’s parked bus with effective attacks.

Martin O’Neill, on the other hand, was clearly very satisfied with the result.

After the break, both sides continued their fast-paced offensive and defensive play.

Seeing his team still unable to break down Aston Villa, Yang Cheng had to make his first substitution.

In the 58th minute, Modrić came on for Matuidi.

This change made Bayswater Chinese’s midfield more organized and gave them more control.

Previously, the team’s attacks had been rather quick.

Neither Matuidi nor Aaron Ramsey were the type of players to control the tempo, and once the ball went out wide, the pace became even faster.

So, when Modrić came on, the entire tempo was immediately brought under control.

This brought a visible change to the game.

Just seven minutes after coming on, Modrić won the ball in midfield, drove forward quickly, and, while being surrounded by Aston Villa’s midfielders, threaded a beautiful through ball.

Theo Walcott made a quick run from the right, getting behind Warnock to latch onto Modrić’s pass. He sprinted with the ball into the right side of Aston Villa’s penalty area and sent a cross in front of the goal.

Carroll arrived at full tilt and tapped the ball into the net from close range, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

This goal ignited the fervent atmosphere at Wembley Stadium!

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had sold nearly eighty thousand season tickets, and every home game was a sell-out.

Some of the high-profile clashes between top teams this season had even become impossible to get tickets for.

Andy Carroll, thanks to his earlier hat-trick, had become the new darling of this stadium!

After the goal, the English centre-forward played with increasing courage.

Especially when Aston Villa began to push forward in attack, trying to equalize, their defense inevitably left more space for Carroll.

In the 79th minute, Bayswater Chinese put together a series of passes in the final third.

Eden Hazard, after receiving the ball on the left, cut inside past two players and passed to the edge of the penalty arc.

Carroll used his body to shield the ball from Richard Dunne, controlled it, and was about to shoot.

Left with no choice, Richard Dunne committed a foul.

The substitute, Modrić, took the kick himself and curled a magnificent free kick directly into Aston Villa’s goal!

2-0!

The Croatian’s free-kick technique was actually quite good, but he didn a’t often take them, which led many to believe he wasn’t proficient.

With a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese’s victory was all but sealed.

This allowed the players to play with more freedom.

Aston Villa, on the other hand, began to press forward aggressively, especially in midfield.

But in the 88th minute, Piszczek, with the help of a tracking-back Walcott and Modrić, won the ball back.

The ball was passed quickly around the midfield with one-touch passes.

Carroll, with his back to goal, laid the ball off. Aaron Ramsey made a quick forward run, received the ball, dribbled past two defenders, and burst to the arc of the penalty area. He unleashed a power shot, intentionally hitting it so it would bounce off the ground.

Although American keeper Friedel judged the direction correctly and dived, he wasn’t expecting a bouncing ball.

The ball hit the back of the net.

3-0!

…

Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Looking at the scoreline, it was a brilliant win.

But if you looked at the course of the match, you’d see that Bayswater Chinese’s win was hard-fought.

Therefore, after the match, the substitute Modrić received a flood of praise.

Sky Sports believed that the change Modrić brought after coming on was decisive!

In the same round of matches, Liverpool defeated Burnley 4-0 at home, thanks to a hat-trick from Yossi Benayoun.

Chelsea, after going a goal down away from home, came from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1, with goals from Drogba and Malouda.

It’s worth noting that Chelsea’s two goals were scored in the final minute of first-half stoppage time and the final minute of second-half stoppage time, respectively.

Guus Hiddink was also very dissatisfied with this result.

But the Dutchman himself had been traveling back and forth to manage the Russian national team during the two-week international break, so his own preparations were likely affected, let alone Chelsea’s players.

Interestingly, Manchester United’s away match against Tottenham Hotspur also saw them concede first.

Subsequently, goals from Ryan Giggs, Robben, and Rooney secured a 3-1 comeback victory for Manchester United over Tottenham.

The match of the round was Manchester City hosting Arsenal.

The two sides played out a battle of titans at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Manchester City took an early lead with a long-shot from Kaká.

But after the break, van Persie successfully equalized.

Ancelotti then led his team on the attack.

Robinho, Adebayor, and Carlos Tevez all scored within a short ten-minute span.

During this period, Arsenal’s defense was in a precarious situation.

It wasn’t until the match was nearing its end that Rosický scored a second goal for Arsenal.

In the end, Manchester City defeated the Gunners 4-2 at home.

After five rounds, Chelsea continued to lead the league table, closely followed by Manchester United and Manchester City.

All three teams had perfect five-game winning streaks.

Due to having played one less game, Bayswater Chinese was in fourth place with nine points.

With sixteen goals scored and two conceded in four matches, Bayswater Chinese’s attack and defense were as outstanding as ever.

Teams like Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool also had nine points.

Only five rounds into the Premier League season, they were already six points behind the leading pack.

This season was turning out to be a hellish start!

…

After the fifth round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng and his team rested in London.

Three days later, the team played the first round of the Champions League group stage in Marseille, France.

Just five minutes into the match, Gareth Bale received a long pass from Thiago Silva and unleashed a fierce left-footed shot that beat Marseille’s goalkeeper, Mandanda.

1-0!

But at the start of the second half, Marseille created a corner kick opportunity, and Heinze seized the chance to score with a header, leveling the score at 1-1!

However, in the 60th minute, Bayswater Chinese also capitalized on a free kick in the attacking third. Pepe flicked it on, and Thiago Silva, who had just been beaten in the air by Heinze for the goal, got his revenge, heading the ball into the net over Heinze.

The lead was restored.

2-1!

Marseille began a frenzied counter-attack and, in the 79th minute, won a penalty.

A shot from outside the box by Argentinian midfielder Lucho González struck Pepe’s arm.

The head referee awarded a penalty.

This sparked protests from the Bayswater Chinese players.

But at the crucial moment, Neuer calmly saved the penalty.

When Lucho González rushed forward for the rebound, the German goalkeeper was a step ahead, smothering the ball in his arms.

Then, Neuer scrambled to his feet, sprinted towards the edge of his box, and launched a powerful hand-throw to Matić further up the field.

The Serbian holding midfielder chested the ball down, turned, and sent a chipped diagonal long pass over the top of the defense.

Like a flash of lightning, Gareth Bale instantly pierced through Marseille’s backline, getting to the ball before anyone else, raced through on goal, and slotted it past the keeper to score again.

3-1!

Yang Cheng leaped into the air on the sideline in excitement.

Not just for Gareth Bale’s brace, but also for Neuer’s brilliant save.

“Brian, tell me, with a goalkeeper this good, how could I bear to sell him to Bayern Munich?”

Yang Cheng said with a hearty laugh.

Brian Kidd nodded in agreement and said dryly, “They’ll have to pay more!”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh even louder.

“You’re becoming a bad influence, Brian!”

Chapter 183: A Run of Explosive Form! The Premier League Goes Wild! Who Said Middle Eastern Tycoons Are All Money and No Brains?

“Don’t you worry, Robert.”

“I have absolute faith in you. No one can shake the position you hold in my mind.”

“At the same time, I am also very patient with you.”

“There’s no need to put too much pressure on yourself right now.”

“The most important thing is to stay calm, play your game steadily, and devote yourself completely to training and matches.”

“Leave everything else to me!”

When Brian Kidd arrived at the door of Yang Cheng’s office, Robert Lewandowski was inside.

The office door was open, and he overheard Yang Cheng’s promise to the Polish centre-forward.

Immediately after, he saw Lewandowski get up and leave, looking satisfied.

As the Pole walked out, he saw Brian Kidd and greeted him with a smile.

“Is the lad getting impatient?”

Brian Kidd walked in with a grin.

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded. “This mentality of his won’t do. The more anxious he gets, the harder it will be to score.”

The so-called goal drought was often a psychological factor at play for footballers.

Even a player as formidable as Messi would also fall into a goal drought, wouldn’t he?

Messi was like a perfectionist; every shot he took was aimed for the corner of the goal.

His shooting technique was truly, severely underestimated.

And as soon as his mind was in disarray, these shots aimed for the corner would often be off by an inch and miss by a mile.

It was the same for others.

Therefore, for a goalscorer, calmness was the most precious quality.

“You can’t blame him. Who would have thought that kid Carroll would suddenly become a sensation?” Brian Kidd himself hadn’t expected it.

Yang Cheng had been optimistic about Andy Carroll’s prospects, but he never imagined it would happen so quickly.

In his view, it would be best for the English centre-forward to play for Bayswater Chinese for two or three years.

During that time, with Lewandowski as the primary choice, and Lambert and Carroll as backups, the team’s forward line would be secure.

When the time was right, they could promote Harry Kane to compete.

He had confidence that Harry Kane could definitely outperform Carroll.

Then, they could sell Carroll, and the transition of the forward line would be smooth.

But who could have predicted the situation would turn out like this?

“Lewandowski was clearly fine during the pre-season friendlies. How did he suddenly hit a goal drought?”

When it came to psychological matters, Yang Cheng was also clueless.

There was really nothing to be done about such things.

Perhaps, in the very next match, Lewandowski would suddenly have an explosive performance.

Who could you even reason with then?

“By the way, what did you need me for?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

If he hadn’t mentioned it, Yang Cheng would have forgotten.

“That old fellow Capello gave me a call, asking if we could send him some of Carroll’s match footage to have a look. Could you sort that out?”

The moment Yang Cheng finished speaking, Brian Kidd was already visibly astonished.

“He’s interested in Carroll?”

“More than interested. During the fifth round of the league, he was sitting in the stands at Wembley Stadium, spying on him!”

After saying this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Spying?

The first image that popped into his head was the brilliant performance of that middle-aged Japanese stalwart, Mr. Tabuchi.

Come to think of it, with a suit and tie on, Mr. Tabuchi did bear a slight resemblance to Capello.

“Is that possible? Getting into the national team so soon?” Brian Kidd didn’t notice Yang Cheng’s strange sense of humor.

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t tell him that if he hadn’t changed history, in his previous life, there was a kid named Theo Walcott who, at the age of seventeen, was rushed into the Germany World Cup squad without having played a single minute for Arsenal.

Even more absurdly, he was hailed as the hope of English football.

Andy Carroll was at least twenty years old, had made several Premier League appearances, and had scored a few goals.

“Given England’s current situation, Capello is probably willing to try anything.”

Yang Cheng guessed, “Using Andy Carroll could be a way to replicate Chelsea’s tactics.”

Brian Kidd’s eyes lit up.

Chelsea under Mourinho had many similarities with the English national team.

Especially in midfield, both lacked possession and creativity.

If they were to follow Chelsea’s path of the centre-forward feeding the midfield, it would undoubtedly be a perfect fit for England and would also bring out the best in Gerrard and Lampard.

In contrast, England’s other centre-forwards, even someone like Crouch, would struggle to play that role well.

If nothing else, his height of over two meters made his movement on the pitch a major problem.

“Understood. I’ll get right on it.”

“You need to keep an eye on Lewandowski too.”

“Right.”

After seeing Brian Kidd off, Yang Cheng chuckled softly and put the matter aside.

He never felt that the competition between Lewandowski and Carroll would be a problem.

Bayswater Chinese was not a team of mercenaries!

Yang Cheng had forgotten which famous manager once said that managing a dressing room is about making every player clearly understand what they are fighting for!

That wasn’t wrong.

It was just a bit elementary.

The twenty-three players in the first team came from different countries, spoke different languages, and had different lifestyles, educational backgrounds, and beliefs. When they came to Bayswater Chinese, they were all very clear about what they were fighting for.

Even setting aside all the lofty rhetoric, at the very least, they were fighting for money and fame!

Right?

Could a dressing room be managed just like that?

In Yang Cheng’s current situation, if players were fighting for money, they would inevitably compare salaries, fight for playing opportunities to get appearance fees, and compete for the ball to earn match bonuses and goal bonuses…

Because your money is not my money; your fame is not my fame.

This was precisely why conflicts easily arose among mercenaries.

Fighting for fame and fortune might seem wonderful when things are going smoothly.

But once faced with pressure, adversity, or internal conflicts, the collapse would be faster than anyone else’s.

To some extent, Manchester City last season and Chelsea under Ranieri were basically like that.

They couldn’t hold up when it mattered most!

Even Arsenal before them was somewhat similar.

Therefore, when Yang Cheng was building the team years ago, he continuously instilled a belief in his players.

Bayswater Chinese must strive for the top!

Over the past few years, starting from the lower leagues, the team had constantly challenged stronger opponents.

No matter how strong the opponent, they dared to draw their swords.

They had lost, but they always got back up quickly!

Under Yang Cheng’s years of management, this gradually became the dressing room culture of Bayswater Chinese, forging a consensus among every player in the dressing room.

After coming to Bayswater Chinese, regardless of whether it was for money or fame, they would slowly come to embrace the belief of “striving for the top.”

But that was far from enough.

Not only did these players embrace it themselves, but they were also certain that everyone else in the dressing room was just like them, highly identifying with this club belief.

This meant that no matter what difficulties and challenges they encountered, they could trust the teammates around them.

They firmly believed that they would all fight to the death, just like themselves!

As a result, every player became more willing and more able to commit and give their all without any worries!

Human effort has its limits. Even if they lost, the players of Bayswater Chinese never blamed each other but quickly stood up again.

And Yang Cheng, as their leader, was able to ensure that his orders were strictly followed.

This was the core combat strength of Bayswater Chinese!

That’s why Yang Cheng had always said that there was only one indispensable person on the Bayswater Chinese team!

…

On the weekend, the sixth round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese faced Hull City away.

With a League Cup match on Wednesday, Yang Cheng still fielded his strongest lineup for this game.

Phil Brown’s team, playing at home, set up camp and deployed a 4-4-2 formation.

But in reality, the entire team was sitting deep, defending with all their might.

For the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese pressed their opponents, firing off fourteen shots without scoring a single goal.

It wasn’t just Lewandowski who failed to score.

Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, and Rakitić couldn’t find the net either.

Modrić started, but to no avail.

The Tigers, playing at home, were dead set on holding on for this match.

In the second half, after seeing that his halftime adjustments were ineffective, Yang Cheng decisively made substitutions.

Carroll replaced Gareth Bale, coming on to form a two-striker partnership with Lewandowski.

Eden Hazard replaced Di María.

After the changes, Bayswater Chinese also switched to a 4-4-2, but with a narrow diamond formation in midfield. Hazard played in the number ten role, responsible for driving forward, with Rakitić and Modrić providing support from behind.

The two full-backs, Marcelo and Piszczek, pushed further up to take control of the flanks.

Yang Cheng was making it clear that he was going to go all-out against Hull City.

Supported by Rakitić and Modrić, Hazard was very active but still couldn’t break down Hull City’s parked bus.

It wasn’t until the 75th minute that Piszczek was fouled, earning an attacking free-kick.

Modrić took the free kick, sending it into the penalty area.

Carroll leaped high from a standing start, towering over centre-back Sonko to head the ball home, smashing it into Hull City’s goal.

1-0!

It was also the only goal of the entire match!

“Nowadays, when these mid-to-lower table teams face us, they basically just defend with all their might, especially at home.”

Brian Kidd shook his head, looking somewhat troubled.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was feeling emotional.

It’s Carroll again!

A header again!

And the only goal of the match again!

What was he supposed to do?

“I’m actually thinking, Gianni, you and your data analysis team have been slacking off a bit lately.”

The moment Yang Cheng spoke, Gianni Vio looked aggrieved, an expression of hurt on his face.

Hadn’t they just scored a goal?

“Look, when we’re trying to break down a tight defense, our set pieces are becoming less and less effective,” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

“In the past few years, you were so formidable. The moment you stood on the sideline, the opponents would tremble in fear. Now, they don’t seem to be that scared of you anymore.”

The coaching staff burst into laughter.

Having won the match, they were all in high spirits.

Besides, they all knew Yang Cheng well enough to know he was just joking around.

“It proves that your one thousand-plus set piece routines aren’t enough. You need to develop even more, to keep up with the times. However they defend, we’ll anticipate their defensive schemes!”

Gianni Vio pursed his lips with prideful coyness.

The tech-savvy man seemed to be saying: They can’t stop me!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over Hull City thanks to Carroll’s goal.

Meanwhile, at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal triumphed 4-0 over Wigan Athletic.

In their away match against West Ham United, Liverpool, despite being pegged back twice, managed a 3-2 victory, thanks to a brace from Torres.

It’s worth noting that Torres’s match-winning goal also came in the 75th minute.

This round also saw Chelsea secure a comfortable 3-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.

But the most highly anticipated clash of the round was the Manchester derby.

Playing at home, Manchester United took the lead three times, only for Gareth Barry and Kaká to equalize on three occasions.

Kaká scored a brace, with his second goal coming in the 90th minute.

But completely unexpectedly, Michael Owen scored a last-minute winner in the 96th minute.

Manchester City’s head coach, Ancelotti, was furious, accusing head referee Martin Atkinson of making a very stupid, basic mistake at the post-match press conference.

“What reason did he have to add seven minutes of stoppage time in the second half?”

“I can’t imagine!”

“In the fourth round, Wenger said that all teams seem to get the short end of the stick for some strange reason when they face Manchester United away at Old Trafford.”

“I couldn’t understand it then, but now, I do!”

Ancelotti believed it should have been a draw, and that Kaká’s equalizing goal was spectacular.

But the excessive stoppage time had killed Manchester City!

In any case, after this round of matches, only two teams were left with a perfect record in the Premier League.

Chelsea and Manchester United.

Ferguson, meanwhile, was quite pleased, stating that his team had already won three clashes between top teams.

He had won against Bayswater Chinese in the first round, against Arsenal in the fourth, and against Manchester City in the sixth.

However, all three victories were somewhat controversial.

…

Midweek, the third round of the League Cup.

Bayswater Chinese hosted The Black Cats, Sunderland.

Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve lineup, and Sunderland also rotated their squad.

Just four minutes into the match, Hazard played a brilliant pass to Aaron Ramsey, who burst into the box and scored.

1-0!

In the 23rd minute, Theo Walcott delivered a cross from the right. Inside the box, Carroll overpowered a Sunderland centre-back, controlled the ball with his chest, and then fired a powerful right-footed shot past Mike Taylor in goal, extending the lead.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese advanced smoothly to the fourth round.

…

On the afternoon of September 26th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League, Round 7: Bayswater Chinese versus Bolton.

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, constantly rubbing his hands together.

He felt he hadn’t dressed warmly enough today.

He should have at least worn his suit jacket.

On the pitch, the players of both teams had already taken their positions, just waiting for the head referee, Clattenburg, to blow the whistle for kick-off.

Because Bayswater Chinese had recently encountered stubborn defenses from both Aston Villa and Hull City, the team’s attack had been stifled.

Therefore, for this match, Yang Cheng had made some specific adjustments to the team’s offensive tactics.

He would have to see how effective they were during the game.

If it didn’t work well this time, he would have to make further adjustments for the away game against Burnley a week later.

Otherwise, after the two-week international break, the players would return to face Arsenal, followed by Real Madrid.

And after that, Manchester City.

This series of matches would be the death of Bayswater Chinese!

Given the fierce competition in the Premier League now, dropping too many points in clashes between top teams would make it difficult to even secure a top-four spot.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng quickly walked to the edge of the pitch.

“Luka, Ivan.”

Yang Cheng cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly to Modrić and Rakitić, signaling them to stick to the pre-match plan.

And Marcelo too.

The Brazilian full-back raised his hand high, indicating he remembered.

In the past six rounds, Bayswater Chinese had played five matches, with four wins and one loss, scoring seventeen goals and conceding two.

Their attacking firepower was second only to Arsenal, who had scored twenty-one goals in the first six rounds.

But their defense was the best in the Premier League.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff analyzed that this was mainly because the team’s biggest changes this season had been in the midfield and defense.

The departures of Yaya Touré, Maicon, and Leighton Baines had the greatest impact on these areas.

Therefore, Yang Cheng paid more attention to the midfield and defense, striving to solidify their backline.

Now, the defense had indeed improved.

Next, Yang Cheng had to find ways to further strengthen the attack.

Especially when facing teams that defended stubbornly.

Previously, the attack had been a bit too crude.

Now, Yang Cheng wanted to refine it further, enriching the team’s offensive combination plays.

So, for this match, Yang Cheng once again started Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

The full-backs were still Marcelo and Piszczek.

…

The match began.

Bayswater Chinese, leveraging their home advantage, immediately took the initiative, pressing forward to attack.

Bolton’s head coach, Gary Megson, had repeatedly emphasized before the match to be wary of Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

As soon as the whistle blew, Bolton actively dropped back.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, pressed forward in force.

What was different from before was that both Rakitić and Modrić pushed forward more aggressively, participating in the attack in the final third.

Two minutes into the game, the first shot of the match came from a long shot by Rakitić.

Shortly after, Modrić delivered a beautiful pass into the box. Lewandowski controlled the ball, turned past a defender, and took a left-footed power shot, which was saved by the goalkeeper, Jääskeläinen.

The Polish centre-forward seemed not to have emerged from the shadow of his goal drought yet.

With both Rakitić and Modrić pushing up and getting more involved in the attack, Bayswater Chinese’s offensive options were clearly much richer, and their combinations were more intricate.

At least, they were no longer solely reliant on speed down the flanks.

Because Yang Cheng knew very well that when an opponent gave up possession and defended with all their might, speed was often ineffective.

Just like in the fourth minute.

When Marcelo carried the ball past the halfway line and passed to Gareth Bale ahead of him, his fellow Welsh international, right-back Ricketts, had already dropped back in front of Bale, preventing him from cutting inside or going to the byline.

This meant that although Gareth Bale picked up speed, he couldn’t break through.

Knocking the ball past an opponent and running around them, or relying on speed to dribble past, wasn’t a surefire solution.

Reaching the left side of the penalty area, he had to slow down and pass back to the overlapping Marcelo.

Marcelo controlled the ball and sent a horizontal pass with his left foot.

At this moment, Rakitić, in the half-space, made a quick forward run, receiving the ball just outside the left corner of the penalty area and carrying it into the box.

Rakitić’s forward surge into the box drew the attention of midfielders and centre-backs, who moved to block him.

Marcelo took the opportunity to run horizontally, arriving at the edge of the box near the left corner.

Gareth Bale also quickly dropped back to where Marcelo had just been.

Through this rotational movement, Rakitić, unable to find an opportunity inside the box, chose to dribble horizontally towards the left side, out of the box, and laid the ball back to Gareth Bale.

At this moment, the Welshman was unmarked.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot, taking it to his right, cut inside with one touch, and passed horizontally to Marcelo.

After passing, Gareth Bale suddenly burst forward, shaking off Ricketts and making a quick diagonal run from the left corner of the box towards the six-yard box.

Marcelo had his back to the center of the pitch, facing the left touchline.

When Bale passed the ball, Marcelo’s position was dangerous, having drawn a defender out of the penalty area.

At the same time, the Brazilian also saw Gareth Bale’s quick start.

As Bale’s pass arrived, the Brazilian flicked it up directly with his left foot, lifting the ball over the head of the defender, and dropping it behind him towards the edge of the six-yard box on the left side.

As the ball bounced up, Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt, meeting the falling ball and unleashing a furious left-footed shot.

The Welshman’s shot was very clever; he didn’t go for the near post but aimed for the far corner.

The ball flew past the outside of the goalkeeper towards the base of the right post, struck the inside of the post, and rebounded into the net.

The goalkeeper was completely powerless to stop it!

“A truly beautiful combination play leading to a goal!”

“Coming from Bayswater Chinese’s left flank!”

“The passing and movement from these three players were brilliant. It reminds us of the familiar Bayswater Chinese we know!”

“I have to say, that was a very pretty goal.”

“Three attacking players broke through a defensive line set up by four defenders.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack in the final third is very clever!”

Gareth Bale shouted for Rakitić and Marcelo, urging them to celebrate the goal together by the sideline.

Yang Cheng raised both arms high, cheering the goal excitedly.

Through this back-and-forth interchanging of positions, the players pulled the opposition’s defensive line apart, creating a vacuum that allowed Gareth Bale to use his speed advantage, make a quick diagonal run, shake off his marker, and create an opportunity.

In the past, it was usually Rakitić who played the final pass.

But that made the attack a bit too predictable and inflexible.

Just now, Rakitić pushed forward, then pulled out of the box to draw the defenders’ attention, allowing Marcelo to appear in the half-space and play the role of the final passer.

Attacking like that would force the defenders to constantly react and run, making it almost impossible for them to hold their line.

In Yang Cheng’s view, to maintain pressure on an opponent for a long time, you had to create attacking opportunities through this kind of movement and pulling in local areas.

This was a key area for Bayswater Chinese to improve upon going forward.

…

Just eleven minutes after the last goal, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield. Nemanja Matić distributed it to the right wing.

Piszczek passed to Di María.

The Argentine quickly advanced with the ball to the edge of the Bolton penalty area on the right, came to a sudden stop, flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot to cut inside horizontally, and then delivered a cross-field pass.

Modrić made a quick overlapping run.

Under pressure from the defenders, when Modrić received the ball and tried to break into the box, his first touch was poor.

A bit heavy.

But the Croatian midfielder reacted quickly, stopping abruptly, turning to shield the ball, and then laying it off horizontally again, out of the box to the left side of the arc.

This was normally where Rakitić would be.

But now?

Rakitić had already pushed forward to the penalty spot.

If Modrić hadn’t taken that heavy touch and had shot immediately, he might well have created chaos in the box.

Rakitić’s forward run had also drawn defenders away.

When Marcelo got the ball, he glanced into the box and a gentle chip with his left foot sent a lofted pass.

The ball arced from the left side of the D and dropped just in front of the six-yard box, slightly to the right.

Out of a striker’s instinct, Lewandowski realized this ball wasn’t intended for him.

Marcelo knew him.

He wasn’t guaranteed to win an aerial duel against Gary Cahill.

Because he wasn’t a heading monster like Carroll!

His keen instincts allowed the Pole to quickly judge where the ball would land.

Just before Gary Cahill could react, he took a large step forward, dove headfirst, and directed Marcelo’s pass straight into Bolton’s goal.

Lewandowski’s entire judgment was based on his instinctive reaction.

And as he headed the ball, his body almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, his balance was excellent. He stumbled but quickly regained his footing.

When he turned to look at the goal, Lewandowski was completely stunned.

It’s in!

The ball is really in!!

I freaking scored!!!

“WAAARGH!!!!”

Lewandowski clenched his fists in excitement, letting out a roar with all his might as he sprinted off the pitch.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Ninety thousand fans were all screaming Lewandowski’s name at the top of their lungs.

The Polish centre-forward charged to the sideline, right up to the front of the fans’ stand, roaring with a fierce expression, venting all his pent-up emotions.

All the pressure he had been carrying for the past month and more completely vanished in that instant he scored!

He suddenly felt a sense of lightness and exhilaration throughout his entire body!

Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Rakitić, and others chased after him from behind, grabbing him in a hug, all celebrating his goal.

This was his first goal of the new season!

Yes, his first in a competitive match!

…

Breaking the goal drought was like piercing a layer of paper.

In the 41st minute of the first half, the attack was once again initiated from the left flank.

Marcelo completed a beautiful one-two give-and-go with Rakitić in the half-space. Rakitić then made a diagonal pass to the left side of the box.

Gareth Bale made a quick overlapping run and squared the ball across the face of the goal.

Lewandowski tapped it in from close range, sending the ball into Bolton’s net.

3-0!

A brace!

Yang Cheng leaped up in excitement.

He looked even happier than Lewandowski himself.

Although he had always firmly believed that Lewandowski could withstand the pressure.

But in truth, he had been a little worried.

He was afraid that the Lewandowski who had been so dominant in his previous life would run into problems under his management.

Fortunately, Lewandowski had truly weathered the storm.

That was why Yang Cheng was so thrilled when Lewandowski scored his brace.

Especially as the Pole finished his celebration and walked back, Yang Cheng extended his hand from afar.

“Thanks, boss!” Lewandowski ran over with a grin and high-fived Yang Cheng.

…

The second half began.

Right from the restart, Bolton launched an all-out attack, earning a corner kick.

Gary Cahill flicked on a header, assisting a teammate to score.

But just eight minutes later, Lewandowski assisted Gareth Bale to score another goal.

Both players had now scored a brace.

4-1!

In the 72nd minute, Matić also contributed an assist, with Rakitić scoring from a long shot.

With the victory secured, Yang Cheng made early substitutions to rest players for the midweek Champions League match.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Bolton 5-1 at home.

In the same round, Manchester United defeated Stoke City 2-0 away.

Tottenham Hotspur also routed Burnley 5-0 at home, with Robbie Keane scoring a four-goal haul.

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over Fulham, thanks to a goal from van Persie.

Chelsea, who had been on a winning streak so far this season, looked like they were sleepwalking in their away match against Wigan Athletic.

Guus Hiddink’s team clearly underestimated the determination of the home side, Wigan Athletic, especially their fast counter-attacks down the flanks, which Chelsea couldn’t handle.

In the end, The Blues lost 3-1 away.

Not only that, Chelsea also lost three key players to injury in that match.

This was an inevitable problem that came with an aging squad.

…

In the northwest of England, at Anfield in Liverpool.

The seventh round of the Premier League, Liverpool versus Hull City, was in full swing.

The Tigers had just fought a hard battle at home against Bayswater Chinese in the previous round, even coming close to forcing a draw against the powerhouse.

This round, as visitors at Anfield, they once again put up a valiant performance.

In the first half, they even managed a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, locked in a tight contest.

But Torres’s second goal dealt a huge blow to Hull City’s morale.

And in the second half, just two minutes after the restart, Torres scored again, completing his hat-trick.

Gerrard scored again in the 61st minute, essentially sealing the victory.

But on the pitch, Liverpool continued to attack relentlessly.

Head coach Benítez substituted Torres, Gerrard, and others to rest them for Wednesday’s Champions League match, but even with players like Babel coming on, the team’s offensive momentum did not wane.

This was not what Benítez had originally intended.

But before this match, he had received a notice from the highest level of management.

Today, Anfield would welcome a special guest, and it was imperative to win at all costs, and to win beautifully!

This made Benítez feel very curious.

During the match, he would occasionally turn his head to look at the VIP box where the distinguished guests were seated.

A special guest?

Who could it be?

No one knew that while the battle raged on at Anfield, in a VIP box in the stands, one of Liverpool’s owners, Gillett, was warmly hosting a special guest.

Wearing a white headscarf and a white robe, it was clear at a glance that this guest was from the Middle East.

Behind him stood three powerful bodyguards in black suits, highlighting his noble status.

Gillett very cordially referred to him as Prince Faisal.

As the match entered its final stages, and Liverpool scored two goals in five minutes to extend the score to 6-1, Gillett was incredibly excited.

“You see, Prince Faisal, this is the strength of our Liverpool!”

“The last few league games were just accidents; we hadn’t properly adjusted yet.”

“Once we’ve found our rhythm, you’ll see that we are the most powerful team in the Premier League!”

Prince Faisal appeared to be in his forties. After listening, he replied in fluent English, “In our Saudi Arabia, and indeed across the entire Middle East, everyone knows that the strongest team in the Premier League right now is Bayswater Chinese.”

With that, the Middle Eastern prince shot a playful glance at Gillett, as if to say: I’m not some novice who knows nothing about football. I did my research before coming to England.

Despite being called out, Gillett didn’t mind. He laughed heartily, “Our strength is on par with Bayswater Chinese.”

Faced with such thick skin, Prince Faisal decided not to press the issue.

“To be honest, our royal family is indeed very interested in investing in the Premier League. In fact, years ago, a consortium from Dubai almost acquired Liverpool, which is why we’re here.”

Gillett nodded repeatedly. “That just goes to show Liverpool’s value.”

“Did you know? We are the club with the most English league titles, even more than Manchester United. Our history is more glorious than theirs, and we have countless loyal fans all over the world.”

“But you also have a massive debt of 245 million pound sterling right now,” Prince Faisal stated calmly.

That one sentence completely deflated Gillett.

Who could deny it?

Years ago, when they acquired Liverpool, their rival bidder was a consortium from Dubai.

They had hoped to take over Liverpool, manage it for a while, and then sell it at a high price to cash out, making a profit in the process.

But who would have thought that after they acquired Liverpool, the business would decline year after year.

Now, it was losing money every year, and the debt was piling up.

If the team hadn’t scraped into the Champions League at the last moment last season, they didn’t know if they could have even made it to 2010.

But even so, the heavy debt of 245 million pound sterling weighed heavily on Gillett and Hicks.

“Prince Faisal, regarding your earlier proposal to build a youth academy in Saudi Arabia, we have absolutely no problem with that and will cooperate fully.”

“But we also hope you might consider an investment. We are willing to make appropriate concessions: 25% of the shares for 125 million pound sterling,” Gillett made his offer.

Prince Faisal smiled faintly. “I have already sought approval, and we are not considering an investment.”

After a pause, the prince from the Middle East cleared his throat and presented his own plan.

“Either you sell all your shares to us, or we won’t invest at all and will only cooperate on the youth academy.”

Prince Faisal stood up as soon as he finished speaking.

The three bodyguards, who had been standing silently behind him, moved a little closer.

“In any case, I must remind you, Mr. Gillett, given your current situation, if you fail in the Champions League this season, Liverpool’s value will depreciate further, and your financial situation will become even more precarious. Even…”

Prince Faisal left his sentence hanging.

“So, you and your partner should think it over carefully. We are very sincere.”

After saying this, Prince Faisal left the box, escorted by his three bodyguards.

He left Gillett standing there, his mind in turmoil.

He had tried his best to persuade him, but he just couldn’t convince Prince Faisal to invest.

The rich oafs from the Middle East only wanted to acquire the club, to have sole ownership of Liverpool.

But both Gillett and Hicks were hoping to secure funds to alleviate the club’s massive debt.

However, one thing Faisal said was right.

If they were to lose in the Champions League this season, the club’s financial situation would worsen, possibly even leading to bankruptcy.

At that point, Liverpool’s valuation would plummet.

“Damn shrewd! Who says the Middle Eastern tycoons are all money and no brains?” Gillett cursed viciously.

He needed to have a serious talk with his damn partner about this matter.

…

A Middle Eastern consortium to acquire Liverpool?

After the seventh round of the Premier League, this news quickly dominated the front pages of all major British media outlets.

It even overshadowed Chelsea’s first defeat of the season.

Yang Cheng also found this very strange.

Could they have been any less discreet?

“They leaked it on purpose,” Xia Qing saw through it at a glance.

“It’s even possible that the consortium from Saudi Arabia was happy to have it exposed.”

Yang Cheng thought about it and generally agreed with this analysis.

“I heard that Liverpool’s financial situation is already terrible. If they can’t find money soon, they don’t even know if they can last until 2010,” Xia Qing now had her own sources of information.

Adam Crozier, sipping his tea leisurely, smiled and said, “The news I’ve got is that they probably won’t reach an agreement.”

“Why?” Brian Kidd asked, surprised.

“Hicks, that American, is a shrewd calculator. All they want is to use the Middle Eastern consortium’s money to ease the club’s financial pressure. They even want to use the investment to sign new players and help Liverpool turn their fortunes around.”

“Gillett, on the other hand, is said to be the one who brought in the Saudi consortium this time.”

Yang Cheng listened quietly, but his mind was in turmoil.

In his previous life, the Americans couldn’t hold on, and in 2010, Liverpool was put into financial administration.

As a result, it was bought at the bottom by another American, Henry of the Fenway Sports Group.

Yang Cheng wasn’t entirely clear on the details, only that he had heard Henry used some less than honorable means to acquire Liverpool at an extremely low price.

It could be said that Gillett and Hicks got what they deserved.

But Liverpool also languished for many years because of it.

“With the strong rise of teams like our Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, and Manchester City, plus the foreign takeovers of Arsenal and Manchester United, the market value of the Premier League has also risen with the tide.”

“Its influence is growing, so it’s quite normal for it to be targeted by foreign capital.”

After a pause, Adam Crozier sighed, “But these foreign consortiums are no fools. When it comes to playing financial games, football clubs can’t even hold a candle to them.”

“Isn’t that the truth? Manchester United is a living example!” Brian Kidd said indignantly.

As the most commercially successful football club in European football, Manchester United was subjected to a leveraged buyout by the Glazer family.

All the fans were cursing the Glazer family for their shamelessness.

But looking at it from another perspective, wasn’t this proof that the weak get bullied?

Sacrificing one Manchester United to serve as a warning to other European clubs might not be a bad thing.

Just think, if even a club like Manchester United was played so helplessly, other clubs were basically fish on the chopping block in front of foreign consortiums.

Of course, unlucky fools like Gillett and Hicks, who purely wanted to flip the club for a quick buck and ended up ruining themselves, were an exception.

They had their ways of playing with money, but a football club is about more than just playing with money.

…

For Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, the best news from the seventh round of the Premier League was that Robert Lewandowski had finally broken his goal drought.

The Polish centre-forward scored a brace, helping the team thrash Bolton 5-1.

And just three days later, in the second round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted the Hungarian team Debrecen.

Two minutes and forty-six seconds into the match, Lewandowski received a pass from Modrić just outside the penalty area, turned, and fired a shot into the opponent’s goal, opening the scoring for the team.

1-0!

Following this, Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage.

In the 11th minute, midfielder Rakitić scored again with a long shot from outside the box.

2-0!

After scoring two quick goals, Bayswater Chinese were on a roll, displaying excellent form.

In the 35th minute, Theo Walcott won a free kick on the right wing.

Modrić took the free kick, and Pepe headed the ball into the net, further extending the lead.

3-0!

Just seven minutes later, from a cross by Piszczek on the right, Lewandowski headed the ball in from inside the box.

4-0!

Three minutes later, in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, after a combination play between Gareth Bale and Marcelo on the left, the Welshman squared the ball across the goal, and Lewandowski pounced to score, completing his hat-trick!

5-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium was in a frenzy!

In just four days, across two matches, Lewandowski had first scored a brace and now a hat-trick, for a total of five goals!

He was playing like a man possessed!

More importantly, among the Polish centre-forward’s five goals, there were left-footed shots, right-footed shots, headers, and long shots.

He was simply too complete!

After the second half began, it took Bayswater Chinese only six minutes to score against Debrecen again.

It was a quick counter-attack after winning the ball back, with Theo Walcott assisting Gareth Bale to score.

The young Welshman’s performance this season had also been excellent, and he was scoring more and more goals.

He had already scored six goals in the league!

With a six-goal lead, Yang Cheng made substitutions, and the team slowed down their attack.

Debrecen, meanwhile, managed to score a goal from a counter-attack in the 76th minute.

This was, to some extent, the result of Bayswater Chinese intentionally taking their foot off the gas.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese won a resounding 6-1 victory over Debrecen at home.

…

After two rounds of the group stage, both Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid had two wins from two.

The Galácticos first thrashed Debrecen 4-1 away, then returned home to beat Marseille 3-0.

Both matches were played brilliantly.

Pellegrini’s team was anything but conservative, also playing with a tide of attacks.

Especially the combination of Džeko and C. Ronaldo.

As of now, the two superstars had not yet established a clear division of labor, but they had already shown formidable attacking firepower.

Bayswater Chinese were not to be outdone.

Yang Cheng’s team had scored nine goals and conceded two in two rounds, in no way inferior to the star-studded Real Madrid.

This made the third an away match at the Bernabéu Stadium a focus of attention for football fans worldwide.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating this peak showdown between the two giants!

And the upcoming third and fourth rounds would undoubtedly decide who would top the group.

Both Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid were determined to finish first.

But what was extremely disadvantageous for Bayswater Chinese was that before their trip to the Bernabéu, after the two-week international break, they had to face the challenge of Arsenal.

And it was an away game.

…

After the Champions League group stage match, the eighth round of the Premier League arrived.

Manchester United finally cooled off.

At Old Trafford, Ferguson’s team had problems with their squad rotation and were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Sunderland.

But Ferguson’s match was once again mired in controversy.

With Manchester United trailing 1-2, in the 85th minute, the referee sent off Sunderland defender and former Manchester United player Kieran Richardson.

It wasn’t until the 93rd minute that Manchester United managed to equalize through an own goal by Anton Ferdinand.

Interestingly, before the media could even discuss Sunderland’s red card, Ferguson took the initiative in his post-match comments, criticizing the referee’s poor performance and arguing that he hadn’t added extra time for Manchester United’s goal during stoppage time.

“We could have won!”

“Referee Wiley was a drag on our game!”

“We will be appealing this!”

The media could only exclaim in amazement!

Arsenal, meanwhile, thrashed Blackburn Rovers 6-2 at home.

Chelsea defeated Liverpool 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City drew 1-1 away at Aston Villa.

Although The Blue Moons were not in the Champions League, they had the Europa League to contend with.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, thrashed Burnley 6-1 away from home.

Lewandowski scored another brace.

And he also contributed one assist.

The Polish centre-forward’s explosive form in three consecutive matches, quickly finding his rhythm, shocked the entire European football world!

Chapter 184: King of the Air! In This Moment, He Was Possessed by the Spirit of the Beast, Drogba!

On the afternoon of October 17th, at the Emirates Stadium in London.

Premier League Matchday 9, Bayswater Chinese versus Arsenal in an away game.

When the head referee Andrew Marriner blew the whistle to start the match, Carroll, taking the kick-off at the center circle, passed the ball back to the defensive line.

Just as José Fonte received the ball, Arsenal’s centre-forward Benzema had already closed in on him at high speed.

The Portuguese centre-back quickly passed it to Pepe.

Andrei Arshavin also charged towards Pepe instantly, forcing Pepe to pass back to the goalkeeper, Neuer, without delay.

Neuer had just controlled the ball when Benzema was already bearing down on him.

But the German god of a keeper was fearless, remaining perfectly calm.

It wasn’t until Benzema was almost on top of him that Neuer launched a long ball upfield.

Neuer wasn’t gambling; he was waiting.

Just inside Arsenal’s half near the center circle, Carroll used his body to hold off Koscielny and headed the ball to the right.

Theo Walcott surged forward, claiming the second ball.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s attack down the right flank came to nothing, with the ball soon being stolen by Gallas, the opening play was still well-executed.

Both Neuer’s long pass and Carroll’s flick-on were a display of masterful skill.

After the change in possession, Arsenal tried to launch a fast break.

But Matuidi fouled Fàbregas near the center circle in Arsenal’s half, putting a stop to their counter-attack.

…

Yang Cheng stood in front of the away team’s technical area, applauding his players forcefully.

The foul was well-timed.

The Gunners had stumbled in almost all their clashes between top teams this season.

Consecutive losses to Manchester United and Manchester City in the 4th and 5th rounds had everyone worried about Wenger’s team’s prospects.

Everyone knew the importance of these big matches.

But both games had been away from home.

This season, the Gunners had scored 18 goals in their four home games.

Yes, you heard that right, 18 goals in four matches.

Four goals in three of them, and six in the last one.

In contrast, their away form had been less impressive, apart from a 6-1 thrashing of Everton in the first round.

That included a narrow 1-0 away win against Fulham in the 7th round.

But nothing in football is absolute.

For teams of the caliber of Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal, the home and away factor has an impact, but not a decisive one.

The most crucial element was the opponent’s tactics.

Manchester United, Manchester City, and Fulham had all largely employed a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

This wasn’t because Arsenal were too strong, but because everyone wanted to win using a more reliable method.

Including Yang Cheng today.

Arsenal lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defence: Clichy, Gallas, Koscielny, and Sagna;

Midfield: Alexandre Song and Gourcuff in holding roles, with Arshavin, Fàbregas, and van Persie ahead of them;

Forward: Benzema.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese, the Gunners had been lucky with their Champions League group stage draw; it was practically a guaranteed pass.

After this match, their next Champions League game was away against AZ Alkmaar.

Therefore, Wenger dared to field his strongest lineup in this match, ready to go all-out against Bayswater Chinese.

And Yang Cheng?

Next Wednesday was also an away game, against Real Madrid in Madrid, Spain.

A loss at the Bernabéu would put them on the back foot in the contest for the top spot in the group.

With a two-week international break just passed and a formidable Real Madrid ahead, what could Yang Cheng do?

Adjust and rotate, of course.

Thus, he fielded a rotated lineup tonight.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Matuidi and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Carroll, and Theo Walcott.

Di María and Thiago Silva didn’t even make the matchday squad.

Yang Cheng let them rest and recover properly; they were currently sitting in the stands.

From the moment the match began, Arsenal displayed an aggressive posture, and Yang Cheng could feel Wenger’s determination.

“He wants to use us to make a statement!” Yang Cheng scoffed coldly.

“Losing to the two Manchester clubs was a big blow to the Gunners,” Brian Kidd said.

Before, they could excuse it by saying the matches were away from home, and in two consecutive rounds, no less.

But now, back at home against Bayswater Chinese, if they failed to win again, the Gunners’ record in clashes between top teams this season would be in tatters.

If they couldn’t get results in the big games, how could Wenger even talk about winning the title?

However, Yang Cheng had left one vulnerability in his lineup for this match: left-back Ryan Bertrand.

The youngster, formerly of the Chelsea youth academy, was making his first league start for Bayswater Chinese.

He wasn’t that young anymore, at 20, but it was uncertain if he could handle the pressure.

That was why Yang Cheng had positioned Matuidi on his side.

At the same time, he had reminded Gareth Bale to track back and help if the defense ran into trouble.

After the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese consciously dropped back to defend.

But it was by no means a park-the-bus strategy.

For instance, at 2 minutes and 48 seconds, Andy Carroll suddenly charged forward, nearly nicking the ball from Gallas’s feet.

The Arsenal centre-back got a huge fright and had to quickly pass back to his keeper.

Yang Cheng’s game plan was to rely on a solid defense and strong midfield control to minimize Arsenal’s chances of getting into the penalty area.

As a result, in the first ten minutes, Arsenal’s possession rate was as high as 68%.

And the number of shots?

Zero!

The Gunners’ attack struggled to effectively penetrate the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

It was even difficult for them to get a long shot off.

Javi Martínez was like a wall outside the box, and with Matuidi and Modrić, it was no easy task for Arsenal to get through the midfield.

Arshavin tried to use his individual skill to dribble through several times, but to no avail.

After so many years with Bayswater Chinese, Piszczek was now completely comfortable in the right-back position.

Defensively, he was a relentless fighter.

He was also fast, had good technique, and was brave and aggressive.

On one occasion while marking Arshavin closely, the two of them ended up wrestling and falling together, which incensed Arshavin so much that he pushed him away.

But the Russian quickly regained his composure and walked over to apologize to Piszczek.

At least the Pole hadn’t taken a dive.

Sometimes, that’s just how football matches are.

When you’re too invested, it’s easy to lose control of your emotions.

…

“Calm down, don’t rush!”

“Calm! Calm down!!”

Wenger shouted from the sidelines.

He realized that although the Gunners had controlled possession from the start, their attack had yet to create any real threat.

They hadn’t even had a shot.

This was making the Gunners’ players a bit anxious.

Arshavin shoving Piszczek was clear evidence of that.

But what kind of team was Bayswater Chinese?

How solid was their defense?

If his team lost their cool and gave Bayswater Chinese an opportunity, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The slightest lapse in concentration could allow Bayswater Chinese to launch a dangerous attack.

That would be fatal!

Thinking of this, Wenger quickly walked to the touchline and signaled for Gourcuff and Fàbregas to control the tempo of the game.

Slow it down a bit, be careful with the passing in midfield.

He had noticed that Matuidi and Modrić were constantly sweeping up.

Especially Matuidi.

The kid could run like hell, and his passing was excellent too.

And then there was Javi Martínez.

The Spanish midfielder was a box-to-box player, but his defensive and ball-winning abilities were outstanding.

“That bastard Yang Cheng is full of tricks.”

Wenger walked back to the home team’s technical area in a huff, complaining to his assistant coach, Pat Rice.

“Earlier at Old Trafford, Ferguson told me that Yang Cheng encouraged him to go after Busquets and De Rossi, and also Toulalan.”

“He said those players were all his transfer targets, and he praised each one to the high heavens.”

Toulalan was currently on Arsenal’s bench, but since he had just played for his national team, and because Wenger wanted to be on the front foot today, he wasn’t in the starting lineup.

“And look what happened. He turned around and signed Javi Martínez,” Wenger said, growing angrier as he spoke.

It wasn’t that he was interested in Javi Martínez, but the Spanish midfielder was playing well in this game.

Ferguson, on the other hand, had looked thoroughly dejected when he told him about it.

He felt like he’d been played by Yang Cheng!

“Is it because De Rossi was snatched by Manchester United, and Toulalan came to us at Arsenal?” Pat Rice asked, a little confused.

Wenger glanced at his assistant and shook his head.

So naive!

“That bastard never intended to sign De Rossi or Toulalan from the start. He just wanted to buy Javi Martínez. He deliberately leaked information and even encouraged Ferguson to compete with Barça for Busquets.”

“You can’t believe a single word he says!”

Pat Rice finally understood and almost burst out laughing.

But he also knew that Wenger was probably a bit nervous right now.

Were Arsenal dominating the match?

At first glance, it seemed so.

But was it anything more than a higher possession rate?

Had they created any truly dangerous attacks?

Not a single one!

This was the most dangerous situation, and the one a head coach least wants to see.

Especially when facing a team like Bayswater Chinese.

One slight lapse of concentration, one small opening, and the opponent could score at any moment.

For Arsenal, that would be fatal!

But now, it was basically impossible for Wenger’s team to retreat.

Wenger had no way back.

“Benzema isn’t getting much of an advantage against Pepe and José Fonte. Maybe we should push van Persie up a bit more?” Pat Rice suggested.

Van Persie also had strong abilities as a centre-forward, and his hold-up play was excellent.

Pushing him up could improve Arsenal’s ability to hold the ball in the final third.

Just as Wenger was hesitating, a sudden gasp erupted from the already deafening Emirates Stadium.

Wenger snapped his head up and saw right-back Sagna play a straight pass upfield.

Van Persie dropped back to receive the ball, with Ryan Bertrand right behind him.

With his back to goal, the Dutchman controlled the ball towards the half-space behind Matuidi, then turned to sprint.

But unexpectedly, Ryan Bertrand was prepared and immediately tracked back.

Worse still for Arsenal, Matuidi suddenly accelerated, using his body to shrug off the advancing Fàbregas, intercepting van Persie’s pass a step ahead and laying it off to Ryan Bertrand.

Bertrand passed horizontally to Javi Martínez.

Without taking a touch, the latter played it forward.

Modrić beat Alexandre Song to the ball, dribbled with both feet, and evaded the Arsenal holding midfielder’s attempt to intercept.

Alexandre Song reacted quickly, turning to give chase.

Modrić timed his through ball perfectly, playing it into the final third, to the feet of Carroll.

The English centre-forward used his body to shield the ball from Koscielny, controlled it, turned left, and sent a through ball behind the defense with his left foot.

The ball traveled on a diagonal line from the center of Arsenal’s final third towards the left side of the penalty area.

Gallas turned and chased back desperately, but Gareth Bale was faster.

The Welshman used his body to hold off Gallas while bursting into the Arsenal box, reaching Carroll’s pass first.

Gallas was already half a step behind. The Frenchman knew better than anyone that if Gareth Bale got through, it was all over!

So, he used everything he had, short of an obvious foul, employing every trick in the book.

Gareth Bale was pulled and tugged, managing to break free only to be grabbed again immediately.

Just as the Welshman entered the left side of the penalty area and was about to lose his balance, Gareth Bale sent a cross with his left foot towards the right of the penalty spot.

Theo Walcott, like a bolt of golden lightning, latched onto Gareth Bale’s pass and slotted it into the goal guarded by Lloris with his right foot.

The French goalkeeper had dived at full stretch, but it was beyond his reach.

At that moment, on the left side of the box, both Gareth Bale and Gallas tumbled to the ground.

“GOAL!!”

“At a crucial moment, Theo Walcott pierced Arsenal’s goal with a clean, crisp finish!”

“At least half the credit for this goal goes to Gareth Bale!”

“In fact, watching the replay in slow motion, we can clearly see that if Walcott hadn’t scored this goal, it should have been a penalty anyway.”

“Gallas committed a very clear foul, pulling Gareth Bale down twice.”

“It has to be said, the Welshman’s physical strength is truly impressive. No matter how much Gallas pulled or tugged, he couldn’t hold him back, and Gareth Bale still managed to break into the Arsenal penalty area.”

“In the 18th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break the deadlock!”

“A goal from Theo Walcott.”

“1-0!”

From van Persie’s pass to Walcott’s goal, the entire sequence took a mere 12 seconds.

Wenger stood on the sidelines, watching the whole thing unfold.

First, he was shocked.

His hands flew to cover his cheeks and mouth involuntarily.

His worst fear had come to pass.

Arsenal’s attack couldn’t break down Bayswater Chinese’s defense, and instead, their opponents capitalized on an opportunity to score through a rapid counter-attack.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first truly dangerous attack of the entire match.

And they had seized their chance!

Wenger watched with a sense of helplessness as the Bayswater Chinese players celebrated wildly on the pitch. His heart sank.

He had repeatedly stressed the need for caution, yet a mistake still occurred.

What frustrated him even more was, who could he blame?

Everyone had tried so hard.

…

After Bayswater Chinese broke the deadlock, Arsenal began to intensify their attacks.

Playing at home, the Gunners had no choice but to push forward.

But Bayswater Chinese’s tactics were simple and effective.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was primarily defensive, and on the counter-attack, they exploited Carroll’s formidable physique and aerial advantage, while also unleashing the speed of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

These three players gave Arsenal’s midfield and defense a massive headache.

There was really no good way to deal with them.

From the 20th minute, Arsenal tried to play an offside trap, but the defensive line was too high.

Just 3 minutes later, Theo Walcott successfully beat the offside trap and ran straight towards the Arsenal penalty area.

Fortunately, Koscielny tracked back in time and intercepted Walcott outside the box, forcing the Little Tiger to carry the ball to the right before crossing it towards the goal.

Carroll’s header was caught by Lloris.

Although it didn’t result in a goal, it sent a cold sweat through the Arsenal team.

They had to reconsider whether the offside trap was effective.

With the speed of Walcott and Gareth Bale, and the ability of these two youngsters to make runs and find space, was playing an offside trap really reliable?

On one hand, they had to be wary of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks; on the other, they had to find a way to break down the opponent’s defense. The Gunners’ predicament was plain to see.

And after taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese executed their tactics even more resolutely.

One statistic perfectly reflected the state of the match.

Up to the 40th minute, the Gunners’ possession rate was 61%.

But they had only managed 2 shots.

Yes, in the first 40 minutes, the Gunners had only 2 shots, and neither was on target.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese had managed 4 shots in the first half, 2 of them on target.

Both teams were clearly playing very cautiously, specifically trying to neutralize each other, unwilling to give their opponent the slightest chance.

This was especially true for Bayswater Chinese.

Their targeted defense was extremely successful.

Particularly on the left flank, which many had considered a weakness before the match.

Ryan Bertrand made no obvious errors; his defending was solid, he was fast, and his technique was good.

The young left-back’s performance could be described as solid and dependable.

In fact, defensively, he was arguably even better than Marcelo.

At the very least, his physical presence and speed were significant advantages.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese went into halftime with a 1-0 lead, thanks to Theo Walcott’s goal.

…

“We did well in the first half!”

Yang Cheng returned to the dressing room, grinning at his players.

He let everyone see how pleased he was with the first-half performance.

“Especially our midfield and defense. If we beat Arsenal today, you all get the main credit!”

These words from Yang Cheng left the midfielders and defenders, including José Fonte, feeling very satisfied.

Yang Cheng gave special treatment to his old stalwarts like José Fonte and Lambert.

They all shared a common trait: their abilities were limited, but they had followed Bayswater Chinese all the way from the lower leagues to the present day.

Lambert needs no introduction; he joined the team in 2003 and was one of the first players under Yang Cheng’s command.

José Fonte joined a little later, but still in 2004.

The Portuguese player’s nickname in the dressing room was “Commissar,” specializing in ideological work.

For so many years, even after losing his starting spot, he had always been the team’s vice-captain.

He was responsible for helping almost all new players integrate into the team.

To a certain extent, José Fonte was Yang Cheng’s grip on the dressing room.

These two players had another trait that greatly pleased Yang Cheng: they were both very low-key.

Losing their starting spot?

Sometimes even going a long time without playing a match?

Yet they remained dedicated and hardworking, never complaining, and always maintained their fitness.

Whenever the team needed them, they were ready to play.

Lambert was the most typical example of this.

José Fonte actually got quite a few opportunities to play.

Yang Cheng was unwilling to let go of such a Mourinho’s man easily.

“Here are our possession stats for the first half.”

Yang Cheng stuck the first half’s possession data directly onto the tactics board.

“In the first half, Arsenal’s possession rate was 61%, and the ball was on our side of the pitch 43% of the time.”

On Yang Cheng’s chart, the pitch was divided into three sections: Arsenal’s zone, the midfield, and Bayswater Chinese’s zone.

30% was in the midfield, and Arsenal’s zone was 27%.

From these figures, it was clear that the Gunners were essentially besieging Bayswater Chinese.

Of course, this 43% didn’t mean Arsenal had the ball the entire time.

“However, they only had 2 shots in the first half, and not a single one was on target.”

“This is proof enough that, against the Gunners’ defense and their slick passing combinations, our defending was absolutely spot-on, watertight even, and we gave them no chances at all!”

The players, especially those in midfield and defense, felt a great sense of pride seeing these stats and hearing Yang Cheng’s words.

This was the result of their hard work in the first half!

“The situation in the second half will definitely change.”

Yang Cheng slowly walked in front of his players, appearing exceptionally confident.

It wasn’t just because the team was leading.

More importantly, he wanted to transmit that confidence to every single player.

“Arsenal will definitely make adjustments, and I’m guessing they’ll take off one of their double pivot, most likely Gourcuff, drop Fàbregas back, switch to a 4-4-2, and push van Persie up front.”

In truth, for a long stretch of the first half, van Persie had been playing up front.

But that left no one on the right wing.

So, Yang Cheng was certain that Wenger would make a substitution.

The exact timing of the change was hard to say.

“If Wenger wants to play it safe, it should be between the 55th and 60th minute.”

“But if he’s more aggressive, it will be earlier, maybe even at halftime.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

No one could precisely predict another head coach’s decisions; they could only guess.

“For us, it doesn’t matter what changes Arsenal makes. What’s important is that they won’t be conservative in the second half!”

“So…”

With a wave of Yang Cheng’s hand, Brian Kidd, standing behind him, removed the newly posted data chart, replacing it with a formation diagram Yang Cheng had prepared earlier.

“We’re going to hit them with a determined blitz at the start of the second half!”

All the players’ eyes lit up.

Bayswater Chinese were masters of the blitz.

But in the first half, the team had sat deep and hadn’t even launched a proper one.

“Our strategy for the second half will still be centered around high balls, exploiting the physical advantages of Gareth Bale and Carroll.”

“Especially Carroll!”

Carroll was very young, but Yang Cheng’s use of him was simple and he had adapted quickly.

With excellent teammates around him, his strengths could be fully utilized.

For instance, right now, Yang Cheng’s instructions for him were just to win aerial duels.

Either score himself or set up teammates.

“So, Gareth and Theo, you need to drift into the half-spaces, towards the penalty area, as much as possible.”

“The two full-backs need to be more daring in pushing forward. If you get a chance, send high balls into the box, just look for Carroll!”

Yang Cheng’s tactics were that simple, direct, and brutal.

Carroll didn’t even need to think about anything else; he just needed to know that his job was to win high balls.

“The start of the second half is crucial.”

“I want you to give it your all, pin Arsenal in their own half for at least 10 minutes, completely disrupt their rhythm, and even break through their goal!”

“Can you do it?”

“Yes!”

“No problem!”

The players responded in unison.

…

As the head referee Andrew Marriner’s whistle blew, the Gunners’ players noticed something was wrong.

The Bayswater Chinese players, who had chosen to sit back and defend in the first half, were using Arsenal’s kick-off as an opportunity to press forward, with all three lines pushing up.

They were no strangers to Yang Cheng’s team.

This was the signal for a blitz!

Wenger was on the sidelines, signaling for his players to be careful.

Under normal circumstances, Wenger would consider having his players ride out the storm, to avoid a direct, head-on confrontation with Bayswater Chinese.

Going tit for tat?

In European football, there weren’t many teams who dared to do that against Bayswater Chinese.

But now, Wenger couldn’t afford to be cautious.

He needed a goal!

So he made his first substitution at halftime, bringing on Aaron Lennon for Gourcuff.

After the change, van Persie moved up front to form a two-striker partnership with Benzema.

The midfield became Arshavin, Alexandre Song, Fàbregas, and Aaron Lennon.

Both Arshavin and Aaron Lennon were positioned quite high, more like wingers.

Wenger brought on Lennon hoping to utilize his speed to attack Ryan Bertrand.

But Bayswater Chinese paid no heed to the Gunners’ substitution, pressing high in an all-out attack.

As soon as they lost the ball, they immediately counter-pressed in the opposition half.

When Bayswater Chinese launched a blitz, the pressure they exerted was so immense that any team, even one like Barça, would be forced to retreat.

In the 49th minute, as Gareth Bale sprinted forward to chase a ball down the left flank, Sagna got there a step ahead and cleared it out for a throw-in.

Bayswater Chinese won a throw-in in the attacking third.

Ryan Bertrand ran over, scooped up the ball, and threw it with both hands to Gareth Bale ahead of him.

The Welshman chested the ball down, laid it back to Bertrand, who received it facing Fàbregas.

Bertrand simply knocked the ball towards the byline, accelerated after it, and whipped in a cross.

Bertrand’s initial series of moves was good, but he didn’t quite get the final delivery right.

Koscielny got there first and headed it clear.

Rakitić, running back all the way, beat van Persie to the ball and headed it to Javi Martínez.

The Spaniard controlled it with his right foot, turned towards the center, and passed it again to Pepe.

Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line had already pushed past the halfway line. Pepe controlled the ball forward and followed it.

Benzema immediately chased after Pepe, but Pepe suddenly accelerated, carrying the ball diagonally towards the right flank.

Before Benzema could close him down, Pepe passed the ball to Piszczek.

The Pole, with his back to the right touchline, controlled the ball into the half-space, passed to Modrić, and then sprinted forward.

Arshavin initially tracked Piszczek back, but as he neared Modrić, he tucked inside, hoping to double-team Modrić with Alexandre Song and win the ball.

But to everyone’s surprise, before the two defenders could form a pincer movement, Modrić suddenly played a diagonal pass.

The ball traveled diagonally from the half-space towards the outside of the right corner of the penalty area, slipping right between Arshavin and Alexandre Song.

After bypassing Arshavin, Piszczek made a quick diagonal run forward, perfectly meeting Modrić’s pass.

The Polish full-back took a touch, looked up at the box, and delivered a high diagonal cross with his right foot.

The ball floated from the right corner of the box towards the center of the six-yard box.

At almost the same instant, Carroll, who had been lurking in the box waiting for a cross from his teammate, took a stride forward, leaped from behind Gallas, and met Piszczek’s delivery with a powerful, flicked header—a lion shaking its mane.

The ball glanced off Carroll’s head, changed direction, and flew into the left side of the goal.

Goalkeeper Lloris was positioned more to the right and dived at full stretch.

But how could he possibly get there in time?

The ball nestled into the back of the Gunners’ net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s blitz has once again breached Arsenal’s goal!”

“Just 4 minutes into the second half!”

“Arsenal’s defense has been exposed once again!”

“And it’s the fatal high ball again!”

“Gallas was completely unable to stop the big and powerful Carroll. He watched helplessly as the English centre-forward scored right over his head.”

“This is absolutely astonishing!”

“After the restart for the second half, Bayswater Chinese, who were on the back foot in the first half, have uncharacteristically gone on the offensive and scored within 4 minutes!”

“This is a clash of master tacticians!”

“Yang Cheng’s opening blitz has once again worked wonders!”

“In the end, Wenger’s defensive line couldn’t withstand Bayswater Chinese’s blitz.”

“2-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese extend their lead!”

…

Kick-off again.

When the Gunners restarted play, they discovered that Bayswater Chinese were still pressing them relentlessly.

If the Bayswater Chinese of the first half were like a salted fish lying flat, their London rivals in the second half were like ferocious tigers descending from the mountains, mad with hunger.

This was very unsettling for the Arsenal players.

But they were still unwilling to give up.

Playing on the front foot, conceding two goals… was it true that the Gunners just couldn’t perform in big games?

The Gunners launched several attacks, but they couldn’t break out, not even managing to get past the midfield.

Bayswater Chinese’s counter-press after losing the ball in the final third, and the pressure from their midfield and attack, was nearly suffocating Arsenal.

In the 56th minute, as Arshavin was about to carry the ball over the halfway line on the left, he was tackled by Modrić near the center line.

In his attempt to win the ball back, the Russian Tsar tripped Modrić.

Modrić, using Arshavin’s hand to help himself up from the turf, placed the ball and took a quick free-kick.

Piszczek sprinted down the right flank, but the ball was cleared out for a throw-in by Clichy.

Another throw-in.

Piszczek ran over and quickly threw the ball to Modrić.

The Croatian used his body to shield the ball from Arshavin, controlled it with his chest, and then skillfully dribbled, looking to advance.

Fearing Modrić would get past him, Clichy immediately rushed over to block him.

Modrić played a straight pass to Piszczek, who was right next to Clichy.

Piszczek controlled the ball with his right foot into the space behind Clichy, chased after it, and crossed without a second thought.

A loud thump echoed through the stadium as the ball was crossed from the right byline towards the near post.

And it was another high ball!

Almost simultaneously, Carroll sprinted forward at top speed.

He was like a giant bear from Siberia. How could William Gallas, at 1.81 meters tall and weighing only 72 kilograms, stop this rampaging monster?

Carroll charged to the right corner of Arsenal’s six-yard box, leaped high into the air, leaping high from a standing start, met Piszczek’s cross, and sent a header crashing into the bottom right corner of Arsenal’s goal.

Goalkeeper Lloris was positioned on the right side this time, but Carroll’s header was fast and powerful, smashing downwards into the goal, leaving his outstretched hand grasping at thin air.

The ball bulged the back of Arsenal’s net once more.

3-0!

A brace!

Only at this moment did a collective gasp of shock once again echo through the Emirates Stadium!

“That’s just staggering!”

“My God!”

“In that moment, Andy Carroll was possessed by the spirit of the Beast, Drogba!”

“I don’t even know how to describe this feeling. Gallas looked so small and insignificant in front of him!”

“He’s like the king of the air!”

“Two headers, and we’ve seen the immense power that Andy Carroll possesses!”

“1.91 meters tall, 83 kilograms, and he’s only 20 years old!”

“But at this very moment, Andy Carroll has displayed an unparalleled intimidating presence!”

“And so far this season, he has already scored 8 goals!”

“8 goals in 9 league matches, that’s simply unbelievable!”

“We have no doubt that, given time, Andy Carroll will become a super centre-forward, no less formidable than Drogba!”

“And here, we must feel sorry for Newcastle.”

“The Magpies, mired in financial difficulties, let such a king of the air go for a mere 3 million pound sterling!”

“We’d love to know what the Magpies fans are thinking right now.”

…

After Carroll’s two hammer blows smashed open Arsenal’s goal, the outcome of the match was decided.

Yang Cheng’s blitz lasted just over ten minutes, yielding two goals and a 3-0 lead. He immediately made a substitution.

He needed to conserve energy for the trip to the Bernabéu next Wednesday.

And so, Bayswater Chinese reverted to the defensive counter-attacking style of the first half.

Wenger’s team launched a frantic comeback and, in the 69th minute, capitalized on defensive issues exposed by Bayswater Chinese’s successive substitutions. Benzema dribbled into the box and was tripped by Pepe.

Yellow card and a penalty!

Marriner’s decision drew a furious reaction from Yang Cheng, who stomped and raged on the sidelines, pointing at Marriner and letting loose a torrent of abuse, accusing him of deliberately helping Arsenal score.

This left the head referee speechless.

He ran to the sideline and sternly “warned” Yang Cheng.

“It was such an obvious foul, right in front of my eyes, how could I have made a mistake?” Marriner almost cried.

Being a damn referee was such a thankless job!

Right or wrong, just blame the referee first!

Do you top managers have any sense of reason?

Seeing his put-upon expression, Yang Cheng actually felt a bit embarrassed to say more. He smiled, patted Marriner on the shoulder, and turned to walk back.

“I’m really not as thick-skinned as Ferguson. My skills aren’t there yet!”

The Gunners’ captain, Fàbregas, took the penalty and converted it, successfully pulling one goal back.

3-1!

Wenger then made a series of substitutions.

He even took off Alexandre Song for Nasri to further strengthen the attack.

As a result, the last 20 minutes of the match were largely controlled by Arsenal.

But Bayswater Chinese defended well.

In the end, the score was 3-1. Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal away from home, thanks to a brace from Carroll.

Yang Cheng could almost guarantee that tomorrow’s British media—no, the entire English-speaking media worldwide—would be filled with lengthy reports about Carroll.

The 20-year-old tall center-forward was about to become a sensation again!

…

“You, you were just digging your own grave!”

After the press conference, Yang Cheng was invited to Wenger’s office.

As soon as they met, seeing Wenger’s bitter expression, Yang Cheng couldn’t resist twisting the knife a little.

He didn’t know why, but seeing Wenger’s dejected look just made him want to kick the man while he was down.

“Honestly, in this match, if you had focused on defending, we would have had a really tough time. But you chose to attack, so you can’t blame me,” Yang Cheng said, his victory feeling completely justified.

Wenger gave a bitter smile and sighed deeply. “I just wanted to win a big game.”

“Then you should look at Manchester United. Old Fergie is much smarter than you. Whether it was the first round against us or the match against you, he chose to play on the counter.”

Yang Cheng could actually understand Wenger’s thinking.

Bayswater Chinese had to split their focus with the Champions League match against Real Madrid next Wednesday, while Arsenal did not.

But in reality, after a two-week international break, the Gunners’ players weren’t in top form either.

For instance, Benzema and van Persie had few opportunities against the Bayswater Chinese defense.

Arshavin had traveled a long way for international duty, giving his all to secure a spot in the South Africa World Cup, and his dribbling today lacked its usual sharpness.

Ultimately, Wenger was a bit of an overthinker.

It was a disease, and it needed a cure!

Wenger clearly didn’t want to dwell on the matter.

A loss was a loss; what mattered were the upcoming matches.

But Yang Cheng had a feeling that the Gunners’ defensive problems were still significant.

Or rather, Wenger still hadn’t solved Arsenal’s issue with the transition from attack to defense.

Furthermore, the team lacked cohesion.

“If you ask me, you guys can be considered extravagantly wealthy now. You shouldn’t still be so meticulous with your calculations, so stingy, like you used to be.”

Having won on their turf, Yang Cheng didn’t mind offering a few words of comfort and advice.

“Are you talking about the Fàbregas situation?”

“Yeah. Take decisive action, make a clean break when you have to. Don’t let it drag on and affect team morale!”

Yang Cheng was very blunt.

Fàbregas wasn’t his player, so what did he have to fear?

“Barça has been really out of line in this matter. Every time he goes back for international duty, they try to entice him in every way possible, stirring up trouble every single time. If it were me, I would have put them in their place a long time ago.”

Just before this match, Wenger had been in the media accusing Barça of trying to lure Fàbregas away.

It was a tangled mess.

Fàbregas came from Barça and was desperate to go back.

And Wenger?

He was desperately trying to keep him, but he couldn’t stop the persistent seduction from that scoundrel of a club, Barça.

Didn’t he understand? The more pathetically the meek husband begs, the more the wife looks forward to having an affair, and the more the lover enjoys his advances.

In a situation like this, the husband should just lock the doors, unleash his tough-as-nails brother, and flip the table!

If all else fails, just state your terms clearly, get a divorce, and be done with it once and for all.

“If it were you, what would you do?” Wenger asked humbly.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment and smiled. “Simple. I’d offer Fàbregas a huge weekly wage, at least 200,000 pound sterling, making it the highest in the team, to show my sincerity. Then I’d ask him directly: do you want to sign or not?”

“200,000 pound sterling?” Wenger was stunned.

“Look at you. You’re backed by a tycoon owner now. What’s there to be afraid of with 200,000 pound sterling?”

Anyway, it’s not my Bayswater Chinese money being spent, so I’m even less afraid, he thought.

“If Fàbregas is willing to sign, then everything’s fine. If he’s not, then stick him on the bench.”

“He might be a key player, but your midfield is full of talent right now. You’d be fine without him.”

“Then, have a showdown with Barça. Tell them to make an offer!”

At this point, Yang Cheng glanced at the hesitant Wenger and sighed. “If you were more decisive, you’d actually have a better chance of keeping him.”

“Fàbregas is definitely hesitating too. He might not actually want to go back to Barça that badly.”

“Don’t forget, they have Xavi and Iniesta there. Barça isn’t short of a midfielder like him!”

Yang Cheng never believed it when a professional player claimed to be loyal to a certain club.

In professional football, a player’s loyalty is conditional on the club being able to provide the benefits they desire.

These benefits aren’t necessarily just money; they could be fame, glory, or something else.

“Once he signs the contract, renews his deal, everything will be over!”

If Fàbregas was willing to renew, a transfer to Barça would be impossible.

At that point, Barça would stop pestering him.

Because there would be no point.

The reason Barça was pestering him now was ultimately because Fàbregas himself was hesitant and wanted to go back.

Wenger was just too close to the situation to see it clearly!

“Alright, we’ll look into it!”

With that, Wenger raised his wine glass, clinked it with Yang Cheng’s, and said, “Thank you.”

“Don’t just say thank you with words,” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

“My future father-in-law is a fan of yours. I heard you have a collection of fine wines, all rare vintages from famous French wineries. You gave Ferguson a case before, how about sending a few cases my way?”

A few cases?

Wenger’s mouth twitched, and he nearly spat out his mouthful of wine.

Do you think I own a winery?

He had bought them through friends.

I only gave Ferguson one case, and you have the audacity to ask for several?

But for some reason, after Yang Cheng had just helped him with some advice, Wenger found himself unable to utter a single word of refusal.

Yet, deep down, he knew perfectly well.

This little bastard was just bullying a nice guy!

Damn it, if you’ve got the guts, go ask Ferguson for a few cases from his personal cellar and see what happens!

That old bastard would probably beat you to death!

“Alright, I’ll have them sent to you later,” Wenger agreed.

Having achieved his goal, Yang Cheng stood up to leave with a cheerful smile.

“Oh, by the way, for the match against Chelsea in the 14th round, you’d better be careful. If you lose again…”

Yang Cheng left the thought unfinished.

It would be best if Arsenal could beat Chelsea. That would be most beneficial for Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 185: Penalty! Wonder Goal! A Vengeful Real Madrid! That Bolt of Red Lightning at the Bernabéu

The English Beast Becomes the Gunners’ Nightmare!

After the London derby at the Emirates Stadium, the British media, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, went into a frenzy reporting on Andy Carroll’s brace.

They even gave him the moniker “The English Beast.”

With eight Premier League goals, Andy Carroll had already become the top domestic scorer in the Premier League this season.

What was even more remarkable was that he was only twenty years old!

The Sun dedicated half a page to reporting on England’s “King of the Air.”

“Andy Carroll is no nobody in English football.”

“As early as November 2006, he made his debut for Newcastle. He was also the top scorer for the Newcastle reserve team in the 2006/07 season.”

“And since being selected for the England U19 national team for the first time in September 2007, he has scored four goals in eight appearances.”

“Andy Carroll’s performance has been good; he’s a fairly well-known rising star in English football.”

“But in the past few years, Newcastle has always relied on established players and has not given Andy Carroll a major role.”

“This season, however, after coming to the Bayswater Chinese, he has completely hit a turning point in his career.”

The Sun believed that Carroll’s continuous scoring for the Bayswater Chinese was more of a massive release of energy accumulated over the years, rather than a fleeting flash in the pan.

This was because, with his rise to fame at Bayswater Chinese, Andy Carroll was called up to the England U21 squad in September.

Head coach Stuart Pearce placed great trust in him.

Andy Carroll did not disappoint Pearce’s trust, continuing the outstanding form he had shown with the Bayswater Chinese.

In September and October, England U21 played three U21 European Championship qualifiers: away against Macedonia, away against Greece, and at home against Macedonia.

Andy Carroll’s stats from the three matches were five goals, helping England U21 achieve a record of two wins and one draw.

In the home game against Macedonia U21 at Coventry, Carroll even scored a hat-trick.

“In that match, he completely stole the show from established Premier League players like Wilshere, Cleverley, and Danny Rose.”

The Sun argued that Andy Carroll’s explosion in form was due to the trust and support from his head coach, Yang Cheng.

“The Bayswater Chinese’s insistence on playing down the wings has allowed Andy Carroll’s aerial advantage to be fully utilized.”

“A constant stream of crosses from the wings and passes from behind allows Andy Carroll to continuously get opportunities that directly threaten the goal.”

Returning to the match against Arsenal.

The Sun listed detailed statistics, arguing that Andy Carroll was not just a centre-forward who could only score goals, or even just headers.

On the contrary, in this match, Andy Carroll made tackles, contributed defensively, and orchestrated attacks.

“He’s playing more and more like Drogba!”

“The Bayswater Chinese were able to defeat Arsenal away from home by relying on Carroll’s physicality, and the speed of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott!”

The Sun believed this was a victory for English football!

“This is not the first time Yang Cheng has developed talent for England.”

“In his first season in charge of the Bayswater Chinese, he took only half a year to cultivate Jon Stead, another very promising tall center-forward!”

“Half a year later, Jon Stead, who was scoring consistently, was bought by Souness’s Blackburn Rovers for eight million pound sterling.”

“After joining Blackburn Rovers, it took Jon Stead only six months to completely conquer the demanding Blackburn fans, making everyone feel as if they were seeing the hope of England’s forward line for the next decade.”

“Unexpectedly, the situation then reversed. Following Souness’s departure, Jon Stead’s career went downhill, and he eventually faded into mediocrity, failing to meet the high expectations.”

“Six years later, we are once again witnessing a rising English star, just as we did with Jon Stead back then.”

The Sun issued a call, hoping that Andy Carroll and his agent, Mark Curtis, would seriously consider and plan his future carefully, so as not to repeat Jon Stead’s old path.

Interestingly, The Sun also went to interview Jon Stead.

Jon Stead congratulated and praised the rapidly rising Andy Carroll, believing that Carroll was even better than he had been in his day.

“But he should know that the support he receives in his team now is far greater than what I had back then.”

Jon Stead reminded Andy Carroll to keep his feet on the ground.

“The Bayswater Chinese are a team that strongly emphasizes and values the collective. He needs to have a team-oriented mindset, not take for granted that all the credit is his.”

Finally, Jon Stead believed that Carroll should stay with the Bayswater Chinese.

“For him, that would be the most ideal outcome!”

…

King of London!

The Guardian, meanwhile, used this headline to report on the Bayswater Chinese’s victory at the Emirates Stadium.

The authoritative British media outlet believed that Yang Cheng’s team had planted a banner on the road to the championship at the Emirates Stadium!

After this round of matches, the Bayswater Chinese have played eight out of nine scheduled games and have secured seven victories.

“Before the season, many people said that after selling four core players, Yang Cheng’s team would suffer a major blow in the new season.”

“But as the new season began, we saw Nemanja Matić and Javi Martínez fill the void left by Yaya Touré.”

“Piszczek and Marcelo became the first choices on the flanks, while Andy Carroll and Robert Lewandowski took over Džeko’s position.”

“The overall strength of the Bayswater Chinese doesn’t seem to have been affected!”

“Even in the match against Arsenal, Ryan Bertrand performed solidly.”

“Through a mature and stable tactical framework, Yang Cheng has maintained the team’s stability and competitiveness to the greatest extent!”

The Guardian believed that through this match, the Bayswater Chinese showed everyone that they are the undisputed strongest team in London, the benchmark for London football!

At the same time, The Guardian recalled Yang Cheng’s statement during an interview with them before the season.

“Our Bayswater Chinese will continue to fight for the championship in the new season!”

Looking back now, The Guardian realized that Yang Cheng was full of confidence in his team’s strength.

But The Guardian also reminded Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

So far this season in the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese have only faced Manchester United and Arsenal, with one win and one loss.

The real challenges will come in the Champions League, as well as the upcoming clashes between top teams.

“Yang Cheng’s team still has a long way to go to win the championship!”

…

In his column for The Times, the famous columnist Howard commented on the match, arguing that it was less about Carroll’s breakout performance and more a victory for the head coach.

“Facing a Bayswater Chinese side that had lost four core players in the summer, Wenger completely lost his sense of reason.”

“He seemed to think that in this match, his Arsenal would have the upper hand in terms of strength.”

“But he seemed to have forgotten that the team with the most potent attack in the Premier League this season is not Arsenal.”

“The Gunners only have more goals because they’ve played one more game.”

“And the team with the most solid defense in the Premier League is precisely the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Yang Cheng’s team has conceded two fewer goals than Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea, and everyone knows that Hiddink is famous for his defensive prowess.”

“So, when Yang Cheng used their solid defense to suppress Arsenal’s attack at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners’ much-vaunted offense from this season appeared extremely weak.”

“In the entire first half, they managed only two shots, with zero on target!”

“Once the Bayswater Chinese had shut down Arsenal’s attack, the rest was a test of Arsenal’s defense!”

Howard stated in his column that the outcome of this match was determined more by the head coaches’ decisions than by the players’ performances, which separated the Gunners from the Bayswater Chinese.

“What’s even more commendable is that Yang Cheng’s team faced a more difficult situation than Arsenal, as they had to travel to Madrid, Spain, three days later to face Real Madrid away.”

“Yet even so, the Gunners still couldn’t get a win at home.”

Finally, The Times’ columnist expressed that Yang Cheng’s coaching was masterful, and his tactical arrangements were worthy of applause.

“It’s really hard to believe that his current coaching level is in no way inferior to any of the world’s top managers.”

“And yet, he is only thirty years old!”

“Over the past few years, everyone has habitually believed that the success and strength of the Bayswater Chinese come from their transfers and signings, from the quality of their players.”

“But they easily overlook Yang Cheng, who always stands quietly in a corner at the edge during every championship team photo.”

“He is the one who finalizes the Bayswater Chinese’s signings!”

“He is also the one who leads this young team to defeat one strong opponent after another!”

“Football is inherently a stage for stars, but the Bayswater Chinese are Yang Cheng’s team!”

…

While the media was abuzz with discussion, at the Brent training center, the Bayswater Chinese were focused on preparing for their upcoming trip to the Bernabéu.

After the away game against Arsenal on the 17th, the team had their final training session on the afternoon of the 20th. They then took the team bus to London’s Heathrow Airport to board a private jet to Madrid.

Nowadays, the Bayswater Chinese almost always charter a plane for their away games in the Champions League.

Unfortunately, the club still had to pay for it out of its own pocket.

Yang Cheng had previously asked Adam Crozier to look into potential airline sponsorships.

They had indeed contacted several, such as Emirates Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa.

But ultimately, due to various immature factors, nothing came of it.

Of course, the main reason was the price.

So for now, the Bayswater Chinese still had to pay their own way.

Although the first team only had twenty-three players and only eighteen traveled for each away game.

In reality, when you counted the accompanying coaching staff, medical team, sports science department members, and the new media team…

If you included everyone, a Boeing plane chartered for VIP clients, which could seat around sixty people, was actually quite full.

On the plane, everyone was either listening to music, chatting and laughing, or eating.

The journey was lively, and three hours later, they arrived at Madrid Capital Airport.

After traveling from the airport to the city hotel and checking in, Yang Cheng still had a few things to take care of.

For instance, the new media team’s video was already edited.

All members of the new media team had one thing in common: they were young, and they were cool.

Just like today.

The tedious training and the long journey, after their careful editing and the addition of a slick background music, immediately gave off a very dynamic and cool vibe.

Especially the quick cuts between fast and slow motion during player close-ups—it was just too awesome!

In terms of internet promotion and marketing, the Bayswater Chinese were definitely at the forefront of all European teams.

Even clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid were learning from the Bayswater Chinese and getting into new media marketing.

But as for the results…

“Very good, I have no objections.”

After watching it, Yang Cheng handed the laptop back to the young man named Jason.

He was the leader of the new media team.

As he saw him off, the first thing that came to Yang Cheng’s mind was, Why aren’t tablets out yet?

Carrying a laptop around every time was really inconvenient.

After Jason left, Brian Kidd knocked on the door of Yang Cheng’s room.

The assistant coach brought a confirmed piece of intelligence.

“We have very reliable news. C. Ronaldo has recovered and will make it for this match.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t too surprised and nodded silently.

C. Ronaldo had been injured in the second round of the Champions League group stage, during the home game against Marseille.

He had subsequently missed two weeks of national team training and two La Liga matches.

It had been over twenty days already.

His return was not strange at all.

It was just that the rumors had been circulating without any reliable intelligence until now.

“If that’s the case, then Real Madrid’s starting lineup and tactics will probably be adjusted.”

The difference between having C. Ronaldo and not having him was quite significant for Real Madrid.

So far, with seven rounds of La Liga played, C. Ronaldo had only played in five, scoring five goals.

Džeko, on the other hand, had scored four goals.

In terms of performance, the two were more or less on par.

That was why there had been constant speculation in the media: who was Real Madrid’s most important superstar?

But looking at the on-field play, the two league matches C. Ronaldo missed were critical for Real Madrid.

For example, the 2-1 away loss to Sevilla in early October.

In that match, Džeko failed to lead the team out of adversity.

Three days ago, in the 4-2 home win against Valladolid, he scored one goal, but it was Raúl who scored a brace.

To some extent, this diminished Džeko’s importance.

More and more media outlets were beginning to think that the Bosnian centre-forward lacked the invincible, unrivaled arrogance that C. Ronaldo possessed!

Many people disliked C. Ronaldo’s arrogance.

But one had to admit, a team leader needed that kind of temperament!

“Our initial judgment is that Pellegrini will still stick with the 4-4-2 formation he’s been drilling all season.”

Brian Kidd handed over a piece of paper with a starting lineup he had written down.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Drenthe, Ramos, Albiol, Maicon;

Midfield: C. Ronaldo, Lassana Diarra, Xabi Alonso, and Rafael van der Vaart;

Forwards: Džeko and Raúl.

From Yang Cheng’s perspective, pairing Džeko with Raúl in a two-striker system was obviously not ideal.

While Raúl was a mobile and flexible second striker, he and Džeko had some conflicts in their playstyles.

But the problem was, Raúl was Real Madrid’s captain.

C. Ronaldo was now occupying the left wing, and it was unrealistic to ask Raúl to play on the right.

So, rather than a 4-4-2, Real Madrid’s formation was more like an irregular 4-2-3-1.

This formation had helped Real Madrid secure five consecutive wins in La Liga and two consecutive wins in the Champions League at the start of the season.

In a total of nine matches played, Real Madrid had eight wins and one loss.

They had scored twenty-eight goals and conceded seven.

They conceded a few too many goals defensively, but their attacking firepower was by no means inferior to the Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, many people had been saying before the match that this would absolutely be a battle of titans.

And it would be a spectacular end-to-end game!

“Now that C. Ronaldo is back, should we change our tactics?” Brian Kidd was a little worried.

The tactics Yang Cheng had previously set were to go head-to-head with Real Madrid in an attacking game at their home ground.

But wasn’t C. Ronaldo supposed to be injured at the time?

Moreover, Real Madrid’s midfield was indeed weak.

Now that the Portuguese star was back, should they still play this way?

“What’s there to be afraid of? We’ll know if it works or not after we play the game!” Yang Cheng said with a slight smile, speaking brazenly.

…

On the evening of October 21st, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

It was the third round of the Champions League group stage, with the Bayswater Chinese challenging Real Madrid away from home.

Real Madrid’s starting lineup was exactly as the Bayswater Chinese had predicted before the match.

Gonzalo Higuaín was on the bench, with Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart playing on the right wing.

Yang Cheng also made adjustments.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Ángel Di María, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

The teams coached by Pellegrini never had a simple Latin American style.

It was more like a fusion of European and Latin American styles.

Therefore, whether it was Villarreal or the current Real Madrid, they placed great importance on running ability.

The players’ movement and passing were very skilled and fluid.

Yang Cheng had also devised a counter-strategy for this.

Defensively, whenever Real Madrid had the ball, Rakitić and Modrić would almost always drop back to be nearly level with Nemanja Matić, resembling a three-man holding midfield.

The front three would also actively track back.

At this time, the Bayswater Chinese’s defense looked like three lines.

Among them, the three holding midfielders and the defensive line remained very compact.

It was like building a dam in front of the backline.

Every time Real Madrid’s attack advanced into the final third, they were always thwarted, unable to find any gaps.

Pellegrini’s team launched a blitz, but in the first ten minutes, they couldn’t even penetrate the penalty area once.

This scene was just like the one against Arsenal four days ago.

So, Pellegrini decisively sought a change.

Raúl began to drop deep more actively, and van der Vaart also drifted towards the center, trying to create combinations through the middle.

But it was clear that this path was also blocked.

Nemanja Matić was like a wall, and with the coordination of Rakitić and Modrić, penetration through the center was simply impossible.

But in the 14th minute, when one of Real Madrid’s passing combinations in the middle failed and everyone thought they would pass back to reorganize, van der Vaart had a sudden flash of inspiration and sent a chipped pass.

The ball flew over Rakitić’s head and landed on the right side of the penalty area.

Džeko ran over quickly, used his body to shield the ball from Thiago Silva, chested it down, and stuck it to his feet. He immediately turned, looking to cut inside and shoot.

There was a significant height difference between Thiago Silva and Džeko, making it impossible for him to block. As soon as he saw Džeko about to cut in, he immediately moved to close him down.

But unexpectedly, it was a fake.

The Bosnian centre-forward cut the ball back, turned, and prepared to go to the byline for a cross.

Thiago Silva was completely beaten by Džeko.

Seeing the Bosnian centre-forward about to break past him, Thiago Silva, in a panic, couldn’t care about anything else. He reached out and pushed Džeko, then turned to chase.

But just as Thiago Silva made a last-ditch clearance, the head referee’s whistle blew.

The Belgian head referee, Frank De Bleeckere, unhesitatingly pointed to the penalty spot. At the same time, he gestured for Thiago Silva to come over and showed the Brazilian centre-back a yellow card.

“From the slow-motion replay, you can see that it was indeed an undisputed foul.”

“Thiago Silva was clearly at a disadvantage when marking his former teammate Džeko. The height difference is significant, and he’s also at a disadvantage in terms of physical strength.”

“It must be said, this is indeed Thiago Silva’s weakness.”

Yang Cheng ignored everything else and quickly walked to the sideline, shouting Thiago Silva’s name loudly, signaling him not to dwell on it and to keep going.

C. Ronaldo was Real Madrid’s undisputed penalty taker.

The Portuguese star walked quickly into the box, placed the ball, took his run-up, and coolly slotted it home!

1-0!

The entire Bernabéu, with over eighty thousand fans, was cheering wildly!

Faintly, one could even hear many fans taunting Yang Cheng, who was standing on the sideline.

For the past few years, he had always been the most unwelcome person at the Bernabéu!

Yang Cheng paid them no mind, walked to the sideline, and signaled to Modrić and Nemanja Matić that they needed to push the defensive line out a bit more.

They shouldn’t drop too deep when defending.

At the same time, they needed to pay attention to containing Raúl and van der Vaart.

…

Three minutes after conceding, the Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack down the left flank.

Di María hugged the left touchline, dribbling quickly to take on Maicon.

Although he couldn’t get past him, he sent a diagonal pass into the box, trying to find Lewandowski.

Casillas decisively came off his line and intercepted the ball just in time.

That attack did not go well.

Even if Casillas hadn’t come out, Ramos probably wouldn’t have allowed Lewandowski to get a shot off.

“So far in this match, the Bayswater Chinese have only had two long shots, neither of which has created a truly threatening attempt on goal.”

But just two minutes later, the Bayswater Chinese launched another attack from the left.

Marcelo made a quick overlapping run and sent a through ball to Di María’s feet.

The Argentinian, hugging the left sideline, received the ball with his back to the goal.

Maicon was right behind him, tightly blocking his path, preventing the Argentinian from turning and forcing him to pass back to Marcelo.

As the Brazilian full-back received the ball in the left channel, Xabi Alonso, who had been moving over to double-team Di María with Maicon, turned to press Marcelo.

When the Brazilian controlled the ball, he immediately turned his body slightly to the right and saw Gareth Bale in the right channel, raising his hand to call for the ball.

At that moment, Real Madrid’s entire backline had dropped to the same level as Lewandowski.

In front of the backline, only Lassana Diarra was left in the middle.

Marcelo didn’t hesitate for a second, directly hitting a medium-long pass, switching the play from the left touchline to the right channel.

The pass was a little high.

By the time Bale brought the ball under control, Real Madrid’s defense had already shifted over, especially left full-back Drenthe, who was already charging towards Gareth Bale.

Lewandowski was also very clever. As he moved horizontally with Real Madrid’s backline, he chose to make a diagonal run towards the right side of the penalty area, pushing Real Madrid’s defense back near the edge of the box.

If Real Madrid’s line didn’t retreat, a simple chip from Bale after receiving the ball could have sent it behind their defense.

But by dropping back, they left a huge space in the midfield wide open.

Gareth Bale did not pass to Lewandowski, who had run to the right corner of the penalty area.

Because he saw another direct route to the goal.

The Welshman pushed the ball diagonally towards the center, then suddenly accelerated, sprinting after it.

Using the acceleration and momentum from his run-up, Gareth Bale caught up to the ball and unleashed a furious left-footed shot.

This sudden long-range cannon shot stunned everyone in the stadium.

Whether it was looking for a combination with Lewandowski or a diagonal pass to Di María, both were within everyone’s expectations.

But Gareth Bale chose to shoot without hesitation.

The ball flew like a long-range missile, rocketing into the top right corner of Real Madrid’s goal before anyone could react.

Although Casillas made a diving save, his height was a limiting factor, and his outstretched hand failed to touch the powerful shot unleashed by Gareth Bale.

“GOAL!!!”

“A cannon shot from Gareth Bale!”

“1-1!”

“In the 20th minute, the 20th minute of the first half, Gareth Bale blasted open Real Madrid’s goal with a long shot from a full thirty meters out!”

“This is an absolutely brilliant wonder goal!”

“Gareth Bale has stepped up at a crucial moment!”

“He’s proving to everyone that he is the most trustworthy player for the Bayswater Chinese right now!”

“At a critical moment, he stepped up to save the team!”

The entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted in a storm of boos!

All the Real Madrid fans were wildly venting their anger.

They couldn’t tolerate their team conceding such a wonder goal at home to the damned Bayswater Chinese!

But that didn’t stop the Bayswater Chinese players from celebrating the goal with wild abandon on the pitch.

The boos from eighty thousand Real Madrid fans, instead, boosted their morale and ignited their fighting spirit!

…

With C. Ronaldo’s penalty and Gareth Bale’s wonder goal, the match reached a fever pitch.

After kick-off, both sides were somewhat cautious.

Especially the Bayswater Chinese, who were playing away from home.

But as the game gradually heated up, especially after both teams began to see each other’s weaknesses, they both started to ramp up their attacks.

Playing at home, Real Madrid were determined to win.

And Yang Cheng showed no intention of backing down.

Just five minutes later, Gareth Bale received a long pass from Pepe on the right wing, sprinted down the flank to the right side of the penalty area, leaving Drenthe behind.

On the right side of the area, the Welshman suddenly came to a sharp stop, cut the ball back to his left foot, and delivered a cross.

Rakitić made a late run from behind to receive it at the arc of the penalty area.

But at the crucial moment, Lassana Diarra got there first, making a sliding clearance from the right side of the penalty spot, sending the ball out for a corner.

If the wonder goal was a signal, then this time, Yang Cheng was clearly telling everyone that the Bayswater Chinese were going to target Gareth Bale’s flank.

Drenthe was the weak link in Real Madrid’s defensive line!

But Real Madrid’s attack was also focused on that side.

In the 31st minute, Real Madrid advanced their attack down the left flank into the final third. Džeko dropped back outside the arc to receive the ball, turned, and played a through ball into the left side of the Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

C. Ronaldo sped past Piszczek, broke into the left side of the box, met Džeko’s pass, and slotted it past Neuer to make it 2-1!

The entire Bernabéu erupted once again!

All the Real Madrid fans were chanting C. Ronaldo’s name.

The Portuguese star was also incredibly excited, running off the pitch and waving his hands at the live camera.

“As the match progresses, the situation is gradually becoming more and more open.”

“The pace of both sides is constantly increasing, and the game is becoming more and more entertaining.”

“Especially Real Madrid.”

“That attacking combination between Džeko and C. Ronaldo was beautifully executed.”

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, quietly watching the game, his mind already working on his own calculations.

Real Madrid’s attack was currently focused on the left flank, with C. Ronaldo and Drenthe being very active on that side.

The right flank, on the other hand, was more defensively oriented.

This forced the Bayswater Chinese’s right flank, especially Piszczek, to be almost entirely on defensive duty, providing insufficient support to the attack.

Even when they won the ball in the attacking half, they often faced an immediate counter-press from Real Madrid.

Counter-attacks often had to be switched to their own left side.

Moreover, after Gareth Bale’s two attacks down the right, Real Madrid had strengthened their defense.

Ramos was paying very close attention to Gareth Bale.

Lassana Diarra, who was playing on the left side of midfield, also started to hold his position instead of sweeping across the pitch, constantly on guard against Gareth Bale.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng immediately walked to the sideline and called over Di María, who was on the near side.

When the Argentinian took the opportunity during a break in play to run to the sideline for a “drink of water,” Yang Cheng pulled him over and whispered in his ear.

“You go to the right, let Gareth come to the left.”

Di María was a bit surprised.

Before the match, the team’s tactic was to press Drenthe’s side hard to suppress Real Madrid’s left-wing attack.

That was why Gareth Bale, with his superior goal-scoring ability, had been placed on that flank.

“Remember, you still need to stick to the touchline, stretch Real Madrid’s defensive formation.”

Di María didn’t ask any more questions.

There was no time to ask.

“I understand.”

The Argentinian quickly ran back onto the pitch.

Yang Cheng then turned to look at Maicon, then at Gareth Bale in the distance, and an absurd feeling arose in his heart.

Who would have thought that, after all this, Gareth Bale would end up facing Maicon again.

Di María’s speed against Maicon didn’t give him a clear advantage.

But Gareth Bale was different.

In a one-on-one situation, the Welshman could eat Maicon alive!

…

Following Yang Cheng’s adjustment, the Bayswater Chinese gradually understood the head coach’s intention.

Gareth Bale soon got the ball on the left.

But the Welsh winger tried to cut into the box with a diagonal run through the half-space, only to be dispossessed by the combined efforts of Maicon and Xabi Alonso. Gareth Bale fell to the ground on the left side, just outside Real Madrid’s penalty area.

Just three minutes later, Di María also got an attacking opportunity on the right.

After receiving the ball on the right, the Argentinian feinted past Drenthe, cut inside horizontally, dribbled through the gap between Lassana Diarra and Ramos, and curled a shot with his left foot towards the top left corner of the goal.

But the shot grazed the left post and went wide.

Although it didn’t result in a goal, it sent a cold shiver down Real Madrid’s spine.

But in the 41st minute, after receiving the ball on the left, C. Ronaldo used a series of feints to get past Piszczek, cut inside horizontally from the left side of the penalty area, and suddenly unleashed a powerful shot.

The Portuguese star’s strike was incredibly powerful and had a certain spin on it.

Neuer’s positioning was perfect, and he got down in time, trying to hug the ball with both hands.

But unexpectedly, the ball slipped through his grasp.

At that crucial moment, Džeko rushed in for a follow-up shot.

Neuer reacted very quickly, reaching out to block.

The ball hit Neuer’s outstretched left hand and rebounded out again.

But on the right of the penalty spot, the ghost-like figure of Raúl suddenly appeared, getting to the ball before anyone else and tapping it into the Bayswater Chinese’s net.

3-1!

All the Real Madrid fans in the stadium leaped from their seats, screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

The air in the entire Bernabéu Stadium was filled with the voices of Real Madrid fans.

“3-1!”

“Raúl’s goal is absolutely crucial!”

“This goal will be the most painful blow to the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Playing away at the Bernabéu, Yang Cheng’s team chose not to defend with all their might, but instead pressed forward to go head-to-head with Real Madrid.”

“In the past, they managed to beat Real Madrid with this tactic.”

“But now, Real Madrid can proudly tell them, we are the invincible Galácticos!”

“It has to be said, after selling four star players this summer, the Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength has indeed been affected, and Džeko and Maicon are now with Real Madrid.”

“Add C. Ronaldo to the mix, and Real Madrid’s current attacking firepower can be said to be the best in European football!”

“Next, let’s see what kind of tactics the Bayswater Chinese will adopt.”

“However, the Real Madrid fans don’t seem satisfied yet.”

“In the stands, many fans are chanting ‘One more goal!’”

“That’s right, Real Madrid fans hold a grudge!”

“They still remember the time Yang Cheng’s team scored four goals against them at the Bernabéu Stadium.”

“Now, they want revenge!”

…

The game restarted.

Influenced by the home crowd, the Real Madrid players continued to press forward, constantly creating opportunities.

After conceding two goals in quick succession, the Bayswater Chinese’s morale took a significant hit.

Yang Cheng signaled for the defense to drop back, to first stabilize the backline and then launch counter-attacks.

In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Real Madrid once again attacked the area outside the Bayswater Chinese’s box.

Raúl dropped deep to receive the ball near the arc of the penalty area, but Nemanja Matić successfully tackled him and won the ball.

The Serbian holding midfielder directly poked the ball to Rakitić in front of him.

The Croatian controlled the ball, turned, and played a low pass to Lewandowski, who had dropped back.

The Polish centre-forward, without taking a touch, flicked it with the side of his foot to the left.

As Gareth Bale received the ball near the left touchline, he took a touch forward with his left foot and suddenly accelerated.

He saw a lane.

Right between Maicon and Xabi Alonso.

Real Madrid’s two defensive players clearly wanted to close him down.

The last time, it was too close to the penalty area.

But this time, he was confident!

With his speed, he believed he could break through.

As Gareth Bale, in his red jersey, took off, he was like a Ferrari supercar with the pedal to the metal.

A bolt of red lightning shot forward at incredible speed, instantly reaching Maicon, and just before the Brazilian defender could react, he knocked the ball forward again.

The ball rolled through the channel between Maicon and Xabi Alonso and behind the defensive line, while Gareth Bale zipped through the gap between the two players.

Catching up to his own pass, Gareth Bale went on a wild sprint, getting faster and faster, like a plane accelerating on a runway, ready for takeoff.

The pursuing Maicon and Xabi Alonso were left further and further behind.

The entire Bernabéu Stadium was utterly shocked by Gareth Bale’s lightning speed!

Gareth Bale tore down the pitch, reaching the edge of Real Madrid’s penalty area. As Albiol came over to defend against him, he accelerated again, forcefully overtaking him, breaking into the left side of the box, and shooting.

Albiol made a sliding tackle, trying to block Gareth Bale’s shot.

But how could he possibly be in time?

The Welshman’s power shot fully demonstrated his shooting technique.

At such high speed, the shot he unleashed hugged the turf, skimming past Casillas’s side.

The Real Madrid captain didn’t even have time to dive for the save.

The ball drilled into the bottom right corner of Real Madrid’s net!

“My God!!”

“Did you see that?”

“A long-distance solo run from Gareth Bale!”

“He’s scored!!!”

“Facing Real Madrid’s many star players, he single-handedly dribbled the ball all the way from his own half into Real Madrid’s box and scored with a left-footed power shot, keeping hope alive for the Bayswater Chinese!”

“I don’t even know how to describe what I’m feeling right now.”

“A goal like that is just so utterly breathtaking!”

“If Gareth Bale’s thirty-meter wonder goal from the right side showed us his excellent technique and incredible power, then this solo run has completely showcased his astonishing speed and stamina.”

“But most importantly, it was his continuous acceleration while sprinting at high speed, and his technique on the final shot.”

“He is a genius!”

“All you fans watching on TV, you must remember this young man. He is an out-and-out genius!”

“Gareth Bale!”

“The super genius from the Bayswater Chinese!”

After scoring, Gareth Bale was also incredibly excited and ran off the pitch to celebrate.

And at that moment, the Bernabéu Stadium fell into an unexpected silence.

Eighty thousand Real Madrid fans were unable to even boo!

This English teenager celebrating brazenly right under their noses had just scored against their team, yet they couldn’t bring themselves to hate him at all.

Not only could they not hate him, they even felt an impulse to stand up, to applaud him, to cheer for him!

For the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu, they had only felt this way twice before.

Once was when the super genius Ronaldinho led Barça to the Bernabéu!

The other time was for Messi!

But the sensory stimulation Gareth Bale brought them, especially the exhilarating speed of his play, was so captivating that even as opponents, it gave them goosebumps.

It was so absurdly ridiculous!

But it was also so damn thrilling!

And in the entire Bernabéu Stadium, the person most deeply affected by Bale’s goal was undoubtedly Yang Cheng.

In his previous life, he had watched the full two legs of Gareth Bale’s dismantling of Inter Milan’s defense.

But watching a recording was nowhere near as stunning as seeing it live!

It was a sensory thrill that couldn’t be described in words.

It was like witnessing a miracle happen with your own eyes.

He had never doubted Bale’s speed, and over the past year or so, Bale had been gradually bulking up and constantly improving.

Bale’s physical strength was already quite formidable now.

But even so, Yang Cheng never imagined that watching his performance live would be so breathtaking!

This goal was similar to the one he scored against Inter Milan in his previous life.

Perhaps it should be said that long-distance solo runs on the counter-attack were all quite similar.

“This kid has truly exploded this season!” Brian Kidd said, full of amazement.

Yang Cheng nodded.

Looking around the coach’s bench, he saw that his assistants were all stunned by the sudden goal.

If even they, who knew Bale best, were so amazed, one could imagine how incredible the goal was!

Perhaps the only thing Yang Cheng could think of to compare with this goal was Kaká’s performance in the 2006/07 Champions League season.

But the two were different.

Kaká was a combination of speed and technique.

Gareth Bale was a shock of pure power and speed!

This tended to mask some of the technical difficulties.

For example, when he took the shot just now, if his shooting technique wasn’t good, if he hadn’t controlled the power or the point of contact with the ball perfectly, it would never have gone in.

Only those who have played football know that the faster you run, the harder it is to control the ball.

Therefore, this goal was an absolute testament to Bale’s technical foundation!

“The first half should be about over. Go back and prepare. The second half is when the game will be decided!”

Even without that goal, Yang Cheng had planned to launch a comeback in the second half.

But now, with Gareth Bale’s goal, the team’s morale was soaring.

Even though they were still behind on the scoreboard, Yang Cheng had become more confident.

Although Real Madrid was constantly improving, Yang Cheng still wanted to walk away from the Bernabéu with a victory!

Chapter 186: The Twin Stars Shine at the Bernabéu! Zidane: Looks Like It’s Going to Be a Draw!

Halftime.

When Gareth Bale walked into the away dressing room at the Bernabéu, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, who were already waiting, all gave him a round of thunderous applause.

The players who entered the dressing room before and after Gareth Bale also parted ways, allowing the star of the moment to take center stage.

They too were clapping with all their might.

“Well done, Gareth!”

Yang Cheng stepped forward and gave Gareth Bale a forceful hug.

After Yang Cheng stepped back, the others also went up to congratulate Gareth Bale.

Although he had only scored a brace, Gareth Bale’s performance in the first half had been truly outstanding.

Ángel Di María had also played well, especially with that move where he cut inside from the right and shot with his left foot.

It was just a whisker away.

Robert Lewandowski’s performance was decent, but he was up against Raúl Albiol and Ramos.

Ramos was a definitely underrated centre-back.

Yang Cheng had arranged this little ceremony both as an incentive for Gareth Bale and to boost the team’s morale.

Once everyone had dispersed to prepare for the second half, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff got busy.

When the time was right, he clapped his hands forcefully, gathering everyone together again.

“Two-three!”

“We’re currently behind!”

Yang Cheng looked directly at the players before him, still brimming with confidence.

“For the past few years, every time we’ve come to the Bernabéu, we’ve scored at least four goals.”

Yang Cheng held up four fingers, and the surrounding players couldn’t help but exchange smiles.

“So, we’ve still got two more in the second half. You all need to keep working hard, put in more effort!”

The group burst into laughter.

But amidst the laughter, they were all infected by Yang Cheng’s confidence.

“In the first half, Real Madrid’s attacks were mainly focused on C. Ronaldo’s side, which caused a great deal of trouble for our right-flank defense.”

At this, Yang Cheng looked at Piszczek.

“Łukasz, even though the last two goals came from your side, I know you did your absolute best.”

“No one here will blame you!”

“On the contrary, your teammates and I will continue to support and trust you. We are in this together!”

Piszczek nodded heavily.

Anyone who hadn’t personally faced C. Ronaldo on the pitch had no idea how strong he was.

He didn’t just have speed, skill, and physicality; he could also run tirelessly. Once he got going, he was simply unstoppable.

Back in the Premier League, C. Ronaldo had actually played more on the right wing, so he hadn’t matched up directly with Piszczek.

Even on the odd occasion they did face off, it wasn’t for an entire match.

Now, after playing for a full half, the pressure was immense.

But even so, Piszczek bravely stood up and said loudly, “Boss, you and everyone else can rest assured, I will definitely work even harder!”

Just as Piszczek finished speaking, captain Modrić reached out and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll help you!”

A simple sentence, spoken in a soft, gentle tone, yet it carried a heavy weight.

This made Piszczek clench his jaw and nod solemnly in agreement.

“Ángel.”

Yang Cheng looked at Ángel Di María. “At the start of the second half, I want you to put some pressure on Drenthe. Don’t let that kid keep pushing so far forward.”

“Okay,” Di María agreed readily.

“In the second half, our attack will remain focused on the two flanks, especially the left. Gareth, you’re still our main attacker.”

“Our defense can no longer press forward. We’ll drop back into our own half, leaving plenty of space up front.”

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, everyone understood.

With space up front, the speed of Gareth Bale and Ángel Di María could become a real threat.

In a battle of attrition, against the likes of Maicon and Raúl Albiol, Gareth Bale might not necessarily gain an advantage.

“Everyone!”

After giving his instructions, Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully, gathering everyone around him.

“This is the most crucial match of our group stage. No matter what, we have to beat Real Madrid and lay the foundation for finishing first in the group!”

After hearing him, the players all responded in unison.

…

The second half began with Bayswater Chinese sounding the horn for an all-out attack.

After receiving a pass from Modrić on the right, Ángel Di María used a series of feints to get past Drenthe before driving towards the right side of the penalty area.

Ramos quickly rushed out to provide defensive cover, blocking Di María’s path into the box.

The Argentinian performed his signature Noodle Man sway, shaking off Ramos before going to the byline and delivering a rabona cross.

Although Di María’s right foot had become more and more proficient, his rabona skills had also kept up with the times.

Using a rabona on the right flank was both secretive and sudden.

The only problem was that the power and placement were difficult to control.

Robert Lewandowski, positioned at the near post, gave his all in the aerial duel but still couldn’t get his head to the ball.

The ball was headed out of the box by Raúl Albiol.

Real Madrid quickly responded in kind.

Three minutes later, C. Ronaldo received the ball on the left flank. After dribbling continuously towards Piszczek, he suddenly cut inside horizontally, shaking off Piszczek and, just before Modrić could intervene, unleashed a power shot.

When C. Ronaldo cut inside from the left, he usually aimed for the far corner.

But this time, the Portuguese star suddenly chose to aim for the near corner.

And the angle was extremely tight.

Fortunately, Neuer reacted quickly enough, diving to his side and blocking the ball out for a corner with one hand.

The Portuguese player’s shooting technique was truly outstanding!

Subsequently, Real Madrid’s corner kick caused chaos in the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

But they couldn’t manage to get a shot off.

In the 52nd minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Once again, it was down the right flank.

And once again, it was Ángel Di María.

This time, the Argentinian first dribbled inside from the right, shaking off Drenthe. He then made a diagonal run to the right side of the arc of the penalty area and suddenly chipped a pass over the defense. Robert Lewandowski made a diagonal run from the arc behind Ramos, controlled the ball with his chest, and then took a shot.

Casillas reacted quickly, closing down the angle in time and blocking the ball out for a corner.

Bayswater Chinese’s corner kick also failed to result in a shot and was cleared directly by Ramos.

The end-to-end game between the two teams was played at a blistering pace, and the match was a fantastic spectacle.

The eighty thousand fans in the Bernabéu gasped and exclaimed with every twist and turn of the game.

But after ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese gradually withdrew their defensive line into their own half.

Pellegrini still wanted to break through the Bayswater Chinese defense through the passing combinations of Džeko, Raúl, Rafael van der Vaart, and others in the midfield and half-spaces.

In the 58th minute, Džeko dropped back to receive the ball and delivered a brilliant backheel pass.

Raúl made a quick forward run from the left side of the arc into the penalty area.

At the crucial moment, Thiago Silva got a foot in first, poking the ball away.

It was a very decisive and bold piece of defending.

He not only poked the ball but also tripped Raúl.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a tradition for Real Madrid players to surround the head referee, who had a clear view and did not call a foul.

In the 62nd minute, after driving forward in the right half-space, Rafael van der Vaart, facing the defending Rakitić, played a diagonal pass.

When Džeko received the ball in the arc, he was being closely marked from behind by Pepe.

The Bosnian centre-forward wanted to pass, but he found himself sandwiched between Pepe and Nemanja Matić.

The surrounding passing lanes were also cut off.

Džeko tried to shield the ball before passing it to Raúl.

But just as he made the pass, Modrić, who was tracking back, intercepted it, poking the ball away.

Thiago Silva cleared it with one kick, sending the ball out of the penalty area.

But the ball still fell to a Real Madrid player.

Xabi Alonso collected the ball and organized a second wave of attack.

After the clearance, Nemanja Matić, Modrić and Rakitić quickly moved out of the penalty area, pushing the defensive line forward as a unit.

Robert Lewandowski immediately pressed Xabi Alonso, forcing the Real Madrid holding midfielder to pass back to a centre-back.

If time were to freeze at this moment, one would easily notice that Real Madrid only had two players in their backline.

Raúl Albiol and Ramos.

They were standing near the center circle.

Real Madrid’s two holding midfielders were positioned on either side of the bottom of the center circle in the Bayswater Chinese half.

Maicon and Drenthe, meanwhile, had pushed forward to the touchlines, roughly level with the double pivot.

The rest of the Real Madrid players had all charged into the 30-meter area.

Real Madrid was currently in possession.

The attacking midfielders and forwards were all waiting for a pass from their teammates behind them to launch the next attack.

This was, in fact, something Bayswater Chinese had intentionally allowed.

It was very clear that Gareth Bale and Ángel Di María had retreated with the overall formation to near the 30-meter area, maintaining a distance of about ten meters from Maicon and Drenthe.

Robert Lewandowski had dropped back even further, positioning himself between Xabi Alonso and Lassana Diarra, leaving Real Madrid’s two centre-backs completely open.

Under these circumstances, given Real Madrid’s consistent technical and tactical style and the fact they were playing at home, it was impossible for their formation not to press forward.

The only question remaining was which side Real Madrid would attack from.

Ramos, with the ball inside the center circle, passed it to Raúl Albiol.

Robert Lewandowski started running immediately.

The Polish centre-forward ran diagonally from the bottom of the center circle towards Raúl Albiol, who was near the intersection of the left side of the circle and the halfway line.

What no one noticed was that at almost the same time, Gareth Bale, who had originally dropped back to the 30-meter area, suddenly burst into motion, surging forward rapidly.

Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María had been playing together for years and had a great understanding.

When one moved, the others immediately sensed it.

Sure enough, seeing Robert Lewandowski closing in, Raúl Albiol had only three passing options.

A risky through ball to find Rafael van der Vaart, but Rakitić was nearby.

A back pass to the goalkeeper Casillas, which was basically unrealistic.

He was more than half a pitch away.

That left Maicon, who was hugging the touchline.

So, as Robert Lewandowski bore down on him, Raúl Albiol immediately knocked the ball to his right and passed it to Maicon.

But as soon as the pass left his foot, Raúl Albiol knew he had made a mistake!

Because he saw a red figure closing in on Maicon at incredible speed.

Before the ball even arrived, Gareth Bale had already sprinted past Maicon and intercepted the pass with his left foot.

The Welshman didn’t try to control the ball. Instead, he met Raúl Albiol’s pass head-on and knocked it forward with one touch.

Immediately after, Gareth Bale exploded forward, using his ridiculously powerful speed to sprint ahead.

Raúl Albiol, Maicon, and even Ramos and Xabi Alonso were all stunned.

They all immediately tracked back.

But Gareth Bale’s speed was just too fast!

As he kicked the ball forward, he chased after it at an even greater speed.

Everyone who plays football says: on the pitch, the ball is faster than the man!

But in that instant, a completely absurd illusion surfaced in everyone’s minds.

Gareth Bale was faster than the ball!

After catching up to the ball he had kicked with lightning speed, the Welshman once again knocked it towards the penalty area with his left foot and raced after it.

Ramos had always been a fast player.

He tracked back as fast as he could, also moving towards the left side of the box.

But Gareth Bale was still a step faster. After catching up to the ball at the edge of the penalty area, he took a light touch, knocking the ball into the box.

This was also an adjustment.

Knowing the situation was dire, Ramos reached out to pull him back.

But Gareth Bale, now at full sprint, blocked his arm, and his entire body had already burst into the left side of Real Madrid’s penalty area. Before the advancing Casillas could reach him, he unleashed another power shot with his left foot.

Casillas was already halfway out.

He thought he had anticipated Gareth Bale’s speed and the area from which he might shoot.

But it turned out he had still underestimated him.

The Welshman’s speed was too incredible!

It was as if he had taken flight!

The ball flashed past Casillas and nestled into the bottom right corner of Real Madrid’s net.

It was only at this moment that the entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted with the gasps of Real Madrid fans.

Just now, from the moment Gareth Bale intercepted the ball and took off to his full-speed sprint and final shot, the entire Bernabéu stadium had been dead silent.

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, completely focused on watching Gareth Bale’s sprint.

How could a human be this fast?

It wasn’t until after the ball went in that the stands of the Bernabéu erupted with the gasps of Real Madrid fans.

It sounded more like a cry of despair after conceding a goal!

Gareth Bale had already turned and run off the pitch, sprinting wildly to celebrate his hat-trick!

“Three goals, one wonder goal, two long-distance solo runs!”

“This is Gareth Bale!”

“We’re seeing that Real Madrid’s entire backline simply cannot stop the Welsh winger!”

“This is absolutely incredible!”

“Gareth Bale has torn apart Real Madrid’s defense time and time again with his lightning speed.”

“Three-three!”

“Now, both teams are back on a level playing field!”

“Before this match, everyone was talking about C. Ronaldo, about Džeko.”

“But they could have never imagined that tonight at the Bernabéu would belong to Gareth Bale!”

“The Welsh winger who is only twenty years old!”

“Perhaps football fans in Spain have heard of Gareth Bale’s name, maybe they’ve even witnessed his blistering pace and dribbling.”

“But tonight, they will surely have to reacquaint themselves with this young Bayswater Chinese winger!”

…

As the match reached the 65th minute, Pellegrini made his first substitution.

Álvaro Arbeloa came on for Rafael van der Vaart.

Drenthe was pushed into midfield, with Álvaro Arbeloa playing at left-back.

This was a very clear signal to strengthen the team’s defense.

Real Madrid had always been a team that favored attack over defense.

The backline had never been Real Madrid’s priority in team building and recruitment.

The central midfield pairing of Xabi Alonso and Lassana Diarra performed well against other La Liga teams, but in clashes between top teams, they inevitably found themselves stretched thin.

This was especially true in this match.

Facing a Bayswater Chinese attacking down both flanks, Real Madrid’s defense was not performing ideally.

The same could be said for Bayswater Chinese’s backline.

But both teams’ attacks were incredibly lively.

After the substitution, Real Madrid did not opt to defend but instead continued to ramp up their attack.

Bayswater Chinese was not to be outdone.

First, Real Madrid created a chance through C. Ronaldo on the left. After a series of feints against Piszczek, he suddenly hit a low, hard cross into the center.

At the crucial moment, Pepe got his foot in before Džeko, poking the ball out of the penalty area.

Bayswater Chinese immediately responded in kind.

Gareth Bale received the ball on the left of Real Madrid’s box. Facing Maicon, he first faked as if to go to the byline, then suddenly cut the ball back with his left foot, knocked it horizontally with his right, and cut inside, breaking into the left side of Madrid’s box before sending a low cross into the center.

Robert Lewandowski followed up with a toe-poke.

The shot was too central and was caught squarely by Casillas.

In the 72nd minute, Real Madrid was again in possession in the attacking third. Raúl passed to Džeko.

The Bosnian centre-forward used his body to shield the ball from Thiago Silva before turning and laying it off horizontally.

C. Ronaldo followed up, hitting a furious shot with his right foot without taking a touch.

The quality of the shot was excellent.

The angle was rather central, but it was packed with power.

Neuer couldn’t hold onto the ball and could only tip it over the crossbar, giving Real Madrid a corner kick.

Raúl went over to take the corner.

But this time, he didn’t aim for the penalty area. Instead, he passed it to Drenthe at the front right edge of the box.

Drenthe controlled the ball, turned his body, and unleashed a ferocious long shot with his left foot.

This was definitely a move Real Madrid had practiced.

Moreover, Drenthe was most confident shooting from this area.

The shot was struck brilliantly, heading straight for the right side of the goal.

At the crucial moment, Neuer made a flying dive, parrying the ball away with one hand.

Marcelo was the first to clear it with a big kick.

Only then was this wave of Real Madrid’s attack finally neutralized.

Having weathered a wave of attacks from Real Madrid, Bayswater Chinese once again responded in kind.

When Ángel Di María received the ball on the right, facing Álvaro Arbeloa, the Argentinian first feinted, then suddenly poked the ball towards the byline, attempting to knock the ball past his opponent and run around him.

However, the experienced Álvaro Arbeloa simply rugby-tackled Di María, giving Bayswater Chinese a free kick on the right side of the penalty area.

Gianni Vio once again left the coach’s bench.

This time, Pepe won the header, sending it towards goal.

Casillas tipped the ball over the byline with one hand.

Corner kick.

Modrić took the corner.

Interestingly, the Bayswater Chinese players also opted for a short corner. The ball was first played to Di María, who then passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian crossed to the near post, but Ramos cleared it first.

Nemanja Matić intercepted the ball outside the box and chipped it back in.

Robert Lewandowski went for a header.

Unfortunately, under pressure from Raúl Albiol, he couldn’t get enough power on it.

The ball was easily collected by Casillas.

This tit-for-tat, end-to-end battle had everyone watching on the edge of their seats, shouting in excitement.

The pace of the game was incredibly fast.

But the players’ stamina was constantly being drained by the incessant back-and-forth running and the rapid transitions between attack and defense.

Especially after the 75th minute, it was clear that the energy levels of players on both sides had dropped significantly.

The pace of the match also began to slow down.

Even the match commentators opined, “A draw should be a result both sides can accept!”

“Of course, being held to a draw at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid will certainly feel a bit more frustrated.”

Bayswater Chinese opted to drop back.

In the 76th minute, Yang Cheng made his first substitution of the match.

Matuidi came on for Rakitić.

This was a signal to strengthen the defense.

And it was precisely this change that fueled Real Madrid’s fire.

The Galácticos were playing at home and naturally wanted to secure a victory against Bayswater Chinese.

If they won this match, their situation would be much better for the fourth-round trip to Wembley Stadium in London.

Thus, Real Madrid began to press forward and attack.

But Pellegrini did not make any changes.

The Chilean engineer was also wary of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack and didn’t want to disrupt the hard-won equilibrium with a substitution.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, made his second change in the 80th minute.

Two substitutions in four minutes.

This time, Theo Walcott replaced Ángel Di María.

The Argentinian had started on the left in this match before moving to the right. He had worked very hard, but his stamina had been greatly depleted.

Especially after Álvaro Arbeloa came on, Di María’s energy levels had dipped, and his performance had become much quieter.

Yang Cheng’s objective with this substitution was still to defend and counter-attack.

…

“Even after selling four core players, Bayswater Chinese are still so strong!”

In the VIP box at the Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez watched as the game entered the 80th minute, and Real Madrid still couldn’t find a way through the Bayswater Chinese defense.

They attempted to penetrate with their attacks time and again, but were repeatedly repelled outside the penalty area.

At this moment, a very absurd thought suddenly occurred to Florentino Pérez.

If the player on Real Madrid’s right flank was Messi, then C. Ronaldo plus Messi would definitely be able to break down the Bayswater Chinese defense.

This tempting thought occupied his mind for a brief moment.

He even felt an impulse to sign Messi.

But soon, the cold reality reminded Florentino Pérez that this was impossible!

“Yang Cheng’s tactical framework is very flexible, unlike Barça’s possession-based system,” Valdano said with undeniable admiration.

“Look, Gareth Bale can play on the left, and also on the right. The same goes for Di María and Walcott.”

“All of this is proof of how he has developed these players and meticulously built this team over the years.”

“In European football today, that’s incredibly difficult!”

Zidane felt the same way.

Modern European football was becoming increasingly pragmatic. Not only was the pace of the game getting faster, but the rate at which coaches were replaced was also accelerating.

Everything was judged by results.

Poor results meant getting sacked immediately.

This made it difficult for head coaches to have enough time to build a team according to their own vision.

All head coaches are saddled with heavy KPIs from the moment they pick up the clipboard, and there’s simply no stopping.

Just look at Pellegrini.

His coaching ability was by no means poor.

But at Real Madrid, he didn’t get the same authority and freedom he had at Villarreal.

In a way, this was also part of the game.

On the other hand, someone like Yang Cheng, who was both the owner and the head coach, had more authority than anyone.

But was that necessarily a good thing?

What if one day, Yang Cheng became complacent, unable to keep up with the times and fell behind the curve? Who would be there to sack him?

One didn’t even have to look that far into the future.

If Yang Cheng were to make a major mistake, who could punish him?

So, everything has two sides.

“I heard that at the end of every season, Yang Cheng hires an independent third-party organization to conduct a season review and evaluation for Bayswater Chinese, and they produce a very detailed report.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Florentino Pérez was very surprised to hear Zidane say this.

Hiring someone to evaluate yourself?

“He’s probably worried about it himself,” Zidane said with a smile.

“That’s one way to supervise and motivate oneself,” Valdano understood Yang Cheng’s intention.

“So, when he sells players every year, he’s actually made thorough preparations. He knows in his heart who can be sold and who can’t, and he’s left a sufficient margin for error.”

Mistakes can happen in anything.

For example, who could have predicted that Robert Lewandowski would suffer a goal drought this season?

While the Polish centre-forward was going through his dry spell, everyone noticed Roy Carroll.

But perhaps not many had noticed that Gareth Bale’s goal tally this season was also impressive; he had already scored six goals in the Premier League.

Ángel Di María and Theo Walcott had also performed excellently.

This proved that Yang Cheng had always made multiple contingency plans.

“Our biggest weakness right now is still in midfield and defense. We still need to strengthen them!” Valdano reminded Florentino Pérez.

The team’s attack was already very strong.

Of course, if the right side of the attack could be strengthened further, the offense would rise to another level.

After hearing this, Florentino Pérez a faint smile. “Alright then, let’s let them off the hook for now. A draw is pretty good too.”

After saying that, the Real Madrid Chairman specifically turned his head to look at the scoreboard.

It was already the 88th minute.

The match was about to end.

“That’s about it,” Valdano said with a hint of resignation.

Although he wasn’t happy about it, there was nothing he could do.

Zidane nodded. “At this point, the players on both sides have pretty much exhausted their energy.”

A draw would be a fair result.

As for that Gareth Bale, he would probably dominate the headlines of major media outlets all over the world tomorrow.

He was just too outstanding tonight!

The showdown between Real Madrid and Bayswater Chinese had already attracted the attention of media and fans worldwide.

Gareth Bale’s hat-trick had even overshadowed C. Ronaldo and Džeko.

He was certain to become a star that the whole world would scramble to follow.

But just as Florentino Pérez, Valdano, and Zidane all unanimously believed the match would end in a draw, as the clock ticked into the 89th minute, the Real Madrid players on the pitch organized another attack.

…

After receiving the ball on the right flank, Drenthe cut inside diagonally into the half-space and played a through ball, trying to find Raúl on the right edge of the penalty area.

Before Raúl could control the ball, Nemanja Matić had already closed him down from behind.

The big, strong Serbian holding midfielder used his body to shield Raúl, making it difficult for the Real Madrid captain to turn upon receiving the ball.

Drenthe, meanwhile, made a quick forward run, looking for a one-two give-and-go with Raúl.

But just as Raúl was about to pass the ball to Drenthe, Nemanja Matić, with his long legs, suddenly stuck out his left foot from behind and intercepted Raúl’s pass.

Drenthe had overrun the play, and Raúl stumbled, losing his position.

Nemanja Matić quickly moved forward, getting to the intercepted pass first and sending it with his left foot into the path of Gareth Bale on the left wing.

The moment the Welshman saw Nemanja Matić win the ball, he coiled up, ready to sprint without a second thought.

When the ball came his way, he was like a Ferrari supercar with its nitrous accelerator activated. His speed climbed rapidly, and in an instant, he had caught up to Nemanja Matić’s pass, charging forward with the ball at his feet.

Maicon hadn’t pushed forward to join the attack earlier, so this time he was able to retreat to near the halfway line to intercept in time.

He had played for Bayswater Chinese for many years and knew Gareth Bale’s speed.

He was even mentally prepared for the ball to go past him, but not the man.

But just as Gareth Bale charged towards him with the ball, the Welshman unexpectedly took a big kick, sending the ball far ahead.

This move left Maicon somewhat dumbfounded.

What’s going on?

Who is he passing to?

But in the next second, an incredible thought flashed through Maicon’s mind, making him feel as if he had been plunged into an icy cellar.

Gareth Bale’s speed was increasing, like a gust of wind, he swiftly swept past Maicon, sprinting into Real Madrid’s half at an incredible pace.

The Welshman was still accelerating!

He actually caught up to the ball he had just kicked!

Everyone watched, dumbfounded, as he blazed a trail from his own half, first overtaking Maicon, then Raúl Albiol, and finally Ramos…

When Gareth Bale brought the ball to the left side of the Real Madrid penalty area, just before Ramos could make a sliding tackle, the Welshman sent a cross with his left foot.

The ball traveled from the left side of Madrid’s box towards the center of the six-yard box.

The instant the pass was made, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

No one could possibly catch up to that ball.

At least, in the live broadcast footage, there wasn’t a second red shirt in sight.

But the next second, another red flash of lightning appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott!!!

The English Twin Stars!

Walcott burst into Real Madrid’s penalty area at incredible speed, sprinting past the penalty spot.

As Gareth Bale’s cross came over, he arrived at full tilt, meeting the ball with a side-foot shot.

The ball traveled in a straight line into the right side of Real Madrid’s goal.

Casillas, positioned at the left post, didn’t even have time to react before the ball was in!

It was only at this moment that the eighty thousand Real Madrid fans in the Bernabéu let out a collective gasp.

Four-three!

Bayswater Chinese had actually made a comeback!

Painful cries from the Real Madrid fans echoed throughout the Bernabéu.

Meanwhile, Bayswater Chinese erupted into wild cheers.

Walcott was the first to run towards Gareth Bale. The two brothers ran off the pitch together, sprinting wildly to celebrate the goal.

The Little Tiger jumped onto his good friend’s back, celebrating the goal with abandon.

Their teammates also rushed over, surrounding them in a tight circle.

“My God, it’s already the 89th minute, we’re about to end regular time!”

“If Walcott came on as a substitute, Gareth Bale has played for a full ninety minutes, yet he still has such incredible stamina, to be able to produce that kind of speed and sprint at the very end of the game.”

“This is simply unbelievable!”

“Let’s relive that goal again.”

“When facing Maicon who was blocking him, Gareth Bale was extremely confident. He kicked the ball forward with one touch and then accelerated to chase after it.”

“He actually passed to himself three seconds in the future!”

“This is beyond our comprehension!”

“It’s simply too incredible to believe.”

“I can guarantee that if Gareth Bale can consistently maintain the form he has shown tonight, he will definitely be able to contend for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards!”

“And what’s even more frightening is that Bayswater Chinese doesn’t just have one Gareth Bale.”

“Just now, while Gareth Bale was sprinting at full speed, Walcott kept pace with him, and even seemed to handle it with ease.”

“The Premier League’s Twin Stars shine at the Bernabéu!”

The moment Walcott scored, Yang Cheng saw Pellegrini cover his face and turn away.

Fans all over the world watching the live broadcast of the match also saw Florentino Pérez in the VIP box lose his composure and stand up in astonishment.

This was definitely beyond everyone’s expectations!

Who could have thought that Gareth Bale could still run at such a speed so close to the end of the match?

And this goal completely killed the game.

Although Real Madrid tried to launch a counter-attack afterward, Bayswater Chinese launched another quick counter of their own.

A long pass from Nemanja Matić nearly allowed Walcott to score again.

This gave everyone at Real Madrid a scare.

They seemed to have forgotten that Gareth Bale wasn’t the only sharp knife in Bayswater Chinese’s arsenal.

The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott, was also a famed lightning-fast killer in the Premier League.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese managed a 4-3 comeback victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu Stadium!

…

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, Yang Cheng excitedly rushed onto the pitch, hugging each of his players one by one.

Finally, he clenched his fists, so excited that he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs.

Džeko and Maicon both came over to shake hands with Yang Cheng, Gareth Bale, and the others.

The most awkward one was Maicon.

“That last play, even now, my legs are still shaking,” Maicon said with a wry smile, shaking his head at Gareth Bale.

“You’ve improved a lot since last season, kid!”

The Bayswater Chinese side all found it amusing.

“It’s not that he improved this summer, it’s that you haven’t played against him face-to-face for too long,” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

Actually, when it came to duels like this, the players themselves were relatively relaxed about it.

Putting other things aside, when a speed-based player directly faces a defender, the chances of stopping them are extremely low.

Never mind Maicon; any other defender would find it difficult to stop a full-frontal charge from Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

The reason was simple: this kind of pure speed charge is impossible to defend against!

But it could be contained through defensive tactics.

For example, during a certain period in the first half, Real Madrid’s retreat was very resolute. They shortened the defensive distance, giving Gareth Bale no space to sprint, and the effect was naturally greatly diminished.

But if they did that, how could Real Madrid press forward to attack?

Tomorrow, the fans would surely curse Maicon to death.

But he really couldn’t be blamed for this.

If anyone was to blame, it had to be Gareth Bale!

After the Real Madrid players left the pitch one by one, the Bayswater Chinese players also began to prepare to leave.

At this moment, something happened that left Yang Cheng not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

As Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and the others were walking off the pitch, faint applause from the Real Madrid fans could be heard from the stands.

This was the highest form of respect the Bernabéu fans could show to an opponent!

Very few players had ever received this honor, and without exception, they were all top-tier superstars.

Now, they were giving it to Gareth Bale.

The applause grew louder and louder.

But just then, Yang Cheng was also about to walk off the pitch.

The previously thunderous applause suddenly became mixed with boos.

At first, the applause could still drown out the boos.

Gradually, the boos grew louder, and then completely overpowered the applause.

In the end, the entire stadium was filled with a chorus of boos.

This left Yang Cheng a bit dumbfounded.

Weren’t they just applauding?

Why the sudden booing?

“The Real Madrid fans are really a bunch of split personalities,” Yang Cheng snorted coldly.

Brian Kidd, Gianni Vio, and the others had to try hard to suppress their laughter.

They really wanted to say: You really have no self-awareness.

If it weren’t for you, the applause at the Bernabéu would have rung out!

…

After celebrating the spectacular comeback with his players in the dressing room, Yang Cheng, accompanied by staff, headed to the press conference.

In the players’ tunnel, Yang Cheng ran into Pellegrini, who had just finished his press conference.

He noticed that under the Chilean engineer’s graying hair, his face was covered in a thick layer of frost.

He looked as miserable as one could possibly look.

Clearly, he had been given a hard time by the reporters at the press conference.

Especially the Spanish media.

It was a sad situation.

The Catalan media would definitely kick him when he’s down, and the Madrid-based media also had extremely high expectations for Real Madrid.

Now that the game had turned out like this, Pellegrini was bound to be the unlucky one.

As they passed each other, they nodded in acknowledgment, which counted as a greeting.

Yang Cheng quickened his pace, arrived outside the press conference hall, straightened his suit and shirt, and then strode into the room.

Although he had been here a few times, the Bernabéu’s press conference hall still gave him a very different feeling.

Not only was it big, but it was also packed with reporters.

Yang Cheng smiled and waved at the reporters as he walked, pretending to be old acquaintances with everyone, whether he knew them or not.

After sitting down, Yang Cheng first gave his assessment of the match.

One sentence.

“At the Bernabéu, against Real Madrid, I couldn’t have asked for more from my players!”

“Tonight, they were the best players in the world!”

Uh… actually, that was two sentences.

These two sentences perfectly expressed Yang Cheng’s satisfaction with his players.

Subsequently, the reporters began their question-and-answer session.

The first question came from a reporter from the British newspaper The Times, asking for Yang Cheng’s evaluation of Gareth Bale’s performance.

Yang Cheng smiled and said, “From now on, my colleagues, our players, and I will hold Gareth Bale to a higher standard. He will become a world-class star!”

Regarding the Welshman’s performance, besides his goals and speed, Yang Cheng was even more appreciative of his teamwork.

Having played as a full-back in the Southampton youth academy, Gareth Bale had a very solid defensive foundation.

Yang Cheng stated that this made Gareth Bale very well-rounded.

Especially in recent years, his right foot had also become more and more proficient.

He could even cut inside from the left and shoot with his right foot.

This was proof of his hard work.

In addition, Yang Cheng also singled out other Bayswater Chinese players for praise.

For example, Robert Lewandowski, Ángel Di María, and the players in midfield and defense.

“We are a team that emphasizes collective effort.”

“I’ve always said that a victory is never the credit of just one player, but the result of the entire team’s hard work.”

“Tonight’s match at the Bernabéu is no exception!”

A Spanish reporter asked Yang Cheng for his opinion on the rebuilt Real Madrid.

Compared to the Real Madrid teams he had faced in the past, what was different?

“Actually, from my personal perspective, I don’t think there’s much of a difference.”

“Every time I walk into the Bernabéu, I’m met with deafening boos. That has never changed!”

All the reporters in the press conference hall had seen the scene after the match as he left the pitch, and they all roared with laughter.

The Bernabéu fans really hated Yang Cheng!

The same went for the Barça fans at Camp Nou.

A Catalan media outlet once conducted an interesting poll: Who would be the next person to have a pig’s head thrown at them at Camp Nou?

Yang Cheng received a very high number of votes.

To be able to offend the fans of both of La Liga’s big two simultaneously, there was really no one else like him in the world of football.

“Joking aside, you can actually see Real Madrid’s progress over the years from the scoreline.”

“Especially this season, the improvement is indeed very obvious.”

Yang Cheng’s deadpan delivery once again sent the entire press conference hall into fits of laughter.

Even the Real Madrid staff member at the side couldn’t help but chuckle.

The last time he came to the Bernabéu, he had said something similar.

Using Bayswater Chinese as a reference point, they scored four goals in every match.

Over the years, hadn’t Real Madrid’s goal tally against them gradually increased?

Wasn’t that progress?

And besides, they used to score only one goal, now they’ve scored three.

They almost held us to a draw!

After the 4-3 comeback victory over Real Madrid, Bayswater Chinese had secured a magnificent win.

But Yang Cheng still remained rational and calm.

When a reporter asked him if he was confident in leading the team to challenge for the Champions League title this season, Yang Cheng replied modestly, “We’ve just undergone a summer rebuild, which has had a huge impact on us.”

“Under the current circumstances, setting overly ambitious goals is not conducive to the team’s growth and will place unnecessary pressure and burden on the players.”

But Yang Cheng also stated that Bayswater Chinese’s philosophy was to always strive for the top.

Although the road was difficult, the team would definitely give it their all and challenge for every trophy.

Two weeks later, Bayswater Chinese would host Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium in London.

Pellegrini had just laid down the gauntlet, declaring that Real Madrid would get their revenge in the away game for tonight’s defeat at the Bernabéu.

In response to this, Yang Cheng certainly couldn’t back down.

He immediately stated that he and his team would be waiting for Real Madrid in London!

“I’m not someone who likes to predict the outcome of a match before it’s played.”

“But I can, on behalf of everyone at Bayswater Chinese, accept Real Madrid’s challenge!”

“In the battle at Wembley in London in two weeks, the best team will win!”

“And that victory will belong only to us, Bayswater Chinese!”

Chapter 187: Bale Time! Premier League Pandemonium! This is the Power of the Youth Academy!

When Bayswater Chinese walked away from the Bernabéu with a 4-3 comeback victory, the British media, in a rare display of unity, lavished Gareth Bale with their highest praise.

Perfect Bale!

An ecstatic The Sun published a massive, eye-catching headline the next day.

The UK’s highest-selling media outlet had always been adept at grabbing attention.

In this front-page story on Gareth Bale, they used a plethora of imaginative words, practically launching him into the stratosphere.

The Sun reported that before the match, all the journalists present at the Bernabéu had analyzed the game, and over sixty percent of them believed Real Madrid would win.

This was because the current Real Madrid boasted the most luxurious lineup in the world!

And when analyzing who in Bayswater Chinese would pose the greatest threat to Real Madrid, almost everyone believed it would be Robert Lewandowski.

“The Polish centre-forward has been in increasingly outstanding form since breaking his goal drought.”

“He was rested by Yang Cheng in the last round against Arsenal, conserving his energy specifically for this battle at the Bernabéu!”

But who could have imagined that Gareth Bale would completely steal the spotlight from his teammate and everyone else?

Even Real Madrid’s C. Ronaldo seemed somewhat dim in comparison to Gareth Bale.

The Sun analyzed that the reason journalists hadn’t favored Gareth Bale was simple.

Because he was facing Maicon.

“In fact, Yang Cheng likely had similar concerns before the match.”

“Maicon played for Bayswater Chinese for many years and was teammates with Gareth Bale. The two are very familiar with each other.”

“That’s why Yang Cheng placed Gareth Bale on the right wing at the start of the game.”

“This did indeed allow Gareth Bale to be very active, scoring a worldie in the first half.”

“But when C. Ronaldo led Real Madrid to score two consecutive goals, changing the score to 3-1, Yang Cheng made an adjustment, and Gareth Bale returned to his most familiar left wing.”

“From that point on, the Welsh wizard was unstoppable.”

“After returning to the left, Gareth Bale didn’t lose out against Maicon in the slightest. In fact, in one-on-one situations, Maicon was at a disadvantage, struggling to cope.”

The Sun believed that Maicon’s performance was actually quite normal.

Unfortunately for him, he ran into a Gareth Bale who was playing out of his mind.

His former teammate pushed Maicon into a very awkward position.

“In the closing stages of the first half and the closing stages of the second half, Gareth Bale made two long-distance sprints.”

“This was definitely not a coincidence.”

“This player possesses extremely rare stamina, astonishing speed, and also has outstanding, solid technique.”

“This allows him to make an impact in the final moments of both halves!”

The Sun analyzed that with a stunning thirty-meter worldie, three long-distance sprints, a hat-trick, and an assist, Gareth Bale had almost single-handedly led Bayswater Chinese to conquer the Bernabéu.

“His performance was perfect!”

“This match also thoroughly demonstrated Gareth Bale’s strength, as well as his personal style and technical characteristics, to the world.”

“As Yang Cheng said in the post-match press conference, we have every reason to expect that the twenty-year-old Gareth Bale will continue to bring us more, and even more spectacular, matches!”

…

The Daily Telegraph, on the other hand, compared the battle at the Bernabéu to the 2005 Champions League final, the Miracle of Istanbul.

But unlike the Miracle of Istanbul, this time it was Bayswater Chinese who repeatedly fell behind, only to equalize each time and complete the comeback in the final moments of the match.

“The last person to create a miracle was Liverpool’s Gerrard!”

“That match firmly established Gerrard’s position as a world-class midfielder!”

“And this time, we witnessed Gareth Bale!”

The Daily Telegraph believed that after this match, Gareth Bale would join the ranks of Europe’s top-tier stars, and even have the opportunity to ascend to the level of a top superstar.

“In the post-match press conference, Real Madrid’s head coach Pellegrini stated that Bale has incredible speed, and all our defenders found it difficult to catch him.”

“This is undoubtedly affirmation from an opponent!”

Sky Sports also published an article immediately after the match, giving Gareth Bale a perfect score of 10 out of 10.

More importantly, Sky Sports described the period after the 40th minute of the first half and after the 85th minute of the second half as 【Bale Time】, because Gareth Bale created two goals during these intervals.

“Physique, power, speed, explosiveness…”

“Gareth Bale has achieved astonishing results in all statistical indicators.”

“He scored a magnificent worldie from the right wing, and when he moved to the left, he tore Real Madrid’s defense to shreds.”

“As a world-class right-back, Maicon was knocked off his pedestal in this battle by his junior.”

Sky Sports believed that the twenty-year-old Gareth Bale was undoubtedly the most talented player in the Premier League.

“But right now, he is far from his prime.”

“We have every reason to expect that in the near future, Gareth Bale can become a superstar admired by the Premier League and even the entire world!”

“Perhaps even contend for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards!”

…

Compared to other British media, The Guardian’s report was somewhat more original.

Besides focusing on the match and praising Gareth Bale’s performance, The Guardian dedicated significant space to recounting Gareth Bale’s life story over the past twenty years.

From nearly being cut from the Southampton youth academy to joining Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale’s football career could be described as a rollercoaster.

And the most talked-about aspect of it was Gareth Bale’s brotherly bond with Theo Walcott.

The two had been friends and roommates since their time at the Southampton youth academy, and they continued this friendship after coming to Bayswater Chinese.

To this day, they are still roommates, whether at the Brent training center or when the team travels for away games.

“Their houses in the London suburbs are even right next to each other.”

The Guardian believed that since joining Bayswater Chinese in 2005, both Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott had been carefully nurtured by Yang Cheng.

Along with Ángel Di María from Argentina, the trio formed Bayswater Chinese’s powerful wing attack.

The Guardian also revealed that many fans thought the three were competitors, but in reality, they were quite good friends off the pitch.

Similar in age and playing the same position, they had become very close.

“When we see Gareth Bale wreaking havoc at the Bernabéu Stadium, we must not forget that behind this achievement lies the years of careful cultivation by Bayswater Chinese.”

“And let’s not forget the trust and support Yang Cheng has given him over the past years!”

The Guardian opined that even before this match, many top clubs had already set their sights on Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

When C. Ronaldo left for Real Madrid, it was once rumored that Ferguson wanted to sign Gareth Bale.

But Bayswater Chinese refused to sell.

Now that Gareth Bale had shone so brightly, it was bound to attract even more suitors.

“Gareth Bale’s perfect performance is both a good and a bad thing for Bayswater Chinese.”

“The good part is, of course, Gareth Bale’s continuous maturation and brilliant performances.”

“But the challenge is that the numerous top clubs coveting him will likely be lining up at Brent’s doorstep.”

The Guardian suggested that perhaps Yang Cheng really should worry about how to keep this future superstar.

“According to reliable information obtained by our reporters, numerous top clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Real Madrid, have already locked their sights on this promising young man.”

…

Coincidentally, Spain’s Marca also revealed in its report the following day that Real Madrid was indeed very interested in the talented young player who had just shaken the Bernabéu.

But it wasn’t just because he had just scored a hat-trick at the Bernabéu.

“Real Madrid had been monitoring Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott as early as the summer transfer window.”

“But Bayswater Chinese has consistently refused to negotiate.”

Marca believed that Gareth Bale’s performance at the Bernabéu had shown the world his strength and potential.

More importantly, after conceding four goals, Real Madrid was fortunate that the match ended when it did.

If Bayswater Chinese had been given a little more time, given the performances of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, the scoreline might have widened even further.

“Over the past few years, his level has been improving rapidly, and his body has become much stronger!”

“He’s too good; there’s almost nothing he can’t do!”

Marca suggested that Gareth Bale would be the optimal solution for Real Madrid’s right wing.

Having already secured C. Ronaldo and Džeko, if they were to sign Gareth Bale as well, Real Madrid’s entire forward line would undoubtedly strike fear into every team in the world!

…

With the frenzied reporting from the British and Spanish media, coupled with the global attention on the Bernabéu clash, Gareth Bale’s name rapidly exploded across worldwide public opinion in a very short time.

All the fans were utterly amazed by this lightning-fast Welshman who had conquered the Bernabéu!

At the same time, Gareth Bale’s name resounded across the globe.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese’s commercial department swiftly took action.

CEO Adam Crozier also reacted promptly, holding a press conference the day after the match to accept interviews from reporters and clarify all the false rumors from the outside world.

“Without a doubt, we will absolutely not sell a young player like Gareth Bale!”

Adam Crozier’s promise was spoken with force and clarity.

Not only that, Adam Crozier revealed that the club would initiate a new round of contract renewals starting in January 2010.

Gareth Bale was a key target for contract extension.

Not only did Bayswater Chinese officially state this, but Gareth Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, also said in an interview with the British media that the player had no intention of leaving Bayswater Chinese.

“Both Gareth and Theo are very happy at Bayswater Chinese.”

Jonathan Barnett stated that his players had made surprising progress and growth at Bayswater Chinese, and they had a very deep affection for the club that had developed them.

“We know that over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese has had to sell many players due to the construction of the new stadium, and the salary structure within the team does lag behind other top giants.”

“But…” Jonathan Barnett changed the subject, “For a professional player, while salary is certainly important, it is not the most important thing, especially for players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott who came through the youth academy.”

“For them, staying at Bayswater Chinese is what matters most!”

Jonathan Barnett’s interview sent a clear signal: the British Twin Stars would not be leaving Bayswater Chinese.

It was believed that once the club initiated contract renewal negotiations, an agreement could be reached before the end of the season.

In fact, when Yang Cheng called Jonathan Barnett, the English agent was the happiest of all.

He even brought up the promise Yang Cheng had made to him in 2005.

Four years had passed, and looking back now, it all felt so magical, so incredible.

Back then, Yang Cheng had said he would give him a marquee star who was in no way inferior to Rooney.

But looking at it now, was it one?

No, it was two!

In England, in Europe, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were in no way inferior to Rooney.

And they were younger, more vibrant, and had an even brighter future.

It was believed that it wouldn’t be long before they might even surpass Rooney!

And don’t forget the 2012 London Olympics, when Great Britain would form an Olympic team.

At that time, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott would both represent Great Britain.

It wasn’t just the agent, Jonathan Barnett, saying this.

In the following days, reporters interviewed Gareth Bale’s parents and family, and the answers they received were all strikingly similar.

Gareth Bale would not be leaving Bayswater Chinese!

This made it clear to everyone that unless Bayswater Chinese wanted to sell him themselves, no one could take Gareth Bale away from London.

This was the power of the youth academy!

…

Yang Cheng didn’t know if the scouting from other top clubs was wearing down the threshold of Adam Crozier’s office door.

But he had seen with his own eyes that the fervent local fans were practically breaking down the threshold of the Brent training center.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were already well-known, but now they were completely and utterly famous!

If Gareth Bale had exploded in popularity because of the Champions League group stage match against Real Madrid, then Walcott’s fame was somewhat more surprising.

For a long time, media outlets around the world had mostly been reprinting reports from the British media.

This was why the Premier League’s influence could spread so quickly.

And over the past few years, with the intentional or unintentional push from Bayswater Chinese, the British media had been dedicated to building up the British ‘Twin Stars’ pairing of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Now, Gareth Bale’s rapid rise to fame had ignited the passion of fans worldwide.

This naturally boosted Walcott’s profile as well.

The Little Tiger had also scored at the Bernabéu.

And upon returning to the Premier League for the tenth round of matches.

Bayswater Chinese played at home against the Black Cats, Sunderland.

In the twelfth minute of the first half, Roy Carroll assisted Walcott for a goal.

Throughout the rest of the match, Walcott was incredibly active.

In the sixty-eighth minute, it was Walcott who dribbled past a defender and delivered a cross from the right.

Matuidi, making an overlapping run, fired a powerful shot from near the penalty spot, piercing Sunderland’s goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Sunderland 2-0 at home.

With a goal and an assist, Walcott was named the man of the match.

First Gareth Bale, then Theo Walcott—the British Twin Stars had delivered excellent performances in two consecutive matches.

This allowed the wave of enthusiasm following the Bernabéu battle to continue.

Passionate local fans had practically “conquered” Brent.

During the morning and afternoon training sessions, many fans would gather at the training center’s main gate, shouting to be let in to watch the training.

Especially in the mornings.

Keep in mind, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t located in central London, but near the Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

Although it was accessible by tube and the motorway was convenient, it still took some effort for fans to get there.

According to reports from the security team at the gate, the number of fans was at least over a hundred, and at its peak, there were several hundred.

The most outrageous thing was that quite a few female fans were chasing after and shouting for Gareth Bale, calling him handsome.

This completely overturned Yang Cheng’s perception of reality.

“Him? Handsome?”

Yang Cheng filed his “complaint” with great perplexity.

To those around him, it just looked like pure envy and jealousy!

“You have to admit, Yang, he’s at least tall and well-built, and looks very strong and powerful. That really fits the aesthetic of many girls,” Adam Crozier said, covering his face to stifle a laugh.

Especially when he saw Xia Qing’s resigned expression off to the side, as if she couldn’t bear to look at Yang Cheng for another second.

The scene was just too comical!

Yang Cheng was indeed a little envious, but definitely not jealous.

He was just very perplexed.

Gareth Bale, known as the “Great Sage,” with that face of his, handsome?

If you were to talk about the most handsome player on the Bayswater Chinese team, Aaron Ramsey would definitely be one of them.

“Success makes a person look good!” Adam Crozier explained with a smile.

There was actually some truth to that statement.

“If you put it that way, I think we should probably find some image consultants to properly manage the players’ images,” Yang Cheng suggested.

In the commercial department’s plans, Gareth Bale’s sudden fame was undoubtedly a huge boon.

Next, they would certainly leverage this trend to build up the British ‘Twin Stars’ pairing and promote both players.

At the very least, their commercial value had to be cashed out.

Endorsements, sponsorships, and the like all needed to be arranged quickly.

Incidentally, they were no longer wearing Puma boots but Nike ones.

But when they were first sponsored, the fees were very low, and Nike hadn’t made much effort to promote them.

Now, Bayswater Chinese would definitely demand more.

There were also other commercial sponsorships that could be explored.

Yang Cheng had only one requirement for this: try not to affect the players’ form and don’t conflict with the team’s schedule.

“The online buzz is still very high right now. Our new media team is planning to do a live stream for them soon, to interact directly with fans around the world and keep the momentum going,” Jason reported.

Hearing this, Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up, and he immediately looked at Xia Qing.

The couple was on the same wavelength; Yang Cheng barely had to lift a finger for Xia Qing to guess what he wanted.

“Which platform have you decided to partner with?” Xia Qing asked Jason directly.

“We haven’t decided yet.”

“Then consider Onefootball.”

“That mobile app that’s been really popular lately?” Jason asked.

“That’s right. You should get in touch with them. The two sides can do a joint promotion, and the hype will definitely not be a problem.”

Jason had no objections.

Mainly because this mobile app had indeed become very popular recently.

They were one of the first sports apps adapted for Apple’s system, and now they were also one of the first adapted for the Android system.

This allowed them to reap the benefits and grow very quickly.

It was said to be developed by a German company, but it had two headquarters, one in London and one in Berlin, Germany.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada both knew about Yang Cheng’s relationship with this company. Xia Qing’s suggestion was clearly aimed at using this wave of popularity to drive traffic to the mobile app, so they naturally had nothing to say.

Besides, the live stream wouldn’t be exclusive to just one platform anyway.

The group had another important task for their visit to Brent this time: contract renewals.

Adam Crozier had already announced it, a new round of renewals would start in January 2010.

This was necessary.

Over the past two years, Premier League salaries had skyrocketed again.

If Kaká’s transfer from AC Milan to Manchester City, which instantly pushed the top salary to three hundred thousand pounds sterling per week, was an unattainable goal for most, then many teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, had set their top salaries at two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

It was foreseeable that after this wave of contract renewals in 2010, the number of players earning between two hundred thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling per week would increase.

Manchester City had players like Yaya Touré and Carlos Tevez.

Manchester United had Rooney and Ferdinand.

Chelsea’s Terry and Lampard were basically at this level.

Then there were Liverpool’s Gerrard and Torres.

All these players were in contract talks, and their post-renewal salaries were expected to enter the two hundred thousand pounds sterling range.

In other words, over the past few years, the top salaries in the Premier League had risen much more significantly than before.

Even Tottenham Hotspur was reportedly set to break its own wage structure to retain players like Defoe and Robbie Keane.

The reason for this phenomenon was simple: the depreciation of the pound sterling and the increase of the personal income tax rate to fifty percent.

The combination of these two factors forced Premier League clubs to pay higher salaries.

So, it wasn’t surprising at all that Liverpool was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Additionally, Premier League salaries were rising faster than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Yang Cheng had pondered this issue.

He felt it was the butterfly effect.

In the past, there was no Bayswater Chinese, and this batch of Bayswater Chinese players was scattered among other teams.

This made the competition for star players among the current giants far more intense than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Under these circumstances, both player transfer fees and salaries soared much faster.

From Yang Cheng’s perspective, he certainly knew that if they could endure these tough times for a little longer, the Premier League’s broadcasting rights fees would see astonishing growth in the coming years.

Not just the domestic rights, but the growth rate of overseas rights was also very impressive.

This would be able to cover the club’s losses on salary expenditures to the greatest extent.

But who could know all this now?

“I’ve heard that Daniel Levy is also looking into it. Tottenham’s top salary might go up to one hundred thousand pounds sterling,” Adam Crozier said.

Tottenham’s salary structure was actually similar to Bayswater Chinese’s, but slightly lower.

Bayswater Chinese’s current top salary was eighty thousand pounds sterling.

Tottenham’s was said to be over seventy thousand.

The exact figures were unknown to outsiders and could only be guessed.

“My opinion is to raise the top salary to one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling, an increase of fifty percent. The bonus system will remain the same,” Xia Qing proposed.

Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier.

Clearly, their opinions differed.

“I feel that a weekly wage of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling isn’t competitive enough. I suggest we go up to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.”

As Adam Crozier said this, he glanced at Xia Qing again and sighed, “But I also agree with some of the finance department’s analysis.”

Xia Qing immediately shared some of her thoughts.

She believed that for the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had adopted a strategy of frequent contract renewals with small salary increases.

But in reality, the increases weren’t that small, at one point even reaching a hundred percent growth.

Of course, this was mainly because Bayswater Chinese’s past salaries were indeed too low.

Now that the club’s weekly wage was already at eighty thousand pounds sterling, it was not appropriate for the increases to be so rapid.

“One hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling is already our limit because we need to keep some ammunition in reserve!”

Xia Qing’s words were not alarmist.

From the current situation, players like Modrić, Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Pepe would probably all receive salaries in the highest tier.

That is, between one hundred thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling.

But how old were these players?

The oldest, Pepe, was only twenty-six.

Modrić was only twenty-four.

In the foreseeable future, Modrić would need at least two more contract renewals.

Among them, according to the finance department’s original schedule, another renewal would likely be needed around 2013.

How much would they have to offer then?

If they gave one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling now, the next time would have to be at least two hundred thousand pounds sterling.

Or even more.

And what about the time after that?

Keep in mind, these two renewals would be during the peak of the players’ careers, not when they were on the decline.

Renewing at such a time would definitely require a salary increase.

Giving a high salary right now would certainly be gratifying and make everyone happy.

But what about the future?

Would they really have to sell players then?

No matter how much affection players had for the club, they would not compromise on matters of their personal financial interests.

Yang Cheng understood this.

Two years ago, Bayswater Chinese’s salary structure was fine.

But over the past two years, especially after the rise of Manchester City, the battle for talent had become increasingly fierce.

Coupled with the depreciation of the pound and the increased tax rate, the entire salary structure had been thrown into disarray.

Other giants had raised their salaries too much, too quickly, which made Bayswater Chinese’s wages seem uncompetitive.

The question now was, should Bayswater Chinese follow suit or not?

Most importantly, salary increases are irreversible.

Unless the club faced a major financial crisis or even bankruptcy, once salaries went up, bringing them back down was as difficult as reaching for the sky!

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng immediately made up his mind.

Although he knew that salaries would most likely continue to skyrocket, he felt it was better to be cautious.

Because there was still the new stadium, that gold-swallowing beast.

“I support the finance department’s decision. Let’s set the top salary at one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling!”

At this point, Yang Cheng turned to Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, “The commercial department needs to hurry up and try to secure some benefits for the players in the commercial field, such as personal endorsements and sponsorships, to compensate for our shortcomings.”

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada also knew the difficulties.

Even without considering reserving funds for the future, the new stadium would draw one hundred million pounds sterling from the club every year, on top of repaying bank loans. These were heavy burdens on Bayswater Chinese.

No matter how capable the commercial department was, top players like Gareth Bale and Walcott would probably be fine and could earn a lot.

But what about the others?

Especially the mid-tier players, could they resist the temptations from other teams?

…

After the tenth round of the Premier League, a situation emerged that greatly pleased Yang Cheng.

Manchester United lost.

Ferguson’s team lost 0-2 away to Liverpool.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated Fulham 3-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated West Ham United 2-1 away.

Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese, with twenty-four points, closed the gap on Manchester United in the league table.

Ferguson’s team led the Premier League table with twenty-five points, just one point ahead of Bayswater Chinese.

And keep in mind, Yang Cheng’s team still had a game in hand.

Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea also had twenty-four points with eight wins and two losses, but they were behind Bayswater Chinese on goal difference.

Manchester City had twenty-three points, and Arsenal had twenty-one.

Liverpool was in seventh place with eighteen points.

Judging from the current situation, Liverpool was falling behind the fastest.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City was starting to hit its stride.

Hiddink’s Chelsea was very stable.

Ferguson’s Manchester United was inconsistent, which was somewhat concerning.

Wenger’s team was suffering in clashes between top teams.

This season, the Gunners had failed to win any of their three big matches.

That was nine points!

Wenger’s team had only lost those three games; they had won all the others.

Three days later, in the League Cup Round of 16 knockout stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

Yang Cheng once again implemented a significant squad rotation.

In the thirty-first minute of the first half, Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring for the team.

In the fifty-seventh minute of the second half, Eden Hazard assisted Walcott to score another goal.

In the end, the team defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home, smoothly advancing to the League Cup quarter-finals.

Interestingly, while Wenger’s team had repeatedly stumbled in big matches this season, this time they eliminated Liverpool 2-1 at home.

Wenger’s team’s squad depth was indeed a step above Liverpool’s.

…

On the afternoon of October 30th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 11, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester City.

Although Bayswater Chinese had to host Real Madrid three days later.

Yang Cheng still placed great importance on this match.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role; Matuidi and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

Yang Cheng had put out his strongest lineup, determined to defeat the opponent.

Ancelotti also fielded his strongest team for this match.

The difference was, he did not take the initiative to attack, but instead set up his signature Christmas tree formation.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Lúcio, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Gareth Barry, Pirlo, and Nigel de Jong formed a three-man holding midfield, with Carlos Tevez and Kaká in front of them;

Forward: Adebayor.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese, who also had to worry about the Champions League match three days later, Manchester City was currently at full strength and had a very deep squad.

Ancelotti didn’t care about the Europa League at all, concentrating all his forces to deal with Bayswater Chinese.

And they adopted a defensive counter-attack strategy.

When Ancelotti set up the Christmas tree formation away from home, Yang Cheng already had a massive headache.

During the match, Manchester City proved to be extremely difficult to deal with.

Their overall defensive press was one thing, but their three holding midfielders firmly guarded the penalty area and the backline.

Even the forward, Carlos Tevez, was constantly harassing Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and Nemanja Matić.

Manchester City had used this same tactic to crush Arsenal at home earlier.

This wasn’t the first time Bayswater Chinese had faced such a defensive counter-attacking team.

Just eight minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese almost breached the opponent’s goal.

Di María received the ball on the right wing and cut inside, taking a shot from the right side just outside the penalty area.

The ball deflected slightly off Lescott, hit the left post, and rebounded out.

This was the most threatening attack of the entire first half.

After that, Manchester City started to defend and counter-attack, while Bayswater Chinese worked hard to create opportunities.

In the thirty-ninth minute, Modrić was fouled while advancing with the ball, earning the team an attacking free-kick.

Thirty meters from the goal.

Gareth Bale calmly took the kick, and his long-range direct free kick caused Joe Hart to fumble the save. Lewandowski followed up with a shot, but it was blocked by Lúcio’s body.

After the teams switched sides for the second half, Bayswater Chinese, following Yang Cheng’s adjustments, launched another blitz and came very close to scoring.

In the fifty-fifth minute, Bayswater Chinese won an attacking free-kick on the right wing.

Modrić sent the ball to the near post of the penalty area.

The Dutch midfielder de Jong, while competing with Pepe for an aerial duel, deliberately touched the ball with his hand, causing it to change direction.

The Bayswater Chinese players were all alerting the head referee, Mike Dean, that it was a handball in the box.

But Mike Dean, whether he didn’t see it or for some other reason, waved his hand to signal play on.

This sent Yang Cheng on the sidelines into a furious rage.

After that, for a long time, Bayswater Chinese attacked relentlessly, while Manchester City defended with all their might.

In the end, Ancelotti’s team managed to run out the clock.

Manchester City secured a 0-0 draw away from home against Bayswater Chinese.

…

“We’re very satisfied with one point!”

After the match, out of sportsmanship, Yang Cheng went to the away team’s dugout to shake hands with Ancelotti.

The chubby Italian was all smiles, looking very pleased with the result.

Well, only an Italian who considers defense to be life itself could be smiling at a time like this!

“Joe Hart will probably be in the Team of the Week,” Yang Cheng said with a hint of sarcasm.

Ancelotti was not offended. “That’s also because you played well.”

In this match, Bayswater Chinese had played really well.

But they couldn’t overcome Ancelotti’s overly conservative Christmas tree formation.

Four defenders, three holding midfielders, plus a Tevez up front—it was simply absurd!

Manchester City only had four shots in the entire game, with one on target.

And Bayswater Chinese?

Thirteen shots, a new season low.

Moreover, today was also the only match so far this season in which Bayswater Chinese had failed to score.

Even in their away loss to Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese had scored one goal.

“I’m just curious, what’s the benefit for you in shamelessly grinding us to a halt like this? Your ranking even dropped!” Yang Cheng said, getting angrier as he spoke.

Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United all won this round.

“You can’t just look at this one round. You have to take a long-term view, look at the whole season. Taking one point from Wembley Stadium is a victory for us!” Ancelotti beamed.

What a cunning and crafty fellow! Yang Cheng cursed inwardly.

In this round, Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at home, with van Persie scoring a brace.

Chelsea got a huge advantage playing away against Bolton.

Bolton received a red card in the first half, and so Lampard, Sneijder, Ivanović, and Drogba each scored a goal.

The Blues defeated Bolton 4-0 away.

Manchester United, at home, defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 with goals from Rooney and Berbatov.

Liverpool, on the other hand, paid the price of two red cards and still lost 1-3 away to Fulham.

The Reds were truly in a slump!

After this round of matches, Manchester United continued to lead with twenty-eight points, while Chelsea, with twenty-seven points, overtook Bayswater Chinese to take second place in the league table.

Bayswater Chinese was in third place with twenty-five points.

Arsenal and Manchester City both had twenty-four points, but the Gunners were in fourth due to a better goal difference, with Manchester City in fifth.

Liverpool remained in seventh place.

This was what Yang Cheng meant when he said that Manchester City fought tooth and nail for one point at Wembley, only for their ranking to drop.

The Premier League was in complete chaos this season!

But one thing Yang Cheng said was absolutely right.

Thanks to his outstanding performance at Wembley Stadium, Joe Hart was indeed selected for the Premier League’s Team of the Week for Round 11.

…

Despite the frustrating draw at home against Manchester City, Yang Cheng had no time to dwell on it.

Three days later, on November 3rd, Bayswater Chinese hosted a menacing Real Madrid at home.

Long before the match, Real Madrid had made bold declarations, vowing to defeat Bayswater Chinese at Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng was not to be outdone, stating that he had already found Real Madrid’s weak spot.

This tit for tat attitude carried over into the match.

From the kick-off, both teams engaged in an end-to-end game.

Just four minutes in, Bayswater Chinese launched a very threatening attack down the right wing.

Piszczek played a through ball, and Walcott controlled it, shook off his marker, and then used his speed to forcefully overtake Álvaro Arbeloa. After breaking into Real Madrid’s penalty area, he delivered a cut-back pass.

Modrić made an overlapping run and took a low shot, which went just wide of the right post.

Just two minutes later, a low pass from Modrić found Lewandowski, who controlled the ball, turned past Raúl Albiol, and then fired a power shot that missed the goal.

A minute later, Gareth Bale performed a series of step-overs on the left, broke through Maicon’s defense, and passed the ball to Matuidi, but the Frenchman’s long shot posed no threat.

A series of attacks, all initiated from the wings.

Yang Cheng’s intention was very clear: to exploit Real Madrid’s unsystematic defense, where the full-backs were easily isolated.

Therefore, he used Gareth Bale and Walcott to repeatedly attack Real Madrid’s flanks.

In the tenth minute, Walcott easily beat Arbeloa before crossing.

In the twelfth minute, Gareth Bale took on Maicon and crossed from the left, but Casillas collected it.

In the thirteenth minute, Walcott knocked the ball past an opponent and ran around them.

In the fourteenth minute, Gareth Bale beat Maicon again…

Whether it was Gareth Bale against Maicon or Walcott against Arbeloa, they could get past them whenever they wanted.

The poor Maicon and Arbeloa, both renowned wing-backs in the Premier League, were completely torn to shreds by Bayswater Chinese’s two wingers.

Real Madrid clearly knew that their defense couldn’t hold, so they took the initiative to attack.

But it was precisely because of this that in the twenty-first minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half, Walcott used his speed to burst past Arbeloa down the right flank.

The Little Tiger seemed to be emulating Gareth Bale from two weeks prior, kicking the ball ahead for his future self to chase, accelerating onto it before delivering a low, flat cross to the front of the goal.

Lewandowski tapped it in with ease.

1-0!

Nine minutes later, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield. Marcelo and Gareth Bale exchanged a series of one-twos on the left.

After receiving the ball in the left channel, Marcelo passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian chipped a pass over the top, which landed in the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale followed up and struck a left-footed volley, once again piercing Real Madrid’s goal.

2-0!

After the teams switched sides for the second half, Real Madrid briefly posed a threat.

Rafael van der Vaart delivered a brilliant pass, and Džeko controlled it with his chest on the edge of the penalty area, turned, and fired a power shot, breaking through Bayswater Chinese’s goal and giving Real Madrid a lifeline.

1-2!

But subsequently, Bayswater Chinese launched a continuous barrage of attacks.

Whether it was Gareth Bale on the left or Walcott on the right, they constantly created chances.

This made it clear to everyone that Bayswater Chinese’s advantage on the wings was simply overwhelming!

Were Real Madrid’s flanks too weak?

No, Bayswater Chinese’s wing attack was too strong!

The home team seemed to be venting all the pent-up frustration from the damn iron barrel they faced against Ancelotti three days ago onto Real Madrid.

This left the Galácticos’ goal in a state of panic, on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, Real Madrid still had their rock, Casillas!

The Spanish god-keeper made saves high and low, neutralizing Bayswater Chinese’s threats time and again, preventing the home team from extending their lead.

After the seventy-fifth minute, as Bayswater Chinese slightly eased their attack, Real Madrid, having caught their breath, thought they were back in it and launched another wave of attacks.

But then, in the eighty-sixth minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half. Gareth Bale embarked on a long-distance sprint, running sixty meters with the ball before sending a low, flat pass to the back post.

Walcott arrived at full tilt and tapped it into the empty net with ease!

3-1!

Bale Time!

It had magically worked again!

Chapter 188: The Rules of European Football! You Don’t Deserve to Wear the Bayswater Chinese Jersey!

Ever since the two-week international break in early October, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule had become incredibly dense.

October 17th, an away game against Arsenal.

October 21st, a Champions League away game against Real Madrid.

October 24th, a home game against Sunderland.

October 27th, a League Cup home game against Aston Villa.

October 30th, a home game against Manchester City.

November 3rd, a Champions League home game against Real Madrid.

November 7th, an away game against Liverpool.

In the short span of twenty-two days, they played seven consecutive matches.

Five of those matches were against some of the strongest teams in world football today.

Even Sunderland and Aston Villa were in the top ten of the Premier League at this point in the season.

This fixture list alone was enough to show the immense pressure Bayswater Chinese was under.

The difficulty of fighting on two fronts, or even three, in the Premier League was unimaginable in other leagues.

Bayswater Chinese wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure.

Manchester United, also competing in the Champions League, stumbled in their league matches following the third and fourth group stage rounds.

First, they lost 2-0 away to Liverpool.

In this round, Ferguson’s team lost 1-0 away to Chelsea.

Ferguson had to rotate his squad, but against a Chelsea side with no European commitments, he said he was already very satisfied with the result.

So what about Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese?

That summer, Bayswater Chinese had sold four core players, and Yang Cheng chose to promote young talent.

He did his utmost to arrange squad rotation, trying to play the hand he was dealt to the best of his ability.

But with such a difficult and dense schedule, rotation was unavoidable.

As a result, in this round, during their visit to Anfield, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was exceptionally poor.

Not only did the trademark passing and penetrating style that Yang Cheng had painstakingly built since he took over frequently break down, but the attack was also completely ineffective.

In the entire first half, they managed only two shots.

Zero on target!

The defense was also riddled with errors.

If it weren’t for Neuer’s heroic and outstanding performance, they would have conceded more than two goals in the first half.

For this match, Benítez once again fielded his signature 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Reina;

Defense: Aurélio, Agger, Carragher, and Glen Johnson;

Midfield: A double pivot of Lucas Leiva and Javier Mascherano, with Yossi Benayoun, Gerrard, and Kuyt in front of them;

Forward: Torres.

Benítez used the tireless midfield four of Lucas Leiva, Mascherano, Gerrard, and Kuyt to press and stifle Bayswater Chinese, completely disrupting their midfield passing game.

Adding to that was Torres’s threat on the counter-attack.

The turning point of the match came in the twelfth minute of the first half.

At that time, Bayswater Chinese had just finished an unsuccessful opening blitz and Liverpool seized the opportunity.

After Kuyt won the ball on the right flank, Gerrard played a diagonal pass, and Torres beat the offside trap to go one-on-one with the keeper.

Unable to stop him, José Fonte fouled Torres, conceding a penalty kick.

The penalty was somewhat controversial as it occurred right on the edge of the box.

Head referee Webb ruled it was inside, but the Bayswater Chinese players argued it was outside.

Regardless, the course of the game was completely altered.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese could not find their rhythm.

The midfield combination Yang Cheng had arranged for this match was Rakitić, Javi Martínez, and Aaron Ramsey.

But the team couldn’t control the tempo or hold onto the ball for the entire first half.

On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese’s defense wasn’t too bad, and they didn’t give Liverpool too many clear-cut chances.

But in the forty-first minute of the first half, Liverpool won a free kick in the attacking third. Aurélio took it, intending to shoot directly at goal.

It was a beautifully struck ball, but after Neuer made a flying save to parry it, Gerrard alertly pounced on the rebound to score.

Throughout the entire process, the Bayswater Chinese defenders failed to react in time.

In the end, they conceded two goals in the first half, trailing 0-2.

When the Bayswater Chinese players walked into the away dressing room at Anfield, they found their head coach, Yang Cheng, already waiting for them, his face as dark as thunder.

A jolt went through each of them.

Anyone could see how furious Yang Cheng was.

The normally boisterous dressing room fell into a deathly silence as the players filed in.

Each player even tried to breathe more softly, afraid that the slightest misstep would unleash the head coach’s towering rage.

But even so, what was coming was unavoidable.

Yang Cheng was extremely dissatisfied with their first-half performance.

He felt the players had been incredibly foolish.

Especially after Torres’s penalty, the entire rhythm had been lost.

But that wasn’t the most outrageous part.

What infuriated him the most was that in the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese had managed only two shots.

And both of those were in the first ten minutes.

In other words, for the remaining thirty-five minutes, Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm was completely shattered, and they were unable to organize any semblance of a decent attack.

They didn’t even manage a single long shot.

“I don’t know what you were all thinking out there on the pitch.”

“But as your head coach, standing on the sideline, I feel utterly ashamed!”

“This is not the Bayswater Chinese I know, this is not the team I envision!”

“I think you’re like a bunch of cowards. After taking one punch from the opponent, you panicked, you fell apart, you got scared.”

“All you wanted to do was bury your heads in the grass, you couldn’t even fight back!”

Yang Cheng stood in the middle of the players, practically pointing and yelling at each of them.

He cursed them until none of them could lift their heads.

Because their first-half performance truly was a pile of shit!

“Before this match, I don’t want to say another word to you.”

“Right now, I only want to tell you this: if you play the second half like you did the first, you are not worthy of wearing our Bayswater Chinese jersey!”

After saying this, Yang Cheng stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

He left behind a room full of stunned players, each and every one of them dumbfounded.

They had expected to be yelled at, and were even mentally prepared for it.

But they never imagined their head coach would say something so severe!

It sent a chill down every one of their spines.

Just then, assistant coach Brian Kidd stepped forward and cleared his throat loudly.

“Alright, I’ll go over the tactical adjustments for the second half.”

As the Bayswater Chinese players walked out of the tunnel one by one, they all instinctively turned their heads to look at Yang Cheng, who was standing in front of the away team’s technical area.

He was standing on the sideline, just as he always was.

This brought a small measure of relief to the players.

Brian Kidd’s words from moments ago echoed in their minds, and they clenched their teeth in determination.

In the second half, they would go all-out against Liverpool!

Yang Cheng deliberately avoided looking at the players. Only after they had all entered the pitch and taken their positions did he turn his gaze to the field.

Today’s match was against a Liverpool side at full strength, while Bayswater Chinese had fielded a rotated lineup.

Having just gone through grueling clashes with Manchester City and Real Madrid, Yang Cheng had started substitutes and young players in many positions.

He hadn’t expected that after a decent start, they would completely crumble after falling behind, stunned by Liverpool’s pressure.

That was the problem with young players.

But the current situation forced Yang Cheng to make some adjustments, to take some action.

The first priority was to reignite the players’ fighting spirit.

So, Yang Cheng came up with a plan: a carrot-and-stick approach.

He and Brian Kidd would play good cop, bad cop.

“How’s it looking?” Yang Cheng asked with concern when Brian Kidd emerged from the tunnel and joined him on the sideline.

“It had some effect, but we’ll have to see in the match,” Brian Kidd said.

Yang Cheng nodded. “They played poorly mainly out of fear.”

“But not fear of Liverpool, but fear of not winning this important match.”

“So, after conceding, they started carrying a heavy burden.”

“But in the second half, we have nothing left to lose. Pushing them a little might work wonders!”

Brian Kidd nodded in agreement.

This was a test of Yang Cheng’s standing in the eyes of his players.

If his status was high enough, the players would definitely fight tooth and nail for him, for the Bayswater Chinese jersey on their backs.

If not, it could backfire.

In this regard, Yang Cheng had confidence in himself, in his team, and in his players.

The second half began.

The Bayswater Chinese players’ performance showed a marked improvement.

These young players needed a bit of pressure, to be pushed to go all out without reservation.

Even the forwards like Hazard, Carroll, and Di María became incredibly active and energetic.

Liverpool’s tactic for the second half was still to use the high press of their 4-2-3-1 to disrupt Bayswater Chinese’s build-up play from the back.

But after calming down during the break, being spurred by Yang Cheng’s anger, and with Brian Kidd’s timely guidance, the young players of Bayswater Chinese were giving it their all.

Every one of them was eager to prove to their head coach on the sideline that they deserved to wear this jersey.

For the first two minutes or so, the play was mostly contained around the halfway line and in Bayswater Chinese’s half.

It looked similar to the first half.

But Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd could both see that the game was much more organized now.

In the 49th minute, while marking Benayoun tightly on the right flank, Kyle Walker forcefully used his hand to shield the player off the ball and win it back.

After winning possession, Kyle Walker charged down the right wing and quickly passed to Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey then passed to Di María.

The Argentinian played it back to the right flank.

Kyle Walker was seen tearing down the right touchline before sending in a cross with his right foot.

The ball had a wicked spin on it, causing Carroll, who was waiting in the middle for a header, to sky the ball high over the bar.

Carroll was visibly frustrated, patting his forehead as he looked toward Kyle Walker on the right.

It was as if he was trying to say, “Can you put in a decent cross?”

“How am I supposed to head a ball like that?”

Yang Cheng stood in the technical area, shaking his head at his coaches.

“That tackle was brilliant, and the drive forward was excellent, but that cross…”

Yang Cheng wanted to say, it was really a bit rough!

“Kyle Walker’s defending relies heavily on his physicality,” said technical coach Danny McGrain.

“His physical duels are outstanding. When tackling, he’s very good at using his hands and body strength to squeeze the opponent’s space and gain an advantage.”

“The benefit of this style of defending is that as soon as Kyle Walker wins the ball, he can immediately launch a counter-attack, and he’s not easily beaten when defending.”

“When he wins the ball, his speed and power make him a very sharp weapon on the counter.”

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd both nodded.

That much was evident from the recent counter-attack.

“However, this means he needs even greater physical strength and superior stamina to support his non-stop running and sprinting up and down the pitch for the entire game.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng also spoke up, “I’m not worried about his defending at all. He does a good job, he’s not lacking in technical skill, and his passing is fine.”

“But when he gets into the final third, his head isn’t clear, he’s prone to getting heated, his decision-making can be reckless, and then there’s that cross.”

Danny McGrain and Brian Kidd exchanged a smile and nodded in agreement.

Although Kyle Walker wasn’t old, with his Jamaican heritage, his physical attributes were truly formidable.

He had speed, agility, and strength in duels, which meant he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage against any type of winger, and could even dominate.

But his reckless decision-making when attacking in the final third was his weak point.

“It’s related to the coaching and training he’s received in the past,” Danny McGrain said with a wry smile.

“You know, young players like him are the most popular in youth teams, and their performances are always the best. As long as they use their speed and strength to overwhelm opponents, they can usually win.”

“Under those circumstances, for him to have developed such solid technique is already quite impressive.”

This was a drawback of English youth development.

An overemphasis on physicality, neglecting the cultivation of a player’s technical skills and awareness.

“He’s in a phase of rapid improvement right now. In a team like ours, as long as he can stay grounded, patiently polish his technique, and absorb what’s around him to improve his awareness, I believe his future achievements will be very gratifying.”

As a former right-back himself, Danny McGrain had a special fondness for this homegrown full-back.

Spurred on by Kyle Walker’s counter-attack, the young players of Bayswater Chinese began to apply more pressure in the final third.

They even started to pin Liverpool back in their own half.

The Reds attempted two long balls in behind.

One was a long pass from Gerrard to Benayoun on the left, but with Kyle Walker tracking back relentlessly, Benayoun failed to control the ball on the left touchline, and it went out for a goal kick.

Another attempt came in the 51st minute, when Daniel Agger played a direct long ball towards Torres.

But the pass was too close to the penalty area.

Neuer came rushing out, well outside his box, and intercepted the ball just before Torres could reach it, passing it to the retreating Pepe.

Pepe controlled the ball and passed to Javi Martínez.

The Spaniard then distributed it to the right flank, to Kyle Walker.

However, this time Kyle Walker didn’t dribble forward, instead quickly passing back to Javi Martínez.

The Spanish midfielder carried the ball past the halfway line, saw Carroll dropping deep from the front, and immediately played a through ball.

Carroll drew Carragher out of position and, without taking a touch, laid the ball back to Rakitić.

The Croatian was running forward, facing the direction of the attack.

He also didn’t take a touch on Carroll’s return pass, instead meeting the ball with a first-time push.

The ball sped forward to the feet of Hazard, who was just outside the left corner of the penalty area.

The Belgian was sprinting at full speed.

As the ball arrived, Hazard first feinted as if he was going to let it run past him and go to the byline for a cross.

This sudden move surprised Glen Johnson, who was defending him, and he immediately moved forward to block.

But unexpectedly, Hazard came to an abrupt stop, expertly controlling the ball with his right foot, and then suddenly cut inside horizontally from the left corner of the box.

The ball seemed glued to Hazard’s feet as he rapidly cut inside to the left side of the arc.

Just as Hazard was about to shoot, Daniel Agger, ignoring everyone else, rushed over to close him down.

It was as if Hazard was prepared for this. Before Agger could reach him, he played a low pass with his right foot.

The ball was played diagonally across Agger into the penalty area, to the right of the penalty spot.

Immediately after, Di María was seen darting from outside the right corner of the box, shaking off Brazilian full-back Aurélio. He made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the area and, with the outside of his left foot, met Hazard’s diagonal pass with a sweeping shot.

Goalkeeper Reina had committed himself to the right side of the goal, but Di María’s shot was deliberately aimed in the opposite direction, nestling into the left side of the Liverpool net.

The Liverpool keeper had absolutely no chance.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Di María!”

“At a crucial moment, Di María seizes the opportunity to pull one back for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-2!”

“Bayswater Chinese has been excellent since the start of the second half.”

“Di María stepping up at a key moment has kept Bayswater Chinese’s hopes alive.”

“The combination play from the Bayswater Chinese players for that goal was absolutely beautiful.”

“This is the Bayswater Chinese football we are familiar with!”

“They tore open Liverpool’s defense with their fluid, one-touch passing and movement.”

“Hazard’s handling of that situation was also masterful.”

“Half the credit for that goal belongs to Hazard!”

Meanwhile, unnoticed by almost everyone, at the moment Di María scored, Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, Danny McGrain, and the others on the sideline exchanged a look, their faces breaking into knowing, profound smiles.

As long as they got this goal, the halftime drama was worth it!

The match restarted.

Buoyed by the goal, Bayswater Chinese’s young players played with even more determination.

Especially after the kick-off, they quickly pushed Liverpool back into their own half again and continued their assault.

This is what young players are like!

When they were being dominated by Liverpool in the first half, their rhythm was completely thrown off.

But now, having found their own rhythm and seeing the hope of equalizing, or even turning the game around, every single one of them displayed tremendous fighting spirit.

Even Liverpool, playing at home, had to temporarily weather the storm and retreat.

This was especially true for Benayoun on the left wing.

He had a good first half, but in the second, he was completely suppressed by Kyle Walker.

On the other wing, Ryan Bertrand was also keeping Kuyt occupied.

But the Dutchman’s constant running across the pitch drew Bertrand’s attention, making him less active than Kyle Walker on the right.

In midfield, Aaron Ramsey and Rakitić also became more lively.

As for Andy Carroll, the homegrown centre-forward was being jointly marked by Daniel Agger and Carragher, and it was difficult for him to get opportunities up front. However, he actively dropped deep to link up play.

Instead, Hazard and Di María on the wings, as well as the overlapping Rakitić and Aaron Ramsey, became the main protagonists of the team’s attack.

In the 59th minute, Bayswater Chinese had been pinning Liverpool back for a long time.

The Reds hadn’t even managed a single shot in the second half.

Bayswater Chinese won the ball on the right side of the attack and launched another offensive.

After dispossessing Benayoun, Kyle Walker actively initiated a counter-attack.

With Di María pulling out to the right flank to receive the ball, Walker chose to play a diagonal pass to Aaron Ramsey, who was making an overlapping run into the half-space.

The Welshman ran to the edge of the right corner of the penalty area, received the ball, and sent in a cross, aiming for Carroll near the penalty spot.

The English centre-forward and Daniel Agger both jumped for the aerial duel.

Daniel Agger was positioned between Carroll and the goal.

This meant it would be very difficult for Carroll to get a shot off.

Therefore, when the English striker jumped for the header this time, he deliberately avoided making contact with the ball.

The football practically skimmed over Carroll’s head and dropped to the left of the penalty spot.

At that moment, Hazard, arriving from deep, was in the perfect position to receive it.

The Belgian turned sideways and controlled the ball with his chest.

Glen Johnson reacted quickly, positioning himself behind Hazard.

But before the ball hit the ground, Hazard immediately pulled it back, turned, and took a light shot with his right foot.

Just when everyone thought Hazard would shoot for the far post, the Belgian suddenly went for the near corner.

It wasn’t a powerful shot, nor was it fast, but goalkeeper Reina had already shifted his weight and was powerless to stop it.

2-2!

Hazard sprinted off the pitch, celebrating wildly all the way!

The young Bayswater Chinese players chased after him, all celebrating with Hazard on the sideline.

Amid their celebrations, they didn’t forget to look back towards the away team’s technical area.

It was only then that they saw their head coach Yang Cheng and assistant coach Brian Kidd standing on the sideline, applauding them!

They had managed to keep the jersey on their backs, after all!

At the very least, they had proven with their actions that they were worthy of wearing it!

Benítez’s adjustments came very quickly.

In the 60th minute, he substituted Aquilani for Benayoun.

Benayoun had performed well in the first half, but in the second, he was relentlessly pressured by Kyle Walker and his performance was average.

Meanwhile, Bayswater Chinese’s continuous attacks were putting immense pressure on Liverpool.

So, Benítez chose to bring on Aquilani.

At this point, Liverpool’s formation resembled a 4-3-3.

Gerrard moved to Benayoun’s position, while Lucas Leiva, Mascherano, and Aquilani formed a three-man holding midfield.

The advantage of this was to provide timely protection for the defensive line.

Especially in the two half-spaces.

The young players of Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, began to attack with abandon.

Yang Cheng also hoped the team could press their advantage.

Ideally, they would take the lead and complete a great comeback.

After equalizing, Bayswater Chinese continuously created chances, firmly pinning Liverpool back.

If the home side, the Reds, had held a commanding advantage in the first half, then in the second half, it was Bayswater Chinese who completely controlled the game.

Yang Cheng even started making substitutions from the 70th minute, bringing on Lambert and Theo Walcott in succession, hoping to strengthen the team’s attack.

But in the end, the team was unable to find another goal at Anfield.

2-2, Bayswater Chinese drew with Liverpool away from home.

It’s worth mentioning that the total shot count for the match was ten to ten, a draw on that front as well.

However, in terms of shots on target, Liverpool only had three, scoring two goals.

Bayswater Chinese had four shots on target.

As for possession, thanks to their dominant second-half performance, Bayswater Chinese finished with 52.5% of the ball.

The Man of the Match award went to the Belgian winger Eden Hazard for his goal and assist.

Sky Sports’ assessment of him was: “He was quiet in the first half, but he only needed half a match to become the decider of the game!”

The Belgian’s goal and assist also showed everyone his potential.

At the very least, Sky Sports gave him an excellent rating of 9 out of 10 after the match.

What left Yang Cheng both amused and exasperated was that the story of his halftime tirade and storming out of the dressing room had spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the media contingent at the stadium.

Over a hundred reporters on-site got the news.

After the match, they swarmed the Bayswater Chinese players, trying to find out what had happened in the away dressing room during the break.

Many of the young players, afraid of saying the wrong thing, refused to be interviewed.

Only José Fonte accepted a joint interview with several reporters.

The player wearing the captain’s armband stated that the head coach was very unhappy with the team’s first-half performance.

“I’ve never seen him that angry!”

José Fonte admitted that the team had indeed played very poorly in the first half.

“We all felt the head coach was right to yell at us, so we put in the performance we should have in the second half!”

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng also admitted that he had lost his temper at halftime.

“But that’s all in the past now.”

Yang Cheng even joked that compared to the likes of Ferguson and Wenger, he rarely lost his temper with his players.

Perhaps because of this, many people thought he was too good-natured, even lacking the authority of a head coach.

“Now, I believe no one will doubt whether I have a temper or not!”

Regarding the match, Yang Cheng believed the first half was lost due to mindset, while the second half was the team’s normal performance.

“Our group of young players has proven their ability and worth. Next, they need to deliver consistent performances.”

To be able to secure a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, especially after going two goals down at Anfield during such a dense and gruelling schedule, was a good result.

“I am satisfied with this result!”

In the same round, Manchester City beat Burnley 3-1 at home.

Arsenal won 4-1 away against Wolves.

Manchester United lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

After this round of matches, an in-form Chelsea sat at the top of the table with thirty points.

Guus Hiddink’s team was performing exceptionally well this season.

This was aided by their focus on the league.

Although they were still in the Europa League and the League Cup, neither was a priority for them.

For Chelsea, the goal this season was to return to the top four.

Manchester United, having lost away to Chelsea, relinquished their position as league leaders.

Chelsea led the table with thirty points, followed by Manchester United with twenty-eight. The Gunners and Manchester City were both on twenty-seven points, in third and fourth respectively.

Bayswater Chinese, after two consecutive draws, had only managed to accumulate twenty-six points, placing them fifth in the Premier League.

Liverpool had dropped all the way down to eighth.

Bayswater Chinese falling out of the top four inevitably sparked discussion in the media.

The press, in particular, was eagerly sensationalizing the story, claiming Yang Cheng was suffering the consequences of his summer selling spree.

Selling four core players was bound to affect the team’s results.

This was the first time in recent years that Bayswater Chinese had dropped out of the top four.

A game in hand?

Indeed, their next game was an away match at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur.

It was worth noting that the North London team was currently seventh in the Premier League with a game in hand, even slightly ahead of Liverpool.

Under these circumstances, could Bayswater Chinese be confident of a win?

Yang Cheng paid no heed to the various rumors circulating.

He firmly believed in one thing: ultimately, football is decided on the pitch!

After a two-week international break, on November 21st, came the thirteenth round of the Premier League.

Liverpool hosted Manchester City.

Benítez’s team was still quite formidable at home.

In this round, they drew 2-2 with Manchester City at home.

In their last three rounds, the Reds had suffered an embarrassing record of two draws and one loss, failing to win in three games.

Chelsea, on the other hand, defeated Wolves 2-0 at home thanks to early goals from Malouda and Essien.

Arsenal beat Sunderland 1-0 away, with a goal from Benzema.

Manchester United convincingly beat Everton 3-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, secured a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Fulham, with goals from Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, Piszczek, and Lambert, who came on as a substitute in the 75th minute.

After the thirteenth round of the Premier League, the biggest news in European football was the announcement of the thirty-man shortlists for the Ballon d’Or.

FIFA also announced its thirty-man shortlist for the World Player of the Year award.

In previous years, Yang Cheng had rarely paid attention to such news.

But after his team achieved an unprecedented Sextuple last season, he naturally took some interest.

He had some expectations, especially regarding the inclusion of Bayswater Chinese players.

The shortlists for both awards were quite similar.

Džeko, Maicon, Yaya Touré, Modrić, and Neuer.

Bayswater Chinese had five players on both lists, while Barça had six.

This left Yang Cheng feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Although Barça reached the Champions League final, they didn’t win it, and they didn’t win as many trophies as Bayswater Chinese. On what grounds did they have more nominees?

This was, to some extent, the advantage of being a giant club.

Of course, by convention, although Džeko, Maicon, and Yaya Touré were nominated based on their performances with Bayswater Chinese, they would only count as half a player for the club in the statistics.

So, in reality, Bayswater Chinese had 3.5 nominated players.

Among the major European clubs, Bayswater Chinese ranked second, only behind Barça with its six nominees.

“In terms of player promotion and marketing, we really can’t compare to these established clubs!”

Looking at the two largely identical thirty-man shortlists, Yang Cheng felt helpless.

There were quite a few former Bayswater Chinese players on the list.

Besides the ones mentioned above, Andrei Arshavin and Ribéry were regular fixtures.

But the inclusion of Arsenal’s Benzema and Gourcuff made Yang Cheng feel the influence these established giants wielded in European football.

Bayswater Chinese had become the first-ever team to successfully defend the Champions League title, winning a season Sextuple, yet they had fewer nominees than Barça, who had two trophies and one runner-up finish.

Manchester United’s centre-back Vidić could get a nomination, but Bayswater Chinese’s Thiago Silva and Pepe were both left out.

What could Yang Cheng say other than “f*cking awesome”?

The most laughable part was Casillas.

There were only two goalkeepers on the entire thirty-man list.

Neuer was a Sextuple winner. What about Casillas?

He had won nothing!

“Gareth Bale is really at a disadvantage. If his performance against Real Madrid had come a few months earlier, he definitely would have been nominated. Same for Theo Walcott,” Brian Kidd said with a hint of regret.

Yang Cheng agreed.

The list had been decided long ago, and Gareth Bale’s eye-catching performances came a bit too late, so he missed out.

“The big clubs have this advantage, which is why so many players flock to them. We must step up our efforts and build our own star marketing system!” Yang Cheng said with great determination.

Recently, Bayswater Chinese’s series of marketing and promotional activities for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott had yielded excellent results.

It was said that three or four sponsors were already interested in the Twin Stars.

Once English players make a name for themselves, they have significant commercial value worldwide.

But if Bayswater Chinese couldn’t quickly catch up in terms of creating and promoting individual honors, over time, the players would inevitably be tempted by others.

At a certain level, the exact amount of money earned becomes just a number for the players.

Making money is important, of course, but once they reach a certain height, they place more importance on the heights of their career.

That is an honor that lasts a lifetime!

So, it was no coincidence that so many stars were willing to go to Real Madrid and Barça!

As for this year’s Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, it was almost impossible for a Bayswater Chinese player to win.

Džeko, Modrić, and Yaya Touré were all from smaller footballing nations and played for Bayswater Chinese, which was a double handicap.

No matter how well they played or how many trophies they won, their influence was limited.

To put it bluntly, if Džeko were from Brazil, or a major Western European footballing nation like England, Spain, Portugal, or Germany, he would have been in the top three long ago.

But these were the rules of the game in European football!

In this game, players from Brazil and Argentina, as well as the powerhouses of Western Europe, were the ones under the spotlight.

Yang Cheng felt it was the greatest pity for Modrić.

But there was nothing to be done.

In fact, even in Yang Cheng’s previous life, when Modrić led Croatia to the World Cup final and won consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid, plenty of people still felt he didn’t deserve the honor.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the players from Bayswater Chinese with the best chance of a breakthrough in the future were Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Robert Lewandowski was performing very well, but he wasn’t from a major footballing nation, so breaking into the top three wouldn’t be easy.

After the thirteenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese remained at home to face Ligue 1’s Marseille.

This was the fifth matchday of the Champions League group stage.

As Bayswater Chinese had won all four of their previous matches, Yang Cheng made significant rotations for this game, giving the younger players more opportunities at home.

Just ten minutes into the game, Carroll opened the scoring with a header.

After an eye-catching and stunning start to the season, the English centre-forward’s performance had seen a noticeable decline in subsequent matches.

This was normal.

At first, opponents were unfamiliar with him.

But as they gradually became familiar, and as his performances became too conspicuous, opponents began to implement specific tactics against him, and Carroll was quickly contained.

But Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were helping him, and he himself was working hard, hoping to utilize the team’s overall tactics to unleash his threat.

However, in the 16th minute, Marseille equalized.

After that, both teams had their chances, but neither could score again.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Marseille at home.

It’s worth noting that the two full-backs for this match were Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Walker.

After the match, Kyle Walker was particularly excited during his media interview about his first Champions League start.

At Sheffield United, he couldn’t even secure a regular starting spot in the Championship.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, after moving to Bayswater Chinese, he would not only be playing in the Premier League but also in the Champions League.

The English full-back also smugly mentioned that he had spoken on the phone with his former teammate, Kyle Naughton, before the match.

The 22-year-old Kyle Naughton had transferred to Tottenham for the same fee as Kyle Walker.

“At Sheffield United, he was the starter, and I was his backup.”

“But this season, he’s only played for one minute at Tottenham, while I’ve already started several games and even played in the Champions League!”

Kyle Walker happily stated that joining Bayswater Chinese was a very correct decision.

But he also admitted that he hadn’t yet fully met the requirements to be a first-team starter.

“I’ve been studying old videos of Maicon’s games and training. There’s still a huge gap between us.”

“Oh, right, and Łukasz, he’s also excellent, a role model for me!”

After the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese had four wins and one draw, accumulating thirteen points to top the group.

Moreover, they had already secured first place and qualified ahead of schedule.

Real Madrid had three wins and two losses, with nine points.

Marseille had two wins, one draw, and two losses, with seven points.

Debrecen had lost all five matches and was at the bottom of the group.

In the final round, Bayswater Chinese would travel to Hungary to challenge Debrecen.

Marseille would host Real Madrid.

That match would decide which of the two teams would qualify from the group.

Premier League, Round 14.

Manchester City beat Hull City 2-1 at home.

Manchester United defeated Portsmouth 4-1 away, thanks to a hat-trick from Rooney.

Liverpool won the local derby 2-0 against Everton.

Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 away against Wolves, with goals from Pepe, Modrić, and Gareth Bale.

But the most surprising result of the round was Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea at home.

The Gunners scored two early goals in the first half to take the lead.

Unexpectedly, Drogba pulled one back just before halftime.

In the 86th minute, it was Drogba again who scored another goal, successfully equalizing.

But just as the match was about to end, in stoppage time, at the most crucial moment, Benzema assisted Andrei Arshavin for the winning goal.

3-2!

Arsenal had finally won a clash between top teams.

After fourteen rounds, Manchester United had successfully fought their way to the top of the Premier League table with thirty-four points.

Ferguson was ecstatic after the match, even unusually stating that he had to thank Wenger.

At the same time, Ferguson expressed his hope that Manchester United would not lose their position as league leaders again.

Behind Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea both had thirty-three points, with the Gunners in second place due to a superior goal difference.

Chelsea was in third.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, with a record of ten wins, two draws, and one loss, had thirty-two points and was in fourth place.

Manchester City was fifth with thirty-one points.

Further down, Tottenham Hotspur only had twenty-three points, already eight points behind the leading pack, making it very difficult for them to catch up.

At this point, the situation in the Premier League was largely clear.

From the current standings, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayswater Chinese, and Manchester City all had squads filled with excellent stars and were unusually strong.

Furthermore, all five teams had hired world-renowned managers, which made their overall results relatively stable.

Outside of the clashes between top teams, these five teams rarely dropped points against weaker opposition, and their efficiency in accumulating points was excellent.

This, in turn, confirmed what Ferguson had said before the season.

The clashes between top teams would decide the Premier League champion!

The Gunners had a poor record in these clashes this season, but by managing to beat Chelsea at home this time, Wenger’s team had successfully withstood the pressure.

December arrived, bringing with it the quarter-final knockout stage of the League Cup.

Bayswater Chinese fielded a team of full reserves and youth players for their away match against Portsmouth.

After conceding first, they managed a 4-2 comeback victory over Portsmouth, thanks to a brace from Carroll and goals from Aaron Ramsey and Di María.

Chelsea defeated Blackburn Rovers away from home in a penalty shootout.

Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home.

Manchester City, meanwhile, thrashed Arsenal 3-0 at home.

The Gunners, fresh from their home victory over Chelsea, ultimately couldn’t escape their nightmare of poor results in clashes between top teams.

Of course, this was also related to Wenger’s heavy squad rotation.

The Gunners also had to divert their attention to the Champions League, while Manchester City’s fixture pressure was much lighter.

Thus, the League Cup semi-finals were set: Bayswater Chinese would challenge Chelsea away.

Manchester City would host Manchester United.

Chapter 189: Management Genius! Middle East Gold Rush! Have You Ever Seen a Premier League Like This?

On December 5th, the fifteenth round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Wigan Athletic in an away game.

Over the past few years, among the many teams in the Premier League, there weren’t many clubs that could turn a profit in the transfer market every summer.

There were even fewer clubs that could make money while maintaining their performance.

Bayswater Chinese was certainly one of them.

Stingy old Whelan’s Wigan Athletic was another.

After a successful season, head coach Steve Bruce moved to Sunderland, conveniently taking Wigan’s core midfielder, Lee Cattermole, with him.

On top of that, their main attacking player, Antonio Valencia, transferred to Manchester United.

Wigan Athletic’s overall strength took a hit.

They sold players for over twenty million pounds but were incredibly cheap when buying new ones.

They even poached their head coach, Roberto Martínez, who had a good season with Swansea City in the Championship last year.

Yang Cheng, of course, knew this head coach was very capable.

But others didn’t think so.

After taking over the team, Roberto Martínez tactically reformed Wigan Athletic, introducing a modern 4-3-3 formation.

This led to Wigan Athletic’s inconsistent performance this season.

Sometimes they would pull off an upset, and other times they would be completely crushed by their opponents.

Just like in this match. Facing Bayswater Chinese, Roberto Martínez set up his team to defend with all their might.

At their home ground, after holding on for thirty minutes, Wigan Athletic finally found an opportunity.

Charles N’Zogbia scored for the home team with a swift counter-attack.

1-0!

And in this match, Bayswater Chinese had deployed their full-strength lineup!

Yang Cheng wasn’t anxious. Instead, he continued to patiently use their passing and possession advantage to constantly stretch and wear down Wigan Athletic.

Even when trailing, the players remained patient.

Into the second half, as Wigan Athletic’s players began to tire.

Especially after the sixty-minute mark, they could barely hold on.

In the 61st minute, Theo Walcott made a quick diagonal run into the box and broke through Wigan’s goal, equalizing for the team.

Just five minutes later, Modrić provided an assist, and Robert Lewandowski scored another goal, putting them in the lead.

In the 71st minute, it was Walcott who scored again.

In the space of just ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored three consecutive goals, successfully turning the game around.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team secured a 3-1 comeback victory away at Wigan Athletic.

In the same round, Arsenal beat Stoke City 2-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated West Ham United 4-0 away.

Liverpool drew 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers away from home.

Manchester City, thanks to goals from Adebayor and Carlos Tevez, came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at home.

Ancelotti’s team displayed a very high level of technical and tactical skill at home.

Kaká, in particular, contributed two assists.

…

The final round of the Champions League group stage.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to Hungary with a fully rotated squad of substitutes.

Just three minutes into the game, Aaron Ramsey scored the opener for the team, assisted by Ángel Di María.

A mere ten minutes later, Matuidi extended the lead with a powerful shot from an overlapping run.

In the 24th minute, Eden Hazard received a brilliant pass from Di María and found the back of the net again.

And in the 51st minute of the second half, Aaron Ramsey assisted Roy Carroll for another goal.

Yang Cheng began making substitutions from the 55th minute.

He brought on Paul Pogba for the outstanding Aaron Ramsey.

Five minutes later, he replaced Matuidi with N’Golo Kanté.

It was the first time these two young French midfielders had appeared for Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League.

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng used his final substitution.

The sixteen-year-old local centre-forward Harry Kane replaced Andy Carroll.

As soon as Yang Cheng had included these three youngsters in the 18-man squad, everyone knew they would get their chance to play.

The substitutions were not too surprising.

The introduction of the three young players didn’t continue Bayswater Chinese’s attacking momentum; instead, things got a bit disorganized.

The main issue was the players’ coordination with each other.

They had performed brilliantly in the youth and reserve teams, but it was a different story in the senior team.

Pogba’s talent was evident, with several of his plays catching the eye.

Harry Kane and N’Golo Kanté were somewhat unremarkable, but they played by the book.

Players from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, at the very least, had solid technical skills.

Yang Cheng let them play simply to let them experience the atmosphere and rhythm of a real Champions League match.

It was also a form of encouragement and reward for them.

While Bayswater Chinese was using the away game as a training exercise, Real Madrid was in a life-or-death battle away from home. Thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo and a goal from Raúl Albiol, they defeated Marseille 3-1.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid advanced as the first and second-place teams in the group.

The Galácticos’ failure to secure first place meant the upcoming knockout stage would be exceptionally perilous for them.

…

Upon returning to England from Hungary, they were immediately greeted by the 16th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, narrowly defeated West Ham United 1-0.

The crucial goal was scored by Gareth Bale!

At home, Chelsea were held to a frustrating 3-3 draw by Everton.

Manchester United, on the other hand, suffered a shocking 1-0 upset defeat at home to Aston Villa.

At Anfield, Arsenal, after conceding first, came from behind in the second half to beat Liverpool 2-1, thanks to a brace from Andrei Arshavin.

Manchester City also faced stubborn resistance from Bolton away from home, ultimately ending in a 3-3 draw.

After sixteen rounds, Wenger’s Arsenal, with 39 points, overtook Manchester United to claim the top spot on the Premier League table.

Bayswater Chinese, with a four-game winning streak after two consecutive draws, had a record of 12 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, earning them 38 points. They ranked second in the Premier League, just behind Arsenal.

Manchester United was in third place with 37 points.

Although Manchester City drew with Bolton away, they still managed to secure 35 points, placing them fourth in the Premier League.

Chelsea was in fifth with 34 points.

Following them were Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool.

Benítez’s Reds were still in eighth place.

This once again sparked widespread discussion among the media and fans in England and around the world.

The competition in the Premier League this season was exceptionally fierce.

After almost every round, the top four was constantly changing.

A team could even drop from being the league leader to outside the top four in a single round, making it incredibly precarious.

As The Times columnist Martin Samuel wrote in his column.

“Just as everyone was still processing Bayswater Chinese’s drop out of the top four, they were surprised to find that the team had quietly surged to second place in the league.”

“And the previous league leader, Chelsea, had fallen out of the top four.”

“This is the Premier League now!”

Too intense!

Too brutal!

But it was precisely because of this that fans all over the world were thrilled.

While La Liga had become a two-horse race, the Bundesliga a one-man show for Bayern Munich, and Serie A the exclusive domain of Inter Milan…

Only the Premier League continued to stage the brilliant drama where the stage is never empty as one contender replaces another!

Fans around the world had long grown tired of those dull one-man shows; they preferred this kind of thrilling, suspense-filled competition!

One round in heaven, the next in hell!

That’s what made it exciting, what made it stimulating!

More importantly, the technical and tactical styles in the Premier League were now a vibrant display of different styles.

Here, you could see the gorgeous, fluid attacking football of Yang Cheng and Wenger; you could also see the old-school English grit and passion of Ferguson; and there was also the rigorous, meticulous defensive counter-attacking of Guus Hiddink.

Benítez’s balance between attack and defense and Ancelotti’s flexibility and versatility.

At the same time, teams like Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur, David Moyes’ Everton, and Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa all had their own unique characteristics, occasionally pulling off an upset when the top teams weren’t looking.

The current Premier League could be described as magnificent and varied!

Needless to say, just looking at the many thrilling matchups in the 16th round, where else in Europe, or even the world, could you find such a league?

…

After the 16th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng took a short break in Brent, London, before taking a flight from Heathrow Airport to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The 2009 and 2010 editions of the Club World Cup had been moved from Japan to Abu Dhabi.

Due to their participation in the Club World Cup, Bayswater Chinese’s Premier League matches for the 17th round at home against Blackburn Rovers and the 18th round away against Everton would be postponed to 2010.

The specific dates were yet to be determined.

Bayswater Chinese departed from London at 11 AM after completing their morning recovery training session.

This time, in addition to the first team, many senior executives from the commercial department, including Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, also traveled with the team to the Middle East.

The flight took seven hours, but due to the time difference, it was already 10 PM when they arrived in Abu Dhabi.

Even so, at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, many enthusiastic Middle Eastern fans were still there to welcome them.

There were also many fans from all over the world who were tourists in the Middle East.

Reportedly, many of them had specifically chosen to travel to the UAE because Bayswater Chinese was coming to play in the Club World Cup.

Yang Cheng and the players were very surprised and naturally gave special attention to the fans who came to greet them at the airport.

For the past few days, Abu Dhabi had been experiencing rainy weather, and the temperature was quite comfortable.

The Abu Dhabi organizers also placed great importance on the arrival of Bayswater Chinese, specifically arranging for them to stay at the most luxurious hotel in the area, the Emirates Palace Hotel, hailed as an eight-star hotel.

It was truly emperor-level treatment!

Despite the four-hour time difference, Yang Cheng arranged for the team to train on the day after their arrival in Abu Dhabi.

It was mostly just simple, basic training to adjust and recover.

At noon, Yang Cheng and several players were invited to attend a business event in Dubai.

It was the sponsorship signing ceremony for the Emirates National Bank.

The largest bank in the UAE was willing to pay fifteen million pounds over five years for the right to use Bayswater Chinese’s image for commercial promotion within the UAE.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first commercial sponsorship contract in the Middle East.

However, the Emirates National Bank’s rights were limited to within the UAE.

Of course, at the event, the two parties only signed the sponsorship contract; the specific details of the cooperation were not disclosed to the public.

The sponsorship level was: Official Financial Services Partner of the UAE.

This was actually the lowest level of partnership in the Bayswater Chinese sponsorship system.

As a clear contrast, on the third day after arriving in Abu Dhabi, Yang Cheng and the entire team traveled to nearby Qatar to attend another commercial event.

Qatar Airways became Bayswater Chinese’s official global airline partner with a sponsorship fee of twenty-five million pounds over five years, which was clearly a level above the Emirates National Bank.

Bayswater Chinese had been looking for an airline partner, and the Middle East was the region the team was most focused on.

After contacting several companies, including Emirates Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Etihad Airways, the club ultimately chose Qatar Airways.

Mainly because they offered the best terms.

In addition to the annual sponsorship fee of five million pounds, they also provided private jet services for Bayswater Chinese.

Another company signed at the same time was the Commercial Bank of Qatar.

Three million pounds a year, for five years.

The level was the same as the Emirates National Bank, only authorized for use within Qatar.

After arriving in the Middle East, Bayswater Chinese signed three sponsorship contracts in just two days.

Eleven million pounds per year in the bank!

This series of news quickly caused an uproar in the global media.

Especially among the envious European media outlets.

This was eleven million pounds!

The Middle East was truly full of tycoons!

In just two days, they had raked in over ten million pounds. Were they there to play in the Club World Cup?

No, this was practically a gold rush in the Middle East!

Riding the wave of the Club World Cup, news of these three sponsorships spread rapidly.

…

On the fourth day after the team’s arrival in Abu Dhabi, they played in the Club World Cup semi-final.

Their opponent was the Mexican team, Atlante F.C.

Due to UEFA’s strict regulations, the main players of the participating teams had to play for a certain amount of time in the semi-finals.

In the final, they had to be in the starting lineup.

Therefore, Yang Cheng arranged for all the main players to be on the bench.

Facing the Mexican team, Bayswater Chinese had an absolute advantage in overall strength.

But they couldn’t break through the opponent’s staunch “Parking the bus” defense.

It wasn’t until the 24th minute that a cross from Piszczek from the right found Roy Carroll in the middle, who headed the ball home to open the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

In the 35th minute, the team won a corner kick, and Javi Martínez scored with a header.

2-0!

After the halftime break, the team missed several scoring opportunities. In the end, substitutes Gareth Bale and Ángel Di María each scored a goal.

Finally, Bayswater Chinese defeated Atlante F.C. 4-0, successfully advancing to the final.

…

On the evening of December 19th, at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The Club World Cup final: Bayswater Chinese versus the Argentinian team, Estudiantes.

Speaking of this Argentinian team, there were only two players who left an impression on Yang Cheng.

One was the former superstar midfielder who joined Manchester United, the “White Wizard” Verón.

The other was the left-back who would join Manchester United in his previous life, Marcos Rojo.

The difference was that Verón was now the core player of this team, while Rojo was still just a fledgling youngster.

Facing Bayswater Chinese, Estudiantes set up in a 5-4-1 formation.

And with three holding midfielders.

From the starting lineup, the intentions of this Argentinian team were clear.

From the start of the match, they defended extremely tightly, leaving almost no space for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng signaled for his team to remain patient and wear down the opponent.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

After the break, the situation remained largely unchanged.

Bayswater Chinese went all out on the attack, while Estudiantes defended with all their might.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott took turns attacking the opponent’s defensive formation from the wings.

By the 70th minute, Yang Cheng even brought on Roy Carroll for Matuidi, adopting a two-centre-forward tactic.

It wasn’t until the 79th minute that Gareth Bale dribbled forcefully down the left flank and crossed the ball from near the left corner of the penalty area.

Unexpectedly, none of the players in the middle could get to the ball.

Instead, Theo Walcott, at the far post, made a high-speed run. Near the byline on the right side of the box, he caught up to Gareth Bale’s pass and, without taking a touch, volleyed it back to the center of the goalmouth.

The goalkeeper, Albil, came out but missed the ball.

Robert Lewandowski, with a keen sense of opportunity, darted forward, seized the chance, and tapped the ball into an empty net, sending it into the Argentinians’ goal.

1-0!

After conceding the goal, Estudiantes could no longer afford to defend; they began to launch a frenzied counter-attack.

But in the 86th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

A through ball from Marcelo, Gareth Bale executed a beautiful move, knocking the ball past his opponent and running around them. After accelerating, he shook off the defender and charged forward.

On the left side of the opponent’s penalty area, Gareth Bale, despite having a clear chance to shoot, selflessly chose to pass it across.

An unmarked Theo Walcott easily followed up and tapped the ball into the empty net.

2-0!

The British Twin Stars had delivered again!

In the end, thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Theo Walcott, Bayswater Chinese defeated their opponents 2-0, successfully defending their Club World Cup title!

…

As Bayswater Chinese celebrated their consecutive Club World Cup title in Abu Dhabi, major European media outlets offered high praise.

The Times ran the headline: The Greatest Team in History, to describe Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

The Guardian exalted Bayswater Chinese: The World Prostrates at Their Feet!

The Daily Telegraph said: “Bayswater Chinese! Champions of the World!”

The Sun proclaimed: The One and Only Bayswater Chinese!

Besides the British media, other major European media also gave extremely high praise.

For example, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport believed that Bayswater Chinese’s Club World Cup victory concluded a perfect 2009!

Argentina’s Olé newspaper felt: Yang Cheng and his team cruelly shattered the dreams of Estudiantes.

France’s L’Équipe also ran the headline: The Invincible Bayswater Chinese!

But what they never expected was that just after winning the championship, Bayswater Chinese was still busy with commercial gigs.

The day after winning the title, the team left Abu Dhabi amidst the reluctant farewells of their fans.

But they didn’t go far.

Bayswater Chinese went directly to Riyadh, the capital of neighboring Saudi Arabia.

In Riyadh, Bayswater Chinese received a warm welcome from Saudi fans.

That day, the team signed two sponsorship contracts in Riyadh with the Saudi Telecom Company (STC).

The first contract authorized Saudi Telecom to use Bayswater Chinese’s image rights for commercial promotion within Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Telecom became the official telecommunications partner of Bayswater Chinese in Saudi Arabia.

The second contract was with a Bahraini telecom company called VIVA, which became the official telecommunications partner for Bahrain & Kuwait.

Both sponsorship deals were for five years, at three million pounds per year each.

So why were both contracts signed in Riyadh?

The reason was simple: the Bahraini telecom company VIVA had not yet officially launched; it was scheduled to do so in February 2010.

This Bahraini company was established with a two-hundred-million-dollar investment from Saudi Telecom, with several hundred million more expected to be invested in the coming years.

The reason Bayswater Chinese valued this partnership so highly, besides the six million pounds in annual sponsorship revenue, was that Saudi Telecom hoped to select 70 young people from Saudi Arabia each year to study at Bayswater Chinese’s football academy.

Of course, this kind of study would certainly come with a fee.

Yang Cheng and the others had already planned it out; they would be placed in a Satellite Training Centre near London to play and grow alongside their peers.

This initiative for young players was not just Saudi Telecom’s plan; it also had the backing of the Saudi government.

That’s why Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Sport and Prince Faisal, who had previously appeared at Liverpool’s Anfield, were present at the signing ceremony.

Both were said to be members of the Saudi royal family.

After the signing ceremony, the Saudi hosts held a special banquet for the Bayswater Chinese delegation.

The entire banquet was incredibly grand and luxurious.

This gave Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and the other executives, as well as the first-team players, a taste of the extravagance of the Middle Eastern tycoons.

From Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, every place exuded the splendid magnificence of the Middle East.

Yang Cheng thought to himself: No wonder Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada have been running to the Middle East so often recently.

Because here, the money is good and it comes fast!

Are they fools?

No, they were not fools at all.

For example, this Saudi Minister for Sport and Prince Faisal, when chatting privately with Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and others, first inquired caringly whether Bayswater Chinese had any intention of selling.

They were clearly very interested in the team’s new stadium project in London.

That was a commercial project that had signed deals with Bvlgari Hotels and The Peninsula Hotels; it was destined to become a new landmark in London!

They even subtly gave Yang Cheng a feeling.

Money really wasn’t an issue!

As long as Yang Cheng was willing to sell.

All other conditions were on the table for discussion.

But Yang Cheng maintained a polite smile and refused to touch upon the topic.

Prince Faisal was tactful enough to change the subject, but he soon circled back to football, asking about Liverpool.

“I’m not entirely clear on many things, but in my personal opinion, the Premier League is now the number one league in the world!”

“From a competitive standpoint, I don’t think there’s any doubt; from a commercial standpoint, there’s even less of a problem.”

“I have every reason to believe that in the next few years, with the advent of the globalized football era, the Premier League will experience even more rapid development. Therefore, Liverpool will not lack interested buyers!”

Yang Cheng spoke with force and clarity, full of confidence.

After speaking, Yang Cheng analyzed the future development potential of the Premier League from both competitive and commercial perspectives.

Seeing that Yang Cheng had started the conversation, Adam Crozier didn’t hold back either.

As the former chairman of The FA and now representing Bayswater Chinese in the specific affairs of The Premier League, Adam Crozier had a deeper understanding of the Premier League’s operations and its globalization process.

From Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier, Prince Faisal and the others gained more information.

Especially regarding the promotion and development of The Premier League in overseas markets.

The three-year domestic rights for the Premier League from 2010 to 2013, auctioned in 2009, sold for only 1.95 billion pounds.

This made everyone feel that the domestic rights auction had met a cool reception.

At the very least, it didn’t show the continued high-speed growth everyone had expected.

But what about the overseas rights auction?

After the Premier League’s establishment, the overseas rights auction from 1992 to 1997 sold for a mere forty million pounds.

From 1997 to 2001, it sold for ninety-eight million pounds.

From 2001 to 2004, it sold for one hundred seventy-eight million pounds.

From 2004 to 2007, it sold for three hundred twenty-five million pounds.

And from 2007 to 2010, it sold for an even more impressive six hundred twenty-five million pounds.

Adam Crozier revealed a piece of information to Prince Faisal: the prospects for the sale of the Premier League’s overseas rights for the next three years, from 2010 to 2013, were very promising.

It was expected to exceed 1.5 billion pounds.

It might even reach 1.6 billion pounds.

What a frightening growth rate!

It was simply too fast!

Even more ridiculously, the globalization of the Premier League was still accelerating, and its future potential was still immense.

In this latest round, the auction for the Premier League’s overseas rights was already catching up with the domestic market.

Especially with the Premier League becoming more and more competitive in recent seasons, and the matches becoming more and more exciting, it has greatly attracted the attention of fans around the world.

Under these circumstances, the revenue from overseas rights was also constantly climbing.

And none of this was something Gillett had told Prince Faisal.

So why did Yang Cheng say so much?

“We at Bayswater Chinese attach great importance to the Middle Eastern market and cherish our cooperation with Saudi enterprises!”

The implication was, I’m doing this for the sake of those two sponsorship contracts worth a total of thirty million pounds.

This couldn’t help but make Prince Faisal and the others even more convinced.

“It seems we need to re-evaluate Liverpool’s worth!” Prince Faisal thanked Yang Cheng gratefully.

…

On the private jet from Riyadh back to London, Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and Omar Berrada sat in the front row, separated from the others by some distance.

Everyone could see they had something to discuss.

The main topic was the Saudi consortium.

According to the hints from the Saudi Minister for Sport and Prince Faisal, the entity looking to acquire Liverpool this time was not them personally, but the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

This touched upon the investment trends in the entire Middle East region in recent years.

The history of Middle Eastern consortiums investing in Britain spans many years.

For example, over the past few years, the most common rumor in Britain was that Middle Eastern tycoons wanted to buy up all of London.

What did that mean?

It meant that Middle Eastern capital was frantically buying up assets in London, including the very famous Harrods.

And also prime assets near Knightsbridge.

If the acquisition of Fulham by an Egyptian tycoon was considered a private act, then the Dubai consortium’s attempt to acquire Liverpool in 2004, and the Abu Dhabi consortium’s acquisition of Manchester City in 2008, all had sovereign wealth funds behind them.

And it was the same Middle Eastern agency orchestrating things in the middle.

This agency kept a low profile, was headquartered in Dubai, and specialized in facilitating the entry of Middle Eastern consortiums into Britain.

Not just football, but other assets as well.

As early as 2006, after the auction ended and the Premier League’s domestic broadcasting rights jumped from 1.13 billion pounds to 1.88 billion pounds, the value of the Premier League had already attracted the attention of investors worldwide.

After that agency failed in its attempt to orchestrate the Dubai consortium’s acquisition of Liverpool, it turned to orchestrate the Abu Dhabi consortium’s acquisition of Manchester City.

Now, it was the same agency helping the Saudi consortium make contact with Liverpool.

“I don’t quite understand. You don’t seem worried about Liverpool being acquired by the Saudi consortium.”

Adam Crozier was curious.

As a competitor, with Manchester City rising so quickly, Yang Cheng seemed completely unfazed by the possibility of the Reds rising rapidly after a Saudi acquisition.

What good would that do for Bayswater Chinese?

Yang Cheng smiled faintly.

“Sometimes, benefits aren’t always tangible in terms of direct interests.”

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada began to ponder this carefully.

“Honestly, compared to the tycoons from the Middle East, I’m more disgusted by those capital players from the United States.”

Yang Cheng said this with genuine feeling.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada deeply agreed.

In English football, almost no one liked investors from the United States.

This wasn’t just because of the Glazers, but also because of Gillett and Hicks.

These American investors had no intention of running football clubs properly; they were just thinking about making money, and they were short-sighted.

In comparison, Yang Cheng actually preferred the Middle Eastern consortiums.

They also had their own interests, but at least they genuinely ran the clubs and truly invested in them.

Just like Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich, wasn’t he countless times better than those American investors?

And in Yang Cheng’s view, Arsenal, now sold to Alisher Usmanov, had, in just two short years, gained the strength to compete with the top teams in the Premier League.

Isn’t that better than selling to Americans?

Everyone has their own interests.

Roman Abramovich wanted fame and influence; the Middle Eastern consortiums also wanted to use Premier League teams to get what they wanted.

This was perfectly normal.

Right now, many British media outlets were creating panic, worrying that if foreign investment were to withdraw, it would leave a huge mess behind.

But they overlooked one thing.

As the entire Premier League pie gets bigger and its influence grows stronger, there’s no need to worry about whether someone will take over.

What’s more, The Premier League, The FA, and UEFA are now formulating relevant financial policies to mitigate a series of risks.

To take it a step further.

Alright, without foreign investment, how would Liverpool solve its current debt of over two hundred million pounds?

Without a foreign takeover, the most likely outcome for this powerhouse club is bankruptcy.

Leeds United and Southampton are cautionary tales.

“We are now at a time of rapid globalization. Whether it’s from Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, their capital helps to enhance the global competitiveness and influence of the Premier League, making the pie bigger for everyone. For us, this is a good thing.”

“On the other hand, the Americans, they are too short-sighted!”

The greater the influence of the Premier League, the more valuable the clubs become.

This was also a good thing for Bayswater Chinese.

As for who wins and who loses on the football pitch, who takes the championship, that’s not the main problem.

Competitive sports values results, but not to that extreme extent.

There’s only one champion per season.

Does that mean not winning the championship is a failure?

True success or failure lies in the management of the club and the development of the entire football industry.

…

When Bayswater Chinese returned from the Middle East with the Club World Cup trophy and sponsorship contracts worth a staggering seventeen million pounds per year, it immediately caused a huge stir throughout European football.

Everyone was astonished by Bayswater Chinese’s ability to attract money.

Including the appearance fees and prize money from the Club World Cup, Bayswater Chinese’s trip to the Middle East was a massive financial success.

The Times even predicted in its report that with Bayswater Chinese’s current management capabilities, by the time the new stadium is completed, the club could surpass Manchester United to become the most profitable club in the Premier League.

It even had a chance to surpass Real Madrid and Barça.

Bayswater Chinese made no secret of its carefully managed goals.

Adam Crozier revealed in an interview with the media that Bayswater Chinese hoped to become the highest-earning club in European football.

“This has been our club’s goal for many years!”

No one would doubt the能力 of this management genius!

And on the competitive front.

While Bayswater Chinese was away in the Middle East, the Premier League played two rounds.

In the midweek 17th round, Manchester United defeated Wolves 3-0 at home.

Arsenal beat Burnley 1-0 away.

Chelsea beat Portsmouth 2-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at home.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated Tottenham 3-2 away.

Come the weekend’s 18th round.

In the first match, Liverpool lost 2-0 away to the bottom-of-the-table team, Portsmouth.

The British media didn’t know how to describe this result.

In any case, Liverpool was in a terrible state right now.

But what was even more surprising was that Ferguson’s Manchester United actually lost 2-0 away to Fulham.

Another huge upset!

The entire European football world was stunned.

The former Chelsea winger Duff had slayed The Red Devils.

Manchester City, meanwhile, narrowly defeated Sunderland, The Black Cats, 4-3 at home.

Arsenal won comfortably 3-0 at home against Hull City.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away with West Ham United.

Interestingly, both of Chelsea’s goals in that match came from penalty kicks.

Thus, by the time Yang Cheng returned to London with Bayswater Chinese, the situation in the Premier League had changed dramatically.

Arsenal sat at the top of the Premier League with 43 points.

After two consecutive seasons of investment, The Gunners were beginning to look like champions.

Wenger was also very excited, stating that reclaiming the top spot in the Premier League before Christmas gave him and his players unprecedented confidence!

“We will fight for the title!”

Not only that, after the 18th round of the Premier League, Arsenal officially announced that they would offer a new contract to their core midfielder, Fàbregas.

Although the specific weekly wage was not made public, The Independent, a newspaper close to Arsenal, revealed that if the contract was renewed, Fàbregas’s weekly wage at The Gunners would be as high as two hundred thousand pounds.

In addition, several other players for The Gunners were also on the list for contract renewals.

In second place in the Premier League was Manchester City.

The Blue Moons were in second with 41 points, just two points behind Arsenal.

Manchester United was in third with 40 points.

But Ferguson remained defiant, stating in an interview with the media that this wasn’t the first time Wenger had been ahead of Manchester United before Christmas.

“In the past years of the Premier League, there has been no shortage of teams that perform well in the first half of the season.”

“But what truly decides the winner is the Christmas and winter transfer window schedule, as well as the following February and March.”

Ferguson believed that it was still too early to say if Wenger’s team could win the title!

Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea both had 38 points.

Yang Cheng’s team, thanks to a better goal difference, ranked fourth in the Premier League table, while Guus Hiddink’s team ranked fifth.

Interestingly, after Christmas, on Boxing Day, December 26th, in the 19th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese was set to host Chelsea.

What was truly giving Yang Cheng a headache wasn’t the point difference on the league table.

Being five points behind Arsenal wasn’t too great a distance for Yang Cheng.

What’s more, Bayswater Chinese had played three fewer games.

Yang Cheng’s headache was, when would these three rescheduled matches be played?

For this reason, Yang Cheng had director of football Dan Ashworth contact Tottenham Hotspur, Blackburn Rovers, and Everton respectively.

As long as neither side had cup competitions in January, they would arrange for the rescheduled matches.

Yang Cheng hoped to make up as many games as possible in January.

Otherwise, when the Champions League resumed, and the schedule was compressed, it would be a huge problem!

…

Although Bayswater Chinese was busy participating in the Club World Cup in the Middle East, the club’s Christmas arrangements were not neglected in the slightest.

Just like last year, under the direction of Adam Crozier, upon returning to London, the team immediately began its Christmas activities, delivering gifts to the surrounding communities.

The players, in batches, visited orphanages, children’s hospitals, and nursing homes.

What was different from previous years was that Bayswater Chinese’s eight Satellite Training Centres in the London area also launched their own Christmas activities.

Funded by the club, each training center gave Christmas gifts to residents in their respective communities and provided supplies to lonely elderly people to help them celebrate the holiday.

Although this cost quite a bit more money, it significantly improved the image of Bayswater Chinese.

Xia Qing had specifically conducted a study.

After Bayswater Chinese’s continuous years of increased investment in community residents and fan services, the club’s image had seen a very noticeable improvement.

The direct benefit was that the club’s home game attendance rate was steadily increasing.

This season, at the ninety-thousand-seater Wembley Stadium, Bayswater Chinese’s games were almost always sold out.

This played a huge role in boosting the overall revenue of Bayswater Chinese.

After finishing with the Christmas activities, Bayswater Chinese also held a grand celebration banquet.

It was mainly to celebrate the Club World Cup, as well as their achievements in the Premier League, Champions League, and League Cup.

Not only the players, coaches, and employees, but also their families received invitations.

Everyone gathered together to celebrate the achievements of Bayswater Chinese over the past year.

Yang Cheng also announced on behalf of the club that the team would officially begin a new round of contract renewal negotiations.

This was met with enthusiastic applause from everyone present.

Because they all knew that renewals might come sooner or later, but everyone would get a raise.

After Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier also took the stage to present the achievements of Bayswater Chinese over the past year.

As the team’s CEO, he mainly introduced things from the perspective of the club as a whole.

Commercial Director Omar Berrada then took the stage to present the club’s achievements on the commercial front.

At this point, Omar Berrada also revealed a specific development.

Through the club’s facilitation, three players from the team had signed commercial sponsorship contracts with sponsors.

Omar Berrada didn’t reveal who, but the three players were Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Roy Carroll.

Among them, Gareth Bale had signed three sponsorship contracts.

Theo Walcott and Roy Carroll had each signed one, both with local British companies.

And their sponsorship deals with Nike and Adidas were still under negotiation.

Omar Berrada promised that in the coming years, the commercial department would significantly increase its investment in the players, striving to create greater benefits for every single player.

Director of Football Dan Ashworth then presented the series of achievements the club had made in the first team, youth team, and youth academy system, as well as the achievements of the various Satellite Training Centres.

Today’s Bayswater Chinese could be considered a large and prosperous enterprise.

The youth academy was renowned in England and even in European football.

Its results were also quite impressive.

Dan Ashworth proudly stated that Bayswater Chinese was recognized by UEFA as one of the best youth academies in Europe.

Because Bayswater Chinese’s U19 youth team had won the U19 Champions League last season.

The heroes, naturally, were Paul Pogba, Kanté, and others.

After years of continuous investment, Bayswater Chinese had also sold quite a few youth team players.

They were basically young players who weren’t quite good enough for the first team but had performed well in the youth team.

This had generated over ten million pounds in revenue for the youth academy.

Xia Qing had secretly calculated the figures for Yang Cheng.

From now on, after five years of high-intensity investment, Bayswater Chinese was finally beginning to see a return.

Of course, due to the massive initial investment in the team, especially in the Satellite Training Centres.

This enterprise was still expanding and would require continued investment in the future.

So, for now, there was no possibility of seeing a profit.

But Yang Cheng believed that as youth talent becomes more and more expensive in the coming years, Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy would be a hen that lays golden eggs.

It could not only provide a steady supply of talent for the first team but also generate revenue for the club by selling young players.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current status, the vast majority of youth team players would not meet the requirements for the first team, but for mid to lower-table Premier League teams, or in the Championship, they would absolutely be hot property.

And after several years of development, especially with the recent shift in the overall technical and tactical style of the Premier League.

The youth training philosophy that Yang Cheng had established for Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy, which focused on technique, undoubtedly produced very desirable players.

By releasing a batch of players every year, as long as they could consistently produce professional players for the Championship, or even the Premier League, the reputation of Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy would grow stronger and stronger.

At least in the Premier League today, Bayswater Chinese definitely had a top-tier youth academy.

And only the club’s top management knew that there was actually another blockbuster signing that they planned to announce at an appropriate time after Christmas.

Chapter 190: Completely Crushing Chelsea! Ferguson’s Joy, I’ve Finally Experienced It!

On the afternoon of December 26th.

King’s Cross Station is one of London’s busiest tube stations.

A total of five tube lines converge here.

The surrounding area is home to numerous prestigious institutions like Central Saint Martins and the University of London, as well as the headquarters and offices of international corporations such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Huawei.

Though it’s a bustling international metropolis, King’s Cross Station often feels remarkably deserted on public holidays.

This is especially true for major holidays like Christmas.

But after noon, King’s Cross and the adjacent Euston Station began to see a surge of people.

And the crowds only grew larger.

Police officers started appearing near the two stations to maintain order.

Inside, the westbound trains were packed, with long queues of people, many of whom were dressed in red football jerseys.

The shared colors fostered an immediate sense of kinship among them.

They were all fans of Bayswater Chinese.

Kitted out from head to toe in Bayswater Chinese “gear” was Martin Bannon, one fan amongst the many.

“Are all these people heading to Wembley Stadium?”

The question came from his good friend, William Smith, who was standing behind him.

“That’s right. The Farm’s match should be starting soon,” Martin Bannon said with a smile.

His tone was clearly filled with pride for Bayswater Chinese.

“The Farm,” as he called it, referred to Fulham from West London, who had fought their way back into the Premier League this season.

On this day, December 26th, there were three matches being played in London.

The first was Fulham at home against Tottenham Hotspur at 12:45 PM.

Then there was West Ham United at home against Portsmouth at 1:00 PM, but that match was in East London.

Arsenal’s home game against Aston Villa was scheduled for the next day, noon on the 27th.

It was obvious that at this time of day, almost all the fans heading west were going to Wembley Stadium.

Because a blockbuster match was taking place there today: Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea at home!

A West London derby!

Without a doubt, it was the most anticipated showdown of the entire Christmas holiday.

“I’ve only been in the United States for a few years. Has Bayswater Chinese really become this big of a draw?” William Smith asked, looking astonished.

After graduating, he had worked in London, just like Martin Bannon.

But a few years ago, his company had transferred him to the United States.

Before he left, Bayswater Chinese was hardly a big name.

“This is perfectly normal now.”

“Oh?”

“Before every home game, London’s tube stations are packed with fans heading to Wembley. After the match, it’s a sea of people, requiring special police presence to maintain order and direct the flow.”

After a pause, Martin Bannon grinned. “A while back, the City of Westminster police actually approached Bayswater Chinese and asked them to pay up.”

“Apparently, they call this the ‘great migration’.”

“‘Great migration?’” William Smith felt that was a bit of an exaggeration.

“So far this season, the average attendance is eighty-nine thousand, and half of them come from central London.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

After a pause, Martin Bannon slung an arm around his friend’s shoulder, laughed, and asked, “Guess how much I paid for your ticket to see this match today?”

William Smith thought for a moment. “One hundred pound sterling?”

He tried to estimate on the high side.

It was Boxing Day, after all, so a price increase was normal.

But Martin Bannon shook his head.

“Two hundred pound sterling?”

Martin Bannon held up his hand, showing five fingers. “Five hundred pound sterling.”

“Five hundred pound sterling?” William Smith gasped in surprise. “Are you mad?”

“I had no choice! I have a season ticket, but you can’t get single tickets anywhere. I had to buy from a scalper at a high price.”

“My God, that’s insane!”

William Smith looked at his close friend apologetically. It was his spur-of-the-moment idea to go see a match with him, and it had ended up costing his friend five hundred pounds.

“It’s nothing. When we get to Wembley, you can treat me to some good food.”

“No problem! How’s the food there?”

“It’s delicious. Haven’t you seen all the fans online saying they bought a Bayswater Chinese season ticket just because they crave the food there? Haha…”

“Alright then, I’ll treat you later… By the way, Martin, you’ve been promoted to project supervisor, right?”

“I have. That’s why I can afford to spend five hundred pounds to take you to a game.”

“I heard your company is thinking about moving offices?”

“Yeah, it’s been half a year since the iPhone 3GS came out, and sales have already surpassed the total sales of all previous models. The company is constantly expanding its workforce. As you know, our UK headquarters in London is split across six different locations, which is very inconvenient.”

“True, working spread out like that is a hassle, but it’s pretty common. There aren’t that many large office buildings in central London. Look at Google, they’re also spread across multiple sites.”

“Our company is currently looking for an office building. We’re planning to consolidate several departments and over a thousand employees in one place. And we’ll definitely need to keep expanding in the future; we’re severely understaffed right now.”

“Have you chosen a place?”

“Not yet. I’ve heard Bayswater is one of the options.”

“The office buildings next to that new stadium? Won’t they be a bit too small?”

“Our UK headquarters doesn’t have that many people, but I only heard we were in talks. I’m not sure about the specifics. I think Norman Foster’s people are helping to make the connection?”

“Norman Foster?”

“Yeah, he designed a lot of our Apple stores. That new stadium in Bayswater is his work too.”

“No wonder. You guys have always had a soft spot for Norman Foster.”

“They say three companies have already signed leases over there. There are only four buildings in total, and one is supposed to be for their own use. But I don’t know the specifics of the negotiations.”

“That area is prime real estate. I heard they’ve signed deals with places like Bvlgari Hotels.”

“As our UK boss puts it, we want to be right next door to Bvlgari. That way, when people from the US headquarters come to London on business, they can stay directly at the Bvlgari Hotel. It’s a huge upgrade in our hospitality standards.”

“Haha, that’s a great idea. I’m all for it.”

The two friends chatted all the way as they boarded a westbound train and arrived at Wembley Central station.

When they reached the station, they found the crowds were even larger.

Wembley Stadium has two tube stations, one to the north and one to the south, and at this moment, both were teeming with people.

The two young men were swept along by the crowd, steadily moving towards Wembley Stadium.

The closer they got to the stadium, the more immense the human tide became.

“Wow, do Bayswater Chinese really have this many fans now?” William Smith was astonished.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, and if the fans weren’t all wearing the red jerseys of Bayswater Chinese, he would have suspected they were Chelsea supporters.

“I thought all us English fans were supposed to be loyal?” William Smith found it amusing.

What happened to loyalty?

How could London’s youngest team attract so many fans?

“That’s because you haven’t heard the other saying.”

“What saying?”

“A man loves two clubs in his life: one from his community, and the other… haha…”

“Besides, the fan distribution in London has always been a bit of a mystery.”

Martin Bannon’s words made William Smith, also a Londoner, burst out laughing.

For many years, the media had loved to speculate about which team was London’s most popular.

There were many similar debates.

For example, people have always said that in Manchester, Manchester City is the team most beloved by local fans, while Manchester United doesn’t really count, they just have a better international presence.

The strange thing is, Manchester United’s stadium capacity and attendance rate far exceed Manchester City’s.

And in Liverpool, it’s always been said that Everton has more local fans than Liverpool.

London is even more mysterious.

For example, where exactly are the fans of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur?

It’s long been said that Spurs fans are in the West End, while Chelsea fans are in the suburbs.

This in itself is strange.

Before Arsenal built the Emirates Stadium, Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge was the largest club stadium in London, with a capacity of forty-one thousand.

In contrast, Arsenal’s and Tottenham’s stadiums both had capacities of just over thirty thousand.

And it’s not like they didn’t expand; Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge was expanded multiple times to reach over forty thousand.

The most baffling part was when Arsenal decided to build a new stadium, they went straight for a sixty-thousand capacity, over twenty-two thousand more than their old Highbury ground, which held thirty-eight thousand.

At the time, many people said that Arsenal wouldn’t be able to fill the new stadium after moving in.

They came up with a host of reasons, all seemingly sound.

But what was the result?

Today, the Emirates Stadium is sold out for every match.

And the Gunners’ ticket prices are not cheap among London clubs. They even bundle Champions League group stage tickets, making their season ticket prices the highest in the world.

Even so, tickets are still incredibly hard to come by.

Therefore, among London football fans, they all tease each other, joking that the number of fans in London is a complete mystery.

Anyone who claims that a certain district belongs to a particular team’s fans is definitely talking nonsense.

“You know, my whole family are Tottenham Hotspur fans. I used to go to all of Tottenham’s games, but now, I basically only watch Bayswater Chinese.”

As he said this, Martin Bannon pointed at the massive crowd around them.

“I believe there are many young fans like me. They might have supported West Ham United, Charlton, Fulham, or even Arsenal and Chelsea before, but now they all support Bayswater Chinese.”

“Martin, hearing you talk like this, I’m starting to like this team a little.”

“Really?”

“Of course. How could I not, when my favourite, Adele, loves this team too?”

With that, William Smith grabbed Martin Bannon’s hand and hurried into the crowd.

“Come on, Adele’s annual performance is today. We need to get inside and find our seats!”

…

Ever since her debut album took the world by storm, Adele has become a globally renowned singer.

First, she won Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards in February 2009.

She was also nominated for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy in 2010.

Over the past two years, she had won countless awards.

But she had always maintained one habit: whenever she had the time, she would be at a Bayswater Chinese home game.

She had a permanent VIP box here, which she used for herself and to entertain her family and guests.

And every year, at the first home game after Christmas, she would take to the pitch to sing for Bayswater Chinese.

It was her way of expressing her gratitude to Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Today’s match was no exception.

The West London derby had captured the attention of media and fans all over the world.

The atmosphere in Wembley Stadium, lifted by Adele’s soul-piercing, ethereal voice, reached a fever pitch.

By the time the players from both teams walked onto the pitch, the passion of everyone in the stadium had been ignited.

This Boxing Day match had drawn ninety thousand fans.

Being a West London derby, it was the focus of intense media and fan attention worldwide.

This made both participating teams take it very seriously, each fielding their strongest lineups.

The away team, Chelsea, lined up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defenders: Ashley Cole, Terry, Alex, and Ivanović;

Midfielders: Mikel in a holding role, with Sneijder and Lampard in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Drogba, and Eto’o.

This was Chelsea’s best-performing and strongest starting eleven of the season.

Especially the backline.

With Carvalho gradually losing his starting position, Alex had become Terry’s ideal partner.

On the bench, famous names like Michael Ballack and Zhirkov were also waiting.

Guus Hiddink’s team was truly a formidable force!

The home team, Bayswater Chinese, was equally impressive.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Marcelo, Kompany, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfielders: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

This was also the strongest lineup Yang Cheng could currently field.

Midfielder Rakitić was out with an injury, and since it was a home game, Yang Cheng opted not to use Matuidi, instead choosing the more offensively-minded and better-passing Aaron Ramsey to partner with Modrić.

The Welshman’s running ability was also phenomenal.

Centre-back Thiago Silva was suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so Yang Cheng replaced him with Kompany.

As each Bayswater Chinese player walked out onto the pitch, their name was boomed over the stadium’s public address system.

They were introduced one by one, and each was met with a tidal wave of cheers from the fans in the stands.

Gareth Bale, in particular.

He had become the most popular player among Bayswater Chinese fans.

One could even say he was the team’s superstar!

“Gareth Bale!!”

In the stands of Wembley Stadium, as all the surrounding fans chanted Gareth Bale’s name, William Smith also jumped to his feet, overcome with excitement.

“I’ve seen videos of him online! He’s so shocking, so impactful! They’re shared everywhere!”

“He’s incredibly popular in the United States.”

“And what about that other guy, Walcott? Why isn’t he playing?”

The noise from the crowd was deafening, with everyone screaming at the top of their lungs. Even though they were sitting next to each other, Martin Bannon had to lean close to his ear and shout, “It’s normal. He, Bale, and Di María are always on squad rotation.”

“Di María? Is he good?”

“Of course he’s good! Lots of teams want him, but we’re not selling!” Martin Bannon laughed heartily.

“Gareth Bale is so good, and he’s a homegrown player from our own youth academy. How come he’s not the captain?” William Smith asked, puzzled again.

“Modrić may be Croatian, but he’s also considered a homegrown player. He came to Bayswater Chinese when he was young and fought his way up from the lower leagues with the team. He’s incredibly talented, just very low-key.”

“He looks so skinny. I still prefer Gareth Bale, strong and powerful!” William Smith shouted.

After saying this, whether swept up by the atmosphere or thrilled to see his favorite star, he stood up and yelled towards the pitch, “Come on, Gareth Bale!”

“Destroy Chelsea!”

At this moment, inside Wembley Stadium, ninety thousand fans felt the same way as William Smith.

…

With a blast of head referee Peter Walton’s whistle, the globally anticipated West London derby officially kicked off.

As soon as the match began, with Chelsea taking the kickoff, Bayswater Chinese immediately pressed high up the pitch.

All three lines pushed forward in unison.

This drew a thunderous cheer from the home fans that reverberated throughout Wembley Stadium.

It also made for a fiercely aggressive start to the match!

The ball quickly fell to Bayswater Chinese.

With a series of one-touch passes, they swiftly moved it to the left flank.

Marcelo made a high-speed overlapping run, received the ball in the half-space, and cut a diagonal pass back to the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale got the ball and attempted to take on Ivanović to deliver a cross.

The ball was blocked out for a corner by the Serbian.

Corner kick!

“Just one minute and eleven seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese have earned a corner kick opportunity.”

“Ivanović’s defending is still very solid.”

“Let’s see this corner kick.”

“Modrić delivers it, and it drops into the penalty area.”

“Matić in the center with a header!”

“Headed it just a bit too high.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s set piece tactics are always very threatening.”

But Bayswater Chinese’s attack soon came roaring back.

This time, it was down the right flank.

When Di María received the ball in the right half-space, he passed it to the overlapping Piszczek on the right touchline.

Piszczek quickly dribbled down the right flank before passing it back to Di María.

The Argentinian was already at full speed, charging directly into Chelsea’s penalty area with the ball.

But his first touch to control and push the ball forward was a little too heavy, and Terry, arriving just in time, managed to get a block in.

The ball still rolled towards the center.

Lewandowski ran over and, without taking a touch, hit a turning power shot.

The ball slid just wide of the post.

Another collective gasp echoed through Wembley Stadium.

The shot was extremely dangerous, aimed directly for the bottom left corner of the goal.

If it had been just a couple of goalposts’ width more to the inside, it would have been a goal!

“But that’s football. Even the slightest deviation in technique or the point of contact when striking the ball can send it way off target.”

“Lewandowski’s ability to seize opportunities is still very strong.”

Since the start of the match, Chelsea had been on the receiving end of a relentless assault.

But the tempo of the game didn’t slow down one bit.

This was Yang Cheng’s strategy for the match.

Hiddink’s Chelsea was much like Mourinho’s era, known for its solid defense and lethal counter-attacks.

Especially after adding two formidable players like Sneijder and Eto’o, Chelsea’s midfield had a creative outlet, and their attack had speed, making their counter-attacks incredibly threatening.

But their most troublesome aspect was their defense.

The Blues’ defensive prowess, from Ranieri to Mourinho and now to Hiddink, had been passed down as a legacy.

One could even say it was ingrained in their very marrow.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese had to rely on a high-tempo game, trying to create goals by capitalizing on transitions and using pass-and-move combinations to stretch Chelsea’s defensive line.

It wasn’t until the 6th minute that Sneijder, after receiving the ball on the left side of midfield, sent a diagonal pass forward.

Eto’o made a quick diagonal run, collected the ball outside the arc of the penalty area, and suddenly unleashed a long shot.

This was Chelsea’s first shot of the match.

But it posed no threat.

Instead of intimidating Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea’s shot only seemed to infuriate their opponents.

This was Wembley Stadium!

A minute later, Gareth Bale received a through ball from Marcelo on the left flank.

Facing a double-team from Lampard and Ivanović, the Welshman executed an agile turn on his first touch, followed by a Marseille turn that left Lampard behind. He then suddenly accelerated, knocking the ball past Ivanović.

But just as the Welshman was about to burst forward, Ivanović committed a deliberate foul.

This immediately elicited strong disapproval from the entire stadium.

That was Gareth Bale’s signature move. He was just about to take off. Why would you foul him?

Quickly, Bayswater Chinese took a quick free-kick.

Aaron Ramsey played a one-two with Marcelo before passing the ball to Gareth Bale on the outside of the left corner of the penalty area.

After receiving the ball on the left, the Welshman cut past Ivanović. Facing the closing Mikel, he executed a beautiful La Croqueta, dribbled into the left side of the box, and whipped in a cross.

The ball dropped into the center of the penalty area.

Lewandowski made a quick forward run.

Just as the Polish centre-forward was about to get his head on the ball, a towering figure charged out from Chelsea’s goal, extending his arms high to snatch the ball from just above Lewandowski’s head.

The two landed almost simultaneously.

The Czech goalkeeping god clutched the ball tightly to his chest, yelling instructions at his teammates before booming a long kick upfield.

Up front, Drogba and Pepe were locked in a physical battle.

The Beast Drogba had been incredibly fierce in his day, but now, at almost thirty-two, he was no longer the force he once was.

Pepe, on the other hand, was just twenty-six, in the golden age of his physical prime and career.

When both jumped for an aerial duel, Drogba surprisingly found no advantage over Pepe; in fact, Pepe won the dominant position.

The stadium erupted in a round of applause for Pepe.

After heading the ball back, the Portuguese centre-back retreated behind Drogba again with the casual air of a hero who has completed his task.

His teammates upfield didn’t waste Pepe’s brilliant aerial victory.

The attack ultimately ended with a long shot from Aaron Ramsey from the edge of the penalty area, forcing Čech into a save.

Unfortunately, they still couldn’t find the back of the net.

In the first ten minutes of the match, Bayswater Chinese were overwhelmingly dominant.

Chelsea could barely even find an opportunity to counter-attack.

Their second counter-attack occurred in the 13th minute.

Left-back Ashley Cole surged forward with the ball and passed it to Malouda.

The French winger then passed it to Drogba.

The Ivorian used his body to shield the ball from Pepe, receiving it with his back to goal before laying it off horizontally.

Eto’o quickly dribbled from the half-space into Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area. To the right of the penalty spot, under physical pressure from Kompany, the Cheetah was a step too slow.

Neuer decisively rushed off his line, charging out of the six-yard box to gather the ball into his arms just before Eto’o could reach it.

The Cameroonian Cheetah had to leap into the air to narrowly avoid injuring Neuer.

Although there were counter-attacks, Bayswater Chinese’s offense remained incredibly sharp.

Especially Gareth Bale on the left flank.

This left Chelsea’s entire right side on edge, as if facing a formidable enemy.

And then, in the 23rd minute, after a series of relentless attacks, Bayswater Chinese won possession in their own half, with Pepe on the ball.

When he received the return pass from a teammate, Pepe was already past the halfway line, positioned to the right of the center circle.

Drogba immediately charged towards him. Pepe quickly turned his body to control the ball to his right.

At that moment, Chelsea were pressing high in Bayswater’s half.

Modrić dropped back from an advanced position, trying to make himself available for a pass, but Sneijder was sticking to him like glue.

Drogba also blocked the passing lanes to Matić and Kompany.

Fortunately, the Brazilian-born Portuguese international had excellent technique and passing ability. He delivered a medium-range diagonal pass.

The ball skimmed across the grass towards the right touchline.

Piszczek was jogging back from a forward position.

Although Malouda was chasing him, Piszczek, a former winger, had good skills. As the ball arrived, he came to an abrupt stop, controlled it with the outside of his right foot, turned, and dribbled into the half-space.

Modrić immediately surged forward.

As Piszczek carried the ball into Chelsea’s final third, he immediately played a through ball to Di María’s feet.

The Argentinian controlled it with his left foot, held off Ashley Cole with an arm, and attempted a chipped pass with his left.

However, he didn’t get the height right, and Terry headed it away squarely.

The ball rebounded out of the penalty area, falling towards the area outside the right of the arc.

Modrić arrived at full tilt at that moment and, meeting the falling ball, cushioned a volley over the top.

That touch sent the ball looping over the onrushing Mikel and the Chelsea defensive line near the edge of the box, dropping into the penalty area behind them.

Lewandowski made a run between Terry and Alex. Near the penalty spot, he positioned his body, waiting for Modrić’s chipped pass to land, then turned and unleashed a furious shot.

Čech was halfway out of his goal when he launched himself into a diving save.

But Lewandowski’s volley was faster, more urgent. The ball rocketed into the right side of Chelsea’s goal at incredible speed.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 23rd minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Chelsea’s defense!”

“A magnificent volley from Lewandowski!”

“This goal couldn’t have come at a better time!”

“Bayswater Chinese have had nine shots since the start of the match, and now they finally have something to show for it!”

“It’s the pass-and-move combination we’ve come to know so well, and it was incredibly creative.”

“Especially that sudden chipped pass from Modrić.”

“Lewandowski’s positioning was also very sharp. Just before that, when he made a run for Di María, he sensed he might be offside, so he immediately dropped back.”

“If he hadn’t dropped back in time, he would have been offside right now.”

“So smart!”

“That was a beautifully executed attack by Bayswater Chinese!”

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

When ninety thousand people roar in unison, the sound is powerful enough to shake the very heavens!

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline. The moment Lewandowski scored, he broke into a smile and applauded, cheering for his player.

Scoring first against a team like Chelsea was extremely important!

The Blues were very good at defending.

But Bayswater Chinese were very good at attacking.

So, the key was to see who could suppress whom.

After the goal, Yang Cheng immediately signaled to Matić and Modrić to slow down the attack and let Chelsea push out.

Bayswater Chinese’s pass-and-move style was quite taxing on stamina.

That was why Yang Cheng’s squad rotation was always so extensive.

If they could save some energy, they should.

Besides, if they dropped back and let Chelsea press forward, Bayswater Chinese would find it easier to attack.

What’s that?

What if Chelsea didn’t push out?

Impossible!

Yang Cheng was absolutely certain that Hiddink wouldn’t be able to keep his composure.

Because they were currently fifth in the league.

But more importantly, the Africa Cup of Nations was in January 2010!

Perhaps many people didn’t realize just how much of an impact the Africa Cup of Nations would have on Chelsea.

Drogba, Eto’o, and Mikel—three players in tonight’s starting lineup—would all be leaving for the tournament.

In addition, there were Essien and Kalou.

Essien was a key rotation player, while Kalou was a substitute.

But to suddenly lose five players, four of whom were starters, it was easy to imagine how difficult Chelsea’s matches would be during the Africa Cup of Nations.

They were already in fifth place. One misstep, and their ranking could drop even further.

Under these circumstances, Hiddink had to fight for every single point!

Yang Cheng even suspected that Hiddink’s decision not to start the more defensively adept Essien was a sign that he intended to go all-out against Bayswater Chinese, hoping to snatch some points away from home.

Of course, other Premier League teams weren’t much better off.

Arsenal had Alexandre Song, Eboué, and Kolo Touré.

Manchester City had Adebayor and Yaya Touré.

Manchester United and Liverpool had always emphasized and promoted homegrown players, so they had no African players.

Bayswater Chinese originally had Yaya Touré, but he had been sold to Manchester City, so they were unaffected.

Therefore, during the entire Africa Cup of Nations period, Yang Cheng could finally experience the kind of joy Ferguson had spoken of in the past!

…

After Bayswater Chinese took the lead and slightly eased their offensive pressure, Chelsea still remained relatively cautious.

The home team, however, launched waves of attacks.

And they were mostly concentrated on the two flanks.

Facing the opponent’s staunch defense, Di María was also very active on the right wing.

In the 29th minute, Di María received a through ball from Piszczek on the right. With a very clever nutmeg, he slipped the ball through Ashley Cole’s legs and tried to run around him.

But the Englishman simply wrapped his arms around Di María’s waist and pulled him down, giving him no chance to get past.

This all happened right under the linesman’s nose.

The head referee blew his whistle and immediately issued a yellow card warning.

“Bayswater Chinese are stretching the play quite wide on both flanks, which easily forces Chelsea’s defensive line, especially their two full-backs, into one-on-one situations.”

“The Blues are having a real headache with this.”

“If they commit men to defend the center, they need numbers. If they stretch their formation, Modrić and Aaron Ramsey in the middle will start to exert their influence, which is also fatal for Chelsea’s defense.”

“The current Bayswater Chinese team is seriously strong!”

“Yang Cheng’s tactical system is becoming more and more mature, and the players’ coordination is getting more and more polished.”

Bayswater Chinese constantly launched attacks, while Chelsea defended with all their might.

The match entered a temporary stalemate.

But Yang Cheng’s prediction was spot on.

When the match reached the 37th minute, Chelsea began to try and push forward to attack.

First, Sneijder threatened Bayswater Chinese’s goal with a long shot.

Then, Drogba also had a chance with a header from a Malouda cross from the left.

The ball went over the bar.

Chelsea were certainly not content with a 1-0 loss, so they wanted to use the time remaining before the end of the first half to launch a wave of attacks.

But in the 41st minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield.

After Aaron Ramsey tackled the ball off Lampard, Nemanja Matić sent a medium-long pass upfield to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman once again found himself one-on-one with Ivanović on the left flank.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball and slowly closed in on Ivanović.

Just as the Serbian was unsure of Bale’s intentions, the Welshman suddenly dribbled diagonally towards the left touchline.

With a slight burst of speed, he immediately drew level with Ivanović.

Ivanović instinctively closed in, trying to use his body to push Gareth Bale out.

If that didn’t work, at least he could throw off his balance and make him lose control of the ball, forcing it out of bounds himself.

But to Ivanović’s complete surprise, while he was thinking this, Gareth Bale was thinking the exact same thing.

The Welshman used his right shoulder to lean into Ivanović, bracing against the pressure. He then pushed the ball forward with his left foot and, with another burst of acceleration, instantly left Ivanović behind.

Staring at the dust-kicking figure of Gareth Bale, Ivanović was filled with shock.

This kid’s physical strength is immense!

Gareth Bale didn’t give Ivanović’s drenched left shoulder a second thought. After breaking free, he dribbled all the way to the outside left of the penalty area, where he was met by Alex, who had come over to intercept.

The Welshman accelerated again, reaching the byline before delivering a cross.

The ball dropped towards the front of the six-yard box, directly in front of goal.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward, used his body to shield the ball from Terry, and met the falling ball with a thunderous shot.

Normally, a power shot from such close range would be a sure thing for Lewandowski.

But he never expected to come up against Čech!

The Czech goalkeeping god was in phenomenal form. In a situation that seemed almost impossible, he dived low and, with one hand, blocked the shot.

Lewandowski’s reaction was also incredibly fast. He immediately rushed forward again and unleashed another furious shot.

After hitting the ground, Čech immediately sprang back up, extending both hands to block this shot as well.

Two consecutive power shots, both with immense force, left Čech’s hands tingling.

But the ball was promptly cleared with a big boot by the arriving Ashley Cole.

Only then did the entire Wembley Stadium erupt with the fans’ gasps of amazement.

Mixed with sounds of regret.

How could a shot like that fail to breach Chelsea’s goal?

Absolutely incredible!

The live television cameras even captured Yang Cheng on the sideline, slapping his forehead hard, his face a picture of indescribable frustration, muttering under his breath.

Fortunately, everyone assumed he was speaking English.

But in reality, Yang Cheng was cursing.

“I fucking saved your head, and this is how you repay me?”

But the continuous attacks from Bayswater Chinese, especially their fierce offensive display throughout the first half, had the fans in the stadium roaring with excitement.

The pace was breakneck, the style of play full of impact.

This exhilarating thrill, combined with their skilled and fluid pass-and-move combinations, was something that no other team in European football could offer.

Barça’s possession football was indeed the best in the world, and Arsenal’s pass-and-move style was on par with Bayswater Chinese’s.

But neither of these teams could produce the kind of awe-inspiring impact that Bayswater Chinese did!

Especially when they seized an opportunity and launched wave after wave of attacks. It wasn’t just the fans in the stadium; even those watching on television felt their blood boil with excitement.

At every thrilling moment, they would even get goosebumps!

However, Bayswater Chinese’s attack wasn’t entirely dependent on the left flank.

In the 44th minute, the home team suddenly launched a quick counter-attack from the right.

After Di María dribbled into the final thirty-meter zone, he suddenly passed the ball to Piszczek on the right flank and made a run into the half-space.

Piszczek delivered a 45-degree cross into the box from the right, looking for Lewandowski.

The connection between the two Polish internationals allowed Lewandowski, near the right side of the penalty spot, to use his body to hold off Alex and head the ball down to the right edge of the penalty area.

Di María arrived at full tilt, controlled the ball with his left foot, and passed it to Modrić, who had already run to the arc, intending for the Croatian to make a run into the penalty area.

Modrić controlled Di María’s pass inside the box, but Mikel had followed him into the area.

Terry also came over to provide defensive cover.

The Croatian reacted quickly, stopping and turning, using his body to shield the ball from Mikel and Terry, protecting it in time and passing it back to the arc.

Di María ran across, controlled the ball with his left foot towards the left side of the arc, and then accelerated to catch up to it. Using his momentum, he planted his right foot and swung his left for a turning power shot.

The ball zipped past Terry and Mikel at high speed, heading straight for the left side of the goal.

Čech had been positioned more towards the right. When the ball reached Modrić, his line of sight was obstructed by Terry, Mikel, and Modrić.

By the time Di María created the opening with his horizontal touch and he reacted, he launched himself into a quick sideways dive.

The Czech goalkeeper’s reflexes were undeniably fast, but against Di María’s power shot, he was just a fraction too slow.

The ball grazed the left post as it went into the net.

2-0!

“It’s another goal!!!”

“In the 44th minute, Di María scores another goal!”

“Bayswater Chinese have breached Chelsea’s defenses once again in the final moments of the first half!”

“We see that this was another quick counter-attack following an interception!”

“This is arguably Bayswater Chinese’s specialty!”

“This time it wasn’t from the left, but an attack from the right, with Di María cutting inside for a power shot with his left foot.”

“Chelsea’s defense was undeniably tight, but we must say, after conceding the first goal, the Blues looked far too passive on the pitch, and Bayswater Chinese did an excellent job of seizing control of the game.”

“2-0!”

“The situation is now very unfavorable for Chelsea!”

“Hopefully, Guus Hiddink can come up with a more effective attacking plan during halftime. Otherwise, in this West London derby, Chelsea might find it difficult to leave Wembley Stadium unscathed!”

“And throughout the entire first half, what we’ve witnessed is Bayswater Chinese’s sharp attack.”

“Especially on the two flanks!”

…

As Bayswater Chinese walked off the pitch with a 2-0 lead, basking in the cheers of ninety thousand fans, every player felt as if they were walking on air, exceptionally light-footed.

Yang Cheng was very pleased with the situation in the first half.

But he didn’t dare to get complacent.

When he returned to the dressing room, he was generous with his praise for the players.

He believed that Bayswater Chinese’s performance in the first half deserved a 9 out of 10.

“I’ll hold onto the last point for now. The game isn’t over, and I don’t want you all to get too proud!”

All the players burst into laughter upon hearing this.

The atmosphere in the dressing room was exceptionally relaxed.

Yang Cheng still addressed some of the issues that had arisen in the first half, analyzing them with the players and discussing improvements.

He believed that in the second half, Chelsea would definitely try to find a way to score.

They had no choice!

Losing this match would be a major blow to their title challenge.

In fact, their hopes of winning the title could be dashed in January.

This was definitely not a scenario Chelsea wanted to see.

Hiddink was a world-class manager. He knew very well that with the current level of competition in the Premier League, if the Blues didn’t bring in reinforcements during the winter transfer window, their situation would become even worse.

Five players were leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations, including their two main goalscorers, Drogba and Eto’o.

Yang Cheng’s counter-strategy was simple: if Chelsea dared to press forward, Bayswater Chinese would hit them head-on.

Especially on the two flanks.

“Gareth, Ángel, Marcelo, and Łukasz, I believe in your abilities!”

“Especially Gareth and Ángel!”

“With your skills, getting past Ivanović and Ashley Cole is as easy as crossing an empty street in the morning!”

“Whenever you want, you can get past them anytime, anywhere!”

Yang Cheng rarely gave his players this kind of encouragement.

This was mainly because he saw that the two players were in outstanding form in this match.

The team needed them to maintain this form in the second half.

If they could truly dominate their one-on-one battles, suppress Ivanović and Ashley Cole, and make Chelsea’s two flanks tremble, would Chelsea still dare to press forward?

Would Hiddink still dare to push forward and attack?

This was what you call the best defense is a good offense!

“Gentlemen, today is Boxing Day!”

“Among the ninety thousand fans here at Wembley Stadium today are not just our supporters, but also your relatives, your families, your friends, and many people who are connected to you in countless ways.”

“I believe you are all the same as me. You all hope that on this momentous day, you can give your friends and family, and our fans, the greatest Christmas present of all!”

“So, in the second half, get back on that pitch and completely crush Chelsea!”

Chapter 191: I Want to Become a Giant! The Bayswater Chinese Are Overturning English Football!

The fifteen minutes of halftime were both brief and agonizingly long.

Some fans remained in their seats, anxiously awaiting the start of the second half.

Others rushed to the commercial area behind the stands, queuing impatiently and cursing the Bayswater Chinese and their damn infrastructure management. Why couldn’t they expand the shops and stalls faster?

The fans were eager to spend money, and they still had to wait in line?

Damn it!

Then there were a few special fans, who saw more than just football.

For instance, in one of Wembley Stadium’s VIP boxes, sat Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich.

Outsiders had no idea just how massive the changes at Chelsea had been this summer.

To them, The Blues had simply signed Sneijder and Eto’o, and managed to keep Guus Hiddink.

In fact, because Hiddink had failed to lead the Russian national team to the World Cup in South Africa, he was now fully committed to coaching Chelsea.

Anything else?

They knew nothing!

For Chelsea, this summer had been a period of drastic, painful change.

Ever since the acquisition in 2003, Chelsea had never been internally stable.

When Peter Kenyon was poached from Manchester United, he brought his own men, like Ron Gourlay, to manage Chelsea’s business operations.

Israeli agent Pini Zahavi held no official position at Chelsea, but he wielded immense influence over Abramovich, and not just because they were both Jewish.

In Chelsea’s early days, Pini Zahavi had personally handled the transfers of many players, including Drogba and Essien.

Everyone knew this was an incredibly lucrative field.

It was the envy of many other agents.

And so, Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, through his connection with Peter Kenyon and buoyed by Porto’s 2004 Treble victory, successfully knocked on the door of Abramovich’s office.

With the arrival of Mourinho and the “Portuguese contingent,” Pini Zahavi’s standing was affected.

During that period, Mourinho was at the peak of his power.

Two dominant Premier League titles were Chelsea’s reward.

But Pini Zahavi wasn’t about to relinquish the prize he had in his grasp. So, he catered to Abramovich’s desires.

Having won consecutive titles, Chelsea should now pursue a more attractive style of play.

At the same time, the endless spending had to stop.

Abramovich’s money didn’t grow on trees.

What’s more, after a divorce, the financial crisis, and the political situation back in Russia, Abramovich’s fortune had shrunk considerably.

And so, Pini Zahavi introduced the “Dutch contingent.”

First, he recommended his good friend Piet de Visser to Abramovich.

Now 75 years old, Piet de Visser was one of the most prestigious scouts in Dutch football. Since arriving at Chelsea in 2005, he had served primarily as Abramovich’s personal advisor.

Before joining Chelsea, Piet de Visser had a long and distinguished career at PSV Eindhoven, where he had discovered superstars like Romário, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, and Robben.

At the same time, Frank Arnesen was poached from Tottenham Hotspur.

The incident caused a huge stir at the time.

This was a coordinated move.

Piet de Visser excelled at finding talented young players, while Arnesen would take charge of the youth academy to develop them.

It was during this period that Guus Hiddink entered Abramovich’s orbit and was later recommended to become the head coach of the Russian national team.

PSV Eindhoven and Chelsea also began a series of collaborations as a result.

But within this arrangement lay an irreconcilable conflict.

On a personal level, the interest group represented by Peter Kenyon, Jorge Mendes, and Mourinho certainly didn’t want the power they had worked so hard to obtain to be divided.

Not even for something as seemingly trivial as the youth academy.

In the past few years, conflicts over the division of power between Mourinho, Arnesen, and others were a constant issue.

On a professional level, the whole world knew that Mourinho excelled at using seasoned players and disliked developing youngsters.

When a club begins to prioritize its youth academy, establishing an effective pipeline between the first team and the youth teams becomes a crucial link.

But Mourinho severed that link.

Then came the Shevchenko incident.

The meteoric rise of the Bayswater Chinese and the resurgence of Manchester United all served to make matters worse for Chelsea.

External pressure exacerbated the internal conflicts within The Blues, eventually leading to a fight to the death.

This was why Mourinho was sacked.

With Hiddink’s transition from caretaker to permanent manager, the Dutch contingent began to take full control of Chelsea.

This summer, Frank Arnesen was promoted from Head of Youth Development and Chief Scout to the club’s Sporting Director.

The Dutchman’s power had expanded even further.

At that point, everyone had already guessed that the CEO would be the next to go.

Sure enough, on November 1st, CEO Peter Kenyon was dismissed.

Peter Kenyon’s right-hand man, Commercial Director Ron Gourlay, was appointed as the new CEO.

The 75-year-old Piet de Visser began to get involved in Chelsea’s scouting and youth development, reporting directly to Abramovich.

Everyone was focused on the transfers and the coaching changes, oblivious to the fact that Chelsea’s entire management structure had undergone a seismic shift.

At this very moment, in the Wembley Stadium VIP box, besides Abramovich and his personal assistant Marina Granovskaia, were Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck and CEO Ron Gourlay.

Also present were Pini Zahavi, Frank Arnesen, and Piet de Visser.

And among them, Piet de Visser, the personal advisor, sat closest to Abramovich.

This made it easy for Abramovich to ask him questions at any time.

…

“Peter, I don’t understand. Our squad looks stronger than the Bayswater Chinese, so why can’t we beat them?”

Abramovich held a genuine and deep respect for this prestigious figure in European football.

He had always hoped that Piet de Visser could unearth a second Romário or Ronaldo for Chelsea.

Although Piet de Visser was 75, with a gaunt face, his eyes were bright and full of spirit.

He just spoke a little slowly.

But this gave one the impression that he was methodical and clear-headed.

“Every club has its own inertia. Chelsea has just gone through a period of turmoil, while our opponent has been moving in the same direction since 2003, continuously building strength.”

The old man’s description made perfect sense to Abramovich.

The Russian sighed softly. “But the competition is so intense now. We’re only in fifth. If we lose this match…”

“Then we’ll still be in fifth!” Piet de Visser chuckled.

Abramovich was taken aback for a moment, then laughed along.

Indeed, even if they lost, they’d still be fifth.

You had to admit, this amusing old man always found a way to cheer people up.

“Winning and losing in football often isn’t just decided by the battle on the pitch.”

Piet de Visser spoke slowly, but every word was clear.

“Look, our squad composition dictates what tactics Hiddink can use. A defensive counter-attack means passively taking hits. We can’t hold out, just like in the first half.”

“You can’t entirely blame the players or the head coach for that!”

Abramovich nodded repeatedly. He understood the reasoning.

“The problem with our team right now is that over the past few years, many excellent young players have struggled to get opportunities in the first team. We haven’t established an effective system and set of rules for squad renewal.”

“We actually have many outstanding young players. I’ve recommended many of them. I felt they were ready to play for the first team, but there was no place for them, so they had to be loaned out.”

“Loaning them out is definitely not as effective as developing them in-house. Other clubs won’t prioritize them, so their development suffers.”

Hearing this, Abramovich nodded heavily and sighed.

“We are in a very sensitive transitional period right now. It’s difficult to expect results, undergo a transformation, and avoid investment all at the same time.”

“It’s impossible to achieve all three simultaneously.”

At this point, Piet de Visser pointed to the pitch. “Look, the Bayswater Chinese have a very young squad now. The players are valued, and they’re performing exceptionally well.”

“Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, born in ’89. Robert Lewandowski and Ángel Di María, born in ’88. And that Aaron Ramsey, born at the end of ’90. Their young players are performing outstandingly. It’s quite enviable, isn’t it?”

Abramovich nodded again.

Right now, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred for the Bayswater Chinese!

“But you also have to see that for the past several years, Yang Cheng has continuously promoted young players while investing heavily in the youth system. I heard they’re about to open their tenth Satellite Training Centre, spread all around Greater London.”

“And what about us at Chelsea? We just have the Cobham training ground, which isn’t even as big as their Brent training center!”

“And this is just on the hardware level.”

Piet de Visser watched Abramovich’s expression.

In his view, while the Russian was certainly proud and arrogant, with the aura of a superior, he had one good quality.

He was willing to listen.

“I have a good friend, Hans van der Zee, who is currently a scout at Ajax. But we worked together at PSV Eindhoven for over a decade. He is a fantastic scout.”

“He has his own methods for discovering players. For example, he doesn’t often watch matches. Instead, he prefers to watch training sessions, and he always makes home visits to assess a player’s family situation.”

“He told me that these details are crucial for a player’s mentality and development.”

“Over the past few years, the Bayswater Chinese have been spending money every year to invite experts like Hans van der Zee to London to provide professional training for their scouts, including those stationed all over the world.”

“That’s why when we, Manchester City, and other teams try to build our scouting networks, we all want to poach the heads of scouting for the various regions from the Bayswater Chinese, but we can’t.”

“What the Bayswater Chinese offers them is not just a salary package, but also a very systematic prospect for personal development. They firmly believe that by staying with the Bayswater Chinese, they can continuously improve their professional skills.”

“Plus, Yang Cheng is very generous in this regard. Do a good job, and you get paid well!”

Hearing this, Abramovich glanced at his subordinates around him and saw them all hanging their heads.

The Russian couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Putting everything else aside, in terms of the effectiveness of the senior management team, Chelsea couldn’t even come close to the Bayswater Chinese.

“Also, Frank certainly knows Wim Jansen.”

As soon as de Visser finished speaking, Frank Arnesen, who was standing nearby, nodded repeatedly. “He’s a reformer of Dutch youth development, and even recognized throughout European football as a youth development master on par with Cruyff.”

“We invited him to give lectures at Cobham before, but after a few visits, he had some health issues and stopped coming.”

Piet de Visser smiled faintly. “It wasn’t a health issue. He just felt it was pointless to lecture here.”

“Why?” Abramovich’s gaze turned sharp as he looked at Arnesen. “Did we not pay him enough?”

Arnesen’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to explain, Piet de Visser spoke up.

“It’s not about the money. He felt that we didn’t pay any attention to what he was saying at all.”

Abramovich was stunned.

“Wim Jansen was a student of Ernst Happel. His football philosophy is quite similar to Cruyff’s.”

“Look at this match. When the Bayswater Chinese attack, they stretch the pitch wide. Both flanks are practically hugging the touchlines. This is a very typical Dutch tactical approach, very similar to Barça.”

“This shows that Yang Cheng’s tactical philosophy for the first team is also influenced by Dutch football, and it’s all because of this group of young players in their team.”

“Wim Jansen’s youth development philosophy advocates for players to start training at the age of six. Look, the Bayswater Chinese youth teams are already trying to recruit six-year-olds. I heard they recruited a few this year.”

“From Happel to Wim Jansen, and including Cruyff, they all believe that young players should compete on pitches of different sizes. Smaller pitches hone a player’s individual technique and teamwork.”

“Larger pitches are closer to real match conditions. So, young players need to switch back and forth between different-sized pitches, to experience different playing spaces. This is extremely beneficial for their development.”

“All of this has been adopted by the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Almost every month, they invite youth development experts from various countries, like Wim Jansen, to lecture at their academy, not just for the coaches, but for the players as well.”

“This group of top youth development experts, training specialists, and scouts from Europe don’t just give lectures. They also collaborate with the Bayswater Chinese’s sports science department to jointly develop all sorts of training methods and player discovery techniques.”

“Not only that, the Bayswater Chinese arrange for their youth teams of all age groups to go on study tours to mainland Europe every year—what they call training camps. Often, they even arrange for them to visit other clubs’ academies for exchanges based on the players’ specific situations.”

Piet de Visser smiled softly at this point.

“Roman, the reason I’m telling you all this is because I want you to understand that we are facing a club that is, and is destined to, change the history of English football!”

“From the first team to the youth teams, they are constantly overturning English football, carving a path that no one has ever walked before, or rather, a path that even Wenger and Ferguson couldn’t succeed on.”

“You just have to think about when The FA started sending their coaching courses to intern at the Brent training center to understand how far the Bayswater Chinese have come on this path.”

“And we at Chelsea are just starting out. We haven’t even found our own way yet.”

Piet de Visser’s speech lasted for a good ten minutes.

No one around them could get a word in edgewise.

It also gave Abramovich a clearer, more direct understanding of the gap between Chelsea and the Bayswater Chinese.

This wasn’t just being behind anymore.

It was being outdated!

Being behind meant you were on the same timeline and could catch up. But being outdated?

Could they ever catch up?

When exactly did it start?

Abramovich himself wasn’t sure.

Perhaps it started the moment Yang Cheng took over this team.

The gap had been widening ever since the day he looked down on this amateur team from the lower leagues.

This reminded Abramovich of what de Visser had mentioned earlier: results, transformation, and investment—the impossible trinity.

Since achieving all three simultaneously was impossible, he had to prioritize two.

It’s just money, right?

I’ll invest!

At this thought, Abramovich’s eyes filled with resolve once more.

Ever since 2003, he had harbored a deep-seated hatred for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, he could never accept his team being perennially subservient to the Bayswater Chinese.

Absolutely not!

…

As the second half began, the Bayswater Chinese immediately ramped up the pressure on Chelsea.

The left flank, where Gareth Bale was positioned, was especially active.

Ivanović felt the pressure from the Welshman right from the start.

Near the halfway line on the left touchline, in Chelsea’s half, Gareth Bale received a pass from Aaron Ramsey.

The Welshman received the ball with his body turned, facing the center of the pitch as he controlled it.

He trapped the ball and feigned to cut inside.

This forced Ivanović to adjust his defensive stance.

But unexpectedly, after taking a step towards the middle, Gareth Bale used his right foot to pull the ball back.

As he pulled it back, he used the outside of his left foot to nudge it slightly towards the left touchline.

Ivanović felt his reaction was quick and his concentration was sharp, and he immediately readjusted.

But Bale had the element of surprise!

He still created a sliver of space, immediately knocking the ball forward with his left foot and bursting into a sprint to chase after it, attempting to use his sheer pace to overtake Ivanović down the left touchline.

Ivanović was no rookie. He immediately engaged physically, using his body to block Bale.

But this time, Gareth Bale was even more ferocious than in the first half. Not only did he withstand Ivanović’s pressure, but he used his momentum to forcibly push the Serbian away.

After taking a subtle blow, the Serbian tried to catch up, only to see Gareth Bale already charging away with the ball.

Fortunately, as Bale reached the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area on the left, Alex blocked his path into the box, forcing the Welshman to go down the byline.

Under pressure from both Ivanović and Alex, Gareth Bale’s touch was a bit heavy, and he couldn’t bring the ball back before it crossed the byline.

However, the Welshman’s solo run, a blistering sprint from near the halfway line all the way to Chelsea’s byline, nearly breaking into the penalty area, was such a ferocious display that the fans in the stadium roared with excitement!

The cheers at Wembley Stadium grew louder with each passing moment!

“Thanks!”

As Ivanović walked back, he passed by Alex and gave his teammate a high-five.

If Alex hadn’t been there to cover the position in time, that would have been another dangerous situation!

“This kid is too fierce. If you have to foul him, do it early!” Alex advised.

Ivanović nodded silently.

He knew, but there was no time.

Gareth Bale’s threat seemed to be one-dimensional, his speed being the most dangerous weapon.

But in reality?

Play against him once, and you’d know he had a lot of feints and changes of direction.

Unlike other players, he used them first.

He would use feints and changes of direction to create space for a sprint, then suddenly accelerate and use his speed to burst through.

This style of play was incredibly impactful.

Once he broke through, it was almost impossible to stop him.

The most classic example was Kaká in 2007!

Just three minutes later, Di María made a diagonal run with the ball on the right flank and drew a foul just outside the penalty area.

Mikel was very decisive, committing the foul immediately.

But he also gave the Bayswater Chinese a direct free kick opportunity on the right side, just outside the box.

At the same time, he received a yellow card.

Both Ashley Cole and Mikel were now on yellow cards.

This made the expression on Ivanović’s face even more grim.

Modern defending is a team effort.

With both Ashley Cole and Mikel on yellows, Chelsea’s defense would have to pay more attention to that side.

As a result, Ivanović would likely find himself facing Gareth Bale one-on-one more often.

This damned Welshman!

…

Gareth Bale, breathing heavily, slowly walked back.

He had just taken that direct free kick, but it went just wide of the goal.

He felt a little disappointed.

His touch wasn’t great tonight; he was a bit off his game.

“It’s okay, Gareth, keep going!”

Captain Modrić walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and offered some comfort.

Having been teammates for years, Modrić was never a man of many words, but they were always timely.

“Pass to me more. You guys run into the middle to receive the ball. I’ll definitely get it to you!”

Gareth Bale looked at Modrić with determination.

Modrić looked deeply at his teammate and nodded. “Then wait for it on the left!”

Gareth Bale said no more and turned to run off.

As the Welshman ran to the left flank, he could see the fans who supported him up close.

They were all shouting at the top of their lungs.

Gareth Bale waved his arms vigorously, urging them to shout louder, more intensely.

This passionate gesture immediately drew cheers from the entire stadium.

All the fans stood with the players, creating a daunting atmosphere.

Receiving a response from the fans in the stands, the players on the pitch grew more confident.

Especially Gareth Bale.

He still clearly remembered a profound conversation he had with Yang Cheng during the pre-season tour in the United States.

Among other things, Yang Cheng had said one sentence to him.

“I want you to become a giant, to lead this team, to cut through all obstacles, and to charge forward fearlessly!”

A giant?!

Gareth Bale thought back to his time at Southampton.

Back then, he was constantly doubting himself.

But now, he could proudly say: to hell with that!

All the doubts, all the worries, would be crushed by him!

Because he was Gareth Bale!

The Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale!

At this thought, Gareth Bale turned his head again and glanced at Yang Cheng in front of the home team’s dugout.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese were attacking from right to left, so Gareth Bale on the left wing was conveniently close to Yang Cheng.

As he looked over, the head coach happened to look his way.

Their eyes met. Yang Cheng gave him a smile and a thumbs-up, showing his complete confidence in him.

This made Gareth Bale take a deep breath. He gave the head coach a confident nod and a smile, then started running again.

Boss, as long as I have your trust, I fear nothing!

No difficulty can stop us from moving forward!

If there is, I will use every ounce of my strength to break through it, for you, and for our team!

…

“Here!”

When Gareth Bale dropped back near the halfway line and raised his hand for the ball, Nemanja Matić immediately passed it to him.

The Welshman controlled the ball and immediately tried to drive forward.

But this time, Chelsea’s defense reacted very quickly.

Before Gareth Bale could even build up speed, Ivanović and Lampard were already back in position.

With one in front and one on the side, they trapped the Welshman on the left flank.

Gareth Bale was forced to slow down.

But just then, Marcelo made a quick overlapping run from behind Lampard, pointing ahead of himself.

What a great partner!

Gareth Bale immediately played a diagonal pass with his left foot.

The ball traveled diagonally forward, through the gap between Ivanović and Lampard.

Marcelo sprinted forward and controlled Gareth Bale’s pass with a single touch.

The best part was, Marcelo stopped the ball dead.

Because Mikel was also running over.

Ivanović and Lampard, following the path of the pass, noticed Marcelo and reacted immediately.

Ivanović, in particular, immediately tracked back.

He had pushed up to press Bale, leaving a huge gap between himself and Alex.

But as Ivanović ran back, he suddenly realized someone was running even faster than him, sprinting right past him from behind.

And at that moment, Marcelo, who seemed like he was about to pass towards the middle, suddenly flicked a through ball forward with the outside of his left foot.

The ball went straight towards the byline, just outside the left side of the penalty area.

Ivanović was shocked and immediately accelerated to give chase.

But Gareth Bale was faster.

Marcelo was clearly aware of Bale’s speed, so he had played the pass at a good pace, straight to the byline.

The Welshman sprinted forward at top speed, reaching the ball just before it went out and tapping it towards the penalty area.

Alex also rushed to the byline immediately, trying to block Bale.

But even though the Welshman was pushed out over the byline, he quickly looped back around into the penalty area.

Just before the ball he had just touched went out, Gareth Bale, who was outside the byline himself, took another touch.

The assistant referee in front of the advertising hoardings was extremely tense, his mouth wide open, terrified he might miss something.

But after knocking the ball forward, Gareth Bale darted into Chelsea’s penalty area, getting in front of Alex, and gently chipped a half-high ball across.

Čech was standing by the near post. He immediately spread his arms and stuck out his left leg, trying to block the cross.

But the ball still passed him, around his waist level.

And at almost the same instant, Aaron Ramsey practically threw his entire body forward, launching into a sliding shot, sending both himself and the ball into the Chelsea goal.

Behind him, Robert Lewandowski couldn’t stop in time and also stumbled into the goal.

And behind the Polish centre-forward was Terry.

For a moment, there were three players inside the Chelsea goal line.

The instant Aaron Ramsey heard the whistle confirming the goal, he turned and sprinted off the pitch, running wild in celebration.

Lewandowski, meanwhile, sat in the goal with a wry smile, shaking his head in amusement.

That was a surefire goal for him.

But he never expected that kid Aaron Ramsey to get there first!

Luckily it was a goal, otherwise, Ramsey would have been in for it!

He glanced behind him at Terry; the Chelsea captain looked utterly dejected.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted into a sea of celebration!

Ninety thousand fans were cheering wildly, all chanting Aaron Ramsey’s name!

“3-0!”

“The situation for Chelsea is truly dire right now!”

“After conceding the first goal, their defense has struggled to remain resolute!”

“The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, are getting better and better as the game goes on, especially their attacks down the wings, which are incredibly threatening.”

“We just saw Gareth Bale’s run and breakthrough. His speed is absolutely terrifying.”

“The two defenders, Ivanović and Alex, simply couldn’t stop him.”

“And Aaron Ramsey, his overlapping run was perfectly timed.”

“A midfielder who just turned 19, he has speed, technique, plays with imagination, and has incredible stamina. He will definitely become a formidable player in the Bayswater Chinese midfield!”

“For Chelsea, the most important thing now is to consider whether they should even try to score a goal.”

“If they want to attack, can they stop Gareth Bale?”

…

In the 60th minute, Guus Hiddink made his first substitution of the match.

Essien came on for Malouda.

Chelsea switched to a 4-3-1-2 formation.

Sneijder moved into the attacking midfielder position, with a three-man holding midfield of Lampard, Mikel, and Essien behind him.

The advantage of a three-man holding midfield was that Chelsea could commit more players to protecting the flanks while solidifying the center.

But the disadvantage was that their counter-attacks would become more difficult.

They might even completely lose their advantage on the wings.

After the formation change, Gareth Bale and Marcelo on the left, and Piszczek and Di María on the right, all became even more active, frequently creating threats.

But it was precisely because the Bayswater Chinese were attacking so fiercely that Chelsea soon found an opportunity.

In the 73rd minute, Drogba received a pass from Sneijder deep in his own half and played a brilliant through ball.

Eto’o shook off Nemanja Matić, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and hit a curling shot into the far corner.

3-1!

The goal reignited Chelsea’s hopes.

Hiddink didn’t even make another substitution, instead instructing the team to continue with this defensive counter-attacking tactic.

The midfield and defense dropped even deeper.

Whenever the Bayswater Chinese’s ball entered Chelsea’s final 30 meters, they were met with almost suffocating pressure.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng made his first substitution in the 75th minute.

Eden Hazard came on for Di María.

Then, he immediately made his second change.

Rakitić replaced Modrić.

With another match in two days, Yang Cheng needed to conserve some energy.

Why not substitute Gareth Bale?

Because Yang Cheng could feel the unbearable hunger coming from him.

Taking him off now would be like pouring a bucket of cold water on him.

Besides, the match in two days was away at Stoke City.

Yang Cheng was quite confident about that game.

Under these circumstances, he was willing to let Gareth Bale have his moment.

…

After both sides made their substitutions, Gareth Bale remained very active on the left flank.

But with Chelsea sitting deep and defending with all their might, the space for the Welshman to receive the ball and sprint into was compressed, greatly reducing his threat.

This was a problem Gareth Bale was currently facing.

Simply put, his arsenal of skills wasn’t complete yet.

In the future, as he continued to mature, especially after his strength and muscle gain training improved his ability to handle physical contact, Yang Cheng would try to have him attack the goal more directly.

He had the height, the power, and the physicality. He could absolutely become an attacking player like C. Ronaldo in the 2006/07 season.

Of course, with Robert Lewandowski on the team, the Bayswater Chinese had no need for Gareth Bale to transform into a pure goalscorer.

The Welshman’s speed and impact were truly formidable!

As Yang Cheng was pondering this, the situation on the pitch changed again.

After receiving a pass from Rakitić in the right half-space, Hazard used a series of feints to shake off Sneijder and Mikel, then tried to drive into the penalty area from the right side of the D.

As a result, about 20 meters from goal, he was knocked to the ground by a charging Mikel.

Although the Nigerian immediately threw his hands up, as if to suggest to the referee that Hazard was diving and he hadn’t done anything, the Bayswater Chinese players immediately protested.

Hazard had learned to be smart. He stayed on the ground, letting his teammates argue his case.

There was no dispute about the set piece in the attacking third.

But the Bayswater Chinese players argued that Mikel should have received a card.

He was already on a yellow.

However, the referee ultimately decided against a card, giving Mikel a warning and awarding the Bayswater Chinese a free kick.

The position was slightly more central and a bit closer than the one Di María had won earlier.

Gareth Bale ran over again, confidently picked up the ball, and walked to the spot.

After placing it, the Welshman even stomped on the turf around it to make it firm before slowly backing away.

Chelsea quickly formed a wall.

In front of the goal, Čech clapped his gloved hands together, crouched slightly, and stared straight ahead.

The entire Wembley Stadium fell silent!

Even though they were leading 3-1, in a local derby, who would complain about having too many goals?

Gareth Bale took a quick run-up, planted his right foot firmly, and swiftly struck the ball with his left.

A dull thud echoed through the stadium as the ball flew off Gareth Bale’s foot at high speed, soaring over the jumping wall before dipping sharply.

Čech reacted extremely quickly, diving to his side.

But in the end, he couldn’t stop it.

The ball shot past his hand and crashed into the net behind him.

The Czech goalkeeper had been heroic in this match, but this time, he couldn’t stop Gareth Bale’s direct free kick!

“GOAL!!!”

“The Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“4-1!”

“A direct free kick from Gareth Bale!”

“A goal from a direct free kick 20 meters from the goal!”

“It must be said, Gareth Bale’s free-kick technique is truly impressive. He’s had an excellent free kick in his arsenal since he made his debut, and now he’s becoming more and more skilled and confident.”

“With only a few minutes left in the match, time is running out for Chelsea.”

“Perhaps The Blues have been very passive in this game.”

“Guus Hiddink has certainly done his best, but with Chelsea’s current squad, it’s really difficult for them to gain an advantage against the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Especially Drogba, whom they rely on most heavily. He didn’t get much of an advantage against Pepe today.”

“That iron-blooded Blues team of old has certainly aged!”

…

In the end, thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski, Ángel Di María, Aaron Ramsey, and Gareth Bale, the Bayswater Chinese thrashed Chelsea 4-1 at home!

After the match ended, the news quickly spread throughout Europe and across the world.

Every fan who watched the live broadcast felt the exhilarating, high-impact style of the Bayswater Chinese.

With their dominance in midfield, they constantly created chances and supplied ammunition for their forwards.

The two wings, led by Gareth Bale and Di María, took turns tearing apart Chelsea’s defensive formation.

The Sun immediately published a commentary, arguing that Chelsea was lucky to have only conceded four goals at Wembley Stadium.

“If not for Čech’s magical performance, Chelsea might have suffered a brutal massacre.”

And the facts proved it. In Sky Sports’ post-match ratings, Gareth Bale was named Man of the Match.

But the Welshman’s rating was a 9.

And Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Čech?

His score was also a 9.

“Every time Chelsea’s defense lapsed, it was the Czech who made a desperate save to rescue his vulnerable goal!”

This was a very high rating for Čech.

Keep in mind, on the Bayswater Chinese team, only Gareth Bale received a 9.

To receive a 9 after conceding four goals just shows how incredible Čech’s performance was.

The Times offered its own analysis of the match, concluding that new signings for Chelsea were now imperative.

Especially up front.

The Times believed that in one-on-one situations throughout the match, Drogba still had a slight advantage against Vincent Kompany.

Bullying the young Belgian, perhaps!

But against the increasingly mature and cunning Pepe, Drogba really couldn’t gain an advantage in this match and was even at a disadvantage.

Whether in physical confrontations, aerial duels, or other aspects, the Côte d’Ivoire international couldn’t get the upper hand.

This was a far cry from The Beast Drogba who once swept across European football.

“Chelsea must soberly recognize that the powerful centre-forward they have relied on for all these years has grown old!”

“Perhaps The Blues should seriously consider making signings in the winter transfer window.”

“Especially since five of their African players, including Drogba and Eto’o, will be reporting to their national teams for the Africa Cup of Nations.”

African players, offering good value for money, have always been popular with Premier League clubs.

But the problem that comes with it is that the Africa Cup of Nations is always held in January, which is a major headache.

That’s why Ferguson previously said that Manchester United did not want to sign African players.

Previously, The Sun had revealed that Chelsea might sign a powerful forward in the winter transfer window.

There were quite a few potential targets.

Players who could make an immediate impact, like Atlético Madrid’s Agüero, Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni, and Liverpool’s Torres, were all on Chelsea’s transfer list.

There were also young, talented players, such as Ajax’s Luis Suárez and the Bayswater Chinese’s Roy Carroll.

There were even rumors that Chelsea had already signed the talented centre-forward from Belgian giants Anderlecht, Romelu Lukaku.

This 16-year-old prodigy was already renowned in Europe, possessing astonishing physical strength, and was hailed as “The Little Beast.”

The Bayswater Chinese’s Roy Carroll was also described as a “beast” by the British media, but he was white and a homegrown player.

Lukaku was different; he was of African descent and did indeed resemble Drogba more.

But whether it was the veteran Luca Toni, the in-his-prime Agüero, the young Roy Carroll, or Suárez and Lukaku who had yet to prove themselves in a top league, signing any of them would not be easy.

The Sun even disclosed that Chelsea had already made contact with Atlético Madrid’s Agüero’s team.

Chelsea was reportedly willing to offer Agüero a weekly wage of 150,000 pound sterling.

But Agüero wasn’t interested at all.

The reason was that, under the UK’s high 50% tax rate, even with a salary of 150,000 pound sterling, Agüero’s take-home pay wouldn’t be much more than what he earned in Spain.

In that case, why would he move to the Premier League?

“The negotiations have reached a stalemate.”

“Atlético Madrid is also unwilling to budge.”

“It’s obvious that everyone knows Chelsea desperately needs a striker to cover the squad’s shortcomings during the Africa Cup of Nations.”

“Therefore, everyone involved, including Atlético Madrid, Ajax, and Bayern, whether it’s the clubs or the players, is hoping for a more lucrative contract.”

“And that is something Chelsea is unwilling to accept!”

What’s more, Chelsea wasn’t the only team eyeing Agüero.

Manchester City was also very interested in him.

Although they already had star players like Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, and Robinho, Manchester City still wanted to sign Agüero. The reason was simple: Manchester City was not short on cash.

Chapter 192: Clear Signs of Decline! A Gruelling Schedule! To Poach from Bayswater Chinese, They’ll Have to Pay More!

After the nineteenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Chelsea 4–1 at home.

The victory was met with resounding applause.

Across the world, it sparked heated discussions among the media and fans.

And all the home fans who had come to Wembley Stadium to watch the match were equally enthralled.

In the words of France’s L’Équipe, Bayswater Chinese had ganged up on Chelsea!

However, the results of the other Premier League matches that round were mixed.

Fulham played out a dull 0–0 draw at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated Stoke City 2–0 at home with goals from Robinho and Carlos Tevez.

Liverpool beat Wolves 2–0 with goals from Gerrard and Benayoun, after Wolves went down to ten men with a red card just after the start of the second half.

Benítez’s team had managed to halt their decline, albeit with some difficulty.

The next day, Arsenal secured a convincing 3–0 victory over Aston Villa at home, with Fàbregas scoring a brace and Gourcuff adding another.

Manchester United, meanwhile, scraped by with a 3–1 win away at Hull City.

With the first half of the Premier League season completed, Bayswater Chinese had a record of thirteen wins, two draws, and one loss in nineteen matches.

They had accumulated 41 points, placing them fourth in the League table.

Arsenal sat at the Top of the table with 46 points.

Manchester City followed closely behind in second with 44 points.

Manchester United was in third place with 43 points.

Although Bayswater Chinese was a full five points behind league leaders Arsenal, they were still the strongest title contenders, having played three fewer games.

Chelsea, on the other hand, had amassed 37 points and slipped to fifth place in the Premier League.

In this clash of titans, everyone witnessed Chelsea’s weakness.

The four-point gap that had opened up between them and the top four would have far-reaching consequences for The Blues.

Immediately after the match, news broke that Roman Abramovich was prepared to spend sixty million pound sterling to bring in major reinforcements during the winter transfer window.

The primary target was, of course, Liverpool, who were in deep financial trouble.

Chelsea hoped to take advantage of Liverpool’s predicament to sign Torres.

If they couldn’t get Torres, Atlético Madrid’s Agüero was also a very suitable candidate.

But The Mattress Makers were asking for a high price for Agüero, and the player’s salary demands were also steep.

Further down the list was Ajax’s Luis Suárez.

The Uruguayan striker was currently valued at a hefty twenty million pound sterling on the German transfer market website.

But getting Ajax to agree to that transfer fee would not be easy.

Finally, there was Andy Carroll, who had shone brightly for Bayswater Chinese in the first half of the season.

The homegrown centre-forward had made a stunning start to the season, earning him the nickname “The Beast of England” and drawing comparisons as Drogba’s successor.

Although his performance had dipped slightly after Robert Lewandowski’s rapid development and rise, and as other teams began to take notice of him and defend against him specifically, everyone still believed in Andy Carroll’s potential.

Moreover, he was a homegrown player.

Before Christmas, England national team head coach Fabio Capello had already made it clear that he would call up Andy Carroll to the national squad in February.

He was even considering taking him to South Africa.

This was undoubtedly a form of recognition for Andy Carroll.

…

The day after the match, following the morning recovery training session, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff conducted a review of yesterday’s game.

There wasn’t much to say about Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

The focus was on Chelsea.

The entire staff, including Brian Kidd and the technical team, analyzed The Blues’ situation this season.

The outlook was not particularly bright.

A crucial reason was that Drogba really was getting old.

To use a phrase from 2024, the decline was obvious.

Of course, even an old tiger still has its fangs.

Yang Cheng, however, was pondering another issue.

He felt that he himself was the cause of Drogba’s current situation.

Or rather, the butterfly effect.

Why was it that this same Drogba, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, could score goals for fun?

But now, his decline was so apparent?

The simple answer was that Chelsea’s tactics were different.

Guus Hiddink was still sticking to a defensive counter-attack style, a continuation of the system from the Mourinho era.

A close look at Chelsea’s attack would easily reveal that they still heavily relied on Drogba’s tactical role.

Chelsea still wanted Drogba to dominate the opposing centre-backs and their defensive line.

At nearly thirty-two years old, Drogba didn’t seem too old.

But could he still endure the physical toll and attrition if he was constantly asked to battle physically?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Chelsea, under Ancelotti, employed a diamond midfield formation. The strategy was for the midfield to create chances, with everyone working to create scoring opportunities for Drogba.

It was a departure from the old system of the centre-forward feeding the midfield.

As a result, Chelsea’s attack was in Mass release that season, breaking the one hundred-goal mark.

But correspondingly, Chelsea conceded thirty-two goals, the most since Abramovich’s takeover.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Ancelotti’s Chelsea also had a clear weakness: a lack of powerful wingers.

Malouda was one of Chelsea’s most active players that season.

But while this formation and style worked well enough in the Premier League, it fell short in the Champions League, especially in the knockout stage, where players like Malouda and Kalou were ineffective.

Their Round of 16 elimination, suffering the double at the hands of Mourinho’s Inter Milan, was partly due to Inter’s defensive counter-attacking prowess.

But it also proved Chelsea’s lack of ability to break down determined defences.

Drogba, in particular, lost his cool in the second leg under Lúcio’s tight marking and received a red card.

It used to be Drogba who would torment defenders and make them lose their composure.

What about now?

Hiddink was still using the Mourinho-era approach of having the centre-forward feeding the midfield.

This exposed Drogba’s shortcomings.

At thirty-two, the Ivorian “Beast” could no longer withstand such wear and tear.

It was for this very reason that there was so much speculation about whether Chelsea would sign new players during the winter transfer window.

Especially since five of their stars were due to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

“Actually, if you just look at the schedule, Chelsea’s opponents during the Africa Cup of Nations aren’t that strong. Hull City, Sunderland…”

As Brian Kidd said this, a grin spread across his face.

“Oh, and there’s the match in the 23rd round, against us.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

A home game against Chelsea in the 19th round, followed by an away game against them in the 23rd.

What could you do?

The Premier League schedule was just that bizarre sometimes.

“I don’t think they’ll make any major moves. Signing players during the winter transfer window is just asking to be ripped off!” Brian Kidd believed Chelsea’s management wasn’t that foolish.

After all, the players they wanted were not cheap.

“I heard the people from Saudi Arabia have started contacting Liverpool again,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Adam Crozier had received a call saying that the Saudi contingent would be coming to London again in early January.

As a sponsor, Adam Crozier would certainly have to entertain them.

“If Liverpool is really sold to the Saudis, then they definitely won’t sell Torres,” Brian Kidd said matter-of-factly.

He was Liverpool’s core strength, their most valuable star.

“Strictly speaking, the impact of the Africa Cup of Nations on Chelsea isn’t as great as the rumors suggest, but it shouldn’t be underestimated either.”

Yang Cheng chuckled at this point.

“So, the key is whether Abramovich is determined to keep investing.”

“Given Chelsea’s current situation, they have to strengthen their squad if they want to get back into the top four.”

Moreover, The Blues’ squad was indeed aging.

The other team with a severe aging problem was Manchester United.

But Manchester United had Ferguson, who was holding the fort through sheer force of will.

…

The day before Bayswater Chinese’s 20th Premier League match, Rickie Lambert knocked on the door of Yang Cheng’s office.

The 28-year-old English centre-forward told Yang Cheng directly that he had received an offer.

It was from the League One team, Southampton!

The Saints were willing to pay a transfer fee to sign him.

He and his agent had also been in contact with The Saints.

After the Liebherr family acquired The Saints in July 2009, Southampton’s finances had improved significantly.

The club was ambitious and also willing to offer Lambert a relatively high salary.

“They want me to help them get back to the Premier League!”

Lambert told Yang Cheng every detail of the situation without holding anything back.

At the same time, he shared his own thoughts.

He had been very happy during his many years at Bayswater Chinese.

Following the team’s rise, he had practically coasted his way to championship medals that countless professional players could only dream of.

But his opportunities with the team were indeed becoming scarcer.

Lewandowski and Carroll were both in good form and physically fit.

In the youth team, Harry Kane, highly regarded by Yang Cheng and even mentioned in the team anthem Yang Cheng had written, was constantly maturing and had already made appearances for the first team.

It was different from José Fonte’s situation.

The Portuguese was the vice-captain and still got plenty of playing time each season.

But Lambert was different; sometimes he would go a long time without playing a single match.

But he felt he could still play, and he wanted to play.

More than six years had passed since he joined the team in 2003.

How many six-year periods does a professional player have?

Yang Cheng wasn’t upset, because Lambert had clearly thought things through.

If he stayed with the team, his situation would indeed become more awkward, with fewer and fewer opportunities.

Since Southampton was now offering him a higher salary and a chance to play, he had no reason to refuse.

“Alright, I’ll let them know. You should also tell your agent to ask for a bit more on the salary,” Yang Cheng agreed with a smile.

Lambert was very surprised.

“You’re a meritorious veteran who has been with us at Bayswater Chinese since the lower leagues. We won’t take a single penny for your transfer fee. You can go on a free transfer!”

Lambert hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to be so magnanimous.

But he understood that Yang Cheng was doing this in the hope that he could sign a better contract.

“Remember, Rickie, Southampton is so close to London. Come back and visit your old friends whenever you have time!”

With that, Yang Cheng stood up and extended his hand.

Deeply moved, Lambert stood up and clashed Yang Cheng’s hand with both of his own.

Before making the decision, he had been calm and rational.

But now that it was suddenly decided, he felt an overwhelming sense of reluctance.

In six years, he had grown accustomed to everything about playing for Bayswater Chinese.

He was used to his teammates and everyone in the coaching staff.

But he had already won so many championships while barely breaking a sweat; he was content.

Now, he wanted to go and enjoy the pure joy of playing football.

“Boss, thank you!”

…

Bayswater Chinese officially announced the news soon after, wishing Rickie Lambert all the best.

The fans were very understanding of the decisions made by both the club and Lambert.

The club had done well, not asking for a transfer fee.

The player had been honest and had worked diligently and without complaint over the years.

There was really nothing to criticize about this transfer.

When the club’s new media team released a documentary about Rickie Lambert on platforms like YouTube, which also included farewells and well-wishes from his teammates, countless fans left comments below.

It showed the humane side of Bayswater Chinese as a club.

However, the transfer would only become effective on January 1st, 2010, when the winter transfer window opened.

Until then, Lambert was still a Bayswater Chinese player.

For the 20th round of the Premier League on December 28th, Yang Cheng specifically included Lambert in the squad travelling to Stoke City.

Yang Cheng even broke from his usual tactics and set up a 4-4-2 formation, starting both Lambert and Carroll as two strikers.

Stoke City, playing at home, also lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Tony Pulis’s team attempted to use their home advantage to hit Bayswater Chinese on the counter-attack.

Yang Cheng’s team, however, forced the physically imposing Stoke City into submission from the outset with high-intensity pressing and attacks.

In the first twenty minutes, Bayswater Chinese relentlessly besieged Stoke City.

Their possession rate was as high as 77 percent.

But the home team, Stoke City, proved to be extremely resilient.

It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that Theo Walcott delivered a through pass from the right flank. Lambert received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and sent in a beautiful cross.

Carroll headed the ball home from near the six-yard box. 1–0!

In the 30th minute, following a long shot from Rakitić from outside the box that was parried by goalkeeper Sørensen, Carroll reacted quickly inside the penalty area, picking up a bargain and scoring with a sliding shot.

2–0!

A brace!

After that, Bayswater Chinese continued to press their advantage.

In the 44th minute, Eden Hazard broke through on the left edge of the penalty area and passed the ball back to the outside of the box.

Rakitić unleashed a long shot that once again found its way past Stoke City’s goal.

3–0!

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese dominated with 73 percent possession, an overwhelming advantage.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese slowed the tempo of the game slightly.

With the result already secured, the players tried to set up Lambert with clever passes.

In the 67th minute, after a combination play between Rakitić and Walcott, Lambert unleashed a fierce shot from the right side of the box, which was just about saved by goalkeeper Sørensen.

The youngster Eden Hazard tapped the ball into the empty net from close range. 4–0!

In the 74th minute, from a cross by Walcott from the right, Carroll outjumped the opposing centre-back at the far post on the edge of the six-yard box and scored with a header. 5–0!

A hat-trick!

The young English star delivered another stunning performance!

In the 81st minute, Lambert dropped back to receive the ball and played a through ball.

Walcott broke into the right side of the penalty area, rounded goalkeeper Sørensen, and slotted the ball into the empty net.

6–0!

In the final ten minutes or so, Bayswater Chinese tried to continue their attack.

But Stoke City defended with all their might.

Lambert had a few good chances but failed to score for various reasons.

Yang Cheng was rather speechless.

Both he and the team desperately wanted him to score, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Perhaps it was fate.

Lambert himself, however, was very philosophical about it.

In the dressing room after the match, he thanked his teammates one by one, as well as head coach Yang Cheng and the other members of the coaching staff.

Although he hadn’t scored, he felt very content.

Incidentally, Stoke City’s squad that night included two former Bayswater Chinese players, Dave Kitson and Daniel Collins.

Kitson played for only 60 minutes, while Daniel Collins played the full match.

After the game, both players made a point of meeting with Lambert, Yang Cheng, and the other Bayswater Chinese players.

…

After the 20th round of the Premier League, Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Fulham 2–1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Wolves 3–0 away, thanks to a brace from Carlos Tevez.

A last-minute winner from Torres in the third minute of stoppage time helped Liverpool secure a narrow 1–0 away victory against Aston Villa.

Arsenal won 4–1 away at Portsmouth.

And Manchester United thrashed Wigan Athletic 5–0 at home.

This result highlighted Ferguson’s most magical quality.

In terms of squad composition, Manchester United’s lineup was arguably inferior to Chelsea’s.

But Ferguson had a knack for patching together a formidable and combative team from the pieces he had.

This ability was truly unique in European football.

With the exception of Chelsea’s loss to Bayswater Chinese, all the top teams ended the Christmas period with two consecutive wins.

…

January 1st, New Year’s Day.

Tourists from all over the world flocked to London, crowding Knightsbridge and the Soho area.

A diverse array of tourists, speaking a multitude of languages, filled the streets of London’s core, creating a bustling and lively atmosphere.

In a rather inconspicuous hotel on the border of Knightsbridge and Soho, a little-known agent in European football circles walked into the lobby.

He first made a phone call, got a room number, and then spoke to the hotel concierge.

The concierge immediately and deferentially escorted him to the elevator and sent him upstairs.

When he reached the designated floor, he quickly found the room.

After he knocked, a young assistant opened the door.

A man and a woman were already waiting for him inside.

Most British media journalists, upon entering this room and seeing this pair, would probably not recognize them.

They might even find them completely unfamiliar.

But Mark Curtis would not.

Because he was an agent, and this was his business.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gourlay, Ms. Granovskaia,” Mark Curtis said with a smile, extending his hand in greeting.

The man and woman were none other than Chelsea’s recently appointed CEO, Ron Gourlay, and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s personal assistant, Marina Granovskaia.

The young assistant sat at a distance. After the three principals exchanged greetings, they sat down on the sofa in the hotel room.

The conversation started with the bustling city of London.

Because Mark Curtis was from the north.

He complained that the north of England didn’t get as many tourists as London.

Even cities like Manchester and Liverpool were no exception.

Not to mention more obscure places like Blackburn and Newcastle.

As an agent, Mark Curtis had more business in the north.

“Before you say anything, let me take a guess.”

Mark Curtis looked at Gourlay and Granovskaia playfully, wanting to show off his witty and humorous side to make a good impression on these two Chelsea bigwigs.

“You’re interested in Roque Santa Cruz, aren’t you?”

Gourlay and Granovskaia were both visibly taken aback, exchanging a glance as if to ask how they had possibly revealed their interest in Santa Cruz.

But to Mark Curtis, their reaction seemed to confirm his guess.

“Ha, then you’ve definitely come to the right person!”

“Although I’m not Santa Cruz’s agent, I’m very familiar with the management at Blackburn. I know they’re in a tough spot right now, financially struggling, but they haven’t been able to find a consortium to take over.”

“So, if you’re interested in Santa Cruz, now is the perfect time to make a move. I can help you figure something out, but head coach Allardyce…”

Mark Curtis trailed off, pausing in a very curious way before continuing, “might be a bit of a problem.”

“You know, Santa Cruz is the core player for Blackburn. Manchester City has been trying to buy him, but you surely know the outcome. Allardyce is unwilling to let go of his best centre-forward.”

In the agent’s view, Chelsea was in dire need of a centre-forward.

The whole world was saying that The Blues needed to sign a strong striker during the winter transfer window.

So, wasn’t it logical for them to be interested in Santa Cruz?

But to Marina Granovskaia’s ears, it sounded completely different.

Back in 2006, Italy was rocked by the Calciopoli scandal, which caused a global uproar.

This overshadowed another scandal that erupted in the Premier League: the bungs scandal.

The so-called bungs scandal exposed the under-the-table dealings where head coaches, agents, and even club executives took kickbacks in player transfer deals.

Rumors of this had circulated in the Premier League for years, involving many people, including top managers like Ferguson.

But over the years, there have been various accounts of the bungs scandal.

Due to a lack of regulation in transfers, especially the involvement of agents, the transfer fees paid by clubs often didn’t entirely end up in the selling club’s hands.

This involved some grey-area payments.

Sometimes, head coaches would take a cut.

For example, when a club was signing players, the coach’s choice of one player over another created a blurry area.

Other times, a club wanting to poach a player would pay a small sum to the opposing team’s head coach to smooth things over, fearing he might obstruct the deal.

Of course, not all illicit payments were kickbacks; they also involved a lot of miscellaneous fees.

In the end, it was all a mess, with unclear and unaccountable finances.

In 2006, several reputable media outlets, including the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, and The Times, simultaneously broke the story, pointing the finger at prominent English Premier League managers like Sam Allardyce and Redknapp.

An agent named Harrison revealed to the BBC that at least six Premier League head coaches had taken kickbacks from him.

Among them was Sam Allardyce, who had been managing Charlton Athletic for many years at the time.

But interestingly, after the BBC and other major media outlets broke the story, Harrison quickly changed his tune, saying he had never paid anyone off.

Bribing Allardyce?

Never happened.

Harrison claimed he wasn’t talking about Sam Allardyce, but his son, the FIFA-registered agent Craig Allardyce.

This was quite common in English football.

It was all too frequent for the family members of famous managers to become agents.

Coupled with The FA’s reluctance to investigate further, the matter was eventually dropped.

But Mark Curtis’s words just now undoubtedly triggered some very unpleasant associations for Granovskaia.

Because Mark Curtis was Sam Allardyce’s agent!

“You know, Mr. Gourlay, although Blackburn is short on cash right now, the transfer fee to poach Santa Cruz certainly won’t be small. My guess is it would be at least thirty million pound sterling, what do you think?”

Mark Curtis was a seasoned professional, and he clearly saw no problem with what he had just said.

Ron Gourlay glanced at Marina Granovskaia, who nodded with a touch of impatience.

It was clear she had no desire to deal with such a crafty old hand.

This immediately made Mark Curtis realize that Marina Granovskaia was the key figure in this meeting.

“Mark, the reason we asked to meet you this time isn’t because of Santa Cruz, and it has nothing to do with Blackburn or ‘Big Sam’,” Gourlay said.

His words left Mark Curtis quite bewildered.

Nothing to do with them?

“Then what is it about?”

As he spoke, he instinctively searched his mind for possibilities.

He had many players under his management, but none were famous. Right now, his two biggest clients were…

One was Blackburn’s Santa Cruz, and the other was…

Mark Curtis’s eyes widened. Could it be…

“Bayswater Chinese’s Andy Carroll?” Mark Curtis’s voice was a bit rushed as he said the name.

The young centre-forward had been discovered in the youth team by Sam Allardyce when he was managing Newcastle.

Of all the players in Newcastle’s youth academy, why was he, by such a coincidence, the one promoted to the first team?

Besides his undeniable potential, it was also because Andy Carroll’s agent was Mark Curtis.

Only then did a faint smile appear on Ron Gourlay’s face as he nodded.

This agent wasn’t a big name, but he was certainly sharp.

Or perhaps, everyone in their line of work had to be extremely sharp.

“That’s not very likely, Mr. Gourlay. Your Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese are arch-rivals. They won’t sell a player to you,” Mark Curtis said, shaking his head.

“We are arch-rivals, but our relationship isn’t that bad. Last summer, we just sold a youth team player to Bayswater Chinese, Ryan Bertrand.”

Ron Gourlay said with a smile.

“But Yang Cheng has very high hopes for Carroll. He even designed tactics specifically for him, which is why he’s performing so well.”

Gourlay let out a cold chuckle.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mark. I can’t believe you don’t see it. The centre-forward Yang Cheng trusts most is that Polish guy. That’s why in all the important matches, Andy Carroll is always second to the Pole.”

“I refuse to believe that Andy Carroll doesn’t have an issue with this arrangement behind the scenes.”

“And look at the away game against Stoke City. Another hat-trick. How outstanding was Carroll’s performance? Is he really content to be second fiddle to Lewandowski?”

“If you tell me he’s perfectly happy with it, I definitely won’t believe you.”

After speaking, Ron Gourlay laughed heartily, his eyes fixed on Mark Curtis.

From the agent’s expression, everyone understood the subtext.

Andy Carroll had certainly complained.

Of course, complaining was one thing, but it didn’t mean Andy Carroll was about to fall out with Bayswater Chinese.

But on the other hand, he had only been at Bayswater Chinese for half a year. How much loyalty could he have?

“Chelsea is currently undergoing a period of transition. Drogba is getting older and will definitely retire. Andy Carroll has extremely strong aerial ability, he’s exactly the kind of player we need, and he’s so young.”

“On the other hand, if he stays at Bayswater Chinese, do you think his chances are great?”

“Don’t forget, why does Lambert want to leave? There’s also a Harry Kane in the youth team, and his goal-scoring record in the youth and reserve teams is also very impressive. He’s the one who’s truly one of Bayswater Chinese’s own!”

Mark Curtis really couldn’t refute any of that.

What Ron Gourlay said was all true.

Any discerning person could see it.

But that didn’t mean Andy Carroll had to leave Bayswater Chinese.

“Yang Cheng will never agree, and the Bayswater Chinese fans would never agree to him moving to an arch-rival!”

Ron Gourlay chuckled. “I’m sure you have your ways, don’t you?”

There were countless ways for an agent to persuade a player to transfer.

Moreover, Andy Carroll didn’t have much of an emotional attachment to Bayswater Chinese.

Comparatively, he would definitely trust his own agent more.

Mark Curtis shook his head with a grave expression. “This is too difficult!”

Ron Gourlay laughed inwardly. As expected.

Too difficult meant they’ll have to pay more!

“Don’t you worry. As long as you can convince Andy Carroll to transfer to Chelsea, we promise to support him to succeed Drogba and become Chelsea’s future number one centre-forward.”

“And upon a successful transfer, we will also have a commission that will leave you absolutely satisfied!”

Ron Gourlay was confident that this agent, who stood in front of Allardyce, was no stranger to this kind of business.

Unlike Pini Zahavi and Jonathan Barnett.

Both of these agents had players on Bayswater Chinese’s team.

Pini Zahavi represented Lewandowski, and Jonathan Barnett had even more, including Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Therefore, they would never get involved in this muddy business, unwilling to offend Bayswater Chinese.

Mark Curtis, on the other hand, had only this one deal with Bayswater Chinese and was no stranger to this kind of thing. He was the perfect fit.

…

On the afternoon of January 2nd, the third round of the FA Cup knockout stage took place.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Peterborough United.

Although the Championship team was not strong, Bayswater Chinese still took them seriously.

According to the schedule, after the third round of the FA Cup, the League Cup semi-final would take place mid-week.

Bayswater Chinese would be away to Chelsea.

Therefore, Yang Cheng continued to field a lineup of substitutes and rotated players for this match.

He was saving the Starting lineup to once again challenge The Blues at their home ground.

And at home, Bayswater Chinese cleanly defeated Peterborough United 4–0, with Andy Carroll scoring a brace and putting in an excellent performance.

In the second half, Harry Kane came on as a substitute.

The biggest upset of this round was undoubtedly Manchester United.

Ferguson fielded a half-strength squad for the FA Cup match against Leeds United, who had been relegated to the third-tier League One.

Rooney, Berbatov, Anderson, Wes Brown, and Gary Neville were all in the starting lineup.

With Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen coming off the bench, along with young players like Welbeck, Gibson, Evans, and Fábio, Ferguson was very confident that this squad could defeat Leeds United.

Unexpectedly, The Red Devils lost 1–0 to Leeds United in front of more than 74,000 fans at Old Trafford.

This sent Ferguson into a rage. He cursed furiously after the match, threatening to never call up some of the young players for matches again.

After the game, many of Manchester United’s die-hard fans also blasted Ferguson.

Some extremist fans even publicly clamored in the media for Ferguson to resign.

Because besides Manchester United, teams like Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal all advanced smoothly, making this a great humiliation for Manchester United.

Just a day after the FA Cup matches, while the news of Ferguson’s own fans demanding his resignation was still trending, the British media dropped another bombshell.

Andy Carroll’s agent, Mark Curtis, revealed in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that his client, the homegrown striking prodigy who had just scored a brace in the FA Cup, was unhappy with his current situation at the club.

“Without a doubt, Andy is an excellent professional player. He is about to be selected for the England national team, and everyone has high expectations for him, believing he can achieve success.”

“But the prerequisite is that he can receive more trust and support, and participate in more, and more important, matches!”

“We are a bit worried because, over the past six months, Andy has felt that he is gradually being marginalized. He is very concerned that he has never really gained the head coach’s trust.”

“He is eager to prove, through his excellent performances, that he can play a more important role and become the team’s most important player.”

“But everything makes him feel that this is not what he imagined.”

“No matter how many goals he scores, it’s difficult to change any of this!”

“I will find an opportunity to talk to Bayswater Chinese.”

As an upcoming homegrown international player who was performing so brilliantly, Andy Carroll was undoubtedly a big draw.

For his agent to publicly criticize Bayswater Chinese at such a time immediately caused a major earthquake throughout England and even the European football world.

Many fans and media outlets tended to agree with Mark Curtis’s statements, believing that Andy Carroll deserved more playing time and should be featuring in more important matches.

When Bayswater Chinese received the news, their initial reaction was surprise.

They had not expected Mark Curtis to say such things in an interview.

When he joined the team, Yang Cheng had promised him a substitute role, never an undisputed starting position.

His current playing time was already quite good.

Director of football Dan Ashworth immediately contacted Mark Curtis to understand the situation.

In his report to Yang Cheng, Dan Ashworth concluded that Mark Curtis’s demand was for more playing time.

“It’s also possible that he wants to sign a new contract with a higher salary.”

This was a common tactic used by players and agents.

Yang Cheng even had a chat with Andy Carroll himself and found that Carroll was unaware of his agent’s interview.

When meeting with Yang Cheng, Carroll repeatedly expressed his desire to stay at Bayswater Chinese and that he was very happy there.

Of course, if he could get more playing time, that would be even better.

After hearing this, Yang Cheng felt much more at ease and didn’t take the matter too seriously.

Everyone, including the technical team, felt that Andy Carroll had only been with the team for half a year and was in a rapid development phase of his career. It was unlikely he would try to force a move.

After all, a transfer was a high-risk affair.

As for a contract renewal, Yang Cheng had no intention of satisfying the agent’s demands for now.

These people were greedy. If he gave in every time they caused a fuss, wouldn’t Bayswater Chinese become a charity?

Yang Cheng also didn’t have time to get entangled with the agent.

He needed to devote his full attention to preparing for the mid-week League Cup semi-final.

Although the League Cup was a “Chicken rib” of a trophy, the opponent was Chelsea, and Yang Cheng wanted to win.

But to his great surprise, the match, originally scheduled for January 6th, was preceded by a heavy snowstorm on the evening of the 5th.

By the morning of the 6th, the whole of London was a vast expanse of white.

However, after the morning sun rose, the meteorological department’s forecast indicated no more heavy snow for the day.

So, all preparations continued as planned.

Throughout the morning, Yang Cheng arranged for the team to conduct pre-match training and preparations for the game.

The club was also in contact with Chelsea, inquiring about the conditions at Stamford Bridge.

After receiving confirmation from Chelsea that there was no snow accumulation and the match could proceed as scheduled, Yang Cheng and the team began their final preparations.

But man proposes, God disposes. At 2 p.m., it suddenly started snowing again.

Chelsea reported that the pitch at Stamford Bridge was in good condition, with only a thin layer of snow on the grass that could be melted by the under-pitch heating system.

But the meteorological department issued an emergency notice, predicting the most severe cold and snowstorm in thirty years.

The London Police also issued an emergency notice, recommending that the match be postponed.

Chelsea immediately notified Bayswater Chinese that, after careful consideration, they had officially informed The FA that Stamford Bridge was not in a condition to host the match.

The pitch itself wasn’t the main problem, but rather the stadium’s facilities, such as the car parks, and the risk of accidents and traffic incidents for fans travelling to the stadium.

There had been similar incidents in the past where fans had sued the club.

To protect their public image, the club had to pay compensation and suffered a great loss.

Under these circumstances, Chelsea decided to postpone the League Cup semi-final.

The FA also approved the decision.

But this made Bayswater Chinese’s situation even more difficult.

According to the schedule, the postponed League Cup semi-final should be rescheduled for January 13th.

January 10th, Premier League round 21, home game against Manchester United.

January 13th, League Cup semi-final first leg, away game against Chelsea.

January 16th, Premier League round 22, away game against Portsmouth.

January 20th, League Cup semi-final second leg, home game against Chelsea.

January 23rd, FA Cup fourth round, home game against Leeds United.

January 27th, Premier League round 23, away game against Chelsea.

January 30th, Premier League round 24, home game against Tottenham Hotspur.

February 3rd, if neither Bayswater Chinese nor Tottenham has an FA Cup replay, this would be the rescheduled league match away to Tottenham Hotspur.

February 7th, Premier League round 25, home game against Wolves.

February 10th, Premier League round 26, away game against West Ham United.

February 13th, if they successfully advance to the FA Cup fifth round, that would be the date of the match.

February 17th, Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage first leg, away to Lyon.

When Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others adjusted the schedule, they found that one change had a domino effect.

They had hoped to play at least two of their three rescheduled league matches before the Champions League resumed.

But now, it seemed there was simply no time.

From January 10th to February 17th, in just thirty-nine days, Bayswater Chinese was expected to play twelve matches.

That averaged out to one game every three days.

If they factored in the upcoming league and Champions League matches, the two games a week schedule would continue for even longer.

It was anyone’s guess when the two rescheduled league matches would be played. It could be ages ago.

Not to mention, March 3rd was another international match day.

With such a dense schedule and competing on multiple fronts, the pressure was mounting all at once. Yang Cheng felt that the strain on the team would be immense.

And, most critically, they were in the midst of the biggest blizzard and coldest temperatures in thirty years. It was still uncertain whether the match on January 10th could even go ahead as planned.

If it were postponed again, Bayswater Chinese’s three rescheduled Premier League matches would be delayed until who knows when.

When the final stretch of all competitions arrived and all the pressure came down at once, could Bayswater Chinese hold up?

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng no longer hesitated. He made a decisive call, immediately summoning all the department heads at the Brent training center for a meeting. He laid out the schedule and the entire situation.

“Two things!”

Yang Cheng held up two fingers.

“First, everyone needs to be on high alert. Monitor the players’ physical condition closely. One report per day. For injured players, two reports a day. I need to be kept informed of the players’ physical condition at all times, down to the last detail!”

Everyone took this very seriously, taking notes.

“Second, cancel the youth team and reserve team duties for N’Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, and Harry Kane. For the foreseeable future, they will all join the first team for matches.”

“Have the reserve and youth teams ready to step up to the first team at a moment’s notice!”

“From now on, for the next few months, we will be facing an unprecedentedly gruelling schedule!”

“I need every single one of you to be mentally prepared to face these difficulties!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This was not just a test for the players, but also for them, for the entire team at Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 193: Slaying the Red Devils in a Blizzard! A Tiger Doesn’t Show Its Might, and You Really Think I’m Hello Kitty?

Afternoon of January 10th, Wembley Stadium, London.

In the 21st round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese were at home against Manchester United.

Coinciding with the most severe cold and blizzard in thirty years, the local temperature in London was only minus four degrees Celsius during the match.

Although the under-pitch heating system was activated, it only covered the turf.

The area around the pitch was piled high with white snow, separating the field from the stands, like a white scarf wrapped around the green grass, making it exceptionally striking.

Playing in such cold, low temperatures, the biggest challenge for the teams was injuries.

How to defeat the opponent while trying to avoid injuries became the test for both sides.

Both the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were clearly affected by the extreme temperatures.

Due to the poor pitch conditions, players from both sides made many errors.

Thus, after the kick-off, both teams played very cautiously.

Manchester United, playing away, especially focused on defending and counter-attacking.

Throughout the first half, the Bayswater Chinese had a possession rate of sixty-seven percent and managed twelve shots.

Manchester United had forged their defense into an iron barrel, blocking the home team’s attacks time and again.

But in the 49th minute of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese were the first to breach Manchester United’s goal.

Manchester United committed a foul while counter-pressing in the attacking half, giving the Bayswater Chinese a free kick in their own half.

Neuer ran out of the thirty-meter area to take the free kick, sending it accurately to the left flank of the attacking third.

Gareth Bale jumped up, getting ahead of Evans to head the ball on to Robert Lewandowski.

The Pole met the ball from Gareth Bale’s flick-on and, from the right side of the six-yard box, chipped it over Vidić with his right foot before smashing a close-range shot with his left, breaking through Manchester United’s goal.

1-0!

Despite the minus four-degree temperature, Wembley Stadium was still packed with ninety-thousand fans.

The passion that erupted from the fans at the moment of the goal seemed powerful enough to melt the snow in the stadium.

After conceding, Manchester United began to intensify their attack, subbing on Ryan Giggs and Robben to strengthen their wings.

Then, in the 61st minute, Robben carried the ball past the halfway line, cut inside past Marcelo, and played a diagonal pass behind the defense with his left foot.

Rooney successfully beat the offside trap and broke into the box for a one-on-one.

At the crucial moment, Neuer rushed out of his goal and blocked Rooney’s shot out for a corner.

Manchester United subsequently took the corner kick. Vidić’s header was first blocked by Pepe.

But a long shot from Scholes on the edge of the area struck Vincent Kompany’s leg and deflected into his own net.

Own goal!

1-1!

It was level!

Neither Yang Cheng nor Ferguson had any particularly good solutions for such extreme weather.

It was perfectly normal for player errors to increase.

And in the 74th minute, the Bayswater Chinese successfully won the ball back near the halfway line.

As Modrić advanced with the ball, Fletcher, fearing a quick counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese and already on a yellow card, committed a tactical foul on him.

He was sent off with a red card, and the Croatian didn’t get back up after falling.

…

The snow was falling heavier and heavier.

A thin layer of snow appeared on the pitch, which quickly melted due to the under-pitch heating.

But in the areas alongside the pitch without heating, the snow grew thicker.

Yang Cheng wore a warm sports hat, a thick down jacket, gloves on his hands, and leather shoes on his feet, but he still couldn’t help but wave his hands constantly on the sideline.

Although he wore thick socks, the biting cold still crept up from the soles of his feet.

It was especially unbearable when he stood still.

So, he could only walk back and forth constantly to keep himself active.

Every step crunched on the snow.

One could only imagine how difficult it was for the players on the field!

It was difficult for the fans too!

Faced with such severe, extreme weather, London’s power supply was strained, and mechanical failures caused by the blizzard had led to the suspension and repair of several tube lines. Many fans had even walked a long way to get to Wembley Stadium.

The news said that such terrible weather hadn’t been seen since the great freeze of the 1960s, which had caused widespread postponements of matches and work stoppages.

Hospitals were overflowing, mostly with patients suffering from fractures and external injuries.

Most difficult of all, the weather forecast indicated that the weather would worsen from the evening onwards, with the blizzard intensifying.

But even so, ninety-thousand fans still came to the stadium.

They braved the wind and snow, shouting with all their might from the stands.

Although the atmosphere was a far cry from a normal day, everyone was giving their all.

As the team’s head coach, all Yang Cheng could do was to try his best to help the team win this crucial victory.

And hopefully, avoid any major injuries.

“How is he?”

As team doctor David Fevre helped carry Modrić off on a stretcher, Yang Cheng walked over and asked with concern.

“A kick to the calf. Probably a muscle injury. We’ll need to observe it further. Make a substitution.”

Yang Cheng nodded after hearing this. “Then get back to the dressing room quickly.”

After saying that, he made a point of walking over to Modrić’s side, asking him a few concerned questions. After confirming the Croatian was alright, he sent them back to the dressing room.

After seeing them off, Yang Cheng turned around, glanced at the pitch, then at the time on the scoreboard.

Including stoppage time, there were nearly twenty minutes left.

Fletcher had been sent off!

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng walked towards the substitutes’ bench.

“Andy.”

Andy Carroll immediately jumped up and ran to Yang Cheng, his eyes burning with eager anticipation.

“Do you need to warm up?”

“No need, I’ve already warmed up.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Get on there. Your job is to win aerial duels, to win the first knockdown.”

The fire in Andy Carroll’s eyes seemed to be doused by the snow on the sidelines.

He was a centre-forward!

But he still nodded firmly in agreement. “I understand!”

“Remember, whether we can win this match is up to you!” Yang Cheng encouraged him.

Andy Carroll nodded, but the excited expression from just a moment ago had vanished.

He felt he should be a goalscorer, a battering ram.

Not a tactical player!

But at this moment, he could only obey the head coach’s arrangements.

…

After Andy Carroll came on, the Bayswater Chinese now had two centre-forwards up front.

Coupled with Gareth Bale, who had an advantage over the young Rafael da Silva, the Bayswater Chinese’s advantage in the attacking third was obvious.

The weather was terrible, and the snow on the pitch was getting thicker.

Because of the under-pitch heating, even the air felt damp and uncomfortable, as if it had been pulled from a washing machine.

This was especially true for the players on the pitch. Once they started running, their bodies heated up, and their jerseys clung to them, restricting their movements.

So, Yang Cheng adjusted his strategy accordingly, opting for a more simple and direct approach.

Long passes and crosses from the flanks.

In other words, high-altitude bombing!

Ferguson had actually seen Yang Cheng’s intention.

But with one man down in midfield, Manchester United had no choice but to defend with all their might.

So, he quickly used his last substitution.

Anderson replaced Scholes.

With that, Manchester United switched to a three-man holding midfield of Anderson, Carrick, and De Rossi.

When the match restarted, the Bayswater Chinese went for a direct, route-one approach, recklessly playing high balls.

In this god-awful weather, against an opponent like Manchester United, what was the point of intricate passing?

Just get the win first, then talk later.

And events proved Yang Cheng’s decision was correct.

The snow fell harder, the temperature dropped lower, and it was difficult for the players to maintain their performance on the pitch.

Especially their stamina.

The intricate passing that the Bayswater Chinese excelled at was truly difficult to execute in this temperature.

Every pass that rolled across the turf left a very clear trail.

It was obvious that completing quick passing moves under these conditions was basically impossible.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s switch to high-altitude bombing was, in fact, the most pragmatic tactic.

But this also made them less efficient.

The players ran, panting; the fans shouted, panting; Yang Cheng, pacing on the sidelines, was panting as well.

It was difficult for everyone!

Time in the match slowly ticked away.

When the 85th minute arrived, the stadium announcer began to remind all attending fans: After the match, please leave the stadium as soon as possible and head to the tube and bus stations.

Because the weather was getting worse, no one knew when scheduled services might be suddenly cancelled.

The Bayswater Chinese fan services department also acted swiftly, reminding all attending fans, including the Red Devils supporters who had traveled south with Manchester United, that they could contact them if they encountered any problems.

The fan services staff would provide all possible assistance.

The stands began to stir, and many fans had even stood up, preparing to leave early.

1-1!

In this terrible weather, getting a draw was a pretty good result.

It was just a bit of a shame they couldn’t avenge the defeat from the first league match of the season!

On the pitch, the players’ passing rhythm and running speed were constantly slowing down.

This seemed to indicate that the match was pretty much over.

But there were still some die-hard fans. They stood up from their seats, jumping up and down together, shouting loudly together, sometimes singing the team anthem, sometimes chanting the players’ names…

Sky Sports was also very moved by this scene.

“These fans in the snowstorm are truly touching.”

“Over the years, the Bayswater Chinese have certainly cultivated a group of very loyal fans.”

“They have witnessed the Bayswater Chinese climb from the lower leagues, step by step, to where they are now, among Europe’s top teams. This has given them an unprecedented sense of identity.”

“And there are many fans just like them.”

“Of course, we should also note that the Bayswater Chinese have indeed put in a great deal of effort and invested considerable resources in fan engagement over the past few years.”

“This has now made them the club with the best reputation and image in London.”

“We can see more and more fans in the stands are jumping.”

“This is both to cheer on the players on the field, but also a way to huddle together for warmth.”

The commotion in the stands was becoming more and more obvious.

More and more fans were leaving.

But just as the match reached the 88th minute, after an attacking move broke down, Theo Walcott passed back to Nemanja Matić, who then passed back to Pepe. The Portuguese centre-back received the ball just to the right of the centre circle in Manchester United’s half.

At this moment, snowflakes falling from the sky could be clearly seen through the television broadcast lens.

Pepe controlled the ball, glanced forward, and immediately launched a long pass.

The ball traveled over half the pitch and landed just outside Manchester United’s penalty area.

Andy Carroll quickly dropped back, dragging Evans with him, and leaped high into the air. Meeting the descending ball, he flicked it backward with his head.

After being flicked on by Andy Carroll, the ball dropped into Manchester United’s penalty area.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick forward run, using his starting advantage to get there first. He controlled the ball with his chest, guiding it towards the penalty spot.

Vidić was right in front of Lewandowski, cutting off his path to the goal and naturally moving with him.

After Evans moved forward, Manchester United’s young right-back Rafael da Silva immediately tucked in to work with Vidić in a joint defense.

But Lewandowski, meeting the falling ball, passed it sideways.

The football drew a straight line on the turf as it rolled towards the left side of the penalty area.

Rafael reacted quickly, turning to chase after it immediately.

But a figure in a red shirt was faster than him.

Gareth Bale had caught up.

Lewandowski’s pass was slowed by the snow on the pitch, decelerating right in front of Gareth Bale.

After the Welshman rushed up and planted his right foot, he unleashed a furious shot with his left, a low drive that skimmed across the ground.

The snow on the turf, which hadn’t had time to melt, was kicked up into the air by Gareth Bale’s shot.

The scattered snowflakes mixed with the gently falling blizzard, and the scene was indescribably beautiful!

The football shot out at high speed and went straight into the right side of the Manchester United goal!

Shooting from this position, Gareth Bale had supreme confidence!

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

The stadium announcer’s roar came at the same time.

Whether it was the fans jumping up and down, those who were about to leave, or even the many who had already left the stands, they all heard the frantic cheers erupting from within the stadium.

“The Bayswater Chinese have scored again!”

“A goal from Gareth Bale!”

“In the 88th minute, under extremely difficult circumstances, Gareth Bale shot from his favourite position on the left side of the box and pierced Manchester United’s goal!”

“2-1!”

“My God, this match has been so difficult!”

“We can see that the entire pitch at Wembley Stadium is covered in snow.”

“But the Bayswater Chinese have withstood the pressure and scored again!”

“It must be said, Yang Cheng’s tactical adjustment in the second half was crucial, and Andy Carroll’s introduction was very timely.”

“If they had continued with their usual passing game, it simply wouldn’t have worked in this weather, on this pitch.”

“A real shame for Manchester United!”

“They showed tremendous resilience, but they came up against a Bayswater Chinese team that was even more resilient, even more outstanding!”

“Let’s congratulate the Bayswater Chinese!”

…

Although all the Premier League teams had been well-prepared, they were still affected to some extent.

Of the ten matches in the 21st round, two had to be postponed.

The blizzard had arrived with too much force.

Fortunately, most of the top Premier League teams finished their matches before evening.

But it was a mixed bag of results.

Bayswater Chinese’s 2-1 narrow victory over Manchester United at home earned Yang Cheng’s team praise from both media and fans after the match.

Gareth Bale’s final shot, in particular, became a cover story reported by media all over the world.

The image was simply too beautiful!

Many fans were even saying they had to make it their screen saver.

Everyone believed that this clash between top teams showcased the tenacity and resilience of the Bayswater Chinese.

As The Times put it, this had always been Manchester United’s specialty.

“But Ferguson’s team, on this afternoon at Wembley Stadium, lost those two precious qualities!”

More importantly, this victory created a favorable situation for the Bayswater Chinese.

Arsenal drew 2-2 at home against Everton.

Funnily enough, Wenger’s team didn’t equalize until the 92nd minute.

The goalscorer was the substitute, Rosický.

Manchester City, meanwhile, thrashed Blackburn Rovers 4-1 at home, with Carlos Tevez scoring a hat-trick.

Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Kuyt.

But Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Hull City.

The loss of five international players to the Africa Cup of Nations, coupled with the extremely harsh weather, had a huge impact on The Blues.

Guus Hiddink repeatedly stated that he was very satisfied with securing one point.

As a result, after twenty-one rounds, the Bayswater Chinese, with a record of fifteen wins, two draws, and one loss, had forty-seven points and were ranked third in the league table.

Although Arsenal and Manchester City both had fifty points, Arsenal still held the top spot due to their superior goal difference.

Manchester United also had forty-seven points, but their goal difference was worse than the Bayswater Chinese, causing them to drop to fourth place.

Chelsea had only forty-two points, ranking fifth.

After this round, the entire Premier League was in an uproar.

Who said spending money was useless?

Previously, everyone had called Arsenal “The Fourth Place Fiend.”

But after two consecutive summers of big spending, The Gunners were now top of the Premier League and strong title contenders.

And Manchester City?

They had also spent big for two years, transforming themselves from a mid-table Premier League team into a force capable of challenging for the title.

Meanwhile, Manchester United and Chelsea, who had tightened their purse strings over the past two or three years, had seen their rankings consistently slide.

Especially Chelsea.

From the current situation, it would still be very difficult for them to break into the top four this season.

As for Liverpool, they were now down in eighth place, firmly a mid-table team.

Among the tycoon clubs of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese stood out from the crowd.

They hadn’t made massive investments like Arsenal and Manchester City, and they sold players every year, yet the team’s competitiveness remained exceptional.

Yang Cheng’s handling of this team sparked intense discussion throughout European football.

Many media outlets even believed that if Yang Cheng weren’t the owner of the Bayswater Chinese, he would have been poached by other giants long ago.

…

The evening of January 13th, Stamford Bridge, London.

League Cup semi-final first leg, Bayswater Chinese away to Chelsea.

The blizzard that had started on January 4th finally began to ease.

The rhythm of matches and the transport systems gradually returned to normal.

London began to regain its usual hustle and bustle.

But Chelsea’s predicament had not eased.

Five of their international players were still competing in the Africa Cup of Nations, which had a huge impact on Chelsea.

Yang Cheng seized upon The Blues’ weaknesses and shortcomings. Despite playing away, he seized the initiative and launched an all-out attack.

In the 23rd minute, Hazard broke down the left wing and delivered a cross. Aaron Ramsey made a run to the near post and scored with a close-range push, opening the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

Chelsea had no good response to this and remained on the back foot.

After the break, in the 55th minute, a cross from former Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand found Carroll at the far post. His close-range header hit the right post, missing a golden opportunity.

But this attack sent a cold sweat down the spines of The Blues.

Then, in the 65th minute, a cross from Piszczek on the right found Carroll again, and this time his header finally breached Chelsea’s goal.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-0 away from home!

…

January 16th, Premier League Round 22, Bayswater Chinese away to bottom-of-the-table team Portsmouth.

Although the blizzard had stopped, the recent period of severe weather was still affecting all the teams.

This was especially true for the Bayswater Chinese, who were competing on multiple fronts.

Yang Cheng’s team, playing away, relied on two goals from Robert Lewandowski in the 16th and 42nd minutes of the first half.

They defeated Portsmouth 2-1.

But for a long period in the second half, the team’s performance was rather lackluster.

The main issue was stamina, and the players were quite fatigued.

But regardless, the Bayswater Chinese secured a valuable three points.

Most other Premier League teams also defeated their opponents, except for Liverpool.

The Reds drew 1-1 away to Stoke City.

Chelsea beat Sunderland 3-2 at home.

Manchester United beat Burnley 3-0 at home.

Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Kaká.

Arsenal beat Bolton 2-0 away.

After this round of matches, the rankings of the top teams in the Premier League remained largely unchanged.

…

January 20th, English League Cup semi-final, second leg.

Bayswater Chinese were at home against Chelsea.

Facing a short-handed Blues side, Hiddink uncharacteristically went on the attack from the off away from home and created a goal in the 10th minute.

Anelka scored for Chelsea.

But starting from the 30th minute, the Bayswater Chinese scored two in quick succession.

Carroll and José Fonte each scored, successfully turning the game around.

Then, in the 50th minute of the second half, Carvalho received his second yellow card for a foul on Carroll and was sent off.

From then on, it was difficult for Chelsea to mount any threatening attacks.

Bayswater Chinese won 2-1 at home, 2-0 away, defeating Chelsea 4-1 on aggregate to advance to the League Cup final!

In the other semi-final, Ancelotti’s Manchester City first beat Manchester United 2-1 at home.

In the second leg at Old Trafford, the two teams drew 2-2.

In the end, The Blue Moons advanced to the League Cup final, knocking out their city rivals Manchester United with a 4-3 aggregate score.

Although the League Cup is considered a “chicken rib” competition, the fact that both the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City reached the final undoubtedly made the showdown more appealing.

However, what made Yang Cheng uncomfortable was that the final was scheduled for February 28th.

This would undoubtedly add to the Bayswater Chinese’s fixture congestion.

…

January 23rd, a day of shame for Ferguson and Manchester United.

While all the top Premier League teams were actively preparing for the 4th round of the FA Cup, only Manchester United were preparing for their 23rd round league match, a home game against Hull City.

According to media reports, Ferguson’s mood had been extremely poor these past few days.

And it was a home game.

So, Ferguson had laid down the gauntlet early on: if they couldn’t beat Hull City at home, he would make all the Manchester United players suffer.

In the end, Manchester United thrashed Hull City 4-0 at home.

Rooney scored a four-goal haul!

At the critical moment, Ferguson’s favorite player proved reliable.

In their 4th round FA Cup match at home against Leeds United, the Bayswater Chinese met with stubborn resistance.

Leeds were a very tough team, and their confidence had soared, especially after knocking out Manchester United.

In contrast, the Bayswater Chinese were suffering from the continuous matches. The players’ form was greatly affected, injuries were piling up, and Yang Cheng implemented heavy squad rotation.

Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté even started the match.

In the 42nd minute of the first half, Robert Lewandowski scored, assisted by Walcott from the right.

But in stoppage time, Leeds United equalized.

In the 63rd minute of the second half, Gareth Bale successfully put them back in the lead.

And in stoppage time again, it was another goal from Gareth Bale that finally sealed the score at 3-1!

The Bayswater Chinese smoothly advanced to the 5th round.

It is worth noting that for the last half hour of the match, Yang Cheng substituted Harry Kane for Robert Lewandowski.

From their performances, Paul Pogba and Harry Kane were still too raw and young.

N’Golo Kanté was still very energetic and performed well defensively, but overall his performance could only be described as average.

This was related to his lack of playing time with the first team.

But funnily enough, in the 4th round of the FA Cup, both Arsenal and Liverpool were knocked out.

Chelsea and Manchester City advanced smoothly.

This was, in part, related to the preceding days of heavy snow.

The teams’ training, match rhythm, and players’ form were all disrupted.

The schedule became more congested, and the pressure of the matches increased.

Coupled with the increase in injuries caused by the bad weather, many teams had several injured players, including the Bayswater Chinese.

This led to a series of unfavorable results for the teams.

Liverpool’s defeat was expected by everyone, losing to Championship side Reading.

Arsenal lost away to Premier League side Stoke City.

Considering this, their elimination wasn’t exactly unjust.

…

The evening of January 27th, Stamford Bridge, London.

When head referee Steve Bennett blew the final whistle, Yang Cheng shook his head helplessly.

The scoreboard at Stamford Bridge displayed the final result of the match.

1-0!

Chelsea, thanks to a goal just four minutes into the game, had stubbornly held off the Bayswater Chinese at home.

It was from a corner kick.

After Sneijder took the corner, Terry headed it in.

But after that goal, the Bayswater Chinese launched a frenzied attack but were consistently unable to break through Chelsea’s goal.

Yang Cheng was sure that Čech would be named the man of the match and would also be the player of the round.

Because in this match, he had saved at least five clear-cut chances from the Bayswater Chinese.

However, this match also exposed some of the Bayswater Chinese’s problems.

For example, the absence of Modrić!

“Aaron Ramsey is too green, and Rakitić isn’t quite up to it either. As soon as Modrić gets injured, our midfield struggles to function!” Brian Kidd said, somewhat vexed.

Struggling to function, in this case, also depended on the opponent.

Chelsea had set up in a three-man holding midfield formation, clearly intending to snatch an early goal with a blitz attack and then switch to defending and counter-attacking.

Apart from the opening goal, Hiddink’s team didn’t create any other clear-cut chances.

On the contrary, it was the Bayswater Chinese who continuously created shooting opportunities.

In this match, Robert Lewandowski’s form was actually quite good.

But under the containment of Terry and Alex, coupled with Čech’s heroic performance, Lewandowski couldn’t seize his chances.

Yang Cheng later made several substitutions to try to strengthen the team’s attack, but they were also ineffective.

Hiddink’s defense was truly very tight!

Interestingly, in this round, apart from Manchester United and Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City all drew.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away to Wolves.

Arsenal drew 0-0 away to Aston Villa.

Manchester City drew 1-1 away to Stoke City.

This showed that during this period, none of the top teams were in ideal form.

The players were generally very fatigued.

…

During this recent period, Yang Cheng had been overwhelmed with matters, busy beyond belief.

The severe weather, the matches, the injured players, the congested schedule…

Everything piled up in front of him, one after another, leaving him somewhat unable to cope.

This made him forget, for a while, exactly when Andy Carroll’s mood had started to change.

The most obvious sign was that whenever he was sent on, whether as a starter or a substitute, he seemed to lack his previous passion and sharpness.

He became somewhat mechanical, even perfunctory.

In training, he wasn’t active enough, his attitude was somewhat negative, and his relationship with his teammates had also become a bit problematic.

On the training ground, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff could tell whether a player was giving their all.

Yang Cheng had a brief chat with him. He promised to adjust, but it had no effect.

This gave Yang Cheng the feeling that he was starting to resist playing for the Bayswater Chinese.

Or rather, his motivation was low.

He was like an employee who had already lined up his next job and was just muddling through.

At first, Yang Cheng wasn’t quite sure what was going on.

But on January 20th, after knocking Chelsea out of the League Cup, Yang Cheng understood why Andy Carroll had undergone such a dramatic change in just half a month.

Chelsea had made an official offer for Andy Carroll.

Fifteen million pound sterling!

This was The Blues’ first offer!

Andy Carroll’s agent, Mark Curtis, also revealed in a media interview that his player was tired of the years of waiting for a chance to play at the Bayswater Chinese.

“He hopes to move to a platform where he can better utilize his characteristics and strengths.”

Yang Cheng rejected Chelsea’s offer without hesitation.

He immediately found Andy Carroll and personally promised to give him more playing time.

At the same time, Yang Cheng also warned Andy Carroll that going to Chelsea in his current state wouldn’t work out.

Even someone as strong as Drogba couldn’t hold on. If the young Andy Carroll went, could he establish himself?

But Andy Carroll seemed to no longer trust Yang Cheng.

He even told Yang Cheng directly that he believed he had the ability to establish himself at Chelsea!

Moreover, Chelsea was willing to help him, confirming him as the main centre-forward after Drogba!

Yang Cheng retorted that such a promise was completely useless.

When his performance was poor, Chelsea would still drop him without hesitation.

But trust is something that, once lost, cannot be regained with words.

Andy Carroll trusted his agent more!

Adam Crozier contacted Mark Curtis and brought back a message for Yang Cheng.

Mark Curtis revealed that Andy Carroll’s mind was made up!

Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and the others knew that Mark Curtis was pulling the strings.

But it was useless.

The player had only been with the Bayswater Chinese for half a year, but he had worked with Mark Curtis for several years.

Moreover, it was through Mark Curtis’s connections that he had stood out from Newcastle’s youth academy.

In terms of deep-seated affection, the Bayswater Chinese couldn’t hold a candle to Mark Curtis.

But Yang Cheng still didn’t plan to sell.

Thus, for the matches on the 23rd and 27th, Yang Cheng didn’t include Andy Carroll in the squad.

This was also a contributing factor to their failure to break through Čech’s goal at Stamford Bridge on the 27th.

Yang Cheng and the technical team’s intention was to wear the player down, drag it out until the winter transfer window closed, and then Andy Carroll would give up.

So, even though Chelsea repeatedly increased their offer during this period, reaching twenty million pound sterling, the Bayswater Chinese still refused to sell.

But on the morning of the 28th, when Yang Cheng arrived at the Brent training center from home, he received a call from Mark Curtis.

He was calling in sick for Andy Carroll, saying he had something to attend to and couldn’t make the morning training session.

“What is it?” Yang Cheng pressed on the phone.

But Mark Curtis didn’t say.

After the morning training session ended, Yang Cheng found out.

Accompanied by his agent Mark Curtis, Andy Carroll had gone to the club’s rented office building in West London and formally submitted a written transfer request.

At the same time, Chelsea once again increased their transfer offer.

Twenty-five million pound sterling!

But the Bayswater Chinese still rejected Chelsea’s offer.

That afternoon, Andy Carroll was absent from the team’s training again.

This was, in effect, a declaration of his stance.

…

“From all the intelligence we’ve gathered and based on Mark Curtis’s response, we can basically conclude that Andy Carroll is determined to go to Chelsea!”

In the meeting room at the Brent training center, Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg said with a sense of helplessness.

“I’ve heard through some private channels that Chelsea has offered them a weekly wage of up to ninety thousand pound sterling!”

The meeting room instantly erupted in an uproar.

Ninety thousand pound sterling?

That was simply outrageous!

The top salary previously set by the Bayswater Chinese was only one hundred and twenty thousand pound sterling.

There was no way they could offer Andy Carroll such a high weekly wage.

Even half of that would be a stretch.

“Also, I heard another piece of news. Chelsea has been in contact with Mark Curtis all along. It’s said that the transfer commission they’ve offered is very generous, possibly even two or three million pound sterling.”

Mike Rigg’s words once again caused an uproar among the people in the meeting room.

If that was the case, then it was no wonder.

If they were really offering a commission of two to three million pound sterling, Mark Curtis would be willing to go to war with the Bayswater Chinese.

Big agents earn a lot, and they wouldn’t sacrifice long-term interests for this amount of money.

Who was Mark Curtis?

He was Big Sam Allardyce’s agent, one might even call him his fixer.

Yang Cheng believed that fans from 2024 would definitely not forget the scandal when Allardyce was the England national team manager, caught in a sting operation by journalists.

At the time, Allardyce’s annual salary as England manager was three million pound sterling, but he took a risk for four hundred thousand pound sterling.

And the one who made the contact and quoted the price for Big Sam was the agent, Mark Curtis.

When Yang Cheng had first signed Andy Carroll, many people had warned him to be careful of this agent.

But he had never expected Mark Curtis to be so impatient.

It had only been half a year!

What was worse, with the Bayswater Chinese’s current congested schedule, Andy Carroll’s defection at this time was definitely a backstab!

“What do we do now?” Brian Kidd asked Yang Cheng, frustrated and angry.

He too was extremely dissatisfied, even heartbroken, by the actions of Andy Carroll and his agent.

Because he really had high hopes for Andy Carroll.

But who could have thought he would do something like this?

Brian Kidd had been managing teams for so many years, and any player who caused a fuss like Andy Carroll was really backing themselves into a corner.

Of course, they didn’t care. With Chelsea offering a weekly wage of ninety thousand pound sterling, what did they have to fear?

“Dan, what does your technical team think?” Yang Cheng looked at Director of Football Dan Ashworth.

“We all feel that over the past few years, we have ultimately been too friendly in our handling of player transfers, to the point where even a minor character like Mark Curtis dares to offend us. We need to make an example of him!”

“Of course, while issuing a warning, our club cannot suffer a loss.”

After saying that, Dan Ashworth explained his and the technical team’s recommendation to Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng nodded silently. This coincided perfectly with his own thoughts.

For the past few years, everyone felt that the Bayswater Chinese were too good-natured, lacking the assertiveness of a giant club.

This wouldn’t do.

Even a buffoon like Mark Curtis was trying to push his luck. Yang Cheng had no intention of continuing to indulge them.

If they weren’t taught a lesson, this kind of thing would likely happen more and more in the future.

“In terms of recruitment, what is Ajax’s asking price for Luis Suárez?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“Chelsea inquired. Their answer was thirty million euro.”

This was beyond what the Bayswater Chinese could accept.

In the winter transfer window, trying to sign well-known players like Suárez or Agüero would definitely mean getting ripped off.

Especially now.

If Carroll was really poached by Chelsea, everyone would know the Bayswater Chinese had to sign a replacement. If they didn’t fleece them now, when would they?

Besides, it was your own fault for not being able to keep your player from being poached by Chelsea!

Yang Cheng felt a bit helpless.

He really liked Luis Suárez, but unfortunately, the Uruguayan was too expensive.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford Suárez, but that other players offered better value for money!

“Are there any other candidates?” Yang Cheng asked again.

“There’s another one, Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni. His relationship with van Gaal is very bad right now. It’s said that Bayern wants to loan him out and is in talks with AS Roma. However, there’s a problem with this player: he can’t play in the Champions League.”

Luca Toni had already played in the Champions League for Bayern Munich.

“In addition, we have another candidate, the centre-forward from Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Mario Mandžukić.”

“This 23-year-old young centre-forward is valued at around seven million euro, but he also cannot represent the team in the Champions League.”

Dinamo Zagreb was also a regular in European competitions.

As long as Mandžukić had played in a European competition in the first half of the season, he couldn’t play in the second half.

When Yang Cheng heard this, he nodded in satisfaction.

Among the candidates, at least Luca Toni and Mandžukić were very good choices.

This proved that the team’s technical team was still functioning effectively.

But Suárez, Luca Toni, and Mandžukić were not the most ideal value-for-money options in Yang Cheng’s mind.

“Last time, the French scout submitted a file on a 23-year-old French centre-forward called Olivier Giroud. Do you remember?”

Dan Ashworth frowned at first, but then quickly recalled.

“I remember. The centre-forward from Tours in the French Second Division. I specifically looked him up a few days ago. He’s scored fifteen goals and provided five assists in twenty-two Ligue 1 matches. His performance has been excellent.”

“However, the intensity of the French Second Division is relatively low. We’re a bit worried about whether this player can adapt to the Premier League.”

He was certainly very cheap, probably gettable for one or two million pound sterling.

But the player’s quality was indeed a cause for concern.

For the Bayswater Chinese now, especially in this situation, recruitment had to be done carefully.

Stability was the most important thing!

“I’ve watched his games. His overall performance, especially his tactical role as a centre-forward, I think is fine. His physicality is more than adequate, as is his heading.”

“The intensity of the French Second Division isn’t high, but the physical confrontations are not weak at all. There are a lot of black players there.”

A player honed in such a league environment could not be weak physically.

What’s more, Yang Cheng knew very well that after winning the top scorer and best player awards in the French Second Division, Giroud moved to Montpellier in Ligue 1 in 2010, then became the Ligue 1 top scorer before moving to Arsenal.

And a very important reason why Yang Cheng chose Giroud was that he was fed up with all the drama.

Giroud had a good personality, was diligent and low-key, and even if asked to be a substitute, he would do so without complaint.

Moreover, what the Bayswater Chinese needed right now was precisely Giroud’s tactical contribution.

Based on Yang Cheng’s knowledge of Giroud from his previous life, this player was very intelligent, the type who played with his brain.

At twenty-three years old, this type of player’s overall ability had long since matured.

The main reason he hadn’t broken through was that he hadn’t found the right tactical environment.

“Dan, go to Tours in France and sign him!” Yang Cheng said decisively.

Within the Bayswater Chinese organization, there was great trust in Yang Cheng’s eye for players.

There was even a trend of unconditional adoration.

It couldn’t be helped. Over the past few years, the players personally picked by Yang Cheng had almost never been a miss.

“After we sign Giroud, we’ll have a good game with them!”

A ruthless glint flashed in Yang Cheng’s eyes.

A tiger doesn’t show its might, and you really think I’m a Hello Kitty?

Chapter 194: Crossing the Line! Cornered! You Tell Me, What Bank Is More Profitable Than Me?

On the afternoon of January 30th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the 24th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

Redknapp’s team deployed a 4-4-2 formation with a double pivot for the away game.

The starting holding midfielders were former Bayswater Chinese player Huddlestone, partnered with Palacios.

The two wings were occupied by Kranjčar and Bentley.

The centre-back pairing was Michael Dawson and Ledley King.

Tottenham Hotspur had been in good form recently, and this centre-back duo had made a huge contribution to their defense.

This was especially true for Ledley King.

If not for his injury problems, the centre-back’s achievements would have been far greater.

Up front was the tall-and-fast combination of Defoe and Crouch.

Redknapp’s tactics were very much in the English style: defend and counter-attack.

This was particularly evident on the wings.

In contrast to a full-strength Tottenham Hotspur, Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese was short-staffed.

Players including Gareth Bale, Modrić, and Thiago Silva were all sidelined with injuries.

Added to that was Andy Carroll, who had been frozen out by Yang Cheng.

The impact on Bayswater Chinese was significant.

Over the past few days, with certain individuals deliberately leaking information, fans across England, and even the world, knew that Andy Carroll was determined to jump ship to Chelsea.

This had, to some extent, unsettled the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

Even so, after the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese stuck to their most proficient attacking tactics, taking the initiative as always.

Just one minute in, Walcott seized an opportunity in the attacking third, making a quick run forward to go one-on-one with the keeper.

Unfortunately, the linesman raised his flag for offside.

The Little Tiger’s penetrating run still earned a thunderous round of applause from the Wembley crowd.

But Tottenham Hotspur were not content to just sit back and take the hits.

The North London team mostly tried to find Crouch with long balls, building their attack around the lanky Englishman.

Defoe’s speed became Tottenham’s trump card.

For instance, in the 10th minute, it was Crouch who received a long ball and flicked it on with his head, creating Tottenham’s first shot of the match.

In the 21st minute, it was Crouch again, receiving a long ball and heading it on. Defoe broke into the penalty area, only for Matić, who had tracked back in time, to make a decisive sliding tackle to clear the ball.

Tottenham took a quick tactical corner kick, trying to catch Bayswater Chinese off guard.

But unexpectedly, the ball was intercepted by Kompany, who successfully dispossessed the attacker and passed it to Marcelo on the wing.

Marcelo played it forward to Hazard.

The Belgian charged forward with the ball, breaking into the left side of Tottenham’s penalty area.

With Robert Lewandowski already running to the near post to offer support, he suddenly made a cut-back pass to the unguarded center.

At that moment, Aaron Ramsey arrived at full tilt and met the ball with a straightforward push shot.

The ball headed for the bottom right corner of the goal.

Tottenham’s goalkeeper Gomes made a valiant diving save, managing to parry the ball away with one hand, narrowly averting a crisis.

But the ball still landed on the right side of Tottenham’s penalty area.

Walcott surged forward, received the ball, and faked a direct shot, deceiving centre-back Michael Dawson. He then pulled the ball back and delivered a cross.

Robert Lewandowski got to the ball first in the center of the six-yard box and poked it into the net.

Gomes hadn’t even had time to get back to his feet before the ball was nestling in Tottenham’s goal.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in an unprecedented storm of passion!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to press Tottenham relentlessly.

Tottenham, meanwhile, continued to defend solidly and counter-attack.

In the 41st minute of the first half, from a throw-in on the right side of the attack, Tottenham threw the ball in, and Huddlestone once again sent a long pass forward.

Crouch outjumped Kompany and flicked the ball on with his head.

Defoe made a quick run forward, chased down Crouch’s flick-on inside the right of the penalty area, and calmly fired a power shot past Neuer.

1-1!

The two sides were level again!

But no one could have expected that just as Tottenham had equalized, before Sky Sports even finished showing the replay of the goal, Bayswater Chinese would retake the lead.

After the restart, Robert Lewandowski didn’t pass the ball back into his own half but kicked it directly to Hazard.

The Belgian drove forward with the ball, but as he tried to pass it back to Lewandowski, defender Ledley King intercepted it.

Aaron Ramsey surged forward from deep, received the ball, and used his pace to successfully break through between Palacios and Huddlestone.

After beating the two Tottenham holding midfielders, the Welshman continued to storm forward through the left half-space.

Lewandowski and the other forwards were all working in concert with Aaron Ramsey, drawing defenders away from him.

On the edge of Tottenham’s penalty area, facing Ledley King, Aaron Ramsey executed a clever, sharp stop before suddenly accelerating again, dribbling past Ledley King into the left side of the box.

Once inside the penalty area, Ledley King’s defensive options were limited.

Aaron Ramsey seized this golden opportunity and decisively struck the ball with his left foot.

The powerful shot once again breached the goal guarded by Gomes, scoring another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

2-1!

The first half ended with this score.

But after the break, Bayswater Chinese continued to apply pressure and created a string of shooting opportunities.

In the 53rd minute, after a series of one-touch passes in midfield, they continuously stretched the Tottenham defense.

From outside Tottenham’s 30-meter area, Piszczek sent a long ball over the top and behind the defense. Walcott burst forward at incredible speed, shaking off Tottenham’s left-back Assou-Ekotto and successfully beating the offside trap.

On the right side, just outside the penalty area, Walcott received the ball to go one-on-one, carried it into the box, and, facing the onrushing keeper Gomes, calmly slotted it past him.

3-1!

Just six minutes later, another attack down the right flank paid off.

Walcott dropped back to receive the ball and, while under tight pressure from Assou-Ekotto, managed to play a through ball just before he fell. Piszczek made a quick overlapping run, went to the byline on the right outside the box, and sent a low cross into the center.

Robert Lewandowski calmly got to the ball first and tapped it into the Tottenham goal.

The Polish centre-forward had scored a brace.

4-1!

But before Bayswater Chinese could even celebrate, Walcott was down and not getting up.

The Little Tiger lay flat on the grass, waiting for the medical team to come on.

He had probably injured himself during the tussle with Assou-Ekotto.

Yang Cheng had no choice but to make his first substitution.

Di María came on to replace Walcott.

Just seven minutes after coming on, Aaron Ramsey played a through ball that created a one-on-one opportunity for Di María.

Unfortunately, the Argentine had just entered the game and wasn’t fully warmed up; his shot scraped past the post and went out for a goal kick.

Nearing the end of the match, Bayswater Chinese had another counter-attacking opportunity with a numerical advantage.

Unfortunately, a misplaced pass during the build-up led to Lewandowski taking a heavy touch, and the onrushing goalkeeper Gomes managed to smother the ball.

The Polish centre-forward missed a golden opportunity for a hat-trick.

In the end, thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s brace, Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 at home.

…

“From the looks of it, Walcott is going to be out for a while!”

As the match ended, Andy Carroll was watching the London derby from the stands at Wembley Stadium, accompanied by his agent, Mark Curtis.

Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Tottenham 4-1 at home.

But what truly pleased them was Walcott’s injury.

Injuries sustained during the harsh winter season were never simple or minor.

The Little Tiger’s injury put Bayswater Chinese’s forward line in an even more precarious situation.

“He received so much praise when he sold Lambert, now he’s paying the price!” Mark Curtis sneered sarcastically.

Andy Carroll, however, still wore a solemn expression.

He was young, after all, and had never experienced anything like this.

But since his parents and agent had agreed, he had little to say and could only go along with it.

“Don’t worry, Andy. Think about it, how many forwards does Bayswater Chinese have left now?”

Before Andy Carroll could answer, Mark Curtis answered his own question.

“Gareth Bale is injured, now Walcott is injured, Lambert has been sold, Harry Kane is only sixteen. Bayswater Chinese is left with just Lewandowski.”

“Di María is also carrying an injury, and Hazard is still very young. How long can they keep this up?”

The wave of injuries brought on by the extreme weather wasn’t unique to Bayswater Chinese.

Nearly the entire Premier League was under pressure from injuries.

Tottenham, for example, were missing Sébastien Bassong and Robbie Keane due to injury.

“Listen to me, leaving Bayswater Chinese for Chelsea now will give you better development opportunities. You could even become a superstar for a top club like Drogba, with a weekly wage of ninety thousand pounds.”

The amount a club was willing to pay was a clear indicator of a player’s importance and status.

Andy Carroll also believed that a team like Chelsea wouldn’t offer him such a salary package without good reason.

The fact was, The Blues rated him very highly!

In contrast, at Bayswater Chinese, his salary was pitifully low!

Of course, when he joined Bayswater Chinese from Newcastle, he was very satisfied with the contract.

But compared to Chelsea’s offer, it was a world of difference.

Even though only six months had passed.

But the Andy Carroll from six months ago and the Andy Carroll of today were completely different.

“Let’s consider the worst-case scenario. Even if we don’t end up going to Chelsea, think about Bayswater Chinese’s current situation. If they keep us, we’ll have enough leverage to negotiate with them.”

“A more lucrative contract, and more playing time.”

“I believe, Andy, you are definitely better than that Pole!”

At the mention of Robert Lewandowski, a sharp glint flashed in Andy Carroll’s eyes.

He thought so too!

He was no worse than Lewandowski, so why did Yang Cheng trust Lewandowski so much?

Why was his job on the pitch to win aerial duels and create scoring chances for Lewandowski?

He was an England international, a homegrown player, yet he was treated worse than a Pole?

“Let’s go, Andy. Yang Cheng has arranged to meet me!”

Carroll said nothing, stood up, and followed his agent out of Wembley Stadium.

He didn’t plan on going to Brent; instead, he would go straight back to his rented apartment to rest and wait for news from his agent.

…

The distance from Wembley Stadium to the Brent training center was actually very short.

It was only a four-kilometer drive.

But because it was after a match, the roads were congested.

What’s more, many fans who drove themselves would trail the team bus all the way to Brent, causing further traffic jams.

Mark Curtis and Andy Carroll had a meal at Brent Cross before Curtis drove alone to the Brent training center.

By then, the sky had already darkened.

Winter nights always came early.

But the Brent training center was still brightly lit.

Everyone saw the ninety minutes of the match, but outside of that, hundreds of people at the club were busy working.

Mark Curtis was long accustomed to this kind of scene.

After a word with the security guard at the gate, he drove directly into the training center and parked in the surface lot.

Bayswater Chinese’s training center had an underground car park, but only players, coaches, and other internal staff were allowed to park there.

He got out of the car, went inside, and was immediately greeted by a staff member.

After giving his name and stating he had an appointment, he was led to a bright, small meeting room.

“The boss and the others are in a meeting. Please wait here for a moment.”

Mark Curtis didn’t mind.

Just as he was about to sit down, his phone rang.

In their line of business, the phone rang constantly.

Calls from players, coaches, and even many familiar journalists.

Otherwise, where would they get so much information?

This call happened to be from a journalist, bringing him a piece of news.

It had just been confirmed that Bayswater Chinese had spent one point five million pounds to sign a 23-year-old French centre-forward from French Second Division club Tours.

Olivier Giroud!

The moment Mark Curtis heard the name, his brow furrowed.

He had never heard of him.

“What’s his background?” Mark Curtis asked.

He instinctively sensed a threat.

“Our paper did a special check. He’s the top scorer in the French Second Division, and also the best-performing player in the division so far this season.”

“To date, he has never played for any level of the French national team, nor has he ever played for any major club. In fact, we’ve never even heard of this person before.”

Hearing this, Mark Curtis relaxed his guard.

How could a character like that possibly threaten the current Andy Carroll?

“Are you sure it was only one point five million pounds?” Mark Curtis asked again.

“Absolutely. Tours is a small club. They only paid one hundred fifty thousand euros for Olivier Giroud in 2008. Now they’ve made more than ten times that. How could it be fake?”

“How good is this player?”

“No idea. We’re contacting our counterparts in France, but even the major papers aren’t familiar with him. They just know he’s tall, 1.93 meters, left-footed, a tall center-forward. Nothing else is known.”

“Hmm,” Mark Curtis nodded.

In football, if even these journalists didn’t know about him, it just proved the player wasn’t very good.

Of course, it could also be that small clubs didn’t attract much attention from the media.

But either way, he certainly didn’t pose a threat.

“Okay, I’ve got it. Thanks, I’ll treat you to dinner sometime!”

After hanging up, Mark Curtis sneered inwardly.

Yang Cheng, oh, Yang Cheng, is this your little trick?

Trying to pressure me with a garbage signing like this?

Even if you are, you could at least find a more credible player, right?

For example, Suárez from Ajax, or Agüero from Atlético Madrid, or David Villa from Valencia. That would be more threatening.

You find some unknown nobody and say he can threaten Andy Carroll?

Although Yang Cheng’s reputation preceded him, Mark Curtis was Sam Allardyce’s agent. Through constant exposure, he had never believed in the so-called discerning eye of Yang Cheng.

It was all just fabricated nonsense to fool people!

The money and contract in hand were all that mattered—a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

…

Yang Cheng was a very punctual person.

He walked into the meeting room right at the agreed-upon time.

In fact, Mark Curtis had only been waiting for less than five minutes.

He had even made a few calls in between.

Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg and assistant coach Brian Kidd accompanied him.

The only one missing was director of football Dan Ashworth.

This immediately made Mark Curtis think of the Frenchman.

Dan Ashworth was probably still in France and hadn’t had time to come back.

After all, it was already the evening of the 30th.

There was only one day left before the transfer window closed.

Even though it was the signing of an obscure player, the necessary paperwork had to be completed and procedures followed.

It was still quite troublesome.

Mark Curtis’s mind raced, but he showed no reaction on the surface, maintaining a look of arrogance.

In this transfer, he held the initiative!

Whether it went through or not, he wouldn’t lose out!

Yang Cheng paid him no mind. After sitting down with Mike Rigg and Brian Kidd, he looked deeply at Mark Curtis.

He had to admit, he really hated agents.

Especially stupid and foolish agents like Mark Curtis!

Of course, it takes all sorts to make a world.

Some people have foresight, others are shortsighted.

“Mark, we asked you here today mainly to talk about Andy Carroll.”

Mike Rigg spoke first, stating their intention.

Mark Curtis chuckled upon hearing this. “I know.”

Then, he looked at Yang Cheng with a smile. “Mr. Yang, Andy and I actually have great respect for you and for Bayswater Chinese. It’s not our wish for things to have reached this point.”

“The Bayswater Chinese fans outside are constantly cursing my player, and the media has shown little goodwill. This has made Andy very sad. He shouldn’t be treated so harshly!”

“This approach from Bayswater Chinese has left us very disappointed!”

Mike Rigg was instantly enraged.

It was clearly the agent instigating the player to force a transfer, and now it was turned around to be the player’s grievance and the club’s fault?

Agents really were smooth talkers!

“What’s happening outside has nothing to do with our club. We don’t know how the news leaked, and we have no interest in knowing. We would never use such tactics against our own players!”

Mike Rigg spoke with righteousness and conviction.

It truly wasn’t Bayswater Chinese that had leaked the information.

Mark Curtis, of course, didn’t believe him.

Mike Rigg was about to say more, but Yang Cheng raised a hand and tapped the table lightly.

The Chief Talent Officer immediately fell silent.

Mark Curtis also felt the air grow tense.

After all, he was a world-famous manager and the owner of Bayswater Chinese. He certainly had the presence!

“Mark, I haven’t had much interaction with you.”

Yang Cheng’s words surprised Mark Curtis, who thought Yang Cheng was trying to ease the tension and was about to respond.

But unexpectedly, Yang Cheng gave him no such chance and immediately changed the subject.

“But please understand, we just played a match this afternoon, our upcoming schedule is very tight, and my colleagues’ and my time is very precious. So, I don’t intend to waste another minute on you or Andy Carroll.”

The sharp and impolite words left Mark Curtis stunned.

What did he mean?

“Andy Carroll wants a transfer, doesn’t he?”

Mark Curtis nodded somewhat mechanically, still not comprehending Yang Cheng’s intention.

“Good, then let’s be quick about it. I’ll name a price. You go find a club. If you can find a club willing to pay it for him, you can take him away. From this day forward, we at Bayswater Chinese will not sign a single one of your players!”

Yang Cheng’s words were resolute.

This sent a shiver down Mark Curtis’s spine.

He had argued with many head coaches, directors of football, and club executives, but never had a head coach said something like this to him.

Even if they cursed him to hell in their minds, they would still try to be civil on the surface.

Everyone worked in the same circle; who could guarantee they wouldn’t cross paths in the future?

But Yang Cheng had just burned that bridge completely!

“And don’t waste your breath, and don’t bother guessing. I’ll tell you straight: our asking price is forty million pounds!”

“Forty million pounds? Are you insane?”

Mark Curtis jumped to his feet. “Why don’t you just go rob a bank?”

“Am I not more profitable than robbing a bank right now? A player signed for three million pounds six months ago, sold for forty million pounds. You tell me, what bank in the world is as profitable as me?”

Mark Curtis was suddenly speechless.

He felt something was wrong, but he couldn’t refute it.

“Don’t think it’s expensive. That’s my price. I won’t sell for a penny less!”

Yang Cheng’s tone was incredibly harsh, leaving no room for doubt.

If he were just a head coach, or a club executive, these words wouldn’t have intimidated Mark Curtis.

But he was both the head coach and the owner. His word was law at Bayswater Chinese!

For the first time, Mark Curtis realized he might have made a mistake.

He hadn’t yet had time to figure out exactly what it was.

“That’s the first thing I wanted to tell you. Whenever you find the money, you can take him away!”

Mark Curtis found it hard to look directly at the razor-sharp Yang Cheng.

“The second thing is, I am now officially informing you on behalf of Bayswater Chinese that Andy Carroll has been absent from training without reason and has violated club regulations. From this moment on, we are placing him on internal suspension!”

“In other words, from now on, as long as I am the head coach of Bayswater Chinese and the owner of this club, he will not play for a single minute. If he dares to miss training without reason again, I will punish him according to the team’s internal regulations!”

“So, I advise you to obediently persuade him to return to training. But as long as he’s under contract, he can forget about playing in a match!”

As he finished speaking, Yang Cheng also rose from his seat.

Mike Rigg and Brian Kidd, on either side of him, stood up as well, backing Yang Cheng.

Both of them looked thrilled.

That was so damn satisfying!

“You wanted to play games, didn’t you? I’ll play with you. The contract has four and a half years left. We can play slowly!”

“It’s only three million pounds, isn’t it? I can afford to play this game!”

“That’s all I have to say. Now get the hell out!”

With that, Yang Cheng turned and walked away without a second glance.

Mike Rigg and Brian Kidd followed him out.

Mark Curtis was left standing there alone, his mind in chaos, his body feeling as if it might collapse.

He realized he had underestimated Yang Cheng, and he had underestimated Bayswater Chinese.

Wasn’t this club rumored throughout the industry to be willing to sell any player as long as the price was right?

Why were they being so tough now?

Suddenly, Mark Curtis realized something terrifying.

It sent a chill down his spine, as if he had been plunged into an ice cave.

…

“No, absolutely not. Things have already gotten this bad, how can I possibly go back?”

At Andy Carroll’s home, upon hearing Mark Curtis’s words, and with the news that Olivier Giroud’s transfer to Bayswater Chinese had been confirmed, the situation had completely changed.

“I told you, Mark, Yang Cheng is a god at Bayswater Chinese. If he says that, I’ll be frozen out for good. I’m only twenty. If I don’t get regular playing time, I’ll be finished!”

Andy Carroll was now in a full-blown panic.

His entire future was at stake!

His parents and family were also getting anxious.

“Mark, you were the one who said there’d be no problem. Now that it’s come to this, what do we do?” Carroll’s father demanded sternly.

Mark Curtis’s mind was also in a mess. He truly didn’t know how to handle it.

“We shouldn’t have listened to him in the first place. Making a scene like this just six months after joining the team, what will other clubs think? A promising career, ruined just like that.” Carroll’s mother was so upset she started to cry.

Carroll’s father stared daggers at Mark Curtis. “Mark, you need to contact Chelsea right now and find out what they’re thinking. You promised that Chelsea would sign Andy no matter what.”

“Now, Bayswater Chinese has laid out their terms. You have to convince Chelsea!”

At this point, Carroll’s father became fierce. “Andy is on the verge of making the national team. At this crucial juncture, we can’t afford any mistakes. I don’t care what methods you use, you must get this transfer done.”

“If my son’s future is ruined, you just wait and see. We’ll see who dares to hire you as an agent in the future!”

Mark Curtis had already considered this back at the Brent training center.

Was Yang Cheng only punishing Andy Carroll?

No, he was also retaliating against Mark Curtis.

With a scandal like this, it would be all over the major newspapers tomorrow.

Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t even need to leak it deliberately. Some insider would inevitably tip off the media, and when that happened, could Mark Curtis still survive in English football?

Want to save his career as an agent?

He could, if he found a suitable team willing to pay the price for Andy Carroll.

He would be notorious, for sure, but at least his ability would still be recognized.

Agents, after all, which one of them didn’t carry a bad reputation?

But if he handled this poorly, his career as an agent might very well be over.

Thinking of this, Mark Curtis wished he could slap himself twice across the face.

Why had he been so blinded by greed, so dismissive of Bayswater Chinese?

At the same time, he had crossed the line!

In the end, he had underestimated his opponent.

Now, he had been completely forced to the edge of a cliff.

He had no choice!

And he had no time.

Andy Carroll’s transfer had to be finalized before the transfer window closed.

…

When Ron Gourlay received Mark Curtis’s call, he was at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s match was at 5:30 PM.

An away game against Burnley.

In the end, they won 2-1 with goals from Anelka and Terry.

This brought a wave of relief to everyone at Chelsea.

So, Ron Gourlay was in a pretty good mood.

When Mark Curtis said he wanted to come over, Gourlay didn’t stop him.

Soon, the two met in the CEO’s office at Stamford Bridge.

And when Mark Curtis, selectively recounting his meeting with Yang Cheng, finished speaking, Ron Gourlay slammed his hand on the desk.

“Is he insane? Forty million pounds?”

After saying this, Ron Gourlay waved his hands dismissively. “There’s no way Chelsea will pay such a high transfer fee for Andy Carroll. You should know, the asking price Ajax set for Luis Suárez was only thirty million euros.”

“Atlético Madrid’s price for Agüero is about the same.”

“Do you really think we would pay such an exorbitant transfer fee for an Andy Carroll?”

Ron Gourlay wanted to say, Are we stupid, or are you out of your mind?

Mark Curtis didn’t mention Yang Cheng’s threat to freeze out Andy Carroll, because he knew that if he did, Chelsea would probably be even more reluctant to get involved.

It was common for clubs to scheme against each other and compete for players.

When things went wrong, it was always the player or the agent who took the blame.

On the surface, the clubs would still pretend to be on good terms.

For example, when Real Madrid poached Figo from Barça, wasn’t it the agent who took the fall?

When Chelsea poached Ashley Cole, wasn’t it the agent who bore Arsenal’s wrath and got suspended?

But smart agents often knew where the line was and not to cross it.

This time, Mark Curtis had accidentally crossed the line.

Because he had underestimated Bayswater Chinese, and he had underestimated Yang Cheng.

But now, there was no turning back.

The most important thing was to figure out how to solve this problem.

Andy Carroll had to transfer to Chelsea!

But Ron Gourlay was adamant. Chelsea would absolutely not pay that kind of money.

“We are not idiots. We can’t just pay whatever they ask. Do they really take us for fools?”

Mark Curtis pleaded until he was blue in the face.

But Ron Gourlay’s answer remained the same: the most Chelsea would offer was twenty-five million pounds.

Not a penny more!

Forty million pounds?

“Tell Yang Cheng to go rob a bank!”

Hearing this, Mark Curtis almost burst into tears.

I told him to!

But he said robbing a bank isn’t as profitable as selling Andy Carroll!

“Mr. Gourlay, we’re really running out of time. Why don’t you go consult Mr. Abramovich again? Andy Carroll really wants to join Chelsea, and you really want him, don’t you?”

“It’s only fifteen million pounds, for him, it’s a drop in the ocean!”

Ron Gourlay looked at Mark Curtis as if he were looking at an idiot.

He even wondered how a guy like this managed to survive in English football.

Abramovich had money, but did that mean he should be played for a fool?

“Mark, I don’t know what kind of conversation you had with Bayswater Chinese, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that we will not unconditionally meet their demands.”

After saying this, Ron Gourlay stood up from his chair, ready to leave.

Mark Curtis was truly desperate now!

If Ron Gourlay walked out of this office, if Andy Carroll couldn’t complete his transfer to Chelsea before midnight on February 1st, then he was done for!

At this thought, Mark Curtis’s already chaotic emotions completely boiled over.

The English agent flew into a rage, slamming his hand hard on the desk in front of him, startling Ron Gourlay.

“Fine, since you won’t play fair, don’t blame me for not being polite either!”

Ron Gourlay’s brow furrowed. “Mark, what do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything. I’m just a small agent, with no great power, and I’m being played by big clubs like you. But if you push me too far, nobody gets off easy!”

“Are you threatening me?” Ron Gourlay’s tone also turned hostile.

“It’s not a threat. It’s just that I’m cornered now. If there’s really no other way, then I’ll have to go to Bayswater Chinese, or the media, and confess. I’ll tell the whole story of Andy Carroll’s transfer from beginning to end. I’m sure they’ll be very interested.”

Mark Curtis had laid his last card on the table, and his entire demeanor turned fierce.

“I don’t care anyway. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just quit being a football agent. As for any other consequences, I can’t be bothered to think about them!”

“But I heard that UEFA and FIFA both have regulations. What’s the penalty for illegally approaching a player? And what’s the penalty for you instigating us to force a transfer?”

A transfer ban!

How long the ban would be depended on the severity of the offense.

If this really blew up, Chelsea would definitely suffer.

Given the intense competition in the Premier League, if they were hit with a transfer ban, it wouldn’t take long—one summer and one winter transfer window—for Chelsea to be severely weakened!

Not to mention, that was the lightest punishment. Even youth team players received harsher penalties.

If Bayswater Chinese applied some pressure, Chelsea would be in even worse trouble.

“What evidence are you hiding?” Ron Gourlay asked, a guilty conscience making him nervous.

If this blew up, he, the CEO, would be the first one Chelsea threw under the bus!

After that, he’d be finished in European football.

It would even affect his career in other industries.

“Don’t you worry about what I’m hiding. In short, if Andy Carroll can join Chelsea before the transfer window closes, all is well. If not…”

Mark Curtis didn’t finish his threat. Instead, he shot Ron Gourlay a vicious glare, turned, and walked out.

The small-time agent didn’t know where he found the courage.

On a harsh winter day, with temperatures below zero, when he walked out of the office at Stamford Bridge, his entire back was drenched in sweat.

Ron Gourlay stood frozen to the spot.

Shrewd as he was, he kept replaying the events, trying to figure out which part of the process had gone wrong, where Mark Curtis had gotten a hold of him.

But he couldn’t find it.

At this moment, he was filled with immense regret.

He should have brought a legal advisor from the start.

That way, he would have had a better sense of what could be done and what could be said.

But in the interest of secrecy at the time, he forgot.

He even began to doubt whether Mark Curtis actually had any evidence.

Without concrete proof, just stirring up trouble in the media wouldn’t cause too much damage to Chelsea.

After all, the whole world already knew Chelsea was interested in Andy Carroll.

Privately contacting an agent wasn’t really a huge issue.

The premise was, you couldn’t be caught with concrete evidence.

Chelsea had committed its fair share of such violations over the past few years.

In the Mikel transfer back then, why did they pay such high compensation to Manchester United?

When Frank Arnesen jumped ship from Tottenham, why did it cause such a huge uproar?

When Ashley Cole transferred from Arsenal, why was it the talk of the town?

Why was agent Jonathan Barnett suspended?

Others might not know, but Ron Gourlay knew everything clearly.

In the end, it was a weak sense of the rules.

Thinking of this, Ron Gourlay didn’t hesitate. He immediately took out his phone and called Abramovich.

…

Knightsbridge.

Roman Abramovich wearily put down his phone.

The good mood brought on by the team’s away victory against Burnley was completely gone.

Then, he forcefully smashed the Nokia flagship phone in his hand, shattering the famously durable device into pieces.

“A bunch of damn good-for-nothings!”

Roman Abramovich, in a rare fit of anger, cursed out loud.

Forty million pounds to buy a player who was sold for three million pounds just six months ago?

If this got out, my name would be a laughingstock for fans and journalists all over the world!

Do I have too much damn money?

Sometimes, Abramovich really wanted to pry open the heads of these idiots under him to see if they were stuffed with straw.

That Peter Kenyon, whom he had poached from Manchester United for a huge sum, had personally promised him with great conviction that he would lead Chelsea to profitability in three years and turn a profit in five.

And the result?

Profit, my ass!

The moment I stopped pouring money in, the team’s performance plummeted!

And he created a whole mess of complications for me with the internal management.

Now, great. Peter Kenyon is gone, and in comes Ron Gourlay, another idiot!

He actually got played by a small-time agent!

In all of European football, everyone knew that agents were the club’s fixers.

When things got rough, the agents were sent to the front lines.

A problem arises?

The club elegantly steps aside, and the agent takes the fall.

Wasn’t that how the Ashley Cole affair was handled?

Now Ron Gourlay had gone and gotten himself cornered by Mark Curtis!

This minor agent was ruthless enough to dare and pressure Chelsea?

Did he have a death wish?

If this were Russia, I’d have plenty of ways to finish him!

But after calming down, Abramovich had to face a harsh reality.

Pay up?

Or take a gamble?

Abramovich thought about it all night, but he couldn’t come up with a good idea.

The next morning, he summoned Pini Zahavi, Piet de Visser, and others to his yacht docked at Canary Wharf.

Also present were Ron Gourlay and Marina Granovskaia.

When they arrived, everyone noticed the bloodshot eyes of Abramovich.

When Ron Gourlay recounted what Mark Curtis had said, Pini Zahavi lowered his head and said nothing.

The cunning agent had a bit of a conflict of interest with Mark Curtis.

Robert Lewandowski was his player.

Piet de Visser shook his head and sighed. “In this matter, Ron and Marina crossed the line!”

This statement essentially defined the nature of the situation.

Chelsea was implicated.

“If I’m not mistaken, Mark Curtis must have been under pressure from Bayswater Chinese’s side. He probably angered Yang Cheng, who then turned the tables on him, leaving him with no way out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have the nerve!”

Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing this.

Piet de Visser’s explanation was the only one that made sense.

“There are two ways to resolve this now.”

Hearing this, Abramovich immediately nodded at Piet de Visser. “Go on.”

“One is to seek a reconciliation with Bayswater Chinese. We buy the player, we negotiate the transfer fee. Our two clubs cooperate in many areas. I believe there’s still room for discussion.”

This was a common practice in European football.

Countless transfers were negotiated this way every year.

“But in doing so, we would inevitably be in a subservient position, as we are the ones asking for a favor.”

At this point, Piet de Visser sighed softly again.

“The second option is we don’t get involved. We let the agent handle it. Forty million pounds, we pay it. We settle the matter as quickly as possible before public opinion explodes, and there won’t be any issues.”

“At most, people outside will just say that we at Chelsea were suckers and overpaid.”

“Once the player transfers and the matter is settled, everything that happened in the past becomes moot.”

Here, Piet de Visser looked deeply at Abramovich, Ron Gourlay, and the others.

“Whichever option we choose, after this incident, the club’s various compliance measures must be put on the agenda.”

“I’ve heard that Bayswater Chinese places great importance on compliance. Their headquarters even has a dedicated legal department. They assist with every decision the club makes and every negotiation it conducts.”

“Not to mention matters involving transfers and poaching.”

This was common practice in modernly managed corporations.

But in European football, it was rarely seen.

This was still a lawless world!

Chapter 195: Chelsea Loses Their Composure! Where is Bayswater Chinese’s Niche?

On the morning of January 31st.

After the training session ended, Yang Cheng led the team to Bayswater in the city center.

This was the long-planned tour day for the new stadium project, organized by the club.

All first-team players were in attendance, and numerous media representatives and fan delegates were also invited.

It had been a year and a half since construction began in June 2008.

But this grand new stadium had only just begun to rise above ground level.

However, when everyone, dressed like construction foremen and fully kitted out, entered the site, they were all astonished to find that what was currently under construction wasn’t the first tier of stands visible from the outside.

It was the second tier of stands.

Due to height restrictions in central London, the new stadium’s first tier of stands was underground.

But it was different from Bayern Munich’s former home, the Stadio Olimpico in Munich.

While both had their first tier of stands underground, the Stadio Olimpico was simply buried.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had excavated the entire subterranean section, creating a multi-layered, ingeniously arranged underground space, connected to the ground level by staircases to form an open-plan leisure area.

It was still in the construction phase, so the final effect wasn’t yet visible, but through the renderings provided by Norman Foster’s firm, everyone was deeply impressed.

Once the new stadium was completed, with all the finishing and landscaping done, the result would be stunning.

The new stadium didn’t just involve digging down one tier of stands; it also required excavating an underground car park and a space to store the retractable pitch.

The on-site construction team explained to the players, journalists, and fans that the underground engineering alone, including earthwork and pipe retrofitting, had taken a full year.

The scale of the project was truly staggering!

And this was with ample funding and construction proceeding at full speed.

Before arriving on-site, most people only had a general concept of Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

That it was a massive investment.

Rumor had it that the cost exceeded one billion pound sterling.

But that was just a number.

It was only when they were there in person, witnessing the immense scale of the project with their own eyes, that they were truly shocked.

Let alone anything else, just how much concrete and steel would this underground space consume?

It was simply mind-boggling!

What made this stadium most distinctive was its array of advanced high-tech features.

For example, the retractable pitch.

This feature alone was the result of collaborative research between Norman Foster’s design firm, a team of experts from the University of Cambridge, and specialists spanning multiple industries and fields.

It was not just a construction project, but also a highly complex and precise mechanical engineering feat.

The construction company had a technical expert on hand to introduce and explain the details.

For instance, the pitch was divided into three sections. There were issues to solve concerning maintenance and lighting after it was moved to the underground storage, as well as the load-bearing capacity of the base structure.

The stadium’s design standards far exceeded those of FIFA and UEFA. When these three sections of the pitch were mechanically pushed to the surface and assembled into one field, how could its flatness be guaranteed?

How could error control be maintained after long-term use?

Imagine if a gap appeared between two sections of the pitch—wouldn’t players be easily injured?

All of these were unprecedented challenges that required experts to research and develop solutions.

In addition, there was the smart control system for the entire stadium.

Thanks to a partnership with the Chinese company Huawei, the stadium would become the world’s first football stadium with full Wi-Fi coverage when it opened in 2012.

At that time, every fan would be able to use any of the stadium’s services with just a smartphone.

The roof above wasn’t visible yet, but it would be retractable in the future.

“Take this winter, for example. We encountered a severe blizzard, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in thirty years. Once our new stadium is operational, we can close the roof and turn on the heating, offering our fans the most comfortable home game viewing experience possible!”

Yes, this new stadium would not only have under-pitch heating for the grass but also heating for the stands.

This was yet another enormously expensive undertaking!

Furthermore, even the advertising hoardings along the pitch were completely different from those at other stadiums.

But the most dazzling feature was the giant, oval-shaped, double-sided screen suspended from the stadium’s ceiling.

It gave the entire stadium a fantastical feel.

“Currently, we are collaborating with partners from all over the world on research and development and have already made key breakthroughs. I believe we will definitely see it when the new stadium opens in 2012!”

The total capacity of the stadium was preliminarily estimated to be well over 90,000.

Thanks to the stadium being designed and built from scratch, its structure could be optimized as much as possible.

The stands were divided into three tiers, with VIP boxes situated between each tier, accommodating anywhere from six to twenty-five people.

There were a total of 250 boxes.

Upon completion, it would be the stadium with the most VIP boxes in all of Europe.

In addition, the stadium was specially designed with business suites seating fifty to two hundred and fifty people.

These business suites not only offered direct access via private elevators but also came with additional business reception areas, catering, and various other supporting services.

These were conditions that other teams in the Premier League, and even across Europe, including the recently built Wembley Stadium and Emirates Stadium, did not possess.

It could be said that from the very beginning of the new stadium’s design, the goal was to maximize commercial profit while ensuring an excellent viewing experience for the fans. Therefore, many of the designs were unprecedented.

Norman Foster’s design firm had invested a tremendous amount of time and energy to produce the design for this new stadium.

The various talents Adam Crozier had previously recruited at great expense, including professional salespeople from the luxury goods sector, had been involved from an early stage, offering all sorts of detailed suggestions.

For example, the direct elevator access for business suites and the accompanying reception areas.

All of this was to provide the guests in these boxes with the most considerate, highest-quality service.

Of course, while providing these services, it would also generate enormous revenue for Bayswater Chinese.

Although the new stadium had only just emerged from the ground, Adam Crozier and his team were already making plans.

It was projected that the promotional campaign for the VIP boxes and business suites would launch in full swing starting Christmas 2010.

Many key personnel had already been hired and were currently undergoing business training and team integration.

So, at the moment, Bayswater Chinese was burning through money like it was nothing.

Fortunately, Xia Qing was keeping an eye on it. If Yang Cheng had to look at the numbers himself, his head would probably explode!

…

Taking advantage of the first new stadium tour event, which had attracted numerous media outlets and fans, Bayswater Chinese held a grand signing ceremony at noon in the northeast corner of the stadium, adjacent to Queensway.

Unlike the new stadium, which had just poked above ground, the four surrounding buildings didn’t have such complex underground engineering, so they were already mostly topped out.

After lengthy negotiations, the shopping center was designated for the southeast building, right next to the Bayswater and Queensway tube stations.

The Peninsula Hotels chose the southwest building, while Bvlgari Hotels selected the northwest one.

Both luxury hotels had, by common consent, chosen to be closer to Notting Hill.

From there, it was only five hundred meters to Notting Hill’s famous Portobello Road market street.

The location was also very close to the Notting Hill Gate tube station.

More importantly, after the renovation of Queensway, vehicle access on the western side, adjacent to Notting Hill, would actually be more convenient, which was very important for the hotel industry.

According to the original plan, Bayswater Chinese intended to lease out three buildings and keep one for its own headquarters.

But now that they had already purchased an office building in Soho, that was no longer necessary.

Thus, Adam Crozier and Chris Hunt continued to seek tenants, and they did indeed attract many businesses.

For example, Hilton, which had already opened two hotels in the vicinity, and InterContinental Hotels.

The surrounding area was dense with hotels, so most of the inquiries were from the hospitality sector.

But in the end, after several rounds of contact and with Yang Cheng’s final approval, Bayswater Chinese finalized a partnership with the American company Apple Inc.

The two parties had already reached an agreement at the end of 2009, but due to various reasons and the Christmas holidays, the official signing was delayed until now.

Apple Inc. currently had six or seven offices in London, scattered across the city, which was very inconvenient for them.

Therefore, they had been searching for a suitable office space to consolidate their separate offices into a London headquarters.

They had been keeping an eye on Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project since its inception.

To date, Apple had only one Apple Store in central London, the one on Regent Street, which opened in 2004 and had always been incredibly popular with Londoners and tourists.

Especially with the booming sales of the iPhone, it was becoming somewhat overwhelmed.

As early as 2008, Apple Inc. had wanted to open a second store in London and had chosen a site near Covent Garden.

Once built, it would have been Apple’s largest store to date.

However, the location they had secured was near the Royal Opera House, a Grade II listed building, and the project was met with opposition from British Heritage, causing it to be perpetually shelved.

By mid-2008, the successful launch of Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project, coupled with the London city government’s Queensway renovation project, caught Apple’s attention.

After a long period of contact and negotiation, Apple Inc. finally decided to lease the six-story office building on the northeast plot of the Bayswater Chinese new stadium project.

The upper five floors would serve as their UK headquarters, while the ground floor would house London’s second Apple Store.

Moreover, the design for everything from the offices to the store was entrusted to Norman Foster.

Therefore, for this signing, not only did Yang Cheng bring the first-team players to the site for the stadium tour, but Norman Foster and his team were also present.

Apple Inc. dispatched its President of European Operations to sign the contract with Bayswater Chinese.

A major reason Yang Cheng had approved the deal with Apple was that Apple was just starting to take off.

In a few years, Apple might not even consider a place like this.

But right now, their phones were selling well, and their computers were doing okay, but they had yet to achieve the phenomenal status they would have in a few years.

And the benefits of opening an Apple Store were self-evident.

There was currently only one in all of London.

Once the Queensway store opened, it would be the largest Apple Store in the world, guaranteed to attract a continuous stream of visitors.

Of course, Apple’s choice wasn’t random.

Adam Crozier said that Apple made the final decision after Bayswater Chinese signed with Bvlgari.

This reminded Yang Cheng of something interesting.

In his previous life, Android manufacturers desperately tried to associate with Apple, while Apple desperately tried to associate with luxury brands.

It seemed everyone had their own niche in the ecosystem!

When the new stadium opened, where would Bayswater Chinese’s niche in the European football ecosystem be?

On a side note, Bayswater Chinese did not disclose the specific details of the contract, but all four buildings had a clear price tag.

Many things were negotiable, but the rent was not a penny less than ten million pound sterling per year.

Whether it was Apple or Bvlgari Hotels, the price was the same!

…

After the signing, a round of socializing was inevitable.

By the time the team returned to the Brent training center, Mike Rigg brought the latest news.

“Mark Curtis gave me a call. He said Chelsea agreed.”

Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up, quite surprised. “Agreed?”

“Yes, they’re willing to pay forty million pound sterling for Andy Carroll.”

Even as Mike Rigg said this, his tone was filled with shock.

And even admiration.

Admiration for Yang Cheng’s handling of the situation.

Yang Cheng, amidst his surprise, also found it quite amusing.

“It seems Chelsea has some dirt on their hands that Mark Curtis is holding over them. Otherwise, how could something like this possibly happen?”

Mike Rigg thought for a moment and nodded. “They probably stepped over the line.”

Yang Cheng snorted twice. “They brought this on themselves!”

After that, he said calmly, “I’m going to take a nap,” and left.

In his view, this wasn’t the first or second time Chelsea had broken the rules.

Arsenal had almost come to blows with Chelsea over the Ashley Cole affair back then.

The difference between The Gunners and Bayswater Chinese was that Wenger desperately wanted to keep Ashley Cole.

Of course, that he ultimately couldn’t was a story for another day.

But Yang Cheng was different.

After signing Giroud—no, even if he hadn’t been able to sign Giroud, Yang Cheng would have chosen to freeze out Andy Carroll.

A saying was very true: he who is without desire is strong.

If you’re willing to risk it all, you can even take down the king!

When Yang Cheng was prepared to sideline Andy Carroll and retaliate against Mark Curtis, they had to weigh whether they could withstand his fury.

It was laughable, really.

Only a buffoon like Mark Curtis would stick his neck out for money.

Pini Zahavi and Jonathan Barnett both had players at Bayswater Chinese and were also close to Chelsea, so why didn’t they try something like this?

Having gotten the result he wanted, Yang Cheng went for a nice long nap.

He slept until the afternoon, waking up just before the team’s training session.

By this time, Chelsea’s negotiating team and Mark Curtis’s group had been waiting at the Brent training center for quite some time.

Seeing Yang Cheng again, Mark Curtis had lost all of the arrogance from their meeting the previous night; he now appeared exceptionally humble.

Yang Cheng had originally been thinking about whether to kick him a few more times while he was down, just to vent.

But seeing him now, Yang Cheng had lost the interest.

Dan Ashworth had returned from France.

With him were Olivier Giroud and his agent.

So, Yang Cheng left the negotiations to Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg.

He had only one demand: forty million pound sterling, not a penny less.

Chelsea proposed paying in four installments over two years, which Yang Cheng agreed to.

Yang Cheng didn’t involve himself in the other various details of the negotiation.

…

Yang Cheng returned to his office, where Olivier Giroud and his agent were already waiting.

As soon as they met, Yang Cheng greeted them in fluent French.

This came as a great surprise to Giroud and his agent.

“We’ve long heard that Mr. Yang is multi-talented and fluent in several languages.”

After the introductions, Yang Cheng took note of the French agent, who was named Michaël Manuello.

He was also the agent for Arsenal midfielder Toulalan.

Yang Cheng smiled and conversed with them in French, especially with Giroud.

He asked Giroud many questions about his usual training, matches, and personal life.

The club’s liaison department had already been in contact with Giroud and had arranged his accommodation in London.

For the time being, the club would also arrange a driver for him.

This high level of logistical support ensured that Giroud could start training and playing immediately upon his arrival in London.

The level of Ligue 1 wasn’t particularly high, so French players, after reaching a certain level, almost always went abroad.

Therefore, they often spoke some English.

At the very least, they weren’t unfamiliar with it.

After all, the Premier League was the top league just across the channel.

Although Olivier Giroud played in the French Second Division, he had picked up a few phrases through exposure.

Yang Cheng told him that fluent English was a must if he wanted to integrate into the team.

For their first meeting, Yang Cheng could speak French to make a good impression.

But within the Bayswater Chinese team, English was the official language of the dressing room.

Tours was not a strong team in the French Second Division. In the just-concluded 22nd round of the league, they had lost 3-0 at home to Laval. Giroud had played the full ninety minutes without a goal or an assist.

Yang Cheng made it clear to Giroud that what he valued was his tactical contribution, and he needed him to take on match duties right away.

“We are under a lot of pressure with our fixtures right now. I’m sure you’ve seen the news. Before the winter transfer window, we let go of Lambert, and now Andy Carroll will also be leaving.”

“Apart from Robert Lewandowski, you are our second choice at centre-forward!”

As Yang Cheng spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Giroud.

He noticed that the Frenchman maintained a calm and composed demeanor, unfazed by either praise or criticism.

This pleased Yang Cheng greatly.

To suddenly go from playing for Tours in the French Second Division to joining a top Premier League team like Bayswater Chinese, and still maintain such a good mentality, was no small feat.

It was only when discussing what the team needed from him that Yang Cheng discovered another of Giroud’s strengths.

He was smart!

Yang Cheng had never coached Giroud in his previous life, but he had heard many people talk about him.

And almost everyone who described Giroud would mention one thing: he was smart.

If one person said it, it might be flattery, but if many people said it, it must be true.

Yang Cheng had yet to see his on-pitch intelligence, but in conversation, Giroud certainly came across as very clever.

How so?

He had a knack for quickly grasping the main point Yang Cheng was trying to make.

For example, when Yang Cheng said he valued his tactical role.

Giroud immediately stated that his weaknesses were a lack of pace and that his footwork wasn’t the best.

“One-on-one dribbling is not my specialty.”

But his physical attributes were excellent; strength and physical confrontation were his advantages.

“In Ligue 1 and the French Second Division, I’ve gone up against many centre-backs who are very strong physically, and I feel I can gain an advantage.”

A height of 1.93 meters, a weight of 88 kilograms, combined with excellent jumping ability, made Giroud confident in his ability to compete in aerial duels.

Moreover, over his years of playing, he was very confident in his positioning and his ability to anticipate the ball’s path.

He combined physical strength with agility, so he could always get into good positions. Whether it was hold-up play, making runs to create space, or dropping back to link up play, he could handle it with ease.

In just a few minutes of conversation, Giroud presented a very clear picture of himself to Yang Cheng.

This was a characteristic of an intelligent person!

Yang Cheng was very satisfied after hearing this, but he also reminded Giroud.

“The pace of the Premier League is very fast, and our pace at Bayswater Chinese is even faster.”

Regarding his lack of speed, Yang Cheng explained that Bayswater Chinese didn’t need Giroud to be the one to quicken the attack.

Because the team had three incredibly fast wingers.

So, for now, Giroud’s task was to play the role of a tactical centre-forward.

“Don’t worry, once you’ve integrated into the team and we’ve familiarized ourselves with each other, I will definitely give you more responsibilities!”

Afterward, Yang Cheng called Modrić and José Fonte over.

…

That evening, Bayswater Chinese held a very simple signing ceremony at the Brent training center.

Yang Cheng, on behalf of the club, signed a five-year professional contract with Giroud.

From that moment on, Olivier Giroud was officially a member of Bayswater Chinese!

The club took its own photos and posted them on its official website and various online platforms. They also prepared a press release and sent it to familiar media outlets and fans.

Most Bayswater Chinese fans, and even many French fans, were probably unfamiliar with Olivier Giroud.

Even the French paid more attention to Ligue 1.

But Olivier Giroud had only cost Bayswater Chinese 1.5 million pound sterling. In many people’s eyes, this was enough to indicate his level of ability.

However, the journalists didn’t dare to make any rash judgments.

Didn’t Andy Carroll, who joined for three million pound sterling, make a name for himself after joining?

Now, with Olivier Giroud arriving for 1.5 million pound sterling, who would dare say that Yang Cheng couldn’t develop him?

Along with the announcement about Olivier Giroud, another press release was sent out.

Chelsea’s transfer request to sign local centre-forward Andy Carroll for forty million pound sterling had been accepted by Bayswater Chinese.

The two clubs signed the transfer agreement on the afternoon of the 31st.

With that, the transfer saga that had captivated English football fans for the better part of the past month finally came to a close.

Opinions among the British media and fans regarding Andy Carroll’s transfer to Chelsea were mixed.

Some believed that going to Chelsea to replace Drogba was a better career move than staying at Bayswater Chinese.

Because at Bayswater Chinese, Andy Carroll was still behind Robert Lewandowski.

But many others thought it was a foolish transfer.

Not only could Chelsea not play in the Champions League, but they were currently fifth in the Premier League, and their chances of qualifying for the tournament weren’t very high.

Under these circumstances, giving up his place at Bayswater Chinese to move to Chelsea—wasn’t that just stupid?

Besides, was Drogba so easy to replace?

The Ivorian had held a firm grip on Chelsea’s number one centre-forward position for so many years; it wouldn’t be easy to usurp him.

What’s more, Chelsea had never been known for developing young players over the years.

When Mikel joined as a number 10 attacking midfielder, how high were the expectations?

Now, he had been forcibly molded into a beast of a holding midfielder.

Many authoritative media outlets, including The Times and The Guardian, held a pessimistic view of the transfer.

The reason was simple: Chelsea couldn’t provide Andy Carroll with the tactical environment that Bayswater Chinese could.

“At The Blues, there won’t be a constant supply of passes from midfield, nor a constant stream of crosses from the two wings.”

“In that situation, how much of Andy Carroll’s heading and physical advantages can be utilized?”

The Times believed that even Drogba was struggling to cope within Chelsea’s current tactical system.

Let alone Drogba’s supposed successor.

But the transfer was a done deal.

That night, at 10 p.m., the two clubs completed the final procedures and officially submitted the transfer documents and contract.

Thus, Andy Carroll officially joined Chelsea for a staggering transfer fee of forty million pound sterling.

This transfer shocked the entire world!

Andy Carroll, who had cost Bayswater Chinese just three million pound sterling six months ago, had prompted Chelsea to spend forty million pound sterling six months later.

But this wasn’t actually too outrageous.

Because in the 2003/04 season, Bayswater Chinese had pulled off a similar deal.

Jon Stead, who joined for 250,000 pound sterling, was sold six months later for a sky-high price of eight million pound sterling to then-Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.

Interestingly, when journalists went to ask Jon Stead for his thoughts on Andy Carroll’s transfer, Stead said with great regret, “It won’t be long before he regrets it!”

“Just like I do now!”

…

The next morning.

After Andy Carroll got up, had breakfast, and was about to drive south to the Cobham training ground, he suddenly received a phone call from the Bayswater Chinese finance department.

The finance department had calculated all his wages and bonuses and had already transferred them to his personal account.

The payslip and bonus breakdown had been sent to his email.

Andy Carroll checked his email and found everything listed very clearly.

He had been fined by Yang Cheng for his unexcused absences from training yesterday and the day before.

But as for the bonuses he was due, not a single penny was missing.

Although Bayswater Chinese had always given off a stingy impression, everyone in the industry knew that they were always clear and upfront.

Their reputation for this was impeccable.

For some reason, upon seeing this email, a lingering sense of melancholy welled up inside Andy Carroll that he couldn’t shake.

Yesterday, England national team head coach Fabio Capello had called him, asking with concern about his recent situation.

The main focus, naturally, was the issue between him and Bayswater Chinese.

Andy Carroll didn’t say much.

But at the end of the call, Capello sighed, “You’re still too young!”

This sparked a sliver of worry in Andy Carroll’s heart.

Was Capello referring to how he handled this transfer?

Or was he talking about his participation in the England national team training camp?

Capello didn’t explain, and Andy Carroll didn’t feel it was his place to ask, so it became a weight on his mind.

As things had developed, Carroll and his family were well aware that he had been instigated by his agent, which had then inflamed certain negative conflicts.

Looking back on it now, was his competition with Robert Lewandowski really that intense?

Harry Kane was only sixteen. How many years would it be until he matured?

Was it a certainty that he would develop into a talent and threaten his position?

But faced with a ninety thousand pound sterling weekly wage from Chelsea, Carroll and his family lost their sense of reason.

Now, it was too late to say any of this.

What disappointed Andy Carroll even more was that for the past two days, he hadn’t gone to the Brent training center, and not a single person had called him.

When he took the initiative to call Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, the two players he was closest to, their responses were very perfunctory.

Especially Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger had previously said he would look out for him in the national team.

Now, Andy Carroll suddenly understood what it felt like to be deserted by everyone.

He knew he had made a mistake.

But it was too late.

…

Since both Bayswater Chinese and Tottenham were victorious in the fourth round of the FA Cup, they had no rescheduled FA Cup match to play in the midweek between the 24th and 25th rounds of the Premier League.

The two clubs agreed to play their rescheduled league match from the fourth round.

It was admittedly awkward.

A match scheduled for August 29th was dragged out until February 3rd.

Even more interestingly, on January 30th, Bayswater Chinese had hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

On February 3rd, for the rescheduled match, Bayswater Chinese played away against Tottenham Hotspur.

It felt almost like a two-legged home-and-away tie.

In comparison, Tottenham’s fixture pressure was much lighter than Bayswater Chinese’s.

At the very least, they didn’t have to play in the two legs of the League Cup semi-finals.

In the end, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

Robert Lewandowski had been playing continuously recently and wasn’t in good form for this match.

After a hard-fought seventy minutes, Crouch opened the scoring for Tottenham.

But just five minutes later, Rakitić scored for the team.

Ultimately, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the second half, Yang Cheng brought on Olivier Giroud as a substitute, and he played for about twenty minutes.

In the 24th round of the Premier League last weekend, Arsenal drew 2-2 at home with Manchester United.

Chelsea defeated Burnley 2-1 away.

Liverpool beat Bolton 2-0 at home.

So, after the rescheduled match, Bayswater Chinese had 54 points from a record of 17 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses in 24 rounds.

Manchester City continued to lead the Premier League table with 57 points.

Arsenal was in second place with 55 points.

Bayswater Chinese was in third.

Manchester United was in fourth with 53 points.

Chelsea was in fifth with 51 points.

Although they couldn’t get an away win against Tottenham Hotspur, securing a point was a pretty good result for Bayswater Chinese.

Especially during the gruelling schedule in January.

Only three points behind the leader, with two games in hand, Bayswater Chinese remained one of the top contenders for the title.

…

On the afternoon of February 7th, the 25th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Wolves at home.

Just four minutes into the game, Gareth Bale, having returned from injury, dribbled into the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot that found the back of the Wolves’ net, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Just seven minutes later, another breakthrough by Gareth Bale on the left created an excellent opportunity. He sent a cross to the front of the goal, and Matuidi, making an overlapping run, unleashed a powerful shot that pierced the Wolves’ goal.

2-0!

What no one expected was that in the 22nd minute, it was Gareth Bale again, and Matuidi again.

This time, the Frenchman didn’t charge into the box but unleashed a power shot from the top left of the penalty arc, once again beating the Wolves’ keeper.

3-0!

A brace!

Everyone was stunned.

Who would have thought that Matuidi would also score a brace!

In the second half, Eden Hazard, who started on the right wing, received an assist from substitute Paul Pogba and scored for the team.

4-0!

It was only the 56th minute.

For the final half hour, Yang Cheng gradually brought on younger players.

In the end, the score was locked at 4-0!

This sparked intense discussion after the match.

Gareth Bale, after his return, contributed two assists and one goal, delivering a stunning performance.

But Matuidi’s performance was even better, as he scored a brace.

At the same time, his tireless running and coverage during the match, along with his outstanding defensive contributions, showed everyone the potential Matuidi possessed.

The French midfielder was deservedly named Man of the Match.

In the same round of matches, Liverpool secured a 1-0 victory over Everton at home, winning the local derby.

Manchester City defeated Hull City 2-1 away.

Manchester United thrashed Portsmouth 5-0 at home.

Incidentally, Pompey’s performance this season had been dismal, and they were firmly rooted at the bottom of the table.

The most eye-catching fixture of this round was undoubtedly Chelsea hosting Arsenal at home.

A week after joining Chelsea, Andy Carroll made his first start for the team and played the full match.

Although five international players who participated in the Africa Cup of Nations had returned, only Mikel and Eto’o were back in the starting lineup; the other players were resting.

Clearly, they were either injured or not in good form.

But in this crucial clash, Chelsea’s attack squandered several good scoring opportunities. Finally, in the 73rd minute of the second half, a brilliant goal from Benzema beat Čech.

1-0!

Arsenal ultimately took all three points away from home thanks to Benzema’s last-minute winner.

Andy Carroll, making his first start for Chelsea, had a poor performance in this match.

Wenger had assigned his centre-back pairing of Chygrynskiy and Koscielny to neutralize Andy Carroll.

The newly signed England centre-forward contributed nothing during the match and looked listless.

This led to considerable criticism after the game.

Carrying a forty million pound sterling transfer fee and earning a high weekly wage of ninety thousand pound sterling, thrusting him into Chelsea’s high-income bracket, only to deliver a lackluster performance, meant that Andy Carroll’s first match for Chelsea was a rude awakening.

…

On February 10th, the 26th round of the Premier League.

Manchester City defeated Bolton 2-0 at home with goals from Carlos Tevez and Adebayor, continuing to lead the Premier League table.

Arsenal, meanwhile, battled Liverpool for ninety minutes at home, eventually winning 1-0 thanks to a goal from Gourcuff.

Ferguson’s team drew 1-1 away at Aston Villa.

The Red Devils conceded in the 19th minute and later equalized through an own goal.

But in the 29th minute, a red card for the youngster Nani plunged Manchester United into a difficult situation.

Ferguson ultimately had to defend with all his might to salvage a point from Villa Park.

Chelsea lost 1-3 away to Everton.

Although Malouda opened the scoring for the team in the 17th minute, Saha scored a hat-trick.

The Toffees defeated Chelsea 3-1 at home.

Andy Carroll started again but once more failed to contribute anything.

This time, he was met with a tidal wave of criticism from the media after the match, and even the Chelsea fans were extremely dissatisfied with him.

His recent arrival was one thing, but being ineffective, out of form, and having a negative attitude was another.

Andy Carroll had just changed his agent, who defended him in an interview with reporters.

“Andy has lacked match time for about half a month, and his training load hasn’t been sufficient. This means he needs more time to regain his peak form.”

But the media and fans didn’t care about that.

With a forty million pound sterling transfer fee and a ninety thousand pound sterling weekly wage, you’re telling me you’re not in good shape?

A long period without matches and training—wasn’t that your own doing?

Now, Chelsea had lost!

They were even further from the top four. Who would bear this loss?

In contrast, in another match, Bayswater Chinese faced West Ham United away.

Similarly faced with the opponent defending with all their might, Yang Cheng’s team only managed to score in stoppage time at the end of the first half, with a goal from the newly returned Modrić.

After the break, Gareth Bale first assisted the in-form Matuidi for a goal.

Then, Nemanja Matić assisted Ángel Di María to score.

And in the 82nd minute, Olivier Giroud, who had come on for Modrić, won an aerial duel in the attacking third and flicked the ball on to fellow substitute Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger beat the offside trap, made a quick forward run to collect the ball, carried it into the penalty area, and then passed it across the face of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski calmly tapped it in from close range.

4-0!

On one side, there was Andy Carroll’s ineffectiveness. On the other, Olivier Giroud, after coming on as a substitute in consecutive games, orchestrated a brilliant goal and earned positive reviews.

The comparison really gave everyone at Chelsea more and more to think about.

When interviewed by reporters after the match, Yang Cheng refused to comment on Andy Carroll.

But regarding Olivier Giroud, Yang Cheng expressed his full confidence in him.

“He just transferred from France. We should be more patient with him, help him integrate into the team and adapt to the Premier League.”

…

On the afternoon of February 13th, the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese faced Bolton away.

This time, Yang Cheng fielded a lineup of all substitutes and young players.

It was Olivier Giroud’s first start.

Judging by the team’s overall performance, he still hadn’t fully integrated.

In the 34th minute of the first half, Kevin Davies scored for Bolton, giving them the lead.

But in the second half, Walcott received a diagonal long pass from Ryan Bertrand, broke into the right side of the box, and scored with a low shot to equalize.

Then, in the 71st minute, Eden Hazard dribbled into the box and was fouled, earning a penalty kick for the team.

Modrić calmly converted it, giving the team the lead.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese scraped a 2-1 away win against Bolton.

But in another match, Chelsea, thanks to a hat-trick from Drogba, thrashed Cardiff 4-1 at home.

Manchester City also played with a full reserve lineup but still defeated Stoke City 3-1 at home, thanks to their superior squad depth.

When it came to bench depth in the Premier League now, if Manchester City said they were second, probably only Arsenal would dare claim to be first.

Both The Gunners and The Blue Moons had spent heavily on reinforcements over the past two seasons, accumulating a formidable squad.

…

After the fifth round of the FA Cup, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese began preparations for the midweek Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage.

The first leg was an away match against Lyon.

But just as Yang Cheng was leading the team in preparation for the Champions League, explosive news suddenly broke in the British media.

A sovereign wealth fund from Saudi Arabia had successfully acquired the traditional Premier League giants Liverpool for a high price of 400 million pound sterling.

The Saudi party had formally reached an acquisition agreement with Liverpool’s two owners, Gillett and Hicks.

Although there were still many procedures to go through before the acquisition could take effect.

But it was almost a sure thing.

According to British media reports, after the Saudi consortium arrived in London in January, they had met with the Liverpool team on several occasions.

The Reds were now mired in a financial crisis, with debts as high as 270 million pound sterling.

Some media outlets even reported that Liverpool’s actual debt was as high as 300 million pound sterling.

The exact amount was unknown to the public without a proper audit.

After the media broke the story, a Liverpool spokesperson immediately held a press conference to confirm the acquisition.

The two sides had been negotiating for over a month before reaching an agreement.

The Saudi consortium would pay 400 million pound sterling to acquire Liverpool and also assume all of the club’s debts.

This meant the actual acquisition cost reached 700 million pound sterling.

Of course, according to the rules of the capital market, Liverpool’s debt would certainly not be paid off all at once but would be restructured through financial means.

The Saudi consortium also quickly held a press conference in London to confirm the acquisition.

Prince Faisal stated at the press conference that the acquisition involved no political factors and was purely an investment.

He also mentioned that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had always had a strong interest in the Premier League.

After the acquisition is complete, the team will be injected with capital to bring vitality to the club, and strong reinforcements will also be brought in.

“We hope to build a team that is on par with top-tier powerhouses like Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Real Madrid!”

This shocked many in the media.

The Saudi tycoons were practically trying to build another Manchester City!

But at the same time, it caused the fans of many other teams to lose their composure on the spot.

For example, Chelsea.

The Blues’ fans were feeling particularly sour.

On what grounds was Bayswater Chinese being placed in the same category as Manchester United and Real Madrid?

Mentioning Manchester United was one thing, but why bring up Bayswater Chinese?

What kind of top-tier giant was this team?

Speaking of tycoons, weren’t we at Chelsea the trailblazers?

But at this moment, no one in the European football world cared about how triggered the Chelsea fans were.

Everyone was shocked by the massive changes the Saudi consortium would bring!

Chapter 196: A Four-Goal Haul! The Final Tactical Puzzle Piece! The First Trophy of 2010

On the evening of February 17th, at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, France.

“To all our viewers, welcome to Sky Sports!”

“We are now bringing you the first leg of the 09/10 season’s Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage.”

“The reigning champions of Ligue 1, Lyon, are at home facing Bayswater Chinese from the Premier League.”

“This is also a clash between two top teams from the Premier League and Ligue 1.”

“Forty thousand Lyon fans have packed into the Stade de Gerland.”

“The atmosphere here is electric.”

“Tonight’s head referee is the 42-year-old international referee from Italy, Roberto Rosetti.”

“Both teams have taken their positions on the field, and the match is about to begin.”

“The home side, Lyon, is lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation tonight.”

“In a pre-match interview, head coach Claude Puel stated that despite playing at home, his team hopes to rely on a solid defense to stop Bayswater Chinese.”

Goalkeeper: Coupet;

Defence: Aly Cissokho, Cris, Jean-Alain Boumsong, and Anthony Réveillère;

Midfield: A double pivot of Maxime Gonalons and Kim Källström, with Michel Bastos, Miralem Pjanić, and Ederson in front of them;

Forward: Lisandro López.

“Lyon has fielded their strongest lineup for this match, hoping to secure a victory on their home turf.”

“Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, has had a very tight schedule recently. Coupled with the absence of a winter break in the Premier League and the severe cold weather, the worst in thirty years, the team has suffered quite a few injuries and their form isn’t ideal.”

“But Yang Cheng is still fielding a 4-3-3 formation for this away game.”

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defence: Ryan Bertrand, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with a combination of Rakitić and Modrić in front of him;

Forward: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

“Both teams are taking this match extremely seriously.”

“Now, let’s see whether the home team, Lyon, will come out on top, or if the visiting Bayswater Chinese will upset the hosts!”

…

With a blow of referee Rosetti’s whistle, Bayswater Chinese, who kicked off, immediately passed the ball back to their defense.

In the backline, as Thiago Silva controlled the ball, he was immediately pressed by Lyon’s Argentine forward, Lisandro López.

The Brazilian defender passed it horizontally to Ryan Bertrand.

Bertrand has made quite a few appearances this season, performing well and receiving special attention from Yang Cheng.

For this match, Marcelo was carrying a minor injury and was fatigued from the string of games, so Yang Cheng started Bertrand.

The English left-back, before the Brazilian right-winger Ederson could close in, passed the ball to Matić, who then moved it to Rakitić.

Through a series of quick one-touch passes, Bayswater Chinese swiftly advanced their attack.

Once the ball crossed the halfway line, Lyon abandoned their press in the attacking third and quickly retreated into their own half, preparing to defend with all their might.

Rakitić looked for a pass but couldn’t find an opening, so he sent it to Modrić.

As soon as Modrić, wearing the captain’s armband, received the ball, he immediately chose to drive forward.

Just as he entered Lyon’s 30-meter zone, Modrić, positioned in the right channel, feigned a link-up with Lewandowski but instead suddenly used the outside of his left foot to chip a ball over the top, straight into the space behind the defensive line.

Gareth Bale shook off Réveillère and made a quick diagonal run into the space, bursting into Lyon’s penalty area.

But at the crucial moment, Coupet rushed off his line and managed to gather the ball in time.

The stadium erupted in fervent applause from the Lyon fans.

The veteran keeper Coupet’s decision to come out was decisive and perfectly timed.

However, their smiles wouldn’t last long.

Bayswater Chinese didn’t retreat; instead, they rooted themselves in the opposition’s half.

This immediately triggered a thunderous wave of boos from the stands.

The home fans were clearly displeased with Bayswater Chinese’s approach.

They were the away team, after all.

You come to our home ground and show no respect at all?

Pressing us high up the pitch right from the start?

Coupet quickly threw the ball to centre-back Boumsong.

He passed it to Gonalons.

But with no options available, he was forced to pass it back to Cris.

All of Bayswater Chinese’s forward players applied pressure simultaneously, launching an aggressive press up front.

Even Lewandowski, after closing down Boumsong, dropped back to pressure Gonalons while also closing in on Cris.

Gonalons, also hassled by Modrić, tried to avoid Lewandowski with his back pass. As a result, the pass seemed to be aimed at the gap between his left centre-back and left-back, towards the byline.

It was a rather hasty back pass.

It even carried a hint of, “Well, I’ve passed it, you guys better chase it. It’s not my fault if we lose the ball.”

Cris and the youngster Aly Cissokho both chased after the ball.

Aly Cissokho was only 22 years old, having joined Lyon from Porto in 2009 for sixteen million euros.

Upon joining, he immediately became the team’s first-choice left-back.

But his performances had been somewhat underwhelming.

When he saw Cris also chasing the ball and positioned further ahead, Aly Cissokho chose to stop.

Perhaps he saw Lewandowski and wanted to create some distance from his teammate Cris to make a pass easier.

Or perhaps he didn’t see him, perhaps…

Cris felt the pressure from behind; Lewandowski’s aggressive presence was giving him a headache.

So, he tried to clear the ball directly to Aly Cissokho on the left flank.

But he never expected that Lewandowski seemed to have anticipated it.

Just as Cris reached the ball, the Pole suddenly accelerated, caught up from the side, and stuck out his right foot, successfully blocking Cris’s pass.

After the block, Lewandowski closed in, his left shoulder pressing against the Brazilian centre-back.

The unfortunate Cris was only 1.83 meters tall, and at 32, his body was not what it used to be.

Pinned by Lewandowski, who had planned the move, the Brazilian lost his balance.

The cunning Polish centre-forward quickly turned and kicked the ball forward again.

Cris was by no means inexperienced. The moment he regained his balance, he turned around, tugged on Lewandowski’s shirt, and gave chase again, sticking to the Pole’s inside.

But the initiative was lost.

Lewandowski abandoned his diagonal run into the box, instead dribbling towards the byline before quickly sending a pass back towards the penalty spot.

Almost at the same instant, Gareth Bale burst into the box with the force of a thunderbolt, arriving near the penalty spot to meet Lewandowski’s pass with a left-footed side-foot finish.

The ball shot into the right side of Lyon’s goal at high speed.

Only then did gasps of astonishment ripple through the Lyon supporters in the stands!

Gareth Bale clenched his fists tightly, turning and running in celebration.

Behind him, Lewandowski, Walcott, and others chased after him, all celebrating ecstatically.

1-0!

And it had only been one minute since kickoff!

…

Sometimes, the beauty of a football match lies in the fact that no one knows when a goal will come.

Even the most brilliant, world-class managers can never predict when or how their team will score.

This is what makes football so captivating.

And it’s why every goal is so moving!

What was frustrating, however, was scoring in the first minute and then not seeing another goal for the next ninety!

After conceding, Lyon went into full-on lockdown mode.

They left only Lisandro López up front for counter-attacks, while everyone else defended.

According to Sky Sports, Puel was spooked by Bayswater Chinese’s initial blitz.

Six shots, four on target, all within the first ten minutes.

Who wouldn’t be afraid?

However, once the opposition retreated into a full defensive shell, Yang Cheng didn’t press the advantage.

There was no need.

They had scored with their first shot in an opening blitz, and it was an away game. Why would Yang Cheng need to go all-out against Lyon?

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese was in the midst of an extremely congested fixture schedule.

The best way to play was to conserve as much energy as possible.

In the end, Gareth Bale’s goal in the first minute secured a 1-0 victory over Lyon.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng smiled, stating he was very satisfied with the result.

“This was in line with our pre-match plan.”

“The suspense of who will advance will be decided in the second leg at our home ground!”

Reporters also asked about the recent, widespread rumors of Liverpool being acquired by a Saudi Arabian consortium.

Yang Cheng hadn’t given any interviews on the matter, so he was cornered this time.

He smiled and said he wasn’t aware of the details.

“I think, for us at Bayswater Chinese, it doesn’t matter who our opponents are.”

“Because the result will be the same!”

“We will only focus on doing our own job well and playing our game.”

Andy Carroll was another focal point for many reporters.

A forty million pound sterling fee, the record transfer signing of the winter window!

A ninety thousand pound sterling weekly wage!

All these accolades were heaped upon Carroll’s head.

However, the local centre-forward had failed to replicate the outstanding form he’d shown at Bayswater Chinese.

It had reached a point where some media outlets were commenting that Chelsea had bought the player but forgotten to get the instruction manual.

Yang Cheng politely declined to answer the question with a smile.

But the expression on his face clearly told everyone: That’s Chelsea’s headache now!

…

Returning to the Premier League, it was time for matchday 27.

Arsenal defeated Sunderland 2-0 at home.

Chelsea beat Wolves 2-0 away.

Drogba, back in the starting lineup, scored a brace.

The veteran used his excellent performance to show everyone that Andy Carroll was not yet qualified to compete with him for a starting spot.

Besides, the English centre-forward had been dreadful in the few matches he had played in Drogba’s absence.

Perhaps spurred on by the takeover news, Liverpool showed incredible fighting spirit in their away match, going toe-to-toe with Manchester City.

The two teams ended up drawing 0-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium!

Although calls for Benítez’s dismissal were loud, he managed to completely neutralize Ancelotti’s tactics in this game.

After returning to London from France, Bayswater Chinese faced Fulham away.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Walcott had given his team the lead in the 3rd minute.

But in the 91st minute, Duff capitalized on a counter-attack to equalize for Fulham.

The biggest shock of the week came from Manchester United.

In their away match against Everton, Ferguson’s team took the lead, only for Everton to score three unanswered goals.

3-1. Ferguson had actually lost to his rumored “successor.”

After 27 matches, Bayswater Chinese had 61 points with a record of 19 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses.

Arsenal had caught up with Manchester City again, with both teams on 64 points.

But the Gunners, thanks to their superior goal difference, had leapfrogged to the top of the league table.

Manchester City was in second.

Bayswater Chinese ranked third.

Manchester United was fourth with 57 points.

Chelsea had 54 points, placing them fifth.

Liverpool, despite drawing with Manchester City, only had 45 points and sat in eighth place.

It was safe to say that at this stage of the Premier League season, the situation was becoming quite clear.

Manchester United’s chances of catching up to Arsenal and Manchester City were slim.

Currently, the team with the best chance to challenge Arsenal and Manchester City was Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team still had two rescheduled matches to play.

Ferguson’s Manchester United, on the other hand, had completely turned into the “Fourth Place Fiend.”

Chelsea, behind them, had survived the Africa Cup of Nations and were only three points behind Manchester United.

Not to mention, Chelsea had no Champions League pressure.

…

February 28th was the day of the League Cup final, which coincided with the 28th round of the Premier League.

Therefore, the two finalists, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City, had their league matches moved forward to midweek.

Yang Cheng’s team was hosting Wigan Athletic, while Manchester City traveled to Stamford Bridge to challenge Chelsea.

Although the League Cup was a minor trophy, it was still a championship.

But Manchester City’s top priority right now was to challenge for the league title.

So, Yang Cheng was certain that Ancelotti would go all out.

In contrast, Yang Cheng implemented a partial squad rotation while also keeping some key players fresh for the League Cup final.

Wigan Athletic, playing away, set up in a 5-4-1 formation, making their intention to defend with all their might clear.

The match started as usual.

The home team, Bayswater Chinese, launched an initial blitz.

In the 6th minute, Rakitić played a through ball, and Gareth Bale made a run into the left side of the penalty area, smashing a shot into the net to open the scoring.

1-0!

The goal ignited the passion of the home fans.

After that, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, the game entered a rather dull stalemate.

But the turning point came in the 20th minute.

Inside the box, Lewandowski received the ball and turned, shaking off Wigan centre-back Gary Caldwell, only to be pulled down from behind.

The foul happened right under the head referee’s nose.

Consequently, the referee immediately showed Caldwell a red card, sending him off.

Lewandowski calmly stepped up to take the penalty and converted it, scoring for Bayswater Chinese!

2-0!

This goal sounded the charge for Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

With a one-man advantage and Wigan having lost their defensive stalwart, the game became completely one-sided.

Bayswater Chinese launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the 34th minute, Modrić sent a cross in from the right. Ángel Di María received it and dribbled into Wigan’s penalty area.

From the right side of the six-yard box, the Argentine coolly slotted the ball home.

3-0!

Just two minutes later, Piszczek delivered a diagonal pass from the right flank to the far post. Gareth Bale made a quick run to meet it, heading the ball in from close range to score his second of the night.

4-0!

And in the final stages of the first half, in the 43rd minute, Marcelo crossed from the left, and Lewandowski scored with a close-range volley, breaching Wigan’s goal.

5-0!

The Polish centre-forward had also scored twice!

In the second minute of stoppage time, Marcelo once again dribbled into the box. While defending, former Chelsea right-back Melchiot was deftly beaten by Marcelo.

The Brazilian sent a pass across the face of the goal, and Lewandowski converted it from the center.

6-0!

A hat-trick!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted.

By halftime, Bayswater Chinese already held a six-goal lead.

After the break, just nine minutes into the second half, the speedy winger Kyle Walker was actually in a footrace with Ángel Di María.

Even more ridiculously, Kyle Walker was faster than Di María!

This sent all the fans in the stadium into a frenzy of cheers.

Who had ever seen a right-back racing against his team’s own right-winger?

But even though Kyle Walker was faster, Di María cut inside from the right and played a through ball.

Lewandowski cleverly evaded his marker and coolly finished.

7-0!

A four-goal haul!

The Pole was so excited he turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the touchline, wildly celebrating with the fans in the stands.

And the entire crowd responded with thunderous applause and deafening cheers!

This was a four-goal haul!

The last player to score four for Bayswater Chinese was the Russian Tsar, Andrei Arshavin!

Now, he was Arsenal’s superstar!

Yang Cheng immediately made a substitution.

He rested the in-form Lewandowski and brought on Olivier Giroud to get a feel for the rhythm of the game.

Soon after, Yang Cheng also substituted Modrić.

The consecutive changes affected Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Olivier Giroud at centre-forward still hadn’t integrated into the team, which significantly hampered their attacking flow in the final third.

It wasn’t just Yang Cheng and the coaching staff trying to figure out Giroud’s ‘instruction manual’; Giroud himself was also trying to figure out how to help the team.

It wasn’t until the 81st minute that Giroud dropped into the left channel to receive a pass from Marcelo, then laid it back to the left flank for Gareth Bale.

Gareth Bale crossed from the left side of the box, and Marcelo controlled it in the left channel before firing a shot that once again breached Wigan’s goal.

8-0!

…

While the entire Premier League was still reeling from Bayswater Chinese’s insane home attacking display and Lewandowski’s four-goal haul, another midweek match was also taking place in London.

Chelsea hosted Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

Besides being a clash between top teams, this match carried an extra layer of special significance.

The two protagonists of the Bridge-Terry affair, Bridge and Terry, would face each other on the pitch.

Due to Leighton Baines’ injury, Bridge had started consecutive games recently.

Unexpectedly, during the pre-match handshake, Bridge completely ignored Terry, leaving the Chelsea captain feeling extremely awkward.

As if to avenge their teammate, Manchester City played with ferocious courage, tearing Chelsea’s defense to shreds.

In the end, Chelsea not only suffered a humiliating 2-4 defeat at home to Manchester City, but they also paid the price of two red cards.

It was, by all accounts, a complete and utter defeat for Chelsea!

But what truly panicked everyone at Chelsea was that their vaunted defense had completely collapsed in this match.

Not only was captain Terry in poor form, but holding midfielder Mikel was also virtually non-existent.

This left everyone deeply concerned about Chelsea’s current state.

Last season, when Chelsea missed out on the Champions League, everyone could attribute it to managerial changes and instability.

But this season, The Blues had been stuck in fifth place in the Premier League for a long time, performing poorly in big matches.

This in itself was already worrying.

To be beaten 2-4 by Manchester City at home in this match was simply unacceptable.

After the game, many media outlets began to ask: who can the current Chelsea team even beat?

As fellow West London arch-rivals.

Bayswater Chinese thrashed Wigan Athletic 8-0 at home.

Chelsea were hammered 2-4 at home by Manchester City.

Crucially, the two matches were played back-to-back on the same day.

This left a sour taste in the mouths of Chelsea fans.

Even the media began to speculate that the Chelsea of today was a shadow of its former self.

Especially with Liverpool’s impending takeover by a Saudi consortium, what did the future hold for The Blues?

Come the weekend, Manchester United secured a comfortable 3-0 home victory over West Ham United.

Arsenal defeated Stoke City 3-1 away.

Even the previously struggling Liverpool managed to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at home this round.

Following the takeover rumors, The Reds’ form had improved significantly.

Among the top teams, only Chelsea’s form remained dismal.

…

February 28th, 3:00 PM.

Wembley Stadium, London.

The League Cup final, Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City.

In the 34th minute of the match, Manchester City midfielder Pirlo attempted a long pass to Bellamy on the right flank, but Thiago Silva quickly darted out.

Just outside the left of the penalty area, the Brazilian centre-back got to the ball before Bellamy and cleared it with a powerful kick up to the halfway line.

Nigel de Jong moved to the sideline, outmuscling Marcelo to head the ball sideways, intending to find Pirlo in the center circle.

But Aaron Ramsey stepped in front of Pirlo just in time to intercept the ball.

Immediately after the tackle, the Welshman sent a diagonal pass forward.

The ball cut through Manchester City’s three-man holding midfield, heading towards the space behind the defense on the left flank.

Almost at the same instant, a red blur ignited from the left side of the halfway line, rapidly shaking off Pablo Zabaleta and sprinting forward at incredible speed.

The moment the red figure caught up to Aaron Ramsey’s pass, the entire stadium erupted with the roars of Bayswater Chinese fans.

Forty-five thousand fans were chanting one man’s name in unison.

“GARETH BALE!!!”

“A rapid counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Gareth Bale from the left is incredibly fast on the break!”

The moment the Welsh winger caught up to Aaron Ramsey’s pass, he brought the ball under control.

But in the next second, he saw the Brazilian centre-back Lúcio closing in on him.

Don’t be fooled by the Brazilian’s age; once he gets close to you, getting past him is nearly impossible.

Gareth Bale reacted with lightning speed. After his first touch, instead of continuing his run toward the box, he pushed the ball out to the left, outside the penalty area, and accelerated once more.

The Welshman evaded Lúcio’s close marking, sped past the Brazilian centre-back, dashed towards the left side of the area, and caught up to the ball he had just knocked ahead.

This time, the distance was short; it didn’t even take him three seconds.

Upon reaching the ball, Gareth Bale didn’t take another touch, instead immediately sending a low cross with his left foot.

The football zipped across the turf, rolling towards the center of the penalty area.

But it was clear this pass wasn’t intended for Olivier Giroud in the middle.

The French centre-forward and Manchester City’s centre-back, Lescott, were still outside the box at that moment.

The ball skidded past the penalty spot and rolled towards the right side of the box.

The next moment, another red lightning bolt shot into the area from the right edge of the box.

No matter how hard left-back Bridge tried to chase, he couldn’t catch the blur that was The Little Tiger, Walcott.

Walcott burst into the right side of the penalty area, met Gareth Bale’s cross with the inside of his right foot, and guided a shot.

Keeping the ball low, he pushed it towards the bottom left corner of the goal.

At that moment, Manchester City’s goalkeeper Joe Hart, who was positioned on the right side of his goal, immediately dove sideways.

But how could he possibly stop the ball from finding the net in time?

In an instant, Wembley Stadium exploded with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans.

Walcott was so thrilled he leaped into the air, then turned and ran towards Gareth Bale on the left side of the box.

The two brothers ran off the pitch, excitedly celebrating the goal.

“1-0!”

“It’s the classic, telepathic connection between Gareth Bale and Walcott!”

“The speed of Bayswater Chinese’s Twin Stars drives all opponents to despair, and their understanding is unparalleled.”

“But the most frustrated one is probably the newly-joined French centre-forward, Olivier Giroud.”

“When Gareth Bale sent that cross in, Giroud must have been losing his mind.”

“He’s probably never seen two bolts of lightning combine like that. How is he supposed to keep up?”

“Equally frustrated is Bridge!”

…

As soon as Yang Cheng saw Manchester City’s starting lineup for the League Cup final, he had already guessed Ancelotti’s intentions.

The portly Italian was fully focused on the league title race.

As for the League Cup, a minor trophy, his attitude was more along the lines of “nice to win, but no big deal if we don’t.”

Although the starting lineup included stars like Lúcio, Lescott, Pirlo, and Adebayor, key players who had been in top form this season, such as Yaya Touré, Kaká, and Carlos Tevez, were not on the pitch.

And as it turned out, in the league match three days prior, Manchester City had thrashed Chelsea 4-2 away.

But because of that, City had expended a great deal of energy, so for this League Cup final, Ancelotti had made significant rotations.

He just didn’t expect that after holding out for so long, Bayswater Chinese would snatch a goal in the 34th minute.

And it was the link-up between the Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Walcott.

Yang Cheng had also started Giroud in this match, aiming to further help him integrate into the team.

As a tactical centre-forward, Giroud needed to adapt to the pace of playing alongside Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Ángel Di María.

He especially needed to get used to their speed and directness.

Integrating a new player into a team is never an easy task, nor can it be accomplished overnight.

Yang Cheng and the team had enough patience to help Giroud slowly adapt and fit in.

The first half ended with the score at 1-0.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng was satisfied with the team’s performance and encouraged them to keep up the good work.

But at the same time, he told the players that Manchester City would fight back in the second half.

When Ancelotti saw a chance, he would definitely try everything to turn the game around.

After all, Manchester City’s bench featured stars like Yaya Touré and Kaká.

So, Yang Cheng’s strategy was to launch an all-out attack at the start of the second half.

“We need to score at least one more goal to truly have the advantage in this match!”

After the break, Bayswater Chinese came out firing.

As Yang Cheng had predicted, Ancelotti didn’t make any substitutions right away, preferring to steady the ship first.

But the onslaught launched by Bayswater Chinese put Manchester City’s defense under considerable pressure.

In the 51st minute, Giroud dropped back from the arc of the penalty area to receive a direct pass from midfielder Matić, then immediately laid it back to Modrić.

As he passed the ball, he continuously glanced left and right.

He immediately noticed that Gareth Bale and Walcott had already pushed up to the corners of the penalty area.

Although he’d been with the team for less than a month, through training and communication, he knew this was the signal that the two wingers were about to press the attack.

So he looked at Modrić.

The Croatian was like the brain of Bayswater Chinese, responsible for issuing attacking commands and directing the point of attack.

How should they attack?

Which side?

Giroud watched Modrić.

When he saw Modrić pass the ball horizontally to Aaron Ramsey, the Frenchman understood instantly.

He immediately got ready.

Aaron Ramsey controlled the ball and quickly passed it to Marcelo on the left flank.

With Gareth Bale having pushed forward to the left corner of the box, Marcelo advanced to a position almost level with Aaron Ramsey.

The moment he received the ball, he drew the attention of the Manchester City players.

The Brazilian left-back took a touch horizontally, then delivered a diagonal pass with his left foot.

At that moment, Giroud was positioned sideways, facing the left flank. The instant he saw Marcelo’s pass coming, he judged its path and destination, then quickly moved to his left.

The tall and strong Giroud used his body to shield the ball from Pirlo and De Jong, controlling it with his chest.

As the ball dropped, Giroud flicked it with his left foot, lofting it over De Jong and into the penalty area behind him.

Almost at the same time, Gareth Bale cut in horizontally from the left corner of the box.

The Welshman brought down Giroud’s chipped pass with the inside of his left foot, planted his standing leg, then turned his body and unleashed a power shot with his right foot.

He remembered Yang Cheng telling him before the match to take a shot if he got a chance!

And he felt this was a pretty good chance!

The shot was kept very low, skimming past the side of the lunging Lúcio. After bouncing once, it flew past Joe Hart’s outstretched hands and went in off the left post, nestling in the back of Manchester City’s goal.

“GOAL!!”

“In the 51st minute, Bayswater Chinese score another one!”

“A right-footed power shot from Gareth Bale!”

“That was a strike from inside the penalty area!”

“Manchester City’s defense had a lapse in concentration during that sequence.”

“Bayswater Chinese executed a beautiful attacking combination in the final third.”

“Olivier Giroud played the role of a tall center-forward perfectly, holding up the ball and providing a lovely pass into space.”

“Gareth Bale calmly seized the opportunity and smashed it home from inside the box!”

“And with his weaker right foot, no less!”

The entire stadium once again erupted with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans!

Everyone was shouting Gareth Bale’s name at the top of their lungs!

The Welshman was having a breakout season.

So far, he had scored fourteen goals in the Premier League, making him Bayswater Chinese’s second-highest scorer, behind only Lewandowski!

He had already surpassed his goal tally from last season!

More importantly, his overall skillset was becoming more mature and threatening.

This season, he had already put on several spectacular displays of marauding runs down the left flank, and cutting inside from the right was also his specialty.

Now, he had even scored by cutting in from the left and shooting with his right foot.

Watching from the sidelines, even Yang Cheng couldn’t help but applaud.

“This kid’s arsenal is getting more and more complete!” Brian Kidd said with great satisfaction.

Gareth Bale was currently in a period of rapid development, and his upward trajectory was accelerating.

What was most commendable was the kid’s willingness to put in the hard work.

Whether it was free kicks or his right foot, he had been practicing relentlessly over the years.

This was extremely important.

Yang Cheng never doubted Gareth Bale’s professionalism.

Why did his other-life counterpart become obsessed with golf?

It was more like a form of escapism.

If he was truly that obsessed, why hadn’t he taken it up earlier in his career?

When a professional player repeatedly suffers major injuries, when he fights his way back from injury time and time again, striving to return to his peak form, only to be struck down by injury again and again…

He might endure it once or twice, but after multiple times, anyone would surrender to the injuries.

They would become afraid!

It’s the nemesis of a professional athlete!

Moreover, in the early part of his career, Gareth Bale had ambitions.

At the very least, he probably felt he had the ability and opportunity to strive for the highest honors in professional football.

But after repeated injuries, when he realized his career achievements were about to be set in stone, his inner drive dissipated.

Under such circumstances, his turning to golf for solace was not difficult to understand.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s protection of players like Gareth Bale and Walcott was all-encompassing.

Especially for Gareth Bale.

From his diet plan to his daily training, muscle gain regimen, and match management, the club provided meticulous care, even tracking his data around the clock.

The goal was to help him reduce, or even avoid, injuries.

So far, the Welshman’s condition was very promising.

Especially his muscle gain.

His strength and physicality had improved significantly, which directly translated to an increase in his impact and threat in the attacking third.

He could even temporarily fill in as a centre-forward on many occasions.

But the current Gareth Bale was not yet in his final form.

The next step for Yang Cheng was to further unleash the team’s attacking firepower.

Judging from the last few matches, Olivier Giroud was indeed a very intelligent player.

He played with his brain!

A very clear detail was that before receiving Marcelo’s pass this time, he had continuously scanned his surroundings and reacted in coordination with Modrić.

This was a sign of his intelligence.

Lewandowski, Olivier Giroud, plus the young Harry Kane.

Yang Cheng was confident about his centre-forward options.

It was Walcott who was still a bit of a problem.

At 1.76 meters, he wasn’t particularly short.

But his naturally lean frame made it difficult for him to compete physically with defenders.

So, for now, Walcott was more like a wingman and a counter-attacking weapon.

In tight games, he could find gaps and occasionally create a threat.

This style of play relied heavily on a player’s experience and awareness.

Especially his interchanging runs.

Gareth Bale, Lewandowski, Walcott, and Ángel Di María—Yang Cheng’s four most valued attackers—were all players who needed space to be effective.

But Bayswater Chinese’s ability to stretch the play horizontally in the final third was still far from sufficient.

Yang Cheng was still waiting for the final tactical puzzle piece.

Waiting for when Uli Hoeneß from Bayern Munich would give him a call.

…

The match unfolded just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

After conceding the second goal, Manchester City predictably launched a comeback.

Between the 55th and 65th minutes, Ancelotti made two consecutive substitutions.

Kaká and Yaya Touré were brought on.

In the 70th minute, he even took off Bellamy and brought on the beast, Carlos Tevez, to further intensify the attack.

The Blue Moons of today were no longer the mid-table Premier League team of old.

Under Ancelotti’s guidance, Manchester City’s overall strength was extraordinary.

And their transitions between defense and attack were swift.

In the 81st minute, after winning the ball in midfield, Kaká launched a quick counter-attack.

The Brazilian, getting ahead of Matić, played a diagonal pass to the feet of Adebayor on the left flank.

Adebayor dribbled forward, holding off both Kyle Walker and Vincent Kompany, and managed to force his way to the left side of the penalty area.

Just as Adebayor created a shooting angle and took a shot, the ball was blocked by the timely intervention of Kompany.

But in the next moment, Kaká, who had followed the play closely, suddenly arrived. He met the rebounded ball from Adebayor’s shot and immediately played another through pass.

The ball slipped past Thiago Silva and fell to the right side of the box.

Tevez arrived at full tilt and slotted the ball past Neuer into the goal.

1-2!

Manchester City had pulled one back!

The Blue Moons saw a glimmer of hope!

Seeing a chance to turn things around, The Blue Moons launched a desperate, all-out assault.

Yang Cheng also made successive substitutions to strengthen the team’s defense.

An attacking force composed of Adebayor, Tevez, Kaká, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré, if they were to go on a frenzied offensive, who would dare claim they could stop them?

Besides, many of them had come on as substitutes and had fresh legs.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was fighting on multiple fronts.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng chose to weather the storm and reinforce his defense.

Matuidi replaced Modrić.

Ryan Bertrand came on for Gareth Bale.

Incidentally, Yang Cheng was now discovering that Bertrand’s defensive abilities were genuinely good.

At least far more reliable than Marcelo’s.

And he was very fast.

After making the substitution, Yang Cheng had Bertrand play in front of Marcelo.

This, in turn, gave Marcelo more freedom.

Because he knew that whenever he pushed forward, Bertrand would drop back to provide cover behind him.

This tactic was somewhat reminiscent of how Roberto Di Matteo used Bertrand in the 2012 Champions League final.

When Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese began to focus on defense, it was no easy task for Manchester City to break through.

Especially since Vincent Kompany’s arrival, as he gained more match experience, his performances had become increasingly outstanding.

Partnered with Thiago Silva, the backline was quite solid.

Not to mention, the occasional counter-attack kept Manchester City from committing fully to their offense.

Under these conditions, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 2-1.

…

“We should have won that match!”

After the final whistle, everyone at Bayswater Chinese was celebrating their title win.

This was the first trophy of 2010!

Even if it was the ‘chicken rib’ League Cup, a trophy was a trophy!

But Ancelotti clearly didn’t think so; he was extremely frustrated.

“You should thank Chelsea. If The Blues hadn’t worn us out midweek, I definitely wouldn’t have fielded this lineup!”

Ancelotti’s big, round, chubby face had two words written all over it: not convinced.

How could Yang Cheng not see it?

He immediately burst out laughing. “You should thank Phil Dowd. If he hadn’t been lenient, you guys would have been done for.”

“Bullshit! Lescott’s foul on Walcott in the 15th minute, a yellow card was the right call!” Ancelotti retorted instantly.

Yang Cheng laughed again. “See, you’ve got a guilty conscience. I didn’t even say which incident, and you’ve already confessed.”

Ancelotti was suddenly at a loss for words, glaring resentfully at Yang Cheng.

This damn kid, won the game, won the cup, and still won’t let up!

“Let me tell you, I specifically watched the replay during halftime. When Lescott committed the foul, he was the last defender. A tactical foul, nothing wrong with that, right?”

“Before the foul, Walcott had already gotten past him. Therefore, it should have been a red card.”

“If he was still in front of Walcott, then it would have been a yellow.”

Things happen in a flash on the football pitch, and without slow-motion replay, it’s genuinely difficult for the referee to accurately judge whether Lescott was in front of or behind Walcott at the moment of the foul.

Walcott’s speed is so extreme that it, to some extent, complicates the referee’s job.

But the slow-motion replay from the broadcast doesn’t lie.

“Don’t feel wronged, my dear Mr. Ancelotti.”

Yang Cheng smiled and gently bumped Ancelotti’s left shoulder with his right. “If Lescott had been sent off in the 15th minute, you wouldn’t be telling me right now that you should have won.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng declared magnanimously, “Don’t forget, the team that went down a man three days ago, we put eight goals past them!”

That game had left the old man behind Wigan Athletic, a certain Whelan, completely losing his composure on the spot.

If Lescott had been sent off after fifteen minutes, Yang Cheng would have eagerly anticipated thrashing Manchester City by a large margin.

That would have been a truly spectacular scene!

Ancelotti pouted, momentarily unsure how to respond.

Mainly because he knew he was in the wrong.

He had also watched the replay at halftime and knew that a yellow card for that foul was indeed lenient.

Of course, no one would make a fuss about it now.

Because Bayswater Chinese had won.

If they had lost, given Yang Cheng’s personality, he would have definitely blasted the referee.

In the Premier League, referees were punching bags.

Half the money they earned was to get cursed at.

So, they were used to it.

“Also, Carlo, when you get the chance, tell Wenger you guys need to step it up!”

“We’re catching up fast!”

This remark made Ancelotti curse inwardly.

Damn it, the guy with two games in hand sure is confident!

Chapter 197: He Actually Scored? I’m Innocent, Godfather Platini!

As the saying goes: when it rains, it pours.

For the English media and fans, a League Cup title for Bayswater Chinese was only enough fodder for a day or two of hype. Even the spectacular performances of stars like Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott couldn’t hold their attention for long.

Without a doubt, the off-pitch scandals of football stars were the headlines they most craved.

And recently, the paparazzi of Fleet Street had their sights set squarely on Chelsea.

The Bridge-Terry affair had left Chelsea captain John Terry’s reputation in tatters. The moment Terry extended his hand during Chelsea’s home game against Manchester City, only for City’s left-back Wayne Bridge to pointedly ignore him, was broadcast live across the world.

Manchester City then helped Bridge exact a measure of revenge with a 4-2 victory.

It was a real slap in the face.

Not only did Sky Sports’ commentary team go out of their way to explain Bridge’s actions, but after the match, England legends like Alan Shearer also publicly voiced their support for Bridge.

This was because the England left-back had announced his retirement from the national team.

He no longer wanted to share a dressing room with Terry.

The Daily Mail revealed that everyone at Manchester City supported Bridge.

“You never touch your teammate’s wife. That’s a rule in football!”

Even many of Chelsea’s own players sent text messages to support Bridge.

It was safe to say that Terry’s image had completely collapsed.

Of course, such things were not unheard of in the fame and fortune-driven world of professional football. For example, former Bayern Munich captain Stefan “The Tiger” Effenberg had also been involved in a similar affair. Even more sensationally, Effenberg produced a memoir, claiming it was true love and even sharing numerous intimate bedroom photos.

However, after marrying the woman in question, Effenberg cheated on her just two or three years later.

Ultimately, for professional players, what mattered most was their performance on the pitch. Over time, people would gradually forget, remembering instead their brilliance in the game. Just as now, how many still fondly remembered Effenberg?

But the unlucky party was still Chelsea.

While the heat from the Bridge-Terry affair was still raging, Ashley Cole’s divorce was exposed.

Ashley Cole and his wife, Cheryl, were considered England’s golden couple. A world-class football star and a pop star—a power couple that drew massive attention.

But now, Cheryl was insisting on a divorce.

A reporter from the Daily Mirror revealed that Ashley Cole was currently deeply despondent, his form was terrible, and he was even contemplating early retirement.

What Chelsea fans found even harder to accept was that Andy Carroll, the prospective England international who had joined for a sky-high price of forty million pound sterling on the final day of the winter transfer window, had been left out of England’s friendly against Egypt on March 3rd.

Due to the compressed league schedule, the national team’s training camp in February had been cancelled. The match on March 3rd was the last chance for the national team to assess players before the World Cup in South Africa.

As early as last December, England national team head coach Fabio Capello had publicly expressed his interest in Andy Carroll during an interview with the media. Capello believed that England desperately needed a young, impactful centre-forward with excellent aerial ability like Andy Carroll.

But who would have thought that when Capello announced the squad list at the end of February, Andy Carroll’s name was nowhere to be found?

Even after Bridge announced his retirement from the national team, Capello did not call up Carroll.

This infuriated many Chelsea fans!

They had clearly signed a future England international centre-forward, so why wasn’t he one now?

Besides directing their anger at Capello, the Blues’ fans were also criticizing Andy Carroll.

The young centre-forward had yet to score a goal or register an assist since joining the club. Compared to Drogba, his performance was even worse.

England’s legendary centre-forward Alan Shearer revealed on a Sky Sports television program that Andy Carroll’s current predicament was a direct result of the transfer itself.

“At Bayswater Chinese, he had excellent wingers like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Ángel Di María crossing and assisting him, coordinating with his attacks and runs.”

“The midfield consisted of passers like Rakitić, Modrić, and Aaron Ramsey.”

“Perhaps many people haven’t noticed, but Bayswater Chinese’s attack and midfield create the most goal-scoring opportunities in the Premier League, and perhaps in all of European football!”

“In that environment, the number of chances and attacking resources Andy Carroll received was unimaginable!”

“If he was getting six good attacking opportunities per game at Bayswater Chinese, at Chelsea, he’s getting two at most, maybe even just one.”

“Because Chelsea’s tactics are different from Bayswater Chinese’s.”

“At The Blues, Andy Carroll first needs to rely on his individual ability to create his own chances.”

“He even needs to help create chances for his teammates.”

“This is very unforgiving for a young player.”

“And Andy Carroll is simply not capable of doing that!”

Alan Shearer stated that he had heard some inside information about the transfer.

“I believe Capello must have heard these things too, which raises concerns about Andy Carroll’s upcoming form and long-term career development.”

“So, Capello’s decision not to call him up is understandable.”

Finally, Alan Shearer also encouraged Andy Carroll, saying that since the transfer had happened, he shouldn’t overthink it. Training hard and improving his skills as quickly as possible was the most important thing now.

From Terry’s affair to Ashley Cole’s divorce, to Andy Carroll being snubbed by the England national team…

A trifecta of major incidents caught Chelsea completely off guard.

Everyone was extremely curious. How could it be that suddenly, all these misfortunes were befalling Chelsea?

Were The Blues really about to collapse?

…

“What I want to say is that, based on my long-term observations, all football clubs across Europe have long neglected, or even disregarded, the psychological education of their players.”

“I believe everyone here is certainly aware that professional players are human too. They face the same kinds of problems as ordinary people, stemming from daily life, family, parents, relatives, and so on.”

“The issues we ordinary people encounter, they encounter as well.”

“The only difference is that they are more famous and wealthier than us. That’s it.”

At the Brent training center, during the international break, Chief Psychologist Tim Harkness was giving a lecture to all the first team and youth academy coaches, including Yang Cheng. He specifically used Chelsea’s situation as an example.

“Therefore, the environment’s influence on a person is incredibly important.”

“I’m sure you’re all familiar with the massive controversy caused by the Christmas party organized by Ferdinand at Manchester United?”

“Many young players, like Evans, grew up looking up to Ferdinand and others. What kind of influence do you think that has on them?”

“If you’re interested, you can look it up. How many incidents have involved young players from Manchester United’s first team and youth academy over the years? And how many have been covered up, unknown to us?”

“Ferguson is still there, so his authority remains, and the constraints and rules are still effective. But what happens when Ferguson retires in the future?”

“The situation at Chelsea is similar.”

Tim Harkness started with the current social environment in England, pointing out the various problems that local English players encounter on their journey from the youth academy to the senior team.

He cited the eight-stage theory of the famous American child psychologist, Erik Erikson, analyzing the entire process of human development from birth to adulthood to death from a psychological perspective.

From a football club’s standpoint, Tim Harkness believed that the family background checks included in Bayswater Chinese’s scouting system were absolutely necessary.

But this was also something Bayswater Chinese could hardly change.

To put it bluntly, family background was a reflection of the social environment. Given the current social climate in England, it would be a miracle if it were good!

Moreover, for someone like Paul Pogba, could Bayswater Chinese really manage his family and brothers?

Don’t be ridiculous.

Bayswater Chinese was a football club, not a charity.

Tim Harkness proposed that the period from age six to twelve was a crucial time for cultivating a player’s sense of industry. A good psychological education could help players successfully complete various learning tasks, fill them with confidence and motivation for the future, stimulate their competitiveness, and thereby combat feelings of inferiority.

For adolescents between twelve and twenty, it was a critical time for exploring their self-identity, values, and future goals. They would gradually distance themselves from their parents and relatives, breaking free from dependent relationships and forming close friendships with their peers. At this stage, their surrounding environment became particularly important.

Tim Harkness noted that, based on his extensive research, Bayswater Chinese was one of the first football clubs in Europe to begin providing psychological counseling and education.

“Even now, many football clubs still treat it as something to be feared.”

“But what I want to say is, we should further increase our investment in psychological education. We should intervene in players’ psychological education and guidance from a young age, helping them establish correct values.”

Tim Harkness expressed his hope to build a mature psychological assessment system at Bayswater Chinese. He wanted to score and evaluate the psychological state of every player in the club and provide targeted counseling.

He firmly believed that this could help Bayswater Chinese, from the U6 youth team to the senior first team, forge a set of positive, uplifting values and a club culture unique to Bayswater Chinese.

“In today’s world, earth-shattering changes are happening every day. Information is too accessible, and young people are exposed to an overwhelming and chaotic amount of it. This, in turn, makes it easy for them to feel lost.”

“It could even lead to them becoming lonelier and feeling emptier.”

“This is the value of psychology!”

Yang Cheng had never overestimated the character of young players in the UK, especially in England. This was, after all, a country famous for its binge-drinking culture.

How many years had it been since Arsenal’s Wenger reformed the dietary habits of English professional players?

Ferdinand, Lampard, Terry, and their generation were all products of the old era; their mindsets were still rooted in those ways. This was particularly evident in teams like Manchester United and Liverpool, which were built around a core of local players.

Especially Manchester United. Head coach Ferguson was himself a representative of the local football culture.

Previously, Yang Cheng had to be extremely cautious even when hiring a single psychologist. But now, Bayswater Chinese had enough confidence to be a pioneer in this field.

At this thought, Yang Cheng began to applaud vigorously.

In the large conference room, everyone gave Tim Harkness a warm round of applause.

The psychology expert team needed to be expanded!

Yang Cheng’s first thought was of Xia Qing. She was probably going to have another headache.

The thought of Xia Qing’s resigned yet exasperated look as she “scolded” him for spending money recklessly made Yang Cheng chuckle.

…

After the nerve-wracking international break ended, the Premier League returned with its 29th round.

Bayswater Chinese faced Blackburn Rovers away.

Since their first meeting was scheduled for the 17th round and the rescheduled match had not yet been played, this was the first time the two teams would face each other in the league this season.

However, because Carroll’s transfer had involved Sam Allardyce’s agent, Mark Curtis, the match carried a special significance. Allardyce had even laid down the gauntlet early on, vowing to thwart Bayswater Chinese at his home ground.

This was not an empty threat. Blackburn followed the same playbook as many established English managers. The team was filled with players like Salgado, Santa Cruz, Chimbonda, and McCarthy—players who had once played for top clubs but were let go for various reasons.

On paper, their strength didn’t seem poor. But Bolton, who had employed a similar strategy years ago, were now 16th in the Premier League, fighting to avoid relegation. Allardyce’s Blackburn weren’t much better off, sitting in 12th place.

However, in terms of scheduling, Blackburn had a clear advantage. They had few international players and could rest and prepare for the weekend’s league match. Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had many internationals and were also distracted by a midweek Champions League home game against Lyon.

Under these circumstances, Allardyce’s vow to thwart them was not entirely impossible, especially at Ewood Park.

Yang Cheng’s strategy remained the same as always.

Squad rotation and taking the initiative!

With stars like Modrić, Gareth Bale, and Ángel Di María rested, Bayswater Chinese had a rough start. Blackburn held firm for over thirty minutes, giving the visiting team no clear chances to shoot.

It wasn’t until the 38th minute that Aaron Ramsey pressed midfielder Vincenzo Grella high up the pitch. The Welshman made a calm and timely sliding tackle to win the ball. While being challenged, he managed to send a sliding pass from the ground.

The ball landed precisely between Blackburn’s two centre-backs, Gaël Givet and Ryan Nelsen. Robert Lewandowski, who had his back to goal, received the ball, deftly controlled it with the side of his foot, turned, broke into the penalty area, and scored in a one-on-one situation, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Then, in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Theo Walcott faced former Bayswater Chinese right-back Pascal Chimbonda on the right flank. The Frenchman had performed decently after joining Arsenal but had gradually declined. Now at Blackburn, he was playing on the left side.

After a series of feints on the right, Walcott burst forward, using his speed to shake off Chimbonda. He ran to the byline near the corner flag and sent in a cross with his right foot.

In the middle, Lewandowski out-jumped Nelsen and headed the ball into the net, scoring his second of the match!

2-0!

Entering the halftime break with a two-goal lead, Yang Cheng praised his players.

After slowing the tempo in the second half, Yang Cheng substituted Giroud for Lewandowski in the 58th minute. The Pole’s form had been improving steadily since Christmas. So far this season, he had scored nineteen goals in the Premier League, making him Bayswater Chinese’s top scorer. With Carroll gone and Giroud not yet fully integrated, Lewandowski was the sharpest weapon in Yang Cheng’s arsenal, so his playing time needed to be managed carefully.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 away from home, thanks to a brace from Lewandowski.

The other matches in the same round also concluded.

Arsenal defeated Burnley 3-1 at home.

Manchester United secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Wolves, with a goal from Scholes.

Liverpool lost 1-0 away to Wigan Athletic.

Chelsea defeated bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth 3-0 away.

Manchester City suffered an upset in this round, losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Crouch scored the crucial goal in the 82nd minute.

After this round of matches, Arsenal continued to lead the Premier League table with seventy points. Thanks to their deep squad, Wenger’s team had been remarkably consistent this season.

Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City both had sixty-seven points, but due to a better goal difference, Yang Cheng’s team leapfrogged City into second place.

Manchester United were in fourth with sixty-three points.

Chelsea were in fifth with fifty-seven points.

Liverpool remained in eighth place, having only managed to collect forty-eight points.

…

March 9th, Wembley Stadium, London.

Champions League Round of 16, second leg. Bayswater Chinese hosted Lyon.

In the 25th minute of the match, Gareth Bale and Marcelo attempted to create an attack on the left flank. Lyon’s right-back, Réveillère, tackled the ball out for a throw-in.

Throw-in!

The unified cheers of ninety thousand fans echoed through Wembley Stadium.

The Lyon players all began to retreat. Although the match was only thirty-five minutes old, many of them were already under immense pressure, breathing heavily.

From the opening whistle, Bayswater Chinese had not let up the pressure on Lyon. The Premier League side had threatened the goal guarded by Coupet time and again, leaving the French team on edge.

In the first twenty-five minutes, the team had missed at least three very good goal-scoring opportunities. Either the players failed to convert, or Coupet made an excellent save. This kept Lyon’s players on high alert, terrified that a momentary lapse would allow Bayswater Chinese to score.

Captain Cris had failed to mark Lewandowski in the first leg, and this time he was even more cautious. When Marcelo ran to the sideline to take the throw-in, Cris loudly urged his teammates.

Lyon’s defensive line dropped back to the edge of their penalty area, and the midfield followed suit.

Marcelo ran to the sideline and flicked up the ball thrown by the ball boy. He held it in his hands, spun it around, and saw Gareth Bale running back from upfield. Without a second thought, Marcelo threw the ball with both hands.

It was a light throw, landing perfectly at Gareth Bale’s feet. The Welshman received the ball in the space between Lyon’s midfield and defense. He controlled it, passed it horizontally to Rakitić in the left channel, and then immediately burst forward.

The Welshman was tall, and he had started bulking up over the past couple of years. Especially in the last year, as his performances improved, he played with growing confidence. Now, when he charged forward, he looked truly unstoppable!

Rakitić, understanding perfectly, didn’t control the ball but played a direct through pass into the left side of the penalty area.

The next second, everyone saw Gareth Bale cut diagonally from the left corner of the box into the left side of the area at incredible speed.

Réveillère tracked Bale all the way, but the Welshman used his left shoulder to hold him off, bursting into the left side of the box and controlling the ball with his right foot.

Seeing Réveillère being overpowered by Bale, Cris was forced to abandon Lewandowski and quickly retreat to the edge of the six-yard box to help Réveillère contain Bale. At the very least, he couldn’t let him get a shot off.

The Welshman controlled the ball with his right foot and was about to adjust for a shot when Cris arrived just in time. This forced Bale to change his mind. He abruptly stopped, turned to shield the ball from Réveillère with his back, and then pulled the ball back with his left foot, neatly avoiding Cris.

But in doing so, Bale now had his back to the goal.

The Welshman passed the ball back.

The ball went back to a spot near the left side of the penalty spot.

Lewandowski had been waiting there all along. The Pole simultaneously used his arm to hold off Boumsong. As the ball arrived, Lewandowski controlled it and quickly turned.

He didn’t even need to look where the goal was. As he turned, he unleashed a furious power shot with his right foot.

From Bale receiving Marcelo’s throw-in, to the one-two with Rakitić, to the back pass, and finally to Lewandowski’s control, turn, and shot…

The entire sequence unfolded in just eight seconds.

Never mind the Lyon players who were passively defending; even the fans in the stands were left breathless. Many of them hadn’t even figured out what was happening before Lewandowski had controlled the ball, turned, and shot.

The next moment, they saw the football rocket into the bottom right corner of Lyon’s goal.

Fast!

Too fast!

And the coordination was so fluid!

It left Lyon’s players with a sense of helplessness and the fans in the stands utterly stunned!

People are peculiar that way. If they don’t see something at all, they’re just confused. It’s precisely when they see it, but not quite clearly, that they are even more shocked!

…

Leading 1-0 at home and 2-0 on aggregate, Lyon could no longer sit back. Puel knew they had to score soon.

Thus, at the start of the second half, Lyon immediately launched a counter-attack.

But in the 53rd minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half, Nemanja Matić sent a long pass forward. Gareth Bale made a quick run down the left, getting to the ball before Réveillère on the edge of Lyon’s box. He suddenly stopped, cut inside, and then played a sharp through ball with his right foot.

The ball went past Réveillère and into the penalty area.

Lewandowski made a diagonal run from outside the arc, getting behind the defense. He beat Cris to Bale’s pass and, without taking a touch, hit a first-time shot with his left foot.

The ball once again flew past Coupet and into the net.

2-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in frenzied cheers!

A brace!

After his prolific scoring in the league, Lewandowski was now showing his lethal efficiency in the Champions League knockout stage!

Gareth Bale, meanwhile, had provided two brilliant assists.

As if not to let Bale hog the spotlight on the left, Ángel Di María on the right soon orchestrated an attack of his own.

After Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Modrić quickly passed it to Di María, who had dropped back. Di María, with his back to Aly Cissokho, laid the ball off to the right flank.

At that moment, Piszczek surged forward along the right touchline, carrying the ball with him. Up ahead, Lewandowski was also making an active run. The connection between the two Polish internationals had been seen many times this season, which alerted the Lyon defenders.

As Piszczek advanced with the ball, Aly Cissokho immediately abandoned Di María and charged towards Piszczek. On the edge of Lyon’s box, Piszczek stopped near the right touchline and played a horizontal pass.

Di María sprinted forward at top speed, receiving Piszczek’s pass right on the edge of the penalty area’s right corner. He cut through the gap between Lyon’s midfield and defense like a sharp knife, driving into the right side of the box. The Argentine was incredibly fast, and his run was perfectly timed.

As Boumsong came out to block him, Di María, near the byline, executed another Rabona. The ball was chipped up by Di María’s Rabona, heading towards the edge of the six-yard box.

Originally, Lewandowski, Cris, and others were all rushing towards the six-yard box. Gareth Bale was at the far post, and Lewandowski was at the near post. But when Di María’s Rabona cross came in, Lewandowski was the first to react. The pass was a bit off target.

So, he decisively pulled back a little, adjusted his position, and dove forward, heading Di María’s cross into the right side of the goal.

Goalkeeper Coupet, who was already positioned towards the right, made a timely dive, but the ball still slipped through his hands and into the net behind him.

3-0!

And the match was only sixty minutes old!

4-0 on aggregate!

Lyon’s fate was sealed!

…

When Bayswater Chinese thrashed Lyon 3-0 at home, winning 4-0 on aggregate, fans around the world once again felt the shockwave from the Premier League.

Who would have thought that a team that sold four of its core stars in the summer could still possess such astonishing fighting power?

In two other ties, Arsenal demolished Porto 5-0 at home, adding to their 2-1 away win in the first leg to sweep aside the Primeira Liga team 7-1 on aggregate. Anyone could see that The Gunners were truly formidable this season. Wenger even stated that this season’s Arsenal was stronger overall than the “Invincibles” team of 2003/04.

Meanwhile, Manchester United, after losing 3-2 away to AC Milan in the first leg, returned home to thrash them 4-0.

Thus, the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 saw a series of comprehensive victories for English teams. Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester United all displayed immense strength.

Unfortunately, Liverpool had been eliminated in the group stage, so the Premier League only had three representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals this year.

Awkwardly, Real Madrid, despite their heavy spending, had finished second in their group. In the Round of 16, they faced the other Serie A giant, Inter Milan, managed by Mourinho. The Nerazzurri, with their resilient defensive counter-attacks, defeated Real Madrid. The Galácticos were once again knocked out in the Round of 16.

In the subsequent Champions League quarter-final draw, the three Premier League powerhouses finally avoided each other.

For once, Yang Cheng had an incredibly lucky draw, getting the team he most wanted: the weakest of the quarter-finalists, Ligue 1’s Bordeaux.

Arsenal, on the other hand, drew Barça, Manchester United got Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan were pitted against CSKA Moscow.

In the eyes of many, Bayswater Chinese’s draw was as good as a bye into the next round. Yang Cheng couldn’t stop smiling either.

But then, a worrying thought crossed his mind.

Would the fans back in China accuse Bayswater Chinese of getting through thanks to Godfather Platini?

Good heavens, I swear Godfather Platini and I are innocent!

…

After the Champions League match, the weekend brought the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Chelsea dispatched Portsmouth with a clean 2-0 victory at home.

Manchester City secured a narrow 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Bayswater Chinese, however, were held to a 0-0 draw away at Fulham.

This match was truly frustrating for Yang Cheng. Despite heavy squad rotation, he was determined to win. With so many matches and two league games in hand, there was simply no time for an FA Cup replay.

But fate had other plans!

They hit the post twice, and a goal by Theo Walcott was disallowed for offside.

In the end, the match finished 0-0.

A replay would have to be played at home a week later.

While Bayswater Chinese were playing in the FA Cup, other teams were playing the 30th round of the Premier League.

It was not until midweek that Bayswater Chinese played their rescheduled 30th round match.

Playing at home against Everton, the team conceded two goals in just three minutes, in the 19th and 22nd minutes.

Yang Cheng was completely stunned!

In the 26th minute, Lewandowski scored from a Gareth Bale assist, pulling one back for Everton.

It wasn’t until the 52nd minute of the second half that Ángel Di María equalized, assisted by Lewandowski.

After that, no matter how hard Bayswater Chinese attacked, they just couldn’t find the winning goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese drew 2-2 at home against Everton.

In the same round, Chelsea beat West Ham United 2-1 at home.

Arsenal won 2-1 away against Hull City, with goals from Andrei Arshavin and Benzema.

Manchester United defeated Fulham 3-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Rooney.

Liverpool beat Portsmouth 4-1 at home, with Torres scoring twice.

Manchester City, on the other hand, drew 1-1 away at Sunderland. The Blue Moons conceded in the 9th minute and only managed to equalize in the 91st minute through substitute Adam Johnson.

After this round of matches, Arsenal continued to lead the league table with seventy-three points.

Bayswater Chinese, with twenty-one wins, five draws, and two losses, had sixty-eight points and were in second place. Manchester City also had sixty-eight points, remaining in third. Manchester United had closed the gap, reaching sixty-six points.

…

After the 30th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng could feel the pressure on his team.

From the team’s current condition, the players were generally physically fatigued, but it was still manageable. The real problem was psychological.

From the start of the league in mid-August last year, it had been either international matches or two games a week. Especially from Christmas until now, the relentless schedule had left no time for the team to catch its breath.

Many might wonder, hadn’t a match been postponed due to the snowstorm?

But that postponement, far from giving the team a break, had severely disrupted their preparations. This was because when the coaching staff adjusted the players’ form, it was often tied to a cycle of peaks and troughs. This was the so-called league rhythm.

For example, with two games a week, the daily training plan was designed to have players in good form for both the midweek and weekend matches. If this rhythm was suddenly interrupted, the entire subsequent schedule would be like a toppling row of dominoes, requiring constant adjustments.

And to make matters worse, Bayswater Chinese was currently under immense competitive pressure. In a sense, the players were more mentally exhausted than physically. This was what led to the team collectively short-circuiting for three minutes in the match against Everton.

But there was no good solution at the moment. The fixtures were tight, and the schedule was so compressed that it left no room for the team to breathe.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng could only select players based on their physical condition and form.

In the 31st round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Sunderland away. The Black Cats, who had just held Manchester City to a draw at home, were hoping to do the same to Bayswater Chinese. Their head coach was former Manchester United legend Steve Bruce. Before the match, he had vowed to continue to thwart the top teams.

The valiant Sunderland were extremely resilient at home, and their 4-5-1 formation gave the out-of-form Bayswater Chinese a tough time. For the first thirty minutes of the first half, Sunderland even went toe-to-toe with Bayswater Chinese.

In the second half, with the team still unable to break down their opponents, Yang Cheng made two quick substitutions in the 72nd minute. First, he brought on Eden Hazard for Rakitić, then Theo Walcott for Gareth Bale. Di María moved to the left, and Walcott played on the right. After a series of consecutive matches, Gareth Bale’s form in this game was poor.

After the changes, Bayswater Chinese continued to pressure their opponents.

Finally, in the 88th minute, Eden Hazard broke through the middle of the park with the ball and played a through pass on the edge of the box. Theo Walcott made a quick run from the right into the right side of the penalty area. Near the right corner of the six-yard box, The Little Tiger latched onto Hazard’s pass and slotted the ball past Gordon.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory away at Sunderland.

But it was a perilous win.

The media and reporters credited the victory to Yang Cheng’s two substitutions. It also served as a warning bell for Bayswater Chinese.

The situation Yang Cheng had most dreaded had finally occurred. As the season reached its crucial final stretch, Bayswater Chinese, exhausted from non-stop matches, found their form suffering.

At the same time, the team still had two rescheduled matches to play. And ahead of them was the pressure from league leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners had been incredibly stable recently. Wenger’s team seemed to have returned to their form from the 2003/04 unbeaten season. In this round, The Gunners defeated West Ham United 2-0 at home. Manchester United came from behind to beat Liverpool 3-1 at home. Manchester City won 2-1 away against Fulham. Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Blackburn Rovers.

At this point, it was almost unrealistic for Chelsea to fight their way back into the top four. The only remaining suspense this season was the final sprint between the four closely-matched teams at the top.

The biggest advantage for Bayswater Chinese was their schedule, but paradoxically, their schedule was also their biggest disadvantage. For example, while other teams could rest, Bayswater Chinese had an FA Cup replay in midweek.

Strive for the top!

This was Bayswater Chinese’s football philosophy.

Every match must be fought to win!

…

In the midweek FA Cup replay, Yang Cheng once again fielded a completely changed lineup of eleven reserves and young players. This was because the weekend’s Premier League match, in the 32nd round, was the most important clash of the season so far.

Bayswater Chinese at home against Arsenal!

This would be the key battle to turn the tide of this season’s title race!

As it happened, in the 17th minute of the first half of the replay, Fulham scored on a sharp counter-attack, with Zamora getting the goal from a Duff assist.

After that, no matter what Bayswater Chinese tried, they couldn’t break down Fulham’s defense.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng made his first substitutions of the match. One was bringing on Paul Pogba for Javi Martínez. After the change, Aaron Ramsey moved to the right wing, and Theo Walcott was pushed up front. Matuidi played a holding role, while Pogba and Eden Hazard were given free roles to attack from the front. And their focus of attack was the left flank. Yang Cheng wanted to use attacks from the left to pin down Duff on the right.

As it turned out, this very substitution produced a spectacular piece of combination play from the two gifted youngsters just two minutes into the second half.

As Pogba advanced with the ball in the left channel, he passed to Eden Hazard and then continued his run forward. Hazard’s first touch took him past Fulham’s right-back Kelly, and then he suddenly played an inspired chipped pass. The chip landed perfectly in front of the onrushing Pogba at the top-left edge of the box. The French midfielder leaped and flicked the falling ball with his head.

The ball changed direction, drifting diagonally towards the far post.

At that moment, almost everyone’s attention was on the brilliant interplay between the two young geniuses on the left, completely ignoring a flash of red lightning that suddenly appeared at the goalmouth.

Theo Walcott easily tapped the ball in, equalizing the score.

1-1!

What surprised Yang Cheng even more was that in the 58th minute, Theo Walcott received the ball on the right, took on Konchesky one-on-one, suddenly burst forward, reached the byline, and crossed.

Giroud challenged for the header at the near post, but the ball flew to the far post.

Just as everyone was surprised, a dark figure suddenly appeared. Pogba headed the ball from close range back into the middle. A golden opportunity!

In the chaotic scramble, Giroud stuck out a foot, almost instinctively, and deflected the ball into Fulham’s net.

2-1!

They had turned it around!

Not only were the eighty thousand fans in the stadium somewhat stunned, but even Yang Cheng on the sideline could hardly believe it.

Two assists?

And, Giroud actually scored?

Then, in the 66th minute, Aaron Ramsey crossed from the right. Giroud chested the ball down at the edge of the penalty arc, turned, and played a diagonal pass behind the defense with his left foot.

Eden Hazard made a diagonal run into the left side of the box and calmly slotted the ball home.

3-1!

Wembley Stadium once again erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.

Yang Cheng quickly made more substitutions. Harry Kane replaced Theo Walcott. Kanté replaced Eden Hazard. After the changes, he gave this group of young players free rein to attack.

Unfortunately, Fulham quickly realized the problem. In the 70th minute, Hodgson made two substitutions, strengthening his team’s defense.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Fulham 3-1 at home, successfully advancing to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Their opponents in the next round would be Manchester City, an away trip to Manchester.

…

When a team is in poor form and the schedule is packed, and they are about to face a crucial battle, what should the head coach do?

Presumably, coaches with different personalities would give different answers.

A more conservative coach would choose the most conservative match strategy.

Coaches like Pep Guardiola or Wenger would choose to stick to their principles and continue with their usual tactics.

Benítez would definitely set up his tactics specifically to counter the opponent.

Ancelotti would probably make decisions based on the players at his disposal.

Yang Cheng, from the very beginning, never had much of an idol’s burden.

His choice was the strategy with the highest probability of winning.

So, for the home game against Arsenal, Yang Cheng gave up on competing for possession, abandoned the high press, and had the entire team retreat into their own half.

From the halfway line to their own penalty area, they organized a tight press and set up layers of defense.

Up front was the combination of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

The midfield trio was Matuidi, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić.

And behind them was a defensive line led by Thiago Silva and Pepe.

Yang Cheng set up camp in his own half, allowing Arsenal to seize the initiative as the away team.

Wenger also placed great importance on this match.

Although The Gunners were five points ahead, one mustn’t forget that Yang Cheng still had two games in hand. Theoretically, if Bayswater Chinese won both, they would overtake Arsenal in the standings.

Therefore, Wenger had only one thought: defeat Bayswater Chinese away and establish a real lead.

What’s more, fate seemed to be on his side. After a grueling season, Bayswater Chinese’s form was faltering, making it the perfect time for Arsenal to reap the rewards!

From the start of the match, the visiting Gunners seized the initiative, attacking proactively. Andrei Arshavin, starting on the left, was particularly active against his old club, showing no mercy. In the 9th minute, after being tackled by Modrić, he even fouled the Croatian while trying to counter-press.

The stadium immediately erupted in a cacophony of boos. Many fans were even shouting insults at Arshavin. This was also a tactic from the home fans. Everyone knew the Russian Tsar was Arsenal’s most dangerous player; disrupting him would naturally disrupt Arsenal’s attack.

Besides, Arshavin had come from Bayswater Chinese. How could he play so fiercely at such a crucial moment?

Arsenal’s most dangerous attack occurred in the 18th minute. Fàbregas played a through ball, Benzema controlled it on the edge of the box, turned, and passed to van Persie. The Dutchman’s power shot from the right side of the box was securely held by Neuer.

For the rest of the time, Arsenal could mostly only threaten through long shots.

Chapter 198: A Super Soldier is Born! Wenger: I’m Taking This Season’s Premier League Title!

“Bayswater Chinese are truly confident when they play at home!”

In the away team’s technical area at Wembley Stadium, Wenger frowned and turned to his assistant coach, Pat Rice.

His tone carried a hint of helplessness.

Thirty minutes had passed, and Arsenal still hadn’t found a good way to break down the Bayswater Chinese defence.

Wenger’s team had been on the offensive from the very beginning, creating a series of chances.

They even came incredibly close to scoring in the eighteenth minute.

But every attack fell just short.

It was frustrating for Wenger, but there was nothing he could do.

“A defence that has only conceded seventeen goals in thirty-one rounds—no, strictly speaking, twenty-nine rounds,” Pat Rice said, equally exasperated.

After thirty-one Premier League matches, the second-best defensive team was Manchester United, who had conceded twenty-five goals.

That was already quite impressive.

But Bayswater Chinese had only let in seventeen.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese was also the highest-scoring team in the Premier League.

Eighty-seven goals in twenty-nine matches.

Many predicted that Yang Cheng’s team would break the one-hundred-goal mark this season.

Their record after thirty-one rounds was twenty-two wins, five draws, and two losses.

The biggest issue for Yang Cheng’s team this season had been competing on multiple fronts, and the instability that followed the sale of four key players last summer.

But looking at the season as a whole, Bayswater Chinese had only lost twice: 2-1 away to Manchester United and 1-0 away to Chelsea.

These were normal results for clashes between top teams.

The loss to Chelsea had occurred in January, when they were stretched thin across several competitions.

Bayswater Chinese was also the only Premier League team this season to have consistently competed on multiple fronts.

And they had already won the League Cup!

“It’s not just this season.”

Wenger’s perspective differed slightly from Pat Rice’s.

“The main thing is that they haven’t lost at home in years. That’s why they play here with such incredible confidence and self-assurance. No matter how tough it gets, they firmly believe they can pull through.”

At this, Wenger sighed, his eyes filled with envy.

“On a football pitch, sometimes that kind of unwavering belief is more powerful than anything else!”

Pat Rice nodded slightly upon hearing this.

He was beginning to understand why Yang Cheng had gone so far as to freeze out Andy Carroll.

If the Bayswater Chinese dressing room was a fortress, then Andy Carroll was a crack in its inner walls.

From the start of the match until now, Arsenal had tried various tactics and created numerous opportunities.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, played a very pragmatic, even conservative game.

Wenger’s anxiety was far from unfounded.

Just as Wenger and Pat Rice were talking, Bayswater Chinese suddenly launched a long ball from their backline.

The pass landed precisely in the final third of the pitch.

Robert Lewandowski dropped back, using his body to shield the ball from Koscielny before controlling it with his chest.

At that moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to Lewandowski.

Wenger, however, immediately spotted Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott on the flanks.

The Arsenal manager suddenly leaped from his seat, rushed to the touchline, pointed at the pitch, and cried out, “Watch out for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott!”

At that very moment, the twin stars had already surged forward, seemingly out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, the combination play didn’t succeed this time.

After controlling the ball with his chest, Lewandowski was hindered by Koscielny and couldn’t make the pass in time.

As Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott made their runs, Arsenal’s backline pushed up in unison, catching both players offside.

The Polish centre-forward didn’t pass. Instead, relying on his individual skill, he turned, dribbled forward a couple of steps, and suddenly unleashed a long shot, which posed no real threat.

Still, a round of warm applause erupted from Wembley Stadium!

It was a sign of encouragement from the fans for the Bayswater Chinese players!

Wenger quickly walked to the touchline, reminding Toulalan, Clichy, and Sagna to keep a constant eye on the Bayswater Chinese flanks and to mark the two incredibly fast players tightly.

Were they merely fast?

Wenger had an equally speedy player on his team in Aaron Lennon.

But Gareth Bale was superior to Aaron Lennon in every aspect, from his all-round ability and attacking impact to his technique on the ball.

And Theo Walcott, whose physique seemed similar to Lennon’s, was also a more complete player than Lennon, possessing excellent awareness for interchanging runs.

His instincts for goal were also sharper.

As Arsenal’s head coach, Wenger knew exactly what Yang Cheng was planning.

He was also keenly aware of the threat posed by Bayswater Chinese.

…

When Arsenal’s right-back Sagna pushed forward to receive a pass on the right side of the center circle, he raised his right hand, as if to signal to his teammates: Brothers, we’re launching an attack!

But just as Sagna crossed the halfway line into the Bayswater Chinese half, a dark figure suddenly charged in with a ferocious sliding tackle.

Matuidi took out both man and ball, sending Sagna tumbling to the ground on the left side of his team’s center circle.

Head referee Howard Webb was nearby and witnessed the tackle firsthand.

Sagna remained on the ground, while Matuidi, also on the floor, still managed to kick the ball to the approaching Gareth Bale.

The Arsenal players protested for a foul, but Howard Webb didn’t blow his whistle.

The Gunners’ backline quickly retreated.

But Gareth Bale immediately surged forward with the ball.

The Welshman’s dribbling was fast, and he was getting faster.

By the time he carried the ball into Arsenal’s final third, he was already on the edge of the penalty area. Facing centre-back Chygrynskiy, who was continuously backpedaling, Gareth Bale charged forward without slowing down.

On the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, with nowhere left to retreat, Chygrynskiy decided to hold his ground.

The next moment, Gareth Bale was upon him.

The Welshman came to a sudden halt, planted his left foot, flicked the ball sideways with the outside of his right foot, and cut inside.

In one move, Gareth Bale had left Chygrynskiy for dead.

After catching up to the ball, Gareth Bale unleashed a furious strike with his right foot without a moment’s hesitation.

The ball shot off his foot at incredible speed, flying over the head of Lloris, who was still on his six-yard line and hadn’t retreated to his goal-line in time, and nestled into the right side of the net behind him.

At almost the same instant, the whole of Wembley Stadium erupted in a frenzy of cheers from the Bayswater Chinese supporters.

Countless fans leaped from their seats, wildly chanting Gareth Bale’s name.

The Welshman, ecstatic, had already turned and sprinted off the pitch, running all the way to the touchline to celebrate his opening goal for the team!

1-0!

“A magnificent goal has just been scored!!”

“In the thirty-first minute, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Arsenal’s goal!”

“It comes from left winger Gareth Bale, cutting inside from the left and scoring with a right-footed power shot!”

“That’s right, the player known for his left foot has pierced the Gunners’ goal with his right, opening the scoring for his team!”

“What a surprise!”

“I believe Chygrynskiy must have been completely shocked when defending against Bale.”

“Because he never expected the left-footed Welshman to strike with his right foot like that.”

“But in fact, this isn’t the first time Bale has cut in from the left and shot with his right.”

“He’s so complete!”

“Gareth Bale is transforming into an all-around, omnipotent super soldier!”

“This is his fourteenth Premier League goal of the season!”

“This twenty-year-old youngster is rapidly developing into an outstanding goalscorer!”

“He has truly transformed this season, continuously improving his abilities.”

The entire Wembley Stadium was filled with the sound of fans chanting Gareth Bale’s name.

Down below, by the stands, the Welshman passionately spread his arms, soaking in the cheers from the crowd.

He savored every moment of it!

He had come from the Southampton youth academy, but in the five seasons since joining Bayswater Chinese in 2005, he had progressed steadily, improving season after season.

All of this was thanks to the support, trust, and development he received from Bayswater Chinese.

Especially from head coach Yang Cheng.

Here, he was given treatment that would be hard for any other professional player to find.

He loved this team, he loved these fans!

So, after celebrating his goal, Gareth Bale pulled up the jersey over his left chest and firmly kissed the club crest, raising his right hand high.

This was his way of giving back to the fans at the stadium, to Bayswater Chinese!

And Gareth Bale’s gesture earned him even more thunderous applause, even more frantic cheers!

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had sold too many players.

Many fans worried that the club might one day sell off players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott too.

But now, Gareth Bale had shown his feelings.

He loved Bayswater Chinese!

…

Yang Cheng stood in front of the home team’s dugout, watching the scene unfold with a smile and a nod.

Turning his head, he looked at an equally excited Brian Kidd. “You were right, Brian!”

“He really is more comfortable on the left!”

Brian Kidd grinned from ear to ear. “No, no, Yang, you weren’t wrong either.”

The two high-fived and then shared a laughing embrace.

In fact, according to Yang Cheng’s original plan, he had been consciously trying to develop Gareth Bale into a right-winger since last season, following the path of C. Ronaldo.

C. Ronaldo was a right-footed inverted winger playing on the left; Bale would be a left-footed inverted winger playing on the right.

It was a clear, ready-made path.

As it turned out, Gareth Bale wasn’t bad on the right and had many brilliant moments, including that wonder goal against Real Madrid.

But Brian Kidd told Yang Cheng that Gareth Bale didn’t actually enjoy playing on the right.

This was a conclusion he had reached through observation in training and matches, as well as conversations with the player.

When playing on the left, Gareth Bale wasn’t limited to going to the byline to cross; he also had excellent opportunities to shoot.

Anyone who has played football knows that it’s difficult for a left-footed player to shoot from the left side of the goal, and the same goes for a right-footed player on the right.

This is why inverted wingers emerged.

Prolific wingers like C. Ronaldo, Messi, and Salah are all inverted.

Yang Cheng’s initial reason for wanting to put Gareth Bale on the right was based on this idea.

But later, he and the coaching staff discovered that Gareth Bale could produce very dangerous shots from the left side of the goal as well.

He often only needed a bit of space to shoot, and he could unleash powerful, high-quality shots to the far corner from the left side.

Anywhere in the left half of the final third, Gareth Bale was a threat if given a chance to shoot.

Moreover, he possessed a very tricky long shot.

Like that wonder goal against Real Madrid.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the fans called this a ‘butterfly ball’.

So, after Brian Kidd’s reminder, Yang Cheng spoke with Gareth Bale again and decided to modify his plan.

Gareth Bale would continue playing on the left but would work hard on his right foot.

He wanted to develop Gareth Bale into a more complete goalscorer.

Just like now, as long as a defender wasn’t marking him tightly, he could shoot at any time from within thirty meters of goal.

This was the tactical freedom Yang Cheng gave him!

Besides Gareth Bale, there was also Theo Walcott.

Yang Cheng hoped that these two goalscorers, along with the incredibly versatile Robert Lewandowski, could form a highly coordinated attacking trio up front, with no fixed positions.

And these three players were free-roamers in the attack!

No longer bound by position, no longer constrained by duties and permissions, they were all given greater tactical freedom.

He believed that the attacking power unleashed by the abilities and characteristics of these three players would definitely make the whole of European football sit up and take notice.

It would also give all their opponents a headache.

Because they wouldn’t know how to defend against them!

Just like Chygrynskiy moments ago.

How could he defend when facing Gareth Bale one-on-one?

If he defended against Gareth Bale going to the byline, the Welshman could cut inside and shoot with his right foot.

Perhaps he wasn’t as proficient with it yet, and his threat cutting inside with his right foot was far from C. Ronaldo’s, but he was constantly practising.

Defend against him cutting inside?

Then the Welshman just had to burst into the box, and with his speed, he would instantly create a yard of space to shoot with his left foot.

That was Gareth Bale’s specialty!

In this situation, defenders were in a world of trouble.

If Yang Cheng’s vision came to fruition, Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski could even swap positions at will in the future.

Because the Welshman also had excellent physical strength and heading ability.

By then, as long as the team’s attack was strong enough, opponents would have to defend with their hearts in their mouths.

The job of the midfield and defence would be to continuously supply ammunition to the front three.

It would be even better if he could sign Toni Kroos, whom he had long coveted.

Then, the midfield iron triangle would also be complete.

At that point, Yang Cheng would love to see who in European football could stop Bayswater Chinese!

…

Despite conceding a goal to Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal continued to press their attack.

Wenger hoped his team could push harder and equalize before halftime.

But after taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese reverted to the defensive counter-attack strategy from the start of the match.

Yang Cheng’s tactics for this game were very pragmatic.

This left the Gunners with no choice but to continue their relentless offensive.

In the forty-second minute, Robert Lewandowski committed a foul on Chygrynskiy while pressing high up the pitch.

Since joining Arsenal, the Ukrainian centre-back had gradually become a stalwart of the Gunners’ defence.

Wenger currently had five centre-backs at his disposal—Vermaelen, Chygrynskiy, Koscielny, Kolo Touré, and Gallas—a true luxury.

Crucially, all five centre-backs had been performing well.

Among them, Vermaelen, Chygrynskiy, and Koscielny were undoubtedly Wenger’s hand-picked future starters.

Chygrynskiy’s ability to play the ball out from the back was the best of the three.

Lewandowski’s foul also disrupted a quick counter-attack from Arsenal.

Goalkeeper Lloris ran out of his box, gesturing for his teammates to press forward.

He set the ball down, and once his teammates ahead began their runs, he quickly launched a long pass.

The ball flew rapidly towards the left flank of the attack, which was the right side of the Bayswater Chinese half.

Benzema quickly pulled out wide, anticipated the ball’s trajectory, and got into position first.

But as the ball was about to drop, the French forward felt a huge push from behind.

When he turned to look, he saw the formidable, strong frame of Pepe.

At the exact moment the ball was overhead, the Portuguese international of Brazilian descent forcibly shouldered Benzema aside, jumped up, and headed the ball towards his own right front.

The French forward didn’t even get to jump.

Piszczek charged forward to meet the falling ball, squeezed between two Arsenal players, and swept it sideways with the inside of his right foot into open space.

Modrić surged forward quickly, latched onto Piszczek’s pass, and played a through ball with his right foot.

The ball skimmed across the grass at high speed, slicing through Arsenal’s midfield, then passing between Clichy and Chygrynskiy to penetrate the Gunners’ backline, rolling towards the right side of their penalty area.

In that instant, a collective gasp echoed throughout Wembley Stadium.

What a beautiful pass!

Theo Walcott was seen shrugging off Clichy and sprinting forward at top speed.

The English winger was like a flash of red lightning, tearing down the right flank towards the right side of the box.

Koscielny had always been fast in recovery.

He was also positioned as the last man in the defensive line.

When retreating, he was also the first one back.

But everyone watched, stunned, as Theo Walcott, who was originally a good distance behind, steadily closed the gap, drew level, and finally overtook him.

Witnessing this in person, fans felt goosebumps rising on their skin.

It was as if their whole being was about to be set ablaze.

Theo Walcott sped past Koscielny, controlled the ball, and burst into the Arsenal box, but he didn’t shoot immediately.

Because Koscielny was stuck to his left side, and goalkeeper Lloris was positioned on the right side of the goal.

This left “The Little Tiger” with no angle to shoot.

But Theo Walcott had a plan!

Entering the box from the right, The Little Tiger planted his left foot to the left of the ball, leaning his body to the left to shield it from Koscielny.

At the same time, he came to an abrupt stop, flicked the ball with the inside of his right foot, letting it roll behind him towards the center of the penalty area.

Koscielny had been chasing him relentlessly and never expected Walcott to pull such a move.

He slammed on the brakes with all his might, barely managing to keep his balance and avoid slipping.

But in doing so, he couldn’t possibly spare a leg to stop Walcott from cutting inside.

The unfortunate French centre-back could only watch helplessly as the ball slipped right under his nose.

Then, he saw Walcott, after his sudden stop, turn and chase after it.

This time, The Little Tiger didn’t hesitate. Upon reaching the ball, he struck it with his left foot.

The shot was low, but incredibly fast, rocketing into the bottom left corner of the net.

Goalkeeper Lloris dove with all his might, but he couldn’t get close.

“Goal!!!”

“In the forty-second minute, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“Another fast counter-attack!”

“A brilliant goal from The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott!”

“2-0!”

“The situation is looking very dire for Arsenal now!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s tactics have been relatively conservative tonight, focusing mainly on defensive counter-attacks.”

“But what’s interesting is that both goals have come from the wingers, and neither was scored with their preferred foot.”

“It’s very refreshing to see.”

“Gareth Bale is a left-footed left winger, yet he scored by cutting inside and shooting with his right foot.”

“Theo Walcott is a right-footed right winger, yet he scored with a left-footed power shot.”

“It has to be said, both of Bayswater Chinese’s wingers are incredibly versatile, which poses a huge headache for the players defending them and puts immense pressure on the Gunners’ backline.”

“Wenger must come up with more targeted attacking tactics for the second half.”

…

“Wenger will definitely make substitutions in the second half. I’m guessing he might even do it during halftime!”

Returning to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead, Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the team’s performance in the first half.

But he didn’t dare to let his guard down.

Because Wenger still had plenty of cards to play.

Players like Nasri, Gourcuff, and Aaron Lennon were all on the bench.

It could be said that any substitution Wenger made could change the course of the game.

“We did very well in the first half. Although Arsenal had possession, they couldn’t control the game.”

To put it simply, while Arsenal had possession, their advantage on the pitch wasn’t significant.

They had even fewer genuinely threatening scoring opportunities than Bayswater Chinese.

This was what Yang Cheng meant by not being able to control the game.

But if Wenger wanted to score, he had to make changes or adjustments.

From the current situation, substitutions were highly likely.

The only question was when.

Yang Cheng believed that if it were him, he would make the changes at halftime.

Trailing by two goals, Wenger was out of time. He had to go all-out without reservation.

Who could guarantee they could score two goals in one half away at Bayswater Chinese?

Uh…

Alright, David Moyes would say, I can do it!

In the thirtieth round of the Premier League, Everton visited Wembley Stadium and scored two goals in just three minutes in the first half.

They didn’t even need a full half.

But Yang Cheng was certain that Wenger wouldn’t take such a huge gamble. Would Bayswater Chinese make that same mistake again?

“Lads!”

Yang Cheng gathered all the players around him.

“Today’s match is not just a contest between us and Arsenal, it’s a battle for the league title!”

Currently, the Gunners led Bayswater Chinese by five points, but Yang Cheng’s team had two games in hand.

This was Wenger’s biggest concern.

If Bayswater Chinese won both their rescheduled matches, they would overtake Arsenal by one point.

Therefore, Wenger wanted to beat Bayswater Chinese away from home to extend his lead to eight points.

If he succeeded, the Gunners’ league title would be relatively secure.

As long as they didn’t make any major mistakes in the remaining six matches, they would likely be crowned champions.

Yang Cheng had grasped Wenger’s mentality, which was why he opted for a defensive counter-attacking strategy at home.

“I know you’re all very tired and have worked extremely hard.”

“This past season, the pressure on us has been immense.”

“You could even say it’s been unprecedented!”

This was no exaggeration from Yang Cheng.

Why unprecedented?

They had played in the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup before.

It wasn’t the first time Bayswater Chinese had competed on multiple fronts in the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup.

But this season was different.

Because of the World Cup in South Africa, all competitions were required to finish before mid-May.

The Premier League’s final round was on May 9th this year.

Under such circumstances, the schedule was incredibly condensed.

To make matters worse, they were hit by a blizzard, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in thirty years, in January.

This placed enormous pressure on Bayswater Chinese, who were competing on multiple fronts.

The team even experienced a rare injury crisis.

So, when Yang Cheng said these words, all the players, coaches, and staff present felt it deeply.

“But I want to say, it’s precisely because it’s hard, precisely because it’s not easy, that we are more motivated!”

“We, Bayswater Chinese, have never feared any challenge!”

“We will never yield to any difficulty, any opponent!”

“Especially not at our home ground!”

Every sentence from Yang Cheng struck a chord with the players.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese had never lost!

This record had long surpassed the home record set by Chelsea under José Mourinho’s management.

Yang Cheng had spent years turning the Bayswater Chinese home ground into an impregnable fortress.

When fans walked in here, they could expect a victory!

When players walked in here, they had the confidence to crush any opponent!

“Finally, I want to say, go out onto that pitch, crush Arsenal, and claim the championship that belongs to us!”

As he finished, Yang Cheng clenched his right fist, his jaw tight.

The surrounding players were all deeply moved.

…

Yang Cheng was wrong about one thing.

During halftime, Wenger made adjustments but didn’t make any substitutions.

This was also normal.

Yang Cheng was trying to guess Wenger’s psychology, and Wenger was doing the same.

But after the second half began, Bayswater Chinese stuck to their first-half tactics.

Without making substitutions, it was difficult for the Gunners to turn the tide.

So, the game largely continued in the same vein as the first half.

The Gunners had possession, while Bayswater Chinese controlled the situation.

It was a transactional affair.

The match proceeded steadily.

It wasn’t until the fifty-eighth minute that Modrić once again played a through ball.

As Theo Walcott was about to make a run on the right half-space in Arsenal’s half, Clichy committed a decisive foul.

This gave Bayswater Chinese a free kick opportunity from over thirty meters out.

The distance to the goal was too great, and the position was skewed to the right, making a direct shot unsuitable.

Gianni Vio once again rushed out of the technical area.

Although the Italian coach seemed to have lost some of his magic this season, every time he emerged from the dugout, he was still greeted with cheers from the Bayswater Chinese fans.

After placing the ball, Modrić raised his right hand high.

Inside the box, Bayswater Chinese’s tall players all pushed forward.

Everyone knew it was an indirect free kick, so Arsenal focused on marking the taller players like Pepe and Nemanja Matić.

There were also players like Thiago Silva and Gareth Bale, who were excellent in the air.

With a blow of his whistle, referee Webb signaled for the kick. Modrić took a quick run-up and sent a curling ball with his right foot.

The ball carved a beautiful arc through the air before dropping towards the left side of the Arsenal penalty area.

A crowd of players rushed towards the left side of the box.

The scene descended into chaos.

Just outside the left corner of the six-yard box, Pepe suddenly leaped up amidst the crowd, soaring high from a standing start, and headed the ball towards the right side of the goal.

Lloris moved quickly and made a diving save, parrying the ball with one hand.

The French goalkeeper landed heavily on the grass in front of his goal.

But the ball he had blocked was still loose in the penalty area.

At that moment, a red figure rapidly closed in. Just to the right of the six-yard box, he met the ball with a simple push shot.

Then, the player turned and ran.

The ball hit the back of the net.

3-0!

In that instant, Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Everyone saw the number 4 on the back of the jersey.

It was Thiago Silva’s shirt number!

The Brazilian centre-back sprinted off the pitch, ran to the stands by the touchline, and celebrated with an emotional sliding kneel, cheering towards the fans.

Yang Cheng also clenched his fists in excitement on the sideline.

Once that goal went in, he knew the match was all but won!

…

Wenger stared blankly at the pitch.

In that moment, it felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

He knew that if they couldn’t win this match, they had to at least secure a draw.

Otherwise, their hopes for the league title this season would be dashed!

He couldn’t accept it!

His coaching ability was no less than Ferguson’s, his talent was on par with Pep Guardiola’s, and the football his team played was as good as Bayswater Chinese’s…

So why couldn’t he win the title?

He refused to accept it!

In the past, he could convince himself it was due to financial constraints.

He could console himself by saying he was acting for the greater good, for the future of Arsenal!

But what about now?

He had money, he had players, and all the team-building strategies were his to decide.

What reasons or excuses did he have left?

His thoughts raced, and the bewilderment in Wenger’s eyes turned to determination. It was as if all his strength had returned.

He was not resigned to this!

So he had to fight!

Wenger immediately walked to the touchline, shouting at his players.

Nasri and Gourcuff, who had just gone out to warm up, returned.

Originally, Wenger had planned to make substitutions around the sixtieth minute.

He knew that Yang Cheng’s team was not in top form or fitness.

Form could be unpredictable, but stamina didn’t lie.

After so many matches and under so much psychological pressure, with only twenty-three players in the first team, how could they compete with Arsenal?

Wenger had it all planned out. At the sixty-minute mark, he would bring on substitutes, increase the intensity of the attack, and seize control of the game.

He was still confident about overcoming a two-goal deficit!

But now, Bayswater Chinese had scored again!

Wenger called Nasri and Gourcuff to his side.

He trusted his two French compatriots immensely, believing they could pull him through in a critical moment.

So, he substituted Alexandre Song for Gourcuff.

He took off Benzema and brought on Nasri.

Both substitutions served the same purpose.

To strengthen control in the midfield and attack!

Wenger turned his head and looked towards Yang Cheng in the home team’s dugout, a sharp glint in his eyes.

Yang Cheng, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been this close to the trophy!

I’m taking this season’s Premier League title!

No one will take it from me!

…

After the substitutions, Arsenal launched an almost frenzied attack.

The Gunners gradually began to dominate the proceedings on the pitch.

This was a stark contrast to the first sixty minutes.

And Wenger’s targeted substitutions quickly paid off.

In the sixty-seventh minute, Nasri, who had only been on the pitch for a short while, delivered a brilliant pass to van Persie in the box.

The Dutch striker, with his back to goal, hit a first-time volley without controlling the ball.

The shot was incredibly quick, well-struck, and powerful. Even Thiago Silva couldn’t get across in time to block it.

Goalkeeper Neuer couldn’t stop it either.

The ball hit the back of the net.

1-3!

Wenger leaped up in excitement on the touchline, rushing to the edge of his technical area and repeatedly gesturing for his team to continue pressing the attack.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, sensed the danger and immediately made a substitution.

Aaron Ramsey came on for Theo Walcott.

At this point, Bayswater Chinese dropped back, changing their formation to a 4-1-4-1.

Nemanja Matić remained as the single holding midfielder. Aaron Ramsey moved to the right to protect Piszczek, while Gareth Bale dropped back to the left to support Marcelo.

Matuidi partnered with Modrić in the center.

This was a very defense-oriented change.

He had no choice. A desperate Arsenal was truly terrifying!

If the teams were on equal footing in terms of form and fitness, Yang Cheng would definitely dare to go all-out against Arsenal.

But now, for Bayswater Chinese to press forward and clash head-on would be asking for trouble.

After the substitution, Arsenal’s right-sided attack remained very active.

Especially Nasri.

The French player, who had just come on as a substitute, was putting immense pressure on Marcelo down the right flank.

He frequently created threats.

In the seventy-first minute, Nasri passed back from the right, and Sagna delivered a diagonal cross into the box to find van Persie.

Under pressure from Thiago Silva, van Persie’s header lacked power.

The ball was collected by Neuer.

But this attack still served as a warning bell for Bayswater Chinese.

Just two minutes later, Nasri suddenly appeared near the penalty spot, receiving a cut-back pass from Arshavin after a series of successful dribbles. His shot was saved by a diving Neuer.

In both attacks, Nasri was extremely active, causing huge problems for the Bayswater Chinese backline.

Yang Cheng immediately made his second substitution.

In the seventy-fifth minute, Ryan Bertrand replaced Marcelo.

Gareth Bale provided cover in front of him.

This more or less stabilized the defense on the left flank, and Nasri was contained.

Ryan Bertrand had the physique, speed, and solid defensive skills.

Combined with Nemanja Matić in the holding midfield role and the team’s two centre-backs, it was still very difficult for Arsenal to break through.

Not to mention, they had Matuidi and Aaron Ramsey covering and sweeping in front of them.

Speaking of which, Aaron Ramsey was increasingly winning Yang Cheng’s favor.

The homegrown player was improving at a very fast rate. He had incredible stamina and was quite quick.

As a midfielder, he could run, pass, control, dribble, shoot, and defend—a truly complete player.

At just nineteen years old, aside from his superb stamina, he averaged 1.2 dribbles, 2.9 ball recoveries, and 1.6 key passes per game.

These stats were enough to prove that he was an all-round box-to-box midfielder.

But what satisfied Yang Cheng the most was the dramatic improvement in all his passing statistics this season.

His pass completion rate was a high 90%.

Note, this was his overall in-game statistic.

Broken down, his pass completion rate in his own half was 100%.

In other words, he almost never made a mistake passing in his own half!

His pass completion rate in midfield was 93%, and in the final third, it was 83%.

His long pass completion rate was 84%, and his crossing success rate was 50%.

Did he have any weaknesses?

Yes, his through ball success rate was only 25%.

For reference, Arsenal’s Fàbregas had a through ball success rate of 30% this season.

Modrić’s was 44%.

But in overall passing stats, Fàbregas was completely outshone by Aaron Ramsey.

Fàbregas’s completion rate was only 70% in the final third, 87% in midfield, and 96% in his own half.

The Spaniard’s long pass rate was 68%, and his crossing was a mere 18%.

However, Fàbregas averaged 1.9 dribbles, 5.2 ball recoveries, and 3.5 key passes per game.

In terms of shooting statistics, Fàbregas also surpassed Aaron Ramsey.

But don’t forget, Fàbregas was born on May 4, 1987, while Aaron Ramsey was born on December 26, 1990.

There was a three-and-a-half-year age gap between them.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was now very optimistic about Aaron Ramsey and valued him highly.

This Welsh midfield prodigy had brought him so many surprises.

In his previous life, after his leg break, he completely reinvented his game.

But now, having avoided that injury, his overall performance and rate of improvement had far exceeded Yang Cheng’s expectations.

He was only nineteen.

The Bayswater Chinese coaching staff also held Aaron Ramsey in very high regard.

He was improving every year.

Most importantly, his superb passing ability was built on the foundation of his outstanding stamina.

He could run tirelessly, always finding space to receive the ball.

Coupled with his refined technique, broad vision, and simple style of play, he could always distribute the ball quickly after receiving it.

Hence, his high pass completion rate.

His current weaknesses lay in experience and awareness.

But these would gradually be remedied as he grew older and gained more match experience.

Yang Cheng found it hard to predict what level Aaron Ramsey would eventually reach, but it would definitely be a pleasant surprise.

Yang Cheng had every reason to believe that Aaron Ramsey would become a mainstay of the Bayswater Chinese midfield in the future!

…

Wenger watched in despair as Nasri cut inside from the right and reached the arc of the penalty area. Just as he was about to shoot, he was blocked by Aaron Ramsey’s body.

The Welshman had foiled another of Arsenal’s attacks.

Seeing this left a sour taste in Wenger’s mouth.

This was a player he had once coveted!

He just hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to beat him to it.

Anyone could see that Yang Cheng was now heavily promoting Aaron Ramsey, frequently giving him substitute appearances and even starts.

Another young midfielder being carefully nurtured by Yang Cheng was Paul Pogba.

The young French player had also been getting more opportunities lately.

The more Wenger thought about it, the more disgruntled he felt.

He didn’t know how Yang Cheng always managed to unearth such young gems.

If Aaron Ramsey was considered a famous young talent in Britain, and Paul Pogba had some reputation in the French youth system, then what about N’Golo Kanté?

That short midfielder was also an incredibly energetic and agile runner.

Wenger didn’t know what to think anymore.

The current Bayswater Chinese team was terrifying!

Their first team was so strong, and their youth team had this group of stunning new talents. In time, who would be able to stop them?

What pained him even more was watching as Yang Cheng’s successive substitutions allowed Bayswater Chinese to gradually stabilize their formation on the pitch and fend off Arsenal’s onslaught.

This disappointed Wenger.

If he really lost this match, wouldn’t this season’s title slip away as well?

But Wenger had never been one to be easily defeated!

He quickly buried his fleeting disappointment deep within himself.

Because the battle for this season was not over yet!

…

The high-stakes, globally watched match finally ended with a one-on-one chance for Arshavin.

Off a pass from Clichy, Arshavin successfully broke past Piszczek and found himself one-on-one in the box, only to have his shooting angle blocked by Pepe.

When he finally managed a shot under pressure, Neuer securely held onto the ball.

At that very moment, head referee Howard Webb blew the final whistle.

3-1, Bayswater Chinese had defeated Arsenal at home!

Wembley Stadium instantly transformed into a sea of celebrating fans!

Everyone was cheering for the players’ performance.

The Arsenal players, on the other hand, walked with their heads hung low.

Although the title race was far from decided, losing this match meant losing a crucial opportunity.

It was a significant blow to the Gunners.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, chuckled as he shook hands and hugged his assistants before turning and walking towards the away team’s dugout.

As the host, shaking hands before and after the match was a matter of courtesy.

“Thanks for going easy on me, Professor!” Yang Cheng said with a grin, extending his hand.

Wenger shook it with a look of disdain. “You’re really insufferable right now!”

Yang Cheng’s grin widened.

If Wenger wasn’t annoyed, wouldn’t that mean he had lost the match?

Yang Cheng wished Wenger would dislike him even more.

“Don’t get too happy too soon. We will fight until the very last moment!” Wenger also laid down the gauntlet.

They had only temporarily lost the advantage.

What if Bayswater Chinese didn’t win their rescheduled matches?

“Oh, and you should also thank me for my earlier advice. Fàbregas has decided to renew his contract with the club.”

Yang Cheng’s eyes widened.

“Really? It’s done?”

Wenger nodded with a smile.

Finally, he had found something to be happy about.

“When did this happen?”

Yang Cheng hadn’t heard any whispers about it, and the media hadn’t reported anything either.

“Just today. He gave me his personal promise.”

No wonder, Yang Cheng thought to himself.

“By the way, what’s his weekly wage?” Yang Cheng asked tentatively.

This was surely confidential.

Wenger would definitely not say.

But Yang Cheng still wanted to ask, just in case he could pick up some clue.

It could also serve as a reference for Bayswater Chinese.

“I can only tell you, it’s not as high as you suggested.”

Yang Cheng paused for a moment. How much did I suggest?

Oh, right, two hundred thousand pound sterling.

Damn!

So Wenger dragged out the contract renewal just to keep the weekly wage down. You’ve already got rich backers, why are you still being so frugal? I hate guys like you who are richer than me but even more thrifty!

Chapter 199: Topping the League Table! A Magical Premier League, a Crazy Relegation Battle!

“Successful teams are all alike, but every unsuccessful team is unsuccessful in its own way!”

This quote from Yang Cheng’s post-match press conference was eagerly circulated by countless media outlets.

Because he was the victor!

His Bayswater Chinese had just defeated their top title rivals, Arsenal, 3-1 in a crucial home game.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had every right to make such a statement.

The media’s evaluation of Bayswater Chinese was also extremely high.

Competing on multiple fronts, coupled with a dense schedule, meant that Bayswater Chinese was under far more pressure than other teams.

For one thing, to date, Bayswater Chinese still had two rescheduled matches to play.

Both of those matches were from last December.

It was already April.

During this period, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule had been packed to the brim.

It was so tight that you couldn’t even squeeze water into it.

Under such circumstances, it was already a remarkable feat for Yang Cheng and his team to withstand the pressure and fight to this point.

For comparison, look at Liverpool, or even Chelsea.

They had long since fallen out of the title race.

Now, all The Blues had left was the FA Cup.

When the media revisited Yang Cheng’s quote, wasn’t it true that every team’s failure was unique?

After defeating Arsenal, Bayswater Chinese had suddenly become the number one favourite to win the Premier League.

After the 32nd round of the Premier League, Chelsea beat Aston Villa 4-1 at home, thanks to a hat-trick from Lampard.

Manchester United defeated Bolton 4-0 away, with Berbatov scoring a brace.

A hat-trick from Carlos Tevez helped Manchester City secure a 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at home.

Liverpool, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 3-0 at home, with Torres scoring twice.

With this round completed, Arsenal continued to lead the Premier League table with seventy-six points.

Bayswater Chinese followed closely behind with a record of twenty-three wins, five draws, and two losses, putting them on seventy-four points.

Manchester City also had seventy-four points, sitting in third place.

Manchester United was in fourth with seventy-two points.

Chelsea was fifth with sixty-four points.

Tottenham Hotspur was sixth with sixty-one points.

Liverpool climbed to seventh place with fifty-four points.

With two games in hand, the gap between Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal had been successfully reduced to just two points.

With six rounds left in the Premier League, and eight for Yang Cheng’s team, the title race had reached a fever pitch.

Almost all media outlets unanimously agreed that Yang Cheng’s team was the top favorite to win the championship.

But there was a problem.

The team hadn’t had a break since August.

It was all two games a week or international duty.

This kept the players in a constant state of high pressure.

So far, Bayswater Chinese was still competing on three fronts: the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.

In this situation, the schedule itself had become Bayswater Chinese’s greatest enemy.

In response, Yang Cheng’s attitude remained unchanged.

When Bayswater Chinese players were interviewed by the media, their attitude was also very consistent.

That is, everyone would give their all and fight on every front.

As captain Modrić said in an interview with The Guardian: “Our dressing room is very united right now.”

“We will not give up on any game, on any front!”

“Next, we will charge towards all the trophies!”

Given Modrić’s personality, he wasn’t one to make exaggerated statements.

But he had made the team’s determination crystal clear!

…

On March 30th, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Ligue 1 side Bordeaux in an away game.

Just ten minutes into the match, Di María created a corner kick opportunity on the right wing.

Vincent Kompany flicked the ball on with a header, and Robert Lewandowski nodded it in at the far post.

1-0!

Just four minutes later, Bordeaux’s centre-forward Chamakh equalized for the home team.

But in the 32nd minute of the first half, Rakitić delivered a brilliant pass, and Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area before firing a shot into the net, putting them back in the lead.

2-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bordeaux 2-1 away from home.

This victory meant Yang Cheng’s team practically had one foot in the Champions League semi-finals.

And this did not come as a surprise to the outside world.

Drawing Bordeaux, a very favorable draw, was almost like being handed a free pass.

But Yang Cheng believed that a 2-1 away score wasn’t secure enough.

The key would be the second leg at home.

…

The midweek Champions League matches had a significant impact.

In the Premier League’s 33rd round match over the weekend, a showdown between Manchester United and Chelsea at home, Ferguson’s team conceded two goals to Guus Hiddink’s Blues.

Although they managed to pull one back, they still lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

Ferguson blamed the head referee after the match, but he couldn’t hide one fact.

Manchester United’s performance in this game was terrible, a near-complete defeat!

When Hiddink’s team focused all their energy and resources, well-rested and prepared for a single match, it was very difficult for a Manchester United team, distracted by the Champions League, to stop them.

The preparation time for the two teams wasn’t seven days versus three days, but having it versus not having it at all.

With two games a week, it’s difficult to implement the kind of targeted training you can with one game a week; it’s mostly about recovery and adjustments.

Arsenal, hosting Wolves in this round, also performed poorly.

It wasn’t until the 94th minute of stoppage time that substitute Benzema scored a goal.

A proper last-minute winner!

Another team without the pressure of the Champions League was Ancelotti’s Manchester City.

The Blue Moons thrashed Burnley 6-1 away from home.

Everyone could see that Ancelotti’s team had finally gelled.

Especially in this match, in the first seven minutes, The Blue Moons’ devastating and ferocious onslaught resulted in three consecutive goals against Burnley, leaving their opponents powerless to resist.

They were leading 5-0 by halftime.

If Manchester City hadn’t eased off in the second half, Burnley would have been on the receiving end of a much bigger scoreline.

…

On the evening of April 4th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the 33rd round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

As the match reached the 88th minute, the score was still 1-1.

After facing Arsenal and Bordeaux in succession, Bayswater Chinese’s gruelling schedule continued.

This time, their opponent was Benítez’s Liverpool.

Yang Cheng’s team was under immense pressure from the fixtures.

Especially in the first half.

Facing a well-rested and aggressive Liverpool, Bayswater Chinese was very passive on the pitch.

In first-half stoppage time, a long shot from Gerrard on the left side of the penalty area pierced Neuer’s goal, helping Liverpool secure a halftime lead.

However, after the second half began, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack.

A cross from Theo Walcott on the right found an unmarked Marcelo at the far post, who tapped it in to level the score, 1-1!

From then on, neither team could create another goal.

Yang Cheng also made a series of substitutions.

Including Gareth Bale, who replaced Theo Walcott in the 75th minute.

At this point, Bayswater Chinese’s four attacking players up front were Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and Di María.

This fully demonstrated Yang Cheng’s determination to win this match!

The players on the pitch launched a frantic offensive.

They even frequently forced Liverpool to retreat and defend in their own half.

When Yang Cheng sent Gareth Bale on, he had reminded the Welshman.

The Reds’ tactic today wasn’t Benítez’s usual 4-2-3-1, but a 4-4-2 formation.

Or you could call it an irregular 4-4-1-1.

Upfront were Torres and Kuyt.

The midfield consisted of Benayoun, Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, and Maxi Rodríguez.

A significant reason for Liverpool’s poor form this season was the chaos in their midfield.

Xabi Alonso’s departure was a clear sign of this.

Italian midfielder Aquilani was plagued by injuries and failed to fill the void left by Xabi Alonso.

So, Benítez had been tinkering almost all season.

Liverpool could sometimes thrash opponents and win beautifully, and at other times, lose for no apparent reason.

Their performance was extremely inconsistent.

Benítez’s managerial position was now under serious threat, and his dismissal seemed inevitable.

But to everyone’s surprise, Liverpool was not affected by this. Instead, they performed as usual, even more united than ever before.

This was a characteristic of the Liverpool team.

A united dressing room had always been their strength.

However, in Benítez’s 4-4-2 system, there was always a hidden vulnerability.

That was Gerrard’s forward runs.

Just like before the end of the first half, Gerrard’s sudden forward run and long shot was indeed a beautiful goal.

But his frequent forward runs often left Lucas Leiva as the sole man in central midfield.

“After you get on, your task is to attack this gap. Use your impact to break through Liverpool’s defensive line!”

Gareth Bale kept his head coach’s instructions firmly in mind.

After coming on, he had been constantly observing and paying attention.

Gerrard did indeed make frequent forward runs.

Liverpool was clearly not content with a draw either. Whenever they had an opportunity, they would actively push forward and attack in the final third.

The two sides were locked in a tense and fierce battle.

Until the 88th minute.

Kuyt attempted to loft the ball to Torres at the arc of the penalty area.

The Spanish centre-forward dropped back, asking for the ball between Bayswater Chinese’s backline and their holding midfielder, Javi Martínez.

But Javi Martínez tracked back, jumping to challenge Torres for the aerial duel.

In this contest between two Spanish players, Javi Martínez ultimately came out on top.

Torres had the advantage in speed, but when it came to jumping for headers, Javi Martínez was more confident.

After he headed the ball away, Modrić was the first to control it.

Liverpool immediately started a counter-press, trying to intercept the ball in Bayswater Chinese’s half.

Modrić dribbled past the pressing Kuyt, took two steps towards the centre circle, attracting Gerrard towards him, and then played a horizontal pass.

Aaron Ramsey strode forward, controlled the ball on the left side of the centre circle, and without hesitation, passed it forward.

The ball was played into Liverpool’s half, reaching the feet of Gareth Bale.

The Welshman received the ball at the bottom of the centre circle, turned, and charged forward with the ball.

At this moment, Eden Hazard was still on the left wing near the halfway line, while Di María was further up, already pushing into the final third on the right.

Liverpool’s two full-backs, Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insúa, were marking Hazard and Di María respectively, with Johnson still in Bayswater Chinese’s half.

Liverpool’s entire defensive line was stretched wide.

Robert Lewandowski was raising his hand for the ball in the left channel of the attacking third.

This move attracted the attention of Carragher and Daniel Agger behind him.

But Lewandowski and Gareth Bale had excellent chemistry. With just a look, the Polish centre-forward knew what Gareth Bale wanted to do.

So, Lewandowski suddenly shouted and made a quick diagonal run towards the right side of the centre, pulling his marker, Carragher, with him.

At almost the same instant, Gareth Bale suddenly accelerated, knocking the ball forward.

Still as a virgin, swift as a fleeing hare.

Gareth Bale’s explosive power allowed him to leave a slow-reacting Lucas Leiva in his dust the moment he took off.

By the time the Brazilian holding midfielder reacted and tried to catch up and contain Gareth Bale, the Welshman had used his pace to power past Lucas Leiva.

Carragher realized something was wrong and immediately left Lewandowski, charging towards Gareth Bale.

The Welshman’s speed increased, and just as he was about to reach Carragher, he came to a sudden halt, feinting a cut inside to the middle, which made Carragher hastily shift his balance.

This position was already within Gareth Bale’s shooting range.

But almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale played the ball forward with the outside of his left foot.

He was cutting inside, but the ball went straight.

And just as everyone was stunned, the ball rolled quickly into the left side of Liverpool’s penalty area.

Lewandowski, who had just made a diagonal run towards the middle, also came to a sudden halt and changed direction when Carragher went to press, turning to make a diagonal run into the left side of the box.

Right behind Carragher.

Just as Lewandowski arrived, Gareth Bale’s pass came too.

The Pole chased the ball, adjusted his stride, and then unleashed a furious left-footed shot.

The ball once again found its way into Liverpool’s net!

“Goal!!!”

“A brilliant combination between Lewandowski and Gareth Bale!”

“That was beautiful!”

“A very well-coordinated attack between the two attacking players, completely tearing open Liverpool’s defense.”

“We can see that Gareth Bale’s explosive pace is truly incredible, and it puts immense pressure on Liverpool’s defenders. They are often forced onto the back foot.”

“And that through ball from Gareth Bale was absolutely brilliant!”

“This also shows us Gareth Bale’s improvement!”

“Even in the most congested central area, he can now operate with ease.”

“Of course, there’s also Lewandowski’s run. It was very clever and showed great understanding, especially that run in behind, which gave him an excellent shooting opportunity!”

“2-1!”

“In the 88th minute, Bayswater Chinese has come from behind to lead Liverpool!”

The entire Wembley Stadium was immersed in a sea of celebrating fans!

This victory was certainly hard-fought.

But Bayswater Chinese had withstood the pressure.

They came back to beat Liverpool 2-1, successfully keeping their title hopes alive!

…

In the 33rd round of the Premier League, apart from Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester City all defeated their opponents.

Although the processes were different, the results were all positive.

After this round, Manchester United was essentially out of the league title race.

By the 33rd round, the only teams left with a chance to challenge for the league title were Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester City.

Among them, Manchester City had the best schedule.

They no longer had the pressure of European competition, only the league and the FA Cup.

And their opponent in the FA Cup semi-final was Bayswater Chinese, and it was a home game for them.

As the season progressed, everyone could see more clearly that Ancelotti’s team was gradually gelling and displaying increasingly formidable combat effectiveness.

Their performances were also becoming more and more stable.

This forced people to see the current Manchester City in a new light.

In contrast, both Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal had to divert their attention to the Champions League.

For example, after the 33rd round of the Premier League, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals was held midweek.

Yang Cheng’s team hosted Bordeaux.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

The Ligue 1 team defended with all their might in the away game.

It wasn’t until the 67th minute of the second half that Di María won a free kick in the attacking third, and Pepe scored with a header, opening the scoring for the team.

Just nine minutes later, Lewandowski converted a cross from Marcelo on the left with a tap-in, breaking through Bordeaux’s goal and extending the lead to 2-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bordeaux 2-0 at home, winning 4-1 on aggregate and smoothly advancing to the Champions League semi-finals.

The outcomes of the other three matches were also decided one after another.

Mourinho’s Inter Milan beat CSKA Moscow 1-0 at home and 1-0 away, advancing to the semi-finals with a 2-0 aggregate score.

Although, compared to Yang Cheng’s previous life, they were missing three key players—Lúcio, Eto’o, Maicon, and Sneijder—the signing of players like Diego Milito allowed Mourinho’s Inter Milan to still play their defensive counter-attacking style very effectively.

Manchester United, on the other hand, drew 1-1 away and won 3-1 at home, defeating Bayern Munich 4-2 on aggregate.

In the second leg at Old Trafford, Robben scored a brace, putting on a spectacular performance.

Ferguson’s team once again reached the Champions League semi-finals.

The most anticipated match of the quarter-finals had to be Barcelona versus Arsenal.

The two teams from the 2006 Champions League final met once again.

Especially with renewed news before the match of Barça poaching Fàbregas, which fueled the rivalry between the two teams.

Wenger even angrily denounced Barça as shameless.

“To release such news before a Champions League match is mostly intended to disrupt our morale. It’s unethical!”

In the first leg, Arsenal defeated Barça 2-1 at home.

For the second leg away at Camp Nou, Wenger fought back.

Fàbregas also clarified in the media the various news reports about his transfer to Barça or Real Madrid.

This was the first time the Spanish midfielder had clearly stated that he would stay at Arsenal, in the Premier League.

Before the end of the season, Fàbregas would complete contract renewal negotiations with Arsenal.

The Sun revealed that to keep Fàbregas, The Gunners had offered him the highest salary in the club’s history, a weekly wage of one hundred and eighty thousand pound sterling.

This was something Fàbregas wouldn’t get even if he moved to Barça.

Why?

Because Spain’s tax advantages only applied to foreign players, not domestic ones.

And everyone knew that once he renewed his contract, Barça’s plan to poach Fàbregas would be completely foiled.

Wenger’s approach for this away game at Camp Nou was the same as in the first leg; he wasn’t intimidated by being the away team.

In the 18th minute of the first half, Benzema opened the scoring for The Gunners.

With van Persie frequently injured and absent, Benzema had become The Gunners’ main centre-forward.

Just three minutes later, Messi equalized for Barça.

After that, Messi scored again and again, completing a hat-trick.

By the end of the first half, Barça was already leading 3-1.

But just when everyone thought Arsenal was probably done for.

Wenger made a series of substitutions in the second half.

In the 78th minute, Andrei Arshavin scored a goal, changing the score to 2-3!

The Russian Tsar’s fighting spirit in crucial matches was still very reliable.

Especially against Barça, the team he once most desired to join.

Barça launched a frantic counter-attack, creating numerous chances.

Especially in the 88th minute, a clear-cut chance for Messi was heroically saved by Lloris.

In the end, Barça defeated Arsenal 3-2 at home.

The aggregate score became 4-4.

But thanks to Arshavin’s crucial goal at Camp Nou, Arsenal eliminated Barça on the away goals rule.

Pep Guardiola was very disappointed.

After the match, the Barça manager believed that Abidal’s injury and substitution were key to Arshavin’s goal.

But Wenger argued that Arsenal’s victory came from the united effort of the entire team!

Finally, the Champions League semi-final lineup was decided.

Bayswater Chinese would face Manchester United, and Arsenal would play against Inter Milan.

For the third consecutive season, three Premier League teams had reached the Champions League semi-finals.

This was the fourth consecutive season.

It was a testament to how strong the Premier League was now.

The entire European football world was shaken.

Especially with Manchester United knocking out Bayern Munich and Arsenal ousting title favorites Barça, these two matchups showed the strength of the Premier League.

In terms of quality, Wenger’s team might not have been as good as Barça.

But in the match, the two teams fought on equal terms.

…

After returning from the Champions League, while other teams prepared for the 34th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced the FA Cup semi-final.

Facing a Manchester City team that had rested for a week, the battle-weary Bayswater Chinese had no choice but to rotate their squad.

Ancelotti’s team was performing better and better, and their technical and tactical play was gradually maturing.

Faced with such an opponent, what could Yang Cheng do but go all-out?

The two sides clashed at Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng still adopted a pragmatic defensive counter-attack.

They started with an opening blitz but failed to create any real threat.

Ancelotti was clearly well-prepared.

Although they were the away team, according to FA Cup rules, the match was held at the neutral Wembley Stadium.

It was more like Bayswater Chinese’s “home ground”.

Here, Ancelotti dared not be careless in the slightest.

Both sides played very cautiously.

In the end, the match ended 0-0 in regular time.

Neither team could score.

The game went into extra time, and it wasn’t until the 117th minute that Kaká received a brilliant pass from Carlos Tevez, broke into the box, and fired a shot that beat the Bayswater Chinese goalkeeper.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese was tragically eliminated.

Ancelotti and his Manchester City smoothly advanced to the FA Cup final.

And their opponent in the final would be Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea.

…

On the evening of April 14th, at the City of Manchester Stadium.

In the 34th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese challenged Manchester City away.

Bayswater Chinese, who had made extensive rotations in the FA Cup, finally fielded their full-strength lineup for this match.

The Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, started together again.

And they were extremely active.

Just two minutes into the game, Gareth Bale used his pace to forcibly overtake Pablo Zabaleta on the left outside the penalty area, then fired a power shot towards the far corner with his left foot, which went just wide.

Not long after, the Welshman once again unleashed a long shot from outside the box, threatening the goal guarded by Joe Hart.

Gareth Bale was resolutely carrying out the head coach’s pre-match instructions.

Take a shot whenever there’s a chance!

Theo Walcott on the right wing was no slouch either.

In the 9th minute, he received a through ball from Lewandowski and shot over the bar from outside the box.

Just one minute later, Walcott returned the favor, sending a brilliant pass that allowed Lewandowski to take a shot from the right side of the penalty area.

The shot hit the side netting.

In the 13th minute, it was another one-two between Walcott and Lewandowski, after which Walcott’s long shot from the edge of the box went wide.

In the opening ten-plus minutes, Bayswater Chinese was practically pinning Manchester City down.

Ancelotti’s team was in high spirits after the FA Cup, having eliminated Bayswater Chinese thanks to Kaká’s extra-time goal.

But just three days later, back at their home ground, they were being pressed by Bayswater Chinese to the point of being unable to breathe.

The tables of attack and defense had turned!

For Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese players, the pressure of the recent matches was indescribable.

In the league, they had faced Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City in succession.

In the FA Cup semi-final, they faced Manchester City.

In the Champions League quarter-finals, they played two legs against Bordeaux.

Now it was Wednesday. After this rescheduled Premier League round 34 match against Manchester City, they would play Hull City over the weekend.

But next Wednesday was the away leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.

Too many games, too much pressure.

And every single one was a must-win.

It was just as Yang Cheng had said in the pre-match press conference.

Bayswater Chinese simply had no time for tension or anxiety; they were busy preparing for and playing matches every day.

Winning the title?

Hadn’t really thought about it!

They would accept whatever result they got!

Eliminated from the FA Cup?

Sorry, Bayswater Chinese really didn’t have time to lick their wounds.

And here they were, facing Manchester City again just three days later.

Unlike the FA Cup semi-final, Yang Cheng’s strategy for this match was to seize the initiative as the away team and attack proactively.

But Manchester City was not a pushover.

Faced with the aggressive Bayswater Chinese, Ancelotti’s team, though on the back foot, was solid in defense.

Bayswater Chinese’s front three were constantly creating trouble for the opposition.

Especially Gareth Bale.

In the 43rd minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half, Nemanja Matić flicked it over a counter-pressing Carlos Tevez, brought it down, and sent a through ball forward.

Gareth Bale took off, received the ball, blew past Pablo Zabaleta, and charged down the right touchline.

The atmosphere in the entire City of Manchester Stadium was instantly ignited!

Even many Manchester City fans couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

He raced with the ball to the edge of Manchester City’s penalty area. Facing Lúcio, Gareth Bale executed a very simple and practical step-over, feinted, and instead of cutting inside, he went straight to the byline for a cross.

After reaching the byline along the left edge of the penalty area, just before the ball went out, Gareth Bale chipped it towards the middle.

Joe Hart didn’t dare to leave his line, which allowed Lewandowski, charging in from deep, to power past Joleon Lescott and head the ball from close range, smashing it past Joe Hart into the goal.

For a moment, faint sounds of applause and cheers could be heard from the City of Manchester Stadium.

But they were quickly drowned out by a tide of boos!

“1-0!!”

“Just before halftime, Bayswater Chinese breaks the deadlock against Manchester City, with Gareth Bale assisting Robert Lewandowski after a long-distance sprint!”

“This is a very beautiful goal.”

“Gareth Bale is definitely the most threatening attacking player in the Premier League this season.”

“And Lewandowski, his goal was also quite brilliant.”

…

“As I thought…”

The moment Lewandowski’s header went in, Ancelotti, sitting on the home team’s bench, slapped his forehead hard.

“I knew it. That kid is so damn clever, saving his energy for the league.”

The trouble was that even though Yang Cheng had saved his strength and rotated heavily, he had still managed to drag Manchester City into extra time with his defense.

They were even close to a penalty shootout.

Once it went to penalties, with Neuer’s ability, it would have been anyone’s game.

This was what made Yang Cheng so formidable.

He had always been known for his attacking football and beautiful passing combinations, but when it was time to be conservative, he could truly be conservative.

“It’s really tough to get by in this Premier League now!” Ancelotti sighed.

The competition was just too fierce.

In this round, both Manchester United and Arsenal were heavily affected by the Champions League quarter-finals.

Ferguson’s Manchester United drew 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers away.

Arsenal, after a grueling away match against Barça, returned to London only to be ambushed 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, losing the North London Derby.

Both of these matches were played last weekend, at the same time as the FA Cup semi-finals.

Bayswater Chinese had also lost to Manchester City.

So at that time, the entire British media believed that the Champions League matches had taken a toll on the Premier League’s top three.

Otherwise, how could one explain the simultaneous poor performances of the top three teams?

“The situation in the Premier League is now so confusing. No one is absolutely sure of winning the title; everyone is just taking it one game at a time,” said assistant coach Bruno Demichelis.

“It’s really not easy for Bayswater Chinese either. With a thin squad, it’s amazing they’ve managed to hold on until now.”

Hearing this, Ancelotti smiled faintly. “I’ve actually talked to him about this. He follows the path of quality over quantity.”

Bruno Demichelis understood.

Some head coaches believe the more players, the better; the larger the squad, the better.

But other head coaches focus on making the most of each player’s talent.

Take the current Manchester City, for example. The squad is very large, but there are only so many matches. There will always be some players who might not get to play for a long time and are just wasted.

Many top clubs also follow this path.

Yang Cheng’s team is mainly composed of young players, and he needs to strictly control salaries, so his decision to keep the first team small is understandable.

Just imagine, if Yang Cheng’s first team had too many players, and the young players didn’t get enough playing time, would they still improve? Would they still be able to perform as they do now?

The most typical example is Manchester United.

When Ferguson relies on veterans like Ryan Giggs and Scholes, Manchester United’s young players don’t have a chance to emerge.

However, there is a problem with Yang Cheng’s approach.

When faced with a situation like Bayswater Chinese’s, where they performed well last season, have many more matches this season, and it’s a World Cup year, the pressure they face is immense.

Players are not temporary workers. You can’t just say, “I have a lot of pressure from matches this season, so I’ll sign a few more players, and next season I’ll have fewer matches, so I’ll sell a few.”

This is unrealistic and would severely damage the club’s image.

Moreover, if you buy players and then get knocked out of a competition midway through, leaving you with fewer matches, isn’t that a miscalculation?

And top clubs generally rarely opt for loans.

So, Yang Cheng’s approach of controlling the first team size, promoting youth players to the first team when appropriate, and supplementing the squad when necessary is a relatively reasonable and scientific method.

In short, managing and building a first team is a very complex discipline.

And precisely because it’s complex, both the media and the fans basically judge by success or failure.

Just like Manchester City this season.

On paper, they look very strong, but they have been in a process of gelling.

Ancelotti has also been constantly experimenting, failing to find a mature and stable tactical system.

Especially the defense.

“I actually think that Thiago Silva is very good. He could replace Lescott and partner with Lúcio,” Bruno Demichelis suggested with a smile.

Ancelotti nodded repeatedly in agreement; he had been eyeing him for a long time too.

But…

“After the Andy Carroll incident, it’s not going to be easy to poach players from Bayswater Chinese again.”

After saying that, Ancelotti sighed with some regret.

If he had known, he would have poached a few more last summer.

It would have been best to cripple Yang Cheng’s team by poaching their players.

Then he wouldn’t be having a headache over his centre-backs now.

…

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese adopted a relatively more conservative and defensive strategy.

This left Manchester City without many good options.

Especially in tonight’s match, both Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were extremely active upfront.

In the 65th minute, Theo Walcott dribbled down the right wing, beat two Manchester City defenders, broke into the penalty area near the byline, and played a cut-back pass.

But the shot from the onrushing Lewandowski was blocked out for a corner by Lúcio.

The subsequent corner kick also failed to pose a threat.

Manchester City made a series of substitutions, increasing their attacking intensity.

Ancelotti clearly hoped to defeat Bayswater Chinese in this crucial match.

If they lost, Manchester City would basically be out of the title race.

But in the 80th minute, it was Theo Walcott again on the right wing.

At that time, Gareth Barry and Leighton Baines, two England international players, had already closed in on him. Anyone else would have thought it impossible to get through.

But as The Little Tiger was dribbling, he suddenly poked the ball behind the two of them and followed it.

Not tall, looking quite slim, and incredibly fast, Theo Walcott was like a slippery eel, somehow squeezing through the gap between the two defenders.

This move stunned all the fans in the stadium!

You can play football like that?

Who has ever seen someone knock the ball past two opponents at once?

After getting past them, The Little Tiger quickly caught up to the ball he had passed to himself, knocked it towards the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a cross to the far post.

Lewandowski at the near post made a feint, attracting the attention of Lescott and Lúcio.

At the far post, Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, overpowering Pablo Zabaleta to score with a header.

2-0!

This goal left Yaya Touré, who was tracking back, somewhat dumbfounded.

He could hardly recognize his former teammate!

He vaguely remembered that when he was still playing for Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale wasn’t this strong!

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Manchester City 2-0 away, avenging their elimination from the FA Cup!

…

After the 34th round of the Premier League, with two games in hand, Bayswater Chinese reached the top of the Premier League table with an impressive record of twenty-five wins, five draws, and two losses, earning them eighty points!

Arsenal, exhausted from their midweek Champions League battle with Barça, lost to Tottenham at White Hart Lane and remained on seventy-nine points.

After losing to Bayswater Chinese in this round, Manchester City’s points also remained at seventy-seven.

Manchester United drew with Blackburn Rovers away in this round, reaching seventy-three points and sitting in fourth place.

But Chelsea had caught up, now on seventy points.

Guus Hiddink’s team was only three points behind Manchester United.

With four rounds left in the league, it was entirely possible for them to make a comeback.

Liverpool, on the other hand, drew 0-0 at home with Fulham, dropping back to eighth place.

After 34 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had successfully reached the summit!

This immediately caused a huge cheer throughout the British media.

With a one-point lead and two games in hand, Yang Cheng’s team reaching the top almost meant they already had one hand on the league trophy.

But in an interview, Yang Cheng stated that they couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit complacent.

Because every upcoming match would be extremely difficult.

Yang Cheng specifically had the team’s schedule posted in the dressing room.

Three days after playing Manchester City, on April 17th, they would host Hull City.

Don’t underestimate The Tigers; they were currently 19th in the Premier League, but unlike the already relegated bottom-of-the-table team Portsmouth, they were still fighting for survival.

On April 20th was the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, away against Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team had no hope of winning the Premier League this season, so they would undoubtedly focus all their energy on the Champions League.

Moreover, Manchester United’s 34th Premier League match was on April 10th, giving them ample time to rest and prepare.

On April 24th, they would face Aston Villa away.

Martin O’Neill’s team was currently in seventh place, very ambitious about qualifying for Europe, and it was their home game.

On April 27th, they would host Manchester United for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

On May 1st, the 37th round of the Premier League, they would host Burnley.

On May 9th, the 38th round of the Premier League, they would play Bolton away.

There were also two rescheduled matches: the 17th round at home against Blackburn Rovers and the 18th round away against Everton.

These were tentatively scheduled for May 5th and May 12th.

Because May 15th was the FA Cup final, Chelsea versus Manchester City.

The final would be held at Wembley Stadium.

This meant that Bayswater Chinese’s two-games-a-week rhythm had to continue until May 12th before it could stop.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were very worried about this.

Because the team’s stamina, and the players’ physical and mental states, had indeed reached some kind of limit.

Remember, Bayswater Chinese was predominantly a team of young players.

Even with relatively mature players like Pepe and Modrić on the team, the majority were still very young.

This led to them being physically and mentally resistant to the long-term schedule of two games a week.

This, in turn, affected their performance in matches.

But the most important thing was the intensity of the competition.

For example, the Champions League semi-finals and the Premier League title race.

Yang Cheng specifically held a meeting with the coaching staff to discuss the upcoming schedule.

No one could relax their guard.

Why?

The Champions League semi-finals were a given, but Hull City was currently 19th and fighting for survival.

Burnley was currently 18th, also fighting for survival, and on the same points as Hull City.

Bolton was currently 15th, but not completely out of danger, still fighting for survival.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese simply couldn’t afford to be careless.

But midweek they had to travel north to Manchester for the away game at Old Trafford.

If Yang Cheng continued to field his full-strength team in the 35th Premier League round at home against Hull City over the weekend, making the players play continuously, what would they have left to go all-out against Manchester United next Wednesday?

Moreover, Yang Cheng now had two games in hand, giving him enough confidence and a buffer.

Thus, he decided to heavily rotate the squad again for the weekend’s home game against Hull City.

He would save their strength for the midweek Champions League semi-final.

But to Yang Cheng’s surprise, Bayswater Chinese was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Hull City.

From the very beginning of the match, Hull City played like madmen.

In order to stay in the Premier League, they were practically playing with their lives on the line against Bayswater Chinese.

The young substitute lineup simply couldn’t contain the ferocious Hull City.

It was only because Yang Cheng reacted quickly enough and immediately switched to defensive tactics that they managed to stabilize the situation.

After the second half began, Yang Cheng saw that the situation was not right and immediately made substitutions, trying to strengthen the attack.

But the initiative had been lost, and Bayswater Chinese struggled to break down Hull City’s defense.

In the end, the two sides settled for a 0-0 draw.

Just as Yang Cheng was feeling disappointed, the news that followed almost made him burst out laughing.

Manchester City defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Kaká in stoppage time.

Ferguson had also heavily rotated his squad in this match, saving his main players for the game against Bayswater Chinese.

At the same time, The Red Devils had set up a tactic to defend with all their might, managing to drag the match into stoppage time.

Wenger’s Arsenal was even funnier.

The Gunners’ rotation wasn’t as extensive as Bayswater Chinese’s or Manchester United’s, and they scored two goals in the first half.

Well, Wenger thought he had the victory in the bag and wanted to save some energy for the Champions League, so he made a series of substitutions in the second half.

By the 75th minute, he had used all three substitution slots.

Wigan Athletic was currently 16th, and their situation was also very perilous.

To everyone’s surprise, starting from the 80th minute, Wigan Athletic scored three consecutive goals.

They ended up overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Arsenal 3-2!

When Yang Cheng heard this news, he almost burst out laughing.

Reality was more magical than fiction!

But that’s how crazy relegation teams could be!

Chelsea lost 2-1 away to Tottenham Hotspur in this round.

Spurs had now taken down two major powerhouses at White Hart Lane.

Liverpool, meanwhile, secured a convincing 3-0 home victory over West Ham United.

After the 35th round of the Premier League was over, Yang Cheng glanced at the league table and discovered an absurd fact.

Even after being held to a draw at home by Hull City, Bayswater Chinese was still at the top of the Premier League.

Their lead was still one point.

The only difference was that the team behind them was now Manchester City instead of Arsenal.

Who could you even complain to about this?

But Yang Cheng had a nagging feeling that the upcoming trip to Old Trafford would be even more difficult!

Chapter 200: Double Champion! When It Comes to Offense, Bayswater Chinese Is the Best in the World!

On the evening of the 27th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

April was usually London’s dry season, but today, the rain was coming down hard.

In the six-degree Celsius temperature, cold raindrops fell on exposed skin, sending a chill through the body.

Xia Qing often said that the cold in Beijing was a physical attack, while the cold in England was a magic attack.

Yang Cheng was now experiencing it firsthand.

He was wearing a full suit with a warm woolen sweater underneath, yet he still felt cold.

The chill seemed to creep up relentlessly from the soles of his feet.

Even pacing back and forth on the touchline couldn’t stop it.

This was especially true the moment the Italian head referee, Nicola Rizzoli, blew the final whistle.

Yang Cheng’s feet stopped moving, as if they had been frozen numb.

He had been mentally prepared for this result for the last ten minutes or so.

The electronic scoreboard displayed a 0-0 score.

Neither team had managed to score in this match.

But a week ago at Old Trafford, Manchester United had defeated Bayswater Chinese 1-0.

Therefore, The Red Devils had eliminated Bayswater Chinese with an aggregate score of 1-0, advancing to the Champions League final!

Yang Cheng’s team was forced to stop at the semi-finals!

In the stands, ninety thousand expectant fans had cheered for ninety minutes, only to be met with a dull 0-0 draw.

And a 1-0 aggregate defeat.

They were all incredibly disappointed.

On the pitch, Manchester United’s eleven players were celebrating wildly, venting their exhilaration and excitement.

Tonight, they had been suppressed by Bayswater Chinese for the full ninety minutes.

From the kick-off, the home team had pressed forward and launched a fierce offensive.

Ferguson’s opening strategy wasn’t actually conservative.

He also wanted to seize the initiative early on.

His ingrained stubbornness and tenacity made it impossible for Ferguson to accept winning in such a defensive manner.

Moreover, after the 1-0 win in the first leg, he had received not praise, but ridicule and doubt.

One reason was the controversial nature of Rooney’s goal.

The other was that Manchester United had defended with all their might for the entire match to prevent Bayswater Chinese from scoring an away goal.

In the end, Manchester United won the first leg 1-0, but almost everyone mocked and ridiculed Ferguson, questioning whether The Red Devils deserved the victory.

So, Ferguson still wanted to go on the offensive.

Even securing a single away goal would be good.

But as it turned out, the attack-minded Manchester United was completely suppressed by their opponents.

Forget a head-to-head battle; they barely managed a few counter-attacks.

Yet, even in such an unfavorable situation, Manchester United relied on their tenacious defense to hold on until the very end.

The classic backline of Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Gary Neville had once again delivered!

Gary Neville, who had been plagued by injuries this season, poured his best form into these two home and away legs.

Although he was repeatedly battered by Gareth Bale, even being sent sprawling on several occasions, he held on until the end with the help of Ferdinand and Vidić beside him, and Carrick and De Rossi in front.

Time and again, Manchester United weathered the storm, surviving one dangerous attack after another.

A 0-0 away draw, a 1-0 aggregate score—Manchester United had reached the Champions League final once again!

This sent Ferguson and his disciples into a frenzy of celebration at Wembley Stadium.

Meanwhile, the ninety thousand fans in the stands were silent at first, clearly unable to accept this reality.

But soon, they erupted into a chorus of boos.

Many fans were even shouting insults at Manchester United.

…

In contrast to the jubilant Manchester United players, the Bayswater Chinese players stood frozen in place the moment the final whistle blew.

Soaked by the cold rain, they could no longer tell if it was rain or sweat on their faces.

They were like a pack of wounded cubs, standing bewildered in the downpour.

They didn’t know how to face the fans in the stands, or the head coach on the touchline.

They had done their best!

But Manchester United was just too resilient!

Yang Cheng understood how his players felt at that moment. He let out a heavy breath and, with heavy legs, walked onto the pitch.

The first player he approached was Gareth Bale, who was closest to him.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese had been attacking from right to left, so Gareth Bale was on Yang Cheng’s side of the pitch.

The Welshman’s head was hanging low.

When Yang Cheng stood before him, he looked up at his head coach, wanting to say something…

But the words wouldn’t come out.

“It’s alright, it’s over now!”

Yang Cheng smiled and opened his arms, embracing the drenched Gareth Bale.

“After tasting the bitterness of defeat, we will become stronger!”

Hearing this, Gareth Bale’s stiff body seemed to soften. He hugged Yang Cheng tightly and, after a long moment, said with deep regret, “I’m sorry, boss!”

Yang Cheng smiled and patted his back. “Go on, get yourself dried off.”

Gareth Bale nodded and, seeing Brian Kidd approaching with a towel, immediately walked over to him.

Yang Cheng turned to the other players.

For the Bayswater Chinese players, a defeat like this was indeed hard to stomach.

But that’s football.

Yang Cheng had no intention of making any excuses.

Not even the Icelandic volcanic ash.

It was pointless.

The airports had indeed been shut down, but Bayswater Chinese had traveled from London to Manchester by bus, which hadn’t taken much time.

Besides, in his previous life, Barça hadn’t blamed the Icelandic volcanic ash for their Champions League semi-final loss.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese’s attack had been stifled by Ferguson’s Manchester United.

It was as simple as that!

In the world of football, attacking is harder than defending, and creating is harder than destroying.

That’s why there are so few goals in football matches!

Therefore, any team can be contained, neutralized, and defeated. It’s bound to happen sooner or later.

It was just that Bayswater Chinese’s previous winning streak, especially their unstoppable momentum this season, had made fans all over the world, and even everyone at the club, feel they were invincible.

But what was the reality?

Ferguson had pinpointed Bayswater Chinese’s biggest weakness.

Of all things, it was the midfield!

The very midfield that Yang Cheng took the most pride in and relied upon the most!

Yang Cheng had already noticed this in the first leg.

In the 36th round of the Premier League last weekend, Yang Cheng had once again heavily rotated his squad and ended up losing 1-0 away to Aston Villa.

He did it to give his key players enough rest for the match against Manchester United.

For the second leg, he also made some targeted adjustments.

But none of them achieved the effect he had hoped for.

He felt helpless about it.

As Benítez once said, give him eleven robots, and he could win every match.

Yang Cheng really wanted to say: If you were given eleven robots, what’s so amazing about winning every match?

As if no one else could do it.

…

On the bus ride from Wembley Stadium back to the Brent training center, no one spoke a word.

The silence was almost eerie.

But Yang Cheng didn’t plan on saying anything either.

Everyone needed to move on from this defeat.

On their own.

Yang Cheng included.

After returning to the Brent training center, Yang Cheng held a meeting with the coaching staff late into the night to discuss the match.

The sports science department and the technical team also participated.

Everyone voiced their opinions, analyzing the game in detail.

From Bayswater Chinese’s perspective, these two legs of the Champions League semi-final were not much different from their previous matches.

The attack up front hadn’t changed much either.

Robert Lewandowski was the centre-forward, an undisputed starter.

Gareth Bale was on the left, with Ángel Di María or Theo Walcott on the right.

When the attack stalled, Yang Cheng had even sent Eden Hazard on.

“From a strategic standpoint, our frontal attack had a hard time breaking through Manchester United’s defensive formation. Ferguson packed the central midfield with three players: De Rossi, Carrick, and Anderson.”

“If Gary Neville was Manchester United’s biggest gain in the first leg at Old Trafford…”

“Then in this match, Anderson was Ferguson’s biggest surprise.”

“He suppressed Modrić for the entire game.”

Brian Kidd analyzed the match.

Yang Cheng had said before that the media and fans were relatively unfamiliar with Modrić because he was very low-key.

But within the industry, the Croatian midfielder was receiving increasing attention.

Especially after Yang Cheng sold several players but stubbornly refused to sell Modrić.

How could those who studied Bayswater Chinese not study Modrić?

It was just that some teams’ specific tactics had worked, but their overall strength was inferior to Bayswater Chinese, so they still lost, sometimes quite badly.

But Manchester United’s tactics had not only worked but had also suppressed Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

“We carefully studied Anderson’s man-marking on Modrić. He abandoned his usual aggressive style of lunging and tackling, choosing instead to maintain a distance of about two meters, focusing on blocking rather than tackling.”

“Anderson’s defense on Modrić was never about winning the ball, but about preventing Modrić from carrying it forward and stopping him from making through balls or diagonal passes.”

“Without his through balls and diagonal passes, Modrić’s passing couldn’t penetrate Manchester United’s defense.”

Modrić’s passing was the most penetrating and creative in the Bayswater Chinese midfield.

But the Croatian had his weaknesses.

When he was given special attention by Anderson, and when Ferguson deployed tactics specifically designed to counter him, the Croatian’s individual ability wasn’t enough to break free.

So, he could only pass sideways or backward.

At this point, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield operations became rather inefficient.

This problem had actually been exposed in the first leg.

At that time, Ferguson had relied on Scholes, who fought Modrić to a standstill.

It was essentially a draw, with both players having their moments.

But after Yang Cheng realized this, he had held something in reserve.

In this match, he brought on Aaron Ramsey for Rakitić in the second half.

Aaron Ramsey’s long pass completion rate this season was as high as 84%.

But the Welshman was young, and while his long passes were accurate, they were a bit slow.

Moreover, being young and inexperienced, his understanding of the game and control over it were lacking.

Yang Cheng’s purpose in bringing him on was to receive the ball from Modrić and distribute it with long passes, stretching Manchester United’s defense to create attacking opportunities for the front three.

But the passes weren’t fast enough, and a slight deviation in placement meant that by the time his teammates controlled the ball and prepared to attack, Manchester United’s defense had already shifted over.

Robert Lewandowski was also tightly marked by the combined efforts of Ferdinand and Vidić.

Once the front trident was trapped by Manchester United’s defensive formation and unable to break through directly to threaten the goal, the outcome was predictable.

After speaking, Brian Kidd showed several video clips from the match, all showing Manchester United’s successful defensive plays.

“Once Modrić was contained, our attack and midfield lacked an effective link.”

Rakitić was indeed very good, but he was only twenty-two years old.

Furthermore, Rakitić couldn’t really do what Modrić could.

That is, the ability to carry the ball forward steadily under high-intensity pressure from the opponent.

To make a simple comparison, Rakitić could be the core midfielder for a team like Sevilla, but at a top giant like Real Madrid or Barça, he wasn’t strong enough to be the core of a Champions League-winning team.

But that didn’t stop him from being a very outstanding player.

In the past, when Bayswater Chinese faced strong opponents, especially in the Champions League quarter-finals and beyond, Džeko’s tactical role up front was also crucial.

In terms of tactical impact, Robert Lewandowski was really no match for Džeko.

So, this season, when they faced Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals, this problem was immediately exposed.

Shut down Modrić, and Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was neutralized.

Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Ángel Di María were not the type of players who could hold and control the ball.

Eden Hazard was, but the Belgian was still too green.

By the same token, Yang Cheng was very optimistic about Aaron Ramsey, but he was also too green.

So, for the two legs against Manchester United, Yang Cheng really had no complaints about the loss.

Ferguson, with his extremely sharp tactical sense, had captured the fragile underbelly behind Bayswater Chinese’s powerful facade.

Even if they hadn’t met Manchester United in the semi-finals but had faced Arsenal and made it through, they probably would have lost to Manchester United in the final anyway.

Ultimately, this was a very serious problem!

And now that Ferguson had exposed it, more and more teams would surely adopt this strategy in the future.

Of course, whether they could defend as well as Ferguson’s Manchester United was another matter!

“I’ve said it before: successful teams are all alike, but every unsuccessful team is unsuccessful in its own way.”

After hearing everyone’s analysis, Yang Cheng shared his own view.

“Our failure in these two legs clearly stems from the midfield and attack.”

“When we can’t make adjustments to our attacking lineup, we have to look for the reason in the midfield.”

There were still many ways to solve Bayswater Chinese’s current problem.

The opponents want to suppress Modrić?

Then I’ll render your suppression useless.

For example, I could find a player like Eden Hazard or Andrei Arshavin to play on the wing, forming a dual core with Modrić.

Or find a centre-forward like Džeko, also forming a dual core.

But the issue was, Yang Cheng didn’t want to break up the hard-won attacking combination of Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Ángel Di María.

Especially when Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott had already become iconic stars for the team.

That left only the midfield.

Find a midfielder to form a dual core with Modrić.

The answer was obvious: Toni Kroos.

One could look at Barça’s Xavi-Iniesta combination as a reference.

Iniesta was adept at control, and dribbling the ball forward was his specialty.

In this respect, he was very similar to Modrić.

Xavi, on the other hand, was a master of passing.

He liked and was good at utilizing space and controlling the overall game.

Therefore, Xavi possessed an exceptionally broad vision and astonishing insight.

Both types of midfielders are extremely rare, but people tend to notice the “Iniesta” types more easily while underestimating the “Xavi” types.

Because an “Iniesta” can use individual skill to dribble and change the game.

But a “Xavi” needs the cooperation of his teammates.

If no one makes runs, “Xavi” can’t find passing lanes and can’t distribute the ball.

To some extent, this could explain the difficulties Toni Kroos faced at Bayern Munich and on the German national team.

Successful teams are always similar.

The same applies to tactical systems.

When Bayswater Chinese finds a way to rebuild a complete, orderly, and consistently high-performing lineup, success will naturally follow.

Realizing this, Yang Cheng still had no intention of making a move for Toni Kroos.

Because he knew that if he asked, Bayern Munich wouldn’t sell!

If he took the initiative and offered Neuer in a trade with Bayern Munich, he would be a complete fool!

The European football transfer market is based on supply and demand.

Players don’t have a fixed price.

That’s why Ibrahimović could join Barça for a sky-high price last summer.

And why now, just one season later, he suddenly has no takers and can’t be sold.

Is Ibrahimović worthless?

No, he is still one of the best attacking players in world football today.

But no one is willing to take the initiative to buy him!

If Yang Cheng actively pursued Toni Kroos, he would have to pay a high price to convince Bayern Munich to sell.

Bayern Munich might even demand a direct swap for Neuer.

Yang Cheng wouldn’t make such a losing deal!

But that didn’t stop him from finding another way.

For the past few years, Yang Cheng had maintained contact with Toni Kroos.

They had no substantive contact; it was more like a private friendship, exchanging text messages from time to time.

But Yang Cheng believed that with Toni Kroos’s intelligence, he surely understood Yang Cheng’s admiration and high regard for him.

On loan from Bayern Munich to Bayer Leverkusen, Toni Kroos had a breakout season and was selected for the German national team.

But his current market value wasn’t high.

At Jupp Heynckes’s Bayer Leverkusen, Toni Kroos played as a left midfielder.

At Bayern Munich, there was no such position.

Play as an attacking midfielder?

What about Bayern’s golden boy, Thomas Müller?

So, Toni Kroos’s position at Bayern was currently rather awkward.

Interestingly, with Thomas Müller’s excellent performances, he had already attracted the attention of many clubs.

His contract expired in 2013.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Thomas Müller’s rise to stardom at the World Cup, Bayern Munich quickly renewed his contract.

Then, Bayern Munich renewed Toni Kroos’s contract.

Toni Kroos joined Bayern Munich in 2006, signing a five-year amateur contract that expired in 2011.

After Toni Kroos entered the first team in 2007 and his performance and potential were recognized by Bayern Munich, they signed him to a four-year professional contract in 2008 after he turned eighteen, which expired in 2012.

This was why Bayern Munich wanted to renew with Toni Kroos after the 2010 World Cup.

If they waited until 2011, when he entered his contract year, Bayern’s position would be more passive.

And the reason Yang Cheng had always kept in touch with Toni Kroos was to silently tell him:

I’m always watching you!

Bayern isn’t your only option!

This was tantamount to giving Toni Kroos the confidence to fight for what he wanted from Bayern.

For example, a guaranteed starting position!

As for whether he could get it and how things would develop in the future, Yang Cheng couldn’t predict.

But he was willing to wait.

Looking at European football today, passers like Toni Kroos were far too few.

Almost every single one was a key player for a major club.

For example, Pirlo at Manchester City, Xavi at Barça, Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid, Carrick at Manchester United, and so on.

If he couldn’t get it done this summer, Yang Cheng would continue to wait.

By 2011, if Bayern still hadn’t renewed Toni Kroos’s contract, they would surely have to sell him.

At that time, Bayswater Chinese would make their move.

Of course, in Yang Cheng’s ideal scenario, it would be in 2010.

Bayern had been coveting Neuer for a long time, and the two sides had been making eyes at each other for a while.

Yang Cheng had always pretended not to know.

But Bayern kept being linked with other players, one moment wanting to sign Monaco’s goalkeeper Ruffier, the next Bayer Leverkusen’s René Adler.

Then they were linked with Atlético Madrid’s two goalkeepers, De Gea and Asenjo.

Yang Cheng knew very well that this was just one of Bayern’s negotiating tactics.

They were simply trying to create a smokescreen over a long period to tell Bayswater Chinese that Neuer was just one of many options they had.

Don’t even think about raising the price!

But Yang Cheng wasn’t that foolish.

The club legends at Bayern might have their various issues, including interfering with the head coach.

But they truly understood football, and their eye for players had always been sharp.

Uli Hoeneß, in particular, had settled on Neuer long ago.

Especially after Neuer became the undisputed number one goalkeeper for the German national team.

Yang Cheng was looking forward to it.

After the World Cup, when Bayern’s management decided to bid for Neuer and Toni Kroos was unwilling to renew his contract, all Yang Cheng would need to do was leak a few hints to Bayern through certain channels.

At that point, the Bundesliga giants wouldn’t mind; they might even proactively include Toni Kroos in the transfer negotiations.

Everything would fall into place!

Thinking about it, it was truly exhausting.

Yang Cheng had never put so much effort into orchestrating a player’s transfer before.

But the moment he thought that this player was Toni Kroos, it was all worth it!

…

Due to Arsenal’s 0-0 draw at home against Manchester City in the 36th round of the Premier League, a legendary scenario unfolded.

Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City were both on 81 points, with Arsenal on 80.

The three teams were still packed tightly together in the standings.

Ancelotti’s team failed to overturn Arsenal away from home, missing their best chance to take the lead this season.

But Bayswater Chinese still led the League table thanks to their superior Goal difference.

Having been eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United and suffering one draw, one loss in their last two league matches, Bayswater Chinese’s situation looked precarious.

There were even suspicions of a complete collapse.

Losing the FA Cup and the Champions League in succession—if they lost the league as well, things would be dire.

But three days after being knocked out of the Champions League, Yang Cheng’s team hosted Burnley, who were second from bottom in the Premier League.

From the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese used their home advantage to launch a ferocious, relentless attack on Burnley.

Yang Cheng’s team seemed intent on venting all their frustration on their opponent.

Before the match, Yang Cheng had even mobilized the entire squad.

They had to win all of their remaining four Premier League matches!

Burnley, desperate to avoid relegation, stood firm, setting up a solid defensive barricade in front of their goal.

But in the 12th minute, Bayswater Chinese came agonizingly close to scoring.

A cross from Gareth Bale on the left was met by a furious shot from Robert Lewandowski outside the box, which was saved by the goalkeeper.

But Marcelo, who had overlapped to join the attack, got the ball on the left side of the box and shot from close range.

What should have been a certain goal was again heroically saved by the keeper and pushed out for a corner.

After that, Bayswater Chinese continued to launch wave after wave of attacks.

First, in the 20th minute, Gareth Bale met a cross from Piszczek at the far post with a header that hit the post and was cleared for a corner by a defender.

Corner kick.

Modrić took it, and Vincent Kompany’s header went just wide of the post.

Just one minute later, Bayswater Chinese staged a comeback.

Modrić played a through ball, and Robert Lewandowski ran into the right side of the box, rounded the keeper, and scored from a tight angle.

1-0!

Even more unexpectedly, less than a minute after the restart, it was Modrić again with a through ball.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick diagonal run behind the defense, received the ball on the right side outside the box, and delivered a precise cross.

Theo Walcott darted forward at incredible speed and headed the ball in from the edge of the six-yard box on the right.

2-0!

In the 26th minute, Piszczek sent in a wonderful pass, and Modrić broke into the right side of the box and shot, but the keeper saved it.

Then, in the 31st minute, Robert Lewandowski received the ball with his back to goal just outside the box, turned, and unleashed a cannon of a long shot.

The goalkeeper parried it but couldn’t hold on.

At the crucial moment, Theo Walcott astutely sensed the opportunity, quickly made a sliding shot, and sent the ball into the net.

3-0!

The Little Tiger had scored twice!

Shortly after, Gareth Bale sent in a cross, and Robert Lewandowski’s volleyed tap-in from the right side of the box went just wide.

Then, Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the box and had his shot blocked by a centre-back.

Just before halftime, Theo Walcott dribbled into the box from the right, beat two defenders, and laid the ball off to the center for Robert Lewandowski to tap in.

4-0!

Robert Lewandowski had also scored twice!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted once again!

All the fans had begun to forget the defeat from three days ago.

Victory and defeat are a common part of the game!

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese was so young and had just gone through turmoil last summer; it was normal for them to stop at the Champions League semi-finals.

And in today’s battle, Yang Cheng and his players used just the first half to show everyone that the team had moved past the shadow of their FA Cup and Champions League defeats.

With 76.9% possession and fourteen shots, the entire first half became a stage for Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

Bullying weaker teams?

Bayswater Chinese never held back!

After the break, the team continued their relentless pursuit.

Burnley made successive substitutions in midfield to strengthen their defense.

But the home team continued to create scoring chances, though they were always just a little off.

It wasn’t until the 68th minute that Theo Walcott broke into the right side of the box and shot. The goalkeeper barely saved it, but The Little Tiger followed up himself and scored on the rebound, sending the ball into Burnley’s goal again.

5-0!

Hat-trick!

“That’s Theo Walcott’s 14th Premier League goal of the season!”

“It’s also the first Premier League hat-trick of his career!”

“This is simply astounding!”

“After being eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United, Bayswater Chinese has sent a message to everyone with a crazy slaughter: they are still one of the most powerful teams in the Premier League and in European football!”

“At Wembley Stadium, they remain invincible!”

In the 72nd minute, Theo Walcott crossed from the right to the front of the goal, and Gareth Bale tapped it into the empty net from close range, extending the lead to 6-0!

Then, in the 77th minute, Rakitić had a long shot that hit the crossbar, missing a scoring opportunity.

And in the 81st minute, after a brilliant one-two pass with Theo Walcott on the right, Piszczek suddenly went to the byline and crossed.

Robert Lewandowski hit a volley from the edge of the six-yard box, once again breaching Burnley’s goal.

7-0!

The Polish centre-forward also scored a hat-trick!

Bayswater Chinese were playing like madmen today!

Then, in the 87th minute, Robert Lewandowski sent a through ball to Gareth Bale, who broke into the left side of the penalty area. After missing a few chances, he found the back of the net with a powerful shot to the far corner from his favorite spot.

8-0!

Gareth Bale scored a brace!

Just two minutes later, Eden Hazard, who had come on for Theo Walcott, broke through on the right wing and crossed from near the right byline inside the box.

Gareth Bale headed it in at the far post!

He had a similar header earlier, but it hit the post.

This time, Gareth Bale seized the opportunity and smashed the football into the goal from point-blank range.

9-0!

The Welshman also completed his hat-trick!

The entire Wembley Stadium transformed into a sea of celebration!

Countless fans rushed out of their seats, roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs.

Three hat-tricks in one match, all from the same team.

This was an unprecedented feat in a top-tier league!

And it was a 9-0 thrashing!

They had gone completely crazy!

“Bayswater Chinese have completely vented their anger from their Champions League defeat.”

“Poor Burnley. Without this match, they might have had a chance to survive relegation.”

“But now, we can see that in the final moments of the game, Burnley’s players have been utterly crushed and have lost all confidence.”

“They can barely even organize an effective defense anymore.”

“Bayswater Chinese are insane!”

“But what’s even more astonishing is that Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott all scored hat-tricks simultaneously. It’s truly incredible.”

“All I can say now is, when it comes to offense, Bayswater Chinese is the best in the world!”

…

Bayswater Chinese’s 9-0 home victory over Burnley was a massive statement.

It also captivated the entire world.

The trident of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott, in particular, became famous throughout world football.

Meanwhile, Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-0 away.

Manchester United beat Sunderland 1-0 away.

Arsenal, in their away match against Blackburn Rovers, took the lead through a van Persie goal but conceded twice to lose 2-1.

Ultimately, the midweek Champions League matches had taken their toll.

After a 2-2 away draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final, The Gunners defeated Mourinho’s team 1-0 at home to advance to the final with a 3-2 aggregate score.

Thus, the two teams appearing in this season’s Champions League final at the Bernabéu Stadium would be Manchester United and Arsenal.

Another all-Premier League clash!

However, after losing this league match, The Gunners were basically out of the title race.

With only one round of the league left, Arsenal had lost even the last theoretical possibility.

Barring any surprises, this season’s champion would be decided between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

And if Manchester City wanted to win the title, they could only hope that Yang Cheng’s team slipped up in all of their last three games.

How likely was that?

…

Midweek, Bayswater Chinese played their rescheduled match from the 17th round of the Premier League.

Yang Cheng’s team hosted Blackburn Rovers.

Allardyce set up a 4-2-3-1 formation away from home, defending with all his might.

Throughout the first half, Blackburn did well to contain Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

But in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Gareth Bale won a corner on the left.

Modrić took it, and Thiago Silva headed the ball back across the face of the goal from the far post.

Surprisingly, both the attackers and defenders in the middle failed to get to the ball.

Instead, Theo Walcott seized the opportunity at the near post and tapped the ball into the net, giving his team the lead!

1-0!

After the break, in the 55th minute, it was again Theo Walcott who, with a beautiful move to knock the ball past his opponent and run around them on the right, forced his way past Blackburn’s left-back, Pascal Chimbonda, and sent in a cross.

Robert Lewandowski followed up in the center and easily tapped it in.

2-0!

Later, Blackburn won a corner from a counter-attack.

Centre-back Christopher Samba scored with a header, pulling one back.

1-2!

But in the 85th minute, Gareth Bale forcefully broke past Salgado and crossed to the near post, where Robert Lewandowski headed it in.

3-1!

Robert Lewandowski scored a brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at home!

…

May 9th, 4:00 PM.

The 38th round of the Premier League kicked off simultaneously.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Bolton away.

Bolton, playing at home, performed tenaciously.

Although they were already clear of the relegation zone, they still hoped to secure a victory at home.

But in the 38th minute, Marcelo, who had suddenly cut inside, scored from the left side of the box, breaking the deadlock for Bayswater Chinese.

After the break, in the 69th minute, a brilliant pass from Nemanja Matić found Robert Lewandowski, who chested the ball down in the box, turned, and fired a power shot to extend the lead.

2-0!

Just nine minutes later, from an assist by Ángel Di María on the left, Robert Lewandowski got on the end of it in the center and once again found the back of Bolton’s net.

3-0!

And in the 82nd minute, another breakthrough from Ángel Di María on the left set up an overlapping run from Aaron Ramsey, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes, to seal the victory for Bayswater Chinese.

4-0!

Ultimately, the team secured a comprehensive 4-0 away win against Bolton!

Coincidentally, Arsenal also won their match 4-0 at home against Fulham.

Chelsea also won 4-0 at home against Wigan Athletic.

Manchester United triumphed 4-0 at home against Stoke City.

Liverpool drew 0-0 away at Hull City.

Manchester City, with their title hopes already gone, drew 1-1 away at West Ham United.

With that, aside from Bayswater Chinese’s rescheduled 18th-round match, all Premier League games were completed.

Yang Cheng’s team won the 2009/10 Premier League title, achieving the Double champion status!

…

Since the team had already secured the league title, for the final round, Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve lineup for the away match against Everton.

After a hard-fought 90 minutes, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw.

Everton took the lead twice, but Bayswater Chinese equalized both times.

First, Vincent Kompany scored from an attacking free-kick, then centre-forward Giroud scored from a Piszczek assist.

After the match, a simple podium was temporarily set up at Goodison Park in Everton.

The Premier League CEO, Richard Scudamore, who had been waiting for some time, presented champion medals to everyone from Bayswater Chinese.

Captain Modrić then accepted the 2009/10 Premier League trophy on behalf of the team!

Even though it was an away game, the championship procedures were followed as usual.

Many Bayswater Chinese fans had also come to Goodison Park.

At the same time, many Everton fans gave Bayswater Chinese a warm round of applause.

At this moment, the Premier League season officially came to a close.

Bayswater Chinese finished with a record of twenty-eight wins, seven draws, and three losses, earning ninety-one points.

Close behind, Manchester City finished second in the Premier League with eighty-five points.

Arsenal was third with eighty-three points.

Manchester United was fourth with eighty-two points.

Chelsea finished fifth with seventy-nine points.

Following them were Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Liverpool.

The three teams relegated from the Premier League this season were Burnley, Hull City, and Portsmouth.

After all the matches of the season, Bayswater Chinese’s star centre-forward, Robert Lewandowski, finished as the Premier League’s top scorer with twenty-nine goals.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Drogba had benefited from Chelsea’s tactics and scored a flood of goals.

But now, with Guus Hiddink as Chelsea’s head coach instead of Ancelotti, his goal tally for the season was lower than before.

Robert Lewandowski claimed the Premier League top scorer crown for himself this season.

Within the Bayswater Chinese team, Gareth Bale scored nineteen goals, ranking 6th on the Premier League’s top scorer chart and becoming a powerful, rising goalscorer.

Theo Walcott scored fifteen goals, tying for 8th place.

Ángel Di María, who scored eight goals last season, saw a slight drop, scoring only five this season.

This was largely related to the rise of Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger had indeed challenged Di María’s position, leading to reduced playing time for the Argentine.

But overall, Di María’s performances in the Champions League and Premier League were there for all to see.

Ultimately, the Argentine was not a natural goalscorer.

Aaron Ramsey and Matuidi also scored five goals each, while Rakitić scored four.

Among them, Aaron Ramsey was the one who surprised Yang Cheng the most.

The young player’s progress this season had been very rapid.

Rakitić’s case was more interesting; three of his four goals were concentrated during Robert Lewandowski’s Goal drought and the period when Roy Carroll was playing.

Overall, Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower remained the best in the Premier League.

They even stood tall over the rest of European football.

Their single-season goal tally reached an astonishing 112, setting a new Premier League record for the most goals in a single season.

And Bayswater Chinese had only conceded 23 goals.

This meant Bayswater Chinese was the team with the fewest goals conceded in the Premier League and even across Europe’s top leagues this season.

They conceded one less goal than Barça in La Liga.

But Barça’s goal tally was only 98, less than Real Madrid’s 102.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the team’s performance this season.

He firmly believed that with this season’s breakout, the further maturation of players like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Ángel Di María, plus Robert Lewandowski, Giroud, and Harry Kane, Bayswater Chinese’s attacking power would be secure for years to come.

The team’s defense also didn’t require much concern.

Piszczek and Marcelo had smoothly taken over from Leighton Baines and Maicon.

Although Marcelo’s defending was still a major concern, his improvement was obvious.

And he had Ryan Bertrand to assist him.

Kyle Walker, on the other hand, was still a bit of a reckless charger after joining, seeming a little slow on the uptake.

But his powerful physical attributes made Yang Cheng fond of him, and he decided to cultivate him as a key player.

At centre-back, with Commissar José Fonte, plus Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Vincent Kompany, they were also well-stocked.

The only thing that worried Yang Cheng right now was the midfield.

Tactics are a delicate thing where a single action can affect the whole situation.

With Džeko gone and Robert Lewandowski filling his shoes, a problem was exposed in the Champions League semi-final.

This was a good thing.

The key was whether they could patch it up in time.

After the team received the championship trophy, Yang Cheng made a point to chat with Richard Scudamore for a while.

The Premier League CEO took the initiative to ask about the International Champions Cup.

Initially, this cup was something Yang Cheng had proposed to the Premier League, but it failed to pass at the owners’ summit, forcing Yang Cheng to make other arrangements.

Later, before poaching Richard Masters, Yang Cheng had given Richard Scudamore a heads-up.

This was why Richard Masters’ appointment went so smoothly.

So, on the matter of the International Champions Cup, Yang Cheng held nothing back.

“Over the past year, David Pemsel and Richard Masters have been incredibly busy working on this.”

“All the participating teams are ready with their itineraries, and sponsorships have gone relatively smoothly. Now we just have to wait for this summer’s tournament.”

Yang Cheng was also full of confidence and anticipation for this event.

Sponsorship for the first edition would certainly not be great; that was obvious.

If ticket revenue could help them break even, Yang Cheng would already be very satisfied.

He believed the other major clubs felt the same way.

Chapter 201: Learning from Arsenal’s Playbook! The Mad Bayswater Chinese!

Even after the final match of the season, Yang Cheng had no time to rest.

All of Europe, especially England, was still immersed in the anticipation of two upcoming finals.

One was the FA Cup final, to be held at Wembley Stadium in London.

Chelsea and Manchester City were both in the midst of intense preparations.

The other was the Champions League final at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

Old rivals Ferguson and Wenger were finally set to face each other in the Champions League.

The question of who would come out on top had captured the attention of fans worldwide.

In contrast, Yang Cheng felt a bit left out.

While other teams were still competing, Bayswater Chinese had already finished their season, which felt rather strange.

In past years, it was always they who were watching Bayswater Chinese busy with matches.

After the championship victory, the team celebrated all night and disbanded the next day.

Regardless of whether they were participating in the World Cup, the national teams were about to enter a busy period of fixtures.

Most of them were friendly matches.

Even the youth teams had many games to play.

Incidentally, this year’s U17 European Youth Championship was being held in Liechtenstein.

Bayswater Chinese had three players participating: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, and Paul Pogba.

Of the three, Sterling was the one who surprised Yang Cheng the most.

Harry Kane and Paul Pogba were age-appropriate for this competition.

But for Sterling, born in December 1994, to be selected was considered playing up an age group.

However, no one questioned Sterling’s ability.

He had already played up for the England U16 team back in 2009 and had won widespread acclaim after just a few games.

There were even rumours that several powerhouse clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea, wanted to poach Sterling.

This was enough to demonstrate his extraordinary potential.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was around this time that Sterling had Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United fighting over him.

Back then, he was playing for Queens Park Rangers.

Now, having been immersed in Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy for years, his technique was even more refined than in his previous life.

And he was incredibly fast.

So much so that after playing for England U16 in 2009, Sterling was hailed by the British media as the “English Messi.”

This was because both were 1.7 metres tall.

Many people were already looking forward to Sterling’s future.

Harry Kane and Sterling were the core of the current England U17 squad.

Paul Pogba, on the other hand, was representing France’s U17 team.

Yang Cheng took a specific look at the current England U17 squad, but few players left an impression on him.

For instance, Manchester United’s Ravel Morrison and Crewe’s Nick Powell.

Nick Powell was also currently being watched by several major Premier League clubs.

On the French team, besides Paul Pogba, there were players like Umtiti, Kondogbia, and Yaya Sanogo.

The Spanish side, however, was teeming with talent, featuring players like Morata, Isco, Sarabia, Koke, and Juan Bernat.

The U17 European Youth Championship provided a glimpse into the current trends in youth development in European football.

Spain was not only the top favourite but also a powerhouse in youth training.

Bayswater Chinese also placed great importance on the European Youth Championship. The Head of Scouting, Gary Worthington, personally led a team to Liechtenstein to scout young players at the tournament.

The tournament took place in mid-May, so he was absent from the club’s post-season senior management summit.

…

Every year, Yang Cheng found the meetings quite novel.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s offices had seen a growing number of departments and an increasingly complex staff structure.

Management alone was a major headache.

At this year’s senior management summit, apart from the absent Head of Scouting Gary Worthington, all other department heads gathered at the new headquarters, a building situated next to Grosvenor Square in London’s Soho district.

Bayswater Chinese’s new headquarters had just been commissioned.

Currently, the club was operating from two locations, with other departments scheduled to move in gradually.

It was expected that before the start of the new season, Bayswater Chinese would officially be operating from here.

But this year’s annual club management summit was specifically held at the new location.

As usual, it was chaired by the club’s CEO, Adam Crozier.

Just like in previous years, Adam Crozier began by reporting on Bayswater Chinese’s achievements over the past season.

There was no need to elaborate on the sporting front.

A Double champion with the League and League Cup titles, along with the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup.

Although they were eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League, they performed admirably in both, reaching the semi-finals.

Overall, the results were quite pleasing.

After all, no team could claim to win every single trophy each season.

With outstanding performance on the pitch, the club’s business operations also made very gratifying progress.

Adam Crozier proudly announced, “Our revenue for the 2009/10 season has seen an astonishing 30% increase!”

With that one sentence, everyone in the room, except for Yang Cheng and Xia Qing who already knew, was stunned.

A 30% increase!

That was absolutely insane!

One had to remember that in the 2008/09 season, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had already caught up with Manchester United’s.

In fact, in the rankings of many institutions, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were on par.

This proved that the revenue gap between the two clubs was small, or even negligible.

Ahead of them were only Real Madrid and Barça.

And at this level, the difficulty of achieving another significant increase was immense.

Manchester United’s annual growth rate was not large, usually around 6%.

Real Madrid estimated their own revenue growth for the season to be around 8-9%.

Barça had recently proudly announced an 11% increase in their revenue.

That was already considered a remarkable achievement.

The Spanish media were even singing Barça’s praises.

But now, Adam Crozier was saying that Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had grown by 30%.

If that wasn’t insane, what was?

In the spacious and bright conference room, everyone was whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

Clearly, the figure Adam Crozier presented had delivered a massive shock.

A 30% growth rate meant that Bayswater Chinese’s revenue for the season would definitely surpass Manchester United’s.

It might even surpass Barça’s.

What would the specific figure be?

Adam Crozier soon provided the answer.

Three hundred and fifty million pound sterling!

At the current exchange rate of 1.225, that was about four hundred and thirty million euros.

The conference room fell silent for a moment, an almost frightening quiet, before erupting into a round of enthusiastic applause.

This was astounding!

Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had not only surpassed Manchester United’s but also Barça’s!

It was simply incredible!

How on earth did they do it?

Adam Crozier quickly listed the detailed figures for the three major revenue streams.

In the just-concluded 2009/10 season, Bayswater Chinese’s average home game attendance was 89,000.

This was just an approximate number; in reality, almost every match was a sell-out.

Only a few flexible seats were left.

Therefore, the highest attendance rate for a Premier League team was 99%.

Adam Crozier announced that Bayswater Chinese was the first team in Premier League history to exceed one hundred million pound sterling from ticket sales alone, and it had happened this season.

This was achieved without any increase in ticket prices.

Adam Crozier presented a set of figures to everyone.

An average of 89,000 spectators per game, an average ticket price of forty-five pound sterling, and a total of twenty-five home games in the Premier League and Champions League alone this season.

The calculation already exceeded one hundred million pound sterling.

In this area alone, Bayswater Chinese’s growth momentum was fierce.

The VIP boxes at Wembley Stadium also contributed thirty million pound sterling in revenue for Bayswater Chinese over the past season.

The growth rate in this area was 50%.

Last season, it was only twenty million pound sterling.

In addition, matchday retail revenue increased from twenty million pound sterling last season to twenty-five million pound sterling.

Matchday retail was the area with the smallest growth.

The main reason was that the hardware limitations of Wembley Stadium constrained the revenue ceiling.

The most common complaint received by the Fan Services department was the poor service level, especially the reception, at various shops, stalls, and bars in Wembley Stadium before and after matches.

Many fans who wanted to buy something couldn’t even get served despite queuing.

This was quite absurd.

But there was nothing to be done.

Wembley Stadium was built by The FA, and from the very beginning, there was no professional planning for commercial spaces.

But regardless, the matchday income of over one hundred fifty million pound sterling this season was enough to make all other teams see them in a new light.

“Even The FA has repeatedly approached us to discuss the operation of Wembley Stadium.”

Adam Crozier’s expression was filled with pride.

Under his management, Bayswater Chinese had achieved high-speed growth for several consecutive years.

Among this, matchday income was of paramount importance.

Back then, Yang Cheng’s decision to lease Wembley Stadium had opened up a whole new world for Adam Crozier and his team.

With Xia Qing’s strong push, Bayswater Chinese began to adopt the Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a reference indicator for the fan experience at home games and hired a third-party agency to conduct research.

According to the classification, scores of 0-6 were Detractors, 7-8 were Passives, and 9-10 were Promoters.

Bayswater Chinese’s fan Net Promoter Score reached 7.6.

This was the highest among all Premier League and even European teams.

Adam Crozier also cited this data, believing that the loyalty and satisfaction of home fans were very high, but there was still significant room for improvement.

This would be the direction of his future efforts.

However, the score for VIP box users was as high as 8.8, the best among all stadiums in England.

This was sufficient proof of Adam Crozier’s success in managing high-end clients.

However, Adam Crozier also mentioned that it would be difficult for Wembley Stadium to continue generating more revenue at this point.

The stadium’s capacity was fixed, the VIP boxes were almost all leased out, and the only area with some room for growth was matchday retail, which required further optimization of commercial space.

Currently, the potential for growth didn’t seem too large.

Matchday income was like that—it had a ceiling, but it was very stable.

As long as the base was consolidated, it wouldn’t be significantly affected by fluctuations in performance.

It was essentially a guaranteed income, rain or shine.

Adam Crozier had previously discussed the possibility of raising ticket prices with Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Omar Berrada, Chris Hunt, and the Fan Services department.

Don’t think that the idea of Bayswater Chinese raising ticket prices was outrageous.

In the past few years, Manchester United had raised their ticket prices twice, and Arsenal’s ticket prices shot up after they moved into their new stadium.

Chelsea had also had one major price hike.

London teams like Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United had all increased their prices.

Bayswater Chinese had never raised its ticket prices.

From 2003, when Yang Cheng took over, to the present, the lowest ticket price remained thirty pound sterling.

It was only due to Wembley Stadium’s capacity that the average ticket price had risen to forty-five pound sterling.

But even so, this was still not high in the current Premier League.

Compared only to London, it was at a medium level.

Yet, Bayswater Chinese was now a renowned top-tier powerhouse in Europe.

Regarding this issue, Xia Qing had even commissioned a third-party company to conduct research, analyzing the various pros and cons.

The main concern was that Bayswater Chinese’s fan base was still relatively weak. A rash price increase could adversely affect the ticket market and tarnish the club’s image.

In the end, Yang Cheng made the final decision: they would learn from Arsenal’s playbook.

What did that mean?

In 2006, when Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, ticket prices increased dramatically, causing anger and dissatisfaction among many fans, to the point where The Gunners had to make some compromises.

For example, Arsenal kept the original price for some of the worst seats at both ends of the stadium, behind the goals, for their most loyal fans, but raised prices for other sections.

But over the past few years, Arsenal, in its quest for revenue, had been quietly increasing prices in small increments, like slicing meat with a dull knife.

In fact, the current lowest ticket price was already much higher than it was at Highbury.

Bayswater Chinese had no such commitments to its fans and didn’t need to worry about that.

Therefore, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing felt that instead of raising prices now and causing dissatisfaction among some fans, it would be better to do it all at once when they moved into the new stadium.

This was especially true considering all the advanced equipment the new stadium would feature.

For example, stadium-wide WiFi, heating in the spectator stands, and so on—all of these would incur costs.

As long as the club managed expectations and public opinion properly before the price increase, they believed it could be controlled.

Besides, wasn’t there still two years to go?

Right now, Bayswater Chinese needed to accumulate a larger fan base. By the time they moved into the new stadium, even if they lost some fans with lower spending power, other fans would quickly fill the gap.

The ticket market would thus remain stable.

So, without a ticket price increase, it was unlikely that Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue at Wembley Stadium would continue to grow at a high rate.

…

In addition to the substantial growth in matchday revenue, Bayswater Chinese also achieved gratifying growth in the area of commercial sponsorship over the past season, reaching eighty-three million pound sterling.

This was mainly due to the development of the Middle Eastern market.

Adam Crozier revealed that the commercial sector would be Bayswater Chinese’s most promising growth point in the coming years.

“Our goal is to build a global sports club, and this market still has enormous potential that has yet to be tapped.”

Adam Crozier listed several important future growth points.

For example, the jersey sponsorship deal with Puma was only worth ten million pound sterling, which no longer matched Bayswater Chinese’s current stature.

The contract was set to expire in 2011.

Over the past year, the two parties had been in negotiations for a renewal, but they had yet to reach an agreement.

Nike and Adidas were watching eagerly from the sidelines.

They were well aware that Bayswater Chinese was a top team with a strong influence in both Asia and North America.

Then there was Prudential.

“Just a short while ago, my team and I had further contact with the president of Prudential to discuss the possibility of deepening our cooperation. It’s still too early to say for sure.”

“As you all know, our new stadium will be completed in 2012. In terms of location, influence, and future value, this stadium is second to none in world football today.”

It was almost universally acknowledged that it would become a new landmark in London.

Especially after Bayswater Chinese signed major partners like Bvlgari Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, and Apple Inc., the renovation projects for Queensway and Bayswater were a world away from what they used to be.

As London Mayor Ken Livingstone said in his New Year’s address to Londoners in 2010.

“Driven and radiated by this key project, Bayswater and Queensway will become a major highlight of London’s future development.”

And this so-called key project was Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium project.

According to Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada’s plan, they wanted to find a naming rights sponsor for the new stadium.

Just like how Arsenal’s new stadium was named after Emirates Airlines.

Generally, sponsors interested in naming rights for sports facilities are businesses with direct-to-consumer operations.

For example, airlines, banks, and insurance companies.

This was evident from countries with numerous stadium naming rights deals, such as the United States and Germany.

Due to its prime location, securing the naming rights to Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium would be equivalent to erecting a giant advertising billboard in the heart of London. What was that worth?

Never mind outsiders; even Bayswater Chinese themselves hadn’t figured it out yet.

Previously, Qatar Airways had proposed a naming rights fee of fifteen million pound sterling per year.

They wanted to sign a ten-year deal right away.

But Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others felt this was an underestimation.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese was having this area researched to determine its true value and future growth potential.

Prudential was also interested in the naming rights.

The largest insurance company in the UK had faced considerable competition from foreign insurance companies in recent years.

Moreover, their previous collaborations with Bayswater Chinese in Asia had been very well-received.

Allianz was also interested.

But Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier felt that since Allianz already had a stadium in Munich, Germany, sponsoring Bayswater Chinese as well would cause confusion. When people mentioned Allianz Arena, which one would they be talking about?

AXA and several other banks were also interested and were currently in talks.

The main obstacle was that Bayswater Chinese had not yet set their price expectation, making negotiations difficult.

But at the meeting, Adam Crozier confidently told everyone that Bayswater Chinese’s commercial revenue would continue to grow at a high rate in the coming years.

He was personally full of confidence.

This was because many sponsors from the Asian region had already clearly stated their intention to renew their partnerships with Bayswater Chinese.

And one must remember, renewing now meant a significant price increase.

For example, the South Korean tire company, Hankook, had directly become Bayswater Chinese’s global official tire partner for five million pound sterling a year, with no discount.

These were all future growth points.

…

As for broadcasting rights and prize money this season, although the team did not win the Champions League, the growth was still substantial.

The Premier League had always been the league with the highest Champions League income.

Thanks to a new broadcasting contract signed between Sky Television and UEFA from 2009 to 2012, the fees had increased by 25% compared to the original, which in turn expanded the prize pool for Premier League teams.

This season, although Bayswater Chinese was knocked out in the semi-final, their expected Champions League prize money would exceed thirty-eight million pound sterling.

Manchester United and Arsenal, who reached the final, would earn even more.

In other words, Premier League teams would essentially monopolize the top three spots in Champions League earnings.

This made other leagues extremely envious.

But there was nothing to be done about it; who could blame the British fans for being more willing to spend?

Sky Television paid hefty fees for both domestic Premier League and Champions League broadcasting rights.

All Premier League teams benefited from this.

According to the currently signed overseas broadcasting rights contract, each Premier League team could receive around ten million pound sterling in revenue per season, in addition to domestic copyright income.

This season, Premier League champions Bayswater Chinese were set to receive over fifty million pound sterling in broadcasting rights revenue.

And this was just for now.

According to data released by The Premier League, from 2010 to 2013, the overseas broadcast rights revenue for the next three years would jump from the current six hundred twenty-five million pound sterling for three years to a staggering one point four four billion pound sterling.

This meant that from overseas rights alone, each club would receive around twenty-four million pound sterling per season.

That was higher than the league broadcast revenue share for most teams in Serie A, La Liga, and the Bundesliga!

In terms of broadcasting rights income, Bayswater Chinese, combining the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, and FA Cup, had earnings exceeding ninety million pound sterling.

Currently, among Bayswater Chinese’s three revenue streams, matchday income was the highest but was nearing its ceiling.

Broadcasting rights income still had room to grow, but because the Premier League sells rights as a package, and due to performance fluctuations, it was less controllable.

This stream currently ranked in the middle.

Commercial income, despite significant growth, still lagged behind the other two.

This was why Adam Crozier said that commercial income had huge potential.

…

After Adam Crozier finished speaking, everyone in the conference room was utterly shocked.

The current Bayswater Chinese was like a money-making behemoth, constantly generating revenue.

Of course, behind this frantic revenue generation, one also had to consider the club’s investments.

For example, as matchday income repeatedly set new highs, various operational costs were also climbing.

With more fans attending matches, investments in services, security, and other areas also rose.

Not to mention, the fees paid to the London police were also reaching new highs.

“We are now the club that pays the most protection money to the police among all Premier League teams!” Adam Crozier complained.

They had to pay for the area around Wembley Stadium, and also for the city centre.

Why?

Because on matchdays, fans migrate in large numbers, requiring police presence to maintain order.

In a capitalist country, these services come with a fee.

Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy was progressing to higher and higher levels.

Every year, the youth teams won more and more championships, but the investment was also growing larger.

The number of Satellite Training Centres had expanded to ten.

It was said that other teams, including Chelsea and Arsenal, had also come to realize their importance and were preparing to invest in the construction of their own satellite training centres.

But Bayswater Chinese had already basically completed its layout in the Greater London area, with its youth development network covering the entirety of Greater London and even extending to surrounding cities.

Furthermore, as the team’s performance improved, player salaries also increased.

Adam Crozier revealed that the club had already completed contract renewals with Modrić, Pepe, and Thiago Silva.

Modrić and Pepe both received the club’s highest weekly wage of one hundred twenty thousand pound sterling.

Thiago Silva received a weekly wage of one hundred thousand pound sterling.

Gareth Bale, Ángel Di María, and Theo Walcott had also renewed their contracts successively, but their weekly wages were only eighty thousand pound sterling.

Next, Robert Lewandowski and Neuer would also enter substantive negotiations, and Xia Qing and the finance department had set their salaries at around one hundred thousand pound sterling.

The entire salary structure basically followed the old system.

In addition to salary increases, there would also be a significant rise in bonuses.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s expenditures would skyrocket as well.

Over the past years, the club’s personnel had continuously expanded, whether in the offices, training centre, or youth academy, and salary expenses and bonus packages had risen accordingly.

Coupled with investments in various hardware and software, total expenditure also hit new highs every year.

But the most terrifying and money-burning project of all was the new stadium.

No matter how fast Bayswater Chinese made money, it couldn’t keep up with the rate at which the new stadium was burning through it.

It was burning money at a rate that even made Yang Cheng a little terrified.

No wonder almost every team that built a new stadium nearly collapsed!

…

After the senior management summit, Yang Cheng held a closed-door meeting with key executives like Xia Qing and Adam Crozier, primarily to discuss the club’s next phase of actions.

For the first time, Yang Cheng revealed to Adam Crozier his hope of signing Toni Kroos, the midfielder on loan at Bayer Leverkusen from Bayern Munich, this summer.

He also expressed his concerns.

“You can’t be the one to handle this!” Adam Crozier understood Yang Cheng’s situation well.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s success had made Yang Cheng’s name far too well-known.

Any player he showed interest in would see their transfer value skyrocket.

Sometimes, when transfer market talk was hyping up a player’s price, Yang Cheng’s name would be used for speculation.

Yang Cheng was a helpless victim in this regard.

“Your thinking is correct. We cannot initiate the conversation. The moment we reveal our interest and Bayern Munich catches on, not only will they not sell, but they will value Toni Kroos even more.”

“So, the key is how to make Bayern Munich bring it up themselves?”

Yang Cheng shared some of his ideas and discussed with Adam Crozier what they could do when the time came.

But nothing could be set in stone now; they would have to adapt to the situation as it unfolded.

Regarding this summer’s transfers, Yang Cheng stated that there would be no major overhaul.

If they could sign Toni Kroos, they would reassess the situation.

Many clubs were trying to poach Bayswater Chinese’s players, so if Yang Cheng was willing to let go, selling surplus members of the squad wouldn’t be a big problem.

If they couldn’t sign Kroos, Yang Cheng would likely not sell or buy anyone.

He couldn’t think of any other players he needed.

Since the transfer of Andy Carroll, Bayswater Chinese had entered a new phase.

A true powerhouse club doesn’t constantly sell players.

Of course, Yang Cheng was also preparing for both scenarios.

If Toni Kroos couldn’t come to Bayswater Chinese, then Yang Cheng would definitely not let Neuer go to Bayern Munich.

If that deal did happen, then Yang Cheng was also prepared with a plan to sign a new goalkeeper.

Yang Cheng left the specifics of how to approach and operate the deal to Adam Crozier, Dan Ashworth, and Mike Rigg.

After the club meetings, Yang Cheng went to a meeting for Onefootball.

Leveraging the influence of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, the app was developing very quickly.

They had now also partnered with the International Champions Cup, and their future development was only going to accelerate.

Yang Cheng mostly just gave some high-level directions.

For example, while consolidating business development on the Apple platform, they should increase efforts in developing for Android.

Onefootball had already secured the rights for all five major leagues and had also created a fan forum, attracting an increasing number of fan users.

This year, they would also leverage the excitement of the World Cup in South Africa to further strengthen their promotional efforts.

Yang Cheng believed that in the future, Onefootball would not just be about news; the fan forum would also become a valuable asset.

Additionally, Yang Cheng requested that Cranach launch versions in other languages, especially Chinese.

After acquiring a 10% stake in Onefootball, Cranach was now full of drive.

After all, he had been thoroughly defeated in his previous competition with Yang Cheng.

Now that Yang Cheng had given him equity, he was almost overjoyed.

With the company’s current strong momentum, Cranach naturally had even more faith in Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng did not interfere too much with the company’s operations, partly because he didn’t want to expose his hand too early—after all, this was to be his future media mouthpiece.

On the other hand, he trusted in Cranach’s abilities.

Besides Onefootball, Yang Cheng also met with David Pemsel and Richard Masters from the International Champions Cup, mainly to discuss the preparations for the summer tournament.

Europe already had a very mature supporting industry for football.

Over the past year, David Pemsel and Richard Masters had dedicated themselves to preparing for the tournament, selecting partners, and had truly given it their all.

They were both full of confidence for this summer’s inaugural International Champions Cup.

The organizers of the World Football Challenge in the United States were also watching.

With the current momentum of the International Champions Cup, which brought together twelve top European clubs, if it could become an instant success, there would be no need for the World Football Challenge to continue.

But if it failed, then the market would be questioned and would need to be re-evaluated.

While Yang Cheng’s side would suffer a heavy loss, other investors looking to enter this field might not benefit either.

It was worth mentioning that in terms of format, the three major divisions would each adopt a different system.

For example, the Asian division would have four teams playing a round-robin tournament to determine the champion and rankings.

The group stages in the East and West divisions in the United States would be similar, but with an added final.

The two group winners would compete in the final.

This would undoubtedly be more in line with a cup competition format.

Yang Cheng was a hands-off boss, leaving everything to David Pemsel and Richard Masters.

But in reality, there was an overwhelming amount of work to be done.

Venue leasing, schedule coordination, pitch maintenance, attracting investment, promotional campaigns…

All these tasks, one after another, piled up, leaving the two of them completely run ragged.

Incidentally, Xia Qing, through her connection with Xia Xi, contacted the sports channel of Huaxia Television and arranged for the broadcast of the inaugural International Champions Cup in China.

The broadcasting fee was practically a giveaway. For all ten matches, including the three divisions in North America and Asia, they charged only one million US dollars.

It was incredibly cheap!

But Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had calculated the numbers for Adam Crozier, David Pemsel, and the others.

The most important thing for the International Champions Cup right now was to open up the market and establish a firm footing, which required expanding its influence.

Television broadcasting was undoubtedly the fastest way to expand influence.

Therefore, the broadcasting fee was just a token gesture. As long as it was broadcast, it would be easier to negotiate commercial sponsorships.

This was actually what Yang Cheng had been telling Richard Scudamore, the CEO of The Premier League.

The Premier League shouldn’t charge high fees for broadcasting in China.

With such a large population in China, why be in a hurry to make money?

They should learn from the NBA.

Once the influence is there and the viewership grows, the money lost on broadcasting rights can be more than recouped through commercial deals, sponsorships, and other avenues.

Yang Cheng couldn’t control how The Premier League thought, but for the International Champions Cup, this was precisely his plan.

…

On the afternoon of May 15th, Yang Cheng, accompanied by Brian Kidd and others, appeared at Wembley Stadium to watch the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.

Guus Hiddink still employed a 4-3-3 formation, with Drogba leading the forward line.

From the lineup, it was clear that Chelsea would primarily focus on defensive counter-attacks.

Ancelotti, on the other hand, made it clear he intended to take the initiative.

But his formation was a bit strange.

The defense was standard, but the midfield consisted of a trio of holding midfielders: Gareth Barry, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré.

Up front were Robinho and Kaká.

Carlos Tevez was the lone striker.

This was the new Christmas tree formation that Ancelotti had developed over the season.

It was less a 4-3-2-1 and more a variation of a 4-4-2 diamond midfield.

Robinho and Tevez roamed more across the forward line and wings, while Kaká played as an advanced number 10.

This style of play directly affected Adebayor’s position at Manchester City.

Manchester City’s attacking tactics were indeed very good.

Both their build-up play and attacks were impressive.

They came close to scoring twice in the 14th and 22nd minutes.

Yang Cheng discovered that Čech was not only in divine form against Bayswater Chinese but also formidable against Manchester City.

On both occasions, the Czech goalkeeper made crucial saves.

In the 27th minute, after a cross from Leighton Baines on the left, Robinho had a shot that hit the crossbar.

However, Terry later also hit the crossbar with a header from a free kick.

Both sides were just a hair’s breadth away.

Then, in the 39th and 42nd minutes, Drogba hit the post twice.

The Ivorian was so mad he looked like he wanted to pull a Samson and bring down… Delilah. Er, no, the temple pillars.

Drogba’s two attacks were a long-range direct free kick and a poacher’s finish in the box.

“He’s deliberately avoiding Lúcio today, specifically targeting Joleon Lescott.”

Yang Cheng believed that Ancelotti must have noticed this as well.

But not long after the start of the second half, it was Lescott again who fouled Drogba during a defensive play, giving Chelsea a free kick opportunity about twenty-three metres from the goal.

The Ivorian stepped up again and struck a magnificent direct free kick that beat Joe Hart’s goal.

Ancelotti quickly made a substitution, taking off Robinho for Adebayor.

It proved that with a tall center-forward on the pitch, the attacking threat increased significantly.

But it was a bit too late.

After taking a one-goal lead, Chelsea began to defend solidly and counter-attack.

Manchester City’s own defense wasn’t solid either.

In the 63rd minute, Chelsea launched a counter-attack. A pass from Sneijder found Eto’o, who broke into the right side of the penalty area and almost scored again.

Both teams then made substitutions, but Manchester City could never break through Chelsea’s defensive formation.

One had to admit, Guus Hiddink truly had a unique talent for coaching defense.

Playing against a defensive counter-attacking team was a real headache!

In the end, Chelsea, thanks to Drogba’s goal, defeated Manchester City 1-0 to win the FA Cup!

This thrilled all the Chelsea fans who had come to the stadium!

After successively failing to qualify for the Champions League, winning the FA Cup was a form of consolation for the Chelsea fans.

As for Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s team still had quite a few problems.

“Although teams like Barça and AS Roma now favor a false nine formation, a centre-forward is truly indispensable when it comes to breaking down defenses and in positional play.”

The false nine formation was more a choice born of necessity.

Take Pep Guardiola, for example.

If he truly preferred a false nine, why would he have chosen Ibrahimović?

Ultimately, it was because he didn’t have a centre-forward who suited his system.

If you gave him a Patrick Kluivert, see if Guardiola would still play Messi in the middle.

But don’t be mistaken into thinking that if Messi isn’t played in the middle, he wouldn’t be Messi.

Wrong.

If Barça had a Kluivert, Messi would play even better!

Thinking about it, Yang Cheng actually felt that Manchester City should perhaps consider Ibrahimović.

The Swede might clash with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and others over possession of the ball, but at Manchester City, there wouldn’t be such a problem with Kaká.

Interestingly, while many teams were interested in Ibrahimović, the one that was rumoured to have made contact was Chelsea.

Spain’s Mundo Deportivo revealed that Chelsea had been in touch with Ibrahimović’s agent, Raiola, to discuss the possibility of a transfer.

Prior to that, Mundo Deportivo had revealed that Barça had secretly offered Ibrahimović to several major Premier League clubs.

Among them was Liverpool, which had just been acquired by a Saudi consortium.

But it was said that Liverpool, already having Torres, was not very interested in Ibrahimović.

Manchester United and Chelsea were both quite interested.

Ferguson was very dissatisfied with Berbatov’s attitude, but the risk was that Ibrahimović’s personality was also rebellious.

Could the Manchester United godfather handle him?

Chelsea’s interest stemmed from Drogba getting older and Carroll’s underwhelming performance in the six months since he joined.

As for Manchester City, there were no such rumours.

…

After watching the FA Cup final, Yang Cheng didn’t plan to go to Madrid for the Champions League final.

But that didn’t stop him from following the Champions League.

On May 19th, Arsenal and Manchester United set off for Madrid.

Yang Cheng sent good luck texts to both Ferguson and Wenger.

They had both invited him to watch the match in Madrid.

Yang Cheng, however, was surfing the internet in his office at the Brent training center.

He logged into a forum called Bitcoin Talk and registered a user account.

Then he started browsing aimlessly.

Until he found a new post from the previous day.

“I am willing to trade ten thousand bitcoins for two large pizzas.”

He clicked on the post, and it included further details.

“I like onions, peppers, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, etc.”

“I also like plain cheese pizza.”

“If you’re interested, please let me know, and we can make a deal.”

“Thanks, Laszlo.”

When Yang Cheng saw this post, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He saw many people replying below.

Some were teasing him, thinking no one would be willing to buy pizza for him, that it was just a fantasy.

Someone else did the math for him: ten thousand bitcoins were only worth thirty dollars, while two large pizzas cost forty dollars.

There were quite a few replies, but clearly, no one was willing.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment and replied below, “I live in London and I’m a die-hard Premier League fan. To celebrate two great head coaches, Ferguson and Wenger, meeting in the Champions League final, I’m willing to fulfil your request.”

“I hope the Champions League final on the 21st will be a fantastic match!”

After replying, Yang Cheng browsed the forum, checked some news, and waited for a response.

He waited until evening when the guy named Laszlo finally sent him a private message, saying he was a programmer from Florida, USA, had just finished working overtime, was very hungry, and hoped to trade as soon as possible.

Without saying much, Yang Cheng ordered two large pizzas for him online and had them delivered to the address he specified.

During this time, Yang Cheng curiously asked him about Bitcoin.

Laszlo was very patient, teaching Yang Cheng everything, including how to trade, how to store them, and so on.

What surprised Yang Cheng even more was that Laszlo told him he could now mine thousands of bitcoins every day.

Besides the ten thousand bitcoins he used to buy the pizzas, he had saved up quite a lot.

Yang Cheng, in turn, expressed that he had learned a lot from him.

“See if there’s anything else you want. Just let me know, I’d be happy to fulfil your wish.”

“Really?” Laszlo was surprised.

Yang Cheng felt that the other person wasn’t happy because he was getting a good deal, but more simply because someone was willing to trade using Bitcoin.

“Of course, my favourite head coach is leading his team in the Champions League final. I want to bring him good luck!”

Laszlo actually believed him.

He thought this guy in London really loved football and was purely doing this to pray for good luck.

He was the same kind of person.

So, he made two more trades with Yang Cheng on the forum, buying two everyday items.

The three transactions totalled thirty-five thousand bitcoins sold.

What Yang Cheng never expected was that Laszlo was quite active on the forum.

After their successful transactions, they immediately caught the attention of other users on the forum, and even some other programmers responded, asking Yang Cheng if he wanted to continue trading.

It was clear that they had more bitcoins than they knew what to do with.

After some thought, Yang Cheng made a decision.

“The Champions League final is on the 21st. Before then, I’ll take as many as I can get!”

“Let’s just consider it a blessing for Ferguson!”

The forum members below were delighted.

No one thought of this as a transaction.

It was more like a game.

Many even expressed that, just because Yang Cheng was willing to trade with them using Bitcoin, they would watch the Champions League final and cheer for Manchester United!

In just two days, Yang Cheng received over one hundred thousand bitcoins.

On May 21st, after the Champions League final at the Bernabéu was over, and Ferguson’s Manchester United had defeated Wenger’s Arsenal 2-1 with goals from Scholes and Vidić to win the Champions League trophy, Yang Cheng went back to the forum to post and celebrate.

“Thanks, everyone!”

“My favourite head coach won the Champions League! It’s an incredible thing!”

“I want to thank everyone here!”

“To express my gratitude, from now on, I am willing to trade with everyone. You can trade your bitcoins with me for anything you want.”

Yang Cheng’s move once again sparked heated discussion on the forum.

Everyone believed that Yang Cheng was truly a die-hard Ferguson fan.

And so, many people began to proactively contact Yang Cheng to trade.

Yang Cheng accepted all comers.

He had even mentally prepared himself.

If in the future he couldn’t keep it a secret and was exposed, he had already found a perfectly good reason to justify why he held so many bitcoins.

It was purely because I like Ferguson!

Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!

Chapter 202: Marquee Signing! Bayern’s Limit! Yang Cheng, Where Does Your Confidence Come From?

Before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the three major European betting companies all released their odds for the winner.

Interestingly, England was ranked second, just behind Spain, with odds of 6.0.

Spain’s odds were 5.0.

Yang Cheng found this utterly baffling.

Poor England, a hot favorite every year, yet they always end up as mere participants. Haven’t they learned their lesson by now?

As for Spain…

Yang Cheng truly didn’t dare to place a bet.

The reason was simple: the media was inescapable. If he were ever found out, his entire coaching career would be over.

Even his close relatives couldn’t do it for him.

As for finding an unrelated outsider, that wasn’t a way to make money; it was digging his own grave, handing over leverage to someone else.

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had a friend who, during a home demolition settlement, sought his own uncle’s help to get a bit more compensation. The two hundred to three hundred thousand in settlement funds were directly deposited into his uncle’s account.

When the matter was settled, he went to his uncle to get the money back. And what happened?

In front of a crowd of relatives and friends, his uncle and aunt tearfully told him, “Your aunt and I are old now and can’t earn money anymore. We’re counting on this settlement money to get by. How can you take it away? Aren’t you trying to drive us to our deaths?”

So, in this day and age, you couldn’t trust anyone except your own flesh and blood!

When it came to betting, a small wager was meaningless for Yang Cheng.

A large one, if exposed by the media, would result in immediate social suicide for him.

The course of the South Africa World Cup unfolded much as Yang Cheng remembered from his past life.

The French team was still eliminated in the group stage.

Uruguay’s attacking trident still shone brightly.

There were rumors that Liverpool would likely sign Ajax’s Luis Suárez after the World Cup.

The transfer fee certainly wouldn’t be low.

But a partnership of Torres and Suárez—that forward combination would be absolutely terrifying.

Argentina’s problem still lay with Maradona.

Italy also failed to escape the nightmare of the defending champions, finishing last in their group with two draws and one loss.

Judging purely by the group stage, Spain didn’t look particularly dominant or impressive.

They were even upset by Hitzfeld’s Switzerland.

But the most frustrating thing was that Vicente del Bosque’s team almost always won by just one goal.

This was especially true once they reached the knockout stage.

Whether against Portugal, then Paraguay, or Germany in the semi-final, Spain consistently won by just one goal.

It was quite absurd.

Particularly in the knockout stages, Spain’s goals were mostly scored in the second half, and after the 60-minute mark.

This actually reflected Del Bosque’s match strategy.

By controlling the game with Spain’s masterful possession-based passing, they would slowly wear down their opponents.

Faced with this style of play, other teams had few effective countermeasures.

Even in the final, the Netherlands were equally clueless.

The Dutch even paid the price of nine yellow cards but still couldn’t stop Spain.

In extra time, they were defeated by a last-minute winner from Iniesta.

This was, in a way, inevitable.

If you couldn’t effectively counter Spain’s passing and possession, it was only a matter of time before they exhausted you.

Del Bosque’s Spain and Guardiola’s Barça were actually quite different.

Guardiola’s team ran very actively, with players covering huge areas of the pitch, so their stamina was excellent.

Someone had previously compiled statistics showing that the two teams that ran the most in European football were Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese and Guardiola’s Barça.

The World Cup is a tournament-style competition, different from a professional league.

Therefore, Del Bosque’s tempo was even slower, which was beneficial for conserving the Spanish players’ stamina.

A team like Bielsa’s Chile, with their fast-paced attack and defense, simply couldn’t last long.

They looked good in the group stage, but in the knockout round, they were flattened by Dunga’s Brazil.

To talk about a football match without considering stamina consumption is just being disingenuous.

The performance of the few Bayswater Chinese players at the World Cup was generally decent.

But having just endured a devilish season, the players were extremely worn out and basically didn’t perform at their peak level.

This was also an awkward reality of the World Cup and the European Championship.

Another player Yang Cheng was paying close attention to, Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos, made four appearances in this World Cup, playing for 9, 14, 28, and 9 minutes respectively.

Meanwhile, apart from being suspended for the match against Spain due to a yellow card, Thomas Müller played in every other game.

With five goals and three assists, Thomas Müller’s performance was a revelation, earning him the Golden Boot and the Best Young Player award.

The Golden Ball went to Diego Forlán, and the Golden Glove to Casillas.

But Neuer’s performance at the World Cup was a continuation of his excellent form at the club level.

It could be said that after this World Cup, Neuer had firmly established himself as Germany’s number one goalkeeper.

In the Team of the Tournament, there was basically no sign of Bayswater Chinese.

The head coach was Del Bosque.

The goalkeeper was Casillas.

The defenders were Lahm, Ramos, Puyol, and Van Bronckhorst.

The midfielders were Schweinsteiger, Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder, and Thomas Müller.

The forwards were David Villa and Diego Forlán.

Overall, this World Cup had little direct connection to Bayswater Chinese.

What was worth mentioning was that Marcelo and Thiago Silva had secured their starting spots in the Brazil national team, and Ángel Di María had also become a starter for Argentina.

Due to the Lampard-Gerrard conundrum, Capello’s England failed to put on a good show, and Theo Walcott didn’t get much of a chance to display his abilities.

As for Modrić, Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and others, they didn’t even qualify for the World Cup.

In Yang Cheng’s words, this was a good thing.

At least they could focus more on the upcoming new season.

…

As the curtain fell on the World Cup, the European transfer market began to heat up.

Bayswater Chinese’s situation this summer was different from previous years.

The biggest difference was that while many coveted their players, few made a real move.

During the winter transfer window, Yang Cheng’s ruthless handling of Andy Carroll served as a powerful deterrent to all potential poachers.

And Andy Carroll’s subsequent slump after transferring to Chelsea also served as a warning to all players.

But the battle in the Premier League transfer market did not slow down because of this.

For example, not long ago, Manchester United’s CEO, David Gill, said that Manchester United had given Ferguson the green light for summer transfers.

He even declared with great magnanimity, “We have sufficient financial resources to complete the head coach’s signings!”

Listen to that, the rich are just that confident!

Even before the summer transfer window opened, Ferguson had already signed Chris Smalling from Fulham and Javier Hernández from Guadalajara in Mexico.

Although Manchester United did not disclose the specific transfer fees, external estimates put the total cost for the two players at only around 13 million pound sterling.

For the extravagantly wealthy Manchester United, this was like a drop in the ocean.

The real big moves in the transfer market still came from the tycoons of the Middle East.

After the Saudi consortium officially took over Liverpool, the Reds adopted an inside-out strategy.

On one hand, Liverpool renewed the contracts of core players like Javier Mascherano, Gerrard, and Torres.

This directly thwarted the poaching attempts of teams like Barça, Real Madrid, and Chelsea.

These giants had all been eyeing Liverpool’s players.

Now that the Reds were extravagantly wealthy, they gave them no opportunity at all.

Then, just as the World Cup ended, Liverpool announced the signing of Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez from Ajax for a high price of 30 million pound sterling.

At a time when the world was mired in an economic crisis, especially with the escalating European debt crisis, a transfer of 30 million pound sterling was considered a high price.

Yang Cheng had always felt that a major reason for Liverpool’s decline over the past few years was that they only had one reliable goalscorer.

Benítez was gone.

But Yang Cheng felt he was wronged, yet not entirely without fault.

Liverpool failed to provide him with a suitable goalscorer, which often hindered his plans.

For example, whenever Torres was injured, Liverpool’s attack was severely weakened.

But the problem was, Kuyt, who scored goals for fun in the Netherlands, was turned into a wide workhorse by Benítez.

Now, the Benítez era was over, and who would take the helm at Liverpool was a matter of suspense.

It was said that the Saudi consortium had set a “world-class head coach” standard for Liverpool’s managerial search.

Former Inter Milan head coach Mancini and former Real Madrid head coach Pellegrini were both on the list.

The reason for Pellegrini’s dismissal was that Mourinho had gone to coach Real Madrid.

Spanish media had previously revealed that the head coach Florentino Pérez admired most was Arsenal’s Wenger.

But now, Wenger was ambitious and full of aspirations at Arsenal, ready to make a big push. Why would he want to take over Real Madrid?

In Yang Cheng’s view, Liverpool’s signing of Suárez was an absolutely brilliant move.

The Uruguayan striker was coveted by many top European clubs. The Reds, despite missing out on the Champions League, managed to snatch him up thanks to their financial muscle and decisive action.

If they had waited for other teams to react, they might not have been able to buy him.

With this, the Reds now had two reliable strikers.

But the problem now was Liverpool’s weak midfield.

If they played a 4-4-2, Gerrard and Mascherano could handle it, but the team’s wide play was lacking.

Besides, the 4-4-2 was somewhat outdated now.

In the forward line, other stars attracting the attention of top European clubs included Valencia’s David Villa, Atlético Madrid’s Agüero, AC Milan’s Pato, and Inter Milan’s Balotelli.

But these few players were different. David Villa had made it clear that he would not leave Spain.

In that case, Villa’s destination was basically either Real Madrid or Barça.

Based on Yang Cheng’s experience from his past life and the intelligence he had gathered, David Villa was most likely headed to Barça.

The reason was simple: Valencia had no intention of selling players to Real Madrid.

The situation was the same for Spanish midfielder David Silva.

The transfer market was treacherous and unpredictable, and Yang Cheng stayed out of it.

Nowadays, he was rarely directly involved in transfer operations.

But he was well aware of every move Bayswater Chinese made and every whisper in the transfer market.

…

Säbener Strasse, Harlaching, Munich, Germany, the headquarters of Bayern Munich.

Whenever the top executives of Bayern Munich’s Supervisory Board gathered at the headquarters, everyone knew that something important was afoot.

For example, four years ago, this group of bosses made the decision to poach Franck Ribéry from Bayswater Chinese.

That was snatching a player right from under Real Madrid’s nose.

Over the past four years, Ribéry’s performance at Bayern has been there for all to see.

Now, this group of bosses had gathered once again, sitting in the same conference room as four years ago.

But this time, the topic of discussion was the signing of a goalkeeper.

“Among the new generation of goalkeepers in German football today, the one we have always favored most is Manuel Neuer. He possesses a level of talent a cut above the rest.”

Uli Hoeneß laid out his views on the goalkeeper signing.

“He is physically very strong, with incredibly fast reflexes, which makes him more powerful and less prone to injury.”

“Moreover, he has excellent technique with his feet, which is more in line with the current tactical trends in European football.”

“Most importantly, his current position in the German national team is more than just a step ahead of the other players.”

The so-called other players naturally included Bayer Leverkusen’s René Adler.

“Everyone should remember, we have always had a tradition: the goalkeeper of the German national team plays for Bayern Munich!”

Hoeneß felt that of all he had said, this final sentence was the most powerful.

This was the glory of Bayern Munich!

And the club’s long-standing tradition!

It was a tradition that could be traced back decades.

Bayern’s goalkeeping lineage was inseparably linked with Germany’s.

After the national goalkeeper retires, he becomes a goalkeeping coach to train the next one—this was Bayern Munich’s mentorship model advantage.

Previously, Bayern and all of Germany had high hopes for Michael Rensing.

They just didn’t expect Rensing to be a complete bust.

Now, to train another player, it was simply impossible to catch up to Neuer’s progress.

The crucial thing was, Neuer was born in 1986 and was only 24 years old.

In the special position of goalkeeper, he could be active for at least another ten years.

“Right now, it must be difficult to poach Neuer from Bayswater Chinese, isn’t it?” asked the football emperor, Beckenbauer.

Everyone present was a big shot, and the reason they could sit together was their strong sense of German identity.

They all believed that the best German players should play for Bayern Munich.

Especially the goalkeeper.

Under no circumstances should he be playing in the Premier League.

That’s why, when Michael Ballack moved to Chelsea on a free transfer, they saw it as a betrayal and lambasted him for it.

“It is indeed very difficult,” Rummenigge chimed in.

“For reference, Juventus’s Buffon has attracted interest from many teams, including Manchester United and Manchester City. His market valuation is 28 million pound sterling.”

He had clearly already reached a consensus with Hoeneß.

“I’ve been in contact with Adam Crozier a few times before, and we spoke on the phone a couple of days ago.”

After a pause, Rummenigge explained, “Aren’t we participating in the International Champions Cup this summer? The draw is in a few days. I took the opportunity to chat with him and brought up transfers.”

Everyone turned to look at Rummenigge, their faces showing concern.

“Yang Cheng has no intention of making any transfers this summer. He believes that based on Bayswater Chinese’s performance last season, if it weren’t for the excessive pressure of the schedule, they could have won the Treble!”

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

Damn it, Yang Cheng, where does your confidence come from?

He’s treating the Premier League like the Bundesliga!

Across the top five leagues, who else but Bayern in the Bundesliga could have such confidence?

However, in truth, Bayswater Chinese’s results last season were indeed very impressive.

Double champions, plus two semi-finals—that record was solid!

Hoeneß also took over the conversation, “I’ve also spoken with Neuer’s agent, Thomas Kroth, about the possibility of a transfer. He indicated that the player is very willing to return to Germany to join Bayern, but they will not participate in the negotiations.”

Everyone looked at each other, clearly a little disappointed by this statement.

For a major transfer like Neuer’s, if the player were involved, it would be much easier for Bayern to operate.

Beckenbauer glanced around the room and sighed, “The Andy Carroll transfer to Chelsea six months ago, Yang Cheng’s methods really worked!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Six months later, many of Yang Cheng’s decisions from back then were continuously being leaked.

Including the process of his negotiations with Andy Carroll’s agent, Mark Curtis, and various inside details of the transfer, the media dug up everything they could.

After something like that, which of Bayswater Chinese’s players would dare to step out of line?

Yang Cheng’s power over Bayswater Chinese far surpassed Ferguson’s over Manchester United.

“So there’s no room for discussion?” asked Herbert Hainer of Adidas.

As a competitor to Puma, although Adidas was also trying to cooperate with Bayswater Chinese, and the two sides had collaborated multiple times on individual player sponsorships, he still hoped that Neuer would return to Germany to play for Bayern Munich.

There’s a difference between who you’re close to and who you’re not!

“Personally, I don’t think a transfer is completely off the table. The main thing is that we have to offer a sufficient transfer fee.”

Uli Hoeneß revealed a piece of information about Bayswater Chinese.

“I heard that the construction budget for their new stadium has already exceeded 1 billion pound sterling, and it might even exceed 1.2 billion pound sterling.”

Everyone present gasped again.

This was too outrageous!

A stadium built at a cost of 1.2 billion pound sterling?

One reason for the budget overrun was the depreciation of the pound, and another was the various high-tech features Bayswater Chinese was equipping the new stadium with.

“Currently, besides making a large annual bank loan payment, Bayswater Chinese has to invest at least another 100 million pound sterling into the construction of the new stadium. This will be a very heavy burden for them.”

Everyone frowned.

If it were Bayern, they simply couldn’t withstand such frantic spending.

“But I heard that Bayswater Chinese’s total revenue last season exceeded 430 million euro, ranking first in the Premier League and second in world football, only behind Real Madrid.”

As soon as Beckenbauer said this, the group of大佬s present were in an uproar again.

430 million euro!

Wasn’t that just absurd?

Bayern Munich’s total revenue in the 2008/09 season was 289 million euro, and this season it was expected to exceed 300 million euro.

This meant that Bayern Munich had been left far behind by Bayswater Chinese.

There was a time when this team couldn’t even compare to Bayern!

“Last season, their revenue growth rate was 30%,” Hoeneß revealed the truth.

Everyone present was a seasoned veteran, but after hearing this, they were truly shocked!

Only those who have personally managed a business, especially one with revenues in the hundreds of millions, know how difficult it is to achieve a 30% revenue growth rate!

What’s more, this was in the already very mature European professional football market.

“Adam Crozier is truly a business genius!” Beckenbauer praised.

The achievements Adam Crozier made at The FA were known throughout Europe.

Now, he had once again created a miracle at Bayswater Chinese.

“It’s also because Yang Cheng knows how to use people’s talents. Besides, the decision to lease Wembley Stadium was made by Yang Cheng back then,” Rummenigge, as Chairman of the Board of Bayern, believed more credit should go to Yang Cheng.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Yang Cheng had played this hand beautifully!

Back then, he took advantage of The FA’s financial troubles, offered them money, and directly leased Wembley Stadium until 2012.

The annual rent was only 5 million pound sterling.

But now, this stadium was generating 150 million pound sterling in matchday revenue for Bayswater Chinese.

Adam Crozier was indeed a business genius, but without Yang Cheng’s decision, Bayswater Chinese would still be stuck in Queens Park Rangers’ small stadium, and he probably wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything.

“It’s great to be young!” Herbert Hainer from Adidas couldn’t help but sigh.

At first listen, it sounded like he was praising Yang Cheng’s youth and boldness.

But upon further reflection, it might have had a deeper meaning.

Buffon was valued at 28 million pound sterling, and even then, he might not be available.

What about Neuer, who was younger and a homegrown player?

How much was he worth?

“Do we currently have sufficient funds to operate this transfer?” Beckenbauer asked Karl Hopfner, who was in charge of finance, with concern.

Hopfner had already been in communication with Rummenigge and Hoeneß and was well-prepared.

“With our current funds, if this summer’s transfer budget is controlled within 50 million euro, we can afford it.”

According to the exchange rate, that was about 40 million pound sterling.

Neuer’s current valuation in the German transfer market was 30 million pound sterling.

But everyone knew that signing Neuer for 30 million pound sterling was basically a pipe dream.

“In that case, I’ll make a trip to London and talk to Adam Crozier,” Uli Hoeneß proposed.

Everyone nodded, thinking it was feasible.

Rummenigge also nodded but added, “Have Christian go with you.”

Hoeneß nodded impassively.

Christian Nerlinger, Bayern’s director of football.

…

Before the heated discussions sparked by Luis Suárez’s 30 million pound sterling transfer from Ajax to Liverpool could even settle down, news broke from Spain.

Valencia’s striker David Villa had transferred to Barcelona for a fee of 40 million euro.

This transfer surpassed Suárez’s fee, becoming the new marquee signing of this summer’s transfer market.

Real Madrid, who had just spent wildly last year, lost out to Barça in this transfer.

At the same time, Manchester City officially announced the signing of Spanish midfielder David Silva from Valencia for a high price of 25 million pound sterling.

This was another knife twisted in Real Madrid’s side.

Of Valencia’s Twin Stars, David Villa and David Silva, Real Madrid failed to secure either.

However, after Mourinho took over at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid quickly made adjustments.

On the recommendation of Jorge Mendes, Real Madrid successfully signed Portuguese centre-back Bruno Alves from Porto for 30 million euro.

The Portuguese international performed well at the World Cup.

According to Marca, Real Madrid’s original centre-back targets were Bayswater Chinese’s Pepe or Thiago Silva, but Bayswater Chinese refused to negotiate.

Thus, Real Madrid was forced to shift its target and signed Bruno Alves.

Besides Bruno Alves, on Mourinho’s strong recommendation, Real Madrid signed left-back Fábio Coentrão from Benfica for a high price of 30 million euro after his impressive World Cup performance.

The two transfer deals cost Real Madrid a total of 60 million euro, but the Galácticos were still not satisfied.

They signed Canales for 6 million euro, Pedro León for 10 million euro, German international Khedira for 14 million euro, and Mesut Özil from Werder Bremen for 15 million euro.

Real Madrid’s actions were nothing short of massive.

In the Premier League, after signing David Silva, Manchester City also signed Jérôme Boateng from Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga for 10 million pound sterling, a major move to strengthen their defense.

In addition, Ancelotti was hoping to sign Italian international midfielder Giorgio Chiellini from Juventus.

Brazilian centre-back David Luiz, who played for Benfica, also became hot property in the transfer market.

In the current transfer market, where quality players are extremely scarce, outstanding centre-backs like Chiellini and David Luiz were highly sought-after.

Their transfer fees were both expected to be over 25 million pound sterling.

And it wasn’t just a matter of paying the money.

On one hand, Juventus had to be persuaded; on the other, they faced immense competition.

How many top teams were currently eyeing David Luiz?

Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barça, Liverpool, Arsenal…

Almost every team looking to strengthen its defense was watching David Luiz.

Because there were no other options!

Just as the European media was hyping up the scarcity of centre-backs, Liverpool quickly made an official announcement.

Renowned Italian manager Mancini had officially taken over the Reds!

This was another piece of earth-shattering news!

And the first player Mancini signed after taking charge of Liverpool was Lazio’s left-back Aleksandar Kolarov.

The transfer fee was a hefty 23 million pound sterling.

When Yang Cheng received this news, his first reaction was stunned silence.

Mancini managing Liverpool?

It was truly surprising.

But on second thought, it seemed quite reasonable.

Firstly, there weren’t many world-class managers available at the moment, with Mancini and Pellegrini being among them.

From a coaching style perspective, Liverpool bore the deep imprint of Benítez.

The Reds have always been known for their tough style of play.

Pellegrini has a typical Latin American style, known for flair and movement, which is nice to watch but not a great fit for Liverpool.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, the head coach who best fit Liverpool’s characteristics was Klopp.

But the current Klopp was not yet qualified to take charge of Liverpool.

Mancini’s coaching ability was beyond doubt. Being from Italy, his tactical knowledge was sound, and his style was meticulous and rigorous, which was very similar to Benítez.

So, inviting him to coach was a good choice.

Whether it would succeed or not, that was hard to say.

Kolarov played for Lazio.

Everyone knew that Mancini had deep ties with Lazio.

Liverpool’s left flank had always been a weakness, so signing Kolarov was undoubtedly a timely solution.

As for Manchester City.

With Bridge and Leighton Baines, their need for Kolarov was not strong.

Therefore, Kolarov’s transfer to Liverpool was quite normal.

The Liverpool Echo, a paper close to the club, also revealed that Mancini intended to clear out a batch of players within the Liverpool squad who simply couldn’t meet the team’s technical and tactical requirements.

Players including Insúa, Degen, and Riera would all be sold off.

What was surprising was that starting goalkeeper Reina was not favored by Mancini either.

“Mancini is not a fan of Reina’s goalkeeping style, and he’s not stable enough, which is unacceptable to Mancini.”

“In comparison, Mancini prefers to sign veteran goalkeeper Buffon from Juventus.”

The Echo revealed that Juventus was currently undergoing a management shake-up, and many players within the team were considering leaving.

In a previous interview with Italian media, Buffon had revealed that although his contract with Juventus ran until 2013, he did not rule out considering other options.

“Leaving Serie A for the Premier League would undoubtedly be a good choice.”

But there were three Premier League teams that coveted Buffon: Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool.

Manchester United had lost Van der Sar and their goal was still unstable.

Although Manchester City had Joe Hart, he wasn’t stable enough, and they hoped to sign the most reliable goalkeeper in the world.

Interestingly, this summer, although there were occasional transfer rumors about Neuer, they were mostly linked to Bayern Munich. Manchester United and Manchester City were occasionally mentioned, but not often.

It was as if they all knew they simply couldn’t buy Neuer.

…

At the end of June, the organizers of the International Champions Cup held a grand press conference in London.

They officially announced that the inaugural International Champions Cup, composed of 12 top European clubs, would officially kick off this summer.

A draw ceremony was also held.

The draw rules were quite simple. First, three teams from different leagues were drawn from the 12 teams.

Real Madrid was sent to the western United States, Barça to the eastern United States, and Manchester United to the Asia region.

Then, the other teams for the three groups were drawn respectively.

In the end, Real Madrid was drawn with Juventus, Arsenal, and Chelsea.

Barça drew Bayswater Chinese, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United drew AC Milan, Manchester City, and Liverpool.

After the draw results were released, the schedule was also announced.

Representatives from all 12 clubs attended the draw and officially signed the contracts.

David Pemsel, a representative of the organizers, stated in an interview with the media that the ICC Company was committed to making the International Champions Cup a signature event every summer and would strictly organize it according to Champions League standards.

“We hope to bring the highest level of competition to the fans in North America and Asia!”

David Pemsel revealed that although this was the inaugural edition, the International Champions Cup had already contacted broadcasters in North America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The matches would be broadcast live to over fifty countries and regions worldwide.

“We are determined to make this the most influential pre-season tournament of the summer!”

The major clubs were also full of confidence in the prospects of the International Champions Cup.

Especially after communicating with David Pemsel and Richard Masters and learning about the tournament’s broadcasting, commercial sponsorship, and ticket sales channels, they were all very excited.

After the draw, the schedule was released, and ticket sales were officially opened to the world.

The gathering of 12 top clubs was a huge gimmick in itself.

Coupled with the heat of this summer’s transfer market, it made fans all over the world eagerly anticipate it.

Television broadcasters like Fox in the United States, Huaxia Television in China, and those in Japan, South Korea, and other countries and regions, after acquiring the broadcasting rights at a low cost, also began to promote and publicize the event.

This also invisibly helped to boost the influence of the International Champions Cup.

The International Champions Cup hadn’t even started, but the hype was already through the roof.

…

The draw was held in London.

After the draw, the senior executives of the major clubs gradually returned to prepare for the upcoming International Champions Cup campaign.

After all, there was an appearance fee for participating and prize money for winning.

But Bayern Munich’s General Manager, Uli Hoeneß, and Director of Football, Nerlinger, quietly stayed behind and secretly met with Bayswater Chinese’s CEO, Adam Crozier, at a hotel.

They were accompanied by Director of Football Dan Ashworth.

“Gentlemen, I’m sure you’ve more or less guessed my intention for staying behind.”

Uli Hoeneß was a towering figure in European football, and he didn’t beat around the bush, getting straight to the point.

“To be honest with you, we sincerely hope to have a proper discussion with you at Bayswater Chinese about the future of the player Manuel Neuer.”

Hoeneß then went on to talk about the tradition and emotional bond between Bayern and the German national team’s goalkeepers.

He wanted to tell Adam Crozier and Dan Ashworth that it wasn’t just Bayern’s fans, but also German fans, who were eagerly hoping that Neuer could return to play in the Bundesliga.

England and Germany were old rivals. Their own national goalkeeper not playing for the best team in the Bundesliga, but instead playing in England, did that seem right?

“Just a few days ago, our Bayern Supervisory Board held a regular meeting, and the members pressed us to contact you again to discuss Neuer. We are truly very sincere,” Hoeneß said with great earnestness.

Adam Crozier and Dan Ashworth exchanged a look, a knowing expression passing between them.

There was certainly sincerity, and plenty of it.

But in his words, there was a mix of truth and falsehood.

Hoeneß was an old fox; he wouldn’t lay all his cards on the table at once.

“I won’t hide it from you either, Uli.”

Adam Crozier didn’t speak; it was Dan Ashworth who responded.

“Before Mr. Yang Cheng went on vacation, he gave strict instructions not to sell any player this summer. So you see, no matter how chaotic the transfer market gets for other teams, we remain unaffected.”

“It wasn’t like this in previous years. We really don’t plan on making any transfers this summer.”

Uli Hoeneß looked at Dan Ashworth, then at Adam Crozier, trying to gauge how much of what they said was true and how much was false.

“Then how come I heard your head scout, Gary Worthington, was in Belgium scouting players? And Mike Rigg went to Spain to scout players at Atlético Madrid?” Uli Hoeneß asked tentatively.

Bayern obviously hadn’t come unprepared.

They had also been putting out all sorts of smokescreens while closely monitoring every move of Bayswater Chinese.

They were highly alert to any slightest disturbance.

“Routine business, you know. The director of football, head scout, chief talent officer, we all have to ensure the team’s operations are foolproof, so we are constantly scouting players.”

After a pause, Dan Ashworth laughed. “At the World Cup in South Africa, our scouts were even scouting Thomas Müller. Does that mean we plan to sign him?”

“You understand, Uli. We are just scouting. We are interested in all young players. It’s a necessary talent reserve.”

It wasn’t just about talent reserves, but also about scouting opponents.

In the future, when they played against Bayern, the intelligence on Thomas Müller would be valuable.

Almost all teams in the world operated this way.

Dan Ashworth’s explanation was watertight, and Hoeneß really had no comeback.

“What about Yang? Is he in London?” Hoeneß changed the subject.

Dan Ashworth looked at Adam Crozier, who smiled. “As soon as the season ended, he took our Chief Financial Officer to Northern Europe for a vacation. He’s not even answering his phone. Even we can’t reach him.”

Hearing him exaggerate a bit, Hoeneß couldn’t help but laugh along.

The whole world knew that Bayswater Chinese’s CFO, Xia Qing, and Yang Cheng were a couple.

“Then how are you handling the payments for the new stadium’s construction?” Hoeneß asked with concern.

Adam Crozier laughed again. “The finance department is still operating as usual, and our cash flow is quite good right now.”

The implied message was: we’re not short of money right now.

Considering the huge loans Bayswater Chinese had secured from several banks before, this was indeed possible.

“Adam, let’s not beat around the bush. Sell us Neuer,” Hoeneß stopped hiding his intentions and started to play his cards.

“I really can’t, Uli. You know, losing both the FA Cup and Champions League semi-finals last season had a big impact on the team. Yang has already made it clear: this season, we are aiming for all the titles. No one is for sale!”

“Look, all the other teams are scrambling for centre-backs, centre-forwards, and midfielders. You don’t see anyone trying to poach from our team, right?”

Hoeneß nodded. “I understand, but just consider it a favor to us at Bayern. Think of it as helping us out!”

In the European football transfer market, this kind of favor-trading between top clubs was not rare.

That’s why, as president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez found it easy to buy players, whereas Ramón Calderón struggled.

Adam Crozier fell silent at just the right moment.

What kind of person was Uli Hoeneß?

He was a master at reading people.

He immediately sensed there was a chance.

He spoke again, raising the stakes.

“How about this, we are willing to offer 30… 40 million euro to sign Neuer!”

Hoeneß had originally wanted to start haggling from 30 million euro, but on second thought, he decided to intensify the offensive.

“It’s really not that I’m unwilling to do you this favor, but you know, Uli, I’m really not the one who can make the final decision on this.”

After a pause, Adam Crozier changed the subject. “Let me ask you, Uli, if you were in my shoes, and someone gave you 40 million euro, would you be able to buy a goalkeeper of Neuer’s caliber?”

The 32-year-old veteran Buffon’s current market valuation was 28 million pound sterling, which converted to 35 million euro.

And Buffon was already 32.

Neuer was only 24.

Moreover, whether in the Premier League over the past few seasons or in this World Cup, Neuer had shown an extremely high level of performance.

He was widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, even surpassing Čech in various rankings.

Under these circumstances, trying to buy a goalkeeper of Neuer’s quality for 40 million euro was basically impossible!

If such a player existed, Bayern wouldn’t need to come for Neuer.

Did he know what Bayer Leverkusen’s asking price for René Adler was?

25 million euro!

And that was the internal price for a fellow Bundesliga club, Bayern.

There were rumors that Manchester United had actually inquired about the price, and the asking price was 30 million euro.

So what should be the value of Neuer, a top goalkeeper who had repeatedly proven his quality and worth in the Champions League, the Premier League, and the World Cup?

A crazy thought suddenly popped into Hoeneß’s mind.

Veteran football fans would surely be familiar with it.

In 2001, Juventus signed Buffon from Parma for 54 million euro, setting the all-time record for a goalkeeper transfer fee.

But to think that Juventus got Parma to quietly comply with just 54 million euro would be too naive.

At that time, Buffon had almost joined Barça. He had even visited Barcelona and reached an agreement with the club.

But after Buffon returned to Italy, Juventus’s General Manager, Moggi, received the news, immediately called Buffon and his agent, and used many tactics to make Buffon change his mind and join Juventus.

And at that time, Barça’s offer was even higher than Juventus’s.

Sometimes, to pursue the best, you have to pay the price!

But Bayern also had its own considerations.

From Beckenbauer to Rummenigge to Hoeneß, they all saw the Bundesliga as their own backyard.

But relying solely on results, money, and benefits was not enough.

So, Bayern had always been trying every means to establish itself as the banner of German football.

They wanted all German players, from the very first day they started playing, to feel a sense of awe when they heard the name Bayern.

To cultivate in these young players from a young age the idea that playing for Bayern was an honor.

This required building and shaping through various means.

For example, Germany’s best players had always played for Bayern.

But if one day, Germany’s best player chose another team instead of Bayern, Bayern’s image would be affected.

Therefore, Bayern had to do everything possible to buy them back!

Even a star like Ballack, who was past his peak, Bayern was reluctant to let him go.

And now, they had to do everything in their power to sign Neuer.

At the end of the conversation, Hoeneß gave his final offer, the one that represented Bayern’s limit.

50 million euro!

This was Bayern’s limit!

Because over the past few years, Bayern’s salary expenditure had also risen sharply, so the transfer budget couldn’t be too high.

Furthermore, Ribéry and Thomas Müller were due for contract renewals.

Oh, right, and that East German fellow also needed a new contract.

Adam Crozier’s reply was still evasive.

“I need to ask for instructions!”

Not giving an answer on the spot was basically the same as no answer at all.

Hoeneß, dejected, saw Adam Crozier and Dan Ashworth off.

Not getting the answer he wanted left a bad taste in his mouth.

After some thought, Hoeneß took out his phone and made a call to the famous German agent, Thomas Kroth.

That damn fellow never won a league title during his playing days, only represented West Germany in one match, and had a career with few highlights.

But as an agent, he was doing spectacularly well, with many famous stars under his wing, including Neuer.

Thomas Kroth was not at all surprised that Hoeneß’s talks with Adam Crozier had broken down.

In his view, why would Bayswater Chinese sell their star goalkeeper for no reason?

What team in the world was that stupid?

Besides, with Bayswater Chinese’s revenue soaring, they were no longer in a position where they had to sell players frantically.

Thomas Kroth was actually quite well-informed about Bayswater Chinese’s situation.

“Oh, right, when I went to Grosvenor Square to discuss a contract renewal before, I vaguely overheard Dan Ashworth on the phone with Yang Cheng, and they seemed to mention Thomas Müller.”

Hoeneß’s heart skipped a beat. “Why did he mention Müller?”

“At the time, I remember they were talking about German youth development. Yang Cheng felt that several of Bayern’s young players were good. Besides Thomas Müller, he seemed to also mention Badstuber and Toni Kroos, but I didn’t hear very clearly.”

“Perhaps you could consider including Thomas Müller in the deal.”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Hoeneß refused without hesitation.

Who was Thomas Müller?

The World Cup Golden Boot and Best Young Player.

And Badstuber, he was also deeply loved by Bayern fans.

Trade them away?

It was a no-brainer that Bayern would be cursed to death by the German fans.

Hoeneß would definitely have to take the blame and step down.

As for Toni Kroos…

The East German kid was having some issues with his contract renewal recently. Rummenigge wanted to put some pressure on him and was deliberately giving him the cold shoulder.

He wasn’t entirely out of consideration!

But Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was teeming with talent. Did they even need Toni Kroos?

Chapter 203: A Wish Fulfilled! Further Expanding the Football Empire’s Map

When a thoroughly dejected Uli Hoeneß returned to Munich, Germany, he was immediately greeted by news of four earth-shattering transfers that were enough to shake the world of football.

The Reds, Liverpool, having just been acquired by Saudi tycoons, first signed legendary goalkeeper Buffon from Juventus for a high price of thirty-five million pounds sterling, which converts to approximately forty-three million seven hundred fifty thousand euros.

This left fans all over the world in utter shock!

The fee had already surpassed what Barça paid Valencia for David Villa, making it the new marquee signing of the summer.

One must remember that the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper was set by none other than Buffon himself.

But now, the legendary goalkeeper, already thirty-two years old, had once again commanded a staggering transfer fee.

The second-highest transfer fee record was also Buffon’s!

No one would question Buffon’s ability, but was it worth paying such an exorbitant fee for a thirty-two-year-old goalkeeper?

The only explanation anyone could come up with was that the Saudi tycoons were clearly targeting more than just sporting factors.

They hoped that through such a transfer, they could attract global attention, drawing everyone’s eyes to Liverpool, and by extension, to Saudi Arabia, which stood behind the club.

In addition to Buffon, Liverpool also signed another Italian international, Mario Balotelli.

In this summer’s transfer market, Balotelli was definitely the focus of every major club’s attention.

No one questioned the skill and potential of this twenty-year-old centre-forward. Everyone believed he would undoubtedly become a world-class striker, as his talent was simply too stunning!

Manchester United’s Ferguson wanted him, Chelsea thought he could be Drogba’s successor, Manchester City’s Ancelotti had high hopes for him, and Liverpool’s Mancini was playing the sentiment card hard.

After all, it was Mancini who had promoted Balotelli during his tenure at Inter Milan.

The first to make a move was Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s initial offer was a direct twenty-five million pounds sterling, hoping to sign this future top-tier centre-forward.

But Liverpool quickly followed suit, placing their own bid.

The two sides kept raising the stakes, eventually settling the price at thirty million pounds sterling.

That converted to thirty-seven million five hundred thousand euros.

Between the two Premier League clubs and the two Italian head coaches, Balotelli chose to join Mancini’s Liverpool.

In an interview with Italian media, Balotelli stated, “No one understands me better than Mancini. He knows how to unlock my potential!”

After missing out on Balotelli, Ancelotti swiftly shifted his focus.

Having already signed Jerome Boateng from Hamburger SV, Manchester City paid a transfer fee of thirty million pounds sterling to sign Giorgio Chiellini from Juventus.

Chiellini’s market value on Transfermarkt was only twenty-five million euros.

But Manchester City spent a full thirty-seven million five hundred thousand euros to successfully sign the Italian international.

This was Manchester City’s style.

With Chiellini’s signing, Manchester City now boasted four centre-backs in Lúcio, Chiellini, Joleon Lescott, and Vedran Ćorluka, plus the young Jerome Boateng.

The centre-back crisis that had plagued Ancelotti for an entire season was completely resolved.

After signing Chiellini, to make up for the disappointment of missing Balotelli, Manchester City announced the signing of Ibrahimović from Barça for a transfer fee of twenty-four million pounds sterling, which converted to thirty million euros.

The Swedish centre-forward’s market value had been cut in half after just one season at Barça!

The Sun revealed that the exceptional maneuvering of agent Raiola had completed this transfer.

Manchester City and Barça had been haggling over the transfer fee for a long time. The Blue Moons were initially only willing to offer twenty million pounds sterling.

This was a significant distance from Barça’s thirty million pounds sterling asking price.

The main issue was Ibrahimović’s annual salary.

The Swede was earning twelve million euros a year at Barça.

However, due to Spain’s tax advantages, the Swedish centre-forward could take home around nine million five hundred thousand euros after tax.

That was roughly seven million five hundred thousand pounds sterling.

This calculated to a post-tax weekly wage of about one hundred and forty-five thousand pounds sterling.

But the current tax rate in the Premier League was fifty percent.

To give him that take-home pay, Manchester City would need to offer a pre-tax weekly wage of three hundred thousand pounds sterling, which was on par with Kaká.

Even for the extravagantly wealthy Manchester City, it was impossible to meet Ibrahimović’s demands.

Thus, Manchester City shifted their target, trying to compete for Balotelli, who had a higher transfer fee but a lower salary.

Unexpectedly, Balotelli went straight to Mancini’s Liverpool.

Interestingly, Balotelli’s agent was also Raiola.

After Balotelli moved to Liverpool, Raiola mediated between Manchester City and Barça, successfully persuading Barça to lower their transfer fee demand while also getting Manchester City to raise their offer slightly.

At the same time, Ibrahimović also lowered his salary demands.

Who could blame him, since he was desperately trying to escape Barça?

The Sun reported that the final transfer fee was set at twenty-four million pounds sterling.

Ibrahimović’s weekly wage at Manchester City was only two hundred thousand pounds sterling before tax.

As these earth-shattering transfers became public, they immediately sparked frantic discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Everyone was shocked to discover that the purchasing power of the Premier League was simply too strong!

Especially after Manchester City and Liverpool were successively acquired by two tycoon-backed ownerships, they continuously bought stars, making the entire Premier League sparkle with talent.

…

“The Premier League is terrifying right now!”

Back at the Bayern headquarters office on Säbener Strasse in Harlaching, Hoeneß and Nerlinger immediately sought out Rummenigge.

As soon as the three met, the topic naturally turned to the Premier League transfers.

“We must propose to UEFA to implement the Financial Fair Play regulations as soon as possible. We have to strictly control the Premier League, or else, if this continues, all the world’s stars will be bought by them!”

“At that point, the Premier League will inevitably become another little World Cup!”

As veterans who had managed Bayern for many years, Hoeneß and Rummenigge knew all too well about the golden era of Serie A’s “little World Cup.”

In those days, Serie A was truly in a league of its own!

But speaking of it brought a sense of bitterness.

In the late 1990s, the Bundesliga had wanted to challenge Serie A.

So, many teams, including Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, began a spending spree.

Behind them were media giants like the Kirch Group providing strong support.

At that time, European football was also swept by a wave of public listings and financing. Teams like Manchester United, Ajax, and Borussia Dortmund all went public around the turn of the century.

But who could have imagined that after entering the new millennium, the Kirch Group would fall into financial trouble, even facing bankruptcy and restructuring.

This dragged the entire Bundesliga into the quagmire of bankruptcy.

Back then, the Bundesliga, including even Bayern, faced a very serious bankruptcy crisis.

How did Bayern get out of its predicament?

In 2001, Bayern initiated a public listing and financing. Their long-time partner Adidas invested seventy-five million euros to buy ten percent of Bayern’s shares.

This is why Adidas Chairman Herbert Hainer became a prominent figure on Bayern’s Supervisory Board.

Other influential members of the Supervisory Board also came in around this time.

Thanks to the public listing and financing at the turn of the century, Bayern not only became the first to emerge from the bankruptcy crisis but also used various means, such as borrowing money and signing players, to completely turn the Bundesliga into its own backyard.

And while other teams like Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen could occasionally threaten Bayern, they were fundamentally unable to shake Bayern’s dominance in the Bundesliga.

From an industry insider’s perspective, there has never been any so-called peace in European football.

The Bundesliga and Serie A compete, and isn’t La Liga doing the same?

How were the two behemoths, Real Madrid and Barça, created?

What kind of advantage does their member-owned model have compared to other clubs?

Not to mention anything else, how many policy concessions have the government and banks given to these quasi-public-welfare member-owned clubs?

The bankruptcy crisis at the beginning of the century caused the Bundesliga to languish, and with the outbreak of the Calciopoli scandal, Serie A also fell from grace.

The Premier League seized the opportunity to rise strongly, becoming the number one league in world football today.

La Liga, driven by the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barça, has also established itself as the second-best league.

La Liga even has ambitions to go toe-to-toe with the Premier League.

The strength of the Premier League is not good news for other European leagues.

Especially for the Bundesliga.

Look at the Premier League this year, it’s been voraciously poaching from Serie A and La Liga.

Valencia’s Twin Stars, Inter Milan’s genius centre-forward, Juventus’s legendary goalkeeper and main centre-back, and Manchester United’s earlier poaching of AS Roma’s future captain…

Each and every one of these was a tale of blood and tears!

If this continues, they will eventually start poaching from the Bundesliga.

The most crucial factor is that the Premier League’s globalization has been executed too well.

No other league can even come close to competing with it.

“The Financial Fair Play regulations can only barely suppress foreign investment.”

Rummenigge also felt helpless about this. “But you know, let alone the Premier League, even within UEFA, the attitude towards foreign investment is very ambiguous. There are plenty who embrace it.”

La Liga clubs have become subjects of numerous farcical jokes in their attempts to attract foreign investment.

The chairman of Getafe was even tricked into going to Dubai.

The fact is, everyone now knows that only by bringing in foreign capital can these European football clubs be saved.

Serie A has no one interested, as clubs don’t even own their own stadiums.

The Bundesliga is restricted by policy, making it difficult for foreign capital to enter.

The Premier League, La Liga, and Ligue 1 have all adopted a positive attitude.

Their clubs are heavily in debt, barely staying afloat.

For example, Marseille, which just won the Ligue 1 title, is helmed by the widow of the former Adidas CEO, Dreyfus.

But the problem is, this old lady not only knows nothing about running a football club, but she also has no interest in it.

She invested a lot of money each year, and they just won the Ligue 1 title last season, but a look at the books revealed they were losing a fortune.

Everyone in Europe knows she’s trying to sell Marseille.

Also, have you heard much about Lyon in the last two or three years?

Why has Lyon lost the prestige of its earlier years as Ligue 1 champions?

Why has the “vampire” Aulas stopped messing around?

Behind the glory, Lyon is also saddled with debt.

Right now, almost every league in Europe is like this, except for the Premier League.

So how did the change in the Premier League come about?

It started in 2003, symbolized by Roman Abramovich, followed by the Abu Dhabi consortium, and now the Saudi consortium, as well as wealthy individuals from all over the world, pouring into the Premier League.

The influx of foreign capital brought immense purchasing power, greatly alleviating the debt of Premier League teams.

At the same time, foreign capital also brought influence, allowing the Premier League to be the most resolute in its globalization efforts, with the best results.

Now, Premier League teams, relying on overseas and domestic markets, are doing better than teams in any other league.

Who wouldn’t be envious in the other leagues?

Rummenigge was also at a loss about this matter.

Many things are the result of strategic games.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this. How did your talks in London go?” Rummenigge asked with concern.

At the mention of London, Hoeneß let out a heavy sigh.

He briefly recounted what had happened in London.

Just before returning to Munich, he had received a call from Dan Ashworth.

Bayswater Chinese was still not considering selling Neuer.

“Are they trying to rip us off?” Rummenigge was both angry and resentful.

“Buffon sold for that much, what do you think?” Hoeneß was furious.

These foreign investors were all just messing things up.

Paying such a high transfer fee for a thirty-two-year-old goalkeeper, wasn’t this disrupting the market?

These weren’t Hoeneß’s words; they were Ferguson’s.

“So what do we do now?” Rummenigge frowned. He was out of ideas.

The contract was still valid, they didn’t want to sell, and the player wasn’t cooperating. All they could do was wait.

Wait a few years until the contract was close to expiring, then talk again.

That was the standard procedure.

But the problem was, Bayern couldn’t afford to wait.

Rensing, Kahn’s successor, had already left Bayern.

Right now, Bayern had only two goalkeepers in the squad: the aging Butt and the young Kraft.

Besides, given Bayswater Chinese’s current success, could they really get Neuer by waiting?

“Thomas Kroth told me that maybe we could consider adding Thomas Müller to the transfer negotiations.”

As soon as Hoeneß finished speaking, Rummenigge’s eyes widened and he stared at him. “Are you crazy?”

“I didn’t agree, I’m just relaying the message, relaying!” Hoeneß emphasized.

“Not even relaying it. That’s absolutely impossible. That’s Thomas Müller!”

Did he know what the name Müller meant to Bayern?

Unless the kid was a completely hopeless case, Bayern Munich would pour all its resources into developing him.

“Or, Holger Badstuber…”

“He’s impossible too!” Rummenigge waved his hand dismissively. That was also off the table.

After a pause, Rummenigge glanced at his two colleagues. “Thomas Müller has already decided to renew his contract with the club. Next, we need to focus on talking to Ribéry. We must keep him!”

“What about Toni Kroos?”

“Let’s put that aside for now.” Rummenigge’s expression soured again.

“Earlier, I spoke with Volker Struth and conveyed our decision to recall Toni Kroos. Guess what he said?”

Before Hoeneß could ask, he answered his own question.

“He actually told me that if there really wasn’t a place for Toni Kroos in the team, his player would be willing to continue on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, or even be transferred!”

“Jupp Heynckes also called me, asking if it was possible to keep Toni Kroos at Bayer Leverkusen. I refused.”

Speaking of this, Rummenigge shook his head. “This kid is ungrateful. He has very little affection for our club.”

Hoeneß also sighed.

This was quite troublesome as well.

Currently, Bayern Munich’s midfield was full of talent.

Van Gaal didn’t have a good answer for how to use Toni Kroos yet, only saying he needed to observe him more.

“Van Gaal isn’t very interested in Toni Kroos,” Hoeneß lamented.

Rummenigge nodded. “But he did perform well at Bayer Leverkusen.”

“Only this past season. He has no pace on the left wing, not even as much as a young Schweinsteiger.”

Schweinsteiger had also played on the wing in his early days and also lacked pace, but he was at least faster than Toni Kroos.

A thought suddenly flashed through Hoeneß’s mind. “How about we put him in the Neuer transfer and increase the offer?”

When a club lacked sufficient funds for a transfer, using a player as a makeweight was a very common practice.

Moreover, hadn’t Thomas Kroth mentioned it? Yang Cheng had named three players: Thomas Müller, Holger Badstuber, and Toni Kroos. If one of them was included, it was very likely Yang Cheng would be interested.

“Could we do that? Toni Kroos might not be willing to go,” Nerlinger, who was standing by, shook his head.

Toni Kroos was a famed German prodigy, and his performance at Bayer Leverkusen had indeed been quite impressive.

His current market value was around twelve million euros.

Hoeneß glanced at Nerlinger, then turned to Rummenigge. “His contract expires in 2012.”

Rummenigge understood what his old partner meant.

According to standard practice, they would have to renew his contract this summer.

The latest would be before Christmas this year.

By the summer of 2011, Bayern’s position would become very passive.

They wouldn’t be able to sell the player for a good price, and they would lose the upper hand in contract negotiations.

“Will Bayswater Chinese agree?” Rummenigge asked.

“I’ll give it a try,” Hoeneß said.

Rummenigge didn’t hesitate and nodded directly.

Right now, the most important thing for Bayern Munich was to sign Neuer.

Other matters could be temporarily set aside.

Toni Kroos?

There were plenty of players like him in Germany!

What’s more, he came from East Germany and had no emotional attachment to Bayern.

Every time Rummenigge saw the kid, he felt a sense of being slighted.

…

When Bayern’s new offer reached Dan Ashworth, the director of football was so excited he almost jumped for joy.

Because in that offer, he saw the name he had long been waiting for.

Toni Kroos!

Yang was indeed a master predictor!

Between Thomas Müller, Holger Badstuber, Neuer, and Toni Kroos, Bayern had unhesitatingly chosen to sacrifice Toni Kroos.

This made the phone call he had deliberately made in front of Thomas Kroth all the more worthwhile.

At this thought, Dan Ashworth immediately called Yang Cheng, who was on “vacation,” to report the latest developments.

He also asked for instructions on the next move.

Bayern Munich’s offer was forty-five million euros plus Toni Kroos.

Yang Cheng was also quite excited, but he didn’t reply immediately.

This was the midfield general he had dreamed of!

Once Toni Kroos arrived, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield would be complete!

“Stall him for a day. Reply to him tomorrow: fifty million plus Toni Kroos!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng chuckled. “Bayern won’t lose out on this deal!”

Who was Neuer?

A German goalkeeping legend in the making!

In the current world of football, the fact that Bayern Munich could even buy him was something to be grateful for.

As for Bayswater Chinese, selling Neuer would certainly be a bit of a shame.

But firstly, Neuer himself wanted to go back.

And secondly, they could get Germany’s midfield prodigy, Toni Kroos, in return.

Plus a transfer fee of fifty million euros, it was more than worth it!

Besides, if this transfer went through, Neuer would surpass Buffon to become the most expensive goalkeeper in history!

This was also a major benefit for Bayswater Chinese.

As for a successor, Yang Cheng had already scouted one.

Gary Worthington and Mike Rigg had been traveling between Belgium, France, Germany, and Spain, scouting many young goalkeepers.

Among them were Slovenia’s Oblak, Genk’s Courtois from Belgium, Atlético Madrid’s Asenjo and De Gea, and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s youth team player ter Stegen.

Among the many goalkeepers, Yang Cheng chose Thibaut Courtois.

The reason was simple: Courtois had almost everything you could want in a perfect goalkeeper!

The ideal height for a goalkeeper is generally around one meter ninety.

For example, Buffon is one meter ninety-two tall.

But actually, another quite important factor is arm span.

So in scouting goalkeepers, height and arm span are very important.

The reason is simple: the size of the goal is fixed. Under the same conditions, a goalkeeper with greater height and arm span will have a larger area of control.

It’s not that shorter goalkeepers can’t be successful. For example, Casillas, Atlético Madrid’s Asenjo, Liverpool’s Reina, and Barça’s Valdés are all very typical shorter goalkeepers.

There was also Navas, who would later shine at Real Madrid.

But these shorter goalkeepers often rely on physical attributes like reflexes and jumping ability to compensate for their shorter height and reach.

The goalkeeper position is very unique, unlike any other position on the field.

It involves very little running.

In fact, the goalkeeper of a team with a top-tier defense might not face many threatening shots in an entire game.

For most of the match, they need to endure the solitude, stay calm, observe the game, and organize the defense.

Shorter goalkeepers are at a disadvantage here.

On one hand, their field of vision isn’t as high; on the other, their saves are heavily dependent on their physical condition.

Of course, being tall isn’t all good.

The simplest point is that with greater height and arm span, their bodies are less agile than those of shorter keepers, and their reactions to close-range shots are often slower.

But everyone knows that goalkeeper is a position with a relatively long peak career.

Shorter goalkeepers, compared to taller ones, tend to have shorter peak periods.

Many even begin to decline significantly before the age of thirty.

This is because the human body’s physical functions peak at the age of twenty-six.

When their physical condition declines, preventing them from making the same outstanding saves as they did in their prime, their entire careers can go into a rapid slide.

If you look closely, you’ll find that in European football, the goalkeepers with long peak careers are mostly tall goalkeepers.

Many even hit their peak after the age of thirty, having accumulated a wealth of experience.

Courtois is one meter ninety-nine tall, the same as Bayswater Chinese’s backup goalkeeper, Begović.

This height is slightly on the taller side.

But Courtois is strong, rarely injured, and not lacking in agility.

Most importantly, he is very calm, highly focused, and has an extremely strong mentality.

This is very important.

It’s like the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool; The Reds not only lost a Champions League trophy but also the career of a promising young goalkeeper.

As for Courtois’s distribution, his long passing was a bit weak, but his other skills were basically up to par.

Moreover, he was still young, only eighteen years old.

If they bought him and handed him over to Pedro Jaro for careful development, he might not be comparable to Buffon and Neuer in the future, but he would definitely be capable of being the starting goalkeeper for a top club.

His peak career would be very long.

He debuted for Genk in 2010, and after a stunning season, he joined Chelsea for nine million pounds sterling, then was immediately loaned to Atlético Madrid in La Liga, where he became the starting goalkeeper right away.

After that, he consistently remained the starting goalkeeper for top teams and maintained an extremely high level of performance.

In a word, Courtois was a goalkeeper you could trust.

But so far, having only played once for Genk in the 08/09 season, Courtois’s market value on Transfermarkt was only one hundred and fifty thousand euros, but Genk’s asking price was one million euros.

Non-negotiable.

What was more interesting was that when Mike Rigg went to Belgium to scout, the Genk club management even proactively recommended their team’s top prospect, Jelle Vossen, a Belgian international striker valued at one million euros.

Genk’s asking price was three million euros.

Mike Rigg wasn’t interested in Jelle Vossen, but was instead taken with a nineteen-year-old substitute midfielder on the Genk team, Kevin De Bruyne, whose Transfermarkt value was two million euros.

Since Yang Cheng had given Mike Rigg some authority, he even started transfer talks with Genk directly.

They asked for three million euros.

…

When Bayswater Chinese finally responded, willing to sit down and talk, the Bayern Munich management was ecstatic.

Their biggest headache was that Bayswater Chinese simply didn’t want to negotiate.

As long as they were willing to talk, there was room for discussion.

Fifty million euros plus Toni Kroos?

Deal!

Rummenigge and Hoeneß quickly gave their reply.

That converted to forty million pounds sterling plus Toni Kroos.

Roughly fifty million pounds sterling!

This would surely set a new world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper!

After receiving confirmation of the transfer from both sides, Bayern’s director of football, Nerlinger, immediately began preparations, leading a team to London to negotiate with Dan Ashworth.

The main points of discussion were some small details and the payment method.

But these were not major disagreements.

Yang Cheng did not participate in the transfer negotiations. He didn’t even return to London. Instead, he flew south from Northern Europe, arriving in Rostock, a city in northern Germany on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea.

Toni Kroos, just back from the World Cup, was on vacation in his hometown.

His father had been coaching in the Rostock youth academy, previously managing the U17s, and this summer, he had become the head coach of the U19s as the team aged up.

Before receiving Yang Cheng’s call, Toni Kroos had already learned from his agent, Volker Struth, that Bayern had included him in the Neuer transfer deal.

This made the proud Toni Kroos very unhappy.

He didn’t like being a makeweight in someone else’s transfer!

Just at this moment, Yang Cheng, traveling with his girlfriend Xia Qing, called from Northern Europe.

The next day, they met in a restaurant in downtown Rostock.

This was not the first time Toni Kroos had seen Yang Cheng.

But it was their first private meeting.

“Does it feel like we’ve been chatting online for years and are finally meeting in person for the first time?” Yang Cheng asked with a grin.

Xia Qing, standing by, couldn’t help but be amused.

Online chat?

Toni Kroos was a bit shy but nodded straightforwardly.

He still looked quite young and inexperienced.

But Yang Cheng had always known that he was a person with a very strong mind of his own.

“Actually, I’ve wanted to talk to you for a long time,” Toni Kroos initiated.

“Just like this.”

After saying it, he was the first to laugh.

If it were someone else, Yang Cheng might have used some tactics or verbal tricks.

But facing Toni Kroos, Yang Cheng felt it was best not to hide anything.

This clever kid was not so easily fooled.

“Before we start, Toni, I must apologize to you.”

“Why?”

Yang Cheng briefly explained how he had forced Bayern to include Toni Kroos in the transfer.

“I’m sorry, I did this without your consent. If you feel it’s inappropriate or you don’t like it, I can call London and have them terminate the transfer.”

“We at Bayswater Chinese will negotiate the two deals separately with Bayern and make a new offer for you.”

Toni Kroos was clearly surprised.

He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to be so frank, even telling him the inside story of the transfer directly.

This, in turn, left the young German somewhat unsure of what to do.

Sitting there, he pondered for a long time before shaking his head with a wry smile: “My father told me that once you become a professional footballer, you become like a commodity that can be bought and sold at will.”

From his tone, it seemed he had accepted it.

“Yang, I want to know, did Bayern really not choose me?” Toni Kroos looked up, his eyes meeting Yang Cheng’s directly.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “You should have known the answer long ago, shouldn’t you?”

Toni Kroos had an “I knew it” expression on his face.

“From the first day I joined Bayern, I knew they didn’t value me that much.”

“No, I felt it even before I went to Bayern.”

Yang Cheng was silent for a moment before saying, “Then come to us at Bayswater Chinese! My colleagues, the players, and I will help you become the best midfielder in the world!”

“Here, you will find many teammates who are on the same wavelength as you. You will experience a joy in playing football that you couldn’t find at Bayern, at Bayer Leverkusen, or at any other team.”

Toni Kroos was not so easily persuaded.

Though young, the kid was full of his own ideas.

Yang Cheng analyzed some of the problems Bayswater Chinese had encountered last season and mentioned Toni Kroos’s strengths.

He also described how he planned to use Toni Kroos.

In the 4-3-3 formation, it would be the position in the midfield, slightly to the left.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, and C. Ronaldo formed the most potent left-sided attacking unit in the world at the time.

And in the current Bayswater Chinese, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, and Gareth Bale would replicate this attacking formation.

Toni Kroos’s long, switching passes would become one of Bayswater Chinese’s most important offensive weapons.

When Yang Cheng laid out his long-planned tactical ideas and his design for Toni Kroos’s role on the pitch, the twenty-year-old German midfielder was somewhat stunned.

He truly had not expected Yang Cheng to have prepared so much behind the scenes.

“You’ve been secretly plotting to get me for a long time, haven’t you?” Toni Kroos pointed at Yang Cheng and asked with a smile.

“Not that long, probably just before you rejected Bayswater Chinese and chose Bayern Munich.”

Yang Cheng still had a frank expression.

“I’ve actually watched many of your games in the Rostock youth team, you just didn’t know it.”

These words deeply moved Toni Kroos.

That was five years ago.

Yang Cheng had been quietly pursuing him for five years.

Never mind him being just a young-up-and-comer; even a mature star would likely be moved.

What’s more, over the past five years, Yang Cheng had sent him text messages from time to time, just to make his presence felt.

At this moment, all these little things accumulated, leaving Toni Kroos with no thought of refusal.

Especially since Yang Cheng had cut his vacation short and traveled from Northern Europe to Rostock specifically to see him, this sincerity truly touched Toni Kroos.

He was so moved that he started to feel a bit insecure.

“Yang, what if, by any chance, I don’t live up to your expectations?” Toni Kroos asked, not without apprehension.

“Then that’s my problem!”

“Hmm?”

“If I don’t use you well, it’s my problem, not yours!” Yang Cheng said with great certainty.

Toni Kroos was now completely won over.

He had never known that there could be such a relationship between a player and a head coach.

Not even Jupp Heynckes treated him like Yang Cheng did.

Thus, he truly couldn’t muster any thought of refusal.

“Alright, Yang, I agree. A makeweight is a makeweight. I’m willing to go to London and accept a new challenge!”

Yang Cheng was waiting for those words. He stood up with a smile, extending his hand to shake Toni Kroos’s.

“I promise you, Toni, many years from now, you will be proud of the great decision you made today!”

Toni Kroos deeply believed it.

…

With the player having no objections, the deal between Bayern Munich and Bayswater Chinese proceeded very smoothly.

The two clubs quickly reached an agreement.

Fifty million euros plus Toni Kroos, and Neuer would transfer to Bayern Munich.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese entered into negotiations over personal terms with Toni Kroos’s agent, Volker Struth.

Yang Cheng showed great sincerity this time; the club was willing to offer Toni Kroos a weekly wage of eighty thousand pounds sterling.

This was double his annual salary at Bayern Munich.

Toni Kroos would instantly join the middle-class earners at Bayswater Chinese.

For a twenty-year-old midfielder, this was undoubtedly an exception.

Therefore, Toni Kroos’s side was also very satisfied. After negotiating some detailed clauses, they directly accepted the professional contract offered by Bayswater Chinese.

It was for a term of five years.

After signing Toni Kroos, Bayswater Chinese announced that they had spent four million euros to sign Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne from the Belgian club Genk.

Yang Cheng had not been involved in these transfers and negotiations from start to finish.

In fact, besides Toni Kroos, almost everyone else thought he was still vacationing in Northern Europe.

But in reality, after leaving Rostock, Yang Cheng had quietly traveled south, flying directly to a city on the Mediterranean coast in the south of France.

Nice.

This is the fifth largest city in France and also a world-famous tourist destination.

With a population of four hundred thousand, it welcomes four million global tourists annually, making it the largest tourist hub in France outside of Paris.

Incidentally, almost all tourists heading to Monaco first arrive in Nice.

And when Yang Cheng and Xia Qing landed at the Côte d’Azur Airport in Nice, the person who came to pick them up was none other than the long-unseen Lin Zhongqiu.

…

“Uncle Lin!”

As Yang Cheng walked out of the airport and saw Lin Zhongqiu, he immediately let out a hearty laugh and went forward to greet him.

Lin Zhongqiu hadn’t seen Yang Cheng in a long time either and was especially happy to see him.

“A Cheng, it’s been a while. Have you put on some weight?”

“Have I? Are you sure it’s not baby fat?”

Xia Qing and Lin Zhongqiu were both sent into fits of laughter.

A thirty-year-old man with baby fat?

Wouldn’t that make him some kind of monster?

Lin Zhongqiu had arrived more than a week before Yang Cheng and was clearly much more familiar with the place.

A driver drove the car, taking the three of them to the hotel.

The journey was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.

Southern France, especially the scenery in the coastal cities of the Mediterranean, was truly beautiful.

“I’ve decided to buy a flat here, to come over for a vacation every now and then,” Yang Cheng said excitedly.

Lin Zhongqiu nodded continuously.

With Yang Cheng’s current wealth, plus the backing of the Yang’s Group, wasn’t buying a flat a piece of cake?

When they arrived at the hotel, the room had already been booked.

A presidential suite with an unbeatable sea view!

“Isn’t this a bit too extravagant?” Yang Cheng asked Lin Zhongqiu with a smile.

“The boss and Sister Hongying specifically instructed it.”

Hearing that his so-called father and mother had arranged it, he decided not to be polite.

Especially when he saw the large bed in the room, his gaze towards Xia Qing was tinged with mischief.

He wondered what it would be like to… with that unbeatable sea view?

Sensing Yang Cheng’s lustful thoughts, Xia Qing’s face blushed slightly, and she walked away on some pretext.

Lin Zhongqiu, however, didn’t notice anything unusual.

He was a serious workaholic.

“A Cheng, I’ve made contact with OGC Nice as you previously instructed.”

Yang Cheng reined in his true nature and asked with concern, “How’s the situation?”

“Xia Qing’s intelligence was spot on. They are in dire need of money right now. Their meritorious veteran from last season’s successful relegation battle, Nigerian centre-back Apam, has been transferred to Rennes.”

“The market value of this twenty-three-year-old centre-back is five million euros, but they only sold him for four million euros.”

“But that money is not nearly enough to alleviate their financial difficulties, so they’ll have to continue selling.”

“Right now, their most valuable asset is their top scorer, Rémy, who is being watched by many teams, including Marseille.”

“Goalkeeper David Ospina, left winger Anthony Mounier, and youth academy centre-forward Anthony Modeste are the ones who could probably fetch a price, around three to five million euros each.”

Ospina was the goalkeeper who later joined Arsenal.

And Rémy was the one who later transferred to Chelsea from Queens Park Rangers.

Lin Zhongqiu had been here for a week, and he had obviously done more than just make contact; he and his team had gathered a lot of information.

For example, they had visited OGC Nice’s stadium.

Lin Zhongqiu had taken many photos for Yang Cheng.

The Stade du Ray was not owned by the club but was the property of the Nice municipal government.

The stadium’s facilities were also extremely rudimentary.

It was said to be enclosed by four stands, but what was the reality?

The stands at both ends were very low, and the side stands were single-tiered.

Except for the main stand, the other three sides didn’t even have a roof.

Seriously, a European professional team’s home ground without a roof in this day and age?

But considering the stadium was built in 1927, it wasn’t surprising at all.

However, behind the long history was actually a state of disrepair.

This stadium, with a capacity of only 17,415, had undergone four major renovations in total.

The ones in 1948 and 1979 were too long ago.

But in more recent years, it had been renovated in 1997 and 2004.

This showed just how old the entire stadium was.

Lin Zhongqiu and his team had also visited OGC Nice’s training center, located in the suburbs, with equally poor facilities.

The youth academy had nothing worth mentioning either.

In short, a club like this had neither the hardware nor the software.

It was a Ligue 1 team, but it could be relegated at any time.

They managed to avoid relegation last season, but they were starting to sell players this summer. Could they survive another season?

“A Cheng, to be honest, I really can’t see what value this club has, other than being in Nice and in Ligue 1,” Lin Zhongqiu said very frankly.

He had spent a week investigating here and really couldn’t see it.

Forget comparing it to the Bayswater Chinese that Yang Cheng had built from scratch; even when compared to other teams in Ligue 1, OGC Nice was really quite average.

“That’s normal, Uncle Lin. The fact that it has no value is what will showcase my ability!”

Yang Cheng said with great confidence, in a joking tone.

“Besides, having no value is precisely proof that it’s cheap.”

“Cheap? It is indeed very cheap.”

Lin Zhongqiu found it amusing just thinking about it. “I spoke with their owner, Gilbert Stellardo. The price they offered was only ten million euros. I couldn’t believe the number I heard.”

“I even think we could knock a few million off that.”

Yang Cheng chuckled upon hearing this.

This was normal.

Because there were no fixed assets.

The stadium was a municipal stadium, the training facilities were poor, the team’s performance was bad, and Ligue 1 had little influence.

Under these circumstances, it would be strange if it could sell for a high price.

Even an honest person like Lin Zhongqiu thought he could haggle it down, so it was definitely possible.

This was precisely why Yang Cheng had previously called back to China and asked Yang Jianguo to arrange for people to come over.

In his opinion, now was a very suitable opportunity to acquire a Ligue 1 team.

He had considered many teams.

A team like Lille in northern France was very expensive.

And Marseille in the south, having just won the league title, was also not cheap, even though the whole world knew it was for sale.

There were many other teams, including some from the French Second Division, that Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had thoroughly considered.

In the end, they chose OGC Nice.

Besides being cheap, it was also because Nice was the fifth largest city in France, known for its tourism industry.

More importantly, this would help Yang Cheng further expand the map of his football empire.

Bayswater Chinese was already starting to have a surplus of talent.

With the team bringing in Toni Kroos, they had now also signed a Kevin De Bruyne.

Yang Cheng’s plan to expand his football empire had to be brought forward.

And acquiring OGC Nice now was undoubtedly the perfect opportunity!

Chapter 204: Signings! A Manager! What a Profitable Venture!

Once any major club reached a certain stage of development, they would inevitably face a very real problem.

A surplus of talent!

This talent didn’t just include the absolute cream of the crop.

Take the Bayswater Chinese, for instance. Their youth academy was constantly producing players, yet the first team was already becoming saturated with young talent.

After signing Toni Kroos and Kevin De Bruyne, the midfield already boasted the likes of Matuidi, Rakitić, Aaron Ramsey, N’Golo Kanté, and Paul Pogba.

And a look at the youth team revealed that the talented Sterling was beginning to make a name for himself, while Harry Kane was already gaining recognition.

For the Bayswater Chinese, the internal competition for talent was already incredibly fierce.

It could even turn into cutthroat competition at any moment.

At that point, young players would not get the chance to play, causing their development to fall short of expectations.

This would be a loss for Yang Cheng, the club, and the players.

Situations like this occurred at every major club.

Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barça, Chelsea, Bayern Munich—they were all the same.

Selling players felt like a great pity.

With so much potential, after a few years of development, they could definitely be sold for a high price.

The solution offered by many major clubs was the satellite club.

This wasn’t an invention of Yang Cheng’s; it had existed for a long time.

For example, Real Madrid had close ties with many La Liga teams, including Getafe.

Manchester United had satellite clubs in countries like Belgium.

There were also long-standing rumors that Chelsea had acquired PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, and Alex had been a player sent there to gain experience.

But satellite clubs also had numerous drawbacks.

For a long time, Yang Cheng had been mulling over this issue.

Acquiring clubs and operating them as a group was undoubtedly a very good option.

In his previous life, the multi-club ownership models of Manchester City’s City Football Group, the Pozzo family’s Udinese, Granada, and Watford, and the clubs held by the Red Bull Group were all examples of this.

But they had their own problems.

Take Manchester City’s City Football Group, for instance.

Before Yang Cheng’s transmigration, the City Group held ten clubs, the tenth being Troyes AC in France.

The City Group’s handling of Troyes AC was quite interesting.

They pushed for globalization and group management in a very simple and crude manner.

Apart from standardizing the kits, they hired a former Paris Disneyland executive to run the club.

They brought in a batch of surplus players from Manchester City, but none of them could get any playing time.

The head coach was even more preposterous—they directly hired a manager from Australia who had never coached in Europe.

Even after achieving an “invincible” record of five draws and fourteen losses in nineteen rounds, with fans chanting for the manager to be sacked, the Troyes AC management’s response was, “Everything must follow the Group’s orders.”

The final result was that Troyes AC was relegated without ever changing its manager.

This incident between Manchester City and Troyes AC was actually worth deep consideration.

The advantages of a group operation were undeniable.

For example, the Bayswater Chinese’s proudest assets—their youth academy system, scouting network, and training system—could all be replicated.

Since it was all based on information technology, replicating it was not difficult.

The Bayswater Chinese could even send personnel over to “set up a new branch.”

By sharing all their resources, the junior club could save a massive amount of investment.

This had already been repeatedly proven through the Bayswater Chinese’s Satellite Training Centres within their youth system.

Once the youth academy and scouting network were shared, the junior club could gain a stunning developmental advantage.

And that was just on the competitive side.

On the business side, the Bayswater Chinese had powerful brand appeal, with commercial resources beyond the imagination of smaller clubs.

Take the main sponsors, like the kit sponsorship.

When the Bayswater Chinese negotiated with behemoths like Nike, Adidas, and Puma, they only had to include their junior club, and even if just two or three million euros trickled down from the cracks, it would be incredibly attractive to a club like OGC Nice of Ligue 1.

Not to mention the vast resources the Bayswater Chinese had at their disposal.

With all that, would Nice’s revenue remain at its current level?

So, conversely, why did the collaboration between Manchester City and Troyes AC end in such a disastrous situation?

The reason was Manchester City’s overly simplistic and crude replication, which completely ignored the element of localization in football.

For instance, hiring an Australian with zero European football coaching experience as head coach—wasn’t that ridiculous?

The team’s results were already so poor, yet they failed to make timely adjustments, insisting that every decision follow the group’s will. Wasn’t that just nonsense?

The biggest difference between the football industry and other industries is that football is full of uncertainty.

Yang Cheng could actually understand the City Group’s concerns.

Giving each club too much autonomy could easily lead to them becoming independent fiefdoms.

This was, in fact, a major problem in modern corporate management.

During its phase of blind and rapid expansion, the City Group didn’t have time to consider these issues.

In reality, localization is a crucial aspect of football.

Never mind the City Group; when Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco were first acquired by foreign capital, why was their reputation so poor despite bringing in a host of high-level foreign players and greatly boosting Ligue 1’s influence?

Because they didn’t give back to Ligue 1!

All the transfer fees were spent on other leagues. What did the Ligue 1 teams get?

These Ligue 1 teams, nearly driven mad by debt, how much could they benefit from teams like Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco?

Later, Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco adjusted their strategies in a timely manner, beginning to increase their recruitment efforts within Ligue 1.

It was precisely because he understood this from his previous life that Yang Cheng’s current thinking was to insist on localized development under the umbrella of a group operation.

Take Nice, for example.

From a competitive standpoint, the club leaned on the great treasure trove of French youth development and had access to Africa’s vast talent pool. It definitely had to stick to youth training and talent cultivation.

The Bayswater Chinese was set to gradually transform itself into a top-tier powerhouse.

Under these circumstances, Nice would have to take on more youth development and talent cultivation tasks.

As for how to balance the two, that would have to be explored through ongoing operations.

Therefore, Yang Cheng would not emulate Manchester City’s City Football Group. He wouldn’t expand blindly and rapidly but would instead proceed steadily and surely.

He would first manage one “branch” well, develop a mature set of management experiences, and then gradually expand.

OGC Nice of Ligue 1 was the first branch Yang Cheng had chosen.

Why Nice?

Besides the fact that Nice was cheap, as Yang Cheng had mentioned before, he had many other considerations.

Behind the low price tag was the need for investment.

For instance, a training centre and a youth academy were must-do projects after the takeover.

This investment would not be small.

A very important reason why Yang Cheng chose Ligue 1 for his first stop was that in 2011, marked by the acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco by Qatari and Russian consortiums, Ligue 1 was about to enter a new era.

As foreign investment continued to pour in, a rising tide would lift all boats in Ligue 1.

It was currently 2010, making it an ideal time to get in early.

Secondly, buying Nice now was an incredibly good deal.

Why had Yang Cheng waited until this year?

In fact, he had been scouting leagues and teams for a long time.

But it was only on May 28th of this year, when France officially won the right to host the 2016 European Championship, that Yang Cheng began to lock onto Nice.

Why?

After securing the hosting rights, France had to start selecting host cities for the European Championship.

As France’s fifth-largest city and its most glamorous international calling card outside of Paris, Nice would also become one of the host cities.

But Nice’s current municipal stadium facilities were too old, and its capacity was too small.

So, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, in 2011, the French government and the Nice city government jointly built a brand-new football stadium.

The stadium had a capacity of thirty-five thousand, more than double that of Nice’s current municipal stadium.

Moreover, all its facilities were more complete and advanced.

Although the ownership would not belong to the club, he could follow Manchester City’s example of leasing the City of Manchester Stadium and secure a long-term lease. That would be little different from owning it himself.

Xia Qing had done her research. At Nice’s current ticket prices, an additional twenty thousand or so seats, if filled, would bring in an extra six hundred thousand euros per match, and over ten million euros per season.

After considering all the factors, Yang Cheng believed that acquiring Nice now was an absolutely worthwhile deal.

And it would allow him to plant a flag in the treasure trove of football talent that is France.

Yang Cheng was confident that the current Bayswater Chinese had more than enough ability, resources, and experience to support a Ligue 1 team focused on developing young players!

…

Lin Zhongqiu was a very cautious person.

Although Yang Cheng omitted much of the information he’d gained from his past life, after hearing his long-term plan, Lin Zhongqiu still felt there was great potential and that this business was genuinely viable.

But why should Yang’s Group be the one to do it?

Hearing this question, Yang Cheng chuckled.

“It’s simple. UEFA has a rule that two clubs under the same owner cannot participate in the same competition.”

Lin Zhongqiu was a bit confused at first.

What did that mean?

If Yang’s Group acquired Nice, wouldn’t it still have the same owner as the Bayswater Chinese?

Wasn’t that obvious?

“You’re not wrong to say that, but legally speaking, what is the relationship between these two clubs?”

Yang Cheng asked in return.

“The Bayswater Chinese is mine now. It has nothing to do with my old man, nor with Yang’s Group.”

“At most, China Umbro, a subsidiary of Yang’s Group, sponsors our sleeve patch. That’s it.”

“So what does Yang’s Group’s acquisition of OGC Nice have to do with me? I don’t hold any position at Yang’s Group.”

“In fact, having Yang’s Group step in is my way of helping my old man get some publicity, to give Yang’s Group a bit more exposure.”

“If not for that, I could use trusts, nominee holdings, and various other methods to make it work just the same.”

There was nothing wrong with what Yang Cheng said.

With UEFA’s capabilities, they were practically powerless to regulate matters in the world of capital.

For example, Red Bull Group and the Pozzo family in his previous life.

Furthermore, companies like Volkswagen, Audi, and Adidas could influence many clubs simultaneously, especially in the Bundesliga.

Could UEFA do anything about it?

Everyone knew that in the face of capital maneuvering, this rule wasn’t entirely toothless, but it didn’t have much practical significance.

If Yang Cheng really did acquire OGC Nice, the whole of Europe would know he was the beneficial owner of both the Bayswater Chinese and Nice. So what?

As long as there was no legal or equity relationship between the two, it was fine.

One family?

Just look at La Liga.

Weren’t there two brothers owning two top-flight clubs, both competing in the Champions League?

It was like Red Bull Group’s acquisition of RB Leipzig.

The whole world knew it was owned by Red Bull Group, the same owner as Red Bull Salzburg.

But legally, RB Leipzig was member-owned, with its funding coming from commercial sponsorships. That wasn’t illegal, was it?

It just so happened that all the shareholding members were from Red Bull Group.

So what?

Any problem?

And this was in the Bundesliga, renowned for its strict licensing requirements!

If one day Yang Cheng became interested in a Bundesliga team, he could replicate this operation.

This was what you call: walking Red Bull’s path, leaving Red Bull with no path to walk.

As long as there’s a rule, there’s a loophole to be exploited.

It’s impossible to prevent everything!

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about any of this.

“So how much do you plan to offer to acquire this club?” Lin Zhongqiu asked with concern.

“What do you think?” Yang Cheng countered.

“They’re asking for ten million euros. I think we should offer eight million euros.”

Yang Cheng nodded with a smile. “Then let’s make contact first and do some due diligence.”

Only after due diligence could they get a clear picture of Nice’s financial situation and assets.

But to Yang Cheng, even a price of eight million euros was too high.

The main reason was that Nice didn’t have many fixed assets.

Yang Cheng had a reference point in mind.

In his past life, when the Ligue 1 giants Marseille were sold in 2016, they only fetched forty-five million euros.

And that was a price after PSG and Monaco had splashed cash and Ligue 1 had successfully hosted the European Championship.

In 2011, when the Qatari consortium acquired a seventy percent stake in the capital’s team, Paris Saint-Germain, it only cost fifty million euros, and twenty million of that was to pay off debts.

Also in 2011, the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev acquired Monaco, which had been relegated to the French Second Division, for a symbolic sum of just one euro.

Of course, whether it was the American consortium buying Marseille or Rybolovlev buying Monaco, they both promised to invest a certain amount of money over the next few years to ensure the team’s competitiveness.

But these acquisitions showed that Ligue 1 teams were a hot potato right now.

Putting other teams aside, let’s talk about Nice.

Nice was first acquired in 1990 by Milan Mandarić, a tycoon with dual Serbian and American citizenship.

Many might not be familiar with him, but he was a speculator who specialized in buying and selling clubs.

He made his first fortune with Nice, cashing out and selling it in 1995.

In 1998, he acquired Portsmouth, cashing out and selling in 2007.

After selling Pompey, he turned around and bought Leicester City.

He was currently the Chairman of Leicester City.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after selling Leicester City in December 2010, he bought Sheffield Wednesday.

After several changes of ownership, Nice fell into the hands of Maurice Cohen, a tycoon with dual French and Israeli citizenship, in 2002.

Nice experienced a period of good development during this time and was sold in 2009 to Gilbert Stellardo, who held dual Italian and French citizenship.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Stellardo did not manage Nice well, and in 2011, he transferred it to Jean-Pierre Rivère.

Jean-Pierre Rivère was a capable man. In the years he ran the club, Nice established a complete youth academy.

Not only did he build a new training base, but he also reached an agreement with the Nice city government for a new stadium.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Chinese and American investors bought an eighty percent stake in Nice for twenty million euros.

The Chinese investor was the owner of the 7 Days Inn hotel chain. He got a forty percent stake, becoming the largest single shareholder.

But due to poor management later on, Nice was sold again.

From this, one could get a rough idea of Nice’s value.

Jean-Pierre Rivère moved to a new stadium, built a new training base, and developed a youth academy, yet an eighty percent stake only sold for twenty million euros.

So what was Nice, which had nothing now, worth?

When acquiring a football club, especially a Ligue 1 club at present, the biggest headache isn’t the money to buy the club.

It’s the investment required to run it!

Why did a giant like Marseille only sell for forty-five million euros?

Because in the few years before the sale, Marseille had invested a total of over two hundred million euros.

Note, that was two hundred million euros invested by the shareholders.

This didn’t even include the club’s debt.

…

The day after Yang Cheng arrived in Nice, he received a special visitor.

The head of the Bayswater Chinese’s French scouting department, Emmanuel Perrin.

Dan Ashworth held this scout in very high regard, believing him to be extremely capable and very familiar with the French football market.

Over the past few years, Emmanuel had helped orchestrate many of the Bayswater Chinese’s signings from France.

For example, he had recommended players like Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté.

When Yang Cheng mentioned to Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg that he wanted to acquire a Ligue 1 team, Dan Ashworth strongly recommended Emmanuel Perrin.

Most importantly, he was very familiar with the Bayswater Chinese’s operations, having traveled to London for training multiple times.

Emmanuel had already heard the news from Dan Ashworth and realized that this would be a fantastic opportunity for his personal career.

What was the future in being a scout forever?

Thus, he had spent the past period making thorough preparations.

Yang Cheng hoped he would step forward, cooperate with Lin Zhongqiu, and complete the acquisition of Nice.

As a native Frenchman, Emmanuel represented Yang Cheng’s step towards localization within the group management structure.

Emmanuel did not disappoint Yang Cheng either.

After arriving in Nice and communicating with Yang Cheng and Lin Zhongqiu, he went straight to Nice to meet with Gilbert Stellardo.

Both sides had very clear intentions.

The first gift Emmanuel brought for Yang Cheng was securing OGC Nice from Gilbert Stellardo for five million euros.

By conceding on the purchase price, Gilbert Stellardo also got what he wanted.

As due diligence was next, Yang Cheng allowed him to sell two players, including Rémy and Modeste, during this period.

Don’t underestimate these two players; they could bring Gilbert Stellardo at least twenty million euros in transfer fees.

Of course, Yang Cheng would get a clean, debt-free OGC Nice club.

As for after the acquisition, Yang Cheng had Emmanuel Perrin and Lin Zhongqiu negotiate with the government and the French Football Federation.

Yang Cheng promised that after the acquisition was complete, he would build a brand-new training base for Nice and establish a comprehensive youth academy system.

With the Bayswater Chinese backing this up, no one would doubt it.

After all, the Bayswater Chinese were now renowned for developing young players!

In addition, the Bayswater Chinese also promised to invest no less than fifty million euros over the next five years.

“Fifty million euros?” Lin Zhongqiu jumped again.

So many years had passed, why was he still so easily startled?

“A Cheng, are you sure?”

Yang Cheng nodded very seriously. “A training centre will probably cost several million, maybe even over ten million euros. And then I plan to sell Matuidi and N’Golo Kanté to Nice.”

Yang Cheng emphasized one word: sell!

Given the current market value of these two players, especially Matuidi, it was at least twenty million euros.

So, would it be unreasonable for the Bayswater Chinese to “sell” them for thirty million euros?

Then, Yang Cheng could just casually buy a few more players.

See, wouldn’t that work?

Does Nice need to pay?

No, just put it on the books!

Let them owe it for now!

When they sell players in the future, they can pay it back with interest!

Lin Zhongqiu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

You can do it like that?

…

While Emmanuel Perrin and Lin Zhongqiu were contacting and negotiating with various parties and Xia Qing was hiring a professional firm to conduct due diligence on Nice, Yang Cheng flew from Nice to Amsterdam, Netherlands.

He had arranged to meet someone there.

Ronald Koeman!

He was a very talented Dutch manager.

But at the same time, his fate had been fraught with misfortune.

In both his past and present lives, Yang Cheng had a great appreciation for Ronald Koeman’s football and felt a sense of regret for the Dutch manager’s circumstances.

He always chose the wrong team at the wrong time!

Or perhaps it should be said, he had no choice!

Not all head coaches have the luxury of choice like the top-tier managers.

Take Ronald Koeman, for example.

The early part of his coaching career was very smooth. After transitioning from a legendary player to a head coach, he first served as Guus Hiddink’s assistant with the Dutch national team, then studied under van Gaal at Barça, where he was even a colleague of Mourinho’s.

In his first solo coaching job at Vitesse, he produced impressive results, then took charge of Ajax.

In Amsterdam, he became a well-known young manager in European football!

After that, whether at Benfica or PSV Eindhoven, his coaching record was decent.

But at the most crucial juncture, when coaching La Liga powerhouse Valencia, he suffered a painful Waterloo.

The reasons for his disastrous tenure at Valencia, apart from the club’s debt and management turmoil, included Ronald Koeman’s failure to control the Valencia dressing room.

Especially his handling of the team’s veterans at the time: Albelda, Cañizares, and Angulo.

Coupled with his tactical disagreements with players like David Villa and Joaquín, he ultimately left Valencia in disgrace.

From taking over in mid-November to his departure in late April, he took Valencia from fourth in the league down to sixteenth, almost dropping into the relegation zone.

It could be said that Ronald Koeman completely ruined his coaching career at Valencia.

This Waterloo forced Ronald Koeman into a hiatus for over a year, until the summer of 2009, when he took over AZ Alkmaar, which had been left by van Gaal.

Van Gaal had left AZ Alkmaar to coach Bayern Munich.

But by December, the defending champions AZ Alkmaar were in seventh place in the Eredivisie, and Ronald Koeman was sacked again.

From then on, Ronald Koeman was unwanted.

Yang Cheng held this head coach in high regard.

There was no problem with his coaching ability; he just had a bit of a fiery temper.

A crucial factor in Ronald Koeman’s downfall at Valencia was that he tried to establish his authority from the very beginning, but failed!

Coupled with Valencia’s turmoil and heavy debt at the time, Ronald Koeman was powerless to turn the tide.

Yang Cheng knew this very well, so when he was selecting a head coach for Nice, he carefully chose Ronald Koeman.

Because he was certain the Dutchman needed a chance to resurrect his coaching career!

Moreover, his current salary wouldn’t be very expensive.

One and a half million euros at most.

Before tax.

…

Yang Cheng’s visit came as a huge surprise to Ronald Koeman.

Their statuses were worlds apart.

Yang Cheng was a world-class manager, while Ronald Koeman was currently at the lowest point of his coaching career.

What was there for them to talk about?

Ronald Koeman was particularly shocked when Yang Cheng extended an olive branch to him.

At first, he thought it was for the Bayswater Chinese.

That was not a team he could handle right now.

When Yang Cheng mentioned OGC Nice of Ligue 1, his first reaction was to refuse.

Although he was at a low point in his coaching career, he was, after all, a legendary Dutch player with successful coaching experience and a very impressive resume. Coaching a team like OGC Nice?

“Don’t be so quick to refuse, Ronald.”

Yang Cheng smiled and placated Ronald Koeman, not giving him a chance to say no.

Because once the words were out, there was no taking them back.

“You and I both know that your coaching situation is very difficult right now. You can either keep waiting for an opportunity that might never come, and even if it does, it might not be a good one.”

“If it were a good opportunity, why would they be changing managers?”

“Or, you can choose a decent team and prove your coaching ability again, just like van Gaal chose AZ Alkmaar!”

Yang Cheng’s mention of van Gaal was quite provocative for Ronald Koeman.

Back when Koeman was coaching Ajax, he and van Gaal did not get along.

There were even rumors that Koeman had laid hands on van Gaal.

But van Gaal’s coaching journey was something Ronald Koeman could learn a lot from.

Why was van Gaal able to coach Bayern?

Because after successive failures at Barça and a setback at Ajax, he went to AZ Alkmaar and, in a few years, led the team to the Eredivisie title.

It would be difficult for Ronald Koeman to directly coach a top-tier powerhouse.

But if he wanted to return to coaching in the top four leagues, he had to prove himself again.

The Eredivisie, which he was familiar with, would be best.

But Ligue 1 was undoubtedly a good fit too.

At least the league’s competitiveness was stronger than the Eredivisie’s.

However, if Ronald Koeman were in the Eredivisie, he might have a chance in the future to coach giants like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, or Feyenoord.

In Ligue 1, Nice was just a small team.

“I know what you’re worried about, Ronald, but I can build a competitive squad for you.”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he could clearly feel Ronald Koeman’s eyes light up.

When a head coach gets the right squad, they can often unleash a strong competitive force and achieve results more easily.

“For example, Graziano Pellè from AZ Alkmaar.”

Ronald Koeman’s hands clearly trembled, and he looked up at Yang Cheng in disbelief.

“This player should be a perfect fit for your tactics. What do you think about building a team around him as the centre-forward?”

Ronald Koeman stared at Yang Cheng in disbelief.

He couldn’t believe it.

Because he really admired Pellè.

Back in the summer of 2009, when he was coaching AZ Alkmaar, he was already interested in a tall center-forward like Pellè.

But during his tenure, Pellè was never a starter, and his performance was far from ideal.

“How do you know about Pellè?” Ronald Koeman was shocked.

He knew of Yang Cheng but had never had in-depth contact with him.

Rumor had it that Yang Cheng had a Midas touch; any player he fancied would almost certainly succeed.

Ronald Koeman hadn’t believed it before.

But now, he was starting to have his doubts.

“A feeling!” Yang Cheng said with a smile. “I’ve studied a few of your games coaching AZ Alkmaar. you were always trying to use Pellè, but because there were more established forwards in the squad at the time, Pellè didn’t have the standing.”

“More importantly, after coming on as a substitute a few times, his performances weren’t very good, and you really couldn’t find a reason to play him. Am I wrong?”

Ronald Koeman let out a deep sigh.

“Actually, if it weren’t for that red card in the first match, Pellè’s fate would probably be different now.”

Yang Cheng didn’t say anything further.

At this moment, his best role was that of a listener.

“My first match coaching AZ Alkmaar was an away game against Heracles Almelo. Their Brazilian left-sider, Éverton, played very well and scored in the eighth minute.”

“We attacked for the entire first half without result, so I brought Pellè on at halftime.”

“But three minutes into the second half, we conceded a goal, and another in the sixty-first minute. We were completely stunned.”

“But soon, Pellè made an impact, scoring a goal for the team in the seventy-seventh minute.”

“Immediately after, we scored another, bringing the score to 2-3.”

“Tempers were flared on both sides, and things got a bit out of control on the pitch, especially for our players, who kept attacking relentlessly towards the end of the game. A fierce physical altercation broke out in the final stages, and Pellè and Swerts were sent off.”

“We lost 2-3, and Pellè got a five-match suspension for the red card.”

Yang Cheng empathized.

Football is often like that.

A player’s fate, and a manager’s fate, can sometimes be decided in an instant.

“Right now at AZ Alkmaar, he gets absolutely no opportunities. I’ll bring him to Nice, you coach him, and I and the Bayswater Chinese will build a highly competitive squad for you.”

Ronald Koeman looked up at Yang Cheng and asked, “Who can you give me?”

“Matuidi and N’Golo Kanté!”

Ronald Koeman was very familiar with the Bayswater Chinese’s players. He knew Matuidi’s quality.

N’Golo Kanté had also appeared a few times last season and performed very well.

The Dutchman was also doing the math in his head.

Nice’s Ligue 1 foundation was decent, even though they had sold two or three key players like Rémy.

Add Pellè, Matuidi, and N’Golo Kanté to that.

They would be in good shape for the new Ligue 1 season.

More importantly, the Bayswater Chinese’s scouting network, youth academy resources, and Yang Cheng’s eye for talent all made Ronald Koeman’s heart race.

He also longed to return to coaching in one of the top four leagues!

…

Emmanuel Perrin and Lin Zhongqiu’s negotiations in France went very smoothly.

Both the French Football Federation and the Nice city government were very satisfied with the terms offered by the Chinese consortium.

These days, consortiums willing to invest in French football were few and far between.

Especially one backed by a top-tier powerhouse like the Bayswater Chinese.

With green lights all the way, the acquisition proceeded very smoothly.

All that was left was for Xia Qing’s side to complete the due diligence.

Emmanuel left the matters in France to Lin Zhongqiu and traveled to Amsterdam, where, with Yang Cheng as a witness, he officially signed a coaching contract with Ronald Koeman.

Nice’s previous head coach, Éric Roy, was originally the club’s director of football and had taken over the team mid-season in March.

Although he successfully led the team to avoid relegation, Yang Cheng decided not to renew his contract.

The acquisition of OGC Nice by a Chinese consortium caused quite a stir in France.

The news quickly spread across Europe and even the world.

Because behind this consortium were Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese!

At first, people just thought that the two clubs had countless connections.

After all, isn’t Yang’s Group Yang Cheng’s family business?

Soon after, as the media dug deeper, more and more information was revealed.

For example, many of Nice’s senior executives came from the Bayswater Chinese.

Although they were all very low-key.

Emmanuel Perrin, the director of football who frequently appeared in the press, was the head of scouting for France for the Bayswater Chinese.

Everything was laid bare for the world to see.

Nice belonged to Yang Cheng.

When questioned by reporters, both the French Football Federation and UEFA stated that they would monitor and supervise the situation.

But the entire acquisition was legal.

As July began, Nice officially announced that they had signed Matuidi and N’Golo Kanté from the Bayswater Chinese for a total transfer fee of thirty million euros.

This attracted strong attention in Ligue 1.

At the same time, Emmanuel Perrin officially announced that the team had appointed Dutch manager Ronald Koeman as the head coach for the new season.

The announcement of the two deals and the appointment immediately sparked heated discussions among the French media and fans.

Since the club had previously sold its main striker, Rémy, to Marseille for 15.5 million euros, Emmanuel announced the signing of Italian centre-forward Graziano Pellè from Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar for one million euros.

Subsequently, Emmanuel announced again the signing of 19-year-old Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk from Willem II of the Netherlands on a free transfer.

And on a free transfer from French Second Division side Clermont Foot, they signed centre-back Medhi Benatia.

The 23-year-old centre-back came from the Marseille youth academy and had been selected for the France U19 national team.

But in the summer of 2006, he was loaned to French Second Division side Toulouse, and then to Lorient.

It was at Lorient, struggling for opportunities, that Benatia suffered a serious knee ligament tear.

After his contract expired in 2008, he moved to French Second Division side Clermont Foot on a free transfer.

Over the past two seasons, he had been a starter at Clermont Foot, but his performances were average.

So, Nice didn’t even have to spend a single cent to sign Benatia from Clermont Foot.

In addition, Nice also signed Riyad Mahrez, a player with dual French and Algerian nationality, from Quimper in the French fourth tier on a free transfer.

The 19-year-old player had made twenty-seven appearances and scored one goal in the fourth-tier league last season.

After a series of transfers, Nice showed no signs of stopping.

Emmanuel then signed 18-year-old Sadio Mané from Senegal’s famous Génération Foot academy in Dakar.

Following that, Nice signed Mohamed Salah from Egypt’s Al Mokawloon for a transfer fee of five hundred thousand euros.

Since players from the ACP Group were not considered foreign players in Ligue 1, Sadio Mané did not count as a foreigner. However, Egypt is not part of the ACP Group, so Salah was considered a foreign player in Ligue 1.

The continuous signings made Nice’s first team very bloated, with many surplus players.

But Yang Cheng did not continue to participate in the club’s cleanup work, instead leaving the task of selecting players to Emmanuel Perrin and the new head coach, Ronald Koeman.

This was also a way to help Ronald Koeman establish his authority.

The Dutchman was the biggest name at Nice, but he also needed more prestige to control the dressing room.

The transfer fees from selling some of the players could be used as Nice’s operating funds.

At the same time, the Bayswater Chinese also sent personnel to Nice to help build a youth academy system and reorganize the youth teams.

From now on, Nice’s first team and youth teams would be fully benchmarked against the Bayswater Chinese.

This was very attractive to French players.

After all, the Bayswater Chinese were currently the most renowned team in European football!

Upon starting the reorganization of the youth teams, Emmanuel personally traveled north.

He first went to Bondy, a town eleven kilometers northeast of Paris, and successfully brought back Kylian Mbappé.

Then, from Évreux, a western suburb of Paris, he signed 13-year-old youngster Ousmane Dembélé.

Both players were key targets of the Bayswater Chinese youth system.

Ousmane Dembélé was even facing competition from Rennes.

Emmanuel was previously in charge of the French region, with his base in Paris, so he was very familiar with the surrounding areas and had already been in contact with Mbappé and Dembélé.

But they and their families had no desire to play abroad for the time being.

This time, however, when Emmanuel invited them to come south to Nice, they did not refuse.

Needless to say about Mbappé, Dembélé was close to joining Rennes, whose youth academy was worlds apart compared to the Bayswater Chinese’s.

Yang Cheng, who had remained in Nice, breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Emmanuel Perrin’s call.

As long as they secured these two native French talents, the acquisition of Nice was a deal with a massive return on investment!

Not to mention Sadio Mané, Mahrez, and Salah.

The thought alone was thrilling!

Of course, with so much talent, it was impossible for all of them to be used by the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s定位 for Nice was simple: to develop young players.

Because of this, in his instructions to Emmanuel Perrin, Yang Cheng made it very clear that a clear-out of surplus players was imperative.

Especially the older, higher-paid ones; they basically had to be sold.

Nice’s next step was to generate revenue.

The current kit sponsor was the Italian brand Lotto, with a pitifully low annual sponsorship fee, much of which was paid in kind.

The contract ran until 2011.

As for the shirt’s chest sponsor, sorry, there wasn’t one.

Incidentally, Nice’s home kit for the new season was a red-and-black striped shirt, a bit like AC Milan’s.

The away kit was white, but with a red and a black sash running from the left shoulder to the right hip.

The third kit was made of a black, white, and grey checkered pattern, a very unique shirt-style jersey.

It was definitely too late to change sponsors now.

But going forward, Yang Cheng planned to package the main sponsorships of the Bayswater Chinese and Nice together.

He didn’t even rule out unifying the kits of the two teams.

It would all depend on how the fans received it.

The new training centre and youth academy base had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible, which required communication and coordination with the Nice city government.

Yang Cheng’s idea was that they could negotiate some terms.

The vast city of Nice only had one professional club.

So many things were still negotiable.

As for fundraising, Xia Qing had already considered it thoroughly. They would just get a loan from the bank.

The interest rates on loans in the European Union were very low right now, making it a very good deal.

Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others would also be coming to Nice soon to inspect and discuss the next steps for both clubs.

From now on, the Bayswater Chinese and Nice would be managed and operated as a group.

…

Due to its connection with Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, the acquisition of Nice attracted a lot of attention.

But news in professional football comes and goes quickly.

Fans were soon drawn to news from the European transfer market and the upcoming new season.

Especially the inaugural International Champions Cup this summer, which was gaining more and more momentum.

Before the Bayswater Chinese began their summer training camp, Yang Cheng made a point of meeting with several players in advance.

Including the three new signings: Courtois, De Bruyne, and Toni Kroos.

They had all settled down in London.

The new signings were very satisfied with the club’s logistical support.

Yang Cheng told them explicitly that there would be no shortage of playing opportunities in the new season.

But the prerequisite was that they had to deliver convincing performances.

Even for Toni Kroos, whom Yang Cheng had handpicked, Yang Cheng told the German that he couldn’t just install him as a team regular from the start.

Because Rakitić and Aaron Ramsey had both been performing exceptionally well.

Toni Kroos, however, expressed with full confidence that he was never afraid of competition and challenges.

Through the plan and blueprint Yang Cheng had outlined for him previously, Toni Kroos was very confident of succeeding at the Bayswater Chinese.

With OGC Nice in a state of rebuilding and everyone at the Bayswater Chinese rubbing their hands in anticipation, Yang Cheng and his players once again embarked on the journey of a new season.

According to the plan, the team would train in London for two weeks, then head to the East Coast of the United States to participate in the International Champions Cup.

The twelve major clubs participating for the first time were all taking it very seriously.

Even UEFA and FIFA were closely monitoring every move of the International Champions Cup.

Chapter 205: Endless Surprises! A Global Gold Rush! Yang, We’ve Absolutely Exploded!

When Yang Cheng led the team from London to New York on the East Coast of the United States, they were met with a fervent welcome the moment they stepped off the plane.

A large crowd of American fans had gathered to greet them.

They chanted the names of the Bayswater Chinese stars, and many were even wearing the team’s jerseys.

What surprised the three new signings—Toni Kroos, Courtois, and De Bruyne—was that some fans even recognized them and called out their names.

It was incredible!

They had only joined the team half a month ago and had played just three pre-season friendlies in Europe.

How could people on the other side of the Atlantic recognize them?

“This is all thanks to our new media team!” José Fonte said proudly, walking beside the trio.

Bayswater Chinese now traveled everywhere in formal suits, and every player looked exceptionally sharp.

Although José Fonte wasn’t a starter, he was the dressing room’s Commissar, handsome, and quite popular with the fans.

“You mean those guys who film us training, eating, and traveling all day?” De Bruyne found it amazing.

“That’s them. Don’t underestimate them. They take the footage, edit it, and post it on YouTube and other online platforms. Fans all over the world can see it, and they love it.”

At this, José Fonte smiled with pride. “When it comes to playing on the pitch, it’s hard to say if we can be number one in the world. But when it comes to our online fanbase and influence, no other club can even compare.”

“So what’s the use of that?” Courtois asked, intrigued.

“It generates revenue. Take you, for example, Thibaut. You’re so tall and handsome in a suit. Once you have enough fans, sponsors might come looking for you.”

The realization dawned on Courtois.

Since coming to Bayswater Chinese, he had discovered that many things about this club were completely different from others.

He was encountering new things every day.

He could never have imagined that in the football wasteland of America, so many fans on the other side of the ocean would be shouting his name. It was simply unbelievable!

Yang Cheng was equally surprised.

“It looks like David and Richard have done a great job!” Yang Cheng said with a grin.

At the very least, this airport reception was well-organized.

The fans had, of course, come of their own accord, but there was certainly some organization behind it.

Otherwise, how would they have known Bayswater Chinese’s flight information?

He believed it would be the same when the other powerhouse clubs arrived.

Incidentally, Bayswater Chinese, Barça, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich all flew into New York.

Real Madrid, Juventus, Arsenal, and Chelsea flew to Los Angeles.

The two groups would play their group stage matches on the East and West Coasts, respectively.

After the group winners were decided, they would play the final at the New York Metropolitan Stadium.

The choice of the New York Metropolitan Stadium wasn’t due to its capacity.

On the contrary, the stadium only held just over eighty thousand people.

The main reason was that the stadium had just been completed and needed a major event to attract publicity. Thus, they offered many very favorable terms, which were complemented by the local government’s policies.

As a result, the final was set for New York.

…

Eight European giants gathering in North America and four in East Asia created a massive stir around the world.

In the words of the European media: This is the first organized summer expedition for Europe’s top clubs!

Media reporters also followed the International Champions Cup tour from start to finish.

From their arrival in New York, wherever Bayswater Chinese went, they were greeted by the cheers and applause of American fans.

Although the club took an appearance fee, all expenses for hotels, travel, training, and so on were covered by the organizers.

As The Sun put it, with a hint of exaggeration: All the big clubs need to do is show up!

The training grounds selected were all fully equipped with modern facilities.

Although it was the inaugural tournament and some minor flaws were inevitable, they were all trivial details.

The organizers were meticulous and paid great attention to the aspects that truly affected the teams’ performances.

Bayswater Chinese’s first match was at Penn State University’s Beaver Stadium.

Their opponent was Bayern Munich.

The organizers first arranged for Bayswater Chinese to rest in New York and participate in a commercial event.

The title sponsor for this year’s International Champions Cup was Budweiser beer.

The company was also one of Bayswater Chinese’s sponsors.

Taking advantage of their title sponsorship of the International Champions Cup, Budweiser officially renewed their contract with Bayswater Chinese for a hefty five million pounds sterling per year, becoming the club’s Official Global Beer Partner.

This would grant Budweiser brand licensing from Bayswater Chinese on a global scale until 2016.

Budweiser’s title sponsorship of the International Champions Cup was just the beginning of their collaboration.

It was a trial run.

But since it was summer, the peak season for beverage sales, Budweiser spared no effort in its promotional activities.

The team rested in New York for a day before setting off for Penn State University, over three hundred kilometers away.

The day after arriving in the small town of State College, where the stadium was located, the team went to Beaver Stadium for a warm-up session.

Here, another event occurred that greatly surprised Yang Cheng and everyone at Bayswater Chinese.

They already knew that the pre-match training session to familiarize themselves with the pitch would be open to the public.

This was quite normal.

Many commercial matches arranged this as a standard procedure.

However, last year’s World Football Challenge did not.

But this year, the organizers added it, and it unexpectedly attracted a huge number of fans.

This was the first time in the history of Bayswater Chinese that they had trained under the watch of over forty thousand spectators.

It was absolutely insane!

Beaver Stadium, with a capacity of 106,572, was nearly half full.

When the Bayswater Chinese players entered the pitch, they were utterly stunned by the scene!

And this was a paid event!

The fee to watch the pre-match training was forty dollars.

This meant that for this single pre-match warm-up, the organizers collected over 1.6 million dollars.

Of course, the forty-dollar ticket wasn’t just for watching Bayswater Chinese.

After Yang Cheng’s team finished their session, fans could also watch Bayern Munich train.

The Bundesliga champions had also been committed to developing the North American and Asian markets over the past few years.

But regardless, it was still mind-bogglingly crazy!

“I feel like we’ve greatly underestimated the passion of the North American fans!”

Yang Cheng looked at the vast stands, listened to the roaring crowd, and spoke with deep emotion.

Brian Kidd nodded incessantly beside him.

He had been in football his whole life and had never seen so many people willing to pay money to watch a team train.

In return, the stars were arranged to interact with the fans before, during the break, and after the training session.

They did their best to fulfill requests for autographs and photos.

The atmosphere was so electric that after Bayswater Chinese finished their training, they were forced to extend their time on the pitch.

It wasn’t until Bayern Munich arrived and entered the stadium that the organizers had to reluctantly usher the fans away and arrange for Bayswater Chinese to leave.

Yang Cheng met with van Gaal, Neuer, Ribéry, and others.

Players from both teams who knew each other exchanged polite greetings.

But when it came to the match the next day, the atmosphere was not nearly as friendly.

…

The arrival of Toni Kroos perfected Yang Cheng’s tactics.

Bayswater Chinese stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Attack: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Contento, Holger Badstuber, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm;

Midfield: A double pivot of van Bommel and Schweinsteiger, with Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Olić ahead of them;

Striker: Klose.

The match began, and Bayswater Chinese, who kicked off, immediately played the ball back.

Everyone could see that Yang Cheng’s team still wanted to control possession.

Van Gaal’s Bayern did not press forward blindly.

Clearly, they were wary of Bayswater Chinese’s pace up front.

But soon, Bayswater Chinese executed a brilliant piece of combination play in the final third.

When Gareth Bale received a through ball from Toni Kroos, he made a diagonal run into the half-space.

Lewandowski pushed up to the front, positioning himself just outside the arc of the penalty area.

Di María dropped back into the right half-space in the midfield.

As soon as he saw Bale move into the channel, the Argentinian made a lateral run towards the center.

At that moment, Bayern’s double pivot was responsible for intercepting.

After Bale passed to Di María, the Argentinian, facing the left touchline, played a through ball with his left foot.

The two completed a one-two give-and-go between the center and the left channel.

Gareth Bale immediately burst into a sprint.

Today, at Beaver Stadium, over one hundred thousand fans had gathered.

This set a new all-time attendance record for a football match in the United States!

The moment Gareth Bale accelerated, the cheers of one hundred thousand fans erupted.

As the Welshman caught up to the ball, Bayern’s right-back, Lahm, quickly closed in, attempting to muscle Bale off the ball.

But to his utter surprise, not only did Lahm fail to push Bale away, but he was shrugged off by the Welshman.

The German defender stumbled, nearly losing his balance.

Gareth Bale, without slowing down, charged towards the edge of the penalty area in a single stride.

Facing centre-back Van Buyten, Bale went for the outside, forcing his way past him with a powerful overtake and storming into the box.

From the left side of the six-yard box, Bale sent a cross pass towards the center.

Lewandowski arrived at full tilt in the middle.

Just as it seemed he was about to score, Neuer suddenly rushed off his line and, just before Lewandowski could reach it, dove to smother the ball, neutralizing a very dangerous attack from Bayswater Chinese.

Although they didn’t score, the attack ignited the passion of the crowd.

Especially Gareth Bale’s charge towards the box!

American fans loved this kind of simple, direct, and brutal physical battle!

They had thought such scenes were reserved for American football.

They hadn’t expected the physical contests in football to be so fierce!

That German defender, who looked small and thin, was truly fearless when it counted!

Just three minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

Thiago Silva passed the ball to Marcelo, who had crossed the halfway line.

The Brazilian was still on the left touchline when he trapped the ball, but seeing Gareth Bale pull wide, he feinted and suddenly cut inside, driving through the half-space and passing to Toni Kroos.

The German controlled the ball, turned right, and pulled the ball with his right foot. Before the defender could close him down, he sprayed a diagonal long pass across the field.

The pass traveled precisely from the left side of the center circle in Bayern’s half to the area just outside the right corner of the penalty box.

Di María was unmarked. After a chest trap, with the options to go to the byline or cut inside, he chose to cut in.

But it was clearly not a good choice.

Schweinsteiger and van Bommel tracked back in time, forcing Di María into a hurried shot, a curling effort with his left foot aimed for the far corner.

It went over!

But Bayswater Chinese’s attacks continued.

In the fourteenth minute, it was again on the left side of the attack.

Toni Kroos received the ball and passed it to Gareth Bale upfield.

After the Welshman controlled the ball and shook off a defender, he saw Marcelo making a quick overlapping run down the left flank.

The ball was passed into Marcelo’s path. The Brazilian full-back knocked it forward, chased it down to the left of Bayern’s penalty area, and delivered a cross.

Since Lewandowski was still outside the box, the cross was aimed towards the right side.

Di María made a quick forward run into the right side of the box.

He got to Marcelo’s cross but, instead of shooting directly with his right foot, he tried to connect with the outside of his left.

As a result, the shot posed no threat at all.

Di María had been very active since the start of the match.

But despite the numerous chances created by Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense, he failed to capitalize on them.

Bayern soon retaliated.

In the seventeenth minute, during a swift counter-attack, Ribéry received the ball in the left channel. Faced with the marking of Matić and Pepe, the Frenchman managed to dribble his way into the left side of the penalty area.

With his teammates unable to provide support in time, Ribéry relied on his individual skill to create a shooting opportunity from under Pepe’s challenge.

Unfortunately, the angle was too tight.

His shot from near the byline hit the side netting.

But Ribéry’s continuous dribbling sent the crowd into a frenzy!

After that, the two teams entered a back-and-forth slugfest.

Bayswater Chinese took the initiative to attack, while Bayern Munich defended solidly and looked to counter-attack.

Since it was a pre-season friendly with a commercial nature, both sides played very openly.

This made for a thrilling spectacle for the fans in attendance.

However, both teams’ defenses were solid.

Bayern, in particular, completely shut down the threat from Di María on the right.

The Argentinian attempted to cut inside and shoot several times, but was blocked by Bayern’s double pivot and defenders.

Just when everyone was resigning themselves to a 0-0 score at halftime, Bayswater Chinese launched an attack right at the start of the second half.

Marcelo dribbled past the halfway line on the left and passed to Toni Kroos, who had come to support in the center.

The German midfielder ran over from the left side of the center circle to receive the ball. He took a touch, pulled it back to evade the counter-press from Thomas Müller, and then pushed it forward.

The ball went past Thomas Müller and into the path of Lewandowski ahead.

The Polish centre-forward initially had his back to goal, but Kroos’s pass forced him to run onto it.

As soon as he received it, he turned to face the goal.

At the same time, Gareth Bale’s shout came from the left.

Lewandowski looked over and saw Bale starting his run, preparing to attack the left side of Bayern’s box.

Could it be that Toni Kroos had already envisioned this when he made the pass?

A thought that even he couldn’t quite believe flashed through Lewandowski’s mind.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He immediately played a diagonal pass to the left of the arc.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt, controlled the ball with his left foot into the left side of the penalty area, and accelerated to chase it. He sped past Van Buyten, finding himself in his most familiar and confident zone on the left side of the box.

The Welshman swung his left foot and shot.

The ball rocketed into the bottom right corner of Bayern’s goal.

Although Neuer reacted quickly and made a diving save, he couldn’t stop Gareth Bale’s shot.

1-0!

In an instant, the entire Beaver Stadium transformed into a roaring ocean!

The cheers of one hundred thousand fans, erupting at the same moment, consumed every corner of the stadium.

…

After taking the lead, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions.

After all, it was a pre-season friendly.

Bayern, on the other hand, tried to turn the tide, increasing the intensity of their attacks.

But in the sixty-fourth minute, a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos on the left sent the ball directly to the right side, behind Bayern Munich’s defensive line.

Lewandowski made a quick diagonal run. On the right, just outside the penalty area, he chested the ball down before Bayern’s left-back, Contento, could get there. He then cut inside, evading the recovering Contento, and delivered a cross pass with his left foot.

Inside the box, Gareth Bale, with his back to the goal, trapped the ball and turned to his right. Just as everyone thought he was about to shoot, he suddenly flicked the ball with his backheel.

Di María made a diagonal run from the arc to the left of the penalty spot, perfectly receiving Bale’s pass, and unleashed a power shot with his left foot.

The entire attack was incredibly fluid, and Bayern’s defense had been completely dismantled.

But at the crucial moment, Neuer made a flying dive, and as if blessed by the gods, managed to parry Di María’s shot out for a corner with one hand.

After this thwarted attempt, Di María was substituted for Theo Walcott.

Although he didn’t score, the Argentinian’s lively performance earned him a warm round of applause from the crowd.

The football played by Bayswater Chinese was truly a joy to watch!

In the seventy-fifth minute, another pass from Toni Kroos found Gareth Bale on the left wing. Using his pace, Bale burst past Lahm and delivered a long-range, curling cross with his left foot.

Walcott, who had come on for Di María, made a very clever run this time.

He knew he had an absolute advantage in speed, so he didn’t start his run early.

When Bale crossed the ball, he was still standing on the right edge of the penalty arc.

As a result, Bayern’s defenders had relaxed their guard against him.

But as Bale’s cross descended, Walcott shot forward like a bolt of lightning, piercing through Bayern’s backline. Finding himself virtually unmarked on the right side of the box, he met the incoming cross with a right-footed volley.

The ball flew into the net guarded by Neuer at incredible speed.

2-0!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers and applause once again.

In the end, at Beaver Stadium, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bayern Munich 2-0, thanks to a goal and an assist from Gareth Bale!

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese took twenty-three shots, while Bayern managed fourteen.

That meant the two teams combined for thirty-seven shots, averaging a shot every two-and-a-half minutes.

This alone demonstrated how exciting the match was.

It could be said that neither side held back.

Toni Kroos, whom Yang Cheng was watching most closely, played for eighty minutes, completing seventy-two of his seventy-eight passes.

None of the six misplaced passes occurred in dangerous situations.

And this was achieved against Bayern’s 4-2-3-1 defensive setup.

It was basically in line with Yang Cheng’s impression of Toni Kroos.

But the most important statistic was that he received sixty-four passes from his teammates.

Why was Yang Cheng so pleased with this particular stat?

Bayswater Chinese had always been known for their passing and movement.

Players constantly made quick runs to receive and distribute the ball.

This had become the team’s trademark tactic.

Yang Cheng’s requirement was that whenever a player had the ball, there had to be at least two stable passing options available around him.

So, the player on the ball had many choices.

But why did they all choose to pass to Toni Kroos?

There was only one answer.

It was easy, convenient, and reliable!

This wasn’t just true for this match.

In the previous three friendlies, Yang Cheng had repeatedly studied it.

Toni Kroos was consistently the midfielder who received the most passes from his teammates.

The second was Modrić.

This proved that in the minds of the players on the pitch, these two were the most reliable and convenient outlets for a pass.

A player’s performance can be like a dark art.

The factors that change a football match are numerous and complex.

There’s even an element of randomness.

That’s why football matches can never be accurately predicted.

But the intentions of the players on the field don’t lie.

When they all collectively choose a certain direction, the answer becomes very clear.

Yang Cheng also had a few chats with Toni Kroos.

Unlike when he played for Bayern or Bayer Leverkusen, his position as a number 8 was actually deeper.

Moreover, Yang Cheng often asked him to drop back even further to receive the ball.

But Toni Kroos felt that this, in fact, made him play very comfortably.

He was never the type of player who liked to showcase his skills in tightly packed defenses.

In fact, he lacked the ability and speed for that.

So, whether he was played as a number 10, like at Bayern, or on the left wing, like at Leverkusen, he always felt constrained and uncomfortable.

In contrast, playing as a number 8 for Bayswater Chinese allowed him to move up, down, left, and right, always finding space to run into and gaps to receive and make passes.

This made him feel incredibly comfortable, like a fish in water.

And his passing vision and technique were on full display.

His teammates were clearly much stronger than at Leverkusen, and even at Bayern.

This gave Toni Kroos more room to shine.

For example, some of his long passes.

Neither Bayern nor Leverkusen had players as fast as Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Di María.

In the Bundesliga, many full-backs would actively join the attack, but never pushed as far forward as Bayswater Chinese’s did.

Toni Kroos told Yang Cheng himself.

“After coming to Bayswater Chinese, it’s like I’ve opened up a whole new world!”

…

Yang Cheng didn’t know that as the match ended, in the stands of Beaver Stadium, Bayern’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeneß, and Nerlinger were all simultaneously filled with regret.

“Is this… really Toni Kroos?” Rummenigge was in disbelief.

He might look down on Toni Kroos for his East German origins, but that didn’t mean he was a fool.

On the contrary, having been in football his entire life, it would be utterly idiotic if he couldn’t see the impact Toni Kroos was having.

Uli Hoeneß nodded, somewhat woodenly. “I think… so.”

They both felt that this Toni Kroos was a stranger.

In their minds, the young man from East Germany was supposed to be a number 10 attacking midfielder or play on the wings.

But the way Yang Cheng was using him now seemed more like pulling his position deeper.

Away from the physical close-quarters combat with defenders, he was given the opportunity to fully unleash his talent.

After a moment of stunned silence, Hoeneß shook his head with a wry smile.

“Van Gaal has been looking for a deep-lying playmaker, even going so far as to convert Schweinsteiger, and yet…”

Hoeneß pointed towards the Bayswater Chinese players leaving the pitch.

“This will surely go down as a major strategic mistake on our part!”

Rummenigge was speechless.

Although they had only watched one match, the role Toni Kroos played in it had been a massive shock to them.

Hadn’t he just transferred to Bayswater Chinese and participated in one summer training camp?

Was this his fourth match for Bayswater Chinese, and he was already producing this kind of performance?

“That Yang Cheng fellow is terrifying!” Rummenigge was unwilling to admit his own mistake in judgment.

So, he concluded that it was Yang Cheng’s transformation of Toni Kroos that had completely unlocked his potential.

That wasn’t wrong, either.

Nerlinger nodded. “He always seems to see details that we miss.”

Before, they would have scoffed at the rumors that Yang Cheng had a Midas touch.

But now, they were starting to believe.

“By the way, didn’t he also mention Thomas Müller and Holger Badstuber before?” Rummenigge suddenly remembered.

Hoeneß immediately understood. “That’s right. If Toni Kroos can have this effect after some adjustments, then Thomas Müller and Holger Badstuber must still have enormous untapped potential.”

The two Bayern titans looked at each other and nodded in unison.

Since losing Toni Kroos was irreversible, they could not, under any circumstances, miss out on Thomas Müller and Holger Badstuber.

The club had to invest resources to figure out how to unlock the potential of these two youngsters.

After all, Yang Cheng had originally ranked them ahead of Toni Kroos.

…

Confident in Bayswater Chinese’s box office appeal, the ICC Company scheduled all three of their pre-season matches in stadiums with capacities exceeding one hundred thousand.

The second match was at Ohio Stadium against Inter Milan.

Currently, the manager of Inter Milan was Yang Cheng’s old rival, former Liverpool head coach Benítez.

The match once again drew over one hundred thousand spectators.

In this friendly, Bayswater Chinese defeated Inter Milan 2-0 again.

Both goals came from Lewandowski.

Toni Kroos continued to deliver a very stable performance.

After two high-intensity matches, Yang Cheng, the coaching staff, and the players had all come to recognize Toni Kroos’s quality.

Especially Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder personally told Yang Cheng that since Kroos’s arrival, he felt a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Previously, he had to worry about many things, including the tempo of the game and organizing the attack.

But now, he felt liberated and was playing with more freedom.

However, Modrić also told Yang Cheng that he needed more time to adapt to playing with Kroos.

Modrić also emphasized that Rakitić was a different type of player.

Clearly, he was worried that Yang Cheng might neglect his national teammate now that he had Toni Kroos.

Yang Cheng didn’t mind Modrić’s bit of personal bias.

It was only human.

He assured him that he would still value Rakitić.

With so many matches to play, squad rotation was inevitable.

…

After the second match, the team traveled north from Ohio to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

This was the final group stage match and also the most anticipated one.

Stars like Messi, Xavi, David Villa, and Iniesta were all in the starting lineup.

Bayswater Chinese also fielded a full-strength team.

However, because La Liga started later, Barça’s pre-season training had been shorter, and they were not yet in peak condition. Facing a Bayswater Chinese side that was getting better and better, Barça clearly struggled.

Especially their defense.

In this match, Toni Kroos fully demonstrated his long-passing prowess.

In the first half, he initiated two attacks with long balls.

First, he set up Walcott to cross from the right side of the box, which Lewandowski converted with a tap-in from the center.

Later, a long pass found Gareth Bale on the left side of the box, who scored with a powerful left-footed shot.

They were leading 2-0 at halftime.

After the break, both teams made substitutions.

Barça managed to score a goal in the second half through Messi.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Barça 2-1, finishing first in the group with a perfect record of three wins.

The match at Michigan Stadium attracted a total of 109,000 people.

This once again broke the record for a football match in the United States, a record that had just been set a few days earlier at Pennsylvania’s Beaver Stadium!

…

As the champions of the US East Division, Bayswater Chinese traveled to New York for the final of the inaugural International Champions Cup.

Their opponents were the champions of the West Division, Real Madrid.

Under Mourinho, the Galácticos were a formidable force.

Especially after reinforcing their squad this summer with Bruno Alves, Coentrão, Sami Khedira, and the dead-eyed Mesut Özil, their overall strength had improved by leaps and bounds.

In the group stage, Real Madrid had also won all three of their matches.

The two giants converged in New York for a climactic showdown at the Metropolitan Stadium.

The match drew a crowd of 82,500 fans.

And during the pre-match training session, over fifty thousand fans had entered the stadium.

The enthusiasm of the American fans was simply staggering!

The average ticket price for the group stage was one hundred dollars.

But for this final, the ticket price soared to two hundred dollars, a direct double.

Even so, it still attracted 82,500 fans, filling every seat.

In this highly anticipated showdown, both Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid put on a very spirited performance.

The two teams engaged in a top-tier battle.

Bayswater Chinese went on an all-out attack, and while Real Madrid played a defensive counter-attacking style, their offensive thrusts were incredibly sharp.

The two teams were evenly matched, a true tit-for-tat affair with neither side backing down.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese won 3-1, with goals in the latter half of the game from substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Javi Martínez.

Bayswater Chinese had successfully won the inaugural International Champions Cup!

Meanwhile, in the Asian tournament, Ancelotti’s Manchester City triumphed over Ferguson’s Manchester United, AC Milan, and Liverpool to win their group.

…

As August began.

After more than half a month of competition, when the curtain fell on the first International Champions Cup, fans around the world were still wanting more.

Although they were pre-season friendlies, and the participating teams were not all at full strength or in peak condition, such a tournament was a true feast for fans in North America and Asia!

When Yang Cheng led the team back to London from New York to begin the final sprint for the new season, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada came to Yang Cheng’s office during a break in training.

The self-proclaimed dashing CEO burst into the room, completely ignoring the fact that Brian Kidd was present, and shouted with a laugh, “It’s exploded! It’s exploded! It’s absolutely exploded!”

“Yang, we’ve absolutely exploded!”

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd exchanged glances.

“What’s exploded?”

“The tournament! The International Champions Cup!”

Yang Cheng said, “Oh,” and then, “I already guessed as much.”

He motioned for Adam Crozier and the other to sit down and report.

According to the report from the ICC Company, the two North American zones, plus the final, totaled thirteen matches.

“Guess what the total attendance was?”

Yang Cheng wasn’t giving him a chance to be dramatic. “Just tell me.”

“A total of 1.04 million people!”

“That many?” Brian Kidd, standing to the side, was taken aback.

On average, that was almost eighty thousand people per match.

“That’s actually on the low side. The main issue was the stadiums on the West Coast, which were mostly around ninety thousand capacity.”

“And the final only had 82,500 people.”

“If the stadium capacities were higher, the attendance would definitely have gone up.”

Adam Crozier explained with a laugh.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with the result.

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised by this.

He had a general idea of the attendance figures while he was in the United States.

The market was indeed booming.

What he was most concerned about was the Asian tournament.

“How did the Asian tournament do?”

Adam Crozier nodded. “The stadiums in Asia aren’t as big as in the US. The two matches in China attracted 150,000 people, held in the capital and Shanghai.”

“The two matches in South Korea, at the Olympic Stadium and the World Cup Stadium, only attracted a total of 130,000 people.”

“The two matches in Japan attracted 140,000.”

“So, the six matches in Asia drew 420,000 people.”

“Add that to North America’s 1.04 million, and the grand total reaches an astonishing 1.46 million.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng mentally estimated the ticket revenue.

Since the tickets for the New York Metropolitan Stadium were more expensive, averaging two hundred dollars, the total ticket revenue would definitely exceed one hundred fifty million dollars.

Converted to euros, that was one hundred million euros.

Damn it, was this a pre-season tour?

This was a gold rush!

If these figures were made public, the European media would go insane!

The total appearance fees for the twelve participating teams were sixty-four million euros.

After deducting miscellaneous expenses like accommodation, travel, stadium rentals, and various security measures…

The ticket revenue alone could completely cover it.

That meant, at the very least, they wouldn’t lose money!

This brought a huge sense of relief to Yang Cheng.

But another figure surprised him greatly.

That was the number of fans who attended the pre-match training sessions.

This was an extra charge of forty dollars per person.

Across the three zones and nineteen matches, it attracted over 550,000 people.

This meant that this revenue stream alone generated twenty-two million dollars, about fifteen million euros.

If you added in commercial sponsorships, television broadcasting fees, and some matchday retail income…

Yang Cheng conservatively estimated it would be no less than twenty-five million euros.

Is that a lot?

Not really!

For a single tournament, it’s actually quite modest.

How much is the Premier League worth per season?

How much is the Champions League worth per season?

Those popular competitions are money-making machines!

In comparison, the ICC Company worked tirelessly for a year, went through hell and back for half a month, and only earned twenty-five million euros.

It really wasn’t a massive profit!

But considering this was just the inaugural event…

Both broadcasting fees and sponsorship fees were collected at friendly rates.

For instance, the Chinese broadcaster, Huaxia Television, secured the rights for only two million dollars after promising significant resource allocation and enhanced promotion.

America’s Fox Television paid a bit more, but it was still very cheap.

To put it simply, the ICC Company’s investment and sponsorship strategy was more focused on promotion and publicity.

Unlike the Americans who were focused on making a quick buck, Yang Cheng’s and the European giants’ thinking was aligned.

The priority was to cultivate the tournament and the market first.

Want to make money?

There would be plenty of opportunities in the future!

Besides, for the top clubs, this was already excellent.

Without spending a single cent, with all food, accommodation, and travel covered, all they had to do was show up, play three matches, and earn 4.5 million euros.

You have to ask, is there an easier way to make money in the world?

Bayswater Chinese played four matches and earned eight million euros, plus the prize money for winning, totaling ten million euros.

Real Madrid got nine million euros.

How could that not be appealing?

“David Pemsel and Richard Masters had a video call with me. The final financial report will take some time, but their initial estimate is a profit of over twenty million euros, no problem.”

“But they both suggested not paying out a dividend this year!”

Yang Cheng nodded.

David Pemsel had already hinted at this when they were in the United States.

His point was that if they distributed the money directly, everyone would be happy.

But for the top clubs, this amount was negligible.

However, the ICC Company was a startup with many expenses, and they needed to prepare for next year’s tournament.

Although this year was quite successful, many problems also arose.

These issues just didn’t affect the matches, so no one noticed.

But as the organizers, they had to take them seriously.

Therefore, he didn’t plan to distribute dividends but wanted to use the money to find more professional service providers to organize a higher-standard, higher-quality tournament.

Yang Cheng agreed with this.

“Tell David Pemsel and Richard Masters that I support their decision!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “But the accounts must be clear, and we must maintain good communication with all the major clubs to avoid misunderstandings.”

This was also a given.

Although the top clubs were currently making money through the ICC Company, there was no guarantee that competitors wouldn’t emerge in the future.

The core resource of any football tournament is the participating teams.

Therefore, the most important thing for the ICC Company was to firmly unite the major European clubs.

In the future, it wouldn’t just be about the International Champions Cup or its expansion; the business could expand much further.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the organizer, RS Company, even after discontinuing the International Champions Cup, remained the most influential football event service provider in the United States, covering broadcasting, event preparation, marketing, and more.

It could be said that these things were all part of a continuous legacy.

The ICC Company would definitely need to keep expanding in the future.

But for now, the number one task was to make the International Champions Cup a success!

…

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the team’s performance during this summer’s training camp, especially their participation in the International Champions Cup.

The new signings had all performed well.

At the goalkeeper position, Yang Cheng initially used Begović.

But later, Courtois’s performances were clearly superior to Begović’s.

The Belgian needed no time to integrate and immediately delivered outstanding performances.

The biggest obstacles now were language and communication.

Toni Kroos also needed no time to adapt. He conquered Yang Cheng and the coaching staff in just forty-five minutes of his first friendly, becoming the first choice in everyone’s mind.

This time, Yang Cheng finally understood what it meant when they say you only need to watch a genius play once.

He didn’t even need a full game; in just forty-five minutes, Toni Kroos proved his worth.

What was most valuable was that the German was incredibly steady.

He always gave off a feeling of being unhurried, measured, and composed.

This made the overall rhythm of Bayswater Chinese noticeably more controlled than in the past.

Coupled with his long passes and the team’s speedy wingers, he could change the course of a match in an instant and catch opponents off guard.

Putting everything else aside, how do you defend against a midfielder who can switch the ball to any part of the pitch at any time to launch an attack?

There will always be cracks!

If the opponent pressed Toni Kroos’s side to try and contain the German midfielder, that was even better.

The ball would be immediately switched to attack the opponent’s weaker defensive side.

Everyone on the coaching staff, including Brian Kidd, only truly realized the potential strength of the midfield Yang Cheng wanted to build after watching Toni Kroos play.

It wasn’t just the new signings at Bayswater Chinese that brought Yang Cheng surprises.

Far away in the south of France, at OGC Nice, the newly appointed director of football, Emmanuel Perrin, also had an unexpected surprise for Yang Cheng.

Chapter 206: Community Shield Secured! The Premier League’s Debt Reduction Initiative! Yang Cheng: The Bayern Executives Are Good People!

Since taking full control of Bayswater Chinese in 2003, Yang Cheng had instilled his personal will into every aspect of the club.

The immense success Bayswater Chinese had achieved over the years had also elevated Yang Cheng’s personal prestige to a level that even he might not have dared to imagine.

Everyone in the outside world said that Yang Cheng had the Midas touch.

Any player he took a fancy to would almost certainly develop into a talent and perform exceptionally well.

That was why Bayswater Chinese could sell its players for high prices.

And any player Yang Cheng targeted would often see their value skyrocket.

For a long time, this was a source of frustration for Yang Cheng, as too many clubs and agents used his name for hype.

One day, a club would claim Yang Cheng was eyeing their centre-back; the next, another would say he was interested in their forward; the day after, a third would announce his admiration for their midfielder; and so on…

It had reached the point where Yang Cheng now basically stayed out of the public eye.

It was just too much trouble!

Although he no longer made public appearances, and the clubs, media, and agents outside saw little of him, his every move was still closely watched within the team.

Take one simple, inconspicuous detail.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese was one of the first sports clubs in world football to implement a paperless office and modern management. All the data from the scouting department was consolidated into a single player database.

There were many rumors circulating about this database, some describing it as miraculous, others dismissing it as worthless.

The scouting department at Bayswater Chinese knew the truth: it was indeed very advanced, but not quite magical.

The database’s most prominent feature was its player search function.

By selecting different criteria and weightings, it could search for and identify matching players.

This feature had served the club well over the past few years.

For instance, in the transfer of Begović.

And after selling Roy Carroll during this year’s winter transfer window, the few centre-forwards who were rumored to be targets were also products of searches and matches from this database, followed by assessments from scouts around the world.

But within this database, there was one list that was considered a top-level secret.

Only a few users had the highest level of access to the database, and Yang Cheng was one of them.

He had his own account ID.

On a typical day, he would browse the player database, and when he came across a player he recognized, he would often choose to follow them.

It was a subconscious habit.

He was afraid that as more time passed since his transmigration, he would gradually forget these players.

After all, so many years had gone by, and he was so busy that sometimes he really couldn’t remember.

So, whenever he saw a familiar or interesting player, he would add them to his watchlist for future reference.

Over time, he didn’t think much of it.

But for everyone else at Bayswater Chinese, this was simply incredible.

The first person to notice Yang Cheng’s watchlist was the head of scouting, Gary Worthington.

After observing it for a while, he discovered that the players on this list all turned out to be quite good.

It was like Columbus discovering the New World.

Later, the director of football, Dan Ashworth, and the Chief Talent Officer, Mike Rigg, also learned about it.

After them, even Adam Crozier became aware of the list’s existence.

Finally, Xia Qing found out.

And once Xia Qing knew, Yang Cheng knew.

At the time, Yang Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He had never imagined that a small, casual action of his would be revered as sacred text by these top executives.

What was this like?

It was like scrolling through social media in his past life, casually following some accounts, only to have their deeper meaning obsessively analyzed by experts.

It made him feel both proud and speechless.

Adam Crozier realized the importance of this list, and since only the core senior management knew about it, he didn’t pursue the matter, merely demanding that it not be discussed or disclosed.

Besides, many of the players on the list had gradually made their mark and were now stars in European football.

For example, Atlético Madrid’s Agüero, Liverpool’s Suárez, and Valencia’s David Silva.

There were also a few special cases, like Real Madrid’s new signing, the German with the dead-fish eyes, Mesut Özil, who was on Yang Cheng’s blacklist.

So, Yang Cheng’s watchlist was indeed incredibly important.

If it ever got out, the European football world would be turned upside down.

The impact would be no less than that of Florentino Pérez’s leaked recordings.

But at the same time, it didn’t seem that important.

Thus, the core senior management of Bayswater Chinese collectively kept this secret.

But an interesting development occurred this summer.

Hadn’t they just acquired OGC Nice?

The two clubs shared a scouting system, which naturally meant they shared the scouting database.

Nice’s director of football, Emmanuel Perrin, was formerly a scout for Bayswater Chinese and the head of the French region, so he had heard whispers.

After gaining access to the scouting database, he wanted to take a look.

But he found he had no permission at all.

While Bayswater Chinese was in training camp, Nice was too.

The newly appointed head coach, Ronald Koeman, was full of vigor, vowing to find a second spring in his career at Nice, ready to pour his heart and soul into the job, to give his all. (This is for emphasis, not padding, please don’t flame.)

But in his past life, he had managed European giants like Ajax, Feyenoord, Valencia, and Benfica.

His standards were too high.

Few of the players remaining at Nice met his expectations.

So he initiated a clear-out, which brought in several million euro in transfer fees.

But reinforcements were urgently needed.

As director of football, Emmanuel Perrin took advantage of Bayswater Chinese’s trip to the United States for the International Champions Cup to fly to London and meet with Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg.

The three of them put their heads together and immediately thought of Yang Cheng’s watchlist.

Given Nice’s current standing in European football, they couldn’t even dream of players from the top four leagues.

Promising, well-known young talents were also out of the question.

They didn’t even dare to consider the young players Yang Cheng had recently added to his watchlist.

For example, Martial from the Lyon youth academy.

He was not someone Nice could covet right now.

But that didn’t stop Emmanuel Perrin from secretly making a note of him.

In the end, based on Ronald Koeman’s requirements and practical considerations, they selected four players from Yang Cheng’s watchlist.

Jorginho, an 18-year-old youngster from Verona in Italy’s third division, who held dual Italian and Brazilian nationality.

Marcelo Brozović, a 17-year-old youngster from the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.

Kalidou Koulibaly, a 19-year-old centre-back with dual Senegalese and French nationality from the youth academy of Metz, a French Second Division relegation team.

The last one was the most surprising.

They hadn’t found him on Yang Cheng’s watchlist, but on his blacklist.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a 21-year-old youngster from AC Milan.

It wasn’t that Aubameyang was a complete unknown.

With dual French and Gabonese nationality, he had even been selected for the French U21 team in February 2009.

At the time, he was on loan from AC Milan to Dijon in Ligue 2 and was exceptionally fast.

But that was his only call-up.

He played one season at Dijon, scoring 8 goals and providing 2 assists in 34 league games.

In cup competitions, he scored 2 goals in 4 appearances.

His overall performance was decent.

As a result, he was loaned to Ligue 1 side Lille for the 2009/10 season, but his performance was poor.

Playing as a winger on both flanks, he made 14 appearances, playing only 494 minutes and scoring just 2 goals.

In the Europa League, he played 7 times for 352 minutes without a single goal or assist.

Such a performance naturally didn’t impress Lille.

So, in the summer of 2010, after his loan spell ended, Aubameyang returned to AC Milan’s youth academy.

With no opportunities at AC Milan, Aubameyang had to go out on loan again.

However, Emmanuel, Dan Ashworth, and Mike Rigg were all very puzzled.

Why would Yang Cheng blacklist Aubameyang?

But head coach Ronald Koeman was very interested in him.

For one, Mahrez, Salah, and Sané were still very young, at seventeen or eighteen.

Aubameyang was 21.

Moreover, he could play on both wings and as a forward, making him a rare, versatile attacker.

So, after communicating with Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, and trusting in Yang Cheng’s watchlist, the group approved Nice’s transfer plan.

Emmanuel Perrin’s abilities were truly impressive.

While Bayswater Chinese was competing in the International Champions Cup in the United States, he efficiently signed all four players.

Only Aubameyang cost 1.5 million euro, paid over two years.

The other players were very cheap.

Brozović cost 300,000 euro, Koulibaly 100,000 euro, and Jorginho also 100,000 euro.

The four players combined cost only two million euro.

It was a sum so small it didn’t even need to be reported to Yang Cheng; Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg could approve it themselves.

So, when Yang Cheng returned to London with the team and saw Nice’s first-team squad list, his first reaction was shock.

He suspected that Emmanuel Perrin had been possessed by the soul of some great transmigrator!

Only after asking Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg did Yang Cheng understand what had happened.

…

“Isn’t this a bit over the top?”

Yang Cheng was at a loss for words.

He had absolutely no intention of fostering a cult of personality within the club.

On the contrary, he had always tried his best to avoid and eliminate such phenomena.

But he had to admit, the feeling was pretty damn good.

“You have no idea. According to Emmanuel’s feedback, Ronald is extremely satisfied with Nice’s current squad,” Dan Ashworth said with a smile.

Yang Cheng understood, of course.

A head coach knows a player’s quality as soon as they step onto the training pitch.

Why?

Because the intensity of a head coach’s training sessions is tailored to the players’ abilities.

The goal is to ensure the players give their all during training.

The balance has to be just right—not too taxing, but enough to push the players to their limits, and maybe even improve them slightly.

Therefore, planning training sessions is a science in itself.

Otherwise, why would Yang Cheng spend so much money every year on the sports science department to research training methods?

So, the head coach is the one who best understands the players’ abilities.

Once Ronald Koeman saw them train, how could he not be satisfied?

And look at Nice’s squad now.

They had a centre-forward, they had speed, they had a central playmaker, and they had enforcers like Matuidi and Kanté.

With the group’s resources and the full support of the club’s management, if Ronald Koeman couldn’t lead this team to success and was still fighting relegation in Ligue 1 next season, Yang Cheng would have to consider replacing him.

Of course, Yang Cheng was doing all this primarily because Nice was the first step in his expansion plan. He wanted a good start to make the path ahead much easier.

With this in mind, after seeing off Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, Yang Cheng called Ronald Koeman to check on Nice’s situation.

On the phone, Ronald Koeman was very confident, but acknowledged the challenges.

The main issue was team cohesion.

The team was newly formed, having just undergone a major overhaul, and the players lacked chemistry. Gelling would be a major problem.

But Ronald Koeman confidently stated his belief that Nice would achieve great results in the new season.

Yang Cheng naturally offered him encouragement and affirmation.

When the new signings were mentioned, Yang Cheng briefly explained the reason for his call.

He wanted to talk about Jorginho and Brozović.

These two players were best suited as playmakers, preferably in a holding role.

Ronald Koeman replied that he had already noticed this.

As a renowned European manager, he had that much insight.

Hearing this, Yang Cheng naturally encouraged him again.

The current state of Ligue 1 was a battle of minnows.

Lyon’s dominance had faded, and the club was in trouble, especially with the severe drain of talent over the past few years.

Marseille was spending more than it earned, and rumors of a sale were constant.

Lille had lost Eden Hazard, who in Yang Cheng’s previous life had been their most competitive player.

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly, Monaco would be relegated this season.

So, Ligue 1 was currently in a state of chaos.

To put it nicely, it was a struggle for supremacy.

To put it bluntly, it was a scrap between minnows.

This situation would only change next year when the Qatari consortium entered Ligue 1.

Why was Yang Cheng so certain that the Qatari consortium would enter Ligue 1?

Because it went beyond football.

It was a political deal!

If Qatar wanted to host the World Cup, they had to have the support of UEFA President Platini.

Go to the Premier League?

That was highly unlikely.

Because England itself was bidding to host the World Cup and was a competitor to Qatar.

If the French dangled the carrot, why would they stay in England?

They couldn’t get into the Bundesliga, and Spain wasn’t a major power and lacked influence.

Therefore, the Qatari consortium was bound to go to Ligue 1!

When that happened, Ligue 1 would enter a new era of foreign investment!

…

After returning to England from the United States, Bayswater Chinese began its final sprint towards the new season.

As the curtain-raiser for the Premier League, the Community Shield was undoubtedly the key battle to test the team’s quality.

League champions versus FA Cup champions!

Being both a pre-season friendly and an official match, the Community Shield was the perfect occasion to assess the team.

Thus, on the afternoon of August 8th at London’s Wembley Stadium, Bayswater Chinese faced Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea.

The Blues had not made any major signings this summer.

This was quite surprising.

Aside from signing midfielder Ramires from Benfica, Chelsea had only brought in Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool and a defender named Kalas from the Czech Republic.

Not only had they failed to bring in strong reinforcements, but former key centre-back Carvalho had also been sold to Real Madrid, now managed by Mourinho.

This, combined with the free transfers of players like Deco, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, and Juliano Belletti, seemed very strange.

It was worth noting that the Blues had missed out on the Champions League for two consecutive seasons.

Was Chelsea planning to give up?

At the pre-match press conference for the Community Shield, Chelsea’s head coach Guus Hiddink explained the team’s summer transfer activities.

He stated that the departure of players like Carvalho, Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco, and Belletti had reduced the team’s wage bill and freed up spots in the first team, which was part of the team’s restructuring.

From now on, Chelsea would give more opportunities to younger players.

Players like Roy Carroll, Kalou, Bruma, and Kakuta would get more chances.

Additionally, Hiddink revealed that Chelsea was considering signing Brazilian centre-back David Luiz from Benfica.

“We all hope to finalize this transfer before the market closes!”

The media’s interpretation of this was quite accurate.

With the onset of the economic crisis, Roman Abramovich’s finances had also been affected.

The expensive signing of Roy Carroll hadn’t paid off, and with the additions of Sneijder and Eto’o, plus a group of aging veterans, Chelsea had been running huge losses for years.

These losses were all being covered by Abramovich’s capital injections.

In this situation, clearing out a group of older players and promoting younger ones was undoubtedly a way to alleviate financial pressure.

Why was Joe Cole let go, allowing the Englishman to join Liverpool?

The Sun reported that Chelsea couldn’t meet Joe Cole’s salary demands, but Liverpool was willing to.

The reality was that even after releasing a group of veterans, Chelsea’s wage bill remained among the highest in the Premier League.

According to an annual report by Deloitte, the Premier League was still the richest league in the world in the 2009/10 season.

However, the growth of Premier League wage expenditure outpaced revenue growth.

In the 2009/10 season, Premier League clubs’ wage spending increased by 64 million pound sterling, with total expenditure exceeding 1.4 billion pound sterling. The exact figure couldn’t be verified, but the wage-to-revenue ratio reached an unprecedented 68%.

This actually confirmed what Yang Cheng had said before.

Under the dual pressures of a devaluing pound and increased personal income tax, the salary burden on major clubs would continue to grow.

In addition to the increased wage ratio, Premier League clubs also recorded a loss of 445 million pound sterling.

This was also a record-breaking figure!

Of course, with the Premier League’s current revenue, a loss of 445 million pound sterling needed to be taken seriously and controlled, but it wasn’t enough to threaten the league’s survival.

And among the 20 Premier League teams, which club had the highest wage expenditure?

It wasn’t the profligate Manchester City, not Manchester United, not the lavish Arsenal, and certainly not the Yang Cheng-controlled Bayswater Chinese.

It was Chelsea!

The Blues’ wage expenditure was as high as 174 million pound sterling, far ahead of the pack.

It was even more than the 133 million pound sterling of second-placed Manchester City.

Yang Cheng and others in the Premier League found this very strange.

Where was all of Chelsea’s wage expenditure going?

That was 174 million pound sterling!

Real Madrid and Barça had high wages, but that was because they had many stars and high revenues.

But Chelsea?

How did they manage to lose so much every year and still maintain such a high wage bill?

The only explanation was that Chelsea’s internal salary control was a mess.

Bayswater Chinese’s current top salary was 120,000 pound sterling per week.

At Chelsea, that would only be considered upper-middle tier.

Bayswater Chinese’s middle class would be considered low-income at Chelsea.

That’s why Roy Carroll got a weekly wage of 90,000 pound sterling as soon as he joined.

But don’t celebrate too soon. Bayswater Chinese had now become the “number one culprit” in the Premier League’s debt reduction initiative.

Last season, the Premier League’s net debt was 3.3 billion pound sterling.

According to the original plan, this season it should have been further reduced to under three billion pound sterling, or even to 2.5 billion.

However, with Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium loan taking effect, the Premier League’s debt reduction efforts had little effect, and the total debt remained above three billion pound sterling.

There was nothing to be done; Bayswater Chinese alone accounted for several hundred million.

However, Deloitte did note specifically that Bayswater Chinese’s debt was healthy. Combined with good wage control and record-breaking club revenue, they even had the potential to catch up with Real Madrid in the future.

Therefore, Deloitte believed that Bayswater Chinese was still the most competitive team in the Premier League.

Once the new stadium was completed, this West London team would transform into one of the most powerful top-tier giants in the Premier League, and even in Europe!

Additionally, with Arsenal gradually selling off properties at Highbury, Manchester City and Liverpool responding to the Premier League’s debt-for-equity swap policy, and clubs like Blackburn Rovers being acquired by foreign investors, the Premier League’s debt would continue to decrease in the coming years.

Overall, the Premier League remained the best-run and most competitive league in the world!

In this economic climate and Premier League context, it was easy to understand why Chelsea was tightening its belt and cutting expenses again.

Having missed the Champions League for consecutive seasons, Chelsea’s revenue was only around 200 million pound sterling.

With that level of revenue, supporting a wage bill of 174 million pound sterling was almost impossible.

So, it was no fabrication that the Blues were losing tens of millions of pound sterling every year.

In this situation, simply relying on Abramovich’s investment was a bottomless pit.

Last season was Chelsea’s final gamble. Having failed to break into the top four for the Champions League, it was now normal for them to undergo a major clear-out and further restructure the team.

However, before the transfer window opened, Chelsea was heavily linked with players like Ibrahimović, Agüero, and Suárez, but none of them arrived in the end.

This was somewhat disappointing for the fans.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was soaring. Last season, they introduced the British Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, as well as stars like Robert Lewandowski, Ángel Di María, and Aaron Ramsey.

It could be said that today’s Bayswater Chinese had become the most attractive powerhouse in London.

…

In this Community Shield match at London’s Wembley Stadium, Hiddink stuck with his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Ivanović, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Lampard and Essien in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Eto’o, and Anelka.

Alex was out with an injury, while Drogba and Sneijder were on the bench.

In comparison, Bayswater Chinese’s lineup was significantly more star-studded.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

If nothing else, at least in the forward line, Bayswater Chinese was in a different league than Chelsea.

The midfield was marshalled by Modrić.

Nemanja Matić had also proven his quality last season.

In defense, Thiago Silva and Pepe were both top-class centre-backs ranked among the best in the world.

This left the Chelsea fans in the Wembley stands with a bitter taste in their mouths.

There was a time when they wouldn’t have given Bayswater Chinese a second glance.

But now?

Their West London neighbor had completely overshadowed Chelsea.

After this season’s schedule was released, Europe’s three major betting companies all released their title odds.

Even after selling Neuer, Bayswater Chinese still led the Premier League pack.

Especially after the International Champions Cup, Yang Cheng’s team had become the top favorite to win the title.

And at Wembley Stadium, as soon as head referee Mariner blew the whistle to start the match, Bayswater Chinese went on the attack.

The front three surged forward in unison.

Their very first attack started with a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos from the left side of his own half, sending the ball directly behind Chelsea’s defense to the right flank.

Walcott sprinted forward, chasing after the ball.

Ashley Cole desperately tracked back.

Although the English left-back’s speed couldn’t match Walcott’s, he was still fast enough.

Coupled with his deeper starting position, he got to the ball first and slid it out for a throw-in.

The sprint between the two English speedsters on the flank ignited the 90,000 fans in the stadium!

“A pure contest of speed like this is definitely the best way to get the fans’ blood pumping!”

“Walcott is just so fast, and Toni Kroos’s long pass was perfectly weighted.”

“I have to say, this player Bayswater Chinese acquired from Bayern Munich this summer certainly has his own unique qualities.”

From the very beginning, Chelsea retreated completely into their own half.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, boldly pressed forward.

Just four minutes and thirty seconds into the game, it was again a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos near the halfway line.

This time, it was Walcott making a quick diagonal run.

The Little Tiger’s speed was blistering.

Starting from two yards behind Ashley Cole, he made the English left-back think he had it covered easily.

But unexpectedly, Toni Kroos’s pass landed behind both Terry and Ashley Cole.

The Little Tiger surged forward, beat Ashley Cole to the ball as he entered the penalty area, and controlled Kroos’s pass.

Walcott cushioned the ball, and facing a half-committed Čech, he attempted a chip shot.

But perhaps the sprint had been too intense, causing him to mishandle the final shot.

The ball rolled wide of the post.

With two high-speed sprints, Walcott had showcased his astonishing pace!

The Little Tiger gave a thumbs-up to Toni Kroos from a distance.

Just over a minute later, after winning the ball near the halfway line, Toni Kroos dropped back into his own half to receive a pass, turned, glanced forward, and sent a long ball over the top with his right foot.

The ball flew directly into the left side of the Chelsea penalty area.

Gareth Bale sprinted at top speed, instantly leaving Ferreira behind.

On the edge of the box, Gareth Bale was challenged by Ivanović. After controlling the ball, he dribbled into the penalty area but couldn’t shake off Ivanović’s pressure, and his shot went wide.

In the 8th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched an attack from the right.

After Walcott and Piszczek combined to advance down the right flank, the Polish defender received the ball on the edge of the area and sent in a cross pass.

Near the arc of the penalty area, Toni Kroos made an overlapping run from deep, met the incoming cross, planted his left foot, and hit a right-footed placed shot.

If it were a peak Toni Kroos, that signature shot probably would have gone in.

But the German midfielder was still raw, and the shot went wide.

In the first 10 minutes, Bayswater Chinese was simply pummelling Chelsea.

Hiddink’s team had organized a very tight defensive formation in their own half, denying their opponents any easy chances to break through.

With Drogba and Sneijder not starting, Hiddink had become even more conservative for this match.

But Chelsea did manage their first shot of the game in the 11th minute.

A long shot from Anelka was parried by Courtois, and Eto’o followed up quickly, hoping to pounce on the rebound.

However, under pressure from Thiago Silva, the cheetah didn’t get a chance to shoot again.

Later, Malouda on the left wing also won a free kick in the attacking third.

But the resulting header didn’t threaten the goal.

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines, silently observing the match.

The arrival of Toni Kroos had brought about a huge change in Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Almost all the attacks in the opening period were orchestrated by Toni Kroos.

He was like a card dealer, constantly initiating and launching attacks.

His most lethal weapon was his long passing.

His targets were the two wings.

But this was no longer a secret.

During the International Champions Cup, Bayswater Chinese’s new midfield had already become well-known.

What Yang Cheng was waiting to see was how Modrić would adjust.

Before the match, Yang Cheng had an in-depth discussion with him, hoping Modrić would get forward and join the attack whenever possible.

In the first ten minutes or so of this match, the on-field setup was basically Matić holding deep, with Toni Kroos also relatively deep and to the left.

Modrić was still searching for his “position.”

But in the 18th minute, it was another attack initiated by Toni Kroos.

Marcelo played a through ball down the left flank.

Gareth Bale surged forward, using his speed to overtake his man, and after controlling the ball, he shook off Ferreira.

But this time, his angle of attack wasn’t great. Ferreira stuck tightly to his inside, preventing Gareth Bale from cutting into the penalty area.

So, the Welshman opted to cross from the left.

The cross fell into the center, where Terry outjumped Lewandowski to head the ball clear, sending it out of the penalty area.

But the ball didn’t travel far, landing just outside the arc.

Because Bayswater Chinese’s left-sided attack had pushed so far forward, Chelsea’s entire defensive line had retreated near the six-yard box.

In the rush, the midfielders had also dropped into the penalty area to mark Lewandowski and Walcott at the far post.

The area in front of the box was empty.

Modrić anticipated the trajectory of the cleared ball and chested it down.

Essien was the first to charge out, closing down the Croatian.

Chelsea’s defensive line also pushed forward collectively.

The Blues wanted to force Bayswater Chinese’s attack out of the penalty area.

This forced Lewandowski to track back as well.

Modrić first shifted his body slightly to the left, his gaze also directed that way, giving the impression that he wanted to link up on the left side.

But just as Essien was deceived, the Croatian used the outside of his right foot to flick the ball, suddenly changing direction towards the right side of the arc.

As soon as he had adjusted, Modrić suddenly lofted a pass.

The ball sailed over the defenders’ heads, dropping towards the right side just outside the six-yard box.

Lewandowski, who had been retreating with the defensive line, suddenly stopped, then darted forward, beating everyone to the ball on the right side of the six-yard box.

Goalkeeper Čech decisively rushed off his line.

Lewandowski waited for the ball to bounce, chased it down, and unleashed a powerful shot.

But the shot was blocked by Čech and went out for a corner.

Only then did Wembley Stadium erupt in thunderous applause.

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack is so threatening!”

“From the start of the match until now, they have been completely dominating Chelsea!”

“That was Modrić’s first time creating a threat, a very clever chipped pass in behind.”

“It’s clear that after Toni Kroos’s arrival, Modrić’s position has been pushed further forward.”

“Previously, Modrić could play in the number 10 role, but in recent years, he has played more as a deep-lying playmaker. As other teams increasingly employed targeted tactics against him, his position has gradually dropped deeper.”

“But now, Toni Kroos has liberated Modrić, allowing the Croatian to be more involved in organizing attacks and passing in the final third.”

Yang Cheng, watching from the sidelines, applauded vigorously.

This was exactly what he had hoped to see.

Modrić and Toni Kroos were sharing the workload.

The attacking trident up front was constantly interchanging positions.

All of this had been rehearsed during the clashes between top teams in the International Champions Cup.

…

On one side, Bayswater Chinese’s attacks grew more and more ferocious.

On the other, Chelsea’s defense became more and more confident.

Although they were on the back foot, the Blues’ defense was very solid.

Bayswater Chinese continuously organized and created attacks, but they struggled to break through Chelsea’s impenetrable fortress.

In the 26th minute, Toni Kroos once again switched play with a diagonal long pass to the right side outside the penalty area.

Piszczek, making an overlapping run, controlled the ball and sent a cross towards the far post.

Gareth Bale’s header went just wide.

But four minutes later, a similar approach yielded a completely different outcome.

From near the bottom of the center circle, Toni Kroos played a diagonal long pass to the right side of the attack.

Lewandowski made a quick run, reaching the right side of the penalty area ahead of Terry. After catching up to Kroos’s long pass, he delivered a first-time cross with his right foot.

Just as everyone’s attention was drawn to Lewandowski, Walcott suddenly made a diagonal run into the penalty area.

Ashley Cole was initially tracking back in a straight line, trying to contest the ball, but when he saw he had no chance, he also noticed that Terry had been pulled out of the box to follow Lewandowski.

So, he chose to run diagonally back into the box to provide cover behind Terry.

When he saw Walcott, he sprinted back desperately.

But this time, The Little Tiger was incredibly fast.

By the time Lewandowski’s cross reached the front of the six-yard box on the right, Ashley Cole had been left behind, and the onrushing Čech dived to block the angle.

But The Little Tiger cleverly placed a half-high shot.

The ball flew over Čech and settled into the Chelsea net.

1-0!

Yang Cheng leaped into the air on the sidelines.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers and applause of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

This was the tactical effect Yang Cheng wanted to achieve!

The forwards used this back-and-forth interchange of positions, while the midfield used long passes to constantly stretch the opponent’s defense.

Just like that last play, Chelsea’s defenders were extremely passive.

If Terry didn’t follow Lewandowski, Ashley Cole would never have gotten to that ball.

The centre-forward Lewandowski’s physical presence would overwhelm Ashley Cole.

So, Terry had to follow him.

Running from left centre-back to the right side outside the penalty area, Terry’s speed couldn’t match Lewandowski’s direct charge.

The Polish centre-forward had enough time and space to adjust.

Thus, the moment he received the ball, he could cross it immediately.

Walcott’s diagonal run into the box from the right was even more effective.

This kind of movement and sprinting was Walcott’s specialty.

The key was the final shot; facing the onrushing Čech, Walcott was extremely calm.

And during the entire goal-scoring process, the right centre-back Ivanović didn’t even have time to provide cover.

By the time Walcott scored, he had only just retreated to the left of the penalty spot.

Goals like this had actually happened before.

This kind of attack was simply impossible to defend against!

…

The first half ended with a 1-0 scoreline.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese did not maintain their high-press, hoping instead that Chelsea would take the initiative.

Being a goal down, the Blues were naturally eager to equalize as quickly as possible.

But in the 53rd minute, a long pass from Toni Kroos from deep in his own half was precisely delivered behind Chelsea’s defensive line for Gareth Bale to chase.

After shrugging off Ferreira, the Welshman received Kroos’s pass on the left side outside the Chelsea penalty area.

By the time he controlled it, Ferreira was too far behind to catch up. Ivanović, however, had tracked back in time and was alongside Gareth Bale.

The Welshman first slowed down to receive the ball.

After securing possession, he suddenly accelerated, knocking the ball into the penalty area at top speed.

His absolute speed advantage allowed Gareth Bale to instantly gain a yard on Ivanović.

Upon breaking into the box, the Welshman immediately shot, unleashing a power shot with his left foot.

This was the area he was most familiar with and most confident in.

The ball once again found the bottom right corner of the Chelsea net.

Čech was helpless against such a shot!

2-0!

After conceding two goals, Chelsea visibly began to intensify their attack, especially their pressing in the midfield and forward areas.

Drogba and Sneijder were both brought on.

But in the 65th minute, as Chelsea’s defenders started to tighten their marking on the midfield duo of Toni Kroos and Modrić, Nemanja Matić took on the responsibility of organizing and creating plays.

Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, Matić also possessed excellent technique and passing vision.

When Matić passed the ball to the right wing for Piszczek, the Polish full-back played a direct through ball behind the defense.

Walcott burst through the gap between Terry and Ashley Cole, darting into the right side of the box, latching onto Piszczek’s pass, and delivering a low, driven cross.

At the near post, Lewandowski, under pressure from Ivanović, couldn’t get to the ball.

But Gareth Bale, arriving at the far post, slotted it home with his left foot, sending the ball into Chelsea’s net once again.

3-0!

The succession of goals hit Chelsea’s morale hard.

Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity to launch another wave of attacks, pinning Chelsea in their own half.

In the 80th minute, Piszczek, Modrić, Lewandowski, and Walcott combined on the right with a series of short passes.

Modrić once again delivered a chipped pass.

Lewandowski beat the offside trap, broke into the right side of the box, and after receiving Modrić’s pass, unleashed a powerful shot.

Unlike his earlier attempt, this time Lewandowski was in a better position with a wider angle.

The Polish centre-forward seized the opportunity, and his fierce shot blew past Čech.

4-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium had completely transformed into a stage for Bayswater Chinese’s celebration!

Afterward, Chelsea mounted a final desperate effort.

A powerful shot from Drogba from the right side of the attack forced a save from Courtois, who couldn’t hold on to the ball.

With a substantial lead, Bayswater Chinese’s defense had slackened a bit.

After all, this was a charitable match for the Community Shield.

Eto’o capitalized on the chance, successfully poaching a goal and sending the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s net.

4-1!

By now, it was already the 92nd minute.

In the end, thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale and goals from Robert Lewandowski and Theo Walcott, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 4-1 to win the Community Shield!

Although it was a charity match, its nature was similar to a Super Cup.

So, a brief award ceremony was held on the pitch after the game.

First, the losing team, Chelsea, went up to receive their memorabilia, followed by the Bayswater Chinese players who received their medals and the Community Shield trophy.

Yang Cheng was the last to go on stage, receiving congratulations from fans and dignitaries all the way.

Especially when he reached the main stand, The FA Chairman David Triesman, CEO Alex Horne, and others continuously offered their congratulations.

This match made it clear that Bayswater Chinese was even stronger than last season!

The signing of Toni Kroos, in particular, had significantly boosted Bayswater Chinese’s attacking power and diversified their offensive options.

“I really don’t understand, why would Bayern Munich sell such a strong player to you for just 10 million euro?” The Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore asked, perplexed.

Yang Cheng chuckled.

“It’s simple, Richard. The Bayern executives are good people!”

Chapter 207: A Winning Start! A True Genius! Great, We’re Going to Bayswater Chinese!

Bayswater Chinese thrashed Chelsea 4-1 to win the Community Shield!

The aftermath of the match quickly sparked heated discussions throughout England and even across European football.

The Times believed that defeating Chelsea would undoubtedly build greater confidence within the Bayswater Chinese squad.

“Looking at Bayswater Chinese’s current lineup, it’s really hard to be satisfied.”

“Especially in the goalkeeper position!”

The 18-year-old Thibaut Courtois had just arrived from Belgium, acquired for a mere one million euro transfer fee.

And just like that, he became Bayswater Chinese’s starting goalkeeper.

“Who is he replacing?”

“One of the best goalkeepers at the South Africa World Cup, a man who has won the Premier League’s Best Goalkeeper award for consecutive years—Manuel Neuer!”

“A young player worth only one million euros is supposed to replace a star who broke the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper?”

“It’s something no one would dare believe if you told them!”

“But that’s exactly what Yang Cheng has done!”

The Times noted that from the International Champions Cup to the Community Shield, Courtois’s performance hadn’t been spectacular, but he hadn’t made any major mistakes either. It was solid, if unremarkable.

But he was clearly different from Neuer.

Neuer commanded a much larger area, often rushing out of the penalty box.

Courtois was a more conventional goalkeeper, focusing more on the area within the box.

This required Bayswater Chinese to continue to adapt, especially the backline.

The coordination between a goalkeeper and the defensive line, particularly communication, is an indispensable part of modern football defense.

The Times also pointed out a major hidden issue for Bayswater Chinese: their youth.

To date, Bayswater Chinese’s most successful season was undoubtedly the 2008-09 season.

Yang Cheng’s team achieved an unprecedented Sextuple in the Premier League that season.

Aside from the League Cup, they had practically won a Grand Slam.

Before that season began, the average age of the Bayswater Chinese squad was 21.82.

This was the oldest average age in the club’s history.

In other words, when the team achieved the Sextuple, the average age of the squad was 22.82.

Last season, the team’s average age dropped again to 21.7.

“This past season, although Yang Cheng’s team won the Double champion of the Premier League and the League Cup, they were knocked out in the semi-finals of both the Champions League and the FA Cup.”

“At the time, this had already exposed some issues with the composition of the Bayswater Chinese squad.”

“Everyone felt that the 23-man squad Yang Cheng insisted on was too thin for the Premier League.”

“Because in the Premier League, there’s an extra cup competition, the overall competition is fiercer, and the players are put under more strain.”

“At the time, many people urged Bayswater Chinese to further increase the depth of their first team.”

“Coming into this summer, we can see that Yang Cheng is still just as stubborn.”

“In the 25-man squad submitted by Bayswater Chinese, only 23 are regular first team players.”

“The remaining two are from the youth academy, the 17-year-old Harry Kane and Paul Pogba.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s average age this season is only 21.6, the lowest in three years.”

Of course, The Times analyzed that if you excluded Harry Kane and Paul Pogba and only counted the other 23 players, the average age would be 22, the highest in the club’s history.

But this was clearly different from the 25-man squad the public had suggested.

They wanted Bayswater Chinese to further bolster their bench with established, quality players.

But what happened instead?

Neuer was sent away, and Matuidi was “sold.” Both of these key players had performed well in previous seasons and were considered mainstays of the team.

And the players brought in?

Courtois and De Bruyne were young prospects who hadn’t even proven themselves in Belgium yet.

“Among the three new signings, the most eye-catching one is undoubtedly the Bayern Munich reject, Toni Kroos.”

“This German midfielder has impressed everyone with his performances in the International Champions Cup and the Community Shield.”

“At Wembley Stadium, England national team head coach Fabio Capello was scouting players. In an interview with the media, he stated that Toni Kroos is the type of player England desperately lacks.”

“Capello said that Toni Kroos is Bayswater Chinese’s Xavi.”

The Times agreed with this statement.

Through a series of pre-season friendlies and the Community Shield, the consecutive matches proved that since Toni Kroos’s arrival, the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s passing has significantly improved, and the coordination between players has become more fluid.

“This is Toni Kroos’s first time playing as a number 8, but he has shown the potential of a passing maestro like Xavi or Pirlo.”

“He continuously tore apart the opponent’s defense with his precise passing.”

“Especially his long passes.”

“Guus Hiddink believed that Toni Kroos was the biggest threat to Chelsea on the Bayswater Chinese team.”

“And in the Community Shield, the young German midfielder was named man of the match, a well-deserved honor.”

The Times believed that Toni Kroos’s signing greatly enriched Bayswater Chinese’s attacking options.

However, the team’s still-weak bench depth could very well continue to hinder their progress.

“Professional football is ruthless!”

“Whether Yang Cheng’s decision is stubbornness or wisdom, we will only find out next May!”

…

Aside from The Times, other British media outlets also heaped praise on Toni Kroos for his performance in his first official match, believing the German midfielder displayed eye-opening qualities.

Or rather, he was a type of midfielder rarely seen in the Premier League.

Xabi Alonso and Pirlo were both passing masters, but they played in deeper positions.

Toni Kroos started as a number 10 attacking midfielder, could play on both wings, and now seamlessly transitioned into the number 8 role. The fact that he won MVP in his very first official match was truly impressive.

If the International Champions Cup was just a series of friendlies held far away in the United States, then this Community Shield match was played right under the noses of the German media and fans.

Germany’s Bild offered this assessment.

“The English have bestowed their highest praise upon Bayswater Chinese’s new recruit.”

“The 20-year-old Toni Kroos dominated the midfield in the Community Shield at Wembley.”

“The former Bayern Munich midfielder orchestrated a 4-1 slaughter of Chelsea with his relentless, pinpoint long passes and his intelligent, composed mind.”

“If not for an excellent performance from Čech, the scoreline could have been even wider.”

“Van Gaal said Bayern needed a commander who could dictate play with both short and long passes, which is why he converted Schweinsteiger.”

“But Bayern let Toni Kroos go for a paltry ten million euros.”

“Every pass from this midfield genius, as Yang Cheng called him, was like a knife plunging into Bayern’s body, twisting cruelly.”

“Under Yang Cheng, he delivered a masterclass performance!”

What stung even more for the German media was that they didn’t just report on it; they went out for interviews.

When interviewed by reporters, Bayer Leverkusen head coach Jupp Heynckes expressed no surprise at Toni Kroos’s performance.

“I’ve always known he is a player with extraordinary potential.”

Why didn’t he show it at Bayer Leverkusen last season?

“No, no, no, he was already playing quite well. But for various reasons, our central midfield was occupied, so he had to play on the left wing. Even so, he still delivered impressive performances and was selected for the national team.”

“Yes, we must admit that at Bayswater Chinese, under Yang Cheng’s guidance, he has been truly stunning!”

“I have no doubt he will become a world-class midfielder!”

Germany national team manager Löw also admitted in an interview that he had indeed overlooked Toni Kroos during the World Cup in South Africa and didn’t give him more playing time.

“But we all know the national team is never a place for training or developing players.”

“I will call Yang Cheng personally. I hope to get more information from him about Toni Kroos.”

“Although he’s only been with Bayswater Chinese for a little over a month, Toni Kroos’s performances in the International Champions Cup and the Community Shield have proven to me that he is the kind of midfield conductor our national team desperately needs.”

When the German media turned their microphones to Säbener Strasse in Munich, the Bayern Munich executives collectively went silent, refusing all interviews.

The German giants merely held a press conference, with the club spokesman answering a few questions.

Bayern officially acknowledged Toni Kroos’s performance.

“We never doubted his ability or potential.”

Then why was he included in the Neuer transfer?

Toni Kroos’s agent, Struth, had already revealed that Bayern had included him in the Neuer deal without the player’s consent.

To put it bluntly, he was just a makeweight.

“This involved very complex transfer negotiations, and we cannot disclose the specific details.”

“We can only say that with Toni Kroos’s contract extension stalled, Bayswater Chinese interested in him, and the Neuer deal deadlocked over the transfer fee, we made the most reasonable choice.”

But clearly, the German media and fans could not accept this explanation.

Look at how the English were praising him, calling him a masterclass midfield conductor.

And you guys went to all that trouble to convert Schweinsteiger?

What are your eyes for?

Yang Cheng could see his talent, but you couldn’t?

Not only did you sell him, you sold him for so cheap?

And of all people, you sold him to the English?

For the German media and fans, Neuer had to be bought back.

As for Toni Kroos?

Before he broke out, they could let it slide. But for him to play so well immediately after a transfer, was it your incompetence, or…

No, it was just your sheer incompetence!

What? You can’t have both?

We don’t care, you Bayern executives figure it out yourselves!

If you can’t, then you deserve the scolding!

If you feel wronged, then don’t run Bayern!

Just as public opinion raged in Germany, Adam Crozier in London received a call from Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

On the phone, Rummenigge hoped that Bayswater Chinese could issue a clarification to help Bayern save face.

Adam Crozier went to Yang Cheng, who naturally wouldn’t refuse.

“But you need to remind Rummenigge, this is the second time Bayern owes us a favor.”

When it came to collecting favors, Yang Cheng was never one to be soft-hearted.

What good was a favor from Bayern?

It definitely had its uses.

With Germany as its vast backyard, Bayern’s talent pool was quite rich.

Putting others aside, players like David Alaba, Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, and Musiala were all formidable talents, especially Musiala.

This player, born in 2003, was a true gem. Critically, he had English, German, Polish, and Nigerian heritage, and his talent was top-notch.

With Bellingham already in the squad, if they could sign Musiala in the future…

Alright, with Yang Cheng’s current status, he wouldn’t exactly wake up laughing from his dreams, but he would still be ecstatic.

So, Yang Cheng decided to grant Bayern this favor.

Thus, Yang Cheng quickly came forward for an interview with the British media.

Yang Cheng gave Toni Kroos the highest praise, believing he would become the world’s best midfielder.

But at the same time, Yang Cheng emphasized that Bayswater Chinese now possessed what could be called a dream midfield lineup.

“I am very satisfied with the current squad, especially the midfield!”

How was Toni Kroos signed?

When a reporter from The Times tactfully posed this question, Yang Cheng pretended to think for a moment.

“Actually, we extended an invitation to Toni Kroos as early as 2005.”

“I even spoke with him on the phone back then, but at that time, we were just a newly promoted Premier League club, facing competition from many Bundesliga teams, especially Bayern Munich.”

“Toni chose Bayern back then, which was a very important decision for him. In his years at Bayern, he improved immensely, so we have been following his growth ever since.”

“You could say we silently watched him for five years. It was only recently that we tried to persuade Bayern to put him on the transfer market this summer.”

“Here, I must clarify that Toni was not a makeweight for any other player.”

“He is one of the midfielders I value and admire the most. His transfer and Neuer’s transfer were actually separate deals that just happened to be processed at the same time.”

Yang Cheng’s final words were a defense of Toni Kroos’s self-respect and pride.

Regarding Bayern’s loss of Toni Kroos, Yang Cheng smiled and said, “That’s football!”

“In fact, we were unwilling to lose Neuer, but we had no choice!”

“Thibaut is still very young, but I believe he has the potential to become a world-class goalkeeper.”

Yang Cheng also mentioned some other players, especially addressing the concerns about Bayswater Chinese’s new season.

“I’ve explained this many times. Whether it was the 23-man squad in the past or the 25-man squad now, it’s all the same to me. I think it’s very reasonable.”

“We are a young team, so I need to ensure that every player in the first team gets enough playing time.”

“Of course, with our current influence, we could sign many players, even 30 players would not be a problem.”

Many young players could play without being registered in the main squad.

“But the problem is, when I have so many players, how can I guarantee that each one gets enough opportunities? How can I ensure they don’t have to worry about their playing time?”

“Many people ask me why Bayswater Chinese’s young players develop so quickly.”

“My answer is threefold.”

“First, we provide them with a very mature and stable tactical framework.”

“Second, we help them quickly find their own role and position.”

“Third, we trust them and give them enough playing time and opportunities to develop.”

“I believe that any team that can achieve these three points will also see their young players grow rapidly.”

After Yang Cheng’s interview was released, it quickly made headlines across Europe.

Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding success in recent years had already become a unique spectacle in European football.

Now, Yang Cheng’s words resonated deeply throughout the European football world.

As France’s L’Équipe put it, “While everyone is envious of Bayswater Chinese’s ability to develop young players while achieving brilliant results, the three standards proposed by Yang Cheng have undoubtedly sparked deep reflection within the industry.”

“Besides Bayswater Chinese, which other team can achieve this?”

When the news reached Germany, it did indeed greatly alleviate the public pressure on Bayern.

With some skillful guidance from Bayern, the topic quickly shifted.

For example, many media outlets suggested that once Bayswater Chinese had developed Toni Kroos, Bayern could just spend the money to buy him back.

Just like they bought back Neuer.

But to this suggestion, Yang Cheng could only chuckle.

A strategic midfielder like Toni Kroos was someone Yang Cheng would never sell, no matter what.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were defeating Chelsea 4-1 in the Premier League to win the Community Shield, across the English Channel in France, OGC Nice was also kicking off their new Ligue 1 season.

It was a home game against Valenciennes.

Valenciennes’ head coach, Philippe Montanier, was no pushover.

A former professional player, he retired in 2000 and subsequently served as an assistant coach at Toulouse FC, Bastia, and the Côte d’Ivoire national team, learning from the veteran manager Robert Nouzaret.

In 2004, he became the head coach of Boulogne, a fourth-tier league team.

Yes, that’s Ribéry’s hometown team.

In three years, he took the team from the fourth tier to the French Second Division.

An impressive record, right?

But that’s not all.

After being promoted to Ligue 2 in the 2007-08 season, they successfully avoided relegation in their first season.

By the 2008-09 season, he led Boulogne straight into the title race, coming within a hair’s breadth of winning the Ligue 2 title.

They were ultimately promoted to Ligue 1, finishing two points behind champions Lens and level on points with runners-up Montpellier.

It could be said that Montanier was one of the most influential young managers in French football in recent years, with many even comparing him to Yang Cheng.

Both had led their teams up from the lower leagues.

After leading Boulogne to promotion in 2009, Montanier moved to Ligue 1 side Valenciennes.

Last season’s mid-table finish was unsatisfactory for both Valenciennes and Montanier.

In the first round of the new season, playing away against Nice and facing the renowned manager Ronald Koeman, Montanier was undoubtedly full of ambition.

In everyone’s eyes, Nice, having successfully avoided relegation last season, would still be fighting relegation this season.

Facing a relegation team, even away from home, Montanier wanted to take all three points.

And walking into the Stade Municipal du Ray, seeing the stands half-empty, Montanier’s confidence grew even stronger!

The 46-year-old French manager stuck with his favored 4-3-3 formation to challenge the famous Dutch coach Ronald Koeman.

Ronald Koeman also met him with a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Ospina;

Defense: Daley Blind, Koulibaly, Benatia, and Clerc;

Midfield: Kanté in a holding role, with Strootman and Matuidi in the center;

Forwards: Anthony Mounier, Pellè, and Aubameyang.

In this starting lineup, Daley Blind and Kevin Strootman were both players Ronald Koeman had insisted on signing. They came from Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam, respectively.

Daley Blind, unable to get playing time at Ajax, came on loan for 500,000 euros.

However, the loan contract included an option for Nice to sign him permanently for one million euros after a year.

This was a fairly high price for the Dutch midfielder, who was currently valued at only 750,000 euros.

Ronald Koeman poached young Blind from his old club, hoping the Dutch youngster could fill the void at left-back.

Before him, Ronald Koeman had rotated between Gaëssien, Paisley, and Cantareil, none of whom produced ideal results.

On the other hand, Clerc on the right flank had satisfied Ronald Koeman.

Midfielder Kevin Strootman came from Sparta Rotterdam, a team relegated from the Eredivisie last season.

The player had performed well in the Eredivisie last season and had attracted attention from several clubs, but no team made an offer for him this summer.

Ronald Koeman felt that Nice’s midfield was still too inexperienced. After discussing with Emmanuel Perrin, he signed Kevin Strootman from Sparta Rotterdam for a transfer fee of 700,000 euros.

This move had a hint of him building his own faction in the dressing room.

After all, having a few Dutch players in the dressing room would give Ronald Koeman a stronger grip on the team.

And in the very first match of the new season, just ten minutes in, Matuidi won the ball with a tackle high up the pitch and played a through ball to find Pellè.

Aubameyang made a quick run, received Pellè’s pass, and slotted it past the Valenciennes keeper, opening the scoring for Nice.

1-0!

In the 22nd minute, a long shot from Matuidi once again found the back of the Valenciennes net. 2-0!

Although the French midfielder was used more as a defensive player at Bayswater Chinese, in Ligue 1, the versatile and energetic Matuidi displayed an exceptional level of skill.

To some extent, it was a complete mismatch.

Just before halftime, Valenciennes forward Grégory Pujol scored a goal for the visiting team.

But in the second half, Ronald Koeman’s team continued to press the attack, and soon, Benatia scored from a corner kick.

3-1!

Nice defeated Valenciennes at home!

…

After the Community Shield match, Yang Cheng made a point of watching the recording of this game.

It was a match with distinctly Dutch characteristics, yet at the same time, it wasn’t so Dutch.

Don’t be fooled by Ronald Koeman being a pure product of the Dutch football school, with many even saying he carried a strong Barça aura. In reality, the guy was not Barça-like at all.

On the contrary, his greatest strength was not possession, or even attack.

It was defense!

Even the Ajax team he managed, a constellation of geniuses like Ibrahimović, Sneijder, and Rafael van der Vaart, only became the Eredivisie’s top-scoring team in one explosive season.

In the other seasons, Ajax’s goal count was far lower than PSV Eindhoven’s.

But his teams were always among the best defensively.

Moreover, he never rigidly stuck to a 4-3-3 tactic. He often used a 4-2-3-1, and even 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 formations.

In this aspect, he was far more flexible and adaptable than most Dutch coaches.

With his excellent defensive coaching abilities, he dared to press forward and attack against weaker teams, yet was willing to sit back and defend against stronger ones. This pragmatic attitude was not at all like Barça.

But his coaching was also very Dutch, very Barça.

This was reflected in his highly pressing tactics and his emphasis on player movement.

Especially the players in the attacking third, whose fluid positional interchanges left opponents bewildered.

This was also evident in the match against Valenciennes.

Another point was his obsession with a tall center-forward.

The Dutch and their tactics have a long history of fixation on tall center-forwards.

Even Yang Cheng himself had a similar tendency.

Ronald Koeman had already nurtured Ibrahimović during his time coaching Ajax.

At almost every team he went to, he would lean towards promoting a tall center-forward.

That’s why when Yang Cheng mentioned Pellè, Ronald Koeman was convinced.

Besides the tactical aspect, Ronald Koeman was also quite adept at developing players, especially in training.

“Brian, what do you think?” Yang Cheng asked Brian Kidd with a smile.

The veteran English coach chuckled. “He’s definitely got something, but it’s only one match. It’s hard to say how his coaching tenure will pan out, but this opening game was very well-organized.”

“That’s not easy to achieve,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Brian Kidd nodded.

For the first match of a new season, taking over a team that had just undergone major changes, to have them play with structure and substance was in itself a difficult feat.

“Let’s take it slow. This team of Ronald Koeman’s might not be enough for the Premier League, but in Ligue 1, I reckon they’ll be quite competitive,” Brian Kidd said.

If it were up to Yang Cheng, he would probably have given Mahrez a chance as the right winger.

The player performed well after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

Aubameyang on the left, Pellè in the middle.

But Ronald Koeman chose Anthony Mounier for the left wing, moving Aubameyang to the right.

This was a matter of the head coach’s personal preference.

Mahrez’s style of play was indeed not direct enough, and his defensive work rate wasn’t particularly high, which didn’t quite suit Ronald Koeman’s taste.

The key was how he would be coached from now on.

“Based on the strength this team has shown, staying up should at least be no problem,” Yang Cheng laughed.

If Ronald Koeman decided to shoot himself in the foot, then there was nothing Yang Cheng could do.

However, considering his recent setbacks, that possibility seemed unlikely.

…

Southampton city center.

Daniel stood by the window of his rented apartment, staring blankly outside.

Under the gray sky, a drizzly Southampton felt particularly oppressive.

Just like Daniel’s mood at this moment. He desperately wished the dark clouds would dissipate, that the sun would break through and alleviate his current sense of despair.

As a Nigerian with British citizenship, Daniel had once played in the professional league in Nigeria.

After making his way to Germany, he met his current wife, Caroline, in Stuttgart.

They had their first child when Caroline was still a student.

As Daniel wished, it was a boy.

That way, he could teach his son to play football.

Caroline was a diligent and studious university student. She first studied social sciences and then pursued a master’s degree at Goethe University Frankfurt.

She was a very meticulous planner, always mapping out the family’s future.

She yearned to take her family to live in a big city.

So, she worked very hard and earned a rare opportunity to study at the University of Southampton in England.

It was for four months.

And so, the family of four left Germany and set foot on British soil.

In Germany, in the small town of Fulda where they lived, their son Jamal, though only seven, was already a little “star.” He scored five to ten goals in almost every match.

In just one season, he scored over 100 goals.

It was simply unbelievable!

Almost everyone thought he was a genius!

Daniel firmly believed this too.

Because he had played professional football, he knew just how talented his son was.

After arriving in England, they naturally hoped their son could continue his performance from Germany and receive better youth training.

His wife had long ago made plans for them to permanently immigrate to England.

While studying at the University of Southampton, she was also preparing her master’s thesis and keeping an eye on London.

Yes, she didn’t want to stay in Southampton. She wanted to live in an international metropolis, buy a house, and find a job there.

Therefore, when looking for a team for Jamal, London was the first choice.

They had made preparations for this even before they left Germany.

Usually, it was Daniel standing on the sidelines, loudly cheering for his son Jamal’s matches.

His wife always stood calmly on the sidelines, taking pictures and videos.

They made many copies of their son’s match recordings and meticulously prepared a very detailed resume.

The couple both believed that Jamal was undoubtedly one of the best in his age group.

They had even been eagerly anticipating that the big London clubs would go crazy for their precious son.

Just like they had in Fulda.

But cruel reality delivered a harsh slap to the overly optimistic young couple.

When they arrived in Southampton and settled down, they immediately called the major clubs in London, asking if they were recruiting 7-year-old academy players.

The responses they received were all different.

The best result was being given an address to send their materials to and wait for an assessment.

Other clubs rejected them outright over the phone, stating that the recruitment period for academy players had already passed.

And when they confidently sent out the resume and video recordings, after weeks of anxious waiting, their efforts vanished like a stone sinking into the ocean.

Whenever the home phone rang, the couple would get incredibly excited, thinking it was a call from a club.

But every time, they would end up disappointed.

Caroline’s classmate joked with her, “In England, kids who can play football are everywhere. Everyone says their kid is a genius. Those big clubs are simply too busy to deal with them all.”

Her classmate advised them to be more realistic and start by sending resumes to clubs around Southampton.

“Start with Southampton.”

“You know, The Saints’ youth academy is considered quite good in England.”

“Heard of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott? Those two super rookies who are all the rage now, playing for the top giant Bayswater Chinese.”

“They came from the Southampton youth academy.”

“If your kid has that kind of talent, he’ll definitely stand out.”

The successive blows had left Daniel and Caroline deeply discouraged.

It was just like the continuous dreary rain in England.

“I’ve found out. We can’t just go directly to St Mary’s Stadium. We have to go to a place called the Saints Foundation.”

“They say to get into the Southampton youth academy, you have to go through a selection process first. Only if you stand out there will you have a chance to be seen by The Saints’ scouts.”

Just as Daniel was sighing to himself, his wife Caroline’s voice came from behind him.

Her tone was filled with disappointment.

She had originally thought that establishing a foothold in London would be easy.

But now it seemed that let alone London, even getting a foothold in Southampton was difficult.

“Another selection just to get seen?” Daniel found it hard to accept.

He was proud of his son!

“They don’t know us at all. They said the people at the foundation run a recreational club, mainly for children from poor and immigrant families to play football.”

“We have to go there first to prove ourselves. If he performs well, the club will be responsible for contacting Southampton’s scouts for us.”

“If he can make a name for himself in the Southampton youth academy, there will definitely be opportunities to go to the big clubs in London in the future.”

“Just like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.”

Southampton was now in the third tier of English football, long gone were the days of their Premier League “Saints” reputation.

Who knew if their youth development was still any good.

Daniel nodded in agreement, feeling dejected.

But he hadn’t given up hope.

“How about I take Jamal to London to try our luck? Maybe he’ll get a chance to play in a game?” Daniel proposed.

Caroline was silent for a moment.

They had also looked for youth clubs near the University of Southampton, but they were almost all fee-based.

If they didn’t pay, they wouldn’t let anyone play.

As for the big clubs in London, if you weren’t one of their academy players, you couldn’t even get through the gate.

“Stop dreaming. That path won’t work. We were too optimistic before,” Caroline said, disheartened.

“But Jamal is really good.”

“Who would know?”

Daniel was left speechless.

Yes, no one had even seen him play. How would they know, how would they believe it?

“I heard that those big London clubs receive tons of match recordings and videos every day. They can’t possibly watch them all. They might not even open them before throwing them straight into the trash.”

“Who would care how well a 7-year-old kid plays football?”

Hearing this, Daniel completely lost the will to persist.

“Let’s do this for now. If possible, let Jamal play for a club in Southampton first. If it really doesn’t work out, we’ll go back to Germany after I finish my studies here,” Caroline decided.

Daniel sighed heavily and nodded in agreement.

It seemed that was the only way.

Just as the couple was feeling dejected and lost, the home phone suddenly rang.

Caroline didn’t feel like moving, so she gestured for her husband Daniel to get it.

Daniel was equally listless, but he obediently walked over and picked up the phone from the table.

“Hello.”

“Hello, may I ask if this is the residence of Mr. Daniel Richard?”

A strange voice came from the other end of the line.

Daniel still sounded weary, asking in return instead of answering, “May I ask who is calling?”

“My name is Steve Jenkins, a coach from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy. Did you recently send us a player’s resume and video?”

Halfway through the sentence, Daniel’s hands suddenly trembled. He whipped his head around to look at his wife, Caroline.

“Phone, phone!” Daniel covered the mouthpiece and yelled at his wife.

“Whose call is it?”

“He says he’s a coach from Bayswater Chinese.”

“What?” Caroline was also startled. She shot up from her seat and rushed over in a few quick steps.

“Hello, hello, are you still there?”

“Yes, we’re here, sir,” Daniel quickly replied.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Richard. Due to the high volume of resumes and videos we receive, we’ve only just gotten to your son’s materials.”

“Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Daniel felt his heart pounding in his chest.

So someone did watch it!

He looked at his wife beside him and saw that Caroline was also extremely nervous, her hands gripping his arm tightly.

“We watched Jamal’s match videos, and we think he is a child with a special talent who can go far in football. So, we would like to sincerely invite him for a trial at our Bayswater Chinese youth academy. I was wondering if that would be convenient?”

“A trial?” Daniel asked nervously.

At the same time, he felt a twinge of disappointment.

So it was just a trial.

But this was already very good.

After all, he had sent out so many resumes and videos, and after several weeks, he hadn’t heard anything back at all.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Fulham…

There was no news from any of the big London clubs.

He never expected that now, the biggest of them all, Bayswater Chinese, would be the one to call.

It felt like a dream.

“Please understand, Mr. Richard. Because Jamal missed our academy’s selection event, according to procedure, we need to invite him for a trial. If he meets our team’s requirements, he can officially sign with us.”

Daniel understood and immediately nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, that’s no problem for us.”

“Please rest assured, we will arrange for him to train and play with the children in the 7-year-old age group.”

After a pause, the coach named Steve Jenkins on the phone added with a laugh, “The technical team and I have all seen Jamal’s videos. We are all very optimistic about this player. So, as long as he performs normally, staying shouldn’t be a problem.”

Hearing this, Daniel and Caroline were overjoyed.

“That’s wonderful!”

Joining the Bayswater Chinese youth academy?

This was simply too amazing!

Just a moment ago, they were still wallowing in despair, anxious and uncertain about whether they could even get into the academy of a third-tier team like Southampton.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, they could be on their way to the best youth academy in England—no, in the entire world!

This surprise came too suddenly!

On the phone, Steve Jenkins asked Daniel a few more questions, all related to Jamal’s football.

And some notes about the trial.

After hanging up, Daniel’s head was still buzzing.

He felt like he couldn’t think straight.

“Bayswater Chinese?” Daniel looked at his wife, his face full of disbelief.

Caroline nodded heavily. “Yes, the best team in London, the giant club where Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott play!”

All her classmates spoke of this team with a look of adoration.

Some of them had even made special trips to London just to watch a Bayswater Chinese football match, and when they came back, they bragged about it endlessly, praising Wembley Stadium as if it were paradise.

If her son could really get into the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, how envious would everyone be?

“So, should we still go to the Saints Foundation?” Daniel asked.

Caroline paused for a second, feeling an urge to knock some sense into her husband’s head. He had a trial with Bayswater Chinese, what was the point of going to the Saints Foundation?

“Listen to me, Daniel. You don’t need to think about anything else right now. We are not going to the Saints Foundation.”

“From now until the trial this weekend, you are to spend all your time with Jamal and give him some special training.”

Hearing this, Daniel burst out laughing and nodded continuously.

His mood had clearly brightened instantly.

“If Jamal really stays at Bayswater Chinese, then after I graduate, I’ll find a job in London. We’ll rent a place near the Bayswater Chinese training ground.”

Daniel nodded non-stop.

They had done the same thing back in Germany.

Besides, this had been their plan all along.

His wife would find a job, and he would take care of their two children.

No, they were even planning to have another one.

“No, I have to go tell Jamal the good news right away. The kid is going to be ecstatic.”

Daniel grew excited. “This is the best club in the world!”

With that, Daniel quickly walked out the door.

Their son, Jamal, was playing with a ball in the hallway outside.

Upon hearing that he was going for a trial at Bayswater Chinese, he immediately started cheering.

Hearing the cheers, Caroline also walked out with a smile.

Father and son were already having a “showdown” of football skills in the hallway.

As Caroline watched them play, she turned her head and looked up at the sky outside.

She didn’t know when, but the rain had stopped.

The road was still wet.

But the dark clouds that had covered the distant sky seemed to have been blown away by the wind.

Not long after, from a gap in the clouds, a ray of golden sunlight pierced through, a truly beautiful sight!

Chapter 208: A Five-Goal Haul! A Feast of Goals! The True King of the Bayswater Chinese Youth Academy!

Afternoon of August 14th, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

The 2010/11 Premier League season, first round. Bayswater Chinese challenged Sunderland in an away game.

Before the match, in the home team’s dressing room.

“Do you remember what we accomplished in this stadium last season?”

As the players were about to take the field, head coach Steve Bruce gave his final motivational speech.

His signature rich baritone voice drifted into every corner of the dressing room.

The Sunderland players, full of energy, gathered around their head coach as if he were their sun.

“In this stadium, we came so close to toppling Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United! We gave teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City a tough fight on our home turf!”

“With our iron will and lava-hot passion, we made every enemy who came to the Stadium of Light feel the terror of this place, leaving with a sense of awe!”

“You are, as the fans chant, the Sons of Light! You represent the more than forty-eight thousand fans in this stadium today! Go out there and land our strongest, most powerful punch on our enemies!”

Steve Bruce’s slightly overweight frame trembled with excitement as he clenched his fists.

Yet, it conveyed a uniquely profound sense of power to everyone present.

“Today, right here, a brand new season is about to begin.”

“Our opponents are a powerhouse, perched high above us. But so what?”

“We will use this match to show our enemies that here, at the Stadium of Light, we are the true kings!”

“Tell those damn bastards to get the hell back to London!”

Hearing that last sentence, the Sunderland players, already roaring with excitement, became as if they’d been injected with adrenaline, barely able to contain their restless energy.

Steve Bruce was very pleased with the effect of his carefully prepared speech.

He stood at the door of the dressing room, sending the players out one by one.

After the last player had left, Steve Bruce followed, his head held high as he walked out of the dressing room.

He had been preparing for this match for a long time!

Ever since the new Premier League schedule was released and he knew his team would face Bayswater Chinese at home in the first round, he and his assistants had been preparing nonstop.

Now, the drums of war had finally sounded!

…

The match was about to begin.

Head referee Anthony Taylor already had the silver whistle to his lips, turning his wrist to check his watch.

The players of both teams had taken their positions.

The home team, Sunderland, wore their red and white striped shirts, while Bayswater Chinese sported their sand-dollar-colored away kits.

The players on both sides could feel the pressure from their opponents.

This was the debut of the new season.

This was especially true for Toni Kroos, who was playing in his first-ever Premier League match.

He had been preparing for this game for a long time and had watched many Premier League matches.

He knew the pace of the league was fast.

Especially in an official match, he would have very little time to think and pass.

He had to stay focused. Before every touch, he had to know where the ball was going next.

A good start is half the battle!

He needed to play this game well.

This made him feel a little pressure.

But soon, he felt a gentle and encouraging gaze from his side.

Captain Modrić.

His partner!

Don’t worry, we’ll all help you!

That’s what Modrić had said to Toni Kroos before the match.

At this moment, feeling Modrić’s encouraging look, Toni Kroos smiled and nodded, took a deep breath, and completely suppressed all the thoughts in his mind, focusing solely on the game.

His first impression was the hostility radiating from the eyes of the Sunderland players.

Looks like today’s match won’t be easy!

The head coach’s strategy was an opening blitz, aiming for a quick victory and avoiding a war of attrition.

Last season’s match, also at the Stadium of Light, had been decided by a goal in the final moments.

With that in mind, Toni Kroos stopped overthinking.

Behind him, all the way to the goal line, was Courtois, also making his Premier League debut. He showed no signs of nervousness at all.

The Belgian was still calmly adjusting his gloves, as if he were about to face a simple team training session rather than the first Premier League match of his career.

This might have been because there wasn’t much focus on him.

After all, Toni Kroos had arrived under pressure, replacing last season’s starting midfielders Rakitić and Aaron Ramsey.

The pressure on him was naturally greater.

After adjusting his gloves, Courtois clapped his hands together forcefully. Still not feeling quite comfortable, he started readjusting them.

Just as the Belgian finally got his gloves sorted, a sharp whistle blew from the front.

Amidst the cheers of forty-eight thousand fans, the match officially kicked off!

…

Bayswater Chinese, kicking off first, saw Robert Lewandowski pass the ball to Gareth Bale.

Bale played it back to Nemanja Matić, who was positioned deep.

As the ball left the center circle, Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski sprinted forward.

But at that moment, Sunderland’s two strikers charged forward quickly.

Steve Bruce had come from Manchester United, so he had not only signed the youngster Campbell from them but also brought in Welbeck on loan.

Now, Darren Bent and Campbell, two incredibly fast players, formed a two-striker partnership, like two sharp daggers thrusting toward the heart of the Bayswater Chinese defense.

Captain Lee Cattermole and the young Jordan Henderson also pushed forward, trying to use an early high press to stifle Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

At the very least, they wanted to disrupt their opponent’s attacking rhythm.

Just as Matić received the ball, the two forwards were upon him.

The Serbian midfielder immediately passed back, distributing it to Pepe behind him.

After the two centre-backs spread out, Pepe received the ball just as Darren Bent closed in on him.

Pepe passed it back to the goalkeeper.

Campbell immediately rushed towards Courtois.

The Belgian then passed to Thiago Silva, who had dropped back to offer support.

By now, Sunderland’s entire midfield and forward line had pressed forward.

Nearly all of Thiago Silva’s reliable distribution options were blocked.

Just as the Brazilian received the ball and couldn’t find a safe outlet, a figure ran back from ahead, raising a hand for the ball.

It was the German-speaking Toni Kroos!

Although they didn’t fully share a language yet, football was the best international language.

Thiago Silva kicked the ball to Toni Kroos, perfectly avoiding Campbell’s press.

It looked a bit risky.

The Sunderland fans in the stadium were about to applaud and cheer.

They loved this kind of passion and fighting spirit from their home team!

But in the next moment, they were a little stunned.

Toni Kroos ran back, receiving the ball in a no man’s land, far from any opponent.

It was on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

Sunderland played a 4-4-2 formation, and their players had just been pressing Matić and Pepe, so that flank was temporarily open.

The window of opportunity was brief, but for Toni Kroos, it was more than enough.

The German midfielder controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot, turned around in one fluid motion, and glanced upfield.

As he was running back, he had already been observing the positioning of the players around and behind him.

Now, he was just making a final confirmation: which one to pass to?

After turning, Toni Kroos took a touch with his right foot and accelerated after it.

Using the momentum of his run-up, he launched an incredibly long pass with his right foot.

The ball flew at high speed from outside Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area, over their own half, across the halfway line, past Sunderland’s 30-meter zone, and descended towards the right side of the Black Cats’ penalty area.

The instant the ball was kicked, all the fans in the stands could clearly see two gray blurs, like lightning, sprinting forward at incredible speed.

Three figures in red and white stripes were chasing desperately after them.

The distance from the halfway line to Sunderland’s penalty area, only a few dozen meters, felt as long as thousands of kilometers to all the fans.

No matter how fast the 1.91-meter-tall Titus Bramble ran, he couldn’t possibly outpace “The Little Tiger.”

Theo Walcott got to the ball first, bringing it down from mid-air just outside the box and knocking it into the penalty area.

Bramble, behind him, wanted to use his body to jostle him and reached out to pull him back.

But once Walcott had controlled the ball into the box and taken a step inside himself, Bramble didn’t dare make any extra moves.

Walcott was lightly pushed from behind by Bramble but didn’t fall. Instead, he steadied himself, chased after the ball as it fell again, and unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball flew past goalkeeper Mignolet’s hands and into the back of the Sunderland net!

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott, opens the scoring!!”

“Just eighteen seconds into the match, Bayswater Chinese have breached Sunderland’s goal!”

“That was an incredibly quick goal!”

“We can see that the creator of this goal for Bayswater Chinese was none other than this summer’s new signing, Toni Kroos!”

“An exceptionally accurate long pass!”

“Absolutely incredible!”

“From such a long distance, he found his teammate with pinpoint accuracy!”

“Walcott’s control of the ball was also perfect, preventing Bramble from daring to make any physical contact.”

“The Little Tiger handled it very intelligently, especially with the subsequent shot!”

“1-0!”

“We can see the data on screen now, a full seventy meters!”

“That pass was comparable to Rui Costa’s back in his AC Milan days!”

“We shouldn’t just look at Walcott’s goal, but also pay attention to Toni Kroos’s brilliant long-pass assist.”

“This twenty-year-old German midfielder has been outstanding since joining. His passing, especially his long passes, are incredibly deceptive.”

“This will become a major weapon for Bayswater Chinese this season!”

The television cameras then cut to the sidelines.

Yang Cheng leaped into the air with excitement, clenching his right fist.

Steve Bruce, in front of the home team’s technical area, threw his hands up in the air, clearly speechless about conceding.

They’d conceded a goal just seconds into the game!

What could he say?

One could only say that Toni Kroos’s long passes, combined with the speed of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, were simply devastating!

…

After scoring the opening goal, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared.

The home team, on the other hand, was a different story.

Sunderland’s morale took a huge hit after conceding so early.

As one wanes, the other grows. Bayswater Chinese seamlessly launched an opening blitz.

In the eleventh minute, Robert Lewandowski received a pass from Gareth Bale in the attacking third, controlled the ball, turned, and sent a cross pass into the box.

Modrić made a run into the right side of the penalty area and, unmarked, fired a right-footed power shot that found the back of Sunderland’s net again.

2-0!

In the seventeenth minute, it was again Toni Kroos, from near the center circle on the left, who played a diagonal long pass, switching the play to the right flank.

Piszczek controlled the ball and passed it to Walcott, who cut inside and delivered a cross to the front of the goal.

Lewandowski’s shot went straight into Mignolet’s arms.

The angle was too central!

But just five minutes later, after winning the ball in midfield, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

Modrić completed a beautiful one-two with Lewandowski, feigned a shot, and then delivered a through ball with the outside of his foot.

Walcott made a quick run in behind, successfully beating the offside trap to go one-on-one with the keeper. He broke into the penalty area and scored again.

3-0!

At this point, only twenty-three minutes had been played!

The pre-match adrenaline in one dressing room was met with an almost complete domination on the pitch, a result the Sunderland players found impossible to accept.

Especially after conceding three goals in a row, their wilder instincts were fully unleashed, and their tackles became more aggressive.

First, Lee Cattermole fouled Modrić. Then, former Manchester United player Kieran Richardson fouled Walcott while defending. Both were shown yellow cards.

In the forty-third minute, Lee Cattermole once again brought down Lewandowski from behind after the Polish striker had received the ball, turned, and beaten him.

Anthony Taylor showed no mercy, brandishing the third yellow card of the match, which was Lee Cattermole’s second. The Sunderland captain was sent off with a red card.

At that moment, the match had completely lost all suspense.

After play resumed in the second half, in the sixty-second minute, Gareth Bale made a powerful run down the left flank, broke through, and crossed to the center of the box. Lewandowski met the ball and tapped it in, sealing the score at 4-0!

Sunderland defended with all their might but could never turn the tide.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 4-0 away victory over Sunderland!

…

Having lost the game and received a red card, Sunderland’s head coach Steve Bruce expressed his dissatisfaction with referee Anthony Taylor’s officiating, believing the second yellow card was too harsh.

However, media outlets like Sky Sports and The Times all agreed that Anthony Taylor’s two yellow cards were perfectly reasonable, and he had even been lenient.

The results for the first round of the Premier League were in.

The season opener took place at White Hart Lane.

Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur held Ancelotti’s Manchester City to a 0-0 draw at home.

The result was truly surprising!

Ancelotti had deployed all his key players.

The forward line was particularly formidable, with Ibrahimović as the centre-forward, supported by Carlos Tevez and Kaká in a front three.

Yet, this attacking trident failed to break through the central defensive pairing of Ledley King and Michael Dawson.

Just as Yang Cheng had always said, Ledley King was an underrated centre-back.

His main issue was his susceptibility to injuries.

Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea, playing at Stamford Bridge, thrashed newly promoted West Bromwich Albion 6-0, thanks to a hat-trick from Drogba and a brace from Eto’o.

It looked like a massive win, but the game was truly decided between the fifty-fifth and sixty-eighth minutes of the second half.

In just thirteen minutes, The Baggies conceded three goals.

Combined with the early goal they conceded in the first half, the newly promoted team got another taste of the Premier League’s cruelty.

Liverpool, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Arsenal at home.

It was another blood-and-guts battle.

Both teams received a red card, one in first-half stoppage time and the other in second-half stoppage time.

Liverpool took the lead in the first half, but the red card changed the course of the game.

In the second half, Arsenal used their numerical advantage to launch a furious offensive, successfully equalizing.

But in stoppage time, Arsenal’s centre-back Koscielny also received a red card.

It was, by all accounts, a brutal draw!

Manchester United secured a comfortable 3-0 home victory over newly promoted Newcastle.

But the first round wasn’t entirely without upsets.

Wigan Athletic hosted newly promoted Blackpool but were thrashed 4-0 at home, a minor upset that brought Blackpool into the limelight.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Blackpool would immediately experience the harsh reality of the Premier League in the next round.

…

After receiving high praise in the first round, Blackpool travelled to the Emirates Stadium for their second Premier League match to challenge Arsenal.

As it turned out, Blackpool, who had beaten Wigan Athletic 4-0, were thrashed 6-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates.

Andrei Arshavin scored a hat-trick, and Benzema bagged a brace.

Wenger’s team furiously vented their frustration from being held to a draw by Liverpool in the first round.

Even more unbelievably, after losing 4-0 to Blackpool in the first round, Wigan Athletic, still at home for their second match, were hammered 6-0 by Chelsea.

Hiddink himself found it hard to believe.

Twelve goals scored in two matches.

It was as if they had hit the jackpot!

When had a team he coached ever played so aggressively?

Neither West Bromwich Albion nor Wigan Athletic could withstand Chelsea’s relentless attacking tide.

Manchester United, on the other hand, were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw away at Fulham.

Ferguson was furious.

But the protagonists of this match were Fulham centre-back Hangeland and Manchester United winger Nani.

Hangeland scored an own goal in the eighty-fourth minute, giving Manchester United a 2-1 lead.

Two minutes later, Nani missed a penalty.

In the eighty-ninth minute, Hangeland redeemed himself, scoring past Edwin van der Sar to secure a 2-2 draw for Fulham at home.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City defeated Mancini’s Liverpool 3-0 at home, with a brace from Carlos Tevez and a goal from Kaká.

The most crucial moment of the match was Kaká’s goal in the thirteenth minute.

The Brazilian did not replicate the experience of his previous life.

Although he was injured before the World Cup, he received excellent care.

After playing in the South Africa World Cup and returning to Manchester City, he spent the summer recovering.

Now completely revitalized, he was performing exceptionally well.

Yang Cheng’s team played at home in this round, welcoming Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers.

They were old rivals!

Since their feud began last year, their relationship had been terrible.

This was likely heavily influenced by the agent Mark Curtis’s “whispers.”

Yang Cheng didn’t pay it much mind; he wasn’t particularly fond of Allardyce anyway.

But the Bayswater Chinese players were clearly provoked by some of Allardyce’s pre-match comments. Playing at home, they started the game with great intensity.

Just seventy-three seconds in, Bayswater Chinese opened the scoring.

Marcelo overlapped to join the attack and sent a cross to the near post.

Gareth Bale provided a flick-on, and Robert Lewandowski, inside the six-yard box, redirected the ball into Blackburn’s goal.

1-0!

Just like in the first round, Bayswater Chinese had made a dream start!

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continued to ramp up their attack.

In the twenty-second minute, they executed a brilliant passage of play on the right wing.

Matić played a through ball, Modrić and Walcott completed a beautiful one-two, and the Croatian then sent another through ball for Walcott to break into the box and score.

2-0!

Just five minutes later, under pressure from Bayswater Chinese’s high press, left-back Pascal Chimbonda made a misplaced back pass. Robert Lewandowski intercepted it near the penalty spot and scored in a one-on-one situation.

3-0!

The Polish centre-forward had scored a brace!

In the thirty-second minute, Gareth Bale won a free kick on the left flank.

Modrić took the free kick, and Pepe, at the edge of the six-yard box, scored with a header. 4-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium went wild!

It had only been half an hour!

The match resumed after halftime, and from the restart, Bayswater Chinese launched an all-out attack.

Just two minutes in, Toni Kroos played a long diagonal pass, switching the play to the right side of the attack.

Lewandowski drifted to the right to receive the ball and played a through ball to Piszczek.

Piszczek passed it back to Walcott.

The Little Tiger played a pull-back, and Lewandowski cut horizontally along the penalty area line, received the ball, drove into the arc, and scored with a left-footed curling shot, completing his hat-trick!

5-0!

And just two minutes later, Toni Kroos delivered a through ball, and Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area, his favorite zone, and fired a shot into the far corner. 6-0!

Afterward, following a series of combinations between Modrić and Lewandowski, the Polish striker played a through ball, putting Walcott through on goal.

He had a chance to score.

But goalkeeper Paul Robinson charged out decisively and collected the ball.

In the sixty-second minute, Lewandowski, on the right side of the six-yard box, received a pass from Walcott and hit a power shot into the net, scoring his fourth goal of the match.

7-0!

In the seventieth minute, off a through ball from Modrić, Lewandowski received the ball, broke into the right side of the penalty area, calmly dummied past the recovering centre-back Nelsen, and scored from a tight angle. 8-0!

The Polish centre-forward had completed a five-goal haul!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in celebration!

No one had expected this match to turn into such a crazed, one-sided slaughter.

Especially not Blackburn manager Allardyce.

His team had just won their opening match 1-0 at home against Everton, which had boosted his ambitions.

But he never imagined that upon arriving in London, his team would be trampled and brutally butchered by Yang Cheng’s side.

“This is only the third time in Premier League history that a player has scored five goals in a single game.”

“The previous two instances were in 1995, when Manchester United thrashed Ipswich Town 9-0 at home, with Andy Cole scoring five goals.”

“The other was in 1999, when Newcastle hammered Sheffield Wednesday 8-0 at home, with Alan Shearer scoring five.”

“And now, Bayswater Chinese’s Robert Lewandowski has also scored five!”

“We can see that even after scoring five goals, Lewandowski is still not satisfied. He’s still running, still looking for opportunities.”

In the eighty-first minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half and launched a quick counter-attack.

Marcelo carried the ball forward and sent a cross pass.

Lewandowski played a first-time through ball, and Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and shot again.

9-0!

All the fans in the stadium went insane!

Such a thrashing was extremely rare!

Even in the eighty-third and eighty-ninth minutes, Bayswater Chinese still had chances to score.

First, Pepe’s header hit the post.

Then, off a cross from Walcott on the right, Lewandowski’s header was saved miraculously by Robinson.

Ultimately, the score remained 9-0!

Bayswater Chinese were disappointed not to have achieved a double-digit thrashing.

Lewandowski had missed the chance to set a legendary Premier League record!

No one in the history of the Premier League had ever scored six goals in a single match.

…

To some extent, the opening round of the Premier League this season was relatively standard.

Although there were exciting matches like Chelsea’s 6-0 win, Manchester United’s 3-0 victory over Newcastle, and Bayswater Chinese’s 4-0 away demolition of Sunderland, overall, the results were as expected.

In fact, with only twenty-six goals in the round, it was less than anticipated.

It’s normal for performances to be subpar in the first round of the season.

But by the second round, everyone felt that this season was different.

A total of forty-four goals were scored in the round, setting a new record for the 20-team Premier League era!

And that was across just ten matches!

Teams like Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Chelsea all defeated their opponents by large margins.

Sky Sports called it the most insane feast of goals in Premier League history!

In this goal-scoring game, Bayswater Chinese led the Premier League table with thirteen goals in two rounds.

Close behind them were Hiddink’s Chelsea, also with two consecutive wins.

The Blues had scored twelve goals in two rounds.

The two West London teams were the only ones in the Premier League with a perfect record.

Moreover, both teams had yet to concede a goal.

This sparked intense discussion among the public.

Many people even believed that after clearing out redundant players and promoting youngsters, Chelsea’s overall combat effectiveness had actually improved.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, saw their entire midfield operating with incredible fluidity after the signing of Toni Kroos.

It was a very strange feeling.

Just as club legend Alan Hansen commented on his show after the match.

“Yang Cheng’s team is, so far this season, the most fluid, most creative, and most dominant team in the Premier League. Their midfield is simply astonishing!”

“Whether it was against Sunderland in the first round or at home against Blackburn in this round, their midfield continuously created chances, supplying ammunition to the forwards.”

“So far, it seems no Premier League manager has found an effective way to neutralize the Bayswater Chinese midfield.”

“Perhaps, in the next round, Bolton should consider defending with all their might. It might not be pretty, but it’s probably the most reliable way to stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack!”

Alan Hansen predicted that the attacking combination of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María would become the sharpest forward line in the Premier League this season.

“Their razor-sharp attack will give all of Bayswater Chinese’s opponents a massive headache!”

But as it turned out, Alan Hansen was wrong.

…

Noon on August 29th, the third round of the Premier League.

Bolton hosted Bayswater Chinese.

Owen Coyle stuck with their trademark 4-4-2 formation, ready for a tough battle.

But just four minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese carved through with a combination in the final third. Modrić and Lewandowski completed a beautiful one-two give-and-go, playing a pass in behind the defensive line.

Lewandowski, who was in red-hot form this season, found himself one-on-one with the keeper, and nearly broke the deadlock against Jääskeläinen’s goal.

It served as a warning shot for Bolton.

But in the eleventh minute, Gareth Bale dispossessed Steinsson high up the pitch, launched a counter-attack, and crossed from the left to the center of the box. Robert Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and calmly slotted the ball past Jääskeläinen.

1-0!

Bolton’s defense had lasted only eleven minutes!

Bayswater Chinese relentlessly launched wave after wave of attacks.

Despite being the away team, they seized the initiative, forcing Bolton into a purely defensive stance.

In the forty-first minute, Toni Kroos, from the left side outside the box, played a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Walcott made a quick forward run, getting ahead of everyone, and near the byline, he passed the ball back to the center.

Gareth Bale, at the back post, headed the ball in, breaking through Bolton’s goal again.

2-0!

After halftime, Modrić played a chipped pass from outside the box. Lewandowski’s tap-in from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by the keeper, but Walcott, making an overlapping run, pounced on the rebound and scored.

3-0!

Then, in the seventy-fourth minute, another long pass from Toni Kroos found Walcott on the right side of the box. His shot was saved by the keeper, and Lewandowski couldn’t get to the rebound in time.

Modrić, arriving on an overlapping run, calmly side-footed the ball into the net again.

4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 4-0 away at Bolton, with each of their four attacking players scoring a goal.

After the match, Sky Sports gave extremely high praise to Bayswater Chinese’s attack this season.

Three games in, seventeen goals scored, zero conceded.

This was Yang Cheng’s best start to a season since taking charge of Bayswater Chinese!

Sky Sports even suggested that if Bayswater Chinese could maintain their current form after the international break and the start of the Champions League, they would have no rivals in the Premier League this season!

“No one can stop a Bayswater Chinese team like this!”

In the same round, Arsenal beat Blackburn 2-1 away.

Chelsea beat Stoke City 2-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated West Ham United 3-0 at home.

Liverpool thrashed West Bromwich Albion 5-0 at home.

The unlucky Baggies had conceded a whopping eleven goals in three games since their promotion to the Premier League!

It was a harsh and early introduction to the cruelty of the league!

Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 1-0 away.

…

The day before the third round of the Premier League, UEFA held its annual Champions League group stage draw and awards ceremony at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Since Bayswater Chinese was not in contention for any of this season’s UEFA awards, and with the third Premier League round imminent, Yang Cheng did not attend.

In the end, Manchester United’s Edwin van der Sar won Best Goalkeeper, and Vidić was named Best Defender.

Fàbregas took home Best Midfielder, and Rooney was named Best Forward.

Finally, Vidić won the overall Best Player award.

This was a good representation of last season’s Champions League.

Manchester United had relied on their defense to win the trophy.

It was somewhat regrettable that Wenger’s team had failed to win the title.

In this season’s Champions League draw, Manchester City’s appearance stunned everyone.

The Blue Moons had made it to the Champions League group stage but were placed in Pot 4.

This was a carbon copy of Bayswater Chinese’s situation a few years ago.

The other three Premier League teams—Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Arsenal—were all top seeds.

This meant that unless they drew Lyon, Manchester City was guaranteed to be in a group of death this season.

But even though it was expected, the result was still shocking.

Manchester City was drawn in the same group as AC Milan and Real Madrid.

When the draw result was announced, everyone was first surprised, then understood.

Isn’t this the kind of trickery UEFA loves to pull?

Ancelotti facing his former club.

Add to that Mourinho’s Real Madrid, and it couldn’t get more entertaining!

Yang Cheng, for one, was ready for the show!

Bayswater Chinese’s draw wasn’t great, but it was acceptable.

From Pot 2, they drew Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.

From Pot 3, they drew Ajax of the Netherlands.

And from the final pot, they drew MŠK Žilina of Slovakia.

In terms of overall strength, Bayswater Chinese were clearly the top team in the group.

Advancing was the expected outcome; failing to do so would be a huge upset.

But there was one troublesome issue.

According to the schedule, Bayswater Chinese would have to travel to Ukraine for the fourth group stage match to face Shakhtar Donetsk away.

That would be in November, the dead of winter in Ukraine.

But regardless, the draw was decent enough.

…

After the third round of the Premier League, the international players left the club to join their respective national teams.

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, checked on OGC Nice’s performance in Ligue 1.

After defeating Valenciennes in the first round, they secured a narrow 2-1 away victory against FC Lorient in the second.

Lorient wasn’t a strong team, but the win was still hard-fought.

Returning home, they beat Nancy 2-0.

After three consecutive wins, OGC Nice briefly topped the league table.

But in the fourth round, they drew 1-1 away at Lille.

This was Ronald Koeman’s first major test as Nice’s manager.

Lille was a strong team in Ligue 1, so a 1-1 away draw was a respectable result.

Before the international break, Nice remained undefeated with three wins and one draw, placing them second in Ligue 1, behind only Toulouse FC, who had four consecutive wins.

The defending champions, Marseille, who had high expectations placed on them before the season, were tenth after four rounds.

Lille was eleventh, and Paris Saint-Germain was twelfth.

And the traditional giants Lyon were in even worse shape, sitting in seventeenth place.

This was what Yang Cheng had mentioned before: prior to the PSG takeover, Ligue 1 was truly a battle of minnows.

There were even signs of it being overtaken by leagues like the Primeira Liga and Eredivisie.

Furthermore, the leagues in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey had begun spending lavishly, putting immense pressure on Ligue 1.

This was why the French had sought to bring in capital from Qatar.

In such a situation, whichever team could be coached to be more consistent would gain an advantage in Ligue 1.

Yang Cheng temporarily set aside his thoughts on Nice and walked out of his office.

A road separated the first-team training center from the youth academy, but there wasn’t much traffic.

Accompanied by Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, and Mike Rigg, Yang Cheng headed to the youth academy.

This was a habit of his.

Whenever he had free time, he would visit the youth academy to check on the development of several players he was monitoring.

It was afternoon.

When Yang Cheng arrived at the academy’s training ground, he easily noticed that on one of the pitches, a group of seven-, eight-, and nine-year-olds weren’t training. Instead, they were gathered in a circle, shouting excitedly.

It looked like they were watching a very exciting game!

Yang Cheng and the others walked over quickly and stood behind the children, discovering that inside the small circle, two young players were competing one-on-one.

They were constantly dueling, trying to dribble past each other and then chasing back to defend.

The children around them were cheering and shouting encouragement.

Yang Cheng recognized one of them. Wasn’t it Jude Bellingham, the player he had signed?

But who was the other one?

The two little kids on the pitch were getting fired up, and with the constant goading from the other children, they were determined to prove who was better.

“Come on, Jude! Show this newcomer who the true king of the Bayswater Chinese U8s is!”

When Yang Cheng heard a little kid shout that, he almost burst out laughing.

“We have a ‘true king’ in the U8s?”

Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, and the others all roared with laughter.

Young players are full of fire and energy. They love to compete and secretly compare themselves to see who is the best.

“You know, this is actually a good way to foster a player’s competitiveness and desire to improve,” Dan Ashworth explained.

Yang Cheng didn’t think it was a big deal.

When it comes to young players, their favorite thing to do is imitate.

They imitate the playing styles of their favorite stars.

In recent years, the most common stars to imitate were Ronaldinho, Messi, C. Ronaldo, Zidane, Henry, Iniesta, Bergkamp, and others.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that the two kids on the field were also imitating stars during their duel, effortlessly pulling off all sorts of moves: step-overs, the elastico, La Croqueta, the Marseille turn…

They were having the time of their lives!

The funniest part was, if one of them used La Croqueta, the other would immediately respond with the same move.

It was as if they were saying, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

Yang Cheng often visited the youth academy, so such scenes were not uncommon to him.

But as he watched, he started to feel something was strange.

“When did our academy recruit someone like this? To be able to go toe-to-toe with Bellingham?”

Yang Cheng didn’t know, and Brian Kidd certainly didn’t either.

Everyone turned to look at Dan Ashworth.

“I’ve been busy with things at Nice lately, but I did hear Matt mention something. He’s a child from an immigrant family, very talented. He missed the youth selections but was invited for a trial and ended up staying.”

“He’s seven, just like Bellingham. But after a few training sessions, it felt like the U7s couldn’t challenge him enough, so he was promoted to the U8s. And now, he’s on the same team as Bellingham.”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly.

It was common to find very good players at such a young age.

Even talents like Bellingham or Sancho, while still outstanding in the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, were not without competition.

But for a young player to truly develop into a professional, let alone a star, the journey was very long and difficult.

It was also filled with many uncertainties.

A single injury, the player giving up, or various other reasons could derail a career.

Even if they made it through and reached the youth stage where the club started to invest heavily in their development, there were still many risks.

For example, height.

Some players would suddenly have a growth spurt, causing the technical skills they once mastered with ease to become clumsy, and even their feel for the ball could rapidly diminish.

In short, there were too many problems and too many uncontrollable factors.

So, Yang Cheng wasn’t actually surprised to see someone who could compete on equal terms with Bellingham.

Of course, this was at Bayswater Chinese.

Elsewhere, a player like Bellingham was a treasure that other clubs would go to any lengths to sign.

While watching the two kids duel, Yang Cheng discussed the club’s youth development and the youth academy issues at OGC Nice with Dan Ashworth.

Currently, Nice’s training facilities were extremely limited. The youth teams’ training had to be carefully scheduled to avoid clashes.

A new training base had to be put on the agenda.

Therefore, further communication with the Nice city government was necessary.

The city of Nice was also actively bidding to host the 2016 European Championship.

But to do that, they would have to build a brand-new football stadium.

This was no small matter!

The Nice city government was in the planning stages.

Building a new stadium required consideration of location, funding, timeline, and various other issues.

But there was another crucial point: the post-event use of the venue.

Even if a stadium sits unused, it incurs significant annual maintenance costs.

This was unacceptable under any circumstances.

And in the city of Nice, OGC Nice was the only professional club.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was very supportive of Nice’s bid to host the European Championship and build a new stadium.

According to the city government, once the new stadium was completed, the current Stade Municipal du Ray would be converted into a sports park, and OGC Nice would move its home games to the new stadium.

Neither stadium was an asset of OGC Nice, so the club had no right to refuse.

Being able to lease the usage rights for the new stadium at a low cost was already a win for Nice.

What Yang Cheng really wanted to secure was not just the lease, but also the rights to renovate the stadium’s interior and, more importantly, the naming rights.

This would be hugely beneficial for the future development of OGC Nice.

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly, after this stadium was built, it was named by Allianz.

This showed it had considerable value.

As Yang Cheng and the others were discussing, they saw Matt Crocker, having received the message, coming out to greet them.

As soon as he saw the two dueling kids on the pitch, he immediately went over to stop them.

“Jude, Jamal, stop!”

Outside the crowd, when Yang Cheng heard those two names, he whipped his head around, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Chapter 209: Incredible! A Shot Like That Went In! This is the Power of the World’s Best Goalkeeper!

Jamal?

When Yang Cheng heard the name, his heart skipped a beat.

It was a very uncommon name.

Like Bellingham’s first name, Jude, it wasn’t a typical English name.

It had a somewhat Arabic and African flair to it.

Considering his skin tone, and what Dan Ashworth had just said—that the boy was supposed to be in the U7 age group but had been promoted to U8 to play with Bellingham—it all seemed to match Musiala.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

Good heavens… no, wait, is God finally starting to favor a transmigrator like me?

Yang Cheng turned towards the voice and saw Matt Crocker stopping the two boys’ contest.

He looked really strict.

But Yang Cheng walked over with a smile.

“Jude, who won?”

Only then did everyone notice Yang Cheng.

In an instant, the children on the pitch erupted.

Yang Cheng smiled and greeted the kids as he walked onto the field, looking at Bellingham and the boy, Jamal, standing before him.

“So, tell me, who won?” Yang Cheng asked again with a smile.

Bellingham saw the encouragement in Yang Cheng’s eyes, glanced at Jamal, and said defiantly, “He doesn’t speak English, so I can’t bully him. Give me another chance, and I’ll definitely settle the score with him.”

Yang Cheng understood. Bellingham meant it was a draw.

He laughed and turned to Jamal, translating Bellingham’s words into German with a smile, emphasizing the first part: “I can’t bully him.”

“Do you agree with what he said?”

Jamal was surprised. He hadn’t expected to meet someone who knew German. He nodded and replied in German, “He’s very good, but I won’t lose!”

After a pause, the boy puffed out his chest with a look of prideful coyness. “I’m going to be the best player here!”

“Wow!” Yang Cheng burst out laughing and applauded loudly.

“Well said, kid. Tell me your name.”

As he spoke, Yang Cheng felt a genuine sense of anticipation.

“Jamal Musiala!”

Yang Cheng was secretly delighted. It really is him!

But how did he end up in my pot—ah, no, in my youth academy?

“I’ll remember you, Jamal!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Then, he translated Jamal Musiala’s words for Bellingham.

Bellingham snorted unconvinced, clearly not agreeing with the statement.

“Mr. Yang, he’s new here and doesn’t know how good our academy is. I’ll teach him a lesson for you next time!”

Yang Cheng was taken aback.

What do you mean, for me?

Do I need your help?

But after a moment’s thought, Yang Cheng smiled.

It seemed Bellingham already saw himself as part of Bayswater Chinese and didn’t approve of this newcomer who was here to “spoil the party.” He felt the new boy was looking down on the club.

That’s why he said that.

It was a good thing.

After a brief chat, Yang Cheng cheerfully told them to get going.

The two kids, who had been fiercely competing just moments ago, walked off shoulder to shoulder and started chatting.

Their conversation was particularly amusing.

Bellingham said in English, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, there’s a guy a bit older than us named Bukayo Saka. He’s amazing.”

“And then there’s Jadon Sancho. Everyone here says he’s unbeatable under the age of ten!”

“The U12s just won the national championship last season. Declan Rice, Eddie Nketiah, and Reece James are all incredible. You’ll be toast if you run into them!”

“And the player everyone agrees is the best in our academy is Raheem Sterling. You haven’t seen him play. All the big clubs in Europe are watching him.”

Musiala clearly didn’t understand a word Bellingham was saying.

But that didn’t stop him from responding.

“My family just arrived in England a month ago.”

“I have a younger sister.”

“My mom is studying at the University of Southampton.”

“My dad used to be a professional player too, in Nigeria…”

Only Yang Cheng, fluent in both English and German, could understand what the two little rascals were actually saying.

To everyone else, it looked truly magical.

Two kids who didn’t speak the same language were actually having a conversation.

Only Yang Cheng was close to bursting with laughter.

What the hell are they even talking about? This is complete nonsense!

Still, the thought of both Bellingham and Musiala being in his own youth academy gave Yang Cheng a surreal feeling.

Now that Musiala was in his bowl, he would never let him go to Bayern Munich.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the whole situation had been rather interesting.

Musiala’s parents had always preferred to stay in England, and the player himself preferred to play for England.

After all, the child had been in London since he was seven and had made many friends, including Bellingham.

As Musiala began to make a name for himself in England, Bayern Munich and the German Football Association kept a close watch, trying every trick in the book to lure him over.

Musiala even played two matches for Germany’s U16 team in 2018, but he still returned to the England setup afterward.

The turning point was Brexit.

At the time, Musiala’s mother was worried about her visa and job. Just then, the German FA and Bayern Munich came knocking again.

In those years, Chelsea’s performance was subpar, and their focus on youth players had waned considerably.

Bayern, on the other hand, was the hegemon of the Bundesliga with little pressure, and they were one of Europe’s top clubs.

So, when Bayern presented Musiala and his parents with a very persuasive future plan, there wasn’t much else for them to consider.

Thus, Musiala rejected Chelsea’s contract offer and moved to Bayern.

Of course, the reason given was very plausible: due to Brexit, his mother had to return to Germany for work.

In fact, after Musiala joined Bayern in the summer of 2019, he continued to play for England’s U19 and U21 teams until November 2020.

But now, Yang Cheng would certainly not let a similar thing happen again.

…

“Over the past two years, our club has been committed to promoting curriculum reforms in our partner schools, and we’ve achieved excellent results, especially in Chinese martial arts and chess, which we value most.”

After leaving the training pitch, Matt Crocker reported on some of the youth academy’s recent achievements.

“These programs have received a very positive response, and the feedback from the schools has been very encouraging. We’re considering rolling them out to our partner schools at all the Satellite Training Centres starting this season.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Prepare a budget report and bring it to me. I’ll see what I can do for you.”

A few years ago, when Bayswater Chinese was expanding aggressively, the budget was naturally looser.

But now that the scouting and youth networks had gradually taken shape, coupled with the pressure from the new stadium project, Xia Qing had started to tighten the budget.

However, for projects like Chinese martial arts and chess, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing would definitely support them for both public and private reasons.

This wasn’t just a whim.

The sports science department had conducted a joint study with Loughborough University which showed that playing chess from a young age has numerous benefits for players.

Not only can it clear the mind, but it can also help players develop the habit of thinking critically.

Playing chess requires one to think ahead, guess the opponent’s next move, and make predictions in advance.

This is precisely what football players need to do.

Thinking two or three steps ahead is crucial in a football match.

Moreover, chess teaches players to assess the bigger picture, consider all aspects, and develop a strategic way of thinking.

Beyond strengthening the body, Chinese martial arts can also train physical coordination and improve reaction speed.

The various kicks and techniques, in particular, can make a player’s movements more agile.

These two courses, one sedentary and one active, were both very practical.

Over the past two years, Bayswater Chinese had started hosting chess and Chinese martial arts interest clubs in collaboration with surrounding partner schools.

In addition to enrolling players from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, students from the schools could also join.

Since they were supplementary courses, they went very smoothly.

After two years, the results proved to be excellent, so they were preparing for a wider rollout.

This would require Bayswater Chinese to invest a sum of money into its youth development.

There were many other similar activities and projects.

This was why Bayswater Chinese invested so much money in its youth academy every year.

Over the years, Yang Cheng had come to realize more and more deeply that the competition among professional players of the future was no longer confined to the 90 minutes on the pitch or the duels on the training ground.

It was a competition of comprehensive quality!

Not to mention, this move could also promote Chinese martial arts and had clear social benefits, which would greatly enhance the club’s image. It was undoubtedly a very good project.

Specifically regarding youth training, Yang Cheng repeatedly stressed the importance of combining team training with individual training.

This was something he had insisted on and emphasized time and again since founding the youth academy.

What did that mean?

In recent years, more and more teams were emphasizing teamwork, possession, and passing combinations. Young players were required to master various tactics and passing skills from a tender age.

However, they severely underestimated individual training.

This led to a ridiculous outcome.

A few years down the line, everyone was surprised to find that players were maturing earlier.

Many young players in their late teens or early twenties played a very steady and mature game.

They could pass, they could cooperate, and they could adapt to various tactics.

But they just couldn’t handle one-on-one situations.

Attacking players couldn’t dribble past opponents, and defensive players couldn’t defend one-on-one.

This wasn’t an issue with just one team; it was a very common phenomenon.

And the root cause was the problems in youth training being passed on to the senior teams.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy placed great importance on both team training and individual training, especially one-on-ones.

The duel between Bellingham and Musiala just now was just one example.

Then there was creativity and freedom.

This was another point Yang Cheng had repeatedly stressed when he established the youth academy.

Top-tier superstars can never be manufactured.

In 2024, before he transmigrated, the position many head coaches talked about most was the inverted full-back.

The template was Marcelo.

Then, a large number of young full-backs emerged from youth academies. They had excellent technique, could pass, control the ball, and organize play, leading to the rise of the playmaking full-back.

But in matches, as soon as the opponent ramped up the intensity, their passing would suffer greatly.

They couldn’t provide width on the flank, couldn’t beat their man in the final third, and couldn’t get rid of the ball when tightly marked…

These players were like products mass-produced on an industrial assembly line—well-crafted and of high quality, seemingly good in every aspect, yet they could never replace Marcelo.

The reason was actually simple.

Creativity!

When Marcelo played, he had a strong element of the spontaneous improvisation characteristic of Brazilian players.

This is something no youth academy can create!

Of course, even in Brazil, such players are extremely rare.

As the founder of Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng could mass-produce players who were good at passing, but he couldn’t mass-produce “Marcelos.”

The only thing he could do was to try his best to protect the “Marcelos,” “Neymars,” and “Ronaldinhos” so that when they entered the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, they would have more freedom to make choices and could unleash their creativity wantonly.

At the very least, their natural spark for the game wouldn’t be extinguished early in the youth development process.

That was all!

“Those two kids just now were really good. We need to pay more attention to them.”

After discussing the youth academy’s affairs, Yang Cheng casually brought up Bellingham and Musiala.

Although Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy was brimming with talent, talents of Bellingham’s and Musiala’s caliber were still rare.

Having one or two emerge from each age group would be considered a massive success.

Matt Crocker nodded in agreement. “Bellingham has always been one of the players we value most.”

“This newcomer, Musiala, his situation is a bit special.”

With that, Matt Crocker briefly explained the Musiala family’s situation.

His family was currently living apart.

His mother, Caroline, was still studying at the University of Southampton, while his father was living with Musiala and his sister in a rented house near Brent.

“I heard his father is English and was a former professional player?” Yang Cheng asked.

“Yes.”

Matt Crocker immediately understood what Yang Cheng meant. “When Musiala came for his trial, he had already caught our attention. Our first captain, Steve Jenkins, personally came to find me.”

Yang Cheng certainly remembered him. After retiring, he became a coach at the youth academy and was doing quite well.

“We gave his father, Daniel Richard, two options: a job, or to study to become a youth coach.”

“He chose the latter, so he’s currently taking coaching courses and also working part-time at our youth academy.”

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with this arrangement.

Not every player could receive such preferential treatment.

After all, Bayswater Chinese also had a limited number of employees.

But the talent Musiala displayed was truly remarkable, no less than Bellingham’s.

Therefore, he was naturally worth the effort from Bayswater Chinese.

“Well done. Given time, this kid will definitely shine!” Yang Cheng praised with a smile.

Helping his father Daniel Richard get his coaching license and a job as a youth coach, how could he possibly leave?

Yang Cheng refused to believe it!

As long as Bayswater Chinese didn’t fall from grace and maintained its competitiveness among Europe’s leading pack, if Musiala still ran off to Bayern, Yang Cheng might as well pack it in!

Right now, he had the Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Next up were Sterling, Harry Kane, Declan Rice…

And further down the line, Bellingham and Musiala.

Yang Cheng really wanted to stand on a high perch, look down upon the giants of the Premier League, and shout:

“Who else?”

…

Liverpool, England. Melwood Training Ground.

In the head coach’s office, Mancini stood by the window, looking out at Liverpool’s training pitch.

Liverpool’s training ground was different from most football clubs.

The first team trained at the Melwood Training Ground, which had been around for over half a century.

It was renovated starting in 2000, but the space was still limited, with only three standard pitches.

The youth academy was called Kirkby, located about ten kilometers north of Melwood.

After being acquired by the Saudi consortium, they decided to invest in upgrading both training facilities.

Like Manchester City, they were benchmarking against Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training ground.

That was widely recognized in Europe as the most advanced and luxurious top-tier training facility.

Mancini had visited it before and it was indeed quite dreamlike.

But now, Mancini was about to face the team that had emerged from that dreamlike facility.

The best-performing team in the Premier League, and indeed in European football, so far this season.

Bayswater Chinese!

The thought of this opponent made Mancini’s head swim.

He had watched many Premier League matches and studied the league, but only after actually managing in it did he realize how tough it was.

Liverpool’s schedule had been a nightmare.

In the first round, they were nearly defeated by Arsenal at home.

Especially in the second half.

In the second round, they traveled to the City of Manchester Stadium and were promptly thrashed 3-0 by Ancelotti’s Manchester City.

That match completely bewildered Mancini!

When that damn fatty was in Italy, he was never this daring, and his attack wasn’t this fluid.

After coming to the Premier League, he had started to pull rabbits out of his hat!

In the third round, they finally faced an easier opponent, the newly promoted West Bromwich Albion.

The final score was 5-0, which looked like a resounding victory.

But what was the reality?

In the match itself, there were still a ton of problems.

Especially with the two strikers, Torres and Suárez.

Should he play a 4-4-2?

That clearly didn’t seem right.

At least, a conventional 4-4-2 was unsuitable.

Through the pre-season friendlies, Mancini had gradually discovered some things.

For example, the characteristics of his two strikers were very strange.

Speaking of Torres, Mancini thought of Benítez.

On his first day at Liverpool, he had symbolically hung Benítez’s name over his head as a constant reminder not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor.

That was a perfect example of digging one’s own grave!

Or perhaps, past success had made Benítez forget what kind of team he was managing.

From Valencia to Liverpool, Benítez’s forte had always been the 4-2-3-1 formation.

Defensively, it looked like a high line, but in reality, he was still playing a defensive counter-attack.

This was why the double pivot was so important to him.

Without a good defense, where would the counter-attacks come from?

And the players up front?

From Kuyt to Torres to Gerrard, and the others, whoever it was, their style was basically to charge towards the goal with all their might during counter-attacks!

Did they have the ability to organize and hold the ball in attack?

No!

This was why Xabi Alonso was so crucial!

It was also why Benítez valued Aurélio so much!

They were the only 1.5 players in the Liverpool squad who could hold the ball, organize play, and initiate attacks.

But Benítez, digging his own grave, forced Xabi Alonso out.

Torres was never a centre-forward who could play with his back to goal or win aerial duels to set up teammates!

He was a goalscorer!

Ferdinand had mentioned that he hated playing against Torres, even considering him more difficult to handle than Drogba.

“He’s very fast, physically strong, very aggressive, and his movement is very fluid.”

But recently, with an increase in injuries and a decline in physical condition, Torres’s speed and impact had been affected.

In the first three rounds of the season, he had only scored one goal.

This was a very bad sign.

Suárez was another very special striker.

He had speed, technique, could link up play, and had a great instinct for goal…

In short, he possessed the best qualities of a South American striker.

But bizarrely, he had an incredible hunger in matches.

He wasn’t afraid of physical confrontations with defenders; in fact, he relished them!

This was extremely rare among South American strikers.

Crucially, his physical strength wasn’t bad either.

Right now, the only striker in the Liverpool squad who could hold up the ball under high-pressure defense was Suárez.

Torres was more suited to situations with large spaces in front of him, allowing him to sprint and make runs.

If you really asked him to hold the ball under pressure, his ball loss rate would be very high.

This wasn’t very obvious in the past, but as his physical condition declined, it would gradually become exposed.

Why?

Because when they were young and at their physical peak, they could recover from a bad touch.

But after their physical condition declined, they could no longer do that.

So, after the entire summer training camp, Mancini did something that stunned everyone.

He had the seemingly frail Suárez, who didn’t look like a centre-forward at all, go up against defenders.

And he had Torres, who looked very much like a centre-forward, make fluid runs.

This resulted in the massive victory against West Bromwich in the third round!

But Liverpool still had a very serious problem.

The midfield.

According to Mancini’s plan, with two strikers up front, Torres and Suárez would spread out, and Gerrard would play in the number 10 role, lurking behind them.

This would allow him to both pressure the opponent’s deep-lying playmaker and make late runs into the box to attack.

This was very similar to Lampard at Chelsea.

So what about behind him?

Mascherano’s defensive ability was needed, as was Lucas Leiva’s running, coverage, and defensive work.

Aquilani was an unlucky fellow.

He joined Liverpool with a serious injury and a hefty transfer fee, carrying the high hopes of the fans who all compared him to Xabi Alonso.

Coupled with the turmoil in the club’s management and Benítez struggling to save his own job, Aquilani never got a proper chance.

Under these circumstances, how could he possibly perform well?

But Mancini still kept him.

In the 5-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, Aquilani delivered his best performance since joining Liverpool.

…

Thinking up to this point, Mancini essentially already had an answer in his mind.

Turning around, he looked at his three assistants.

His long-time partners Fausto Salsano and Attilio Lombardo, who had followed him to Liverpool.

And Steve Clarke, the former Chelsea assistant coach whom Liverpool had specially appointed for him, someone familiar with the English football environment.

He had served as an assistant coach to famous managers like Gullit, Bobby Robson, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, and Zola, and was very well-known in England.

And the four of them were gathered to discuss the tactics against Bayswater Chinese.

When Mancini laid out his envisioned starting lineup for the midfield and attack, no one had any objections.

They had all proven themselves in the match against West Bromwich Albion.

But they were playing a 4-4-2 then, and Kuyt was also on the pitch.

Now, however, Bayswater Chinese’s strength was in a different league from The Baggies.

“For this match, I think a three-man holding midfield of Lucas Leiva, Aquilani, and Mascherano, with Gerrard in front of them, and a backline of Kolarov, Daniel Agger, Škrtel, and Glen Johnson, we might be able to hold off Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

Steve Clarke was the coach among the four who was most familiar with Bayswater Chinese.

“But I think the biggest variable for Bayswater Chinese this season is this person!”

He circled the number 8, Toni Kroos, on the tactics board.

“This German is very special. His greatest strength is switching the play with long passes.”

“He often drops very deep or drifts to the left, which is why Marcelo has been so effective.”

“If we press him and shift our defense over, they’ll just switch the play to the right with a long pass.”

Mancini frowned. “We have to limit Toni Kroos.”

“The most troublesome thing is, Modrić is also deadly. And Matić was converted from a number 10 attacking midfielder to a holding midfielder, so he also has strong passing and organizing abilities.”

Hearing Clarke say this, Fausto Salsano grew a bit restless.

“This Yang Cheng is really something else. Does he love converting players’ positions that much?”

Clarke smiled. “Matić was also one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League last season!”

Well, that shut him up.

There was nothing more to say.

It was just like Ancelotti converting Pirlo.

“So, our biggest headache right now is that their front three have extremely strong individual ability, speed, and impact, while their midfield has outstanding, almost unstoppable passing and chance-creation abilities.”

“Don’t forget, they also have Marcelo, and the distribution ability of their other defenders isn’t bad either.”

Hearing this, everyone felt a bit hopeless.

How the hell were they supposed to play against that?

“But based on my understanding of Yang Cheng over the years, with Marcelo, Di María, and Thiago Silva all returning from international duty, they probably won’t start.”

“Why?” Lombardo asked, puzzled.

“Yang Cheng is a very particular person. He places extreme importance on preventing injuries. Many teams just say that publicly, but in reality, if a player is injured or fatigued, they’ll still play him if needed. But he never does!”

Mancini and the others looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile.

“It must be nice to be one of his players.”

Clarke nodded. “Players who participate in national team matches, especially those returning from South America, are usually rotated and rested.”

“It’s been like that all these years?”

“Yes, as far as I can remember, there have been very few exceptions.”

As a former professional player himself, Mancini’s interest in Yang Cheng grew even more after hearing this.

But back to the match.

“From the looks of it, the most important thing for us is to focus on our defense. We can’t give Gareth Bale and Walcott space to attack our goal.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“But at the same time, we also have to be wary of their passing combinations and long balls that switch the play.”

At this point, Mancini didn’t really have any great solutions.

The Italian shook his head with a bitter smile and cursed, “What on earth are those executives at Bayern thinking, especially Rummenigge and Hoeneß? How could they sell a player like Toni Kroos to Bayswater Chinese?”

“Giving Yang Cheng a midfield like this, how do you even defend against it?”

The three assistant coaches shared his sentiment.

It was indeed very difficult to defend against.

Because they were too complete, with too many ways to attack.

Play a defensive counter-attack?

Park the bus at Wembley Stadium?

Mancini immediately looked at Steve Clarke, his eyes asking a concerned question.

Mate, given our Liverpool tradition, if we go down to London and play a defensive counter-attack in an away game, the fans won’t riot, will they?

Steve Clarke shook his head with a wry smile. “In the past two years, the only teams that dared to go toe-to-toe with Bayswater Chinese at Wembley were Manchester United and Arsenal, and the results weren’t ideal!”

Mancini clapped his hands together forcefully. “Then that’s settled. Defensive counter-attack!”

“We’ll use this match against Bayswater Chinese to really test our defensive line!”

“I refuse to believe that there’s no team that can withstand Bayswater Chinese’s attack!”

…

On the afternoon of September 12th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 4, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

As expected, Yang Cheng did not start any of his South American internationals.

Additionally, Matić had played the full 90 minutes in both of his national team matches, so Yang Cheng started Javi Martínez instead.

Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup was still a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, Vincent Kompany, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in the holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

From the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese launched their usual all-out attack.

The team stuck to their familiar style, relentlessly pressuring Liverpool’s backline.

The Reds adopted a 4-3-1-2 formation for this match, with three holding midfielders to free up Gerrard.

Up front was the striker duo of Torres and Suárez.

What really gave Yang Cheng a headache was their defense.

Due to the travel and fatigue from international duty, Bayswater Chinese’s players were not in peak condition.

Furthermore, Liverpool’s deep defensive line limited the impact of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, stifling the attack.

But Mancini’s defensive line clearly hadn’t gelled yet.

At least, their coordination wasn’t particularly smooth.

Under the pressure of Bayswater Chinese’s constant movement, passing combinations, and long balls, Liverpool’s defense began to show cracks.

Following a long pass from Toni Kroos, Piszczek received the ball on the right flank and linked up with Walcott.

The Polish full-back went to the byline and sent in a cross, aiming for Lewandowski.

But under pressure from Daniel Agger and Škrtel, Lewandowski couldn’t get to the ball.

The three players at the near post and in the center all missed it.

But it didn’t matter!

Gareth Bale made a quick overlapping run from the back post. From just eight meters out, he out-jumped Glen Johnson and Lucas Leiva, sending a close-range header towards goal.

Bale’s header was powerful and perfectly angled, aimed from the back post towards the opposite right side of the goal.

The Bayswater Chinese fans at the stadium were already preparing to celebrate a goal!

Many had even started shouting in anticipation!

But unexpectedly, at the crucial moment, Buffon flew through the air like a god, diving to block the ball with one hand.

This instantly silenced all ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium!

Is the world’s number one goalkeeper really this good?

Bayswater Chinese, refusing to accept it, continued their offensive onslaught.

Even more fiercely than before.

In the 35th minute, the team created another golden opportunity.

This time, Walcott used his speed on the right to burst past Aleksandar Kolarov and deliver a cross.

Walcott’s crossing was very reliable.

And his understanding with Gareth Bale was exceptionally good.

So, his cross from the flank sailed over the central area and dropped towards the far post.

Gareth Bale shook off Glen Johnson, sprinted forward, and leaped high into the air.

The sight of the tall Gareth Bale jumping was truly breathtaking!

But in the next moment, an even more imposing figure suddenly charged out, hands raised high, and punched the ball away a split second before Bale could reach it.

He then collided solidly with Gareth Bale.

Both players fell to the ground.

The ball flew out of the penalty area.

Toni Kroos received the ball on the left side, took a touch to his right, and, before Aquilani could close him down, unleashed a long shot.

The football shot towards Liverpool’s goal like a heavy cannonball.

But Buffon, who had just landed and hadn’t fully regained his footing, made an almost reflexive diving save to his side, once again parrying the long shot with one hand.

Wembley Stadium erupted as if in a riot!

Ninety thousand fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing!

Is he even human?

Buffon, when you were at the City of Manchester Stadium in the second round, we didn’t see you being this incredible!

Manchester City put three past you!

What are you trying to prove here at our Wembley?

It had to be said, Buffon’s three consecutive miraculous saves greatly boosted the morale and fighting spirit of the Liverpool players.

Even the Sky Sports commentator was utterly astonished.

“Buffon is simply incredible!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s attack has been ferocious since the start of the match. Yang Cheng’s team has never lost at home!”

“Liverpool’s defense is indeed very tight, especially the three holding midfielders, who have greatly restricted the home team’s attack.”

“But Yang Cheng’s team still created chances!”

“But at the crucial moments, Buffon’s three breathtaking saves have shown everyone the power of the world’s best goalkeeper!”

“He’s amazing!”

“Faced with a Buffon like this, Bayswater Chinese’s attackers can only look at Liverpool’s goal in helpless frustration!”

…

Yang Cheng was also speechless on the sidelines.

If his players weren’t performing well, he could yell, he could shout.

But the issue now was that, against Liverpool’s impenetrable fortress, the Bayswater Chinese players were performing very well.

They just couldn’t get past Buffon!

“This guy is simply too good!” Yang Cheng said, full of admiration.

Buffon’s performance in this match was the kind that, even if you were defeated by him, you couldn’t help but want to applaud him.

“It’s alright, there’s still the second half,” Brian Kidd said reassuringly.

Yang Cheng nodded.

He glanced towards Courtois in front of his own goal.

Yang Cheng really wanted to ask the Belgian: Seeing Buffon perform so brilliantly on the other end, what are your thoughts? Do you feel like you’ve just been taught a harsh lesson?

If one match could lead to Courtois’s improvement, Yang Cheng felt it would be a worthwhile trade.

So, during the half-time break, Yang Cheng didn’t criticize his players but instead offered encouragement.

He hoped the team could maintain the momentum from the first half and continue to pressure Liverpool in the second.

And in the 51st minute of the second half, an unexpected long shot from Lewandowski from outside the box caught everyone off guard.

But not Buffon.

The Italian once again saved the shot.

But he couldn’t hold onto it.

Gareth Bale quickly darted into the left channel inside the box for the rebound, but under pressure from two defenders, his follow-up shot went just wide of the post.

In the 55th minute, Modrić sent a through ball, and Walcott received it inside the right of the penalty area. He feinted past Daniel Agger but hesitated to shoot immediately, missing the best opportunity and allowing Škrtel to block his shot.

With Buffon’s outstanding performance, Liverpool’s defense became more and more solid, and the players’ confidence grew.

In the 59th minute, from a corner kick taken by Modrić, Kompany’s header grazed the top of the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.

Despite the continuous attacks, they still couldn’t break through Liverpool’s defense.

Meanwhile, Suárez and Torres up front were constantly making runs, threatening to create danger at any moment.

Especially in the second half, as the Liverpool players’ confidence grew, they even began to venture forward on the counter-attack.

Liverpool only made two substitutions in the 70th minute.

One was Raul Meireles for Lucas Leiva.

The Brazilian midfielder had run himself ragged, his energy completely spent. Having just returned from international duty, he couldn’t keep up.

But looking at it another way, if even the famously tireless Lucas Leiva was exhausted, it showed the immense pressure Liverpool was under and the tenacity of the Reds’ players.

The second substitution was Carragher for Glen Johnson.

Mancini was clearly very worried about the threat posed by Gareth Bale.

Yang Cheng remained unmoved, allowing the stalemate on the pitch to continue.

It wasn’t until the 80th minute that he made his first substitution.

Eden Hazard came on for Ryan Bertrand.

After the substitution, the team shifted to a formation resembling a 3-4-1-2.

Javi Martínez dropped back to a centre-back position, partnering with Kompany and Pepe.

Gareth Bale moved back to the left side of midfield, while Piszczek pushed up on the right.

Toni Kroos and Modrić formed a double pivot in central midfield, with Hazard in front of them, playing as a free man behind Lewandowski and Walcott.

Yang Cheng’s intention was very clear.

Since Liverpool dared to adopt such a defensive tactic, Bayswater Chinese would further strengthen their attack.

With Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Piszczek on the flanks…

Then let the better dribbler with more attacking impetus, Hazard, attack through the middle.

Yang Cheng was well aware that this substitution was risky.

That’s why he waited until the 80th minute to make the change.

On one hand, it was to further drain the Liverpool players’ energy, making it easier for Hazard to make an impact as a substitute.

On the other hand, it was to strike in one final push, preventing Liverpool from reacting and threatening his own goal.

As Hazard prepared to come on, Yang Cheng put a heavy arm around the Belgian’s shoulder.

“You are the key to whether we can win today!”

“After you go on, I won’t make any more subs!”

Hazard looked at his head coach, somewhat shocked, feeling an immense sense of trust.

…

Hazard’s first touch after coming on as a substitute was outside the penalty area, receiving a lay-off from Lewandowski’s hold-up play.

As the Belgian received the ball, he dribbled right through the gap between Aquilani and Mascherano, charging all the way into the box before going down.

The entire Wembley Stadium roared!

Everyone was screaming for a penalty.

But the head referee, Mark Halsey, did not award a penalty, ruling it a successful defensive play.

An interception from Škrtel!

The Slovakian centre-back managed to tackle the ball just outside his own penalty area.

But it undoubtedly sent a cold sweat down the spines of everyone at Liverpool.

“This guy has so many talented players under him!”

In the away team’s dugout, Mancini had just jumped up in excitement.

“I really thought that was a penalty. Hazard’s feel for the ball is incredible. His first touch and dribbling are so dangerous!”

“And that was in the middle of the park!” Clarke emphasized.

The center of the pitch is the most congested defensive area.

Dribbling through the middle is a completely different level of difficulty compared to dribbling on the flank.

The threat it creates is also vastly different.

Mancini nodded, unable to sit still. He walked directly to the touchline and shouted at his players, signaling for the three holding midfielders to pay more attention to Hazard.

The kid wasn’t big, but he was fast and an excellent dribbler.

Thus, Liverpool began to tighten their marking on Hazard.

But Yang Cheng quickly reacted. Modrić started to push forward to support Hazard.

At the same time, Yang Cheng shouted to Hazard, reminding him that he didn’t have to focus solely on the center.

The Belgian’s threat wasn’t limited to the middle.

Hazard had been brought on with a mission.

The task Yang Cheng gave him was to dribble, preferably to beat his man on his own. Whether he shot himself or passed to a teammate didn’t matter.

If that didn’t work, he was to draw fouls with his dribbling to win free kicks in advanced positions.

Although Gianni Vio was no longer as prominent as he had been a few years ago, set pieces were still one of Bayswater Chinese’s specialties.

So, Hazard began to move away from the center.

Yang Cheng had given him the freedom to attack anywhere in the final third.

In the 87th minute, Hazard appeared outside the left corner of the penalty area, receiving a pass from Gareth Bale.

The moment he received the ball, Hazard felt the defensive pressure from his side.

In front of him was Carragher, beside him was Meireles, and behind him was Gerrard.

Three Liverpool defensive players were on this side.

This put the Belgian under pressure.

But at the same time, it excited him.

The moment he received the ball, Hazard took a touch forward and quickly adjusted his steps.

Just as Carragher was about to close him down, the Belgian suddenly flicked the ball horizontally with his right foot, slipping right through the gap between Carragher and Meireles.

But he was in the most densely packed area of Liverpool’s defense.

Aquilani and centre-back Škrtel immediately rushed over to block him.

Along with Carragher and Meireles behind him, a total of four Liverpool players had surrounded Hazard.

Due to Škrtel’s rush to close him down, Lewandowski was now offside.

So, the Polish centre-forward raised his hands in front of his chest and waved at Hazard, shouting for him to keep dribbling.

A pass would be offside!

Hazard reacted quickly.

Even when trapped by four defenders, the Belgian showed no fear.

As he dribbled to the left side of the arc, before Škrtel and Aquilani could form a pincer with the other two defenders, he suddenly changed direction.

Hazard abruptly switched from a diagonal run towards the arc to a straight line, dribbling through the gap between Carragher and Škrtel and breaking into the left side of the penalty area.

Daniel Agger reacted very quickly, immediately rushing over to provide cover.

But Hazard’s reaction was even faster.

After breaking past Škrtel’s defense, the Belgian quickly adjusted his steps, simultaneously observing Buffon’s positioning and Daniel Agger’s covering run.

By the time he reached the left edge of the six-yard box, Daniel Agger had already closed in on him.

But Hazard, a split second before Agger could tackle, unleashed a power shot with his left foot, firing a close-range shot.

The ball shot from the Belgian winger’s foot, flying in a straight line into the Liverpool net.

Buffon was positioned well and fully prepared.

But faced with such a point-blank shot, he was utterly powerless.

In that instant, Wembley Stadium erupted with a thunderous roar.

All ninety thousand fans were screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

An ecstatic Hazard turned and sprinted off the pitch, running all the way to the sideline.

The fans in the stands were chanting his name nonstop.

“What an absolutely incredible goal!”

“From the Belgian youngster, Eden Hazard!”

“Amidst Liverpool’s layered defense, he broke through the encirclement relying on his own individual skill!”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay that there were four or five Liverpool defenders surrounding him, but Hazard still managed to dribble into the box and beat Buffon’s goal!”

“Buffon has been outstanding tonight, but he had no answer for that shot!”

Yang Cheng excitedly ran out of his technical area.

In front of the away dugout, Mancini looked exceptionally frustrated.

Incredible! A shot like that actually went in!

What kind of players did Yang Cheng have under him?

Was that Messi?

Chapter 210: Seven Consecutive Wins! Manchester United in Crisis! The Clash of Two Titans!

The fourth round of the Premier League was nothing short of colorful.

Bayswater Chinese, heavily impacted by the international break, still managed to defeat Mancini’s Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a last-minute winner from substitute Eden Hazard.

After the match, Mancini’s team received a great deal of praise, especially for their defense.

To be able to compete with Bayswater Chinese to such an extent on the road, Liverpool’s performance was commendable.

At the very least, Liverpool’s fans and numerous media outlets, including the Liverpool Echo, affirmed their performance.

After four rounds, Mancini’s team sat thirteenth in the Premier League.

Yet, surprisingly, he faced little criticism.

Everyone believed he could lead Liverpool out of their slump.

Before this round, another earth-shattering piece of news broke in the Premier League.

The Rooney prostitute scandal!

This incident was an early Christmas for the entire British media.

The whole of England was in a state of frenzy!

How absurd did it get?

In the fourth-round away match against Everton, Ferguson had no choice but to bench Rooney, not daring to play him.

The final result was a painful 3-3 draw for Manchester United away at Everton.

Two of Everton’s goals were scored in stoppage time in the second half.

This left Ferguson utterly furious.

Everyone could vaguely sense that after winning a Champions League title, the group of veterans at Manchester United seemed to be running out of steam.

Or perhaps, they had become complacent.

The Times argued that Manchester United’s current problem was a severely aging squad.

For example, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was already thirty-nine years old.

Ferdinand was about to turn thirty-two.

Wes Brown was thirty-one, and Gary Neville was thirty-five.

Even O’Shea, who many considered a “youngster,” was actually already twenty-nine.

Carrick was twenty-nine, Scholes thirty-five, Ryan Giggs thirty-six, Park Ji-sung twenty-nine, and Berbatov was also twenty-nine.

Michael Owen was already thirty.

The fact that Ferguson could win the Champions League last season with such a squad, while also keeping pace in the Premier League for so long, was a testament to his undeniable coaching ability.

But the problem was, Manchester United now urgently needed to refresh their lineup.

Yet when it came to actual matches, everyone found that these veterans were still irreplaceable.

After winning the Champions League, many of the older players had shown a clear decline in form.

How could Manchester United maintain their competitiveness like this?

On the other hand, there was Arsenal.

In this round, Wenger’s team thrashed Bolton 4-1 at home.

Once Wenger’s team had money, they not only significantly strengthened their squad but also committed to rejuvenating it to maintain the team’s vitality.

For instance, this summer, although they only signed Chamakh and Squillaci, they also let go of a batch of older players like Gallas, Senderos, Campbell, and Silvestre.

This resulted in a very noticeable youth movement within Arsenal’s squad.

Meanwhile, Manchester City defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home with goals from Yaya Touré and Ibrahimović.

Ancelotti’s team remained as steady as ever.

The most surprising result was Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea, who beat West Ham United 3-1 away.

But Chelsea’s situation was different.

Hiddink was carrying out a youth-oriented reform, but the new season’s schedule had been very favorable to Chelsea.

In their first five rounds, The Blues hadn’t faced a single strong team; all their opponents were newly promoted teams or teams from the bottom half of the table last season. This made them look invincible.

But the real tests were yet to come.

Especially in the sixth and seventh rounds, when they would face Manchester City away and Arsenal at home, respectively.

That would be the true test for Hiddink!

And Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese?

They had already taken down one of the big guns in Liverpool!

…

After the fourth round of the Premier League, the first round of the Champions League group stage immediately followed.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Ajax.

The day before Yang Cheng’s team played, an upset occurred in the Champions League.

Playing at home, Manchester United fielded a full reserve team against Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers.

Before the match, Ferguson had confidently declared that he was very familiar with Scottish Premiership teams and knew how to set up his lineup to beat them.

He expressed full confidence in his starting eleven.

But during the game, the meticulously defensive Glasgow Rangers made Manchester United suffer with their rapid transitions between attack and defense.

The Red Devils failed to break through Glasgow Rangers’ goal at home.

0-0, the two sides settled for a draw!

The defending champions’ Champions League campaign got off to a rocky start.

The British media universally lambasted Ferguson, believing he had been far too arrogant.

Did he think he had a guaranteed win at home before the match even started?

Well, now Glasgow Rangers had taught Manchester United a harsh lesson.

While laughing at Ferguson’s misfortune, Yang Cheng changed his starting lineup overnight.

He had no choice.

With Manchester United having stumbled, it would be a huge joke if Bayswater Chinese also slipped up.

Besides, Manchester United had a match against Liverpool on the weekend.

Bayswater Chinese’s weekend opponent was The Baggies, West Bromwich Albion.

In the end, Yang Cheng chose to proceed steadily and surely.

In the thirty-first minute of the first half, Marcelo opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

In the second half, Modrić assisted a goal by Robert Lewandowski.

Yang Cheng still implemented some squad rotation, resting players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, but the team’s overall strength remained solid.

These days, the Champions League was really tough.

The Premier League was even tougher!

…

On the afternoon of September 18th, the fifth round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese faced West Bromwich Albion in an away game.

Just fifteen minutes into the match, a goal from Robert Lewandowski gave Bayswater Chinese an early lead.

This made everyone think that another big win was on the cards.

But in the fifty-first minute of the second half, during a corner kick defense, West Bromwich Albion’s centre-back Olsson scored with a header, successfully leveling the score.

However, a mere eight minutes later, a goal from Gareth Bale put them ahead once more.

And Thiago Silva, who had just made an error in defending against Olsson, scored with a header from a set piece in the sixty-ninth minute, breaking through West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese comfortably defeated West Bromwich Albion away from home, securing three points.

After the match, The Baggies’ head coach Roberto Di Matteo told reporters that his team had briefly seen hope for a draw, but Gareth Bale’s goal at the crucial moment widened the gap again.

“The joy of our goal lasted only eight minutes.”

Di Matteo stated that the new season’s Bayswater Chinese was indeed very powerful.

“Yes, the team that came here today wasn’t the strongest Bayswater Chinese. They rotated players in many positions, but they still secured the victory. That’s the difference!”

“We did our best!”

While Bayswater Chinese beat West Bromwich Albion 3-1 away, Arsenal narrowly won 2-1 against The Black Cats, Sunderland, in an away match.

It was a very dangerous win.

Arsenal took the lead early on with a brilliant goal from Fàbregas.

But in the second half, Alexandre Song received a second yellow card and was sent off.

Down a man, Arsenal gradually lost control of the game, but they still managed to score in the seventy-fourth minute from a penalty kick won by Andrei Arshavin.

It wasn’t until the final moments of the match that Darren Bent pulled one back for Sunderland.

The Gunners won, but it was a close call.

The most anticipated match of this round was the Northwest Derby between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Previously, Ferguson had rotated his squad heavily in the Champions League to prepare for the derby, which resulted in a home draw against Glasgow Rangers, earning him ridicule from the media and blame from Manchester United fans.

And in this match, Manchester United indeed had a tough time against a Liverpool side that was defending with all its might.

It wasn’t until the forty-second minute that Berbatov scored the opener for Manchester United, assisted by Ryan Giggs.

After the break, in the fifty-ninth minute, Berbatov scored again with a header from a Robben cross, beating Buffon once more.

This made Yang Cheng, who was watching the live broadcast, feel incredibly “indignant”!

“Why does Buffon only play so well against us?”

Of course, he was joking.

Buffon had already made an excellent save in the first half.

In the sixty-fourth minute, an assist from O’Shea allowed Berbatov to complete his hat-trick.

Everything seemed to be following a script for a comprehensive Manchester United victory.

But the unpredictable nature of football soon revealed itself.

In the seventy-fourth minute, a through ball from Joe Cole sent Torres into the box. He broke past Vidić and slotted the ball past Edwin van der Sar, pulling one back for Liverpool.

Just six minutes later, another through ball from Joe Cole found Suárez at the edge of the penalty area. He was brought down by Manchester United defender O’Shea, and Gerrard blasted the resulting free kick directly into the net.

3-2!

The tables had suddenly turned!

Liverpool, riding the momentum, launched a frantic counter-attack.

By this point, the Manchester United players were beginning to tire.

Mancini made successive substitutions.

Especially with the introduction of Mario Balotelli.

At that moment, Liverpool had a full three forwards on their front line.

The Reds’ furious comeback was reminiscent of the tenacious, iron-willed team from Istanbul in 2005.

Manchester United, on the other hand, was in disarray, retreating in defeat.

In the ninety-second minute, a long pass from Aquilani found Mario Balotelli, who had sprinted to the penalty spot. He headed the ball into the goal guarded by Edwin van der Sar.

The Italian centre-forward excitedly ran off the pitch, letting out a beast-like roar.

3-3!

This battle at Old Trafford was an exhilarating one.

It showed everyone the passion of the Premier League.

In the words of Liverpool club legend Alan Hansen: “This is the spirit that belongs only to Liverpool!”

That was right.

To come back and level the score after being three goals down, recreating the miracle of Istanbul, Liverpool’s team truly had a different kind of DNA imprinted in their blood!

But Ferguson’s team also revealed some worrying signs.

Especially the second-half collapse.

Almost everyone believed that Ferguson’s team urgently needed a rebuild.

“Today’s Manchester United is a spent force!”

“Last season’s Champions League title seems to have drained all of Manchester United’s energy!”

However, at the post-match press conference, Ferguson still refused to accept the outside criticism, insisting that Manchester United would turn things around soon.

However, The Sun, known for its transfer news, revealed that Manchester United had been keeping an eye on some young players in the transfer market and had even planned to increase their signings this summer.

“But Ferguson held back, citing the currently inflated prices of players.”

The Sun revealed that Manchester United had recently been scouting Palermo’s Javier Pastore in Serie A, nicknamed the “Argentinian Kaká.”

The Argentine international had made a big impression since moving to Serie A from Club Atlético Huracán last summer.

At the time, his transfer fee was only five million pounds.

Now, Palermo was not opposed to a transfer, but their asking price for Pastore was as high as forty million pounds.

This was a price Ferguson simply couldn’t stomach.

Besides Manchester United, teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich were also eyeing Pastore.

This kept the “Argentinian Kaká’s” price tag high.

In the final two matches of the fifth round, Manchester City defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 away, with goals from Carlos Tevez and Yaya Touré.

Chelsea, on the other hand, thrashed newly promoted team Blackpool 4-0 at home.

After this round, Chelsea would face two consecutive key battles.

…

Midweek, in the third round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted the third-tier Milton Keynes Dons.

Speaking of which, Milton Keynes Dons has intricate ties to the old “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon.

In fact, to a certain extent, Milton Keynes Dons is the true successor to the Crazy Gang legacy.

Back then, “The Crazy Gang” Wimbledon had no home stadium, their results weren’t great, and they had financial issues. So they moved from London to Milton Keynes, merging and reorganizing with the local Milton Keynes club.

Today, the team is still in the third-tier League One.

Hosting the match, Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve team.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Paul Pogba and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and De Bruyne.

De Bruyne still had excellent speed at this point and could play in any position across the front line—left, center, or right.

Even on the wing, he had very good dribbling ability.

Yang Cheng also wanted to use this match to see if the Belgian duo of Hazard and De Bruyne could work, and just how effective they could be.

The match felt more like a one-sided attacking drill for Bayswater Chinese.

Milton Keynes Dons managed occasional counter-attacks, but they posed little threat.

However, Bayswater Chinese’s attack never quite clicked.

It wasn’t until the twenty-fourth minute that left-back Ryan Bertrand made an overlapping run and combined with Hazard.

Hazard scored from inside the box, opening the account for Bayswater Chinese.

Just two minutes later, it was again a forward run and cross from Ryan Bertrand on the left that set up Giroud for a successful header.

2-0!

Another two minutes passed, and Aaron Ramsey found the back of the net again.

The attack was once again orchestrated from the team’s left flank.

In just six minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored three goals.

Ryan Bertrand continuously initiated attacks, not only providing two assists but also creating the third goal.

The English left-back’s performances were getting better and better.

But after scoring three quick goals, Bayswater Chinese’s attack stalled again.

This was mainly due to a lack of fluency in their play.

The midfield trio of Pogba, Javi Martínez, and Aaron Ramsey, while balanced in attack and defense, lacked the finesse needed for organizing and creating attacks.

“If Pogba and Aaron Ramsey play together, having Matić behind them might be more effective,” Brian Kidd suggested.

Nemanja Matić started his career as a number 10 attacking midfielder and possessed good organizational and playmaking abilities.

Although Javi Martínez was also a midfielder and had played as a number 10, he wasn’t cut out for organizing and creating.

Yang Cheng agreed with Brian Kidd’s assessment.

But for now, he didn’t want to disrupt the midfield combination of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić.

These three midfielders complemented each other very well, and all possessed outstanding passing abilities.

Nemanja Matić’s passing was even better than Casemiro’s, who played the holding role in the “Ceremony Trio” of Yang Cheng’s previous life.

So, for now, Yang Cheng was putting these three midfielders together, letting them gel and quickly build chemistry.

As for the cup competitions, Yang Cheng wasn’t particularly worried.

The first half ended 3-0.

In the second half, Yang Cheng adjusted the midfield.

De Bruyne moved to the center to play as a right central midfielder, while Aaron Ramsey moved to the right wing.

Both were versatile players.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng gave them the freedom to play as they saw fit.

But the effect was still not very good.

In the sixtieth minute, Yang Cheng brought on Harry Kane for Giroud.

Then, in the eightieth minute, Pogba drove forward with the ball and completed a one-two pass with Hazard in the left channel outside the penalty area.

The young French midfielder played a through ball into the left side of the box.

Harry Kane shot first-time without trapping the ball, finding the net. 4-0!

This was also the last goal of the match.

Bayswater Chinese won a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons at home!

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with this result.

But the team did indeed expose many problems.

For example, De Bruyne was not yet the world-renowned passer from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Although Aaron Ramsey’s performances were improving, he was still not up to the task of being the core playmaker.

Of course, given the talent of these young players, these were not major issues that couldn’t be fixed with more practice.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, didn’t Pogba play as the core midfielder for France in the World Cup?

In Yang Cheng’s mind, Pogba’s best position was left central midfielder, or even an inside-left forward.

…

While Bayswater Chinese secured a 4-0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons at home, the League Cup saw three upsets.

The first was Chelsea, who lost 3-4 at home to Newcastle.

This was a minor upset.

Liverpool hosted Northampton Town, a team from the fourth-tier League Two.

As it turned out, The Reds, fielding a full reserve team, couldn’t break through Northampton’s defense.

After ninety minutes, the teams went into extra time, and the score remained 0-0.

Ultimately, Mancini’s team lost 4-6 to Northampton in the penalty shootout.

After the match, the renowned Italian manager was criticized by the more than twenty thousand Liverpool fans who had come to the stadium.

After all, no fan wants to pay for a ticket to watch their favorite team lose.

Especially to a fourth-tier team.

Coincidentally, Manchester City also fielded their reserves and lost 1-2 away to West Bromwich Albion.

When Yang Cheng heard this news, his first reaction was surprise.

Then, he realized that this was all part of the plan.

Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool were all focusing their energy and resources on the league.

Manchester City also had the Champions League to contend with.

Under these circumstances, they simply didn’t care about the League Cup.

In fact, it wasn’t just them; wasn’t Yang Cheng the same?

He also fielded a full reserve team.

The only difference was that Bayswater Chinese’s reserve team was still quite strong.

With three major teams suddenly eliminated, the League Cup seemed particularly deserted.

…

Weekend, Premier League Matchday 6.

The headline match of this round was scheduled for noon on September 25th, broadcast live globally: Manchester City versus Chelsea at home.

Currently, the only two teams in the Premier League to maintain a five-game winning streak were Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.

But unlike Yang Cheng’s team, which had already faced Liverpool, Chelsea’s five opponents so far had all been lower-ranked teams. This led everyone to question Chelsea’s seemingly unstoppable run.

Now, facing Manchester City was Hiddink’s team’s chance to prove themselves.

In this crucial match, Ancelotti continued with his 4-3-2-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Lúcio, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: A trio of holding midfielders with Gareth Barry, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré, with David Silva and Kaká in front of them;

Forward: Ibrahimović.

Hiddink also fielded a full-strength lineup, opting for a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Alex, Terry, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Mikel in the holding role, with Sneijder and Essien in the center;

Forwards: Malouda, Drogba, and Eto’o.

Lampard was out with an injury.

From the first whistle, both teams set a high tempo, immediately engaging in a fast-paced battle of attack and defense.

Chelsea’s tactic this season was somewhat like a Roman phalanx in battle.

Shield bearers at the front, charging forward with great force once the battle began.

They were always able to suppress opponents with their collective coordination, speed in transition, and physical strength.

This worked because they had only faced teams from the middle and lower parts of the table.

So, they easily gained the upper hand.

But in Manchester, when Hiddink’s Roman phalanx charged forward, their shield bearers crashed into Ancelotti’s shield bearers.

After the clash, they found themselves evenly matched.

The entire first half was incredibly fierce, but also quite dull.

Both sides did an excellent job of nullifying each other, but failed to produce any spectacular attacks.

As the Sky Sports commentator put it, the most exciting part was the up-close physical battle between the two titans, Drogba and Lúcio!

In the twenty-seventh minute, Drogba tackled Lúcio, and the Ivorian then used his body to hold off Lúcio before passing back to Sneijder.

Sneijder made a late run and shot from distance, but it was blocked out for a corner by Giorgio Chiellini.

The real threat came from the subsequent corner kick, where Ivanović’s header hit the crossbar.

This sent a chill down the spines of the Manchester City fans at the City of Manchester Stadium.

But in the thirty-seventh minute of the first half, Manchester City quickly responded in kind.

Yaya Touré made a sudden forward run, receiving a brilliant pass from Kaká. From outside the thirty-meter area, he dribbled past three Chelsea defenders in the midfield and defense, entered the penalty area, and delivered a low pass.

Ibrahimović, marked by Terry, controlled the ball and shot, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity, and Čech smothered the ball.

The Swedish centre-forward always seemed to falter in crucial moments!

Ultimately, the first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Sky Sports’ assessment of the first half was: “Highly tactical, with both sides executing their plans perfectly.”

The match was intense but lacked excitement.

Both Ancelotti and Hiddink delivered performances of high tactical quality.

The second half largely followed the same pattern, with both teams fighting fiercely.

It wasn’t until the sixty-ninth minute, after Ancelotti made a substitution, that David Silva tackled the ball from Sneijder and passed it diagonally to Kaká.

This immediately created a 3-on-3 situation up front.

Kaká, Ibrahimović, and substitute Carlos Tevez against Chelsea’s Terry, Alex, and Ashley Cole.

In the end, Kaká successfully distributed the ball, and Tevez’s low shot went through Alex’s legs and into the goal guarded by Čech.

1-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Ancelotti’s team defeated Chelsea 1-0, thanks to the goal from Carlos Tevez.

…

Chelsea lost!

But the match in Manchester caused a huge stir worldwide.

Although the match itself wasn’t spectacular, it was incredibly intense.

And the sheer number of stars involved was staggering.

Almost every player was a household name.

Coupled with the convenient timing of the match, fans all over the world were glued to their screens.

This battle at the City of Manchester Stadium once again ignited the Premier League’s market appeal.

Subsequently, Arsenal narrowly defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at home.

Wenger’s team also faced stubborn resistance from their opponents.

The Baggies were certainly no pushovers!

Mancini’s Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-1 at home.

As for Manchester United, they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 away at Bolton.

Ferguson’s team was undeniably having problems.

Especially now, with the Premier League becoming more and more competitive, if Manchester United didn’t make adjustments soon, they would be in danger.

With Chelsea suffering their first defeat of the season, all eyes turned to another match the following day.

Bayswater Chinese hosting Wigan Athletic.

Yang Cheng once again fielded a full-strength team.

Before the match, he had vowed to beat Wigan Athletic to maintain their winning streak and defend their position as league leaders.

Twenty-one minutes into the game, Nemanja Matić delivered a wonderful pass, and Gareth Bale scored for the team.

After the break, first Modrić provided an assist, then Theo Walcott crossed from the right.

In the end, Gareth Bale completed a hat-trick, helping the team secure a 3-0 home win against Wigan Athletic.

As Yang Cheng had wished, the team defeated their opponents without too much trouble, continuing to lead the league table.

At the same time, in six league matches, Bayswater Chinese had scored twenty-four goals and conceded only one.

Such astonishing firepower amazed the entire European football world.

In the front trident, Robert Lewandowski had scored eight goals in six matches, thanks to his earlier five-goal haul.

Gareth Bale, with his hat-trick in this round, had also scored seven goals.

Theo Walcott had contributed four goals as well.

This meant the front trident alone had contributed nineteen goals.

Such attacking prowess was enough for Bayswater Chinese to stand head and shoulders above the rest!

…

Bayswater Chinese’s frantic attacking momentum showed no signs of stopping.

Three days after the sixth round of the Premier League, the team traveled to Slovakia to face MŠK Žilina away.

For this match, Yang Cheng made significant rotations.

On one hand, it was an away game; on the other, the opponent was not particularly strong.

But to everyone’s surprise, the match went so smoothly.

Just twelve minutes in, Giroud beat the offside trap, received a chipped diagonal pass from Rakitić in the left channel, chested the ball down on the right side of the penalty area, and fired it into Žilina’s goal.

1-0!

In the twenty-first minute, after a series of dribbles and breakthroughs on the left by Hazard, he played a ball in behind for Giroud, who made a late run and smashed it into the net.

2-0!

The Frenchman scored a brace.

Just three minutes later, Piszczek broke into the box from the right, received a through ball from Aaron Ramsey, and scored again.

3-0!

In the thirty-sixth minute, Di María, after making an unmarked run cutting inside, received a brilliant pass from Hazard on the right side of the arc and scored with a curling left-footed shot.

4-0!

After the break, Aaron Ramsey scored, assisted by Hazard, breaking through Žilina’s goal.

5-0!

Hazard completed a hat-trick of assists!

Just two minutes later, an assist from Piszczek allowed Giroud to score with a header, completing his hat-trick.

6-0!

And in the sixty-third minute, Harry Kane, who had just come on for Giroud eight minutes earlier, laid the ball back inside the box for Aaron Ramsey to score with a long shot.

7-0!

The Welsh midfielder also scored a brace!

Afterward, both sides intentionally slowed the pace.

Especially Bayswater Chinese.

Already leading by seven goals, the team showed restraint.

After all, this was an away game.

What Yang Cheng hadn’t expected was that the opponent would be so vulnerable at home.

This was probably related to their desire to score from the start.

If they had simply defended with all their might, scoring would not have been so easy.

Especially Giroud, who actually scored a hat-trick in the Champions League. Who would have believed it?

…

When the rotated team returned from an away game with a 7-0 thrashing, it immediately caused a huge stir in London and across England.

But Yang Cheng had no time to celebrate.

Upon returning to London, they immediately faced the seventh round of the Premier League against Everton.

Moyes’ team set up in a defensive 4-2-3-1 formation for the away game.

Although Yang Cheng was prepared for this, they still couldn’t effectively break through the opponent’s goal.

It wasn’t until the fifty-fourth minute that they won a set piece in the attacking third.

Modrić provided the assist, and Kompany scored with a header, opening the scoring for the team.

1-0!

And in the ninety-third minute, after a beautiful combination between Marcelo and Gareth Bale on the left, the Brazilian broke into the left side of the box and crossed the ball to the right of the penalty spot.

Theo Walcott made a late run and fired a low shot, once again beating Everton’s goal.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese defeated The Toffees at home!

The results of the other matches in the same round also came in.

Manchester United, fighting on two fronts, continued to perform poorly, drawing 0-0 away at Sunderland.

Ferguson’s case was a classic example of shooting oneself in the foot after making a huge mistake.

Being too arrogant in the first round of the Champions League group stage and drawing with Glasgow Rangers put Manchester United in a difficult position.

Thus, in the second group stage match away at Valencia, Ferguson’s team had to go all out for a win.

This, in turn, affected their league match on the weekend.

Manchester City, also playing in the Champions League, was somewhat affected as well.

Two goals from Ibrahimović and Carlos Tevez helped The Blue Moons secure a 2-1 home victory against Newcastle.

Liverpool, on the other hand, came from behind to win 2-1 against Blackpool at home.

The Reds were also distracted by the Europa League.

The most anticipated match of this round was the headline clash on the second matchday: Chelsea versus Arsenal at home.

Playing at home, Chelsea faced an Arsenal side that seized the initiative. Arsenal started on the front foot, adopting a high-pressing strategy. Chelsea was clearly unprepared and was on the back foot from the start.

Less than a minute into the game, a cross from Sagna on the right found Benzema, who got in front of Alex with a beautiful diving header. The ball deflected off Alex’s leg and into Čech’s goal.

Čech was helpless against such a goal.

1-0!

The Gunners had a dream start.

After conceding at home, Chelsea immediately launched a counter-attack.

The two teams engaged in a fast-paced, end-to-end battle, and the match instantly became very entertaining.

Drogba stepped up at a crucial moment. In the thirty-ninth minute, from the edge of the six-yard box, he scored with an incredible backheel flick, sending the ball past Lloris.

1-1!

Level!

After equalizing, Hiddink’s team reverted to a defensive counter-attacking stance.

But in the end, the Dutchman paid the price for his conservatism.

Wenger insisted on attacking and demanded his team press forward.

In the eightieth minute, a cross from Andrei Arshavin on the left found Benzema, who headed the ball past Čech again.

2-1!

The French centre-forward scored a brace!

After that, Chelsea launched a frantic counter-attack.

In the final ten minutes, the game was almost entirely one-sided, with Chelsea attacking and Arsenal defending.

But in the end, Chelsea couldn’t break through The Gunners’ goal.

1-2!

The Blues lost at home again, suffering their second consecutive defeat!

From an unstoppable five-game winning streak at the start of the season to two consecutive defeats against strong opponents, especially the 1-2 home loss to Arsenal, Hiddink’s Chelsea came under immense pressure.

In the post-match press conference, Hiddink publicly stated that he was willing to take responsibility for the defeat.

The media, in their post-match analysis, criticized Hiddink for being too conservative.

After equalizing, Hiddink did not try to press the advantage but reverted to a defensive counter-attacking mode.

This was still just in the first half.

Hiddink’s explanation was that he didn’t think it was the right time to go head-to-head with Arsenal.

He preferred to save the counter-attack for the second half.

But now, it was too late for any explanation.

In two consecutive clashes between top teams, Chelsea had been defeated.

This was undoubtedly a painful blow for The Blues.

After seven rounds, Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese led the way with a seven-game winning streak, accumulating twenty-one points!

Almost all media and fans sang praises for Bayswater Chinese.

If, at the beginning of the season, everyone was worried that Toni Kroos might be a flash in the pan.

Then, after seven games, everyone could see that Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was operating with increasing skill and fluency.

“He who controls the midfield, controls the world!”

“Yang Cheng has always adhered to this principle.”

“All fans probably remember the ‘devil midfield’ of Modrić, Yaya Touré, and Lassana Diarra, which created Bayswater Chinese’s first peak!”

“It was with this midfield that Yang Cheng swept across European football!”

“But after several transfers and sales, this midfield of Bayswater Chinese has fallen apart. Now, only captain Modrić remains at the club.”

“However, with the rise of Rakitić and Nemanja Matić, and the addition of Javi Martínez, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield has maintained its status as one of Europe’s top teams.”

“This season, we find that with the arrival of Toni Kroos, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield has become strong again, showing extremely potent attacking power and control in both the Premier League and the Champions League.”

“Compared to Bayswater Chinese’s old ‘devil midfield,’ this current midfield might be slightly inferior defensively, but in terms of organizing attacks, passing, distribution, and controlling the tempo, it is far superior.”

“Perhaps, Yang Cheng will create another era of glory with this midfield!”

Bayswater Chinese led the league table with twenty-one points, while Manchester City followed closely with nineteen points.

Ancelotti’s team was becoming more and more stable, with excellent overall performance.

After them was Wenger’s Arsenal, with sixteen points.

Chelsea, having suffered heavy blows in the last two rounds, remained at fifteen points, ranking fourth.

Manchester United and Liverpool both had eleven points, ranking fifth and sixth, respectively.

Judging from the current Premier League situation, Manchester United and Liverpool were undoubtedly the teams with a relatively poor start.

But the two teams were in different situations.

So far, Manchester United had only faced one strong team, Liverpool, and was held to a draw at home.

But Liverpool’s case was different.

This season, The Reds’ schedule could be described as hellish.

From the start of the season, they had already faced Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayswater Chinese, and Manchester United.

In seven rounds, they had played four of the top teams.

Only Chelsea remained.

So, from the current perspective, Liverpool’s situation was actually much better than Manchester United’s.

Even better than Chelsea’s.

The key would be how efficiently Mancini’s team could pick up points against weaker teams.

With three top centre-forwards in Torres, Suárez, and Balotelli, plus stars like Gerrard and Kuyt, Liverpool’s current squad was definitely well-stocked and formidable.

In the post-match press conference after defeating Blackpool, Mancini repeatedly emphasized that Liverpool had endured the toughest schedule in Premier League history.

He was very satisfied that The Reds could still be in the leading pack after seven rounds.

At the same time, he firmly believed that The Reds would deliver a satisfactory performance in the upcoming matches.

“We are still one of the strongest contenders for the title!”

“Any team that underestimates us will eventually be punished!”

Gerrard also stated that The Reds’ morale was very high, and the players were very satisfied with the team’s competitiveness.

“We are more confident than ever!”

Manchester United was not to be outdone.

But the fact that Ferguson’s team had repeatedly dropped points without facing many top teams was undoubtedly very disappointing for The Red Devils’ players.

As The Times put it, “Last season’s Champions League title has made Manchester United lose its hunger.”

“This season’s Red Devils have clearly lost their past thirst for victory!”

However, The Times believed that the international break after the seventh round would undoubtedly provide The Red Devils with a much-needed respite, and Ferguson needed to make adjustments quickly.

“Whether Manchester United can regain their fighting spirit and escape their predicament depends on head coach Ferguson!”

While the outside world was full of confidence in the league-leading Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng himself did not dare to be complacent.

On one hand, Bayswater Chinese was the club most affected by the international break.

On the other hand, after the two-week international break, the team would have to travel to face Arsenal.

Following that was a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk.

It could be said that the schedule was still very tight, and the pressure was immense.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng still maintained a low profile.

When interviewed by the media, Yang Cheng repeatedly stressed that Bayswater Chinese was a favorite to win the title!

As for who would win the championship, it was still too early to say.

…

While the Premier League was on hold again, the Ligue 1 was also paused for the international break.

Between the two international breaks, Ligue 1 also played four rounds.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese, which was fighting on two fronts, OGC Nice only needed to focus on Ligue 1.

The Coupe de France had not yet started; Ligue 1 teams would not have cup competitions until January of next year.

The international break had some impact on Nice, but not a significant one.

After returning, in the fifth round of Ligue 1, Nice defeated Bordeaux 2-1 at home.

But a week later, in the sixth round, Ronald Koeman’s team lost 1-2 away to Sochaux.

This was Nice’s first loss of the season.

Subsequently, at home, Nice drew 2-2 with league leaders Rennes, halting their slide.

But in the eighth round, they drew 0-0 away at Paris Saint-Germain.

Thus, after eight rounds, Nice had four wins, three draws, and one loss, with fifteen points, placing them third in Ligue 1.

Currently, Nice was two points behind league leaders Rennes.

Saint-Étienne had the same number of points as Rennes but was in second place due to goal difference.

After Nice were Lille and Toulouse FC.

Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille were ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.

Looking at the Ligue 1 in September, Ronald Koeman, after a stunning start to the season, had gradually caught the attention of other teams, but his team’s overall performance was still good.

Even the away loss to Sochaux was against a team ranked seventh, even higher than Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille.

But drawing with league leaders Rennes at home and with Paris Saint-Germain away were commendable results.

For this reason, Yang Cheng made a special trip to Nice, France, to meet with Ronald Koeman and to encourage the entire new management team, bringing with him a series of excellent news.

Chapter 211: A Sky-High Sponsorship! The Rise of Nice! The Shock from the Chinese Consortium!

Whether in China or around the world, there are discussions of both the top four and top five leagues.

The difference lies in whether a fan wants to refer to Europe’s top four or top five.

If the ranking of the top four is somewhat controversial, there’s little suspense about who holds the fifth spot in Europe.

The other four leagues would be too embarrassed to compete with Ligue 1 for that title, nor could they win it.

The professional football industry is much like any other, adhering to the 80/20 rule.

Even when broken down into individual leagues, the 80/20 rule still applies.

As Europe’s fifth-best league, especially after the decline of seven-time consecutive champion Lyon, Ligue 1’s influence on the European stage has waned significantly. There was no longer a team that could represent the league in Europe.

A leading team is truly crucial for a league.

With Ligue 1’s influence in sharp decline, its 20 teams faced unprecedented challenges in attracting sponsors.

On one hand, the economic crisis had plunged companies across Europe into difficulty, forcing them to slash their marketing budgets.

When companies reduce their marketing spending, clubs receive less sponsorship money.

On the other hand, Ligue 1’s overall commercial development was severely lacking.

There were many explanations for this: Ligue 1’s influence was weak; the league itself was like a “youth academy” for the top four leagues; although football was the number one sport in France, the French weren’t as fanatical as fans in other countries…

Numerous factors contributed to Ligue 1’s poor overall commercial development.

Curiously, however, despite these many disadvantages, Ligue 1 did not see as many teams with sponsorless shirts as Serie A.

It was a rare sight in the French league.

But a closer look at the chest advertisements on Ligue 1 team kits revealed that they accepted advertisements from anyone.

Betting companies were currently the most common chest sponsors in Ligue 1. Even a strong team like Lille had the logo of some poker company on their chests.

Some smaller teams even had advertisements for local restaurants.

And mind you, this was for the main chest sponsorship slot.

In short, Ligue 1 teams weren’t picky. As long as it was an ad, they were willing to take it, and the price was negotiable.

Another aspect that set Ligue 1 apart from other leagues was the sheer number of advertisements on their kits.

The traditional chest ad, the club crest on the left breast, and the kit sponsor’s logo on the right were all standard.

But they also had ads on the left and right shoulders, left and right cuffs, the back, and even the inner lining.

Basically, if there was a space where an ad could be placed, they would slap one on.

As a result, Ligue 1 jerseys were plastered with logos, looking much like F1 racing suits.

Some might say this is a good thing, since it generates revenue.

But from a commercial perspective, this severely dampened sponsors’ interest.

The density of the ads heavily diluted their commercial value.

Consequently, sponsorship fees in Ligue 1 were not high, and the contract terms were short.

For example, Lyon, Ligue 1’s biggest team and seven-time consecutive champions, currently had a sponsorship deal with Adidas worth ten million euros per year.

That doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

But that was already the absolute peak in Ligue 1.

And Lyon’s chest sponsor was also a poker and gambling website.

The sponsorship amount seemed high, but the contracts were short.

From the chest ad to all the other ad placements, many were signed on a year-to-year basis.

Some clubs even had sponsors who paid upfront, but the club could never collect the full fee.

It was utterly absurd.

Therefore, sponsorship turnover for Ligue 1 teams was extremely frequent.

There were even instances where a team would have one sponsor for the first half of the season and a different one for the second half.

To sum it up, the commercial landscape of Ligue 1 was currently a real mess.

Every club, even the likes of Lyon, was struggling to stay afloat.

Most teams survived by selling players.

Nice was, in fact, in the same boat.

This season, Nice’s shirt was sponsorless.

If Yang Cheng hadn’t acquired the club, Nice would have had to sell players like Rémy to keep the club running.

Even then, they would have been living on a tight budget.

This was why the French Football Federation and the French government welcomed Yang Cheng’s acquisition with open arms.

At the very least, it was a turning point.

It’s good to have a strong backer.

With a powerhouse like Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese supporting them, how could Nice possibly fail?

In fact, everyone from the French government and the French Football Federation to the Nice city council and the other Ligue 1 teams was watching Nice closely.

They wanted to see what Yang Cheng, who had worked wonders in the Premier League, could achieve with Nice.

Could he blaze a new trail for other Ligue 1 clubs?

What changes could the resources of Bayswater Chinese bring to Nice?

On the pitch, Nice had climbed to third place in Ligue 1, and the players they brought in were performing well. This had already earned them external recognition, and everyone now believed in Nice’s improved competitiveness.

But what about the commercial side?

Bayswater Chinese was currently one of the top clubs in European football in terms of revenue, second only to Real Madrid.

What could Yang Cheng bring to Nice, and to Ligue 1?

It was amidst this tense anticipation that Yang Cheng, along with Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and their entourage, once again arrived in Nice in the south of France.

…

Unlike his previous visits to Nice, this one was official.

France, from top to bottom, treated it with great importance.

The Department for Sport sent a key official to Nice to participate in the meetings.

The Nice city government arranged a reception with a level of formality befitting foreign dignitaries.

Mayor Christian Estrosi personally met with Yang Cheng and his team the next day.

The meeting was held at Nice City Hall, a clear sign of the French officials’ high regard for this visit.

During the meeting, Yang Cheng spoke of Ligue 1’s advantages, which was why he valued the league.

As the owner of one of Europe’s most successfully run clubs and the world’s most successful head coach, Yang Cheng believed that Ligue 1’s commercial and competitive potential had not yet been fully unlocked.

He wasn’t just speaking without basis.

“French football has one of the world’s most comprehensive and top-tier youth academy systems. For many years, it has consistently produced high-level players. This in itself is Ligue 1’s greatest asset!”

“The France national team is one of the strongest powerhouses in the world, having nurtured numerous world-class superstars like Zidane, Henry, and Ribéry. Although they all moved to other leagues after reaching a certain level of development, their influence and positive effect on French football are still evident.”

Yang Cheng also mentioned the multiculturalism of French football.

For many years, South American and African players have used Ligue 1 as their first stop in Europe.

This was especially true for Africa.

Numerous French-speaking countries naturally felt a kinship with France.

This held enormous potential.

On the flip side, behind this potential, Ligue 1’s operations were highly problematic.

Despite having so many African players and being the former colonial power for many African nations, Ligue 1’s influence in Africa was very poor.

This reflected a serious lag in Ligue 1’s globalization efforts.

One had to ask, if this was the case even in French-speaking African countries, what about other countries?

Asia and North America were recent hot markets, with almost all major clubs flocking to them.

But Ligue 1 showed no signs of action.

“In the distribution of international broadcasting rights revenue, the share from overseas markets is almost negligible. There is a heavy reliance on the domestic French market.”

“But we all know that in France, fans are not as fanatical as in England, Spain, Italy, or Germany. The elegant French people enjoy football, but they also enjoy other sports and events like cycling and tennis.”

The point Yang Cheng wanted to make was that the very foundation of football in France was not as strong as in the top four leagues.

To support this, Yang Cheng presented a set of data.

In the past 2009/10 season, the total revenue of the 20 Ligue 1 teams was 1.272 billion euros, with a total loss of 345 million euros.

Unlike other leagues, Ligue 1 did not include player transfer income and expenditure in its revenue calculations.

In the 2009/10 season, Ligue 1 made a total profit of 153 million euros in the transfer market.

After accounting for that, the league still had a total loss of 192 million euros.

This was the total loss for all 20 teams; the specific loss for each individual club was hard to say.

Yang Cheng had come very well-prepared this time.

After all, this was an official visit.

He wasn’t just representing Bayswater Chinese, but also the Yang’s Group behind it.

Faced with such detailed data and market research, the French side found it difficult to refute his points.

Some of the data wasn’t even known to the French Department for Sport or the French Football Federation.

This was quite preposterous.

When it was Yang Cheng’s turn to offer suggestions, he was very candid.

First, he believed that when France was discussing its current proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy, professional leagues should be excluded.

On this point, Yang Cheng cited the example of the Premier League.

Under the double pressure of increased taxes and a devalued pound sterling, Premier League clubs were also in a very difficult situation.

And this was with the Premier League having a global market and an astonishing domestic market.

If the same were applied to Ligue 1, it would basically be finished.

At present, foreign investors like those behind PSG and Monaco had not yet arrived, so Yang Cheng’s words were absolutely pertinent and correct.

“This will undoubtedly drag down the entirety of French professional football!”

The second suggestion Yang Cheng put forward was for the French Department for Sport or the French Professional Football League to take the lead in establishing a Ligue 1 brand committee, forming a professional team to handle unified global promotion.

This was what the Premier League was currently doing.

In terms of globalization, Yang Cheng believed they should pursue two paths.

Uphold local characteristics, build on French regional brands, and tell compelling local stories.

For Nice, the Mediterranean and the Blue Coast were its most brilliant and moving brands and stories.

They needed to reform internally, push for the separate sale of broadcasting rights to attract more international broadcasters to bid.

Combined with the internet and new media, they could attract fans from all over the world.

While maintaining local characteristics, they must also actively expand into North America and Asia, and use linguistic and cultural ties to broaden their fan base in the Middle East and Africa.

If the insightful analysis and pertinent suggestions that hit on current problems were the substance Yang Cheng brought to the table, his final suggestion contained a bit of a personal agenda.

“The third recommendation I have is that most stadium facilities in Ligue 1 are severely outdated, which greatly affects match-day revenue and the fans’ viewing experience.”

Yang Cheng never spoke without basis; he had the data.

Over the past six or seven seasons, the average attendance in Ligue 1 had hovered around 21,500.

But last season, the average attendance dropped to 20,239.

This season, it was continuing to fall.

If the average wasn’t precise enough, he could use Nice as an example.

After returning to Ligue 1 in the 2002/03 season, Nice’s average attendance was 13,494, with a total of 256,381 fans attending matches.

It’s worth noting that the capacity of Nice’s Stade Municipal du Ray was 17,415.

By the 2003/04 season, these numbers had dropped to 11,912 and 226,321, respectively.

In the following years, Nice’s average attendance remained above 11,000.

Then, in the 2008/09 season, it dropped to 10,622.

By the 2009/10 season, it had plummeted below ten thousand, to just 9,198.

In all of Ligue 1, only three teams had an average attendance of less than ten thousand: Le Mans FC, Monaco, and Nice.

Coincidentally, the stadiums of these three clubs were all quite old.

Nice’s Stade Municipal du Ray was built in 1927, renovated in 1997, and again in 2004.

But it was no longer adequate.

Le Mans FC’s Stade Léon-Bollée was built in 1906.

Monaco’s Stade Louis II was built in 1939.

Everyone knew that Monaco’s total population was just over thirty thousand, so no matter what they did, the attendance would be limited.

Leaving Monaco aside, Le Mans’ new stadium, which cost over 100 million euros, was nearly complete and expected to open in January 2011.

And Nice?

There was no sign of a new stadium yet.

This season, Nice’s average home attendance was just over 8,000.

“According to a survey conducted by a third-party agency commissioned by our club, a significant reason fans are unwilling to attend matches is the outdated stadium facilities.”

Yang Cheng’s personal agenda was subtly delivered.

“Ligue 1 ticket prices aren’t expensive, but the old stadium facilities are severely dragging down attendance, and this has become a very serious problem.”

Outdated facilities here referred not only to the stadium itself but also its location.

Take Nice’s Stade Municipal du Ray, for example.

The location was good, right in the city center, but the problem was that the surrounding transportation was not convenient.

Trams and buses could get you there, but it was extremely inconvenient for cars.

Back in 1927 when the stadium was built, no one had considered these things.

Christian Estrosi, 55, was a Nice native. He entered politics in the 1980s and was elected mayor of Nice in 2008.

Before his political career, he was a very successful motorcycle rally driver, winning multiple French championships.

In the past two years since becoming mayor, he had been dedicated to promoting the development of his hometown.

Football was undoubtedly an area he valued greatly.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Estrosi expressed his gratitude.

“This has given us a deeper understanding of our hometown team, and at the same time, it has shown us the direction for future development.”

Estrosi told Yang Cheng that the Nice city government had a very clear plan to vigorously support the development of OGC Nice, hoping the club could remain in Ligue 1 and become the brightest pearl on the Blue Coast.

On behalf of the city government and the citizens of Nice, Estrosi expressed his thanks for the development and progress Nice had made this season with the support of Bayswater Chinese.

As France’s fifth-largest city, it was a great regret that Nice had never had a top Ligue 1 team.

He stated that the city government hoped to take advantage of France hosting the European Championship to build a modern football stadium on the western outskirts of the city.

At the same time, that area would be a key region for Nice’s development and investment attraction in the coming years.

Yang Cheng had already learned about this project through a report from Nice’s CEO, Martin Harrison.

To put it simply, they planned to develop a new district on the western periphery of the old city.

The trouble was, the new district was located in a river valley between two mountains, separated from the old city by the mountains, making it impossible to connect them into a single area.

But Xia Qing had commissioned a study and concluded that everything had its pros and cons.

The disadvantage of the new district was, of course, its distance from the city center, but the advantages were also very clear.

Trams, bus stations, and all the necessary infrastructure would be there.

Furthermore, it was right next to the motorway.

This would be extremely convenient for fans driving to the games.

By moving out of the city center, and with the help of the motorway network, Nice could become a football club not just for Nice, but for surrounding cities as well.

For instance, Èze, Antibes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, and even Cannes.

Cannes had its own professional club, but it had been languishing in the third division for a long time.

Being located in the old city with poor transport links severely restricted Nice’s growth.

By moving to the western suburbs, they could use the motorway network to significantly expand their catchment area.

This wasn’t just baseless speculation from Yang Cheng.

In his previous life, after Nice moved its stadium, the attendance jumped from seven or eight thousand to over twenty thousand.

Not to mention, the plans for the new district also included facilities like Ikea, large supermarkets, and shopping centers.

Since Nice had already reached an internal agreement on this, Yang Cheng was, of course, strongly in favor.

Not only did he support moving the stadium, but Yang Cheng also announced that Nice’s training ground would also be relocated to the western suburbs, near the new stadium. He asked the city government to help select a site, with an estimated investment of 15 million euros.

“We hope to build the most comprehensive, top-tier, and advanced training facility in all of France right here in Nice, to cultivate more outstanding talent for French football!”

Mayor Estrosi and his colleagues exchanged glances, their eyes shining.

This was what they were after.

A 15-million-euro investment!

The reason they had given Yang Cheng such a grand reception was, ultimately, to attract investment and to latch onto the brand of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Did Yang Cheng not know what they were thinking?

No, he knew very well.

This was also what he wanted.

On this trip, he not only intended to sign the contract for the 15-million-euro training facility project with the Nice city government, but also to further demonstrate his value.

With key officials from the Department for Sport, the French Football Federation, the French Professional Football League, and the Nice City Council all present, Yang Cheng dropped another bombshell.

“After more than two months of arduous negotiations, we have officially secured several sponsorship contracts for Nice.”

“Starting next season, Germany’s Puma will replace Italy’s Lotto as Nice’s kit sponsor.”

Estrosi and the others were all shocked to hear this.

This was a major sponsor!

“An annual sponsorship fee of 5 million euros!”

A murmur went through the room, but it was still under control.

Five million euros was indeed a lot, especially for a team like Nice.

This fully demonstrated the commercial operational capabilities of Bayswater Chinese.

Without Bayswater Chinese’s involvement, how could Nice possibly have signed such a major sponsor?

Let alone an annual fee of five million euros.

But before everyone could react, Yang Cheng announced again that starting next season, Nice had officially signed a sponsorship contract with French telecom giant Orange. The chest advertising space had been sold to the telecom giant for an annual fee of five million euros.

This time, everyone present was completely stunned.

Orange was a telecom giant. They were sponsoring Nice?

And for five million euros a year?

It felt like a dream.

“Additionally, we have sold the jersey sleeve advertisement to the French home appliance retailer Boulanger for an annual fee of 2 million euros. Their physical stores are all over France, and they have been actively expanding overseas and online in recent years.”

“Furthermore, the famous French health insurance company MUTUELLES DU SOLEIL will become a global partner of Nice for 1 million euros per year.”

“The famous French sports retailer INTERSPORT will also become a global partner of Nice for 1 million euros per year.”

“All of the above sponsorships are for a term of five years!”

Yang Cheng’s final sentence made everyone in the room gasp.

Five years!

In Ligue 1, aside from kit sponsorships signed by giants like Lyon and Marseille, who ever got such long contracts?

And crucially, these were all major sponsors!

Estrosi did a quick calculation and immediately understood.

An annual sponsorship income of 14 million euros.

Plus the 15-million-euro investment in the training facility.

This was Yang Cheng’s welcoming gift to him!

It was also a display of the strength of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Only with a powerhouse like Bayswater Chinese backing them, and with Bayswater Chinese’s endorsement, would these major sponsors be willing to sign such contracts with Nice.

Each individual sponsorship fee might not seem astronomically high, but in Ligue 1, these were figures that only top teams like Lyon and Marseille could command.

Moreover, the five-year term provided much-needed stability.

Just look at Marseille; their sponsors changed almost every year.

Omar Berrada then chimed in at the perfect moment, stating that due to the very short timeframe for operations—just over two months—the commercial team hadn’t had enough time, so this was all they had for now.

But he believed that in the near future, as Nice’s results improved, their commercial development would also see a rising tide lift all boats.

This was mainly to help Yang Cheng show off.

But it truly made everyone, including Estrosi, see him in a new light.

As expected of one of the most commercially savvy powerhouse clubs in world football.

In just over two months, they could whip up 14 million euros in sponsorship revenue for Nice.

This meant that starting next season, Nice would no longer be operating at a loss!

Of course, that didn’t include the investment in the training facility.

…

“Mr. Yang, that was quite a big surprise you gave us!”

After the formal meeting concluded, Estrosi specifically invited Yang Cheng for a private chat.

Many things were not convenient to discuss in front of the people from the Department for Sport and the Football Association.

“We just hope to earn your trust. We are definitely not here for speculation or to make a quick profit. We hope to operate Nice for the long term and turn it into our most important partner in French football.”

Estrosi was clearly not surprised by this.

He knew a thing or two about the football world.

The Pozzo family was a well-known example.

The consortium that acquired Tottenham Hotspur also held stakes in clubs in multiple countries.

In short, he understood the trend.

And Yang Cheng had shown him both the operational capability of the Bayswater Chinese team and their determination to manage Nice for the long haul.

“To be frank with you, Nice is our city’s only professional club. If we build a new stadium, we will definitely consider letting Nice use it in the future.”

Yang Cheng’s smile faded, and he nodded solemnly.

He had done so much, all in anticipation of Estrosi playing this card.

“Before, we were a little worried about Nice, but now…”

Estrosi smiled and waved his hand, clearly relieved.

“The idea for a new stadium can be traced back to the last century. Even before France successfully bid for the 1998 World Cup, we were actively applying to host it.”

“But unfortunately, cities like Lens, FC Nantes, Montpellier, Saint-Étienne, and Toulouse FC were selected, and we failed.”

“In 2002, we proposed building a brand-new football stadium again, but as you can see, year after year, we never succeeded, right up until now.”

Recounting this history, Estrosi was clearly touched by the memories.

Although he wasn’t the mayor of Nice at the time, he already held important positions in the Nice city council and government.

And he was a Nice native.

“This time, we’ve pulled a lot of strings hoping to secure the right to host the 2016 European Championship. But according to the information I’ve received from Paris, the government’s financial support is also very limited, at most 70% of the stadium construction budget.”

In other words, the remaining 30% would have to be raised by the local government itself.

But even if they only needed to come up with 30%, it was still a considerable sum.

Yang Cheng immediately understood what Estrosi was getting at.

The Nice city government couldn’t afford that much money either.

If they had the money, they would have started long ago.

Yang Cheng’s side had actually done the math long ago.

For example, when Manchester City leased the City of Manchester Stadium from the Manchester City Council, they not only had to give a share of the ticket revenue but also had to bear the cost of over 30 million pound sterling for stadium renovations themselves.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, West Ham United got a great deal after the 2012 Olympics, securing the rights to use the London Bowl, but they also had to cover part of the renovation costs.

Not only that, they only had usage rights for matches. For the rest of the time, the stadium did not belong to West Ham United, and they didn’t even have the right to modify the interior spaces.

That was why Premier League teams at the time often complained about West Ham United’s poor pitch conditions.

Because right before a match, the venue might have just hosted an exhibition or some other event.

“We would be very happy to participate in a project that benefits the citizens of Nice. We are also willing to bear a portion of the stadium construction costs, but we hope to obtain the usage rights for the entire stadium.”

“All usage rights!” Yang Cheng emphasized with a stronger tone.

He also explained his intention for doing so, which was to facilitate the development of commercial spaces and internal renovations.

This was a very important way to generate match-day revenue.

Estrosi understood. “But the ownership of the stadium belongs to the city government.”

“We can sign a long-term lease, for example, for 99 years, and the lease can authorize us to carry out internal renovations.”

Estrosi was also clear about Yang Cheng’s intentions.

He wasn’t particularly concerned about it.

Right now, the most important thing for Nice was to secure the right to host the 2016 European Championship.

And that required a new stadium.

All cities applying to build a new stadium had to face the problem of what to do with the stadium after the European Championship.

OGC Nice was the only option.

Both sides were well aware of this.

On this point, Yang Cheng and Estrosi exchanged views.

The Nice city government hoped that the remaining 30% would be split fifty-fifty between them.

But there was no way Yang Cheng would agree to that.

The design for this stadium dated back to 2002, but after being recently revived, it had been re-examined by a design firm. The total investment was estimated at 250 million euros.

15% of that would be 37.5 million euros.

Yang Cheng wasn’t a fool.

The most his side was willing to offer was 10%, which was 25 million euros.

But after the European Championship, all usage rights for the stadium, including naming and venue leasing, would be handed over to OGC Nice for operation under a 99-year lease.

As for the rent, it would be a symbolic fee, just like the current Stade Municipal du Ray.

However, all venue maintenance costs would be borne by Nice.

This was clearly within a range that was barely acceptable to both sides.

Thus, Yang Cheng and Estrosi reached an agreement.

…

After the meeting at City Hall, Yang Cheng and his group departed from the city center and headed west along the Blue Coast.

After reaching the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, they turned back north.

Soon, they arrived at the site for the new stadium, Saint-Isidore.

On both sides of the river valley were rolling hills…

Uh, alright, if this were in China, they would be small hills at best.

In the middle of the hills was the Var River, flowing from north to south, connecting to the Mediterranean Sea.

The famous A8 motorway ran east from here, through a tunnel, skirting the northern part of old Nice, past Monaco, and all the way east into Italy.

The A8 motorway followed the Var River south, turned east at the airport, and continued all the way to Marseille.

The stadium site was located at the right-angle bend where the A8 motorway, a national road, and the Var River converged.

There was a motorway exit here.

Martin Harrison told Yang Cheng that they had already communicated with the Nice city government; the club’s training facility would be best located north of the airport, where there was also a motorway exit.

This location would be extremely convenient for traveling north to the stadium for matches or south to the airport.

Yang Cheng was reminded of a funny incident.

Before he transmigrated, he had read a news report in the French media about a Nice player who, after breaking up with his girlfriend, drove onto the A8 motorway and threatened to jump from a hundred-meter-high motorway bridge, even alerting the police.

He had found it strange at the time.

Now, after seeing the site in person, he had to admit, it was rather convenient.

The hills around Saint-Isidore were actually residential areas for villas, densely packed with luxury homes.

But Martin Harrison told Yang Cheng that the wealthiest people in Nice, and even in all of France, lived in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, east of the old city of Nice.

This peninsula was entirely filled with the most high-end villas. As early as the 19th century, it had attracted a large number of wealthy British individuals, aristocrats, and European political and business elites.

Of the 500-plus villas on the peninsula, the cheapest was no less than seven million euros.

“I think we should be involved in the planning of the new stadium, and build a number of high-end VIP boxes specifically to serve these wealthy individuals from all over the world,” Martin Harrison proposed.

“Monaco to the east has an old stadium, and Cannes to the west doesn’t have a top-division team. Yet, the entire south coast attracts countless celebrities, wealthy individuals, and entertainment stars from all over the world every year.”

“Once our new stadium is built, it will be the only football stadium that can provide services for them!”

This Englishman was a graduate of the University of London and worked in business management before joining Bayswater Chinese, where he became Omar Berrada’s right-hand man.

This time, when Yang Cheng needed someone to take charge of Nice, Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada recommended him.

On one hand, it provided a promotion path for talent within the group.

On the other hand, Martin Harrison truly had vision, immediately grasping the key information.

Four million tourists visited Nice annually, and if you included Cannes and Monaco, the number was much higher.

Not to mention those who came to the south coast for vacation and to spend the winter.

“I’ll leave this matter to you,” Yang Cheng said to Martin Harrison with a smile.

He never hesitated to praise capable people, and even offered generous material rewards.

“The Group has given you a good start. Now, work hard. I’ll be waiting to hear your good news!”

Martin Harrison was visibly excited and nodded repeatedly.

For him, this was also a crucial turning point in his career.

If he succeeded, he would have plenty of leverage, whether he stayed at Nice, was promoted within the group, or moved to another club.

…

Yang Cheng also made a special trip to the old training ground.

The facilities were indeed terrible.

Not many of Nice’s players were called up to the national team, so most of them were still training daily.

Yang Cheng’s arrival was a huge and exciting surprise for them.

This was the head coach of Bayswater Chinese!

If Yang Cheng took a liking to them, they could soar to the top and join Bayswater Chinese directly.

Yang Cheng first met with the players and praised their performance this season.

He also announced the club’s new commercial sponsorships.

The players were stunned.

But at the same time, they were all very excited.

Because this meant that Nice would be relatively stable for the next few years.

The benefits of having a strong backer like Bayswater Chinese were beginning to show.

Yang Cheng hoped they would focus on their games.

“I promise you, as long as you get results, the club will absolutely not let you down!”

Matuidi was the team’s biggest star, chosen by Ronald Koeman as the team captain, and had “transferred” from Bayswater Chinese. Yang Cheng also gave him some encouragement.

Then there was N’Golo Kanté.

So far, this player had yet to deliver a consistently satisfying performance for Yang Cheng, but Yang Cheng had high hopes for him.

Yang Cheng also made a special point to see Mbappé and Dembélé.

But it was just a brief chat with the youngsters to make his presence felt.

As for Ronald Koeman, Yang Cheng was satisfied with the team’s performance this season, but there were also areas for improvement.

Ronald Koeman was a rather proud person, so Yang Cheng didn’t say it directly, but instead used subtle hints to get his point across.

For example, increasing squad rotation, giving players more trust, and letting them get involved in the attack.

Sometimes Yang Cheng found it strange.

Why were all Dutch people so stubborn?

Yang Cheng’s arrival brought a hefty gift to Nice and also a pleasant surprise to French football.

Especially Nice’s new approach to attracting sponsors.

As Nice’s CEO, Martin Harrison gave an exclusive interview to Le Figaro the day after Yang Cheng and his group left.

The interview touched on Nice’s sponsorship strategy.

Martin Harrison stated that he found it incomprehensible that many Ligue 1 teams were frantically piling sponsors onto their jerseys.

Biting off more than you can chew.

Moreover, too many ads on the jersey sacrificed the sponsors’ interests.

Although this approach could boost sponsorship revenue in the short term, it severely damaged the club’s brand value in the long run.

The same went for betting companies.

Martin Harrison stated that Nice would never accept any form of sponsorship from betting companies.

The CEO from Bayswater Chinese explained Nice’s commercial logic, stating that the team would only have two advertising spots on the jersey: the chest and the sleeve. The right breast was the standard location for the kit sponsor.

“We must ensure that we deliver sufficiently high commercial value to our sponsors!”

Since Ligue 1 has a winter break, Martin Harrison revealed that the team was actively planning a winter training camp in the Middle East.

“In the coming years, we will actively invest in market development overseas, such as in North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.”

North America and Asia would mainly be in the summer, while the Middle East and Africa would be during the winter break.

This was an advantage Ligue 1 had over the Premier League.

As for the necessary channels, Bayswater Chinese had abundant resources.

From the visit of Yang Cheng and his group, to the announcement of a series of sponsorship deals, to Martin Harrison’s unveiling of their future strategy, plus the various cooperation agreements announced by the Nice city government…

This series of moves left the entire French football world in astonishment.

Everyone began to realize that Nice seemed to be truly on the rise!

But this was only within France.

What truly shocked all of Europe was Bayswater Chinese!

When Yang Cheng concluded his trip to France and returned to London, England, Bayswater Chinese held a massive press conference to announce that the team had officially signed a sky-high sponsorship deal with Germany’s Puma: a five-year contract worth a staggering 30 million pound sterling per year!

This stunned the entire world!

Thirty million pound sterling per year!

The CEO of Puma personally flew to London to sign the contract and attend the press conference, stating that signing Bayswater Chinese was Puma’s most important strategy for the past few years and the years to come.

Adam Crozier expressed his gratitude for Puma’s trust and hoped that in the coming years, the two parties could cooperate to create more value for each other.

In addition, Bayswater Chinese also announced a global partnership with the famous French appliance chain Boulanger, which was actively expanding its global presence and internet platform.

Nice’s two sponsorship deals were added during the negotiations between Boulanger and Bayswater Chinese.

As for the other deals, they were with companies that had been approached before but with whom no agreement had been reached.

Some felt Bayswater Chinese’s fees were too high, while others had different reasons.

When Bayswater Chinese recommended Nice, these companies happened to be quite interested, and a deal was quickly struck.

Bayswater Chinese signing the highest kit sponsorship in history immediately set the European football scene ablaze.

It also shocked the media and fans worldwide.

Jumping from the original 10 million pound sterling to the current 30 million pound sterling, Bayswater Chinese’s money-making ability was truly formidable!

Adam Crozier also revealed that over the past summer, the team had renewed several other commercial sponsorships, but many were not publicly announced.

For example, Mercedes-Benz had renewed until 2016 for a high of 5 million pound sterling per year.

China’s Huawei and TLC had also renewed until 2016 for 3 million pound sterling per year.

These sponsors would further drive the growth of Bayswater Chinese in the commercial sponsorship sector.

But the most important was the shirt front sponsorship.

This was the focus of attention for fans and the media.

Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship contract with Prudential plc was set to expire in 2011. Renewal negotiations had been ongoing for a long time, but the two sides had not yet reached an agreement.

Many sponsors, including Qatar Airways, were hoping to sponsor Bayswater Chinese.

During an interview with reporters, Adam Crozier stated that the team hoped to finalize this sponsorship deal before the end of 2010, but the outcome was still uncertain.

“The only thing I can reveal is that this sponsorship will absolutely not be less than our kit sponsorship!”

This once again sparked heated discussions across European football.

Currently, among Europe’s top clubs, the one with the most expensive shirt front sponsorship was Barça.

The Spanish giants sold it for 30 million euros to Qatar Sports Investments.

If Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship was truly no less than their kit deal, that would be 30 million pound sterling.

It would inevitably break Barça’s record and become the most expensive shirt front in European history!

Everyone could almost see Bayswater Chinese’s revenue reaching a new high.

Of course, that would be a matter for next season.

But that didn’t stop them from celebrating in advance.

A key reason they were able to secure the record-breaking sponsorship fee from Puma was Puma’s declining presence in the top four leagues.

Especially in the Premier League.

The major giants were divided between Nike and Adidas, and even Manchester City was sponsored by Nike-owned Umbro.

Only Bayswater Chinese was in the Puma camp.

Under these circumstances, coupled with Bayswater Chinese’s rapid rise in performance in recent years, Puma was also very optimistic about the future development trend of Yang Cheng’s team.

Therefore, they were willing to bite the bullet and sponsor Bayswater Chinese for 30 million pound sterling, and also sponsor Ligue 1’s Nice for 5 million euros.

As for the disagreement between the team and Prudential plc, a major point of contention was the naming rights for the new stadium.

Prudential plc itself was very willing to sponsor Bayswater Chinese for 30 million pound sterling.

But they were also very keen on securing the naming rights for Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

After all, it was located in the heart of London where every inch of land was precious. After naming it, everyone who mentioned the place would also mention the sponsor’s name, which would be a huge boon for the sponsor.

But Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier had studied it and also commissioned a third-party agency to conduct research.

In the end, the standard set by Bayswater Chinese was that the annual naming rights would be no less than 30 million pound sterling.

And it had to be a 10-year contract.

This exceeded Prudential’s budget.

Currently, the two sides were at a stalemate.

Bayswater Chinese was also in contact with several other sponsors, including Axa, Qatar Airways, and Barclays Bank.

If they really couldn’t reach an agreement with Prudential, they would negotiate separately.

Hadn’t Adam Crozier already set a deadline?

Chapter 212: The Soul and Core for the Next Decade! Wenger, Do You Still Want a Title?

On the afternoon of October 16th, at London’s Emirates Stadium.

In the eighth round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese challenged Arsenal in an away game.

Both sides were affected by the international match day and had crucial Champions League fixtures the following Wednesday, so both teams opted for significant squad rotation in this match.

For Yang Cheng, the upcoming Wednesday home game against Shakhtar Donetsk was a must-win for the team.

Because in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, they would have to travel to the cold of Ukraine, which would be a very difficult fixture for the Bayswater Chinese.

Arsenal’s situation was much the same.

In terms of rotation, both teams were on the same page.

For instance, Yang Cheng started Giroud at centre-forward.

Wenger, in turn, benched both Benzema and van Persie, starting backup centre-forward Chamakh.

The test for both head coaches in this match was how to defeat their opponent while rotating their squads.

And both sides, by coincidence, opted for an attacking approach.

From the very start of the match, both teams pressed forward in an all-out attack.

Perhaps because both sides had rotated heavily, they were desperate to break through the opponent’s goal, making them even more daring than usual.

As a result, the game was very open, with incredibly fast transitions between attack and defense.

In the words of the Sky Sports commentator, they were both stabbing at each other’s weak spots and shortcomings.

First, in the 24th minute of the first half, Arsenal created a golden opportunity.

After breaking past Ryan Bertrand on the right flank, Nasri sent a cross to the front of the goal.

José Fonte cleared it with a header, sending the ball out of the penalty area.

But from outside the box, Gourcuff unleashed a long shot that skimmed just wide of the right post.

This sent the Arsenal fans inside the Emirates Stadium into a frenzy.

This was what they wanted to see: defeating the Bayswater Chinese in an end-to-end game like this.

Only then could Arsenal’s strength be truly demonstrated!

But Yang Cheng’s team was not to be trifled with.

First, Eden Hazard won a free kick on the left wing.

During the set piece defense, Arsenal gave the Bayswater Chinese a series of free kick opportunities.

Goalkeeper Lloris even made two spectacular saves.

In the 33rd minute, a diagonal pass from Matić found Theo Walcott on the right wing. As he contested an aerial duel with Clichy, he failed to win the ball, and it fell towards the byline.

The Little Tiger sprinted to the byline at incredible speed, caught up with the ball, and chipped a cross into the box.

Giroud out-jumped Vermaelen at the far post and headed the ball into Arsenal’s net.

1-0!

This goal, far from curbing the Arsenal players’ attack, instead spurred the Gunners to launch a frenzied counter-offensive in the final phase of the first half.

In the last ten minutes, the Gunners practically laid siege to the Bayswater Chinese.

Facing their well-organized cross-town rivals, the Gunners couldn’t find an effective breakthrough.

But in the 43rd minute, Nasri dribbled past Ryan Bertrand and burst into the penalty area from the right.

As José Fonte came to challenge, the Frenchman executed a deft feint, baiting Fonte into making a tackle. The challenge brought Nasri down, and the head referee awarded a penalty kick.

The Frenchman stepped up and calmly converted, sending the ball past Courtois.

1-1!

The two sides were back on level terms!

But the tension was steadily rising.

Right after the second half kicked off, the Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack and, in the 54th minute, won a free kick in the attacking third.

Theo Walcott was fouled by Clichy.

Rakitić delivered a precise free kick into the final third.

Vincent Kompany got to the ball first at the near post, flicking it on into the six-yard box.

A chaotic scramble ensued in the penalty area.

Amidst the confusion, Modrić got to the loose ball and poked it into the net, putting his team ahead once more.

2-1!

The Bayswater Chinese were back in the lead.

But just in the 63rd minute, Alexandre Song played a wonderful pass. Wilshere sent a through ball into the box for the substitute van Persie, who received it, shook off José Fonte, and scored from a tight angle.

2-2!

Once again, the two sides were level!

The two teams were truly going tit for tat, neither holding anything back, both targeting the other’s defensive line.

It made for a spectacular match!

Especially for those watching live.

After the Gunners equalized again, their fans cheered relentlessly, urging their team to press on.

…

“What a truly fantastic contest!”

“Neither team is holding back in the slightest; they’re trying everything to breach each other’s goal.”

“Although, neither team is at full strength, neither has fielded their strongest lineup.”

“But from this match, we can see a duel between the two most fluid and stylish teams!”

“I believe that from now on, no one will have the right to criticize the Premier League for being too technically and tactically crude.”

“At least, with the Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal, such a stereotype doesn’t exist.”

“It’s only the 65th minute, and Arsenal has already used two of their substitutions, bringing on van Persie and Wilshere.”

“The Bayswater Chinese have yet to make any changes.”

“This will surely put some pressure on Arsenal and Wenger.”

“Because we all know that Yang Cheng’s touchline management is also outstanding.”

“He even frequently uses substitutions to change the state of the game.”

“We see some movement on the Bayswater Chinese bench; it looks like they’re about to make a change.”

Amidst the shouts of the commentators and the boos from the Emirates Stadium crowd, Toni Kroos came off the bench and ran out to warm up.

After warming up, he came to the touchline and stood beside Yang Cheng.

He was then seen adjusting the drawstring of his shorts while listening to the head coach’s instructions.

Shortly after, he walked to the sideline and replaced Modrić.

Before leaving the pitch, Modrić handed the captain’s armband on his arm to José Fonte.

“This is a very surprising substitution.”

“We all know that this season, Yang Cheng has been focused on building a partnership between Toni Kroos and Modrić.”

“But today at the Emirates, Yang Cheng didn’t take off Rakitić, choosing instead to substitute Modrić.”

“Perhaps he wants to save his energy for the Champions League match this Wednesday.”

“But we must also acknowledge that Wenger’s team is no pushover.”

“We’ll have to see in the match how effective this change will be.”

…

After high-fiving Modrić on the sideline and receiving a word of encouragement from the captain, Toni Kroos jogged onto the pitch.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese were attacking from left to right, so Kroos took up the left central midfielder position on the other side of the pitch.

As he ran over, he gestured to Rakitić.

It was a pre-arranged signal from training, indicating that the team should focus their attack on the left side.

Rakitić, who had been playing as the left central midfielder, moved to the right after seeing Kroos’s gesture.

The match quickly resumed.

After gaining possession, the Bayswater Chinese immediately passed the ball to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder’s first touch was free from any tight marking.

He held the ball, not reacting immediately, but instead beckoning to Eden Hazard ahead, signaling for him to drop back.

Arsenal’s youngster, Wilshere, immediately pressed forward, forcing Kroos to pass back.

The Bayswater Chinese reorganized from their defensive line.

That’s how football is; you constantly need to get everyone’s thoughts on the same frequency, to unify their thinking.

After arriving at the Bayswater Chinese, Toni Kroos discovered he was very good at this.

His teammates also trusted him, which was a very special feeling.

When they saw him receive and pass the ball, they would trustingly sync up with him.

This was something that extended beyond the pitch.

It was more like a personal charm that the player himself emanated!

Or a sense of trust derived from his personality.

In life, Toni Kroos was always very composed and calm, as if he never lost control.

This made everyone believe that, no matter the situation, he could always make the calmest and most rational judgment.

A series of consecutive passes followed, all seemingly nonchalant.

Receive, pass, receive again, pass again…

Toni Kroos slowly took control of the tempo, calming everyone around him down.

The Bayswater Chinese offense hadn’t even managed to create a threat, yet Wenger on the sideline was getting anxious. He signaled for Wilshere to press forward, increasing the pressure and marking on Toni Kroos.

The Gunners’ head coach knew very well.

These seemingly harmless passes were actually a slow process of organization and orchestration, bringing everyone together, aligning their thoughts onto the same channel.

Time passed quickly.

But Yang Cheng made no further substitutions.

However, in the 78th minute, when Matić distributed the ball to the left flank for Ryan Bertrand, Toni Kroos, who was positioned in Arsenal’s half, also quickly ran to the left to support Bertrand.

The Englishman played a through ball across the halfway line.

With his back to the left touchline, Kroos controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot towards the center, then cut inside horizontally.

Under pressure from Wilshere, Kroos passed the ball to Eden Hazard, who had dropped back into the left channel.

The Belgian had Eboué on his back. Before he even received the ball, he saw Rakitić making a quick diagonal run from midfield behind him.

The Croatian midfielder’s run drew the attention of Arsenal’s midfield defense.

Everyone was worried that Hazard would pass to Rakitić.

It was a very common attacking combination.

But Hazard saw Alexandre Song tracking Rakitić back and opted for a pull-back to Toni Kroos.

The German continued his horizontal run. As he caught up to Hazard’s back pass, he sent another through ball with his right foot to the feet of Rakitić, who had found open space. After shouting, Kroos himself suddenly accelerated, cutting towards the right channel.

Rakitić was starting to understand Toni Kroos.

If he wanted him to continue dribbling, Kroos’s pass would have been played slightly ahead of him.

That would make it very easy to receive and prepare for the next action.

But the German’s pass was played right to his feet.

The meaning was clear.

Stay there!

Upon hearing Kroos’s shout, Rakitić understood.

The Croatian midfielder immediately turned and passed the ball from Kroos back to him.

From Ryan Bertrand to Toni Kroos to Eden Hazard, back to Toni Kroos, and then to Rakitić.

Throughout the entire sequence, not a single pass dragged on; everything was executed with crisp, clean efficiency.

The Bayswater Chinese players were like butterflies dancing among flowers, running circles around Arsenal’s defenders.

Especially when Rakitić passed back to Kroos; despite two defenders, Wilshere and Alexandre Song, being between them, the two passes were unstoppable.

When Toni Kroos received the ball again, he didn’t pass but chose to dribble forward himself.

Giroud was running into space, and Theo Walcott was already in position.

Toni Kroos had two passing options, both of which were very dangerous.

Arsenal’s defenders had no idea which one he would choose.

But the centre-back was drawn out of position by following Giroud, creating a gap in the defense.

Toni Kroos keenly spotted this gap. After shouting to Walcott, he played a through ball.

Walcott, who had been running horizontally to find space, suddenly came to a screeching halt upon hearing the shout, changed direction, and burst forward. In an instant, he had beaten the offside trap, pierced through Arsenal’s defense, and entered the right side of the penalty area.

The moment The Little Tiger received the ball, he was one-on-one with the keeper.

And it was only at this moment that a collective, shocked gasp erupted from the entire Emirates Stadium.

After calmly controlling the ball, Walcott took a placed shot, sending the ball past the onrushing Lloris and into the Arsenal goal.

The Little Tiger was so excited he leaped into the air, sprinting towards the sideline!

As he ran, he didn’t forget to look back, shouting Toni Kroos’s name, signaling for him to come and celebrate the goal.

Toni Kroos, with a calm and composed expression, ran over to embrace and celebrate with Walcott and his other teammates.

As a newcomer, he could quickly integrate into the team, but he was still unable to empathize with his teammates on the same level.

Whether at the Rostock youth team, at Bayern Munich, or at Bayer Leverkusen, he had always been a slow starter.

…

The match ultimately ended 3-2!

The Sky Sports commentator believed it was one of the most exciting matches of the season so far.

Both sides went on the attack, with neither playing conservatively.

But it was the Bayswater Chinese who took away a 3-2 victory from the away game!

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng stated that it was a very high-quality match.

“Both teams performed at an extremely high level!”

But Yang Cheng believed that both teams were actually playing under unfavorable circumstances, facing immense pressure.

“But I am very happy that our players not only withstood the pressure but also won the match.”

Securing an eighth consecutive win held a particularly special meaning for the Bayswater Chinese.

In all the years Yang Cheng had coached the Bayswater Chinese, there had been only one other occasion when they started the season with eight straight wins.

That was in the 2008/09 season.

Back then, after the start of the season, the Bayswater Chinese went on a 13-game winning streak, completely pulling away from their competitors and quickly extending their lead.

In the second half of the season, the Bayswater Chinese fought on three fronts in the FA Cup and the Champions League, advancing in all of them.

Ultimately, they won the Treble that season!

Yang Cheng smiled and said that this season was different from the 2008/09 season.

The current Bayswater Chinese team was more attack-minded and had more control.

“Over the past few years, we have been working hard, and the players have been continuously improving.”

“Now, this eight-game winning streak is a new beginning for us.”

“For us, the most important thing is to play every match well!”

Wenger, at his post-match press conference, believed that Toni Kroos’s introduction had changed the course of the game.

“He is an intelligent player!”

“I don’t know how to describe such a player, but I feel he showcases a different kind of football than others.”

As for Arsenal itself, Wenger said that Gourcuff’s control over the game was constantly improving.

Why did the youngster Wilshere get to start?

“I think he already has the ability to be in the squad rotation, or even to start.”

“And the facts prove that even against a team like the Bayswater Chinese, he still delivered a satisfactory performance.”

…

“I’m truly envious of you!”

In an office at the Emirates Stadium, although Wenger had lost the match, he still invited Yang Cheng for a drink.

The Professor was still the Professor.

Win or lose, he always had such class.

“A few days ago, I ran into Beckenbauer in Brussels, Belgium. He told me that letting Toni Kroos transfer to the Bayswater Chinese was an unforgivable mistake by Bayern Munich!”

Yang Cheng chuckled at that.

That sounded like something Beckenbauer would say.

The Football Emperor no longer held a specific management role at Bayern Munich; he was in a high, detached position and had the right to speak his mind.

“But he also understood, because neither at Bayern Munich nor at Bayer Leverkusen did Toni Kroos display the kind of ability he has shown this season with the Bayswater Chinese.”

Yang Cheng raised his eyebrows. “Well, we Chinese have an old saying: talented horses are common, but good judges of horses are not.”

After saying that, he laughed smugly.

This really annoyed the defeated Wenger.

Give him an inch and he takes a mile, huh?

After a couple more drinks, Yang Cheng could tell that Wenger was not in a good mood.

“Actually, do you know where I won this match?” Yang Cheng asked, looking at Wenger seriously.

Wenger didn’t reply, but his gaze fell upon Yang Cheng’s face, his expression concerned.

“You’re too stubborn!”

Wenger was visibly taken aback.

“Do you know how that old fellow Ferguson won the Champions League?”

Wenger was smart; he immediately understood what Yang Cheng meant.

Ferguson won the Champions League by relying on defense.

Or to put it more bluntly, by being shameless!

When he cast everything aside, lowered his pride, and played on the counter-attack, even defending with all his might, not even the Bayswater Chinese could easily break through Manchester United’s defense.

Of course, last season’s Manchester United really did play with a very solid defensive formation.

Especially with the addition of De Rossi.

Robben, on the other hand, brought speed and sharp impact to Manchester United’s counter-attacks.

“I’m not like him!” Wenger said with a touch of prideful coyness.

Yang Cheng smiled. “Well, that depends on whether you want to win a title or not!”

Wenger was stunned.

A title?

Of course he wanted one, he dreamed of it!

But he wanted to win it his way!

That’s why, over the past few years, Arsenal had always stuck to their style of play. Wenger had never considered changing it!

If he changed, would he still be Wenger?

Yang Cheng didn’t say anything more.

Everyone has their own principles and persistence.

Just like Wenger.

The Arsenal head coach was still quite idealistic, which was why his team always played fluid football and never defended with all their might like other teams.

Was Wenger not good at defending?

Don’t be ridiculous!

Back in the day, Wenger established himself in the Premier League through defense!

Even in the years when Arsenal failed to win the title with an unbeaten record, their defense was always outstanding.

He had even fielded a double pivot of legendary hard men like Vieira and Gilberto Silva.

But over the past few years, Wenger had gradually changed.

On one hand, Arsenal really was short on funds. After moving into the new stadium, he also needed to play more attractively to draw in more fans.

But on the other hand, he himself found it hard to adjust his mentality.

It was like a comedian who, after achieving a certain level of success, refuses to act in comedies anymore.

Because the reason he had worked so hard in comedy in the first place was so that one day he wouldn’t have to lower himself to do it anymore.

Wenger’s mentality was the same.

The difference was, he hadn’t yet achieved the success he desired!

“You, you’re not just trying to win now, you’re trying to completely crush me, aren’t you?” Wenger scolded with a laugh.

Yang Cheng laughed too. “It’d be good if you were crushed. Then you’d get sacked from Arsenal, and I’d hire you to coach Nice.”

“Get lost! With Nice’s budget, can you afford me?” Wenger cursed again.

“Who knows what the future holds? What if it comes true?”

…

The eighth round of the Premier League was a disaster for the top teams!

Manchester United hosted West Bromwich Albion and scored two early goals in the first half, making everyone think the win was in the bag.

Unexpectedly, they conceded two goals in just five minutes in the second half.

By the time Ferguson’s team reacted, it was too late to score again.

In the end, Manchester United drew 2-2 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

Chelsea’s performance was even more lackluster, drawing 0-0 away at Aston Villa.

Both teams dropped points in this round.

Manchester City faced newly promoted Blackpool away this round. Before the match, everyone expected an easy win, but the game turned out to be fraught with danger.

The first half ended 0-0.

In the second half, Carlos Tevez scored first, but the opponent quickly equalized. Later, Tevez and David Silva each scored a goal.

However, the home team launched a frantic attack, scored another goal, and almost equalized.

In the end, Ancelotti’s team held on to a 3-2 away victory thanks to their defense.

Liverpool, meanwhile, won their local derby against Everton 1-0 away, thanks to a controversial goal.

After eight rounds of matches, the Bayswater Chinese led the league table with 24 points from eight consecutive wins.

Manchester City followed closely with 22 points.

As Arsenal lost to the Bayswater Chinese this round, both the Gunners and Chelsea were on 16 points.

However, Chelsea had accumulated a significant goal difference against weaker teams, so The Blues were in third place, with Arsenal in fourth.

This gave Chelsea hope of challenging for a top-four finish!

However, The Blues had failed to win in their last three games, and their recent performance was a far cry from before.

Liverpool’s win this round moved them up to fifth place with 14 points.

Tottenham were in sixth, and Manchester United in seventh with 12 points.

From the current standings, the Bayswater Chinese’s biggest rival was still Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s team not only had a squad that was the best in the Premier League, and perhaps even in Europe, but their performance was also becoming increasingly stable.

Behind this, Ancelotti’s tactical flexibility played a key role.

He didn’t just use the Christmas tree formation; he sometimes adjusted to a 4-3-3, a 4-2-3-1, and had even played a 4-4-2 and a 3-5-2.

With his massive squad, Ancelotti had truly made a fine art of tactical variation.

…

On the evening of October 19th, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Shakhtar Donetsk.

Amidst the cheers of ninety thousand fans, the Bayswater Chinese launched the first attack.

This Shakhtar Donetsk team was genuinely strong.

Especially in their attack.

Lucescu deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Luiz Adriano was the centre-forward, with Willian, Mkhitaryan, and Teixeira behind him from left to right.

The Ukrainian team was truly powerful, second only to the Bayswater Chinese in the group.

And Yang Cheng had no intention of giving his opponent a chance to perform.

From the very beginning, he used the home advantage to launch a relentless bombardment against Shakhtar Donetsk.

In the 20th minute, during an attacking free kick, Javi Martínez connected with a flick-on from Pepe to open the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

Just before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale received a through ball from Javi Martínez, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and scored another goal.

2-0!

After the break, the Bayswater Chinese stepped up their efforts again.

Di María delivered a brilliant pass from the right, and Aaron Ramsey burst into the right side of the box and scored.

3-0!

Just six minutes later, Di María again broke through on the right and sent in a superb pass, allowing Robert Lewandowski to score from the near post!

In the 79th minute, a through ball from Toni Kroos in the left channel found Gareth Bale, who broke into the left side of the box and crossed it to the front of the goal.

Substitute Harry Kane fired the ball into the Shakhtar Donetsk net from close range!

5-0!

The 17-year-old English youngster was ecstatic.

This was the first Champions League goal of his career!

More importantly, the goal was an unselfish gift from Gareth Bale.

The Welshman could have easily taken the shot himself from his favorite area on the left side of the box.

But he deliberately chose to go to the byline and cross, wanting to create a scoring opportunity for Harry Kane.

The English youngster did not disappoint, getting to the right spot and putting the ball into the net.

Afterward, the Bayswater Chinese created several more chances but failed to score again.

Ultimately, Yang Cheng’s team thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 at home, securing their third consecutive group stage victory!

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with this result.

The Bayswater Chinese now had three consecutive wins, while Shakhtar Donetsk had two wins and one loss.

For the next round’s away match in Ukraine against Shakhtar Donetsk, he didn’t plan to field his main players, instead sending the reserves and young players.

The result of that match wasn’t particularly important for the Bayswater Chinese.

The main objective was to avoid a treacherous away trip and reduce the long-distance travel for the key players.

The fifth round was an away game against Ajax, and the sixth was a home game against MŠK Žilina.

Both matches were close by, so Yang Cheng would push hard then to secure victories.

Especially the final round, which was a must-win.

…

Back in the Premier League, the ninth round arrived.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Blackpool at home.

Speaking of Blackpool’s head coach, Ian Holloway, he and Yang Cheng were old acquaintances.

How familiar?

For two years, they had played their matches in the same stadium.

Yes, he was the former head coach of Queens Park Rangers.

After leading Blackpool to promotion, he had stunned Wigan Athletic in the first round of the new season.

But he was then soundly beaten by Arsenal.

Now, he had actually learned his lesson.

Ian Holloway’s tactics were something like a 4-3-3, but also a bit like a 4-1-4-1.

His two wingers didn’t press as far forward, focusing more on covering the midfield and a defensive role on the flanks.

This cautious tactic had stabilized Blackpool’s performance recently.

At least they weren’t losing by large margins anymore.

And at Wembley Stadium, before the match, Ian Holloway reminisced about the old days with great emotion.

He was especially amazed to see the Bayswater Chinese now playing in a stadium like Wembley, which held a full ninety thousand people, and could even sell out for a match against a newly promoted team. Ian Holloway was simply astounded!

But when the match actually began, sorry, the Bayswater Chinese showed no mercy.

In the 21st minute, Gareth Bale scored from a Robert Lewandowski assist, breaking the deadlock against Blackpool.

1-0!

In the 36th minute, Marcelo broke into the box and scored another, extending the lead.

2-0!

The assist once again came from Robert Lewandowski.

But after the break, Gary Taylor-Fletcher pulled one back for Blackpool in the 57th minute.

However, in the 62nd minute, Rakitić received a cross from Gareth Bale and scored with a long shot from outside the box, further extending the team’s lead.

3-1!

In the 81st minute, Modrić delivered a brilliant pass, and Robert Lewandowski chipped the ball over the keeper from inside the box.

4-1!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Blackpool at home.

The results of the other matches in this round also came in.

Chelsea defeated Wolves 2-0 at home.

Manchester United narrowly beat Stoke City 2-1 away.

Liverpool defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at home.

Manchester City drew 2-2 at home with Arsenal.

After losing to the Bayswater Chinese at home in the previous round, Wenger’s team played a crucial Champions League group stage match mid-week, and then faced Manchester City away on the weekend.

Both of the Gunners’ goals came in the second half, in the 66th and 88th minutes.

Manchester City’s two goals were both scored in the first half.

Wenger himself was relatively satisfied with this result.

But this meant the points gap between Manchester City and the Bayswater Chinese had widened to four points.

…

Mid-week, in the League Cup Round of 16.

Perhaps the series of setbacks had left Wenger’s team with pent-up frustration.

In the League Cup away match against Newcastle, despite fielding a reserve lineup, the Gunners thrashed The Magpies 4-0 away, thanks to a brace from Aaron Lennon and a goal from Bendtner.

Wenger’s reserve team performed exceptionally well.

Especially Aaron Lennon.

But this was also related to Newcastle fielding a reserve lineup themselves.

Manchester United, meanwhile, narrowly defeated Wolves 3-2 at home.

The Bayswater Chinese also fielded a full lineup of reserves and young players, defeating Brentford 3-1 at home.

The team, based in West London, currently plays in the third tier of English football.

…

On the weekend, the tenth round of the Premier League.

After the mid-week League Cup “recovery,” the top teams basically performed up to their usual standards over the weekend.

Arsenal defeated West Ham United 1-0 at home.

Chelsea came from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 away after conceding first.

Manchester City defeated Wolves 2-1 away.

Manchester United defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home, with goals from Vidić and Robben.

Liverpool defeated Bolton 1-0 away.

The Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 4-2 away.

The two sides were locked in a tough battle for the first 40 minutes.

Although Aston Villa’s record this season was poor, they were not a weak team.

After Martin O’Neill’s departure, the famous French coach Gérard Houllier had taken over.

He set up a defensive 4-2-3-1 formation at home.

But in the 39th minute, a long pass from Toni Kroos helped Gareth Bale break into the box and score.

Just before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale crossed from the left, and Theo Walcott scored another goal.

Yang Cheng’s team ended the first half with a 2-0 lead.

Although Aston Villa’s performance improved in the second half, the Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated them 4-2, with goals from Robert Lewandowski and substitute Paul Pogba.

…

Three days later, the fourth round of the Champions League group stage.

Yang Cheng led the team to Ukraine for an away match against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Although the Bayswater Chinese fielded a young and reserve lineup, the players’ performance showed no fear against the Ukrainian giants playing at home.

Just nine minutes into the game, Pogba, who had just scored in the Premier League, delivered a brilliant pass in the final third, and Eden Hazard scored from close range against Shakhtar Donetsk.

1-0!

But just before the end of the first half, Croatian right-back Darijo Srna sent in a magnificent cross from the right, and Eduardo da Silva beat the offside trap to equalize for Shakhtar Donetsk.

1-1!

After the break, Lucescu brought on talented attacking players like Teixeira and Douglas Costa, trying to break through the Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

Yang Cheng was fearless, putting his full trust in the young players.

Ultimately, Yang Cheng was using this match to train and evaluate his young players.

But in the cold of Ukraine, the Bayswater Chinese youngsters couldn’t hold off Shakhtar Donetsk’s relentless attack.

Conceding a goal in the 74th minute led to a 1-2 defeat away from home.

Although they lost 1-2 in the end, Yang Cheng was still very satisfied with the result.

Because he had already prepared for an away loss.

However, based on their second-half performance, although the Bayswater Chinese youngsters were inferior in terms of skill against Shakhtar Donetsk, their overall performance and fighting spirit were commendable.

This was actually quite normal.

According to the assessment of Yang Cheng and his coaching staff, Shakhtar Donetsk was at least at the level of the Champions League Round of 16 this season.

They even had a chance to reach the quarter-finals.

Under these circumstances, combined with the harsh weather and the away environment, to be able to fight to a 1-2 result with a young and reserve lineup was quite impressive.

The reaction from the British media and fans was also relatively positive.

With the strength of the Bayswater Chinese, qualifying from the group stage was almost guaranteed.

…

While the young squad lost away to Shakhtar Donetsk, back at home, the well-rested main lineup decisively defeated West Ham United 5-0.

The Hammers faced their cross-town rivals away with a defensive counter-attack strategy, but Grant’s defensive formation only held for 18 minutes.

A killer through ball from Modrić helped Robert Lewandowski break the deadlock against The Hammers.

And in the 39th minute, Robert Lewandowski scored again, completing his brace.

But what pleased Yang Cheng the most was the 44th minute of the first half.

The fourth official had already indicated two minutes of stoppage time.

But just then, on the left side, just outside the penalty area, Toni Kroos received a cross pass from Marcelo. He controlled the ball past local midfielder Parker, then followed up with a long shot.

The shot was not only incredibly fast but also angled perfectly.

Struck from the left of the D, it flew towards the right side of the goal.

Crucially, it flew through a gap between players, leaving goalkeeper Robert Green with no chance.

The ball hit the back of the net!

Yang Cheng, on the sideline, cheered loudly for Toni Kroos.

The players on the pitch also rushed over to celebrate the German midfielder’s first Premier League goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

Although it wasn’t his signature placed shot, this long shot was equally beautiful.

After scoring, Toni Kroos initially had a calm expression.

It was only when his teammates, including Modrić, Matić, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale, all ran over to celebrate with him that he managed a sparing smile.

Brian Kidd, watching from the sideline, shook his head.

“They all say this kid is like a block of Nordic ice!” Brian Kidd laughed heartily. “He doesn’t smile!”

Yang Cheng shook his head.

He didn’t think that Toni Kroos couldn’t smile, but rather that he was just reserved and serious.

Rostock is just across the Baltic Sea from Denmark, so calling him an iceberg that floated over from Northern Europe wasn’t an exaggeration.

But on the other hand, Toni Kroos was also very “German.”

Methodical, incredibly focused, and at the same time, very persistent.

What impressed Yang Cheng the most was the most brilliant goal of his career.

That last-minute winner in the 2018 World Cup group stage!

In Yang Cheng’s memory, the 2018 World Cup in Russia had so many classic moments.

Mbappé’s explosive debut, Croatia’s relentless battles…

But Yang Cheng’s two favorite matches were:

Portugal’s 3-3 draw with Spain, where C. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick.

And Germany’s 2-1 narrow victory over Sweden, where Toni Kroos scored a last-minute winner!

Interestingly, C. Ronaldo’s final goal and Kroos’s winner were both from free kicks.

One was a direct free kick.

The other was a tactical routine.

Yang Cheng felt that both goals perfectly reflected the mental strength of the two players.

Without the support of immense willpower, it would have been impossible for them to control their bodies and strike the ball like that in the final moments of the game.

Of course, Toni Kroos’s shot was more difficult.

C. Ronaldo’s hat-trick was in the first group stage match, with two more games to go.

But Toni Kroos?

Germany had lost their first group match to Mexico. If they lost to Sweden in the second round, Germany would be packing their bags and going home.

It was the very last moment of stoppage time.

That shot was the final kick of the match.

The group situation at the time was that Mexico had already won two consecutive games and had qualified early.

Sweden had beaten South Korea in their first group match, played Germany in the second, and was set to play Mexico in the third.

Everyone could guess that Mexico would take it easy in the third match to prepare for the knockout stage.

Germany’s only hope of advancing was to beat Sweden in the second round.

Toni Kroos’s shot arguably carried all of Germany’s hopes of advancing from the group stage.

One can imagine how immense the pressure was.

Throughout history, how many superstars have crumbled under such pressure?

Not to mention, in that same match, Toni Kroos had made a mistake in the first half that led to the opponent’s goal.

Under those circumstances, what a heavy burden Toni Kroos must have been carrying.

But what did he do?

It was incredibly clean and decisive.

He passed the ball to Marco Reus, then quickly ran up and struck the ball that Reus had stopped, sending it precisely into the top right corner of the goal.

It was an absolute corner of the goal, impossible for the keeper!

He didn’t become a tragic hero of the World Cup like Roberto Baggio; he chose self-redemption!

With a magnificent goal, he transformed himself from a sinner into a hero!

Although Germany was still eliminated in the final round, Toni Kroos’s goal made Yang Cheng remember this midfielder forever!

His long passes, his organization, his distribution, his calmness, persistence, and perseverance.

Many people ridiculed him, saying he was weak, lacking the strong will of a German.

But look at that goal!

Could a coward, a wimp, have scored a goal like that in that situation, at that moment?

The root of it all was that Toni Kroos was always composed and calm.

He wasn’t a spiritual leader of the team like Effenberg!

He didn’t have that passionate charisma that could drive his teammates wild!

He was like a wise man who was always at ease, preferring to stay low-key behind others, sending out all kinds of passes for his teammates, organizing the attack for the team he played for.

He was a passer.

When everyone around him couldn’t run with him, couldn’t cooperate, he couldn’t change anything by himself.

Therefore, the only time in his career he played the role of a Hollywood-style lone hero was dedicated to the 2018 World Cup!

“Brian.”

Thinking of this, and seeing Toni Kroos score his first goal since joining, Yang Cheng suddenly felt a wave of emotion, even some excitement.

“This man, and Luka Modrić, they will become the soul and core of our Bayswater Chinese for the next ten years, they will become our legends!”

Brian Kidd was a bit stunned.

He had rarely seen Yang Cheng speak with such seriousness, with such solemnity.

He could understand it if it were Modrić.

But Toni Kroos had only been here for a few months, not even a full season.

Even if he performed well, wasn’t such an evaluation a bit too high?

But Yang Cheng’s face was filled with unwavering conviction.

This made even Brian Kidd feel a sense of anticipation!

He too wanted to know what Toni Kroos and Modrić could bring to the Bayswater Chinese.

Chapter 213: Record-Breaking! Čech’s Day of Disaster! The War Between Two Arch-rival Clubs!

11 consecutive wins!

This was the headline on the front page of every major British media outlet after Bayswater Chinese defeated West Ham United 5-0 at home.

Almost every media outlet was singing the praises of Bayswater Chinese!

Everyone was stunned by the consistency Yang Cheng’s team had shown this season.

And it was an outstanding consistency of a very high caliber!

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in the match.

This was the Polish centre-forward’s thirteenth Premier League goal of the season.

To have scored thirteen goals in just eleven rounds was a truly astonishing scoring rate.

Gareth Bale had also scored nine goals, and Theo Walcott had scored seven.

This meant their front three had scored a total of twenty-nine Premier League goals.

What did this signify?

Across Europe’s top five leagues, no other team besides Bayswater Chinese had scored that many goals in their league campaign so far.

The closest were Real Madrid in La Liga and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, both with twenty-seven goals.

And La Liga had only played ten rounds.

Three players had scored more goals than entire teams. It was simply insane!

In the match against West Ham United, Lewandowski, who was named man of the match for his hat-trick, was naturally the center of attention. However, many media outlets also took note of the Bayswater Chinese midfield.

The other two goals came from a long shot by Toni Kroos and a second-half strike from Modrić.

Both were midfielders.

At the post-match press conference, besides praising Lewandowski’s goals, Yang Cheng also singled out his two midfielders for praise.

But his assessments of the two players were different.

“In my opinion, Luka is an incredible player. He has unparalleled ball control.”

“Many people have told me he’s a lot like Iniesta, but I don’t think so.”

“He’s not like anyone else; he’s only like Luka Modrić!”

Yang Cheng also touched on another matter. “I think that whether it’s the Ballon d’Or or the FIFA World Player of the Year—now that they’ve merged—they still tend to overlook and underestimate players who aren’t goalscorers.”

“But given the current trend in football, I believe that will change in the future.”

“If, one day, I hear the name Luka Modrić announced at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, I won’t be surprised at all.”

“He deserves such recognition!”

Yang Cheng was equally lavish with his high praise for Toni Kroos.

“He’s extremely intelligent, good at using his head, and very calm during matches.”

“He always makes the best choices on the pitch, including his passes and his defending.”

“Also, I must remind everyone, his defending is quite good, and he’s never afraid of being pressed.”

“He’s a right-footed player, but anyone who sees him play with his left foot would suspect that it’s actually his dominant foot.”

“See, he’s just that complete, that special.”

“What others might need dozens of passes to achieve, he can do with just one. That’s Toni Kroos!”

Yang Cheng defined the different roles of his two midfielders.

“From the first day Toni arrived, I told everyone to give him the ball, let him control our possession, dictate our tempo, and direct our attacks.”

“After Toni arrived, I moved Luka’s position further forward. So you can see that this season, Luka has been linking up more with the front three and even making frequent forward runs.”

“He has already scored four goals so far this season, which was unthinkable in the past.”

“Toni brings stability, composure, and rationality to the team. He can handle any unexpected situation with ease.”

“Luka, on the other hand, brings creativity. His ball control and ability to drive forward help us effectively tear apart the opponent’s defense and pass the ball accurately to his teammates’ feet.”

Finally, Yang Cheng laughingly used the analogy of a person’s two hands to describe his two prized players.

“If you must ask me who is more important…”

“Then I can only say it’s like a person’s two hands. Is the left hand more important? Or the right hand?”

“The answer is obvious: both are important!”

The Sun provided a detailed report on the press conference, describing how Yang Cheng was laughing heartily at that moment.

“Perhaps, in that moment, Yang Cheng’s heart was filled with gratitude for Bayern Munich!”

“Without Bayern’s generosity, a player like Toni Kroos would never have come to Bayswater Chinese.”

The Sun’s statement was not wrong.

As a rising German star who came from Bayern and was performing so brilliantly, it was almost unthinkable that he would come to rival territory in England to play for Bayswater Chinese.

The Times conducted a special interview with the two players.

Modrić expressed his gratitude for the head coach’s praise.

“I’ve never thought of myself as anything special, but from the very first time I met Mr. Yang Cheng, he has always encouraged me and given me his support.”

Modrić felt that it would be extremely difficult for him to win the Ballon d’Or.

Because he was from Croatia, which wasn’t a traditional football powerhouse.

“But I will keep working hard!”

When The Times reporter asked about the interest from many top clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Barça, the Croatian first smiled humbly and expressed his thanks to those clubs.

“But I’m already playing for the best club in the world!”

Since his move from Bayern, this was Toni Kroos’s first exclusive interview with the media, and a major newspaper like The Times at that, so he broke his usual reticence and said quite a lot.

He even clarified why he hadn’t renewed his contract with Bayern Munich.

“In my years at Bayern, I never once felt valued!”

The young German midfielder also did not shy away from admitting that he was indeed included in the Neuer transfer—what is commonly known as a makeweight.

“When I received the call from my agent, I wanted to refuse without hesitation. But Mr. Yang Cheng made a special trip to Rostock to meet me. That was the first time we met in private.”

“He talked to me for an entire afternoon. We had known each other since 2005, and he had been following my growth and progress ever since. He told me that by coming to Bayswater Chinese, I would become a more important player and have a group of outstanding teammates.”

“So, I came, and I found exactly that.”

Toni Kroos explicitly stated that his coordination with Modrić, Nemanja Matić, Javi Martínez, Rakitić, Aaron Ramsey, and the others wasn’t perfectly smooth yet.

“We don’t have enough chemistry yet, but I can feel what they’re thinking, and I believe they can feel mine too.”

“We’re on the same wavelength, and that’s very important!”

“Especially Luka. He’s the team captain, but he’s truly, truly humble. We get along very well.”

“Bayswater Chinese is a very mature club, and more professional than Bayern Munich!”

“I really like the footballing atmosphere here. The weather in London might be a problem for me, but I can overcome it.”

…

After successfully promoting their front three, Bayswater Chinese began to increase the publicity for their midfield and defensive players.

Taking advantage of the goals, Toni Kroos and Modrić were scheduled for exclusive interviews. At the same time, promotional content for both players began to appear on various online platforms.

For example, the new media team created a special highlight reel of Modrić’s best moments at Bayswater Chinese over the past few years.

For Toni Kroos, they compiled a montage of his various passes, defensive plays, and other brilliant moments from the current season.

These videos were then posted on all major platforms.

Both players also registered their own social media accounts and began to familiarize themselves with the Bayswater Chinese new media strategy.

For them, it was just a simple way of chronicling their lives.

The new media team would be responsible for helping them with strategy.

If necessary, they would even help manage their personal social media accounts.

And just after the eleventh round of the Premier League, the twelfth round rolled in midweek.

After the 5-0 thrashing of West Ham United, Yang Cheng had to make some rotations for the midweek game.

But they still managed to beat Stoke City 3-2 away from home.

The two goals they conceded came in the forty-first and forty-fourth minutes of the first half.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese scored three goals in the seventy-fourth, seventy-sixth, and eighty-fifth minutes to successfully turn the game around.

The goalscorers were Di María, Piszczek, and José Fonte.

The Portuguese centre-back scored the final goal, completing a moment of self-redemption.

He and Vincent Kompany were partly responsible for the first two goals conceded.

This led to a fair amount of criticism for both José Fonte and Kompany.

Because they had made quite a few mistakes this season.

Compared to the stability of Thiago Silva and Pepe, the performances of the backup centre-backs were not solid enough.

José Fonte, in particular, had made several errors.

But Yang Cheng still expressed his trust and support for the team’s centre-backs.

As it was a midweek fixture, most of the top teams didn’t perform particularly well.

Liverpool scraped a 2-1 away win against Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal defeated Wolves 2-0 away.

The Gunners’ win looked comfortable, but in reality, their two goals came less than a minute after kickoff and in the ninety-fourth minute.

For most of the match in between, their performance was subpar.

Chelsea, on the other hand, narrowly beat Fulham 1-0 at home.

The biggest match of this round was Manchester City’s 1-0 home victory over Manchester United.

Ancelotti’s team defeated The Red Devils at home thanks to a goal from Kaká.

It is worth mentioning that the assist came from Ibrahimović.

It was unclear what magic Ancelotti worked for this match, or if, as he said afterward, he had a deep, heart-to-heart conversation with Ibrahimović that made him turn over a new leaf.

In any case, the Swedish centre-forward played very differently than usual.

In the past, Ibrahimović played a more individualistic game, liking to hold onto the ball.

But in this match, he looked more like a dutiful centre-forward!

…

After losing the local derby 1-0 away in the previous round, Manchester United drew 2-2 away against Aston Villa in the thirteenth round of the Premier League over the weekend.

Note, it was a draw!

Looking at the whole match, Aston Villa was actually the better side.

They scored two goals first, and Manchester United only managed to equalize with two goals in the eighty-first and eighty-fifth minutes.

Liverpool, meanwhile, beat Stoke City 1-0 away, with their goal also coming late in the ninety-first minute.

Arsenal scraped a 2-1 away win against Everton.

Sagna and Fàbregas scored two goals in the first half, but for the entire second half, Everton dominated the game, and Arsenal were on the back foot.

In the end, however, The Gunners managed to beat their opponents 2-1 and secure the three points.

But the biggest upset of this round was Chelsea’s shocking 0-3 home defeat to Sunderland.

This stunned everyone.

There was no reason for them to lose so badly at Stamford Bridge.

After the match, The Sun revealed the reason, suggesting that the dismissal of assistant coach Ray Wilkins had caused unrest in the Chelsea dressing room.

The 54-year-old, who had served Chelsea for thirty-seven years, was suddenly announced to not be getting a contract renewal.

Chelsea’s CEO, Ron Gourlay, publicly stated that the reason was to cut salary expenses.

But ironically, the assistant coach’s annual salary was only three hundred fifty thousand pounds, not even as much as what some of the star players earn in two weeks.

Another theory was that they were making space.

Chelsea was planning to step up its efforts in developing young players, and so they wanted to promote Paul Clement, who had been at the youth academy for sixteen years with a good coaching record, to the first team to strengthen youth development.

The technical team had designated Paul Clement for the assistant coach role, which meant Ray Wilkins had to make way.

Thus, Chelsea decided not to renew his contract.

But Wilkins was very influential in the Chelsea dressing room, and his departure was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

This was especially true now, during an injury crisis.

Lampard, Terry, Alex, and others had all succumbed to injuries, leaving Chelsea in a very dire situation.

In the match against Sunderland, they were even forced to field a backline of Ashley Cole, Ivanović, Ferreira, and José Bosingwa. How could that defense stop Sunderland’s attack, led by Welbeck?

Even more surprisingly, Andy Carroll, who had performed poorly and been widely criticized since joining Chelsea, had recently been embroiled in a series of scandals.

First, he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and was accused of sexual assault. Then, he was rumored to have had a wild party with three women at his villa, with suspected drug use.

Most recently, he was reported to have assaulted an innocent young woman outside a nightclub, leaving her severely disfigured with eight stitches on her face.

On one hand, there was his mediocrity on the pitch; on the other, a constant stream of off-field scandals. Andy Carroll was undoubtedly under immense pressure.

The Guardian wrote an article commenting on the assault incident, suggesting that the England centre-forward was venting his on-field frustrations off the pitch.

“Chelsea’s technical and tactical style doesn’t suit him at all. He shouldn’t have gone to Chelsea!”

“If he ever wants to shine again like he did at Bayswater Chinese, he must leave Chelsea!”

At the same time, many media outlets also reminded The Blues that they needed to get their act together quickly.

“Don’t forget, in the fourteenth round of the Premier League, they will be playing away at Wembley Stadium.”

However, this round, Bayswater Chinese didn’t play well either.

They were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw away by Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s team, relying on the solid defense of their Christmas tree formation, managed to hold Bayswater Chinese to a draw.

This shattered Yang Cheng’s hopes of matching the thirteen-game winning streak from the 2008-09 season.

…

The midweek between the thirteenth and fourteenth Premier League rounds was an international break.

The international players gradually returned to their national teams, but Yang Cheng and his coaching staff were busy preparing for the weekend’s crucial Premier League clash.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese needed to give their all to win the next two Champions League group stage matches.

Especially the away game against Ajax.

For Bayswater Chinese, the international break was a terrible thing.

For example, Argentina and Brazil had scheduled their friendly match in Qatar.

This meant players had to fly seven or eight hours to Qatar, play a match, and then rush back for the weekend’s league game.

Bayswater Chinese currently had Thiago Silva, Di María, and Marcelo heading to Qatar for the match.

England, on the other hand, was set to host France.

The venue chosen was Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng had already arranged for someone to maintain communication with the stadium management to ensure the pitch would be in optimal condition for the weekend’s league match.

“Just tell them to prepare for this West London derby as if it were the Champions League final!”

After the international match, any necessary partial turf replacements should be done immediately.

For Bayswater Chinese, a good pitch was the foundation for victory.

Not only that, Yang Cheng also had the scouting and data analysis departments compile all available information. He wanted to keep track of the Chelsea players’ movements at all times.

For instance, although Alex was carrying an injury, he was still called up to the Brazil national team.

Drogba’s Côte d’Ivoire was heading to Poland for a friendly.

Sneijder was to represent the Netherlands against Turkey in Amsterdam.

Eto’o, Terry, and Lampard were all injured and would miss the match entirely.

Ivanović was traveling to Bulgaria for Serbia’s match.

Bayswater Chinese’s Nemanja Matić and Manchester United’s Vidić would also be participating in that game.

Modrić and Rakitić were returning to Croatia for a European Championship qualifier against Malta.

Germany was traveling to Scandinavia for a friendly against Sweden.

Russia was hosting Belgium, with Zhirkov, Eden Hazard, and Courtois all participating.

Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, however, had it easiest. They had no international duty at all and could rest and recuperate.

Yang Cheng mobilized everyone under him.

Scouts were responsible for observing the opposition and gathering intelligence, while coaches were tasked with tracking the players, monitoring their every move.

Especially their playing time and physical exertion.

The club’s suits were closely monitoring flight information to ensure the players could return to the club as soon as possible.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the match on November 20th was no longer just an ordinary league game, nor was it just the West London derby. It was a comprehensive battle between the two clubs of Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea, from the suits to the coaching staff to the players…

From top to bottom, it was an all-encompassing contest!

The match on the pitch was only ninety minutes, but behind it was everything from logistical support to team selection and on-field performance…

This was a war between two arch-rival clubs!

Yang Cheng also wanted to use this match as a test to see just how far his own club could go!

…

While things were running smoothly and at full throttle at Bayswater Chinese…

Chaos reigned at Chelsea.

Andy Carroll was under relentless attack from the British media, and his agent demanded that the club step in and sort it out.

This was a star player Chelsea had spent forty million pounds on, paying him ninety thousand pounds a week, and he was a local player to boot.

A group led by Ron Gourlay was busy dealing with this matter.

Meanwhile, the team’s injury crisis was getting worse, severely affecting the defense.

Players like Eto’o, Terry, and Lampard were all sidelined.

The coaching staff, led by Guus Hiddink, was also having a major headache over this.

And in Knightsbridge, south of Hyde Park, Roman Abramovich was feeling just as anxious.

The 0-3 thrashing by Sunderland had brought a torrent of criticism from Chelsea fans.

Especially with the media pointing their fingers at Ray Wilkins, the suits were being cursed out by the fans.

Abramovich knew the deepest reason for this issue.

It was complicated.

But it definitely wasn’t about money.

If it were just about money, an annual salary of three hundred fifty thousand pounds would certainly not have prompted Chelsea to act this way.

Of course, before this, the suits had not properly assessed the risks and hidden dangers, overlooking Wilkins’s importance in the dressing room, which led to the frequent problems.

“It’s the same old story. We’re not professional enough!” Abramovich sighed to Marina Granovskaia.

As his personal assistant, she was the person Abramovich trusted most.

“Boss, your thinking is correct. We can’t keep investing endlessly like this every year. Especially in the last two years, you’ve seen it yourself—no matter how much we invest, we might not get a return.”

Granovskaia advised.

“Then why can Yang Cheng build up Bayswater Chinese? Why can he succeed? He barely invests anything and even makes a profit every year. How?” Abramovich harbored a deep resentment towards Yang Cheng.

It had been accumulating for years.

The more successful Bayswater Chinese became, the deeper Abramovich’s resentment grew.

It had become a shadow in his heart!

Granovskaia looked deeply at Abramovich, hesitating whether to say it.

But in the end, she chose to swallow her anger.

Because it wasn’t the right time.

She knew Abramovich too well.

Or rather, all super-rich individuals like Abramovich had similar problems.

They had too much faith in the money they held!

They always thought that money could solve everything.

If it couldn’t, it was because they hadn’t thrown enough money at it, or hadn’t been efficient or smart enough with their spending!

But things in the world were never that simple.

Especially the longer you were involved, the more severe the problems would become.

Why did Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese succeed?

Because he coached the team himself, got involved in the management himself, and made all the major decisions himself!

He was the core soul of Bayswater Chinese!

He knew every detail of Bayswater Chinese, big or small!

But what about Chelsea?

Who was Chelsea’s “Yang Cheng”?

Abramovich had money, but he didn’t understand football, nor did he understand business. He didn’t even get involved in the management.

First, he relied on Pini Zahavi.

His Israeli friend did indeed build a very strong and outstanding team for Chelsea.

But Pini Zahavi had his own selfish motives and was not content with just earning commission from player transfers.

Or perhaps, he was content at the beginning, but gradually, his appetite grew.

Then, Peter Kenyon came in. His task was to help Abramovich run Chelsea and also to act as a counterbalance to Pini Zahavi.

Under these circumstances, Jorge Mendes and Mourinho arrived.

All these people had their own selfish interests.

Everyone claimed to have Chelsea’s best interests at heart, but who was truly for Chelsea?

Or rather, was what was good for Chelsea necessarily good for Abramovich?

The most typical example was investment.

They relentlessly dug money out of Abramovich’s pocket and invested it in Chelsea’s transfers. Was that good for Chelsea?

Was it good for Abramovich?

As Pini Zahavi’s influence waned, the Dutch contingent was brought in.

Mourinho and Peter Kenyon gradually faded, and the Dutch contingent was now at its peak.

But did the Dutch not have their own selfish motives?

Were they really thinking solely of Abramovich’s interests?

As a leader, what was the most tragic thing for Abramovich?

It was that he understood nothing!

He wasn’t involved in management, didn’t understand football, but he had money.

Just like the Carroll transfer.

Abramovich had confronted them directly, asking why such a problem occurred.

Before the transfer, didn’t they research whether the player’s technical style fit the team?

Wasn’t that the most basic thing that everyone knew?

It’s like a company hiring for a finance position; you wouldn’t hire a warehouse manager, would you?

In response, the suits produced a long list of well-reasoned evidence to prove they had done their due diligence before the transfer.

But transfers always carried risks.

Wasn’t Shevchenko an example of that?

What else could Abramovich do?

It wasn’t just Abramovich; Granovskaia was also at a loss.

If you don’t understand football, don’t understand club operations, you have no way of dealing with these people.

They could often find an excuse to brush away all the problems.

Then, whenever they needed money, they would come up with all sorts of reasons, telling you that there was really no money left.

You approved every major decision the club made; now that we’re out of money, you can’t just wash your hands of it!

And Abramovich?

Having invested so much, he couldn’t just watch Chelsea decline, could he?

And so, Chelsea was forcibly turned into a gold-swallowing beast with revenues of less than two hundred million pounds and a wage bill exceeding one hundred seventy million pounds.

Eighty-five percent!

That was simply outrageous!

Well, now they wanted to cut salary expenses, and this kind of thing happened.

What could be done?

In the end, it all came down to Abramovich’s own words.

From top to bottom, Chelsea was just not professional enough!

“Boss.”

Granovskaia had survived so long by Abramovich’s side because absolute loyalty was a prerequisite.

More importantly, she was genuinely capable.

“For this weekend’s match, I suggest you don’t go to Wembley Stadium to watch it!”

Hearing this, Abramovich suddenly looked up, his eyes like lightning, staring at his long-serving personal assistant.

But at this moment, Granovskaia met Abramovich’s gaze without flinching, showing no fear.

She was loyal!

Others might be for Chelsea, but she was definitely for Abramovich!

“Even you are so pessimistic about this match?” Abramovich sighed.

Granovskaia remained silent at the perfect moment.

But Abramovich understood her meaning.

…

On the afternoon of November 20th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The fourteenth round of the Premier League, the West London derby, Bayswater Chinese hosting Chelsea.

The world-famous clash ignited with a whistle from Howard Webb.

Playing at home, Yang Cheng stuck to his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, Kompany, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Bayswater Chinese had fielded the strongest possible lineup in terms of fitness and form.

Chelsea was riddled with injuries, but Guus Hiddink also did his best to field a competitive team.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Alex, Ivanović, and Ferreira;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Ramires and Sneijder in the center;

Forwards: Kalou, Drogba, and Anelka.

Centre-back Alex was carrying an injury but still participated in the midweek friendly between Brazil and Argentina in Qatar.

Ivanović had also just returned to London from Bulgaria.

The match began with Bayswater Chinese taking the initiative and launching the first attack.

Just two minutes in, Piszczek broke down the right flank to the byline and delivered a cut-back pass.

But Aaron Ramsey’s shot went just wide.

A minute later, Walcott dribbled down the right and sent a clever pass. Lewandowski took a long shot from the edge of the box, which was comfortably collected by goalkeeper Čech.

In the sixth minute, a through ball from Toni Kroos found Gareth Bale beating the offside trap. He broke into the left side of the penalty area for a one-on-one, but his shot was saved by Čech.

The Czech goalkeeper was as composed as ever!

“Bayswater Chinese’s shooting hasn’t been very accurate since the start of the match!”

“This probably has something to do with the midweek international games.”

“It’s made their coordination a bit less fluid, but their home advantage is still very apparent.”

In the tenth minute, Gareth Bale received the ball in the penalty area, shook off Ivanović, and sent a cross pass to the far post.

But the pass was cleared by a timely track-back from Ashley Cole.

Walcott was tightly marked behind Ashley Cole.

Then, Aaron Ramsey sent a clever pass, and Walcott’s low shot from the right side of the box went wide again.

This was followed by another long shot from Aaron Ramsey.

Chelsea didn’t manage their first shot of the game until the eighteenth minute, which was blocked by Javi Martínez for a corner kick.

After Sneijder took the corner, Ivanović’s header at the far post went wide.

The game was playing out just as everyone had predicted before the match.

The home team, Bayswater Chinese, dominated, constantly launching attacks.

The away team, Chelsea, focused on defense and counter-attacks. Although they were on the back foot, they didn’t give the home side too many clear-cut scoring opportunities.

Only Gareth Bale’s one-on-one could be considered a clear chance.

Unfortunately, the Welshman failed to convert.

At this point, the Sky Sports commentator even showed some concern.

“Bayswater Chinese has missed several chances today. Yang Cheng needs to pay attention to this.”

“Failing to score after sustained attacks can be very dangerous!”

…

The match clock slowly ticked past twenty minutes.

Abramovich was watching the live broadcast from his home near Knightsbridge.

He had taken Granovskaia’s advice and not gone to the stadium.

But now, he felt his assistant had been too cautious.

“Look, it’s still 0-0. If I were there, maybe we could have won!”

Granovskaia didn’t dare to argue.

She didn’t know much about football matches either.

“I was indeed overly worried.”

Abramovich nodded and smiled. “Never mind, Marina. But I want you to remember that our team still has some strength. Even if we lose to Bayswater Chinese at Wembley Stadium, it won’t be too ugly.”

“After all, Hiddink is a world-class manager!”

Granovskaia nodded obediently.

She also felt she had made a mountain out of a molehill.

But just then, a sudden roar of surprise from the television startled both of them.

They saw Bayswater Chinese launching an attack down the right flank.

Piszczek sent a cross into the box.

Ivanović rose above three attacking players and headed the ball clear, sending it out of the penalty area.

The ball flew to the edge of the box but didn’t go far.

Aaron Ramsey got into position and calmly brought the ball down.

Seeing Chelsea’s defensive line pushing forward, forcing the Bayswater Chinese attackers to retreat, Aaron Ramsey seized the opportunity.

Before Ramires could close him down, he lofted a chipped pass over the top with his right foot.

The ball dropped again towards the left-center of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale suddenly burst out from between the two defenders, Ferreira and Ivanović, using his right shoulder to forcibly bump Ivanović, causing the Serbian defender to lose his balance and fail to clear the ball.

As the ball bounced up, Gareth Bale lunged forward, beating Alex to it, and met it with a stooping header.

The ball was nodded into the net from point-blank range.

Čech could do nothing about it, watching helplessly as the ball went in.

“GOAL!”

“In the twenty-first minute, Bayswater Chinese takes the lead!”

“A chipped pass from Aaron Ramsey, and Gareth Bale breaks through the defense of Ivanović and Ferreira to score with a header.”

“1-0!”

Abramovich and Granovskaia were stunned into silence in the living room.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

…

After Gareth Bale opened the scoring, Bayswater Chinese’s attacks became more and more ferocious.

In the twenty-seventh minute, a diagonal pass from Toni Kroos found Walcott surging into the right side of the penalty area, where he was pulled down from behind by Alex.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with frantic cries for a penalty.

Webb, with a clear view, immediately awarded a penalty kick.

The Little Tiger stepped up, calmly converted the spot-kick, and sent the ball into Chelsea’s net again.

2-0!

The stadium was filled with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans!

This was the West London derby!

And what was even more unexpected was that just two minutes after the restart, Lewandowski received the ball in the left channel, dribbled past Mikel, and suddenly unleashed a long, curling shot that flew into the top right corner of the goal.

Čech was powerless to stop it.

3-0!

“The defending on that goal was a real problem!”

“Mikel was beaten far too easily by Lewandowski, completely losing his position.”

“That really shouldn’t have happened.”

“We can see that Bayswater Chinese’s attacks have been gaining momentum recently, creating continuous threats.”

After conceding three goals, Chelsea was clearly rattled.

The players were no longer on the same page.

In the thirty-third minute, during a quick counter-attack, Walcott delivered an accurate cross from the right. Lewandowski met it with a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box.

The shot was tipped over the byline by Čech.

The subsequent corner kick posed no threat.

But Bayswater Chinese’s offensive pressure continued to mount.

In the forty-first minute, Sneijder committed a foul while trying to mark Toni Kroos and was shown a yellow card, giving away a free kick just outside the penalty area.

Gareth Bale placed the ball, calmly took the kick, and with a clean butterfly ball, accurately sent it into the right side of the goal.

4-0!

And just before the end of the first half, Aaron Ramsey suddenly sent a through ball. Walcott beat the offside trap, broke into the right side of the box, and, before the tracking Alex could reach him, fired a low shot.

The ball was aimed at the near corner.

Čech made a save, but Walcott’s shot had a clever little trick to it—it bounced just in front of Čech, leaving the Czech goalkeeper with no chance.

5-0!

The entire stadium went absolutely insane!

No one could have imagined the match would turn out like this.

Especially after a relatively balanced first twenty minutes, Bayswater Chinese had scored five goals in just twenty-five minutes!

They had truly gone wild!

“Chelsea’s defense today is as flimsy as paper, leaking everywhere, completely unable to stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

“Hiddink must make adjustments at halftime; otherwise, this match is going to turn into a one-sided slaughter.”

…

Hiddink did indeed make some adjustments at halftime, such as bringing on Malouda for Kalou.

To some extent, this helped to curb Bayswater Chinese’s attack, but the effect was not significant.

In the fifty-third minute, Alex fouled Lewandowski on the right side of the arc outside the penalty area, once again giving Bayswater Chinese a free kick in a dangerous position.

Gareth Bale stood over the ball again.

The Welshman had already scored one free kick and a brace. Now, he took a deep breath and unleashed another spectacular butterfly ball.

The football once again found its way into the goal guarded by Čech.

The Czech goalkeeper was beaten yet again.

6-0!

Hat-trick!

Two direct free-kick goals in a single match!

Gareth Bale proved his an expert at free kicks in this match!

Just four minutes later, Walcott sent a through ball, and Lewandowski received it near the penalty spot for a one-on-one.

Facing the onrushing Čech, he calmly chipped the ball into the net.

7-0!

Later, Lewandowski had another shot that hit the post, missing the chance for a hat-trick!

And in the sixty-fourth minute, a long-range shot from Aaron Ramsey from outside the box once again breached Chelsea’s goal.

8-0!

In the seventy-first minute, Chelsea launched a quick counter-attack. Ashley Cole sent a cross from the left, and Drogba headed the ball in from the edge of the six-yard box, pulling one back for Chelsea.

1-8!

“Today will be the darkest, most disastrous day of Čech’s career!”

“This is definitely the craziest match in the Premier League so far this season!”

“We are witnessing Chelsea suffer an unprecedented, humiliating defeat at Wembley Stadium!”

“This must be the biggest margin of defeat since Abramovich took over the team!”

“8-1!”

“We can see Yang Cheng is making a series of substitutions.”

“Indeed, even though it’s a local derby, with the game at this stage, there’s not much point in continuing to play like this.”

“Even against an arch-rival, to continue attacking with an 8-1 lead would only serve to further humiliate the opponent, which doesn’t benefit Bayswater Chinese much either.”

“So, under these circumstances, Yang Cheng has chosen to make consecutive substitutions.”

“On one hand, it’s a way of saving some face for Chelsea, since he is making changes.”

“But on the other hand, Yang Cheng also wants to give some young players an opportunity.”

“Yang Cheng will probably say, ‘If we score again, it’s really not my fault.’”

“‘The players did it!’”

“The worst thing for Chelsea in this match has been their defense.”

“From midfielders Ramires and Sneijder, to the holding Mikel, and then to Ferreira, Ivanović, and Alex, Chelsea’s entire central and defensive line has been a catastrophe.”

“A humiliating 8-1 defeat!”

“In Chelsea’s history, their most painful defeat occurred on September 26, 1953, back in the Football League First Division, when they were thrashed 8-1 by Wolverhampton.”

“Fifty-seven years later, today, they have broken that historical record!”

“This is the most painful and humiliating defeat in Chelsea’s century-long history!”

“We really can’t understand how Chelsea, a team known for its defense, could suffer two humiliating defeats in such a short period. The team has been completely crushed!”

“In the last round, they lost 0-3 at home to Sunderland.”

“We can only say that Bayswater Chinese used this match to fully showcase their rich attacking methods and comprehensive firepower!”

“Especially the front three: one hat-trick and two braces!”

“Such attacking power is truly breathtaking.”

“Yang Cheng’s team not only taught their West London arch-rival the most painful lesson in their century-long history but also provided a spectacular goal fest for all the fans at the stadium and watching on TV!”

Yang Cheng did not call off the attack.

The attacks on the pitch continued.

Substitutions were being made, but the attacks went on.

But at this point, Chelsea also showed a stubbornness rarely seen in the past ninety minutes.

The Blues players were full of pent-up anger.

It’s already 8-1, and you’re still attacking?

Do you really want to strip us down to our underwear?

Is breaking our century-old record that much fun?

Don’t you understand what showing mercy means?

The river flows east for thirty years, and west for thirty years. Don’t push us…

But this stubbornness did not last until the end.

In the ninety-first minute, Eden Hazard sent a brilliant pass. Ryan Bertrand broke into the left side of the box and crossed it to the center. Harry Kane, under pressure from Ivanović, missed the chance to tap it in at the goalmouth.

But Walcott, following up at the far post, slotted the ball into the net with a simple push.

9-1!

Hat-trick!

The record is broken!

Chapter 214: A Lone Rider! Centennial Humiliation! A Massacre in the Name of Football!

London, Knightsbridge.

Roman Abramovich stood frozen in his living room, his eyes wide as he stared in disbelief at the television screen.

He had forgotten when he had even stood up.

His mind was completely consumed by the match, by the shocking scoreline.

9-1!

What the hell…

The Russian truly felt the urge to spit blood at the heavens!

He didn’t even know how such an insane scoreline had come to be!

It was simply outrageous!

Who could have possibly imagined that a local derby would end in such a devastating loss? It was practically match-fixing!

If Roman Abramovich weren’t Chelsea’s owner, he would definitely suspect as much.

No, even as the owner, he was suspicious.

Could those damned players have thrown the match on purpose to conspire against him?

But Abramovich quickly dismissed the suspicion in his heart.

These players might not be cultured, but they weren’t stupid.

They could lose to anyone, but not to the Bayswater Chinese.

And to lose so spectacularly!

The Russian turned his head and saw that his assistant, Marina Granovskaia, also wore a look of utter disbelief.

Before the match, she had had her expectations.

But she had never imagined they would lose this badly.

“This is going to be a huge problem!” Granovskaia said after a long silence, her voice trembling slightly.

After speaking, she raised her head and glanced furtively at her boss.

Abramovich had already sunk back into the sofa. Hearing Granovskaia’s words, he pondered for a moment before nodding slightly. “The fans will definitely cause a scene tomorrow.”

“No, it won’t wait until tomorrow. It’s probably starting right now!”

How crazy could English football fans get when they were stirred up?

Abramovich was even worried they might smash the windows of his house!

And this was a mansion in London’s Knightsbridge!

“We must appease the fans as soon as possible!” Abramovich instructed, pointing at Granovskaia.

At the very least, he couldn’t let those hooligans smash his windows.

“I’ll contact Bruce Buck and Ron Gourlay immediately and have them prepared.”

Abramovich thought for a moment, hesitated briefly, then let out a heavy sigh.

For the past two or three years, the Chelsea fans had already been very dissatisfied with him.

Chelsea had consecutively missed out on Champions League qualification.

This made many of The Blues’ fans feel that Abramovich was no longer willing to invest.

That’s right. To these fans, Abramovich’s greatest value was shelling out money for star players.

Now, after such a loss, they would surely vent all their grievances from the past few years on this incident.

The success of the Bayswater Chinese would only enrage the Chelsea fans further!

And once the media got hold of it, press and fans from all over the world would rush to report on it, perhaps even treating it as a “juicy story.”

This was a derby, after all!

“Here’s the plan, Marina. Have Ron Gourlay come forward to appease them. Say that we promise to increase our investment and strengthen the squad during the winter transfer window and next summer!”

Abramovich had made up his mind.

What was drilling a few more barrels of oil in Siberia?

I, your father, will invest!

“As for Guus Hiddink…”

Abramovich’s heart skipped a beat.

Right, according to the fine tradition of European football, this was the moment to sack the head coach to quell the fans’ anger.

But Abramovich couldn’t bring himself to make that decision.

Guus Hiddink was his friend.

Two years ago, he had personally stepped in, saying all the right things to persuade him to come and then stay.

Even if Hiddink had to be dismissed for poor results, he should at least be given a dignified exit.

Sacking him at this moment was something Abramovich himself couldn’t stomach.

Besides, Chelsea was currently reliant on the Dutch contingent.

“He can’t be touched. Give him a little more time, at least…”

Granovskaia understood her boss’s meaning.

“I’ll make the arrangements.”

“As soon as possible!” Abramovich urged.

After seeing Granovskaia out, the Russian tycoon finally let his complex emotions show—a mixture of pain, regret, and sorrow.

He couldn’t understand how, out of the blue, Chelsea had become arch-rivals with the Bayswater Chinese.

Was that monster Yang Cheng someone you could easily provoke?

…

“The fans definitely don’t want to see the team suffer such a crushing defeat.”

“This is a disgrace, something very difficult to accept. All we can do now is apologize, regain our confidence, and strive for victory in the next match.”

Guus Hiddink said during the post-match press conference while being interviewed by reporters.

He didn’t think such a match should be blown out of proportion, especially with talk of a centennial humiliation.

“It’s just a loss. We lost three points in an away game. There’s no other special meaning to it.”

Regarding the match, Hiddink stated that the team was at a very particular juncture.

The main issue was the excessive number of injuries to key players.

“For a long time now, we’ve been at the center of public opinion, which has been very detrimental to us.”

“The midweek national team training camp also severely affected our players’ condition!”

Hiddink mentioned that he had managed national teams before and had even spoken to several national team head coaches by phone before the match.

“But I know how national teams operate. They wouldn’t hold back for our match, even if it was just a friendly.”

The Dutchman also addressed the fans directly.

“Losing 9-1 is humiliating for everyone, I can understand that.”

“For us, it was a very bad day.”

“We had several players who couldn’t play, which seriously affected our form.”

“On the other hand, our opponents played at a very high level, so we suffered a crushing defeat.”

“Here, on behalf of the coaching staff and the players, I apologize to all Chelsea fans!”

When pressed by the media about whether he would consider resigning to take responsibility for the defeat, Hiddink said he was willing to bear all responsibility, including criticism from the media and fans.

But he would not resign voluntarily.

“I leave that decision to the club. Until they tell me their answer, I will continue!”

Yang Cheng’s press conference was scheduled after Hiddink’s.

Before he was about to enter, he ran into Hiddink in the corridor. The two shook hands and exchanged a few words.

Although on the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese had been aggressive, ruthlessly beating their opponent 9-1, off the pitch, Yang Cheng showed Hiddink plenty of respect.

But in the wake of such a crushing defeat, Hiddink was in no mood to chat with Yang Cheng for long.

In the subsequent press conference, Yang Cheng first commented on the match, affirming and praising his players’ performance.

As for Hiddink, Yang Cheng defended him.

“I think his coaching at Chelsea has been relatively successful, but many problems are beyond a single head coach’s control.”

Regarding Chelsea’s decline over the past two or three seasons, Yang Cheng believed a significant reason was that The Blues’ investment was not substantial compared to many other Premier League teams.

Especially when compared to teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

A reporter seized on this statement and asked Yang Cheng if this meant the future of the Premier League would be monopolized by foreign capital.

It was a sensitive topic.

Yang Cheng first joked, “I’m foreign capital myself, and so is Chelsea!”

Amidst the laughter in the room, Yang Cheng shared his thoughts.

“I don’t know how others see it, but in my view, European football has been undergoing earth-shattering changes over the past few years.”

“We can see that teams in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 are all heavily in debt.”

“The Premier League is no exception.”

“As the era of globalization continues to arrive, many of the rules we’re familiar with will have to change accordingly.”

“Chelsea once achieved great success, but now, they’re stuck in a quagmire.”

“I can’t predict the future, just as there are many former giants we were familiar with who are now playing in who-knows-what division. This is a normal law of professional football.”

“No one is an exception!”

“I’ve always said that football is never a simple business. Or rather, from a business logic perspective, it doesn’t make sense!”

“Many of us focus on revenue, but you’ll find that revenue can’t possibly represent the entirety of a football club.”

“Some clubs are clearly well-run, but for various reasons—perhaps just bad luck, an injury crisis, or other unforeseen misfortunes—they get relegated.”

“The next season, their income plummets, and they can even go from being well-managed to suffering massive losses.”

“Conversely, we also see many clubs that are excellent on the sporting level but are very poorly managed financially, accumulating huge debts.”

“In extreme cases, a club might win a championship one moment and be on the brink of bankruptcy the next!”

“All sorts of phenomena repeatedly show that professional football has always been a very special kind of business.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng smiled at the British reporter who had asked the question.

“What I’m trying to say is, whether it’s domestic capital or foreign capital, when it enters this special industry of football, it’s essentially the same!”

Yang Cheng’s words earned him a thunderous round of applause from the audience.

Indeed.

The more one delves into football, the more one understands that in the world of professional football, there are too many uncontrollable factors.

To put it bluntly, the giant clubs just have a bigger buffer and a higher margin for error.

Who can guarantee they will always stand at the pinnacle of the pyramid?

This was, in fact, why Yang Cheng had acquired OGC Nice and would even continue to acquire other clubs in the future.

The larger his football empire, the bigger his buffer and the higher his margin for error.

If any problems arose in the future, he could always sacrifice a smaller part to save the whole.

If that day ever came, abandoning OGC Nice to save the Bayswater Chinese—even if OGC Nice were truly relegated, as long as the Bayswater Chinese were still around, OGC Nice could sooner or later return to Ligue 1.

…

A Massacre in the Name of Football!

This was the headline of the report Sky Sports published immediately after the match at Wembley Stadium.

In the article, Sky Sports stated that the 9-1 thrashing was the cruelest massacre of Chelsea!

“This is a humiliation for Guus Hiddink’s coaching career!”

“It is also a bloody education for Chelsea’s owner and management!”

Sky Sports believed that the home side, the Bayswater Chinese, had crushed Chelsea in every aspect.

“Hiddink’s team can find all sorts of reasons for their failure, such as injuries, the national team training camp, and so on.”

“But none of them are sufficient to justify losing 9-1 away from home!”

“This is completely beyond the scope of normal football. This was a contest between the two clubs from top to bottom, and Chelsea was utterly and completely defeated!”

Sky Sports pointed out that while both teams were affected by the national team training camp, the difference in their preparation was vast.

Both teams had players who went to Qatar for international duty. But Bayswater Chinese’s Marcelo, Thiago Silva, and Di María did not feature in this match, while Alex and Ramires both started and played the full ninety minutes.

“But everyone saw how the two Brazilian internationals performed.”

Judging by their performance, it would have been better for those two players to be on the bench.

But this led to a second problem: squad depth.

For the past two or three years, Chelsea had repeatedly talked about rejuvenating the squad and focusing on the youth academy.

But to date, which young player from The Blues’ ranks had been able to step up and carry the first team?

The main culprit of this match, Mikel, once a talented midfielder comparable to Messi at the World Youth Championship, was originally a number 10 attacking midfielder but was forcibly converted into a holding defensive midfielder at Chelsea.

“Relying on him alone to shoulder Chelsea’s entire midfield defense?”

Sky Sports acknowledged that Chelsea had indeed suffered an injury crisis. But in recent years, with the rise of the Bayswater Chinese, other Premier League teams, especially the giants, had been paying increasing attention to injury prevention and control.

So why did Chelsea suffer an injury crisis?

Was it a natural disaster? Or a man-made disaster?

If the injury crisis left Chelsea severely short-handed, where were the youth players who were supposed to step up?

“While Chelsea was busy shouting about promoting youth players, yet unwilling to give them a chance, their opponent, the Bayswater Chinese, had a 20-year-old Toni Kroos and a 19-year-old Aaron Ramsey in their starting midfield.”

“And it was precisely these two midfielders who orchestrated today’s massacre!”

Sky Sports also mentioned 21-year-old Ryan Bertrand.

This player came from Chelsea’s youth academy. After joining the Bayswater Chinese, he became Marcelo’s backup, but he has left a good impression every time he has played.

And in this match, his performance was even more outstanding than Ashley Cole’s on the opposite side.

“If not for the different jerseys, we would even wonder which one was the real Ashley Cole.”

This touched on yet another issue.

Why were Chelsea’s players out of form?

Andy Carroll, Ashley Cole, and Mikel were all subjects of various negative news reports before the match.

This made it difficult for the team to prepare for the game with a calm mind in the dressing room.

Finally, Sky Sports concluded that it was irresponsible to solely blame Hiddink for this crushing defeat.

Chelsea’s failure was comprehensive.

From the investor to the management, to the coaching staff, to the players, to the staff—in this West London derby, Chelsea was completely outclassed by their arch-rival.

“This was a tragic derby!”

“In Chelsea’s past one hundred years, such a humiliation has never occurred. Perhaps, in the next one hundred years, we will hardly see a repeat of what we saw today.”

“But this will become Chelsea’s eternal shame!”

“In this West London derby, in front of billions of fans worldwide, the Bayswater Chinese completed a massacre on Chelsea’s spirit!”

“In the future, whenever West London is mentioned, whenever they face the Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea will inevitably be a cut below!”

…

The famous British columnist Martin Samuel of The Times had always had a good relationship with Chelsea.

But this time, in his column, he dissected the match.

The friend of Lampard and Terry mentioned that this match was more like completely stripping away Chelsea’s fig leaf.

“It allowed everyone to see clearly that from 2003 until now, Chelsea has always been Roman Abramovich’s ‘toy’. When Abramovich is no longer willing to inject more funds, Chelsea dies on the spot!”

Why did this situation arise?

Martin Samuel believed that Chelsea had never been a complete club.

Starting with Peter Kenyon, they had been trying to generate revenue, but in reality, with little success.

And the one who planted this hidden danger was precisely Abramovich!

Why was that?

From Crespo to Shevchenko, to signing Michael Ballack on a free transfer, and so on.

Chelsea had always been chasing star players, wanting to build a Super-battleship to rival Real Madrid.

But in the end, Real Madrid was still Real Madrid, while Chelsea was no longer the Chelsea of a few years ago.

“When Abramovich complains about Chelsea’s £170 million annual wage bill, he might as well ask himself where all that salary expenditure has gone.”

“This is a topic that no one in the Chelsea dressing room dares to talk about.”

“Perhaps this winter, or next summer, Chelsea will continue to sign star players and strengthen the team. However, if they cannot improve the club’s financial situation, any number of stars will be an illusionary bubble.”

“Chelsea will forever be like the emperor in his new clothes.”

“Today, the child was the Bayswater Chinese. What about tomorrow?”

Chelsea’s legendary captain, Dennis Wise, also stated in an interview with reporters that Chelsea was losing its traditional strengths.

“The Chelsea of the past was a tough, strong, and defensively very solid team. They had almost no weaknesses!”

“But now, look at the Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. They look like a group of clumsy brutes, being run ragged by their opponent’s passing and movement, completely helpless.”

“Hiddink once brought stability to the team, but in this match at Wembley, he failed to do so.”

Dennis Wise believed that Chelsea’s age structure was a bit too old, and the team had too many injuries.

“The team now needs to bring in a group of more capable players who are also at a more reasonable age!”

…

After the match, everyone was voicing their own opinions and views.

Often, their statements were even contradictory.

But Chelsea’s fans were venting.

Before the team had even left Wembley Stadium, the London police had issued a warning.

Soon after, over a thousand Chelsea fans took to the streets.

They were furious about the crushing defeat in the derby.

Many were even chanting for Hiddink to be sacked and for Abramovich to go back to Russia.

A centennial humiliation!

Soon, more and more angry fans appeared on the streets of London, all venting their anger over Chelsea’s loss. Some fans even lost control and smashed the windows of street-side shops.

Not to mention the cars parked on the roadside.

The London police responded quickly, immediately deploying more officers to try and control the situation.

Chelsea also quickly held a press conference, publicly apologizing to all Chelsea fans.

Ron Gourlay stated that it was an accident.

An accident created by the confluence of many adverse factors, including injuries, national team duty, and dressing room issues.

But at the same time, the club management had realized the team’s problems.

During this season’s winter transfer window and next summer, Chelsea would increase its investment in new signings to improve the team’s strength as soon as possible.

“We promise everyone that the strong, invincible Chelsea will be back soon!”

“Everyone at the club, from top to bottom, will put in greater effort!”

Chelsea’s captain Terry and vice-captain Lampard were both injured, but they quickly came forward to urge the fans to go home.

On their official website, The Blues stated that this 9-1 defeat was both a humiliation and a precious and timely lesson!

“We will usher in a brand new beginning!”

Fortunately, not too many Chelsea fans took to the streets, only a few thousand. Under the supervision of the police and with Chelsea’s repeated appeals, the disturbance was quickly brought under control.

The London police even arrested a few people who took the opportunity to vandalize property.

But this 9-1 derby match made everyone feel deeply that the tides in London had truly turned!

The Bayswater Chinese had become the strongest powerhouse in the Premier League at present!

As their local arch-rivals, Chelsea, having consecutively missed out on Champions League qualification and with Abramovich’s investment dwindling, were now far behind their West London enemies in terms of overall strength.

But not all teams were like this.

In the 14th round of the Premier League, Arsenal, playing at their home ground, the Emirates Stadium, managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 with a last-minute goal from Koscielny after their opponents had come back to level the score with two goals.

Wenger’s team was also severely affected by international duty but still withstood the pressure.

Manchester United defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 at home.

Liverpool beat West Ham United 3-0 at home.

Manchester City went even further, beating Fulham 4-1 away in West London.

It could be said that all the strong teams won their matches.

Except for Chelsea.

This made The Blues’ fans feel particularly indignant.

They could not accept Chelsea’s decline.

Especially in such a cruel manner.

…

On the evening of November 23rd, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese faced Ajax away.

Unlike the home side Ajax, who fielded their strongest lineup, the Bayswater Chinese, fresh off a 9-1 thrashing of Chelsea in the West London derby, made appropriate squad rotations for the away game.

The international players who missed the derby, such as Modrić, Rakitić, Thiago Silva, Di María, and Marcelo, all started this time.

Even Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski, who had been in scintillating form in the derby, also played, which made Ajax treat them as if facing a formidable enemy.

Speaking of the current Ajax side, their frontline was truly lacking.

After Suárez left for Liverpool, Ajax didn’t have a single familiar face in their attack.

The only familiar name was de Jong, but not Nigel de Jong, nor the Frenkie de Jong that Yang Cheng knew, but Siem de Jong.

He later went to Newcastle but failed to make his mark.

Oh, right, on the bench sat a young midfielder named Eriksson.

In contrast, their defense was packed with talent.

Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and Gregory van der Wiel, plus goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

All of them were solid players.

As such, Ajax’s defense held out for a full thirty-five minutes.

On a counter-attack initiated from the back, a long pass from Toni Kroos accurately switched the ball to the right flank. Di María sent in a cross, and Robert Lewandowski fired a power shot from the arc of the penalty area, breaking through Ajax’s goal.

1-0!

Just before the end of the first half, Ajax committed a foul outside the box, 23 meters from goal.

Gareth Bale calmly took the free kick, and a magnificent butterfly ball once again found its way into Ajax’s net.

2-0!

After scoring a brace from free kicks in the last round, Gareth Bale had once again scored from a set piece.

Leading by two goals at halftime, the Bayswater Chinese continued to control the tempo steadily after the break.

Just two minutes into the second half, Robert Lewandowski had a one-on-one opportunity but failed to score.

Then, in the 60th minute, Di María won the ball from Vurnon Anita in the attacking third, broke through, cut inside at the edge of the penalty area, and played a diagonal pass to the left side of the box.

Gareth Bale burst into the area and calmly slotted a diagonal shot into the bottom right corner of the goal!

This was his favorite area and his most confident shooting angle. It was almost a guaranteed goal every time he shot from there.

3-0!

In the remaining thirty minutes, Ajax tried to mount a comeback, but Gareth Bale first came close to beating Stekelenburg again with a direct free kick.

Then, Urby Emanuelson fouled Modrić inside the box as he was dribbling through, but escaped a penalty call from the head referee.

The continuous threats left Ajax feeling somewhat helpless.

They were simply outmatched; the difference in skill was too great.

In the end, the Dutch side chose to submit.

The Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Ajax away from home.

In the other match played at the same time, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated MŠK Žilina 2-0 away.

With this result, Yang Cheng could mostly rest easy.

Both the Bayswater Chinese and Shakhtar Donetsk would be playing at home in the final round.

Under these circumstances, advancing as group winners was a high probability.

…

Returning to the Premier League for the 15th round.

The Bayswater Chinese rotated their squad again for an away match against Fulham.

This was another match between West London teams.

Mainly, Fulham was trying to ride the coattails by calling it a derby, but in reality…

Never mind.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Fulham 2-1 away, with goals from Giroud and Javi Martínez.

From The Cottagers’ side, the player who left an impression on Yang Cheng was Mousa Dembélé.

This guy was playing in the middle now.

It was all because of those damn videos he had watched in his past life. During the match, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but let his gaze drift towards his rear end. He just hoped the cameras hadn’t captured it…

In this round, Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 4-2 away.

Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Stoke City 1-0 away.

Liverpool, however, drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur away.

Interestingly, both goals came from Škrtel.

Can you believe it?

Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Newcastle.

After 15 rounds, the Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the table with an impressive record of 14 wins and 1 draw, earning them 43 points.

Yang Cheng’s team was also the only one in Europe’s top five leagues to remain undefeated so far.

The team trailing them was Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s team had 38 points, placing them second.

Arsenal was in third place with 34 points.

Liverpool was in fourth with 33 points.

Further down were Manchester United with 28 points and Chelsea with 26.

With their brilliant performance since the start of the season, the Bayswater Chinese were a lone rider, having successfully pulled away from the other teams.

…

Midweek, the League Cup quarter-finals.

The Bayswater Chinese, fielding substitutes and young players, narrowly defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at home.

Theo Walcott’s goal in the 12th minute gave the team the lead.

The assist came from Eden Hazard.

But in the 30th minute, Aston Villa launched a quick counter-attack, and Agbonlahor helped Villa equalize.

After that, neither side could score again.

It wasn’t until the 84th minute that Hazard initiated an attack from the left, crossed diagonally to the far post, and Giroud headed the ball back to the center, where substitute Harry Kane toe-poked it into the net from close range.

2-1!

The Bayswater Chinese smoothly advanced to the semi-final!

Harry Kane contributed a crucial goal, earning a standing ovation from Wembley Stadium.

The 17-year-old youngster still mostly played as a substitute.

But whether in the league, the Champions League, or cup competitions, he had put in good performances.

However, this round saw another major upset.

West Ham United thrashed Manchester United 4-0 at home.

It was another jaw-dropping result.

Just as The Sun said.

This season’s Premier League was truly unpredictable.

It was said that the strong teams were getting stronger, yet Manchester United and Chelsea were frequently on the receiving end of heavy defeats.

Ferguson explained to the public that Manchester United wanted to narrow their focus and not fight on multiple fronts.

This was a somewhat plausible excuse.

But to be beaten like that by West Ham United, even with a substitute lineup, was indeed embarrassing.

Arsenal, also fielding substitutes, defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 at home.

The other team to advance to the semi-finals was Championship side Ipswich Town.

The final draw resulted in the Bayswater Chinese facing West Ham United, and Arsenal facing Ipswich Town.

…

December arrived.

In the 16th round of the Premier League, Arsenal defeated Fulham 2-1 at home.

The Bayswater Chinese also played at home, and after conceding a goal from a defensive error at a set piece in the 19th minute of the first half, they came back in the second half to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, thanks to goals from Modrić and Vincent Kompany.

Manchester City beat Bolton 1-0 at home.

Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 3-0 at home.

Manchester United, after going two goals down away from home, scored three in a row to narrowly beat Blackpool 3-2.

Only Chelsea struggled, drawing 1-1 at home against Everton.

Since their 0-3 home loss to Sunderland in the 13th round, Chelsea had gone four games without a win, with two draws and two losses.

The 9-1 drubbing by the Bayswater Chinese, in particular, had a huge impact on The Blues.

…

Midweek, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese hosted MŠK Žilina.

Although the team had already qualified, Yang Cheng still hoped to secure the top spot in the group. So, for this match, he did not field a full substitute lineup but made appropriate rotations.

In the 30th minute of the first half, Theo Walcott scored with an assist from Giroud.

After that, the match was completely controlled by the home team.

After halftime, Yang Cheng brought on three young players: Paul Pogba, Harry Kane, and De Bruyne.

In the 73rd minute, substitute Harry Kane received a brilliant pass from Aaron Ramsey, controlled the ball in the box to shake off a defender, and then fired a power shot into the net, 2-0!

Just four minutes later, after a driving run from Paul Pogba, he delivered a wonderful pass. Hazard broke into the left side of the box, dummied past a defender, and scored with a low shot.

3-0!

However, in the 82nd minute, MŠK Žilina managed to pull one back.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a 3-1 victory over MŠK Žilina at home without too much trouble.

Elsewhere, Shakhtar Donetsk also defeated Ajax 2-0 at home.

Yang Cheng’s team still advanced as group winners, with Shakhtar Donetsk finishing second.

Interestingly, in the much-watched group of death, Ancelotti’s Manchester City managed to top the group ahead of Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Mourinho’s Real Madrid followed closely behind in second place.

AC Milan finished third in the group and was forced to drop into the Europa League.

This caused a strong reaction in European football.

The decline of Serie A was no longer news.

But now, even a Serie A giant like AC Milan couldn’t make it out of the group stage.

It had to be said that this forced everyone to re-evaluate Serie A.

…

While the outside world was still immersed in the pessimistic mood of AC Milan’s elimination, the day after leading his team against MŠK Žilina, Yang Cheng received a coaching exchange delegation from Italy at the Brent training center.

This was a regular program for the Bayswater Chinese.

Every month, the Bayswater Chinese would invite elite professionals from all walks of the football world, including famous coaches and various experts, to the Bayswater Chinese for exchanges or professional training.

Italian football was currently in a slump, but Italian tactics and training were extraordinary.

With Yang Cheng acting as a go-between, the communication between the Bayswater Chinese and Coverciano, the hallowed ground of Italian coaching, had always been very frequent. It was common for Italian coaches to visit, or for the Bayswater Chinese to send people over.

The two sides exchanged ideas and learned from each other, which was mutually beneficial.

This time, the coaching delegation arranged by Coverciano was quite large, with nearly forty people.

It was said to be the final study tour for a coaching course, and they naturally covered their own travel expenses.

But over the next few days, they would be observing at the Brent training center.

This was also very common.

As the fame of the Bayswater Chinese grew, the Brent training center’s status in the minds of fans and coaches worldwide had become extraordinary.

Yang Cheng’s name, in particular, made this training center seem to surpass all others.

Yang Cheng welcomed such exchanges and visits with open arms.

In football, whether as a player, coach, or in any other role, working in isolation was not a viable path.

Moreover, the tactical prowess of the Italians was truly impressive!

At first, Yang Cheng thought it was just a group of young coaches coming for a study tour.

But when he actually met them, Yang Cheng noticed that there were also quite a few coaches who were already somewhat famous.

They were all unemployed for various reasons.

Coverciano had specially organized this study tour for them to come to London to learn from the best, studying the most advanced technical and tactical concepts and training science.

As usual, the Brent training center had no secrets.

The Bayswater Chinese had always been very generous in this regard, with the air of a leader.

Therefore, their reputation in professional coaching circles was genuinely excellent!

As the architect of the team, Yang Cheng was naturally revered by countless people.

Among the many visitors, Yang Cheng easily noticed Gian Piero Gasperini with his iconic silver hair.

The two did not know each other, but the man’s white hair was too conspicuous in the group of coaches.

Moreover, he was probably the biggest name in this exchange group.

He had just been sacked by Serie A’s Genoa in early November.

“Hello, Gian, welcome to London.”

As the host, after greeting everyone, Yang Cheng walked over with a smile to greet Gasperini.

He spoke in Italian.

This came as a surprise to Gasperini.

“I’ve always heard you’re fluent in multiple languages, but I was skeptical,” Gasperini said with a laugh.

He had indeed come to London this time to learn and recharge.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, this white-haired man received an offer from Inter Milan six months after being sacked, giving him the chance to coach The Nerazzurri.

However, he was sacked after just five matches.

Before and after that, he had never managed a giant club, so not many fans knew him.

But Gasperini was the real deal!

He started his career at Juventus and, after retiring, first coached in The Zebras’ youth teams.

In 2003, he went to coach third-tier F.C. Crotone and led the team to a runner-up finish in his first season, earning promotion to the Italian second division.

He was sacked midway through his second season due to poor results but was rehired just six months later.

In the 2005/06 season, Crotone finished 9th in the second division.

In the summer of 2006, he moved to Genoa, also in the second division, and led them to Serie A in his first season.

The other two teams promoted to Serie A that year were Juventus and S.S.C. Napoli.

Wasn’t that incredible?

They finished 10th in Serie A in the 2007/08 season, soared to 4th in 2008/09, and returned to 9th in 2009/10.

Then, this past summer, Genoa’s owner Preziosi did something very bold.

After selling three key players—Salvatore Bocchetti, Alberto Zapater, and Sokratis Papastathopoulos—for €23.5 million, he spent over €40 million in the transfer market.

The most notable signing was a former Bayern Munich star, Luca Toni.

It was a free transfer, but his annual salary was a staggering €4.5 million.

Yes, staggering was the right word.

Because in Serie A, especially for a non-giant club, this was already a sky-high price!

After spending so much money and bringing in fourteen players, Genoa’s results remained mid-table.

Thus, Preziosi became a laughingstock.

In early November, he finally couldn’t hold back any longer and gave Gasperini the axe!

So, that was why the white-haired Italian now had the time to be in London.

Situations like this were common in European football, happening every season, even every month.

In professional circles, everyone was used to it and wouldn’t look down on Gasperini because of it.

On the contrary, the F.C. Crotone and Genoa teams he had built had long since proven his coaching ability.

“I believe, Gian, it won’t be long before you return to a coaching position!” Yang Cheng said with an encouraging smile.

Gasperini was indeed waiting for an opportunity, but his home base was not in the Premier League.

He was about the only one in the exchange group who could have a proper conversation with Yang Cheng, so the two started chatting.

Yang Cheng was very interested in the tactical environment in Italy.

Especially the three-at-the-back system.

And Gasperini’s specialty was the 3-4-3.

The history of the three-at-the-back system in Italy was truly long.

Not to mention the distant past, just look at recent examples: Walter Mazzarri was a specialist in the three-back system, and so was Gasperini.

But according to him, the three-at-the-back was actually a result of being forced into a corner.

The reason was that Italy lacked centre-forwards and wingers.

They couldn’t produce them domestically, and they couldn’t compete with the Premier League, La Liga, and the Bundesliga for the better foreign players. So, they had to find solutions on a tactical level.

“Under these circumstances, we can’t make a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 work. Even a 4-4-2 is difficult.”

“But in the current football environment, every team is studying how to attack the half-space, so we can only choose a 3-back system, which is actually a 5-back.”

Gasperini was very frank on this point.

It was proof of his rigorous and serious approach to football tactics.

In defense, the two wing-backs drop back, and the three centre-backs provide excellent protection for the half-spaces.

In attack, the wing-backs push forward, and the wide centre-backs can also push up appropriately to act as full-backs.

According to Gasperini, this was a compromise when you couldn’t control possession.

But it was very popular in Serie A.

Speaking of which, this was the tragedy of Italian football!

And a symbol of Serie A’s decline!

Yang Cheng really hadn’t expected that behind a single popular formation, there were so many complex factors.

But upon reflection, it really made sense.

Italy had always lacked good wide players.

In the past, they had centre-forwards like Luca Toni, Amauri, Vincenzo Iaquinta, and Gilardino. But now?

Oh, right, there was also Mario Balotelli, who was world-class from the neck down.

If you took the other centre-forwards and compared them on the European stage with those from the Premier League, Bundesliga, and La Liga…

They really couldn’t compare.

“Actually, I don’t think it’s necessarily so bad. The three-at-the-back system will sooner or later move beyond Serie A and become popular.”

“Especially in European football today, the mainstream trend is to emphasize collective attack and defense, which is what Italian coaches are best at.”

“Besides, look at Ancelotti. He’s playing a 4-3-2-1 in the Premier League, and he’s doing great, isn’t he?”

Yang Cheng’s words made Gasperini laugh.

Right, what goes around, comes around.

In the Premier League, where wingers reigned supreme, Ancelotti was using a Christmas tree formation, and it was actually working quite well.

Who could have imagined?

Chapter 215: A Big Surprise! Success on Two Fronts! We Need a Bayswater Chinese!

During his private chat with Gasperini, Yang Cheng gained a deeper understanding of the environment within Italian football.

To put it simply, reality hadn’t hit them hard enough yet!

The whole of Italy, from top to bottom, was still immersed in the glory of the “Little World Cup” days, unable to break free.

How absurd was it?

Take Genoa, for example.

How much annual revenue did this team generate?

Yet they had invested forty million euros in the transfer market.

The most ridiculous part was that they expected to see results in a short period.

Did they really think giants like Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Juventus were pushovers?

So who exactly gave Preziosi such courage?

The environment!

His situation was by no means an isolated case in Italy; it was an extremely common phenomenon.

Even someone like Napoli’s De Laurentiis had spent seventeen million euros to sign Cavani this summer, hadn’t he?

From Yang Cheng’s perspective, he could confidently say: “Don’t worry, Paris Saint-Germain will come calling in a couple of years.”

By then, Cavani’s seventeen million euros would have turned into 64.5 million euros.

A very sweet deal!

But from the perspective of Serie A in 2010, the transfer fee was indeed a bit high.

In Gasperini’s view, if the 2006 Calciopoli scandal had lanced the festering sore of Italian football, then the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis had plunged it into a mire of despair.

When the European debt crisis erupted, Italy’s position within the European Union was comparable to that of Greece.

And what’s more, the two countries were actually quite close geographically.

So the problem was this: the aftershocks of the Calciopoli scandal had not yet subsided when the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis hit head-on. For the past few years, Italian football had been struggling mightily.

Everyone’s attention was focused on Inter Milan, Juventus, and AC Milan.

What they didn’t realize was that Inter Milan had Moratti burning money, and Juventus also had a financial consortium backing them.

But how did the numerous small and medium-sized clubs survive?

By selling their training grounds, selling their players, selling their youth academies…

Selling everything!

And if they didn’t sell?

They wouldn’t survive!

If this was the objective environment, then within football itself, the Football Association’s strict regulations on foreign players prevented Italy from absorbing the affordable, high-quality talent pool from Africa and South America.

The league was losing its vitality, becoming like a pool of stagnant water.

What should be done at a time like this?

Some people believed that someone should step up and spend money, increase investment, bring in more star players, and build one or several super teams to lead the league out of its predicament.

The Milan duo, Juventus, AS Roma, and other teams basically subscribed to this logic.

Serie A’s big clubs had no advantage on the European stage, but domestically they were extravagantly wealthy and naturally had the confidence to do so.

Preziosi, and even De Laurentiis, also shared this way of thinking.

The only difference was the degree to which they pursued it.

Others believed that in the current environment of Serie A, it was no longer suitable for most clubs to pursue the superstar route. Instead, they needed to adopt pragmatic operational strategies, emphasize their youth academies, and break out of the vicious cycle.

“Many small and medium-sized clubs are selling everything, which has dealt an extremely tragic blow to Italy’s youth development.”

“Without money, and with the restrictions on foreign players, we can’t bring in high-level players. Without youth academies, we can’t cultivate outstanding local talent.”

“Without good players, the quality of the matches naturally declines, and the football itself isn’t entertaining to watch.”

“If the matches aren’t good, we can’t attract more fans, and the commercial value remains low.”

Speaking of this, Gasperini had a helpless look on his face, clearly pained by the current situation in Serie A.

His career had spanned the peak of the early nineties, the era of Sacchi and the Milan dynasty.

“Our stadiums are not our own; every club has to pay a hefty rent to the government.”

“Take the Milan duo, for example. Their annual rent is around eight million euros, with each team paying about four million euros.”

“Doesn’t sound too expensive, does it?”

Yang Cheng nodded. “We rent Wembley Stadium from The FA for five million pounds per season.”

“Exactly. If they add about two million in venue maintenance and operating costs, it comes out to around six million euros.”

“But the biggest difference is that the facilities are aging, and they don’t have the authority to renovate. So matchday revenue is almost exclusively from ticket sales, and Serie A ticket prices are relatively low. You can imagine how dismal the matchday income is.”

“Without matchday income, without commercial income, and with poor broadcasting rights revenue, all the teams in Serie A have unsatisfactory income.”

“According to some statistics, there are fewer than 130 players in Serie A with an annual salary of over one million, and half of them are concentrated in Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan.”

“If you add Lazio, AS Roma, and S.S.C. Napoli, the total comes to nearly 110.”

“The rest are scattered among the remaining nine teams, and five of those teams have a top salary of under one million euros.”

“As for those earning over two million euros a year, there are only about forty, almost all of whom are at Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, with one exception: Luca Toni at Genoa, at 4.5 million euros.”

After a pause, Gasperini looked at Yang Cheng with a wry smile.

“Do you know why De Rossi left AS Roma for Manchester United, or why Buffon left Juventus for Liverpool?”

“If they stayed in Serie A, the highest annual salary they could command is six million euros. This is a gentlemen’s agreement among the big clubs, and they’re often reluctant to even pay that much.”

For the Serie A of today, superstars like them had long since become an unaffordable, heavy burden.

And in Serie A, the minimum annual salary was just twenty thousand euros.

Note, that’s annual salary, and for a professional contract in Serie A.

Yang Cheng sighed.

Only now was he beginning to truly understand why match-fixing and gambling would be so rampant in Serie A in the years to come.

As Gasperini said, it was a vicious cycle.

When a team’s income was so low and the pressure so high, not to mention many owners desperately wanting to bring in stars to stimulate the market, the only option was to cut wages or even delay salary payments.

Within the same team, some stars earned ridiculously high salaries while other players made not even a fraction of that. How could there be a sense of balance?

Especially when their salaries were being withheld.

Delayed salary payments were not unique to Serie A; La Liga had this issue almost every year.

Yang Cheng wasn’t trying to excuse those who fixed matches in Serie A; match-fixing was wrong, no matter the circumstances.

But on the other hand, one had to see that behind the match-fixing and gambling were ordinary people.

Living, breathing families.

As for which of the two paths Gasperini mentioned was right and which was wrong, Yang Cheng felt it was hard to say.

He didn’t refute Gasperini to his face, because he felt Gasperini’s idea had its merits.

But it wasn’t suitable for the big clubs.

And the big clubs’ way of thinking wasn’t wrong either.

For example, the Milan duo needed to attract seventy to eighty thousand fans to their games, and those fans paid high ticket prices. If the team didn’t have a few star players to show for it, how could they justify it?

After the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, followed by the subprime and European debt crises, attendance in Serie A had plummeted.

Fans who watched the broadcasts carefully would notice that the production quality was also poor, and camera pans would often reveal large empty sections in the stands.

The league couldn’t retain its stars, the football wasn’t entertaining, and fans weren’t enjoying it. Who would want to go to the stadium?

Broadcasters weren’t enthusiastic either, so the broadcasting rights couldn’t be sold at a high price.

“Our Serie A desperately needs a team like you, Bayswater Chinese, one that values youth development, constantly produces talent, plays attractive and entertaining football, and has strong commercial operations!” Gasperini sighed to Yang Cheng on a whim.

It was clear that he was very disappointed with the current state of Italian football, but also loved it very deeply.

Yang Cheng found it rather amusing.

A club like Bayswater Chinese could not be born in Serie A.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that clubs didn’t own their home stadiums was enough to kill any possibility.

Besides, there were no suitable teams in Serie A to attract Yang Cheng at the moment.

Juventus was out of the question, and he couldn’t afford the Milan duo, the Rome duo, or S.S.C. Napoli.

The other teams currently showed little investment value.

What’s more, Yang Cheng still had OGC Nice in Ligue 1.

He had to develop Nice first, gain more experience, cultivate some people, and get things on the right track before considering anything else.

…

Yang Cheng treated the Italian coaching delegation with the utmost courtesy.

He not only had multiple conversations with Gasperini, but the two immediately hit it off.

Yang Cheng was also exceptionally accommodating to the others.

He even arranged for them to participate in the club’s training and match preparations, giving them a comprehensive understanding of some of Bayswater Chinese’s operational methods and procedures.

The Italian media also reported on the delegation’s experiences in London. Coupled with announcements on the websites of the Italian Football Federation and Coverciano, this served as good promotion for Bayswater Chinese.

As the news and stories spread, they quickly captured the attention of football fans worldwide.

What constituted the authority of a major club?

Bayswater Chinese was the answer!

Even the Italians were rushing over to learn and exchange ideas!

Amateurs see the spectacle, while experts see the substance.

Having experienced it firsthand, the group of Italian coaches finally understood why other teams couldn’t replicate their success.

Because Bayswater Chinese relied on a complete system of processes!

Take, for instance, the 17th-round away game against Wolves.

From the various details of pre-match preparations, to the team’s departure, and the reception upon arrival…

Everything followed a procedure.

The staff in each department fulfilled their roles, all according to the process, link by link, closely connected yet with enough room for error.

How could other teams possibly learn this?

For example, the pre-match scouting report was incredibly detailed.

Besides the team-wide report, it was detailed down to each individual player, including the form, mental state, and other aspects of their potential opponents.

Despite playing two games a week with hardly any time for targeted training, Bayswater Chinese still managed to incorporate training items targeted at their opponents into their daily recovery and adjustment sessions.

And the players were equally professional.

According to the observations of the coaching delegation, the players were never late for training nor did they leave early; every single one of them was extremely self-disciplined.

Even in something as mundane as a warm-up, Bayswater Chinese could be incredibly creative.

As Brian Kidd had explained, many training injuries were often the result of insufficient warm-ups.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s sports science department, when designing warm-up programs, specifically studied details to prevent players from slacking off, forcing them to give their all.

Backed by a powerful medical team, this was the secret to Bayswater Chinese’s low number of injuries!

After watching for a few days, this group of Italian coaches was left in awe.

When the weekend came, Yang Cheng had originally invited them to watch the away game.

The West Midlands county, where Wolves were based, was not far, located in the middle of England, and the club could arrange for a bus to take them.

Unfortunately, although the Italian coaches were eager to go, the weather forecast predicted a major cold snap in Britain, with imminent heavy snow. They couldn’t afford any delays and had to return to Italy immediately.

Before they left, Yang Cheng privately invited Gasperini to visit London again when he had the chance.

This man was the future head coach of Inter Milan!

In his previous life, he only lasted five games. What if things changed this time?

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory away at Wolves.

The goalscorer was Di María.

Meanwhile, Manchester City defeated West Ham United 3-1 away.

Liverpool also won 3-1 away against Newcastle.

Arsenal defeated Manchester United 1-0 away.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur.

In that match, Drogba equalized for Chelsea in the 70th minute but missed a penalty kick in the final moments of stoppage time.

…

After the 17th round of the Premier League, a powerful cold front swept across Britain overnight.

The UK Met Office reported that it was another of the coldest Decembers in the country’s history.

How cold was it?

The temperature dropped below freezing, five degrees Celsius lower than the average for the time of year.

Under these circumstances, all the teams prepared for their matches with a lingering worry, fearing a repeat of the terrible extreme weather from January.

Yang Cheng also paid special attention to the players’ injury situations.

In this situation, Bayswater Chinese’s indoor training facility proved its worth.

While other teams were forced to suspend training, Bayswater Chinese was leisurely training in their indoor facility, completely sheltered from the biting cold.

When media reporters covered the story, the players from other teams were overcome with envy.

In the entire Premier League, only Bayswater Chinese had an indoor training facility; they were one of a kind!

On normal rainy days, players could still grit their teeth and train through it.

But in this kind of weather, could they endure it?

The Premier League also convened an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.

The final decision was to play the 18th round of matches on December 18th and 19th.

The purpose of this was to avoid a rare blizzard like the one in early January.

Especially after Christmas, with four consecutive match rounds, if they were to coincide with heavy snow, those four rounds of the league would be postponed, and the entire subsequent schedule would be thrown into disarray.

Therefore, the 18th round could not be postponed any longer.

And so, in this hurried atmosphere of racing against the clock, all nine matches, except for the pivotal clash between Manchester United and Chelsea, were completed on the 18th and 19th.

As it turned out, a major blizzard hit on the 20th.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Now, after Christmas, the weather would likely improve.

In the 18th round of matches, Manchester City defeated Everton 2-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Fulham 1-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Newcastle 2-0.

Arsenal beat Stoke City 1-0 at home.

Apart from Bayswater Chinese, the other teams all played poorly.

Manchester United’s away match against Chelsea was postponed due to their participation in the Club World Cup.

…

A heavy snowfall added to the festive atmosphere as Christmas approached.

Although there were reports of various accidents across the UK due to the sudden heavy snow, fortunately, there were no casualties.

After the 18th round, Bayswater Chinese immediately got busy.

First, Yang Cheng led the players to Bayswater in London to attend a topping-out ceremony for the new stadium.

Although the stadium had been dug one level down, with the addition of a retractable truss roof, the total height would exceed fifty meters.

For this reason, Bayswater Chinese had specially added a Sky Bar in the circular area of the stadium’s top floor.

The bar would not only offer a beautiful view of the London city skyline but also provide the best position to watch the matches.

Furthermore, the bar’s decor was extremely luxurious and was being hailed as a super-VIP experience!

The bar would also be open to the public on days other than match days.

This Sky Bar was the masterpiece of the nightclub aficionado Adam Crozier!

According to him, the admission fee for this bar would be very expensive, with each ticket, including the match ticket price, costing at least two thousand pounds.

Think it’s too expensive? We don’t do discounts!

What if you want to visit a bar but can’t afford the Sky Bar?

No problem, the ground floor of our stadium has a bar street specifically for fans, with all kinds of drinks available, catering to all budgets.

But the Sky Bar on the top floor will be just that expensive!

Yang Cheng and his group made a special trip to the top floor to inspect the empty shell; the overall framework was now complete.

The next steps were to install the stadium’s suspension trusses, followed by the roof, and the interior decoration below was also about to begin.

This was no small step, and with only about a year and a half left, the schedule was quite tight.

As for the retractable pitch that Yang Cheng was most concerned about, the main structure was complete and had been verified by experts. What remained was some follow-up work; how the turf would be laid and maintained was unrelated to the construction.

Concurrent with the topping-out ceremony, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Modrić, Robert Lewandowski, and others attended a signing ceremony.

Bayswater Chinese officially announced that it had signed an agreement with Prudential, the largest insurance company in the UK.

Prudential renewed its front-of-shirt sponsorship with Bayswater Chinese for five years, at a staggering thirty million pounds per year!

This would set a new record for the highest front-of-shirt sponsorship fee in European football history!

In addition, Prudential had also secured the naming rights for Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium for thirty million pounds a year, for a period of ten years.

This meant that for the next ten years, the stadium would be known as the Prudential Stadium!

The shirt sponsorship would take effect from the summer of 2011.

However, the stadium naming rights would begin when the stadium opened in 2012.

Several key executives from Prudential attended the signing ceremony. They hoped to leverage Bayswater Chinese’s influence in North America and Asia through this blockbuster signing to further promote Prudential’s business.

“We have every reason to believe that this will be a powerful cross-industry collaboration!”

In contrast, Adam Crozier, sitting next to Yang Cheng, still felt that the thirty-million-pound naming rights fee was a bit low.

“You wait and see. Ten years from now, they won’t be able to sign this naming rights contract at this price, no way!”

Don’t think that a thirty-million-pound naming rights fee is expensive.

It involves a great many clauses.

For example, the signs on Queensway would read “Prudential Stadium.”

Huge “Prudential Stadium” signs would be hung around the stadium, and they had to be lit up at night.

What did that mean in practice?

Adam Crozier said dramatically: “At night, the whole of West London will be able to see Prudential’s logo!”

“Later, I’ll talk to AXA or other sponsors. If they can’t get the naming rights for our new stadium, they can name our training ground. I’m planning to bundle the naming rights for all ten Satellite Training Centres together.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng slapped his thigh in approval.

What a fantastic idea!

The ten Satellite Training Centres were spread throughout London, and most were located in high-traffic, densely populated areas.

When the sites were originally chosen, Chris Hunt had selected them with great care; the locations were all quite excellent.

Bundling them together like this would certainly interest various sponsors.

The effect might not even be inferior to Prudential’s naming rights for the new stadium.

“You’re so competent, it seems I have no choice but to give you a raise!” Yang Cheng said half-jokingly.

Adam Crozier was even happier upon hearing this.

Yang Cheng was a truly excellent boss.

He not only delegated authority fully, but he also had great trust in his subordinates.

Everyone knew that Xia Qing was there to supervise them, but wasn’t that perfectly normal?

Given the current scale of Bayswater Chinese, if there wasn’t a Xia Qing watching over things, Adam Crozier wouldn’t even trust himself!

But more importantly, as long as you were capable, Yang Cheng was willing to pay.

He was now earning an annual salary of three million pounds, already the highest in the Premier League.

The last time he had dinner with the Premier League’s CEO Richard Scudamore, Manchester United’s General Manager David Gill, and Arsenal’s General Manager David Dein, they had joked that his salary was almost as much as both of theirs combined.

At the time, Adam Crozier had humbly said it wasn’t that much.

The next time they meet, he would be able to stand tall and say: “You three, pick any two of you, and your salaries still won’t be as high as mine!”

With Adam Crozier getting a raise, Omar Berrada and the others would also see their salaries increase.

Everyone was happy, except for Xia Qing, who was a little uncomfortable.

She and Yang Cheng had already discussed it, but she still felt the amount was too high.

An annual salary of four million pounds!

But Yang Cheng was right; this group of people was simply too capable.

Now, the management team at Bayswater Chinese operated under two banners.

They were both a club and a football group.

Indeed, Chris Hunt had already put the training ground for Nice on the agenda.

…

Before Christmas, the news of Bayswater Chinese’s new sponsorship deals caused an uproar on Fleet Street!

Who would have thought there could be such a Christmas present?

A full sixty million pounds!

If you added the jersey sponsorship, the annual income was close to one hundred million.

The Times published an article commenting: “Back then, everyone thought it was a crazy move for Bayswater Chinese to spend a billion pounds to build a new stadium.”

“But now, before the new stadium is even completed, we can already see the enormous benefits it brings.”

The Times analyzed that there were not many stadiums in the Premier League that could sell their naming rights—only three.

Years ago, to finance their new stadium, Arsenal sold the naming rights to the Emirates Stadium for one hundred million pounds over fifteen years, which worked out to only 6.75 million pounds a year. It was truly a bargain!

Not long ago, Manchester City announced that they had sold the naming rights for their stadium for the next fifteen years for 150 million pounds, and it would now be called the Etihad Stadium. This translated to ten million pounds a year.

But in reality, everyone knew that Manchester City’s stadium naming rights contract was somewhat inflated.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had once again redefined everyone’s understanding, showing the world what a prime location truly meant, what “every inch of land is worth its weight in gold” meant, and who was the giant among giants!

The stadium naming rights alone sold for thirty million pounds!

Looking across the entire world, this was one of a kind!

The entire British media circle took pride in this, a
nd rushed to report on it!

Especially when they interviewed CEO Adam Crozier and he revealed that sponsors were interested in the naming rights for the training ground, the media became excited and started hyping it up again.

It had to be said, when it came to utilizing the media, Adam Crozier was becoming more and more adept.

It was also at this time that FIFA and France Football magazine successively released news.

On the top-ten list for the 2010 merged FIFA Ballon d’Or, Bayswater Chinese had two players.

One was Robert Lewandowski, and the other was Gareth Bale.

On the previously announced top-twenty list, Bayswater Chinese had four players, the other two being Theo Walcott and Modrić.

Since this was a World Cup year, it was a major year for the award.

Bayswater Chinese was at a significant disadvantage; Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Modrić all came from weaker football nations.

Although Theo Walcott was from England, everyone knew the current state of the England national team.

Under these circumstances, it was basically impossible for Bayswater Chinese’s players to rank high in a World Cup year.

In addition, Rooney had also made it into the top ten, so it was estimated that the overall ranking would not change much from his previous life.

To put it bluntly, in his previous life, even Sneijder couldn’t compete with Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi. The current Rooney had even less of a chance.

Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale shouldn’t hold their breath either.

In Yang Cheng’s view, for his team’s players to be able to break into the top ten and top twenty was already quite a good achievement.

This was a testament to the hard work of the club’s public relations department over the past few years, especially the new media working group.

Initially, many players had reservations about the new media working group, but gradually, they began to reap the benefits.

Especially when it started to generate income, they couldn’t have been more enthusiastic.

…

Amidst the heated discussions in the media, Bayswater Chinese arranged their pre-Christmas dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The club even booked the entire ballroom to host the players, coaching staff, employees, and their families.

As the club’s owner and head coach, Yang Cheng was the first to announce the team’s achievements over the past season.

Including the breakthrough in the Ballon d’Or!

The reaction from everyone present was extremely enthusiastic.

This was the first time in the history of Bayswater Chinese that an active player had entered the top ten of the Ballon d’Or.

Perhaps winning the award was still a distant dream, but Yang Cheng believed that there would definitely be a chance!

He then announced that the team was leading the Premier League table with an impressive record of 17 wins and 1 draw in 18 rounds.

This tied the best first half of a Premier League season in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

Why a tie?

Because in the 08/09 season, the club’s most glorious season, the team had achieved the same record.

“But now, I can proudly tell you all that our goal count this season is even better than in the 08/09 season. The football we play is more aggressive and is also the most beloved by the fans!”

Once again, the room erupted in thunderous applause.

The number of goals far exceeded that of the 08/09 season because the front three were firing on all cylinders.

In midfield, Toni Kroos had integrated almost seamlessly, forming a partnership with Modrić that continuously created chances for the forwards. This made Bayswater Chinese’s attack a relentless, unstoppable tide.

But the defense was not as strong.

This season, Bayswater Chinese had conceded eleven goals in eighteen league matches.

In the 08/09 season, they had only conceded six.

This, in a way, confirmed Yang Cheng’s earlier statement: that year’s Grand Slam season was built on an outstanding defense.

And now, Bayswater Chinese was playing exhilarating, free-flowing attacking football.

Especially the 9-1 dismantling of Chelsea, which was almost enough to give their West London arch-rivals depression!

After Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier also took the stage. He reported on the team’s business operations and various situations over the past season and also announced an unprecedented grand prize for winning the quadruple!

Adam Crozier hoped that everyone would rally their spirits, continue their efforts in the coming months, and strive for even better performances and form.

The club would absolutely not be stingy and would present everyone with an unprecedentedly generous reward.

Note, everyone!

The atmosphere in the room immediately became exceptionally fervent.

Bayswater Chinese truly had an excellent reputation in this regard.

Although the players’ salaries were not high compared to other teams, they were within a reasonable range.

In terms of bonuses, especially for winning trophies, Yang Cheng was never stingy.

As for the coaches and employees, both their salaries and bonuses were generally at the leading level among their Premier League peers.

The reward scheme also revealed Yang Cheng’s plans for this season.

He was determined to win the league.

As for the cup competitions, he wanted to contend for them as well.

Because he now had a slight lead in the Premier League, he could afford to devote some energy to the cup competitions.

They had already reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and would definitely fight for it.

The FA Cup had not started yet, so it was hard to say how they would do.

But then there was the Champions League.

In the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage draw held at UEFA headquarters a few days ago, Bayswater Chinese had drawn Real Madrid. Enemies are truly bound to cross paths!

Speaking of Real Madrid, it was an interesting case.

Due to their performance over the past few years, either getting knocked out in the group stage or being eliminated in the Round of 16 year after year, their European competition coefficient points had declined, forcing them into Pot 2.

As a result, they were drawn against AC Milan and Manchester City.

Now, Ancelotti’s Manchester City had taught them a lesson, and they only managed to finish second in the group.

Among the seven possible second-place opponents—Valencia, AS Roma, Lyon, Inter Milan, Marseille, and Real Madrid—Bayswater Chinese just had to draw Real Madrid.

Whether there was any foul play involved, Yang Cheng had no way of knowing.

Anyway, according to the media, Mourinho was very unhappy with the draw and apparently threw a tantrum after hearing the result.

Real Madrid had hired him to break their Round of 16 curse.

And now, right off the bat, they had to face Bayswater Chinese.

How were they supposed to play this?

…

After attending the Christmas party on the Bayswater Chinese side, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others rushed to Nice, France, to participate in Nice’s Christmas dinner.

The Ligue 1 season continued until the 19th round of matches on December 22nd before entering the winter transfer window.

The next matches wouldn’t be until January 15th.

There was a break of more than half a month in between.

Nice had started planning six months ago to go to the Middle East for winter training and had already arranged pre-season friendlies, including one against Bayern Munich.

The location chosen was Abu Dhabi.

Yang Cheng considered the Middle East and Africa as the starting point for Nice’s commercial breakthrough, so this region was definitely a key part of his plan.

And what Yang Cheng was considering was the Qatari consortium’s upcoming acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain next summer.

In fact, rumors were already starting to spread.

But not about Paris Saint-Germain, but about Manchester United.

According to reliable intelligence Yang Cheng had received, the Qatari consortium had approached Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, with a 1.5 billion pound offer to acquire the club.

But the Glazer family was not satisfied with this price and rejected the Qatari consortium.

If Yang Cheng’s estimation was not mistaken, the French side must have heard the news as well, which was why they wanted to lure this major financial backer to France.

This was different from when Yang Cheng first came to France.

The people from the Qatari consortium were in direct contact with the President of France; the difference in level was vast.

Many fans only noticed the Qatari consortium’s acquisition of PSG, but overlooked a series of other investments.

The most eye-catching of these was Al Jazeera.

The Qatari television station not only bought the broadcasting rights for the Champions League in France for a high price, officially entering the French pay-TV industry and breaking the monopoly of TF1 and Canal+.

At the same time, the price had doubled.

This meant that the prize pool for French teams participating in the Champions League would expand.

In addition, Al Jazeera also bought some of the domestic broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 and all of the overseas broadcasting rights for a record-breaking fee.

And among these, Al Jazeera’s most influential region was undoubtedly the Middle East and Africa.

That was why Yang Cheng had Nice start making arrangements in advance.

The Middle East and Africa were actually overflowing with wealth.

More importantly, the Premier League simply didn’t have the time to get involved in this market.

Because while others had a winter break, the Premier League’s schedule was even more packed.

Under these circumstances, the Middle East and Africa were undoubtedly an untapped market.

For example, the shrewd Bayern Munich had recently been arranging their winter training in the Middle East.

For Nice to break in at this time and take a piece of the pie was also a good choice.

If Nice’s commercial endeavors were still in the planning stages and had yet to bear fruit, then on the pitch, Ronald Koeman’s Nice had given Yang Cheng a huge surprise.

Yang Cheng and his group arrived in Nice on the 23rd.

The previous night, Nice had defeated the bottom-of-the-table team, Arles, 2-0 away.

Since Lille had drawn 1-1 at home against Saint-Étienne, Nice and Lille were now tied on points.

Nice had 10 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses, earning them 35 points.

Lille had 9 wins, 8 draws, and 2 losses, also earning them 35 points.

But due to Nice’s superior goal difference, Ronald Koeman’s team was at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

This came as a complete surprise to Yang Cheng.

For the past while, he had been busy with Bayswater Chinese’s campaign on three fronts and hadn’t had much time to pay attention to Nice. He hadn’t expected Ronald Koeman to give him such a big surprise!

Looking at their schedule, Nice had indeed played well.

They had a 2-1 home victory against Saint-Étienne, and a 0-1 away loss to Lyon.

There was also a 1-1 home draw against Montpellier.

And even a 2-1 away victory against Monaco.

The 1-0 home win against Marseille, however, generated the most media coverage.

After all, Marseille was a traditional powerhouse in Ligue 1.

Overall, Nice’s real rise came after the 0-1 away loss to Lyon in the 13th round.

Ronald Koeman’s team then went on a six-game unbeaten streak.

It could be said that their performance was quite commendable.

Ronald Koeman’s team was truly hitting its stride.

But in his conversation with Ronald Koeman, the Dutchman was clearly not satisfied with the team’s performance, believing that the team was still not stable enough.

“This has to do with the players not having fully grasped the tactics yet, and being unable to execute them properly,” Ronald Koeman explained.

Having come from Ajax, being a famous Dutch coach, and a Barça legend, Ronald Koeman’s tactics were not simple.

Especially with players from all corners of the globe, it was obviously unrealistic to expect them to completely master Ronald Koeman’s requirements right away, which was why Ronald Koeman was still not satisfied.

During the upcoming winter training, he would further refine and improve the team based on the problems that had been exposed.

“I am confident that the team will perform even better in the second half of the season!”

Of course, Yang Cheng was full of confidence in Ronald Koeman.

But to be honest, with this bunch of minnows in Ligue 1, if Yang Cheng were to coach them himself, his results would certainly far exceed Ronald Koeman’s.

This wasn’t Yang Cheng boasting, nor was it Ronald Koeman being modest.

Nice had truly not yet fully gelled, and their strength had not yet been unleashed.

Do you know how the French media described these half-season champions?

The weakest half-season champions of the new century!

The media had the data.

They had compiled statistics on the Ligue 1 half-season champions since the turn of the century, and the one with the fewest points was Nice.

Only 35 points.

Not to mention comparing it to Lyon’s 50 points at their peak, just look at the past two seasons.

In the 09/10 season, Bordeaux won the half-season championship with 14 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses, earning 43 points.

The half-season champion of the 08/09 season was Lyon, with 11 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses, for 38 points.

All were higher than Nice.

Under these circumstances, Ronald Koeman’s team really had nothing to be proud of.

Furthermore, the French newspaper L’Équipe had also said that winning the half-season championship did not necessarily mean you would be laughing at the end.

For example, last season Bordeaux won the half-season championship, but the final title belonged to Marseille.

The season before that, Lyon was the half-season champion, but the final title belonged to Bordeaux.

Therefore, Nice winning the half-season championship did not necessarily mean they would win the final Ligue 1 title!

As a newly-arrived foreign investor, backed by the giant that was Bayswater Chinese, Nice’s half-season championship was certainly glamorous, but it also made them a public enemy.

Yang Cheng strongly agreed with Ronald Koeman’s assessment; Nice still had many urgent problems to solve, and the winter training was the key to solving them.

Whether they could maintain their momentum in the second half of the season would be decisively influenced by the winter training.

Therefore, during his meeting with CEO Martin Harrison and Director of Football Emmanuel Perrin, Yang Cheng repeatedly stressed the importance of providing good logistical support.

Nice’s entire management system had been transplanted from Bayswater Chinese, but the vast majority of the staff were local, or had been with the club previously.

Integration and execution always required some time.

Especially with the French, who were notoriously laid-back.

But Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin both assured Yang Cheng that they would do their utmost to support Ronald Koeman and his team.

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly from his previous life, the points total with which Lille won the 10/11 season title was probably also the lowest in the preceding and following twenty years.

Moreover, that season’s Lille team had Eden Hazard, and now the Belgian was at Bayswater Chinese.

And next season’s Ligue 1 champion, Montpellier, their key player was their number one centre-forward, Giroud.

But now, Giroud was also at Bayswater Chinese.

Thinking about this, Yang Cheng found it somewhat amusing.

Although Ligue 1 was rather weak, the Nice team that Yang Cheng had personally assembled was indeed quite good.

If Ronald Koeman could truly integrate the team and get them into shape, winning this season’s Ligue 1 title was not entirely out of the question.

They might even have a chance to go toe-to-toe with PSG next season.

At least, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, hadn’t PSG lost to Montpellier?

At this thought, Yang Cheng conferred with Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin. They decided to offer a huge championship bonus to encourage the players to keep up their efforts and maintain their first-half performance in the second half of the Ligue 1 season.

Nice, founded in 1904, when was the last time they won the Ligue 1 title?

The 58/59 season, a full fifty-one years ago!

The last time they were runners-up?

The 75/76 season, thirty-five years ago.

The last time they won a championship?

The 96/97 Coupe de France title!

During the subsequent Christmas dinner, Yang Cheng loudly announced to all the Nice players that if they could win a title, be it the Coupe de France or the Ligue 1 championship, the club would give them a handsome reward!

This would be a huge and excellent opportunity to boost the football market in Nice!

You see, so far this season, Nice’s average attendance was just over eight thousand, far below the Ligue 1 average.

This wasn’t because the stadium capacity was insufficient.

It was mainly because the facilities were too old, which discouraged fans from attending.

According to the results of market research, the citizens of Nice and the surrounding areas were quite supportive of the Nice club, but they all watched the live broadcasts of the matches from home.

Therefore, Yang Cheng decided to offer a substantial reward to encourage the players to challenge for the title and stimulate the football market.

At the very least, they needed to get the market buzzing.

This was all income, after all.

Although Ligue 1 ticket prices were low, every little bit counted.

With Nice’s current income, if they could fill the home stadium, they could earn an extra four million euros over a season.

That would be excellent!

Chapter 216: The Gruelling Christmas Schedule! Wenger’s Achilles’ Heel! Ferguson, Stab Me If You Dare!

After a heavy snowstorm, a Christmas filled with festive cheer arrived.

But what followed for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese was the busiest and most gruelling Premier League Christmas schedule in history.

A total of four matches.

December 26th, an away game against Everton.

December 28th, a home game against Manchester United.

January 1st, a home game against Arsenal.

January 4th, an away game against Blackpool.

While other leagues were enjoying their winter break, the Premier League had to play four rounds in just ten days.

It could only be described as outrageous!

But there was no other way; those were the rules of the game.

When the rest of the world’s football came to a standstill, the Premier League’s Christmas schedule virtually monopolized the entire slot.

And that was the entire global slot!

What’s more, England itself had a long-standing tradition of extra matches during the Christmas holidays.

For the Bayswater Chinese, the biggest challenge was the two matches in the middle.

Incidentally, in the 24th round of the Premier League on January 22nd, the Bayswater Chinese would be away at Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United.

In the 25th round, they would host Manchester City.

So, the entire January schedule posed a truly immense challenge for Yang Cheng.

Even after so many years of coaching in the Premier League, he still felt immense pressure.

Almost every Premier League team was eagerly waiting for the Bayswater Chinese to make a mistake!

This was the test!

If they survived it, the championship was practically in their hands.

If they fell along the way, then anything could happen.

…

On the morning of Boxing Day.

While the rest of the world was still lost in sweet dreams of Santa Claus, everyone at the Bayswater Chinese had already reported for duty early.

Everyone was busy.

When the players returned to the club on time, they made some brief preparations before the team set off north, heading to Liverpool.

This match was being broadcast live to the entire world.

It was scheduled for midday.

From London to Liverpool, it was over three hundred kilometres, a journey that would take at least four hours at the fastest.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese had chartered a plane in advance, provided by their sponsor, Qatar Airways.

The team flew directly from Heathrow Airport to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport.

After arriving, they had a short rest before heading directly to Goodison Park for their pre-match warm-up.

Yang Cheng implemented a heavy squad rotation this time.

None of the front three trident came, and the entire midfield iron triangle remained in London.

Even in the backline, only Thiago Silva and Vincent Kompany made the trip.

The right-back was Kyle Walker, the left was Ryan Bertrand, and the goalkeeper was Begović.

The schedule had been planned long in advance.

Before Christmas, the new media team and major media outlets had worked with the Bayswater Chinese to manage fan expectations.

The team was definitely not going to field its full-strength lineup for this match.

They would play with a reserve squad, and whatever they could achieve was what they would take.

Moreover, it was midday on the 26th.

This was simply a killer!

After kick-off, Yang Cheng’s team was the first to attack, launching a wave of high-tempo offense.

This was Yang Cheng’s strategy.

He wanted to score as quickly as possible, then switch to a defensive counter-attack.

The team needed to conserve energy; the next two matches were the crucial battles for the title.

In the 17th minute, Aaron Ramsey distributed the ball from the middle. In the left channel of the attacking third, Pogba shielded the ball from the Dutch defender Heitinga, who was playing as a holding midfielder, but managed to chip it to Eden Hazard.

After controlling the ball, the Belgian broke into the left side of the penalty area, dribbled past centre-back Jagielka, and fired a power shot with his right foot into the near corner, sending the ball into Everton’s net.

But just two minutes after the goal, during an aggressive midfield challenge, Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta collided heavily, and both fell to the ground, unable to get up.

This made both Yang Cheng and David Moyes shake their heads on the sidelines.

It was freezing cold, and an injury at this time could be either minor or major. It was very troublesome.

There was no choice but to make a substitution.

Harry Kane came on for Aaron Ramsey.

The Bayswater Chinese then switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

The midfield now consisted of Hazard, Pogba, Javi Martínez, and De Bruyne, with Giroud and Harry Kane up front.

After the substitution, the Bayswater Chinese adopted a defensive stance.

This was especially true in the second half, when Yang Cheng replaced Thiago Silva with José Fonte in the 60th minute.

He still hoped the Brazilian could feature in the match against Manchester United the day after tomorrow.

But in the 75th minute of the second half, Everton was awarded a free kick in the attacking third.

Heitinga seized the opportunity, scoring with a header to level the score.

1-1!

The remaining match time concluded with a tacit understanding between the two sides.

Everton did not press for a winner.

They also had an away game the day after tomorrow.

For this match against the Bayswater Chinese, Moyes had fielded his full-strength team.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away at Everton.

Yang Cheng smiled, expressing his satisfaction with the result.

“In the 2008/09 season, our unbeaten run stopped at 18 rounds, but now, we’ve at least reached 19 rounds unbeaten.”

“And it’s against Everton, no less!”

Overall, the Bayswater Chinese did not play ideally in this match.

Apart from the opening period, especially before the goal, they were on the back foot for the rest of the game.

But because expectations had been well-managed beforehand, the fans were all very understanding.

Faced with such a gruelling schedule, failing to rotate the lineup reasonably could lead to complete disaster in an instant!

However, that wasn’t always the case.

The advantage of a large squad became evident during such a schedule.

On the afternoon of the 26th, Manchester City defeated Newcastle 3-1 away from home.

Ancelotti was experienced, possessed a deep bench, and simply rotated his squad, still unafraid of any opponent.

Ferguson, that old fox, was just as cunning.

Hosting Sunderland, his team snatched a goal in the 5th minute.

For the rest of the game, they slowly saw out the time.

They eventually defeated Sunderland 2-0 at home.

But there were exceptions, such as Mancini, who was experiencing the Christmas schedule for the first time.

Even with many experienced local coaches offering advice, some things you just don’t understand until you experience them yourself.

His strategy was also to go for an early blitz, then switch to a defensive counter-attack.

The blitz went smoothly, with Torres scoring in the 3rd minute.

But in the 12th minute, Blackpool sneaked one back.

Then, in the 69th minute, they were hit on another counter-attack.

In the end, they lost 1-2 away to Blackpool.

Who could you complain to?

The logic was all the same, but putting it into practice was another matter entirely.

Besides, their opponents weren’t fools either.

Wenger’s team had a relatively easier time, defeating Chelsea 3-1 at home on the 27th.

This match was also very interesting.

Both sides fielded their full-strength teams but played rather cautiously, neither letting loose.

It gave Yang Cheng the impression that both sides were testing the waters, each wanting to win in the most effortless way possible.

Arsenal had the advantage in possession, while Hiddink opted for a defensive counter-attack.

The match wasn’t particularly pretty to watch, and the possession rates were quite similar.

But most of the game was played in Chelsea’s half.

Wenger’s most cunning move was to start applying pressure in the last ten minutes or so of the first half.

They had possession, so they could control the tempo.

Chelsea was completely frustrated, and just before halftime, Wilshere and Fàbregas combined to assist Andrei Arshavin, who scored from the left side of the box.

After the break, Hiddink was having none of it.

We agreed to be amicable and each take a point, and you pull this stunt at the end?

So, he made substitutions at halftime to strengthen his midfield and attack.

Unexpectedly, Wenger came out and immediately stunned Chelsea.

In the 51st and 53rd minutes, they scored two quick goals.

That old fellow Wenger was grinning on the sidelines like a frog.

Hiddink was about to go crazy!

Excluding the postponed 18th round match against Manchester United, Chelsea had not won a game in five rounds.

Including today’s match, it was now six.

Chelsea’s fightback had some effect, as they pulled a goal back in the 57th minute.

After that, the match returned to the stalemate of the first half.

Wenger was just one step short of saying to Hiddink, “Old Hiddink, you don’t want to get ambushed at home by Bolton at Stamford Bridge in the next round, do you?”

In the end, Chelsea lost 1-3 away to Arsenal.

Yang Cheng saw it clearly: this bunch of old gaffers were each more cunning than the last.

Especially at such a critical time.

…

On the afternoon of the 28th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 20, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

Although it was a home game, Yang Cheng still didn’t go all out.

Between Thiago Silva and José Fonte, Yang Cheng chose the more energetic José Fonte.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, José Fonte, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Rakitić;

Forwards: Di María, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Yang Cheng had benched Modrić and Gareth Bale.

Manchester United, on the other hand, fielded their full-strength lineup.

Ferguson’s team was quite a bit behind in the standings and had to use the Christmas schedule to close the gap as much as possible.

The Christmas schedule had always been Ferguson’s specialty.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar;

Defence: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Rafael da Silva;

Midfield: Carrick and De Rossi formed a double pivot, with Ashley Young, Scholes, and Rooney ahead of them;

Forward: Berbatov.

From the starting lineups, it was clear that Ferguson was determined to win.

But playing away at Wembley, Manchester United were also very cautious, focusing on defensive counter-attacks.

From the start of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese launched the first attack.

With the thunderous support of over ninety thousand fans, the Bayswater Chinese unleashed wave after wave of offense.

In the 18th minute, Walcott delivered a cross from the right, and Lewandowski sent a flicked header towards the goal from inside the box.

After a diving save from van der Sar, the ball hit the right post and rebounded back out.

Rakitić made an overlapping run and took another shot from the right of the penalty spot.

He was aiming for the far corner.

But the ball hit the left post and bounced back again.

Di María got to the ball and immediately passed it back to Marcelo.

Manchester United’s defensive line pushed forward, trying to force the Bayswater Chinese attack out of the box and reorganize their defence.

But just then, Marcelo passed to Toni Kroos.

The German received the ball in space, controlled it, turned, and without hesitation, lofted a diagonal pass over the top with his left foot to the right side of Manchester United’s penalty area.

At that moment, Walcott shot forward like a bolt of lightning, instantly piercing Manchester United’s backline. He darted out from behind Ferdinand and, beating van der Sar to the ball, toe-poked it into Manchester United’s goal.

1-0!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers!

After taking the lead, the Bayswater Chinese began to play more cautiously.

In the 29th minute, Di María beat two players on the left and had a chance to shoot.

But his shot was saved by van der Sar.

The first half ended with the Bayswater Chinese leading 1-0.

After the restart, just three minutes into the second half, Toni Kroos orchestrated an excellent goal-scoring opportunity.

From his own half, he sent a diagonal long pass.

Lewandowski made a quick run into the right side of the attack, received the ball, and crossed it to Walcott.

The Little Tiger made a diagonal run into the center and met the ball with a sliding shot.

The ball hit the left post.

That was the third time they’d hit the woodwork!

Perhaps it was punishment for the Bayswater Chinese repeatedly missing scoring chances.

In the 61st minute, just as Yang Cheng was signaling for the team to slow down the attack, maintain possession, and prepare for a defensive counter-attack, Berbatov received the ball in the box and played a clever backheel pass.

Rooney fired a power shot from the right side of the six-yard box.

Faced with such a close-range shot, Courtois was helpless.

1-1!

Both teams were back on level terms.

Afterwards, Manchester United quickly launched a blitz of their own.

Especially between the 65th and 75th minutes, Manchester United’s possession rate reached as high as 73%.

To some extent, for those ten minutes, Manchester United truly had the Bayswater Chinese pinned down.

…

The atmosphere at Wembley grew increasingly fiery.

The Bayswater Chinese fans became more and more passionate.

This was no longer a secret in England.

But when Ferguson experienced it firsthand, he still found it grating and grew impatient.

We’ve had you pinned in your own half for ten minutes, what are you gentlemen in the stands still shouting so excitedly for?

Ferguson turned his head and glanced at the scoreboard.

78 minutes gone!

The score was still 1-1!

This left Ferguson a little unsure.

As he walked back, he couldn’t help but steal a glance at the Bayswater Chinese’s dugout.

Yang Cheng stood on the touchline directing the match, as always.

That was the good thing about being young.

He could stand for the full ninety minutes every game.

Ferguson couldn’t do that.

He then looked at the substitutes’ bench.

Players would occasionally run out to warm up and keep their bodies warm, making it difficult to guess whether Yang Cheng intended to make any changes.

“I think they might be satisfied with a draw too!” Mike Phelan analyzed.

Since Manchester United had equalized, the Red Devils had hit their stride.

At this point, a draw wasn’t that hard to accept.

Especially considering they still had to play Arsenal next!

“Lewandowski hasn’t exerted himself much tonight. Either his form is poor, or it’s on Yang Cheng’s orders.”

“And Toni Kroos, after that blitz at the start of the second half, he hasn’t been running very actively.”

“Di María has been quite active, but Rafael has also defended well.”

“But Marcelo hasn’t made many forward runs tonight.”

Ferguson had already used one substitution.

In the 75th minute, he brought on Mexican striker Javier Hernández for Scholes.

This somewhat revealed Ferguson’s intentions.

It was Hernández, not Ryan Giggs, meaning he wanted another goal.

And Ferguson still had two substitutions left.

But he couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

“That bastard Yang Cheng has always been full of tricks. When it comes to playing mind games, he’s no worse than Wenger!”

“He can’t possibly not make any substitutions!” Ferguson said with absolute certainty.

At the very least, at home, you have to put on a show, right?

Just settle for a draw like this?

Impossible!

Thinking this, Ferguson immediately rose from his seat and strode out of the dugout.

At almost the same moment, he saw movement from the home team’s side.

Gareth Bale and Modrić both walked out at the same time. Without warming up, they both went to Yang Cheng’s side.

The three of them huddled on the touchline, whispering as if they were plotting some secret, shady business.

This made Ferguson’s heart skip a beat.

His sense of foreboding grew stronger.

Ferguson quickly walked to the edge of the pitch, using hand gestures to remind his players to be vigilant in defence.

“Hold on, you must hold on!!”

Ferguson was so worked up he couldn’t care about anything else and just shouted.

At the same time, he also signaled for Fletcher to prepare to come on.

Time seemed to suddenly speed up.

In the 81st minute, Gareth Bale and Modrić were both substituted on.

Gareth Bale replaced Walcott.

Modrić replaced Toni Kroos.

With these changes, the Bayswater Chinese front line became Gareth Bale, Lewandowski, and Di María.

The midfield changed to Rakitić, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić.

…

From the 65th minute onwards, Manchester United had seen a lot of the ball.

So the Red Devils had no choice but to push forward.

Manchester United were not Barça; they didn’t like to keep possession in their own half.

Or rather, they simply lacked the ability to pass and control the ball skillfully in their own half under the opponent’s pressing.

So, when Manchester United had the ball, they would always push forward to attack.

After Yang Cheng made two substitutions, Ferguson reminded his players to be careful defensively.

But Manchester United still maintained their high attacking posture.

And in the 84th minute, just three minutes after Gareth Bale came on, Nemanja Matić made a tackle just outside his own box, successfully dispossessing Rooney.

The tall, long-legged Serbian immediately poked the ball forward to Modrić.

The Croatian received the ball with his back to the goal.

He had experienced situations like this countless times.

He controlled the ball, turned, took a diagonal touch, and then suddenly played a through ball with the outside of his boot.

The ball passed right between Manchester United’s midfielders and found its way to Gareth Bale on the left.

Receiving the ball on the left side of the halfway line, Gareth Bale took one touch to knock it forward, instantly accelerating and shaking off the Brazilian defender Rafael.

The young Brazilian defender had spent the entire match battling Di María, and his stamina was nearly depleted. He was blown past with ease.

The Welshman took flight.

Gareth Bale, in his red jersey, streaked across the Wembley turf like a bolt of red lightning.

Dribbling skillfully, he charged into Manchester United’s final third.

This made Ferguson practically jump out of his seat on the sideline, pointing at the pitch and roaring, “Stop him! Stop him for me!”

Ferdinand was the last man back, naturally becoming the final line of defence against Gareth Bale.

The two met just outside the penalty area.

The Welshman slowed down slightly, feigning to cut inside.

This was where the benefit of painstakingly training his right foot became apparent.

Ferdinand couldn’t tell if it was a real feint or a fake one and could only slow down with him.

But the Welshman suddenly pushed the ball forward and burst into a sprint.

Although Gareth Bale wasn’t short, compared to the tall, strong, and aging Ferdinand, whose physical abilities were in decline, one burst of acceleration was enough to leave him behind.

In a single encounter, Gareth Bale used his speed to forcefully break past Ferdinand.

The Manchester United centre-back didn’t even have time to commit a foul!

The Welshman burst into the left side of the box, caught up to the ball, and fired a power shot towards the far corner with his left foot.

The ball shaved the inside of the right post as it smashed into the Manchester United net.

Van der Sar was helpless.

2-1!

Gareth Bale turned and ran off the pitch.

All along the way, the Bayswater Chinese fans were wildly chanting Gareth Bale’s name.

The Welshman ran straight to the sideline, pumping his fist and roaring at the fans in the stands!

“Just three minutes after coming on, Gareth Bale has torn apart Manchester United’s defence with a lightning-fast, trademark counter-attack!”

“Yang Cheng’s two substitutions created this goal!”

“It’s hard for us to believe that this was just a coincidence!”

“In fact, based on my many years of commentary experience, we have every reason to believe that from the 65th minute, the Bayswater Chinese were deliberately giving up possession, luring Ferguson’s team to push forward.”

“Yang Cheng knew what Ferguson and Manchester United wanted. He deliberately exposed his goal to them, even handed them the dagger, and was just short of saying to Ferguson, ‘Come on, stab me if you dare!’”

“Manchester United fell for it!”

“Under continuous attack, Ferguson’s team pushed too far forward. They started to want all three points.”

“The introduction of Gareth Bale and Modrić delivered the fatal blow to Manchester United!”

“In fact, if Scholes had been in the number 10 position at that moment instead of Hernández, perhaps Modrić’s pass wouldn’t have been so easy.”

“But now, we can only say that the battle between two of the world’s top managers is truly breathtaking!”

“Yang Cheng’s touchline management is unbelievable. It’s hard to believe he’s only thirty-one years old!”

…

Ferguson made a substitution.

Robben replaced Ashley Young.

He wanted to further strengthen the attack.

He needed to at least equalize.

But Yang Cheng quickly made a change as well, bringing on the youngster Harry Kane for Lewandowski.

He also brought on Ryan Bertrand for Marcelo.

After the substitution, Harry Kane quickly made an impact.

In the 86th minute, it was the English youngster who dropped deep to receive the ball and then played an accurate through ball.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, got to the ball first, and carried it into Manchester United’s box.

The young Rafael chased him relentlessly, and in the ensuing challenge, both players went down.

Everyone from the Bayswater Chinese unanimously believed it should have been a penalty.

Rafael had committed a foul.

Gareth Bale initially lay on the ground feigning injury, but as soon as he saw the head referee was reluctant to award a penalty, he jumped up, pointed at his jersey, and gestured that the Brazilian had been desperately pulling it.

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, Rafael did commit a foul. It’s a penalty, and there should have been a card.”

“Maybe even a red card!”

“But the head referee doesn’t seem to think it was a foul.”

“He awarded possession directly to Manchester United.”

“That’s a real shame.”

“The architect of that last attack was the seventeen-year-old youngster, Harry Kane!”

“The story of this young player is quite legendary.”

“As a highly anticipated young prospect from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, Harry Kane once trained at the Arsenal academy years ago but was rejected for being too fat.”

“After that, Harry Kane went for trials at many London clubs’ youth academies but failed to stick.”

“But he never gave up, and eventually, he earned the favour of Yang Cheng at the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Everyone should still remember that promotional video that was highly praised by fans worldwide; the prototype for the persistent fat kid was Harry Kane.”

“Now, he has finally developed and is starting to play for the first team.”

“That pass just now certainly left a deep impression on us.”

“Many fans are also very fond of this young local player and hope to soon see a front three combination of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Walcott.”

“This would surely make the Bayswater Chinese even more popular among local fans!”

Despite the interruption of the potential red card incident, the Bayswater Chinese created another chance in the dying moments of the match.

Inside the box, Harry Kane received a through ball from Modrić with his back to the goal. While controlling the ball, he felt pressure from Vidić behind him and couldn’t keep his balance to hold onto it.

But in his haste, the English youngster passed the ball back to the left edge of the penalty area.

Rakitić charged forward and unleashed a furious long shot.

Van der Sar had to make another flying save, parrying the ball out for a corner with one hand.

Corner kick.

By now, it was already the 92nd minute.

This final corner kick ended with José Fonte’s header going over the bar.

The Bayswater Chinese, with goals from Walcott and Gareth Bale, had defeated Manchester United 2-1!

…

“It was a very tough match.”

“We played well for a time, and I even felt we had a chance to get three points.”

“But unfortunately, our opponents were too cunning, and their substitutions played a key role.”

At the post-match press conference, Ferguson expressed his disappointment with the result.

But he still congratulated Yang Cheng.

“With today’s match, they have proven to everyone that they are an outstanding team!”

“They are even the strongest team in the Premier League, and perhaps Europe, at this stage!”

In the press conference room at Wembley Stadium, the journalists were all very surprised.

They hadn’t expected Ferguson to praise an opponent.

But soon, they all came to their senses.

Everyone here is an old fox, who are you trying to fool?

Ferguson’s team had lost. If he didn’t define Yang Cheng’s team as the best in Europe, then what did that make Manchester United?

Regarding the penalty that many fans were concerned about, Ferguson admitted that it was indeed a penalty.

“It was a mistake by the referee, but for the referee, the situation changed so quickly that it was difficult for him to make an accurate call.”

Ferguson also said that at first, he thought Rafael had touched the ball before touching Gareth Bale.

But after the match, he saw the replay and knew the truth.

“I can only say, the Bayswater Chinese were a bit unlucky!”

After Ferguson, Yang Cheng stated at his press conference that whether the penalty was given or not didn’t really affect the Bayswater Chinese, because the team had taken all three points at home.

“We never really cared about the penalty; it would have just been icing on the cake!”

“In fact, in the dressing room just now, the thing I mentioned most to my players was hitting the post.”

“We should have scored more than two goals. Based on our performance, scoring five would have been no problem at all, but unfortunately, the goalposts at Wembley didn’t seem to be on our side today.”

“To that, I can only say, Ferguson was very lucky he only conceded two goals!”

Regarding his team repeatedly hitting the woodwork, Yang Cheng said it was understandable.

On one hand, it was freezing cold, and on the other, they were playing consecutive matches in a very dense schedule. Everyone was very tense, and the pressure was high, which often led to players making different choices on the pitch than they normally would.

“But no matter what, we won, and that’s very important.”

While the Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 2-1 at home, the results of the other matches in this round also came in.

Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 4-0, thanks to a hat-trick from Ibrahimović.

Liverpool defeated Wolves 4-1 at home, with Mario Balotelli scoring a hat-trick.

Chelsea defeated Bolton 1-0 at home.

But the result Yang Cheng was most focused on was Arsenal’s, who were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw away at Wigan Athletic.

The Gunners had also heavily rotated their squad for this match.

Wenger had almost changed the entire starting eleven.

He wanted to conserve energy to face the Bayswater Chinese on New Year’s Day.

But unexpectedly, Arsenal suffered an unexpected defeat on the road.

What surprised Wenger even more was that the culprit who cost the Gunners three points away from home was an own goal from Squillaci, a compatriot he had championed signing.

Wenger explained to the public that the failure to beat Wigan Athletic away was because the match was only 48 hours after the Gunners’ game against Chelsea, which put his team at a great disadvantage.

“I can’t possibly use the same lineup for two high-intensity matches within 48 hours.”

Wenger stated that changing nine players was a very normal choice.

Regarding this season’s Premier League title race, Wenger said he wasn’t thinking that far ahead right now.

“Right now, I just want to go all out and play every match well. As for what position we’ll be in at the end of the season, we’ll find out then!”

Clearly, this draw was not part of Wenger’s plan.

…

On the afternoon of January 1st, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 21, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

Yang Cheng continued to rotate his squad for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez holding, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

In the previous two league rounds, Yang Cheng had consistently rotated, and with considerable changes.

For this battle, he finally put Toni Kroos and Modrić together, along with the front-three trident.

Except for using Kyle Walker at right-back, almost every position was filled by a starter.

Wenger had done the same, also consistently rotating.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defence: Clichy, Chygrynskiy, Koscielny, and Sagna;

Midfield: Alexandre Song and Toulalan as a double pivot, with Arshavin, Fàbregas, and van Persie ahead of them;

Forward: Benzema.

To some extent, Wenger’s starting lineup was even more full-strength than the Bayswater Chinese’s.

Of course, this came at the cost of a 2-2 away draw with Wigan Athletic.

And precisely because he had fielded all his stars, Wenger played very aggressively from the start, seizing the initiative as the away team and launching an all-out attack.

The Gunners looked like they were trying to get their own back on the Bayswater Chinese.

According to Wenger’s original plan, beating Wigan away shouldn’t have been a problem. Then, they would go all-out against the Bayswater Chinese away; a win would be best, but if not, they would try for a draw.

Three days later, they would go all-out against Manchester City at home.

But unexpectedly, Squillaci’s own goal disrupted Wenger’s original plan.

A 2-1 lead turned into a 2-2 draw!

Now, the three points they had in hand had turned into one.

So, Wenger definitely had to win this match. He had to force Yang Cheng to drop points too.

Therefore, after kick-off, the Gunners played very fiercely, with a powerful attack.

First, Fàbregas played a wonderful pass, and van Persie broke into the right side of the box and shot, but it went just wide.

Then, Arshavin distributed the ball from the left channel, and Toulalan took a long shot from outside the box. It deflected off Javi Martínez, and on the left side of the box, Benzema hit a volleyed tap-in.

The shot was too central and was collected by Courtois.

The Gunners’ attack was pressing hard. In the 7th minute, Kompany fouled Fàbregas on his overlapping run and was shown a yellow card.

The head referee for this match, Peter Walton, was officiating quite strictly.

But just as Wenger and his team were menacingly looking to swallow the Bayswater Chinese whole, Yang Cheng’s team quickly bared its bloodthirsty fangs.

In the 9th minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball back near the halfway line.

Modrić got the ball and passed it to Toni Kroos.

The German immediately played it back, completing a one-two pass.

When Modrić received the ball, facing the two defensive midfielders Toulalan and Alexandre Song ahead of him, he didn’t continue to dribble forward but suddenly played a chipped pass.

The ball flew over the heads of Arsenal’s double pivot and dropped towards the left side of their defence.

Gareth Bale rushed forward and, before Sagna could react, didn’t jump but ducked his head to nod Modrić’s chipped pass directly in front of him, behind Arsenal’s defensive line.

Then, the Welshman suddenly accelerated, forcefully breaking through the gap between Sagna and Koscielny with sheer speed.

The French defender Koscielny’s recovery pace and awareness were also very quick.

Moreover, he used to play for the Bayswater Chinese, so he knew better than anyone about Gareth Bale’s speed and recovered quickly.

But even so, he was still a step too slow.

After catching up to the ball he had headed forward, Gareth Bale took a touch into the left side of the box.

Arriving in his most familiar area, he firmly used his body to shield the ball from the recovering Koscielny.

Facing the onrushing Lloris, Gareth Bale produced a deft shot, sending the ball past Lloris and into the near corner of Arsenal’s goal. 1-0!

“Who says Gareth Bale can only shoot for the far corner from the left side of the box?”

“Look at that clever finish!”

“My goodness, Lloris must have been deceived by Gareth Bale’s past stats, expecting him to go for the far post. But unexpectedly, the Welshman was too smart and went for the near post instead!”

“And what a beautiful finish it was!”

“1-0!”

“The Bayswater Chinese open the scoring!”

…

Wenger shook his head on the sideline.

Conceding a goal just nine minutes into the game.

This match was indeed very difficult.

But there was no choice. No matter how hard it was, they had to win!

Otherwise, wouldn’t Arsenal be handing this season’s Premier League title to the Bayswater Chinese?

So, after conceding, Wenger signaled for his team to continue their fierce attack.

For a time, Arsenal launched wave after wave of offense on the pitch.

Yang Cheng’s team, meanwhile, adopted a strategy of solid defence and counter-attacks.

In the 28th minute, a quick counter-attack down the left.

Marcelo and Gareth Bale failed to create an opening on the initial break and were forced to pass back to Toni Kroos to reorganize.

But as soon as the German got the ball, he turned and sent a diagonal switch with his right foot, moving the ball from the left side outside the box to the right side of Arsenal’s penalty area.

Walcott made a quick run, meeting Toni Kroos’s diagonal pass with a furious shot.

The ball shot towards the goal like a flash of lightning.

Arsenal’s goalkeeper Lloris made an almost instinctive dive to block the ball.

The French keeper made a spectacular save.

But he couldn’t control the rebound.

Just as Koscielny was rushing to clear the ball, Lewandowski was faster.

The Pole executed a turning hook shot, hooking the ball into Arsenal’s net.

2-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in celebration.

Two matches in three days, and the Bayswater Chinese had defeated both Manchester United and Arsenal!

Could there be anything more exciting, more exhilarating than this?

With momentum like this, did it mean that after the Christmas schedule, the Bayswater Chinese would have established a commanding lead?

But on the pitch, Arsenal was still attacking frantically.

The Gunners could no longer afford to worry about the consequences of losing.

Their only thought now was that they had to win this match.

Otherwise, what would they use to compete with the Bayswater Chinese for the title this season?

The Bayswater Chinese continued to defend resolutely and counter-attack.

But in the 38th minute, a small incident occurred.

A shot from Arshavin hit Kompany’s arm.

The Gunners’ players crowded the referee, demanding a penalty.

The referee decided that although Kompany’s hand had touched the ball, his arm was tucked against his body, and it was not intentional.

So, in the end, no penalty was given.

In the first half, the Gunners had a clear advantage in possession, reaching 61%.

They also had more shots than the Bayswater Chinese, but in terms of truly threatening shots, they actually had fewer than Yang Cheng’s team.

After the restart, Arsenal began to slightly slow down the pace of the game.

Wenger’s team wasn’t made of iron either.

Even with rotation, they still couldn’t cope.

What’s more, they still had to play Manchester City at home next.

But in attack, Wenger’s team still refused to back down, maintaining offensive pressure on the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng was happy to focus on defence, letting Arsenal push forward and then looking for opportunities to counter-attack.

And in the 67th minute, Walcott won a free kick in the attacking third.

The position was on the right, too wide for a direct shot.

Modrić quickly stepped up to take it.

The Croatian delivered a precise free kick to the near post inside the box.

Kompany rose high at the near post, out-jumping Chygrynskiy to flick the ball on towards the back post with his head.

This caused chaos in the Arsenal box.

In the midst of the scramble, Lewandowski suddenly executed a sideways tap-in, using the inside of his right foot to sweep Kompany’s flick-on into Arsenal’s goal.

The Pole himself completely lost his balance and tumbled to the ground inside the Arsenal box.

Lloris was helpless against such a close-range shot.

The ball hit the back of the net.

3-0!

The more than ninety thousand fans in the stadium erupted once again!

All the fans were chanting Lewandowski’s name at the top of their lungs.

After struggling to his feet, the Pole couldn’t contain his excitement. He turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline to celebrate his goal.

The entire crowd was cheering for him.

A three-goal lead; the game was settled!

After conceding the third goal, Wenger immediately made successive substitutions.

Clearly, he had essentially given up on this match and was already thinking about the upcoming home game against Manchester City.

This was a major feature of the Premier League’s Christmas schedule this season.

There were too many clashes between top teams!

Almost every round featured a major clash, all of them star-studded encounters.

This not only had fans all over England shouting with excitement but also had fans worldwide boiling over with cheers.

The most obvious point was that the television ratings were repeatedly hitting new highs!

There was no other way around it. In the period after Christmas, only the Premier League had matches.

It was one of a kind!

This was a traditional feature of the Premier League, and also a test for all teams challenging for the league title!

Clearly, Wenger’s team was showing signs of fatigue.

First, they were held to a regretful “draw” by Wigan Athletic in the final moments of the previous round.

Now, against the Bayswater Chinese, they seemed to have the upper hand but ended up conceding three goals.

What more could be said?

One could only say that Yang Cheng had pinpointed Wenger’s Achilles’ heel, leaving the Gunners unable to respond!

In the end, thanks to a brace from Lewandowski and a goal from Gareth Bale, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 3-0 at home.

Throughout the match, the Bayswater Chinese were on the back foot.

They lost to Arsenal in both possession and number of shots.

But Yang Cheng’s team, with the advantage in shots on target, scored three goals to secure a 3-0 home victory over the Gunners.

At first glance, it seemed that Wenger’s team was too eager to win, which allowed their opponents to repeatedly hit them on the counter-attack.

But any discerning eye could see that the reason Wenger and Arsenal were so anxious was because of their 2-2 draw away at Wigan.

They were desperate to make up for it!

As for the other matches in this round, Manchester United scraped a 2-1 away win against West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Bolton 2-1 at home.

Manchester City secured a narrow 1-0 home victory over Blackpool.

Chelsea, however, were held to a frustrating 3-3 draw at home by Aston Villa.

Chapter 217: Best Signing! The One Hundred and Sixty Million Pound Sterling Talent! I, Ferguson, Never Say Die!

On the evening of January 4th, at Bloomfield Road Stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire.

In the 22nd round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese challenged Blackpool in an away game.

After defeating Arsenal on the afternoon of New Year’s Day, the break before challenging Blackpool on the evening of the 4th was quite ample.

In particular, winning two consecutive home games against strong opponents had greatly boosted the morale of everyone at Bayswater Chinese.

Although Yang Cheng made some appropriate squad rotations for this match, the team’s overall performance was outstanding.

After kick-off, the away team smoothly took control of the game.

In the 24th minute, Rakitić made a late run into the penalty area and broke through Blackpool’s goal with a powerful shot.

After resuming play in the second half, in the 68th minute, an assist from Di María allowed Giroud to score with a header.

2-0!

And just before the end of the match, Vincent Kompany took advantage of a set piece in the attacking half to score with another header.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese smoothly defeated Blackpool 3-0 away from home.

It was a calm and uneventful victory.

During this most gruelling and terrifying Christmas schedule in history, Bayswater Chinese achieved a proud record of three wins and one draw.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng smiled and said he was very satisfied with the result.

“I know we might not have been the best-performing team, but considering the opponents we faced, I am very proud of my players!”

Yang Cheng also reiterated his previous thoughts.

Playing four matches in ten days, while also challenging strong teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, and Everton, Bayswater Chinese had practically pushed their current squad to its limits.

“Every one of our players played an important role during this period.”

“I really like this feeling, and I believe my players do too.”

“It makes them feel that they are an important part of the team, that they are fighting side-by-side with everyone around them.”

“This is more meaningful than offering them higher salaries or painting grand pictures of the future.”

Yang Cheng stated that not a single one of the twenty-five players in Bayswater Chinese’s first team was redundant.

Over the past few years, every so often, especially when the team’s results were not good, Bayswater Chinese’s first-team squad list would be brought up for speculation.

It used to be just twenty-three players, with occasional promotions of youngsters from the youth academy.

This season, it expanded to twenty-five, but that included two youth players, Pogba and Harry Kane.

So, last season, when the team was hit by an injury crisis, even though other teams were also struggling due to the once-in-a-century blizzard, many media outlets still attacked Yang Cheng, arguing that Bayswater Chinese’s twenty-three-man first-team squad was too thin.

This season, faced with the coldest December in history and another blizzard, many speculated that Yang Cheng’s team probably wouldn’t survive the Christmas period and the winter transfer window.

But now, with three wins and one draw, almost the best record in the Premier League, Yang Cheng had狠狠ly slapped the faces of these doubters.

Why “almost”?

Because Manchester City’s away game against Arsenal was scheduled for January 5th.

A day later.

And so far, Ancelotti’s Blue Moons had maintained a perfect winning record in their previous three league matches.

If Manchester City were to beat Arsenal tomorrow, they would have won all their games.

The media reporters at the scene understood the source of Yang Cheng’s resentment.

It was mainly some smaller media outlets that enjoyed hyping things up, latching onto a single point and endlessly sensationalizing it.

In fact, industry insiders could see that it was just a difference in the head coach’s philosophy of team building.

For instance, in the last four matches, Yang Cheng had utilized almost every player at his disposal to the fullest extent.

And there had been unexpected incidents along the way.

For example, Aaron Ramsey was clearly a player in whom Yang Cheng had placed high hopes.

As it turned out, in the first match against Everton, he got injured not long after starting.

This left Yang Cheng with no choice but to push the youngster Harry Kane forward.

He hadn’t brought that many substitute players on the trip north!

Football is always like that, full of unpredictability.

Wenger couldn’t have known that Squillaci would make a bizarre mistake at the last moment and score an own goal.

As a result, the Gunners were put on the back foot.

So they played more aggressively and got thrashed 3-0 at Wembley!

Then there was Mancini at Liverpool. New to the league, he had no idea how terrifying the Christmas schedule was.

He lost his first match 2-1 to Blackpool.

This completely disrupted Mancini’s plans, and his personnel arrangements fell into disarray.

Everyone thought Mancini was in deep trouble.

Because the matches came one after another, with no chance to catch a breath.

But unexpectedly, back at their home ground, Mario Balotelli suddenly went on a rampage, scoring a hat-trick to dismantle Wolves.

Who could have predicted that?

During his interview with the media, Yang Cheng stated that the team needed a good rest next.

Especially the starting lineup.

Because the real challenge was just beginning!

…

As the Christmas and New Year’s schedule gradually came to a close, the results of the 22nd round of the Premier League were announced one by one.

Arsenal, who had just lost 3-0 at Wembley Stadium, failed to overcome Manchester City back at their home ground.

The two sides played to a 0-0 draw!

Wenger’s team attacked for the entire match and dominated, but their finishing was certainly lacking, hitting the post on multiple occasions.

After three consecutive wins, Manchester City’s performance this time was also less than ideal.

In the end, the two teams settled for a draw, each taking one point.

Manchester United, meanwhile, beat Stoke City 2-1 at home.

It was also a narrow victory!

Chelsea lost 1-0 away to Wolves.

The Blues were already in poor form, and their performance didn’t improve as they entered the Christmas schedule.

Since losing 3-0 at home to Sunderland in the 13th round, Chelsea had recorded one win, four draws, and four losses in their last ten matches.

Excluding the postponed home game against Manchester United, they had only managed a single victory.

That victory was a narrow 1-0 win at home against Bolton in the 20th round during the Christmas schedule.

All their other matches were either draws or losses.

And Liverpool, after two consecutive wins, suffered a crushing 3-1 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers in the 22nd round.

They conceded three goals before Gerrard pulled one back, only to then miss a penalty kick.

As a result, after twenty-two rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with an unbeaten record of twenty wins and two draws, had amassed sixty-two points, gradually pulling away from their competitors.

In second place was Manchester City with fifty-four points.

But the Blue Moons were already eight points behind Bayswater Chinese.

Third-place Arsenal and fourth-place Liverpool both had forty-eight points, a full fourteen points behind Bayswater Chinese and six points behind Manchester City.

Almost everyone believed that Arsenal and Liverpool had already lost hope of contending for the title.

The only team that still had a chance to turn things around was Ancelotti’s Manchester City.

But an eight-point gap, especially after surviving the Christmas schedule, would probably be impossible to close.

Further down, Manchester United had forty-one points and Chelsea had thirty-five, ranking fifth and sixth respectively.

However, both teams currently had a game in hand.

Once the 22nd round of the Premier League was complete, not just in England, but across the entire European football world, praises were being sung for Bayswater Chinese. Yang Cheng’s team was seen as sweeping through the Premier League with unstoppable momentum!

An eight-point lead had essentially cemented Bayswater Chinese as the top favourite for this season’s Premier League title.

But in interviews with several media outlets, Yang Cheng, while expressing his confidence in winning the title and encouraging his players, also reminded everyone that the season was still long and far from over.

“The competition in the Premier League is getting fiercer and fiercer.”

“Who would have thought that Chelsea, after starting the season with such irresistible momentum, would suddenly collapse so spectacularly?”

Yang Cheng’s example was indeed a good one.

When Chelsea was steamrolling everyone, who could have imagined the Blues would suddenly end up playing like this?

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese could not and dared not be the slightest bit complacent.

“We are a young and vibrant team, but at the same time, we need to become more mature.”

As for the unbeaten record, Yang Cheng didn’t actually see it as that important.

“We will lose sooner or later. In fact, we are already mentally prepared for a loss!”

“Saying this doesn’t mean we are timid!”

“It is precisely because we can accept defeat, precisely because we know we will lose eventually, and yet we detest losing, that we will work even harder, be more focused, and play every upcoming match to the best of our ability!”

Just before this round of matches, The Times had selected the best signing of the first half of the 2010/11 Premier League season.

Toni Kroos was chosen by an absolute, overwhelming majority.

No one had expected the 20-year-old German—no, wait, after January 4th, he was already 21—to be so good.

But he was truly too consistent.

He showed none of the instability typical of a young player. No matter the situation he faced, he was never nervous or afraid, always so calm and composed.

Yang Cheng smiled and expressed his thanks on behalf of his player.

“Because he wasn’t in the squad for this match, we celebrated his birthday specially for him in Brent before we left.”

Regarding Toni Kroos, Yang Cheng said he had not yet reached his peak.

“Yes, he looks very mature and is very steady with the ball, but he still has a lot of room for improvement.”

“For example, his ability to play a killer pass, his control of the game’s rhythm, and so on—these things rely heavily on experience.”

But Yang Cheng stated that as Kroos accumulated more match experience and his abilities continued to grow, he would perform better and better.

“I’ll say it again: he will become a world-class midfielder!”

In the eyes of all the media and fans, not only had Bayswater Chinese not fallen behind after surviving the gruelling Christmas and New Year’s schedule, they had actually extended their lead in the points table.

This signified that Yang Cheng’s team was already unstoppable.

At least in the league.

Renowned managers like Wenger, Ancelotti, Mancini, Ferguson, and Guus Hiddink all acknowledged that Bayswater Chinese had one hand on the league trophy.

But they still would not give up!

The media was also paying attention to another piece of news, this one from The FA.

In the history of England’s top-flight league, only four teams had ever won three consecutive titles.

They were Huddersfield Town in the 1920s, Arsenal in the 1930s, and Liverpool in the 1980s.

In the Premier League era, only the dominant Red Devils of Manchester United at the turn of the century had achieved it.

If Bayswater Chinese could win the Premier League title this season, they would become the fifth team in the hundred-year history of England’s top division to achieve a three-peat.

They would also be the second team in Premier League history to do so.

The FA also took the opportunity to make its presence felt. Although they didn’t explicitly encourage Bayswater Chinese, there were some hints.

This was related to another matter.

The FA’s former Chairman, David Triesman, had resigned in May 2010.

The reason was that the 66-year-old FA Chairman had a 37-year-old mistress, a former secretary from his time working in a government department.

In his emails with this young mistress, he had revealed a large number of secrets regarding England’s World Cup preparations.

For example, the inside story of Terry being stripped of the captaincy after the Bridge-Terry affair.

There were also top secrets about England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup, including how Spain, for certain reasons, withdrew from the 2018 bid, and the Latin American countries that originally supported Spain all turned to support Russia.

Why would Spain do that?

Because Russia didn’t qualify for the 2010 World Cup, they would brazenly help Spain bribe referees to win the tournament.

Later, a phone recording between Triesman and his mistress was also leaked.

In short, the whole affair caused a huge uproar at the time.

After David Triesman’s resignation, The FA was temporarily managed by former Chairman Geoff Thompson and others.

It wasn’t until December 22nd of last year that a new chairman, David Bernstein, was formally elected.

Speaking of this gentleman, everyone talked about his deep ties to Manchester City; he had worked for the Blue Moons for nine years before joining The FA.

But Yang Cheng’s relationship with David Bernstein was also quite good.

Why?

Because the greatest political achievement that enabled his appointment was Wembley Stadium.

That’s right, after leaving Manchester City, he went to The FA to take over the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium.

When he was in trouble, the funds Yang Cheng provided solved the subsequent issues with Wembley, allowing it to be completed on schedule in 2006!

So, David Bernstein made an appearance this time, secretly taking a dig at Manchester United while supporting Bayswater Chinese.

Why?

Because Manchester United had always hoped no other Premier League team would achieve a three-peat.

Yang Cheng didn’t get too involved in these matters; Adam Crozier was in charge of them.

Bayswater Chinese maintained very good relationships with The FA, the Premier League, and even various levels of the British government.

But it wasn’t to gain advantages or benefits, but rather to avoid being put at a disadvantage.

As for other grievances and grudges, they had nothing to do with Bayswater Chinese.

…

After the weekend of the 22nd round of the Premier League, the 3rd round of the FA Cup arrived.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Cardiff at home.

Although the opponent was only a Championship team, the FA Cup still held significant influence in England.

Coupled with the Cardiff fans who traveled for the away game, the entire match still attracted over eighty thousand people.

For a team like Cardiff, this was truly a staggering experience.

In addition, Yang Cheng specially arranged for former Cardiff player Aaron Ramsey to start.

Ramsey was injured and substituted in the match against Everton on the 26th. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious. After resting for over ten days, he was now back.

It was a perfect opportunity to show his hometown fans his growth and progress at Bayswater Chinese.

It was less an FA Cup match and more like a grand reunion.

The players from both sides played hard, but the atmosphere was excellent.

Yang Cheng fielded a lineup of substitutes and young players.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defence: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Pogba and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and De Bruyne.

Just eight minutes into the game, Giroud scored with a brilliant long shot, breaking through Cardiff’s goal.

The assist came from none other than Aaron Ramsey.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield completely controlled the game, forcing Cardiff to resort to defending and counter-attacking.

But the Championship team clearly struggled to put up much resistance.

After resuming play in the second half, just two minutes in, Aaron Ramsey scored with a shot from a late run, once again piercing the goal of his old club.

2-0!

Many Cardiff fans in the stadium cheered for Aaron Ramsey!

In their eyes, although he had scored against Cardiff, the player was a familiar face from their hometown, and a Welshman at that.

Then, in the 55th minute, Yang Cheng made two substitutions at once.

Harry Kane replaced Giroud, and Raheem Sterling came on for Eden Hazard.

On December 8th of last year, Sterling, who had just turned 16, officially signed a five-year professional contract with Bayswater Chinese. This was his first appearance for the team in a competitive match.

Long before the game, the media had already been buzzing with the news.

When Yang Cheng announced the squad the day before the match, he had explained why he was giving Sterling a start right after his 16th birthday.

It wasn’t because Sterling had been pursued by numerous giants like Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool, nor was it because Bayswater Chinese was short-staffed.

It was because of a promise!

“In mid-December last year, in the 3rd round of the Youth FA Cup, our Bayswater Chinese U18 team played away against Dulwich Hamlet U18. I told Sterling then that if he scored a hat-trick, I would give him a chance to play.”

As it turned out, Sterling scored seven goals in that match.

Bayswater Chinese U18 defeated Dulwich Hamlet U18 11-0 away from home.

Since the schedules happened to align, Yang Cheng gave Sterling his debut in this match.

Just sixteen years and thirty-one days old!

Although it was his first appearance for the team, Sterling was far from an unknown.

He had been training at Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy since the age of nine and could definitely be considered a genuine, homegrown talent.

Bayswater Chinese had also nurtured him meticulously.

As early as 2009, at just 14 years old, he had already been selected for the England U16 youth team.

This wasn’t just skipping a level; it was a massive leap.

In the first half of 2010, he made another leap into the England U17 squad.

And in 2009 and 2010, under arrangements made by Bayswater Chinese, Sterling had spent two months “studying abroad” at Barcelona’s La Masia and two months at Ajax in the Netherlands—two of the world’s top youth academies.

The purpose was clear: to let Sterling experience firsthand the football atmosphere, training methods, and playing philosophies of other countries and teams.

Bayswater Chinese frequently engaged in similar exchanges with other countries on the European continent.

Especially during the summer each year.

And even at the talent-rich La Masia and Ajax, Sterling still performed exceptionally well.

This was why both Barça and Real Madrid were interested in him.

There was even a report at the time that the Catalonian media believed Sterling would be Bayswater Chinese’s Messi.

Because they were about the same height, and their technical characteristics were very similar when they played in the youth teams.

Both also loved to dribble.

In contrast, first-team player Eden Hazard was a full five centimeters taller than Messi.

Don’t underestimate those five centimeters. When it comes to the speed of footwork, the difference between being five centimeters taller or shorter is quite significant.

More importantly, Sterling was incredibly fast.

With his Jamaican heritage, he was unbeatable over thirty meters within the Bayswater Chinese squad!

It was precisely because of this that so many top clubs had been eager to sign Sterling before.

But after the two parties signed the contract, Sterling officially stayed with the team.

Of course, in the face of Bayswater Chinese’s firm stance, other powerhouse clubs didn’t dare to truly try and poach him, resorting more to subtle inquiries.

And this time, Yang Cheng fulfilled his promise and gave Sterling his chance to play.

After coming on, Harry Kane and Sterling became the center of attention on the pitch.

All the fans hoped to see a brilliant performance from the two youngsters.

Sterling’s first touch of the ball was dazzling.

With a single touch to control the ball and beat a player, he cut inside from the left, beat two more defenders, and was still trying to dribble into a crowd before being fouled by the opposition outside the penalty area.

The result of this dribble was creating an attacking free-kick opportunity for the team.

“Does this kid really think he’s Messi?” Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines, shaking his head with a laugh.

Brian Kidd also laughed, “Look at the big smile on his face when he plays. I think he’s a bit like Ronaldinho.”

The two looked at each other and laughed even louder.

Happy football!

Of course, that wouldn’t actually be the case.

In terms of talent, Sterling had his strengths, but he was by no means the Messi or Ronaldinho type.

His technique was very refined, and he was extremely fast.

But the biggest difference between him and Messi or Ronaldinho was that, with his African heritage, he had very good physical strength.

“It’s fine, let the kid have some fun this season. We can coach him slowly!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Brian Kidd nodded.

When Messi first debuted, he also dribbled recklessly, playing in an extremely irrational way.

Never mind wasting chances; fans who have seen videos of his early games probably wanted to slap him.

C. Ronaldo was the same.

But gradually, with opponents’ fouls, injuries, and the accumulation of experience, players learn to play more sensibly.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Sterling’s talent was undeniable.

Many people said his finishing was terrible.

But looking at the data, his conversion rate was very strong.

Someone even calculated that among all the players Pep Guardiola had coached, his scoring efficiency was second only to Messi’s.

In a way, it’s like people criticizing C. Ronaldo for shooting indiscriminately.

Another player might not even get the chance to shoot indiscriminately!

So why did Sterling’s development ultimately fall short of expectations?

In his final period at Manchester City, Guardiola adjusted the team’s tactics.

After transferring to Chelsea, he had to adapt all over again. Coupled with issues like public opinion and the player himself losing discipline and becoming complacent…

In short, a variety of reasons ultimately led to Sterling’s rapid decline.

But now, this talent, valued at a staggering one hundred and sixty million pound sterling, was at Bayswater Chinese!

Harry Kane and Sterling were like two different types of players.

One with great wisdom that appeared foolish, the other prodigiously talented.

In the end, it was the slightly older Harry Kane who scored a goal in the second half, further extending Bayswater Chinese’s lead.

Sterling looked very impressive on multiple occasions when he got the ball, but it was his debut after all, and he was very young. It was unrealistic to expect him to perform brilliantly right away.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated Cardiff 3-0 at home, smoothly advancing to the 4th round of the FA Cup.

After the match, the British media reported extensively on Harry Kane and Sterling.

In the words of The Times: “Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy is like a treasure trove of talent, continuously producing young, gifted players!”

…

Midweek, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted West Ham United.

Yang Cheng once again started with a rotated lineup, but unlike the previous FA Cup match, the squad this time was stronger.

Rakitić performed exceptionally well in this game.

In the 14th minute of the first half, he connected with an assist from Di María to score the opening goal for the team.

But in the 31st minute, West Ham United equalized through a Carlton Cole goal, assisted by Bridge.

Just four minutes later, Rakitić took advantage of an attacking free-kick to assist José Fonte, who scored with a header, putting them back in the lead.

2-1!

And just before the end of the second half, after a series of substitutions, Nemanja Matić scored with a sudden long shot from an overlapping run, piercing West Ham United’s goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated West Ham United 3-1 at home, putting one foot in the League Cup final.

The next day, Arsenal convincingly beat Ipswich Town 3-0 at home.

Benzema, Fàbregas, and Koscielny scored the goals.

…

On the afternoon of January 15th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 23, Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

Before this match, no one could have expected Bayswater Chinese’s goal to come so suddenly, so quickly.

After kick-off, Aston Villa, who had the first touch, passed the ball back.

Bayswater Chinese used their home advantage to press forward proactively, trying to suppress the opponent.

Aston Villa’s goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, launched a long pass towards the attacking half.

It looked less like a pass and more like a clearance.

The ball landed in Bayswater Chinese’s half.

After receiving the ball, Thiago Silva saw Aston Villa pressing forward as a unit.

But just then, the Brazilian centre-back sent a long pass directly to the right side of the attacking half.

Theo Walcott, like a bolt of lightning, instantly broke through the defense of left-back Clark and left-sided centre-back James Collins. Inside the penalty area, he controlled the ball with his foot and then slotted it past the keeper, finding the back of Aston Villa’s net.

At that moment, only thirty-one seconds had passed since kick-off!

Subsequently, Aston Villa set up a formation to defend with all their might.

With a one-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese played at a measured pace, not rushing.

But in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Di María dribbled down the left flank, beating two defenders before sending a diagonal pass behind the defense with his left foot.

Robert Lewandowski in the middle didn’t get to it, but Theo Walcott arrived at full tilt at the far post and swept the ball into the net behind Friedel once again.

2-0!

The entire stadium erupted in celebration!

After the restart in the second half, Darren Bent scored for Aston Villa, assisted by Stewart Downing, pulling one goal back.

But in the 64th minute, from an attacking free-kick, Modrić assisted Pepe, who scored with a header.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa at home.

The results of the other matches in this round also came in.

Chelsea finally emerged from their slump, defeating Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home.

Manchester City beat Wolves 4-3 at home.

Arsenal won convincingly 3-0 away against West Ham United, with van Persie scoring a brace.

Liverpool drew 2-2 at home against Everton.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away at Tottenham Hotspur.

It was clear that Bayswater Chinese’s dominance, especially their lead in the standings, was putting pressure on the other top Premier League teams.

At the same time, Ferguson, Ancelotti, and Wenger had clearly made strategic adjustments.

With little chance left to compete for the league title, they all began to shift their focus to the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Therefore, they were also using this period to properly manage their players’ fitness and form.

After all, when the Champions League restarts in mid-to-late February, fighting on two fronts would be a test for all teams.

What’s more, Manchester United was determined to fight their way back into the top four!

As many had said, if Ferguson failed to qualify for the Champions League, it would be an absolute humiliation for the old gaffer!

The last time Manchester United missed out on the Champions League was in the 1994/95 season. That year, Manchester United lost the Premier League title to Blackburn Rovers and thus failed to qualify.

Yes, at that time, only the league champions could participate in the Champions League.

Since then, Manchester United had participated in the Champions League every season.

This was something Ferguson took great pride in!

But now, if he also failed to qualify, it would inevitably trigger a series of upheavals.

It might even lead to a complete overhaul of Manchester United!

…

On the afternoon of January 22nd, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Premier League Round 24, Bayswater Chinese away to Manchester United.

In the 64th minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese completed a beautiful series of passes in midfield.

Robert Lewandowski dropped deep to receive the ball, turned, and sent a through ball into space.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, catching up to Lewandowski’s pass near the left byline of Manchester United’s penalty area.

But by then, Vidić had already tracked back in time, cornering Gareth Bale near the left byline, preventing the Welshman from cutting into the box.

Gareth Bale remained calm. He tried to dribble past Vidić along the byline, but the defender was very disciplined. The Welshman suddenly came to a sharp stop, pulled the ball back, and passed it back to the overlapping Marcelo.

The Brazilian made a diagonal run into the left channel, trying to break into the penalty area from that zone.

Rafael da Silva quickly closed him down, using his body to entangle Marcelo.

But Marcelo, with his exquisite footwork, maintained control of the ball through a series of touches and changes of direction, and was about to break into the left side of the penalty area.

Seeing his fellow Brazilian about to dribble into the box, Rafael quickly stuck out a foot.

The moment he made the tackle, he already knew he wouldn’t get the ball.

But he went for it anyway.

Because he couldn’t just stand by and watch Marcelo break through and get into the box.

Sure enough, Rafael tripped Marcelo.

The Brazilian fell completely inside the penalty area.

The entire Old Trafford stadium gasped in shock!

A wave of clamor spread through the crowd as they tried to pressure the head referee, Mike Dean.

“That wasn’t a very smart foul from Rafael.”

“He already received a yellow card in the 28th minute of the first half for a foul on Gareth Bale.”

“Now, he’s committed another foul. This action will probably earn him another card, and it gives Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.”

But Mike Dean went straight for his pocket, showed Rafael another yellow card, and with two accumulated yellows, sent him off with a red card.

Deafening boos from the Manchester United fans echoed throughout Old Trafford.

The more than seventy thousand Manchester United supporters were very dissatisfied with the decision.

The two sides had battled hard for sixty-five minutes. Although Manchester United were defending and counter-attacking, they had played well, and several of their counters were quite threatening.

The trident of Robben, Rooney, and Berbatov, in particular, had linked up impressively on the counter-attack.

But at this moment, Rafael gets a red card?

On the other hand, the fans were conflicted.

If Rafael hadn’t committed the foul and had let Marcelo into the box, could Manchester United’s defense have held?

On the right, Theo Walcott had already made a run into the penalty area.

In this situation, the Manchester United fans were very conflicted, so they vented all their anger and dissatisfaction on the referee.

It was all that damned Mike Dean’s fault!

Why didn’t he give Manchester United the home-field advantage?

“It is a red card!”

“Just over half a month ago, when Manchester United played away at Wembley, Gareth Bale made a run into the box and was fouled by Rafael. But the Brazilian full-back escaped punishment then, with no penalty or red card given.”

“But this time, it was just too obvious.”

“There was no escaping this red card.”

“Now let’s see who will take this direct free-kick for Bayswater Chinese.”

“It should be Modrić coming over to take it.”

The Croatian quickly ran over, about to take the free kick.

But at the same time, Gareth Bale also walked over.

The Welshman was a left-footed player, and his free kicks were actually more effective from the right side.

That position was better suited for him to generate power and curve.

But today’s free kick was on the left side of the penalty area, just on the edge of the box.

It was very close, and the angle was not good.

In the first half, Gareth Bale had already missed three attacking free-kicks, none of which posed a threat.

Two went high, and one hit the wall directly.

That’s why Modrić wanted to come over and take this one.

But Gareth Bale wanted to try again.

Both Modrić and Gareth Bale looked towards the sideline.

In front of the away team’s technical area, Yang Cheng nodded at them from a distance.

This was a good thing!

That Gareth Bale had this desire and dared to take on such a task proved that he was constantly growing and transforming into a leader.

This was exactly what Yang Cheng wanted to see.

Just as Yang Cheng had said about Toni Kroos before.

Some people talk a big game, but when the team really needs them to step up and shoulder the burden, they fall silent.

A true leader is different. He needs to have the courage and determination to carry the burden at any time.

Whether Gareth Bale could do it or not, no one’s opinion mattered.

Give him a chance, let him try, and then we’ll know, right?

With this thought, Yang Cheng stood tall on the sideline, his gaze fixed on Manchester United’s penalty area.

By now, the ball had been placed.

Both Gareth Bale and Modrić stepped back.

The Welshman was on the right, Modrić on the left, both ideal positions for their preferred feet.

Manchester United, meanwhile, had set up their wall in the penalty area.

This was a real test of skill for the free-kick taker.

Especially for a left-footed player, the difficulty was really high.

Therefore, no one on the Manchester United side could guess who would take the kick.

With a blow of head referee Mike Dean’s whistle, Modrić was the first to run up.

There was a sudden commotion in the penalty area.

The Manchester United defenders were all wary of a cross from Modrić.

But after Modrić ran over the ball, Gareth Bale followed close behind, striking a curling shot with his left foot.

The ball shot off Gareth Bale’s foot, flew over the jumping wall, and then dipped sharply.

Its trajectory was almost a perfect parabola, heading straight for the top right corner of Manchester United’s goal.

Van der Sar was positioned slightly to his right, mainly to guard against a surprise shot to the near post from Modrić.

But now, facing Gareth Bale’s direct free kick, he dived with all his might.

But how could he possibly get there in time?

The ball crashed into the top right corner of Manchester United’s goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“A direct free-kick from Gareth Bale!”

“In the 65th minute, the 65th minute, the Welshman scores with a very difficult direct free-kick, breaking through Manchester United’s goal!”

“We can see that for a left-footed player to take a free kick from this side and shoot directly is extremely difficult.”

“But Gareth Bale was very calm and delivered a very high-quality butterfly ball that just crashed into Manchester United’s goal.”

“1-0!”

“At a crucial moment, Gareth Bale scores the opener for Bayswater Chinese!”

After seeing the ball go in, the Welshman turned and ran in excitement.

But this time, he didn’t run towards the stands on his left side, but sprinted across most of the pitch towards the stands on the far right.

Because there were many Bayswater Chinese fans here who had traveled north with the team.

Amidst the sea of boos, they were still cheering for Gareth Bale’s direct free-kick.

Their cheers were still clearly audible above the roar of Old Trafford!

There were only a few hundred of them!

Gareth Bale and his teammates all rushed to this side to celebrate breaking the deadlock!

And in the nearby stands, the Manchester United fans were incandescent with rage, roaring and even cursing the group of Bayswater Chinese players.

They were clearly disappointed with their team’s performance this season.

If the head coach wasn’t Ferguson, they would have started blasting him and calling for his dismissal long ago!

After the Bayswater Chinese players finished celebrating, Gareth Bale ran over to the away team’s technical area on the sideline and high-fived the head coach, Yang Cheng, who was standing there.

“Well done, Gareth!” Yang Cheng affirmed.

He knew this was Gareth Bale’s gratitude for allowing him to take that free-kick!

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium cheered even more enthusiastically.

Although Gareth Bale was a product of the Southampton youth academy, he had come to Bayswater Chinese at a young age, so these fans had watched him grow up. He was no different from one of their own youth products.

Now, seeing the Welshman dare to step up in a crucial moment, they felt incredibly proud!

And in the home team’s technical area, not far from Yang Cheng, Ferguson chewed his gum, looking calm and composed, not downcast by the conceded goal.

This was because he knew the live broadcast cameras would be searching for him.

So, he had deliberately stayed inside.

And when he saw Gareth Bale walking towards the left of the center line, waiting for Manchester United to restart the game, looking at the Welshman’s figure, Ferguson inexplicably thought of a player he once had.

C. Ronaldo!

They were indeed quite similar!

But today’s C. Ronaldo was at Real Madrid.

In that instant, Ferguson even felt an impulse, a strong urge to ask Yang Cheng if he was willing to sell Gareth Bale to Manchester United.

But he quickly dismissed this tempting thought.

Because he knew Yang Cheng’s answer would only be a refusal!

Today’s Bayswater Chinese was just too strong!

In contrast, Manchester United, although Ferguson had Nani, the “second C. Ronaldo,” and Robben, was still not on the same level as Bayswater Chinese.

Especially with Berbatov up front.

The Bulgarian’s performance this season had been decent, but compared to top-tier centre-forwards like Robert Lewandowski, the gap was still huge.

Even without comparing him to Lewandowski, just against the likes of Ibrahimović, van Persie, and Benzema, he was a level below.

This made Ferguson feel very disheartened.

Could it be that his era was truly over?

Could it be that he really had no more chances?

Was he destined to tarnish his legacy in his later years?

At this thought, Ferguson’s heart suddenly filled with unwillingness!

He felt a pang of regret. Why hadn’t he retired on a high note after winning the Champions League last year?

If he had retired then, probably no one would see his current dejected state.

But soon, Ferguson took another deep breath, his eyes gazing at the pitch like lightning.

Who was he?

Ferguson!

The godfather of Manchester United!

To retire like this, he would never be content!

Moreover, with so many strong rivals in the Premier League now, it was the perfect opportunity for him to thrive under pressure and prove himself once again!

Since that was the case, he dared to play another round with his rivals.

Just like at the turn of the century when facing the formidable Arsenal under Wenger, or around 2004 and 2005 against the extravagantly wealthy Chelsea, Ferguson had never been a coward!

He would rebuild a more competitive Manchester United and have another proper showdown with this group of powerful opponents!

At the very least, he had to let them know that Ferguson of Manchester United was not to be trifled with!

With this thought, Ferguson rose from his seat in the technical area and walked out!

I, Ferguson, never say die!

Chapter 218: A Wonder Goal! The Winter Marquee Signing! A Goal-Fest at Wembley Stadium!

“Manchester United are now retreating with all lines.”

“We can see that Bayswater Chinese are attacking fiercely.”

“They already had the upper hand, and now they’re a man up on Manchester United.”

“The Red Devils are in an even more passive position on the pitch now.”

“Let’s look at this attack.”

“It’s with Modrić.”

“He carries it forward, passes to Robert Lewandowski.”

“Lewandowski receives it with his back to goal, doesn’t turn, and lays it back.”

“Toni Kroos has found space, there’s a chance, and he decisively takes a long shot.”

“Van der Sar dives to the side!”

“At the crucial moment, a brilliant save from the veteran Dutch keeper pushes Toni Kroos’s long shot away.”

“That was a truly crucial save!”

“It’s hard to believe that Edwin van der Sar is already forty years old.”

“Toni Kroos’s long shot was also very well-placed, aimed directly at the right side of the goal.”

“It must be said, that was a beautiful shot, but the save was even more beautiful!”

…

“Bayswater Chinese continue their attack.”

“The ball is played into the left channel of the attacking third.”

“Marcelo passes it back to Toni Kroos.”

“A diagonal pass to switch the play to the right.”

“It’s a little too close to the byline, but Theo Walcott gets to it.”

“He heads it back to the center—a classic Bayswater Chinese attacking routine.”

“Let’s see in the middle, Robert Lewandowski with the header.”

“It hits the post and bounces back out.”

“Gareth Bale with another header.”

“De Rossi makes a goal-line clearance!”

“But Gareth Bale is appealing to the referee, signaling that the Italian handled the ball.”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay that it was indeed a handball.”

“Faced with Gareth Bale’s header, De Rossi subconsciously threw out an arm in a rush.”

“But the head referee hasn’t made a call.”

“Bayswater Chinese still need to control themselves a bit.”

“Manchester United are a man down and trailing by one goal, so psychologically, the referee feels a certain need to find a balance.”

“In this situation, it’s best not to be too hasty.”

“They’ve launched two fierce consecutive attacks.”

“We can see Bayswater Chinese are always just a whisker away from scoring.”

…

“Toni Kroos drops back to receive the ball, then plays it forward to Gareth Bale.”

“Then to Marcelo.”

“Marcelo receives the ball on the left side, just outside the penalty area. A beautiful feint, he gets past Carrick.”

“He shoots directly with his left foot!”

“Marcelo’s shot was quite good, but it was a bit too central and van der Sar saved it comfortably.”

“The Brazilian’s form this season is getting better and better.”

“Look at that feint and dribble just outside Manchester United’s penalty area. We’ve never even seen that kind of skill from his predecessor, Roberto Carlos.”

“Truly brilliant!”

“Yang Cheng makes his second substitution, with Di María coming on for Theo Walcott.”

“This is a like-for-like substitution.”

“Clearly, he still wants to strengthen the attack.”

…

“Let’s see this counter-attack, they’re targeting Bayswater Chinese’s left flank again.”

“Gareth Bale receives the ball, fakes past Ferdinand, and surges into the box.”

“There’s a chance!”

“Gareth Bale shoots directly!”

“Vidić’s block was crucial there.”

“Gareth Bale’s speed is just incredible.”

“We saw him sprint to the edge of the box, use a feint while controlling the ball, and just brush past Ferdinand.”

“Ferdinand couldn’t stop Gareth Bale at all.”

“But Vidić’s close marking at the critical moment was key.”

“It greatly narrowed the angle for Gareth Bale’s shot.”

“In the end, it hit the side netting.”

“That was very dangerous. A moment of carelessness and it would have been a goal.”

“Bayswater Chinese make their final substitution of the match, Eden Hazard comes on for Gareth Bale.”

“Indeed, with Manchester United now defending with everyone back, Gareth Bale has fewer opportunities to use his speed, and his stamina must be considered as well.”

“It’s not just about his stamina for this match.”

“The league season is only halfway through, there’s a long schedule ahead, and the Champions League returns in February.”

“Yang Cheng definitely has his own considerations.”

…

“Still in possession on the left wing.”

“Eden Hazard’s skill on the ball is truly excellent.”

“Some say Bayswater Chinese have four wingers: three Ronaldo-types and one Messi-type.”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but it does accurately reflect the team’s attacking characteristics.”

“Hazard draws the defense’s attention on the left.”

“Marcelo has also pushed up.”

“Let’s see this attack develop.”

“They don’t force their way through, passing back to Toni Kroos.”

“Will he continue down the left or switch the play?”

“We see Toni Kroos play a diagonal pass, switching it to the right side outside the box.”

“Di María is open here.”

“The Argentine’s first touch is beautiful.”

“Evra closes him down, but Di María pulls the ball back.”

“Brilliant!”

“Di María cuts inside and shoots with his left foot!!”

“It’s in!!!!!!”

“A wonder goal!!”

“In the 83rd minute, Di María receives the ball on the right, cuts inside, and unleashes a magnificent left-footed shot.”

“The ball flies into the net, clean and decisive!”

“Just a moment ago we were saying Bayswater Chinese had three Ronaldo-types in their attack, but now I feel we need to amend that: two Ronaldo-types, and one Robben-type.”

“Look at how he took the ball, flicked it past Evra, cut inside, and shot. The movement was so smooth and silky, and the subsequent strike was executed in one fluid motion. It was breathtaking!”

“Unlike Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, Di María isn’t known for his goal-scoring, but that doesn’t mean his finishing ability is weak.”

“On the contrary, he’s a player who has scored a hat-trick before!”

“Two-nil!”

“The game is settled!”

…

“Come with me!”

“What for?”

“I’m buying you a drink.”

“I’m not drinking today.”

“You’re coming with me even if you’re not drinking.”

Just after the press conference, Yang Cheng was ambushed at the door by a lurking Ferguson.

Before Yang Cheng could even figure out what was happening, Ferguson had already kidnapped him and taken him to that room at Old Trafford he regularly used to entertain friends.

Sure enough, there was alcohol on the table.

This made Yang Cheng even more uneasy.

This was dangerous!

The old fellow only acts when there is a profit to be made. To lose a match and still be so enthusiastic about buying him a drink—he was definitely up to no good.

Ferguson had obviously guessed Yang Cheng’s thoughts and didn’t beat around the bush, speaking first.

“Off the pitch, we’re friends, right?” Ferguson asked.

Yang Cheng grew even more unsettled and replied perfunctorily, “I suppose so.”

“You suppose so?” Ferguson almost slammed the table.

Oh, so the fine wine I, your father, have gifted you from my personal collection over the past few years was all for nothing?

Sensing the murderous intent, Yang Cheng immediately nodded, “Yes, yes, of course we are.”

That’s more like it!

Ferguson stared resentfully at Yang Cheng. “So, if a friend is in trouble, are you going to help or not?”

“As long as it has nothing to do with Manchester United, and it’s something I can do, I’ll definitely help,” Yang Cheng said, having already prepared his defenses.

Ferguson had just taken a small sip of wine and nearly choked.

This slippery little rascal had blocked him off before he could even start.

But who was Ferguson?

Famously shameless!

In this day and age, people who cared about face lived hard lives.

“I plan to postpone my retirement!”

“What?” Yang Cheng was stunned.

He wondered if he had misheard.

“I said, I plan to postpone my retirement!”

Yang Cheng had no idea how to react.

Right now, rumors of Ferguson’s retirement circulated throughout the industry every year, but no one knew exactly when it would happen.

“When were you originally planning to retire?” Yang Cheng asked tentatively.

Ferguson’s drinking motion froze.

Awkward!

This was so damn awkward!

The old gaffer stared straight at Yang Cheng, as if to ask: You don’t know?

Yang Cheng’s face was a picture of innocent purity: You never said, how would I know?

Haven’t you heard all the people outside guessing wildly?

You said it yourself, old man, it’s wild guessing. I don’t pay attention to that stuff.

Ferguson put his glass down again, feeling the fire in his heart about to burst.

I swear, meeting you has shortened my life by at least ten years!

“Sir, were you originally planning to retire?” Yang Cheng asked with a smile, seeing his expression.

This question was worse than not asking. As soon as he asked, Ferguson’s anger nearly exploded.

He had originally planned to retire after winning a Champions League title.

That’s why last summer, many people thought he would retire.

In fact, he had seriously considered it.

After all, he was in his late sixties.

But he was still unwilling to let go, because Bayswater Chinese had already won the Premier League for two consecutive seasons.

If they were allowed to win a three-peat, where would Manchester United hide its face?

So, Ferguson decided to thwart Bayswater Chinese. He wanted to ride the momentum of the Champions League victory to defeat Bayswater Chinese in one fell swoop, and then retire after winning another Premier League title.

But he never expected Manchester United’s form to decline so drastically.

It was far beyond Ferguson’s expectations.

Now, he hadn’t quit while he was ahead last summer, and he was stuck with this mess.

If he retired now, wouldn’t he leave behind a tarnished reputation?

If his successor couldn’t handle it, all the blame would be pushed onto Ferguson.

He had to win at least one more major trophy before he left.

That way, even if the next person messed up, it wouldn’t affect Ferguson’s legacy.

The old Scot had been a tough man his whole life. Other things were negotiable, but when it came to football, especially his reputation after retirement, he took it very seriously.

So, he had decided that he would stay on, no matter what, and retire only after winning another trophy.

This time, he would absolutely not cling to his position!

“Such a big decision, and not a whisper about it before. When did you decide?” Yang Cheng saw Ferguson’s grim expression and tactfully changed the subject.

“Just now.”

“What?” Yang Cheng was even more astonished.

Ferguson, however, wore a look of prideful coyness, as if Yang Cheng’s reaction secretly pleased him.

Look at you, all small-town, never seen the world.

Is this such a big decision?

I made it on a whim.

Yang Cheng really wanted to say: You really are something else, old man!

You truly haven’t considered how massive an impact your departure will have on Manchester United!

Of course, to some extent, apart from Yang Cheng, no one at this stage could have predicted it.

Anyone who claimed they guessed the impact of Ferguson’s retirement on Manchester United was basically just being wise after the event.

The whole situation was that when Ferguson was around, everyone knew he was important.

But absolutely no one knew just how important he was!

Yang Cheng was now at Bayswater Chinese, and he had actually been quietly preparing for this sort of eventuality himself.

Because he couldn’t guarantee that he would be a head coach for his entire life.

Especially as his business empire grew larger and larger, his responsibilities multiplied.

“Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott, either one, for one hundred million pounds sterling. How about it?” Ferguson stated his intention.

Yang Cheng sighed inwardly. As expected.

But he quickly broke into a grin and asked in return, “Old gaffer, you seem to have forgotten something.”

“What’s that?”

“In Deloitte’s report, our revenue is second only to Real Madrid, ranking second in world football. Your Manchester United ranks fourth, with Barça in between us.”

Yang Cheng reminded him with a smile.

Ferguson’s expression was as if he had just swallowed a fly.

It was utterly disgusting!

Who would have thought that after dominating the Premier League for so many years, Manchester United would actually lose out to Bayswater Chinese in terms of revenue.

That Adam Crozier was a real genius!

Of course, Yang Cheng’s decision back then to lease Wembley Stadium for five million pounds sterling a year was even more badass!

A ninety-thousand-seater stadium!

“Sir, I don’t believe you haven’t realized that what your Manchester United needs most right now isn’t Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott.”

“Rooney can’t play as a lone centre-forward!”

Bringing in either of those two players would require Manchester United to readjust their frontline.

The most likely to be dropped would be Berbatov.

With Rooney and Robben in the team, a newly formed front three would have to feature Rooney as the centre-forward.

But any discerning eye could see that Rooney couldn’t play that position at all.

Making him play there would be forcing him to do something he’s not cut out for.

Yang Cheng’s words were not without basis.

Ferguson knew this himself.

According to this season’s OPTA data, Rooney’s pass completion rate in the defensive third was 90%, in midfield it was 88%, but in the attacking third, it was only 62%.

What was the difference?

It was because in the attacking third, he was under heavy watch from the opposition.

If his stats were like that in the final third, they would only be worse inside the box.

And his average successful aerial duels per game was only 0.8, which was less than his average of 1.3 dribbles per game.

Putting a player like that at centre-forward, are you sure you’re not joking?

In theory, Manchester United’s current attacking lineup is very strong.

With Berbatov as the centre-forward, and Rooney and Robben on the wings, with Ashley Young, Nani, and Park Ji-sung as strong backup and rotation options, their attack shouldn’t be weak.

But the weak link was that Berbatov was simply too lazy.

In fact, if Saha was fit, he would be more useful than him.

Manchester United’s real problem lay in their midfield and defense.

Ryan Giggs, Scholes, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Wes Brown—they were all getting old.

Why was it that in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Manchester United didn’t fall off a cliff after winning the Champions League, but instead reached the final twice more?

A very important reason was that Manchester United won the Champions League in 2008 and reached the final again in 2009.

But now, they had won it in 2010.

The players were two years older, and with the Premier League being so fiercely competitive, this group of Manchester United veterans experienced a more pronounced decline in form after winning the Champions League.

This wouldn’t have been a problem.

As long as the team was willing to sign new players.

But Manchester United wasn’t making any signings!

Ibrahimović, Suárez, Buffon, Rafael van der Vaart, Sneijder, Joe Cole, Hamšík…

Last summer, so many stars were linked with Manchester United, but ultimately, none of them joined.

Just as many reporters asked Ferguson, why didn’t he sign Buffon?

How did Ferguson reply?

He said that Buffon’s price was too high, completely unrealistic.

In reality, Ferguson was being very shrewd.

Was it worth spending so much money on a 32-year-old goalkeeper to replace a 40-year-old one?

And the Glazer family behind Manchester United would not agree to it.

So, Manchester United’s real dilemma right now wasn’t which players to sign, but that Ferguson and the club’s transfer policy had to change.

Just like Wenger’s Arsenal.

They had to be willing to spend money!

Want to learn from Bayswater Chinese?

Sorry, you can’t.

Because there is only one Yang Cheng!

…

It wasn’t that Ferguson got nothing from Yang Cheng.

At the very least, Yang Cheng advised Ferguson that he must sign a right-back.

Rafael da Silva was good, but he was still young, and there were suspicions that his development was being mismanaged.

Why was the right-back position so important?

Because Robben in the attack was accustomed to cutting inside. Without a strong full-back on the right flank, there was no way to hold the width.

Why did Rafael da Silva perform poorly in two consecutive matches?

Besides Gareth Bale being outstanding, the more important reason was that the right-flank defense of Robben and Rafael da Silva was too fragile.

Not to mention, without width on the right wing in attack, the offensive threat was halved.

As for candidates, Yang Cheng was always very generous and happy to help.

Dani Alves from Barça, Lahm from Bayern Munich.

Finally, Yang Cheng gave Ferguson one last piece of good-natured advice.

“Go ask Wenger whether he’s more comfortable now or a few years ago.”

Ferguson paused.

Did he even need to ask?

That bastard Wenger was an overthinker, he had issues!

Besides, back then, Arsenal had no choice; they genuinely had no money for transfers, so they were forced to rely on and promote young players.

But now?

The old fellow had money in his hands and could buy whomever he wanted.

He was living the good life, it was almost too comfortable!

Even some of the young players at Arsenal were different now.

The team’s situation wasn’t as dire as in the previous life. With better players around them, the young players had more room to grow.

In this round of matches, Arsenal thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-0 at home.

Van Persie scored all four goals, including one penalty.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated Wolves 3-0 away, with Torres scoring twice.

Manchester City secured a narrow 1-0 victory away at Aston Villa.

Chelsea beat Bolton 4-0 away.

All the top teams won their matches, except for Manchester United.

This left an even more bitter taste in Ferguson’s mouth.

If this continued, they might genuinely miss out on the top four.

…

Three days after the 24th round of the league, while other teams could rest, Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal had to continue their campaigns in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals.

Interestingly, both teams fielded fully rotated squads.

Bayswater Chinese lost 2-1 away to West Ham United.

The Hammers scored first in the first half, but after the break, José Fonte equalized.

However, in the 87th minute, Carlton Cole put West Ham United ahead again.

Although they lost 2-1 away, they advanced with a 4-3 aggregate score.

Arsenal also fielded a full reserve team in their semi-final.

Facing Championship side Ipswich Town, the Gunners didn’t concede until the 78th minute.

In the end, Wenger’s side advanced comfortably with a 3-1 aggregate score.

Thus, this season’s League Cup final would be between Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal.

The match was scheduled for February 27th at Wembley Stadium.

…

After the League Cup, the weekend brought the 4th round of the FA Cup.

The draw wasn’t kind this time, pitting them against Premier League side Wolves, and it was an away game.

But Wolves were currently mired in the relegation zone and had no intention of going all out in the cup.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was preparing for the Champions League Round of 16 knockout match against Real Madrid in mid-February. He started adjusting his players’ fitness and form, so this match again featured a full reserve and youth lineup.

The match was deadlocked until the 81st minute, when Eden Hazard, in the left channel, combined brilliantly with substitute youngster Sterling and centre-forward Harry Kane in a series of quick passes.

Just as the Belgian was about to break into the box, he was fouled by the opposing defender, Stearman.

Gianni Vio’s free-kick training once again paid off.

Aaron Ramsey took the free kick, but he didn’t shoot directly or look to assist a teammate.

Instead, Aaron Ramsey passed the ball to Harry Kane in front of him and began his run-up.

Harry Kane controlled the ball, then gently nudged it back, perfectly into Aaron Ramsey’s path.

The ball stopped at just the right moment.

Aaron Ramsey ran onto it and swung his leg, striking the ball.

The football curved through the air and nestled precisely into the right side of the Wolves’ goal.

An absolutely stunning wonder goal!

Aaron Ramsey was so excited he leaped into the air, ran straight to the sideline, and launched into a knee slide.

However, he botched the knee slide and ended up sprawling forward.

Luckily, his teammates who caught up piled on top of him, saving him from the embarrassing moment.

Yang Cheng, watching from the sideline, could only shake his head.

But this 20-year-old homegrown midfielder was truly improving day by day.

…

Manchester United’s FA Cup match was on the 29th, in the late afternoon around 5 PM.

By the time the game finished, it was almost 7 PM.

The Red Devils came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 away, thanks to goals from Owen and Javier Hernández.

It was already late by the time they returned to Manchester.

But Ferguson still called the club’s CEO, David Gill.

Because in Southampton, he had received news from London.

Chelsea had officially made an offer for Benfica’s Brazilian centre-back, David Luiz.

And they had started with twenty million pounds sterling.

This was a signal that they were determined to get him!

Clearly, Chelsea was eager to strengthen their squad.

“David, as I mentioned to you before, this centre-back is very important to us!”

David Gill was at a loss on the other end of the line. “Are you sure Chelsea has made an offer?”

“Absolutely certain!” Ferguson said, then added with emphasis, “I need you to sign him for me, David, at any cost!”

“Sir, please calm down first. I need to communicate with the higher-ups about this.”

“There’s no time, David. I want to see him before the winter transfer window closes!” Ferguson grew more anxious.

“But, Sir, the most important thing right now is the Qatar Investment Group!”

David Gill wasn’t sure how to explain. After a moment of silence, he softened his tone and tried to persuade him, “Sir, I must remind you now, this is a deal concerning a two billion pound sterling acquisition. The board is taking it very seriously.”

“If we really sell to the Middle Eastern consortium, you’ll be able to buy whoever you want in the future.”

Ferguson had heard such talk countless times.

When the Glazer family acquired Manchester United, they had made plenty of grand, empty promises to him as well.

Even now, he was still being cursed out by many Manchester United fans over this matter.

Because he had endorsed the Glazer family back then!

And what happened after the acquisition?

The Glazer family latched onto Manchester United like vampires!

“Then let me tell you this, David, if we can’t bring in a strong centre-back, we will miss out on the Champions League!”

After a pause, Ferguson became ruthless. “Furthermore, if I don’t see David Luiz by midnight on February 1st, I will publicly announce to everyone that I will not be renewing my contract at the end of the season!”

This was a very clear attempt to force their hand!

“Sir, please calm down, don’t say things you’ll regret. I’ll make the calls right now, okay?” David Gill was clearly terrified.

“I’ll be waiting for your good news,” Ferguson said grimly.

He had already thrown caution to the wind, so he didn’t care about cornering them like this.

Was David Luiz important to Manchester United?

He was indeed quite important.

Manchester United’s defense was at its most solid when Vidić and Ferdinand were at their most cohesive.

After signing Vidić, the Serbian centre-back was responsible for pressing high, while Ferdinand covered behind him.

That’s why Vidić was often heavily criticized by fans, but everyone in the dressing room knew it was due to their different roles.

The aggressive, pressing centre-back always took the blame.

Just like at Bayswater Chinese, Pepe and Vincent Kompany were the ones who took the flak, while Thiago Silva and José Fonte were responsible for covering and sweeping.

It was really impossible to say which type of player was more important.

You couldn’t do without either!

But now, Vidić was already 29, his physical abilities were declining, and he wasn’t as fast as before.

So, it was no accident that he was repeatedly toyed with by pacy forwards like Torres and Gareth Bale.

Under these circumstances, bringing in another centre-back who was good at pressing high was undoubtedly very necessary.

Many people were talking about Borussia Dortmund’s Subotić, his national team partner with Vidić.

But Subotić was also a covering defender.

His partnership with Vidić wouldn’t necessarily be effective.

In contrast, David Luiz, a Brazilian player, was naturally inclined to press forward, just like Lúcio, Pepe, and Alex. This undoubtedly fit Manchester United’s current needs at centre-back perfectly.

The most typical examples were Cannavaro at the 2006 World Cup and Barça’s captain, Puyol.

Both of these centre-backs were the type who covered a large area and were aggressive in pressing.

And the head coach had to arrange reliable players around and behind them to fill the gaps they left when they pressed forward.

Then there was Bayswater Chinese.

Pepe, Vincent Kompany, and even Thiago Silva actually had a large range of movement and often pressed high.

But if you watched closely, Javi Martínez or Nemanja Matić were always coordinating with the two centre-backs.

If one pushed up, the other two would definitely stay back.

What set them apart from other teams was that this group of Bayswater Chinese players all had excellent distribution skills.

Heaven knows where Yang Cheng unearthed them from.

David Luiz happened to be this type of player as well.

This was why David Luiz was being pursued by half of Europe’s top clubs.

Because good centre-backs were extremely, extremely scarce.

In fact, there were no other options!

…

No one knew what exactly transpired between Manchester United and Chelsea.

But the day after the FA Cup matches, on January 30th, the second to last day of the transfer window, The Sun suddenly broke some explosive news.

Chelsea and Manchester United had simultaneously made offers for Benfica’s Brazilian centre-back, David Luiz.

The Sun reported that yesterday afternoon, Chelsea had suddenly submitted a twenty million pound sterling offer to Benfica.

But Benfica rejected it.

What was surprising was that after Chelsea’s rejection, Manchester United quickly followed up with a new offer, a hefty twenty-five million pounds sterling.

The fact that two Premier League giants were vying for a centre-back from the Primeira Liga immediately drew intense attention from the entire European football world.

Everyone knew that trying to sign players during the winter window meant you were going to get fleeced.

Let alone in a bidding war like this.

But The Sun’s analysis suggested that Manchester United and Chelsea had been forced into this position.

The two teams were currently 5th and 6th in the Premier League. Chelsea, in particular, had already missed out on Champions League qualification before, suffering huge financial losses each year.

And Manchester United, last season’s Champions League winners, could miss out this season?

Such a situation could probably only happen in the Premier League.

Therefore, the winter window was the last chance for both teams to strengthen their squads.

Manchester United had previously signed a backup goalkeeper, Lindegaard, from Norway, while Chelsea had been inactive.

Now, both giants were making a move for David Luiz, which showed the Brazilian centre-back’s market value.

What was even more exciting was that it had been a long time since Manchester United had made such a big-money signing.

By the afternoon of the 30th, Chelsea submitted a second offer, raising it directly to thirty million pounds sterling.

In the current sluggish transfer market, it was rare to see such a high price offered for a centre-back.

But that very evening, Manchester United came back with yet another bid: thirty-five million pounds sterling.

The Sun revealed that David Luiz was a player hand-picked by Ferguson, a crucial piece in Manchester United’s rebuilding efforts, so Ferguson was determined to get him!

Benfica was clearly still waiting for Chelsea to increase their offer, so they hadn’t accepted Manchester United’s bid.

But from around 8 PM onwards, until the morning of the 31st when the transfer market was about to close, Chelsea did not submit a new offer. It wasn’t until around noon that the Blues announced they were pulling out.

Manchester United’s CEO, David Gill, personally flew to Lisbon, Portugal, to finalize the deal with Benfica, and also met with David Luiz and his agent to officially complete negotiations on personal terms.

That evening, Benfica and Manchester United simultaneously submitted the transfer application.

David Luiz moved from Primeira Liga’s Benfica to the Premier League’s Manchester United for a sky-high price of thirty-five million pounds sterling.

The winter marquee signing!

This transfer caused a huge stir during the winter window.

You have to remember, this winter, across the entire European transfer market, there were only five transfers exceeding ten million euros.

Gustavo moved from Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich for a fee of seventeen million euros.

Centre-back Ranocchia moved from Genoa to Inter Milan for 18.5 million euros.

There was also Sampdoria’s centre-forward Pazzini, who joined Inter Milan for nineteen million euros.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent transferred to Aston Villa for twenty-four million pounds sterling.

And now, the winter transfer record signing, David Luiz, pushed the fee to over forty million euros.

…

Yang Cheng received the news on the 30th, and by noon on the 31st, he heard the confirmation that Manchester United had signed David Luiz. The first thing that came to his mind was Ferguson’s words.

I won’t retire until I’ve won another trophy!

David Luiz was born in April 1987, so he would only be 24 at the end of this season, right in his prime.

“That’s a really good piece of business!” Yang Cheng praised with a smile.

He had also been keeping an eye on David Luiz for a long time.

But this kind of top-tier player was good in every aspect, except that he was too expensive!

However, Bayswater Chinese had Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Vincent Kompany, so they didn’t have a pressing need for David Luiz.

“What I’m most concerned about now is the Alves transfer. Will it happen?” Yang Cheng said, full of anticipation.

Yes, that Alves from Barça.

Daniel Alves transferred to Barça in 2008 on a four-year contract.

That meant it would expire in 2012.

By convention, clubs usually wouldn’t wait until the summer of 2011 to renew, as that would put them in a passive position.

So, Barça had started renewal negotiations as early as 2010.

But the two sides had yet to reach an agreement, mainly due to personal terms.

And recently, there were rumors that Manchester City had gotten involved, willing to offer Alves a salary contract of eight million pounds sterling per year, which worked out to be around 160,000 pounds sterling per week.

That converted to roughly ten million euros per year, almost catching up to Messi.

But for now, Barça was still unwilling to listen to any offers from other clubs and also refused to allow any team to make official contact with Alves.

However, The Sun revealed that clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal were closely monitoring Alves’s contract negotiations. If the talks broke down, the Brazilian right-back might very well move to the Premier League.

“From the looks of it now, there’s no way Barça can meet Alves’ salary demands,” Brian Kidd said pessimistically about the contract renewal.

After hearing this, Yang Cheng just smiled slightly at Brian Kidd, shook his head, and said nothing.

Brian Kidd was still not savvy enough.

There were so many twists and turns involved.

But before many things happened, it was hard to say anything concrete.

Right now, Barça’s revenue was only third in the world of football, but their wage bill was the highest globally.

Not just in football, but among all sports clubs.

And Real Madrid was ranked second.

The strength of La Liga’s big two was precisely built on their enormous wage expenditure.

But when dealing with player salaries, Real Madrid and Barça often preferred to talk about post-tax figures.

One reason was the Beckham Law in La Liga.

Another point was that, as one of the PIIGS nations, Spain had huge tax loopholes. Clubs could hire powerful law and accounting firms to reduce players’ personal income tax through so-called legitimate tax avoidance.

As long as the tax authorities didn’t investigate, there were naturally no problems.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, the Spanish tax authorities later started investigating, and they caught someone every time, forcing them all to pay back taxes.

Including C. Ronaldo and Messi.

Of course, similar situations also existed in the Premier League, just to a different degree.

If even David Luiz could transfer to Manchester United, Yang Cheng wasn’t sure if Dani Alves would still renew with Barça.

Another transfer was Southampton’s young talent, Oxlade-Chamberlain.

This youngster had successfully attracted the interest of many famous managers, including Ferguson, Wenger, and Guus Hiddink.

The media even described him as the next C. Ronaldo.

Coming from the Saints’ academy, why not the next Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott?

Because at just 17 years old, he had successively broken sprint records that Walcott had held for years.

Moreover, this player was very strong physically and could play on the wing as well as in the center.

All British media believed that Oxlade-Chamberlain would surpass Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, with talent on par with C. Ronaldo.

In Manchester United’s FA Cup match against Southampton, Oxlade-Chamberlain performed brilliantly, winning over Ferguson.

In addition, the widely circulated rumor in the British media about the Qatari consortium wanting to acquire Manchester United for two billion pounds sterling didn’t bother Yang Cheng.

The news itself was true; the Qataris had indeed raised their offer, but Britain couldn’t stomach such a huge sum!

…

On the evening of February 2nd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 25, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester City.

Just three minutes into the match, Manchester City won the ball back in their own half. Yaya Touré initiated a swift counter-attack.

David Silva shook off Modrić and played a brilliant through ball.

Kaká broke into the penalty area, came to a sudden stop, evading Thiago Silva, and took a shot that deflected off the intercepting Pepe and changed direction, finding its way into Bayswater Chinese’s goal. Everyone knew then that this match might turn into a goal-fest!

The home team, Bayswater Chinese, were actually trailing right from the start!

At a time like this, how could they not go on the offensive?

Yang Cheng’s team quickly launched a fierce onslaught.

Manchester City, on the other hand, continued to sit deep and counter-attack.

After their lucky opening goal, Ancelotti’s team defended with even more resolve.

They knew all too well how fearsome Bayswater Chinese were at home!

Bayswater Chinese began to create chance after chance.

The most threatening was Gareth Bale’s direct free-kick in the 9th minute, which came agonizingly close to beating Joe Hart’s goal.

Then, in the 16th minute, Kyle Walker used his speed on the right flank to power past Leighton Baines before delivering a cross from the byline to the front of the goal.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, getting ahead of Lúcio to flick a header back towards the right side of the goalmouth.

But at the crucial moment, Gareth Barry tracked back in time and cleared the ball.

The clearance didn’t go far and landed on the edge of the box.

Robert Lewandowski dropped back, shielded the ball from Pirlo with his body, brought it down, turned, and unleashed a cannonball shot.

The ball rocketed into Joe Hart’s goal at incredible speed!

A long shot from a full eighteen meters out!

One-one!

Just seven minutes later, Micah Richards fouled Gareth Bale, giving Bayswater Chinese a free-kick on the left side of the attack.

Toni Kroos took it, delivering a perfectly placed ball. Pepe served as a decoy at the front post, while Thiago Silva made a late run from behind to head the ball into the net.

Two-one!

The comeback was complete!

All the fans in the stadium rose to their feet, cheering.

Manchester City also quickly launched an attack.

In the 29th minute, David Silva won the ball back with a tackle and passed it to Gareth Barry.

After a series of passes from Manchester City, Ibrahimović received the ball near the penalty spot, took a touch, turned, and shot.

The ball went just wide.

Later, Kaká also delivered a wonderful pass. Ibrahimović used his body to hold off Thiago Silva in front of goal, broke into the box, and shot, but Courtois blocked it out for a corner.

Manchester City’s corner kick was cleared out of the box, but in the ensuing scramble for the ball, Kyle Walker committed a foul in the central area outside the box, giving the opposition an attacking free-kick.

Leighton Baines sent in a free-kick from the left. Inside the box, Lúcio rose above everyone else and headed the ball into the net, successfully equalizing.

Two-two!

In the end, the two sides went into halftime on level terms at 2-2.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese once again went on an all-out attack.

In the 51st minute, a series of one-twos on the left flank saw Gareth Bale power past Micah Richards and cross from the byline to the near post.

Under close marking from Lúcio, Robert Lewandowski opted for a flick-on, nudging the ball towards the right side of the goal, but the timely intervention of Jérôme Boateng saw him head it away.

But he didn’t get a clean connection; the ball went high but not far.

Theo Walcott rushed in and volleyed the ball, sending it into Joe Hart’s goal once again.

Three-two!

Bayswater Chinese had retaken the lead!

As the outside world predicted, the match had turned into an open, end-to-end game.

But in the 68th minute, after Manchester City won the ball near the halfway line, David Silva launched a beautiful counter-attack.

Kaká received the ball outside the arc, and with a deft touch, tried to chip it into the box for Ibrahimović.

But the ball struck Pepe’s arm.

Manchester City players protested in unison, claiming it was a penalty.

But the Bayswater Chinese players argued it was an unintentional handball.

The referee ultimately awarded a penalty and a yellow card.

Intentional or not, the arm was slightly extended and did change the trajectory of the ball.

Ibrahimović faced Courtois, took a calm run-up, and converted, sending the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Three-three!

But while Manchester City were still ecstatic about getting a penalty, just nine minutes later, Gareth Bale received a through ball from Toni Kroos on the left, shook off Micah Richards, and drove into the box, where he was brought down by Lúcio. The referee pointed to the spot again.

The Welshman chose to take the penalty himself, calmly dispatching it into the top left corner.

Four-three!

But just three minutes later, Yaya Touré drove forward with the ball to the edge of the box. Under close pressure from Nemanja Matić, he managed to chip a pass forward.

Courtois decisively came off his line and, getting to the ball before Ibrahimović, punched it clear with both fists.

But the two collided heavily and both fell to the ground.

Outside the box, Kaká collected the ball and hit a first-time shot.

The football sailed over the heads of everyone in the box and dropped towards the unguarded goal.

Although Thiago Silva was on the goal line, he couldn’t use his hands and had almost no chance of reaching the ball.

Four-four!

Yang Cheng shook his head on the sidelines.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded fourteen goals, and in this single match, they had let in four.

Only ten minutes of the match remained.

Yang Cheng was forced to use his last substitution.

Eden Hazard came on for Kyle Walker.

Taking off a defender for an attacker.

Yang Cheng’s intentions couldn’t be clearer.

Chapter 219: The Greatest Comeback in Premier League History! Gareth Bale Takes Flight at the Bernabéu

“See, I was right, wasn’t I, Bruno!”

Seeing Eden Hazard on the touchline preparing to come on as a substitute, Ancelotti turned to his coaching staff in front of the away team’s dugout, spread his hands, and looked resigned.

He had anticipated this, but there was nothing he could do.

This was Yang Cheng’s overt scheme.

“That kid has a lot of players at his disposal and a rich variety of tactics. He’ll always start by using one system to suppress and wear down the opponent. If it works, great. If not, he’ll just switch to another.”

At this, Ancelotti pointed towards Hazard.

“For the past eighty minutes or so, it’s been like he was fighting a war of attrition with us. Now, he’s bringing out the ace he had hidden up his sleeve.”

Bruno Demichelis shook his head with a wry smile.

This was what made the Bayswater Chinese so difficult to handle.

In the past, people had already found them troublesome, but their players were generally still very young back then.

But now, the quality of their players was constantly improving.

Never mind starters like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Even a player like Hazard would likely be a starter for any other team in the Premier League.

Rumors circulated that Yang Cheng had a watchlist containing all the famous and undiscovered football prodigies in the world.

But no one had ever seen this list.

And no one knew who exactly was on it.

The only thing that was certain was that Yang Cheng did indeed have his own methodology for unearthing young players.

It had reached a point where prestigious sports institutions like Loughborough University and the Cologne Sport University were even offering courses to study Yang Cheng’s methodology, trying to reverse-engineer a formula and theory from his results.

And, as it turned out, it was quite popular in European football.

Ancelotti shook his head, helpless. He could only walk to the touchline and remind his midfielders and defenders to be wary of Hazard picking up the ball and dribbling.

This “Belgian Messi” was genuinely a lot like Messi!

…

Every player has their own way of playing football.

It’s a style that develops naturally over the years, a way of playing that suits their physical condition.

For example, some people like to take a touch to control the ball, observe their opponent, and then decide their next move.

Others don’t. They’ve already decided their passing route before they even receive the ball.

Some like to dribble, while for others the ball is like a hot potato.

There are all sorts of different styles.

Even among attacking players, the way they receive the ball and attack is very different.

Gareth Bale likes to observe his opponents.

As an attacker, this was a strength he learned from Henry.

Henry also loved to rampage down the left wing, and every time he got the ball, he would watch his opponent and then make his next move based on their actions, thereby attacking them.

Like Henry, Gareth Bale wasn’t afraid of physical contact.

The Welshman possessed outstanding physical attributes, which meant that when facing a full-back, or even a centre-back, he could at least hold his own, then use his speed to overwhelm his opponent.

Theo Walcott was different. He disliked physical contact; the moment there was contact, he would go down.

This was related to his seemingly frail physique.

Di María loved to take players on, but he didn’t like to shoot.

In his own words, he just loved the feeling of beating an opponent with a rhythmic shift of balance while on the ball.

But Eden Hazard was different from them all.

He also observed his opponents, but he never cared about them.

He never based his actions on his opponent’s movements.

He liked to go by feel.

After arriving at the Bayswater Chinese, Brian Kidd told him that this was very unreliable for a top-tier player.

Because “feeling” was something that no one knew when it would just disappear.

The coaches at the Bayswater Chinese still hoped to help him find his own methodology, or pattern, for playing football.

Just like when Messi first debuted, he also played by feel, dribbling however he pleased.

But gradually, he changed.

This change wasn’t about completely abandoning his past, but about trying to find a stable “game feeling.”

Just as Robben likes to cut inside from the right, he always tries to get the ball in situations where he has that opportunity.

Di María also played on the right wing and had previously scored a few magnificent wonder goals.

But he had tried many times since and could never rediscover that silky-smooth feeling of cutting in from the right and firing a power shot with his left foot.

A professional player should be able to master that feeling to deliver consistently high-level performances.

This was difficult for Hazard.

Because ever since he was a child, he had always played by feel.

Everyone who had seen him play said he possessed astonishing talent and that his instincts were sharper than others.

Especially when he received the ball.

He was completely different from his other teammates.

From Gareth Bale and Di María to Theo Walcott, they all liked to run into space.

But Hazard liked to have defenders on him, even marking him tightly.

It was a very strange feeling, one that couldn’t be described in words.

Before receiving the ball, as long as his body could make contact with the defender—whether it was his back leaning against them, his outstretched hand touching them, his shoulder brushing against theirs, or something else.

Basically, as long as he could touch the defender, he could sense their position.

At that moment, his body would have an almost instinctive feeling, telling him what to do next.

Just like in the 87th minute of this match at Wembley Stadium.

The Bayswater Chinese passed the ball back to their midfield, thirty meters out, to reorganize their attack.

Manchester City’s defensive line quickly regrouped and began to push forward.

Hazard and the front three also started to drop back.

The Belgian had come on to play in the number 10 role, but he was effectively a free roamer.

He had a great deal of freedom to move around the pitch.

But he liked to operate on Gareth Barry’s side.

Pirlo always positioned himself relatively deep.

After being passed around, the ball came to the feet of Modrić.

After receiving the ball in the right half of the center circle in Manchester City’s half, the Croatian began to dribble forward.

Hazard knew very well that this was for him.

He first reached a hand back, his left palm touching Gareth Barry’s warm, panting chest.

But Gareth Barry immediately slapped his hand away.

We’re both men, what’s with the touching?

Immediately after, Hazard sensed warmth approaching him.

It was the feeling of being closed down.

So, as Modrić was carrying the ball, he suddenly dropped back and called for it.

First step, Modrić read his mind and played the pass.

Second step, Gareth Barry, who had been watching him the whole time, immediately pressed high to challenge him.

By the third step, the ball arrived.

Hazard stepped out with his left foot, giving the impression he wanted to use his right foot to knock the ball to his left.

Anyone who had studied him knew that his right foot was his strongest.

Sure enough, Gareth Barry fell for it.

As he closed in, the England midfielder was wary of Hazard turning to his left.

But unexpectedly, after planting his left foot, Hazard didn’t touch the ball. Instead, he let it roll between his legs, and from behind his left leg, he used the inside of his right foot to flick the ball sideways.

The ball instantly slipped between Hazard and Gareth Barry, towards their right front.

After this sudden pause, Hazard smoothly turned his body and moved to the right, instantly shaking off the tightly marking Gareth Barry.

By the time the English midfielder reacted, stopped abruptly, and turned to chase, the Belgian had already caught up to the ball and was continuing his forward run.

He had been beaten!

Cleanly!

The entire process didn’t show the slightest hint of thought.

Hazard didn’t even know why he did it.

But he was certain it would beat his opponent.

It was an instinct he had developed from years and years of playing football.

After beating Gareth Barry, Hazard continued to dribble forward, instantly charging towards the edge of the arc of the penalty area.

No one could have anticipated that Gareth Barry would be beaten so cleanly and so suddenly.

Pirlo immediately rushed over to provide cover, but Hazard’s dribbling pace had picked up. With a sudden stop followed by another burst of acceleration, he used the simplest and most practical change of pace to beat Pirlo as well.

Lúcio immediately charged out of the penalty area, trying to stop Hazard.

But the Belgian reacted even faster, delivering a diagonal pass.

The ball traveled diagonally from the arc to the bottom left of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale could be seen making a forward run at top speed, shaking off right-back Richards, before chipping the ball with his left foot towards the center of goal.

Lewandowski ducked his head, sending a diving header to direct Gareth Bale’s pass into the right side of the goal.

Joe Hart had just shifted his weight to the left side of his goal and was completely unable to stop the ball.

5-4!

Lewandowski was sprawled inside Manchester City’s six-yard box, excitedly pounding the turf.

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in a thunderous roar!

Over ninety thousand fans were screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs!

“What a goal!”

“A fantastic piece of tactical combination play from the Bayswater Chinese!”

“The substitute, Hazard, has once again performed a miracle!”

“This magical youngster from Belgium always seems to play the role of a surprise player when he comes off the bench.”

“At crucial moments, his mesmerizing footwork always helps the team break the deadlock.”

“We saw Manchester City’s defense start to fall into disarray the moment he controlled the ball and broke away from Gareth Barry.”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay of that dribble. It’s simply beautiful, such delicate footwork.”

“Tonight at Wembley Stadium, we have witnessed a goal fest.”

“This summit clash between the two strongest teams in the Premier League has produced an astonishing 5-4 scoreline.”

“And who would have thought that this goal-filled spectacle was sparked by a chance incident just three minutes into the game.”

“I doubt even Yang Cheng and Ancelotti expected this.”

“But that’s the beauty of football!”

…

The Bayswater Chinese’s 5-4 comeback victory at home against Manchester City thrilled fans around the world.

They could never have imagined that two Premier League powerhouses would engage in such a stunning end-to-end game.

It could be said that neither team held anything back in this match.

As The Times put it, “An unexpected goal conceded three minutes into the game completely opened up the match!”

The two strongest teams in the Premier League put on a spectacular attacking display, captivating fans worldwide.

But what left the deepest impression was Hazard’s performance after coming off the bench.

He dribbled past Gareth Barry as if he were a wooden post.

What was even more shocking was how he subsequently used a simple change of pace to get past Pirlo.

This Belgian youngster had put on a brilliant performance as a substitute on more than one occasion.

According to The Guardian’s assessment, “The Premier League’s ‘Messi’ has once again proven his quality and tactical value!”

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng also specifically praised Hazard, stating that he could play in any position across the front line, was very versatile, and had an incredible magic in his feet.

“He is genuinely a different class of player.”

Yang Cheng said that Hazard was becoming a crucial member of the team.

“He is constantly revealing his extraordinary talent, but there is still a great deal of potential that has yet to be untapped.”

After defeating Manchester City, the Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten in twenty-five rounds.

This was a surprise to everyone.

They were the only unbeaten team in the top five major leagues so far this season!

Yang Cheng was very proud of this and gave all the credit to his players.

And this 5-4 goal fest had fans all over the world cheering with delight.

Although the Premier League showcased a vibrant display of different styles, seeing such a spectacular contest was indeed rare.

The Bayswater Chinese had always been the team with the most beautiful and stylish football in the Premier League, and this season they had already produced two brilliant clashes: a 9-1 victory and this 5-4 thriller.

This further solidified the Bayswater Chinese’s position in the hearts of football fans worldwide.

Meanwhile, the results of the other Premier League matches this round were also in.

Arsenal, after conceding first at home, scored two goals in six minutes through Andrei Arshavin and Koscielny to complete a 2-1 comeback against Everton, narrowly securing three points.

Chelsea, trailing after just three minutes, came from behind to win 4-2 away against Sunderland.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

David Luiz had just arrived but wasn’t even included in the matchday squad for this game.

Ferguson stated publicly that the Brazilian centre-back would significantly improve the standard of Manchester United’s defense.

Liverpool defeated Stoke City 2-0 at home.

After twenty-five rounds, the Bayswater Chinese were top of the Premier League table with seventy-one points.

Manchester City were second with sixty points.

The gap between the two teams had quickly widened to eleven points.

There was basically no suspense left in the Premier League title race.

Further down were Arsenal with fifty-seven points, Liverpool with fifty-five points, Manchester United with forty-eight points, and Chelsea with forty-four points.

As February began, almost everyone believed that the biggest question remaining in the Premier League this season was whether Manchester United could stage a comeback and fight their way back into the top four.

Ferguson was full of confidence, especially after signing David Luiz.

But a seven-point gap made everyone a little worried for The Red Devils.

However, the consequences of their all-out battle with Manchester City soon became apparent.

…

Three days later, Premier League Matchweek 26.

The Bayswater Chinese suffered a surprising 0-1 defeat away to West Ham United.

This was the first loss of the season for Yang Cheng’s team!

Meanwhile, Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at home.

Manchester United, after taking the lead away from home, lost 2-1 to Wolves.

David Luiz made his starting debut for Manchester United, partnering Vidić at centre-back, but their coordination lacked chemistry.

Liverpool defeated Chelsea 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Meireles.

The Blues’ record in clashes between top teams this season was absolutely abysmal.

But the most dramatic match belonged to Arsenal.

The Gunners, playing away at Newcastle, scored in under a minute, with further goals in the third and tenth minutes.

By the twenty-sixth minute of the first half, they were already four goals ahead.

Just when everyone thought The Gunners were on an irresistible momentum towards a big away win, a red card for Diaby completely shattered their bright prospects.

Newcastle were subsequently awarded two penalties and, in the 87th minute, successfully leveled the score.

4-4!

Just when everyone thought the match was likely to end, in the 91st minute, a volley from Newcastle midfielder Nolan once again breached the goal guarded by Lloris.

5-4!

A huge comeback!!

This was an absolutely magical comeback!

Arsenal launched a frantic counter-attack, and in the 94th minute, in the final moments of stoppage time, Fàbregas delivered a brilliant pass for van Persie, who scored with a chip shot.

But the head referee signaled that the Dutch striker was offside, and the goal was disallowed.

Arsenal’s players protested furiously, especially the youngster Wilshere, who was even shown a yellow card by the referee.

In the end, The Gunners lost 4-5 away to Newcastle.

The Magpies completed a stunning comeback at their home ground!

After conceding four goals, they incredibly turned it around to beat Arsenal with five!

The moment the final whistle blew, head coach Alan Pardew ran madly onto the pitch, cheering wildly at the Magpies fans in the stands, looking completely delirious!

In contrast, everyone at Arsenal looked utterly dejected.

As high-spirited as they were in the first half, they were equally wretched in the second.

In the post-match press conference, Wenger publicly questioned the awarding of the two penalties.

But the media still directed their criticism at Arsenal.

“Possessed by the spirit of Milan ’05!”

“A humiliation not seen in a hundred years in the Premier League!”

“A battle of lifelong humiliation for Wenger!”

All sorts of headlines were aimed directly at Arsenal and Wenger, all believing that this match was a devastating blow to The Gunners’ morale and the players’ confidence.

“With a performance like this, Wenger’s team will never win a championship!”

The Daily Telegraph sarcastically commented: “A dazzling and magical comeback, the Newcastle supporters gave Arsenal a rapturous ovation as they left!”

The Sun declared, “This is the greatest comeback in Premier League history!”

And all the blame was pointed directly at Wenger.

Even with a red card, with a four-goal lead, if Arsenal had played a bit more conservatively, controlled the game slightly, they would never have been beaten like this by Newcastle.

All the goals came from fast counter-attacks.

With a 4-0 lead and a man sent off, why did Wenger insist on sticking to his style of play?

Was this persistence?

No, it was stupidity!

And in Matchweek 26, the ten Premier League games once again produced forty-four goals!

This led to exclamations of surprise from mainstream European media.

The style of football in the Premier League was becoming more and more open, more and more attacking.

…

A week later, Premier League Matchweek 27.

With an away game at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, against Real Madrid the following Wednesday, Yang Cheng implemented some squad rotation for this match.

In their home game against Stoke City, the team dominated the entire match.

But it wasn’t until the 91st minute that they secured a narrow 1-0 victory, thanks to a goal from Giroud.

Manchester United, playing at home, defeated Manchester City 2-1 with goals from Nani and Rooney.

David Silva scored the lone goal for The Blue Moons.

The biggest change for Ferguson’s team was the return of O’Shea, with David Luiz continuing to partner Vidić.

In midfield, De Rossi and Carrick formed a double pivot, with Scholes playing as the number 10 in front of them.

Manchester United’s formation was something like a 4-2-3-1, but also a bit like a 4-3-3.

After the match, Ferguson stated that Manchester United was ready to fight its way back into the Premier League’s top four!

Arsenal, after the heavy blow a week prior, quickly emerged from the shadows.

This round, they defeated Wolves 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from van Persie.

Liverpool also secured a valuable three points, beating Wigan Athletic 2-1 at home.

Only Chelsea faltered, drawing 0-0 away at Fulham.

…

On the evening of February 15th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage, the Bayswater Chinese faced Real Madrid away from home.

As Yang Cheng walked out of the players’ tunnel and stepped onto the Bernabéu pitch, he was “greeted” by a tidal wave of thunderous boos from the entire stadium, crashing down on him from all directions.

This made Mourinho, who was standing at the entrance of the tunnel, burst out laughing.

“A lot of people say I’m the most unpopular head coach in world football today, but I have a feeling they’re all wrong.”

“Apart from your own Bayswater Chinese fans, I doubt anyone likes you!”

“You’re the one who’s truly hated!”

Yang Cheng looked at the beaming Mourinho, who seemed as if he had already won by a goal before the match even started, and wasn’t fazed in the slightest.

The two first high-fived, then shared a warm embrace.

It had indeed been a while since they last met!

“Without a pain in the neck like you in the Premier League, things have gotten a lot duller. Just look at how pathetic Chelsea have been this season.”

Yang Cheng’s words brought a complex expression to Mourinho’s face.

He was both happy and sad about Chelsea’s performance this season.

Happy, because it proved his own ability.

Since he left Chelsea, The Blues’ results had declined day by day, and no other head coach had been able to replicate the glory he had brought to the club.

Sad, because the team he had painstakingly built was now on the verge of falling apart.

“I’ve already prepared myself to fight my way back to Wembley Stadium. Tonight, I’m going to avenge Chelsea!” Mourinho said with a laugh.

This season’s Champions League final was being held at Wembley Stadium in London.

Yang Cheng and his team were also ambitious, wanting to win this title!

“You’ll have to get past us first, but from the looks of it, you’re not strong enough yet!” Yang Cheng said with great confidence.

Mourinho smiled. “Whether we’re strong enough or not, we’ll see on the pitch!”

The two shook hands again before returning to their respective dugouts.

By this time, the players from both teams were already in position on the pitch.

The home side, Real Madrid, set up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Coentrão, Ramos, Carvalho, and Maicon;

Midfield: Lassana Diarra, Xabi Alonso, and Sami Khedira;

Forwards: C. Ronaldo, Džeko, and the dead-eyed Mesut Özil.

This was clearly the strongest lineup Mourinho could field at this stage.

The Bayswater Chinese also sent out their strongest side.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

Theo Walcott had picked up a minor injury and hadn’t traveled with the team to Spain.

Both teams could be described as star-studded, packed with world-class players.

…

When the German head referee, Wolfgang Stark, blew the whistle to start the match, the visiting Bayswater Chinese immediately launched an opening blitz.

Real Madrid were clearly prepared for this, and they focused on keeping their defense solid at the start.

But one thing was clear: Mourinho’s team was playing very aggressively.

They used their hands and feet whenever they could.

Basically, if there was an opportunity and they wouldn’t get booked, they would make sure a Bayswater Chinese player ended up on the ground.

This led to frequent scenes of players being thrown into disarray right from the kick-off.

But in the third minute, a sudden long shot from Toni Kroos from twenty-five meters out forced Casillas into a magnificent save.

The ball grazed the right post and went out for a byline.

A goal kick for Real Madrid.

“That was a very powerful and well-placed shot.”

“From the Bayswater Chinese’s German midfielder, Toni Kroos.”

“He was also chosen by the British media as the best signing of the season in the Premier League!”

However, Real Madrid quickly returned the favor.

In the fifth minute, Džeko received the ball near the arc of the penalty area and laid it off for C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese star feinted past Matić upon receiving the ball and then suddenly unleashed a thunderous shot from distance.

But the shot flew high over the bar.

This reflected Real Madrid’s determination in this match.

As Mourinho had said before the game, at the Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid would never resign themselves to defeat.

…

The match was a fast-paced, end-to-end game right from the start.

Playing the first leg away, the Bayswater Chinese’s intention at the Bernabéu was very clear: they wanted to secure an away goal.

Or even a win!

The home team, Real Madrid, lined up with three holding midfielders, clearly intending to stabilize their defense first.

But Real Madrid’s transition from defense to attack was very fast, and their counter-attacks were extremely decisive.

This was especially true of their front three stars.

After two seasons of playing together, Džeko and C. Ronaldo clearly had a more rational division of labor.

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian centre-forward was responsible for link-up play and holding up the ball, while C. Ronaldo capitalized on his speed advantage.

This approach sacrificed some of Džeko’s attacking threat but maximized his tactical role.

It also played to C. Ronaldo’s strengths.

That was why this season in La Liga, the two superstars, C. Ronaldo and Messi, were both scoring goals for fun, looking unstoppable.

The dead-eyed Mesut Özil was responsible for supporting them from behind, playing the final ball.

Mourinho’s tactics were all about moving the ball quickly through midfield. Once possession was won, they passed it forward, looking for opportunities to counter-attack into the space behind the defense, or else they would find Džeko.

This was exactly the same as his approach at Chelsea.

But Real Madrid’s counter-attacks were faster, more precise, and more efficient than Chelsea’s.

After all, the quality of their players was a whole level higher!

However, once the match truly got underway, the Real Madrid players and the Bernabéu fans discovered that under the Bayswater Chinese’s intense pressing, they actually found it very difficult to launch any threatening counter-attacks.

A typical example occurred in the fifteenth minute, during a quick Real Madrid counter.

Mesut Özil received the ball on the right side of the attack but failed to release it in time to C. Ronaldo, who had run into space. Matić intercepted the passing lane directly.

This caused the Portuguese star to walk back, raising his hands at his teammate in complaint, repeatedly pointing to where he had just made his run, as if to say, “You should have passed it earlier.”

The dead-eyed Özil, in turn, pointed at Toni Kroos, indicating that he had been hampered by Kroos initially.

By the time he adjusted, Matić had already closed him down.

“The Bayswater Chinese are sticking to their most familiar and effective tactic of an opening blitz.”

“Since the start of the match, they have continuously created shooting opportunities, with four shots in the first ten minutes.”

“In the first fifteen minutes, their possession rate reached an astonishing seventy-three percent, and they have achieved overwhelming dominance on the pitch, frequently orchestrating attacks.”

“Real Madrid’s counter-attacks, on the other hand, have carried little real threat, resulting in only one shot—C. Ronaldo’s long shot in the fifth minute. For the rest of the time, they have struggled to get any chances.”

…

After a period of intense attack without scoring, the Bayswater Chinese slightly eased their offensive pressure.

This relieved a lot of the pressure on Real Madrid.

But Real Madrid still didn’t dare to be complacent.

In the eighteenth minute, Di María received the ball on the right wing, facing the defending Coentrão.

The Argentine performed a series of step-overs, his body constantly feinting.

As Coentrão lunged in to tackle, Di María suddenly burst forward, skillfully controlling the ball with his left foot and heading straight for the byline.

Just as it looked like Di María was about to get past him, Coentrão pulled him down from behind.

The Argentinian lost his balance completely and fell to the ground on the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area.

This gave the Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

Mourinho looked particularly nervous.

Before the match, he had repeatedly warned everyone to minimize fouls outside the penalty area.

Do not give the Bayswater Chinese opportunities from attacking free-kicks!

Had they not heard of the Bayswater Chinese’s reputation?

“Stay sharp, mark your men tightly!” Mourinho, unable to blame his compatriot at this point, shouted loudly from the sideline.

The Real Madrid fans in the stadium were cheering continuously, encouraging the players on the field.

The game had been incredibly tense and intense so far.

The Bayswater Chinese’s reputation and strength were so formidable that everyone at Real Madrid was on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.

But this free kick, taken by Modrić, wasn’t directly converted into a goal.

Pepe’s header went just wide.

This still sent a cold shiver down the spines of everyone associated with Real Madrid.

Mourinho quickly walked to the sideline and called over Xabi Alonso, signaling him to relay to the players that they needed to reduce fouls around the penalty area and avoid giving away free kicks.

Coentrão raised his left hand high, indicating he had received the message.

But in that instance just now, he really didn’t have many better options.

If he had let Di María get past, even though he was a left-footed player, the Argentine’s Rabona was no joke.

And over the past two or three years, he had used his right foot to cross plenty of times.

Inside the box, Real Madrid’s two centre-backs were Carvalho and Ramos, neither of whom were particularly tall.

The two taller centre-backs, Raúl Albiol and Bruno Alves, were not in the starting lineup.

That was why Coentrão had chosen to commit the foul.

…

“The Bayswater Chinese are getting stronger every year. They are now one of the strongest teams in European football!”

“They’re even on par with Barça!”

In the chairman’s box at the Bernabéu Stadium, Zidane watched the match on the pitch and lamented.

“More than that, I actually think they might be stronger than Barça,” Valdano said.

This stunned Florentino Pérez, Zidane, and José Ángel Sánchez.

Wasn’t that a bit of an overstatement?

“Barça’s defense is actually quite fragile. To maintain their possession-based system, they haven’t built a very solid defensive structure. But the Bayswater Chinese are clearly different; they are much more balanced in attack and defense.”

“Especially since the arrival of Toni Kroos, their attacking options have become so much more varied.”

Zidane agreed with this assessment.

“The Bayswater Chinese and Barça are like two different systems. One is incredibly fast, good at passing and moving combinations and attacking. The other likes to control possession, creating chances through intricate passing combinations, and they also have Messi.”

“Honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing the Bayswater Chinese play against Barça!”

As soon as Zidane finished speaking, the expression on Florentino Pérez’s face, who was sitting next to him, soured. He coughed heavily twice, reminding his two confidants.

You’re both senior executives at Real Madrid now, not fans!

Don’t forget which side you’re on just because you’re discussing football.

It’s fine to say these things to me, but if the media or the fans hear you, I won’t be able to protect you.

Zidane and Valdano both looked a little awkward.

Just then, Di María got the ball on the right wing again. After shaking off Coentrão, he tried to cut inside and break into Real Madrid’s penalty area.

But at the crucial moment, Xabi Alonso made a timely sliding tackle to dispossess him.

The entire Bernabéu Stadium gave Xabi Alonso a warm round of applause.

“It’s a bit strange. Di María on the right wing is very active, but Gareth Bale on the left seems a bit subdued,” Zidane said with a frown.

Everyone else immediately noticed it too.

Gareth Bale should have a psychological advantage against Maicon on the right.

He shouldn’t be performing so poorly.

Could it be that Bale was not in good form tonight?

Florentino Pérez was also paying special attention to Gareth Bale.

The Welsh star had risen too quickly.

He was now already a top-tier European star.

He was even thinking, if he could sign Gareth Bale for Real Madrid and form the Devil’s Wings with C. Ronaldo, plus Džeko, then Real Madrid’s attack would simply take off!

So, after hearing Zidane’s words, he couldn’t help but focus his attention on Gareth Bale.

At that moment, Real Madrid was launching a quick counter-attack.

Gareth Bale tracked back to defend outside his own penalty area.

This level of tactical discipline made Florentino Pérez like him even more.

A star like this was born to play for Real Madrid!

…

Real Madrid’s counter-attack ended with a chipped pass from Mesut Özil on the right, aimed for C. Ronaldo at the far post. But Courtois decisively came off his line and, just before the Portuguese star could reach it, plucked the ball out of the air with both hands.

But the pass was very creative, so the knowledgeable Bernabéu fans still gave a warm round of applause.

While the applause was still ringing around the stadium, Courtois, holding the ball with both hands, quickly ran towards the edge of his penalty area.

Just as his body was about to cross the penalty area line, he forcefully threw the ball with both hands, launching it directly into the path of Gareth Bale on the left wing.

After a quick glance at the incoming ball, the Welshman accelerated without a second thought.

The midfielder Sami Khedira immediately sensed the danger, especially after seeing that Mesut Özil hadn’t tracked back in time. So he immediately stuck to the inside and chased back with all his might.

Gareth Bale caught up to the ball thrown by Courtois and strode forward, his speed increasing with every step.

The nightmare from last season at the Bernabéu was happening again!

The entire Bernabéu Stadium, with its more than seventy thousand Real Madrid fans, instantly went from applause and cheers to gasps filled with fear.

Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs.

“Stop him!”

Even Mourinho on the sideline was startled.

Because the Bayswater Chinese were attacking from right to left, Gareth Bale on the left wing was charging right past Mourinho’s line of sight.

This made the Portuguese coach’s face pale with shock.

“Damn it! The defensive line pushed up too high during that counter-attack!”

The Welshman was like a gust of wind, whistling past Mourinho.

But just at the crucial moment, as Gareth Bale was about to break into Real Madrid’s thirty-meter zone, Xabi Alonso appeared out of nowhere. With a fierce sliding tackle, he threw his entire body into Gareth Bale’s sprinting path.

The Welshman tried to flick the ball over Xabi Alonso, but Alonso had arrived too quickly and too suddenly. He couldn’t lift it over, and the ball went out of play.

The head referee signaled a throw-in for the Bayswater Chinese.

Xabi Alonso quickly earned a stadium-full of applause.

When Gareth Bale started that run, everyone was terrified!

The Welshman’s speed was simply horrifying!

Xabi Alonso slowly walked back towards the center, all the while shouting loudly at his teammates, boosting the team’s morale.

But before the Real Madrid players could react, Gareth Bale was already standing on the sideline. With both feet on the ground and hands gripping the ball above his head, he mustered all his strength and hurled the ball towards Real Madrid’s penalty area.

The nerves that had just begun to relax were instantly stretched taut again.

Amid a chorus of gasps from the crowd, Gareth Bale’s throw-in was launched into the field at high speed, heading straight for the penalty area.

But at this moment, Real Madrid had just recovered from a very dangerous defensive situation on a counter-attack. Their defense wasn’t even properly set when the ball was thrown into their penalty area.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward, charging from the arc of the penalty area into the box. To the left of the penalty spot, behind Carvalho, he jumped to chest the ball down. As he landed, he used his shoulder to shield the ball from Ramos and swung his left foot to shoot.

Casillas reacted very quickly, diving to his side.

But Lewandowski’s shot came too quickly, too suddenly.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper simply didn’t have time to react.

The ball hit the back of the net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“The 29th minute, the 29th minute of the first half!!”

“A quick counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Gareth Bale’s counter was stopped by Xabi Alonso’s tackle, which sent the ball out of play. But the Welshman took a quick throw-in to assist Robert Lewandowski, who scored with a left-footed shot inside the penalty area!”

“1-0!”

Amidst a sky full of boos, Lewandowski sprinted off the pitch.

Gareth Bale ran down the left touchline, and the two celebrated the goal excitedly near the corner flag.

The Real Madrid players were stunned for a moment, then immediately surrounded the head referee to protest, claiming the throw-in was taken improperly.

But the German head referee, Stark, clearly indicated that the goal was valid!

Even louder boos erupted from within the stadium.

“The Real Madrid players were too complacent.”

“Especially their defensive line.”

“They seem to have forgotten that when Gareth Bale was at the Southampton youth academy, he always played as a left-back. A powerful throw-in is a necessary skill for a full-back.”

“But after joining the Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale was converted into a left winger, so many people overlooked his origins as a left-back.”

“In any case, the Real Madrid players have paid the price for their complacency.”

“1-0!”

“The Bayswater Chinese score the opening goal in the 29th minute of the first half!”

“Although Gareth Bale’s long-distance sprint didn’t result in a goal, he immediately followed it up with a throw-in that directly assisted Robert Lewandowski’s score.”

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, look at the power in Gareth Bale’s arms, look at the accuracy of that throw-in. I have to say, he’s a throw-in expert whose talent was overshadowed by his attacking prowess!”

…

This sudden goal completely stunned Real Madrid.

It also dealt a major blow to the Galácticos’ morale.

The main issue wasn’t conceding the goal, but the manner in which they conceded it.

With their own counter-attacks failing to break the deadlock, to be scored on in such a way was just too frustrating!

Although Gareth Bale’s earlier long-distance sprint hadn’t translated into a direct threat, it had created the attack.

This greatly boosted the morale of the Bayswater Chinese.

But Real Madrid were not a pushover.

After restarting the game, the Galácticos immediately launched a wave of frenzied attacks.

For Real Madrid, they were a different team now and could absolutely not suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Bayswater Chinese like last season, especially not at the Bernabéu Stadium.

But just as the Real Madrid players were launching their attack, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball back just outside their own penalty area.

Marcelo feinted past Mesut Özil and passed the ball to Toni Kroos.

The German controlled the ball, turned, and sent a diagonal pass to the left wing in the attacking half.

Gareth Bale took off like a rocket, using his speed to leave Brazilian defender Maicon in his dust, and stormed forward, instantly breaking into Real Madrid’s half.

It was almost the same spot as before, but this time it was Carvalho who had dropped back instead of Xabi Alonso.

The Portuguese defender wanted to emulate the previous tackle with a slide of his own, to knock the ball out of play.

But unexpectedly, the same trick wouldn’t work on Gareth Bale twice.

The Welshman accelerated!

Just before Carvalho could make contact, he flicked the ball into the left side of Real Madrid’s penalty area, then swerved around Carvalho and sped up again to chase it.

Everyone in the entire stadium was dumbfounded!

That speed, that power—even as opponents, the Real Madrid fans could feel goosebumps rising on their skin!

It was absolutely mind-blowing!

Even the live commentator couldn’t help but exclaim, “Gareth Bale is flying…”

After catching up to the ball he had knocked ahead on the left side of the penalty area, the Welshman slowed down slightly. Waiting for Lewandowski in the center and Di María at the far post to catch up, he then curled a diagonal pass with his left foot.

Di María sprinted forward to meet the ball at the far post, heading it from close range into the right side of Real Madrid’s goal.

2-0!

Chapter 220: Lightning Attack! Defending the League Cup! Yang Cheng: I Really Wanted to Console You, José!

When the German head referee Wolfgang Stark blew the final whistle, the Bernabéu Stadium was completely drowned in the boos of the Real Madrid fans.

This was destined to be another controversial match!

Just like Mourinho himself.

The final score was 2-0.

Thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Di María, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid away from home.

But the controversy wasn’t about the goals, but about the yellow cards in the second half.

After establishing their lead in the first half, Bayswater Chinese played with more composure in the second.

Yang Cheng opted to let Real Madrid press forward, then hit them on the counter-attack.

In the 53rd minute, Modrić sent a through ball forward during a counter-attack. Just as Di María was about to go one-on-one with the keeper, Ramos committed a fierce foul, tackling the Argentinian to the ground.

Stark gave Ramos a yellow card.

Since he had already received two yellow cards in the group stage, Ramos would be suspended for one match in the second leg.

Subsequently, Nemanja Matić also received a yellow card while defending against C. Ronaldo.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first yellow card of the match.

But just four minutes later, Carvalho also got a yellow card for a challenge on Gareth Bale.

The Portuguese centre-back had also accumulated three yellow cards and would be suspended for the next round.

One had to admit, though, that Mourinho’s aggressive style of attack effectively disrupted Bayswater Chinese’s offense.

Once the initial counter-attack failed during a transition, Real Madrid’s defense would quickly fall into place.

However, Mourinho paid the price again in the 81st minute.

Xabi Alonso received a yellow card for pulling back Modrić.

The funniest part was that he had also accumulated three yellow cards and would be suspended.

The entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted in thunderous boos!

Over the course of the match, Real Madrid only lost by two goals, but they lost three key players for the second leg.

How were they supposed to play now?

The Real Madrid fans in the stands relentlessly attacked the away team’s players and the head referee, believing that his officiating at the Bernabéu was biased towards the visitors.

Otherwise, how could they explain giving the opponents only one yellow card, while dishing out five to Real Madrid?

Yang Cheng shook his head on the sidelines and said with a laugh to Brian Kidd, “You just wait. Knowing Mourinho’s usual antics, I guarantee the post-match press conference will be lively!”

Why did Real Madrid get so many cards in this match?

You really couldn’t blame Wolfgang Stark; in fact, the German head referee had already been lenient.

If he had been stricter, it wouldn’t have been just one yellow card in the first half.

Mourinho’s tactics for tonight’s game were inherently aggressive, with some rather physical challenges.

“If Stark had officiated a bit more strictly, Real Madrid probably would’ve had a player sent off right from the start,” Brian Kidd said, still feeling a bit indignant.

If that isn’t favoritism toward the home team, what is?

“You know how it is. Mourinho is cut from the same cloth as Ferguson. As soon as something goes against him, regardless of whether he’s right or wrong, he’ll just go on the offensive and claim the referee is biased. It’s a surefire tactic,” Yang Cheng said cheerfully.

Brian Kidd nodded with a smile.

Indeed, your enemy is the one who knows you best.

“But to have three players pick up suspensions from accumulated yellow cards in a single match is certainly rare,” Brian Kidd chuckled.

If anyone was to blame, it could only be Mourinho for playing too fiercely in the group stage.

The players had picked up too many cards.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Mourinho had played the same way in his first season managing Real Madrid in the Champions League, even getting Xabi Alonso and others to intentionally get booked.

In the end, their attempt at “card washing” failed; they were sent off with red cards instead.

Now, Mourinho hadn’t tried to ‘wash’ any cards, but the yellow cards his players had already accumulated were inevitably carried over to the knockout stage.

As Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were chatting and laughing, Mourinho walked over with a look of righteous indignation.

When the Portuguese saw Yang Cheng’s beaming face, he was instantly infuriated.

“I’m telling you, stop smiling, or I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist hitting you.”

Mourinho extended his hand as he spoke.

“Then I’ll just take a dive. The moment you touch me, I’ll fall to the ground and play dead,” Yang Cheng said, still grinning with a face that was just begging to be punched.

The two finally shook hands.

Mourinho heaved a long sigh, clearly very disappointed with the night’s result.

“You’re just too impatient. Didn’t you always say you get results in your third season with a team?”

The moment Yang Cheng finished speaking, Mourinho’s expression soured even more.

The Portuguese snorted coldly, turned around, and walked away.

Leaving Yang Cheng standing there, bewildered.

“Brian, did I say something wrong?”

He was clearly trying to console him, so why the attitude?

Brian Kidd shook his head with a wry smile. “He only managed Inter Milan for two seasons.”

Yang Cheng slapped his own forehead and couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

Wasn’t that right?

He had put his foot in his mouth.

In his previous life, Mourinho left Inter Milan after winning the Champions League.

But now?

He had coached for two seasons and hadn’t come close to touching the Champions League trophy.

So, while Yang Cheng’s words sounded like consolation, to Mourinho’s ears, it sounded like he was being mocked with his own past statements.

“It was a genuine misunderstanding. I didn’t mean it,” Yang Cheng felt very wronged.

I really wanted to console you, José!

…

Real Madrid lost 0-2 at home to Bayswater Chinese!

As expected, this news detonated the football world after the match, becoming the hot topic of discussion among all fans.

There was nothing wrong with Bayswater Chinese’s two goals, and their performance in the match was commendable, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

The real controversy was with Real Madrid.

Mourinho, as predicted, aimed his矛头 directly at the head referee Stark during the post-match press conference.

The Portuguese believed that the referee’s officiating was severely biased towards the away team, which was very unreasonable.

“The only thing I can think of is that some people don’t want us to go to London for the second leg with a full-strength squad!”

“In the second leg, we must accept the cruel reality of being without three of our key players!”

But clearly, not all media outlets supported Mourinho.

Marca wrote a report pointing out the mistakes Mourinho made in the match.

The possession rate was 36.4%.

That was a bit more than when they played against Barça.

But they couldn’t find a good way to attack.

At the Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid were more focused on defending, defending, defending, and breaking up play, breaking up play, breaking up play!

“We didn’t see the fluid, skilled attacking combinations of the first Galácticos era or of Pellegrini’s tenure last season. What we saw was everyone running around just to win the ball.”

“Without a doubt, Mourinho was conservative. He was thinking more about how to disrupt Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

“But for Real Madrid’s own attack, he didn’t have a very clear plan!”

In the report, Marca even included a photo from the 15th minute of the match, showing C. Ronaldo’s expression as he complained about Mesut Özil not passing the ball in time.

Marca argued, “When Real Madrid has top attacking players like C. Ronaldo, Džeko, Maicon, Mesut Özil, and Xabi Alonso, if our attack still isn’t strong enough, then the problem is definitely not with the players.”

The pro-Real Madrid media outlet believed that the yellow cards leading to the suspension of three key players for the second leg had nothing to do with the loss in this match.

Ultimately, Mourinho was just trying to use the attack on the referee to relieve the pressure of losing at home.

“When he played Barça, he said he was a man down, losing 10 against 11. If he had a full eleven, he could beat Barça.”

“But now, against Bayswater Chinese, he had eleven men for the entire match, and still lost.”

“Not only did they lose the first leg, they might as well have lost the second leg too!”

…

After returning to London from Madrid, the team had a short rest before playing the fifth round of the FA Cup over the weekend with a full lineup of reserves and youth team players.

This time, their opponent was Brighton from the third-tier League One.

In the 14th minute of the first half, Giroud opened the scoring for the team.

In the 22nd minute, De Bruyne scored the second goal.

Just before the end of the first half, Vincent Kompany scored another goal from an attacking free-kick.

After leading by three goals in the first half, Yang Cheng made continuous substitutions in the second, giving the younger players more playing time and opportunities.

In the end, the team won 3-0 against Brighton, smoothly advancing to the quarter-finals.

Arsenal thrashed Leyton Orient 5-0 at home.

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 3-0 at home.

Manchester United, meanwhile, beat Crawley Town 1-0 at home.

…

February 27th, 4:00 PM.

Wembley Stadium, London.

The League Cup Final, Bayswater Chinese versus Arsenal.

When head referee Mike Dean blew the whistle to start the match, Bayswater Chinese, who kicked off first, sent the ball back into their own half.

After receiving the ball, Nemanja Matić turned and passed it to the right flank, to Piszczek.

Arsenal, on the other hand, pressed high up the pitch quickly.

Both teams had a week of rest.

Over the weekend, while other Premier League teams were playing league matches, only these two were competing in the League Cup final.

So both sides were in good shape and physically prepared.

Bayswater Chinese fielded the strongest possible lineup they could muster.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Di María.

Robert Lewandowski had a minor injury, so Yang Cheng let him rest for this match.

Theo Walcott had recovered from his injury, but Di María was in excellent form, so Yang Cheng kept the Argentinian in the starting lineup.

From the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese were determined to attack down the right flank where Di María was positioned.

Piszczek sent a through ball forward to Di María.

The Argentinian winger tried to get past Clichy, but the Frenchman intercepted the ball.

Arsenal quickly launched a counter-attack.

If Bayswater Chinese were missing Robert Lewandowski, Arsenal were also missing a very important player: Fàbregas.

In the centre-forward position, Wenger chose van Persie this time, leaving Benzema and Gourcuff on the bench.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Chygrynskiy, Vermaelen, and Sagna;

Midfield: Alexandre Song and Wilshere formed a double pivot, with Nasri, Andrei Arshavin, and Rosický in front of them;

Forward: van Persie.

Wenger used a 4-2-3-1 formation for this match, clearly aiming for a balance between attack and defense.

But as soon as the match began, both sides ramped up the tempo.

Especially Arsenal, whose attacking strategy was very clear.

Their first threatening attack came from a through ball by Wilshere.

He wanted to hit the space behind the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

The idea was good, and the pass was accurate, cutting through the entire midfield and defense, but van Persie couldn’t get to the ball in time, and Courtois collected it near the edge of the penalty area.

The Belgian threw the ball out again, once more resolutely playing it to the right, to Piszczek.

This time, Modrić ran over to support and tried to play a one-two pass with Piszczek.

But as Modrić advanced with the ball, Alexandre Song intercepted it.

The Arsenal holding midfielder made a beautiful tackle.

After winning the ball, The Gunners launched another attack.

Nasri, receiving the ball in the left channel of his own half, once again played a ball in behind.

Van Persie made an early run, but was tightly marked by Pepe.

The Portuguese passed the ball to Thiago Silva.

In just over a minute, the two teams had already traded attacks and defensive plays four times.

Such a fast-paced, end-to-end game had the fans of both sides in the stands roaring with excitement.

Only teams like Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal could play such a spectacular, all-out attacking game.

But at the same time, both sides were on the edge of their seats.

Especially Arsenal.

The Gunners’ defense had never been as solid as Bayswater Chinese’s.

Wenger still insisted on a head-to-head attacking game, which was undoubtedly a gamble.

Thiago Silva passed the ball to Toni Kroos.

As the German received the ball sideways, he was looking to link up with Marcelo or Gareth Bale.

They had been attacking the right side since the start, and Arsenal were clearly prepared for it.

So, Toni Kroos, facing the right flank as he received the ball, took two horizontal touches to the right, then suddenly stopped, turned, changed direction, and switched the play back to the left.

Marcelo had dropped back very deep, and was just crossing the halfway line at that moment.

When the Brazilian received the ball, Toni Kroos was the first to run over, but instead of asking for a pass back, he pointed to the space in front of him.

Marcelo understood immediately and passed the ball forward.

Toni Kroos first ran laterally, then suddenly changed direction and made a forward run.

When he received the ball behind Wilshere, he didn’t dwell on it.

Toni Kroos controlled it with his right foot, steadied himself, and sent in a half-high cross with his left.

The ball arrived at the feet of Giroud, who was in the center, just inside Arsenal’s 30-meter area.

The Frenchman saw the path of the ball, turned sideways with his back to the right flank, and after trapping it with his chest, he saw Gareth Bale already poised to strike.

Giroud got the message.

He was left-footed, and this was the perfect moment for a left-footed pass.

The French centre-forward played a direct through ball.

The football passed right between Sagna and Vermaelen on the edge of the penalty area, rolling into the Arsenal box.

At almost the same instant, Gareth Bale burst past Sagna with incredible speed, made a quick diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area, and caught up to Giroud’s pass. He first controlled it with the inside of his left foot, stepped over with his right, and leaned his body slightly, perfectly shielding the ball from Vermaelen.

The Belgian centre-back’s physical strength wasn’t particularly outstanding, and being inside the box, he was completely blocked by Gareth Bale and couldn’t exert any force.

Once the Welshman was steady, he swung his left foot and shot.

The ball flew out at lightning speed, heading for the bottom right corner of Arsenal’s goal.

The goalkeeper, Lloris, was positioned closer to the left side of the goal.

Although he desperately dived to his side, he couldn’t stop the ball from hitting the inside of the right post and bouncing into the Arsenal net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“One minute and thirty-seven seconds!”

“Less than two minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese have created a scoring opportunity.”

“Gareth Bale, from his favorite spot on the left side of the box, scores with a powerful left-footed shot!”

“1-0!”

“That’s the threat Gareth Bale poses in this area!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s lightning attack has worked again!”

“The man who provided that wonderful assist for Gareth Bale is the French centre-forward, Olivier Giroud!”

The entire stadium was instantly drowned out by the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

Half of the ninety thousand fans were Bayswater Chinese supporters, and they were all cheering wildly.

Gareth Bale, pulling Giroud along, ran all the way to the sideline to celebrate the goal.

The other players followed one by one.

Scoring right from the kickoff, Bayswater Chinese had truly gotten off to a dream start!

…

The opening goal was a blow to The Gunners’ morale.

But Wenger’s team stuck to their pre-match tactics, and both sides continued to play a fast-paced, attacking game.

Neither side was willing to show weakness.

Especially Arsenal.

Despite being a goal down, The Gunners did not play conservatively.

Both teams shared many common traits, such as their rapid transitions from defense to attack.

This kept the match tempo at full throttle.

Whenever possession changed hands, both teams immediately put the pedal to the metal and charged forward.

While this was incredibly draining on the players’ stamina, it made for a spectacular game.

Furthermore, both teams were very adept at passing and moving, often linking up with a series of one-touch passes.

The football seemed to dance among the players, and the brilliant moments came one after another, leaving everyone engrossed.

Both teams continuously created chances and took frequent shots on goal.

In the first ten minutes, the two teams combined for seven shots.

Although the pace slowed slightly afterwards, the exciting moments continued to flow.

In the 14th minute, in particular, Andrei Arshavin, upon receiving the ball, first broke past Nemanja Matić, then dribbled past Thiago Silva into the penalty area.

Just as the Russian was about to go around Courtois, the Belgian dived decisively.

The tall, long-armed Courtois reacted in time, intercepting the ball at Arshavin’s feet.

Although the Russian also fell in the penalty area, the referee saw it clearly and did not award a penalty.

However, the spectacular sight of a player dribbling past two men in the center of the defense still gave Bayswater Chinese a cold sweat.

This continuous, high-tempo, end-to-end battle caused frequent turnovers, and both sides made many passing errors.

After all, not every team has the passing ability of Barça.

Even Barça, if they were to play at the same breakneck speed as Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal, would likely make quite a few passing mistakes.

And the biggest philosophical difference between both Yang Cheng and Wenger and Barça was on full display in this League Cup final.

No matter which team won the ball, their first thought was to launch an attack.

Only if an attack couldn’t be mounted would they consider passing back to regroup.

Barça, however, was clearly different.

Their priority was to maintain possession.

Additionally, the two Premier League teams didn’t dribble much.

But Barça’s players would dribble more frequently.

Both teams persisted in this back-and-forth attacking contest, trying to nullify their opponent’s offense while striving to find opportunities to score.

It wasn’t until the 26th minute that Sagna, passing to Wilshere in his own half, was hassled by Gareth Bale, and his pass was a bit under-hit.

Giroud dropped back, intercepted the pass mid-flight, and played it to Toni Kroos.

Arsenal’s Wilshere immediately counter-pressed, closing down on Toni Kroos.

But at the same time, both Gareth Bale and Giroud instantly turned and sprinted forward.

Toni Kroos was unfazed by Wilshere. He calmly received the ball, created space with a touch, and then hit a diagonal long pass with his right foot, switching the play to the area outside the right corner of the box.

Di María was unmarked. He chested down Toni Kroos’s diagonal pass, controlling it with his left foot.

The Argentinian deliberately paused for a moment, waiting until Clichy charged at him before suddenly accelerating, shaking off the defender, and cutting inside horizontally with the ball, delivering a diagonal pass with his left foot.

Di María not only wanted to beat Clichy, but was also waiting for Giroud and Gareth Bale to get forward for support.

It was a great pass, and Giroud’s header was powerful, but it was too central and Lloris tipped it over the bar.

The French centre-forward gave Di María a thumbs-up, somewhat regretful for not converting the chance.

He had sprinted with all his might just to get on the end of that header.

As a result, when he headed the ball, he had no time to think about the angle.

Corner kick!

Modrić ran to the corner flag on the right side of the goal, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

At this time, all of Bayswater Chinese’s tall players moved forward.

The Arsenal defenders were as if facing a formidable enemy.

In a battle of height, The Gunners were at a disadvantage!

Even man-marking, they couldn’t cover everyone.

Because of this, Wenger’s team defended with extra caution.

Vermaelen even pulled Pepe’s shirt, which Pepe complained about to the referee.

Mike Dean had to pause the kick, demand the players separate, and then blew his whistle for Modrić to proceed.

The Croatian sent the ball to the near post.

Pepe made a quick forward run, leaped into the air, and got to the ball before Vermaelen, flicking it on with his head towards the far post.

The corner kick was delivered at great speed.

Pepe’s flick-on was even faster!

At the far post, Gareth Bale and Giroud both arrived at full tilt, jumping simultaneously.

But Giroud, being in a slightly more advanced position, got to the ball first and headed it into Arsenal’s goal.

2-0!

Wembley Stadium once again erupted with the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

Forty-five thousand supporters were roaring and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Giroud excitedly ran off the pitch, doing a knee slide all the way to the bottom of the stands.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were still basking in their two-goal lead, Arsenal restarted the game and suddenly launched an attack, with both flanks pushing forward simultaneously.

The Gunners’ players were clearly going all out.

Less than a minute after the goal, Sagna received the ball on the right and abruptly sent a long diagonal pass towards the near post.

Van Persie darted forward, out-jumping Thiago Silva to flick a header towards the opposite corner.

The Dutch centre-forward’s header was sudden, but Courtois was very focused.

However, the angle was just too perfect.

From the right side of the box, it was headed towards the far post. Even with his height and arm span, Courtois couldn’t reach a ball like that.

1-2!

In just one minute, The Gunners had managed to pull one back.

Bayswater Chinese quickly launched a counter-offensive.

From a cross by Marcelo on the left, Gareth Bale flicked it on with a header. When Giroud chested the ball down in the box, he was tripped by Vermaelen as he tried to turn and get away.

The ball fell to Modrić, who shot from near the penalty spot, but Lloris saved it comfortably.

The Bayswater Chinese players protested to the referee, arguing that Vermaelen had fouled Giroud.

But Mike Dean refused to award a penalty.

And in the 39th minute of the first half, Wilshere made an overlapping run, received a pass from Andrei Arshavin, and unleashed an unexpected long shot that went just a tiny bit over the crossbar.

The nineteen-year-old youngster had been performing better and better over the past season.

Moreover, the current Arsenal was completely different from the one in Yang Cheng’s previous life, with a strong squad and a more relaxed environment for young players to develop.

Therefore, Yang Cheng couldn’t be sure if Wilshere would follow the same path as in his past life.

…

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading 2-1.

When the players returned to the dressing room, Yang Cheng was satisfied with the team’s performance.

But at the same time, he pointed out several issues the team had exposed in the first half.

Both van Persie’s header and Wilshere’s long shot proved that Bayswater Chinese’s defense had weaknesses.

Yang Cheng demanded that his players be even more cautious when leading.

“You need to be clear, we are facing a team that can score over a hundred goals in a season!”

Yang Cheng raised his voice, reminding his players.

The Premier League goals alone weren’t that many, but if you added up the total goals from all competitions, it would definitely exceed one hundred.

After critiquing the team’s defense, Yang Cheng also adjusted the team’s attack.

He had noticed that Arsenal’s defense had no good answer for Giroud.

This was another weakness of Wenger’s team.

With Koscielny absent, they struggled to defend against high balls and couldn’t handle a strong centre-forward.

The most typical example was Drogba, who practically gave The Gunners’ defenders depression.

Yang Cheng’s instructions were simple: in the second half, the attack should not always be about speed and playing balls in behind. They could slow down a bit and use Giroud as a fulcrum to create plays.

This would further enrich Bayswater Chinese’s attacking patterns.

“The Gunners have obviously prepared thoroughly and have specific tactics to counter our attack.”

“On the pitch, we need to make appropriate adjustments and changes based on the opponent’s tactics.”

In this regard, Bayswater Chinese hadn’t actually been particularly good.

This was why Yang Cheng repeatedly said that Bayswater Chinese was not yet strong enough.

Experience is something you either have or you don’t.

Practice makes perfect!

These four words applied just as well in the world of football.

Many players only became more skillful and clever on the pitch after accumulating a wealth of experience.

This included knowing how to adjust their own attack and defense in real-time based on the opponent’s tactics on the field.

…

After the second half began, both teams continued the rhythm of the first.

Neither side made any substitutions during the halftime break.

They didn’t even make any tactical adjustments.

So, the overall situation basically continued the pattern of the first half.

The two teams seemed to have returned to the fast-paced, end-to-end action of the opening stages.

Especially Arsenal.

The Gunners used their kickoff to launch two or three waves of attacks in quick succession.

First, a van Persie header went wide.

Then, van Persie sent a through ball to the right, where the overlapping Sagna crossed it to the middle for Rosický.

But Courtois decisively came out and intercepted the ball before Rosický could reach it.

After ten minutes, The Gunners’ offensive eased up, and Bayswater Chinese began to exert pressure.

In the 56th minute, a long shot from Toni Kroos from twenty-eight meters out went just a little high.

But just two minutes later, it was Toni Kroos again. After receiving a pass from his teammate Marcelo, he delivered a precise diagonal long pass into the right side of the penalty area.

Giroud got there before Chygrynskiy and headed the ball back to the edge of the box.

The Ukrainian centre-back was one of the few Arsenal players who could somewhat contain Giroud.

On the right side of the edge of the box, Di María didn’t control the ball, but directly pushed it to the overlapping Modrić.

Early in the first half, the Croatian had been dispossessed by Alexandre Song’s tight marking while carrying the ball.

This time, he took a touch, feinted, and completely shook off Alexandre Song.

The moment a passing lane appeared, he sent a diagonal pass with his left foot, switching the play back to the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale arrived like a hurricane, roaring in at incredible speed. He met Modrić’s diagonal pass with his left foot and blasted a power shot into the Arsenal goal.

3-1!

After taking the shot, Gareth Bale almost crashed into the left post.

But the next second, the Welshman excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

A brace!

…

Wenger sat in the coach’s seat on the sideline, one hand cupping his chin, his eyes fixed on the pitch.

Even as Gareth Bale and the others ran off to celebrate, he didn’t move an inch.

It was 3-1!

“It’s the midfield problem again!”

Assistant coach Pat Rice sighed and shook his head.

“When we also adopt a proactive, attacking approach, our midfield can’t contain Modrić’s or Toni Kroos’s passing and distribution in time.”

“That last goal, it looked like Giroud was acting as the fulcrum up front, but the key was Toni Kroos’s diagonal switch of play. If we had contained or even disrupted his pass, that attack wouldn’t have happened.”

Wenger listened in silence, not saying a word.

But everyone could see he was feeling terrible.

For this match, he had worked tirelessly for over ten days, hoping to beat Bayswater Chinese in the final and win this trophy!

Even if it was just a League Cup!

But now, it seemed they really couldn’t suppress Bayswater Chinese’s midfield!

“Their midfield is indeed very strong!” Pat Rice admitted, unwillingly.

Last summer, when Toni Kroos arrived in the Premier League, absolutely no one would have thought he would bring such a huge change to Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Everyone thought he was just a makeweight in the Neuer transfer.

But now, his partnership with Modrić, Nemanja Matić, and even Javi Martínez, Aaron Ramsey, and Rakitić was becoming more and more skilled and seamless.

Last summer, when Toni Kroos arrived in the Premier League, his market value on Transfermarkt was twelve million euros.

That’s about ten million pound sterling.

And now?

Twenty-five million pound sterling!

A full 2.5 times increase!

Not to mention, with Toni Kroos’s current performance, to think they could sign the German midfielder for twenty-five million pounds… dream on!

You would probably have to add at least another fifteen million pounds to even have a chance of persuading Yang Cheng.

His value had multiplied several times in a year!

And this was for a player already valued in the tens of millions.

Only Yang Cheng could pull off something like this.

On Arsenal’s side, with Fàbregas injured and Gourcuff just returning from injury, Wenger had actually considered using three holding midfielders.

The combination of Muntari, Alexandre Song, and Toulalan.

This would have maximized the solidity of the midfield.

And all three players had decent distribution skills, so it wouldn’t have a major impact on Arsenal’s overall play.

But their running coverage and defensive abilities would have strongly protected Arsenal’s backline.

The only problem was, it was too conservative!

“You know, Yang Cheng once told me that the reason we lost the Champions League final was because Ferguson was more willing to swallow his pride than I was,” Wenger suddenly said.

The Frenchman’s tone was filled with a complex mix of bitterness, unwillingness, and pain.

“I wanted to win this final today fair and square, playing our way, but I never expected…”

Wenger shook his head helplessly.

He knew his players had given their all.

He, as the head coach, had also given his all.

With Arsenal’s current squad, beating Bayswater Chinese in an end-to-end game wasn’t impossible, but the chances were slim.

This was the most potent attacking force in European football!

Even stronger than Barça and Real Madrid!

Wenger knew full well that the chances of winning in an open, attacking game were slim.

But he still insisted on playing that way.

Because he couldn’t accept anything less!

He longed to win a trophy.

But it had to be on his own terms!

But today’s League Cup final had once again ruthlessly shattered his hopes.

It had even shaken his confidence.

“Pat, tell me, what’s more important? Trophies or principles?”

Pat Rice was speechless, falling silent.

…

After going up 3-1, both teams made a series of substitutions.

Yang Cheng brought on Theo Walcott, Paul Pogba, and Kyle Walker.

Wenger brought on Benzema and Gourcuff to strengthen the midfield’s organization and attack.

But just as the match was nearing its end, a chipped pass from Modrić led to another flick-on header from Giroud, sending the ball behind the defensive line into the right side of Arsenal’s penalty area.

Theo Walcott made a quick forward run and scored with an easy shot.

4-1!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately thrashed The Gunners 4-1 to win the 2010/11 season’s League Cup!

This was the second consecutive season that Bayswater Chinese had won the League Cup!

After the match, Wenger congratulated Yang Cheng.

In an interview with the media, Wenger expressed his disappointment at the team’s 4-1 defeat.

But he didn’t think The Gunners were outclassed, and instead took responsibility for the loss.

At the same time, Wenger also believed that Fàbregas’s injury had a huge impact on Arsenal.

However, Wenger repeatedly stressed, “The League Cup has never been our priority, so this defeat will not cause us to falter.”

“On the contrary, it will serve as a constant reminder for us to be more focused in the remaining competitions.”

Wenger said with full confidence, “Now is a time when we are full of fighting spirit!”

Coincidentally, while Yang Cheng’s team lifted the League Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng himself, whether in interviews with the media or in the dressing room, consistently downplayed the achievement.

The league was still ongoing, and Bayswater Chinese had to advance on three fronts: the FA Cup and the Champions League.

Yang Cheng stated that while defending the League Cup title was gratifying, the team should quickly forget about this trophy and fully commit to preparing for the other competitions this season.

Complacency after winning a title is a major pitfall for many teams!

…

When Bayswater Chinese lifted the League Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium, they received thunderous applause.

Major British media outlets rushed to report on it, singing praises for Yang Cheng’s team.

Their lead in the league was very comfortable, and now they had the League Cup, which meant a Double was within their grasp.

But right after the League Cup final, on March 2nd, they had a rescheduled match for the 28th round of the league.

Their opponent was Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal’s situation wasn’t much better; they faced their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby.

West London and North London were hosting derbies at the same time.

One can imagine how much attention these two midweek rescheduled matches received.

As it turned out, both teams that played in the League Cup final performed poorly.

After playing Chelsea, they had to face West Bromwich Albion at home over the weekend, and then the second leg against Real Madrid the following Wednesday.

In this grueling schedule, Yang Cheng had to implement squad rotation, and a significant one at that.

But Chelsea was different.

They had a full ten days to prepare for this match, repeatedly drilling various targeted tactics.

Coupled with Yang Cheng’s rotation, the team performed poorly at Stamford Bridge.

Yang Cheng’s team lost 1-2 away to Chelsea.

Just three minutes into the game, Chelsea scored through a blitz attack, with Drogba breaking through Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

After that, Chelsea defended deep and counter-attacked.

In the 26th minute, Eto’o scored again from a quick counter-attack.

Yang Cheng’s team didn’t manage to pull one back until the 77th minute of the second half, through Rakitić.

Arsenal, on the other hand, were held to a frustrating 3-3 draw away at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Gunners had a dream start, scoring two consecutive goals.

But Wenger’s team failed to hold on to their lead until the end.

However, the loss at Stamford Bridge did not affect Bayswater Chinese’s pursuit of the league title.

…

Over the weekend, back at Wembley Stadium.

Yang Cheng’s team hosted West Bromwich Albion.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

The Baggies were fighting for survival, and they played with great intensity in this match.

But in the second half, as The Baggies’ stamina waned, in the 58th minute, an overlapping run and power shot from Rakitić broke through West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

1-0!

And in the 72nd minute, an assist from Rakitić allowed substitute Paul Pogba to score.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at home.

Rakitić had scored in two consecutive league matches.

In this round, Arsenal narrowly beat Sunderland 1-0 at home, with Benzema scoring the only goal.

Manchester United, however, lost miserably 1-3 away to Liverpool, with Kuyt scoring a hat-trick.

Ferguson’s team lost mainly due to their desperation to win.

Manchester City, thanks to a goal from Kaká, beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home.

Chelsea beat Blackpool 3-1 away.

After twenty-nine rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 25 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, had 77 points and continued to lead the league table.

Manchester City successfully closed the gap, reaching 67 points, but were still 10 points behind Bayswater Chinese.

Arsenal followed closely with 64 points, in 3rd place.

Liverpool, with their victory over Manchester United in this round, also reached 64 points, but were in 4th place due to an inferior goal difference.

Manchester United had 54 points, already a full 10 points behind Liverpool and the others.

Chelsea only had 51 points.

Although the gap had widened, Ferguson still insisted that Manchester United would definitely return to the top four!

…

After playing the 29th round of the Premier League over the weekend, Bayswater Chinese soon welcomed the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage in midweek.

Despite winning the first leg 2-0 away, Yang Cheng didn’t dare to be complacent.

After continuous rotation, Yang Cheng fielded his full starting lineup at Wembley Stadium to face Mourinho’s Real Madrid.

Trailing 0-2 from the home leg, Mourinho adopted a more aggressive attacking tactic for the second leg, even fielding a front three of C. Ronaldo, Džeko, and Gonzalo Higuaín, with Mesut Özil behind them responsible for passing.

The double pivot consisted of Lassana Diarra and Sami Khedira.

Although Real Madrid were missing three key players—Xabi Alonso, Ramos, and Carvalho—Mourinho’s team still played with great aggression and adopted a very tough defensive strategy.

This was especially evident in the 64th minute of the second half when Di María, after cutting inside from the right with the ball, delivered a diagonal pass that assisted Marcelo in the left side of the box. Marcelo sidestepped Álvaro Arbeloa and scored with a powerful shot.

Real Madrid subsequently received five yellow cards.

Over the course of the match, Mourinho’s team received six yellow cards.

But it still couldn’t prevent Real Madrid from losing.

In the end, thanks to Marcelo’s goal, Bayswater Chinese won 1-0 at home, eliminating Real Madrid with an aggregate score of 3-0 and successfully advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals!

Chapter 221: Breaking the Mold! The Football Economic War! An Unprecedented Quadruple?

All eight matches of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage had been played.

The media and fans around the world were once again stunned.

All four Premier League teams had advanced to the quarter-finals!

The fear of being dominated by the Premier League powerhouses once again swept across European football.

In particular, Bayswater Chinese’s 3-0 aggregate victory over one of La Liga’s big two, Real Madrid, showcased the Premier League’s might for all to see.

Manchester United and Arsenal’s smooth progression was something everyone had anticipated.

But even Ancelotti’s Manchester City, who had emerged from the group of death ahead of AC Milan and Real Madrid as group winners, had now advanced to the quarter-finals from the Round of 16.

This truly demonstrated the overwhelming strength of the Premier League.

The Premier League occupied half of the Champions League quarter-final spots!

Everyone had to admit, the Premier League was simply too strong right now.

Not to mention, rumors had been circulating that a Qatari consortium was planning to acquire Manchester United for two billion pounds.

If that acquisition were to succeed, what would other leagues have left to compete with the Premier League?

Media outlets across Western Europe reported on the story, hyping up the threat posed by the Premier League.

Yet, they felt helpless in the face of the league’s dominance.

Take Italy, for example.

Gazzetta dello Sport expressed concern over the current state of Serie A.

AC Milan had been eliminated in the group stage, while AS Roma and Inter Milan had both fallen in the Round of 16.

Among the eight quarter-finalists this season, aside from the four Premier League teams, La Liga had Barcelona, and the Bundesliga had Bayern Munich and Schalke 04.

The remaining team was, surprisingly, Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.

This was perfectly in line with Yang Cheng’s premonition during the group stage.

This Shakhtar Donetsk team was no simple opponent. With so many talented Brazilian players in their attack, and with head coach Lucescu having molded them into a cohesive unit, their overall strength was certainly not to be underestimated.

And as it turned out, they had indeed fought their way into the Champions League quarter-finals.

By defeating Serie A’s Giallorossi, AS Roma.

Gazzetta dello Sport expressed its profound disappointment, stating that when Serie A’s top teams couldn’t even defeat Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine, what hope did the other teams have?

And Inter Milan had lost to the Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich.

This was even more disheartening.

The entire nation of Italy was still basking in the glorious aura of its “Little World Cup” era. They had always believed that their fall to the world’s third-best league was temporary, and they were determined to reclaim the throne as the world’s number one league, reliving their past glory.

But what about now?

The champions of Serie A could no longer overcome the champions of the Bundesliga.

What more was there to say?

The other three major leagues all had representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Serie A was empty-handed. What was this if not a decline?

Gazzetta dello Sport believed that if Serie A did not implement reforms promptly and take swift action, it might even be surpassed by the Bundesliga.

It could even be relegated to the awkward position of competing with Ligue 1 for the fourth-best league spot.

As for the Premier League and La Liga?

They were no longer targets that Serie A could currently challenge.

Compared to Serie A’s decline, La Liga felt the Premier League’s dominance most acutely, while also sensing the threat from the Bundesliga, as Valencia had been eliminated by Schalke 04.

But interestingly, the one who helped Schalke 04 eliminate Valencia was none other than former Real Madrid captain, Raúl.

This created a very interesting situation.

The current landscape of European football saw the Premier League standing alone at the top, with La Liga in second. However, the Bundesliga had been developing rapidly in recent years, while Serie A had yet to pull itself out of the mire of the Calciopoli scandal.

The German magazine kicker, in its midweek Champions League special, commented specifically on this matter.

They argued that the Premier League’s strength was a bubble, unhealthy, and a false carnival fueled by reckless foreign investment.

The reasoning was that over the past few years, transfer fees in the Premier League had continuously climbed, and player salaries had soared, causing the rest of European football to suffer as a consequence.

But could this situation last?

“When we open the financial reports on Premier League clubs by Deloitte, we find that every single club is mired in debt, with financial holes that are simply shocking.”

“Even Bayswater Chinese, hailed as a model of management in the Premier League, currently has debts amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds.”

“Not to mention freaks like Chelsea, whose revenue is less than 200 million pounds while their wage expenditure exceeds 170 million pounds.”

“It’s hard for us to imagine how the Premier League can continue to develop under its current circumstances.”

kicker argued that German football had also experienced such a period of illusory revelry.

As had Italy.

That was in the 1990s.

Italy ushered in its Little World Cup era, and the Bundesliga also reached its glorious peak.

Weren’t Serie A and the Bundesliga back then just like the Premier League now?

But in the end, once the craze faded and capital began to flow out, what was left for Serie A and the Bundesliga was a scene of devastation.

The Premier League would inevitably follow the old path of Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Therefore, kicker believed that at this time, whether for the long-term healthy development of European football or to restrain the ever-increasing debt risk of Premier League clubs, UEFA should expedite a financial review of the Premier League teams.

Only then could they ensure the timely implementation of the Financial Fair Play regulations in the 13/14 season.

kicker also suggested that The Premier League should begin internal reviews and, at the same time, regulate foreign capital.

Both the Premier League giants and The Premier League itself had long grown accustomed to such accusations.

It happened almost every year.

Basically, whenever Premier League teams performed well in European competitions, the media would stir up a similar fuss.

In response to the “suggestions” from the foreign media, The Premier League issued a statement, clarifying that the league already had its own internal financial review system.

“We are confident that when UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations take effect in the 13/14 season, all Premier League clubs will be in compliance!”

Bayswater Chinese, represented by CEO Adam Crozier, gave an interview to the British newspaper The Times to formally respond to the accusations from kicker.

Adam Crozier stated that the club’s debt primarily came from two sources.

The vast majority was from the construction of the new stadium.

This would be a stadium costing over one billion pounds, the most expensive in the history of sports, as well as the most advanced and modern.

Behind this staggering investment, the returns were also obvious.

Thirty million pounds a year in naming rights, signed for a ten-year term.

In other words, three hundred million pounds of fixed income was already secured.

And that was just for ten years.

What about after ten years?

With a capacity of up to ninety thousand, it would become one of the largest stadiums in England upon completion, on par with Wembley Stadium.

It also featured 250 VIP boxes, with a Sky Walk and Sky Bar on the top floor.

“Our club is confident that with this new stadium, our annual matchday revenue will exceed 150 million pounds.”

“By then, we will become the sports club with the highest matchday revenue in the world!”

Adam Crozier said that besides these obvious benefits, what was more important was the enhancement of the Bayswater Chinese brand value through the stadium.

“Our new stadium has not yet been completed, nor has it been put into use, but I can say with great pride and absolute certainty that we will become one of the most valuable sports club brands in the world!”

Bayswater Chinese’s CEO even revealed a secret that absolutely no one knew.

“In fact, last summer, we received two takeover proposals, one from the United States and one from the Middle East. Both bids reached four billion pounds, but we rejected them both!”

Adam Crozier once again elaborated on Bayswater Chinese’s business philosophy, reiterating the determination of the club’s investors to commit deeply to the football industry.

Finally, he posed a rhetorical question: with Bayswater Chinese’s current annual revenue approaching four hundred million pounds, and with revenue set to hit a new all-time high once the new stadium opens, what was so alarming about a few hundred million pounds of debt incurred for its construction?

Just as expected.

When The Times published this exclusive interview, it immediately sparked heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

All attention was focused on the two four-billion-pound offers.

It was simply outrageous!

How much was a Premier League giant like Manchester United worth?

The Qatari consortium was only willing to offer two billion pounds.

While it was true that Manchester United wasn’t for sale, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t for sale either.

Could it be that Bayswater Chinese had already developed to such a terrifying extent?

As more and more media outlets delved deeper, everyone was shocked to discover that the value of Bayswater Chinese’s stadium was truly astonishing.

The investment indeed exceeded one billion pounds, but the four surrounding buildings would generate forty million pounds in annual rental income.

The tenants signed were Bvlgari Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, Apple Inc., and a shopping center from Yang’s Real Estate.

These were all obviously long-term, stable businesses.

After the London city government invested in its redevelopment, the area around Queensway was clearly set for a complete makeover and revitalization.

And the new stadium was located in the core area of Queensway.

The Sun made a special comparison.

In the summer of 2010, the Qatar Investment Authority bought Harrods in London’s Knightsbridge for 1.5 billion pounds.

The seller was the Egyptian billionaire Al-Fayed, who was also the owner of Fulham.

Harrods is a landmark building in Knightsbridge, with a business area of ninety thousand square meters and 330 vendors, famous for selling luxury goods. It attracts about fifteen million tourists from all over the world every year.

Queensway is also located in a core area of London, separated from Knightsbridge only by Hyde Park, adjacent to Notting Hill, and with more convenient transportation than Knightsbridge.

Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium was situated in the heart of Queensway and was bound to become a new London landmark.

So, how much was it worth?

From the discussions initiated by media in countries like Germany, Italy, and Spain, to the response from the Premier League, this argumentative exchange, though seemingly confrontational, actually brought enormous benefits to Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone loves to watch a spectacle and listen to gossip.

Through this quarrel-like discussion, countless fans around the world realized for the first time that Bayswater Chinese not only played well on the pitch but was also managed brilliantly off it.

Countless fans were hearing for the first time that Bayswater Chinese’s revenue was second only to Real Madrid’s.

There were even signs that it was on the verge of surpassing Real Madrid.

This was, in fact, a form of indirect publicity and marketing.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada were old foxes in the marketing world, and they keenly picked up on this signal.

In particular, the “great debate” among major European media outlets had generated buzz all over the world.

Thus, Bayswater Chinese officially launched the leasing of its VIP boxes.

Just as Adam Crozier had told Yang Cheng previously, the pricing for the 250 VIP boxes was very high.

The cheapest was one hundred thousand pounds.

For this, Bayswater Chinese even held a grand commercial event in London.

But this time, the invited guests included not only sports media but, more significantly, figures and media from the entertainment and fashion industries.

Queensway is a historic shopping street in London, adjacent to popular areas like Notting Hill, Hyde Park, and Knightsbridge, with Paddington being one of London’s most important transport hubs.

But over the past years, it had been largely neglected.

The London city government had now reshaped the style and positioning of Queensway, with Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium as its core, rebuilding eight major retail modules, all completely renovated and re-leased.

The hope was to transform the area into London’s most vibrant and trendy consumer center, a gathering place for the world’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals!

This was also why Bayswater Chinese was able to attract brands like Bvlgari and Apple.

Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada hoped to leverage fashion personalities and media to further promote Bayswater Chinese and the entire Queensway project.

To put it simply, Knightsbridge, led by Harrods, belonged to “Old Money.” Queensway, centered around Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium, would be developed into a global consumer center for “New Money.”

But this so-called “New Money” needed to be distinguished from the nouveau riche, so Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium had always emphasized technology and futuristic concepts.

When Norman Foster designed Queensway, he had to both root it in London’s tradition, the style of “Old Money,” while also making breakthroughs using modern architectural technology and design concepts to create a distinctive “New Money” element.

And during this event, there was another very dazzling segment featuring Grammy award winner Adele.

Almost all football fans worldwide knew that Adele was a die-hard supporter of Bayswater Chinese.

Whenever she had time, she never missed a single match.

It had already become a habit for her.

The British female singer, who had shot to fame with her debut album, was currently promoting her second album, “21,” and had already released the second single, “Someone Like You,” to the狂欢of fans worldwide.

This time, Adele became the first client to sign a lease for a VIP box at Prudential Stadium.

The two parties signed the contract during the event.

Out of gratitude for Bayswater Chinese having “discovered” her back in the day, Adele not only performed a song at the home stadium every year after Christmas but also refused to accept any promotional fees this time.

The box Adele chose was number 21, the same as her new album’s title!

The entire box, number 21, would also be personally designed, decorated, and laid out by Adele herself.

This quickly sparked heated discussions and drew attention from football fans and music lovers all over the world.

…

Madrid, Spain. Bernabéu Stadium.

Knock, knock, knock.

Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez, knocked on the door of the chairman’s office, then stood respectfully with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting.

Soon, the office door was opened from the inside.

The person who opened it was Manuel Redondo, known as Real Madrid’s chief steward.

He was not the same person as, nor was he related to, the legendary former Real Madrid holding midfielder Fernando Redondo.

Manuel Redondo had been Florentino Pérez’s personal assistant for many years.

“Good morning, Manuel,” José Ángel Sánchez greeted.

“Please come in, Mr. Sánchez,” Redondo said politely, stepping aside to let him in.

After José Ángel Sánchez entered, Redondo excused himself, turned around, closed the door, and left.

The Real Madrid General Manager looked back at the slowly closing office door, then turned back and walked toward Florentino’s desk.

Florentino Pérez was currently looking at a newspaper in front of him.

On his desk were several others, all showing signs of having been read.

“José, have you seen this morning’s papers?”

“Yes, I have. Those guys at Bayswater Chinese really know how to put on a show!” José Ángel Sánchez immediately knew what Florentino was asking about.

“But the reaction has been huge. I saw it; this morning’s papers are all over it. Some are even running it in the sports, fashion, and entertainment sections. They’ve completely broken the mold. How much must they have spent?”

At this, Florentino put down the newspaper in his hands and looked directly at his general manager.

Did they spend money?

Of course.

But as for how much, José Ángel Sánchez couldn’t really say for sure.

The European media didn’t actually have that much new material; they tended to recycle stories.

And England’s Fleet Street was widely recognized as the birthplace of the paparazzi. Any news that broke there would be picked up and reported not just in Europe, but all over the world.

“The guests who attended last night’s event were indeed quite influential.”

José Ángel Sánchez didn’t directly answer Florentino’s question, because he didn’t know the answer either.

“Besides Adele and some people from the entertainment industry, quite a few from the fashion world also attended. Even Alexandra Shulman, the editor-in-chief of the British edition of VOGUE magazine, was there. In this respect, London has a significant advantage.”

Bayswater Chinese’s marketing and PR teams were also very adept at using this advantage.

The influence of VOGUE magazine in the fashion world was self-evident.

Founded in the United States in 1892, its British edition was launched in 1916.

The Spanish edition was launched in 1921 but ceased publication in 1936, not to be reissued until 1988.

Perhaps that wasn’t illustrative enough; the editor-in-chief of British VOGUE often doubled as the European editor-in-chief.

This demonstrated the unique position of Britain in the fashion world.

In this regard, not just Madrid, but the whole of Spain could hardly compare with England.

The most obvious example was Beckham.

Everyone knew that after Beckham came to Real Madrid, he reached the pinnacle of his career.

He straddled the three worlds of football, entertainment, and fashion, a feat unique in the history of world football.

Even now, you couldn’t find a second person like him.

And a person like Beckham came from England, from London.

To some extent, Beckham’s existence, for professional football, far transcended the football he displayed on the pitch.

He had even completely changed the way football stars operated.

He showed everyone the commercial value inherent in football players.

In the past, this had been severely underestimated.

So, aren’t superstars like C. Ronaldo, Messi, and Kaká all following this path now?

“This club has great ambitions, and being located in London, it has a huge natural advantage.”

Florentino raised his right hand and gestured toward José Ángel Sánchez, motioning for him to sit down.

“Football is a high-value-added global sport, and the physical condition of players has always been excellent. Over the past few years, there have always been stars crossing over into the fashion or entertainment industries, some have even walked the runway.”

José Ángel Sánchez smiled slightly and nodded.

Italy was actually ahead in this regard.

The Italian national team had long had formal wear sponsorship from Armani.

That’s why every time the Italian internationals set off, they had to wear formal suits for a team photo.

And let me tell you, every time those photos were published, countless female fans would be drooling.

“The way they’re doing this, it’s not just to promote the new stadium and that Queensway in London. They probably have a whole package of plans to follow, including the promotion and marketing of their players,” Florentino speculated.

If it were just to lease the new stadium and VIP boxes, they wouldn’t need to make such a big fuss.

“I have heard some news. They have been in contact with some fashion brands in the past. It’s possible they have this in mind.”

After a pause, José Ángel Sánchez added, “Manchester United got formal wear sponsorship from Paul Smith back in 2008, and the fee wasn’t low.”

Paul Smith is a well-known British luxury fashion brand that sponsored the formal suits for all Manchester United first-team players and coaches, but not the leather shoes.

Manchester United had a separate sponsor for shoes.

Incidentally, the Victoria Beckham brand is also a famous luxury fashion brand in the UK.

Those with proximity have an advantage.

These British luxury brands are all in London. It’s perfectly normal for Bayswater Chinese to be interested.

In any case, for today’s players, especially the top ones, what they valued was not just the salary package a club offered, but also the club’s commercial operation capabilities.

Take Kaká for example.

After transferring from AC Milan to Manchester City, his salary increased significantly, but his overall commercial value clearly declined.

Of course, leveraging Britain’s unique advantages and his own image, Kaká remained very popular in the fashion world.

“Is it possible for our revenue to break 500 million this season?” Florentino asked the question that concerned him most.

José Ángel Sánchez was clearly prepared, shaking his head. “It’s a bit difficult.”

Being eliminated in the Champions League Round of 16 had been a huge headache for Real Madrid over the past few years.

The team clearly had the strength, but they just couldn’t break this curse.

This wasn’t just a matter of performance on the pitch; it affected the commercial side and the club’s operations.

What top-tier team consistently got knocked out in the Round of 16?

In the short term, Real Madrid could boost its revenue through star power, marketing, and its unique advantages.

But if the results didn’t improve, their efforts would be twice as hard for half the result.

Why was Bayswater Chinese’s revenue growing so fast?

Did they really think Adam Crozier was a miracle worker?

The fundamental reason behind it was that Yang Cheng’s team was getting results that were just too good!

With rock-solid results on the pitch, combined with business talents like Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, Bayswater Chinese had made a giant leap forward.

“We must push harder, no matter what. We must hold on to the title of the highest-revenue football club in the world!” Florentino instructed.

José Ángel Sánchez felt the pressure but still nodded firmly. “We will do our absolute best!”

Football is still a winner-takes-all game.

In a specific region, fans might have strong biases.

But on a European or even global scale, fans are drawn to strength.

Championships and victories are what attract fans the most.

And naturally, they also attract the most sponsorship resources.

This is why, ever since Real Madrid and Barcelona surpassed Manchester United, their revenues have climbed steadily and at an accelerating rate.

And in La Liga, the broadcasting fees for either of the two giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, almost exceeded the total of the other eighteen teams combined.

The same was largely true for commercial income!

If Real Madrid were to lose to Bayswater Chinese in terms of revenue, their situation would surely become even more difficult in the future.

“This is a war, José!” Florentino emphasized.

José Ángel Sánchez nodded. “I understand.”

“And prepare for this: the renovation or rebuilding of the Bernabéu needs to be expedited,” Florentino sighed.

The ninety-thousand-seat capacity of Wembley Stadium had played a key role in allowing Bayswater Chinese to catch up so quickly.

Combined with the series of moves Bayswater Chinese was now making, some big actions were surely on the horizon.

Real Madrid, the top dog, was now under mountainous pressure!

…

Yang Cheng temporarily set aside the external hustle and bustle, whether it was the club’s commercial department’s actions or the market’s feedback, and barely got involved.

He had immense trust in Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

Besides, wasn’t Xia Qing keeping an eye on things?

He did know about the four-billion-pound acquisition offers.

The Qatari consortium had inquired, and a US private equity fund had also sent a team to London to ask.

But to Yang Cheng, these were just minor matters.

After finishing the Champions League Round of 16, the team immediately faced an FA Cup quarter-final match against West Ham United.

Yang Cheng secured a 3-1 victory over West Ham United with goals from Ryan Bertrand, Aaron Ramsey, and Kyle Walker.

Yes, both young full-backs had scored.

Even Yang Cheng himself hadn’t expected that.

Kyle Walker’s goal came from a De Bruyne assist, a product of attacking teamwork.

It happened in the twelfth minute of the first half.

But The Hammers equalized soon after.

At the start of the second half, Eden Hazard won a penalty, which Aaron Ramsey coolly converted to put them back in the lead.

In the sixty-second minute, Ryan Bertrand won the ball back with a counter-press high up the pitch, then personally broke into the penalty area and fired home.

In the end, they defeated West Ham United 3-1 at home.

Meanwhile, at Old Trafford in Manchester, Wenger’s Arsenal, despite dominating the match, was undone by two quick counter-attacks from Ferguson’s Manchester United, which breached Lloris’s goal.

Manchester United also successfully advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals.

The other two teams to reach the semi-finals were Manchester City and Bolton.

Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the semi-final would be Bolton.

Manchester City would face Manchester United.

As per tradition, both semi-final matches would be held at Wembley Stadium.

…

March 19th, Premier League Matchday 30.

Manchester United, at home against Bolton, fought hard for the entire match before finally defeating their opponents 1-0 thanks to a goal from Berbatov just before the end.

Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away, with Andrei Arshavin and van Persie each scoring a goal.

Bayswater Chinese, playing away against Wigan Athletic this round, scored just six minutes into the game, with Marcelo getting the goal.

But not long after, Manchester United youngster Tom Cleverley equalized for Wigan Athletic.

It wasn’t until the second half that a goal from Robert Lewandowski secured the victory for the team.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Wigan Athletic 2-1 away from home.

Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 away.

Manchester City drew 1-1 with Chelsea away.

After thirty matches, Bayswater Chinese led the Premier League table with eighty points.

Manchester City followed with sixty-eight points, but the gap had widened to twelve points.

Arsenal was in third place with sixty-seven points.

Liverpool also had sixty-seven points but was ranked fourth due to a worse goal difference than Arsenal.

Manchester United was in fifth place with fifty-seven points.

Chelsea was in sixth with fifty-two points.

As things stood, the Premier League landscape for the season was basically set.

With only eight rounds left, it was highly unlikely that Manchester City, Arsenal, or Liverpool could challenge Bayswater Chinese for the title.

Manchester United was a full ten points behind Arsenal and Liverpool, so their hopes of getting back into the top four were also becoming increasingly slim.

But Ferguson still hadn’t given up.

…

After Matchday 30 of the Premier League, European leagues paused again for a two-week international break.

This time, the national teams were preparing for the 2012 European Championship qualifiers.

Although the South American national teams had no official matches, they still arranged friendlies, but this time most were scheduled to be played in Europe, which saved the South American international players the trouble of traveling back and forth.

It’s worth mentioning that England’s opponent this time was Wales.

The match was scheduled to be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Players like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, and Theo Walcott all started.

Yang Cheng also made a special trip to watch the match in person, where England defeated Wales 2-0.

Walcott scored one of the goals.

Although Wales had Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, their overall strength was still a significant step below England’s.

After the two-week international break, the thirty-first round of the Premier League commenced.

With a Champions League quarter-final match on the following Wednesday, the top teams all opted for squad rotation and fielded substitute lineups.

Bayswater Chinese took the lead in the third minute when Giroud breached Bolton’s goal.

In the second half, Rakitić scored another goal, extending the lead to 2-0.

Although Bolton later pulled one back, Bayswater ultimately secured the three points with a 2-1 home victory.

But Manchester United’s situation was much more interesting.

Ferguson’s team traveled to East London to face West Ham United away.

As it turned out, they conceded two goals within the first half-hour.

This forced Ferguson to make urgent adjustments.

He made two substitutions at half-time. After coming on, Rooney scored three goals in quick succession with his head and feet, completing a hat-trick.

Finally, Mexican international Javier Hernández also scored.

Manchester United completed a great 4-2 comeback away from home.

Chelsea, on the other hand, drew 1-1 away at Stoke City.

Liverpool, after taking an early lead, was overturned by two goals away at West Bromwich Albion.

Moreover, both goals were penalties, which sent Mancini into a rage.

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 home victory against Blackburn Rovers.

Manchester City had the best performance among all the top teams, thrashing Sunderland 5-0 at home.

…

On the evening of April 5th, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted Schalke 04.

Yang Cheng was delighted to have drawn the Bundesliga team.

With the team competing on multiple fronts, they wanted to secure a decisive victory.

From the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese, fielding their strongest lineup, launched an all-out attack.

In the first three minutes, they unleashed three shots, pinning the visiting Schalke 04 in their own half and giving the Bundesliga team a taste of what Premier League speed was all about!

And in the fourth minute, Modrić on the right flank executed a brilliant overlapping run with Di María.

After cutting inside with the ball, Di María suddenly passed it back to the right wing.

Modrić made a diagonal run into the right channel and sent a cross that found Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward in the penalty area headed the ball back toward the right side of the arc.

Di María received the ball, controlled it with his left foot, and then unleashed a curling shot that flew straight into the top-left corner of the goal.

1-0!

After conceding, Schalke 04 restarted and tried to launch a counter-attack.

But just as the ball crossed the halfway line, Nemanja Matić made a successful interception and sent a long pass forward.

Gareth Bale surged with the ball down the left flank into the penalty area and took a shot.

The ball was blocked out for a corner kick by Schalke 04’s centre-back, Matip.

Corner kick.

Modrić took it.

Amidst the chaos in the penalty area, Robert Lewandowski won the header, directing it in the opposite direction, and the ball found the back of the net again.

In the space of two minutes, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals!

Afterward, the match continued to be controlled by Bayswater Chinese.

Facing the home team’s relentless tide of attacks, Schalke 04 was truly run ragged.

Anyone could see that the Bundesliga team, having fought so hard to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, had run into the terrifying behemoth that was Bayswater Chinese. Combined with being stunned at the start, they were clearly a bit too nervous.

More importantly, the difference in strength between the two teams was indeed quite large.

The match almost turned into a one-man show for Bayswater Chinese, a one-sided training session for their attacking routines.

Although there were several dangerous moments, the German team ultimately managed to hold the score at 2-0 until halftime.

But in the second half, especially after the sixtieth minute, as Schalke 04’s stamina drained, they could no longer keep up with Bayswater Chinese’s pace.

In the sixty-third minute, after a nice combination play between Marcelo and Gareth Bale on the left, the Brazilian crossed the ball from the left side of the penalty area.

Robert Lewandowski was somehow unmarked in the center of the box.

The Pole easily headed the ball home, scoring a brace.

3-0!

The home team missed several good chances afterward.

But in the seventy-second minute, Modrić delivered a wonderful pass. After breaking into the right side of the penalty area, Di María came to a sudden stop, shaking off his defender before firing a power shot with his left foot into the far corner.

4-0!

The Argentine had also scored a brace!

After the flurry of goals, Raúl scored for Schalke 04 in the eighty-third minute, assisted by Farfán.

This was Raúl’s seventieth goal in official Champions League matches!

After Raúl scored, the entire Wembley Stadium gave him a warm round of applause.

The legendary Real Madrid star had achieved remarkable success in the Champions League.

But in the eighty-eighth minute, Toni Kroos sent a through ball down the left flank. Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area, received the ball, and fired a power shot into the bottom-right corner of Schalke 04’s goal.

5-1!

Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding victory at home.

Throughout the match, Yang Cheng’s team took a total of thirty-seven shots and scored five goals.

Such a performance truly showed the formidable attacking power of this Premier League team.

After the match, numerous media outlets declared that Bayswater Chinese looked like champions.

Furthermore, this season, Yang Cheng’s team had a chance to challenge for an unprecedented quadruple!

So far, Bayswater Chinese had already won the League Cup, and the Premier League title was within their grasp.

The team was also still competing in the FA Cup and the Champions League.

If they could truly go all the way, Bayswater Chinese could very well achieve the legendary feat of a quadruple!

…

April 9th, Premier League Matchday 32.

Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away at Blackburn Rovers.

Yang Cheng had heavily rotated the squad because after this round, they had the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next Wednesday, followed by the FA Cup semi-final against Bolton next weekend.

So, Yang Cheng conserved some energy.

After all, the league title was practically in the bag.

Manchester United defeated Fulham 2-0 at home.

Arsenal beat Blackpool 3-1 away.

But what was truly surprising was Liverpool’s 3-0 home victory over Manchester City.

The Blue Moons’ defeat was basically concentrated in two periods.

One was at the start of the match when Liverpool launched a blitz, with Torres scoring in the eighth minute.

Then came the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth minutes, when Manchester City conceded two goals in just two minutes.

For the rest of the time, Manchester City dominated possession and pinned Liverpool back.

From the flow of the game, it was clear that Mancini, focusing solely on the Premier League, was better prepared, and his players were in better form.

…

April 12th, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Schalke 04 away.

The 5-1 victory in the first leg allowed Yang Cheng to play with more ease in the away game, fielding a rotated lineup.

This was Toni Kroos’ first return to a German stadium since joining Bayswater Chinese.

This left the German fuming, wanting to prove himself in front of his home country’s fans.

Throughout the match, Toni Kroos was extremely active.

However, Schalke 04 deployed a defend and counter-attack tactic at home, which to some extent stifled the visiting team’s offense.

It wasn’t until the fifty-seventh minute of the second half that Giroud made a back pass inside the penalty area. Toni Kroos received it just outside the box, controlled it with his right foot, just enough to get it past Farfán, and followed up with a placed shot.

The ball drilled into the bottom right corner of the goal!

Toni Kroos scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!

Just twelve minutes later, Schalke 04’s players began to tire, and their rhythm clearly couldn’t keep up with the visitors.

Toni Kroos sent a chipped diagonal long pass with pinpoint accuracy to the right wing upfield.

Di María made a high-speed forward run, quickly catching up to his teammate’s pass. After receiving the ball, he broke into the penalty area and chipped it to the far post.

Eden Hazard followed up with a simple tap-in.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese defeated the Bundesliga’s Schalke 04 2-0 away, with an aggregate score of 7-1, smoothly advancing to the Champions League semi-finals.

…

While Bayswater Chinese successfully advanced, the results of the other three matchups were also decided.

Although Manchester United hadn’t performed exceptionally well in the Premier League this season, once they entered the Champions League, especially in the knockout stage, Ferguson’s tactical genius came into play.

In the two quarter-final matches against their city rivals Manchester City, Ferguson first opted to defend with all his might in the first leg, securing a valuable away goal thanks to a quick counter-attack from Robben.

In the second leg, back at home, Manchester United played with much more composure.

In contrast, Ancelotti’s team seized the initiative as the away team, attacking proactively and constantly threatening Manchester United’s goal.

But Manchester United’s defense was rock-solid and gave their opponents no opportunities.

In the second half, in the seventy-sixth minute, a goal from Kaká gave Manchester City hope.

With both teams having scored one away goal, the aggregate score was 1-1, but City held the advantage.

But at this critical moment, Manchester City’s lack of Champions League experience was exposed.

This wasn’t an issue with individual players but with the team as a whole.

After Kaká’s goal, Manchester City experienced a brief lapse in concentration, especially in their backline.

Manchester United very shrewdly seized this opportunity.

Carrick initiated the attack from the back, Giggs passed the ball forward, and Robben, after receiving the ball on the right and shaking off Leighton Baines, cut inside and unleashed a curling shot that flew into the left side of the goal.

1-1!

Aggregate score: 2-1!

This goal came in the seventy-ninth minute, just three minutes after Manchester City’s goal.

Extreme joy begets sorrow!

After that, no matter how hard Manchester City attacked, they could not breach Manchester United’s goal again.

Ultimately, The Blue Moons were regrettably eliminated from the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate score against them.

In another match, Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich 3-2 away in the first leg.

The two teams played out a very exciting end-to-end game.

Back at home, The Gunners smoothly defeated the Bundesliga team 1-0, advancing to the semi-finals with a 4-2 aggregate score.

Barça, meanwhile, eliminated Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate to smoothly advance to the semi-finals.

Thus, the four teams for the semi-finals were decided.

The Premier League once again occupied three of the four spots.

Barça became the last one standing from outside the Premier League.

According to the previous draw, Bayswater Chinese would face Wenger’s Arsenal in the semi-finals.

Manchester United would face Barça.

This once again sparked heated discussions among fans worldwide.

Bayswater Chinese remained the undisputed top favorite to win the title.

Barça followed closely behind.

Manchester United was ranked third, with Arsenal at the bottom.

Almost everyone believed that The Gunners would have a hard time defeating Bayswater Chinese.

The reason was simple: so far this season, Wenger’s team had lost every single match against Bayswater Chinese!

Yang Cheng did not agree with this view.

He repeatedly reminded his players to be vigilant.

A Champions League semi-final is completely different from any other match.

And on the weekend at Wembley Stadium, in the FA Cup semi-final, Yang Cheng’s team crushed Bolton 5-0 at “home” with irresistible momentum, smoothly advancing to the FA Cup final.

Manchester City, who had just been eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United, defeated them in this match 1-0, thanks to a goal from Yaya Touré.

Thus, the FA Cup final would be Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City.

This once again proved what Yang Cheng had said before.

The knockout stage is completely different from other competitions.

A player’s performance in a single match determines the outcome.

And even a team like Manchester United, despite underperforming in the league and being slightly weaker in terms of strength, could still use their overall tactics to neutralize an opponent.

Therefore, Yang Cheng repeatedly reminded his players not to underestimate Arsenal under any circumstances.

Chapter 222: Into the Final! Wenger Has Changed! Tonight, I Believe You Can Create a Miracle!

Wenger had always felt that a head coach was like an isolated, solitary boxer.

Before every match, he would first seclude himself to make major decisions alone.

Every head coach hoped to choose the best plan for the game.

Many people think that players invest and prepare a tremendous amount for a match.

But they always, consciously or unconsciously, overlook the head coach’s preparation and investment.

At the very least, players have teammates fighting alongside them.

But a head coach stands alone!

There have been a few cases in European football of two head coaches managing a team together, but all of them ended in failure.

Or to be more precise, none were particularly successful.

Wenger’s coaching career began very early.

The Alsatian transitioned from player to coach at the age of thirty-three.

The father of the current UEFA president, Platini, Aldo Platini, was the director of football at AS Nancy. In 1984, he invited Wenger to coach the team, marking the beginning of Wenger’s solo managerial career.

More than twenty years had passed, and Wenger was still full of love and passion for his job.

He even once thought he might never grow tired of it.

But recently, he had begun to waver.

He left his home in Totteridge and wandered around.

First, he visited his usual barbershop for a haircut; then he browsed his favorite record store but couldn’t find any records he liked.

Finally, he ended up at Cocorico, an Italian restaurant.

He had a meal here, ordered a coffee, and sat for a long time.

He liked this place because it was the only restaurant that always played his favorite jazz music.

In the past, sitting like this for a while would easily relax him completely.

But today, no matter how long he sat, his heart still felt troubled, still a mess.

So, he ordered another coffee.

An espresso.

Just as the waiter brought over a steaming cup of coffee, a familiar figure sat down directly opposite Wenger.

“I knew you’d be here, Arsène.”

Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, David Dein, looked at Wenger with a smile, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

It felt like he was scanning him.

Scanning Wenger for any signs of unusual emotions.

Wenger wasn’t surprised to see David Dein.

They both lived in Totteridge and had been close friends for many years.

“Has something happened with the team?” Wenger frowned.

David Dein chuckled. “Relax, my friend. Nothing’s wrong. Everything is normal.”

After a pause, David Dein looked at Wenger with concern. “But I heard you haven’t been doing too well lately.”

“Not at all, I’m fine,” Wenger blurted out.

“Everyone can feel it, Arsène. And we’re all very concerned about you.”

Wenger hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. “Thank you, but I’m really fine.”

“Annie told me you’ve been suffering from insomnia recently.”

David Dein looked directly into Wenger’s eyes as he said this.

The Annie he mentioned was Wenger’s wife, Annie Brosterhous.

They had gotten married last year.

It was after Wenger had been embroiled in a scandalous affair with a waitress from this very Italian restaurant that shocked the world.

They had been in love for many years and had a daughter together.

“I know you, Arsène. You’re not one to lose your temper easily, but your attitude towards Annie just now was terrible. That’s not you!” David Dein continued.

Wenger looked like he wanted to say something but held back. After a brief hesitation, he finally spoke. “You know, Annie has always had issues with my work. It’s hard for me to find time to spend with her and our daughter.”

“I work every day, often flying all over the world for matches. Even when I’m home, my mind is probably still on games and training. She’s never liked that about me.”

“We had a little argument just now, but…”

As Wenger spoke, he noticed the doubt in David Dein’s eyes with every word, and he couldn’t continue.

He had never been one to make excuses for himself.

So much so that his players would say that after every major loss, he would lock himself away for two or three days until he found an excuse he could accept before re-emerging.

“Right now, I just want to get away from this damned, stressful, energy-draining position as head coach!”

Wenger finally gritted his teeth and spoke his mind.

David Dein understood that this was what Wenger needed to vent most.

The pressure on him was immense!

Or rather, it always had been.

Many people had always found it strange that David Dein had chosen to hire Wenger from Japan to manage Arsenal.

They even found it baffling.

Many in the media and among the fans had even turned it into some mysterious tale.

In reality, there was none of that nonsense.

Why did David Dein choose Wenger?

Because they were friends who had known each other for years!

At the time, David Dein was already very clear about Wenger’s coaching abilities.

It was just that others didn’t know.

The two first met back in 1988, when Wenger was still coaching Monaco.

They had a mutual friend who organized a gathering. Both attended, and that’s how they met.

They played a game of charades that day, and Wenger’s sense of humor and intelligence left an incredibly deep impression on David Dein.

After that, the two began to interact and built a deep friendship.

Instead of asking why Arsenal would risk choosing a French coach managing in Japan…

It was better to ask why a little-known figure like Wenger dared to come to the Premier League alone to coach an Arsenal team that wasn’t particularly strong at the time.

Wasn’t that a risk for Wenger as well?

He was the first foreign head coach in Arsenal’s history.

And at the time, Arsenal wasn’t the only team interested in him.

The reason was the same as why David Dein chose Wenger.

He trusted Wenger, and Wenger trusted him.

So, it was a mutual commitment, built on trust.

The Arsenal that Wenger took over was not the Premier League giant it would later become.

Back then, the Gunners couldn’t compare to traditional powerhouses like Manchester United and Liverpool, and they didn’t have much of an advantage, or were even worse off, than teams like Leeds United and Newcastle.

It was after Wenger took over that he implemented drastic reforms and restructuring. In his first full season, he helped Arsenal win the Double, the league title and the FA Cup.

Do you know what that means?

The likes of Ferguson, Mourinho, and Benítez had never achieved anything like it.

Mourinho claimed he also won a double, but his cup title was the ‘chicken rib’ of a League Cup, not the FA Cup.

Subsequently, Wenger’s Arsenal entered a peak period, starting to go toe-to-toe with Manchester United.

And Wenger’s coaching style was very popular with the fans.

This honeymoon period reached its zenith with the unbeaten title-winning season of 2003-04.

But everything started to change after the club began building a new stadium.

Why did Ashley Cole leave Arsenal for Chelsea?

For that transfer, which was cursed up and down by countless fans, it was the player and the head coach who ended up taking the blame.

But David Dein remembered Wenger roaring at him after Ashley Cole’s transfer.

“This will be the biggest regret of my coaching career, all for a measly five thousand pounds!”

“Fucking hell!”

But this was not something David Dein could decide. It was up to that old guard, led by Hill-Wood.

Often, what the fans and the media saw and heard was just the tip of the iceberg, deliberately revealed by the club.

And for the past few years, Wenger had to ensure a top-four finish every year to secure Champions League football on one hand, while facing all sorts of criticism on the other. The pressure he was under was imaginable.

Now, things were finally looking up.

After Russian tycoon Usmanov took control of Arsenal, Wenger could finally operate without his hands tied.

But just then, he frustratingly discovered that he had encountered an opponent who gave him an immense headache and was incredibly difficult to defeat.

Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese!

Both London clubs, both playing a gorgeous pass-and-move style.

Yang Cheng’s team was even more successful than Wenger’s.

This brought enormous pressure on Wenger.

Even greater than Mourinho’s Chelsea before.

At the very least, back then Arsenal couldn’t make big signings, so Wenger could still find reasons and excuses.

But what about now?

So far this season, Arsenal’s record against Bayswater Chinese was a string of losses!

Therefore, even before the Champions League semi-final had begun, Wenger and his Arsenal had already been handed a death sentence.

This made Wenger feel incredibly furious.

Yet he was helpless.

At this moment, his heart must be filled with conflict, unease, and anxiety.

From their first meeting in 1988, where they hit it off immediately, to now in 2011, twenty-three years had passed.

David Dein considered himself to know Wenger very well.

At the same time, he also understood football very well.

Wenger’s current situation was something that every head coach, every player, and even every person, would experience.

A wavering, or even collapsing, of belief!

David Dein had been in football for decades. He had seen many brilliant and talented head coaches who shone brightly at the start of their careers.

Some were fleeting, others lasted for several years, but there had never been a head coach like Ferguson who could, time and again, shatter his past self and rebuild a new one.

This required not only immense courage, determination, and魄力, but also wisdom!

Take Benítez, for example.

Why did he perform so poorly in his last two years at Liverpool?

Because his belief had wavered.

He discovered that the coaching methods he had excelled at since the start of his career, the tactical framework that had guaranteed his team’s invincibility, were no longer working.

In such situations, everyone’s first reaction is self-reflection.

Some part must have been done wrong, some player must have underperformed.

That’s why Benítez treated Xabi Alonso the way he did!

Wasn’t it the same for Mourinho?

Right now, Yang Cheng and Pep Guardiola were shining brightly, but in time, in a few years, they too would inevitably go through such a phase.

Their tactical decisions, their methodology, the underlying logic of all their actions, would all cease to be effective.

That’s when the real test for a head coach comes.

Whoever can adjust and endure the fastest will transform.

Isn’t that how Ferguson managed it?

That old demon was currently forcing the hand of Manchester United’s top brass and the Glazer family, vowing to rebuild a new peak for Manchester United and demanding additional investment.

He wanted to shatter his past self once again and forge a stronger, younger Manchester United!

But Wenger was not Ferguson.

Or rather, Wenger had never possessed Ferguson’s formidable mental strength.

Wenger was like a humorous, elegant, and composed French philosopher.

Such a person was precisely the type most prone to internal struggle.

“Arsène, I still remember, a long time ago, you told me how to develop a player.”

David Dein was silent for a long time before finally speaking again.

Wenger was quite surprised, unsure of what his old friend was trying to say.

“You said back then that when a young player joins the first team, he often faces the problem of finding his position, of finding the role he can play in the team.”

“But this process is often full of unknowns. Not just the head coach, even the player himself doesn’t know, and it’s hard to control.”

Wenger remained silent.

That was a fact.

Just like Wilshere.

Many people now say he’s suited for a holding role, but for the England national team, he plays very well in the number 10 position.

He can even play on the wing.

So which position is he truly best suited for?

No one knows!

The only way is to feel the stones to cross the river, taking one step at a time.

“And some mature professional players, in the mid-to-late stages of their careers, often have to face a transition, but they don’t know where to transition to or how to do it.”

As David Dein said this, he smiled at Wenger. “You said that as a head coach, you should be tolerant towards these players going through difficult times and give them more confidence and support for their poor performances.”

“And the help you give them is to increase their training intensity to the maximum, have them repeatedly try different positions and play different roles, thereby helping them find their direction for transition faster.”

Wenger suddenly understood what David Dein meant, and his eyes lit up.

“Arsène, I don’t know what you’re thinking or what you plan to do, but I’ll say the same thing I said back in 1996.”

“As long as I’m on the Arsenal board, as long as my voice carries any weight, your position will never be in jeopardy!”

As David Dein spoke these words, Wenger felt a mountain of trust and support.

Usually, this was what he gave to his players.

But now, David Dein had brought it to him.

So this is what it feels like to be trusted and supported. It really feels good!

A storm of emotions raged in Wenger’s heart, taking a long time to calm. His eyes, as he looked at David Dein, were filled with gratitude.

“David, I want to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Which is more important: championships or belief?”

David Dein was taken aback for a moment.

Clearly, he hadn’t expected Wenger to be struggling with this question.

But upon deeper reflection, it was indeed a problem that would trap someone like Wenger.

Thinking of this, David Dein suddenly burst into laughter.

Wenger was baffled.

Was the question that funny?

“I’m sorry, Arsène, I just think you’re like a child obsessing over a trivial point.”

Wenger still didn’t get it.

“This isn’t an exam at school, nor is it a job interview. Why must we choose one of two options?”

“Can’t we have both?”

Wenger was completely stunned.

“Look at Ferguson, how did he eliminate Manchester City?”

Before Wenger could answer, David Dein provided the answer himself, “Defense, counter-attack!”

“Right?”

Wenger nodded.

That was indeed the case.

“When he won the Champions League back then, didn’t he also rely on defending and counter-attacking?”

Wenger nodded again.

“But look, under his management, is Manchester United conservative? Apart from those very few specific matches, do you think he’s conservative?”

Ferguson’s Manchester United was universally recognized for playing an active, attacking style of football.

But it was precisely by relying on defending and counter-attacking that Ferguson won the Champions League.

“I know, Arsène, over these past years, the demand for home attendance rates, as well as your own tactical philosophy, have been constantly driving you, constantly protecting and reinforcing this belief of yours.”

“But think carefully about your players. They’ve followed you, fought for a whole season. Think about the hundreds of thousands, millions, even tens of millions of fans out there. How many years have they followed you?”

“What you need to do now isn’t to get tangled up in so-called beliefs or so-called championships.”

“Abandoning your belief doesn’t guarantee you’ll win a championship. Conversely, no matter how you win a championship, you can absolutely continue to hold onto your belief. Do the two conflict?”

“What you really need to do is to help your players find a tactic that you believe gives them the best chance of defeating the opponent!”

“As for success or failure, that’s decided on the football pitch!”

“No one will negate you because of one defeat. If they do, then it’s definitely not your problem!”

Wenger’s eyes, which had been clouded in fog, instantly became clear.

…

On the evening of April 26th, at London’s Emirates Stadium.

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Arsenal at home against Bayswater Chinese.

Before the match, in the dressing room.

All the Gunners players, including those not in the matchday squad, were gathered in the dressing room at this very moment.

The players in the matchday squad surrounded Wenger, while the players in the stands and the staff surrounded everyone.

After ten days of preparation, Wenger had already instilled the tactics he wanted to play into his players.

He didn’t need to arrange anything more.

Now, the only thing left to do was to motivate them.

But Wenger’s starting point left all the players completely puzzled.

“Have you heard of the G14?”

Everyone nodded.

Who playing football in Europe hadn’t heard of the G14?

“Then you must also know that the G14 actually has eighteen clubs, right?”

Everyone still couldn’t understand what Wenger was getting at, but they nodded nonetheless.

“I know this history best. They were originally an alliance formed by fourteen clubs that had won the Champions League, each one a giant in their respective league, representing the most powerful force in European football at the time.”

“Even UEFA was very wary of them.”

The players listened in silence.

Wenger had always been a very methodical person.

Everyone at Arsenal trusted him implicitly.

“In 2002, another four teams joined the G14: Bayer Leverkusen from the Bundesliga, Valencia from La Liga, Lyon from Ligue 1, and us, Arsenal from the Premier League.”

Wenger spoke at a steady pace, weaving his tale.

“This caused huge controversy not just in European football, but all over the world.”

“The G14 was for Champions League winners. Now they wanted to expand. Bayer Leverkusen had been a Champions League runner-up and were the reigning Triple runner-up, while Valencia had reached the Champions League final for two consecutive years, finishing as runners-up.”

“But on what grounds did Arsenal get in?”

When Wenger asked this question, he added just the right amount of emphasis.

This immediately stirred the emotions of everyone around him.

Because they all represented Arsenal!

The doubts of those people were not just questioning Arsenal, but also them.

“At the time, people said, this Premier League team’s best achievement was being UEFA Cup runners-up, they’d only reached the Round of 16 in the Champions League. What right did they have to join the G14, to stand alongside those Champions League winners and runners-up?”

“This wasn’t just one or two clubs, one or two people questioning it. It was everyone, a torrential wave of doubt.”

Wenger paused here at the right moment, giving the players ample time to digest, to feel the anger.

“I refused to accept this prejudice, but there was nothing I could do. Our record was indeed poor. We hadn’t even won the Champions League, hadn’t even reached the final.”

“So, the Arsenal players and I at that time were holding in a fire. In the 2003-04 season, we won the Premier League title with an unbeaten record. We swore to make everyone see us, see Arsenal, in a completely new light!”

“We wanted all the fans who support us, who support Arsenal, to stand tall and shout with pride.”

“We, Arsenal, are qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with any top giant in the world!”

“We are second to no team!”

The players’ emotions were fully aroused. One by one, they clenched their fists, some even unable to resist clapping for their head coach.

“In 2006, we reached the Champions League final. We went to Paris, France, full of confidence.”

“Everyone knows that Arsenal team had many French players, and many players who came from Ligue 1. They and I were all fired up, wanting to beat Barça at the Stade de France and win the club’s first-ever Champions League!”

“But…”

Wenger shouted these two words with almost all the strength in his body.

“We lost! We lost to a Barça with the super-geniuses Ronaldinho and Messi! We lost to the Barça of Deco, Iniesta, and Xavi!”

“No reasons, no excuses. We were simply not as good!”

Wenger raised his right hand, opened his palm, showing five fingers.

“Five years!”

“Lads, it has been five years since that battle in France.”

“Many people have asked me, which team was stronger: the unbeaten Arsenal of 2003-04, or the Arsenal that reached the Champions League final in 2006?”

Wenger shook his head forcefully. “Today, here, I want to tell you, it was neither of them!”

Everyone, especially the players surrounding Wenger, widened their eyes, their fervent gazes all focused on him.

Every one of them was filled with eager anticipation.

“In my heart, the strongest Arsenal of all time is you!”

“Perhaps you are still young, perhaps you don’t have enough trophies, and your unbeaten run isn’t as long as in the past, but you are the strongest Arsenal in my heart, the Arsenal I’ve poured countless drops of blood, sweat, and tears into building!”

Wenger grew more and more agitated as he spoke, finally opening his arms wide.

“I’ve been coaching for over thirty years, been in football for decades. In my heart, there has always been a dream.”

“Our Arsenal was founded in 1886. We have a history of over a hundred years. We have countless fans spread across London, England, Europe, and indeed the world. They too have always shared a common dream.”

“And you, my players, and your predecessors, Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, Campbell, Gilberto Silva… all of them, they have always had the same dream!”

All the players were so stirred up they were howling.

“That dream is called the Champions League title!”

When Wenger said it, almost everyone in the room had red eyes and was nodding vigorously.

“We are just one opponent away from reaching the Champions League final once again.”

“They are very strong, perhaps even unbeatable!”

“We’ve faced them several times this season and ended up losing, some very badly!”

“But, tonight, my players, I believe you can create a miracle!”

“I also believe that you can definitely achieve what all the Arsenal players of the past wanted to achieve, but couldn’t!”

“Fight for yourselves, for the Arsenal fans, for the Champions League title!”

…

From the moment the Portuguese head referee, Pedro Proença, blew the whistle to start the match, Yang Cheng could feel that tonight’s Arsenal was different.

The Gunners of the past had always played a fluid passing game, their style always on the softer side.

That was why they were often bullied in the Premier League.

But now, they seemed to have returned to that period of the 2003-04 season, everyone giving their all, fighting for their lives.

Wenger’s formation tonight was also different from usual.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Chygrynskiy, Koscielny, and Sagna;

Midfield: A trio of holding midfielders with Muntari, Toulalan, and Alexandre Song, with Fàbregas in front of them;

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin and van Persie.

At first glance, it was a classic defend-and-counter-attack setup.

The starting lineup was completely unexpected for Yang Cheng, and for everyone else.

And in the actual game, although Wenger’s team didn’t retreat to defend with all their might, they did play very conservatively.

They were also very aggressive.

This was completely different from their usual elegant and composed pass-and-move style.

Wenger’s team had always had a weakness: their defensive positioning was slow during the transition from attack to defense.

This was an old problem.

Because Wenger required his players to maintain their spacing at all times.

It might not look like much on the pitch, but in reality, the players ran a lot, consuming a huge amount of energy.

This was why Wenger’s teams often suffered from a physical collapse in the second half of the season, and why they were prone to problems during transitions.

But today, Wenger had completely plugged this loophole.

The attack was left to the trio of Fàbregas, Arshavin, and van Persie.

As soon as they lost the ball, Muntari and Alexandre Song would press high immediately, while Toulalan would quickly drop back to protect the defensive line.

It turned out that Wenger had always known how to solve his Achilles’ heel.

It was just a matter of tactical trade-offs.

Through this tactic of defending deep and counter-attacking, coupled with the players’ almost life-or-death approach on the pitch, Arsenal managed to block wave after wave of Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

Crucially, Wenger’s team was different from Mourinho’s Real Madrid.

They committed plenty of fouls, but they weren’t dirty, and they managed the threshold for getting carded well.

In addition, the three holding midfielders were all excellent defenders with great running ability, which caused a lot of trouble for Bayswater Chinese’s attack and organization.

At halftime, the two teams went in level at 0-0.

Bayswater Chinese completely controlled possession and tempo, but just couldn’t break through Arsenal’s defense.

In the second half, the situation remained largely unchanged.

In the past, Wenger’s teams were prone to collapsing in the second half of the season because their squad depth was insufficient.

But now, Wenger possessed a squad second only to Manchester City in the Premier League, and his squad rotation was excellent.

More importantly, for this match, Wenger had selectively given up on the previous Premier League Matchday 34.

In Matchday 33, Wenger’s team drew 1-1 at home against Liverpool.

At that time, Yang Cheng led his team in the FA Cup semi-final, thrashing Bolton 5-0.

During the midweek, Bayswater Chinese won their rescheduled Matchday 33 game 2-0 at home against Sunderland.

And just this past weekend, Yang Cheng’s team lost 1-0 away to Liverpool.

Wenger’s team also lost 2-1 away to Bolton.

Both teams had chosen to conserve their energy.

So, both teams were now in more or less their best condition, with excellent fitness levels.

The Arsenal players were even more fired up for this game, going all out against Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng made successive substitutions and continuously encouraged his players.

He knew that he and his coaching staff had miscalculated.

No one had expected Wenger to adopt a defend-and-counter-attack tactic.

It was really not like him at all!

What was even more unexpected was that Wenger’s defend-and-counter-attack was executed so well, and the players fought so desperately.

Just as the match reached the 86th minute, with both sides exhausted, Arsenal won the ball in their own half.

Substitute Gourcuff, upon receiving a teammate’s pass, executed a Marseille turn to get past the pressing Modrić, and sent a ball over the top into the left side of the penalty area.

Van Persie, despite being tightly marked by Pepe, still rushed forward quickly. Meeting the descending ball, he struck a volley with his left foot, lashing the ball into the near left side of the goal.

Courtois was a fraction of a second too slow to react to the close-range shot, and the ball squeezed past him at waist height.

1-0!

The entire Emirates Stadium erupted into a frenzy!

Van Persie ran wildly in a daze, celebrating his crucial goal.

Everyone from Arsenal stormed off the bench, chasing after van Persie.

All the fans in the stadium were cheering, singing for van Persie!

This was an absolutely golden goal!

“Arsenal’s performance tonight is very unfamiliar, yet very moving.”

“Every one of them gave their absolute all.”

“Perhaps, in terms of quality, they are indeed not as good as Bayswater Chinese.”

“But in this match, they fought their way to a goal!”

“And van Persie’s volley at this crucial moment has helped Arsenal take the lead in the first leg.”

“This will be a very, very important advantage for the Gunners!”

“Especially for the second leg, when they have to travel to Wembley Stadium.”

…

In the end, thanks to van Persie’s goal, Arsenal defeated Bayswater Chinese 1-0 at home.

Yang Cheng’s team played very well, controlling possession and tempo, managing twenty-three shots, but lacking just one thing: a goal.

Arsenal only had seven shots in the entire match, two on target, but scored one goal.

Yang Cheng truly hadn’t expected that one day, he would be on the receiving end of a van Persie volley.

But what surprised him most was Wenger’s transformation.

It wasn’t just Yang Cheng who was surprised; the media and fans in England and around the world were shocked.

No one had expected Wenger to adopt such a conservative tactic.

Sky Sports published a commentary immediately after the match, stating: Wenger secured a one-goal lead in the first leg with a solid defense.

The Champions League broadcaster believed that, looking at the whole game, Bayswater Chinese was the side with superior quality and control of the game. “Yang Cheng has every reason to feel aggrieved for his team; they performed better.”

The Times also wrote a commentary, opining, “The conservative side won!”

They too were very surprised by Wenger’s change.

“When the whole world thought this would be a classic end-to-end game, Wenger chose to betray himself. He used a more conservative defend-and-counter-attack to successfully snipe Bayswater Chinese at the Emirates Stadium.”

Even The Independent, which had always been biased towards Arsenal, stated in its post-match commentary, “Wenger chose between victory and football.”

“This was a very un-Wenger-like Arsenal performance!”

But The Independent also said that no matter how the media outside criticized, no matter how the fans attacked and satirized, Arsenal had secured a precious victory.

The first-leg lead would give Arsenal an advantage in the second leg away from home.

The day after the match at the Emirates, Manchester United lost 0-2 at home to Barça.

Ferguson’s team did not play conservatively; they still wanted to fight it out with Barça, but ended up conceding two goals to Pep Guardiola’s team, who took a 2-0 victory away from home.

This meant Barça had almost one foot in the Champions League final.

But after the match, many media outlets actually rated Ferguson’s Manchester United higher.

At the very least, the Red Devils had not been timid but had bravely charged at Barça’s goal.

This led to even more criticism and condemnation for Wenger’s Arsenal.

…

Defeated at the Emirates, Yang Cheng felt a sense of threat.

Especially with this transformation from Wenger.

Returning to the Premier League, Matchday 35 was immediately upon them.

Since the crucial second leg of the Champions League was only three days away, Yang Cheng once again fielded a rotated and substitute lineup.

As a result, they conceded a goal at home just seven minutes into the game.

Wolves centre-forward Steve Fletcher broke the deadlock.

But in the 27th minute, Theo Walcott equalized for the team.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 at home against Wolves.

Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 at home.

Manchester City beat West Ham United 2-1 at home.

Arsenal, meanwhile, beat Manchester United 1-0 at home.

Wenger’s team also made some rotations but still employed a defend-and-counter-attack tactic, successfully killing off Manchester United.

Ferguson had suffered two consecutive defeats.

After 35 rounds, Bayswater Chinese had 88 points with a record of 28 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses, sitting at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester City was in second place with 80 points.

Arsenal had 77 points, in third.

Liverpool also had 77 points, in fourth.

Manchester United had 66 points, and Chelsea had 65, placing them 5th and 6th respectively.

With three rounds left in the league, although Bayswater Chinese had dropped points recently, they still had an eight-point lead. As long as they secured a draw in the next round, they could clinch the title early.

As for the race for the top four, it was already completely over.

After Ferguson’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates, Manchester United was basically eliminated from the top four race.

In that match, Wenger once again used a defend-and-counter-attack tactic. This was clearly not out of fear of Ferguson’s Manchester United, but a more stable and confident approach.

Everyone knew that for Manchester United to have a chance at the top four, they had to beat Arsenal in this match.

Wenger used this mentality to get the better of Ferguson.

Using this defensive counter-attacking tactic for two consecutive games, although not ugly to watch, was indeed completely different from the Arsenal of the past.

Wenger didn’t see any problem with this transformation of his team.

“Sometimes, we need to make a trade-off between style and victory.”

But regarding Arsenal, Wenger still stated that the team’s overall tactical style would not change.

“We are still one of the most beautiful teams to watch in Europe!”

…

May 3rd, London’s Wembley Stadium.

The second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese at home against Arsenal.

Neither Yang Cheng nor Wenger made any adjustments to their starting lineups.

Both sides had rotated and rested during the weekend’s league matches.

And as soon as this match began, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative, creating a series of scoring opportunities and threatening Lloris’s goal.

But the French goalkeeper was very steady and didn’t give Bayswater Chinese any openings to score.

Wenger once again deployed his three-holding-midfielder system, with the attack still consisting of the trio of Arshavin, van Persie, and Fàbregas.

Yang Cheng, having learned his lesson from the first leg, instructed his players to be more patient, to continue controlling possession and tempo, while also stretching the play and relying on passing and movement to create openings.

After the start, Bayswater Chinese’s attack was fierce and created many threats.

Subsequently, seeing that his team couldn’t break through Arsenal’s defense, Yang Cheng immediately adjusted his attacking tactics.

Wenger’s strategy was to use his four midfielders—the three holding midfielders and Fàbregas—to firmly suppress Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Especially Modrić and Toni Kroos.

They were determined not to give them any chance to pass the ball smoothly.

Yang Cheng even had Marcelo and Piszczek push forward at times, acting as the team’s ball-carriers and playmakers on the flanks.

From the 32nd minute until the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese even managed to pin Arsenal deep in their own half, delivering a severe beating. But the Gunners stubbornly withstood the offensive pressure, managing to keep their goal intact.

The most dangerous chance came when Gareth Bale was about to put the ball into the net.

But at the crucial moment, Koscielny cleared the ball off the line.

The French centre-back ended up crashing into the post, splitting his head open and had to be stretchered to the sidelines for treatment.

This made Yang Cheng feel the determination of this Arsenal team!

The first half still ended 0-0.

As the second half began, Bayswater Chinese launched another blitz.

After attacking for a good ten minutes without a breakthrough, Yang Cheng immediately made a substitution.

Eden Hazard came on for Nemanja Matić to strengthen the attack.

But Wenger’s team still defended their backline grimly, leaving no gaps for Bayswater Chinese to exploit.

After the 75th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Giroud to form a two-man strike force with Robert Lewandowski.

Arsenal pretty much retreated with all their men.

Even the forwards, van Persie and Benzema, who had replaced Arshavin, actively tracked back to defend.

By the 85th minute, even Bayswater Chinese’s goalkeeper Courtois was frequently pushing up to the halfway line.

Both sides were virtually fighting down to their last man, down to the final moment.

In the last few minutes, players from both teams kept getting cramps, forcing the game to be paused repeatedly.

In the end, the Gunners, relying on their tenacious will, held off Bayswater Chinese’s tidal wave of attacks.

0-0!

For a full ninety minutes, Bayswater Chinese still couldn’t break through the Gunners’ goal.

Aggregate score 0-1. Bayswater Chinese were once again stopped at the Champions League semi-final!

On the sidelines, when Yang Cheng heard the referee’s final whistle, he shook his head and sighed helplessly.

“We all did our best!” Brian Kidd walked over to his side, gently patting Yang Cheng’s shoulder in consolation.

Yang Cheng had even given up a few league games just to be in the best possible condition to take down Arsenal.

But this Gunners team was just unbelievable!

“I’m even starting to suspect, have they been taking drugs?” Yang Cheng found it incredible.

Was this still the same Arsenal that had always been criticized for their soft style of play?

It was simply outrageous!

“Wenger was never a pushover. The Arsenal he managed back in the day was consistently the dirtiest team in the Premier League, perhaps without equal, and they were also always the best defensive team.”

Brian Kidd smiled wryly.

“For Wenger, playing a bit more conservatively is just returning to his old trade.”

Yang Cheng knew that, of course, but he still found it hard to believe.

“For the past few years, he’s always billed himself as the representative of beautiful football. Did he get kicked in the head by a donkey? Or did someone put pressure on him, forcing him to do this?”

“Then it could probably only be the Arsenal management,” Brian Kidd guessed.

But for something like this, unless the person involved speaks up, outsiders would never know.

Hearing this, Yang Cheng sighed.

He had originally been thinking about the quadruple.

But now, it seemed he could only aim for the Treble.

Out of nowhere, Wenger had snatched one title away!

And it was the fucking Champions League!

Out of politeness, Yang Cheng still went to the visiting team’s technical area to shake hands with Wenger, but he couldn’t describe how disgusted he felt inside.

“I’m telling you, Arsène, if you let Barça walk away from this stadium with the Champions League trophy, don’t you dare show your face to me again!” Yang Cheng threatened.

Wenger chuckled at that.

So this is how good it feels to win!

Why had he never realized it before?

“Don’t you worry, Yang Cheng. Barça are much easier to deal with than you are!”

Wenger, on the other hand, seemed exceptionally confident.

But for some reason, Yang Cheng had a feeling.

This damned old codger has gone bad!

He’s becoming more and more like Ferguson.

Chapter 223: The Treble! Bayswater Chinese Had a Great Season!

“Bayswater Chinese are the strongest team in European football today. Without strengthening our defense, we had no chance of winning!”

In the post-match press conference, Wenger spoke candidly to the media about the decisions he made over the two legs, while also acknowledging the strength of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

The Arsenal manager believed that his Gunners had shown a different kind of team spirit in these two matches.

“This is a team of heroes. Koscielny even spilled his blood on the pitch.”

“I am proud of every single player, whether they were on the field or not.”

“I am also grateful to all the Arsenal fans, both at home and those who came to the stadium. They have constantly given us support and strength, allowing us to persevere until the very end!”

After the heartbreak of losing the final last year, Arsenal had once again reached the Champions League final, and Wenger made no secret of his goal.

“Obviously, when you get to the Champions League final, you only have one objective, and that is to win.”

“Coincidentally, our opponents are Barça, our old rivals from 2006.”

Wenger believed that Pep Guardiola’s Barça was stronger than Frank Rijkaard’s.

“But the Arsenal of today is no longer the Arsenal of 2006. We are confident we can avoid repeating the mistakes of 2006!”

Wenger stated that it was not yet time for Arsenal to celebrate.

Only after playing the Champions League final, only after defeating Barça, would Arsenal have earned the right to celebrate.

As for the criticism and accusations from the outside world, Wenger expressed his understanding.

“In the past, many fans who love our style of football might be disappointed with our recent few matches.”

“But I want to say that this is not just my game, nor is it just the players’ game.”

“It belongs to everyone!”

“We may not have played with flair or beauty, but we won!”

“This is incredibly important for our entire team, for Arsenal!”

Wenger also reiterated that he would never change his footballing philosophy, and Arsenal would continue to adhere to their past style, merely adopting more pragmatic tactics in certain matches.

As for whether he would be conservative against Barça in the Champions League final?

“Why not?”

Wenger countered with a smile. “As long as we can win, we have no reason to refuse, right?”

Such a pragmatic Wenger was unfamiliar to many of the reporters present.

But they could find no reason to refute him.

…

“The fact is, over two legs, we couldn’t even score a single goal!”

“That’s the reason we couldn’t make it to the Champions League final!”

In his post-match press conference, Yang Cheng expressed great disappointment with the team’s elimination.

He believed that in such a high-intensity match, Bayswater Chinese had exposed quite a few problems.

“We are not yet strong enough, not perfect. We still have many areas to improve, and our players need to grow and progress further.”

Regarding Wenger and his Arsenal advancing to the final, Yang Cheng said that he had already offered his congratulations in person after the match.

“Arsenal deserved to advance. There’s nothing more to say about it.”

“I’ve never seen Arsenal play as conservatively as they have recently, investing so many resources into their defense.”

“It wasn’t just their backline defending; their three holding midfielders were defending, and Fàbregas also actively tracked back to defend.”

“Even forwards like Arshavin and van Persie were basically dropping back in front of our Number 4 role player.”

“This made the game incredibly difficult!”

“We tried many things, all sorts of methods to break down Arsenal’s defensive formation, but we couldn’t succeed.”

“Especially in the second leg, our players were somewhat anxious. There were quite a few flaws in our ball progression and passing combinations. In particular, we still need to improve our players’ coordination and chemistry.”

As for his players, Yang Cheng expressed his complete satisfaction.

“We won the League Cup, the Premier League title is basically in our hands, we’re in the FA Cup final, and we made it to the Champions League semi-final. If this is considered a failure for us, then I think that’s far too harsh.”

Yang Cheng stated that Bayswater Chinese would not be easily defeated.

“Yes, losing in the Champions League has put us all in a terrible mood.”

“Everyone can see that we were the best-performing team in European football this season, yet we ultimately missed out on the Champions League final.”

“But I believe we will stage a comeback very soon.”

“For us right now, the most important thing is to get out of this gloom as quickly as possible, because we still have the league and the FA Cup final to play.”

Towards the fans, Yang Cheng stated that the players had no reason to apologize.

“The one who should apologize is me. I am the team’s head coach. I failed to lead the players to victory. This is my failing, and I should apologize to all the Bayswater Chinese fans.”

“But I don’t think the players need to apologize. They did nothing wrong; they gave it their all.”

…

Yang Cheng’s views were supported by numerous media outlets after the match, including The Times.

The Times believed that the most successful aspect of Arsenal’s performance over the two legs was locking down Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

This made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese to launch their attacks from the front.

“Bayswater Chinese is currently recognized as the most powerful team in world football; you could even remove the ‘one of’ that usually follows.”

“This past season, especially after the arrival of Toni Kroos, everyone felt that Yang Cheng’s team had achieved a kind of perfect structure.”

“His deployment of players and his tactical thinking have many unique aspects.”

“More importantly, he possesses a group of enviable players.”

“Yang Cheng’s team has indeed swept across Europe this past season, making fans worldwide cheer and sing for their football!”

“But in the two legs against Arsenal, faced with the opponent’s high-pressure defense, they still exposed quite a few problems. Namely, when their midfield was suppressed, their attacking creativity also seemed to be stifled.”

The Times believed that Wenger’s defensive approach offered many valuable lessons.

For example, the way he restricted the trio of Modrić, Toni Kroos, and Nemanja Matić.

Wenger invested a tremendous amount of defensive manpower in this area.

Up front, the trident of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott also clearly had some shortcomings and deficiencies.

Specifically, their ability to break down a compact defense.

All three players were heavily reliant on passes from the midfield and defense, so when the midfield’s operations faltered, the effectiveness of the attack was greatly diminished.

“Yang Cheng did try to make adjustments, having full-backs Marcelo and Piszczek take on more passing and organizing responsibilities, especially Marcelo, who has that capability.”

“But it was clear that Bayswater Chinese didn’t do well enough in this regard.”

Finally, The Times concluded that in these two legs, Wenger had gambled his decades-long coaching reputation, even going against his own footballing philosophy, to adopt a defend and counter-attack strategy.

He won his bet, earning a place in the final.

“But he still needs to prove himself again in the Champions League final against Barça!”

…

The famous British columnist Martin Samuel lambasted Wenger in his column.

The well-known friend of Chelsea argued that Wenger had gone from one extreme to another.

“He defeated Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese with a kind of anti-football.”

“Arsenal won!”

“But, Wenger lost!”

Martin Samuel believed that while Bayswater Chinese had indeed lost the match and missed out on the Champions League final, Yang Cheng’s team had consistently displayed their footballing style and tactical philosophy throughout both legs.

“They attacked with all their might from start to finish!”

“Wenger and his Arsenal, on the other hand, were defending with all their might, not even willing to cross the halfway line.”

Martin Samuel also added that Yang Cheng’s team was indeed lacking a bit of luck.

Over the two legs, Bayswater Chinese had created so many clear-cut chances.

If Lady Luck had sided with Bayswater Chinese just once, Wenger’s team would not have made it to the final.

“Arsenal won the ticket to the final, but they lost football!”

The Guardian also shared the view that Bayswater Chinese had not lost.

“Failure? No! Bayswater Chinese Had a Great Season!”

The Guardian argued that defending is always easier than attacking.

Once, Yang Cheng’s team was also known for its defend and counter-attack style.

But in those years, they were still weak, even a lower-league team.

But ever since Bayswater Chinese entered the Premier League, ever since they began to grow strong, Yang Cheng has consistently implemented attacking football.

“This season’s Bayswater Chinese is great!”

“They have been competing for over eight months across four fronts, and they’ve already won the League Cup.”

“Before the second leg, with only half a month left in the season, they were still fighting on three fronts.”

“Looking across European football, only Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese could do this!”

“Even now, despite being knocked out of the Champions League, they have all but secured the Premier League title and have reached the FA Cup final.”

“Regardless of the outcome, Yang Cheng has every reason to be proud of himself and his players!”

The Guardian believed that while professional football judges heroes by success and failure, it should not be judged solely by championships.

“Whether or not Bayswater Chinese can win the Premier League and FA Cup titles at the end of this season, our assessment of this team, of Yang Cheng’s work, of the effort put in by the players…”

“Even our assessment of the abilities of this team and its players, should not change.”

“They are the most powerful team in world football today!”

“And we have every reason to believe and expect that in the new season, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese will definitely stage a comeback once again!”

…

Besides the British media, mainstream media from various European countries, including Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport, Germany’s Bild, France’s L’Équipe, and even Spain’s Marca, AS newspaper, and Diario Sport, were all nearly unanimous in their praise for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

As for Arsenal, they generally acknowledged the result but felt the Gunners’ victory lacked grace.

The newspapers from the Catalonia region, in particular, denigrated Wenger’s team as worthless.

They called it anti-football, dirty tactics, and so on…

Basically, they seemed to want to expel Wenger and his Gunners from the Champions League final.

But interestingly, despite savaging Arsenal, not a single one of them was willing to say: “We would rather have Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League final!”

This in itself was a very interesting phenomenon.

Even more interesting was that it wasn’t just the major media outlets supporting Bayswater Chinese.

After the match, Bayswater Chinese surveyed public opinion online and some media feedback in the real world, and came to the conclusion that despite being eliminated from the Champions League, their image as a strong team had paradoxically increased rather than diminished.

This further strengthened Bayswater Chinese’s status as a powerhouse in the minds of fans worldwide.

Why did this happen?

The general consensus among fans was that it was precisely because Bayswater Chinese was too strong!

So strong that another powerhouse like Arsenal had to betray their long-held traditional style and adopt a tactic of defending with all their might just to barely hold off Bayswater Chinese’s attack and secure a place in the final.

And such a strong team would definitely stage a comeback next season!

By then, having experienced setbacks and frustrations, Bayswater Chinese would only be stronger than they were now!

…

On the afternoon of May 7th, the 36th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese faced Newcastle away from home.

It had only been three days since the team was eliminated from the Champions League.

The Bayswater Chinese team that traveled north to challenge The Magpies had undergone significant squad rotation by Yang Cheng.

The main purpose was to give the key players enough rest.

For Bayswater Chinese, this match was of little consequence to the bigger picture.

In fact, even a draw would be enough to clinch the title with two rounds to spare.

But the players were clearly hit hard.

In the first half, Alan Pardew’s team, set up in a 4-4-2 formation with a defend and counter-attack posture, managed to repel Bayswater Chinese’s attacks time and again.

Krul played the part of a master goalkeeper repeatedly.

Then, in the 36th minute, on a quick counter-attack, Newcastle’s striker Ameobi broke through Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

In the 43rd minute, from a corner kick opportunity, centre-back Steve Taylor scored another goal.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese ended the first half trailing by two goals.

As the players walked off the pitch, they noticed that their head coach, who was always there to greet them on the touchline, was gone.

Even assistant coach Brian Kidd wasn’t there.

A sense of panic filled their hearts.

When the players hesitantly walked into the dressing room, they were greeted by Yang Cheng’s grim expression.

“Your performance in the first half was absolute shit!”

“You were like a bunch of cowards!”

“Losing one Champions League game has turned you into this?”

“Do you not feel ashamed to tell people that?”

The soundproofing in the St. James’ Park dressing rooms wasn’t ideal, to the point that from the players’ tunnel, one could hear Yang Cheng’s roars from the away dressing room.

This was followed by a series of crashing sounds.

In a fit of rage, Yang Cheng had grabbed the tactics board and smashed it in front of the players, then kicked over a water bottle in front of him.

This rare sight left all the players in the dressing room silent with fear.

“I’ll only say this once: anyone who doesn’t want to play properly can get the hell out!”

Afterward, Yang Cheng composed himself and began to lay out the tactics for the second half.

And just as the nearly fifty thousand Newcastle fans at St. James’ Park were hoping their team would upset the champions-elect, Bayswater Chinese, just one minute into the second half, Aaron Ramsey made an overlapping run and unleashed a power shot from the edge of the box, beating Krul.

1-2!

After scoring, the Welsh midfielder did not celebrate. Instead, he rushed straight to the goal, picked up the ball from inside the net, and urged his teammates to quickly return to their half to restart the game.

After placing the ball in the center circle, Aaron Ramsey continued to wave his arms, constantly encouraging his teammates.

“Wake up, we’re still behind!”

“Don’t let people laugh at us!”

Yang Cheng, standing on the touchline, heard Aaron Ramsey’s rally cry.

After the restart, Bayswater Chinese relentlessly launched their attacks.

Compared to the first half, this team was like it had been reborn.

The players were the same, but the spirit and fighting will they displayed were completely different.

In the 62nd minute, after receiving the ball on the left wing, Eden Hazard dribbled past several players and sent a diagonal pass over the top.

At the far post, Di María made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box and slotted the ball past Newcastle’s goal with his right foot.

2-2!

They were level!

But Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued.

Yang Cheng quickly made substitutions.

Harry Kane and Paul Pogba were eager to get on from the sidelines.

Especially Harry Kane.

When the team encountered difficulties and was stuck in a rut, the strength of the youth academy was the most determined and courageous.

Although a draw was enough to secure the title early, at this moment, what Bayswater Chinese needed was more than just a draw.

Yang Cheng quickly made the substitutions.

Harry Kane and Pogba came on at the same time.

And in the 76th minute, it was Harry Kane who dropped deep to receive a pass from Aaron Ramsey, turned, and delivered a brilliant pass. Pogba dribbled into the left side of Newcastle’s penalty area and scored with a power shot from his right foot.

3-2!

The comeback was complete!

In the 82nd minute, Pogba received the ball in the middle, and while sandwiched between two defenders, he relied on his physique and technical skill to create a passing opportunity, chipping a pass forward.

Inside the box, Giroud out-jumped the recent scorer Steve Taylor and headed the ball in from close range.

4-2!

A great comeback!

But Bayswater Chinese’s counter-offensive continued relentlessly.

Especially in the 87th minute, when Argentine centre-back Coloccini fouled Harry Kane during a defensive play, he was sent off with a direct red card by the head referee.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese was awarded a penalty kick.

Harry Kane originally wanted a teammate to take it, but everyone agreed that he should take it himself.

The English centre-forward placed the ball, took a deep breath, took a quick run-up, and scored in one smooth motion.

A clean penalty kick drilled into Newcastle’s goal once again.

5-2!

After scoring, an emotional Harry Kane ran off the pitch, sprinting to the broadcast camera on the sidelines, repeatedly pointing at the badge on his chest and shouting at the lens.

Amidst a sky full of boos, no one could hear what he was shouting.

But everyone could feel his sentiment.

He wanted to tell everyone that Bayswater Chinese are invincible!

He and all his teammates would defend that with all their might!

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese staged a great comeback to win 5-2 away from home.

The 17-year-old Harry Kane scored the first Premier League goal of his professional career.

Even though it was just a penalty kick!

The young centre-forward had been under a lot of scrutiny.

His talent wasn’t the best, which was why Arsenal had looked down on him back in the day.

But he was certainly the most diligent and hardworking, always meticulous in his training and matches.

So, even in the presence of a prodigious talent like Paul Pogba, he was not overshadowed.

On the contrary, as a homegrown player, a London native, and a genuine product of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, Harry Kane, despite being a rookie, carried himself with the air of a great leader.

He even dared to direct his teammates on the field.

This wasn’t just true for Harry Kane; Aaron Ramsey also showed it quite clearly.

At times like these, homegrown players demonstrated their immense value!

After this round of matches, everyone was singing praises for Bayswater Chinese.

Despite the poor performance in the first half, they had scored five goals in the second with headers and shots.

To clinch this season’s Premier League title early with such a great comeback was simply too spectacular!

Moreover, it was clear that Yang Cheng hadn’t gone all out in this match, with heavy squad rotation.

Also in this round, Manchester City lost 1-2 away to Everton.

Ancelotti’s team had clearly held back a bit and didn’t go all out.

Arsenal, on the other hand, had gone all-out against Bayswater Chinese in midweek, so they lost 1-3 away to Stoke City in this round.

Manchester United defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home.

The two teams, having missed out on the top four, were now battling for fifth and sixth place, which was of little consequence to the overall picture.

Liverpool, meanwhile, thrashed Fulham 5-2 away.

The two-striker combination of Torres and Suárez was showing more and more of its power.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese clinched the 10/11 season Premier League title with two games to spare.

This also made Bayswater Chinese the second team after Manchester United to achieve a Premier League three-peat!

After the match, major media outlets in England, Europe, and around the world sang praises for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng, however, was focused on preparing for the FA Cup final a week later.

After losing the Champions League, he was determined to win this trophy!

…

On the afternoon of May 14th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The FA Cup Final: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City.

Both teams fielded their strongest lineups.

Manchester City still deployed the Christmas tree 4-3-2-1 formation that Ancelotti was most familiar and skilled with.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Lúcio, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: A three-man holding midfield of Nigel de Jong, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré, with David Silva and Kaká in the middle;

Forward: Ibrahimović.

Unlike their last encounter, Gareth Barry was absent due to injury for this match, but Giorgio Chiellini had returned.

This would make Manchester City’s entire defense much more solid.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in the holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Over the past week, Yang Cheng had been repeatedly reminding his players, using the big comeback win against Newcastle in the league to motivate them and help the team move past the shadow of their Champions League elimination.

How effective this would be would have to be tested in a real match.

The atmosphere for this crucial battle was hyped to its peak by the performance of English talent show star Stacey Solomon.

The match began with Martin Atkinson’s whistle.

Bayswater Chinese immediately launched an all-out attack from the start.

In less than two minutes, the team won a corner kick.

They then continuously launched attacks, creating shooting opportunities.

But Manchester City’s defensive organization was extremely tight, especially after being tested in the Champions League knockout stages and seeing Arsenal’s successful example. Ancelotti had clearly adjusted his defensive setup.

The Blue Moons adopted a more targeted approach in this match.

When it came to defense, Ancelotti was second to none among the world’s top managers.

Many people had probably forgotten.

The Italian chubby guy sitting on The Blue Moons’ bench was once so conservative that even the fans of a team like Juventus couldn’t stand it!

Manchester City defended with all their might, and it wasn’t until the 20th minute that they managed to get the ball into the penalty area for the first time.

When Ibrahimović received the ball in the box, he was disturbed by Courtois. His touch was a bit hesitant, and he failed to get a shot off in time, missing a golden opportunity.

Just one minute later, David Silva delivered a brilliant pass, and Kaká’s shot after breaking into the box was blocked by Pepe, failing to threaten the goal.

This was Manchester City’s first shot of the match.

But soon, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

The most threatening attack of the entire first half came in the 35th minute.

After dropping deep to receive the ball, Lewandowski shook off his defender and sent a through ball.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed run forward, successfully beating the offside trap to receive Lewandowski’s pass and break into the left side of the penalty area.

Under pressure from Lúcio, the Welshman played a cut-back pass to the front of the six-yard box.

Theo Walcott had been following the play, and he made an overlapping run to meet Gareth Bale’s pass with a tap-in shot.

Incredibly, Joe Hart, facing this close-range shot, miraculously saved the ball as if divinely inspired.

This stunned the entire Wembley Stadium.

No one had expected Joe Hart to pull off such a world-class save against his former club.

Later, just before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale had a direct free kick opportunity from the right channel.

But this time, Gareth Bale sent the ball high over the bar.

Ultimately, the first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Bayswater Chinese had taken 14 shots, while Manchester City had only 4.

After changing ends for the second half, the game largely continued in the same vein as the first.

Bayswater Chinese launched an all-out attack, while Manchester City defended and counter-attacked.

When the match reached the 56th minute, Pirlo sent a good pass from the back to the feet of Ibrahimović in the penalty area.

But the Swedish centre-forward’s shot after controlling the ball was blocked by Thiago Silva and went out for a corner.

The subsequent corner kick ended with a long shot from Yaya Touré that went high.

The whole situation seemed to be heading towards a stalemate.

Especially after the 60-minute mark, the pace slowed down noticeably.

This made many people worry, would Bayswater Chinese repeat the scene of losing to Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final?

Even the Sky Sports commentator thought, “Yang Cheng should probably adjust the team’s tactics quickly and strengthen the attack.”

“Perhaps, he should bring on Hazard now.”

“With the Belgian’s dribbling ability, he should be able to contribute more on the pitch.”

But just as the Sky Sports commentator’s voice faded, Bayswater Chinese produced a very beautiful attack.

In the 62nd minute, Matić passed to Piszczek, and the Pole played a straight ball to Walcott.

The Little Tiger received the ball with his back to goal and immediately passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder suddenly dribbled forward, actively finding Lewandowski who had dropped back.

The two completed a very neat one-two give-and-go on the edge of the box in the right channel.

When he got the ball back, Modrić was already on the right side of the penalty area.

He sent a diagonal pass, trying to find Gareth Bale on the left side of the box.

However, Lúcio read the ball’s path accurately, positioned himself in time, and cleared the ball away.

The ball landed in Manchester City’s 30-meter area.

Toni Kroos was the first to control the ball.

The German midfielder looked up to assess the situation ahead.

Manchester City was pushing their defensive line forward, trying to force Bayswater Chinese’s attacking players out of their penalty area.

Lewandowski was far away, Walcott was in an offside position, Gareth Bale…

Yes, Gareth Bale!

Toni Kroos saw that the Welshman, having failed to receive Modrić’s pass, had decisively dropped back as Manchester City’s defensive line moved up, and was not offside at that moment.

Moreover, he was always poised to sprint forward.

When Toni Kroos saw him, without a second thought, he immediately sent a through ball with his right foot.

The German midfielder had been with the team for a year; he knew how fast Gareth Bale was.

He knew how much of a lead to give him on a pass like this.

He was sure that as long as Gareth Bale started his run immediately, he would be able to catch up to it before the byline.

This pass was delivered very quickly and suddenly.

Because if it wasn’t fast enough, not sudden enough, it would never penetrate the two defensive lines formed by Manchester City’s three holding midfielders and four defenders.

Everyone in the stadium thought that the pass was overhit.

But in the next second, as Gareth Bale made a blistering run forward, storming into the penalty area like lightning and heading straight for the byline, both the fans watching on TV and those in the stadium let out a collective gasp of astonishment.

So fast!

So fast that before anyone could react, Gareth Bale had already reached the byline on the left side of Manchester City’s penalty area.

For some reason, Joe Hart chose not to come out.

Perhaps he too thought the ball would go out of play.

So, when Gareth Bale charged over, Joe Hart was a bit flustered.

The Manchester City goalkeeper was standing almost glued to the left post.

But as Gareth Bale reached the byline, just as the ball was about to go out, the Welshman, in a very awkward posture, passed the ball back with his left foot.

Then, he lost his balance completely and fell out of play.

The ball went towards the penalty spot.

Joe Hart’s entire body turned with the ball.

And Lewandowski, who had just run to the edge of the box, perfectly timed his run into the penalty area, towards the penalty spot, towards the ball that Gareth Bale had passed.

For a moment, everyone’s movements seemed to slow down.

But in the next second, Lewandowski slotted the ball straight into Manchester City’s goal with a tap-in.

The entire shooting process was very quick, very clean!

The ball hit the back of the net!

1-0!

The next second, cheers from the Bayswater Chinese fans erupted throughout Wembley Stadium!

Even the Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but cheer for Lewandowski’s goal!

“That was brilliant!”

“In the 62nd minute, an assist from Gareth Bale, and Robert Lewandowski scores the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese with a calm finish!”

“After an hour of attacking, Bayswater Chinese finally got their goal!”

“1-0!”

“Manchester City’s situation is now very unfavorable for them.”

“Ancelotti clearly needs to make adjustments quickly.”

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored, Ancelotti immediately made a substitution.

Carlos Tevez came on.

Then Robinho replaced David Silva.

At this point, Manchester City’s tactic looked a bit like a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Pirlo and Yaya Touré formed a double pivot, with Robinho, Kaká, and Tevez lurking behind Ibrahimović.

Manchester City began to launch a series of counter-attacks.

But in the 79th minute, after winning the ball in midfield, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

Gareth Bale tried to initiate an attack on the left wing.

But this time, Manchester City’s defense recovered very quickly.

Forced, the Welshman, upon reaching the final third, chose to play a pull-back to the overlapping Marcelo to reorganize.

The Brazilian full-back appeared in the left channel, received the ball, and played a low pass to the arc of the penalty area.

Lewandowski received the ball with his back to the goal, suddenly backheeled it towards the left side of the box.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run behind Lúcio.

Unlucky Brazilian centre-back!

If he were younger, he would have been able to turn and track back in time.

But now, he could only watch helplessly as Gareth Bale rushed past and shot low towards the far corner with his left foot.

Just as everyone thought it was a goal, Giorgio Chiellini appeared in time and, near the goal line, made a sliding tackle to clear the ball away from the goal.

The ball was still in the six-yard box.

The whole scene was a chaotic mess.

Before anyone could react, Theo Walcott had already darted out, beating everyone to it, and smashed the ball into Manchester City’s goal with a left-footed power shot.

2-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium completely transformed into a sea of celebration for Bayswater Chinese!

If the one-goal lead just now wasn’t secure enough, then Walcott’s goal had sealed the game!

In the final ten minutes, no matter how Manchester City organized and planned their attacks, they could not break through Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Yang Cheng then made a series of substitutions.

In the end, they managed to hold onto the 2-0 scoreline until the end of the match.

At Wembley Stadium, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 2-0 to win the 10/11 season FA Cup!

Combined with their earlier League Cup and Premier League titles, Bayswater Chinese had successfully won the Treble!

The moment Atkinson’s final whistle blew, countless fans in the stands could no longer contain themselves, rushing out of their seats and cheering wildly for Bayswater Chinese.

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“Congratulations to Yang Cheng and his players!”

“With goals from Robert Lewandowski and Theo Walcott, they defeated Manchester City 2-0 to win the FA Cup.”

“At the same time, they have also won the FA Cup, League Cup, and Premier League, achieving the Treble!”

“In the history of England’s top flight, no team has ever won the domestic Treble. Bayswater Chinese is the first team to achieve this honor!”

“At the same time, they have won the Treble again, following their success in the 08/09 season!”

“Compared to the Bayswater Chinese of 08/09 and the Manchester United of 98/99, they are missing a Champions League trophy but have a League Cup instead.”

“While this undoubtedly reduces the prestige of their Treble this season, achieving a Treble is still an outstanding accomplishment!”

“Especially considering that Bayswater Chinese originally had a chance at the quadruple.”

“And we have every reason to believe, and to look forward to, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese bringing us even more surprises in the future.”

…

After Yang Cheng’s team won the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium, they were met with a tide of praise from the outside world.

Ancelotti was the first to congratulate Yang Cheng after the match.

During his post-match interview with the media, he repeatedly affirmed the achievements of Bayswater Chinese.

Major media outlets in England, Europe, and around the world also sang praises for Yang Cheng’s team.

As The Guardian had previously said, Bayswater Chinese had completed a great season!

This was the Treble!

France’s L’Équipe even dedicated extensive coverage to Yang Cheng and his team, believing that Bayswater Chinese was entering a harvesting period for championship honors.

Because this young team was gradually maturing.

A core group of players led by Pepe and Modrić were entering the peak of their professional careers.

What was even more interesting was that three days after the FA Cup final, Bayswater Chinese appeared at Wembley Stadium once again.

This was the rescheduled match for the 37th round of the Premier League.

The other eight matches had already been played over the weekend, but the two matches involving Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City were postponed to Wednesday due to the FA Cup.

Manchester City’s opponent was Stoke City.

Bayswater Chinese’s opponent was West London’s Fulham.

Moreover, this was also their last home game of the season.

Before the match, all the players of The Cottagers, led by their manager Mark Hughes, formed a guard of honor within the stadium to welcome Bayswater Chinese, who had just won the FA Cup and the league title.

A full house of ninety thousand fans watched Bayswater Chinese enter the pitch.

Captain Modrić held the FA Cup trophy and led the team out.

As each player came out, their name was announced by the stadium announcer, and they were greeted by cheers from the fans.

Especially Yang Cheng, who was at the back of the line.

When he entered the field, the entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause and endless cheers.

This filled the eyes of Mark Hughes, who was part of the guard of honor, with envy!

Today, Bayswater Chinese would also be taking home the Premier League trophy!

Mark Hughes felt a real pang of bitterness in his heart.

The young Yang Cheng was like a trophy-harvesting machine, constantly claiming championships and honors.

And the Bayswater Chinese team he had built had convinced everyone.

So, when Yang Cheng walked past Mark Hughes, the Fulham manager smiled, shook his hand, and offered his congratulations.

Yang Cheng also politely expressed his gratitude.

But perhaps because of the guard of honor at the start of the game, Mark Hughes’s players held some resentment in their hearts, and they played with great aggression in the subsequent match.

They received a total of five yellow cards.

But Bayswater Chinese scored a goal in the 4th minute of the first half and another in the 49th minute of the second half.

Interestingly, both goals came from Vincent Kompany.

One was from a corner kick, and the other from a free kick in the attacking third.

This had to be said, was truly incredible.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Fulham 2-0 at home.

After the match, a temporary presentation stage was set up on the pitch.

The Premier League trophy presentation ceremony is different from those for the FA Cup and League Cup.

A stage with prominent sponsor advertisements must be set up in the center of the pitch.

Presenting the award to Yang Cheng were The FA Chairman David Bernstein, CEO Alex Horne, and The Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore.

Amidst the cheers of ninety thousand fans, captain Modrić once again lifted the league championship trophy!

The League Cup trophy had also been brought to the stadium.

After the presentation, Modrić and his teammates, holding the three championship trophies, did a lap of honor around the pitch, interacting with the fans.

The atmosphere was exceptionally electric!

Ninety thousand fans were singing for their team.

During the subsequent address to the fans, players including Modrić, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Robert Lewandowski all shouted that next season, they would win back the Champions League trophy for the team to make up for this season’s regret!

The atmosphere reached its absolute peak.

Sky Sports was also broadcasting live.

Through the live camera feed, many fans in the stands were seen with tears streaming down their faces.

These were clearly tears of joy!

Afterward, the entire Bayswater Chinese team boarded a prepared open-top bus, taking the three championship trophies with them, and traveled north from Wembley Stadium to the Brent training center.

Before the Prudential Stadium was officially opened, the club’s trophy room was located at the Brent training center.

Countless fans followed behind in a long procession, creating an exceptionally lively scene.

Even more fans who heard the news joined the victory parade.

Chapter 224: Surpassing Real Madrid! The Centre-Back Crisis Returns! A Double After Half a Century!

In the final round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese drew 2-2 away at Tottenham Hotspur, with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

With that, all of this season’s Premier League matches came to a close.

Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 30 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses, secured this season’s Premier League title with 95 points.

Following closely behind was Ancelotti’s Manchester City, who finished with 86 points, 9 behind Bayswater Chinese.

Liverpool came in third with 80 points.

Wenger’s Gunners once again became The Fourth Place Fiend, managing only 78 points to finish fourth.

A key reason for the Gunners dropping points late in the season was their focus on the Champions League campaign at the expense of the league, which led to less than ideal results domestically.

For Wenger, securing a top-four finish or fighting for third place held little meaning.

In the final round, for instance, they fielded a full reserve lineup away at Fulham, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Manchester United finished fifth in the Premier League with 74 points, missing out on next season’s Champions League.

Chelsea managed 66 points, finishing in sixth.

After the league season concluded and the team disbanded for the break, Yang Cheng and the coaching and technical teams held their customary meeting to summarize the team’s performance, its successes and failures.

Overall, Bayswater Chinese had still been outstanding.

They had achieved remarkable results on all fronts.

At one point, they were even in contention for a quadruple.

In the Champions League, it went without saying; they reached the semi-final, and their overall performance was very stable.

The real area with some issues, paradoxically, was the league.

Bayswater Chinese scored 101 league goals, breaking the century mark, which testified to the team’s potent attack.

Among the scorers, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and others had goal tallies similar to last season.

Both young players showed steady improvement in their overall performance.

However, Robert Lewandowski scored 25 league goals this season, four fewer than last season.

Looking at the league as a whole, scoring goals was indeed more difficult this year than in previous years.

With 25 goals, Lewandowski successfully defended his title as the Premier League’s top scorer.

Following him were Gareth Bale with 19, van Persie with 18, and Darren Bent with 17.

Clearly, there was a significant gap between the top scorers.

The technical team believed that while player form naturally fluctuated, a crucial factor was the steady improvement in the overall strength of the mid-to-lower-table Premier League teams, making it increasingly difficult to score.

Under these circumstances, Gareth Bale still scored 19 goals and Theo Walcott 15, matching their totals from last season.

However, based on their overall performances, both players had actually made very significant progress.

The real problem for Bayswater Chinese was their defense.

This season, Bayswater Chinese conceded a total of 30 goals.

Although they were still the best defensive team in the Premier League, their overall defensive standard had noticeably declined compared to the past.

The technical team analyzed the distribution of the 30 conceded goals in detail and presented a report.

Using Christmas as a dividing line, Bayswater Chinese conceded only 11 goals in the first 18 rounds.

But in the subsequent 20 rounds, they conceded a whopping 19 goals.

This included the 5-4 victory.

The peak period for conceding goals began in February.

That was precisely when the team was competing on four fronts, with the most congested fixture list.

After the 5-4 home victory against Manchester City in the 25th round, Bayswater Chinese’s rate of conceding goals rose sharply.

In the end, the technical team’s conclusion was that the team’s defense was affected by competing on multiple fronts, and in the second half of the season, especially from February onwards, the quality of the team’s defense showed a clear downward trend.

This was, in fact, difficult to avoid.

You can talk about squad rotation, but there is an undeniable gap in ability between players.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the team to maintain a perfectly stable level of performance.

Additionally, the arrival of Toni Kroos greatly enriched Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

In the first half of the season, the team was brilliant, playing with irresistible momentum.

But it didn’t take long for everyone else to wake up and start developing various targeted tactics.

At the end of the day, Toni Kroos was only 21 years old.

The coordination among the three midfielders, as well as between the attack, defense, and this new midfield trio, clearly had some issues. These were all things that needed to be resolved this summer.

After the Champions League semi-final loss to Arsenal, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had discussed the problems in the match.

The conclusion at the time was that their midfield had been suppressed.

Arsenal had committed heavy numbers to the midfield.

To some extent, this was hard to prevent.

Even a team as dominant as the Barça from Yang Cheng’s previous life was eventually countered by Inter Milan, Manchester United, and Real Madrid, wasn’t it?

Ultimately, in the world of football, defending is much easier than attacking.

That’s why goals in football are so scarce.

But Yang Cheng still hoped the team could further strengthen and improve.

Especially the role of the two full-backs.

“Marcelo and Piszczek are two different types of full-backs. Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Walker are not yet capable of challenging their starting positions.”

Brian Kidd continued Yang Cheng’s line of thought, analyzing the next steps.

“From some of our performances this season, Marcelo still tends to play a free-roaming attacking role on the left. He likes to have the ball and control possession.”

“The next step is to meticulously craft our left-sided attack, involving Gareth Bale or Eden Hazard or Di María, Marcelo, and Toni Kroos.”

“By using the attack on the left to pin down the opposition and draw their defensive attention, we can then use Toni Kroos’s long pass to switch play to the right. This attacking route will be difficult for opponents to defend.”

“But the key is, both before and after the switch, we need to carefully study the attacks and combinations on both flanks.”

Previously, the coaching staff had proposed moving Modrić to left central midfielder and Toni Kroos to right central midfielder.

But based on the results in actual matches, this was not ideal.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Real Madrid had also tried such a formation.

Yang Cheng now mostly provided the general direction; the specifics of execution and implementation were up to Brian Kidd and the coaching staff.

But as Yang Cheng listened to their discussion, he felt a sense of irony.

Who would have thought that the biggest problems for Bayswater Chinese would be in the Premier League, a competition they had won by a landslide?

Conversely, in the Champions League, despite losing to Arsenal, they had the fewest problems.

In fact, they had barely made any major mistakes.

Often, football is just this counter-intuitive.

…

After the coaching staff meeting, Yang Cheng headed to his office in Grosvenor Square, in the heart of London’s Soho district, for another meeting.

This was also an annual routine meeting.

But this time, it was different from previous years.

As usual, Adam Crozier was chosen to announce the club’s financial performance over the past season.

Despite Bayswater Chinese recently renewing contracts and signing new stadium naming rights deals, those contracts would not take effect until the 2011-2012 season.

In other words, these deals were not included in Bayswater Chinese’s revenue for the current season.

The revenue was still divided into three main categories.

Matchday revenue, which was £155 million last season, saw a slight increase to £165 million this season.

A rise of £10 million.

If this were 2003, Yang Cheng would have jumped for joy on the spot.

But now, with Bayswater Chinese being such a huge enterprise, this small increase was somewhat insignificant.

The reason, however, was easy to understand.

Matchday income had essentially reached its peak.

Unless Bayswater Chinese renovated Wembley Stadium, a significant increase was highly unlikely.

There was another option: raising ticket prices.

But Bayswater Chinese planned to save that ace up their sleeve until 2012.

So, matchday income remained largely static.

In terms of prize money and broadcasting fees, Bayswater Chinese had also made significant progress this season.

This was mainly thanks to the Premier League’s overseas broadcasting rights sales reaching a new high.

As Premier League champions, Bayswater Chinese received £60.5 million in broadcast revenue this season.

This was the highest broadcast share in Premier League history, breaking the record set by Bayswater Chinese themselves last season.

In the Champions League, despite being knocked out in the semi-final, Bayswater Chinese still earned €38 million in broadcast fees and prize money.

From these two sources alone, Bayswater Chinese’s income reached £98.5 million.

Adding the revenue from participating in the International Champions Cup in the United States last summer, plus the prize money from winning the League Cup and FA Cup.

All told, Bayswater Chinese’s income in this category for the season broke the £100 million mark, reaching £115 million.

Among the three major areas, commercial income also achieved high-speed growth.

Although the two blockbuster contracts with Prudential, the kit sponsorship with Puma, and deals with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Budweiser were only set to begin next season, the club had signed several new commercial sponsorships.

For example, South Korea’s Hankook Tire became Bayswater Chinese’s global tire partner, with the sponsorship fee immediately jumping from the original £2 million to £5 million.

South Korea’s KT Corporation and Japan’s NTT also successively upgraded their contracts with Bayswater Chinese, each paying £3 million per year.

Previously, their sponsorship fees were only £1 million.

From these three contracts alone, Bayswater Chinese’s annual income increased by £7 million.

Additionally, Bayswater Chinese holds half of the players’ image rights.

Over the past period, the team has been actively promoting the commercial value of its players, especially stars like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Robert Lewandowski, Aaron Ramsey, and Modrić.

They have all signed numerous sponsorship deals.

Bayswater Chinese also earned a handsome income from this.

Finally, Adam Crozier announced that the team’s commercial income for the past season had increased from the previous £83 million to £105 million.

This meant that as of this season, Bayswater Chinese had achieved over £100 million in all three revenue streams, a unique accomplishment among all Premier League teams.

It was likely the only club in Europe to do so!

And the total revenue for this season would reach a club record high of £385 million.

Compared to last season, this was another double-digit growth of 10%.

When Adam Crozier proudly announced this achievement, everyone in the meeting room was incredibly excited.

£385 million, at the current exchange rate between the pound and the euro, would definitely exceed €480 million.

“What is Real Madrid’s approximate revenue for this season?”

While everyone was still in shock, Yang Cheng was more focused on their competitors.

From the current outlook, there was no way Barça could catch up to Bayswater Chinese.

Not even if they reached the Champions League final.

“According to the intelligence I’ve received, they are also projected to be around €480 million, so we should be quite close,” Adam Crozier replied with a smile.

Yang Cheng nodded with a faint smile.

“Looking at the three anin revenue streams, we are definitely far ahead of Real Madrid in matchday income.”

“Their preliminary estimate is about the same as last year, €165 million, but ours is £165 million.”

“In terms of broadcasting rights, we should be about the same as Real Madrid, but in commercial income, we are still far behind them.”

Taking everything into account, Bayswater Chinese’s overall income was now on par with Real Madrid’s.

But this was only temporary.

Next season, with the upgraded sponsorships from Prudential, Puma, Audi, Budweiser, China Umbro, and others, Bayswater Chinese’s total revenue would reach a whole new level.

The currently calculated increase from just these five contracts would be a surge of £50 million in income for Bayswater Chinese.

By then, Bayswater Chinese would completely surpass Real Madrid!

So, before this, what many in the media were focused on was simply whether Real Madrid, the leader in European football revenue, could hold onto their throne for this season.

Next season?

There was no way they could hold on!

…

Although the team’s revenue continued its rapid growth this season, with a chance to even surpass Real Madrid, Bayswater Chinese maintained a cautious management strategy.

This was especially true regarding player salaries.

They didn’t plan to make any changes this year, at least.

The salary cap remained at £120,000 per week.

In the subsequent core management meeting, Yang Cheng mentioned that he did not plan to make any moves in this summer’s transfer market.

The main reason was his satisfaction with the current squad.

Moreover, there were currently no major issues in the dressing room, and the players were generally content with their situations at the club.

The only slight headache was Rakitić.

The arrival of Toni Kroos had a significant impact on Rakitić.

The Croatian midfielder had been a regular starter, but after Kroos joined, though he still got a lot of playing time, his importance had clearly diminished.

Furthermore, from every perspective, Yang Cheng clearly valued Toni Kroos more.

This left Rakitić feeling a bit sour, and he had raised the issue with Yang Cheng a few times.

Yang Cheng’s approach with Rakitić was still primarily appeasement, and the player had not caused any trouble.

But the Toni Kroos and Modrić partnership was one that Yang Cheng highly valued.

It could be considered the core midfield for Bayswater Chinese for the next decade, or even longer.

On this point, Yang Cheng was very clear.

Speaking of transfers, there were quite a few issues in the Premier League this season.

For instance, Ferguson was forcing someone’s hand, saying he wanted to rebuild a younger, more competitive Manchester United.

The players he wanted to sign included Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers, Sneijder from Chelsea, Juan Mata from Valencia, Cavani from S.S.C. Napoli, and Hulk from Porto…

At the same time, Manchester United also needed to sign a goalkeeper.

The media speculated that Ferguson’s rebuild of Manchester United would require an investment of at least over £100 million.

But the question now was, could the Glazer family and Manchester United actually come up with that much money?

In January 2010, the Glazer family issued £500 million in bonds to pay off the debt from their acquisition of Manchester United.

Over the past seven years, the interest, fees, and loan principal repayments from the Glazer family’s purchase of Manchester United totaled £350 million, all paid by Manchester United.

Note, Manchester United paid this all out of pocket.

Not only did the Glazers not pay a single penny themselves, but they also drew high salaries and various fees from Manchester United every year.

Now, Manchester United had to pay £42 million in dividends for these bonds.

This was a real cash expense.

And after finishing only fifth in the Premier League last season and missing out on the Champions League, Manchester United’s losses were at least £60 million.

This included over £30 million in Champions League broadcast fees and prize money, and £20 million in matchday income from participating in the Champions League.

It was well known that Champions League ticket prices were always much higher than those for the Premier League.

All things considered, Manchester United had lost at least over £100 million.

And that didn’t even account for the losses from sponsorships.

Given the current situation, it was not certain that Manchester United could actually produce £100 million to let Ferguson operate in the transfer market.

“From the information we’ve gathered, Manchester United is certainly hoping to help Ferguson sign players now. They will probably find a way to get the money. After all, transfers don’t require a lump-sum payment,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

“Missing out on the Champions League is a huge financial loss every year. Manchester United must stop the bleeding and recover as quickly as possible.”

“Are they confirmed to be signing Sneijder?” Yang Cheng asked curiously.

“It seems likely. According to the latest news, Guus Hiddink has decided to leave Chelsea, and The Blues are looking for a new manager. Sneijder’s situation at Chelsea is still quite awkward,” Adam Crozier said.

After the Dutch midfielder joined Chelsea, he failed to deliver a convincing performance as expected by the public, seeming somewhat unable to acclimatize.

This was also related to Chelsea’s overall tactical style.

Mikel was in the holding role, with Lampard and Essien as the central midfielders.

Unable to challenge Lampard’s position, could Sneijder replace Essien’s role?

Or would he choose to play a holding role, replacing Mikel?

If he couldn’t do either, wouldn’t Sneijder’s situation become awkward?

Of the two players Hiddink had insisted on signing, Eto’o had played an important role, but Sneijder had not lived up to expectations.

Now, Hiddink was gone, and it was hard to say who the next head coach would be.

However, there were reports that Chelsea was considering signing Juan Mata from Valencia.

More interestingly, Manchester United was also interested in Juan Mata.

That’s how things are with transfers; they are murky and confusing.

Until a deal is finalized, no one knows what the outcome will be.

“Also, according to our sources in France, the Qatar Investment Authority has officially acquired a 70% stake in Paris Saint-Germain for €50 million.”

“About €20 million of that will be used to pay off the club’s previous debts. The Qatari consortium has promised to bring world-class stars to Paris Saint-Germain.”

Yang Cheng was not surprised to hear this.

He had long anticipated this outcome.

The entry of the Qatari consortium into Ligue 1 was a high-probability event.

In contrast, the outside world was completely shocked.

For the past six months or more, the Qatari consortium had been consistently linked with the Premier League.

Especially with Manchester United.

The offer was reportedly as high as £2 billion.

This led Manchester United fans to resent the Glazer family even more, believing their asking price was too high and outrageous, which had scared off the investors from the Middle East.

Otherwise, if Manchester United had been acquired by the Qatari consortium, wouldn’t all their debt and transfer fund problems have been solved?

With the Qatari consortium entering Ligue 1, a wave of Middle Eastern capital, led by Al Jazeera, also began to enter French football.

This undoubtedly continued to raise the profile of Ligue 1.

“Looking at it now, our decision to acquire Nice last summer was a massive stroke of genius!”

The look in Adam Crozier’s eyes as he looked at Yang Cheng was filled with admiration.

Putting aside the sporting achievements and the series of moves after acquiring Nice, the very act of Middle Eastern capital entering Ligue 1 would have a major impact on the valuation of the entire league.

What’s more, under Ronald Koeman’s management, Nice’s performance this past season was truly eye-catching.

…

As the Premier League season concluded, the eyes of football fans all over the world turned to the Champions League final on May 28th.

The match was held at Wembley Stadium in London.

Yang Cheng was also invited to attend the final.

Before the match, Wenger launched a war of words against Barça.

At the pre-match press conference, the Gunners’ head coach boldly declared that he had found Barça’s weakness.

However, Wenger did not reveal what it was.

When the match actually began, Wenger’s lineup and formation were a surprise to everyone.

The Gunners’ head coach, in a complete reversal of his strategy against Bayswater Chinese in the semi-final, abandoned his defensive posture and instead adopted a more proactive and aggressive tactic.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Chygrynskiy, Koscielny, and Eboué;

Midfield: Alexandre Song in a holding role, with Fàbregas and Wilshere in the center;

Forwards: Arshavin, van Persie, and Nasri.

The extremely conservative three holding midfielders were gone, replaced by a more attacking 4-3-3 formation.

This stunned everyone.

Barça, as usual, employed a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Valdés;

Defense: Abidal, Puyol, Piqué, and Daniel Alves;

Midfield: Busquets in a holding role, with Iniesta and Xavi in the center;

Forwards: David Villa, Messi, and Pedro.

As Yang Cheng sat in the stands and saw the starting lineups of the two teams, Wenger’s pre-match words suddenly came to mind, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Do you think there’s a problem with this starting lineup?” Ferguson, sitting next to him, asked strangely.

Ferguson had always trusted Yang Cheng’s judgment.

“There’s no problem, I just figured out what Wenger is thinking.”

“The defense,” Ferguson saw it too.

Yang Cheng nodded and said, “Barça’s defense looks star-studded, but it’s actually very shaky. Abidal and Puyol have both been out for most of the season and are now forced to start.”

“The current Barça is a classic case of being top-heavy. Their attack is sharp, but their defense is terrible. However, they manage to cover up their defensive weaknesses with the tireless running and coverage of their midfield and attacking players.”

“Exactly,” Ferguson praised. “So, if you can withstand the pressure from Barça’s midfield and attack and turn the match into a war of attrition, they’ll be finished in the second half. They might not even last that long.”

As Ferguson thought of this, he suddenly understood why he had lost the semi-final.

“I was too conservative!” The Manchester United godfather wanted to slap himself.

What Arsenal was doing now, Manchester United could have done as well.

It was just that his tactics at the time were not aggressive enough.

In the semi-final, the reason Manchester United lost at home to Barça was ultimately their fear of Barça’s midfield and attack.

Although The Red Devils didn’t adopt a park-the-bus strategy, they gave Barça too much space to pass and control the ball.

Against Barça, the more conservatively you play, the faster you die.

In contrast, like Wenger now, it was clear he intended to go all-out against Barça.

Of course, everything has its pros and cons.

Whether Wenger’s all-out approach from the start would be able to hold up was also an unknown.

Sure enough.

After the match started, Wenger did not choose to sit back but pushed forward, implementing a full-pitch press against Barça.

Wenger’s team had the air of a side ready to go tit for tat, determined to win the championship on their own terms.

But their momentum only lasted for 15 minutes.

David Villa played a through ball, and Messi broke into the left channel of the penalty area, scoring with a one-on-one chip shot.

This infuriated Wenger in the dugout, who stormed out of the technical area, shouting at his players.

Fortunately, the Gunners quickly stabilized.

Especially in the defense and midfield.

Alexandre Song and Koscielny were exceptionally outstanding.

The former’s tireless pressing and interceptions in midfield provided a shield for the defense.

Koscielny, meanwhile, frequently produced excellent performances when defending against Messi, David Villa, and Pedro.

As a result, although Barça repeatedly created excellent chances, their finishing ability was always just a little off.

In the 38th minute, Barça even had a goal disallowed.

Messi was offside.

Throughout the first half, both teams had a similar number of shots, but Barça’s possession rate reached 70%.

At the start of the second half, Arsenal continued to apply pressure on Barça.

A very clear signal was that the Gunners were more confident in their defense, so they pushed their defensive line higher up the pitch.

This was very aggressive.

But the effect was also very good.

From the 55th minute, after weathering Barça’s initial second-half blitz, the Gunners gradually took control of the game.

Especially after Koscielny blocked a one-on-one chance from Pedro, it greatly boosted the Gunners’ morale.

However, on the attacking end, Arsenal struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Van Persie wasn’t having his best night either.

Pep Guardiola clearly saw the signs and sensed the danger.

Thus, in the 65th minute, he made the first adjustment.

Seydou Keita replaced David Villa.

Iniesta moved to the left winger position, with Seydou Keita and Xavi forming the midfield.

This was a clear signal to strengthen the team’s defense.

But Wenger remained unmoved.

It wasn’t until the 70th minute that Wenger made his first substitution.

Benzema replaced Alexandre Song.

This seemed to be because Alexandre Song was exhausted, and the team wanted to strengthen its attack.

“This was clearly planned before the match. That’s why Alexandre Song ran so tirelessly for the first 70 minutes,” Ferguson saw through Wenger’s intentions at a glance.

Yang Cheng completely agreed.

He had done such things himself.

And just three minutes after the substitution, Clichy sent in a diagonal cross from the left, precisely delivering the ball to the edge of the penalty area.

Benzema used his body to hold off Puyol, won the ball, turned, and played a through ball.

Van Persie made a run behind Piqué, received the ball one-on-one with the keeper, and scored with a power shot.

1-1!

Level!

The stadium erupted with cheers from the Arsenal fans.

At the same time, Yang Cheng and Ferguson glanced at each other and both smiled.

The game was decided!

In the following minutes, Arsenal began to assert themselves, completely taking control of the match and starting to press Barça in return.

Although they only had Fàbregas and Wilshere in midfield, it was enough.

When the attacking players put enough pressure on Barça, you don’t need that many men in midfield and defense.

This was Barça’s team-building strategy.

And now, Arsenal was using that same strategy against Barça.

In a continuous spell of attack, Nasri received a pass from Fàbregas and, despite being marked by three players, still delivered a brilliant assist, allowing Arshavin to score with a left-footed curling shot from the left channel of the penalty area.

2-1!

That Barça fan always seemed to perform well whenever he faced Barça.

Even as the match approached its end, Arsenal continued to attack, threatening Barça’s goal.

This left the La Liga champions looking very flustered.

The moment Hungarian head referee Kassai blew the final whistle, all the Gunners players rushed onto the pitch, celebrating wildly and forgetting everything else.

2-1!

That scoreline was really interesting!

“Barça will have to sign a centre-back!” Yang Cheng chuckled.

With Barça’s current defense, if they didn’t bring in a new centre-back, they definitely wouldn’t be able to keep Real Madrid at bay next season.

And if they were unfortunate enough to face Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League, Yang Cheng would make sure Barça experienced a feeling even more terrifying and desperate than tonight’s match against Arsenal.

“Puyol is already 33, and Abidal will be 32 soon.”

“Especially Puyol, his form and ability have declined rapidly,” Ferguson lamented.

A player like Puyol had very obvious shortcomings.

He was only 1.78 meters tall.

It’s not that short centre-backs don’t exist, or that they are necessarily bad, but it depends on the construction of the entire defensive system.

For example, in the 2006 World Cup, Italy’s Cannavaro was also short and not young, but he won the FIFA World Player of the Year.

The problem was, Barça’s entire tactical system was now top-heavy, prioritizing attack while neglecting defense.

Not to mention the positions of their two full-backs whenever they had possession and attacked.

This meant Barça’s defenders always had to bear more pressure.

Moreover, the current Barça was different from the one that faced Bayswater Chinese in ’09.

Two years had passed, many players were two years older, and they were starting to lose their legs.

“Then you’d better be careful,” Ferguson said with a grin.

“Why?”

“Everyone in Europe knows that the centre-back Guardiola wants most is on your team.”

Ferguson was talking about Thiago Silva.

Guardiola had said more than once that the centre-back he admired most was Thiago Silva.

“Besides, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Vincent Kompany—three great centre-backs are all on your team. Who else would they try to poach?”

Ferguson’s reasoning was quite sound.

Yang Cheng chuckled, leaned over, and whispered to Ferguson, “Our revenue reached £385 million last season, €480 million. Do you think Barça can afford to poach him?”

Hearing this, Ferguson’s eyes widened. He turned his head in disbelief, stared at Yang Cheng, and was speechless for a long time.

These guys were a bunch of money-making monsters!

Could it be true that they were really going to surpass Real Madrid and become the club with the highest revenue in world football?

Yang Cheng was quite pleased with the effect he had achieved.

“Then why are you still so stingy with your players?” Ferguson, after a long pause, could only find solace from another angle.

So what if your revenue is high?

You’re so cheap you’d skin a flea!

Not like our Manchester United, how generous are we to our players?

All players who join our Manchester United get a promotion, a raise, marry a beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of their lives!

Yang Cheng threw up his hands. “I can’t help it. Our new stadium still has a funding gap of over £200 million. We have to be frugal. Once the new stadium is built and the debt is paid off, I’ll definitely be more generous than you lot at Manchester United!”

This sentence instantly left Ferguson speechless.

Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium was the dream of so many people in football!

Ferguson had made a special trip to Queensway just today to have a look. The facade was almost complete.

It was truly fantastic!

From a distance, it was dazzling, and up close, it was even more magnificent and grand.

And that location…

…

Arsenal had won the Champions League on their own terms!

The 2-1 victory over Barça earned Wenger and the Gunners a standing ovation!

Since taking over at Arsenal, Wenger had dreamed of winning this trophy, but it had always remained just out of his reach.

But he never would have imagined that after betraying his principles and shedding all his mental baggage, he would actually win this coveted championship.

This left him feeling deeply emotional and filled with感慨.

Especially when he saw Yang Cheng and Ferguson after the match.

Yang Cheng also made a point to meet with Pep Guardiola.

Although the two teams had a terrible relationship on the pitch, their off-pitch relationship had always been good.

Yang Cheng and Pep Guardiola were on good terms, and he offered a few words of comfort.

And wouldn’t you know it, Ferguson’s guess was right on the money.

Pep Guardiola tentatively asked Yang Cheng if Barça had a chance to sign Thiago Silva.

Was he joking?

Yang Cheng of course refused.

Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Vincent Kompany were all players who held very important places in his plans.

Besides, Bayswater Chinese wasn’t exactly short on cash anymore.

Under these circumstances, the priority was of course to maintain the team’s competitiveness.

But Yang Cheng was gradually figuring it out.

The centre-back crisis in European football was here again.

Among the top teams in the Premier League, apart from Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Manchester City, Manchester United was barely not short of centre-backs, but a generational change was on the agenda.

Liverpool, although lacking a truly world-class centre-back, had a strong defense.

Chelsea was in dire need of a centre-back right now.

Real Madrid was also short of centre-backs.

Barça was even more desperate for a centre-back now.

Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich, Serie A’s Juventus and Inter Milan—all these teams lacked centre-backs.

Not to mention, Ligue 1 had an ambitious Paris Saint-Germain.

After the Champions League final, while the whole world was praising Wenger, the Catalan media began to brainstorm for Barça, especially regarding the team’s signings.

Among the top 10 summer transfer targets were La Liga strikers like Diego Forlán, Güiza, and Rossi, as well as midfielders like Fàbregas and Javier Pastore.

But four of the 10 were centre-backs.

This was enough to show just how desperate Barça was for a centre-back.

Fortunately, the Catalan media reported that Barça’s interest in Thiago Silva had been explicitly rejected, so none of Bayswater Chinese’s three centre-backs were on the list.

Topping the list was a young centre-back Yang Cheng had faced before, Yaroslav Rakitskiy of Shakhtar Donetsk.

The 22-year-old Ukrainian centre-back was not tall, only 1.8 meters, but he was a strong passer, had a good free kick, and could also play as a holding midfielder.

The second target was Paris Saint-Germain’s young captain, Mamadou Sakho.

The third target came from a recommendation by Cruyff, Jan Vertonghen of Ajax.

It was said that Cruyff had repeatedly recommended the Belgian centre-back to Barça in the past.

But what really surprised Yang Cheng was the fourth target, Benatia from Nice in Ligue 1.

There was only one reason this Ligue 1 centre-back had caught Pep Guardiola’s eye.

In the Ligue 1 season, his pass completion rate was as high as 85.2%, the highest among the four centre-backs.

When Yang Cheng saw this news, his first reaction was surprise.

Then, he made a call to Emmanuel Perrin at Nice in France to inquire about the situation.

The answer he received surprised him even more.

It turned out that Barça wasn’t the only team interested in Benatia.

…

When the Champions League final was over, there was still one round left in Ligue 1.

In mid-May, in the recently concluded Coupe de France final, Nice defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 to win the cup.

And on May 29th, the day after the Champions League final, Nice defeated FC Lorient 2-0 at home.

With a 2-point lead, they beat Lille of Ligue 1 to successfully win the 2010/11 Ligue 1 title.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others were present in Nice, watching on-site as Nice defeated their opponents to clinch the championship.

In another match played simultaneously in this round, Paris Saint-Germain, recently acquired by the Qatari consortium, drew 2-2 at home against Lille.

This finally separated the two teams that had been level on points.

In fact, even if the two teams had finished with the same number of points, Nice would still have won the title on Goal difference.

This instantly sent the entire city of Nice into a frenzy.

It had been more than half a century since they had last tasted the glory of a Ligue 1 championship.

This made the entire city, and even residents of surrounding towns, thrilled for Nice.

The next day, the French media were full of reports.

Among them was no shortage of gratitude and praise for the Chinese consortium.

There was also admiration for Bayswater Chinese.

At least on an official level, the two clubs were merely strategic partners.

But without the support of Bayswater Chinese, without the signings of Matuidi and Kanté, without the numerous other signings, without Ronald Koeman, what would Nice have used to challenge for the league title?

Matuidi, on the strength of his outstanding performance this season, was named the 2010/11 Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

And while the entire city of Nice was still celebrating the title, Yang Cheng and the others were holding a closed-door meeting with Nice CEO Martin Harrison and Director of Football Emmanuel Perrin.

It turned out that teams like Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barça, Paris Saint-Germain, and Juventus had been eyeing Benatia for a long time.

This was actually quite normal.

As soon as a Ligue 1 player performed well, he would immediately be targeted by teams from other leagues.

Never mind these giants; even teams like Sevilla regularly poached players from Ligue 1.

“The teams that have contacted us and expressed clear interest are Barça, PSG, and Chelsea,” Emmanuel Perrin said, describing the team’s current situation.

“Not only that, to comply with UEFA’s upcoming youth academy regulations, PSG has already begun its plan to poach from within Ligue 1.”

“Besides Benatia, Matuidi, Clerc, Anthony Mounier, and goalkeeper Ospina are all on their transfer list.”

“In addition, popular players on the transfer market like Javier Pastore, Thiago Motta, and Cavani are also in PSG’s plans. They are truly extravagantly wealthy now and want to build a Super-battleship!”

As he spoke about this, Emmanuel Perrin was even a little excited.

From a competitive standpoint, the emergence of such a behemoth was, of course, a tragedy.

But from a business perspective, it was a good thing.

It was quite normal for Paris Saint-Germain to target Nice for poaching.

Because they also needed homegrown players to fill their squad.

What’s more, Matuidi and Clerc were both France national team players, and Anthony Mounier was a former France U21 international. These players were all well-known in France.

Besides, although these were international-level players, their transfer fees were actually not high.

Take Clerc, for example. An international player, right?

His current market value on the German Transfermarkt was only €8.5 million, and he was already 28 years old.

Anthony Mounier was younger, only 23, but his valuation was only €8 million.

The transfer valuation for 22-year-old Ospina was €9 million.

Benatia was a mere €10 million.

The most valuable was actually Matuidi.

Why?

Because when he joined from Bayswater Chinese last year, the announced transfer fee was €20 million.

And upon his arrival, he won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

And as captain, he helped Nice win the Double champion of Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.

This was the reality for Ligue 1 players!

And when faced with poaching from a tycoon like PSG and numerous giants like Chelsea, Nice had only two paths.

Either they forcefully keep the players for another season, wait until after playing in the Champions League next year, try to increase their value, and then sell them.

Or, seize the opportunity now, negotiate a higher transfer fee, and sell them in the summer transfer window.

The risk with the former is that the players might not accept the club’s arrangement.

Also, playing in the Champions League doesn’t necessarily guarantee an increase in valuation.

On the contrary, it could very well expose their flaws, leading to a sharp drop in value, to the point where no one is interested.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about players like Benatia and Matuidi.

But could players like Mounier and Clerc, who had performed well within the team’s overall tactics this past season, continue to play well in the Champions League next season?

Emmanuel Perrin and Martin Harrison basically felt the same way.

For core players like Matuidi and Benatia, they had to hold firm and not let go.

Other players could be sold if the price was right.

But the problem was, take Clerc, for instance.

You can’t say he’s bad; at the very least, he’s at an international level.

If they sold him, given the scarcity of right-backs, where would they find a replacement?

Chapter 225: Sky-High Transfers! Another Bayswater Chinese! The Middle Eastern Consortiums Are Just Too Domineering

In the past few years, the tactical landscape of European football had undergone a significant transformation.

Some said it was the rise of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese that had sparked this trend.

After all, Bayswater Chinese successfully defended their Champions League title in 2008 and 2009, sending shockwaves through European football and the entire world.

At the same time, they spearheaded a tactical revolution.

Others argued that Pep Guardiola’s Barça was the true progenitor of this new wave.

Although Guardiola’s team never managed to win the Champions League, Barça’s possession-based passing game had a profound impact on European football. Football insiders held both Guardiola and Barça in extremely high regard.

In short, various opinions existed.

Yang Cheng had no intention of taking all the credit. Whenever the topic came up, he would praise Guardiola’s Barça.

He urged fans and the media not to judge heroes by success or failure alone.

This, in turn, won him even more applause.

At the very least, he appeared exceptionally magnanimous.

But regardless of who initiated it, the trend took hold, and with it came a massive shift in the requirements for players, especially those in midfield and defense.

The most prominent change was the demand for centre-backs to be good on the ball.

Traditional centre-backs, whose distribution would falter under pressure, were gradually being phased out by top-tier elite clubs.

Bayswater Chinese were undoubtedly the leaders of this new trend for centre-backs.

Whether it was Thiago Silva, Pepe, or Vincent Kompany, all possessed excellent ball-carrying and distribution skills.

As for full-backs, a group of outstanding Brazilian players, led by Dani Alves, Maicon, and Marcelo, became highly sought after by major clubs.

When selecting full-backs, all teams now placed a significant emphasis on attacking ability.

Traditional defensive full-backs, and even some who were balanced between attack and defense, gradually fell out of favor.

In an era of such comprehensive tactical innovation, youth academies inevitably struggled to keep up.

This led to a very conspicuous shortage of defenders in European football over the past few years.

In other words, there was a severe scarcity of high-quality defenders.

Ultimately, the demands placed on defenders had become much higher.

Traditionally, defenders only needed to defend; attacking was a bonus.

A full-back like Zambrotta, who was adept at both offense and defense, was already considered top-class.

But now?

Defending was the bare minimum. Attacking was a must, and being comfortable in possession was a bonus.

This resulted in a severe shortage of defenders in the transfer market for top clubs.

Last summer, Manchester United and Chelsea spending heavily to compete for David Luiz was the best evidence of this.

Although Manchester United’s results didn’t improve significantly after David Luiz joined, everyone could see that the Brazilian centre-back’s arrival had greatly alleviated the pressure on their backline.

Therefore, this summer, centre-backs with excellent distribution skills became extremely popular.

For example, Bayern Munich wanted to poach Jérôme Boateng from Manchester City.

But Ancelotti had already made it clear that he was rejecting Bayern’s advances.

Lúcio was already thirty-three years old.

Jérôme Boateng’s talent was plain to see.

Bayern Munich was indeed a giant, but Manchester City paid more.

Chelsea was also scouring the globe for a centre-back.

Everyone could see that with the influx of capital from Middle Eastern consortiums, Liverpool, Manchester City, and now PSG this summer all possessed formidable purchasing power.

They were all rapidly improving their squads by acquiring players.

But this immediately created a challenge for the traditional powerhouses.

There were only a handful of excellent players. When someone else was competing with you, the price went up.

Moreover, once a player was signed, there was one less available.

Another point was that the old dynamic, where a top club would just snap its fingers and players would come running, was constantly being rewritten.

For instance, last summer, Real Madrid wanted to sign David Silva from Valencia.

David Silva also wanted to go to Real Madrid, but Valencia refused to sell.

Now, David Silva had moved to Manchester City. When Real Madrid tried to entice and poach him, he was no longer interested.

He was playing well at Manchester City, earning a high salary with good benefits, and wasn’t so keen on Real Madrid anymore.

Then there was Fàbregas.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Barça just had to beckon, and Fàbregas would have been eager to join even if it meant paying out of his own pocket.

Many fans even speculated about the first goal in Barça’s 3-1 home victory over Arsenal in the Champions League Round of 16, which led to their comeback: was Fàbregas’s backheel an error? Or was it intentional?

This was something probably only the player himself knew for sure.

But none of this happened in Yang Cheng’s current life.

After Arsenal renewed Fàbregas’s contract with a hefty salary, the Spanish midfielder was determined to stay at Arsenal, helping The Gunners defeat Barça 2-1 in the Champions League final.

All of this was sufficient proof that the allure of traditional powerhouse clubs was in sharp decline.

This was especially true with the powerful rise of the Premier League.

And the battle for exceptional players was only intensifying.

In this climate, even a team like OGC Nice in Ligue 1 had to quickly find its place in the French league and in European football.

Both Yang Cheng and the senior management at Nice had positioned the club as a stepping stone.

In the first season after the acquisition, thanks to the excellent work of Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese team, Nice successfully won the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France Double.

Of course, this was also because Ligue 1 was quite weak at the moment.

But they had still managed to achieve their initial goals ahead of schedule.

The next step, if Nice could successfully sell players, was naturally to bring in young, talented prospects.

The value of a stepping stone club lay in earning the difference through buying and selling.

But don’t be mistaken into thinking this is simple.

In reality, there are many intricacies involved, and it is very complex.

Take Monaco from Yang Cheng’s previous life, for example.

After consecutively selling a batch of players like Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, and Fabinho, although they received massive transfer fees, they nearly got relegated from Ligue 1 in the 2018/19 season.

Keep in mind, they had finished second in Ligue 1 in the 2017/18 season.

Then there was Southampton in the Premier League.

The Saints also had a peak period, produced a crop of players, and then quickly faded back into mediocrity.

Ultimately, the most crucial capabilities of a stepping stone club were manifested on two levels: external and internal.

Externally, the team needed a formidable scouting network covering the entire globe, capable of tracking players’ progress anytime, anywhere, and ideally, buying them at rock-bottom prices when they were just emerging, or even before they had broken through.

But everyone knew that maintaining such a scouting network required not only extremely expensive investment but also exceptionally talented people.

Even a club as strong as Sevilla could only sustain that scouting network for a few years.

Internally, it required a very well-developed youth academy, advanced training facilities, meticulous planning for player development, and a group of experienced coaches.

Take Ajax, for example. When dealing with young, emerging players, they often adopted a one-on-one specialized training approach, honing the player’s skills and creating a detailed plan for their professional development.

In the year 2024, when Yang Cheng had traveled from, to what extent could the top two or three stepping stone clubs in European football operate?

They could even plan out a player’s development tempo for the next few years, including their first-team appearances, and also estimate the timeframe in which the player would likely be sold.

That was why fans were often amazed that these clubs always sold their players at their peak value.

And no matter how many players they sold, their performance was never affected.

If Bayswater Chinese were to shift their focus to player development now, they could achieve this as well.

But it would require Yang Cheng’s personal oversight, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to maintain their current level of success.

And that was not how Yang Cheng envisioned Bayswater Chinese.

Nice didn’t have these capabilities yet, but they were consistently working towards this goal.

The first step is always the hardest.

So, Yang Cheng had to give them a push from behind.

He provided not just money and personnel, but also a helping hand when needed.

…

“Regarding player transfers, I’m giving you full responsibility this summer.”

Yang Cheng had high hopes for Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin.

This was his consistent management style.

Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you distrust.

He was no longer obsessed with the famous figures he knew from his previous life.

Because he had a wealth of talent under his own command.

All talent grew through being tested and trained.

“You should do your best in the negotiations. We have complete faith in your abilities.”

The process at Nice followed the Bayswater Chinese model, with different departments providing checks and balances, while the parent group was responsible for supervision.

“As for recruitment, I will personally provide a backstop, and the group will certainly do everything in its power to support you.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng thought for a moment. “In the relegated Ligue 1 team, Lens, there’s a right-back named Serge Aurier, an eighteen-year-old from Côte d’Ivoire. He should be easy to sign right now.”

With Lens relegated, a player like that would surely be easy to negotiate for.

“I know this player. He’s very fast and has excellent physical strength,” Emmanuel Perrin said, knowing the Ligue 1 players like the back of his hand. He immediately knew who Yang Cheng was talking about.

This was part of his job as director of football.

“At Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, there’s a young centre-back named Nastasić, a left-footed player. You can try to negotiate for him,” Yang Cheng added.

Emmanuel Perrin’s eyes lit up.

He had long heard that Yang Cheng knew every talented player in European football like the back of his hand, many of whom were very young and hadn’t even made a name for themselves, so hardly anyone knew them.

But Yang Cheng could always name them instantly.

It was rumored, both outside and within Bayswater Chinese, that Yang Cheng could do this because he had spent an unknown amount of time watching countless match videos and tapes from the scout database.

It was worth noting that even Bayswater Chinese’s head of scouting, Gary Worthington, couldn’t do this.

“For the new season, Nice will be competing in the Champions League. Having only Pellè as a centre-forward isn’t enough. Hamburger SV’s centre-forward, Choupo-Moting, is out of contract. You can approach him and try to sign him. His salary won’t be high either.”

“Choupo-Moting?” Emmanuel Perrin frowned slightly.

Hamburger SV had a player like that?

“He’s a product of Hamburg’s youth academy, only twenty-two this year. He was loaned to Nuremberg in 2009 and did quite well, but after returning to Hamburg in 2010, he never got a chance to play.”

“In the first half of this past season, he made ten appearances for Hamburg, totaling three hundred seventy-five minutes, and scored two goals.”

“Because his contract was about to expire, Choupo-Moting was unwilling to sign an extension with Hamburg. He was frozen out at the end of January and demoted to Hamburg’s B team. So, people outside of the Bundesliga probably don’t know him.”

Everyone finally understood.

But on second thought, if people outside the Bundesliga didn’t know him, how could Yang Cheng know him like the back of his hand?

It wasn’t just Emmanuel Perrin; even Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and the others who had come with Yang Cheng exchanged glances, feeling both admiration and shame towards him.

When it came to scouting players, they were the experts.

But now, in front of Yang Cheng, they truly felt inadequate.

There was no other way; they would definitely have to work harder in the future!

As for the goalkeeper position, if Ospina were to really leave, Nice would definitely need to sign another one.

The first name that popped into Yang Cheng’s mind was Benfica’s Slovenian goalkeeper, Oblak.

But he quickly dismissed this tempting thought.

Because the transfer fee for Oblak to join Benfica was as high as four million euros.

For that reason alone, it was impossible for Nice to sign him.

“Albacete from the Spanish second division has been relegated. In that team, there’s a starting goalkeeper for the Costa Rican national team named Keylor Navas. His price should be very cheap, but his ability is definitely stronger than Ospina’s.”

Yang Cheng estimated he could be signed for around three hundred thousand euros.

The main reason was that Albacete simply couldn’t hold on to its players.

They were relegated from the Spanish second division to the third tier. Who would want to play with them there?

“He should be preparing for the North American Gold Cup with Costa Rica. You need to act fast,” Yang Cheng instructed.

Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin quickly agreed, saying they would contact him immediately.

In Ronald Koeman’s tactical system, left-back Daley Blind was a definite must-sign.

The Ajax defender had joined Nice on loan last season, but the Ligue 1 team had an option to buy for one million euros.

Judging by his performance last season, this protégé of Ronald Koeman had to be signed permanently.

With Aurier, Nastasić, Keylor Navas, and Choupo-Moting, Nice’s overall strength would still be quite formidable, perhaps even stronger than before.

As for the midfield, if Matuidi left, Kanté could step up seamlessly.

With Strootman, Jorginho, and Brozović, Nice’s midfield would still be competitive!

With that thought, Yang Cheng had nothing more to worry about.

…

The 2011 European summer transfer window opened in a way no one could have expected.

Guus Hiddink, who had long been rumored by the media and fans to be Chelsea’s manager, officially signed with the Turkish national team.

This meant Hiddink would be officially leaving his post as The Blues’ manager.

At the same time, Chelsea quickly announced that André Villas-Boas, who had just led Primeira Liga’s Porto to the Treble, would officially become Chelsea’s new head coach.

This thirty-three-year-old Portuguese, though once Mourinho’s assistant coach, was being hailed as the next Yang Cheng.

Because they were both very young.

Leading Porto to the Europa League title at the age of thirty-three, Villas-Boas became the youngest coach to win a European competition after Yang Cheng, earning widespread praise and recognition.

And this time, Villas-Boas arrived at Stamford Bridge with a mission.

Everyone from Roman Abramovich to the players and fans had high hopes for Villas-Boas, hoping he could lead Chelsea back to the glorious achievements of the Mourinho era.

As a Portuguese, Villas-Boas also greatly admired Sneijder. Upon taking office, he announced that he hoped the club would consider keeping the player.

“I firmly believe Sneijder will succeed at Chelsea!”

On the other hand, Manchester United, who had been coveting Sneijder to fill the void left by Scholes’s retirement, immediately changed their target and made an official offer for Valencia’s Juan Mata.

According to Spanish media reports, the first bid was as high as twenty-five million pounds sterling.

After Villas-Boas’s official appointment, Chelsea’s transfer budget exceeded one hundred million pounds sterling.

The Daily Mail, a paper close to Chelsea, revealed that at the top of Roman Abramovich’s transfer list were Brazilian Santos’s prodigy Neymar, Porto’s centre-forward Falcao, and Sporting Lisbon’s midfielder Moutinho.

In terms of defensive reinforcements, their priority was to sign Ajax’s right-back, Gregory van der Wiel.

For centre-back, they were eyeing La Liga’s Atlético Madrid defender Godín and Ligue 1’s OGC Nice defender Benatia.

And the first player Chelsea signed after Villas-Boas took charge was the young centre-forward Lukaku from Belgian side Anderlecht.

This transfer cost Chelsea a staggering twenty million pounds sterling.

The Blues also signed the prodigious midfielder Piazón from São Paulo in Brazil.

This player was hailed as the new Kaká.

In addition, Chelsea also wanted to bring in Argentine star Javier Pastore from Palermo.

But at the moment, far too many teams were eyeing Pastore.

Similarly, they ran into problems with the transfer of Neymar, the talented winger from Brazilian club Santos.

Israeli agent Pini Zahavi revealed to the public that Chelsea had made an offer of up to forty million pounds sterling for Neymar, but it still failed to persuade Santos to let him go.

“This transfer involves very complicated issues. It is undoubtedly impossible to sign Neymar in a short period,” Pini Zahavi stated helplessly, admitting that Chelsea’s transfer efforts had hit a snag.

Meanwhile, although Atlético Madrid was in financial trouble, they still rejected Chelsea’s fifteen million euro offer for Godín.

The reason was simple: when Manchester City signed the little-known centre-back Stefan Savić from Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade for twelve million pounds sterling, the battle for centre-backs in the European transfer market had reached a fever pitch.

A key reason Manchester City paid such a high transfer fee for Savić was that they had snatched him from the grasp of Arsenal and Tottenham.

Before that, Savić had been on trial at Arsenal and had performed exceptionally well. Wenger had promised to sign the Serbian centre-back, who was being hailed as the new Vidić.

When Tottenham heard the news, they also became very interested in Savić.

But in the end, it was Manchester City who beat them to it.

However, The Blue Moons had to pay a high price of twelve million pounds sterling.

After missing out on Savić, Arsenal turned around and signed the tall centre-back Mertesacker from Bundesliga’s Werder Bremen for fifteen million euros, which was also twelve million pounds sterling.

Riding on the prestige of their Champions League title, Wenger began to further ramp up his recruitment efforts.

The Gunners first signed Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta from Everton for fifteen million pounds sterling, and then signed the young prodigy Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton for another fifteen million pounds sterling.

Both players were brought in to strengthen Arsenal’s squad depth.

Especially Arteta.

The Spaniard had already proven his quality at Everton. As a playmaker, he could serve as a vital backup for Gourcuff and Fàbregas.

But the most important transfer was when The Gunners were competing with Barça for Udinese’s Chilean winger, Sánchez. They were exceptionally generous with their money.

The two sides’ battle for the player saw them continuously raising their bids.

The price for Sánchez soared even higher, especially after Chelsea and Liverpool joined the fray.

It finally reached an astonishing thirty-five million pounds sterling, or forty-three point seven five million euros.

For a player who had never proven himself on the Champions League stage, this was truly a sky-high price.

The Gunners successfully beat Barça and brought Sánchez to the club.

In addition, Wenger snatched right-back Lichtsteiner from Lazio, right from under Juventus’s nose, for a transfer fee of fifteen million euros, or twelve million pounds sterling.

After signing several strong reinforcements, the strength of Wenger’s team improved significantly, but many players within the squad were also sold off one by one.

Players like the youngster Denílson, Carlos Vela, Eboué, and Bendtner were all sold by Wenger.

Through this series of signings, everyone saw the determination of Wenger and Arsenal.

The Gunners were clearly aiming to challenge for the league title in the new season!

…

Sharing the same ambition as Wenger was Manchester United’s Ferguson.

After missing out on Sneijder, The Red Devils kept increasing their offer for Juan Mata, eventually signing him from Valencia for thirty-seven point five million euros, or thirty million pounds sterling.

Meanwhile, Manchester United’s long-term target, Blackburn Rovers defender Phil Jones, became the subject of a battle with Liverpool.

Just as Manchester United had reached a basic agreement with Blackburn with an eighteen million pound sterling offer, Liverpool suddenly swooped in and hijacked the deal with a bid of twenty-two million pounds sterling.

Ferguson greatly admired Phil Jones; he had always been fond of passionate homegrown players like him. So, faced with Liverpool’s competition, Manchester United made another move, successfully signing Phil Jones for a transfer fee of twenty-five million pounds sterling.

Not only that, Ferguson personally went to Phil Jones’s home to persuade the player to join Manchester United.

To secure him, The Red Devils offered Phil Jones a weekly wage of eighty thousand pounds sterling.

Offering an eighty-thousand-pound weekly wage to a nineteen-year-old player was simply unbelievable!

Many media outlets criticized Ferguson, pointing out that he had always scorned teams like Manchester City and Chelsea for ruining the industry’s norms.

Yet, when Manchester United competed with others for a player, they were just as merciless with their salary offers.

Of course, being the British media, they had always held their own players in high regard, so naturally, no one questioned whether Phil Jones was worth the twenty-five million pound sterling transfer fee and the eighty-thousand-pound weekly wage.

After signing Phil Jones, Manchester United went through another period of negotiations and signed Spanish goalkeeper De Gea from Atlético Madrid for twenty-five million pounds sterling.

The transfers of Phil Jones, Juan Mata, and De Gea cost Manchester United a total of eighty million pounds sterling.

That was nearly one hundred million euros.

It’s worth noting that The Red Devils sold players like O’Shea, Obertan, and Owen Hargreaves, and their total income from the transfer market was likely less than ten million euros.

But this basically meant that Manchester United could no longer be involved in the transfers of Pastore and Agüero.

Even the centre-forward Ferguson had been longing for was now likely out of reach.

Meanwhile, after missing out on Phil Jones and Sánchez, Liverpool immediately shifted their focus, signing homegrown international winger Stewart Downing from Aston Villa for twenty-five million pounds sterling.

They also signed midfielder Jordan Henderson from Sunderland for twenty million pounds sterling.

Liverpool’s next transfer target was a centre-back.

…

Long before the summer transfer window opened, the outside world had widely predicted that there were two players most likely to become the marquee signing of the summer.

Palermo’s “second Kaká,” the Argentine prodigy Javier Pastore.

The Argentine’s talent was plain to see, and he had proven his ability in the defensively robust Serie A.

The other was Atlético Madrid’s forward, Agüero.

Both South American players had demonstrated outstanding ability and had proven their worth.

A key reason they were receiving so much attention was that they were being watched by numerous powerhouse clubs.

Pastore, for example, was being monitored by Serie A’s Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, as well as Premier League’s Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United, and La Liga’s Real Madrid and Barça.

Agüero was even more sought after.

Real Madrid was determined to get him, while Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea were also pursuing him.

Under these circumstances, the progress of these two stars’ transfers had kept numerous fans and media outlets on the edge of their seats.

But there had been no significant developments.

While the major Premier League powerhouses had already started their harvesting mode, frantically signing players, these two most-watched players remained inactive.

But on June 27th, Palermo’s chairman Zampaleni suddenly gave an interview to the media, revealing that Pastore would complete his transfer within the next two days, and the transfer fee would be an astonishingly high price.

“It will be an astounding figure, unprecedented in this year’s transfer market!”

This immediately sparked intense interest from media and fans worldwide.

Was it Chelsea? Or Real Madrid?

Was he going to the Premier League? Or La Liga?

But just as everyone was speculating, the French newspaper L’Équipe suddenly dropped a bombshell.

Among the many suitors for the “second Kaká,” Ligue 1’s Paris Saint-Germain had emerged from nowhere to take the lead.

The Ligue 1 club, recently acquired by a Qatari consortium, had beaten all the Premier League and La Liga giants by signing Pastore from Palermo for a transfer fee of fifty million euros.

“This is a sky-high price that is hard for anyone to refuse!”

This also made Pastore surpass Sánchez to become the record transfer signing of the summer!

The entire European football world was completely stunned!

When PSG entered Ligue 1, everyone expected them to sign players continuously, but no one could have imagined that they would be able to go head-to-head with Europe’s elite clubs, even snatching a superstar prospect like Pastore from under their noses.

It caused a massive shock not just across Europe, but particularly in France.

Many Ligue 1 fans applauded PSG’s domineering display of wealth.

However, shortly after Pastore’s official announcement, Spanish media followed up with a report that Atlético Madrid forward Agüero would move from Atlético to Manchester City for a transfer fee of fifty-five million euros, breaking Pastore’s record.

The Blue Moons had once again stunned the world!

But that wasn’t even the most domineering part.

What was even more shocking was that after signing Agüero, Manchester City now had a strike force that included Ibrahimović, Adebayor, Robinho, Carlos Tevez, and Bellamy—a total of six attacking players.

Not to mention other exceptionally talented attackers like Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kaká, and David Silva.

The resources Ancelotti had at his disposal were simply incredible!

And so, Manchester City began its domineering operations, offloading players like Adebayor and Bellamy for low prices.

Yes, literally, low prices!

Bellamy moved to Liverpool on a free transfer, and Adebayor joined Tottenham Hotspur for ten million pounds sterling.

Keep in mind, Adebayor’s current market valuation was twenty million pounds sterling.

They slashed the price to the bone!

The main reason for this was that Adebayor had played very few games recently, and top teams were hesitant to sign him.

Or rather, the extravagantly wealthy Premier League giants disdained to pick up this bargain.

This gave Tottenham Hotspur an opportunity.

Daniel Levy was so happy he could probably wake up laughing from his dreams.

But what was even more domineering?

From 2008 until now, the Abu Dhabi consortium had invested enormous sums into Manchester City.

Leaving aside other inflated sponsorship deals, just on the financial books, Manchester City owed the Abu Dhabi consortium three hundred and fifty million pounds sterling in debt.

So, with the Premier League and UEFA tightening financial scrutiny this season, Manchester City made a bold move: a debt-for-equity swap, completely wiping out the three hundred and fifty million pound sterling debt.

Compared to such a domineering maneuver, Agüero’s fifty-five million euro transfer fee was really nothing.

…

After PSG announced the signing of Pastore for fifty million euros, Ligue 1 was shaken.

Since acquiring PSG, the Qatari consortium had been relentlessly brandishing their checkbook.

Besides Pastore, they also signed Thiago Motta from Inter Milan for a transfer fee of twelve million euros.

They signed midfielder Kevin Gameiro from Ligue 1’s FC Lorient for eleven million euros.

And they signed Mohamed Sissoko from Juventus for eight million euros.

In addition, they signed Brazilian centre-back Alex from Chelsea, Brazilian left-back Maxwell from Barça, and forward Ménez from AS Roma…

For Paris Saint-Germain, who had only finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season and failed to even qualify for the Europa League, only a frenzy of signings could compensate for the team’s shortcomings in quality.

And after signing Pastore, following a long period of contact and negotiation, PSG and OGC Nice simultaneously made an official announcement.

Former French international right-back Clerc had transferred to PSG for six million euros.

At the same time, PSG also signed starting goalkeeper Ospina and starting winger Anthony Mounier from Nice.

These two transfers cost PSG a total of nineteen million euros.

In other words, the three transfers totaled twenty-five million euros.

The French media and fans were all shocked by this.

But the truly astonishing transfers were yet to come.

After prolonged negotiations, Paris Saint-Germain announced that they had signed current French international midfielder Matuidi from Ligue 1’s OGC Nice for a high price of thirty-five million euros!

The MVP of last season’s Ligue 1 had officially joined Paris Saint-Germain.

During these lengthy negotiations, the Nice negotiation team, led by Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin, had consistently emphasized that Matuidi had transferred to Ligue 1 in 2010 for twenty million euros.

Furthermore, given the player’s excellent performance last season, his value should definitely exceed that amount.

It was also important to consider that Matuidi was a current international player, which was a definite bonus in Ligue 1.

What the Qatari consortium needed most right now was to build a powerful squad as quickly as possible to generate buzz for their country and the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

This was why they had initially targeted Premier League giants Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United.

But for various reasons, they ultimately chose PSG in Ligue 1.

Under these circumstances, they needed to create momentum through continuous big-money signings each year to attract the attention of fans worldwide.

At the same time, they also needed to please the local fans of PSG and France.

Buying Matuidi for thirty-five million euros was a sign of the Qatari consortium’s sincerity!

Even more absurdly, after having already signed four players from Nice, PSG once again reached out.

This time, they had their eyes on Moroccan centre-back Benatia.

Benatia held dual French and Moroccan nationality. In 2010, he joined Nice on a free transfer from the French Second Division team Clermont Foot and quickly became a starting centre-back for Nice, performing exceptionally well.

Currently, his valuation on the German Transfermarkt website was eight point five million euros.

But everyone knew it was basically impossible to sign Benatia for that price.

Especially when the panic over centre-backs was so severe.

PSG was the first to make a move, directly offering ten million euros, clearly hoping to get a bargain.

Barça’s initial target for a centre-back was Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen, but Ajax’s asking price for the defender was very high.

For Vertonghen, who had a market valuation of around fifteen million euros, Ajax directly demanded a steep price of thirty million euros, which made Barça immediately shift their target.

Upon learning of PSG’s bid, Barça immediately followed up with an offer of thirteen million euros.

Chelsea promptly raised the price, with a bid reaching fifteen million euros.

Paris Saint-Germain quickly matched Chelsea’s offer, also bidding fifteen million euros.

Just when everyone thought that selling a player valued at eight point five million euros for fifteen million was already a very good deal, Liverpool suddenly jumped in, raising the bid to eighteen million euros.

Chelsea quickly followed up with an increased offer, reaching twenty million euros.

This summer, such transfer sagas were far from the first.

From Sánchez to Agüero to Pastore, it was the same story for almost every sought-after player.

Their prices were driven up one by one by this group of powerhouse clubs.

Just when everyone thought the transfer was basically settled, and even Martin Harrison was about to accept Chelsea’s offer, a piece of news suddenly emerged from the Spanish media.

Pep Guardiola had formally notified the Barça management that he wanted the team to sign Benatia.

“Guardiola believes the Moroccan international is the best person to alleviate Barça’s defensive crisis. He not only possesses excellent technique but also a superb passing ability, along with impressive physical strength,” Diario Sport reported in its news.

This quickly alerted the Nice management, who delayed their response to Chelsea’s transfer request.

And in less than half a day, Barça submitted another, higher bid of twenty-five million euros.

Guardiola was determined to get Benatia!

Especially in the current European football scene, there were simply too few outstanding centre-backs.

Even if Benatia had only just emerged, even if he had only performed well for one season, that was enough.

Moreover, the Catalonia media revealed that Guardiola had privately called Ronald Koeman to inquire about Benatia’s situation, confirming that the Moroccan centre-back was the player Barça needed.

Just as Barça was set on getting him, everyone overlooked that the team behind Chelsea’s transfer decisions also hailed from the Netherlands.

Chelsea was also well aware of Benatia’s abilities.

The Blues raised their bid again, to thirty million euros!

After making this offer, Chelsea also leaked the news through agent Pini Zahavi.

“This will be Chelsea’s final offer!”

Coincidentally, Barça and Liverpool quickly followed suit, both also offering thirty million euros.

Nice said nothing, accepted all three offers, and let them negotiate with the player themselves.

According to French media reports, Barça and Liverpool’s talks with Benatia and his agent did not go smoothly.

Chelsea, on the other hand, had previously lost the battle for David Luiz and was now forced to let go of Alex, leaving The Blues in dire need of a high-level centre-back.

Therefore, the terms they offered were more generous.

In the end, Benatia successfully transferred to Chelsea for thirty million euros.

This was another major reinforcement for Chelsea, following Lukaku, Piazón, and Romeu.

What was more interesting was that after successively losing the contests for stars like Sánchez, Agüero, and Pastore, Chelsea finally had a moment of triumph, soundly defeating Barça to secure Benatia.

And after signing Benatia, Chelsea turned around and signed Dutch right-back Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax for thirty million euros.

This was a transfer with a shockingly high price!

A full twenty-five point six million pounds sterling!

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard this news.

A Dutch full-back was sold for such a crazy sky-high price!

No one knew how on earth Chelsea had made this decision.

Dutch media reported that van der Wiel had attracted the attention of many top clubs, including Arsenal and Manchester United.

Before signing for Chelsea, he had even traveled to London to negotiate in person with the club.

The secret was leaked because the player posted a picture of his plane ticket to London on Twitter, which attracted intense media attention.

In addition, Chelsea signed Uruguayan left-back Álvaro Pereira from Porto for twenty million pounds sterling.

The thirty-year-old England international Ashley Cole’s form had been very inconsistent ever since his divorce.

After Villas-Boas took charge of Chelsea, he strongly recommended that The Blues sign his favored player.

From Benatia to van der Wiel to Álvaro Pereira, Chelsea spent a total of sixty-eight million pounds sterling to rebuild a younger, more vibrant defense.

This undoubtedly drew strong attention from the entire European football world.

While everyone was immersed in the continuous big spending of nouveau riche clubs like PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City, unnoticed, Nice was also making moves in the transfer market.

The Ligue 1 champions first signed Choupo-Moting from Hamburger SV on a free transfer.

Then, they signed Keylor Navas from the relegated Spanish second-division team Albacete for three hundred thousand euros.

Incidentally, Ronald Koeman was initially not very interested in Keylor Navas, thinking he was too short.

But shortly after the transfer was completed, Navas shone brightly at the North American Gold Cup, delivering an outstanding performance.

This completely changed Ronald Koeman’s opinion.

The Dutchman also had to re-evaluate Bayswater Chinese’s scouting system.

To be able to precisely unearth Keylor Navas from a place like the relegated Spanish second-division team Albacete was simply impossible without a super-strong scouting system.

After selling Clerc, Nice signed Serge Aurier from the relegated Ligue 1 team Lens for one million euros.

Then, they signed Nastasić from Partizan Belgrade for two million euros.

Ever since Yang Cheng had signed Modrić years ago, he had successively signed a number of Eastern European players like Nemanja Matić and Džeko. This had given Bayswater Chinese considerable influence and connections in countries and regions like Croatia and Serbia.

This time, they snatched Nastasić right from under the nose of Serie A’s Fiorentina.

La Viola had also offered two million euros to take away this “second Vidić,” but Partizan Belgrade stubbornly refused, demanding two point five million euros.

But when Bayswater Chinese’s scout in the Balkans brought Emmanuel Perrin to the negotiating table, the two million euro deal was concluded smoothly.

Selling five key players and the Ligue 1 MVP had brought in ninety million euros in transfer fees.

But in the transfer market, Nice had only spent three point three million euros.

In terms of transfer income, Ligue 1’s Nice was not the club that earned the most.

Clubs like La Liga’s Atlético Madrid and Serie A’s Genoa had also sold off multiple players, with transfer incomes exceeding Nice’s.

But Atlético also invested heavily in the transfer market, including forty million euros for Falcao and twelve million euros for Turan, among others.

Genoa’s spending was less than Atlético’s, but they signed nineteen players, costing over twenty million euros.

A club like Nice, with such a huge transfer income and yet so little investment, easily reminded people of the team behind them.

This was practically another Bayswater Chinese!

But without Yang Cheng, what would they use to compete against Paris Saint-Germain in the new season?

Some French media even believed that the Chinese consortium was in Nice purely to make a quick buck and leave.

The initial payments from the ninety million euro transfer income were already enough to cover the construction of Nice’s new training ground and investment in the government-led new stadium project.

Emmanuel Perrin, however, stated that although the team had sold five players, everyone at the club remained full of confidence.

“In the new season, our goal is still to challenge for the Ligue 1 title!”

But the French media and many fans scoffed at this.

Ligue 1 might be a bit weaker, but now that PSG had entered the scene, Nice wanted to win the title with such a small investment?

And in the Premier League, there was another special team.

While clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea were all ramping up their recruitment efforts, Bayswater Chinese had not entered the transfer market.

After Barça failed to sign Fàbregas and Liverpool’s bid for Pastore was thwarted, both clubs submitted transfer requests for Rakitić, with the highest offer reaching forty million euros.

However, all were rejected by Yang Cheng.

The club first followed protocol, informing Rakitić’s agent about the offers from the two powerhouse clubs and their rejection, while also inviting the agent to come and discuss a contract extension.

But things did not go so smoothly.

Chapter 226: New Marquee Signing! The Transfer Market’s Final Frenzy! Making Money off the Americans is Just Too Easy!

Time slowly marched into July.

The smoke from the battles in Europe’s major transfer markets had begun to settle.

The elite clubs were all starting to prepare for their summer training camps.

The International Champions Cup, which had set the North American and Asian football markets alight last summer, began to build momentum with great fanfare.

This year’s event was clearly shaping up to be even bigger than the last.

The World Football Challenge, which was put on hiatus in 2010 due to the World Cup, was also making a comeback.

Evidently, the North American organizers were unwilling to give up the cash cow they once held in their hands.

Since the twelve European giants had all signed contracts with the ICC Company, and their schedules were tight, they were unable to participate in the World Football Challenge.

This was despite the Americans offering higher appearance fees.

For these top clubs, stable expectations and excellent logistical support were paramount.

But the World Football Challenge still managed to attract a number of European teams.

This year, they invited five: Valencia from La Liga, AS Roma from Serie A, Olympiacos from Greece, Celtic from the Scottish Premiership, and Benfica from the Primeira Liga.

Along with Mexico’s Guadalajara and Club América, plus the Eastern and Western All-Stars from Major League Soccer, a total of nine teams were set to compete.

But the tournament schedule was a real mess.

It was already July, and they had only just belatedly released the fixture list.

Anyone could see it was a hastily cobbled-together affair.

In contrast, the ICC Company had announced the groups and schedule for the International Champions Cup long ago.

Due to the revival of the World Football Challenge, the competition in the North American market this year was going to be fierce.

The two sides were not only competing head-to-head in terms of participating teams, scheduling, and matches, but they were also battling intensely for stadiums.

Looking at the distribution of stadiums in the United States, the East Coast has more large venues, many with capacities exceeding one hundred thousand.

Last year, Bayswater Chinese sold out every match they played on the East Coast.

The ICC Company had anticipated this, so when signing contracts earlier, they had secured dates with several major stadiums in advance, leaving nothing for the World Football Challenge to snatch.

Besides, the organizers of the World Football Challenge weren’t confident they could achieve such high attendance rates anyway.

The larger the stadium, the higher the rent, and they had to consider their costs.

But on the West Coast of the United States, the situation was different.

Texas was a prime example.

The World Football Challenge used its local connections to secure Houston’s largest venue, Reliant Stadium.

This stadium not only had a capacity of over seventy thousand but also featured 166 VIP boxes and seven thousand VIP seats.

These were all add-ons that could boost revenue.

Not only that, they also signed Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, another venue with a capacity in the seventy-thousand range.

This seriously impacted the International Champions Cup’s schedule.

As a result, David Pemsel and Richard Masters had spent almost the entire recent period in the United States, rushing around everywhere.

In the end, the two managed to resolve the issue of match venues through various connections, and they also devised a plan that even Yang Cheng couldn’t help but applaud when he heard it!

If executed successfully, the World Football Challenge might never be seen again!

To counter the pressure from the World Football Challenge, after thorough discussion and communication with the twelve major clubs, the ICC Company decided to schedule the four clubs with the biggest box office appeal in North America to play in the United States.

Those clubs were Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Barça.

They were undoubtedly the four most influential teams in world football today.

Furthermore, Arsenal, the recent Champions League winners, and Chelsea, who had spent years cultivating the North American market, would also participate in the North American division.

Bayswater Chinese had played in the Eastern division last year, so this year they were assigned to the Western division.

In addition, Yang Cheng made an exception to support the ICC Company, deciding to hold this year’s summer training camp in the United States, right in Los Angeles.

This was also a move to heat up the football market in advance.

Interestingly, the opponents Yang Cheng scheduled for the pre-season friendlies were all European teams invited by the World Football Challenge.

But before that, Yang Cheng encountered a very tricky problem.

…

The Sun, always known for its transfer market news, dropped a bombshell on the first day of July.

Contract renewal negotiations for Bayswater Chinese’s Croatian midfielder, Ivan Rakitić, had reached a stalemate.

The issue came to light when Rakitić’s agent, Arturo Canales, revealed in an interview with The Sun that the player’s contract extension had hit a snag.

Canales didn’t specify the obstacle, but The Sun dug it up.

The arrival of Toni Kroos had challenged Rakitić’s importance at Bayswater Chinese.

As early as 2010, Bayswater Chinese had been repeatedly discussing a contract renewal with Rakitić.

The Croatian’s contract wasn’t due to expire until 2013.

But with the signing of Toni Kroos, Rakitić hoped to further enhance his role in the team.

“The facts have shown that while Toni Kroos’s arrival helped the team win the Treble last season, Bayswater Chinese were still eliminated in the Champions League semi-final.”

“It’s not just Rakitić; there are other voices within the team questioning whether it was right for Toni Kroos to replace Rakitić.”

“But Yang Cheng has immense trust in Toni Kroos and has given him great responsibility.”

“At Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng’s authority and decisions are not to be questioned by anyone.”

“Rakitić has approached Yang Cheng multiple times to seek clarification on his role in the team. He wants a firm guarantee from the head coach, he wants to play a more significant role.”

“Just like before Toni Kroos joined.”

But now, the situation had taken a new turn.

Barça wanted to strengthen their midfield this summer, and Fàbregas was their top target.

But the Arsenal captain was happy with The Gunners and had just signed a new contract with a sky-high weekly wage, showing no strong desire to return to Camp Nou.

Liverpool, after failing in their pursuit of Javier Pastore, were also eager to bolster their midfield, especially to increase the team’s creativity. The player Mancini wanted most was Rakitić.

Captain Gerrard was already thirty-one years old. Bringing in the twenty-three-year-old Rakitić, who was about to enter the prime of his career, was undoubtedly a perfect choice.

Moreover, the Croatian midfielder wasn’t just a box-to-box presence; he also possessed excellent passing and a powerful long shot from overlapping runs. He was hailed as the type of player who could perfectly fill the void left by Gerrard.

After returning to the Champions League, Liverpool were ambitious and wanted to restore their former glory.

But whether it was Benatia or Pastore, the setbacks in the transfer market had left everyone at Liverpool feeling frustrated.

Therefore, The Reds hoped to sign Rakitić.

The Sun revealed that there weren’t many high-profile stars currently available on the European transfer market.

Players like Agüero and Pastore, though young and talented, had yet to prove themselves on the biggest stage.

But who was Rakitić?

A starting player for Bayswater Chinese!

A key midfielder during their Sextuple-winning season!

He had even delivered outstanding performances in a Champions League final.

“When a player of his caliber enters the transfer market, it will undoubtedly attract intense attention from the entire European football world.”

“He is the biggest surprise of this summer’s transfer window!”

…

Bayswater Chinese also received a clear response from Rakitić’s agent.

The player was willing to stay, but he wanted to play a more important role.

The subtext was clear: he wanted to be a starter!

This was a problem that every team faced.

If one of the players were slightly older, the problem would be easy to solve.

But right now, Rakitić was only twenty-three, and Toni Kroos was just twenty-one.

Not to mention, alongside them were players like Aaron Ramsey, Paul Pogba, and De Bruyne, all eagerly waiting for their chance.

To some extent, Yang Cheng agreed with Rakitić’s thinking.

If he didn’t fight for his place now, his situation would become even more awkward once Toni Kroos truly hit his stride, or if any one of Ramsey, Pogba, or De Bruyne had a breakout season.

“We don’t have many good options right now. If we can’t meet the player’s demands, I suggest we just sell him,” Dan Ashworth offered his opinion.

Mike Rigg nodded in agreement. “There are still two years until 2013. That’s a long time, but it’s also a short time.”

It was long because there were still two years before Rakitić could leave on a free transfer.

In those two years, as long as the player was willing to renew, they could keep him.

It was short because if they waited until 2012, especially the latter half, to negotiate a renewal, Bayswater Chinese would be in an extremely passive position.

By the summer of 2012, with only one year left on his contract, Rakitić wouldn’t fetch a very good price.

This was the nature of the game in European professional football contracts.

Players and clubs, typically on four or five-year deals, were in a constant state of negotiation.

If a player performed well, the club would usually be very willing to discuss a renewal.

What made it tricky for Yang Cheng now was that Rakitić wasn’t causing trouble; he hadn’t even said anything to the public.

With two years left on his contract, things hadn’t reached the point of no return.

For Bayswater Chinese, there were two best options now.

Part on good terms and let him go, which would still fetch a good price.

Or, meet his demands and renew his contract.

“I need to have a good talk with Modrić!” Yang Cheng said.

Everyone knew how highly Yang Cheng valued Modrić.

And Rakitić happened to be Modrić’s national teammate, and the two were very good friends.

Whether they sold him or kept him, Yang Cheng would definitely want to hear his captain’s opinion.

…

Yang Cheng gave Modrić a call.

The Croatian was on vacation back in his home country, and he had also heard the news about Rakitić.

Yang Cheng guessed that Rakitić must have spoken to Modrić about it as well.

Modrić stated that he respected the decision of Yang Cheng and the club.

He would not offer any opinion on the matter.

“And please believe me, boss, no matter what decision you make, I will continue to give my all for you and for our club, as always!”

After getting Modrić’s response, Yang Cheng felt relieved.

But just then, Spain’s AS newspaper suddenly published an exclusive interview with Real Madrid’s head coach, Mourinho.

In the report, Mourinho surprisingly took the initiative to talk about Ivan Rakitić.

The Real Madrid manager stated that his current squad desperately needed a box-to-box midfielder like Rakitić, which would elevate Real Madrid’s overall strength to another level.

“I don’t know why he can’t be a core player at Bayswater Chinese, but I want to say, he is the most underrated player in all of Europe. He has unparalleled ability and technique. He is a genius!”

Mourinho expressed that a genius like Rakitić could be an undisputed starter in any top club.

“When I saw the recent news and knew there was a chance to sign a player like Rakitić, my first reaction was to call Florentino Pérez. I told him, we have to sign Rakitić!”

The interview in AS newspaper immediately caused a huge stir worldwide.

The involvement of Barça and Liverpool was already explosive enough.

Unexpectedly, Real Madrid had now entered the fray.

This was turning into a bidding war!

And unlike players such as Pastore and Agüero, Rakitić’s transfer valuation and reputation were clearly higher than theirs, and his transfer fee was bound to be substantial.

La Liga transfer expert Guillem Balagué revealed in his column that Real Madrid had formally inquired with Bayswater Chinese about their willingness to listen to offers for Rakitić.

“Bayswater Chinese gave a positive reply!”

Balagué disclosed that Real Madrid was urgently preparing an offer, and the deal would be personally handled by General Manager José Ángel Sánchez.

“Florentino Pérez supports Mourinho’s view. A star like Rakitić entering the transfer market is an opportunity Real Madrid cannot afford to miss!”

At the same time, Džeko also mentioned Rakitić in an interview with reporters.

Having come from Bayswater Chinese, Džeko’s words were extremely cautious. He described Rakitić as a world-class midfielder.

“I played with him for many years. He has always possessed incredible ability, and he can play an important role in any team.”

As for Bayswater Chinese and Toni Kroos, Džeko only offered positive and affirmative comments.

“I haven’t worked with Toni Kroos, but I’ve played against him. He is indeed a midfielder with very unique characteristics, and many people have told me he has a very distinct charisma.”

As for choosing between Toni Kroos and Rakitić?

Džeko was no longer the naive young man he once was. He immediately laughed and said, “It seems like we only have a chance to sign Rakitić at the moment.”

Not only that, Džeko also mentioned that he had a good relationship with Rakitić and, if necessary, he could give Rakitić a call to invite him to the Bernabéu Stadium.

With Bayswater Chinese’s willingness to sell, the last and biggest star of European football formally entered the transfer market.

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized the madness of the transfer market.

Barça was the first to make an offer of forty million euros, but it had already been rejected by Bayswater Chinese.

Liverpool and Real Madrid submitted bids one after another, and both clubs coincidentally offered fifty million euros.

Moreover, Real Madrid started playing the emotional card.

First Mourinho, then Džeko and Maicon, all in an effort to make Rakitić feel welcome at the Bernabéu.

Just as everyone’s focus was on Real Madrid and Liverpool, Ligue 1’s Paris Saint-Germain also entered the transfer race.

The French team made a direct offer of fifty-five million euros to Bayswater Chinese, matching the transfer record set by Agüero’s move to Manchester City.

After such a powerful and cash-rich tycoon team joined the battle, Barcelona indignantly withdrew from the race.

Barça president Rosell revealed in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, “The current transfer market is severely inflated. We at Barça will not participate in such chaos.”

Rosell believed that in Barça’s valuation, Rakitić’s transfer fee was worth around fifty million euros at most.

But the current market had clearly gone haywire.

Behind all this were the financial consortiums from the Middle East.

However, Rosell’s words became a complete joke in the face of the actual transfer fees being offered.

Real Madrid gritted their teeth and made another offer of sixty million euros.

This stunned the media and fans around the world.

Who would have thought that a player like Rakitić would ignite the final frenzy of the summer transfer window!

But as many media outlets analyzed, if Pastore could be sold for the outrageous price of fifty million euros, what was Rakitić, who had already proven himself on the very top stage, worth?

But Liverpool quickly raised their offer again, going directly to fifty-two million pounds sterling.

This bid was approximately sixty-five million euros.

It had already surpassed Yaya Touré’s transfer fee.

Among all the players Bayswater Chinese had sold over the years, this was second only to Džeko.

But the Bosnian centre-forward was a centre-forward.

At this point, Real Madrid could no longer continue.

The Galácticos also reluctantly withdrew from the race, announcing they were giving up on signing Rakitić.

But Paris Saint-Germain from Ligue 1 once again played their trump card, offering a sky-high price of seventy million euros, which was roughly fifty-six million pounds sterling.

The Saudi consortium behind Liverpool hesitated for about half a day before immediately making another offer, hoping to sign the twenty-three-year-old Croatian midfielder for a transfer fee of sixty million pounds sterling, approximately seventy-five million euros.

PSG had already invested heavily in the transfer market this summer.

Now, facing Liverpool’s frantic competition, they were also approaching their financial limits.

Thus, PSG had no choice but to give up.

In the end, Liverpool signed Croatian midfielder Rakitić from Bayswater Chinese for the sky-high price of sixty million pounds sterling.

This transfer deal quickly created an explosion around the world!

Countless media outlets and fans reported on it frantically.

Just when everyone was shocked by PSG paying a massive fifty million euros for Pastore, another Middle Eastern tycoon from Saudi Arabia spent seventy-five million euros for Liverpool to sign Rakitić.

No one expected Liverpool to be so willing to spend.

And Liverpool fans were ecstatic.

Not just because of Rakitić, but because Liverpool now had money!

Gerrard was already thirty-one. Bringing in Rakitić, whose characteristics complemented his, was undoubtedly a very suitable choice.

But more importantly, Liverpool had been so frustrated in the transfer market before this.

They had a huge amount of funds but couldn’t seem to buy anyone.

Pastore went to PSG, Benatia went to Chelsea.

Although The Reds signed players like Stewart Downing, Henderson, and Craig Bellamy, their overall strength hadn’t improved significantly.

But now, with the signing of Rakitić, Liverpool’s midfield had been elevated to a new level.

Most importantly, captain Gerrard had a successor!

At the press conference announcing Rakitić’s signing, head coach Mancini was grinning from ear to ear, stating that Liverpool was building a super-strong squad.

“In the new season, we will not only compete in the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup, but we will also participate in the Champions League, which places higher demands on our squad.”

Signing Rakitić came with a very high, even ridiculously high, transfer fee, “but that’s the transfer market today.”

“When you want to buy someone, you’ll find that excellent players like Rakitić are simply not available.”

Captain Gerrard was also very happy to see Rakitić join.

“He’s a very good player. I felt that when I played against them.”

“When I faced Bayswater Chinese, I used to think that he was a lot like me in many ways, but his technique is better, and his ability to attack with overlapping runs is very strong. I think he will definitely succeed at Liverpool!”

The Liverpool Echo stated that the reason The Reds shelled out such a large sum was ultimately due to their repeated frustrations in the transfer market.

“The Saudi consortium hopes that through this signing, they can once again tell everyone that Liverpool wants to be a protagonist in the Premier League and in European football!”

…

Rakitić’s transfer did have some impact on Bayswater Chinese.

For example, after his move to Liverpool, his weekly wage jumped from the original sixty thousand pounds sterling to one hundred fifty thousand pounds sterling.

He instantly entered the Premier League’s high-income bracket.

Even Modrić’s weekly wage wasn’t that high.

The Liverpool Echo revealed that the contract terms offered by Liverpool made Rakitić very satisfied.

In comparison, the salary Bayswater Chinese had offered him during the recent period was only one hundred thousand pounds sterling.

This, to some extent, reflected the current situation in European football.

A group of Middle Eastern tycoons, led by Liverpool, Manchester City, and PSG, along with clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal, were indeed very generous with salaries.

The Gunners were relatively moderate.

As for Chelsea, their wage bill was already so high, yet they continued to invest.

Manchester United didn’t even hesitate to give a newcomer like Phil Jones a weekly wage of eighty thousand pounds sterling.

What did that mean?

An annual salary of 4.16 million pounds sterling, approximately 5.2 million euros.

At Real Madrid, that would be firmly in the upper-middle income bracket.

Bayswater Chinese remained as low-key as ever.

After selling Rakitić, the team made no new signings in the transfer market.

On July 4th, many Premier League teams began to assemble for summer training.

The Bayswater Chinese players were not affected by Rakitić’s departure.

Over the years, they had grown accustomed to players coming and going.

On the first day of the training camp, the coaching staff and the club’s official website immediately announced the 25-man squad for the US pre-season tour.

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Begović;

Defenders: Pepe, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, José Fonte, Marcelo, Ryan Bertrand, Piszczek, and Kyle Walker;

Midfielders: Nemanja Matić, Javi Martínez, Modrić, Toni Kroos, Aaron Ramsey, De Bruyne, and Paul Pogba;

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Giroud, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, Di María, and Sterling.

Compared to last season’s 25-man squad, Rakitić was gone, but Sterling was brought in.

But fans and journalists familiar with Bayswater Chinese knew that Sterling had been training with the first team since last season and had already made his first-team debut.

For the first three days of training, the team gathered at the Brent training center.

The medical and sports science departments conducted various detailed physical tests on each player, while the coaching staff tailored a reasonable “summer package” for each player to help them return to their best condition as quickly as possible.

Something else happened on the first day of training.

Toni Kroos proactively came to Yang Cheng’s office.

The young man had probably heard some of the external rumors about Rakitić’s transfer. So, he came straight to Yang Cheng and told him with a sincere and determined look, “Don’t worry, I will absolutely not let you down!”

“I will prove to everyone that the decision you made was the correct one!”

Yang Cheng genuinely didn’t expect that Toni Kroos, who usually seemed cool and distant, would do something like this.

“It’s not as dramatic as the rumors outside suggest. Ivan and I are still on very good terms. He even treated me to a meal before he left,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

“Don’t feel any pressure either. Just relax and focus on improving yourself. I’ve never doubted you, and I’ve never worried!”

Toni Kroos said what he wanted to say and heard what he wanted to hear.

But the more relaxed Yang Cheng sounded, the more Toni Kroos felt he had let Yang Cheng down.

Especially in last season’s Champions League semi-final.

He really hadn’t played well.

But no matter what, he had to give it his all this season!

…

Wednesday, July 6th, morning.

A group of media reporters from London’s Fleet Street had gathered early at the Brent training ground.

Many were there to see the team off, but a few media outlets with good working relationships were allowed to follow Bayswater Chinese to their North American training camp for on-site reporting.

But when the players and coaches of Bayswater Chinese appeared, everyone present did a double-take.

The players and coaches, usually dressed in various outfits, were now all clad in matching black suits, all of them bespoke, with gleaming, polished leather shoes on their feet.

Their hair had also clearly been meticulously styled.

Except for Marcelo.

The Brazilian, in his formal attire, sported a messy,蓬松afro, creating a strangely comical effect.

But anyone familiar with Marcelo’s personality would have to laugh.

This was perfectly in character for him.

If it were just a full set of suits and leather shoes, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

The key was that each of them was pulling a travel suitcase. Although the styles and colors varied, they all looked quite high-end.

This was clearly a carefully orchestrated event.

The media reporters on site immediately started snapping photos in coordination.

After the players and coaches arrived, the team took a group photo in front of the training center.

The whole process took a good half hour to complete.

The new media team staff had an advantage over the reporters. They constantly moved closer to the players for close-up shots, including the logos on the players’ suits, shoes, and luggage.

Later, the videos from today would be posted online.

As the entire team boarded the MAN-sponsored bus and slowly departed from the Brent training center under everyone’s watchful eyes, commercial director Omar Berrada invited all the media reporters to the press conference hall.

Bayswater Chinese officially announced that starting from the 11/12 season, American Tourister, a brand under Samsonite, would become the club’s global luggage partner.

The British luxury brand Burberry would become the club’s global formalwear and footwear partner.

Omar Berrada told all the reporters present that Bayswater Chinese was always committed to providing better services to its partners worldwide.

“At the same time, we can also very proudly say that we are committed to becoming the most influential sports brand in the world!”

For the just-concluded 10/11 season, Bayswater Chinese was the first to announce its revenue of 481 million euros.

This was in response to the Premier League’s requirement.

All teams had to disclose their financial status.

But after Bayswater Chinese made their announcement, Real Madrid of La Liga also announced their revenue.

As it turned out, Real Madrid’s revenue for the past season was only a little over one million euros more than Bayswater Chinese’s.

Could there really be such a coincidence in the world?

According to Deloitte and several Spanish media outlets’ previous estimates, Real Madrid’s revenue for the 10/11 season was actually only 478 million euros, but the figure they officially announced was clearly a bit higher.

The intention was obvious!

Real Madrid wanted to continue defending its position as the leader of the football world.

Bayswater Chinese now announced two sponsorships simultaneously, both at the highest global level, clearly sending a message to everyone.

The new season for Bayswater Chinese has begun, and Real Madrid can’t keep up!

Burberry sponsoring Bayswater Chinese was not surprising.

Since 2008, when fellow luxury brand Paul Smith sponsored Manchester United and achieved good results, many European luxury brands had become interested in this area.

Even Italian brands like Armani had been in contact with Bayswater Chinese multiple times.

In the end, the club chose to partner with Burberry.

This time, Bayswater Chinese used the club’s departure to launch this event with its two major sponsors.

The key wasn’t really at the Brent training center in London, nor in the football world.

It was that after the new media team shot a series of materials, they would be quickly edited and uploaded to the internet. Then, the three partners would simultaneously launch an online marketing campaign, leveraging Bayswater Chinese’s training camp in the United States and the upcoming International Champions Cup craze to quickly gain global attention.

This was also a new marketing model for Bayswater Chinese.

Adam Crozier believed that through this multi-party collaboration, a very good effect could be achieved.

Bayswater Chinese, the sponsors, and the tournament could all benefit, a win-win for everyone.

This was also why the new media team was becoming increasingly important in Bayswater Chinese’s marketing department, and why its staff was growing.

…

Yang Cheng had taken a team to train in Los Angeles in his previous life.

This time, he specifically requested the ICC Company to lease UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

Drake Stadium had excellent facilities, not just a football pitch, but also a gym, swimming pool, and more in the adjacent sports hall, making it very convenient.

More importantly, it was a closed training ground.

According to the ICC Company’s plan, during Bayswater Chinese’s training camp at UCLA, they would sell training tickets to the public every day.

This was different from last year’s open training at Beaver Stadium, and the fees were also higher.

A regular admission ticket was ninety-nine dollars, which only allowed you to watch the training but included a special breakfast.

This was because the daily open training sessions were scheduled in the morning.

If you wanted to meet and interact with the stars, you would need to buy a meet-and-greet package, which cost three hundred and ninety-nine dollars.

Fans who purchased the package could enter the interaction zone to engage with the players, including taking photos and getting autographs.

On the day after Bayswater Chinese arrived in the United States, which was the first open training session, they attracted over 1,500 fans, with more than 800 of them buying the package tickets.

According to feedback from the ICC Company, the revenue from ticket sales on the first day alone exceeded four hundred thousand dollars.

Of course, this revenue was split between the ICC Company and Bayswater Chinese.

But this also demonstrated Bayswater Chinese’s influence in the United States.

Every day thereafter, many fans bought tickets to watch the team train, keeping the atmosphere at Drake Stadium constantly buzzing.

Bayswater Chinese was long accustomed to such commercial matches.

After the players arrived in the United States, apart from some routine activities, most of their time was dedicated to the hellish summer training.

Under the supervision of the medical team and the sports science department, the coaching staff went all out, arranging training sessions of extremely high intensity, as if to squeeze out every last bit of energy from the players each day.

For the first ten days of the team’s training at Drake Stadium, apart from one commercial event for American Tourister, it was basically a two-point routine between the hotel and the training ground. The training was incredibly tough, leaving everyone exhausted and miserable.

…

Ten days after arriving in the United States, Bayswater Chinese played their first pre-season friendly.

The opponent was the Los Angeles Galaxy from Major League Soccer.

The match was held at the Los Angeles Galaxy’s home ground, The Home Depot Center.

There wasn’t much to say about the match itself.

Bayswater Chinese had just gone through high-intensity training, and their performance was indeed poor.

Major League Soccer, however, was still in its season, so the Los Angeles Galaxy were clearly in better form.

English superstar Beckham and US international Landon Donovan were both on the Los Angeles Galaxy roster.

So, the match was full of hype.

In the end, Beckham assisted Donovan for a goal on the counter-attack, and Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in the second half.

2-1, a narrow victory for Bayswater Chinese!

But what really caught Yang Cheng’s attention wasn’t this, but the ticket prices for the match.

This match was arranged by the ICC Company, hosted by the Los Angeles Galaxy, with Bayswater Chinese receiving an appearance fee.

The Home Depot Center had a capacity of twenty-seven thousand, and it was completely full.

But the highest-tier ticket price was a staggering six hundred forty-five dollars, which was four hundred forty-eight euros.

The lowest ticket price was forty-eight euros, or seventy-six dollars.

The average ticket price was over two hundred fifty dollars.

It was even higher than the average ticket price for the International Champions Cup final.

This meant that the ticket revenue from this single match reached seven million dollars.

Bayswater Chinese’s appearance fee was two million pounds sterling, which was already quite expensive, but that was only 3.6 million dollars.

This meant that the Los Angeles Galaxy’s take was the same as Bayswater Chinese’s.

They might have even earned more.

This was simply outrageous!

“So, now you see why I’ve been telling you our ticket prices are set too low, right?” Richard Masters said with a helpless smile.

“In a place like America, there are too many fans willing to spend money. The ticket prices for Major League Soccer are also very high.”

Yang Cheng nodded repeatedly. “We’re new here, so we’ll just treat it as high volume, low margin to capture the market.”

This place truly had a lot of money and a lot of fans.

Making money off the Americans was just too easy!

…

After playing the Los Angeles Galaxy, the team continued to train at Drake Stadium.

They then played a pre-season friendly against Celtic of the Scottish Premiership at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, north of Los Angeles.

This was originally an American football stadium, the home of the Fresno State Bulldogs football team, temporarily converted into a soccer pitch. The field conditions were relatively average.

But the fans were still very enthusiastic, attracting a total of forty thousand to the stadium.

Bayswater Chinese still hadn’t hit their stride, drawing 2-2 with Celtic.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were satisfied with the performance in this friendly.

The most important thing wasn’t the result, but the process.

During the training camp in the United States, apart from adjusting the players’ condition and building up their stamina, a very important aspect was to further practice the team’s attacking tactics.

The two full-backs would be given more freedom.

Especially on Marcelo’s side.

These things required a period of adjustment and adaptation, as well as matches to hone.

After the match against Celtic, the team rested at Drake Stadium for another three days before leaving California for Phoenix, Arizona.

Upon arriving in Phoenix, the team played their final pre-season friendly against Valencia from La Liga.

The match was held in Tempe, next to Phoenix, at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium.

Bayswater Chinese’s form in this match showed significant improvement, as they cleanly defeated Valencia 2-0.

The Bats’ overall strength had been affected after losing several players, including Juan Mata, this summer.

The match attracted a total of fifty thousand fans.

From the moment Bayswater Chinese arrived in the United States, the hype had been growing steadily.

Although there were some minor controversies along the way, such as some netizens complaining that the training package tickets were too expensive and limited in number each day, preventing them from meeting their favorite stars face-to-face.

But these were quickly quelled.

Major American media outlets were also extensively reporting on Bayswater Chinese’s training camp in the United States.

The club itself was constantly updating the team’s training status on platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, actively interacting with fans, and the response was getting bigger and bigger.

By late July, with the conclusion of the three pre-season friendlies, the football atmosphere in the United States had been thoroughly heated up.

Especially when giants like Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barça, Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich successively arrived in the United States, it immediately sparked a frenzy among countless fans.

After the International Champions Cup craze last year, the second edition this year once again ignited the American football market!

Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid, Arsenal, and AC Milan were set to battle it out on the US West Coast!

Barça, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Juventus would clash on the US East Coast!

Finally, the top teams from the two groups would gather in Tennessee in the southeastern United States to compete for the International Champions Cup title!

Every match was a summit clash between Europe’s top giants!

The entire United States was cheering for this series of football feasts.

In comparison, the buzz generated by the World Football Challenge was clearly far inferior to that of the International Champions Cup.

Thanks to the pre-heating from the International Champions Cup and the buzz generated by Bayswater Chinese in the United States, plus the conflict created by the two tournaments running concurrently, the World Football Challenge also received a fair amount of attention.

But the organizers still hadn’t solved the problems they encountered in 2009.

For example, they also wanted to divide the nine teams into two regional divisions, but found the scheduling to be unreasonable.

And the fans weren’t buying it.

They rented Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and NRG Stadium in Houston, both with capacities of over seventy thousand.

But they couldn’t sell the tickets.

According to media reports, the World Football Challenge specifically scheduled Champions League teams like Valencia and Benfica to play in these two stadiums, but fewer than forty thousand fans had pre-booked tickets.

This meant that the stadiums would likely be half-empty during the matches.

In stark contrast was the International Champions Cup.

Bayswater Chinese’s three matches, starting with AC Milan at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, saw all 63,400 tickets sold out.

Next, at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas against Champions League winners Arsenal, all 92,000 tickets were also sold out.

And their subsequent match against Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles also had all 93,000 tickets sold out in advance.

Furthermore, matches like Arsenal vs. Real Madrid, Arsenal vs. AC Milan, and Real Madrid vs. AC Milan were also mostly sold out in advance, with tickets being hard to come by.

Why was this happening?

On one hand, the World Football Challenge couldn’t sell its tickets, while on the other, tickets for the International Champions Cup were in high demand. What was the problem here?

The American media provided the answer.

What fans wanted to see was not just the game, but the clashes between giants, the battles between superstars.

Compared to the star-studded International Champions Cup, what was there to watch in the World Football Challenge?

But what truly surprised everyone was the summit clash in Tennessee!

This would be a match that would not only stun fans worldwide but also drive the organizers of the World Football Challenge into complete despair!

Chapter 227: Two Records Broken! A Crazy Speedway! Let’s Conquer the Premier League Together!

As the International Champions Cup proceeded in full swing, football fever remained high in North America and Asia.

Moreover, the Premier League also launched its pre-season tour this season, arranging for several teams to play in Asia, so the summer football craze grew stronger with each passing wave.

After gradually finding their form, Bayswater Chinese won all of their next three pre-season friendlies.

First, they defeated AC Milan 3-1 in Phoenix.

Then, the team secured a narrow 4-3 victory over Arsenal at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.

It was a spectacular end-to-end game, with both teams going all-out on the attack, making for a thrilling match.

After returning to Los Angeles, the team faced Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Yang Cheng’s squad once again defeated Real Madrid soundly, this time 2-1.

Three wins in three matches. During this pre-season, Bayswater Chinese played six games, remaining undefeated with five wins and one draw!

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Ferguson’s Manchester United had significantly improved their overall strength after signing several new players.

After joining during the winter transfer window, David Luiz had put in some decent performances but hadn’t been overly convincing.

However, in the recent friendlies, the Brazilian centre-back had been very impressive.

The addition of Juan Mata also filled the void left by Scholes’ retirement.

It was worth mentioning that Juan Mata played as a left winger at Valencia, but at Manchester United, he was now playing as an attacking midfielder.

In the Eastern Conference, Manchester United posted a perfect record of three wins, defeating Barça, Chelsea, and Juventus to secure first place in their group.

Meanwhile, the match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid at Michigan Stadium saw an attendance that once again approached last year’s record, reaching 109,318, just shy of one hundred and ten thousand people.

Including other venues like Beaver Stadium, the attendance rate had remained consistently high.

This sent the popularity of the International Champions Cup soaring.

After completing the group stages in the east and west, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United both traveled to Bristol, Tennessee.

Long before the International Champions Cup had even started, everyone was shocked when the ICC Company announced that the final would be held in Bristol, Tennessee.

As far as anyone could remember, Bristol didn’t have a football stadium of that scale.

Why not hold the final at Michigan Stadium, which had the largest capacity? Why go to Bristol instead?

Didn’t that seem absurd?

But as the hype for the International Champions Cup continued to build and more details were revealed, everyone couldn’t help but marvel at the ICC Company’s grand vision.

Bristol indeed had no large football stadium, but it did have one of the world’s most famous speedways.

Part of the Bristol Motor Speedway’s fame came from its shape, which resembled a football stadium. The surrounding stands were fully enclosed, circling the entire track.

The track was a full 858 meters long, making it look like an even larger stadium.

In fact, it had hosted an NFL pre-season game back in the 1960s.

However, its capacity at the time was only eighteen thousand.

Through constant expansion, especially since the 1990s, the speedway’s capacity had grown larger and larger.

After renovations in 2000, the capacity reached one hundred forty-seven thousand.

But in 2007, the speedway underwent another round of renovations, increasing its capacity to one hundred fifty-three thousand.

Note that this was just a nominal estimate.

In reality, the exact number of people it could hold was only a rough approximation.

With a speedway of this magnitude, it was difficult to get an accurate figure.

Moreover, the speedway had never been filled to capacity in all its years.

But this time, the ICC Company decided to hold the International Champions Cup final in this very speedway.

When the news broke, American fans and media went into an uproar.

It was an insane decision!

That was a speedway, not a football pitch!

It only looked like one!

It hadn’t even hosted an American football game in years.

Consequently, a torrent of doubts and questions emerged.

Everyone thought the ICC Company must have lost its mind, resorting to any means necessary just to sell more tickets.

But where there was doubt, there was also excitement.

Many fans thought it was a brilliant and cool idea.

Why?

The Bristol Motor Speedway was not just an enclosed, quasi-football stadium with wraparound stands.

Although the stands had no roof, a massive LCD screen was suspended right above the pitch, connected to the stands by several steel cables.

While the wide track separating the stands from the pitch and the open-air environment might dilute the intensity of the atmosphere, it was an undeniably crazy decision.

Especially when the ICC Company posed a question in its marketing campaign:

“Do you want to know how many people can actually fit into Bristol Motor Speedway?”

The youth of America, especially football fans, were completely fired up.

It was so cool, wasn’t it?

But achieving this was also incredibly difficult.

First, this was a speedway. The racetrack itself wasn’t the problem, but what about the pitch in the middle?

Decades had passed since it last hosted an American football game.

This was where Bayswater Chinese’s connections in England and the professional background of the ICC Company’s many executives came into play.

The whole world knew that the English had the most badass turf technology for football pitches.

So, British experts were flown to the United States. After a site inspection, they proposed a truly outrageous plan.

Within nineteen days, they would temporarily build a standard football pitch capable of hosting a top-tier match.

The timing had to be perfect—not too early, not too late. The turf had to be in optimal condition and ready for use on the night of the International Champions Cup final.

After the match, the turf would be scraped off, and the venue would be converted back into a speedway.

How could this be done?

This truly tested the capabilities of the team, especially the groundskeeping professionals.

Tickets kept selling, and selling, while the stadium’s transformation proceeded in an orderly fashion.

The ICC Company provided daily updates on the progress.

Over four hundred truckloads of sand and rock were brought in.

All the turf and substrate were shipped from England, with British experts personally overseeing the installation and maintenance.

By the time the International Champions Cup group stage was over and Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United arrived in Bristol, a brand-new, standard football pitch had appeared inside the speedway.

And surrounding the pitch were densely packed seats.

At this point, tickets were still selling relentlessly.

On the day of the final, as fans who had traveled from far and wide walked into the speedway with their tickets, they felt a sense of utter shock!

The stadium announcer continuously reported the number of entering fans.

At first, it was announced in increments of one thousand, then five thousand, and finally, ten thousand at a time.

The commentators in the Fox Television broadcast booth were also extremely excited and emotional.

This was about to make American soccer—no, North American soccer—history!

In the world of football, the match with the highest attendance was the 1950 World Cup final in Brazil.

According to the organizers, about 173,000 tickets were sold, but the actual number of people in the stadium was higher.

Some say it was 199,854, while another account claims it reached 220,000.

In any case, that match was in a league of its own.

In North America, the current attendance record was set at last year’s International Champions Cup group stage match, the summit clash at Michigan Stadium, with nearly one hundred and ten thousand people.

But for this final in Bristol, even before the match began, everyone was certain it would be a sell-out and set a new record.

The biggest questions on people’s minds were: how many people could it hold?

And they had to be part of this record-making event!

Therefore, tickets were in high demand.

Before the final kicked off, as the players from both teams lined up to enter the pitch, the stadium announcer broadcasted the attendance for the match: 156,990!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers!

A full one hundred fifty thousand fans let out a deafening roar.

But the announcer reminded everyone that fans were still coming in, and this was not yet the limit of the Bristol Motor Speedway.

…

In this International Champions Cup final, both teams sent out their strongest lineups, fielding their best players.

Bayswater Chinese stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in the holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

Piszczek and Theo Walcott were both absent due to injury.

Manchester United, on the other hand, deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Rafael da Silva;

Midfield: De Rossi and Carrick formed a double pivot, with Ashley Young, Juan Mata, and Robben in front of them;

Forward: Rooney.

The prize money for winning the International Champions Cup was quite good, and it was another cup title, so both teams wanted to test their limits and see how well they could perform.

The match immediately kicked off with the fast-paced, end-to-end action familiar to all Premier League fans.

Both teams proactively pressed forward, engaging in an open attacking battle.

This created an open game, and the fans in the stadium were roaring with excitement from the very first minute.

In this “stadium” with no roof and a wide horse and motor racing track in the middle, the wall of sound created by over one hundred fifty thousand fans was still awe-inspiriing for everyone present.

Especially in the 27th minute, when Gareth Bale received a through ball from Toni Kroos on the left, he blazed past two Manchester United defenders before sending a low cross into the center from the left side of the penalty area.

Sandwiched between two centre-backs, Robert Lewandowski connected with a sliding shot, finding the back of the net.

The entire stadium went insane!

Every fan in the venue was cheering wildly.

But Manchester United did not retreat, choosing to continue pressing forward and attacking.

Just before halftime, after a brilliant one-two pass with Modrić, Di María received the ball on the left side of the box, shook off Evra, and curled a beautiful shot with his left foot into the far corner, sending it past the Manchester United goalkeeper.

2-0!

The Di María of today was clearly more aggressive than in Yang Cheng’s previous life. Especially when playing on the right, his left-footed curling shots after cutting inside were very threatening, though still inconsistent and in need of more practice.

The first half ended with a two-goal lead.

But after the break, Ferguson made a substitution at halftime, bringing on Nani for Ashley Young.

Just six minutes into the second half, Nani took on Kyle Walker with a powerful dribble down the left flank.

The English right-back, relying on his speed and physicality, had managed to suppress Ashley Young in the first half. But against Nani, he struggled and was beaten directly.

Nani crossed to the far post, where Robben tapped it in from close range.

1-2!

Everyone in the stadium was shouting with even more fervor.

The attacks on the pitch came wave after wave.

From the 60th minute onwards, both teams made a series of substitutions, but the thrilling moments in the match continued unabated.

In the 69th minute, a 45-degree cross from De Bruyne in the right half-space split Manchester United’s defense, landing just outside the left post.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, piercing through Manchester United’s backline with lightning speed and heading the ball into the far corner from close range, past De Gea.

3-1!

Then, in the 74th minute, a diagonal pass from Javi Martínez in midfield found the right flank.

After a one-two with Kyle Walker, the Belgian received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and sent another diagonal cross towards the far post.

By now, Gareth Bale had been substituted.

Eden Hazard was too short to contest for such a ball.

Just when everyone thought the ball was going out of bounds, a powerful dark figure suddenly charged in.

Near the byline, Pogba got to the ball before anyone else and headed it back towards the center.

Harry Kane followed up with a simple tap-in, sending the ball into De Gea’s goal once more.

4-1!

Manchester United quickly responded in kind.

On the right wing, Robben shook off Ryan Bertrand and cut inside. Just as the defenders expected him to shoot, he suddenly played a delicate through ball.

The ball slid just past Kompany.

Inside the box, Rooney received the pass and slotted it into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

2-4!

It was now the 86th minute of the match.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 4-2!

Yang Cheng and Ferguson, along with all the players from Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United, entered the pitch together to celebrate.

It was a friendly match!

Although the game was played with genuine intensity and was very exciting, it was not a true competitive battle!

At the very least, both teams had intentionally or unintentionally leaned towards an attacking style of play when choosing their tactics.

At that moment, the stadium announcer revealed the final attendance number for the match.

An astonishing 160,990!

In that instant, the entire stadium erupted with the loudest cheer of the entire game!

Even the players and coaches on the pitch were cheering for it!

A full one hundred sixty thousand people!

The Fox Television commentators were also utterly stunned!

Last year, at Michigan Stadium, the match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid had already broken the attendance record for a sporting event in North America.

And now, it was Bayswater Chinese again, this time against Manchester United, and the attendance record had leaped to one hundred sixty thousand!

This wasn’t just a North American record!

In the history of world football, the attendance for this match was second only to the 1950 World Cup final!

“In the history of world sports, today’s match ranks 7th for the largest live audience!”

“Among enclosed stadium sports like football and American football, it ranks 2nd!”

The entire stadium was cheering wildly!

One hundred sixty thousand fans in the stands were roaring.

Especially before the award ceremony, when the announcer called for the fans to start a Mexican wave, the atmosphere was pushed to its absolute peak.

One hundred sixty thousand fans in the stands created a continuous, undulating wave!

This instantly set another historical record.

“The largest Mexican wave in history has just been born!”

The second edition of the International Champions Cup concluded amidst this fervent atmosphere!

Bayswater Chinese had successfully defended their title!

…

The next day, major media outlets worldwide were scrambling to report on the International Champions Cup final held in the United States.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 4-2!

While the clash between the two giants was certainly eye-catching, what truly broke the mold was the 160,000-person Mexican wave and the insane atmosphere at the venue.

Countless fans who attended the match were constantly sharing their personal experiences.

Although the venue conditions were not ideal, the atmosphere was incredibly electric, and the match-viewing experience was outstanding.

A full one hundred sixty thousand people!

This was undoubtedly a massive test for the organizers!

But through this final, the ICC Company demonstrated its execution efficiency and management capabilities to everyone.

As the media reported:

In such a wild football match, the International Champions Cup reached a perfect conclusion!

But this game would have a huge impact on American soccer, and indeed on sports throughout North America.

The popularity of football in North America was steadily climbing, and the growing number of football fans was drawing external attention.

One hundred sixty thousand people walked into the Bristol Motor Speedway.

The average ticket price was 250 dollars.

The ticket revenue for this single match exceeded forty million dollars.

This didn’t even include various other revenues like fan consumption during the match.

Furthermore, nearly sixty thousand people attended the pre-match training sessions, which was simply insane!

According to American media reports, Bristol Motor Speedway’s owner, Bruton Smith, revealed that the football pitch for the game was laid on a foundation of ten thousand tons of sand and rock.

“We spent a total of nineteen days and used countless manpower and resources to transform this stadium into a football venue that meets international standards.”

Bruton Smith stated that through this event, everyone had seen the potential of the Bristol Motor Speedway.

It could host not only horse and car racing but, now that the transformation was complete, it would also be capable of hosting a series of major events like football and American football.

Finally, Bruton Smith took the opportunity to advertise his stadium.

A stadium capable of holding one hundred sixty thousand people—it was the only one of its kind in the United States.

Any event confident in its box office appeal was welcome to give it a try!

…

As the International Champions Cup drew to a close and Yang Cheng and his team prepared to return to London, David Pemsel and Richard Masters approached him.

Along with Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, who were returning to England with the team, they held a meeting.

The second edition of the International Champions Cup was a resounding success.

In contrast, the World Football Challenge had an average attendance of just over twenty thousand, not even reaching thirty thousand.

Although the appearance fees for teams like Valencia and Benfica were cheaper, the organizers not only failed to make a profit but also incurred substantial losses.

“After seeing the International Champions Cup in full swing, I don’t think they’ll want to host it again starting next year,” Richard Masters said with a chuckle.

Once the International Champions Cup entered the arena, it was very difficult for the World Football Challenge to compete.

Unless they could defeat the International Champions Cup head-on.

But given the success of this year’s second edition, that was basically impossible.

“According to our preliminary statistics, the total attendance for the group stage this year reached 1.48 million, a significant improvement over last year. If we include the final, the total number reaches 1.64 million.”

Yang Cheng did a quick calculation; that was 180,000 more than last year.

The increase was mainly from the thirteen matches in North America.

Especially the final.

Last year’s final in New York had an attendance of just over eighty thousand.

This year, it was a full one hundred sixty thousand, double the amount.

With higher attendance, ticket revenue naturally followed.

The average ticket price for the group stage increased by five percent this year, to about 105 dollars.

But the average price for the final was raised to 250 dollars.

So, for this final alone, the ticket revenue exceeded forty million dollars.

When they had negotiated with Bruton Smith, the owner of the Bristol Motor Speedway, they had agreed that the ICC Company would be responsible for the renovations in exchange for priority leasing rights and a discount on rent.

For example, this year, since the ICC Company invested in the renovations, the rent was waived entirely.

The renovation costs were not cheap, especially the ten thousand tons of sand and gravel, plus the turf, substrate, expert fees, and labor costs.

All in all, the ICC Company’s investment was substantial.

But judging from the results and feedback, it was all worth it!

If nothing else, this one marketing event promoted the International Champions Cup to the entire world.

Now, fans all over the globe were seeing this competition in a new light.

“Based on our current preliminary estimates, total ticket revenue is about 195.4 million dollars. Including revenue from pre-match training session tickets and matchday sales, we’ve earned about 235 million dollars from nineteen matches.”

“Last year, that figure was 150 million dollars,” David Pemsel said proudly.

Such growth was incredibly fast!

Of course, the stadium capacities had now reached their limits, making further growth difficult.

According to David Pemsel and Richard Masters, they planned to increase ticket prices by another five percent next year. At the same time, they could ramp up efforts to attract sponsors, believing there was still room for decent growth.

Two hundred thirty-five million dollars was about 163 million euros.

As per the original agreement, the appearance fees for the twelve teams remained at 64 million euros.

After deducting costs for accommodation, travel, stadium rental, and various security measures, the total expenditure was estimated at 120 million euros.

The main investments were in the teams and the renovation of the final venue.

This meant a profit of about 40 million euros.

According to the previous agreement, each of the twelve major clubs held a five percent stake, meaning each team would receive an additional 2 million euros.

And Yang Cheng, holding forty percent, would receive 16 million euros directly.

That was a huge sum of money!

For Yang Cheng, as well as for the twelve clubs, it was!

“Are you planning to distribute this money as a dividend? Or are you keeping some operating capital?” Adam Crozier asked with concern.

“We still have a lot of payments to receive, including from commercial promotions, advertising, and television rights. We estimate that these funds will be enough to support the company’s operations and cover the expenses for organizing next year’s International Champions Cup,” David Pemsel said.

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Yang Cheng, clearly waiting for him to make a decision.

Should this money be paid out as a dividend, or should it be retained?

There would be very good reasons for keeping it.

After all, the cup had only been held twice, operating costs were rising, and the company needed capital.

But honestly, everyone had their own little calculations, the clubs included.

Did they think the other eleven major clubs couldn’t do the math?

Situations like this were extremely common in the business world.

The key was whether Yang Cheng would let it go.

If Yang Cheng was greedy, he could find a host of reasons to placate the other eleven clubs, and they would have no grounds to object.

For them, receiving a high appearance fee was already quite good.

A dividend?

Who had ever seen one?

“Adam, call them. We’ll hold a meeting in London after we get back to Europe.”

Yang Cheng paused, then turned to David Pemsel and Richard Masters. “You two, use this time to get the accounts in order. We’ll report them at the shareholder meeting and also prepare a plan for next year.”

Everyone immediately understood Yang Cheng’s intention.

He was going to pay out the dividend.

Two million euros.

Not a huge amount, but not insignificant either.

“Profit is the most powerful weapon we have to unite these eleven clubs, and it’s the moat that no other competition can breach to poach them!” Yang Cheng said simply and directly.

To participate in the International Champions Cup, Barça was even considering canceling the Joan Gamper Trophy.

What about Arsenal’s Emirates Cup? Could you even see it anymore?

And Bayern Munich’s Audi Cup was now moved to mid-July, wasn’t that to avoid the International Champions Cup?

Why were these giants willing to do this?

Because there was money to be made!

“Scatter wealth to gather people. That’s how this tournament will last, and how our partnership will remain strong!” Yang Cheng declared.

Adam Crozier and the others looked at him with admiration.

Despite his youth, Yang Cheng saw many things more clearly than anyone else.

He was giving away 40 million euros without a second thought.

Although 16 million euros a going into his own pocket, it was still a huge sum.

But isn’t that what people who want to achieve great things do?

At this thought, everyone suddenly felt their own futures were brighter.

As long as the International Champions Cup continued to flourish, and as long as Bayswater Chinese continued to be well-managed, Yang Cheng would never let them lose out.

…

When Yang Cheng led his team back to London from the United States, they began the final sprint of preparations for the new season.

The team’s first match of the season was the Community Shield.

Since the team had won both the Premier League and the FA Cup, their opponent this time was the league runner-up, Manchester City.

This was expected to be the most prestigious pre-season-style match before the new season began.

While Bayswater Chinese was actively preparing, the owners and senior executives of the twelve invited major clubs gathered at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Since it was outside of training hours, Yang Cheng, as the host, personally attended and entertained the guests.

The main agenda of this shareholder meeting was simple: dividends.

Each club would receive 2 million euros and, as the holder of forty percent of the company’s shares, Yang Cheng would receive 16 million euros.

When the news was announced, there was an uproar in the room.

They never would have imagined that it would become profitable in just two years!

And it was even paying a dividend!

Everyone present was utterly shocked.

The way they looked at Yang Cheng completely changed.

It was important to remember that they had all been half-believing, half-doubting of Yang Cheng’s decisions back then, entering the venture with a “let’s try it and see” attitude.

That was why, when Yang Cheng had called on them to invest money and split the shares equally, they had all rejected the idea.

For them, it was just about earning the appearance fee.

But now, not only had the ICC Company earned them their appearance fees, but it had also given them a dividend of 2 million euros.

This made many people in the room, including Florentino Pérez, green with regret.

They received 2 million euros; Yang Cheng received 16 million.

He had indeed invested money back then, but looking at it now, he had certainly made his investment back long ago.

At this thought, everyone had to silently change their previous impression of Yang Cheng.

This guy wasn’t just someone who baked a cake.

He baked a bigger cake!

After the formal meeting concluded, the luncheon began.

Everyone gathered around Yang Cheng, the initial topic of conversation being the International Champions Cup.

The match at the Bristol Motor Speedway, in particular, was hailed by Americans as the Super Bowl of soccer.

It had caused a massive stir worldwide.

“Judging from the past two years, American fans are very eager for football. They crave interaction with the world’s best stars, and we can provide them with that kind of service!”

Most importantly, the International Champions Cup was held as a series of pre-season friendlies, so it didn’t require the approval of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

It was a commercial tournament.

But problems still existed.

The first was the limitation of stadiums in Asia.

The stadium capacities in Asia were currently much smaller than in the United States, which meant that for the same appearance fees and matches, the revenue in the US was far greater than in Asia.

But this didn’t mean they should abandon the Asian market.

As the world’s most economically vibrant and populous region, once the International Champions Cup was operating stably, commercial sponsorship and broadcasting rights revenue would undoubtedly become a significant growth driver.

But this required the ICC Company to persevere.

“So, I still hope everyone can have more patience and confidence in our company and in our new cup competition.”

Yang Cheng’s words received affirmation and support from the leaders of the major clubs.

If for no other reason than the dividend, they believed in Yang Cheng.

Two million euros wasn’t a huge amount for them.

Especially for member-owned clubs like Real Madrid and Barça, the presidents hardly cared about the 2 million euros.

But the dividend was a statement of intent!

David Pemsel also shared many of the lessons learned from organizing the tournament over the past two years.

It all boiled down to one thing.

There is strength in numbers!

The twelve top clubs had united to go to North America and Asia to make money!

Going alone or in small groups, each fighting their own battle, would never amount to much.

Take this year’s final, for example, where a full one hundred sixty thousand fans attended.

Who could have such pulling power alone?

With a handsome appearance fee and a 2 million euro dividend in hand, the major clubs had tasted the benefits and one by one pledged their continued strong support for the ICC Company.

This reassured Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and David Pemsel.

As long as they kept this group of giants on their side, no one could shake the foundation of the International Champions Cup.

…

While Yang Cheng and the ICC Company were holding their shareholder meeting in London and announcing dividends, at the headquarters of the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, an Italian-American named Charlie Stillitano was walking out of his boss’s office with his head hanging low.

As the senior director of football in the sports department of the world’s number one agency, Charlie Stillitano had just botched a deal: the World Football Challenge.

A financial audit revealed a loss of over ten million dollars.

This put him under immense pressure in a company where performance is king.

Charlie Stillitano was not someone who had switched to football halfway through his career; his family had intricate connections to the sport.

Although he was born in the United States, his parents were Italian.

The elder Stillitano was one of the founders of the North American Soccer League and had been involved in the football agency business since the 1970s, including organizing friendly matches for Pelé’s Santos and European teams like Lazio in the United States.

In Charlie’s generation, he started playing football in school and later worked as a coach.

During the preparations for the 1994 World Cup in the US, he was involved, primarily responsible for venue operations.

After the World Cup, he was appointed Vice President and General Manager of MLS’s New York/New-Jersey MetroStars.

In 2003, Charlie Stillitano started his own business, ChampionsWorld, LLC, as founder and CEO. Using his and his father’s connections in the football world, he organized pre-season tours to the United States for European teams including Real Madrid and Manchester United.

This helped him rise to fame in the industry, and he befriended many famous European managers and top club executives.

But in 2005, the company declared bankruptcy, leaving behind a large unpaid fine from the U.S. Soccer Federation.

In 2006, after a series of high-level shake-ups at the turn of the century, CAA capitalized on a box office boom in the film industry. Its performance was flourishing, and the company’s ambitious leaders decided to enter the sports industry, forming a sports department.

Charlie Stillitano joined CAA Sports to head its football division.

He quickly achieved results, signing superstar C. Ronaldo in his first year.

When the time was right, Charlie Stillitano returned to the path where he had previously found success, founding the World Football Challenge.

In 2009, the inaugural World Football Challenge was a huge success.

Bayswater Chinese’s participation allowed CAA to make a huge profit, but the tournament also exposed many problems, causing strong dissatisfaction among the participating teams.

Due to the World Cup in South Africa, it was decided to temporarily suspend the tournament in 2010.

Unexpectedly, a company called ICC, with its International Champions Cup, swept through North America and Asia with unparalleled force, taking advantage of the World Football Challenge’s hiatus to seize the initiative.

CAA and Charlie Stillitano felt the threat and decided to revive the World Football Challenge in 2011.

But all the top clubs had been poached and had signed contracts.

With no other options, Stillitano used his various connections to invite teams like Valencia and Benfica to compete in the United States.

However, these teams had far less box office appeal than the giants.

As a result, this year’s World Football Challenge suffered a major financial loss.

As Charlie Stillitano returned to his office, he felt as if he was back in 2005, the moment his company went bankrupt.

His boss had told him to find a way to keep the World Football Challenge going, no matter what.

But what could he do now?

The twelve giants were all under contract with the ICC Company. What options did he have left?

The thought left Charlie Stillitano feeling helpless.

Just then, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID read: Stephen Ross.

…

The next day, in New York City, southwest of Central Park.

When Charlie Stillitano walked into the offices of a company called RSE Ventures, he was immediately shown to an office by a receptionist named Lola.

After he knocked on the door, a familiar voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

It was the voice of Stephen Ross.

An American real estate mogul with assets exceeding seven billion dollars, who also owned the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

When Charlie Stillitano opened the door, he found that not only was Stephen Ross there, but so were two other people.

One he recognized: Matt Higgins, the current CEO of the NFL’s New York Jets and also the Executive Vice President of Business Operations, considered one of the most capable business minds in the entire NFL.

The other was a young man whom Stillitano did not recognize.

“Charlie, welcome, my friend!”

Stephen Ross gestured for Stillitano to come over and stood up to make the introductions.

“You must know Matt.”

As Stephen Ross spoke, Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano nodded to each other in acknowledgment.

They were not strangers.

“This young man is from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. His name is Daniel Sillman, a very thoughtful and interesting young man.”

Stillitano immediately noticed Daniel Sillman, and his first impression was good; he seemed like a likable kid.

“Come, Charlie, let’s get down to business.”

Once Stillitano was seated, Stephen Ross got straight to the point.

A tycoon like him wouldn’t be sitting here for idle chat for no reason.

He had arranged this meeting with a clear purpose.

And he said it plainly: he was blown away by the International Champions Cup model.

A full one hundred sixty thousand fans attending a match!

“What does this represent?”

“It represents that in our country, there is an extremely strong demand. It’s not that we don’t like soccer, it’s that no one has provided this for us in the past!” Stephen Ross seemed agitated.

He felt he had discovered a vast blue ocean!

“Do you know where your problem lies, Charlie?”

Stillitano shook his head.

Stephen Ross smiled faintly. “You and CAA were too meticulous with your calculations, not bold enough.”

“You think our country’s fans like watching soccer matches?”

“No, no, no, Charlie. they don’t like watching soccer matches. They love the stars, the superstars, the big clubs, those names that get you excited just by saying them!”

“That’s why they would rush into a temporarily converted speedway to watch a soccer match for a so-called record. It’s a crazy idea, but you have to admire the professionalism of those European football people!”

Stillitano was somewhat silent.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of it, but the problem was that the cost of inviting top clubs was too high.

His original plan was to take it step by step, slowly, to first establish a foothold in the market before trying to get the big clubs to join.

But he never expected someone who didn’t play by the rules to jump in!

But he had to admit, the ICC Company’s operations over the past two years had been truly impressive and professional.

Although there were some minor issues, their operations, marketing, and logistical support were all very professional.

Of course, behind it all was the entire European football industry chain at work.

“The reason I invited you here today, Charlie, is to discuss something with you. We at RSE Ventures are very interested in the World Football Challenge, so we are willing to invest in the tournament and build it up together.”

Upon hearing this, Stillitano’s gloomy expression instantly brightened, and a smile spread across his face.

Having a powerhouse like this invest would be absolutely perfect.

“Also, do you know about Bayswater Chinese?” Stephen Ross asked with a look of concern.

“Of course, every fan in the world knows them.”

“I heard they were still playing in an amateur league in 2003?”

“No, not an amateur league, it was the third tier of English football, which is also a professional league,” Stillitano quickly explained.

Many stories get distorted through hearsay these days.

“Whatever league it was, I just heard that their valuation has soared in recent years. A Qatari consortium and an American investment firm were willing to pay four billion pound sterling to buy them, but they were rejected. Is that right?” A greedy fervor flashed in Stephen Ross’s eyes.

“Indeed, Bayswater Chinese has been managed exceptionally well in recent years.”

Hearing this, Stephen Ross laughed and pointed to Matt Higgins and Daniel Sillman in front of him.

“You see, we now have Matt, the best in the NFL at business operations, and Daniel, a young man full of ideas and drive who is great at business promotion. And we have you, someone who is very familiar with and understands football.”

Finally, Stephen Ross’s hand came to rest on Charlie Stillitano.

“You know, our country needs football, and right now the best football league in the world is the Premier League. I think we should go to the Premier League and buy a team, and like Bayswater Chinese, build that team up!”

“What do you think?”

Stephen Ross looked at Charlie Stillitano with a confident expression.

As the owner of an NFL team and a renowned real estate tycoon in the United States, he had absolute confidence in his business acumen and abilities.

The people under him were all elites in their fields, especially skilled in various business operations.

Bringing the elite of the American sports industry to Europe, to England—wouldn’t that be a complete mismatch against the decadent old guys of the Premier League?

In just a few short years, Bayswater Chinese had used the Premier League platform to see their value skyrocket by several billion pounds.

And now, they were making such a huge impact in the United States.

Stephen Ross believed that he and his team could do the same.

Perhaps even better!

He was going to cross the Atlantic and conquer the Premier League!

Chapter 228: Sponsorship! IPO! A Winning Start! I’m Coming to the Premier League to Challenge the Bayswater Chinese!

Afternoon of August 7th, Wembley Stadium, London.

The Community Shield: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City.

As soon as the match started, Manchester City’s head coach Ancelotti couldn’t stay in his seat.

The Italian repeatedly went to the touchline, yelling at Micah Richards, telling him to watch his positioning and provide more cover for the centre-backs, while also asking Yaya Touré to drift out to the right flank.

But even so, it had little effect.

Just five minutes in, Marcelo made a surging run into the half-space, completed a neat one-two pass with Toni Kroos, and broke towards the left side of the penalty area, forcing Lúcio to commit a foul just outside the box.

Today’s head referee was Phil Dowd.

If he hadn’t considered that the match had just begun, he might have already shown a card.

The Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, continued to ramp up the intensity of their attack.

Especially down the two flanks.

“Their full-backs are even more aggressive now than before.”

Assistant coach Bruno Demichelis complained from behind Ancelotti.

“Look at Marcelo, he’s practically playing as a winger. Is he even a full-back anymore?”

“And on the right, Walcott is cutting inside, which makes Piszczek essentially a winger.”

This style of play was just too aggressive!

The Bayswater Chinese had always championed attacking football, with their full-backs actively joining the attack—this was common knowledge. Even Marcelo’s attacking prowess at the expense of his defensive duties had been a point of criticism for years.

But this level of all-out attack was truly rare.

“Yang Cheng must have absolute confidence in his midfield and centre-backs now!” Ancelotti turned to glance at Yang Cheng in the opposing technical area, a sense of helplessness washing over him.

With the opposition committing so many players forward, Manchester City’s only options were to either go all-out on the attack themselves or focus on defending first.

But anyone familiar with the Bayswater Chinese knew that going toe-to-toe with them was extremely risky.

You either suffered a crushing defeat, or you won with a standing ovation.

Speaking of centre-backs, Ancelotti sighed again.

Lúcio was already thirty-three years old.

Although the Brazilian was still in decent form, for a centre-back of his type, once his physical condition declined past a certain point, his performance would drop off sharply.

Just like how he was forced to foul Marcelo moments ago.

In his prime, Lúcio would have simply closed him down, used his physicality, and immediately dispossessed Marcelo.

But now, he could only resort to a foul.

Jérôme Boateng and Stefan Savić were both centre-backs Ancelotti rated highly, but they weren’t yet ready to replace Lúcio. They still needed a bit more time.

The biggest headache, however, was Micah Richards.

In Ancelotti’s mind, the best choice for right-back was Pablo Zabaleta.

But Micah Richards was an England international.

For this match, with both Pirlo and Kaká out with injuries, Ancelotti wanted to try a change in formation.

Thus, he opted for a 4-4-2 tactic.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Lúcio, and Micah Richards;

Midfield: David Silva, Gareth Barry, Yaya Touré, and Robinho;

Forwards: Ibrahimović and Carlos Tevez.

It was a 4-4-2 on paper, but in reality, both David Silva and Robinho pushed very far forward.

And between the two strikers, Ibrahimović played up top while Tevez often dropped back.

So, strictly speaking, it resembled an asymmetrical 4-2-3-1 formation.

Manchester City had practiced this system during their pre-season friendlies, and the results had been decent.

Against less formidable opponents, they could drop one of the holding midfielders for Pirlo.

Or, they could take off a forward and bring on Kaká.

Ancelotti had been consistently working to reshape Manchester City, to increase the team’s tactical versatility.

Furthermore, the arrival of Agüero was a massive boost to the team’s attack.

Of course, coordinating the playing time for all these players was a true test of Ancelotti’s skill.

Judging from this match so far, Manchester City had struggled to create any threatening attacks, and had yet to even register a single shot.

Then, in the 21st minute, it was Gareth Bale and Marcelo combining again on the left flank. Just as the Welshman was about to burst into the half-space, Micah Richards launched into a ferocious flying tackle.

Gareth Bale was sent tumbling, ball and all!

The sight made Ancelotti slap his forehead on the sideline.

“Has this kid got rocks in his head?” Ancelotti said, exasperated.

“That’s a red card offense!”

But the head referee was lenient, only showing a yellow card.

However, the position of this free kick for the Bayswater Chinese was excellent.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Toni Kroos who stepped up to take it.

This astonished Ancelotti and his staff, as well as the fans in the stands.

But Toni Kroos placed the ball, slowly backed away, and waited for Manchester City to form their wall. Then he took a deep breath, strode forward, and struck the ball with his right foot, sending an in-swinger curling through the air.

The football flew out at high speed, tracing a beautiful arc as it swerved inwards, heading straight for the top-left corner of Manchester City’s goal.

That’s right, from the left side outside the penalty area, Toni Kroos had used an in-swinging curve to aim for the top-left corner.

Joe Hart was momentarily deceived, and by the time he reacted to make the save, it was too late.

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers!

More than half of the crowd were fans of the Bayswater Chinese, and they were all frantically shouting Toni Kroos’s name.

This left Ancelotti looking particularly dejected in the dugout.

Manchester City still hadn’t had a single shot!

“What a beautiful free kick!” Bruno Demichelis exclaimed in admiration.

Hearing this, Ancelotti turned his head, a look of a wronged bride on his face, and stared resentfully at his assistant.

It was beautiful, alright, but it was our goal he scored into!

Whose side are you on?

Ancelotti wasn’t surprised by Toni Kroos’s free-kick ability.

A master of long passes like him was often a master of free kicks as well.

The reason he didn’t take them often was mainly due to internal team coordination.

For example, free kicks in the central attacking area and the right half-space were usually assigned to Gareth Bale by the Bayswater Chinese.

A left-footed player taking it from that side could shoot directly at goal.

The Welshman’s technique and power were both outstanding, and his “butterfly ball” struck fear into the hearts of many goalkeepers.

But in fact, Di María was also a free-kick specialist and was very adept at taking them from that side.

Unfortunately, with Gareth Bale on the team, Di María never got the chance.

This was an internal decision made by the team after considering all factors.

…

With Toni Kroos’s goal, the match gradually began to open up.

Especially for Manchester City.

Ancelotti’s team could no longer afford to just defend with all their might.

But it wasn’t until the 29th minute that the Blue Moons managed their first shot.

After receiving the ball in the half-space, David Silva sent a diagonal pass, and Robinho cut into the penalty area to take a shot.

Thiago Silva reacted swiftly, blocking the ball out for a corner.

Corner kick.

But as soon as Manchester City took the corner, Courtois came out and plucked the ball out of the air.

Since joining the Bayswater Chinese last year and taking over from Neuer, Courtois’s style had changed considerably, especially his tendency to come off his line, which was noticeably more frequent.

Despite his tall stature, his range of activity was much larger than before.

Of course, asking a goalkeeper of his height to frequently charge out of the penalty area like Neuer was basically asking for trouble.

Every player has their own unique strengths.

Yang Cheng tailored his tactics based on the strengths of these players.

In the 33rd minute, the Bayswater Chinese won another attacking free-kick.

Gareth Barry had fouled Walcott.

A free kick in the right half-space was basically Gareth Bale’s territory.

The Welshman struck a butterfly ball from twenty-eight meters out. It hit the outside of the post and deflected out for a goal kick.

But it was enough to send a cold sweat down the spines of the entire Manchester City team.

Then, in the 38th minute, Leighton Baines fouled Walcott while defending in his own half, once again giving the Bayswater Chinese a free-kick opportunity on the right wing.

Modrić took this free kick, sending a cross from the right towards the near post.

Manchester City’s defenders lost their man during the man-marking, and Thiago Silva darted forward, meeting the descending ball at the edge of the six-yard box with a tap-in that sent it past Joe Hart and into the net.

2-0!

But just before the end of the first half, David Silva delivered a precise through ball down the left channel. Pepe was a fraction too slow to press, and Ibrahimović got to the ball first.

After dribbling past Pepe, the Swedish centre-forward didn’t wait for Thiago Silva to provide cover and unleashed a power shot from the edge of the box, pulling one back for Manchester City.

1-2!

During the halftime break, Ancelotti made his first substitution.

Agüero came on for Robinho.

Manchester City switched to a 4-3-3 formation, with David Silva tucking into midfield and Yaya Touré being given more freedom.

The Blue Moons began to increase the intensity of their attack.

But in the 52nd minute, Manchester City won a free kick in an attacking position.

After the ball was sent into the box, Pepe cleared it with a powerful kick.

Toni Kroos won the second ball and played a diagonal long pass.

Walcott surged forward with lightning speed.

Lúcio, near the halfway line, failed to intercept the ball. Walcott beat the offside trap, chased onto Toni Kroos’s pass, and drove forward unimpeded. After rounding the onrushing Joe Hart, he slotted the ball into the empty net.

3-1!

After that, Yang Cheng also began to make a series of substitutions.

First, he brought on Harry Kane, Pogba, and De Bruyne all at once.

Then, he replaced Gareth Bale with Sterling and Piszczek with Kyle Walker.

Manchester City gained the upper hand on the pitch in the final ten minutes or so, but they were never able to breach the Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

By the end of the match, the Bayswater Chinese had a possession rate of 62.3%.

Their pass completion rate was an impressive 88.4%.

As Sky Sports put it, this was a match that truly showcased the dominance of the Bayswater Chinese!

“Though it’s only the Community Shield, Yang Cheng has used this match to show everyone that the Bayswater Chinese are still the most dominant, and also the most competitive, team in the Premier League!”

…

The Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 victory over Manchester City to win the Community Shield was widely reported in England.

But it wasn’t the biggest news.

As the new Premier League season was about to kick off, there were three hot topics dominating the headlines.

One was Manchester City signing a ten-year sponsorship deal worth £350 million.

This generated a huge amount of attention in the Premier League.

According to Manchester City’s official statements, they had sold their shirt sponsorship for £20 million per year, and in-stadium advertising for another £15 million per year.

But that wasn’t the main point. The crucial detail was that the sponsors were also helping the team build a two hundred-acre training ground and youth academy near Manchester City’s stadium.

In Ferguson’s words, weren’t they treating everyone like fools?

“Is no one going to stop such a blatant handout of money?”

Ferguson stated that if this was allowed, then what was the point of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations?

However, Manchester City issued a clarification, stating that the sponsorship contracts were all reasonable and legal commercial activities.

The Abu Dhabi company was helping build the training ground and youth academy as part of a youth development partnership between the two parties.

It was a return on investment.

In short, it was all business, and there was no need to read too much into it.

But many Premier League clubs spoke out, arguing that this defied all commercial logic.

Even if you could argue that Manchester City’s shirt sponsorship was worth that much, how could their in-stadium advertising sell for another £15 million?

How much did the Bayswater Chinese sell theirs for each year?

However, this kind of thing was genuinely difficult to clarify.

Manchester City claimed it was a commercial activity, and others had no evidence to refute it.

Simply put, what if companies in the UAE were competing to sponsor Manchester City, driving up the price? Was that not allowed?

Nobody could say it wasn’t.

In any case, the matter caused a huge stir, but it was destined to be difficult to resolve.

The second major piece of news was that Manchester United was going public again.

Back in 2005, after the Glazer family acquired Manchester United, the club was delisted from the London Stock Exchange.

But now, the Glazer family intended to return Manchester United to the stock market.

According to the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, Manchester United was partnering with Credit Suisse Group to take the team public, planning to offer 25% of its shares to raise £600 million.

This meant the Glazer family valued Manchester United at £2.4 billion.

The Financial Times reported that a major reason for Manchester United’s rush to go public was their failure to qualify for the new season’s Champions League, which had significantly increased the pressure to repay their debts.

Fans around the world had long known the Glazers were bastards, but it wasn’t until Manchester United had to disclose more financial information for their planned IPO that they realized just how much of a bastard the Glazer family truly was.

It turned out that all the funds the Glazer family had used to acquire Manchester United had come from loans.

Everyone knew that.

A large portion of these loans was secured against Manchester United’s assets, requiring annual interest payments of over £60 million.

The most outrageous part was that over £200 million of these loans were in the form of payment-in-kind loans.

This debt was then sold to hedge funds, carrying an annual interest rate as high as 16.25%.

Manchester United was paying over £30 million in interest for this every year.

It wasn’t until 2010 that the Glazer family issued £500 million in bonds to pay off this loan, as well as part of the loan from the 2005 acquisition.

But Manchester United still had to pay £45 million in interest every year.

This time, the Glazer family hoped to push Manchester United’s IPO through to pay off this £500 million loan, thus saving the £45 million in annual interest payments.

But the Financial Times published a lengthy piece accusing the Glazer family of being vampires, parasites latched onto Manchester United!

This was because the £700 million they used to acquire Manchester United was all from loans, which they then used Manchester United as collateral to repay. Now, they were turning around and trying to take the club public.

In other words, they hadn’t spent a single penny of their own money from start to finish.

And Manchester United?

Its valuation was now £2.4 billion, a threefold increase!

Manchester United fans were also furious, constantly criticizing the Glazer family and demanding that the Premier League, and even the British government, intervene and investigate.

An IPO?

Fine!

But the Glazer family must not be allowed to touch a single penny of the £600 million raised!

The debate surrounding Manchester United’s IPO once again became a tumultuous and heated affair.

And the third matter was foreign investment.

In recent years, foreign capital had been continuously pouring into the Premier League.

Coupled with the fact that the Premier League had done the best in terms of globalization in recent years and had the strongest development momentum, it was already recognized by fans as the world’s number one league, with its influence spreading across the globe.

According to The Sun, the Premier League was broadcast live in 189 out of 193 countries in the world.

Furthermore, with the boost from this year’s globally popular International Champions Cup, where Premier League teams made up half of the twelve powerhouse clubs, it was enough to demonstrate the league’s unparalleled influence.

Therefore, foreign capital was paying even more attention to the Premier League.

Nowadays, not only were Premier League teams awash with foreign ownership, but the Championship had also become a prime investment target for foreign investors.

This was because, compared to the Premier League, the acquisition price for Championship clubs was significantly lower, and so was the investment cost.

But if a team made a name for itself in the Championship and got promoted to the Premier League, it was definitely a deal with a massive return on investment!

West Ham United, relegated from the Premier League last season, had received a takeover offer from a Malaysian consortium.

Tony Fernandes, the founder and CEO of AirAsia and owner of the Lotus F1 team in Malaysia, was very interested in West Ham United.

West Ham had just changed hands in January 2010, with its new owners being the Welshmen David Sullivan and David Gold, who had made their fortunes in the adult film industry.

But in the 2010/11 season, West Ham United was relegated from the Premier League, which dealt a huge blow to The Hammers.

Especially financially.

So, there had long been rumors that West Ham United was up for sale.

Besides them, there were many clubs for sale in the City of London.

Premier League clubs like Newcastle, Bolton, Fulham, Everton, and West Bromwich Albion were all on the market, waiting for buyers.

And in the Championship, teams like West Ham United, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace, and Portsmouth were also eagerly awaiting investment.

This left many in the media and fans marveling at the situation.

On one hand, the influence of the Premier League was reaching new heights, and the major powerhouse clubs were becoming more and more successful.

Especially the Bayswater Chinese, whose revenue was catching up to Real Madrid’s, aiming for the top spot in the world.

But on the other hand, there were still numerous clubs that were poorly managed and waiting for rescue from foreign capital.

It was in this contradictory situation that the media continuously reported on foreign capital landing in the Premier League.

One moment it was a Malaysian consortium, the next it was American investors, and then it was nouveau riche from the Middle East…

All sorts of news frequently appeared in the papers.

…

American real estate tycoon Steve Ross arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport, accompanied by Matt Higgins, Daniel Sillman, and Charlie Stillitano.

As the plane taxied after landing, he looked out the window at London’s gloomy sky, and his brow furrowed.

“I hate this damn weather in London. You can’t see a speck of sunlight, not a shred of hope!”

Steve Ross said to the three associates beside him.

They were on Steve Ross’s private jet, so they could speak freely.

“But London is indeed a great place, with unlimited potential!” Matt Higgins said with a smile.

It was no accident that so many wealthy individuals around the world were simultaneously inclined to invest in sports, especially football.

During an economic slowdown, everyone was bullish on the sports industry, believing it would be a sector that would continuously appreciate in value in the coming years.

Steve Ross and Matt Higgins were both investors or high-level executives in the American NFL, so they understood this better than anyone.

When the plane arrived, the people who were there to pick them up had been waiting at the airport for a long time.

Two of the most famous football investment experts in the City of London, Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild.

The two came together to greet Steve Ross.

Upon meeting, there was naturally a string of pleasantries like “Welcome to London,” as well as a dose of meaningless flattery.

Steve Ross was already impatient with it all.

Not just with the British men in front of him, but also with London itself.

“Enough of that. Let’s go to the hotel first, and then you can show us around.”

The two of them, of course, had no problem with that.

And so, the group got into a luxurious Rolls-Royce and drove out of Heathrow Airport.

Halfway there, Kesher Harris mentioned Brentford in Hounslow, which was on the way from Heathrow to the city center, but he was interrupted by Matt Higgins.

“I’ve looked into that club. It’s too far. We want something in the city center!”

Kesher Harris immediately nodded with a smile, indicating that he understood.

A private jet was indeed quite something.

Steve Ross had probably slept well on the plane, because as the car entered central London, he suddenly suggested they go see the stadiums first.

This made Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild can’t help but exchange a look, sending a silent signal to each other.

This guy’s an expert!

Even if he doesn’t know football, at the very least he knows the sports industry!

When acquiring a club, to not look at anything else and go straight for the fixed assets—if that’s not an expert, what is?

The closest was Fulham’s Craven Cottage.

The stadium was built right on the banks of the River Thames, with a main road on the other side. Its capacity was very small, and it didn’t look like there was any room for expansion.

Fulham was currently owned by an Egyptian tycoon.

“I know him. His son was the one who died with Diana,” Steve Ross said with a chuckle.

Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild both gave a sheepish smile.

This American is so annoying!

Acting like he owns the place!

After circling Craven Cottage, they turned around and headed west, making a special trip to see Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, then went north.

As they passed Holland Park, Junior Rothschild made a point of mentioning it.

“The surrounding area is a very popular place for the wealthy to live. The Bayswater Chinese, you’ve surely heard of them, right?”

“Their owner, Yang Cheng, lives right around here.”

In response, Steve Ross and his entourage remained completely silent, leaving Junior Rothschild feeling snubbed.

Past Holland Park was London’s famous Westfield Shopping Centre.

This was the largest and busiest shopping center in all of central London.

It was surrounded by five tube stations.

Heading west from Westfield Shopping Centre, after weaving through some narrow streets, they arrived at Loftus Road Stadium.

This was the home of Queens Park Rangers.

“Back in the day, the Bayswater Chinese played their league matches here for two years!” Junior Rothschild explained.

Kesher Harris chimed in from the side.

Just like with Fulham, it was all praise.

For example, Queens Park Rangers—just from the name, you could tell this was a team with a long and storied history.

Across all of England, was there any other team named after a queen?

Unlike Craven Cottage, which was right next to the River Thames, Loftus Road Stadium was surrounded by residential buildings.

“Compared to expanding over the Thames, demolition is clearly much easier,” Matt Higgins said.

Steve Ross agreed.

Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild were both very perceptive and immediately caught the hint.

So they were also interested in the value of central London real estate!

Were they planning to copy the Bayswater Chinese?

At that moment, Kesher Harris decided that he would never cross Yang Cheng again.

On the contrary, he would worship Yang Cheng like the God of Wealth!

The reason was simple: Yang Cheng had set a precedent that had brought him so much business.

“Mr. Ross, you see, the location here is by no means inferior to Bayswater. Within a one-kilometer radius, there are five tube stations, and it’s a straight line of 500 meters to Westfield, the largest shopping center in central London.”

“If, and I mean if, you could get the support of the city government to redevelop the surrounding area through demolition, just like the Bayswater Chinese did, then this area could be directly connected to the Westfield commercial district.”

Finally, Kesher Harris added, “This is the West End of London, where land is worth its weight in gold!”

Junior Rothschild also realized what was happening and quickly added, “Even if things don’t go smoothly and you can’t get permission to demolish, you could always move the stadium out, just like Arsenal, and build apartment buildings on the original site!”

The Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal were two complementary case studies.

The former redeveloped on their original site and, using policy advantages, bent the rules to create a fortune worth billions of pounds.

The latter moved to a new site, and the original location was converted into apartment buildings, getting into the real estate business.

Of course, Arsenal’s real estate venture had failed.

But everyone knew that was due to the subprime mortgage crisis and the Eurozone debt crisis.

From a business perspective, The Gunners had made a very shrewd deal.

More importantly, the location of Loftus Road Stadium was even closer to the core of London than Arsenal’s old ground.

“This place is indeed not bad,” Steve Ross said with a faint nod.

Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild caught the signal.

They had heard that this man was in real estate back in the United States.

Who knew the logic of real estate operations better than him?

For Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild, they didn’t care whether he could demolish or build new in the future. Their job was to sell the club first and earn their commission.

Even if they lost money down the line and wanted to sell, wouldn’t they have to come back to them?

At that time, they could earn another commission.

In terms of Loftus Road Stadium, the location was indeed decent, but it was a far cry from Bayswater.

The five tube stations were clustered around Westfield Shopping Centre.

Loftus Road Stadium was still several hundred meters away.

As for demolition, that depended on one’s connections.

After all, Chelsea had been trying for so many years and had never succeeded in their redevelopment plans.

Fulham’s desire to expand their main stand on the banks of the Thames had also never been approved.

“This place is also in high demand. The club currently has three major shareholders: Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, Renault F1 team owner Flavio Briatore, and the Indian steel tycoon Mittal family.”

“But over the past few years, they haven’t invested much in Queens Park Rangers.”

“And the value here is truly extraordinary. The Malaysian consortium that was originally planning to acquire West Ham United, Tony Fernandes of AirAsia, is now keeping a close eye on Queens Park Rangers.”

Kesher Harris deliberately mentioned Tony Fernandes to provoke a reaction from Steve Ross.

Sure enough, the American tycoon’s brows furrowed.

“In London, where land is priceless, Queens Park Rangers is like an uncut diamond. If someone invests, bringing in influential stars, this team can definitely shine brightly!”

“In the future, they could even rival top powerhouses like the Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Arsenal!”

“If nothing else, those teams don’t have the aura of a queen, and the Bayswater Chinese’s name is just plain terrible!”

Steve Ross actually agreed.

He didn’t know what nerve the owner of the Bayswater Chinese had struck to come up with such a name.

Fortunately, the club was now famous, and the name had become catchy after being repeated so many times.

“What’s the asking price for this club right now?” Steve Ross asked.

Kesher Harris and Junior Rothschild exchanged a smile.

The latter immediately laughed and said, “Now is a very good time to buy.”

“How so?” It was Matt Higgins who asked this question.

“This team just got promoted to the Premier League this season. It’s located in West London, forming a triangle with the Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea. They are West London arch-rivals. Add Fulham to the mix, and you have six derby matches a year, attracting the attention of fans worldwide.”

“Right now, the Premier League’s annual broadcast revenue share is thirty million pounds. Loftus Road Stadium has a capacity of twenty thousand, with an average ticket price of forty pounds. This stadium alone can generate at least twenty million pounds in revenue each season.”

When Junior Rothschild said this, he deliberately paused to let them digest the information.

After about ten seconds, Junior Rothschild continued.

“As for the asking price, we are confident we can negotiate it down to under one hundred million pounds. Fulham, on the other hand, would probably cost around two hundred million pounds.”

The difference between the two teams was clearly their strength.

Fulham finished 9th in the Premier League last season, making them an upper-mid-table team.

Queens Park Rangers was a newly promoted team.

A guaranteed fifty million pounds in annual revenue, for a sale price of one hundred million pounds. Gentlemen, is that expensive?

“For an acquisition like this, what’s the fastest it can be completed?” Steve Ross didn’t specify which one he wanted to buy.

But Kesher Harris could tell that this big shot had come prepared.

And his target was very likely the Bayswater Chinese!

“The negotiation process and completing all the paperwork will take at least six months.”

Steve Ross wasn’t in a hurry.

“Then we’ll have to wait until next year to have a showdown with the Bayswater Chinese!”

…

Afternoon of August 13th, Ewood Park, Blackburn.

In the first round of the 2011/12 Premier League season, the Bayswater Chinese played away against Blackburn Rovers.

Speaking of which, Blackburn’s head coach, Steve Kean, should probably thank Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

In the second round of the previous Premier League season, the Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Blackburn 9-0 at home, dealing a painful blow to Sam Allardyce.

Subsequently, Blackburn’s situation went from bad to worse.

Big Sam ultimately didn’t last until Christmas.

At that time, Steve Kean, who was the assistant coach, took over as the team’s caretaker manager and was quickly given the job permanently.

Although Blackburn’s results didn’t improve dramatically, they still finished 16th in the league and successfully avoided relegation.

In the first round of the new season, they faced the Bayswater Chinese again, but this time Blackburn was at home.

Steve Kean didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless.

Even at home, he still set up a defensive 4-5-1 formation, ready to defend with all their might.

The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, stuck to their favored 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

It was the first match of the new season, and an away game at that, so Yang Cheng’s opening tactics were relatively cautious.

He hoped to help the players gradually find their match fitness by slowing down the tempo.

Therefore, it wasn’t until the 10th minute that either side had their first shot.

Gareth Bale passed to Toni Kroos, who took a long shot from outside the penalty area.

Steve Kean took note.

The two central midfielders for the Bayswater Chinese were no longer playing like they did last season, with Toni Kroos holding and Modrić pushing forward.

Although that attacking pattern had clear roles, it was too easy for opponents to figure out.

Now, the two of them clearly had no fixed roles; how they played depended entirely on their on-field coordination and improvisation.

That’s why the first shot of the season was taken by Toni Kroos.

Unfortunately, it was slightly high.

But in the 13th, 17th, 24th, 28th, and 29th minutes…

The Bayswater Chinese began to increase the intensity of their attack.

Almost every three or four minutes, they were able to create an opportunity.

Although the players hadn’t fully settled into the rhythm of the league season, and they weren’t clinical with their chances, nor were there any particularly dangerous shooting opportunities, Steve Kean was still on edge.

The Blackburn head coach walked to the touchline, constantly adjusting his team’s defense.

A 4-5-1 formation, with three holding midfielders and both wingers actively tracking back—this was the absolute limit of what Blackburn could do defensively.

In Steve Kean’s opinion, after thirty minutes, they should be able to catch a breather.

But that wasn’t the case.

In the 34th minute, Di María was fouled by Martin Olsson while dribbling on the right wing, earning an attacking free-kick.

Gareth Bale took it, but it went slightly over.

Just two minutes later, Matić played a through ball, and Modrić burst into the penalty area from the half-space, shooting from the edge of the six-yard box.

England international keeper Paul Robinson parried the ball away.

A minute later, Toni Kroos threaded a sublime through-pass, and Gareth Bale took a shot from the left side of the penalty area.

This was his most familiar and proficient area!

But this time, the Welshman’s shot went slightly wide of the right post.

In the 38th minute, Lewandowski made a run into the right side of the penalty area, received a pass from Di María, and took a shot, which was saved by the goalkeeper.

The Bayswater Chinese’s attacks came in wave after wave.

This put the home team, Blackburn, on the back foot.

Let alone counter-attacking, they were struggling just to cope with the defensive pressure.

The fans at Ewood Park could also feel the dominance of the away team, but they continued to cheer for their players relentlessly.

But in the 43rd minute, after receiving the ball on the left, Gareth Bale used his speed to power past the veteran Salgado.

The Welshman’s low, driven cross from near the byline was blocked out by centre-back Samba.

Corner kick.

Toni Kroos quickly ran to the left corner flag, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

The German glanced at the crowd of players in the penalty area, raised his left hand, and after a short run-up, sent in a curling ball.

The a was fast and headed straight for the near post.

Pepe surged forward, getting there before anyone else, and facing the incoming ball, flicked it with his head.

The ball glanced off Pepe’s head, changed direction, and flew into the right side of the goal.

Goalkeeper Robinson was helpless this time.

The ball hit the back of the net.

1-0!

…

“Although we only scored one goal in the first half, I’m very satisfied with the overall performance.”

Leading 1-0 at halftime, Yang Cheng gave his players plenty of affirmation and encouragement.

“I want to say, at the start of the second half, we need to hit our opponents with a knockout blow!”

“We need to go on an all-out attack, to show them the fighting spirit of the Bayswater Chinese!”

“We must secure a winning start to the new season!”

The players were all full of confidence.

At the start of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese immediately launched a blitz, creating several shooting opportunities in quick succession.

In the 52nd minute, it was another through ball from Toni Kroos. Gareth Bale made a diagonal run from the outside into the left side of the penalty area, received the ball, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot towards the far corner.

His shot in the first half had gone slightly wide, but this time, the Welshman buried the ball in the back of the net.

2-0!

The entire Ewood Park stadium fell into despair!

Although they had been mentally prepared, they had still hoped for a miracle.

But what made it even harder for them was that even with a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese continued to attack relentlessly.

In the 56th minute, the away team won another corner kick.

After Modrić sent the ball in, Blackburn centre-back Scott Dann cleared it out of the penalty area at the near post.

Di María received the ball on the right side, just outside the box. Before Blackburn’s holding midfielder Steven N’Zonzi could close him down, he curled a shot with his left foot.

N’Zonzi tried to block it with his body, but failed to get in the way of the shot.

The football traced an arc and flew into the left side of Blackburn’s goal.

3-0!

Di María excitedly ran off the pitch to celebrate his first league goal of the season!

And just three minutes later, another attack was launched from the left flank.

Marcelo overlapped into the attacking third and played a one-two pass with Gareth Bale.

Gareth Bale dropped back, passed the ball back to Toni Kroos, while the Brazilian continued his rapid forward run.

Toni Kroos, facing the attack, met Gareth Bale’s pass and sent a low, driven long pass along the ground.

The football slipped between two defenders and landed in the left side of the attacking third.

Marcelo sprinted forward, caught up to Toni Kroos’s pass, and delivered a cross from the left.

Near the corner of the six-yard box, Robert Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and met the cross with a powerful, flicked header, sending the ball into the right side of Blackburn’s goal.

4-0!

Lewandowski clenched his fist in celebration, running towards the away section where the Bayswater Chinese fans were to celebrate.

In less than fifteen minutes of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese had scored three goals!

As the match reached this stage, continuing to defend was pointless for Blackburn.

And so, playing at home, The Thugs began to push forward.

They wanted a goal to save face at their home ground.

But the Bayswater Chinese capitalized on their opponents’ mindset.

In the 73rd minute, Blackburn crossed from the wing, and Pepe headed the ball clear.

Modrić anticipated the ball’s trajectory and, along with N’Zonzi, went for the second ball.

The diminutive Modrić held his ground, jumped up, and headed the ball to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder didn’t take a touch, instead sweeping the ball forward with one motion to the feet of Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward controlled the ball near the halfway line, turned, launched a counter-attack, and quickly passed it to the left wing.

Gareth Bale immediately burst into a sprint, chasing after Lewandowski’s pass, and stormed into the left side of Blackburn’s penalty area at lightning speed.

Although a defender managed to catch up, Gareth Bale still managed to cross the ball to the far post.

Di María arrived at the same time. Facing the closing defender, the Argentinian controlled the ball with his right foot, came to a sudden stop, cut back with his left foot to shake off the defender, and then passed it back across to the middle.

At that moment, Robert Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and met the incoming ball with a simple side-footed shot.

The ball hit the back of the net.

5-0!

The entire counter-attack was executed beautifully!

From Pepe’s clearing header, to Modrić winning the aerial duel, to Toni Kroos’s pass, and then Lewandowski’s turn and control—the entire sequence was fluid and seamless.

Gareth Bale also distributed the ball to the far post in a timely manner, and Di María’s cut-back to the middle completed a spectacular counter-attacking move that once again cut through Blackburn’s defense.

And despite being five goals ahead, the Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued.

Especially from the 75th minute onwards, Yang Cheng made a series of substitutions, but their dominance on the pitch remained obvious.

First, Lewandowski missed a good chance to score a hat-trick, then Di María’s long-range shot from twenty-two meters out hit the post.

After missing several good scoring opportunities, Blackburn also got their best chance of the match.

It was in the second minute of stoppage time. Striker Yakubu combined with N’Zonzi, and the former broke into the penalty area and shot from close range, but Courtois dove to his side and saved it with one hand.

This brilliant save earned Courtois praise from Yang Cheng and his teammates.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese thrashed Blackburn Rovers 5-0 away from home, securing a winning start to the new season!

Chapter 229: Hit the Jackpot! We Held On! A Challenging New Season

The new Premier League season became a fierce, white-hot affair from the very first round.

The season opener was Blackburn Rovers’ home game against Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone expected the first match of the new season to be difficult.

That was the norm.

But no one could have imagined that Bayswater Chinese would start their new season by pulling off something so audacious.

A stunning 5-0 away victory over Blackburn!

This Premier League opener undoubtedly dropped a king bomb, letting all the rivals coveting the title know that Bayswater Chinese was still the same dominant team from last season.

In fact, they looked even stronger.

The major British media outlets all reported on the match, lavishing praise on Bayswater Chinese.

But not every team performed so well.

Liverpool had a rather precarious home game.

Mancini’s team got off to a brilliant start at home against Sunderland, taking a 2-0 lead thanks to a brace from Suárez.

But after the second half began, Sunderland first pulled one goal back, then launched a relentless assault.

Although the Reds ultimately secured the victory, it was a close call.

Arsenal, meanwhile, scraped a 1-0 away win against Newcastle.

The Gunners’ victory was far from easy.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated newly promoted Swansea City 4-0 at home.

Agüero scored twice, while Ibrahimović and David Silva each added a goal.

Manchester United won 2-1 away at West Bromwich Albion, thanks to a goal from Rooney.

Among the top teams, only André Villas-Boas’s Chelsea stumbled, held to a grim 0-0 draw away at Stoke City.

However, since it was the first match of the new season and André Villas-Boas was a newcomer, and considering the Blues had brought in several strong reinforcements over the summer, the public was generally understanding, willing to wait and see how the next matches would unfold.

Incidentally, Bayswater Chinese’s neighbor, Queens Park Rangers—with whom they once shared a stadium—were slaughtered 4-0 by Bolton at Loftus Road Stadium in their first match after being promoted to the Premier League.

It was a harsh welcome to the terrifying reality of the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers.

It was after this round of matches that the British media broke a piece of news.

An American consortium had decided to acquire Queens Park Rangers.

…

“An American consortium?”

The next day, during a break from training, Yang Cheng asked Dan Ashworth, who had brought him the news.

He found it strange.

In his previous life, wasn’t it Tony Fernandes of Malaysia’s AirAsia who acquired Queens Park Rangers?

That guy had genuinely invested a lot of money.

Of course, in the current Premier League environment, investing money didn’t guarantee results.

But if they were replaced by someone who didn’t invest, it would be a disaster.

“What about Tony Fernandes?”

“I don’t know. I heard there was some contact, but he’s personally more interested in West Ham United, says he’s a die-hard fan of The Hammers,” Dan Ashworth replied, also finding Yang Cheng’s reaction a bit odd.

He personally didn’t believe a single letter of that kind of talk.

Which foreign owner didn’t say the same thing after buying a team?

But Yang Cheng felt it might actually be credible.

Because in his previous life, before Tony Fernandes acquired Queens Park Rangers, he had considered buying West Ham United and had always claimed to be a die-hard fan.

Of course, Yang Cheng had no interest in discerning the truth of the matter.

“Where did this American consortium suddenly pop up from? Who are they?” Yang Cheng was very curious.

“They say it’s Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins from the American NFL and a real estate tycoon, worth over six billion US dollars.”

“And his partner in this acquisition of Queens Park Rangers is Matt Higgins, the CEO of the NFL’s New York Jets.”

Yang Cheng was stunned when he heard those two names.

How could it be these two?

That’s not right, why would they suddenly come to the Premier League?

Shouldn’t they be preparing to launch the International Champions Cup around this time…

At this thought, Yang Cheng began to understand.

Especially when Dan Ashworth mentioned that Charlie Stillitano, the creator of the World Football Challenge and Senior Director of Football for CAA Sports, was also part of the acquisition team, it all clicked into place.

He had hijacked the International Champions Cup.

And now this group had still gotten together.

But for some unknown reason, they’d set their sights on a Premier League team, which is why they had crossed the ocean to England.

In this day and age, it was perfectly normal for wealthy Americans, especially those involved in the NFL, to be interested in the Premier League.

Why?

Because in the minds of these guys, every single one of them looked down on European football.

On one hand, they acknowledged football as the world’s number one sport. On the other, they had a strange, inexplicable self-confidence in America’s sports industry, particularly its commercial development.

In their view, European football’s commercial development and globalization were a complete joke compared to what the United States had achieved.

European football had only recently started paying attention to so-called data, but what about America?

How many years had their Moneyball theory been around?

Ultimately, European football was synonymous with being behind the times.

And so, this bunch of guys wanted to come over and give European football a taste of a complete mismatch.

“But to go for Queens Park Rangers… their stadium is so small, and there’s no room for expansion…” Yang Cheng was still puzzled.

There were so many clubs for sale in England right now, why did they pick this newly promoted team?

“Apparently, they looked at several London teams, and it came down to a final choice between Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.”

“And they chose Queens Park Rangers.”

“The reason?” Yang Cheng was curious.

He understood now; they wanted to establish a foothold in West London.

Great, it looked like West London was about to get lively.

“There were two reasons. First, Fulham was more expensive; the Egyptian owner was asking for 200 million pounds. Queens Park Rangers was cheaper; the Italian owner wanted 100 million pounds.”

Yang Cheng nodded. That was indeed a good reason.

“But the most important thing was the second point. Craven Cottage has no room for expansion, whereas Loftus Road Stadium has significant potential for expansion. This American consortium is quite ambitious!” Dan Ashworth exclaimed in admiration.

To be eyeing a new stadium right from the start showed great ambition.

But when Yang Cheng heard this, he was completely stunned.

They rejected Craven Cottage and chose Loftus Road Stadium… for expansion?

This had to be the biggest joke ever!

Yang Cheng almost burst out laughing.

He was even tempted to pay a visit to his prospective neighbors and tell them that, as of 2024, when he had traveled back in time, only one team had managed to expand its stadium in West London.

And sorry, that team was Fulham, with Craven Cottage.

Because Craven Cottage’s east side was adjacent to a major road, Fulham expanded the west side, the one closer to the River Thames, building it directly over the river!

Once completed, Craven Cottage’s capacity would not only increase to 30,000, but the west stand would be a seven-story riverside structure featuring restaurants, bars, meeting rooms, event spaces, a boutique hotel, and a fitness club.

There would even be a swimming pool on the top floor of the stand.

One could only imagine the views from that side once it was finished.

All of this would bring Fulham substantial non-matchday revenue.

Of course, this unlucky group of Americans certainly didn’t know any of this.

In fact, from anyone’s perspective right now, pulling off something like that on the banks of the River Thames seemed incredibly difficult.

But by ditching Craven Cottage for Loftus Road Stadium now, the Americans would sooner or later come to regret it.

“Is there a problem?” Dan Ashworth asked, looking at Yang Cheng strangely.

He felt that Yang Cheng’s expression was quite odd.

He looked like he wanted to laugh but was holding it back.

“No, I’m just very curious how long this group of Americans will last.”

Yang Cheng was genuinely curious.

“I heard they’re considering bringing Beckham back to the Premier League.”

“Beckham?” Yang Cheng was taken aback again.

“Yes, Beckham plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy, and CAA, where Charlie Stillitano works, is based in Los Angeles. Also, Stephen Ross’s businesses have a significant presence in Los Angeles. They supposedly have deep connections.”

“And Beckham’s contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy is up in November. He hasn’t decided whether to renew it yet, so they want to bring him back to the Premier League.”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly. That was actually a pretty good idea.

No matter what, Beckham was an English legend with enormous commercial influence. Although he was older, his return to the Premier League would be a major talking point.

Thinking of Beckham, Yang Cheng recalled the Major League Soccer franchise spot he held.

Speaking of which, Americans were really strange when it came to sports.

It was still football, but their league format was different from the rest of the world.

And basketball, America’s NBA was different from the European basketball leagues.

As a result, many American owners, especially those involved in American sports, upon arriving in the Premier League, would often first propose learning from the advanced league structures of the NBA or NFL and abolishing promotion and relegation.

Proposals like this were frequently heard at Premier League owners’ meetings.

And it was almost always the Americans who were proposing them.

Yang Cheng didn’t know much about American basketball, but after some initial thought, he felt it came back to what he had said before.

Football is a very peculiar business.

In the Premier League, relegation often means a massive loss of revenue, the departure of core players, and a sharp decline in competitiveness.

For investors, this is a deeply hated risk.

Doesn’t abolishing promotion and relegation protect the investors?

Conversely, promotion and relegation act more like a system of survival of the fittest, but it also brings brutal competition.

In the past, when nobody had money, player transfer fees could be kept reasonably under control.

But once capital entered the picture, player values skyrocketed.

For instance, not to mention distant examples, just looking at the turn of the century, almost all the buyers behind record-breaking transfers were either capital entities or consortiums.

For example, when Figo transferred to Real Madrid, wasn’t Florentino Pérez representing a new form of capital at the time?

The same with Zidane.

And Juventus used the money from Zidane’s sale to sign Buffon.

Conversely, if Zidane’s transfer hadn’t happened, would Juventus have had that much money to sign Buffon?

Ultimately, within the promotion and relegation system, whether you are a powerhouse or a mid-to-lower-table team, you face relentless competitive pressure.

In such an environment, every team has to fight with all its might just to survive, or to live well.

Want to slack off?

You’ll be taught a lesson in minutes.

But the American consortiums grew up steeped in the American way of doing things, and they all believe their way is superior and more advanced than the European system.

Otherwise, how could you explain why the revenues of the NBA and NFL in the United States far exceed those of Europe’s major leagues?

How could you explain why American sports clubs are valued far higher than Europe’s giants?

So, after arriving in Europe, they always want to transplant the American system.

But the European leagues will always teach them a lesson!

“By the way, Dan, keep an eye out and see if Charlie Stillitano is still going ahead with the World Football Challenge,” Yang Cheng instructed Dan Ashworth.

Previously, he had judged that it wouldn’t happen.

But now that they’d hooked up with Stephen Ross, it was possible they might continue with it.

Yang Cheng even suspected that their acquisition of a Premier League team might have been partly motivated by this.

For example, acquire Queens Park Rangers, build the team into a powerhouse, and then take them back to the United States to cash in?

Then they’d be profiting from both ends.

They could even have joint team-building activities with the Miami Dolphins.

“Alright, I’ll look into it.”

As for Charlie Stillitano, Yang Cheng didn’t think he understood football much, especially European football.

To put it bluntly, he was just a broker who organized friendly matches in the United States.

Perhaps he had a wealth of experience in organizing matches within the US.

But when it came to running a European club in Europe, he had jack-shit experience.

Yang Cheng really wanted to tell the Yanks.

Acquiring a Premier League team with an annual revenue of fifty to sixty million pounds for 100 million pounds sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?

If it’s such a sweet deal, then hurry up and jump in!

Whether in his past life or this one, as Yang Cheng came into contact with more and more wealthy people, he truly realized that these people also had two legs, two arms, and one head on their shoulders.

They really weren’t that much smarter than anyone else.

In fact, their decisions were often prone to very basic mistakes.

In football, the most common mistake was this: before entering the fray, everyone thinks they can handle it.

It’s just a football club, right?

With so much annual revenue, how hard can it be?

But only after they’ve entered do they realize just how deep the water is here.

The 100 million pound acquisition price is just an entry ticket; only after stepping through the door do they discover it’s a deep pit and a quagmire!

…

August 20th, the second round of the Premier League.

The crucial match of this round was the clash between top teams Arsenal and Liverpool.

Wenger’s team, playing at home, leveraged their home advantage and technical and tactical superiority to suppress Liverpool from the start, constantly launching attacks and trying to create chances.

Liverpool responded with a defend and counter-attack strategy.

But it was clear Mancini was not the type to sit back and take a beating.

From their performance in the match, Liverpool adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The backline was mostly as expected; the main changes were in midfield and attack.

Rakitić and Javier Mascherano formed the double pivot, with Gerrard playing in the number 10 role.

Torres was on the left, and Mario Balotelli on the right.

Playing in the centre-forward position was Suárez.

Yes, among the three centre-forwards, Suárez, the shortest, was positioned furthest forward.

This certainly subverted public expectations.

But Suárez was, coincidentally, the one among the three who was most suited to and most adept at playing as a centre-forward.

Arsenal, for their part, were also well-prepared.

Their front three was Sánchez, van Persie, and Nasri; in midfield, Toulalan played a holding role, with Fàbregas partnering Gourcuff.

This midfield and attack gave Arsenal overwhelming possession advantage in the opening stages of the game, but breaking through Liverpool’s defense was no easy task.

After 45 minutes of intense battle, the two sides went into halftime with the score at 0-0.

In the first half alone, Liverpool made 21 tackles.

That was an almost insane number.

It showed the intensity of the match.

In the second half, both teams made appropriate adjustments to their first-half tactics.

In the 68th minute, after a breakthrough on the left flank, Sánchez delivered a brilliant pass. Inside the box, van Persie hit a first-time power shot, sending the ball past Buffon and into the net.

1-0!

But in the final minute of the match, a pass from Rakitić found Suárez in the box. He controlled the ball, shook off Chygrynskiy, and scored with a close-range shot, equalizing the score.

In the end, the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw!

Looking at the overall match, Wenger’s team dominated possession rate, but Mancini’s team surprisingly matched Arsenal in the number of shots.

However, they had fewer shots on target than the Gunners.

In the post-match player ratings, Suárez was named man of the match.

Based on his performance throughout the game, he was indeed the more outstanding player.

Rakitić also had a very good game.

Meanwhile, at Wembley Stadium in London, when Bayswater Chinese faced West London’s Fulham, Robert Lewandowski capitalized on a misplaced back pass from Fulham just four minutes into the game. He burst into the box and scored with a power shot.

In the 16th minute, from a free kick opportunity in the final third.

Modrić took it, and Nemanja Matić met it with a header to extend Bayswater Chinese’s lead.

Just before halftime, Gareth Bale drove forward with the ball on the left flank and sent in a low, driven cross.

Robert Lewandowski converted with a sliding shot in front of goal. 3-0!

In the 60th minute of the second half, it was Gareth Bale again, breaking through quickly on the left with the ball before crossing. Robert Lewandowski in the center let it run past him, and Di María arrived at the back post to tap it in with ease.

4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Fulham with four goals!

Chelsea came from behind at home, scoring two goals to win 2-1 against West Bromwich Albion after initially conceding.

Manchester City defeated Bolton 3-2 in an away match.

Manchester United won a comprehensive 3-0 victory at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

After two rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the league table.

Scoring nine goals and conceding none in two matches, Yang Cheng’s team once again delivered a stunning performance.

…

A week later, the third round of the Premier League.

Chelsea defeated Norwich 3-1 at home.

Liverpool also won 3-1 at home against Bolton.

Manchester City thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 away from home.

Ibrahimović had a massive release, scoring a hat-trick, while Agüero scored twice.

The Blue Moons’ momentum this season was growing stronger and stronger.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, faced Aston Villa away.

Yang Cheng was no stranger to this team.

They launched an opening blitz right from the start.

In the 11th minute, Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the team.

In the 15th minute, from a free kick created by Gareth Bale on the left flank, Modrić assisted Pepe, who scored with a header.

2-0!

Subsequently, neither side scored for the rest of the match.

Bayswater Chinese secured a relatively comfortable 2-0 away victory against Aston Villa.

But the most anticipated match of this round was the summit clash between Manchester United and Arsenal.

Arsenal took the lead in the 27th minute with a penalty kick converted by van Persie.

But just one minute later, Ashley Young equalized for Manchester United.

Before the end of the first half, Rooney scored another goal.

But Sánchez leveled the score again in the third minute of stoppage time.

The two sides went into the second half tied at 2-2.

After the second half began, Manchester United seized the momentum and launched a fierce attack, with Rooney and Robben scoring successively.

But from the 74th minute onwards, Arsenal turned the tide, relentlessly attacking Manchester United’s goal.

In the 84th minute, van Persie successfully brought the score to 3-4!

But until the final whistle, the Gunners failed to score again.

In the end, Wenger’s team lost 3-4 away to Manchester United.

The match was incredibly exciting. If both sides had played completely without restraint, the scoreline would have been much higher.

It was widely believed that Wenger’s team was somewhat affected by the midweek Champions League preliminary qualifying round.

After all, they had only finished fourth in the league last season, requiring them to participate in the qualifiers against Serie A’s Udinese.

This was a significant test for the Gunners.

In contrast, Manchester United, free from the distraction of European commitments, could focus solely on the league.

With this match concluded, all games of this Premier League round were over.

After round three, the league paused for a two-week international break.

After three rounds, only three teams had perfect records.

Bayswater Chinese sat at the top with three wins, leading due to their goal difference of eleven.

Manchester City was in second place with a goal difference of nine.

Manchester United was in third.

Following them were Liverpool and Chelsea.

Arsenal, having faced two major rivals in the first three rounds, had managed one draw and one loss, placing them only in tenth.

This triggered extensive media coverage after the matches.

For the defending Champions League champions to start the new season in tenth place was indeed hard to justify.

But if you considered that Wenger’s team also had to play in the Champions League qualifiers, two matches against Udinese, then it made more sense.

As Wenger said in the post-match press conference after the loss to Manchester United, Arsenal had the toughest start to the Premier League season.

Wenger expressed his satisfaction with the Gunners’ successful qualification for the Champions League group stage and having secured four points in the first three league rounds.

Finally, Wenger stated his belief that as the season unfolded, Arsenal’s performance would continue to improve.

…

The day before the Premier League matches, the annual UEFA awards ceremony and Champions League group stage draw were held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

It was different from previous years.

In the past, UEFA’s annual awards were divided into five categories: Best Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder, Forward, and Player of the Year.

But this year, following the merger of France Football’s Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s World Player of the Year, UEFA collaborated with the European Sports Media to launch the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

This award was voted on by football journalists from 53 countries and regions across Europe.

The top three finalists were Messi, Fàbregas, and C. Ronaldo.

Why these three players?

Last season, Barça won the La Liga title, with Messi alone contributing 31 league goals and 18 assists.

In the Champions League, the Argentine also scored 12 goals, delivering an outstanding performance.

Although Barça ultimately missed out on the Champions League trophy, Messi’s performance was there for all to see.

As for Fàbregas, it went without saying. As Arsenal’s captain, leading his team to the Champions League title was his biggest plus.

As for C. Ronaldo, although Real Madrid was eliminated in the Round of 16, he scored 40 goals and provided 8 assists in La Liga, an equally astonishing performance.

In the history of La Liga, no player had ever scored more than 40 goals in a single season.

C. Ronaldo was the first!

Furthermore, the total number of goals scored by him and Messi last season both exceeded 50, setting a new historical record in La Liga.

Under a string of accolades, Messi won the Best Player award, with Fàbregas in second and C. Ronaldo in third.

Neither Yang Cheng nor any of the Bayswater Chinese players attended the awards ceremony.

Mainly because this year’s awards had nothing to do with Bayswater Chinese.

Before the ceremony, UEFA had announced the players ranked fourth to tenth.

As the Premier League Treble winners, Bayswater Chinese’s top star, Gareth Bale, was ranked fourth.

Robert Lewandowski was fifth.

Following them were Rooney, Pepe, Theo Walcott, Ibrahimović, and Modrić.

If there were no surprises, this ranking would likely be similar to the FIFA Ballon d’Or, with only minor adjustments in certain positions.

Based on overall performance, Bayswater Chinese definitely deserved a spot in the top three.

Both Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski were qualified.

But awards are never judged solely on performance and ability.

In terms of fame and influence, Messi and C. Ronaldo had a clear advantage.

As Yang Cheng told his players in the team’s dressing room, the club would do its utmost to fight for the players’ recognition.

But the players also needed to deliver the most convincing performances on the pitch.

Judging by their form at the start of the new season, both Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were demonstrating even greater ability.

So, for Bayswater Chinese, having no players in the top three might not necessarily be a bad thing.

…

After the awards, a very interesting phenomenon occurred during the Champions League group stage draw.

Among the four English teams, Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal were both top seeds in Pot 1.

Liverpool, due to their repeated absence from the Champions League, had dropped to Pot 3.

Although Manchester City had risen quickly, they were also in Pot 3.

And the other team Yang Cheng was concerned about, Ligue 1’s Nice, was in the bottom Pot 4.

Incidentally, before this Champions League draw, many media outlets had asked UEFA whether Bayswater Chinese and Nice were eligible to participate simultaneously.

Although the two teams were legally separate entities, with no affiliation and not in violation of UEFA regulations, everyone could see that the team was managed by Yang Cheng.

The club’s senior management all came from Bayswater Chinese; wasn’t it obvious?

For this reason, Platini had personally called Yang Cheng to express UEFA’s concerns.

Yang Cheng personally assured him that there would be absolutely no foul play between the two clubs.

Even if they were unfortunately drawn into the same group, it would be a fair contest.

He welcomed UEFA, fans worldwide, and the media to supervise!

Only after that did UEFA publicly state that Nice’s participation in the Champions League was not against the rules.

Conversely, Turkey’s champion team, Fenerbahçe, had their qualification revoked due to a match-fixing scandal.

Therefore, there was a lot of anticipation before the draw.

Another interesting thing was Real Madrid.

With Manchester United absent from the Champions League, Real Madrid, despite being eliminated in the Round of 16 for consecutive years, managed to squeeze into the top 8 seeds.

This gave the Galácticos a great deal of reassurance.

At the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about a death match against powerhouses like Bayswater Chinese or Arsenal in the group stage.

AC Milan also benefited, securing a spot as a top seed.

But as analysts pointed out, being a top seed didn’t guarantee safety.

The teams in Pot 2 were formidable enough, and in Pot 3, Premier League’s Liverpool and Manchester City were both tough opponents.

Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg, the Netherlands’ Ajax, Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, and France’s Lille were all tricky opponents.

In Pot 4, there was Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund, Serie A third-place Napoli, and Ligue 1 champions Nice.

All of these were very tough teams.

In short, there would be no shortage of groups of death in this season’s Champions League group stage.

Even for top seeds, getting a lucky draw was almost impossible.

Unless you hit the jackpot!

Yang Cheng himself couldn’t believe it, but the jackpot had actually fallen right into his lap.

But not for Bayswater Chinese.

It was for Nice.

Although the Ligue 1 champions were in Pot 4, among the eight top-seeded teams, they managed to avoid all seven teams from the top four leagues and drew Porto from the Primeira Liga.

From Pot 2, they managed to avoid all the teams from the top four leagues and drew Shakhtar Donetsk.

Then in Pot 3, they drew Zenit St. Petersburg.

In the end, a group with no teams from the top four leagues was pieced together!

Of course, it wasn’t that Nice was so f*cking awesome, but that Porto was.

Because Porto was the first team drawn.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese’s luck was not so good.

From Pot 2, they drew Villarreal from La Liga.

From Pot 3, they drew Bayer Leverkusen from the Bundesliga.

From Pot 4, they drew S.S.C. Napoli from Serie A.

Well now, one team from each of the top four leagues. A complete set!

Of course, that was just the headline. In terms of actual performance, the other three teams could put up a fight against Bayswater Chinese, but they were still at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

As the media commented after the draw results were announced:

As long as Bayswater Chinese performed at their normal level, advancing from the group shouldn’t be difficult.

Finishing first in the group was what Bayswater Chinese should be aiming for!

In an interview with reporters after the draw, Yang Cheng also stated, “I am not afraid of any opponent, because we have only one goal, and that is to be champions!”

Such bold and domineering words would only not be met with ridicule and sarcasm when spoken by Yang Cheng.

…

Yang Cheng spoke with great confidence to the media, but privately, he and his coaching staff did not dare to be the slightest bit complacent.

The journey of the new season was far from being as easy as it appeared on the surface.

Looking at the Premier League alone, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was quite favorable.

In the first five rounds, their strongest opponent was Tottenham Hotspur.

In the sixth round, they would play Liverpool away.

In the tenth round, Manchester City away.

In the thirteenth round, Chelsea away.

In the fifteenth round, Manchester United away.

The real headache was the Christmas schedule, which included three matches: Round 18 against Arsenal, Round 19 away to Bolton, and Round 20 at home against Chelsea.

Looking at the entire schedule, apart from Christmas, there were no clusters of clashes between top teams.

Arsenal, for example, faced Liverpool and Manchester United in their first three rounds, while also having to play in the Champions League preliminary qualifiers.

The pressure was imaginable.

Bayswater Chinese’s clashes between top teams, apart from the Christmas period, were mostly spread out.

Even in the second half of the season, the fixtures were relatively separated.

Such a schedule had its pros and cons.

The advantage was that the team could concentrate its efforts on a specific match during a certain period.

The disadvantage was that the team’s form had to be maintained at a stable level for a long time.

This was true for the league, and it was also pretty good for the Champions League.

Bayswater Chinese’s three opponents, Villarreal, S.S.C. Napoli, and Bayer Leverkusen, were all a certain notch below them in terms of strength.

Everyone’s first reaction to this draw was, “Bayswater Chinese should be able to finish first, right?”

Yes, everyone thought so, and everyone felt that way.

But a closer analysis of the schedule revealed that Bayswater Chinese’s situation was actually quite tricky.

To put it simply, before and after the Champions League group stage matches, there was often a tough league match.

For example, before the first group stage match at home against S.S.C. Napoli, they had a home game against Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the Premier League.

And before that was a two-week international break.

Before the second group stage match, away to Bayer Leverkusen, they had an away game against Liverpool in the sixth round of the Premier League.

The third group stage match was fine, but before the fourth, they had to play Manchester City.

In other words, taken individually, both the Premier League and Champions League schedules were decent.

But put them together, and you immediately realized the pressure was quite high.

The main reason was that the other three teams in the Champions League group were very evenly matched, all at the level of a top-four team in a major league.

Individually, they were slightly weaker than Bayswater Chinese, but not without a fighting chance.

What if you added the advantage of the schedule?

In contrast, other groups, despite having one strong rival, also had a whipping boy, which allowed for rest and squad rotation.

For Bayswater Chinese, they basically had to strive to maintain their form consistently.

How to ensure stable, high-level performance while competing on two fronts and securing results was a huge test, and it was the requirement Yang Cheng set for his coaching staff.

As soon as the Champions League draw results and schedule were released, Brian Kidd and the others had already begun to study and prepare a season-long strategy.

It was truly very challenging!

Especially considering they had to play Arsenal and Chelsea around Christmas.

The clashes between top teams played a crucial role in the fight for the Premier League title.

It could even be said that they determined who won the championship.

In addition, Yang Cheng also reminded the coaching staff to be wary of teams like Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, and Everton, whose overall strength was also very good.

For example, their opponent in the fourth round, Tottenham Hotspur, had picked up a bargain by signing Adebayor and Vedran Ćorluka, and had also signed Aaron Lennon from Arsenal. Although they lacked Gareth Bale and Modrić from Yang Cheng’s previous life, their overall strength was formidable.

Redknapp was a renowned English manager. Who would dare to underestimate such an opponent?

A moment of slackness, and they’d capsize you in a minute.

“From last season’s performance, our squad rotation was actually quite good, but Rakitić’s departure has had a significant impact on us, especially on our midfield rotation.”

Brian Kidd was a little worried.

Yang Cheng had handed almost all training and preparation matters to him, making him the person primarily responsible.

Everyone knew how important Rakitić was.

The transfer of a player who was a regular starter weakened Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

“Aaron Ramsey performed very well last season. We can continue to entrust him with important responsibilities this season, and there’s also De Bruyne.”

The Belgian midfielder was now 20 years old, and based on his performance last season, he was quite good overall.

Yang Cheng had been flexible in his use of him, playing him wherever needed, whether in midfield or attack.

But for now, it was time to settle him into a fixed position.

Given De Bruyne’s technical characteristics, he wasn’t really suited to playing on the wing. He lacked the explosive power needed for Bayswater Chinese’s current style of play and the general environment of the Premier League.

In midfield, however, it was worth a try.

“Pogba is only 18, but his physical attributes are outstanding, and he’s from our own youth academy. It’s essential that we continue to groom and develop him.”

Yang Cheng was quite optimistic about the French midfielder.

If, under the guidance of Bayswater Chinese, he could truly avoid the off-field dramas of his previous life and focus on his football, then Yang Cheng would definitely increase his development efforts.

After all, Pogba’s talent was plain to see.

Brian Kidd and the others had no objections.

For the past few years, the domestic cup competitions had been primarily for the young players; it had become a habit.

And as long as the team rotated well, they believed there wouldn’t be a major problem.

…

After the two-week international break, the international players returned one by one.

The Premier League reignited its battles.

In the fourth round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium.

As was his custom, Yang Cheng once again made significant rotations for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, Pepe, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and De Bruyne in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

In this match, Yang Cheng not only rested the three South American internationals—Thiago Silva, Marcelo, and Di María—but also gave Nemanja Matić, Robert Lewandowski, and Piszczek a break.

He believed that this lineup was still competitive against Tottenham Hotspur.

Redknapp, on the other hand, set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Brad Friedel;

Defense: Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, Kaboul, and Naughton;

Midfield: Livermore and Huddlestone formed the double pivot; ahead of them were Rafael van der Vaart, Kranjčar, and Lennon;

Forward: Defoe.

Adebayor was on the bench.

In Tottenham’s starting lineup, there were actually two former Bayswater Chinese players.

And Kyle Naughton had been Kyle Walker’s teammate at Sheffield United, and a regular starter at that.

From Redknapp’s lineup, Yang Cheng could already guess his opponent’s intentions.

Defend and counter-attack!

From the start of the game, Gareth Bale frequently tried to use his speed advantage, attempting to brute-force his way down Tottenham’s flanks, especially attacking the space behind Naughton.

Walcott was doing the same.

But Tottenham was clearly prepared for this.

Both Naughton and Assou-Ekotto possessed very good speed, which made it not so easy for Bayswater Chinese’s two wings to make an impact.

At the very least, the speed that left defenders across Europe helpless didn’t have the expected effect against them.

And the two centre-backs were always in the right place to provide cover behind their full-backs whenever Gareth Bale or Walcott managed to get past them.

This rendered Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz ineffective.

On Bayswater Chinese’s side, the midfield and attack played with great energy.

Although the opening blitz failed, the team continued to put pressure on Tottenham.

But Tottenham also employed a targeted tactic.

Faced with Bayswater Chinese’s fast-paced, whirlwind-like attack, the North London team proactively adopted a compact defensive shape, limiting Bayswater Chinese’s space for passing and movement.

According to Yang Cheng’s pre-match plan, the team was to try and take the lead in the first half, preferably by overwhelming the opponent with a quick blitz.

This would allow them to conserve some energy for the Champions League match on Wednesday.

Especially for players like Toni Kroos and Pepe.

They had just played for their national teams and immediately returned to the club for a league match.

If he could avoid rotating them, Yang Cheng would of course want them to play in the Champions League on Wednesday.

But because of this, the team played a bit hastily in the first half, the tempo was too fast.

Modrić’s absence also created another problem for the team.

The passing was too quick, and they couldn’t quite control the rhythm.

At least, Toni Kroos tried several times to slow the tempo down, but whenever he passed the ball, his teammates would often continue to push it forward, to charge ahead.

It couldn’t be helped. With Gareth Bale and Walcott up front, the natural inclination was to play behind the defense and attack the penalty area.

But this was clearly within Tottenham’s expectations, and Redknapp had certainly made specific preparations.

Therefore, looking at the first-half performance, the result was not ideal.

They dominated possession, but in reality, there were few truly threatening attacks.

Yang Cheng saw the problem, but he wasn’t anxious.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

The Tottenham players and staff were clearly satisfied with this result.

At the very least, they had held on!

Redknapp also greeted his players with a smile as they left the pitch, obviously pleased with how the first half had gone.

Back in the dressing room, Yang Cheng maintained a very confident demeanor, pointing out some of the team’s issues in the first half.

For instance, Toni Kroos had signaled several times to slow down the tempo, but the players hadn’t coordinated well.

“The opponent has clearly figured out our intentions. So from now on, we need to be more patient than them. Passing and movement are our strengths. Even if we slow down the tempo, we can still break through their defensive formation.”

The players felt Yang Cheng’s confidence and nodded in agreement.

“Olivier.”

Yang Cheng looked at Giroud.

“After the second half starts, you don’t need to run around looking for the ball. I want you to plant yourself firmly in their penalty area.”

“Their centre-backs often drift wide to help defend, right?”

“Seize one opportunity, and give them a fatal blow!”

With that, Yang Cheng forcefully punched his right fist into the air.

Chapter 230: A Massacre! Five Straight Wins! I Came to the Premier League to Make Money, Not to Be a Sucker!

Sixty-four-year-old Harry Redknapp had been in football his entire life.

He started in the West Ham United youth academy and later played for teams like Brentford and Bournemouth.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, player-managers were in vogue.

It wasn’t until 1982 that Redknapp officially took the manager’s post at Bournemouth.

After becoming West Ham United’s manager in ’94, he stayed until 2001.

While at Bournemouth, he coached his son Jamie Redknapp.

When he moved to West Ham, he brought his nephew Frank Lampard to the club, gave him opportunities, and nurtured him into an international player.

In 2001, when he left West Ham, Lampard also transferred to Chelsea.

Many criticized him for this, believing that without his support, Lampard would have struggled to stand out.

But in reality, what’s the point of so many “what ifs”?

Now, Lampard’s accomplishments spoke for themselves—the best possible retort to Redknapp’s critics.

Old ’Arry had been in football his whole life and managed so many teams that he had always felt the game was quite simple.

It was only the outsiders who found it mysterious and confusing.

It was all due to an information gap.

For example, many fans and media outlets sensationalized tactical setups and touchline management.

Was it really that magical?

At least, Redknapp didn’t think so.

A head coach couldn’t get on the pitch and play, nor could he teach players how to play on a one-to-one basis.

When setting up a formation and arranging tactics, a head coach could only provide a general framework. The specific execution and details were down to the players’ on-field improvisation.

Therefore, the players were the main characters!

That’s why, many times, when a head coach lost a match, he would mention one thing: the players failed to execute the tactics properly or didn’t understand the game plan thoroughly.

This was especially evident in English players.

Because of the two tragedies in the 1980s, England was long excluded from continental Europe and missed the tactical storm brought about by Sacchi and the great Milan dynasty.

Coupled with the long-outdated English youth development system, which lacked tactical education, English players had a relatively poor understanding of tactics, football, and the game itself.

This was also why many foreign coaches, despite their proven abilities, failed to get results after coming to the Premier League.

The same instruction, the same idea, would be understood even by youth team players on the continent.

But in England, even big-name stars might only have a partial understanding.

If you understood, execution was twice as effective; if you only half-understood, your efforts were wasted.

Therefore, Redknapp had always believed that the most important qualities for a head coach were not tactical setups or touchline management, as these were not scarce in the world of professional football.

In Italy, you could find a plethora of tactically astute coaches.

Some even said every Italian coach was a tactical master.

Was that a scarce commodity?

Not at all!

Some might bring up Carlos Queiroz, arguing that if it wasn’t scarce, why did Ferguson bring him back?

The reason was simple: he was used to working with him.

Redknapp was close to Ferguson and knew exactly how much tactical expertise Ferguson possessed.

Even Ferguson himself admitted he was far inferior to Queiroz.

But why was he Ferguson, while Queiroz could never be?

Because in the world of professional football, the most important and rarest quality for a head coach was not tactical acumen.

It was knowing and understanding the players.

Some might argue again, isn’t that the most basic thing?

Yes, it seems like the most basic and simple thing that everyone can do, but it is also the hardest.

Why was Ferguson’s touchline management always so brilliant?

Because he knew his opponents’ players very well, and he knew his own players even better.

So he knew what the opponent’s adjustments were trying to achieve, and what kind of player he could bring on to achieve a certain effect.

As long as that player could achieve the tactical objective the head coach wanted after coming on, it didn’t matter if he was an ordinary player, a world-class superstar, or even a rookie who had never played professional league football.

Was there a difference?

No difference at all!

Football is a team sport of eleven players.

Why was Ancelotti so good at tailoring his strategy to the players available?

Because he was familiar with every player at his disposal, so he knew how to combine them organically. He knew how to make them produce dangerous link-up play.

Wasn’t that enough?

With one match a week, for a Saturday afternoon game, there would be one tactics session on Tuesday. The head coach would convey his intentions and match strategy for the next game to the players and coaching staff. The staff would then design training sessions based on the head coach’s instructions.

Wednesday was for set piece training and studying video of the opposition.

The head coach had to understand his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses in attack and defense, understand his own, and then arrange targeted drills.

A practice match simulating the real game would yield even better results.

You see, all of this was built on the foundation of understanding your own players and your opponent’s players.

Ferguson had been at Manchester United for so many years, and this was precisely his most valuable asset.

He knew the club culture, team situation, and player characteristics of every single team in the entire Premier League like the back of his hand.

Because he had coached for long enough and had enough experience!

Being a head coach had always been a simple matter.

At least, Redknapp had always thought so.

The reason many people found it complicated and difficult was that they were either laymen or had failed to grasp the crucial points.

Or, they just liked obsessing over a trivial point.

Of course, all of the above represented Redknapp’s past.

At some point, the tactics in European football began to change quietly.

Redknapp gradually realized that he couldn’t understand the ideas of some teams or the characteristics of some players.

For example, this Bayswater Chinese team in front of him.

While the world’s attention was focused on the left flank with Marcelo, Gareth Bale, and Toni Kroos, Redknapp was paying attention to the right flank with Piszczek, Modrić, Di María, and Theo Walcott.

Among many top teams, when a full-back pushed forward to attack, it was usually to provide depth through overlapping runs and create width for the attack.

But in Pep Guardiola’s Barça, the combination of Dani Alves and Messi made Barça’s right flank completely different from other teams. The two were never on the same horizontal line, always creating positional mismatches.

This allowed Barça’s right-sided attack to always create more layers.

Because both were very good on the ball.

A similar situation also occurred with Bayswater Chinese.

When Eden Hazard played on the left, his combination with Marcelo clearly had this intention.

But Gareth Bale was a direct and physical British player. His partnership with Marcelo was of a different type.

And on the right, Piszczek had become very interesting under Yang Cheng’s transformation.

A former striker who had spent a long time as a winger, he was now converted into a full-back.

Whether with Di María or Theo Walcott, he could handle it with ease.

If Messi and Dani Alves were both possession-based players, then the players on Bayswater Chinese’s right flank were all about impact.

The two Barça players liked to create horizontal mismatches, whereas Bayswater Chinese’s right side loved to create vertical ones, which made their attacking combinations play out very differently.

This was especially true this season.

When both of Bayswater Chinese’s full-backs were unleashed, it was clear to see these different attacking styles on their two flanks.

This created a fatal problem for defending teams.

How could you adapt to the opponent’s switch in attacking patterns and quickly adjust your own defensive strategy?

As early as last season, Ferguson had stated in a media interview that Toni Kroos was the most successful and important signing of the 2010-11 Premier League season.

Many people couldn’t understand this.

At the time, everyone thought, isn’t this kid just good at hitting fast and accurate long passes?

Isn’t he just able to spot gaps while the whole team is moving quickly and deliver precise passes?

This was indeed very important for a team with wingers like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Di María, and Eden Hazard who were masters of breaking through on the flanks.

But to apply that to the entire Premier League seemed like an exaggeration!

Redknapp strongly agreed with what Ferguson said.

Toni Kroos was severely underestimated.

If long passing was his obvious advantage, then his most important ability was actually changing his team’s rhythm and a game’s offensive momentum through his passing.

This player was incredibly calm and always knew when to pass, when to hold the ball, when to pass back, and when to pass forward.

And his style of play was very simple, clean, and decisive.

For all opponents, this was a massive headache.

Because you simply couldn’t change him!

Or rather, there was no effective way to disrupt his style of play and, in turn, disrupt Bayswater Chinese’s organization and attack.

Last season, Arsenal used a full five players in midfield just to contain Bayswater Chinese’s three.

Do you know what that meant?

That was a Champions League-winning team!

A full five men!

This season, in the fourth round of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur visited Wembley Stadium, and Redknapp used four men.

But that was on the premise that Bayswater Chinese wasn’t even playing at full strength!

None of the South American international players were fielded, both of Bayswater Chinese’s starting full-backs were rested, and midfielders Modrić and Matić were also rested.

But even so, Tottenham Hotspur had a heart-stopping first half.

Why?

Because of Toni Kroos!

Therefore, whether before the game or during halftime, when Redknapp was giving instructions to his players, he repeatedly urged them to be careful of Toni Kroos no matter what.

And just fifteen seconds into the second half, Giroud pulled out from the penalty area.

Toni Kroos delivered a diagonal pass to Giroud’s feet.

But the French centre-forward didn’t take a touch. Instead, as the ball arrived, he pushed it with the inside of his left foot.

Or perhaps “push” wasn’t the right word; “flick” would be more appropriate.

Yes, Giroud was left-footed.

The ball slid past Michael Dawson and into the right side of Tottenham’s penalty area.

This made Redknapp jump up from the sidelines.

Sure enough, Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt in his most familiar territory and drove a shot toward the far corner.

The ball hit the outside of the right post and bounced back into the box.

Luckily, no one was there to follow up on the rebound.

“Be careful!”

Redknapp walked anxiously to the edge of the technical area and shouted at his players.

“Michael, use your head! Stay focused, don’t get distracted.”

“Kyle!”

When Redknapp shouted, Kyle Naughton, who was closer to the sideline, looked over.

“Watch the Welshman’s runs, don’t lose him!”

Kyle Naughton nodded heavily.

He had clearly been given a scare just now as well.

Redknapp slapped his forehead in frustration.

He felt that Kyle Naughton and Michael Dawson still hadn’t fully understood his instructions.

Had they not noticed the change in Bayswater Chinese in the second half?

The focus of the attack had shifted to Giroud!

Redknapp instantly and sharply perceived the problem.

Yang Cheng had adjusted his use of Giroud, basically tasking him with staying firmly rooted in the penalty area.

Tottenham’s defensive approach in the first half actually created a problem.

Michael Dawson and Kaboul frequently moved to the flanks. While this could block Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott out wide, it would inevitably open up space in the center.

What if, while a centre-back was pulled wide, a sudden cross was sent in for Giroud?

Also, to suppress Toni Kroos and De Bruyne in the middle, Livermore and Huddlestone had to push forward frequently.

Livermore was young, and Huddlestone wasn’t the type of holding midfielder who could hold his position.

That left a gap in front of the penalty area.

This was when Giroud would choose to drop back!

“That French centre-forward is so bloody smart!”

Redknapp immediately thought of Giroud’s movement just now.

A football match is like this, constantly changing, constantly adjusting.

Redknapp wracked his brains, trying to understand the impact of Yang Cheng’s adjustment.

And how could Tottenham Hotspur counter their opponent?

It seemed there was no particularly good way.

So, he went to the sideline and signaled for his double pivot to be mindful of their positioning and protect the area in front of the penalty box.

In the 48th minute, it was again Giroud who received the ball in the box and laid it off. Gareth Bale suddenly cut inside horizontally and unleashed a long shot with his right foot.

But the shot lacked power and was gathered by Friedel.

A minute later, Toni Kroos received the ball, drew Huddlestone towards him, and then played a through ball.

Giroud dropped back to the edge of the area, controlled the ball, turned, and fired a long shot that went wide again.

Walcott immediately sent in a cross from the right to the back post. Gareth Bale shot for the bottom right corner again, but the angle was too tight, and it went wide of the byline.

The Welshman’s shooting boots weren’t quite on today.

This was actually normal, as he had also participated in his national team’s training camp and matches.

But in the 54th minute, when Ryan Bertrand and Gareth Bale tried to link up on the left, they failed to break through. Toni Kroos was available in space to receive the pass.

The German midfielder shouted for a teammate to pass back.

Gareth Bale passed the ball back to Toni Kroos.

The German controlled the ball, moved towards the center, and first glanced in Giroud’s direction, as if he wanted to find the centre-forward again like before.

But in fact, he suddenly launched a diagonal long pass with his right foot.

Giroud had already pulled to the left side of the box, while Walcott had made a diagonal run into the right side.

At this moment, the entire right flank was left open.

Kyle Walker was incredibly fast, charging forward with immense power. On the right side outside the box, he trapped the ball with his chest and brought it under control.

His technique was quite good.

But the defense coached by Redknapp wasn’t bad either.

Assou-Ekotto immediately abandoned Walcott and closed in on Kyle Walker.

Livermore also immediately tracked back into the box, ready to provide cover.

But just then, De Bruyne ran over, raising his hand for the ball near the right edge of the penalty area.

Kyle Walker attempted to push forward and cross from the byline, but after seeing De Bruyne, he chose to pass back.

The Belgian was facing the direction of the attack.

At this moment, Walcott had already run to the vicinity of the right corner of the box, ready to receive a pass at any time.

Plus, Kyle Walker was on the right side of the penalty area.

Tottenham’s left-back Assou-Ekotto marked Kyle Walker, forcing Livermore to drop back into the box to watch Walcott.

Kaboul quickly moved to the area just outside the right corner of the six-yard box.

From this position, he could both help defend on Kyle Walker’s side and be the first to block Walcott.

This was how Tottenham Hotspur had defended in the first half.

But here came the problem.

When Giroud ran from the left side of the box to the right of the penalty spot, he saw De Bruyne receive the ball.

The French centre-forward looked left and right and noticed a large gap had appeared between Michael Dawson and Kaboul.

Did De Bruyne spot it?

Because for that brief moment, the Belgian was unmarked.

So, Giroud shouted, raised his hand, and charged forward.

As the ball arrived, De Bruyne quickly delivered a 45-degree cross.

The ball flew swiftly over everyone’s heads, dropping towards the right side of the six-yard box.

Giroud arrived at full tilt, met De Bruyne’s cross, and flicked his head, sending a header towards the goal.

The ball immediately changed direction, heading straight for the bottom left corner of the Tottenham goal.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel didn’t even have time to react!

The ball hit the back of the net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“A beautiful piece of attacking interplay!”

“A header from Olivier Giroud!”

“That diagonal pass from De Bruyne was magnificent. The curve was perfect, and the delivery was incredibly precise.”

“Bayswater Chinese is just brimming with talent these days!”

“Last season, De Bruyne mostly shifted between the wing and central midfield, trying out many different positions and playstyles. Today, Yang Cheng has placed him in central midfield.”

“The 20-year-old Belgian youngster assists Giroud with a precise diagonal pass for a headed goal!”

“A top coach can achieve this kind of effect.”

“Even with substitutes and young players, they can still produce stunning tactical combinations.”

Seeing Giroud run off the pitch in celebration and hearing the unified roar of ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium, Redknapp shook his head helplessly.

They still couldn’t hold out for an hour!

Against a Bayswater Chinese side that hadn’t even fielded its full-strength lineup, his team still couldn’t hold on.

…

With Giroud’s headed goal, the momentum of the match completely changed.

In the 66th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese once again produced a beautiful team goal.

It was a swift counter-attack after winning the ball back in their own half.

Javi Martínez passed the ball to Kyle Walker on the right.

The latter ignored everything else and just charged forward with the ball, quickly reaching Tottenham’s final third.

At this point, Theo Walcott appeared in the center.

After the Little Tiger received the ball, Tottenham’s Livermore was already back in position.

His pace was nullified.

But Gareth Bale had also followed up and raised his hand for the ball.

Walcott passed the ball to Gareth Bale, who was slightly to the left of the center.

The Welshman immediately drove forward with the ball and quickly distributed it to the left side of the box, then sprinted forward through the middle at an even faster pace.

Giroud made a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area, getting to the ball before Kaboul. He controlled it and promptly backheeled it back to the center.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt, meeting Giroud’s pass and striking it with his right foot.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, despite having come out of his six-yard box, still couldn’t stop the shot from finding the net.

2-0!

Then, in the 78th minute of the second half, a Bayswater Chinese attack pinned Tottenham Hotspur inside their penalty area but failed to create a clear threat and was forced to pass back.

Toni Kroos received the ball in the left-central area, glanced forward, and casually yet calmly flicked the ball with his right foot.

The ball was lofted over the defenders near the edge of the box and the penalty spot, dropping near the right corner of the six-yard box.

Walcott burst out from the crowd, getting there before anyone else, and tapped the ball into the back of the net.

3-0!

After taking the shot, the Little Tiger stumbled and fell in the box, but he immediately jumped up and ran out in excitement.

“My goodness, we really don’t know how Toni Kroos saw Walcott.”

“How on earth did he spot that attacking opportunity?”

“And Walcott, his off-the-ball movement has always been outstanding, and his sense for goal is praiseworthy!”

“If Tottenham Hotspur’s defense was successful in the first half, then in the second half, Redknapp’s team was completely outplayed.”

“He didn’t seem to find a more effective way to contain Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Tottenham at home!

Yang Cheng’s team had won their fourth consecutive match of the new season!

And this was achieved while undergoing squad rotation.

Elsewhere, Arsenal defeated Swansea City 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Andrei Arshavin.

Manchester City thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-0 at home, with Agüero scoring a hat-trick and Carlos Tevez converting a penalty.

Liverpool narrowly beat Stoke City 1-0 away from home.

Chelsea defeated Sunderland 2-1 away.

Manchester United routed Bolton 5-0 away, with Rooney scoring a hat-trick.

After four rounds, Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the Premier League table.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City, and Manchester United all had four straight wins.

This demonstrated the strength of these three teams to everyone.

However, neither Bayswater Chinese nor Manchester City had yet played in any clashes between top teams.

Therefore, the general consensus was that the real test had not yet begun.

…

On the evening of September 14th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the first round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted S.S.C. Napoli from Serie A.

As the first Champions League match of the new season, Yang Cheng and everyone at Bayswater Chinese took it extremely seriously.

Yang Cheng once again deployed his strongest lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

From the very start of the match, this lineup ensured that Bayswater Chinese had firm control of the game.

Napoli’s head coach was Walter Mazzarri, and his specialty was the 3-5-2 formation.

But this match looked more like a 3-6-1.

In reality, once the game started, they looked more like a five-man defense.

Because the two wing-backs, Zúñiga and Maggio, mostly dropped back.

Up front, they left Cavani and the Argentinian winger, that deadbeat Ezequiel, to launch counter-attacks.

But from the first minute, it was basically Bayswater Chinese organizing and planning attacks.

Napoli was clearly mentally prepared for such a situation.

The home team patiently controlled possession, waiting for opportunities.

In the first twenty-one minutes, Napoli didn’t even manage a single shot.

But in the 34th minute, Matić intercepted a pass in midfield and gave it to Modrić.

The Croatian plucked the ball out of a crowd of players and played a through ball.

Lewandowski used his body to shield the ball from Little Cannavaro, and as he received it, he took a touch that allowed him to turn and charge forward.

Before the Napoli defenders could close in, he immediately played a diagonal pass to the right side of the attack.

Di María made a forward run at top speed, received the ball, and carried it into Napoli’s penalty area.

But the Argentinian didn’t have a chance to shoot.

Suddenly, Di María came to an abrupt halt, pulled the ball back, dragged it back further with the outside of his left foot, and then sent a cross pass.

The ball was passed between two defenders.

Lewandowski, who had arrived at full tilt in the center, met the ball with a thunderous shot that flew into the bottom left corner of the net.

1-0!

Wembley Stadium erupted with the deafening cheers and shouts of ninety thousand fans!

All the supporters were chanting Lewandowski’s name.

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate reached an astonishing 76.1%, but they only had nine shots.

This showed just how tightly organized Napoli’s defense was.

But after Lewandowski’s goal, the players were generally more relaxed.

After the change of ends for the second half, Bayswater Chinese continued to apply pressure.

In the 57th minute, after winning the ball back in midfield, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

Piszczek surged forward at high speed down the right flank. After receiving a pass from Di María, he faced Zúñiga’s defense, used a series of feints, and then passed back to Di María.

When the Argentinian tried to cut inside to shoot with his left foot, he was fouled by Napoli’s midfielder, Gargano.

It resulted in a free kick on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

This was Gareth Bale’s favorite free-kick territory.

The Welshman confidently walked over, placed the ball, took a quick run-up, and struck a butterfly ball.

The quality of this free kick was extremely high. The ball flew fast and went straight into Napoli’s goal.

2-0!

After taking a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese wanted to press their advantage.

But in the 69th minute, an attacking combination up front broke down due to a mistake. Napoli quickly won the ball back, and Hamšík received it, broke through the middle, and under pressure from Matić, played a through ball.

Cavani sprinted onto it, physically shouldering Thiago Silva aside, broke into the box, and scored with a powerful right-footed shot.

2-1!

This goal gave Napoli a glimmer of hope!

Mazzarri also made consecutive substitutions, attempting to strengthen his attack.

But just five minutes after conceding, Marcelo made a brilliant tackle on the left near the halfway line, quickly passing the ball to Aaron Ramsey. The latter was under pressure from Napoli’s counter-press and, without taking a touch, passed it directly to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman had his back to Maggio. With a beautiful move, he knocked the ball past the defender and ran around him, sprinting down the left flank and delivering a low, driven cross.

At that moment, two forwards were storming the box.

Lewandowski at the near post was first to it, getting a sliding shot away that sent the ball into Napoli’s net.

Di María, who was providing backup at the back post, missed the scoring opportunity.

Lewandowski had scored twice.

3-1!

Near the end of the match, the home team actually had another very good scoring opportunity, but unfortunately, they failed to convert the one-on-one chance.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese maintained this scoreline until the final whistle.

…

After the international break, the team had a series of three consecutive home games.

After playing Tottenham and Napoli, it was immediately the fifth round of the Premier League, where fellow West London clubQueens Park Rangers visited Wembley Stadium.

The two teams, with a very deep-rooted history, finally met in the Premier League.

Before the match, Yang Cheng had a polite chat with Queens Park Rangers’ manager, Neil Warnock.

Yang Cheng even went out of his way to ask about the takeover situation.

From Neil Warnock, Yang Cheng learned that the takeover was complete and the contract had been signed, with only a series of procedures and legal documents remaining.

It was only a matter of time before Queens Park Rangers became an American asset.

“All procedures are expected to be completed around November.”

After a pause, Neil Warnock made a small joke.

“Those Americans are sitting in a VIP box at Wembley. You guys better go easy on us today.”

Yang Cheng, of course, didn’t take it seriously.

In a real match, it wasn’t as if the teams would just stop trying if a coach told them to hold back.

As a newly promoted team, Queens Park Rangers’ strength was still significantly inferior to that of Bayswater Chinese.

But absolutely no one could have predicted the course the match would take.

Not even Yang Cheng or Neil Warnock.

Let alone Stephen Ross and the others in the VIP box.

Just one minute and twelve seconds after kickoff, Theo Walcott on the right, with support from Piszczek, broke through on the flank and delivered a cross from near the byline.

Lewandowski, positioned between Anton Ferdinand and Hall, headed the ball home from close range.

1-0!

This was the first shot of the entire match!

Not only were the Bayswater Chinese fans stunned, but the Queens Park Rangers players were also dazed.

A sucker punch right at the start?

Were they really West London arch-rivals?

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese launched a frantic assault on Queens Park Rangers.

In the 19th minute, Modrić made an overlapping run into the penalty area and scored with an easy tap-in.

2-0!

In the 38th minute of the first half, Gareth Bale broke through on the left with the ball and once again crossed into the box. Lewandowski met it with a sliding shot at the goalmouth, sending the ball into the net again.

3-0!

The Polish centre-forward had completed his third brace of the season!

Queens Park Rangers had spent very little in this summer’s transfer market.

Only about five million pounds sterling.

They signed around ten players.

Five of them were on free transfers, including the “bad boy” Joey Barton and a few other unwanted players like Dyer.

They all joined for free.

The most expensive signing was forward Campbell from Blackpool, costing 1.6 million pounds sterling.

Under these circumstances, it was no exaggeration to say that Queens Park Rangers were playing in the Premier League with last season’s Championship squad.

And the reason for this was that the Italian owners were reluctant to spend money as they wanted to sell the club.

Under these circumstances, they were naturally unwilling to open their wallets.

This was where they were clever.

With the prestige of being a Premier League team, but as a newly promoted side with no investment or signings, playing with last season’s Championship squad, one could imagine how awkward Queens Park Rangers’ situation in the Premier League was.

Even manager Neil Warnock didn’t have suitable personnel.

For example, when his team was down by three goals in the first half, he didn’t opt for a defensive change. Instead, he brought on two attacking players.

Why?

Because his bench was full of forwards.

The best midfielders and defenders in the team were already on the pitch.

Although substitutions were made, the situation on the field didn’t improve in the slightest.

In the 59th minute, from a through ball by Modrić, Lewandowski shook off his marker inside the box and scored in a one-on-one situation, extending the lead once again.

4-0!

The Pole also celebrated his first hat-trick of the season!

The entire stadium roared in celebration!

In the 65th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back and launched a quick counter-attack, with Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott linking up at the front.

The Welshman played a diagonal pass in behind, and Walcott arrived at full tilt to send the ball into the Queens Park Rangers goal once more.

5-0!

And in the 71st minute, Walcott returned the favor, sending in a cross to the back post where Gareth Bale volleyed it in with his left foot.

6-0!

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng made three substitutions at once.

This included bringing on Harry Kane for Lewandowski.

The Pole, who had scored a hat-trick, received a roaring ovation from the entire crowd.

…

Too hasty!

Really, too hasty!

In one of Wembley Stadium’s VIP boxes, American real estate magnate Stephen Ross, who had only signed the papers a month ago, was filled with regret.

He realized that the decision he made a month ago was far too rash!

To decide to acquire a hundred-million-pound Premier League club in just two months!

A month ago, when he had just signed, he was full of pride, thinking it would be lauded as a great story in the global sports world.

But now, he felt it was more likely a bottomless pit.

He felt more like he was bailing out that damn Italian!

Especially watching his Queens Park Rangers team being mercilessly slaughtered by Bayswater Chinese on the pitch, he felt even more panicked.

According to the live league table displayed on the TV in the VIP box, after five matches, Queens Park Rangers had only managed four points and had fallen to 17th place.

The teams in 18th, 19th, and 20th place all had three points.

They were a prime candidate for relegation!

But this didn’t make sense!

In last season’s Championship, Queens Park Rangers finished a full four points ahead of the second-placed team, Norwich, earning promotion to the Premier League as champions. They had been dominant all season.

At one point during the final stages of the season, their lead was as large as nine points.

If they hadn’t taken their foot off the gas in the last few rounds, the lead would likely have been even greater.

This was a highly competitive team in the Championship.

So how did they end up getting thrashed like this in the Premier League?

Even if they didn’t invest much during the summer, they shouldn’t be fighting relegation right from the start of the season, should they?

Also newly promoted, Swansea and Norwich had performed far worse than Queens Park Rangers last season, but now they were in 13th and 14th place.

What on earth was going on?

Stephen Ross had asked Charlie Stillitano, but the Italian-American couldn’t provide a clear answer.

As for the words of the head coach, Neil Warnock, and others, they only half-believed them.

Coupled with this 6-0 away thrashing by Bayswater Chinese, Warnock now had a big red X next to his name in Stephen Ross’s mind.

Fortunately, the American’s expectations for Queens Park Rangers this season were not high—just to avoid relegation.

He was never an impulsive person. Before the acquisition, he even hired an agency to investigate Queens Park Rangers’ debt and a series of other issues.

The conclusion was that the club’s financial situation was quite good.

The Italians handed Stephen Ross a club with no external debt.

But it was only when he truly took over that he was shocked to discover where the trap lay.

Before the acquisition, Stephen Ross and his team had run a projection.

In the current situation, as long as they could avoid relegation, their Premier League income would be at least thirty-five to forty million pounds sterling.

Matchday revenue was also good, as ticket prices in London are high.

By this calculation, Queens Park Rangers had a very solid foundation.

Only after taking over did he discover that their calculations were mostly correct.

The Premier League broadcast rights were a given. As for matchday revenue, although the stadium was never full, the attendance rate was good, always around fifteen thousand people.

At an average ticket price of forty pounds sterling, that meant six hundred thousand pounds sterling per match.

With nineteen home games per season, that amounted to 11.4 million pounds sterling.

Adding the Premier League broadcast revenue share, cup competitions, and other various incomes, it would easily exceed fifty million pounds sterling.

But they had miscalculated.

Why did Queens Park Rangers perform so well last season?

You have to remember, in the few seasons prior, they were always in the bottom half of the Championship table.

They had even been on the verge of relegation at one point.

To suddenly jump from 13th place in the 2009-10 season to Championship champions was quite a leap.

Why?

Because last season they had loaned several players from Premier League clubs and signed eleven players on free transfers at once.

They ranged in age from thirty-year-old Pascal Chimbonda to seventeen-year-old Shariff.

They came from Premier League clubs like Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion, and Newcastle, as well as Championship sides like Crystal Palace, Millwall, and Sheffield Wednesday.

These players had signed lucrative contracts upon joining, which included clauses for salary increases upon successful promotion to the Premier League.

So, these players fought with all their might in the Championship last season.

Now that they were promoted to the Premier League, Chimbonda’s weekly wage, which was already thirty thousand pounds sterling, shot up to fifty thousand pounds sterling, amounting to 2.6 million pounds sterling a year.

And then there were other free transfers like Ishmael Miller and Clint Hill.

This caused Queens Park Rangers’ salary expenditure for the new season to far exceed their revenue red line.

Matt Higgins had done the math. If you added the daily maintenance of the stadium, coaching staff salaries, employee wages, the club’s daily operational funds and expenses, and the operation of the youth academy and youth teams…

Fifty million pounds sterling was definitely not enough!

Stephen Ross was all too familiar with this kind of scheme!

It was as if that Italian had blown a huge bubble around Queens Park Rangers. It looked glamorous on the outside, but inside it was all air.

One hundred million pounds sterling for this?

So, upon taking over, Stephen Ross immediately cracked down on the veterans like Chimbonda, demanding they leave.

The situation was quite tense right now.

But he had no choice. Queens Park Rangers simply couldn’t afford a fifty-thousand-pound weekly wage.

With this internal turmoil, the team’s performance on the pitch plummeted.

The West London derby that Stephen Ross had been looking forward to before the season ended with his team getting thrashed 6-0 away from home!

“We must increase revenue and find new income streams as soon as possible!”

Stephen Ross felt he couldn’t keep thinking about it.

Otherwise, his head would split open.

“We need to get in touch with Beckham’s people urgently. He has immense commercial value, and his signing can help us open up new channels. We need to create more income.”

Steve Ross almost said: I can’t keep pouring money into this club forever.

I came to the Premier League to make money, not to be a sucker!

“Also, tell that Warnock that the team must avoid relegation. If he can’t do it, he’s fired. We’ll get someone else!”

Speaking of avoiding relegation, Stephen Ross’s head throbbed again.

How the hell did this damned system come into being?

The fear of relegation constantly loomed over his head, giving him no peace of mind.

In the United States, what relegation?

He was now filled with immense regret.

Why, between Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, did he choose Queens Park Rangers?

Uh, right, that Fulham team was currently in 18th place, even worse off than Queens Park Rangers.

Thinking of this, the pain in Stephen Ross’s heart eased slightly.

At least he hadn’t made the worst possible choice.

But he knew deep down that until the fear of relegation was lifted, he would not have a moment of peace.

Queens Park Rangers was truly a mess!

Especially when Stephen Ross watched Bayswater Chinese celebrating their 6-0 victory on the pitch.

The ninety thousand fans in the stadium were cheering wildly, creating an earth-shattering roar that made him incredibly envious.

This was the team he wanted!

In reality, his team was that group of losers walking off the pitch with their heads hanging low!

What a terrible fate!

Chapter 231: Battle of the Captains! A Last-Second Winner! Suárez: Victory Beckons!

While the Bayswater Chinese were thrashing Queens Park Rangers 6-0 at home, the fifth round of the Premier League also came to a close.

The crucial match of this round was Manchester United versus Chelsea at Old Trafford.

It was the first major test for The Blues under the management of André Villas-Boas.

In the end, Ferguson taught Villas-Boas a good lesson at Old Trafford.

Both teams had played in the Europa League on Wednesday.

Although neither side intended to go all out in the Europa League, they still made appropriate squad rotations and adjustments.

Ferguson even opted for a 4-4-2 formation at home.

It was a very bold decision.

Upfront was the striker partnership of Hernández and Rooney.

The midfield consisted of Ashley Young, De Rossi, Fletcher, and Nani.

Judging from their performance throughout the match, Manchester United’s midfield offered no tactical advantages beyond sheer speed.

But it was this speed that exposed the slowness of a Chelsea side dominated by veterans, crippling them in the first half.

Thanks to goals from Ashley Young, Nani, and Rooney, Manchester United were already leading by three goals at halftime.

Although Eto’o later pulled one back for Chelsea, Rooney converted a penalty in the 56th minute.

Ultimately, Manchester United crushed Chelsea 4-1 at home.

After the match against Queens Park Rangers, Yang Cheng made a point of watching the live broadcast of this game with his coaching staff.

He then had his technical team create a highlights package of the match to be analyzed in the post-match coaching meeting and the first team’s tactical review session.

Yang Cheng believed that this match, to some extent, reflected a shift in Ferguson’s thinking.

“You see, Manchester United’s midfield had almost no advantage.”

“Their truly good passers didn’t even play. Juan Mata, Carrick, and Ryan Giggs were all rested.”

Giggs was keeping a very low profile due to the widely publicized sister-in-law scandal over the summer.

“Chelsea, on the other hand, had the upper hand in midfield, with players like Sneijder, Anelka, and Eto’o up front.”

“But that’s just how it looked on the surface.”

“If you look at the data, Manchester United, despite having no midfield advantage, achieved a possession rate of 56.5%, dominating in that respect.”

“Yet Chelsea created twenty-two shots, while Manchester United only had fourteen.”

Taken at face value, the statistics Yang Cheng presented seemed contradictory.

A team with no midfield advantage managed to have thirteen percent more possession than their opponents.

And with thirteen percent more possession, they had eight fewer shots.

Wasn’t that a contradiction?

Not necessarily!

Because Villas-Boas never wanted possession. He wanted to cede the ball to Manchester United, let them control it, and have Chelsea win it back.

Once they won it back, they would launch a quick counter-attack.

That’s why The Blues needed to increase their pace.

Even Drogba didn’t start this match.

But that was precisely where the problem lay.

The slowness of The Blues was obvious.

Mikel in midfield was relatively slow, and players like Lampard, Terry, and Ashley Cole were all getting on in years.

Ferguson’s strategy for this match was crystal clear: play fast.

Defeat the enemy with speed.

It didn’t matter if they were at a disadvantage in every other area; as long as their counter-attacks were fast enough, they could threaten the opponent’s goal.

Fewer shots?

No problem, I’m more efficient!

Yang Cheng deliberately paused, giving all the players and coaches time to think through the logic.

“In my memory, Ferguson has always been a man with an incredibly sharp tactical instinct.”

“If he wants to build a new Manchester United, it will definitely be one that best fits the current tactical trends of the era.”

“He has chosen fast-paced offensive and defensive transitions, picking up the pace, and then picking it up again!”

“But we don’t advocate for this style of play at Manchester United.”

“Because if their fast-paced attacks don’t work, they’ll be out of ideas.”

“So, we must continue to focus on the midfield. As long as we maintain our advantage in the middle of the park, we can still play fast.”

“In fact, we have always been the fastest team in European football.”

“And if speed doesn’t yield results, we’ll leverage our midfield advantage and reorganize.”

Yang Cheng was talking about the tactical trends of the next few years.

He needed to build a consensus among everyone, players and coaches alike.

“But what I really want to share with you today is, I want you all to think about what kind of changes players will undergo in this larger trend?”

Yang Cheng posed this core question to his players and coaches.

It was his way of guiding them to think for themselves.

The players and coaches present were no strangers to this and genuinely began to ponder the question.

“In the past, we often talked about classic midfield combinations. For example, at AC Milan, Pirlo was responsible for organizing and passing, while Gattuso was responsible for tackling. At Liverpool, Xabi Alonso organized and passed, and Javier Mascherano tackled…”

Everyone present agreed with Yang Cheng’s words.

These were universally recognized classic combinations.

“But now, I can tell you that as mainstream tactics demand increasingly higher tempo and efficiency in transitions, a faster and faster pace, everyone—whether they are attackers, midfielders, or defenders—must become more well-rounded.”

“Extremely well-rounded, even!”

“Every player’s strengths must be built on a foundation of being sufficiently all-around!”

“Before, if you were Pirlo and your defending was poor, no problem, I’d pair you with a Gattuso.”

“But in the future?”

“Sorry, even if you are Pirlo, you’ll have to tackle like Gattuso for me.”

“Can’t do it? Then you’re getting substituted!”

Why would this be the case?

Because when Pirlo and Gattuso are two separate players, they need to cooperate.

But if it’s one person who can do the work of two, the efficiency increases.

Some might say, isn’t that ridiculous?

Isn’t football supposed to be about teamwork?

Yes, but if I have Pirlo do Gattuso’s job as well, then I don’t need Gattuso, do I?

I can replace Gattuso with Kaká. Then I’d have two Kakás at the same time, wouldn’t I?

There were many other similar lines of reasoning.

For example, at Barça, Busquets had to do the work of two men.

That’s why Barça’s defense relied heavily on the pressing and pressure from their midfield and attack.

Yang Cheng felt that if Busquets came to the Premier League, he wouldn’t be able to handle that position well.

On the other hand, players like Nemanja Matić and Javi Martínez, who had skill, physicality, and could both attack and defend, were more suitable.

Wouldn’t that allow you to have both Toni Kroos and Modrić in the midfield at the same time?

In truth, if you looked back from the year 2024, you would definitely see this trend in midfielders.

Everyone had to believe it.

With the advancement of modern science and sports concepts, there were continuous leaps in player development, training methods, and training philosophies.

The players produced would inevitably be stronger.

Of course, super-geniuses like Maradona and Ronaldinho couldn’t be manufactured.

But for the vast majority of players, their overall abilities would develop rapidly with the support of advanced technology and concepts.

This was why, in 2024, a large number of players around the age of twenty already appeared very mature.

Some were even unbelievably mature at seventeen, playing with exceptional intelligence.

Behind this was the improvement in the quality of youth academies and training.

But on the pitch, fans might find that players seemed to have become more mediocre.

That wasn’t really the case.

It was because as players became more well-rounded, their opponents were becoming more well-rounded too.

A more well-rounded defensive player would certainly have an advantage over a more well-rounded attacking player.

But on a football pitch, advantages in technique, speed, and physicality were all relative.

It was like taking a young player who was completely useless on the professional stage and dropping him into a schoolyard game; he’d be almost comparable to Maradona.

You were required to become more well-rounded, but at the same time, you had to amplify and strengthen your own advantages as much as possible.

This presented a new and higher challenge for professional players.

But that was the essence of professional sports!

Yang Cheng didn’t delve too deeply into Manchester United’s issues.

He simply threw out the questions he wanted them to consider, guiding the players and coaches to think.

Because he felt that the developmental trend of modern football required everyone to learn to think for themselves.

Take Hazard, for example.

A player of his pure talent, who played entirely by feel, would have shone brightly ten years ago, much like Ronaldinho.

But players who relied on feel often had a problem.

When they faced a transition in their career, when their feel for the game failed them, they would suddenly forget how to play football. Their form could plummet directly from the clouds to the ground, or even crash through the earth’s surface.

It was a very frightening thing.

Of course, Yang Cheng could only offer guidance.

As the saying goes: the master teaches the trade, but the apprentice’s skill is his own.

How much they could learn and understand was beyond Yang Cheng’s control.

…

After the fifth round of the Premier League, the third round of the League Cup took place mid-week.

The Bayswater Chinese traveled north to Leeds to face Leeds United in an away game.

For this match, Yang Cheng fielded an entire team of young players.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Pogba, Aaron Ramsey, and De Bruyne;

Forwards: Hazard, Harry Kane, and Sterling.

Leeds United fielded their main players, but even though the Bayswater Chinese responded with their youngsters, they were not at a disadvantage. In fact, they launched a wave of fast attacks right after the kickoff.

In the 15th minute of the first half, a dribbling run from Hazard on the left flank created a shooting opportunity for Harry Kane inside the box.

The English centre-forward controlled the ball, shook off a defender, and fired a power shot into the net.

1-0!

In the 33rd minute, after a driving run and chipped pass from Pogba, Harry Kane scored with a header.

2-0!

The English centre-forward had scored a brace!

This player had performed well in the youth and reserve teams, scoring many goals.

In his years with the Bayswater Chinese, he had been immersed in Yang Cheng’s technical and tactical philosophy, nurtured and developed within an advanced tactical system. This made him appear unremarkable, but in reality, he played very intelligently.

More importantly, he was very confident!

English players in the Premier League were generally very confident, sometimes overly so.

Players like Bertrand, Kyle Walker, or Manchester United’s youngster Phil Jones, for example.

These players were all very confident but lacked tactical awareness and didn’t play intelligently enough, always giving off a direct and physical, very rigid, and brutish impression.

But over the past few years, the Bayswater Chinese youth academy had always been at the forefront of the times, even ahead of its contemporaries.

Therefore, the players produced by the Bayswater Chinese often possessed strong technical and tactical foundations and awareness.

Especially in the last two years, as the first batch of players who had gone through the complete youth training system emerged, although they couldn’t stay with the Bayswater Chinese, they were sought after by many League One and Championship teams.

Some had even joined Premier League clubs.

Today, the Brent training center was regarded as a hallowed institution by countless young players and their families.

Now, the Bayswater Chinese youth academy even started from U6.

That is, six years old.

Most of them were children from the Brent area.

Each one was the best of the best, so the youth team’s results were outstanding.

Good results and excellent resources, in turn, attracted more players and parents to flock to them.

Harry Kane was undoubtedly one of the most genuine homegrown talents of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy!

Just before halftime, Hazard cut inside with the ball from the left and assisted De Bruyne, who broke into the penalty area and scored.

3-0!

The Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a 3-0 victory away at Leeds United!

The group of young players performed exceptionally well.

Even the seventeen-year-old Sterling repeatedly took on defenders and broke through during the match.

His incredible speed and exquisite footwork made every touch of the ball from Sterling display a unique quality, leaving a deep impression.

On a side note, in the third round of this season’s League Cup, all the top teams advanced safely.

Clearly, they all understood that with the Bayswater Chinese being so dominant, even if the League Cup was a minor trophy, they had to cherish it!

…

On the afternoon of September 24th, Liverpool, Anfield.

Premier League, round six, the Bayswater Chinese challenged Liverpool away from home.

In the 11th minute of the match, a medium-long pass from Rakitić sailed over the heads of the two Bayswater Chinese centre-backs and landed just to the left of the arc of the penalty area.

Suárez burst out from between the two centre-backs, getting to the ball before anyone else, controlling it, and carrying it into the box.

Thiago Silva’s recovery pace was incredibly fast, and he caught up to Suárez just outside the left corner of the six-yard box.

But the Uruguayan striker seemed to have deliberately stopped there, waiting for him.

The moment Thiago Silva arrived, Suárez gave him no time to react, immediately feinting as if to cut inside.

At that moment, Pepe had also tracked back and was just behind and to the side of Thiago Silva.

But the two centre-backs clearly hadn’t had time to communicate.

As a result, Thiago Silva didn’t give way and was deceived by Suárez.

The Uruguayan striker’s initial feint to cut inside nearly shook off Thiago Silva.

But the Brazilian centre-back was no pushover.

When Suárez knocked the ball back with his right foot, Thiago Silva immediately readjusted and continued to block the path between the Uruguayan and the goal.

But just then, Suárez did something completely unexpected.

His body made a slight movement, as if he intended to cut inside again.

In that instant, Thiago Silva was fooled.

But in reality, Suárez pushed the ball towards the byline with his left foot, then chased it down and immediately unleashed a power shot with the same foot.

Thiago Silva was standing on the left line of the six-yard box, with Courtois behind him.

If Suárez took the ball any further, the shooting angle would be extremely narrow.

But that’s exactly what the Uruguayan did, and after taking it past him, he immediately blasted a shot.

Courtois’s view was blocked by Thiago Silva. By the time he reacted and dived towards the byline, it was too late.

The ball squeezed through the incredibly small gap between Courtois and the goalpost and into the net.

1-0!

Anfield erupted with the deafening cheers of Liverpool fans!

All the supporters were chanting Suárez’s name.

The Uruguayan, equally excited, ran to the sideline to celebrate.

“What a beautiful goal!”

“A brilliant strike from Luis Suárez!”

“Liverpool’s first shot of the entire match, their first threatening counter-attack, has created the first goal!”

“The Bayswater Chinese created continuous threats after the kickoff, even coming close to breaching Liverpool’s goal.”

“But after withstanding the defensive pressure, Liverpool took the lead with a quick counter-attack.”

“This is football!”

Yang Cheng shook his head on the sideline.

You couldn’t really blame Thiago Silva for that goal.

All you could say was that against a player like Suárez, there was very little one could do.

The Uruguayan’s desire to win was incredibly strong, he had plenty of stamina, and he relished physical confrontations.

Yang Cheng noticed that when he first controlled the ball, he had deliberately waited for Thiago Silva to approach before making his move.

This wasn’t arrogance, nor was it a deliberate attempt to provoke his opponent; it was a common psychological tactic seen among professional players.

Making a move the instant the defender commits诱ces them to shift their center of gravity off-balance.

Such feints are a nightmare for defenders.

Thiago Silva had actually done well enough.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, keep it up!”

“Stick to our strategy, come on!”

Yang Cheng walked to the sideline, clapping his hands forcefully and shouting loudly.

Despite the roar of the crowd at Anfield, many players could still hear Yang Cheng’s voice.

Even if they couldn’t hear him, they could see him clapping on the sideline.

For them, that was the greatest encouragement!

And also a source of motivation!

…

The match restarted.

Conceding a goal didn’t deter the Bayswater Chinese; instead, they became even more determined in their attacks.

Yang Cheng’s team was never one to be intimidated by defense.

Liverpool were playing a 4-2-3-1 formation in this match and had also made significant rotations.

Gerrard had recently suffered an injury, coming on as a substitute in the last two games, and was on the bench for this match.

Goalkeeper: Buffon;

Defense: Aleksandar Kolarov, Carragher, Škrtel, and Martin Kelly;

Midfield: Javier Mascherano and Aquilani formed a double pivot, with Mario Balotelli, Rakitić, and Kuyt in front of them;

Forward: Suárez.

Torres was also absent from this match due to injury.

From the way the game was unfolding, The Reds were primarily focused on defending and counter-attacking.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, had deployed his strongest available lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

This was, so far, the best-performing starting eleven for the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng knew very well that clashes between top teams were crucial for the title race, so they had to secure as many points as possible.

But he hadn’t expected to be caught on the counter by Liverpool after a wave of attacks.

Suárez’s goal put the Bayswater Chinese in a somewhat passive position.

Now the arrow was on the bowstring; it had to be fired.

The team had no choice but to continue strengthening their attack.

Whether it was the starting tactics before the match or now that they were behind, Yang Cheng remained resolute in attacking down the two flanks.

Especially on the team’s left side.

The twenty-one-year-old right-back, Martin Kelly, was a genuine product of the Liverpool youth academy.

He was filling in for Glen Johnson, who had suffered a thigh injury and missed the early games of the season.

But the 1.91-meter-tall defender was still not stable enough.

Gareth Bale’s several threatening attacks since the start of the match had all come from that side.

Even Di María occasionally drifted over to support the attack on the left flank.

They had built up considerable momentum.

But after taking the lead, Liverpool retreated decisively.

Their entire backline rarely pushed forward, and their defend and counter-attack strategy was executed with great determination.

Upfront, they left it to Balotelli and Suárez to create something on their own.

This made things very difficult for the Bayswater Chinese.

It was tough not just for the players on the pitch, but even for Yang Cheng on the sideline, who felt their struggle.

No visiting team has an easy time at Anfield.

But the tougher it got, the more they had to grit their teeth.

Yang Cheng constantly encouraged his players from the sideline while also making continuous adjustments.

Seeing Kuyt tracking back diligently, almost acting as a full-back, Yang Cheng encouraged Marcelo to be more audacious.

The match continued in this deadlocked, bloody, close-quarters battle, grinding on for another twenty minutes.

Both sets of players were expending a great deal of energy.

But Liverpool’s defense gave the Bayswater Chinese not even the slightest opening.

Every time they attacked the edge of the box, they were met with layered, well-organized defensive lines.

You had to admit, when it comes to defense, Italian coaches are on another level!

After the experience of losing to Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final last season, the Bayswater Chinese players had clearly matured a lot and were playing with more patience.

They knew how they had lost last season.

So, when faced with similar situations, especially in these clashes between top teams, they knew how to win.

This was particularly true for Toni Kroos and Modrić.

The two midfielders patiently controlled the tempo, managed possession, and directed the team’s attacks.

In the 31st minute, Modrić combined with Piszczek on the right to tackle the ball from Balotelli, then passed it to Di María.

But the Argentine was pressed by Kolarov and immediately passed back to Toni Kroos.

The German glanced to the right, stole a look at the left, and then, without hesitation, pointed forward, called out to Marcelo, and immediately sent a diagonal pass.

The ball was switched to the left flank in the attacking half.

Marcelo made a quick forward run, reaching the left touchline near Liverpool’s 30-meter area to receive the ball.

At that moment, Gareth Bale immediately understood and ran horizontally from the outside along the penalty area line towards the arc.

Lewandowski, who was already at the arc, quickly made a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area, creating an opposite movement with Gareth Bale.

Just like Suárez earlier, Marcelo held onto the ball, waiting.

The tall Martin Kelly had just rushed over, not yet steady on his feet, when Marcelo made his move.

A single feint shifted Martin Kelly’s balance. Marcelo dribbled diagonally into the box and delivered a diagonal pass to the left side of the penalty area.

After pulling wide, Lewandowski received the ball with his back to goal, controlled it, and then passed it back to the left side of the arc.

Gareth Bale was positioned there to receive the ball.

There were no defenders around him.

It was as if the two had swapped attacking positions, but in doing so, they had invisibly pushed the entire forward line to the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area.

The pocket of space without a defender might have only lasted for a second, two at most.

But that was enough.

Gareth Bale immediately took off, playing the ball back to Lewandowski again.

After passing, the Welshman dodged Mascherano and sprinted forward himself.

After his earlier pass, Lewandowski had moved a step to the side, simultaneously using his body to shield Škrtel.

When the ball arrived, the Pole didn’t control it but laid it off directly.

The ball was passed horizontally back to Gareth Bale’s feet.

But by now, the Welshman had already run in a straight line from the left side of the arc into the penalty area.

Facing the incoming horizontal pass, Gareth Bale planted his right foot, drew back his left leg like a bow, and unleashed a furious shot.

The entire Anfield stadium could hear the muffled boom as the football seemed to explode in the air.

The ball flew off Gareth Bale’s foot at incredible speed, tracing an arc before nestling into the top-left corner of the goal.

By the time goalkeeper Buffon reacted and dived to his side, it was too late to stop it.

The whole process of the goal is complicated to describe, but in reality, the players on the pitch passed and moved back and forth, constantly running and pulling defenders out of position, forcefully carving an opening in Liverpool’s impenetrable fortress.

Gareth Bale seized that opening and smashed the ball into the corner of the goal!

“1-1!!”

“A goal from Gareth Bale!!”

“A very brilliant piece of combination play in attack!”

“That was a beautifully crafted goal from the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Through this series of continuous passes and cuts, especially the interchanging runs between the players, they made it very difficult for Liverpool’s defenders to track them, and defensive gaps inevitably appeared.”

“And in the end, it was Gareth Bale who provided the decisive touch!”

“1-1!”

“This is a very important goal.”

“In the 31st minute of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese have successfully equalized.”

…

The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng singled out several players for praise, especially Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

The goal in the first half was crucial.

But they had to continue to work hard in the second half.

However, both sides were fighting incredibly hard, even raising the intensity on each other.

The challenges were physical, but there was no malicious intent to injure.

During one challenge for a 50-50 ball with Mascherano, Modrić collided shoulder-to-shoulder with him, and both players went down.

Mascherano quickly got back up, but Modrić remained on the ground and was stretchered off.

This happened in the 49th minute of the second half.

Yang Cheng had to make an early substitution, bringing on Aaron Ramsey for Modrić. The captain’s armband was passed to Pepe.

The Portuguese centre-back walked back while putting on the armband.

He occasionally glanced back at the familiar figure in front of the coaching bench on the sideline.

The captains of top clubs often followed certain patterns.

For example, Real Madrid’s captain was always the most senior player on the team.

Barça’s captain was often chosen by the dressing room.

If it were based on seniority, Modrić, who joined in 2003 when Yang Cheng first started coaching the team, was the most senior.

Next would be Piszczek.

Yes, the Pole was also very senior.

There was also José Fonte, who had joined in 2004 and had always been the team’s vice-captain.

Pepe joined the team relatively late, transferring from Porto only in 2006.

He was even more junior than Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Marcelo, and others.

But Yang Cheng had personally appointed Pepe.

Why me?

When Pepe posed this question to Yang Cheng, the answer he received moved him deeply.

“Because we need a role model like you, who is self-disciplined, hardworking, diligent, dedicated, full of love for football, and hungry for victory!”

When he first arrived in London, Pepe actually disliked it a lot.

It rained often, and you could go a long time without seeing the sun, which always gave it a gloomy feeling.

Pepe and his family did not have a good impression of London.

At that time, the Bayswater Chinese were just starting to make a name for themselves in the Premier League.

Pepe’s plan was simple: perform well here and try to get a move to La Liga or Serie A.

The climates in Spain and Italy were more to his liking, and his family preferred it there too.

But he never expected that he would end up staying in London for five years.

In these five years, he met his current wife, had a daughter, and built a happy and fulfilling family.

They even bought their own house in London and began to dream about their future.

This was something Pepe had never imagined five years ago when he joined the Bayswater Chinese.

It made him feel comfortable deep down, and he didn’t want to break this sense of ease and comfort.

So, in training and in matches, he worked harder than anyone.

Because he had to strive to keep pace with the progress of the Bayswater Chinese.

Now, he was a renowned top-tier centre-back in European football.

At twenty-eight, he wasn’t young anymore.

But he was still the same as before, fighting for every ball, never fearing any opponent.

In the dressing room, he was never the most eye-catching player.

But on the pitch, especially in defense, he was always the first to step up.

The comfortable environment hadn’t dulled his fighting spirit; instead, it had matured his once-fiery heart.

Just like at this moment, when he took the captain’s armband from the stretchered Modrić, it felt like he was taking on a heavy responsibility.

After putting on the armband and returning to his own defensive line, Pepe looked around at his teammates and clapped his hands forcefully.

“Brothers, we are going to win this match!”

“Come on! Come on! Come on!!”

The Bayswater Chinese players roared in unison.

…

The match continued.

The players on both sides were giving their all.

The Bayswater Chinese were constantly strengthening their attack.

But their attacks down both flanks were being neutralized by Liverpool.

Mancini’s defensive organization was extremely tight, hardly leaving any good chances for the Bayswater Chinese.

The fans at Anfield were also cheering continuously, constantly rooting for the players on the field.

To boost his players’ morale, when Mancini saw the Bayswater Chinese gradually overwhelming Liverpool again, he made a decisive substitution in the 72nd minute.

Gerrard replaced Aquilani.

Rakitić dropped back to a holding midfield role, and Gerrard took up the attacking midfielder position.

The captain’s entrance greatly boosted Liverpool’s morale.

The most obvious change was that Liverpool, who had just been suppressed by the Bayswater Chinese to the point of being unable to fight back, and had even been on the verge of conceding several times, suddenly came back to life.

That was the impact of a captain!

Especially in a team like Liverpool, Gerrard had that kind of influence.

A captain for ten years, the soul and core!

After Gerrard came on, all he had to do was encourage his teammates, and they were willing to continue fighting desperately.

But on the Bayswater Chinese side, Pepe, wearing the captain’s armband, was equally resolute.

He was also constantly encouraging his teammates.

Every time he got the ball, he would signal for his teammates to press forward quickly.

Goal!

We want a goal!

“In today’s match, we can see that the captains of both teams have performed very well.”

“Modrić in the first half, and Pepe in the second, have both done a great job leading their teammates.”

“Gerrard’s introduction has further lifted Liverpool’s morale.”

“In a match like this, at this stage, morale is more important than any tactics.”

Yang Cheng also quickly made a substitution.

In the 75th minute, Giroud replaced Matić.

At this point, Yang Cheng wanted to use Giroud to pin down the opponent’s defenders, freeing up Lewandowski to focus all his efforts on attack and try to create a goal.

Another very obvious point in this match was that Liverpool rarely committed fouls outside their own penalty area.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese had very few opportunities from either corner kicks or free kicks, and none of them posed a threat.

This deadlock between the two teams was a painful ordeal for everyone involved.

As the clock ticked past 80 minutes, both teams were clearly starting to play with a sense of urgency.

But both sides were severely fatigued, making it difficult for either to achieve a breakthrough.

The game remained locked in a stalemate.

Time ticked away, drop by drop.

Yang Cheng used his final substitution in the 82nd minute, bringing on Hazard for Di María.

But Liverpool immediately made a change as well.

Lucas Leiva replaced Kuyt.

Well, well, Mancini had switched to a 4-3-1-2 formation, pushing Balotelli up front to partner Suárez.

He was determined to stick with his defend and counter-attack strategy until the very end!

Facing such a resolute defensive opponent, the Bayswater Chinese kept pulling them out of position, constantly switching the play. Hazard, Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and others continuously tried to dribble past defenders.

But the results were not very good.

Crosses from the flanks were also ineffective.

The Liverpool players were taller and physically stronger than the Bayswater Chinese!

Passing and penetration?

Liverpool had now turned their penalty area into an impenetrable fortress.

Gerrard was supposedly playing as a number 10, but when defending, he tracked back deeper than anyone and fought harder than anyone.

Did this look like a guy who had just returned from injury?

But it had to be said, his approach also inspired the Liverpool players.

Time was running out.

Especially when the fourth official’s board showed 4 minutes of stoppage time, everyone felt a sense of relief mixed with regret, but upon deeper reflection, a draw seemed like a fair result.

Although Liverpool had been on the back foot for most of the game.

But being able to neutralize the Bayswater Chinese with a defend and counter-attack strategy was something to be proud of, wasn’t it?

“There’s not much time left now, and the score is still 1-1.”

“Both teams have used all their substitutions. The outcome of the match is now solely in the hands of the players on the pitch.”

“We can see that many fans in the stands are getting restless.”

“Although it’s Liverpool’s home game, holding the Bayswater Chinese to a 1-1 draw at home is a pretty good result for many Liverpool fans.”

“But we can see that in front of the Bayswater Chinese coaching bench, Yang Cheng is still relentlessly signaling for his team to press forward and attack.”

“Toni Kroos is as steady as ever with his passing and distribution.”

“Clearly, they are not willing to settle for a draw!”

“Indeed, with a performance like this from the Bayswater Chinese, a draw would feel like a very poor result for them.”

“But this is Anfield!”

“92 minutes!”

“There are only 2 minutes of the match remaining.”

“We see that the Bayswater Chinese, who started the season with 5 consecutive wins and without conceding a single goal, have conceded their first league goal at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium, and are about to secure their first draw of the season.”

“These two teams have given us a match that, although not high-scoring, was incredibly intense and exciting.”

“One and a half minutes left.”

…

When the clock hit 92 minutes and 38 seconds, Aaron Ramsey got a bit anxious.

The young Welsh midfielder was eager to help his team score.

But he couldn’t find a passing lane.

In a moment of frustration, he hit a horizontal pass across the field.

He thought Toni Kroos would be there.

But he hadn’t noticed that Gerrard, who had been lurking nearby all along, suddenly darted forward and intercepted the ball just before it reached Toni Kroos.

When Aaron Ramsey was about to make the pass, Toni Kroos already sensed something was wrong and shouted, but it was too late.

At this moment, seeing Gerrard intercept the ball, his first instinct was to foul.

The German closed him down as fast as he could, intending to grab Gerrard.

Because there were two Liverpool players ahead.

The Bayswater Chinese only had two centre-backs.

Everyone else had pushed up.

But Gerrard reacted faster, swatting away Toni Kroos’s hand just in time.

Aaron Ramsey felt a chill run down his spine and immediately started running back.

He swore he had never run so fast in his life.

But he still couldn’t catch that damn Gerrard.

Under pressure from Toni Kroos, Gerrard immediately released a pass, a through ball intended for Suárez.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

Suárez had already surveyed the situation.

Not far away, Balotelli was ready to make his run.

Thiago Silva was already preparing to retreat.

If he received the ball and passed it on, Balotelli would be through on goal.

Breaching the Bayswater Chinese goal, securing those precious 3 points!

Victory was beckoning!

But just as Suárez was about to receive the ball, a mountainous pressure suddenly came from his side.

It felt as if an entire mountain was collapsing on him.

Pepe suddenly charged in from the side, and just before Suárez could receive the ball, he initiated a physical challenge, forcefully pushing him off his position.

This damn Brazilian is so strong!

Suárez cried out in his heart: I really can’t outmuscle him!

After shouldering Suárez aside, Pepe surged forward and brought the ball under his control.

After winning the ball, the Portuguese centre-back didn’t stop. Instead, he kicked the ball forward.

At that moment, Pepe seemed possessed by the spirit of Lúcio, carrying the ball all the way from his own 30-meter area, rushing forward rapidly, speeding past Gerrard, and quickly crossing the halfway line.

The first reaction of the surrounding Liverpool players was to retreat and tighten their defensive formation.

The Bayswater Chinese attackers quickly spread out, preparing to launch an attack.

This was likely the very last attack of the game!

But Pepe continued to dribble forward.

Because he realized that not a single Liverpool player was coming to close him down.

So, he just kept going.

On and on.

By the time he carried the ball into Liverpool’s 30-meter area, the Reds’ midfielders finally realized the danger and rushed to intercept him.

But by then, Pepe had already spotted a passing lane and delivered a low through ball.

Over the past few years playing for the Bayswater Chinese, Pepe’s passing ability had improved significantly through observation and practice.

And let’s not forget, he was Brazilian.

As a Brazilian, technical skill was a must.

And this pass perfectly pierced through Liverpool’s midfield, aimed for Giroud, who was between the two centre-backs at the right side of the penalty arc.

If the Frenchman controlled the ball and took a touch to burst straight into the penalty area, the situation would be extremely dangerous.

Therefore, at almost the same time, goalkeeper Buffon also chose to rush out.

Because if Giroud got the ball, a break into the box would mean a one-on-one.

In that split second, Carragher, on the edge of the box, launched into a sliding tackle and intercepted the ball.

But before anyone could catch their breath, the ball from Carragher’s tackle landed at the feet of Lewandowski outside the arc.

Pepe’s run had completely disrupted Liverpool’s entire defensive formation, and at that moment, there wasn’t a single defender near Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward took a touch, glanced up, and then unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball skimmed across the grass at incredible speed, streaking diagonally past the left of the penalty spot and into the bottom-left corner of the Liverpool goal.

Buffon, who had rushed out to the edge of the six-yard box, was heading towards the right side of the penalty area.

Although the Italian goalkeeper made a desperate dive, he couldn’t even touch the ball.

It wouldn’t have mattered if Buffon had three heads and six arms.

Unless he was a rubber man whose arms could stretch at will.

The football shot straight into the back of the Liverpool net.

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

Even the Liverpool fans in the stands, who had been on the edge of their seats and ready to celebrate, were now shocked beyond belief.

A last-second winner!

Everyone thought it would be a draw, but then Liverpool suddenly won the ball in midfield and launched a counter-attack.

But then, halfway through the counter, the ball was stolen back.

Pepe had even dribbled dozens of meters up the field.

And in the end, it was Lewandowski who finished the attack with a long shot like that.

But at the same time, he had also finished the match.

The scoreboard mercilessly updated to 1-2.

The Liverpool fans and players stood frozen in place, like wooden chickens.

They couldn’t accept it!

Chapter 232: The Bale Zone! An Evil God Is Afoot! The Premier League’s New Standard-Bearer! A Great Achievement in Sports History!

The moment the final whistle blew, Aaron Ramsey felt completely drained.

He had only played for half the match and had been full of energy just moments before.

But now, he truly felt the urge to collapse onto the pitch.

It was fear in hindsight.

That casual, obviously resentful pass he had made was so irresponsible!

If Liverpool had scored from that attack, he would have been the villain for the Bayswater Chinese!

It wasn’t that he had never made a mistake before.

But never had he made such a basic, stupid error in such a crucial clash between top teams.

Now, looking back at himself in that moment, he couldn’t understand why he had done it.

Perhaps his brain just short-circuited for a second.

What followed was regret.

He regretted his brain short-circuiting and hated himself for losing his composure at such a critical moment.

The Welshman felt the urge to hold his head and cry.

He could even feel his eyes starting to sting, something welling up that he couldn’t hold back.

“This is exactly the time when you can’t cry!”

Toni Kroos’s voice sounded beside him.

Aaron Ramsey looked up and saw the German’s reserved and serious face, slightly cold, with no excess emotion. His tone of voice was the same as usual.

But he was also born in 1990.

The only difference was that he was born in January, and Aaron Ramsey in December.

“You’re not a child anymore. You have to take responsibility for your mistakes, not escape them by crying.”

Aaron Ramsey gritted his teeth. “Who’s crying?”

“Good. You owe us an apology.”

With that, Toni Kroos turned and walked away.

Aaron Ramsey was stunned.

An apology?

Just an apology?

Suddenly, Aaron Ramsey felt that this cold, curt German wasn’t so bad after all.

“Don’t mind him.”

A large hand clasped the top of Aaron Ramsey’s head, ruffling his hair as Pepe’s voice came from behind.

“Who doesn’t make mistakes when they’re young? The ones I made back in the day were worse than yours, and I turned out fine, didn’t I?”

“No one’s going to blame you.”

As Pepe said this, a grin spread across his face.

A bright smile bloomed on his rugged features.

“Because we’re teammates!”

Saying this, Pepe put an arm around Aaron Ramsey’s shoulder, half-pulling, half-guiding him along.

As expected, all his teammates chose to tease him a bit when they saw him.

But not a single one mentioned his mistake.

This filled the Welshman’s heart with warmth.

Back in the dressing room, before the head coach could speak, Aaron Ramsey shot to his feet, walked in front of everyone, and publicly apologized for his irresponsible pass.

He knew that although he had been desperate to win, his actions had been terrible.

Yang Cheng and everyone else chose to applaud.

It wasn’t just because they had won the match.

Even if Suárez’s pass had connected and Balotelli had scored, causing the Bayswater Chinese to lose the game, no one would be giving Aaron Ramsey a hard time.

That was just the atmosphere in a football match.

Not everyone could be like Toni Kroos, always remaining calm and rational, always making the most correct judgments and decisions.

That’s why some people say that in football, mistakes and brilliance are two sides of the same coin.

While savoring the joy of brilliance, one must also learn to accept the regret of mistakes.

…

“I am proud of my players’ performance.”

“I’ve always said that in a clash between top teams like this, we delivered the better performance and won the match.”

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng expressed his satisfaction with their victory in the first major showdown of the season.

The process might not have been perfect, but the result was good.

When asked by reporters about Aaron Ramsey’s basic mistake, Yang Cheng smiled and said it was in the past.

“You know, he’s only twenty years old. We can’t expect him to play like a mature player; that’s not realistic. So he might make mistakes he shouldn’t when handling his emotions, especially at critical moments.”

“This is the price of a young player’s growth!”

Yang Cheng repeatedly stated that he was full of confidence in Aaron Ramsey.

“He will become a very outstanding midfielder!”

Regarding the 2-1 victory over Liverpool, Yang Cheng said the match was very difficult.

That was plain to see.

“In this match, Liverpool proved their strength and showed everyone their ambitions in the Premier League, the Champions League, and on all fronts.”

“This is a very resilient and spirited team. No one dares to underestimate them.”

Winning 2-1 away from home, Yang Cheng said he couldn’t ask for more from his players.

In contrast, Mancini looked aggrieved, believing the result should have been a draw.

“In fact, we should have been able to win in the end.”

“After the match, my player told me that Pepe’s challenge was a foul.”

“I haven’t seen the replay yet, but I trust my player. I believe Pepe committed a foul.”

Mancini stated that Liverpool still had chances to score against the Bayswater Chinese in the final moments of the game, which was a testament to the team’s strength.

“But that’s football. Just because you play well and create chances doesn’t mean you’ll get a good result.”

Losing this match was not good for Mancini.

They had a Champions League group stage match on Wednesday, followed by a local derby away to Everton on the weekend.

After that, there was a two-week international break, followed by the Northwest Derby, where Liverpool would host Manchester United.

Although the fixtures were spread out, it was still a significant challenge for Liverpool.

“There will certainly be challenges, but we are prepared!” Mancini said with confidence.

…

In the sixth round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Everton 2-0 at home.

Arsenal, thanks to a brace from van Persie, beat Bolton 3-0.

Chelsea defeated Swansea City 4-1 at home.

However, Manchester United scraped a 1-0 victory away at Stoke City.

Thus, after six rounds, the Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the pack with six consecutive wins.

Manchester City also had six consecutive wins and was in second place.

Manchester United, too, had a six-game winning streak and sat in third.

After the matches, major media outlets in England and around the world reported on the Premier League.

Everyone believed that the Bayswater Chinese had not only continued their dominant form from last season but had become even better and more commanding, making them the top favorites to win the Premier League title this season.

But more importantly, everyone began to pay attention to the Bayswater Chinese and the two Manchester clubs.

For three teams to have six-game winning streaks after just six rounds was a very interesting phenomenon.

It fully demonstrated the fierce competition of the new Premier League season while also revealing the current power structure of the league.

As France Football magazine commented, the top teams in the Premier League were now a significant cut above the mid-to-lower table teams.

Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool had all spent heavily in the transfer market, thanks to their strong financial backing.

Chelsea’s poor results this year were due to their lack of significant action in the transfer market.

In contrast, after missing out on Champions League qualification last season, Manchester United had spent over one hundred million pounds sterling since the beginning of the year. Their overall strength had clearly improved, resulting in their six consecutive wins.

The situation in the Premier League fully illustrated the essence of European professional football.

Ultimately, it was all about investment!

The Bayswater Chinese were a unique exception among the teams.

Not only had the team not increased its spending, but it had consistently maintained its position in the leading pack, and the players they signed were all of great value.

“It’s gotten to the point where many people say that players from the Bayswater Chinese are just more expensive than those from other teams.”

“Why?”

“Because Yang Cheng vouches for them!”

As the season progressed, the competition in the Premier League grew more intense, and the fans were enjoying it more and more.

At the same time, the Premier League began to build up hype for the new round of broadcast rights auctions.

After the sixth round of the Premier League, an announcement was made by the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Scudamore, that the auction for the next three years of Premier League broadcasting rights, starting from 2013, was tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2012.

It would be held a year in advance.

Simultaneously, the Premier League would also begin preparations for the auction of its overseas broadcasting rights for the next three years.

Richard Scudamore stated that with the arrival of numerous star players, the Premier League was now the most attractive and influential sporting event in the world.

“Every round of our matches is broadcast live in every corner of the globe!”

“This is a very great achievement in the history of sports!”

The Premier League’s CEO expressed great confidence in the upcoming three-year rights auction.

Following the Premier League’s announcement, it drew widespread attention not only in England but throughout European football and the entire world.

Many British media outlets had already picked up on numerous signals and inside information.

One major piece of news was that British Telecom would join the bidding war for the Premier League’s domestic rights.

This was undoubtedly a bombshell.

For years, the Premier League had partnered with Sky Sports.

In fact, the very creation of the Premier League was aided by Sky Sports.

However, many Premier League club owners and officials within the Premier League were not satisfied with the lack of significant increase in broadcast fees over the past three years and hoped to introduce a more competitive bidding process.

British Telecom was undoubtedly the stone cast to stir the waters.

At that time, Sky Sports, British Telecom, and ESPN would compete for the Premier League’s domestic rights.

Meanwhile, the British media revealed that the participation of other competitors could not be ruled out.

In the overseas market, the Premier League was also actively introducing competition to ensure that its broadcasting rights were not undervalued.

This was the source of Richard Scudamore’s confidence.

At the very least, Sky Sports had already made it clear that they would secure the domestic rights at any cost.

On one hand, the competition in the Premier League was becoming increasingly fierce, with the technical level and entertainment value rising.

On the other hand, the broadcasting rights auctions were becoming more and more lucrative.

All of this clearly indicated that the Premier League was gradually entering a new phase of development.

Yang Cheng had long known that the Premier League would introduce more competition.

He even speculated that, given the current state of the Premier League, the domestic rights might not be much higher than in his previous life, but the overseas rights would certainly be higher because the league’s global expansion was booming.

All the clubs had tasted the benefits and were happy to continue down this path.

Professor Brandi, a renowned authority from the famous Cass Business School in England, which was later renamed Bayes Business School, stated in an interview that the Premier League was currently in a period of rapid development.

“The world economy has experienced a certain degree of decline, but football, as a daily necessity for people, has not been greatly impacted. In this time of economic recession, it has become a focus for many investors.”

Professor Brandi believed that the Premier League was becoming the first choice for investors worldwide, but the Premier League needed to impose certain restrictions on the current debt of its clubs and players’ salaries.

“We see that among the top six teams in the Premier League, with the exception of the Bayswater Chinese, every team has players with a weekly wage exceeding two hundred thousand pounds sterling, which amounts to ten point four million pounds sterling a year.”

“This is a terrifying statistic!”

“Because at Barça and Real Madrid, even Messi and C. Ronaldo don’t earn such high salaries.”

Professor Brandi noted that just a few years ago, one hundred thousand pounds was the top salary in the Premier League, but now, one hundred fifty thousand pounds was not uncommon.

“This will undoubtedly increase the operational burden on the clubs.”

Professor Brandi stated that the favor and influx of capital would certainly bring more shocks to the Premier League.

At this time, both the Premier League and The FA needed to prepare in advance, formulating more comprehensive rules to regulate capital investment and prevent a situation where capital withdrawal leaves behind a scene of devastation.

However, Professor Brandi rejected the view of many German media outlets that the current Premier League resembled the Bundesliga of the late 1990s, because the situations were completely different.

“Back then, the Bundesliga’s frenzy was dependent on the broadcasting rights investment from KirchMedia, but the current Premier League’s reliance on Sky Sports is not as great as imagined.”

“And the prosperity of the Premier League relies more on the influx of domestic and foreign investment, which the Bundesliga did not have back then.”

In short, in Professor Brandi’s view, the current Premier League was still severely undervalued.

The broadcasting rights auction in the summer of 2012 might give people a new understanding of the Premier League.

Additionally, there were two other major events in 2012.

One was the hosting of the London Olympics.

The other was the official opening of the Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

During this period, a piece of news actually broke.

When arranging the venues for the men’s Olympic football tournament, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games had一度 included the Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium for consideration and even thought about scheduling the Olympic men’s football final there.

The reason was that Prudential Stadium was located in central London, whereas Wembley Stadium was in the far western suburbs.

Comparatively, holding it at Prudential Stadium would surely attract more fans.

Besides, if they did that, the inaugural match at Prudential Stadium would be the prestigious Olympic men’s football final.

But after contacting the Bayswater Chinese, the proposal was rejected by Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier.

The reason given was quite sufficient.

The Bayswater Chinese could not guarantee that Prudential Stadium would be completed and approved on schedule.

Anyone could tell this was just an excuse.

Because the Olympic final was on August 11th, very close to the start of the new season.

And whether it was the builders of Prudential Stadium, Norman Foster’s design firm, the Bayswater Chinese, or even the London city government, all parties’ statements consistently indicated that the stadium’s construction was on schedule.

In other words, the Bayswater Chinese would definitely move into their new stadium for the 12/13 season!

So why reject the Olympic committee?

The reason was simple: they freaking wanted to use it for free!

The committee’s calculation was very shrewd. Prudential Stadium was closer to the London Bowl, which would attract more tourists and fans, and they could also ride on the coattails of the Bayswater Chinese’s popularity.

However, they didn’t want to pay a single penny.

When Yang Cheng heard this, he was so angry he cursed up a storm on the spot.

“If it were you, after working your ass off to marry a beautiful wife, would you be willing to offer her up to someone else on the first night?”

“I don’t know what those guys’ brains are made of, to even dare to think of such a thing!”

So, Yang Cheng refused to even meet them and directly told them to get the hell out.

Of course, publicly, they had to be more polite and tactful, so they said they couldn’t guarantee timely completion and so on.

It’s worth mentioning that hosting the Olympic men’s football final was indeed an honor.

But in reality, if the committee didn’t pay, the Bayswater Chinese would have to subsidize a large sum of money themselves.

Not to mention anything else, the cleaning costs after a single match would be a huge expense.

Let alone stadium maintenance and so on.

If it were a World Cup or European Championship final, Yang Cheng might have considered it.

The Olympic men’s football tournament? They could go cool off somewhere else!

…

On the evening of September 27th, at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany.

In the second round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese faced Bayer Leverkusen away.

The Company’s Eleven’s head coach, Robin Dutt, had publicly made bold statements to the media before the match, declaring that even against a top team like the Bayswater Chinese, Leverkusen would fight back resolutely on their home turf.

“We will use this match to show all our opponents that we are not a pushover!”

In the match, Leverkusen resolutely put their coach’s idea into practice.

The Company’s Eleven set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Veteran Michael Ballack was on the bench.

Lars Bender and Simon Rolfes formed the double pivot, with André Schürrle, Renato Augusto, and Sidney Sam in front of them.

The tall center-forward was Stefan Kießling.

Although the Bayswater Chinese had just played a tough away match against Liverpool and the players were very fatigued, Yang Cheng did not rotate the squad heavily for this game.

He wanted to ensure the team could secure a victory away at Leverkusen.

A quick, decisive victory to establish an advantage in the group stage was Yang Cheng’s priority!

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić ahead of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

Toni Kroos had once played for Bayer Leverkusen for two seasons before joining the Bayswater Chinese.

He still had fond feelings for this place.

The home fans gave him a round of applause when they saw him.

Many still remembered the contributions of this talented German midfielder!

From the start of the match, Bayer Leverkusen showed an aggressive spirit in front of their home fans.

Right after kick-off, The Company’s Eleven charged into the Bayswater Chinese’s half to press for the ball.

This showed that Dutt’s tactics for the night were geared towards a more proactive approach.

Especially with the pressing in the midfield and final third.

Besides being an away game, there was another factor that worked against the Bayswater Chinese.

It was raining.

And it was coming down quite hard.

Rainy conditions can have a significant impact on teams that play a pass-and-move style.

But this Bayswater Chinese team, under Yang Cheng’s guidance, was very experienced in European competition and was not affected by this.

On the contrary, it was Leverkusen.

Facing the Bayswater Chinese, the Bundesliga team clearly felt the pressure.

In the fifth minute, during the early probing phase of the match, a press in the attacking third, which wasn’t even that intense, caused a Leverkusen defender to hurriedly kick the ball out of bounds.

A throw-in for the Bayswater Chinese.

Dutt was particularly animated on the sidelines, rushing into the rain and shouting loudly at his players.

He was probably trying to take advantage of the fact that most Bayswater Chinese players didn’t understand German.

But in reality, Yang Cheng did.

Dutt was shouting: “What are you rushing for? What are you afraid of them for? Be bolder, push forward! This is our home ground!”

It had to be said, understanding Dutt’s shouts made Yang Cheng feel a bit awkward.

How did it seem like he was bullying someone on their own turf?

But on the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese gradually settled down, taking control of the game’s initiative and rhythm.

From the tenth minute, the team began to exert its pressure.

Especially on the left flank.

In the thirteenth minute, an attack came from the left.

Gareth Bale carried the ball into Leverkusen’s thirty-meter zone and passed it across to Lewandowski.

The Pole couldn’t turn and passed it back to Toni Kroos.

The German then sent a cross pass to the left flank.

Marcelo made a high-speed overlapping run and was brought down by Castro near the left sideline.

The head referee gave Castro a yellow card and awarded the Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick on the left side.

This once again sent coach Dutt on the sidelines into a fit of rage.

After a discussion between Toni Kroos and Modrić, Modrić took charge of the kick.

The German moved into the center.

At the referee’s whistle, Modrić quickly sent the ball into the penalty area, aiming for the near post.

In terms of height, the German team’s average height was slightly greater than that of the Bayswater Chinese.

But inside the box, as Modrić’s delivery arrived, Pepe made a quick run-up, leaped high, and headed the ball at goal from close range.

The Portuguese centre-back towered over Leverkusen’s defenders and slammed the ball into The Company’s Eleven’s net.

Pepe excitedly ran off the pitch, roaring at the broadcast camera on the sideline, releasing his pent-up excitement.

“This goal came at a very timely moment.”

“In the thirteenth minute, from a set piece in the attacking third, Pepe scores with a header.”

“The Bayswater Chinese lead by one goal.”

“Their set piece attacks have always been a very dangerous weapon, but Leverkusen didn’t seem to have prepared for it, giving away a good attacking free-kick.”

“1-0 lead!”

“Leverkusen’s pre-match preparation was not thorough enough!”

…

From the goal in the 13th minute until the 40th minute, the game was relatively deadlocked.

The Leverkusen players were very committed, actively participating in defense and pressing.

Although the Bayswater Chinese created a few decent chances, there were very few truly dangerous scoring opportunities.

Even the number of shots was low.

In the entire first half, the Bayswater Chinese only managed five shots.

But their possession rate exceeded seventy percent.

Leverkusen continued with the direct and physical style of play from Heynckes’s era, with intense pressing in the midfield and final third.

However, as the players’ stamina was continuously drained, Leverkusen’s situation worsened, and the game turned against them.

In the first half, The Company’s Eleven’s pass completion rate was only 61%.

The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, reached 88.9%.

This statistic alone showed the gap in performance on the field.

Leverkusen’s players had to compensate for this gap with relentless running and defending.

When their stamina declined, the problems were exposed.

In the 41st minute, Courtois quickly took a long goal kick.

Leverkusen centre-back Manuel Friedrich, at the bottom of the center circle in his own half, headed the ball back towards the left flank of the Bayswater Chinese half.

Gareth Bale dropped back, constantly judging the ball’s trajectory.

The Company’s Eleven’s right-back, Castro, also tracked back, sticking to Gareth Bale like glue.

This was his most important task of the match: not to leave his side for a moment!

Toni Kroos also moved closer but didn’t join the challenge. Instead, he cleverly kept a slight distance and called out to Gareth Bale.

Castro was only 1.72 meters tall, while Gareth Bale was 1.86 meters, a significant height difference.

The Welshman won the first ball, heading it to Toni Kroos.

As soon as he landed, Gareth Bale pushed off with his legs, shooting forward like an arrow released from a bow.

German centre-back Friedrich was startled and was about to come over to help defend against Bale.

But unexpectedly, Toni Kroos didn’t pass directly to Bale. Instead, before Castro could close in, he passed the ball to an unmarked Lewandowski in the open space of the center circle.

This made Friedrich hesitate.

The Polish centre-forward ran towards the left, and without taking a touch, he played a chipped pass over the top, lifting the ball over Friedrich and into the space behind the defensive line.

Hesitation caused Friedrich to miss the best opportunity to block Bale.

The Welshman, like a hurricane, surged forward with incredible speed, breaking through Leverkusen’s defensive line and making a diagonal run into the heart of The Company’s Eleven’s defense.

On the edge of the penalty area, Gareth Bale took a touch that carried him into the box.

Facing the onrushing goalkeeper Leno, the Welshman followed up with a power shot from his left foot. The ball flew out at high speed, shot past Leno, and went straight into the Leverkusen goal.

2-0!

The entire BayArena was stunned!

Gareth Bale’s speed was simply too fast!

From winning the ball to launching the counter-attack, the Bayswater Chinese used a series of one-touch passes, moving at a speed that was almost too fast to follow.

Who could stop such an onslaught?

…

After the teams switched sides for the second half, the game completely opened up.

Two goals down, Leverkusen could no longer afford to just defend.

After all, this was their home ground.

Their blitz attack right after the restart led to a counter-attack in the 51st minute.

Schürrle made a quick run down the right, getting behind Marcelo, and after receiving the ball, he sent a diagonal pass to the far post.

Kadlec made an overlapping run and scored with a header.

1-2!

But just four minutes later, after receiving the ball in midfield, Toni Kroos suddenly delivered a sublime through-pass, a perfectly weighted direct ball that landed right at Gareth Bale’s feet.

At that moment, Gareth Bale was in the left channel, perfectly positioned between full-back Castro and centre-back Friedrich.

While sprinting at full speed, the Welshman met Kroos’s pass and took a single touch that carried the ball directly into Leverkusen’s penalty area. He shot again with his left foot, and the ball angled into the far corner.

This was Gareth Bale’s specialty zone!

3-1!

After conceding another goal, Leverkusen played as if their lives depended on it.

They quickly created another chance in the attacking third.

But Kießling’s power shot was met by a diving Courtois, who blocked it with one hand.

The Belgian quickly got back to his feet and smothered the ball before anyone could get to the rebound.

This brilliant save made even Yang Cheng applaud from the sidelines.

But in the 64th minute, Ballack, who had just come on as a substitute, orchestrated a quick counter-attack from midfield.

Schürrle broke down the right flank, passed to Kießling, who then returned it to Ballack.

The latter passed to Augusto.

Augusto broke into the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot that found the far corner.

2-3!

But in the 72nd minute, after receiving a pass from Piszczek on the right flank, Di María first executed a sharp stop and cut inside, breaking through a double team of two defenders and driving into Leverkusen’s penalty area.

Facing an interception from centre-back Daniel Schwaab, Di María used a skillful feint to bypass the Leverkusen defender, reaching the right edge of the six-yard box and firing a low shot with his right foot.

The ball went through the legs of goalkeeper Leno and into the Leverkusen goal.

4-2!

Yang Cheng cheered loudly from the sidelines!

When it came to trading blows, the Bayswater Chinese were not afraid of any opponent!

But the more than twenty thousand fans at the BayArena erupted in deafening boos.

As their energy drained, Leverkusen clearly began to lag behind the pace of the Bayswater Chinese.

In one particular attack, Kießling outjumped Thiago Silva to win a header, but while the angle was good, the power was lacking.

Courtois dove to his side, stretched out his arms, and easily caught the ball.

But in the 86th minute, Theo Walcott, who had come on as a substitute, received the ball in the right channel, turned to shake off a defender, and passed it to the right wing.

Piszczek made a high-speed overlapping run down the flank, carrying the ball into the right side of the penalty area before delivering a cross.

Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and headed the ball into the Leverkusen goal from close range.

5-2!

Everyone could see the gap in quality!

Although Leverkusen tried very hard to make up for the difference in skill through sheer effort, it was clear that they simply couldn’t.

In front of their twenty-five thousand home fans, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Bayer Leverkusen 5-2.

…

The clashes between English and German teams are always full of talking points.

The Bayswater Chinese’s 5-2 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen away from home caused a frenzy of celebration and discussion in the English and German media.

The gap between the two teams was visible to the naked eye.

74% possession rate, 89% pass completion rate.

That was the Bayswater Chinese.

Leverkusen had 26% possession and a pass completion rate of only 62%.

The second half was slightly better than the first, but only by a little.

Even the German magazine kicker, in its Champions League special edition, acknowledged that current German teams were indeed behind the Premier League in terms of technical and tactical levels, especially Leverkusen in this match.

“This doesn’t look like a contest between teams of the same level!”

kicker believed that with Leverkusen’s current level, they would probably only rank mid-table in the Premier League.

But to have an arch-rival’s team win on their home turf, and with such a resounding victory, was a bitter pill to swallow.

Compared to the German media, the English media was in a state of celebration.

For many years, Manchester United had been the Premier League’s standard-bearer in European competitions.

Although Chelsea and Arsenal had performed well later on, Manchester United was still considered the most representative team of the Premier League in everyone’s mind.

But in recent years, especially after the Bayswater Chinese successfully defended their Champions League title, the team had not only become the flag of London but also the flag of the Premier League.

This season, with Manchester United absent from the Champions League, this situation became even more apparent.

Among the four teams competing in the Champions League, Liverpool was not highly regarded, as Mancini’s record in European competitions had always been poor.

And looking at their squad, Liverpool still lacked a certain level of quality.

Wenger’s Arsenal was also not convincing enough; their semi-final run in last season’s Champions League was achieved by defending with all their might.

And Ancelotti’s Manchester City still felt like they lacked a certain pedigree.

But the Bayswater Chinese were different.

The London team’s overall performance had always been very stable, and head coach Yang Cheng’s track record was outstanding.

In this situation, the Bayswater Chinese naturally took on the heavy burden that once belonged to Manchester United as the Premier League’s standard-bearer.

What’s more, now the Bayswater Chinese had thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 away in their rival Germany’s territory, what a moment of pride!

The other match in this group had a surprising result.

Villarreal, who had lost 0-2 at home to Leverkusen in the first round, suffered another 0-2 defeat away to S.S.C. Napoli in this round.

As a result, the Bayswater Chinese led the group standings with two consecutive wins.

Napoli and Leverkusen both had three points, while Villarreal had none.

In the upcoming third and fourth rounds, the Bayswater Chinese would face Villarreal twice.

The Yellow Submarine was also having a tough time in La Liga this season, far from their dominant form of last season.

This was related to head coach Pellegrini’s move to “La Liga’s Manchester City,” Málaga CF, as well as the transfers of several key players.

…

After the away game against Leverkusen, Yang Cheng’s team returned to London to rest before immediately facing the seventh round of the Premier League.

Before Liverpool’s local derby away at Everton, The Reds’ situation was worrying.

But at the crucial moment, Mancini delivered a convincing performance.

With goals from Suárez, Torres, and Kuyt, they defeated Everton 3-0 away from home.

Manchester City also won 4-0 away at Blackburn Rovers in this round.

Manchester United defeated Norwich 2-0 away.

Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away in the North London Derby.

Chelsea, thanks to a hat-trick from Lampard, thrashed Bolton 5-1 away.

It’s also worth mentioning that in a minor West London derby, Queens Park Rangers were drubbed 0-6 away at Fulham.

It was said that their American owner, Stephen Ross, was starting to get antsy.

Because after seven rounds, Queens Park Rangers were in 18th place, dropping into the relegation zone.

Yang Cheng was not surprised by Queens Park Rangers’ situation.

Without investment, it was wishful thinking to achieve results in the Premier League!

What he found exasperating was that teams like Bolton would play offensively at home against Manchester United and Chelsea, leading to heavy defeats.

But every time they faced the Bayswater Chinese, they would defend with all their might.

This was not a coincidence or an isolated case.

Yang Cheng found that Premier League teams had basically stopped trying to play an open, attacking game against the Bayswater Chinese.

It was so frustrating!

But soon, Yang Cheng no longer felt envious.

This round, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Newcastle at home.

Alan Pardew still fielded a 4-4-2 formation.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng, due to two consecutive tough matches, made significant squad rotations.

But just four minutes into the game, Giroud assisted Kyle Walker to break the deadlock against Newcastle.

Yes, it was indeed the boisterous young Englishman who started in place of Piszczek.

The lad might be reckless, but he was incredibly fast and had excellent physical attributes. He just bulldozed his way through and managed to score a goal.

Two minutes later, another assist from Giroud, and Theo Walcott scored another goal, extending the lead to 2-0!

In the 20th minute, it was another assist from Giroud, and another goal from Walcott.

3-0!

How could Alan Pardew remain seated in the away team’s dugout?

And in the 34th minute, the magical Giroud once again provided a brilliant flick-on assist, and Eden Hazard broke into the box to score, making it 4-0!

Alan Pardew completely lost his composure!

He immediately started cursing furiously on the sidelines.

What the hell kind of football was this?

Both of his centre-backs, the Argentine captain Coloccini, lacked Giroud’s height and strength.

The local centre-back Williamson was 1.94 meters tall but too cumbersome and not as agile as Giroud. His ability was also limited, and he couldn’t handle a contest of this level, failing to contain Giroud.

He allowed the Frenchman to rack up four assists!

My god!

Even Alan Pardew himself couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He felt a desperate urge to spit blood.

Perhaps the team got a severe tongue-lashing from Alan Pardew during the halftime break.

In any case, after the second half started, Newcastle’s defense improved significantly.

But just when everyone thought Newcastle had stabilized, in the 63rd minute, Walcott used his speed to forcefully break past former Inter Milan defender Davide Santon on the right and deliver a cross into the middle.

Giroud outjumped Coloccini to score with a header.

5-0!

Alan Pardew was on the verge of tears!

How was it him again?

Why was it always him?

Even Yang Cheng himself hadn’t expected Giroud to be so effective when used with the right tactics and personnel. He had unleashed such an attacking force that Newcastle’s defense was powerless to resist.

Truly worthy of being the man who plays football with three legs!

Badass!

…

After the two-week international break, the eighth round of the Premier League arrived.

One of the three teams marching in lockstep finally dropped back.

Manchester United drew 1-1 with Liverpool away from home.

This Northwest Derby was fiercely contested, with both sides giving their all.

Ferguson even chartered a plane to bring back his national team players early for this match.

But in the end, they still couldn’t defeat Liverpool away from home.

The two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated Aston Villa 4-1 at home.

Chelsea beat Everton 3-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated Sunderland 2-1 at home, thanks to a brace from van Persie.

Although the Bayswater Chinese made significant rotations, they still managed to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 away.

Walcott and Lewandowski each scored a goal.

…

Midweek, the third round of the Champions League group stage.

Although Villarreal’s recent form had been terrible, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

At Wembley Stadium, Villarreal, set up in a 4-2-3-1 defensive counter-attack formation, still caused a lot of trouble for the Bayswater Chinese.

Just four minutes into the game, the Bayswater Chinese took the lead through Gareth Bale.

But in the 43rd minute of the first half, Villarreal equalized through a set piece tactic, with centre-back Marchena scoring.

After that, no matter how hard the Bayswater Chinese attacked, they couldn’t break through Villarreal’s goal.

It wasn’t until the 84th minute that an assist from Piszczek allowed Lewandowski to score with a header.

2-1!

The Bayswater Chinese narrowly defeated their opponents.

In the other match, S.S.C. Napoli drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen.

After this round, the Bayswater Chinese had nine points.

Napoli and Leverkusen both had four points, while Villarreal still had none.

…

Returning to the Premier League for the ninth round.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted newly promoted team Swansea City at home.

Although Rodgers’ team was newly promoted and playing away, they still set up to compete and, for a time, held their own against the Bayswater Chinese.

But in the 24th minute, a goal from Lewandowski helped the team to score the opening goal.

And in the 35th minute, the Polish centre-forward assisted Modrić to score another goal.

2-0!

After switching sides for the second half, the game largely continued in the same vein as the first.

But in the 74th minute, Walcott extended the lead again.

Two minutes later, from a quick counter-attack, Walcott sent a diagonal pass to the far post, and Gareth Bale put the ball into the back of the net.

4-0!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive four-goal victory over Swansea at home.

Liverpool scraped a 1-0 win at home against Norwich in this round.

Arsenal defeated Stoke City 3-1, thanks to a brace from van Persie.

But the most surprising result was Manchester United’s 0-4 thrashing at home by Manchester City.

Ferguson’s heavy defeat was a result of squad rotation after a Europa League match.

After Ibrahimović scored in the first half, just as Manchester United began their blitz attack at the start of the second half, a red card for centre-back Evans brought The Red Devils’ counter-offensive to a screeching halt.

After that, the match was completely dominated by Manchester City.

Ibrahimović, Agüero, and David Silva each scored another goal, securing a comprehensive victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

This immediately caused a huge reaction throughout England.

For Manchester United to lose 0-4 at home was truly an ugly sight.

After the match, Ferguson called it bizarre, unsure why his team had suddenly played so poorly.

And in the final match of the round, the much-hyped West London derby, Queens Park Rangers pulled off an upset.

In the tenth minute of the first half, they defeated Chelsea 1-0 at home thanks to a penalty kick.

Both José Bosingwa and Drogba were sent off with red cards.

Head coach André Villas-Boas was also sent to the stands for complaining about unfair refereeing.

Two red cards and eight yellow cards; Chelsea almost collected a full set.

The media called it bizarre.

And bizarre things seemed to be happening all over that weekend.

Far away in Italy, AC Milan, after being down three goals in the first half against Lecce, scored four goals in the second half to complete another miraculous comeback.

And the German giants Bayern Munich conceded a penalty, then received a red card within five minutes, suffering a crushing 1-2 defeat!

Similarly bizarre things happened in La Liga.

Barça hosted Sevilla, and with the score at 0-0 after 90 minutes, the referee started handing out cards to Sevilla players in stoppage time, issuing two red cards and two yellow cards, and also awarded Barça a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time.

As a result, the little master, at the most critical moment, actually missed the penalty.

Barça missed the crucial goal and ended up drawing 0-0 at home with Sevilla.

This made everyone exclaim how bizarre it was.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, thanks to a hat-trick from C. Ronaldo within 15 minutes, surpassed Barça in the league table and successfully claimed the top spot.

Mourinho couldn’t stop smiling after the match.

When the media asked if an evil god was truly afoot this weekend, the Portuguese “Special One” proudly declared: “I am immune to all evil!”

Chapter 233: The Record-Breaking Machine! Chelsea is Ailing! Real Madrid, Let Me Knock You Out Again!

In the midweek Round of 16 of the League Cup, the top teams generally had stable performances.

For Yang Cheng, squad rotation and using young players were necessities.

With the packed schedule, he was unwilling to invest too much in such a minor cup competition.

Arsenal defeated Bolton 2-1 at home.

Manchester United beat Aldershot 3-0 away.

Ferguson had stumbled in the League Cup and FA Cup for the past two years, earning him scathing criticism from the media and fans.

Now, with more resources at his disposal, he was starting to make a push.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Championship side Southampton.

The two teams fought a hard battle for over seventy minutes until the 73rd, when De Bruyne assisted an Eden Hazard goal.

In the 82nd minute, another brilliant pass from De Bruyne set up Harry Kane, who scored again.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team secured a 2-0 victory over The Saints at home.

Liverpool defeated Stoke City 2-1 away.

Manchester City, leveraging their incredible squad depth, crushed Championship side Wolves 5-2 away.

Chelsea, meanwhile, beat Everton 2-1 away.

In short, the strong teams all advanced steadily.

But when the weekend’s league matches arrived, a series of fierce clashes thrilled fans around the world once more.

The most anticipated fixture of this round was the crucial match between Chelsea and Arsenal.

Although Chelsea had spent heavily to bring in players like Benatia, Andy van der Meyde, and Álvaro Pereira, when it came to clashes between top teams, André Villas-Boas still opted for his experienced veterans.

This was a reflection of the internal conflicts currently plaguing Chelsea.

He wanted to rejuvenate the squad and sideline the old guard, yet he had to rely on them to maintain the team’s fighting strength.

The backline of Ashley Cole, Terry, Ivanović, and José Bosingwa was completely dismantled by an Arsenal front three that was growing more cohesive by the day.

The combination of Sánchez, van Persie, and Nasri made The Gunners’ attack flow with incredible smoothness.

Looking at the flow of the match, the first half was a relatively even contest.

Chelsea took the lead in the 14th minute when Sneijder assisted a goal for Lampard, but Sánchez then set up van Persie to equalize.

Just before halftime, Terry scored from a corner kick.

The Blues ended the first half with a 2-1 lead.

Although they were on the back foot and their defense looked shaky, the scoreline was acceptable.

But after the break, the situation took a dramatic turn.

An early blitz saw Nasri and Clichy score two goals in quick succession.

When The Blues launched a comeback, with Sneijder pulling one back in the 80th minute, Chelsea’s defense collapsed again in the final stages of the match.

Van Persie scored twice more, completing his hat-trick.

5-3, Arsenal defeated Chelsea away from home!

After the match, the reactions from Villas-Boas and Wenger were starkly different.

Wenger was very pleased with his team’s attack, especially with van Persie.

He believed that Arsenal, in terms of both overall strength and mentality, now had what it took to challenge for all titles.

“We have rebuilt our team, and every victory makes us stronger.”

However, Wenger was still not satisfied with the defense, believing his players needed to be more focused.

“Without a doubt, conceding three goals in a single match is clearly not a problem a top team should have.”

“Our rivals not only possess a powerful attack but also one of the best defenses in history.”

“If we want to challenge them, we must do better in both attack and defense.”

It was obvious that the rival Wenger was referring to was not Chelsea.

It wasn’t even Manchester United, Manchester City, or Liverpool.

It was the Bayswater Chinese.

In this round, the Bayswater Chinese made some rotations and drew 0-0 away against Manchester City.

The entire match was played with great intensity.

Both teams currently held perfect winning records and were hoping to defeat their opponent to continue their streak.

Both sides also created numerous chances.

This was especially true for the Bayswater Chinese.

Despite rotating several players, they still firmly controlled the initiative and rhythm of the game.

The real turning point came in the 55th minute of the second half.

At the time, the Bayswater Chinese were launching an all-out attack, repeatedly threatening Joe Hart’s goal.

But at a crucial moment, Manchester City hit them with a swift counter-attack. Ibrahimović delivered a sublime pass, and Kaká burst through on goal.

Vincent Kompany, as the last defender, was deceived by Kaká’s series of feints at high speed.

Just as he was about to be beaten, the Belgian centre-back chose to commit a foul.

The foul occurred 28 meters from goal.

The result was clear: a straight red card!

Subsequently, the Bayswater Chinese switched to a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Manchester City, using their numerical advantage, launched wave after wave of fierce attacks.

But under these circumstances, the quality of the Bayswater Chinese defense, and the sheer grit of the players, were on full display.

They stubbornly held on to the 0-0 scoreline, giving Manchester City no openings.

In the end, the two sides settled for a 0-0 draw.

When interviewed by the media after the match, Yang Cheng did not criticize Kompany for the red card.

It was a tactical foul.

If he had let Kaká through, they might have conceded.

But when speaking about Kompany, Yang Cheng stated that his improvement was very obvious.

“He has become an important and indispensable member of the team!”

When Kompany spoke about his red card after the match, he also accepted the decision.

“I don’t want to discuss it too much, but on the pitch, in that moment, I had only one thought in my mind: I couldn’t let Kaká get past me. He would have threatened the goal behind me.”

“That’s my job!”

Manchester City’s head coach, Ancelotti, stated that his team deserved to win.

“For at least forty minutes, we were completely dominating them.”

Ancelotti proudly asked which team in European football had managed to do that in recent years.

It was clear that everyone, from Champions League defending champions Arsenal to the extravagantly wealthy Manchester City, and even Manchester United and Liverpool, had their sights set on the Bayswater Chinese.

The reason was simple.

They were too strong!

After 10 rounds of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese had scored 33 goals, the most in the league.

But compared to last season, Yang Cheng’s team had actually regressed.

Last season, the Bayswater Chinese scored 37 goals in the first 10 rounds of the Premier League.

That had set a new all-time goal-scoring record in the hundred-year history of the English top flight.

This season, they had only scored 33 goals so far.

But defensively, Yang Cheng’s team had improved significantly.

In the first 10 rounds last season, they had conceded a total of 6 goals.

And this season?

So far, after 10 rounds, they had conceded only 1 goal.

What did that signify?

Before this round of matches, the team with the fewest goals conceded in the first 10 rounds in the century-long history of English football was Chelsea.

In the 04/05 season, under the management of Mourinho, The Blues conceded only 2 goals in their first 10 games.

For years, countless industry experts had considered this a historical record that was virtually impossible to break.

Let alone conceding only 2 goals.

In the hundred-year history of the English top flight, teams that had conceded only 3 goals in the first 10 rounds were few and far between.

There was Manchester United in the 85/86 season and the 91/92 season.

Back then, the top flight was still called League One, and Manchester United’s managers were Atkinson and Ferguson, respectively.

In the Premier League era, only one team had managed it: Aston Villa in the 98/99 season.

The previous best for the Bayswater Chinese was conceding 4 goals in the first 10 rounds, which was already an extremely impressive feat.

In the 06/07, 07/08, and 08/09 seasons, Yang Cheng’s team had conceded only 4 goals in the first 10 rounds.

But now, the Bayswater Chinese had conceded only 1 goal.

This shattered the century-old historical record of the English top flight set by Mourinho’s Chelsea!

This was especially evident in the away match against Manchester City.

Despite being a man down for the entire second half, they defended with all their might to keep a clean sheet.

Besides goalkeeper Courtois’s outstanding performance, the excellent display of the defensive line was a major contributor.

As The Times commented after the match:

“While the world universally acknowledges the Bayswater Chinese as a standard-bearer for attacking football, Yang Cheng’s team has consistently been one of the best defensive teams in the Premier League.”

“You could even remove the ‘one of’!”

In the 04/05 season, Chelsea conceded 2 goals in the first 10 games but only scored 12.

In the 98/99 season, Aston Villa conceded 3 goals in the first 10 games but only scored 11.

In the 91/92 season, Manchester United also conceded 3 goals, scoring 16.

In the 85/86 season, Atkinson’s Manchester United performed better, conceding only 3 goals while scoring 27.

But none of the aforementioned teams could compare to the Bayswater Chinese.

Because they had scored 33 goals!

What did this mean?

Yang Cheng’s team not only possessed the best defense in the hundred-year history of the English league, but also a razor-sharp attack.

“This is the most powerful and dominant team in the history of the English top flight!”

Such a dominant performance had allowed them to rule the Premier League for the past three seasons, simultaneously making them the benchmark for all their rivals and turning them into a public enemy!

This brought things back to what Wenger had said earlier.

To challenge the Bayswater Chinese, a team not only had to be better at attacking than them but also better at defending.

“Yang Cheng’s team continues to break all kinds of records, truly a record-breaking machine.”

“This round’s 0-0 away draw with Manchester City may have ended their winning streak, but the Bayswater Chinese have clearly gained more confidence, having held off Manchester City’s attacks with a man down.”

“Ancelotti said he hopes Manchester City will be at the top of the table before the busy Christmas and New Year schedule begins.”

“But to achieve that, the Italian and his team will need to do much more, and much better.”

“Yang Cheng was clearly distracted by the Champions League match next Wednesday in this game, hence the rotation.”

“But once the Bayswater Chinese can free their hands and focus on the Premier League, challenging their position as league leaders will be no easy task.”

…

Northeast of Madrid, Valdebebas training ground.

When Real Madrid head coach José Mourinho arrived at the main gate in his black Audi A8, the media reporters who had been lying in wait swarmed forward.

There were also many Real Madrid fans who had made a special trip.

Upon seeing Mourinho, the Real Madrid fans were the first to cheer.

At this moment, Mourinho was in his honeymoon period with Real Madrid.

Under his management, Real Madrid had surpassed Barça to become the league leader in La Liga.

“Hey, José, can we ask you a few questions?”

“José, stop, man, we just have a few questions.”

“My God, José, we’re from The Times in England, can you give us a comment?”

“We’re from The Sun, José, stop, just a few questions, please?”

The media throng was chaotic, with everyone shouting questions at once, making it impossible to hear who was saying what.

The security guards at the Real Madrid training ground rushed out, quickly separating the reporters and fans to clear a path for Mourinho’s Audi.

But the reporters still relentlessly shouted from the sidelines.

“The Bayswater Chinese broke your record, José, don’t you have anything to say?”

“Your record was broken by Yang Cheng, are you going to respond?”

“Yang Cheng’s team set a new historical record. How are you feeling right now, José?”

The scene was somewhat chaotic.

But Mourinho quickly drove through the gates of Valdebebas.

Just as everyone was feeling disappointed.

Especially the media reporters who had made a special trip, who were all shaking their heads, the black Audi A8 pulled over to the side immediately after entering the gate.

Then, dressed in Real Madrid training gear, Mourinho calmly stepped out of the passenger seat and walked towards the gate.

“Hey, guys, let’s move to the side, don’t block the way!”

The journalists were delighted and all gathered outside the side entrance.

Mourinho walked out and checked his watch.

“I only have a few minutes, so, come on, I’ll answer your questions.”

Mourinho stood ramrod straight, and the reporters were well-behaved, turning on their recorders and cameras, while also snapping photos.

“First, I’ll answer the question from the gentleman from The Times.”

“I wasn’t aware of the Bayswater Chinese breaking a record, but I want to say that records are meant to be broken. The fact is, if I were still in the Premier League, that record would have been long gone!”

Confidence!

The Portuguese ‘Special One’ was just that confident!

So confident that he seemed to have forgotten he had been taught a lesson or two by Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese back in the Premier League.

But at this moment, no one was going to spoil the pleasant interview atmosphere.

If Mourinho wanted to talk, they would let him talk more.

“The Bayswater Chinese are a very strong team, indeed. In European football, they are definitely in the top three. Us, Barça, and then them. But so what? They’re in the Premier League!”

“If the Bayswater Chinese were in La Liga, then I’m sorry, they would probably be fourth… uh, no, they could probably manage third. That’s the reality!”

“I have a good relationship with Yang Cheng, but on the pitch, we are rivals. That is my assessment of the Bayswater Chinese’s strength. I don’t think they are good enough to make me and my team feel fear!”

Mourinho also stated that Real Madrid was not a team that blindly pursued defense.

“We have our own unique football philosophy, different from all other teams, so we will not blindly chase after certain things, be it goals scored or goals conceded. We won’t.”

“We will only adhere to our football philosophy!”

Finally, Mourinho said he wanted to congratulate Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

“But they should feel fortunate that they are in the Premier League and haven’t run into us. Otherwise, all of it would cease to exist!”

Mourinho only answered two reporters’ questions.

One was about last season’s match between Real Madrid and the Bayswater Chinese, where Yang Cheng’s team came out on top.

“That’s very normal. No team achieves success overnight.”

“I said it when I took the job, my goal is to lead Real Madrid to success, both in La Liga and the Champions League.”

“Over the years, I’ve often led a team to its peak in… two or three years.”

Mourinho had originally wanted to say three years, but the thought of that annoying phrase Yang Cheng had used before made him angry.

“The current Real Madrid is just like that. In my second year of management, as everyone can see, we are performing even better than last season.”

Another question was whether Real Madrid was confident of victory if they were to meet the Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League again.

“Why not?”

Mourinho retorted with great confidence.

“I have a very strong feeling that we will meet in the Champions League knockout stage. Perhaps in the quarter-finals, or the semi-finals, or even the final. When that time comes, we will definitely show everyone the real Real Madrid!”

Finally, Mourinho smiled and said his training time was up and he had to go.

The reporters had gotten what they wanted, so they contentedly let him leave.

When the Portuguese man walked into the training ground and returned to his car, his assistant Faria was still waiting inside.

“Why did you have to go out of your way to give an interview?” Faria shook his head with a wry smile.

In his view, Mourinho’s actions were a bit too showy.

The Bayswater Chinese’s performance was truly excellent.

33 goals scored and only 1 conceded in 10 matches.

With a performance like that, there was no question it was the best in history.

“It’s nothing else. I just feel that it’s necessary to set up an opponent besides Barça!”

Mourinho’s arrogant demeanor from the gate was gone, replaced by a somewhat solemn expression.

Not every team is worthy of being an opponent to me, Mourinho!

Faria understood at once.

Real Madrid was currently the league leader in La Liga.

Although continuing to treat Barça as their main rival was fine.

Adding the Bayswater Chinese would undoubtedly set a longer-term and higher goal for the players.

Given Real Madrid’s current performance in the Champions League group stage, qualifying as group winners shouldn’t be a problem.

That meant they couldn’t face the Bayswater Chinese in the Round of 16.

As long as they broke the Round of 16 curse and won the La Liga title, ending Barça’s dominance, Mourinho’s coaching record for the season would be considered a success.

Of course, the Portuguese man’s ambitions didn’t stop there.

He certainly wanted to challenge for the Champions League title as well!

…

On the evening of November 2nd, at the El Madrigal Stadium in Villarreal, Spain.

Champions League group stage, matchday 4. The Bayswater Chinese were away to Villarreal.

For the Bayswater Chinese, who had already won three consecutive group stage matches, this game was particularly important.

According to Yang Cheng’s strategy, he hoped the team could defeat their opponents away from home, secure the top spot in the group, and clinch qualification ahead of schedule.

That way, the remaining two matches would be much more relaxed.

For the home side, The Yellow Submarine, this match was more about fighting for honor.

In this group that brought together teams from four major leagues, Villarreal’s situation was the worst.

They had lost all three of their previous matches, failing to earn a single point.

If they lost this match as well, their hopes in European competition would be completely dashed.

Of course, as things stood, their hopes weren’t high anyway.

However, playing at home, they still showed a strong desire to win.

After the kickoff, Villarreal struck first, forcing the Bayswater Chinese into errors through high pressing in the attacking third.

Yang Cheng’s team started the game hoping to control possession and tempo, but Villarreal’s pressing created quite a bit of trouble for them.

The Bayswater Chinese were well-prepared for this.

So, they focused more on patient passing and movement, repeatedly attacking, creating chances, and constantly wearing down the stamina and will of the Villarreal players, waiting for them to make a mistake.

The gap in quality between the two teams, coupled with Villarreal’s dire situation, filled the Bayswater Chinese with confidence.

And in the 27th minute, Villarreal’s left winger Wakaso tripped Modrić in the right channel while tracking back to defend.

The foul was quite rough, leading to a minor scuffle between the players.

The head referee awarded a free kick about 20 meters from the goal and gave Wakaso a yellow card.

Gareth Bale stood over the ball once again.

After taking a deep breath, the Welshman took a quick run-up and struck a butterfly ball with his left foot.

As his fame had grown in recent years, Gareth Bale’s demands on himself had also increased, and he trained harder and harder.

This was especially true for direct free kicks.

He had always been very talented, and with his hard work, the sports science department had also specifically helped him research and analyze various free-kick trajectories and methods, leading to a huge improvement in his free-kick ability.

The resulting butterfly ball was somewhat erratic, making it difficult for the opposing goalkeeper to judge.

Diego López faced this exact situation, unable to predict the ball’s direction as it flew directly into the right side of the goal.

1-0!

This goal was a huge boost to the morale of the Bayswater Chinese, and their confidence soared further.

As halftime approached, the Bayswater Chinese suddenly launched a blitz in the attacking third.

This attack was orchestrated by Toni Kroos and Modrić, who directed their teammates to press Villarreal’s midfield and defense.

After successfully winning the ball, Modrić quickly passed it across to Toni Kroos on the left side of the arc.

The German midfielder controlled the ball with his left foot, moving into the arc and avoiding former Real Madrid midfielder Borja, then hit a placed power shot with his right.

The ball rocketed into the right side of the net at high speed.

Goalkeeper Diego López was beaten again.

2-0!

Entering the second half with a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese played with even more composure.

In the 59th minute, the Bayswater Chinese executed a beautiful passing combination on the right wing.

After a series of one-twos between Piszczek and Modrić, the former played a through ball to Di María up front.

Upon receiving the ball on the right side of the penalty area, the Argentinian came to a sudden stop, pulled the ball back with his left foot, took a step, and delivered a cross pass.

The ball went right between two defenders and arrived at the right edge of the penalty area.

As Robert Lewandowski controlled the ball, he paused for a moment.

When centre-back Musacchio rushed up, before the defender could react, Lewandowski knocked the ball into the right side of the box, accelerated past Musacchio, and latched onto it.

Catching up to the ball, Robert Lewandowski unleashed a fierce shot that once again breached Villarreal’s goal.

3-0!

The game was sealed!

In the 71st minute, Marcelo made an overlapping run into the left channel, received a pass from Toni Kroos, drew the attention of the defense, and then suddenly played a through ball into space.

Gareth Bale surged forward from deep at great speed, caught up to the ball on the left side of the penalty area, and crossed it to the front of the goal with his left foot.

Robert Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and slotted the ball into the back of the net with a placed shot.

4-0!

The early part of the match had been somewhat deadlocked, with the situation relatively stagnant.

But over the course of the full game, the Bayswater Chinese won without much suspense.

After head coach Pellegrini’s departure, along with the exit of key players like Cazorla and Capdevila, Villarreal’s overall strength was significantly weakened.

Although they had brought in players like Borja and Zapata, they couldn’t compare to the ones who had left.

This was a problem that all stepping-stone clubs face.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 4-0 away victory over Villarreal.

In the other match, S.S.C. Napoli drew 2-2 away against Bayer Leverkusen.

As a result, the two teams still ended up level on points.

After 4 group stage matches, the Bayswater Chinese had secured 12 points, qualifying as group winners ahead of schedule.

S.S.C. Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen both had 5 points and could no longer challenge the Bayswater Chinese’s position.

Instead, these two teams would have to fight to the death for the second spot in the group.

…

The Bayswater Chinese clinching the top spot in their group with two games to spare earned them unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide.

Yang Cheng’s team was not only invincible in the Premier League but also had irresistible momentum in the Champions League.

Almost all media outlets considered the Bayswater Chinese the top favorites to win both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Of course, everyone knew that being a favorite was one thing, but winning the championship every season was another.

Especially when the Champions League entered the knockout stage, any minor mistake could lead to elimination.

Yang Cheng continued to maintain a low-key approach.

But he responded decisively to the provocation from Madrid, Spain.

“In my memory, the only thing hard about Mourinho is his mouth; the rest of him is pretty soft.”

“He was in the Premier League? Did he forget how he left the Premier League?”

Yang Cheng delivered the sharp sarcasm and ridicule with a smile.

“I certainly believe Real Madrid will have a chance to meet us in the Champions League, but the prerequisite is that they first have to break their Round of 16 curse of the past several years.”

“My team and I are actually looking forward to meeting Real Madrid again in the Round of 16. That way, we can knock them out again, just like last season!”

Yang Cheng’s words were vicious!

What did he mean?

The Bayswater Chinese had already qualified as group winners, but Real Madrid hadn’t played their fourth-round match yet.

Yang Cheng’s implication was that he hoped Real Madrid would finish second in their group, so they could meet in the Round of 16 again.

“Of course, if we miss them in the Round of 16, we welcome Real Madrid to keep trying. The quarter-finals, the semi-finals, or at the Allianz Arena in Munich, we’ll be ready for them anytime!”

A wave of shock went through the media below.

Yang Cheng had said what he wanted to say and achieved his intended purpose, so he knew when to stop.

He understood Mourinho, and Mourinho understood him.

The words they spoke to the public seemed confrontational, but in reality, they were for their own players’ ears.

That’s why fans would often see the two famous managers engage in a war of words, only for the chasing pack around them to be metaphorically killed off.

In the end, it was just the two old pals left to contend for the title.

And upon returning to the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Wigan Athletic 3-1 at home.

Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Marcelo each scored a goal.

In the same round, Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at home.

Chelsea scraped a 1-0 away win against Blackburn Rovers.

Liverpool edged out Swansea City 1-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated Sunderland 1-0 at home.

Manchester City, after falling behind twice away from home, equalized both times and finally secured a 3-2 victory over Queens Park Rangers with a last-minute winner from Yaya Touré.

After 11 matches, the Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 10 wins and 1 draw, had 31 points and continued to lead the Premier League table.

Since the first round of the season, the Bayswater Chinese had not once relinquished their position as league leader.

But this time, the chasing pack was also very strong.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City, with their formidable squad, also had a record of 10 wins and 1 draw, earning 31 points to stay close behind.

Manchester United was in 3rd place with 28 points.

Arsenal also had 28 points but was in 4th place due to goal difference.

Liverpool was in 5th with 26 points.

Chelsea was in 6th with 22 points.

From the current standings, the top few teams in the Premier League were still very close to each other.

Even a team like Liverpool hadn’t been left too far behind by the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

Chelsea, on the other hand, was a different story.

After the change of manager, problems emerged in The Blues’ dressing room.

The main issue was Villas-Boas’s inability to control several senior players in the squad, and in handling the transition to a new generation, he was making mistakes that many head coaches make.

Ronald Koeman had made similar mistakes when he coached Valencia.

For almost everyone who went down that path, the end was tragic!

…

After the 11th round of the Premier League, there was a two-week international break.

Once the two international matches were over and the international players gradually returned to the team, Yang Cheng fielded a starting lineup that excluded the South American internationals and some who had played two full games, for the 12th round of the Premier League, an away match against Everton.

Just seven minutes into the game, from a free kick opportunity in the attacking third.

Toni Kroos assisted Thiago Silva, who scored.

This turned out to be the only goal of the match.

Yang Cheng had always been very pragmatic.

First, ensure the team wins, then pursue an attacking and beautiful style of play.

At a heavily fortified Goodison Park, although Everton had lost Mikel Arteta, their overall strength was not to be underestimated.

So, an early blitz to get a goal, then slowly wear Everton down.

Arsenal, meanwhile, came from a goal down to beat Norwich 2-1, thanks to a brace from van Persie.

Manchester City defeated Newcastle 3-1 at home.

Manchester United beat Swansea City 1-0 away, with a strategy surprisingly similar to Yang Cheng’s.

Their goal just came a little later, in the 11th minute.

The crucial match of this round saw Liverpool defeat Chelsea 2-1 away.

In the match at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool performed exceptionally well in the first half, almost completely pinning Chelsea down and taking a one-goal lead.

Torres scored for The Reds.

Villas-Boas made adjustments at halftime.

It must be said, Villas-Boas was a capable coach, and his adjustments had a very good effect.

For the first 30 minutes of the second half, The Blues turned the tables, gained the upper hand, and equalized.

They even saw a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

But just before the end of the match, a last-minute winner from Glen Johnson secured a precious 3 away points for Liverpool.

It’s worth noting that the centre-back pairing for this match was Terry and Benatia.

But their partnership was not ideal.

Of course, looking at the match, neither of the two centre-backs made any major mistakes.

Both goals conceded were due to individual errors, one from Mikel and the other from Ashley Cole.

So far this season, Chelsea’s overall performance had been decent, at least enough to be 6th in the Premier League.

But in matches against the top five teams, Chelsea had lost all three.

And two of those losses were at home.

As the pro-Chelsea Daily Mail commented after this match.

Everyone could see that Chelsea was ailing.

But no one knew what medicine to use to cure them.

Before the season, everyone thought Villas-Boas would be Chelsea’s cure.

Because he knew the team and had proven his coaching abilities at Porto.

But after arriving at Chelsea, people discovered he couldn’t save them at all.

Villas-Boas, for his part, repeatedly called for more trust and support from the club, fans, and media.

In the post-match press conference, he stated that he wanted to build something new at Chelsea, focusing on construction for the future.

“I believe the owner paid a 15 million euro release clause to bring me from Porto to London, not to pay another release clause to send me away.”

Villas-Boas believed that in a league as brutally competitive as the Premier League, it was no easy task to quickly build a brand new, competitive squad.

But no one knew how much patience Chelsea still had for him.

…

On the evening of November 22nd, Champions League group stage, matchday 5.

The Bayswater Chinese traveled to Italy with a full reserve squad to face S.S.C. Napoli away.

Having already secured early qualification from the group, Yang Cheng’s team had no intention of going all out.

Because after this match, the team was scheduled to travel to Stamford Bridge to challenge the struggling Chelsea.

Although it was a lineup of rotated and backup players, the Bayswater Chinese’s starting eleven was still quite strong.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and De Bruyne ahead of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Harry Kane, Sterling, and Paul Pogba were all on the bench.

Freed from the pressure and constraints of results, the Bayswater Chinese played a very open game.

Before the players went on the pitch, Yang Cheng’s instruction to them was, “Go out and enjoy this match to the fullest!”

The players carried this out on the field.

From the very beginning, the Bayswater Chinese played a very open style, constantly creating chances and threatening S.S.C. Napoli’s goal, leaving the Serie A team’s defense in a state of panic.

S.S.C. Napoli had originally thought their opponents would go easy on them, fielding a reserve team.

But Walter Mazzarri never expected that while he had guessed Yang Cheng’s intentions correctly, he couldn’t have guessed that the Bayswater Chinese’s reserves could perform so strongly.

In the 19th minute of the first half, a pass from Aaron Ramsey found Eden Hazard on the left wing. He cut inside, shook off a defender, and played a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Theo Walcott arrived at full tilt and scored with a placed shot, opening the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese.

After conceding a goal, S.S.C. Napoli completely woke up.

If the Serie A team wanted to advance from the Champions League group stage, they had to beat the Bayswater Chinese at home.

Otherwise, if Bayer Leverkusen beat Villarreal, S.S.C. Napoli would be finished.

Under these circumstances, Mazzarri tried hard to orchestrate an attack, but they were consistently unable to produce any threatening offense.

This situation continued into the second half.

Unable to bear it any longer, Mazzarri brought on attackers like Pandev.

In the 78th minute, it was Pandev who orchestrated a move, with Hamšík delivering a brilliant pass for Cavani to score against the Bayswater Chinese.

This goal completely ignited S.S.C. Napoli’s passion.

The Serie A team charged forward crazily, everyone pressing forward with abandon, completely disregarding their defense.

Under these circumstances, the young players of the Bayswater Chinese defended for their lives.

Especially after Yang Cheng brought on three young academy players, they all played with incredible effort.

But how could they have ever experienced such a fierce battle?

Especially as the match neared its end, S.S.C. Napoli were seeing red, with almost all 11 players piling into the Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

In the final moments of stoppage time, Dossena sent in a cross from the left, and Cavani out-jumped Kompany to head the ball home, turning the score around.

2-1!

S.S.C. Napoli ultimately overturned the result with a brace from Cavani!

When the match ended, even after the Bayswater Chinese players had returned to the dressing room, Yang Cheng noticed that many of their legs were still trembling slightly.

This was both a result of giving their all and a reaction to being under intense mental strain.

Brian Kidd turned his head and gave Yang Cheng a slight, imperceptible smile.

The practical effect and developmental value of this match were simply incredible!

These young players would probably remember this game for many years to come.

Why?

Because S.S.C. Napoli was truly ruthless!

Of course, the young devils of the Bayswater Chinese were no slouches either.

Throughout the match, S.S.C. Napoli received 5 yellow cards, and the Bayswater Chinese players got 4.

Both sides fought tooth and nail, neither willing to give an inch.

In the final period of the second half, S.S.C. Napoli pushed everyone forward, showing a determination to burn their bridges.

The young players of the Bayswater Chinese got a profound taste of what kind of strength a Champions League team, at least a Round of 16 level team, could unleash when they went all-out and threw everything on the line.

And how much could they themselves perform in the face of such a team, such strength?

This was the value of real combat!

For Yang Cheng, trading a “meaningless” match for the development of his young players was well worth it!

“How do you feel?”

Yang Cheng asked his players with a smile.

Before the match, he had already said that the result was not important; the most important thing was to enjoy the process.

But the players’ mentality had clearly changed.

Because they had scored first.

Human nature is a strange thing.

If S.S.C. Napoli had scored first, the players probably wouldn’t have fought so hard.

Because they would have been trailing from the start.

But it was precisely because the Bayswater Chinese scored first that it gave the players a feeling that they had the advantage and should have won.

S.S.C. Napoli’s subsequent relentless attacks felt like they were trying to snatch away a victory that rightfully belonged to them.

This ignited the players’ fighting spirit.

Thus, the scene of a bloody hand-to-hand battle unfolded in the match.

The young Bayswater Chinese players fought truly fiercely.

De Bruyne was even substituted off due to cramping.

“This is the strength of a Champions League Round of 16 team, and it will be the tempo and pressure of a Champions League Round of 16 knockout match.”

Yang Cheng decided to give the players another lesson to help them digest the experience.

“You should know that most of the time when you play, there are people around you shouldering the pressure. Often, you only come on after the situation has stabilized.”

“But now, when you faced S.S.C. Napoli’s frantic comeback head-on, I believe you all personally experienced the terror that such a battle brings!”

“Try to get used to it, and overcome it. Only then will you be truly ready to play for the first team!”

Yang Cheng’s words plunged everyone in the dressing room into deep thought.

Wearing the jersey of the Bayswater Chinese, they all, of course, hoped to play for the first team.

This was especially true for the young academy players in the squad.

But wearing that jersey also often represented heavy pressure and burden.

Especially as players for the Bayswater Chinese, the public enemy, they were exposed to the media spotlight in almost every match, repeatedly targeted.

Any one of them could, at any time, become the target of an opponent’s entire team’s frenzied attack.

Just like S.S.C. Napoli today.

When that time came, would they still be able to perform normally?

Would they still be able to play with the ease and grace they had in the youth team?

The answer was already obvious!

Yang Cheng took in the reactions and expressions of every young player.

The final round was a home game against Bayer Leverkusen.

In Yang Cheng’s view, he couldn’t field the same lineup as today for that match.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear to lose the so-called home unbeaten record.

It was because he worried that if they lost at home, these players wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Nurturing young players requires a gradual, orderly process.

Rushing it would only stunt their growth!

Chapter 234: The Stamford Bridge Massacre! A Double Hat-trick! This Is the West London Derby!

When Bayswater Chinese traveled to S.S.C. Napoli in Italy, Chelsea did not arrange for a scout to be present.

As Chelsea’s former chief scout, head coach André Villas-Boas had remained in London the entire time.

Because there was no point.

Yang Cheng hadn’t even brought his starting lineup to Italy; scouting them would have been a waste of the budget.

In the head coach’s office at the Cobham Training Centre, the lights were on.

But Villas-Boas was alone.

The Portuguese sat in his office, his brow deeply furrowed, looking utterly speechless.

He was wrestling with a headache over the weekend’s league match.

The opponent was Bayswater Chinese!

Unlike their opponents, who had to travel to Naples, Italy, Chelsea had no European fixture this week.

The Europa League was still in the group stage, but no matches were scheduled for this week.

In other words, Chelsea had a full week to prepare for their clash with Bayswater Chinese!

But Villas-Boas knew the bitter reality.

Back when he was following Mourinho and still serving as Chelsea’s chief scout, he was already well aware of the feud between Chelsea and Bayswater Chinese.

He was especially aware of owner Roman Abramovich’s resentment towards Bayswater Chinese.

This was a very special match!

It was more than just a simple West London derby!

But Villas-Boas and his assistants had been racking their brains, trying to figure out how to counter Bayswater Chinese.

This was originally what Villas-Boas excelled at.

In his years as Mourinho’s assistant, he was responsible for intelligence gathering and match planning. The two were practically inseparable.

Mourinho treated him with the utmost confidence, holding nothing back.

It was during those years following Mourinho that Villas-Boas learned and mastered Mourinho’s tactical methods and training systems. Combined with his own set of coaching abilities, this allowed him to make a name for himself at Académica de Coimbra.

After that, he spent a year leading Porto to the heights of the Treble.

At the age of thirty-three, with just two years of coaching experience, he had won the Treble. What an astonishing achievement!

Everyone said that after Yang Cheng, he was the most talented, most brilliant head coach in European football!

No, even when he was still coaching Académica de Coimbra, he was already being courted and poached by the top three powerhouse clubs in the Primeira Liga, but he chose Porto.

For Villas-Boas, his life and career up to that point had never deviated from his expectations.

Before taking the Chelsea job, Villas-Boas had actually sought many people’s advice.

Many advised him to be cautious, as there were numerous stories within the industry about Chelsea.

These included complex power struggles within the management and factional strife in the dressing room.

But Villas-Boas still chose to accept the challenge.

Because when he was an assistant coach at Chelsea, he had a good relationship with players like Terry, Lampard, and Drogba.

But in the end, he had underestimated the pressure of the job.

Perhaps the disaster had already begun the moment he decided to take it on.

To poach Villas-Boas from Porto, Chelsea paid a release clause of fifteen million euros.

This was an absolutely shocking figure.

The money did not end up in Villas-Boas’s pocket, but he bore the pressure for it.

Pedro Emanuel had been a professional player for Porto. After retiring in 2009, he began coaching the youth team.

Villas-Boas promoted him to the first team as an assistant coach, and they worked together for a year.

But when Villas-Boas decided to come to Chelsea, Emanuel chose to go to Académica de Coimbra to coach.

Vítor Pereira was another of Villas-Boas’s assistant coaches at Porto. He had six years of experience as a head coach and many years as a player.

Originally, Villas-Boas had hoped to bring him to Chelsea.

After receiving the fifteen million euros, Porto’s first choice was to invite Mourinho’s assistant, Faria, to coach, so they gave Vítor Pereira the green light to leave.

Unexpectedly, Faria chose to stay by Mourinho’s side.

Thus, Porto had Vítor Pereira stay and become Villas-Boas’s successor.

No one would refuse such an arrangement.

But neither of Villas-Boas’s two key assistants were able to accompany him to London.

In the end, Villas-Boas could only bring two of his staunchest allies, Mourinho’s men who had been with him since he coached Académica de Coimbra: athletic coach José Mário Rocha and match analyst Daniel Sousa.

Chelsea provided him with two highly experienced assistant coaches: reserve team manager Steve Holland and the Italian, Roberto Di Matteo.

Di Matteo had played for Lazio and Chelsea. After retiring, he first became head coach at Milton Keynes Dons before taking over West Bromwich Albion in 2009 after they were relegated from the Premier League.

In just one year, he led the team back to the Premier League. But in February of the 2010/11 season, with West Bromwich Albion on the verge of the relegation zone, they changed managers and fired him.

After half a year out of work, he accepted Chelsea’s invitation to become Villas-Boas’s assistant.

This was yet another tragedy!

Perhaps many people don’t realize that football, the world’s most influential sport, has always been a closed circle.

From FIFA at the top, to the national football associations and leagues in the middle, down to the individual clubs.

The entire ecosystem of professional football is constructed from countless circles, large and small.

In the realm of head coaches, various forms of clique culture also exist.

A very important rule is that head coaches who were not professional players are more likely to be ostracized.

Villas-Boas had actually played football; he just never became a professional player.

But in the eyes of many, this meant he simply didn’t understand the game.

What was the use of excellent data analysis and well-developed theories?

Once on the pitch, wasn’t it the players who decided how to play?

As a Portuguese, Villas-Boas hadn’t felt this deeply when coaching in the Primeira Liga.

But when he arrived at Chelsea and landed in the Premier League, the feeling was particularly stark.

Whether it was Steve Holland or Di Matteo, his impression of them was quite poor.

And when dealing with the players, Villas-Boas felt it even more profoundly.

Within Chelsea’s management, there were so-called factional struggles.

In the players’ dressing room, there was the so-called players’ committee.

As the name suggests, it was a small clique of players in the dressing room.

The five standing members of the players’ committee were Čech, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lampard, and Drogba.

Terry, Ashley Cole, and Lampard were all English players and legendary leaders at Chelsea.

Although Čech and Drogba were foreign players, they had rendered outstanding service to Chelsea, were highly decorated, and adored by the fans.

Some said that any matter within the team could be resolved if the five standing members just met!

When Scolari was sacked, there were rumors that the players’ committee had forced him out.

Rationally speaking, a players’ committee isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Every team needs soul-figure players who can steady the ranks.

During Mourinho’s tenure, the existence of the five standing members greatly enhanced the cohesion of the dressing room.

These players were all top-tier European stars. When they united, Chelsea’s overall competitiveness was formidable.

The problem arose when this group of players began to age, when they were no longer as brilliant as in their youth, while Chelsea’s authority waned due to frequent changes in head coaches.

Under these circumstances, the players’ committee’s voice in the dressing room grew louder and louder.

When it reached the point of seriously threatening the head coach’s authority, it was no longer a good thing.

Before Villas-Boas took office, Abramovich had spoken to him about this matter.

The management hoped that Villas-Boas could implement a youth-oriented reform at Chelsea and break the authority of the players’ committee in the dressing room.

It was difficult and very risky.

But Villas-Boas felt that behind the risk, the rewards were also astounding!

He wanted to wash away the mark Mourinho had left on Chelsea and imprint his own, Villas-Boas’s, mark.

And so, he came.

But Villas-Boas himself never expected to lose the very first battle with the dressing room after arriving at Chelsea.

It happened during the summer, when the team flew to the United States for the International Champions Cup. An incident occurred after boarding that outsiders knew nothing about.

Due to the limited number of first-class seats, when arranging the seating, Villas-Boas had placed several veterans, including Terry, Lampard, and Drogba, in economy class. In their place, several new signings and young players he intended to promote were given first-class seats.

This immediately sparked discontent among Terry, Lampard, and the others.

Beforehand, the veteran players said nothing. They waited until after boarding to suddenly make their move.

They just stood in the first-class cabin, silent, just waiting.

The young players were terrified and offered to switch seats, but Terry and the others refused.

They just stood there, forcing Villas-Boas to come and resolve the situation.

Their reason was simple: first-class should belong to the veterans who had contributed to the team!

“It was us who made Chelsea, Chelsea!” Terry shouted in front of Villas-Boas.

Although he wasn’t screaming directly in Villas-Boas’s face, it was already a public slap in the face for the head coach.

And everyone else, including the coaching staff, the accompanying team manager, and even the young players Villas-Boas intended to support, remained silent as the grave.

Not a single person stood up to support him.

Wasn’t this openly undermining Villas-Boas?

Terry even laid down a threat, “If we don’t get a satisfactory answer on this matter today, this plane will not take off!”

“Perhaps you can find someone to drag all of us off!”

Drag all of them off?

What did that imply?

The conflict in the dressing room would become completely public, making headlines all over the world the next day. Chelsea’s reputation would suffer an unprecedented blow.

No one could bear that responsibility!

Villas-Boas had no choice but to compromise.

He didn’t have enough authority to expel all these players from the team.

After that, there were more incidents, and he compromised again and again.

He wanted to sideline the aging big-name stars in the team, but he had no support from anyone around him.

His repeated actions, far from gaining support, only provoked intense dissatisfaction in the dressing room.

The players’ committee forced his hand time and again.

Lampard publicly stated that his relationship with Villas-Boas was “not ideal.”

The media exposed that Ashley Cole had confronted Villas-Boas to his face.

And then there was the nickname “Bambi” used to mock him…

In the eyes of many players, including Mikel, Terry, Lampard, and the others were captains who protected their teammates, dared to challenge the club, and fought for the players’ interests. They were their leaders.

When Villas-Boas wanted to crack down on these players, even for the sake of promoting younger talents, the promoted players themselves often didn’t agree, so they always sided with Terry and the others.

One by one, they began to criticize the head coach in the dressing room, making jokes about his various affairs.

The head coach’s authority was completely gone!

Under these circumstances, what did Villas-Boas have to go all-out against Bayswater Chinese?

He truly did not know!

He wasn’t even sure if the players would listen to him once they were on the pitch.

This was why Chelsea had performed so poorly in the clashes between top teams this season.

Perhaps they were all just waiting for this game.

Just to see what kind of end Villas-Boas would meet.

And just the thought of it made Villas-Boas’s scalp tingle.

Chelsea now was like a dead knot.

And he simply couldn’t untie it!

Just as Villas-Boas was overwhelmed with anxiety, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID displayed: Marina Granovskaia.

The Chelsea owner’s personal assistant.

…

On the afternoon of November 26th, at Stamford Bridge.

In the thirteenth round of the Premier League, Chelsea hosted Bayswater Chinese.

The match once again drew 41,648 fans.

Stamford Bridge was packed to the rafters.

When the players of both teams appeared on the pitch for their pre-match warm-ups, many Chelsea fans in the stands were already creating an atmosphere.

They cheered for their home team’s players and put pressure on their arch-rivals.

This included not only abuse, but even threats and personal attacks.

This was pretty much the norm for away games in the Premier League.

As both teams finished their pre-match training and returned to their respective dressing rooms for final preparations, Stamford Bridge continued to fill with fans.

In the home team’s dressing room, Villas-Boas pushed open the door and clapped his hands forcefully.

“Lads, look who’s here?”

Villas-Boas smiled as he approached the players. “Let’s give a warm welcome to Roman!”

When the players saw Villas-Boas enter, it was clear they had no intention of acknowledging him.

But when they saw Abramovich behind him, none of them dared to be careless, and they all stood up.

Applause immediately erupted.

“Hi, Roman.”

Captain Terry went straight up to him, completely ignoring Villas-Boas who was at the front, and shook hands with Abramovich.

“Hello, John. You have to give it your all tonight. I hear it’s being broadcast live to the whole world. Whether we can win this match is all up to you!” Abramovich said with a smile as he shook Terry’s hand.

The Russian’s signal was one of appeasement.

Next, Abramovich shook hands with Lampard, Drogba, Ashley Cole, and Čech one by one, encouraging them and expressing his hope that Chelsea could win this match at home.

“You all should know that we and Bayswater Chinese are arch-rivals. We beat them 2-1 at this stadium last season, which is a very good sign.”

Abramovich addressed the players in the dressing room with confidence.

He believed the team’s downturn this season was only temporary.

“I believe that as long as we work together, we can definitely get back on track!”

“We are Chelsea, the strongest team in the Premier League, and we always have been!”

“I have full confidence in you!”

Abramovich also reaffirmed the management’s support for Villas-Boas.

“Everyone tells me he is a Genius Coach, very young but very capable. We spent a lot of money and effort to invite a coach like him.”

“I hope the team can unite closely around Villas-Boas, and let’s work together to play every upcoming match well!”

Finally, Abramovich announced that the club would increase its bonus structure for the season, especially the reward for returning to the top four.

“Ten million pounds sterling!”

Abramovich tried to motivate the players with bonuses.

After Abramovich finished speaking, Villas-Boas began his final pre-match instructions.

Villas-Boas had made certain compromises regarding tonight’s starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Ivanović, and José Bosingwa;

Midfield: Mikel in a holding role, with Ramires and Lampard in the center;

Forwards: Sneijder, Drogba, and Eto’o.

Apart from Anelka, who was isolated in the dressing room and continued to be excluded from the matchday squad by Villas-Boas, all five standing members of the players’ committee were back in the starting lineup.

To some extent, this also represented a compromise from Villas-Boas towards the players.

Midweek, Villas-Boas had received a call from Marina Granovskaia, and the next day he met with Abramovich.

The Russian owner believed that the team’s current situation was not solely the players’ responsibility; as the head coach, Villas-Boas also had to take responsibility, so he had to take the initiative to make some changes.

The first and foremost was to change his approach towards the veterans; everything required method and strategy.

At the very least, without sufficient authority, he should not act recklessly.

So, Villas-Boas chose to compromise.

Because he knew he had to establish a firm foothold at Chelsea.

“Today’s match is against Bayswater Chinese, the strongest team in Europe!”

Villas-Boas was giving his final pre-match instructions.

Previously, due to conflicts with the players, many things had not been properly arranged.

He had to hurry now.

“The opposition has the strongest attacking firepower in European football, so our defense must be careful in this match.”

“Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski are their most dangerous players. We must mark them tightly.”

“Defense is the key to our victory in this match!”

As soon as Villas-Boas finished speaking, Lampard raised his hand from among the players. Without waiting for Villas-Boas’s permission, he spoke directly.

“The whole world knows how strong Bayswater Chinese’s attack is, especially on their left flank. Our right side will be under a lot of pressure. If we have to keep pressing and running back and forth during the game, the physical toll will be too great.”

Lampard was positioned as the right central midfielder.

In Villas-Boas’s tactical system, the defense had to maintain a high line, constantly press the opponent, and transition quickly between offense and defense.

This required players to constantly run back and forth, which wore down the opponent but also themselves.

Especially the midfield.

They had to be able to push up in attack and also get back to defend.

But for a 33-year-old veteran like Lampard, the pressure was indeed too great.

As a fellow Portuguese, José Bosingwa had Villas-Boas’s support. His attacking play was indeed very good, but his defending was a major problem.

This further increased Lampard’s burden.

“Frank’s right.”

Terry also spoke up at this moment, supporting Lampard.

“Over the past few years, from Manchester United to Arsenal, everyone has proven that against Bayswater Chinese, the most effective method is to defend and counter-attack. We should abandon the high press and adopt a low-block defense.”

After a pause, Terry looked towards Abramovich and the others, who remained silent.

“For the past ten years or so, we have always used a deep defense with a sharp counter-attack as our main tactic, and we have achieved excellent results. We are all very familiar with this style of play.”

Villas-Boas’s face darkened upon hearing this. “A low-block, defend and counter-attack tactic is too passive, and it may not hold up. We should still adopt a more proactive tactic and seize control of the game.”

“I’ve said it before, as long as we follow my instructions for targeted defense, we can definitely contain Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

Clearly, Villas-Boas was sticking to his own views.

This made Abramovich frown, feeling troubled.

He didn’t understand football, but he knew that having such a dispute right before a match was not a good thing.

Besides, wasn’t setting the lineup and tactics the head coach’s job?

What were Terry and Lampard talking about?

But from a modern management perspective, one couldn’t completely stifle the players’ opinions.

Moreover, what they said wasn’t without merit.

Chelsea had been playing a defend and counter-attack style for the past decade.

However, Villas-Boas was the team’s head coach.

Abramovich felt a headache coming on.

He found that both sides had valid points, yet both seemed to have problems.

When the Russian glanced at assistant coaches Holland and Di Matteo, they both pretended not to see.

After some thought, Abramovich decided to say nothing.

Because he knew that if he spoke, it would only create a new, bigger problem!

Fortunately, with the owner present, both sides restrained their tempers and quickly reached a mutually acceptable plan.

So, was it a high press? Or a low-block defense?

Abramovich was completely bewildered and didn’t understand.

But as long as there were no arguments or conflicts, it was a good thing.

…

In this match, Bayswater Chinese lined up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

This was the best-performing lineup Yang Cheng had at his disposal so far this season.

The match began with Bayswater Chinese kicking off.

Lewandowski passed the ball to Matić.

Chelsea’s forwards, Sneijder and Eto’o, both pressed forward, with Drogba following suit.

Bayswater Chinese made a series of medium-range passes in their own half, gradually moving the ball backward to draw Chelsea’s entire defensive formation forward.

As they retreated to the edge of the penalty area, Thiago Silva suddenly launched a long pass to the left flank.

Gareth Bale judged its position, and with his back to the attack, he won the aerial duel and headed the ball behind Chelsea’s defensive line.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward.

But Čech came out in time, beating him to the ball and making a clearance.

The clearance was a bit rushed, and the ball didn’t go far.

Modrić won the ball and played another through ball.

Lewandowski and Walcott both surged forward, forcing Ivanović to kick the ball out for a corner.

Yes, he didn’t even have a chance to clear it out of play.

Corner kick.

Although the subsequent corner ended with Lewandowski’s header going over the bar, it still dampened Chelsea’s morale.

When Čech took the goal kick, the ball landed in the attacking half, where Pepe headed it back to the midfield.

Chelsea tried to press near the halfway line and in their attacking third.

But Bayswater Chinese’s continuous passing and movement made it very difficult for the Blues to win the ball.

Moreover, they hadn’t committed enough players to the press upfront.

Sneijder, Eto’o, and Ramires were quite active, but Drogba and Lampard were somewhat passive.

Drogba was a centre-forward and older, so it was understandable that he was conserving energy for physical battles with the centre-backs.

Lampard was mostly jogging at a steady pace, covering the area behind him and sweeping up.

Once the team won the ball, he would often quickly join the attack.

Just as he had done for years.

Yang Cheng noticed this from the sidelines.

Chelsea only had Mikel in the holding midfield role.

The kid wasn’t even a natural defensive player to begin with. Converted into a holding midfielder, his ability to defend head-on was decent, but his running capacity was lacking, especially in lateral movements.

This meant that when Ramires and Lampard were out of position, Mikel’s area could be exploited as a point of attack!

More importantly, he had a nagging feeling that Chelsea were playing in a disconnected way.

You could call it a high press, as their defensive line was relatively high, but the pressure applied by the midfield and attack wasn’t intense enough.

It’s extremely dangerous for a defense to hold a high line when there’s insufficient pressure from the front.

Even Barça would be trash in such a situation.

But if you were to call it a low-block defense, they retreated quickly whenever Bayswater Chinese had the ball, but the players’ movements weren’t coordinated. Ramires and Lampard often failed to get back into their defensive positions in time.

The feeling was very disjointed.

Even contradictory.

Realizing this, Yang Cheng immediately walked to the sidelines, ready to share his discovery with the players.

But just then, on the team’s left flank, Gareth Bale and Marcelo were combining when they were closed down by Eto’o, José Bosingwa, and Lampard simultaneously.

The Welshman received the ball with his back to goal and was forced to pass it back to Toni Kroos.

No matter how many players pressed in front, Toni Kroos could always move to a position where his teammate could easily pass to him.

After receiving the ball, Toni Kroos didn’t go for a long pass this time, but continued to switch the play horizontally.

He played a medium-range pass to Matić, who was inside the center circle in Chelsea’s half.

After controlling the ball, Matić passed it to Modrić in the right half-space.

The Croatian dribbled forward a few steps, but was hassled by the backtracking Ramires, so he immediately distributed the ball to the right wing.

Walcott received the ball on the right touchline, glanced ahead, and immediately cut diagonally towards the center, vacating the right flank.

Ramires immediately ran over to block him, while Ashley Cole and the entire defensive line were positioned along the edge of the penalty area.

But Walcott was unfazed. After dribbling a couple of steps into the half-space, he suddenly played the ball back to the right wing.

Ramires and Ashley Cole lacked sufficient understanding, and both rushed towards Piszczek, who was making an overlapping run to receive the ball on the right side of the box.

Piszczek immediately played a diagonal pass back to Walcott. Instead of going to the byline for a cross, he chose to run horizontally.

Walcott received the ball unmarked at the edge of the penalty area.

But the next moment, Mikel, Terry, and others crowded him.

The Englishman nudged the ball back to Piszczek and suddenly burst forward into the right side of the area.

Piszczek had made an unopposed run inside, and as he reached the right corner of the box, Walcott’s pass arrived at his feet.

The Pole played a through ball into the right side of the penalty area, completing a perfect one-two pass with Walcott.

The Englishman burst into the right side of the box, took a touch that carried the ball to the right of the six-yard box, and sent in a low, driven cross with his right foot.

Terry was too late to stop Walcott, and Ivanović at the edge of the box was also a step behind.

Only Lewandowski, behind Ivanović, reacted first, smashing the ball into the Chelsea net with a left-footed power shot.

“It’s in!!!”

“Just one minute and twenty seconds into the game!”

“Bayswater Chinese have breached Chelsea’s goal first.”

“A thunderous strike from Lewandowski, from a cross by Walcott!”

“1-0!”

Everyone from Bayswater Chinese excitedly rushed onto the pitch to celebrate.

Stamford Bridge, however, erupted in a deafening chorus of boos!

Clearly, they despised their damned neighbor!

…

After his team took the lead, Yang Cheng couldn’t stop grinning.

When the players returned after their celebration, he specifically called over Toni Kroos and Modrić to tell them about his observation, instructing them to exploit it.

After conceding, Chelsea clearly became more conservative.

This surprised Yang Cheng.

In the past, after conceding, especially at home, wouldn’t Chelsea go all-out against Bayswater Chinese?

But today’s Blues didn’t do that.

They were more focused on defending, even dropping their defensive line deeper.

It felt like they were aiming not for merit, but to avoid mistakes.

And if this was a tactical strategy, they should at least have some means of counter-attacking.

But Chelsea clearly didn’t have that either.

The two teams were deadlocked for about half an hour. In the 31st minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack. Outside the arc of the penalty area, Ivanović fouled Lewandowski, who had dropped back to receive the ball.

The head referee, Lee Mason, showed the first yellow card of the match.

Bayswater Chinese were awarded a free kick in a central position.

Gareth Bale confidently stepped up, placed the ball, and slowly backed away.

The Welshman was clearly more self-assured now, with more of the air of a great leader.

After Chelsea set up a five-man wall near the penalty spot, the referee blew his whistle. Gareth Bale took a quick run-up and struck a powerful butterfly ball with his left foot.

The shot was incredibly fast and its trajectory was somewhat erratic.

But it was still precise enough to find the top-left corner of the Chelsea goal.

Although Čech made a valiant diving save, he was a fraction too late in judging the ball’s flight path.

His hand touched the ball, but he was powerless to stop it from going into the top corner.

2-0!

After conceding two goals, the home fans realized something was wrong. They let out even fiercer boos while constantly shouting at the players, urging them to get their heads in the game.

Villas-Boas was also shouting nonstop from the sidelines, signaling for the team to press forward and adopt a high press.

The Chelsea players finally listened to their head coach. Not only did they push forward, but they even pressed up to the edge of the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, forcing Thiago Silva to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, Courtois.

This happened in the 37th minute of the match.

Courtois rushed out of his six-yard box and, just before Eto’o could reach it, kicked the ball to Pepe at the edge of the area.

Before Eto’o could close him down, Pepe played a diagonal pass to Thiago Silva.

Now, Drogba pressed Thiago Silva, but the Brazilian was a step ahead, playing a medium-range cross pass to Piszczek on the right flank.

Piszczek took one touch to knock the ball forward and then chased after it at top speed, instantly crossing the halfway line and entering Chelsea’s half.

Chelsea was in a full retreat, but Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was also lightning-fast.

Piszczek passed horizontally to Matić, who then passed to Modrić.

Modrić, under pressure from two defenders, passed back to Toni Kroos.

The latter, without taking a touch, swept the ball to Matić.

When Matić received the ball again, he was already within Chelsea’s thirty-meter zone and not far from the penalty area.

Through the fluid, one-touch passing of the midfield iron triangle, Chelsea’s defense was pulled out of position.

At that moment, Matić, facing the attack, saw a gap.

The Serbian midfielder glanced at Walcott, who was poised and waiting for a pass, and without a second thought, he played a low through ball.

The pass covered at least twenty meters, slicing through two of Chelsea’s defensive lines from a deep position and reaching the right side of the penalty area behind the defense.

Walcott made a swift diagonal run, cutting between Ashley Cole and Terry.

The Little Tiger received the ball on the right side of the six-yard box, and before Terry could catch up, he knocked it across the front of the goal with his right foot.

Lewandowski arrived at full tilt and tapped the ball into Chelsea’s net.

3-0!

All the Chelsea fans in the stadium were stunned!

What on earth was happening?

How could they be thrashed like this at home by their arch-rival?

This was the West London derby!

A derby match! Do you know what a derby match is?

…

After conceding three goals, Chelsea seemed to have been thoroughly provoked.

The first half was drawing to a close.

Yet, so far, the Blues hadn’t managed a single shot on goal, and the number of times they had threatened the Bayswater Chinese penalty area was pitifully low.

And what about Bayswater Chinese?

Eight shots, three goals.

That efficiency was top-notch!

Just three minutes after the last goal, Chelsea made a passing error of their own, sending the ball directly into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, where it was collected by Courtois.

Thiago Silva and Pepe passed the ball between them at the back, moving it forward before quickly finding Matić again.

The Serbian midfielder’s performance had been getting better and better over the last two seasons.

After controlling the ball and turning, he looked up and swiftly played a through ball to Modrić.

But just as Modrić was about to receive it, Ramires came flying in from the side and tackled him to the ground.

However, the ball still fell to Walcott on the right.

The Little Tiger drove forward with the ball, not heading back to the right wing, but playing a cross pass.

As Chelsea scrambled back to defend, Mikel failed to return to the center in time, and Lewandowski dropped back to receive the ball.

He took one touch, and Lampard was already on him.

But the Pole used his body to shield the ball from Lampard and then tried to charge forward.

Just a little further, and he would be in shooting range.

But Ivanović’s high press blocked Lewandowski’s path forward.

Just as the Pole was in a bind, Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run from the left, behind Ivanović.

Understanding the cue, Lewandowski threaded a through ball.

The Welshman received the pass and drove into the box. Facing the onrushing Čech, he knocked the ball diagonally to his right, evading the diving keeper. Gareth Bale caught up with his own touch on the right side of the six-yard box and easily tapped the ball into the empty net.

4-0!

Gareth Bale, lost in exhilaration, sprinted off the pitch, running all the way to the sidelines. He opened his arms to celebrate with Lewandowski, Walcott, and the others who had run over.

“A defeat is like a landslide!”

“We don’t understand what is going on with Chelsea today.”

“This is a team that has always been known for its defensive prowess, but their defense has been problematic all season.”

“For example, the 3-5 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal.”

“Now, facing the stronger Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea clearly has not united their thinking, which has led to disagreements among the players on the pitch.”

“This is definitely Villas-Boas’s problem. He failed to instill his tactics in the players in time!”

…

Just when everyone thought the first half would end 4-0, no one expected that in the second minute of stoppage time, Bayswater Chinese would win a corner on the right side.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese didn’t play it into the box. Instead, they took it short to Walcott.

The Little Tiger passed it back to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder curled a pass towards the front of the goal, and Pepe headed it in from close range, sending the ball into Chelsea’s net.

5-0!

Everyone in the stadium was stunned!

They couldn’t believe what their eyes were seeing.

This wasn’t the Chelsea they knew at all!

And in the second half, the situation didn’t improve one bit.

During the halftime break, Villas-Boas made one substitution.

He brought on Gregory van der Wiel for José Bosingwa.

Looking at the first half, Bosingwa wasn’t actually the worst performer in the defense.

But he was the only defender Villas-Boas could change at the moment.

If he could, he probably would have wanted to replace the entire backline.

And just in the 51st minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese won another corner kick opportunity on the right side of the attack.

Modrić was on duty again.

It was just like the goal in first-half stoppage time.

But this time, Modrić delivered it directly into the box.

Terry got there first, heading the ball away in an attempt to clear it from the penalty area.

But the clearance didn’t get much height.

Pepe, lurking inside the box, stuck out a foot and hooked the ball. Although he didn’t intercept it cleanly, he did make contact.

The ball slowed down and rolled towards the arc of the penalty area.

But just as players from both sides rushed out from the box, a red shirt strode forward and, without taking a touch, unleashed a thunderous shot with his right foot.

Matić!!

The Serbian midfielder smashed a long shot from the arc of the penalty area, once again breaking through Chelsea’s goal.

6-0!

All the fans in the stadium were stunned!

This was a frenzied slaughter!

The victim was Chelsea!

And it was happening right here at Stamford Bridge!

What made it even more unacceptable for everyone at Chelsea was that just two minutes after Matić’s goal, when a Chelsea counter-attack reached the edge of the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, it was successfully intercepted.

Pepe passed to Matić, who then passed to Modrić.

The Croatian sent a through ball to Walcott on the right flank.

The Little Tiger sprinted forward, reaching the right corner of the box before suddenly stopping, cutting the ball back inside to shake off Ashley Cole, and making a diagonal run into the right side of the penalty area.

Facing Terry and the backtracking Ramires, the Little Tiger used a series of feints to successfully dribble past both defenders before moving horizontally with the ball again.

But this time, he didn’t pass to Lewandowski, who was being heavily marked by the Chelsea defenders. Instead, he played a cross pass to Gareth Bale at the far post.

The Welshman first faked a power shot with his right foot, tricking van der Wiel, then calmly slotted the ball into the near corner with his left foot, sending it into the bottom-left of Chelsea’s goal.

7-0!

Hat-trick!

Gareth Bale was so excited he sprinted off the pitch, running wild until his teammates caught up and tackled him to the ground by the sidelines.

He was too thrilled, too ecstatic!

By this point in the match, everyone knew the result was settled.

A complete defeat for Chelsea!

For Stamford Bridge, this was a gruesome, bloody massacre!

And it was happening right before the eyes of over forty thousand Chelsea fans.

In the 62nd minute, Bayswater Chinese launched an attack down the left flank, drawing Chelsea’s defensive attention.

When Toni Kroos received the ball, he hit a diagonal pass, accurately switching the play to the right wing.

Piszczek made a quick overlapping run. After bringing the ball down on the right side outside the box, he paused.

As Ashley Cole lunged in, the Polish right-back knocked the ball towards the byline and then used his speed to burst past Ashley Cole, sending a low, driven cross to the front of the goal with his right foot.

Lewandowski used his body to shield the ball from Terry and fired a powerful shot, once again sending the ball into Chelsea’s goal.

8-0!

Hat-trick!

The Polish centre-forward had also completed a hat-trick!

Lewandowski excitedly ran to the right side and threw his arms around Piszczek.

His national team teammate had always had a great understanding with him, and the connection between the two had always been a crucial attacking channel for Bayswater Chinese.

And at this moment, the entire Stamford Bridge fell into a deathly silence.

The air was thick with a complex emotion, a mixture of despair and collapse.

Chapter 235: Chelsea Implodes! The Inescapable Transitional Pain! The First Dynasty in English Football History!

He’d collapsed!

Completely collapsed!

When the live broadcast camera focused on the home team’s technical area, showing a close-up of André Villas-Boas with both hands shoved in his mouth, a look of shock on his face and a vacant expression in his eyes, the image was presented to football fans all over the world. Everyone understood the signal.

He was finished!

Completely finished!

Not everyone could be Yang Cheng!

Because not everyone possessed the ability to lead a team out of a crisis.

His success at Académica de Coimbra and Porto had made André Villas-Boas overestimate himself, thinking he was capable of anything.

But in reality, he was capable of nothing!

On the pitch, Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued.

They were already leading 8-0, but the West London team kept relentlessly launching attacks.

That’s just how it is with arch-rivals!

Yang Cheng had actually already shown mercy.

He had substituted three players in one go, including Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Modrić.

The three best-performing players on the pitch had all been taken off.

But Bayswater Chinese’s advantage was still incredibly obvious.

Chelsea’s players had lost all motivation.

Other than defending deep in their own half, they had no ambition, no desire to even press forward.

Perhaps they, too, had never imagined they would lose so disastrously.

Conceding goal after goal.

But sometimes, that’s just football.

The more than forty thousand fans in the stadium were beyond furious.

They cursed the players, the manager, everyone!

They didn’t pay money to be disgusted!

To be slaughtered like this at home, was this really a matter of skill?

If the players had fought with all their might, if the team had been united, even if all eleven men had parked themselves inside the penalty area, they wouldn’t have conceded eight goals, right?

Previously, when they lost 3-5 to Arsenal, they could claim it was because they went all-out on the attack and it backfired.

But now?

So far this season, they hadn’t won a single one of their clashes between top teams, all ending in crushing defeats.

What was the use of bullying weaker teams?

If you could only beat teams weaker than you but couldn’t win against evenly matched top sides, how could you break into the top four, let alone win the title?

The match wasn’t over, but Stamford Bridge was already echoing with a storm of curses.

At the start, they had been booing and cursing Bayswater Chinese.

But now, all the boos and curses were directed at Chelsea!

…

Roman Abramovich didn’t quite know how to describe his feelings at this moment.

His mood soured even further when he heard the boos and curses from the Chelsea fans inside the stadium.

Standing beside him, Marina Granovskaia looked at her boss with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

She had followed Roman Abramovich for many years, by his side every step of the way.

Back then, when Abramovich had acquired a Premier League club, his primary motivation was to use the platform of football to break into the circles of political and business elites in Europe, especially in England.

This was something almost all wealthy Russians wanted to do.

It had been the case from ancient times to the present.

But after so many years, whether you called it developing feelings for his “toy” or “pet,” or an unwillingness to let go of the sunk costs of the past few years, she could clearly see that Roman Abramovich was taking Chelsea more and more seriously.

Otherwise, how could one explain everything he had done for Chelsea?

Look at that Egyptian owner of Fulham in West London. Did he ever care about Fulham’s results?

He didn’t even care if they got relegated!

And look at one of Queens Park Rangers’ shareholders for the past few years, the Indian tycoon Mittal family. Had they ever cared about the team’s situation?

They probably didn’t even know where the team’s training ground was.

For these investors, they didn’t care about the club or football at all.

Winning, losing, relegation, promotion—it was all irrelevant to them.

In the end, they would only glance at the numbers on the financial statements submitted by their subordinates, and then… nothing.

But Roman Abramovich’s feelings for Chelsea had truly deepened.

Otherwise, from an investment perspective, this venture was a massive loss!

“Piet, teach me…”

Roman Abramovich turned and walked over to his old friend, Piet de Visser. He pointed at the football pitch behind him, his tone filled with helplessness and frustration.

“What do I do? It’s come to this, what do I do?”

Piet de Visser wasn’t omnipotent.

He could say the wrong thing, he could make the wrong judgment.

But he was old enough, with more than enough seniority and experience, and had handled more than enough situations.

“At this point, there’s nothing that can be done. A change of manager is inevitable.”

“Now?” Roman Abramovich gave a wry smile.

“I just supported André Villas-Boas in the media and backed him in the dressing room. And now I’m supposed to sack him?”

Marina Granovskaia stepped forward at this moment to add a reminder, “This summer, we spent fifteen million euros on a release clause to poach André Villas-Boas. If we sack him now, we’ll have to pay him another huge severance package.”

As his personal assistant, there were some things the boss couldn’t say, so she had to.

“Football has never been a business. From a cost-benefit perspective, this deal is a loss no matter how you look at it. It’s just a matter of a big loss or a small one,” Piet de Visser said calmly.

Roman Abramovich, of course, understood this.

“Maybe, but definitely not now!”

He couldn’t bring himself to go back on his word, at least not at this moment.

Not only could he not do it, but after the match, he would have to continue to support André Villas-Boas in the media and in the dressing room.

Because he had no other choice!

“What’s giving me the biggest headache right now is, what do we do next?” Roman Abramovich said, exasperated.

Piet de Visser chuckled.

“It’s actually very simple. After you sack André Villas-Boas, the team’s results will definitely improve, and the players will certainly perform better. It doesn’t matter who the head coach is; it’s a certainty.”

“They might even go all out to win Chelsea some trophies.”

“It’s human nature!”

The old man stared at Roman Abramovich and said, word by word.

Roman Abramovich was taken aback.

This was why there was a saying in European football: a new manager brings a new lease on life!

Whenever a club’s dressing room conflicts became irreconcilable, they always cracked down on the head coach.

Because there was only one head coach, but a whole group of players.

Changing the head coach was always easier than changing a whole batch of players.

“And then, we just let it go like that?” Roman Abramovich still felt unwilling to accept it.

Piet de Visser smiled faintly again. “You’re still investing too much personal emotion into this.”

“As the owner of the club, what you want are results, business operations, revenue, and valuation. As for how you achieve these, why do you need to care so much?”

Roman Abramovich was stunned.

It seemed that was really the case.

Get rid of one André Villas-Boas, and the players in the dressing room would have no reason not to give their all.

“When the season ends, those whose contracts are up won’t be renewed, and those who should leave will still leave. The squad overhaul will proceed according to the original plan.”

After a pause, Piet de Visser looked at Roman Abramovich with a playful expression. “You are the one playing chess. Sometimes, it’s best not to get too caught up in the drama.”

After another pause, the old man added, “Actually, you should let go of your obsession with Bayswater Chinese. It’s been so many years, and you’re still holding such a grudge.”

With that, the old man sighed again. “I’ll say something you don’t want to hear. In another six months, their new stadium will be operational. By then, Bayswater Chinese will be beyond our reach. The gap will have widened.”

“They have the best youth academy in the world. The West London derby is just something said for the fans’ benefit, like the El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barça.”

“In reality, there’s no need to make the private relationship so tense.”

Roman Abramovich understood such reasoning.

That was why, when Bayswater Chinese invited Chelsea to participate in the International Champions Cup, Abramovich had agreed immediately.

The West London derby was like shipping a couple for publicity.

Real Madrid and Barça’s rivalry was so fierce, wasn’t it?

But did that prevent the two clubs from having a tacit understanding and negotiating behind the scenes?

To some extent, La Liga now was all about El Clásico and La Liga’s big two.

“After this incident, you should have realized that this group of arrogant and fierce soldiers can’t be managed by just any head coach. Even if you brought back Guus Hiddink and Mourinho now, they probably wouldn’t be willing to come!”

World-class head coaches weren’t fools; they had enough capital and leverage to choose their teams.

Towards the end of his tenure, Hiddink was already showing signs of losing control.

If Mourinho were to return, he would find that the Chelsea of today was completely different from the Chelsea he had once coached.

Was he confident he could handle Terry, Lampard, and the others?

A truly smart person would continue to wait.

They would wait until this group of meritorious veterans could no longer play, were about to retire, or had left the team. Only then would they come in to rebuild a team. That was the wise move!

Hadn’t the media reported before that Mourinho had warned André Villas-Boas that he was two years too early for the Chelsea job?

Yes, two years!

Things were as they were now. In two years, veterans like Drogba, Terry, Lampard, and Ashley Cole would mostly be gone.

If he came in then, wouldn’t the dressing room be firmly in his grasp?

…

Chelsea suffered a crushing 0-8 defeat at home to Bayswater Chinese!

After the match, this news spread like wildfire across Europe and even the rest of the world.

Just how dominant Yang Cheng’s team was became glaringly obvious in a clash like this.

No matter how strong Barça was, the most they had ever thrashed Real Madrid was 5-0.

But in London?

High-scoring games were a common occurrence.

And this was at Stamford Bridge!

Now that was satisfying!

Fans were singing praises for Bayswater Chinese, cheering for Yang Cheng’s team on the internet.

The media also gave extremely high praise to Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

After the match, Sky Sports described the game with the headline “Nightmare Repeated”.

However, the Premier League’s top broadcaster believed that the match was less about Bayswater Chinese performing exceptionally well and more about Chelsea dying from internal conflict in the dressing room.

Sky Sports pointed out that even before this match, there had been constant rumors that André Villas-Boas was at odds with several senior players in the dressing room, and this was further confirmed during the game.

“During the match, one could see that André Villas-Boas was extremely dissatisfied with how the game was progressing.”

At the post-match press conference, Villas-Boas lost control and furiously berated the players for their poor performance.

A reporter at the scene asked Villas-Boas if he was suggesting the players had intentionally thrown the game to get him sacked.

“Although the Portuguese manager vehemently denied this, claiming only that the players’ tactical execution was so poor that they were broken by Bayswater Chinese.”

“But the expression on his face showed that he was struggling to contain his anger.”

Sky Sports suggested that while it might not be a case of players deliberately losing to get Villas-Boas sacked, the infighting in Chelsea’s dressing room was escalating and showing signs of spinning out of control.

For example, Villas-Boas had already frozen out Anelka.

Chelsea currently had three capable forwards: Drogba, Eto’o, and Anelka.

In addition, there was a young centre-forward highly valued by the management, Lukaku.

Oh, right, and there was also Andy Carroll, who had already been declared a write-off.

Leaving Lukaku and Carroll aside, Eto’o was incredibly fast with excellent scoring ability. Drogba was getting older, and his physical presence was gradually weakening, making it harder for him to deal with defenders up front.

Under these circumstances, Anelka, who was in good form and had a well-rounded skillset—able to hold up the ball, protect it, and distribute it—possessed qualities that Chelsea’s other forwards currently lacked.

But at a time like this, Villas-Boas chose to freeze out Anelka.

The origin of the conflict was the 3-5 home loss to Arsenal.

According to the pro-Chelsea Daily Mail, after the match, Villas-Boas was furious with the entire team’s performance.

Losing so meekly at home was something he couldn’t stomach.

After the match, upon entering the dressing room, he tore into Anelka in front of everyone.

Why Anelka?

“Aside from him, André Villas-Boas couldn’t find any other player in the dressing room to vent his anger on!”

Although he was 32, Anelka had never been a meek character. The two started arguing on the spot and almost came to blows.

This led to a widely known incident where Villas-Boas stated in a press conference, “Apart from Anelka, the other veterans will all receive contract renewal offers at the end of the season.”

At the time, this was interpreted as a sign that Villas-Boas had reached an agreement with the five standing members of the players’ committee.

Getting rid of one Anelka, establishing some authority, and proceeding with Chelsea’s reforms step by step—that seemed like a pretty good thing.

But only now did everyone suddenly realize that there was another way to interpret the same event.

André Villas-Boas had completely lost control of the dressing room, but he was powerless against the five senior leaders. He could only vent his impotent rage on Anelka.

Refusing to renew Anelka’s contract while agreeing to renew the other veterans’ contracts didn’t ease the tension; it intensified it.

Because the timeline Villas-Boas gave was “at the end of the season!”

“According to reliable sources from within the dressing room, the players believe that André Villas-Boas is not considering things from their perspective, but has instead placed himself in a role with the power of life and death.”

“Even if the players cooperate with him and perform well, if he decides not to renew their contracts at the end of the season, what can they do?”

“Drogba’s contract is about to expire, and the others’ contracts aren’t much longer.”

“For this group of Chelsea veterans, they hope to stay with the team and continue to contribute.”

“But they all know very well that they are not part of André Villas-Boas’s plans, nor the club’s.”

“This is the truest, most irreconcilable conflict!”

Following Sky Sports’ report, major British media outlets all jumped into action.

The Sun revealed that many of Chelsea’s players had completely stopped communicating with André Villas-Boas.

“They don’t even care if André Villas-Boas gets sacked.”

But The Sun revealed a detail.

“Before this match, the players knew that André Villas-Boas had been ordered to make changes to the team.”

“But clearly, André Villas-Boas’s plan did not work.”

“With the exception of a very small number of players like Ramires and José Bosingwa, almost everyone is questioning whether André Villas-Boas is still fit to be Chelsea’s head coach.”

The pro-Chelsea Daily Mail broke another story: many Chelsea players were dissatisfied with Villas-Boas and were preparing to call on the club to bring back Guus Hiddink.

“With a crushing defeat at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea is drifting further and further away from the top four. Roman Abramovich must be regretting his choice this summer and is even considering bringing back Guus Hiddink.”

Meanwhile, after this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese received some excellent news.

Manchester City, who had been breathing down their necks, finally faltered.

The Blue Moons drew 1-1 away at Liverpool!

The clash between the two renowned Italian managers ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw, with goals from Mario Balotelli and Jérôme Boateng.

This was absolutely fantastic news for Yang Cheng.

Because with Manchester City drawing, Bayswater Chinese were now in a class of their own.

In this round, Manchester United scraped a 1-0 home victory over Newcastle.

Arsenal also secured a narrow 1-0 win at home against Fulham.

After 13 rounds, Bayswater Chinese led the league table with 37 points!

Manchester City trailed by 2 points, sitting in second place with 35.

Manchester United and Arsenal were both on 34 points, ranked 3rd and 4th respectively.

Liverpool, having failed to beat Manchester City at home, were in 5th place with 30 points.

Chelsea remained on 22 points but had been overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur, dropping to 7th place.

On a side note, Tottenham Hotspur was a very shrewd club.

Over the past few years, they hadn’t invested heavily, merely picking up bargains behind teams like Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. As a result, they had managed to assemble a surprisingly competitive squad.

Chelsea, on the other hand, was in a truly dire situation.

The main reason was that, so far this season, they had lost every single match against the top five teams in the league!

Against weaker teams, Chelsea could use their superior quality to overwhelm their opponents and win.

But when it came to clashes between top teams, The Blues’ numerous problems were all exposed.

They lost 1-3 away to Manchester United, 3-5 at home to Arsenal, 1-2 to Liverpool, and now suffered a crushing 0-8 defeat to Bayswater Chinese.

As many media outlets pointed out, the current Chelsea team showed no signs of being a Premier League powerhouse.

In contrast, their West London arch-rival, Bayswater Chinese, had successfully extended their lead to 2 points. Although the lead wasn’t huge, it was a very clear signal.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had led from the very first round.

“It seems unlikely any team can stop Bayswater Chinese from winning a fourth consecutive Premier League title!”

“This will be an unprecedented great achievement in the 123-year history of the English top flight!”

“Yang Cheng will lead Bayswater Chinese to create this unparalleled first dynasty!”

Yes, in the history of the English top flight, the longest streak of consecutive titles was a three-peat.

No team had ever achieved a four-peat.

The Times argued that if they won the title again this season, Bayswater Chinese would have won five Premier League titles in the short span of seven years since their promotion from the Championship in 2005. This record would match and surpass many dynastic eras in English top-flight history.

For example, Aston Villa from 1894 to 1900, Liverpool from 1976 to 1982, and Manchester United from 1993 to 1999.

All three of these dynasties won five league titles within a seven-year period.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had also reached that milestone.

“Of course, this calculation is actually unfair to Bayswater Chinese, because as a newly promoted team in the 05/06 season, they did not win the title.”

In other words, if they won the title in both the 11/12 and 12/13 seasons, Bayswater Chinese would surpass the three aforementioned dynasties, achieving the magnificent feat of six titles in seven years.

By then, only two dynasties would stand in Bayswater Chinese’s way.

Liverpool from 1976 to 1984 and Manchester United from 1993 to 2001, both of whom won seven titles in nine years.

The Times analyzed that Yang Cheng’s team was still very young, and they were fully capable of striving for better results and creating even more stunning records.

…

After the 13th round of the Premier League, the team had a short rest before immediately facing the League Cup quarter-finals knockout stage.

This time, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent was Manchester United.

Since the weekend match against Aston Villa was also a tough battle, Ferguson also arranged for a lineup of substitutes and young players.

Ravel Morrison started in this match.

Yang Cheng also used a full substitute lineup, with players like Pogba and Harry Kane all starting.

The two sides played a very intense match at Old Trafford.

It wasn’t until the 65th minute that Sterling, who had just come on as a substitute, received a pass from Hazard at the arc of the penalty area, dribbled past Gibson and Evans, and scored from inside the box.

1-0!

But just four minutes later, Bayswater Chinese’s defense made a mistake, and Manchester United forward Macheda scored a goal.

As the match neared its end, at a crucial moment, Pogba drove forward with the ball. His powerful shot was saved by goalkeeper Amos, but Sterling on the right flank got to the ball first. He stopped abruptly, cut inside past left-back Fábio da Silva, and sent a cross pass to the front of the goal.

Harry Kane hit a power shot, once again finding the back of Manchester United’s net.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese had beaten Manchester United away from home!

But it was a narrow victory!

The young substitute Sterling put on a stunning performance with a goal and an assist, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

The kid had skill and speed; he was definitely a player worth developing.

He even managed to outshine his peers on the pitch, Pogba and Ravel Morrison.

In the other three matches, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City all advanced to the semi-final.

Just as all the media and fans were focusing on the League Cup semi-finals, a bombshell story suddenly broke after the match.

Chelsea’s dressing room had completely imploded!

The incident was triggered after Chelsea’s home game against Liverpool.

The result of that match was 0-3, another comprehensive defeat for Chelsea.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Terry’s hand touched the ball during an aerial duel, and the head referee awarded a penalty kick.

Torres converted it, scoring the opening goal for Liverpool.

After the second half resumed, Chelsea conceded two more goals in the span of five minutes.

They ultimately lost 0-3 at home.

And this was against a Liverpool side that hadn’t even fielded all their starters!

First, a crushing 0-8 defeat to Bayswater Chinese, and now a 0-3 loss to Liverpool.

In two matches, on two fronts, Chelsea had lost every shred of dignity a top team should have!

At the post-match press conference, Villas-Boas remained very defiant, stating, “My football philosophy will not die.”

“At Chelsea, no player can question it!”

“If players want to stay at Stamford Bridge, then they must learn to accept it!”

On the other hand, Villas-Boas claimed that his relationship with the players was very good, very good.

He used “very good” twice.

But the next day, the British Daily Mirror suddenly reported that on the team bus back to the Cobham training ground, Villas-Boas had a very heated argument with the players.

Upon receiving the news, Roman Abramovich immediately rushed to Cobham to restore order.

Unexpectedly, the two sides openly tore into each other right in front of Roman Abramovich.

The Daily Mirror stated that Abramovich had gone to Cobham originally to continue backing Villas-Boas, to make everyone believe that the head coach would not be sacked.

“Under the current circumstances, this was the only thing Abramovich could do.”

But to everyone’s surprise, in front of the owner, some of the veteran players explicitly questioned the head coach’s tactics, management methods, and player selection.

Some of the language used was already very intense.

“Some players questioned whether André Villas-Boas was even qualified to manage a powerhouse club like Chelsea!”

“Because three or four years ago, he was just a scout under Mourinho, having to chase after a group of stars like them every day, trying to curry favor and build good relationships.”

“Now, what right does he have to lead Chelsea?”

Villas-Boas retorted on the spot, and the tone on both sides grew increasingly heated, eventually spiraling out of control into a full-blown argument, even a shouting match.

The Daily Mirror revealed that Roman Abramovich witnessed the entire thing, remaining silent throughout.

“After everyone had calmed down, the Russian once again emphasized that André Villas-Boas would not be sacked!”

The Daily Mirror analyzed that there were two main reasons why Villas-Boas’s job was still safe.

First, no top manager was willing to take over Chelsea right now.

Another point was that Villas-Boas’s release clause was very high.

Although the specific contract details were unclear, Chelsea had indeed been full of confidence and expectations for Villas-Boas six months ago and had signed him to a long-term contract.

If they terminated his contract now, adding the fifteen million euro release clause they paid for him six months ago, the cumulative cost would reach thirty million pound sterling. That was indeed too high a price.

“More importantly, Abramovich and the technical team believe that André Villas-Boas is very capable, just lacking some dressing room management skills and authority.”

The conflict at The Blues quickly became the focus of discussion among media and fans in Britain and around the world.

No one would be surprised if Villas-Boas were sacked.

But after firing one Villas-Boas, what would Chelsea’s next step be?

…

Yang Cheng received the news on the morning after the League Cup match, while he was having breakfast.

His first reaction wasn’t schadenfreude.

Because there was absolutely no need for it.

Things like this could happen to any team.

Including Bayswater Chinese.

On one hand, for a head coach to quickly galvanize a team’s fighting spirit, a united dressing room is essential.

The five standing members of the dressing room, who were now being widely criticized, which one of them hadn’t achieved glorious feats for Chelsea?

Terry was not wrong at all.

It was they who made Chelsea into Chelsea!

The brilliance of Chelsea in the past few years was built on the close unity of everyone in the dressing room around them.

But now, they were old, their form had declined, but their authority was even greater.

What to do?

Yang Cheng had experienced much in his past life. The first thing that came to his mind was Inter Milan after winning the Champions League in 2010.

And what was the outcome?

After renewing the contracts of the meritorious veterans in one fell swoop, the team’s overall combat effectiveness plummeted.

AC Milan’s situation was actually similar, except they had Ancelotti, who was more of a bystander.

Chelsea had hired Ancelotti in his past life, and he actually did a decent job, but in the end, he was undone by a series of questionable moves from the management, leading to his dismissal due to poor results.

It had to be said, Ancelotti was truly skilled at managing the dressing room.

But inevitably, by continuing to trust and rely on this group of veterans, the team’s competitiveness would rapidly decline.

Generally, many powerhouse clubs would adopt a stalling tactic.

They would drag it out until the team’s results declined, until all the fans and media couldn’t stand it anymore, and the players themselves had been heavily criticized. Then, when all parties could accept it, they would part ways amicably.

But this process would certainly involve a year or two, or even longer, of fluctuating results.

Another approach was to take decisive action.

But while this method was quick, it would still draw criticism, with people calling you cold-blooded and ruthless for driving out meritorious veterans.

Moreover, taking decisive action didn’t guarantee that a competitive team could be built quickly; the risks were also high.

In short, every choice had its risks and costs.

“Are you thinking that our team will face a similar problem in a few years?”

Sitting opposite Yang Cheng, Xia Qing saw him frowning in thought and guessed what was on his mind.

Yang Cheng didn’t speak but nodded.

“There’s no solution. Even modern corporations can’t handle this kind of thing. It’s called a transitional period of pain!” Xia Qing comforted him.

“Actually, what you’re doing now is already very good. Constantly promoting and developing young players to challenge the positions of the main players, the team is constantly aquad renewal. It’s really very commendable.”

How commendable?

The team’s long-serving vice-captain, one of the most popular players in the dressing room, José Fonte, could only play in some cup competitions and less important matches for a whole season.

“But this approach only works because I’m here, doesn’t it?” Yang Cheng felt that his situation was becoming more and more like Ferguson’s at Manchester United.

Authority was something that wasn’t built overnight, nor could it be simply passed on to someone else.

For one thing, if Yang Cheng retired now, even Brian Kidd wouldn’t be able to take over.

Right now, Brian Kidd could handle the dressing room because he had Yang Cheng above him, keeping things in check.

The moment Yang Cheng left, problems would still arise in the dressing room.

Bring in an outsider?

That would be even worse, possibly even worse than Brian Kidd.

Of course, Bayswater Chinese probably wouldn’t fall into a state as chaotic as Chelsea’s current situation.

Modrić, Thiago Silva, Gareth Bale, and the others weren’t the confrontational type.

But the team would definitely still be in disarray.

Otherwise, what would have been the point of all his work over the years?

At this thought, Yang Cheng let out a heavy sigh.

If he were just a head coach, he wouldn’t need to worry about these things at all.

But he was also the owner of the team.

A team like Bayswater Chinese would sooner or later face such a problem.

In comparison, Yang Cheng felt that Florentino Pérez’s Real Madrid had actually handled it quite well.

Of the meritorious generation that won three Champions League titles in five years, only a few players like Modrić and Toni Kroos remained until the very end. The others, including C. Ronaldo, Ramos, Benzema, Casemiro, and Varane, all began to leave one after another.

Pepe and Di María were sold off even earlier.

This approach was actually the most appropriate.

The club underwent squad renewal early, while also getting a transfer fee. The players, while still in good form, secured a high-paying contract in time.

This was a good thing for both the club and the players.

They parted on friendly terms, and the players could still be club legends after retirement.

In contrast, cases like Inter Milan’s, or the current situation at Chelsea, were clearly not handled very well.

…

The turmoil at Chelsea didn’t actually have as bad an impact on The Blues as one might have imagined.

The Blues didn’t completely collapse overnight and surrender as some outsiders had feared.

A starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

The players still had professionalism.

In the weekend league match, André Villas-Boas’s team beat Newcastle 3-0 away.

Lampard scored a penalty kick in the first half, and Drogba scored in the 38th minute.

The Blues won this match beautifully.

This went back to what the media had analyzed before: against weaker teams, Chelsea could rely on their superior quality to overwhelm their opponents and secure victory.

And in Yang Cheng’s view, The Blues’ high-pressing style was indeed not suitable for an aging Chelsea squad.

Manchester City, on the other hand, thrashed the newly promoted team Norwich 5-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated Wigan Athletic 4-0 away.

Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Phil Jones.

Speaking of Phil Jones, the player’s physical gifts were truly impressive. Strong and sturdy-looking, he played with great ferocity.

But Yang Cheng had a strange feeling: Ferguson had signed both Phil Jones and David Luiz, two pressing centre-backs. How would he coordinate them in the future?

It was an interesting question.

Of course, for now, Phil Jones was more of a versatile player, capable of playing at right-back, centre-back, and holding midfielder, constantly changing his position.

This round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Sunderland.

Thanks to a brace from Lewandowski in the first half, the home team beat The Black Cats 2-1.

Sunderland scored a goal in the 52nd minute of the second half.

In the first 14 rounds, Lewandowski had scored 15 Premier League goals.

This goal-scoring rate stunned everyone!

Since arriving in the Premier League, the Polish centre-forward’s performance had improved year after year, though it had dipped slightly last season.

But since the start of this season, he had shown incredible form.

15 goals in 14 rounds—such a scoring rate was almost comparable to the top two strikers from La Liga’s big two.

Meanwhile, Liverpool faced Fulham away this round. After a tough battle for 72 minutes, Lucas Leiva was sent off with a red card.

Just when everyone thought that a one-man-down Liverpool was in trouble, Rakitić stepped up. He unleashed a spectacular shot that found the back of Fulham’s net, securing 3 points for Liverpool away from home.

…

On the evening of December 7th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the final round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayer Leverkusen.

Since the team had already secured top spot in the group ahead of schedule, and Yang Cheng had announced early on that the team would not be fielding its full starting lineup, there weren’t many fans at Wembley Stadium for this match.

The 90,000-seat stadium was only filled with a little over 70,000 people.

But this still created an intimidating atmosphere for the opposition.

In terms of lineup, Yang Cheng still opted for a rotation and fielded young players, with not a single starter on the pitch.

But in his pre-match motivational speech, Yang Cheng still told all the players to fight for the tens of thousands of fans outside!

Bayer Leverkusen’s situation was not ideal.

According to the Champions League group stage rules, Leverkusen was currently tied on points with S.S.C. Napoli.

The tiebreaker was their head-to-head record.

Both of their home and away matches ended in draws, but S.S.C. Napoli drew 2-2 away at Leverkusen, while The Company’s Eleven drew 1-1 away.

In other words, based on the away goal rule, Leverkusen was ranked 3rd.

So, in this match, not only did they have to do their best to beat Bayswater Chinese away, but they also had to hope that S.S.C. Napoli would lose or draw away against Villarreal.

This was indeed a very bad, passive situation.

But for Yang Cheng and the group of young players from Bayswater Chinese, it was an excellent opportunity to gain experience.

After the kickoff, Leverkusen came out attacking fiercely, looking as if they wanted to swallow Bayswater Chinese whole.

The home team, composed mainly of young players, was at a disadvantage at the start, looking a bit flustered and forced onto the defensive.

After weathering Leverkusen’s opening blitz, the match gradually returned to an even keel, and the tempo slowly decreased.

Although they still needed to attack, The Company’s Eleven were also wary of being hit on the counter-attack.

Time ticked by, and neither side could break the deadlock.

Yang Cheng knew that Leverkusen was also closely monitoring the result of the other match, deciding when to burn their bridges.

Because S.S.C. Napoli and Villarreal had also played to a 0-0 draw in the first half.

But in the second half, the situation took a dramatic turn.

In the 60th minute, S.S.C. Napoli broke the deadlock with a goal from Cavani, assisted by Hamšík.

This made Leverkusen, who had been attacking relentlessly without success, start to get nervous.

Just three minutes later, Leverkusen’s head coach Dutt brought on his main centre-forward, Stefan Kießling, setting up two tall center-forwards up front with Eren Derdiyok and Kießling.

But it was precisely this substitution that created a crack in Leverkusen’s defense.

In the 67th minute, Hazard dribbled past two Leverkusen defenders on the left flank. From the left side of the edge of the penalty area, he delivered a brilliant pass to Giroud.

Giroud made a pull-back into the penalty area, to the left of the penalty spot.

Hazard changed direction and surged forward, catching up to Giroud’s pass. He shot a low shot from between the defenders, which found the back of Leverkusen’s net, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Leverkusen went completely berserk!

The Company’s Eleven began a frantic counter-attack.

Bayswater Chinese came under immense pressure. The young players were overwhelmed, forced to retreat into their own half, desperately holding on against the attacks from the Bundesliga’s Company’s Eleven.

The situation became even more dire in the 76th minute when, in Spain, S.S.C. Napoli had scored another goal through Hamšík, extending their lead to 2-0.

This meant that S.S.C. Napoli had all but secured the victory.

At this point, Leverkusen was still launching attacks.

But it was clear that head coach Dutt already knew the outcome.

In the 80th minute, Pogba, Harry Kane, and Sterling were successively brought on as substitutes.

But by now, the Leverkusen players on the pitch had probably guessed the result as well, and were playing with a sense of dejection.

In the 87th minute, a brilliant pass from Harry Kane allowed Pogba to score again against Leverkusen.

This sent Brian Kidd on the sidelines into a frenzy of excitement, and he excitedly grabbed Yang Cheng’s arm.

“Did you see that? From that angle, with two defenders around him, he could see Pogba’s forward run!”

“That awareness is just fantastic!”

Yang Cheng was used to Brian Kidd’s excitement.

Whenever a local player emerged, he would become exceptionally emotional.

Especially since Harry Kane was a forward.

The last local forward to excite him this much was Andy Carroll, wasn’t it?

But the two were clearly different.

Harry Kane was a genuine product of the youth academy of Bayswater Chinese.

“This kid didn’t spend all those years in our youth academy for nothing!” Yang Cheng laughed.

Harry Kane was only 18 now, but he had already appeared on all fronts, including the Champions League, and had scored goals.

But Yang Cheng hadn’t given him a heavy burden.

Because he didn’t have that level of strength yet, and might not be able to handle such pressure.

But Harry Kane was constantly improving, and at an increasingly fast pace.

Actually, it was no wonder Brian Kidd was so excited.

For so many years, England had never produced a modern-style centre-forward.

Note, the key here is “modern-style”.

Although Rooney played for Manchester United, his style of play was still very English.

From his debut to the present, he had relied on his powerful physique to constantly charge forward.

Harry Kane didn’t actually have Rooney’s powerful athletic talent, which was why Arsenal hadn’t considered keeping the chubby kid back then.

But this kid had a kind of tenacity, and he was very smart.

After coming to Bayswater Chinese and being immersed in the youth academy’s training, he now had excellent passing and receiving skills, and his ball control was even better than in his previous life.

But more importantly, at Bayswater Chinese, he was exposed to the most advanced football philosophies and tactical concepts in Europe. His tactical literacy and awareness were far superior to his previous life’s.

This made Harry Kane exceptionally well-rounded and versatile.

Even his physique, which was relatively poor in his childhood, was now typical of an English centre-forward.

The only relative weakness was probably the lack of a “who else but me?” attitude, which was a pity for a forward.

The most typical example was that when Harry Kane had the ball, he would often first consider if there was a more reasonable passing option, rather than having the mindset of “I’m a forward, I must shoot”.

Brian Kidd was right about one thing: he was like a combination of Bergkamp and Alan Shearer.

Yang Cheng had also considered trying to coach him differently, but a player’s style of play often stemmed from their personality.

Harry Kane’s personality was just like that, so it was difficult to make significant changes to his way of playing.

For now, they could only take it one step at a time.

Chapter 236: Off with a Bang! The Best Gift! The Cornerstone of a Top Powerhouse!

In the final round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at home.

Meanwhile, S.S.C. Napoli beat Villarreal 2-0 away.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese and S.S.C. Napoli advanced together, as the group winner and runner-up, respectively.

The Bundesliga’s Company’s Eleven dropped into the Europa League, while Villarreal was eliminated after losing all six of their matches.

Villarreal’s fate was the most lamentable.

The Yellow Submarine’s situation in La Liga this season was also quite dire.

A group stage record of six straight losses was truly embarrassing.

To a certain extent, it highlighted the developmental ceiling of the club.

Their stadium capacity was very small, the surrounding area was not a major city, and their room for growth was limited.

Coupled with the oppressive presence of La Liga’s big two, Real Madrid and Barça, The Yellow Submarine had essentially reached its peak.

Incidentally, after the group stage concluded, all four Premier League teams had advanced as group winners.

This included Manchester City and Liverpool, who had returned to the competition after many years.

It was a clear demonstration of the Premier League’s dominance.

Back in the Premier League, it was time for the fifteenth matchday.

At home, Arsenal defeated Everton 1-0 thanks to a goal from van Persie.

Liverpool scraped by Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at home with a goal from Suárez.

Chelsea, on the other hand, lost 1-2 to Manchester City at home.

To date, André Villas-Boas’s team had lost every single one of their clashes between top teams.

This round, Bayswater Chinese was facing Manchester United away, with the match scheduled for the end of the round.

Despite being the away team, Bayswater Chinese created a golden opportunity just twenty seconds after kickoff.

A brilliant pass from Modrić found Theo Walcott on the right wing. After powering past Evra, Walcott sent a low cross pass to the front of the goal.

This lightning attack threw Manchester United’s defense into chaos.

In the center, Robert Lewandowski drew the defenders’ attention, deliberately letting the ball run past him at the near post.

Gareth Bale, arriving at the far post, took a power shot with his left foot, aiming for the bottom left corner.

However, the ball struck the post and rebounded.

Gareth Bale followed up with another shot, but Ferdinand threw himself in the way for a self-sacrificing block, deflecting it out for a corner.

Bayswater Chinese had missed a heaven-sent opportunity!

This moment seemed to set the tone for the entire match.

Bayswater Chinese relentlessly pressed forward, especially down the two flanks.

This put Manchester United’s entire midfield and defense on the back foot.

But in the face of adversity, Ferdinand stepped up.

Aside from that early self-sacrificing block, the thirty-three-year-old veteran’s performance grew more and more outstanding.

In the thirtieth minute, after a beautiful exchange between Gareth Bale and Marcelo on the left flank, Bale crossed the ball into the box looking for Lewandowski.

Despite being in a poorer position than Lewandowski, Ferdinand launched himself into a diving header, fearlessly clearing the ball out of the penalty area and narrowly averting a crisis.

Then, in the forty-first minute of the first half, it was again Gareth Bale on the left, but this time he delivered a low ball to the edge of the six-yard box.

Just as Lewandowski controlled the ball and was about to shoot, Ferdinand executed a sliding block, deflecting the ball out for a corner.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Bayswater Chinese had created more chances and produced some very dangerous shots, but they had failed to score.

In the second half, the pattern of the first half continued.

Bayswater Chinese constantly orchestrated and launched attacks, while Manchester United defended with all their might.

Ferdinand’s heroic performance not only stood out on its own but also inspired David Luiz to play exceptionally well.

This made Manchester United’s entire defensive line incredibly solid.

In the sixty-second minute, taking advantage of a substitution by Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United launched a swift counter-attack.

De Rossi passed the ball to Robben upfield.

The Dutchman made a quick run in behind Marcelo, drawing the defense’s attention before laying the ball off to Rooney in the penalty area.

Little Fatty Rooney seized the opportunity inside the box, slotting the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s net with a clean finish.

1-0!

But just five minutes later, a series of quick passes between Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Toni Kroos on the left flank resulted in a low cross into the box.

Lewandowski controlled the ball, turned, and unleashed a power shot with his left foot, beating De Gea to level the score.

1-1!

After that, no matter how hard Bayswater Chinese attacked, Manchester United held firm, refusing to yield their penalty area.

Ultimately, the two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

Ferdinand was named Man of the Match!

In its post-match analysis, Sky Sports commented: “A dominant defensive performance, with numerous brilliant clearances inside his own box, neutralizing the opponent’s threatening attacks.”

At the final whistle, the more than seventy thousand Manchester United fans in Old Trafford rose to their feet, giving Ferdinand a thunderous round of applause and cheers, all chanting his name.

For a thirty-three-year-old veteran, this was an immense honor.

But he deserved it!

He contributed an astonishing twenty-one clearances throughout the match.

Twenty-one!

When Yang Cheng saw that number, he couldn’t imagine how the thirty-three-year-old veteran had managed it.

Inspired by him, David Luiz contributed thirteen clearances, Phil Jones nine, and Evra six.

In other words, Manchester United’s backline contributed a total of forty-nine clearances in this match.

That’s one clearance every two minutes.

As Sky Sports put it, “It wasn’t that Bayswater Chinese played poorly, but that today, Manchester United’s midfield and defense, in their home stadium, were in phenomenal form!”

“Without a doubt, Manchester United’s defense today reminded us of their peak years.”

Sky Sports believed the key was Ferdinand being completely revitalized.

It was difficult for a thirty-three-year-old veteran to maintain a high level of performance for an entire season, but Ferguson’s use of him and Vidić was interesting—he had them rotate, partnering David Luiz.

Phil Jones, in this match, was deployed on the right flank.

In front of them was the duo of Carrick and De Rossi.

This made Manchester United’s defensive line exceptionally tight.

In the post-match press conference, Ferguson singled out Ferdinand for praise, stating that he was still one of the team’s most important players.

As for the 1-1 draw at home against Bayswater Chinese, judging from the expression on Ferguson’s face, he didn’t seem overly disappointed. It appeared to be within his expectations.

He even seemed to feel that it was a pretty good result.

This, in turn, indirectly highlighted the strength of Bayswater Chinese.

After all, this was Old Trafford.

Here, Manchester United always aimed for all three points.

…

Although it was a 1-1 away draw with Manchester United, Yang Cheng’s mood was unaffected.

There was a full week’s break between the fifteenth and sixteenth Premier League matchdays.

For Bayswater Chinese, who had been playing two games a week since the start of the season, this was a much-needed opportunity to rest. As such, Yang Cheng gave the players two days off in one go.

The main reason was that the remaining two league matches before Christmas were against Stoke City and Norwich, both at home, so Yang Cheng was quite confident.

Midweek, Bayswater Chinese arranged a club commercial event.

The event was scheduled for the afternoon. First, they gathered at the Brent training center and took the team bus from the Brent training ground to the new stadium in Bayswater, London.

There were still over six months until the new stadium was set to open.

Currently, the stadium’s roof was complete, the exterior facade was fully installed, and the interior decoration was more than halfway done.

The stadium’s most eye-catching feature, the circular double-sided screen, had already been manufactured and was currently being shipped to London. The remaining steps were installation and testing.

In addition, the stadium’s retractable pitch mechanism had successfully passed its trials and received approval from Bayswater Chinese and the team of experts.

What remained were some interior decorations, the setup of commercial facilities, and the finishing touches on the VIP boxes, sky bar, and so on.

All of this would require a considerable amount of time.

When the Bayswater Chinese contingent, dressed in uniform Burberry haute couture suits, appeared at Prudential Stadium, they immediately attracted the attention of the media who had gathered upon hearing the news.

And as the players entered the new stadium, Yang Cheng clearly heard a collective “Wow!” from all of them.

Everyone looked utterly shocked and amazed!

“It’s huge, my God!”

“Is this really going to be our home ground in the future?”

“I thought it would be about the size of Wembley Stadium, but looking at it now, it’s much bigger than Wembley.”

Hearing the players’ reactions, Yang Cheng smiled and offered an explanation.

“The capacity is actually similar to Wembley, estimated to be just over ninety thousand. But the seats in our stadium will be slightly wider than Wembley’s, providing a more comfortable viewing experience for the fans.”

“Also, look at the stands all around. The aisles are quite spacious. Even the seats in the uppermost tier, under the roof, offer an excellent view.”

“This is, in European football—no, in the entire world—an absolutely super five-star luxury stadium!”

Yang Cheng grew enthusiastic, feeling very proud of the stadium he had initiated. He immediately took on the role of a tour guide, introducing the various parts of the stadium to the players.

At this moment, the pitch had not yet been laid, and three cranes were still operating inside the stadium.

The site was covered with all sorts of cables and pipes.

Full WiFi coverage, and in winter, after the roof is closed, the heating will be turned on—a first for any stadium in the world.

Once the new stadium is fully operational, all any fan will need is a smartphone. From purchasing tickets and checking in to ordering food and making all sorts of other purchases, everything can be done through a single app.

Bayswater Chinese was even preparing to trial a “delivery” mechanism.

This means fans could order food from their seats and choose to either pick it up or have it delivered to the stands by a “delivery person.”

This could greatly alleviate the pressure on the commercial areas during halftime.

Of course, delivery would incur an extra fee.

In addition, the new stadium boasted the largest commercial area ever.

Since it was involved in the planning from the very beginning, the layout and design of the entire commercial zone were far more rational than any other stadium’s, achieving a level of efficiency that other stadiums would find hard to match.

As for the dressing rooms, which the players were most concerned about, both the home and away dressing rooms were very large and fully equipped.

In this regard, Bayswater Chinese was quite magnanimous.

At least they weren’t like some clubs that made their home dressing room perfect while leaving the away one extremely shabby.

In Yang Cheng’s words, “A club of our stature, Bayswater Chinese, disdains such petty tricks!”

Not only were the Bayswater Chinese players stunned, but the reporters accompanying the team were also deeply shocked.

Even though they had seen all kinds of stadiums, they had never seen one as dreamlike as this.

It had a sci-fi feel to it!

Especially when compared to the London Bowl in East London…

Never mind, it’s better not to say. There was no comparison; they were in different generations.

The seats and so on had not yet been installed, but that didn’t stop the players, reporters, and new media team staff from taking a frenzy of photos. In the end, Yang Cheng led the players in a group photo with the construction workers on site.

All the players were incredibly awed by the new stadium and full of anticipation.

Especially Modrić.

“Boss, we’re finally going to have our own stadium!” Modrić said, his nose tingling as he blinked hard.

Many players present felt a wave of emotion upon hearing his words.

Actually, Modrić was one of the luckier ones.

His first season with Bayswater Chinese was played at the old stadium.

But after that, the team had to find stadiums to rent everywhere.

First, it was Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road Stadium, and then Wembley Stadium.

Many players who joined later had only ever played in rented stadiums; some had never even seen Bayswater Stadium, except in photos and descriptions from their teammates.

To this day, Bayswater Chinese had been wandering for eight years!

The new stadium was finally coming!

Yang Cheng laughed and put his arm around Modrić’s shoulder, reaching out with his other hand to pull Brian Kidd closer. They were his earliest and most trusted right-hand men, and they had witnessed Bayswater Chinese’s past firsthand.

Now, everything the team had achieved was a credit to them!

“Yeah, we’re going to have our own stadium!”

Yang Cheng was also deeply moved.

“I remember back when we decided to sell everything we owned to build this stadium, I said that we must become the best team in the world, a top-tier powerhouse!”

“Now, our new stadium is about to be completed, and we’ll be moving in next season!”

“Lads, I’ve done my part. Now it’s up to you!”

Yang Cheng’s simple words seemed to ignite a fire within all the players present, filling them with soaring fighting spirit.

Especially players like Modrić and Gareth Bale—they had truly waited for this stadium for far too long!

Therefore, they were determined to give their all to present the best possible gift for the stadium’s inauguration!

…

After the tour of the new stadium, the team did not leave Prudential Stadium but went directly to the adjacent Bvlgari Hotels.

As night fell, the lights of the Bvlgari Hotels switched on.

It was a hotel with a typical Italian design, exuding luxury through its simplicity.

The lights were bright but didn’t give off an ostentatious feeling.

The hotel’s exterior was a masterpiece by Norman Foster, blending seamlessly with Prudential Stadium and Queensway outside.

But the interior was designed by the Italian national treasure, Antonio Citterio, who was also Bvlgari’s designated designer, responsible for the previous two Bvlgari hotels.

The collaboration of two national treasure-level designers, combining their talents on the exterior and interior, created this boutique hotel on London’s Queensway.

But in reality, the Bvlgari Hotels had not yet officially opened.

Even the renovations weren’t complete.

They had only finished decorating the ground floor lobby and the second floor first.

The same designer gave every Bvlgari hotel a highly recognizable identity.

For example, the iconic handcrafted bronze oval bar served as the lobby lounge during the day and a stylish bar at night, always a favorite among guests.

At this moment, bartenders specially invited from the Bvlgari hotels in Milan and Bali were busy behind the bar, serving the invited VIPs.

The lobby floor tiles featured the eight-pointed star, a unique Bvlgari symbol.

From the lobby to the guest rooms, all the furniture was from Italian luxury brands.

When Yang Cheng and his group walked into the lobby, they were instantly captivated by this distinctive Italian luxury.

One had to admit, the Italian luxury brand had an impeccable sense of style.

“See that crystal chandelier?”

Adam Crozier immediately came over when he saw Yang Cheng approaching. After greeting the players, he pulled Yang Cheng aside and pointed to a massive crystal chandelier above the spiral staircase.

“A handcrafted, mouth-blown crystal chandelier from Italy. The brand has a history of over seven hundred years.”

“The rooftop has been turned into a private garden sanctuary and a sky pool. The restaurant is three-Michelin-starred. I heard from their manager that the bartenders are all world-renowned masters.”

“Go upstairs and check out the guest rooms later. All the marble, wood, and furniture are from well-known luxury brands, and the craftsmanship is stunning.”

Yang Cheng found it amusing.

Was Adam Crozier planning to become a die-hard Bvlgari fan?

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just lamenting that our so-called VIP boxes, compared to real luxury like this, make us look like country bumpkins!”

On this point, Yang Cheng wholeheartedly agreed.

“There’s indeed a lot we can learn from them.”

“I’ve already spoken with them. We’ll collaborate. In addition to staff training, our VIP clients will be able to order food directly from them,” Adam Crozier said with a chuckle.

This was another excellent revenue stream.

Yang Cheng remembered that One Hyde Park, the world-famous luxury residence, offered a similar service—residents could order food directly from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel across the street.

One had to admit, making money off the super-rich required killing a few brain cells.

But for Bayswater Chinese, having a luxury neighbor like Bvlgari was an opportunity that had to be capitalized on.

This was precisely why Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had gone to great lengths to bring the Bvlgari Hotels here in the first place!

…

For an ultra-luxury brand like Bvlgari Hotels, they conduct a series of promotional and marketing activities before a hotel’s opening.

But it was distinctly different from ordinary publicity.

For example, they directly liaised with partner banks and airlines to attract their high-net-worth VIP clients.

They also held various pop-up events at famous yacht marinas like London’s Canary Wharf, Nice in France, and Monaco.

Additionally, they targeted car owners’ clubs for luxury brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, as well as high-end golf and tennis clubs across England and Europe.

In short, they precisely targeted their desired clientele.

But in terms of public opinion, there was absolutely no buzz.

It was only at a preview event like tonight’s that everyone was surprised to find the attendees were almost exclusively business elites, tycoons, and political and business celebrities from England, and even Europe, including government officials and consulate members.

But it wasn’t just them. There were also world-famous celebrities, top media executives, fashion bloggers, and top travel bloggers.

Of course, at such a high-end occasion, world-renowned artists and designers, and other cultural elites, were also present.

The second floor of the hotel had been temporarily converted into a limited-time exhibition hall.

In a few days, just before Christmas, Bvlgari would host a two-month-long “Bvlgari: 125 Years of Italian Magnificence” exhibition here.

All the exhibits were carefully selected works of art, each representing the design style and characteristics of a significant historical period since Bvlgari’s founding in 1884, truly immortal masterpieces in the fields of Italian cultural art and jewelry design.

There were over six hundred items in total.

And tonight was a preview event specially prepared for this group of invited super VIPs.

The number of people was not large, but every single one was a highly influential elite in their respective fields.

The entire Bayswater Chinese first team received invitations.

Logically, culture and art didn’t seem to have much to do with football.

But in Europe, football holds a very high social influence and status.

Bvlgari had been exploring the Asian market in recent years and naturally placed great importance on Bayswater Chinese, a Premier League powerhouse with immense influence in Asia.

To put it simply, in terms of branding, Bayswater Chinese was leveraging Bvlgari, but in terms of market development, it was the other way around.

It was a transactional affair.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing walked side by side through the second-floor exhibition hall, admiring Bvlgari’s exquisite designs.

One had to admit, every piece was a work of art.

The political and business celebrities and elites from all walks of life were captivated.

Especially their female companions.

Xia Qing was no exception.

After looking around, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing returned to the coffee area on the first floor.

Many people there recognized Yang Cheng and came over to greet him.

He was no longer just a celebrity in the football world; he had also built a good network in the entertainment, fashion, and art circles, and even in the financial world.

In public, one had to show some taste, but privately, after a quick calculation, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but admire the style, or rather, the scheme, of these ultra-luxury brands.

A preview event like tonight’s didn’t have many people, but its influence was immense.

The news would surely be all over the place by tomorrow.

But that wasn’t the most important part. The key was the upcoming art exhibition.

It would run for two months, open to the public, but with an admission fee.

Some might say, isn’t that a bit tacky?

Charging for an art exhibition?

That would lower the brand’s prestige.

Correct!

Therefore, their art exhibition was in collaboration with the international charity organization, Save the Children. All ticket proceeds would be donated to this organization to help children worldwide receive better education.

See? The prestige was instantly elevated.

On one hand, they charged a hefty ticket price, raising the bar for the art exhibition and precisely targeting their future potential customers. On the other hand, they donated to a charity, once again earning a good reputation. The future customers who came to see the exhibition were also very satisfied.

“When it comes to creating Emotional value, these ultra-luxury brands are the real masters!” The more Yang Cheng thought about it, the more brilliant he found it.

“Just now, Adam Crozier said that compared to them, we’re just country bumpkins.”

Xia Qing giggled but had to admit it was true.

“Our methods are different from theirs, but there are indeed many things worth learning,” Xia Qing said with a smile.

Yang Cheng nodded, pointing to Adam Crozier in the distance, flitting about like a butterfly in a flower garden. Yang Cheng had to admit that the guy was perfectly suited for such occasions and was very popular.

“Look at him. When he first said he wanted to set the starting price for VIP boxes at one hundred thousand pound sterling, everyone thought he was crazy. But after all his messing around, he actually managed to pull it off.”

Just a few days ago, Adam Crozier had reported the latest results to Yang Cheng.

Out of 250 VIP boxes, 200 had already been sold.

And more than half of them were on contracts of at least three years.

These were boxes that started at a minimum of one hundred thousand pound sterling!

But don’t think that Bayswater Chinese was making a huge profit.

Not at all!

Revenue was definitely up, but the actual profit was hard to say.

According to Adam Crozier’s preliminary estimates, the fees from the boxes would likely just cover the costs. They would make money purely from value-added services, and the profit margin wasn’t as high as one might think.

For one thing, if you charge one hundred thousand pound sterling for a box, you have to provide top-notch service, right?

The various amenities, staff, and both hardware and software—all these things combined made the current costs very high.

But firstly, this was a long-term business. As long as they built a good reputation, they wouldn’t have to worry about future income.

Secondly, this was just the beginning, wasn’t it?

As they operated longer and smoothed out various processes, many costs could be gradually reduced.

Finally, there was the huge chunk of profit from value-added services.

Based on the current situation at Wembley Stadium, the ratio of box fees to value-added services was about 1-to-1.

So, the profit potential in this area was still very considerable.

It was the same principle as how Bvlgari operated its hotels.

Could they afford the annual rent of ten million pound sterling and so many labor costs just from room fees?

Don’t be ridiculous, that’s basically impossible!

Ultimately, many of these ultra-luxury hotels might not even be profitable.

Or rather, they weren’t that easy to make profitable.

But once they succeeded, once the brand was established, there were plenty of ways to make money.

Yang Cheng had also heard something, though he didn’t know if it was true.

It was said that three-Michelin-star restaurants weren’t very profitable either.

But the owners of three-Michelin-star restaurants often also ran another, slightly less upscale restaurant, which was actually more profitable.

The logic was basically the same.

“Qing, remember to tell your parents and Xia Xi’s family in advance. Make sure they all book time off to come to London for the Olympics in August. My parents will definitely be coming too.”

The opening of the new stadium was a huge day!

Yang Jianguo and his department store would open at the same time, so he would definitely be there.

At that time, with the stadium, department store, Apple store, The Peninsula Hotels, and Bvlgari Hotels all opening simultaneously, plus the Olympics going on, it would definitely be a lively scene.

Right now, Bayswater Chinese and the other four partners had already begun preparations and planning. They wanted to make a resounding success in front of tourists from all over the world during the Olympics!

Yang Cheng was also putting all his effort into it now.

He was striving to get great results for Bayswater Chinese this year.

At the very least, the Premier League title was a must-win for him!

…

The preview event at the Bvlgari Hotels in West London quickly spread like wildfire overnight, just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Major media outlets, fashion magazines, and even television stations all reported on the grand event.

They also mentioned the upcoming two-month art exhibition.

According to an official statement from the Bvlgari Hotels, after the art exhibition, they would host other limited-time exhibitions in collaboration with famous artists from around the world.

This was all to build anticipation for the hotel’s upcoming grand opening.

While the outside world was buzzing, there was also a lot of discussion within Bayswater Chinese.

For one thing, it was the first time the players had been in such a high-class, stylish venue. It was inevitable that they would find it novel, and some even felt a bit inadequate.

For example, Marcelo, usually the most flamboyant, complained that if he had known he was going to such an event, he would have gotten rid of his afro.

“I went to see works of art with an afro, I must be crazy!”

The poor Brazilian was probably heartbroken.

Toni Kroos, on the other hand, was as calm and composed as ever, getting straight to the point.

“There’s no need to overreact. Our art is on the pitch, not in a display case.”

One had to admit, that sentence did a good job of soothing the wounded hearts of his teammates.

But Marcelo had already made up his mind. He was going to get rid of his beloved afro.

Because after Christmas, The Peninsula Hotels would also be hosting some artistic and cultural events, and Bayswater Chinese was invited.

“From now on, I’m going to be a gentleman of taste!” Marcelo shouted at the top of his lungs.

But no one believed him.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The Peninsula Hotels was also a very high-class establishment. Although they wouldn’t be holding an art exhibition like Bvlgari, it would likely still be a high-end event.

Yang Cheng hoped that the players of Bayswater Chinese could experience more of these kinds of occasions, be more influenced by them, and cultivate a bit of artistic flair, combining it with their already excellent athletic physiques.

Perhaps they could really cross over into the mainstream.

Didn’t David Beckham slowly make his way into the entertainment industry in a similar fashion back in the day?

Unfortunately, as Yang Cheng looked over his entire squad, it seemed there was no one who could compete with David Beckham in terms of looks.

If worse comes to worst, I, the head coach, will have to step up myself!

…

On the afternoon of December 17th, at Wembley Stadium, London.

After a week of rest, especially the two-day holiday Yang Cheng had given them, all the players were content.

Recharged and ready, they faced Stoke City at home over the weekend.

This was the sixteenth matchday of the Premier League.

Just two minutes into the game, an assist from Modrić helped Robert Lewandowski break through Stoke City’s goal.

Tony Pulis’s team was stunned right from the start.

Afterward, Stoke City managed to hold on for twenty minutes, but they still couldn’t keep them out.

In the twenty-third minute, Gareth Bale suddenly appeared in the center. After receiving a lay-off from Lewandowski, he unleashed a powerful right-footed power shot from the right side of the arc of the penalty area, finding the back of Stoke City’s net.

2-0!

The first half ended with a two-goal lead.

But after the break, in the sixty-first minute, Modrić scored another goal.

The Croatian made an overlapping run, received a cross pass from Di María on the right, and scored from inside the penalty area.

In the seventy-third minute, Modrić delivered another brilliant pass. Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and hit a power shot into the far corner.

4-0!

Then, in the eighty-second minute, Marcelo made a diagonal pass from the left half-space. Di María, on the right side of the penalty area, stopped sharply, beat a defender, and scored with a left-footed power shot.

5-0!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a resounding 5-0 victory at home against Stoke City, a thoroughly satisfying win!

In this round, Chelsea drew 1-1 away with Wigan Athletic.

Manchester United defeated Queens Park Rangers 2-0 away.

Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 away.

Due to Arsenal’s participation in the Club World Cup, the match between Manchester City and Arsenal at City’s home ground was played earlier, ending in a 1-1 draw.

The Blue Moons’ failure to beat The Gunners at home made Yang Cheng very happy.

…

Three days later, Premier League matchday 17.

Bayswater Chinese continued to play at home, this time against newly promoted team Norwich.

This time, Norwich adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, defending with all their might, trying to contain Bayswater Chinese’s attack with tireless running and interceptions.

But they only managed to hold out for half an hour.

In the thirty-second minute, after a marauding run down the right flank, Kyle Walker assisted Theo Walcott, who scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

After halftime, in the fifty-first minute, Hazard dribbled down the left and provided an assist for Aaron Ramsey, who made an overlapping run and scored another goal, extending the lead.

2-0!

In the sixty-eighth minute, it was again Hazard’s dribbling that disrupted Norwich’s defense. Javi Martínez, making an overlapping run, scored with a long shot, once again beating the Norwich keeper.

3-0!

Afterward, taking advantage of a series of substitutions by Bayswater Chinese, Norwich scored a goal in the eighty-first minute.

But in the eighty-eighth minute, a poacher’s finish from Harry Kane inside the box extended the lead once again.

4-1!

And in stoppage time, from a long pass by Vincent Kompany, Pogba scored with a header from the left side of the penalty area, directing the ball just inside the left post.

5-1!

Bayswater Chinese had secured another big win.

Notably, substitutes Harry Kane and Pogba each scored a goal.

Anyone could see that after two years of development and training, these two young players were performing at a very high level, and their progress was evident.

In addition, Sterling had also begun to show his potential this season.

It could be said that Bayswater Chinese’s squad depth was beginning to show its strength.

In this round, apart from Arsenal’s match being postponed due to their participation in the Club World Cup, all the other teams’ matches were decided.

Manchester City defeated Stoke City 3-0 at home, with Agüero scoring twice.

Liverpool, meanwhile, secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Wigan Athletic, thanks to a goal from Rakitić.

Incidentally, before the season, many people questioned whether it was worth it for Liverpool to sign Rakitić for such a high transfer fee.

But in the league, everyone discovered that Rakitić had quickly become Liverpool’s core midfielder, and he frequently scored crucial, game-changing goals.

Many had originally thought Rakitić was bought to be Gerrard’s successor.

But now, Rakitić’s performance was even better than Gerrard’s.

How many times had he scored a goal to secure all three points for Liverpool?

That role had always been played by Gerrard in the past.

Many media outlets praised Rakitić’s excellent performance, and at the same time, it once again confirmed a rumor in European football.

Players from Bayswater Chinese were generally reliable.

At the very least, their quality was never in question.

What?

Andy Carroll?

That was mainly due to the player digging his own grave.

Besides, look at the chaotic situation at Chelsea in recent years. Which young player had managed to break through?

In this round, Manchester United thrashed Fulham 5-0 away in West London.

Chelsea, on the other hand, drew 1-1 away with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues still couldn’t seem to get out of their slump.

Rumors were rampant that André Villas-Boas could be sacked at any moment.

After seventeen matches, Bayswater Chinese had 47 points from 15 wins and 2 draws, maintaining their unbeaten record.

Bayswater Chinese was also the only team in Europe that remained unbeaten so far.

Manchester City followed closely with 45 points in second place.

Manchester United was in third with 44 points.

Since Arsenal had a game in hand, Liverpool moved into fourth place this round with 42 points.

The Gunners were in fifth with 41 points.

Chelsea had only managed 27 points and remained in 7th place.

Between them was Tottenham Hotspur with 30 points.

Incidentally, Queens Park Rangers had 1 draw and 4 losses in their last 5 rounds, stuck in the relegation zone with only 14 points, placing them 18th in the Premier League.

Behind them were Bolton with 12 points and Blackburn Rovers with 10.

Both Bolton and Blackburn Rovers had performed very poorly this season.

…

After the seventeenth round, the Premier League took a temporary break for the Christmas holiday.

Yang Cheng and the players all began to get busy with their own activities.

The club systematically carried out various Christmas activities, including sending players in different groups to orphanages, children’s hospitals, and nursing homes to participate in various charity events.

These were annual Christmas traditions.

There were also activities with community fan clubs.

Not just around Brent, but also near Bayswater, in areas like Notting Hill.

The residents of these areas were future potential customers for Bayswater Chinese, and for the past several years, not a single year had been missed.

And then there was the annual Christmas dinner.

The biggest and most explosive news this year, of course, was when Adam Crozier proudly told everyone that Bayswater Chinese’s revenue this season would definitely surpass Real Madrid’s.

“We will become the highest-earning football club in the world!”

This energized all the players and their families present.

But what truly excited them was when Yang Cheng went on stage to speak on behalf of the club and solemnly announced that starting next season, the club would initiate another round of contract renewals.

And a key factor in these renewals would be the players’ performance in the remaining half of this season!

Current salaries would of course be considered, but their contribution to the team would also be a major criterion.

Although Yang Cheng didn’t publicly announce specific figures, everyone had heard some whispers.

According to convention, the next renewals would have to offer a top salary of at least one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling.

It’s worth noting that although the Premier League pays a weekly wage, it’s for all fifty-two weeks, totaling an annual salary of 7.8 million pound sterling.

At the current exchange rate of 1.25 pounds to the euro, that was nearly ten million euro a year!

This was almost catching up to Messi and C. Ronaldo of La Liga’s big two.

Currently, Messi’s annual salary was around eleven million euro, and C. Ronaldo’s was twelve million euro.

This was already the highest tier at La Liga’s big two.

And now, Bayswater Chinese was also going to offer an annual salary close to ten million euro, which was undoubtedly to reassure the players.

In the past, they had tightened their belts and suppressed player salaries, all for the new stadium.

Now, the club’s revenue had surpassed Real Madrid’s, and the new stadium was about to be completed. With a surge in income, it would be unreasonable not to renew players’ contracts and give them raises.

Playing the emotional card too often could sometimes lead to problems.

Besides, not everyone would be given a weekly wage of one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling.

According to the salary structure planned by Yang Cheng and designed by Xia Qing, the top salary of one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling, which was about 9.7 million euro, was actually very competitive in European football.

The first tier would be between one hundred and twenty thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand pound sterling.

The number of players in this tier would be strictly controlled and wouldn’t be too large. The younger players in the team wouldn’t immediately receive such high salaries.

The second tier would be between sixty thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand pound sterling.

This tier would form the mainstream middle class of Bayswater Chinese.

Below sixty thousand pound sterling would be the third tier, mainly for young players and substitutes.

According to Xia Qing’s preliminary calculations, by renewing contracts with players in this tiered manner, the club’s salary expenditure could continue to be controlled at around 45% in the coming years.

In European football, this was a very healthy expenditure.

However, if you considered the additional staff hired for the new stadium, such as operations personnel for the VIP boxes, the salary expenditure was expected to be around 50%, which was still very healthy.

Overall, Yang Cheng’s on-field tactics and style of play were very aggressive, focusing on attacking football.

But in terms of finances, Xia Qing’s strategy was very conservative and cautious.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s average salary had always been at the bottom among the Premier League’s top six teams.

This time, Yang Cheng’s proposal to renew contracts next season was undoubtedly the biggest motivation for the team.

Combined with a series of championship bonus schemes introduced by the club, the players were all fired up, clearly full of fighting spirit.

Even the usually low-key and taciturn Modrić took the initiative to go on stage and call on his teammates to strive for better results as a gift for the new stadium!

“By August, we will have a stadium that belongs entirely to us, to Bayswater Chinese!”

Modrić spoke with emotion, and many players present were moved.

Yang Cheng was also deeply touched.

Unconsciously, the Croatian had been with Bayswater Chinese for nearly nine years.

He had grown from a budding teenager into one of the top midfielders in European football today, but he was already twenty-six years old.

In nine years, he had personally witnessed this club struggle its way up from the third division, from being heavily in debt to becoming a top European powerhouse.

The hardships experienced along the way were something others could never know.

As the team captain, Modrić knew better than anyone how difficult the journey had been.

Now, the bitterness was finally turning to sweetness!

The new stadium was finally about to be completed!

It was not only the cornerstone of Bayswater Chinese becoming a top European powerhouse, but also its symbol!

Chapter 237: Technology is the Primary Productive Force! A Winter International Champions Cup! Ferguson, What Do You Say?

Before the Christmas holiday began, Yang Cheng had one more important matter to attend to.

Injuries.

For the past few years, England had been hit with severe cold weather every winter.

This year was no exception, though it wasn’t as bad as the previous years.

The extreme weather coincided with the Premier League’s most congested period of fixtures. One can imagine the immense test it posed for all teams, especially for a club like Bayswater Chinese, which was competing on multiple fronts.

After experiencing an injury crisis before, Yang Cheng had increased investment in the sports science department over the past two years, placing a growing emphasis on injuries.

To put it simply, the amount Bayswater Chinese spent annually on its sports science department—sending them to exhibitions, seminars, and other events around the world to absorb advanced technology and experience—would absolutely shock their peers if made public.

No team had ever been willing to invest such enormous funds and energy in this area as Bayswater Chinese had.

But an athlete’s body is a wondrous thing.

Often, investment alone is not enough to prevent injuries.

Before the Christmas holiday, Yang Cheng held a meeting with the sports science department in Brent, primarily to discuss the schedule for Christmas and the winter break, as well as injury prevention.

They also communicated about the current situation regarding injuries, prevention, and physical therapy at Bayswater Chinese.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had primarily used the “traffic light system” developed by performance analyst Thad Foucher and fitness coach Oliver Bartlett for physical training and injury prevention.

Simply put, players were categorized into red, green, and yellow zones based on an assessment of their physical condition.

As the names suggest, the red zone meant they couldn’t play, the yellow zone indicated a risk, and the green zone meant they were healthy.

The Bayswater Chinese’ traffic light system had achieved remarkable results over the years.

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett were repeatedly invited by The Premier League and The FA to give lectures.

Now, almost the entire Premier League, and even lower-tier leagues like the Championship, had adopted this evaluation system from Bayswater Chinese, and the effects were obvious.

However, this system was more about assessing a player’s physical condition.

Broadly speaking, it assessed a player’s fatigue level.

Everyone knows that fatigue is a very important cause of injuries.

But it is only one of them.

Among the older generation of football people, there was a rule of thumb.

No matter how old a player is when he starts playing, no matter how many matches he plays, 500 matches is a kind of limit for them.

This limit doesn’t mean they can only play 500 games.

It means that even for very hardworking and diligent players, their form would decline rapidly after playing 500 matches.

This, of course, was something built purely on experience, without much scientific basis.

But the underlying logic still related to the player’s body.

To some extent, everyone believes that the human body has its limits.

The earlier a player starts competing and the more they play in their early years, the problems might not be apparent when they are young. But once they suffer a slightly more serious injury, or reach a certain age, their body will weaken as rapidly as an avalanche.

Take Sterling, for example.

He was currently playing very well for Bayswater Chinese, even more brilliantly and dazzlingly than when he debuted in his previous life.

But Yang Cheng was still unwilling to give him a heavy burden, instead constantly having him play as a substitute to accumulate match experience.

As long as he maintained his current momentum of progress and could be kept satisfied, Yang Cheng would not let him play too many games.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Sterling’s 500-game limit occurred when he was twenty-seven.

After that, fans in 2024 would have witnessed for themselves what Sterling became.

Of course, this wasn’t some dark art.

Take another example: Luke Shaw.

Anyone who mentions Luke Shaw would surely remember his stunning debut at Southampton—that speed, that impact, that physique, that crossing and long passing ability…

Manchester United truly broke the bank to sign him.

Many people believe Luke Shaw’s decline was due to his leg break.

That’s not wrong, but even before the leg break, Luke Shaw was already showing problems.

Luke Shaw, born in 1995, played for Southampton in the FA Cup during the 2011/12 season, but only for thirteen minutes as a substitute.

In the 2012/13 season, he came on as a substitute in the tenth round, started from the eleventh, and then firmly established his place.

He ended up playing twenty-five Premier League games, two League Cup games, and one FA Cup game.

He only played one FA Cup game because Southampton was knocked out in the third round.

In the 2013/14 season, he made thirty-five Premier League appearances for Southampton and played three FA Cup games, almost all as a starter playing the full match.

He was also selected for the England national team and the England U21 squad.

He was only eighteen at the time.

And the result?

In the 2014/15 season, after moving to Manchester United for a high fee, Luke Shaw suffered four injuries in one year.

Excluding the facial injury that kept him out for ten days at the end of the season, the other three were two hamstring strains and one ankle injury. These three injuries caused him to be sidelined for 111 days, missing thirty games.

After that came the leg break in September 2015.

From then on, it was clear that Luke Shaw had become completely ‘made of glass,’ suffering recurring injuries every season.

Later, according to the conclusions of relevant authoritative experts, the leg break did have an impact on Luke Shaw, but after a year of rest and recovery, his leg had basically healed.

The real problem was that the after-effects of the serious injury weakened his body’s muscles.

The injuries accumulated throughout his career would then intertwine, creating a compound effect.

The characteristic of football players is that they are always working near the limits of their physiological capabilities.

In layman’s terms, both training and matches demand that players give their all.

Working at their limits, a player in Luke Shaw’s situation could easily enter the danger zone of physical overload. Coupled with the compound effect, his body repeatedly broke down.

And one can only imagine the state of Manchester United’s medical standards in those years.

Another case in point is Robben, who was injury-prone at Chelsea and Real Madrid.

Even now at Manchester United, he was still injury-prone.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, while at Bayern Munich, though he was still fragile, he played well and his availability was decent.

The key lay in the coordination between the medical team and the coaching staff to effectively manage the player’s training load and match intensity.

At first glance, this sounds simple. Isn’t it just about making specific arrangements for a particular player?

But anyone familiar with the current European football scene, or who understands giants like Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, and Arsenal, would find that almost no club can achieve this.

Or rather, they can do it after a player gets injured, but not before.

Why?

This is the dilemma currently facing sports science in European professional football.

Money!

Returning to the traffic light system, why did it become popular so quickly?

Because the investment is low, but the returns are high.

But most importantly, it has a standardized set of averages and criteria.

Simply put, a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire squad!

This eliminates the need for too much manpower and resources; at most, they would hire two or three people to handle assessments and evaluations.

But facts have proven time and again that every player is unique.

The same training method might be a remedy for Player A but poison for Player B.

This requires treating each player as an individual and tailoring programs to their specific situations.

But that requires more staff, more resources, and more money.

It even requires long-term tracking.

Take one of the most basic things, for instance: running.

A player’s running in a single match involves numerous factors.

Which runs are effective, which are ineffective, which are high-intensity, which are low-intensity, which are at a constant pace, which are shuttle sprints…

Even something as simple as a turn could affect a player.

Don’t think it’s absurd.

According to joint research by the Bayswater Chinese sports science department, Loughborough University, and Oxford University, the position most prone to anterior cruciate ligament injuries is not forward or midfielder, but centre-back.

Why?

Because centre-backs frequently need to turn at high speed.

When a player plants their studs in the grass and twists their body, the ACL of the supporting leg is stretched to its limit.

This is especially high-risk when the player is fatigued or during a period of two games a week.

The solution proposed by the expert panel was to strengthen the quadriceps and hamstrings to stabilize the knee joint, reducing the probability of ACL injuries.

There were also some balance, flexibility, and strength training exercises.

All these can only prevent, and reduce the chance of injury.

For the current European giants, they simply have no interest in investing so much money in researching these things.

Investing so much every year is less cost-effective than saving up to buy another star player.

At the very least, a star player can bring more advertising revenue to the club and attract more fans.

Injured?

Just replace him!

They are interested in standardized, one-size-fits-all systems like the traffic light system, which require little investment, yield high returns, and show quick results.

But when it comes to long-term investment, to specifically “care for” and “view” players as individuals, they become reluctant.

As it stands, apart from Bayswater Chinese, almost all teams are like this.

Often, even the players themselves are unaware of this disparity.

Just recently, Rakitić had called Yang Cheng to talk about his situation at Liverpool, complaining that only after joining Liverpool did he realize their training and medical facilities were stuck in the last century.

For this reason, he even went to Mancini and told him what equipment the club should acquire and what measures to take…

In the end, the extravagantly wealthy new owners decided to expand Liverpool’s training ground and wanted to bring in a series of new equipment. They would be coming down to London after Christmas to learn from Bayswater Chinese.

So, in this respect, the foreign-owned Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal were actually doing the best.

…

The purpose of Yang Cheng’s meeting with the sports science department this time was twofold: first, to emphasize their importance.

Second, to learn about their latest progress.

Thad Foucher told Yang Cheng that they had recently been conducting joint research with Loughborough University, focusing on players’ hamstring issues.

This type of injury accounts for about 25% of all injuries among professional players in the Premier League and nearly half of all muscle injuries.

A very important reason for this is that the pace of Premier League matches is getting faster and faster, and there has been a significant increase in players’ sprint speeds, distances, and the frequency of acceleration and deceleration.

In this aspect, Bayswater Chinese ranked the highest.

Therefore, relatively speaking, Bayswater Chinese players were also at the greatest risk.

Because of this, Yang Cheng attached extreme importance to this project.

As the players gradually aged, injury prevention has been elevated to an even higher level.

The current research was already very in-depth.

For example, studies have found that players who have previously strained their hamstring accumulate scar tissue in the muscle.

This means that the scar tissue does not stretch in the exact same way as the muscle, becoming a weak point in the muscle itself.

Thad Foucher made a very vivid analogy.

“The hamstring is like a rope with a small defect. Even if we repair it, once the weight placed on the rope reaches a certain point, it will break at the defect.”

“The same goes for the hamstring.”

Yang Cheng understood. “So, is there any way to prevent it?”

“It’s still under research. For now, it’s the old methods: appropriately control their load and ensure they get effective recovery after every training session and match.”

Thad Foucher paused, then continued, “We are considering working with Loughborough University to develop a tracking and monitoring program to assess hamstring muscle strength. Using their peak condition as a baseline, we will track and monitor the players’ hamstring strength over the long term to understand their muscle status.”

“But this requires extensive testing and long-term monitoring, so we are still pushing this project forward.”

For Bayswater Chinese, the biggest obstacle in carrying out such projects was not funding or resources.

It was the players.

If they had to undergo tedious tests after every training session and every match, the players would be very resistant.

Especially when they are healthy.

People are like that; when they’re not sick or injured, they don’t pay much attention to their health.

Players are human too, and they are no different.

Therefore, to get the players to cooperate, the monitoring and assessment methods needed to be as simple as possible.

This was a true test of the team’s scientific research level and professional capabilities.

But if it succeeded, it would benefit not just Bayswater Chinese.

This accounted for 25% of all injuries to professional players!

“Keep up the good work, Thad. I have full confidence in you!” Yang Cheng could only offer encouragement.

He would provide whatever manpower and money they needed, supporting their research with all his might.

After several years of accumulation, Bayswater Chinese had already built a reputation in the field of sports science.

They had collaborated not only with Loughborough University but also with Oxford, Cambridge, and other prestigious universities in related fields, which was a testament to Bayswater Chinese’s strength in this area.

Technology is the primary productive force!

…

According to the original plan, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing would fly to Nice, France, to spend Christmas together this year.

To be honest, neither of them had the Western habit of celebrating Christmas.

After arriving at the Blue Coast Airport, they went straight to a seaside hotel, rented a yacht, and went out to sea, enjoying a romantic and leisurely Mediterranean world for two.

In fact, over the past few years, both sets of parents had urged them to get married several times. When that didn’t work, they simply started urging them to have children.

They called it “keeping up with the times.”

But both of them were busy with work and enjoyed their current life as a couple, so they had no such plans for the time being.

Besides, Yang Cheng was too busy.

Especially during the league season, he spent so much time away from home. Leaving Xia Qing to raise a child alone while also working was something he wasn’t comfortable with.

But if he asked her to temporarily put her work aside, she wouldn’t be willing.

So, the matter was left hanging.

Anyway, they lived in Europe, far from their parents’ reach, so no one could control them.

The unluckiest one was Xia Xi, who was constantly being pushed to get married and have children. Whenever she called, she wore a miserable expression.

During his time in Nice, Yang Cheng made time to meet with OGC Nice’s CEO Martin Harrison and director of football Emmanuel Perrin.

Speaking of which, Nice’s performance in Ligue 1 this season had been quite good.

After the start of the season, following the sale of several stars like Matuidi, Nice was in a very bad situation.

They even went through a four-game winless streak at one point.

They lost their opening match 1-3 at home to Lyon, which was a big shock to everyone.

Then they lost away to Évian.

This was followed by consecutive home draws against Toulouse FC and Brest.

Everyone thought that after falling from champions to 17th place, Nice would be fighting to avoid relegation.

There was even a high probability of being relegated.

Fortunately, Ronald Koeman’s team withstood the pressure and quickly adjusted.

An away win against Montpellier, a big home victory over Ajaccio, a 2-2 draw away against Paris Saint-Germain…

Nice then embarked on a 12-game unbeaten streak, performing exceptionally well.

The attacking trident of Pellè, Aubameyang, and Mahrez, in particular, exploded with threat up front.

The midfield was composed of Strootman, Kanté, and Jorginho.

Once the team had gelled, they unleashed astonishing combat effectiveness.

By the 18th round, they even managed to overtake league leaders Paris Saint-Germain by one point.

This was because Nice had thrashed Valenciennes 4-0 at home, while PSG drew 0-0 at home with Lille.

This was the first time Nice had topped the league table this season.

Unfortunately, in the 19th round, Nice drew 4-4 away to Lille, while PSG scraped a 1-0 away win against Saint-Étienne, surrendering the top spot.

Now, after nineteen rounds, Paris Saint-Germain had forty points, while Nice had thirty-nine.

Further down were Montpellier with thirty-seven points and Lille with thirty-six. Lyon was in fifth with thirty-five points.

That was the current state of the Ligue 1.

As Nice’s form recovered just in time for the Champions League group stage, and with a bit of luck in the draw, Nice advanced to the Champions League Round of 16 as group runners-up.

For a Ligue 1 team, this was a great achievement.

Bayswater Chinese was a group winner. If they were to draw Nice, Yang Cheng would actually love to go toe-to-toe with Ronald Koeman’s team.

“From Ronald’s feedback, he is very satisfied with the team’s current situation.”

“Aurier has basically locked down the starting right-back position.”

“But surprisingly, Nastasić has become the mainstay of the team’s defense, performing quite brilliantly.”

“Van Dijk and Koulibaly have become the rotational centre-backs.”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Nastasić was the oldest of the three centre-backs.

And he was a new signing.

To think he would snatch a starting spot right away; it seems the title of ‘Vidić II’ was not for nothing.

“I heard that many Premier League teams are already watching him, calling him the ‘left-footed Vidić’,” Yang Cheng chuckled.

Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin also laughed.

It was true that giants from the Premier League and other leagues had been in contact with Nice.

“In midfield, the most surprising is Kanté. Just as you said before, that kid is truly outstanding and has made huge progress.”

“Up front, the biggest discovery is Aubameyang. He’s the team’s top scorer this season, and Pellè has also performed very well.”

Overall, the current lineup at Nice was practically tailor-made by Yang Cheng for Ronald Koeman, perfectly fitting his tactical requirements.

With the support and trust from the club’s management, and Yang Cheng’s strong endorsement of his authority, Ronald Koeman had also invested a great deal of energy and effort into this team.

“Let’s talk about the business side of things.”

Yang Cheng looked at Martin Harrison.

From the moment he started building this team, especially when he invited Ronald Koeman to coach, he had guessed that Nice’s results would not be bad.

Right now, PSG’s squad wasn’t fully assembled yet, with clear shortcomings in several positions.

Therefore, Nice could still go toe-to-toe with PSG.

Once the Qatari consortium started to increase its investment, Nice would be out of options.

Yang Cheng had a very clear positioning for Nice.

“Participating in the Champions League has greatly boosted our revenue and also built our reputation, but our commercial development within France is still not going very well.”

This was mainly due to the impact of the European debt crisis.

“During the winter break this year, we will continue to go to the Middle East for winter training.”

As Martin Harrison said this, he glanced at Yang Cheng and said, “I plan to invite David Pemsel and Richard Masters to inspect the markets in the Middle East and Africa with me.”

“You mean…” Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up.

“The International Champions Cup is becoming more and more popular in North America and Asia. Last year, when we went to the Middle East for winter training and matches, there were a lot of fans there too. Although it’s not on the same level as North America and Asia in many aspects, I think the potential is huge.”

“So, we thought, if a summer training can give birth to the International Champions Cup, then a winter training can also give birth to a pre-season cup competition.”

“The market capacity is definitely not as large as North America or Asia, but we can do it on a smaller scale, say with just four teams, playing a direct knockout stage to determine a champion. Just two friendly matches.”

“Bayern Munich is also very interested in this idea. They have a long-standing habit of winter training in the Middle East.”

Yang Cheng nodded repeatedly as he listened. “Do you think it’s feasible?”

For a cup competition to succeed, the revenue must at least cover the costs.

“I think so. There are quite a few large stadiums in the Middle East, and the governments of various countries are very welcoming. They are even willing to provide policy support in various aspects, especially Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”

That was a given.

Qatar would probably be happy to do it even if they had to pay out of their own pocket.

“Paris Saint-Germain has similar ideas, but they don’t have the channels. I think with the three of us, plus one more invited team, it will definitely work.”

“Last year when we went to the Middle East for winter training, didn’t we have an Egyptian player, Salah?” Martin Harrison said.

Yang Cheng nodded. He had handpicked that player.

“Did you know? Many Egyptian fans flew specifically to Abu Dhabi to watch his games. And they didn’t hesitate when buying jerseys, saying they were buying them as gifts for people back home.”

There was still some distance between Egypt and Abu Dhabi.

Over the past years, the development of the football markets in the Middle East and Africa had been largely neglected.

There were indeed many African players, but in everyone’s eyes, the Middle East and Africa were poor and backward places.

At the very least, their purchasing power was weak.

But as a transmigrator, Yang Cheng certainly knew that even by 2024, this market was still waiting to be developed.

It could be considered big, but also quite small.

At least for top giants like Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid, Barça, and Manchester United, it was a bit of a chicken rib.

Indeed, Manchester United had once visited Africa, and several players, including Rooney, came back with illnesses.

Other clubs were naturally even more deterred.

But the market was still there.

For example, the Salah from Yang Cheng’s previous life sold so many jerseys from fans in Egypt and surrounding regions that he couldn’t keep up.

Yang Cheng vaguely remembered that at his peak, he was almost on par with C. Ronaldo and Messi.

This proved that the Middle East and Africa held enormous potential.

Not to mention, sponsors from the Middle East and African regions also had needs in this area.

Most importantly, the Premier League had no winter break.

This market was destined to be one that Premier League teams couldn’t capture.

Serie A lacked the capability, while the Bundesliga had it, but apart from Bayern Munich, the commercial development capabilities of other teams were quite average.

The same was true for La Liga; apart from La Liga’s big two, the rest were average.

Under these circumstances, it was a good idea for Nice to use the winter training period to deeply cultivate the markets in the Middle East and Africa.

Moreover, Ligue 1 itself had no restrictions on African players.

“Alright, you discuss this matter with David Pemsel and Richard Masters. If you all agree that there’s potential, and they have the ability to organize it, then you can submit a proposal.”

Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin exchanged a smile, both looking elated and excited.

This kind of winter training wasn’t as easy to organize as summer training.

A very important point was that the timing of the winter break was not fixed.

For summer training, it was usually scheduled for late July and early August.

This period was generally fixed.

But what about the winter break?

The timing was very flexible. It could be as long as two weeks, or even three.

Shorter breaks might only be about ten days.

If they wanted to establish a friendly tournament as a winter version of the International Champions Cup, it would be quite a test for the organizers.

Take Bayern Munich, for example. They didn’t go to the Middle East every year, so they certainly couldn’t be a fixed participant.

Martin Harrison wanted to bring PSG on board mainly because of Al Jazeera behind them, as well as their resources in the Middle East and Africa.

All in all, Yang Cheng did not intend to interfere in this matter, letting Martin Harrison, David Pemsel, and the others handle it.

…

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing returned to London on Christmas Day.

Because the next day, the team would face the gruelling Christmas schedule.

This season’s Premier League Christmas schedule consisted of three matches.

The 18th round on the 26th and 27th of December; the 19th round on the 30th and 31st.

The 20th round on the 2nd and 3rd of January.

The biggest challenge for Bayswater Chinese was that the 18th round on Boxing Day was an away match against Arsenal.

The 19th round was away against Bolton.

The 20th was a home game against Chelsea.

Two matches against Chelsea in about a month.

It was truly something else.

And they had to play Arsenal on Boxing Day, which was a huge test for both sides.

As early as the beginning of December, the Met Office had predicted a snowless Christmas.

But the temperature was still very cold.

In the matches on December 26th, there was a large number of draws.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home against Fulham.

Liverpool drew 1-1 at home against Blackburn Rovers.

Manchester City drew 0-0 away against West Bromwich Albion.

Bayswater Chinese’s match was an away game at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal. Just eight minutes into the game, they made a mistake, and Sánchez scored for The Gunners.

At that moment, the Bayswater Chinese players hadn’t quite shaken off the Christmas atmosphere.

But conceding a goal snapped them awake.

From the 20th minute onwards, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks.

In the 38th minute, Arsenal’s backline failed in their offside trap. Alexandre Song played too deep, giving Theo Walcott a golden opportunity to break into the six-yard box and score with a close-range header.

1-1!

Bayswater Chinese successfully equalized.

After that, the visiting team continued to press, and both sides created some good chances.

This was especially true in the second half.

Courtois saved a one-on-one from van Persie.

Lloris also blocked a certain goal from Robert Lewandowski from point-blank range.

The real controversy came in the 77th minute during the defense of an attacking set-piece.

When Vincent Kompany went for a header, Vermaelen blocked the ball on the goal line with his hand.

Yang Cheng’s players protested for a handball, but the head referee ignored them and instead gave a yellow card to Kompany for his protests.

In fact, the slow-motion replay showed it was an indisputable handball and should have resulted in a yellow card and a penalty.

But Arsenal got away with it.

In the end, the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.

Manchester United’s match was held on the 27th, and they thrashed Wigan Athletic 5-0 at home.

This led to a very interesting situation: of the seven matches played on the 26th, almost all were draws, except for Newcastle’s 2-0 away win over Bolton.

Everyone knew the reason for this situation.

Or rather, they understood.

Playing three matches in just a few days made squad rotation inevitable; head coaches had to make some compromises.

For example, Yang Cheng’s rotation for this match was quite significant.

In contrast, Arsenal, playing at home, seemed to take it more seriously.

Moreover, for the matches on the 26th, the most important factor was the players’ psychology.

Having to get up early on Boxing Day to prepare for a match was truly a killer.

It was like being called into the office for overtime on the morning of Chinese New Year’s Day.

By the 27th, the situation was relatively better.

But in any case, a draw was a relatively acceptable result for both sides.

Yang Cheng simply mentioned in the post-match press conference that he believed the referee had missed a penalty for Bayswater Chinese and had also unfairly given a yellow card.

…

After the 18th round, with a short rest, the 19th round immediately followed.

Having thrashed Wigan Athletic at home in the previous round, Ferguson celebrated with great excitement.

The old gaffer’s words, “No one is better at handling the Christmas schedule than me,” had barely faded when Manchester United were beaten 3-2 at home by Blackburn!

That’s right, The Thugs, currently at the bottom of the Premier League table, beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford, leaving The Red Devils completely stunned.

Even more absurdly, the match day happened to be Ferguson’s 70th birthday.

This left Ferguson feeling as disgusted as if he’d found a fly in his noodles.

In the post-match press conference, he publicly stated his extreme disappointment with the result.

“We never thought we would lose like this. This is a very bad feeling!”

But Ferguson also admitted that Blackburn fought desperately to defend for survival, and their counter-attacks were quite sharp.

“They performed better throughout the whole game.”

As for Manchester United’s performance, Ferguson believed the problem was the pitch.

It had been raining all week in England, making it wet and cold, and the pitch was very slippery.

Having just played a league game on the 26th, the condition of the Old Trafford pitch was not good, resembling a bit of a marsh.

Furthermore, Manchester United had indeed rotated their squad, even having to pair Phil Jones and David Luiz at centre-back, and they were completely blown apart by Blackburn’s counter-attacks.

Ferguson said he accepted the loss, and as for his own coaching career, he stated that he had no plans to retire for now.

“I think I can go on for another three years!”

In this round, Liverpool came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-1 at home after conceding first.

Arsenal, on the other hand, secured a narrow 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at home thanks to a goal from van Persie.

But Chelsea, after taking the lead through a Drogba penalty in the first half, conceded three goals and lost 1-3 to Aston Villa.

Villa’s equalizing goal came just five minutes after Chelsea’s penalty.

The remaining two goals were both scored late in the game.

It was clear that the Chelsea players had become complacent.

Manchester City, meanwhile, fought a tough away battle against Sunderland, only securing a last-minute winner from Kaká in the 93rd minute.

1-0, The Blue Moons defeated the Black Cats.

Yang Cheng’s team was still playing away in this round.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Marcelo scored the opening goal for the team, assisted by Pogba.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese launched a Blitz.

In the 49th minute, an assist from Di María allowed Giroud to score.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bolton 2-0 away from home.

…

On the afternoon of January 2nd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 20, Bayswater Chinese vs. Chelsea at home.

After losing 1-3 at home to Aston Villa in the previous round, Chelsea had gone a full five games without a win.

What did this mean?

Since their crushing home defeat to Bayswater Chinese at the end of November, they had only managed an away win against Newcastle.

In all subsequent Premier League matches, The Blues had either drawn or lost.

However, they had performed well in the Europa League.

Now, facing Bayswater Chinese again, The Blues were clearly low on morale.

This was especially true considering there were only two days between the 19th and 20th rounds.

The players’ rest time was severely insufficient.

To make matters worse for Chelsea, on the first day of 2012, Drogba, Kalou, Mikel, Essien, Eto’o, and Benatia were all called up for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Anelka, after being frozen out following a falling out with André Villas-Boas, left the team on a free transfer on January 1st, heading to the Chinese Super League.

Under these circumstances, Chelsea simply couldn’t field a competitive lineup to face Bayswater Chinese.

Just nineteen seconds into the match, José Bosingwa, who had played two consecutive games, made a mistake under pressure from Gareth Bale.

His first touch was too heavy.

After winning the ball, Gareth Bale played a cut-back pass to the left side of the arc at the edge of the penalty area.

Toni Kroos made a late run, pulled the ball horizontally with his right foot as he received it, just barely evading Ivanović.

The German chased after it and curled a shot with his right foot, sending it straight into the top right corner of the goal.

Čech was helpless.

1-0!

Shortly after, Bayswater Chinese had another golden opportunity.

Robert Lewandowski received a through ball from Modrić and was one-on-one with Čech.

But in his haste, he didn’t control the ball well, missing a fantastic chance.

Although he got past Čech, his shot was cleared off the line by Terry.

But in the 32nd minute, Di María created an attacking free-kick opportunity on the right wing.

After Modrić took the kick, Pepe scored with a header in the box.

2-0!

The atmosphere between the two sides began to grow tense.

The anger and frustration from the Chelsea players were palpable.

Especially during this recent period of winless games, all the players were under immense pressure.

Yang Cheng prudently reminded the players on the pitch, especially Toni Kroos and Modrić, hoping they would slow down the attack appropriately to avoid a heated conflict with Chelsea.

In the Christmas schedule, a win was good enough.

It was best not to get injured either.

Unable to even pick a fight, the Chelsea players’ simmering anger grew more and more frustrating.

After the break in the second half, Robert Lewandowski won a corner kick in the 54th minute after breaking into the penalty area with the ball.

Modrić took the corner, and Terry got to the first ball, clearing it with a header out of the box.

But Nemanja Matić, lurking outside, controlled the ball, took it into the penalty area, and unleashed a powerful shot.

With Mikel and Essien absent, Chelsea had to start the young former Barça player Romeu in the holding midfielder position.

The ball found the net again.

3-0!

For the rest of the time, Bayswater Chinese consciously controlled possession but slowed down their attacks.

Because Chelsea was on the verge of a breakdown, teetering on the edge of恼羞成怒.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 3-0 at home.

…

After the 20th round of the Premier League was completed, Arsenal defeated Fulham 1-0 away.

Manchester City narrowly beat Liverpool 2-1 at home.

It was a narrow victory because Manchester City scored two goals in the first half, but a red card for Gareth Barry in the second half put them on the back foot, and they had to defend with all their might to hold on.

The most surprising result of this round was that Manchester United, who had lost 2-3 at home to Blackburn in the previous round, were defeated 0-3 away by Newcastle.

During the match, Phil Jones scored an own goal.

This made Ferguson’s bold declarations after the big win against Wigan Athletic look utterly foolish, slapping him right in the face before his words even had time to settle.

Many media outlets at odds with Ferguson mocked him relentlessly.

“If this is what it means to be the best at handling the Christmas schedule, then what about Bayswater Chinese, with two wins and one draw, including two clashes between top teams?”

“And what about their city rivals Manchester City, who also have two wins and a draw?”

After twenty rounds, Bayswater Chinese topped the table with seventeen wins, three draws, and fifty-four points.

So far this season, since the end of the first round, Bayswater Chinese had been leading the league.

Although there were many pursuers, none had managed to overtake them.

In second place was Manchester City with fifty-two points.

The Blue Moons had been hot on their heels, always staying within about two points of Bayswater Chinese.

At times, they even caught up on points.

The most prominent feature of Ancelotti’s team this season was that the squad had essentially gelled and was performing with great stability.

This was especially true during the recent Christmas schedule.

Yang Cheng had racked his brains, arranging squad rotations and substitutions to maximize the team’s combat effectiveness.

But Manchester City?

No need!

Their squad depth was almost ridiculously strong.

According to The Sun, Manchester City’s current squad could be split into two teams to play in the Premier League, and both would probably finish in the top four.

It was that absurd!

Another team with great squad depth was Arsenal.

Wenger’s team was now extravagantly wealthy and had an impressive squad depth.

Even their substitutes, like Mikel Arteta, would be starters for mid-to-upper table teams, but at Arsenal, they could only be substitutes.

The Gunners now had fifty-one points, sitting in third place.

It’s worth mentioning that The Gunners played their postponed league match, due to the Club World Cup, before Christmas and secured three points.

Manchester United had recently suffered two consecutive defeats but still had forty-seven points, placing them fourth.

Liverpool was fifth with forty-six points.

The worst-performing among the top teams was Chelsea.

During the gruelling Christmas schedule, The Blues only managed one draw and two losses. With twenty-eight points, their ranking had plummeted to ninth.

This was unacceptable for Chelsea, by any measure.

Especially after the away loss to Bayswater Chinese, many traveling Chelsea fans in the stadium were chanting for André Villas-Boas to be sacked.

It was clear to everyone.

With six international players away for the Africa Cup of Nations, Chelsea’s strength was severely affected. Their situation was already dire, and the team’s morale was at rock bottom. If they didn’t change the manager, were they really going to slide further down?

Everyone knew very well that even with a full-strength squad and high morale, The Blues might not be able to contend with the top five teams.

What’s more, with six key players now at the Africa Cup of Nations, what did Chelsea have to compete with?

And this point was precisely not the head coach André Villas-Boas’s fault.

The media and fans believed that Chelsea’s management should also take responsibility for the flawed team-building.

But for now, the most important thing was how to get through the current crisis.

And Chelsea was not the only one in deep crisis.

Chapter 238: Such a Money Pit! Expansion! Delaying Tactics! The Greatest Defense in History

Southwest of Central Park, New York, United States.

In the chairman’s office of RSE Ventures, real estate mogul Stephen Ross, having just returned from his Christmas holiday, was meeting with Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano, who had flown back from London specifically for this.

The two were the CEO and director of football, respectively, of the Premier League team Queens Park Rangers.

But right now, all three men looked grim.

Because Queens Park Rangers were currently at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Yes, they also had fourteen points, the same as Blackburn Rovers, but their goal difference was a staggering negative twenty-five.

Blackburn’s was negative fourteen.

By the rules, Queens Park Rangers had taken Blackburn’s place and gloriously become the new bottom-of-the-table team.

So, as soon as the Christmas holiday was over, Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano immediately flew to New York.

Queens Park Rangers had no money!

Before the season, the Italian former owner had indeed delivered on his promise, giving them a Premier League club with very little external debt.

But this newly promoted team was not competitive at all.

Last summer, in order to sell the club, the Italian owner hadn’t invested a single penny in new signings.

A newly promoted team with no new signings? How the hell were they supposed to avoid relegation?

The entire office was shrouded in gloom and doom.

Clearly, this was a result they had never anticipated before the acquisition.

What a fucking scam!

“What do we do now?” Stephen Ross asked his two right-hand men, his face stern.

There was even a hint of complaint in his tone.

After all, they were the ones who had personally vetted the deal and thought there were no problems.

But then again, you couldn’t blame them entirely.

American sports leagues have no promotion or relegation system, so who could have accurately assessed QPR’s strength?

“We’re in a terrible situation. Charlie, Danny—who’s holding down the fort in London—and I have discussed it, and we’ve also asked for the opinions of a few players.”

“We’re considering a managerial change.”

Stephen Ross nodded. “Go on.”

“But changing managers comes with its own problems. We’d have to pay Neil Warnock a compensation fee, or continue paying his salary until he finds a new job.”

Hearing this, Stephen Ross let out a soft “tsk” and frowned.

“And the new head coach?”

“We’ve considered quite a few people, but the top priority right now is avoiding relegation.”

Stephen Ross nodded. “That’s right. We absolutely have to avoid relegation.”

“I spent one hundred million pounds to buy a Premier League team. If we get relegated, we’ll become a Championship team, won’t we? At that point, the Premier League broadcast money will be gone, attracting sponsors will be even harder, and with QPR’s situation, how much money will we have to throw in just to plug the holes?”

What was most infuriating was that they had to plug the holes!

The Premier League and The FA both review the financial status of all clubs. If a club is in debt or fails to pay player salaries, the penalties range from a deduction of league points to outright relegation.

That would mean going from the Championship to League One, or even League Two.

Wouldn’t that one hundred million pounds be completely down the drain?

“Also, we’ve been planning a US tour for this summer. Queens Park Rangers is coming as a Premier League team. If we drop into the Championship, can we still show our faces?”

Stephen Ross had been planning this event for a long time. Not only were they coming, but they were also going to participate in the World Football Challenge.

This was his big move to promote Queens Park Rangers and open up the American market.

But if they were relegated, the one hundred million pounds would be wasted, and his meticulously crafted plans would all be ruined!

At this moment, Stephen Ross finally understood why the Italian man had been grinning from ear to ear when he sold this football club, a club that had just fought its way into the Premier League and was on the verge of its revenue exceeding fifty million pounds.

Because running a football club was just too much of a money pit!

Stephen Ross also ran sports clubs, but none of them burned money like this.

In the United States, who needed to worry about relegation?

Once you got a franchise spot and set up a club, you could just lie back and rake in the cash.

Who the hell worried about relegation?

“Right, who are you considering for the head coach position?” Stephen Ross asked again.

“Mark Hughes. He’s a very experienced head coach, and he’s confident he can lead the team to safety, but…”

“But what?”

“He’s demanding we invest during the winter transfer window.”

Stephen Ross had an “I knew it” expression on his face.

“How much does he want?”

“At least fifty million pounds.”

Stephen Ross nearly fell out of his chair. He stared at Charlie Stillitano in disbelief and raised his voice, “How much?”

“Fifty million pounds,” Charlie Stillitano repeated.

“I might as well just let them get relegated!” Stephen Ross exploded on the spot.

Fifty million pounds for one transfer window?

Was he insane?

“Premier League players are expensive right now, especially during the winter window. It’s really not cheap!” Matt Higgins sighed.

In truth, they all knew that Mark Hughes was asking for an exorbitant price, setting a high figure for the investors to negotiate down from.

“I’m telling you, if it’s really fifty million pounds, then let Queens Park Rangers get relegated. I’m out!”

As he said this, Stephen Ross felt a sharp, burning pain in his heart.

What wire had been crossed in his brain to make him step into such a massive quagmire?

He must have been blind!

And now look, it was a festering mess in his hands.

No new signings, and they would most likely be relegated; one hundred million pounds down the drain.

Once relegated, getting back up would be difficult!

But if they did bring in new players, it would mean pouring in another huge sum of money.

The crucial thing was that this was a bottomless pit.

God knows when Queens Park Rangers would become financially self-sufficient?

To maintain competitiveness, they would probably have to keep throwing money at it.

“It’s hard to get out even if we want to. Premier League clubs aren’t easy to sell right now; the market isn’t great,” Matt Higgins sighed again.

He was discovering that being the CEO of a Premier League club was a job not fit for a human!

Stephen Ross took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking. “I’ll be honest, fifty million pounds is out of the question. I’m not investing that much money.”

“At least thirty million pounds. For the rest, Mark Hughes said he can loan a few players from Manchester United or other teams, but he requires us to give him more authority over the salary budget.”

Stephen Ross was no rookie; he had run an NFL club, after all.

Transfer fees and salary budgets were just the difference between short-term and long-term pain.

Granting a higher salary budget would also create immense financial pressure.

“Mark Hughes has his eye on Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is currently valued at around six million pounds.”

“There’s also Lazio’s French striker, Djibril Cissé, Fulham’s striker Bobby Zamora, and Manchester City’s centre-back Onuoha…”

These four players were all valued at around five million pounds each.

In other words, just these four would cost over twenty million pounds.

Adding in players like Campbell, Traoré, Anton Ferdinand, and Luke Young, the total transfer spending was expected to reach thirty million pounds.

The rest would be players on free transfers and loans.

The problem was, Queens Park Rangers had already signed several players on free transfers last summer, and the club’s wage bill was already very high.

The club had no money left in its accounts.

“Can’t the transfer fees be paid in installments?” Stephen Ross asked.

“They can, but the club will soon run out of money to pay salaries. Also, Mark Hughes’s salary is quite high.”

“How high?”

“Four million pounds!”

Another sharp pain shot through Stephen Ross’s heart.

“Who the hell is this guy? Why is his salary so high?”

“He’s very well-connected. He can loan players from teams like Manchester United and AC Milan, and he has a wealth of coaching experience. He’s considered a renowned English manager.”

After a pause, Charlie Stillitano added, “He previously coached Fulham, the club whose stadium we visited. His annual salary there was five million pounds, and their results were always quite good.”

Stephen Ross’s heart began to bleed.

“Can he guarantee we’ll avoid relegation?” Stephen Ross got to the most crucial question.

Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano glanced at each other and simultaneously shook their heads.

Who could guarantee something like that?

Stephen Ross completely broke down.

So, even if he threw in another thirty million pounds, there was still no guarantee of survival.

If they failed to avoid relegation, wouldn’t the sunk cost become one hundred and thirty million pounds?

And even if they succeeded, what about next season?

What if they were relegated next season? How would they survive then?

Stephen Ross realized that no matter how he calculated it, this deal was a loss!

In the end, wouldn’t he just have to keep pouring more and more money into it?

Stop investing?

The sunk cost alone would be enough to destroy him.

“I’ll invest the thirty million pounds. After you get back to London, go find that fat bastard in The City of London named Kesher Harris. Tell them to sell this club for me as soon as possible.”

“My asking price isn’t high. One hundred thirty… no, one hundred million pounds. Just sell it for what I paid for it, and I’ll even give him a handsome commission!”

Stephen Ross was a seasoned businessman; he knew how to weigh the pros and cons.

If he held onto it now, he would surely get burned badly.

It was better to offload it quickly.

Matt Higgins and Charlie Stillitano looked at each other, both seeing the difficulty in the other’s eyes.

At the start of the season, they were an ambitious, newly promoted team.

Now, they were the bottom-of-the-table team, the favorites for relegation. Forget the original price; they’d be lucky to sell it even after slashing the price to the bone.

But could they dare to say that out loud?

…

While the American tycoon Stephen Ross was on the verge of a breakdown in New York, Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, was pacing back and forth in the living room of his home near Knightsbridge, London.

He, too, was facing a very difficult problem.

Should he fire André Villas-Boas or not?

As things stood, everyone from the media to the fans to the players, to the management, and even his personal advisor Piet de Visser, was advising him to change the manager.

It was just a compensation fee, right?

Just pay it!

But Abramovich found it hard to make that decision.

Because just six months ago, he had personally given Villas-Boas his word.

He had even paid a release clause for him.

Now, he had to pay another compensation fee to send him away?

Wouldn’t that make Roman Abramovich a laughingstock?

But the fans outside were making a huge fuss.

If the American real estate mogul Stephen Ross was agonizing over his reluctance to spend money, Abramovich had already made it clear he was willing to splash the cash. He was even willing to spend over one hundred million pounds on new signings.

But this time, he wanted to be personally involved. He wanted to be consulted on every single transfer.

His headache, however, was whether to keep Villas-Boas or not.

“The players’ opinion is clear. Except for a few who didn’t comment, everyone else unanimously believes that Villas-Boas should be sacked. Otherwise, the team’s results will not improve,” reported Marina Granovskaia.

She had handled this matter personally and guaranteed its absolute authenticity and reliability.

“Not a single person stood up to speak for him?” Abramovich found it hard to believe.

“Doesn’t he have his own men? That… that one from Porto, his name is…”

“Álvaro Pereira,” Piet de Visser reminded him from the side.

“Yes. Did he not say anything either?”

Granovskaia shook her head. “He sat in the corner the whole time, remaining silent.”

The kid didn’t have much of a presence; he’d been completely overshadowed by Ashley Cole this season.

“What about José Bosingwa and Ferreira? They’re both Portuguese. What did they say?”

“They both remained silent as well.”

Hearing this, Abramovich almost laughed in anger.

In the six months or so that Villas-Boas had been in charge, he had truly managed to alienate everyone!

God knows how he did it?

What a talent!

“It’s simple. Chelsea’s results are too poor right now. No one dares to say anything,” Piet de Visser said, hitting the nail on the head.

“In the world of professional sports, if you can’t produce results, everything else is in vain.”

“If Villas-Boas were currently top of the table, I would support you in getting rid of those veterans in the dressing room. But in the current situation, if you want the players to remain focused on playing, there’s only one choice.”

Abramovich, of course, knew what that choice was.

He had simply been unwilling to make that decision until now.

Otherwise, Villas-Boas would have been sacked long ago.

“In fact, I don’t think we need to increase our transfer activity this winter. Since Gary Cahill has already been signed, let it be. Other transfers should be put on hold for now. Save the funds for the summer.”

Piet de Visser shared his thoughts.

“Winter signings are expensive, high-risk, and leave us in a weak negotiating position. Instead of that, we might as well just see out the season, use the remaining six months to plan for the future, clarify our squad-building strategy, and then make our signings this summer.”

After hearing this, Abramovich thought it made a lot of sense.

Winter transfers were always a minefield.

Besides, the most important issue right now was Villas-Boas.

Thinking of this, Abramovich looked at Granovskaia, then at Piet de Visser.

After much deliberation, the Russian finally sank into the sofa and waved a weary hand at Granovskaia.

“Go tell Gourlay to have a talk with Villas-Boas!”

Granovskaia understood her boss’s meaning. She nodded in acceptance and turned to leave.

…

On the fourth day of 2012, the Premier League was suddenly hit with two pieces of major news.

Chelsea, whose performance this season had been lackluster, announced a change of manager.

Head coach André Villas-Boas was sacked, with assistant coach Roberto Di Matteo taking over as interim manager.

This was something everyone had been mentally prepared for.

Ever since the heavy home defeat to Bayswater Chinese, there had been calls for Villas-Boas to be sacked. It had dragged on for over a month.

For him to have lasted this long was quite remarkable for the Portuguese manager.

But for Chelsea, the turmoil was evident.

Before the season, they spent fifteen million euros on a release clause to poach Villas-Boas from Porto. Now, less than six months later, they paid another hefty compensation fee to fire him.

Was this really a problem with Villas-Boas’s coaching ability?

The most frustrating, or perhaps the most annoying, thing about the British media is that they will argue both sides of the issue with you.

Before Chelsea fired Villas-Boas, the media was almost unanimously calling for Chelsea to sack him.

But ridiculously, after Chelsea announced his dismissal, a plethora of media reports and columns began to emerge, analyzing Chelsea’s problems and questioning whether firing Villas-Boas was the right move.

If Villas-Boas had no coaching ability, how did he lead Porto to the Treble?

Then a whole host of media outlets came out saying that it was a bit of a pity for Villas-Boas.

He was signed to a multi-year contract but was only given six months. What was that about?

Too impatient!

They didn’t say Chelsea’s decision was wrong, but they kept saying that even with Villas-Boas gone, if Chelsea didn’t address its fundamental problems, The Blues would have no chance of a revival.

In any case, the landscape of public opinion had changed dramatically.

Yang Cheng reckoned Abramovich would probably cough up blood from anger if he saw it.

Two compensation fees in six months, both down the drain!

Another one who had thrown money down the drain was Queens Park Rangers.

The West London “arch-rival” sacked Neil Warnock and spent a fortune to hire Mark Hughes, hoping the renowned English manager could lead QPR to safety.

To this end, Queens Park Rangers had already made a big splash in the winter transfer market.

It seemed the Americans were sparing no expense.

Yang Cheng remembered that in his previous life, in the 2011/12 season, after changing managers and beefing up their squad, Queens Park Rangers did manage to avoid relegation, but they were relegated the following season.

As for this life, he didn’t know.

“They’ve been actively planning for Queens Park Rangers to have a training camp in North America, marketing their team name all the while.”

Before heading to Nice, France, David Pemsel and Richard Masters from the ICC Company made a special trip to London to meet with Yang Cheng to discuss this summer’s World Football Challenge.

“From what we’ve gathered, they are indeed actively preparing for the World Football Challenge and plan to invite several strong European teams, including the likes of Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and S.S.C. Napoli.”

“They’re clearly trying to create a tournament a tier below ours.”

Yang Cheng nodded repeatedly.

They had the International Champions Cup, so the others would create an International Europa League Cup.

“What are the reactions from these teams?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“Nothing is confirmed yet, but they seem to be wary of the American organizers. Their previous two editions weren’t very successful. On the contrary, they are full of anticipation for our International Champions Cup.”

“Several clubs have already inquired if we plan to expand.”

Expansion!

This had always been part of Yang Cheng’s plan.

When the initial twelve powerhouse clubs were confirmed, Yang Cheng had said that they would expand when the time was right.

But other teams would join by invitation only, without receiving shares or participating in dividends.

Simply put, the power to decide who to invite and who not to invite lay with the ICC Company, in Yang Cheng’s hands.

“What do you two think?”

David Pemsel and Richard Masters glanced at each other and both smiled.

“Of course, we also hope to expand, but it’s definitely too late for this year.”

After a pause, David Pemsel shared his idea.

When the tournament was first established, they had sought commercial sponsorships and broadcast rights at very low prices, with the main goal of promoting the market.

Because at that time, the cup hadn’t taken off yet, and it needed authoritative media partners like Fox and Huaxia Television to help with promotion.

By charging low fees and leaving them enough profit margin, they created the motivation and willingness for them to participate.

But things were different now.

Following the success of last year’s International Champions Cup, which was kickstarted by a match with 160,000 spectators, the tournament had become a massive hit.

It was safe to say it had firmly established itself.

The next step was to methodically promote its development and continue to cultivate this market.

Consequently, the three-year promotional prices were due for renegotiation.

New deals would have to be struck with major sponsors and broadcasters.

For example, in the United States, Fox had tasted success, and other stations like ESPN and NBC were very interested in broadcasting the tournament, which meant they could open it up for bidding.

Yang Cheng was very confident in their business operations skills, especially with Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others assisting them.

“For the China region, we will continue with the low-price market penetration strategy. Just negotiate with Huaxia Television.”

This was not only to attract as many domestic fans as possible but, more importantly, it was also beneficial for promoting the tournament.

What they lost in broadcast fees, they would earn back multiple times over in sponsorships, leveraging the tournament’s influence.

This had always been Yang Cheng’s approach.

“Understood,” David Pemsel said clearly.

David Pemsel’s idea was to play the expansion card after this summer’s International Champions Cup was over.

Since there were East and West Conferences in the United States, they could easily set up two conferences in Asia as well.

Then, after the group winners from the four conferences were decided, they could hold conference finals.

They could even consider a grand final between the champions of the North American and Asian regions.

“Right now, many of the conditions aren’t mature yet. The main issue is time.”

Richard Masters laid out a timeline for Yang Cheng.

With the current twelve teams, the Asian conference teams all play three matches. In the North American conference, if a team reaches the final, they play four matches.

If a grand final were added, they would have to play five matches.

The schedule would be extremely tight.

Because that would mean the group stage would have to start earlier.

Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga start in early August.

Although the Premier League usually starts in mid-August, the Community Shield is also held in early August.

La Liga and Serie A start relatively late, but their teams also reconvene for training relatively late.

To some extent, playing four matches was already pushing it.

If the group stage were moved even earlier, all the teams would be playing right after starting their training camps. The quality of the matches couldn’t be guaranteed.

Imagine, teams fresh from their pre-season fitness training being thrown directly into competitive matches.

How terrible would their form be?

The fans who bought tickets would be furious, wouldn’t they?

Another point was the time and location of the matches.

Having the Asian and North American conferences play their own finals was feasible because they were geographically close and easy to arrange.

But if a grand final were added, where would it be held?

Obviously, neither Asia nor North America would be suitable.

In Europe?

“I actually think Prudential Stadium would be good. It holds over ninety thousand people, and Premier League ticket prices are expensive!” Richard Masters’ eyes lit up as he said this with a smile.

Yang Cheng thought it was a pretty good idea.

But this matter would be difficult to coordinate.

As they had said before, adding another match would require more coordination in scheduling.

“For now, we can use this as a provisional plan. We can do it this way for the first few editions. Once it’s mature and has become a recognized brand, other interested cities or places will naturally come to us,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Ultimately, it was the same principle as the rights to host the Champions League final.

How many cities want to host the Champions League final now?

UEFA has very high standards, with clear requirements for a city’s transportation infrastructure and other facilities. Cities that don’t measure up aren’t even considered.

There are also requirements for the stadium size; a capacity that is too small is also a no-go.

Finally, the host city has to offer a host of preferential policies.

For the International Champions Cup, it was best to proceed steadily and surely for now, advancing gradually.

As long as they could build up the tournament and establish the brand, there would be plenty of options in the future.

“There’s something I’d like to report to you,” David Pemsel said, his expression turning serious.

“Go ahead.”

“People from FIFA and UEFA have invited us for a meeting.”

“When?”

“I haven’t replied yet.”

Yang Cheng also grew solemn.

This was actually something he had anticipated.

Given the nature of FIFA and UEFA, seeing the International Champions Cup become a hit, they would definitely want to get involved and take a piece of the pie.

It wasn’t just them; the United States Soccer Federation was also very “concerned” about this tournament.

But the ICC Company had also done its homework.

On this matter, they had to thank the pioneer, Charlie Stillitano.

Back at the turn of the century, hadn’t he founded a company specifically to organize commercial matches for top European clubs in the United States?

A major reason for its collapse was interference from the United States Soccer Federation, which even resulted in a large outstanding debt.

After going bankrupt, the guy was so furious that he sued them.

The final verdict was that Charlie Stillitano lost the case.

But since then, the United States Soccer Federation has largely stayed out of commercial pre-season friendlies.

So now, with the International Champions Cup becoming increasingly popular, they could only watch with envy from the sidelines, afraid to interfere.

To put it bluntly, this was beneficial for all the host cities in the United States.

If they were really pushed, they could sue the US Soccer Federation again in a heartbeat!

Their own hands were far from clean.

FIFA and UEFA were also green with envy, but they likely wouldn’t dare to interfere rashly either, resorting only to indirect pressure.

And since it was in July and August, they had no way of creating obstacles.

For them, financial interests were of course important, but what was more important was the issue of influence.

Think about it: currently, all major, authoritative competitions are under their control.

Leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, and the Bundesliga, although they have their own professional leagues, are still fundamentally affiliated with their national football associations and under the leadership of FIFA and UEFA.

But what about the International Champions Cup?

This tournament was born outside the purview of FIFA and UEFA.

And it brought together twelve of the most elite and influential clubs.

What were they trying to do?

FIFA and UEFA could never forget the cautionary tale of the G14!

Especially Platini.

He had worked so hard to dismantle the G14, and now there was a G12?

What was even more ridiculous was that the G14 was just a loose alliance, but what about the G12 now?

They were organizing their own tournament!

Although it was just a pre-season friendly and not an official competition, what if?

If it continued like this, becoming more and more profitable and influential, who could guarantee that one day it wouldn’t become an official competition?

What would FIFA and UEFA do then?

“Let’s make contact with them first, see what they have to say. For now, we’ll use delaying tactics,” Yang Cheng said with a faint smile.

Right now, the International Champions Cup was only in its second year. It wasn’t yet appropriate to have a direct confrontation with FIFA and UEFA.

So, the most important thing now was to lie low and develop.

First, they would placate FIFA and UEFA, then slowly develop for a few more years. Once they had enough clout and influence, they could challenge them.

Yang Cheng did think of a possibility, a chance for the International Champions Cup to officially step onto the main stage, perhaps even to stand up to FIFA and UEFA.

But this would require working out many details and navigating many obstacles.

As for the twelve powerhouse clubs, even Barça, often joked about as Platini’s godson, did not see eye-to-eye with UEFA on many interests.

As long as the International Champions Cup could stand on its own feet and pose a threat to UEFA, it would be a fantastic thing for the top clubs.

At that point, would UEFA’s attitude remain as unyielding as in the past?

Would FIFA still dare to take whatever they wanted from clubs regarding issues like national team training camps?

Ultimately, the bigwigs at these two organizations had had it too easy for too long.

They needed a bit of a threat.

Once this tournament became a major force and the clubs had more leverage, the good days for FIFA and UEFA would be over!

“By the way, I also heard that Stephen Ross is planning to sell Queens Park Rangers.”

“When did this happen?” Yang Cheng was a little surprised.

“Just in the last day or two. Word is he’s listed it with that Kesher Harris in The City of London for one hundred million pounds.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng let out a chuckle, thoroughly amused.

“These Americans are always so interesting when they get into football.”

Who could disagree?

In Queens Park Rangers’ current state, they still wanted to sell for one hundred million pounds?

If they could actually manage to avoid relegation this season, perhaps some investors might consider it.

But that would be a conversation for six months later.

In the current climate, Premier League clubs were not easy to sell.

Just look at Newcastle; how many years had they been for sale in The City of London?

Many inquiries, but few were interested.

Because The Magpies couldn’t even provide basic financial transparency.

No one knew how much debt the club was actually in.

And that was a traditional powerhouse of the Premier League.

Queens Park Rangers would have an even harder time.

As long as they couldn’t sell, the Americans would have to hold onto it.

And if they didn’t want their one hundred million-plus pounds to become worthless, they would have to keep pouring money in.

European football is fair to investors, whether they are from the United States or China.

…

On the afternoon of January 6th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the third round knockout stage of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted the League One team, Oldham.

In a way, they were old rivals from when Yang Cheng first started coaching Bayswater Chinese.

But now, the two teams were worlds apart.

Playing at Wembley, Oldham showed unprecedented courage.

Yang Cheng had made significant squad rotations, leading to an unstable start, and the visitors scored the opening goal.

But just two minutes later, Eden Hazard equalized for Bayswater Chinese.

Just before halftime, a goal from Aaron Ramsey helped the team take the lead.

After the break, De Bruyne scored another goal in the 68th minute.

3-1!

And in the final moments of the match, Harry Kane received a cross from Kyle Walker on the right in the 89th minute, further extending Bayswater Chinese’s lead.

Then, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, another cross from Kyle Walker on the right found substitute Sterling in the center, who scored with a spectacular volley.

5-1!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately thrashed Oldham 5-1 at home!

But what truly made Yang Cheng happy were the goals from the two youngsters, Harry Kane and Sterling.

And Kyle Walker’s explosive performance in the second half.

The young right-back was very fast, very strong, and had good technique, but he used to play in a very reckless manner.

The kind that was direct and physical, but lacked nuance.

But in this match, he played exceptionally well.

Yang Cheng not only praised him in the dressing room after the match but also specifically mentioned his name at the press conference, hoping he would continue to work hard and strive for even better performances.

Meanwhile, the third round of the FA Cup featured a clash between top teams.

Manchester City lost 2-3 at home to Manchester United.

God knows how those two teams were drawn together.

And in the third round of the FA Cup, no less.

Manchester City also made considerable rotations for this match.

Ancelotti’s focus was clearly divided, with the first leg of the League Cup semi-final just three days away.

They were set to host Bayswater Chinese.

Unexpectedly, Manchester City’s rotated squad didn’t perform well this time, and Ferguson’s Manchester United managed to snatch a victory at their home ground.

Ancelotti was also very dissatisfied with the result.

…

On the afternoon of January 10th, the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Manchester City away.

Yang Cheng continued to rotate his squad, but this time, Manchester City fielded their strongest lineup.

In the 13th minute of the first half, a goal from Kaká scored the opening goal for Manchester City.

After that, the two sides fought tooth and nail.

Ancelotti’s team adopted a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation, which consistently thwarted Bayswater Chinese’s attack, preventing them from finding an effective breakthrough.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team lost 1-0 away from home.

…

Three days later, the 21st round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur away.

This was a tough match.

For this game, Redknapp employed a very strange tactic.

4-4-2!

Up front were the two strikers, Adebayor and Saha.

The midfield consisted of Kranjčar, Sandro, Livermore, and Aaron Lennon.

The backline was Assou-Ekotto, Kaboul, Ledley King, and Kyle Naughton.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, fielded his strongest side.

With Manchester City chasing them aggressively, Yang Cheng dared not be the slightest bit complacent for the away game at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham Hotspur were sixth in the Premier League this season, and their strength was not to be underestimated.

Redknapp’s tactics were interesting; he packed the midfield with four players.

Modrić was out with an injury, and Aaron Ramsey stepped in to replace him.

This gave Spurs a very good opportunity.

They used their numerical advantage in midfield to suppress Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

And every time they won the ball, they aimed to quickly pass it to the forwards.

Both Adebayor and Saha had excellent hold-up play, allowing them to receive the ball up front and then orchestrate a second wave of attack.

The interesting part was that Tottenham Hotspur managed to stifle Bayswater Chinese’s midfield, preventing them from passing forward.

But their own attack couldn’t get going either.

Previously, Yang Cheng had been envious of Manchester United for having a monstrous veteran centre-back like Ferdinand.

As it turned out, in this match, Pepe and Thiago Silva were also outstanding.

Pepe, in particular, won almost every duel against Adebayor.

As early as the 38th minute, Bayswater Chinese had actually scored a goal.

Gareth Bale made a run with his speed down the left flank, getting behind Kyle Naughton, and after receiving the ball, he crossed it to the edge of the six-yard box.

Lewandowski’s shot was blocked by Ledley King.

But the Pole, with a flash of inspiration, backheeled the ball into the goal guarded by Brad Friedel.

However, the head referee had blown for offside when Gareth Bale received the ball.

But in the 45th minute of the first half, Theo Walcott’s dribble and breakthrough on the right wing created a corner kick opportunity.

Toni Kroos took the corner, and Robert Lewandowski headed the ball at the near post, sending it into Tottenham’s goal.

1-0!

In the first half, although Bayswater Chinese dominated possession and had the upper hand, they didn’t create many truly threatening attacks.

Spurs had even fewer, so the game was somewhat dull.

The start of the second half largely continued the trend of the first.

Yang Cheng wasn’t in a hurry either, calmly observing the situation.

In the 58th minute, Bayswater Chinese won a free kick on the right side of the attack, about 22 meters from goal.

Gareth Bale calmly took it, striking a butterfly ball that hit the top of the crossbar.

Soon after, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack. Lewandowski fell in the penalty area under a challenge from Ledley King, but the head referee refused to award a penalty kick.

This caused dissatisfaction among the Bayswater Chinese players.

First, a goal was disallowed, and now no penalty?

A minute later, Walcott and Piszczek combined for a beautiful attacking play on the right wing.

After receiving the ball on the right side of the penalty area, The Little Tiger passed it back to Piszczek in the half-space.

The Polish defender received the ball unmarked and delivered a diagonal cross.

Just as everyone thought the pass was intended for Lewandowski, and Spurs’ defensive focus shifted to him near the front post, the unexpected happened.

The ball was delivered to the left side of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run into the six-yard box, leaped high, and headed the ball towards the far corner.

The ball hit the back of the net.

2-0!

The Welshman emotionally ran off the pitch, cheering and shouting, venting his excitement.

Tottenham Hotspur were a really strong team!

They could even go toe-to-toe with the top five teams.

Later, Marcelo had a long shot, but it didn’t pose a threat.

In the 69th minute, Marcelo on the left flank once again orchestrated an excellent opportunity.

The Brazilian full-back received the ball outside the penalty area on the left and sent a through ball.

Gareth Bale suddenly made a horizontal run from the left sideline along the edge of the penalty area, received the ball, beat Kyle Naughton, cut inside again to shake off Livermore, and then suddenly struck a curling shot with his right foot, heading straight for the top right corner of the goal.

It was a textbook strike into the corner of the goal!

Although Brad Friedel made a valiant effort to save it, it was beyond his reach.

3-0!

Redknapp simply couldn’t accept a defeat at home where his team was kept on a clean sheet.

Spurs brought on Defoe to strengthen their attack.

They even employed a full-pitch press in the attacking third.

In the 88th minute, Defoe seized an opportunity and unleashed a very dangerous long shot.

But Courtois was highly focused, making a spectacular diving save to his side, tipping the shot, which was destined for the top corner, out of bounds with one hand.

The Belgian goalkeeper earned the admiration of his Bayswater Chinese teammates with his brilliant save.

Thiago Silva, Pepe, and others all ran over to offer him encouragement and affirmation.

Subsequently, Courtois came out to claim the corner kick from Spurs.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 away from home.

Looking at the overall match, Bayswater Chinese’s defense was outstanding.

Courtois made five saves, especially the last one before the final whistle, which was nothing short of miraculous.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng commented on Courtois, “His performance makes all of us feel at ease.”

“Although he is still young, he is already an outstanding top-class goalkeeper!”

This was undoubtedly the highest praise for Courtois!

What made Yang Cheng even happier was that Pepe had an incredible 20 clearances and 3 successful tackles in this match.

Thiago Silva, on the other hand, contributed an astonishing 17 clearances and succeeded in 3 out of 4 tackles.

Furthermore, 45 of his 46 passes were successful. Of his 15 passes in the attacking third, 14 were successful.

Yes, apart from one misplaced pass in the attacking third, all his other passes found a teammate with pinpoint accuracy.

Such statistics were truly astonishing!

After the match, Sky Sports commented on Bayswater Chinese’s two centre-backs, stating that the partnership of the two Brazilian centre-backs, Thiago Silva and Pepe, had left an incredibly deep impression on everyone.

“They produced the best defensive statistics in the history of Europe’s top five leagues!”

“Their defense was rock-solid throughout the entire match, and their form this season has been excellent.”

“The partnership of the two centre-backs, along with an ever-improving Vincent Kompany, has forged Bayswater Chinese’s iron defense!”

It was worth noting that so far this season, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded 6 goals.

Conceding only 6 goals in 21 Premier League rounds was a record that compelled everyone to give a thumbs-up to Bayswater Chinese’s backline, and even feel a sense of awe.

What was even more remarkable was that the 6 goals were conceded in 6 different matches.

In other words, so far this season, no team has been able to score 2 goals against Bayswater Chinese in a single match.

With such a performance, what more could be said?

Nothing but praise upon praise!

Sky Sports believed that the improvement in Bayswater Chinese’s defense this season was largely due to Yang Cheng’s increased focus on it.

“Yang Cheng was not satisfied with the excessive number of goals conceded last season.”

“It’s clearly visible that this season, Bayswater Chinese is playing with more balance. Coupled with the maturity of the players, the overall defensive level has improved significantly.”

Sky Sports believed that as long as Bayswater Chinese maintained their current stable performance, this season’s Premier League title was practically in the bag.

Chapter 239: A Stroke of Genius! A Goalkeeping Prodigy! A Yang Cheng Product is a Guaranteed Gem!

There’s an old saying in football that always seems to hold true.

A new manager brings a new lease on life!

After Chelsea sacked André Villas-Boas and brought in Roberto Di Matteo, all the previous turmoil seemed to vanish into thin air.

The midfield reverted to a 4-3-3 formation.

The team returned to its traditional defend and counter-attack style.

Lampard, Terry, Malouda, and others were all reinstated to the starting lineup.

As a result, Chelsea defeated Sunderland 1-0 at home, courtesy of a goal from Lampard.

The goal came in the 13th minute, and the match proceeded steadily.

This gave everyone the feeling that the players had deliberately been trying to get Villas-Boas fired.

Otherwise, how could one explain that as soon as Villas-Boas was gone, everything went back to normal?

But those who truly understood football knew it wasn’t necessarily a deliberate sabotage.

It was more that the conflicts between all parties had become far too intense.

The players simply didn’t want to play for Villas-Boas; they didn’t trust a single word he said.

But once he was removed, and anyone else was put in charge, the situation changed dramatically.

Thus, Chelsea’s performance felt like a complete transformation.

But this wasn’t the case for every team.

For example, another team that changed managers at the same time, Queens Park Rangers, wasn’t so lucky.

They lost 0-1 away to Newcastle, remaining firmly at the bottom of the table.

But anyone who watched the match knew that Queens Park Rangers had actually played quite well.

In this round, Liverpool defeated Stoke City 1-0 at home.

Interestingly, Rakitić once again scored the only goal of the match.

This sparked another heated debate in the British media.

Everyone was going crazy!

Are all the players from Bayswater Chinese this formidable?

A Yang Cheng Product is a Guaranteed Gem!

The value of this statement continued to rise.

Liverpool fans had previously complained that Rakitić’s transfer fee was too steep, but now?

They were now shouting his praises!

The Liverpool Echo even ran a headline asking, “Are there any more players like Rakitić?”

“Come on, we at Liverpool will take a dozen!”

What? A dozen is twelve?

No problem, we happen to need two substitutes!

This once again refreshed the perception of Bayswater Chinese players among the media and fans worldwide.

A consensus had long been reached among industry insiders: players developed by Yang Cheng had no flaws, except for their high price tag!

Manchester United defeated Bolton 3-0 at home.

Arsenal beat Swansea City 3-2 away.

Manchester City narrowly won 1-0 away against Wigan Athletic, thanks to a goal from Ibrahimović.

…

As the FA Cup third-round replays were scheduled for midweek, Bayswater Chinese had a full week to rest and recover.

Yang Cheng gave the team a day off, but the rest of the time was dedicated to training and adjustments.

A week later, Premier League matchday 22.

Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Norwich, with Terry scoring the only goal.

Queens Park Rangers defeated Wigan Athletic 3-1 at home.

After spending nearly thirty million pounds in the winter transfer window, new manager Mark Hughes quickly assembled a competitive team, and they delivered what was their best performance of the season so far.

The saying “a new manager brings a new lease on life” was proving its worth yet again.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, hosted Aston Villa.

Just seven minutes into the match, Robert Lewandowski unleashed a brilliant power shot from inside the box, breaking the deadlock.

Then, in the 43rd minute of the first half, Marcelo played a through ball into the half-space, and Gareth Bale, breaking into the left side of the penalty area, fired home to extend the lead.

2-0!

In the 73rd minute of the second half, a cross from Theo Walcott on the right found Lewandowski, who pounced in front of the goal to score again.

3-0!

The Pole had scored a brace!

As the match neared its end, in the third minute of stoppage time, a long pass from Kompany found Walcott, who successfully beat the offside trap. He drove forward with the ball and scored in a one-on-one situation.

4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding four-goal victory over Aston Villa at home.

Elsewhere, Liverpool lost 1-2 away to Bolton.

Bolton scored just three minutes into the game.

In the 37th minute, Torres equalized for Liverpool after receiving a pass from Rakitić.

But in the 50th minute of the second half, the defense made another mistake, and Bolton seized the opportunity to score.

Ultimately, The Reds lost 1-2 on the road.

After the match, the Liverpool Echo stated that Rakitić’s outstanding performance couldn’t save Liverpool’s fragile backline.

The Reds’ biggest problem right now was their defense.

This round saw Manchester City defeat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at home.

The crucial match of the week was Arsenal hosting Manchester United.

It was a true battle of titans.

Ferguson’s team suffered a major blow just 17 minutes into the game.

Phil Jones accidentally twisted his ankle while defending against Sánchez and had to be stretchered off the pitch.

Ferguson was forced to replace him with Rafael.

The two teams then engaged in a fierce contest.

Arsenal controlled possession, but Manchester United defended with all their might, putting up a rock-solid defense.

Just as Arsenal’s relentless attacks were proving fruitless, during first-half stoppage time, Juan Mata distributed the ball to the left. Ryan Giggs cut past Lichtsteiner and sent a diagonal pass behind the defensive line into the right side of the box.

Robben made a quick overlapping run and tucked it in from close range, scoring the opening goal for Manchester United!

After the start of the second half, Arsenal missed a golden opportunity.

Nasri dribbled into the penalty area and made a cross pass. Van Persie shook off David Luiz but sent his close-range power shot wide.

But Manchester United soon made an equally baffling mistake.

Juan Mata dribbled into the left side of the penalty area and played a cut-back pass to the right of the penalty spot.

With no one marking him, Robben volleyed the ball, but he too sent it wide.

It was an unbelievable miss!

Later, Manchester United defender Evra handled the ball in the box, but the referee didn’t award a penalty. Then, Benzema received the ball in the penalty area for a one-on-one chance, dribbled past the onrushing De Gea, and shot towards the empty net.

However, the French centre-forward’s final shot lacked power, and the ball moved a bit too slowly.

David Luiz rushed back at the crucial moment and made a clearance near the goal line.

If the first half was a stalemate, the second half was a competition of errors between the two teams’ players.

After a continuous run of games through Christmas and the winter break, and with both teams clearly adjusting their players’ fitness and form, neither side performed at its best.

In the 71st minute, van Persie finally seized an opportunity. From the left of the penalty spot, he hit a low shot that went through David Luiz’s legs and into the net.

1-1!

The game once again turned into a Manchester United onslaught.

In the 81st minute, Robben dribbled down the right flank. Just outside the penalty area on the right, he suddenly shook off Clichy, cut inside horizontally, and then broke past Alexandre Song and Gourcuff.

The Dutchman single-handedly dribbled from the right side of the box, cutting all the way across to the left of the arc, where he unleashed a curling shot that flew into the top-left corner of the goal.

2-1!

Ferguson was almost beside himself with excitement!

The old Scot ran straight out of his technical area to celebrate.

In the final ten minutes, Arsenal launched a frantic counter-attack.

But Manchester United switched to defending with all their might.

The match became very heated.

Captain Fàbregas even elbowed Rooney while defending and was shown a straight red card by the head referee.

Subsequently, van Persie, Nasri, and others all received yellow cards.

Evra, Rooney, and others were also booked.

The two sides nearly came to blows.

But in the end, Arsenal lost 1-2 to Manchester United at home!

After watching this clash between top teams, Yang Cheng’s first reaction was that Ferguson’s coaching style was a real counter to Wenger’s.

How so?

In this match, Manchester United was the kind of team that could press forward on the attack and also drop back deep in defense.

Ferguson’s touchline management and the players’ tactical execution on the pitch were truly outstanding.

Moreover, it was evident that with the arrival of Juan Mata, Manchester United’s midfield distribution had improved significantly.

The Spaniard wasn’t playing in his Valencia-era role as a wide attacking midfielder on the left; Ferguson had placed him directly in the number 10 position.

Manchester United now played something like a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Rooney pushed up front.

Arsenal’s biggest problem in this match wasn’t Rooney, but Robben.

When the Dutchman was on form, he was truly unstoppable!

…

On the afternoon of January 25th, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The second leg of the League Cup semi-final saw Bayswater Chinese host Manchester City.

Having lost the first leg 0-1 away, Yang Cheng fielded many of his key players for this match, aiming to overturn the deficit at home.

After all, having made it to the League Cup semi-final, it would be a shame not to give it their all.

But Ancelotti had clearly anticipated this, continuing to employ his Christmas tree formation and defend with all his might in the away game.

The two sides fought to a 0-0 draw in a tense first half.

During the halftime break, Ancelotti even made his first substitution, bringing on Savić for Agüero.

This left Yang Cheng truly speechless!

If you were to name the most shameless head coach in Europe, Ancelotti would definitely be a contender.

After just half a match, he substituted a striker for a centre-back during the break.

Could you believe it?

Fat Ancelotti, do you have any regard for your reputation as a world-class manager?

In the 67th minute, Bayswater Chinese committed a foul on the right side of their own half. Kyle Walker’s foul gave Manchester City a free kick from a position that wasn’t particularly dangerous.

Kolarov took the free kick, and Ibrahimović met it with a header in the box, scoring the opening goal for Manchester City!

But just seven minutes later, a surging run down the right from Kyle Walker resulted in a brilliant pass. Walcott broke into the right side of the penalty area and scored, leveling the score!

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese launched wave after wave of attacks, but they could not break through Manchester City’s goal.

Ultimately, the match ended in a 1-1 draw at home.

However, due to the 0-1 away loss, they were eliminated from the League Cup with an aggregate score of 1-2.

In the other semi-final, Liverpool defeated Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate, thanks to two goals in extra time.

The Gunners were clearly suffering from fatigue after their grueling battle with Manchester United, which became apparent in extra time.

Manchester City and Liverpool would face each other in the League Cup final.

…

Three days later, the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Sheffield United.

On the Sheffield United team, the player who most caught Yang Cheng’s attention was England’s “aircraft carrier,” Harry Maguire.

After Sheffield United was relegated from the Championship to the third-tier League One last season, Maguire had established himself as an undisputed starter this season.

For an 18-year-old, this was a remarkable achievement.

Bayswater Chinese also fielded a lineup of rotated players and substitutes for this match.

After all, Sheffield United was just a third-tier team.

But when devising his tactics before the match, Yang Cheng made a special point, instructing his team to pass the ball in behind Maguire as much as possible.

This was a mainstream tactic used by Premier League teams against Manchester United a decade later.

Whenever Maguire was on the pitch, you attack the space behind him.

Just 18 minutes into the match, Harry Kane, who was in the starting lineup, scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

And he scored it from behind Maguire.

After so many years, Yang Cheng finally witnessed the turning of the aircraft carrier once more.

It was indeed a bit slow!

In the 38th minute, the youngster Sterling dribbled past his man on the right and delivered the ball into the box. Harry Kane scored again, once more from behind Maguire.

2-0!

After halftime, Hazard received a pass from Bertrand, weaved past two defenders, and added another goal.

3-0!

And just before the final whistle, a goal from Pogba sealed the score at 4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese eliminated Sheffield United with a 4-0 away victory.

After the match, Yang Cheng opened his arms to welcome Harry Kane, who had scored a brace, as he walked off the pitch.

The homegrown centre-forward had put on a magnificent performance.

It wasn’t surprising, really.

Harry Kane himself was skilled at positioning and made very intelligent runs.

For this match, Yang Cheng had paired Pogba and De Bruyne in midfield.

As a result, De Bruyne was constantly playing diagonal passes in behind the defense.

Yang Cheng even thought that Maguire must have been on the verge of a breakdown.

Why was everyone specifically attacking the space behind him?

But in the second half, Sheffield United consciously dropped deeper to minimize Maguire’s weakness in that area, and in frontal defense and aerial duels, Maguire did indeed have a clear advantage.

Yang Cheng didn’t meet with Maguire after the game; they just passed each other by.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese was brimming with talent.

Never mind the four centre-backs already on the team; if they needed reinforcements, wasn’t van Dijk at OGC Nice in Ligue 1 an appealing option?

The Dutch centre-back was the focus of Yang Cheng’s closest attention.

Interestingly enough, in this round of the FA Cup, Liverpool eliminated Manchester United 2-1 at home.

The Red Devils had faced tough opponents in two consecutive FA Cup rounds, first the local derby against Manchester City, and now the Northwest Derby against Liverpool.

And both were away games.

Ferguson was furious.

After the loss to Liverpool, he publicly slammed The FA, suggesting that someone was deliberately scheming against Manchester United.

Otherwise, how could he explain such a terrible run of luck in the draw?

Meanwhile, the other top teams all managed to scrape through.

…

On the evening of January 31st, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 23, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

After the halftime break, as the two teams were in the tunnel preparing to return to the pitch, Liverpool’s striker Suárez and Bayswater Chinese’s centre-back Pepe got into a heated argument.

The incident was sparked in the 44th minute of the first half during a Liverpool counter-attack.

Rakitić, on his first return to Wembley to face his old club, played a through ball.

Suárez timed his run perfectly, beating the offside trap and racing forward.

But at the crucial moment, Thiago Silva tracked back with incredible speed, catching up to Suárez outside the penalty area and getting to the ball first to clear it away.

Suárez’s foot caught Thiago Silva’s heel, and the Uruguayan striker went tumbling, sliding into the penalty area.

The head referee, Phil Dowd, made a very accurate call, not awarding Liverpool a penalty.

This infuriated Suárez, who unleashed a torrent of complaints at Dowd. Even after being pulled away by Pepe, he wouldn’t let it go and was eventually shown a yellow card.

That should have been the end of it.

During the halftime break, both sides would have seen the slow-motion replays and surely understood it was the correct call. But in the players’ tunnel, when Suárez ran into Thiago Silva, he started muttering complaints again.

Pepe, standing nearby, chimed in to defend his teammate.

As a result, the two started arguing.

The score was currently 0-0, but in the first half, Liverpool had only managed three shots.

This season, Bayswater Chinese’s defense had been exceptionally strong, putting immense pressure on their opponents.

This was especially true when Pepe and Thiago Silva played together.

Suárez had been struggling against them, and his pent-up frustration had nowhere to go.

The Uruguayan has always been a combination of angel and devil.

On one hand, he was brilliantly talented, gifted, and possessed incredible individual skill.

On the other, his personality and certain behaviors, like the biting incidents, made him a controversial figure.

But it had to be said that it was precisely this combative nature that made Suárez so fierce on the pitch.

Yang Cheng and Mancini both appeared, along with referee Phil Dowd, to separate the two players.

The referee also gave them a verbal warning, telling them to control their tempers during the match.

Yang Cheng could only watch with an amused smile.

Pepe had become increasingly Zen-like these days, yet Suárez had still managed to provoke him.

The Uruguayan certainly had a knack for it.

At the very least, his skill was enough to make Pepe feel threatened.

This “clash” in the tunnel was not caught on the live broadcast cameras.

But as the players walked out onto the pitch, the boos from the 90,000 Bayswater Chinese fans directed at the Liverpool players, especially Suárez, only made the Uruguayan lift his head and puff out his chest with pride.

That was Suárez’s personality!

Even facing 90,000 people, he showed no signs of backing down. Instead, the more they jeered, the more fired up he became!

…

Bayswater Chinese kicked off the second half.

And just 57 seconds after the restart, Modrić, back from injury, received the ball in a central-right area within Liverpool’s 30-meter zone, where he was immediately closed down by two Liverpool defenders.

The Croatian midfielder skillfully controlled and dribbled the ball, then suddenly executed a feint.

Just as everyone expected him to drive forward and link up with Lewandowski, who had dropped back outside the arc to receive the ball, he suddenly played a cross pass to Toni Kroos.

After passing, Modrić made a quick forward run.

Toni Kroos ran onto the ball. Although a defender was trailing him, he couldn’t get into position in time.

The German midfielder didn’t take a touch, playing a one-time through ball to Lewandowski up ahead.

This was a very common type of combination play.

The kind of triangular passing that many fans adore.

The genius of it was that Lewandowski also played it one-touch. With his back to goal, he laid the ball off to the overlapping Modrić.

In that instant, the Croatian found himself completely unmarked on the right side just outside the penalty arc.

Liverpool’s backline was caught by surprise.

Kolarov was in the right corner of the box marking Walcott, while Glen Johnson was in the left corner marking Gareth Bale.

At this moment, after Bayswater Chinese’s series of one-touch passes, there were four defenders around Lewandowski, but Modrić was free.

The two centre-backs were at the top of the arc, and the two full-backs were near the corners of the box, creating a gap between them.

So, Daniel Agger immediately ran horizontally out of the arc to close down Modrić.

Škrtel also shifted sideways to maintain his distance from his partner.

Just then, Toni Kroos made a quick forward run, attacking the left side of the arc.

Consequently, Glen Johnson instinctively moved across to block him.

But at that very moment, Modrić suddenly hit a diagonal switch.

The ball sailed over everyone’s heads, traveling from the right side outside the arc to the left side outside the box.

After moving horizontally, Glen Johnson saw Modrić pass and immediately slammed on the brakes, turning and lunging towards Gareth Bale.

He knew he had been tricked!

Gareth Bale brought the ball down with his foot on the left outside the box.

At that point, everyone in the middle—Toni Kroos, Lewandowski, Modrić, and Walcott at the far post—all charged towards the six-yard box.

Before Glen Johnson could get close, Gareth Bale took a touch towards the byline, chased it down, and sent in a cross with his left foot right into the center.

Toni Kroos at the near post drew the defenders’ attention, and Lewandowski in the middle leaped up, heading the ball from close range towards the far post.

Although Buffon reacted quickly, he was helpless against such a close-range, redirected header.

The ball hit the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Just 67 seconds into the second half, Bayswater Chinese scores with a header from Lewandowski after a series of quick passes in the final third.”

“1-0!”

The entire Wembley Stadium instantly erupted into a sea of celebration!

90,000 Bayswater Chinese fans were cheering wildly.

They all leaped from their seats, screaming Lewandowski’s name at the top of their lungs.

The Polish centre-forward was in sensational form this season.

“His 21st league goal!”

“In just 23 matches, Lewandowski has scored 21 goals!”

“An average of almost a goal per game!”

“This is absolutely incredible!”

“Not only is he scoring for fun, but his technical and tactical skills are incredibly well-rounded. Headers, left foot, right foot—he can handle it all with ease!”

“Lewandowski is undoubtedly the most important attacking force for Bayswater Chinese this season!”

“Of course, let’s not forget the brilliant assist from Gareth Bale!”

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored, the game began to open up.

But in the 48th minute, Marcelo and Gareth Bale combined for an attack on the left flank.

Hugging the left touchline, Gareth Bale couldn’t find an opening and was forced to dribble back, passing to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder shifted the ball horizontally.

Just when everyone thought he was going to control the tempo, Toni Kroos suddenly played a through ball.

What was even more spectacular was that Marcelo, positioned slightly towards the left half-space, received the through ball and, without taking a touch and with his back to the goal, nonchalantly flicked it behind him.

The ball, like an obedient child, rolled off Marcelo’s left foot and into the space behind the defensive line along the left touchline.

Gareth Bale galloped onto it, played another horizontal pass back to Marcelo, who had turned and made a run into the half-space.

The two players executed a magnificent combination in a tight space on the left wing.

When Marcelo received the ball again, he played a short diagonal pass to the center, at the arc of the penalty area.

Lewandowski arrived at full speed, received the ball, drove into the box, and calmly slotted it into Liverpool’s goal from near the penalty spot.

2-0!

“My God, in less than three minutes, Bayswater Chinese has scored two goals!”

“Lewandowski completes his brace!”

“That was a spectacular combination on the left wing. Marcelo’s pass was an absolute stroke of genius, full of imagination!”

“This is the hallmark of a Brazilian player, something that players from other countries find hard to imitate.”

“He always plays with a kind of casual flair on the pitch, but it’s incredibly pleasing to the eye.”

“That was a beautifully executed move by Bayswater Chinese.”

“2-0!”

“Now, Liverpool needs to rethink how they’re going to approach the rest of this match.”

…

When Yang Cheng, on the touchline, saw Lewandowski score a brace in less than three minutes, his first reaction was, the stuff of legends?

But it turned out that such things were truly rare and couldn’t be forced.

It required the perfect alignment of time, place, and people—not one element could be missing!

Mancini reacted swiftly, and Liverpool immediately adopted a strategy of defensive contraction.

The Reds quickly stabilized the situation.

The match returned to a stalemate.

But Bayswater Chinese continued to apply pressure on Liverpool.

Under this intense pressure, The Reds’ overall performance was lackluster.

Apart from Suárez and Rakitić, the other players were practically sleepwalking.

So, Mancini soon brought on Mario Balotelli to further strengthen the attack.

But it had little effect.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense was extremely solid this season.

The combination of Pepe and Thiago Silva was a headache for every attacker, repeatedly thwarting Liverpool’s attacks outside the goal.

But Suárez kept running tirelessly, still fighting like a cornered beast.

Even as time ticked away, even as the other Liverpool players seemed to have lost their fighting spirit, the controversial Uruguayan continued to chase, continued to challenge.

He remained as controversial as ever.

For example, in the 81st minute.

As he pressed Bayswater Chinese’s backline, Pepe and the others passed the ball around with one-touch passes, deliberately toying with him.

In response, Suárez charged in and launched a ferocious sliding tackle at Pepe, bringing him down.

He didn’t get the ball, but he did get a yellow card!

A second yellow meant a red, and Suárez was sent off by referee Dowd.

The Bayswater Chinese players rushed over and pushed him away, but Suárez didn’t get angry. He turned and walked off resentfully.

But it was clear he didn’t think he had done anything wrong with his foul.

The 90,000 fans in the stadium booed him relentlessly as he was sent off with a red card, but Suárez still walked into the tunnel with his head held high.

Standing on the sideline, Yang Cheng watched the player he greatly admired but had missed out on due to a twist of fate, and felt a considerable amount of respect.

Whether it was the biting, the accusations of racism, or other controversies, Suárez was undoubtedly a player with an extremely strong desire to win.

But it was precisely this intense desire that sometimes led him to cross the line.

Many South American players were like this, full of personality.

Players like Kaká and Messi were actually the rare exceptions from South America.

…

The match ended with Lewandowski’s brace securing a 2-0 home victory for Bayswater Chinese over Liverpool.

But an interesting thing happened after the game.

Pepe made a special trip to the away dressing room and went over to shake hands with Suárez.

At first, the Uruguayan was dead set against it, refusing to shake Pepe’s hand.

But Pepe wasn’t taking no for an answer. He grabbed Suárez’s arm and pulled him forcefully, with an attitude that screamed, “You’re not leaving until you shake my hand.”

Having lost the match, Suárez looked at the domineering Pepe with a face full of frustration and reluctantly shook his hand.

After the match, at the press conference, Yang Cheng expressed his understanding of the conflict in the tunnel and stated that Suárez was a player worthy of great respect.

“Although Liverpool lost the match, Suárez won respect!”

After his injury, Torres’s form had indeed declined quite a bit.

Of course, he was in much better shape than when he joined Chelsea in the real world, but he was mainly facing a transitional period.

Liverpool’s midfield wasn’t particularly strong, and they didn’t create too many chances.

Therefore, Torres’s current performance was a significant drop from his peak.

Instead, Suárez and Balotelli were gradually becoming the mainstays of Liverpool’s attack.

Suárez, in particular, was arguably the most important player on the Liverpool team at the moment.

Strangely enough, Balotelli didn’t seem quite so eccentric under Mancini.

Could it be that Mancini was the antidote to Balotelli?

After the match, besides the brace-scoring Lewandowski and the outstanding performers Marcelo and Gareth Bale, the player who received the most praise was goalkeeper Courtois.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper, after joining Bayswater Chinese last season, had immediately unseated Begović to become the team’s starting keeper.

Last season, he achieved an impressive record of 17 clean sheets, second only to Manchester City’s Joe Hart, who had 18, narrowly missing out on the Premier League’s Golden Glove award.

But for a newcomer who was only 18 years old, this was an astonishing achievement. Everyone was baffled as to how Bayswater Chinese had discovered this goalkeeping prodigy.

This season, so far, in 23 matches, Courtois had already kept 17 clean sheets, matching his record from last season and leaving everyone dumbfounded.

And he’d only played 23 games!

As The Guardian noted in its report, behind this glittering report card was certainly the outstanding performance of defenders like Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Kompany, as well as the strength of Bayswater Chinese’s defensive system.

However, Courtois’s own excellent and consistent performances had also left an incredibly deep impression.

For example, in this match against Liverpool, The Reds had two shots on target, both of which were saved solidly by Courtois.

Everyone had high hopes for the 19-year-old goalkeeper, believing he had a very high probability of surpassing the Premier League record of his predecessor, Neuer.

He even had a chance to challenge the best Golden Glove record in Premier League history.

In the 2004-05 season, Čech kept 24 clean sheets in 38 matches.

That was not only a peak in Mourinho’s coaching career but also the peak of Čech’s.

With 15 matches left until the end of the season, everyone believed that Courtois had a very good chance of breaking Čech’s record.

…

In Matchday 23 of the Premier League, Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Swansea City.

Manchester United defeated Stoke City 2-0 at home.

Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 away.

Arsenal eked out a 1-0 away victory over Bolton.

Thus, after 23 rounds, Bayswater Chinese remained undefeated.

Including the last four games of the previous season, Yang Cheng’s team’s unbeaten streak had now reached 27 matches.

Their record of 20 wins and 3 draws was also quite impressive, earning them 63 points.

In second place was Manchester City, still trailing by 2 points with 61.

Ancelotti’s team had been very consistent this season and had performed well in clashes between top teams.

The biggest difference for Wenger’s team was their performance in those big games, but they still had 57 points, sitting in 3rd place.

But it was clear that The Gunners had fallen behind the top two teams.

They were already 6 points behind Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester United was in 4th with 56 points.

Liverpool had 52 points, placing them 5th.

The Reds had actually performed well this season, but recurring problems with their backline meant Liverpool’s situation was not optimistic.

With a 4-point gap to Manchester United, trying to catch up and return to the top four would undoubtedly be quite challenging.

Chelsea’s performance had improved since changing managers, but with only 35 points, they remained in 8th place.

…

February 4th, Premier League Matchday 24.

Arsenal secured a massive victory at home.

Before the match, Wenger had told reporters that The Gunners had not given up on their pursuit of the league title.

And his players delivered on Wenger’s promise during the game.

Two minutes in, van Persie scored the opening goal for The Gunners against Blackburn Rovers.

The Dutchman then put on a spectacular display.

Especially towards the end of the first half, a red card for Gaël Givet left Blackburn in a desperate situation.

In the second half, The Gunners attacked relentlessly, and van Persie completed his hat-trick.

Ultimately, The Gunners thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Fulham 3-0 at home.

Liverpool narrowly beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home.

However, Redknapp’s team had been the better side overall.

Yang Cheng’s team traveled to Loftus Road Stadium for this round to challenge Queens Park Rangers.

After the managerial change, Queens Park Rangers’ overall performance had been decent, especially at home.

Mark Hughes’s coaching ability was certainly worthy of recognition.

Most importantly, the players he brought in and loaned had performed up to standard.

For example, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

At both Chelsea and Manchester City, Wright-Phillips was clearly not a starter.

But for a lower-mid-table Premier League team like Queens Park Rangers, he absolutely deserved a starting spot.

Another was striker Zamora, who joined from Fulham for 6 million pounds and was also very capable.

In the match on Wednesday, the Queens Park Rangers team Yang Cheng faced was a genuine Premier League side determined to avoid relegation.

At the very least, their squad composition looked the part.

Therefore, the match was quite difficult.

Mark Hughes employed a 4-4-2 formation, his specialty.

Cissé and Zamora formed the two-striker partnership.

At one point, Queens Park Rangers even tried to hit on the counter-attack.

But in the 16th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back and launched a counter. Modrić played a through ball, Di María flicked it on with a backheel, and Lewandowski easily fired home to score the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

After taking the lead, Queens Park Rangers began to fight desperately.

Especially the players.

Before the match, the media had hyped it up as a West London derby, which contributed to a tense atmosphere among the players.

In the 34th minute, after Cissé lost the ball to Kompany in the attacking third, he made a very irrational retaliatory move—a scissor tackle from the side and behind that brought Kompany down.

The referee immediately showed a red card, sending Cissé off the pitch.

Just one minute after the second half began, Bayswater Chinese launched an attack.

Di María crossed from the right to the far post, and Gareth Bale tapped it in from close range with his left foot.

2-0!

Di María’s precise cross was crucial for this goal.

In the 71st minute, Modrić sent a through ball to Lewandowski’s feet in the penalty area.

The Pole controlled the ball and laid it off for Di María, who scored with a low left-footed shot from inside the six-yard box, breaching Queens Park Rangers’ goal.

3-0!

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Queens Park Rangers.

After this round of matches, Queens Park Rangers, who had recently shown signs of improvement, dropped one place in the standings to 19th, just two points ahead of Wigan Athletic.

If Bayswater Chinese defeated Queens Park Rangers fair and square on the road, relying on their superior quality, then not far from Loftus Road, at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United relied entirely on Ferguson’s devilishly effective substitutions.

For the first fifty minutes of the match, Di Matteo’s defensive organization was extremely tight, effectively neutralizing Manchester United’s wide attacks and scoring three goals against them.

The scorer of the goal in the 50th minute was none other than Benatia.

But Ferguson made crucial substitutions at the right moments.

First, Javier Hernández came on as a substitute in the 54th minute.

The Mexican striker quickly orchestrated Rooney’s goal in the 58th minute.

Then, Juan Mata came on in the 64th minute, and five minutes later, Mata assisted Rooney for another goal.

In the 84th minute, Nani, after coming on as a substitute, created a free kick in the attacking third with his first touch.

Robben took it himself, and his direct free kick threatened Čech’s goal, causing the Czech goalkeeper to fumble the ball.

Javier Hernández pounced at the crucial moment and scored on the rebound, equalizing for Manchester United.

In the end, the two sides drew 3-3!

Three substitutions brought three goals!

The first was a striker for a midfielder, the second a midfielder for a defender, and the third a winger for a defender.

With every substitution, Ferguson injected his own adventurous spirit and desire to win into the team.

Di Matteo, on the other hand, became somewhat conservative after going three goals up.

Both teams played well for periods at Stamford Bridge, creating a spectacular six-goal thriller.

Ferguson, with his miraculous substitutions, once again proved that he was still one of the world’s top managers!

…

February 11th, Premier League Matchday 25.

Ferguson continued his magical performance from the last round against Chelsea, and this time it was just as miraculous.

The difference was, this time it was during halftime.

Manchester United hosted Liverpool in this round, but the first half ended 0-0.

Moreover, Liverpool had looked the more dominant side.

But just over a minute into the second half, Rooney broke the deadlock for Manchester United against Liverpool.

In the 50th minute, Rooney scored again.

In less than four minutes, Manchester United had scored two goals.

Just before the end, Suárez, returning from his red card suspension, scored a goal.

But Liverpool lost this clash between top teams 1-2.

The biggest impact of this match was probably that it would be very difficult for Liverpool to finish in the top four.

Manchester United was now looking like the gatekeeper of the top four.

Chelsea, who had been on the receiving end of a strong Manchester United comeback at home last round, suffered another setback away from home. They conceded a goal to Steven Pienaar just five minutes into the game.

In the end, The Blues lost 0-2 to Everton.

Arsenal, after going a goal down away from home, scored two to complete a 2-1 comeback against Sunderland.

Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 1-0 at home.

Although they had the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage midweek, an away match in Switzerland against FC Basel.

However, Yang Cheng still fielded many of his key players for this match.

Hosting West Bromwich Albion, neither side could find a breakthrough in the first 30 minutes.

But in the 34th minute, Aaron Ramsey played a through ball, and Walcott beat the offside trap to score in a one-on-one situation, giving Bayswater Chinese the lead.

However, in first-half stoppage time, The Baggies’ Nigerian winger Peter Odemwingie scored an equalizer for West Bromwich Albion.

The two sides went into the break level at 1-1.

But after the restart, first Kompany scored with a header to put the team back in front.

Then, Walcott scored two more goals to complete his hat-trick.

Finally, a long shot from Aaron Ramsey in the 85th minute flew past the West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper and into the net.

Bayswater Chinese thrashed West Bromwich Albion 5-1 at home.

After the match, Yang Cheng’s tactical adjustments at halftime also earned praise from numerous media outlets and fans!

Ferguson’s magical adjustments were impressive.

But Yang Cheng was no slouch either!

Chapter 240: Another Record! A Last-Second Equalizer! Walker the Barbarian! A Tribute for the New Stadium!

Yang Cheng had long heard of Basel, Switzerland.

Coincidentally, despite his many years of coaching in his previous life, he had never once played a match in Basel.

It was, one had to admit, a rather strange fact.

But he had never forgotten about Basel.

Not because the Swiss team was particularly strong, but because it was home to a very special stadium.

St. Jakob-Park!

Perhaps many wouldn’t recognize the name just by hearing it.

But its designers were two Swiss men, Herzog and de Meuron.

That’s right, the same designers behind Munich’s Allianz Arena and the Bird’s Nest in the capital!

St. Jakob-Park was the masterpiece that made their name.

It was the unique design of this stadium that catapulted them to fame, after which they were commissioned to design the Allianz Arena and the Bird’s Nest.

Throughout European football, this stadium was renowned.

It was first built in 1919, with the first stand constructed in 1937.

In 1954, when Switzerland hosted the World Cup, the stadium served as a major venue, boasting a capacity of fifty-six thousand.

But after the World Cup, the stadium was too large and mostly went to waste, gradually falling into disuse.

Later on, it even hosted greyhound races, athletics events, and concerts.

By the 1990s, the reconstruction of St. Jakob-Park was put on the agenda.

Herzog and de Meuron took on the job, and the stadium’s capacity was reduced to thirty-two thousand.

But what truly set it apart was the construction of a large shopping center and apartment complex in the south stand.

This completely concealed the stadium behind the shopping center and apartments. From the main road outside, one couldn’t even see the stadium, creating a very unique effect.

With nearly twenty thousand square meters of shopping space and 107 apartments, St. Jakob-Park caused a huge stir in European professional football.

For years, clubs everywhere had been racking their brains for ways to generate revenue from their stadiums.

The successful renovation of St. Jakob-Park brought enormous benefits to FC Basel.

Even on non-match days, tourists loved to visit, explore, and stay there.

More importantly, during the 2008 European Championship, temporary modifications increased St. Jakob-Park’s capacity to forty thousand.

After the tournament, some sections were removed, but it still held thirty-six thousand.

Its modern exterior and forward-thinking design philosophy made Herzog and de Meuron household names in European football.

From the Allianz Arena and the Bird’s Nest to the spectacular bidding for the Camp Nou renovation in 2007, they were honored guests of all the major clubs.

In this season’s Champions League Round of 16, FC Basel’s first-leg match against the Bayswater Chinese attracted a full house of thirty-six thousand to St. Jakob-Park.

Although FC Basel was one of the dark horses of this season’s Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese did not field their full-strength team for this match.

Yang Cheng implemented a moderate squad rotation.

Two players from FC Basel left an impression on Yang Cheng.

One was the winger, Shaqiri.

The twenty-year-old winger had performed very well in the Champions League this season, attracting the attention of several major clubs.

The other was the nineteen-year-old Swiss midfielder, Xhaka—the same one who, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, would later join Arsenal.

Overall, FC Basel placed a strong emphasis on utilizing and promoting young players.

Yang Cheng did the same for this match.

Young players like Aaron Ramsey, De Bruyne, and Eden Hazard were all given starting spots.

With two very young lineups, the match kicked off with a high-tempo, end-to-end battle.

Although the Bayswater Chinese launched a series of blitzes in the first ten-plus minutes, creating several dangerous opportunities, FC Basel began to assert themselves after the fifteenth minute.

Their most threatening chance came from a cross from Xhaka on the right, which Alexander Frey met with a left-footed push-shot, only for Courtois to make a flying save.

In the final phase of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of all-out attacks.

Giroud had a chance on the left side of the penalty area, seven meters from goal, where he attempted a hooked shot with his left foot. Yet, despite being so close, he couldn’t get any power behind it, and Basel’s goalkeeper, Sommer, easily collected the ball.

Yang Cheng shook his head repeatedly on the sideline.

When it came to scoring, Giroud was truly unreliable!

After the break, the Bayswater Chinese took control of the match, launching wave after wave of attacks.

In the sixty-fifth minute, Yang Cheng made a substitution, bringing on Harry Kane for Javi Martínez.

At that point, the team switched to a 4-4-2 formation, just like Basel.

Just seven minutes after the substitution, Harry Kane dropped deep to receive the ball and delivered a brilliant through ball.

Giroud, ten meters from goal, seized the opportunity with a left-footed push-shot.

But the shot was too central and was parried away by goalkeeper Sommer again.

Just as everyone thought Giroud had missed another golden opportunity, Harry Kane made a quick overlapping run, pounced on the rebound, and sent the ball into Basel’s net.

1-0!

Subsequently, FC Basel launched their own attacks and came close to scoring.

But Courtois was rock-solid, ensuring his goal remained unbreached!

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team defeated FC Basel 1-0 away from home.

The Champions League group stage dark horse had lost at home.

Throughout the match, the Bayswater Chinese players took twenty-six shots but managed only one goal.

Yang Cheng honestly didn’t know whether he should be happy.

Or a little happier?

If big Giroud’s scoring ability were just a little better, he would undoubtedly reach the next level.

He’d be a go-kart that could score goals!

Speaking of dark horses in this season’s Champions League group stage, besides FC Basel, there was OGC Nice from Ligue 1.

Under Ronald Koeman’s management, the French club faced Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the Round of 16.

Before heading to France, Mourinho was brimming with confidence, acting as if the win was already in the bag.

But once they arrived in Nice and the match kicked off, Real Madrid, still plagued by their Round of 16 curse, quickly discovered that their opponents were not so simple.

Real Madrid, who had been on a winning streak in the group stage, scored in the twenty-eighth minute.

During a swift counter-attack, Coentrão assisted C. Ronaldo for the goal.

But OGC Nice played with incredible resilience throughout the match, stubbornly preventing Real Madrid from scoring again.

Through their tight defense, they held off wave after wave of Real Madrid’s attacks.

They held on until the ninety-third minute of stoppage time in the second half. Seizing on a free kick in the attacking third, they took advantage of a lapse in concentration from the Real Madrid defenders and took it quickly.

Kevin Strootman unleashed a sudden long shot that breached Casillas’s goal, successfully equalizing the score.

A last-second equalizer!

After the match, Mourinho was savaged by the Spanish media.

The reason was that he had been far too conservative.

From the sixty-fifth minute onward, both teams made a series of substitutions.

Every one of Ronald Koeman’s changes was aimed at strengthening the attack.

All three substitutions brought on attacking players.

Mourinho’s changes, however, were all to bolster the defense, including bringing on Raúl Albiol for the dead-eyed Mesut Özil.

Under such circumstances, conceding a last-second equalizer was entirely self-inflicted!

And for scoring against Real Madrid, Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman earned widespread praise from the outside world.

Upon returning to England, the fifth round of the FA Cup was immediately upon them.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal at their home ground!

This was another summit clash!

The fact that Howard Webb was appointed as the head referee was enough to show just how important this match was.

Compared to the Gunners, who also had to worry about their Champions League Round of 16 tie, Yang Cheng had boldly rotated his squad in the away Champions League fixture.

Therefore, from the very beginning of this match, the Bayswater Chinese showed a superior competitive form compared to Arsenal.

Wenger still hoped to launch his attacks from the two flanks in this game.

But the Bayswater Chinese also employed targeted tactics.

With Piszczek injured, Kyle Walker started at right-back.

Yang Cheng tasked him with marking Sánchez.

During the match, whenever Sánchez got the ball, Kyle Walker would appear right behind the Chilean.

This gave Sánchez a massive headache.

In a physical battle, he had no advantage.

In a race for speed, he had no advantage.

In a contest of skill at his feet…

The strong and sturdy-looking Kyle Walker, without a second thought, would just charge in recklessly.

Or perhaps, one should call it pestering relentlessly.

It had the feel of a barbarian beating an old master with a flurry of random punches.

Neither team played conservatively, but both had done their homework on targeted tactics.

Arsenal’s attacks struggled to create any real threat, forcing them to pass backward.

This was true for Sánchez on the left and Nasri on the right.

“Thirty-eight minutes have been played in the first half, and the score remains 0-0.”

“Both teams are playing at a high tempo, but their targeted defending has been excellent.”

“Arsenal has passed the ball to the left flank again, to Sánchez.”

“We can see Clichy has also come up to support.”

“Kyle Walker is sticking to Sánchez like glue, not giving him any chance to turn.”

“Sánchez has no choice but to pass it back.”

“The two players have duelled several times in this match, but it seems Sánchez hasn’t been able to get the better of Kyle Walker.”

“Arsenal keep passing back, all the way to their goalkeeper, Lloris.”

“Lloris raises his hand, signaling his teammates to slow down.”

When Yang Cheng, standing on the sidelines, saw Lloris raise his hand and observed the Arsenal players’ reactions on the field, he immediately sensed an opportunity. He took a step forward, bent down, and shouted at Modrić, signaling him to push forward.

“Get up there, quick!”

“Blitz!!”

Wenger, sitting on the visitor’s bench, saw Yang Cheng’s action and felt a pang of nervousness, but he didn’t move.

There were only a few minutes left; if they could hold on until halftime, the second half would be much easier to manage.

At this moment, the ball was at Lloris’s feet.

Since it was a back pass from a teammate, he couldn’t use his hands at first.

The two centre-backs, Chygrynskiy and Vermaelen, spread out wide to make themselves available for a pass from the keeper.

Lewandowski sprinted towards Chygrynskiy, trying to put pressure on the Ukrainian centre-back.

This was a very common high-pressing routine.

When an opponent closes in, the goalkeeper dares not pass.

Sure enough, Lloris turned towards Vermaelen.

But Di María immediately charged towards the Belgian centre-back as well.

This made Lloris hesitate.

The French goalkeeper cursed under his breath and hoofed the ball upfield.

But it wasn’t a completely blind clearance; he aimed for van Persie in the attacking third.

The Dutchman dropped back and headed the ball to Sánchez on the left flank.

Before the Chilean could even receive the ball, he felt immense pressure from behind, as if a mountain was crashing down on him.

The feeling was incredibly uncomfortable.

The most absurd part was that this mountain was also ridiculously fast!

Sánchez’s first instinct was to turn and shield the ball, then quickly pass it back to Clichy.

Immediately after, he heard Kyle Walker shout something next to him, followed by a rush of hot, damp air sweeping past.

That bull-like fellow was still accelerating, charging directly at Clichy.

Modrić, meanwhile, dropped back to provide cover, ready to assist defensively.

Sánchez’s first reaction was to shout Clichy’s name, warning his partner.

Clichy saw Kyle Walker.

He was incredibly fast.

Combined with his large frame, that speed was truly intimidating.

Clichy immediately turned and passed backward.

He had been tangled up with him once before and simply couldn’t handle Kyle Walker’s physical strength.

But what no one expected was for the Bayswater Chinese to suddenly intensify the pace of their high press.

As Clichy passed back to Vermaelen, before the Belgian could even receive the ball, Di María was already charging at him at top speed.

Vermaelen took a quick step forward, intending to clear the ball with a big kick.

But he didn’t expect Di María to arrive so quickly.

The Argentine threw himself sideways to block, and the ball struck him squarely, rebounding towards the right outside the penalty area.

Di María immediately gave chase.

Vermaelen turned and pursued at the same time.

“The Bayswater Chinese have won the ball back with a beautiful counter-press high up the pitch.”

“Let’s see if Di María can get to the ball first.”

“Vermaelen reaches out to pull him back but can’t get a hold of Di María.”

“The Argentine looks thin, but he plays with incredible tenacity, absolutely refusing to go down easily.”

“Di María gets to the ball first.”

“A sudden stop!”

The Argentine abruptly changed his pace, coming to a dead halt.

As a result, Vermaelen overran him.

Di María cut back with his left foot, moving diagonally into the penalty area. After a quick glance into the box, he whipped in a cross with his left foot.

The ball was delivered from near the right corner of the box, arcing towards the center.

Lewandowski made a quick dash forward. Under physical pressure from Chygrynskiy, he leaped up just outside the right of the six-yard box and headed the ball towards the middle of the goal.

Lloris reacted extremely quickly, diving to his side and getting a hand to the ball to parry it away.

Only at this moment did a collective gasp erupt from Wembley Stadium!

Everyone was disappointed that this brilliant piece of attacking play hadn’t resulted in a goal.

But in the next instant, before anyone could react, a red figure streaked from the left corner of the penalty area, diagonally into the box. With lightning speed, he arrived just outside the left corner of the six-yard box, met the ball Lloris had just saved, and unleashed a ferocious shot with his left foot.

It was a difficult shot to take.

But the most important thing was to keep the ball down.

Gareth Bale did it!

He excelled at shooting for the far corner from this area, and he could always keep his shots down.

This time was no exception.

Lloris, still on the ground near the goal line, had no chance of getting up for a second save.

The ball shot into the right side of the goal, almost tearing through the side netting.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“A follow-up shot from Gareth Bale!”

“At a crucial moment, Bayswater Chinese’s relentless attack paid off! The Welshman scores with his signature left-footed shot, breaking the deadlock against Arsenal!”

“That was a beautifully crafted attack!”

“But the most crucial element was the high press from the Bayswater Chinese. The almost suffocating pressure they put on the Arsenal players left them with no time to think, forcing them into a mistake.”

“This is what a clash between two top teams looks like!”

The first half ended with the Bayswater Chinese in the lead.

But after the break, the Gunners came out with a menacing attitude.

Wenger’s team began to play with more aggression.

Although it was an away game at Wembley Stadium, it was a single-elimination match.

The FA Cup wasn’t the League Cup; Arsenal would not surrender easily.

Wenger’s side launched continuous attacks.

Especially in the fifty-third minute, after bringing on Benzema, they switched to a two-striker formation.

Now, van Persie and Benzema were upfront, supported by a midfield of Sánchez, Alexandre Song, Fàbregas, and Nasri.

The two full-backs behind them were also very active in joining the attack.

Especially Clichy.

Lichtsteiner himself wasn’t particularly adept at overlapping runs, and Gareth Bale’s presence was a major deterrent, so he played it relatively safe.

But Clichy practically played like a winger, pushing forward very aggressively.

On the left wing, which was Bayswater Chinese’s right flank, Kyle Walker delivered an outstanding performance.

Especially in defense.

Whether it was Sánchez, Clichy, or anyone else, no one could get any change out of him in his defensive zone.

Those stronger than him weren’t as fast; those faster weren’t as strong.

Crucially, no matter what type of player he faced—be it Clichy, Sánchez, or even van Persie or Benzema—he handled them with composure, and his defending was remarkably solid.

This was very different from his usual self.

In Yang Cheng’s eyes, Kyle Walker had always been synonymous with being rash and reckless.

But tonight, he made everyone see him in a new light.

For example, in the seventy-fourth minute, when Fàbregas switched the ball to his team’s left flank, it went to Sánchez, who had dropped back to receive it.

The Chilean winger received the ball in the half-space, facing forward, but he didn’t continue his run.

Because up ahead was Matić’s defensive territory.

Sánchez passed the ball out wide to the overlapping Clichy.

The French full-back then carried the ball down the left side of the penalty area, facing Kyle Walker one-on-one.

The English right-back held his position firmly, giving him no chance to break into the box.

When Clichy reached the middle of the left side outside the penalty area, nearing the byline, he suddenly stopped, feigning a cut inside.

Kyle Walker also stopped promptly, blocking his path inside.

No sooner had Clichy stopped than he started again, immediately dribbling towards the byline.

From the French full-back’s perspective, he was a good seven centimeters shorter than Kyle Walker, and the Englishman looked a whole lot bulkier.

He was at a disadvantage in speed and strength, but he should at least have the edge in agility, right?

So, he made a sudden stop, then an explosive start, trying to burst past him to the byline for a cross.

Especially when he saw Kyle Walker stop with him, a hint of cunning flashed in the Frenchman’s eyes.

This simple-minded, muscle-bound barbarian has fallen for it!

But in the next moment, he was completely stunned.

As he started to move with the ball, he felt an immense force crash into his right shoulder, causing his body to involuntarily lurch sideways.

Almost instinctively, Clichy took a step to the side to steady himself, but he quickly realized that Kyle Walker had already breezed past him. Before the ball even went out of play, he intercepted it with one touch.

Controlling the ball, turning, Kyle Walker glanced ahead and then played a pass.

The ball went to the unmarked Modrić, who was behind Clichy and outside the penalty area.

The Croatian began to orchestrate a counter-attack.

But Clichy just stared blankly at the Englishman in front of him.

With a short buzz cut and tattoos on both arms, he looked menacing.

But when Kyle Walker saw Clichy, he suddenly grinned, revealing a terrifying smile like that of the Reaper.

“Looks like you forgot to track back!”

Clichy’s eyes widened, and he yelled, “Damn it!”

Then, the Frenchman quickly turned and sprinted back.

But at this point, how could he possibly make it in time?

Modrić played a through ball forward to Di María.

After receiving the ball in the right side of the center circle in Arsenal’s half, the Argentine charged forward with long strides.

Fàbregas appeared behind Di María in time, reaching out to pull him back and stop the counter-attack.

He managed to grab the shirt, but as Di María sprinted forward, he dragged Fàbregas off balance, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.

“A quick counter-attack from the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Di María carries the ball forward.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s front three are all sprinting forward on the break.”

“Three on three!”

“This is a chance, let’s see what happens here.”

“Lewandowski pulls out to the right wing.”

“The center is left open, and Di María is still advancing.”

“A diagonal pass with his left foot behind Chygrynskiy.”

“Gareth Bale makes a quick forward run, receives the ball, and passes it across.”

“Lewandowski shoots from in front of goal.”

“GOAL!!!”

“2-0!!”

“In the seventy-fourth minute, following a quick counter-attack after winning the ball in their own half, the Bayswater Chinese produced a brilliant piece of combination play, with Gareth Bale assisting Robert Lewandowski for the goal!”

“This is a goal that all but seals the victory!”

The television cameras panned to the side, where the Bayswater Chinese front three were already celebrating wildly by the touchline.

Although it was an FA Cup match, it still drew ninety thousand fans to the stadium.

And the moment Lewandowski scored, the entire stadium erupted like a volcano.

All the fans were cheering wildly!

When Howard Webb blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese, thanks to goals from Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski, defeated Arsenal 2-0 to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

As the host, Yang Cheng walked over to the visitor’s bench to shake hands with Wenger.

On the way, he ran into Koscielny and Andrei Arshavin on the bench.

Both greeted Yang Cheng politely before leaving.

But when Wenger saw Yang Cheng, his face was still full of resentment.

“You guys really don’t leave any room for others to breathe, do you!”

“Who told you not to use the same tactics as last season?” Yang Cheng said cheerfully.

Wenger’s face stiffened. That was definitely not a compliment.

“You think I’m stupid?” Wenger retorted with a wry laugh.

Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

If he had used last season’s tactics, Wenger would still have lost tonight.

“Don’t you usually use your reserves for cup competitions? Why the sudden change this time?” Wenger found it quite strange.

Yang Cheng used his rotated squad for the away Champions League match and his starting lineup for the FA Cup.

It was indeed very surprising.

“Because I was confident of beating Basel, and I wanted to advance in the FA Cup,” Yang Cheng said with a grin.

Wenger almost couldn’t resist hitting him.

So damn annoying!

You won, so you won. Was all this necessary?

But he had to admit, Yang Cheng had lucked out with the draw this time, getting the Swiss side FC Basel, who were clearly no match for the Bayswater Chinese.

“It seems your ambitions are huge this season! You really want to go all out!” Wenger guessed Yang Cheng’s intentions.

Previously, there had been media rumors that the Bayswater Chinese wanted to win the Champions League and the Premier League to build momentum for the inauguration of their new stadium.

But now, it seemed Yang Cheng clearly wanted more than just those two trophies.

In fact, in the League Cup, Yang Cheng’s team had also reached the semi-final, only to lose to Manchester City.

If not for that, they might have genuinely been challenging for the quadruple!

The thought made Wenger feel a sense of helplessness.

Because the Bayswater Chinese were just too strong!

Ever since Toni Kroos joined last season, Yang Cheng’s team had been outstanding.

They had come very close to winning the quadruple back then!

And this season?

They had once again set their sights on the quadruple.

“Well, you’d better be careful. Manchester City is breathing down your necks in the league. You might end up with nothing!”

After hearing this, Yang Cheng nodded “obediently.” “Yes, you’re right to remind me. After all, you’re very experienced in this matter. We’ll be careful.”

At first, Wenger didn’t catch the meaning, but it soon dawned on him.

“Wait, what do you mean I’m experienced?”

“Aren’t you very experienced in fighting on multiple fronts only to end up with nothing?” Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

Wenger was instantly furious. I’m trying to give you a good-natured warning, and this is how you treat me?

How am I experienced? I’m just…

Wenger found himself at a loss for words.

It seemed he was indeed quite experienced in that department.

In recent years, Arsenal’s tactical style led to immense physical exertion from the players, and without sufficient squad depth for rotation, the Gunners always seemed to collapse in the second half of the season.

Habitually collapsing after fighting on multiple fronts had become Wenger’s trademark.

Yang Cheng watched Wenger walk away in a huff and couldn’t help but laugh.

But in his heart, he took Wenger’s warning quite seriously.

Manchester City was sticking incredibly close in the Premier League table.

In a way, this was a good thing for the Bayswater Chinese.

With such a pursuer right behind them, everyone in the team would be on high alert, daring not to be the least bit careless.

After all, with only a two-point gap, a single loss would mean surrendering the top spot in the league.

Under these circumstances, how could the Bayswater Chinese dare to be complacent?

Moreover, the team was aiming for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title this season!

So, Yang Cheng and his players were giving it their all, not daring to let their guard down for a moment.

But injuries were inevitable.

For instance, in this match, Kyle Walker had stepped in for the injured Piszczek.

As it turned out, the English right-back played the best game of his Bayswater Chinese career.

But it was mainly on the defensive end.

His defending on the right flank gave Sánchez, Clichy, and others absolutely no opportunities.

Kyle Walker was undoubtedly the number one meritorious veteran for the team’s victory over Arsenal in this match.

Perhaps angered by Yang Cheng, Wenger criticized Howard Webb’s refereeing at the post-match press conference.

The Gunners’ head coach pointed out that in the first half, van Persie went down inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area during an attack, and it should have been a penalty kick.

“A 100% penalty, but Mr. Webb missed it!”

Fortunately, it was Howard Webb. If it had been any other head coach, Wenger would probably have launched into a full-blown tirade.

Wenger’s point was that if not for this missed penalty call, and if the Gunners had scored first, the outcome of the match would have been completely different.

But several media outlets, including Sky Sports, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian, refuted Wenger’s claims.

Slow-motion replays showed that Pepe’s tackle on van Persie was a brilliant and exceptionally skilled dispossession.

“This was textbook defending and execution. Pepe showed the decisiveness of a world-class centre-back!”

“It was the correct call, without a doubt!”

This season’s FA Cup was quite interesting.

An early Manchester derby saw Manchester City knocked out.

In the fourth round’s Northwest Derby, Liverpool eliminated Manchester United.

Now, in the fifth round, a London derby saw the Bayswater Chinese eliminate Arsenal 2-0.

Among the first four teams to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, only the Bayswater Chinese remained.

It was indeed a very interesting phenomenon.

In the quarter-finals, the opponent the Bayswater Chinese drew was Everton, an away match at Goodison Park.

Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur all received very favorable draws.

Chelsea would face Championship side Leicester City.

Liverpool would face Stoke City.

Tottenham Hotspur would face Bolton.

All three teams would be playing at home.

In other words, the Bayswater Chinese had drawn the toughest possible opponent outside of a clash between top teams.

On the afternoon of February 25th, came the 26th round of the Premier League.

After a week of rest, the Bayswater Chinese were at full strength as they traveled north to face Newcastle.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Alan Pardew’s side, through their tight defense, managed to prevent the Bayswater Chinese from gaining any advantage.

But in the second half, especially as fatigue began to set in, Newcastle started to struggle.

In the sixtieth minute, an assist from Lewandowski set up Gareth Bale’s forward run. Near the penalty spot, he broke the deadlock against Krul, scoring the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Then, in the seventy-sixth minute, an assist from Gareth Bale allowed Lewandowski to score another goal, extending the lead.

Ultimately, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Newcastle 2-0 away from home.

In the same round, Chelsea beat Bolton 3-0 at home.

It’s worth mentioning that Benatia scored again.

The other two goals were from Drogba and Lampard.

After Roberto Di Matteo took over, Chelsea’s overall performance had shown a marked improvement.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at home in this round, winning the North London Derby.

Manchester United narrowly won 2-1 away at Norwich.

Ferguson’s team didn’t secure the winning goal until the ninety-second minute, scored by Ryan Giggs.

Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Everton, thanks to a hat-trick from Gerrard.

Manchester City also secured a 3-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers, with goals from Kaká, Agüero, and Ibrahimović.

After the 26th round of the Premier League, there was a midweek international match day.

All the international players left their clubs after round 26 to prepare with their national teams.

When the internationals returned, the subsequent 27th round of the Premier League did not go as smoothly.

In Liverpool’s home match against Arsenal, after Kuyt converted a penalty to take the lead, van Persie equalized in the thirty-first minute.

The two sides then fought a grueling battle until the ninety-second minute, when van Persie scored again, helping the Gunners secure a 2-1 comeback victory away at Liverpool.

In terms of squad depth, The Reds were not yet on par with Arsenal.

Manchester City, on the other hand, scraped a 1-0 home win against Bolton.

The match was also a rather poor display.

Chelsea fared even worse, losing 0-1 away to West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester United faced Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, with the first half ending in a dull 0-0 draw.

In the second half, Ashley Young had a massive release, scoring twice, and along with a goal from Rooney, they ultimately defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 away from home.

As for Yang Cheng’s team, they thrashed Fulham 5-0 away in this round.

The scoreline looks huge, but in reality, the match was not easy.

The two teams were locked in a stalemate for the first thirty-five minutes of the first half, but in the thirty-sixth and forty-first minutes, the Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in the space of five minutes.

And both were scored by Lewandowski.

Yang Cheng even had a feeling that this lad had some sort of penchant for scoring goals in quick succession.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese started passively. Fulham, using their home advantage, tried to press them.

But in the fifty-sixth minute, a quick counter-attack led to a goal from Theo Walcott.

In the sixty-first minute, another quick counter-attack, and it was Walcott again, scoring once more.

The strange thing was, both Walcott and Lewandowski had scored two goals within a five-minute span.

The final goal came in the eighty-third minute, scored by substitute Pogba.

And incidentally, in the first twenty-seven rounds of the season, Lewandowski had scored twenty-six goals!

Such a scoring rate, aside from the two феноменs in La Liga, was arguably the best in all of European football!

Unfortunately, in the face of goal-scoring machines like C. Ronaldo and Messi, such efficiency still wasn’t quite dazzling enough.

On the evening of March 6th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, with the Bayswater Chinese hosting FC Basel.

From the very beginning, this was destined to be a one-sided, utter demolition!

Di María had suffered a minor calf injury on international duty and had been rested since returning to the club.

For this match, Yang Cheng rotated his attacking lineup.

After starting in the league, Eden Hazard started again in this match.

Gareth Bale was moved to the right wing.

Just nine minutes into the game, Gareth Bale received the ball on the right, cut inside past a defender, and played a cross pass.

Toni Kroos made a quick run up and, from over twenty-five meters out, unleashed a furious shot that deflected off a defender and bounced back.

Gareth Bale got to the ball and swung his left foot again, another long shot from twenty-one meters out.

But this time, the football flew straight into the top left corner of the goal.

1-0!

With this goal, the match completely fell into the rhythm of the Bayswater Chinese.

Just five minutes later, Eden Hazard broke through on the left and sent a cross into the six-yard box.

Lewandowski met it with a volleyed tap-in, sending the ball into the net.

2-0!

In the twenty-fifth minute, it was Hazard again on the left, using a series of changes of pace and direction to beat two defenders before chipping another cross into the middle. Lewandowski easily headed the ball into the goal from close range.

3-0!

The Polish centre-forward had scored a brace!

And in the thirtieth minute, it was once again Hazard accelerating down the left. After breaking into the box from near the byline, he passed back to the edge of the six-yard box.

Lewandowski scored with a left-footed push-shot.

4-0!

The Pole had completed his hat-trick!

In the forty-second minute, nearing the end of the first half, Toni Kroos suddenly sent a diagonal long pass from the left, precisely to the right side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run into the box, got to the ball before goalkeeper Sommer, controlled it with his left foot, sidestepped Sommer, and fired a left-footed shot into the empty net.

5-0!

And one minute before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale received a pass from Modrić, shook off a defender, cut inside, and suddenly lofted a chipped pass over the top.

Modrić made an overlapping run, chested the ball down, and hit a volley with his right foot, smashing the ball into the Basel goal.

6-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium watched, mesmerized!

Ninety thousand fans in their home stadium witnessed the Bayswater Chinese relentlessly attacking Basel’s goal with overwhelming dominance.

Although the Swiss team tried desperately to hold their defensive line, they simply couldn’t withstand the sheer variety of Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

Especially when the team found its flow, Basel’s defense, in the face of Bayswater Chinese’s firepower, was as fragile as clay chickens and pottery dogs, and it simply disintegrated.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese had clearly vented enough and played with more composure.

Basel tried to mount a resurgence, hoping to score at least one goal.

In the sixty-third minute, Alexander Frey had a very good shooting opportunity.

But Courtois simply gathered the ball into his arms, keeping his goal secure.

Then, in the eighty-third minute, Toni Kroos took a free kick from the left side of the attacking third. He sent a diagonal pass to the far post, where Pepe headed it back to the center. Substitute Harry Kane tapped it into the empty net from the back post.

7-0!

And in the eighty-ninth minute, from a through ball by Toni Kroos, Pogba, who had come on for Eden Hazard, made a sudden run into the left side of the penalty area. As goalkeeper Sommer came out, he chipped the ball with his left foot.

The ball sailed over Sommer’s head and dropped into the goal behind him.

8-0!

The moment Pogba scored, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted in a frenzy of cheers!

“Let’s congratulate the Bayswater Chinese!”

“An 8-0 scoreline, setting a new record for the largest margin of victory in a single match in the knockout stage since the Champions League was reformatted.”

“We have seen that since the start of this season, the Bayswater Chinese have been consistently outstanding and remarkably stable.”

“Not only have they firmly held the top spot in the Premier League, but they are also one of the best-performing teams in the Champions League.”

“Now, facing FC Basel from Switzerland, after a 1-0 lead away from home, Yang Cheng and his players returned to Wembley Stadium and thrashed Basel 8-0.”

“This is an absolutely incredible scoreline!”

“They have set another new record!”

“Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick!”

“And two young talents from the youth academy, Harry Kane and Pogba, both got on the scoresheet.”

“This was truly a crazy goal fest!”

“Tonight, the ninety thousand fans at Wembley Stadium are surely ecstatic, for they have witnessed a gluttonous feast of wonderful goals, and a one-sided slaughter by the team they support!”

“But for FC Basel, this is a very unfortunate day.”

“We can clearly see that in the final stages of the match, they had completely collapsed!”

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, the cheering in Wembley Stadium reached its zenith.

Almost every fan in the stadium rose from their seats, applauding and cheering for the Bayswater Chinese players on the pitch.

Captain Modrić led his teammates, including those who had been substituted like Eden Hazard, on a lap of honor around the stands, soaking in the cheers from the fans.

At the same time, they expressed their gratitude to the fans in the stands.

Every player’s face beamed with pride!

They were proud of the team they played for!

They were also proud of the support from the ninety thousand fans present!

Finally, when they returned to the coaching area, they found that Yang Cheng had already shaken hands and exchanged greetings with Basel’s head coach, Heiko Vogel, and was back in front of the bench.

Yang Cheng embraced each of his players one by one, welcoming them into the players’ tunnel.

Yang Cheng was extremely satisfied with his players’ performance tonight.

Satisfied with every single one of them!

With the growth of the young players, the squad rotation for the Bayswater Chinese this season was noticeably smoother than last season.

For one thing, players like Harry Kane and Pogba were already beginning to play important roles and perform excellently.

More importantly, the dressing room was now unprecedentedly united.

Everyone was working as one.

They all had only one thought in mind.

Trophies, trophies, and more trophies!

Everything was a tribute for the new stadium, set to open this summer!

Chapter 241: A Comeback! The First League Defeat! The Maverick New Powerhouse! Fighting for the Treble!

The maverick new powerhouse!

When Yang Cheng’s team thrashed Switzerland’s FC Basel 8-0 at home, breaking the record for the largest margin of victory in a Champions League knockout stage match since its rebranding, media and fans worldwide sang their praises.

However, the German magazine kicker’s midweek Champions League special edition offered a unique, in-depth report.

In the article, kicker argued that the business philosophy of the Bayswater Chinese was something Bundesliga teams could learn a great deal from.

One crucial point was that their financial situation had always been remarkably healthy, and their approach to transfers was exceptionally cautious.

The report posed a question to its readers.

“Do you know who the most expensive signing in the history of the Bayswater Chinese is?”

“We believe many fans wouldn’t be able to answer.”

“That’s because this Premier League powerhouse has always operated very discreetly in the transfer market.”

“To date, their most expensive acquisition is Javi Martínez, signed from La Liga’s Athletic Bilbao in 2009 by activating his release clause, which cost them £12.8 million.”

“That’s equivalent to 16 million euros.”

“In the current European football landscape, especially among the top clubs, you will absolutely not find another team like them!”

“Even Toni Kroos, who is now the talk of countless fans, only cost the Bayswater Chinese £10 million—or 12.5 million euros—in 2010.”

“But both players have become vital members of the Bayswater Chinese!”

Kicker believed that the Bayswater Chinese’s transfer strategy was completely different from other clubs.

“They have a vast scouting network and a highly professional data analysis team. They approach every signing with extreme caution and have a penchant for acquiring young players around the age of 20.”

“The benefit of this approach is that it prevents them from getting drawn into bidding wars in the transfer market!”

Kicker’s analysis suggested that with the continuous influx of foreign capital into European football, the arms race in the transfer market was intensifying, and player valuations were soaring.

C. Ronaldo’s transfer in 2009 had already set a sky-high price, but now it seemed everyone had grown accustomed to such figures.

Manchester United’s Ferguson had complained on more than one occasion, attributing inflated player prices to foreign investment.

Many other renowned managers and experts also expressed their concerns about the current state of the European transfer market.

Player valuations were constantly on the rise.

Especially for high-caliber players!

But the Bayswater Chinese had taken a path entirely different from all other elite clubs.

They focused more on nurturing and scouting talent.

“In the past, the food chain in European football was ‘big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp’.”

“But the rise of the Bayswater Chinese has shown everyone another possibility.”

“They don’t rely on blind, extravagant signings, nor do they depend on burning money. Instead, they build their team through more precise, more pragmatic acquisitions.”

Kicker revealed that, according to their investigation and statistics, the team had undergone a revolutionary transformation since Yang Cheng took over the Bayswater Chinese in 2003.

Not only did they boldly implement a modern corporate management system, but they also poached a series of high-level management elites, including Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt.

This significantly enhanced the operational capabilities of the Bayswater Chinese.

In football operations, the Bayswater Chinese invested heavily in their youth academy and in scouting young players. This not only ensured the team’s competitiveness but also earned them the reputation of being an infamous “selling club” in European football.

“From 2003 to the present, the Bayswater Chinese have generated a total of £637.5 million in transfer market income.”

Due to fluctuations in the pound sterling’s exchange rate, it was difficult to calculate the exact figure in euros, but it was undoubtedly a number that would leave anyone astounded.

Over six hundred million pounds!

The new stadium for the Bayswater Chinese, a project watched by the entire world, was projected to cost over one billion pounds.

This meant that at least half of the new stadium’s construction funds were earned by Yang Cheng from the transfer market!

It was simply outrageous!

But what was even more unbelievable was yet to come.

“Take a wild guess: in the nine years since Yang Cheng took charge, how much have the Bayswater Chinese spent in the transfer market?”

“The answer is a number that would absolutely shatter everyone’s perceptions.”

Kicker compiled a table detailing the Bayswater Chinese’s transfer expenditures and income for each season over the past few years.

These figures were on record with FIFA and UEFA and were also publicly available.

In the past nine years, the Bayswater Chinese had spent a mere £80.015 million in the transfer market.

This meant their average spending per season was less than nine million pounds.

This wasn’t just making money; it was practically a money-printing machine!

In just nine years, the Bayswater Chinese had earned a net profit of 550 million pounds from the transfer market.

What was most astonishing was that while Yang Cheng’s team seemed to be selling players every year, their competitiveness was constantly increasing, and their results were getting better and better.

Furthermore, the Bayswater Chinese’s revenue was also repeatedly setting new records.

“According to Deloitte’s public forecast, for the 2011/2012 season, the Bayswater Chinese are projected to surpass Real Madrid and become the football club with the highest revenue in the world!”

Kicker stated that the success of the Bayswater Chinese over the past years had completely overturned the public’s impression of an elite European club.

So, how did this miraculous team achieve it?

And what were the lessons to be learned from them?

Kicker began by introducing the Bayswater Chinese’s backline.

So far this season, it was the most solid defense in Europe, and perhaps the world.

The core players were Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, Piszczek, and Vincent Kompany.

Kicker presented another table.

In this defensive line, the earliest to join was Piszczek, who arrived in 2004.

Piszczek, from Poland, wasn’t a player of extraordinary talent. In his early days, he played as an attacking player up front, even as a striker.

After joining the Bayswater Chinese, he was converted into a full-back by Yang Cheng.

For a time, he was kept on the bench by Pascal Chimbonda and Maicon, but he chose to stay with the club, working diligently. Now, at 26, the Pole was in the prime of his career.

Marcelo’s story was even more interesting.

The Brazilian joined the team in the summer of 2006, along with Nemanja Matić, Pepe, Di María, and Robert Lewandowski. Together, these players formed the core of the current Bayswater Chinese starting lineup.

And when Yang Cheng signed them, he spent a total of only £6.01 million.

For a long time, Marcelo served as Leighton Baines’s understudy and faced a great deal of criticism.

He had always been strong in attack but weak in defense, which was a very obvious shortcoming.

“It got to the point where, for a long period, Premier League teams playing against the Bayswater Chinese would specifically target Marcelo’s flank.”

“There were even media reports for a time that Marcelo had broken down, no longer wanted to stay with the Bayswater Chinese, and hoped to return to Brazil.”

“But Yang Cheng’s trust allowed the Brazilian to stay, and he continued to grow, improve, and develop.”

“Today, while Marcelo is still more offensively than defensively inclined on the left flank, his defensive skills have improved significantly, and his importance to the team has grown.”

“Many fans have even started to believe that Marcelo has the ability to become the world’s best left-back!”

“Pepe, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, and others joined the team successively in ’06, ’07, and ’08.”

“Added to that is José Fonte, who joined in ’04 because he couldn’t get game time in the Portuguese league.”

Kicker believed that the greatest characteristic of the Bayswater Chinese team built by Yang Cheng was their patience with and development of young players.

When this group of players, who joined in 2006 or even earlier, continuously grew and improved at the club, they not only developed excellent chemistry over the years but also formed a deep bond.

Moreover, they had an intimate understanding of the Bayswater Chinese’s tactics and Yang Cheng’s football philosophy.

From this backline alone, Kicker could discern the Bayswater Chinese’s attitude towards signing and promoting young players.

“If, back when Marcelo was at his low point, when Pepe was still rash and reckless, when Thiago Silva couldn’t overcome his weakness against high balls, Yang Cheng had lost faith in them…”

“Would we now be seeing this defensive line, arguably the most solid in the history of European football?”

Kicker argued that European football was becoming increasingly utilitarian and impatient.

But this was not something one could see in Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

Another piece of evidence was their midfield.

As early as 2003, Yang Cheng had identified Modrić as a genius midfielder.

“At the work permit hearing at The FA headquarters in SOHO Square back then, Yang Cheng declared in front of everyone that Modrić would become the best midfielder in the world!”

“Everyone scoffed at his words, thinking it was just a boast to help Modrić get his work permit. But now, looking back, was there any falsehood in what Yang Cheng said all those years ago?”

“Yang Cheng made another famous comment, one that was once mocked and ridiculed by numerous media outlets and fans. He said Džeko would become a world-class centre-forward, but at the time, Džeko was a midfielder, and his transfer fee was a mere fifty thousand pounds.”

“But later, Džeko’s performances once again proved Yang Cheng’s keen eye for talent!”

Kicker suggested that if players like Modrić, Matić, and Javi Martínez were testaments to Yang Cheng’s eye for talent, then Toni Kroos was an example of a different approach.

From his debut, the German midfield prodigy was in the spotlight, attracting attention from many elite clubs.

Yang Cheng had been following Toni Kroos since 2005, and the two had maintained a close personal relationship.

“But at the time, the Bayswater Chinese were just a newly promoted Premier League side and were in no position to compete with the major powerhouses. So, Toni Kroos transferred to Bayern Munich.”

“However, Yang Cheng was certain that Bayern Munich had completely failed to see Toni Kroos’s potential and value. So he lay in wait, biding his time, quietly keeping an eye on Toni Kroos.”

“In 2010, after five long years of preparation, the opportunity Yang Cheng had long awaited finally arrived!”

“Toni Kroos’s contract renewal with Bayern Munich ran into problems, and at the same time, Bayern Munich was desperate to sign the Bayswater Chinese’s goalkeeper, Neuer.”

“The two powerhouse clubs made a deal that, to this day, leaves Bayern fans with mixed feelings.”

“Bayern signed Neuer from the Bayswater Chinese for a transfer fee of £50 million, but simultaneously sold Toni Kroos to the Bayswater Chinese for a fee of £10 million.”

Kicker revealed they had once interviewed Uli Hoeneß.

“The Bayern general manager stated that after watching just one of Toni Kroos’s games for the Bayswater Chinese, they were filled with immense regret. They discovered that this German midfielder, whom they had overlooked, possessed astounding potential and tactical value that they had failed to see.”

“But Yang Cheng saw it!”

“No one knows how Yang Cheng saw it, but he proved to everyone with facts that Toni Kroos and Modrić were becoming the most important dual core of the Bayswater Chinese midfield.”

“In the 10/11 season, it was the first time the two played together, and their coordination was still a bit raw. But by the 11/12 season, it was clear that their link-up play was becoming smoother and their chemistry was growing.”

“In interviews, both players have stated more than once that they found a resonance with each other.”

“And for this moment, Yang Cheng had waited painstakingly for five years!”

Kicker believed that Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese represented a business philosophy that was at odds with the current European mainstream, as they did not advocate for lavish spending.

“In them, what we see is more of a return to football itself.”

Kicker also revealed that within the European football industry, the Bayswater Chinese were widely recognized as one of the clubs that treated their players the best.

“Many people like to judge a club’s regard for its players based on salaries, which leads them to the conclusion that the Bayswater Chinese exploit their players.”

“But the reality is quite the opposite.”

“Our reporters have interviewed many players who have transferred away from the Bayswater Chinese, including those who are still playing for top clubs. They all unanimously agree that even though they have left, they still miss the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Even after being at Bayern for many years, Ribéry still says he hopes to return to the Bayswater Chinese before he retires, or to move back to London after retiring.”

“To that end, he even bought a house in London, in the West End, right between Bayswater and Brent.”

Kicker asserted that among the many elite European clubs, the Bayswater Chinese were the most unique.

They were completely different from all other powerhouses.

“In this maverick powerhouse, we see a very contradictory and unique character.”

“On one hand, they are meticulous with their finances. To fund the construction of a new training ground and stadium, they took on heavy debt, forcing them to sell their top players year after year.”

“But on the other hand, they have an excellent reputation among players, fans, the media, and even their peers.”

Kicker revealed that they had conducted a survey before Christmas in 2011.

Through emails, phone calls, and polls, they interviewed many players from Europe’s top five leagues, the Eredivisie, the Primeira Liga, and others, asking them to choose the European club they most wanted to play for.

In the past, this had always been the domain of traditional giants like Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, who would invariably occupy the top spots.

But this time, the Bayswater Chinese ranked third, the highest of any Premier League club.

They were second only to La Liga’s big two, Real Madrid and Barça.

“We have every reason to believe that in a few years, after a period of consolidation and accumulation, the Bayswater Chinese will certainly be able to challenge the position of Real Madrid and Barça in European football!”

Kicker posited that the business philosophy and values conveyed by the Bayswater Chinese were actually a perfect fit for the Bundesliga.

After the turmoil caused by the bankruptcy of the Kirch Group at the beginning of the century, the Bundesliga had always placed a strong emphasis on financial health, which led to the so-called 50+1 rule.

And all of the Bayswater Chinese’s principles perfectly aligned with the Bundesliga’s way of thinking.

“The Bundesliga is currently in a state of confusion and uncertainty.”

“With foreign capital flooding into European football, how should German teams position themselves? How can they ensure their competitiveness?”

“Perhaps, what we lack is a maverick team like the Bayswater Chinese!”

The article was lengthy, but at the very end, Kicker also mentioned Ligue 1’s OGC Nice.

Although the club had been permitted by UEFA to participate in the Champions League, everyone knew that it was essentially a satellite club of the Bayswater Chinese.

The entire management team came from the Bayswater Chinese.

Their various management processes and business models were also largely inherited from the Bayswater Chinese.

In the just-concluded Champions League Round of 16, Ligue 1’s OGC Nice made a name for themselves after holding Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg.

Although they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in the second leg and were eliminated 4-2 on aggregate, Nice displayed impressive competitiveness over the two legs.

Ronald Koeman was enjoying a second spring in his career thanks to this Ligue 1 team.

Moreover, a number of talented and high-performing stars had emerged from Nice’s squad, such as Strootman, Nastasić, Aubameyang, and Pellè.

All of this showed everyone the influence and assistance the Bayswater Chinese had provided to Nice.

Kicker even boldly suggested that the cooperative model between the Bayswater Chinese and Nice could perhaps work in the Bundesliga, as bringing in the Bayswater Chinese would surely inject new life into the stagnant Bundesliga.

“Perhaps Yang Cheng and his team can bring more vitality and more unique changes to the Bundesliga!”

…

The Champions League Round of 16 had concluded, and all four Premier League teams had once again advanced to the quarter-finals.

They occupied half of the spots yet again!

This was a huge threat to all the powerhouse clubs in Europe.

Everyone had seen just how dominant the Premier League had been over the past few years.

Of course, this season, La Liga’s big two were determined to break the Premier League’s monopoly in the Champions League.

The Champions League final was to be held at the Allianz Arena, so Bayern Munich was also set on reaching the final.

This would undoubtedly make this season’s Champions League even more compelling.

But to everyone’s surprise, in the subsequent draw for the Champions League quarter-finals, the Bayswater Chinese were drawn against Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga.

This sent both the English and German media into a frenzy.

The English media were mostly excited.

Because for England, Germany had always been an arch-rival.

The German media, however, were somewhat pessimistic, as they were very wary of the Bayswater Chinese’s strength.

When he learned of the draw result, Bayern’s head coach Jupp Heynckes told Germany’s Bild, “The Bayswater Chinese are indeed a very tough team, but we’re no pushovers either!”

Regarding whether they could defeat their opponents, Heynckes expressed confidence but stressed that they would need to perform better in the match.

The German media also called for the Bayern Munich players to redouble their efforts.

It would be best if they could upset this seemingly invincible Premier League team and knock them out before the Champions League semi-finals!

Yang Cheng, for his part, didn’t have any strong feelings about drawing Bayern Munich.

It was to be expected.

Among the eight teams in the quarter-finals, apart from the four Premier League clubs, there were Real Madrid, Barça, Bayern, and AC Milan.

No matter who they faced, it would be a tough match.

Drawing Bayern wasn’t too bad, really.

What Yang Cheng was truly concerned about was Ligue 1’s OGC Nice.

Ronald Koeman’s team was currently level on points with Paris Saint-Germain, but they were in second place due to a goal difference that was one goal worse.

Still, it was clear that the team was very competitive in Ligue 1 this season.

The players in the squad were also performing better and better.

In the Champions League, by reaching the Round of 16, Nice was projected to receive around 27 million euros, according to the preliminary estimate from Xia Qing.

Yes, in this day and age, the Champions League was just that lucrative!

Otherwise, why would Wenger’s Arsenal in Yang Cheng’s previous life have fought so desperately to secure a top-four league finish and qualify from the Champions League group stage?

This season’s commercial revenue was estimated to be around 16 million euros.

Matchday income would also see a significant increase compared to last season, as they had played four home games in the Champions League.

Overall, Nice’s financial report for this season would look very good.

But their expenditures were also substantial.

There was the investment in the new stadium, and the training complex was expected to be completed and inaugurated this summer.

There was also the formation of the entire youth academy system, the recruitment and staffing of personnel, and various other costs.

In general, Nice’s current revenue was just about enough to cover its spending and various expenses.

Of course, for Ligue 1 clubs, transfer income was not counted as revenue.

Based on the current situation, Nice’s revenue for the entire season would be around 60 million euros.

In Ligue 1, this income level would only rank them in the upper-middle tier.

Teams like Lyon, Marseille, and Paris Saint-Germain were projected to have revenues exceeding one hundred million euros.

Clubs like Lille and Saint-Étienne were also looking at figures in the high tens of millions, approaching the one hundred million mark.

The capacity of the city and the size of the fanbase were limiting factors.

Take Nice, for example. The stadium was only so big. This season, the attendance rate had seen a noticeable rebound, averaging 13,000.

For Champions League matches, it could reach 15,000.

But so what?

With such poor infrastructure, the matchday income for the entire season was only around ten million euros.

Therefore, Nice was destined to be unable to compete with Europe’s top teams.

Yang Cheng’s intention was for Nice to serve as a good stepping stone.

The two legs against Real Madrid were played very well, and the players performed excellently.

That was already good enough.

…

On the afternoon of March 10th, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

In the 28th round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Blackburn Rovers.

Yang Cheng fielded his full-strength starting lineup for this match.

Blackburn, on the other hand, set up an “iron barrel” defense, looking to defend with all their might away from home.

But from the very start of the match, the Bayswater Chinese launched a siege.

Less than a minute into the game, amidst the cheers of the home fans, the team launched a fierce attack down the right flank.

Kyle Walker, who had been in excellent form recently, once again surged forward to join the attack, passing the ball to Theo Walcott.

Outside the 30-meter zone, “The Little Tiger” was being tightly marked by a defender. Upon receiving the ball, instead of passing it to Kyle Walker ahead of him, he used his speed to burst through a gap and played a cross pass to Modrić.

After making the pass, Walcott suddenly accelerated, making a diagonal run from near the right touchline towards the right side of the penalty area line.

Modrić, understanding the intent, shielded the ball from a defender with his body and, without taking a touch, pushed it forward with his right foot.

“The Little Tiger” arrived at full tilt and, before Olsson could track back, delivered a cross pass to Robert Lewandowski, who was positioned at the penalty spot.

The Polish centre-forward’s positioning was also quite clever.

He had actually moved to the penalty spot area much earlier to put pressure on Blackburn’s backline.

But he saw that their two centre-backs were staggered one behind the other, effectively cutting off the passing lane between him and Walcott.

Unless it was a high ball.

However, Blackburn’s defense had just been drawn over to the right flank, leaving the space behind Lewandowski unoccupied.

So, the Polish striker shouted to Walcott and, instead of rushing towards the goal, took a step back and ran horizontally towards the right of the penalty spot.

Distracted by Walcott, Blackburn’s two centre-backs were afraid he would get to the byline for a cross, which would be very dangerous, so they dropped deep.

This left Lewandowski completely unmarked.

Walcott’s cross arrived perfectly at Lewandowski’s feet.

With no defender near him, the Pole shot first-time with his right foot.

The ball rocketed into the left side of Blackburn’s goal.

1-0!

After taking the lead, the Bayswater Chinese continued to apply pressure on Blackburn.

“The Thugs” were currently fighting to avoid relegation, but the gap in quality between them and the Bayswater Chinese was quite large.

In the 30th minute, after a successful tackle, Matić played the ball to Toni Kroos.

He then distributed it to the left flank, to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman tore down the left wing with the ball, advancing to the left corner of Blackburn’s penalty area. Feinting to cut inside, he suddenly played a through ball to the left side just outside the box.

Marcelo made an overlapping run and sent a low, driven cross towards the near post.

Lewandowski followed up, and just three meters from the goal, he swept the ball into Blackburn’s net with the inside of his left foot.

2-0!

Just four minutes later, another quick counter-attack down the left flank produced a goal.

After receiving a pass from Toni Kroos, Marcelo threaded a diagonal pass through a gap between three defenders on the left side into the left of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick run behind the defenders, controlled the ball with his right foot, and then fired a shot across the goal with his left.

The ball rolled into Blackburn’s goal once again.

3-0!

The entirety of Wembley Stadium erupted in celebration!

Ninety thousand fans were cheering wildly!

Just before the end of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese launched another ferocious attack.

While counter-pressing in the final third, Lewandowski forced a passing error from a Blackburn defender.

Modrić collected the ball and sent a long pass over the top.

Gareth Bale darted forward at incredible speed.

Pinched between right-back Olsson and centre-back Hanley, the Welshman physically powered past Olsson, brought the ball under control, held off Hanley’s challenge, and from a tight angle on the left edge of the six-yard box, shot the ball through the keeper’s legs.

The ball went through goalkeeper Robinson’s legs, nutmegging both him and another defender.

4-0!

A 4-0 lead at halftime!

The Bayswater Chinese’s attack was like a relentless tide.

Their possession rate in the first half was a staggering 81.4%, with a pass completion rate of 93.5%. They unleashed a frenzy of 16 shots and scored four goals.

Even Sky Sports called it an “appalling 45 minutes!”

“For the visiting Blackburn, it was a truly brutal 45 minutes!”

“At their home ground, the Bayswater Chinese made this Premier League team, fighting for survival, feel the immense chasm in quality between the two sides!”

In the second half, the situation improved slightly for the visitors.

But the Bayswater Chinese still had a firm grip on the game.

In the 53rd minute, a long shot from Toni Kroos caused goalkeeper Robinson to spill the ball.

Walcott was there at the crucial moment to pick up the pieces, scoring on the rebound to extend the lead.

5-0!

Then, in the 71st minute of the second half, Marcelo’s cross from the left found Lewandowski, who scored with a diving header, completing his hat-trick and scoring another goal for his team!

6-0!

And just like that, “The Thugs”, who had just managed to claw their way out of the relegation zone, were kicked right back into it by Yang Cheng’s team.

The relegation battle this season was incredibly fierce.

At the bottom were Queens Park Rangers with 19 points.

Wigan Athletic had 21 points.

Blackburn had 22 points.

Bolton had 23 points.

Further up, teams like Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Norwich, Swansea City, Fulham, and even Everton and Sunderland were not yet completely safe from the danger of relegation.

The Premier League was currently in a very fractured state.

The powerhouse clubs at the top were charging forward in a fiercely competitive race.

The teams at the bottom were also desperately struggling.

After his Queens Park Rangers lost 2-1 away to relegation rivals Bolton, manager Mark Hughes said, “I’ve been playing and managing in the Premier League for decades, and I’ve never seen such a brutal relegation battle!”

The media interpreted this as Mark Hughes trying to shift some of the blame.

During the winter transfer window, he had spent a full £30 million, but the team still couldn’t escape the relegation zone.

Other teams had also invested, and their overall strength was greater than that of Queens Park Rangers.

Under these circumstances, it was difficult for Queens Park Rangers to escape the mire of relegation.

But it was for this very reason that in Manchester City’s away match against Swansea City, after a hard-fought battle of 83 minutes, Swansea managed to upset Manchester City 1-0, thanks to a goal from Luke Moore.

Swansea were also at risk of relegation and had to give it their all.

Although Ancelotti’s squad was large, after navigating through Christmas, the winter transfer window, and a multi-front campaign in February, their form had noticeably dropped in March.

And before this round, they had also played a Champions League Round of 16 match.

Arsenal didn’t play well in this round either.

In their home game against Newcastle, they conceded a goal just 14 minutes in.

A minute later, van Persie equalized.

But it wasn’t until the 95th minute that Koscielny secured a precious 3 points for The Gunners with a header.

After the match, the British media unanimously proclaimed: “Made by Yang Cheng, guaranteed quality. The value of this brand has risen once again!”

Liverpool also lost in this round.

They lost 1-0 away to Sunderland.

Manchester United, on the other hand, won 2-0 at home against West Bromwich Albion, thanks to a brace from Rooney.

Chelsea won 1-0 at home against Stoke City with a goal from Drogba.

…

After the 28th round, the team had a week to rest.

But following that, the Bayswater Chinese would face a very grueling schedule.

Due to the FA Cup quarter-finals, their 29th-round home game against Bolton was postponed to midweek.

The weekend would bring their 30th-round opponent, an away match against Norwich.

After the 30th round, they would travel away to face Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

The weekend after that would be the 31st round of the Premier League, a home game against Manchester United.

Then came the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, at home against Bayern.

After the Bayern match, they would travel to face Stoke City.

With a continuous schedule of two games a week, and opponents being either top teams or relegation-threatened sides, one can imagine the pressure.

Therefore, during this week of rest, Yang Cheng only gave the players one day off.

The rest of the time was spent adjusting and preparing.

Yang Cheng demanded that every single player give 120 percent of their focus during the upcoming period.

“Not long ago, Wenger told me that he has a wealth of experience.”

“What kind of experience?”

“The experience of collapsing!”

“The experience of collapsing in March and April every year!”

In a team meeting, Yang Cheng didn’t mind altering Wenger’s original words to use them as a cautionary tale.

“Anyone familiar with Arsenal knows that they often start ferociously, only to fall apart in March and April.”

“We are currently advancing on three fronts, and I believe we have the strength to compete on all three simultaneously.”

“But the prerequisite is that I need every one of you to maintain absolute focus, to be completely devoted to the matches and training!”

“I need every single one of you to fight for the Treble!”

The players’ reactions were enthusiastic.

It was clear they were all eager about the team’s prospects, especially for the Champions League, which they had missed out on for two consecutive seasons.

A week later, at Goodison Park, Yang Cheng’s team faced a stubborn fight from David Moyes’ Everton.

In this FA Cup quarter-final, Moyes’ team took advantage of their home ground from the start, launching a wave of attacks to try and seize control of the game.

In the 24th minute, from a set piece in the final third, Tim Cahill scored the opening goal for Everton with a header. 1-0!

The match then entered a stalemate.

Everton began to defend with all their might.

Moyes employed a 4-5-1 formation, not the 4-2-3-1 type, but more like a 4-4-1-1.

The two wide midfielders dropped very deep, and the overall formation remained very compact.

The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, patiently orchestrated their attacks, constantly looking for opportunities.

It wasn’t until the 62nd minute of the second half that Giroud delivered a brilliant pass. Eden Hazard beat two defenders and scored with a shot from the center of the penalty area, breaking through Everton’s goal.

1-1!

After equalizing, Yang Cheng continued to wait for the right moment.

In the 75th minute, he first brought on Walcott for Di María.

Then, in the 81st minute, he substituted Gareth Bale for Eden Hazard.

This substitution paid off spectacularly just three minutes later.

From a pass by Pogba, Gareth Bale powered past Phil Neville down the left wing, went to the byline, and crossed the ball in front of the goal.

Positioned between the two centre-backs, Sylvain Distin and Heitinga, Giroud leaped high and headed the ball powerfully into Everton’s net.

2-1!

The Bayswater Chinese had completed a comeback!

Moyes then made two offensive substitutions to bolster his attack.

But at this point, the Bayswater Chinese did not shrink back but instead met them head-on with a counter-blow.

Gareth Bale even came close to assisting a goal for Walcott, which scared Everton into retreating.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Everton 2-1 away from home, successfully advancing to the semi-final.

The other three teams to advance to the semi-finals were Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur.

And the Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the semi-final would be Liverpool.

And it would be an away game.

…

Midweek, in the 29th round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Bolton.

Bolton were still fighting for survival, so they played with great ferocity in this match.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

Bolton were extremely resilient, with every player running tirelessly and pressing with all their might, causing significant trouble for the home side.

But in the 53rd minute of the second half, an assist from Lewandowski allowed Walcott to score, giving the Bayswater Chinese the lead.

In the 80th minute, former Real Madrid player Marcos Alonso took a free kick from the center of the pitch and struck a magnificent curling shot with his left foot that was heading for the top left corner of the goal.

But at the crucial moment, Courtois made a heroic save, tipping the ball away with one hand to keep a clean sheet.

The Belgian goalkeeper’s brilliant save earned him thunderous applause and cheers from the entire Wembley Stadium.

So far this season, the Bayswater Chinese had conceded only seven goals in 28 league matches, their defense proving to be solid as a rock.

It was no easy task for any team to breach the Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

And Courtois had kept 21 clean sheets.

This meant he was not far from the record of 24 clean sheets set by Čech in the 04/05 season.

For this reason, Courtois was performing exceptionally well.

In the 88th minute, Gareth Bale scored another goal, sealing the victory for his team against Bolton.

Ultimately, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Bolton 2-0 at home, securing 3 points.

In the same round, Chelsea won 4-2 away at Aston Villa.

Manchester City defeated Sunderland 3-1 at home.

Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 away at Queens Park Rangers.

Manchester United beat Blackburn 2-0 away.

And Liverpool defeated Newcastle 2-0 away from home.

…

Due to the rescheduled midweek match, the Premier League’s 30th-round games for the Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, and Chelsea were played a day later than the other teams.

It was clear that, with the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals just three days away, teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, and Liverpool had all opted for squad rotation.

Arsenal, playing at home, secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Aston Villa with goals from Clichy, Sánchez, and Mikel Arteta.

Wenger’s team had rotated their squad but still performed exceptionally well at home.

Manchester City, however, nearly suffered an unexpected defeat, managing only a 1-1 draw away at Stoke City.

Stoke City were fighting for survival, while The Blue Moons were trying to keep the pressure on the Bayswater Chinese.

The first half ended 0-0.

In the second half, Crouch scored first for Stoke City.

It wasn’t until the 86th minute that a goal from Yaya Touré leveled the score for Manchester City.

After that, The Blue Moons failed to score again.

The two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

This left Ancelotti very dissatisfied after the match.

Manchester United scraped a 1-0 win at home against Fulham.

The next day.

Chelsea played out a 0-0 draw at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool, after rotating their squad, lost 1-2 at home to Wigan Athletic.

The Reds conceded a penalty in the first half, but Suárez equalized just two minutes into the second half.

However, in the 93rd minute, The Reds conceded again.

Perhaps because Manchester City had drawn one and lost one of their last three games, the Bayswater Chinese players, who had been on edge, relaxed a bit.

In this round’s away match against newly promoted Norwich, Yang Cheng’s team, after significant squad rotation, lost 1-0.

This was the Bayswater Chinese’s first loss in the Premier League since April 2011.

Their unbeaten league run came to an end at 33 matches!

Earlier, in the 27th minute of the first half, Yang Cheng’s team had already taken the lead with a goal from Aaron Ramsey.

But it was disallowed by the head referee.

Clattenburg ruled that before Aaron Ramsey shot, Kompany had already committed a foul while tackling their striker, Holt.

The Belgian defender protested to Clattenburg and was shown a yellow card.

After that, the match entered a stalemate.

In the 46th minute of the first half, while defending against Holt, Kompany made an ill-disciplined pulling motion.

The Norwich striker went down inside the penalty area.

Clattenburg showed another yellow card, sending Kompany off with a red card and awarding Norwich a penalty kick.

Holt converted it coolly to score the opening goal for Norwich.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese finally rallied and began to push forward.

But being a man down and with the opponent defending with all their might, they failed to score.

Ultimately, they lost 1-0 away from home!

Just before the Champions League quarter-finals, the Bayswater Chinese suffered their first league defeat of the season!

Chapter 242: Showdown in Munich! Heynckes’ Unsolvable Puzzle! We Are the Strongest Team!

Just before the crucial knockout stage of the Champions League quarter-finals, the Bayswater Chinese lost their first league match of the season.

And their opponent was the newly promoted team, Norwich.

This sparked heated discussions in the media and concern among many fans.

Looking purely at the results, Bayswater Chinese’s lead in the league was substantial enough that even losing this match wouldn’t really affect the public’s optimism.

Besides, losing only one match in thirty league rounds was a dazzling achievement.

No one could really criticize them for a single loss.

But the timing of the loss was what truly mattered.

Losing just before heading to Munich, Germany to challenge Bayern was indeed worrying.

More importantly, it was the form displayed by the Bayswater Chinese players.

The Times published Yang Cheng’s explanation from the post-match press conference.

Yang Cheng believed the main reason for the team’s defeat was complacency.

“In the dressing room just now, I told my players that this is an extremely dangerous thing.”

The Times agreed with this assessment.

Throughout this season, Bayswater Chinese’s performance had been consistently stable, and their squad rotations had rarely faltered.

But that was under the premise that teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Manchester United were hot on their heels.

Now, Manchester United and Arsenal had gradually fallen behind.

In the last three rounds, Manchester City had suffered one draw and one loss, continuously dropping points and widening the gap with Bayswater Chinese.

At this point, the Bayswater Chinese players must have breathed a sigh of relief.

But it was precisely because of this that their form visibly declined in the match against Norwich.

The Times stated that in the current Premier League, even a team as strong as Bayswater Chinese would face a disaster on the pitch if their players’ overall form dropped significantly against a newly promoted team like Norwich.

“Similar cases have occurred repeatedly in almost every past season. The most important thing is to see how Yang Cheng handles the crisis facing the team and the upcoming matches.”

Yang Cheng also stated at the post-match press conference, “I won’t blame my players for this, because I know they have all worked very hard. But I hope they can clearly realize that this is a very serious matter.”

“In the Champions League quarter-final knockout stage, we will be facing Bayern Munich!”

“That is a top European powerhouse aiming to win the Champions League title!”

That’s right, Bayern Munich was going all out for the Champions League this season.

Because the Champions League final was being held at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Every team hopes to win the Champions League on their home turf, don’t they?

Therefore, no one dared to underestimate the competitive spirit that Bayern would unleash fueled by this desire.

The Times believed that Yang Cheng had a very clear understanding of his players’ mentality and the situation the team was facing.

Losing the first league match of the season was not a huge problem in itself.

The real problem was how to quickly emerge from the shadow of defeat, adjust the team’s form, and travel to the Allianz Arena in Munich to challenge Bayern Munich at their best.

This was the greatest challenge ahead for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese!

Other British media outlets generally held a similar view.

After all, losing only one match in thirty league rounds, and without fielding the full starting lineup, was hardly grounds for harsh criticism of Bayswater Chinese.

Many media outlets, including The Guardian and Sky Sports, expressed optimism about Bayswater Chinese’s trip to Munich.

…

In contrast to the support and concern from the British media, the German media began to sing praises for Bayern.

Many German media outlets even suggested that Bayswater Chinese’s loss was a result of the pressure of facing Bayern.

Why?

Because Bayern Munich’s recent form was simply too good!

How good?

Jupp Heynckes’ team first thrashed Hoffenheim 7-1 at home, then obliterated Hertha BSC 6-0 away.

And in the most recent round, Bayern Munich crushed Freiburg 7-0 at home.

In the last three Bundesliga matches, Bayern Munich not only secured a three-game winning streak but also scored twenty goals while conceding only one.

It was absolutely insane!

Besides the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in an away game in the German Cup semi-final, successfully advancing to the final.

Their opponent in the final would be the Borussia Dortmund side managed by Klopp.

It could be said that the recent Bayern Munich had an irresistible momentum.

In the Bundesliga table, after twenty-seven rounds, they were temporarily five points behind Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund.

With only seven rounds left, the chances of a turnaround were not high.

Precisely because of this, Bayern Munich had pinned all their hopes on the cup competitions.

Especially the Champions League.

Could they really afford not to participate in a Champions League final held on their home turf?

The entire German football world was also eagerly hoping that Bayern Munich could rally and lead other Bundesliga teams to a breakthrough in the Champions League, achieving better results.

So, with Bayern’s irresistible momentum on one side and Bayswater Chinese’s first loss of the season on the other, the entire German football scene was electrified. The German media was in full celebratory mode.

The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung held extremely high hopes for the upcoming Champions League quarter-final, believing it would be the first shot in Bayern Munich’s charge for the Champions League.

“At the same time, it is bound to become the first step towards the revival of German football!”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that there was great anticipation for this match within Bayern Munich as well.

From the management and coaching staff to the players and fans, everyone was filled with a craving for victory in this match.

Uli Hoeneß even stated in an interview with Bild, “The match on March 27th will be Bayern’s most important battle of the season so far. There is no room for error!”

Public opinion in Germany was also generally optimistic about Bayern Munich’s chances of advancing.

Many media outlets even offered strategies to Bayern, suggesting that the Bundesliga champions should fully leverage their midfield advantage, especially the iron trio of Gustavo, Schweinsteiger, and Tymoshchuk.

Bayern’s three tough midfielders had rendered meritorious service to the team this past season, renowned for their defensive prowess and high work rate, which was seen as enough to suppress Bayswater Chinese’s vaunted midfield trio.

In defense, the combination of Alaba, Holger Badstuber, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm, along with the presence of goalkeeper Neuer, made Bayern Munich’s entire central and defensive line as solid as a rock.

Such a lineup was considered sufficient to overwhelm Bayswater Chinese.

Many football experts in Germany also offered their advice, believing that Bayern should go all out for a win at home.

As long as they could defeat Bayswater Chinese at home, even by a single goal, the away leg would become much easier!

Bayern captain Lahm stated in an interview with the media that Bayswater Chinese was a very strong opponent.

“But we are confident of achieving victory at home!”

Lahm believed that Ribéry would be the key to Bayern’s victory.

“We all know he is a key player who can decide the outcome of a match. He will prove his importance through this game.”

“Indeed, defeating Bayswater Chinese is a very difficult task, but Franck will make his contribution.”

Additionally, Lahm also believed that playing at home was the biggest advantage for Bayern.

“Playing at the Allianz Arena is a positive thing for us. We are familiar with everything here. Playing in our own stadium gives us a sense of security and familiarity.”

Finally, Lahm stated, “Our entire team wants to lift the trophy at home!”

To lift the trophy, they had to defeat Bayswater Chinese and reach the final!

Regarding the threats within the Bayswater Chinese team, Lahm mentioned Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

“Without a doubt, these two players are the most threatening and also the most potent attacking players in the Bayswater Chinese squad.”

Lahm would be directly facing Gareth Bale.

“He has excellent physical strength and astonishing speed. He will be a very difficult opponent, but I have often faced such opponents in the past.”

“We are a strong team, and I believe our defense will have no problems!”

Core midfielder Schweinsteiger stated that Bayern would prove their strength through this match.

“Perhaps our lineup of stars is not as impressive as Bayswater Chinese’s, but our players are also very outstanding.”

“We have found the solution to stop Bayswater Chinese. Everyone will see how we defeat them at the Allianz Arena!”

Facing his former club, a team he was very fond of and grateful to, Ribéry stated that as a professional player, the way to thank the Bayswater Chinese was to give his all to defeat them.

“I have already reminded my teammates that Bayswater Chinese is a very resilient team!”

Neuer, on the other hand, reminded his teammates and the coaching staff, “No matter what, we must take Bayswater Chinese’s midfield seriously.”

“I played for Bayswater Chinese for many years. I know this team, I know these players, and we are still very good friends to this day.”

“I want to say, Coach Yang Cheng values the midfield more than anyone!”

“If I had to make a judgment about this match, I would definitely say that whoever wins the midfield will win the match!”

Neuer believed that Bayswater Chinese’s strength lay in their pass-and-move style.

Bayern Munich’s strength was in their midfield’s defense, interception, and coverage.

“Once Bayswater Chinese’s midfield starts to operate smoothly, that team will be invincible!”

Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes even mentioned, “Yang Cheng is one of the best head coaches in world football right now. His excellent work makes him a difficult opponent for anyone.”

“His control over the team is excellent, and he is one with his players. This is a feeling that all head coaches envy.”

“It is indeed very difficult to defeat such a team, but I believe that as long as we give it our all, we can definitely do it!”

In addition, former Bayern legends like Makaay, Michael Ballack, Effenberg, and Oliver Kahn also voiced their opinions in the media, each offering their own surprise tactics, hoping to help Bayern Munich understand their opponent and defeat them.

“During my time playing in the Premier League, I already knew that Bayswater Chinese was an excellent team with huge technical and tactical advantages.”

“More importantly, every one of them has an incredible belief in victory!”

Ballack stated that if Bayern wanted to defeat such a team, they had to both leverage their home advantage and perform better than their opponents.

…

While the British and German media were in a heated frenzy, each taking sides, by the Brent Reservoir, Yang Cheng and his players were preparing for the battle in peace.

The media’s opinions and the fans’ worries did not affect the team’s internal rhythm.

For Bayswater Chinese, the upset loss to Norwich was already in the past.

The most important thing now was the Champions League quarter-final.

Yang Cheng needed to focus on the latest itinerary sent from the suits downtown regarding the team’s arrival in Munich, including the hotel, meals, and a series of other matters.

Additionally, one of the team’s buses had already arrived in Munich.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

They were just waiting for the team to depart from London for Munich the next day.

As Yang Cheng was signing the report file for the suits, Toni Kroos knocked on the office door.

When he entered, the German midfielder seemed not at all surprised that Yang Cheng had summoned him. He walked in calmly and found a seat for himself without needing to be told.

“How have you been lately?”

After finishing the work at hand, Yang Cheng walked over from his desk and sat down opposite Toni Kroos.

The German finally smiled. “Don’t worry, boss. You don’t need to worry about me. Everything is fine.”

Toni Kroos knew exactly what Yang Cheng was worried about.

He came from Bayern and had a very unpleasant falling out with the Bayern management, leaving him with some emotional baggage regarding the club.

So, Yang Cheng was worried about whether he could perform at his usual level in an away game at the Allianz Arena.

Toni Kroos’s current composure was meant to tell Yang Cheng that, under any circumstances, he would not be affected by his emotions.

“In your two years at Bayer Leverkusen, you faced Bayern four times, and your performances were quite average.”

In those four matches against Bayern, Leverkusen’s record was two draws and two losses.

During the 2009/10 season under Jupp Heynckes, Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Bayern in both matches.

But Toni Kroos’s performances in all four games were mediocre.

Of course, Yang Cheng couldn’t be certain whether this was because he was still young and raw at the time, with inconsistent form, or if he was genuinely affected by emotional fluctuations.

But one thing Yang Cheng knew for sure was that Toni Kroos held a grudge against Bayern Munich.

More importantly, when he was playing for Bayer Leverkusen, he was still technically a Bayern Munich player.

But now, he had transferred to the Bayswater Chinese.

This would be the first time in his professional career that he would go to the Allianz Arena in Munich as a non-Bayern player.

Under these circumstances, how could Yang Cheng not be worried? How could he not ask?

In the tactical system Yang Cheng had built for the Bayswater Chinese, the dual core midfield was indispensable.

To put it more vividly, Toni Kroos was the cornerstone, providing stability.

With him, the team’s floor was secure.

Modrić represented the ceiling; his presence made Bayswater Chinese’s attack more multi-dimensional and varied.

Under these circumstances, after much thought, Yang Cheng decided to call Toni Kroos over to ask.

“Don’t worry, boss. I’m not the same person I was two years ago. I’m much more mature now!”

Toni Kroos smiled again, hoping to reassure Yang Cheng.

“I’ll be frank with you. I do want to prove my ability at the Allianz Arena, in front of those who once doubted me. But rest assured, I know what I can and cannot do.”

This last sentence from Toni Kroos was very candid.

It was only after hearing this that Yang Cheng felt relieved.

If Toni Kroos had denied it, that would have been the real problem.

“Alright, I believe you!” Yang Cheng also nodded with a smile.

Afterward, Yang Cheng gave him a hearty round of encouragement before letting Toni Kroos go.

In truth, Toni Kroos had been stone-faced since he was a child, not smiling much, and he wasn’t one for pep talks or grand promises.

The kid was a bit too mature for his age, with a clear-headed view of the world.

But interestingly, Yang Cheng’s encouragement still worked on him.

It was a very strange feeling.

Only Yang Cheng knew in his heart that it was because Toni Kroos trusted him!

When a person truly trusts another, they are always particularly susceptible to believing every word they say.

Of course, gaining Toni Kroos’s trust, especially heartfelt trust, was no easy task.

Not long after Toni Kroos left, Modrić also came to Yang Cheng’s office.

For the team captain, Yang Cheng took a different approach.

“It’s Toni’s first time going to Bayern as an away player. What do you think?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

He revealed a hint of worry.

Modrić noticed. “I think he can handle it, and we really need him.”

“Of course, I don’t doubt his ability, and I’m never worried about his performance in a match. But I’m a little worried that he might be too eager, or be exploited by the opponent.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added a reminder, “You know, Bayern Munich’s midfield is not easy to deal with.”

Gustavo, Tymoshchuk, and Schweinsteiger were all outstanding, tenacious midfielders.

Jupp Heynckes was also not a very conservative head coach; the tactic he employed was a full-pitch press.

“Luka, I’ve always believed that you are a very trustworthy and dependable person.”

Yang Cheng looked deeply at Modrić. “In the game, help Toni out more. We need to help him get past this.”

Modrić understood what Yang Cheng meant.

In the year-plus since Toni Kroos left Bayern, although he hadn’t mentioned Bayern much in interviews, he rarely had anything good to say.

He would even deliberately praise Bayswater Chinese to belittle Bayern.

This had angered and dissatisfied many Bayern and German fans.

Without a doubt, Toni Kroos would become the most unwelcome person at the Allianz Arena.

With his proud personality, this would only fuel his anger.

Of course, Yang Cheng believed in Toni Kroos’s ability to control his temper, because in Yang Cheng’s memory of his past life, composure and elegance defined Toni Kroos’s entire career.

Except for that one time, in his last match for the national team, when he lost control!

But the current Toni Kroos was still young, and Yang Cheng couldn’t guarantee anything, so he had to be fully prepared.

“I understand, boss. Don’t worry. He’s not just my teammate, he’s my friend!” Modrić assured him.

…

Säbener Strasse, Munich, Germany. Bayern Munich headquarters.

In the head coach’s office, Jupp Heynckes was discussing the upcoming, highly anticipated Champions League quarter-final with assistant coach Peter Hermann.

The Bayswater Chinese were no simple team!

“We must pay close attention to their midfield, especially Toni Kroos!”

Heynckes and Peter Hermann stood on opposite sides of a desk, upon which was a tactical diagram of the Bayswater Chinese lineup.

The Bayern head coach pointed his finger at Toni Kroos’s position.

Peter Hermann was Heynckes’s long-time partner, having followed him to coach several teams, including Bayer Leverkusen.

Therefore, he was also very familiar with Toni Kroos.

When Heynckes was coaching Bayer Leverkusen, Toni Kroos was just starting out, but he was also very controversial.

How so?

In the eyes of everyone at the time, Toni Kroos was a very contradictory player.

Or rather, he wasn’t like a typical German midfielder.

He was neither an all-around tough guy like Matthäus, Michael Ballack, or Effenberg, who excelled in both attack and defense, nor a player full of creativity and final passes like Deisler or the dead-eyed Mesut Özil.

He had very refined footwork, but his tempo was on the slow side.

German national team coach Löw had mentioned more than once that Toni Kroos would slow down the German national team’s counter-attacks.

More importantly, he lacked physical strength in defense and wasn’t fast, which made him look mediocre in midfield, whether in attack, organization, or defense.

The only praiseworthy aspect was his ridiculously high pass completion rate.

But the problem was that many of his passes were ordinary, safe passes that rarely caught the eye.

Such a player was naturally a subject of great debate in Germany.

Some said he was a genius, but others felt he was overestimated.

After Heynckes took over at Bayer Leverkusen, he took a different approach, moving him from the traditional number 10 position to left midfield, utilizing his advantage with crosses from his right foot.

Thanks to this adjustment, Toni Kroos experienced a transformation in his career.

But at the World Cup in South Africa, his performance was still average, and he was completely overshadowed by Thomas Müller.

To some extent, in the summer of 2010, when Bayern Munich traded Toni Kroos for Neuer, despite adding money, everyone felt it was a worthy deal.

But when Toni Kroos started playing for Bayswater Chinese and immediately became a key player, partnering with Modrić as the core, everyone was astonished.

For people like Heynckes and Peter Hermann who were familiar with Toni Kroos, the real surprise wasn’t the ability Toni Kroos displayed.

It was Yang Cheng’s positioning of him.

Heynckes and his staff had worked with Toni Kroos for two years, and Bayern had developed him for so many years. How could they not understand his characteristics?

So why didn’t they use him that way?

Because no one had ever thought of using him like that.

No one was a fool; everyone knew where Toni Kroos’s strengths and advantages lay.

For example, his most lauded skills now were his long cross-field passes and diagonal long passes.

Many German fans later questioned Bayern, why didn’t they think of using Toni Kroos this way back then?

The answer was actually simple: because the success rate was too low!

In recent years, almost every European team has been investing in data analysis, and crossing from the flanks is now widely recognized as the least efficient method of attack.

According to data from OPTA, the probability of creating a threatening attack through these long-distance cross-field and diagonal passes to the other side of the pitch is only about fifteen percent.

Note, creating a threatening attack here includes goals, shots, and entering the opponent’s penalty area.

Yes, it’s that low!

In an era that increasingly emphasizes passing and possession, who would be willing to build a tactic around such an inefficient attack?

So, it’s not that no one thought of using Toni Kroos this way.

It’s that from the very beginning, no team was willing to do it.

So why could the Bayswater Chinese make it work?

This was Yang Cheng’s most magical and admirable quality.

The reason long-distance passes are inefficient is mainly because the passer often needs time to adjust before passing.

To ensure the quality of the pass, the trajectory is often high, and the ball speed is relatively slow.

When receiving such a long, high ball, it’s often difficult for the receiver to control it with their first touch, requiring time and space to adjust before launching an attack.

This series of shortcomings means that after a long-distance switch of play, the defending team can easily adjust quickly.

It’s even possible that before the receiver gets the ball, the opponent has already cleared it.

How can you launch an attack like that?

But all these drawbacks of long-distance passing were non-issues for Toni Kroos.

His passes were fast and flat, with extremely high accuracy, and his delivery was very clean, making it easy for the receiver.

It could be said that as long as the receiver’s first touch wasn’t too poor, they could generally receive it and quickly launch an attack.

More importantly, Yang Cheng also pushed both full-backs far forward.

Even if the receiver didn’t control the ball well on the first touch, the advancing full-backs could quickly form attacking layers and organize a threatening offense.

And that is how the world’s football fans came to rave about the Toni Kroos of today.

Also, Toni Kroos’s astonishingly consistent passing and slightly slower tempo were not problems within the Bayswater Chinese team.

Because he played in central midfield, not as a number 10.

His clean, one-touch passing was like a fish in water in Bayswater Chinese’s pass-and-move system.

And his weakness in physical duels in defense was completely covered up by Yang Cheng’s team-wide defensive philosophy.

At the end of the day, Yang Cheng was just too badass!

It was Yang Cheng’s tactical system that made Toni Kroos!

As a result, what now lay before Heynckes and Peter Hermann was an almost unsolvable puzzle.

To suppress their pass-and-move style, they had to maintain a compact formation, not easily giving the opponent space to pass and move.

But once the formation became compact, Toni Kroos’s long and diagonal passes could pose the greatest threat.

Everyone had seen Lewandowski scoring goals for fun, and how sharp and unstoppable Gareth Bale, Di María, Eden Hazard, and Theo Walcott were.

But the frontline was the end point of Yang Cheng’s entire tactical system.

The core of Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system had always been in the midfield.

It was Toni Kroos and Modrić!

So now came the problem.

At present, with Bayswater Chinese performing normally, there was almost no effective way to contain this dual-core midfield.

At least, so far, there was no practical and effective method.

Except for parking the bus.

Even a powerhouse like Bayern Munich, even Jupp Heynckes, felt an immense headache.

“How about man-marking?” Peter Hermann suggested.

There had been rumors that Bayern would adopt a 4-3-3 formation, a three-holding-midfielder setup with Gustavo, Schweinsteiger, and Tymoshchuk.

But in reality, Bayern’s best formation was the 4-2-3-1.

That meant Schweinsteiger partnered with either Gustavo or Tymoshchuk, with Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Hamit Altıntop in front of them, and Gomes as the striker.

This formation had worked very well in the league.

But in the Champions League, Heynckes was a bit worried it wouldn’t be enough to suppress Bayswater Chinese.

And the rumored three-holding-midfielder formation was actually a variation of the 4-2-3-1.

After hearing his assistant coach’s suggestion, Heynckes didn’t respond immediately, but his brow remained furrowed.

Could Toni Kroos be man-marked?

The kid was responsible for passing, and he released the ball so cleanly and moved so intelligently.

Many people criticized him for making safe passes, but it seems few ever considered why he was always able to make a safe pass.

To make a safe pass, you have to constantly position yourself in a spot that is convenient for both teammates to receive and for you to pass.

Why was he always able to get to that spot?

Why couldn’t others?

Could such a player be man-marked effectively?

But if they didn’t do that, the most stable and effective method was to learn from Manchester United and Arsenal: retreat, park the bus, and defend with all their might!

This was, so far, the most effective tactical solution against Bayswater Chinese in European football.

But at the Allianz Arena, Heynckes couldn’t do it!

This was the reason for his sleepless nights and futile ponderings over the past few days!

He, Peter Hermann, and the rest of Bayern’s coaching and technical team really couldn’t find a better, more effective targeted tactic.

…

On the evening of March 27th, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, Bayswater Chinese versus Bayern.

As the players of both teams, led by Hungarian head referee Viktor Kassai, stepped onto the pitch, the Bayern players were greeted with a long roar of cheers.

The Allianz Arena was packed with 66,000 fans tonight, not a single empty seat!

But when the stadium announcer called out Toni Kroos’s name, the entire stadium erupted in a thunderous chorus of boos.

Over sixty thousand Bayern fans were viciously booing Toni Kroos as he emerged from the players’ tunnel.

Without any doubt, the German midfielder had become the most unwelcome player at the Allianz Arena.

This brought a wry smile to the 22-year-old German’s face.

He was mentally prepared for it.

At this moment, his feelings were more complex than anything else, indescribable.

He had once dreamed of playing for Bayern his entire life, serving this top German giant.

Even becoming a Bayern Munich legend.

But when he joined Bayern, he never would have imagined that one day he would wear the jersey of another team and battle Bayern at the Allianz Arena.

The head coach was right; this feeling was completely different from when he was playing for Bayer Leverkusen.

Back then, he was still a Bayern player, and he worked hard to perform well in order to return to Bayern.

But now, he wanted nothing more than to prove his ability and worth at the Allianz Arena, to everyone, including the sixty-six thousand Bayern fans in the stands, including the Bayern executives sitting somewhere in the stadium!

“Toni!”

As Toni Kroos’s mind was racing, the two teams had already finished shaking hands.

Captain Modrić had also gone for the coin toss.

This time, he won against Bayern captain Lahm.

Returning to their own half, Modrić gathered everyone around.

Especially a zoned-out Toni Kroos.

They all formed a circle, heads together, shoulders against shoulders, hands on their surrounding teammates.

“Brothers, we haven’t made it to the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons.”

“I know that all of you, like me, are looking forward to our new stadium, and you’re all eager to celebrate its opening with more championships!”

“Across from us, the Bayern players are also fighting desperately for the Champions League final held in their home stadium.”

“So, we must perform better, use our strength to defeat our opponents, and prove that we, the Bayswater Chinese, are the strongest team in Europe!”

“Let’s go!!”

Modrić’s rare passionate rallying cry deeply moved his surrounding teammates, who all cheered in agreement before scattering.

“Toni.”

Modrić called out to a nearby Toni Kroos.

The two Bayswater Chinese midfielders stood face-to-face near the bottom of the center circle.

“Feeling okay?” Modrić asked with concern.

Toni Kroos understood what he meant and nodded confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

In front of others, he was always a man of few words.

Only in front of Yang Cheng would he speak and smile a little more.

“The opening blitz, we have to execute it well. It’s your time to shine!”

Modrić’s words made Toni Kroos feel a sense of weight.

The German nodded heavily.

“Also, I’ve already told Nemanja. Don’t worry, with us here, you can go all out today!”

After speaking, Modrić clapped Toni Kroos firmly on the shoulder and turned to move away.

Toni Kroos was slightly taken aback but genuinely touched.

He knew this must have been instructed by head coach Yang Cheng.

He was sincerely grateful to both Yang Cheng and Modrić.

Because this was exactly what he wanted.

…

With a blast of head referee Kassai’s whistle, the match officially began.

From the very start, Toni Kroos felt the pressure from Bayern Munich’s midfield.

In today’s match, Heynckes had indeed, as the outside world predicted, adopted a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Alaba, Holger Badstuber, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm;

Midfield: Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger, and Gustavo;

Forwards: Ribéry, Gomes, and Thomas Müller.

Bayswater Chinese also employed a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in the holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

It could be said that both sides fielded their full starting lineups.

And after the kick-off, Bayern did not opt to defend with all their might but actively pressed forward.

Their three midfielders, in particular, launched a press and siege on Toni Kroos and Modrić.

Bayswater Chinese used their kick-off advantage to try and launch an attack, but it was unsuccessful.

However, the tempo of the match was immediately pushed by Bayswater Chinese.

Bayern’s approach was still fundamentally defensive.

Especially in the midfield.

Every time Toni Kroos or Modrić got the ball, Gustavo, Schweinsteiger, and Tymoshchuk would rush out to tackle or apply pressure.

This made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese’s midfield to pass forward.

After several failed attempts to pass forward, Marcelo began to push up on the left flank.

In the second minute, after advancing, Marcelo delivered a cross pass.

As Toni Kroos controlled the ball, he was tightly pressed by Gustavo and immediately chose to dribble horizontally towards the center, looking for Modrić.

His teammate was very good at holding the ball under pressure.

But at this moment, Tymoshchuk and Schweinsteiger were both closely marking Toni Kroos’s passing lanes.

Still on the left side of the center circle in their own half, Toni Kroos took three steps and realized he couldn’t pass to Modrić. He suddenly stopped short, used his arm to block Gustavo, trapped the ball, pulled it back, and turned.

This sudden stop and change of direction caught Gustavo slightly off balance, giving Toni Kroos a sliver of space.

The German played a through ball to Gareth Bale’s feet in the left channel.

After passing, he quickly surged forward.

Gareth Bale took a step forward and immediately passed the ball to Marcelo on the left flank.

At this point, the ball had been advanced into Bayern’s thirty-meter zone.

After passing, Gareth Bale made a quick run forward through the gap in Bayern’s left channel.

Gareth Bale’s run drew the defense’s attention. Marcelo, who had initially feigned to go down the line, suddenly stopped, cut the ball back, and moved diagonally towards the center, delivering a pass.

By now, Gareth Bale had reached the edge of the penalty area, level with Bayern Munich’s defensive line.

Toni Kroos was slightly behind but perfectly positioned in an open space.

As Marcelo’s pass arrived, Toni Kroos didn’t take a touch, instead directly slotting it into the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale accelerated to chase it, creating a beautiful move that beat the offside trap.

The hearts of the more than sixty thousand fans in the entire Allianz Arena almost leaped out of their throats.

But at the crucial moment, Neuer, who knew Gareth Bale very well, decisively came off his line. As Bale was about to shoot upon receiving the ball, the German goalkeeper was already in front of him, making a diving save to smother the ball securely.

Gareth Bale leaped over Neuer.

At that moment, the entire crowd of Bayern fans finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This was followed by cheers of post-crisis relief and enthusiastic applause.

“Just over two minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese has created a very threatening attack.”

“Orchestrated and passed through by Toni Kroos.”

“Neuer’s decision to come out was crucial and perfectly timed.”

“If it were any other goalkeeper, with even a hint of hesitation in coming out, that would have likely been a goal.”

“This is Bayswater Chinese!”

After getting up from the ground, Neuer was clearly shaken, shouting at his centre-back teammates, evidently unhappy that they had been so easily beaten by Gareth Bale’s offside run.

…

Three minutes later, Bayswater Chinese’s attack staged a comeback.

It was again down the left flank where Toni Kroos operated.

Gareth Bale’s forward surge was unsuccessful, and he was forced to pass back to Marcelo.

Marcelo, under pressure from Thomas Müller, immediately passed horizontally to Toni Kroos.

As the German received the ball near the right flank, he had created some distance from Gustavo.

The Brazilian holding midfielder immediately rushed towards him, but Toni Kroos was faster. After taking two horizontal steps, he quickly passed to Modrić ahead and to his right, while making a quick forward run himself, brushing past Gustavo.

Modrić, understanding perfectly, sent a back pass.

The two midfielders completed a beautiful one-two pass.

Toni Kroos wasn’t exceptionally fast, but he wasn’t slow when running.

Moreover, he didn’t even need to control the ball. Facing Modrić’s back pass, he directly played a through ball with the flow of his movement.

The ball landed perfectly at the arc of the penalty area, at the feet of Lewandowski, who was between Holger Badstuber and Daniel Van Buyten.

The Polish centre-forward controlled the ball with a smooth first touch, beat the offside trap, and burst into the penalty area.

Neuer once again came off his line, but Lewandowski feinted past him horizontally.

The Pole’s subsequent shot, trying to avoid Neuer, was slightly off-angle, hitting the outside of the right post and bouncing out for a goal kick.

Lewandowski, who had lost his balance and fallen to the ground, slammed the turf in frustration.

He was so close!

“Just over five minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese has already created two threatening attacks.”

“And both were orchestrated by the brilliant passing of Toni Kroos.”

“It has to be said, the German midfielder is in truly excellent form tonight!”

“He’s probably single-mindedly determined to showcase his skill at the Allianz Arena.”

“But every time he touches the ball, the Bayern fans greet him with boos, clearly showing their discontent.”

…

In the 7th minute, it was Bayswater Chinese’s left flank again.

Marcelo and Gareth Bale advanced rapidly down that side, attacking the left side of Bayern Munich’s penalty area.

Under pressure from Lahm, the Brazilian left-back had no choice but to pass back.

Toni Kroos was once again in space to receive the ball.

Facing Gustavo, who had just dropped back to block Gareth Bale and was now suddenly rushing towards him, the German midfielder calmly glanced ahead.

Bayern’s defensive line was just in front of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale was on the left of the arc, Lewandowski was at the arc, and Di María was on the right.

Right, Holger Badstuber was close to Lewandowski!

There was space in the right channel!

With a quick scan, Toni Kroos could see the entire situation ahead of him.

Because he was always observing, he was already prepared.

Facing the onrushing Gustavo, having held his position, he suddenly pushed the ball horizontally, just enough to get it past Gustavo, leaving the Brazilian holding midfielder lunging at nothing.

As soon as he created a gap, Toni Kroos sent a diagonal long pass with his right foot.

The football traveled diagonally from the left side of Bayern’s 30-meter zone to the right side of the penalty area.

And it landed just outside the right corner of the six-yard box.

While everyone stared in astonishment, Di María suddenly made a quick forward run. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he planted his right foot firmly and met the falling ball with his left, unleashing a direct volley.

Neuer’s initial positioning was more towards the left.

But as Toni Kroos’s diagonal long pass was played, he quickly shifted his position and had already moved to the right side of the goal.

He had timely covered his near post.

But unexpectedly, Di María hit a volley with his left foot, aiming for the far corner!

Toni Kroos’s pass was incredibly fast, and Di María’s power shot made it even faster.

The football shot like a bolt of lightning, streaking past Neuer’s defense and into the left side of the Bayern net.

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“Just seven minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese has broken the deadlock against Bayern Munich!”

“1-0!”

“An assist from Toni Kroos, a brilliant goal from Di María!”

Chapter 243: A Worldie! The Super Brain! The Premier League’s El Clásico!

“Bayswater Chinese still have possession.”

“The visitors’ opening blitz continues.”

“Let’s see this time. It looks like they’re trying to attack from the left flank again.”

“Gareth Bale has the ball and passes it back to Toni Kroos.”

“The Bayern fans around the stadium once again unleash a torrent of boos.”

“But the German midfielder is unfazed. He takes a touch horizontally and plays a long cross-field pass.”

“This is Toni Kroos’s specialty.”

“His long passes are incredibly fast, with a low trajectory, and extremely accurate.”

“Piszczek comes forward to receive the ball.”

“Bayern’s defensive line is also adjusting rapidly.”

“Since Jupp Heynckes took over, there have been significant changes to Bayern’s entire defensive structure.”

“The collective defensive unit moves with great speed.”

“Piszczek passes horizontally to Di María.”

“It’s played back into the half-space, to the overlapping Modrić.”

“Modrić receives the ball and drives forward, reaching the right side just outside the penalty area.”

“Robert Lewandowski is at the arc of the penalty area. He doesn’t receive the ball; he lets it run past him.”

“There’s someone behind him!”

“Gareth Bale, it’s a chance!”

“He doesn’t shoot, he lets it go too!”

As Gareth Bale dummied the ball again, Toni Kroos had arrived at full tilt at the top of the penalty area on the left side.

As the ball rolled gently toward him, an unprecedentedly strong impulse surged through the German midfielder.

He felt an incredibly strong desire!

He felt that he could definitely put this ball in the back of thenet.

And so, he stepped into the penalty area with his left foot, planted it firmly, and swung his right leg back.

As the ball rolled slowly to him, his right foot shot forward.

It felt like a placed shot in golf.

He used the front of his instep to meet the ball, chipping it up and sending it flying at pace.

The football traced a graceful arc before curling into the top right corner of Bayern Munich’s goal.

It was a shot right into the corner of the goal!

No question about it!

And Toni Kroos’s entire placed chip shot was executed with such clean precision. There was no hesitation, not even the slightest hint of a superfluous movement.

The ball went in just as cleanly.

Although Neuer was positioned slightly to the right of the center of his goal and made a valiant dive, he was powerless to stop the ball from nestling into the corner.

2-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 16th minute, under the relentless bombardment from Bayswater Chinese, Bayern Munich’s goal has been breached once again!”

“A goal from former Bayern player, Toni Kroos!”

“We can see that Toni Kroos is extremely emotional after scoring. He runs straight off the pitch to the sideline, letting out a furious shout.”

“This is revenge!”

“He has suppressed this for a long time, and finally, he has his revenge!”

“That was a brilliantly executed attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Or rather, from the start of the match until now, Bayswater Chinese have been launching constant attacks, primarily down the left flank, and Toni Kroos has orchestrated a fantastic attacking display!”

“And to top it off, his goal was absolutely magnificent, a true worldie!”

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed off the pitch, sprinting to the sideline to celebrate the goal with Toni Kroos.

A goal and an assist!

Just sixteen minutes into the match, Toni Kroos had directed a stunning offensive masterpiece!

Faced with this tidal wave of attacks from Bayswater Chinese, Bayern Munich were completely unable to find an effective response.

The sixty-six thousand Bayern fans at the Allianz Arena fell silent for a few seconds.

They were clearly stunned by the powerful assault from Bayswater Chinese and by Toni Kroos’s roar of defiance.

This was the Allianz Arena!

And yet, they had let Bayswater Chinese carve them open twice, as easily as killing a chicken!

And Toni Kroos, the player they had berated for two years, their former player, had just slapped them across the face with a goal and an assist.

He did it on purpose!

Everyone could see that!

But this was an ability that they had never seen from him at Bayern Munich!

…

In the chairman’s box at the Allianz Arena, all of Bayern’s top executives, including the magnates from the Supervisory Board, were seated together.

They had all come to the stadium specifically to cheer on the team.

This match was truly important!

Because this season’s Champions League final was to be held at the Allianz Arena.

It wasn’t just Bayern that took it seriously; Munich was invested, and even the whole of Germany was paying close attention.

Everyone hoped that Bayern could reach the final and win the trophy.

That was why Bayern had spent a considerable amount of money last summer.

But when it came to the actual match, facing Bayswater Chinese, everyone had a rude awakening. The gap was truly immense.

Just sixteen minutes into the first half, Bayswater Chinese had already scored twice.

The first goal came from a Di María volley, assisted by a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos.

The second was a worldie from Toni Kroos himself, a curling shot into the far corner.

But before that goal, the German midfielder had also played a long cross-field pass that stretched Bayern’s defensive formation.

And scenes like this had occurred repeatedly since the start of the match.

It was as if Toni Kroos had mustered all his strength to enact his revenge in front of everyone at Bayern Munich!

From East Germany, Yuri’s Revenge!

“We have to admit, it was a mistake!”

The Kaiser, Beckenbauer, spoke as he watched Toni Kroos and his teammates finish their goal celebration and walk back onto the pitch, a bright smile on Kroos’s face.

It was a smile he had never seen when Kroos was playing for Bayern.

He hadn’t even smiled like that very often at Bayer Leverkusen.

Beckenbauer’s words made the faces of Rummenigge, Hoeneß, and Nerlinger darken.

Because they were the ones who had made the decision on that transfer.

Of course, the magnates on the Supervisory Board had also agreed.

But the problem was, the Supervisory Board magnates didn’t have to take responsibility for the team’s poor results.

They were the supervisors!

“It’s obvious he harbors resentment toward us now, but that might not be a bad thing.”

As soon as Beckenbauer finished speaking, everyone around him was stunned.

How could that be a good thing?

Hoeneß was the quickest to react, the first to grasp the Kaiser’s meaning.

“His resentment proves he still has feelings for our club. We should buy him back and give him a key role.”

“Exactly!” Beckenbauer said, completely ignoring the foul expression on Rummenigge’s face beside him.

“Players like Toni Kroos are incredibly rare in European football. We should buy him back while he’s still young. Even if we have to spend a bit more, we can just consider it a training fee paid to Bayswater Chinese.”

The Supervisory Board members nodded one after another, including Herbert Hainer from Adidas.

“The way Toni Kroos sees us at Bayern now is the same way Eto’o saw Real Madrid. Love turned to hate. It’s perfectly normal. So, if we step in and persuade him, I believe he’d be quite willing to return,” Hoeneß also felt that Bayern should rectify this mistake.

Preferably, he should be the one to rectify it!

Because he was the one who had made the mistake in the first place.

On the pitch, the match restarted after Bayswater Chinese went two goals ahead.

It was clear that Heynckes had ultimately instructed his team to retreat and defend.

There was simply no other choice.

They had conceded two goals within the first sixteen minutes.

Normally, in this situation, a team would either seek stability, opt to defend, and slowly wear down the opponent.

This was the first leg, an away game.

With two away goals, Yang Cheng’s team could definitely afford to play the waiting game!

But Yang Cheng chose another path.

Continue to attack!

It was an incredibly brave tactic, but one that gave Bayern a massive headache.

The Premier League giants had a technical and tactical advantage, as well as superior quality. By continuing to attack, they forced Bayern onto the back foot, and they dominated possession.

Many people debate whether a manager’s philosophy is attacking or conservative.

Their choice in a moment like this tells you everything!

Yang Cheng was, without a doubt, an absolute attacking fanatic.

At this point, if Bayern didn’t defend, they would be torn apart by the visitors.

And even if they weren’t torn apart and the match became an end-to-end game, did Bayern Munich have the quality to be confident of victory?

How many more goals would they concede at home?

Heynckes made a very pragmatic and cautious choice.

But it also showed everyone just how helpless Bayern Munich were.

They were simply outmatched in terms of quality!

Especially in midfield.

Heynckes had packed his midfield. Gustavo, Tymoshchuk, and Schweinsteiger were all there, with Thomas Müller also frequently dropping back to help.

But they simply couldn’t stop Toni Kroos and Modrić.

Especially Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder was always moving into space to receive the ball.

Receive, pass, run; receive, pass, run…

He never allowed the ball to dwell at his feet, and every touch was impeccably clean.

Never mind that he wasn’t being man-marked.

Even if Gustavo had been assigned to man-mark Toni Kroos, he wouldn’t have been able to stop this style of play.

At most, he could only block his forward passing lanes.

“I once chatted with Yang Cheng at an event, and he said something that might be very controversial, but I think there’s some truth to it,” Beckenbauer said slowly.

Everyone around him, including Rummenigge and Hoeneß, turned to look at him.

There weren’t many famous quotes from Yang Cheng circulating out there.

“In recent years, as European football’s technical and tactical development has become more detailed and complex, a player’s mind has become a quality just as important as, if not more important than, their physical condition. It’s the most crucial and valuable asset!”

After hearing this, everyone’s first reaction was to object.

The executives at Bayern had all played football.

Anyone who has played the game knows that without physical attributes, you can’t play at all!

Physicality is the most important quality for a player.

But upon further reflection on the meaning of Yang Cheng’s words, no one who wanted to object could find a rebuttal.

Because Yang Cheng was speaking from the same lofty perspective as them.

From the point of view of top giants like Bayswater Chinese, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, are a player’s physical attributes important?

Yes, very important.

But also, not very important!

Because they were in a position to scout players from all over the world.

Essentially all the players who came onto their radar were physically outstanding.

Otherwise, they would have been eliminated long ago.

In fact, teams in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and even Ligue 1 generally had no shortage of physically gifted players.

What’s truly rare are players with super brains!

So, from a purely football perspective, Yang Cheng’s statement was certainly controversial, perhaps even wrong.

But from the perspective of a giant club, from the perspective of Europe’s top five leagues, it was absolutely correct!

Just look at Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Toni Kroos and Modrić go without saying, but Matić also started as a number 10 attacking midfielder.

Javi Martínez was a central midfielder in his early days and had also played as an attacking midfielder.

And there was no need to even mention Aaron Ramsey, Pogba, De Bruyne, and the others.

He had transformed a group of number 10 players into midfielders with different characteristics.

And all of them possessed exceptional footballing brains.

Right now, Toni Kroos and Modrić were undoubtedly the super brains!

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Bayern 2-0 on the road, thanks to goals from Di María and Toni Kroos.

Apart from the two goals in the first sixteen minutes, neither side managed to score for the rest of an match.

But the circumstances were different for each team.

Bayswater Chinese constantly launched attacks and created shooting opportunities, but they were either thwarted by Bayern’s excellent defending or goalkeeper Neuer’s heroic performance.

Therefore, the Premier League giants were unable to score again.

Bayern Munich’s situation, on the other hand, was more due to a lack of opportunities.

It wasn’t until the 26th minute of the first half that Bayern managed their first shot of the match.

And this was at the Allianz Arena!

In the entire first half, Bayern only had two shots.

One can imagine just how passive they were on the pitch.

But Heynckes’s team still managed to hold the score at 2-0, preventing Bayswater Chinese from scoring again.

Bayern’s most threatening attack of the entire match came after the 80th minute in the second half.

At that point, Bayswater Chinese’s energy levels had dipped after a series of attacks, and Bayern seized the opportunity to launch an offensive.

Their most dangerous shot came in the 86th minute. Alaba sent a low pass from the left to the far post in the penalty area. Thomas Müller knocked it back to the center, and Gomes took a shot from ten meters out.

But with Thiago Silva and Pepe pressuring him, the shot was blocked.

Immediately after, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-attack.

Marcelo delivered a precise long pass for the break.

Gareth Bale surged forward, initially looking to pass to the substitute Theo Walcott at the far post.

But the pass was deflected by Lahm, who had tracked back in time.

Gareth Bale then took a low shot toward the far corner with his left foot, but goalkeeper Neuer rushed out and smothered it.

And with that, the curtain fell on the match.

Bayswater Chinese secured a 2-0 victory away from home!

…

Bayswater Chinese stride out of the Allianz Arena with their heads held high!

This was the match review published by Germany’s Bild immediately after the game.

In the article, Bild stated that the Premier League team had taken a victory from the Allianz Arena in a dominant fashion, securing two precious away goals in the process.

“They already have one foot in the Champions League semi-final!”

Bild believed that the match at the Allianz Arena had all but destroyed Bayern’s hopes of winning the Champions League on their home ground.

“Bayern fell to a team that possessed an indisputably superior advantage on a footballing level!”

However, the German media also noted that Bayern Munich had many commendable points.

For instance, after conceding two goals in the first sixteen minutes, the German team did not collapse or surrender. Instead, they continued to fight back resiliently.

“When faced with a desperate situation, they strived to save themselves, even in the final moments of the match.”

“Unfortunately for them, they were up against Bayswater Chinese.”

“Currently the strongest team in European football!”

Bild concluded that Bayern’s opponents had demonstrated an exceptionally high level of play, while also showing German football where the gap lies.

Kicker magazine, in its mid-week Champions League special issue, featured a cover with two massive words: 【REGRET】and 【REVENGE】.

Regret, of course, referred to Bayern Munich.

The Bundesliga champions had aspired to win this season’s Champions League, but they had unfortunately drawn Bayswater Chinese in the quarter-finals.

It was misfortune.

“Football has its own secret code to victory, but tonight, it was in the hands of Bayswater Chinese!”

Kicker also mentioned Toni Kroos.

The German media believed this was an act of revenge by the East German against Bayern.

“After transferring away from Bayern, this was Toni Kroos’s first return to the Allianz Arena, and he displayed an extremely high level of passing and ball control throughout the match.”

Kicker stated that over the past two years, Toni Kroos had not shown any goodwill or given any positive comments about Bayern Munich; the conflict between them was obvious.

And this time, the German midfielder had proven his worth at the Allianz Arena.

“He single-handedly shattered Bayern Munich’s greatest hope for this season, and perhaps even for the last decade!”

“Utterly ruthless!”

Kicker believed that playing for Bayswater Chinese, Toni Kroos had indeed shown a level of play that was eye-opening. Under Yang Cheng, he had found his true role.

“This was something Bayern was unable to give him in the past.”

The German media concluded that as one of the strongest teams in European football today, Bayswater Chinese had one foot in the Champions League semi-final.

Because statistically, the chances of overturning a 2-0 home defeat in an away leg were minuscule.

Unless a miracle occurred.

“But don’t forget, Bayswater Chinese are undefeated at their home ground!”

In contrast to the tragic tone of the German media, the British press was singing praises for Bayswater Chinese on one hand, and kicking Bayern Munich while they were down on the other.

“See you at the final, Bayern!”

“Munich’s Nightmare!”

“Fair Play Football Punishes Bayern!”

The headlines from the various British media outlets all pointed in the same direction.

Bayern was finished!

As for Bayswater Chinese, the British media generally believed that Yang Cheng’s team was more stable and balanced than last season.

This filled them with a dominant presence in their matches.

Bayern’s head coach, Jupp Heynckes, publicly congratulated Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese team at the post-match press conference, but the German coach emphasized, “Bayern won’t collapse!”

Heynckes believed that Yang Cheng’s team was the most talented side in European football at the moment, playing the most exciting football.

At the same time, they possessed Europe’s strongest attack and most solid defense.

“We were a bit slow to get into the game at the start and conceded two goals, but for the rest of the match, we did well.”

“Our opponents were indeed very strong. They controlled the match firmly and didn’t give us many chances.”

Heynckes admitted that the 2-0 home defeat made the second leg away from home incredibly difficult.

To turn the situation around and secure qualification, they could only hope for a miracle.

“But I want to say, we will not collapse, and we will certainly not give up. We are confident we can turn things around in the second leg!”

Yang Cheng, at his post-match press conference, expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance.

He specifically singled out Toni Kroos for praise.

The German midfielder, with a goal and an assist, was named the Man of the Match.

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate reached 61.1%, with a pass completion rate of 89.5%.

Both teams had twenty-five successful tackles.

In terms of shots, Bayswater Chinese had twenty, while Bayern Munich had only ten.

But there was one statistic where Bayern Munich was far ahead of Bayswater Chinese.

Fouls.

The Bundesliga team committed a total of thirty-two fouls, whereas Bayswater Chinese only had twelve.

This, in itself, was a testament to Bayswater Chinese’s dominance in the match.

Yang Cheng expressed some regret, “It’s a pity because we could have scored more goals. We had a few other very good chances, but their players performed very well and broke up our attacks.”

But regardless, after a 2-0 away win, Bayswater Chinese had a firm grip on the tie.

…

Sandwiched between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals was a Premier League match in week 31.

Bayswater Chinese were at home to face Manchester United.

Ferguson’s team was performing well in the Premier League this season, aiming for a top-four finish.

Therefore, Manchester United was clearly not paying much attention to the Europa League.

In the Europa League Round of 16 in early and mid-March, Manchester United lost both home and away legs to La Liga’s Athletic Bilbao, ending their European campaign early to focus on the Premier League.

It was clear that Ferguson was determined to return to the Premier League’s top four and get back into the Champions League.

This was quite normal, as Premier League teams have never really prioritized the Europa League.

Ultimately, it was a matter of money.

No matter how well you did in the Europa League, even if you worked hard to win the trophy, the financial rewards were less than finishing one or two places higher in the Premier League.

Chelsea, on the other hand, was a different story.

After their change of manager, Roberto Di Matteo’s team had seen a significant upturn in their league form and were also performing well in cup competitions.

In the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, they defeated Sporting Lisbon 2-1 at home.

A new manager brings a new lease on life, and Chelsea’s performance after the change was indeed very good.

Meanwhile, Manchester United had a full week to prepare for the upcoming week 31 Premier League clash at Wembley Stadium.

On one side was the Premier League’s most established giant, the former hegemon; on the other, the hottest new powerhouse in European and world football.

This summit clash between the two teams captured the attention of fans worldwide.

In the words of The Times, it was a classic showdown in a Hollywood-style blockbuster: 【Super Sunday】!

At the same time, it was a benchmark box-office hit for the entire Premier League!

Although Manchester United’s recent results had declined, The Red Devils’ global influence was still in the top two in the Premier League.

Apart from Bayswater Chinese, who could compete with them and even slightly surpass them, other teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool simply couldn’t compare to Manchester United.

Because of this, the match had already broken Premier League records before it even kicked off!

The Premier League officially announced that twenty-one broadcasters would be broadcasting live from Wembley Stadium simultaneously.

Among them were Brazil’s ESPN and the Middle East’s Al Jazeera, television networks with extensive global influence.

The match would be broadcast live worldwide, with an estimated audience of over eight hundred million fans.

This would set the highest viewership record in Premier League history!

“The demand from television broadcasters for this match is unprecedented!” said Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore in a media interview.

Because the participants were the two most globally influential teams in the Premier League!

Many media outlets even suggested that it was something like the Premier League’s El Clásico!

Scudamore also revealed that, most impressively, this broadcast would fully penetrate the South American market.

For many years, the Premier League had a relatively weak presence in South America.

Because the region has a natural affinity for Spain, it has long been La Liga’s backyard.

But in recent years, with more and more Brazilian and South American players joining the Premier League, its influence in the region has been rising like a tide lifts all boats.

As the most successful club for South American players in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese’s influence in the region surpassed all other English teams, making them the undisputed NO.1!

In England itself, the match was also highly anticipated.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the two Manchester clubs were in complete agreement this time: they both hoped Manchester United would knock Bayswater Chinese off their perch.

Only if Bayswater Chinese were brought down would Manchester City have a chance!

This time, a huge number of Manchester United fans traveled for the away game, reaching four thousand.

The Manchester Evening News revealed that this was mainly because Bayswater Chinese had limited the ticket allocation for visiting fans; otherwise, even more United supporters would have come down south.

The entire stadium’s ninety thousand tickets had been sold out long ago.

The head of a Manchester United supporters’ group revealed that some members of their fan club had bought tickets from scalpers at astonishingly high prices just to travel south for the match.

A single regular ticket was sold for an incredible £2200!

Yes, that’s an absolutely outrageous figure!

You could buy three Bayswater Chinese season tickets with that money!

The London police repeatedly issued orders prohibiting the black-market sale of tickets, but the practice continued unabated.

Bayswater Chinese even disclosed that before this match, many foreign travel agencies had specifically used the game as a selling point, attracting fans from all over the world to London to watch.

CEO Adam Crozier revealed that for the past few seasons, travel agencies have been collaborating with Bayswater Chinese.

This season, the trend has become even more prevalent.

It wasn’t just for the Manchester United match; it happened for other games too, almost every single one.

“For the home game against Bayern this weekend, we’ve already sold over three thousand tourist tickets through our partner travel agencies.”

And that was just for group tickets purchased through travel agencies.

What about the tourists who bought tickets themselves through official channels?

The price was the same, with no discounts, but the numbers were growing.

This was a positive sign of Bayswater Chinese’s globalization!

…

On the afternoon of March 31st, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Premier League Week 31, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

When head referee Andre Marriner blew the whistle to start the match, all ninety thousand fans erupted in a deafening roar, with the home supporters cheering relentlessly for Bayswater Chinese.

The home team, kicking off first, saw Robert Lewandowski play the ball to Theo Walcott.

The Englishman sent a back pass straight to Javi Martínez at the bottom of the center circle.

The Spaniard turned and passed it out to the right flank.

Kyle Walker had just received the ball when Manchester United’s winger, Juan Mata, was already upon him.

This forced Kyle Walker to pass back to Vincent Kompany.

Striker Rooney quickly charged at Kompany, forcing the Belgian to pass back to his goalkeeper.

But Little Fatty Rooney didn’t let up, continuing his charge.

Courtois was forced to clear the ball long, hoofing it upfield.

This relentless pressing in the opening moments seemed to set the tone for Manchester United’s approach to the match.

For this game, Yang Cheng still opted for a 4-3-3 formation, but due to the two Champions League quarter-final legs sandwiching it, he made some appropriate squad rotations.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, Thiago Silva, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in the holding role, with Toni Kroos and Aaron Ramsey ahead of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Compared to the away game against Bayern three days ago, Yang Cheng had rotated seven positions in his starting lineup.

However, he still kept the in-form Toni Kroos in the starting eleven.

Manchester United, on the other hand, came prepared, changing from their previous 4-2-3-1 formation to a three-man holding midfield setup.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Evra, Ferdinand, David Luiz, and Phil Jones;

Midfield: Park Ji-sung, De Rossi, and Carrick formed the three-man holding midfield;

Forwards: Juan Mata, Rooney, and Robben.

Judging by the lineup, it looked like a 4-3-3, but in reality, Juan Mata was often dropping back, operating between midfield and the forward line, with Rooney and Robben up front.

So, Manchester United’s formation also resembled a 4-3-1-2 formation.

In short, it was very fluid.

But once the match started, Manchester United immediately applied pressure.

Ferguson’s team tried to put Bayswater Chinese under pressure through an aggressive high press, especially with their collective running.

But this situation only lasted for six minutes.

After that, Manchester United gradually retreated, adopting a defend and counter-attack stance.

This was largely in line with Yang Cheng’s pre-match prediction of Ferguson’s tactics.

Manchester United were prioritizing stability today!

Fletcher was ill, Anderson was injured, Ryan Giggs was old, and Scholes had retired.

So, although United’s midfield was described as having three holding midfielders, it wasn’t particularly stable.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese.

Although they were contained at the start, they quickly found their footing and gradually pushed their defensive line up.

It wasn’t just the midfield and attack; even the lone holding midfielder, Javi Martínez, was actively pushing forward to press high.

This quickly helped the team gain an advantage in midfield.

From the 6th minute, when Manchester United began to sit back, Bayswater Chinese used their home advantage to continuously pressure them.

In the 9th minute, a cross from Walcott on the right found Robert Lewandowski, whose header was blocked by David Luiz.

Then, in the 14th minute, Hazard received the ball on the left, suddenly burst forward, skillfully dribbling with both feet, and broke through between Carrick and Phil Jones.

The Belgian carried the ball to the edge of the area and, facing David Luiz, played a through ball into space.

Robert Lewandowski made a diagonal run into the left side of the box and shot, but it went just wide.

Although it wasn’t on target, Bayswater Chinese’s attack was still quite threatening.

Yang Cheng’s team continued to launch waves of attacks.

Just seven minutes later, the team created another excellent opportunity.

From a chipped pass by Aaron Ramsey, Robert Lewandowski won a flick-on, heading it to the right flank.

Walcott made a quick diagonal run behind the defense and, near the right corner of the six-yard box, hit a first-time volley.

It was a brilliantly executed attack, but De Gea made a fantastic save at the crucial moment, tipping the ball behind for a corner.

Although the subsequent corner kick posed no threat, Yang Cheng still applauded his players from the sideline.

The match was almost completely one-sided.

Bayswater Chinese were constantly creating dangerous attacks.

Manchester United, meanwhile, were focused on defending and counter-attacking.

But as the game went on, everyone was surprised to find that under Bayswater Chinese’s tide-like waves of attack, The Red Devils had only defense, no counter-attack.

The best attacking opportunity of the first half came in the 40th minute, when Bayswater Chinese launched an attack down the right.

Kyle Walker made a quick run with the ball, and after his overlapping run crossed the halfway line, he played a through ball to Walcott’s feet.

The Little Tiger dribbled down the right touchline and, upon reaching the edge of Manchester United’s penalty area, played a cross pass to Kyle Walker. He then quickly darted past Evra, sprinting at top speed, making a diagonal run from the right side into the penalty area.

When Kyle Walker received the ball, he didn’t immediately grasp Walcott’s intention for a through ball. Instead, he took a touch to control it and then shot.

This left the unmarked Walcott in the box to throw his hands up in frustration, as if to ask Kyle Walker, “Didn’t you see I was open?”

If you’d passed that ball, I would have been one-on-one!

Yang Cheng was also speechless on the sideline.

That was just Kyle Walker.

Sometimes he was on, sometimes he wasn’t. Who knew what was going on in his head?

Or perhaps, many English players were just like that.

Walcott was actually one of the quicker-witted, more intelligent players.

The first half ended 0-0.

The match was intense and fast-paced, but neither side could find a goal.

Bayswater Chinese had seven shots, but only one on target.

Their possession rate reached a very respectable 62.5%.

Manchester United, on the other hand, had only two shots and zero on target.

Looking at the game as a whole, it was intense but lacked brilliance.

For fans who were familiar with and loved the Premier League, it was still a very exciting contest.

But it was unlikely to be a high-scoring affair.

Ferguson’s team had clearly set out to play on the counter-attack.

They had the advantage in terms of stamina!

After all, Bayswater Chinese had just been through a tough battle with Bayern, while Manchester United were well-rested.

During the half-time break, Yang Cheng continued to encourage his players, while also demanding that they remain patient.

“I’ve basically figured out Ferguson’s intentions now.”

“Manchester United’s attack isn’t very strong this season, mainly because they lack a good focal point.”

Berbatov was getting old and his form had declined rapidly. Javier Hernández and Rooney weren’t the types of strikers who could hold up the ball against centre-backs, which had consistently caused problems for United’s attack.

“However, Ferguson has all his weapons on the bench.”

Who was on Manchester United’s bench for this game?

Welbeck, Javier Hernández, Berbatov, Ashley Young, Valencia, Rafael da Silva, and Amos.

Rafael was a defender, and Amos was the substitute goalkeeper.

The other five were all attacking players.

This was a very clear hint.

Ferguson’s strategy was to defend with all his might and engage in a war of attrition with Bayswater Chinese.

Wear them down into the second half, and when Bayswater Chinese started to tire, Manchester United would strike.

“Trust me, after the second half starts, don’t rush. Continue to proceed steadily and surely, keep pressing them, and the defense must be vigilant.”

Yang Cheng’s gaze swept over the four defenders, the goalkeeper, and the holding midfielder, Javi Martínez.

They all nodded.

“We need to be mentally prepared. This game could very well be decided by a single goal!”

“They have their trump cards, and so do we!”

…

After the second half began, the game largely followed the pattern of the first half.

Neither team made any significant changes.

Bayswater Chinese won three consecutive corner kicks at one point, but none of them created a real threat.

It was clear that Ferguson had specifically drilled set piece defense and attack tactics.

Set pieces had been Bayswater Chinese’s specialty for the past few years, so Manchester United had paid close attention to it.

It wasn’t until after the 55th minute that Bayswater Chinese managed to create another wave of attacks.

But none were clear-cut chances.

Then, in the 65th minute, Ferguson made his first substitution of the match.

Centre-forward Welbeck replaced Park Ji-sung.

Manchester United officially switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

This was, in fact, the formation Manchester United was most familiar with this season.

After the change, Rooney moved to the left wing, Juan Mata played in the number 10 role, and Welbeck was positioned up front.

Without a suitable centre-forward, they had to make do with Welbeck.

Yang Cheng also quickly made his first substitution.

In the 68th minute, Pogba came on for Toni Kroos.

This substitution became the turning point of the match.

Manchester United began to counter-attack more actively, and they were willing to commit men forward on the break.

This caused a slight shift in the balance of play, and The Red Devils started to gain some control of the game.

But Bayswater Chinese still had the advantage.

In the 77th minute, Javi Martínez fouled Welbeck while marking him and was shown a yellow card.

But just one minute later, Bayswater Chinese seized a quick counter-attacking opportunity. Kyle Walker received a pass from Aaron Ramsey on the right, drove forward with the ball, and played a through ball into the penalty area.

This time, Kyle Walker’s pass was timely, and Walcott quickly chased it down.

But under pressure from Ferdinand, the shooting angle was too tight, and his shot hit the side netting.

Ferguson immediately made his second substitution.

Ashley Young replaced De Rossi.

After the substitution, Manchester United’s defense remained unchanged, but their formation shifted to a 4-1-3-2.

This was a clear signal that they were strengthening their attack.

The stamina of the Bayswater Chinese players was also visibly declining.

In the 80th minute, Yang Cheng made two consecutive substitutions.

Harry Kane came on for Robert Lewandowski.

Gareth Bale replaced Eden Hazard.

The two substitutions were made simultaneously, drawing cheers from the home fans and putting Ferguson on high alert.

Clearly, Ferguson hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to make two changes at once.

The Manchester United manager went to the touchline to remind his players to keep a close eye on Gareth Bale.

That kid was a dangerous character!

The game continued.

As time ticked away and both managers made their substitutions, the match grew increasingly tense.

Everyone knew that both sides were now pinning all their forces and hopes on the final ten minutes or so.

This had everyone on the edge of their seats.

Although Manchester United had begun to improve on the pitch, they still struggled to create effective attacks.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense was no pushover!

In the 89th minute, a diagonal long pass from Carrick shifted the ball to the right side of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

Evra surged forward, chasing after it with all his might.

But Kyle Walker got there a step ahead, clearing the ball with a powerful kick upfield.

The ball didn’t travel far.

Harry Kane ran back, judged its trajectory, and tried to bring it down.

But Ferdinand suddenly charged in from behind, first challenging Harry Kane physically, knocking the English centre-forward off balance so he couldn’t control the ball properly, then poking it forward.

Aaron Ramsey quickly moved forward and controlled the ball with one touch, passing it to Pogba.

As the French midfielder received the ball, he executed a skillful Marseille turn, spinning past Juan Mata, using his body to shield the ball from the Spaniard, and then sent a long pass with his left foot, precisely aimed for the space behind Manchester United’s defensive line.

Gareth Bale shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, shaking off Phil Jones and making a rapid run.

The ninety thousand fans in the stadium all let out a collective gasp.

This was followed by the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese supporters.

Gareth Bale sprinted at incredible speed, getting to Pogba’s pass on the left flank ahead of everyone else.

But David Luiz was also tracking back very quickly.

Just as Gareth Bale brought the ball under control, David Luiz had retreated to his side.

But the Welshman was very experienced now.

Before David Luiz could plant his feet, he faked a move to cut inside, which startled David Luiz into committing to a block.

As the Brazilian defender’s center of gravity shifted, Gareth Bale cut the ball with his right foot, pushed it forward with his left, and then suddenly accelerated, instantly leaving David Luiz behind.

Gareth Bale caught up to the ball at high speed and carried it into Manchester United’s penalty area from the left.

At this moment, the only one standing between Gareth Bale and the goal was the goalkeeper, De Gea.

The Welshman continued to dribble closer and closer to the six-yard box.

De Gea kept adjusting his position, wary of a sudden shot from Gareth Bale.

But just as De Gea was about to be overwhelmed, Gareth Bale suddenly chipped the ball horizontally with his left foot, lofting it gently toward the right corner of the six-yard box.

Walcott arrived at full tilt, and with a right-footed placed shot, he kept the ball down and sent it into the unguarded net.

Due to the force of the shot, The Little Tiger stumbled and rolled over on the grass.

But he immediately jumped up and sprinted towards the sideline.

Behind him, referee Marriner’s whistle signaled a valid goal.

Wembley Stadium once again erupted into a sea of celebration!

Chapter 244: All-Out Confrontation! The Most Valuable Treble in History! Leaving the Pressure to Manchester City!

Clap, clap, clap!

Yang Cheng walked briskly into the home dressing room at Wembley Stadium, clapping his hands forcefully.

The originally boisterous room, filled with the chatter of players, instantly fell silent.

Everyone’s eyes focused on the head coach.

At this moment, Yang Cheng was all smiles, clearly in an excellent mood.

Winning 1-0 against Manchester United at home, though a narrow victory, had been incredibly difficult.

After all, this clash between top teams was scheduled between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Everyone knew the head coach had something to say.

“Lads, sit down. I have some good news!”

Yang Cheng held out his hands, gesturing for the players to be seated.

But who could possibly sit still after hearing that?

“Just before our match ended, over at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Manchester City drew 2-2 with Chelsea!”

The moment Yang Cheng finished speaking, the Bayswater Chinese players in the dressing room erupted with excitement again.

Players like Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale were seen leaping into the air with joy.

“That’s brilliant!”

“Manchester City dropped points again!”

“Fantastic!”

Yang Cheng waited until all the players had finished celebrating before speaking again.

“According to the current league table, after thirty-one rounds, we have twenty-seven wins, three draws, and one loss, putting us at eighty-four points!”

“Manchester City has eighty points, four points behind us!”

As soon as Yang Cheng said this, another round of cheers filled the dressing room.

Perhaps to many, a four-point lead didn’t seem like much.

But with the league already thirty-one rounds in, pulling ahead by four points at this stage was an incredibly difficult feat in itself.

Both teams were giving their all in the title race, performing at their best, and not dropping points easily.

For instance, Bayswater Chinese had given everything in their loss to Norwich.

But a loss was a loss; there was nothing to be done about it.

Who can win all the time?

Therefore, with both teams fighting so hard at this stage, it was truly difficult for either to drop points.

With a four-point lead and seven matches remaining, they couldn’t say the title was in the bag, but they had at least seized the initiative.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese’s margin for error had increased.

Every upcoming match would be a hard-fought battle.

Yang Cheng’s team had to juggle the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup simultaneously. It was impossible to be perfect in every aspect, and squad rotation would inevitably lead to problems.

This four-point lead was therefore especially crucial.

At the very least, it gave everyone a sense of security!

“What I want to say is, lads, our battle is not over yet!”

As Yang Cheng shouted these words, everyone in the dressing room fell silent again.

“There are seven rounds left in the league. We are currently competing in the Champions League, the Premier League, and the FA Cup. We still have many important, difficult matches to play, and we will face many powerful opponents.”

“But, whether it was today’s match or any of the matches before, we have always lived by one principle.”

“A principle I have repeated to you many times.”

Yang Cheng forcefully extended his right index finger. “I’ll say it again: We are the strongest!”

“Not just the strongest in the Premier League, not just the strongest in Europe. We are the strongest team in the world, with the strongest squad!”

“As long as we maintain sufficient focus, as long as we work hard to play every match well, then we can win every trophy. We will become invincible!”

The players were clearly inspired by Yang Cheng’s words.

At this moment, hearing the good news followed by their head coach’s speech, each of them felt a surge of powerful confidence, along with a strong sense of responsibility.

They were the strongest!

Therefore, they had to fight for every trophy!

Only then could they proudly tell the world that they were the best team on the planet!

“I’ve calculated it. We have thirteen matches left this season!”

The players were momentarily stunned.

Didn’t he just say they’d played thirty-one rounds? How could there be thirteen matches left…

But they quickly understood.

One FA Cup semi-final, one final. One Champions League quarter-final leg, two semi-final legs, one final.

Add to that the final seven matches of the Premier League.

That added up to exactly thirteen matches.

“Now, I have a request for all of you.”

Every player instantly became serious.

“For these final thirteen matches, I demand that you treat every single one like a Champions League final. You must give your all in every match!”

“No one knows where we’ll end up at the end of this season, but I hope you will give everything you have to play each match well!”

“And I believe that as long as you can meet my demands, we will definitely achieve a result that will make you, all our fans, and the entire world cheer for you!”

…

No one knew what Yang Cheng had said in the dressing room.

The media outside was more focused on hyping up this Premier League version of El Clásico.

But the result of the match was clearly a surprise to everyone.

Looking at the course of the game, Manchester United had only three shots throughout the match, with zero on target.

Yes, two shots in the first half, and only one in the second.

And all of them missed the goal.

In its post-match commentary, The Sun sarcastically remarked of Manchester United, “Courtois slept for ninety minutes in front of the goal, and when he woke up, he had secured his twenty-third clean sheet of the season.”

“This puts Courtois just one step away from Čech’s record of twenty-four clean sheets.”

In this highly anticipated crucial match, Manchester United was comprehensively outplayed in every aspect, from possession rate to pass completion rate, to the number of passes.

The Red Devils only held a slight advantage in defensive statistics.

Because they spent almost the entire match defending.

It was utterly ridiculous!

The Guardian believed that such a Manchester United team was a disgrace!

“‘No comeback, not the Red Devils!’”

“This was once the Red Devil spirit that Ferguson was so proud of.”

“But at Wembley Stadium, what we saw was a Manchester United team that did nothing but defend, defend, and defend.”

“Perhaps Manchester United was truly beaten into submission by Bayswater Chinese. How else can one explain their tactics in this match?”

The Guardian argued that Ferguson was getting old.

“He has grown so old that he has completely lost the courage and determination to be aggressive!”

However, at the post-match press conference, Ferguson told reporters, “I am the head coach of the team, and I am responsible for my players. We chose a game plan that gave us the best chance of defeating our opponent.”

A journalist on the scene immediately accused Ferguson, “But didn’t you still lose in the end?”

“You lost the match, lost face, and at the same time, you’ve pretty much lost the chance to upset Bayswater Chinese, handing them the first-ever four consecutive top-flight league titles in over a hundred years of English football history.”

“The proud traditions of Manchester United have been utterly obliterated in the face of an unprecedented four-peat!”

Ferguson was so scolded that he walked out on the spot.

The Times commented in its post-match review that the media’s on-the-spot bombardment was indeed a bit too harsh.

Across European football today, perhaps apart from Barça, there wasn’t a single team that would dare to go head-to-head with Bayswater Chinese.

“Ferguson’s Manchester United has just begun to rebuild and is still a work in progress, especially in their forward line.”

“But Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese is already a very mature team. The players have been together for years and have a great understanding.”

“Under these circumstances, to demand that Manchester United engage in an attacking duel with Bayswater Chinese is clearly asking for the impossible.”

The Times believed that the reason many media outlets treated Ferguson so harshly was fundamentally because they couldn’t accept the rise of Bayswater Chinese.

“In their eyes, Bayswater Chinese is still that obscure, low-league team on the verge of bankruptcy from years ago. But the fact is, Yang Cheng’s team is now one of the strongest in European football!”

“Perhaps even the strongest, period!”

But in the end, The Times also conceded that Manchester United had indeed performed terribly in the match.

Especially in attack, where they posed almost no threat.

Rooney was completely neutralized, unable to function as a centre-forward.

Only three shots in the entire match, with zero on target—such a report card was indeed too ugly to present.

As for Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, the British media universally gave them the highest praise.

Their performance this season, in particular, was there for all to see.

This season, the biggest improvement for Yang Cheng’s team had been its dominance in matches.

To put it simply, they had conceded only eight goals in thirty-one league matches so far this season.

What an astonishing number.

If they were only good defensively, that would be one thing.

But now, Bayswater Chinese also possessed an attack that lorded over all rivals.

It was just too outrageous!

As their performances grew stronger over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese continued to attract the attention of fans worldwide.

Nowadays, everyone’s expectations for Bayswater Chinese were even higher.

But the challenges were also greater.

Take this season, for example.

The Times published a special report analyzing the situation.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese was widely regarded as the only team in Europe’s top five leagues with a chance to vie for the Treble.

But to win the Treble, the challenges ahead for Bayswater Chinese were still immense.

Not only were they fighting on three fronts, but they would also face Arsenal and Manchester City in the league. Moreover, the league fixtures were interspersed with the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals, and they were set to face Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final.

All of these were clashes between top teams.

“In these few crucial matches, if Yang Cheng and his team show even the slightest bit of complacency, if they make a mistake, it could lead to a collapse on all fronts, causing the Treble to slip away!”

“To take it to an extreme, if Bayswater Chinese becomes complacent with their achievements so far, they could very well end up with nothing in April!”

The Times stated that professional sports are just that cruel.

“It doesn’t care how well you’ve performed or how much you’ve put in over the past few months.”

“To win the championship, Bayswater Chinese must continue to face brutal challenges!”

The Times believed that given the current situation in the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup, if Yang Cheng’s team could indeed win the Treble again, it would be the most valuable Treble in history.

Surpassing Manchester United of ’99 and Bayswater Chinese of ’09.

…

On the evening of April 3rd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayern Munich.

After losing the first leg 0-2 at home to Bayswater Chinese, everyone was very curious about what tactics Jupp Heynckes’s team would adopt in the away game.

And in this match, when Heynckes announced the starting lineup, the answer was already obvious.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Alaba, Holger Badstuber, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm;

Midfield: Schweinsteiger and Gustavo formed the double pivot, with Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Altıntop in front of them;

Forward: Gomes.

From a three-man holding midfield in the home leg to a 4-2-3-1 double pivot in the away leg, it was clear that Heynckes was planning to go all-out. They had to score at least two away goals to have a chance of turning the tide.

In the pre-match dressing room, when Yang Cheng saw Bayern Munich’s starting lineup, he had already guessed their tactical intentions. So he confidently told everyone that Bayern would launch an all-out attack.

Or rather, they had to!

If they could snatch an early goal and reduce the deficit, Bayern’s confidence would grow as the game went on.

If not, and the match remained deadlocked, time would be Bayern’s greatest enemy!

For a team of Bayern’s quality, an all-out attack would best be served by maximizing the threat of Gomes as a centre-forward and the clever runs and scoring ability of Thomas Müller.

Therefore, Yang Cheng believed that Bayern would initiate their attacks from the two flanks.

Altıntop and Ribéry would be Bayern’s primary offensive weapons.

As the match began, the situation unfolded exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Bayern took the initiative and launched an all-out attack.

Just over a minute into the game, Bayern’s right flank trio of Lahm, Altıntop, and Thomas Müller combined for an attack, attempting to pass the ball into the penalty area for Gomes.

Gomes, in turn, specifically targeted Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian centre-back was a world-class defender by any measure, his only weaknesses being his height and the resulting disadvantages in aerial duels and physical confrontations.

It was within Yang Cheng’s expectations that Gomes would try to exploit this.

Thiago Silva knew he couldn’t out-jump Gomes, but he held his position firmly, staying grounded to block him.

When the Bayern centre-forward went for the header, he couldn’t get any power behind it.

Courtois rushed out of his goal, plucked the ball from the air, and then quickly ran to the edge of the penalty area, forcefully throwing it out with one hand.

Toni Kroos appeared in the center, just outside the box.

After controlling the ball with his chest, Toni Kroos passed it to Nemanja Matić and turned to run forward.

Matić, understanding perfectly, passed it back.

Having already turned, Toni Kroos glanced ahead and immediately sent a long pass forward.

The trajectory of this long pass was low and flat, just skimming over the heads of the Bayern defense and landing behind them.

But the ball was extremely fast, and its placement was precise.

It landed perfectly in Bayern’s 30-meter zone, just outside the penalty area.

Gareth Bale surged forward at incredible speed, reaching the ball before the backpedaling Daniel Van Buyten, knocking it into the left side of Bayern’s penalty area and then accelerating again.

The Welshman’s speed was simply too fast!

It was as if he were about to take flight.

After catching up to his own touch on the left side of the box, Gareth Bale feinted a cross to the center, but actually passed it behind Holger Badstuber.

The Bayern centre-back was deceived, diving into a sliding tackle to block the cross.

But unexpectedly, Robert Lewandowski was unmarked behind him. He controlled the incoming ball and then shot it, sending it straight into the right side of Neuer’s goal.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Less than three minutes into the game, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Gareth Bale once again unleashes his astonishing, lightning-fast speed, piercing through Bayern’s defensive line to deliver a wonderful assist!”

“Robert Lewandowski finishes it off, scoring a crucial goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-0!”

“The situation is now extremely unfavorable for Bayern!”

“After conceding this goal, they need to score at least three goals.”

“But we all know that’s almost impossible at Bayswater Chinese’s home ground!”

“Bayern’s opening blitz was a bit too reckless.”

“Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say they were truly throwing everything into attack, completely neglecting the defense behind them.”

“Before this match, we all guessed that Bayern’s chances of a comeback were slim, but we also thought it would be a very exciting contest because Bayern needed goals.”

“But we never expected Bayswater Chinese’s goal to come so quickly, so suddenly.”

“Less than three minutes in, and the aggregate score is 3-0!”

…

Their opening blitz failed to produce a goal, and instead, their opponent’s first counter-attack, their first shot, resulted in a goal.

This was a truly devastating blow for Bayern.

But Heynckes was right; Bundesliga teams were not fragile, and they wouldn’t collapse so easily.

After conceding, Bayern quickly regrouped.

However, there was one noticeable change: they no longer dared to throw caution to the wind as they had at the start.

Everyone at Bayern understood very well that their mentality was now being completely manipulated by their opponents.

If they continued to press forward and attack, Bayswater Chinese would just keep exploiting the space behind them with counter-attacks.

The thought of this sent a shiver down their spines.

As Bayern adopted a more stable approach, the tide of the match gradually turned.

Bayswater Chinese soon took control of the game through their superior pass-and-move style and midfield strength.

But Yang Cheng’s game strategy was also clever.

For the current Bayswater Chinese team, fighting on three fronts, conserving energy wherever possible was a good thing.

So, Yang Cheng instructed his players not to rush, but to slowly wear down their opponents.

This approach left Bayern Munich with few viable options.

Standing on the sidelines, Yang Cheng looked at Bayern on the pitch, then at his own team, and felt quite pleased.

The first thing that came to his mind was the 12/13 season Champions League from his previous life, the semi-final two legs between Bayern and Barça.

Many people believed that was the collapse of Barça’s Dream Team Three dynasty.

But it wasn’t.

Historically, all dynastic teams, after peaking for three or four years, inevitably face a human dilemma.

Motivation!

When players have won every possible trophy, beaten every possible team, what motivation do they have left to keep fighting so desperately in every match?

Actually, the same goes for the head coach.

That’s why Pep Guardiola chose to leave Barça in 2012.

Because he realized that both he and the players in the dressing room lacked motivation.

Once motivation is lacking, many problems that didn’t exist before, or were hidden, will start to surface.

For example, conflicts between the head coach and players, the head coach and management, players and management…

All sorts of conflicts will come to light.

Guardiola left, and Vilanova took over.

Taking charge of a successful team as an assistant coach, Vilanova needed to make changes that distinguished him from Guardiola.

He needed to create more desire in this team that had lost its motivation; he needed to reinvigorate the players.

Undoubtedly, Guardiola’s possession-based football was very stable, but while it was fresh at first, it naturally became tedious over time.

Not just for the fans, but for the players themselves.

No one wants to be like a worker on an assembly line, mechanically and repetitively doing a simple task.

So, he made the team play more directly, more aggressively.

He needed to inject some freshness into the team.

But the players’ age, combined with their success, meant they had lost their former hunger, which translated to a loss of pressing intensity in the final third.

Once the forward press was gone, the weak defensive line was left completely exposed.

This led to the result of Barça being thrashed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern!

In this situation, everyone from the Barça management to the coaching staff to the players tried their best to prevent this from happening.

But it happened anyway.

Because that’s human nature!

That’s just how people are!

Perhaps some might wonder, isn’t there a way to escape this problem?

Actually, there is, but Barça was unwilling to do it.

Transfers.

Selling players and bringing in new ones is the simplest, most direct, and most brutal way to inject fresh blood into a team.

Many people are amazed at how glorious Bayswater Chinese’s achievements have been over the past few years.

The answer lies in the fact that Yang Cheng sells players every year and brings in new ones every year.

This method maximizes the injection of fresh blood, brings a sense of novelty to the players, and reignites their motivation.

This also explains why, with the same tactical system, Heynckes was able to neutralize Barcelona in the 12/13 season in Yang Cheng’s previous life, but now finds himself helpless against Bayswater Chinese.

It wasn’t that Heynckes’s tactical system was so badass.

It was Barça’s own problems.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had no such issues!

Facing a team with a stable and functioning tactical system, Bayern, in contrast, exposed their own shortcomings.

In stoppage time of the first half, just before the end, a careless back pass from Gustavo gave Di María a golden opportunity to counter-press in the final third.

After winning the ball, the Argentine quickly broke past Alaba, drove into the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a cross from the right of the six-yard box to the center. Robert Lewandowski followed up with ease, tapping the ball into the net.

2-0!

Aggregate score 4-0!

The match was over!

When the head referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, all ninety thousand fans in the stadium rose to their feet, giving the team a roaring round of applause and cheers.

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese had completely dominated the match!

Bayern had found no effective way to deal with Bayswater Chinese’s pass-and-move style.

And everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese had basically secured their place in the semi-finals!

…

After the break, Bayern still had no good solutions.

The game remained deadlocked for a while.

But in the 71st minute, Ribéry, relying on his individual skill on the left wing, managed to beat both Piszczek and Pepe with a series of dribbles inside the box before taking a shot and beating Courtois.

1-2!

The goal seemed more like a face-saving effort for Bayern.

Just six minutes later, however, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield and launched another swift counter-attack.

Di María received the ball in the right half-space and advanced quickly.

Robert Lewandowski drifted to the right, opening up the central channel.

After dribbling into Bayern’s 30-meter zone, the Argentine passed the ball to the left flank.

Under pressure from both Lahm and Gustavo, Gareth Bale chose to cut inside before delivering a diagonal pass.

On the right side of the penalty area, an unmarked Robert Lewandowski controlled the ball and fired a composed, powerful shot that once again flew past Neuer and into the net.

3-1!

Robert Lewandowski had completed his hat-trick!

Afterward, both teams began to make substitutions.

Bayern first brought on Contento for Alaba, a move intended to strengthen their defense.

But then they brought on Olić for Altıntop, aiming to bolster their attack.

Yang Cheng, after the 80th minute, successively brought on young players like Pogba, Harry Kane, and Sterling.

In the end, neither side was able to score again.

At home, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bayern Munich 3-1, thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick.

With an aggregate score of 5-1, they sent the Bundesliga champions packing.

Although both the German media and fans worldwide were prepared for this outcome, the 5-1 scoreline and the dominant performance over both legs still surprised everyone.

Having been the top favorite to win the Champions League for two or three consecutive seasons, Bayswater Chinese’s performance this season was truly impressive to all.

Especially the stability and dominance displayed by Yang Cheng’s team.

All of it stemmed from the team’s midfield!

Even Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, after Bayern’s crushing away defeat, had to admit that in terms of overall strength, Bayswater Chinese was a cut above the Bundesliga champions.

The British media, however, had mixed feelings.

They were happy that Bayswater Chinese had once again advanced to the Champions League semi-finals.

But they were sad that Wenger’s Arsenal, after winning the first leg 1-0 at home against Barça, lost 1-3 to Pep Guardiola’s team at Camp Nou in the quarter-finals.

Messi put on a spectacular performance!

Barça overturned the deficit to beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate and advance to the semi-finals.

Liverpool, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Real Madrid at home but lost 0-2 away.

Mourinho’s team knocked out Mancini’s Liverpool 3-1 on aggregate at the Bernabéu, advancing smoothly to the semi-finals.

The last team to qualify was Ancelotti’s Manchester City.

Facing his old club, Ancelotti’s team drew 0-0 away and then defeated The Rossoneri 3-1 at home.

Thus, the Champions League semi-finals became an all-out confrontation between the Premier League and La Liga.

Bayswater Chinese would face Real Madrid.

Manchester City would face Barça.

Mourinho’s team had not only broken Real Madrid’s long-standing Round of 16 curse this season, but had also taken the team straight to the semi-finals.

…

While the media and fans were focusing on the Champions League semi-final draw and the all-out confrontation between the Premier League and La Liga, in Brent, West London, the day after the Bayern match, Yang Cheng summoned all department heads for a meeting.

Even Adam Crozier brought the suits to the training center.

The topic wasn’t the Champions League draw or anything else, but the upcoming match schedule.

Yang Cheng never made a big deal out of small things.

The reason he was taking this so seriously was because Bayswater Chinese was facing what could only be described as the devil of a gruelling schedule.

Due to the 2012 European Championship and the 2012 London Olympics, this season’s Premier League schedule had been compressed.

The Premier League would end on May 13th.

The FA Cup final would be held on May 5th.

The Champions League final would be held on May 19th.

The result of this compressed schedule across all fronts was that Bayswater Chinese, fighting on three fronts, would face an incredibly arduous and gruelling period.

The back-to-back matches against Manchester United and Bayern were already in the past.

April 7th, Premier League Round 32, away against Stoke City.

April 10th, Premier League Round 33, home against Arsenal.

April 14th, the FA Cup semi-final, with Bayswater Chinese playing Liverpool away.

Other Premier League teams without FA Cup semi-final commitments would play their Round 34 matches.

April 17th, Champions League semi-final first leg, home against Real Madrid.

April 21st, Premier League Round 35, home against Manchester City.

April 24th, Champions League semi-final second leg, away against Real Madrid.

April 28th, Premier League Round 36, away against Swansea City.

May 2nd, the rescheduled Premier League Round 34 match, away against Sunderland.

If Bayswater Chinese successfully advanced to the FA Cup final, they would play it on May 5th.

That would mean the Premier League Round 37 match, home against Everton, would have to be postponed to midweek.

May 13th was Premier League Round 38.

If the team successfully advanced to the Champions League final, they would travel to the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 19th.

Looking at the entire schedule, if Bayswater Chinese wanted to successfully win the Treble, every single upcoming match was crucial.

Furthermore, they would have to face the pressure of two games a week, every week.

Especially in mid-to-late April, a continuous run of fixtures against Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Liverpool—five clashes between top teams all tangled together—was a nightmare for any team.

Forget Bayswater Chinese; was there any top club in the world that could confidently claim they would win all their matches in such a schedule?

The answer was no!

However, if Bayswater Chinese wanted to win the Treble, they had to win all of these matches.

Manchester City was lurking in the league, Liverpool in the FA Cup, and Real Madrid in the Champions League.

They couldn’t afford to lose a single match!

And even setting aside these clashes between top teams, among all the opponents they would face, the lowest-ranked was Stoke City, currently 13th in the Premier League.

The other teams, Everton and Sunderland, were in the top ten of the Premier League, while Swansea City was in 11th.

And their opponent in the final round was Wigan Athletic, who were still fighting to avoid relegation.

In other words, every single opponent Bayswater Chinese would face from now on was a tough one.

And Yang Cheng’s team needed to win every single match.

When assistant coach Brian Kidd finished laying out the team’s current situation and the challenges they would face, everyone in the meeting room drew a sharp breath.

Such a schedule was simply demonic!

Of course, this wasn’t a deliberate attempt to kill off Bayswater Chinese.

The schedule had been drawn up before the season.

The real reason was that since Bayswater Chinese was fighting on three fronts and challenging for the title in all of them, they were bound to encounter a situation like this at the end of the season.

Either they make a choice and give up on one or two fronts.

Or they go all-out, giving their absolute best on every front.

It was indeed extremely difficult!

After Brian Kidd had finished speaking, Yang Cheng, as the team’s head coach, stood up to speak.

“For the past few years, I have been repeatedly emphasizing one thing.”

“In the dictionary of our Bayswater Chinese, in the blood of our players, the word ‘give up’ does not exist!”

“We will not voluntarily give up on any match, let alone any competition!”

Yang Cheng had instilled this belief in every player, which was why they fought so hard in every match.

They might lose, but they would never give up!

Because Yang Cheng believed that no team could, on the one hand, make so-called strategic choices, while on the other, demand that its players give their all in every match and fight for every ball.

Wasn’t that a double standard?

When a team strategically gives up on some matches, it is already telling its players that they don’t need to put in that much effort, that they don’t need to fight for every ball.

As for squad rotation, that was perfectly normal.

Bayswater Chinese had been doing this for years.

Even when they once came close to ending up empty-handed, Yang Cheng persisted.

And facts had proven that his persistence had instilled a resilient, winner’s mentality in Bayswater Chinese!

“I know the upcoming schedule is extremely difficult. I asked Brian to tell you all this, not to dampen your spirits, but to let you know what kind of gruelling schedule we are about to face.”

“In the face of such a schedule, I need every one of you, every department, to cooperate fully.”

“My job is to lead the players on the pitch and play every match well. Your job is to support us, to ensure that we can train and play without any distractions!”

Yang Cheng’s words earned nods of agreement from everyone present.

A victory in a football match is the work of not just the coaches and players on the field, but also countless people working silently behind the scenes.

For example, for away matches, booking hotels and flights for the team, arranging various procedures, handling all sorts of unexpected incidents…

All these people were spread across different departments, perhaps all working in obscurity.

But if any link in the chain broke down, it could very well affect the team’s collective preparation.

For example, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, in the 2009 Champions League final, Ferguson believed a significant reason Manchester United lost was that the soundproofing in their pre-match hotel was terrible, and the players generally slept poorly.

This might have been a reason, or even an excuse.

But what if such a logistical oversight hadn’t occurred?

Would Manchester United have had a chance to beat Barça?

On the football pitch, anything is possible!

Yang Cheng and everyone present couldn’t control everything that happened on the pitch.

The only thing they could do was to eliminate as many unfavorable factors as possible.

Adam Crozier was the first to stand up and guarantee, “You and the players can rest assured. I’ll go back and hold an office meeting right away. From now until the end of the season, all our club’s work will revolve around the first team’s matches!”

“I will personally oversee matters concerning the first team, I promise you!”

Following Adam Crozier’s declaration, the head of the sports science department, Thad Foucher, also stood up and promised that he and all his colleagues would do their utmost to support and cooperate with Yang Cheng’s first team.

Then came the Head of Medical Services, David Fevre, the head scout, Gary Worthington, the director of football, Dan Ashworth…

Everyone was in charge of a different area, all working together.

Now, they all pledged to do their best to support the work of Yang Cheng and the first team.

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with these pledges.

He had worked with everyone present for many years.

Those who were all talk and no action couldn’t survive at Bayswater Chinese.

Because the entire system of this club had been built by Yang Cheng.

The person in every key position had been personally vetted and selected by Yang Cheng.

“Then I can now promise you on behalf of the first team, that although the upcoming schedule is extremely difficult, although we will face various different challenges, although we might be pushed to the brink by numerous opponents…”

“But, my players and I will continue to persevere on all three fronts. We will fight until the very last moment!”

“We will fight for a fourth consecutive Premier League title, and for the Treble!”

As Yang Cheng’s firm and powerful words fell, a thunderous round of applause erupted in the meeting room.

Every single one of them shared in the glory of Bayswater Chinese’s achievements!

…

On the afternoon of April 7th, in the 32nd round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese challenged Stoke City away.

Tony Pulis’s team adopted a 4-4-2 formation at home, but set up to defend with all their might, parking the bus.

Although Stoke City had temporarily pulled away from the danger of the relegation zone, they were not entirely safe.

Yang Cheng’s team, on the other hand, had just had a grueling battle against Bayern in the Champions League and had an upcoming match against Arsenal, so the team underwent significant squad rotation.

But facing a team that was parking the bus on their home ground, the Bayswater Chinese players struggled to find a good solution.

Stoke City was no pushover.

Their forward line featured well-known players like Crouch and Pennant, and their defense had quality players like Robert Huth and Shawcross.

It could be said that the strength of this team should not be underestimated.

Against a parked bus, long shots are very important, one of the methods to break down a packed defense.

But in this match, Bayswater Chinese took turns having a go.

Aaron Ramsey himself had three long shots.

Other players, including Pogba and Giroud, also frequently threatened the opponent’s goal with long shots.

Eden Hazard, on the other hand, used his advantage in dribbling and ball control to frequently launch attacks.

But these offensive methods yielded little result.

With one side defending with all its might and the other constantly orchestrating attacks, the game became a one-sided affair.

It wasn’t until the 68th minute of the second half that Aaron Ramsey sent a through ball from midfield.

Theo Walcott started quickly on the right flank, carrying the ball all the way to the right side of Stoke City’s penalty area.

Inside the box, on the right, “The Little Tiger” first came to an abrupt stop, then suddenly accelerated again, driving down to the byline before crossing.

The ball was blocked out for a corner kick by Stoke City’s centre-back Robert Huth.

The recently substituted De Bruyne ran to the corner flag, flicked up the ball thrown by the ball boy, wiped it clean on his shirt, gently placed it in the corner arc, patted down the grass behind it, and then slowly backed away.

Inside the penalty area, Bayswater Chinese’s centre-backs Vincent Kompany and José Fonte, as well as Kyle Walker, Pogba, and others, all rushed into the box.

De Bruyne raised his left hand high, gave a signal, and then quickly whipped in a curling ball.

The football traced an arc before rapidly dropping into the center of Stoke City’s penalty area.

The box instantly descended into chaos.

At the crucial moment, Vincent Kompany swiftly pushed away Shawcross, who had been marking him tightly and even had a hand on his shirt, judged the flight of the ball, quickly stepped forward, and leaped high into the air.

The Belgian centre-back met the falling ball with his bald head, flicking it towards the left side of the goal.

Stoke City’s goalkeeper Sørensen reacted quickly, diving to his side.

But no matter how fast he was, could he be faster than the ball headed by Kompany?

The football slammed into the left side of Stoke City’s net.

The moment Kompany landed, he froze for a second, but then immediately turned and ran, sprinting all the way to the sideline, to the stand where the traveling Bayswater Chinese fans were, and slid to his knees on the grass, roaring in celebration.

Behind him, the Bayswater Chinese players rushed over one by one, swarming around him.

“GOAL!”

“A header from Vincent Kompany!”

“This is a very crucial goal.”

“We can see that the Stoke City players are very agitated.”

“Shawcross is repeatedly protesting to the head referee, claiming that Kompany pushed him, which should be a foul, and the goal should not count.”

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that both players had their hands on each other; neither was clean.”

“But the head referee clearly believes the goal is valid!”

“1-0!”

“This goal is incredibly crucial for Bayswater Chinese!”

“With these three points, they will put even more pressure on the upcoming match where Manchester City challenges Arsenal away.”

“The Blue Moons must defeat Arsenal in this clash between top teams to maintain the pressure on Bayswater Chinese.”

When the television cameras panned to the coaching area on the sidelines, Tony Pulis could be seen roaring incessantly, protesting Bayswater Chinese’s foul.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was excitedly clenching his fists and roaring in celebration.

The two formed a very sharp contrast!

After attacking for over an hour, Bayswater Chinese had finally broken through Stoke City’s parked bus!

Yang Cheng also breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, all the pressure was on Manchester City!

Chapter 245: Don’t Cry, Manchester City! The Greatest Record in History! I Saw the Shadow of Messi in Him

On the afternoon of April 8th, at the Emirates Stadium in London.

In the 32nd round of the Premier League, Arsenal hosted Manchester City.

Accompanied by Brian Kidd and Gary Worthington, Yang Cheng secretly came to watch the match in person.

Both teams had participated in the Champions League quarter-finals knockout stage mid-week, but their circumstances were starkly different.

It was quite a coincidence.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City had defeated AC Milan 3-1.

Wenger’s Arsenal, on the other hand, had lost 1-3 away to Barça.

The same scoreline, but opposite results.

This led to entirely different pressures on the two teams heading into this match.

After their Champions League loss, Arsenal desperately needed a victory in a clash between top teams to restore their morale.

Manchester City, meanwhile, needed this win to continue putting pressure on Bayswater Chinese for the title.

It was safe to say that neither side could afford to lose.

Moreover, both teams had implemented squad rotation.

The Gunners rested players like Fàbregas, Gourcuff, and Sánchez, but in their back four, only Clichy was rotated out.

Manchester City’s rotation was also significant, with David Silva, Kaká, and Pirlo all on the bench.

This was clearly an unavoidable situation.

Facing two consecutive clashes between top teams, players wouldn’t be able to cope without rotation.

And events proved the necessity of it.

Just seventeen minutes into the game, Yaya Touré strained a muscle during a defensive play and was immediately substituted.

“That injury doesn’t look serious, but he’ll be out for at least a week,” Brian Kidd assessed.

Yaya Touré walked off the pitch on his own, which clearly indicated a minor muscle strain, nothing too major.

But now, at the final critical juncture of the season, Yaya Touré’s injury would still have an impact on Manchester City.

“He’s played in every single match for Manchester City this season, and in the vast majority, he’s played the full ninety minutes, or at least over eighty. The physical toll has been immense,” Brian Kidd said, shaking his head.

Yaya Touré was a player who had come from Bayswater Chinese, so Brian Kidd was very familiar with him.

Tall, strong, and powerfully built, he excelled in physical confrontations.

But for that very reason, he expended a tremendous amount of energy in matches.

At Manchester City, his attacking potential was further unleashed, granting him more freedom, but this also meant his physical consumption would be even greater.

“If he were a European player, he’d probably have been done for long ago!” Yang Cheng sighed.

When it came to physical attributes, African players were truly resilient.

But the biggest problem was the Africa Cup of Nations!

Especially for the Premier League.

Yaya Touré’s injury was just making matters worse for Manchester City.

They were already on the back foot on the pitch, and with Yaya Touré off, they brought on Nigel de Jong to partner Gareth Barry. While the double pivot secured the defense, their attack and organization were lacking.

The attack relied almost entirely on the individual abilities of Ibrahimović, Agüero, Robinho, and Carlos Tevez.

The Gunners, on the contrary, despite resting Fàbregas, Gourcuff, and others, had Mikel Arteta playing exceptionally well.

And then there was van Persie.

The Dutch centre-forward was arguably having a major breakout season.

But his luck wasn’t great.

In the first half, from a corner kick, Koscielny flicked the ball on at the near post, and van Persie’s close-range header hit the crossbar, missing the chance to score.

In the second half, Manchester City created the first threat, but Agüero’s shot was tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper.

Then, in the 63rd minute, with no one marking him, van Persie sent a header from ten meters out crashing against the post yet again.

In the 70th minute, from a through ball by Arteta, van Persie received the ball in the left channel, evaded Pablo Zabaleta, and scored with a one-on-one finish.

But the linesman raised his flag, indicating that van Persie was offside when he received the ball. The goal was disallowed.

And in the 74th minute, Sagna delivered a brilliant pass from the right flank to substitute Sánchez, whose shot hit the post.

Three shots hitting the woodwork!

“Arsenal is in a bit of danger tonight!” Brian Kidd shook his head with a wry smile.

Their luck was just too bizarre.

Both teams had rotated heavily, but the Gunners’ players were a better fit for Wenger’s tactics.

Therefore, Arsenal’s overall performance didn’t fluctuate much, and they had the home advantage.

Manchester City, on the other hand, without Pirlo, David Silva, and Kaká, and now with Yaya Touré injured, was severely affected.

To some extent, this was one of Ancelotti’s issues.

The whole world knew that the Italian’s specialty was tailoring his tactics to the players at his disposal.

Whatever lineup you gave him, he could devise the most suitable tactical approach to bring out the best in the players.

This was indeed very suitable for a team like Manchester City.

But Ancelotti’s problem was equally obvious: he never had a mature and stable tactical system.

Moreover, he wasn’t heavily involved in player transfers.

So, although Manchester City’s squad depth seemed comparable to Arsenal’s, in reality, when both teams underwent significant rotation and some key players were absent, the disparity in strength became apparent.

Of course, Manchester City wasn’t bad, just too passive.

“Pressure is also a significant factor. I feel like Manchester City’s players came onto the pitch with shackles on today,” Gary Worthington analyzed.

Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

The day before this match, Bayswater Chinese had also undergone rotation in a clash between top teams and defeated Manchester United 1-0. This essentially forced Manchester City to beat Arsenal.

Otherwise, the points gap would widen further.

Although Manchester City was rather passive on the field, Arsenal was also squandering chance after chance.

It looked like a sign that Manchester City might just snatch a victory.

Ancelotti naturally saw this as well.

Starting from the 75th minute, Manchester City used their final two substitutions within a short five-minute span.

Kaká replaced Robinho, and David Silva also came on.

Both substitutions were aimed at strengthening the attack.

Wenger, meanwhile, bolstered his midfield, with Toulalan replacing Andrei Arshavin.

The Russian Tsar’s form had clearly declined over the past year or two.

After all, he was about to turn thirty-one.

Benzema also came on as a substitute, forming a two-striker partnership with van Persie.

And then there was Sánchez.

From the 80th minute on, the match completely reached a fever pitch.

The tension between the two sides grew thicker.

First, Pablo Zabaleta committed a foul while defending and received a yellow card.

Next, Carlos Tevez also got a yellow card.

Arsenal wasn’t having an easy time either; Koscielny also got a yellow card.

And Clichy received one in the 88th minute as well.

In the first eighty minutes of the match, there had only been two yellow cards in total.

But after the 80th minute, a total of four yellow cards were issued.

Both teams were giving it their all.

At this point in the game, a win for either side would have been a normal outcome.

But a draw was the more likely result.

For Bayswater Chinese, the best outcome was, of course, a Manchester City loss.

But a draw would also be quite good.

So Yang Cheng was very relaxed, chatting and laughing with Brian Kidd and Gary Worthington beside him.

And just as stoppage time reached the 95th minute, when everyone thought the match would end in a 0-0 draw, during an unremarkable attack, Manchester City blocked an Arsenal pass.

Arteta picked up the ball in midfield, about twenty-five meters from goal.

It wasn’t a great position.

Everyone assumed the game should be over.

In the stands, some Arsenal fans were even leaving early.

But just then, Arteta suddenly unleashed a long shot.

This sudden long-range effort stunned everyone.

What was even more astonishing was that the shot flew straight towards Manchester City’s goal.

Joe Hart, caught completely off guard, couldn’t keep it out.

It’s in!

Not only were the Manchester City players on the pitch stunned, but even the Arsenal players and the Gunners fans in the stands were all frozen in disbelief.

Many fans who had already left the stands came running back.

What was this?

Had Lady Luck suddenly smiled upon them?

After hitting the woodwork three times throughout the match, seemingly abandoned by Lady Luck, she suddenly gives them this right before the final whistle?

What a tease!

And Joe Hart, from such a distance, it wasn’t even a spectacular long shot, how did he let that in?

Arteta himself looked a bit dumbfounded.

He had originally just wanted to have a go, since the match was almost over and he hadn’t had a shot yet.

Who would have thought it would actually go in!

This was a last-second winner at a crucial moment!

The Spaniard was almost beside himself with excitement, sprinting off the pitch and running a lap of honor.

In the stands, Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and Gary Worthington looked at each other, then couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Sometimes football is just this nonsensical, this absurd.

“There’s definitely going to be an argument after the match!” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

He could already hear the war of words between Wenger and Ancelotti.

Ancelotti would surely say the match should have been a draw and the final goal was pure luck.

Wenger would definitely bring up the three shots that hit the woodwork.

Then, the media and fans would all take sides, and the scene would surely be quite lively.

“This is football. You can never guess what will happen in the next second,” Brian Kidd also laughed.

Manchester City lost 0-1 to Arsenal.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was the best possible result.

The league points gap widened further, which would allow Yang Cheng and the team to breathe a sigh of relief.

But Yang Cheng still reminded Brian Kidd, “The moment we get back, we’ll hold an ideological session. Same old routine: I’ll play the stern one, you do more of the consoling.”

Brian Kidd understood what Yang Cheng meant.

Why had they lost to Norwich before?

Wasn’t it because Manchester City lost, which made everyone at Bayswater Chinese relax, leading to complacency?

Now, Manchester City had lost again.

But in the upcoming five clashes between top teams, Bayswater Chinese couldn’t afford to lose a single one.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had to make the players keep holding their breath, to grit their teeth and push through until the end of the season.

Otherwise, he feared they would repeat their previous mistake.

…

Things turned out exactly as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Arsenal’s last-second winner against Manchester City at the crucial moment sparked intense debate after the match.

Everyone had an opinion on the result.

Gunners and The Blue Moons fans argued endlessly online, and the media published a variety of commentaries.

But one thing was clear.

The biggest beneficiary was Bayswater Chinese!

Even Yang Cheng himself hadn’t expected a pie to just fall from the sky like that.

So much so that when a reporter asked for his opinion on the match, Yang Cheng smiled and said, “I have no opinion.”

But Wenger was also in high spirits.

During an interview with the media, Wenger confidently stated that Arsenal treated all opponents equally.

“We beat Manchester City first, and next up is Bayswater Chinese!”

Wenger probably wanted to tell Ancelotti: Don’t cry, Manchester City, I’ll help you upset Bayswater Chinese in the next match!

There were only three days between the two matches.

Yang Cheng, meanwhile, was busy “rectifying the atmosphere” within the team.

It was mainly a carrot-and-stick approach, to curb the players’ arrogance and especially to combat the complacent mood within the squad.

Don’t think that just because Manchester City dropped points and the gap has widened, Bayswater Chinese is safe.

Don’t forget, every single upcoming match is crucial.

Especially the two against Arsenal and Manchester City.

They could suffer a setback at any moment.

If they suffered two consecutive defeats, would their current lead still exist?

Not to mention, there were also the Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals to come.

With Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd working together, they cracked down hard on some of the undesirable attitudes within the team.

In truth, the main goal was to get the players to pay attention.

As for their next opponent, Arsenal, Yang Cheng knew it would definitely be a tough match.

Wenger had rested players like Fàbregas, Sánchez, and Gourcuff precisely to save them for the match against Bayswater Chinese.

When the time came, Wenger would certainly field his strongest lineup.

The current Arsenal team was strong in both attack and defense, making them a really difficult opponent.

More importantly, on the weekend, Bayswater Chinese had to play the FA Cup semi-final, an away game against Liverpool.

Wenger’s team, on the other hand, would be at home against Wigan Athletic, who were in the relegation zone.

From a scheduling perspective, the situation was unfavorable for Bayswater Chinese.

In response to this situation, after discussions with the coaching staff and the data analysis department, Yang Cheng made a decision.

He would unleash Bayswater Chinese’s most proficient game strategy.

A blitz attack!

And he would also field a surprise player.

…

On the afternoon of April 10th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Premier League, round 33, Bayswater Chinese versus Arsenal at home.

The match was in its 9th minute.

English left-back Ryan Bertrand made a quick forward run and received a pass from Toni Kroos just outside the top left corner of Arsenal’s penalty area.

When Bertrand controlled the ball, his marker, Sagna, was standing near the top left corner of the box, in front and to his side.

The Englishman glanced at Sagna, roughly estimating the distance between them to be about five or six meters.

Something like that.

Sagna was clearly wary of Bertrand linking up with Gareth Bale on the left side of the penalty area, so he didn’t rashly abandon his position.

The Arsenal right-back was quite confident in his own speed.

He was sure that the moment Bertrand made a move, he could close down the native left-back.

Whether Bertrand cut inside or went to the byline, Sagna was confident he could block his opponent.

At that moment, from the broadcast cameras to every player on the pitch, and the ninety thousand fans in the stands, all eyes were focused on Bertrand.

When the Englishman first received the ball, he controlled it with the inside of his left foot, but his right foot stepped out first.

His whole body naturally leaned to the right, making it look as if he was about to cut inside to link up with Gareth Bale.

The Welshman was also facing the left, raising his hand to call for the ball.

He had already positioned himself perfectly.

Sagna immediately moved in response.

But the Arsenal right-back kept a close watch.

If it were Marcelo, he might very well cut inside, but Bertrand…

Soon, the Arsenal right-back was secretly pleased: Just as I thought!

This kid actually thinks he can deceive me so easily!

After stepping out with his right foot, Bertrand didn’t actually follow through with the cut inside. Instead, he changed direction, pushing the ball towards the byline with his left foot.

Sagna reacted quickly, immediately changing direction to chase after him.

There was originally a five or six-meter gap between them.

This was the safe distance Sagna had maintained.

But what the Arsenal right-back had never expected was that Bertrand could be so fast.

The moment the left-back touched the ball and accelerated, he instantly closed the gap on Sagna, and in the next moment, he was already past him.

Sagna also reacted very quickly, turning to chase, desperately blocking Bertrand’s path into the penalty area from the inside.

But he was always half a step behind.

After reaching the byline, Bertrand sent a cross towards the front of the goal with his left foot.

Sagna was completely unable to block this cross.

The ball flew quickly towards the six-yard box.

Giroud made a swift run, under the combined marking of Koscielny and Vermaelen, with Koscielny in particular challenging for the aerial duel.

The two of them headed the ball almost simultaneously, but instead of sending it towards the goal, it dropped towards the undefended area just outside the left corner of the six-yard box.

And in the next moment, an unmarked Gareth Bale silently charged in, meeting the falling ball with his left foot and smashing a volley into the right side of Arsenal’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“A volley from Gareth Bale!”

“Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Arsenal’s goal!”

“In the 9th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese have breached the Gunners’ goal, 1-0!”

“The number one hero of this attack is Ryan Bertrand from the left flank!”

“This local left-back, starting in place of Marcelo, has made several good defensive plays since the start of the match, and that high-speed overlapping run just now, especially the series of moves facing Sagna.”

“Look at the slow-motion replay; he just burned Sagna with raw speed.”

“One has to say, in that defensive sequence, Sagna was indeed a bit overconfident, not closing him down immediately.”

“But Bertrand’s acceleration was truly rapid.”

“He’s clearly different from Marcelo.”

“The Brazilian’s speed isn’t actually that fast, but his technique and passing ability are his specialty.”

“But Bertrand is incredibly fast, almost reminiscent of a young Ashley Cole.”

…

Following Bayswater Chinese’s goal, Arsenal kicked off and immediately launched a counter-attack.

But unexpectedly, a precise interception from Ryan Bertrand won the ball back. He passed it to Gareth Bale ahead of him and quickly made a run forward through the half-space.

Gareth Bale, with his back to the attack, received the ball and passed it back to Toni Kroos.

As the German moved to the left flank to receive the ball, he controlled it with his right foot. Just as he was about to switch play to the right, a figure flashed before his eyes, and he saw Ryan Bertrand sprinting forward at top speed.

Toni Kroos immediately changed his mind and played a through ball.

He gave it plenty of weight, passing it directly to the edge of the top left corner of Arsenal’s penalty area.

Bertrand chased after it with all his might, his speed increasing with every stride.

Sagna abandoned Gareth Bale and turned to give chase, but he couldn’t catch him.

In the end, it was Koscielny who got back into position in time, blocking the ball-carrying Bertrand on the left side of the penalty area.

The local left-back dribbled the ball to the left side outside the box. Facing Koscielny, he first came to a sudden stop, pulled the ball back, feigning a move back, which deceived Koscielny into stopping as well. Then, he suddenly accelerated, shaking off the Arsenal defender and driving towards the byline.

Koscielny’s reaction speed was nothing short of fast, but facing such a sudden change of pace and direction, he was reacting to the attacker’s move and was always a step behind.

After reaching the byline, Bertrand crossed the ball with his left foot.

It was exactly the same as the attack just a minute ago: another high ball, still looking for Giroud.

The only difference was that last time, Koscielny was jointly defending Giroud with Vermaelen.

But this time, Giroud was facing Vermaelen directly.

The French centre-forward leaped up, and with a powerful flick of his head, he out-jumped Vermaelen and headed the ball into the goal from close range.

2-0!

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in thunderous applause!

Ninety thousand fans instantly leaped from their seats, cheering and shouting wildly!

Giroud, ecstatic, ran to the sideline and forcefully embraced Bertrand, looking exceptionally emotional.

“It’s the left flank again, it’s Bertrand again!”

“This young English left-back has shown a surprisingly high level of performance in this match.”

“In just two short minutes, Bayswater Chinese have scored two goals.”

“Bertrand’s performance is deeply impressive.”

“Today, he has truly reminded us of a young Ashley Cole, just as sharp, just as lightning-fast!”

…

In just two short minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored twice.

Yang Cheng’s opening blitz tactic yielded results that surprised even himself.

His plan for an opening attack was to score first and seize control of the game.

He never expected that Ryan Bertrand’s outstanding performance would directly lead to Bayswater Chinese scoring twice in two short minutes, securing a lead.

This was truly surprising.

“This kid’s performance today is a real eye-opener!” Brian Kidd was also very surprised.

No one expected Bertrand to have such a sudden burst of form today.

But on second thought, it wasn’t that strange.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, hadn’t Bertrand performed exceptionally well this season?

He even represented Chelsea in the Champions League final, where his performance was very stable.

After coming to Bayswater Chinese, although Bertrand couldn’t usurp Marcelo’s starting position, he received more playing time than in Yang Cheng’s past life and received better training.

Moreover, in Yang Cheng’s tactical system, he had always strongly supported full-backs to push forward and participate in the attack.

This allowed players like Bertrand and Kyle Walker to deliver very good performances.

But what was truly precious came after the two-goal lead.

Bertrand’s form today was indeed excellent. Not only did he excel on the offensive end, frequently pushing forward to join the attack, but he also performed admirably in defense.

Whether defending against Nasri or other players, he was remarkably solid at the back.

His several interceptions during the match were also very precise, and his tackles were decisive.

The most amusing moment came in the 56th minute when Bertrand pushed forward to receive a pass and once again faced Sagna.

As a result, the English left-back quickly dribbled forward. After a series of feints, although he didn’t completely shake off Sagna, he caused the Arsenal right-back to lose his balance and slip to the ground.

Four minutes later, Sagna raised his hand to signal for a substitution.

He had apparently twisted something.

This made Wenger’s face on the sideline look absolutely dreadful.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.

Especially after gaining a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese clearly adopted a more conservative tactic.

This greatly displeased Wenger.

An opening burst of attack, a couple of punches thrown at Arsenal, and then… they just ran away?

How shameless was that!

If you have guts, fight it out for real!

Cowards! Plain cowards!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 2-0, thanks to the two goals scored in the 9th and 10th minutes.

After the match, when Yang Cheng went to the away team’s technical area to shake hands with Wenger, the Professor’s expression was truly comical.

He was scowling fiercely, looking daggers at him.

He was just short of rolling up his sleeves and challenging Yang Cheng to a duel!

Yang Cheng was in a great mood, grinning widely. He patted Wenger on the shoulder and offered a word of comfort.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, don’t take it to heart, Professor. The schedule is really tight this time, the pressure is high.”

“Next time, I promise, next time we will definitely go all-out attack against you!”

Wenger almost coughed up blood upon hearing that.

Am I angry because you didn’t attack us?

Oh God, please send a bolt of lightning and take this fiend away!

…

After the match, Sky Sports rated all the players.

Although Bayswater Chinese won 2-0, in reality, neither team performed particularly well.

With two games a week, both being clashes between top teams, it would be strange if their form was good.

This was especially true for Bayswater Chinese.

So, for the most part, the ratings hovered between six and seven.

Some of Arsenal’s players even received a five.

Ryan Bertrand received the highest score of the match, an eight.

Sky Sports gave high praise to the young left-back, believing his recent momentum was fierce, even showing the potential to become the successor for England’s left-back position.

Ashley Cole was already thirty-one. After his divorce scandal, the English left-back’s form had been less than ideal, and his position in the national team was often taken by Leighton Baines.

But now, both Ryan Bertrand of Bayswater Chinese and Gibbs of Arsenal had left a deep impression on everyone, both being hailed as successors to Ashley Cole.

In this match, Gibbs did not play, while Bertrand started and turned in a very eye-catching performance.

Especially those two attacking involvements at the start, which showcased Bertrand’s talent.

For the remainder of the match, he was remarkably stable in both attack and defense.

It’s safe to say that the entire British media was fervently discussing this young player.

But after the match, the person who made the biggest headlines was not the man of the match, Ryan Bertrand.

It was Courtois.

The Belgian goalkeeper, not yet twenty years old, had been performing exceptionally well ever since joining Bayswater Chinese.

Especially this season.

With the adjustment of Bayswater Chinese’s overall playing style and the improvement of their defense, Courtois’s performance on the goal line had become increasingly outstanding.

After the team’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal, Courtois’s number of clean sheets in the Premier League this season reached twenty-five.

He broke the best all-time Premier League record of twenty-four clean sheets set by Peter Čech at Chelsea in the 2004/05 season.

This brought Courtois great fame.

Almost all major British media outlets were reporting on Courtois’s performance and this historic record.

It should be noted that when Čech set the record of twenty-four clean sheets, he was already twenty-three years old.

For a goalkeeper, that is still considered a very young age.

But in front of Courtois, twenty-three seemed old.

Because the Belgian goalkeeper was only nineteen now, and wouldn’t even turn twenty until May 13th.

What is a genius?

This is a genius!

A young goalkeeper under the age of twenty created the best historical record in the history of the Premier League.

A staggering twenty-five clean sheets!

More importantly, so far this season, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded eight goals.

So far this season in the Premier League, no team had been able to score two goals against Bayswater Chinese in a single match. Such a level of defense left everyone dumbfounded!

Regarding the record created by Courtois, the British media generally expressed their gratitude to Yang Cheng, to Bayswater Chinese’s defense, and to his teammates in the backline.

Especially Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Vincent Kompany.

These three centre-backs had all shown an extremely high level of performance this season.

Pepe and Thiago Silva were already world-class centre-backs, that goes without saying.

Kompany had also completed his transformation this season, delivering world-class performances.

In the away game against Stoke City, it was Kompany’s last-minute header that helped Bayswater Chinese escape with all three points.

It could be said that it was thanks to Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding defense that Courtois was able to create such a historic record.

In an interview with reporters, the Belgian goalkeeper expressed his gratitude to head coach Yang Cheng.

“When I was a nobody, he gave me his full trust, allowing me to become the starting goalkeeper for a top team at such a young age.”

“I can only repay his trust with harder training and better performances in matches.”

“At Bayswater Chinese, my teammates are all too excellent. They are all world-class players who have given me so much help and support. This is the key to my ability to keep clean sheets against opponents!”

Courtois stated that he hoped to dedicate this record to all those who believed in him, and to the fans of Bayswater Chinese.

“Now is not the time to celebrate. We must continue to work hard and move forward. We hope to win the three most prestigious championship trophies this season!”

“All of us are hungry for it!”

Yang Cheng, in turn, described Courtois as a genius goalkeeper, but he believed that Courtois was not yet the best in the world.

But he was very close.

“He is working hard to become the best in the world!”

For Yang Cheng, Courtois’s talent and ability were undeniable; he was simply that good!

Courtois’s personality was a bit on the selfish side, and sometimes he couldn’t control his mouth.

This was true both in the dressing room and in front of the media.

Of course, to put it nicely, he was just very direct.

But that was quite normal.

In Yang Cheng’s view, in a team of twenty-five, or even thirty people, how could everyone have a perfect, considerate, and flawless personality?

There would always be some who were selfish, always some with flaws.

These were not problems.

The key was whether the team’s dressing room culture could manage the players.

In fact, when Yang Cheng signed Courtois and De Bruyne, he was once a little worried, afraid that a Bridge-Terry affair might happen within the Bayswater Chinese team, so he usually paid some attention.

But later he found that it was completely unnecessary.

De Bruyne and Courtois themselves were no angels.

Those two kids partied pretty hard in their daily lives.

Moreover, their relationship had always been very good.

Especially after coming to London, De Bruyne soon met other girls and broke up with the Belgian girl named Caroline.

The same went for Courtois.

Yang Cheng gradually felt relieved.

Given the personalities of these two, they probably didn’t even care about that incident in their previous lives.

So, Yang Cheng just let them be.

Young, rich, famous, and strong athletes.

Forbidding them from having girlfriends would really suffocate them!

The key was that now, in London, Bayswater Chinese players were a golden brand.

Wherever they went, they were the most sought-after objects of affection for girls.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng’s only requirement was: Don’t cause me any trouble!

In the 33rd round of the Premier League, Chelsea drew 1-1 away at Fulham.

The Blues were clearly pinning all their hopes on the two remaining cup competitions, the FA Cup and the Europa League.

In this match against Fulham, Roberto Di Matteo was also conserving energy, preparing for the FA Cup semi-final on the weekend.

Liverpool, meanwhile, narrowly won 3-2 away at Blackburn Rovers.

Mancini was also conserving energy for the FA Cup semi-final.

Manchester United suffered a shocking 0-1 upset away to Wigan Athletic.

Manchester City won a resounding 4-0 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

Yang Cheng had no time or inclination to worry about other teams. After the Arsenal match, he and the entire team shifted their focus to the next clash between top teams.

…

On the evening of April 14th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

FA Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese “away” against Liverpool.

This was another difficult showdown.

Although it was an “away” game, Bayswater Chinese was extremely familiar with Wembley Stadium.

But Yang Cheng made significant rotations.

This was inevitable.

With five consecutive clashes between top teams, even a body of iron couldn’t withstand it without rotation.

Yang Cheng split up Toni Kroos and Modrić.

In the last round against Arsenal, Toni Kroos started, orchestrating the two blitz attacks down the left flank to great effect.

This time against Liverpool, Yang Cheng started Modrić, partnering him with Pogba, with Javi Martínez behind them.

The front line consisted of Hazard, Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

Liverpool, on the other hand, was as if facing a formidable enemy, adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Buffon;

Defense: José Enrique, Daniel Agger, Škrtel, and Glen Johnson;

Midfield: Lucas Leiva and Javier Mascherano as a double pivot, with Stewart Downing, Gerrard, and Kuyt in front of them;

Forward: Suárez.

Torres, who had been plagued by injuries this season, was on the bench, ready to come on at any moment.

Also on the bench were Rakitić and Aleksandar Kolarov, among others.

As soon as the match started, Yang Cheng immediately applied fierce pressure on Liverpool’s midfield.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was clear: through midfield pressure, disrupt Liverpool’s forward passes, reduce Suárez’s opportunities to get the ball, and weaken the threat of the Uruguayan forward.

When Liverpool’s midfield lacked opportunities for forward passes, they would naturally shift the ball to the wings.

Stewart Downing was a skilled winger, so Yang Cheng had Kyle Walker mark him in this match.

It was the same principle as Mancini deploying Kuyt on the right to suppress Marcelo.

Throughout their midfield and defense, Bayswater Chinese’s defensive structure was well-layered, using this tiered defense to neutralize the individual dribbling and speed of Downing and Suárez.

But Yang Cheng gave Modrić and Pogba great freedom to push forward.

For these two midfielders, Yang Cheng’s instructions were clear: as long as they could quickly track back to provide defensive cover on the flanks after losing the ball, they could freely participate in the attack.

Liverpool’s biggest problem was still in their midfield.

The combination of Lucas Leiva, Javier Mascherano, and Gerrard was defensively solid enough, but they lacked creativity, ball-carrying ability, and the speed to transition from defense to attack was insufficient.

Under the pressure from Bayswater Chinese, a very interesting phenomenon occurred on the pitch for Liverpool.

Basically, after their passes crossed the halfway line, they would almost always lose the ball quickly.

They could hardly hold on to it for ten seconds before losing possession for certain.

It was either getting tackled or a misplaced pass of their own.

This resulted in a significant reduction in Suárez’s chances to get the ball.

The Uruguayan was getting anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was effective from the very beginning.

Liverpool played cautiously, very prudently.

But after pinning down their opponent’s midfield, Bayswater Chinese began to actively launch attacks down both flanks.

And they mainly focused on attacking down Hazard’s left side.

In the 13th minute, it was Marcelo who initiated an attack with a forward push down the left.

Pogba carried the ball forward to the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area before passing it to Hazard.

The Belgian received the ball and passed it back to the left flank.

Marcelo lofted a cross towards the front of the goal.

As Lewandowski surged forward to challenge for the header, Buffon decisively came off his line and punched the ball away with both hands.

This attack was still very threatening.

After Mascherano won the second ball, he immediately hoofed it forward with a big kick.

The ball had just crossed the halfway line, and as Suárez was about to receive it, Vincent Kompany quickly moved up and, with a timely intervention, kicked the ball back into Liverpool’s half.

Javi Martínez collected the ball near the bottom of the center circle and passed it to Modrić further upfield.

Then another pass to Ángel Di María.

Liverpool didn’t just sit back; instead, they pressed Di María outside the thirty-meter zone, not allowing him to turn easily.

The Argentine was forced to pass back to Kyle Walker.

Another cross pass to Javi Martínez.

And just as Javi Martínez was surveying the field with the ball, Modrić suddenly ran into an open space in the middle and called for the ball.

The Spaniard’s pass arrived at Modrić’s feet.

The Croatian was positioned sideways, facing the right flank.

Directly in front of him was the tracking-back Gerrard.

The Liverpool captain cut off Modrić’s passing lane to the right.

And before Modrić received the ball, Lucas Leiva decisively pressed high.

When the Brazilian saw Modrić receiving Javi Martínez’s pass with the inside of his left foot, he immediately fixed his eyes on Modrić’s left foot and went in for the tackle.

But Modrić was very experienced, with quick footwork.

He controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot, then quickly nudged it forward with his right. He turned his body, just barely evading Lucas Leiva’s lunge, and then carried the ball forward with his right foot.

This clever dribble and turn left the Brazilian defensive midfielder lunging at empty air. By the time he turned to chase, Modrić was already advancing with the ball.

Gerrard was prepared, quickly moving over to intercept.

Just as Gerrard and Lucas Leiva were about to form a pincer, Modrić played a through ball with his right foot.

The ball went straight to the feet of Lewandowski, who was positioned at the top left of the penalty arc.

At that moment, the Polish centre-forward was between Škrtel and Daniel Agger.

With his back to Škrtel, Lewandowski received Modrić’s pass with his right foot, taking the ball into the penalty area. He quickly turned, using his body to shield the ball from the charging Daniel Agger.

By the time he had fully adjusted, Lewandowski planted his right foot firmly and unleashed a power shot with his left.

The ball shot with incredible speed into the bottom left corner of Liverpool’s goal.

Buffon dived sideways, but he was just a little too slow.

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Thirteen minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had breached Liverpool’s goal!

Lewandowski excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sidelines to celebrate his goal.

…

After conceding, Liverpool tried to launch a comeback.

But having lost the advantage in midfield, Liverpool’s counter-attacks failed to materialize into any real threat.

Every time the ball crossed the halfway line, they quickly lost possession.

And in the 24th minute, Bayswater Chinese intercepted the ball near the halfway line, initiating a counter-attack with a chipped pass to Lewandowski up front.

The Pole headed the ball to the left, finding Hazard.

The Belgian received the ball on the left side of the attack. Facing Glen Johnson’s defense, he suddenly started dribbling, making a diagonal run into the penalty area.

Hazard’s acceleration was quick, his feet skillfully manipulating the ball. He broke past Glen Johnson in an instant and, in the half-space, pulled the ball back to evade the intercepting Mascherano, driving towards the penalty area.

Just outside the box, Mascherano pulled him, but he didn’t go down. He continued into the area, using the body sway generated by the pull to execute a series of feints that deceived Škrtel.

Everyone in the stadium couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

Amidst a swarm of defending players in red, Hazard continuously dribbled forward.

Especially inside the penalty area.

Facing Daniel Agger and Škrtel, Hazard suddenly stopped and then accelerated again, pulling the ball horizontally across in front of Daniel Agger.

After unbelievably dribbling past Liverpool’s two centre-backs, Hazard played a through ball, sending it to the right corner of the six-yard box.

Ángel Di María arrived at full tilt just then, getting to the ball before José Enrique and sliding a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.

Goalkeeper Buffon was a bit slow in his dive and couldn’t stop Di María’s shot in time.

Liverpool’s left-back, José Enrique, had completely failed to anticipate that Hazard would be able to dribble all the way from the left flank to the right side of the penalty spot and deliver such a deadly through ball.

As a result, when Di María made his forward run, José Enrique simply couldn’t catch up.

Just twenty-four minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals!

Ángel Di María excitedly ran towards Hazard, and the two celebrated wildly on the sideline.

At that moment, the Sky Sports live commentator was exclaiming repeatedly.

“God, in Hazard, I see the shadow of Messi!”

Chapter 246: The Champions League Semi-Final Curse! Shut Up, José! C. Ronaldo’s Best Partner!

The moment head referee Howard Webb blew the final whistle, Wembley Stadium erupted.

2-1!

That was the final score displayed on the board when the clock stopped.

Although Liverpool scored in the second half through substitute Torres, they still lost 2-1 to Bayswater Chinese at their “home” ground.

The Reds’ fans had every reason to be dissatisfied with this result.

In the second half, their team had clearly played better, looking much more impressive.

They even had chances to equalize at one point.

But thanks to Courtois’s outstanding performance and the tenacious defense of the backline, Bayswater Chinese managed to hold on to their 2-1 lead until the very end.

The Liverpool fans were booing Bayswater Chinese!

“In truth, we can all understand Yang Cheng’s substitutions in the second half.”

“It was a bit of a risk, but he has immense confidence in his players.”

“And the Bayswater Chinese players did indeed succeed in protecting the scoreline.”

Sky Sports, broadcasting the match live, also considered the result to be expected, though they showed some sympathy for Liverpool.

“In the second half, Yang Cheng made three consecutive substitutions, all of them bringing on substitutes for starters, including Modrić, Robert Lewandowski, and others. This was clearly in preparation for the Champions League match next Wednesday.”

“Bayswater Chinese has been under immense pressure from their schedule recently, having to play five clashes between top teams in a row.”

“Yang Cheng chose this kind of squad rotation in the hope that his team can face Real Madrid next Wednesday in better condition. That’s the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, and it’s a home game!”

The Sky Sports commentator believed that Yang Cheng’s early, successive substitutions, combined with Liverpool bringing on Torres and Rakitić in the second half, led to a reversal in the match’s dynamics.

Liverpool began to seize the initiative, while Bayswater Chinese adopted a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Looking at the result, Yang Cheng had basically achieved his pre-match tactical objectives.

Bayswater Chinese had secured their place in the FA Cup final, albeit with a few scares.

At the same time, players including Modrić and Robert Lewandowski got ample rest.

“Liverpool fans certainly have reason to be unhappy with what happened in the match, but they also have to see that both sides played well for one half each, and Bayswater Chinese were clearly better at taking their chances.”

“Also, it’s worth noting that throughout the entire match, Suárez was under tight marking from Bayswater Chinese and didn’t get any good opportunities.”

The match was over.

The Bayswater Chinese players celebrated their progression to the final by the touchline.

The Liverpool players, on the other hand, walked off the pitch one by one with dejected expressions.

Although this wasn’t Anfield, half the crowd was made up of Liverpool fans.

They had made the special trip south to London in the hope of seeing their team advance smoothly to the final.

But now, what they got was a defeat.

Since the match was at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng, despite being the “away” manager, took the initiative to walk over to Mancini, who was in front of the home team’s technical area, and shook the Italian’s hand.

“Your defense is too strong!” Mancini said with a wry smile filled with helplessness.

Yang Cheng didn’t argue.

While the two first-half goals were crucial to winning this match, the second-half defending was just as key.

“If you had a schedule like ours, you could try it and see if you could hold up!” Yang Cheng said calmly.

This left Mancini speechless.

Everyone could see that Bayswater Chinese were fighting on three fronts, but they also had to see the immense pressure they were under.

It wasn’t just pressure from their opponents, but also from within.

“Well then, you’d better keep it up!” Mancini said.

“Thanks.” Yang Cheng, however, looked confident. “We Chinese have a saying, third time’s the charm.”

“We’ve been knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals for two consecutive seasons. This season, we have to break through no matter what.”

“Otherwise, the media will probably start saying we have a semi-final curse.”

After saying this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

Mancini chuckled along with him, but his eyes couldn’t hide his envy.

A Champions League semi-final curse?

If possible, could they have one of those too?

But he had to admit, Bayswater Chinese were indeed formidable.

Distracted by fighting on three fronts, with players rotated in a fragmented manner, they could still perform at such a level.

If they were to focus all their energy on a single competition, who could stop them?

“Well then, good luck, Yang!”

Mancini extended his hand again, and after shaking Yang Cheng’s, he turned to walk towards his players.

…

Bayswater Chinese narrowly beat Liverpool 2-1 in their “away game”!

The news spread immediately after the match.

Media outlets all over the world reported on it, and fans were delighted and excited by Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

They were really going for the Treble!

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng remained understated, stating that Bayswater Chinese weren’t thinking about any Treble right now, and only wanted to take it one step at a time, focusing on playing every match well.

But a reporter asked if Yang Cheng had already raised the slogan of the Treble within the dressing room.

To this, Yang Cheng smiled and replied, “It’s no secret. Before every season, I tell my players that we want to challenge for every title.”

“I believe it’s not just us; most of the major European giants are the same, aren’t they?”

But the outlook for Bayswater Chinese was clearly not so smooth.

Especially on the day after defeating Liverpool, Chelsea thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 at Wembley Stadium in their “away game”.

It was a shocking massacre!

No one had expected the match to turn out this way.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd were at the stadium to watch the game.

For the first forty-plus minutes, the two teams were actually evenly matched.

But the turning point came from a free kick just before the end of the first half, which Drogba scored.

After the break, just three minutes into the second half, from a corner kick attack, Terry assisted Eto’o to score another goal.

But even so, in the subsequent period, the two teams were still neck and neck, and the on-pitch situation didn’t change much.

The second turning point of the match occurred in the 75th minute.

With his team two goals down, Redknapp abandoned the midfield, taking off Rafael van der Vaart and bringing on Defoe, wanting to strengthen the team’s attack.

But as a result, just two minutes after Defoe came on, Ramires and Lampard scored in quick succession.

Losing control of the midfield caused Tottenham Hotspur’s defense to collapse.

And in the final moments of the match, substitute Malouda scored another goal.

The 5-0 scoreline looked truly massive.

But in the actual match, it was easy to see that for the vast majority of the time, the two teams were mostly in a stalemate.

If anyone was to blame, it was really Drogba’s crucial goal in the first half.

Redknapp’s substitution was also questionable.

But looking at the game itself, at 75 minutes, if he didn’t go for broke, he would have definitely been heavily criticized.

So, sometimes, that’s just how matches are.

But after Chelsea’s 5-0 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur, The Blues’ momentum soared.

Especially in the Europa League, The Blues had also been on an irresistible run, having already reached the semi-finals.

Now they were facing Athletic Bilbao from La Liga.

Incidentally, La Liga had performed exceptionally well this season.

Atlético Madrid, Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao had all made it to the Europa League semi-finals.

The remaining team was Chelsea.

So the media described it as La Liga besieging the Premier League.

And in the Champions League semi-finals, La Liga’s big two, Real Madrid and Barça, were up against Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

The confrontation between La Liga and the Premier League was becoming increasingly intense.

This also showed everyone the progress La Liga had made.

Especially after Real Madrid’s strong resurgence, La Liga seemed poised to sweep both the prestigious Champions League and Europa League titles.

The Spanish media also began to build momentum, questioning the Premier League’s status as the world’s number one league.

Based on the performance of those Premier League teams in the Champions League and Europa League, especially against La Liga teams, did they deserve the title of the world’s best league?

The current La Liga was the true world number one!

If you wanted superstars, they had superstars; if you wanted top giants, they had top giants; if you wanted results, they had results to show for it.

What else did the Premier League have to boast about?

Marca also believed that it was basically a foregone conclusion that Bayswater Chinese would surpass Real Madrid in revenue this season.

“But we have every reason to believe that this situation is only temporary.”

“Real Madrid will quickly adjust and regroup.”

“Just like Mourinho’s team has made a huge breakthrough on the Champions League stage this season.”

“And in the upcoming Champions League semi-final, Real Madrid will prove this at Wembley Stadium!”

…

In the league matches on April 14th, the situation in the Premier League changed again.

Manchester City thrashed Norwich 6-1 away from home!

In the media’s words, this was Manchester City declaring war on Bayswater Chinese!

Ancelotti’s team, at a critical moment when Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was at its most difficult, experienced a rare mass release of scoring form.

The two Argentinians performed exceptionally well. Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick and also had an assist, while Agüero scored a brace.

It could be said that this was Manchester City’s best performance of the season so far.

Their attack was fluid and exhilarating, and their defense also performed very well.

More importantly, Ancelotti had also carried out a certain degree of squad rotation in preparation for the Champions League semi-final next Wednesday.

Manchester City’s opponent was Barça.

Manchester United, on the other hand, thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 at home, with Rooney scoring a brace.

This was another big win.

The two Manchester giants both secured impressive victories, while only Arsenal lost 1-2 at home to Wigan Athletic.

After facing a series of strong opponents and suffering repeated setbacks, the unlucky Gunners’ morale was clearly affected.

The matches for Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Liverpool were postponed until May due to the FA Cup semi-finals.

And in Spain, Real Madrid beat Sporting Gijón 3-1 at the Bernabéu Stadium.

Barça defeated Levante 2-1 away from home.

After 34 rounds of La Liga, Real Madrid led the league table with 88 points, with Barça close behind on 84 points.

With four rounds left in La Liga, Real Madrid had a four-point lead over Barça.

But the key issue was that in the 35th round of the league, Real Madrid would be visiting Camp Nou to challenge Barça.

Everyone knew very well that as long as Real Madrid left the away game unscathed, this season’s La Liga title would basically belong to them.

But if they were to fall at Camp Nou, the title race would still be on.

And the 35th round match was perfectly sandwiched between the two legs of the Champions League semi-finals.

This point was remarkably similar to Bayswater Chinese’s situation.

Because in the 35th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team was also set to host Manchester City.

This would also be a crucial match that would decide the fate of the Premier League title.

But what made it more difficult than Real Madrid’s situation was that Bayswater Chinese had already played two back-to-back clashes between top teams against Arsenal and Liverpool.

This led Mourinho to publicly comment on Yang Cheng at the post-match press conference after the 3-1 home win against Sporting Gijón.

The Portuguese firebrand stated that he knew Yang Cheng very well.

“He’s a very intelligent man, he knows how he’s won so many matches and titles.”

“At the same time, he must also be very clear that the current Real Madrid is completely different from the past.”

Regarding the upcoming Champions League semi-final, Mourinho said that Real Madrid was fully prepared.

“I won’t be afraid of failure, because the only thing we’ve lost so far this season is the Copa del Rey, but we’ve won that cup before, so this season we’re more focused on La Liga and the Champions League.”

Over the past few years, the head-to-head record between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid had been almost completely one-sided.

This included the period when Mourinho was in charge.

Yang Cheng had therefore become the most unwelcome person at the Bernabéu.

But Mourinho stated, “Past results are already history. They have no meaning for the upcoming match, not much reference value, and won’t even have any effect.”

“Whether it’s statistics or historical head-to-head records, for us, it’s all just a piece of history.”

“All teams participating in the Champions League semi-finals have only one goal, and that is to win!”

Regarding the media reports that Yang Cheng had stumbled in the semi-finals for two consecutive seasons and was determined to make a push for the Champions League this season, Mourinho smiled and said, “The last time we won the Champions League was in 2002, 10 years ago.”

“Over the past 10 years, all Real Madrid fans have been filled with a longing for the Champions League, and the players are also full of motivation.”

Mourinho expressed that the Champions League held a very special meaning for Real Madrid.

Therefore, Real Madrid viewed the Champions League with great importance.

“You say Bayswater Chinese is motivated, but I want to say, their motivation is far less than ours at Real Madrid!”

Mourinho gave a decent evaluation of Bayswater Chinese, but he insisted that Real Madrid would win the away game.

“Both of our teams place great importance on tactics, but I believe it will definitely be a very exciting match!”

As for his starting lineup, Mourinho remained tight-lipped.

…

The Portuguese firebrand’s opening salvo in Spain quickly drew the attention of the world’s media and fans to the upcoming Champions League semi-final, focusing on Wembley Stadium in London.

The British media also counter-attacked one after another, believing Mourinho’s remarks were as arrogant as ever.

But no one dared to underestimate Mourinho, or to underestimate Real Madrid!

On the afternoon before the Champions League final, after the training session, Yang Cheng received news that Real Madrid had departed from Madrid.

At the pre-match press conference, Yang Cheng announced the 18-man matchday squad.

When answering questions from reporters, Yang Cheng responded to Mourinho’s earlier attack.

“Tomorrow, when I see him at Wembley Stadium, the first thing I want to tell him personally is, ‘Shut up, José, you’re too noisy!’”

After he finished speaking, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

He had always had a good relationship with Mourinho.

They had exchanged plenty of verbal blows, but their private friendship was strong.

“Sometimes, many of his outrageous statements make me feel like he’s not the Mourinho I know at all.”

“I do hope that one day, he can win a championship in a down-to-earth, calm manner!”

“Of course, he is a very outstanding head coach, but apart from his time at Porto, he has yet to win another Champions League to prove his coaching level.”

Yang Cheng even launched a counter-attack.

“If there were an off-the-pitch Champions League, I believe he would definitely be the champion. I would also sincerely congratulate him and let him enjoy it, because in the court of public opinion, he has always been the darling. I have no interest in competing with him.”

“The only common ground between Mourinho and me is that we both crave success.”

“And the biggest difference is, I’ve succeeded, and he hasn’t!”

The reporters at the scene all applauded enthusiastically.

When it came to verbal sparring, the head coaches in the Premier League were truly in a class of their own.

Needless to say about Ferguson and Wenger, Mourinho also made his name in the Premier League.

Yang Cheng usually seemed gentle and refined, but when it came to a war of words, he could be very ruthless.

Everyone could already imagine the look on Mourinho’s face when he heard “I’ve succeeded, and he hasn’t!”

However, Mourinho was clearly no pushover.

If that guy didn’t stir up some unforeseen trouble, would he still be Mourinho?

When the entire Real Madrid team landed in London, and the group of Fleet Street reporters rushed over to greet them at the airport, everyone saw a different Mourinho.

…

On the evening of April 17th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Real Madrid.

When the renowned German referee, Dr. Felix Brych, led the players of both teams out of the tunnel, Yang Cheng also met Real Madrid’s head coach, Mourinho, in the player tunnel.

The moment they met, Yang Cheng was a little stunned.

“What happened to you?” Yang Cheng asked in surprise, pointing at Mourinho’s head.

Mourinho was sporting a new hairstyle tonight, a very short buzz cut, which made him look more energetic, more cheerful, and much neater.

But it was completely different from the Mourinho Yang Cheng was familiar with.

“Surprised, aren’t you? This is one of my secret weapons!” Mourinho chuckled.

Yang Cheng was speechless.

Did he really think he was Sun Wukong, the Great Sage?

Could his trimmed hair transform into countless Great Sages?

“To win this match, I even got rid of the hairstyle I’ve had for so many years.”

Yang Cheng snorted twice, “If getting a haircut could win matches, I’d get one every day.”

“This is me expressing my determination.”

“I believe you have determination, but that’s all you have left!”

“Bullshit!” Mourinho finally couldn’t hold it in. “I’m telling you, you lot won’t be walking out of this stadium tonight!”

Yang Cheng pursed his lips, “I’ll be waiting!”

As the two of them walked out of the player tunnel, they shook hands again before returning to their respective technical areas.

…

Both teams placed extreme importance on this match.

Yang Cheng, after a series of rotations, sent out his full starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, Vincent Kompany, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Di María.

Centre-back Thiago Silva missed the match due to a suspension for accumulated yellow cards.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a full squad, and their lineup was also formidable.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Coentrão, Ramos, Bruno Alves, and Álvaro Arbeloa;

Midfield: Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira formed the double pivot, with C. Ronaldo, the dead-eyed Mesut, and Callejón in front of them;

Forward: Džeko.

If one were to point out a clear weakness in the current Real Madrid lineup, it would be the right-winger position.

So over the past season, it was either Gonzalo Higuaín or Callejón, and sometimes even the dead-eyed Mesut would play in this position, the main theme being flexibility and unpredictability.

Both teams started with their full-strength lineups and adopted their most familiar tactical approaches.

Therefore, after the match began, both sides were relatively cautious.

But just 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese launched an attack down the right flank.

Piszczek suddenly made a quick overlapping run from the flank, and when he tried to cross after taking the ball to the byline, it was blocked by Bruno Alves.

The Polish full-back won the ball back inside the penalty area and immediately passed it back.

Di María controlled the ball on the right side just outside the penalty area, then cut inside with it, unleashing a power shot with his left foot, attempting a curled shot towards the far corner, but it was blocked by a timely backtracking Xabi Alonso.

Real Madrid quickly launched a counter-attack, trying to play a through ball to the dead-eyed Mesut.

However, Nemanja Matić, with his height and long legs, got to the ball first and poked it to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder played a precise through ball to the feet of Robert Lewandowski at the arc of the penalty area.

The Polish striker took a touch to control the ball, breaking into the box, and under pressure from Ramos, he took a shot.

Casillas tipped the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

The whole of Wembley Stadium erupted in cheers from the home fans.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese’s corner kick failed to create a threat.

But after Bayswater Chinese made the first move, the game gradually opened up.

This was especially true for the home team, Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng kept a close eye on Mourinho’s every move from the touchline, as well as Real Madrid’s actions on the pitch.

Especially as Bayswater Chinese used their early initiative to continuously organize and orchestrate attacks.

Although they couldn’t create any clear-cut chances, they repeatedly caused dangerous situations.

After 10 minutes of play, Yang Cheng was basically certain that Mourinho’s tactic was still to defend and counter-attack.

Despite all the pre-match bluster, at his core, Mourinho was still a master of the defend and counter-attack style.

So, on the right, he had dropped Maicon, whose form had clearly declined and who struggled to get back after going forward.

The current Maicon was a defensive liability.

Instead, he chose the more solid Álvaro Arbeloa.

In the double pivot, he opted for the combination of Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, dropping Lassana Diarra, probably because of Lassana Diarra’s tendency to hold onto the ball for too long.

In recent years, as Lassana Diarra was heavily relied upon at Real Madrid, this problem of his had become increasingly exposed.

By the 10th minute, Yang Cheng had already noted Real Madrid’s game plan.

At the same time, he quickly devised a counter-strategy.

Use the right flank to launch an all-out attack on Real Madrid’s left flank.

That is, Coentrão’s side.

Álvaro Arbeloa’s defensive ability was there for all to see, but Coentrão’s defending was not very reassuring.

Most importantly, C. Ronaldo rarely participated in defense.

Since 2000, when Florentino Pérez came to power and built the Galácticos for Real Madrid, with the exception of the three years under Ramón Calderón, Real Madrid had always had a common problem.

Many people said their attack was strong but their defense was weak.

But Yang Cheng felt it was mainly down to the superstar strategy!

As the name suggests, the so-called superstar strategy was to create superstars with immense commercial value.

To achieve this, the value of the superstars had to be highlighted.

When setting up the team, the status of the superstars had to be emphasized as much as possible.

That is, to let the superstars shine as brightly as possible during matches.

The most obvious evidence was the goal tally.

In La Liga, Real Madrid’s C. Ronaldo and Barça’s Messi, with their teams taking turns to rack up goals, was the best proof.

Because all this was the result of the entire team’s effort to elevate these two superstars.

Of course, this was in no way meant to belittle C. Ronaldo and Messi.

It was precisely because they were strong enough that Real Madrid and Barça were willing to do this.

But the consequence was that both of these superstars were clear exceptions within their tactical systems.

For example, at Real Madrid, C. Ronaldo basically did not participate in defending.

Under these circumstances, Coentrão on the left flank was easily left to fight alone.

The strategy Yang Cheng came up with was for both Modrić and Piszczek to press forward aggressively.

As for his own left flank, Gareth Bale and Marcelo’s side, Yang Cheng had absolute confidence that they were enough to suppress Real Madrid’s right flank of Álvaro Arbeloa and Callejón.

So, after Yang Cheng saw the opening, he immediately committed heavily to the right flank.

In the 15th minute, Modrić and Piszczek combined for a one-two pass in the final third on the right, before crossing to Di María.

The Argentinian dribbled into the right side of the box, stopped abruptly and feinted, shaking off Ramos, before unleashing a long shot with his left foot.

The ball slid just wide of the post.

This drew a gasp from the fans in the stadium.

It was immediately followed by a round of warm applause.

But there was also a clear price to pay.

Real Madrid, who had been suppressed since the start of the match, quickly launched a swift counter-attack.

A pass from Xabi Alonso, a through ball from the dead-eyed Mesut, and C. Ronaldo made a quick run down the left channel. After receiving the ball and facing Pepe’s defense, he first faked, then skillfully performed a step-over, beating Pepe and driving straight into the left side of the penalty area.

Pepe stuck to C. Ronaldo’s inside, tracking back desperately, pinning him to the left side of the box and closing down his shooting angle.

C. Ronaldo’s shot was held firmly by Courtois.

This was Real Madrid’s first shot of the match, occurring in the 18th minute.

After that, the game basically followed this pattern.

Bayswater Chinese’s left flank and Real Madrid’s right flank were both relatively quiet.

Both sides battled it out on Bayswater Chinese’s right flank, and both committed enough players there.

Bayswater Chinese still adopted their pass-and-move tactics, while Real Madrid focused on counter-attacks.

In the 21st minute, a quick counter-attack from Real Madrid resulted in a foul by Modrić on the left, just outside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

The home team captain pulled down C. Ronaldo while tracking back, giving the opponent a free-kick opportunity in the final third.

This was also a zone that C. Ronaldo particularly liked for direct free kicks.

“Bayswater Chinese are being very cautious.”

“The position of Modrić’s foul is not ideal.”

“Let’s see C. Ronaldo’s execution here.”

“It’s another direct free kick, a trademark knuckleball!”

“The ball speed is very high, but he couldn’t keep it down.”

“This knuckleball took the express elevator straight to the top floor, going well over the goal.”

“We can see Yang Cheng making adjustments on the sideline, constantly making various hand gestures. Probably only the Bayswater Chinese players know what their head coach means.”

“Real Madrid’s last two or three counter-attacks have been quite threatening. Yang Cheng is probably feeling the pressure.”

…

Yang Cheng’s shouts and gestures weren’t that complicated.

He was just telling his players not to keep attacking down the right flank.

The initial tactic of attacking the right was to target the opponent’s weak link.

But now, Real Madrid had become alert. Persisting in attacking the right at this point would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it?

So what should they do?

Change direction, try attacking the left first.

See if they could make a breakthrough from the left.

If not, then switch back to the right.

Don’t forget, Bayswater Chinese had a top-class passer like Toni Kroos.

After being reminded by Yang Cheng, the players on the pitch quickly began to adjust their direction of attack.

This was the advantage of controlling the midfield and possession.

When reorganizing their attack, the Bayswater Chinese midfield began to look for the left flank.

Piszczek started to drop back, stabilizing the defense and also confusing the opponent.

Marcelo started to make aggressive forward runs, linking up with Gareth Bale to attack Real Madrid’s side guarded by Álvaro Arbeloa.

The most threatening attack occurred in the 24th minute.

After a one-two pass on the left flank, Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and sent a cross into the box.

Casillas came out and nearly collided with Ramos.

The ball was collected by the Real Madrid goalkeeper.

Real Madrid also realized Bayswater Chinese’s adjustment, and their defensive focus shifted accordingly.

In the 27th minute, when Marcelo played a forward pass to Gareth Bale who had dropped back to receive it, he himself made a quick overlapping run.

Callejón followed Marcelo closely, sticking to his inside, preventing the dropping Gareth Bale from making a pass.

Álvaro Arbeloa stuck to the Welshman like glue, not allowing him to turn.

Forced, Gareth Bale had to pass back to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder received the ball on the edge of the 30-meter area, unmarked.

One touch, an adjustment, and with his right foot, he delivered a horizontal, half-high pass.

The ball traveled through the middle of Real Madrid’s defensive formation to the feet of Di María, who was positioned where the right channel and the right flank met.

As the ball landed, the Argentinian used his foot to guide it forward.

At this moment, Real Madrid’s entire defensive focus was on the left side.

Coentrão immediately ran over.

But Di María didn’t run in a straight line, instead dribbling diagonally, charging towards the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty arc.

Xabi Alonso also tracked back desperately, trying to team up with Coentrão to block Di María and prevent the Argentinian from cutting inside.

But when Di María reached the right side of Real Madrid’s outer penalty area, he feinted, neither shooting nor passing forward, but instead sent a cross pass with his left foot.

An onrushing Piszczek arrived at full tilt, controlled the ball towards the byline with one touch, then accelerated to chase it, and sent a cross to the near post with his right foot.

The connection between the two Polish players had always been Bayswater Chinese’s specialty, and a very important attacking route.

When Piszczek took the ball to the byline, Robert Lewandowski had already started to prepare.

He charged directly towards the near post, heading straight for Ramos.

Because he knew he had an advantage in the air against Ramos.

Against the tall and sturdy Bruno Alves, he had to compete on technique and agility.

Against Ramos, the best way was simply direct and brutal aerial balls!

Piszczek noticed Lewandowski’s run and hand signals, and when he crossed the ball, he delivered a high ball.

The Polish centre-forward charged forward quickly, and on the right side of the six-yard box, he and Ramos jumped simultaneously.

But Ramos didn’t get to it.

Robert Lewandowski met the incoming ball with a powerful flick of his head.

The ball changed direction and flew straight into the left side of the goal.

Casillas was positioned close to the right post.

Facing Lewandowski’s header, despite a valiant diving save, the Real Madrid goalkeeper was ultimately a bit too short, his arms a bit too short, and he simply couldn’t stop it.

The ball hit the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“A header from Robert Lewandowski!”

“It’s the attacking connection between the two Polish internationals again!”

“In the 27th minute, Bayswater Chinese have broken the deadlock against Real Madrid.”

“1-0!”

After scoring, an ecstatic Robert Lewandowski ran off the pitch, doing a knee slide by the sideline.

At this moment, the entire Wembley Stadium turned into an ocean of celebration.

The cheers of 90,000 fans cascaded down from the stands, sweeping over the entire stadium.

Yang Cheng also clenched his right fist tightly on the sideline, punching the air with all his might.

This was the tactical effect he wanted!

Faced with this kind of play, it was very difficult for the opponent to defend.

In fact, the vast majority of teams simply couldn’t defend against it.

Of course, this was predicated on Bayswater Chinese executing their combinations well.

…

This brilliant goal did not dampen Real Madrid’s morale.

Mourinho roared in anger on the sideline, but quickly began to encourage his players again.

On the pitch, the Real Madrid players started to exert themselves, their actions became more aggressive, and the intensity of their pressing increased.

Especially when the ball entered Real Madrid’s half.

Just three minutes later, it was another attack from Bayswater Chinese down the left, drawing the defensive attention before the ball was passed back to Toni Kroos.

But this time, the German midfielder passed to Modrić.

The Croatian midfielder pulled off his signature feint.

Just when everyone thought he would pass to Di María, he suddenly passed with his left foot to Robert Lewandowski on the left side of the penalty arc.

Gareth Bale’s movement dropping back had pulled a defender out of position.

Robert Lewandowski controlled the ball with his side, taking it into the left side of the Real Madrid box.

But this time Ramos defended very well, using his body to hold off Lewandowski, forcing the Pole to take a power shot with his left foot, which went high.

Two threatening chances created within a short span of four minutes.

The most important thing was the change brought about by the midfield after Yang Cheng’s touchline management.

Attacking the left, with feints and real threats, made the Real Madrid defenders struggle.

They simply couldn’t predict which side Bayswater Chinese would attack next.

Under this fear of the unknown, coupled with Real Madrid’s own proficiency in defensive counter-attacks, when Bayswater Chinese began to intensify their offense, the Galácticos started to opt for solidifying their defense.

But in the 39th minute, Marcelo received the ball on the left side of Real Madrid’s 30-meter area. Faced with a double block from Callejón and Álvaro Arbeloa, the Brazilian skillfully dribbled the ball out from between the two defenders and quickly passed it to Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos played a low pass to the right.

Di María controlled the ball with his left foot, moved inside, avoiding Coentrão, took a step inward, and laid the ball back to Modrić with his left foot.

The Croatian controlled the ball with the inside of his right foot towards the left-front, drawing Xabi Alonso’s attention, then suddenly made a sharp stop, skillfully dribbled with his left foot, spun around, and sent a diagonal pass with the outside of his right foot.

Not to Di María, but to the right side outside the box.

It was Piszczek again!

The Polish full-back made a high-speed forward run, caught up with Modrić’s outside-of-the-boot pass, and without taking a touch, glanced into the box.

Robert Lewandowski once again sprinted to the near post of the six-yard box as fast as he could.

It looked like a carbon copy of the previous goal.

Both Ramos and Bruno Alves were drawn to Lewandowski, sandwiching the Polish centre-forward and moving towards the near post with him.

But Piszczek delivered a high cross with his right foot, not aiming for Lewandowski at the near post, but dropping it to the far post on the left side of the six-yard box.

To the astonishment of all the Real Madrid defenders, a figure in a red shirt, like a bolt of lightning, instantly sprinted from the left corner of the box at incredible speed.

Meeting Piszczek’s dropping cross, he unleashed a volley with his left foot.

This furious shot, containing almost all of Gareth Bale’s strength, was smashed into the Real Madrid goal.

“GOAL AGAIN!!!!”

“2-0!”

“In the 39th minute!”

“A close-range volley from Gareth Bale!”

“Bayswater Chinese have produced a spectacular team goal!”

“Another assist from Piszczek!”

“My God, that attacking combination was absolutely beautiful!”

“In the 39th minute of the first half, Gareth Bale scores the second goal of the match!”

“The attacking play from both of Bayswater Chinese’s flanks has been incredibly lively.”

“Both goals came from crosses from Piszczek on the right.”

“This Polish full-back is getting better and better.”

“But at the same time, we have to note that Coentrão’s performance in this match has been really average, especially in defending against Bayswater Chinese’s right flank.”

…

When Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in quick succession, everyone thought the match was decided.

But no one expected that just before the end of the first half.

While Bayswater Chinese were constantly orchestrating attacks and applying pressure, Real Madrid launched a swift counter-attack.

A medium-range, half-high cross from Xabi Alonso in his own half found Džeko upfield.

Džeko drifted to the right side of the attack, using his body to shield the ball from Pepe after receiving it.

Without letting the ball hit the ground, Džeko laid it off horizontally to the overlapping dead-eyed Mesut.

The German took a touch, then passed again, returning it to Džeko who had successfully turned.

The Bosnian centre-forward controlled the ball, shook off Pepe, and sent a precise diagonal pass with his left foot.

This pass was beautifully delivered.

Vincent Kompany had been tracking back, but the ball was played right behind him to the left side of the penalty area.

C. Ronaldo controlled the ball, neatly avoiding the turning Kompany, and hit a power shot with his left foot.

Despite Courtois’s valiant dive, the shot went straight into the right side of the goal.

2-1!

An excited C. Ronaldo turned and ran off the pitch.

“A precious away goal!”

“A swift counter-attack from Real Madrid!”

“Just before the end of the first half, Real Madrid produced a magnificent piece of counter-attacking play.”

“The one-two between Džeko and Mesut Özil, and that final brilliant diagonal pass.”

“It must be admitted, Džeko is indeed the best centre-forward partner for C. Ronaldo. Their understanding is getting better and better.”

“And C. Ronaldo seized this golden opportunity at a crucial moment, keeping hope alive for Real Madrid!”

The moment he saw C. Ronaldo score, Mourinho was so excited he dropped to his knees in the technical area, celebrating with all his might.

This was a precious away goal!

Yang Cheng glanced at Mourinho with disdain and shook his head.

Although they were still leading, a 2-1 scoreline was very different from 2-0.

Especially in the Champions League knockout stage.

But to be honest, Yang Cheng couldn’t really blame his players.

Real Madrid’s counter-attack was just too sharp!

In that situation just now, neither Piszczek nor Marcelo could get back in time to defend.

Because just a moment before, they had both pushed up to participate in the attack.

But as a result, the backline was inevitably left relatively vulnerable.

And to make matters worse, Real Madrid’s forwards were all superstars with supreme individual ability. If they caught even a hint of a chance, they could immediately convert it into a goal.

Want to stop Real Madrid’s counter-attacks?

Simple, just tell the full-backs not to push up, to stay back and defend.

Although Piszczek had converted to a defensive player mid-career, his defensive ability and physical strength were still very impressive.

Marking C. Ronaldo one-on-one wasn’t a big problem.

When he played against Bayern, his defending against Ribéry was very well done.

And there was also Kyle Walker.

If Yang Cheng was truly determined to defend, he could have easily arranged for his right-back to man-mark C. Ronaldo.

But in this match, his main goal was to attack and strive for more goals.

Even now, after Real Madrid pulled one back, Yang Cheng still stuck to this idea.

Because he was very sure of one thing!

Mourinho has never been a head coach who likes to heavily use and promote young players; he prefers and trusts mature, battle-ready players.

And right now, Real Madrid’s bench depth, especially in attack, was clearly inferior to that of Bayswater Chinese.

In three days, both teams had a do-or-die crucial match that would decide the league title.

Neither could afford to lose.

But Bayswater Chinese were playing Manchester City at home, while Real Madrid were playing Barça away.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng dared to make bold rotations, but would Mourinho dare to?

If he went all-out against Bayswater Chinese in this match, and then went all-out against Barça in the next, what would he use to play against a rotated Bayswater Chinese side at the Bernabéu next Wednesday?

Therefore, Yang Cheng was very confident that Mourinho would definitely make substitutions in the second half.

A 2-1 away score was very good for Real Madrid.

Chapter 247: The Clever Giroud! The Complicated Marcelo! One Step Closer to the Grand Treble

While the Champions League semi-final at London’s Wembley Stadium was still in full swing, near the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, at the headquarters of his fan club, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez was watching the live broadcast with a worried heart.

Through the television cameras, almost all he could see were the red shirts of Bayswater Chinese on the attack.

Despite being the away team, Real Madrid, still in their white kits, was mostly on the defensive.

Florentino was watching from a VIP box, surrounded by the management of his fan club, who were also members of Real Madrid’s board of directors, as well as his trusted aides like Valdano and Zidane.

This fan club had been founded years ago to support Florentino’s election campaign. All its members were wealthy and famous figures in Spain, each one of them illustrious.

At this moment, despite being in a soundproof VIP box, Florentino could still occasionally hear the angry curses from the wealthy Real Madrid fans outside.

Clearly, they were all dissatisfied with Real Madrid’s passive, besieged state.

In everyone’s eyes, this was not something that should be happening to Real Madrid.

Anyone could see that the current match situation was unfavorable for Real Madrid.

Especially in the second half.

Florentino had very mixed feelings about Bayswater Chinese.

On one hand, he greatly admired Yang Cheng’s ability to manage the club and coach the team.

If Yang Cheng weren’t the owner of Bayswater Chinese, he would have poached him for Real Madrid in a heartbeat.

But on the other hand, he felt a profound threat emanating from Bayswater Chinese.

Just a short while ago, Real Madrid’s General Manager José Ángel Sánchez had told Florentino with great certainty that Real Madrid’s revenue for the season would be surpassed by Bayswater Chinese, and likely by a significant margin.

“In fact, this gap will likely widen in the future.”

“Because their new stadium is about to open, with 250 VIP boxes, the annual box rental income alone will exceed thirty-five million pound sterling.”

“Add to that the daily consumption income from the boxes, and their matchday revenue will reach an astonishing figure!”

This left Florentino feeling deeply suppressed.

When he took over as Chairman of Real Madrid in 2000, he completely transformed the club.

He turned this traditional, aging giant into something brand new.

During his six years at the helm, Real Madrid evolved from a traditional football club into a modern, corporate-style club focused on financial operations, brand development, and comprehensive management.

Perhaps saying it like this doesn’t create a clear picture for many people.

Even during the last two or three years of the first Galácticos era, which were criticized by countless people, a management position at Real Madrid held more prestige in Spain than one at an investment bank like Morgan Stanley.

Many people blamed Florentino for ruining the first Galácticos era.

But they never mention that during his years in charge, Real Madrid’s revenue repeatedly set new records, even surpassing Manchester United to become number one in the world.

Some said this was because he took advantage of the government by selling the land of the old stadium.

But may I ask, if it were really that simple, why couldn’t others do it?

From 2000 to the present, how many chairmen and vice-chairmen has Barça had?

Why couldn’t they do it?

Was it because the government of Catalonia didn’t support them?

Ultimately, it was Florentino who came up with a viable plan and convinced the Spanish and Madrid governments.

The first step was being able to produce such a plan.

It wasn’t just about talk, claiming anyone could do it!

Sanz, Ramón Calderón, or that bunch of chairmen and vice-chairmen at Barça—they were all utterly incompetent fools who would spit out food even if you force-fed them!

What could you possibly expect from them?

During the first Galácticos era, technical director Pirri earned an annual salary of 150,000 euros, but his successor, Valdano, earned 1.5 million.

A full tenfold increase!

Before Florentino took over, the commercial manager under Sanz earned 100,000 euros a year. Later, José Ángel Sánchez earned 600,000 euros, and now, promoted to General Manager, his annual salary has shot up to three million euros.

Why?

Because they were capable!

There’s a saying in the Spanish business world: To make money, you need people who know how to play with money!

But what did Ramón Calderón do?

A bunch of good-for-nothings drawing high salaries at Real Madrid.

The most ridiculous thing was that an assistant next to Predrag Mijatović could earn an annual salary of 600,000 euros, almost the same as the commercial director José Ángel Sánchez at the time.

Wasn’t that just absurd?

Since taking over in 2009, Florentino had, on one hand, stepped up recruitment, bringing in stars like C. Ronaldo, Džeko, and Xabi Alonso, and on the other hand, worked hard to clean up the old messes.

This included the problem of redundant staff in both management and the team.

These things couldn’t be solved overnight.

Especially with club legends like Raúl and Guti.

Pellegrini was a good coach, but he couldn’t do the things Mourinho did.

The departure of Raúl, Guti, and others left the current Real Madrid team with a very serious problem.

Or rather, a weakness.

Squad depth!

The current Real Madrid only had one decent starting lineup.

The players brought in over the past few years had mostly been underwhelming.

When Florentino took charge of the team in 2009, his strategy was to sign superstars, complemented by solid Spanish players and rising talents.

After letting go of Raúl, Guti, and others, Real Madrid freed up a lot of salary space.

But stars like Agüero, David Silva, and David Villa were all hijacked by Premier League clubs or Barça.

This resulted in Real Madrid’s current lack of squad depth.

Real Madrid’s original intention was to learn from Bayswater Chinese’s team-building strategy.

Emphasize promoting local talent and players from their own youth academy, while signing high-level young players.

As a result, the substitute bench, and even the starting lineup, still included players like Granero, Morata, Jesé, Nacho, Şahin, Varane, and Callejón, whose overall performances were rather disappointing.

Most importantly, Mourinho didn’t trust young players.

From the looks of it, Real Madrid’s overall strength, even that of its starting lineup, was clearly inferior to Bayswater Chinese’s.

…

“The situation is very unfavorable for us right now, especially if this continues to drag on,” Zidane spoke up.

“You see it too?” Valdano asked in return.

“Yes, it’s obvious Yang Cheng is conserving energy, waiting for Mourinho to make substitutions.”

“Exactly, but not making changes is also not an option. If we keep playing at this intensity, what about the upcoming El Clásico?”

Valdano was also deeply worried.

The Champions League semi-final was a two-legged tie. They were currently trailing 2-1, but at least they had the home game at the Bernabéu and a chance to turn things around.

But what about the upcoming El Clásico?

Real Madrid was currently ahead by four points, but if they lost El Clásico, the lead would shrink to just one point.

At that point, the pressure on the team would be even greater!

“Yang Cheng’s team also has a crucial league match to play, but it’s at home, and Bayswater Chinese has much better squad depth than we do,” Valdano said with a sigh.

“Right now, whatever Mourinho does is a gamble!”

Although Valdano had been pushed out of his position as Real Madrid’s technical director by Mourinho, at this moment, he spoke a fair word for him.

With things having reached this point, any choice was risky, and a high-risk one at that.

If he made substitutions, he had to be sure they could hold on to the 2-1 scoreline.

Otherwise, if the opponent extended their lead, the home leg would be even harder.

But if he didn’t make changes, how much energy and form would they have left for the Barça match?

What if they lost the away game to Barça, their lead narrowed, and after losing the first leg of the Champions League, could they really make a comeback at home?

In the current situation, it was truly a difficult predicament!

“Also, have you noticed? The pressure on the players is mounting,” Zidane’s instincts were always sharp.

“From the start of the second half to now, sixty-five minutes in, we’ve already received four yellow cards.”

“Xabi Alonso, Coentrão, Callejón, and Álvaro Arbeloa.”

“This is very dangerous!”

Anyone who has played football knows, under what circumstances are players most likely to get booked?

When they can’t defend properly.

“So, does this mean we can’t win this match?” Florentino sounded unwilling to accept it.

Valdano and Zidane exchanged glances, unsure how to answer.

A football match can change in an instant.

Perhaps in the next second, a Bayswater Chinese player would make an uncharacteristic mistake.

Perhaps a Real Madrid player would suddenly score with a long shot, just like Arsenal did against Manchester City.

Perhaps…

In short, all sorts of possibilities existed.

And when the match reached the 69th minute, the broadcast cameras switched to the sideline.

Real Madrid was about to make a substitution!

Mourinho brought on Lassana Diarra for the German player Mesut Özil.

This was a signal to strengthen the midfield defense and interception.

“He really did it,” Zidane said with a wry smile.

This was the Mourinho he knew and understood.

The mercurial Portuguese was, at his core, a relatively conservative head coach.

At a time like this, he chose to trust his defense.

And that was precisely what he was best at.

And just after Mourinho’s substitution, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

First, Marcelo sent a through ball down the left flank.

Gareth Bale seized the opportunity, making a quick forward run. Using his astonishing speed along the left wing, he beat two Real Madrid defenders and charged to the left side just outside the penalty area, only to be stopped by a flying tackle from a charging Bruno Alves, who sent both man and ball out of play.

It was a beautiful piece of defending!

It looked dangerous, but he was actually going for the ball, and his timing was perfect.

It was just that after the tackle, Gareth Bale and Bruno Alves ended up in a heap on the ground.

After the throw-in, Toni Kroos once again switched the play to the right flank.

Di María received the ball on the right side outside the box, facing Coentrão. After a feint as if to go for the byline, he suddenly cut back and delivered a curling cross with his left foot.

Inside the box, Robert Lewandowski got to the ball first, heading it towards goal.

But this time, under the constant pulling and tugging of Ramos, the Polish centre-forward was disrupted, and his header lacked power.

Moreover, it was too central and was easily collected by Casillas.

In less than two minutes, they had twice penetrated deep into Real Madrid’s penalty area.

This put the entire Real Madrid team under pressure.

Especially in the 74th minute, while defending against Lewandowski, Ramos once again grabbed his shirt.

This time, the head referee caught him red-handed and showed him a yellow card.

In the first half, both teams had received one yellow card each.

But so far in the second half, Real Madrid had already collected five.

Even someone who didn’t usually watch football could see that Real Madrid’s situation was as precarious as a pile of eggs.

In the 75th minute, Mourinho made his second substitution.

Granero came on for Callejón.

“Our biggest weakness right now is the right winger. We need to sign a high-level right winger!”

Zidane said to Florentino from the side.

The Real Madrid Chairman nodded; this was a weakness everyone could see.

“Also, the bench depth. We really need to sign a few high-level substitutes to bolster the team’s bench and support multi-front campaigns.”

After a pause, Valdano added, “Bayswater Chinese’s team-building strategy isn’t suitable for us at Real Madrid.”

Because their head coach was Yang Cheng!

…

While Mourinho was making changes, Yang Cheng was also gradually making substitutions.

He first brought on Giroud for the goalscorer, Lewandowski.

Then he replaced Modrić with Aaron Ramsey.

Both were like-for-like substitutions.

The purpose was very clear: to give Lewandowski and Modrić more rest.

There was still a crucial league match to play this weekend.

His final change was bringing on Theo Walcott for Gareth Bale.

After the substitution, Di María moved to the left winger position.

Walcott, however, positioned himself further forward and closer to the center.

The objective of this was clear.

Even with substitutions, Yang Cheng still wanted to score.

Therefore, after coming on, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott were both very active and energetic.

Anyone could see that Mourinho now just wanted to defend the 2-1 score.

But Yang Cheng was still looking for another goal.

In the 84th minute, Mourinho made his final substitution.

Gonzalo Higuaín came on for Džeko.

Unlike Yang Cheng, who took off two of his main attacking threats but brought on Walcott.

Mourinho clearly still hoped C. Ronaldo could be effective on the counter-attack.

Even after Yang Cheng had substituted three players, Bayswater Chinese’s attacks still focused on the left flank.

Marcelo, Di María, Toni Kroos, and Giroud all frequently drifted towards the left side.

This placed immense pressure on Real Madrid’s right-sided defense.

In the 87th minute, Bayswater Chinese had already created a very dangerous attack.

Giroud dropped back, pulling out to the edge of the arc and raising his hand for the ball.

Aaron Ramsey played a through ball, and the French centre-forward met his teammate’s pass with a first-time flick of his left foot.

The pass was flicked up and over Real Madrid’s defensive line, dropping into the right side of the penalty area.

Theo Walcott quickly shook off Coentrão, making a diagonal run into the right side of the box.

But the “Little Tiger” clearly failed to grasp the genius of Giroud’s flick; instead of shooting first-time, he chose to control the ball before shooting.

As a result, he missed the best opportunity to shoot, and the onrushing goalkeeper Casillas smothered the ball.

The run to beat the offside trap was beautiful, but the final touch was a bit slow.

But the fans in the stadium still gave Walcott a warm round of applause as encouragement!

Mourinho, on the sideline, could only shake his head and roar at his players.

The match was almost over, just hold on!

But at this moment, Bayswater Chinese was relentlessly increasing the intensity of their attacks.

Real Madrid had even been forced into a full-scale retreat.

Only Higuaín and C. Ronaldo were left up front, waiting for a chance to counter-attack.

Time was ticking away, second by second.

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands kept cheering on their players, creating a powerful atmosphere for the team.

Everyone hoped the team could press on and score one more goal.

If they could get that goal, the second leg away at the Bernabéu would be much easier to play.

Otherwise, a 2-1 home win, while a victory, gave the opponent an away goal.

In the second leg at the Bernabéu, Bayswater Chinese would still be in a dangerous position.

In fact, they would have hardly gained any advantage.

The players knew this well, so in the closing stages of the match, Bayswater Chinese attacked fiercely.

Even Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and the others who had been substituted by Yang Cheng were on the sidelines, constantly encouraging their teammates, gesturing for them to press forward and keep attacking.

Soon, the fourth official on the sideline held up the board for four minutes of stoppage time.

In the second half, Real Madrid had received five yellow cards, and there had been numerous delays.

Giving four minutes of stoppage time was reasonable.

But in the 91st minute, as Higuaín received the ball upfield, Pepe intercepted it. As Higuaín tried to counter-press on the spot, he tackled Pepe from the side and behind.

Although he received a yellow card, Bayswater Chinese’s quick counter-attack was thwarted.

Yang Cheng shook his head on the sidelines.

“That bastard, he’s even turned getting yellow cards into an art form!” Yang Cheng cursed angrily.

Why did he say that?

Real Madrid had collected quite a few yellow cards, but in reality, no one would be suspended for the second leg.

They were taking turns getting booked, taking turns fouling!

When it came to manipulating the rules and exploiting loopholes, Mourinho was truly a master.

This was not meant as a criticism.

All head coaches exploited loopholes, but he was truly a cut above the rest.

And a minute later, the substitute Lassana Diarra also committed a foul and received a yellow card.

The thing was, all these fouls were committed far from the penalty area.

This rendered Bayswater Chinese’s free kicks ineffective.

Seven yellow cards!

“If he’s really that good, let him get Sami Khedira a yellow card too, then I’ll be impressed!” Yang Cheng was also getting a bit anxious and angry.

Every time it was a foul just as Bayswater Chinese was about to launch a counter-attack.

Why not let Khedira get a yellow card?

Because if the German received another yellow card, he would be suspended for the next match.

So, he’d rather have Xabi Alonso, Callejón, Higuaín, and others get booked than Khedira.

The clock ticked into the 93rd minute.

The match was nearing its end.

Real Madrid once again passed the ball forward to Granero.

But as soon as Granero received it, he was immediately entangled by Marcelo.

The Brazilian’s biggest improvement this season had actually been in his defending.

This season, he was averaging 7.2 ball recoveries per game.

He averaged 3.4 tackles, 3.7 interceptions, and 2 clearances per game.

While performing brilliantly on the defensive end, he was equally impressive on the offensive end, with an average of 2.3 dribbles and being fouled 1.8 times per game.

These stats were enough to show his importance in Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system.

But directly proportional to his defensive improvement and eye-catching offense was the increase in his errors.

Last season, he made 33 errors, while this season he had already made 36 so far.

Two of those errors directly led to goals conceded.

This was the complicated Marcelo!

If you needed a point of comparison, it would be Manchester United’s Evra.

The French full-back only averaged 4.5 ball recoveries per game, but he had only 29 errors and just one fatal error.

After years of repeated tempering, Marcelo was still stronger in attack than in defense.

But his defensive weakness was merely a result of the team’s tactical system.

When he truly focused on defending, even one-on-one, he was actually not bad.

Just like this time against Granero.

The Real Madrid player wasn’t a traditional winger, and he was caught by Marcelo as he received the ball.

The Brazilian was not tall, very agile, and had quick reactions. He got a foot in before Granero and stole the ball.

After successfully winning the ball, Marcelo steadied himself, immediately dribbled forward, and passed it to Toni Kroos ahead of him.

The German ran to the left sideline to receive the ball and passed it to Di María.

But the Argentinian had his back to goal and was being contained by Álvaro Arbeloa. Unable to turn, he was forced to pass back.

Since Lassana Diarra was marking Toni Kroos, he could only pass back to Marcelo, who was making a forward run into the left channel.

The Brazilian met the incoming ball and sent a through pass forward.

Giroud made a quick diagonal run to the left of the arc, getting to the ball before Bruno Alves and controlling it to his left.

He quickly stepped out with his left foot, entering Real Madrid’s penalty area while also bringing the ball under his control, leaving the backtracking Arbeloa to pounce on empty space.

Inside the box, Arbeloa didn’t dare make a rash challenge.

If he touched Giroud, the Frenchman would surely go down immediately, playing dead to win a penalty.

Giroud was very clever. As Arbeloa rushed towards him, he suddenly shielded the ball with his left leg, making the Real Madrid right-back hesitant to commit. But Arbeloa couldn’t stop his momentum and overran the play.

The French centre-forward seized this opportunity, knocking the ball horizontally with the outside of his left foot and taking a step to his left.

It was precisely this step that created distance between him and Bruno Alves.

Arbeloa had overshot and was turning around.

In a very brief moment, perhaps only about a second, Giroud had a chance to shoot.

Any other centre-forward, already inside the penalty area, would have definitely blasted a shot.

Moreover, it was on Giroud’s left foot.

This position, this angle, was perfect for him to unleash a powerful shot.

But Giroud was clearly not an ordinary centre-forward.

November 11, 2011.

Giroud would never forget that day.

It was the day he made his debut for the France national team.

Before that match, he had a phone call with head coach Yang Cheng.

One thing Yang Cheng said left an incredibly deep impression on Giroud.

“Olivier, you have always been a very intelligent player. From the first time I saw you, I knew this.”

“I believe you know it too.”

“As a smart person, you should be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.”

“When to do what, what you can do, and what you can’t, I believe you are very clear about this in your heart.”

“Believe me, Olivier, as long as you be yourself, your career has only just begun!”

Giroud was never a supremely talented person.

He had known this since he was a child.

Back at Grenoble in the French Second Division, he was not highly regarded.

From Grenoble to third-tier Istres, then to second-division Tours, Giroud had slowly climbed the ladder, step by step.

At that time, he never imagined that he would one day be able to join a giant club like Bayswater Chinese and play for the French national team.

But now, it had all become a reality!

A French media reporter once asked Giroud if he had ever thought about leaving Bayswater Chinese.

On this team, there was the world’s top scorer, Robert Lewandowski.

Giroud could only be Lewandowski’s backup.

Moreover, with Lewandowski scoring goals for fun, the less prolific Giroud was often criticized and blamed by people.

In the last year or two, Bayswater Chinese had started to vigorously develop the homegrown centre-forward Harry Kane.

He was a homegrown player of a pure and proper origin, and Yang Cheng had even written him into the team anthem.

Everyone knew that Harry Kane was bound to be given significant opportunities.

Once the English centre-forward matured, wouldn’t Giroud be relegated to third-choice?

Under these circumstances, wasn’t Giroud’s best option to jump ship now while he still could?

But after hearing the reporter’s question, Giroud smiled and replied, “I haven’t thought about that.”

He didn’t explain why, nor did he say whether he would in the future.

In Giroud’s view, in his three years at Bayswater Chinese, he had truly learned a lot.

He didn’t score many goals, but he created many chances for himself and his teammates.

Just as head coach Yang Cheng had once told him, he needed to find his own role.

Since he didn’t have extraordinary talent, he had to focus on doing what he did best.

For example, flicking the ball.

Uh, no, that’s not right. Lay-offs!

And also, headers.

So, in the 93rd minute of stoppage time, as Giroud turned to receive the ball on his left, he had already glanced to his right.

When he received the ball and created distance from Arbeloa and Bruno Alves, when everyone thought he would shoot directly, Giroud made a decision that shocked everyone in the stadium, including the ninety thousand fans in the stands.

The French striker chose to deliver a cross pass with his left foot.

He lifted the ball high and sent it to the right side of the penalty area.

It dropped right in front of the right corner of the six-yard box.

Just as Giroud had anticipated, Aaron Ramsey was making a quick forward run.

Coentrão was positioned near the penalty spot, leaving the entire right side of the box undefended.

When Aaron Ramsey surged forward, there was no one around him.

Coentrão immediately rushed over.

But Aaron Ramsey kept looking up at the falling football, his back to the right, constantly backing up.

As the ball came down, Coentrão jumped, trying to win the aerial duel.

This was his last chance.

But he misjudged it.

The Portuguese left-back could almost feel the ball grazing his hair as it dropped past him.

And after backing up two steps, Aaron Ramsey, without letting the ball hit the ground, planted his left foot firmly and swung his right, unleashing a volley.

With no defensive pressure around him, Aaron Ramsey had enough time to judge the ball’s trajectory and descent, and to adjust himself into the most comfortable shooting posture.

Therefore, this shot was of incredibly high quality.

And it wasn’t aimed at the near corner.

Seeing Casillas moving quickly from the left side of the goal, Aaron Ramsey deliberately hit it in the opposite direction, aiming for the top left corner of the goal.

This was precisely the most difficult angle for Casillas to save.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper made a diving save, but couldn’t get a touch on the ball.

The football went in almost at the junction of the crossbar and the left post, nestling into the back of the Real Madrid net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“A magnificent worldie!!!”

“A goal from Aaron Ramsey!”

“An absolutely brilliant wonder goal!!”

“My God, Giroud’s pass was beautiful and perfectly placed, and Aaron Ramsey’s volley was equally spectacular!”

“In the final moments of the match, Aaron Ramsey scored with a stunning volley, a worldie that breached Real Madrid’s goal.”

“3-1!”

The moment Aaron Ramsey struck the volley, Yang Cheng, who had been anxiously waiting for a goal on the sideline and had almost given up hope, was so excited that he冲 out of the manager’s technical area, roaring with emotion.

This goal was so crucial!

With or without this goal, the second leg for Bayswater Chinese would be a completely different situation!

Yang Cheng was completely overwhelmed by the sudden joy!

In the end, he had to be stopped by the quick-reacting fourth official.

Otherwise, he probably would have rushed onto the pitch.

“We see that the head coach of Bayswater Chinese has lost a bit of control!”

“The entire Wembley Stadium has been set alight by Aaron Ramsey’s goal!”

“Bayswater Chinese has scored a very crucial goal.”

“3-1!”

“With this goal, Bayswater Chinese has seized the most advantageous position on the road to the Champions League final!”

“Let’s relive this brilliant goal.”

“Marcelo’s tackle deep in his own half, and the subsequent combination with his teammates, leading to a through ball to find Giroud.”

“Giroud’s footwork is excellent, and his left-footed pass was beautiful.”

“Aaron Ramsey’s volley showed incredible skill, especially as he hit it without taking a touch.”

“This Welsh midfielder is really talented, and he’s still very young, with unlimited potential.”

The live broadcast also switched to the sideline.

Real Madrid head coach Mourinho looked exceptionally disappointed.

He had been trying to conserve energy for the weekend’s El Clásico, but he had also made extensive preparations.

In fact, Real Madrid was on the verge of holding onto the 2-1 score.

But in the final moments, Aaron Ramsey’s volley completely shattered his dreams.

What was worse, both Giroud and Aaron Ramsey were substitutes.

Two substitutes had combined for the crucial goal.

Mourinho could already see what kind of verbal and written attacks he would face from the media after the match.

It would be nothing but criticism for being too conservative, too timid, for his substitutions ruining the game, and so on.

Winner takes all!

Mourinho accepted it!

…

After Aaron Ramsey’s goal, Real Madrid restarted the game and tried to launch an attack.

But they were cleared out before they could penetrate Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area.

The head referee then blew the final whistle at the opportune moment.

Bayswater Chinese had defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at home!

In front of the home team’s bench, the players excitedly rushed onto the pitch to celebrate.

All the players seemed particularly thrilled.

This score was enough to give them the upper hand in qualifying for the final.

Bayswater Chinese had been knocked out in the Champions League semi-finals for the past two seasons.

This made Yang Cheng’s team incredibly hungry for the Champions League final!

As one of the teams universally recognized as the strongest in world football, crashing out of the Champions League semi-finals twice in a row was already a pretty bad result.

That’s why they had played with such determination.

Mourinho, however, was very unconvinced by the result.

“You should thank Guardiola and his Barça. Otherwise, today’s match would never have ended with this score, it wouldn’t have even been 2-1!” Mourinho said resentfully.

Yang Cheng, having won the match, was in a great mood and grinned broadly. “If you’re going to say that, then you should thank Manchester City, thank Liverpool, thank Arsenal. If it weren’t for them, we could have run up an even bigger score today, believe it or not?”

“I believe you my ass!” Mourinho swore.

He absolutely did not believe his team would lose by a large margin again.

“You just wait. After I’m done with Barça at Camp Nou, I’ll come back and overturn the aggregate score at the Bernabéu!”

After saying this, Mourinho turned and walked away.

Yang Cheng wanted to invite him for a drink, but he was in no mood for it.

This left Yang Cheng rather speechless.

“Brian, tell me, who came up with this tradition of having a drink after the match?”

“Look, he lost, so he’s not in the mood to drink. If I lose, I don’t want to treat. Isn’t this awkward?”

Brian Kidd chuckled at this.

He could see that Yang Cheng was in a particularly good mood and was just being deliberately mischievous.

…

After the match, the result of the game at London’s Wembley Stadium spread across the globe in a very short time, sparking heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Be it the media or the fans, they mostly worked backward from the result to analyze the match process.

Therefore, they were all frantically criticizing Mourinho, believing his substitutions were far too conservative.

When trailing 2-1, instead of trying to attack more, equalize, and rack up a crucial away goal, he conservatively tried to protect the 2-1 result. Wasn’t that ridiculous?

Although some media reporters defended Mourinho, arguing that a 2-1 away result was still acceptable for Real Madrid.

Especially considering they had to play El Clásico on the weekend.

“The biggest mistake Mourinho made was that Yang Cheng’s two substitutions created the third goal!”

“If Real Madrid had been able to leave Wembley Stadium with a 2-1 loss, I believe the situation facing both teams back at the Bernabéu would be very different from now.”

“Of course, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese are more deserving of respect; they deserved this victory.”

The media believed that just as Mourinho’s team faced El Clásico, Yang Cheng’s team also faced a title-deciding battle against Manchester City.

In fact, over the past period, Yang Cheng’s team had been playing two games a week, facing a continuous string of clashes between top teams, and competing on three fronts simultaneously. This was a massive test for any team!

“Under such pressure, Yang Cheng still chose to attack in the final moments.”

“The substitutes Giroud and Aaron Ramsey created the third goal, helping Bayswater Chinese seize the initiative in qualifying for the final. This is the greatest reward for Yang Cheng’s attacking philosophy!”

Even Spain’s Marca newspaper believed that Yang Cheng’s team’s victory was well-deserved and indisputable.

In addition, many media outlets criticized Mourinho’s team for being a “card magnet.”

Mourinho himself was very dissatisfied with this result.

In the post-match press conference, he argued that all the accusations against him were hindsight.

“The same tactics, the same substitutions—if we had won, you all would be praising my brilliant command.”

“But now, I’ve lost, so you’re all tearing me and my players to shreds.”

“I won’t, and I don’t want to say, that we are fully capable of defeating Bayswater Chinese. That’s a ridiculous lie.”

“The fact is, in terms of strength and bench depth, we are indeed not as good as Bayswater Chinese.”

“We must accept and recognize this situation. We need to sign more strong reinforcements to improve our strength.”

“But before that, I can only do my best to help my team, to lead my players, to find a tactical approach that gives us the best hope of defeating the opponent.”

Finally, as if pushed to the brink, Mourinho shouted out a bold statement.

“Regardless of whether it’s us or Bayswater Chinese who gets to the final, that team will win the final trophy!”

“So, this is not the Champions League semi-final, this is the Champions League final!”

“A final in two legs!”

Mourinho’s implied meaning was that Real Madrid still had a “second half” to play.

It was too early to pronounce Real Madrid’s death sentence.

Additionally, his words also contained a hint of disparagement towards Guardiola’s Barça.

Barça’s away match against Manchester City was scheduled for the next day.

Regarding Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 home victory over Real Madrid, media and fans around the world generally gave it high praise, believing Bayswater Chinese had a great chance of advancing to the final.

“Bayswater Chinese is one step closer to the grand Treble!”

But Yang Cheng stated that despite the 3-1 win, the challenge for Bayswater Chinese in the second leg at the Bernabéu Stadium would still be quite formidable.

“Any team can lose at the Bernabéu, and lose badly!”

Yang Cheng believed that what Bayswater Chinese needed to do now was to remain patient and focused, playing each game well.

“Only by treating every match as a final can we achieve ultimate victory!”

As for Mourinho’s trash talk about whoever advances will win the title, Yang Cheng did not respond.

That was a matter between Mourinho and Guardiola.

However, Yang Cheng had already booked tickets for the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

He was going to watch the match in person!

Whether it was Manchester City or Barça, both were important upcoming opponents for Bayswater Chinese.

…

On the evening of April 18th, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

No one could have expected that this highly anticipated crucial match would turn out like this.

A sudden downpour turned Manchester completely into a “Rainy City.”

Yang Cheng even suspected, could Jam Hsiao have come to Manchester for a concert?

What surprised everyone even more was how conservatively the home team’s coach, Ancelotti, played this match.

Manchester City was no weak team!

But when facing Barça, Ancelotti chose the most conservative of tactics.

He voluntarily gave up possession.

Or perhaps it should be said, it wasn’t so much giving it up as being unable to compete for it and abandoning it.

Because in an early attack, Barça had already created a one-on-one opportunity.

But David Villa’s shot was denied by the crossbar.

This close call put Manchester City on high alert and made them feel the threat from Barça.

So, Ancelotti’s team chose to defend.

The 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation made their defense very tight.

But as a result, Barça completely dominated the flow of the game.

Guardiola’s team controlled the vast majority of possession, constantly creating shooting opportunities.

They even took a few long shots from time to time.

This was probably inspired by Mikel Arteta’s long shot goal.

But tonight, Joe Hart made no such mistakes. Instead, he was in heroic form, repeatedly saving Barça’s shots and putting on a top-class performance worthy of England’s number one goalkeeper.

The muddy pitch caused by the heavy rain didn’t affect Barça’s possession rate, but it did have some impact on their attack.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

After changing ends for the second half, the rain grew heavier.

But neither side on the pitch showed any intention of holding back.

Especially Barça; David Villa had another one-on-one, and again, he hit the post.

That was the second time!

In fact, if the match continued like this and ended 0-0, it would have been an acceptable result for both sides.

After all, for Barça, the weather and location were not in their favor.

Manchester City, on the other hand, was remarkably resilient, and their players fought very hard, but they really didn’t have a good solution for Barça.

Ancelotti could only resort to defending with all his might.

But in the 91st minute, Yaya Touré tackled the ball away from Messi in midfield and passed it to Kaká.

The Brazilian dribbled forward, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a cross pass.

Ibrahimović got ahead of the defender and slid in front of goal, bundling the ball, the rainwater, and the turf into Barça’s net.

The Swedish centre-forward had been criticized by countless people as a choker!

Because he had hardly ever scored in the Champions League, especially in the knockout stages.

But this time, against Barça, against Guardiola, he finally showed his true man’s side!

After scoring, Ibrahimović deliberately ran past the away team’s technical area to celebrate his goal.

And just two minutes after Manchester City’s goal, in the final moments of the match, Messi sent a through ball, and Pedro, on the left side of the box, curled a shot with his right foot towards the far corner.

The result: it hit the right post again.

Three times hitting the woodwork, all on the right post!

To say there wasn’t something a bit spooky or mysterious about it would be truly inconceivable!

Manchester City ultimately won 1-0 at home with a last-minute winner from Ibrahimović, defeating Barça.

But throughout the match, Barça’s possession rate was as high as 80.1%!

This meant Manchester City’s possession rate was only 19.9%.

This was simply an unheard-of figure.

But Ancelotti was stubbornly lucky.

Barça had 24 shots in the entire match, 6 on target, and hit the woodwork 3 times.

Manchester City had only 4 shots, and scored with their only one on target.

Even after the match ended, the heavy rain continued to fall.

Yang Cheng didn’t know whether to be happy or unhappy about this result.

Even now, Guardiola’s team remained the most possession-dominant and most competitive team in European football.

To be able to push Manchester City to this extent was definitely not something Ancelotti would have wanted to see.

It’s important to note, giving up possession is not the same as not wanting possession.

For Manchester City to be pushed to such an extent was definitely beyond Ancelotti’s expectations.

“This Manchester City and this Barça, which one would you choose as an opponent?”

Brian Kidd jokingly set a trap for Yang Cheng.

Chapter 248: Dominating the Premier League! Player of the Season! We should sign him at all costs!

Barça or Manchester City, which to choose?

On the way back to London from Manchester, Yang Cheng pondered this question the entire time.

It was truly a trap.

A massive one.

Judging from the match at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, if a guy like Ancelotti decided to hunker down and play defensively, he could give any team a headache.

Italian head coaches all had that ability.

And Ancelotti was one of the best.

So, would choosing Barça be a sure thing?

Not necessarily.

It sounded like playing Barça would be easier, but a defensive approach like Manchester City’s was inherently high-risk.

One look at this match was proof enough.

Yang Cheng could guarantee that if Ancelotti were to play that way again, he most likely wouldn’t get the same result.

Twenty percent possession, four shots, one on target.

This was beyond outrageous. It was outrageously outrageous.

What kind of coach, with a screw loose, would sacrifice that much possession?

There was only one explanation: they truly couldn’t compete.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, in 2010, when Mourinho’s Inter Milan played Barça at home, they managed nearly thirty percent possession.

But in the second leg away from home, playing with a man down from early on, their possession dropped to less than fifteen percent.

Yang Cheng couldn’t recall the exact figure.

This just went to show how desperate Manchester City’s situation was.

If Yang Cheng had to choose, he would actually still prefer to play Manchester City.

Because against City, he could seize the initiative.

But against Barça, taking control was much more difficult.

It was worth noting that the current Barça was not the Barça from Yang Cheng’s past life.

In his previous life, by 2012, Barça had already won the Champions League twice. All their players had achieved great success, were getting older, and their form had declined significantly.

But now, Pep Guardiola’s team hadn’t even won a single Champions League title; they had won over the fans and earned the respect of all professionals purely on their footballing philosophy.

Under these circumstances, while some Barça players had seen a dip in form, their overall strength remained formidable.

As for the rumors that Guardiola would be sacked at the end of the season, that was purely a media misinterpretation.

What Guardiola meant was that he would decide whether to renew his contract at the end of the season based on the team’s actual performance.

The reason was that Barça was also currently fighting on three fronts.

They were trailing Real Madrid in the league, but they still had a chance. If they could beat Real Madrid in the home league match that weekend, their league hopes would be rekindled.

They had already reached the final of the Copa del Rey.

As for the Champions League, they were now in the semi-final.

In a way, the next few matches would determine whether Guardiola would renew his contract with Barça.

And Guardiola clearly hoped to use this as a way to motivate his players.

To see just how many of them were still willing to play for him.

…

After returning to London from Manchester, Yang Cheng immediately called a meeting with the coaching staff and the technical team.

The main topic of discussion was the match at the Etihad Stadium.

The team had already received the latest, most detailed set of data.

They now had a deeper understanding of both teams currently in the competition.

Because the following weekend, Bayswater Chinese was scheduled to play Manchester City.

Since their Champions League match was a day earlier than City’s, Yang Cheng’s team had a slight schedule advantage.

Coupled with the fact that it was a home game, both timing and location were on Bayswater Chinese’s side.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s main focus was on managing his players.

With a series of high-intensity matches and the second leg of the Champions League semi-final next Wednesday, Yang Cheng had no choice but to implement squad rotation.

“From the information we’ve gathered, Ancelotti will definitely rotate his squad as well, and it won’t be a minor rotation.”

Gary Worthington was the head scout, and he had scouts specifically tasked with gathering intelligence on opponents.

“Their match is a day later, which means one less day of rest. Plus, their game against Barça was more draining than ours. So, I think they will still opt to defend and counter-attack at Wembley Stadium.”

Possession rate, to some extent, represented player exertion.

The lower the possession, the more energy the players expended.

With a possession rate as low as Manchester City’s—only twenty percent—one could imagine how draining it was.

Win this match, and Bayswater Chinese would essentially secure the league title ahead of schedule!

Therefore, this was a battle Yang Cheng could not afford to lose.

But for that very reason, he was also paying close attention to the players’ physical and mental states.

Thad Foucher showed Yang Cheng the sports science department’s assessment of the players’ physical condition, which was generally good.

Both injuries and fatigue levels had been kept within a manageable range.

In this regard, the comprehensive traffic light system that Thad Foucher had built over the past few years had had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng had placed great importance on the sports science department in recent years, investing heavily in it, and the results were evident.

The problem now was the team’s effectiveness after rotation.

Yang Cheng was also worried about the players’ mentality.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese had a team of three psychologists, led by Tim Hanicks, with two assistants—one being his son, the other an externally hired expert.

The psychology team had been continuously tracking and monitoring the mental state of the Bayswater Chinese players.

But this match was crucial, yet rotation was necessary.

“Over the next two days, Tim, you and your team need to be extra vigilant,” Yang Cheng instructed.

Tim Hanicks readily agreed, as this was his professional duty.

As for the specific tactics Yang Cheng would employ, who would be rotated, and who would play, it was still too early to say.

The final decision would be made just before the match, based on the players’ condition, recovery levels, and their psychological evaluations.

For instance, in a match of this importance, youngsters like Harry Kane, Pogba, and Sterling definitely couldn’t play.

He wouldn’t dare field José Fonte either.

It wasn’t a matter of ability, but of pressure.

If Yang Cheng risked playing them, it would be somewhat irresponsible.

…

Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Barça 1-0 at home.

Both Premier League teams had defeated their La Liga counterparts at home.

This sent the English media into a frenzy of celebration.

But all attention quickly shifted to the two crucial matches that followed.

The Premier League title decider and the El Clásico in La Liga.

Currently, both Bayswater Chinese and Barça were aiming for the Treble.

And these two matches happened to involve the four Champions League semi-finalists.

For football fans around the world, this was an extremely rare spectacle.

Who would have thought that the four Champions League semi-finalists would play two crucial matches that could decide their respective league titles, right between the two legs of their semi-final ties?

This was unprecedented in Champions League history!

Therefore, the media and fans worldwide were paying incredibly close attention to these two weekend matches.

And just before this match, the results of the annual PFA Awards were announced.

The voting for these awards usually took place before the end of the season.

Therefore, the outcome wouldn’t be affected by who won the league title.

But undoubtedly, the title-chasing teams tended to perform better.

As in previous years, the Team of the Season was primarily based on the traditional English 4-4-2 formation.

The goalkeeper position was the most predictable: Courtois.

The 19-year-old Belgian goalkeeper had been outstanding for Bayswater Chinese.

This season, he had even broken the Premier League record set by Čech, becoming the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in a single season.

With such a performance, his place in the Team of the Season was undisputed.

The backline was Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek.

That’s right, the entire defense and central midfield were composed of Bayswater Chinese players.

Even the two central midfielders were Toni Kroos and Modrić.

The left wing was Gareth Bale, and the right was David Silva.

The Spaniard often played in central roles or as a left-sided attacking midfielder, but in a 4-3-3, he was primarily a right winger.

The two forwards were van Persie and Robert Lewandowski.

In fact, many felt that Theo Walcott had been hard done by, as The Little Tiger had also scored 17 goals this season.

His performance this season was there for all to see.

But there was nothing to be done.

Too many Bayswater Chinese players had been selected. Adding Walcott would have practically turned it into a Bayswater Chinese-only list.

Even so, for Bayswater Chinese to occupy nine of the eleven spots in the Team of the Season was already incredibly high.

Everyone had to admit that Bayswater Chinese’s dominance over the past season was unprecedented.

Neither the treble-winning Manchester United of yesteryear nor the 2008/09 treble-winning Bayswater Chinese could match the sheer dominance of this season’s team.

Therefore, having nine of their players in a squad of eleven didn’t stir much controversy.

In the individual player awards, the Young Player of the Year was a bit of a surprise, going to Kyle Walker.

Although the young domestic right-back was not yet a regular in the starting lineup, his performances had been getting better and better, and he had already been called up to the national team.

Incidentally, the right side of the England national team was currently a problem area.

Manchester City’s Micah Richards had seen a sharp decline in form and had long lost his previous powerful momentum.

The development of this physically explosive full-back was far below expectations.

Glen Johnson, on the other hand, was prone to defensive errors.

In contrast, Kyle Walker had a sense of overtaking them from behind.

As a rotation player, his performances were steadily improving.

Thus, he beat out Arsenal’s Oxlade-Chamberlain, Manchester United’s Welbeck, Manchester City’s Sturridge, and Manchester City’s Agüero to win the Young Player of the Year award.

Among this group, Yang Cheng felt that Agüero losing to Kyle Walker smelled a bit of the PFA favoring a domestic player, especially since Agüero’s outstanding performance was there for all to see.

As for the others, their performances were indeed not as good as Kyle Walker’s.

Additionally, Ryan Bertrand had also been called up to the England national team, but he was currently behind Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines. It was uncertain whether he would make the final squad for the European Championship.

It would largely depend on the form of Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines, as well as the overall squad composition.

The Player of the Season award went to Bayswater Chinese’s Robert Lewandowski.

So far this season, the Polish centre-forward had scored 29 league goals in the Premier League.

It should be noted that his goal tally had stalled after matchday 28.

Since matchday 29, due to squad rotation for fighting on two fronts and fluctuations in player form, he had failed to score again.

But even so, he had already surpassed van Persie, who had 27 goals.

Everyone believed that Lewandowski’s goal count for the season would surely increase again.

Because Bayswater Chinese still had five league matches left to play.

Over the past few years, with the rise of Bayswater Chinese’s success, it had become commonplace for their players to win various awards.

Even prestigious awards like the PFA’s were no longer a rarity.

The reason this season attracted so much attention was the sheer number of awards they won.

Not only did they sweep the Young Player of the Year and Player of the Season awards, but they also secured nine of the eleven spots in the Team of the Season.

It was no exaggeration to say that Bayswater Chinese completely dominated the Premier League.

And because of this, they received immense attention and praise from media and fans all over the world.

…

On the afternoon of April 22nd, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The crucial match of the 35th round of the Premier League kicked off with a shot from Walcott in front of goal that went high over the bar.

This was a highly anticipated crucial match, broadcast live to the entire world.

Both teams had made some rotations, but their core starting players remained unchanged.

Clearly, both sides were determined to defeat their opponent.

Yang Cheng deployed a front three of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Walcott.

But in midfield, Yang Cheng started Aaron Ramsey alongside Modrić.

Toni Kroos was rested for this match.

From the start, Bayswater Chinese threatened their opponent with a shot and, leveraging their home advantage, took the initiative against Manchester City.

In the 6th minute, a through ball from Aaron Ramsey found Gareth Bale, who shook off Giorgio Chiellini on the left side of the penalty area and fired a low shot towards the far corner.

The ball skimmed just wide of the post.

After that, Bayswater Chinese continued their assault.

In the 15th minute, a through ball from Kyle Walker split the defense.

Walcott made a quick run, beating the offside trap to receive the ball and break into the right side of the box for a one-on-one.

But his shot went wide again.

In the 19th minute, from a corner kick, Bayswater Chinese executed a well-worked routine.

Vincent Kompany’s header at the far post went just over the bar.

Less than 20 minutes in, relentless attacks, three golden opportunities.

Then, in the 24th minute, Lewandowski’s power shot from near the penalty spot was brilliantly saved by Joe Hart.

Just four minutes later, a long pass from Javi Martínez was headed back across the middle by Gareth Bale from the left of the box. Lewandowski followed up with a sliding shot in front of goal.

A shot from seven meters out was somehow saved again by Joe Hart.

The subsequent corner was also cleared.

In the 34th minute, another corner opportunity.

Another tactical corner routine.

This time it was Kyle Walker with a sudden thunderous strike from outside the box.

Joe Hart heroically parried the ball away.

But just before the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

First, a cross from Kyle Walker on the right found Gareth Bale at the far post. His power shot from the left of the six-yard box was mishit and struck the side netting.

Then, in the 44th minute, Lewandowski, Kyle Walker, and Walcott combined on the right side of the penalty area with a series of slick, one-touch passes. The move ended with Lewandowski laying the ball back to Modrić on the right side of the arc.

The Croatian, completely unmarked, unleashed a power shot that struck the crossbar with a resounding crack.

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese had Manchester City pinned down.

Yet, somehow, the Blue Moons managed to hold on to a 0-0 scoreline.

And they were saved by the crossbar once.

Considering Barça had hit the woodwork three times against City in the Champions League on Wednesday…

What could Yang Cheng say?

“I’m starting to wonder if that Ancelotti kid is the protagonist of some flop football novel.”

Yang Cheng muttered, somewhat exasperated.

This couldn’t be called just luck anymore.

It was as if God himself was helping him!

This was classic author-given plot armor from a football novel!

The problem is, I’m the transmigrator! Shouldn’t I be the protagonist of this story?

…

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng affirmed the team’s performance in the first half.

From an overall perspective, Bayswater Chinese had played well.

Their attacks on Manchester City, their pressing in midfield, and their defense’s targeted marking of City’s forwards were all executed perfectly.

Manchester City didn’t get any clear-cut chances in the entire first half.

But it wasn’t enough.

“I said before the match that this would be a very difficult game.”

“It’s a test not just of our strength and form, but also of our mental fortitude, our resilience, and our hunger for the championship!”

“This is an all-encompassing test for us!”

In Yang Cheng’s plan, a draw in this match was actually an acceptable result.

But he wouldn’t reveal this thought to his players.

He kept telling his players that they had to win this match, they had to win!

Aim for the best, and you will achieve something substantial.

When Yang Cheng relentlessly demanded that everyone give their all to win the game, the final result was unlikely to be too bad.

This was reflected in the players’ morale during the halftime break.

As the second half began, Bayswater Chinese immediately launched another attack.

The most unbelievable moment occurred in the 60th minute.

It was another attack initiated from the team’s right flank.

After a combination play between Walcott and Kyle Walker, the ball was passed to Lewandowski.

The Pole controlled the ball on the right of the penalty spot, turned, and as he shot, the ball deflected off Giorgio Chiellini.

Kyle Walker burst into the right side of the box and unleashed another power shot, aiming for the far corner.

The quality of the shot was excellent, the angle was sharp, but it struck the left post once again.

“My God, this is absolutely incredible!”

“That’s the second time they’ve hit the woodwork in today’s match.”

“Just three days ago, when Manchester City played Barça at home, Barça hit the post three times, but it was always the right post.”

“And today, here at Wembley Stadium in London, Bayswater Chinese have hit the frame twice—once the crossbar, once the left post. They’ve even hit both side nets.”

“It’s settled then, the entire goal is helping Manchester City!”

The TV cameras cut to the sidelines.

In front of the home team’s dugout, Yang Cheng threw his arms open in helplessness, clearly at a loss for words to describe the situation.

Had Manchester City’s luck been too good recently?

“This is indeed a very demoralizing situation.”

“Looking at the whole game, Bayswater Chinese have certainly been the better team.”

“However, luck doesn’t seem to be on the home team’s side.”

“Five times hitting the woodwork in two games, Manchester City’s luck has been off the charts recently!”

Yang Cheng ran his hands through his hair in frustration, turned back to the dugout, took a sip of water, and then turned his attention back to the game.

“Get them to warm up in turns. We’ll start making substitutions soon,” Yang Cheng instructed.

Brian Kidd nodded and immediately arranged for someone to notify the players on the bench.

Making substitutions after the 60-minute mark, depending on the situation, was a strategy decided before the match.

Because in three days, they had to challenge Real Madrid at the Bernabéu in Madrid.

Although they had won the home leg 3-1, securing a significant advantage, no one could afford to be complacent against a team like Real Madrid.

Especially not in an away game.

“Our players are still too tired, not sharp enough, and our finishing has been poor,” Brian Kidd said, equally helpless.

Although they dominated the game, they couldn’t score, and their efficiency was low.

“Ancelotti seems to be deliberately using us to test his formation in this game. I guess they’ll want to continue with their defend and counter-attack strategy when they visit Camp Nou,” Yang Cheng speculated.

Brian Kidd nodded.

This wasn’t surprising.

For Manchester City, even if they went all out and won this match, whether they could win the title still depended on Bayswater Chinese’s results.

Only if Yang Cheng’s team repeatedly slipped up would Manchester City have a chance to come from behind.

Otherwise, City had no chance at all.

But if they could defeat Barça away in the second leg, they would advance to the final.

That would be Manchester City’s first-ever appearance in a Champions League final!

So, Ancelotti knew his priorities.

He played a defend and counter-attack style, partly to test his formation and partly to wait for opportunities.

As for Bayswater Chinese, their struggles in this game were purely self-inflicted.

The players were too fatigued, not sharp enough, and many chances they would normally convert were missed.

Or they hit the woodwork.

The margin was razor-thin, but it was precisely the difference caused by fluctuations in form.

There’s a saying that’s true: You can’t blame others for your own misfortune.

Yang Cheng would neither blame the opponent nor his players.

…

In the 65th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Eden Hazard for Gareth Bale.

In the 70th minute, De Bruyne replaced Modrić.

Both were like-for-like substitutions, made in preparation for the upcoming Champions League semi-final.

And according to Yang Cheng’s plan, in the 75th minute, Giroud was to come on for Lewandowski.

The French striker had already received his instructions from Yang Cheng and was standing on the sideline, ready to enter the pitch.

He was just waiting for a break in play.

But just then, Manchester City launched a quick counter-attack.

In City’s half, the ball was passed to Gareth Barry.

But at that moment, Kyle Walker, tracking back, suddenly charged from the side and behind.

The England right-back went straight into a physical challenge, using his left shoulder to barge into Barry, forcefully shouldering him off the ball and intercepting it.

Kyle Walker quickly passed it sideways to Javi Martínez.

Martínez, who had been rapidly retreating, stopped abruptly when he saw Walker win the ball and immediately passed it back to De Bruyne near the right touchline.

De Bruyne dribbled forward, reaching the right corner of Manchester City’s penalty area, and played a through ball.

Walcott made a quick run into the right side of the box. As he received the ball, he saw Jérôme Boateng sliding in. With a slight sidestep, he let the German slide into empty air.

The Little Tiger reached the byline on the right side of the six-yard box and sent in a cross, looking for Lewandowski.

The ball was blocked by Chiellini and rebounded back.

In the heat of the moment, Walcott quickly turned to chase the ball and struck it with his left foot.

The ball flew towards the goal.

But by now, Joe Hart was firmly positioned in front of the right post. Facing this shot aimed at the far corner, he crouched and used his hands to block the ball.

However, it was impossible for Hart to hold onto such a powerful shot.

After blocking it, Hart immediately readjusted his balance and dived sideways towards the loose ball in front of him.

The England international’s reaction speed was undeniably quick.

From blocking Walcott’s shot to making the second save, he had done everything to perfection.

Even in the subsequent dive, his body was fully stretched, his hands reaching out as far as possible, almost grasping the ball he had just parried.

But someone was slightly faster than him, getting a close-range toe-poke to send the ball into the net.

His shooting motion even slightly grazed Joe Hart’s hand, causing him to stumble a couple of steps, nearly falling over.

The ball bounced inside Manchester City’s goal line.

The head referee’s whistle blew, signaling a valid goal!

In that instant, the entire Wembley Stadium erupted in a thunderous roar.

All ninety thousand fans shot up from their seats, cheering wildly, chanting Robert Lewandowski’s name.

On the sideline, the moment Yang Cheng saw Lewandowski’s sudden goal, he excitedly rushed to the edge of the technical area and dropped to his knees, cheering with all his might.

…

One minute after Lewandowski’s goal, Yang Cheng substituted the Pole with Giroud.

Manchester City then began to make changes, looking to strengthen their attack.

But by then, the tide had turned.

Bayswater Chinese’s morale was boosted, and they were playing well. Meanwhile, Manchester City, having defended for 75 minutes, found it difficult to suddenly switch to an all-out attack.

In the end, neither side managed to score again.

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese had 30 shots, with only 7 on target.

Such shooting efficiency was genuinely embarrassing, even for Yang Cheng.

Was this the kind of efficiency a team known for its attacking football and goal-scoring prowess should display?

However, looking at Manchester City, with only 7 shots and 1 on target in the entire match, Ancelotti should have been more embarrassed.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese had also hit the woodwork twice.

So, at the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng stated that the 1-0 scoreline was effectively 3-0.

He had counted the two shots that hit the frame.

A barrage of attacks with no result, coupled with home team errors, usually meant conceding a goal to the opponent.

This was a losing pattern many fans were familiar with.

But in this match, Bayswater Chinese withstood the pressure in the second half and capitalized on a high press to score.

“If I say we just lacked a bit of luck, it might sound like a clichéd excuse.”

“But I believe anyone who watched the match won’t deny what I’m saying!”

Yang Cheng felt his players had been hard done by.

This should have been a comprehensive victory!

He believed that Manchester City’s recent luck had been off the charts.

Ancelotti, too, was complaining on behalf of his players.

The Manchester City head coach argued that it should have been a draw.

“We gave our all but didn’t get the reward we deserved!”

Ancelotti stated that Manchester City’s players had shown a satisfactory attitude in the match.

In the same round of fixtures, Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 win over Chelsea at home.

Wenger’s team defeated The Blues at home thanks to a 92nd-minute goal from Fàbregas.

Meanwhile, Manchester United drew 4-4 with Everton at home.

The match was an open affair, with the two sides creating a total of 41 shots.

Manchester United had at one point held a 3-1 lead, but Everton fought back to equalize.

Liverpool beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at home.

After 35 rounds, Bayswater Chinese stood at the top of the Premier League table with 93 points, from a record of 30 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.

The reason they had played one game less was that their 34th-round match conflicted with the FA Cup semi-final and was postponed.

Having beaten Chelsea at home, Arsenal leapfrogged Manchester City into second place with 87 points.

Manchester City was in third place with 86 points.

Manchester United was fourth with 82 points.

At this stage of the league, Bayswater Chinese had all but secured this season’s Premier League title. The chances of either Manchester City or Arsenal mounting a comeback were slim.

…

While the 35th round of the Premier League was in full swing, over in Spain, at Barcelona’s Camp Nou, the 35th round of La Liga was also hosting the much-anticipated El Clásico.

Mourinho’s Galácticos continued with their full-strength lineup away from home and, with goals from Sami Khedira and C. Ronaldo, defeated Barcelona 2-0.

Guardiola’s team suffered a complete defeat at home to Mourinho’s side at a critical moment in the La Liga title race.

Since the match was held in the evening, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff watched it live.

A key reason for Guardiola’s home defeat was that he had fallen back into his old habit.

At this crucial moment in the game, Guardiola adopted an incredibly bizarre 3-man defense.

What was even more baffling was that, if he was going to use a 3-man defense, he also rotated out midfielder Busquets and centre-back Piqué.

The starting lineup even featured players like Tello, Adriano, and Tiago.

Although Barça still dominated the game with their possession-based system, Real Madrid’s attack brutally punished Guardiola’s team away from home.

Clearly, at this critical juncture, Guardiola’s team repeatedly exposed their problems.

First was the lack of squad depth.

Many people criticized Yang Cheng’s squad for being small, previously 23 players and now increased to 25.

But they still felt it wasn’t enough.

However, compared to Guardiola’s Barça, Yang Cheng’s squad was quite decent.

They often finished an entire season with just 19 or even 21 players.

And now?

With such a packed schedule, rotation was impossible.

They had lost the first leg of the Champions League semi-final 0-1 away to Manchester City. They had to mount a comeback in the second leg, right?

To mount a comeback, players needed rest, right?

Without rest, what would the players have left to face Manchester City?

This match fully exposed the shortcomings of Barça’s squad.

But one thing was particularly strange.

Although Barça’s first team was small, their wage bill was very high.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with their upcoming matches.

The second problem exposed in this match was Barça’s ability to handle pressure.

Both the players and Guardiola clearly lacked the ability to cope under pressure.

This wasn’t the first time Guardiola had changed his formation mid-game in a crucial match.

Facing a Real Madrid team with a world-class winger like C. Ronaldo, and with Barça’s weak defense, Yang Cheng couldn’t fathom what Guardiola was thinking by using a 3-man backline.

Yang Cheng guessed that Guardiola’s mentality in this game was similar to Manchester City’s.

Even if they won, winning the league title still depended on their rivals’ results.

Instead of fighting for that, they would rather go all-out in the upcoming Champions League semi-final.

…

On the evening of April 24th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

The second leg of the Champions League semi-final: Bayswater Chinese away against Real Madrid.

From the very beginning, both teams adopted an open, attacking approach.

The two league leaders, who had just engaged in fierce battles with Barça and Manchester City over the weekend, now faced off in a fast-paced, bloody war at the Bernabéu Stadium.

And just 11 minutes into the game, Real Madrid won the ball in midfield and launched a counter-attack. Khedira passed to Mesut Özil in the final third.

After receiving the ball on the right, the German sent a diagonal pass with his left foot, perfectly finding C. Ronaldo on the left side of the penalty arc.

C. Ronaldo controlled the ball, beat Pepe, created a one-on-one chance, and calmly slotted the ball into the far corner with his right foot.

1-0!

The entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted into a sea of celebration!

C. Ronaldo, ecstatic, ran off the pitch and performed a knee slide in front of the fans.

Everyone in the stadium was chanting the Portuguese superstar’s name.

At the same time, many Real Madrid fans were taunting and cursing Yang Cheng.

As the most unpopular person at the Bernabéu, Yang Cheng hadn’t expected his team to be caught by a Real Madrid attack so early in the game.

The aggregate score changed from 3-1 to 3-2!

This gave Real Madrid hope!

But Yang Cheng didn’t panic. He stood on the sideline, constantly shouting at his players.

He urged them to stay calm, not to rush!

The goal also made the Real Madrid players smell a chance for a comeback.

So, after the restart, Real Madrid continued to press forward, wanting to capitalize on their momentum and level the score.

But Bayswater Chinese’s response was not to be underestimated.

Just two minutes after conceding, Marcelo pushed forward down the left flank, but his pass was intercepted.

However, Gareth Bale dropped back near the halfway line and tackled Mesut Özil, winning the ball before turning and surging forward himself.

Mesut Özil’s desperate pulling and tugging from behind couldn’t stop Gareth Bale’s sprinting dribble.

He charged to the edge of Real Madrid’s 30-meter zone and, facing Khedira, simply kicked the ball ahead of him. With a sudden burst of acceleration, he blazed through the gap between Khedira and Álvaro Arbeloa.

The Welshman’s speed exploded in that instant.

He was like a flash of red lightning, instantly penetrating Real Madrid’s midfield and defense, and reaching the left corner of their penalty area.

Bruno Alves rushed over, trying to block Gareth Bale.

But the Welshman used the same trick again, poking the ball towards the byline and then sweeping past him from outside the box, using his sheer pace to break through before crossing from near the byline.

This scene left everyone stunned!

No one had expected Gareth Bale to suddenly burst forward with the ball.

Even the Bayswater Chinese players were caught by surprise.

As a result, Lewandowski was still at the arc of the penalty area.

The cross fell to the far post, on the right side of the six-yard box.

On the right wing, Di María had shaken off Coentrão and made a high-speed run, getting there ahead of everyone else to slot the ball home with his left foot, a shot directed back across the goal.

Casillas dived desperately but couldn’t stop it.

The ball rustled into the left side of Real Madrid’s net.

1-1!

The entire stadium was in an uproar!

“Bayswater Chinese have equalized just two minutes later!”

“A goal from Di María!”

“In fact, the Argentinian doesn’t score many goals, but every one of them is crucial.”

“Yang Cheng once said that Di María has a big-game mentality and always loves to score in crucial moments!”

After scoring, Di María was also thrilled, running off the pitch to celebrate.

But he was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Bernabéu.

…

After successfully equalizing, both Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid continued to ramp up their attacks.

In the 16th minute, Marcelo first completed a one-two pass with Gareth Bale on the left before passing to Lewandowski, who was positioned on the left side of the arc.

After making the pass, Marcelo himself made a quick overlapping run, darting past Lewandowski.

When the Polish centre-forward turned to shoot, his attempt was blocked by Ramos.

But Lewandowski quickly followed up, getting to the loose ball before Bruno Alves and poking it behind the defensive line.

Marcelo easily slotted it home.

But the referee blew his whistle, signaling that the Brazilian left-back was offside.

Then, in the 24th minute, Toni Kroos, in the center of the pitch, in front of Xabi Alonso and Lassana Diarra, played a perfect through ball to the right side of the arc.

Lewandowski successfully turned inside the arc, received the ball, and dribbled into the penalty area.

Facing the onrushing Casillas, Lewandowski coolly slotted the ball into Real Madrid’s goal.

2-1!

The Polish centre-forward raised his arms in celebration and was joined by Toni Kroos.

For this goal, Toni Kroos’s through ball was key.

It was delivered so perfectly!

Lewandowski only needed to control, turn, and break into the box to shoot.

Therefore, the Polish striker celebrated the goal with Toni Kroos.

The Bernabéu fans on site unleashed a deafening chorus of boos.

But after Real Madrid restarted the game, the stadium once again erupted in thunderous applause.

Clearly, the Real Madrid fans were cheering on their home team.

But anyone could see that Lewandowski’s goal had practically killed the game.

A 2-1 reversal at home after a 3-1 loss away meant an aggregate score of 5-2. Real Madrid was trailing by three goals.

Even if they managed to score three more to make it 5-5 on aggregate, it wouldn’t be enough.

Because Bayswater Chinese had two away goals.

So, for Real Madrid to win this tie, they needed to score at least four goals.

Everyone knew how unlikely it was for Real Madrid to score four goals against Bayswater Chinese without conceding any themselves.

When the second goal was conceded in the 24th minute, Mourinho wasn’t overly agitated.

He was clearly mentally prepared for this situation.

He had been very excited when C. Ronaldo scored.

But after conceding two in reply, he seemed remarkably calm.

Perhaps, by going all out against Barça away last weekend, he had already prepared himself for a loss in the Champions League semi-final.

A 3-1 loss in the first leg away from home—if it were against any other team, Mourinho might still have put up a fight.

But this time, he was facing Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone had seen how outstanding Yang Cheng’s team had been this season.

In this situation, could Real Madrid really make a comeback?

Mourinho’s team got their answer in just 24 minutes!

After conceding two goals in 24 minutes, Mourinho’s choice was to start reinforcing his defense.

He didn’t want to concede any more goals.

His starting lineup, which included three holding midfielders in Lassana Diarra, Sami Khedira, and Xabi Alonso, already showed his defensive inclination.

The initial all-out attack was just an attempt to catch Bayswater Chinese off guard while they were still settling into the away game.

It proved effective, and they even scored a goal.

It was just that the Real Madrid players were a bit too greedy and didn’t know when to quit while they were ahead, trying to score another.

Once Bayswater Chinese reacted, they scored two in quick succession, turning the game around.

In just 24 minutes, Real Madrid’s fate was sealed!

…

If the first half-hour was a spectacular display of attacking football from both sides, then the remaining hour, including the entire second half, was rather lackluster.

Real Madrid had lost confidence.

For them, the game was already lost when Lewandowski scored the second goal.

The only reason they continued playing was the seventy thousand plus Real Madrid fans who had come to the Bernabéu.

But it was clear they were now playing with the handbrake on.

For the current Real Madrid, instead of going all out for a comeback that was almost impossible, it was better to conserve energy for the upcoming league matches.

And for Bayswater Chinese, as long as they could advance smoothly, a 2-1 away score was more than enough.

The three-goal lead gave Yang Cheng and his players a sense of security.

Thus, the game just petered out.

The only highlight of the second half was after Eden Hazard came on as a substitute. He received the ball on the left, dribbled past four Real Madrid defenders, played a give-and-go with Giroud, broke into the box, and shot.

But the ball was saved by Casillas.

There were two instances of dribbling past four players in this match.

Gareth Bale’s in the first half relied on his explosive power and astonishing speed.

Hazard’s in the second half was thanks to his nimble changes of pace and direction, and his superb dribbling skills.

After nearly three years under Yang Cheng’s guidance, Hazard had gradually matured and earned the nickname of the “Premier League’s Messi.”

And his individual ability was on full display in this dribble past four players.

This even caused Zidane, who was watching the game from the stands at the Bernabéu, to jump to his feet in excitement.

“Eden Hazard!”

Zidane pointed to the Bayswater Chinese player on the pitch and said to Florentino Pérez.

“He is a genius! We should sign him!”

“At all costs!”

Chapter 249: Clinching the Title Early! Barça, Your Benefactor is Here! Please, Fight for Chelsea!

The match at the Bernabéu ended in a 2-1 comeback victory for the Bayswater Chinese.

With an aggregate score of 5-2, the Bayswater Chinese eliminated Real Madrid and advanced smoothly to the Champions League final.

This was the first time Yang Cheng’s team had reached the final since winning the Treble in 2009!

The moment the final whistle blew, the entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted in a storm of boos.

They were filled with resentment for Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese!

Over the past few years, every visit from this Premier League team to the Bernabéu had brought them painful memories.

This time, they had directly knocked Real Madrid out at the gates of the Champions League final.

If, in the past, Real Madrid fans could lose on the pitch yet still proudly declare, “We, Real Madrid, are still one of the top giants in world football!”

Then this time, the situation was different.

Before the match, the media had repeatedly hyped it up.

This season, Real Madrid’s revenue would be surpassed by the Bayswater Chinese.

They had fallen behind in revenue and lost on the pitch.

What source of pride did Real Madrid have left to show in front of the Bayswater Chinese?

But whether it was the more than seventy thousand Real Madrid fans in the stands or the viewers watching on television, everyone could see it.

Mourinho’s team had truly given it their all.

But in terms of strength, they were simply not on the same level as the Bayswater Chinese.

To put it more charitably, Real Madrid had exhausted themselves in the El Clásico match three days earlier, which left the team unable to withstand the tidal wave of attacks from the Bayswater Chinese in this match.

Amidst the sky-full of boos, a short-haired Mourinho walked over to the visiting team’s dugout and shook hands with Yang Cheng.

“Congratulations on reaching the final!”

Mourinho might seem arrogant, but in reality, that was all an act for the public.

In private, the Portuguese was not that kind of person.

His “Special One” persona was more of a coaching strategy, always employed with a purpose.

Of course, sometimes it backfired.

“Congratulations to you too, La Liga is basically in the bag!” Yang Cheng said with a smile as they shook hands.

Mourinho gave a faint smile. “But whether it’s me or Real Madrid, we’d still prefer to win the Champions League.”

“Then why did you still go all out in El Clásico?”

Mourinho just smiled, not answering.

If it weren’t for the 1-3 loss in the first leg away from home, he might have held back in El Clásico.

But after conceding that third goal in the first leg, he already knew the tide had turned against them.

At that point, if he still took a gamble, he would very likely end up empty-handed.

“Your team is strong and in great shape right now. Having reached the final, you’re the clear favorites, regardless of whether you face Barça or Manchester City.”

Mourinho’s tone was filled with envy as he said this.

Yang Cheng didn’t deny it but changed the subject. “You still managed to limit Džeko to some extent. He wasn’t able to pose his greatest threat.”

At this, Mourinho’s expression soured slightly.

He knew Džeko had once been Yang Cheng’s prized player.

Yang Cheng had once said that Džeko was the most dangerous centre-forward and goalscorer in European football.

But since coming to Real Madrid, Džeko had indeed failed to perform to his full potential.

“Our two teams have many differences, and our philosophies are different as well,” Mourinho could only say.

He had known many of these things before he decided to coach Real Madrid.

The so-called El Clásico, the so-called two titans of his generation, were ultimately just hyped-up concepts.

The overall state of La Liga was currently worse than the Premier League’s—worse in revenue, in prospects, and in business operations.

It was even far less attractive to foreign capital than the Premier League.

Under these circumstances, as the standard-bearers of La Liga, Real Madrid and Barça naturally had to shoulder more responsibility.

As the superstars of La Liga, Messi and C. Ronaldo were also carefully crafted personas.

Take this season’s Champions League semi-finals, for instance.

The kind of tactical freedom C. Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Messi at Barça enjoyed—could you find that at the Bayswater Chinese or Manchester City?

Who possessed that kind of tactical authority?

Gareth Bale was a big star at the Bayswater Chinese, wasn’t he?

The Welshman diligently tracked back into his own half, even his own penalty area, in every single match.

Robert Lewandowski scored more than enough goals, right?

He still had to participate in the high press and actively create chances for his teammates.

But for C. Ronaldo at Real Madrid and Messi at Barça, the only thing they needed to do was attack!

Or perhaps it should be said that no matter who coached Real Madrid or Barça, they had to build their tactics around those two, to maximize their threat and abilities.

Some might think, isn’t that normal?

With their talent and ability, of course you should do that!

But one point must be noted: maximizing their threat and abilities to make them perform better on the pitch does not necessarily mean it’s best for the team as a whole.

Just as Yang Cheng had said, Džeko’s role was limited.

Of course it was!

Because his most important task now wasn’t scoring or attacking at all; it was to create chances for C. Ronaldo, to act as the team’s tactical fulcrum up front.

This situation had actually occurred once before when C. Ronaldo was at Manchester United.

In the 2007/08 season!

At that time, C. Ronaldo was scoring goals for fun, reaching a personal career peak, but everyone felt his tactical impact was actually less than in the 2006/07 season.

Almost everyone in the industry believed that Ferguson’s tactics at the time had gone astray.

To bring it closer to home, the Bayswater Chinese’s front three was formidable enough, right?

But if Yang Cheng were to devote the entire team’s efforts to building around one of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, or Theo Walcott, their individual performances would be many times more brilliant than they are now.

But the overall dominance of the Bayswater Chinese would not be as stable as it is at present.

The individual and the collective are sometimes in conflict.

Real Madrid and Barça, driven by commercial interests, tend to build around individuals. This is a long-standing issue.

For example, the first era of the Galácticos was packed with superstars, but their results were shaky. Wasn’t this the reason?

Mourinho didn’t say it, but Yang Cheng could sense his bellyful of frustrations.

Coaching a giant club is never an easy task.

And it’s difficult to speak of it to outsiders.

That’s professional ethics!

He had experienced it many times in his previous life, so he understood.

“Don’t you worry, José. There’s no shame in losing to this season’s Champions League winners!” Yang Cheng said, deliberately joking.

Mourinho knew what he was getting at. He smiled and extended his hand again, shaking Yang Cheng’s.

“What we lack most right now is a right winger. I really like Di María!”

Yang Cheng’s smile instantly vanished, and he nearly cursed out loud.

Are you fucking trying to poach my player?

You, a defeated general, you think you have what it takes?

Mourinho had achieved his goal of deliberately irking Yang Cheng. He walked away with a grin.

But his liking for Di María was not a lie in the slightest.

The reason was actually very simple. Di María possessed outstanding dribbling and assisting ability, and he was also incredibly fast.

Most importantly, his ability to link up with teammates was excellent; he was a top-tier supporting player.

For a Real Madrid that needed to build its tactics around C. Ronaldo, Di María was undoubtedly the most suitable choice.

Gareth Bale was also good, but he was clearly untouchable.

As for Eden Hazard, Mourinho had never been a fan of such flair players.

Never.

…

The Bayswater Chinese advanced to the Champions League final with a 2-1 away win and a 5-2 aggregate score!

This news spread like wildfire across the globe, sparking countless media reports and heated discussions among fans.

This was the Bayswater Chinese’s return to the Champions League final after a three-year absence.

Combined with their outstanding performance this season, almost all media outlets believed that whether their opponent was Manchester City or Barça, the Bayswater Chinese were the undisputed top favorites!

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng opened up for the first time.

“Although I know it will be difficult, I believe that as long as we all work together and deliver our best performance in the final, we have the ability to win this season’s Champions League!”

But Yang Cheng also revealed that it was too early to talk about such things.

They were in the FA Cup final, had theoretically secured the Premier League title, and now had reached the Champions League final…

“I’ll say it again: the most important thing for us right now is to play every single match well!”

The British media, meanwhile, sang high praises for the Bayswater Chinese.

Many British media outlets were even hoping that Ancelotti’s team could defeat Barça at Camp Nou and meet the Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League final.

But on the day after the battle at the Bernabéu, at Camp Nou, Manchester City faced a Barça side still playing with three at the back. City lost control from the very beginning, finding themselves on the receiving end of a beating.

Ancelotti was clearly mentally prepared for such an outcome.

Manchester City stuck to their tactic of defending with all their might, ceding the possession rate and retreating with their entire line.

And for a long period at the start, the Blue Moons’ luck was quite good.

First, after Messi dribbled past several players, he played a wonderful pass to Pedro, whose shot hit the side netting.

Next was a one-on-one for Messi, which was saved by Joe Hart. Iniesta’s follow-up shot was cleared near the goal line by Giorgio Chiellini and Jérôme Boateng.

But in first-half stoppage time, Messi went on a continuous dribble before delivering a very deadly through ball.

Iniesta received the ball near the penalty spot for a one-on-one and slotted it home.

1-0!

After the break, just four minutes into the second half, Messi received the ball on the right side just outside the box, dribbled into the right side of the penalty area, and fired a shot that found the net, extending the lead.

2-0!

Aggregate score: 2-1!

If Manchester City were the darlings of fortune in the first leg, then at Camp Nou, the gap between the Blue Moons and Barça became apparent.

Pep Guardiola’s possession-based system was still in a class of its own!

After having the aggregate score overturned, Ancelotti was backed into a corner.

Manchester City made consecutive substitutions, starting to strengthen their attack up front.

In the 64th minute, Kaká’s dribbling and long shot in the attacking third created a corner kick opportunity.

Pirlo’s corner was delivered precisely to the center of the penalty area.

Yaya Touré, at the near post just outside the six-yard box, headed the ball into Barça’s goal.

The Ivorian was so excited he ran off the pitch, celebrating with wild abandon.

1-2!

Aggregate score: 2-2!

But crucially, Manchester City had secured a precious away goal!

The state of the match turned on its head.

Barça began to make substitutions to strengthen their attack.

Ancelotti, on the other hand, reverted to a defensive posture.

But in the 77th minute, Ancelotti paid the price for his conservatism.

Jérôme Boateng, having been beaten by David Villa and being the last man, committed a foul and was shown a straight red card by the head referee.

It was an indisputable tactical foul.

And just in the 83rd minute, Xavi played a brilliant pass, and Messi, from 18 meters out on the right, suddenly unleashed a long shot. The result? It hit the right post again!

It was the fourth time in the two legs.

And it was always the right post!

Everyone felt that the match was as good as over.

With luck this good, the away goal advantage, and being good at defending, how could they possibly lose?

Pep Guardiola went for broke.

Dani Alves, Adriano, and others were brought on as substitutes.

With a man down, Manchester City retreated completely.

Barça laid siege, constantly threatening City’s goal, but they could never find a good solution.

Towards the end of the match, even the forwards like Agüero and Carlos Tevez dropped back to defend.

And in the 92nd minute, when Messi received the ball up front, he suddenly accelerated, shaking off Gareth Barry, and dribbled into the right side of the penalty area, then sliced through the gap between Giorgio Chiellini and Leighton Baines.

After beating three defenders, the Argentinian charged towards the edge of the six-yard box and was brought down by the onrushing goalkeeper, Joe Hart.

The head referee immediately blew his whistle and awarded a penalty kick!

At the same time, he gave Joe Hart a yellow card.

This was Barça’s very last chance.

Messi had just hit the right post, and in the first leg, Barça had hit the right post multiple times.

Therefore, in his gamble against Messi, Joe Hart unhesitatingly chose to dive to the left side of the goal.

But to his utter surprise, Messi smashed a power shot towards the right.

The quality of this shot wasn’t high; it even hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing into Manchester City’s goal.

This showed just how much pressure Messi was under.

Even his kicking leg was trembling.

But in the end, the ball went into the net.

The entire Camp Nou was cheering for Messi.

3-1!

Aggregate score: 3-2!

In the final moments of the game, Barça, thanks to a penalty from Messi, successfully eliminated Manchester City!

…

When the match at Camp Nou ended, media and fans all over the world started debating.

Everyone had a different opinion about the last-minute penalty.

The main reason was that Sky Sports replays from multiple camera angles couldn’t provide clear evidence of whether Joe Hart had touched Messi.

If he hadn’t, it would have been a very successful save, not a penalty.

Of course, due to the camera angles, there was no direct evidence to prove that Joe Hart hadn’t touched him either.

This was the point of controversy.

Many believed that Joe Hart hadn’t touched Messi at all, that the Argentinian had dived, and it shouldn’t have been a penalty.

But others argued, Messi was already one-on-one, why would he dive at that moment?

In short, opinions were divided, with each side having its own argument.

Barça ultimately eliminated Manchester City with an aggregate score of 3-2 to advance to the Champions League final.

For the Bayswater Chinese, whether it was a penalty or not was now meaningless.

The official result of the match would not change.

At most, one could jokingly say: Barça, your benefactor is here!

What Yang Cheng saw were the problems exposed in Manchester City’s team.

In their backline, Lúcio was already 34 years old.

When the Brazilian centre-back was younger, he relied on his formidable physique to crush his competitors.

But now, with age, he was gradually losing his starting position.

This season, he had even begun to be replaced by Jérôme Boateng.

Savić was also frequently used by Ancelotti.

But whether it was Boateng or Savić, Manchester City’s defense was ultimately not stable enough.

For example, at Camp Nou, Boateng had received a red card.

Manchester City’s squad was indeed very strong, but the problems in their defense were something the Bayswater Chinese needed to pay attention to.

As for facing Barça in the Champions League final, Yang Cheng specifically called a meeting with the coaching staff to discuss the matter.

Lately, Pep Guardiola seemed to have a screw loose, persistently using a 3-4-3 formation.

But the question was, would he dare to play like that against the Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League final?

One had to remember, the Bayswater Chinese possessed the most powerful wing attacks in the world.

On this point, it was quite hard to guess.

“The reason Barça is using a back three is certainly related to Guardiola’s own tactical philosophy, but it’s also partly due to Abidal’s absence,” Brian Kidd analyzed.

The French left-back had always been a player Guardiola trusted immensely, and his defending was always reassuring.

Adriano, on the other hand, had decent attacking ability but often had problems in defense.

But due to his liver cancer, Abidal would definitely not be able to play again this season.

That’s why Guardiola was repeatedly trying new tactics, even using a 3-4-3 formation.

Because with that setup, full-backs were no longer as important.

In a 3-4-3, the back three often consisted of Puyol, Piqué, and Dani Alves.

Players like Montoya and Fontàs would also occasionally come on as substitutes.

A key reason why Barça could maintain a back three was their super-strong possession ability.

Just like in the two matches against Manchester City, their possession rate was around 80 percent. The opponents simply couldn’t get more time on the ball, making it naturally difficult for them to create threatening attacks.

As long as they could ensure an effective counter-press immediately after losing the ball in the midfield and attack, Barça’s back three wasn’t actually a huge problem.

“I, for one, think they won’t continue with the back-three formation. We’re not Manchester City, and we’re certainly not any other team.”

“When Barça played Arsenal in the quarter-finals, they didn’t dare use a back-three formation.”

Gianni Vio, the head of the technical analysis department, offered a different opinion.

And he backed it up with a good deal of data.

Although the Italian wasn’t a former professional player, he was a product of the formal Italian coaching education system and a bona fide set-piece master.

But in recent years, he had also become a data analysis expert who had risen to fame.

And at his core, he possessed an Italian’s deep analytical ability for football tactics.

It was a gene that ran in the blood of Italian football people.

Both viewpoints were actually quite reasonable, and so each had plenty of supporters.

Even Yang Cheng felt that, given Guardiola’s unpredictability, no one could be sure what tactics he would employ.

What if he had a brain fart, just like in his previous life?

The way that guy’s brain was wired was a bit different from a normal person’s.

So, Yang Cheng began to assign tasks.

There were still over twenty days until the Champions League final.

Next, Yang Cheng instructed the scouting team to station people in Barcelona to closely monitor their every move.

On the battlefield, intelligence is always the most important thing!

From then on, the team’s training and the players’ conditioning would revolve around two very important matches.

The FA Cup final on May 5th against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

And the Champions League final on May 19th against Barcelona at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

With two weeks between the two matches, it was enough time for the Bayswater Chinese to prepare and adjust.

It could be said that after surviving the most difficult stretch of five consecutive clashes between top teams, the path to the Treble for the Bayswater Chinese had suddenly become wide open.

Yang Cheng and everyone present also grew more confident.

“But I want to emphasize once again, it is precisely in this kind of situation that we must be even more meticulous with the details and keep our feet firmly on the ground!”

Yang Cheng rapped his right hand hard on the oval conference table, reminding everyone to be vigilant.

“I hope that every single one of you, in every task you perform each day from now on, will see it through to completion and strive for perfection!”

Everyone present had been personally nurtured or recruited by Yang Cheng.

They had worked together for years.

In terms of ability, Yang Cheng had no doubt about them.

What remained was to manage their attitude and work ethic!

…

As the smoke of the Champions League semi-finals gradually cleared, the league once again entered the spotlight for all media and fans.

Although the Bayswater Chinese had already secured a crucial victory against Manchester City, extending their lead to six points, they hadn’t actually won the league title yet.

So, the public was still very interested in the upcoming Premier League matches.

Also drawing attention was the Premier League relegation battle.

In the presidential suite of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, south of Hyde Park in London, the American real estate tycoon Stephen Ross was in a particularly foul mood because of the Premier League relegation situation.

He had arrived in London a month ago and had been staying ever since.

For a man as busy as him, an important reason for being willing to manage his company in the United States remotely while living in London for an extended period was to oversee his team, Queens Park Rangers.

He hoped the team could succeed in avoiding relegation.

But the current situation was very grim.

In front of him, several newspapers were scattered messily.

When they analyzed this season’s Premier League relegation battle, they all invariably mentioned the one thing Stephen Ross least wanted to see.

Queens Park Rangers were the favorites to be relegated!

Currently, Queens Park Rangers had played 35 Premier League matches, earning 28 points, and were ranked 20th.

Yes, bottom of the table team!

But there was still a sliver of hope!

19th-placed Blackburn Rovers had 31 points, 18th-placed Bolton had 33, and 17th-placed Wigan Athletic and 16th-placed Aston Villa both had 34.

And none of these teams were in good form.

With three rounds left in the Premier League, making up a six-point deficit wasn’t entirely impossible.

Stephen Ross had personally come to London a month ago to oversee the team. He was even pushed to the point of offering a huge bonus for avoiding relegation, hoping to motivate the team, and the effect was good.

In their last three matches, Queens Park Rangers had beaten Swansea City 3-0 at home, lost 0-1 away to West Bromwich Albion, and beaten Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home.

If it weren’t for those two recent victories, Queens Park Rangers wouldn’t even have 28 points.

This proved that the relegation bonus was effective.

But the most disadvantageous thing for Queens Park Rangers was their schedule.

Matchday 36 was away at Chelsea, followed by a home game against Stoke City, and the final round was away at Manchester City.

This was absolutely lethal!

So, today, Stephen Ross decided to increase the incentives for the team.

He had to do it!

Because if Queens Park Rangers were relegated from the Premier League, this summer’s World Football Challenge would inevitably be greatly affected.

Wouldn’t his previous investment and promotion of over ten million dollars have gone down the drain?

More importantly, was the 130 million pound sterling he invested in Queens Park Rangers also going to be wasted?

Stephen Ross was very rich, but not that rich!

After Matt Higgins, Charlie Stillitano, and Daniel Sillman arrived at his suite, Stephen Ross announced his decision.

“In addition to the existing pre-season incentive system and the previously added relegation bonus, I have decided to add a bonus for every point won in each match. As long as points are earned, the reward will be given on the spot!”

“One league point will be rewarded with two million pound sterling!”

Matt Higgins and the others were stunned.

That was a very generous incentive.

If they could really pull off an upset and win three consecutive games, earning nine points, that would be eighteen million pound sterling.

Combined with the relegation bonus and the season’s incentive system, the amount the players could receive would be an astronomical figure.

This was probably the most handsome relegation bonus in the history of the Premier League!

Of course, when divided among the players, the amount each person would receive wouldn’t be quite so much.

But for a relegation team, it was still quite substantial!

“I’ve spoken with many people, and their initial judgment is that to avoid relegation this season, we need at least 36 points!”

“We have no way out!”

Stephen Ross rapped on the table and said in a low voice.

This meant they had to win all of the next three matches.

This was a truly difficult challenge.

It was precisely because it was so difficult that the outside world was so pessimistic about Queens Park Rangers.

The three Queens Park Rangers executives present all fell silent.

At the start of the season, they had arrived in the Premier League with high spirits, vowing to challenge the Bayswater Chinese.

But now, the Bayswater Chinese were fighting for the Treble.

Queens Park Rangers, however, were fighting for survival.

The feeling was simply beyond words.

But they all shared a common thought.

Back then, which bastard said the Premier League was easy?

Step forward!

I’ll fucking kill him!

…

On the afternoon of April 28th, in the 36th round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese played Swansea City away.

Rodgers’ team had performed well in the Premier League this season.

As a newly promoted team, they had consistently ranked in the lower half of the middle of the table.

This was a very good report card.

Moreover, their results had always been quite good, and they played relatively attractive football.

Their 4-2-3-1 formation was also very much in line with the current trend.

In their home game against the Bayswater Chinese, Swansea’s defense held for 28 minutes.

Then, Hazard provided a brilliant assist, helping Giroud toe-poke the ball into the net from close range.

1-0!

Yang Cheng’s team did not field all their key players, instead opting for a major squad rotation.

This was because the team had just finished a grueling series of matches against top opponents, and their results had been outstanding, earning unanimous praise from the media and fans.

It was only logical to rotate the squad heavily for this match.

But even so, they were still more than Swansea could handle.

In the 31st minute, Swansea scored through centre-forward Danny Graham, successfully equalizing.

But in the 33rd minute, Hazard provided another assist, and Walcott’s goal put them back in the lead.

2-1!

After halftime, in the 54th minute, a goal from Aaron Ramsey helped the Bayswater Chinese further extend their lead.

3-1!

In the 59th minute, with an assist from Giroud, Walcott scored another goal, completing his brace.

4-1!

After that, Yang Cheng made successive substitutions, bringing on youngsters like Harry Kane, Pogba, and Sterling.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Swansea 4-1 away from home.

It is worth mentioning that this was the 9th league goal the Bayswater Chinese had conceded this season.

Courtois’ current clean sheet record stood at 26 matches.

This was because the Bayswater Chinese still had one game in hand.

…

Perhaps because the league title race had lost its suspense, many teams began to slack off.

Wenger’s Arsenal were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw away at Stoke City in this round.

The Gunners had performed quite well this season, but with the title out of reach and a top-four spot secure, Wenger’s team was clearly a bit deflated.

But Manchester City, in their home game this round, defeated Manchester United 1-0, thanks to a goal from Jérôme Boateng.

Boateng had received a red card against Barça and had been heavily criticized.

But this time, at a crucial moment, he stepped up and helped the Blue Moons win the local derby.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated Norwich 3-0 away, with a hat-trick from Suárez.

Also scoring a hat-trick was Chelsea’s Eto’o.

Chelsea’s match against Queens Park Rangers was billed by the media as a West London derby.

It couldn’t be helped; there were now four teams in West London, so every match was a derby.

Moreover, before the match, the British media revealed that the American owner of Queens Park Rangers had dipped into his own pocket to promise a massive bonus.

It was said that if the team successfully avoided relegation, the bonus would reach a staggering 30 million pound sterling.

So, Queens Park Rangers fought for their lives.

But it was no use; the gap in quality was just too great.

Chelsea scored just one minute into the game.

Another goal came in the 13th minute.

In the 19th and 25th minutes, Eto’o scored twice.

How could they even play this game?

In the second half, Chelsea scored two more goals.

Queens Park Rangers only managed to pull one back through Cissé in the final moments of the game, saving some face.

But the crushing 1-6 defeat turned Queens Park Rangers’ hopes of survival into a pipe dream!

After the match at Stamford Bridge, some British media reported that the owner of Queens Park Rangers, the American real estate tycoon Stephen Ross, didn’t even wait for the game to finish. He had already left the stadium when the score was 4-0 at halftime.

Not only that, after leaving Stamford Bridge, he booked the next available flight back to New York.

He didn’t even meet with the Queens Park Rangers players or management again.

“On the market for half a year with no takers, spent over 30 million pound sterling in the winter transfer window, yet still failed to avoid relegation. Stephen Ross has lost at least over a hundred million pound sterling this year.”

What was worse, this was only the beginning.

The attendance rate at Loftus Road Stadium this season had reached 17,000, and the matchday revenue for the season was around 15 million pound sterling.

Queens Park Rangers could afford their current squad entirely due to the Premier League’s broadcast rights revenue sharing.

If they were relegated from the Premier League, although they would be protected by the parachute payment policy, the disintegration of the squad would be unavoidable.

Home attendance would inevitably plummet, and matchday income would also collapse.

At that time, Queens Park Rangers’ financial situation would be even worse than it was now.

If Stephen Ross was unwilling to inject more capital, Queens Park Rangers might even face bankruptcy.

By then, forget the Championship, they might not even be able to hold on to their League One status.

The fates of teams like Southampton and Leeds United were a cautionary tale for Queens Park Rangers.

…

After the 36th round of the Premier League, the midweek brought the rescheduled match for the 34th round.

The match had been postponed due to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Away from home, Yang Cheng’s team secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Sunderland, thanks to a goal from Robert Lewandowski in the 20th minute.

Chelsea, on the other hand, lost 0-2 at home to Newcastle.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Bolton 4-1 away.

Liverpool lost 0-1 at home to Fulham.

After this round of matches, the Bayswater Chinese had clinched this season’s Premier League title early.

The media and fans outside were exceptionally excited and thrilled, showering the Bayswater Chinese with overwhelming praise.

But this time, Yang Cheng and the team did not celebrate with great fanfare.

After the away game, Yang Cheng only allowed the players a brief celebration in the dressing room, after which everything returned to normal.

“We still have the FA Cup final and the Champions League final to play!”

“Those are our two most important matches coming up!”

Yang Cheng laid down his requirements for the players.

Everyone had to heighten their vigilance and not become complacent or lower their standards just because they had won the league.

Yang Cheng even warned everyone very seriously that in these two finals, anyone not in good form could forget about playing!

Everyone could also see that the reason Chelsea lost 0-2 at home to Newcastle in this match was because Di Matteo had already given up on the game.

The reason was simple: Chelsea had no chance of getting back into the top four.

What was the point of continuing to fight in this league match?

The Daily Mail revealed that the Blues’ current target was the Double champion.

Don’t misunderstand.

These two trophies were the FA Cup and the Europa League.

Di Matteo’s team had eliminated Athletic Bilbao of La Liga in the semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate score, successfully reaching the Europa League final.

Their opponent in the final was Atlético Madrid, also from La Liga.

The Champions League final was the Bayswater Chinese against Barça.

The Europa League final was Chelsea against Atlético Madrid.

Another showdown between the Premier League and La Liga!

The Daily Mail revealed that the Chelsea management had made it very clear to Di Matteo that if he could lead the team to win the Double, he would be allowed to stay on as head coach.

…

Thursday, May 3rd.

There were 52 hours until the FA Cup final kickoff.

After the morning training session, before lunch, Di Matteo convened a pre-match motivational meeting for the first team players in the conference room at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.

As the name suggests, it was to rally the troops for the upcoming FA Cup final.

“For all of us Chelsea players, this season was destined to be a turbulent one!”

Di Matteo began with this opening line.

“We’ve experienced chaotic upheaval. Many people lost something, but quickly got it back.”

“Some players have been mired in contract disputes and troubles all season and may leave after it ends.”

“And some people… they’ve already left.”

This season, Di Matteo had first served as an assistant coach to André Villas-Boas before being promoted to Chelsea’s head coach mid-season. Therefore, he was well aware of everything that had happened at Chelsea this season.

As an observer, he even understood why these problems had occurred.

It was just that there were many things he couldn’t say out loud.

Because some things were not meant for public consumption!

If left unsaid, everyone knew what was up; if said, things could blow up!

“I have never felt that our quality is worse than the teams above us, including the Bayswater Chinese!”

“I have also never felt that 30, or even 34, is that old of an age.”

“And I certainly don’t feel that anyone here is redundant, that this team doesn’t need you.”

“No!”

“Not a single one!”

“Every one of you is a creator and a witness to Chelsea’s glory. You’ve witnessed this team transform from an ordinary club into a top-tier giant. You have shaped the style and soul of this Chelsea!”

Di Matteo became quite emotional as he spoke.

He hoped to use this method to appeal to and mobilize the players’ inner motivation.

For this group of players, only by unleashing their initiative could they possibly play well and defeat the Bayswater Chinese.

And the words he spoke were precisely what this group of players wanted to hear and believed in.

“Many people say that I am just a temporary, expendable figure.”

Di Matteo shook his head with a wry smile. “Maybe. Who knows?”

“But what I want to say is, even if that’s the case, even if I have to leave Chelsea after this season, it doesn’t matter!”

“What’s important is that as long as I am still sitting in this position, I will do everything in my power to help you, to help our team, to defeat all our opponents!”

“To win all the matches we should win, including the championship!”

Di Matteo slowly walked to the middle of the conference room, into the midst of the Chelsea players.

Every single one of them heard Di Matteo’s speech, and every one of them felt inspired.

Perhaps Chelsea had indeed performed very poorly this season.

But at least after the change in coach, the Blues’ performance had improved significantly.

Di Matteo had also proven his coaching ability through a series of knockout stages and important matches.

He was a very capable head coach!

Perhaps not world-class, but at the very least, he was not bad.

Many people outside were saying that Chelsea was trying to lure Barça head coach Pep Guardiola with an unprecedentedly huge annual salary.

At that time, Di Matteo would either revert to his assistant coach role or leave Chelsea.

But none of that had anything to do with the upcoming match!

Di Matteo hoped to leave behind as many wonderful memories as possible for his coaching career, for Chelsea, and for all the players present before he left.

This might be the last chance in his coaching career!

“Over the past few months, I have often communicated with you all. I have repeatedly asked you a question, the question I’ve asked the most: what is still preventing you from giving your all for our team?”

“Now, I bring this question up again, asking all of you present.”

“I hope you can speak freely with me. we still have 52 hours to solve these problems.”

“Of course, perhaps there are some problems I cannot completely solve, but I promise I will do my utmost to help you.”

“If we want to win this weekend’s battle at Wembley, we need every single one of you here to give one hundred percent of your focus and effort!”

“Because our opponent is the Bayswater Chinese!”

“A powerful enemy that you, me, and everyone at Chelsea longs to defeat!”

“I believe that when there is nothing left to stop you from giving your all, that’s when we are at our strongest, and when we have the best chance to beat the Bayswater Chinese!”

No one in the room answered.

But a look of determination was reflected in everyone’s eyes!

Just as Roman Abramovich’s personal advisor, Piet de Visser, had said before.

As long as the head coach was changed, no matter who it was, the Chelsea players would have no more reason not to give their all for the team!

That was the fundamental reason for the coaching change!

And now, Di Matteo’s question, these words, were equivalent to asking the players.

The person you hated the most, the one who brought chaos and turmoil to the dressing room, is gone.

What reason do you have left not to give your all for this team?

If you have one, please say it.

Otherwise, please give it everything you’ve got and fight for Chelsea!

…

No outsider knew what happened at the Cobham training ground.

But everyone could feel a change in the Chelsea players.

For example, according to reports from accompanying journalists, the Chelsea players were noticeably more passionate in training.

When being interviewed by the media after training, everyone at Chelsea clearly appeared more hungry.

Even facing a strong team like the Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup final, the Chelsea players dared to issue provocations and even very confidently stated that the team would defeat their West London arch-rival at Wembley Stadium.

Captain Terry stated clearly: “For me, this is the most important final!”

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of lifting the FA Cup.”

“For all Englishmen, the FA Cup is an honor you never get tired of!”

Lampard also attached great importance to the FA Cup final.

“The FA Cup final is a game you always want to win, even more important than the Champions League.”

“This is the special meaning the FA Cup holds for the English people!”

Drogba’s contract renewal negotiations with Chelsea had currently broken down.

The main point of contention was that earlier in the season, Chelsea had refused to renew Drogba’s contract, stating clearly that they could not meet the Ivorian’s demand for a two-year contract without a pay cut.

But as Drogba’s performance improved and his form got better, Chelsea’s stance clearly softened.

Now, Chelsea was willing to offer Drogba a one-year contract, but his weekly wage would have to be reduced to 100,000 pound sterling.

Drogba had previously stated publicly in the media that this was an insult to him!

Chelsea also made it clear that they would not back down.

Therefore, the negotiations broke down.

But this time, Drogba still stated, “This might be the last FA Cup final I play for Chelsea. I hope to score in the game and win the final trophy!”

“My teammates and I are ready!”

Chapter 250: The Perfect Partnership! Defending the FA Cup! That Soulful Outside-of-the-Boot Pass

On the evening of May 12th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

The 2011/12 FA Cup Final: Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

As England’s most influential traditional cup competition, the FA Cup has always carried immense prestige.

This season’s final was particularly special as it featured a West London derby.

This not only sent the entire city of London into a frenzy but also drew the focused attention of media and fans across England and the world.

Although Chelsea’s performance had declined in recent seasons, their overall strength was still that of a Premier League powerhouse.

However, whether it was the pre-match public opinion, professional predictions, or media reports, the consensus was that Bayswater Chinese were the clear favorites.

After a period of squad rotation and adjustment, Bayswater Chinese fielded all their key players for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Yang Cheng had arranged practically the most potent attacking force at his disposal into the starting lineup for this game.

Chelsea, on their side, also sent out their strongest team.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defence: Ashley Cole, Terry, Ivanović, and Bosingwa;

Midfield: Lampard and Mikel formed a double pivot, with Sneijder as the number 10;

Forwards: Ramires, Drogba, and Eto’o.

The biggest difference after Roberto Di Matteo took over from André Villas-Boas was in the midfield.

Chelsea’s tactic shifted from the previous 4-3-3 to a more balanced 4-2-3-1 formation.

Several of the dressing room veterans all returned to the starting lineup.

The only difference was that Lampard had started to drop back into a holding midfield role, forming a double pivot with Mikel.

The obvious purpose of this was to compensate for Mikel’s frailty and vulnerability when playing as a lone holding midfielder.

After the tactical adjustment, Chelsea’s performance in the league improved significantly, but the most important impact was in the cup competitions.

Whether in the FA Cup or the Europa League, Chelsea performed quite well.

It could be said that the only point of criticism since Di Matteo took charge was his continuation of the previous tactical framework, heavily relying on the veterans in the dressing room, which made it difficult for expensive new signings like Van der Wiel and Álvaro Pereira to get opportunities.

Benatia, however, had been rotated in on several occasions and performed well.

After adopting the 4-2-3-1 formation, Chelsea’s overall tactical approach also returned to its traditional path.

That was to focus heavily on defense and commit men to the counter-attack.

Sneijder played a crucial role in this tactical system.

The well-rounded Dutchman shone brightly under Di Matteo’s command.

And in this FA Cup final, after kickoff, Chelsea immediately applied pressure and played with great aggression.

Of course, this aggression wasn’t reckless fouling, but more of a tactical strategy.

But what truly surprised Yang Cheng was Chelsea’s pressure on the midfield.

The Chelsea players’ fighting spirit was extremely high, and their desire to win was very strong, which translated into a very tenacious resilience on the pitch.

Even though Bayswater Chinese managed to control possession after the start using their technical superiority, The Blues used layered defending, active running from their players, and fierce pressing to disrupt Bayswater Chinese’s passing game.

This made it very difficult for Bayswater Chinese’s midfield to operate smoothly.

The speed of transition between attack and defense was incredibly fast, and the pace of the game was breathtaking for the fans in the stadium and those watching on TV.

But under Chelsea’s intense pressing, Bayswater Chinese’s errors also began to increase.

…

“A typical Italian head coach’s style!”

Seeing Walcott hastily end an attack with a long shot, Yang Cheng walked back to the front of the dugout, shaking his head.

“Pack the middle, give up the flanks!” Brian Kidd added.

“Exactly. Because Di Matteo knows his players’ ages. They can’t cover that much space.”

Di Matteo’s current message was essentially that Chelsea would concentrate their forces to defend the central areas, allowing Bayswater Chinese to play on the flanks. But to transition to the center, they would have to face Chelsea’s impenetrable fortress.

When it came to coaching defense, Italian head coaches were truly skilled and not to be underestimated.

Yang Cheng was mentally prepared for the difficulty of this match.

Italian head coaches were no pushovers, and Di Matteo was certainly no exception.

What truly surprised him was the fighting spirit the Chelsea players displayed in this match.

“This is where he’s better than Villas-Boas. Or rather, the quality a successful interim head coach should have!”

Brian Kidd’s assessment of Di Matteo was clearly not very high.

A successful interim head coach isn’t necessarily a successful head coach.

They are two different things!

Stepping in mid-season and managing for a full season are also two different matters!

Take Di Matteo, for example.

If both had managed for a full season, would he really be better than Villas-Boas?

Not necessarily, right?

But now, Di Matteo was taking over mid-stream. As a former assistant coach, he could see the conflicts and problems between Villas-Boas and the Chelsea dressing room.

So, the dressing room veterans who were suppressed under Villas-Boas were now heavily utilized under Di Matteo.

This didn’t mean Di Matteo was better than Villas-Boas.

Because the coaching environments they faced were different.

If Chelsea had chosen Di Matteo at the start of the season, he might have ended up just like Villas-Boas.

Many times, things are just like that, but people judge by success or failure.

Of course, from a tactical standpoint, Di Matteo was indeed a bit better than the younger Villas-Boas.

“We can’t keep playing down the flanks like this. We need to make an adjustment,” Brian Kidd suggested.

Continuing to play this way was pointless.

No matter how well you play on the flanks, you eventually have to come back to the center to score.

This was the essence of Italian defending.

But now, in the central areas, Bayswater Chinese struggled to control the ball and create chances.

Yang Cheng, of course, knew the reason why.

In fact, he had known it since the start of the match.

Why didn’t he adjust?

Because Chelsea’s defense wasn’t exactly a solid block.

Lampard and Mikel’s double pivot was not solid.

Mikel was vulnerable as a lone holding midfielder and prone to making mistakes. Lampard supporting him seemed good on paper.

But in a real match, it was easy to see that Lampard often pushed forward.

He wasn’t used to playing in a holding position; he was still used to being an attacking player.

This was a weakness.

But Bayswater Chinese hadn’t exploited this weakness well.

Toni Kroos frequently used horizontal passes to stretch Chelsea’s defense, forcing them to shift back and forth constantly.

But Modrić, wary of Lampard and Sneijder, was clearly hesitant to make too many forward runs.

Sometimes, a football match is just like that.

Just because the head coach sees a problem doesn’t mean the players on the pitch can see it or exploit it.

Especially in a clash between top teams like today.

Opportunities are fleeting.

But that didn’t matter.

A head coach needs to constantly adjust, constantly try things, to get the players on the field to gradually execute the tactics he wants and achieve his desired objective.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng glanced at the time again. Twenty-five minutes had already passed.

The game looked intense and fast-paced, but in reality, neither side had created a truly threatening attack.

Bayswater Chinese had created more chances, but they were mostly long shots.

Or, upon entering the penalty area, they were immediately shut down.

Chelsea, on the other hand, had only one relatively dangerous attack.

In the 21st minute, during a quick counter-attack, Sneijder played a through ball, and Eto’o charged into the right side of the penalty area with the ball.

Thiago Silva chased him relentlessly, staying close to the Cameroonian striker and tightly blocking Eto’o’s path to cut inside, forcing the African Cheetah away from the goal.

In the end, Eto’o managed a difficult shot from the right side of the penalty area, which Courtois calmly saved, falling onto the ball at the right corner of the six-yard box.

After some deliberation, Yang Cheng strode to the touchline and shouted, “Luka.”

On the pitch, Modrić heard Yang Cheng’s call and immediately looked over.

Yang Cheng bent over on the sideline, repeatedly making a forward-thrusting motion with his hands, signaling for him to push forward, to get further up the pitch.

More forward runs!

Modrić was breathing heavily, but he still nodded at Yang Cheng in acknowledgement, indicating that he had seen the signal.

At the same time, Yang Cheng called out to Matić, signaling him to push up a bit more and lock down Sneijder.

The Dutchman wasn’t particularly fast, so Matić was more than capable of handling him.

But the most troublesome thing about Sneijder was his one-touch pass.

The man’s passing ability on the counter-attack was truly formidable.

In the previous counter-attack, if Thiago Silva hadn’t been fast enough to entangle Eto’o, allowing the African Cheetah to break through, it would have almost certainly been a goal.

This was actually Yang Cheng’s biggest source of confidence right now.

Bayswater Chinese not only had a strong midfield, but the individual abilities of their defenders were also extremely high.

Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Vincent Kompany were all among the world’s top centre-backs; their individual skills were beyond question.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng had enough confidence to push his team’s defensive line higher up the pitch.

“Robert!”

After a moment’s thought, Yang Cheng cupped his hands around his mouth again and shouted loudly.

On the pitch, Lewandowski also heard the shout and looked over immediately.

Yang Cheng held up his right index and middle fingers, making a gesture for Lewandowski to drop back.

After a few gestures, Lewandowski understood the head coach’s intention.

He was to drop a little deeper.

Then came Gareth Bale and Walcott. They were to push up, but also tuck inside towards the half-spaces and the center.

The flanks were to be left for Marcelo and Piszczek to overlap.

Yang Cheng’s series of on-the-fly adjustments from the sideline were quite noticeable.

He didn’t try to hide his changes, making them in plain sight.

Even if Di Matteo saw them, so what?

The initiative and possession in the match were currently in the hands of Bayswater Chinese.

This was their greatest advantage!

Yang Cheng could now attack however he wanted.

The only question was whether they could break through!

This was also why Yang Cheng preferred to face Manchester City in the Champions League final rather than Barça.

Against Barça, Bayswater Chinese would be in the position Chelsea was in today.

Playing like that was too passive and too awkward!

Of course, Yang Cheng had a very clear idea of how to play against Barça.

It was just that, between Barça and Manchester City, he was more confident about playing against Manchester City.

…

After Yang Cheng’s adjustments, the situation on the pitch didn’t change immediately.

But everyone could clearly see that the Bayswater Chinese players were continuously adjusting their tactics.

In the 34th minute, Marcelo made an overlapping run down the left flank. With his back to the goal, he received a cross pass from Toni Kroos.

Since Eto’o didn’t track back to defend, the player marking Marcelo was Mikel.

Just as Marcelo received Kroos’s cross pass, he first feigned a move to break into the half-space. In actuality, as the ball arrived, the Brazilian suddenly spun with it.

The most troublesome thing about the left-back Marcelo was his excellent ball control and dribbling ability. At the same time, he could attack the half-space or the flank, and he could deliver a through ball or a cross.

He even possessed a long-range diagonal and cross pass.

Crucially, he wasn’t tall, had nimble footwork, and possessed all the typical close-control skills of a Brazilian player.

This often made it easy for him to deceive defenders.

The initial feint had already fooled Mikel, causing him to shift his center of gravity.

When Marcelo spun with the ball to get away, although Mikel was close, he was powerless.

He wanted to reach out and pull him, but just as Marcelo turned, level with Mikel and with an opportunity to cross, he immediately sent in a diagonal cross with his left foot, delivering the ball directly into the penalty area.

Marcelo’s diagonal cross landed near the penalty spot, where Lewandowski made a quick run to contest the header.

However, at the crucial moment, Terry, retreating defensively, jumped quickly and headed the ball back out, clearing it from the large penalty area.

But Modrić, following up right behind, immediately unleashed a long shot from the arc of the penalty area.

The shot was taken in a hurry, and because it was a volley, the quality wasn’t very high.

Čech confidently read the ball’s trajectory, first parrying it upwards with both hands before jumping to securely catch it.

“That was a very sudden attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Marcelo’s turn and cross on the left wing were very impressive.”

“And Modrić is also starting to push forward more actively.”

“This confirms what we were saying earlier.”

“Modrić actually has strong attacking abilities. Whether it’s his through balls or his ability to hold the ball under tight defense, he is the best performer on the Bayswater Chinese team.”

“Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng clearly hopes to unleash Modrić’s abilities in this area.”

“As it stands, it’s still not enough.”

“Especially the entire front line, which hasn’t been fully brought to life yet!”

“Of course, Bayswater Chinese also need to be careful. When Chelsea counter-attack from midfield, Lampard and Sneijder’s overlapping runs and passing abilities require extra caution.”

“But attacks like the one just now are truly very dangerous.”

“Chelsea still need to pay attention to their defense.”

After creating a threatening attack, the Bayswater Chinese players began to increase their intensity.

In the 39th minute, Modrić played a through ball. Lewandowski dropped back into the space between Chelsea’s midfield and defense to receive it. After turning, from about 25 meters out, he suddenly hit a long shot.

The shot had power, but the angle was slightly off, and it went wide of the goal.

Then, in the 43rd minute, came a cross from Piszczek on the right. Lewandowski flicked it on with a header at the near post.

At the far post, Gareth Bale went for a header, trying to direct a bouncing ball towards the far right of the goal.

But Čech was prepared, diving quickly to parry the ball away with one hand.

However, in the last ten minutes or so of the first half, Chelsea paid the price with two yellow cards.

These were the only two yellow cards of the first half.

They were given to Mikel and Ivanović.

Ivanović’s yellow card came just before the end of the first half when the Serbian centre-back fouled a dropping Lewandowski who was receiving the ball.

…

Smack!

In the home dressing room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng slammed his palm forcefully onto the tactics board.

This immediately drew everyone’s attention to him.

The players had just completed 45 minutes of play and were physically drained.

But at this moment, they all looked up, focusing intently on Yang Cheng and the tactics board behind him.

On it were the formations of both teams for this match, along with diagrams of the players’ positions.

“Did you see that?”

“Our tactics in the last ten-plus minutes of the first half were effective!”

“We launched several dangerous attacks in a row, which proves our thinking was correct.”

“Chelsea want to defend, but they aren’t just sitting back. They’re using a midfield press.”

“They are very wary of our midfield.”

“But this means their defensive line can’t drop too deep.”

“Lampard, pay attention to Lampard. He often pushes up. Give him the ball, and he tends to immediately push forward.”

“It’s a habit from his entire career!”

“At that point, Mikel is the lone holding midfielder, and it’s hard for him to cover such a large area.”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he continuously drew circles and lines on the tactics board, making sure everyone could clearly see what he was trying to express.

“That’s why I said in the first half, Robert, you drop back first. Luka, you push up.”

“You two need to pin down Mikel’s area and orchestrate our attacks from there!”

“Think about it, wasn’t that the case?”

The players had just come off the pitch and their memories of the first half were still fresh.

After a moment of reflection, they realized it was indeed true.

“Gareth, Theo!”

Yang Cheng called out Gareth Bale’s and Walcott’s names.

“When Robert drops back, you two need to push forward in time, right into the half-space between the full-back and centre-back. Pin them down for me, and be ready to attack the space behind them at any moment.”

“If Chelsea’s defensive line drops back, great, then the area for Robert and Luka opens up.”

“If they don’t retreat, even better. Pass the ball in behind them. You have a significant speed advantage.”

In Yang Cheng’s view, Bayswater Chinese had actually performed quite well throughout the first half.

After all, it was the FA Cup final. The players were all eager to win the trophy and were giving it their all.

The only trouble was Chelsea’s defense.

Yang Cheng was now targeting a weakness and vulnerability in Chelsea’s setup, hitting it relentlessly, again and again, until their defense cracked and their line collapsed.

This seemingly blunt method was, in fact, the only method.

And the most effective one!

“Lads.”

Time was almost up.

Yang Cheng clapped his hands loudly, gathering everyone around him.

“You’ve all played for 45 minutes, and the score is 0-0. I’m sure you’ve all felt it—Chelsea’s fighting spirit in this match, and their hunger for victory, for the championship!”

“This is a Chelsea team with their backs against the wall, with no way out!”

“Do you understand?”

“They have no way out!”

“This is the greatest strength they can unleash when pushed to the brink!”

“This is an opponent worthy of our respect!”

“But, I want to ask you, are you willing to lose this final?”

“We’ve won the Premier League, the FA Cup final is right in front of us. We’ve worked so hard for so long on the path to the Treble, and we’ve come this far. Are you willing to give up?”

Yang Cheng paused, giving everyone time to think.

The dressing room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long moment, Yang Cheng continued, “I, for one, am not willing!”

“I want you to go out on that pitch and prove that even against a Chelsea team like this, we can still defeat them!”

“Because we are the strongest!”

“That’s right, we are the strongest!” Modrić immediately echoed Yang Cheng, his voice ringing out.

“Yeah, you’re right!”

“Let’s do this!”

“Everyone together!”

All the players huddled closer together, heads touching, shoulders pressing, hands clasped.

“Bayswater Chinese, let’s go!”

“To hell with Chelsea!”

“Go! Go!! Go!!!”

…

“The head referee, Phil Dowd, has blown the whistle for the second half.”

“The teams have switched sides for the second half.”

“Neither team has made any substitutions during halftime.”

“It’s Chelsea’s kickoff.”

“Bayswater Chinese are pressing forward immediately.”

“It seems that after the halftime break, Yang Cheng must have laid out some tactical adjustments in the dressing room.”

“Chelsea, however, have started the half very cautiously.”

“Which is to be expected.”

“Bayswater Chinese have always been very good at launching early blitzes, so the beginning of both halves is often the most difficult and feared time for their opponents.”

“Chelsea are handling it very carefully.”

“But Bayswater Chinese are pressing ferociously.”

“Bosingwa, under intense pressure from Gareth Bale, just hoofs it clear.”

“The ball is out of bounds. A throw-in.”

“Just 12 seconds into the second half, possession has changed hands.”

…

“We see Bayswater Chinese switching the play over to the right flank.”

“Walcott controls it steadily, dribbling forward to face Ashley Cole.”

“He knocks the ball past his man!”

“A beautiful dribble!”

“Walcott knocks the ball past his opponent, charges towards the byline, and sends a cross into the box.”

“Lewandowski is going for the header.”

“A solid clearing header from Terry.”

“Bayswater Chinese have started the second half with a fierce offense. Both wings are still very active.”

“But as we saw in the first half, when it comes to crosses from the flanks, Lewandowski doesn’t really have much of an advantage against Terry. So Bayswater Chinese will need to consider other attacking routines.”

…

“Bayswater Chinese win the ball back in their own half.”

“It’s given to Modrić, who quickly launches a counter-attack.”

“Modrić carries the ball past the halfway line and distributes it to the right.”

“Once again, it’s at the feet of Walcott.”

“Let’s see how Bayswater Chinese will approach this attack.”

“We see that Walcott’s first touch wasn’t clean.”

“Ashley Cole tracks back very quickly.”

“Walcott is forced to turn and dribble back, passing it back to Piszczek.”

As Piszczek ran past the halfway line towards Walcott’s back pass, he glanced towards the middle.

Modrić was waving, signaling him to pass to the left side.

After Chelsea’s swift defensive recovery, Ashley Cole’s side had tracked back very quickly.

Piszczek understood immediately. Before the ball even arrived, he took a step forward and launched it towards the left with a big kick.

Gareth Bale, hearing a shout from his teammate, turned his head, saw the path of the pass, and immediately started running back.

In the left channel of Chelsea’s thirty-meter zone, Gareth Bale, unmarked, headed the ball to Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos raised his hand, signaling his teammates to calm down.

At the same time, the German player controlled the ball steadily.

Chelsea had retreated so quickly that, at this moment, no one had come up to press Toni Kroos yet.

This allowed the German midfielder to take a touch sideways towards the center while on the ball.

But just when everyone thought Toni Kroos was going to slow down the pace of the game, they saw Modrić suddenly accelerate from behind Lampard and the others, charging towards the arc of the penalty area.

At almost the same moment, Lewandowski, inside the penalty area, ran horizontally towards the left.

Toni Kroos, who had just been signaling his teammates to calm down and slow the pace, suddenly played a through ball before Mikel could close him down.

The pass was perfectly weighted to the left side of the arc, right into the path of Modrić’s run.

The Croatian midfielder controlled the ball with the outside of his left foot, quickly turning his body so his back was to the goal. Seeing Lampard charging in to tackle, he got his foot to the ball first.

The ball deflected off Lampard’s foot and popped into the air.

At this moment, Modrić had Terry behind him, Lampard and Sneijder in front, and a rapidly recovering Mikel to his left.

Chelsea had a full seven defensive players back in and around the penalty area.

Bayswater Chinese only had two players up.

Modrić was surrounded by four defenders closing in on him.

But the Croatian, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, saw the ball pop up after Lampard’s touch. In a moment of inspiration, he suddenly stepped forward, and with his back to the goal, he flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot.

It was less of a flick and more like a sweep.

But regardless, the ball was lofted by Modrić into the left side of the penalty area.

Lewandowski had initially been making a horizontal run. Seeing Modrić with his back to goal, he chose to make a run forward.

But Ivanović had been sticking to him.

As Modrić’s chipped pass dropped into the left side of the box, Lewandowski charged towards it, using his body to shield the ball from Ivanović while also initiating physical contact.

Ivanović had been moving towards the byline. Lewandowski’s sudden run and the contact he initiated as the defender tried to stop and turn completely threw Ivanović off balance.

As the ball dropped, Lewandowski chested it down sideways, turning his body in the process.

Before the ball could hit the ground, the Polish centre-forward unleashed a furious shot.

Throughout the entire sequence, Ivanović could only watch helplessly from behind Lewandowski.

Having lost his balance, the Chelsea centre-back was in no position to make any defensive reaction to the close-range shot.

Čech reacted quickly and made a diving save.

But the shot was from close range and the angle was incredibly sharp.

The ball flew directly into the near-left side of the goal!

Čech was just a fraction of a second too late.

“GOAL!!!!”

“54th minute, the 54th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese have produced a magnificent piece of attacking interplay!”

“An incredibly imaginative chipped pass from Modrić, and Lewandowski overpowers Ivanović in the box to volley home from close range, breaking through Chelsea’s goal!”

“1-0!”

“That was a piece of attacking play filled with perfect understanding.”

“From the counter-attack starting down the right, to Piszczek’s switch to the left, and Toni Kroos’s smokescreen…”

“But the most brilliant part was the link-up between Modrić and Lewandowski!”

“We can be certain that something happened in the Bayswater Chinese dressing room at halftime.”

“After the break, we’ve seen Modrić completely activated!”

“The Croatian midfielder, with a wonderfully imaginative chipped pass, assists Lewandowski to score the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

…

After seeing Lewandowski score, Yang Cheng was so excited that he rushed to the edge of the technical area, clenching his fists and cheering loudly.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the team had taken the lead!

That was an excellent start!

More importantly, Modrić’s forward run had created the goal.

And it was in the arc of the penalty area.

This proved that the judgment and decisions Yang Cheng had made during the halftime break were correct!

And correct decisions bring more confidence to the players on the pitch.

“Modrić’s chipped pass just now was brilliant!” Brian Kidd couldn’t help but praise.

Yang Cheng smiled, not without a hint of pride.

The better Modrić performed, the more accurate Yang Cheng’s eye for talent was proven to be.

Everyone knew that he was the one who had promoted Modrić all those years ago.

In fact, as journalists dug deeper, Modrić’s difficult situation in the Dinamo Zagreb youth team had long become known to media and fans worldwide.

A frail-looking boy who seemed to have little talent for football had been painstakingly nurtured by Yang Cheng into a world-class midfielder.

Could there be anything more legendary than that?

“I’ve said it before, his most important tactical role is his ability to receive and break free from the ball under high-intensity pressure.”

“His presence is more about injecting more control into our fast-paced transitions.”

It was a bit like what Yang Cheng used to say about Mourinho’s Chelsea.

What they lacked was a controlling midfielder.

If Deco had joined back then, along with the White Wizard Verón, Chelsea’s midfield would have been extremely powerful.

Toni Kroos brought stability to the team, while Modrić brought change.

The most magical thing was that these two players complemented each other perfectly.

This was the perfect partnership, a case of one plus one being greater than two!

And with Bayswater Chinese taking the lead, Chelsea could no longer afford to just sit back and defend.

This was a final!

They were already trailing. What was the point of defending now?

In the 55th minute, Di Matteo made his first substitution.

Malouda came on for Ramires.

Chelsea’s midfield also underwent some adjustments.

Mikel played as the lone holding midfielder, and Lampard began to push forward.

The formation immediately shifted to a 4-3-3.

But Yang Cheng also immediately adjusted his team’s tactics. He didn’t have his players sit back and defend, but rather continued to intensify the attack.

If they dropped back now, Chelsea would press their advantage and launch attacks.

Yang Cheng didn’t like that!

In fact, he was hoping Chelsea would come out of their shell.

In the 64th minute, after winning the ball back deep in their own half, Thiago Silva sent a long pass forward, looking for Lewandowski.

As the ball reached the edge of Chelsea’s 30-meter zone, Terry once again won the first ball, clearing it with a header back the way it came.

It was a high ball.

After being headed away, it went high but not far.

Just as the football was coming down, Modrić moved into position ahead of everyone else.

The Croatian nonchalantly brought the ball down with one touch.

The ball obediently transformed from a high ball to a ground ball, following Modrić’s will as it rolled forward.

Such an exquisite piece of ball control made everyone’s eyes light up.

But it also sent a wave of panic through the Chelsea defenders.

After taking a touch, Modrić saw Lewandowski drop back quickly, raising his hand for the ball.

This prevented Terry, who had just cleared the ball, from immediately returning to his defensive line.

Ivanović’s position was also a bit more central.

After taking his touch, Modrić appeared to be looking at Lewandowski, but he was actually pulling off a feint. He suddenly delivered a soulful outside-of-the-boot diagonal pass, sending the ball to the feet of Walcott on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

A large gap had opened up between Ashley Cole and Ivanović. The Little Tiger received the ball sideways between the two defenders and seamlessly carried it into the right side of the box.

Ivanović reacted very quickly, turning to chase back, blocking Walcott’s path to cut inside.

But The Little Tiger’s acceleration was quicker. He instantly shrugged off Ivanović by half a body length and hit a low cross across the face of the goal with his right foot.

The ball traveled from outside the right corner of the six-yard box to the left side in front of the small box.

Gareth Bale rushed in quickly and, with a left-footed push, sent the ball towards the bottom right corner of the goal, against the grain.

This was the Welshman’s favorite scoring area!

The ball obediently ricocheted off the inside of the bottom of the right post and bounced into Chelsea’s goal.

2-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A goal from Gareth Bale!”

“In the 64th minute, Bayswater Chinese have once again breached Chelsea’s goal!”

“This was another brilliant piece of attacking interplay.”

“Modrić’s through ball was exquisitely timed, and Walcott’s control and subsequent cross were also crucial!”

“This is the attacking threat of Bayswater Chinese!”

“The front three are constantly running, constantly interchanging positions.”

“And they all possess outstanding individual ability, which makes it incredibly difficult for defenders to mark them!”

“2-0!”

“The situation is looking very grim for Chelsea now!”

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in quick succession, anyone could see that the match was all but over.

After replaying the second goal, the television broadcast specifically cut to the stands.

Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, was caught on camera.

The Russian looked to be in a very foul mood!

“He certainly has every reason to be disappointed with Chelsea’s performance tonight.”

“But we must also acknowledge that The Blues played tenaciously for most of the match, and the players were full of fighting spirit.”

“However, their quality is simply not on the same level as Bayswater Chinese.”

“If the first half could be considered a relatively even contest, then in the second half, after Yang Cheng adjusted his team’s attacking tactics, Chelsea’s defense was dismantled time and time again.”

“Ultimately, it comes down to a gap in quality.”

“Especially in midfield.”

…

As the match reached the 70th minute, Chelsea’s frantic counter-attacks finally paid off.

Even with a two-goal lead, Yang Cheng chose not to retreat, but to continue going head-to-head with Chelsea.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese’s defense made a mistake.

Drogba, on the edge of the penalty area, overpowered Thiago Silva to win a flick-on, heading it back towards the arc.

Sneijder made a late run and, from the arc, unleashed a long shot that flew into the right side of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Courtois made a desperate diving save, but he couldn’t stop the ball from hitting the back of the net.

1-2!

The goal ignited a spark of hope throughout the Chelsea team.

Di Matteo didn’t make another substitution, instead signaling for his team to continue pressing the attack.

Yang Cheng also made no changes, continuing to push his team to attack.

Just six minutes after conceding, Chelsea won the ball outside their own penalty area and quickly passed it to Lampard, attempting to launch another attack.

As the English midfielder controlled the ball, turned, and charged forward, just as he reached the bottom of the center circle, Matić quickly caught up, put a hand on Lampard’s shoulder, and then stuck out a foot to intercept the ball.

After losing the ball, Lampard staggered back a couple of steps before “suddenly” falling to the ground.

The head referee, Phil Dowd, did not blow his whistle.

Clearly, he believed Lampard was diving.

But Bayswater Chinese were now on the attack.

Following the advantage rule, he did not stop play.

After winning the ball, Matić quickly passed it forward to Gareth Bale.

Bosingwa tracked back in time to block Gareth Bale.

The Welshman passed it back to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder controlled the ball, turned, and quickly sent a diagonal pass to Modrić, who was ahead on the right, while he himself made a quick forward run.

Modrić understood perfectly. With his back to the goal, he played the ball back.

The two midfielders executed a one-touch give-and-go with incredible speed.

When Toni Kroos reached the edge of the penalty arc, the German glanced ahead and saw that there was no opportunity to shoot.

Because the imposing figure of Mikel stood before him.

So, Toni Kroos decisively changed his plan, delivering a diagonal pass with his left foot.

At this moment, the advantage of Toni Kroos being able to deliver precise passes with either foot was on full display.

Although facing the direction of the attack, Mikel felt he was being sufficiently cautious.

But because he didn’t close down Toni Kroos immediately, the German midfielder was able to play a low, diagonal pass with his left foot to the right corner of the penalty area.

Piszczek, having raced forward to meet the ball and now facing the onrushing Ashley Cole, decided against crossing to find Lewandowski this time.

Because he could see that Chelsea’s defenders were already anticipating that line of play.

One look at Terry’s positioning made it clear.

So, instead of crossing, he cut the ball back and delivered a cross pass.

Modrić made a quick overlapping run and, from the right side just outside the penalty area, unmarked, he controlled the ball with his left foot before curling a diagonal cross with his right.

The ball traveled from the right edge of the penalty area towards the far-left post.

Because Chelsea’s defenders, especially Terry and Ivanović, had all been drawn towards Lewandowski and Walcott, they had all shifted to the near post.

This left the entire far post area of Chelsea’s defense completely empty.

More importantly, they all thought Piszczek would cross to Lewandowski, so they were completely helpless against Modrić’s lofted diagonal pass from the edge of the box.

All they could do was turn and watch as a red-shirted figure rapidly charged towards the outside of the left post, leaped high into the air, and headed the ball from close range, smashing it into the left side of Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“76th minute, another header from Gareth Bale!”

“Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“3-1!”

“That was a beautifully executed attacking sequence!”

“This is the passing and moving combination that Bayswater Chinese excels at, featuring both localized interplay between players and a sudden switch of play from Toni Kroos.”

“After stretching the defensive line, they used Modrić’s diagonal pass to shift the ball back to the weaker defensive side, and it was finished off by Gareth Bale!”

“It must be said, this is a quintessential Bayswater Chinese goal!”

“There are only about ten minutes left in the match, but for Chelsea, it’s safe to say the contest is over!”

“If not for Gareth Bale’s goal, perhaps there would still be some suspense.”

“But now…”

“This goal will be a huge blow to Chelsea’s morale.”

“They worked so hard to pull one back, only for Bayswater Chinese to restore their two-goal lead just six minutes later.”

“With not much time left, The Blues’ enemies are not just Bayswater Chinese, but also time itself!”

…

When time itself becomes an opponent, Chelsea’s chances of winning were slim.

Moreover, they hadn’t created many chances throughout the entire match.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand.

Although they had been contained defensively, they had controlled the initiative for the entire game.

After the 80th minute, seeing Chelsea’s stamina fade and their morale plummet, leading to a drop in their pressing intensity, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions.

Pogba, Harry Kane, and Kyle Walker were all brought on.

They had all performed well in the earlier rounds of the FA Cup, but for various reasons this season, Yang Cheng didn’t start them in the semi-final or the final.

Their substitute appearance time was also quite limited.

But Yang Cheng had promised them he would make it up with playing time in the remaining league matches.

Because after this match, Yang Cheng’s team would start to focus all their energy on preparing for the Champions League final in two weeks.

They had already secured the league title, so the remaining few matches were mostly formalities, focused on training and tuning up.

Therefore, Yang Cheng would arrange for the team’s younger players to play as much as possible.

And as the match clock ticked into the 93rd minute, Phil Dowd blew the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese, with Gareth Bale’s brace and a goal from Lewandowski, ultimately defeated Chelsea 3-1, successfully defending their FA Cup title!

Chapter 251: Four Consecutive Titles! A Debut! Record-Breaking Streak! The Strongest Attacking Combination in Premier League History!

“I’m happy for the players!”

“They’ve performed exceptionally well this season, making everyone at the club proud!”

“So far, we are the only team in European football still fighting on three fronts. Our players have put in an incredible amount of hard work to get to this point.”

“But we’ve pulled through!”

“This FA Cup trophy is their deserved reward!”

“But I also want to say, don’t rush to celebrate, players. We still have one more trophy to win!”

Immediately after the FA Cup final ended, before the award ceremony, Sky Sports broadcasted their pitch-side interview with Yang Cheng and posted it online.

It quickly captured the attention of fans worldwide, sparking heated discussions.

With a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, Bayswater Chinese had successfully defended their FA Cup title!

Moreover, having already secured the Premier League title earlier in the season, they had achieved the Double.

For Bayswater Chinese fans across the globe, this was a monumental achievement!

What’s more, Bayswater Chinese was now the first team in the history of England’s top flight to win four consecutive league titles!

What could be more thrilling for the fans?

If the praise from the media wasn’t enough, one only had to listen to the opposition’s assessment.

Sky Sports interviewed Chelsea’s head coach, Roberto Di Matteo, right after the match.

The Italian admitted that Chelsea’s performance in the game fell short of Bayswater Chinese’s.

“For most of the match, they were indeed better than us.”

“We had a period where we played very well and scored a goal, but it was brief.”

“If we could have maintained that level of performance for the entire game, perhaps we would be the ones celebrating a championship now.”

Regarding the Chelsea team he managed, Di Matteo said, “This season, we have faced a great deal of harsh criticism and accusations.”

“There are many things I can’t comment on, but I am very happy that since I took over, Chelsea has reached the FA Cup final and the Europa League final.”

“This is an incredible achievement for me and for the players!”

Di Matteo stated that reaching the finals of two cup competitions was a testament to Chelsea’s strength.

“Losing the FA Cup final is certainly disappointing, but we showed the spirit of Chelsea. I believe that if we learn from this match, we will definitely have a chance to win the title in the upcoming game in Romania!”

This season’s Europa League final was scheduled to be held at the Bucharest National Stadium in Romania.

The two sides facing off were Chelsea from the Premier League and Atlético Madrid from La Liga.

Chelsea captain Terry, meanwhile, stated that the loss had not dampened the team’s spirits.

“People are always criticizing us, saying we’re too old, past our prime, not united. Some have even said we’ve done many things we shouldn’t have.”

“But I want to say, none of that is true.”

“Or rather, it’s not entirely true!”

“We are a group of professional players. We have professional ethics and spirit. We have brought joy and wonderful memories to this team and to all the fans.”

“We demand respect!”

“I think we played well today, very united. Every one of us gave our all.”

“Yes, we lost, and maybe many people will blame us, but we have clear consciences!”

“We will continue to work hard in the upcoming Europa League final. We hope to stand united and win a trophy!”

“We are desperate to earn respect!”

Drogba also longed for respect.

The Ivorian had a decent performance in the match, providing one assist.

“Bayswater Chinese is a very tough opponent to beat, but we played with great unity today.”

Drogba clearly stated that he would not be renewing his contract with Chelsea, but he would cherish every match he played in a Chelsea shirt.

“I will fight for this shirt until the very last moment. That has always been my style.”

“As for the future, I don’t know, but I definitely won’t stay in the Premier League, because I don’t want to play for any other team besides Chelsea.”

“Why not renew with Chelsea?”

“I feel that we, the group of older players, have not received the respect we deserve!”

“I know I’m not young anymore.”

“The day after a match, I wake up feeling exhausted. When I was young, I was full of energy every day. I’m well aware that I’m getting older.”

“So, I don’t need anyone to constantly remind me of it, to question me.”

“What I need is help, not doubt!”

“That’s why I don’t like André Villas-Boas. From the first day he arrived, he was constantly questioning me instead of helping me. It’s a very bad feeling!”

“I can accept leaving the team, but no one told me the team no longer needs me!”

“My only wish now is to help this team win a meaningful trophy before I leave Chelsea. The Europa League title is undoubtedly a very suitable choice!”

…

The league title was all but decided.

The FA Cup final was over.

Many of Chelsea’s veterans, including Terry and Drogba, now dared to speak their minds to the media.

This attracted considerable attention from the media and fans after the FA Cup final.

Over the past year, they had indeed endured too much blame and pressure.

But as Sky Sports commented in their post-match analysis:

“Professional sports are a ruthless gladiatorial arena where strength does the talking.”

“If veterans like Terry and Drogba want to earn respect, they must do so with their performances on the pitch!”

“The best way is to win a championship!”

Sky Sports gave Bayswater Chinese an extremely high evaluation.

For the past few months, Bayswater Chinese had been playing two games a week.

Fighting on three fronts!

Most ridiculously, their last five consecutive matches were all clashes between top teams.

Their opponents included powerhouses like Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Real Madrid.

This would be a daunting challenge for any team.

In fact, before these five crucial matches, many in the media and among the fans speculated that Yang Cheng’s team would likely crumble under the pressure, collapse on all three fronts, and end up with nothing.

But what was the result?

Yang Cheng’s team achieved a perfect winning record in those five high-stakes encounters!

Then, in the FA Cup final, they defeated Chelsea 3-1 to lift the trophy!

Winning the league ahead of schedule and securing the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese’s recent performance has been nothing short of impeccable.

“Undoubtedly, Yang Cheng’s team is at its physical and psychological limit.”

“But even so, they continue to adhere to their football philosophy. They defeated Chelsea using the passing and movement-based attack they know best and excel at!”

In this match, Gareth Bale scored a brace, and Robert Lewandowski also had an outstanding performance.

But surprisingly, the Man of the Match award went to captain Modrić.

Sky Sports noted that Modrić created five key passes during the match, making him the most dangerous player for Bayswater Chinese.

“In fact, he isn’t directly involved in scoring, but no one can ignore his impact!”

Sky Sports listed several of Modrić’s brilliant moments in the game, asserting that his presence was crucial to Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

“Over the past two seasons, the midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić has become increasingly important under Yang Cheng’s management.”

“In this specific match, Modrić’s burst of form, especially his excellent performance in the second half, was a result of Yang Cheng’s halftime adjustments.”

Sky Sports also interviewed several Bayswater Chinese players after the match, all of whom mentioned the adjustments made by the head coach in the dressing room at halftime.

“Yang Cheng’s halftime adjustments have once again changed the game!”

Sky Sports believed that this midfield trio had allowed Bayswater Chinese to perform with remarkable consistency throughout the season.

But in the final match of the season, the Champions League final against Barça, could Bayswater Chinese’s midfield trio continue to suppress Barça’s midfield?

…

Something else happened after the FA Cup final.

Tens of thousands of fans followed the team bus all the way from Wembley Stadium north to the Brent training center.

This caused massive traffic congestion in the area around Brent.

Countless fans flocked to the vicinity.

This was because Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium had not yet officially opened, so the team’s trophy room was still at the Brent training center. Naturally, the FA Cup trophy was to be delivered there.

The distance from Wembley to Brent wasn’t actually that far.

But the procession felt incredibly long.

Even the next morning, the team did not get a day off due to the upcoming league match.

A large number of fans still gathered at the gates of the Brent training center.

Whenever a coach, player, or staff member drove in, they were greeted with cheers and applause from the fans.

The morning after a match was typically reserved for recovery training.

So, Yang Cheng made a sweeping gesture and opened the training center to the public, allowing all fans to register and enter.

Incidentally, the exclusive Bayswater Chinese member app had been launched on both Android and iOS platforms.

Before the new stadium’s official opening, it was being promoted at the training center and the fan shop in the city center, and had already attracted numerous local fan users.

For example, today, although there was no charge for fans to enter the Brent training ground to watch the team train, they were required to download and register on the member app and complete a series of verifications to gain entry.

This plan was promoted by the commercial department and operated by the fan services department.

According to data previously disclosed by Adam Crozier, there were already over 50,000 registered members.

Once the new stadium officially opened, fans would use this platform for various operations such as purchasing tickets, ticket inspection, shopping, and accessing fan services. Activities like loyalty point rewards would be introduced later.

By then, the number of registered users would increase rapidly.

This season, after Bayswater Chinese made it to the Champions League final, the Allianz Arena could hold 66,000 people.

According to the prior allocation, Bayswater Chinese and Barça were each given 18,000 tickets.

For Bayswater Chinese, where every match saw 90,000 fans in attendance and tickets were incredibly hard to come by, 18,000 tickets were nowhere near enough.

What was to be done?

Bayswater Chinese’s strategy was to take 2,000 tickets and distribute them among players, coaches, team employees, the public relations department, VIP box users, and sponsors.

Among those, 100 tickets were given for free to the club’s longest-standing season ticket holders.

To Yang Cheng’s surprise, the vast majority of these were Chinese people from around London’s Chinatown.

This was related to Bayswater Chinese’s origins near Chinatown.

The remaining 16,000 tickets were sold at an average price of 100 pound sterling, divided into four tiers based on seating areas, to the club’s season ticket holders.

Anyone could register through the club’s member app, and as long as they were verified as a season ticket holder, they would be eligible to apply.

Even though the match was in Munich, Germany, the number of applications from fans had already exceeded 40,000.

When the deadline arrived, the club would conduct a lottery on the member app.

This initiative had caused a massive surge in downloads for the Bayswater Chinese app recently.

While fans outside were clamoring for Champions League final tickets, Bayswater Chinese was methodically preparing for the match.

On the afternoon following the FA Cup final, before the training session, Yang Cheng held a meeting for the entire first team.

The main topics were the FA Cup final and various matters concerning the preparation for the Champions League final.

Yang Cheng repeatedly emphasized one point: no one could afford to slack off.

According to the schedule, the rescheduled 37th round of the Premier League was on May 8th.

This would be their last home game of the season, against Everton.

May 13th was the final round of the Premier League, an away game against Wigan Athletic.

The Champions League final was on May 19th.

This meant the period from the 13th to the 19th would be Bayswater Chinese’s final sprint of preparation for the Champions League final.

However, for the two preceding Premier League matches, Yang Cheng did not plan to field his main players. Instead, he wanted to give the young players more opportunities.

Most importantly, the first-team players had just endured a very long and difficult gruelling schedule and desperately needed a rest.

As for the Champions League final, Yang Cheng’s stance remained the same.

“Whoever is in form, plays!”

…

On the afternoon of May 8th, in the 37th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Everton.

Although the team had already won the title, the stadium was still packed with 90,000 fans, filling Wembley Stadium to the brim and making the atmosphere as lively and boisterous as ever.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s last match leasing Wembley Stadium!

Though the Prudential Stadium in the city center had not yet officially opened, everything was proceeding according to plan.

After five years of construction, the new stadium was set to officially open for the 2012/13 season.

Bayswater Chinese’s six-year lease with Wembley Stadium was also coming to an end.

Everything was proceeding according to the timeline set by Yang Cheng and the club.

For many Bayswater Chinese fans, their memories of the team were intertwined with Wembley Stadium.

Now, suddenly having to leave, they felt a sense of reluctance, even though they had always known it was a rental.

More importantly, after this match, the Premier League would hold a brief awards ceremony on the pitch to present Bayswater Chinese with this season’s Premier League trophy.

This would be the first team in the history of England’s top flight to win four consecutive titles!

For Bayswater Chinese, this would be the highest honor!

Because even powerhouses like Manchester United or Liverpool in the 1980s had failed to achieve such a feat.

But now, Bayswater Chinese had done it!

And they had done so convincingly.

There wasn’t much to say about the match itself.

Yang Cheng’s team fielded a rotated and backup lineup.

Goalkeeper: Begović;

Defense: Ryan Bertrand, José Fonte, Vincent Kompany, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and De Bruyne ahead of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Di María.

Everton, on the other hand, played their strongest lineup.

Although The Toffees had little to play for, David Moyes had boasted before the match that he would spoil Bayswater Chinese’s title celebration. As a result, Everton played very actively and aggressively from the start.

In the 28th minute, a through ball from Aaron Ramsey found Giroud in the box. Shielding the ball from Heitinga, he scored with a low left-footed shot, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

After that, neither side managed to score again.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Yang Cheng began to make successive substitutions.

Harry Kane, Pogba, and Sterling were brought on one after another.

But in the end, neither team could find the back of the net again.

1-0, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow victory at home against Everton.

After the match ended, the Premier League set up a temporary Barclays-sponsored podium in the center of Wembley Stadium and presented Bayswater Chinese with this season’s Premier League trophy!

Although players like Modrić hadn’t played, they were still present at the stadium.

As they all lifted the championship trophy high, they were met with a thunderous roar from the 90,000 fans in attendance.

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese, for becoming the first team in the history of English top-flight football to win four consecutive titles!”

“Since their promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in the summer of 2005, Yang Cheng’s team has won a total of five Premier League titles in just seven years. Their record is truly remarkable and illustrious!”

“You could say they are the most dominant team in the Premier League since the turn of the century!”

“Surpassing even Manchester United and Chelsea!”

“Especially this recent run of four consecutive titles, it truly shows us the formidable dominance of this London club!”

Sky Sports believed that competition in the Premier League had become increasingly fierce in recent years, and the overall strength of the teams had grown.

This had caused many of the traditional powerhouses to decline to varying degrees.

For instance, Chelsea, and even Manchester United.

But the powerful rise of Bayswater Chinese brought a tremendous shock to everyone, completely shattering the Premier League’s power structure and overturning the dominance of the traditional giants.

Now, not just Bayswater Chinese, but teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool were also rising strongly with the backing of foreign capital, and their momentum was only growing.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese’s fourth consecutive title was particularly commendable!

“Without a doubt, the Premier League is entering a golden age!”

“And Bayswater Chinese is the most dazzling pearl of this golden age!”

…

One FA Cup trophy and one Premier League title suddenly brought a renewed buzz to the Brent training center.

Recently, more and more fans had been gathering on the quiet little road in Brent.

The gates to the first team’s training center and the youth team’s training center faced each other across this road.

This was where the fans congregated.

Whenever the team bus entered or exited, they would shout excitedly.

But the most commonly seen vehicles were actually school buses.

These buses transported players from school to the training center, and were mostly filled with youth team players.

And speaking of Bayswater Chinese’s youth teams, their record was absolutely outstanding.

It goes without saying that they had won a plethora of domestic championships and European invitational tournaments.

Just over a month ago, the club’s U19 youth team had just won the European championship in the inaugural NextGen Series, organized by UEFA!

The so-called NextGen Series was essentially the future UEFA Youth League.

But for now, it was just a newly created invitational tournament, hosted by UEFA, inviting the 16 clubs with the highest level of youth development in European football.

All were at the U19 level.

Among them, four teams represented the Premier League: Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Bayswater Chinese.

This reflected UEFA’s recognition of the quality of Premier League youth academies.

Other participants included famous youth development powerhouses like Barça from La Liga, Marseille from Ligue 1, Inter Milan from Serie A, Wolfsburg from the Bundesliga, and Ajax and PSV Eindhoven from the Eredivisie.

In the end, it was Bayswater Chinese who, at the Meazza Stadium in Milan in late March, triumphed 3-0 over the Inter Milan U19 youth team coached by Stramaccioni, claiming the title of the inaugural NextGen Series.

As it was only a youth team event, and the first edition, it didn’t attract too much attention.

Only the fans most familiar with Bayswater Chinese would have noticed it.

Moreover, the Bayswater Chinese team that participated did not even include age-eligible star players like Harry Kane and Pogba.

On this championship-winning U19 team, the two most eye-catching players were Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw.

When they won the title, Sterling was only 17, and Luke Shaw was just 16.

But both players held their own against U19 opponents, putting in excellent performances.

In addition, they were both selected for the England U19 national team.

This was already considered playing above their age group.

Among Bayswater Chinese’s hardcore fans, Sterling was already a rising star of the future.

Luke Shaw, on the other hand, was a promising talent who had emerged this season, attracting the attention of many fans.

In fact, every youth team home game could draw a considerable number of fans to watch at Brent.

So, when sharp-eyed fans saw the boy named Luke Shaw sitting by the window of one of the school buses, they all started shouting.

“Luke! Luke!!”

Luke Shaw, who had been looking a bit down after not being selected for the England U21 training camp, forced a smile upon hearing the fans’ calls from outside the bus and waved to them.

This immediately elicited even more enthusiastic cheers.

But as the bus turned towards the gate of the youth team training center, Luke Shaw didn’t forget to turn his head and look behind him at the gate identical to the youth team’s.

Walking through that gate was his lifelong dream!

From joining Bayswater Chinese in 2004 until now, for eight years, he had longed to enter that training center.

In late March, after the team finished the NextGen Series, there were rumors that the best-performing players would get a chance to join the first team.

And even get playing time.

But over a month had passed, and there had been no news.

Harry Kane, Sterling, Pogba, and others were around the same age as Luke Shaw, and they had played together a lot in the youth team, so they were all very familiar with each other.

But they had already made their first-team appearances and received considerable playing time.

Initially, Harry Kane and Pogba were supposed to be drafted to play in the NextGen Series for the U19s.

But later, the first team decided that since both players were already playing first-team matches and performing well in the reserve league, there was no need for them to participate in such a youth tournament.

In the end, only Sterling was sent to participate.

Sterling was born in December 1994, and Luke Shaw in July 1995. Both were among the earliest batches to join the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, so they were very close.

But Sterling was now a talented teenager attracting national attention in England.

Today, he was even promoted ahead of schedule, called up to the U21s for the national team’s training camp in preparation for European competitions.

This made Luke Shaw both envious and a little upset.

After the school bus arrived at the training building, everyone got off one by one.

Luke Shaw also picked up his club-issued backpack and walked straight into the U19 training area.

But just as the Englishman had put his things away and was about to head to the rest area, he ran into Youth Director Matt Crocker.

Matt Crocker had been Luke Shaw’s coach back at Southampton.

“Hey, Matt.”

“Luke, I was just looking for you.”

“What’s up?” Luke Shaw was surprised.

Matt Crocker broke into a smile. “Hurry up and pack your things. Starting today, you’re reporting to the first team.”

Luke Shaw froze on the spot, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at Matt Crocker.

“The first team?”

“That’s right.”

With that, Matt Crocker took out his phone, opened an electronic document, and showed it to Luke Shaw. “Look, your name, this signature below…”

Luke Shaw saw it, the call-up order from Yang Cheng.

“Hurry up, the afternoon training session is probably about to start. You’ll be late if you don’t go now.”

“Oh, right away.” Overjoyed, Luke Shaw turned and ran towards the dressing room.

“Luke,” Matt Crocker called after him.

The kid was 1.85 meters tall, but incredibly fast. Once he started running, he was out of sight in a flash.

“That little rascal, not a bit of sentiment for the youth team,” Matt Crocker cursed with a smile.

He had originally wanted to offer some words of encouragement.

Unexpectedly, Luke Shaw couldn’t be bothered right now.

Matt Crocker felt that this kid was a bit like Gareth Bale back in the Southampton youth academy.

Mainly because they were both incredibly fast with powerful runs.

But to say they were exactly alike wouldn’t be right either.

When Gareth Bale was in the Southampton youth academy, he was very small and skinny for a long time, and was almost even released. It was only after a growth spurt that he gradually made his mark.

Luke Shaw’s physique was a bit better than Gareth Bale’s; he had developed earlier.

At only 16, he was already 1.85 meters tall.

He just looked a bit thin.

But that was normal.

At an age of rapid growth, combined with years of playing football, they rarely put on weight.

Although he’d grown to 1.85 meters, his speed was still very fast.

That was a rare quality.

As a coach who had watched Luke Shaw grow up, Matt Crocker was particularly looking forward to seeing the kid perform with the first team.

Others might not know, but Matt Crocker certainly did.

Yang Cheng had also been paying close attention to this young academy player.

…

Luke Shaw quickly packed his things, stuffing them into his bag, and with a backpack in one hand and a training bag in the other, he dashed out of the training building and sprinted towards the gate.

He paid no mind to anyone who greeted him along the way.

At this moment, the 16-year-old had only one thought in his mind.

First team, here I come!

After getting clearance from the gate guard, Luke Shaw ran out of the youth team facility.

The group of fans gathered on the road, who had just been chanting his name, were very surprised.

“Hey, Luke, why are you running out?”

“Don’t you have training? Where are you going?”

“Mate, you should be getting ready for training right now.”

Some fans who frequently watched his games were quite familiar with him.

Luke Shaw grinned, his disappointment at not being selected for the England U21 national team completely gone.

He even waved to the fans from time to time as he quickly crossed the road.

The fans soon figured it out.

“Whoa, mate, you’re joining the first team?”

“Oh my god, Luke, I told you you’d make it to the first team!”

“Go for it, Shaw, I’m looking forward to your debut!”

After crossing the road, Luke Shaw heard them and didn’t forget to turn back and wave, letting them know he’d heard.

At the first team’s gate, Luke Shaw explained his situation and was immediately let through.

Taking his first step through the first team gate, Luke Shaw felt incredibly excited.

His family used to live in central London but later moved to Kingston upon Thames.

Because of this, they had always been Chelsea fans.

Luke Shaw had been one his whole life.

But after eight years, his entire family had become Bayswater Chinese fans.

As he walked through the first team gate, Luke Shaw couldn’t wait to take out his phone, snap a picture, and send a multimedia message to his father with a note.

“Dad, pick me up at the gate across the street later!”

Just after the message was sent, his phone rang immediately.

His dad excitedly asked him on the phone if he had really made it to the first team.

Luke Shaw laughed and said he was already inside and had to hurry to training, they would talk more when he got home.

His dad nodded eagerly.

After hanging up, Luke Shaw quickened his pace, jogging all the way to the training building.

Although it was a different training area, they often came over to the other side, so it wasn’t unfamiliar.

Besides, Luke Shaw wasn’t a shy boy.

Without asking for directions, he strode straight into the dressing room.

At this moment, all the players were already in the dressing room, preparing for training.

Seeing a newcomer suddenly burst in, one they were all familiar with, they were intrigued.

“Hey, Luke, what are you doing here?”

“Mate, what’s up?”

Some players who had guessed what was happening started to smile.

Luke Shaw wasn’t fazed at all. He smiled at everyone and announced loudly, “Starting today, I’m training with the first team.”

Then, he looked at Modrić, “Captain, where’s my locker?”

Everyone was more than surprised.

This kid really had no sense of being a rookie!

Modrić smiled and looked at José Fonte, who stood up, grabbed Luke Shaw, and led him to an unused locker. “This is a temporary locker for newcomers. You can use it for now. What if you end up back across the street in a couple of days?”

The room erupted in laughter.

Luke Shaw laughed along with them. “Good thing you don’t play on the left flank, otherwise I’d suspect you were targeting me on purpose.”

Another round of laughter filled the room.

The biggest advantage of home-grown academy players was that they often found it easier to integrate into the team than foreign signings.

Just like Luke Shaw.

He had already met the first team players on a daily basis, and with his good personality, he needed no time to integrate and adapt.

While packing his things, Luke Shaw was full of anticipation.

He knew that joining the first team at this time meant he would definitely play in the final league match of the season that weekend.

That would be his Premier League debut, and his first-team debut!

He couldn’t wait!

…

May 13th, 3:00 PM.

Premier League, Round 38, Bayswater Chinese away to Wigan Athletic.

Maintaining player form is an art.

Too many games in quick succession takes a heavy toll on players, making it difficult to maintain form.

Too few games, with long intervals, is also not conducive to keeping players sharp.

Therefore, the intensity of matches is best kept at a comfortable level for the players, maintaining form without excessive exertion.

The match in the 38th round was just like that.

Wigan Athletic had already secured their survival and were under no pressure.

Bayswater Chinese had also already won the title, so they had no burden either.

Yang Cheng’s pre-match conversation with Roberto Martínez was very amicable; both were quite friendly.

During the match, however, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative from the start, launching an all-out attack.

In the 9th minute, Modrić assisted Gareth Bale for a goal, giving the team an early lead.

After that, Bayswater Chinese slowed the pace of the game slightly, focusing on ball control.

For Bayswater Chinese, the more important task in this match was to fine-tune their form.

And at the same time, to avoid any player injuries.

In the last 20 minutes of the first half, Wigan Athletic tried to launch an attack, but they were unable to breach Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

It’s worth noting that so far this season, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded 9 goals.

This set a new record for the fewest goals conceded in the history of the English top flight.

That was six fewer than Chelsea’s record in the 2004/05 season.

After play resumed in the second half, Yang Cheng started making consecutive substitutions from the 60th minute onwards.

Harry Kane and Pogba were brought on successively.

Sterling was not in the matchday squad as he had been called up to the U21 national team for training.

So, Yang Cheng called up Luke Shaw and, in the 70th minute, brought him on to replace Marcelo.

The 1.85-meter-tall Luke Shaw showed no signs of being intimidated.

After coming on as a substitute, although he wasn’t perfectly in sync with his teammates yet, he was confident enough to demand the ball and was very aggressive in defense.

Wigan Athletic’s right winger was Victor Moses from Nigeria.

A product of South London, he started at Crystal Palace. In January 2010, after the debt-ridden Crystal Palace went into administration, Moses was sold to Wigan Athletic.

The young winger was known for his speed and dribbling on the flanks, and had performed quite well in the Premier League this season.

Before Luke Shaw came on, he had had a few good moments and had even created some threats.

When the young substitute came on, Moses clearly hoped to easily dominate his new opponent.

However, in their very first encounter, Luke Shaw dispossessed Moses with a precise and sharp sliding tackle.

Later, the two had a physical duel.

Luke Shaw looked thin, but at 1.85 meters, he had a slight height advantage over the 1.77-meter Moses and successfully overpowered his opponent.

In their third encounter, Luke Shaw intercepted the ball first and quickly advanced down the left flank.

After crossing the halfway line and entering Wigan’s final third, Luke Shaw sent a cross pass to Pogba.

The Frenchman then passed to Modrić, who played a chipped pass over the top.

Harry Kane made an overlapping run, controlled the ball in the penalty area, and easily slotted it into Wigan’s goal.

2-0!

By this point, the match was already in the 86th minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 away from home.

No players were injured, and the overall performance was good. Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the result.

…

With the final round of the Premier League concluded, the league season came to a complete end.

Bayswater Chinese finished with a remarkable record of 34 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 105 points and setting a record for the highest single-season points tally in Europe’s top five leagues.

Yang Cheng’s team was also the first in the history of the top five leagues to surpass 100 points.

Although Real Madrid also reached 100 points in La Liga this season, the Galácticos only hit that mark after defeating Mallorca at home in the final round.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had already broken the 100-point barrier in the previous round against Everton.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese was the first in history.

Even though Mourinho’s Real Madrid also broke 100, they had to settle for second place in this regard.

In terms of goals scored, Bayswater Chinese netted 109 goals in a single season, 8 more than last season’s 101.

And they conceded only 9 goals, 21 fewer than last season.

Such a record was unique across European football.

Of course, in terms of goal-scoring, Real Madrid and Barça in La Liga were more impressive than Bayswater Chinese.

Needless to say, the two goal-scoring machines, Messi and C. Ronaldo, were enough to give Bayswater Chinese a headache.

This season, Messi scored 50 goals and provided 16 assists in La Liga, contributing to 66 goals by himself. It was simply staggering!

C. Ronaldo was not far behind, with 46 La Liga goals this season.

It could be said that, across the world, only La Liga’s big two could dedicate their entire team to building two such goal-scoring machines.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese’s top scorer was Robert Lewandowski, with 31 goals this season.

In the Premier League, Lewandowski’s goal tally surpassed van Persie’s 30, making him the Premier League’s top scorer.

Third on the scorer chart was Manchester United’s Rooney, with 27 goals.

Next was Manchester City’s Agüero, with 23 goals.

Further down was Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale, with 21 goals.

Theo Walcott scored 19 goals.

Two of Bayswater Chinese’s players were ranked 5th and 6th on the Premier League’s top scorer chart.

Of the top ten scorers in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese occupied three spots, a truly dominant showing.

The other seven spots were filled by players from seven different teams.

Bayswater Chinese’s front three scored a total of 71 Premier League goals, earning them the title of the strongest attacking combination in Premier League history.

Even when compared to La Liga’s big two, although Messi and C. Ronaldo had more individual goals, Bayswater Chinese’s front three had a much more balanced goal distribution.

As The Times noted, Barça and Real Madrid’s attacks relied more on the individual ability and performance of their stars.

But Yang Cheng’s team relied on the overall team performance.

This was a clear difference from La Liga’s big two.

Compared to last season, the front three’s goal tally of 58 had increased by 13.

For this young attacking trio, maintaining steady improvement each year was undoubtedly very encouraging.

Yang Cheng was also very satisfied with the current front three and the team’s overall lineup.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese’s young goalkeeper Courtois set a new Premier League record with 29 clean sheets, earning him the Premier League Goalkeeper of the Season award!

Even more astonishingly, this season in the Premier League, no team had managed to score more than one goal against Bayswater Chinese in a single match.

After Bayswater Chinese clinched the Premier League title, Manchester City finished second with 95 points.

Arsenal came in third with 92 points.

Manchester United finished fourth with 88 points.

Liverpool and Chelsea were fifth and sixth respectively.

This was the final ranking of the top teams in the Premier League this season.

In the relegation zone, although Queens Park Rangers spent over 30 million pound sterling during the winter transfer window and loaned in several quality players from teams like Manchester United and AC Milan, Mark Hughes ultimately failed to turn the team around.

Especially after a series of setbacks, Queens Park Rangers failed to stage a successful comeback.

The West London team was relegated with 31 points.

Blackburn Rovers also finished with 31 points, but the Thugs’ fate was worse; they finished at the bottom of the table due to goal difference.

The 18th spot went to Bolton, who earned 36 points.

Aston Villa narrowly avoided relegation on the final day.

And after playing the 38th round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team shifted all their energy and resources to the Champions League final.

Chapter 252: Winning with Possession! I Want to Win the Champions League Standing Tall! Recreating the Glory of the Treble!

For the past two weeks, Yang Cheng had been pondering one question.

How should they play against Barça in the Champions League final?

Yang Cheng had made a point of re-watching the 2009 Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Looking back, Bayswater Chinese had played quite passively in that match.

The scoreline was good, but it was primarily achieved through a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Compared to their lineup back then, the current Bayswater Chinese team was significantly stronger.

Goalkeeper: Neuer.

Defense: Leighton Baines, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Maicon.

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Rakitić and Modrić in the center.

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Džeko, and Ángel Di María.

That was the starting eleven for the Champions League final against Barça during their Treble-winning season.

More than half of those players had since left the team.

For instance, the goalkeeper had changed from Neuer to Courtois.

The left-back, Leighton Baines, had been replaced by Marcelo, and on the right, Maicon had been succeeded by Piszczek.

The holding midfielder had gone from Yaya Touré to Nemanja Matić, and Rakitić had been replaced by Toni Kroos.

In terms of overall strength, the team was indeed much stronger than it was in 2009.

The core players were mostly in their prime.

Gareth Bale had been a youngster just starting out back then, but now he was an accomplished, top-tier European star.

The centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Pepe had also been tested by numerous elite attacking players and major tournaments over the years.

It could be said that the current Bayswater Chinese team was powerful and well-equipped, unafraid of any opponent.

But Barça was a very special team.

Based on on-paper strength alone, Barça was inferior to Bayswater Chinese.

Looking only at the midfield, Barça might not even have an advantage.

Xavi was already 32, and Puyol was even older at 34.

But what made this Barça team so special was their possession-based system.

The “Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio” in midfield, along with Messi, and Puyol, Piqué, and Dani Alves behind them, formed the entirety of Barça’s possession system.

In this respect, no other team in the world could compare to Barça.

Even the Spanish national team, which also featured the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio, lacked a superstar like Messi.

How did other teams play when they faced Barça?

When Mourinho played against Barça, he almost always adopted a defend deep and counter-attack tactic.

In last season’s Champions League final, although Wenger’s Arsenal didn’t sit back, they effectively ceded possession.

Moreover, Barça players like Puyol had just returned from injury, so dragging the game out was highly disadvantageous for them.

To some extent, Wenger got a bit lucky in last season’s Champions League.

Over the past period, Yang Cheng had repeatedly watched the clashes between top teams in the Champions League finals and Barça’s knockout stage matches from recent seasons, studying Pep Guardiola’s Barça.

This season, the two matches between Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao and Barça were very interesting.

Bielsa’s team managed to contain Barça in the first half of both legs by running relentlessly and covering ground with the entire team.

And it was remarkably effective.

But this approach had a fatal flaw: the second half.

Once your stamina was depleted to a certain point, Barça could easily dominate the match!

Yang Cheng watched many match recordings and studied various tactical approaches, but he still hadn’t settled on a final plan. He had only instructed the sports science department to continue adjusting the players’ condition and building up their stamina.

So, no one knew how he intended to deal with Barça.

Only Yang Cheng knew what was on his mind.

He hadn’t made up his mind yet.

On one hand, he was more confident now, with a stronger hand to play. He was unwilling to resort to a passive defend and counter-attack tactic like he did in 2009, or like Mourinho.

For him, having beaten Barça several times already, adopting such tactics again felt somewhat like a lack of ambition.

He wanted a breakthrough on a technical and tactical level.

In other words, he wanted to win the Champions League standing tall!

On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese was genuinely stronger now, which gave him the confidence and courage to do so.

…

The day after the 38th round of the Premier League, while the world was still buzzing about Bayswater Chinese’s unprecedented four consecutive titles, Yang Cheng held another pre-match preparation meeting at the Brent training center.

All the first team coaches were present.

The main topic of the meeting was the upcoming Champions League final.

According to the schedule, the team had a full four days to prepare specifically for this match.

“Barça’s strengths and weaknesses are actually very obvious for everyone to see.”

As the assistant coach, Brian Kidd was the first to present some of the things he had discussed with Yang Cheng.

“For example, their backline.”

“Don’t be fooled by the 114 goals Barça scored in La Liga this season; they also conceded 29 goals.”

Real Madrid scored more, a staggering 121 goals, but conceded 32.

This was certainly very un-Mourinho-like.

But that wasn’t what Brian Kidd wanted to emphasize.

“Guardiola has been coaching Barça since 2008. In the four years since, apart from the 2008/09 season where they conceded over 30 goals, in the following two seasons, Barça conceded 24 and 21 goals respectively.”

“But this season, it’s reached 29.”

“This proves that the overall quality of Barça’s defense this season is actually in decline.”

This was evident.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Barça conceded a full 40 goals in the 2012/13 season.

A major reason was their defense.

This brought the issue back to something Yang Cheng had mentioned before.

When Barça and Real Madrid built their squads, their goal was to create a team of stars, to maximize the brilliance of their top players.

But this created a drawback: a terrible defense.

Think about it, wasn’t that the case?

Real Madrid and Barça’s defenses had never improved, and they paid very little attention to their backlines.

Why?

Because they knew it was useless even if they did.

Modern football emphasizes collective effort. When the stars up front are only thinking about attacking, how can the defense possibly be good?

Back when Real Madrid signed Ballon d’Or winner Cannavaro, Samuel, and others, was it because their reputations weren’t big enough, or their skills not strong enough?

But what was the result?

They were just as shaky as ever!

Remember what Yang Cheng said about Pepe’s words to Cannavaro when he first joined Real Madrid in his previous life?

The same applied to Barça.

Because fundamentally, the strategy of both teams was to highlight the attacking advantages of their front line as much as possible.

As long as I score more goals than you, I win the match!

The same logic applied to Barça.

Why did they love pressing so high up the pitch?

Because they knew they couldn’t get back in time to defend.

Since that was the case, they might as well not track back and just win the ball back in the attacking third.

This philosophy was by no means invented by Guardiola; it had existed for a long time. It was simply a matter of the head coach’s choice.

For example, during Frank Rijkaard’s tenure, the derby match where Barça crushed Real Madrid was a perfect example of this approach.

That’s why the signings of players like Davids and Deco were so important for Barça.

But Barça’s shoddy defense was known to everyone.

The only difference was, could you withstand Barça’s attacking pressure, and while doing so, still have enough energy to strike at their fragile backline?

Yang Cheng had everyone watch the two matches between Athletic Bilbao and Barça from this season.

The first was at Athletic Bilbao’s home ground, ending in a 2-2 draw with Barça.

Bielsa’s team had the upper hand in the first half, suppressing Barça, but they faltered badly in the second half due to fatigue.

The second leg was at Camp Nou, where Bielsa’s team held on until the 40th minute of the first half before Barça broke the deadlock.

In the first leg, the possession rate was 37% to 63%.

In the second leg, it became 55% to 45%.

“Bielsa’s tactics were correct!”

Yang Cheng took the metaphorical microphone from Brian Kidd and addressed everyone.

“To suppress Barça for the entire match, we need to outrun them and expend more energy. We need to press at full tilt for at least 75 minutes, maybe even 80.”

Did they know what that meant?

Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund was famous for its full-pitch pressing, but if they went all out, they could only sustain it for 60 minutes at most, perhaps even just 55.

Sometimes, when their form wasn’t great or they were competing on multiple fronts, they couldn’t even last until the end of the first half.

Just like Athletic Bilbao in their second match against Barça this season.

“We need to have a stronger desire for victory, for the championship, than Barça!”

“We need every single player on the pitch to be one hundred percent focused, especially when off the ball. We must guarantee zero mistakes!”

“Flawless, perfect execution!”

Yang Cheng’s words silenced the entire meeting room.

Was that possible?

Where could one find perfection in this world?

Everyone knew that Yang Cheng meant they had to endlessly pursue and approach perfection!

This was an extremely high demand for any team, any player.

But could Bayswater Chinese do it?

Having conceded only nine goals in the Premier League this season, they were hailed as the most solid defensive team in history.

Pepe and Thiago Silva were even lauded as the best centre-back pairing of all time.

Yang Cheng felt it was worth a try!

“You’ve all seen the matches between Athletic Bilbao and Barça. Have you noticed why Athletic Bilbao, despite having the right tactics, still couldn’t win?”

Yang Cheng didn’t wait for his assistants to answer, providing the answer himself.

A slide appeared on the screen, showing Athletic Bilbao’s attacking statistics and shot attempts from the two matches.

In the first leg at home, Athletic Bilbao had only 37% possession, created three shots, all on target, and scored two goals.

However, one of those was an own goal by Piqué.

Barça, on the other hand, had 16 shots, nine on target, and also scored two goals.

In the second leg at Camp Nou, with 45% possession, Athletic Bilbao managed a measly four shots, with only one on target, and failed to score.

Barça had 55% possession, 20 shots, 14 on target, and scored two goals.

That was the difference!

“Athletic Bilbao lost because their attack was weak, their players’ individual abilities weren’t strong enough!”

Anyone who has played football knows that a match is just a contest within those 90 minutes.

As long as I play better than you in those 90 minutes, I win.

Does it matter if I’m a relegated team or an amateur team?

No!

Real Madrid has lost to amateur teams. Does that mean the amateur team is better than Real Madrid?

Athletic Bilbao couldn’t create attacking opportunities!

But Bayswater Chinese could!

Therefore, the same tactical approach in the hands of Athletic Bilbao and in the hands of Bayswater Chinese would pose two completely different levels of threat!

Of course, Yang Cheng would never say he wanted to perfectly replicate Athletic Bilbao’s tactics.

That was unrealistic, even foolish.

Because Bayswater Chinese was stronger than Athletic Bilbao!

They were a cut above in every department!

But Bielsa’s tactical thinking was worth studying.

“For us, Bayswater Chinese, in this Champions League final, as long as we can overpower Barça physically, mentally, and in other aspects, as long as you can give one hundred percent commitment and focus.”

“Then, we will definitely be able to bring the Champions League trophy home!”

…

While Yang Cheng and his coaching staff were holding their pre-match meeting, at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper west of Barcelona, Spain, Pep Guardiola and his assistant Tito Vilanova were also studying Bayswater Chinese.

Guardiola and his assistants were well aware of the problems that had emerged at Barça over the past couple of years.

But there were no easy solutions.

The aging of Xavi and Puyol was inevitable.

An incident had also occurred before this Champions League final.

Barça Chairman Rosell wanted to renew Guardiola’s contract, but Guardiola stated clearly that he would not consider anything unrelated to the match until after the final.

As a result, rumors were rampant that he would leave Barça at the end of the season.

This was not without basis.

Everyone close to Guardiola knew that he was indeed entertaining such thoughts.

Although he never said it aloud.

The current situation at Barça was that the core players were aging.

Puyol in defense, Xavi in midfield.

Both were pivotal players in Barça’s entire tactical system.

To some extent, Xavi was the cornerstone of this possession-based system.

As Xavi began to age and his influence waned, Barça would start to expose more problems.

For example, Iniesta, who had always been outstanding, also seemed to be in decline.

The high press in the attacking and middle thirds, which used to be so effective, now seemed to be full of holes.

And then there were the connections between the forwards, midfield, and defense, which seemed to be breaking down more and more easily.

If you looked closely, it was easy to see that this was because the players’ running ability had decreased.

Especially Xavi’s.

“Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength is definitely the best in the world right now, and they have almost no obvious weaknesses.”

In front of his assistants, Guardiola said something he would never say publicly.

This was extremely high praise for Bayswater Chinese.

“If I had to point something out, it would be their left-back, Marcelo’s side, which is somewhat lacking defensively.”

“And also, their team lacks a superstar game-changer like Messi!”

Of course, this wasn’t really a problem.

There were only two such superstar game-changers in the world: Messi and C. Ronaldo.

Gareth Bale seemed to have the potential, but let’s not forget, he was born in July 1989. Strictly speaking, he was only 22 years old.

“So, what do you all think? How should we play this match?”

Guardiola was clearly in a difficult position.

Looking around, his assistants were equally stumped.

Facing an opponent with almost no obvious weaknesses and such immense strength, they genuinely didn’t know what to do.

“A three-at-the-back formation is definitely out of the question. They have such strong wings. If we stick with three at the back, we’ll only end up exposing our weakness in defending high balls.”

“Robert Lewandowski is not only proficient with both feet, but his heading ability is also extremely strong. Same with Gareth Bale.”

Vilanova reminded Guardiola.

He knew his close friend very well; sometimes he was too much of an idealist.

To actually play a three-at-the-back against Bayswater Chinese would be no different from suicide.

Set pieces and aerial attacks were Barça’s Achilles’ heel, but they were Bayswater Chinese’s strengths.

“I suggest we adopt a more pragmatic tactical approach and play to our own strengths.”

Guardiola glanced at his assistant. “You mean… possession.”

“Exactly. That’s our biggest advantage against Bayswater Chinese!”

“But Yang Cheng will do everything he can to disrupt our possession.”

“Then that’s an opportunity for us to create chances through passing and penetration!”

Vilanova’s words served as a reminder to Guardiola and many others present.

Crisis and opportunity go hand in hand.

Being overly cautious would not only stifle the opponent but also oneself.

Barça could control the ball and let Bayswater Chinese try to win it back.

As soon as their opponents lost their shape while trying to press, that would be Barça’s chance to attack!

“But our current midfield might not be able to hold onto the ball under their pressure!” another coach reminded them.

This was also a problem.

Xavi was older, and his running ability had noticeably declined.

Coupled with Puyol’s aging, Barça’s entire passing and possession system showed a clear downward trend compared to before.

“Then let’s adjust our strategy. Give up on attacking from the front and pull Messi back.”

Vilanova once again voiced his idea.

“We’ll have Iniesta, Busquets, and Xavi in midfield. With Messi dropping back, we’ll have four ball-players. In defense, there’s Puyol and Piqué, plus Dani Alves.”

“I think that configuration is enough!”

As Vilanova said this, he glanced at Guardiola and saw him nodding repeatedly. This boosted his confidence, and he continued.

“We use our possession to control the overall flow of the game, constantly wearing down Bayswater Chinese, just like we did against Athletic Bilbao and other teams.”

“As long as we hold onto possession firmly, we can ensure we don’t concede. Even if it ends 0-0 and goes into extra time, it will be to our advantage!”

As long as Barça maintained possession, the team that had expended less energy would have a greater advantage in extra time.

A flash of understanding crossed Guardiola’s mind. “In that case, the tempo of the game can’t be fast. It must be as slow as possible.”

A slow tempo would favor Barça’s possession and help wear down Bayswater Chinese.

A fast tempo, on the other hand, would benefit the Premier League team.

But this would lead to another problem.

Tempo and possession were not the same thing.

Barça could control the ball, but they might not be able to control the tempo.

If Bayswater Chinese pressed frantically, they could definitely speed up the game.

This would require an on-the-fly battle of wits between the two sides, as well as control from the head coach.

Guardiola now had some direction in his mind, and more ideas began to form.

He was already feeling that this Barça team had hit a ceiling.

In terms of possession, they had truly reached the pinnacle.

Moreover, there were many things within this team that he couldn’t control.

In other words, Guardiola felt he could no longer lead this Barça team to a higher level.

For him, this was a rather terrible feeling.

And because of this, he wanted to leave.

But he still hoped that in this Champions League final, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese could bring more food for thought and excitement to him, to Barça, and even to the world of football!

…

No one knew what Bayswater Chinese and Barça were training on after their respective leagues ended.

Both powerhouse clubs held closed-door training camps for several days.

There were even media rumors that Bayswater Chinese had sacrificed two league matches early on to secretly prepare for this Champions League final for nearly a month.

No one came forward to corroborate these outside claims.

But time ticked by.

A series of events continued to stoke the emotions of all media outlets and fans.

UEFA announced the head referee for this season’s Champions League final: Nicola Rizzoli from Italy.

He was a world-renowned international referee with a stellar reputation.

Rizzoli had officiated three Champions League group stage matches and one Round of 16 knockout match this season.

He was also slated to officiate at this summer’s European Championship.

In addition to Rizzoli helming this globally anticipated showdown, the two assistant referees and the fourth official would also be from Italy, forming a complete team with Rizzoli.

This was a standard configuration for refereeing teams in European football.

With Bayswater Chinese having already won the Premier League and the FA Cup and now heading to Munich’s Allianz Arena for the Champions League final, sponsors from all over the world were also basking in the reflected glory.

For instance, the German bus sponsor MAN had been in partnership with Bayswater Chinese for several years.

This time, just before the final, they specially launched a Champions League special edition model for the club.

The overall configuration was the same as the second-generation Lion’s Coach launched in 2008, which the Bayswater Chinese first team currently used, but there were significant upgrades in the body paint, exterior design, and some interior features.

Before the final, the two parties held a press conference in Munich, Germany, where MAN delivered the bus on site and also announced the signing of a new agreement with Bayswater Chinese.

MAN officially became Bayswater Chinese’s partner for luxury coaches.

This was the first sponsorship contract signed since their collaboration began in 2004.

Yes, before this, the German company had cooperated with Bayswater Chinese, but there was no sponsorship relationship.

But now, they clearly hoped to leverage Bayswater Chinese’s influence to promote their global sales market.

Signing such a contract just before the Champions League final was also a successful marketing move for MAN.

Other sponsors from around the world also launched various marketing campaigns, coordinating with Bayswater Chinese’s return to the Champions League final after a three-year absence, to attract as much fan attention as possible.

In England, farmers came up with another interesting and creative activity.

An alpaca!

During the World Cup in South Africa, Paul the Octopus became an overnight global sensation.

Since then, using animals to predict the outcome of major football matches has become a highly entertaining topic.

Before this Champions League final, a 64-year-old farmer in England named Linda Johnson also organized a prediction event, which received intense attention from the British media and fans.

Linda Johnson owned an eight-year-old alpaca named Nicholas.

Two goalposts were set up in front of him, one representing Barça with its red and blue colors, and the other representing Bayswater Chinese with its Sand Dollar color. Nicholas was tasked with making a choice.

In the end, the British alpaca bumped into the goalpost representing Bayswater Chinese, the Sand Dollar one.

The entire event was open to the public and live-streamed online, sparking frenzy and heated discussions among the media and fans.

The farmer, Linda Johnson, also enjoyed a great deal of fame as a result.

The Spanish media quickly retaliated against the animal prediction from the English farmer.

In Benalmádena, a tourist town east of Málaga in southern Spain, an aquarium housed an octopus named “Messi.”

This octopus also made a prediction for the Champions League final, believing that Barça would defeat Bayswater Chinese.

Guardiola would win the first Champions League of his coaching career!

This also sparked fierce debate in the Spanish media.

Over the past two or three years, aquariums across Spain had launched various imitations, such as an octopus named Iniesta and an octopus named Casillas, but their accuracy rates were rather mediocre.

This time, it was unknown whether Octopus Messi’s prediction could be as precise and sharp as the Messi on the football pitch.

…

The animal oracles let England and Spain have a preliminary showdown off the pitch.

And Munich, the host city of the Champions League final, did not hold back either.

The match was scheduled for Saturday, May 19th. By Friday morning, the entire city of Munich had been transformed into a black and white football city.

More than two thousand giant promotional posters of the two finalist teams were displayed in major subway stations, squares, and other places across the city.

Fans who had traveled from afar could be seen everywhere on the streets of Munich, and images of the stars from both participating teams were ubiquitous.

According to authoritative media forecasts, this Champions League final would attract over 300 million viewers for the live broadcast.

This would set the highest viewership record in the history of the Champions League final!

It would be the world’s grandest and most influential sporting event, with an impact surpassing that of the Super Bowl in the United States, making it number one in the world!

The Mayor of Munich, in an interview with reporters, excitedly stated, “The hospitable people of Munich are ready to welcome our guests.”

They estimated that over 140,000 tourists would visit Munich around the time of the final.

On the night of the final, over 80,000 fans would stay overnight in Munich, bringing huge economic benefits to the city’s hotels, inns, and bars.

Faced with such a massive influx of tourists, the local Munich police were also on high alert, deploying 2,000 police officers to maintain order.

According to preliminary estimates, between 35,000 and 40,000 English fans would come to Munich.

Germany and England had maintained close cooperation, and 80 known football hooligans had already been banned from traveling to Germany.

However, for safety reasons, on the day of the final, the sale of alcoholic beverages in glass bottles would be completely banned in Munich’s old town, and no alcoholic drinks would be sold around the stadium.

Faced with such a momentous event, the Munich officials had made thorough preparations.

All that was left was for the two giants of world football to grace the city with their presence!

…

“Just received news from the club. The London Mayor’s Office has officially informed us that Mayor Ken Livingstone and several important council members will be attending the match in Munich.”

“Additionally, we’ve also heard from Downing Street. Prime Minister Cameron and several key government officials have decided to accept the German Chancellor’s invitation to watch the game in Munich.”

“The British Royal Family has arranged for Prince William and Princess Kate to attend the match in Munich this time.”

At the training center in Brent, West London, Yang Cheng walked ahead while Gary Worthington followed beside him, constantly reporting the latest news.

Yang Cheng was not at all surprised by the attention from London, the British government, and the Royal Family.

To put it bluntly, they also needed to make an appearance at such occasions to boost their presence.

In a way, Bayswater Chinese was bringing glory to Britain!

“What’s the weather like in Munich on match day?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“It’s expected to be 20 degrees Celsius during the match. The temperature and humidity are quite good.”

Yang Cheng nodded and said no more.

“Also, according to information our club has received, Fabio Capello, Redknapp, Ferguson, Wenger, and others will all be at the Allianz Arena to watch the game.”

Previously, Yang Cheng had gone to Wembley Stadium to support Wenger. This time, Wenger was certain to return the favor.

“Also, our driver has familiarized himself with the area around Munich. The hotel is all set. We’ll head over at noon, and our familiarization training at the stadium is scheduled for 6:30 PM.”

Since Bayswater Chinese was drawn as the “away team,” their training session at the stadium was scheduled a bit later than Barça’s.

As they spoke, Yang Cheng had already arrived at his office.

“Go and inform Thad Foucher, Oliver Bartlett, Tim Harkness, and Neil Cannon. We’ll meet again after the training session to go over tonight’s and tomorrow’s arrangements.”

“Okay.”

With that, Gary Worthington turned and left.

Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett needed no introduction.

Tim Harkness was the psychologist, and Neil Cannon was the nutrition expert.

Yang Cheng needed them to provide a more detailed assessment report to accurately grasp every aspect of the players’ condition.

…

Friday morning’s training session was mostly focused on recovery and adjustment.

With the big match imminent, everyone could clearly feel the tense atmosphere.

During the recent period of secret training, Yang Cheng had not conducted penalty kick practice.

That’s right, he didn’t practice penalties!

This was essentially telling everyone that this match must not be dragged into a penalty shootout!

The intensity of the training session was not high, and the atmosphere was decent. Yang Cheng didn’t say much, instead doing his best to keep the players relaxed.

This was a lesson learned from his many years of coaching.

The more crucial the moment, the more the head coach needed to create a sense of ease.

If even the head coach himself was nervous, what would the players do?

People who haven’t experienced it can never understand the immense pressure the players were under.

Some players had started suffering from insomnia after reaching a final!

Everyone thought Ronaldo’s sudden illness before the 1998 final was some kind of conspiracy, but in reality, anyone who has played football, especially in major tournaments, knows that it was caused by nervousness and pressure.

Do you know what the most commonly prescribed medication by team doctors is?

Sleeping pills!

Some players simply couldn’t sleep without them.

Over the past few years, the various procedures Yang Cheng had established at Bayswater Chinese were now fully operational.

For example, the club’s training equipment had already been transported to Munich.

All food and drinking water were flown in from London.

From hotel selection to all sorts of pre-match preparations, Bayswater Chinese executed everything in an orderly manner.

The flight this time was a charter from their sponsor, Qatar Airways.

The plane had long been adorned with the Bayswater Chinese crest and giant posters of the star players.

At this moment, it was waiting at Heathrow Airport.

Before departure, everyone, dressed in Burberry suits, took a group photo at the Brent training center.

The entire first team was heading out together!

…

From the moment they arrived in Munich, the fast-paced schedule of the Champions League final officially began.

And the itinerary was packed very tightly.

After a short rest and settling in at the hotel, the team arrived at the Allianz Arena punctually at 6 PM.

By this time, many fans who had arrived early had already gathered at the scene.

When the club’s bus crossed the overpass and arrived at the Allianz Arena, the fans and media reporters who had long been waiting erupted in cheers, cheering for the team.

As usual, Yang Cheng was the first to step off the bus.

He was greeted by the cheers of all the fans present.

After him, the players disembarked one by one, all dressed in black Burberry suits, looking incredibly cool.

Among the many players, the happiest was Luke Shaw.

The kid never imagined that after being suddenly promoted to the first team, he would get to tag along for a trip to the Champions League final in Munich!

More importantly, he would actually get to step onto the pitch at the Allianz Arena. How ridiculous was that?

All in all, he had only been with the first team for about 10 days.

He even spent the whole trip daydreaming.

“If we win the championship, there are 30 medals. I should get one, right?”

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

But seriously, the kid was indeed lucky.

He actually managed to tag along for this!

“Let’s go, the youngest Champions League champion in history!”

Pepe pushed Luke Shaw forward, and they walked into the players’ tunnel of the Allianz Arena amidst the cheers of the fans lining the path.

Oh, by the way, it’s worth mentioning that due to sponsorship reasons, the Allianz Arena’s branding would be covered up for a few days before and after the final.

…

Yang Cheng didn’t want to reveal his starting lineup too early, so this time he brought the entire first team, except for Sterling who was with the national team training camp.

The training drills were also very conventional, all familiar exercises.

During the group training, Yang Cheng deliberately mixed everyone up, splitting them into different groups, making it impossible for anyone to guess who would start in the final.

During the training, Yang Cheng also specifically arranged for free kick attacking drills.

This was no secret.

Bayswater Chinese was known for its attacking set pieces, and Barça’s players were generally shorter, making their defense against free kicks and high balls relatively weak. If Yang Cheng didn’t exploit this, it would be suspicious.

After the training session, Yang Cheng observed the players’ conditions. They were generally in good spirits, and many went over to interact with the fans, including signing autographs and taking photos.

Fabio Capello, Ferguson, Wenger, and others also came to the scene to meet with Yang Cheng and the players.

Yang Cheng went with them to the press conference hall, where he met Beckenbauer and UEFA General Secretary Infantino, among others, which naturally led to another round of pleasantries.

In an earlier press conference, Barça’s head coach Pep Guardiola had told reporters, “Yang Cheng’s team are cup competition specialists. Their win rate in cup finals is extremely high.”

To this, Yang Cheng responded.

“Guardiola is a very outstanding head coach. His work at Barça has made things very difficult for us.”

“He is always very calm and rational, and his control over the team is excellent. This allows him, the team, and the players to blend together harmoniously, which is nothing short of fantastic!”

Yang Cheng also stated that the most important thing for Bayswater Chinese in the upcoming final against Barça was to be able to play their own style.

“Barça is a team with a very unique style. Facing such an opponent, we must stick to our own football philosophy. Only then is it possible to win.”

As for what style and tactics he would employ, and which players he would field, Yang Cheng said he hadn’t decided yet.

“I will talk to the players again tonight, consider all opinions, and then make the final decision on the starting lineup for the final based on their recent form.”

What did Yang Cheng want to say to his players before the final?

Yang Cheng smiled and said that he had already said everything he needed to say to them.

“We have already won the Premier League and the FA Cup this season. We no longer need to prove our strength to anyone.”

“We are one of the highest-scoring teams in European football and the most successful defensive team. That is enough!”

“No matter what happens tomorrow, they will be considered a part of the club’s legend!”

Yang Cheng’s meaning was very clear: he wanted all the players to shed their burdens and play without pressure.

…

Finals day.

From the morning, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff were busy.

The most important thing was to assess the players’ emotions and conditions.

In every team, there are some with a big-game mentality and some who get nervous more easily.

This is normal.

Over the course of the morning, Yang Cheng had short conversations with every single player to get a grasp of their emotional state.

In the end, he once again opted for a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois.

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek.

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center.

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Ángel Di María.

There wasn’t much controversy or suspense regarding the defense, goalkeeper, and midfield.

These players had the best chemistry and were also the strongest.

If any of them were to lose their starting spot, that would be real news.

However, in the forward line, Yang Cheng’s choice of Ángel Di María on the right wing was somewhat surprising.

Actually, it was quite normal.

Di María and Theo Walcott had always been important squad rotation players for the right-wing position.

Walcott had performed exceptionally well this season, scoring 19 goals in the league.

Everyone believed that the trident of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Walcott was Bayswater Chinese’s most threatening attacking combination.

But Yang Cheng had his own reasons for choosing Di María.

Firstly, while Di María’s goal-scoring ability was indeed inferior to Walcott’s, his dribbling, individual skill, and passing ability were all superior to Walcott’s.

More importantly, Di María was a special player. He always managed to deliver stunning performances in crucial showdowns.

He might seem unremarkable on a normal day, with his stats not being particularly outstanding.

But once it came to clashes between top teams, to decisive battles, he would immediately show his prowess.

The kid had a big-game mentality!

Therefore, Yang Cheng chose Di María to replace Walcott.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that Walcott’s performance was bad.

In fact, The Little Tiger’s performance this season was definitely at the level of a world-class winger.

And unlike in his previous life, the current Walcott was quite decent in his ball control, possession, and link-up play.

After all, having been immersed in the Bayswater Chinese environment for the past few years, he had been influenced.

Yang Cheng chose to use him as a surprise player.

If necessary, he would bring him on in the second half to make runs at the defense.

Barça’s lineup, on the other hand, was easier to guess.

Guardiola didn’t have many first team players. Apart from players like Tiago, Cuenca, and Tello, who were highly unlikely to start, Barça’s starting lineup held few secrets.

Goalkeeper: Valdés.

Defense: Adriano, Puyol, Piqué, and Dani Alves.

Midfield: Busquets in a holding role, with Iniesta and Xavi in the center.

Forwards: David Villa, Messi, and Pedro.

Barring any surprises, this should be Barça’s starting lineup.

As for Seydou Keita in midfield, that was basically impossible.

If he played, Barça’s midfield possession rate would be affected.

As for a three-at-the-back…

Well, Yang Cheng actually really hoped Guardiola would play three at the back.

In that case, he wouldn’t mind teaching Guardiola’s team a harsh lesson!

The team rested at the hotel.

Yang Cheng held the final pre-match motivational meeting.

It was very short, just a few minutes.

And it was right before the team departed.

“We have said enough and emphasized enough about this match.”

“Over the past two weeks or so, we have invested so much, and everyone has put in extraordinary effort!”

“Now, as we are about to walk into the Allianz Arena, I just want to say one thing to you!”

“Trust me, I need you all to trust me!”

“You must believe that I will lead you, in this stadium, to win our last and most important trophy of the season!”

“I will definitely lead everyone to recreate the glory of the Treble!”

“I have never doubted your abilities, and I have never doubted your fighting spirit!”

“Don’t feel any pressure or burden. Go out there and fully enjoy the fun of this top-tier football feast, and fully unleash your energy and talent!”

“We will achieve the final victory!”

Yang Cheng’s pep talk was met with an enthusiastic response from the players.

Chapter 253: An Epic Offensive Battle! The Kid’s a Genius! Tonight, We’re Witnessing History!

On the evening of May 19th, at 7:45 PM.

Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany.

When the Italian head referee, Rizzoli, blew the whistle to start the match, Spanish striker David Villa, standing in the center circle, passed the ball to Messi.

Messi tapped it back to Busquets in the holding midfield role.

At almost the same instant, Bayswater Chinese’s front three surged forward.

This Champions League final, watched by the entire world, had finally, officially begun!

Amidst the cheers of the sixty-six thousand fans in the stadium, both teams plunged directly into a high-tempo slugfest from the very first second.

The moment Busquets controlled the ball, Robert Lewandowski was already upon him, forcing the Spaniard to pass it back once more.

But Bayswater Chinese’s trident continued to press forward, following the ball’s path.

When Puyol received the ball, he found he had no clear passing lanes.

Lewandowski’s positioning prevented Puyol from passing to Piqué or Busquets, while Di María was marking Adriano closely.

Dani Alves was too far away.

In defensive passing, such long-distance balls are a major taboo.

Whether it’s a cross pass or a back pass, they are extremely prone to errors.

What’s more, on Alves’ flank, there was the lightning-fast Gareth Bale.

No one was marking Puyol directly, but he was a centre-back.

The Barça captain didn’t hesitate, choosing to carry the ball forward himself.

But just as Puyol was about to dribble forward slowly, trying to buy time for his teammates to get into position, Lewandowski spotted his chance and rapidly closed in from the side.

Forced, Puyol had to accelerate.

As he exited the 30-meter area, he saw Modrić ahead, also charging towards him.

Under pressure from both front and back, Puyol had no choice but to play a through ball, aiming for Iniesta up ahead.

After Modrić pressed high, Iniesta’s position was open, but Nemanja Matić also pushed up immediately to challenge.

The Spaniard didn’t dwell on the ball, intending to play a quick pass in behind for Villa on the left flank.

However, the pass was overhit and went straight out for a throw-in.

Bayswater Chinese’s ball!

At this point, only 15 seconds had passed!

Cheers and applause from the Bayswater Chinese fans erupted throughout the Allianz Arena.

From the start, both sides had gone at it, hammer and tongs.

To some extent, this opening exchange already revealed the tactical approaches of both teams for this match.

Those 15 seconds of play were incredibly rich in content!

…

Pep Guardiola, sitting on the bench, frowned.

Neither team’s starting lineup held any real surprises for the other.

Before the match, Guardiola and Yang Cheng had chatted on the touchline for a long time.

But once the game began, it was cutthroat, with no quarter given.

Though it had only been 15 seconds, Guardiola had already gleaned much from Bayswater Chinese’s opening strategy.

“This is what I told you before. We can control the ball, but we might not be able to control the tempo!”

Guardiola’s tone was filled with helplessness.

Yang Cheng was an incredibly ruthless and seasoned head coach, not at all like a young man in his early thirties.

Most importantly, the players under his command had served him for years and knew his tactical philosophy inside and out.

Like that moment just now when Lewandowski pressed Puyol.

Across all of European football, you probably couldn’t find another team that could press like that.

Guardiola had played the game, so he understood the predicament Puyol was in.

The Barça captain was dribbling forward.

Lewandowski had intentionally allowed him to advance, waiting until Puyol had passed the horizontal line of Busquets before suddenly accelerating to press from behind.

At that moment, Puyol had no way to pass to his right, towards Busquets.

The passing lane was completely blocked by Lewandowski.

If he wanted to pass back to Piqué, he would have to turn.

But the moment he turned, Lewandowski would be on him.

Furthermore, Modrić had coordinated perfectly, suddenly rushing up to disrupt Puyol’s rhythm.

So, while that pass looked like a premeditated through ball from Puyol, he had actually been forced to rush it forward after his rhythm was broken by the opponent.

Moreover, it was the only available passing lane.

The end result was that Iniesta was flustered too.

And when Bayswater Chinese took the throw-in, Barça immediately began to counter-press on the spot.

By then, the game’s tempo was already incredibly fast.

The ball was contested fiercely in the area between Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter line and the halfway line, with possession changing hands frequently.

It wasn’t until a minute later that Barça managed to stabilize possession.

But by then, the ball had been forced back into their own half, to their two centre-backs.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Bayswater Chinese continued to push forward, their midfield and attack pressing over the halfway line, engaging in a high press.

“They’re playing very aggressively tonight!” Vilanova also had a headache.

From the start until now, Barça had failed to slow the game down to their familiar, slower rhythm.

As a result, they made quite a few passing errors.

Although the possession stats didn’t mean much yet, a preliminary estimate would put it at 60-40 in their favor.

Under Bayswater Chinese’s relentless pressure, Barça was even forced to retreat into their own 30-meter area.

At 1 minute and 20 seconds, when Piqué passed the ball horizontally to Puyol, Guardiola noticed that Lewandowski had reluctantly dropped back to near the bottom of the center circle.

But it didn’t look like Bayswater Chinese had any intention of retreating into their own half.

Puyol had no choice but to dribble forward again.

Just like at the start of the game.

The full-backs, Adriano and Dani Alves, had already pushed up into advanced positions.

But this time, Messi dropped back from the front.

He dropped incredibly deep, all the way back to the same line as Busquets to receive the ball.

Clearly, the Argentinian superstar had noticed the difficulty Barça’s defense and midfield were having in their distribution.

“If he plays like this, Messi loses his threat!” Guardiola shook his head.

How much of a threat could Messi be when he was so far from the opponent’s defensive line, so far from their penalty area and goal?

This was not the most lethal version of Messi!

But even with Messi dropping back, he still couldn’t get a pass out.

The moment he got the ball, he was marked by Modrić and forced to pass back to Puyol again.

The Barça captain once more sent a through ball, finding Adriano, who had made a run forward into a winger’s position.

But just as Adriano received it, Piszczek was on his back, harassing him.

As the Brazilian tried to turn and shake him off, Piszczek decisively poked the ball away.

Fortunately, Iniesta and others immediately launched a counter-press near the halfway line.

The game instantly fell back into the high-tempo chaos of the first minute.

“This pace is very unfavorable for us!” Vilanova was in a difficult spot.

Guardiola glanced at his assistant, smiling bitterly to himself.

Before the match, it was Vilanova who had strongly advocated for this possession-based approach. Now, facing the pressure born from the opponent’s tireless running, the game’s tempo had been dragged into the fast pace most familiar to the Premier League.

What good was Vilanova’s comment now?

Guardiola realized with stark clarity that possession was gradually becoming Barça’s shackles.

It was a very strange feeling.

Without the ball at their feet, it was as if Barça simply forgot how to play football.

Or perhaps, Barça was incapable of adapting to a game where they couldn’t control possession.

This was a fatal flaw!

Guardiola stood up from his seat, walked quickly to the touchline, and shouted to his players on the pitch, signaling them to stop insisting on attacking down the left and to switch the play to the right more often.

More back-and-forth movement from left to right!

This was his first instance of touchline management in the entire match.

And as it turned out, on their very next attack, Barça’s right flank created a decent opportunity, getting the ball to the outside of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area on the right.

As Pedro received the ball on the right and played a one-two pass with Dani Alves, the Brazilian played a through ball back towards the byline inside the right of the penalty area.

But just as Pedro made a quick forward run, Thiago Silva turned and tracked back.

As they chased the ball, Thiago Silva first gave Pedro a physical challenge, making it impossible for the Barça player to catch up to the ball.

The ball went out over the byline.

But Pedro fell on the edge of the penalty area.

…

“We can see from the broadcast that Thiago Silva is walking over, trying to help Pedro up.”

“Barça’s players have also swarmed over, separating Thiago Silva.”

“Xavi is talking to the head referee.”

“Looking at the slow-motion replay, it was a very normal physical challenge, but Pedro went down right on the penalty line.”

“Let’s see what the Italian referee decides.”

“Rizzoli is signaling the Barça players to stay back. No foul has been given.”

“He deems it a normal, successful defensive play.”

“A mixed wave of boos and cheers sounds out from the crowd.”

“Goal kick for Bayswater Chinese!”

“Looking at the replay from another angle, we can clearly see that Thiago Silva’s challenge wasn’t very forceful. He was just trying to shield Pedro off, a legitimate physical challenge.”

“This indeed does not constitute a foul or a penalty kick!”

…

After placing the ball, Courtois slowly backed up.

Courtois, who had just turned 20, was playing in his first Champions League final.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel a single shred of nervousness or pressure.

But he didn’t feel it would affect him.

Taking a deep breath and glancing at his teammates’ positions upfield, Courtois took a quick run-up and booted the ball forward.

The goal kick went directly to the left flank in the attacking half.

This clearly caught Barça by surprise.

Gareth Bale dropped back to the edge of Barça’s 30-meter area, heading the ball back to the halfway line for Marcelo.

The Brazilian didn’t take a touch, instead volleying it with his left foot to Toni Kroos on the left side of the halfway line.

The German midfielder smoothly played a first-time pass forward into the left channel.

Lewandowski ran across from the center to meet the ball and delivered a diagonal pass into the space behind the defense.

The ball headed towards the byline on the left side of Barça’s penalty area.

By this time, Gareth Bale had already taken off, sprinting forward at incredible speed. He instantly left Dani Alves behind, storming down the left side into Barça’s penalty area.

At this moment, all the fans in the stadium cheered.

After catching up to the ball on the left side of the box, Gareth Bale faced Piqué, who had come out to defend. After feinting a cross towards the byline, he suddenly stopped and pulled the ball back, knocking it sideways with his right foot to shake off Piqué. He cut into the left side of the box and unleashed a powerful shot with his right foot.

From the left side of the box, the power of a right-footed shot from the Welshman was clearly inferior to his left.

So he couldn’t keep this shot down, and it flew high over the bar.

But this was the first shot of the match from either team.

It happened at 3 minutes and 11 seconds.

“This is a truly magnificent match!”

“From the very beginning, every minute, every second has been nerve-wracking and incredibly tense.”

“The tempo is extremely fast, and both teams have come very well-prepared.”

“Therefore, the technical and tactical value and the content of this match are extremely rich and detailed.”

“It’s clear that both teams have done their homework on each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“This is a clash between the two strongest teams in world football today!”

…

The game restarted.

Barça opted not to take a long goal kick, instead wanting to build from the back through passing.

More importantly, they hoped to use their masterful possession-based football to slow the game’s tempo down as much as possible.

In this kind of fast-paced, high-intensity match, Bayswater Chinese were certainly expending a lot of energy, but Barça themselves were also under immense pressure.

Moreover, Barça’s players were, on average, older than Bayswater Chinese’s.

Most importantly, hailing from the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese were more accustomed to this kind of high-tempo, end-to-end game.

So, if it came down to a war of attrition like this, it was far from certain who would have the advantage.

But Bayswater Chinese didn’t want to let them do that.

As soon as they saw Barça not taking a long goal kick, Toni Kroos and Modrić immediately signaled their teammates to press forward.

When the ball reached Barça’s left-back, Adriano, Di María suddenly accelerated to close him down, forcing the Brazilian to clear the ball long upfield.

Busquets and Toni Kroos both went up for the aerial duel, and the ball fell to Iniesta.

But at almost the same time, Modrić closed in on Iniesta.

The two players, similar in style and stature, got tangled up on the right side of the center circle in Barça’s half.

In the end, it was Modrić who proved more tenacious, managing to get to the ball first amidst the struggle and poke it to Piszczek.

Piszczek quickly passed back to Pepe.

Barça immediately began their counter-press.

Pepe passed to Nemanja Matić, who then passed it to Piszczek.

By now, the Polish right-back was free and quickly carried the ball forward along the right flank.

Di María moved into the half-space, Piszczek took the outside lane, and the two advanced in tandem.

After breaking into Barça’s 30-meter area, Piszczek played a cross pass to Di María.

The Argentinian controlled the ball and cut inside, but was blocked by Busquets who had tracked back diligently, forcing him to pass back to Modrić.

After dribbling past Iniesta, Modrić delivered a low pass with his left foot to Lewandowski inside the 30-meter area.

The Pole then distributed it to the left wing.

Gareth Bale was free on that side.

The Welshman charged forward with the ball. As he reached the left side of Barça’s box again, he did a sharp stop-and-go.

Bale got past Xavi but couldn’t get past the second defender, Dani Alves. He was forced to stop near the byline and pass back to Marcelo on the outside.

Barça had clearly reinforced their marking on Gareth Bale on the left.

Marcelo had no options and was forced to pass it back again to Toni Kroos in the left channel.

By now, Bayswater Chinese’s attack had pushed up to the edge of Barça’s penalty area.

Toni Kroos continued to dribble forward and suddenly played a diagonal pass.

Modrić made a quick run forward, controlled the ball just outside the arc of the penalty area, and played a through ball into the space behind the defense.

Lewandowski made a quick run to receive the ball and found himself one-on-one with the keeper.

But just as the Pole was about to shoot, facing the onrushing Valdés, the linesman raised his flag and the referee blew his whistle.

Offside!

At this point, only 4 minutes had passed.

“This is incredibly tense and exciting!”

“In this short span of 4 minutes, the two teams have gone head-to-head in a spectacular end-to-end game!”

“Although Barça has a slight edge in possession, Bayswater Chinese has created more threatening attacks.”

“This truly is a magnificent summit clash!”

…

Since the start of the match, Yang Cheng had been standing on the touchline, watching.

The tempo of the game was incredibly fast.

It was almost dizzying.

The content of the match was equally complex.

This was absolutely the kind of exciting, end-to-end game that all fans hoped to see!

And it was an end-to-end battle between two teams of the highest technical and tactical level!

But for the head coaches and players, it was extremely mentally taxing and the pressure was immense.

Bayswater Chinese had already penetrated Barça’s penalty area twice.

Judging from this opening, Yang Cheng could proudly say that his tactics were working!

He knew Barça would want to control possession and then use that possession to wear Bayswater Chinese down.

This was Barça’s most proficient method.

And within this, there was a crucial tipping point: a goal!

If Barça scored first, the match would become incredibly difficult.

Guardiola’s team would control the ball endlessly, perhaps even until the end of time.

If you didn’t believe it, just look at how Vicente del Bosque’s Spain played in the World Cup.

They won every match by just one goal!

Therefore, Yang Cheng absolutely did not want to see Barça score the first goal.

Gareth Bale’s earlier shot after cutting in from the right was miss-hit.

But Lewandowski’s one-on-one chance this time was a bit of a pity.

He should have been a little more patient.

He started his run a bit too early!

On the pitch, Barça took a quick free-kick, trying to launch a swift counter-attack.

Two passes later, the ball was at Messi’s feet.

The Argentinian drove forward with the ball, crossing the halfway line.

But by then, Messi was already surrounded by three Bayswater Chinese defenders, forcing him to pass it out to the right flank for Pedro.

Marcelo stuck close to Pedro, forcing him to pass it horizontally back to Messi.

But Pedro’s pass was poor and was intercepted by Toni Kroos.

After winning the ball, Toni Kroos once again initiated a counter-attack, immediately attempting a diagonal long pass to the right wing.

Di María sprinted forward at top speed. Just as he was about to reach the ball’s landing spot, Puyol suddenly came out of nowhere with a sliding tackle, knocking the ball out for a throw-in.

Bayswater Chinese’s ball.

The crowd erupted in another round of enthusiastic applause.

Piszczek quickly ran forward and took a powerful throw-in.

Lewandowski used his body to shield the ball from Puyol, controlled it with his chest, and then passed it back to Piszczek.

The Pole passed to Di María, who then passed to Modrić.

After a feint, Modrić played a through ball with the outside of his foot.

Di María made a quick run into the right side of the box, once again penetrating Barça’s defensive line.

The moment he received the ball, Di María felt the close marking of Piqué, who had come over to help defend, restricting his left foot.

The Argentinian adjusted with his right foot and took a shot.

But Valdés was well-positioned this time, closing down Di María’s shooting angle and gathering the ball securely in his arms.

At this point, only 5 minutes had passed!

But before the fans in the stadium could catch their breath, Valdés got up, ran out quickly, and threw the ball forcefully to Busquets.

He passed it on to Iniesta up ahead.

The Spaniard dribbled forward and passed it to David Villa in the left channel, furthest up the pitch.

As Villa received the ball, he was decisively fouled from the side by Pepe.

This gave Barça a free kick, a good thirty-plus meters from the goal.

Pepe’s foul was timely, preventing Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, and others from joining the attack.

Yang Cheng walked to the edge of his technical area and applauded vigorously for Pepe.

“Well done, Pepe!”

Seeing Pepe look over, Yang Cheng gave him a thumbs-up from afar.

…

“With the two teams going at each other in such a high-tempo offensive battle so many times, Bayswater Chinese’s defense hasn’t made a single mistake!”

In the stands, Ferguson, Wenger, Capello, and others sat together, enjoying the thrilling match.

Ferguson was clearly particularly impressed with Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

“Pepe’s foul just now was very timely, and his execution was perfect. A foul, but no card. That kid is truly a genius now!” Capello’s eyes were filled with envy.

England didn’t have a single reliable centre-back at the moment!

“This is absolutely the most exciting opening to a match I have ever seen!” Wenger also praised lavishly.

“So much action packed into just five minutes. The key is that the tactical content is so rich. This will probably become a case study at Coverciano!”

The men around him, all world-renowned managers, all nodded in agreement.

Although only five minutes had passed, the match was incredibly dense and rich with content.

It felt as if the highlights of a 20-minute spell, or even an entire match, had been condensed into five minutes.

Moreover, every move on the pitch reflected the specific, targeted tactics of the two teams and their head coaches.

Guardiola wanted to control possession and slow down the tempo.

Although Barça’s possession advantage wasn’t significant right now, their attack lacked threat, and they were making many passing errors.

But everyone present knew that if Guardiola’s team managed to gain control of the ball and the tempo, Bayswater Chinese would be done for!

Yang Cheng’s team, on the other hand, constantly tried to attack, creating chances without being overly concerned with possession.

“Actually, Yang Cheng is probably trying to use this game to show us how to beat Barça fair and square!” Wenger felt he understood Yang Cheng quite well.

“The kid has a proud streak in him,” Ferguson said with a laugh.

As a spectator, of course he could afford to laugh.

But if he were in the thick of it, he had to admit, Manchester United wouldn’t be able to handle either of the two teams playing tonight.

Then, he certainly wouldn’t be laughing.

“But the method he’s using, only his Bayswater Chinese team can pull it off. It’s not even certain if they can keep it up until the end of the match, right?” Capello’s eye was as sharp as ever.

The others all nodded in agreement.

Without that level of quality, any team trying to copy Bayswater Chinese’s tactics would have been torn to shreds by Barça long ago.

If nothing else, Bayswater Chinese’s defense in the back and midfield had been, up to this point, practically flawless!

On that point alone, what other team could achieve that when facing Barça?

While the renowned managers were conversing, another chance was created on the field.

After a series of quick passes, Bayswater Chinese’s Piszczek, Modrić, and Di María completed a beautiful three-man combination play.

Di María broke into the right side of the penalty area to receive Piszczek’s through ball, then chipped a pass with his right foot towards the center.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward, beating Puyol to the near post and heading the ball at goal.

Valdés parried the ball with both hands and, just before Lewandowski could follow up for a rebound, dived on the ball to secure it.

The entire Allianz Arena once again erupted in cheers!

The more than thirty thousand Bayswater Chinese fans in attendance were cheering wildly.

“Seven minutes gone!”

Wenger checked the time and praised again, “Barça hasn’t had a single shot so far!”

The Professor’s point was, had Bayswater Chinese already had several shots?

“Yang Cheng’s opening blitz is truly something else. Barça’s defense might not be able to hold out!”

Ferguson had also played against Barça many times and was very familiar with their backline.

“That’s right,” Capello agreed wholeheartedly.

“Yang Cheng’s strategy is quite clever. As long as their defense holds firm, by constantly using these quick counter-attacks and offenses, they will definitely get a chance to break through Barça’s backline, and even score!”

Barça’s defense had actually been breached several times already.

Bayswater Chinese were just a hair’s breadth away from a goal.

The match was incredibly tense.

Everyone was completely captivated.

Including these seasoned, veteran managers.

They even believed that in today’s football world, only Bayswater Chinese and Barça could produce a match of this caliber.

…

As the match slowly approached the 9-minute mark, the tempo remained blistering.

Barça still hadn’t managed to create a shooting opportunity.

And Bayswater Chinese’s defense in the back and midfield still hadn’t made a single error.

After continuously passing the ball in their own half and failing to break through Bayswater Chinese’s high press, Piqué launched a long pass from the back, aiming for the left flank upfield.

Which was Bayswater Chinese’s right flank.

When Messi dropped deep, Villa and Pedro would drift towards the center, usually occupying the half-spaces, forming something akin to a two-striker formation. At these times, the two full-backs would push further forward, acting as wingers.

So, when Piqué’s pass reached the left wing upfield, Adriano was playing just such a role.

As the Brazilian left-back controlled the ball, he was one-on-one with Piszczek.

Adriano glanced towards the center. Villa and Pedro were both raising their hands, signaling they were in position and wanted the ball.

The Brazilian dribbled, first feinting to try and trick Piszczek before making a sudden burst to the byline for a cross.

But unexpectedly, Piszczek’s defensive experience was rich. He closed the distance, used his physical advantage to bump Adriano, disrupting his dribbling rhythm, and then suddenly stuck out a foot to poke the ball forward.

The ball was cleanly dispossessed.

As Di María tracked back, he was under pressure from Iniesta.

But Di María controlled the ball, turned towards the middle, and played a cross pass with his left foot.

After releasing the ball, Di María turned his body to bypass Iniesta, then pushed off hard with his legs, shooting forward like an arrow from a bow.

When Modrić ran over to receive the pass, he had already anticipated Di María’s intention. He immediately played a pull-back into the Argentinian’s path, giving him plenty of space to run onto.

As the Argentinian chased it down at top speed, before he even reached the ball, he saw Busquets charging towards him.

In a flash of brilliance, Di María touched the ball past Busquets, then made a quick diagonal run into the center, catching up to his own touch just behind the Spanish midfielder.

“A beautiful knock-on and run past the opponent!”

“That was a very creative piece of dribbling from Di María!”

“A fast break for Bayswater Chinese!”

“Is this the chance?”

Everyone in the stadium tensed up.

Hearts were in throats.

Di María continued to drive forward with the ball, leaving Busquets, Adriano, and Iniesta in his wake.

But Barça’s defensive line was also tracking back very quickly.

Puyol and Piqué were sticking tightly to Lewandowski.

But Di María kept dribbling, pushing forward, breaking into Barça’s 30-meter area.

Lewandowski gestured with his hand to his rear right, signaling for Di María to pass it there, so he could turn and make a run.

But just at that moment, Di María suddenly played a diagonal pass with the outside of his left foot.

The ball traveled from the center of Barça’s 30-meter area diagonally towards the outside of the penalty area on the left.

Dani Alves had pushed too far forward and had no time to get back and defend.

But a golden-shirted figure was sprinting at incredible speed, like a bolt of lightning, and getting faster and faster.

It was Gareth Bale!

As the Welshman caught up to Di María’s diagonal pass in front of the left side of the box, he didn’t take a touch to control it. Instead, he knocked it first-time into the left side of Barça’s penalty area, his own speed undiminished as he stormed into the box.

The atmosphere in the stadium had reached a crescendo.

As the speeding Gareth Bale caught up to the ball he had knocked ahead, he drove a low, driven cross with his left foot towards the center of the six-yard box.

Lewandowski’s positioning was also very clever.

He had just signaled Di María to pass to the right and had started moving in that direction.

Puyol also immediately ran to the right to cover him in advance.

But in doing so, the distance between Puyol and Piqué was stretched.

Especially when Gareth Bale caught up to the ball, Piqué immediately rushed over to block him.

At that moment, Barça’s two centre-backs were in disarray, each fighting their own battle.

Lewandowski reacted incredibly quickly, immediately changing direction to make a diagonal run towards the center, getting a step ahead to shield Puyol behind him.

When Gareth Bale’s low cross arrived in the middle, Lewandowski arrived at full tilt, directing it into the left side of Barça’s goal with a simple side-footed shot with his right foot.

Valdés was powerless against such a close-range shot.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 9th minute, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Barça’s goal!”

“A cross from the left by Gareth Bale, and a finish from the center by Lewandowski!”

“1-0!”

“My God, that was an incredibly sharp and fast counter-attack!”

“Bayswater Chinese has played magnificently since the start of the game.”

“Barça has a slight edge in possession right now, but they have yet to register a single shot!”

“A summit clash between two of the world’s top teams!”

“And just 9 minutes in, Bayswater Chinese has taken the lead!”

In that instant, the entire stadium erupted with the cheers and roars of countless fans.

All the Bayswater Chinese fans leaped out of their seats, cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs!

Gareth Bale, Lewandowski, Di María, and others all ran to the sideline to celebrate the goal.

And in front of the away team’s technical area on the sideline, Yang Cheng laughed heartily and spread his arms wide.

Nine minutes!

What a great time to score!

And Di María.

In that attack, Gareth Bale’s high-speed overlapping run and Lewandowski’s calm finish and positioning in front of goal were, of course, very important.

But the most crucial player was Di María.

The Argentinian’s decision-making and passing, especially his vision to spot Gareth Bale’s run in advance and deliver the ball to the left flank in time—that was absolutely, utterly key!

He truly deserved his reputation as a lucky star in finals!

He always delivered in big games!

…

Guardiola stood on the touchline. When he saw Lewandowski score, he slapped his forehead hard, clearly disappointed with the result.

Before the match, he had anticipated that it would be very difficult.

But once the game started, he found that Bayswater Chinese were even tougher than he had imagined.

Even so, Guardiola walked to the edge of his technical area, clapping continuously, gesturing for his players to keep their spirits up.

As he shouted instructions, he emphasized most of all that the players needed to control the ball, reduce errors, and slow the tempo of the game.

He absolutely refused to believe that Yang Cheng’s team could maintain the high tempo they had shown since the start for the entire match!

It was absolutely impossible.

Unless they were robots!

Therefore, there would surely come a time when Bayswater Chinese would have to stop and catch their breath.

And that would be Barça’s opportunity to seize the initiative.

Especially the tempo of the game.

As long as they could slow the tempo down and bring the game into Barça’s familiar territory, the outcome was still uncertain.

But when Barça kicked off again, they discovered that after scoring, Bayswater Chinese had not chosen to sit back and defend, nor had they chosen to slow the game down.

Yang Cheng’s team was still sticking to their high press in the midfield and attack, still constantly applying pressure on Barça’s midfield and defense.

This couldn’t help but make everyone wonder.

Did Yang Cheng really intend to maintain this tempo for the whole game?

That was clearly impossible.

If they really did that, how long could they last?

They would probably run out of steam in the latter half of the first half, right?

Even Bielsa’s insanely hard-running Athletic Bilbao would press for a period and then rest for a period.

The only difference was that their “rest” was still considered fast-paced by other teams.

…

The two teams continued to play just as they had from the start.

The tempo was still at maximum.

Barça was still trying hard to control possession and the tempo, while also trying to create chances.

As Barça’s cornerstones, the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio were mostly gathered in midfield.

Messi, on the other hand, was given absolute freedom. Whether dropping deep or drifting wide, he could position himself according to his own instincts and the game’s situation.

In the 14th minute, he drifted to the right wing and linked up with Dani Alves.

But as he received the ball and tried to push forward, Thiago Silva pressed up in time to help Marcelo block Messi.

The Argentinian reacted quickly, turning to shield the ball and passing it back to Xavi to reorganize.

Bayswater Chinese also swiftly regrouped their defensive formation.

Toni Kroos immediately closed down Xavi, who again passed back to the defensive line.

Barça’s backline shifted the direction of attack several times but still couldn’t find a passing lane to their forwards.

Piqué once again played a long ball, trying to pass from the right side near the bottom of the center circle to the arc of the penalty area, looking for Villa.

However, Pepe got there first and headed it clear.

Nemanja Matić quickly rushed forward, but Iniesta beat him to it and played a horizontal pass to Xavi.

But just at that moment, Lewandowski suddenly burst out from behind Xavi, getting to the ball first and poking it to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder had originally been moving up to close down Xavi.

When he received the ball, he happened to be in an unmarked position.

After controlling the ball and seeing Xavi rushing towards him, Toni Kroos turned, facing away from the left flank. He took a touch with his right foot, looked up towards the right-front, and quickly played a diagonal, low pass with his right foot.

The football traveled diagonally from the left side, just outside Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter area, towards the right side of the center circle.

Di María made a quick forward run, beating everyone to Toni Kroos’s switching pass, and continued to drive forward with the ball.

The atmosphere in the stadium was once again cranked up.

This time, Barça’s defensive line didn’t have time to retreat.

Because they had just been on the attack.

Seeing Di María carry the ball across the halfway line and surge forward, Puyol and Busquets immediately charged over, trying to double-team him.

But the Argentinian had seen it coming and once again played a diagonal pass with the outside of his left foot.

The ball went right between Busquets and Puyol, traveling diagonally to the left-front.

Piqué, who had originally wanted to hold his position and keep the ball outside the 30-meter area, immediately turned and ran back.

Gareth Bale was sprinting quickly and caught up.

As he received the ball near Barça’s 30-meter area, he quickly came face-to-face with Piqué.

The Welshman first slowed down slightly, using a series of feints to confuse Piqué.

When the Barça centre-back had retreated to the edge of the penalty area, he finally refused to back up any further.

But just at that moment, Gareth Bale exploded with speed.

This time was completely different from the last.

Last time, Gareth Bale was intent on getting into the box before looking for an assist.

But this time, he kept the ball under close control and, after a burst of acceleration, forcibly blasted past Piqué’s defense on the outside, breaking into the left side of the penalty area. After creating a sliver of space, he unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

From receiving the ball to closing in, to the sudden burst of acceleration, and finally the sudden power shot.

Piqué barely had time to lift his leg in what looked like an attempt to block.

But it was completely useless.

Gareth Bale’s furious left-footed shot was like a thunderbolt.

The football rocketed towards the right side of Barça’s goal.

Although Valdés made a desperate dive and even got a touch on the ball, its speed was too great and its power too immense for him to alter its course.

The ball drilled into the right side of Barça’s net.

The entire Allianz Arena first fell into a deathly silence, but it was quickly followed by a thunderous roar of cheers.

All the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium leaped from their seats, cheering at the top of their lungs!

After taking the shot, Gareth Bale already knew it was in!

The Welshman turned and ran, sprinting all the way to the sideline and launching into a knee slide, stopping right below his team’s fan section.

At that moment, the entire stadium was chanting Bale’s name.

Lewandowski, Di María, Toni Kroos, and others all ran over and piled on top of him.

“2-0!”

“Just 15 minutes into the game, Gareth Bale, with a goal and an assist, has put Bayswater Chinese temporarily ahead 2-0!”

“This was another incredibly sharp and fast counter-attack.”

“Barça’s defense has always had a fatal flaw, and it was completely exposed during this Bayswater Chinese counter-attack!”

“Guardiola’s team couldn’t even stop Bayswater Chinese’s passing during the counter. Their defense was torn open in an instant, revealing its inherent weakness!”

“This match is going to be very difficult for them now!”

“For Guardiola’s team, being one goal down, they could still play without too much concern.”

“But now, they’re a full two goals behind!”

“This is going to be very difficult!”

“And it’s worth mentioning that, up to this point, Barça still hasn’t had a single shot.”

“This is truly surprising to us.”

“Everyone thought this would be a closely contested match, but Yang Cheng’s team has produced an unbelievable offensive display from the very beginning.”

“In a 15-minute end-to-end battle between two top-tier giants, Bayswater Chinese has scored two goals, while Barça hasn’t even managed a single shot!”

“This has absolutely exceeded everyone’s expectations!”

“Bayswater Chinese is just too strong!”

“And beneath the surface of their possession-based system, Barça actually hides an incredibly fragile side.”

Guardiola stood on the touchline, equally shocked by the sudden second goal.

And along with it, deep disappointment.

You could even vaguely see a flicker of fear in his eyes.

In the past, this was something he usually saw in the eyes of his opponents.

But now, Guardiola was genuinely worried.

Could tonight turn into a humiliating defeat?

In the stands, the many renowned managers were also stunned by how the match was unfolding.

Bayswater Chinese’s strength wasn’t a surprise to them. What truly surprised them was, firstly, Yang Cheng’s formation and specific tactical plan for this match.

And secondly, Barça’s weakness!

Guardiola’s team looked so fragile under the assault of Bayswater Chinese’s front line.

“Tonight, all of us might be witnessing history!”

Ferguson was getting excited.

Chapter 254: A God-sent Player! A New Dynasty! The Art of Defending! The Great Treble Winners!

Barça’s first shot of the entire match came in the twenty-third minute of the first half.

At that moment, near Bayswater Chinese’s thirty-meter area, Adriano, David Villa, Iniesta, and Messi linked up with a series of quick one-twos. Iniesta then received a pull-back from Messi and sent a chipped pass behind the defense.

Pedro made a quick diagonal run behind the defensive line, controlled the ball inside the arc of the penalty area, and entered the box. Facing the onrushing Courtois, he attempted a chip shot that sailed just over the Belgian goalkeeper and landed on top of the net.

Just two minutes later, Di María combined with Modrić on the right flank.

As Modrić drove forward with the ball, he passed it wide to Di María on the right wing and continued his run.

The Argentinian cut inside from the right and played a through ball with his left foot behind the defense.

Modrić broke into the right side of the penalty area and crossed it again to the front of the goal.

However, Puyol got to it first, making a timely clearance and kicking the ball out for a throw-in.

Only a minute later, Barça retaliated.

Messi spotted an opportunity in the right channel, suddenly accelerating and driving forward with the ball.

Surrounded by two defensive lines and four defenders from Bayswater Chinese, the Argentinian somehow managed to dribble into the right side of the penalty area and deliver a cross.

Iniesta, making a late run from deep, took a placed shot from near the penalty spot.

But his shot was caught by Courtois, who dived to save it on the goal line.

In the twenty-eighth minute, David Villa combined with Messi on the left before crossing the ball to the center.

Just before Pedro could get a shot off, Thiago Silva made a timely clearance.

Unable to stop their momentum, the two collided.

But the Italian head referee, Rizzoli, still did not award a penalty kick.

This caused strong dissatisfaction among the Barça players.

Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity. Nemanja Matić played a through ball to Modrić, who broke forward with the ball before playing a diagonal pass to the left side behind Barça’s defense.

Robert Lewandowski made a timely diagonal run, caught up with the ball, and took a placed shot from the left of the penalty spot.

However, the shot went just wide of the bottom right corner of the goal.

After the thirty-minute mark, the high-tempo offensive storm from both teams finally began to slow down slightly.

In the first half-hour, the pace of the match had been incredibly fast, almost dizzying.

But this also took a huge toll on the players’ stamina.

When the match reached thirty minutes, Sky Sports displayed various statistics from the first half-hour on the live broadcast.

Barça’s possession rate was only fifty-three percent, while Bayswater Chinese’s was forty-seven percent.

However, in terms of shots, Barça only had three, whereas Bayswater Chinese had as many as nine.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals.

This clearly reflected the performance of the two teams in the match.

…

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, looking over at Pep Guardiola, who was sitting in the home team’s dugout. The Barça coach was leaning forward, clutching his bald head with both hands, looking deeply troubled.

Because even after thirty minutes, Barça still couldn’t find a good solution.

Bayswater Chinese had dropped their defensive line back a little, but they still maintained a very tight defensive formation.

This made it even harder for Barça to penetrate their defense than before.

However, Barça’s possession time was likely to be longer than in the first half-hour.

It was also at this time that Gianni Vio brought out the match data from the first half-hour.

After taking a careful look, Yang Cheng had a clear picture of the situation.

Up to this point, the match was basically proceeding according to his pre-match plan.

Of course, he never had just one plan.

His plans basically covered all possible situations and changes that might occur during the game.

It could be said that Yang Cheng had anticipated almost every possible scheme and variation that Barça might use.

The midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić was fundamentally different from the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio. The latter was better at passing and possession, but defending was their weakness.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was well-rounded, excelling in both attack and defense, making them much more versatile.

Just like in the first thirty minutes, they could press high up the pitch, directly suppressing Barça and engaging in a fierce offensive battle.

But after the thirty-minute mark, they immediately began to drop back to defend, stabilizing their defensive formation.

In contrast, Barça was simply incapable of doing that.

On the pitch, as Bayswater Chinese slowed the pace, Barça gradually took control of the ball and began to pass it back and forth.

First, they tried to attack down the left flank. When that didn’t work, they passed back to their own half to Busquets and the centre-backs to reorganize, then switched the play to the right.

But the right flank was also blocked, so they passed back again, and then back to the left…

Barça just kept passing the ball back and forth like this.

After the thirty-minute mark, Bayswater Chinese exhibited a very distinct characteristic: their players’ positioning and defending were primarily based on maintaining the team’s overall shape and order.

This made it very difficult for Barça to pass into dangerous areas.

They tried several times to use Messi’s individual ability to receive the ball and break through, but as soon as Messi dropped back to get the ball, multiple defenders would immediately swarm to double-team him.

Coupled with the fact that he was dropping quite deep, it was difficult for Messi to pose a real threat.

Dani Alves, on the other hand, was being closely marked by Gareth Bale in this match.

The Welshman wasn’t just fast; his stamina was also astonishing, allowing him to constantly sprint back and forth with Dani Alves.

In fact, he seemed to be handling it with more ease than Dani Alves.

In the thirty-fifth minute, after winning the ball back in their own half, Toni Kroos passed to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman charged forward with the ball himself, and in an instant, he had burst into Barça’s thirty-meter area and delivered a diagonal pass behind the defense, sending the ball to the right side of the penalty box.

Unfortunately, Di María had dropped a bit too deep and wasn’t exceptionally fast, missing the ball by a whisker near the byline, which left the Argentinian looking extremely regretful.

Yang Cheng, however, walked to the sideline and applauded vigorously, cheering for the link-up play between Gareth Bale and Di María.

…

“Tonight, under the onslaught of Bayswater Chinese, Barça’s backline looks genuinely fragile.”

In the stands, Ferguson watched the Bayswater Chinese players retreating on the pitch, feeling quite emotional.

In football, strength and weakness, speed and slowness, are all relative.

Was Barça’s defense weak?

That depended on who they were playing against.

“I have a feeling that if Bayswater Chinese can maintain this level of defensive performance for the entire match, they will definitely score again!” Wenger said with great conviction.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

They were all renowned managers with years of experience, each with their own judgment of how a football match would unfold, along with an intuition built up over many years. The current situation clearly showed that Barça had no answer for Bayswater Chinese.

The tempo of the game was not controlled by Barça at all; instead, it was dictated by Bayswater Chinese.

When Yang Cheng’s team wanted to play fast, it was fast. When they wanted to slow down, they could slow it down.

In contrast, look at Barça.

For the first thirty minutes, they desperately tried to slow the game down, but they couldn’t.

After thirty minutes, Yang Cheng, clearly considering his players’ stamina, deliberately slowed the tempo and gave up some possession. This immediately made Barça’s passing and possession game much smoother.

The pace of the game slowed down, but Barça’s play remained toothless.

What was the use of passing the ball around in their own defense and midfield?

They needed to find a way to pass into threatening areas, like the penalty box.

“To be honest, after the thirty-minute mark, this match reminds me of the 1994 Champions League final at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. It’s really very similar.”

After saying this, Ferguson leaned over to look at the England national team head coach, Fabio Capello, who was sitting beside him.

Capello was the head coach of AC Milan, the Champions League winners of the 1993-94 season.

In that Champions League final, his Milan team defeated Cruyff’s Barça Dream Team 4-0.

Barça’s current head coach, Pep Guardiola, was a player in that Barça team.

“Now that you mention it, I remember. The Milan team that year was just like Bayswater Chinese after the thirty-minute mark. They didn’t park the bus; they purely relied on their meticulous defensive organization to neutralize Barça’s possession-based style.”

Wenger also showed a hint of nostalgia.

At that time, he was not yet a famous European manager.

“I’ve forgotten most of the specific details, but I vaguely remember that Milan relied on an airtight, meticulous defense and sharp, efficient counter-attacks to repeatedly breach Barça’s goal.”

The main reason for parking the bus is a lack of defensive organization.

In fact, many people said that Barça’s Dream Team was only successful because they never faced that era’s AC Milan. Otherwise, Cruyff’s Dream Team might have been nipped in the bud.

At that time, Milan’s defensive prowess, under Sacchi’s high-pressing system, was unparalleled in European football.

After Capello took over from Sacchi, the overall style was adjusted, but their defense became even better than under Sacchi, with a firm belief in 1-0-ism.

However, to make a 1-0-ist like Capello score four goals in a single match, and in a Champions League final no less…

This showed just how abysmal the defense of Cruyff’s Barça was at the time.

This has always been a consistent weakness passed down through the generations at Barça.

Hearing Ferguson and Wenger discussing the 1994 Champions League final, Capello’s eyes filled with pride, but his expression remained calm and unruffled.

“Barça has had this problem for all these years. As long as their attack can’t score, their defense will always run into trouble!”

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Of course, to make Barça’s defense have problems, the prerequisite was to prevent their attack from scoring.

“Actually, Guardiola’s Barça is very different from Cruyff’s Dream Team back then. At that time, their attacking tempo was faster, more like the style of the first thirty minutes of this game. They had width and central play, and not as much passing and possession as they have now.”

“Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese is very special. In this team, you can see the shadows of many classic teams, like Barça’s Dream Team, Manchester United, Arsenal, and even Sacchi’s Milan…”

“I don’t even know how to define Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese!”

As the head coach of the winning team of the 1994 Champions League final, Capello’s words were undoubtedly the highest praise for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Moreover, he was also Sacchi’s right-hand man during his time coaching AC Milan.

Was this like back then, when people didn’t know how to define Sacchi’s Milan dynasty?

After all, what is now called the Milan dynasty was a definition given by later generations.

Sacchi’s football philosophy was also summarized and defined after he had achieved success and fame.

So what about Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese?

In a few years, would they become another dynasty?

This was a very real possibility.

“I’ve spoken with Yang Cheng,” Wenger took over from Capello and continued.

“He is very familiar with various tactics, including Sacchi’s Milan dynasty and Barça’s Dream Team. When he took over the team in 2003, he already had a complete and very clear tactical framework and philosophy.”

“Over the past few years, he has consistently followed this framework and philosophy to build the team.”

“And now, as we can see, Bayswater Chinese has been one of the strongest teams in European football for years, and their entire technical and tactical system has remained the most stable.”

After hearing this, Ferguson couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “I still remember, before the 1994 Champions League final, Cruyff blasted Milan, calling their football ‘ugly’ and representative of ‘anti-football’.”

“And just yesterday, Cruyff described Bayswater Chinese in the same way. He didn’t say it was ugly football, but he did say Bayswater Chinese played a kind of ‘anti-football’.”

“I’d really like to see the look on Cruyff’s face when he watches this game.”

The others chuckled at the thought.

Cruyff’s war of words was partly to support Barça.

No one would trouble Cruyff over it; that would be too graceless.

But on the other hand, it showed that Barça’s entire tactical philosophy was truly passed down in a direct line.

Even this season, Guardiola had played a 3-4-3 formation, the very tactic of Cruyff’s 1994 Dream Team.

And back then, under Milan’s heavy defense, Barça’s weakness of having possession but slow passing speed and a lack of tempo variation was once again completely exposed in today’s Champions League final.

Just like in the thirty-eighth minute.

Barça once again made a series of passes and constantly switched the play, but the tempo of the game remained unchanged.

Bayswater Chinese’s defensive formation was like a solid fortress, constantly shifting with Barça’s passes.

The players weren’t trying to win the ball; instead, they were constantly running, constantly adjusting their defensive shape.

“From the thirtieth minute until now, in this Bayswater Chinese team, I’ve seen the long-lost art of defending!”

Capello couldn’t help but praise.

In Italy, especially after Sacchi’s Milan dynasty, the essence of defending was never about parking the bus and defending with all one’s might.

It was about creating a meticulous defensive system through the players’ off-the-ball movement, making it impossible for the opponent’s attack to find a way through.

The team’s three lines, the players interweaving and running back and forth on the pitch, were like playing a continuous piece of music, full of a unique rhythm. This was the Italian art of defending!

…

Returning to the Allianz Arena once again, Toni Kroos’s heart was still filled with resentment.

But compared to before, he was now much calmer.

At least, more in control!

Now, he mostly wanted to show more people his strength and performance at this stadium, in Germany.

He hoped to use this to prove to everyone that letting him go was Bayern Munich’s loss!

Not his, Toni Kroos’s!

This filled him with fighting spirit for the entire match, running relentlessly.

He didn’t slack off in either attack or defense.

Head coach Yang Cheng’s tactical deployment was also very clever.

The first thirty minutes were a full-on offensive assault, and after thirty minutes, they began to ease off.

By distributing their stamina so reasonably, the team could last longer in the match.

But in fact, after the thirty-minute mark, everyone on the team had to be even more focused.

Especially Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić.

The midfield trio firmly connected the attack and defense, playing a crucial role at both ends of the pitch.

At the same time, they completely controlled Bayswater Chinese’s attacks.

Fortunately, after two years of playing together, the three had developed a good understanding.

Even though Barça began to control possession, they still couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, constantly launched counter-attacks, trying to threaten Barça’s goal.

But they were never quite able to seize their chances.

Just like in the forty-first minute.

Toni Kroos sent a through ball to the left side outside Barça’s penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run to receive the ball. He first came to a sudden stop, but then abruptly accelerated towards the byline.

Dani Alves tracked back very quickly this time, blocking Gareth Bale on the left flank.

Marcelo made an overlapping run, but Gareth Bale was still dribbling near the byline.

He suddenly accelerated again, and spotting an opportunity, he knocked the ball past his opponent and ran around him. He ran out of bounds behind the byline, then cut back in, simultaneously using his shoulder to forcefully shove Dani Alves aside, broke into the penalty area, and brought the ball under control.

In a physical contest, Gareth Bale could overpower Dani Alves.

But Toni Kroos saw that Piqué had quickly dropped back into position, promptly blocking Gareth Bale.

This made him realize that this attack was not going to work.

Although Gareth Bale’s technique on the ball was not as exquisite as those brilliant South American players, his fundamentals were very solid, his physical strength was outstanding, and he had the advantage of speed.

Even when double-teamed by Dani Alves and Piqué, he still managed to keep possession of the ball.

After shielding the ball, the Welshman dribbled towards the edge of the box and was forced to pass back to Marcelo.

But by this time, Pedro had also tracked back into position.

While being tightly marked, Marcelo heard Toni Kroos’s shout.

The German had originally pushed forward to the edge of the penalty area, but now he had already dropped back a step ahead.

He was right in Marcelo’s passing lane.

The Brazilian immediately passed back to Toni Kroos in the left channel.

The German passed back again to Matić, while he himself ran horizontally towards the left flank, creating space once more.

Matić knew what Toni Kroos was thinking, as this was one of Bayswater Chinese’s established routines. He immediately passed the ball back to the open space on the left.

As Toni Kroos received the ball with his back to the left touchline, he controlled it with his right foot and immediately hit a cross-field switch.

The pass had a low trajectory and was incredibly fast, quickly landing on the right side of Barça’s thirty-meter area.

Piszczek was seen making a rapid overlapping run. He brought Toni Kroos’s long switch pass down in front of him, chased after it, and had already reached the edge of the right corner of Barça’s penalty area. Before Busquets and David Villa could close him down, he played a diagonal through ball.

Di María made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box, catching up to Piszczek’s pass.

Since he was already inside the penalty area, Puyol, who came over to block him, dared not make any rash moves.

The Barça captain wanted to force Di María to pass back.

But unexpectedly, before Puyol could steady himself, as Di María controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot, his body motion suggested a sudden stop.

Just as Puyol was also about to stop, Di María burst forward, knocking the ball ahead with his right foot. He exploded into motion, accelerating past Puyol, using his speed advantage to beat the Barça captain.

Although Puyol was not young and his speed had declined a lot, he was still not slow.

But Di María had caught him off guard. Puyol had just rushed over to intercept and didn’t dare to pull him down for a foul, so he was beaten cleanly by Di María.

When the Argentinian reached the edge of the right corner of the six-yard box, he sent a low cross with his right foot to the front of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick run forward, forcefully using his body to shield off Piqué. Although he lost his balance and fell, he still managed to stretch out his leg and deflect Di María’s pass into the near right side of Barça’s goal.

Valdés reacted quickly, but he was just a bit too slow getting down, and could only watch as the ball slipped under him.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the forty-first minute, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“It’s Lewandowski again!”

“A brace!”

“The Polish centre-forward has scored twice in this Champions League final!”

“3-0!”

“The first half is almost over!”

“But Bayswater Chinese have extended their lead with a swift counter-attack.”

“This is something absolutely no one could have imagined.”

“Before tonight’s highly anticipated final, everyone believed this was a summit clash between the two strongest teams in world football today.”

“But in reality, once the match started, we found that Barça’s attack struggled to threaten Bayswater Chinese’s goal. Instead, it’s Yang Cheng’s team that has been repeatedly threatening and scoring against Barça.”

“3-0!”

“This is a despairing scoreline!”

“But we must say, the most important thing for Barça now is to regroup. The key is how they will play the second half.”

“They still have a chance!”

“And for Yang Cheng and his team, we must also remind them not to get complacent, not to think they can celebrate early just because of the 3-0 scoreline.”

“Because tonight they are facing a Barça team with Messi!”

“This first-half score is truly unexpected.”

…

In the final few minutes of the first half, Bayswater Chinese continued to launch attacks and created another decent shooting opportunity. But this time, Di María’s shot after cutting inside from the right wasn’t struck cleanly and was easily collected by Valdés.

In the end, the first half concluded with a scoreline that made Yang Cheng feel particularly awkward.

3-0!

When Yang Cheng walked into the dressing room during halftime, he first looked around and took a few deep breaths. After confirming that the air wasn’t filled with the smell of champagne, he felt slightly relieved.

However, he didn’t just praise the players. Instead, he fiercely pointed out the problems the team had exposed during the few threatening attacks Barça had managed in the first half.

They weren’t major issues, but Yang Cheng deliberately made a mountain out of a molehill.

Of course, he wasn’t blaming the players; it was more of a warning.

Because he didn’t want his team to end up like AC Milan in 2005!

In fact, looking back at the entire first half, Yang Cheng was extremely satisfied with everyone’s performance.

This was arguably the team’s most meticulously prepared and perfectly executed match!

The players performed exceptionally well, and the tactics were highly targeted, causing Barça to struggle throughout the first half.

For the second half, Yang Cheng had only one requirement: continue with the first half’s tactics and keep playing against Barça in the same way.

Yang Cheng was more concerned about the players’ stamina consumption.

The feedback from Thad Foucher and Oliver Bartlett indicated that the players’ stamina levels were still good, within the coaching staff’s expectations.

This was mainly due to the team’s targeted tactics, which had neutralized Barça, and the deliberate slowing of the pace after thirty minutes.

Although this meant Barça’s possession rate in the first half reached fifty-seven percent, it also meant the players’ stamina was conserved.

This would give them a better chance in the second half.

As for Barça’s tactical adjustments in the second half, Yang Cheng didn’t think it would be a problem.

Because Pep Guardiola had no other choice.

From start to finish, Barça only knew how to play their possession-based style, at that specific tempo.

Many people said that Pep Guardiola’s touchline management was poor, which was true in itself.

But the issue was, Barça really couldn’t adjust.

Who could they substitute on?

What style of play could they change to?

Just look at their bench now. If they brought on any of those players, what could they change?

Were they expecting Tiago, Tello, Cuenca, or Seydou Keita to come on and change the game?

Don’t be ridiculous!

Barça had locked themselves into their possession-based tactical system.

Therefore, the key to the second half was the same as the first.

“But I want to give you all one more reminder.”

Yang Cheng looked directly at his players, his expression very serious, and warned them with great solemnity.

“Don’t give Barça any hope!”

“Barça’s most dependent player is Messi. We must contain Messi, just like we did in the first half. Don’t give Messi any chance!”

“As long as Barça doesn’t score, as long as we continue to suppress Messi, we will continue to crush Barça’s confidence!”

Barça had never been a team that was good at playing from behind.

Or rather, Guardiola’s teams were never good at playing from behind.

One of the most important reasons for this was that the Barça players’ ability to stick to their possession-based style, even when their attack was thwarted, was built on their confidence!

When a team is full of confidence in itself and its overall tactics, they can naturally stick to their game.

But the problem was, if they lost that confidence, they would be completely finished.

“I’ll say what I said before the match: from the very first second of the second half, we must continue to apply pressure on Barça. There must be no sign of letting our guard down, no giving the opponent any opportunities!”

“We must make our opponents utterly despair!”

“Once Barça despairs, their possession play will become harmless, even riddled with errors!”

…

After a fifteen-minute break, the players from both teams had recovered.

Once the second half began, the match once again entered a high-tempo, back-and-forth battle.

Bayswater Chinese kicked off and actively launched an attack.

Although they quickly lost the ball in the final third, the team immediately organized a counter-press, pinning Barça back in their own half.

For the first two minutes of the restart, the game was played almost entirely in Barça’s half.

The two teams engaged in a very intense struggle for control.

Bayswater Chinese, just as Yang Cheng had instructed, applied pressure on Barça from the very beginning.

When a foul was necessary, they committed it decisively.

And they were even more uncompromising in physical challenges.

This led to quite a few passing errors from Barça.

It was clear that Barça was struggling to adapt to Bayswater Chinese’s style of play, especially with the pace of the game being ramped up.

The match seemed to have returned to how it was at the beginning of the first half.

But there was a difference.

The Barça players were clearly fighting harder.

A typical example was in the forty-ninth minute. When Barça finally managed to attack into Bayswater Chinese’s half, the ball was passed to the right side, only to be intercepted by Marcelo, who had tracked back in time.

Messi immediately started a counter-press, first rushing towards Marcelo at top speed.

The Brazilian defender passed to Thiago Silva inside the penalty area.

Messi turned and immediately charged towards the Brazilian centre-back at top speed.

When Thiago Silva passed to Nemanja Matić, Messi turned and charged at him too.

But the ball went back to Marcelo on the left flank.

Bayswater Chinese made a series of quick passes while Messi frantically chased, but he never managed to touch the ball.

By the time Marcelo was carrying the ball forward, Messi was clearly out of breath and just walked in place.

This actually reflected the mentality of the Barça players.

They were three goals down, and they were anxious, desperate to change the situation on the pitch.

But they couldn’t find an effective solution!

At the very least, they couldn’t break through Bayswater Chinese’s defensive formation!

On the sideline, Pep Guardiola had basically stopped directing the game or making tactical adjustments. It didn’t seem like he had any plans for substitutions either.

This made everyone feel Guardiola’s helplessness.

But on the pitch, the Barça players were clearly getting impatient.

In every attack, multiple players pushed forward, but their offensive options were limited.

They mostly tried to play passes behind the defense, but with little effect.

Instead, in the fifty-second minute, Messi took a hurried long shot from outside the box, which went slightly high.

This was the second shot of the second half for either side, and Barça’s first.

In this state of impatience, the Barça players were prone to making mistakes they wouldn’t normally make.

For example, in the fifty-fifth minute, Busquets had the ball on the right and passed it to Xavi in front of him.

Then, Xavi passed it back to Busquets.

Busquets passed forward again, still to Xavi.

Unexpectedly, Xavi passed it back to Busquets again.

It was as if they were just padding their passing stats.

But in reality, it reflected the fact that Barça’s players were completely out of effective ideas.

Busquets hoped Xavi had a solution, but Xavi, having none, hoped Busquets did.

Finally, as if pushed to his limit, Busquets decided to dribble forward himself.

The Barça Number 4 role was tall but slow.

The moment he started to dribble forward, Toni Kroos immediately left Xavi and stuck to Busquets.

Although the German midfielder was not known for his physicality, he did a good job against Busquets, forcing him to dribble towards the right wing, which was Bayswater Chinese’s left sideline.

Near the left sideline, when Busquets was cornered with no passing options and tried to dribble past him, Toni Kroos suddenly cut in front, forcing his way between Busquets and the ball. He used his rear to block Busquets and brought the ball under his control.

After taking a step forward, the German turned and sent a through ball to Gareth Bale near the thirty-meter area.

Gareth Bale received the ball with his side to the goal and pushed it forward.

Dani Alves quickly ran over to defend.

But unexpectedly, before the Brazilian could get close, Gareth Bale suddenly hit a through pass, kicking the ball straight down the left touchline. He pushed off with both feet, and like a cheetah, he sprinted forward.

The Welshman flew down the left sideline, getting faster and faster.

So fast that Barça’s entire backline couldn’t retreat in time.

Gareth Bale surged forward, and by the time he caught up with the ball again, he was already outside the left corner of Barça’s penalty area.

The entire stadium became electrified, caught up in Gareth Bale’s lightning speed!

All the Bayswater Chinese fans were cheering wildly!

This was the Bale speed that drove them crazy!

When Gareth Bale caught up to the ball he had knocked ahead outside the left corner of the box, the Welshman dribbled into the penalty area, reaching the corner of the six-yard box. Facing the onrushing Valdés who had come off his line, Gareth Bale faked a shot with his right foot, then suddenly hit a low shot with his left.

The ball went right between Valdés’s legs, beating two keepers in one go, and nestled into Barça’s goal.

The Welshman quickly turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the stands where the fans were, jumping up in excitement and pumping his fists towards the cheering crowd.

“4-0!”

“A long-distance solo run from Gareth Bale!”

“My God, this will definitely become one of the most classic goals in the history of Champions League finals!”

“Gareth Bale practically passed to himself 3 seconds in the future!”

“His speed was on full display throughout that goal!”

“It’s simply incredible!”

“Truly a god-sent player!”

“Barça’s defense made a terrible mistake. They pushed up too high and were too impatient!”

…

When the many renowned managers in the stands saw Gareth Bale score again against Barça with such a breathtaking long-distance sprint, they all had mixed feelings.

Capello was envious.

Because Gareth Bale was Welsh, not English.

Ferguson, Wenger, Redknapp, and others felt a mixture of envy and apprehension.

Bayswater Chinese was becoming more and more dominant.

If they continued like this, who could stop them?

At that point, perhaps only time, only when this group of players grew old, would anyone have a chance to defeat this team.

But when would that be? A blue moon?

Perhaps there was another way.

That was to hope that tycoon clubs like Real Madrid, Barça, and Manchester City would poach Bayswater Chinese’s players and gut their squad this summer!

At this thought, the look Ferguson gave Wenger changed considerably.

Wenger was an old fox too, and he and Ferguson knew each other well.

The two old friends exchanged a glance, a spark passed between them, and they both guessed what the other was thinking.

Ferguson was saying: I support you, go gut them!

Wenger was shaking his head internally: Our squad is quite complete at the moment. You guys should poach them. Manchester United desperately needs to strengthen their lineup.

Ferguson replied: We do need reinforcements, but those damned Americans have no money.

Wenger cursed inwardly: It’s all those damn Yanks’ fault!

And when everyone saw that after the game restarted, both sides still maintained a high-tempo attack and defense, a sense of fear arose in their hearts.

It was already 4-0, and Yang Cheng’s team still wouldn’t let Barça off the hook!

A 4-0 scoreline had already surpassed the 3-0 victories of Porto against Monaco in 2004 and Real Madrid against Valencia in 2000. It now equaled AC Milan’s 4-0 thrashing of Barça in 1994.

If they scored again, it would be five.

In the history of the Champions League final, the last time a team scored five goals was back in the 1961/62 season, at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands, when Benfica defeated Real Madrid 5-3.

That was a full half-century ago!

And if Barça failed to score and conceded another goal, losing by a margin of five, it would set a new record in Champions League final history!

Never in the history of the Champions League final had a team lost by a five-goal margin.

The largest margin of defeat was four goals.

At this moment, everyone couldn’t help but look at Ferguson again.

He had seen it coming.

It seemed they were truly witnessing history!

All they could say was that under the sharp attack of Bayswater Chinese, Barça’s defense was simply too shaky!

Guardiola’s team couldn’t even manage to drop back and defend!

…

The match continued.

Gareth Bale’s goal had undoubtedly destroyed Barça’s confidence.

Even the Barça fans in the stands had quieted down.

Many of them could no longer bear to watch.

The Barça players on the pitch looked exceptionally dejected and were also beginning to lack confidence.

They still wanted to control the game through possession, but their errors kept increasing.

Guardiola had already started signaling for the team to retreat, hoping to control the ball in their own half.

This in itself was a sign of conceding defeat.

But Bayswater Chinese still found a way. In the sixty-eighth minute, Bayswater Chinese won a throw-in on the left wing in the thirty-meter area.

Marcelo came forward and threw the ball with both hands to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder brought the ball down but was immediately double-teamed by Messi and Xavi.

Toni Kroos directly chipped the ball over them to the space behind Marcelo.

Marcelo quickly moved forward and headed the ball to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman used his body to hold off Dani Alves, then controlled the ball with his left foot and laid it back to the overlapping Toni Kroos.

Barça had committed five players to defend the left flank, but Bayswater Chinese’s three players still managed to tear open a gap with their continuous one-touch passing.

On the left side outside the penalty area, as Toni Kroos received the ball, before Busquets could close him down, he immediately played a through pass and accelerated towards the arc of the penalty area himself.

Inside the box, Robert Lewandowski, with his back to Piqué, controlled the ball and then gently pushed it to the arc.

Lewandowski’s pass was brilliant; it slowed down at the arc.

It almost came to a stop.

Puyol, nearby, sensed the danger and immediately chose to press high.

But Toni Kroos made a quick run, meeting Lewandowski’s lay-off. After planting his left foot, he stroked the ball with the inside of his right foot in a placed shot.

The football shot off Toni Kroos’s foot at high speed, skimming across the grass towards the bottom right corner of the goal.

Goalkeeper Valdés dived to his side, trying to push the ball away.

But due to his height and short reach, he was just a little bit off.

The ball nestled into the bottom right corner of Barça’s goal.

After scoring, Toni Kroos turned around excitedly, clenched his right fist tightly, and let out a roar of cathartic release.

He knew that at this moment, not only the fans in the Allianz Arena saw him!

The whole of Germany saw him!

Regret it now, Bayern?

Don’t worry, I will continue to work hard, I will perform even better!

This is my revenge on you!

…

When Barça conceded the fifth goal, everyone found it unbelievable.

No one could have imagined that the match would go so smoothly.

It was hard to say whether Bayswater Chinese was too strong, or Barcelona was too weak.

Even Yang Cheng himself couldn’t have imagined it.

Because he still had Theo Walcott in reserve, unused.

When Toni Kroos scored the fifth goal, he decisively substituted Theo Walcott on for Di María.

The Little Tiger was frustrated.

He was originally the surprise player Yang Cheng had high hopes for, thinking he would come on as a substitute in a critical moment for the team.

He never expected that by the time his turn came, the opportunity was long gone.

It was all this shaky Barça’s fault!

So, after coming on, the Little Tiger played with extra effort.

Icing on the cake was still icing on the cake, better than getting nothing at all, right?

Later, Yang Cheng made his second substitution, bringing on Aaron Ramsey for Modrić.

This was actually a defensive-minded substitution.

The Welsh midfielder’s running ability was outstanding. Coming on at this time, he was perfect for midfield sweeping, continuing to pressure Barça.

The final substitution occurred in the eightieth minute, when Yang Cheng replaced Matić with Javi Martínez.

This was also a substitution to strengthen the defense.

From a purely defensive standpoint, Javi Martínez was better than Matić.

But Matić had started as a number 10, so whether it was his passing, his technique, or his overall vision, he was a cut above. Plus, his defensive ability was also quite good, making him a better fit for Yang Cheng’s tactical needs.

After using all three substitutions, Bayswater Chinese continued to dominate Barça in midfield.

Barça only made two substitutions in the entire match.

One was Cuenca for Pedro.

The other was Seydou Keita for David Villa.

Both happened after the eightieth minute.

In the last twenty minutes, Barça had the majority of possession, but they were never able to organize any threatening attacks.

Bayswater Chinese’s newly substituted players were active and created a few bright moments, but the team’s stamina was clearly declining significantly.

Seeing that Barça had been beaten into submission and had retreated into their own half, Bayswater Chinese was happy to hold onto their current lead and didn’t rush things.

Finally, in the ninety-third minute of the match, the head referee Rizzoli finally blew the final whistle.

The entire Allianz Arena erupted in deafening cheers.

The Bayswater Chinese players and staff, who had been waiting on the sideline, all rushed onto the pitch in a frenzy.

After a three-year absence, Bayswater Chinese had finally won the Champions League again, completing the Treble!

“Let’s congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“Here at the Allianz Arena in Munich, they have defeated Pep Guardiola’s Barça by a score of 5-0!”

“This is the most lopsided scoreline in the history of the Champions League final!”

“Yang Cheng and his team have once again made Champions League history, but it is an honor they deserve!”

“Looking at this final, their performance was far superior to their opponents, Barça!”

“It can even be said that they dominated Barça for the entire match!”

“After winning the Premier League and the FA Cup, Yang Cheng’s team has won tonight’s Champions League, achieving the great Treble. This is the second time they have accomplished this feat!”

“They already achieved it once in the 2008/09 season.”

“But this year’s Bayswater Chinese is clearly stronger and more dominant!”

“In this final, Bayswater Chinese’s victory is utterly convincing!”

“Their performance absolutely deserves tonight’s Champions League trophy, and this season’s Treble!”

“Let us once again congratulate Bayswater Chinese, and congratulate Yang Cheng!”

Chapter 255: Future Blueprint! A Juggernaut’s Moat! Bayswater Chinese Surrounded by Wolves!

From the moment Rizzoli’s whistle blew, Yang Cheng felt as if he were being swept along, moving without a will of his own.

First, he was interviewed by reporters from all over the world in the mixed media zone by the pitch.

Then came the interactions with the players.

Finally, it was time to go on stage to receive the award.

Before accepting the award, Yang Cheng had a brief chat with Pep Guardiola below the podium.

It was clear that the crushing defeat in this match had hit Guardiola hard.

Not only did the Barça players look dejected, but even Guardiola himself appeared exceptionally downcast.

“Throughout the entire match, we barely created any chances!”

This was what Guardiola found hardest to accept.

The team he had meticulously built for four years was ultimately rendered completely helpless against Bayswater Chinese.

Had Yang Cheng opted to park the bus and defend with all his might, it would have been one thing.

But Yang Cheng had done no such thing; instead, he chose to go head-to-head.

In terms of possession, the split was 57% to 43%, a difference of fourteen percentage points.

But for Barça, that was hardly a significant margin.

Guardiola’s teams typically commanded over sixty percent, sometimes even approaching seventy percent, of possession.

But now, a mere 57% was indeed a bit embarrassing.

“I think it’s time for me to take a break and think things over,” Guardiola said with a hint of resignation.

Yang Cheng was slightly taken aback.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Guardiola was implying that he intended to leave Barça.

This wasn’t surprising at all.

Putting aside the fact that he had already been considering it for some time, wanting to leave after such a devastating loss in the Champions League final was perfectly normal.

Even the Barça board would probably not try to keep him.

At this point, they would be more than happy to pin all the blame on Guardiola.

But what could Yang Cheng say?

“When I’m finally free, I’ll find some time to visit you in London. I still haven’t had a chance to see that training facility of yours that the industry has been praising!” Guardiola said with a smile.

“You’re welcome anytime!” Yang Cheng certainly wouldn’t refuse.

But would Guardiola still take a year off and then coach Bayern Munich, just as he had in Yang Cheng’s previous life?

Yang Cheng wasn’t so sure.

“By the way, Toni Kroos is truly incredible!” Guardiola specifically added, full of praise.

It was clear he had immense admiration for the German midfielder.

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded, accepting the compliment on Toni Kroos’s behalf.

Since Guardiola was about to leave Barça, Yang Cheng naturally didn’t have to worry that this comment was a prelude to a poaching attempt.

As for how good Toni Kroos was, Yang Cheng knew better than anyone.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Guardiola had greatly admired Toni Kroos.

It was just a pity that Bayern Munich ended up selling him.

During the award ceremony, Yang Cheng met Prince William and his wife, British Prime Minister Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and London Mayor Ken Livingstone in the stands.

Of course, UEFA President Platini and General Secretary Infantino were also present.

Yang Cheng and his group accepted congratulations all the way as they went up to receive their award.

After receiving the award, they celebrated on the podium for a while before heading onto the pitch for a group photo.

Following the photo, they remained on the pitch celebrating for another half an hour or so before returning to the dressing room.

In the dressing room, everyone went wild once more.

All the players had been under immense pressure for a long time.

This season, in particular, the team’s schedule had been incredibly tight, and the pressure from the matches was enormous.

But everyone withstood the pressure and successfully secured the Treble!

Thus, Yang Cheng gave the players plenty of space, allowing them to celebrate all night long at the hotel.

But they were not allowed to leave the hotel!

This was mainly because Yang Cheng was afraid the players might cause some sort of scandal if they went out.

For example, Manchester United’s Christmas party that became a huge, embarrassing media storm for everyone involved.

The players’ and employees’ families also joined the celebration at the hotel.

In the end, the entire team celebrated through the night.

To avoid spoiling everyone’s fun, Yang Cheng only participated in the beginning before quietly slipping away, leaving the revelry to all the players.

…

“According to the official figures from UEFA, our prize money and broadcast revenue from this season’s Champions League victory will exceed sixty million euros, which is about forty-eight million pounds sterling.”

“On top of that, we’ll receive sixty-one million pounds from the Premier League.”

“There’s also income from the International Champions Cup, the FA Cup win, the League Cup, and a series of other sources.”

“Our total broadcast revenue for this season is projected to reach one hundred and thirty million pounds.”

While the players were partying the night away at the hotel, Yang Cheng was having drinks with Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and other key club executives at the hotel’s rooftop bar.

The conversation naturally turned to the club’s revenue for the season.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese’s broadcast revenue was approximately one hundred and fifteen million pounds.

The increase of over ten million pounds came from this season’s Champions League earnings.

Bayswater Chinese’s Champions League income was sixty million euros, while runners-up Barça would only receive about forty-five million euros.

This discrepancy wasn’t just about being champion versus runner-up.

It was because Bayswater Chinese had the entire English market behind it.

The Champions League television rights for England sold for a very high price, so the share of broadcast revenue for Premier League teams was unparalleled by other leagues.

In fact, it was likely that even Manchester City, who reached the semi-final, would earn more than giants like Barça and Real Madrid.

This was the Premier League’s greatest advantage!

As for the Premier League’s domestic broadcast rights distribution, it had become relatively fixed by now.

The champion’s share was around sixty-one million pounds.

“Our matchday revenue hasn’t seen a huge increase, projected at one hundred and seventy million pounds, only a slight rise from last season, but overall, it remains very stable.”

Last season, Bayswater Chinese’s matchday revenue was one hundred and sixty-five million pounds.

Among the three main revenue streams, commercial revenue had undoubtedly seen the largest growth.

Thanks to several sponsorship renewals signed to begin in the 2011/12 season, especially the blockbuster deals with Prudential and Puma, the club’s commercial income for the past season skyrocketed from last season’s one hundred and five million pounds to one hundred and seventy million pounds.

And this figure didn’t even include the stadium naming rights contract with Prudential, nor the five-million-pound-a-year sponsorship deal with MAN that would take effect next season.

Combining the three sectors, Bayswater Chinese’s total revenue for the past season would reach a staggering four hundred and seventy million pounds.

That converted to approximately five hundred and ninety million euros.

“According to reliable intelligence we’ve received, Real Madrid’s revenue for this season is only around five hundred and ten to five hundred and twenty million euros; it will definitely not exceed that figure!” Adam Crozier said with confidence.

Yang Cheng was overjoyed to hear this.

This meant that Bayswater Chinese was now, in a true sense, the highest-earning football club in the world!

And by a considerable margin.

This was an incredibly difficult achievement for Bayswater Chinese.

Not only did Yang Cheng feel immense pride, but Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and the others also shared in the glory.

They all clearly remembered that when they joined the team, Bayswater Chinese was just a newly promoted Premier League club.

Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Now, through their collective efforts, Bayswater Chinese had become one of European football’s most renowned top-tier giants.

This revenue figure, in particular, would make every major club green with envy!

All of the club’s finances passed through Xia Qing’s hands, so she was naturally aware of the current income and expenditure situation.

They certainly had a lot of money and ample liquid funds.

But to date, there wasn’t much left, as nearly all of it had been invested in the new stadium project.

But now, things were looking up.

The new stadium was about to open.

Next season, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue would continue to rise.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue figures did not include income from the transfer market or the rental income from the four pitches surrounding the new stadium.

“As it stands, our broadcast revenue is one hundred and thirty million pounds, but this is an area we have less control over.”

Adam Crozier analyzed the team’s current revenue structure and potential areas for future growth.

Broadcast revenue was primarily determined by the team’s performance and was also tied to the copyright auctions held by the Premier League and UEFA.

Yang Cheng’s preliminary estimate was that the next rapid increase in broadcast revenue would have to wait for the Premier League’s next broadcast rights auction.

That would be the auction this summer.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the Premier League’s three-year broadcast rights from 2013 to 2016 sold for a massive 3.2 billion pounds in the domestic market and 2.23 billion pounds in overseas markets.

The current contract being executed was for 1.95 billion pounds domestically and 1.44 billion pounds overseas.

Yang Cheng had done some private calculations and figured the domestic market value would be similar to his past life.

The potential for growth in the domestic market was limited; Sky Sports had already been pushed to its absolute limit.

Barring any surprises, the number should remain roughly the same.

This was constrained by objective laws and couldn’t be changed.

However, the overseas market was poised for high-speed growth and would certainly surpass the figure from his previous life.

By then, the Premier League champions would receive over one hundred million pounds each season.

Even relegated teams would get over sixty million pounds.

This would undoubtedly further intensify the competition in the Premier League and significantly boost its influence in European football.

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t reveal any of this right now.

“Since we can’t control broadcast revenue, our operational focus for the near future will be on matchday revenue and commercial revenue.”

“As we are moving into the new stadium this year, we will prioritize matchday revenue.”

The new stadium’s capacity had been confirmed at just over ninety thousand. After accounting for some flexible seating, it could accommodate a full ninety thousand fans for every match.

This would make Prudential Stadium the largest football stadium in the United Kingdom, surpassing Wembley Stadium!

In addition, there were two hundred and fifty VIP boxes and a range of supporting commercial facilities like the Sky Bar.

All of these would provide the club with a continuous stream of income.

“Over the past two years, we have commissioned three separate studies from third-party agencies on the London ticket market, as well as surveying our fans. We have unanimously decided to completely restructure the ticket pricing system for the new season.”

“We will introduce a whole set of discounts for seniors and young fans.”

“For example, members aged twenty-one to twenty-four will receive a twenty-five percent discount when purchasing season tickets and single-match tickets.”

“We’ve also discounted family packages, offering a fifty percent discount for young members aged seventeen to eighteen in the package, and a sixty percent discount for member fans aged sixteen and under.”

Discounts like these were, in fact, aimed at attracting more young fans and families.

Take Chelsea, for example. They had dedicated an entire stand as a family zone, filled with families.

Although the children’s tickets in these family packages were discounted, these fans actually had the highest spending power.

This meant that the money saved on tickets was earned back, and then some, through retail.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese would implement a similar plan at Prudential Stadium.

“After restructuring the ticket price system, we project the average ticket price to be around forty-five pounds, with the average season ticket price at nine hundred and ninety pounds.”

Bayswater Chinese had always followed Arsenal’s model of including the three Champions League group stage matches in their season tickets.

This had a very clear promotional effect on season ticket sales.

So, while other teams’ season tickets covered nineteen matches, Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal’s covered twenty-two.

Even so, Bayswater Chinese’s ticket prices were still slightly lower than Arsenal’s.

But it had to be considered that both Wembley Stadium and Prudential Stadium were much larger than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Yang Cheng did a quick mental calculation and estimated that the annual ticket revenue alone would exceed one hundred million pounds.

And that didn’t even include the VIP boxes or matchday retail income.

This season’s income was only around ninety million pounds.

“What’s the current fan reaction to the ticket price increase?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Xia Qing took over, replying, “I had the fan services department conduct surveys with the major fan organizations. The general feedback has been positive. After all, our ticket prices haven’t increased in all these years.”

From their promotion to the Premier League in 2005 until now, Bayswater Chinese’s ticket prices had amazingly never gone up.

This was a truly astonishing fact.

Now, with the average price increasing by five pounds, how could the fans be dissatisfied?

Other teams’ price hikes were bound to be much steeper than Bayswater Chinese’s.

Of course, this was looking purely at the ticket price.

The club’s tickets and season tickets would also include heating costs for the winter.

Because in winter, Prudential Stadium would close its roof and provide heating, which would naturally incur a charge.

“Currently, all two hundred and fifty of the club’s VIP boxes have been sold out, and there are even many people on the waiting list and making inquiries. The demand far outstrips supply, so this revenue stream will certainly be higher than what we had at Wembley Stadium.”

Adam Crozier reported with delight, “Additionally, we’ve made a breakthrough in securing sponsors for the training center and the ten satellite training centers. We expect to finalize the deals very soon.”

“Who did you sign?” Yang Cheng’s spirits lifted as well.

This was definitely another major deal.

Adam Crozier had started planning and seeking sponsors two years ago.

Over the past year, he had spoken with many companies, many of which were very interested.

For instance, France’s AXA and America’s Aon plc had shown great interest in the partnership.

Unfortunately, because Prudential was the main sponsor and also had the naming rights to the new stadium, Bayswater Chinese was contractually forbidden from signing another insurance company as a sponsor.

Last year, Adam Crozier and his team had made a trip to the Middle East and contacted the Dubai Tourism.

They had also considered sponsorship in Europe to promote Dubai tourism.

But in the end, it wasn’t Dubai Tourism that they signed.

“It’s the Qatar Tourism Authority!”

“Qatar?”

“Yes, they offered a higher price than Dubai. It’s a five-year contract, thirty million pounds per year, but they require naming rights not only for the main training center and the satellite centers but also advertising around the training pitches and on the training kits.”

Yang Cheng broke into a smile.

This price exceeded his earlier expectations.

He had originally thought that twenty million pounds would be a good deal.

He never expected the Qatar Investment Authority to be willing to offer thirty million.

“On one hand, the platform we’re offering as a package is indeed very substantial, including not just the Brent training center, but also the naming rights to ten satellite training centers located in densely populated areas across London and its surroundings, plus the kit naming rights.”

Bayswater Chinese had a large and highly-watched group of youth academy players now.

“On the other hand, ever since Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup, they’ve been going all out on promotion and publicity. Thirty million pounds is just a drop in the ocean for them.”

Yang Cheng completely agreed.

But he still felt it was an excellent deal.

“We’ve finally made it through the tough times. Hardship is followed by happiness!” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Ever since Yang Cheng took over the team in 2003, Bayswater Chinese had been heavily in debt.

First, they borrowed money to pay off old debts, then they took out a loan to build the Brent training center. Later, they built satellite training centers all over Greater London, and then they raised funds for the new stadium.

Not to mention Bayswater Chinese started with a meager foundation; even clubs with deep pockets might not have survived such a whirlwind of spending.

But now, they had weathered it all.

The initial investments were now yielding continuous returns.

“It’s all good days from here on out!” Adam Crozier let out a huge sigh of relief.

Unbeknownst to him, Bayswater Chinese had become the most outstanding masterpiece of his professional career!

He wasn’t sure when it started, but in various business settings, his most prominent credential had become Bayswater Chinese.

This had deeply tied Adam Crozier to the club.

“Oh, right, OGC Nice successfully defended their Ligue 1 title this season. You’ll have to find time to go check on them and also take a look at their new training base,” Adam Crozier suddenly remembered.

This was another amazing story!

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted, without Giroud, Montpellier, who were the Ligue 1 champions this season in his previous life, were now a shadow of their former selves.

From the start of the new season, the heavily invested Paris Saint-Germain led the pack, even defeating Nice 2-1 at home in the seventh round.

Ronald Koeman’s team, however, pursued them relentlessly, always hot on Paris Saint-Germain’s heels.

By February, just before the 23rd round of Ligue 1, there was only a one-point gap between the two teams.

But in that match, Nice defeated PSG 2-0 at home, successfully overtaking them to claim the top spot.

From that point on, Nice never relinquished their position as the Ligue 1 leaders.

Many players on the team performed exceptionally well.

For instance, striker Pellè scored twenty-three league goals.

Aubameyang delivered a stunning performance with sixteen goals and eleven assists.

In midfield, Strootman, and in defense, Aurier, Nastasić, and Daley Blind, all played brilliantly.

By clinching the Ligue 1 title for the second consecutive year with a three-point lead over PSG, Nice’s performance captured the attention of the entire European football world.

Head coach Ronald Koeman and several of the team’s outstanding players also attracted interest from numerous top-league clubs.

It could be said that all this made Yang Cheng’s investment years ago seem exceptionally wise!

Besides their success on the pitch, in the commercial sphere, Nice’s successive winter training camps in the Middle East had allowed the Ligue 1 team to gradually make a name for itself, garnering considerable attention.

They also won a large following of fans in the Middle East and North Africa.

Additionally, Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin, along with David Pemsel from the ICC Company, decided to organize a pre-season friendly cup in the Middle East and Africa during the winter training period.

This would be a major initiative for the long-term development of the Middle Eastern and African markets.

Now, what Yang Cheng controlled was far more than just Bayswater Chinese.

He also had a Ligue 1 championship team!

It was safe to say that his influence in European football was steadily rising.

He definitely had to visit OGC Nice, but Yang Cheng was thinking even further ahead.

“After two years of operation, Nice is now on the right track, and the integration between our club and Nice is basically complete. Next, we should free up our hands and, when the time is right, buy another team!”

Yang Cheng’s words surprised everyone present, except for Xia Qing.

“Buy another one?” Even Adam Crozier hadn’t expected this.

Yang Cheng nodded. “And it would be best to buy a team from one of the other top four leagues, like Serie A or La Liga.”

Teams in Serie A and La Liga were currently undervalued, making it a good time to buy.

As for the Bundesliga, due to its regulations, it was not so easy for foreign capital to acquire a club.

Besides, it was hard to find a suitable team.

“We are already managing both Bayswater Chinese and Nice, which is quite enough. Is it really necessary to expand further?” Adam Crozier found it strange.

“Of course, it is!” Yang Cheng was resolute.

“We invest a huge amount of capital every year in medical science, sports science, rehabilitation, advanced equipment, as well as our scouting system, player database, and even our entire commercial apparatus.”

“Right now, using all these resources just for Bayswater Chinese and Nice is actually very wasteful. So we should expand further, having multiple clubs share the costs!”

“Furthermore, we need to build a unique advantage for Bayswater Chinese, a moat that other giants will find difficult to cross!”

Yang Cheng’s idea was different from Manchester City’s City Football Group.

The Abu Dhabi consortium’s City Football Group had started a bit late, missing the best window to enter the top five leagues.

But Bayswater Chinese’s current timing was undoubtedly very advantageous.

Of course, the best model was like the Pozzo family, who simultaneously owned clubs in several top leagues like Udinese, Granada CF, and Watford, allowing for the free exchange of players and a flourishing business.

However, the Pozzo family’s resources were clearly inferior to what Yang Cheng had at his disposal in every aspect.

“Let’s not rush. I’m just putting forward an idea and a direction. We can take our time to select a suitable target. Quality over quantity!”

Proceeding steadily and surely was also Yang Cheng’s strategy.

In this regard, Yang Cheng would not be reckless or aggressive.

He was proposing this future blueprint now in the hope that Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others would carefully look for suitable clubs over the next few months, or even the next year or two.

…

The afternoon after the Champions League final, the Qatar Airways charter plane, painted with the Bayswater Chinese crest and portraits of its star players, landed at London Heathrow Airport.

Bayswater Chinese then boarded the bus that was already waiting for them and headed to the Brent training center.

When the team arrived at the Brent training center, fans who had heard the news had already gathered there.

The moment they saw the team bus, they all erupted into excited cheers.

The Treble!

Another Treble!

This season’s Treble held even more prestige than last season’s.

That very morning, media outlets all over the world were frantically reporting on Bayswater Chinese’s Treble, unanimously agreeing that it was the most prestigious Treble in history.

Surpassing Manchester United’s in the 1998/99 season and Bayswater Chinese’s own in the 2008/09 season!

This was undoubtedly the greatest affirmation of Bayswater Chinese’s achievements this season!

One can imagine the excitement of the fans when they saw the team bus.

It even caused a chaotic scene at the gate, blocking it completely.

After the bus finally managed to enter the Brent training center, everyone disembarked to go to their rooms to freshen up and rest before reassembling.

When the team set off again, it was not on their team bus, but on a double-decker open-top bus rented by the club, emblazoned with the Bayswater Chinese crest and colors.

At the front of the bus’s upper deck hung a banner displaying “11/12 Season” and images of the four trophies, for all to see Bayswater Chinese’s spoils of the season.

The players, holding the newly won Champions League trophy, as well as the Premier League and FA Cup trophies retrieved from the trophy room, boarded the top deck of the bus.

When the gates of the Brent training center slowly opened again, the fans still waiting outside erupted once more.

This time, police had already arrived to maintain order, quickly clearing a path for the bus to reach Brent Cross.

Over the past few years, because the stadium wasn’t their own and the new one was under construction, Bayswater Chinese had practically done away with victory parades.

But not long ago, Adam Crozier had proposed that they must revive this fine tradition.

He suggested that the team hold its victory parade around Notting Hill and Bayswater.

Ever since the team reached the Champions League final, Adam Crozier had been negotiating with the London City Government.

Everyone knows that London’s roads are not wide, and opening them up for a team’s victory parade would certainly cause traffic jams.

Therefore, opening up major thoroughfares was almost impossible.

Take Chelsea, for example.

The Blues’ victory parade route was actually very short.

From the west exit of Stamford Bridge, east along Fulham Road, then south along a side street, turning west onto King’s Road, and then back to Stamford Bridge.

The entire route was only about two kilometers long and consisted of smaller roads.

This time, the London City Government promised that if Bayswater Chinese won the Champions League and achieved the Treble, they would allow the team to start from the intersection of Harrow Road and Ladbroke Grove, north of Notting Hill.

The route would go south along Ladbroke Grove, through the heart of Notting Hill, to the north gate of Holland Park, then turn east towards Queensway station, and finally turn north again.

The total distance was about four kilometers.

This would actually have a considerable impact on London’s traffic.

After all, both roads were major thoroughfares with heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

The London Police had started setting up early, trying to use steel barricades to keep the fans on the sides of the road, leaving just enough space in the middle for a bus to pass through.

But it turned out they had vastly underestimated the fans’ enthusiasm.

When the team’s open-top bus arrived at the Ladbroke Grove junction, the intersection was already completely gridlocked with passionate fans. Even the east-west Harrow Road was swarmed with countless supporters.

Thousands upon thousands of fans cheered excitedly upon seeing the bus.

This was the first time in history that Bayswater Chinese had held a victory parade in central London.

Enthusiastic fans had packed both sides of Ladbroke Grove.

Even the apartments along the street were filled with people.

Some had even dramatically climbed trees or traffic lights.

These passionate fans just wanted to get a clear view of their idol players on the bus.

As the bus slowly moved forward, an ever-growing crowd of countless fans trailed behind.

Their cheers were like a tidal wave, sweeping through the entire neighborhood.

This spectacular and awe-inspiring scene deeply moved the players on the bus, and they all danced with excitement, all traces of fatigue from last night’s Champions League final and the long journey completely forgotten.

Standing on the top deck of the bus, Yang Cheng’s view was filled with people, in front of and behind the bus, a dense crowd that brought the entire street to a standstill.

And as the bus neared Holland Park, more and more fans gathered, and the cheers grew louder and louder.

The players on the bus used microphones to interact with the fans on site.

Marcelo and others got so excited they even started singing on the spot.

And the first song was Bayswater Chinese’s team anthem, which prompted a massive sing-along from everyone present.

The singing echoed through the sky, a spectacle of unimaginable grandeur and power!

After reaching Holland Park, the bus slowly turned east, heading towards Hyde Park.

The closer they got to Hyde Park, the more fans gathered.

Although London police and mounted officers were clearing the way ahead, they were still frequently blocked by the crowd.

The short four-kilometer journey took over two hours.

By the time the team’s bus slowly drove onto Queensway, the entire avenue was already a sea of fans.

The open-air plaza in front of Prudential Stadium, in particular, was completely surrounded by supporters.

Sky Sports’ live broadcast cameras even captured a bird’s-eye view from above.

The dense crowd of fans surged forward like a tide, threatening to engulf everything in its path.

The bus slowly came to a stop in the plaza of Prudential Stadium.

A stage had already been set up there, complete with a host.

The host introduced the first-team players one by one to greet and interact with the fans.

Some would perform a small act.

Some sang, some danced…

When it was the turn of the twin stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, they could hardly do a thing.

Everyone knew they would be representing Great Britain in the men’s football tournament at this year’s London Olympics.

Also participating were Aaron Ramsey, Ryan Bertrand, and Kyle Walker, among others.

This made this group of local players extremely popular with the fans.

When Gareth Bale came out, the entire crowd erupted in cheers, and he couldn’t even get a word in.

Finally, the Welshman, extremely emotional, expressed his gratitude for the fans’ support over the past few years.

“Tonight is the best night of all our careers. We’ve won the Champions League and the Treble. We’ve proven that Bayswater Chinese is the best club in the world!”

As Gareth Bale’s roar filled the air, the entire crowd erupted once more!

The atmosphere on site reached its absolute peak!

…

After the victory parade, the team did not disband.

Bayswater Chinese held a grand victory banquet.

Not just for the players, coaches, and employees, but for their families as well.

It was just as Yang Cheng said in his speech at the banquet when he thanked the families.

Professional football is a very unique industry, and its practitioners face completely different challenges than those in other fields.

For example, there are many away games.

Sometimes, an away trip can take up to three days.

This means many players are often not at home.

When there are consecutive away matches, it’s entirely possible for a player to be home for only two or three nights a week.

Not to mention the unique schedule of the Premier League, which not only has no winter transfer window but also has its most packed schedule during Christmas when all other leagues are on break.

Without the support and encouragement from their families, Yang Cheng stated, the players, coaches, and employees would not be able to devote themselves fully to their work.

“So, here, on behalf of the club, on behalf of the team, on behalf of everyone at Bayswater Chinese, I thank all the families and friends!”

“Every honor our club has achieved, every trophy we have won, is a credit to all of you!”

These words from Yang Cheng earned him thunderous applause from everyone.

Afterward, club executives like Adam Crozier, and team captains like Modrić and José Fonte, all went on stage to speak.

The atmosphere of the entire victory banquet was incredibly enthusiastic!

…

After the victory banquet, the team was officially dismissed.

Unlike the players who had to prepare for the European Championship, Yang Cheng was instantly free.

The next day, he slept in until he woke up naturally.

But he still couldn’t stay idle.

The next morning, he went to the club’s office in Grosvenor Square for a meeting.

The agenda was still the season summary and the outlook for the new season.

There was no need to dwell on the summary; Xia Qing and Adam Crozier had already reported on it.

One particularly noteworthy point was Xia Qing’s proposal to invite PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an annual audit of Bayswater Chinese’s financial situation.

This was quite rare in European football.

The purpose of doing this was simple: to make Bayswater Chinese’s financial situation transparent to everyone.

As Xia Qing said, this was the kind of boldness an industry leader should possess.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese was now the highest-earning football club in the world.

Last year, in its quest for the title of the highest-earning club, Real Madrid had pulled some stunts that sparked heated discussions among the media and fans, even leading to some ridicule.

Bayswater Chinese’s claim to the highest-earning title this season was well-deserved.

But to further solidify this position, Xia Qing believed that inviting PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit would undoubtedly enhance their credibility.

Another benefit of this was that it could further optimize Bayswater Chinese’s financial system.

Yang Cheng deeply agreed.

The Premier League now also required financial reports, a mandate from the league itself.

But anyone familiar with the Premier League knows that these financial reports can be quite deceptive.

The most comical example was the American real estate tycoon Stephen Ross, who acquired Queens Park Rangers. He had conducted a thorough investigation before the acquisition.

But in the end, he still fell into a pit.

The main issue was said to be player salaries.

Rumor had it that Stephen Ross lost over one hundred million pounds in just one year on Queens Park Rangers.

The money was practically burned.

Yang Cheng had introduced modern corporate management to Bayswater Chinese, so it was natural that all aspects had to keep pace and keep up with the times.

Therefore, he supported Xia Qing’s decision.

No one else had any objections, so the matter was settled.

Speaking of Stephen Ross, David Pemsel also brought the latest news from the United States.

The World Football Challenge was still planned, but the participating teams had not yet been selected.

This had already caused strong dissatisfaction in the United States.

Because it was already May 20th, with only about two months until the start of the tournament.

With the participating teams still unconfirmed, how were they supposed to handle the promotion, publicity, and sponsorship?

If potential sponsors didn’t even know which teams were participating, who would be willing to sponsor?

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese had already provided a clear schedule long ago.

Bayswater Chinese was drawn into the Asian division this year, so the team would be heading to China for their pre-season training camp.

All preparations were already complete.

Touring Asia with the glory of the Treble would undoubtedly create another huge wave in the region!

In addition, Prudential Stadium would officially open this summer.

Following European football tradition, Bayswater Chinese planned to invite a team over for a pre-season friendly.

After discussions, Adam Crozier, David Pemsel, and others decided that Bayswater Chinese would face the winner of this summer’s North American division final.

This was also a way to test the waters and gauge fan and market feedback for the grand final between the North American and Asian divisions of the International Champions Cup after its future expansion.

As for the World Football Challenge, David Pemsel brought another interesting piece of news.

Stephen Ross had started hyping it up a year ago, especially promoting Queens Park Rangers.

But unexpectedly, the team was relegated from the Premier League this season with an abysmal record.

With no other choice, Stephen Ross had to cancel Queens Park Rangers’ American tour.

This was why the World Football Challenge still had no confirmed participating teams.

…

After discussing the season summary, the meeting moved on to the outlook for the new season.

The focus was on this summer’s transfer market.

“We have already received at least ten inquiries about player transfers.”

Adam Crozier laid out the situation the team was currently facing.

With the team’s success, many other clubs wanted to poach players from Bayswater Chinese.

And they were almost all giants.

Yang Cheng was mentally prepared for this situation.

Bayswater Chinese had decided to give the players another raise, with the maximum salary reaching one hundred and fifty thousand pounds per week.

This was quite good.

But at many giant clubs, whether it was the rich titans of the Premier League or La Liga’s big two, they clearly didn’t think much of this salary, as they could offer far more generous terms.

Especially in La Liga.

The personal income tax rate in La Liga was much lower than in the Premier League, an advantage the Premier League could never match.

This was particularly true for top superstars.

Take C. Ronaldo, for example.

With the same pre-tax annual salary of ten million pounds, he could take home around 7.8 million pounds in La Liga.

But in the Premier League?

He would only get five million pounds.

This made the Premier League less attractive when competing for players, especially top stars, compared to La Liga.

If Premier League giants were to offer the same take-home pay as La Liga clubs, they would have to bear much higher salary costs.

But that was clearly impossible.

The overall salary level in the Premier League was already very high.

After every season, many financial media outlets would stir up talk of a Premier League bankruptcy theory.

The main points were Premier League debt and player salaries.

Yang Cheng made it clear that he did not intend to make any big moves in the transfer market this summer.

He would neither buy extensively nor sell on a large scale.

This did not fit Bayswater Chinese’s current circumstances.

In Yang Cheng’s view, the most important thing for the team now was to maintain stability and fighting strength, ensuring the team could continue to perform at a high level, deliver even better results in the new season, and continue the club’s excellent record of the past few years.

This undoubtedly required a stable squad.

Of course, at present, Bayswater Chinese was surrounded by wolves.

Many of their outstanding star players had attracted outside attention.

From Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale, to Modrić and Toni Kroos, and even the team’s defenders.

“Our financial situation has improved significantly, so we no longer need to rely on selling players to raise funds.”

“On the contrary, we need to maintain the stability of our squad and continue to solidify our status in European football, especially our status as a giant in the eyes of fans around the world!”

Yang Cheng’s stance was not to sell players and not to bring in new ones.

But he also knew that this was basically unrealistic.

For many players, what Bayswater Chinese could offer was not particularly generous.

Yang Cheng’s attitude was clear: he would never break the wage structure previously established by the team for anyone.

If a player was determined to leave, he would not force them to stay.

Chapter 256: Sky-High Broadcast Rights! Fighting Real Madrid for a Player! You Can’t Afford One of Lewandowski’s Legs!

“You’ve all heard the news, haven’t you?”

In Barcelona, Spain, inside the chairman’s office at Camp Nou, Barça Chairman Rosell looked at the members of his core team and asked with a concerned expression.

Seated before him were his key advisors.

Barça Vice-Chairman Josep Maria Bartomeu, Vice-Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Javier Faus, and director of football Andoni Zubizarreta.

They were all Rosell’s most trusted confidants.

“Are you talking about Soriano and Begiristain going to Manchester City?” Bartomeu was the first to react.

Rosell nodded. “I heard Manchester City has entrusted them with great responsibility. One is the General Manager in charge of business operations, and the other is the technical director responsible for sporting affairs. Those two are back!”

Soriano and Begiristain were both part of former Barça chairman Laporta’s team and had worked with Rosell in the past.

Rosell was crystal clear about their capabilities.

Furthermore, they were intimately familiar with Barça’s inner workings.

“This shouldn’t have too much of an impact on us, should it?” Bartomeu found it a bit strange.

If they wanted to go to Manchester City, then so be it.

Countless executives had left Barça over the years.

Why worry?

But Rosell was more wary of his predecessor.

He wished that these “holdovers from the previous administration” would stay away from football for good.

But there were some thoughts and matters he couldn’t voice, even in front of his core advisors.

“I heard Real Madrid is planning a big move this summer?” Rosell changed the subject, knowing he had said enough.

Everyone immediately turned to look at Zubizarreta.

At Barça, the director of football still wielded significant power, especially on the sporting side.

“We have reliable intelligence that Real Madrid does indeed want to make a big move, mainly hoping to sign a star player to boost morale.”

“Who do they want to sign?” Rosell asked with concern.

Zubizarreta shook his head with a wry smile. “We don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“According to what we’ve learned from different channels, there are some contradictions within Real Madrid’s senior management right now.”

“General Manager José Ángel Sánchez, who is in charge of commercial affairs, wants to sign Gareth Bale. The Brit is incredibly popular in Europe, North America, and Asia, and has high commercial value.”

Hearing this, Rosell nodded slightly. “When I had dinner with the Nike European president, he mentioned Gareth Bale. That kid’s commercial value has risen very quickly in the last two years.”

“It’s said that his annual sponsorship income has already reached five million pounds sterling.”

“His name recognition in England has reached ninety-five percent, and seventy-four percent globally. The numbers are very high, and his potential is enormous, but his current sponsor is Adidas, so Nike has considered poaching him.”

When sponsoring athletes, all sports brands tend to refer to various data.

This data usually comes from industry consulting or advisory firms.

They provide a very detailed report.

Barça itself had produced many similar reports, for instance, they would investigate before signing a player.

Gareth Bale’s global name recognition of seventy-four percent was considered very high in European football.

For reference, as England’s top star, Rooney’s global recognition was only around fifty-five percent.

In other words, about half the world knew who Rooney was.

Then there were C. Ronaldo and Messi, whose global recognition was between eighty-three and eighty-five percent, not a huge difference.

These two were already the most famous and influential superstars in the world.

From this perspective, Gareth Bale’s fame was indeed very high, and his commercial potential was immense.

Don’t forget, he was only twenty-two years old.

C. Ronaldo was already twenty-seven, and Messi was twenty-five.

With Gareth Bale’s current momentum, coupled with the strength of Bayswater Chinese, the Welshman might be able to completely catch up to the two superstars in another two years.

Of course, that was on the premise that he could maintain his current trajectory.

“The Brits really have an advantage in global cultural dissemination!” Rosell couldn’t help but sigh.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Unlike José Ángel Sánchez, Chairman Florentino Pérez’s special advisor, Zidane, has strongly recommended the Belgian youngster Eden Hazard. He believes Hazard can become Real Madrid’s Messi.”

Upon hearing this, the corner of Rosell’s mouth turned up in a sneer.

Real Madrid’s Messi?

A knock-off?

The genuine article was right here at Barça!

“But I heard that head coach Mourinho is strongly demanding the signing of Di María. He believes that neither Gareth Bale nor Hazard is what he wants. He wants the Argentine!”

“Mourinho feels that Di María’s arrival at Real Madrid would allow him to better complement C. Ronaldo.”

When the Barça officials heard the name Di María, their expressions clearly changed.

The Argentine was on fire right now, and he had dealt Barça a heavy blow.

“Messi has recommended Di María to us several times before,” Zubizarreta continued.

The two were teammates on the Argentine national team; no one knew Di María’s abilities better than Messi.

And currently, Barça’s biggest weakness was precisely in their attack, especially on the wings.

David Villa was getting old, and Pedro was better at off-the-ball movement. The team desperately needed a winger like Di María who could take players on.

“What’s the situation with Neymar?” Bartomeu asked Rosell with concern.

The Barça chairman had been personally handling this matter all along.

Rosell had once worked for Nike and had an extensive network in Brazilian football, allowing him to have direct contact with Neymar and his team, but he still hadn’t managed to sign the super-talent.

“I’ve heard that Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, and other teams have also been in contact with Neymar. Could there be a problem?”

After speaking, a trace of worry appeared on Bartomeu’s face.

The Premier League’s momentum was just too fierce right now!

Especially in terms of globalization.

Both Manchester City and Chelsea were very willing to splash out on salaries, which meant that when Barça and Real Madrid wanted to compete for a player, they often had to offer high wages as well.

The whole world knew about La Liga’s personal income tax advantage.

So when players and agents negotiated, they would often demand better terms from La Liga clubs.

Everyone was a cunning fox; no one wanted to be taken for a ride.

“I’ve been pushing for this signing. Neymar’s transfer is very complicated. Real Madrid hasn’t given up, and with those Premier League upstarts, Neymar and his team are waiting for the highest bidder.”

Rosell was helpless about this as well.

The other party wasn’t stupid.

In the past, there was a so-called information gap, but now it was the era of the internet, even the mobile internet. How could there be such a significant information gap?

Not long ago, France Football magazine had published a lengthy special report.

Bayswater Chinese’s scouting network already covered the entire globe. Even for a match in the Brazilian second division, the moment a player started to show promise, a scouting report on him would appear in the office of Bayswater Chinese’s London-based head of scouting, Gary Worthington, the very next day.

With that level of information, what kind of gap could there be?

If any existed, it was only for clubs like Bayswater Chinese who could rely on their excellent scouting network.

As for Neymar and his team, they were certainly aware of the bargaining chips they held.

“Our forward line urgently needs a high-level player. Personally, I think Di María would be an excellent choice. Rather than let him go to Real Madrid, it would be better if…”

Zubizarreta didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

The arms race between Barça and Real Madrid was no longer a secret.

La Liga’s big two were desperately trying to suppress each other.

Didn’t Florentino Pérez spend heavily to sign C. Ronaldo and Džeko precisely to suppress Barça, who were at their peak at the time?

And now, the battle for Neymar was also part of the arms race between the two giants.

Under these circumstances, if Barça were to sign Di María first, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Real Madrid.

Because everyone knew how weak Real Madrid’s right wing was.

“Considering the current strength of Bayswater Chinese and Di María’s transfer value, signing him will be anything but easy,” Bartomeu voiced his concern.

Di María was now a renowned powerhouse winger in European football, capable of playing excellently on both the left and right flanks.

Rosell immediately turned to Javier Faus, Barça’s Chief Financial Officer.

“Javier, how is our financial situation?”

Javier Faus looked troubled. “Our current salary expenditure is on the high side, and coupled with the heavy debts from past years, even though we’ve been cutting costs for the last two years, the effect hasn’t been significant.”

Barça’s debt was a long-standing issue, not something that could be explained in a day.

In recent years, it was the signings during Laporta’s era; further back, it was the construction of the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper during Gaspart’s presidency. All of these had added to Barça’s debt.

Laporta had once thought of selling La Masia and the old training ground, similar to how Florentino Pérez had sold Real Madrid’s training complex, but the results weren’t as immediate as Real Madrid’s.

During Pep Guardiola’s tenure, with the outstanding performances of homegrown players like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and Piqué, Barça offered them high salaries and renewed their contracts.

This led to a situation where Barça was cutting expenses on one hand, but on the other, the debt showed no signs of easing.

“Can we think of another way? We’ve earned quite a bit from the Champions League, haven’t we?” Rosell said.

Barça had reached the Champions League final in consecutive years. Although they lost both times, they made a lot of money.

Javier Faus thought for a difficult moment before nodding. “I’ll go back and look into it. However, Andoni also mentioned wanting to sign Toni Kroos, and this…”

Faus wore a pained expression that screamed, “I’m really out of options.”

“Toni Kroos?”

Rosell and the others immediately turned to Zubizarreta.

The latter nodded. “Before Pep left, I had a meal with him. Xavi is getting older now. Pep said that in European football today, the player most like Xavi, the one most likely to replace him, is Toni Kroos.”

The midfield trio of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets was the key to Barça’s possession-based football and the core of the team.

It could be said that after Messi, these three players were the most important.

Xavi, in particular, was the most crucial.

The reason they lost by five goals to Bayswater Chinese in the recent Champions League final, setting a shameful record for a final, was, according to the analysis of Barça’s technical team, largely due to Xavi’s age and diminished running ability.

Under these circumstances, signing a successor to Xavi was undoubtedly in line with Barça’s strategy.

And Toni Kroos, in terms of both ability and age, was a perfect fit.

But in the past two years, the German midfielder had shone brightly at Bayswater Chinese, and his value was no longer what it used to be.

“What does Tito say?” Rosell also felt troubled.

After Pep Guardiola announced he would not renew his contract with Barça, assistant coach Tito Vilanova took over the reins.

“He thinks that if we can strengthen the midfield, that would of course be a good thing. But if it’s a choice between the two, an attacking player is more important.”

At this point, Zubizarreta sighed. “We desperately need a star who can lighten Messi’s load.”

Rosell understood.

“Then let’s hurry up, work out a plan, and get in touch with Bayswater Chinese!”

Fighting Real Madrid for a player?

To Barça, it sounded exciting.

Especially after losing La Liga and the Champions League last season, Barça had only managed to win the Copa del Rey.

This was simply unacceptable for a Barça team that had been so successful in recent years.

Therefore, in the new season, they had to suppress Real Madrid, no matter what!

…

As the curtain fell on the Champions League final, the European summer transfer market began to heat up.

The Premier League and La Liga were drawing particular attention.

In the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese remained characteristically low-key.

Manchester City and Arsenal both had strong squads, but each had its own shortcomings.

Only Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool were considering making major moves in the transfer market.

Especially Manchester United.

Having fought their way back into the Champions League places, Ferguson had to strengthen his squad further to secure Manchester United’s spot.

Liverpool’s biggest problem at the moment was their defense.

Their midfield boasted big names like Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, Gerrard, Rakitić, Aquilani, and Meireles; their quality was undeniable.

But their weaknesses in defense and on the wings dragged down Liverpool’s overall standard.

There were rumors that after being edged out of the Champions League by Manchester United, Liverpool would increase their investment this summer.

The focus of this investment would be on a centre-back!

Chelsea also wanted to increase their spending.

The Blues had already invested heavily last summer, but after the setback with André Villas-Boas, Chelsea’s results had worsened.

Earlier, Britain’s The Sun had revealed that Chelsea had been in constant contact with former Barça head coach Pep Guardiola, hoping the Spaniard would take charge of Chelsea and promising huge investment.

But Guardiola rejected Chelsea.

And then there was Manchester United.

The Red Devils’ biggest weaknesses were actually in midfield and at centre-forward.

According to media reports, the player Manchester United most wanted to sign was S.S.C. Napoli’s Uruguayan centre-forward, Cavani.

But this prolific striker in Serie A was currently being courted by several European giants, including Real Madrid, Barça, Bayern, Paris, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

Acquiring this player would likely require a substantial transfer fee.

Manchester United had another option: Atlético Madrid’s Colombian forward, Falcao.

But this centre-forward’s price tag was also hefty.

As for Robert Lewandowski, who was being widely touted by many Premier League media outlets, Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier had already made it clear that this was a groundless rumor.

“Manchester United can’t afford one of Robert Lewandowski’s legs!”

In midfield, with Scholes’s retirement and Carrick now thirty-one, even with De Rossi anchoring, Manchester United’s midfield weakness was still apparent.

Therefore, Ferguson was keen to sign another quality midfielder to strengthen the Red Devils’ squad depth.

The Daily Mirror revealed that La Liga giants Real Madrid hoped to sign Manchester City’s core midfielder, David Silva, this summer. For this, Real Madrid was even prepared to make a sky-high offer of eighty million pounds sterling!

If the deal went through, it would surely be another world-shocking, high-priced transfer!

And coincidentally, Spain’s Marca also reported this news.

Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, AS newspaper, further revealed that besides David Silva, Real Madrid’s transfer list also included Gareth Bale, Di María, Javi Martínez, Carlos Tevez, Marcelo, Pepe, and Courtois.

Among them, the most surprising was Courtois.

Because Real Madrid’s current starting goalkeeper was captain Casillas.

However, AS reported that Real Madrid head coach Mourinho was very dissatisfied with Casillas, believing him to be too short and not the type of goalkeeper Mourinho preferred.

This also sparked considerable controversy in Spain.

The other half of La Liga’s big two, Barça, acted swiftly before the European Championship began, signing Spanish international Alba from Valencia.

The left-back was a product of Barça’s youth academy but had risen to fame at Valencia.

Now, with Barça short on the left flank, they had moved early to sign this left-back who had made a name for himself in Spain.

And the Catalan media revealed that Barça also wanted to sign three more stars this summer.

They were Neymar from Santos in Brazil, and Toni Kroos and Di María from Bayswater Chinese.

But any one of these three players would come with a hefty price tag.

This made many people doubt Barça’s financial capabilities.

…

After the Champions League final, Yang Cheng stayed in London to handle some matters.

It wasn’t until the end of May that he found time to travel to Nice, France, accompanied by Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others.

In Nice, Yang Cheng’s group not only visited the training base in the western suburbs of the city but also went to the construction site to inspect the new stadium being built.

According to the agreement between Nice and the city government, the club contributed a portion of the funds and in return received the right to use the stadium, as well as the rights to renovate and name it.

This could be said to have solved a matter of great urgency for the city government’s stadium construction plans.

Obtaining the renovation and naming rights for the stadium was a case of Yang Cheng leveraging information and timing asymmetry.

Although they invested over twenty million euros, they gained greater control.

According to the agreement, once the new stadium was completed and handed over to OGC Nice, the Nice city government would not bear the maintenance costs of the stadium, except for some national team matches like the European Championship.

But in terms of rent, they would only charge a symbolic two to three hundred thousand euros per year.

This was very favorable for OGC Nice.

The completion date for this new stadium was set for the summer of 2013.

In other words, from construction to completion, it would take only two years.

The French construction speed was quite impressive.

So, when Yang Cheng and his party visited the site, they found that the entire main concrete frame of the stadium had already been completed.

Inside the stadium, work was currently underway on the construction of the roof truss.

The stadium’s capacity was not large, only thirty-six thousand.

But for OGC Nice, that was enough.

“We plan to purchase chairs from a Chinese company for our seating this time as well, just like Bayswater Chinese,” Martin Harrison said with a smile, pointing at the empty concrete stands.

This was a major selling point of the new stadium.

When everyone heard Martin Harrison mention the seats and a Chinese company, they all looked at Yang Cheng and burst into laughter.

This actually stemmed from a little-known anecdote.

Due to the unique design of the Prudential Stadium and Yang Cheng’s high standards for the seating area, they encountered many problems when selecting the seats.

They had to be environmentally friendly, comfortable, durable, and, crucially, cheap.

It was an outrageous list of demands!

They contacted many European manufacturers but couldn’t find a suitable option.

In early 2011, when Yang Cheng was inspecting the new stadium project, he talked about this with people from the design and construction companies.

And so, Yang Cheng came up with an idea.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, starting from 2016, a type of foldable seat became widely used in European stadiums.

The backrest and seat were made of injection-molded polypropylene without any metal elements, ensuring the seats were not only environmentally friendly but also quite comfortable and could be used in all weather conditions.

But the unique feature of this seat was that it rotated around an aluminum beam. When not in use, it would automatically fold up due to its own counterweight.

More importantly, it had few components, was not easily damaged, was very easy to maintain, and could be assembled very quickly.

This was incredibly convenient for venues that required temporary removal of seating.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this seat, called the Abacus, was produced by a company named Forum in Krakow, southern Poland, which specialized in stadium seating.

How successful was this seat?

From 2016 onwards, they sold all over the world, not just in football stadiums, but in many sports venues, indoor arenas, and even art galleries and concert halls. Basically, anywhere with large-scale audience seating, you could see it.

The most famous example was that all the stadiums for the Qatar World Cup purchased this seat.

One has to know that the product cycle for this kind of commercial seating is very short.

So, this company rode the success of this one seat all the way to 2024, becoming the world leader in its field.

Most importantly, the design of this chair was simple, its structure was not complex, and the manufacturing process was straightforward.

So, Yang Cheng simply took matters into his own hands and designed the seat himself.

Xia Qing watched the whole process. Afterwards, she quietly applied for a patent, registered a trademark, and licensed the chair to a factory in China for custom production.

As a result, the chairs produced were not only of better quality than their European counterparts but, most crucially, were also cheaper.

And at the end of 2011, under the guidance of Norman Foster and others, after discussing with Yang Cheng, Xia Qing entered the British FX Design Awards under the company’s name and surprisingly won the award in the Public, Leisure, and Office Furniture category.

This made the chair an instant hit.

Now, Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium uses this very chair.

Besides the standard model, there are also models with armrests and cushions for different sections.

However, outsiders only knew that this chair was designed by a London-based company; they had no idea it was Yang Cheng’s work.

Only a few people within Bayswater Chinese, like Norman Foster, knew the inside story.

But that didn’t stop the chair from being wildly popular within the industry.

Arup, the world’s largest engineering design and consulting firm headquartered in London, had officially signed a contract.

In the future, their projects would prioritize the purchase of this chair.

Arup was also the engineering consultant contractor for Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

With the chair’s booming sales, Yang Cheng was already making a huge profit just from the patent licensing fees.

One should never underestimate such niche markets.

For example, Nice’s new stadium had a capacity of thirty-six thousand.

Prudential Stadium had a capacity of ninety thousand.

It could be said that the profit margin was quite large.

More importantly, this was a long-term business, because the product cycle for such commercial seating is slow, and one product can be sold for many years.

In Xia Qing’s words, it was just a little extra income for her.

…

Yang Cheng felt a bit exasperated by everyone teasing him about the seats.

Xia Qing’s company was indeed doing very well.

But he didn’t want to talk about it too much.

“Martin, how is the naming rights sponsorship for your new stadium progressing?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Having secured the stadium’s naming rights, they definitely had to sell them to make it count.

“We’ve pretty much settled it. It was a recommendation from the London headquarters. We contacted and negotiated with two insurance companies, Axa and Allianz, and in the end, we chose Allianz.”

“The annual naming fee is two point five million euros, with the first contract signed for eight years.”

Upon hearing this, everyone let out a collective “wow,” clearly surprised by the contract.

They were also very satisfied.

Two point five million for eight years meant a total contract value of twenty million euros.

Yang Cheng’s investment in the new stadium would basically be recouped.

The only difference was that the investment was a one-time payment, while the naming rights fees would be collected over eight years.

Yang Cheng was already quite satisfied with securing a naming rights fee of two point five million euros.

“Well done, Martin!” Yang Cheng praised loudly.

Martin Harrison, however, became modest. “It’s mainly because the 2016 European Championship is a big draw.”

At that time, this would be one of the main venues.

And as the past season came to a close, UEFA’s Champions League prize money was distributed.

OGC Nice received twenty-four million euros.

For a club like Nice, this was a huge sum.

So, OGC Nice’s overall financial situation was actually very healthy.

Moreover, Nice would continue to participate in the Champions League next season.

Yang Cheng knew that many European teams were now targeting Nice’s players.

The policy he set was that players could be sold if the price was right, but the team had to focus on developing its youth academy, while also ensuring the strength of the first team.

There was no need to compete with Paris for the title.

Nice’s goal in Ligue 1 was a top-three finish, which meant qualifying for the Champions League.

If this had been the past, it would have been a very high bar.

Now, it was challenging but reasonable.

Having navigated the most difficult foundational stage, OGC Nice now had ample funds and had entered a virtuous cycle.

More importantly, leveraging the platform of Bayswater Chinese, the management staff at Nice were starting to settle into their roles.

For example, during the winter transfer window of 2012, Emmanuel Perrin strongly advocated for signing German centre-back Shkodran Mustafi from Everton’s reserve team for seventy thousand euros.

This transfer proved to be very effective after the winter break when the team was fighting on two fronts.

Now, Mustafi’s value has soared to one million euros.

This was why Yang Cheng said Nice was on the right track.

…

Time moved on to June.

The European Championship in Poland and Ukraine began in full swing.

But while the world’s media and fans were focused on the European Championship, few noticed that a major event that would change the landscape of European football for the next four years was quietly taking place in London, England.

That was the auction for the Premier League broadcast rights from 2013 to 2016!

At the end of May, the Premier League had officially announced that three companies were participating in the auction for the domestic broadcast rights: Sky Sports, British Telecom, and ESPN.

All three were undoubtedly wealthy conglomerates, but they faced different situations.

Sky Sports was the wealthiest, had a foundation of many years of cooperation, and was backed by a rich base of domestic paid subscribers. So, they were almost certain to get the best broadcast slots and resources.

This was hardly in dispute.

The only question was, how much was Sky Sports willing to pay?

British Telecom and ESPN were mostly competing for the leftover packages after Sky Sports had its fill.

But since it was a bidding model, no one could afford to be careless.

Even Sky Sports couldn’t be sure that British Telecom and ESPN wouldn’t pull ahead.

This was determined by the Premier League’s broadcast rights bidding mechanism.

The three companies would basically estimate their costs, forecast their future revenues, and finally submit a price at their absolute limit.

This was why Yang Cheng always said that broadcast rights were the core upstream component of the sports industry chain.

Control the rights, and broadcasters, sponsors, and the like could be summoned and dismissed at will.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others basically didn’t go on vacation or watch the European Championship, instead staying in London to await the news.

The other major Premier League clubs were doing much the same.

Incidentally, Manchester United had moved its offices to London at the end of last year, also in the Soho district.

However, Manchester United was renting.

So, starting from this summer, Manchester United’s suits would mostly not be working out of Manchester.

In Manchester, Manchester United now only had a stadium and a fan service department, as well as some sales and retail operations.

The Red Devils’ true heart had moved south to London.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Manchester United had also moved around this time.

But now, the Manchester Evening News revealed that Manchester United’s office relocation was spurred by Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team was now the club with the highest revenue in world football.

In the past, this title had been Manchester United’s private preserve, but they were later surpassed by Real Madrid and Barça.

So, Manchester United decided to move south, believing that London had more talent.

Besides Manchester United, there were reports that Manchester City might also open an office in London, but it wouldn’t be as complete a move as Manchester United’s.

The main reason was a series of agreements Manchester City had signed with the Manchester City Council years ago.

The European Championship kicked off on June 8th.

The Premier League began the bidding for its live broadcast rights on June 11th.

The competition was fierce, with the three companies making head-to-head bids on six packages.

The entire Premier League was affected.

Many people were on tenterhooks.

It was even heard that some Premier League clubs had specifically sent representatives to London to wait for news on the ground.

It wasn’t until June 13th that Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore held a press conference at the Premier League headquarters to officially announce the results of the auction.

…

“After a very intense bidding process, we are proud to announce that our long-term partner, Sky Television, has paid a sky-high price of two billion two hundred and eighty million pounds sterling to acquire the broadcast rights for one hundred and sixteen matches per season!”

“At the same time, British Telecom has acquired the broadcast rights for thirty-eight matches per season for seven hundred and thirty-eight million pounds sterling!”

When Scudamore proudly shouted out these numbers on the live television broadcast, Yang Cheng was calm, but Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and the others around him were all ecstatic.

Although they had received news beforehand that a new record would be set.

No one had expected it to be this high.

These two companies alone had put up over three billion pounds sterling in broadcast fees.

If you added the post-match highlights, the Premier League’s broadcast rights would reach a staggering three point two billion pounds sterling.

You have to remember, the current contract was for only one point nine five billion pounds sterling.

This was a quantum leap in growth.

Yang Cheng wasn’t actually surprised.

This figure was similar to, perhaps even identical to, the one from his previous life.

The main reason was that the UK domestic market was only so big, with only so many paid subscribers, leaving little room for price hikes.

Sky Sports and British Telecom must have calculated every detail before arriving at such a figure.

Given the current UK domestic pay-TV market, every increase in broadcast fees basically meant an increase in the cost for paid subscribers to watch football.

What Yang Cheng was truly concerned about was the sale of overseas rights.

After announcing the results of the domestic rights auction, Scudamore went on to announce the overseas rights sales for 2013 to 2016.

Unlike the domestic rights, the Premier League’s overseas rights were sold on a market-by-market bidding basis.

For instance, in the China region, two or three broadcasters would bid individually.

At the press conference, Scudamore didn’t go into great detail about the specific bidding process but gave an overview of the Premier League’s rights sales for the next three years.

The fastest-growing region in this rights auction was North America, reaching two hundred and fifty million pounds sterling.

Next was a surprising region, South America, which sold for a total of only one hundred and fifty million pounds sterling, but its growth rate reached seventy percent.

Among them, Brazil alone contributed forty million pounds sterling.

In terms of overseas market share, South America was the smallest and least conspicuous.

For example, the Middle East & North Africa and South Africa markets both exceeded two hundred million pounds sterling, double that of South America.

But why was it singled out?

Because its significance was immense.

Everyone knew that South America had always been La Liga’s backyard.

But they were very resistant to the Premier League.

Not just in broadcasting; very few Brazilian players joined the Premier League.

However, they flocked to La Liga.

The large number of Brazilian players in La Liga, in turn, fueled the league’s popularity in Brazil.

Scudamore stated that with more and more Brazilian players coming to the Premier League in recent years, including the likes of stars such as Kaká, Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Maicon, Pepe, and Deco.

This had greatly enhanced the Premier League’s influence and viewership in Brazil.

This time, ESPN Brazil had secured the Premier League broadcast rights for the next three years, paying a hefty fee.

“Our team has been in contact and communication with our colleagues at ESPN Brazil, and they said that in the past few years, the number of paid subscribers for Premier League matches in Brazil has doubled, and viewership has increased by two hundred percent.”

“This past season, the match between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United became the top-rated broadcast of the year on ESPN’s Brazil sports channel, setting the all-time record for a Premier League broadcast in Brazil!”

Scudamore stated that according to a survey conducted by the Premier League in Brazil, Bayswater Chinese was the most popular club in the country.

“The reason is that this team has a tradition of signing Brazilian internationals and players!”

Scudamore said that as Premier League teams continue to sign players from all over the world, especially players like Suárez from Uruguay, and internationals from Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, and other South American countries.

In the coming years, the Premier League’s influence in the South American region will continue to grow.

In the overseas sector, the market shares from largest to smallest were Asia, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East & North Africa, North America, and South America.

But for now, the growth rates in North America, South America, and the Middle East & North Africa were very fast.

Especially in the last few years, the continuous efforts of powerhouse clubs like Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United to cultivate the North American market had greatly enhanced the Premier League’s influence there.

In the Asian region, the Premier League’s broadcast rights for the next three years sold for a total of one billion forty-two million pounds sterling.

And the European market, excluding the UK, sold for a total of seven hundred and seven million pounds sterling.

All the overseas rights combined totaled two billion five hundred and sixty million pounds sterling.

What did this mean?

According to the overseas rights distribution rules, it would be divided equally among the twenty teams, with each team receiving over forty million pounds sterling per season.

Add to that the income from domestic rights.

Yang Cheng could basically be certain that in the next three years, the top few teams in the Premier League would see their incomes break the one hundred million pound mark.

“We did it!” Yang Cheng clenched his fist tightly.

The domestic rights were about the same as in his previous life, but the overseas rights had increased by several hundred million pounds sterling.

And key regions like Asia, Europe, and North America had all seen significant growth.

This involved a basic logic: the Premier League rights were aimed at the pay-TV market.

Therefore, the speed of growth depended not only on influence but also on the promotion of the pay-TV market.

This was a long-term, continuous process.

From the current look of things, the Premier League’s globalization speed had already exceeded Yang Cheng’s expectations.

“Over a hundred million pounds in revenue per year, and even relegation teams will get at least sixty million pounds. This is truly frightening!” Adam Crozier was also grinning from ear to ear.

One could fully imagine that when this news from the Premier League got out, it would quickly attract the attention of investors worldwide.

The Premier League would only become more valuable!

As the Premier League’s newly-established powerhouse, Bayswater Chinese would certainly benefit.

An annual income of over one hundred million pounds sterling would elevate Bayswater Chinese’s revenue to a new level!

Everyone was also very surprised by this result.

Among them, Xia Qing and Adam Crozier both mentioned Yang Cheng’s vision for globalization from years ago.

Looking at it now, it was simply far ahead of its time!

“I’m starting to wonder just how your brain is wired,” Adam Crozier said, completely convinced.

Of course, Yang Cheng wasn’t going to say: I’m a transmigrator!

But he quickly changed the subject.

After the excitement and elation, the team still had to consider practical issues.

And that was salaries.

Every surge in Premier League broadcast fees would bring about an increase in player salaries.

Especially now, with competition so fierce, the major clubs would only offer more.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were very cautious, even conservative, in this regard.

Why?

Because once salaries go up, you can’t bring them down.

Just like Chelsea, no matter how they tried to suppress it over the years, they couldn’t get their wage bill down.

The same was true for Barça.

Firmly controlling the salary structure is the foundation of a club’s long-term healthy operation!

Even a club like Real Madrid, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, didn’t they let go of Di María, Varane, Casemiro, and others because of salaries?

In the end, you just can’t run a club like that.

Bayswater Chinese’s top weekly wage was set to rise to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, which was seven point eight million pounds sterling per year, equivalent to nine point seven five million euros.

This was already considered very high.

Don’t be fooled by the sky-high weekly wages of two hundred thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand, or even three hundred thousand pounds sterling that many Premier League teams were offering.

Those were tycoon clubs.

They had consortiums pumping money in every year.

Any other team that tried to spend like that would simply not be able to sustain it.

So, Yang Cheng’s meaning was clear: they still had to appropriately control salaries and not blindly increase them.

If they rose too quickly, they would only end up destroying themselves.

Just like the current Chelsea, and the Barça from Yang Cheng’s previous life, they were all like that.

As for the players, Yang Cheng wasn’t actually worried about the few top-earning players in the team right now.

Because after receiving the top-tier salary, they were already considered quite well-off high-income earners in European football.

The real trouble lay with the mid-tier players.

These players’ salaries weren’t very high, but they were talented, and other clubs particularly liked to poach such players.

Lure them away, offer them double their salary directly—it was simply too tempting.

This actually touches upon another issue: human nature.

Many veteran fans will have noticed that a club is often willing to offer a higher salary to a player brought in from outside, but can be quite stingy with its own players, especially those from the youth academy.

Why?

Actually, cases like this can be explained by a workplace phenomenon.

Why are many companies willing to pay high salaries to recruit from outside rather than give raises to retain old employees?

The reason is actually very simple.

These are two different ways of looking at the problem.

Renewing a contract and giving a raise to an old employee is an internal matter; poaching someone from outside with a high salary falls into the external category.

When dealing with internal matters, one often has to consider the stability of the existing team.

If you give him a raise, what about the others?

Should they get raises too?

Can you get away with not giving them?

But when poaching from outside, the salary offered is often a market-driven act. As long as it doesn’t break the existing salary structure, it usually won’t cause too much of a stir.

So, players are the same as employees: you have to change jobs to get a high salary.

This was a problem that Bayswater Chinese, and indeed all clubs, would face.

Yang Cheng had mentioned to Xia Qing that for those truly important players, they could be a bit more flexible with salaries.

But they definitely couldn’t compete with the poaching powerhouse clubs.

If it really came to it, they would just have to sell players.

Chapter 257: A Super Sky-High Price! Yang Cheng Wins! The Superstar Exodus! Poaching Yang Cheng’s Players Feels So Good!

The Superstar Exodus!

While the European Championship raged on, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport ignited the entire Italian, and even European, football world with a striking front-page headline.

In the report, Gazzetta dello Sport argued that as Italy’s economy entered a downturn, superstars were steadily fleeing Serie A, a trend that was growing more intense!

“We are constantly losing our league’s biggest stars!”

Gazzetta dello Sport believed there was nothing the Serie A clubs could do about it.

Last summer, after Javier Pastore and Sánchez, two players who had made their names in Italy, were bought by Ligue 1 and the Premier League respectively, the Italians lamented that their glory days were over.

And now, other leagues were once again setting their sights on Serie A.

Looking at Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and AS Roma, which of these four traditional giants still had any star players in their prime to show for themselves?

Instead, it was at S.S.C. Napoli where two South American players, Cavani and Lavezzi, had become the focus of many clubs’ attention.

The emergence of young midfielder Marco Verratti from the newly promoted team Pescara made the Italians even more sentimental.

The Milan duo and Juventus were all very interested in this young midfielder.

But giants like Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich were also coveting Verratti.

This filled Gazzetta dello Sport with sorrow.

Once upon a time, it was Serie A that poached stars from other leagues to bolster its competitiveness, creating the star-studded “Little World Cup.”

Now, Serie A had fallen so far that even a 19-year-old midfielder was being poached.

“We’re like leeks in a field, being cut down one crop after another!” Gazzetta dello Sport wrote, full of bitterness.

But the problem was, Italy itself was not good at developing young players. The youth academy environment was quite poor, and the pool of young talent was extremely scarce.

Now, as soon as a player emerged, they were being poached before they even played a single Serie A match.

If this continued, what would become of Serie A?

Did the “Little World Cup” of old have any prospects for development whatsoever?

…

This report from Gazzetta dello Sport caused a huge shock within Italy, prompting a period of reflection in the Italian football world.

Italians have always been good at self-reflection.

It’s just that after the reflection, whether they would change, and whether the change would be for the better, was hard to say.

When Yang Cheng saw this report in London, his first reaction was to laugh.

“The Italians are still basking in the former glory of the Little World Cup. They still haven’t accepted reality or found their proper place in European football.”

Yang Cheng’s words hit the nail on the head.

This wasn’t just true now, but for the next few years as well.

As the saying goes: poverty leads to thought, and thought leads to change.

In the future, Serie A would continuously open up to foreign investment.

In fact, they had no choice but to open up.

The Premier League, La Liga, and Ligue 1 had all opened up. Could Italy afford to remain conservative?

Working in isolation would only lead to a more miserable end for the Italians.

Premier League clubs were too expensive.

Especially after the signing of this new three-year broadcasting contract, Premier League clubs would only become more valuable.

La Liga wasn’t cheap either, and it was dominated by the two giants, Barça and Real Madrid.

Just a couple of days ago, Mourinho had said something in an interview with the media.

“Any team from any other league that comes to La Liga can only fight for third place, because this is where the two strongest teams in the world are.”

He was talking about Real Madrid and Barça.

Yang Cheng had no intention of getting into a war of words with Mourinho; otherwise, he would have definitely asked him: “Have you forgotten that crushing defeat at the Bernabéu not long ago?”

If Bayswater Chinese came to La Liga, they could still only fight for third?

Do you have any respect for me?

But undoubtedly, because of the presence of Real Madrid and Barça, La Liga’s appeal to foreign investors, especially large financial groups, was not great.

The reason was simple: they couldn’t see a future.

From Yang Cheng’s perspective, he knew, of course, that La Liga would reform its broadcasting rights distribution in the future, increasing the income of mid-to-lower-table teams.

But in the present, La Liga had no economy, no income. What did it have?

After a Middle Eastern tycoon bought Málaga CF, he invested huge sums of money and their results improved, but their revenue saw no growth.

This summer, the Spanish media was saying that Málaga’s owner had “disappeared.”

La Liga’s broadcasting rights revenue followed the 80/20 rule.

The other teams got twenty percent, while Real Madrid and Barça took eighty.

How were the other teams supposed to survive?

So, it wasn’t surprising that Serie A would be welcomed by many foreign investors, especially from the United States and Asia.

But Italy had many problems and greater restrictions.

The first was the issue of stadium ownership.

Then there was the youth academy system.

La Liga at least had its youth academies and the whole of South America behind it. What did Italy have?

To some extent, running a club in Italy was really no different from doing charity.

In fact, many Italian companies and families running clubs really did have that charitable feel to them.

What impressed Yang Cheng the most was Juventus’s final gamble on signing C. Ronaldo.

“A sluggish economic environment, slow development of overseas markets, obstacles to building private stadiums, difficulties in attracting foreign investment…”

Adam Crozier took over from Yang Cheng, shaking his head with a sigh.

“Who would have thought that the former Little World Cup would fall to this extent.”

“However,” Xia Qing interjected, “according to my investigation, Serie A teams are gradually approaching a break-even point. This is something that even the Premier League, let alone La Liga, can hardly compare to. Perhaps only the Bundesliga does better than them.”

“The biggest problem for Serie A right now is the loss of fans. The stadium attendance rate has been terrible.”

This wasn’t really a coincidence.

A major reason Serie A teams could approach a break-even point was that while their income was low, their player salaries were also low.

They were willing to sell their stars because they couldn’t afford to keep them.

After selling the stars, didn’t the salary pressure decrease?

It was a dynamic process.

“Fewer stars, less salary pressure, and the club’s financial situation improves. This is when you have to start building from within, learn from the Bundesliga, proceed steadily and surely, root yourselves in the youth academy, and change the football soil of Serie A.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he couldn’t help but think of the white-haired Gasperini.

Since his visit to Bayswater Chinese, he had kept in touch with Yang Cheng.

He had even come to London twice during that time and even observed Bayswater Chinese’s training sessions.

He was quite a figure among Italian head coaches.

“If they can’t bring the fans back, the overall environment of the league won’t improve,” Adam Crozier pointed out the key issue.

The current loss of fans in Serie A was due to very complex reasons.

It was due to the exodus of stars, the unattractiveness of the matches, and also the hardware issue of outdated stadium facilities.

In short, Serie A was now facing a sudden eruption of problems that had accumulated over many years.

In a way, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

At least, looking from the perspective of 2024, Yang Cheng could see that Serie A’s development would continuously improve over the next few years.

But the most important thing was to have one’s own stadium.

In Serie A, without your own stadium, you really had no future!

“The economies of the PIIGS countries are all in a terrible state right now, but in terms of leagues, you’ve specifically targeted Serie A and La Liga. I’ve recently read some of Deloitte’s reports on Serie A and La Liga, and many small and medium-sized clubs really have no visible future.”

Xia Qing was a bit puzzled, unsure what Yang Cheng was thinking.

But she still trusted Yang Cheng’s judgment.

“Look at La Liga, for example. We can’t afford clubs like Villarreal, Valencia, or Sevilla. Other teams like Getafe CF, Rayo Vallecano, Valladolid, Espanyol, etc., aren’t cheap either, and they all have their own problems.”

“For instance, teams in the area surrounding Madrid are basically subject to the siphon effect of Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, making it incredibly difficult to develop a fanbase. The same goes for teams around Barcelona.”

“Valencia has Valencia and Levante. Sevilla has Sevilla and Real Betis.”

“As for the teams in northern Spain, like Deportivo La Coruña, they were once prominent, but the city’s developmental limitations are too great.”

The city of A Coruña had a total population of only two hundred thirty thousand people, which was barely enough to support a football team.

Yang Cheng, however, thought of Málaga CF.

When that club was acquired by a Middle Eastern tycoon, the choice was actually not a bad one.

It was one of Spain’s five major metropolitan areas, with a city population of nearly six hundred thousand and a metropolitan population of over one million.

As one of Spain’s most important port cities, Málaga’s economy had always been quite good.

Most importantly, from now until 2024, Málaga’s population would maintain a growth rate of over one per mille, which was quite good within Spain.

Of course, the best were the large metropolitan areas like Barcelona and Madrid.

In an overall comparison, Málaga was even more impressive than important cities like Seville, the capital of the Andalusia autonomous community, and Valencia.

Moreover, the climate here was genuinely wonderful, and it was a world-famous holiday paradise in Europe.

It was just a pity that it was acquired by a Middle Eastern tycoon.

Given Spain’s economic state, without the support of a major city, it would probably be impossible to succeed.

Málaga had another advantage.

It was only separated from Africa by a strait.

Yang Cheng knew well how influential African and African-descended players would be in European football in the coming years.

Even a noble club like Real Madrid, which pursued high aesthetic value, would turn into an “African team.” There was no need to guess about other teams.

“It’s alright, we’re not in a hurry. Let’s wait a bit longer,” Yang Cheng said to Xia Qing with a slight, comforting smile.

He believed that there would still be an opportunity!

…

Gazzetta dello Sport’s report couldn’t really change anything.

The 19-year-old youngster from Pescara had long been courted and watched by many major European clubs.

But the first to seize the advantage were Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

Needless to say, Paris Saint-Germain.

In the words of the Italian media, this Ligue 1 tycoon was practically taking whatever it wanted from Serie A.

Remember the Brazilian genius winger Lucas Moura?

The genius winger second only to Neymar.

Inter Milan had spotted him first and made the first move. The transfer was once considered a done deal by the media.

But what happened?

Without a word, Paris Saint-Germain threw down forty million euros, which directly stunned São Paulo.

Keep in mind that this Brazilian genius, who wouldn’t turn 20 until August, had a current market valuation of only between fifteen million and twenty million euros.

Paris Saint-Germain directly smashed out forty million euros. How were other teams supposed to compete?

The European football world had seen its share of tycoons, but had anyone seen one this extravagant?

Inter Milan was helpless.

What could they do when they weren’t as wealthy?

Then there was Lavezzi from S.S.C. Napoli, who was very popular in Serie A. The traditional giants were all drooling over him.

And the result?

Paris Saint-Germain directly stumped up thirty million euros. Even Napoli chairman De Laurentiis admitted that thirty million euros was a deal that Napoli would find hard to refuse.

And so, the Argentine winger went off to Paris Saint-Germain.

Cavani was also being poached.

According to De Laurentiis, the purpose of selling Lavezzi was to raise funds.

At the same time, S.S.C. Napoli hoped to keep Cavani.

This would be a crucial decision for Napoli!

But keeping the Uruguayan would not be an easy task.

Teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain were all eyeing Cavani.

Especially Manchester United.

The Sun had already revealed that Manchester United was raising funds, hoping to sign Cavani from S.S.C. Napoli this summer for a transfer fee of forty million pounds.

But De Laurentiis publicly denied the deal.

“Forty million pounds? That would only buy you one of Cavani’s legs!”

De Laurentiis also furiously condemned these giant clubs for seducing Cavani, believing that it would seriously disrupt the current situation in European football. He also stated that S.S.C. Napoli would not let Cavani go under any circumstances.

It was in this atmosphere that Paris Saint-Germain officially made an offer for Pescara’s Verratti.

The Ligue 1 team’s first offer was a direct ten million euros.

For Verratti, who had a market value of only 6.5 million euros and had never played a single Serie A match, this was already a very good price.

But unexpectedly, on the other side, as soon as Manchester City got wind of it, they immediately made a move, offering twelve million euros, outbidding Paris Saint-Germain.

The contest between the two tycoon clubs was highly anticipated.

Some media outlets even reported that Pescara intended to raise Verratti’s asking price to twenty million euros.

But as it turned out, neither Manchester City nor Paris Saint-Germain were fools.

After a series of bids, both tycoon clubs stopped at fifteen million euros.

Next, Manchester City head coach Ancelotti stepped forward.

The famous Italian manager stated in an interview with the media that Verratti was a very talented player.

“Seeing him, it’s as if I see a young Pirlo!”

During the European Championship, Pirlo also said in an interview with the media: “Verratti plays a lot like my younger self. He could totally come to Manchester City and take over from me.”

Because he was already 33 years old.

The successive moves by Ancelotti and Pirlo finally prompted Verratti to make his own statement.

In an interview with the media, the young Italian expressed his gratitude for the affirmations from Ancelotti and Pirlo.

“I have already made it clear to the club and my agent that I want to play in the best league in the world, for the best team!”

The implication was clear: he wanted to go to Manchester City!

In the end, The Blue Moons snatched Verratti from the hands of Paris Saint-Germain for a high price of fifteen million euros.

…

The most attention-grabbing team at the 2012 European Championship was undoubtedly Spain.

But in the group stage, it was Prandelli’s Italy that caught everyone’s eye.

Despite being underdogs before the tournament, Prandelli’s team impressed all the way from the group stage.

Whether it was veterans like Pirlo and De Rossi, or Mario Balotelli up front, they all left an indelible impression.

But outside the European Championship, the transfer battles in the Premier League were also exceptionally exciting.

Especially after Manchester City snatched Verratti.

After signing Verratti, The Blue Moons then signed Rodwell from Everton for a transfer fee of fifteen million pounds.

The young English midfielder had been courted by several teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool.

But in the end, he was sold to Manchester City for a high price.

In addition, Manchester City also signed local winger Sinclair from Swansea City for a transfer fee of ten million pounds.

While signing players, Ancelotti’s team also let go of a number of players.

For instance, Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong was transferred to AC Milan for a mere three million pounds.

Local winger Adam Johnson was transferred to Sunderland for twelve million pounds.

The 22-year-old local striker Daniel Sturridge was transferred to Liverpool for fifteen million pounds.

Players like Robinho, Bridge, Stewart Taylor, and Assulin were also sold off one by one.

Many of them were free transfers.

Over the past few years, Manchester City had stockpiled too many stars in their squad, making their entire roster particularly bloated.

This no longer suited the current European landscape.

After all, UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations were becoming increasingly strict.

The newly appointed Manchester City General Manager, Ferran Soriano, had been in charge of finances during his time as Vice-Chairman at Barça.

So, as soon as he took office, he immediately began to carry out drastic reforms at Manchester City.

One of the first priorities was to clear out redundant players and reduce salary expenditures.

You have to know, Manchester City’s current salary expenditure was among the highest in the Premier League.

Even after sending away several stars, Manchester City was still one of the clubs with the highest salary expenditures in the Premier League.

Another team that could rival Manchester City was Chelsea.

But surprisingly, when many people thought that Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich might not have much money for signings, the Russian billionaire shocked everyone again.

Ten million pounds to sign Marko Marin from Bundesliga’s Werder Bremen.

Twenty-five million pounds to sign 20-year-old midfielder Oscar from Brazil’s Internacional.

Ten million pounds to sign Spanish player Azpilicueta from Ligue 1’s Marseille.

Ten million pounds to sign Nigerian winger Victor Moses from Wigan Athletic.

Thirty million pounds in transfer fee to sign Brazilian winger Willian from Russia’s Anzhi Makhachkala.

Five transfers, costing Chelsea a total of eighty-five million pounds.

The Blues demonstrated their ambition to rebuild the team.

Head coach Roberto Di Matteo, after leading the team to kill off La Liga’s Atlético Madrid with a penalty kick in last season’s Europa League final and winning the Europa League title, got to keep his job.

Now he was also ambitious, hoping to lead Chelsea to regroup and start anew.

After successively signing several players, Chelsea once again waved the pounds in their hands and made an offer to Bayswater Chinese, hoping to sign the newly capped England international Ryan Bertrand for fifteen million pounds.

This player was originally from Chelsea’s youth academy and had joined Bayswater Chinese in the summer of 2009.

Over the past three years, he had performed well at Bayswater Chinese, but had always been second to Marcelo.

Even so, Ryan Bertrand still won recognition from the outside world with his stable performances in many matches and was selected for the England national team.

So, Chelsea now wanted to buy back this young player from their academy.

The Sun also revealed that Ashley Cole, during his time with the England national team at the European Championship, was also persuading Ryan Bertrand to return to Chelsea.

“Back when Bertrand was at Chelsea, he had a very close relationship with Ashley Cole.”

“Now, Ashley Cole is already 31 years old, and his form is not what it used to be. He hopes Ryan Bertrand can return to Chelsea and take over his left-back position.”

Chelsea head coach Roberto Di Matteo also said, “Ryan Bertrand is a very trustworthy player, and he is still very young. He will be the undisputed choice for Chelsea’s future left-back.”

Under the unanimous encouragement from everyone at Chelsea, Ryan Bertrand also conveyed his wishes through his agent.

On one hand, he really couldn’t get a starting position at Bayswater Chinese.

Because with the world’s number one left-back, Marcelo, ahead of him, he could mostly only play a rotational and substitute role.

This left the almost 23-year-old Ryan Bertrand unsatisfied; he hoped to play a bigger role.

But most importantly, Marcelo was only 24.

If he waited any longer, how long would he have to wait?

On the other hand, Chelsea was willing to offer him double his salary at Bayswater Chinese, something Bayswater Chinese could not provide.

Although his contract with Bayswater Chinese was until 2014, the player had clearly stated his desire to go to Chelsea.

In this situation, it was difficult for Bayswater Chinese to keep the player.

But Adam Crozier rejected Chelsea’s fifteen-million-pound offer.

This was an England international!

Although he was only a fringe international and a defender, he was still an international!

Both being in West London, after several rounds of negotiations between the two sides, Chelsea eventually bought Ryan Bertrand for twenty million pounds.

This caused quite a stir in Britain.

In 2009, when Ryan Bertrand transferred to Bayswater Chinese, it only cost Yang Cheng two million pounds.

Three years later, he returned to Chelsea for a full twenty million pounds.

A tenfold increase!

Besides Ryan Bertrand, another player from Bayswater Chinese was also set to leave.

That was the substitute goalkeeper, Begović.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international had transferred to Bayswater Chinese from Portsmouth in 2007 for three hundred thousand pounds and had first served as Neuer’s backup.

When Neuer transferred to Bayern Munich for a sky-high price after the 2010 World Cup, Begović once thought he had finally gotten his chance to shine.

Even when Bayswater Chinese signed Courtois from Belgium, it didn’t affect Begović’s confidence.

But he never expected that as the new season began, Courtois quickly established himself and showed an incredible maturity and stability.

Especially last season, the Belgian became famous overnight by setting a new Premier League record with 29 clean sheets, becoming one of the world’s top goalkeepers.

This left Begović with no chance to emerge.

At only 25 years old, he was unwilling to continue wasting his time at Bayswater Chinese.

Under these circumstances, Premier League’s Stoke City made him an offer.

Stoke City was not only willing to pay a transfer fee of up to ten million pounds for Begović, but also willing to give him a higher salary.

Begović, who was on vacation, made a special call to Yang Cheng to honestly express his feelings.

Although he was a substitute, in his years at Bayswater Chinese, he had played in many important matches and won many championships.

For him, there wasn’t much point in continuing to stay at Bayswater Chinese.

He was now very clear about where his strengths and potential lay.

Especially after experiencing two genius goalkeepers, Neuer and Courtois, one after another, how could he not see his own situation clearly?

So, he preferred to go to Stoke City to be a starter.

Yang Cheng had actually already guessed this, so he didn’t try to hold him back.

After sending Begović off for ten million pounds, Bayswater Chinese announced that they had signed former England international goalkeeper Robert Green from West Ham United on a free transfer, as his contract had expired.

This 32-year-old goalkeeper was once England’s starting keeper.

In recent years, with the rise of Joe Hart, Robert Green gradually lost his starting position in the national team.

But he was still selected for England’s European Championship squad, albeit as a backup goalkeeper.

At the club level, Robert Green had always been West Ham United’s starting goalkeeper and had helped West Ham United defeat Blackpool in the playoffs in last season’s Championship, successfully returning to the Premier League.

But for some reason, Green and West Ham United had a disagreement over his contract renewal.

Before the European Championship, Robert Green’s agent publicly stated that he would not renew his contract with West Ham United.

As a result, the England international attracted the attention of many teams, including Stoke City.

But after Stoke City decided to sign Begović, Bayswater Chinese turned around and signed Robert Green.

This player’s salary was slightly higher than Begović’s, but it was within a range acceptable to Bayswater Chinese.

More importantly, the player also hoped to further elevate his career at a team like Bayswater Chinese.

To put it simply, it was to enhance his reputation.

At his current age, even being a backup goalkeeper at Bayswater Chinese and winning a few more championships would give him an extraordinary status and influence after retirement.

Moreover, playing for a giant club would be very beneficial for his national team career.

Being a substitute was the same either way; being a backup for Courtois at the club and for Joe Hart in the national team made no difference.

Robert Green’s signing was not handled by Yang Cheng, but was the idea of Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg.

They believed that this local international was not only experienced, but also very capable, and would be a very good motivation for Courtois.

If nothing else, even just as a training partner, he could be helpful to Courtois.

And just as Bayswater Chinese signed Robert Green, The Sun broke another piece of explosive news, causing a strong earthquake in English football.

Yang Cheng, who was originally on vacation with Xia Qing, was forced to end his holiday early and return to London.

…

“Just got news, Lúcio’s contract renewal negotiations failed, and he has left Manchester City on a free transfer.”

“According to the intelligence we have so far, we can’t determine if he wants to continue in European football or return to Brazil.”

In the car from the airport to the city center, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing sat in the back, listening to Mike Rigg’s report from the front.

Lúcio was already 34 years old.

As a centre-back known for his physical strength, he had already started to lose his starting position last season and was gradually failing to keep up with Manchester City’s demands.

To some extent, Manchester City’s failure to beat Arsenal last season was related to problems in their defense.

“The problem now is that Savić is not yet ready for a major role, Jérôme Boateng makes a lot of mistakes, and Giorgio Chiellini is the most stable player in Manchester City’s squad, but that’s far from enough.”

Yang Cheng listened quietly, his mind constantly calculating.

For clubs at the level of Bayswater Chinese or Manchester City, competing on multiple fronts with only two stable defenders was definitely not enough.

Not to mention, Manchester City only had one.

So, Manchester City naturally began to look for strong reinforcements.

Looking across the European football scene today, there were not many truly top-class centre-backs.

Bayswater Chinese had three, which could be considered quite a luxury!

Especially with Manchester United’s Vidić and Ferdinand, and Chelsea’s Terry all getting older, Bayswater Chinese’s three world-class centre-backs were truly enviable.

Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Vincent Kompany—these three centre-backs did not have a clear distinction between starters and substitutes.

Last season, Yang Cheng even frequently rotated the three of them in matches.

If nothing else, conceding only nine goals in the league last season—everyone could see how terrifying that record was.

“What does Adam say?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“He said that Manchester City is serious this time, and Barça, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea are also watching.”

At this point, Mike Rigg gave a bitter smile.

“Right now, in the entire European transfer market, you can’t find a single top-class centre-back!”

Watching meant they could make a move at any time.

Needless to say, Chelsea had lost out on David Luiz, and although they had signed Cahill, their defense was still not strong enough, and Terry was also getting old.

Liverpool had also been plagued by problems at centre-back for a long time; Škrtel, Daniel Agger, and Carragher were not good enough.

Mancini had mentioned more than once that he hoped to sign a world-class centre-back.

But looking across the European football scene today, world-class centre-backs were hot property at their respective clubs and would never flow into the transfer market.

For example, would Real Madrid sell Ramos? Would Barça be willing to sell Piqué?

Or, would Manchester City sell Chiellini?

The answer was obvious: impossible!

And it was precisely for this reason that whenever an excellent young centre-back appeared, he immediately became highly sought after.

For example, a player like David Luiz, who had never proven himself in a top league, made Manchester United splash out a high price of thirty-five million pounds for him.

And now, more than half of Europe’s giants were struggling with their centre-backs.

The question was, how high would a centre-back’s transfer fee be?

“Manchester City is also very crafty. Among our three centre-backs, Kompany is the youngest,” Mike Rigg complained from the front passenger seat.

Yang Cheng smiled to himself.

Pepe was born in ’83, making him 29 now; Thiago Silva was born in December ’84, making him 27.

Kompany was born in ’86, making him 26 now.

From the current perspective, among the three centre-backs, Kompany was the youngest.

But sometimes, the length of a professional career was not necessarily related to age.

…

“Yang, it’s great to see you again!”

At the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Yang Cheng met Txiki Begiristain.

Manchester City’s newly appointed technical director, former football director of Barça.

Back then, it was he who had supported Pep Guardiola to coach the first team within Barça.

Although publicly, Yang Cheng’s relationship with Barça was like fire and water, privately, he was acquainted with many of Barça’s senior executives.

Of course, the relationships varied from good to bad.

His relationship with this Begiristain was rather average.

“To be honest, if I had a choice, I really wouldn’t want to see you for this meeting!” Yang Cheng said, complaining to Begiristain’s face after inviting him to sit down.

Begiristain couldn’t help but laugh.

He of course understood the teasing in Yang Cheng’s words.

If it were him, he would probably do the same.

It couldn’t be helped; which head coach would want to see his favorite player poached?

But as the one doing the poaching, Begiristain felt that poaching Yang Cheng’s players was a really great feeling!

Poach once, feel great once; keep poaching, keep feeling great!

“I believe Dan has already told you the purpose of my trip south this time.”

Begiristain also brought Manchester City’s team with him.

Yang Cheng, accompanied by Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, met with them.

“We are very sincere this time and hope you will consider our offer for Kompany.”

Yang Cheng looked deeply at Begiristain. “You’ve made quite a scene this time.”

Today’s meeting was semi-public, and the media outside had already caught wind of it.

This showed that Manchester City had no intention of deliberately hiding it.

That meant they were only asking for Bayswater Chinese to start listening to offers.

The other teams watching on the sidelines would definitely make a move once they heard the news.

Whether they could snatch the player would then depend on Manchester City’s ability.

But Yang Cheng interpreted another meaning from Begiristain’s actions.

Manchester City was determined to get Kompany!

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng was actually a bit surprised.

Tycoons were just that willful!

They didn’t care how much you sold for, only whether you were selling at all.

Thinking about it, Yang Cheng felt he was still too poor.

In fact, the very fact that Yang Cheng was sitting here meant that the management of Bayswater Chinese had already reached a consensus.

Although Kompany’s agent hadn’t come out and said anything, he had hinted at some things.

They were not opposed to joining Manchester City!

The Sun also provided some leaks, saying that Manchester City was willing to offer Kompany a high salary of one hundred fifty thousand pounds a week.

This was something Bayswater Chinese could never afford to give.

Conversely, this also showed Manchester City’s sincerity towards Kompany.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng turned his head to look at Dan Ashworth, who immediately understood and spoke up.

“What will your first offer be?”

A flash of joy appeared on Begiristain’s face as he smiled and said, “Fifty million pounds!”

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg’s expressions both changed in unison as they turned to look at Yang Cheng.

Once this transfer fee was announced, it would inevitably break the record for a centre-back’s transfer fee set by Ferdinand.

For Manchester City to offer this amount in their first bid, it must be said, was indeed full of sincerity.

When it came to buying players, Manchester City had always had a good reputation.

A bit extravagant, yes, but they were also always willing to spend.

“This is still a considerable distance from our psychological price,” Dan Ashworth replied coolly.

This time, it was Begiristain who was a bit surprised.

Fifty million pounds was equivalent to 62.5 million euros.

This was already the highest transfer fee for a centre-back in history.

And Bayswater Chinese was still not satisfied?

Yang Cheng noticed Begiristain’s expression and knew what was going on. “Why don’t you go back and think about it again.”

There was a hint in his tone of wanting to end the meeting.

Begiristain couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

Outside, a pack of wolves was circling. If they couldn’t persuade Bayswater Chinese to release the player in one negotiation, once tycoon clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool intervened, it would be hard to say what the transfer fee would be, and they might not even be able to buy the player at all.

Of course, Yang Cheng was aware of the situation Begiristain and Manchester City were in.

In fact, a transfer fee of fifty million pounds, even in 2024, would still rank in the top ten for centre-back transfer fees.

Keep in mind, that was 2024, when player transfer fees had skyrocketed.

At present, there were absolutely no more than three teams willing to pay this amount.

Probably just Manchester City, Liverpool, and Paris Saint-Germain.

Even Chelsea would be reluctant to fork it out.

If he really wanted to sell, it was actually a very good price.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t ready to give in just yet.

The reason was simple: he felt he could still squeeze a bit more out of Manchester City.

Begiristain’s mind raced, and finally, he made up his mind.

“Yang, give me one hour. I need to make a phone call.”

Evidently, in this game, Yang Cheng had won!

…

When Yang Cheng walked out of the Royal Lancaster Hotel with Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, the media who had been waiting outside immediately swarmed them, asking about Kompany’s transfer.

But Yang Cheng still gave the same answer as before.

Only Yang Cheng and the others knew that Begiristain had just made a very long phone call, spending an hour discussing with Mubarak, Soriano, and others in Manchester.

In the end, they drafted a new offer, raising it to fifty-five million pounds.

But Yang Cheng gave Bayswater Chinese’s final asking price.

Sixty million pounds!

Begiristain made another phone call.

This time, it only took about half an hour for him to reply.

Manchester City agreed!

Converted, that was seventy-five million euros. This transfer fee would still rank in the top five even in 2024.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was definitely a very profitable deal.

For Kompany, transferring to Manchester City, leaving Pepe and Thiago Silva behind, he could get a weekly wage of one hundred fifty thousand pounds, which was a very good deal for Kompany, who had already won almost all club championships.

On the night after the negotiations, the best-informed The Sun was the first to disclose the deal.

A transfer fee of sixty million pounds for a centre-back was definitely a sky-high price!

Even a sky-high price that was unimaginable for everyone!

But in recent years, excellent centre-backs in European football had been too few, too scarce.

Now, with Kompany finally entering the transfer market, it naturally attracted a scramble and attention from all sides.

The sixty million pounds offered by Manchester City was almost the limit of what they could bear!

In fact, for many teams, they probably wouldn’t even consider it once it reached fifty million pounds.

The reason was simple: they would also calculate the pros and cons.

The most typical proof was that on that same night, as soon as the news leaked, the other giants who had been watching all retreated.

Clearly, this had exceeded what they could afford.

The next day, Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City officially began negotiations for Kompany’s transfer.

It only took one day for the two sides to formally reach an agreement.

What remained was the negotiation of personal terms between Manchester City and Kompany.

And a transfer fee of sixty million pounds would inevitably shock the media and fans all over the world!

A veritable super sky-high price!

But before the transfer was officially completed, Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and others held a meeting to discuss how to respond after Kompany’s transfer to Manchester City.

The most important question was who would replace Kompany?

The Belgian’s transfer would inevitably weaken Bayswater Chinese’s squad depth.

The key was how to fill the gap.

With the starting lineup of Pepe and Thiago Silva untouched, Bayswater Chinese still had to focus on young players for now, with no need to demand immediate combat effectiveness.

Yang Cheng considered OGC Nice’s van Dijk, Koulibaly, and Nastasić from Ligue 1.

Especially Nastasić.

This centre-back, dubbed “Vidić II,” had performed excellently for OGC Nice in Ligue 1 last season and had also done well in the Champions League, winning the attention of many giant clubs.

In addition, Yang Cheng also considered Marquinhos from Brazil’s Corinthians.

But Marquinhos was a bit short, which was a problem.

Thiago Silva was already on the shorter side, and had always had shortcomings in aerial duels and physical confrontations.

This was a natural weakness that couldn’t be changed.

Bringing in another Marquinhos wouldn’t be a big problem in La Liga.

But this was the Premier League!

In the Premier League, where tall center-forwards reigned supreme, this was clearly not acceptable.

As for van Dijk and Koulibaly, both were very good, but needed to be carefully developed.

Just as Yang Cheng and his assistants were discussing whether to “buy” Nastasić, Liverpool, who had failed to get Kompany, turned around and sent a fifteen-million-pound offer to OGC Nice.

When Emmanuel Perrin called Yang Cheng to inform him of this news, Yang Cheng didn’t say much more, letting Emmanuel Perrin negotiate with Liverpool.

In the end, the Serbian centre-back transferred to Liverpool for twenty million pounds.

OGC Nice, in turn, signed Marquinhos from Brazil’s Corinthians for three million euros.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, signed the 18-year-old local English centre-back John Stones from Championship side Barnsley for a transfer fee of one million pounds.

This young centre-back had made two appearances for Barnsley in the Championship last season, playing for 38 minutes and 15 minutes respectively, without much to show.

But his performance in the youth team was very good, and he was selected for the England U19 national team.

After signing John Stones, Yang Cheng thought for a while and sent out another offer.

This time it was to Championship side Sheffield United.

Yang Cheng hoped to sign the young centre-back Harry Maguire from Sheffield United for a transfer fee of one million pounds.

There was no helping it; a Virgo’s perfectionism was no joke!

Yang Cheng always felt that signing just Stones without also signing the aircraft carrier Maguire felt somewhat incomplete.

Now it was perfect; the future starting centre-backs of the British Empire were all in his pocket.

Plus Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw.

England could just copy Bayswater Chinese’s entire defensive line.

For the revival of English football, Bayswater Chinese will have made an indispensable contribution!

By then, Bayswater Chinese would be a unique and special existence in English football!

Just thinking about it was exciting!

Chapter 258: Another Record-Breaking Signing! The Craziest Transfer in History! Real Madrid Makes an Offer!

In the world of professional football, there aren’t actually that many so-called dark arts.

For example, many people talk about the “homegrown player” premium in the Premier League.

In reality, this isn’t some great mystery.

Of the four major leagues, which one doesn’t have a homegrown premium?

After Florentino Pérez’s second term at Real Madrid began, he desperately snapped up top-tier domestic players, from David Silva and David Villa to later additions like Isco, Illarramendi, and Xabi Alonso.

Isn’t that also about homegrown players?

Bayern Munich was willing to pay a sky-high price to poach Neuer, and later activated the release clause for Götze. Weren’t these moves also for homegrown talent?

And it goes without saying for Italy.

Back in the day, Juventus signed Buffon for a record-breaking, astonishingly high price, while AC Milan and Inter Milan fought tooth and nail for Nesta. Were these not about homegrown players?

Ultimately, for the top teams in any domestic league, high-level homegrown players have always been a scarce resource.

That’s why as soon as Rooney burst onto the scene, Manchester United snatched him up.

The moment Götze emerged, Bayern Munich poached him.

The reason homegrown players are so expensive in the Premier League is, on one hand, that the league itself is rich.

On the other hand, England’s youth development system is simply atrocious, resulting in a shortage of high-level homegrown talent.

When demand outstrips supply, prices naturally skyrocket.

Therefore, in Yang Cheng’s view, there was no risk whatsoever with John Stones or Harry Maguire.

These were two deals that were guaranteed to be profitable no matter what.

As for Maguire, the human aircraft carrier, there was absolutely no question about his ability.

The reason he was so heavily criticized in 2024 was entirely due to Manchester United’s shambolic defensive system.

Every player has their own weaknesses and strengths.

Take Thiago Silva, for instance.

His height is what it is. If you constantly force him into physical battles against tall center-forwards like Drogba or Adebayor, then it goes without saying that Thiago Silva would be savaged by the critics.

The same people praising him as the world’s best centre-back would, in a heartbeat, trample him into the mud.

Because that is his weakness.

That’s why Yang Cheng had to pair him with a Pepe or a Vincent Kompany.

Chelsea’s Terry needed a partner like Carvalho or Gallas alongside him.

When Lúcio had an unreliable partner next to him, the Brazilian centre-back was just a blunder-prone brute.

But give him a stable and dependable partner, and Lúcio becomes a world-class centre-back.

Defense has always relied on the team and the system.

So what about Maguire?

He also had his shortcomings.

One look at the “aircraft carrier’s turn” revealed his problem: he was slow to turn.

But his front-on defending, physical strength, and aerial ability were all undoubtedly world-class.

That being the case, in theory, as long as he was paired with an excellent, complementary partner, they could achieve an effect where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, from 2012 to 2024, the only centre-back without any obvious weaknesses was van Dijk.

But that kid was still leveling up and gaining experience at this point.

Looking at it from the perspective of 2024, the biggest difference between Maguire and van Dijk, aside from the difficult-to-change turning speed, was actually in their defensive awareness and technique.

This was, in fact, a long-standing issue for English defenders.

John Stones, for example, had the same problem.

To some extent, they were both representative of English youth development.

Fans familiar with English football would surely know that English youth players always give off a particularly awkward feeling.

They have courage, passion, determination, physicality, and speed, but their technique is rough, and they lack tactical discipline.

Wasn’t this the root cause of the dilemma of England’s two midfield maestros?

Both Maguire and Stones had a not-so-famous but excellent youth academy behind them in their formative years: Barnsley, located in the north of Sheffield.

Maguire was discovered by Barnsley at the age of ten, playing as a midfielder. It wasn’t until he joined Sheffield United at sixteen that he was converted to a centre-back.

Stones spent his entire youth development at Barnsley.

Both players possessed very good passing ability, a benefit of the excellent training at Barnsley.

Even so, while their technique had improved, their development in areas like defensive awareness, defensive skills, and tactical discipline was still severely lacking.

This situation was so prevalent that even in 2024, looking back at England’s golden boys, one could easily spot this problem.

The most typical example was to compare the way Bellingham, who had been tempered on the European continent, played with that of players like Foden, who played domestically. There was a clear gap in their playing styles and tactical adaptability.

Even after Foden had been nurtured in Pep Guardiola’s system for years, the problem persisted.

Then there was Sancho’s Waterloo at Manchester United. Was it the player’s fault? Or was it the team’s tactics?

In 2011, before The FA officially launched the Elite Player Performance Plan, they visited Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy and Satellite Training Centre to conduct research.

They compared the training hours of players at Bayswater Chinese with those at several of England’s best youth academies.

The results showed that the cumulative training time for young players of all age groups at Yang Cheng’s club was double that of the other clubs.

And that’s not to mention the training intensity and methods.

A huge gap in every aspect!

This, in fact, reflected the crux of the problem with English youth development.

Without long hours of painstaking practice, how could one achieve exquisite technique?

Furthermore, The FA’s research team discovered that Bayswater Chinese cultivated players from a young age in tactical discipline, game awareness, and the ability to read and analyze the match.

To better help players adapt to different tactical environments, players in the youth teams would take on different roles and rotate through various positions.

This greatly enhanced the players’ versatility.

Bayswater Chinese even organized annual exchange programs for a group of outstanding students from all age groups to go to clubs on the continent.

These trips lasted from one to three months, sometimes even up to half a year.

Now, the exchange between the Premier League giants and Ligue 1’s OGC Nice had become a regular fixture.

There were frequent exchanges with Spanish teams like Barça, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid; German teams like Bayern, Dortmund, and Wolfsburg; and teams from Ligue 1, the Eredivisie, and the Primeira Liga.

In addition, Bayswater Chinese had also drawn on the training experience of Ajax.

Once outstanding players reached a certain age, they would begin targeted training. Specialized technical coaches would be assigned to them for special instruction to further refine their techniques and skills, and to shore up their weaknesses.

All of these efforts had yielded very significant results for Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy over the past few years.

Of course, everything was built on a foundation of investment.

For example, The Times had previously reported that Premier League clubs invested approximately three to five million pounds sterling annually in their youth academies.

This was considered a normal level in European football.

But clubs like Barça and Real Madrid, which placed a high value on youth development, invested around ten million euros a year.

And what about Bayswater Chinese?

Fifteen million pounds sterling!

If you factored in the resources shared from the first team, the actual investment was far greater than this figure.

And this did not include the expenses of the ten Satellite Training Centres.

But in the summer of 2011, Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy earned ten million pounds sterling from player sales alone, ranking first among all Premier League teams.

The quality of Bayswater Chinese’s youth players was also widely acclaimed.

Therefore, from South American players like Marcelo to homegrown talents like Kyle Walker, Ryan Bertrand, and Aaron Ramsey, they all received special treatment after joining Bayswater Chinese at a young age.

The coaching staff would specifically tailor intensive training plans based on the players’ technical characteristics, helping them find a playing style that suited their own traits.

Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to be willing to listen.

Aaron Lennon back then wasn’t very receptive to advice, and as a result, he went from Bayswater Chinese to Arsenal, and now he had ended up at Tottenham Hotspur.

Theo Walcott, on the other hand, was very receptive.

To what extent?

When Walcott and Gareth Bale joined from Southampton, the coaching staff specifically formulated different development paths for them.

Because their physical attributes were completely different.

Walcott was meant to follow the path of a small, quick, and agile player, excelling at quick starts and stops.

As a winger, controlling the ball and turning were essential skills.

For this skill alone, the coaching staff had tailored dozens of different seamless movement sequences for him over the past few years.

Walcott was also willing to put in the hard work, practicing relentlessly until it became part of him, until it was like second nature.

As a result, on the pitch, he could instinctively execute different moves in response to different situations.

This manifested on the pitch in a way that made many fans feel that Walcott’s technique had improved immensely.

But what was the reality?

It was more about his application of technique.

In certain specific scenarios or against very strong opponents, his weaknesses could still be exposed.

Situations like this were commonplace at Bayswater Chinese.

Many said that young players who came to Bayswater Chinese always improved rapidly.

The secret actually lay here.

Just as Bayswater Chinese’s technical coach, Danny McGrain, said in his speech at an FA youth coaching course.

“Many times when a player performs poorly on the pitch, we say his football intelligence is bad. In fact, it’s not that they can’t do it, but that they don’t know how to do it!”

This could be improved through subsequent training.

And that was exactly what Bayswater Chinese had always done.

Whether it was John Stones or Harry Maguire, Yang Cheng placed great importance on them.

He personally supervised the coaching staff to create tailored intensive training plans based on their unique characteristics.

The same went for players like Kyle Walker.

Not to mention genuine products of the youth academy like Harry Kane, Sterling, and Luke Shaw, who had been with the club since childhood.

Yang Cheng currently held in his hands several of the future core international players of Great Britain.

He was also very eager to see what heights this group of England internationals, cultivated by Bayswater Chinese, would lead the England national team to in the future.

…

While Yang Cheng was satisfying his peculiar hobby of collecting England internationals, far away in France, OGC Nice’s transfer operations were also quietly progressing.

After selling Nastasić for twenty million pounds, which was twenty-five million euros, Nice did not hold back this time.

Emmanuel Perrin quickly sealed two deals.

Nice soon announced that they had signed 18-year-old centre-back Marquinhos from the Brazilian club Corinthians for a transfer fee of two million euros.

The Brazilian centre-back had made a name for himself at the 2011 U-17 World Cup.

He was promoted to the first team in January 2012 and made his debut for Corinthians on February 18th.

To date, he had only played a total of fourteen matches for Corinthians.

Although he was part of the squad that won the Copa Libertadores, he hadn’t played a single minute in the competition.

But the player’s talent and potential were plain to see.

Many were calling him the next Thiago Silva, as their characteristics were very similar.

Besides Marquinhos, Emmanuel Perrin also poached 18-year-old French national youth team centre-back Samuel Umtiti from Lyon’s youth academy.

This deal cost Nice three million euros.

The 18-year-old Umtiti first played for Lyon’s first team in the Coupe de France on January 8th, 2012.

But at a Lyon side boasting renowned players like Cris, Lovren, and Koné, Umtiti, despite being highly regarded, did not perform ideally.

In the eleven league matches Umtiti played in the 11/12 season, Lyon’s record was three wins, three draws, and five losses.

The defense conceded a whopping eighteen goals, an average of 1.63 goals per game.

Consequently, Umtiti’s performances were heavily criticized.

Especially with Lovren’s return from injury this summer, Umtiti’s place in the Lyon first team became less secure.

So, when Nice made a high offer of three million euros for a young player whose transfer market valuation was only one point five million euros, Lyon barely hesitated.

In the end, Nice signed Umtiti for three million euros.

After signing two centre-backs in quick succession, Nice once again found itself the target of poaching.

With Nice beating out Paris Saint-Germain to successfully defend their Ligue 1 title last season and also reaching the Champions League Round of 16, Ronald Koeman’s team had attracted the attention of many powerhouse clubs.

Aside from centre-back Nastasić, the most high-profile players were midfielder Strootman and forwards Pellè and Aubameyang.

Strootman’s excellent performances in Ligue 1 had also earned him a call-up to the Netherlands national team.

This had generated significant interest from abroad.

Ferguson’s Manchester United had long been suffering from a weak midfield, and with left-back Evra already thirty-one years old, Ferguson was very interested in Nice’s core midfielder, Strootman.

At the same time, he also coveted Dutch left-back Daley Blind.

In an interview with the media, Ferguson stated that Daley Blind was like Fletcher in the defensive line.

And everyone knew that Fletcher was one of Ferguson’s favorite players.

This was undoubtedly high praise for Daley Blind.

Manchester United moved quickly.

Finally, after about half a month of negotiations, the two Nice players joined Manchester United for transfer fees of twenty million pounds and twelve million pounds, respectively.

Strootman’s fee reached a massive twenty million pounds, which was twenty-five million euros.

This was Manchester United’s first major move of the summer.

After selling two key players, Nice quickly found replacements.

They signed 18-year-old talented midfielder Kovačić from Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb for five million euros.

The player had already established himself as a regular in the domestic league last season and had also played for Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

His performances were decent.

Ever since Modrić’s arrival in 2003, followed by players like Džeko, Nemanja Matić, and Rakitić, as well as Nastasić last season, Bayswater Chinese’s influence throughout Eastern Europe had grown significantly. Their scouting network in the region and relationships with clubs had also improved.

This time, for the signing of Kovačić, Ligue 1’s Nice even paid a handsome five million euros.

This set a new record for the highest transfer fee paid by Nice since Yang Cheng had taken over.

In addition, Nice also signed midfielder Allan from a club in Brazil for three million euros.

This was the same Brazilian midfielder who would later shine at Udinese and S.S.C. Napoli.

At left-back, Nice poached Layvin Kurzawa from the relegated Monaco for a one million euro transfer fee, filling the void left by Daley Blind’s move to Manchester United.

They then signed left-back Benjamin Mendy from French Second Division side Le Havre AC for another one million euros.

Although this 18-year-old left-back with dual Senegalese and French nationality was young, he had already played a full season in the French Second Division for Le Havre AC and had performed well.

In attack, Aubameyang’s impressive performances in Ligue 1 had quickly attracted attention from several clubs across Europe.

Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan had both made bids for the incredibly fast Ligue 1 winger, but both were rejected by Nice for being too low.

Later, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea all expressed interest in Aubameyang.

In the end, it was Liverpool who snatched the best forward from last season’s Ligue 1 from under Chelsea’s nose for a high price of twenty million pounds.

After selling Aubameyang, Nice swiftly bought 19-year-old French winger Florian Thauvin from newly promoted Ligue 1 team Bastia for one million euros.

This player had played for Bastia in the French Second Division during the last two months of the previous season, but his performance was average, with no goals and no assists.

…

As time entered July, the battle for S.S.C. Napoli’s powerhouse centre-forward Cavani officially came to a close.

Wealthy teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain all coveted Cavani.

The first reported bid came from Manchester United.

The Red Devils’ initial offer was only forty million pounds, which drew strong dissatisfaction from Napoli’s owner, De Laurentiis.

Subsequently, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain also joined the fray.

Chelsea even made a high bid of forty-five million pounds, but it was still rejected by S.S.C. Napoli.

Cavani also revealed through his agent that he hoped to join a team that could play in the Champions League.

This statement carried two meanings.

One was that S.S.C. Napoli’s efforts to keep him had completely failed.

The other was that, in the three-way battle, Chelsea was now out of the running.

Paris Saint-Germain immediately followed up with a higher offer: fifty million pounds, which was sixty-two point five million euros.

This was already an astonishingly sky-high price!

But Paris Saint-Germain’s disadvantage was that the influence of the Ligue 1 could not compare to the top four leagues.

For the past few seasons, Manchester United had been struggling without a top-class centre-forward.

Berbatov’s performance at Manchester United had not met Ferguson’s expectations.

After he left, Manchester United was even forced to play Rooney, a player clearly unsuited for the role, as a centre-forward.

This had a significant impact on Manchester United’s entire attack.

After missing out on Champions League qualification successively, Ferguson and the Manchester United management learned their lesson the hard way.

At the very least, they clearly realized that in the current Premier League, without investment, even a team as strong as Manchester United had no hope of getting ahead.

Thus, after signing Strootman and Blind, Ferguson finally made up his mind.

Fifty-five million pounds, which is sixty-eight point seven five million euros!

This bloody battle between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain shocked the entire world!

S.S.C. Napoli finally relented.

Deal!

Ferguson was ecstatic. In an interview with the British media in Manchester, he said, “Cavani is a born warrior, a world-class centre-forward who will be a perfect fit for Manchester United’s tactics and spirit!”

Cavani himself was also very excited, thrilled to be able to join Manchester United.

This transaction also triggered a chain reaction.

First, after missing out on Cavani, the toothless Paris Saint-Germain hoped to sign Swedish centre-forward Ibrahimović from Manchester City.

As it turned out, Ibrahimović had no interest in playing in Ligue 1, and the extravagantly wealthy Manchester City completely ignored Paris Saint-Germain’s offer.

After that, Paris Saint-Germain turned their attention to Bayswater Chinese’s Robert Lewandowski.

The Sun revealed that the Ligue 1 tycoon team had even sent Bayswater Chinese a transfer offer of up to one hundred million pounds, hoping to sign the Polish centre-forward.

That was one hundred million pounds sterling!

One hundred and twenty-five million euros!

If the transfer went through, it would set a new record for the highest transfer fee in history!

The French media was also extremely excited, believing this would be a deal that would make the whole world pay attention to Ligue 1.

L’Équipe even reported that Qatar Airways was a key partner of Bayswater Chinese, and the Qatar Tourism Authority also sponsored the naming rights of Bayswater Chinese’s training ground.

The two sides had a very close partnership, which could help Paris Saint-Germain in poaching players from Bayswater Chinese.

But just as the world’s media and fans were getting worked up, Yang Cheng specifically gave an interview to the British media, stating clearly: “Robert Lewandowski is not for sale!”

Bayswater Chinese also came forward again, stating that the club had rejected the offer from Paris Saint-Germain.

The implication was, yes, Paris Saint-Germain did make a bid, but we’re not selling!

One hundred million pounds!

It was insane!

No one could believe that a player’s transfer fee could actually break the one hundred million euro mark.

After being rejected, Paris Saint-Germain immediately shifted their target, hoping to sign Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín from Real Madrid.

But Higuaín rejected the invitation from Paris Saint-Germain.

The Argentine striker, in the prime of his career, eventually moved from Real Madrid to S.S.C. Napoli for a high price of forty million euros.

After successive setbacks, Paris Saint-Germain’s predicament in European football actually pleased many in the media and among the fans.

After all, not many people really wanted to see this Ligue 1 tycoon waving their checkbook around, poaching players from all over.

Especially after Chelsea announced the signing of Colombian striker Falcao from Atlético Madrid for a sky-high price of sixty million euros.

And Porto’s centre-forward Hulk transferred to Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg for a staggering fifty million euros.

From Cavani to Higuaín to Falcao, and then to Hulk.

The transfers of these four centre-forwards were each shockingly expensive!

The price of forwards in the entire European transfer market had been completely inflated.

With their search for a striker proving fruitless, Paris Saint-Germain had no choice but to turn their attention back to the Ligue 1.

And last season’s top scorer in Ligue 1 was Nice’s Pellè.

Finally, after painstaking negotiations, Paris Saint-Germain was forced to sign the 27-year-old Italian centre-forward for a high price of thirty million euros.

A key reason for Paris Saint-Germain’s urgency was their low goal count from forwards last season.

Tall center-forward Guillaume Hoarau had only scored five goals in total.

In contrast, Brazilian midfielder Nenê scored twenty-one goals.

Javier Pastore also contributed thirteen goals.

Everyone at Paris Saint-Germain unanimously agreed that a major reason for their collapse in the second half of the season, allowing Nice to overtake them, was their weak forward line.

Having failed to find a striker across Europe, Paris Saint-Germain adopted the most pragmatic strategy.

Poach from your rivals!

If you can’t beat them, can’t you just buy their players?

After being poached by Paris Saint-Germain, Nice immediately signed 21-year-old Belgian tall center-forward Christian Benteke from Belgium’s Genk for a high price of four million euros.

This tall center-forward’s stats from last season weren’t particularly eye-catching.

Sixteen goals and nine assists in thirty-six league games.

That kind of efficiency wasn’t really that high.

Especially considering the intensity of the Belgian league.

But his truly brilliant performance came in the second half of the season.

After Christmas, Benteke scored fifteen goals and provided seven assists in twenty-two league games.

In other words, he created one goal per game on average.

It was precisely Benteke’s explosion in the second half of the season that prompted Nice to sign the tall center-forward.

Emmanuel Perrin stated that all signs indicated Benteke was in a rapid development phase of his career and was about to have a series of breakthroughs.

After selling Higuaín for a hefty forty million euros, Real Madrid went on to sell several other players, including Lassana Diarra, Granero, Şahin, Sergio Canales, Fernando Gago, and Drenthe.

In total, they raised about thirty million euros.

After accumulating sufficient funds, the Galácticos officially submitted a bid for Bayswater Chinese’s Di María!

And Real Madrid’s opening bid was a staggering seventy million pounds sterling!

When Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, AS newspaper, broke this bombshell, it immediately sent powerful shockwaves through the world’s media and fans.

No one had expected Real Madrid to be the one hiding in the shadows.

They either didn’t make a move, or when they did, it was to create a record-breaking signing!

…

Yang Cheng hadn’t been overly involved in Nice’s operations in the transfer market this summer.

It was mostly Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and Dan Ashworth overseeing the big picture, with Martin Harrison and Emmanuel Perrin handling the actual deals.

This was a formal recognition of the abilities of Nice’s senior management!

In fact, over the past two years, they had managed Nice quite well.

Although everyone said that Nice was leaning on the towering tree that was Bayswater Chinese, the ability of Nice’s team to absorb and utilize the resources shared by Bayswater Chinese was, in itself, a demonstration of their capability.

Of course, their abilities had already been screened when they were initially selected to take charge of Nice.

When Yang Cheng received Nice’s summer transfer report, he was still very impressed.

Nastasić was sold for twenty-five million euros.

Strootman was sold for twenty-five million euros.

Daley Blind was sold for fifteen million euros.

Aubameyang was sold for twenty-five million euros.

Pellè was sold for thirty million euros.

Nice sold five players in the transfer market, recouping a total of one hundred and twenty million euros in transfer fees.

This was enough to shock the entire European football world!

After selling five players, Nice made targeted signings, bringing in eight players: Marquinhos, Umtiti, Kurzawa, Benjamin Mendy, Kovačić, Allan, Benteke, and Thauvin.

The total expenditure was twenty million euros.

Apart from Paris Saint-Germain, Nice was the club that had spent the most in the Ligue 1 transfer market.

Note, this was spending, not net spending.

Yang Cheng carefully examined Nice’s squad for the upcoming season.

After bringing in these eight players, the overall depth of Nice’s squad had clearly been enhanced.

Goalkeeper: Jesús Navas;

Defenders: van Dijk, Koulibaly, Shkodran Mustafi, Aurier, Kurzawa, Benjamin Mendy, Umtiti, and Marquinhos;

Midfielders: Kanté, Jorginho, Brozović, Kovačić, and Allan;

Forwards: Mahrez, Salah, Mané, Choupo-Moting, Benteke, and Thauvin.

These nineteen players formed the core competitiveness of Nice in the new Ligue 1 season.

In addition, there were six substitute players, including a goalkeeper.

It could be said that the rebuilt Nice might not be able to form a cohesive fighting unit immediately, but as long as they gelled well, they might just have the strength to go toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain.

In Yang Cheng’s view, as long as they integrated properly, the strength of this squad was by no means inferior to last season’s.

It might even be stronger!

They had a net income of one hundred million euros from the transfer market, but in reality, it would take at least three years to receive this money in installments.

But Nice’s financial situation was now significantly better.

Their investment in youth development was also more resolute than before.

Especially after the inauguration of the new training base, the standards for all software and hardware facilities were strictly based on Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center.

It could be described as one of the world’s foremost top-tier training bases.

With such a training base, coupled with the recruitment of personnel for youth development over the past two years, the level of Nice’s youth academy had improved very rapidly.

Emmanuel Perrin, in particular, who came from a scouting background and was very familiar with the French football scene, was relentless in poaching potential new talents, quickly building a youth system that was renowned in French football.

The youth teams’ results also improved rapidly.

After reviewing Nice’s report, Yang Cheng turned his attention to the current situation in the Premier League.

Manchester United had invested heavily this summer, signing Strootman, Blind, Cavani, and Shinji Kagawa.

Chelsea had also signed stars like Falcao, Oscar, Prince William, Marin, Ryan Bertrand, and Azpilicueta, with Roman Abramovich making a rare big splash.

Liverpool had signed players like Nastasić, Aubameyang, Borini, and Joe Allen.

Manchester City signed Marco Verratti, Vincent Kompany, Rodwell, and Sinclair.

Among the top teams, the quietest were, surprisingly, Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal.

Yang Cheng’s team’s transfer fees were low; they signed John Stones, Harry Maguire, and Robert Green, none of whom were big-name stars, and their fees were very low.

Arsenal signed only two players, Cazorla and Podolski, the fewest among the top teams.

Yang Cheng roughly estimated in his mind that Bayswater Chinese’s strength would definitely be weakened in the new season.

Especially in the centre-back position.

But from a long-term perspective, such an operation was still necessary.

Young players like John Stones and Harry Maguire, growing under the guidance and personal instruction of José Fonte, Thiago Silva, and Pepe, would surely benefit greatly in their futures.

In due time, once van Dijk had honed his skills in Ligue 1 and was brought to the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese’s defense would be formidably strengthened.

With Ryan Bertrand gone, Yang Cheng considered promoting Luke Shaw.

This was somewhat risky.

But promoting young players always involved some risk.

Besides, Marcelo’s position as the main starter was very secure, and it would be difficult for Luke Shaw to challenge him for the time being.

Last season’s excellent performance had given Yang Cheng the courage to sell Vincent Kompany from his defense.

He believed the team would still be very competitive in the new season.

As long as the centre-back pairing of Pepe and Thiago Silva remained intact, and the midfield trio of Nemanja Matić, Toni Kroos, and Modrić was not broken up, Bayswater Chinese’s results would not falter.

As for rejecting Paris Saint-Germain’s insane one hundred million pound offer, Yang Cheng had his own considerations.

Robert Lewandowski had performed exceptionally for three consecutive seasons.

Over the past three seasons, the Pole’s goal tallies were 29, 24, and 31. His efficiency was beyond question, a bona fide world-class centre-forward.

Otherwise, Paris Saint-Germain wouldn’t have been willing to shell out so much money for him.

But the problem was, Giroud himself was not a prolific goalscorer.

Harry Kane wouldn’t even turn nineteen until the end of July.

Under these circumstances, selling Lewandowski would inevitably impact the forward line in the new season.

If handled poorly, Giroud would be fine.

But Harry Kane, under immense pressure, would likely be affected.

Even the team’s results could suffer.

After much consideration and a meeting with the management, Yang Cheng finally decided not to sell!

Although they rejected Paris Saint-Germain, there was a silver lining.

Now, everyone knew that Paris Saint-Germain had made a sky-high one hundred million pound offer for Robert Lewandowski.

The key was that Bayswater Chinese had rejected it without hesitation!

Robert Lewandowski was only twenty-three. Even in another year or two, he would still be in the prime of his career.

At that time, if other teams wanted to poach him, how much would they have to pay?

Frankly, if the Polish centre-forward were three or four years older, Yang Cheng would probably have gritted his teeth and sold him.

But right now, time was on his side!

By keeping Robert Lewandowski, Yang Cheng remained full of confidence for Bayswater Chinese in the new season!

It was at this moment that Yang Cheng received a call from Adam Crozier.

Real Madrid’s offer had arrived!

…

“How much?”

In the head office at Grosvenor Square, a hurried Yang Cheng wondered if he had misheard.

But Adam Crozier confirmed it again.

Seventy million pounds sterling!

Yang Cheng hadn’t been dazed by Paris Saint-Germain’s one hundred million pounds, but he was startled by Real Madrid’s seventy million.

Eighty-seven point five million euros!

My goodness!

Florentino Pérez was planning something huge!

Of course, behind this sky-high transfer, Real Madrid would pay the fee in four installments.

This summer, they would only need to pay over twenty million euros, with subsequent payments of twenty million euros each year until the summer of 2015.

“What does Mendes say?” Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier.

According to regulations, after a club received an offer, they had to inform the player and ask for their thoughts.

That guy Mendes had also made a huge profit this summer.

Especially Falcao’s transfer to Chelsea, which had made him a fortune.

This was because a large portion of Falcao’s ownership rights didn’t belong to Atlético Madrid, but to Mendes’s agency.

So, a significant part of the sixty million euros paid by Chelsea ended up in Mendes’s pocket.

As for Mendes’s relationship with Bayswater Chinese, it was actually quite good.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the main reason Di María had joined Mendes’s camp was that he played in the Primeira Liga.

But in this life, after coming to Bayswater Chinese, somehow, through a roundabout way via his connection with Pepe, he ended up signed with Mendes.

And Yang Cheng was almost certain that for Real Madrid to make such an offer in one go, Mendes must have helped with the planning.

Of course, Mendes probably wouldn’t appear publicly.

Because his relationship with Bayswater Chinese was decent.

“Mendes says his client is not opposed to moving to Spain.”

Adam Crozier paused for a moment before continuing, “He also said that although Di María has adapted to the weather in England, he personally prefers the sunny climate of Spain.”

Yang Cheng sighed inwardly.

Just as he expected.

“AS newspaper revealed that Real Madrid is willing to offer Di María an annual salary of ten million euros, second only to C. Ronaldo at Real Madrid!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng chuckled to himself.

He still clearly remembered that in his previous life, Di María left Real Madrid because his annual salary was a measly one point eight million euros.

And that was in 2014!

Now, in the summer of 2012, to sign Di María, Real Madrid was willing to pay him a ten million euro annual salary.

This was what Yang Cheng meant by ‘an expert from abroad is always more respected’!

But Bayswater Chinese couldn’t offer that kind of salary.

If they gave Di María a ten million euro annual salary, how much should they offer Gareth Bale, Modrić, Robert Lewandowski, and others?

At that point, Bayswater Chinese’s entire salary structure would have to be reorganized.

And that would inevitably exceed the expectations of Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and the others.

“What do you all think?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Adam Crozier thought for a moment and replied, “I think with this offer, Real Madrid clearly doesn’t intend for us to counter.”

“This transfer bid is close to what it took to sign C. Ronaldo. For Di María, it’s really high enough!”

Yang Cheng wasn’t surprised.

When Real Madrid bought players, they never took the conventional path; they only demanded the best.

For the right-wing position, looking across the current European football landscape, who was better than Di María?

Robben?

Setting aside his injury-prone nature, the very fact that he had left Real Madrid made it impossible for Florentino Pérez to buy him back.

As for Messi, that was even more out of the question.

So who else was there?

Besides Di María, there was Theo Walcott!

Or maybe Sevilla’s Jesús Navas?

But it was clear that Di María was the player Mourinho wanted most.

The media had previously reported that Zidane recommended Eden Hazard, but Mourinho wanted Di María.

Now it seemed that among the many options, Real Madrid had ultimately chosen Di María.

From this, one could also see Mourinho’s current standing at Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was now seeing hope, having tasted victory.

Because Barça had stumbled!

Last season, Barça suffered a disastrous 0-5 defeat to Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League final, where Di María’s performance was outstanding.

This showed everyone Barça’s vulnerable side.

Losing the Champions League, losing La Liga, and only managing to win a single Copa del Rey.

Real Madrid clearly saw an opportunity to surpass Barça.

That’s why Florentino Pérez decided to increase investment this time, wanting to sign Di María to shore up the weakness on the right flank.

Yang Cheng wasn’t worried about Di María’s departure.

Theo Walcott himself had performed exceptionally well, scoring nineteen Premier League goals last season.

Additionally, on the bench, De Bruyne could also play this position.

There was also the youngster Sterling.

Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard could also both play on the right wing.

From this perspective, even if Bayswater Chinese sold Di María, it wouldn’t be a major problem.

Of course, Real Madrid’s deal wasn’t bad either.

At twenty-four, Di María was entering the golden period of his career.

Signing the Argentine at this time was very valuable for Real Madrid.

With these thoughts, Yang Cheng had a clear picture.

After making a swift decision, he looked at Adam Crozier and said in a deep voice, “Sell! You go negotiate with Real Madrid!”

…

With a single word from Yang Cheng, Bayswater Chinese immediately began contact with Real Madrid.

It took only three days for both sides to agree on the various transfer clauses and details.

During these three days, rumors were rampant.

The world’s media and fans were intensely focused on this transfer.

Five days later, the two clubs and the player officially reached an agreement.

Di María transferred from Bayswater Chinese to Real Madrid for the sky-high price of seventy million pounds sterling!

This transfer broke the record of sixty-four million pounds set by Džeko in 2009, making Di María the most expensive superstar ever sold by Bayswater Chinese!

After selling Di María, Yang Cheng announced that Bayswater Chinese’s summer transfer window was closed.

The team would begin its summer preparations.

Once the players returned, Yang Cheng would lead the team on a summer training tour to Asia.

And this time, Di María’s name was promptly removed from Bayswater Chinese’s Asia Tour squad list.

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Robert Green;

Defenders: José Fonte, Pepe, Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Piszczek, Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, and John Stones;

Midfielders: Modrić, Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, Javi Martínez, Aaron Ramsey, Pogba, and De Bruyne;

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Giroud, Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and Sterling.

No more, no less, exactly twenty-five players.

This would be Bayswater Chinese’s first-team squad for the new season.

Chapter 259: A Genius Arrives! Unlocking a New Premier League Model! Who Says European Football Isn’t Profitable?

If one word could describe Bayswater Chinese’s 2012 summer training camp, it would have to be “scattered”!

The 2012 European Championship ended on July 1st.

Yang Cheng gave all the players who participated in the tournament a holiday, including Javi Martínez, Toni Kroos, Pepe, Giroud, Theo Walcott, Kyle Walker, and Robert Green.

This also included players who were knocked out in the group stage, like Robert Lewandowski, Piszczek, and Modrić.

However, the situation varied for each player.

The last group stage match was a full two weeks before the club’s training camp began.

Although Yang Cheng granted Lewandowski, Piszczek, and Modrić a vacation, all three returned to the team on time.

Kyle Walker and Robert Green didn’t see much playing time for the England national team, so after England was eliminated from the European Championship, they took about ten days off and also returned on schedule.

The other players would receive at least a two-week holiday, depending on the number of matches they played in the tournament.

Afterward, they were to fly directly to Guangzhou in southwest China to meet up with the team.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s Asia Tour would certainly not be at full strength.

In addition, the men’s football tournament at the London Olympics was set to kick off on July 26th, with the first match held at Old Trafford in Manchester.

There had been a great deal of controversy surrounding the squad selection for the Great Britain Olympic team.

The first point of contention was the captaincy.

As an Olympic bid ambassador and a symbol of English football, David Beckham carried the high hopes of countless people, and he himself felt that his inclusion was a done deal.

Unexpectedly, the Great Britain Olympic team’s head coach, Stuart Pearce, shut the door on him.

According to the rules, eligible players for the Olympic team were those born after January 1st, 1989.

That cast a very wide net.

The FA had previously announced a 100-man longlist that included eligible players from all over the United Kingdom.

From Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, and Ryan Bertrand were all selected.

After Bertrand’s transfer to Chelsea this summer, he was now one of The Blues.

Manchester United also had many players on the list, such as Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Welbeck, and Tom Cleverley.

Arsenal had Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, and Hoyte.

Liverpool had Jordan Henderson and Sturridge, while Tottenham Hotspur had Caulker and Daniel Rose.

Chelsea’s representative was Bertrand, who had transferred from Bayswater Chinese.

At first glance, the Great Britain Olympic team looked truly formidable and powerful.

Putting everything else aside, the winger combination of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, who had scored a combined forty goals in a single Premier League season, would be a devastating weapon on the Olympic stage.

With midfielders like Aaron Ramsey and Wilshere, who had already proven their quality in the Premier League, the team was stacked.

If they added Rooney as an over-age player, who could possibly stop such a team?

Consequently, the entire United Kingdom was filled with high expectations for the men’s Olympic football team this year.

But as June arrived, many things began to change.

For example, Manchester United announced early on that Rooney was injured and unable to participate in the Olympics.

Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, and Welbeck were also supposedly injured.

Then, Arsenal also voiced their opposition to Wilshere and Gibbs participating in the Olympics.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was in a rather sensitive position regarding this matter.

Firstly, the Olympics were being held in London. Bayswater Chinese had to give face to London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, for his political achievements.

After all, they had benefited greatly when building their new stadium, receiving numerous favorable policies.

Secondly, Bayswater Chinese had always maintained a very good relationship with The FA.

After moving their offices to Soho, they were closer neighbors, and Adam Crozier often dined with FA officials.

While other Premier League teams complained about being screwed over by referees, Bayswater Chinese, if not benefiting, at least never suffered.

Even on the rare occasion they did, the head referee would usually find a way to make up for it during the match.

Under these circumstances, FA Chairman David Bernstein and CEO Horne visited Bayswater Chinese twice to lobby them.

The Mayor’s Office and even the UK’s Department for Sport also came forward to persuade them.

Furthermore, the domestic international players, including Gareth Bale and Walcott, were eager to represent Great Britain.

How many professional players get such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

What’s more, it was a home Olympics!

After discussions, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier ultimately decided to give the green light.

In the end, four players from Bayswater Chinese were selected: Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, and Kyle Walker.

With Bayswater Chinese deciding to show their support, the other London-based clubs also followed suit.

Arsenal released Wilshere and Gibbs, and Chelsea released Bertrand and Terry.

Liverpool released Sturridge and Henderson, while Manchester City released Rodwell and Sinclair.

Manchester United, meanwhile, released Rooney, Smalling, Phil Jones, and Welbeck.

Ferguson had really gone all out this time.

According to media reports, the main reason was the desire to compete with Bayswater Chinese for the title of the top domestic club.

Whether in terms of revenue, results, or even global influence, Manchester United was gradually being surpassed by Bayswater Chinese.

But Ferguson still placed great importance on being the leader on the domestic front.

So, upon seeing Yang Cheng give his approval, Manchester United immediately responded.

Rooney had recovered from his injury, and the other players were also perfectly healthy.

Thus, they also had four players selected, putting them on par with Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, The Red Devils wouldn’t be outdone!

The happiest man of all was undoubtedly the Great Britain Olympic team’s head coach, Stuart Pearce.

When in his entire coaching career had he ever been so spoiled for choice?

Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Rooney as his forwards; Aaron Ramsey, Wilshere, and Rodwell in midfield; and a defense featuring famous names like Terry, Kyle Walker, Phil Jones, and Ryan Bertrand.

When the final 18-man squad was announced, everyone discovered that apart from the two goalkeepers, the other sixteen players were all from the Premier League’s top six clubs.

And they were almost all players who had proven themselves in the league.

One couldn’t say how strong they were, but they were definitely more than capable of competing in the Olympics.

As a result, the media began to have high hopes.

The pressure quickly shifted to Pearce.

He had been given such a powerful squad; if he couldn’t win the gold medal, his head would truly be on the chopping block!

But the situation for the major Premier League clubs was rather dire.

First, they were hit by the European Championship, and now they were being affected by the Olympics. This led to significant disruptions in the pre-season training for Premier League teams.

The more international players and Olympic participants a club had, the greater the impact.

Bayswater Chinese’s flight from London to Asia had only eighteen people on board.

…

Despite arriving in China with a depleted squad, the aura of the Treble winners ensured Bayswater Chinese received a rapturous welcome from the fans in Guangzhou.

When their chartered Qatar Airways flight landed at the airport, at least several hundred fans had made a special trip to greet them.

Although stars like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Toni Kroos were absent, and Di María had transferred to Real Madrid, stars like Lewandowski, Modrić, Eden Hazard, Pepe, and Thiago Silva were still with the team.

Bayswater Chinese was still a star-studded side.

The club had already arranged the itinerary in advance.

Upon arriving in Guangzhou, the team headed to a training ground in the suburbs. Apart from a fixed daily open training session for fans, the rest of the time was spent in intense closed-door practice.

Guangzhou’s elevation is around two thousand meters, classifying it as a high-altitude region.

Conducting summer training in a high-altitude area is an excellent choice for any team.

This is why many European teams like to train in Austria before a new season or a major tournament.

The altitude there is relatively high.

After training at high altitude for a period, returning to a lower altitude makes the training effects even more pronounced.

Bayswater Chinese’s time in Guangzhou was akin to a secluded retreat, with no involvement in any commercial activities.

From the coaching staff to the players, everyone was completely focused on training and preparation.

Although many domestic media outlets and fans came for interviews and reports every day, they failed to disrupt the team’s training rhythm.

Training camp days are often painful but also very fulfilling.

A number of things happened during this period.

First was Liverpool.

Since being acquired by the Saudi consortium, The Reds had made very clear progress in their overall strength.

Although they missed out on Champions League qualification last season, Liverpool still extended Mancini’s contract.

This further solidified the Italian’s position at Liverpool.

In terms of transfers, Liverpool was actually quite restrained overall.

The Saudi consortium had repeatedly emphasized that they would not invest blindly.

But in other areas, especially infrastructure, the Saudi consortium was very willing to spend.

Construction had already begun on a brand-new training facility, which would allow Liverpool to bid farewell to the days of having the first team and the youth academy in separate locations.

Just recently, the Liverpool board announced once again that the club would formally submit an application to the city council, hoping to launch a new stadium project with plans to build a modern seventy-thousand-seat stadium.

The total investment was estimated at eight hundred million pounds.

The new stadium project had been a topic of discussion in the city of Liverpool for ten years.

As early as 2002, the Liverpool City Council had proposed creating a brand-new commercial district at King’s Dock.

The centerpiece of this entire commercial area was to be a new fifty-thousand-seat stadium.

At the time, the city council hoped Liverpool would build this stadium, while Everton would construct a new one northwest of Stanley Park.

By then, Liverpool’s two teams would no longer face each other from opposite sides of Stanley Park, one to the northwest and one to the southeast.

But for various reasons, the plan never came to fruition.

The most significant issue was money.

In 2007, when Liverpool’s two American owners took over, their first decision was to launch the Stanley Park new stadium project, deciding to build a brand-new football ground in the southeast of the park, north of Anfield.

The planned capacity was sixty thousand.

But this project was once again shelved due to funding problems.

In fact, it was always said within the industry that the main issue was the difference in circumstances between the United States and England.

The reason the two Americans had called for a new stadium was that in the US, launching such a project could secure substantial financial support from the government.

In England, however, this was clearly not feasible.

In short, the matter was delayed again and again, right up to the present.

During Bayswater Chinese’s six years at Wembley Stadium, they had completely overturned some of the traditional perceptions in English football.

Ticket prices hadn’t increased, but matchday revenue had been growing at a rapid pace.

More importantly, new concepts like VIP boxes and matchday retail had unlocked a whole new model for other Premier League teams.

The new Prudential Stadium also has a capacity of ninety thousand, but the minimum price for a VIP box had risen to one hundred thousand pounds.

All two hundred fifty boxes were sold out immediately upon release.

There were even many individuals and corporations on a waiting list.

This left the other Premier League teams utterly stunned!

It also made everyone see clearly the enormous impact a new stadium could have on a club.

Consequently, the Saudi consortium decided to restart Liverpool’s new stadium project.

As for whether to build a commercial district at King’s Dock or to build in the southeast of Stanley Park?

That would still depend on communication between Liverpool and the city council, as well as feedback from the fans.

According to the Liverpool Echo, many teams shared the same idea as Liverpool.

After losing the bid for the use of the London Bowl to West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur immediately pivoted to launching their own new stadium project, hoping to build a five-star stadium on the original site of White Hart Lane.

Manchester City, meanwhile, was planning to expand the Etihad Stadium to further increase its capacity and commercial facilities.

Where there were successes, there were also failures.

Chelsea had been planning a new stadium project for several years but had faced repeated setbacks.

Recently, news emerged that the plan to redevelop Stamford Bridge was once again dead in the water.

With a rebuild of Stamford Bridge off the table, Chelsea hoped to bid for the Battersea Power Station on the south bank of the River Thames and convert it into a brand-new football stadium.

But The Daily Telegraph reported that The Blues’ plan had failed yet again.

The land for the Battersea Power Station was acquired by a Malaysian consortium for four hundred million pounds, with plans to develop it into a commercial complex and real estate project.

Such a high land price was something Chelsea could not afford under any circumstances.

Four hundred million pounds to acquire the land, and they would still have to preserve the power station’s facade while converting it into a stadium. How much would that cost?

The Daily Mail revealed that after Bayswater Chinese opened their new stadium, Chelsea was interested in leasing Wembley Stadium.

But this move was met with strong dissatisfaction from Chelsea fans.

They believed Stamford Bridge was Chelsea’s footballing temple, a symbol of their faith and bond.

Moreover, moving from central London to Wembley would invisibly increase the cost for many fans to watch matches.

The FA was open to leasing Wembley Stadium, but their rental demands were higher.

They were asking for fifteen million pounds per year, and the club would have to bear all maintenance costs.

This was also a bit too much for Chelsea to bear.

Because six years ago, when Bayswater Chinese rented the stadium, it cost them only five million pounds, and The FA covered all maintenance expenses.

When it rains, it pours.

While Chelsea was grappling with their stadium setbacks, the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport revealed that Pep Guardiola, who was on sabbatical, had very clearly rejected an offer from Roman Abramovich.

The Russian was desperate to hire a renowned manager like Guardiola to coach Chelsea.

But Guardiola had no interest in the position.

In addition, there was another piece of gossip.

The Manchester Evening News revealed that Manchester United was about to kick off its Asia Tour.

Thanks to Park Ji-sung in the past, and now with the signing of Shinji Kagawa, Manchester United was the most attractive European giant in Asia.

“In the upcoming International Champions Cup matches, all one hundred twenty million Japanese will be standing with Manchester United!”

…

Ten days later, Bayswater Chinese emerged from their training camp to play their first pre-season friendly.

Their opponent was a team from the domestic top-tier league.

Despite missing several key players and having just gone through grueling special training, Bayswater Chinese still defeated their opponents 1-0.

After this friendly, the team traveled from Guangzhou to play their second pre-season match.

Their opponent was again a team from the domestic top league.

Bayswater Chinese won again, this time 2-0.

It was also in Guangzhou that all the international players who had participated in the European Championship returned to the squad.

However, Bayswater Chinese still had four players in England participating in the Olympics.

From Guangzhou to Shanghai, Bayswater Chinese played another friendly against a domestic team.

This time, they won 3-1.

Although they had won three consecutive friendlies, Yang Cheng was not optimistic.

Many of the players who had participated in the European Championship had just returned and were severely out of form.

Even players like Lewandowski and Modrić, who had returned earlier, were still in the process of readjusting.

Furthermore, the simultaneous absence of Gareth Bale and Walcott had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese.

After the friendly in Shanghai, Yang Cheng led the team on a flight to Tokyo, Japan.

This was the first match of the International Champions Cup’s Asia Division, and their opponent was Manchester United.

The venue was the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.

When Yang Cheng led his team into the stadium, he was greeted by a sea of red in the stands.

This took him by surprise.

Seeing Ferguson standing at the mouth of the players’ tunnel, looking smug, made Yang Cheng a bit miffed.

“Although your results are better right now, the football market is all about long-term management,” Ferguson said, sounding like a senior offering advice to a junior.

The implication was: Overseas, even in Asia, we are still the strongest club in the Premier League!

But just as Yang Cheng was feeling a bit down, his sharp eyes caught sight of the jerseys some fans in the stands were wearing, and he immediately broke into a smile.

“Sir, take a closer look at those fans’ jerseys, especially the contrasting colors on the collar, cuffs, and hem.”

Ferguson paused for a moment. “What do you mean?”

But he still quickly looked up.

His eyesight was getting old; how could he see such distant details?

But he knew very well that Manchester United’s jerseys didn’t have contrasting colors on the collar, cuffs, and hem.

The one that did was Bayswater Chinese.

In 2012, Puma had redesigned the jersey specifically for Bayswater Chinese, adding the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year, Tangerine Tango, to the collar, cuffs, and hem.

This made the entire jersey look more vibrant and energetic.

And though it was called orange, it was actually reddish, giving the whole kit a very cohesive look.

After its release, this jersey became an instant hit, selling out in London and across England.

“They say all one hundred twenty million Japanese fans support Manchester United. It looks like they bought the wrong jersey,” Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

Ferguson was left completely speechless.

It was rather amusing; both Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese had red home kits.

If you weren’t paying close attention, it was easy to get them mixed up.

But once the match started, it was easy to tell where the majority of the fans’ allegiances lay.

Whenever Bayswater Chinese had the ball, the cheers from the crowd were noticeably louder.

When Manchester United was on the attack, the noise was clearly a notch lower.

The difference was stark, no more needed to be said.

However, because Bayswater Chinese’s summer training had its rhythm disrupted, and with several key players absent, Yang Cheng was even forced to field a centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Harry Maguire for this match.

In the end, the two teams fought to a 2-2 draw in Japan, settling for a share of the spoils.

After the match, Ferguson had a cheerful expression on his face.

It was as if a draw was a victory for them.

“What I’m most satisfied with is that we scored two goals.”

Seeing his smug look, Yang Cheng felt speechless.

“Yeah, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten. When was the last time someone scored two goals against us?”

This time, it was Ferguson’s turn to be annoyed.

Would it kill you to not be so cocky?

…

After the match in Japan, Bayswater Chinese flew to Seoul, South Korea.

Here, they played their second International Champions Cup match against Juventus.

The result was another draw, this time 1-1.

Two consecutive draws meant Bayswater Chinese was on a two-match winless streak.

But Manchester United’s situation was even worse.

They lost 1-2 in Shanghai to a Bayern Munich side led by Jupp Heynckes.

Bayern had also defeated Juventus 2-0 in the first round.

So now, Bayern had two consecutive wins.

…

The third International Champions Cup match was held at the Bird’s Nest stadium in China’s capital.

Bayswater Chinese versus Bayern Munich.

The Bundesliga team had already secured two consecutive wins, locking up first place in the group ahead of time.

So the result of this match would not change who finished first.

Even so, the Bird’s Nest still attracted eighty thousand fans, filling the stadium to capacity.

In the previous friendlies, Yang Cheng had mostly been assessing his players, so the results weren’t particularly good.

Pepe, in particular, had played in the European Championship semi-final and returned to the team very late.

It wasn’t until this match against Bayern that Yang Cheng started him again.

The centre-back duo of Thiago Silva and Pepe were reunited, joined by Piszczek and Marcelo.

Bayswater Chinese’s first-choice defensive line started together.

Midfielder Toni Kroos had also played in the Euros semi-final, and this was his first start of the summer.

With Modrić and Nemanja Matić, the midfield trio was back together.

The forward line consisted of Hazard, Lewandowski, and De Bruyne.

After summer training and several warm-up matches, Lewandowski’s form had clearly almost returned.

In the match against Bayern, he first headed in a 45-degree cross from De Bruyne on the right flank to break the deadlock.

Later, in the penalty area, he received a brilliant pass from Hazard and scored another goal for Bayswater Chinese with his left foot.

Although Bayern pulled one back in the second half, just before the end of the match, two young English substitutes put on a spectacular display of teamwork.

Harry Kane dropped deep and completed a one-two give-and-go with Sterling, sending a through ball forward.

Sterling made a direct run into the box, collected the ball for a one-on-one, rounded goalkeeper Neuer, and slotted it into the empty net.

3-1!

With all six matches in the Asia Division completed, Bayern finished first in the group with six points.

Bayswater Chinese was second with five points.

Manchester United defeated Juventus 3-2 in the final round to finish third with four points.

Juventus was at the bottom with one point.

It was also worth noting that all six matches in the Asia Division this year were sold out.

…

The North America Division was still divided into East and West conferences.

After twelve hard-fought matches, Real Madrid and Barça emerged as the winners of the East and West, respectively.

This also showed the impact of the European Championship and the Olympics on the Premier League teams.

Afterward, the two teams once again came to the racetrack in Bristol.

The football pitch that had been painstakingly built last year only needed a bit of turf-laying this year to be usable again.

And it was still incredibly popular this year.

A total of 157,000 people attended the match.

After signing Di María for a sky-high price, Real Madrid’s overall performance was even more formidable.

Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 formation was essentially perfected.

Although they still played a defend and counter-attack style in the final, the 2-0 scoreline was a clean and decisive victory.

Barça failed to breach Real Madrid’s defense and was instead repeatedly caught out by the Galácticos’ quick attacks.

In the end, Real Madrid won the 2012 North America Division title of the third International Champions Cup!

According to a prior agreement, Real Madrid was officially invited to London to participate in the inauguration ceremony for Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium.

Just before the North American final, ICC Company’s CEO, David Pemsel, revealed in an interview with an American journalist that after three years of preparation, the International Champions Cup had basically stabilized.

It had successfully built a strong reputation in both the North American and Asian divisions.

“We plan to expand in 2013, inviting four strong European teams to join our tournament.”

David Pemsel revealed that these four new teams would be entered into a draw like all the other teams, and would be divided between the North American and Asian divisions, with two groups in each.

As soon as this news was released, it immediately sparked a fervent reaction from media and fans worldwide.

It also drew strong attention from the European football world.

Every team hoped to participate in the International Champions Cup.

Because over the past three years, all participating teams had made a huge profit.

An income of at least nearly ten million euros per year.

For the participating teams, the appearance fee was ridiculously generous.

As for who the ICC Company planned to invite, no clear criteria had been given yet.

But it was obvious that all teams were gearing up, ready to fight for a spot!

…

While the International Champions Cup final was being held in North America, Bayswater Chinese remained in the capital of China.

After the ICC, there was still a friendly match against OGC Nice of Ligue 1.

The venue was scheduled for the Workers’ Stadium in the capital.

Taking advantage of this time, Yang Cheng accompanied Xia Qing on a visit back to her “maternal home.”

Over the past few years, Xia Anmin and Xia Xi had helped Yang Cheng a great deal.

Otherwise, many of Yang Cheng’s plans, especially those related to China, would not have progressed so smoothly.

And when building the new stadium, many of Xia Anmin’s suggestions had helped Yang Cheng avoid numerous pitfalls.

The two families were now as close as one.

The only thing that left both sets of parents somewhat dissatisfied was that Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were enjoying their life as a couple so much that they still had no plans to get married and have children.

While drinking with Xia Anmin and Xia Xi, Yang Cheng mentioned his intention to continue buying clubs in Europe.

With the current strength of Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice, the group could afford to free up the funds.

“Over the past two or three years, I’ve attended many different conferences all over the world. Whenever investment is mentioned, the sports industry always comes up, especially the European football industry.”

Xia Anmin clearly supported Yang Cheng’s analysis and judgment.

“American sports competitions are called ‘leagues,’ while European football competitions are called ‘leagues’ as well.”

“The two names are both similar and different.”

“‘League’ implies a union, but the structure of each is different, which fully reflects the contrast between them.”

“American sports are like a closed system where everyone plays among themselves. They’re all stakeholders, working together to make the pie bigger and stronger, but it’s hard for this model to expand beyond the United States.”

“But European football is an open competition, so its influence is growing, even penetrating the American market.”

“The economy has been very poor in recent years, but the sports industry is one of the few high-quality sectors among global investment fields.”

“Unlike the financialized American sports industry, the European sports industry is still more traditional and conservative. So it’s not just American financiers who have their eyes on this prize; other investors around the world are also very interested.”

Xia Anmin’s point was that the market was huge, and investor interest was high.

But the barrier to entry was also relatively high.

Running a football club is no simple task.

The story of American real estate tycoon Stephen Ross losing over one hundred million pounds in a year after acquiring a Premier League team had already spread throughout American investment circles.

Incidentally, this year’s World Football Challenge had only three teams, with three others hastily pulled in from the United States and Mexico, but the tournament failed to make much of an impact.

Under the overwhelming momentum of the International Champions Cup, it couldn’t make any waves at all.

Now, with the expansion of the International Champions Cup, the World Football Challenge could probably be discontinued.

“A Cheng, from Bayswater Chinese to OGC Nice, the success of these two clubs proves that you have preliminarily mastered a successful, and replicable, methodology for European football.”

“So, go ahead and give it a shot with confidence!” Xia Anmin encouraged with a smile.

As he said this, he felt quite emotional.

Back then, he never could have imagined that his prospective son-in-law’s casual “shot” would now involve investments of hundreds of millions, or even over a billion.

Especially when he heard that OGC Nice, acquired just two years ago, had made a profit of one hundred million euros this summer—eight hundred million yuan.

Goodness gracious.

Who says European football isn’t profitable?

So, no matter how busy he was, Xia Anmin had to make time to go to the Workers’ Stadium to watch the clash between these two teams.

…

When Yang Cheng met Ronald Koeman before the match at the Workers’ Stadium in the capital, his first words were an apology.

Two years ago, when Yang Cheng invited Ronald Koeman, he had used Pellè to entice him.

But two years later, Pellè had been sold to Paris Saint-Germain, becoming Ronald Koeman’s competitor.

The Dutchman didn’t seem to mind, having clearly come to terms with it.

Moreover, the new signing Benteke was performing well.

Although his tactical role was different from Pellè’s, his threat in front of goal was even more terrifying.

Especially considering that OGC Nice’s two flanks were still very strong.

The presence of wingers like Mahrez, Salah, Thauvin, and Mané would maximize Benteke’s threat.

“I’m really fine, I can understand the club’s difficulties,” Ronald Koeman replied with a smile, helping to put Yang Cheng at ease.

Difficulties?

Indeed!

“At the end of the day, our foundation is still too thin. We need at least a few more years of accumulation!” Yang Cheng sighed.

Now, OGC Nice was on the right track, with the right direction and positioning. The next step was accumulation.

Barring any accidents, the Ligue 1 title race in the future would likely be contested by only three teams.

One was Paris Saint-Germain, backed by Middle Eastern tycoons; another was Monaco in the French Second Division, recently acquired by a Russian billionaire.

The third was OGC Nice.

And these three teams happened to represent two ways for smaller clubs to rise.

Throughout history, especially after the Bosman ruling, there has only been one secret for a small club to become a giant.

Money!

A long period of investment, continuously building the club’s competitiveness, achieving stable and excellent results, thereby forming a stable brand value, which is then converted into commercial value, ultimately increasing the club’s overall revenue.

For example, Chelsea and Manchester City rely on Roman Abramovich and the Abu Dhabi consortium behind them, continuously burning money to build a powerful squad and possess strong competitiveness.

Chelsea is now widely recognized as a giant, a result of their sustained investment over the past few years.

Manchester City could arguably be considered one, but they are not yet stable enough and need to continue investing.

But to this day, both clubs still rely on blood transfusions from their big bosses.

If they had to rely on their own means, they would be unable to maintain their current squads.

Their only option would be to sell players!

Arsenal’s situation is actually relatively better; their overall revenue is healthier, and they are in a better position.

Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga is a different case.

Before Klopp took over the team in 2008, the Black and Yellows were ranked 13th in the Bundesliga, with results consistently in the mid-table.

But after Klopp started coaching, their results improved dramatically.

To everyone, Borussia Dortmund is a very pragmatic team.

Their transfer spending is low, with virtually no blockbuster signings.

Even this summer’s 17.1 million euro deal for Marco Reus stretched Dortmund to their absolute limit.

To fund it, Dortmund had to sell players like Shinji Kagawa and Perisic, making a hefty profit in the transfer market.

Many people would surely find it strange. Why is Borussia Dortmund so cautious?

They’ve won the Bundesliga two years in a row, so why are they still so careful?

Because Dortmund’s championships and glory over the past two seasons were built on investment.

This investment wasn’t necessarily in transfers.

It could also be in player wages.

Over the past three seasons, Dortmund’s player wages were 38 million euros, 50 million euros, and 65 million euros, respectively.

One can clearly see a substantial increase each year.

Note that this is just player wages, not including coaches, staff, the suits, or all the associated costs like insurance and social security contributions.

All of the above combined makes up the club’s total salary expenditure.

Of course, over these past three seasons, Dortmund’s revenue has also been growing steadily.

The figures were 103.5 million euros, 138.5 million euros, and 189.1 million euros.

Yang Cheng couldn’t know the exact ratios, but it was basically certain that Dortmund’s overall salary expenditure was still relatively healthy.

But after two consecutive Bundesliga titles and with the signing of Reus, Dortmund’s player wages for the 12/13 season are projected to reach 90 million euros.

The question is, can Dortmund’s revenue in the 12/13 season also achieve such astonishing growth?

Another point: Dortmund is clearly taking a gamble, but the problem is, even if their gamble succeeds, what happens after?

The answer is simple: sell players!

Because Dortmund’s revenue cannot achieve such astonishing growth.

Especially after Bayern gets its act together, they will quickly lose the league title.

At that point, player salaries will become a huge weight on Dortmund’s shoulders.

It could even crush them!

Selling players can both alleviate salary pressure and bring in a large sum of income.

Over the past years, this cycle has repeated itself time and time again.

In La Liga, the once sensational “Super Depor,” Valencia, Celta Vigo, Sevilla, Villarreal…

All of them saw a surge in results, followed by a quick sell-off of players and a decline in performance.

In the Premier League, teams like Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Aston Villa have largely followed the same path.

These are the ones who sold players in time.

What happens if you don’t sell in time?

For that, just look at Leeds United!

Therefore, for a small team to become strong, or even join the ranks of the giants, it must solve this problem.

As your team’s performance improves, the salaries you pay to players and employees will inevitably rise.

Moreover, to maintain competitiveness, you can’t sell players.

This requires a huge amount of capital to help the team weather this phase.

It’s a bit like primitive accumulation, only the process of accumulation is much longer.

The so-called foundation of a giant club lies in the fact that they have already weathered it.

There are usually two methods.

One is the one Chelsea, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain are currently using: rely on a tycoon owner to burn money and tough it out.

The other is the conventional route: through a long process of accumulation.

During this accumulation period, you also can’t make any major mistakes.

How hard is that?

Bayswater Chinese’s success lies in the fact that although they don’t have money to burn, they have Yang Cheng, who can ensure the team remains competitive even while selling players every year.

There is no third way.

OGC Nice is also taking the second path, slowly accumulating resources with the backing of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, this summer’s major squad overhaul was inevitable.

Once they get through this, with a few more years of accumulation, OGC Nice will be established!

Whether it’s Bayswater Chinese or OGC Nice, Yang Cheng has always operated his clubs according to the principles of football.

…

In the match at the Workers’ Stadium, both Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice fielded their strongest available lineups.

Yang Cheng set up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Attack: Hazard, Lewandowski, and Sterling.

OGC Nice also responded with a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Jesús Navas;

Defense: Kurzawa, van Dijk, Marquinhos, and Aurier;

Midfield: Jorginho in a holding role, with Kovačić and Kanté in the center;

Attack: Mané, Benteke, and Mahrez.

Although it was a friendly and OGC Nice wasn’t well-known in China, the match still attracted 68,000 fans, packing the Workers’ Stadium.

Neither team played conservatively; both went all out on the attack.

But the gap was still obvious.

Bayswater Chinese was a step above OGC Nice in terms of controlling the game and dictating the tempo.

The OGC Nice players fought hard.

Especially Kanté.

Every player hoped to stand out in a friendly like this and catch Yang Cheng’s eye.

But Bayswater Chinese’s performance was even more outstanding, and they used their superior overall quality to suppress OGC Nice.

The final score was 4-2, with Bayswater Chinese securing a hard-fought but deserved victory over OGC Nice.

The team was still young.

But judging from their performance on the pitch, they were very strong.

After the match, Yang Cheng made a point of speaking with several players, including van Dijk and Salah, praising their performances.

And this exciting, fast-paced, end-to-end game became a hot topic of conversation for all the fans, including those watching on TV.

Even though it was just a friendly, it was a truly entertaining match!

…

After Bayswater Chinese finished their final friendly, the team boarded a private jet from the capital back to London.

Xia Qing accompanied both sets of parents and family on another flight, also heading to London.

They were traveling to attend the inauguration ceremony for Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

They would also take the opportunity to watch the London Olympics.

While Yang Cheng and the others were still in the air, far away in Barcelona, Spain, Barça President Rosell held a press conference at Camp Nou.

“I am very proud to announce that we have officially signed Brazilian super-talent Neymar from Santos!”

“We look forward to Neymar bringing our fans even more delightful football performances in the future.”

“We also believe that the combination of these two genius stars, Neymar and Messi, will once again make our Barça the strongest and most competitive team in world football!”

Barça did not publicly disclose Neymar’s transfer fee, but according to media reports, the fee reported by Barça was sixty million euros.

For the Brazilian talent who had been in the spotlight for years, this wasn’t considered expensive.

Having missed out on both La Liga and the Champions League, and having just lost to Real Madrid in the North American final of the International Champions Cup, Barça was under immense pressure.

Therefore, Rosell’s announcement of Neymar’s signing was undoubtedly an attempt to boost Barça’s morale and appease the fans.

As soon as the news was released, it triggered a frenzy among all media and fans.

A genius had arrived!

The combination of the two great talents, Messi and Neymar, had the whole world buzzing with anticipation.

Real Madrid signed Di María, and Barça signed Neymar.

In the arms race of La Liga’s big two, neither was willing to back down!

Chapter 260: Astonishing Record! The New Stadium’s Debut! Yang Cheng, If You Mess This Up, You’re Fired!

The roaring London Olympics made the city’s summer exceptionally lively.

According to statistics from the London police, at least two hundred thousand tourists had come specifically for the Olympics.

And that was on top of the usual throngs of tourists that filled London’s streets daily.

The influx of visitors spread to every corner of central London.

This was especially true in the very heart of the West End.

From Notting Hill to Bayswater to Kensington, and then on to Knightsbridge, tourists were everywhere.

As August began, the entire West End of London became even more bustling.

Especially on Queensway in Bayswater.

As London’s, and indeed England’s, most important renovation project in recent years, Queensway had officially opened on July 20.

All the shops, hotels, and department stores along the street opened simultaneously.

On this short, six-hundred-meter commercial street converged the world’s third Bvlgari Hotel, Europe’s first Peninsula Hotel, and London’s second—and Europe’s largest—Apple Store…

There were also various other shops, restaurants, cafes, entertainment clubs, and high-end hotels.

The area was extremely accessible.

Penned by the master architect Norman Foster, it drew countless tourists and London residents to come and admire it.

This instantly turned the entire Queensway into a global focal point.

All the tourists and citizens who came to Queensway would see that in its core area, the four buildings surrounding Prudential Stadium were already open for business, and the leisure plaza had attracted countless pedestrians and tourists.

But the stadium itself was not yet open to the public.

Everyone could only admire the magnificent structure, hailed as the most dreamlike stadium in the world, from the outside.

Some said that London’s West End was the crown of Greater London.

And Prudential Stadium was the most brilliant, dazzling jewel on that crown.

After years of promotion, anyone who came to Queensway, to London, had heard of this stadium.

Countless fans were fascinated by the world’s first smart stadium with full Wi-Fi coverage, the world’s first retractable pitch, the world’s first double-sided halo screen…

So many “world firsts” gave this renowned stadium a unique place in the hearts of fans worldwide.

Moreover, the stadium belonged to Bayswater Chinese!

The top European powerhouse that had been making waves in recent years!

Every day, countless tourists and fans took photos and checked in here. They would approach staff to ask when the stadium would finally open.

The answer was always August 8th.

After the International Champions Cup North American final at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 4th, the UK side immediately began its own promotion and marketing campaign.

August 8th, Prudential Stadium officially opens!

On the opening night, Bayswater Chinese will face the champion of the International Champions Cup North America, Real Madrid!

This was undoubtedly a clash of titans!

When the news broke, all of London was in a frenzy.

Countless fans scrambled to buy tickets, only to find that they were already sold out.

Because it was a pre-season friendly and the invited team was a full-strength Real Madrid, the average ticket price was as high as 199 pound sterling, yet they still sold out completely.

Over ninety thousand tickets were sold long ago, not a single one left.

This filled countless fans with regret.

When the ICC Company had first started selling tickets, they had only announced it would be Bayswater Chinese against the North American champion, but the champion’s identity was not yet known.

So, many fans chose to wait.

By the time the champion was decided, the tickets were long gone.

18 million pound sterling in ticket revenue!

This set a new record for single-match ticket sales in England, and even the world!

When the news spread, the world was shocked.

On one hand, people were amazed by the immense appeal of the two super clubs; on the other, they were astonished by the formidable purchasing power of English fans.

It also showed that the prestige of the International Champions Cup was continuously rising.

Although this match was organized specifically for the opening ceremony of Prudential Stadium, its operation was handed over to the ICC Company.

And it had been announced early on that the North American champion would challenge Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone knew this was effectively an extension of the International Champions Cup, a brand-new experiment.

It was proof that after three years of promotion and organization, the International Champions Cup had already gained considerable market influence.

Scalpers outside were frenziedly hiking up ticket prices.

However, because most tickets were electronic rather than paper, it wasn’t easy for them to operate.

But for this very reason, the scalpers inflated the prices of the few tickets they had even higher.

From the beginning of August, the London police repeatedly issued appeals, reminding fans not to buy tickets from unofficial channels to avoid being scammed.

But this did little to dampen the fans’ enthusiasm.

By August 5th, when Yang Cheng led Bayswater Chinese back to London from China, the city, already in the throes of a fiercely contested Olympics, was completely swept up in a fervent sporting atmosphere.

…

“This is the schedule for tomorrow’s opening ceremony for the new stadium.”

At their home on the west side of Holland Park, Xia Qing handed Yang Cheng a document she’d brought back from the office.

With both sets of parents and Xia Xi’s family of three having moved in, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s private world was completely shattered.

The house was always bustling with activity, and the two rarely had time alone.

They were now using work as an excuse to talk things over.

Yang Cheng glanced over the schedule. The activities began around 10 in the morning and continued until the match at night.

Throughout the entire day of August 8th, numerous events were planned around Prudential Stadium.

The festive atmosphere would persist until the evening’s match.

But throughout West London, especially in Bayswater, the various activities arranged by the city council would not only last until the end of the Olympics but would also continue right up to the Notting Hill Carnival.

That was the last weekend of August every year.

So, for the whole of August, West London would be incredibly lively.

“Since Queensway opened, both the foot traffic and sales figures have been ideal, and the situation is only getting better.” Xia Qing was clearly very satisfied with how things were developing.

And this was before Prudential Stadium had even officially opened.

Once the new stadium opened, there would be a major match every few days.

So far this season, all of Bayswater Chinese’s season tickets were sold out, and even individual match tickets were hard to come by, with everyone having to queue.

One could only imagine the crowds of ninety thousand fans gathering for every match.

This area would undoubtedly become the most valuable and promising new commercial district in central London.

And it was different from Notting Hill.

Although Notting Hill’s commercial street attracts many tourists and has decent foot traffic, the spending power is not strong.

This is mainly related to its commercial ecosystem.

Before the renovation project on Queensway, extensive research was conducted.

The goal was to create a new commercial format, different from Knightsbridge, one that would be very attractive to tourists and football fans.

With a tide of nearly one hundred thousand people coming every few days, on top of the regular tourists, Queensway was destined to be a hit unless it actively worked against its own success.

“These past few days, Adam and Omar have been focusing on the VIP boxes and fan services. They’ve been swamped.”

Yang Cheng found this a bit strange. “Haven’t we always had staff from the Bvlgari Hotel training our people for the VIP boxes?”

“We have, but it’s inevitable that all sorts of problems will pop up during a grand opening.”

With 250 boxes, the rooftop Sky Bar, and various other supporting commercial facilities, it was impossible to achieve perfect service and satisfy everyone.

The only thing Bayswater Chinese could do was strive for perfection as much as possible.

But the most important area right now was the VIP boxes.

That was the most lucrative piece of the pie!

It was the prize that made all the other clubs drool with desire.

According to the information Yang Cheng had received, the opening of Prudential Stadium had become a huge draw for high-end clients from Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.

This included some corporate clients.

According to the schedule, the opening ceremony would be at noon, with people from the Department for Sport, the Mayor, The FA, and the Premier League in attendance.

Yang Cheng would also have to be there to participate in the activities.

After the ceremony, the leisure plazas around Prudential Stadium would host a variety of performances and activities.

This included inviting some famous British bands to perform live.

But the main event was on the evening of August 8th.

This match was not only globally anticipated but would also be broadcast live worldwide on Sky Sports.

Before the match, several singers, including Adele, were invited to perform.

For this, the club had spent a fortune to have the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform on-site. It was a massive investment.

“What we’re most worried about now is the match on August 8th. Let’s just hope it’s not a disaster.”

As Xia Qing said this, she looked up at Yang Cheng and couldn’t help but smile.

“Back during Real Madrid’s centenary celebration, Vicente del Bosque messed it up and got fired afterwards.”

“Adam, Omar, and I have all discussed it. If you mess this up too, we’ll have to let you go!”

Yang Cheng chuckled. “As the owner, I have veto power. Are you guys really going to make me fire myself?”

Of course, Xia Qing wouldn’t do that.

In today’s European football, was there any head coach better than Yang Cheng?

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” Xia Qing suddenly said, her playful expression turning serious as she looked at him.

Having been together for so many years, Yang Cheng knew what she was thinking.

“The current model does have some potential risks. As the team’s head coach, your authority is simply too great. It’s difficult for anyone else to provide an effective check and balance.”

“Besides, we have a vast family and business enterprise now. In addition to Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice, you’re planning to acquire more clubs. OneFootball has been doing so well these past few years, and then there’s the family business back home…”

After a pause, Xia Qing sighed softly. “Uncle and Auntie have told me many times that they are getting older.”

As an only son, whether Yang Cheng wanted it or not, the vast family business would eventually be his to inherit.

Currently, Yang’s Group’s real estate company was ranked among the top ten in China. Their domestic sportswear brand held the largest market share, with sales second only to foreign brands Nike and Adidas.

Then there was the investment firm. Under Yang Cheng’s direction, Yang’s Investment Company had invested in many projects over the past few years, including famous domestic companies like Tencent, BYD, JD.com, Xiaomi, and Meituan.

Just in July, while Yang Cheng was leading the team in the capital, he had attended the signing ceremony for Yang’s Group’s investment in the startup company ByteDance.

It could be said that after years of rapid development, Yang’s Group was now blossoming on multiple fronts, with two listed companies under its umbrella and an astonishing net worth.

Naturally, his parents hoped Yang Cheng would return home to inherit the family business.

Otherwise, who could they entrust such a huge enterprise to?

“Let’s wait a few more years. At least until everything has stabilized!” It wasn’t that Yang Cheng had never considered this.

For him, stepping down from the head coach position at Bayswater Chinese was, both personally and professionally, inevitable.

But before that, he had to get everything in order.

At the very least, he needed to put Bayswater Chinese and all the clubs under his ownership on the right track.

“As for this match against Real Madrid, it’s really not going to be easy!” Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

“Mourinho has already been talking tough to the media. He’s coming to spoil the party.”

The men’s football tournament at the London Olympics wouldn’t end until August 11th.

Unlike in Yang Cheng’s previous life, this time, with star players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott called up, the Great Britain Olympic team’s strength had surged, and they were performing exceptionally well at the Olympics.

They not only finished first in their group but also, in the knockout stage, defeated South Korea 3-0 in the quarter-finals.

Today, the Great Britain Olympic team had defeated Brazil 2-1 in the semi-final at Old Trafford in Manchester, securing a spot in the final at Wembley Stadium on August 11th.

In this year’s Olympics, all four players from Bayswater Chinese were starters and had performed brilliantly.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese would still be playing with a depleted squad against Real Madrid.

The pressure was immense.

…

On August 8th, Yang Cheng entrusted the team to Brian Kidd’s leadership and went to Bayswater early in the morning.

Around 10 AM, Queensway was already thronged with tourists.

Yang Cheng first went to the bustling department store.

According to the store manager’s report, the consumers who came to London during the Olympics had far greater spending power than usual.

“In the past, the average spending for a tourist in London was around 650 pound sterling.”

“But during the Olympics, that has doubled to 1300 pound sterling.”

More importantly, the area around Prudential Stadium was extremely accessible, and there were countless hotels nearby in Bayswater, making it a hub for tourists. This had fueled the department store’s spectacular success since its opening.

It had far exceeded their initial expectations.

It was truly an instant hit!

Yang Cheng was also quite satisfied upon hearing this; after all, it was his own property.

Afterward, accompanied by Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others, he went to inspect the Apple Store.

This store was also a major crowd-puller for Queensway.

Since its opening, it had been packed with people every day.

This was not only because it was London’s second Apple Store, but also because it was the largest, with the most complete range of products and the best service.

The Apple UK headquarters office was located upstairs.

Many consumers naturally regarded it as Apple’s flagship location.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to worry about the Bvlgari Hotel and The Peninsula Hotels, as he had heard long ago that both had been fully booked since their soft opening.

After touring the area around the stadium, Yang Cheng walked into Prudential Stadium.

The entire facade of the stadium was designed with glass panels that could freely change color, allowing everyone to see a perfectly proportioned, streamlined exterior from different angles.

During the day, under the sunlight, pedestrians and tourists would see different colors depending on their position.

In the new stadium’s promotional video, as a person walks down Queensway, they would see the stadium’s facade slowly changing color, creating a dynamic and dreamlike effect!

At night, these glass panels formed a massive screen that could project a variety of brilliant light effects.

In the future, it was even possible that it could be further upgraded to become a giant display screen.

But that wasn’t possible at the moment.

The top of the stadium featured a retractable roof, and circling the stadium was a skywalk where tourists and patrons of the Sky Bar could overlook the dazzling night view of central London.

From the outside alone, the entire stadium was magnificent and had a strong sense of technology.

Since the lower tier of the stands was underground, upon entering the stadium, there were open staircases leading down.

All ticketing for the stadium was handled by a smart system. Fans could simply scan their tickets or a mobile app to enter, making it extremely convenient.

During its design phase, the stadium had already fully considered match-day sales, so its commercial area was the largest among all stadiums in the world, and also the most scientifically laid out.

The use of long bars, combined with a food delivery function on the mobile app, aimed to provide all fans with the best consumer experience while maximizing match-day sales.

After passing through the spacious, multi-story commercial area, one entered the stands through a tunnel.

Upon walking into the stands, the first thing that caught the eye was the enormous double-sided halo screen suspended from the stadium roof.

If there was one feature of this new stadium that had truly broken into the mainstream, it was this massive halo screen.

The double-sided display allowed fans to clearly see the information on the screen from any angle in the stadium.

And this double-sided halo screen made the brand-new stadium look exceptionally futuristic.

Due to two tragedies in the 1980s, England has strict regulations on the gradient of stadium stands.

This time, to give the fans a better viewing experience, Norman Foster, while complying with UK regulations, maximized the space for each seat.

At the same time, the aisles between the stands were wider, which was very friendly for fans entering and exiting.

The newly designed seats were a blend of comfort and design.

All the seats were a combination of Bayswater Chinese’s red and Sand Dollar colors.

This immediately let anyone who walked in know that this was the home of Bayswater Chinese!

Yang Cheng stood in front of the second-tier stands, looking at the vast stadium, at the double-sided halo screen hanging from the trusses on the roof, and then at the pitch in the center.

Beneath the pitch was a turf storage room.

If the stadium was needed for other purposes, the pitch could be split into three sections and lowered into the underground storage room via a rail system.

Not only was the ventilation good inside, but it was also equipped with an artificial sunlight system and a sprinkler maintenance system.

This was the first stadium in the world to use such a system.

From the retractable system to the maintenance system, everything was jointly developed by Bayswater Chinese in collaboration with several prestigious universities and institutions, including Loughborough University and Cambridge University, at a considerable cost.

Yang Cheng had inspected it once before.

Even if the turf was stored in the storage room for a long time, maintenance staff could still perform daily upkeep without affecting its use for matches.

This greatly increased the utilization rate of Prudential Stadium.

The stadium had not yet opened, but several European and American venue management companies had already expressed clear interest in Prudential Stadium, hoping to obtain the agency rights to develop commercial activities in other fields besides football, such as sports events, performances, conferences, and exhibitions.

A large stadium like Prudential Stadium, located in the core of London, undoubtedly possessed astonishing potential value.

Bayswater Chinese was also actively engaging with them, hoping to further develop this commercial potential.

This was why Yang Cheng had gone to such great lengths and increased his investment to insist on having a retractable pitch in the first place.

If the pitch couldn’t be retracted, no events could be held for at least three days before a football match.

Considering Bayswater Chinese’s packed schedule across multiple competitions, once the league started, how much time could be squeezed out for other commercial activities?

This was why it was difficult for the home grounds of all European teams to host large-scale commercial events.

Except for the summer when the leagues were on break, the rest of the year simply didn’t allow for it.

But with a retractable pitch, it was no problem to hold a commercial event in the afternoon and have a match in the evening.

This vastly increased the stadium’s commercial value.

“I heard from Chris Hunt that American venue management companies are the best right now. Apparently, the agency fees they offer are not cheap, but they require longer contracts,” Xia Qing said with a smile, standing beside Yang Cheng.

She, too, was full of affection for this stadium.

Because she had witnessed every step of its creation, from nothing to what it was today.

“A longer contract is normal. After all, they also need to invest a lot of resources upfront in marketing, promotion, and supporting facilities. Once we sign the agency contract, besides receiving a large agency fee, we’ll also get a share of the annual revenue.”

Xia Qing nodded. “I had someone run the numbers. I plan to ask for an 80% share!”

Yang Cheng turned to look at Xia Qing, surprised. “Can you negotiate that?”

“The location and value of our stadium are plain to see. In the core of London, where else can you find a large-scale venue like ours?”

Being unique is, in itself, the most valuable asset!

Yang Cheng vaguely remembered that in his previous life, the revenue-sharing agreement Real Madrid signed was 70-30.

Clearly, the value of Bayswater Chinese was higher than Real Madrid’s.

Not only because Prudential Stadium was in London’s most central area, a better location than the Bernabéu.

More importantly, London’s global status and influence were simply not comparable to Madrid’s.

Under these circumstances, it was normal for Bayswater Chinese to demand more.

Incidentally, Chris Hunt’s infrastructure department was becoming more and more prestigious.

After all, he was now managing Prudential Stadium and four surrounding buildings, the Brent training center, and ten satellite training centers.

All told, that was over a billion pound sterling in fixed assets.

A large part of Yang Cheng’s net worth was under his management.

…

As night fell, Queensway was ablaze with lights.

The glass panels on Prudential Stadium’s facade lit up, projecting exceptionally brilliant and dynamic light effects.

All passersby and tourists couldn’t help but stop and watch, utterly amazed.

From the afternoon, droves of fans began to enter the newly opened stadium.

In fact, many fans had bought tour tickets as soon as the stadium opened and still hadn’t left.

The commercial facilities inside the stadium were also fully operational.

This meant fans had no problem with food and drink inside the stadium.

Moreover, on the opening day, everything was part of a grand promotion.

When the players from Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid arrived at the stadium, everyone from both teams was captivated by the magnificent new venue.

Even though they were well-traveled and had seen countless stadiums, new and old, and had even seen this stadium in pictures and videos before.

When they saw it with their own eyes, they were still shocked by its grandeur and dreamlike quality.

Even Mourinho, when leading his team into the stadium for training, couldn’t help but praise it when he saw Yang Cheng.

“Your football might not be that great, but you’ve really built a beautiful stadium!”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily. “It’s not easy to get a compliment from you in person!”

When the players entered the pitch for training, they were a bit nervous at first.

Because they knew that beneath their feet was the world’s first retractable pitch, one that could be moved and disassembled.

This made them feel a little strange.

Of course, this was mainly a psychological factor.

After everyone stamped here and jumped there and found that it seemed no different from any other pitch, they gradually relaxed.

“Honestly, you’ve poured so many years of effort into this stadium, I almost feel bad coming here to spoil your fun,” Mourinho said, seemingly satisfied with the current state of his Real Madrid team.

However, Yang Cheng had heard that some friction had arisen between him and Casillas.

It was mainly rumors spread by the media that Mourinho was unhappy with Casillas’s height.

But for now, everything was still under control.

“If you want to spoil the party, you need to have the ability to do so!” Yang Cheng, on the other hand, seemed exceptionally confident.

The Olympic call-ups had left Bayswater Chinese with a depleted squad.

The Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, were both absent for this match.

Aaron Ramsey and Kyle Walker were also not present.

After selling Di María, Bayswater Chinese was under considerable pressure.

Especially since this was the first match in their new stadium.

…

As the players from both teams finished their training and returned to the dressing rooms through the tunnel, the guests in the chairman’s box also began to take their seats.

Besides inviting the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, officials from The FA, the Premier League, UEFA, and FIFA, the match also hosted owners and executives from various London clubs.

There were also owners or high-level executives from several top European clubs.

As a fellow London team, and a West London team at that, Yang Cheng had personally called Roman Abramovich to invite him.

He felt that on such an occasion, it would be inappropriate for the Russian not to be there.

Fortunately, Roman Abramovich did indeed come.

When he stepped into the stadium, the expression on his face was simply priceless.

With Real Madrid participating in the match, Chairman Florentino Pérez appeared in the stands with José Ángel Sánchez, Zidane, and others.

Everyone had already toured the stadium during the day.

But coming again at night, it gave off a completely different, dazzling feeling.

Especially when they walked into the stadium, the brilliant lights made the new venue look even more dreamlike.

This made Florentino Pérez extremely envious.

“When will we have such a dreamlike stadium?”

José Ángel Sánchez and Zidane both nodded in agreement.

“Look at those boxes on the other side, circling the stadium. A total of 250 of them. The cheapest one costs 100,000 pound sterling per season. Bayswater Chinese is making a fortune!”

José Ángel Sánchez pointed to the boxes on the opposite stand.

“And the Sky Bar up there is also packed. I just went to their sales area to have a look, and it was so crowded. The commercial facilities are also very well-developed.”

“This is what our dream stadium looks like!”

Florentino Pérez nodded emphatically.

He secretly vowed to himself to hurry up, make more money, and get the project to rebuild or renovate the Bernabéu Stadium on the agenda as soon as possible.

But even for a financial powerhouse like Real Madrid, this was not an easy task.

Just then, the stadium’s announcer urged the fans to take their seats, as the new stadium’s opening ceremony was about to begin.

The originally noisy stadium gradually quieted down.

When all the lights in the stadium dimmed, leaving only the lights from the boxes and the halo screen, the venue became silent.

Then, all the spotlights focused on the center of the pitch.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra appeared on the field.

They all took their positions, and the conductor began to wave his baton.

A rhythmic drumbeat slowly filled the stadium.

The symphony orchestra’s performance gradually unfolded.

At that moment, Adele, dressed in a black evening gown, slowly walked out to the center of the pitch.

When the song “Rolling in the Deep,” already famous worldwide, flowed from the throat of this British diva, her infectious voice immediately captured the emotions of everyone present.

The entire stadium of over ninety thousand people began to sing along with her.

A chorus of ninety thousand people, accompanied by the symphony orchestra, created a majestic and powerful atmosphere that deeply moved everyone there.

Even many guests in the stands who had never heard the song before were completely immersed in the moment.

After singing the song, Adele stood in the middle of the pitch and emotionally expressed her feelings for Bayswater Chinese.

She even declared with emotion that without Bayswater Chinese, she would not be where she is today.

Adele also excitedly announced that she hoped to hold a concert specifically at Prudential Stadium in 2012.

She had just completed a 51-concert world tour from March to September 2011.

But this time, she was willing to hold a special concert for Prudential Stadium!

This immediately elicited cheers and screams from countless fans in the stands.

Next came “Set Fire to the Rain,” which once again had the entire crowd of over ninety thousand people singing along with her.

Many fans could no longer contain their excitement, rising from their seats and waving their hands to her singing, continually elevating the atmosphere in the stadium.

After two consecutive songs, the atmosphere had become extremely heated.

But Adele then performed a third song, “Someone Like You.”

This once again sparked a massive sing-along from the entire audience.

Just as this song ended, several other singers and actors, famous in the UK and around the world, walked out at the same time. They were all partners who had collaborated extensively with Bayswater Chinese in the past.

They were also all users of Bayswater Chinese’s stadium boxes.

At this moment, they all chose to walk out, stand in the center of the pitch, and sing the fourth and final, and most important song, with Adele.

The Bayswater Chinese team anthem, “Dream it possible”!

The atmosphere had been perfectly set by the first three songs. As the intro to the team anthem began, everyone in the stadium rose from their seats, singing along with the artists on the pitch.

They sang with all their might, as if they wanted to tear their throats open.

The atmosphere in the stadium was pushed to its absolute peak!

And amidst this chorus of over ninety thousand people, the players of Bayswater Chinese walked out onto the pitch one by one.

Not just the players participating in this match, but also the four players still serving with the Great Britain Olympic team.

They had specially requested leave from the Olympic team to attend Bayswater Chinese’s opening ceremony.

And like their teammates around them, they were all wearing the team’s new kit.

The only regret was that they could not play for Bayswater Chinese tonight.

Because their battlefield was at Wembley Stadium in three days’ time!

The players were clearly infected by the atmosphere of the mass sing-along. Each one stood tall, their faces filled with pride and glory!

When the close-up camera swept across them, many players showed expressions of deep emotion.

After the singers finished, the atmosphere had become incredibly fervent.

As the stadium announcer called out the name of each first-team player, it was met with a deafening roar of cheers and applause.

The atmosphere at Prudential Stadium was clearly much better than at Wembley Stadium!

The Real Madrid players, meanwhile, entered led by Webb.

As guests, their entrance was also warmly welcomed by the Bayswater Chinese fans.

Especially when the announcer called out the names of Di María, Džeko, and Maicon, the applause was thunderous.

They had all played for Bayswater Chinese before, bringing wonderful memories to the team and its fans.

They were all a part of the club’s history!

…

Real Madrid actually took this match quite seriously.

As Mourinho said, they were here to spoil the party and seek revenge.

Real Madrid fielded their well-practiced 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Coentrão, Ramos, Varane, and Arbeloa;

Midfield: Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso formed the double pivot, with C. Ronaldo, Mesut Özil, and Di María in front of them;

Forward: Džeko.

This was undoubtedly the strongest lineup Real Madrid could field.

It was also a star-studded cast.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was affected by the Olympics, with four players unable to play.

But Yang Cheng still fielded a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez played a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and De Bruyne.

The match began with Real Madrid launching an all-out attack.

Mourinho’s team first controlled possession from the kick-off, then advanced through the midfield to launch their offense, trying to pin down Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng could see clearly from the sidelines that Mourinho wanted to use this match to assess his team’s performance.

He wanted to use Bayswater Chinese to test Real Madrid’s ability to withstand pressure.

In other words, could they really go head-to-head with Bayswater Chinese?

Being the debut match in the new stadium, the Bayswater Chinese players were clearly a bit too cautious.

This allowed Real Madrid to easily control the ball and establish dominance after the start.

For the first nine minutes, it was mostly Real Madrid pressing Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng’s team’s defense was not weak.

Moreover, in this match, Yang Cheng had assigned Piszczek to mark C. Ronaldo closely.

Although Real Madrid got a few shooting opportunities, they were mostly long shots.

From the 12th minute, Bayswater Chinese gradually turned the tide and began to press Real Madrid in return.

First came a long shot from Toni Kroos from twenty-eight meters out, followed by a header from Robert Lewandowski off a cross from Marcelo on the left, which went just over the bar.

Yang Cheng observed Real Madrid’s play from the sidelines. He could clearly feel that Di María, back at his old club, was playing with more vigor, creating several threats in a row.

But in the 27th minute, Eden Hazard and Marcelo executed a brilliant combination on the left.

The Belgian winger cut into the left side of the penalty area, drew the defenders’ attention, and then suddenly passed back to the edge of the box on the left.

Toni Kroos made a quick overlapping run and calmly fired a long shot that pierced Casillas’s goal.

1-0!

In that instant, all the fans in Prudential Stadium jumped to their feet, letting out deafening cheers and roars.

This was the first-ever goal scored in this stadium!

…

After conceding, Real Madrid was clearly a bit anxious.

But their attack couldn’t find a way through Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

Although they had sold Vincent Kompany, Bayswater Chinese’s overall defensive level was still intact and well-maintained.

So, Real Madrid could only resort to long shots to threaten Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Then, in the 35th minute, a through ball from Ramos in the back was intercepted midway by Javi Martínez.

After winning the ball, the Spanish midfielder adjusted and immediately sent a through ball forward.

The ball was precisely delivered to the feet of Robert Lewandowski, positioned between the two centre-backs.

The Polish centre-forward took a touch and, without slowing down, successfully beat the offside trap. He broke into the box with the ball and, in a one-on-one with Casillas, calmly slotted it home to score another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

2-0!

After taking a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese clearly began to play a bit too casually.

Just before halftime, after Real Madrid won the ball in their own half, Xabi Alonso played an accurate lob pass over the defense.

C. Ronaldo burst past the defenders at blistering speed, found himself in a one-on-one, broke into the box, and calmly slotted the ball past the advancing Courtois, pulling one back for Real Madrid.

1-2!

At this point, the game had completely opened up.

As it was a friendly, both sides gradually began to play more freely.

After the break, in the 49th minute, De Bruyne played a one-two with Piszczek on the right.

The Polish full-back made an overlapping run down the flank, but instead of crossing to find Lewandowski, he played a cut-back pass.

From the right of the penalty spot, Modrić made a late run from midfield and calmly side-footed the ball into Real Madrid’s net.

3-1!

But just in the 55th minute, Džeko dropped deep and played a through ball. Di María broke into the right side of the penalty area for a one-on-one and calmly slotted a shot into the far corner.

2-3!

Then, in the 61st minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese quickly retaliated.

A diagonal pass from De Bruyne on the right found Robert Lewandowski in the center, who seized the opportunity with a poacher’s finish from close range.

The ball was parried by Casillas, but it fell to the left side of the penalty area where no one was defending.

Marcelo rushed forward and, unmarked, fired a left-footed power shot that sent the ball back into Real Madrid’s net.

4-2!

But just two minutes later, Di María broke through on the right and crossed. Džeko headed the ball in at the near post, closing the gap for Real Madrid once again.

3-4!

With the game at this stage, both sides were playing with great effort, hoping to use the opposition to assess their own players.

But after sixty-five minutes, with the score at 4-3, it was clear that the two teams were evenly matched in strength.

But one shouldn’t forget that Bayswater Chinese still had four international players playing in the Olympics!

Especially Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, two key players, who were absent.

Under these circumstances, Mourinho was out of ideas, so he began making substitutions from the 65th minute.

Since it was a friendly match, there was no limit on the number of substitutions.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng also knew when to stop and began to make adjustments.

Pogba, Harry Kane, Giroud, Sterling, Luke Shaw, José Fonte, Harry Maguire, and Stones all came on as substitutes.

Among them, Stones replaced Javi Martínez.

Nemanja Matić, however, was injured and could not participate in this match.

After that, the game proceeded at a steady pace.

Mourinho’s attempt to spoil the party had clearly failed.

Then, in the 86th minute, Sterling broke through on the right and attempted a cross into the box for Giroud.

The ball was headed away by Varane, cleared out of the penalty area.

Stones received the ball on the edge of the box and immediately lofted it back into the left side of the penalty area.

Pogba made a quick forward run and challenged Arbeloa for an aerial duel on the left side of the box, heading the ball towards the center.

Harry Kane, who had just been blocked by Bruno Alves moments earlier, seized the first opportunity this time. He turned sideways and deftly controlled the ball with his right foot, spun around, chased it, and unleashed a furious left-footed shot.

This close-range shot came so suddenly that Casillas didn’t even have time to react.

The ball once again pierced Real Madrid’s goal.

5-3!

Harry Kane dashed off the pitch in excitement.

He was greeted by the cheers of ninety thousand fans in the stadium!

In the final moments of the match, Real Madrid actually had another excellent attacking opportunity.

Facing his old club, Di María was clearly eager to prove his worth to Real Madrid, so he played with extra fervor. After beating two players on the right, he sent a diagonal pass to the far post.

But C. Ronaldo’s close-range header was a bit too high.

Courtois made a diving save to his side, brilliantly tipping the ball away from the goal.

In the end, the match was settled at 5-3!

Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese had successfully preserved the honor of Prudential Stadium’s opening ceremony and first match!

And this spectacular goal-fest finally came to a close amidst the cheers of over ninety thousand fans!

Chapter 261: Platini’s Olive Branch! Yang Cheng: I’d Like to be Low-Key, but My Strength Won’t Allow It!

“Hello, Michel, it’s a great pleasure to have you here!”

After the match, Yang Cheng left the players with Brian Kidd and quickly made his way to the VIP stand.

All the guests present today were giving face to him and to Bayswater Chinese.

Especially UEFA President Michel Platini!

“This stadium of yours is absolutely fantastic, so dreamlike!”

Platini firmly gripped Yang Cheng’s hand. “When I walked in here, I truly felt like I had stepped into a science fiction world. It has such a strong futuristic feel, truly, truly amazing!”

The UEFA President, once a highly creative number 10 player, certainly had a way with words.

Accompanying Platini was UEFA General Secretary Infantino.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone and people from the Department for Sport were also in attendance.

Anyone could see that Platini was being exceptionally warm toward Yang Cheng.

He even affectionately held Yang Cheng’s hand, discussing the various high-tech features in the Prudential Stadium that he found novel and praiseworthy.

This left Yang Cheng feeling both flattered and awkward.

Especially when he looked into the distance and saw the chairmen, owners, and managers of major European clubs watching them with great interest. Yang Cheng’s heart pounded.

Damn it, are people going to start rumors that Bayswater Chinese is Platini’s godson?

That kind of good fortune should go to Barça!

We’re really not interested!

But soon, Yang Cheng dismissed this silly thought.

He knew that any team in Europe might become a “godson,” but Bayswater Chinese was the sole exception.

Why?

Because Yang Cheng was a rebel leader!

Everyone knew the story behind the ICC Company and the International Champions Cup.

If Yang Cheng became a “godson,” what would be left for the others?

They would have surrendered ages ago!

So, Yang Cheng cast aside that unnecessary worry and began to chat enthusiastically with Platini and Infantino. He was in high spirits, and their conversation was frequently punctuated by loud laughter.

“Currently, we have only sixteen Category 4 stadiums with a capacity of over sixty-five thousand registered with UEFA. This includes some older ones like San Siro, Old Trafford, and Camp Nou, as well as several Olympic stadiums.”

Olympic stadiums were built for the Olympic Games and usually had wide running tracks.

This was quite disadvantageous for hosting football matches.

Also, Platini said there were sixteen, but it was actually closer to seventeen, because the London Bowl would be renovated after the Olympics, and its capacity would also exceed sixty-five thousand.

As for aging facilities, that was a long-standing issue.

Once a stadium received a Category 4 certification, it was never revoked.

For example, wasn’t that certain stadium that leaked all the time still a Category 4?

“So, we very much encourage more clubs to learn from you at Bayswater Chinese and build better, larger stadiums to meet the growing demands of the fans. We will also do our best to accommodate this when considering bids for various competitions.”

This was no longer a hint from Platini; it was a blatant statement.

It was obvious he was encouraging the Prudential Stadium to bid for the Champions League final.

Back in March 2012, UEFA had already announced that the 2014 Champions League final would be held at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal.

Even if they bid now, the earliest they could host would be the 2015 Champions League final.

Since an olive branch was extended, Yang Cheng naturally had to accept it, adding a few words of thanks.

Yang Cheng wasn’t actually surprised by UEFA and Platini’s attitude.

Take tonight’s match for example. With a ninety-thousand-seat stadium, the ticket revenue alone reached a staggering eighteen million pound sterling.

After deducting the appearance fee for Real Madrid and other various expenses, Bayswater Chinese made a net profit of several million pound sterling.

Could anything be more profitable?

Most importantly, the fans had a great time!

The right to host the Champions League final was a hot commodity, but look at those sixteen Category 4 stadiums—how many of them had a capacity of over eighty thousand?

At the ninety-thousand level, there were only three in total.

Camp Nou, Wembley, and the Prudential Stadium.

Why were the 2011 and 2013 Champions League finals both held at Wembley Stadium?

Because its capacity was large enough, the local fans had strong spending power, and it held sufficient attraction for tourists from all over the world!

The Stadium of Light in Lisbon barely scraped together a capacity of sixty-five thousand.

That was a full twenty-five thousand less than Wembley.

Not to mention the vast difference in consumer spending levels between Lisbon and London, the attraction for global fans, and the supporting transportation infrastructure.

Champions League final tickets were generally split into three parts, with the two participating teams and UEFA each taking a third.

This meant that the larger the stadium’s capacity, the more ticket revenue UEFA received.

Of course, local governments would also provide subsidies and policies for hosting the event, but those were just icing on the cake.

Ken Livingstone definitely hoped the Prudential Stadium would bid for the Champions League final.

So, after Yang Cheng finished talking with Platini, he seized an opportunity and pulled Yang Cheng aside.

The economically-focused London Mayor expressed his hope that Yang Cheng and his team would seriously consider the matter.

The Champions League final provided a significant, albeit temporary, boost to local tourism. For a global metropolis like London, things like fame were just icing on the cake, but every little bit counted. Hosting it was certainly a good thing.

“Don’t worry, I’ll discuss it thoroughly with them!” Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

Only then was Ken Livingstone satisfied. “Think of it as a goal for you and the team to strive for. Aim to win another Champions League on home soil in 2015!”

“That would be an unprecedented spectacle in Champions League history!”

In the history of the Champions League, Yang Cheng remembered three teams playing a final in their home stadium.

The first was in the 1956-57 season, the second year of the competition, when Real Madrid won at the Bernabéu.

The second was in the 1964-65 season, when Inter Milan won at the Meazza Stadium.

And the third was AS Roma in the 1983-84 season. The final was at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, but they lost to a Liverpool team at the peak of its power in a penalty shootout.

Since then, no team had ever managed to play in a Champions League final at their home ground.

Let alone win it.

In the 2009-10 season, Real Madrid had been ambitious about winning the Champions League at home, but it turned into a joke.

Bayswater Chinese had been using Wembley Stadium as a temporary home for the past few years, but coincidentally, their 2009 victory was at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, and last season’s was at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

They had perfectly missed the 2011 final at Wembley.

Although Wenger’s Arsenal won the trophy at Wembley Stadium, and they were also in London, it wasn’t truly the Gunners’ home ground.

It was just the same city.

Throughout history, the two teams that won the Champions League on home soil both went on to establish a dominant dynasty.

Real Madrid’s five consecutive European Cups was a feat no one has been able to match since.

This cemented Real Madrid’s status as the most influential super-club in the Champions League in the minds of countless people.

Inter Milan in the 1960s ushered in the era of the Great Inter.

Even half a century later, countless Inter Milan fans, including old-timers like Moratti, still fondly remembered the days of the Great Inter.

One could imagine the immense impact that winning the Champions League on home soil had on the Inter Milan fans of that era!

If you asked Yang Cheng whether he wanted it, the answer was a definite yes.

Moreover, from what Platini said, as long as the Prudential Stadium was willing to apply, it wouldn’t be a big issue.

After all, looking at European football today, what stadium could compare to the Prudential Stadium?

…

All the guests attending the opening ceremony of the Prudential Stadium on August 8th were accommodated at the Bvlgari Hotels and The Peninsula Hotels.

After the ceremony, Bayswater Chinese hosted a grand banquet, entertaining not only all the guests but also the two participating teams, as well as invited media reporters and fan representatives.

The entire opening ceremony was extremely grand, and its influence was immense.

According to the media, it caused a stir throughout the entire European football circle, and more than half of the entertainment and fashion industries.

Not to mention, behind the two hundred fifty VIP boxes were mostly large corporations, wealthy individuals, or political and business celebrities.

The socially adept Adam Crozier had truly organized a spectacular event that left both hosts and guests delighted.

After the banquet, UEFA President Platini and Infantino walked back to their hotel.

“In just nine short years, this club has once again astonished all of us!”

From Platini’s room, through the window, one could see the magnificent and splendid Prudential Stadium.

The leisure plaza was still filled with fans who were reluctant to leave.

This place would undoubtedly become a new landmark in London, attracting tourists and fans from all over the world.

This was already a consensus among everyone!

“This kid really knows how to stir things up, and how to get things done!” Platini showed a hint of admiration.

To have the guts to invest one billion pound sterling in building such a stadium was not something an ordinary person could do!

Even Platini himself wouldn’t dare to make such a decision lightly.

What’s more, Platini spent UEFA’s money, while Yang Cheng spent his own.

“Do you think they will take the initiative to bid for the Champions League final?” Infantino asked with concern.

“They probably will. The Mayor of London seems very keen on it.”

Infantino thought it over and understood the intricacies involved.

“If they do bid, given the current state of European football, no other stadium can compete with them. We would also be happy to go with the flow and do them a favor.”

At this point, Platini paused and sighed. “The most pressing issue right now is still the International Champions Cup!”

“FIFA is also very concerned about this competition, especially now that it’s expanding. It will become a sixteen-team tournament.”

What did this mean?

It was equivalent to the Champions League Round of 16!

And everyone in the world knew that the most exciting part of the Champions League began precisely from the Round of 16 knockout stage.

But even the Champions League Round of 16 couldn’t guarantee clashes between top teams in every match of every season.

The International Champions Cup, however, was different. Every single one of their matches was a clash between top teams.

So far, Platini didn’t see the International Champions Cup as a threat to the Champions League.

Because their match schedules were different.

Just like how the World Cup didn’t threaten the European Championship.

However, everyone was already keenly aware that this was a huge prize!

“According to our information, the revenue for the International Champions Cup this year will exceed one hundred seventy million euro, a slight increase from last year, mainly due to a 5% increase in ticket prices.”

“However, their expenses have been reduced to one hundred million euro, which includes the appearance fees for the twelve teams.”

“In other words, their profit has reached seventy million euro.”

“It’s expected that they will distribute forty million euro, with the remaining thirty million euro set aside for next year’s expansion. They want to further cultivate the Asian market, cooperating with local governments, including renovations of stadiums, training grounds, and other hardware facilities.”

Speaking of this, Infantino had to admit, “Their ambition is huge, and their steps are steady!”

If it were purely for making money, it wouldn’t be much of a threat.

But the path the ICC Company was currently taking was clearly aimed at driving the development of local football.

For instance, last year’s finals venue in the United States, the Bristol Motor Speedway, was renovated. Not only did the ICC Company make a huge profit, but the local government was also delighted, and the speedway owner got a massive windfall.

It was a win-win for everyone.

Now, they planned to expand in Asia, renovating stadiums and training grounds, and actively helping to develop youth academies in Asia. All of this proved that they weren’t interested in making a quick buck, but were systematically cultivating the entire market.

And in Europe, this was the job of UEFA and the various national football associations.

Many people said that Americans didn’t understand football, that they only thought about making money and never considered giving back to the local community.

But for UEFA, if the ICC Company operated that way, it would actually be a good thing.

The current situation was much trickier!

“Their broadcasting and commercial sponsorship contracts with many regions are mostly expiring. When they renew, the terms will surely be even more lucrative, so their revenue is expected to increase significantly next year.”

“By then, they will definitely invest more funds to give back to the football markets in North America and Asia. We need to speed up, or they will really succeed!”

As Platini said this, his brows were tightly furrowed, appearing very troubled.

He knew they had to act fast, but the problem was, they had no leverage.

The ICC Company was an enterprise established in the United States, an American company.

The International Champions Cup was held as a pre-season friendly tournament, so strictly speaking, it didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of UEFA or FIFA.

As a result, even the US Soccer Federation could only watch this huge prize from the sidelines.

“I don’t think they’ll be willing. Back then, giants like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barça, and Bayern were already dissatisfied with us and formed the G-14 to oppose us.”

“And now, the International Champions Cup has formed a league of interests for them. Even Barça and Bayern have sided with them, making it even harder for us to challenge them.”

After the G-14 was disbanded, Barça and Bayern had been more inclined to side with UEFA.

But now, with an annual income of ten million euro, they naturally knew which side to take.

“Everything can be negotiated!”

Platini, however, appeared more resolute.

“In the early days, before the Champions League was founded, UEFA did not support it, nor did they participate. It was clubs like Real Madrid who were organizing it themselves.”

“It was only after UEFA saw their success that they jumped on board and incorporated the competition, which led to the creation of the current UEFA Champions League!”

As Platini said this, he looked with感慨 at the splendid glass facade of the Prudential Stadium ahead.

“If we can pull this off, we’ll have two Champions Leagues in our hands, and at that time…”

A corner of Platini’s mouth lifted, but he didn’t continue.

But standing behind him, Infantino naturally understood what he wanted.

…

London’s Prudential Stadium is officially open!

The news of the grand opening ceremony quickly spread across the globe.

It wasn’t just sports news; it was entertainment news and fashion news.

Superstar Adele performed live, singing four songs in a row, almost turning the opening ceremony into her own concert.

Big names from the entertainment and fashion industries all came to offer their congratulations, making Bayswater Chinese’s grand event even more high-profile.

But the most important thing was the stadium itself.

The dazzling exterior personally designed by Norman Foster, the highly sci-fi dual-sided circular screen, the hardcore cyberpunk retractable pitch, and various smart technologies far exceeding other contemporary stadiums and large venues…

All of this made the Prudential Stadium completely break into the mainstream!

A promotional video of the new stadium, specially produced by Bayswater Chinese’s new media team, became a hot topic on YouTube.

An edited version of the opening ceremony, once uploaded online, immediately garnered worldwide attention and heated discussion from netizens, receiving rave reviews.

Just as the Prudential Stadium was causing a global buzz, Bayswater Chinese announced another partnership.

Starting in 2012, Bayswater Chinese formally reached an agreement with SMG Company, the largest venue management company in the United States.

SMG Company would obtain the agency rights for the Prudential Stadium for a period of ten years, with an agency fee of one hundred million pound sterling.

According to the agreement, the one hundred million pound agency fee would be paid over ten years.

After obtaining the agency rights, SMG would collaborate with a subsidiary of Bayswater Chinese to jointly establish a company dedicated to operating and managing the Prudential Stadium.

This stadium management company would be fully responsible for hosting non-football sporting events, concerts, international conferences, business activities, art exhibitions, and various other commercial activities at the Prudential Stadium on non-match days.

The shareholding ratio of the new company was 8:2, with Bayswater Chinese holding the majority.

Incidentally, this subsidiary of Bayswater Chinese belonged to the infrastructure department and was fully responsible for the daily operations of the Prudential Stadium, including attracting and managing commercial facilities like dining and flagship stores.

From the very beginning of the Prudential Stadium’s planning, they had already collaborated with SMG and Global-Spectrum.

These two American companies served as advisors for Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium.

After the stadium was completed, in the competition for the agency rights, SMG, which was jointly controlled by two major American financial consortiums, ultimately defeated Global-Spectrum, a subsidiary of Warner Cable, to become the exclusive agent for the Prudential Stadium.

This partnership also attracted strong attention from the entire European football world.

American venue management companies like SMG had partnered with European clubs, football associations, or governments before.

But everyone could see that Bayswater Chinese’s collaboration this time was clearly different.

The agency fee was as high as ten million pound sterling per year.

Just imagine, if there weren’t substantial profits to be made, how could SMG offer such a price?

If Bayswater Chinese’s new stadium could truly bring substantial profits to the club, then a wave of new stadium construction was bound to sweep across the European football scene.

Governments, banks, and investors would inevitably conduct a completely new valuation of European football venues.

Which club with sufficient financial strength wouldn’t want to build a brand-new football stadium?

Therefore, this partnership caused a huge sensation within the industry.

It was at this time that the men’s football final of the London Olympics finally concluded.

Led by Gareth Bale, Rooney, and Theo Walcott, the Great Britain Olympic team defeated Mexico from North America with a score of 3-1 at Wembley Stadium, successfully securing the gold medal at their home Olympics.

Gareth Bale scored a brace, and Theo Walcott also added a goal.

Bayswater Chinese’s English Twin Stars once again shone on the Olympic stage!

At the same time, many in England called for the formation of a unified British team to participate in the World Cup and European Championship, rather than competing separately as in the past.

With powerful reinforcements like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, a British team would undoubtedly be among the world’s top teams.

But this proposal was met with strong opposition from the football associations of Wales, Scotland, and others.

Making an exception to allow a British team for the Olympics was already a huge concession.

Now they were pushing their luck, wanting to form a British team for the World Cup and European Championship?

In your English pipe dreams!

This matter caused a huge uproar within the United Kingdom.

…

August 12th, 1:30 PM.

Wembley Stadium, London.

As the players of Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City, led by head referee Kevin Friend, lined up at Wembley Stadium ready for kickoff, the air was still thick with the scent of battle.

It was the lingering smoke from the previous evening’s Olympic men’s football final!

And for the players of Bayswater Chinese, it was also a reminder of the many marks the club had left on this stadium over the past six years.

Bayswater Chinese was still unable to field its full-strength lineup for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and De Bruyne.

After a summer of adjustments, Yang Cheng had basically settled on the team’s current formation and tactics.

Although Hazard and De Bruyne both played as wingers, their characteristics were completely different from Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and last season’s Di María.

These two Belgians were more active around the corners of the penalty area and in the half-spaces.

Moreover, their overall positioning was also deeper.

This greatly highlighted the role of centre-forward Robert Lewandowski.

Toni Kroos and Modrić were still in charge of the midfield.

With this setup, Bayswater Chinese could maintain more possession and control the midfield.

The attacking duties on the flanks were handed over to the two full-backs, Marcelo and Piszczek.

But to solidify the defense, the holding midfielder Javi Martínez and the two centre-backs, Thiago Silva and Pepe, rarely pushed forward, remaining at the back.

The Community Shield was, after all, still a pre-season friendly.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was clearly using this match to test his formation.

It seemed Manchester City was doing the same.

Ancelotti’s starting lineup looked quite strange, something like a 4-2-3-1.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, and Micah Richards;

Midfield: Pirlo and Yaya Touré formed a double pivot, with Tevez, Kaká, and David Silva in front of them;

Forward: Ibrahimović.

But once the match began, Yang Cheng realized it wasn’t that simple.

Pirlo seemed to be playing as a single holding midfielder, while Leighton Baines frequently pushed forward.

This created a midfield configuration with Pirlo holding, and Leighton Baines, Yaya Touré, Kaká, and David Silva ahead of him.

Up front were a dual striker pairing of Tevez and Ibrahimović.

This left a three-at-the-back formation behind them.

Of course, that was on paper. On the pitch, positioning was always fluid.

And right from the start, it was Manchester City who took the initiative.

This made Yang Cheng frown on the sidelines.

Ancelotti dared to use this three-at-the-back formation because he saw that with Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott absent, Bayswater Chinese lacked raiding wingers.

Ancelotti wanted to use his numerical advantage in midfield to suppress Bayswater Chinese.

Both teams were trying new tactics and intended to use the other as a test, so the match was deadlocked at the start, with both sides making numerous mistakes.

And plenty of fouls.

Three minutes in, Pepe fouled Tevez outside the box.

Just two minutes later, Hazard received the ball near the left corner of the box and was fouled by Micah Richards as he attempted to cut inside.

Both teams continued to make frequent errors.

But starting from the 25th minute, Bayswater Chinese gradually found their rhythm, began to control the midfield and the flow of the game, and held possession firmly.

In the 29th minute, after a combination with Marcelo on the left, Toni Kroos launched a long cross pass to the right flank.

De Bruyne, dropping back outside the right corner of the box, controlled the ball smoothly. Facing the onrushing Giorgio Chiellini, the Belgian played a diagonal pass in behind, sending the ball towards the right byline inside the penalty area.

Modrić exploited the gap created by Manchester City’s shifting defense, made a quick forward run from behind Chiellini into the right side of the box, caught up with the ball near the byline, and sent a cross pass in front of goal.

Lewandowski, under close marking from Kompany, slid in and shot the ball into Joe Hart’s net.

1-0!

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese played with more freedom.

They began to control possession, constantly using passes to stretch the opposition’s defense while launching repeated attacks into Manchester City’s heartland.

Yang Cheng saw it clearly from the sidelines.

The chaos in the early period was mainly because the team wasn’t used to a style of play with so much possession.

In recent years, Bayswater Chinese had favored a more direct attacking style, with the flanks primarily focused on rapid attacks.

Even players like Hazard, who liked to take on defenders, were often not the team’s main weapon.

But with more possession, and with the opponent continuing to adopt a tight defensive formation, Hazard got more opportunities.

In Yang Cheng’s view, Ancelotti’s tactics borrowed somewhat from Italy’s strategy in the 2012 European Championship, aiming to fully utilize Pirlo’s long passes and the presence of Ibrahimović up front.

By leveraging the players’ strengths, they aimed to create a more efficient and effective attack.

Once the ball reached the final third, players like Tevez, Agüero, and Kaká immediately formed a second wave of attack.

This was very formidable.

And events proved this to be true.

In the 32nd minute, after a pass from Lewandowski, Hazard shook off Micah Richards and took a long shot from twenty meters out.

But this time, Joe Hart made a solid save.

Manchester City quickly launched a counter-attack.

Pirlo sent the ball forward. Ibrahimović shielded the ball from Thiago Silva, brought it under control, and passed to the overlapping Kaká, who played a through ball.

Tevez broke into the left side of the penalty area, came to a sudden stop, and cut inside, wrong-footing the over-committed Pepe before firing a right-footed shot into the net, leveling the score.

1-1!

Just as Manchester City tried to repeat the trick, in the 40th minute, Pirlo again sent a long pass towards Ibrahimović up front.

But this time, Thiago Silva suddenly moved in front of him to defend, getting there a step ahead to clear the ball with a header to Toni Kroos, who then distributed it to the left side for Marcelo.

The Brazilian charged forward with the ball.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking unit was also making rapid forward runs.

Hazard, in particular, quickly appeared in the half-space up front, leaving the left flank for Marcelo.

The Brazilian dribbled to the left outside of Manchester City’s penalty area and attempted a cross to Lewandowski in the middle.

Kompany clearly read Marcelo’s intention, making a timely diving header to clear the ball away.

Just in front of the arc, Modrić brought the ball down in time.

As soon as Yaya Touré saw Modrić control the ball, he immediately rushed out from the penalty area.

But the Ivorian was a bit too aggressive.

Modrić was short, had a low center of gravity, and had quick footwork.

Seeing Yaya Touré charge out, he seized the opportunity, cutting the ball to evade Yaya Touré’s high press. He dribbled diagonally towards the left side of the arc and, just before Pirlo could intervene, passed the ball forward to Hazard.

The Belgian appeared in a central position inside the box.

This area originally belonged to Lewandowski.

But after receiving Modrić’s pass, with his back to goal, Hazard controlled the ball and, with a flick of his right heel, knocked the ball between his own legs and to his right.

Behind Hazard was the tall and imposing Giorgio Chiellini. How could he have anticipated that the Belgian would suddenly pull off such a move?

The ball slipped past Chiellini’s feet.

By the time Chiellini tried to intercept, he was a step too slow. Not only did he miss the ball, but he also shifted his own center of gravity away.

Behind Chiellini, Lewandowski brought his legs together, blocking the ball in front of him. He took a step forward and, as Joe Hart came off his line to cover the near post, gently pushed the ball with the outside of his left foot.

The ball rolled straight into the left side of the Manchester City goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Robert Lewandowski scores his second of the match!”

“That was a beautifully worked attacking move from Bayswater Chinese!”

“It was a small-sided combination between the players, right on the edge of the penalty area.”

“In the 40th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese leads again!”

“2-1!”

…

At halftime, Yang Cheng was satisfied with the team’s performance in the first half.

But he also pointed out some problems that had emerged.

For example, when they couldn’t win the first ball, their control of the second ball was quite poor.

The goal they conceded in the first half came from Kaká assisting Tevez after winning the second ball.

For a team like Bayswater Chinese, which was accustomed to playing a high defensive line, this was a critical issue.

It had even happened a few other times in the first half.

But it had to be said, Ibrahimović was not a suitable centre-forward.

The Swedish forward’s imposing physique did allow him to win the first ball, but the problem was his slowness in possession and his lack of passing awareness. This meant he either couldn’t get the pass off, or when he did, it was difficult for his teammates to receive.

This affected Manchester City’s attack.

Often, if the first touch wasn’t good, the attack slowed down.

Bayswater Chinese’s defensive quality was also there for all to see.

As long as Manchester City’s initial move failed, once the defense was organized, it was difficult for them to create another threat.

Bayswater Chinese had its own issues as well.

De Bruyne was a very special player.

He had a certain amount of ball control and dribbling ability, but under high-level pressure, he wasn’t as good as Modrić.

So, he needed space.

But his passing ability was excellent, especially his diagonal passes.

This was why Yang Cheng always placed him on the right wing.

There was less defensive pressure on the flanks, making it easier to find space and also allowing him to unleash his threatening passes, especially diagonal ones.

And De Bruyne’s greatest strength was precisely his passing.

Just like with the first goal, when De Bruyne received the ball, he immediately played it behind Chiellini.

That was a beautiful pass.

The timing, vision, and accuracy were all perfectly controlled.

After Modrić caught up to it, he immediately crossed it to the center for Lewandowski’s goal.

It could be said that what De Bruyne did best was pass the ball.

But at this stage, De Bruyne’s problem was still a lack of experience and intelligent movement.

For instance, in the first half, Yang Cheng’s instruction for him was to run into the space between Manchester City’s defensive and midfield lines to receive the ball and then distribute it.

But De Bruyne didn’t seem to fully understand Yang Cheng’s meaning.

Apart from that one time on the right flank, whenever he got to the central area or the half-space in front of the penalty box, he often couldn’t pass the ball out after receiving it.

Of course, this wasn’t really a huge problem.

After all, he was only twenty-one.

The opponents Bayswater Chinese faced now were all the top teams in the world.

Moreover, De Bruyne was also somewhat too eager to prove himself.

Not everyone was like Toni Kroos!

…

During halftime, Yang Cheng specifically had a word with De Bruyne.

Unexpectedly, not long after the second half started, De Bruyne gave him a surprising response.

In the 51st minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield and launched a quick counter-attack.

De Bruyne received a pass from Modrić.

Modrić intended for a give-and-go, passing to De Bruyne and then making a quick forward run.

However, De Bruyne saw Leighton Baines following Modrić and suddenly abandoned the through ball, instead dribbling diagonally towards the right side of the arc.

Just two steps after cutting inside, De Bruyne suddenly launched a cross-field pass of at least twenty-five meters.

The ball traveled from the right side outside the penalty area to the left side outside the arc.

Hazard quickly made a run and received the ball just as he entered the penalty area.

Facing Micah Richards, it became a one-on-one situation.

Seeing Micah Richards looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy, the Belgian made a decision. He feinted with his left foot, leaning his whole body to the left, looking as if he were about to dribble past him.

This immediately caused Micah Richards to shift his center of gravity.

But unexpectedly, Hazard suddenly shifted his weight, used the outside of his right foot to gently knock the ball past him, chased after it, and unleashed a curling shot with his right foot.

The entire process, from receiving the ball to shooting, sounds long but actually happened in the blink of an eye.

Fans who didn’t see the slow-motion replay would probably just think Micah Richards had a lapse in concentration, allowing Hazard to get past him so easily.

The football curved through the air and went straight into the top right corner of the goal!

3-1!

Yang Cheng was a little surprised.

“That was a very skillful shot from Hazard. Has he been practicing it?” Yang Cheng was quite surprised.

But Brian Kidd was equally surprised, even shaking his head in confusion.

“I haven’t seen him practice shooting much, especially not this kind of cutting inside and curling shot.”

Now Yang Cheng was even more puzzled.

Football was something where practice made perfect. If you didn’t practice it, it was hard to pull it off in a match.

Moreover, this didn’t seem accidental.

Hazard controlled the ball, faced Micah Richards one-on-one, and clearly intended to take the Manchester City defender on directly.

In the end, Micah Richards was truly left like a wooden post as he was dribbled past.

The move was truly reminiscent of Messi on the right wing.

The movement was just as silky smooth, so calm and elegant.

“You know, Hazard is by no means a diligent student. Outside of training, if he can slack off, he definitely will. Getting him to do extra practice is harder than anything!”

Brian Kidd also found it quite surprising.

After hearing this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle. “Then it must be his old habit: instinct!”

Brian Kidd immediately laughed along.

Hazard always said he played football by feel.

He played however he felt.

It seemed that the shot from cutting inside was also based on feel.

“This kid’s talent is so good it’s enviable, yet he’s so lazy!” Yang Cheng sighed, shaking his head.

He had originally wanted to create some intense competition for Hazard.

The idea was to put some pressure on him, force him to grind, not let him get complacent.

But unexpectedly, Hazard trained when it was time to train, never late and never leaving early, and he completed his required training items without cutting any corners.

But outside of training? Sorry, class dismissed on time!

For the past few years, hadn’t Bayswater Chinese always had a tradition of organizing an indoor football league?

Small, technically gifted, agile, and quick players like Hazard were undoubtedly perfect for small-sided football.

This kid loved that kind of environment.

In his own words, he didn’t like training, running, or working out, but he just loved playing matches.

This gave Yang Cheng the impression of a South American player.

And a very talented one at that.

“With Di María gone, we need to give Hazard more responsibilities in the new season. It would be best if he had more of this ‘instinct’!” Yang Cheng said with a laugh.

Even though he had always felt that playing by instinct was unreliable.

But the current Hazard was still in a phase of rapid improvement, so his instincts were particularly strong.

He certainly hadn’t reached the stage from Yang Cheng’s previous life, where his instincts faded and he grew tired of football.

…

After going up 3-1, Manchester City began to make substitutions.

Bayswater Chinese also made changes.

After Pogba replaced Toni Kroos, the team’s tactics changed again.

In the 67th minute, De Bruyne sent a 45-degree cross from the right corner of the box to the outside of the left six-yard box area. Pogba made a high-speed run and got a close-range header on goal.

However, the header was saved by Joe Hart.

On a subsequent dribble, Hazard, having just broken past Micah Richards and about to burst into the penalty area, was pulled down by the Manchester City defender.

The head referee showed Micah Richards a second yellow card, sending him off.

At that point, the match was effectively over.

Yang Cheng quickly made substitutions as well, with players like Harry Kane, Sterling, and Luke Shaw coming on to launch a series of fierce attacks on Manchester City.

With an extra man, Bayswater Chinese’s advantage on the pitch became even more pronounced.

Manchester City, on the other hand, began to make a series of substitutions and adopted a defensive posture.

In the end, the 3-1 scoreline held until the final whistle.

Thanks to a brace from Robert Lewandowski and a goal from Hazard, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 3-1 to win the 2012 Community Shield!

After the match, Yang Cheng commented on several of his players.

Besides singling out the two-goal hero Lewandowski for praise, he also specifically mentioned Hazard and De Bruyne.

“He is clearly a very good player, but he still has a lot of untapped potential. I will set higher demands for him. I hope he can play more decisively!”

As for De Bruyne, Yang Cheng expressed his great satisfaction.

“Even before he joined, I said that I saw very high value in him. But he’s not mature enough yet. On one hand, he needs to adjust his mentality; on the other, he needs to become more well-rounded.”

“Of course, in my opinion, he is already excellent enough!”

Regarding the Premier League landscape for the new season, Yang Cheng commented on the numerous competitors.

From Manchester City and Arsenal to Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

Yang Cheng believed they all possessed very strong squads.

Especially Chelsea, who had once again invested heavily this summer, showing real determination.

This would also put pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng still stated that Bayswater Chinese’s goal remained the title.

“We are a strong team with a deep squad. No matter how many players our opponents sign, I firmly believe that we can defeat them and continue to defend our status in the Premier League!”

Uncharacteristically, Yang Cheng openly declared his ambition before the season even began.

Because, as four-time consecutive champions, Bayswater Chinese could no longer afford to be low-key.

Their strength just wouldn’t allow it!

Chapter 262: 5 Goals in 2 Matches! On Fire in the Premier League! Yang Cheng: You Guys Really Know Your Journalism!

The Community Shield and the new Premier League season were often separated by just one week.

The period before the start of each season was always the busiest, and also the most tense for everyone involved.

Yang Cheng was basically run ragged every day.

On one hand, he had to make the final push in Brent; on the other, there were always endless unexpected problems cropping up.

For example, the retractable pitch at Prudential Stadium.

During the opening ceremony match against Real Madrid, the players had already given their feedback.

The main issue was with the seams between the three sections of turf.

Yang Cheng had been deeply involved since the early design stages and had offered many suggestions, including a warning about this very problem.

In his previous life, Real Madrid’s Bernabéu had encountered the same issue after its renovation.

To make it retractable, the bottom layer of grass and sand rested on a base tray.

Although the trays fit snugly together, the seams in the turf above could never be as solid and stable as the rest of the pitch.

The designers and turf experts had considered this repeatedly and had even run multiple tests at the Bayswater Chinese training ground.

Real Madrid’s new Bernabéu was divided into seven sections, which was why their problem was so severe.

Prudential Stadium was only divided into three, so strictly speaking, there were only two seams on the pitch.

The players’ feedback was that it looked no different from a normal pitch, but they could still feel the difference underfoot.

If a player’s standing foot landed on a seam while jumping, it could lead to dangerous situations like slipping or twisting an ankle.

As a Virgo, Yang Cheng couldn’t afford any such mishaps.

So, after receiving the players’ feedback, he immediately organized a team of experts to go back to the drawing board and focus on solving this problem.

With the new season about to kick off, even if they found a solution, there was definitely no time to replace the entire pitch.

A new pitch would need to go through a growth cycle, which was impossible at this stage.

Fortunately, the problem was confined to the seams.

Yang Cheng had been monitoring the situation daily since the opening ceremony.

He had no choice.

Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Chris Hunt, and the others were all very concerned, but they weren’t professionals in this area.

Moreover, Yang Cheng had personally overseen the project from design to implementation.

Therefore, he had to be the one to push it forward to ensure it was done faster and more efficiently.

In the end, just before the new season, the expert team came up with a temporary fix.

A permanent solution, however, would have to wait until the next time the turf was relaid.

After the groundskeeping staff implemented the temporary solution, Yang Cheng specifically had the first team train at Prudential Stadium for two consecutive days.

The players thoroughly tested every part of the pitch, especially the seams.

Even the team’s heaviest players, like Giroud, Nemanja Matić, and Pepe, performed jumps and aerial duels on the seams, conducting extreme tests before they could finally confirm there were no more issues.

The expert team also explained the principles to the players, detailing the previous problem and how their solution addressed it.

Only then could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

And while an issue like the pitch might seem trivial, it could actually affect the players’ performance.

Often, the outcome of a match is decided by the accumulation of such tiny, seemingly insignificant details.

The new season was about to begin, and the Bayswater Chinese battleship was ready to set sail again.

There were many other issues like the pitch.

They all required Yang Cheng and his assistants to constantly solve problems.

And this was precisely Yang Cheng’s greatest advantage.

When problems arose at other clubs, the head coach’s authority was rarely so extensive, and pushing for solutions was never as efficient.

But Yang Cheng was different.

He focused on the major issues, personally driving them to resolution, which was often faster and more effective.

At the same time, it instilled confidence in the first-team players.

Solving problems, in itself, boosted the team’s morale and the players’ self-belief.

…

As the number of strong teams in the Premier League grew, the competition became more intense, and scheduling the fixtures became more difficult.

This was especially true now.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

The Premier League was no longer about the Big 4; it was now the Big 6!

Add to that other strong teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

This made the overall competition in the Premier League incredibly fierce.

Arranging the fixtures became all the more challenging.

Before each season, The FA and the Premier League would invite all the clubs to participate in the scheduling process.

No matter how it was arranged, it was difficult to prevent clashes between top teams from clustering together!

From a commercial standpoint, the Premier League actually hoped for a clash of titans every week.

But in reality, it was impossible to schedule it that way.

It was inevitable that some of these major showdowns would be bunched up.

Take Bayswater Chinese, for example.

The third round was an away game against Manchester City, the fourth a home game against Chelsea, and the fifth an away game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Between the first two matches was a two-week international break, and between the latter two was a Champions League group stage match.

With a schedule like this, it was never going to be easy.

And then there was the most crucial Christmas period of every season.

This season’s Christmas schedule still consisted of three matches, with Bayswater Chinese playing two at home and one away.

The problem was, the last two games were at home against Liverpool and away against Chelsea.

And in January, they had to face Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City again.

Looking at this schedule, the intensity of the matches would certainly be high.

But frankly, Bayswater Chinese had no right to complain.

Because the other teams’ schedules were more or less the same.

For instance, Arsenal played Liverpool in the third round, Southampton in the fourth, Manchester City in the fifth, and Chelsea in the sixth.

Then they faced Bayswater Chinese in the ninth round, Manchester United in the tenth, Fulham in the eleventh, and Tottenham in the twelfth.

The other teams’ schedules were similar.

At most, Manchester United and Chelsea’s fixtures against top teams were slightly more spread out.

But overall, the pressure was pretty much the same for everyone.

Absolute fairness was impossible to achieve.

On a side note, this season’s Premier League season opener was to be held at Prudential Stadium.

August 18th, 3:00 PM.

Bayswater Chinese versus Swansea City.

The match would be broadcast live globally, so Yang Cheng paid special attention to it.

…

On the afternoon of August 18th, London’s Prudential Stadium.

The 12/13 Premier League season opener: Bayswater Chinese at home against Swansea City.

This was Michael Laudrup’s first official match as a manager in the Premier League.

Over the summer, Swansea had brought in several strong reinforcements, including Michu, significantly improving their overall strength.

Their transfer spending was funded by selling midfielder Joe Allen to Liverpool for a high price.

For the first round of the league, playing away against Bayswater Chinese, Swansea fielded all their key players.

Yang Cheng’s team, meanwhile, was fully prepared.

The four players who had participated in the Olympics had finally returned to the squad.

The return of Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, in particular, was a huge boost for Bayswater Chinese.

But for this match, Yang Cheng did not start both wingers.

He wanted to give Eden Hazard, who had performed exceptionally well over the past period, more opportunities.

This was also his way of balancing the dressing room.

While Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were away at the Olympics, Hazard had been brilliant throughout the entire summer training camp.

In this situation, it would be inappropriate to just cast Hazard aside the moment the English twin stars returned.

Not only would Hazard be upset, but other players seeing it would inevitably overthink things.

So, for this match, Yang Cheng only included Gareth Bale in the starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić ahead of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

This was another one of Yang Cheng’s experiments.

Gareth Bale could play on the right, and his physicality and strength were enough to compete with the opposing defenders up front.

So, the Welshman was moved to the right, leaving the left flank to Hazard and Marcelo.

This was also a strategic move.

It was, after all, the first match of the new season, and a home game at that.

That afternoon, ninety thousand fans flooded into Prudential Stadium, filling every seat.

The stunning double-sided circular screen, combined with the explosive sound system, meant that every Bayswater Chinese player emerging from the tunnel was greeted with thunderous cheers.

The atmosphere in the whole stadium far surpassed that of Wembley Stadium!

When Yang Cheng walked out of the tunnel, he too felt the fervent atmosphere.

The roof was open, but the acoustics were still incredibly focused, creating a truly explosive effect!

This made him breathe a sigh of relief.

As he walked towards the away team’s technical area to shake hands with Michael Laudrup, the legendary Danish player was full of praise for Prudential Stadium. “This is the most fantastic, most breathtaking stadium I have ever seen!”

“While I’m happy to hear you praise us like that, we won’t be holding back in the match because of it,” Yang Cheng joked after thanking him.

The Dane laughed heartily.

In truth, when it came to the match itself, both teams would rely on their own abilities.

Yang Cheng expressed that he was very much looking forward to Laudrup’s tenure at Swansea.

“The media always used to say that Yang Cheng wasn’t particularly easy to get along with, but now it feels like they were spreading rumors,” said Swansea’s assistant coach, Erik Larsen, who was sitting in the second seat, as he watched Yang Cheng walk away with a smile.

“He seems very graceful and treats people with great warmth. He even invited you for a drink after the match.”

Laudrup also felt quite flattered and nodded with a smile. “He’s in his thirties. He might have been a fan of mine back in the day!”

This slightly narcissistic comment made both Laudrup and Erik Larsen laugh.

But they dared not be complacent about Yang Cheng’s coaching ability, or the Bayswater Chinese team he managed.

“I don’t know why, but when I looked him in the eye, I had a very strange feeling.”

Laudrup gazed at Yang Cheng in front of the home team’s technical area, his brow furrowed in a solemn expression.

“What kind of feeling?”

“It was as if he could see right through all my plans, like I had no secrets at all.”

Erik Larsen was surprised. “That’s impossible, isn’t it? You’ve never coached in the Premier League before, and…”

Laudrup looked at his assistant and nodded self-deprecatingly. “Yeah, my coaching career hasn’t been that famous. The last time I got some recognition was when I was managing Getafe CF, and that was four or five years ago.”

His later stints in the Russian Premier League and coaching Mallorca in La Liga weren’t really considered successful.

Naturally, he wouldn’t have attracted much attention.

But this time, coaching Swansea, Laudrup had been given a lot of room to maneuver, and he had confidence in himself and the team.

Their strength was indeed not top-tier, but weaker teams often presented a greater test and, at the same time, a better showcase of a head coach’s skill.

“Our current tactical approach is different from my Getafe CF days, and Michu wasn’t a well-known player in La Liga. Logically, he shouldn’t know, right?” Erik Larsen said, trying to reassure him.

Laudrup nodded heavily.

Maybe.

It seemed just as Erik Larsen had said.

But for some reason, he still had the feeling of being in a crowded street, about to have his underwear pulled down.

I hope it’s just my imagination!

…

With a blast of referee Lee Probert’s whistle, amidst a deafening roar like mountains crying out and seas roaring from ninety thousand fans, the Premier League season opener officially began.

Right from the start, Bayswater Chinese pressed forward quickly, actively closing down Swansea’s midfield and defense.

The front three, including Hazard on his flank, were constantly applying pressure.

According to Laudrup’s strategy, even against a team far superior in strength like Bayswater Chinese, Swansea still hoped to stick to their possession-based passing game.

They aimed to stretch the opponent’s defense through passing and then penetrate to attack.

And the striker, Danny Graham, was not the key to Swansea’s goal-scoring.

The real trump card was Michu, lurking behind Graham.

But to Laudrup’s surprise, Yang Cheng seemed to have seen through this from the start.

During the match, both Graham and Michu were under tight marking from Bayswater Chinese.

On the other hand, it was Bayswater Chinese.

There was something very interesting about this match, something that Swansea found difficult to handle.

On the left flank, both Marcelo and Hazard were actively receiving the ball and pushing forward.

Gareth Bale being moved to the right was somewhat unexpected.

But the trust placed in Hazard and the role he played in the match were undoubtedly the most surprising aspects.

In the seventh minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half. Marcelo carried it forward to near the halfway line and passed to Hazard, who was on the left side of the center circle in Swansea’s half.

After receiving the ball, the Belgian used his technical skill to beat two Swansea defenders and drive into the center of the attacking third.

At this moment, Gareth Bale appeared at the bottom of the arc of the penalty area, while Lewandowski had moved to the left side of the arc.

After beating two players, Hazard was double-teamed upon entering the key area.

The Belgian then played a through ball to the feet of Gareth Bale at the edge of the arc.

With his back to the defender, the Welshman controlled the ball with his left foot, turned left, took a step horizontally, and sent a through ball behind the defense with his left foot.

The ball passed between Swansea’s two centre-backs and landed just outside the left corner of the six-yard box.

Lewandowski arrived at full tilt, meeting Bale’s pass with a power shot from his left foot that flew into the right side of Swansea’s goal.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a frenzy of passion in an instant!

Countless fans leaped from their seats, cheering and shouting with all their might!

Just seven minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had scored the opening goal!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese played with even more confidence.

After eight long years of a nomadic existence, the team finally had a home of its own, with the staunch support of ninety thousand fans.

All of this left everyone at Bayswater Chinese feeling incredibly satisfied and immensely proud.

In the first match of the new season, the players displayed a powerful and high-spirited fighting will.

Under these circumstances, let alone the fact that Danny Graham and Michu were tightly marked, even if they weren’t, Swansea could hardly compete with Bayswater Chinese under the sheer pressure of their superior strength.

After conceding, they managed to hold on for another ten-odd minutes.

In the twenty-third minute of the first half, they almost conceded again.

Lewandowski laid the ball off, and Toni Kroos, from the left side outside the box, sent a diagonal pass to the far post. Gareth Bale made a quick run forward, and his close-range header nearly breached Swansea’s goal again.

But in the thirty-fifth minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the halfway line, Modrić passed to Gareth Bale, who then played a through ball.

Lewandowski pulled out to the right flank to receive the ball, then turned while being double-teamed by two defenders and delivered a diagonal pass.

After making the pass, Gareth Bale made a diagonal run towards the center at incredible speed.

The Welshman’s sprinting speed was on full display in that moment; absolutely no one could stop him.

Gareth Bale burst into Swansea’s attacking third and knocked the ball towards the right side of the arc.

Facing Swansea’s centre-back and captain, Ashley Williams, who had tracked back in time, Gareth Bale suddenly accelerated, cutting inside horizontally and unleashing a powerful shot with his left foot.

The ball flew straight into the left side of Swansea’s goal.

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted once again!

Gareth Bale excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline to celebrate his goal.

2-0!

But Bayswater Chinese didn’t stop there.

In the forty-third minute of the first half, the team executed a brilliant piece of teamwork on the left flank.

As Hazard dribbled down the left, he was surrounded by three opposing defenders.

In the chaotic struggle, Hazard passed the ball to Lewandowski, who had pulled out to the left of the penalty area to support him.

The Pole was also tightly marked and couldn’t turn, forced to pass back to Marcelo.

Marcelo, thinking quickly, threaded a cross pass from between the players with his left foot to Gareth Bale, who was occupying the centre-forward position on the left side of the box.

After passing, Marcelo himself made a quick horizontal run, cutting inside, shouting Bale’s name while raising his hand for the ball.

The Welshman’s physical strength was outstanding. Even when marked closely by an opposing centre-back inside the penalty area, he held the ball steadily and delivered a pull-back to the area just outside the left corner of the box.

As Marcelo cut across, he was followed by two defenders, but he still got to the ball first, once again passing it back towards the left corner of the penalty area.

Lewandowski was also making a quick horizontal run and intercepted the ball just in front of where Bale was.

But with two defenders blocking the Polish centre-forward, there was no chance to shoot.

When Lewandowski got the ball, he seemed to ignore Gareth Bale, who was right beside him with his hand raised, and chose to dribble himself, trying to create a shooting angle by moving laterally.

This immediately put Swansea’s defenders on high alert, and they moved with him.

But to everyone’s surprise, Lewandowski suddenly played a through ball with his right foot, right into Bale’s path.

The Welshman chased it down and sent a low, flat cross with his left foot in front of the goal.

And Marcelo, who had just run horizontally to the left side of the arc, suddenly turned and charged forward, bursting into the center of the goalmouth.

Bale’s cross arrived perfectly at his feet.

Marcelo tapped it in with his left foot, sending the ball into the Swansea goal from point-blank range.

3-0!

The whole sequence sounds complicated, but in reality, it all happened in just a few seconds.

Four attacking players against six defenders.

Relying on their individual skill and teamwork, Bayswater Chinese broke through Swansea’s goal once more through continuous movement, changes of direction, and passing in an extremely tight space.

…

Ending the first half with a 3-0 lead, Yang Cheng was satisfied with how things had gone.

This was what he wanted to see from his team in a match.

The forwards could play with much more fluidity, making them even more unpredictable for the opposition.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage.

Laudrup’s team did not resort to defending with all their might but bravely took the initiative to attack.

However, in the fifty-second minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in their own half, Thiago Silva quickly passed to Hazard.

The Belgian took off with the ball, launching a counter-attack. He beat two defenders along the way, charged into Swansea’s attacking third, and played a through ball.

Near the arc, between Swansea’s two centre-backs, Lewandowski controlled Hazard’s pass with his side, used a feint to deceive centre-back Chico Flores, cut the ball to his right, and unleashed a curling shot with his right foot from inside the penalty arc.

The ball sailed into the top right corner of the goal.

4-0!

Even more unexpectedly, in the sixty-first minute, centre-back Williams, near his own penalty area, attempted a big clearance, only to have it blocked by a sideways Lewandowski.

The ball deflected off Lewandowski’s backside and rolled towards Hazard.

The Belgian immediately launched a counter-attack with the ball.

Lewandowski quickly made a run, cutting forward into the left side of the penalty area.

But Hazard, facing a double-team, used a series of feints to shake off the defenders, then suddenly changed direction, cutting towards the middle and playing a through ball to the right side of the arc.

Gareth Bale was sprinting at top speed, getting to Hazard’s pass before anyone else, then after a sudden stop, he accelerated again, dribbling into the right side of the box.

The stop-and-go move, which seems simple and something everyone can do, became incredibly dangerous when performed by Gareth Bale.

Flores was completely beaten by Bale’s powerful drive.

The Welshman charged into the right side of the penalty area and smashed a shot with his right foot, sending the ball into Swansea’s goal once again.

5-0!

All the fans in the stadium were ecstatic!

They never would have imagined that in the first match of the new season, the first Premier League match at their new stadium, Bayswater Chinese would unleash such a crazy massacre!

On the sidelines, Michael Laudrup was clearly stunned.

Before the match, he had anticipated it would be very difficult and that they would likely lose. He was even mentally prepared to lose by two or three goals.

But once the game started, he found that Swansea’s defense was completely incapable of stopping Bayswater Chinese.

He had deployed Jonathan de Guzmán as a holding midfielder, hoping to increase possession and passing ability.

But in the end, that double pivot was utterly powerless against Bayswater Chinese.

Especially on the counter-attack, they were picked apart with deadly precision.

Swansea had focused on marking Toni Kroos and Modrić, but Hazard played more centrally and closer to the midfield.

As a result, whenever the team counter-attacked, Hazard was always able to get the ball first.

Once the Belgian was on the ball, he was simply unstoppable.

…

After going up by five goals, Yang Cheng decided to call it a day and made some substitutions.

Specifically, in the seventy-fifth minute, he brought on the youngster Sterling for Gareth Bale.

The Welshman had scored a brace in the Olympic final a week ago.

In this match, he scored another brace.

This showed that Gareth Bale was indeed in excellent form.

But what was even more unexpected was that after Sterling came on, in the eightieth minute, Harry Kane dropped deep, laid the ball off to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder launched a long pass over the top of the defense from deep.

Sterling was seen making a quick forward run, reaching the ball near the arc and the edge of the penalty area, and bringing it down from mid-air.

That first touch was a display of considerable skill!

Sterling not only brought the ball down but also used his body to shield it from the pursuing Williams, before slotting it into the Swansea goal.

6-0!

In the end, this scoreline held until the final whistle!

With Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski both scoring braces, and goals from Marcelo and Sterling, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Swansea 6-0 at home!

This was not only the opening match of the 12/13 Premier League season but also the first-ever Premier League match at Prudential Stadium!

Bayswater Chinese’s demolition of Swansea left all the fans in attendance completely captivated.

When Yang Cheng met Laudrup after the match, he felt a bit awkward.

Because his players had been a little too ruthless on the pitch.

Fortunately, Laudrup didn’t mention the match at all. The two had a drink together, and that was that.

…

After the first round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese, with their 6-0 thrashing, topped the league table!

This once again showed everyone that even after selling two core players, Vincent Kompany and Di María, Bayswater Chinese was still the same terrifying, top-tier team with its tide-like offense that struck fear into opponents!

But the other teams were not so lucky.

Being the first round of the league, many teams did not perform ideally.

Arsenal drew 0-0 at home against Sunderland.

Strictly speaking, this couldn’t be called an upset.

After all, the Gunners didn’t lose.

Chelsea, on the other hand, won, beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 away.

Manchester City secured a narrow 4-2 victory at home against Southampton.

On a side note, former Bayswater Chinese player Rickie Lambert started in that match and scored a goal.

Yang Cheng had also paid attention to this game.

Although they were missing centre-back José Fonte compared to Yang Cheng’s previous life, Southampton was still a very strong team.

Players like Schneiderlin, Clyne, Adam Lallana, Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez, and Rickie Lambert all performed quite well.

The reason Manchester City’s victory was narrow was that the two teams had an end-to-end game for the first seventy minutes.

Manchester City led by two goals in the first half, but Southampton pulled two back in the second.

It wasn’t until Ancelotti brought on Ibrahimović that the game turned.

The Blue Moons scored two more goals after the eightieth minute to win 4-2.

But Liverpool and Manchester United were not so fortunate.

The Reds played away against West Bromwich Albion and lost 0-1.

West Bromwich Albion defeated the Reds with a penalty kick.

Daniel Agger conceded the penalty for a foul in the box and was also sent off with a red card.

Manchester United, meanwhile, lost 0-1 away to Everton.

Having finished fourth last season, Manchester United had to play in the Champions League preliminary qualifying round, with the first leg next Wednesday.

So, Ferguson had held back a bit in this match.

After all, qualifying for the Champions League group stage was the most important thing at the moment.

Unexpectedly, Manchester United suffered an unexpected defeat, outmaneuvered by David Moyes’ Everton away from home.

Yang Cheng himself found it somewhat surprising.

Moyes’ Everton played with incredible ferocity against Manchester United!

It seemed Moyes was truly eager to inherit Ferguson’s mantle!

After the first round, Bayswater Chinese received widespread praise.

Whether it was Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, or Hazard, they all displayed a brilliant level of performance.

Especially the Belgian.

On the pitch, he created a threat almost every time he touched the ball.

…

A week later, the second round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Norwich.

After their 6-0 victory over Swansea in the first round put them at the top of the table, Yang Cheng’s team, following a week of rest, still showed excellent form.

And Yang Cheng’s signature opening blitz tactic worked its magic once again.

Facing Norwich’s 4-4-2 formation, Yang Cheng’s team took the initiative.

Just sixty-five seconds into the game, the front three combined for another spectacular play.

After Marcelo surged forward on the left, Hazard dribbled to the left corner of Norwich’s penalty area.

At this point, Lewandowski pulled wide to support Hazard, but Gareth Bale suddenly appeared in the center.

Hazard spotted the opportunity and played a through ball into the left side of the box.

The Welshman ran over quickly to receive it, but the opposing centre-back, Leon Barnett, stuck to him tightly, preventing him from facing the goal directly.

In this situation, after controlling the ball, Gareth Bale immediately turned his back to the goal and laid the ball off with his left foot to the edge of the box.

Lewandowski took the ball sideways, shook off his defender, broke into the arc, and fired a low shot with his right foot into the bottom right corner of the goal.

1-0!

After taking an early lead, Bayswater Chinese played with more composure.

And in the twenty-fourth minute, Lewandowski had another chance after dribbling into the box, where he was fouled by Barnett and fell, but the referee did not award a penalty.

Instead, the Norwich players relentlessly pressured the referee, claiming Lewandowski had dived.

But the referee, Mike Jones, ignored them.

“The slow-motion replay shows that it was indeed a foul. Barnett clearly used his elbow to push Lewandowski,” the commentator noted.

“The referee was obviously trying to balance the game. He must be cursing the Norwich players in his head.”

“‘I’ve already made it so obvious by not giving them a penalty, and you still want me to book him for diving?’”

“‘You might as well take the whistle and referee it yourselves, haha…’”

But this decision fired up everyone at Bayswater Chinese.

Especially Lewandowski.

He had been elbowed in the chest, fallen, missed a golden opportunity to score, and didn’t even get a penalty.

In the thirty-seventh minute of the first half, Lewandowski saw his chance. As Barnett took possession, he suddenly burst out from behind, getting to the ball first and stealing it.

After winning the ball, Lewandowski turned and charged forward. As he entered the penalty area, facing the other centre-back, Iain Turner, Lewandowski executed a skillful feint, shook off Turner, and shot directly.

The ball was once again sent into the bottom left corner of the goal by Lewandowski.

2-0!

A brace!

A brace for the second consecutive match!

Lewandowski was almost delirious with joy!

After conceding two quick goals, Norwich’s morale took a major hit, but playing at home, they fought hard to turn the tide.

Especially after the second half began, they even launched a surprise blitz.

Striker Steve Morison broke into the right side of the box and crossed, and Andrew Surman at the far post knocked the ball back in front of the goal.

Robert Snodgrass got a foot to it in front of goal, sending the ball into the net from close range.

Courtois’s goal had been breached!

1-2!

This sent the entire Carrow Road stadium into a frenzy!

Nearly thirty thousand fans were cheering wildly, roaring on Norwich.

Sky Sports was also surprised, and even seemed to be stirring up trouble.

“Last season, Bayswater Chinese didn’t concede a goal until the sixth round, and they only conceded nine goals all season.”

“But this season is only in its second round, and Yang Cheng’s team has already conceded in the league.”

“We can only say that after letting Kompany go, Bayswater Chinese’s overall defensive level has clearly declined compared to last season, even with Thiago Silva and Pepe starting together in this match.”

Luckily Yang Cheng didn’t hear that, or he would have probably given them a thumbs up on the spot.

Sky Sports, you guys really know your journalism!

Conceding a goal in defense, isn’t that perfectly normal?

How could they read so much into it?

Besides, what’s wrong with conceding one goal?

Just three minutes after conceding, Hazard broke through on the left and played a through ball into the left side of the penalty area.

Lewandowski made a diagonal run into the left side of the box to receive the ball and first took a shot with his left foot after turning.

But the shot was blocked by Turner.

It was Lewandowski who got to the rebound first. Facing Turner, he suddenly accelerated and sent a low pass across the front of the goal.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt and converted with a power shot from his left foot on the edge of the six-yard box.

3-1!

Yang Cheng’s players all rushed off the pitch in excitement, sprinting to celebrate the goal.

They had extended their lead again just three minutes after conceding.

This time, even Sky Sports had to admit.

“Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower is indeed stronger than last season!”

“Lewandowski is as outstanding as ever, and Gareth Bale’s ability to seize opportunities has also clearly improved.”

“Especially after he moved to the right wing, his weaker left foot has been particularly impressive.”

In the fifty-seventh minute, Modrić delivered a diagonal pass.

Lewandowski controlled the ball on the left side of the penalty arc, calmly facing Turner. After a series of dribbles, he suddenly unleashed a curling shot.

Although Turner turned to block it, the ball skimmed past his shoulder, curved through the air, and flew into the top right corner of Norwich’s goal.

4-1!

Hat-trick!

Lewandowski was in astonishing form!

The league had only just begun, and after scoring a brace in the first round, he had now scored a hat-trick in the second!

Five goals in two matches!

At this moment, the entire stadium fell silent!

The goal they pulled back at the start of the second half had given Norwich hope.

But Bayswater Chinese had quickly and ruthlessly snatched all that hope away.

At the same time, it dealt a heavy blow to their confidence and morale.

At the very least, they now saw clearly that when both teams had ample time to prepare and were fully ready, the gap between them and Bayswater Chinese was just so vast!

In the sixty-eighth minute, Modrić and Gareth Bale combined for a brilliant play on the right.

First, Modrić played a through ball behind the defensive line into the right side of the penalty area.

The Welshman made a quick forward run, getting to the ball before anyone else.

But centre-back Barnett had already arrived in time to block Bale’s shooting angle.

The Welshman was forced to take the ball out of the penalty area before passing back to Modrić, who had made a late run to the right side of the box.

The Croatian’s coolly taken shot deflected off Barnett, who had dived for a self-sacrificing block, and changed direction, veering into the Norwich goal.

Goalkeeper John Ruddy had already anticipated the angle of Modrić’s shot but didn’t expect the ball to hit his teammate and change course.

In the end, he was powerless.

5-1!

This scoreline also held until the end of the match.

Thanks to a hat-trick from Lewandowski, Bayswater Chinese defeated Norwich 5-1 away from home!

…

After the second round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese continued to hold the top spot in the league table with two consecutive wins, eleven goals scored, and one conceded.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese had shown an unstoppable momentum since the start of the season.

This shocked not only the Premier League but the entire European football world.

Of course, many in the media believed that Bayswater Chinese’s current performance was similar to last season’s.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had scored nine goals and conceded none in the first two rounds.

This season, they had scored eleven and conceded one.

But looking at the flow of the games, last season was arguably better.

Yang Cheng refuted this claim.

He believed the team’s overall performance was better than last season’s.

As for conceding a goal, that was a perfectly normal thing.

“We should see that in this summer’s transfer market, the twenty Premier League clubs have far greater purchasing power than those in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A. This has led to a leap in the overall quality of Premier League teams.”

“In terms of marginal effect, the improvement for mid-to-lower table teams is the greatest.”

The top clubs at the very peak improved more slowly and required more investment.

Conversely, for mid-to-lower table teams, the players they signed didn’t have exorbitant transfer fees, but the improvement in the team’s strength was very noticeable.

Take Swansea, for example.

In the first round, Swansea suffered a crushing 0-6 defeat away to Bayswater Chinese.

Everyone was saying that Laudrup’s team was likely to be relegated.

In fact, after the first round, they were bottom of the table.

But what happened?

In this round, playing at home against West Ham United, Michu scored one and assisted another, helping Swansea to a 3-0 victory.

This was what Yang Cheng meant by the improvement and progress of mid-to-lower table teams.

And in the first round, Everton’s upset win over Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion’s upset over Liverpool, and Sunderland’s away draw with Arsenal.

All these signs proved that the strength of the mid-to-lower table teams in the Premier League had significantly improved.

Why was this happening?

The answer was obvious.

This season was the final year of the three-year broadcasting contract.

Starting next season, under the new three-year broadcasting deal, even the team that finished last would receive over sixty million pounds a year.

In other words, the bottom-placed team in the 13/14 season would earn more in broadcasting fees than the current league champions!

Just imagine, every Premier League team would be going crazy to avoid relegation!

Any team at risk of relegation, if they had any means at all, would fight with all their might, even going to great lengths to find money to buy players and improve their squad.

So, this season’s Premier League title race hadn’t even started yet.

But the new season’s relegation battle had already reached a fever pitch.

All the teams at risk of relegation were fighting for their lives.

Just look at Fulham. In this round, playing away at Manchester United, after taking an early lead, they were pegged back by three Manchester United goals. But for the entire second half, Fulham was pressing Manchester United.

And Stoke City, who had successfully avoided relegation last season, once again held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at home.

Wenger’s team had now started the league season with two consecutive draws.

And both were 0-0!

Looking at the matches, although Arsenal didn’t play exceptionally well, they certainly weren’t bad.

In both games, they were simply held at bay by opponents who defended their goal with all their might.

This showed just how brutal the competition in the Premier League had become this season.

An income of over sixty million pound sterling!

That was even higher than the valuation of many Premier League clubs!

Under these circumstances, how could they not give it their all?

The league had only just begun, but the Premier League had gone completely wild!

Chapter 263: The Bale-De Bruyne Connection! That Sublime Outside-of-the-Boot Pass! A Slap in UEFA’s Face!

On the evening of August 28th, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Matchday 3 of the Premier League: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City away.

Due to the UEFA Super Cup match at Monaco’s Stade Louis II on August 31st, two Premier League Matchday 3 fixtures had to be moved forward.

They were Bayswater Chinese versus Machester City, and Chelsea playing host to Reading.

On August 25th, Manchester City had just drawn 2-2 away at Liverpool. With only a two-day rest, they immediately had to face Bayswater Chinese, and at home no less.

Ancelotti felt helpless in the face of such a schedule.

Neither club wanted to postpone the match further, as it would create even more scheduling headaches down the line.

Manchester City had just played Liverpool, and Bayswater Chinese had to play Chelsea on Friday night. Therefore, for this Tuesday night game, both teams made significant squad rotations.

The home side, Manchester City, adjusted their lineup.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Rodwell, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré formed a trio of holding midfielders, with David Silva playing in front of them;

Forwards: Agüero and Ibrahimović.

Bayswater Chinese also made several rotational changes.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Luke Shaw, José Fonte, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Compared to the previous two league matches, Yang Cheng rotated players in multiple positions. However, Eden Hazard had been in excellent form this season, while Walcott and Matić were previously established starters.

Aaron Ramsey’s past performances had also consistently earned the approval of Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

The continuous run of clashes between top teams forced Yang Cheng to make these rotations.

From the kick-off, both sides engaged in a fierce battle for the ball.

The pace of the game was incredibly fast, yet frequently interrupted by fouls.

Bayswater Chinese still aimed to control possession and penetrate Manchester City’s defense with an opening blitz.

The Blue Moons, on the other hand, hoped to create attacking threats through aggressive pressing and swift counter-attacks.

The strategies of both teams were evident right from the start.

In the 16th minute, Hazard suddenly burst forward, dribbling past two Manchester City defenders before being tripped by Jérôme Boateng as he entered the left side of the penalty area.

The head referee had a clear view and awarded a penalty kick, also showing Boateng a yellow card.

Hazard stepped up to the spot. Facing the goal calmly, he took a short run-up and sent the ball into the bottom-right corner.

Joe Hart dived the wrong way.

1-0!

But just nine minutes later, outside the right corner of the box, Yaya Touré received a pass from David Silva and delivered a diagonal cross into the area.

Inside the box, Ibrahimović used his body to shield the ball from Pepe, controlled it with his chest, flicked it over José Fonte, and fired a close-range power shot past Courtois.

1-1!

Then, in the 30th minute, just five minutes after Ibrahimović’s goal, Agüero dribbled past players on the edge of the area, drawing a foul from Pepe who had come up to press. This gave Manchester City a free kick in a very promising position.

It was the perfect stage for Pirlo.

The Italian coolly struck a dipping free kick, sending the ball precisely into the net.

2-1!

Manchester City had turned it around!

After that, Manchester City played much more cautiously, their defend and counter-attack stance becoming clearer.

Ancelotti was clearly hoping to lure Bayswater Chinese forward.

Then, he could use Pirlo’s long passes, Ibrahimović’s presence as a target man up front, and the second-wave attacks from David Silva and Agüero to strike at Bayswater Chinese.

This approach was quite similar to the one they used in a Community Shield match.

From this, it was clear that Ancelotti had more or less settled on Manchester City’s tactics for the new season.

In the subsequent period of the match, both teams were locked in a stalemate.

Just before halftime, Bayswater Chinese had another chance and almost scored.

It came from Hazard cutting inside from the left with the ball. After shaking off Yaya Touré, he played a diagonal pass over the top to the right side of the box. Walcott made a quick run onto it and sent a low cross into the middle.

If it had been a header, Giroud would have likely scored.

Unfortunately, Walcott played a ground pass, and Giroud, caught between the two centre-backs Kompany and Boateng, hit the ball wide.

After the break, the second half largely continued in the same tactical vein as the first.

Hazard was the most dangerous player on the pitch, making Manchester City’s backline nervous every time he had the ball.

The most threatening moment came in the 62nd minute, again from a pass by Hazard, which gave Aaron Ramsey a chance for a long shot while completely unmarked.

The Welsh midfielder unleashed a furious strike. The ball dipped with plenty of power, but it struck the crossbar.

In the 64th minute, Hazard attempted a chip shot in the box from a Luke Shaw cross on the left, but it was blocked by Kompany.

…

“Walcott is not in good form tonight.”

In front of the away team’s dugout, Brian Kidd reminded Yang Cheng.

“Leighton Baines knows him very well and is marking him tightly. He’s not getting many opportunities.”

Yang Cheng had noticed it too.

Walcott was not the kind of player who could break through a defense with individual skill alone.

On the contrary, he excelled at interchanging runs and finishing in front of goal.

His crossing from the right flank was also very threatening.

But under tight marking, Walcott struggled to make an impact.

This in itself was what set him apart from Gareth Bale.

Of course, Walcott scoring nineteen goals in the Premier League last season was no fluke.

Manchester City was employing a three-man holding midfield in this match, often with two players surrounding Walcott.

In a one-on-one situation, especially on the wing, Walcott would have already made his mark.

Only a defense like Manchester City’s could be confident of containing The Little Tiger.

“What now?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

“Substitutions!”

Bayswater Chinese immediately made their move.

Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski came on.

Matić and Walcott were taken off.

After the changes, Gareth Bale still played on the right, with Giroud and Lewandowski in the center. Bayswater Chinese’s formation now resembled a 4-4-2 with two strikers.

This signaled that Yang Cheng intended to further strengthen the attack.

At the same time, during a break in play, Yang Cheng called Modrić over to the touchline for some detailed instructions.

His main point was that the team’s zone of possession was pushed too far forward.

This was compressing Manchester City’s defensive shape, which was actually detrimental to their attack.

“Drop back a bit more. You and Aaron Ramsey should position yourselves near the bottom of the center circle.”

Yang Cheng gave a very specific instruction.

Modrić nodded emphatically.

“Remember, start by attacking the left flank first, understand?”

Modrić understood what Yang Cheng meant.

…

In the 70th minute, Yang Cheng made his two substitutions.

Leading by a goal, Manchester City remained cautious and made no changes.

Ancelotti was satisfied with his team’s defensive performance since the start of the match.

Rodwell had been excellent at Everton, and he had put in a satisfactory performance since joining Manchester City.

Overall, there wasn’t much that needed adjusting.

But Ancelotti still walked to the touchline to remind his players to stay focused.

Yang Cheng’s touchline management was no joke!

After the restart, however, Bayswater continued to attack down Hazard’s side.

It seemed that the only changes were taking off a defensive midfielder and replacing the underperforming Walcott.

As for Lewandowski and Gareth Bale, Ancelotti was sure Yang Cheng had planned this in advance.

If the situation was unfavorable, he’d bring them on; if they were leading, they probably would have stayed on the bench.

In the 82nd minute, Luke Shaw passed the ball to Hazard, who attempted to break through but was intercepted by Yaya Touré, who also brought the Belgian down.

But the referee did not call a foul.

Yaya Touré immediately drove forward with the ball and passed it to David Silva ahead.

But before David Silva could control the ball, Aaron Ramsey suddenly appeared, sliding in to tackle the ball away.

Luke Shaw tracked back quickly, getting to the ball first and passing it to José Fonte.

Manchester City quickly initiated a counter-press in the attacking third.

Fonte passed it back to Pepe at the bottom of the center circle in their own half, who then distributed it to Piszczek on the right side of the halfway line.

Through a series of one-touch passes, Manchester City’s forward press was rendered ineffective, and they had to retreat into their own half.

As soon as Piszczek received the ball, he saw Modrić running to the right side to ask for it.

The Pole immediately passed to Modrić.

The Croatian controlled the ball, turned, and slowly dribbled forward.

By this time, Manchester City’s defensive shape was mostly set, but because Bayswater Chinese had the ball relatively deep, their defensive line was pushed quite high up.

Even their centre-backs were positioned outside the arc of the penalty area.

As Modrić glanced up and saw the positioning of the Manchester City defenders, a flash of inspiration hit him.

This was why Yang Cheng wanted him to pull the zone of possession back!

Only by dropping deeper would Manchester City’s defensive line naturally push forward.

And only then would the opportunity arise!

As this thought flashed through his mind, it was as if Modrić suddenly understood many things at once.

He had been dribbling slowly, but now he suddenly accelerated. With the outside of his left foot, he pushed the ball forward and to his left, immediately changing direction towards the center, as if he intended to link up with players in the middle.

This instinctively made Rodwell shift closer to Pirlo in the center.

Everyone knew that defending was Pirlo’s weakness.

Since Yaya Touré often made forward runs, protecting Pirlo was one of Rodwell’s most important duties.

But just as Rodwell moved, Modrić, who was dribbling at speed, suddenly played a through ball with the outside of his right boot.

At that moment, everyone thought Modrić was heading for the middle.

Even Giroud was already dropping back to receive the ball.

Hazard was also preparing to move closer for a link-up.

But unexpectedly, Modrić played a sudden outside-of-the-boot through ball, sending it straight past Rodwell, between Kompany and Leighton Baines, and into the right side of the penalty area.

That sublime outside-of-the-boot pass came completely out of the blue!

But Gareth Bale had played with Modrić for years and had already read the signal. He started his run in time, getting around Leighton Baines and sprinting from the edge of the box towards the byline on the right side.

The pass was so sudden and fast that it caught the defenders completely off guard.

But precisely for that reason, it was very difficult to control, heading straight for the byline.

Gareth Bale sprinted with all his might, chasing it down at top speed.

Just before the ball went out of play, he arrived at full tilt and poked it back with his right foot, directing it towards the center of the penalty area.

In the middle, Lewandowski arrived at full tilt on the left side of the goal. Meeting the ball Bale had poked back, he guided it into the left side of Manchester City’s net with a right-footed push.

“Goal!!!”

“In the 82nd minute, Bayswater Chinese score again!”

“The substitute Gareth Bale assists Lewandowski, who breaches Manchester City’s goal.”

“2-2!”

“The two sides are back on level terms!”

…

After successfully equalizing, Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage, continuing their assault on Manchester City.

Just four minutes later, Gareth Bale received a through ball from Modrić on the right. He controlled it with his left foot, cutting past Leighton Baines, then used his body to hold off the English left-back before cutting inside. Just before Kompany could close him down, he suddenly unleashed a long shot with his left foot.

The ball curled in an elegant arc but struck the left post and rebounded back into the penalty area.

Giroud, following up for the rebound, unfortunately, hit the ball over the bar.

A collective gasp echoed through the Etihad Stadium!

“That’s the second time Bayswater Chinese has hit the woodwork tonight!”

“Aaron Ramsey also hit the post earlier.”

“Gareth Bale’s shot, cutting in from the right and shooting with his left foot, was incredibly dangerous.”

“What a shame, he was just inches away!”

In the final minutes of the match, Manchester City were mostly on the back foot, defending passively.

But despite a period of sustained attack, Bayswater Chinese couldn’t break through Manchester City’s goal again.

In the end, the two teams settled for a 2-2 draw.

Both Yang Cheng and Ancelotti were very dissatisfied with the result.

Especially Yang Cheng.

Two shots against the woodwork in one game was just terrible luck.

And then there was the defense.

The last time Bayswater Chinese had conceded two goals in a league match was back in May 2011.

That was nearly fifteen months ago.

Although José Fonte was a decent centre-back incubator, worked diligently in training, and was a great presence in the dressing room, his overall quality was indeed a bit lacking.

According to Yang Cheng’s assessment, he was at best a starter for a lower-mid-table Premier League team.

At a top club, he was still missing something.

The rotation of three world-class centre-backs like last season, on the other hand, was pure bliss!

Of course, considering the huge fee they got for Kompany, Yang Cheng still thought it was worth it!

…

After the midweek Premier League match, Yang Cheng and his team rested briefly in London before heading to Monaco without stopping.

However, the team did not attend the Champions League group stage draw and the UEFA Best Player in Europe award ceremony held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on the evening of the 30th.

Although Platini and Infantino had both called Yang Cheng, he had turned them down, citing the UEFA Super Cup match the next day.

His excuse was perfectly valid: the team was not in good form after drawing with Manchester City.

But the real reason was that Yang Cheng was furious!

None of the Bayswater Chinese players had won an award.

They didn’t even make the top three.

This was completely ludicrous!

While Yang Cheng was still in London, UEFA announced that the top three for this year’s Best Player in Europe award were Iniesta, Messi, and C. Ronaldo.

Yang Cheng specifically gave an interview to the media to express his extreme dissatisfaction with the result.

“We won the Treble last season—the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup. I don’t understand why none of our players could make the top three!”

Although the final rankings hadn’t been decided yet, missing out on the top three was missing out on the top three.

Countless media outlets and fans also expressed their dismay on behalf of Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and even Modrić, arguing that they all deserved to be named the best player in Europe.

At the very least, a top-three finish was a certainty.

Last year, Bayswater Chinese had also won a treble, but they could be denied a top-three spot with the excuse that they hadn’t won the Champions League.

But what about now?

The day before the award ceremony, UEFA held a special press conference to clarify the voting results.

The votes were cast by football journalists from 53 countries and regions. Each journalist cast five votes, with the first choice receiving five points, the second four, and so on.

“We can see that of the Bayswater Chinese players, the highest-ranked was Lewandowski, in 7th place.”

Why did this happen?

The answer was the European Championship!

2012 was a European Championship year, and the voting for the Best Player in Europe award took place after the tournament. This led many journalists to favor players who had performed well at the Euros.

Therefore, Iniesta, Xavi, Casillas, and Pirlo were ranked higher.

Although Lewandowski participated in the European Championship, Poland’s performance was dreadful.

Gareth Bale didn’t even participate in the tournament.

This led to the Bayswater Chinese players once again suffering a major setback in this year’s Best Player in Europe award voting.

So why were C. Ronaldo and Messi in the top three?

For one, C. Ronaldo had a good European Championship with Portugal.

Moreover, these two superstars had produced incredible goal-scoring statistics over the past season.

Messi scored 50 goals and provided 16 assists in the league; C. Ronaldo scored 46 goals.

They were, without a doubt, two absolute goal-scoring machines.

Therefore, as the best-performing players in European football, they were selected for the top three.

But this explanation was clearly unsatisfactory.

Especially with Lewandowski ranked 7th, Gareth Bale 8th, and Modrić 10th.

Upon arriving in Monaco with his team, Yang Cheng once again expressed his disappointment with this year’s Best Player in Europe award.

“It’s unimaginable that an award that claims to be the most authoritative and rigorous in professional football would ignore the only Treble winner in European football last season, and such an outstanding one at that!”

“Where is the authority? And where is the rigor?”

At the same time, Yang Cheng needed to comfort his own players.

From the looks of it, propping up La Liga while suppressing the Premier League was UEFA’s core strategy now and for the next few years.

They would not allow the Premier League to continue its dominance.

Furthermore, the Spanish Football Federation president, Villar, was also a UEFA Vice-Chairman and a FIFA Vice-Chairman.

To some extent, building up Real Madrid and Barça as La Liga’s big two, and crafting the C. Ronaldo versus Messi rivalry as one of the two all-conquering titans of his generation, was a core strategy for Spanish football.

With the Premier League being so strong, how much less glamorous would Real Madrid and Barça be without C. Ronaldo and Messi?

But in the end, the award went to the European Championship winner, Iniesta!

In the Champions League group stage draw, Bayswater Chinese, as a top-seeded team, drew Dynamo Kyiv from Pot 2, with their two matches scheduled for matchdays three and four.

This meant Bayswater Chinese would have to travel to Kyiv in early November.

An absolute nightmare!

From Pot 3, they drew Ligue 1’s Paris Saint-Germain.

And from Pot 4, they drew Borussia Dortmund.

Upon hearing this result, Yang Cheng was not in a good mood.

Clearly, no one wanted to see the Premier League, especially Bayswater Chinese, defend their Champions League title.

To date, the only team to successfully defend the Champions League title was Bayswater Chinese.

And even after selling Kompany and Di María, the top three betting companies unanimously agreed that the current Bayswater Chinese team was still the overwhelming favorite.

Besides Bayswater Chinese’s bad luck in the draw, Manchester City’s luck wasn’t great either, as they were drawn against Real Madrid.

The Blue Moons’ main problem was their low European competition coefficient points, which relegated them to Pot 2, leading to the draw against Real Madrid.

However, Manchester United and Arsenal both received very favorable draws.

So, the overall draw for the Premier League teams was a mixed bag.

…

On the evening of August 31st, at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

The UEFA Super Cup, Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

The head referee from Slovenia, Damir Skomina, held the silver whistle to his lips, his eyes fixed on his watch as he counted down the seconds in his mind.

Both opposing teams were already in formation.

Chelsea would kick off.

Roberto Di Matteo lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Cahill, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Lampard and Ramires played deep, with Prince William, Sneijder, and Eto’o ahead of them;

Forward: Falcao.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and De Bruyne in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Pepe once again wore the Captain’s armband.

So far this season, he was the only player on the team to have played every single minute of every match.

This made him feel the trust of his head coach, Yang Cheng.

And for this match, everyone was holding in a bellyful of fire they wanted to unleash.

So, before the game, he had specially gathered everyone in a circle for a rallying cry.

At this moment, Pepe stared straight ahead.

In the center circle, Falcao and Eto’o were ready to kick off.

Both sides were on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Pepe silently counted down in his head.

One… two… three…

When the sharp whistle blew, Pepe shouted loudly, “Go on, push up!”

“Press forward, mark your man, go, go, go!”

His teammates instantly charged forward like a pack of wolves.

The front three, in particular, were the first to storm towards Chelsea’s defensive third.

The ball had just reached Lampard’s feet when Lewandowski was already closing in on him, forcing the English midfielder to pass back.

But Bayswater Chinese continued to press forward.

Amidst the roar of over fourteen thousand fans at Stade Louis II, Bayswater Chinese immediately cranked up the intensity on Chelsea from the very start, especially with their pressing in midfield and attack.

Just thirteen seconds in, possession changed hands.

Faced with the wolf-like Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea struggled to keep the ball.

Di Matteo had not expected Yang Cheng’s team to press so ferociously right from the kick-off.

The Italian gestured frantically from the sidelines, signaling his team to push their defensive line up and not let the opponent control the ball and tempo so easily.

At the same time, they couldn’t allow the ball to be passed around too much in their own half.

But the collective pressure from Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and attack left Chelsea’s players feeling completely disoriented.

The match had only been going for 2 minutes and 13 seconds when Chelsea attempted a through ball from the back, trying to find Ramires. The Brazilian midfielder’s first touch was poor, and he failed to control the ball.

Toni Kroos intercepted it first, using his body to shield it from the closing Ramires, and quickly played a through ball with his right foot.

The ball was delivered precisely to the feet of Gareth Bale on the edge of the box.

After receiving the ball, the Welshman saw Ivanović rushing towards him. He pushed the ball forward, dug his feet into the ground, and sprinted ahead at incredible speed.

Ivanović was wary of this move and immediately stuck close to him.

But the Welshman’s pace was simply too fast. He forced open a gap and delivered a low, driven cross with his left foot.

The ball passed right between Cahill and goalkeeper Čech, rolling towards the front of the six-yard box on the right.

When Gareth Bale started his run, Lewandowski was still inside the arc of the penalty area, but he didn’t immediately accelerate to follow.

Because in front of him were both Cahill and Terry.

Like a hound with a keen sense of smell, Lewandowski saw Cahill shifting towards the left flank to help Ivanović, while Terry also moved slightly towards the center. He shouted to Gareth Bale and quickly darted behind Terry, making a run towards the far post.

The moment Gareth Bale crossed the ball, Terry sensed the danger and reacted instantly.

If he were a few years younger, Terry certainly could have caught up.

But the Chelsea captain was now 31, and his physical abilities had indeed declined sharply in recent years.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, was in his prime, young and strong. His run from behind Terry made it impossible to defend.

Once the Pole got going, he even threw his entire body forward into a sliding tackle, redirecting Gareth Bale’s cross into the left side of Chelsea’s goal.

Čech had just moved from the left post toward the center, but this shot went right back to the left, leaving the Czech master goalkeeper completely helpless.

1-0!

Less than three minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had already broken the deadlock!

But what terrified the Chelsea players and staff even more was that after the restart, that damned Pepe wearing the captain’s armband was shouting again.

“Quick, quick, keep going!”

The Portuguese centre-back relentlessly urged his teammates to keep pressing forward, to keep applying pressure.

This drove the Chelsea players to despair!

They had already scored and were leading, yet they were still playing this hard?

And then, in the 9th minute, De Bruyne ran to the right side to receive a pass from Kyle Walker, then passed it to Walcott ahead of him.

When The Little Tiger received the ball on the right flank, he was facing his national teammate Ashley Cole and couldn’t get past him.

De Bruyne quickly made a run forward through the half-space, raising his hand for the ball.

Walcott passed it horizontally to De Bruyne.

After controlling the ball in the open half-space, the Belgian saw Lewandowski pull out to the right side of the penalty area. He immediately sent a cross pass, pointed forward with his hand, and continued his sprint.

Lewandowski understood perfectly and played a ball in behind for him, then turned and ran forward himself.

De Bruyne quickly caught up to it and delivered a diagonal pass with his right foot to the left corner of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale once again sprinted forward at top speed, met De Bruyne’s diagonal pass, and chipped a cross to the center with his left foot.

The ball traced a parabola before dropping towards the middle of the six-yard box.

At that moment, Lewandowski, who had just combined with De Bruyne, arrived at full tilt. Beating Cahill and Terry to the ball, he met the dropping football with a powerful header, smashing it into the right side of Chelsea’s goal.

2-0!

Čech was utterly frustrated!

For the first goal, he was moving from the left side of the goal towards the center, only for Lewandowski’s sliding shot to go to the left.

Now, he was moving from the center to the left, and Lewandowski’s header went to the right.

Was this bastard doing it on purpose?

Did he think Čech was made of clay?

After conceding two goals, Čech immediately showed the form of a world-class goalkeeper.

In the 12th minute, he made a one-handed save to his side to deny a close-range shot from Lewandowski, neutralizing an almost certain goal.

But in the 19th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back near the halfway line.

As De Bruyne drove forward with the ball, he spotted a very subtle gap in Chelsea’s defense and sent a diagonal pass over the top from the right half-space.

The pass was as sharp as a scalpel, cutting through Chelsea’s skin.

It traveled diagonally from the right half-space outside the box to near the left corner of the six-yard box.

And just as everyone was wondering, Gareth Bale suddenly sprinted forward at extreme speed, beat everyone to the ball on the left side of the six-yard box, leaped high, and headed the ball back across to the right side of the goal.

Although Čech tried to dive and save it, how could he possibly get there in time?

The football bounced off the ground and hit the back of the right side of Chelsea’s net.

3-0!

Less than twenty minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had already scored three goals!

…

When Yang Cheng saw Gareth Bale score with a header from the sidelines, he leaped into the air.

When he turned around, he found that Brian Kidd and the others were all equally ecstatic.

Yang Cheng walked over with a broad smile, high-fiving each of them in celebration.

“This kid really is best suited for the right side of the pitch. That diagonal pass of his was just outrageously good!” Brian Kidd praised effusively.

Both goals were either assisted or orchestrated by De Bruyne’s passes.

One had to admit, in that area of the pitch, De Bruyne’s diagonal passes were truly lethal.

Most importantly, he always seemed to find the passing lanes.

But in his heart, Yang Cheng knew that De Bruyne couldn’t replace Modrić.

Modrić was also excellent at passing, but crucially, even under high-pressure defending, Modrić could still pass, dribble past opponents, and remain effective.

De Bruyne’s impact, however, would be greatly diminished in those situations.

So, De Bruyne still needed space to operate.

However, he did think of something else that was interesting.

De Bruyne and Haaland were known as the “Bu-Ding” connection.

So what about the connection between De Bruyne and Lewandowski now?

Le-Ding? Ding-Le?

That sounded awful!

Connecting with Gareth Bale would be better.

They could call it the “Big Ding” connection!

Or even the “Saint-De Bruyne” connection would work!

He’d just have to remind the fans: we’re a respectable team, so don’t let your minds wander.

…

An aging Chelsea squad, coupled with Di Matteo’s tactics, was clearly slow to get into the game.

From the start, Chelsea simply couldn’t keep up with Bayswater Chinese’s tempo.

The fast-paced pressing in the midfield and attack, in particular, left Chelsea completely at a loss.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand…

The De Bruyne-Kroos combo, specializing in running and passing, led to Chelsea conceding three goals in less than twenty minutes from the start of the match.

It wasn’t until later that Chelsea hastily retreated into a defensive shell, which barely allowed them to steady themselves.

But by then, the game was already lost.

Di Matteo was clearly extremely frustrated, because they had given their opponents far too much space to receive and pass the ball at the start of the game.

In the 44th minute of the first half, it was another fast counter-attack after winning the ball in midfield.

After Toni Kroos passed to De Bruyne, the Belgian midfielder played a diagonal ball behind the defense.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick forward run, chasing the ball alongside Terry.

The two had a solid physical contest just outside the penalty area.

Although Lewandowski couldn’t forcefully muscle past Terry, he kept shielding the ball from his opponent as he charged into Chelsea’s box.

Facing the onrushing Čech, Lewandowski cleverly toe-poked the ball, sending it into Chelsea’s goal once again.

4-0!

Hat-trick!

The entire Stade Louis II erupted in thunderous applause!

“The first half is almost over, but Bayswater Chinese already has a four-goal lead!”

“This has truly been a quite astonishing match.”

“No one expected that in this West London derby at the UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea would perform so poorly, allowing Bayswater Chinese to make short work of them and take a four-goal lead in the first half!”

“Robert Lewandowski, with his hat-trick, is the best scorer in European football so far this season.”

“Not counting the Community Shield, he has scored six goals in three Premier League games, and now he’s scored another hat-trick in the UEFA Super Cup. This is his second hat-trick of the season, and he has also scored his ninth goal!”

Nine goals in four matches!

And in the previous game against Manchester City, he only played for twenty minutes as a substitute.

It was safe to say that Lewandowski was having an outstanding season, his form was simply explosive!

Yang Cheng was not at all surprised by this.

Because Lewandowski was just that kind of efficient and incredibly well-rounded scorer.

When Bayswater Chinese’s midfield gathered exceptional passers like Toni Kroos, Modrić, and De Bruyne, who could continuously create chances for the forwards…

Lewandowski could feast on chances until he was sick of them!

With the Pole’s efficiency, it was truly hard for him not to score!

Of course, it also helped to have outstanding wingers like Gareth Bale, Walcott, and Hazard up front, who could stretch the defense and share the pressure for Lewandowski.

Moreover, at 24 years old, the Pole was entering the prime of his career!

…

The UEFA Super Cup ultimately ended 5-0!

Gareth Bale scored again in the 78th minute of the second half.

The assist this time came from Javi Martínez.

Looking at the overall match statistics, Chelsea only managed six shots, while Bayswater Chinese had twenty-four.

The shots on target were even more lopsided at one to nine.

This meant that Chelsea had only forced Courtois to make a single save throughout the entire match, and it wasn’t even a difficult one.

The other few shots were off-target.

In terms of possession, Bayswater Chinese only had 56.2%.

This was actually a consistent characteristic of Yang Cheng’s style, usually leading the opponent by about 10 to 15 percentage points.

Yang Cheng’s team was not as extreme as Barça; they didn’t treat possession as life itself, nor did they try to prevent the opponent from having the ball.

The reason was simple: if the opponent didn’t have the ball, how would they push forward to attack?

If the opponent didn’t push forward to attack, how could Bayswater Chinese’s passing and movement be effective?

Therefore, the most threatening aspect of Yang Cheng’s team had never been their passing, but the speed of their transitions between attack and defense.

After losing this local derby, Di Matteo expressed that he was very disappointed.

“We were never in the game from start to finish, and we started far too arrogantly, taking a long time to get into our rhythm.”

Regarding Lewandowski, Di Matteo said that giving him space was a very dangerous thing to do.

“We should have closed him down before he even received the ball, just like how Bayswater Chinese marked Falcao.”

Yang Cheng’s team had completely locked down Falcao.

The partnership of Pepe and Thiago Silva left the Colombian centre-forward with very few threatening opportunities.

But Chelsea’s defense gave Lewandowski and Gareth Bale far too many chances.

Originally, Di Matteo thought he could use Ivanović to neutralize Gareth Bale.

But now, it seemed he had been too naive!

However, Di Matteo stated that he hoped the team could quickly move on from the shadow of the disastrous Super Cup defeat, as they had very important matches coming up.

After a two-week international break, the fourth round of the Premier League would commence.

In that round, Chelsea would face a true West London derby.

The Blues would travel to Prudential Stadium to challenge Bayswater Chinese!

“That is the match we need to be most concerned about right now!”

After the match, Yang Cheng once again cheered for his players.

“Lewandowski is a very lethal killer!”

“Perhaps many European journalists and media members were not familiar enough with him when they voted, but I believe that after this UEFA Super Cup, they should remember this player, so that next time they vote, they won’t get it wrong!”

“Gareth Bale is constantly maturing. He is one of the most important players on our team. As soon as you give him space and let him get on the ball, he becomes extremely dangerous.”

“I think he is already one of the best players in European football, and that doesn’t need anyone’s approval!”

Yang Cheng was still bothered by his players missing out on the top three for the Best Player in Europe award.

He knew, of course, that speaking up for Gareth Bale and Lewandowski at this point was futile.

No matter how much of a fuss he made, it wouldn’t change the fact that the award had been given to Iniesta.

But he needed to speak up, and keep speaking up!

Because he needed his players, especially Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and others, to know that he always supported them, was always fighting for them, and was always speaking out against the injustice they faced!

Imagine if Yang Cheng were a player, and his own head coach was unwilling to speak up for him, to fight for him. How would he feel?

Moreover, at such a sensitive time, the players themselves couldn’t stand up and say anything.

So, Yang Cheng had to play this role well.

He believed that these two players would definitely repay him with even better performances.

And it wasn’t just Yang Cheng who thought this way.

After the UEFA Super Cup, the world’s media unanimously agreed that Lewandowski’s hat-trick and Gareth Bale’s brace had been a resounding slap in UEFA’s face.

“A player like this can’t even make the top three?”

The Times went so far as to say that UEFA’s award was a complete joke, lacking any credibility.

“The selection mechanism for the Best Player in Europe is similar to the Ballon d’Or, but clearly, it’s only similar.”

Germany’s Bild also believed that for last season’s Treble winners to have no one in the top three, with their highest-ranked player only at 7th, was an absolute joke, a farce.

“Although the reason UEFA gave was quite sufficient, claiming it was because of the European Championship.”

“But we must be clear, the Best Player in Europe is not the Best Player of the European Championship. Besides considering the Euros, one must also comprehensively consider the performance over the entire past season.”

“So why can the Treble-winning Bayswater Chinese only rank 7th? Is that reasonable?”

Bild suggested that the 5-0 in the UEFA Super Cup was like a counter-attack against UEFA!

France’s L’Équipe further revealed some specific details.

After the UEFA Super Cup, before the award ceremony, Platini specifically had a conversation with Yang Cheng, once again explaining the issues with the selection mechanism for the Best Player in Europe award, and promised that UEFA would improve it.

“Platini said: ‘We’ve only held it for the second time, we still need a little time.’”

“Yang Cheng’s reply was: ‘It’s fine, we don’t actually care much about this award!’”

“At that moment, Platini’s expression was very ugly.”

“Subsequently, Yang Cheng gave an interview to the media, speaking up for his players. Although he didn’t directly criticize UEFA, his dissatisfaction was evident in his words.”

L’Équipe believed that regardless of whether UEFA’s award selection was fair, giving the Treble winner a highest ranking of only 7th was indeed quite ungracious and unreasonable.

“This kind of practice will only end up damaging the authority of the award.”

But L’Équipe also thought that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese choosing a tough, confrontational stance would undoubtedly harm the good relationship between UEFA and Bayswater Chinese.

“There have been rumors for some time that Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium intends to bid for the 2015 Champions League final, and UEFA had expressed its support.”

“But after this incident, a clear rift has appeared in their relationship.”

And on this matter, as the vested beneficiaries, the Spanish media remained silent.

Because the top five players were all from La Liga.

From Pirlo to Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and others, they were all from the Premier League.

Was all of this really a coincidence?

Chapter 264: Comeback! Complete Victory! Times Have Changed, Godfather! Klopp’s Inescapable Net

For years, Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese had lived by a simple principle: quietly rake in the cash!

This led to both Yang Cheng and the club maintaining a relatively low profile in their public relations.

Of course, “low profile” was relative to a backdrop of top giants and world-class managers like Ferguson and Manchester United, Wenger and Arsenal, or Real Madrid and Mourinho.

So, in the eyes of many, the Bayswater Chinese didn’t really count as a super club.

Even if the Bayswater Chinese had surpassed Manchester United in trophies and Real Madrid in revenue, so what?

In European football, were flash-in-the-pan teams really that rare?

Looking at a not-so-distant example, how big was Borussia Dortmund at the end of the last century?

And what happened in the end?

What goes around, comes around.

Today, the Bayswater Chinese were hot, but it was just this group of players.

When Yang Cheng and this squad retired, could they continue?

This was the test faced by all newly emerged powerhouses.

It was like how everyone said that since Roman Abramovich had reduced his investment in recent years, Chelsea’s performance had immediately become shaky.

What if the Abu Dhabi consortium behind Manchester City also stopped investing?

The reason top giants were top giants was that they had remained at the pinnacle of the European football pyramid, at the top of the food chain, for decades on end.

But this time, the Bayswater Chinese had truly caught fire!

And they were taking on UEFA!

After the UEFA Super Cup, public opinion worldwide exploded overnight.

A staggering 5-0 victory, Yang Cheng’s “tirade,” skepticism from mainstream European media…

These various elements caused the storm to sweep across the globe, sparking heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Even fans who disliked the Bayswater Chinese or the Premier League had to admit: the only Treble-winning team from Europe’s top leagues last season, and a Treble of immense prestige at that, didn’t have a single player in the top three for the UEFA award!

Many media outlets even dug further back: they were Treble winners last year too, it wasn’t even a major tournament year, and still no one made the top three!

What about before that?

People often said that Spanish was the universal language of football.

It was no secret that Spanish-speaking players had an advantage in various awards.

But now, Yang Cheng had raised a question: wasn’t this a bit too blatant?

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized that the Bayswater Chinese hadn’t made much noise in the past not because they lacked strength, but because they were low-key!

When this team decided to stop being low-key and make its voice heard, it could unleash an astonishing amount of energy!

It even gave the impression of a good-natured person being pushed too far and forced to fight back!

Coupled with the globally dominant cultural propaganda machine of England’s Fleet Street, the image of the Bayswater Chinese being bullied by UEFA and defiantly resisting was vividly painted overnight.

But after returning to London from Monaco, Yang Cheng completely disappeared from the media.

…

During the international break, Yang Cheng was hardly idle.

The uproar outside had overshadowed a lot of other news.

But the Bayswater Chinese couldn’t ignore it.

First, Andrew Hall, an 18-year-old defensive prospect from Stoke City, had stabbed his 15-year-old girlfriend, Megan Pete, to death in a fit of rage over a relationship dispute. It happened at a party, and he had stabbed her more than sixty times.

Such a vicious and brutal incident immediately drew the attention of English football.

Yang Cheng took advantage of the international break to hold meetings with the management and coaches of the youth academy and all the Satellite Training Centres, demanding that alongside developing players’ skills, they must also guide their character development.

Cultural education was made a top priority.

This wasn’t to say that more education prevented crime or extremism.

But at the very least, it was a relatively effective approach.

As for many of the underlying issues, they were societal problems across Britain and even Europe.

The other matter involved the young Raheem Sterling.

The 17-year-old had become a father!

Last year, the British media had already taken notice when Sterling broke up with his pregnant girlfriend for a new love interest.

But to protect the player, Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese had suppressed the story.

Recently, however, the child was born. The girlfriend, a woman named Melissa Clark, appeared in the media and on social media with their two-month-old baby, even tagging Sterling.

Fame brings trouble.

Anyone could see that the Bayswater Chinese held their homegrown youth player in high regard. Sterling’s talent and ability were undeniable, and at only 17, his future was limitless.

After suppressing the story last year, the atmosphere this year was much better.

But Yang Cheng still called Sterling, who was with the England youth team, and demanded he focus more on the pitch. “You’d better show me that your performance on the pitch is better than your performance off it!”

Sterling was no pushover, but against Yang Cheng, he was helpless, repeatedly promising he wouldn’t do anything foolish.

But the most important news came from Adam Crozier, who had returned from Monaco.

“After the UEFA Super Cup, Platini and Infantino privately explained it to me again. They repeatedly assured me that it was genuinely an accident.”

As Adam Crozier said this, his eyes were fixed on Yang Cheng, as if to say: Whether you believe it or not, I certainly don’t.

“It doesn’t matter. If they say it was an accident, then it was an accident,” Yang Cheng replied, no longer concerned.

With Messi and C. Ronaldo around, and Spain being so dominant, it was truly difficult for players from other countries to break into the top three.

This was especially true for players from weaker footballing nations like Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

“But they did mention something else to me.”

“What?”

“Platini asked me if there was any possibility of UEFA collaborating with us on the International Champions Cup.”

Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood.

That was the real goal!

Compared to the profits of the International Champions Cup, the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award was nothing.

“What did you say?” Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

“I said we have a long-term contract with the ICC Company.”

Yang Cheng let out a hearty laugh, even louder this time.

If it had been him, he would have given the exact same answer.

“And then?”

“Platini said that the teams participating in the International Champions Cup are all from European leagues, and UEFA is very concerned about the development of this competition. If it were handed over to UEFA, with their years of experience in organizing tournaments, they could definitely make it bigger and stronger, even turning it into a top-tier event on par with the Champions League.”

Yang Cheng nodded. He had no doubt that UEFA possessed such resources and capabilities.

Just like the Toyota Cup, which had been on the verge of collapse. After FIFA took over, they immediately negotiated with the cup winners from each continent and attracted investors, which resulted in the Club World Cup we have today.

“I told him that we would, of course, strongly support UEFA. But I also said that on this specific matter, we, the Bayswater Chinese, have no say. We’re just a small-time team, with no top stars and not much influence, so…”

Yang Cheng chuckled as he listened.

He could almost picture the expressions on Platini and Infantino’s faces after hearing Adam Crozier’s snarky remarks.

But it was true.

The biggest star on the Bayswater Chinese squad, Robert Lewandowski, was only ranked seventh.

It was almost embarrassing to say it out loud!

“I’ve spoken with David Pemsel and Richard Masters. UEFA did contact them, but they both emphasized that they’re just an American company that acts as an agent for the commercial matches of major European clubs. They’re only responsible for management and operations, with no actual shares or decision-making power.”

“So, for something like a collaboration, it still requires the approval of the major European clubs. As long as the 12 shareholders agree, the ICC Company will naturally comply.”

As he said this, Adam Crozier smiled again.

It formed a perfect closed loop!

“I guess UEFA will now try to talk to the major clubs. I just don’t know if the clubs will listen to them.”

Yang Cheng shook his head. “They’re not stupid. If they were satisfied with UEFA, the G14 would never have existed.”

“In recent years, both UEFA and FIFA have become increasingly aggressive in their ‘bullying’ of the clubs. Look at the Champions League and Europa League these past few years. They claim it’s to balance development across countries, but who doesn’t know that it’s all about sacrificing the collective interests of European football for Platini’s votes!”

“What do you call that?”

“That’s called using a public office for private gain, an illicit transfer of benefits!”

Have they ever taken the clubs’ years of complaints about international call-ups seriously?

They just offer some symbolic compensation and brush it aside.

Now that they see the International Champions Cup is a success, they want a piece of the pie.

Isn’t this the same trick they pulled over half a century ago when they saw the success of the European Cup founded by clubs like Real Madrid and swooped in to reap the rewards of someone else’s work?

But times have changed.

In the 1950s, football matches had very little value.

There were no television broadcasts, few commercial sponsorships, and certainly no global media rights value.

So, the clubs were happy to let UEFA run the European Cup back then; it saved them the trouble.

But now?

Times have changed, Godfather!

How easy is it to create a new tournament these days?

The calendar is already jam-packed with matches every year. It took a monumental effort to carve out a niche in the summer pre-season for something like the International Champions Cup, which allows teams to earn huge appearance fees, train the squad, and develop new markets—a triple win.

Besides, anyone in professional football knows how valuable media rights are now.

This fact also served to prove the importance of Yang Cheng’s decision back then to fund the tournament himself and proactively give shares to the major clubs.

Without shares, the clubs would just be playing for appearance fees, a simple partnership.

If UEFA wanted, they could have easily poached these teams with higher appearance fees once their contracts expired.

Given UEFA’s extravagant wealth and its position as the industry’s governing body, would they fear the clubs refusing?

But now?

The 12 top-tier giants all hold shares. Although it’s only 5% each, it adds up to 60%.

So, if UEFA or FIFA were to create a new tournament to rival it, could they offer shares?

That’s impossible!

Knowing the nature of UEFA and FIFA, they would never allow such a thing to happen.

In that case, with one option being working for themselves and the other working for someone else, the choice for the major clubs was obvious.

It would be nearly impossible for either UEFA or FIFA to persuade all 12 clubs simultaneously!

Thinking of this, Adam Crozier looked at Yang Cheng with eyes full of genuine admiration.

Everyone thought he was the one who managed the Bayswater Chinese so well.

But only he knew in his heart that it was all because Yang Cheng was the driving force behind the scenes, charting the grand course for him to conquer new territories.

“Alright, have David Pemsel stay in constant contact with the major clubs. Keep them updated on the progress of the ICC Company’s various commercial and broadcast rights negotiations.”

“Brilliant!” Adam Crozier exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table.

What did that mean?

It was like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, showing them just how much profit was within their grasp.

Perhaps it wasn’t much at this stage.

But in the long run?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the Champions League!

“The four new teams to join this year will be two from Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain and OGC Nice, one from the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund, and one from La Liga, Atlético Madrid,” Yang Cheng instructed.

The Premier League already had six teams, occupying half the slots, which was more than enough.

Serie A had three, La Liga had two, and the Bundesliga only had Bayern Munich.

Given the current state of Serie A, three teams were about right. Adding Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga contingent was also sufficient. Bringing in Atlético would give La Liga a solid three teams as well.

Ligue 1 originally only had Paris Saint-Germain, but Yang Cheng had a personal bias and wanted to bring OGC Nice in as well.

Of course, based on their record, OGC Nice was more than qualified.

Two consecutive Ligue 1 titles and reaching the Champions League Round of 16 last season—that was an impressive resume.

With this, the top teams from the five major leagues would be almost all present.

This was undoubtedly the most premium resource in European football today. With these 16 teams in hand, no matter what tricks UEFA and FIFA pulled, they couldn’t make any waves.

Because they had already missed the best window to intercept them!

The International Champions Cup had already taken root, and the clubs had formed a community of shared interests. Even if UEFA wanted to besiege them, it was nearly impossible.

“Do you think they might forcibly prevent the clubs from participating?” Adam Crozier asked, a little worried.

Yang Cheng smiled. “Then we’ll sue. Sue in the European Union, sue in the United States, sue all over the world!”

Adam Crozier was startled.

Everyone was accustomed to football matters being resolved internally.

FIFA was the supreme authority.

Even in past cases, like the Bosman ruling or conflicts between UEFA regulations and European law, they were resolved neatly without causing too much dispute.

But now, Yang Cheng was talking about suing, which was clearly a declaration of war!

It had to be said, it was quite exciting.

“Don’t worry, the ICC Company is an American company. They’ll have to tread carefully,” Yang Cheng said with complete confidence.

He certainly wouldn’t tell Adam Crozier that FIFA and UEFA were already on the UK and US’s blacklists because of the World Cup bidding scandals.

Especially the United States.

Damn it, I, your father, am doing you a favor by bidding for the World Cup to boost my economy. That’s me giving you face.

And you old geezers had the gall to spit in my face!

Giving the 2018 World Cup to Russia was a slap in Great Britain’s face, fine, whatever. But the 2022 World Cup to Qatar?

Do you really think my dozen aircraft carriers are made of paper?

Yang Cheng could guarantee that if FIFA and UEFA dared to make a move, the moment the ICC Company filed a lawsuit, they would be in for a world of hurt. They would surely come out of it battered and bruised!

A duck is the first to know when the river water warms in spring.

Yang Cheng believed that FIFA and UEFA must have some idea of their precarious situation. Even if their past sense of superiority lingered, they wouldn’t dare act rashly at a time like this.

And that was the International Champions Cup’s opportunity!

…

On the afternoon of September 15th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League, Matchday 4. Bayswater Chinese hosted Chelsea.

The match had reached the 29th minute of the first half.

The score was still 0-0.

The Bayswater Chinese were on the left flank, with Eden Hazard on the ball, directly facing Chelsea’s right-back, Ivanović.

The Serbian kept a close watch on the young Belgian.

At 1.85 meters tall, Ivanović was clearly struggling against the 1.75-meter Hazard.

Especially in a one-on-one situation.

Unlike a direct and physical speedster like Gareth Bale, Hazard’s strength was his series of changes of pace and direction in tight spaces, which made him extremely difficult for Ivanović to defend against.

In the 14th minute, Ivanović had already received a yellow card for a foul while marking Hazard.

Now, he was even more on edge, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Hazard continued to dribble forward, closing in.

Ivanović kept backpedaling, while also using his peripheral vision to scan for Ramires, who was tracking back.

The Brazilian was playing on the right side of the attack in place of Eto’o in this match.

The purpose was to have Ramires pin down the Bayswater Chinese left-back.

Luke Shaw wasn’t having a great game, so whenever Ramires had the energy, he would track back to help Ivanović.

The Serbian defender’s constant retreat was a way of waiting for Ramires to get back.

But just as Hazard approached the left corner of the penalty area, the Belgian suddenly exploded into action.

He skilfully manipulated the ball with his feet, his body constantly feinting.

His shorter stature, nimble footwork, and low center of gravity all made it difficult for Ivanović to contain him.

Committing to a tackle too early would likely mean losing his balance and being beaten.

So, Ivanović focused on blocking his path.

Hazard first feinted to cut inside, luring Ivanović into taking a step, then suddenly pulled the ball back and went straight, knocking it forward with his left foot and stepping into Chelsea’s penalty area.

At almost the same moment, Ramires, having tracked back in time, saw Ivanović blocking the inside and immediately went for the outside, attempting to forcefully overtake him.

The South American-born Ramires instinctively grabbed Hazard’s arm, trying to slow him down before cutting in front to win the ball.

Unexpectedly, although his arm was tugged, Hazard abruptly stopped, his feet still skilfully keeping the ball under his control.

Ramires overran him completely.

But the Brazilian player reacted quickly, slamming on the brakes and lunging at Hazard again.

At that moment, Hazard, with the ball at his feet, burst forward again, trying to charge through the gap between the two defenders.

This was one of the advantages of being short!

His center of gravity was so flexible!

Seeing him knock the ball forward, Ramires immediately went for a slide tackle.

As long as he touched the ball first, it wouldn’t be a foul.

But Hazard’s footwork was quicker. He shielded the ball with his left foot just in time.

Ramires’s tackle caught Hazard’s boot, sending the Belgian off balance and tumbling forward.

The entire sequence happened in the blink of an eye.

Two Chelsea defenders couldn’t stop Hazard.

And they committed a foul!

The head referee blew his whistle sharply, ran over, and pointed to the penalty spot.

It was only then that a surprised Ramires noticed Hazard was already inside the penalty area.

The referee then beckoned Ramires over with his finger.

He then pulled out a yellow card from his chest pocket and showed it to Ramires.

This was Chelsea’s second yellow card in less than half an hour, and both fouls were committed on Hazard’s flank.

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in cheers!

“Hazard’s performance has been truly sensational this season!”

“Especially his dribbling in the final third, he’s a huge threat.”

“We see that it’s Lewandowski who will be taking the penalty.”

After receiving encouragement from his teammates, the Polish centre-forward placed the ball, then slowly backed away.

He took a deep breath, ran up quickly, and struck the ball cleanly, sending it flying into the left side of Chelsea’s goal at incredible speed.

Although Čech guessed the right way, he still couldn’t stop it.

1-0!

…

After the UEFA Super Cup match two weeks ago, Chelsea, playing away from home again, adopted a more conservative strategy.

The biggest change was in midfield.

Willian, Oscar, and Ramires formed the “3” in their 4-2-3-1 formation.

The double pivot consisted of Lampard and Mikel.

The lone striker was Falcao.

Chelsea’s entire front line was a combination of South American attackers.

The backline remained the same, with Ivanović defending the right flank, which was the Bayswater Chinese’s left.

Ashley Cole was more attack-minded.

But for this match, Yang Cheng still deployed Gareth Bale on the right wing to pin Ashley Cole back.

Chelsea’s lineup was well-balanced in attack and defense.

But in terms of midfield control, they were clearly inferior to the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng had opted for a partnership of Aaron Ramsey and De Bruyne for this match.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first half, the game once again fell into a stalemate.

Chelsea tried hard to maintain their defensive shape, but having lost control of the midfield, the Blues could only desperately hold on.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Yang Cheng made his first substitution.

Theo Walcott came on for Gareth Bale.

In the 70th minute, Harry Kane replaced Robert Lewandowski.

Both were like-for-like changes, and both were made to conserve energy for the upcoming Wednesday Champions League away match against Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea had obviously anticipated this and seized the opportunity to press their advantage.

They even brought on Eto’o for Mikel, immediately switching to a 4-4-2 formation with Ramires moving into the center.

In the 75th minute, Sterling replaced Eden Hazard.

Yang Cheng had used all three of his substitutions early.

Chelsea, on the other hand, began to go for broke.

In the 77th minute, Javi Martínez, with the ball in his own half, was put under immense pressure by Oscar.

As the Spanish midfielder passed back to his keeper, the substitute Eto’o rushed forward to press, forcing Courtois to hastily boot the ball away for a clearance.

But Chelsea centre-back Benatia collected the ball and once again sent a long pass forward.

Thiago Silva decisively moved up to challenge Falcao, winning the header and nodding it to Javi Martínez.

Martínez then passed to Aaron Ramsey.

The Welsh midfielder played the ball to Harry Kane, who had dropped back to receive it.

With his back to goal, Kane played a first-time cross pass, switching the play to the right wing.

Just then, Theo Walcott burst forward at incredible speed, taking the ball in stride and surging towards Chelsea’s penalty area like a bolt of lightning, charging all the way to the right corner of the six-yard box.

One-on-one!

Facing the onrushing Čech, the Little Tiger calmly seized the opportunity, rounded the keeper, and slotted the ball into the empty net.

2-0!

Then, in the 86th minute, Oscar was dribbling down the right wing. As he tried to deliver a cross from the byline, he was closely marked by Luke Shaw.

The ball was blocked by Luke Shaw.

The two battled for the ball on the left side, just outside the box. When Luke Shaw tried to clear it, the ball deflected off Oscar and went out for a throw-in.

Throw-in!

Chelsea pushed everyone forward and began to press high up the pitch.

But Luke Shaw threw the ball forcefully. Javi Martínez headed it to Aaron Ramsey, who then switched it to the right flank.

Kyle Walker quickly surged forward, caught up with the ball, and raced down the right touchline.

Just outside the right corner of Chelsea’s penalty area, Kyle Walker played a through ball towards the byline.

Walcott sprinted forward at top speed, caught the ball near the byline, and played a cut-back pass diagonally to the center.

Sterling arrived at full tilt and, completely unmarked, tapped the ball into Čech’s goal.

3-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle!

With goals from Robert Lewandowski, Theo Walcott, and Raheem Sterling, the Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 home victory over Chelsea!

After two weeks, the Bayswater Chinese had claimed complete victory in two consecutive West London derbies.

This made it clear to everyone that in West London, Chelsea was now inferior to the Bayswater Chinese in terms of strength.

But a closer look at this Premier League Matchday 4 fixture would reveal that the Bayswater Chinese’s victory was not an easy one.

In the first four rounds of the Premier League this season, young Sterling had scored two goals, a respectable performance.

…

“For us at Borussia Dortmund, the Bayswater Chinese are like an elephant!”

After Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen, head coach Jürgen Klopp described the upcoming Champions League group stage match in this way during an interview with German media.

Klopp said he hadn’t yet figured out how to deal with this behemoth.

But he was actually lying!

He knew, and he had known all along.

From the moment the Champions League group stage draw and schedule were announced, he had already devised a plan to take on the Bayswater Chinese. He had even secretly appeared at the Stade Louis II in Monaco on the 31st, without anyone knowing.

He had witnessed firsthand as the Bayswater Chinese made short work of Chelsea, crushing them 5-0.

Klopp asked himself honestly: he wasn’t sure if his team could withstand the Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Especially in an open, end-to-end game!

Yes, Klopp’s team was never one that liked to sit back and defend.

He liked passionate players, he liked to push his defensive line and formation high up the pitch, he liked to have two playmakers in midfield, he liked his players to control the tempo from the middle of the park…

Many people thought Klopp’s style of football was more defensive.

But in reality, it wasn’t.

That’s why he immediately brought in Gündoğan after selling Şahin.

He sold Shinji Kagawa because Dortmund had a young talent from their academy, Götze.

Klopp’s possession game wasn’t as intricate as Barça’s; it was actually more similar to Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

That was why the German had praised Yang Cheng’s team in the media on more than one occasion.

But when it came to actually facing them, he wasn’t confident.

Because Dortmund lacked a quality centre-forward.

Neither Barrios nor Schieber could satisfy Klopp.

But he had to make do.

Because Dortmund wasn’t a giant like Bayern, who could take whatever they wanted from the entire Bundesliga.

The lack of a powerful centre-forward was Dortmund’s biggest problem at the moment.

And to make matters worse, they were facing the Bayswater Chinese, who had one of the best defenses in European football.

This put Klopp in a difficult position.

In Klopp’s view, the most complex and difficult thing in football is to control the game through possession.

He couldn’t guarantee that his players would be able to maintain their usual high level of execution when fighting for possession against the Bayswater Chinese.

After all, they were facing the Bayswater Chinese!

So, Klopp had to make a choice.

Against a behemoth like an elephant, it would be unwise for Dortmund to go head-to-head.

Thus, Klopp decided to play unconventionally.

He decided to strengthen his defense, surrendering the initiative, and even possession, to the Bayswater Chinese.

Dortmund would focus on one thing.

Defense!

But Klopp’s style of defense wasn’t about simply retreating, parking the bus, and defending with all their might.

That wasn’t Dortmund’s style.

In his 4-2-3-1 formation, he dropped Gündoğan from the double pivot, replacing him with a combination of two defensive midfielders: Sven Bender and captain Kehl.

He believed this would provide sufficient protection for his backline.

Ahead of them were Großkreutz, Götze, and Marco Reus, with Barrios as the centre-forward.

But purely defending wasn’t Klopp’s style either. He encouraged his players to run and press actively, using this ball-winning approach to apply more pressure on the Bayswater Chinese.

Dortmund’s approach quickly proved effective after the match began.

In the 19th minute, Marco Reus won a corner kick after a dribble down the right wing.

Dortmund took the corner quickly. Courtois came off his line to punch the ball out of the penalty area.

But just outside the box on the left, Schmelzer unleashed a powerful shot that rocketed into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

In Dortmund’s notorious fortress of a stadium, known for its frenetic atmosphere, an incredibly wild cheer erupted.

Countless fans screamed at the top of their lungs, venting their excitement after the goal.

Klopp himself was so excited that he pumped his fists repeatedly on the touchline.

At that moment, the Borussia Dortmund head coach, appearing before fans worldwide, looked like a boxer in a state of extreme亢奋!

But in the second half, Klopp was shocked to realize that the inescapable net he had set for the Bayswater Chinese had not only trapped his opponent but also himself.

…

“Our opponents did something very clever.”

“They handed us the initiative and focused on defending and winning the ball back.”

“The possession rate in the first half was 41% to 59%. We were ahead by 18 percentage points.”

“But in reality, we had no advantage in terms of creating chances.”

“That’s where our opponents were cunning.”

In the dressing room at halftime, Yang Cheng explained to his players why they had struggled in the first half.

“But, look at their running data. They ran a full 6 kilometers more than us!”

That was 6 kilometers in the first half.

And it was 6 kilometers while being the more passive team on the pitch.

This would be a massive drain on the Dortmund players’ stamina.

The Bayswater Chinese were a team known for their fast-paced attack and defense.

Klopp was now clearly focused on defending, but his players’ running and sprinting would not decrease.

Otherwise, they simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Bayswater Chinese’s tempo.

“In the second half, we’ll continue to play like we did in the first, but we need to make some adjustments when we win the ball and transition to attack.”

With that, Yang Cheng turned and tapped the tactics board behind him.

“So they want to give us possession?”

“We’ll drop back and control the ball in the area between our own penalty box and the halfway line. Let them come and press us!”

The players listened intently.

Yang Cheng’s move was actually a bit risky.

Because if they were dispossessed while passing and controlling the ball in that area, it would basically be one pass and the opposition would be in behind their defense.

That would be fatal!

But Yang Cheng had full confidence in Toni Kroos, Modrić, Nemanja Matić, Pepe, Thiago Silva, Piszczek, and Marcelo.

He knew better than anyone the skill level of his players over the past few years, their technical ability, and what level of pressing they could handle.

If it were the beginning of the first half, with Dortmund full of energy, Yang Cheng might have had some reservations.

But in the second half, he had no such worries.

“When we transition from defense to attack, we have to increase the pace. Once they push up, Gareth, Robert, Theo!”

Yang Cheng called out the names of his front three.

The trio immediately looked at him in unison.

“Your job in the second half is to stay with their defensive line. Don’t push up against them; let them press forward. Even actively lure them forward.”

“Once we get an opportunity, win the ball at the back, and immediately hit it in behind them.”

“It has to be fast. Don’t dwell on the ball. Just hit it!”

Playing it in behind?

The Bayswater Chinese had plenty of ways to do that!

Especially with the passers they had!

“Remember, in the second half, their stamina will be continuously drained, and the intensity of their pressing will definitely drop. That’s our chance!”

“My goal isn’t to equalize. I want all three points!”

“Do you understand?” Yang Cheng asked sternly.

“Understood!”

The players responded in unison!

…

As the second half began, both teams once again entered a high-speed, no-holds-barred phase.

Dortmund continued with their first-half tactics, hoping to keep the Bayswater Chinese suppressed.

But Yang Cheng’s team quickly showed the effects of their halftime adjustments.

In the 49th minute, after winning the ball just outside their own 30-meter area, Marcelo passed to Toni Kroos.

The German received the ball, turned, and sent a through ball forward.

Lewandowski dropped back to the bottom of the center circle to receive the ball and, while being double-teamed, played a through ball.

Walcott sprinted forward at top speed, quickly catching up to the pass, and was nearly through on goal.

Schmelzer clung to Walcott, to the point where it was almost a clear foul.

But the Little Tiger didn’t go down immediately, wanting to create a shooting opportunity.

However, his touch as he entered the penalty area was a bit heavy, and he only managed to catch up to the ball near the byline.

Unfortunately, the angle was too tight, and his shot at the far post went wide.

But this attack undoubtedly served as a warning to Dortmund!

Klopp also sensed the danger and decisively gestured for his players to start committing more fouls.

Just three minutes later, as Modrić received the ball near the halfway line on the right and turned, Sven Bender decisively fouled him, bringing him down at the halfway line to deny him any chance of passing.

But the Bayswater Chinese were not discouraged.

Yang Cheng had repeatedly told them at halftime to maintain this fast pace. The Bayswater Chinese were expending a lot of energy, but Dortmund would expend even more.

The later the game went, the more it would favor the Bayswater Chinese.

So, they had to remain patient.

And in the 58th minute, after winning the ball near the left side of the center circle, Toni Kroos quickly played a through ball forward to Gareth Bale.

As the Welshman received the ball side-on, he took a touch forward with his left foot and instantly accelerated.

Gareth Bale’s speed was phenomenal. The moment he started, he shook off the defender marking him and charged towards the left side of the penalty area.

Centre-back Subotić rushed over to block him, but Bale knocked the ball towards the byline just outside the left corner of the box and continued his run without breaking stride.

The poor Subotić, a full 1.93 meters tall, was already side-on to the attack. But faced with a Gareth Bale who was already at full throttle, how could he possibly keep up?

The Welshman left Subotić a body length behind, reached the byline, and sent a low cross into the center with his left foot.

Hummels had also tracked back all the way to the front of the goal. He was positioned near the left edge of the six-yard box, ready to cover for Subotić.

But Gareth Bale’s cross was fast and sudden, aimed towards the left corner of the six-yard box. Hummels tried to clear it but missed the ball completely.

Instead, Lewandowski, right behind Hummels, arrived at full tilt, perfectly meeting the cross with a right-footed shot.

The ball shot into the left side of Dortmund’s goal at incredible speed.

Goalkeeper Weidenfeller dived low to save it but was just a fraction too slow.

“GOAL!!!!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have equalized!”

“In the 58th minute, a powerful run from Gareth Bale down the left, a low cross to the center, and Lewandowski is there to finish it!”

“1-1!”

“The two sides are now back on level terms!”

The moment the goal was scored, Yang Cheng jumped up in excitement.

Looking over at Klopp in the home team’s technical area, he immediately walked to the edge of his box, shouting to his players on the pitch, gesturing for them to keep playing this way and to hold on.

“Come on! Come on!!” Yang Cheng clapped forcefully.

After celebrating the goal, the players quickly returned to their positions on the pitch.

Seeing Yang Cheng’s shouts, they all nodded in agreement.

…

“A long shot from Gareth Bale!”

“We can see that after equalizing, the Bayswater Chinese’s attack has gotten better and better.”

“Especially after the 60-minute mark, Dortmund have clearly been on the back foot.”

“But Klopp still shows no intention of making a substitution.”

…

“Let’s look at this attack now, down the right flank.”

“Walcott beats the offside trap!”

“Can he catch it?”

“The ball has gone over the byline.”

“The linesman signals that the ball was out of play.”

“Since the start of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese have been focusing more on playing the ball in behind Dortmund’s defense.”

“Klopp should be aware of this, but his team is not used to sitting deep and defending.”

…

“Dortmund are on the attack.”

“Reus has the ball on the right, but he can’t get past.”

“Marcelo’s recovery run was very timely.”

“He passes to Götze in the middle.”

“Götze then passes to Barrios.”

“Pepe decisively steps in front to intercept and wins the ball.”

“That was a poor first touch from Barrios.”

“Pepe immediately launches a counter-attack, passing to Modrić.”

“Modrić with another long pass, again targeting the space behind Dortmund’s left flank.”

“Gareth Bale!”

“Incredibly fast!!”

“Dortmund’s defenders can’t stop Gareth Bale!”

“He’s onside!”

As the Welshman surged forward at top speed, like a bolt of red lightning, he instantly pierced through Dortmund’s defensive line. Reaching the left side of the penalty area, he chipped the ball up with his left foot.

At this moment, Gareth Bale’s solid fundamentals were on full display.

He chipped Modrić’s long pass towards the right of the penalty spot.

That chip was perfectly weighted, lifting the ball just over the onrushing goalkeeper, Weidenfeller.

The Dortmund keeper’s timing in coming off his line was excellent, and he had even managed to close down Bale.

But that little chip rendered Weidenfeller’s effort completely futile.

Gareth Bale dodged past Weidenfeller, chased after the ball, and, getting there before Schmelzer, slotted it into the unguarded net with his right foot.

2-1!

“GOAL!!!”

“The Bayswater Chinese have turned it around against Dortmund!”

“In the 74th minute, the Bayswater Chinese capitalize on a swift counter-attack. Gareth Bale breaks through, chips Weidenfeller, and scores into the empty net to put them ahead!”

“That was an incredibly simple and swift counter-attack!”

“We can see from the slow-motion replay, from Pepe winning the ball, to Modrić, to Gareth Bale, it involved only three players and two passes.”

“The Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack is as deadly as ever, and incredibly fast!”

“Dortmund held on in the first half, but in the second, as their stamina declined, they clearly struggled.”

“Especially after the 60-minute mark, they were completely on the back foot, and their defense made frequent errors.”

“Their ability to intercept the ball in midfield and attack, in particular, lacked the dominance they had in the first half.”

“Instead, it’s the Bayswater Chinese who have scored two goals in the second half to complete the comeback away from home!”

Chapter 265: The Explosive Duo! The Premier League’s Most Efficient Man! The Value of a Yang Cheng Product is Rising!

Comeback!

After the first matchday of the 12/13 Champions League group stage concluded, major media outlets worldwide themed their headlines around comebacks. It wasn’t just about Bayswater Chinese’s 2-1 away victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Real Madrid also staged a 3-2 comeback at home against Manchester City.

Compared to the match in Germany, the battle at the Bernabéu was far more dramatic and full of twists and turns.

Both Mourinho and Ancelotti opted for defense-oriented strategies.

For instance, Real Madrid’s starting midfield consisted of Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso, and Essien.

Manchester City’s starting midfield was Gareth Barry, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré.

Both teams fielded two defensive midfielders alongside one playmaking midfielder.

This prompted the Spanish broadcast commentator to exclaim repeatedly that keeping the hundred-million-pound Kaká on the bench was an outrageous extravagance, an absolute waste!

And who could argue?

It was precisely because of these conservative tactics that the first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate, with neither side managing to break the deadlock.

But after the break, Ancelotti was the first to make a change, bringing on Ibrahimović for David Silva to bolster the team’s attack.

The result? Five minutes later, Yaya Touré assisted Ibrahimović for the opening goal.

After Manchester City scored, Real Madrid immediately adjusted, notably substituting Mesut Özil for Essien to provide more support to the attack.

And so, Ángel Di María began to exert his influence.

In the 76th minute, Di María assisted C. Ronaldo, who breached Manchester City’s goal.

But in the 85th minute, Leighton Baines scored directly from a free kick, putting one past Real Madrid’s keeper.

This nearly plunged the Bernabéu into absolute despair!

There were only five minutes left in the match, maybe eight at most including stoppage time.

Was there still a chance?

Yet, just two minutes later, Di María delivered another brilliant assist, and Džeko scored to level the score for Real Madrid once more!

In an instant, the entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted in celebration!

Two players transferred from Bayswater Chinese had teamed up to rescue Real Madrid from the depths of despair.

Even more incredibly, just three minutes later, it was another fantastic assist from Di María that helped C. Ronaldo to score another goal, completing his brace.

The Argentine also completed a hat-trick of assists!

Real Madrid didn’t even need stoppage time; they had turned the game around against Manchester City.

The Spanish television commentator couldn’t help but shout, cheering for Di María and singing the Argentine’s praises.

Seventy million pound sterling—it was worth every penny!

In the end, Real Madrid completed a 3-2 comeback victory over Manchester City at home.

Two superpowers staging comebacks on the opening matchday of the Champions League group stage captured the attention of the world’s media.

Borussia Dortmund, two-time defending Bundesliga champions, and Manchester City, boasting the most luxurious squad in the world, both delivered stunning performances in their opening group matches.

But, ultimately, they both fell to their resilient opponents!

Overnight, Ángel Di María became the focus of countless media reports.

The player from Bayswater Chinese demonstrated the caliber of a world-class winger in this match against Manchester City, completely conquering the Bernabéu!

“Even the most critical Real Madrid fans rose to their feet and applauded Di María as he walked off the pitch at the end of the game, with the entire stadium chanting the Argentine’s name!”

“The newly arrived Argentine instantly became the darling of the Bernabéu!”

“The outstanding performances of Di María and Džeko have once again validated a long-standing saying in European football.”

“A Yang Cheng Product is a Guaranteed Masterpiece!”

“As these players continue to perform better and better, the value of this statement only continues to rise.”

…

While the outside world was abuzz with reports, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff used their spare time to re-watch the Real Madrid vs. Manchester City match.

Yang Cheng believed that the problems with Manchester City’s team composition were becoming increasingly apparent.

Especially on the wings.

In fact, the seeds of many of these issues were sown back in 2009.

After acquiring Manchester City in 2008, the Abu Dhabi consortium continuously spent lavishly on signings. By 2009, they had gone even further, bringing in numerous stars, including Kaká.

Ancelotti has always been adept at tailoring his tactics to his players; that’s his strength.

But the team Ancelotti took over was one that had been almost completely torn down and rebuilt.

He had stars like Kaká, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré.

What was he to do?

To mold the team into a cohesive unit and forge a fighting force as quickly as possible, Ancelotti opted for his signature 4-3-2-1 formation, which in itself was not a problem.

Manchester City did indeed leap to become one of the top teams in the Premier League and even in Europe.

But that was also precisely where the problem lay.

Although Ancelotti recognized the issue early on and constantly experimented with various tactics, including a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, or 4-3-1-2, Manchester City never signed high-level wingers.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that, in European football at present, there simply aren’t many high-level wingers available.

Superstars of the caliber of Ribéry, C. Ronaldo, and Messi are the cornerstones of their respective giants and are practically impossible to buy.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, the British Twin Stars, are similarly emblematic for Bayswater Chinese, with immense market appeal domestically, and would not be sold.

Robben has his injury-prone nature and is getting on in years.

Looking across the whole of European football, where else could one find high-level wingers?

That’s why Real Madrid was willing to pay a sky-high transfer fee of seventy million pound sterling for Di María!

But what about Manchester City?

Over the past few years, they have consistently failed to sign top-quality wide players. This led to their glaring weakness on the flanks being exposed in the match at the Bernabéu.

As Di María repeatedly took on Leighton Baines, and C. Ronaldo relentlessly attacked the right flank defended by Zabaleta, Manchester City’s two wings were largely helpless.

But more importantly, numerous problems within Manchester City surfaced after the match.

For example, many media outlets were criticizing Joe Hart, asking why he conceded two goals in the final moments of the game.

But in an interview with ITV television, Joe Hart criticized the team, stating that everyone was responsible for conceding late goals. “Who else can we blame? We can only blame ourselves!”

Ancelotti quickly responded in an interview with The Sun, saying, “Joe Hart’s job is to keep the ball out of the net.”

“If anyone can criticize everyone on the team, it’s me!”

Then, Ancelotti proceeded to do just that, criticizing the entire team.

Many thought this was Ancelotti expressing his dissatisfaction with the team’s performance.

But Yang Cheng could see that Ancelotti was also somewhat displeased with Joe Hart, feeling he had said too much.

“If Joe Hart had simply defended himself, Ancelotti probably wouldn’t have come out and given that interview criticizing the whole team,” Brian Kidd pointed out the crux of the matter.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

It’s acceptable to defend yourself, but you can’t defend yourself by blaming the entire team.

That’s not on!

As England’s number one, Joe Hart clearly wanted to do more.

“Manchester City still hasn’t formed a sense of cohesion, and that’s precisely one of Ancelotti’s major weaknesses.”

Yang Cheng understood Ancelotti.

Adapting to his players was his talent, but it was also his shortcoming.

This made it difficult for Manchester City’s overall competitiveness to take another step forward.

Don’t forget, Kaká and Ibrahimović were already thirty years old.

Pirlo was thirty-three, Yaya Touré was twenty-nine, and Gareth Barry was thirty-one.

The batch of players acquired at great expense were all in their prime when they arrived.

But a few years later, they had all reached a very sensitive stage in their careers.

“This age group is prone to problems. If it’s not handled well, it could really fall apart!”

When Yang Cheng said “fall apart,” he wasn’t being an alarmist.

The period between twenty-eight and thirty is a watershed moment for all professional players.

For players over thirty, every year is filled with a sense of crisis.

Why did Chelsea’s dressing room leaders want to get rid of André Villas-Boas?

Drogba’s words were very true.

At their age, what they needed was help.

Help in how to continue shining in the twilight of their careers.

And what about the older players that some teams no longer need?

How to handle them has always been a difficult problem.

But why is the twenty-eight to thirty age range a watershed?

On one hand, they are generally still in the latter half of their professional peak, and their overall condition is still quite good.

On the other hand, their agents will surely remind them that they are likely about to sign the last major contract of their careers.

The usual approach is to perform as well as possible to secure a more lucrative contract.

Four years would be good; five years even better.

After the contract expires, they’ll be around thirty-three, about time to consider retirement.

If fans look closely, they’ll easily find that most contract disputes occur after the age of twenty-eight.

The most typical cases were from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Varane and Casemiro were both between twenty-eight and thirty.

At that time, Manchester United was willing to offer them higher salaries, while Real Madrid was not.

So, they were allowed to transfer.

Manchester United got stars in their prime, Real Madrid got a hefty transfer fee, and the players got the last, and best-paying, contract of their careers.

This is essentially a template for handling player contracts.

Of course, this is purely from a player transfer perspective.

Whether Manchester United could get the players to continue performing at a high level, and whether Real Madrid could use the transfer fee to fill the void, falls into another category.

Yang Cheng had a premonition.

The current group of players at Manchester City didn’t have any major issues with their salaries; City was more than willing to meet their demands.

The key issue was honors!

Bayswater Chinese had dominated the Premier League for four seasons, and for Manchester City, those were undoubtedly four very frustrating years.

The team had failed to make a breakthrough in terms of championships, and coupled with a lack of cohesion in the dressing room, Ancelotti himself was not skilled at building this kind of core club culture.

This had led to the current crisis at Manchester City!

And thinking about Bayswater Chinese…

Yang Cheng had actually noticed this point long ago, which was why among the three top centre-backs—Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Vincent Kompany—he chose to sell the 26-year-old Kompany.

Because Pepe and Thiago Silva could both command top-tier salaries at the club.

But it was more difficult for Kompany.

Rather than waiting for him to cause trouble, it was better to act decisively. It was for the good of everyone.

And as the group of young players from years past matured, Bayswater Chinese’s average age this season had reached 22.88 years, the oldest since Yang Cheng took charge.

Problems that didn’t surface when the players were younger would gradually emerge in the future.

This included their role in the team, salaries, and various other aspects.

Having gone through decades of experience in his past life, Yang Cheng had come to deeply understand the meaning of the phrase “a kind heart can’t lead an army.”

When the time came, he would not hesitate to make the necessary decisions.

Because he knew very well that sometimes, dragging things out and failing to make a clean break was the very thing that sparked conflict.

Taking decisive action, on the other hand, was the key to an amicable separation!

…

On the afternoon of September 23rd, at White Hart Lane in North London.

In the 5th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Tottenham Hotspur away from home.

Just one minute into the second half, Bayswater Chinese’s starting centre-back Harry Maguire, during a sudden high press, physically challenged the opposing centre-forward Adebayor, sending the Togolese striker to the ground.

The head referee, Mike Dean, unhesitatingly called a foul and awarded an attacking free-kick.

But he didn’t show a card.

Huddlestone took the free kick, delivering it precisely to the far post inside the penalty area.

Jan Vertonghen won the aerial duel at the far post, heading the ball back towards the center.

The French Veteran, Gallas, pounced on the ball in front of the goal and sent it into Courtois’s net.

1-1!

Right at the start of the second half, Tottenham had successfully equalized.

Coincidentally, Bayswater Chinese’s opening goal in the first half also came from an attacking free-kick.

Thiago Silva had scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese with a header.

But just as the second half began, the score was leveled.

Standing in front of the away team’s technical area, Yang Cheng shook his head, a little speechless.

In this situation, he didn’t know whether to be pleased or angry.

“This kid is incredibly strong, but there’s still a screw loose.”

Yang Cheng rubbed his right thumb and forefinger together while looking at Brian Kidd, which made Brian Kidd chuckle.

Across European football, there weren’t many centre-backs who could go head-to-head with Adebayor in a physical contest and win.

Anyone who has seen the Togolese centre-forward play knows just how strong he is.

Moreover, Harry Maguire had charged in from behind to challenge him for the header after Adebayor had already established his position.

The result was that he basically climbed onto Adebayor’s back, pressing down on the Togolese striker and causing him to fall forward onto the ground.

The entire aircraft carrier had landed right on top of Adebayor.

Yang Cheng himself felt that Mike Dean was being lenient by not showing a card.

From the first half until now, Harry Maguire’s high pressing hadn’t been an issue.

With his height and weight, he was bound to be slow on the turn, but he wasn’t that slow.

The key was having Thiago Silva behind him.

Kyle Walker, playing on the right for this match, would also be mindful of helping Maguire with defensive cover behind him.

Because he had to watch out for Tottenham’s left winger, Dempsey.

He was another tough opponent.

Since André Villas-Boas took over at Tottenham, the North London team had started playing a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The double pivot consisted of Sandro and Huddlestone.

Sandro, the Brazilian holding midfielder, was also very strong, with excellent pressing ability.

Just before this match, Sky Sports had reviewed Villas-Boas’s Tottenham team.

In their first four matches, they had one win, two draws, and one loss, placing them 11th.

The results weren’t great, but not too bad either.

But Sky Sports’ assessment was that Villas-Boas’s Tottenham was a combination of Mourinho and Yang Cheng.

What did that mean?

Although Villas-Boas had been Mourinho’s assistant, his tactical style, whether at Chelsea or Tottenham, was not at all like Mourinho’s, but rather inclined towards Yang Cheng’s.

High defensive line, midfield positioned around the center circle, and the backline pushed up beyond their own 30-meter area, achieving defense through pressing in the midfield and attack.

After winning the ball, they would quickly transition from defense to attack.

But Bayswater Chinese had the confidence to play this way because their midfield boasted a group of technically superb and individually brilliant players like Toni Kroos, Modrić, and Nemanja Matić.

Tottenham clearly did not.

Therefore, Villas-Boas’s midfield seemed exceptionally Mourinho-esque.

Both Sandro and Huddlestone possessed outstanding physical attributes.

A midfield battle, with forward thrusts.

Like Bayswater Chinese, this style of play demanded an extremely high work rate from the players.

This was precisely what The Blues lacked back when he was at Chelsea.

But at Tottenham, it could be executed very well.

So, the current Tottenham team was still very competitive.

Yang Cheng was also quite conflicted right now.

On one hand, he thought Maguire was playing pretty well, especially being able to physically dominate Adebayor, which was indeed impressive.

On the other hand, he felt a bit frustrated that Tottenham had equalized.

“What now?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng shook his head, “Let’s wait and see.”

At the moment, Tottenham’s overall condition was still quite good, especially their stamina, so their tactical execution was strong.

From the start of the match until now, in open play, Tottenham had only given Bayswater Chinese one clear-cut goal-scoring opportunity.

Unfortunately, Hazard’s shot went wide.

And so Yang Cheng waited, and fifteen minutes passed.

During those fifteen minutes, he had been keeping a close eye on the Tottenham players, especially those in midfield and defense.

Both sides clearly had no intention of making substitutions around the 60-minute mark.

During a break in play, Yang Cheng called Modrić over to the sideline.

“Huddlestone’s stamina is starting to fade.”

“For the rest of the game, focus our attacks on our right side, which is Tottenham’s left.”

“Vertonghen likes to press high and often doesn’t get back into position, so Huddlestone is the one covering for him.”

“There’s a time lag in there. Get Walcott to stay as wide as possible and cross it into the middle.”

Modrić nodded and quickly ran back onto the pitch.

Yang Cheng crossed his arms over his chest, turned his head, and happened to see Villas-Boas in the home team’s technical area staring at him. He immediately broke into a smile and nodded at the Portuguese coach.

Clearly, Villas-Boas seemed to sense something was amiss and didn’t respond.

…

Another five minutes of the match went by.

No one knew what Yang Cheng had instructed Modrić to do.

But in the 67th minute, when Dempsey was dribbling down the left flank, he was tackled by Kyle Walker.

The ball was passed to Modrić on the right side of their own half.

The Croatian controlled the ball, turned, and began to slowly dribble forward.

Tottenham had just been attacking, their defense pushed almost to the halfway line, and they were now retreating quickly.

Modrić first saw Vertonghen.

The Belgian defender was playing at left-back today and had made an overlapping run earlier, so he was positioned quite far forward.

Huddlestone was positioned behind him, ready to provide cover for the left flank.

As Tottenham were retreating, no one was pressing Modrić.

Especially after the 60-minute mark, Tottenham’s stamina was clearly beginning to wane.

Realizing this, Modrić immediately chose to pick up the pace.

He was no longer the greenhorn he once was.

Now, not only was he a seasoned veteran, but his control of the game and his ability to read the overall flow of the match were countless times better than before.

The head coach’s intention was to exploit the time lag.

How?

Now was the perfect opportunity!

Modrić accelerated, dribbling in a straight line from the right half-space, crossing the halfway line into Tottenham’s half, and charging towards the 30-meter area.

Huddlestone was positioned deeper than Vertonghen, so the Belgian left-back chose to run towards the center to intercept Modrić.

Sigurðsson, playing in the number 10 role, also sprinted back, trying to intercept Modrić.

But who was Modrić?

He had long anticipated this scenario.

So, just before Vertonghen got close, he played a diagonal pass with the outside of his right foot, moving the ball to his right front.

Walcott was hugging the right touchline, waiting for it.

Huddlestone was tall and sturdy, but his pace was slow, and after running for over sixty minutes, his stamina was heavily drained.

Especially when Modrić charged forward with the ball, he hesitated about whether to return to his position.

He only decided to move back to the left-back position when Vertonghen shifted inside to intercept Modrić.

But in between, there was a time lag!

When Modrić’s outside-of-the-boot pass reached Walcott, The Little Tiger didn’t take a touch, instead knocking it forward with the outside of his right foot and accelerating after it, instantly bursting past Tottenham’s defensive line.

By the time he caught up to the ball, The Little Tiger had already reached the right side of Tottenham’s penalty area and drilled a low cross in front of the goal.

At the crucial moment, Gallas got in front of Giroud and hastily stuck out a foot to block it.

The ball slightly changed direction, deflecting towards the left side of the arc of the penalty area.

But just when Tottenham thought the danger had passed, Hazard quickly followed up, controlling the ball into the arc with the inside of his left foot, taking a few small steps, and then unleashing a power shot with his right foot.

Because Tottenham’s defense had shifted to the right, a space had opened up to the left of the penalty spot.

Hazard’s shot flew in a straight line, rocketing into the left side of Tottenham’s goal.

2-1!

The whole process sounds long, but it actually happened within a matter of seconds.

It was filled with all sorts of gambits, especially the players’ understanding and execution of the head coach’s tactics.

…

After retaking the lead, the match became much easier to manage.

Tottenham was unwilling to give up and also realized their problem.

Thus, Livermore came on for the exhausted Huddlestone.

The Englishman wasn’t known for his stamina, but rather for his passing.

Being tall and strong, in Villas-Boas’s tactical system, running so relentlessly was bound to drain his energy.

Yang Cheng, however, made no substitutions, instead instructing his players to press their advantage.

Sure enough, just two minutes after Tottenham’s substitution, a lapse in coordination appeared in their double pivot.

After Luke Shaw surged forward on the left, he passed to Hazard, who then played it back to Aaron Ramsey.

After passing, Hazard made a quick diagonal run forward from the half-space.

Aaron Ramsey hit a diagonal long pass, finding Walcott up front.

Under pressure from Vertonghen, The Little Tiger managed to shield the ball but couldn’t break through, forced to pass it back to Modrić.

Previously, Tottenham’s double pivot had been quite effective in marking Aaron Ramsey and Modrić.

But after the substitution, Livermore didn’t stick close to Modrić right away.

The Croatian sent a through ball to the feet of Giroud at the edge of the arc.

The French centre-forward, with his back to goal, turned sideways to meet the ball and flicked a chipped pass with his left foot over the defensive line.

At almost the same instant, Hazard made a quick diagonal run into the box.

Control, feint, left-footed power shot!

Hazard cleanly dispatched the ball into the left side of Tottenham’s goal again.

3-1!

A brace!

The Belgian excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng also clenched his right fist.

If the second goal was a result of his instructions, then the third goal was a product of Bayswater Chinese’s midfield prowess, tearing open Tottenham’s defense through movement and quick passing.

…

After two quick goals, the complexion of the game completely changed.

Yang Cheng started to make substitutions.

First, he brought on Sterling for Hazard, who had been outstanding during his time on the pitch.

Then, Harry Kane replaced Giroud.

The forward line now consisted of Sterling, Harry Kane, and Walcott.

Subsequently, a long shot from Aaron Ramsey forced a diving save from the American goalkeeper, Brad Friedel.

And in the 76th minute, Modrić played another through ball.

Walcott successfully beat the offside trap and found himself in a one-on-one situation ten meters from goal on the right side of the penalty area.

But his shot went just wide.

In the 83rd minute, a diagonal long pass from Harry Maguire in defense found Sterling on the left side of the halfway line.

After controlling the ball, the English youngster immediately launched a swift counter-attack.

Sterling was seen dribbling at full speed, storming down to the left side of Tottenham’s penalty area. Facing the Veteran Gallas, he executed a sudden stop, then burst towards the byline, using his pace and skill to get past Gallas.

Just before the byline, Sterling hit a cross pass to the front of the goal.

The ball was practically served on a platter for Harry Kane.

The English centre-forward, completely unmarked, tapped it in, easily sending the ball into the right side of the goal.

Walcott, who was just behind Harry Kane, looked a bit frustrated.

He had just missed a one-on-one and was eager for a goal.

But in the end, The Little Tiger didn’t get his wish.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 away from home!

…

As Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham 4-1 away, the results of the 5th round of the Premier League were also in.

Chelsea defeated Stoke City 1-0 at home.

Liverpool narrowly lost to Manchester United 1-2 at home.

Ferguson’s team, after two consecutive summers of heavy investment in transfers, had improved rapidly.

And Manchester City, who had just suffered a comeback defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League, drew 1-1 at home against Arsenal.

As a result, after five rounds, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the Premier League table with four wins, one draw, and thirteen points.

Manchester United and Chelsea both had twelve points, ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Following them was Everton with ten points.

David Moyes’s team had earlier pulled off an upset against Manchester United, earning widespread applause.

Arsenal was in 5th place with nine points.

Liverpool had a rather poor start to the season.

One reason was that they had many clashes between top teams.

In the first five rounds, they had already faced Manchester City, Arsenal, and Manchester United.

As a result, in these three crucial matches, Mancini’s team had one draw and two losses, a less than ideal performance.

And all three matches were played at Anfield.

If it were just poor performances in clashes between top teams, that would be one thing.

The key issue was that Liverpool also performed poorly against teams like West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland.

So, so far this season, Liverpool’s record was two draws and three losses.

The media had even started speculating about Mancini getting sacked.

…

On the evening of September 26th, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

In the 3rd round of the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted Coventry.

Facing this team from the third tier of English football, Yang Cheng opted to field a full reserve lineup.

Goalkeeper: Robert Green;

Defense: Luke Shaw, José Fonte, John Stones, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Pogba and De Bruyne in the center;

Forwards: Sterling, Harry Kane, and Walcott.

A key reason Yang Cheng started Walcott was that the kid had missed a golden opportunity in the previous league match against Tottenham and seemed quite down about it.

So, Yang Cheng wanted to cheer him up and give his form a boost.

Since it was a full reserve lineup, the overall performance was not ideal at the start.

It wasn’t until the 39th minute that De Bruyne assisted Harry Kane for a goal.

After the break, Pogba first assisted Sterling to score another goal.

Then, Harry Kane assisted Pogba, who found the back of the net.

In the 61st minute, Sterling earned a penalty, which was taken by Walcott.

The Little Tiger converted it confidently, extending Bayswater Chinese’s lead.

In the 74th minute, Javi Martínez assisted The Little Tiger for his second goal, completing a brace.

And in the 80th minute, Javi Martínez also capitalized on a corner kick, scoring with a header.

In the 90th minute, Walcott received a pass from De Bruyne and scored again, completing his hat-trick.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Coventry 7-0 at home!

…

On the afternoon of September 29th, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Premier League Matchday 6, Bayswater Chinese hosted West Ham United.

Yang Cheng and Allardyce had a long-standing feud.

Ever since Roy Carroll moved to Chelsea, Yang Cheng had blacklisted Big Sam’s agent.

Since then, every time Allardyce faced Bayswater Chinese, he would first criticize Yang Cheng.

Then, without fail, he would get thoroughly thrashed by Yang Cheng in the match.

This script had been played out many times.

This time was no exception.

Allardyce’s The Hammers even set up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, which was almost like having five midfielders.

But it only held for twenty minutes.

In the 21st minute, Modrić assisted Gareth Bale for a goal, giving Bayswater Chinese the lead.

After the break, just two minutes in, Walcott provided an assist from the right, and Robert Lewandowski scored another goal.

2-0!

In the 53rd minute, after a break down the left flank, Gareth Bale’s pull-back found Toni Kroos, who unleashed a long shot that penetrated West Ham United’s goal, extending the lead to 3-0!

And just one minute later, after winning the ball in the attacking third, Gareth Bale quickly launched a counter-attack, crossing the ball to the far post.

Walcott, who had been itching to score, finally seized his chance and put the ball in the net.

4-0!

And in the 57th minute, it was again Gareth Bale who, after a dribbling run down the left, sent in a cross, and Lewandowski scored another goal, completing his brace.

5-0!

After returning to the left wing, Gareth Bale completed a hat-trick of assists!

Throughout the second half, West Ham United’s right flank was completely torn to shreds by Gareth Bale.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese routed West Ham United 5-0 at home.

Robert Lewandowski also scored his 9th Premier League goal of the season.

Nine goals in six rounds, and he didn’t even play in the 5th round.

Such goal-scoring efficiency was simply astounding.

Almost everyone was putting Lewandowski in the same bracket as C. Ronaldo and Messi.

It’s worth noting that La Liga had also played six rounds so far this season.

Both C. Ronaldo and Messi had played in all their matches, yet they had only scored six goals each.

Lewandowski had effectively only played five rounds and had scored nine goals.

His efficiency was even higher than C. Ronaldo’s and Messi’s.

But the most important thing was the offensive data.

For a goalscorer, efficiency is undoubtedly the most crucial statistic.

Over the past three years, Messi’s shot accuracy had consistently been between 50% and 53%, with a conversion rate of 21% to 25%.

So far this season, Messi’s shot accuracy had dropped to 49%, but his conversion rate remained at 24%.

C. Ronaldo’s efficiency was relatively lower, with a shot accuracy of around 40% and a conversion rate ranging from 12% to 17%.

This season, C. Ronaldo’s shot accuracy was 45%, and his conversion rate was 14%.

So, to some extent, C. Ronaldo’s shooting efficiency was indeed on the lower side.

Of course, many of the chances were created by C. Ronaldo himself.

In previous seasons, Lewandowski’s shot accuracy was consistently between 45% and 49%, but never reached 50%.

His conversion rate was around 20%.

That’s why he scored 29, 24, and 31 goals in three consecutive seasons.

From this record, it’s clear that while Lewandowski’s overall efficiency wasn’t as good as Messi’s, it was slightly better than C. Ronaldo’s.

Combined with Bayswater Chinese’s ability to create attacking opportunities, the Polish centre-forward was able to score goals for fun in the Premier League.

But this season, Lewandowski’s shot accuracy had shot up to 54%, and his conversion rate had risen to 24%.

This meant that Lewandowski’s overall efficiency was now comparable to Messi’s.

Among the many forwards in the Premier League, Lewandowski’s efficiency was in a league of its own.

For example, Liverpool’s forward Suárez had a shot accuracy of 39% and a conversion rate of 12%.

In Falcao’s first season in the Premier League, his shot accuracy was 43%, and his conversion rate was 18%.

And the 19-year-old youngster Harry Kane’s Premier League stats from last season were a 43% shot accuracy and an 11% conversion rate.

This series of data clearly reflects Lewandowski’s high efficiency in front of goal.

Therefore, the British media generally believed that if Lewandowski could maintain his current form, his goal tally could even catch up to C. Ronaldo and Messi.

That would be a truly astonishing achievement!

But only Yang Cheng knew that Lewandowski was really fired up right now, wanting to prove himself.

After helping the team win the Treble for two consecutive seasons, only to miss out on major individual awards, Lewandowski felt very frustrated and was holding in a lot of anger.

Gareth Bale was the same.

That’s why they were both experiencing a breakout in form this season.

As for the youngster Harry Kane, he was actually improving every season.

Bayswater Chinese had a player data assessment system in their player database.

For the past two years, Harry Kane’s key stats for a centre-forward were almost all in the red, indicating rapid improvement.

The only difference was whether it was a small or large increase.

This proved that Harry Kane was improving very quickly.

For example, in terms of pass completion rate, in his first Premier League season, Harry Kane’s pass completion rate was 67%.

For a youngster, and a centre-forward at that, this wasn’t too bad.

But now?

77%!

Of that, his pass completion rate in the attacking third had increased from the original 61% to the current 70%.

For comparison, Lewandowski’s data was 79%, with an attacking third pass completion rate of 71%.

Suárez’s pass completion rate was 77%, and 72% in the attacking third.

Only a monster like Messi could have an overall pass completion rate of around 85%, and around 75% in the attacking third.

In this aspect, Giroud was actually not as good as Harry Kane.

His pass completion rate was around 71%, and only 61% in the attacking third.

Of course, Giroud’s average of four successful aerial duels per game was much better than Harry Kane’s two.

Lewandowski also averaged four.

From this series of data, one could clearly see the roles of Bayswater Chinese’s three centre-forwards.

Giroud was a tactical centre-forward.

Lewandowski was a mature and very well-rounded centre-forward.

And Harry Kane was in the process of rapid improvement.

…

In the 6th round of the Premier League, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home, winning this highly anticipated crucial match.

Manchester City, after going a goal down away from home, came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1, with goals from Agüero and Ibrahimović.

And Liverpool finally had a massive release, thrashing Norwich 5-1 away.

Suárez scored a hat-trick, with Rakitić and Gerrard each adding a goal.

The Reds’ poor form so far this season was finally unleashed in this round.

Manchester United, however, were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw at home by Tottenham Hotspur.

Just two minutes into the game, Jan Vertonghen scored for Tottenham from a corner kick.

The remaining three goals all came in the 51st, 52nd, and 53rd minutes of the second half.

One goal per minute.

The final score was 2-2!

…

On the evening of October 3rd, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Champions League group stage, matchday 2, Bayswater Chinese hosted Paris Saint-Germain.

After kick-off, Bayswater Chinese quickly imposed a Premier League tempo, launching an opening blitz.

Paris Saint-Germain successfully weathered Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz and, starting from the 15th minute, launched a series of counter-attacks.

But in the 20th minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield. Gareth Bale launched a counter-attack, using his speed to break through before crossing to the front of the goal.

Ten meters from goal, Lewandowski, with a very unconventional kick-like shot, sent the ball into the Paris Saint-Germain net.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese had to wait until the 83rd minute when holding midfielder Nemanja Matić sent a chipped pass over the top to the right side of the penalty area.

Modrić made an overlapping run and, with a volley from ten meters out, once again broke through the Paris Saint-Germain goal.

2-0!

This scoreline held until the end of the match.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Paris Saint-Germain by two goals at home, securing two consecutive wins in the group stage!

…

Back in the Premier League for the 7th round, an away match against West Bromwich Albion.

Having just gone all-out against Paris Saint-Germain, Yang Cheng was forced to rotate his squad again.

Just five minutes into the game, West Bromwich Albion seized an opportunity and scored against Bayswater Chinese.

But in the 35th minute of the first half, Lewandowski, assisted by Gareth Bale, scored again, successfully equalizing.

After that, the match remained deadlocked. In the 92nd minute of second-half stoppage time, with an assist from Hazard, Gareth Bale cut inside from the right and unleashed a stunning long shot, a worldie that smashed into West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese had staged another comeback!

In this round, Manchester City defeated Sunderland 3-0 at home.

Chelsea beat Norwich 4-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated West Ham United 3-1 away.

Liverpool beat Stoke City 2-0 at home.

Manchester United secured a comprehensive 3-0 away victory over Newcastle.

After the 7th round, Bayswater Chinese continued to lead the League table.

But so far this season, in seven league matches, Bayswater Chinese had already conceded five goals.

In the first seven rounds last year, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded one goal.

More importantly, there had already been two comeback victories.

This was definitely not a coincidence.

As the Premier League was heading into another hiatus after this round for the two-week international break in October.

Sky Sports provided a periodic review of the top teams in the Premier League.

Regarding Bayswater Chinese, Sky Sports believed that Di María’s transfer had not significantly impacted their attack, as the rise of players like Hazard and De Bruyne had effectively compensated for any offensive shortcomings.

But on the defensive end, Kompany’s departure had a huge impact on Bayswater Chinese.

In the past, rotating among three centre-backs still allowed the team to maintain overall defensive stability and provide a high level of defense.

But this season, José Fonte’s ability was limited, while Maguire and Stones were too young and were both in their debut Premier League seasons, making it difficult to expect high-level performances from them.

The defense relied heavily on Thiago Silva and Pepe.

Once the team rotated, the backline was prone to problems.

This had become Bayswater Chinese’s biggest hidden danger going forward.

“Perhaps, Yang Cheng should consider signing a high-level third centre-back!”

Chapter 266: A Bid to Poach Messi! The Price of a Red Card! Ferguson: We Vow to Win the Premier League Title This Season

Central Park, New York, United States.

Among Pep Guardiola’s friends, Txiki Begiristain had always been special.

Begiristain was not only Guardiola’s teammate in Barça’s Dream Team, but he was also the one who discovered his talent on his coaching journey.

He still remembered the astonished look on Begiristain’s face in 2007 when, after years of traveling abroad, he decided to return to Barça to coach the B team.

“We can’t do this to you, Pep. Even if the fans don’t mind, I can’t accept it!”

Begiristain found the idea of Guardiola coaching the B team completely unacceptable.

At the time, he had offered better options, such as joining the first team as Frank Rijkaard’s assistant.

Or joining the management, taking up a position in the technical department.

But Guardiola declined Begiristain’s suggestions and chose to take charge of the Barça B team.

Many of Guardiola’s major reforms in the B team also received Begiristain’s support.

This included the reorganization of the B and C teams, reshaping the relationship between the youth academy and the first team, the tactical style of the Barça B team, and more.

Now, looking back from 2012, many would say that Guardiola’s reforms completely changed Barça.

That was true.

But behind it all was the unwavering support of technical director Txiki Begiristain.

In the summer of 2008, when it was certain that Rijkaard would be leaving, Barça faced the problem of selecting a new coach.

Each board member had their own choice; for instance, Laporta hoped to hire Mourinho.

Even Guardiola’s mentor, Cruyff, chose Juande Ramos.

No one paid any attention to Guardiola, who had only been coaching the B team for a single season.

In everyone’s eyes, it was an absolutely insane idea.

But Begiristain stood firmly by Guardiola’s side without hesitation.

As the technical director, he knew everything Guardiola had done with the Barça B team.

In terms of results, Guardiola was far from qualified to take over Barça, but the changes he had brought to the B team convinced Begiristain that he could bring something entirely new to the club.

This was an advantage that the likes of Mourinho and Juande Ramos could not match.

And so, Guardiola was promoted.

What happened next, the whole world knows.

For Guardiola, Begiristain was always that special friend.

So, when Begiristain called him, saying he was in New York negotiating a business deal and wanted to meet, Guardiola personally drove to pick him up and brought him to his home on the edge of Central Park.

His wife and children were also at home and met Begiristain.

In his haste, Manchester City’s technical director had forgotten to bring gifts for the children.

“I’ll make it up to you right away!” Begiristain apologized profusely.

After finally placating the children, Guardiola took Begiristain on a tour of his home.

It was a high-rise luxury apartment with four bedrooms, bathrooms, and a separate study.

But what fascinated Guardiola the most was the view overlooking Central Park from the balcony.

When he pulled Begiristain out onto the balcony, the Manchester City technical director let out a gasp on the spot.

“This place is simply amazing, Pep!”

Begiristain praised with a smile, “Did you buy it?”

“No, they won’t sell. The rent is over thirty thousand dollars a month,” Guardiola said with some regret.

“A lot of celebrities live here, on the floors above and below.”

Begiristain gave a thumbs-up repeatedly.

They had a meal together and drank a little, but both were moderate.

Begiristain and Guardiola were very close friends, and both were quite disciplined individuals.

After the meal, Guardiola hosted Begiristain on the balcony.

“What are you up to these days?” Begiristain asked with concern.

Guardiola smiled and shook his head. “Relaxing, enjoying life, wandering around, just not touching football.”

“That’s wonderful!” Begiristain commended.

For many people, this was the ideal life.

Of course, Begiristain knew that given Guardiola’s personality, this was only a temporary state.

He wanted to completely empty himself out.

Guardiola had once told him that only an empty bottle can be filled with more water.

“Do you come to the United States often?” Guardiola asked casually.

“Yeah, business sponsorships. You know, UEFA is keeping a close eye on the Premier League now, and our financial situation isn’t great. So Ferran is under a lot of pressure to increase revenue as quickly as possible.”

After a pause, Begiristain pursed his lips and complained, “The previous teams at Manchester City did a terrible job. You could even say it was a complete mess!”

Guardiola burst out laughing.

He knew the reason, of course.

UEFA had introduced the Financial Fair Play regulations, and the restrictions on Manchester City were the most severe.

Therefore, The Blue Moons had to boost their revenue as quickly as possible.

The investment from the Abu Dhabi consortium was not a problem, but the team’s own development and expansion were also crucial.

Relying solely on the owner’s backing was certainly not a long-term solution.

Just like Chelsea.

“I heard you met with Roman Abramovich in the United States this summer?” Begiristain asked curiously.

Guardiola smiled and shook his head. “We met, but not in the U.S. In Barcelona.”

Begiristain said, “Oh,” and understood.

Meeting in Barcelona would easily be captured by media reporters.

But presumably, Guardiola had flown to the U.S. right after the meeting, so many people assumed they had met there.

“Chelsea is an unhealthy team, heavily reliant on Abramovich’s investment. But that man…”

Guardiola trailed off and shook his head. “I don’t like him.”

I don’t like him.

For Guardiola, that reason was more than sufficient.

“The main thing is that Chelsea’s internal affairs are too complicated. Various factions, various interests are intertwined. If you step in, it’s easy to get trapped,” Begiristain said calmly.

Although they were competitors, he felt that his words were fair.

Guardiola nodded. “You can tell just by how he handled André Villas-Boas.”

Before taking the job, Abramovich had surely had long, detailed discussions with Villas-Boas about the head coach’s role and the team’s long-term development.

Villas-Boas’s plans couldn’t have proceeded without Abramovich’s approval.

But later, as soon as problems arose with the plan and the veteran players in the dressing room started to cause trouble, Abramovich sacrificed Villas-Boas.

What was that about?

Under such circumstances, how could Guardiola trust Abramovich and coach Chelsea?

No matter how many promises the Russian made now, Guardiola wouldn’t dare to believe them.

Because, over a long coaching tenure, who knew when Abramovich might suddenly listen to someone else and change his mind again?

Guardiola would never stake the honor and disgrace of his coaching career on the personal whims of a Russian.

Besides, given his status today, there was no need for it, was there?

“But I heard that in September, you also met with Ferguson,” Begiristain said with a smile.

Guardiola didn’t answer, but looked at his old friend with a half-smile. “Have you been investigating me?”

“Not investigating, Pep, concerned!”

“Bullshit!” Guardiola cursed with a laugh.

Only in front of an old friend would he be so unrestrained as to swear.

Begiristain also burst out laughing.

“He came to the United States for an event in September. You know, in recent years, Bayswater Chinese has developed too quickly in the American market, and Manchester United has been left behind, so Ferguson had to come and do some promotion himself.”

“Also, his eldest son lives in the United States permanently. I met him once. His name is Mark. Yes, Mark.”

After a pause, Guardiola added, “Actually, I also met Uli Hoeneß from Bayern.”

“Oh?”

“He owns a very large sausage factory in Germany, a famous German brand. He’s now actively trying to break into the supply chains of McDonald’s and KFC, so he comes to the U.S. often.”

“In September, he got my number from Ferguson, and we had a meal together.”

Begiristain noticed that Guardiola’s expression was quite pleasant when he mentioned Hoeneß, so the conversation must have gone well.

“Are Bayern not satisfied with Jupp Heynckes?”

“It’s mainly about the tactical transition. You know, for the past decade or so, Germany has been reforming its youth training with good results. So now they also want to make some tactical reforms, for example, by adding more possession-based elements.”

“It’s a more proactive tactical approach.”

Begiristain nodded. “But Bayern’s management structure isn’t very friendly to head coaches.”

As he spoke, Begiristain kept a close eye on the changes in Guardiola’s expression.

When he realized he had hit upon what was on Guardiola’s mind, he immediately added another line.

“The core leadership at the top all know their football, and they often interfere with decisions. And Bayern has a strange tradition where the players have a lot of say. You have superstars like Lahm, Neuer, Ribéry…”

Begiristain stopped there, saying no more.

Everyone said that the Bayern management knew football.

Because they were all legendary former players.

This was, of course, one of their strengths, but it was also a weakness.

Precisely because the management was composed of club legends, Bayern’s players were often very keen to get involved in the club’s administrative affairs.

Especially those players who were hailed as club legends.

But there were exceptions.

Like Michael Ballack.

Many said that the reason Ballack chose to leave Bayern was that he saw no path for advancement.

To put it simply, he couldn’t be like Oliver Kahn and the others.

He wasn’t one of Bayern’s own!

Managing a team like that was actually quite troublesome.

“I still remember, when you had just started coaching the Barça B team, you lost the first few games. You dragged me along to ask Cruyff a question: What do you do if the biggest star, the best-performing player, doesn’t listen to you?”

“Haha, at the time, Cruyff told you, ‘Don’t be soft. If you can’t be the boss of the team, you won’t be able to manage this team well.’ Remember that?” Begiristain asked with a laugh, recounting it as an amusing story.

Guardiola couldn’t help but smile, but he gave Begiristain a deep look.

Bringing this up now was clearly a deliberate hint.

At Bayern, the head coach could not be the boss of the dressing room!

“Are you guys… also considering a change of coach?” Guardiola immediately grasped what was on Begiristain’s mind.

“Ancelotti is a world-class coach, but his tenure at Manchester City has somewhat hit a bottleneck. And you should know, things have been quite chaotic at Real Madrid recently.”

On the surface, things seemed calm, with not much media speculation.

But those in the inner circle knew that the relationship between Mourinho and Casillas was becoming increasingly strained.

Ever since Mourinho nearly poked Vilanova’s eye out and Casillas sent a message to Xavi after the match, the two had completely fallen out.

Since this summer, Casillas had had at least two major arguments with Mourinho.

Once, as captain, he gathered everyone in the dressing room and made a pact to no longer support Mourinho’s criticism of referees.

Another time, as a Spanish player, he accused Mourinho on behalf of the Spanish players in the squad of deliberately ostracizing them.

The reason was simple: Mourinho believed that many of the Spanish players in the squad were not loyal enough to Real Madrid or to him.

Players like Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, and Raúl Albiol.

They were both Real Madrid players and Spanish internationals.

They couldn’t bring themselves to fight with all their hearts for Real Madrid’s interests.

Because they had to consider their cooperation with the Barça players on the national team.

Loyalty that is not absolute is absolute disloyalty!

The whole situation was escalating and had already become irreconcilable.

The fans outside might have heard bits and pieces, but they certainly couldn’t imagine how bad it had gotten.

“Real Madrid wants to change its coach?” Guardiola guessed.

“It’s just preliminary contact for now, but it will likely be next summer. Ancelotti is the most probable candidate.”

The circle of top European coaches was small; it was always the same few people coming and going.

If Mourinho were to be sacked, Ancelotti would indeed be the best choice.

In that case, Manchester City’s head coach position would also become available.

“Frankly, Pep, Ferran and I both want you to come to Manchester City. We will clear all obstacles for you. Whoever you want to buy, we will do everything in our power to bring them in for you, and we will never go back on our word!”

Begiristain looked deeply at Guardiola. “We’ve already spoken with Chairman Mubarak and the big boss behind him. Even if you want to buy Messi, we will do everything in our power to make it happen.”

Do everything in our power, but it might not necessarily happen.

Because the transfer of a player of Messi’s caliber often involved a great many interests.

Guardiola chuckled. “You know me. If I were to coach the current Manchester City, I’m afraid many players wouldn’t be able to stay. Can you accept that?”

“Of course!” Begiristain answered without hesitation.

“All of this can be written into the contract. We will give you the greatest authority in football matters, with unconditional support!”

Guardiola could feel the weight of those words.

Because behind them stood the Abu Dhabi consortium!

“I don’t understand,” Guardiola was puzzled.

“It’s simple. We need to overthrow the rule of Bayswater Chinese!” Begiristain said with a serious expression.

With that, Guardiola understood.

The strength of Bayswater Chinese was clear for the whole world to see.

“Are you sure you’re willing to sign Messi?”

“Of course!” Begiristain, sensing an opening, blurted out in response. “Although it will be very difficult, we will do our utmost to convince Barça.”

Guardiola thought for a moment, then smiled. “But I need some time to think it over properly.”

“No problem. We’ll wait for your reply.”

“If, and I’m saying if.”

Begiristain nodded, giving him permission to speak hypothetically.

“If I were to coach Manchester City, the first player I would want to sign wouldn’t be Messi.”

“Who, then?”

“Toni Kroos!”

“Him?” Begiristain was very surprised.

“He and Modrić are the core cornerstones of the current Bayswater Chinese team. But Manchester City already has David Silva. So, if I were to coach Manchester City, the first player I would sign would be Toni Kroroos.”

“Toni Kroos and David Silva could ensure the stability of Manchester City’s midfield core for the next ten years!”

“A player like him is absolutely unique among the younger generation in European football!”

Begiristain’s face was filled with shock, but he firmly memorized Guardiola’s words.

He trusted Guardiola’s eye for talent more than anyone else’s.

Especially when it came to midfielders.

…

On the afternoon of October twentieth, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the eighth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Everton.

Due to the two-week international break, Bayswater Chinese made significant squad rotations for this match.

But up front, Yang Cheng still deployed the combination of Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

It wasn’t that Yang Cheng had any issue with Theo Walcott.

It was just that since the start of the season, Hazard’s performance had been consistently outstanding.

The front three trident had also developed excellent chemistry.

Under these circumstances, whether it was to keep the players happy or for the team’s combat effectiveness, Yang Cheng had no reason to break up this combination.

David Moyes’s team was well-prepared on the road, still employing a 4-2-3-1 formation.

But The Toffees only held out for twenty-nine minutes.

A poked pass from Lewandowski inside the box led to Gareth Bale unleashing a furious left-footed strike from the right side of the penalty area, once again scoring a wonder goal that breached Everton’s net.

1-0!

Then, in first-half stoppage time, after a combination between Gareth Bale and Piszczek on the right flank, Piszczek broke into the right side of the box with the ball and delivered a cross to the front of the goal.

Lewandowski met it with a close-range header and scored.

2-0!

In the second half, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions, allowing Gareth Bale and Lewandowski to rest.

Everton nearly scored in the sixty-third minute.

But Fellaini’s shot was brilliantly saved by Courtois.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 2-0 victory over Everton at home.

In the same round of matches, Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 away, thanks to a brace from Falcao.

Manchester City came from a goal down to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1, with Ibrahimović scoring twice in the last ten minutes.

Liverpool edged out Reading 1-0 with a goal from Torres.

Manchester United defeated Stoke City 4-2 at home, courtesy of a brace from Rooney and a goal from Cavani.

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Norwich, with van Persie scoring the only goal.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten with seven wins and one draw, accumulating twenty-two points and leading the Premier League table.

Manchester United followed in second place with nineteen points.

Chelsea and Arsenal were both on eighteen points, in third and fourth place respectively.

Manchester City was in fifth place with sixteen points.

Liverpool’s situation was the worst, having only managed eleven points, placing them in tenth.

Looking purely at the league table, Liverpool’s performance was certainly unsatisfactory.

However, considering that The Reds’ schedule had been packed with too many clashes between top teams and their results in those matches were not ideal, their ranking this season had plummeted dramatically.

From the current look of things, Liverpool’s form had seen a very significant resurgence recently.

If they could make good use of their upcoming fixtures and catch up quickly, they might not fall behind.

Manchester City’s situation was quite similar.

So far, they had already played against three strong teams: Liverpool, Bayswater Chinese, and Arsenal.

Chelsea’s performance had been the most surprising of the season so far.

The Blues were currently third in the Premier League.

In the clashes between top teams, they had played Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal, with one loss and one win.

In the upcoming ninth round, they would host Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

This would undoubtedly be another major test for The Blues.

After signing stars like Oscar, Prince William, and Falcao, Chelsea’s overall strength had clearly improved.

But Manchester United was no pushover either.

The additions of players like Cavani, Strootman, and Daley Blind had allowed Ferguson’s team to perform exceptionally well this season.

As Yang Cheng had said in the past.

With the Premier League becoming increasingly competitive, to seize the initiative in the title race, a team not only had to perform well in clashes between top teams but also had to be able to bully the weaker teams.

Minimizing dropped points against mid-to-lower-table teams while trying to gain as many points as possible from the top teams—that was the strategy for challenging for the title!

…

On the evening of October twenty-fourth, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Dynamo Kyiv.

The most ridiculous thing about the Champions League was that the coefficient points for the Champions League and the Europa League were interchangeable.

So, a team like Dynamo Kyiv could rack up European competition coefficient points in the Europa League and then brazenly secure a Pot 2 qualification for the Champions League draw.

But in terms of actual strength, they were far from some of the other giants in Pot 2.

They were even considerably weaker than the likes of Paris Saint-Germain from Pot 3 and Borussia Dortmund from Pot 4.

Since the fourth matchday would be an away trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, Yang Cheng’s Champions League group stage strategy was to win all of the first three matches to seize the initiative for qualification early on.

The current versions of Paris Saint-Germain and the BVB were nowhere near as formidable as in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

So, he was very confident about this.

As for Dynamo Kyiv, Yang Cheng was even more certain of victory.

Just nineteen minutes into the match, Walcott assisted Lewandowski in breaking the deadlock against Dynamo Kyiv.

In the thirtieth minute, from an attacking free-kick, Pepe scored with a header, further extending the home team’s lead.

2-0!

Then, in the thirty-sixth minute, after a breakthrough from Gareth Bale on the left, Marcelo received the ball and delivered a brilliant pass to the front of goal, which Lewandowski converted with ease, scoring another goal for the team.

The Polish centre-forward had scored twice.

3-0!

After the break, in the seventy-seventh minute, substitute Pogba provided an assist, and Gareth Bale surged forward, scoring with a low shot from the left side of the box to extend the lead even further.

4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 4-0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at home.

…

On the afternoon of October twenty-seventh, at the Emirates Stadium in London.

In the ninth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese challenged Arsenal away from home.

In the eighty-sixth minute of the match, substitute Andrei Arshavin, on the left of the attack, received a pass from Fàbregas and faced Kyle Walker one-on-one.

As the former Bayswater Chinese player aged, and with the internal competition at Arsenal growing fiercer, he had not only gradually lost his starting position but his performance had also been in decline.

However, he remained an important squad rotation player for Wenger.

When Arshavin faced Kyle Walker, the Russian didn’t make a move immediately. Instead, he slowed down, baiting Kyle Walker into pressing first.

The English right-back predictably lunged forward.

He relied on his powerful physique, wanting to get close and overpower Arshavin.

But who was Arshavin?

He was short and looked skinny, but he had grown up fighting in the icy and snowy lands of Russia, battling against people who were countless times stronger than him physically.

He seized an opportunity when Kyle Walker rushed in, knocked the ball forward, and his body nimbly dodged past Walker. In a single encounter, he breezed past Kyle Walker with ease.

This made the English defender anxious, and he turned to chase after him.

Kyle Walker was faster and more ferocious when he got going.

He quickly caught up to Arshavin in just a few strides and charged at him with his shoulder while also trying to tackle the ball away.

But unexpectedly, Arshavin seemed prepared. He moved his feet faster, shielded the ball, and drew a foul from Kyle Walker’s tackle.

Head referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle, signaling a foul by Kyle Walker. He also beckoned for Walker to come closer.

Pepe and Modrić were startled and immediately ran over, trying to explain to the referee.

Kyle Walker was already on a yellow card!

But the referee still showed him a yellow card, followed by a red card.

“Earlier, he had already committed a foul when defending against Arteta. I was lenient then, but this time he definitely deserved a card,” Anthony Taylor explained to Modrić and Pepe.

Pepe shook his head helplessly, turned around, and ruffled Kyle Walker’s hair. “You were too rash just now. I was behind you. Why did you have to foul him?”

Kyle Walker also turned and walked off the pitch with a sense of helplessness.

Yang Cheng saw him walking straight into the players’ tunnel with his head down, without coming over to greet him. Yang Cheng wouldn’t take the initiative to speak to Kyle Walker either.

The lad’s physical attributes were truly excellent, but his technique was just too raw.

Especially in defense.

Yang Cheng still had high hopes for Kyle Walker.

On one hand, he was indeed the strongest English right-back for the next few years.

On the other hand, even in European football, he was among the best.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng still needed to carefully mold him.

Twenty-two years old, and still not composed enough.

He needed to be put under more pressure to force him to change his bad habits!

From that very free kick, which Arshavin took himself, Benzema got to the near post and his header was saved by Courtois.

But amidst the chaotic crowd, van Persie scored with a close-range header, sending the ball into the net.

1-1!

The two sides settled for a draw!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Arsenal away from home!

Bayswater Chinese’s goal came from a header by Aaron Ramsey in the first half.

But in the fifty-fourth minute of the second half, Gareth Bale received a through ball from Modrić, beat the offside trap, and chipped the ball into the net, but the linesman raised his flag for offside, and the goal was disallowed.

Of course, the slow-motion replay showed that Gareth Bale was indeed offside.

Throughout the entire match, Bayswater Chinese had dominated, yet the final result was a 1-1 draw.

And they paid the price of a red card for Kyle Walker!

…

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng took the initiative to defend Kyle Walker.

“If you look at that foul in isolation, I think a second yellow card is a bit harsh.”

“But the referee considered his performance throughout the match and gave the yellow card, and we choose to accept it.”

Yang Cheng stated that Bayswater Chinese would not appeal the red card.

As for Kyle Walker, Yang Cheng said that this would be a very valuable lesson for the young English full-back, teaching him to control his temper during a match.

“He needs to learn to be more composed, to think more!”

But Yang Cheng also reiterated, “Drawing with Arsenal is indeed disappointing, but this will not affect my trust and support for Kyle Walker. I still believe he is the best right-back in England!”

In this round, Manchester City beat Swansea City 1-0 at home.

Liverpool, meanwhile, narrowly defeated Everton 3-2 away.

And in Manchester United’s away match against Chelsea, they took the lead in the fourth minute of the first half with a goal from Juan Mata.

In the twelfth minute, Cavani scored another goal to extend the lead.

But just before the end of the first half, a header from Benatia kept Chelsea’s hopes alive!

In the fifty-third minute of the second half, a goal from Falcao helped Chelsea equalize.

But in the sixty-third minute, Ivanović was sent off with a red card.

This led to Cavani scoring another goal in the seventy-fifth minute.

3-2, Manchester United defeated Chelsea away from home.

As a result, after nine rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese had seven wins and two draws, giving them twenty-three points.

Manchester United followed closely with twenty-two points, trailing Bayswater Chinese by just one point.

Arsenal was in third place with nineteen points.

Manchester City ranked fourth with nineteen points.

Chelsea, on the other hand, dropped to fifth place with eighteen points.

In just one round of matches, the situation had completely turned around.

The Blues slipping out of the top four again was particularly disappointing for everyone at Chelsea.

But Roberto Di Matteo stated that The Blues would regroup and return to the top four!

As for Manchester United’s Ferguson, after closing the gap on Bayswater Chinese, his heart was fully set on the league title, vowing to win the Premier League championship this season!

…

However, Manchester United couldn’t celebrate too early.

Just after beating Chelsea in the league, they faced them again at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round of the League Cup during the week, and this time Manchester United lost 0-1.

The Blues, thanks to a goal from Falcao, eliminated the Red Devils and advanced to the quarter-finals.

Ferguson was furious, deeply disappointed with his team’s performance.

In Sky Sports’ words, it was a case of cutting a major artery while attempting squad rotation.

Bayswater Chinese, once again fielding a full reserve and youth player lineup, saw Kyle Walker start again.

This time, the team defeated Bradford 4-2 away.

Yang Cheng discovered that when Luke Shaw, Maguire, Stones, and Kyle Walker formed the backline, with England international Robert Green in goal, the unreliability index shot through the roof.

Even with a midfield of Pogba, Javi Martínez, and De Bruyne in front of them, they still couldn’t cover for them!

This useless bunch of Englishmen!

Of course, Yang Cheng was comparing them to top-tier defensive players like Pepe and Thiago Silva.

To be fair, although they conceded two goals, the youngsters’ performance was still quite good.

Yang Cheng refused to believe he couldn’t mold them into something better!

…

At the weekend, the tenth round of the Premier League.

Ferguson’s team hosted Arsenal.

This was the crucial match of the round.

As it turned out, a goal from Cavani just three minutes into the game sent the entire match into a fever pitch.

The subsequent game was thrilling, with Arsenal fighting back fiercely, while Manchester United’s strategy was to grind it out in midfield and counter-press up front.

With players like Cavani and Rooney on the pitch, Manchester United’s counter-pressing ability in the midfield and attack had truly gone up a level.

In the forty-fifth minute of the first half, Rooney converted a penalty won by Juan Mata.

In the sixty-seventh minute of the second half, a goal from Evra practically sealed the victory for Manchester United.

3-0!

But just when everyone thought the match was over, Arsenal suddenly launched a comeback.

Just two minutes after Evra’s goal, a goal from Fàbregas narrowed the gap for The Gunners.

After that, Wenger made consecutive substitutions. With players like Cazorla coming off the bench, Arsenal launched a frantic counter-attack, bombarding Manchester United’s goal.

For nearly the last half-hour, Ferguson’s team defended with all their might, sitting deep and not venturing forward.

And just before the end of the match, a goal from Cazorla finally settled the score at 3-2!

Looking at the whole game, Arsenal had an overwhelming advantage.

But Ferguson’s team secured the victory.

Chelsea, after consecutive tough matches against Manchester United, nearly capsized away from home, being held to a 1-1 draw by Michael Laudrup’s Swansea City.

Manchester City defeated West Ham United 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Ibrahimović.

Liverpool came from a goal down at home to beat Newcastle 2-1, with a ninety-third-minute last-minute winner from Rakitić.

In the eighty-fourth minute, Newcastle’s centre-back Coloccini was sent off with a red card.

But regardless, Rakitić’s goal continued to increase the prestige of the phrase, “Made by Yang Cheng, guaranteed to be top quality.”

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese hosted Reading in this round.

Just eleven minutes into the game, after Hazard broke through on the left, he chipped a pass to the back post, and Gareth Bale’s header opened the scoring for the team.

Just three minutes into the second half, Gareth Bale returned the favor, assisting Hazard for the second goal of the match.

2-0!

In the sixty-seventh minute, another assist from Gareth Bale allowed Lewandowski to score another goal, making it 3-0!

Although Reading quickly pulled one back, a goal from Modrić in the seventy-seventh minute sealed the victory for Bayswater Chinese.

4-1!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Reading at home!

…

Midweek, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, to face Dynamo Kyiv away.

This time, Yang Cheng took a rotated squad on the road.

Dynamo Kyiv’s performance in the group stage was terrible, but playing at home, they still showed a strong desire to win.

In the cold away stadium, Bayswater Chinese mostly focused on defending and counter-attacking.

Just before the end of the first half, an assist from Giroud found Walcott, who successfully beat the offside trap and scored in a one-on-one against Dynamo Kyiv’s goalkeeper.

After the break, in the fifty-second minute, another swift counter-attack, a brilliant pass from De Bruyne, allowed Walcott to score again, completing his brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 away.

After this round, Yang Cheng’s team had secured four consecutive wins in the group stage, guaranteeing their qualification for the next round ahead of schedule.

…

At the weekend, returning to the Premier League for the eleventh round, they faced an away challenge against Stoke City.

Facing a Stoke City side that defended with all their might, parking the bus, and with an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Begović, Yang Cheng’s team struggled to create any threatening attacks throughout the first half, until the second minute of first-half stoppage time.

While Modrić was advancing with the ball in the center, he drew a foul from Stoke City’s midfielder Steven N’Zonzi, earning a precious attacking free-kick for his team.

Gareth Bale stepped up without hesitation, calmly taking the free kick and delivering a precise butterfly ball that breached Begović’s goal.

The former Bayswater Chinese player had made at least two saves from certain goals in the first half, performing brilliantly.

But after sixty minutes in the second half, the situation completely turned around.

As their stamina declined, Stoke City’s defense began to loosen.

In the sixty-third minute, Gareth Bale cut inside from the right and scored another goal, completing his brace.

2-0!

In the sixty-fifth minute, a placed long shot from Toni Kroos further extended the lead.

3-0!

In the seventy-third minute, an assist from Modrić allowed Hazard to score from inside the box.

4-0!

In the space of about ten minutes, Stoke City had conceded three goals.

And in the eighty-ninth minute of the match, Gareth Bale drove into the penalty area from the right and was fouled by the opposing centre-back Shawcross, winning a penalty.

The Welshman calmly converted the penalty, completing his hat-trick.

5-0!

Ultimately, thanks to Gareth Bale’s hat-trick, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Stoke City by five goals.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were routing Stoke City at home, the other teams competing in European competitions were not so lucky.

This round, Arsenal hosted Fulham.

The Gunners scored twice in the eleventh and twenty-third minutes to take the lead.

But Fulham, thanks to a brace from Berbatov, managed to equalize before halftime.

“Mr. Dapper” had found his form again after leaving Manchester United.

After the break, in the sixty-seventh minute, Fulham scored again to turn the game around.

But just two minutes later, Benzema also completed his brace to level the score once more.

The back-and-forth, end-to-end nature of the game made it exceptionally exciting.

But after that, the situation remained deadlocked.

As the match neared its end, it was substitute Arshavin who dribbled into the box and won a penalty.

With van Persie not on the pitch, Benzema stepped up without question, calmly converted, and completed his hat-trick!

In the end, thanks to Benzema’s hat-trick, Arsenal secured a narrow 4-3 victory over Fulham at home.

Coincidentally, Manchester United faced a similar situation.

The Red Devils were playing away against Aston Villa this round.

As it turned out, Ferguson’s team conceded two goals, one in the first minute of first-half stoppage time and another in the fiftieth minute of the second half.

But in the fifty-eighth and sixty-third minutes, Ferguson’s side managed to equalize thanks to a goal from Javier Hernández and an own goal from the opposition.

It wasn’t until the eighty-ninth minute that Javier Hernández finally sealed the match.

3-2, another narrow victory for Manchester United!

In the same round, Manchester City hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

In the twenty-first minute of the first half, from a set piece defense, Spurs’ centre-back Caulker scored.

1-0!

It wasn’t until the sixty-fifth minute that Manchester City managed to equalize with a goal from Agüero.

And in the eighty-eighth minute, a goal from Kaká helped Manchester City complete the comeback.

Of the four teams competing in the Champions League, three had very, very difficult matches.

And in a sense, all of them were comeback victories.

This showed everyone just how intense the competition in the Premier League was now.

As for the teams in the Europa League, Chelsea and Liverpool drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.

A crucial reason why Bayswater Chinese was able to win by a large margin was that Yang Cheng’s team adopted a strategy of heavy rotation in the Champions League, instead fielding their starting lineup for this Premier League match.

Although their performance was a bit forced in the away game against Dynamo Kyiv, they still managed a 2-0 victory on the counter-attack.

Returning to the league, they thrashed Stoke City 5-0.

Almost all media outlets gave extremely high praise to Yang Cheng’s strategic planning, especially the team’s rotation.

After eleven rounds of matches, Bayswater Chinese was undefeated with nine wins and two draws, earning twenty-nine points to sit at the top of the Premier League table.

Ferguson’s Manchester United followed closely with twenty-eight points.

Manchester City was third in the Premier League with twenty-five points.

Arsenal was in fourth with twenty-two points.

Wenger’s team had once again become The Fourth Place Fiend.

Chelsea ranked fifth in the Premier League with twenty points.

But Liverpool, thanks to their recent excellent performance, had caught up, earning eighteen points to rank sixth.

Overall, the current situation in the Premier League was still relatively unclear.

Mainly due to the schedule.

After the eleventh round, there would be a midweek international match.

And it was during this league break that Yang Cheng received a piece of news that made him ecstatic.

Chapter 267: Back-to-Back Hat-tricks! Ferguson’s Strangling Formation! Who Stole My Hat-trick!

Every time Yang Cheng stood before this office building next to Grosvenor Square, he couldn’t help but think of those movie characters who become so rich they can’t spend their money fast enough.

Back in the day, he didn’t really grasp the concept of money making money, or how spending more could lead to earning more.

But now, he was finally experiencing that bliss.

Take the office building before him, for example.

When he bought it, it already came with long-term leases, and most of the tenants were government agencies.

After spending some money on renovations, he was now collecting rent from the government while lying back and relaxing.

Bayswater Chinese had also moved into this grand and impressive office building.

By the end of 2012, the commercial market had begun to recover. Coupled with the continuous influx of foreign investment, the value of office buildings started to rise.

Doing the math, Yang Cheng had barely spent any of his own money. He was using the rental income to pay off the loan, and in a few years, he’d have earned a building for free.

Of course, to say it was completely free wasn’t entirely accurate.

At the very least, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had done a lot of planning behind the scenes and had inspected numerous projects.

There weren’t many high-quality projects like this in London’s core district.

If there were, Yang Cheng would have gone all-in on property speculation.

Entering the office building, with its historic facade, Yang Cheng was recognized by almost everyone, from the property management staff to the officials and employees of the government agencies working there.

Exchanging greetings with people along the way, Yang Cheng went straight to the top floor.

This was the headquarters of Bayswater Chinese.

“Good morning, Mr. Yang.”

Xia Qing’s assistant was already waiting at the front desk. The moment she saw Yang Cheng step out of the elevator, she immediately came forward.

“Ms. Xia and Adam are already in the office, and all the guests have arrived. I’ll take you there now.”

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded, walking ahead.

Along the way, club employees continuously greeted him.

Although Yang Cheng had been less involved in the club’s management and operations over the past few years, he had personally interviewed every senior executive and every employee in a key position.

Combined with the team’s excellent results, Yang Cheng held a very high status within the entire club.

In the heart of every employee, Yang Cheng was the most important and central figure of the club.

Arriving at the conference room, Yang Cheng pushed the door open to find everyone inside chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing him enter, they all stood up.

“David, Richard, we’ve finally been waiting for you to come back!”

As soon as Yang Cheng entered, he immediately saw David Pemsel and Richard Masters, who had just returned from the United States.

Although there were intricate connections behind the scenes, this time they were officially representing the ICC Company.

After everyone met, they exchanged a few pleasantries.

Yang Cheng walked straight to the head of the table and sat down.

Xia Qing and Adam Crozier sat to his left and right.

This time, they were listening to a work report from David Pemsel and Richard Masters.

During the recently concluded summer, the revenue growth of the International Champions Cup was not as high as the previous season, but it was still very good overall.

Most importantly, costs had been brought under control.

Therefore, profitability had increased.

This left Yang Cheng very satisfied.

But the most important thing was the series of activities the ICC Company was about to launch to give back to the market and the fans.

This was very meaningful.

No football market would appreciate a tournament that was purely about making money and then leaving once the profits were made.

The International Champions Cup in his previous life had made such a mistake, which gave it a very short-sighted and profit-driven feel.

And it lacked substance.

This was actually a common American approach to sports.

Take the NBA, for instance. The entire league seemed to just float there, with all the youth development, promotion, and so on having nothing to do with them. Even the college leagues, hailed as their feeder teams, weren’t funded by them.

But football was clearly a different matter.

From Europe to Africa to South America, wherever you went, football had to be rooted in the streets and communities.

Therefore, the fan base became exceptionally important.

In this regard, Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the series of initiatives launched by the ICC Company.

“We’ve also brought some good news with us this time.”

David Pemsel and Richard Masters exchanged a glance and said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yang Cheng looked at Xia Qing and Adam Crozier.

As it turned out, both of them were completely in the dark.

“We asked them just now, but they wouldn’t say a word. They insisted on waiting for you to arrive before they’d spill the beans,” Adam Crozier said with a frustrated smile.

A flash of inspiration struck Yang Cheng, and he vaguely guessed what it might be, but he didn’t say it aloud. Instead, he looked at David Pemsel and Richard Masters.

“What is it?”

“We’ve received very definite news. The World Football Challenge is being discontinued!”

“Discontinued?” Adam Crozier was pleasantly surprised. “For real?”

That was the International Champions Cup’s only competitor!

If they were really stopping, the entire summer football market would be wide open.

“After we contacted Paris Saint-Germain, OGC Nice, Atlético Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund, all four clubs expressed their willingness to sign with us. As a result, the World Football Challenge was never able to attract any decent teams to participate.”

David Pemsel was clearly also very happy to hear this news.

“According to our intelligence, the World Football Challenge already lost a lot of money last year, and they’re still losing money this year, even more so, because their original plan was to have Queens Park Rangers participate.”

“They had already agreed on leases for the venues and various supporting facilities, but the event was canceled at the last minute, and they lost a lot of money.”

It was a situation where a single action could affect the whole situation.

It was said that there were originally supposed to be eight teams, but in the end, only five participated.

With three fewer teams, far fewer matches were played.

But the rent for the stadiums and training grounds still had to be paid, right?

Moreover, to compete with the International Champions Cup for the market, the World Football Challenge had specifically chosen to rent large stadiums in major cities, where the rent itself was relatively high.

And the training grounds also had to be signed for in advance.

Now, with the sudden drop in the number of teams, the loss would definitely make Stephen Ross feel the sting!

Not to mention, Queens Park Rangers had been relegated to the Championship and were currently ranked 17th.

From the current situation, promotion was out of the question.

The media had previously reported that in the year since Stephen Ross bought Queens Park Rangers, he had lost at least over one hundred million pounds.

Add to that the losses from the World Football Challenge.

No wonder the American real estate tycoon threw in the towel!

“I heard that Queens Park Rangers has been up for sale in The City of London for nearly a year, with no takers?” David Pemsel asked with a chuckle.

“More than no takers!” Adam Crozier laughed as well. “After QPR was relegated to the Championship, their attendance rate dropped by nearly half. Ticket revenue is down, but the team’s salary expenses are very high, and the income from the Championship is much lower.”

“Now, Stephen Ross is like someone holding a hot potato. He can’t throw it away, so he has to keep pumping money into it to fill the hole.”

“Otherwise, if the club goes bankrupt, he’ll truly have nothing left.”

Although the investment in the Championship was much less than in the Premier League, when would he ever see a return on this business?

Queens Park Rangers didn’t even dare to fire their head coach, Mark Hughes.

Why?

The release clause!

It was rumored that they did the math and found that the cost of firing Mark Hughes was roughly the same as keeping him on and paying his salary, so they had no choice but to keep him.

The same went for many players on the team.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng felt pathetic just thinking about Stephen Ross.

Back then, the American tycoon had confidently declared that he was coming to the Premier League to challenge Bayswater Chinese.

Only a year later, and they were worlds apart!

“Although the discontinuation of the World Football Challenge is a huge positive for us, we still can’t be complacent. We need to take things one step at a time,” Yang Cheng reminded them.

David Pemsel’s smile faded, and he nodded solemnly.

“Our broadcast rights sales have progressed very well this time. In the North American market, which we value most, besides Fox, ESPN is also extremely interested in our broadcast rights and even intends to bring them to South America.”

Yang Cheng had guessed as much. “ESPN lost the UK domestic rights for the Premier League to British Telecom, which was a huge blow to them. And in the United States, NBC has always controlled the Premier League broadcast rights.”

As a traditional giant in the broadcasting industry, ESPN had seen a noticeable decline in recent years.

Of course, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, and ESPN was still a leader in many markets worldwide.

Moreover, they knew the importance of broadcast rights better than anyone.

That’s why they were particularly interested in the International Champions Cup.

After three years of preparation and operation, it could be said that the International Champions Cup had already made its breakthrough.

The next step was to continue in this direction, constantly deepening its market presence and moving forward step by step.

“I heard that FIFA has been in contact with you?” Yang Cheng asked the question that concerned him most.

David Pemsel also became serious. “It was a department head in charge of competitions, mainly probing. they believe that our holding a cross-continental tournament violates FIFA’s relevant regulations.”

“So what did you say?”

“I said we’re just pre-season friendlies, which happen all over the world.”

“And then?”

“They said they would go back and study it carefully, but the underlying meaning was that they hoped we would cooperate with FIFA.”

To put it simply, they wanted to absorb them.

No joke, how much money does the Club World Cup make each year?

The International Champions Cup brought in nearly two hundred million euros in a single summer.

Not only was FIFA drooling, but UEFA’s eyes were practically popping out of their sockets.

These two organizations—no, perhaps it should be said that all continental confederations and national football associations—were basically cut from the same cloth.

“I didn’t refuse. I just told them that the ICC Company is only responsible for organizing the tournament, marketing, and copyright operations, but all specific matters are handled by the twelve shareholder clubs.”

“I told them that if all twelve shareholder clubs were willing to cooperate with FIFA, then we would certainly have no problem.”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily. “Well said!”

“In the future, whether it’s FIFA or UEFA, you just give them that answer. Pass the buck directly to the twelve shareholders.”

“We can’t just let these esteemed club owners collect money without doing any work, can we?”

Everyone else laughed as well.

The twelve major clubs had received their appearance fees and their dividends.

From the current outlook, this tournament was definitely profitable, and its prospects were getting better and better.

If the twelve major clubs couldn’t even see this potential, then they’d have to be blind!

“FIFA isn’t much of a concern, but do you think UEFA will apply pressure?” Richard Masters asked.

“Pressure? Pressure on whom? Twelve major clubs? If they have the guts, they can talk to them one by one. Do you think they’d succeed?”

To put it bluntly, how many of the major clubs would actually give Platini the time of day?

If they gave him some face, he was the UEFA president. If they didn’t, what could he do?

If Platini really had that much power, he wouldn’t be so helpless now with the financial situations of tycoon-backed clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Paris Saint-Germain.

And if Platini really lost his mind and gathered all twelve major clubs together for a talk…

Ha, believe it or not?

The twelve clubs would surely put him in his place and send him packing!

He would just be humiliating himself!

To add another point, why was FIFA able to successfully absorb the Toyota Cup and organize the Club World Cup?

Because the Toyota Cup itself wasn’t profitable!

But now, the International Champions Cup was making money. Every club got a share, over ten million euros a year.

Should they really hand it over to FIFA or UEFA?

“In any case, just keep stalling like this. Drag it out for a few years, and they’ll give up on their own,” Yang Cheng instructed.

He didn’t make it sound too final.

Because in another two or three years, FIFA and UEFA would be in turmoil themselves.

In this regard, the Americans would surely be vindictive!

Whether it was David Pemsel, Richard Masters, or the senior management of Bayswater Chinese, they all had great trust in Yang Cheng’s decisions and believed he wouldn’t speak without basis.

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve received news that Ferguson, Uli Hoeneß, and Begiristain have all gone to the United States to meet with Guardiola.”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other.

Needless to say, Ferguson represented Manchester United, Hoeneß represented Bayern Munich, and Begiristain represented Manchester City.

“Guardiola is coming to the Premier League?” Adam Crozier was somewhat surprised.

Hearing this, Yang Cheng also felt uncertain.

“Ferguson will never retire until he wins the title again. I know him. That old fellow is competitive and has a strong sense of pride. If he said he won’t retire without another championship, then it must be true.”

“Bayern Munich is a possibility. They aren’t particularly satisfied with Jupp Heynckes’s coaching, and if they invite Guardiola, Bayern will probably have to spend a fortune to bring in a batch of players.”

“As for Manchester City…”

Yang Cheng recalled another piece of news from not long ago. Casillas and Mourinho had completely fallen out, and it was said that Florentino Pérez himself had to step in to calm things down.

But Mourinho had reportedly decided not to use Casillas anymore.

This was the captain of both Real Madrid and Spain!

If Mourinho really did this, the matter would definitely not end quietly.

Therefore, there were rumors that Real Madrid had contacted Ancelotti, preparing for a change of manager.

In truth, such rumors were always plentiful, because everyone was preparing for a rainy day.

It wasn’t possible that they would only start contacting Ancelotti after Mourinho was sacked, right?

That’s not realistic!

Typically, all major clubs would have multiple backup plans.

In fact, besides Ancelotti, Real Madrid had probably contacted other potential candidates as well.

It was just that they all kept their promises and didn’t make it public.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng shook his head.

As the year 2013 approached, it would soon be ten years since Yang Cheng came to this world.

In the past decade, because of his appearance, many things had undergone earth-shattering changes.

If Guardiola didn’t go to Bayern Munich but chose Manchester City instead, it wouldn’t be strange at all.

And if Guardiola came to Manchester City and personally tried to poach Messi, could it possibly succeed?

If that were the case, what would Barça and Real Madrid do?

Yang Cheng couldn’t even imagine it anymore.

But there was one thing he was certain of.

No matter how the situation changed, no matter how the opponents changed, Bayswater Chinese was already one of the top elite clubs in Europe!

He was very confident about that!

…

On the afternoon of November 17, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the 12th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted the newly promoted team, Southampton.

Not all national teams had scheduled matches in the middle of the week.

For example, Wales and Poland did not arrange midweek games.

Therefore, against the newly promoted Southampton, Yang Cheng started Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski.

The other wing was given to the young starlet, Sterling.

In midfield, Pogba partnered with Aaron Ramsey, with Javi Martínez playing in the holding role behind them.

This was because Javi Martínez had not played in his national team’s match.

Since the starting lineup arranged by Yang Cheng consisted of players who had not participated in national team games, Bayswater Chinese played very actively and energetically right from the start.

Especially in the midfield and upfront.

Southampton’s midfield had Schneiderlin in a holding role, with Steven Davis and Ward-Prowse in front of him.

Among them, Ward-Prowse was born in November 1994.

That meant he had just turned 18, only a month apart from Sterling.

But Ward-Prowse was already a regular starter for Southampton.

Yang Cheng truly admired this.

Bayswater Chinese was already known for using young players, but even he didn’t dare to make Sterling a regular starter.

And in the match, The Saints’ problems were quickly exposed.

In the 10th minute, Pogba and Lewandowski combined on the left side of Southampton’s 30-meter zone.

A full three Southampton defenders, including Ward-Prowse, swarmed to press and block them.

But these three players couldn’t stop Pogba.

Upon receiving Lewandowski’s pass, the French midfielder single-handedly dribbled through two defenders.

Schneiderlin pulled his shirt and Ward-Prowse used his body, but neither could stop Pogba.

The French midfielder stumbled forward with the ball, but he kept going, breaking into the 30-meter zone before quickly carrying it to the edge of the penalty area and slipping a through ball between the two defenders in front of him.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run from the left corner of the box into the left side of the penalty area. After receiving Pogba’s pass, he fired a low shot from a tight angle that went through the goalkeeper’s legs and into the Southampton net.

1-0!

The Welshman charged off the pitch in excitement, receiving the cheers of ninety thousand fans.

Afterward, the match remained under the control of Bayswater Chinese.

The home team’s attack continuously created chances.

The most dangerous came in the 24th minute, when Luke Shaw’s cross from the left found Lewandowski, whose close-range header went just wide.

Then, in the 30th minute, Southampton midfielder Steven Davis fouled Aaron Ramsey, giving Bayswater Chinese a direct free-kick opportunity from 23 meters out, right in the center.

Gareth Bale stepped up without hesitation. With a precise butterfly ball, he once again breached Southampton’s goal, sending the ball cleanly into the top left corner.

2-0!

Gareth Bale had scored a brace!

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese began to pick up the pace.

Just five minutes later, a through ball from Aaron Ramsey found Lewandowski, who beat the offside trap. After receiving the ball on the right side of the penalty area, he calmly fired a power shot into the near corner.

3-0!

In the 37th minute, Lewandowski dropped deep again, and Pogba made a sudden overlapping run. After receiving the ball and shaking off Ward-Prowse, he passed it to the left.

Luke Shaw sprinted down the left flank and sent a low, driven cross to the front of the goal.

Gareth Bale met it at the near post with a header, smashing the ball into the near corner.

4-0!

Hat-trick!

The Welshman excitedly ran off the pitch, doing a knee slide towards the fans’ stand!

He had come from Southampton’s youth academy, but his time there hadn’t been easy. He was even close to being cut at one point, but fortunately, Yang Cheng saw his potential in the summer of 2005 and brought him to Bayswater Chinese.

And today, facing the newly returned Saints in the Premier League, Gareth Bale proved his worth to his old club with a hat-trick, showing them how much he had grown and improved over the years!

As the first half neared its end, Sterling on the right wing also started to make his mark.

After receiving a pass from Aaron Ramsey, Sterling dribbled past Southampton’s full-back and sent a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Aaron Ramsey burst into the box and took a power shot.

The shot hit the post and rebounded back into the penalty area.

Lewandowski seized the opportunity at the crucial moment and scored with a follow-up shot, sending the ball into the Southampton net.

5-0!

The Polish centre-forward had scored a brace!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted!

As the players left the field, the ninety thousand fans all rose from their seats, giving the team a thunderous round of applause.

Five goals in the first half – Bayswater Chinese’s offense was like a surging tide!

As the Sky Sports commentator said live on air:

“Yang Cheng’s team has once again proven to everyone that trying to play an attacking game against Bayswater Chinese is suicidal!”

Unbelievably, in the 71st minute of the second half, a through ball from Javi Martínez found Aaron Ramsey, who seized an opportunity outside the penalty area and took a long shot.

The shot was powerful and came at a difficult angle, but it hit the crossbar and bounced back.

The Southampton penalty area descended into chaos.

At the crucial moment, Theo Walcott, who had just come on as a substitute, picked up the bargain in front of goal and sent the ball into the net.

6-0!

Aaron Ramsey, who was nearby, and Lewandowski, in the penalty area, were both stunned!

Aaron Ramsey looked like he wanted to cry. He had hit the woodwork twice, and both times it had resulted in a teammate scoring from the rebound. What could he say?

Lewandowski, on the other hand, wanted to grab Walcott and ask: You’re just a substitute, why are you stealing my shot?

If you hadn’t shot, I could have scored!

And I could have gotten a hat-trick!

Brother, were you just stealing a shot?

No, you stole my hat-trick!

In the final 20 minutes, no matter how hard Aaron Ramsey and Lewandowski tried, they couldn’t break through Southampton’s defense again.

Instead, The Saints managed to score a consolation goal in the 88th minute.

The goalscorer was Lambert!

What was more interesting was that after Lambert scored, many home fans actually applauded him.

“This is truly rare in the Premier League!”

“The home fans are applauding a goal from the away team’s player. Has anyone ever seen that before?”

“Well, congratulations! Here at Prudential Stadium, not only have you witnessed a spectacular feast of goals, but you’ve also seen this extremely rare scene!”

Afterward, the Sky Sports commentator explained the connection between Lambert and Bayswater Chinese.

He concluded with a poignant remark, “This is a club with a very human touch!”

“That’s why their fans are also particularly sentimental!”

After the match, Yang Cheng and the players even joked about it with Lambert.

Including today’s goal, the homegrown centre-forward from Bayswater Chinese had already scored five goals this season.

…

Bayswater Chinese defeated Southampton 6-1 at home!

Arsenal, after falling behind, beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 at home!

Manchester City, with goals in the second half, crushed Aston Villa 5-0 at home!

Liverpool, with a brace from Suárez, secured a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Wigan Athletic!

As one big win followed another, everyone could feel the formidable competitiveness of the Premier League’s top teams after a week’s rest.

As Sky Sports analyzed after the first matchday of the round, the biggest enemy of the top teams was fighting on two fronts.

If they were only playing in a single competition, the top teams would overwhelm the mid-to-lower-table teams.

But no sooner had these words been spoken than they were proven wrong on the second matchday.

Chelsea lost 0-2 away to West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester United lost 0-1 away to Norwich.

These two upsets shocked the entire European football world.

BBC reporter Pat Murphy reported after the match that Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo flew into a rage in the dressing room after the 0-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion, even saying something highly controversial.

“With a performance like that, you don’t deserve to be in the Champions League!”

The BBC believed Di Matteo was furious because Chelsea was currently at a crucial stage in their bid for a top-four finish, and thus Champions League qualification.

It had long been rumored that he had to secure a Champions League spot to keep his job.

Yet now, against a team like West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea had managed to lose after a week’s rest.

And to lose by two goals at that, which made Di Matteo utterly furious!

In another match, after suffering an upset against Norwich, Ferguson surprisingly didn’t engage his hairdryer treatment. Instead, he praised Norwich for their excellent defending.

“We had possession and created more a lot of chances, but today’s match just wasn’t ours!”

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten with 10 wins and 2 draws, earning 32 points and sitting at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United’s loss in this round caused them to drop one place.

Both Manchester City and Manchester United had 28 points, but Manchester City leapfrogged Manchester United into second place thanks to a superior goal difference.

In fourth place was Arsenal, with 25 points.

Further down were Chelsea with 20 points and Liverpool with 18 points.

Among them, The Reds had been in fiery form recently, winning match after match with outstanding performances.

This was the reason for Di Matteo’s panic.

Losing this match opened up a five-point gap between Chelsea and Arsenal, which was undoubtedly a very bad situation for Chelsea.

And with Liverpool closing in from behind, the pressure on Di Matteo was immense.

Mancini had also regained the approval of the Liverpool fans with his team’s recent excellent results.

The star of this round was undoubtedly Gareth Bale.

The Welsh winger scored a hat-trick for the second consecutive match, a truly brilliant performance.

He had scored 11 goals in 12 matches, and had also recorded a hat-trick of assists this season.

Gareth Bale delivered excellent performances on both the left and right wings, showing everyone the potential and astonishing energy the Welshman possessed.

Robert Lewandowski scored another brace, pushing his Premier League goal tally for the season to 14.

It could be said that both Lewandowski and Gareth Bale had achieved the highest efficiency of their careers.

At the post-match press conference after the Southampton game, Yang Cheng specifically praised two players: Aaron Ramsey and Paul Pogba.

Paul Pogba’s outstanding performance was clear to all the fans who had watched the game.

The French midfielder displayed strong individual ability whether he was receiving the ball, passing, or driving forward.

His excellent physical attributes, refined technique, and powerful forward runs all demonstrated a unique level of quality, making everyone very excited about his future.

As for Aaron Ramsey, besides hitting the woodwork twice to “assist” his teammates’ goals, he also contributed 112 passes.

Of these, 105 were accurately delivered to his teammates, for a pass completion rate of nearly an astonishing 94%.

In addition, in all his appearances this season, Aaron Ramsey’s long pass completion rate reached 84%.

This was basically on par with Modrić’s stats and slightly below Toni Kroos’s.

Of course, a 94% completion rate was from a single match for Aaron Ramsey; his season-long average was currently around 89%.

This was still quite impressive.

And his average of 1.3 dribbles per game was better than Toni Kroos’s, but slightly less than Modrić’s.

Of course, stats were just stats.

For example, both were long passes, but Modrić’s and Aaron Ramsey’s long passes, while accurate, clearly lacked the speed and threat of Toni Kroos’s.

By the same token, statistically, Aaron Ramsey was growing rapidly, even vaguely able to compete with the two main starters.

But in terms of reading the game, organizing the attack, and so on, he was still somewhat lacking.

Of course, as it stood, Aaron Ramsey already had the ability to share the pressure of matches with Toni Kroos and Modrić, and he was even qualified to hold his own.

…

On the evening of November 21st, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

In the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Borussia Dortmund.

Yang Cheng’s team had already advanced from the Champions League group stage, so for this match, Yang Cheng continued to field a rotated lineup.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw, with neither side able to score.

But in the 61st minute of the second half, Borussia Dortmund took the lead with a goal from Marco Reus.

Yang Cheng immediately made substitutions, starting to strengthen the team’s attack.

In the 83rd minute, substitute Lewandowski intercepted a pass from Subotić in the attacking third and scored against Borussia Dortmund, equalizing for Bayswater Chinese.

In the end, the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.

…

Like Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United had also won their first four matches in the Champions League group stage, securing first place in their group ahead of schedule.

So, in the fifth round, Ferguson fielded a full reserve team for their away game, which they ultimately lost 0-1.

But this allowed Manchester United to face Bayswater Chinese at home in the 13th round of the Premier League on the weekend with their strongest starting lineup and in peak condition.

Both teams fielded their full-strength lineups and had tuned their condition to its best.

And in this globally anticipated crucial match, Ferguson’s formation and tactics surprised everyone.

As the famous English football journalist, tactics expert, and author of “Inverting the Pyramid,” Jonathan Wilson, commented before the match:

“Whenever Toni Kroos and Modrić are tightly marked, Bayswater Chinese will struggle!”

The meaning of this statement was very clear: any team that wanted to stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack had to do everything possible to contain their midfield.

This was already a consensus in European football!

But how to contain them?

Different teams offered different solutions.

Over the past years, Yang Cheng had basically relied on this midfield to conquer all before him, facing countless teams and tough battles, and he had come through them all.

Therefore, he was never afraid of any opponent.

But at Old Trafford, the solution Ferguson came up with still surprised Yang Cheng.

After the first half, he even felt a little tempted to applaud Ferguson.

Ferguson had abandoned his previous 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formations, nor did he use the 4-3-1-2 formation that many had predicted before the match.

For this game, he reverted to Manchester United’s traditional 4-4-2 formation.

This was very unusual.

The goalkeeper, of course, was De Gea.

The backline, from left to right, was Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Rafael.

There was nothing too surprising about this defense.

Phil Jones was on the bench.

Clearly, Ferguson was convinced that Phil Jones could not handle Eden Hazard.

In fact, if he wasn’t careful, Phil Jones could become the biggest weakness in Manchester United’s defense.

As Yang Cheng had said before, English defenders were a useless bunch!

Eden Hazard excelled at dribbling and breaking through defenses, and Bayswater Chinese’s attacking free-kick was a specialty.

Therefore, every team playing against Bayswater Chinese had to minimize fouls in their own half.

In midfield, from left to right were Strootman, Carrick, De Rossi, and Robben.

The two strikers were Rooney and Cavani.

After years of competing, Ferguson was clearly very familiar with Bayswater Chinese and had a thorough understanding of their tactics.

He knew better than anyone the importance of containing Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

So, he arranged a full six players.

You read that right, six players.

Rooney and Cavani had a huge work rate up front, both actively dropping back to support the midfield.

Carrick and De Rossi were positioned relatively deep.

Whenever Bayswater Chinese’s midfield iron triangle got on the ball, Manchester United would form a huge encirclement.

At the tip were Rooney and Cavani, the left-footed midfielder Strootman was on the left, and the left-footed winger Robben was on the right. Carrick and De Rossi held the rear.

When this six-man encirclement closed in, it immediately created a strangling effect on Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Even with Eden Hazard actively dropping back, it was difficult to effectively link the midfield and the attack.

One can imagine, every time the midfield got the ball, they were surrounded by Manchester United defenders.

And these players didn’t want to win the ball; they just wanted to disrupt.

That is, to prevent Bayswater Chinese’s passing and movement.

Throughout the first half, the rhythm of the game was choppy and intermittent, never developing into a smooth flow.

This made it very awkward for Bayswater Chinese to play.

Manchester United weren’t having an easy time either.

But they were already the underdogs, and Ferguson didn’t intend to fight for possession, so they didn’t care.

In the first half, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate reached 64%, while Manchester United’s was only 36%.

Bayswater Chinese did have a goal.

It was from an attacking free-kick. Thiago Silva headed the ball back across from the far post, and Lewandowski scored from close range.

But the head referee ruled that Lewandowski had fouled Ferdinand before the shot, so the goal was disallowed.

After that, for the rest of the first half, Bayswater Chinese struggled to get any threatening shots on goal.

Of course, Manchester United had even fewer.

The Red Devils had only three shots in the entire first half, with zero on target.

It wasn’t that Yang Cheng hadn’t made adjustments.

For example, he moved Gareth Bale back to the left and Eden Hazard to the right.

He wanted to use Gareth Bale to attack Rafael’s side.

But the Brazilian player’s performance was quite good.

Although he couldn’t keep up with Gareth Bale’s speed, he knew how to commit tactical fouls.

Upfront, Rooney and Cavani both tracked back diligently, covering a huge amount of ground and putting a lot of pressure on Matić.

Added to the fact that Toni Kroos and Modrić were being contained.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was truly being suppressed by Manchester United.

Yang Cheng knew exactly what Ferguson’s game plan was.

Manchester United was essentially employing a defend and counter-attack strategy.

The key area was in the zone of Robben and Marcelo.

The whole world knew that Marcelo could be considered the fourth midfielder for Bayswater Chinese.

The Brazilian was strong in attack but weak in defense, often surging forward to participate in midfield organization and attack.

And this was where Robben’s threat on the right wing could be fully realized.

In the first half, Yang Cheng had repeatedly warned about this.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng reminded the players again that they must pay attention to Robben’s counter-attacks.

If he adopted a more conservative tactic, Yang Cheng could have asked Marcelo to reduce his forward runs, or even made a substitution, bringing on the more defensively solid Luke Shaw to mark Robben.

But that wasn’t Yang Cheng, and it wasn’t Bayswater Chinese’s style.

With the initiative in hand, making such a substitution would only dampen the team’s morale and attacking firepower.

Moreover, as Rooney and Cavani dropped back, Thiago Silva would have more opportunities to support Marcelo’s side.

The entire contest was a race to see whether Bayswater Chinese would break through Manchester United’s strangling formation first, or if Manchester United would score first through a counter-attack.

In the past, Yang Cheng’s team had always come out on top.

But this time, at Old Trafford, just one minute into the second half, Bayswater Chinese suffered a heavy blow.

As Yang Cheng had predicted.

After winning the ball in midfield, Carrick quickly passed it to Robben.

The Dutchman rapidly dribbled from the right sideline, cutting diagonally towards the center, attacking the space between Matić and Thiago Silva.

Both defenders were highly focused and moved to press him simultaneously.

But just at that moment, Robben suddenly slipped a through ball with his left foot, and Cavani made a quick diagonal run behind Thiago Silva.

Although Thiago Silva turned and chased back immediately, catching up to Cavani in time.

But after a physical contest between the two, Cavani clearly had the upper hand, creating an opportunity for a shot from the right side, on the edge of the six-yard box.

The Uruguayan centre-forward unleashed a furious shot that blasted past the nearby Courtois and into the net!

1-0!

The entire Old Trafford stadium erupted in celebration!

Over seventy thousand Manchester United fans in the stands roared at the top of their lungs, cheering themselves hoarse.

On the sidelines, in front of the home team’s technical area, Ferguson was even more excited, raising his hands high and rushing out of the coach’s box, yelling ecstatically, as if his team had already secured the victory.

This left Yang Cheng in the away team’s technical area speechless.

“You damned old codger, haven’t you ever seen a goal before? Look how happy you are!”

Yang Cheng glanced at Ferguson with disdain and muttered.

What’s the big deal?

You really think I’m a pushover?

That I only rely on the midfield duo of Toni Kroos and Modrić?

Don’t be ridiculous!

Yang Cheng quickly walked to the sideline, calling out to his players, signaling for them not to be discouraged.

“Keep playing the same way as in the first half, just like I said!”

Yang Cheng even called Modrić, who was closer to his side, over to the sideline, telling him he had to regain control of the midfield as soon as possible.

“Tell Marcelo to be a bit more stable for now, and keep an eye on Robben.”

“That old man Ferguson won’t be satisfied with just one goal. Manchester United will keep playing like this, keep forcing us to make mistakes!”

“We absolutely cannot give them a second chance!”

Modrić understood and immediately ran back onto the pitch.

While the Manchester United players were celebrating their goal, Modrić gathered his teammates, reignited the team’s morale, and they set up their formation again.

Soon, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, Manchester United continued to employ their strangling tactics, while also actively using Robben as an outlet for counter-attacks.

But this time, Marcelo was prepared and didn’t give Robben any opportunities.

However, this also led to a situation in the 53rd minute. In a quick counter-attack, Gareth Bale dribbled from the right, cut inside, and reached the right side of the arc of the penalty area, then sent a diagonal pass to the far post with his left foot.

Marcelo, who was desperately making an overlapping run, was a step too slow.

The Brazilian ended up throwing his entire body forward, using a sliding tackle to try and guide the ball back towards the center of the goal.

Unfortunately, the slide sent the ball directly into the side netting.

Marcelo himself slid off the pitch.

If Marcelo hadn’t tracked back so deep and been a bit slower on his forward run, that would have been a goal!

Subsequently, a corner kick from Modrić found Thiago Silva, whose header at the near post was on target.

The ball struck the hand of Evra, who was standing by the post.

The Bayswater Chinese players protested for a handball, but the head referee indicated that Evra’s arm was close to his body.

By now, 61 minutes had passed.

Chapter 268: Worldie! A Four-Assist Haul! Yang Cheng: I Haven’t Even Played My Hand, and You’ve Already Lost?

“A quick counter-attack from Manchester United.”

“Rooney drops back to receive the ball, carries it forward, and passes to Cavani.”

“Cavani takes a long shot from the edge of the penalty area.”

“Courtois makes a very steady save, holding onto the ball.”

“Manchester United were a little too careless in how they handled that counter-attack.”

“They should have tried to hold onto the ball in the final third.”

“The Red Devils’ attacks are fast right now, but they lack variation and threat.”

“Their defending, however, has been superb.”

“Especially their midfield in this match, which has been very successful in suppressing the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Of course, this also shows us that when Rooney and Cavani are both far from the goal, Manchester United’s counter-attacks struggle to pose a real danger.”

When Courtois caught Cavani’s long shot with both hands, he was so worried about fumbling it that he instinctively dove forward, smothering the ball beneath him.

But clearly, the action was unnecessary.

Rooney and Cavani had only advanced to the edge of the box.

The distance from where they launched the counter-attack to the goal was simply too great.

However, Manchester United’s suffocating midfield tactics were having a major impact on the Bayswater Chinese.

As Courtois got up, he saw Cavani still lurking outside the box, poised to charge forward at any moment. He immediately tucked the ball under his left arm and raised his right, signaling for his teammates to push up.

This forced Manchester United’s two strikers to quickly retreat.

“This damn Uruguayan can really run, and he’s willing to run!” Courtois grumbled to himself.

Rooney’s tactical discipline was unquestionable, and he was also more than willing to run.

But for Cavani, who was a head taller than Rooney, to be just as tireless was a real headache.

Of course, it wasn’t a total surprise.

At the 2010 World Cup, didn’t Uruguay’s front three play a similar, relentless running style?

By the time Courtois reached the edge of his box, he saw his two centre-backs had already split wide.

Just as he was contemplating a long clearance, his captain, Modrić, suddenly dropped back and raised his hand, demanding the ball.

Courtois quickly threw the ball with force, and it landed perfectly at Modrić’s feet.

Rooney immediately closed in to counter-press, but Modrić paused as he controlled the ball, skillfully turning with it at his feet. After shaking off Rooney, he immediately passed the ball to Pepe.

Once he’d released the pass, Modrić sprinted forward.

Courtois, watching from his penalty area, couldn’t help but be impressed.

Players with both technical skill and physical strength could truly do whatever they wanted.

Modrić was now the player closest to his own goal, besides the keeper, yet he still had the confidence to take on Rooney and dribble past him.

But in doing so, Rooney’s press left Pepe open.

The deadlock created by Manchester United’s high press was broken.

Seeing their pressure in the final third fail to yield results, Manchester United’s entire defensive line began to retreat.

This was part of Ferguson’s strategy for the match.

If there was an opportunity to win the ball back and apply pressure high up the pitch, Manchester United would press relentlessly.

But if their high press was broken, the Red Devils would quickly withdraw into their own half and set up a tight defensive formation outside their penalty area, especially their suffocating formation in the midfield and forward areas.

The Bayswater Chinese were struggling to find an effective way to deal with Manchester United’s tactics.

At halftime, Yang Cheng’s strategy was one of attrition.

Wear down the opponent relentlessly.

Besides, he still had cards to play.

Players like Sterling and Giroud, for instance, were both very distinctive.

Once Yang Cheng started making substitutions, it would signal a change in the team’s tactics.

Therefore, the Bayswater Chinese players remained patient.

For so many years, they had always had complete faith in Yang Cheng!

Especially Modrić.

…

Unbeknownst to him, this was already Modrić’s tenth season in London with the Bayswater Chinese.

For the past ten years, he had played under Yang Cheng’s tutelage.

Yang Cheng’s entire tactical philosophy had a profound influence on him.

Under Yang Cheng, he learned how to think, how to control a game, and how to read it.

In other words, he learned how to be a world-class midfielder!

And the longer he stayed with the Bayswater Chinese, the deeper his understanding became.

Two years ago, when Toni Kroos arrived at the club, Rakitić was sold.

Frankly, Modrić didn’t understand the move at the time.

Rakitić was his international teammate, and the two were on good terms.

He couldn’t figure out why Toni Kroos was brought in to replace Rakitić.

But he still chose to trust the head coach.

Just as he had done for all those years.

After two years, he now completely understood why the head coach had done it.

Because, in partnership with Toni Kroos, Modrić experienced a certain fluency and chemistry that he had never felt with anyone else.

Toni Kroos was an incredibly intelligent guy!

Although he usually seemed rather indifferent to everything and was nicknamed “the iceberg from Northern Europe” by many, Modrić knew he was warm on the inside.

Most importantly, as the two grew more familiar and their chemistry deepened, they often didn’t even need to speak. A single movement, a gesture, or perhaps just a glance was enough for them to understand what the other was thinking.

It was a very special feeling!

Since joining the Bayswater Chinese, only Toni Kroos had ever given him that feeling.

In recent years, the Bayswater Chinese had always placed great emphasis on long, switching passes.

Modrić himself was skilled at long passes and had a decent accuracy rate.

But after Toni Kroos arrived, Modrić was truly and completely won over.

It could be said that the German midfielder’s arrival had greatly enriched the Bayswater Chinese’s midfield organization and attacking options.

It also completely liberated Modrić!

Whenever the Bayswater Chinese ran into difficulty, the two often just needed to get together and exchange a few words.

Sometimes, just a meeting of eyes was enough to understand each other’s thoughts.

Just like now.

It was already the 64th minute.

The score was still 0-1!

It was a terrible feeling.

When Modrić glanced towards the touchline, he saw that the head coach was already getting ready.

It was time for a substitution.

He would probably be taking off Matić.

But who would come on?

Sterling? Or Giroud?

If it was Sterling, he would probably play through the middle.

Sterling was very fast, but the kid’s greatest strength was his youthfulness—fearless, always willing to take the ball and run at defenders.

Using him to disrupt Manchester United’s midfield setup was undoubtedly a great option.

Then there was Giroud, whose heading ability and tactical importance up front were obvious.

No matter who came on, the game could change!

Modrić’s gaze returned from the sideline to the pitch in front of him.

In truth, rather than calling Manchester United’s formation a 4-4-2, Strootman’s position wasn’t as advanced as Robben’s.

The Dutch midfielder was left-footed and played on the left flank, but he tended to sit deeper and closer to the center.

Hazard and Gareth Bale frequently switched wings, but no matter who was on this side, they found it difficult to break through.

Strootman stuck close to De Rossi.

Both players possessed excellent physicality and defensive abilities.

This made it extremely difficult for the Bayswater Chinese to try and break through from that side.

They had to find a way past them!

If he could just break through between Strootman and De Rossi and carry the ball into the penalty area, Modrić was confident!

If nothing else, Robert Lewandowski’s individual ability was also formidable.

But Manchester United’s midfield was like an impenetrable barrier, blocking everyone’s path.

Modrić turned his head again and saw Sterling and the others jogging out to warm up.

A substitution was definitely coming.

One more try!

With that thought, Modrić turned and looked at Toni Kroos.

The German happened to be looking his way at that very moment. Their eyes met, and Modrić was seen dropping back and drifting towards the right flank.

Toni Kroos understood immediately and moved towards the center.

As Piszczek carried the ball forward, he was hassled by Rooney and quickly played a through ball to Hazard.

The Belgian received the ball under tight marking from Evra and couldn’t get past, forced to turn back.

Modrić raised a hand, calling for the ball.

As the ball arrived at his feet, Strootman closed him down instantly.

Modrić was right-footed, Strootman left-footed, and in a physical confrontation, Modrić was at a disadvantage.

But he knew how to play when at a disadvantage.

The Croatian controlled the ball and smoothly turned his body.

As he turned, the ball seemed glued to the inside of his right foot.

After turning, Modrić felt the pressure from the defender behind him. He dropped his left shoulder, feigning a move to break down the right flank.

The ball had come from the right, so breaking down the right and linking up with Hazard and Piszczek was the logical move.

This caused Strootman to slightly shift his center of gravity.

But Modrić’s entire body suddenly froze. With the outside of his right boot, he nudged the ball sideways, abruptly changing direction and breaking towards his right—towards the center of the pitch.

Strootman was very quick, adjusting an instant later and continuing to stick close.

But Modrić’s footwork was exquisite. As soon as he turned, he shifted the ball to his left foot, using his right shoulder to hold off Strootman and extending his right forearm to block him.

This made it difficult for the Dutchman to get a foot in.

Just as Strootman was unable to get tight, Modrić played a cross pass with his left foot, sending the ball horizontally, while he himself suddenly came to a halt.

It was this hesitation that made the eager Strootman overshoot his tackle. After the sudden stop, Modrić darted past Strootman, running into the space behind the Dutchman.

Toni Kroos arrived just then and, without taking a touch, played a one-touch pull-back with his right foot.

The ball zipped diagonally between De Rossi and Strootman, towards the right side of the edge of the penalty area.

De Rossi immediately sprinted sideways to chase it down, but Modrić played the ball into the area between the penalty spot and the D. He shouted for Lewandowski and then burst into a sprint, surging forward and making a run into the right side of the box behind Vidić.

Lewandowski had initially had his back to goal, holding off Ferdinand as he prepared to receive the ball. But hearing Modrić’s shout after the pass, he understood. He turned sideways and, with his right foot, played another pull-back, sending the ball towards the byline, just outside the right side of the six-yard box.

The pass was quick, but Modrić arrived at full tilt just in time.

From the moment Modrić and Toni Kroos locked eyes to the Croatian meeting Lewandowski’s pass on the right side of the six-yard box, the entire sequence took only five or six seconds.

Apart from Modrić, every other player involved played a one-touch pass.

The Manchester United defenders were completely overwhelmed.

While they were still trying to figure out where the ball was, Modrić had already reached the right side of the penalty area.

Vidić turned to chase him but was ultimately a step too slow.

Modrić whipped in a powerful cross with his right foot.

The ball traveled from the right of the six-yard box to just outside the far post, past Vidić, Ferdinand, goalkeeper De Gea, and even Rafael.

And Modrić had chosen not to play a high ball.

He was worried De Gea would come out to claim it, or that Gareth Bale wouldn’t arrive in time.

He also didn’t dare play a ground pass, as he couldn’t guarantee that the Manchester United defenders wouldn’t intercept it.

So, he delivered a pass at about the height of a person’s knee.

This made it incredibly difficult for any intercepting defender to deal with.

But arriving at the far post, Gareth Bale used his body to forcefully shrug off Rafael before smashing a close-range volley with his right foot.

The powerful shot rocketed into the roof of Manchester United’s net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 66th minute, the Bayswater Chinese have successfully equalized!”

“1-1!”

“A fantastic piece of team play originating from the right flank. Modrić gets to the right side of the box and delivers a cross in front of goal.”

“Gareth Bale finishes it off with a powerful shot, blasting the ball past the Manchester United keeper to level the score for his team!”

“This is absolutely incredible!”

“We can see that the Manchester United players struggled from start to finish to stop this kind of passing and moving combination play from the Bayswater Chinese.”

“Especially in such a tight space!”

“Let’s take another look at this goal from the Bayswater Chinese.”

“The one-two pass between Modrić and Toni Kroos was exquisitely executed; the pass was perfectly weighted.”

“Then, the combination between Modrić and Lewandowski was also brilliant.”

“This is what teamwork and understanding looks like!”

“This group of Bayswater Chinese players have been playing together for so many years, they have such great chemistry. Often, a single gesture or a shout is all it takes for them to understand each other.”

“This is something other teams don’t have!”

As Gareth Bale ran to the sideline to celebrate, Modrić quickly joined him.

The Croatian leaped onto Gareth Bale’s back, cheering wildly.

The other players also rushed over to celebrate the crucial equalizing goal with Gareth Bale.

But just then, a thought surfaced in Modrić’s mind.

“There’s still nearly half an hour left, let’s push for more!”

His teammates around him all roared in agreement.

…

The match restarted.

As Manchester United kicked off from the center circle, the Red Devils players realized that the Bayswater Chinese, having just equalized, had no intention of settling the tempo down.

On the contrary, led by their attacking trident and three midfielders, the players charged like hungry wolves into their defensive third, taking the Manchester United defenders and midfielders by surprise.

The pressure was palpable.

Manchester United’s off-the-ball movement and one-touch passing were also very good, but under this intense pressure from the Bayswater Chinese, they were forced to pass it back to their goalkeeper.

De Gea rushed out of his six-yard box and, just before Gareth Bale could close him down, smashed the ball upfield with a powerful kick.

But the long clearance only reached the halfway line, where Thiago Silva won the header and nodded it back into the midfield.

On the touchline, in front of the home team’s dugout, Ferguson was extremely tense, constantly shouting at his players to be mindful of their defending.

Meanwhile, in front of the away dugout, Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up. He temporarily shelved his decision to make a substitution.

He had Brian Kidd go over and tell Sterling and Giroud to return to the bench for a rest after finishing their warm-up.

The pace of the game was so fast right now, and his players were attacking with such ferocity, it felt like they were on the verge of a breakthrough.

Even if he wanted to make a change, he would have to wait until this wave of attacks subsided.

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players were still pushing forward relentlessly.

The entire Manchester United team was stunned by their opponent’s frenzied attack, aggressive counter-pressing on the spot, and tireless pressure.

The Bayswater Chinese continued to launch their attacks from the two flanks.

Just three minutes after the previous goal, Modrić, from 30 meters out in Manchester United’s half, played a long pass to the left flank, finding Gareth Bale.

The Welshman headed the ball back to Marcelo before making a horizontal run into Manchester United’s penalty area.

Marcelo rapidly dribbled down the left touchline, and upon reaching the left side of the box, he delivered a cross.

Inside the box, Vidić got there first, heading the ball clear of the penalty area.

Outside the box, Modrić was the first to intercept the clearance.

Strootman closed in quickly.

Modrić shifted the ball to his left foot, dribbled horizontally to the left, and passed it to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder was positioned on the left side, just in front of Manchester United’s penalty area. As he received the ball, he was tracked by Carrick and immediately opted for a cross pass back to Modrić.

The Croatian knew this was a signal that there was no attacking opportunity down the left.

But before Modrić could even receive the ball, De Rossi, Manchester United’s holding midfielder who was positioned near the arc of the penalty area, charged forward to press him.

The Italian timed his press perfectly. He was confident he could disrupt the ball the instant Modrić took his first touch.

This would foil an attack from the Bayswater Chinese.

And if he was lucky, he might even be able to launch a counter-attack.

The ball arrived, and so did the man.

But just as De Rossi charged in, he saw Modrić, who was supposed to receive the ball with his side to the right touchline, suddenly turn to face the direction of attack. Planting his left foot, he used his right to pull back the ball coming from Toni Kroos.

That pull-back caused De Rossi’s attempted clearance to hit nothing but air.

The next moment, Modrić suddenly poked the ball with his right foot to De Rossi’s left—which was Modrić’s right—and burst forward with a sudden acceleration, sprinting past the Italian.

What had seemed like a sure-fire interception by the Italian was effortlessly neutralized by Modrić’s superb technique and this slick pull-and-poke move.

By the time De Rossi regained his balance, Modrić had already broken through his defensive zone.

As Yang Cheng had always said.

Modrić’s importance lay in his ability to drive forward and break through lines with the ball.

As the team’s central playmaker, once he bypassed the opponent’s midfield, he was bound to disrupt their defensive structure.

Just like at this moment. When Modrić used his clever skill to get past De Rossi, Manchester United’s backline was thrown into disarray.

Strootman had been wary of a long switch from Toni Kroos, so his positioning was slightly to the right.

When he saw De Rossi get beaten, he immediately rushed over.

But he was a fraction too slow.

In the box, Rafael on the right was marking Marcelo, while Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski were both in the center.

Vidić and Ferdinand couldn’t afford to step out.

If they pressed, Modrić would surely pass.

So, Manchester United were counting on Strootman to stop Modrić in time as he charged towards the arc of the penalty area.

But what no one expected was that as Modrić carried the ball to the edge of the arc on the right, he saw Strootman closing in and no available passing lanes into the box.

The Croatian glanced towards the goal and, without hesitation, used his momentum to run onto the ball and unleash a thunderous power shot with his right foot.

Everyone in the stadium heard a dull thud.

From a full 22 meters out!

After striking the ball with such ferocity, Modrić’s entire body leaped into the air.

He had poured every ounce of his strength into that shot.

The football shot forth at a speed that was almost impossible to track with the naked eye.

Many in the stadium didn’t even see what happened before the ball was already nestled in the top right corner of Manchester United’s goal.

An absolute, undeniable corner of the goal!

A worldie!

An absolute worldie!

The head referee’s whistle, confirming the goal, echoed crisply through the air at Old Trafford.

It was only at this moment that the entire stadium of Manchester United fans let out a collective gasp.

But it was too late to stop the goal.

Modrić turned and ran, celebrating his goal with a jubilant roar!

“My God, what an absolutely magnificent worldie!”

“Just three minutes after the last goal, the Bayswater Chinese have scored another!”

“And it’s from Modrić again!”

“After just assisting Gareth Bale’s goal, this time Modrić takes matters into his own hands. Following a pass from Toni Kroos, he cleverly bypasses the over-eager De Rossi.”

“Look at that move, look at how Modrić handled that. His technique is simply exquisite!”

“And the worldie that followed was just as brilliant!”

“Let’s look at it again from the angle behind the goal. It has a very distinct curve on it.”

“De Gea and the others probably thought it was going wide, but then the curve brought it back in.”

“Absolutely beautiful!”

“This is the quality of a world-class midfielder!”

“In the space of just four minutes, Modrić has produced a goal and an assist to help the Bayswater Chinese complete a comeback against Manchester United!”

On the touchline, the moment Yang Cheng saw Modrić’s unexpected long shot, that worldie, blast through Manchester United’s goal, he leaped up in excitement, cheering loudly.

He couldn’t have predicted the goal!

But just then, he’d had a feeling.

The reason was simple: experience!

The period just after a goal is scored is often a peak time for another goal to be conceded.

The second goal can go to either side.

So, when he saw the Bayswater Chinese pinning Manchester United back and quickening the tempo, Yang Cheng realized they had a chance.

While Manchester United were still reeling from conceding, hit them with a flurry of punches and catch them off guard.

As it turned out, his hunch was right!

In his excitement, Yang Cheng caught a glimpse of Ferguson in front of the home dugout, cursing as he exited the live broadcast…

Uh, no, that’s not right. He was walking back to the coach’s bench.

From leading 1-0 to now being turned over 1-2, Ferguson had every reason to be frustrated with his lot.

And both goals were conceded within a four-minute span.

…

When the head referee Lee Probert blew the final whistle, Manchester United’s manager, Ferguson, walked over to the away team’s dugout with a grim expression, where he was met by a beaming Yang Cheng.

Before the godfather of Manchester United could even speak, Yang Cheng beat him to it.

“I haven’t even played my hand, and the match is already won.”

Yang Cheng’s first sentence almost made Ferguson lose his composure.

Damn it, how can you be so shameless?

“Look, I had several surprise players ready to go, but before I could use them, they’d already turned the game around.”

After his “complaint,” Yang Cheng even let out a sigh, as if exasperated.

It made Ferguson want to punch him.

You won the game, just shut up already!

But Ferguson still possessed that basic level of sportsmanship.

Even though he was furious inside.

However, he shouldn’t expect to hear any congratulations.

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself; he wanted to vent a little too.

In this match, Ferguson’s lineup and tactics were indeed quite successful.

Especially the suffocating midfield strategy, which had been very effective.

If it weren’t for Modrić’s individual performance in those few minutes in the second half, this comeback probably wouldn’t have happened.

But this match was incredibly significant for the Bayswater Chinese.

So far this season, Yang Cheng’s team had played in three clashes between top teams, and today was the fourth.

The away game against Manchester City in the third round was a draw, the home game against Chelsea in the fourth round was a win, and the match against Arsenal in the ninth round was another draw.

This had been frustrating for Yang Cheng.

Although they beat Chelsea, it was a home game, and secondly, Chelsea weren’t direct title rivals for the Bayswater Chinese.

The Blues’ current strength was, at best, a challenge for the top four.

So, to some extent, Yang Cheng didn’t place too much importance on the victory against Chelsea.

But in the matches against Manchester City and Arsenal, both ended in draws.

Therefore, for this game against Manchester United, many in the media and the fanbase were worried.

Because this was another away game.

In the end, for the team to withstand the pressure and pull off a 2-1 comeback was undoubtedly a solid foundation for the new season.

After defeating Manchester United, the Bayswater Chinese’s fixture list would become relatively easier for a while.

Because in this round, Arsenal were held to a goalless draw away at Aston Villa.

Liverpool were held to a goalless draw away at Swansea City.

Manchester City were held to a goalless draw away at Chelsea.

The other three clashes between top teams all ended 0-0!

This truly felt like a gift from the heavens!

After this round of matches, the Bayswater Chinese stood at the top of the table with 11 wins and 2 draws, amassing 35 points.

Manchester City were second with 29 points, Manchester United had 28, and Arsenal had 26.

Further back were Liverpool with 22 points and Chelsea with 21.

Yang Cheng’s team had successfully extended their league lead to six points.

So, Yang Cheng could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“By the way, I heard you made a special trip to the United States to meet with Guardiola?”

After trampling on Ferguson’s pride, Yang Cheng smoothly changed the subject.

“Where did you hear that from?” Ferguson was somewhat surprised.

His meeting with Guardiola had not been captured by any media.

In fact, very few people knew about it.

But Yang Cheng knew.

There was only one explanation: the Bayswater Chinese’s intelligence system was truly formidable.

Even as far away as the United States, they could gather enough information.

Yang Cheng smiled without saying a word, waiting to see if Ferguson would give him an answer.

Seeing this, Ferguson cursed inwardly, cunning fellow!

“I just had a meal with him. The one who’s really interested in Guardiola is Bayern. Uli Hoeneß asked me for his number and arranged a meeting.”

This wasn’t exactly a secret; it was bound to come out sooner or later.

Yang Cheng let out an “oh” of realization. “I thought you were preparing to retire and wanted Guardiola to be your successor.”

“Nonsense! I won’t retire until I’ve won the title!” Ferguson said through gritted teeth.

Whenever this topic came up, his hatred for Yang Cheng made his teeth ache.

If it weren’t for Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese getting in the way, Ferguson would have been able to retire with honor long ago.

But now, he’d just been overturned at home.

It was truly a case of tarnishing one’s legacy!

Yang Cheng chuckled twice. “Looks like it’s not a bad thing for him to go to Bayern. The competitive pressure will be a bit lower.”

This statement was actually another test, to see if Ferguson knew that Manchester City had also been secretly in contact with Guardiola.

“They seem to have had a good talk,” Ferguson replied.

From his tone, it seemed Manchester United genuinely didn’t know.

Yang Cheng didn’t burst his bubble.

Knowing this kind of thing sooner or later made little difference.

But why reveal it ahead of time?

Besides, football is a war without gunpowder, and the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United were two adversaries locked in battle.

The importance of intelligence on the battlefield is self-evident.

This incident also showed that, thanks to Yang Cheng’s arrangements in various areas, the Bayswater Chinese’s intelligence in the United States, and their deep cultivation of the North American market, might have already surpassed Manchester United’s.

Not to mention Real Madrid and Bayern.

“Honestly, I’d rather you retire with honor and let Guardiola take over. The two of us competing would be much more exciting!” Yang Cheng said, looking at Ferguson with a disdainful expression.

This nearly drove the old gaffer mad again.

You son of a bitch, you won the match, and you still have to keep digging at me like this?

But then he remembered how he had deliberately provoked Yang Cheng at halftime, gloating about the success of his tactics, and Ferguson could only swallow his anger.

Truly, the river flows east for thirty years, and west for thirty years, do not bully the young…

Ah, spit!

What nonsense!

…

The Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1 away from home, and Modrić was named Man of the Match.

In the space of just four minutes, the Croatian created two goals with an assist and a strike of his own.

The Times featured Modrić on its front page after the match, declaring the Croatian to be a rare breed of controlling midfielder in world football today, as well as the soul and core of the Bayswater Chinese midfield.

“With this match, he has proven his worth!”

The Sun also opined that Modrić was one of the most important players for the Bayswater Chinese.

“Without Modrić, Yang Cheng’s team would likely have struggled to leave Old Trafford unscathed.”

The Sun revealed that in this crucial match, Modrić was the deciding factor for both sides.

“It took him just four minutes to lead the Bayswater Chinese to conquer Old Trafford!”

“In this match, Modrić delivered a Ballon d’Or-level performance!”

The Guardian similarly believed that Modrić had become the best midfielder in the Premier League, and perhaps even in Europe.

At 27 years old, Modrić has been with the Bayswater Chinese for a full 10 years, serving as the captain of the current team and performing exceptionally well.

Not only that, but he was also the very first “genius” signed under the Premier League’s Special Talent Clause!

Numerous accolades have made Modrić and the Bayswater Chinese a popular topic of discussion among countless fans.

Now, with Modrić helping the Bayswater Chinese to a comeback victory against Manchester United, it is being hailed as a solid step forward on their journey to the title this season.

“For the Bayswater Chinese, what’s most important isn’t the six-point lead, but the fact that they came from behind to win away at Manchester United.”

The Guardian believes that this victory will greatly boost the morale and confidence of the Bayswater Chinese, while inevitably dealing a blow to Manchester United’s fighting spirit.

“At least before Christmas, it will be very difficult for any other team to stop the Bayswater Chinese!”

This was not a statement made without basis by The Guardian.

After the Manchester United match, the Bayswater Chinese would be entering a relatively easier run of fixtures.

They had already qualified from their Champions League group, and there were no more clashes between top teams in the league for the time being.

The only potentially troublesome opponent was in the League Cup quarter-finals, an away match against Arsenal.

According to the League Cup schedule, the match was originally set for December 12th.

But since the Bayswater Chinese had to participate in the Club World Cup, the match was forced to be postponed.

This might pose some trouble for the Bayswater Chinese.

But the League Cup wasn’t a major competition; it was practically a chicken rib, and most people didn’t pay it much mind.

However, in the league, the Bayswater Chinese would certainly be going all out to rack up points.

The other teams would likely start feeling the pressure.

…

Three days after the Manchester United match, during the week, came the 14th round of the Premier League.

This was the first time this season the Premier League had scheduled midweek league fixtures.

The Bayswater Chinese faced Sunderland in an away match.

Martin O’Neill’s team lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, while the Bayswater Chinese made extensive squad rotations.

This was because they had another match on the weekend, a home game against Aston Villa.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s rotation was significant, resting players like Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski.

In the 35th minute of the first half, Theo Walcott delivered a brilliant pass from the right, and Sterling tapped it in from close range.

1-0!

This was the only goal of the entire match.

But in the 80th minute of the second half, the goalscorer Sterling was brought down by a tackle from the opposing defender, Gardner, during a dribbling run and remained on the ground.

Gardner received his second yellow card and was sent off with a red card.

After a preliminary diagnosis from the team doctor, Sterling was fine, suffering only a minor muscle strain.

This brought a sigh of relief to Yang Cheng.

…

On the weekend, the 15th round of the Premier League.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa at home.

Paul Lambert’s team had been very inconsistent recently.

In the 12th round, they suffered a crushing 0-5 defeat away to Manchester City.

But back at home, they managed a 0-0 draw against Arsenal with a solid defensive performance.

Then, in their midweek home game, they secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Reading.

For the Bayswater Chinese, playing two games a week was something they could handle with ease.

But for a team like Aston Villa, it was undoubtedly a huge challenge.

Thus, Paul Lambert set up his team in a 5-4-1 formation at London’s Prudential Stadium, making his intention to defend with all his might clear.

But parking the bus has one prerequisite: you have to be able to hold out.

Especially against the Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

Just 2 minutes and 21 seconds into the game, the Bayswater Chinese launched an attack down the right, with Piszczek assisting Robert Lewandowski to break the deadlock against Aston Villa.

1-0!

With that goal, it was practically impossible for Aston Villa to hold on.

At the very least, a crack had appeared in their iron barrel defense.

In the subsequent play, the Bayswater Chinese, with a one-goal advantage, patiently organized and orchestrated their attacks.

In the 29th minute, a long shot from Toni Kroos once again found its way past Aston Villa’s keeper.

2-0!

Just five minutes later, from an attacking free-kick, Modrić assisted Pepe for a header that found the back of the net, further extending the lead.

3-0!

In the first half, no one had quite realized what the game would turn into.

After all, a three-goal lead was not unheard of.

But in the second half, especially after the 55th minute, the direction of the game took a turn that surprised everyone.

Paul Lambert was clearly unwilling to go home with a 0-3 defeat, so he made two substitutions.

One was a like-for-like change at left-back, with Joe Bennett coming on.

The other was an attacking change, with Stephen Ireland replacing the defensive midfielder Westwood.

As it turned out, these two substitutions completely changed the course of the match.

Just two minutes after the changes, Modrić provided a brilliant pass, and Matić, with an overlapping run, fired a shot from near the penalty spot that flew into Aston Villa’s goal.

This was the Serbian midfielder’s first goal of the season.

4-0!

In the 75th minute, Modrić delivered another wonderful assist, and Robert Lewandowski scored another goal.

The Pole had his brace!

5-0!

The Croatian had completed a hat-trick of assists!

And just four minutes later, Gareth Bale also scored, blasting a powerful shot into Aston Villa’s goal.

6-0!

In the 83rd minute, Modrić provided yet another assist, setting up Hazard in the left channel for an easy finish.

7-0!

Everyone was stunned!

Modrić had provided four assists, a four-assist haul!

What was even more baffling was that since the substitutions, Aston Villa seemed to have suddenly weakened!

Only Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and a few others knew the real reason: Aston Villa were running out of steam and couldn’t keep up with the pace.

The reason they could hold Arsenal to a draw at home after being thrashed by Manchester City was because they had a full week’s rest between the two matches, giving them ample time to prepare and recover their energy.

After going all-out against Arsenal, they faced Reading midweek, also at home.

Although they won 1-0, Aston Villa had expended a huge amount of energy in two consecutive matches.

And now, they were playing away against the Bayswater Chinese, and they conceded right at the start.

Their plan to park the bus failed, and the players’ morale took a huge hit.

Coupled with their fitness issues, their defending in the second half was riddled with mistakes.

In the 89th minute, Harry Kane, who had just come on as a substitute, provided a brilliant pass to help Robert Lewandowski complete his hat-trick!

8-0!

The Polish centre-forward had strived for nearly 90 minutes and finally secured another hat-trick!

This was his second hat-trick in the Premier League this season!

Remember, in the 12th round, Lewandowski was on the verge of a hat-trick, only for Walcott to snatch the shooting opportunity from him.

That had left Lewandowski quite frustrated.

Now, finally, his wish had been granted!

The Polish centre-forward was so excited he was celebrating wildly by the sideline.

And just two minutes later, it was Lewandowski again, receiving a pass from Harry Kane. As he turned in the box, he was fouled by a defender, earning a penalty kick.

Having already completed his hat-trick, Lewandowski selflessly offered the penalty opportunity to the youngster Harry Kane.

It was a gesture of thanks for Harry Kane’s assist that had completed his hat-trick.

Harry Kane was a bit overwhelmed but didn’t refuse. He calmly stepped up to take the penalty and converted it with a clean, powerful shot that once again flew past Aston Villa’s keeper.

9-0!

This was an absolutely insane victory!

Yang Cheng himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

A nine-goal thrashing!

It was truly unbelievable!

…

While the Bayswater Chinese were thrashing Aston Villa 9-0 at home, other top teams also faced challenges in this round of the Premier League.

Chelsea lost 3-1 away to West Ham United.

This was the first match of the round, and the Blues suffered a major upset in the early kickoff.

Arsenal drew 2-2 at home against Swansea City.

But the key point of this match was that Arsenal had an overwhelming advantage for 87 minutes and had a two-goal lead.

However, in the 88th and 91st minutes, Michu scored a brace, delivering a harsh slap in the face to Wenger.

Liverpool secured a narrow 1-0 victory at home against Southampton.

Manchester City came from a goal down to beat Everton 2-1 at home.

Manchester United, after falling behind twice in an away match, managed to defeat Reading 4-3, thanks to a brace from Rooney.

But the most interesting thing about this match was that all seven goals were scored within the first half an hour.

No, strictly speaking, from the 8th minute to the 34th minute, in a span of just 26 minutes, the two teams scored a total of seven goals.

With Manchester United rotating their squad, David Luiz’s problem of rashly pressing high was completely exposed in this match.

Chapter 269: World Champions! Return to the Premier League! In the World of Football, I Am the Rule!

After the fifteenth round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced the final match of the Champions League group stage mid-week.

Yang Cheng continued to field a full reserve lineup.

The two sides played to a 1-1 draw at the Prince’s Park in Paris.

Lavezzi and Giroud each scored a goal.

Because of this draw, Paris Saint-Germain ultimately lost the battle for second place in their Champions League group to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

Klopp’s team defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 at home, successfully advancing as the group runner-up.

Paris Saint-Germain could only regretfully head to the Europa League.

After the Champions League group stage, among the four participating Premier League teams, Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Arsenal all advanced as group winners.

Only the unlucky Manchester City, having been drawn into the same group as Real Madrid, managed to secure just second place.

This created more uncertainty for the upcoming Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage.

…

Returning to the Premier League, the sixteenth round of matches arrived.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Wigan Athletic in an away game.

Interestingly, Roberto Martínez also set up a 5-4-1 formation, parking the bus to face Bayswater Chinese.

But the home team’s defense only held for thirty-five minutes.

Gareth Bale’s power shot from inside the box in the 35th minute opened the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

In the 43rd minute, Gareth Bale provided an assist, and Robert Lewandowski scored another goal.

After the second half began, in the 63rd minute, Gareth Bale scored again, completing his brace.

Then, in the 78th minute, Sterling, who had come on as a substitute, assisted Robert Lewandowski, who also completed a brace.

In the end, thanks to the two braces from Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-0 away from home.

Bayswater Chinese’s attack this season had a massive release.

So far, Robert Lewandowski had scored a staggering nineteen goals in sixteen league matches.

Gareth Bale had also scored fifteen goals in the first sixteen rounds.

The two players ranked first and second on the Premier League’s top scorer chart, respectively.

This undoubtedly showed everyone the formidable attacking firepower of Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff knew very well.

Besides the players’ individual ability and form, the team’s configuration also played a part in activating Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

In attack, the starting lineup adopted by Bayswater Chinese this season was a trident of Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

Last season, it was Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Clearly, this season’s configuration was more focused on Lewandowski and Bale.

This was because Hazard’s ability to hold the ball, dribble past opponents, and pass allowed him to effectively lighten the defensive pressure on Lewandowski and Bale.

Walcott’s scoring ability and off-the-ball movement were indeed excellent, but in terms of attacking with the ball, he was inferior to Hazard.

From the start of this season, due to his participation in the European Championship and the Olympics, Walcott missed the pre-season preparation, causing him to fall behind in the competition from the very beginning.

The Little Tiger himself felt quite helpless about this.

But as a homegrown player from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, Walcott firmly believed that he could win back his starting position.

Incidentally, The Little Tiger had only scored three Premier League goals so far this season.

In the first sixteen rounds last season, he had scored six.

However, this season, Bayswater Chinese had scored sixty-one goals and conceded nine in the first sixteen rounds.

The record for the same period last season was fifty-three goals scored and four conceded.

Overall, the attacking firepower had become fiercer, but the defense had clearly weakened.

This was largely in line with the expectations of Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

After all, losing Vincent Kompany and Ryan Bertrand was bound to have an impact on the defensive line.

But on the other hand, if they could develop Luke Shaw and bring up homegrown players like Stones and Maguire, it would be worth paying a price in the short term!

In this round, Arsenal defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Fàbregas.

Chelsea defeated Sunderland 3-1 away, with Falcao scoring twice.

Liverpool secured a narrow 3-2 away victory against West Ham United.

In the most anticipated match of the round, the Manchester derby, Manchester United took the lead at the City of Manchester Stadium in the first half with a brace from Rooney.

But in the second half, Manchester City scored two goals to level the score.

It wasn’t until the final moments of the game, in the 92nd minute, that a last-minute winner from Cavani helped Manchester United defeat Manchester City 3-2.

This gave The Red Devils a great sense of vindication.

…

The day after the sixteenth round of the Premier League, Yang Cheng led the entire team from London on a charter flight from Qatar Airways, heading to Japan to participate in the 2012 Club World Cup.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s return to the Club World Cup after a three-year absence.

This time, apart from injured players, Yang Cheng brought everyone from the first team to Japan.

Long before their departure, Bayswater Chinese had been building up hype.

Especially before leaving, they had announced the team’s itinerary on the internet well in advance.

As a result, when the charter flight arrived in Tokyo, Japan, it was met with a warm welcome from Japanese fans.

More than two thousand fans came to greet them at the airport, and the scene nearly spiralled out of control at one point.

The news in Japan that day was also dominated by reports on Bayswater Chinese.

Television stations even conducted brief interviews with Yang Cheng and the players while welcoming the team at the airport.

Everyone in the team, from top to bottom, was full of confidence about the upcoming Club World Cup.

What set this edition of the Club World Cup apart from previous ones was the first-time introduction of goal-line technology.

During the matches, the head referee would wear a special watch to receive goal signals.

Once the football crossed the goal line, the watch on the referee’s wrist would provide an alert.

This was a magnetic field detection technology!

In addition to this, this Club World Cup would also introduce the Hawk-Eye system for the first time.

This wasn’t particularly high-tech, consisting mainly of high-speed cameras.

The Premier League and the Champions League had not yet introduced such equipment, but the first team training ground at Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center had actually started using the Hawk-Eye system long ago.

So they weren’t particularly impressed by this technology.

Yang Cheng even joked, “The introduction of this high-tech equipment is very advantageous for us!”

From the moment the team won the Champions League last season, to their participation in the International Champions Cup in Asia this summer, and now the Club World Cup in December, Bayswater Chinese had already formulated a comprehensive commercial promotion plan for this schedule.

During the summer pre-season, a Japanese sponsor had hoped Bayswater Chinese would set up their training camp in Japan.

But after considering various factors, Bayswater Chinese chose to hold it in Huadu, China, to take advantage of the high-altitude training benefits.

This time, the day after arriving in Japan, Yang Cheng, along with players like Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, Theo Walcott, and Modrić, attended a signing ceremony.

Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier, on behalf of the club, signed a five-year sponsorship contract with the famous Japanese engine manufacturer, Yanmar.

As Japan’s premier engine manufacturer, Yanmar held a market share of over sixty percent in the global sailing engine sector and over fifty percent in small diesel engines for global construction machinery.

Yanmar’s president, Yamaoka Kento, emotionally stated at the signing: “We are extremely honored to become a global partner of the best club in the world!”

Yamaoka Kento said that Bayswater Chinese had a huge number of followers worldwide and an extraordinary influence.

“We believe that this partnership will help us deepen our connection with fans in Japan and also help us actively expand into the global market!”

Coincidentally, Bayswater Chinese subsequently held several more signing ceremonies and press conferences.

In addition to Yanmar, Bayswater Chinese officially reached a global partnership with the Japanese food manufacturer Nissin.

Nissin would launch a series of food products branded with the Bayswater Chinese name, to be sold globally, and would also be officially introduced into Bayswater Chinese’s shops and stadium retail.

“We will launch a series of special events to closely link the club with our products!”

Incidentally, both Cup Noodles and Demae Iccho are brands under Nissin.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese also reached agreements with Japanese printer giant Epson and Kansai Paint, officially becoming global partners.

There was also Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which entered into a regional partnership with Bayswater Chinese.

Within just three days of arriving in Japan, Bayswater Chinese signed several major contracts, immediately attracting strong attention from major European media outlets.

This was not the first time.

The commercial team led by Adam Crozier had long been hailed in European football as the most formidable in the business.

In just a few short years, they had built the commercial empire of Bayswater Chinese.

In terms of the number of sponsors, Bayswater Chinese was actually far behind Manchester United and Real Madrid.

To give a simple example, Manchester United has forty partner banks around the world, far exceeding Bayswater Chinese.

But Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship fees were higher than Manchester United’s.

It had been previously reported by the media that for the same regional partnership, Bayswater Chinese’s asking price was three million pound sterling, while Manchester United’s was only two million, and for some smaller countries and regions, it was as low as one million.

For a global partnership, Bayswater Chinese asked for five million pound sterling, while Manchester United’s highest was only three million.

There were many reasons for this difference.

Previously, Deloitte had conducted an analysis on this matter.

Manchester United and Real Madrid adopted a “casting a wide net” model, which was essentially simple brand licensing, with no further involvement.

But Bayswater Chinese took a specialized approach, asking for a higher price but also providing better supporting services.

Take the partnership with Nissin, for example.

Once the products are launched, the two parties will engage in various online and offline joint activities globally, organizing all sorts of promotional events. This is a win-win model with excellent returns for both sides.

Interactions like these are almost never seen with traditional powerhouse clubs.

But this also meant that Bayswater Chinese’s new media team and commercial department had significantly more employees than Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The upside was that once a sponsor experienced the benefits of collaboration, they would almost always maintain the partnership.

This made Bayswater Chinese increasingly attractive to sponsors, and their commercial revenue continued to climb.

The model used by Real Madrid and Manchester United was more of an asset-light approach, testing the capabilities of their business development teams.

The Times in England predicted that Bayswater Chinese’s money-making tour in Japan, not counting appearance fees and prize money, would definitely exceed twenty million pound sterling in commercial revenue alone.

“Japanese money is so easy to make!”

…

December 12th, evening in Japan.

International Stadium Yokohama.

Club World Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese versus Monterrey from Mexico.

This was not Bayswater Chinese’s first time participating in the Club World Cup.

On the contrary, Yang Cheng and his team had played in the Club World Cup several times in recent years and were very experienced.

Before the match, the team had thoroughly familiarized themselves with Monterrey.

Especially their second-round match against Ulsan Hyundai.

A scout from Bayswater Chinese had watched the entire match live and provided the team with a very detailed report.

It covered everything from Monterrey’s technical characteristics to their player configurations.

Yang Cheng arranged his team’s tactics based on this report.

Just six minutes into the game, a long pass from Stones in the backfield accurately found its way to the front on the left flank.

After receiving the ball, Hazard dribbled into the left side of the penalty area, shook off a defender to create a one-on-one opportunity, and scored with a shot to the far corner.

1-0!

Just four minutes later, Hazard broke through on the left, beating two defenders before passing to the center.

Giroud tried to control the ball and turn, but his touch was a little heavy, missing the scoring chance.

But in the 13th minute, Monterrey’s holding midfielder Meza made a mistake in controlling the ball. Pogba intercepted it, quickly charged to the edge of the penalty area, and fired a long shot that found the back of the net.

2-0!

In the 17th minute, Luke Shaw advanced with the ball on the left, combined with Hazard and Pogba in a series of passes, then sent a cross to the far post inside the box, where Walcott scored with a close-range push.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese’s whirlwind-like attack at the start of the match was hard for even the technically skilled Mexican team to handle. But after a wave of furious attacks, the game gradually returned to a state of equilibrium.

However, after the second half began, just seventeen seconds in, Hazard broke through on the left and assisted Giroud for a close-range goal.

4-0!

In the 48th minute, Giroud drifted to the left, received a pass from Hazard, broke into the box, and sent a left-footed cross to the center.

The Little Tiger followed up with a shot, sending the ball into Monterrey’s goal once again.

5-0!

In the 50th minute, Hazard had another opportunity, dribbling past four Monterrey defenders, but his cross from the left side of the box was blocked out for a corner by a defender.

It was clear that Hazard had run out of energy for his final touch.

The rest of the match was largely without suspense.

Bayswater Chinese ultimately thrashed Monterrey 5-0 to advance to the final!

…

On the evening of December 16th, in the Club World Cup final, Bayswater Chinese faced Brazilian side Corinthians.

Yang Cheng fielded his strongest lineup for this match.

From the goalkeeper to the defense and the midfield and attack, the team went out with its most powerful squad.

This was not only a requirement from FIFA, but Yang Cheng also wanted the team to win this trophy.

And just twelve minutes into the game, Pepe capitalized on a corner kick opportunity, scoring with a header past the Corinthians goalkeeper.

1-0!

In the 38th minute, Toni Kroos delivered a brilliant pass. Inside the penalty area, about ten meters from goal, Robert Lewandowski controlled the ball and cleverly flicked it over the goalkeeper with a volley, sending it into the net.

2-0!

After the second half commenced, in the 54th minute, Gareth Bale, from just outside the left corner of the six-yard box, slotted a shot into the far corner, precisely sending the ball into the right side of the Corinthians goal.

3-0!

Although Corinthians later pulled one back through a midfielder Yang Cheng was very familiar with, Paulinho.

But as the game neared its end, Piszczek sent a wonderful pass from the right, connecting with Lewandowski again.

The Polish centre-forward scored with a toe-poke in front of goal, cleanly sending the ball into the Brazilian team’s net once more.

4-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Corinthians 4-1, successfully winning the Club World Cup!

Since the 2006 final when Champions League winners Barça lost to Internacional of Brazil, European teams had won the Club World Cup for six consecutive years!

Bayswater Chinese once again took home the five million US dollar prize for winning the championship!

Winning the title was a routine operation for Yang Cheng and his team.

Neither Monterrey nor Corinthians had the strength to threaten Bayswater Chinese.

But what really caught his attention was what happened after winning the title.

After the award ceremony, FIFA President Blatter, who was presenting the awards, warmly pulled Yang Cheng aside.

…

Over the past few years, Yang Cheng had never lacked opportunities to speak with Blatter face-to-face.

Whether at formal occasions, private gatherings, or business events.

But today, Blatter’s actions were clearly different from before.

After the match ended, he invited Yang Cheng up to a rather secluded VIP box above the awards podium on the pitch.

Blatter first congratulated Yang Cheng, saying that Bayswater Chinese was a model of club management in world football.

FIFA would use Bayswater Chinese as an example, hoping that football clubs around the world would learn from this Premier League team.

Yang Cheng vaguely guessed Blatter’s intentions and immediately adopted a very “sincere” attitude, constantly smiling and expressing his thanks.

He basically looked completely harmless and innocent.

But on one point, whenever it came to business matters, Yang Cheng insisted that he knew nothing.

Blatter clearly had no way to deal with Yang Cheng’s deft sidestepping and could only get straight to the point.

“You’re not unfamiliar with the International Champions Cup, are you?”

Blatter’s eyes were sharp as he stared at Yang Cheng.

“Of course I know it. We’ve played in this pre-season friendly every summer recently.”

“But how come I’ve heard that this tournament was initiated and proposed by you at Bayswater Chinese?” Blatter probed.

Yang Cheng immediately laughed, “Not really. Didn’t we go to the United States in 2009 to participate in the World Football Challenge? Charlie Stillitano, you must know him, right?”

“I’ve heard of him, and met him a few times, but we’re not close,” Blatter replied.

Yang Cheng knew what was up. Right, I knew you weren’t close to him!

“He has many years of experience organizing tournaments and has always been inviting European teams to play pre-season friendlies in the United States. But in the summer of 2009, when we went to the US to play, another American company contacted us, the ICC Company.”

“This company offered higher appearance fees and better treatment. More importantly, they wanted to invite more elite clubs to play in the US, and as you know, European teams are very interested in developing the North American market, so it was a perfect match.”

It had already been reported by the media that twelve elite clubs held shares in the ICC Company.

But the exact shareholding percentages were largely unknown to the public.

“But having you play in this cup competition across continents, especially spanning Europe, North America, and Asia, has had a very negative impact on football in those continents,” Blatter said, uninterested in getting entangled with Yang Cheng over the issue of shares.

For him, how many shares the elite clubs held was not the problem.

All football matches in the world are under the management of FIFA!

They all belong to FIFA!

“Over the past two years, the football associations in North America and Asia have repeatedly brought this matter to my attention. They are very dissatisfied with the chaos caused by this tournament and have demanded that we at FIFA must step in to regulate it.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Cheng laughed again, “You must be talking about the World Football Challenge. That one is indeed quite chaotic. Weren’t they sued by American fans this summer? Something about false advertising.”

“But the International Champions Cup is fine. The relationships between fans, sponsors, and the various national football associations are all quite good.”

After a pause, before Blatter could say more, Yang Cheng added another sentence.

“Actually, Charlie Stillitano of the World Football Challenge is a troublemaker. Besides stirring up the market, he also sued the US Soccer Federation before. Although he lost the case, the US Soccer Federation couldn’t do anything about him.”

“That company of his went bankrupt before, but now it’s completely revitalized. He’s even formed a consortium and acquired Queens Park Rangers.”

Yang Cheng’s words were a mix of information, some true, some false, which was a bit overwhelming for Blatter.

FIFA simply didn’t have the capability to figure out the ICC Company and the various chains of interest behind it.

To put it bluntly, it was a shambolic operation, with most of its business outsourced.

If it weren’t outsourced, how could these powerful figures get their hands on it?

Did they really think they lived on the meager salaries from FIFA?

It was like the relationship between Infront Sports & Media, FIFA, and Adidas—it was hard not to draw connections.

Blatter finally understood what Yang Cheng was getting at.

Don’t be fooled by the boy’s harmless smile; his words were all conveying one message.

When Charlie Stillitano sued the US Soccer Federation in the United States, although he lost, the US Soccer Federation didn’t gain anything either.

The tournament went on as planned!

And now, in recent years, the US Soccer Federation had watched helplessly as the World Football Challenge and the International Champions Cup continued to grow.

“There are still rules in the world of football. As the protectors of these rules, FIFA is very concerned about the chaos in the summer pre-season friendly market. We also hope to regulate this market.”

“We should work together to bring better match content to fans all over the world. This should be our common pursuit!”

“Of course, of course,” Yang Cheng nodded eagerly.

If you asked Yang Cheng if he supported it, he definitely did!

“By the way, have you spoken with the people from the ICC Company?” Yang Cheng asked in return.

“I have, but they said they are just the management company responsible for operating the tournament. The shares are in the hands of the twelve clubs.”

Yang Cheng promptly nodded in acknowledgement, “Yes, we are one of the twelve elite clubs. But if the other eleven clubs are willing to support this, we certainly won’t be left behind!”

The premise is, you have to get the support of the other eleven clubs first!

Blatter’s brow furrowed instantly.

For FIFA to negotiate with twelve clubs one by one was basically impossible.

Every word Yang Cheng said sounded very cooperative, but in reality, he was holding a knife to FIFA’s throat.

This made Blatter very uncomfortable.

As the “emperor” who had ruled the football world for many years, Blatter really didn’t like being challenged like this.

“Currently, FIFA’s stance is that the summer pre-season market must be rectified and regulated. The various chaotic phenomena must be stopped. If the situation cannot be effectively improved and controlled, then we do not rule out revoking the International Champions Cup’s qualification to continue holding the tournament!”

Yang Cheng listened and nodded repeatedly, “We at Bayswater Chinese will definitely support FIFA!”

This sentence once again left Blatter speechless.

Why is he so annoying? Why is every sentence so prickly?

But inside, Yang Cheng was laughing secretly: Who the hell are you trying to scare?

Revoke the qualification to hold the tournament?

When did FIFA ever grant a qualification in the first place?

How can you revoke something that doesn’t exist?

Ultimately, you’re just planning to issue a document banning the International Champions Cup from being held.

But if you really do that, has FIFA considered the consequences?

What qualifications do you have to do that?

If such a commercial investment can be banned by a mere piece of paper from you, then what’s the point of national laws?

Do you really think your status in the world is transcendent?

That’s because the major countries didn’t bother with you before!

As for giving them a hard time if they didn’t cooperate, Yang Cheng wasn’t afraid at all.

If it were UEFA, he might be a little wary.

But what was FIFA?

The Club World Cup?

I, your father, won the Champions League. If I don’t come to your Club World Cup, you’ll be crying harder than me!

And you dare to put on airs in front of me?

As for UEFA, it wasn’t a big deal either.

Did they really think UEFA and FIFA were a monolithic block?

England’s influence in football was no joke!

Former FA Chairman Geoff Thompson resigned from his position in 2007 because he was moving to FIFA to serve as Vice-Chairman.

But his term ended in May 2011.

This was why Yang Cheng hadn’t seen this old acquaintance in the stands just now.

But this didn’t mean England had no one left.

Jim Boyce, former president of the Irish Football Association, took over from Geoff Thompson in 2011, serving as FIFA’s Vice-Chairman.

So, England had people in FIFA too.

And what about UEFA?

In the past few years, their influence had been relatively weaker, but now they were starting to take it seriously.

For example, a recent piece of news was that David Gill had decided to officially resign as CEO of Manchester United in the summer of 2013.

Many people were surely puzzled. He was doing a good job, so why quit?

Moreover, David Gill was not leaving the football world.

In the October 2012 FA elections, David Gill was elected as Vice-Chairman of The FA.

He had been a member of The FA’s board of directors since 2006.

Before David Gill, it was Arsenal’s David Dein, who had been a member of The FA board from 1986 to 2006.

This was why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, many fans said that 2006 was a watershed moment.

After David Dein stepped down in 2006, Arsenal began to frequently suffer from fouls by their opponents in matches.

And Manchester United, from then on, always seemed to get favorable treatment from referees.

Of course, it was hard to say for sure about such things. After all, the process of appointing referees was quite murky.

The reason David Gill decided to resign as Manchester United’s CEO and run for FA Vice-Chairman was clear: he wanted to compete in the UEFA Vice-Chairmanship election in May 2013!

This time, David Gill had the full support of the Premier League, The FA, and even the British government, determined to compete for the UEFA Vice-Chairmanship.

Once elected, he would also work at FIFA.

So, naturally, he could no longer afford to be distracted by his work as Manchester United’s CEO.

There were many twists and turns involved.

But it all boiled down to one thing: the world of football today was no longer an era where Blatter could rule with an iron fist!

Want to co-opt the International Champions Cup?

Neither Blatter nor Platini had the power to do so!

…

“How did it go?”

As Yang Cheng walked out of the VIP box, the FIFA Secretary General, Frenchman Jérôme Valcke, who had been keeping a close eye on the proceedings, immediately came in and asked with a concerned look.

“That kid may be young, but he’s a crafty old hand!” Blatter said with a displeased expression.

Just now, Yang Cheng’s response could be described as watertight.

He gave Blatter no fault to find, yet firmly pushed back.

What infuriated Blatter the most was that he was now full of anger with nowhere to vent, forced to swallow it all down.

“So what do we do now?” Valcke asked.

Blatter pondered for a moment. “In a few days, you go to the United States. First, check things out in North America, then contact the US Soccer Federation and feel them out. This is a big piece of meat.”

“I’ve heard that Nike is also interested in sponsoring this tournament, and media organizations like Fox, ESPN, and Al Jazeera have all decided to broadcast these matches.”

“No matter what, we can’t just hand it over to these clubs to mess around with!”

As Blatter spoke his final words, his tone became a bit fierce.

Since succeeding the Brazilian João Havelange as FIFA President in 1998, Blatter had sat on the throne of the football emperor for a full fourteen years.

These fourteen years coincided with the fastest period of development and most rapid commercialization in the history of world football. FIFA had made a huge profit from various competitions.

But there was one area that FIFA could not penetrate.

And that was club competitions!

As early as 2000, FIFA decided to co-opt the Toyota Cup and organize the Club World Cup.

But the first edition of the Club World Cup was a joke.

It wasn’t until 2005 that the Club World Cup was revived and has continued to this day.

But the influence of this cup competition was not great.

In fact, it was quite small.

On the contrary, the emergence of the International Champions Cup gave FIFA an opportunity.

Perhaps they could use this chance to break into the club competition sphere and take a slice of the pie from UEFA.

More importantly, the timing of the International Champions Cup was perfect.

July and August, which was the off-season for national leagues.

For the ICC Company, coordinating the schedules of various leagues was very troublesome, even impossible.

But for FIFA, it was just a matter of issuing a notice.

If this tournament were in FIFA’s hands, it could certainly be made bigger and stronger than it is now!

Then, its commercial value would be immeasurable!

“That ICC Company is registered in the United States, and its office is also in the United States. I’m worried…” Valcke was a little concerned.

After all, Qatar had beaten the United States in the bid to host the World Cup, which left the Americans very dissatisfied.

“There’s nothing to worry about. FIFA is a transcendent international organization that is not under the jurisdiction of any national government or agency!” Blatter was full of confidence about this.

This was not just a tacit understanding; it was supported by laws and regulations.

Why is FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland?

Because Switzerland is a neutral country.

Swiss law also supports organizations like FIFA, and the Swiss government has no jurisdiction over such international organizations.

So, for so many years, FIFA has been regarded as an existence independent of the world system.

“In the world of football, no one can defy us, FIFA!”

Blatter snorted coldly, “Even the Americans, when they enter football, must abide by my rules!”

Jérôme Valcke deeply agreed.

…

“Where did you just go?”

When Yang Cheng came down from the VIP box to the pitch, he found that the players had already returned to the dressing room.

As he returned to the dressing room, he ran into Adam Crozier at the door.

“I was summoned by Blatter for a lecture,” Yang Cheng said with a chuckle.

The two entered the dressing room one after the other. Yang Cheng didn’t go over to see the players; instead, he pulled Adam Crozier aside to talk, telling him to call the ICC Company immediately.

“Just tell them about my meeting with Blatter. Tell David Pemsel and Richard Masters to hurry up and contact the other eleven elite clubs. Tell them the war is about to begin!”

Adam Crozier was stunned for a moment, then he too felt a surge of excitement and thrill.

FIFA had finally decided to make its move!

Rightly so. They wouldn’t allow such a huge piece of meat to fall into the hands of the clubs.

Both FIFA and UEFA were cut from the same cloth.

“On one hand, we need to unite internally. The twelve clubs must maintain close cooperation, advance and retreat together, and never give in easily.”

Adam Crozier nodded.

Fortresses are often breached from within.

If the twelve clubs fell apart, the International Champions Cup would probably cease to exist.

Of course, from the current look of things, each club was still quite resolute.

Never mind the long-standing conflicts between the clubs and FIFA and UEFA.

An income of over ten million euros a year, plus a stake in the entire tournament’s broadcasting rights—was that something FIFA and UEFA were willing to give?

As long as the twelve clubs stood together, no one could easily shake them.

“On the other hand, start spreading the word through the ICC Company in the United States that FIFA is trying to suppress and rob an American company. It would be best if it catches the attention of the US government!”

This move was to shift the conflict!

For the US government, losing the World Cup hosting rights had already infuriated them, but they couldn’t find an opportunity to strike back just yet and could only bide their time.

But now, FIFA was extending its hand into North America, trying to suppress and rob an American company. This was the height of audacity!

Do they really think our American nuclear bombs don’t work?

It has always been the United States policing others. How dare someone come and make trouble at America’s doorstep?

They must have a death wish!

“Finally, contact the best legal team in the relevant field, gather materials and evidence, and prepare to file a lawsuit. As soon as FIFA makes a move, we’ll sue them in the United States.”

“Even though FIFA is in Switzerland, the US has long-arm jurisdiction!”

As Yang Cheng said this, a sense of absurdity arose in his heart.

In his previous life, as a Chinese citizen, he had deeply resented America’s long-arm jurisdiction.

But now, he was about to use it to attack his opponent.

But whether it was FIFA or UEFA, Yang Cheng had no psychological burden in dealing with them.

“So, will the tournament still be held?” Adam Crozier asked with concern.

“Of course, why not?”

Yang Cheng retorted righteously.

“Not only will we hold it, but we’ll hold it on a grand scale, making it spectacular and lively.”

“If we really go to court, before a verdict is reached, FIFA has only one way to stop us from holding the tournament: to publicly declare the International Champions Cup an illegal event.”

“On behalf of FIFA, they would have to prohibit all players registered with FIFA and its continental and national federations from participating in this tournament.”

“But that’s clearly impossible, at least FIFA wouldn’t play such a high-stakes game right off the bat!”

Everything has a process.

To throw out your king bomb right at the start? Is Blatter crazy?

And in Yang Cheng’s view, as long as they could drag it out for two years, FIFA and UEFA would be finished!

…

While Bayswater Chinese were winning the 2012 Club World Cup in Japan, the seventeenth round of the Premier League was in full swing.

Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Newcastle 3-1 away.

Manchester United defeated Sunderland 3-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated Reading 5-2 away.

Chelsea, however, drew 2-2 at home against Southampton.

Bayswater Chinese’s home game against Fulham, the West London derby, was postponed until January.

The specific date of the match was yet to be determined, depending on the cup competition schedules of both teams.

But for Bayswater Chinese, the challenge that awaited them after the Club World Cup was the League Cup quarter-final away match against Arsenal.

It was a one-off match to be held at the Emirates Stadium.

The other three matches had all been played, on the Wednesday between rounds sixteen and seventeen.

But at that time, Bayswater Chinese was playing in the Club World Cup, so it had to be postponed.

But the latest it could be pushed to was the 19th.

It couldn’t be postponed any further.

Because the eighteenth league round was on December 22nd, followed by Christmas.

After the grueling Christmas schedule came the FA Cup.

The first leg of the League Cup semi-finals was scheduled for January 8th.

This meant that this League Cup quarter-final had to be played before Christmas, no matter what.

This created a huge problem for Bayswater Chinese.

After a long flight of ten to twenty hours, plus the time difference between Asia and Europe, the entire Bayswater Chinese team was unable to sleep after returning to London.

The long journey left the players extremely fatigued.

After resting for just one day, they immediately faced an away challenge against Arsenal on the evening of the 19th.

And there was another league match on the 22nd.

The final result was predictable.

Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Arsenal in the away match.

Just sixteen minutes into the game, Walcott opened the scoring for the team.

But throughout the second half, Bayswater Chinese was completely dominated by Arsenal.

There was nothing they could do; their stamina simply couldn’t keep up.

Finally, in the 88th minute, Vermaelen scored from a free kick to equalize for Arsenal.

The match went into extra time, and Benzema scored again in the 109th minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese regrettably lost to Arsenal.

Their League Cup journey ended in the quarter-finals!

…

On the evening of the 19th, after losing to Arsenal in the League Cup, Yang Cheng’s team continued to adjust and recover without stopping on the 20th.

On the evening of the 21st, they took a charter flight to Newcastle in the north of England.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, Yang Cheng’s team faced Newcastle in an away match.

Yang Cheng fielded a full-strength lineup for this match.

But the result was that the team’s form was terrible, and they missed chance after chance.

Both Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale performed poorly.

Fortunately, the team’s defense was still well-organized.

But in the 81st minute, the team still conceded a goal.

They ultimately lost 0-1 to Newcastle away from home.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first league defeat of the season!

Meanwhile, Arsenal defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 away.

Manchester City defeated Reading 1-0 at home.

Liverpool defeated Fulham 4-0 at home.

Manchester United drew 2-1 away with Swansea City.

Spanish player Michu scored the equalizing goal, but Michael Laudrup’s team still lost in the end.

Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home.

After eighteen rounds, Bayswater Chinese had a record of fourteen wins, two draws, and one loss, earning forty-four points and continuing to lead the Premier League table.

But second-placed Manchester United had caught up, with forty-three points, putting them second in the league.

The Red Devils were just one point behind Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester City was third with forty-one points, two points behind Manchester United and three behind Bayswater Chinese.

Arsenal was in fourth place with thirty-nine points.

Liverpool had thirty-seven points, and Chelsea had twenty-nine.

Everyone believed this was the most fiercely contested first half of the Premier League season in several years.

From the current situation, Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal all still had a shot at the league title, and the key would be the upcoming Christmas schedule.

As for Chelsea, their results did not match their squad.

The media generally believed that The Blues had an excellent squad, but head coach Roberto Di Matteo was no longer fit to manage Chelsea.

With such an outstanding squad being led to this state, if he wasn’t sacked, who would be?

There were rumors that Chelsea was trying to bring Real Madrid head coach Mourinho back to the Premier League!

Chapter 270: An End-to-End Game! Europe’s Number One Youth Academy! Crazy Manchester City! Walcott’s One-Man Show

With the arrival of Christmas, 2012 was drawing to a close.

All sorts of awards and year-end summaries were being released one after another.

Among them, the most eye-catching was naturally the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Before Christmas, FIFA announced the top three for the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or, which were once again Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Iniesta.

Xavi was even ranked fourth.

Despite the controversy at the end of August, Robert Lewandowski still failed to break into the top three.

However, his ranking was higher than in the UEFA Best Player award; he came in fifth.

Gareth Bale was ranked ninth.

Modrić, on the other hand, was ranked twelfth.

Ironically, Neymar, the Brazilian player who had only joined Barça a few months ago, had shot up to thirteenth place.

The British media were largely displeased with this result.

Who was Modrić?

He was the core midfielder of the Treble-winning team, yet he was only ranked twelfth.

What had Neymar done to deserve thirteenth place?

But FIFA held a more aloof stance than UEFA, refusing to even offer an explanation.

This was the list, take it or leave it!

Yang Cheng and everyone at Bayswater Chinese had long been prepared for this, and their response was simple: no one was willing to attend the FIFA awards ceremony in January.

Since they weren’t going to win any awards, whoever wanted to go could go!

As one of the world’s most authoritative football media outlets, World Soccer magazine produced a very special feature in its 2012 Christmas special edition.

Youth Academies!

World Soccer argued that while English football had been pushing for youth academy reforms in recent years, the results had so far been minimal.

Therefore, the authoritative magazine used data from the Swiss football statistics organization, CIES, to compile and analyze information on 2,286 players from 98 clubs in Europe’s top five leagues.

The so-called youth products were divided into two categories.

A Category 1 youth player was one who was registered with a single club for three or more years between the ages of 15 and 21.

If a player was registered with two clubs for three years each within that six-year period, they were classified as a Category 2 youth player.

Clearly, Category 1 players held more prestige.

World Soccer listed the top 10 clubs with the best youth academies.

They were Barça, Lyon, Real Madrid, Rennes, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Sochaux, Real Sociedad, Atalanta, and Atlético Madrid.

Among them, Barça, ranked first, had produced a total of 36 Category 1 youth players for the top five leagues.

Lyon had produced 29, and Real Madrid 27.

Only one Premier League team made the top ten: Manchester United, which had produced a total of 20 players.

The most surprising names on the list for fans were Sochaux from France and Atalanta from Italy.

There was no need to elaborate on Sochaux from Ligue 1; although their league position was not always ideal, the whole of France placed great importance on youth development.

Atalanta’s youth academy was well-regarded within football circles.

However, the Serie A team had been having a run of bad luck in recent years.

As a veteran Serie A club, Atalanta had indeed produced many stars, such as Montolivo and Pazzini.

Prandelli’s young squad of that era was also famous in European football.

But things took a sharp downturn after Atalanta’s chairman, Ivan Ruggeri, suffered a stroke in 2008.

Italian football clubs have a typical characteristic: they are family businesses.

For example, before 1994, Atalanta belonged to the Randicci family, but from 1990 to 1994, the man in charge of the club was Antonio Percassi.

He was also a wealthy Italian native who had played football himself.

In 1994, the Randicci family sold their shares to the Ruggeri family.

But in 2008, after Ivan Ruggeri was hospitalized following his stroke, his son Alessandro Ruggeri and daughter Francesca Ruggeri had a disagreement over Atalanta.

Alessandro Ruggeri, at least, had no interest in running Atalanta.

Coupled with the poor overall environment in Serie A at the time, this ultimately led to Atalanta’s relegation from the top flight in the 2009-10 season.

It was in the summer of 2010 that the Ruggeri family decided to sell Atalanta.

But after shopping it around, they found that no one was willing to take over the club, which was an incredibly embarrassing situation for Italian football, as this was the club with the best youth academy in Serie A!

In fact, what no one knew was that back in 2010, Yang Cheng had secretly contacted the Ruggeri family of Atalanta through Italian channels.

At the time, Yang Cheng intended to acquire Atalanta in the name of Chinese investors.

But the Ruggeri family had no intention of selling the club to foreign capital, so the talks were merely preliminary.

Finally, after much back-and-forth, Atalanta was sold to Antonio Percassi, the man who had once helped the Randicci family run the club. His son, Luca Percasci, took over operations.

The Percassi family acquired 76% of Atalanta’s shares for a mere 14 million euros.

Incidentally, both Percassi senior and junior had played football.

In the 2010-11 season, Atalanta smoothly won the Italian second division title and was promoted back to Serie A.

But in the 2011-12 season, Italy was once again rocked by a gambling and match-fixing scandal. Several Atalanta players were implicated in gambling and the club was docked 6 points, their reputation in tatters.

This season, several teams, including Atalanta, Sampdoria, Turin, and Jobsnna, have had points deducted due to the gambling case.

Although Atalanta was ranked 11th in Serie A after the first half of the season, they were a far cry from the glory days of their young squad.

Rumors have been swirling that the Percassi family is pessimistic about the state of Atalanta and Serie A.

After all, the Percassi Group is not large, with only 850 employees and an annual turnover of 400 million euros.

For the Percassi family, rooted in the Italian city of Bergamo, running their local club Atalanta was more a matter of passion, but the current state of Italian football forced them to seriously reconsider the business aspect.

What was true for Atalanta was also largely true for Sochaux, Rennes, Real Sociedad, and even Lyon.

In fact, running a youth academy in European football has always been a difficult and thankless task.

And in the World Soccer report, a particular phenomenon was mentioned.

Among the top 10 youth academies, there were four La Liga teams, three Ligue 1 teams, and one each from the Premier League, Serie A, and Bundesliga.

This, in turn, could be seen as proof of the success Spain and France had achieved in youth development.

“But in the past few years, another team has really caught the eye.”

“That is Bayswater Chinese, ranked 13th on the list!”

According to the data, Bayswater Chinese had 19 Category 1 youth players and 0 Category 2 players.

This meant that, to date, 19 players who had come through the Bayswater Chinese youth academy were playing in Europe’s top five leagues. For a club that was in the third tier just 10 years ago, this was truly a remarkable achievement!

Why was this so significant?

Take Manchester United, for example.

The reason Manchester United could supply 20 players to the top five leagues was not only because of their own players like Ryan Giggs, Scholes, Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Fletcher, and Evans.

It also included players like Shawcross at Stoke City and Phil Neville at Everton.

There was even the goalkeeper Ziler at Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga.

From this list, it was easy to see that this wasn’t really a measure of young player development, but rather the cumulative result of the past decade, or even two decades.

Bayswater Chinese was in the third tier 10 years ago. How could they supply players to the top five leagues?

World Soccer analyzed that within the English league system, among players in the top three tiers, the number of players from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy had been number one since 2011.

In other words, Bayswater Chinese’s only disadvantage was their short history!

But even so, of the 19 players in the top five leagues, Bayswater Chinese currently had 14 in their own squad, tying for first place in European football!

The clubs tied with Bayswater Chinese were Barça and Real Sociedad.

However, these 14 players did not include John Stones and Harry Maguire.

Nor did they include players like Piszczek and Kyle Walker, who had emerged and made their names at Bayswater Chinese but did not meet the age requirements for a youth product.

In other words, if all these players were included, Bayswater Chinese would be the undisputed number one youth academy in Europe!

Furthermore, the list of 19 youth players from Bayswater Chinese also did not include young talents like Aaron Lennon, Andy Carroll, Neuer, and Yaya Touré, who had broken through at the club.

This was because they did not meet the criteria to be classified as youth products.

World Soccer argued that although the statistics from the CIES showed Barça to be the undisputed number one youth factory in Europe, having produced stars like Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi…

in recent years, Bayswater Chinese had been the club with the best results in youth development.

With the best first team performance and such outstanding youth academy results, World Soccer considered Bayswater Chinese a model for modern European club management!

World Soccer also made a prediction.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s youth teams had been getting better and better, frequently achieving excellent results in youth competitions in England and even across Europe for every age group.

ditambah with Yang Cheng’s several years as head coach, Bayswater Chinese’s youth development philosophy has consistently been at the forefront of European football.

“It is entirely conceivable that in the coming years, there will be more and more players coming from the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.”

…

Before Christmas arrived, Bayswater Chinese was as busy as ever.

In addition to maintaining their training schedule, the team had to participate in various Christmas activities.

As Bayswater Chinese’s influence grew, so did the number and variety of events.

Aside from activities in Brent and the City of Westminster, there were also events in London, and even some hosted by the British government.

As the most influential Premier League club in the world today, Bayswater Chinese had to bear these responsibilities.

What was different from previous years was that before Christmas this year, the Premier League held a special summit.

Yang Cheng did not attend; Xia Qing and Adam Crozier represented the club.

The main topic of the summit was the Financial Fair Play regulations being pushed by UEFA, which were set to be implemented starting from the 2013-14 season.

The Premier League took this very seriously and had been assessing the financial situation of all its clubs.

Among them, Manchester City, which many believed to be in the most danger, had now basically passed the critical period.

This involved a lot of behind-the-scenes financial maneuvering.

For example, Manchester City issued 169 million pound sterling in new shares.

The reason for issuing new shares instead of taking out a bank loan was because the latter is considered debt and would be counted under the Financial Fair Play rules.

In terms of commercial revenue, Manchester City’s a sudden leap from 64.7 million pounds to 121 million pounds, a growth of nearly one hundred percent, was truly terrifying.

But a closer look at Manchester City’s major sponsors revealed where it all came from.

Including the new shares, it was basically the Abu Dhabi consortium footing the bill.

Therefore, in the just-concluded 2011-12 season, Manchester City’s revenue reached 231 million pounds, roughly 290 million euros, ranking them 7th in European football.

According to statistics for the 11/12 season, Bayswater Chinese ranked first in European football revenue with 590 million euros.

In second place was Real Madrid with 512.6 million euros, and Barça was third with 483 million euros.

Manchester United had only 395 million euros, ranking fourth.

Following them were Bayern Munich and Arsenal, and then Manchester City.

It was also worth noting that among the top 10 teams on the list were Chelsea and Liverpool.

In other words, all of the Premier League’s Big 6 had entered the top ten for European club revenue.

It was truly unprecedented!

Everyone was certain that once the 2013-14 season began and the new broadcast contract took effect, the revenue of Premier League teams would increase even further.

By then, the top 20 list of European football revenue would likely become even more exciting!

At the summit, Manchester City expressed full confidence in passing the new financial regulations.

They had been investing in their training ground and youth system for the past few years, and they also had 80 million pounds in various contracts that could offset debt.

Although Manchester City’s losses reached 200 million pounds, the Blue Moons should have no problem meeting UEFA’s requirements.

The only thing worth noting was that Manchester City’s wage bill had suddenly exceeded 200 million pounds.

This meant their wage expenditure accounted for 87% of their revenue.

This was an incredibly insane ratio.

Currently, Manchester City had the highest wage bill in the Premier League, with Chelsea in second place.

Despite Drogba’s departure, The Blues’ wage expenditure remained high.

But Manchester City had already overtaken them.

Therefore, at the summit, Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore also proposed an initiative, hoping that with the increase in broadcast fees in the upcoming 13/14 season, clubs could effectively control their wage expenditure.

For years, the media has been saying that Premier League clubs are working for their players.

As soon as broadcast fees rise, player salaries immediately skyrocket as well.

Scudamore stated that this situation should be effectively curbed.

…

Before Christmas, another piece of news broke in the Premier League: Chelsea had finally changed their manager.

After stepping in as a firefighter last season and achieving good results, Roberto Di Matteo was allowed to stay on.

But just as Yang Cheng had said, being an interim manager and coaching for a full season were two completely different situations.

As it turned out, Di Matteo was not up to the task.

Benítez took Di Matteo’s place, becoming Chelsea’s head coach.

But his contract was only for a short six months.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng was leading his team in intensive training at the Brent training center.

As the British media had said before Christmas, the title race was now very intense.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal all had high hopes for the championship.

Especially Ferguson’s Manchester United.

Some media outlets reported that at Manchester United’s Christmas dinner, Ferguson had publicly declared his intention to challenge for the league title!

The entire Manchester United squad was full of fighting spirit, vowing to knock Bayswater Chinese off the championship throne.

In interviews with reporters, Ferguson also repeatedly emphasized his confidence in the Christmas schedule.

“We will welcome 2013 with three straight wins!”

For Manchester United, their biggest advantage was that their three opponents during the Christmas period were not particularly strong.

They were Newcastle, West Bromwich Albion, and Wigan Athletic.

On the other hand, there was Bayswater Chinese.

Their three opponents were West Bromwich Albion, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

Two of them were clashes between top teams.

This made people secretly sweat for Yang Cheng’s team.

Many media outlets even believed that if Yang Cheng couldn’t win these big games, he might have to surrender his position as league leader.

This would be a huge blow to Bayswater Chinese, who had dominated the Premier League for four years.

Yang Cheng and his coaching staff also took it seriously, and so they focused on preparations.

The biggest test of the Christmas schedule was that the team had to play three matches in a short period.

For example, this year, from December 26th to January 1st, a total of seven days, they had to play three full matches.

This was indeed a considerable test.

Especially since two of the matches were against Liverpool and Chelsea.

Squad rotation was inevitable.

But the question facing Yang Cheng was, how should he rotate?

…

On the afternoon of December 26th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 19, Bayswater Chinese hosted West Bromwich Albion.

In this match, Yang Cheng still opted for a 4-3-3 formation.

But the team’s rotation was quite significant.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Luke Shaw, Thiago Silva, Harry Maguire, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Hazard, Giroud, and Walcott.

From this starting lineup, it was not difficult to see Yang Cheng’s strategy: using main players to support the young backup players.

West Bromwich Albion was currently 8th in the Premier League, by no means a weak team.

But Bayswater Chinese were playing at home.

Before the match, Yang Cheng had specifically communicated with several players, including Walcott.

Especially The Little Tiger.

This season, Walcott had lost his starting spot in the league, and his goal tally had dropped sharply.

This had subjected him to a lot of criticism, and there were even rumors that Walcott was very dissatisfied with his current situation.

There was also news that several teams, including Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City, were interested in Walcott.

Some had even made offers!

But Walcott had made it clear that he had not accepted any team’s invitation and did not want to leave Bayswater Chinese.

“I started playing here when I was 16. I can ride my bike from home to the Brent training center every day. My whole family are now fans of the club.”

“I won’t leave!”

And before the match, in the dressing room, Yang Cheng pulled Walcott aside for a quiet word.

“Go out there and prove it to all the fans here, and to the fans watching on TV!”

“You, Theo Walcott, are still our Bayswater Chinese ace!”

As the match began, West Bromwich Albion, using a 4-2-3-1 formation, pressed aggressively away from home, trying to suppress Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

And as it turned out, Boxing Day matches were always a bit sloppy.

Bayswater Chinese got off to a poor start.

But this situation only lasted for 9 minutes.

In the 9th minute, Walcott and Modrić combined outside the right corner of the penalty area.

Modrić played the ball out to the right flank, Walcott made a quick forward run, caught up with the ball, and delivered a precise cross from the right.

The football traced a beautiful arc before landing accurately near the center of the six-yard box.

Giroud surged forward, made a diving header, and directed the cross from the right back into the right side of the goal.

The goalkeeper misjudged it, and the ball hit the back of the net!

1-0!

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers!

But even more unexpectedly, just 3 minutes later, Walcott received the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area. Facing West Bromwich Albion’s defenders, he suddenly accelerated.

Surrounded by three defenders, Walcott drove forward, dribbling from the right corner into the penalty area.

But just before the last defender, The Little Tiger was challenged physically and lost his balance.

Just as he was about to fall, Walcott hastily passed the ball to Giroud.

Inside the box, Giroud controlled the ball with his left foot, evaded a defender, and then unleashed a fierce power shot with his right foot, a tiger-like strike that once again pierced The Baggies’ goal.

2-0!

It was clear that while Bayswater Chinese wasn’t in top form, West Bromwich Albion was no better.

At the very least, Yang Cheng’s team was playing at home, while The Baggies had to travel early for the away game.

At this point in the match, the situation was gradually becoming clear.

But in the 17th minute, Hazard, on the left wing, dribbled past three opposing players and sent a low cross into the box.

Giroud battled with an opposing defender at the near post, but neither could control the ball.

Walcott, lurking on the right side of the penalty spot, seized the opportunity.

The Little Tiger, with his back to goal, controlled the ball, turned, and fired a shot into the net.

3-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium instantly erupted!

Ninety thousand fans were roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs!

Standing on the sidelines, even Yang Cheng himself had not expected the match to go so smoothly.

Especially Walcott.

Yang Cheng really hadn’t expected the lad to be in such phenomenal form right from the start!

But soon, West Bromwich Albion also steadied themselves, especially by strengthening their defense on the right flank.

The first half ended 3-0.

After the break, having been heavily marked on the right in the first half, Walcott started appearing on the left wing.

In the 62nd minute, a through ball from Thiago Silva from the back was accurately delivered to the space behind the defense on the left side of the attack.

Walcott, with his incredible speed, beat the offside trap, easily shaking off all defenders. In West Bromwich Albion’s final third, he controlled the ball and drove forward, creating a one-on-one.

In the left side of the penalty area, facing the advancing goalkeeper, The Little Tiger calmly placed a right-footed power shot into the far corner.

4-0!

A brace!

The Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

“For a moment there, I thought I was seeing Henry!”

And even more surprisingly, in the 74th minute, Walcott again had the ball on the left.

Facing four West Bromwich Albion defenders, Walcott cut inside from the left of the penalty area. Relying on his individual skill, he completed a brilliant dribble through the encirclement of four defenders.

Although he lost his balance and slipped while beating the last defender, the opposing defender slipped as well.

This made the initially clumsy move look like a deceptive feint.

Walcott, being shorter, quicker to react, and more agile, got to his feet first and chipped the ball into the net.

5-0!

Hat-trick!

The Little Tiger excitedly ran off the pitch.

Every fan in Prudential Stadium rose from their seats, cheering and applauding him!

No one could have imagined that Walcott, who had been under so much pressure from competition this season, would choose this crucial Boxing Day match to score a hat-trick, provide 2 assists, and single-handedly mastermind 5 goals, helping Bayswater Chinese to a massive home victory!

This was a very pleasant surprise for Yang Cheng on the sidelines, and he was extremely happy.

In the 75th minute, Yang Cheng substituted Walcott with Sterling.

As The Little Tiger left the pitch, he received a standing ovation from the entire crowd.

A performance where one man orchestrated 5 goals was absolutely deserving of their applause.

Yang Cheng also walked to the touchline, greeting the departing Walcott with a high-five and a hug.

“I and everyone else are proud of you, Theo!” Yang Cheng affirmed his performance.

Walcott’s technique wasn’t exceptional, merely solid.

And his physical strength was relatively poor.

This was his natural weakness.

Therefore, when facing tough, physical opponents and high-intensity defending, Walcott could easily struggle.

In this aspect, Gareth Bale was much better than him.

The Welshman’s physicality was excellent.

But The Little Tiger’s characteristic was his courage and willingness to fight.

His technique wasn’t great, but he dared to take players on. Though his dribbling was clumsy and even a bit awkward, it was effective.

For example, his “Stumbling dribble.”

It had become The Little Tiger’s signature move.

And as Yang Cheng had said before, The Little Tiger was truly outstanding in his off-the-ball movement and finishing.

This made him perfectly suitable as a supporting attacker.

Over the past five seasons, Walcott’s Premier League goal tallies were 8, 12, 15, 15, and 19.

It was worth noting that The Little Tiger was born in March 1989, making him strictly speaking only 23 years old.

To produce such performances and statistics, being a homegrown youth player and a local international, he was a player that no team would easily let go of.

…

After the 19th matchday, Walcott quickly dominated the headlines of major media outlets in Britain and around the world.

2 assists and 3 goals, one man orchestrating 5 goals!

Sky Sports gave Walcott a perfect 10/10 score after the match.

The comment was: Walcott’s breakout performance led Bayswater Chinese to their first victory of the Christmas gruelling schedule.

In this match, The Little Tiger single-handedly scored as many league goals as he had in the previous months combined.

All major British media outlets also stated that Walcott absolutely deserved a starting position at Bayswater Chinese.

After setting a personal single-season scoring record last season, his goal tally had declined this season, largely due to the rise of Eden Hazard.

But Walcott’s shooting and goal conversion rate was as high as 32%.

This meant he scored approximately 1 goal for every 3 shots.

Such efficiency was simply astounding!

More importantly, this player was completely loyal to Bayswater Chinese.

In post-match interviews with several media reporters, Walcott repeatedly emphasized that he had no intention of leaving Bayswater Chinese.

“I can’t find any reason to leave this club. I have everything I want here!”

Regarding the competition between him and Hazard, Walcott said it was not an issue.

“I have a great relationship with Eden. He’s a fantastic teammate and one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen.”

“Sometimes that’s just how it is. Maybe his form has been better than mine recently, and he has a better understanding with our teammates, so he became a starter.”

“It doesn’t affect our friendship at all!”

“To deal with this kind of situation, I think the best way is to work hard to improve myself and put in better performances!”

Whether it was the media, the Bayswater Chinese fans, or Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, everyone gave Walcott’s statement a perfect score!

Yang Cheng even stated at the pre-match press conference for the home game against Liverpool, “Walcott has always been in my plans. All the transfer rumors about him are groundless fabrications.”

Yang Cheng believed that the English player had a very special sense of understanding.

“We all know that, for many years, English players have been relatively poor at tactical adaptation.”

“But you don’t see this problem with Walcott. He can play on the left, on the right, and even as a centre-forward.”

“I’ve even had him play as a shadow striker in training, and he did very well.”

“That’s very rare!”

Yang Cheng believed that Walcott, with his incredible speed and sharp instincts, had a unique ability to quickly grasp the head coach’s intentions and tactics.

Many media outlets even considered Walcott a combination of Henry and Beckham.

Especially the cross from the right to assist Giroud’s goal, and the several dribbles and goals from the left, all brought to mind Henry and Beckham.

Yang Cheng also smiled and said that Walcott’s idol was Henry.

…

After the 19th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese, who had thrashed their opponents 5-0, shone brightly.

But Arsenal, at home, also came from a goal down to thrash West Ham United 5-1.

Liverpool, meanwhile, beat Stoke City 3-1 away.

Manchester City narrowly beat Sunderland 1-0 away.

Chelsea also beat Norwich 1-0 away.

Manchester United, in their home game against Newcastle, came from behind three times to level the score.

In the final moments of the game, a last-minute winner from Javier Hernández secured a thrilling 4-3 victory over Newcastle.

After the match, Ferguson criticized the referee, calling the officiating in the match quite amateurish.

Ferguson was also dissatisfied that Manchester United had less possession and fewer shots than Newcastle.

“Our players looked like they ate too much for Christmas dinner last night. They couldn’t run at all!”

“The overall feeling was lethargic, which is very bad!”

But Ferguson also said that regardless of how well or poorly they played, Manchester United got the three points.

“This allows us to keep the pressure on the league leaders!”

…

On the afternoon of December 30th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 20, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

This was an open game!

From the very first minute, both teams plunged into a fast-paced, end-to-end game.

Liverpool wanted to control the tempo, but they had no way of doing so.

Just 80 seconds into the match, Bayswater Chinese produced a brilliant attacking move.

After receiving the ball in midfield, Toni Kroos launched a long pass to the right side of the attack.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball, cut inside, and played a diagonal pass with his left foot to the left side of the penalty area.

Sterling made a quick forward run, met Gareth Bale’s pass, and sent a low cross back in front of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski, who had just flicked on a header moments ago, suddenly darted out from between Liverpool’s two centre-backs, getting there ahead of everyone to calmly tap the ball into the net!

Even a world-class goalkeeper like Buffon was powerless against such a close-range shot.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a frenzy of celebration!

Just three days ago, Walcott had orchestrated a 5-goal thrashing.

And now?

Before the Bayswater Chinese fans had even recovered from the excitement and thrill of the last goal, the home team quickly created another chance on the pitch.

In the 4th minute, Javi Martínez seized an opportunity, suddenly driving forward with the ball and playing a through ball to the right side of the box.

Gareth Bale surged forward, physically shouldering off the tracking Spanish defender José Enrique to reach the ball first, but was then challenged by the onrushing goalkeeper Buffon.

The Welshman reacted very quickly. Seeing Buffon come out and his own shooting angle too tight, he immediately stopped, turned, shielded the ball, and dribbled back, avoiding the recovering Škrtel.

Since it was inside the penalty area, Liverpool’s defenders and goalkeeper Buffon dared not make a move on Gareth Bale.

Especially Buffon.

Having already committed, he could only try to block Gareth Bale, preventing him from turning to face the goal.

If the Welshman turned, it would be an open goal.

Gareth Bale dribbled back a couple of steps, evaded Škrtel, and when Robert Lewandowski caught up, he chose to pass back. The Polish centre-forward took a calm power shot from inside the arc of the penalty area, once again blasting past Liverpool’s goal.

2-0!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers once again!

This was looking like the start of a massacre.

No one had expected Liverpool to have such a disastrous start!

But just when everyone thought the opening pace was too frantic, in the 10th minute, Liverpool suddenly launched a swift counter-attack.

Rakitić sent a through ball from midfield to Suárez at the edge of the penalty arc.

The Uruguayan controlled the ball with his side, immediately broke forward, using his body to shield the ball from Pepe. As José Fonte closed in, he suddenly pulled off a nutmeg, sending the ball through the Portuguese centre-back’s legs.

He then burst with acceleration between Pepe and José Fonte, and from the right side of the penalty spot, he fired a low shot into the goal guarded by Courtois.

2-1!

Liverpool had stubbornly pulled one back!

Suárez’s brilliant goal significantly boosted the morale of the Liverpool players.

Especially after conceding two goals in the first four minutes.

This goal could be said to have saved Liverpool’s confidence and hope!

Under these circumstances, the game completely opened up.

Liverpool clearly realized they couldn’t just defend.

And Bayswater Chinese, wary of Liverpool’s counter-attacks, felt that a 2-1 lead was not stable enough.

More importantly, if they were content with this score, how could they suppress Liverpool for the rest of the game?

Thus, the two sides began a spectacular end-to-end battle.

It was clear that Liverpool had also realized that José Fonte was a major weakness in Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

In the 16th minute, it was Suárez again, making a quick forward run to receive a through ball from Gerrard on the right. Near the byline on the right side of the box, facing José Fonte, he executed a very clever move, knocking the ball past his opponent and running around him.

The Uruguayan striker, against all odds, broke through José Fonte’s defense.

After getting past José Fonte, Suárez sent a cross along the byline, aiming for the front of the goal.

Torres, under pressure from Piszczek, was a step too slow to start.

The two of them clashed and fell together inside the box.

But Torres’s shot hit Pepe’s leg and deflected to the right side of the six-yard box.

Suárez followed up quickly, volleying the ball into the net with his left foot.

2-2!

Level!

At this point, less than 17 minutes had been played.

All the fans in the stadium, and even Yang Cheng and Mancini on the sidelines, were stunned.

No one could have imagined that the match would turn into such a situation.

Four goals in less than 17 minutes!

Especially for the home team, Bayswater Chinese, this result was simply unacceptable.

Thus, the home team started to push hard, launching a fierce attack on Liverpool.

In the 26th minute, after Piszczek cut inside from the right with the ball, he suddenly passed it to the center. De Bruyne was fouled by Javier Mascherano, earning the team an attacking free-kick.

The position was a bit far from the goal, about 25 meters, slightly to the right of center.

Gareth Bale stepped up to the spot without hesitation.

In the last round, Walcott had scored a hat-trick and provided 2 assists, putting on a brilliant performance.

As a friend, Gareth Bale clearly felt the pressure of competition.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese was now under pressure from teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal.

Gareth Bale, by any means necessary, wanted to help the team shake off their rivals and establish a lead as soon as possible.

After taking a deep breath, Gareth Bale took a quick run-up and struck a ferociously fast butterfly ball with his left foot.

The football traced an elegant arc in the air, flew over the wall, and its erratic path confused goalkeeper Buffon before finding its way into Liverpool’s goal.

3-2!

Gareth Bale excitedly ran off the pitch, pumping his fists towards the fans in the stands.

The entire crowd roared and cheered for Gareth Bale!

But no one expected that just 2 minutes later, it was Suárez again, dribbling down the right wing, who created a corner kick.

Liverpool took a quick tactical corner. After Gerrard crossed from the right, Škrtel scored with a header.

3-3!

“My goodness, this game is absolutely incredible!”

“The last time Bayswater Chinese conceded 3 or more goals in the Premier League was at the beginning of 2011, two years ago!”

“It’s really unexpected that after two years, another team has managed to breach Bayswater Chinese’s goal three times.”

“You have to remember, last season, Bayswater Chinese only conceded 9 goals!”

“But this season, Yang Cheng’s team has indeed been less stable at the back.”

“Especially when the team has to adopt a squad rotation strategy.”

The first half ended with a long shot from Gerrard, but it went high over the bar.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng affirmed the team’s performance.

Despite conceding 3 goals and the match being a draw, he was quite satisfied with the players’ performance and condition.

But he also reminded everyone that the midfield trio of Rakitić, Gerrard, and Javier Mascherano was still very formidable as a whole.

On Bayswater Chinese’s side, Toni Kroos, Javi Martínez, and De Bruyne, under the opponent’s pressure, had somewhat lost control of the midfield and the tempo.

De Bruyne was, after all, still a bit young.

But Yang Cheng still offered him encouragement.

After the restart in the second half, the pace of the game slowed slightly.

But in the 64th minute, Daniel Agger committed a handball foul outside the penalty area, giving Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

This time the position was slightly to the left.

Toni Kroos took the free-kick, but it went just over the bar.

But in the 73rd minute, Modrić, who had just come on as a substitute for De Bruyne, sent a through ball from the right side of the attack. Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, beat the offside trap, controlled the ball, broke into the box, and fired a low shot with his left foot, once again piercing Liverpool’s goal.

4-3!

Now Liverpool wouldn’t stand for it.

Mancini began making consecutive substitutions, bringing on Aubameyang and Mario Balotelli.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, dropped back appropriately to strengthen their defense.

Especially Javi Martínez.

The reason Yang Cheng took off De Bruyne and left Javi Martínez on was that he hoped the latter could provide more defensive cover for José Fonte’s side.

If necessary, he could drop back to centre-back, turning it into a three-centre-back system.

This was a move born of necessity.

José Fonte’s individual ability was still a bit lacking.

Especially when facing world-class attackers like Suárez and Balotelli, José Fonte struggled to cope.

Then, in the 83rd minute, Javier Mascherano, on the right side outside the penalty area, fouled the substitute Modrić.

He once again gave Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick opportunity.

He had to foul; otherwise, Modrić would have gone straight past him.

As the last defending midfielder, if he were beaten by Modrić, the next pass would be into the space behind.

So, Javier Mascherano had no choice but to commit the foul.

Gareth Bale once again stood at the spot. Another brilliant butterfly ball, and once again it flew past Buffon’s goal.

5-3!

Hat-trick!

The cheers in Prudential Stadium were deafening!

Chapter 271: A Huge Comeback! Super Bale! Europe’s Finest! The Most Competitive Premier League in History!

The Christmas schedule, also known as the Boxing Day schedule, has always been a subject of heavy criticism.

However, due to tradition and commercial factors, it has never been effectively changed.

For instance, Ancelotti, while managing Manchester City, once launched a tirade against the Premier League’s Christmas schedule in the media.

“I can understand tradition, but we’re not playing basketball or any other sport. This is football, and we need adequate rest, especially on Boxing Day.”

But Ancelotti quickly added, “As a fan, I would be overjoyed to sit in my warm home during Christmas, lie on my soft sofa, and leisurely watch Premier League matches.”

“It’s a pleasure!”

“But as a head coach, I have to say, this schedule is bloody ridiculous!”

See, therein lies the contradiction!

In truth, there has always been some debate about whether the intensity of the Christmas matches is really that high.

For example, some media outlets or professionals believe it’s just a normal week with two games, so what’s all the complaining about?

This is actually a layman’s perspective.

Often, having two games a week means playing three matches in eight days.

But this season’s Premier League Christmas schedule involved playing three matches in seven days.

Not to mention, in seasons with particularly tight schedules, teams might have to play four matches in about nine days.

Premier League matches are generally held in the afternoon, leaving only two days between each game for rest and recovery.

If it’s an away game, the difficulty increases.

Therefore, the Premier League’s Christmas schedule often shows signs of deliberate planning.

For example, prioritizing local fixtures.

According to statistics obtained by the Bayswater Chinese, the probability of players suffering muscle injuries in the month surrounding Christmas is about fifty percent higher than usual.

This is an incredibly outrageous statistic!

Different head coaches often have different strategies for tackling the gruelling Christmas schedule.

In his past life, Yang Cheng had meticulously studied Ferguson’s Christmas schedules for every season.

The head coach, hailed as the best ever at navigating the Christmas period, had a strategy that, when broken down, boiled down to one essence: squad rotation!

Some might find this strange.

Is squad rotation really that difficult?

For mid-to-lower table teams with insufficient squad depth, rotation is understandably hard.

But what about the top teams?

Actually, the reason is simple: rotating players only during the Christmas period is even more dangerous.

That’s why, if you look closely at the Christmas fixtures, you often see lopsided scores where a team collapses.

Squad rotation requires squad depth; that goes without saying.

But to get through Christmas safely, especially for teams aiming for the title, the rotated lineup must be able to maintain its fighting strength.

This requires every player in the rotation to be in good competitive form.

In other words, preparations for rotation need to be made long in advance.

Yang Cheng had always insisted on a strategy of a lean, elite squad, precisely to ensure that every player in the team received enough match time to stay in form.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese’s Christmas record had always been quite good.

Again, some might wonder, if everyone knows this, why do some still fail to do it well?

Take Wenger in Yang Cheng’s previous life, for example.

Before every Christmas, his team would always perform well, but problems would arise during the festive period.

Why was that?

Because Wenger was never a head coach who liked to rotate.

His tactical philosophy demanded a high level of understanding between players, so he disliked rotation.

At that time, Arsenal also lacked sufficient resources, making it difficult for Wenger to rotate effectively while maintaining the team’s competitiveness.

Now, The Gunners’ situation was much better.

In the 20th round of the Premier League, Wenger’s team thrashed Newcastle 4-0 at home.

Van Persie scored a hat-trick.

See a pattern?

In the previous round, Arsenal beat West Ham United 5-1 at home, and it was Benzema who had a massive game.

This round, the player who exploded was van Persie.

Arsenal’s rotation wasn’t extensive, but they still changed five players.

And what about Ferguson, the master of the Christmas schedule?

After defeating Newcastle 4-3 at home in the previous round, they beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at home this round.

Ferguson rotated a full nine players.

Apart from goalkeeper De Gea, only Carrick was not rotated.

If Yang Cheng guessed correctly, Ferguson would continue to rotate in the next round’s away game against Wigan Athletic, giving Carrick a rest as well.

But some teams had a much more thrilling time with their rotations.

For example, Ancelotti’s Manchester City.

After a narrow 1-0 victory over Stoke City in the 19th round, they continued to play with fire in this round.

In their away match against Norwich, they quickly took the lead with a brace from Ibrahimović.

But then the tide turned, and they were constantly under pressure.

A goal from Agüero in the second half helped Manchester City lead 3-1.

But Norwich fought back fiercely, and a brace from Russell Martin even pushed Manchester City to the brink.

In the end, it was an own goal that secured them a narrow 4-3 victory away from home.

The root cause was that Manchester City’s bench, especially in midfield and defense, was not up to par.

Or rather, not stable enough.

For instance, Russell Martin’s brace came within a four-minute span.

A momentary lapse of concentration from a few players led to a sudden shift in the situation.

Chelsea’s situation wasn’t much different.

Benítez took over the team just before Christmas.

But he was very familiar with the Premier League.

Moreover, Benítez was indeed a master when it came to tactics and lineups.

On Boxing Day, Chelsea defeated Norwich 1-0 away.

In the 20th round, despite conceding first away from home, they came from behind to beat Everton 2-1, thanks to a brace from Lampard.

After Benítez’s arrival, The Blues’ results immediately showed a marked improvement.

But everyone knew that the real test would be the third match of the Christmas schedule.

The West London derby at home against the Bayswater Chinese!

“Since Benítez took over, Chelsea has consistently used a 4-2-3-1 formation. The double pivot has always been Mikel and Lampard, with Sneijder in front of them and Falcao as the centre-forward.”

“This spine has barely changed in the last two league matches.”

“In defense, Cahill, Benatia, and Ivanović have been rotated at centre-back. We’ve received news that Terry probably won’t make it for the New Year’s Day match.”

“On the flanks, Ashley Cole on the left and Azpilicueta on the right have both played two consecutive games.”

“Also, Čech was injured in the match against Everton and was substituted at halftime. He won’t be able to play in this match either.”

At the Brent training center in West London, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff immediately held a preparation meeting after their 20th Premier League match to study their next opponent, the London derby away at Chelsea.

The Premier League schedule has a particular characteristic: a team will not play three consecutive home games or three consecutive away games.

Applied to the Christmas schedule, if the Boxing Day match is at home, the New Year’s Day match is guaranteed to be away.

The reverse is also true.

In the past, the Bayswater Chinese had always played two away games followed by a home game.

This season, that was Chelsea’s script.

The Blues’ defensive stalwart Terry was injured in the match against Liverpool on November 11th with a knee injury.

The initial prognosis was six weeks of rest, which should be about up by now.

But according to intelligence gathered by Bayswater Chinese scouts, Terry had not yet returned to team training.

This meant it was basically impossible for him to feature in the New Year’s Day match.

It was highly unrealistic to play him after more than a month off without any training.

Čech’s injury hadn’t been disclosed, but it was likely not serious.

The Czech master goalkeeper was once incredibly close to Buffon’s level, but unfortunately, after Mourinho’s departure and the subsequent period of turmoil at Chelsea, Čech’s performances were affected.

If Čech was out, the starting goalkeeper would likely be the substitute, Turnbull.

“Judging from the last two league matches, Benítez has only rotated two players: the two wingers.”

“Oscar, Prince William, Eto’o, and Ramires have been rotated, while other positions have remained largely unchanged.”

As Brian Kidd said this, he couldn’t help but look up at Yang Cheng.

“He’ll have to make adjustments for this third match, right?”

Yang Cheng shook his head. “Hard to say.”

He couldn’t guess what Benítez was thinking.

Or perhaps, who could ever guess what was on the mind of the Master Tactician?

Back when he was managing Liverpool, the man was capable of fielding a different starting lineup for over twenty consecutive matches.

It just went to show how devilishly difficult his tactical arrangements were to predict.

“Taking over before Christmas, he certainly needed to stabilize the lineup, and especially needed wins to rebuild morale!”

Chelsea’s recent record had been truly awful!

Some might ask, why didn’t he save his key players for the match against the Bayswater Chinese?

This was the West London derby, after all!

The reason was simple: if he lost his first two matches in charge, even with a full-strength squad, would their morale be any good for the home game against the Bayswater Chinese?

A new broom sweeps clean!

If Benítez couldn’t get his fire started, what difference was there between him and Di Matteo?

What’s more, everyone was now saying that Benítez was just a stopgap.

Chelsea had already contacted Real Madrid’s head coach, Mourinho, who had fallen out with the dressing room and fans at Real Madrid and was set to return to the Premier League this summer!

Under these circumstances, one could imagine the pressure Benítez was under.

“Whether Benítez will rotate or not, we don’t know for now, but we will definitely be rotating.”

Not rotating now and pushing the players’ stamina to the limit might get them through this period.

But what about January, or even February and March? How would they play their matches then?

Yang Cheng’s consistent strategy was to rotate, then use a full reserve team for the FA Cup in January to let the main players rest and undergo appropriate fitness reinforcement training.

This was known internally at Bayswater Chinese as “recharge-style fitness reinforcement training.”

This way, after another period of adjustment, the players’ form would recover in February and March.

The test of this approach was that the January schedule would be very tough.

But there was no other way. If they insisted on running the starting lineup into the ground, the pressure on the team would be immense in February and March when European competitions resumed.

For Yang Cheng, the Champions League was still very important!

Like most interim head coaches, Benítez’s appointment at Chelsea was a hasty decision.

How hasty?

He arrived for the job with only a fitness coach and a video analyst.

His most important assistant coach was still Steve Holland, who had been hired by Chelsea previously.

Holland had arrived when André Villas-Boas was managing Chelsea, assisting him alongside Di Matteo.

Later, he assisted Di Matteo when he took over.

Now, it was Benítez.

Additionally, the newly retired Dutch legend Zenden had also joined Benítez’s coaching staff.

But everyone knew Zenden had no coaching experience and was just there to gain some.

Under these circumstances, the only people Benítez could trust were the two assistants he brought with him.

But Chelsea’s situation was not good.

Čech and Terry were both out injured, and after two consecutive matches, the team’s stamina was beginning to wane.

Their luck in the FA Cup draw for January 5th wasn’t great either.

Their opponent was fellow Premier League side Southampton, and it was an away game.

All of these factors combined to give Benítez a massive headache.

But the biggest headache of all was the upcoming West London derby.

“Our opponents have scored ten goals in their last two league games and have rotated many players, so they will be in better form and have more energy than us,” assistant coach Steve Holland said with a worried expression at the Cobham training ground south of London.

Benítez maintained a stern face, revealing nothing, but he turned to look at the fitness coach he had brought with him, Paco de Miguel.

This fitness coach had been with him since his time at Liverpool. They had worked together for years and had a great rapport.

With just a look, Paco de Miguel knew what Benítez wanted to ask.

“The bigger problems right now are left-back Ashley Cole and Lampard. They’re both veterans and have played two games in a row. The strain is immense.”

“In midfield, I think Ramires can handle it. On the left, we’ll have to use Ryan Bertrand. He has always been a solid and consistent performer, just a bit young.”

Benítez knew of the player.

He was from the Chelsea youth academy, had a stint with the Bayswater Chinese, and was later bought back by Chelsea for a hefty sum.

Such things were quite normal in European football.

But because Ashley Cole wasn’t injured, Ryan Bertrand’s playing time wasn’t very high.

Even less than when he was at Bayswater Chinese.

It was actually quite a sad state of affairs.

Benítez turned again, this time to his other assistant, video analyst Javi Valero.

“I’ve studied Bayswater Chinese’s last few matches. They’ve rotated heavily, but we can’t be certain of Yang Cheng’s player selection strategy right now.”

“Manchester United are away at Wigan Athletic this round.”

Wigan Athletic were currently 18th in the Premier League, prime relegation candidates.

Ferguson had won both of his Christmas schedule matches and had vowed to end the period with three straight wins.

This was a highly probable outcome.

Therefore, if the Bayswater Chinese wanted to hold on to their top spot, they had to go all out for a win against Chelsea.

Moreover, Manchester United’s away game at Wigan was at 12:45 PM on New Year’s Day.

Chelsea’s match against the Bayswater Chinese was at 3:00 PM.

This meant that by the time the battle at Stamford Bridge kicked off, the result from Manchester United’s game would already be known.

This would undoubtedly put invisible pressure on the Bayswater Chinese.

Theoretically, if Manchester United won their match, they would overtake the Bayswater Chinese on the live league table.

As for the fact that Bayswater Chinese had a game in hand, that was a discussion for later.

Even with a game in hand, you still had to win it to get the three points.

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s home game against Stoke City was scheduled to kick off at the same time as the Stamford Bridge clash.

Thinking this through, Benítez had a plan forming in his mind.

“For this match, we are playing at home. We must not only win, but we must also do our best to play with our style!”

“We must give it our all and take down the Bayswater Chinese at home!”

A determined glint shone in Benítez’s eyes!

He needed a victory like this to solidify his position as Chelsea’s head coach.

Even if it was only for half a season, he was going to make the team play his way!

January 1st, New Year’s Day.

The final matchday of the gruelling Christmas schedule.

It was also a day that countless football fans around the world had been anxiously awaiting.

Everyone knew this round could very well reshape the course of this season’s Premier League.

As a result, the fans were exceptionally passionate.

The festive Christmas spirit still lingered all over London, and the football atmosphere was just as intense.

Many tourists who had traveled from afar even bought tickets to enter Stamford Bridge to watch this globally anticipated crucial match.

But before this match, the latest news came from Wigan in the northwest of England.

The game wasn’t over yet, but Manchester United were already leading 3-0.

Although Ferguson had rotated several stars, including Rooney, Carrick, and Juan Mata, Manchester United still took the lead thanks to a brace from Javier Hernández and a goal from Cavani.

They were temporarily leading Wigan Athletic 3-0 away from home.

The outcome was decided!

Ferguson had delivered on his earlier promise, ending the gruelling Christmas schedule with three consecutive wins.

And now, all the pressure was shifted onto the Bayswater Chinese.

At Stamford Bridge in West London, when Benítez heard the news, he pumped his right fist in excitement.

“That old fox Ferguson didn’t disappoint after all!” Benítez rare ly showed a hint of a smile.

When he coached Liverpool, he and Ferguson were mortal enemies.

But now, he suddenly found Ferguson quite agreeable.

The old man was reliable when it counted!

At the very least, it was much better than Wenger’s soft-hearted cowardice.

Just then, Steve Holland burst through the dressing room door in a hurry.

“Got the starting lineup for the Bayswater Chinese.”

Benítez eagerly took it and glanced over, a little surprised.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

Compared to the previous round, Yang Cheng had rotated again.

On the bench, Benítez saw the names of Modrić and Gareth Bale.

Piszczek was reportedly injured, so he wasn’t even in the matchday squad, with the youngster Stones taking his place.

But Yang Cheng’s lineup did surprise Benítez somewhat.

Of course, Benítez had a surprise of his own.

Goalkeeper: Turnbull;

Defence: Ryan Bertrand, Cahill, Ivanović, and Azpilicueta;

Midfield: Mikel and Lampard formed the double pivot, with Prince William, Oscar, and Ramires in front of them;

Forward: Falcao.

Benítez had deployed an attacking trio of three Brazilian players up front.

Plus Falcao.

In other words, Chelsea’s attack was a South American combination.

Benítez had considered rotating, but players like German winger Marko Marin hadn’t played many games this season, so how could he start them?

Eto’o was getting on in years; should he be made to play continuously at this point?

The same went for Ashley Cole.

But Benítez chose to start Lampard again.

Because the double pivot was extremely important to him.

Benítez had never been a head coach who excelled at playing defend and counter-attack.

On the contrary, he preferred a high defensive line.

But this current lineup should be able to contain the Bayswater Chinese in the midfield and attack, right?

“Get ready immediately. Today, we will make Yang Cheng and his team kneel at Stamford Bridge!” Benítez declared with force and clarity.

“Tweet!!”

“The head referee Lee Mason has blown for a foul.”

“This was a one-on-one opportunity for the Bayswater Chinese in the 61st minute of the second half.”

“A run from Walcott beating the offside trap gave him a clear chance, but Cahill tracked back in time to make a sliding tackle.”

“The Bayswater Chinese have been awarded a free kick on the right side of the attack.”

“The camera pans to the sideline, to the Bayswater Chinese head coach, Yang Cheng.”

“He must be dearly missing Gareth Bale, who is on the bench.”

“In the last round, the Welsh star’s two direct free-kick goals were outstanding.”

“But this time, let’s see Toni Kroos’s delivery.”

“It drops into the penalty area, Pepe goes for the aerial duel, a header!”

“It’s wide of the post.”

“Toni Kroos’s delivery was accurate, but Ivanović’s interference was timely.”

“We all know that Benítez’s set piece defending has always been a problem.”

“But in today’s match, the Bayswater Chinese have already had three free-kick opportunities in attacking areas and two corner kicks, but none have resulted in a goal.”

“The score is now 1-1!”

“The first half ended in a 0-0 draw, but in the 49th minute of the second half, Falcao scored with a close-range toe-poke to break the deadlock for Chelsea.”

“Then, in the 57th minute, Marcelo played a through ball down the left channel, and Lewandowski found the net with a shot from inside the box.”

“The match is being played with great intensity.”

“But so far, there has only been one yellow card, shown to Chelsea’s Prince William.”

“Both sides have been relatively restrained in their tackling.”

“We can see that Yang Cheng is preparing to make some substitutions.”

“Gareth Bale and Modrić are standing on the sideline.”

“The players being replaced are Marcelo and Nemanja Matić.”

“These are certainly two very surprising changes.”

“But we should also acknowledge that after playing two consecutive matches, Marcelo’s stamina is clearly running low.”

“As for replacing Nemanja Matić, this should be seen as a signal to strengthen the attack.”

When Benítez saw Yang Cheng substitute Marcelo and Nemanja Matić, his first reaction was stunned silence.

Immediately after, he saw that after the changes, Bayswater Chinese’s formation had shifted to a three-at-the-back.

Something similar to a 3-4-3 formation.

The midfield featured Toni Kroos in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in the center, and Eden Hazard pushed forward.

And a front three.

A flicker of surprise crossed Benítez’s eyes.

These days, it was truly rare to see a three-at-the-back tactical system in the Premier League.

Because everyone knew that the Premier League’s specialty was attacking down the flanks.

But very quickly, Benítez made a tit-for-tat substitution.

Eto’o replaced Lampard.

Ramires moved back into central midfield, and Eto’o took up the right winger position.

Benítez’s intention was clear.

You want to play with three at the back?

I’ll just add more speed on the wings!

After the tit-for-tat substitutions from both sides, the game grew increasingly tense.

Whether it was the viewers watching on TV or the fans in the stands at Stamford Bridge, everyone could feel the oppressive atmosphere of an impending storm.

Especially after the substitutions, the tempo of the match picked up noticeably.

In the 63rd minute, just five minutes after Bale came on as a substitute, the Bayswater Chinese capitalized on a mistake by Chelsea’s central midfield duo.

After receiving a pass from Modrić, Eden Hazard executed a nimble drag-back, skilfully weaving the ball between his feet to bypass the pressing Ramires. He then burst forward, dribbling through the gap between Ramires and Mikel.

The Brazilian midfielder missed his best opportunity to press and, after being beaten by Hazard, turned to give chase.

But Hazard, dribbling through the middle, veered to the left, shielding the ball from Ramires and evading Mikel.

The Nigerian holding midfielder’s biggest weakness was his lack of pace and limited running range.

After breaking through, Hazard quickly reached the edge of the penalty area.

As Ivanović moved to close him down, Hazard played a diagonal pass to the left side of the arc.

Gareth Bale surged forward, and as he controlled the ball with his left foot, his momentum carried him just outside the box.

One touch to control, then he struck it with his left!

This was Gareth Bale’s favorite territory, the area where he was most lethal.

A magnificent left-footed power shot sent the ball rocketing into the bottom right corner of the Chelsea goal!

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 68th minute of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“Gareth Bale, who just came on as a substitute, has successfully turned the game around for the Bayswater Chinese with his trademark power shot to the far corner from the left of the box!”

“2-1!”

“The situation is now very dire for Chelsea!”

After conceding, Chelsea grew anxious.

Bayswater Chinese’s three-at-the-back formation was like a carrot dangled in front of a donkey, constantly telling them that if they just attacked, they’d have a chance to create a threat.

Playing three-at-the-back in the Premier League, wasn’t that just asking for trouble?

However, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield maintained firm control of possession.

If they were able to remain composed when the score was level, then after Gareth Bale put them ahead, the Chelsea players began to rush.

The fans in the stadium were also anxiously urging their players to step up the attack.

It was already the 70th minute; if they didn’t hurry, how could they possibly beat their opponents?

But they forgot one thing.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense was not made of paper.

In the 73rd minute, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in midfield with a tackle, Modrić played a through ball behind the defense.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward, but Cahill’s recovery pace was also fast.

Although the English centre-back got a step ahead and positioned himself in front of Lewandowski, the Pole was closing in rapidly.

As a last resort, Cahill went into a sliding tackle, trying to pass the ball to the backtracking Ivanović and break up the Bayswater Chinese counter-attack.

But unexpectedly, Cahill’s sliding pass didn’t go directly to Ivanović’s feet.

Instead, Gareth Bale, who had deliberately hung back a step, suddenly burst forward from the left. He darted in front, flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot into the central space behind the defensive line.

Then, the Welshman accelerated explosively, like a bolt of lightning, instantly tearing through Chelsea’s backline. He caught up to his own pass outside the penalty area and found himself one-on-one with the keeper.

A collective gasp echoed throughout Stamford Bridge.

It was hard to tell if it was a gasp of shock or of awe.

After catching up to the ball, Gareth Bale took a touch into the penalty area. Facing goalkeeper Turnbull, who had rushed out to near the penalty spot, the Welshman performed a feint before deftly dribbling past him.

Finally, just in front of Chelsea’s six-yard box, Gareth Bale calmly tapped the ball into the empty net with his right foot.

3-1!

Gareth Bale excitedly turned and ran off the pitch towards the corner flag, making a heart shape with his hands in front of his chest for the camera, celebrating with wild abandon.

“A brace!”

“Just five minutes after their last goal, the Bayswater Chinese have scored again, capitalizing on a lapse in the Chelsea defense!”

“The situation for Chelsea now is dire, to say the least!”

“After coming on as a substitute, Gareth Bale has scored twice in five minutes.”

“That’s his fifth goal in the last four days!”

“The Welshman has been in phenomenal form this season, and his momentum is ferocious!”

When the live broadcast camera panned to the sideline, the Bayswater Chinese players were celebrating in a joyous huddle.

After scoring the third goal, the Bayswater Chinese clearly intended to slow down the tempo of the game.

Chelsea wanted to press forward and attack.

Benítez brought on Sneijder for Oscar.

In today’s match, the young Oscar had been rather mediocre.

But not long after the substitution, in the 83rd minute, the Bayswater Chinese launched another quick counter-attack.

Modrić distributed the ball to the right flank. Walcott received it but was blocked by Ryan Bertrand.

However, The Little Tiger still managed to play a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Lewandowski made a quick run, received the ball, and faced Cahill. The Polish centre-forward executed a sudden stop-and-go, dribbling past him towards the byline before cutting it back with his right foot to the center.

Gareth Bale surged forward, arriving at full tilt, and got to the ball just ahead of Ivanović, connecting with a left-footed sliding shot that sent the ball once again into Chelsea’s net.

Referee Lee Mason once again blew his whistle, signaling a valid goal.

The entire stadium was in an uproar once more.

4-1!

No one could have imagined that the game would take such a dramatic turn after the Bayswater Chinese made their substitutions.

Especially Gareth Bale.

After coming off the bench, he had somehow managed to score another hat-trick.

This was his second consecutive match with a hat-trick!

And so far this season, he had twice produced this incredible feat of scoring hat-tricks in two consecutive rounds!

“My God, this is absolutely unbelievable!”

“Gareth Bale has now scored 22 goals in the Premier League this season.”

“This puts him level with his teammate, Lewandowski, who has long been at the top of the scorer chart!”

“With his goal tonight, the Polish centre-forward has also reached 22 goals.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s two deadly forwards are tied at the top of the Premier League’s top scorer chart.”

“This is an absolutely unprecedented sight in the history of the Premier League!”

“Let’s review that last goal again.”

“Gareth Bale’s speed, agility, power, and height… he’s almost perfect!”

“What’s even more remarkable is that his finishing has been improving by leaps and bounds, becoming more and more efficient.”

“We’ve seen his goal tally steadily climb over the past few seasons!”

“We have every reason to believe that Gareth Bale is becoming one of the very top superstars in world football today!”

The moment referee Lee Mason blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese players erupted in wild celebration on their arch-rival’s home turf.

They had come from a goal down to beat Chelsea 4-1!

More importantly, they had done it while shouldering the pressure of Manchester United having played and won earlier in the day.

In front of the home team’s dugout, Benítez looked utterly dejected.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was ecstatic.

As he saw his players walking off the pitch, he greeted them with a smile, embracing each one of them!

“Congratulations, my warriors!”

The players were also exceptionally excited.

Gareth Bale, in particular, was grinning from ear to ear.

Yang Cheng gave his performance the highest praise.

Although he and his coaching staff had anticipated that Gareth Bale would have a breakout season, they never imagined it would be to this extent.

He had even caught up to Lewandowski in goal count.

And it was worth remembering that Gareth Bale’s assist numbers were also quite impressive.

“Alright!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully amidst the players.

In the stands, Chelsea fans were relentlessly booing their rivals.

“Today, you can celebrate all you want, but starting tomorrow, we must continue to prepare for more tough battles!”

“The chasers behind us are still fierce, so we have to keep working hard!”

Yang Cheng’s words were met with enthusiastic support from the players!

Super Bale!

This was the front-page headline published by The Times immediately after the match.

In the article, the usually staid newspaper declared in a very excited tone that Gareth Bale had transformed into a top-tier superstar in world football.

In 21 rounds—or rather, strictly speaking, Bayswater Chinese had only played 20—Gareth Bale had scored 22 goals, tying Lewandowski’s tally.

This would have been absolutely unbelievable in the past.

Across all of European football, only three players had scored more than twenty goals so far.

The first was Messi, who had scored 26 goals in La Liga.

After him were the Premier League’s Lewandowski and Gareth Bale, both with 22 goals.

Real Madrid’s C. Ronaldo had seen a dip in his goal-scoring efficiency this season, having scored only 14 goals.

Although they trailed Messi, the prolific goal-scorer, the fact that Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were on the same team made Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower all the more astonishing.

It could be described as the best in all of Europe!

The Times even suggested that, given the current trend, Lewandowski and Gareth Bale had a real chance of breaking the Premier League single-season record of 34 goals, set by Alan Shearer.

That was a record that even C. Ronaldo couldn’t surpass!

As for Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese, The Times believed that as long as Lewandowski and Gareth Bale maintained their current scoring momentum, Yang Cheng’s team would almost certainly win the Premier League title this season!

Besides The Times, other British media outlets also showered Gareth Bale with praise.

After all, he was a homegrown star.

How many years had it been since England produced a goal-scoring machine like this?

Moreover, Gareth Bale had just helped Great Britain win the gold medal at the London Olympics.

His dazzling start to the new season made the Welsh winger even more of a hot property.

Sky Sports also believed that Gareth Bale had firmly established himself as a world-class superstar this season!

While singing Bale’s praises, the media also expressed disappointment in Chelsea’s performance.

“Our players have played too many games recently, they are a bit fatigued, and we made some mistakes!” Benítez defended his players in the post-match press conference.

But the media generally believed that this would be another disappointing season for The Blues.

At the very least, a top-four league finish was looking highly unlikely again.

Many Chelsea fans were already eagerly awaiting the return of Mourinho to Stamford Bridge this summer!

While the Bayswater Chinese were coming from behind to win 4-1 away at Chelsea, Manchester United secured a comprehensive 4-0 victory away at Wigan Athletic.

Javier Hernández and Cavani both scored a brace.

Manchester City defeated Stoke City 3-0 at home, with goals from Pablo Zabaleta, Ibrahimović, and Agüero.

Liverpool also won 3-0 at home against Sunderland, thanks to a brace from Suárez.

Only Arsenal was held to a 1-1 draw away at Southampton.

Overall, during this year’s Christmas schedule, Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City, and Manchester United all secured three consecutive wins.

Such a record was undoubtedly the most pleasant surprise.

Liverpool and Chelsea both had two wins and one loss.

Arsenal had two wins and one draw.

After 21 rounds, the Bayswater Chinese were top of the Premier League table with a record of 17 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 53 points.

Manchester United were in second place with 52 points.

Manchester City were third with 50 points.

Arsenal were fourth with 46 points.

Liverpool, with 43 points, were in 5th place.

Chelsea were in 6th place with 35 points, having fallen significantly behind the top five teams.

Looking at the overall performance, almost everyone concluded that Arsenal’s chances of making a comeback to win the title were slim.

The most important task for Wenger’s team now was to secure a top-four finish.

As The Guardian stated in its post-round summary.

“This is the most competitive season in Premier League history. After Christmas, not only are the top three teams neck and neck on points, but crucially, all three teams are performing exceptionally well. The destination of the title remains full of suspense.”

The Guardian believed that the performances of the Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Manchester City would have been considered league-leader level in any past season.

But in recent years, with the powerful rise of the Bayswater Chinese, the race for the Premier League title had reached a fever pitch.

This season, even a team as strong as The Gunners couldn’t threaten the top three.

The biggest problem for Wenger’s Arsenal this season was their performance in clashes between top teams.

On a side note, because the Bayswater Chinese had been knocked out of the League Cup and did not reach the semi-finals, and Fulham were in the same situation, the rescheduled match for the 17th round of the Premier League, where Bayswater Chinese hosts Fulham, was scheduled for the following Wednesday, January 9th.

If the Bayswater Chinese could win this match, they would open up a gap between themselves and Manchester United and Manchester City.

Yang Cheng used this opportunity to encourage his players to keep up their efforts!

Saturday, January 5th, the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese faced Championship side Derby County away from home.

Yang Cheng once again fielded a full reserve lineup for this match.

For most of the first half, both teams were locked in a stalemate.

Although the Bayswater Chinese dominated possession, they struggled to break down their opponent’s defense.

It wasn’t until the 42nd minute that De Bruyne, playing as a right winger, assisted left winger Sterling for the opening goal.

After the break, in the 54th minute, Sterling then assisted Harry Kane for a goal.

From then on, the match completely turned into an offensive showcase for the Bayswater Chinese.

First, in the 63rd minute, Sterling once again assisted Kyle Walker for a goal.

In the 72nd minute, it was Sterling again, assisting Pogba to score another goal.

Finally, just before the end of the match, Aaron Ramsey scored the final goal.

Bayswater Chinese thrashed Derby County 5-0 away from home!

The young starlet Sterling recorded a hat-trick of assists and scored a goal.

This brought the young talent to the attention of the entire country.

Even during his time in the youth academy, Sterling was already a renowned talented prospect in England, and even across Europe.

After being promoted to the first team, his performances had been consistently outstanding, and his progress was steady.

This season, his performance had improved by leaps and bounds.

After being named man of the match, Sterling received praise from numerous media outlets.

However, when Yang Cheng commented on his players after the match, while he was generous with his praise for Sterling, he also tempered expectations, stating that the youngster still had a great deal of untapped potential.

“The most important thing for him right now is to keep his feet on the ground and work hard to improve himself!”

However, after pouring some cold water, Yang Cheng also offered some encouragement.

“I believe that as long as he is willing to work hard, he can definitely become one of the best players in the world!”

Yang Cheng’s endorsement once again made Sterling a darling of the British media and fans.

Everyone knew that Yang Cheng’s judgment had always been spot on.

Chapter 272: A Crazy Match! Mad Transfers! The Title Race! He Finally Has His Breakthrough!

Wednesday, January 9th. The Prudential Stadium, London.

It was the rescheduled match for the 17th round of the Premier League, with Bayswater Chinese hosting Fulham.

In the 52nd minute of the second half, after a long period of fruitless attacks, Bayswater Chinese were caught on a swift counter-attack by Fulham.

“Suave Bro” Berbatov assisted Duff, who made a forward run between Luke Shaw and José Fonte. Beating the offside trap, he broke into the box for a one-on-one and scored, putting Fulham ahead.

1-0!

A wave of stunned silence fell over the Prudential Stadium.

Yang Cheng wasn’t on the touchline today; he was sitting on the bench.

He had been down with a cold for two days.

You could say his luck was a bit off.

Just yesterday afternoon during team training, he’d accidentally been caught in the rain. By evening, he had a fever.

The fever had broken, but his head was spinning, and he felt drowsy, completely unable to think clearly.

His body ached, he had no strength, and naturally, he couldn’t stand on the touchline to manage the game.

The touchline management was mostly left to Brian Kidd.

For this match, Bayswater Chinese had also made significant squad rotations.

The next round, the 22nd, was a crucial one.

Bayswater Chinese would host Tottenham, Manchester United would host Liverpool, and Arsenal would host Manchester City.

Three clashes between top teams had captured the world’s attention!

And of all times, Yang Cheng had to fall ill at such an important moment.

It felt truly awful.

Sitting beside him, Brian Kidd saw Yang Cheng rest his forehead in his right hand, his elbow propped on his knee. The packet of tissues next to him was more than half-used. He was bundled up in a thick down jacket but still didn’t seem warm at all.

That’s just how colds are.

Not a serious illness, but utterly draining.

It was impossible to think straight.

“We need to strengthen our attack now!” Yang Cheng said, taking a deep breath through his mask.

He felt short of breath after just that one sentence.

But no matter what, he refused to see his team lose at home.

Before the match, everyone at Bayswater Chinese knew about Yang Cheng’s illness.

It was truly strange not having the head coach directing from the sidelines.

“Who should we bring on?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng’s mind was a complete blank, his stuffy nose leaving an empty void in his head.

But years of coaching experience told him there was one simple, direct, and brute-force method.

“Send on the two best goalscorers on our team!”

After speaking, Yang Cheng took another deep breath.

The January air in London was frigid. Inhaling it did nothing to refresh him; instead, he felt every joint in his body ache.

This damned cold!

Fortunately, Brian Kidd had worked with him for years and understood his meaning. He immediately went to the bench and signaled for Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale to get ready to come on.

The players quickly warmed up and returned, standing before the dugout, keeping a slight distance as they looked at Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng held up two fingers and then gestured for them to hurry onto the pitch.

Both understood his meaning and went to the touchline, preparing to replace Javi Martínez and Sterling.

Yang Cheng’s message was clear: score at least two goals.

In other words, they had to turn the game around.

But this time, he didn’t dare switch to a three-at-the-back formation.

On one hand, Fulham’s head coach was the Dutchman Martin Jol.

The whole world knew that the Dutch were masters of attacking tactics using wingers.

On the other hand, Fulham’s left flank had former Manchester United player Kieran Richardson and Liverpool veteran Riise, while Duff was on the right.

Upfront, they had a formidable player like Berbatov.

Although these players were getting older, their quality was not to be underestimated.

To play three-at-the-back now would be asking for trouble.

…

As soon as Gareth Bale came on, he received the ball on the left wing and immediately made a quick breakthrough.

Although he didn’t manage to get the ball into the penalty area, he still drew a roar of enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

As Robert Lewandowski jogged back at a steady pace, he looked at Gareth Bale with a hint of envy.

Though not English, as a fellow Briton, Gareth Bale was beloved by the local Bayswater Chinese fans.

The major British media outlets also loved to report on him.

Anyone who knew Gareth Bale was aware that while the Welshman played with a sharp, incisive style, he was actually quite shy and introverted off the pitch.

How to put it?

He was a bit like Barça’s Messi.

It didn’t quite match his strong, imposing physique.

But the English fans seemed to love him even more for it.

They even gave him a label: “The Gentleman Thug.”

The implication was that off the pitch, he was a gentleman in a suit, but on the pitch, he transformed into a thug.

This contrast in his temperament made many fans feel that he exuded a strong masculine charm.

Robert Lewandowski didn’t receive such treatment.

Because he was from Poland.

The two were on good terms off the pitch, but they were just teammates who worked well together.

Deep down, however, they both knew that competition was inevitable.

This competition wasn’t for a position on the field, but for who could become the top dog at Bayswater Chinese.

Lewandowski knew he was at a disadvantage.

Especially after seeing the nationwide celebration in the British media when Gareth Bale caught up to him with 22 goals after the last round, the Polish centre-forward realized he could never win that battle.

But this only made him work harder.

If a tie meant losing, then he would just have to win the competition outright!

This spurred Lewandowski to perform with even more effort on the pitch.

In the 68th minute, when De Bruyne got the ball near the right side of the penalty area, Lewandowski immediately started his run.

He knew De Bruyne excelled at diagonal passes.

So, he deliberately ran out to receive one.

He knew De Bruyne would see his run.

And as it turned out, De Bruyne did see it!

The Belgian midfielder sent a sublime diagonal pass, delivering it precisely to the right side of the six-yard box. Lewandowski, who had darted in behind Fulham’s centre-back Hangeland, turned and shot first-time without controlling the ball.

It was a very clever shot, skimming along the grass and slipping through the legs of goalkeeper Schwarzer into the Fulham net.

1-1!

Level!

The entire Prudential Stadium was chanting Lewandowski’s name!

The elated Pole turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline, waving his arms at the fans to release his excitement.

Afterward, Bayswater Chinese continued to press the attack.

Whether it was Gareth Bale on the left, Lewandowski in the middle, or Giroud, everyone was striving to help the team overturn the scoreline.

Fulham was forced to retreat and defend.

In the 72nd minute, Martin Jol made a double substitution, taking off two attacking players to reinforce his midfield and defense.

But Bayswater Chinese relentlessly closed in, creating chance after chance.

In the 88th minute, after a sustained period of pressure, Pogba received the ball in the left midfield with his back to goal, turned left, and played a through ball.

Gareth Bale surged forward, knocked the ball towards the byline, and burst through Fulham’s defensive line with lightning speed. Inside the box on the left, facing a defender, he delivered a cross with his left foot.

The cross wasn’t high; it was delivered at about waist height towards the near post.

Having shaken off Hangeland, Lewandowski dove forward and headed the ball, directing Gareth Bale’s cross straight into the goal.

2-1!

A brace!

An ecstatic Lewandowski sprinted towards the left side of the pitch and threw his arms around Gareth Bale.

They were competitors.

But it was a healthy competition!

They both knew that the team’s interests came first.

…

Midday, January 12th. The Prudential Stadium, London.

Premier League, Matchday 22. Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

With the match reaching the 78th minute, the score was still 0-0.

Eden Hazard received the ball on the edge of the box to the left, feinted past his marker, Naughton, and passed it to Lewandowski inside the area.

With his back to goal, the Polish centre-forward used his body to hold off Michael Dawson before turning to dribble laterally.

But the positioning of the two centre-backs, Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen, was very tight, and they jointly blocked off all of Lewandowski’s shooting angles.

This left the Polish striker feeling a bit helpless.

But just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gareth Bale running in quickly from the right, hand raised, calling for the ball.

Lewandowski made a split-second decision, continuing to dribble across while using his body to shield the ball from Dawson and Vertonghen.

When the Pole reached the right side of the arc, Lewandowski laid the ball back a step ahead.

Gareth Bale, running from right to left along the edge of the penalty area, perfectly met Lewandowski’s pass just to the right of the arc.

The Welshman took a touch forward with his left foot.

Tottenham’s Brazilian holding midfielder, Sandro, rushed forward to intercept, shoving Bale’s right shoulder.

But the push failed to move Gareth Bale.

The Welshman didn’t even break his stride or lose his balance; he just accelerated forward another step.

Just before Dembélé could close him down, Gareth Bale, right in the center of the arc, suddenly unleashed a thunderous shot with his left foot.

A loud thump echoed around the stadium.

Everyone saw the Welshman leap into the air from the force of his full-powered shot.

The football shot out like a cannonball, and before anyone could react, it flew into the top-left corner of the Tottenham Hotspur goal.

It was an absolutely perfect strike into the corner of the goal!

Despite his dive, goalkeeper Brad Friedel had no chance of saving it.

1-0!

In an instant, all ninety thousand fans at the Prudential Stadium jumped out of their seats.

Every one of them was roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs.

When Gareth Bale and his teammates ran to the sideline to celebrate, they felt the fans’ frenetic energy up close.

It was a worldie!

A spectacular wonder goal from Gareth Bale, cutting inside from the right!

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese had not been at their best.

But in the final moments, Gareth Bale’s wonder goal had given the team the lead!

André Villas-Boas’s team ultimately couldn’t turn the tide and was forced to leave the away game with a bitter defeat.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese had defeated Tottenham Hotspur at home!

…

The clashes between top teams in the 22nd round of the Premier League left fans around the world thrilled.

The Bayswater Chinese vs. Tottenham match was scheduled for 12:45 PM, making it the earliest game of the round.

Yang Cheng’s team was in a period of adjustment, and they had been competing on multiple fronts.

Even after the Christmas schedule, there was no rest, which had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese.

Although Tottenham was the away team, they were well-rested.

The match was fiercely contested, but in the end, the home team broke the deadlock with a wonder goal from Bale.

This earned Bale thunderous applause after the match.

But the other two matches unfolded very differently.

Manchester United hosted the Northwest Derby. Just nineteen minutes in, Cavani scored for Manchester United.

What followed was a frantic, chaotic affair, but Liverpool couldn’t get the better of Manchester United.

Instead, in the 52nd minute of the second half, Vidić scored again for Manchester United from a corner kick.

But just five minutes later, Sturridge pulled one back for Liverpool.

Liverpool then went into a frenzy.

For the last half-hour, Liverpool relentlessly attacked Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Unfortunately for the Reds, they couldn’t turn the game around.

2-1, Manchester United triumphed over Liverpool at home!

The final major match of the round was Arsenal hosting Manchester City.

This game was controversial from the very beginning.

Just nine minutes in, Arsenal centre-back Koscielny brought down Ibrahimović from behind while defending against him.

The head referee, Mike Dean, immediately showed a red card and awarded a penalty kick.

This triggered intense protests from Arsenal’s players and fans.

A penalty after just nine minutes?

Koscielny also argued that his foul was outside the penalty area and shouldn’t have been a penalty.

A yellow card and an attacking free-kick would have been more appropriate.

But Mike Dean wouldn’t listen and stuck with his decision of a penalty and a red card.

Hilariously, Ibrahimović missed the penalty.

It was hard not to laugh.

However, being a man down, Arsenal were on the back foot.

Manchester City launched wave after wave of attacks, and soon Kaká and Ibrahimović each scored a goal.

But in the 75th minute, Kompany also committed a foul on the edge of the box and was shown a straight red card.

Manchester City was furious about this red card as well, believing it was completely baseless.

Ultimately, the match ended in a highly dramatic fashion.

Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-0 away from home.

After the match, both Wenger and Ancelotti criticized the head referee, Mike Dean, believing he had ruined a classic, highly anticipated battle.

“The standard of refereeing has become the biggest weakness of the Premier League!” Wenger said angrily.

The Arsenal head coach believed his team didn’t lose to Manchester City, but to Mike Dean.

But Manchester City’s coach, Ancelotti, was also very displeased, arguing that Kompany’s red card should never have happened.

“He was deliberately trying to find a balance. I can’t understand it. It was just a normal foul; a yellow card would have been sufficient. Why a red card?”

“The only explanation is that he didn’t want us to score any more goals!”

Both renowned managers were unhappy with the referee.

What could Mike Dean say?

“I still maintain that my decisions were correct!”

Another match was even more amusing: Chelsea’s away game against Stoke City.

In fact, Benítez’s team didn’t play particularly well throughout the entire game.

Yet the final score was 3-0!

Doesn’t that sound utterly ridiculous?

That’s right. When Yang Cheng saw the match report, he was equally baffled.

With Chelsea struggling to score, Stoke City’s midfielder Walters, in the 47th minute of the first half—stoppage time—resolutely helped Chelsea by scoring an own goal.

In Walters, everyone witnessed the glorious humanitarian spirit of professional football.

But was that all?

The great Mr. Walters felt that a 1-0 lead wasn’t safe enough, worried that Chelsea might concede an equalizer. So, in the 62nd minute of the second half, he once again displayed his selfless spirit of dedication, scoring another for Chelsea and completing a “brace”!

Even Chelsea themselves must have found it unbelievable!

What on earth was the relationship between this Walters and Chelsea?

Just three minutes after the second own goal, former Chelsea player and Stoke City centre-back Robert Huth, in a situation with virtually no danger in the penalty area, pulled down Falcao.

What a magnificent display of humanitarian spirit!

Lampard stepped up to take the penalty and scored with one kick!

The Chelsea captain could not betray the profound friendship from his former teammate!

Furthermore, this was his 194th goal for Chelsea, which moved him past Kerry Dixon to become the club’s second-highest goalscorer in history.

Dear readers, if you thought the match would end there, you’d be underestimating the caliber of our Premier League teams.

In the 90th minute, Terry tripped Walters in the box, and the referee awarded a penalty.

As it turned out, Walters, understanding the bigger picture and refusing to accept handouts, resolutely kicked the penalty wide.

Hmph, who needs your penalty!

You’ve got to be kidding!

I’m a man destined to score a hat-trick!

And so, this Premier League match, which had initially drawn little attention, ended with such a spectacular plot.

Fans all over the world were in an uproar.

Reality is indeed crazier than fiction!

How could a match like Chelsea versus Stoke City even happen?

Such a wonderful contest, coupled with endless news both on and off the pitch, made it feel like a festival for media and fans worldwide, who kept hyping it up.

Some even suspected that Walters was involved in gambling.

Stoke City’s head coach, Tony Pulis, came forward to clarify, stating that he still believed in Walters.

“Yes, his luck was terrible. He scored two own goals and missed a penalty, but I want to say, he was still one of our best players on the pitch!”

“I can’t be overly critical of a player like that.”

…

When Yang Cheng saw the report, he truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Just as Tony Pulis said, Walters’ luck was just too abysmal!

But after this round of matches, the top three in the Premier League had essentially been established.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Manchester City.

Wenger had countless reasons to defend his players, but their performance in clashes between top teams this season had indeed been lacking, which was likely related to the team’s technical style.

“Looking purely at the lineup, Wenger’s team really doesn’t have much of an advantage against Manchester City right now.”

“And against Manchester United, Ferguson is the deciding factor.”

Brian Kidd felt some sympathy for Wenger.

Arsenal’s current squad wasn’t bad, but their defense was still relatively weak.

Manchester United had Vidić, Ferdinand, and David Luiz holding the fort, while Manchester City had stars like Giorgio Chiellini, Jérôme Boateng, and Vincent Kompany.

Only Arsenal’s backline was a bit lacking in comparison.

Koscielny, Chygrynskiy, Vermaelen, and Mertesacker were indeed a notch below the aforementioned stars.

“Next up is the Africa Cup of Nations. Teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City all have international players who will be called up. It will have some impact, especially Alexandre Song.”

Although they had Toulalan, Alexandre Song’s performance at Arsenal was genuinely excellent. He had a firm grip on a starting position, being adept at both attack and defense, and could also pass and orchestrate play.

This reminded Yang Cheng of the situation after he joined Barça in his previous life.

All one could say was, the environment at Barça wasn’t right for him.

As for players for the Africa Cup of Nations, Yang Cheng’s team currently didn’t have a single African player.

“Manchester United and Manchester City are chasing us hard now. The pressure on us in the upcoming matches will be immense, so in the next two weeks, we must seize the time to build up our physical reserves and adjust the players’ form.”

After recovering from his cold, Yang Cheng was full of energy, and his mind was clear again.

Since they hadn’t reached the League Cup semi-finals and didn’t need a replay for the FA Cup 3rd round, Bayswater Chinese would have one match per week for the near future.

After playing the 22nd round of the Premier League on the 12th.

They would play the 23rd round of the Premier League on the 19th, away against West Ham United.

On the 26th, they would play the FA Cup, away against West Bromwich Albion.

On the 29th, the 24th round of the Premier League, home against Manchester City.

On February 2nd, the 25th round of the Premier League, home against Norwich.

As Yang Cheng said, they had to use these two weeks to get back into shape quickly.

That way, Bayswater Chinese would be able to handle the upcoming schedule, including the Champions League in February, with much more ease.

What was advantageous for Bayswater Chinese was that, apart from the 38th round away game against Liverpool, all their matches against Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal would be at home.

Of course, the schedule was relatively fair.

Having so many home games against top teams now meant that in the first half of the season, Bayswater Chinese had played these big matches away.

“Brian, tell Saad and Oliver that I’m giving them two weeks. That should be enough.”

Yang Cheng didn’t plan to use his main players against West Ham United or in the FA Cup.

This would allow many players in the squad to get ample rest while also stimulating their fitness and recharging their batteries.

If they kept playing like this, how would they get through the upcoming February and March?

…

As the winter transfer window opened, the major British media outlets became very active.

Between the 22nd and 23rd rounds, The Sun, always known for its transfer rumors, broke a massive story.

Real Madrid had invited Manchester City’s head coach, Ancelotti, to manage in La Liga!

This was undoubtedly a bombshell!

All Manchester City fans were utterly surprised.

But the next piece of news made them readily accept it.

The Sun also reported that after Ancelotti’s move to Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola, currently on a sabbatical, would take over Manchester City in the summer.

The Sun revealed that just before last Christmas, Manchester City’s Chairman Mubarak, General Manager Ferran Soriano, and Technical Director Txiki Begiristain had traveled to New York to meet with Guardiola, who was vacationing in the United States.

Then, in early January this year, Guardiola, accompanied by Mubarak, appeared in Abu Dhabi and met with Mansour, which finalized Guardiola’s appointment as Manchester City’s manager.

Furthermore, to attract a top-tier manager like Guardiola, Mansour personally promised a transfer budget of £250 million.

“And if Guardiola needs more, the Abu Dhabi consortium can provide additional funds!”

This essentially meant an unlimited transfer budget!

The Sun also revealed that after taking over Manchester City, the first superstar Guardiola wanted to sign was Messi!

Everyone’s immediate reaction to this news was: Impossible!

Indeed, how could Barça let Messi go?

But The Sun reported that Manchester City was willing to pay Messi’s release clause of £200 million!

That’s €250 million!

Not only that, Manchester City would also offer Messi an eight-year contract with a weekly wage of £350,000.

Additionally, they would pay a commission of £15 million to Messi’s father and agent!

Seeing the various terms listed by The Sun, everyone clearly realized, what was impossible about this?

A weekly wage of £350,000 was double Messi’s annual salary at Barça.

As for paying the release clause, did they even need Barça’s consent?

If Messi wanted to transfer, he could leave immediately!

While a £200 million transfer fee was outrageous, this was Messi!

This was an absolutely insane transfer!

Initially, everyone thought it was impossible.

But strangely, Manchester City issued no clarification, and neither did Guardiola, Ancelotti, or the others.

Messi remained silent.

Only Barça’s chairman, Rosell, furiously accused Manchester City in front of the media.

“They are like a band of barbaric robbers!”

“They just poached our youth academy director and team doctor, and now they want to poach Messi. This is absolutely unacceptable!”

Rosell stated that UEFA should investigate Manchester City’s financial situation.

“I don’t believe they have that much money to invest in transfers. It’s not reasonable!”

But UEFA also remained silent on the matter.

They had investigated before, and Manchester City’s funds came from financing.

Could UEFA really forbid a club from securing financing?

Rosell’s comments only further confirmed The Sun’s story and triggered a media frenzy.

Soriano and Begiristain were old friends of Guardiola from his time coaching Barça.

Now, Barça’s former youth academy director Alexanko and team doctor Pruna had also come to Manchester City.

One could say that Manchester City’s entire management and backroom staff were now essentially from Barça.

In the words of The Sun, “Manchester City has cleared all obstacles and paved the way for Guardiola to take charge.”

Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge, Guardiola landing in the Premier League with Messi…

Such explosive news quickly spread around the world.

Guardiola made no response to the rumors about himself.

Mourinho, on the other hand, came forward to clarify that the rumors about him coaching Chelsea were unfounded.

“I haven’t made a final decision yet.”

Regarding the possibility of Guardiola managing Manchester City, Mourinho welcomed it.

“That’s his choice. I don’t know if he deliberately chose to be in the same league as me.”

“Yes, we haven’t communicated.”

“But I can be sure that when we two meet, it will be very exciting!”

Mourinho expressed that he greatly missed the Premier League.

“I think the Premier League is a better league than La Liga.”

“It’s harder to play in the Premier League. Some of the clashes between top teams are even at the level of a Champions League final. It’s very difficult!”

“But in La Liga, it’s relatively easier, except for El Clásico!”

Mourinho, who had long since fallen out with the Spanish media, clearly wasn’t afraid to kick them while they were down.

This drew frantic accusations from the Spanish media, who considered Mourinho’s comments irresponsible.

But Mourinho clarified that he was just commenting on the differences between the two leagues, and it was a fact.

“I’ve always stressed that I will return to the Premier League sooner or later. For me, it’s the best league in the world!”

“I miss Yang Cheng, I miss Ferguson, I miss Wenger.”

“Now, I look forward to Guardiola!”

Mourinho was nearly drowned in the saliva of the Spanish media.

But that was the Portuguese madman for you.

…

January 19th, Premier League Matchday 23.

Liverpool defeated Norwich 4-0 at home.

Mancini’s team had successfully moved on from the shadow of their loss in the Northwest Derby.

Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Fulham 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from David Silva.

Arsenal won 2-1 away against Chelsea.

Both teams were affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, but Chelsea was clearly hit harder.

Players like Benatia, Eto’o, and Mikel were all called up for the tournament.

In the end, Arsenal secured a 2-1 away victory.

Manchester United, who had won impressively in the previous round, drew 1-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur this time.

Ferguson’s team took a 1-0 lead in the first half with a goal from Cavani.

But in the third minute of stoppage time, a goal from Dempsey helped Tottenham equalize.

Yang Cheng’s team played with a reserve lineup and drew 1-1 away at West Ham United.

Giroud scored in the 14th minute of the first half.

After that, the team controlled the game.

But in the 68th minute, Joe Cole equalized for West Ham United.

In the end, despite all of Bayswater Chinese’s attacks, they couldn’t score again.

1-1, the two sides settled for a draw.

After 23 rounds, Bayswater Chinese were top of the table with 19 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 60 points.

Manchester City had caught up to Manchester United, with both teams on 56 points.

The Blue Moons, with a superior goal difference, leapfrogged Manchester United into second place.

Arsenal was in 4th place with 49 points.

Liverpool was 5th with 46 points.

As things stood, the battle for the top four was still between Arsenal and Liverpool.

Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Manchester City were in the final sprint for the title!

…

Afternoon of January 26th, FA Cup 4th round. Bayswater Chinese challenged West Bromwich Albion away.

By the 74th minute, the score was still 0-0.

Bayswater Chinese did not field a full-strength team for this match.

Yang Cheng still opted for reserves and young players for the FA Cup, saving all his main players for the home game against Manchester City next Wednesday.

But from the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese dominated possession but couldn’t score.

The forward line, led by Giroud, struggled to break down West Bromwich Albion’s defensive formation.

Conversely, The Baggies’ frontline, led by Lukaku, also failed to pose a threat to Bayswater Chinese.

The game remained deadlocked.

But in the 74th minute, midfielder Paul Pogba received the ball with his back to goal.

As he received it, Pogba made a clear fake to turn left, but instead suddenly flicked the ball to his right to Aaron Ramsey.

After passing, he made a quick forward run.

Aaron Ramsey, understanding perfectly, passed the ball back.

The young Frenchman tapped the ball forward and charged ahead with powerful strides.

West Bromwich Albion’s two central midfielders were the 1.88-meter tall George Thorne and the Scotsman James Morrison.

As soon as they saw Pogba charging at them with the ball, they immediately moved to intercept.

Especially George Thorne.

The tall, strong English midfielder looked as if he intended to simply bulldoze his opponent with his powerful physique.

If that didn’t work, wasn’t James Morrison there to provide cover?

But the next moment, they realized they had met a tough opponent.

As Pogba charged forward, just as George Thorne closed in, he used the outside of his right foot to flick the ball, narrowly avoiding Thorne’s tackle. He then pulled the ball back with his right foot and pushed it forward with his left.

With a skillful drag of the ball between both feet, he burst right through the middle of The Baggies’ two defending players.

George Thorne was no pushover.

As an English defender, he never shied away from physical contact and was equally unapologetic about fouling.

Thorne immediately reached out, grabbed Pogba’s shirt, and tried desperately to pull him back.

A quick tug and let go, while closing in with his body.

It looked like a normal physical challenge.

But to George Thorne’s utter disbelief, the script didn’t play out as he’d intended.

He had a hold of Pogba’s shirt, but the French midfielder wasn’t stopped by his pull at all.

And the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s jerseys was ridiculously good!

Thorne’s casual tug not only failed to bring Pogba down but also caused him to lose his balance as he was dragged along by the charging Frenchman.

After a stumble, he quickly let go.

If he hadn’t, he would have been crawling.

As George Thorne stared with an expression of disbelief at the back of the receding French midfielder, only one thought remained in his mind.

“What kind of monster is this?”

By the time Pogba reached the edge of the arc with the ball, West Bromwich Albion’s defenders had been drawn deep into the penalty area by Giroud and Harry Kane.

Seeing his chance, the French midfielder made a decisive move, unleashing a fierce, powerful long shot.

The ball shot out at high speed and, before anyone could react, flew into The Baggies’ goal.

1-0!

“Paul Pogba has unleashed a worldie!!”

“In the 75th minute, a long shot from outside the box, absolutely brilliant!”

“Pogba has finally exploded!”

“We were just saying, this player Pogba has the physique, the skill, the physicality, and he’s fast. He could be making a much bigger impact, but he’s always been just a little short.”

“Look at that! With the team unable to break the deadlock, it was Pogba who stepped up. In the center of midfield, under pressure from two defenders, he broke through with the ball and unleashed a long shot.”

“He finally has his breakthrough!”

“This is what we’ve been talking about.”

“I’ve always been a big fan of Pogba, and their head coach Yang Cheng has always believed that Pogba has the ability to play a more important role.”

“Now, he has lived up to the praise from his manager, Yang Cheng!”

“1-0!”

“With a wonder goal, Pogba has sent Bayswater Chinese into the Round of 16 of the FA Cup!”

…

After the match, just as the Sky Sports commentator had said, Pogba received praise from many media outlets and fans.

The young midfielder’s attributes were very well-rounded.

Initially, many said he was like Yaya Touré.

But Yang Cheng didn’t develop him as a holding midfielder, but rather as a central midfielder.

He mostly played as a left central midfielder and had even played on the left wing.

This time, Pogba had finally shown his talent at a crucial moment!

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng gave high praise to Pogba’s performance.

“This is still a long way from the best Pogba I envision. He needs to keep working hard!”

Yang Cheng said with an encouraging smile.

Regarding Pogba’s goal, Yang Cheng said, “He should remember this feeling.”

“The feeling of making himself a more important player for the team!”

This was undoubtedly Yang Cheng’s expectation for Pogba.

The French midfielder repeatedly stated that he would continue to strive for more.

After the 4th round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool all advanced smoothly.

This, in a way, reflected the current state of the Premier League.

With Bayswater Chinese being so dominant, many teams had little chance of competing for the league title.

Therefore, for them, the League Cup and the FA Cup were very suitable targets.

At the very least, they could boost the team’s morale with a trophy.

…

Evening of January 29th, the Prudential Stadium, London.

Premier League Matchday 24, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester City.

For such a clash between top teams, both sides had prepared thoroughly.

Both had also fielded full reserve squads in the FA Cup last weekend.

Therefore, for this match at the Prudential Stadium, both teams went with their full-strength lineups.

But their tactical plans to counter each other were very well-executed.

Yaya Touré was absent, but Manchester City still lined up in a 4-3-2-1 formation.

This caused a lot of trouble for Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Additionally, over the past two weeks, Bayswater Chinese had been focused on building up physical reserves and adjusting form, so the players weren’t particularly sharp yet.

As a result, the team’s attacking efficiency was quite low throughout the first half.

They were unable to break down Manchester City’s defense.

The Blue Moons weren’t faring much better.

Ancelotti’s decision to start Agüero as the lone striker in the 4-3-2-1 formation revealed his intentions.

He still wanted to play on the counter-attack.

Ancelotti’s strategy was clear: exploit Bayswater Chinese’s desperation to score by focusing on defense and patiently waiting for counter-attacking opportunities.

And in the 69th minute, they nearly succeeded in a sneak attack.

After a brilliant one-two between David Silva and Agüero, Agüero broke into the left side of the box and fired a power shot.

It was a very dangerous shot, but Courtois calmly collected the ball.

The Belgian goalkeeper remained highly focused at the crucial moment.

During half-time, Yang Cheng had also instructed his players to take more long shots, hoping to get lucky with one.

But as it turned out, none of them found the mark.

It seemed Joe Hart had drawn the “concentration” card tonight.

In the 74th minute, Yang Cheng was forced to make his first substitution.

Eden Hazard came on for Nemanja Matić.

After coming on, the Belgian winger played on the left, with Gareth Bale moving upfront to form something of a two-striker partnership with Robert Lewandowski.

Theo Walcott appeared on the right.

This was the signal that the team was stepping up its attack.

And just in the 79th minute, five minutes after coming on as a substitute, Eden Hazard received a pass from Toni Kroos on the left and faced Pablo Zabaleta in a one-on-one.

As the Manchester City right-back moved out of the penalty area to press high, before he could even get close, Hazard seized the moment and decisively cut inside with the ball.

Zabaleta was startled and immediately reacted.

But Hazard’s acceleration was quick, and with the element of surprise, he immediately gained the upper hand, making a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area.

Marco Verratti rushed over to intercept, but after a sharp stop, Hazard exploded again, changing direction to go straight, driving into the left side of the box.

Having shaken off Verratti, Hazard, on the edge of the box to the left, delivered a chipped pass with his left foot.

He had seen that Vincent Kompany had already come out from the center of the box.

But the Belgian centre-back had blocked the passing lane from Hazard to Gareth Bale.

So, he chose Robert Lewandowski in the middle.

Kompany raised his leg to intercept but was a fraction of a second too late.

The ball floated from the left edge of the penalty area towards the near post on the left side of the six-yard box.

Just as all of Manchester City’s players were stunned, Robert Lewandowski suddenly sprinted in diagonally from the right of the penalty spot.

The Polish centre-forward’s judgment of the ball’s trajectory was impeccable; he could always win headers.

He leaped into the air, meeting Hazard’s seemingly casual chipped pass with a direct header.

The ball, struck by Lewandowski’s forehead, immediately changed direction and flew into the left side of Manchester City’s goal.

Although Joe Hart dived, he had no real chance against such a close-range shot.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 79th minute, a crucial goal from Robert Lewandowski gives Bayswater Chinese the lead!”

The Polish centre-forward excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

Ninety thousand fans in the Prudential Stadium were roaring his name at the top of their lungs!

Chapter 273: Record-Breaking Spree! A Legendary Performance! The Two Aces’ Goal-Scoring Game!

On the afternoon of February 2nd, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the 25th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Norwich City.

The two teams were not in the same league in terms of strength.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese relentlessly attacked Norwich from the very start.

The visiting Norwich team, on the other hand, set up to defend with all their might.

This was especially true in the second half, where they didn’t even hesitate to use tactical fouls to stop Bayswater Chinese from scoring.

How absurd did it get?

From the 45th minute to the 67th, in a short span of 22 minutes, they paid the price of five yellow cards to thwart Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz in the second half.

Including the yellow cards from the first half, their entire backline—from the double pivot to the four defenders, even the goalkeeper Mark Bunn—had all been booked.

But they had held on!

Especially after seeing a rushed long shot from Giroud fly high over the bar, Yang Cheng, standing on the touchline, shook his head in exasperation and walked back to the coach’s bench.

“Our attacking efficiency is terrible!” Brian Kidd was also helpless.

They had gone all-out against Manchester City three days ago, so the squad was rotated again for this match.

The result was the current situation: dominating possession but unable to score.

“Time for substitutions, isn’t it?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng glanced at the time, then turned to Gianni Vio. “How are their energy levels?”

After checking the data, Gianni Vio nodded. “There’s a noticeable decline in the players’ activity levels.”

Bayswater Chinese now had its own data analysis system.

By purchasing highly detailed real-time match data from companies like OPTA, they could perform analysis within their system.

For example, player activity levels.

This could be analyzed based on various data points like player runs and involvement in the game.

A decline in activity level indicated that players were starting to have stamina issues.

“Wait a little longer!”

Yang Cheng felt that waiting until the opponent’s stamina was nearly depleted before bringing on substitutes for a final push would be more effective.

As for Norwich, their strength was what it was.

They had already made one substitution in the first half due to an injury and had shown no intention of making another.

Presumably, they were also worried that a substitution might create a crack in their defense.

Brian Kidd and the others had great faith in Yang Cheng’s touchline management.

So, everyone patiently held their ground and continued to wait.

The fans in the stands, however, were getting anxious.

Especially after the 70-minute mark, they were all eagerly awaiting a substitution from Yang Cheng.

Even the players on the bench couldn’t sit still.

Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, and others didn’t even need instructions from the coaching staff; they frequently went out to warm up on their own, ensuring they were always ready to come on at a moment’s notice.

This was particularly true for Lewandowski.

It was clear he had a fire burning within him.

In the 21st round, Gareth Bale had scored two consecutive hat-tricks, catching up to Lewandowski in the goal tally.

In the 22nd round, Gareth Bale scored again, overtaking him.

Last round against Manchester City, Lewandowski finally found the net again.

Although their relationship remained as good as ever—they communicated privately and cooperated well on the pitch—everyone in the team could feel the competitive tension between them.

Especially from Lewandowski.

The pressure Gareth Bale was putting on him was immense.

When the clock hit the 73rd minute, Yang Cheng finally made the decision to substitute.

Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were coming on!

They replaced Giroud and Theo Walcott.

After the changes, Bayswater Chinese’s front three now consisted of Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

“Keep attacking!”

“Push harder!”

“Go! Go!!”

Yang Cheng shouted an urge from the touchline.

He knew that after 75 minutes of play, Norwich’s stamina was nearly gone.

But Lewandowski and Bale had just come on, fresh and full of energy.

In front of the away team’s bench, Norwich head coach Chris Hughton looked helpless and worried.

He knew Yang Cheng’s plan, but there was nothing he could do.

This was the limit of his team’s ability.

In fact, holding off Bayswater Chinese for 75 minutes had not only drained every ounce of their energy but also used up all their luck.

The rest was up to fate.

…

After coming on as substitutes, both Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were incredibly active.

But in the first few minutes, they were mostly trying to find their rhythm and sync up with their teammates.

They could clearly feel that the Norwich defenders were severely fatigued.

Moreover, all of Norwich’s defenders were on yellow cards, making them more cautious in their challenges.

This spurred Lewandowski and Bale on.

Then, in the 81st minute, Hazard dribbled down the left flank, beating Norwich’s right-back Russell Martin. After breaking into the left side of the penalty area, he shook off centre-back Michael Turner and, finding no shooting opportunity for himself, passed the ball to Lewandowski’s feet.

The Pole turned sideways, his right shoulder facing the goal, using his body to shield the other Norwich centre-back, Sébastien Bassong. As Hazard’s cross came in, he used his right foot to control the ball to his right, spun around, and unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

At that moment, Bassong was like a wooden post, easily bypassed by Lewandowski.

The shot rocketed into the left side of Norwich’s goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 81st minute, Lewandowski, just six minutes after coming on as a substitute, breaks through the Norwich goal with a magnificent turn and power shot inside the box.”

“That was Lewandowski’s first shot since coming on!”

“You have to say, that’s efficiency!”

“As a centre-forward, Lewandowski’s efficiency is there for all to see!”

“1-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese has finally broken the deadlock!”

As Lewandowski celebrated by the touchline, flexing his powerful arms for the fans in the stands, he never would have imagined that his next goal-scoring opportunity would come so soon.

When Norwich kicked off again, they barely managed two passes before the ball was immediately intercepted.

After winning the ball, Aaron Ramsey played a through ball.

Lewandowski received the ball just outside the arc of the penalty area, and to his surprise, there were no defenders marking him closely.

The Polish centre-forward himself was taken aback.

But faced with such a golden opportunity, Lewandowski didn’t hesitate.

As he controlled the ball sideways, he adjusted his position and unleashed another thunderous shot with his right foot.

The Pole blasted a long shot from near the arc.

The ball flew with the force of a thunderbolt and once again found its way past Mark Bunn into the net.

2-0!

A brace!!

“My God, in less than a minute!”

“Bayswater Chinese scores another goal!”

“Including the celebration time from the last goal, Lewandowski has breached Norwich’s goal again in under a minute!”

“The defenders were too careless!”

“They didn’t mark Lewandowski tightly from the get-go.”

“Just as we said before, giving Lewandowski space is giving him a chance to score!”

“The Norwich defenders are probably exhausted.”

After two quick goals, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared, and they pressed their advantage.

Norwich, on the other hand, was devastated and began to crumble.

They had defended for 80 minutes only to concede consecutive goals at the very end. How could they not be demoralized?

Lewandowski, however, was a different story.

The Pole was extremely active.

He clearly felt he was in superb form, and with Norwich now genuinely weakened, he wanted to seize the opportunity to score more goals and widen the gap with Gareth Bale.

He first threatened Mark Bunn’s goal with another long shot, then had a point-blank attempt in the box saved by the keeper.

But in the 85th minute, Gareth Bale cut inside from the right, dribbling past two defenders. The Welshman was simply unstoppable.

This was the dilemma for Norwich’s defenders.

They were all on yellow cards, which restricted their challenges.

After beating his men, Gareth Bale fired off a blistering shot with his left foot.

Mark Bunn reacted quickly, managing to block the ball.

But the sheer power of Bale’s shot meant he couldn’t hold onto it, and the ball slipped from his grasp.

Just when everyone thought the attack was over, Lewandowski appeared like a ghost in front of goalkeeper Mark Bunn, tapping the rebound back into the Norwich net.

“IT’S A GOAL AGAIN!!!”

“IT’S LEWANDOWSKI AGAIN!!”

“My heavens, a hat-trick!”

“He’s scored a hat-trick!!”

“In just four minutes, no, strictly speaking, just over three minutes, Lewandowski has completed a hat-trick!”

“This is the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, completed in just over three minutes!”

“Before Lewandowski, the fastest Premier League hat-trick was scored by Robbie Fowler in 1994, when he completed his hat-trick in 4 minutes and 33 seconds in a match between Liverpool and Arsenal.”

“But now, this nearly 20-year-old record has finally been broken!”

“Robert Lewandowski, coming on as a substitute, has secured the victory for Bayswater Chinese with the fastest hat-trick in history!”

“The official time is in: 3 minutes and 19 seconds!”

“That is the time for the fastest hat-trick in the history of the Premier League!”

The entire Prudential Stadium had erupted!

The goals came one after another.

Since Lewandowski’s first goal, many fans hadn’t even sat back down.

They never would have imagined that after the substitutions, Bayswater Chinese’s attack would be so ferocious.

But the surprises kept coming.

In the 87th minute, Kyle Walker sprinted down the right flank at incredible speed. Receiving a pass from Gareth Bale, he reached the byline and sent a cross into the box, which bounced up off the turf.

Lewandowski made a quick run forward and, meeting the bouncing ball, struck it with a direct volley.

The ball shot into the Norwich goal at high speed.

The entire Prudential Stadium went absolutely insane!

Ninety thousand fans were screaming at the top of their lungs, chanting Lewandowski’s name.

The Polish centre-forward excitedly ran off the pitch, holding up four fingers.

Everyone could feel his exhilaration and excitement at that moment.

Yang Cheng stood on the touchline, watching with an irrepressible smile.

Was this about to be a legendary performance?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Lewandowski’s legendary five-goal haul had happened in the Bundesliga.

But this was the Premier League, where the defending and physicality were a level above.

If he really managed to pull off a legendary performance here, Yang Cheng couldn’t imagine how crazy the world’s media and fans would become.

Brian Kidd, Gianni Vio, and the others had long since lost themselves in the moment, completely spellbound by Lewandowski’s goal-scoring spree.

No one had expected Lewandowski to score goal after goal after coming on as a substitute.

“5 minutes and 42 seconds!”

“That’s the fastest four-goal haul in Premier League history!”

“After coming on as a substitute, Robert Lewandowski has scored four goals to seal a massive victory for Bayswater Chinese!”

“Norwich’s defending has been far too loose.”

“They’ve given Lewandowski way too much space on the ball.”

But the match continued.

After celebrating the goal, the players returned to the pitch and Norwich restarted the game.

Bayswater Chinese was still pressing high up the pitch.

It was clear that even with a four-goal lead, they had no intention of letting up.

Especially Lewandowski.

Even after scoring four goals, he was still not satisfied.

He felt he could score again.

In the 90th minute, the fourth official’s board showed three minutes of added time.

But just then, Gareth Bale dropped deep into the right half-space to receive the ball and then charged forward.

Faced with two defenders blocking his path, the Welshman used the outside of his left foot to play a ball in behind the defense.

Lewandowski made a quick forward run and, near the penalty spot, caught up to Bale’s pass. He came to a sudden stop, just managing to evade the tracking Bassong, before dragging the ball sideways.

Having created space for a shot, Lewandowski once again unleashed a furious strike.

This time, Mark Bunn anticipated the ball’s trajectory and made a diving save, hoping to parry it away.

He got a hand to the ball, but couldn’t push it clear.

The power on Lewandowski’s shot was too immense.

Although Mark Bunn managed to touch it, the ball only slightly changed its direction before deflecting into the right side of the Norwich goal.

5-0!

“My God, this is absolutely unbelievable!”

“I don’t even know how to describe what has happened here today.”

“This is truly like a miracle!”

“From the first goal to the fifth, it took just over eight minutes, not even nine!”

“A five-goal haul!”

“This is Robert Lewandowski!”

“We’ve seen him come on as a substitute and deliver an absolutely outstanding, sensational performance!”

“After making their second-half substitutions, Bayswater Chinese has been an irresistible force!”

After scoring, Lewandowski excitedly ran off the pitch, holding up the five fingers of his right hand towards the fans in the stands.

The entire stadium roared with ecstatic cheers and shouts.

A five-goal haul!

The most insane part was that he had done it in less than nine minutes.

Many fans who had stood up to celebrate the first goal still hadn’t sat back down.

The score had gone from 0-0 to 5-0!

Could anything be more surprising than this?

Yang Cheng, however, wore a calm smile as he stood on the touchline, applauding the relentlessly scoring Lewandowski.

He himself hadn’t expected the legendary performance to happen today, and especially not so close to the end of the match.

His original plan was to use Norwich’s declining stamina to secure a crushing victory.

But he never imagined it would be this crushing!

Lewandowski is still Lewandowski, after all!

Yang Cheng smiled and shook his head.

“We can see Yang Cheng in front of the Bayswater Chinese home dugout, and he looks completely dumbfounded.”

“He probably can’t believe his eyes either, that his player scored five goals in nine minutes after coming on as a substitute.”

“Behind him, his coaching staff has completely lost all composure.”

“It’s truly astonishing, but this is football!”

“It always creates delightful surprises when you least expect it!”

“We have every reason to believe that no matter how many years pass, we will always remember this afternoon of February 2nd at Prudential Stadium, when a Polish centre-forward named Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes after coming on as a substitute!”

There were still three minutes of stoppage time left.

Lewandowski even had more chances.

But his power shot from the edge of the six-yard box was first saved by goalkeeper Mark Bunn, and his follow-up shot was blocked on the goal line by the body of centre-back Michael Turner.

When the Pole tried to rush in for another attempt, Bassong cleared the ball just in the nick of time.

Norwich desperately withstood Lewandowski’s continuous barrage.

Anyone could sense Lewandowski’s craving for goals.

Even after scoring five, he was still not satisfied.

When the head referee blew the final whistle, all the fans in the stadium rose to their feet in unison, giving Lewandowski a thunderous ovation.

The Bayswater Chinese players also went over one by one to hug and celebrate with the Polish centre-forward.

Including Gareth Bale!

Although there was a competitive rivalry between them, this competition was built on the foundation of the team’s best interests.

Lewandowski’s brilliant performance helped Bayswater Chinese secure a precious three points, and Gareth Bale was happy for him and for the team.

Yang Cheng stood on the touchline, and as Lewandowski walked off the pitch, he laughed, opened his arms wide, and gave him a warm embrace.

“I’m speechless right now!”

When a legendary performance like this happens, no amount of praise is ever enough.

…

Miracle! Lewy Scores 5 in 9 Minutes as a Sub!

A God-like Miracle! Polish Super Striker Scores a Quintuple in 9 Minutes!

Yang Cheng Left Stunned by Striker’s Legendary Performance!

Lewy’s 5-Goal Miracle Ends Suspense for Premier League Golden Boot!

The match between Bayswater Chinese and Norwich was the first game of the 25th Premier League round, scheduled for 12:45 PM and broadcast live worldwide.

Robert Lewandowski had performed his legendary miracle in front of football fans across the globe!

After the match, the media in England exploded.

First, major outlets like Sky Sports, The Times, The Sun, and The Guardian all published special reports immediately.

The story quickly gained traction, and media across Europe swiftly followed suit.

Within a few short hours, it had swept the globe.

Major media outlets and websites worldwide were frantically reporting on Lewandowski’s sensational performance.

Five goals in nine minutes!

Could anything be more magical than that?

Sky Sports was also quick to release its player ratings.

Despite only playing for a little over ten minutes, Robert Lewandowski received a perfect 10!

This was extremely rare.

Sky Sports also provided another set of statistics to prove Lewandowski’s incredible efficiency.

In over ten minutes on the pitch, he had 15 touches, 10 shots, 10 shots on target, and scored 5 goals.

“This afternoon at Prudential Stadium, Robert Lewandowski was like a goal-scoring monster from another planet!”

By scoring five goals in nine minutes, Robert Lewandowski broke a series of historical records.

He became the first player in the history of Europe’s top four leagues to score a five-goal haul after coming on as a substitute.

He surpassed former Liverpool player Robbie Fowler to become the fastest player to score a hat-trick in Premier League history.

He also surpassed former Barça player Patrick Kluivert to become the fastest player to score a four-goal haul in the history of world football.

He also surpassed Robbie Fowler to become the fastest player to score a five-goal haul in Premier League history, and also the fastest in the world!

In a single match, Robert Lewandowski reaped a bounty of historical records.

So much so that Norwich’s head coach, Chris Hughton, said dejectedly at the post-match press conference: “We simply couldn’t stop him from scoring!”

Chris Hughton stated that the Norwich players had given it their all.

“When Lewandowski came on as a substitute, we already sensed the danger, but there was nothing we could do!”

In his own post-match press conference, Yang Cheng also gave Lewandowski’s five-goal haul the highest praise.

“We absolutely did not expect him to be able to do something like this.”

“But to be honest, I’m not surprised, because Lewandowski has always had this kind of ability!”

Yang Cheng believed that scoring five goals in nine minutes involved a bit of luck, but there was no doubt that Lewandowski was already one of the top goal-scorers in world football today.

As for the media’s question about whether Yang Cheng had been “stunned” during the match.

Yang Cheng smilingly denied it. “Don’t spread rumors. I wasn’t. It didn’t happen.”

But in front of the media, this denial seemed more like a transparent attempt to cover up the truth.

In evaluating Lewandowski’s performance, Yang Cheng said, “This was a match that will go down in history!”

This was undoubtedly the greatest affirmation for Lewandowski!

As for Lewandowski himself.

When he was interviewed by reporters after the match, he still appeared remarkably calm.

The Polish centre-forward acknowledged his performance but felt he was just playing his normal game.

“I have many excellent teammates around me who create a lot of chances for me, and my job is to take those chances. That’s what I’m supposed to do!”

“Scoring 5 goals in 9 minutes?”

“No, I never deliberately pursue these stats or records. For me, it’s as simple as just scoring goals!”

“Any regrets from this match?”

“Actually, yes, there are definitely regrets, because I could have scored more.”

“I had a lot of chances in the game, but I only managed to convert five of them!”

All the reporters interviewing him felt like their heads were about to explode.

What a humblebrag!

What do you mean, you only managed to convert five?

Come on, Pole, we’ll give you a chance to rephrase that.

Amidst the flood of media coverage, Europe’s three major betting companies all adjusted their odds.

Previously, in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, Gareth Bale had a slight edge.

Especially with the Welshman’s increasingly ferocious recent performances.

But with Lewandowski’s legendary performance, the Pole successfully overtook Gareth Bale to become the strongest contender for the Premier League Golden Boot.

After the match, Bayswater Chinese’s new media team immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Riding the wave of media hype, they quickly edited a highlight reel of Lewandowski’s goals and posted it on various platforms, instantly sparking heated discussions among netizens worldwide.

An American netizen said: “I don’t know much about soccer, but scoring 5 goals in 9 minutes is damn impressive!”

Another netizen said, “They all ask me why I’m kneeling in front of my iPhone to watch this video?”

“Don’t ask me why I’m watching football on my knees!”

A Bayswater Chinese fan left a comment online, “Yup, I was there, witnessing the miracle live!”

“I’m losing my mind! Dude, I just went for a piss, and by the time I came back, Lewy had scored five goals. I feel like I missed the whole world.”

“I have a feeling Giroud might want to retire after this match!”

“Ha, the guy above me, don’t you dare diss my boy Giroud! Even though his efficiency is the scum of the scum, his ability to wear down defenders is top-notch!”

“Norwich got turned into a bunch of huskies!”

“Can anyone calculate the area of psychological trauma for Norwich’s keeper, Mark Bunn?”

“Sébastien Bassong: ‘The reason I transferred from Tottenham to Norwich was to witness Lewandowski’s miracle!’”

“C. Ronaldo at Real Madrid must be losing his composure! I just clawed my way to a hat-trick, and you go and pull a five-goal haul out of your ass?”

“To the person above, shouldn’t Messi be feeling more pressure now? He just scored a four-goal haul, and then Lewy drops a five-goal haul. The pressure is on Messi now.”

“A wry smile. So C. Ronaldo is out of the race, is that what you mean?”

“Ha, Messi is feeling the danger now. Although he’s still ahead in goal count, none of Lewandowski’s five goals were penalties!”

“As an Arsenal fan, I hope Wenger takes a good look at this match. The number of goals the Gunners scored in five games, Lewy managed in nine minutes.”

“I feel for that goalkeeper, he’s probably scarred for life!”

“So brutal. How could he do that?”

“Even the most over-the-top fan couldn’t do justice to Lewandowski’s performance this afternoon!”

…

Perhaps it was the shockwaves from Lewandowski’s legendary performance.

In the 25th round of the Premier League, almost every other striker drew a blank.

In the subsequent match where Arsenal hosted Stoke City, the Gunners won 1-0 at home.

Benzema and van Persie were both shut out!

Amusingly, the media and fans later joked about it.

The Gunners had scored five goals in their last five matches—a feat Lewandowski accomplished in nine minutes.

Chelsea lost 2-3 away to Newcastle, and Falcao was scoreless!

Manchester United defeated Fulham 1-0 away, with the goal scored by Juan Mata.

Rooney, Cavani, and Javier Hernández all failed to find the net!

Manchester City drew 2-2 at home against Liverpool.

Between the two teams, all four goals were scored by non-strikers!

Ibrahimović, Agüero, Tevez, Torres, Suárez, Mario Balotelli… all of them went silent!

After this round of matches, the media all over England were joking.

The moment the legendary performance dropped, all the strikers in the Premier League knelt in submission!

…

On the afternoon of February 9th, in the 26th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Swansea City away from home.

With an international break in the middle of the week and a Champions League knockout stage match the following Wednesday, Yang Cheng implemented a suitable squad rotation.

Just eight minutes into the game, Lewandowski broke the deadlock for Bayswater Chinese with a header inside the box, putting them ahead.

In the 18th minute, Marcelo, from the left flank, scored another goal to further extend the lead.

After the break, in the 48th minute, Michu pulled one back for Swansea City.

But in the 50th minute, Gareth Bale once again widened the gap.

In the 57th minute, Gareth Bale assisted Lewandowski, who scored a brace.

After that, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions.

With the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 coming up the following Wednesday, the core players needed to conserve their energy.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Swansea City 4-1 away from home.

Lewandowski had scored in three consecutive league matches, netting eight goals in the last three rounds.

His scoring efficiency was simply astounding!

…

On the evening of February 12th, at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain.

In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese faced Valencia away.

Ten minutes into the match, Gareth Bale dropped back on the right flank to receive a through ball from Piszczek. He then made a diagonal run into the half-space and played a through ball to the feet of Modrić.

At that moment, Modrić was positioned to receive the ball on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

Seeing Bale accelerate after passing the ball, Modrić understood immediately. Faced with the pressure from Valencia’s holding midfielder Tino Costa, he didn’t take a touch but instead pushed the ball forward with the flow.

He sent the ball towards the front edge of the right corner of the penalty area.

Simultaneously, Gareth Bale made a diagonal run between two Valencia defenders, left-back Guardado and the tracking winger Jonas, right into that corner of the box, perfectly receiving Modrić’s pull-back.

The two of them completed a brilliant one-two give-and-go right in the middle of three Valencia defenders.

As Gareth Bale received the ball again, he immediately changed direction, no longer cutting in diagonally but instead making a straight run forward.

This allowed him to evade Jonas and Tino Costa, while also using his body to shield the ball from Guardado.

As Gareth Bale charged into Valencia’s penalty area, he faced the covering centre-back Ricardo Costa. With a feint, he cut the ball with his left foot, neatly dribbling past The Bats’ defender.

He then accelerated to catch up to it.

At this point, Valencia’s entire defensive line had been completely breached by Gareth Bale.

From the penalty spot to the goal line, there was practically not a single defender in sight.

After catching up to the ball, Gareth Bale took a small touch with his right foot and, facing goalkeeper Guaita, unleashed a furious shot with his left.

The ball shot into the left side of Valencia’s goal like a lightning bolt.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“Just 10 minutes into the first half, Bayswater Chinese has taken the lead against Valencia.”

“A brilliant goal from Gareth Bale!”

“Valencia’s defense was completely torn apart by the combination play between Gareth Bale and Modrić.”

Gareth Bale’s goal was a blow to Valencia’s morale.

The fans at Mestalla Stadium were also disappointed.

Although they were well aware of the significant gap in strength between the two teams, they still held onto a beautiful hope.

What if, as the media suggested, the Premier League’s level was much lower than La Liga’s?

But the reality was that Bayswater Chinese’s strength was a cut above Valencia’s.

The gap was similar to what The Bats faced when playing against La Liga’s big two.

In the 39th minute of the first half, Toni Kroos switched the play with a diagonal long pass from the left, precisely finding its target on the right side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick run, chested the ball down, and faced Guardado’s defense. The Welshman initially looked to take the ball to the byline for a cross.

However, Guardado stuck with him closely.

Near the byline, Gareth Bale came to a sudden halt, but then immediately exploded forward again.

The Welshman was like a heavy tank storming through a crowded city street. He forcefully shouldered past Guardado on the byline and drove horizontally into Valencia’s penalty area.

Guardado’s defense was simply bulldozed by the Welshman.

After breaking into the box, Gareth Bale played a cut-back pass with his right foot towards the center.

Lewandowski struck it first-time, sending the ball into Valencia’s net once again.

2-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Valencia 2-0 away from home, thanks to two first-half goals.

With a goal and an assist, Gareth Bale was named the man of the match!

…

February 16th, the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Millwall.

Just 12 minutes in, Theo Walcott scored the opening goal for the team.

In the 36th minute, Giroud scored another goal, extending the lead.

Then, in the 76th minute of the second half, substitute Harry Kane scored the third goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Millwall at home, successfully advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Manchester United defeated Reading 2-1 at home.

Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0 away.

Arsenal defeated Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at home.

Manchester City thrashed Leeds United 4-0 at home.

Only Liverpool lost, falling 3-2 away to Everton.

After the draw, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the FA Cup quarter-finals would be Arsenal at home.

…

On the afternoon of February 23rd, at Prudential Stadium in London.

Premier League, round 27. Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United at home.

Yang Cheng placed extreme importance on this match.

Before the game, he solemnly told everyone that this would be the most important match of the season in deciding the Premier League title!

After defeating Manchester City, if they could also beat Manchester United at home, Bayswater Chinese would undoubtedly seize the most advantageous position in the title race.

Moreover, both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United had their Champions League Round of 16 matches on February 12th and 13th.

So, for the past week, neither team had any Champions League commitments.

In other words, both teams had prepared thoroughly for this match.

Bayswater Chinese fielded their strongest possible starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defenders: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfielders: Matić in a holding role; Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Hazard, Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

Manchester United also fielded their strongest lineup, but opted for a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defenders: Evra, Vidić, Ferdinand, and Phil Jones;

Midfielders: Juan Mata, Carrick, De Rossi, and Robben;

Forwards: Rooney and Cavani.

Although it was a 4-4-2, in practice, both Juan Mata and Robben played in more advanced positions.

From Ferguson’s lineup, it was clear he wanted to take the initiative.

For Manchester United, this was also a must-win game.

Only by defeating Bayswater Chinese could Manchester United turn the tide and surge to the top of the table!

Moreover, Yang Cheng’s team had been in formidable form lately.

Especially Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale.

These two star players were scoring goals for fun.

In the past three league matches, Lewandowski had scored eight goals.

Gareth Bale had also been exceptionally potent.

All of this made Ferguson a little nervous.

If they really tried to defend with all their might, could they hold on?

Thus, Manchester United decided to seize the initiative as the away team and attack.

As head referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle, the Manchester United players used the kick-off to charge forward quickly.

Carrick immediately launched a long pass towards the front for Cavani.

The Uruguayan centre-forward won the first ball.

Manchester United began to organize and launch attacks in the final third.

The Red Devils’ opening blitz tactic immediately pushed the game into high gear.

The ninety thousand Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium also grew tense.

Ferguson’s Red Devils were not a pushover; a moment of carelessness could easily lead to a surprise goal.

But just as the home fans were feeling anxious and the Manchester United players were pressing forward with high spirits, Bayswater Chinese completed an interception in their own half just over a minute into the game.

Matić suddenly pressed high and precisely intercepted a Manchester United pass, quickly distributing the ball to Toni Kroos.

All the Manchester United players immediately began an aggressive counter-press.

At the same time, their defense was rapidly tracking back.

Under close pressure from Robben, Toni Kroos took a step sideways and played a through ball into the half-space for the supporting Hazard.

The Belgian dribbled diagonally towards the center.

But by this time, two Manchester United defensive players, Phil Jones and De Rossi, had already returned to their positions.

As Hazard dribbled into the 30-meter zone, the two Manchester United stalwarts were already positioned outside the penalty area, forming a joint defense to press him.

The two of them were like a wall, blocking Hazard’s path.

Just as he was about to charge into their defensive zone, the centrally-dribbling Hazard came to a sudden stop. After feinting a move to the right, he pushed the ball sideways with the outside of his left foot, changing direction to move towards the front left.

But De Rossi was far too experienced.

Hazard didn’t have a speed advantage and couldn’t break through the Italian’s defense.

But the Belgian, through sheer individual skill, managed to create a sliver of a passing lane through Phil Jones.

The moment he opened up that gap, Hazard slotted a diagonal pass to the left side, outside the penalty area.

At that moment, Lewandowski, who was supposed to be in the center, had suddenly drifted out to the left of the box, pulling Ferdinand with him.

Near the left corner of the penalty area, Lewandowski stopped the ball, his entire body coming to a sudden halt as he turned. He then played another diagonal pass with his right foot, sending the ball towards the left of the penalty spot inside the box.

Throughout this entire process, Lewandowski didn’t even glance at his teammate’s run.

He knew Gareth Bale would be making a run for that spot.

And sure enough.

As the ball traveled, Gareth Bale made a rapid run from the arc, darting in front of Vidić and reaching the spot to the left of the penalty mark a step ahead.

When Lewandowski’s pass arrived, the Welshman didn’t even need to take a touch, immediately lashing out a furious shot with his left foot.

Striking a ball from the left with the left foot is actually quite difficult.

If the timing and point of contact aren’t perfect, there’s a high chance of mis-hitting it.

But Gareth Bale’s shot was drilled towards the right side of Manchester United’s goal.

By the time the Welshman’s shot was off, Vidić arrived a fraction too late.

Just that little bit!

Gareth Bale’s shot didn’t have overwhelming power, but the angle was perfectly controlled. Coupled with the speed of Lewandowski’s pass, the resulting shot was also fast.

De Gea was positioned slightly to the left, and by the time he shuffled across and made a diving save, it was already too late.

The ball flew straight into the right side of Manchester United’s goal!

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“Just 1 minute and 29 seconds into the game!”

“Bayswater Chinese has broken through Manchester United’s goal, with an assist from Lewandowski and a power shot from the left side of the box by Gareth Bale!”

“This is the Welshman’s favorite area to score from!”

“That was a difficult shot. If he had taken a touch before shooting, Vidić would have had time to block the angle.”

“But to hit it first-time requires exceptional shooting technique.”

“As it turns out, Gareth Bale’s shot was executed perfectly.”

“1-0!”

“Manchester United has conceded a goal just over a minute into the match.”

“This is not a good sign for Ferguson’s team!”

The moment the goal was scored, Ferguson leaped out of the away team’s dugout, roaring at his players on the pitch.

He was clearly furious about conceding the goal.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, excitedly clenched his fists, applauding the brilliant interplay of his forwards.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking coordination was becoming more and more fluid, with increasing variations.

This was especially true for the positioning of wingers like Gareth Bale, Hazard, Walcott, and Sterling.

And that made them even more unpredictable for their opponents!

Chapter 274: Where Do the Wonderkids Come From? The Battle for the Summit! Ferguson’s Divine Assist! The Premier League Landscape is Changing!

“Bayswater Chinese win the ball near the center line.”

“Let’s see this quick counter-attack.”

“Modrić.”

“He passes it again to Gareth Bale in the right half-space.”

“Gareth Bale cuts inside from the right.”

“Both Carrick and De Rossi are chasing Gareth Bale, trying to defend.”

“The Welshman continues to cut inside with the ball.”

“He’s reached the left side of the arc, and Ferdinand comes up to meet him.”

“Surrounded by three defenders, Gareth Bale gets a chance to shoot with his left foot!”

“The ball hits the outside of the left post and bounces out for a goal kick.”

“That was just four minutes into the match, a rapid counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Gareth Bale single-handedly carried the ball on a diagonal run from the right half-space to the left side of the arc.”

“Manchester United’s three defenders just couldn’t stop the Welshman.”

“That was a very dangerous attack indeed.”

“This season, Gareth Bale’s form and individual ability have both seen a visible improvement.”

“At just twenty-three years old, the Welshman has undoubtedly begun to enter the prime of his career.”

“Let’s take another look at the slow-motion replay of that attack.”

“Manchester United’s defense has serious problems, especially the double pivot, who simply couldn’t stop him.”

“Let’s check another angle.”

“The moment Modrić passed the ball, we saw Robert Lewandowski drop back, causing a positional error in Manchester United’s double pivot, which gave Gareth Bale the opportunity to cut inside with the ball.”

“Although De Rossi tracked back in time to form a joint defense with Carrick, they had already missed the best opportunity to block Gareth Bale. One can only say the Welshman’s speed is just too much.”

“Also, it’s worth noting that when Gareth Bale dropped back to the right half-space to receive the ball and start his run, Juan Mata was completely out of position the entire time.”

“Is Manchester United’s strategy for this match a bit too aggressive?”

“Both wingers, Robben and Juan Mata, are pushing too far forward on the attack. This could create a huge hidden danger for their defense.”

“Especially in the transition from attack to defense, Bayswater Chinese are the best at fast breaks.”

…

“Another interception near midfield.”

“Another quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“But this time, it’s down the left flank.”

“Marcelo makes a high-speed overlapping run to receive a pass from Hazard.”

“On the left, just outside the penalty area, he’s one-on-one against Phil Jones.”

“Marcelo dribbles past him, sends a low, driven cross into the box.”

“Ferdinand blocks the ball away.”

“Manchester United tracked back very quickly that time.”

“But the ball didn’t travel far, landing just outside the penalty area.”

“Bayswater Chinese still has it.”

“The second wave of attackers is pressing forward. It’s Toni Kroos.”

“He traps the ball with his left foot, feints past Carrick, and takes a power shot with his right foot!”

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“The 7th minute! Just seven minutes into the game, Toni Kroos makes a late run, dummies past Carrick, and unleashes a power shot with his right foot, sending the ball straight into the right side of Manchester United’s goal.”

“The goalkeeper, De Gea, was positioned too far to the left and was completely powerless.”

“That was a magnificent long shot!”

“From the German midfielder, Toni Kroos!”

“Manchester United’s defense again shows the problem with their double pivot that we just mentioned.”

“They dropped too deep, too far back, leaving no one to put pressure on Toni Kroos’s long shot at the edge of the area.”

“When Carrick rushed up, he was too aggressive and was easily sidestepped by the German.”

“2-0!”

“Manchester United are off to a disastrous start.”

“Conceding two goals in just seven minutes!”

“Manchester United is in a very precarious situation right now.”

“To concede two goals in the first seven minutes… if Ferguson doesn’t make adjustments quickly, this could turn into a total rout. That would be absolutely terrible for Manchester United!”

…

In the away team’s dugout at Prudential Stadium, the moment Toni Kroos scored, Ferguson almost swallowed the chewing gum in his mouth.

Luckily, he managed to spit it into his hand in time.

But when he saw Toni Kroos, with a calm expression, run towards the sideline to celebrate his goal, showing little excitement, he couldn’t help but curse inwardly, “So damn calm!”

For all the fans and media following the Premier League, this match was the battle for the summit, a decisive clash that could determine the champion.

Perhaps it wasn’t so decisive based on the points table.

But in terms of morale and the trajectory of the entire season, it absolutely deserved the attention it was getting from the media and fans.

For Manchester United, if they lost this match and the gap widened further, the possibility of turning the tables later on was slim.

This was something Ferguson could not accept under any circumstances.

That was why he wanted to go all-out against Bayswater Chinese in this match.

But he never imagined that his team would concede just over a minute after kickoff.

And concede a second goal in the 7th minute.

How were they supposed to play this match now?

Since the start of the game, Bayswater Chinese had close to eighty percent possession.

“Damn it, what kind of brain does that bastard have? How did he manage to poach midfielders like Modrić, Toni Kroos, and Nemanja Matić?” Ferguson said, a mix of envy and frustration in his voice.

Any one of those three midfielders would be an undisputed starter for Manchester United.

But at Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng also had Javi Martínez.

Among the younger players, there were promising talents like Aaron Ramsey, Pogba, and De Bruyne.

Honestly, it was impossible for Ferguson not to be envious!

It was also a coincidence.

In the Champions League Round of 16, Manchester United was drawn against OGC Nice from Ligue 1.

In the first leg in Nice, France, Manchester United drew 1-1 with Nice.

For Ferguson’s team, it was a relatively good result.

But Nice’s performance was also quite impressive. The goal was scored by Belgian centre-forward Christian Benteke.

This season, the centre-forward had been scoring for fun in Ligue 1 and had been very impressive, leaving a deep impression on Ferguson during the match.

Others who left an impression were midfielder N’Golo Kanté and defender van Dijk.

If it weren’t for the outstanding performances of these players, Manchester United could have wrapped up the tie in the first leg.

This made Ferguson even more curious.

How exactly does Bayswater Chinese’s scouting system work?

How are they always able to unearth incredible wonderkids from places others don’t notice?

Ferguson had tried to subtly probe Yang Cheng several times and even went to inspect the Brent training center, but he was never able to learn the real core secrets.

This left him feeling very frustrated!

Although powerhouse clubs aren’t typically known for their youth academies, player transfer fees were getting higher and higher these days. Who would want to spend so much money if they could buy players for cheaper?

At this thought, Ferguson sighed helplessly.

“Defend!”

At that moment, the Bayswater Chinese players finished their goal celebration and returned to the pitch.

Toni Kroos had shown little excitement about scoring from start to finish.

Manchester United’s assistant coach, Mike Phelan, walked to the touchline and signaled for the players to start tightening up their defense.

After the adjustment, the original 4-4-2 formation immediately switched to a 4-2-3-1.

Rooney and Cavani would take turns dropping back to support the midfield and put pressure on Nemanja Matić.

…

With Manchester United’s tactical adjustment, the match entered a stalemate.

Bayswater Chinese’s smooth start was related to Ferguson’s starting tactics.

Now that Manchester United had strengthened their defense, it was no longer so easy for Bayswater Chinese to attack as they had at the beginning of the game.

But the home team still had control of the match.

In the first ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate reached seventy-eight percent.

From the 10th to the 20th minute, although their possession rate declined slightly, it was still seventy-one percent.

But Yang Cheng soon walked to the touchline, called Modrić over, and after a brief instruction, Bayswater Chinese adjusted their tactics on the field once again.

After the 20th minute, Bayswater Chinese’s possession rate began to decline steadily, while Manchester United’s possession rate steadily increased.

Yang Cheng’s team never subscribed to the Barça philosophy of treating possession as life itself.

After Manchester United tightened their defense, Bayswater Chinese found their entire midfield and defense being pressed back compactly.

Even Modrić in central midfield struggled to find good opportunities.

It was conceivable that players like Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Eden Hazard found it difficult to make an impact.

This caused the attacking rhythm to become slow and sluggish.

Therefore, Yang Cheng instructed his team to drop back a bit, reduce their pressing in the midfield and final third, give Manchester United more time on the ball, and let The Red Devils take the initiative to push forward.

This would be more conducive to Bayswater Chinese’s style of play.

Over the past few years, the ideal possession rate for Yang Cheng’s teams had always been around sixty percent.

An end-to-end game with both sides attacking and defending was what Bayswater Chinese excelled at.

But every coin has two sides.

In the 29th minute of the first half, Manchester United suddenly launched a quick counter-attack.

An interception by Bayswater Chinese’s midfield failed, and Carrick sent a long pass forward.

Robben made a quick forward run, getting behind Marcelo and sprinting to the right side of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area to meet Carrick’s pass.

At this moment, Marcelo and Toni Kroos were chasing back behind Robben, Thiago Silva was ahead of him having tracked back first, and Nemanja Matić in the center had also returned to his defensive position.

He was surrounded by defenders from all sides.

But this was when the quality of a superstar shone through.

Robben flicked the falling ball up with his left foot as his whole body came to a sudden stop.

After being flicked up, the ball dropped towards the right side of the arc.

The Dutch winger immediately changed direction after stopping, cutting inside, meeting the falling ball, and nudging it forward with his head. He then took small steps to catch up to it and looked poised to shoot.

Nemanja Matić immediately turned sideways to block.

Unexpectedly, Robben didn’t shoot. Instead, he dummied and then sent a cross pass with his left foot.

Cavani had already burst into the penalty area.

But at that moment, Rooney arrived at full tilt on the left side of the arc.

Upon receiving Robben’s pass, the English forward took a touch before unleashing a furious shot.

The ball flew into the net!

Courtois had judged the direction of the shot correctly but couldn’t get a hand to it.

1-2!

Manchester United pulled one back!

…

Rooney’s goal was a huge morale booster for Manchester United.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, began to step up their attack.

First, a long shot from Robert Lewandowski forced a save from De Gea.

Then, a direct free kick from Gareth Bale came tantalizingly close to scoring again.

After conceding a goal, the Bayswater Chinese players’ desire to attack grew even stronger.

Especially as the first half neared its end, Bayswater Chinese pushed forward in numbers once again.

In the 44th minute, Hazard on the left received a pass from Marcelo. His attempt to dribble into the box was thwarted, and he was forced to pass back to reorganize.

Toni Kroos controlled the ball, evaded Juan Mata’s pressure, and sent a diagonal pass with his right foot.

The ball traveled diagonally from the left side of the 30-meter area towards the byline on the right side of the penalty box.

Gareth Bale was seen like a flash of lightning, quickly shaking off Evra and making a forward run.

The landing spot of Toni Kroos’s diagonal pass was perfectly placed near the intersection of the right side of the penalty area and the byline, in the gap between Evra and Vidić’s defensive zones.

Evra was relatively short, while Vidić had just been marking Robert Lewandowski and was a bit slow to react.

Gareth Bale, on the other hand, had the advantage in height and strength, and he was also fast.

The Welshman charged forward, reaching the byline, and before Vidić could get there, he headed the ball back towards the center.

After heading the ball, Gareth Bale’s momentum carried him over the byline.

And right on the edge of the six-yard box on the right, Robert Lewandowski made a quick run, getting in front of Ferdinand to head the ball home from close range.

Gareth Bale’s flick-on was headed by the Polish centre-forward into the opposite direction.

Although De Gea dived desperately, he was still a fraction too slow.

The ball shot straight into Manchester United’s goal.

“GOOOOAL!!!”

“The 44th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“3-1!”

“A header from Robert Lewandowski!”

“This attack from Bayswater Chinese was very sudden.”

“Toni Kroos’s switching diagonal pass was perfectly delivered to the right side of the box.”

“Gareth Bale’s timing on the run and his aerial duel were clearly within Toni Kroos’s range of anticipation.”

“This is what we’ve been saying all along.”

“It’s precisely because they have a passer like Toni Kroos that Bayswater Chinese can execute such exquisite attacking combinations.”

“Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski’s aerial link-up play puts the ball into Manchester United’s net.”

“The home team’s lead is once again extended to two goals!”

“This is not good news for Manchester United.”

“Perhaps Ferguson’s team should reconsider their tactics for the second half.”

…

After the teams switched sides for the second half, Ferguson made a substitution at halftime.

Nani came on for Juan Mata!

It was a like-for-like substitution.

But Nani’s characteristics were different from Juan Mata’s.

And after the second half began, Manchester United’s attacks gradually shifted toward the left flank.

Bayswater Chinese engaged in an end-to-end game with Manchester United at the start of the second half, which lasted for about ten minutes.

The situation remained that Bayswater Chinese had just over sixty percent of the possession and also created more shooting opportunities.

But Manchester United’s counter-attacking efficiency was still quite high.

From the 60th minute onwards, both teams began to make substitutions.

But neither side managed to score again.

By the end of the match, Bayswater Chinese had defeated Manchester United 3-1 at home, thanks to goals from Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, and Robert Lewandowski!

Throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese had twenty-eight shots, but only eleven were on target, nine were blocked, and eight were off target.

Strictly speaking, this attacking efficiency wasn’t too bad.

But Manchester United had thirteen shots, with six on target, making their efficiency relatively higher.

In terms of possession, Bayswater Chinese finished the entire match with 61.7% possession, while Manchester United had 38.3%.

Three yellow cards were shown during the match, all to Manchester United.

However, in terms of fouls, Bayswater Chinese committed fourteen, while Manchester United only committed twelve.

So, when the match ended and after the post-match press conference, when Yang Cheng was hosting Ferguson in an office at Prudential Stadium, the Manchester United manager was cursing out the head referee, Anthony Taylor.

“If it wasn’t for that guy’s garbage officiating today, it should have been a draw!”

In this situation, what could Yang Cheng say?

He nodded slightly and said, “Mm, you’re right. It’s all Anthony Taylor’s fault!”

This, in turn, left Ferguson with a belly full of anger and nowhere to vent it.

Aren’t you going to argue with me?

If you don’t argue, how can I keep cussing him out?

If I can’t keep cussing, how am I supposed to let off this steam?

After years of facing each other, Ferguson had come to understand Yang Cheng.

Don’t ever expect to get one over on this kid!

Fine, I’ll go yell at my players later!

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself.

Did he not understand Ferguson’s scheme by now?

If he had gone along with Ferguson and defended Anthony Taylor, Ferguson would have had a whole list of complaints and grievances that would have gone on forever.

As for whether Anthony Taylor had helped Bayswater Chinese during the match, everyone could see clearly, and no further explanation was needed.

“Hey, by the way, I heard that Pep Guardiola is really looking for a house in Manchester?”

Seeing that the time was right, Yang Cheng immediately changed the subject.

This news hadn’t been reported yet, but Yang Cheng had heard it through his own channels from a journalist he knew well.

Given Ferguson’s relationship with the media, he would certainly know what was happening in Manchester.

“He called me. I recommended a real estate agent to him. He’s renting a place in the city center. Said his wife likes the hustle and bustle.”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected it to be a divine assist from Ferguson himself!

The manager of Manchester City is buying a house, with an agent recommended by Ferguson. If this got out, football fans worldwide would have a field day.

But in reality, this kind of thing was very normal.

“Looks like the Premier League is going to be really lively next season,” Yang Cheng said with a meaningful smile.

How could Ferguson not understand Yang Cheng’s meaning?

“Manchester City is indeed trying to poach Messi right now.”

“Why?” Yang Cheng was surprised.

He never doubted whether Manchester City had the money.

For the Abu Dhabi consortium, if they could really poach a superstar of Messi’s caliber, any price would be worth it.

Two hundred million pounds sterling might be a sky-high price for other clubs.

But for the Abu Dhabi consortium, it was completely acceptable.

As for UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, that was also quite simple.

At worst, they could just raise more capital!

According to Xia Qing, when it came to playing capital games, how could that shambolic operation at UEFA possibly compare to the Abu Dhabi consortium?

What Yang Cheng found strange was, why was Manchester City willing to spend two hundred million pounds to poach Messi?

“What’s so hard to understand about that? Firstly, it’s Guardiola’s request, and secondly, Manchester City wants to kick you off the Premier League throne!”

Ferguson continued, not without a sense of pride.

“It’s just like when I led Manchester United and kicked Liverpool off their fucking perch in the Premier League!”

In the early days of his management at Manchester United, Ferguson had witnessed Liverpool’s peak dynasty with his own eyes.

That’s why Ferguson once said that the thing he was most proud of in his career at Manchester United was kicking Liverpool off their perch.

But after hearing Ferguson’s words, Yang Cheng actually felt a bit proud himself.

He hadn’t expected that he and Bayswater Chinese had become the “Liverpool dynasty” in the eyes of Ferguson and Manchester City.

“It’s not that easy. A blockbuster transfer like this involves many different parties. Nike isn’t very supportive of this transfer.”

After saying that, Ferguson sighed heavily.

Professional football was becoming more and more commercialized, both for clubs and for stars.

For example, Barça’s current kit sponsor was Nike, but Messi’s boot sponsor was Adidas.

Was that strange?

Not at all!

Real Madrid’s kit sponsor was Adidas, but C. Ronaldo’s boot sponsor was Nike.

Bayswater Chinese’s kit sponsor was Puma, but the team’s two biggest stars, Gareth Bale was sponsored by Adidas, and Robert Lewandowski by Nike.

This was completely normal.

Because both the commercial companies and the clubs wanted to maximize their profits.

Manchester City’s kit sponsor for the past few years had been Umbro.

This had nothing to do with Yang Cheng; the deal was signed in 2009, when Umbro had already been acquired by Nike.

Before that, Manchester City’s kit sponsor was Le Coq Sportif, the French rooster.

Umbro’s sponsorship of Manchester City had allowed Yang’s Group’s China Umbro to make a fortune, having signed two major Premier League powerhouses.

Bayswater Chinese’s sleeve and Manchester City’s kit.

Of course, none of this was important.

Manchester City had originally signed a ten-year contract with Umbro, but Nike had already announced that starting from the 13/14 season, they would take over Umbro’s sponsorship and become Manchester City’s main sponsor.

From the sponsor Nike’s perspective, they would actually love for Manchester City to poach C. Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

They might even support Manchester City in doing so by increasing the sponsorship fee.

But if Manchester City wanted to poach Messi, especially through a hostile takeover, then Nike would definitely not support it.

Otherwise, they would really offend Barça.

Of course, if they really did sign Messi, the sponsorship fee would still be increased as it should be, but that’s a story for another time.

Looking at the current situation, it would indeed be difficult for Manchester City to sign Messi; there were still several hurdles to overcome.

And the most important one was Messi’s personal willingness.

If the player was dead set on transferring, then Barça couldn’t keep him even if they wanted to.

“I heard that many people in the Catalonia region actually believe that selling Messi for a two hundred million pounds sterling transfer fee could maximally alleviate Barça’s current debt,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Ferguson sneered, “That’s completely unrealistic. Let me tell you, clubs like Real Madrid and Barça, even if they sell Messi or C. Ronaldo, they will reinvest the entire transfer fee into the market to sign new players.”

“Their operating model is completely different from our normal commercial clubs.”

Yang Cheng quite agreed with this point.

“I heard that the main issue now is that Messi himself isn’t resolute enough. He still has some feelings for Barça, and he’s worried that leaving will anger the Barça fans,” Ferguson said.

“But over the past few years, Barça’s attitude towards Messi has also been rather ambiguous. For example, there was Bojan before, and now Neymar. Both are shaking Messi’s position.”

Unlike in Yang Cheng’s previous life, where Neymar joined Barça in 2013.

The Brazilian prodigy had now joined a year earlier in the summer of 2012.

Therefore, Yang Cheng couldn’t be certain whether Barça would sell Messi or not.

Two hundred million pounds sterling!

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, this was actually a pretty good deal for Manchester City.

After all, in a few years, Paris Saint-Germain would pay over two hundred million euros for Neymar’s release clause.

Compared to that, was two hundred million pounds for Messi expensive?

But to everyone at present, this was already an extremely crazy offer.

The most interesting thing right now was Messi’s personal attitude.

On the one hand, he had suspended contract renewal talks with Barça.

This meant that before the end of this season, that is, during this summer’s transfer window, Messi’s release clause would remain at the two hundred million pounds sterling line.

If he renewed, Barça would definitely increase the compensation fee to prevent Manchester City from poaching him.

But on the other hand, he had yet to make his personal stance clear, and Manchester City, Guardiola, and others were all handling it with a low profile.

This seemed like an attempt to avoid provoking Barça’s fans as much as possible.

For a member-owned club, once you angered the fans and things got out of hand, many things would spiral out of control.

Soriano, Txiki Begiristain, and Guardiola all came from Barça, so they were well aware of this.

“If Messi really transfers, then this summer’s transfer market is going to be insane!” Ferguson sighed.

If possible, he actually hoped that Manchester United could find the money to buy C. Ronaldo back from Real Madrid.

The Premier League now was completely different from 2009.

As the world’s number one league, if Messi really came to the Premier League, then the league’s prestige would become even greater.

At that time, would it be so strange for C. Ronaldo to return?

In Yang Cheng’s view, if Barça lost Messi, many problems would get even more out of control.

Because the aging of players like Puyol, Xavi, and Iniesta was irreversible.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, it was Messi, Suárez, and Neymar who carried the team through a period and brought about a revival.

But now, without Messi, although they had Neymar, Suárez was at Liverpool.

The current Liverpool was backed by the Saudi Arabian consortium and was flush with cash. Could Barça poach Suárez?

This would be a very interesting thing!

More importantly, if Guardiola really did take over at Manchester City, what would happen to the current group of stars at City?

Where would Ibrahimović go?

And Kaká, could he be compatible with Messi?

What’s more, there was also Yaya Touré, who, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, was destined to clash with Guardiola.

Yang Cheng could no longer imagine how the situation would unfold from here.

…

While Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 3-1 at home, all the matches of the 27th round of the Premier League also concluded.

Liverpool thrashed Swansea City 5-0 at home.

Players like Coutinho, Suárez, and Sturridge all performed exceptionally well.

Manchester City, at home, defeated Chelsea 2-0 with goals from Yaya Touré and Carlos Tevez.

As the English League Cup final was held at Wembley Stadium, Arsenal defeated Bradford 5-0 to win this season’s League Cup.

But The Gunners’ 27th Premier League match was consequently postponed.

After 27 rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 23 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, had 72 points and sat at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United was second with 65 points, but the gap to Bayswater Chinese had widened to 7 points.

Manchester City was in third place with 64 points.

Arsenal, having played one game less, remained in 4th place with 56 points.

Liverpool followed closely behind with 54 points.

The gap between The Reds and Arsenal had now shrunk to 2 points, but Wenger’s team had a game in hand.

Chelsea, having lost to Manchester City this round, only had 42 points and was overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur, dropping to 7th place.

As for the players, Robert Lewandowski stood proudly at the top of the Premier League’s top scorer chart with 33 goals.

Gareth Bale was in 2nd place with 25 goals.

From the current look of things, the goal-scoring efficiency of Bayswater Chinese’s two aces was still unparalleled in the Premier League.

But in the midweek Champions League, the performance of the English teams was not very satisfactory.

Arsenal, fresh off their League Cup victory, suffered a 0-2 defeat away against Borussia Dortmund, which was undoubtedly a very poor result.

Meanwhile, Ancelotti’s Manchester City drew 2-2 at home against Barça.

It could be said that from the first leg, the situations for The Gunners and Manchester City were not good.

Adding to that Manchester United’s 1-1 away draw with Ligue 1’s OGC Nice a week earlier.

The dominance of the English teams seemed to have come to an abrupt halt this season!

Major British media outlets were all reporting on the Premier League’s Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage, with the general consensus being that apart from Bayswater Chinese, the other three powerhouses’ performances in the Champions League were all unsatisfactory.

Especially Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Gunners lost 0-2 away. Coming back home, the difficulty of turning the tie around was immense.

Although Manchester City didn’t lose, giving Barça two away goals at home undoubtedly made the tie very suspenseful.

And both goals came from Messi.

Therefore, many people were saying that this was Messi giving Manchester City an advance inspection!

Since the team had no midweek match, they got a relatively ample rest period, so Yang Cheng and the coaching staff took the time to watch the live broadcasts of the two matches.

There were two main reasons for the decline shown by Premier League teams this season.

One was that the English teams themselves were not in good form.

As Yang Cheng had said before, from the Christmas schedule to January, and with the Africa Cup of Nations running until mid-February, the situation was really tough for Premier League teams, especially those with players participating in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Take Chelsea, for example, who suffered a shocking upset loss to Championship side Bradford in the League Cup semi-final.

So, the Premier League teams themselves were too worn out, leading to their generally poor form at this stage.

And on this point, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but feel proud of the decisions made by himself and his coaching staff.

Although they drew one league match in January, their current form was good and had remained stable.

Another reason was the clash of footballing styles.

Arsenal was good at passing and movement, but they ran into Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, which made it difficult for The Gunners.

Especially when playing away.

The Gunners’ form this season hadn’t been great to begin with, and now being overrun by Klopp’s team, they were simply done for.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City, on the other hand, encountered Barça, and ran into Messi and Neymar.

That was also unsolvable.

Poor form, combined with facing a team with a clashing style, made such results not surprising.

But from these two matches, Yang Cheng realized another thing.

“As European football tactics become more and more integrated, have you noticed? Within this integrated tactical framework, the gap in ability between superstars, top-tier stars, and even average stars is rapidly shrinking.”

Yang Cheng’s words sent Brian Kidd and the others into deep thought.

The shrinking here definitely didn’t refer to the individual abilities of the players, but rather the impact they could have within an integrated tactical framework.

Take the current Borussia Dortmund team, for example.

Without Robert Lewandowski and Piszczek, Klopp’s team still performed very ferociously.

And Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern Munich.

Without Javi Martínez, Bayern still performed brilliantly.

Yang Cheng wasn’t saying there was no difference between superstars, top-tier stars, and average players.

Within an integrated tactical framework, selecting the right players could bring out the overall combat effectiveness and raise the team’s floor.

A superstar could raise the team’s ceiling.

Just like Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, without Robert Lewandowski, their attack would be affected to some extent.

But that didn’t stop them from defeating Arsenal 2-0 at home.

Because the floor of their overall strength was set at a high level.

As long as their tactics were superior and they performed better on the day, they could win.

“There’s another point. The intense competition within the Premier League now has indeed dragged down the performance of English teams in Europe,” Brian Kidd said with some regret.

Judging by this season’s performance, the situation of having half the quarter-finalists would probably be unsustainable.

Yang Cheng deeply agreed.

…

On March 2nd, the Premier League entered its 28th round.

Chelsea defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at home.

Manchester United thrashed Norwich 4-0 at home, with Cavani scoring a hat-trick.

Liverpool, thanks to Suárez’s hat-trick, beat Wigan Athletic 4-0 away.

Arsenal, after going a goal down in the first half away from home, came from behind in the second half to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 with goals from Mertesacker and Nasri.

Manchester City beat Aston Villa 1-0 thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez in stoppage time.

Bayswater Chinese defeated Southampton 2-0 away.

In the 14th minute of the first half, Gareth Bale assisted Robert Lewandowski for a goal.

In the 77th minute of the second half, another assist from Gareth Bale allowed Theo Walcott to score another goal.

In the end, the team defeated The Saints 2-0.

…

Three days later, the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

Bayswater Chinese, having defeated Valencia 2-0 away in the first leg, welcomed The Bats to their home ground.

In the 38th minute of the first half, an assist from Hazard helped Modrić score against Valencia, opening the scoring for Bayswater Chinese.

And in the 76th minute of the second half, during a corner kick attack, Thiago Silva flicked a header to the edge of the penalty area.

Toni Kroos, unmarked, trapped the ball with his chest and then hit a placed power shot, once again breaking through The Bats’ goal and extending the lead.

In stoppage time before the end of the match, Valencia’s center-back Rami committed a foul on Robert Lewandowski inside the penalty area, accumulating two yellow cards and being sent off with a red card, while also conceding a penalty to Bayswater Chinese.

Robert Lewandowski calmly converted the penalty kick.

3-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 at home, with an aggregate score of 5-0, defeating Valencia and smoothly advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals.

If Bayswater Chinese’s victory over Valencia was expected, then the result of another match was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Manchester United hosted Ligue 1’s OGC Nice at Old Trafford.

Ronald Koeman’s team fought on equal terms with Manchester United for the entire match.

Ferguson’s starting tactics were somewhat overconfident, as he still deployed a 4-4-2 formation, hoping to swallow Nice whole.

And it turned out that in the first half, Manchester United’s tactics were effective.

The Red Devils took a 1-0 lead over Nice at home thanks to a goal from Nani.

But in the 59th minute of the second half, Ronald Koeman made a crucial substitution.

The talented midfielder Kovačić replaced Allan, strengthening the midfield’s organization and attack.

Kovačić’s introduction completely changed the course of the match.

The Croatian prodigy first created a free kick opportunity in the final third in the 66th minute.

Van Dijk scored with a header, equalizing for Nice.

Manchester United then launched a frantic counter-attack.

Nice performed with extraordinary courage at the critical moment.

Kanté’s sweeping in midfield, and the defending of van Dijk and Marquinhos in the backline, allowed Nice to stand firm like a mountain under Manchester United’s storm-like offensive pressure.

The Red Devils, at home, were utterly unable to break them down.

Then, in the 79th minute, Mahrez’s dribbling run took him past two Manchester United defenders before he passed the ball to Kovačić.

The young Croatian midfielder took a furious shot from inside the penalty area, once again beating Manchester United’s goal.

2-1!

A comeback!

For the last ten minutes or so, Manchester United launched desperate attacks.

But in the end, The Red Devils failed to turn the tide.

Nice defeated Manchester United 2-1 away from home, creating the first major upset of the Champions League knockout stage!

The day after the match, the entire European football world was stunned by Ronald Koeman’s Ligue 1 upstarts!

Everyone had thought that this team was just flexing its muscles in the French league.

But unexpectedly, when it came to the Champions League, they performed so ferociously.

Especially the group of youngsters in their early twenties in the team; each and every one of them was full of vigor and vitality.

As the French newspaper L’Équipe put it, “Watching today’s Nice, we feel as if we’re seeing the Bayswater Chinese of old!”

And who could argue with that?

Back then, wasn’t the Bayswater Chinese team coached by Yang Cheng also causing upsets all the way, leaving people in awe?

…

After the Champions League Round of 16, came the 29th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted The Black Cats, Sunderland, at home.

In the 30th minute of the first half, Theo Walcott assisted Robert Lewandowski for a goal.

This was the Polish centre-forward’s 35th Premier League goal of the season.

With this goal, Robert Lewandowski officially broke the historical record for goals in a single Premier League season, previously set by Alan Shearer!

With nine rounds of the league still remaining, everyone was eagerly looking forward to seeing Robert Lewandowski continue his efforts.

It would be best if he could catch up to, or even surpass, Messi!

After the teams switched sides for the second half, substitute Gareth Bale first assisted Theo Walcott to score.

Then, just before the end of the match, it was Theo Walcott’s turn to assist Gareth Bale for a goal.

In the end, thanks to Theo Walcott’s two assists and one goal, Bayswater Chinese beat Sunderland 3-0 at home.

In this round, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 at home.

Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 at home.

Manchester United, affected by their shocking Champions League elimination by Nice, continued their poor form in the Premier League, drawing 2-2 away against West Ham United.

Moreover, The Red Devils had to come from behind twice to equalize but were never able to take the lead.

Manchester City, meanwhile, narrowly beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home.

Chelsea won 3-0 away against Fulham, with Terry scoring a brace.

Among them, Manchester City and Arsenal both held back in their matches due to their upcoming Champions League Round of 16 ties, so they didn’t play particularly well.

…

On the evening of March 12th, the Champions League Round of 16.

Barça, who had drawn 2-2 away at Manchester City in the first leg, saw Messi erupt once again upon returning to their home ground.

The Argentine superstar, just five minutes into the first half, received an assist from Xavi to open the scoring for Barça!

The match became very exciting after that.

Barça led 3-2 on aggregate, and also had two away goals, so Manchester City needed to score two goals.

But just as Manchester City were frantically attacking, in the 40th minute, Messi delivered a brilliant pass, and Neymar once again scored against Manchester City.

2-0!

This time, The Blue Moons were utterly desperate!

Ancelotti’s team made two substitutions in the 60th minute of the second half in an attempt to strengthen their attack.

By the 70th minute, they had used up all their substitution slots.

But it was all to no avail.

Barça held absolute control of possession and even came a few times close to scoring again.

Fortunately, Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart both performed exceptionally well, keeping the goal safe.

But in the end, The Blue Moons lost 0-2 away to Barça.

With an aggregate score of 2-4, they were tragically eliminated by Barça!

If Manchester City’s tragedy stemmed from being drawn against Real Madrid in the group stage, forcing them to finish second, then Arsenal, after losing 0-2 away to Borussia Dortmund, saw Wenger’s team take an early two-goal lead in the first thirty minutes upon returning home.

Wenger’s team could be said to have had all the advantages of time, place, and people for the entire match.

But after leveling the aggregate score, The Gunners seemed to slack off.

Their attacking efficiency dropped significantly thereafter. They had the possession but couldn’t score, and were never able to get a third goal.

This made everyone very anxious.

Wenger made successive substitutions in the second half in an attempt to strengthen the attack.

But what no one expected was that in the 88th minute, just before the end of the match, during a quick counter-attack after an interception in midfield, Marco Reus assisted Götze to score against The Gunners.

1-2!

Subsequently, Arsenal launched a frenzied counter-attack.

In the last five minutes, The Gunners practically had even their goalkeeper Lloris pushing past the halfway line, wishing he could charge into the penalty area to score a goal.

But it was still to no avail.

The Gunners ultimately defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home, but lost 2-3 to Borussia Dortmund on aggregate.

After this match, the entire British public opinion was in an uproar!

No one could believe what they had just seen.

Three of the Premier League’s four giants had stumbled in the Champions League Round of 16.

You must remember, in the past few seasons, these three teams were all of a solid semi-final caliber.

They were even teams with the strength to win the championship!

And now, they had all been stopped at the Round of 16.

Fortunately, the sky over the Premier League had not yet fallen.

Because Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese were still marching on!

Chapter 275: Saving the Premier League! Mourinho Out of Control! A Massacre in the Champions League Quarter-finals!

The sky has fallen for the Premier League!

Humiliation! Three Premier League giants wiped out in the Champions League!

La Liga: Premier League, here we come!

Once all eight matches of the Champions League Round of 16 were concluded, the entire European football world celebrated as if it were a holiday.

Media and fans from every country were rushing to celebrate the fall of the Premier League dynasty.

What goes around, comes around!

The Champions League would never be the private preserve of any single league!

Over the past few years, the Premier League’s dominance in European football had struck fear into the hearts of other national leagues.

UEFA President Platini’s push for the Financial Fair Play regulations was a clear move to suppress the Premier League.

As it turned out, before the regulations were even officially implemented, the Premier League had already taken a step back.

Apart from Bayswater Chinese, the three giants—Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal—all fell in the Champions League Round of 16.

The teams that eliminated them came from La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Ligue 1, respectively.

This left the Italian media feeling quite regretful.

“Why didn’t AC Milan draw Bayswater Chinese in the first place?”

The implication was clear: if the Rossoneri had drawn Bayswater Chinese, wouldn’t the top four leagues each have been able to knock out a Premier League giant?

If that story got out, it would have been a fine tale, wouldn’t it?

The fall of the Premier League sent cheers across the entire European football world.

France’s L’Équipe put it plainly: European football has suffered under the Premier League for too long!

Every major league hoped to dethrone the Premier League, but no one expected its downfall to be so swift.

And to be halted at just the Round of 16 was beyond anyone’s imagination.

The magazine kicker wrote an article analyzing the deep-seated reasons for the Premier League’s collapse.

“With a Premier League like this, it would be stranger if they didn’t lose!”

Under this headline, kicker’s special Champions League edition dissected the reasons for the exit of the three Premier League powerhouses.

First was the fierce competition within the Premier League itself.

From Christmas until now, the top four teams in the Premier League have all been under intense competitive pressure.

Arsenal, for example, having reached the League Cup final, has been playing two games a week almost continuously.

Manchester United and Manchester City also had draws in the FA Cup, forcing them to play rescheduled matches.

In the league, Arsenal currently sits in fourth place, but their position is under serious threat from Liverpool.

The Reds’ overall strength is not to be underestimated, and any slip-up from Arsenal could see Liverpool overtake them.

Missing out on the Champions League is something Arsenal cannot accept under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, the two Manchester clubs are focused on challenging for the league title, putting pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

“The Premier League has a total of six exceptionally strong teams, known as the ‘Big 6,’ which is the root cause of its brutal competition.”

“Because six powerhouse clubs mean 30 clashes between top teams every season!”

“This is why, when we analyze Premier League teams in Champions League matches, we invariably have to mention that they are distracted by major domestic showdowns.”

“Too many strong teams forces them to divide their attention!”

kicker also noted that these were just the teams competitive on the European stage.

There were also teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, who were likewise formidable.

This made the internal competition in the Premier League unprecedentedly fierce.

The second reason listed by kicker was the high broadcasting fees in the Premier League.

What did that mean?

It meant that the Premier League’s broadcasting revenue is so high that when many English teams weigh their interests, they easily prioritize the Champions League as secondary.

For instance, many people consider the elimination of three top Premier League teams in the Champions League Round of 16 a disaster.

But in terms of revenue, the impact on them isn’t actually that significant.

The bulk of Champions League income comes from the prize pool, and by reaching the Round of 16, the prize money is already substantial.

As for the match prize money in the Champions League?

The appearance fee of two to three million euros per stage is less valuable to Premier League teams than the returns they get from focusing on the league and improving their ranking.

In such circumstances, many teams, when faced with a choice between the Champions League and the Premier League, will choose to secure their league position first.

“If you ask a fan in England what’s more important, the Champions League or the Premier League, nine times out of ten they’ll say the Premier League.”

“In fact, in the minds of many older fans, the FA Cup is just as significant as the Champions League.”

“This is part of England’s unique football culture; it’s simply their perspective.”

kicker believed that whether from a financial standpoint or based on media and fan attention, Premier League teams clearly lean towards localization.

So why was the Premier League so dominant in previous years?

And why the sudden collapse this season?

This led to the third reason.

Each team had its own problems.

Arsenal had to secure a top-four finish, and they were overstretched with too many games and too much pressure; Manchester United’s squad was aging, and their squad renewal wasn’t progressing fast enough.

Of the three eliminated teams, Manchester City was the strongest.

But everyone knew that not long after the winter transfer window, rumors of Ancelotti’s move to Real Madrid began to circulate.

Manchester City, in turn, was widely reported to have secured Pep Guardiola for the next season.

And everyone knew that Ibrahimović had a terrible relationship with Guardiola.

Rumors were also flying that once Guardiola took over, a number of players, including Carlos Tevez, Kaká, and Ibrahimović, would be on the transfer list.

This created a state of anxiety throughout Manchester City, from top to bottom.

When facing Barça, this vulnerability was fully exploited by their opponent.

“If both teams were at their peak, it would be hard to say who would win between Manchester City and Barça.”

“In fact, a victory for Ancelotti’s team might even have been the more likely outcome.”

“But as things stand, Manchester City lost to Barça.”

“Or perhaps, it should be said, they lost to Messi!”

The first two reasons were related to the league’s overall environment, but the last one was about the internal issues of the three teams.

And the third reason was the biggest problem of all!

Of course, kicker also listed several other factors.

Including the draw, and including luck.

At the press conference after being knocked out, Wenger said that Arsenal had not played to their full potential.

“The 0-2 loss in the first leg away from home was a huge blow to our team.”

“Morale and spirit were very low!”

But Wenger stated that if Arsenal were given another chance to play an away match, the Gunners would never lose 0-2 again.

“It was an accident!”

However, Wenger did admit that the technical and tactical levels of football in other European leagues were improving rapidly. “Some teams’ entire tactical philosophies have even surpassed ours, which is something we need to take seriously.”

The team Wenger was referring to was undoubtedly Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund.

The tactical system implemented by BVB under Klopp’s management had caused a huge stir in European football.

The only pity was that BVB itself was not a traditional powerhouse and was far from being on par with Bayern in the Bundesliga.

Under such circumstances, Borussia Dortmund winning the league title was already considered a great success.

And in England, many in the media and among the fans were starting to worry.

With three Premier League giants out in the Round of 16, would the powerful La Liga replace the Premier League as the world’s number one league?

After all, La Liga had been striving to challenge the Premier League’s status for the past few years.

Moreover, French media revealed that Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain wanted to poach England’s star centre-forward, Rooney, from Manchester United.

“This is revenge for Manchester United hijacking their deal for Cavani!”

This news added to the worries of many English fans.

Just as pessimism was spreading across Europe and anxiety was growing in England, The Times quickly published a front-page headline.

The Premier League Isn’t Dead Yet!

In the report, The Times stated that the exit of three major Premier League clubs from the Champions League Round of 16 was an unprecedented event in the last decade and indeed required the attention of all Premier League teams.

“But we still have Bayswater Chinese!”

In its opinion piece, The Times reviewed Yang Cheng’s team.

In the two legs against La Liga’s Valencia, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was as composed as ever.

“Yang Cheng’s team has shown all of us the commanding presence of a truly top-tier team!”

The Times analyzed the reasons for the failure of the three Premier League giants in the Champions League Round of 16, largely mirroring the analysis of Germany’s kicker, as these were hardly secrets.

But what about Bayswater Chinese?

The Times argued that ever since Yang Cheng took charge of the team, Bayswater Chinese would undergo thorough adjustments and physical stimulation after the Christmas schedule each season.

“Looking at the squads of the four Premier League teams participating in the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese’s is the thinnest.”

“In fact, over the past few years, many in the media and fans have criticized Yang Cheng’s elite squad strategy for the first team, arguing that the squad should be strengthened.”

“But from the current perspective, looking at Bayswater Chinese this season, apart from a relatively thin defense due to Kompany’s departure, the team’s overall performance remains remarkably stable.”

The Times believed that many of Yang Cheng’s strategies were initially met with some criticism, but over time, many people began to understand, and even started to adopt and learn from them.

The authoritative British newspaper called on other Premier League teams to learn from Bayswater Chinese’s advanced team-building philosophy and management experience.

“Over the past few seasons, Bayswater Chinese’s players have played at least 65 matches a year, and that’s not counting international duty. This is a huge challenge for all of them.”

“Yet, we’ve also seen that Yang Cheng’s team has consistently been the least affected by injuries in the Premier League, and the most stable in terms of results.”

The Times pointed out that the traffic light physical monitoring system pioneered by Bayswater Chinese years ago had achieved very clear results, was quickly adopted and imitated by major Premier League teams, and has now spread throughout Europe’s top five leagues.

“But there is still much more they can learn from Bayswater Chinese.”

Finally, The Times concluded that English fans did not need to despair over this season’s poor performance in the Champions League.

“Just think of it as paying for a lesson!”

“Only when the tide goes out do we find out who’s been swimming naked.”

“Now, we have seen it!”

“Bayswater Chinese has become the Premier League’s last one standing in the Champions League, and also its final hope!”

“As teams and media from other countries gather to besiege the Premier League, we can only hope that Bayswater Chinese will step forward, save the Premier League from this crisis, and turn the tide against all odds.”

“Bayswater Chinese aims to become the number one powerhouse in the Premier League!”

“In that case, Yang Cheng’s team must now demonstrate the strength and performance to match that ambition!”

In addition, England’s The Sun broke some explosive news.

It was true that Paris Saint-Germain was interested in signing Rooney, but Manchester United’s top target for this summer was Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale.

“Ferguson’s Manchester United has always had a tradition of signing the best homegrown players.”

“Now, they have set their sights on Gareth Bale!”

The Sun even revealed that Manchester United, through their outgoing CEO David Gill, had secretly contacted Bayswater Chinese’s CEO Adam Crozier to discuss a potential transfer for Gareth Bale.

“But Bayswater Chinese has refused to engage in any contact on this matter.”

“Adam Crozier’s stance is very clear: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, Eden Hazard, and Theo Walcott, or young talents like Sterling, are all core players for Bayswater Chinese.”

“Bayswater Chinese will not sell a single one!”

Another piece of news came from France’s L’Équipe.

The paper revealed that Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool were all very interested in two centre-backs from OGC Nice in Ligue 1.

Especially the 18-year-old Marquinhos.

This young player possessed outstanding ability to make overlapping runs and assist in attacks. So far this season, his pass completion rate was as high as 91 percent, he averaged 3.5 interceptions per game, and his interception success rate was a staggering 93 percent.

“This talented centre-back has the potential to become a top-class defender.”

“His only drawback is that he is too young and lacks experience.”

Spanish media also reported that both Barça and Real Madrid were monitoring the young centre-back.

Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo even claimed that Barça was willing to pay a transfer fee of 30 million euros for Marquinhos, to sign the Brazilian centre-back who had only been at Nice for a year.

In addition, Ligue 1’s Paris Saint-Germain and the Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich were also coveting Marquinhos.

Prudential Stadium, London.

In the FA Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

When the match reached the seventieth minute, the score was still 0-0.

Arsenal, having just played in the Champions League and suffered a bitter elimination at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, were clearly affected in terms of morale for this game.

Wenger was also unable to field his strongest lineup.

Yang Cheng, on his part, was also using a rotated squad for the FA Cup.

Thus, neither side managed to capitalize on their chances in the first half.

In the seventieth minute, Wenger made a decision that Yang Cheng found very strange.

He substituted three players at once.

Key players like Wilshere, Cazorla, and van Persie all came off the bench.

Making three substitutions at once had a huge impact on Arsenal.

Just two minutes after the changes, Bayswater Chinese’s Luke Shaw made a marauding run down the left flank, storming all the way to the right side of Arsenal’s penalty area. Facing Sagna’s defense, he quickly delivered a cross from the byline.

In the middle of the box, the tall center-forward Giroud arrived at full tilt, leaping high to meet Luke Shaw’s cross from the left and powerfully head it into Arsenal’s net.

Lloris was powerless against such a forceful header.

1-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Thanks to a header from Giroud, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow one-goal victory over Arsenal at home, successfully advancing to the FA Cup semi-finals.

In the post-match press conference, Wenger explained that the reason he made three substitutions at once was because his players were running out of stamina.

In another match, Manchester United defeated Chelsea 3-2 at home.

Manchester City, meanwhile, thrashed Barnsley 5-0 at home.

Ultimately, in the semi-finals, Bayswater Chinese would face Manchester City in an “away game.”

Due to the FA Cup fixtures, the 30th round of Premier League matches for teams like Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal were all postponed.

Bayswater Chinese faced Aston Villa away from home.

Aston Villa had an interesting characteristic this season: they often performed well at home but were shaky on the road.

This time, against Bayswater Chinese, Paul Lambert’s team managed to hold them to a 0-0 scoreline in the first half.

But in the fifty-seventh minute, Marcelo assisted Robert Lewandowski, who scored the opening goal for the team.

Just four minutes later, Gareth Bale scored another goal, extending the lead.

In the seventy-third and eighty-fourth minutes, the Welsh winger scored two more goals, completing a hat-trick.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 away, taking all three points.

Gareth Bale had scored a hat-trick.

This was Gareth Bale’s fifth hat-trick of the season.

So far, the Welshman has scored twenty-nine league goals in the Premier League, second only to Lewandowski.

The media’s opinions on these two star forwards were not unanimous.

Looking at the goal distribution, Lewandowski’s goals were more consistent, spread across more matches.

In contrast, Gareth Bale had scored five hat-tricks and two braces, making him a classic burst-type goalscorer.

From a tactical perspective, Lewandowski was arguably more important.

Because he provided the team with a stable expectation of goals.

But Yang Cheng believed it couldn’t be judged solely on goal distribution.

Although Bale’s goals were not as consistently distributed as Lewandowski’s, it didn’t mean the Welshman’s scoring ability and consistency were inferior; after all, one was a winger and the other was a centre-forward.

Moreover, Gareth Bale was also Bayswater Chinese’s top assist provider.

So, if you really had to say who was more important, it was genuinely hard to judge.

But it was clear that both players were having a massive breakout season in terms of their individual ability and form.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was definitely a good thing.

After the 30th round of Premier League fixtures, there was a two-week international break.

All international players reported to their national teams to prepare for the upcoming 2014 Brazil World Cup preliminary qualifying rounds.

But for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, this was by no means an easy period.

Because after the two-week international break, once the players returned, they immediately faced the 31st round of the Premier League, an away match against Fulham.

Three days after that was the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

In the previous draw, Bayswater Chinese had drawn Real Madrid from La Liga.

This meant that as soon as the international break ended and the players returned from long-distance travel, they were immediately thrown into a high-stakes clash.

During the two-week international break, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff closely monitored the players’ every move, maintaining constant communication with the national teams, fearing any potential injuries.

Two weeks later, back in the Premier League for the 31st round, Yang Cheng fielded a team of substitutes and rotated players for the trip to Craven Cottage.

As a result, in the eighth minute of the first half, Berbatov scored first.

In the twenty-second minute, it was Mr. Dapper again, scoring another goal.

Though older, Mr. Dapper was still Mr. Dapper.

Bayswater Chinese’s shoddy backup defense simply couldn’t withstand Berbatov’s continuous attacks.

So far this season, they had already conceded nineteen goals.

And last season?

They only conceded nine.

After the break, within the first six minutes of the second half, Giroud and Aaron Ramsey each scored a goal, successfully helping the team level the score.

The match completely turned into a one-sided attack by Bayswater Chinese, while Fulham began to retreat and defend with their entire team.

This was especially true in the seventy-ninth minute.

After Fulham’s holding midfielder Steve Sidwell was sent off with a red card for a foul, Fulham, down a man, packed their entire team in front of their goal.

But the defensive line of Senderos and Hangeland performed remarkably well.

In the end, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw.

While Bayswater Chinese were frustratingly held to a draw by Fulham, the other top teams all secured victories.

Manchester United won 1-0 away to Sunderland.

Manchester City thrashed Newcastle 4-0 at home.

Arsenal defeated Reading 4-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-1 away.

Only Chelsea lost, falling 2-1 away to Southampton.

Without the pressure of mid-week Champions League matches, both Manchester clubs and Arsenal went all out in the league, allowing them to play with even more abandon.

April arrived.

The Champions League quarter-finals were about to ignite.

Influenced by the earlier elimination of the three Premier League giants in the Round of 16, the whole of England was paying close attention to Bayswater Chinese’s first-leg quarter-final match at home against Real Madrid.

The same was true for Real Madrid, far away in Madrid, Spain.

Affected by the international fixtures, both Real Madrid and Barça had unsatisfactory results in the just-concluded 29th round of La Liga.

Barça drew 2-2 away at Celta Vigo.

Real Madrid drew 1-1 away at Zaragoza.

But after the match, Mourinho was fiercely criticized by the Spanish media.

Because he had missed a golden opportunity to close the points gap with Barça.

Before this round, Barça led Real Madrid by seven points in the league table.

Mourinho had vowed to fight to the bitter end.

And in this round, with Barça’s match played earlier, Real Madrid, knowing Barça had drawn, failed to defeat a team teetering on the edge of the relegation zone, Zaragoza. This disappointed everyone with Real Madrid’s performance.

In the post-match press conference against Zaragoza, a Spanish journalist questioned Mourinho to his face.

“With a performance like tonight’s, do you think Real Madrid can win when you go to London?”

Mourinho clearly felt insulted and immediately lost his temper.

He was already fuming about missing the chance to close the gap.

Moreover, his sidelining of Casillas had led to continuous challenges from players in the Real Madrid dressing room.

But Mourinho had never been one to back down from anyone.

So, he once again fired back at the media.

“I don’t know why you’re asking this, but I think we played very well in this match.”

At this point, Mourinho changed the subject.

“I think many of you here have a completely different set of standards for me compared to others.”

“When both we and Barça draw, you praise Barça; when we and Bayswater Chinese both draw, you assume we will lose.”

“But I’m used to it, and I don’t want to explain anything. I will let the game do the talking!”

After saying this, Mourinho abruptly ended the press conference on the spot.

But afterward, the major Spanish media outlets continued their accusations against him.

Why praise Barça?

Because Vilanova’s team was held to a draw, and they were seven points ahead.

Why think Bayswater Chinese will win?

Because Yang Cheng’s team has a better track record, and they also have a considerable lead in the Premier League.

Why question Real Madrid?

Because…

“José, you have nothing!”

The war between Mourinho and the Spanish media and fans escalated.

And as more media and fans joined in, Mourinho’s situation grew worse.

But this only further fueled Mourinho’s anger.

On April 1st, at the routine press conference before the team was set to travel to London.

Normally, Mourinho would have announced the eighteen-man matchday squad.

But after announcing the squad, a Spanish journalist immediately asked whether the starting goalkeeper would be Casillas or Diego López.

This was clearly poking at Mourinho’s sore spot again!

Everyone knew his relationship with Casillas was terrible.

And the reason he had reached this point at Real Madrid, being deserted by all, stemmed from Casillas.

At first, Mourinho didn’t intend to answer, so he said, “I will not tell you my answer.”

But reporters kept asking.

One journalist even said that without Casillas, Real Madrid would find it hard to leave London unscathed.

“This is the difference between you and the world’s top managers like Yang Cheng, Ferguson, and Guardiola!”

The proud and arrogant Mourinho was clearly enraged.

And so, he erupted on the spot.

“You want to know who will be the starting goalkeeper, don’t you?”

“Well, I’ll tell you now, it’s Diego López!”

“In my starting eleven, I have Diego López, Ramos, Varane, Álvaro Arbeloa, Coentrão, Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Mesut Özil, C. Ronaldo, Di María, and Džeko.”

“But no Casillas!”

“Is that clear enough for you now?”

And so, amidst a stunned silence, Mourinho once again stormed out in a huff.

“Is he crazy?”

When Yang Cheng received the news from Madrid in London, he could hardly believe it.

Announcing his starting lineup a day in advance?

You have to remember, this was the Champions League quarter-finals!

Did he think he was playing an amateur team in the Copa del Rey?

“Could it be a smokescreen?” Brian Kidd was still skeptical.

He felt there was something not quite right about it.

Yang Cheng also felt it was better to be cautious in such matters.

So, he immediately had the press relations department contact the media in Spain, and had the scouts in Madrid investigate thoroughly to confirm the accuracy of this intelligence as soon as possible.

Two hours later, Yang Cheng received a very firm confirmation.

Real Madrid was in chaos!

Both the players and the management were shocked by Mourinho’s sudden statement.

But the starting lineup was likely real.

Since it was real, Yang Cheng now needed to devise specific tactics to counter this lineup.

The first priority was C. Ronaldo.

“Without a doubt, all of Real Madrid’s attacking tactics now revolve around C. Ronaldo.”

“He is the strongest point of Real Madrid’s attack.”

“But the strongest point can often also be the weakest.”

“Whenever C. Ronaldo comes up against a top-class right-back, Real Madrid’s attack always struggles!”

Yang Cheng set the defensive tone for the match.

Neutralizing C. Ronaldo was a must!

Who could do it?

“Piszczek has been in good form recently. He can definitely contain C. Ronaldo!”

Kyle Walker was also a very good option.

In fact, as long as a defender could understand C. Ronaldo’s technical characteristics and playing habits, and could keep up with the Portuguese’s speed and rhythm, defending against him wasn’t that difficult.

Of course, in European football, there weren’t many right-backs who could do all of that.

As luck would have it, Bayswater Chinese had two.

“Given Real Madrid’s current morale and form, and with this news breaking, I think unless Mourinho parks the bus at Prudential Stadium, their counter-press up front will be a problem!”

This was Yang Cheng’s second judgment.

C. Ronaldo and Mesut Özil were not the kind of players who track back diligently.

With Džeko’s height and weight, how actively could he defend from the front?

Di María would be active, but he alone was far from enough for a high press.

At that point, the double pivot of Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira would be exposed.

What Bayswater Chinese needed to do was figure out how to exploit this.

There was one thing Yang Cheng had never said a word about in public.

That was, in his opinion, Real Madrid was already very lucky to have reached the quarter-finals this season.

For any other team to be in such turmoil as Real Madrid this season and still expect to reach the Champions League quarter-finals?

But even the best luck has a day when it runs out.

Clearly, Real Madrid’s luck would end in the quarter-finals!

On the evening of April 2nd, Prudential Stadium, London.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Bayswater Chinese versus Real Madrid at home.

When the head referee from the Netherlands, Björn Kuipers, blew the whistle to start the match, Bayswater Chinese immediately took the initiative, pressing all over the pitch and forcing Real Madrid to speed up the tempo of the game.

High-tempo attack and defense—this was what Bayswater Chinese excelled at!

The home team put pressure on Real Madrid from the very first minute.

Mourinho’s starting lineup was indeed the exact one he had announced at the pre-match press conference, with no changes.

The players’ formation was Real Madrid’s favored 4-2-3-1.

While Yang Cheng’s tactic was also a 4-3-3 formation, he had made some specific adjustments.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, and Theo Walcott.

A noticeable change for the home team was that Toni Kroos and Modrić were positioned deeper, closer to Nemanja Matić.

This gave Real Madrid’s two holding midfielders, Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso, more opportunities to have the ball.

As a result, Real Madrid would also actively push their midfield forward after winning possession.

Especially Khedira.

The German midfielder was known for his fondness for making forward runs.

As soon as he got the ball, he would often drive forward.

Just five minutes into the game, it was Khedira’s run from midfield that was intercepted by Toni Kroos, who then passed the ball to Gareth Bale.

After receiving the ball in the left channel, the Welshman accelerated, storming forward with the ball and directly facing Real Madrid’s defensive line.

Real Madrid’s 4-2-3-1 formation had another characteristic.

That is, both wingers pushed up very high.

C. Ronaldo’s side was a given.

The whole world knew that no matter what position C. Ronaldo started in, he would eventually end up on the forward line.

Di María’s positioning was slightly better, but his task was to alleviate pressure on C. Ronaldo, so naturally, he had to be advanced as well.

Therefore, Real Madrid’s two full-backs often had to push up their positions to maintain a close distance with the wingers.

When Gareth Bale started sprinting with the ball, the not-so-fast Álvaro Arbeloa was left in his dust.

By the time the Welshman reached the left side of Real Madrid’s penalty area, he was confronted by centre-back Varane.

Gareth Bale executed a deft feint, pretending to cut inside to shoot with his right foot, which deceived Varane. Then, he suddenly went wide on the outside, knocking the ball into the left side of the penalty area with his left foot.

Gareth Bale seized the opportunity and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot, causing goalkeeper Diego López to fumble the save.

On the right side of the six-yard box, Robert Lewandowski astutely pounced on the opportunity and tapped in the rebound with ease.

“GOAL!!!”

“Just five minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese scores the opening goal!”

“A powerful shot from Gareth Bale led to the goalkeeper fumbling the ball, and Lewandowski was there to poach the rebound.”

“1-0!”

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

All the Bayswater Chinese fans leaped from their seats, hardly believing their eyes.

A goal just five minutes into the game?

Everyone was ecstatic!

No one expected such a huge surprise right at the start!

But just as everyone was still reeling from that goal, only three minutes later.

In the eighth minute of the match, Bayswater Chinese launched another counter-attack.

Again, they targeted the left flank, and again, the ball went to Gareth Bale.

But this time, the attack didn’t come to fruition.

Real Madrid’s defense tracked back very quickly.

The ball was passed back to Marcelo, who then gave it to Toni Kroos to reorganize.

But before Real Madrid’s defenders could react, Toni Kroos, from the left channel, sent a diagonal long pass with his right foot, precisely switching the play to the right flank in the attacking third.

Near the right touchline, Theo Walcott controlled the ball with his chest. Before Coentrão could close him down, he pushed the ball towards the byline and instantly accelerated, leaving the Portuguese defender behind.

The Little Tiger charged towards the byline and delivered a low, driven cross, sending the ball precisely to the outside of the near post.

At almost the same moment, Robert Lewandowski was poised, ready to make a run at the near post.

But before making his move, he had to deal with Ramos.

The latter, while frequently changing his defensive position, was tightly holding onto Lewandowski’s jersey with one hand.

The Pole knew Ramos’s weakness, so before making his run, he deliberately charged forward and bumped into him.

With a calculated move against an unsuspecting opponent, Ramos, whose attention was focused on Walcott on the right wing, was suddenly bumped by Lewandowski. Although the force wasn’t great, it slowed his reaction time by a fraction of a second.

By the time he started running, the Pole had already reached the front of the goal.

And Walcott’s low, driven cross had arrived right in front of Lewandowski.

This was a ball that Casillas would likely have come off his line for.

But Diego López chose to stay on his line.

Lewandowski executed a sliding shot, redirecting Walcott’s low cross towards the right side of the goal.

Although Diego López made a desperate dive, he was still a step too slow.

“IT’S IN AGAIN!!!”

“My God, in just three minutes, just three minutes, Bayswater Chinese scores another goal!”

“It’s Lewandowski’s goal again!”

“The Polish centre-forward has scored twice!”

“Two goals in three minutes!”

“Lewandowski has given Bayswater Chinese a fantastic start!”

Mourinho was fuming on the sidelines, yelling at his players on the pitch.

Conceding two goals in just eight minutes?

How were they supposed to play this match?

Mourinho had completely lost his composure.

At this moment, he was like an enraged bull, roaring at his players on the field.

But it was clearly useless.

After the game restarted, Real Madrid’s players gradually stabilized themselves.

After their opening blitz achieved a stunning effect, Bayswater Chinese tried another wave of attacks, but upon seeing Real Madrid settle down, they also began to play with more patience.

The two teams entered a half-hour stalemate.

But Bayswater Chinese continued to create chances, constantly trying to penetrate Real Madrid’s heartland.

And just in the forty-second minute of the first half, it was Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira again.

The difference was that the first time was near the halfway line, but this time it was outside Real Madrid’s 30-meter zone.

After Toni Kroos won the ball, Marcelo got it and quickly played a through ball.

Gareth Bale received the ball on the left side of the penalty area, pushed it forward, dribbled past Varane, and sent a low cross pass to the front of the goal.

Lewandowski made another forward run and tapped the ball in with ease, sending it into Real Madrid’s net once again.

3-0!

“Hat-trick!”

“I can’t believe it, Lewandowski has scored a hat-trick!”

“It only took the first half for Bayswater Chinese to score three goals.”

“And all of them were Lewandowski’s goals.”

“The Polish centre-forward’s performance right now is simply unstoppable!”

The first half ended with Lewandowski’s hat-trick and Bayswater Chinese leading 3-0.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng gave his team high praise for their first-half performance.

Especially for the coordination in their quick counter-attacks after winning the ball back.

He also encouraged the players to keep up the good work.

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of fierce attacks.

It was hard to know what exactly happened to Real Madrid during the halftime break.

In any case, after the second half started, the Galácticos didn’t look very motivated.

Under Bayswater Chinese’s relentless bombardment, Real Madrid’s defense soon showed cracks.

From a cross from Marcelo on the left, Gareth Bale, in an aerial duel with Varane inside the left of the penalty box, headed the ball back to Toni Kroos at the arc of the penalty area.

The German midfielder had made an overlapping run to join the attack, but instead of shooting from a distance, he met the falling ball and pushed it to the feet of an unmarked Robert Lewandowski at the edge of the six-yard box.

The Pole controlled the ball, turned, and calmly slotted it into Diego López’s goal again.

At this point, the second half was only four minutes old.

“That’s the fourth goal!”

“A defeat is like a landslide!”

“Lewandowski has scored a four-goal haul!”

“This is simply incredible!”

“In the Premier League this season, the Pole scored a five-goal haul in nine minutes, shocking the world.”

“And now, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, against Real Madrid, he scores a four-goal haul again!”

“We don’t know how to describe our feelings right now.”

“Mourinho was too arrogant!”

“He shouldn’t have announced his starting lineup so early before the match.”

“He has to remember, he’s facing Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese. Revealing the starting lineup too early makes it easy for the opponent to specifically counter it.”

“And that’s exactly what happened to Real Madrid tonight!”

“From their opening tactics to their in-game adjustments, Bayswater Chinese gave Real Madrid almost no breathing room.”

“The Galácticos have been utterly and completely defeated in this match!”

And in the fifty-sixth minute, just seven minutes after Lewandowski’s goal, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in their own half again.

Piszczek successfully tackled C. Ronaldo, winning the ball, and passed it to Modrić.

The latter quickly distributed it to the right channel in the attacking third.

Gareth Bale, who had swapped positions with Walcott, received the ball in the right channel, suddenly changed direction and cut inside, running diagonally from the right channel towards the left side of the penalty arc.

The Welsh winger dribbled past both Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, and after reaching the left side of the arc, he suddenly unleashed a furious shot.

The football rocketed into Real Madrid’s goal at incredible speed.

Diego López was once again powerless, watching helplessly as the ball hit the back of the net.

5-0!

A worldie!

Gareth Bale excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

The entire Prudential Stadium once again erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.

The match hadn’t even reached the one-hour mark, and Bayswater Chinese were already five goals ahead!

Was this a Champions League quarter-final?

No, this was a crazy massacre!

Chapter 276: Super Striker! Chasing Messi! You Want to Hire Me to Coach Bayswater Chinese?

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, the entire Prudential Stadium erupted like a vast ocean!

Ninety thousand fans frantically surged from their seats, screaming their lungs out, cheering for the players on the pitch!

On the field, the Bayswater Chinese players were celebrating wildly, lost in the moment.

They embraced in small groups, celebrating a rare and massive victory in a Champions League knockout stage match.

5-0!

The circular, double-sided screen hanging high above the pitch displayed the final score of the match.

Robert Lewandowski had scored a four-goal haul!

In stark contrast to the cheering Bayswater Chinese players, the Real Madrid players looked exceptionally dejected.

Whether it was C. Ronaldo, Di María, or Džeko, they all stood with their heads hanging low or looked utterly furious.

With Real Madrid’s strength, even a loss should not have looked like this.

Why did they lose so badly?

No one knew!

Many Bayswater Chinese players were consoling their former teammates Džeko, Di María, and others.

But in the face of such a crushing defeat, no amount of comfort was of any use.

Real Madrid captain Ramos gritted his teeth and strode quickly towards the players’ tunnel.

He wanted to leave this godforsaken place as soon as possible!

He didn’t even want to face the head coach standing in front of the away team’s technical area.

But just as he was about to enter the tunnel, a Spanish journalist who had sprinted over from the media zone called out to him.

“Sergio, I’m a reporter from Spain’s Canal+. Can I ask you a few questions?”

As he spoke, the microphone was already in front of Ramos’s face.

“No time.”

Ramos pushed the microphone away and continued walking.

But the reporter didn’t give up, chasing after him. “After suffering such a devastating loss tonight, don’t you want to say something?”

Ramos still ignored him and kept walking.

“Losing by five goals is a humiliating defeat. As the team captain, don’t you owe the fans an explanation? Or shouldn’t you tell the Real Madrid fans what happened?”

The reporter’s sharp questioning made Ramos stop in his tracks.

He was a Real Madrid player, the captain of Real Madrid!

Seeing Ramos stop, the reporter immediately moved to face him, once again holding the microphone to his mouth.

“This humiliating defeat isn’t one person’s fault; the entire team is responsible, including me.”

“We lacked the right attitude for the game, myself included.”

“Everyone on our team, from top to bottom, needs to reflect.”

“Bayswater Chinese had a better attitude, were better prepared, and outperformed us in every aspect. That’s why they won, and they won easily.”

“And what about us? We can only put our faith in the second leg.”

“Down 5-0 in the first leg, we all know how difficult it will be to turn it around in the second leg!”

Ramos stated that from the moment the draw was announced, much of the public opinion was problematic.

For instance, he saw some Spanish media comments claiming that Premier League teams were weak this season.

In the past, they often occupied half the spots in the Champions League quarter-finals, but this season, three teams were knocked out in the Round of 16.

Many people felt that a Real Madrid victory was a foregone conclusion.

“But the truth is, in terms of overall strength, we held no advantage against Bayswater Chinese.”

“That in itself is not a big deal.”

“It’s not like we’ve never faced matches like this. If we could have treated this match like a Champions League final, giving our all every minute, we would have had a chance to win.”

“But the reality is, we couldn’t do it!”

Ramos then pointed the finger at the coaching staff.

He believed that if the players failed, the coaching staff, especially the head coach, was also overly arrogant.

“First, as one of the team’s captains, I still can’t understand why Casillas wasn’t allowed to play.”

“He is a goalkeeper with incredibly rich experience in major competitions, a captain who can bring confidence to the team. But our best player couldn’t represent the team. What was the reason for that?”

“Also, I’m very curious. In the dressing room, when the eleven players didn’t even know they were starting, why would the head coach publicly announce the starting eleven to the media a day in advance?”

“This gave our opponents ample time to prepare. How many tactics did they deploy specifically against us in the match? What was the purpose of this?”

“I don’t know!”

Finally, Ramos said that everyone at Real Madrid was responsible for such a disastrous loss.

But as for who should bear the primary responsibility, that was not for him, a player, to say.

…

Real Madrid Captain Slams the ‘Special One’ for His Arrogance!

Ramos’s post-match words to the media immediately caused a huge uproar in Spain.

Real Madrid losing 5-0 away to Bayswater Chinese had already sent the entire Spanish football world into a frenzy.

Now, Ramos stepping up to criticize Mourinho was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire.

At the post-match press conference, Mourinho denied Ramos’s claims.

The Portuguese firebrand stated that Real Madrid’s crushing defeat was not a matter of attitude, but simply that the team played poorly.

“Bayswater Chinese played very well. Both individually and as a team, they were better than us.”

As for Ramos’s comments?

“He’s a straightforward lad who says whatever is on his mind, but he doesn’t see the full picture.”

“But I can say with certainty that there was no problem with the attitude of either the coaching staff or the players!”

A reporter on the spot asked Mourinho why Casillas didn’t start.

Mourinho’s reason was, “Diego López’s performance has been consistently excellent. I felt he was the better fit.”

“In fact, during the match, Diego López made several brilliant saves!”

Casillas is the team captain, capable of bringing more confidence and experience?

“Maybe, but who knows?”

As for why he announced the starting lineup in advance, Mourinho also offered an explanation.

“Many people like to guess our starting lineup—who will play, who won’t. This creates instability within the team, psychologically. The players are always worried about whether they’ll get to play.”

“Many of them have told me they don’t like this feeling.”

“So, I wanted to announce my lineup early, to send a clear signal and let everyone focus on their preparations.”

Did announcing the lineup early give the opponent an advantage in their preparations?

“I don’t think so.”

“In fact, even if I didn’t announce it, they would have been able to guess it, just as I could guess Bayswater Chinese’s starting eleven. It’s the same principle.”

“But what does that prove?”

Mourinho believed that the media always wanted to stir up trouble, to create so-called conspiracy theories.

“But the fact is, there are no problems in our dressing room right now. My communication with the players is very smooth.”

“Yes, with every single player!”

“The door to my office is always open!”

At the end of the press conference, Mourinho, seemingly unable to contain his frustration, once again criticized Spain’s football philosophy.

“In my three years coaching Real Madrid, many people have lectured me with grand principles.”

“For example, Valdano, who is immortalized in Real Madrid’s history.”

“One of his grand principles is that in the world of football, anything is possible, provided the possibility exists!”

“I retorted at the time that in the world of football, anything is possible, without any preconditions!”

“When was the last time he coached? Ages ago?”

The scene was all too familiar to the reporters present.

Ever since he had bested Valdano in their power struggle, Mourinho had frequently used him as a punching bag.

Whether against Cruyff or Valdano, Mourinho’s most potent weapon was always the same.

The last time you coached was ages ago!

Mourinho’s remarks also caused a massive stir in Spain.

This time, it even involved Valdano, a Real Madrid club legend.

Valdano subsequently wrote a column in AS newspaper.

The headline was very striking.

Mourinho’s War is Splitting Real Madrid Apart!

In his column, Valdano revealed that Mourinho’s purpose in coming to Spain was to defeat Barcelona.

But the method the Portuguese firebrand employed was to wage a war!

And a war meant using any and all means to crush the opponent!

“But my dear friend, the adversarial relationship between Real Madrid and Barça exists only on the pitch. Off the pitch, the two sides cooperate in many areas, and their players have to cooperate in the national team.”

“When you try to sever all ties, to cast Barça as the enemy to be charged on the battlefield, demanding that everyone, from senior management to the coaching staff to the players, and even the staff, raise their spears for you, have you considered the consequences?”

“You are trying to reshape Real Madrid’s values!”

“You are even, intentionally or not, dismantling the peak dynasty of Spanish football from within!”

“When your players could no longer accept it, Casillas went from being a decorated and meritorious Real Madrid captain to a suspect in your eyes, overnight.”

“Well done. You not only divided Spain, but now you are also dividing Real Madrid.”

“When you portrayed Casillas as a disloyal person in front of the media, inciting the media and fans to criticize him, the Real Madrid dressing room immediately split into two factions.”

“Either they join you in ruthlessly attacking Casillas, or they choose silence.”

“In the face of overwhelming public opinion, anyone who speaks up for Casillas is branded as disloyal!”

“But, my dear friend, Real Madrid has been the most successful club in world football for over a century, with its own football culture and values, gathering the best and most talented football minds from around the world.”

The implication from the club legend was that Mourinho was fundamentally incompatible with Real Madrid’s football culture.

Regarding the crushing defeat, he believed Real Madrid had been beaten fair and square.

The real task was not to make excuses for the defeat, but to reflect on why it happened, and why they lost to Bayswater Chinese.

Valdano believed that in the match played in London, Bayswater Chinese demonstrated a clearly superior technical and tactical level compared to Real Madrid.

Yang Cheng’s team had crushed Real Madrid in every aspect!

“But that shouldn’t be the case, should it?”

“We, Real Madrid, have the world’s best players in every position.”

“So where does the gap lie?”

This tit-for-tat exchange of fire through the media immediately caused a huge tremor in Spain.

Marca described it as a disaster!

“Bayswater Chinese played a magnificent match.”

“The London team has one foot in the semi-final.”

Marca also heaped praise on Robert Lewandowski, describing him as having completely destroyed Real Madrid.

Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, AS newspaper, also believed that Lewandowski had performed a miracle.

Barça’s mouthpiece, Diario Sport, claimed that Lewandowski had utterly torn Real Madrid to shreds.

“His divine performance this season has made Robert Lewandowski the super striker every team craves!”

Mundo Deportivo also mocked Mourinho, claiming he had lost everything, down to his last pair of shorts.

They gave Bayswater Chinese very high praise.

As for Lewandowski, Mundo Deportivo believed that Paris Saint-Germain must be regretting not signing him for one hundred million pound sterling a year ago.

“If they knew Lewandowski would perform like this, the Qataris would have gladly added more money to their offer!”

…

If the Spanish media was a scene of mass despair, then in England, every single media outlet on London’s Fleet Street was celebrating as if it were a holiday.

Previously, the elimination of the Premier League’s three giants from the Champions League had left the English media with their fill of frustration.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had stepped forward to save the Premier League.

The 5-0 victory also gave the Fleet Street media a lot more confidence.

For instance, The Guardian ran the headline, “Bayswater Chinese Strips La Liga of its New Clothes!”

The implication was that La Liga’s supposed dominance was nothing but the emperor’s new clothes.

When it came to a crucial, cutthroat battle, the 5-0 scoreline reflected the true gap between the Premier League and La Liga.

“A Premier League team directs a goal-scoring feast in the Champions League knockout stage!”

The Guardian, naturally, did not forget Robert Lewandowski.

“He delivered a world-class performance, scoring a four-goal haul!”

The Times ran the front-page headline, “Lewy Demolishes Real Madrid!”

In the article, The Times stated that Robert Lewandowski had thoroughly humiliated the La Liga giants with his four goals.

The English media also revealed that in recent years, Real Madrid had poached quite a few players from Bayswater Chinese.

From Maicon to Džeko to Di María, Real Madrid had brought in many quality players from Bayswater Chinese.

“But it’s been proven that piling up superstars is useless. In the end, Real Madrid is no Bayswater Chinese!”

The Sun was particularly acidic: “The Great Lewy Sweeps Real Madrid Aside!”.

In the article, The Sun even began to look ahead, “As long as Yang Cheng and his team can maintain their current form, we believe no team in the Champions League will be able to stop them!”

Furthermore, The Sun revealed that Paris Saint-Germain’s interest in Lewandowski had never waned.

“But now, if PSG wants to buy Lewy for one hundred million pound sterling, they’ll probably have to make a new offer!”

The Daily Mirror also published a striking headline, “Real Madrid’s Nightmare!”

The report listed the matches between Yang Cheng’s teams and Real Madrid over the past few years.

“Yang Cheng has always been the most unwelcome head coach at the Bernabéu. We believe that after this battle, the Real Madrid fans’ hatred for him will reach a new level.”

The Daily Telegraph believed that Robert Lewandowski had successfully elevated his career to a new level this season, writing a new chapter in history.

“His performance this season has been extremely convincing. He is the top goal-scorer in world football today!”

“On par with even Messi and C. Ronaldo!”

The Daily Mail also took a swipe at Real Madrid.

“The Galácticos’ superstars were limp and powerless at Prudential Stadium, looking as if they hadn’t woken up.”

…

Over the weekend, in the 32nd round of the Premier League.

It was almost comical.

Since the three Premier League giants had all been knocked out of the Champions League, they were now playing one match a week.

As a result, they were performing better in the league.

With their strength, if they still performed poorly with one match a week, they really deserved to be taken out and shot.

Unfortunately for them, the two Manchester clubs faced each other in a local derby this round.

In the end, after ninety minutes of fierce battle, Manchester United lost 2-1 to Manchester City at home.

The two sides were tied 1-1 for the first sixty minutes of the match.

But in the final moments, a goal from Kaká in the 88th minute helped Manchester City take three points from their away trip.

Ferguson was very dissatisfied with the result but could do nothing about it.

Arsenal defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 away.

Chelsea, participating in the Europa League, came from a goal down to beat Sunderland 2-1 at home.

Liverpool also defeated West Ham United 2-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, hosted Wigan Athletic at home.

Long before the match started, Robert Lewandowski had sought out Yang Cheng.

The Pole felt he was in excellent form, his physical condition was great, and he didn’t need much squad rotation. He was eager to play more matches.

“I want to score more goals!”

Lewandowski was exceptionally determined.

Yang Cheng understood Lewandowski’s feelings.

So far this season, he had already scored thirty-six goals in the Premier League, second only to Messi’s forty-three goals on the European top scorer chart.

But after the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, news from the Spanish media was that Messi had injured his thigh and would miss the weekend’s league match.

Therefore, Lewandowski was now single-mindedly focused on boosting his goal tally.

At the very least, he wanted to get closer to Messi!

Of course, Yang Cheng was supportive.

Thus, the two made a gentleman’s agreement.

In the weekend match against Wigan Athletic, within the first sixty minutes, Bayswater Chinese was already leading 2-1 thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsey and Giroud.

But Yang Cheng still brought on Robert Lewandowski in the 65th minute.

After coming on as a substitute, the Polish centre-forward took only three minutes to breach Wigan Athletic’s goal.

Then, in the 81st minute, he scored another goal, completing his brace!

This made it crystal clear to Yang Cheng on the sidelines.

When a super striker as formidable as Lewandowski was dead set on scoring, the energy he unleashed was astonishing.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-1 at home.

After the match, Lewandowski was still looking annoyed in the dressing room.

He had missed a chance to score a hat-trick in the final moments of the game.

…

On the evening of April 9th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Bayswater Chinese away against Real Madrid.

As the most unwelcome person at the Bernabéu, the moment Yang Cheng stepped into the stadium, the Real Madrid fans greeted him with a deafening roar of boos and curses.

This left him feeling quite speechless.

Before this match, the Spanish media had been hyping it up, calling for Real Madrid to put on a proud performance at home.

Down 5-0 from the away leg, the chances of a comeback at home were virtually nil.

But they hoped Real Madrid could at least beat their opponents at home to save their dignity.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain even made a special appearance at the stadium to cheer on Real Madrid.

Mourinho’s team knew that overturning the first-leg deficit was an impossible task, but they still made an effort.

From the first minute of the match, they chose to go on the attack.

The fans in the stadium were also very enthusiastic, constantly cheering for the Real Madrid players.

They weren’t demanding a comeback on aggregate score; they just wanted a home victory to save face!

With a 5-0 lead from the home leg, what tactics should be adopted for the away game?

Before the match, many people had offered Yang Cheng advice.

Quite a few even suggested that Yang Cheng should adopt a defend and counter-attack strategy.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s specialty.

Moreover, Yang Cheng’s team was still the best defensive team in Europe.

But Yang Cheng did not do so.

He still chose to attack.

And he did it away from home, going head-to-head with Real Madrid in an all-out offensive battle!

From the very first minute, both teams threw caution to the wind and pushed forward to attack.

But in the midfield, Bayswater Chinese clearly suppressed Real Madrid.

The midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić tightly controlled Real Madrid’s midfield, making it difficult for the Galácticos to pass the ball smoothly.

Real Madrid’s counter-attack strategy involved bypassing the midfield quickly.

Compared to the first leg, Mourinho had made some adjustments to his attacking approach, relying more on long passes to find Džeko.

It was a rather simple and crude tactic.

Yang Cheng guessed it was likely due to C. Ronaldo being neutralized by Piszczek in the first leg.

Just two minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had the first shot on goal.

But in the 4th minute, Real Madrid also missed a golden opportunity.

It was Džeko who won the first ball in the attacking third, laid it back for the dead-eyed Mesut Özil, who then played a through ball into space.

C. Ronaldo made a high-speed run, but Piszczek chased him down desperately all the way and successfully blocked C. Ronaldo’s shot from the left side of the penalty area.

And then, in the 11th minute of the first half, Modrić successfully intercepted the ball near the halfway line, carried it forward into Real Madrid’s final third, and quickly distributed it to Theo Walcott up front.

The Little Tiger dribbled down the right flank, looking to go to the byline for a cross.

But having learned their lesson from the first leg, Coentrão defended his position well this time.

Walcott’s cross was promptly blocked by Ramos at the right corner of the penalty area.

The ball still fell to Coentrão.

But before Coentrão could control the ball, Modrić, who had surged up from behind, immediately rushed forward to press.

The Croatian midfielder was short and agile; close-quarters combat was his strong suit.

Once he got tight, Coentrão struggled to control the ball and was immediately dispossessed by Modrić.

After winning the ball, Modrić took just one touch to reach the edge of the box on the right and immediately sent in a cross pass.

The ball zipped right past Ramos and fell to Robert Lewandowski, who was positioned just to the right of the penalty spot.

The Polish centre-forward was already poised and ready, just waiting for the ball.

He used his body to shield Varane, and as soon as the ball arrived, he trapped it, turned, and fired off a powerful shot.

With lightning speed, the ball shot into the left side of Real Madrid’s goal.

Goalkeeper Diego López once again showed the same weakness as in the first leg.

“GOAL!!!”

“Just eleven minutes into the first half, Bayswater Chinese has scored the opening goal!”

“1-0!”

“The aggregate score is now 6-0!”

“Even at the Bernabéu Stadium, Bayswater Chinese still chooses to go head-to-head with Real Madrid in an all-out attack.”

“In that last attack, Bayswater Chinese pressed high up the pitch and successfully won the ball back.”

“Lewandowski’s trap and turn to shoot was beautifully executed.”

“But we have to say, Diego López should have come off his line immediately. That would have maximized his chances of closing down Lewandowski’s shooting angle.”

“But the Real Madrid keeper chose to stay near his goal line.”

“If that had been Casillas, he would have come off his line early, and perhaps that goal wouldn’t have been conceded.”

“But now, it’s too late to say anything!”

“With an aggregate score of 6-0, this is now an impossible target for Real Madrid to chase!”

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued.

Real Madrid’s morale took a huge hit, while Bayswater Chinese’s spirits soared.

Just three minutes later, a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos on the left flank accurately found its target in the penalty area on the right.

Robert Lewandowski made a quick forward run, getting ahead of Ramos, jumped to chest trap the ball, and before it hit the ground, he unleashed a powerful shot with his left foot.

But this close-range shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Diego López.

Before the Real Madrid players could recover from the scare of that shot, Bayswater Chinese quickly launched another attack.

In the 17th minute, Marcelo advanced with the ball on the left and completed a brilliant combination with Gareth Bale.

The two first executed a one-two, but after Marcelo charged into Real Madrid’s final third, he was blocked by Sami Khedira and couldn’t advance further.

Just when everyone thought the attack had stalled and needed to be reorganized, Gareth Bale suddenly burst forward at incredible speed, took the ball from Marcelo’s feet, and sprinted like lightning towards the byline.

The Welshman used his speed advantage to power past Álvaro Arbeloa’s defense, reaching the byline just outside the penalty area on the left. He used his body to hold off Arbeloa and carried the ball into the box from the byline.

Astonishing speed, excellent physical strength, and solid technical skills.

All of this drew gasps of shock from the entire Bernabéu Stadium.

After bursting into the Real Madrid penalty area, Gareth Bale was outside the byline, but the ball was inside.

Seizing the opportunity, he sent a cut-back pass to the left side of the penalty area.

At that moment, Robert Lewandowski arrived at full tilt.

Meeting the low cut-back pass with no defenders around him, the Pole controlled it with his right foot.

Before Ramos could close him down, he struck the ball again with his right.

The ball shot with incredible speed into the bottom right corner of Real Madrid’s goal.

Goalkeeper Diego López made a desperate dive, but he was powerless to stop it.

2-0!

“My God!”

“Just seventeen minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese already has two goals in hand!”

“The aggregate score is now 7-0!”

“I think Mourinho needs to seriously consider what they should do next. Should they continue to attack? Or should they choose a more cautious approach and strengthen their defense?”

“For Real Madrid playing at home, this is very difficult, and not an easy choice to make.”

“However, we must remind Mourinho and his Real Madrid players that continuing to trade blows with Bayswater Chinese could very well result in another heavy defeat, just like the first leg!”

“Do they want to defend solidly? Or continue to attack?”

“Mourinho must make a decision!”

When Robert Lewandowski scored the second goal, the entire Bernabéu Stadium fell into a dead silence.

Over seventy thousand Real Madrid fans looked on, completely bewildered.

They really didn’t know what to do.

Because in the current situation, any choice seemed to be the wrong one.

Yet the state of the match forced them to make a choice.

Continue attacking? Or defend?

It was a very cruel question!

Mourinho didn’t hesitate for long. He chose to defend!

However, when the Real Madrid fans in the stands saw their players on the pitch retreat to play defend and counter-attack, they responded with boos.

And the boos grew louder and louder.

Clearly, many of the Real Madrid fans present felt this was the action of cowards!

It didn’t match the noble identity of Real Madrid!

They would rather die on their feet than live on their knees!

…

“This actually highlights the most fundamental difference between Mourinho and Real Madrid!”

Yang Cheng heard the overwhelming boos.

He even felt a little sympathy for Mourinho.

In his previous life, he had also coached Real Madrid for a few years, so he knew how picky and hard to please these fans were.

He also knew how shitty the Spanish media could be!

And he understood even better how complex the internal relationships and stakes at Real Madrid were.

But Mourinho’s tragedy was destined from the very beginning!

It was just a choice Real Madrid made out of desperation in their quest to challenge Barça. A desperate person will try any remedy.

How could two completely different technical and tactical philosophies ever match?

But the most ridiculous thing in this world is human sentiment!

Just like in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Vilanova, Barça chose Martino.

Martino wanted to reform Barça, adding more elements to their original possession-based game, including long passes, speeding up transitions, and so on.

And the result?

He was savaged by the Barça fans.

But after Martino was sacked and Luis Enrique took over with more or less the same ideas, the Barça fans accepted it.

Also, the kind of football Xavi played when he coached Barça, if it had been any other head coach, even a world-famous one, they would have been drowned in criticism.

Cruyff would have been turning in his grave!

But Xavi was able to do it for so long.

So, sometimes, judging heroes by success and failure is right, but also not right.

“Mourinho should never have come to coach Real Madrid in the first place,” Brian Kidd also sighed deeply, feeling it was a pity.

To end up in such an ugly situation now, what was the point?

Yang Cheng didn’t know what to say about it.

Mourinho coaching Real Madrid seemed like an unavoidable tragedy.

Because there was one thing where the Portuguese firebrand and Real Madrid were a perfect match.

They both wanted to defeat Barça!

Back in 2008, Mourinho once had a chance to coach Barça, but unfortunately, the technical team led by Txiki Begiristain strongly supported Pep Guardiola, causing Mourinho to miss out on the Barça job.

This became the biggest knot in Mourinho’s heart!

Because he came from Barça!

He spent several years as an assistant to Robson and van Gaal at Barça, taking his first steps in coaching there, which later gave him the opportunity to return to the Primeira Liga.

So he longed to return to Barça.

This perfectly illustrates the saying: To become rich and famous but not return to one’s hometown is like wearing beautiful clothes to walk in the dark.

No matter how much Mourinho attacked Barça, how he mocked, satirized, and ridiculed Barça, what was etched in his bones was the desire for Barça’s recognition.

He craved to achieve the same success at Barça as Pep Guardiola!

He just never got the chance!

Perhaps, many years later, when Mourinho is older and has gradually let go of many things, he might write an autobiography and finally be able to face this complex emotion he has for Barça.

Of course, in Yang Cheng’s view, the outcome of Mourinho coaching Barça would probably be similar to him coaching Real Madrid.

But that’s how ‘the one that got away’ is born, isn’t it? From a missed connection, a twist of fate.

…

The first half ended 2-0.

But after the second half began, Real Madrid still wanted to launch an offensive wave.

Bayswater Chinese’s game plan was clear: if Real Madrid dared to attack, they would seize any opportunity and attack ruthlessly.

In the 50th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack after winning the ball.

Gareth Bale went on a wild run, breaking through to the edge of Real Madrid’s penalty area before passing across to an unmarked Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward had been keeping pace, and after receiving Bale’s pass, he took a touch into the box and, near the penalty spot, unleashed a thunderous shot.

The shot was powerful but aimed too finely for the corner.

A loud bang echoed through the stadium as the football smashed against the underside of the crossbar and bounced back into play.

The Polish striker’s follow-up shot was immediately blocked out for a corner by Ramos.

Not long after, another quick counter-attack down the left was switched to the far post.

Theo Walcott, completely unmarked, had his shot miraculously saved by a diving Diego López.

Two consecutive shots that almost resulted in goals.

This sent a cold sweat down the spines of everyone at Real Madrid.

Everyone now clearly realized that scoring a goal without conceding was basically impossible.

In the end, thanks to two early goals, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid 2-0 away from home.

After losing the first leg 5-0, Mourinho’s team lost again at the Bernabéu Stadium, this time 2-0.

With an aggregate score of 7-0, Real Madrid was brutally eliminated by Bayswater Chinese!

Yang Cheng’s team stormed into the Champions League semi-finals with unstoppable momentum!

…

Despite the crushing defeat, Mourinho still invited Yang Cheng for a drink after the match.

However, to Yang Cheng’s surprise, there was not much resentment or anger on Mourinho’s face.

This was quite different from what was rumored in the media.

“You didn’t fly into a rage in the dressing room just now?” Yang Cheng asked tentatively.

Mourinho gave him a look that said, “You underestimate me.” “Do you think I’m Ferguson?”

After saying that, they both burst into laughter simultaneously.

This feeling of secretly poking fun at a common rival was actually quite nice.

“Actually, after the first leg, I had a long talk with Florentino Pérez. We laid a lot of things on the table, so I’ve let it go,” Mourinho said, though he couldn’t help but sigh.

Could he really let it go?

Three years ago that summer, he had arrived at this stadium full of confidence and hope, signing that coaching contract.

But now, three years later, to leave in such a manner, how could he be content?

“Try to look on the bright side. Coaching is like that,” Yang Cheng could only offer a word of comfort.

“Bullshit. You’re the boss, we’re the employees. Our coaching environment, how could you understand?” Mourinho laughed and cursed.

Yang Cheng smiled bitterly.

He really wanted to say, “Listen, in my past life, I had it way rougher than you, okay?”

“How about this, let’s make a deal. Forget about Chelsea. Come work for me. I’ll build you a strong and powerful squad,” Yang Cheng suggested with a smile.

Mourinho’s eyes instantly lit up. “You want to hire me to coach Bayswater Chinese?”

“What are you thinking?” Yang Cheng exclaimed, having been misunderstood!

“I thought we were friends, and you’re trying to steal my job?”

The two of them burst into laughter again.

“Then is it OGC Nice? That doesn’t seem right either. Ronald Koeman’s team is doing quite well, and to be honest, I don’t really rate Ligue 1.”

Yang Cheng didn’t argue, but said lightly, “Actually, I think you’re more suited to coaching a Serie A team.”

“Serie A?” Mourinho was surprised.

“You have a team in Serie A too?”

That would be big news.

“Not yet, but I’m in contact. Maybe I will soon,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

He had been looking for a team since last summer, with Serie A and La Liga as his top choices.

He had looked around in La Liga but hadn’t found a suitable option.

On the other hand, a good opportunity had come up in Serie A.

So, he was currently in active talks.

“AC Milan? Inter Milan? Juventus? Or AS Roma?” Mourinho now had a gossipy look on his face.

Yang Cheng pouted in frustration. “No, look at me. Do I look like someone who can afford such a top-tier powerhouse club?”

“Aren’t you a rich kid? And the rumors are flying that your family has two publicly listed companies, an investment firm, plus you personally hold shares in companies like Apple and Tesla.”

“You should be very rich. You can’t afford a Serie A giant?”

Yang Cheng wore an expression of someone who had lost the will to live. “I have no doubt now that you’re deliberately saying that to get back at me.”

Mourinho roared with laughter.

His mood, which wasn’t too downcast from the loss to begin with, had now lightened considerably.

“If it’s not one of those four teams, I’m not interested in the others,” Mourinho said, half-jokingly.

Yang Cheng had expected as much.

Forget those four teams, even AS Roma probably couldn’t attract the current Mourinho.

Was he kidding?

With an offer from Chelsea on the table, who would go to AS Roma?

“But let me tell you, the situation in Serie A is really bad right now. You’d better be mentally prepared,” Mourinho warned.

He had coached in Serie A before, so he knew it well.

Yang Cheng, of course, knew.

He and his team had conducted thorough market research.

Even the choice of a team was made with extreme caution.

But he had always believed that now was the best time to enter one of the top four leagues.

Because in a few years, the globalization of the major leagues would gradually unfold, and broadcasting fees, copyright, and global revenues would get higher and higher.

By then, the market value of clubs would also rise. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Of course, all of this would still depend on his own painstaking management.

…

After Bayswater Chinese thrashed Real Madrid 7-0 on aggregate, it once again sparked a frenzy among media and fans worldwide.

During the Round of 16, the successive defeats of Premier League teams had disappointed Premier League fans everywhere.

But now, Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding performance had rekindled hope in everyone.

Crushing Real Madrid by seven goals over two legs, Yang Cheng’s team had the air of a champion!

In another quarter-final match that Yang Cheng was most concerned about, OGC Nice from Ligue 1 defeated Serie A’s Juventus 2-0 at home in the first leg, pulling off another upset.

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte believed that a major reason for the away loss was that his team was caught off guard and conceded a goal just one minute into the game, before they could find their footing.

That was what led to the away defeat.

But in the second leg of the Champions League, back at home, Juventus still couldn’t overcome OGC Nice.

The two sides ultimately drew 1-1.

Christian Benteke scored a goal for OGC Nice.

And it was the goal that broke the deadlock.

Juventus only managed to equalize in the second half.

Ultimately, OGC Nice defeated Juventus 3-1 on aggregate, successfully advancing to the Champions League semi-finals.

The other two teams to reach the semi-finals were Bayern Munich, who eliminated Borussia Dortmund, and the La Liga powerhouse Barcelona, led by Messi.

According to the previous draw, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the semi-finals would be Barcelona.

Bayern Munich would face OGC Nice of Ligue 1.

This created a very interesting situation.

The Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 each had one team in the semi-finals.

This, in turn, made the Italian media lose their composure!

Why were there no Serie A teams?

Could it be that the current Serie A had fallen to a level even below Ligue 1?

Looking at Juventus’s loss to OGC Nice, it really seemed to be the case.

The Italian media immediately initiated a wave of introspection in the country, calling for football professionals to reflect on what had happened to Italian football over the years.

How could the former “Little World Cup” now be inferior to even Ligue 1?

Meanwhile, in Spain, many media outlets began to build hype, believing that Barça would avenge Real Madrid.

The Catalonian media, in particular, made bold declarations.

Barça would step over Bayswater Chinese’s corpse to enter the Champions League final and win the title!

“The championship that Guardiola couldn’t win will now be won under Vilanova!”

And the reason for the Catalonian media’s brimming confidence was that an early-returning Messi, despite only playing as a substitute for over twenty minutes, still scored a goal.

As long as Messi was there, Barça was confident!

Chapter 277: Back to the Final! Vindicating the Premier League with Strength! A Hat-trick at Camp Nou!

After the game at the Bernabéu, the Bayswater Chinese team returned to London without stopping.

Over the weekend, Yang Cheng led his team to Wembley Stadium for an “away game” challenge against Manchester City.

This was the FA Cup semi-final.

One side had meticulously prepared for a whole week, while the other was distracted by the Champions League and had just played an away game against Real Madrid.

Yang Cheng had no choice but to implement squad rotation for the match.

After a grueling thirty-five minutes, the score was still 0-0.

But in the 36th minute, during a quick counter-attack from Manchester City, Agüero delivered a brilliant pass. When Kaká attempted to pull it back for Agüero, Pepe, who had tracked back in time, intercepted it.

However, the ball still fell to Kaká’s feet.

From the edge of the box, the Brazilian unleashed a long shot that pierced the goal guarded by Courtois.

1-0!

This was still within Yang Cheng’s range of acceptance.

He had anticipated this kind of situation before the match and was prepared to launch a counter-offensive in the second half.

What truly surprised him was in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. Following a corner kick, the Bayswater Chinese players cleared the ball with a header, but it landed on the outskirts of the penalty area.

Gareth Barry sent the ball back into the box.

The defenders had marked Vincent Kompany and the others but had overlooked Agüero.

The Argentine headed the ball in from close range, finding the back of the net once again.

2-0!

Throughout the first half, the Bayswater Chinese team had a possession rate of 62.8% and had taken more shots than Manchester City.

The result, however, was a two-goal deficit.

After switching sides for the second half, the Bayswater Chinese began to press forward, launching an all-out attack.

Manchester City, on the other hand, continued to employ their defend and counter-attack tactics.

Starting from the 60th minute, Yang Cheng made consecutive substitutions.

Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale came on at the same time.

Just six minutes later, following a long pass from Javi Martínez, Lewandowski shook off Jérôme Boateng’s defense inside the box. He appeared to the left of the penalty spot, controlled the ball with his chest, and hooked a shot past the Manchester City goalkeeper.

1-2!

Having pulled one back, the Bayswater Chinese launched relentless attacks.

In the 71st minute, Eden Hazard tackled Pablo Zabaleta on the right side of the penalty area, then cut inside to the left of the arc and sent a through ball.

Lewandowski made a quick forward run and shot, finding the net again.

However, the linesman raised his flag, and the head referee blew his whistle, signaling that Lewandowski was offside. The goal was disallowed.

According to slow-motion replays, whether Lewandowski was offside was highly debatable.

This decision gave Manchester City a chance to breathe.

Ancelotti acted decisively, making two substitutions at once, both aimed at strengthening the defense.

Afterward, Manchester City began to sit back and defend.

The Bayswater Chinese team completely dominated the remaining twenty-plus minutes of the match, pinning Manchester City in their own half and unleashing a barrage of attacks on the Blue Moons’ goal.

But they just couldn’t score again.

Their best chance came in the 82nd minute. A pass from Gareth Bale found Lewandowski, who attempted a sliding shot from the edge of the six-yard box, only for goalkeeper Joe Hart to make a seemingly miraculous save.

In the 88th minute, while under close marking from Vincent Kompany, Gareth Bale controlled the ball, turned, and broke into the penalty area, where he was tripped by the onrushing Joe Hart.

The Bayswater Chinese team protested, claiming it should have been a penalty kick.

But the head referee ruled that Joe Hart had touched the ball first, so the protest was invalid.

Slow-motion replays showed that he had touched Gareth Bale first.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese team lost 1-2 to Manchester City in their “away game” in the FA Cup semi-final.

The Blue Moons advanced smoothly to the FA Cup final.

The other team to reach the final was Chelsea.

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng spoke out in defense of his players.

“Our players were brought down many times on the pitch, especially inside the opponent’s penalty area.”

“There are six referees on the field, and not a single one of them saw that it should have been a penalty!”

“This is a very bad situation!”

Yang Cheng strongly suggested that the Premier League should introduce a video referee.

“If there were a video referee, we would have won this match 3-2!”

Ancelotti stated that he did not have a clear view of whether Joe Hart had brought down Gareth Bale, nor could he accurately judge if Lewandowski’s goal was offside.

But he did admit one thing.

“We weren’t in our best form for this match!”

“Even though we weren’t facing a full-strength Bayswater Chinese team, we still couldn’t gain an advantage.”

Ancelotti said this was very concerning.

“But in any case, we’ve reached the FA Cup final, and we are striving for the championship!”

…

Due to the FA Cup, the Bayswater Chinese team’s 33rd Premier League match was postponed to midweek.

In this round, the Bayswater Chinese traveled north to Liverpool to face Everton in an away game.

With a packed schedule, Yang Cheng once again made appropriate squad rotations.

Just two minutes into the game, Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

But just before the end of the first half, Everton managed to equalize, with Steven Pienaar as the goalscorer.

In the 72nd minute of the second half, Robert Lewandowski, who had come on as a substitute, scored another goal, putting his team back in the lead.

This was also the last goal of the match.

Ultimately, the Bayswater Chinese team defeated Everton 2-1 away from home.

In other matches of the same round, Arsenal beat Norwich 3-1 at home.

Liverpool secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Reading.

Manchester United defeated Stoke City 2-0 away.

Manchester City beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at home.

Only Chelsea drew 2-2 at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

Although The Blues had brought in several strong players, they still lacked overall competitiveness.

…

After playing the 33rd round of the Premier League on April 17th, the Bayswater Chinese team began to fully focus on preparations for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

The match was scheduled for April 23rd.

There were only six days left.

For Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, the next six days were undoubtedly precious.

Yang Cheng even rejected Robert Lewandowski’s request to play in the weekend’s Premier League match.

He demanded that the entire team devote two hundred percent of their focus to the upcoming preparations.

When the 34th round of the Premier League arrived on the weekend, the Bayswater Chinese team fielded a lineup of all substitutes and rotational players.

Stoke City, on the other hand, sent out their full-strength squad, lining up in a 4-4-2 formation for the away game.

It was a typical English-style tactical setup.

The home team struggled until the 44th minute, when Kyle Walker finally broke the deadlock with a long shot that found its way past the Stoke City goalkeeper.

In the 56th minute of the second half, Giroud’s goal essentially sealed the victory.

But in the 74th and 87th minutes, the Bayswater Chinese team conceded two goals.

The tall center-forward Peter Crouch, who came on as a substitute, performed very well, providing one assist and one goal to help Stoke City level the score.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese team drew 2-2 at home against Stoke City.

Throughout the match, the Bayswater Chinese team’s performance was far from ideal.

This was especially true in the second half.

After Crouch came on, neither José Fonte nor Stones had an effective way to contain the tall center-forward.

Ultimately, the lanky Englishman made his impact felt.

Yang Cheng could do nothing about it.

Since all the team’s resources and energy were invested in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Yang Cheng could accept a draw in this home game.

The British media and fans didn’t have much to say about the Bayswater Chinese team’s draw.

In fact, not many people cared whether they won this match or not.

The Bayswater Chinese currently held a lead at the top of the league table. As long as they could win the title in the end, a win or a loss here didn’t matter.

Right now, the most important thing was the Champions League!

…

On the evening of April 23rd, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Champions League semi-final, first leg. The Bayswater Chinese team hosted Barcelona.

The moment the Hungarian referee, Kassai, blew the whistle to start the match, Barça, who kicked off first, began with Messi and Neymar.

But the ball wasn’t passed back to their defense.

When it reached Xavi, he immediately sent it back to Messi in the attacking third.

As the Argentine received the ball and looked to drive forward, he found himself surrounded by three of Bayswater Chinese’s midfielders, led by Nemanja Matić.

The sight was like a bucket of cold water dousing his intent to charge forward.

He had to stop near the center circle in the attacking half and pass the ball back again.

He knew he couldn’t break through the three-man midfield of Matić, Modrić, and Toni Kroos on his own.

After he passed the ball back, the Bayswater Chinese team continued to press forward.

Especially their three midfielders.

When Messi saw Bayswater Chinese’s entire formation pushing up, particularly the three midfielders who seemed to ignore him as they rapidly pressed forward to apply pressure in the attacking half, he was somewhat astonished.

Were the Bayswater Chinese’s tactics this aggressive tonight?

The next moment, the Argentine quickly turned and ran back.

He needed to drop back to help his team with their distribution from midfield.

But at this moment, it was as if the Bayswater Chinese team intended to make Barça’s own half their ball-winning zone.

This made the Barça players very uncomfortable.

Because they all knew what kind of backline their team had.

Facing an attacking trident of Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale, could Barça’s defense hold up?

Lewandowski and Bale were two of the top attacking players in European football this season!

The three-man midfield of Busquets, Xavi, and Iniesta was also aware of this.

So, from the start of the game, the distance between Barça’s midfield and their defense was kept quite compact.

But this, in turn, only fueled the “flames” of the Bayswater Chinese team’s high press.

What was even harder for everyone at Barça to accept was that just 4 minutes and 27 seconds into the first half, the Bayswater Chinese launched an attack down the right flank.

Modrić made a quick forward run, receiving a pass from Gareth Bale in the half-space, and appeared on the right side outside the penalty area.

This was on Yang Cheng’s instructions.

The focus of the Bayswater Chinese’s attack in this match was the wings, with attacks from the flanks of the penalty area being a key priority.

As soon as Modrić received the ball, he was pressured by Alba, forcing him to stop and pass back to the overlapping Piszczek.

At this point, Neymar up front hadn’t tracked back, but Iniesta from the midfield had.

As Piszczek received the ball close to the right touchline, he glanced forward and, with his right foot, casually flicked the ball up.

The ball sailed directly over Iniesta and landed on the right side outside the arc of the penalty area.

At almost the same instant, Robert Lewandowski sprinted over from the base of the arc to receive the ball.

Gareth Bale, meanwhile, took off, making a rapid diagonal run into the right side of the penalty area.

The connection between Piszczek and Lewandowski had always been a very important attacking channel for the Bayswater Chinese team.

The two national team teammates had an excellent understanding.

Piszczek’s chipped pass was clearly not intended for Lewandowski to control.

So, as the Polish centre-forward chased it down and saw Bale making a run, he immediately flicked the ball on with his head, directing the dropping ball towards the right side of the box.

But he knew Piqué was nearby, so he didn’t head it high; instead, he directed it for a bounce on the ground.

The ball landed perfectly, just out of Piqué’s reach and directly in the path of the advancing Gareth Bale.

The Welshman sprinted forward at top speed, caught up to it, and used his left foot to guide the bouncing ball ahead of himself.

This move instantly made it impossible for Piqué to stop or clear the ball.

Next, as Gareth Bale charged towards the right side just outside the six-yard box, he feigned a right-footed shot or cross.

This panicked Piqué, who, without a second thought, immediately went to ground for a block.

He wanted to use his body to block both a cross to the middle and a shot on goal from Gareth Bale.

But he never would have imagined that Bale had no intention of following through. Instead, he used his right foot to pull the ball back, sidestepped slightly, turned, and gently pushed the ball horizontally with his left foot.

This move perfectly evaded the sprawling Piqué on the grass.

Busquets, who was behind Gareth Bale at this moment, dared not make any move.

Meanwhile, the other centre-back, Bartra, was only just now rushing over from the center.

But as soon as Gareth Bale adjusted the ball, he unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

The football shot out like a cannonball, flying at incredible speed towards the left side of the Barça goal.

Goalkeeper Valdés reacted quickly and did his utmost to make the save.

But the shot was taken from the edge of the right corner of the six-yard box, practically point-blank range.

Gareth Bale’s shot was thunderously powerful, and the ball traveled so fast that it gave Valdés no time to react.

The ball hit the back of the net!

“Goal!!!!”

“Just over four minutes into the game, the Bayswater Chinese have executed a brilliant attacking combination!”

“The attack was orchestrated from the right flank. Piszczek with a chipped pass, Lewandowski with an aerial connection, flicking it on with a header for a beautiful assist.”

“Gareth Bale cut past Piqué in the box and finished with a powerful left-footed shot!”

“1-0!”

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a thunderous roar in an instant.

All the fans were venting their passionate shouts!

A goal just four minutes into the game?

“We always say that the Bayswater Chinese are very good at the opening blitz.”

“And now, Yang Cheng’s team has proven it once again.”

“Barça’s habit of starting slowly has been exposed again in this match. The difference is, the Bayswater Chinese have enough attacking power to capitalize on these weaknesses.”

“It’s worth noting that in the Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, the Bayswater Chinese also scored right at the start of the game.”

“That time it was five minutes.”

“But this time, they only needed a little over four minutes.”

“The Barça players still need to be careful. When the Bayswater Chinese played Real Madrid, they scored two goals in the opening stage, and it all happened within eight minutes.”

“They need to pull themselves together and, no matter what, withstand this opening blitz from the Bayswater Chinese!”

…

Yang Cheng paced back and forth in front of the home team’s technical area on the sidelines.

Even after Gareth Bale’s goal, he continued to signal for his team to press forward and attack.

He wanted to use midfield pressure to contain Barça!

Let’s not forget last season’s victory in the Champions League final!

Compared to a year ago, the current Barça team was a year older.

Puyol was even starting to be phased out of the starting lineup, forcing them to promote the young Bartra to centre-back.

More importantly, the head coach had changed from Pep Guardiola to Vilanova.

Before Guardiola left, there was a saying.

Barça is so strong that even if you tied a dog to the coach’s bench, they could still win the title!

Even many in the Catalonian media and fanbase felt this way.

But that was the biggest joke of all!

After Vilanova took over Barça, he largely continued the tactical style of the Guardiola era. However, in many details, he had to accommodate the veterans in the squad, forcing him to make adjustments.

This led to Barça losing many things.

For example, in the two Super Cup matches at the beginning of the season, they were completely suppressed by Mourinho’s Real Madrid, which had not yet been torn apart by internal conflict.

This season in the Champions League, especially after entering the knockout stage, Barça’s performances had been bumpy.

The intensity of their high press, which used to be their specialty, had clearly weakened.

The overall stability of the team had also declined.

This resulted in Barça having inconsistent performances in several clashes between top teams this season.

At the very least, they were not as stable as before.

And everyone knew that the reasons for these problems had long been exposed by Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

It was the aging of Xavi and Iniesta.

When they could no longer cover as much ground as they did in their youth, Barça’s entire possession-based system would naturally run into problems.

A sharp attack is built on the foundation of a solid defense!

Any fan who witnessed the collapse of the first Galácticos era would not deny this.

Although Guardiola’s Dream Team Three did not have a top-tier defense, they could suppress opponents with relentless pressing high up the pitch and exquisite possession football.

This was in itself a defensive strategy.

As Cruyff once said, as long as you have firm control of the ball, the opponent cannot score.

But now, the players could no longer be “relentless,” their running distance had decreased, their passing and possession were no longer as exquisite, and naturally, defensive problems arose.

If this was a team issue, then the biggest difference between Vilanova and Guardiola was their understanding of Barça’s possession system and their relationship with the players.

The former determined that when Vilanova set up his team, he couldn’t be like Guardiola, where the team’s possession system always remained fluid no matter how the lineup was adjusted.

The latter determined just how many players were willing to play their hearts out for Vilanova.

Especially after Vilanova took a leave of absence due to illness.

No one had expected that the head coach, who had a falling out with Guardiola last summer to take over Barça, would be diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer after taking the job.

This was very unfortunate news, but for Barça, it was also a painful blow.

At the same time, it was destined that Vilanova could not fully focus on coaching.

Therefore, for this match, Yang Cheng was even more confident than he was during the quarter-finals!

…

After conceding an early goal, Barça ultimately did not follow Real Madrid’s script.

Or perhaps, they held out for ten minutes longer than Real Madrid.

In the 18th minute of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese team launched another attack.

Toni Kroos switched play with a diagonal long pass, suddenly sending the ball from the left flank to the right.

Gareth Bale headed the ball to Robert Lewandowski and then made a quick diagonal run.

Just as Lewandowski was about to pass to Bale, Piqué committed a foul on Lewandowski from a central position, slightly to the right, twenty meters from the goal.

The head referee, Kassai, showed Piqué a yellow card.

He also awarded the Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

This was Gareth Bale’s favorite position.

The Welshman rightfully placed the ball, stepped back, and prepared to take the kick.

The Barça players all stared at Gareth Bale as if facing a formidable enemy.

This was a man who could score two direct free kicks in a single game!

After a quick run-up, Gareth Bale struck a precise butterfly ball with his left foot.

The football flew out at extreme speed, climbing over the wall and heading towards the goal.

From Valdés’s perspective, he had been tracking the ball’s trajectory all along.

But the ball moved with some irregularity in mid-air, causing him to misjudge it.

And the ball was traveling very fast.

So fast that Valdés had no time to react.

The football flew straight into the top right corner of the Barça goal!

2-0!

“He’s scored again!!”

“A direct free kick from Gareth Bale!”

“A precise free-kick goal from a full twenty meters out! Gareth Bale has already scored multiple times this season with his exquisite free-kicks!”

“In the 18th minute, the Bayswater Chinese have breached Barça’s goal once more!”

All the fans in the stadium were hoarsely cheering Gareth Bale’s name.

The Welshman’s brace had helped the Bayswater Chinese establish a comfortable lead.

Everyone knew that with a two-goal lead, the home team had seized a favorable advantage.

What surprised everyone even more was that even with a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese continued to attack relentlessly.

Robert Lewandowski, in particular, was working exceptionally hard.

Because he wanted to use this game to prove that he was no less than Messi!

…

Since his previous thigh injury, Messi had made an emergency return to fitness.

Although he had scored once, his overall performance had not been satisfactory.

At the very least, he had yet to score again in the league.

And in this match, the Bayswater Chinese had built a cage for Messi, trapping the Argentine inside.

Every time Messi got the ball, he was tightly marked by defenders.

The Argentine’s best chance of the entire first half came in the 38th minute.

It was during a quick counter-attack by Barça.

Dani Alves, attacking down the right half-space, sent a through ball.

Messi made a quick run into the right side of the penalty area.

But Thiago Silva tracked back in time, and in a one-on-one with Messi, he executed a precise sliding tackle, dispossessing Messi inside the box.

Subsequently, Messi failed to get any advantage in several dribbling attempts against Thiago Silva.

This led to Messi’s poor performance, which in turn hampered Barça’s attack.

After switching sides for the second half, Barça briefly launched an all-out attack.

They used Messi to draw defensive attention while Neymar initiated direct attacks from the left.

But on one occasion, Neymar’s touch in the box was poor, and the ball was stolen by Pepe who had tracked back.

Another time, his shot was too central and went straight into Courtois’s arms.

After missing two attacking opportunities, Barça soon faced punishment.

In the 74th minute, Hazard’s dribble down the left drew a foul from Dani Alves, earning his team an attacking free-kick.

Alves also received a yellow card.

At this point, Alves, Bartra, Piqué, and Alba had all been booked.

Barça’s entire backline was on yellow cards.

The free kick was from twenty-five meters out, on the left side, not ideal for a direct shot from Gareth Bale.

Modrić and Toni Kroos were suitable takers, but after a discussion, they chose not to shoot directly.

Instead, they sent the ball into Barça’s penalty area.

The whole world knew that one of Barça’s weaknesses was defending high balls.

The players’ physical shortcomings caused significant problems for Barça in aerial situations.

And when this ball was delivered into the left side of Barça’s box, Robert Lewandowski made a quick forward run.

The Polish centre-forward sprinted with all his might, shaking off all the surrounding defenders, leaped high into the air, and sent a glancing header towards the right side of the goal.

Modrić’s free kick, flicked on by Lewandowski, went straight into the right side of the Barça goal.

3-0!

“Goal again!!!”

“74th minute of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A header from Robert Lewandowski!”

“My heavens, the Bayswater Chinese are leading 3-0!”

“They’ve basically secured victory in this match.”

“Now it remains to be seen if Barça can get an away goal.”

“If it ends 3-0, we have every reason to believe that back at Camp Nou, Barça’s chances of a comeback are minuscule!”

And as it turned out, even by the end of the match, Barça was unable to breach the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Ultimately, thanks to Gareth Bale’s brace and a goal from Robert Lewandowski, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Barça 3-0 at home!

…

The Bayswater Chinese team’s 3-0 home victory over Barça sent a powerful earthquake through the entire European football world!

First, a 7-0 aggregate clean sheet against Real Madrid, and now a 3-0 clean sheet at home in the first leg against Barça.

“Bayswater Chinese Vindicates the Premier League with Strength!”

The Times proudly proclaimed on its front page.

The Guardian also opined, “After crushing Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, Yang Cheng’s team continues its triumphant march, cruising to a 3-0 home victory over Barça, with one foot already in the Champions League final!”

The British media were all singing praises for the Bayswater Chinese team.

For them, the memory of the Round of 16 was a dark one.

After the Round of 16 knockout stage, the Premier League was met with a tide of criticism, ridicule, and sarcasm.

But now, Yang Cheng and his team had proven to everyone with their strength that not all Premier League teams were underperforming.

At the very least, the Bayswater Chinese had completely trampled on Real Madrid and Barça, the pride of Spain and supposedly the strongest teams in Europe.

They had even ground these two teams into the dirt!

However, after the midweek Champions League match, back in the 35th round of the Premier League on the weekend, the Bayswater Chinese team drew 0-0 away against Reading.

For this match, Yang Cheng once again fielded a lineup of all substitutes and rotational players.

Robert Lewandowski came on as a substitute in the second half.

But this time, the Polish centre-forward failed to score.

In the same round, Arsenal drew 1-1 at home with Manchester United.

Manchester City defeated West Ham United 2-1.

Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-0 away.

Chelsea defeated Swansea City 2-0 at home.

Despite two consecutive draws, the Bayswater Chinese team, with a record of 28 wins, 6 draws, and 1 loss, had accumulated 90 points, placing them at the top of the league table.

In second place was Manchester City.

The Blue Moons had 85 points, sitting second in the Premier League.

Manchester United was third with 82 points.

However, in the next round, the Bayswater Chinese were set to host Arsenal.

Manchester United would host Chelsea.

Manchester City would travel to face Swansea City.

In terms of match difficulty, Manchester City had the least pressure.

But everyone knew that the Bayswater Chinese winning the title was already a near certainty.

…

On the evening of May 1st, at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain.

Champions League semi-final, second leg. The Bayswater Chinese team faced Barça away from home.

Before this match, everyone already knew that for Barça, who had lost the first leg 0-3 away, the chances of a comeback were extremely slim.

But whether it was Vilanova, the Barça players, or the Catalonian fans, they all insisted the team still had a chance.

Head coach Vilanova even made bold statements to the media, vowing to stage a comeback at home!

Yet after the match began, Barça’s home advantage lasted only five minutes.

Apart from the first five minutes where Barça controlled the game, for the rest of the time, the Bayswater Chinese stuck to the same tactics from the first leg.

This gave Barça a huge headache, but they were helpless.

Yang Cheng’s tactic was a straightforward, overt scheme, and it was designed to suppress Barça.

The home team had no good answer to it.

As long as the Bayswater Chinese players executed the tactics without making mistakes, Barça was powerless against this approach.

And in the 12th minute, the Bayswater Chinese seized an opportunity in their own half.

During a Barça attack, Marcelo made a timely tackle to win the ball from Pedro, then passed it to Gareth Bale ahead of him.

Bale played a pull-back to Toni Kroos and then suddenly burst forward.

Toni Kroos, understanding perfectly, sent a long pass, kicking the ball straight ahead.

Gareth Bale, playing as a left winger in this match, sprinted at incredible speed, instantly shaking off all defenders. He caught up to Kroos’s long pass on the left flank, kicked the ball powerfully forward, and then chased after it again at top speed.

Except for Piqué and Bartra, who were trailing at the very back, all the Barça players were left behind.

As they neared Barça’s penalty area, Bartra came up to defend, but Gareth Bale first slowed down, deceiving Bartra, then suddenly accelerated, bursting into the left side of the box and delivering a cross pass in front of the goal.

Robert Lewandowski had been rushing forward all the way and finally arrived at full tilt, meeting the incoming ball with a push shot and cleanly sending it into Barça’s goal.

1-0!

After scoring, the Polish centre-forward excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

At that moment, Camp Nou had fallen completely silent!

“Just twelve minutes into the game, Robert Lewandowski’s cruel goal has completely destroyed Barça’s hopes!”

“According to Champions League knockout rules, the Bayswater Chinese now lead 4-0 on aggregate. But since Barça has conceded an away goal, they need to score at least five goals to turn it around.”

“That is undoubtedly an impossible task!”

“Lewandowski’s goal has silenced Camp Nou.”

…

Despite conceding a goal and realizing that advancement was hopeless, Barça continued to organize and engineer attacks.

Because this was Camp Nou!

For Barça, after losing the first leg 0-3 away, it was already very difficult to turn the situation around.

But in this match, they had to play for all the home fans in attendance.

There were over ninety thousand fans!

No matter the final result, they wanted to win this match.

But as Barça adopted this mentality and continued to attack the Bayswater Chinese, the away team patiently waited for their chances.

When the match reached the 25th minute, there was another tackle near the halfway line.

After the Bayswater Chinese won the ball, Nemanja Matić attempted a long pass to find Robert Lewandowski up front.

But the intention of this long pass was far too obvious.

Piqué, near the bottom of the center circle in his own half, got in front of Lewandowski and cleared the ball with a header, sending it back.

But Modrić suddenly pressed high, getting to the ball before Iniesta. After controlling it with his chest, he pushed the ball forward, carried it out of the center circle, and played a through ball.

The ball was precisely delivered to the feet of Robert Lewandowski, who was positioned outside the arc between Barça’s two centre-backs.

The Polish centre-forward used his body to shield the ball from Bartra, and following the direction of Modrić’s pass, he carried the ball towards the penalty area, breaking through between the two Barça centre-backs.

As soon as he entered the box, Lewandowski unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

The ball once again found the right side of Barça’s goal.

Goalkeeper Valdés made a desperate dive, but it was beyond his reach.

2-0!

“He’s scored again!!”

“Another quick counter-attack after winning the ball, and it’s Lewandowski again!”

“The Polish centre-forward has scored a brace!”

“We can see that the Bayswater Chinese team’s tactics are very clear now. They are exploiting Barça’s mentality, patiently waiting for opportunities, winning the ball, and then launching quick counter-attacks.”

“I have to say, Yang Cheng really understands Barça.”

“He is very aware of the weakness of Barça’s backline, so the Bayswater Chinese have adopted very specific tactics.”

…

In the last five minutes of the first half, Barça managed a spell of fluid attacking play.

They even forced Yang Cheng to order his players to drop back and defend.

But before Barça could score, the first half ended.

During the halftime break, Yang Cheng harshly criticized his players for their complacency at the end of the half, demanding that everyone refocus.

After switching sides for the second half, Barça came out with all guns blazing from the start.

Vilanova’s team clearly hoped to use the early momentum to launch a blitz, continuing the attacking rhythm from the end of the first half, striving to equalize the score as soon as possible, or even turn the game around.

Advancing to the final?

Barça didn’t dare to think about that anymore.

Their only wish was to win this match.

At the very least, they had to secure a draw.

Besides, did they not know how their own defense was?

If they didn’t press forward and attack, could they hold on by defending?

But in the 51st minute of the second half, Nemanja Matić successfully won the ball in front of the 30-meter area in his own half.

The Serbian midfielder passed the ball to Modrić, who then sent a chipped pass to Robert Lewandowski inside the center circle in their own half.

The Polish centre-forward dropped back to receive the ball, won the first touch, and headed it to Gareth Bale in the left channel.

The Welshman sprinted all the way from his own half, and upon reaching Lewandowski’s flick-on, he headed the ball straight ahead of himself, then suddenly accelerated, sprinting forward at top speed.

Gareth Bale’s speed was fully unleashed in that instant, as he tore through Barça’s defense at lightning speed.

Seeing Bale about to break into the penalty area, Bartra had no room to retreat.

But just outside the box, the Welshman suddenly delivered a cross pass.

The ball was originally intended for Theo Walcott on the right of the arc.

But unexpectedly, Robert Lewandowski suddenly cut across and intercepted the ball midway.

The Polish centre-forward was desperate for a goal.

After rushing all the way, he finally made it.

After intercepting the ball at the arc, Lewandowski didn’t even take a touch to settle it. He stopped the ball with his right foot and immediately swung his left foot for a power shot.

The football shot out at extreme speed and flew into the right side of Barça’s goal.

Valdés made a valiant save, but ultimately couldn’t stop the ball from going in.

3-0!

Hat-trick!!

“A defeat is like a landslide!”

“After losing 0-3 away to the Bayswater Chinese in the first leg, Barça, back at home, still couldn’t turn the tide.”

“It’s only the 51st minute of the second half, and Barça is already 3 goals behind, with the aggregate score at 0-6!”

“It has to be said, the Bayswater Chinese team’s performance over both legs has been incredibly solid. They have ruthlessly exploited Barça’s weaknesses and shortcomings, leaving Vilanova’s team without any effective weapons to change the game.”

“Just like that last attack, their advantages in aerial ability and speed were fully utilized!”

“And in the first leg, the Bayswater Chinese scored two set pieces.”

“Barça paid attention to that in the second leg, but still couldn’t stop their opponent’s attacks.”

“Now, for Barça, the most pragmatic attitude is no longer about advancing to the final or even beating their opponent.”

“Right now, the most important thing for Barça is to try and score a goal to save face at home!”

…

Barça seemed to think so too.

After conceding the third goal, Barça began to increase the intensity of their pressing in the attacking third.

At the very least, the players were noticeably more active than before.

But the advantage was already lost.

By the time Barça suddenly woke up, it was already too late.

In contrast, the Bayswater Chinese team continued to play in a steady and composed manner.

If Yang Cheng’s tactics at the Prudential Stadium in the first leg were aggressive, actively pressing to suppress Barça, then his tactics away at Camp Nou were more like a defend and counter-attack approach.

It was just that the Bayswater Chinese defense was still pushed relatively high, not adopting a deep defensive block.

And whenever they had a chance to win the ball, the Bayswater Chinese would immediately launch a counter-attack through various means.

Modrić?

Toni Kroos?

Nemanja Matić?

The Barça players had noticed.

In the 67th minute, when the Bayswater Chinese completed a tackle and wanted to start a counter, Barça had already locked down their three midfielders.

Especially Toni Kroos.

When he tried to launch a long pass, Xavi quickly closed him down, almost tackling the ball off his feet.

Fortunately, the German midfielder’s backside was big enough, and his reaction was quick enough. He turned, used his rear to block Xavi, and shielded the ball firmly.

After securing the ball, Toni Kroos saw Marcelo making a quick forward run from the left to offer support.

So, he immediately distributed the ball to the left flank.

Marcelo knocked the ball forward, and as he chased after it, he glanced ahead and hit a long pass with his left foot.

It was a diagonal long pass from the left wing directly to the right side outside Barça’s penalty area.

The distance was at least sixty meters!

And this type of long-range pass had always been Toni Kroos’s specialty.

But this time, the pass came from Marcelo!

The Brazilian’s diagonal long pass had a bit of a high arc, and the ball speed wasn’t particularly fast.

When the ball landed outside the right side of the box, Theo Walcott, who had sprinted forward at high speed to meet it, had no defenders around him.

The English winger brought the ball down, turned, and carried it into the right side of Barça’s penalty area.

At this moment, Alba finally tracked back into position, blocking Walcott’s path.

One-on-one!

Neither player was particularly tall, and both were known for their speed.

But Walcott had the initiative.

As Alba rushed over, The Little Tiger didn’t wait for him to get his footing and immediately took off.

The ball moved with him as he sprinted towards the byline at extreme speed.

In a flash, Alba was blown past by The Little Tiger, who didn’t even get a chance to commit a foul. He could only watch helplessly as the English winger rushed past.

When Walcott reached the right side of the six-yard box, he delivered a cross with his right foot, chipping the ball to the far post.

Robert Lewandowski, who was making a run in the center, was a step too slow, but Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt at the far post, met the incoming ball, and smashed a powerful header into the left side of Barça’s goal.

4-0!

Chapter 278: Five Consecutive Premier League Titles! Barça’s Traditional Antics! Guardiola Has Really Arrived!

The moment the head referee blew the final whistle, Lionel Messi finally stopped running.

He stood with his hands on his hips, panting heavily.

Lifting his head, he looked at the shocking 0-4 score on the stadium’s scoreboard and heard the deafening boos raining down from the stands. A wave of shame washed over him.

He had once thought he could bring everything to Barcelona, but in the end…

Looking over at Tito Vilanova by the home team’s technical area, Messi felt a pang of guilt.

Unlike his predecessor, Pep Guardiola, Vilanova was much more accommodating to the players.

Especially Messi.

Because he knew about the friction that had occurred between Messi and Guardiola.

Or rather, the two of them had been secretly competing.

Who was truly the most important person in Barça’s Dream Team Three?

Messi believed it was him, which was why he was unhappy with Guardiola’s strict control over his diet and training regimen.

Although he complied, he was never truly convinced.

Guardiola had clearly sensed this resentment from his player.

Though it never became public, Guardiola certainly knew.

That was why he chose to leave in 2012.

But now, as Messi’s injuries began to mount this season and his stamina and form showed subtle signs of decline, he knew in his heart that this was a side effect of Guardiola’s departure.

When his diet was no longer restricted, when his training intensity began to drop, how could he maintain his form?

Just like tonight, at Camp Nou, he even felt a sense of powerlessness.

This was something he had never experienced before!

For so many years, whenever he played, he always had this feeling of omnipotence—that if he wanted to, if he was willing, he could achieve anything.

This change made him realize something with stark clarity.

He was already twenty-six years old.

As one of the world’s top superstars, he had been around all sorts of people and experienced all kinds of things.

So he knew that he had indeed been arrogant and impulsive before.

If God gave me another chance, our collaboration would definitely be better.

Right, Pep?

Messi thought to himself as he looked up.

Not long ago, Guardiola had returned from his sabbatical in the United States and spoken about Messi at an event. He had said one thing.

“I once wanted to make Messi the best player, but it turned out he was the one who made me the best coach!”

This undoubtedly represented a kind of reconciliation for Guardiola.

Perhaps, during his time in the United States, he had also done a lot of thinking.

Professional football is like a high-speed train. No one has time to clearly see the scenery flashing by; they can only keep rushing forward.

Only when the train stops at a station is there a brief moment to pause and look back at the scenery that has long since disappeared from view.

A lot had happened between Messi and Barça over the years.

For example, the famous napkin contract that everyone praised, and the story that Barça paid for all of Messi’s medical treatments.

That was nonsense.

Barça had never done such a thing.

Back then, Barça was even hesitating whether to sign Messi at all.

It was Messi’s father who forced the sporting director, Carles Rexach, to sign him, threatening to take him to another team. Only then did Barça reluctantly sign Messi.

After signing, Barça had no intention of paying for his medical treatments. It was Messi’s father who wrote a letter to the then-president Joan Gaspart, compelling Barça to contribute a portion of the money.

This letter was even exposed by the media a few years ago.

Barça certainly deserved some credit for Messi’s treatment costs, but the majority was paid for by his father and older brother, who worked themselves to the bone to earn the money.

And what about Barça?

In the first few years of Messi’s career, what kind of salary did they offer him?

They desperately squeezed every ounce of profit out of him!

Of course, it was undeniable that Barça gave Messi an unprecedented platform.

But in Barça’s youth academy, they never approved of his style of play.

So, whenever someone claimed that La Masia could produce a second Messi, Messi himself found it laughable.

Are you kidding me?

In the youth team, Barça had always wanted Messi to change his South American street football style, but he insisted on his own South American approach and was able to lead the team to victory, which was how he persevered.

How could La Masia possibly produce a second Messi?

Over the years, Barça had actually hoped Messi would join the Spanish national team, to join Catalonia.

But he always insisted that he was an Argentine.

The sad thing was, almost all Argentines considered Messi a Spaniard.

From his home country to the national team, everyone thought so.

Ever since the Premier League’s Manchester City expressed interest in acquiring him, Messi had temporarily put his contract renewal talks with Barça’s management on hold.

Because many people around him, including his father, were advising him: “Why not take a look at a different scene while you’re still young?”

Over the past few years, they could clearly feel some changes within Barcelona and the Catalonia region.

From many people, Messi had also heard a lot about Barça’s past.

He was even well aware of how Barça had treated Ronaldinho and Deco back in the day.

Why did Neymar come?

Messi knew that too.

It was just that he had played for this city and this club for over a decade, and many decisions weren’t easy to make.

But tonight, at Camp Nou, amidst such a crushing defeat and a sky full of boos, he suddenly felt an impulse.

But it was just an impulsive thought.

He had never really thought about leaving Barça!

When the match ended, in the chairman’s box at Camp Nou, Barça chairman Rosell’s face was ashen.

His team had suffered such a humiliating defeat at home!

The resounding boos were a clear sign of the Barça fans’ dissatisfaction with him.

A Barça team with superstars like Messi, Neymar, Xavi, and Iniesta had been thrashed 7-0 on aggregate by the Bayswater Chinese over two legs!

How could Barça fans accept that?

And at a time like this, there was no one to pass the buck to.

Tito Vilanova had already decided to coach only until the end of this season.

His cancer had returned!

At this moment, no one could ask more of him.

“Fortunately, we won La Liga,” said sporting director Jordi Mestre, with a hint of relief.

Everyone around him nodded in agreement.

Who could argue?

Without the La Liga title, Barça’s situation would be incomparably worse.

“Although the scoreline was a bit outrageous, there’s still a gap in quality between us and the Bayswater Chinese,” analyzed Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta.

“If we want to make an impact in the Champions League, we must strengthen our squad, especially in the midfield and defense.”

This was a demand Zubizarreta had been making all along.

They had to sign new players!

Without new signings, the team lacked competitiveness in the Champions League.

But to sign players, they needed money.

“Our current debt is still 331 million euros, and our original plan was to reduce it to under 300 million euros by June this season. Signing new players is definitely not an option,” said Vice-Chairman of Finance Javier Faus, once again rejecting Zubizarreta’s request.

“Besides, the team next door is already renewing C. Ronaldo’s contract. I expect we’ll have to follow suit with Messi.”

“We’ve been trying desperately to keep it down for the past two years, but our salary expenditure as a percentage of revenue is still stubbornly high, at 67%.”

This was barely acceptable, but still considered over the limit.

“Also, for the basketball department, my initial estimate is that they will lose at least 20 million euros this season.”

Barcelona had a vast family and business enterprise; it wasn’t just about football.

The basketball division was losing money every year, over twenty million a year.

This was why Rosell had been able to defeat Laporta and become Barça’s chairman on the back of his financial policies.

After taking office, Rosell had to deliver on his promises.

In fact, Rosell had consistently adhered to this strategy.

For instance, Barça’s non-sporting expenditures had been continuously cut and were now under 100 million euros.

Last season, Barça’s salary expenditure was around 62% of revenue, but the signing of Neymar, combined with contract renewals, had pushed the club’s salary costs up again.

“Is Real Madrid confirmed to be renewing C. Ronaldo’s contract?” asked Executive Vice-Chairman Bartomeu with concern.

“They’ve started talks. It’s said that the salary Real Madrid is offering will be around 18 to 20 million euros.”

Javier Faus’s words made everyone in the room gasp.

C. Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 with a contract that paid him 13 million euros a year.

Messi’s contract, signed before that, paid him 10.5 million euros a year.

But in 2012, Barça signed a new contract with Messi, raising his salary to 15.5 million euros.

If C. Ronaldo really surpassed Messi’s salary, then it was a no-brainer that Barça would have to renegotiate with Messi again and give him a substantial raise. They couldn’t let the Argentine lose to C. Ronaldo.

How much would that be?

“Damn it!” Bartomeu cursed angrily.

No one was sure who or what he was cursing.

At first glance, it seemed like only a few million euros, but it was a single action that could affect the whole situation.

Once Messi’s contract was renewed and his salary went up, the salaries of the homegrown players, including Iniesta and Piqué, would inevitably have to rise as well.

This was one of Barça’s internal problems.

“Based on our revenue growth over the past few years, our income increases by about 20 to 30 million euros each season. We must control our spending!” Javier Faus advised.

Blind investment would only further exacerbate the club’s debt burden.

“We all understand what you’re saying, Javier, but have you considered that we don’t have the initiative right now?”

Rosell pointed out the biggest headache for Barça’s management.

Manchester City was threatening to trigger Messi’s 200 million pound release clause and poach him for the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Messi and his team were dragging their feet on contract renewal negotiations with the club.

This had put Barça’s management in a very passive position.

The situation was now very clear.

Either they offer Messi a contract he couldn’t refuse, with an income far exceeding C. Ronaldo’s.

Or they let him go to Manchester City and receive 200 million pounds in cash.

Why cash?

Because Messi would need that money to pay his own release clause.

“If you ask me, we might as well just sell him!” Bartomeu said, getting a bit worked up.

“With 200 million pounds, we could drastically reduce our debt burden and ease the financial pressure.”

“At the very least, we wouldn’t have to tighten our belts every year like we’ve been doing.”

Bartomeu’s words were spoken in a fit of pique, but they were also very tempting.

That was 200 million pounds—250 million euros.

“Are you crazy? That’s Messi!” Zubizarreta’s head throbbed.

“So what if it’s Messi? Look at the match down there. Even with Messi, didn’t we still get thrashed 0-4 by the Bayswater Chinese?”

“How much of an impact can Messi make? If you ask me, Robert Lewandowski, who scored a hat-trick, is more effective!”

Robert Lewandowski’s performance this past season had indeed been stunning.

Five goals in nine minutes!

A four-goal haul against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals!

And now a hat-trick at Camp Nou in this match!

It was safe to say that after several seasons of consistent performance, Robert Lewandowski had finally had his mass release this season.

At twenty-five years of age, the Polish centre-forward was full of promise.

Everyone knew who was better between Messi and Robert Lewandowski.

But what if you added 200 million pounds into the equation?

Which way would the scales tip?

Moreover, Barça was currently over 300 million euros in debt.

“And to take a step back, since we were able to develop Messi, we can also develop Neymar!”

For the vast majority of Barça’s management, Bartomeu’s argument was persuasive.

Are players important?

No, the platform of a top club is the most important thing!

Without Barça, Messi would be nothing!

Sometimes, you shouldn’t entertain a certain thought.

Once you do, it becomes increasingly difficult to control.

“Have you guys thought about what would happen if we actually sold Messi? The fans would drown us all in their spit!” Zubizarreta still objected.

As a former professional player, he knew how rare a player like Messi was.

Could Neymar replace Messi?

“It’ll be temporary. As long as the team’s results pick up quickly and we can make good use of Messi’s transfer fee to sign some big-name players like Robert Lewandowski, Suárez, or other superstars.”

“Over time, they’ll naturally forget.”

Bartomeu’s point was that players come and go, but the club remains.

In the face of 200 million pounds, even Messi was no longer indispensable!

After a moment of silence from the others, Bartomeu said something that made everyone’s eyes light up.

“Besides, we’re all getting worked up talking about it here, but who knows what Messi is thinking?”

“Right now, he’s received an offer from Manchester City, but he’s stalling on renewing his contract with the club. What does that mean?”

“How did Pep leave?”

Before Guardiola left, he had also put his contract renewal talks with Barça on hold, only leaving after his contract expired.

What about Messi?

Who could guarantee that he wouldn’t leave Barça this summer?

The day after Barça’s humiliating 0-4 loss at home, resulting in a 0-7 aggregate defeat to the Bayswater Chinese, media outlets around the world went into a frenzy, and fans debated furiously.

What on earth happened to Barça?

What on earth happened to Messi?

The Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding performance and Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick won praise from media and fans worldwide, with many even regarding the Bayswater Chinese as the top favorite to win the title.

Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese had already defended a Champions League title once before.

If they succeeded in defending it again this season, it would undoubtedly become a classic moment in world football history!

But at the same time, Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo was the first to break a piece of news.

Messi was considering joining Manchester City!

This news hit like a bombshell, sending media and fans around the world into an uproar.

Previously, the news that Manchester City intended to pay Messi’s 200 million pound release clause had already been widely circulated.

And now, Mundo Deportivo’s report was actually confirming it?

More importantly, in its report, Mundo Deportivo intentionally or unintentionally guided public opinion in another direction.

Messi’s lackluster performance in the semi-final was because he was considering a move to Manchester City.

This instantly enraged the already dissatisfied Barça fans.

Losing 7-0 to the Bayswater Chinese, being knocked out of the Champions League, and Messi’s poor performance had already left the fans disgruntled.

But to think that the reason for his poor performance was a potential transfer.

How could they tolerate that?

Barça fans immediately felt a sense of betrayal!

Some smaller tabloids in the Catalonia region even started accusing Messi of not training diligently to pressure the Barça management into agreeing to his transfer.

He was even accused of feigning injury to refuse to play!

And even when he did play, in such a crucial clash against the Bayswater Chinese in the Champions League semi-final, he looked like he was sleepwalking!

This further ignited public opinion.

Losing a match, especially in such a manner, left everyone with a fire in their belly.

Now, their anger had a clear target.

Messi’s father, Jorge Messi, came forward at the first opportunity after the news broke to clarify, stating that Messi had no intention of joining Manchester City.

“I can guarantee that we have had no contact of any kind with Manchester City!”

As Messi’s father and agent, Jorge Messi expressed his regret over Barça’s elimination from the Champions League semi-final in an interview with reporters, but he stressed that Messi had given his all.

Jorge listed Messi’s recent injury and recovery process.

Back in the second leg of the quarter-finals, Messi, despite his thigh injury not being fully healed, had been forced to play for the team and had even scored a crucial goal.

This incident had been hyped up by the media at the time, praising Messi’s loyalty to the club.

But returning to play before fully recovering had made it impossible for Messi to maintain his form. That was why he hadn’t featured much in La Liga recently and had performed poorly in both legs of the Champions League semi-final.

It was due to injury, not some attempt to coerce the club.

Jorge Messi even urged Barça to step up and protect Messi!

But in the surging tide of public opinion, any defense seemed exceptionally pale and feeble.

“Looks like the Barcelona management is genuinely tempted!”

At the Brent training center in West London, Yang Cheng came to this conclusion after enjoying all the unfolding drama.

“It’s also possible they’re worried about being put on the back foot and decided to make a preemptive strike,” Brian Kidd guessed.

Both were possible, and it was hard to say for sure.

Just as no one could explain why Messi remained silent in the face of Manchester City’s poaching attempt.

Jorge Messi couldn’t explain it clearly either.

Or rather, he lacked a convincing explanation.

Of course, it was also possible that it was difficult for him to explain.

All in all, with things having escalated to this point, a clear rift had appeared in the relationship between Barça and Messi.

“In the end, it’s all because of Manchester City’s 200 million pounds! That’s too powerful!” Yang Cheng chuckled.

“If Manchester City threw 200 million pounds at me, I’d drop to my knees in a heartbeat!”

Upon hearing this, everyone around him burst into laughter.

What a lack of integrity!

“You should at least put up a little struggle,” Brian Kidd advised earnestly. “No matter what, you’re a man of status and standing now, a billionaire worth tens of billions of pounds. Would a mere 200 million pounds make you kneel instantly?”

“I definitely would, and with great conviction!” Yang Cheng’s stance was firm.

Making money, there’s no shame in it!

As for how long he would coach Manchester City, that would depend on the contract.

Also, it would be impossible for him to pour his heart and soul into Manchester City the way he did for the Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice.

Impossible!

As a working man, you have to keep the accounts clear. You do the amount of work and make the contribution that matches the money you’re paid and the contract you sign, right?

After the jokes, the conversation returned to the Messi situation.

“I still remember, Rosell has a very good relationship with Mundo Deportivo. Back when Frank Rijkaard was Barça’s head coach and Rosell was the vice-chairman, he always wanted to change coaches.”

“Then, every time Barça lost a game, Mundo Deportivo would publish an article criticizing Rijkaard and praising Scolari.”

“Rosell is doing something with ease from long practice when it comes to this scheme of guiding public opinion.”

Not only Rosell, but Barça as well.

Wasn’t the scheme they used to force out Ronaldinho very similar?

These were Barça’s traditional antics!

After enjoying the drama, the group began to turn their attention back to more important matters.

In the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese winning the title was already a near certainty.

So, for the near future, Yang Cheng and the team would be focusing most of their energy and resources on the Champions League final.

This year’s Champions League final was on May 25th.

And it was being held right here in London, at Wembley Stadium.

For the Bayswater Chinese, this was a huge home advantage.

How convenient was it?

The Bayswater Chinese didn’t even need to stay in a hotel before the match; they could just stay at the Brent training center.

The players’ dormitories were built to five-star hotel standards.

Training and everything else was done here.

This was extremely convenient for the Bayswater Chinese.

According to the media, the Bayswater Chinese could practically walk to the Champions League final.

For Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, the key was the training and specific preparations over the next twenty-odd days.

Incidentally, many people had been worried that the dark horse OGC Nice, who had caused a string of upsets, would defeat Bayern Munich in the semi-final and meet the Bayswater Chinese in the final.

But that did not happen in the end.

After a 1-1 draw at home against Bayern Munich in the first leg, Nice lost 1-2 away to Bayern.

The Bundesliga team ultimately eliminated the Ligue 1 side 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the final.

So, this season’s Champions League final would be the Bayswater Chinese against Bayern Munich.

For Nice, reaching the semi-finals was already a very surprising achievement.

Their elimination now wasn’t too much of a shock.

But Nice’s Champions League performance this season did set a new personal best for Ronald Koeman in his coaching career in European competitions.

Even the young Ajax guard he once coached only made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Leading Nice to the semi-finals this time undoubtedly boosted Ronald Koeman’s reputation.

What Yang Cheng was most worried about now was whether Ronald Koeman would be poached.

As for Nice’s players, Yang Cheng wasn’t really concerned.

For a team like Nice, selling players who perform well is a normal part of the business.

The key is the recruitment after selling players.

This point was similar to Barça’s current situation.

Could Messi be sold?

Yang Cheng felt there was nothing wrong with it.

The key was, how would Barça recruit new players after selling Messi?

Here’s the simplest problem.

If you sell Messi, the whole world knows you have 200 million pounds in transfer funds. At that point, how do you buy players?

Why did Barça repeatedly act as the sucker in their previous life?

Because everyone knew you had money and your negotiation skills were poor. Who else would they fleece but you?

So, the real drama was only just beginning.

After returning to London from Barcelona, the entire training rhythm of the Bayswater Chinese shifted to serving the Champions League final.

This was a decision made personally by Yang Cheng.

Moreover, the club specifically assigned two scouts to closely monitor Bayern’s every move.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng’s team soon welcomed Arsenal to their home ground.

This was, after all, a clash between top teams, and at home no less.

Yang Cheng did not want to lose to their London arch-rivals at home.

But to his complete surprise, less than a minute into the game, Fàbregas assisted Sánchez to break through the Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

Yang Cheng was stunned on the sidelines!

Harry Maguire, you liability!

And you, Kyle Walker!

Although these two liabilities made an error at the start of the game, they performed reasonably well for the rest of the match.

This was actually a common mistake made by fans who only watch highlights.

A match is over ninety minutes long, and a few seconds of error in a highlight reel can be remembered by everyone.

But outside of those few seconds, for the vast majority of the time, the player might have performed just fine.

But who cares about that?

Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker really did play very well for the rest of the time.

And the Bayswater Chinese equalized in the 26th minute with a goal from Eden Hazard.

In the end, the two sides reached a 1-1 draw!

The Bayswater Chinese had suffered three consecutive draws.

But everyone knew that Yang Cheng wasn’t going all out.

In fact, the Bayswater Chinese had already begun to shift their focus.

Interestingly, in the same round, Manchester City drew 0-0 away to Swansea City.

Liverpool drew 0-0 at home against Everton.

Both powerhouses also ended up with a draw.

What about Manchester United?

In Ferguson’s team’s home game against Chelsea, the two sides fought hard for ninety minutes. In the end, a red card for Rafael da Silva sealed Manchester United’s fate, and they were killed off by a Chelsea penalty kick.

The Red Devils lost 0-1 at home to Chelsea.

After 36 rounds, the Bayswater Chinese had 91 points from 28 wins, 7 draws, and 1 loss, placing them at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester City was in second place with 86 points.

Manchester United and Arsenal both had 82 points, ranking third and fourth respectively.

Further down was Liverpool with 72 points in 5th place.

Chelsea was in 7th with 62 points.

Tottenham Hotspur was sandwiched between them.

With two rounds left in the league, the Bayswater Chinese were only 5 points ahead, so they couldn’t clinch the title just yet, but the momentum was essentially irreversible.

Many also found it a pity.

If Yang Cheng’s team had kept up their efforts and not suffered three consecutive draws in the league, they might have won the title much earlier.

But for Yang Cheng, winning the title a day earlier or a day later didn’t make much of a difference.

The most important thing was to proceed steadily and surely and perform well in the Champions League; that was what he wanted most.

However, everyone was looking forward to the 37th round a week later.

May 12th, Prudential Stadium, London.

Premier League Round 37, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Newcastle.

On this day, Prudential Stadium was packed to the rafters!

The relegation battle in the Premier League this season was unprecedentedly fierce.

Even with the league now at its 37th round, there were still nine teams fighting for survival.

If you included Reading, the bottom of the table team who had already been relegated, then the entire bottom half of the league was in a relegation battle.

How absurd was it?

From 19th-placed Wigan Athletic to 11th-placed West Ham United, there was only an 8-point difference.

But that was nothing.

16th-placed Sunderland, 17th-placed Norwich, and 18th-placed Newcastle all had the same number of points.

Looking up, 15th-placed Southampton was only 1 point ahead of 18th-placed Newcastle.

14th-placed Aston Villa and 13th-placed Fulham were only 2 points ahead of Newcastle.

12th-placed Stoke City was only 3 points ahead of Newcastle.

And 11th-placed West Ham United was 5 points ahead of Newcastle.

This was the most intense relegation battle in the Premier League right now!

Many teams had even offered huge bonuses.

Because they all knew that staying in the Premier League meant an income of over 60 million pounds starting from next season.

That was 60 million pounds!

Because the new broadcasting contract was set to take effect next season.

How could these teams not fight with all their might?

They were using every means possible, almost going mad to avoid relegation!

Under these circumstances, the Bayswater Chinese welcomed the relegation team Newcastle.

The difficulty of this match was easy to imagine.

From the very beginning, Alan Pardew’s team showed extraordinary determination, and the players were full of fighting spirit.

The Magpies’ relegation bonus was rumored to have reached a very high level.

Therefore, for the first twenty minutes, despite playing at home with a full-strength lineup, the Bayswater Chinese couldn’t break down Newcastle.

Yang Cheng had deployed his main players for this match, partly to stimulate their form and partly because it was a home game.

And after winning this match, the team wouldn’t have to go all-out in the final round away game against Liverpool.

In the 20th minute, Gareth Bale broke through on the left flank and assisted Robert Lewandowski in the center, who scored with a header to score the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

After that, the match remained deadlocked.

Newcastle even came close to scoring against the Bayswater Chinese just before the end of the first half.

After the teams switched sides for the second half, the game largely continued in the same vein as the first.

But after fighting hard in the first half, Newcastle’s players were clearly showing signs of fatigue.

In the 59th minute, Modrić assisted Theo Walcott to score another goal, extending the lead to 2-0!

Just five minutes later, Marcelo made an overlapping run on the left and assisted Robert Lewandowski for a power shot inside the box, extending the lead again.

3-0!

In the 73rd minute, with an assist from Toni Kroos, Robert Lewandowski scored another goal, completing his hat-trick.

4-0!

Newcastle had completely fallen apart!

Moreover, the Magpies’ players had nearly exhausted their stamina.

They had fought way too hard in the first half.

Yang Cheng immediately made substitutions.

Giroud and Aaron Ramsey came on one after another.

But in the 81st minute, Gareth Bale once again found the back of Newcastle’s net.

5-0!

In the 87th minute, Walcott crossed from the right, and Giroud scored with a header.

6-0!

In the 91st minute of stoppage time, a brilliant pass from Modrić found Giroud inside the box, who scored again to complete his brace.

7-0!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese thrashed Newcastle 7-0 at home!

Although the scoreline was huge, most of the goals came after the 60-minute mark in the second half.

From this, one could see that in a match of the Premier League’s caliber, once stamina was depleted to a certain point, a team really was at the mercy of its opponent.

The moment head referee Lee Probert blew the final whistle, all 90,000 fans in Prudential Stadium rose from their seats, cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs.

“Let’s congratulate the Bayswater Chinese!”

“This is the first Premier League title they’ve won since moving into Prudential Stadium!”

“The championship trophy was delivered to Prudential Stadium even before today’s match.”

“Almost everyone believed it was highly probable that the Bayswater Chinese would clinch the title a round early.”

“And the facts have proven that Yang Cheng and his team secured a resounding 7-0 victory at home to celebrate winning the Premier League title with a game to spare!”

“In the other matches of this round, Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 2-1 away.”

“Liverpool beat Fulham 3-1 away.”

“Manchester United defeated Swansea 2-1 at home.”

“Arsenal thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-1 at home.”

“And Manchester City beat Reading 2-0 away.”

“The top teams all won, but Manchester City could no longer stop Yang Cheng and his team from winning the title a round early.”

“In fact, in this round, a draw against Newcastle would have been enough for the Bayswater Chinese to clinch the title.”

“But Yang Cheng’s team ultimately celebrated their Premier League trophy this season with a resounding 7-0 victory!”

“Counting the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup, this is already the Bayswater Chinese’s 4th trophy of the season, and it’s also their 5th consecutive Premier League title!”

“This is unprecedented in the history of England’s top-flight league!”

Last season, the Bayswater Chinese’s four consecutive titles had already made history.

Now, Yang Cheng’s team had further elevated their achievement, reaching an astounding five consecutive titles that left everyone else in the dust!

As Ferguson had said before.

Whether it was four or five consecutive titles, at his age, he had no hope of leading a team to surpass it!

This was, in a way, a concession to Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

And at this moment, in Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng clenched his fists tightly and hugged his assistants in a group.

The players on the pitch also embraced in small groups, celebrating the fruits of their season-long hard work!

After Yang Cheng celebrated with the coaching staff and players, a temporary presentation stage began to be set up on the field.

While waiting for the award ceremony, Yang Cheng met with Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore, FA Chairman David Bernstein, and Greg Dyke, who would officially take over as FA Chairman in July 2013.

It was an interesting situation.

David Bernstein had taken charge of The FA in 2010 during a crisis.

Before that, his greatest contribution was Wembley Stadium.

But according to FA regulations, the chairman could not be over 70 years old.

And David Bernstein, who was about to turn 70, would be stepping down this summer.

In March of this year, The FA had already selected a successor, former BBC Director-General Greg Dyke.

Greg Dyke’s football career began at Manchester United.

He started as Chief Information Officer at Manchester United in 1997 and later joined the club’s board of directors.

In 2000, he went to the BBC as Director-General, a position he held for four years.

Later, he held various other positions, including Chancellor of the University of York and Chairman of the British Film Institute.

In professional football, Greg Dyke had been the chairman of his hometown team, Brentford, since 2006, a position he held until now.

But after agreeing to take over as FA Chairman, he announced he would resign from Brentford.

As it was a routine transition, both David Bernstein and Greg Dyke attended the award ceremony.

Yang Cheng had always had a good relationship with David Bernstein but was less familiar with Greg Dyke.

It was Adam Crozier, however, who was quite familiar with Greg Dyke. The two of them were chatting and laughing together, appearing to be good friends.

At the level the Bayswater Chinese had reached now, there was no need to deliberately flatter the FA Chairman, let alone the UEFA or FIFA presidents.

On the contrary, they had to show the Bayswater Chinese some respect.

The influence of a top club was undeniable!

But what truly surprised Yang Cheng had nothing to do with these two FA chairmen.

After the award ceremony, Yang Cheng celebrated the early title win with his players. Later, in the dressing room, he received a phone call.

The caller ID showed: Guardiola!

Yang Cheng’s first reaction was surprise.

A few minutes after answering the call, Yang Cheng met Guardiola in one of the VIP boxes at Prudential Stadium.

Before entering the box, Yang Cheng had made a point of asking around.

The owner of this box was an Emirati tycoon who lived in London year-round.

How did he know he was a tycoon?

Because he had signed a five-year long-term lease in one go.

The annual rent for this box was over 300,000 pounds.

When Yang Cheng entered the box, only Guardiola was there.

“Looks like you’re really coming to join the fun in the Premier League!” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Guardiola didn’t deny it, but smiled back, “They all say if I don’t come, you could win a sixth, or even a seventh consecutive title!”

Yang Cheng immediately laughed.

He had to admit, Guardiola’s tactical system was incredibly effective in a league competition.

Mainly because it was ridiculously consistent!

“So, are you scouting your future title rival in advance?” Yang Cheng asked again.

“Strictly speaking, I’m not here to scout your Bayswater Chinese.”

“Oh?”

“I’m here to scout two players.”

Yang Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, “Who?”

“Toni Kroos and Thiago Silva!”

Guardiola looked at Yang Cheng with a smile.

The two were close friends, but at this moment, they were serving different masters.

“You might not believe this, but after I started talks with Manchester City, I made one request. The first player I want to sign after I take over isn’t Messi, as the rumors say, but Toni Kroos.”

At this point, Guardiola looked at Yang Cheng with admiration, “In the world of football today, I’m afraid there isn’t a third person who understands the value of Toni Kroos as clearly as you and I do, right?”

Yang Cheng felt a little nervous.

Mainly because Manchester City was just too rich!

“Are you planning to throw money at Toni Kroos like you did with Messi?” Yang Cheng chuckled. “Then you’re mistaken. The Premier League isn’t La Liga. There’s no such thing as a release clause here!”

“I know. That’s why I’m sitting down to talk with you, isn’t it?”

Yang Cheng shook his head, “I’m not selling. Not for any price!”

As for the player himself, Yang Cheng felt that Toni Kroos probably wouldn’t be easily persuaded by Manchester City either.

The German midfielder was known for being calm and rational.

In the current situation, would he abandon the Bayswater Chinese to go to Manchester City?

The only benefit would be more money from Manchester City.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng started to get a headache.

It seemed he would have to give Toni Kroos another raise.

He couldn’t afford to lose him!

“Go back and think about it. I’ll be waiting for your call anytime,” Guardiola wasn’t in a hurry for Yang Cheng’s answer.

The two drank for a while in the box, and the conversation shifted from Toni Kroos to Manchester City.

Yang Cheng wasn’t at all surprised that Guardiola was interested in Toni Kroos and Thiago Silva.

Both players were a perfect fit for Guardiola’s tactical philosophy.

Moreover, if the transfers went through, it would weaken the Bayswater Chinese and greatly enhance Manchester City’s overall strength.

It would truly be killing two birds with one stone.

That wily guy, really…

He hadn’t even taken the job yet and was already starting to lay traps!

It looked like the Premier League was going to get even tougher!

Especially next season.

Mourinho was coming back too!

Things were about to get lively.

Yang Cheng, Ferguson, Wenger, Guardiola, and Mourinho, plus Mancini.

The top six teams in the Premier League were all managed by world-class coaches.

The happiest people would probably be the media and the fans.

What interested Yang Cheng the most, however, was the transfer market.

For instance, could Manchester City really succeed in poaching Messi?

Chapter 279: The World’s Number One! The Germans Have Lost Their Composure! When It Comes to Playing Bayern, We’re the Experts!

Yang Cheng’s detached villa on the west side of Holland Park had two courtyards, one in the front and one in the back, one small and one large.

The front yard was more like an entry garden, while the backyard was a private space.

The backyard was completely separated from the neighbors by walls and trees, ensuring both privacy and tranquility.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were both very busy with work, and neither had the personality to settle down and tend to a garden. Therefore, the courtyards were managed by a professional gardening company.

Not long ago, Xia Qing saw a netizen online showing off their small yard, which was planted with all sorts of flowers and plants.

Among them, it was the hydrangeas that made her girlish heart completely swoon.

This type of hydrangea was common in London, so it wasn’t rare, and the UK climate was indeed very suitable for it.

So, she had the gardening company plant a row of them in their backyard.

She said she wanted to create the little yard of her dreams!

Now, every day when she came home from work, or before she left in the morning, she had to personally water these hydrangeas.

By April and May, the hydrangeas began to bloom one after another. The round flower heads, some pink, some blue-purple, of different varieties competed in beauty, bringing a lively atmosphere to the courtyard.

In Xia Qing’s words: “No woman can resist the temptation of hydrangeas!”

Well, Xia Qing’s only complaint about the hydrangeas was: “Watering them is so much trouble!”

Once a day?

No, twice a day, morning and evening.

Yang Cheng had the gardening company install an automatic watering system, but Xia Qing wouldn’t use it.

She said doing it herself gave her a greater sense of accomplishment.

Women, such a contradiction.

Yang Cheng was sitting in his yard right at this moment, watching Xia Qing water the plants while complaining about how thirsty the hydrangeas were. How could they drink so much water every day?

Complaining was one thing.

But having a row of them planted along the wall in the yard, with clusters of vibrant flowers, was truly beautiful.

“I heard you went drinking with Pep Guardiola yesterday?”

After watering the plants, Xia Qing sat down on the chair next to Yang Cheng, stretching lazily as if she’d just finished a huge amount of farm work. Her expression held a coquettish charm rarely seen on her.

Yang Cheng poured her a glass of water, “We met in the VIP box and chatted for a bit. He’s coming to coach Manchester City.”

“Oh.” Xia Qing wasn’t surprised.

After drinking the water, she asked another question, “What about Messi?”

“They’re probably trying to poach him. I didn’t ask too many details. He, on the other hand, has his eyes on our Toni Kroos and Thiago Silva.”

“What?” Xia Qing’s fine eyebrows furrowed.

Having managed the finances for Bayswater Chinese for all these years, she knew exactly what that meant.

“It’s normal. These two players are the best passers in their respective positions in world football today. Guardiola has a sharp eye.”

“Then what should we do?”

“What should we do?” Yang Cheng chuckled. “They have to be able to actually poach them first.”

“We still need to be careful. The salaries Manchester City offers are genuinely outrageous!” Xia Qing was still worried.

They could offer Messi a weekly wage of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

What did that even mean?

Even disregarding the currency unit, it was the highest salary in the world!

Factoring in the exchange rate between the pound and the euro, it was simply off the charts!

And this was just what the media had reported. If it actually happened, it could be even higher.

Over the past few years, Xia Qing often found herself thinking back to the summer of 2008.

At that time, Yang Cheng had gathered her, Adam Crozier, and others for a meeting to discuss the Abu Dhabi consortium’s acquisition of Manchester City.

One thing Yang Cheng said had stuck with Xia Qing to this day.

“From now on, the rules of European football are about to change!”

At the time, no one thought much of it.

But looking back now, things really had changed!

They had become utterly outrageous!

All the traditional clubs, whether it was Manchester United and Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barça, or even Chelsea and Inter Milan, although different in their own ways, were actually very restrained.

At their core, they all adhered to the principle of living within one’s means!

That was why UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations were centered around this concept.

But Manchester City’s approach was clearly different.

They simply didn’t care about losses.

Backed by a massive consortium worth hundreds of billions, what did a small annual loss mean to them?

Once they set their sights on a direction, all sorts of resources within the group were piled on, invested without regard for returns, year after year. The results were truly frightening!

“He also asked me a question while we were drinking.”

“What question?”

“How to solve the problem of player motivation?” Yang Cheng laughed.

He hadn’t expected Guardiola to discuss such a profound issue with him.

But this was indeed an unavoidable problem that every successful team in the world would face.

Either the players get old, or they’ve already achieved fame and success.

In short, after reaching a certain stage, players would more or less face this issue.

For a team as a whole, the same problem would arise.

In theory, everyone knew that the perfect team-building strategy was a combination of old, middle-aged, and young players.

But in practice, which team could truly achieve this and maintain it for the long term?

Right?

Take Bayswater Chinese, for example. It seemed to have a good mix of veterans and youngsters now, right?

But what about the future?

Pepe was already thirty, José Fonte was twenty-nine, Thiago Silva was twenty-eight, Piszczek was twenty-seven, and Marcelo was twenty-five.

This was a defensive line that had rendered meritorious service to Bayswater Chinese!

After Vincent Kompany’s departure, although they had brought in Stones and Harry Maguire this season, the performance of these two liabilities was just not on par with Kompany’s, and the gap was huge.

José Fonte was also, frankly, no longer good enough for Bayswater Chinese.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had already conceded twenty-four goals.

Compared to other competitors, this wasn’t bad, but what if you compared it to last season?

The problems that all teams would encounter, Bayswater Chinese would encounter as well, and not a single one would be missed.

How do you solve the issue of player motivation after they’ve achieved fame and success?

Strictly speaking, there was no perfect solution.

Everything boiled down to two avenues: internal and external.

The internal approach relied on the coach and the team’s internal management, as well as the players’ own qualities.

Back then, many people wondered why Yang Cheng had given the captain’s armband to Modrić so early on.

Years had passed, and Modrić had won countless trophies with Bayswater Chinese, but had he slacked off?

No!

This guy was a monster who could play for Real Madrid until he was forty!

Without incredible self-discipline, it would be impossible.

And behind Modrić’s self-discipline was the hardship he had endured since childhood.

This made him cherish everything he had now, and it compelled him to continue playing to his absolute limit.

He wouldn’t even consider retirement until he physically couldn’t play anymore.

C. Ronaldo was also this type of player.

Because C. Ronaldo also suffered hardship and torment as a child, especially when he left home at such a young age to play football in Lisbon, getting bullied, and enduring it all on his own to get to where he is today.

Childhood adversity can shape a person’s character!

Modrić and C. Ronaldo were both of this type.

So was Messi.

Toni Kroos belonged to another category.

He also had an extremely strong mentality. He knew very well what he wanted, had detailed plans for everything, and held himself to an incredibly high standard.

He would not allow himself to be inferior to others.

This was why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Toni Kroos suddenly decided to retire when his form was still quite good.

Because he couldn’t accept himself getting older, let alone accept a declining version of himself being outplayed on the pitch.

So, when he came down from the peak of his career, when he realized he could no longer maintain his match fitness for long periods, he decided to retire.

In fact, there were many players like Toni Kroos who retired early.

Germany had quite a few, and others like Zidane.

He retired right after leading France to the World Cup final.

Of course, these were the exceptions.

The vast majority of players, despite being more self-disciplined than ordinary people, would inevitably face motivation issues.

Take Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, for example.

After a peak period, BVB’s form declined rapidly.

The reason was that Klopp’s training and tactics were simply too demanding for the players, making it difficult to sustain.

When they were nobodies, they could endure hardship and accept such devilish training and matches for the sake of fame and success.

But once they achieved fame and success, could they still do it?

Or rather, to what extent could they still do it?

This was a matter of human nature!

Besides internal solutions, there were also external ones.

That was what Yang Cheng had mentioned before: selling players!

Continuously injecting fresh blood into a team to bring new stimulation.

For all other European teams, this was a high-risk affair.

Because transfers themselves carried extremely high risks.

The bigger the team and the player, the greater the risk.

But for Yang Cheng, this wasn’t difficult at all.

At least, that was the case before 2024.

The real headache was who to sell and who to keep.

“Pepe, Thiago Silva, Toni Kroos, and Modrić cannot be sold!”

These were all players who, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, played to a very old age and maintained their form well.

“Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott are local icons; they can’t be sold either!”

“Robert Lewandowski is our team’s biggest superstar right now; we must do everything to keep him!”

After listing the entire starting lineup, Yang Cheng realized it seemed like no one could be sold.

As for Robert Lewandowski, though…

Perhaps in another two years, once Harry Kane was fully developed, selling him could be considered.

But for now, they definitely had to do their utmost to keep him.

Otherwise, the potency of their attack would surely be affected.

“We must continue to develop local players like Luke Shaw, Sterling, Aaron Ramsey, Harry Maguire, and John Stones. This is the foundation of Bayswater Chinese!”

All powerhouse clubs needed to be rooted in their local community.

In Europe’s top five leagues, high-quality domestic players were always a scarce commodity.

This was especially true in England.

“We also need to continue cultivating players like Pogba and De Bruyne.”

Yang Cheng was very satisfied with Bayswater Chinese’s current talent pool.

Hands down the best in the world!

But in the future, poaching attempts like Manchester City’s would surely become more and more frequent.

There was no helping it. With major consortiums entering the game, there were too many cooks for not enough broth. It was unavoidable!

…

Both the Premier League and the Bundesliga were scheduled to end in mid-May.

The final round of the Bundesliga was on May 18th, and the Premier League on the 19th, just one day apart.

But both teams had already secured their league titles in advance.

Additionally, Bayern Munich had reached the German Cup final, where their opponent was VfB Stuttgart.

If Bayern could win the Champions League, then achieving the Treble this season would no longer be a dream.

In contrast, after winning the Treble for two consecutive seasons, Bayswater Chinese had crashed out of all domestic cup competitions this season.

Regarding this, whether it was Yang Cheng, the media, or the fans, everyone was quite open-minded about it.

Selling players like Di María and Vincent Kompany had a really significant impact on Bayswater Chinese.

After clinching the title early, Yang Cheng had made it clear well in advance that for the final round, the team would field a full reserve lineup against Liverpool.

This was also a way to give the team’s young players more match experience.

The day after the home game against Newcastle, the team had a recovery training session.

After the training session on the morning of the third day, Yang Cheng convened a meeting with the coaching staff.

The main topic was the match against Bayern Munich on the 25th.

How should the team make the most of the next ten days?

Back in his previous life, Yang Cheng had always believed that Bayern inviting Pep Guardiola to coach was like a beautiful accident.

Because from the very beginning, the Germans were not suited for the possession-based passing style.

The Bayern under Jupp Heynckes was the one that best suited the Germans.

Later, when Bayern won the Champions League again, Flick also adopted this tactical approach.

This was definitely not a coincidence.

After the defeat in the 2011/12 season, Jupp Heynckes had clearly learned some painful lessons last summer.

Every major signing Bayern made in the transfer market played a crucial role.

First was the Brazilian centre-back Dante.

Joining Bayern at the age of twenty-nine was already quite an achievement.

This centre-back, often dubbed a “disaster-class” defender by fans in Yang Cheng’s previous life, was tall, had decent technical skills, could pass and initiate attacks, but most importantly, possessed a great long pass.

After Holger Badstuber suffered a serious injury mid-season and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign, Bayern’s defense now relied on the veteran Daniel Van Buyten and Dante.

Next was the tall center-forward on the frontline, Mandžukić.

There’s not much to say about this player; his greatest advantage was his tactical utility.

It has always been known that tall center-forwards, due to the laws of physics, are not good runners.

This was common knowledge.

But Mandžukić was an exception.

As a tall center-forward, his running ability was exceptionally strong, which was a nightmare for all defenders.

Finally, there was the Swiss Messi, Shaqiri.

This talented player, after making a name for himself in last season’s Champions League, was courted by many teams.

In the end, Bayern, being right next door, beat everyone to him.

Although Shaqiri’s performance during his season at Bayern had been inconsistent, he was only twenty-two years old, which filled everyone with expectations for his future.

It was worth mentioning that in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Shaqiri’s time at Bayern was not considered successful.

But in this timeline, with Robben at Manchester United, Shaqiri was being heavily utilized by Jupp Heynckes at Bayern.

All three new signings became regular starters and made significant contributions.

This once again confirmed for everyone that the Bayern leadership truly understood football.

But Bayern’s starting lineup was basically set.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defense: Alaba, Dante, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm;

Midfield: a double pivot of Gustavo and Schweinsteiger, with Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Shaqiri in front of them;

Forward: Mandžukić.

“If no players get injured or have any accidents in this weekend’s league match, this should be Bayern’s starting lineup.”

During the internal coaching staff meeting, Yang Cheng presented his prediction of Heynckes’s starting eleven.

4-2-3-1, this was Heynckes’s ironclad formation.

Many people said that Heynckes’s tactics were very similar to Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

When defending, the team’s overall formation would quickly contract to secure advantageous space; when attacking, they would rapidly spread out to exploit the time difference in the transition from defense to attack.

Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund basically used the same approach.

But in reality, the three teams were each different.

For example, Klopp’s team played very aggressively, with the whole team pressing very high up the pitch.

The advantage of this style was that they could sometimes just overwhelm their opponents right from the start.

But once the opponent managed to hold them off, or even wear them down, their stamina would no longer support such a style in the second half, especially after the sixtieth minute, and their threat would be greatly diminished.

The final result would be getting knocked out by the opposition.

Heynckes’s Bayern, in comparison, paid more attention to the balance between attack and defense than Klopp’s team. They were less aggressive, and their overall performance was naturally more stable.

But because both of Bayern’s centre-backs, Dante and Daniel Van Buyten, were tall, slow to turn, not very agile, and also older, Bayern would usually be tighter in defense, dropping back deeper when necessary.

Bayswater Chinese was very different from the two Bundesliga teams.

Yang Cheng’s team was more fluid in their passing and moving combination play, technically more refined, faster, and more impactful.

Their midfield also possessed greater creativity and control.

Overall, while the three teams seemed similar in many aspects, they were actually quite different.

For example, both teams shared a very interesting similarity.

Bayern’s average possession rate in the Bundesliga was 62%, almost identical to Bayswater Chinese.

The difference was, in the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese could still maintain around 60%, with an average of 59.8%.

But Bayern Munich only had 53%.

This meant that while they dominated possession when bullying weaker teams in the Bundesliga, they couldn’t keep the ball as well in the Champions League against stronger opponents.

“So, the initiative in this match will definitely be in our hands!” Yang Cheng asserted with great confidence.

“For us, the two most important things now are, first, how to breach Bayern’s goal, and second, how to stop Bayern’s counter-attacks.”

Yang Cheng used a declarative tone, not an inquisitive one.

These were two distinct issues.

Bayswater Chinese’s advantages were, as just mentioned, their passing combinations, technique, and the individual ability of their players.

Bayern’s two centre-backs were interesting; their pass completion rates were both at 91%.

In terms of long passes, Daniel Van Buyten averaged 7.1 per game with a 77% success rate.

Dante averaged 8.2 long passes per game with an 81% success rate.

But they weren’t the highest.

The player with the most long passes in the Bayern team was Schweinsteiger.

Little Piggy averaged 9.2 long passes per game, with a success rate as high as 80%.

Neuer averaged seven long passes per game, and Lahm averaged 5.4.

These five players were the ones with the most long passes on the Bayern squad.

Note that these are per-game statistics.

This meant that in Bayern’s tactical system, long passes were a very important tool.

And the players receiving these long passes were basically the three attacking players in the front.

The two wingers and the tall center-forward.

This season in the Bayern squad, the reason why local centre-forward Gomes lost out to Mandžukić was not his goal-scoring ability, but his ability in aerial duels.

Gomes won an average of 0.5 aerial duels per game.

Doesn’t that seem very different from the impression of a traditional centre-forward that his sturdy frame gives?

Mandžukić won an average of 2.4 aerial duels per game.

Seeing these stats, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but think of Andy Carroll again.

That kid could win an average of nine aerial duels per game.

A comparison clearly showed just how outstanding he was as a tall center-forward.

Giroud’s average number of successful aerial duels this season was 3.9.

Lewandowski’s was 4.4, and Gareth Bale also had 1.7.

From these statistics, one could intuitively see the characteristics and abilities of Bayern Munich’s forwards.

“Facing a balanced team like Bayern Munich, there really aren’t many shortcuts we can take.”

This statement from Yang Cheng received unanimous agreement from everyone present.

If there were shortcuts, Bayern wouldn’t have made it to the Champions League final.

“So, in the coming period, our main focus in training will be on how to quickly bypass Bayern’s first wave of on-the-spot counter-pressing with a single pass after winning the ball in our own half.”

This was very important.

Mandžukić’s running ability was much stronger than Lewandowski’s, and his defensive willingness was also more intense.

Even Ribéry was actively involved in counter-pressing this season.

This meant that once Bayern Munich lost the ball in the final third, the intensity of their counter-press was very high.

This was very similar to Borussia Dortmund.

But after failing to win the ball back up front, Bayern would quickly retreat to their defensive positions.

There would be a time gap in between.

Bayswater Chinese needed to study how to exploit this time gap.

For a fast break, the method was the long pass.

“So, I can tell you all with absolute certainty that this will be a match where the tempo is maxed out from the start, and it will be a very exciting duel.”

“Because neither of us will adopt conservative tactics!”

“And this will place extremely high demands on our players’ attention, concentration, and execution under pressure. Everyone must be in their best possible condition!”

The faster the pace, the greater the exertion, and the lower the margin for error.

In terms of defense, Yang Cheng demanded that the team focus on targeted defensive drills.

Bayern’s biggest characteristic was that Mandžukić would drift wide, often to the left flank. When this happened, Thomas Müller would make a forward run from the middle of the ‘3’ in the 4-2-3-1 formation, moving into the forward line.

Thomas Müller’s off-the-ball movement was very shrewd, and he had strong goal-scoring ability.

So, how to limit this kind of movement and combination play from Bayern’s forwards would require the coaching staff to arrange a series of targeted training sessions.

For example, a favorite method of Bayswater Chinese was to form a B-team to simulate the opponent’s tactics for attack vs. defense drills.

But before that, they would definitely need to arrange more specialized training focused on finer details.

For the past few years, Yang Cheng generally didn’t lead the training sessions himself. He was only responsible for the high-level perspective, setting out his requirements.

The specifics of training programs, scheduling, and execution were all handled by the coaching staff.

Especially in recent years, the sports science department had also been researching various training methods and programs.

Overall, Yang Cheng was very confident in Bayswater Chinese’s preparations.

Just as he had told his players.

When it comes to playing Bayern, we’re the experts!

…

On the afternoon of May 19th.

The final round of the 2012/13 Premier League season.

Ten matches kicked off simultaneously.

Bayswater Chinese were away at Anfield this round, taking on Liverpool.

Just as he had said in the internal meeting, Yang Cheng fielded a full reserve lineup for this match.

Goalkeeper: Robert Green;

Defense: Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and De Bruyne in the center;

Forwards: Sterling, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

From the lineup, it was clear that the most important thing for Bayswater Chinese in this match was to give the newcomers experience.

Compared to Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool were playing at home, so Mancini fielded his strongest possible team.

But to everyone’s surprise, despite the home team being at full strength and the away team fielding a full reserve lineup, it was the visitors who took the initiative after kickoff.

They even caused Liverpool’s midfielder, Javier Mascherano, to receive a yellow card in the eighth minute.

However, after an initial opening blitz, the young Bayswater Chinese side failed to pull back in time and conceded a goal to Coutinho in the twenty-third minute.

But for the vast majority of the time that followed, the game was a back-and-forth affair.

Especially after Liverpool’s goal.

Perhaps it was due to The Reds pressing forward in attack and Bayswater Chinese playing a defend deep and counter-attack style, but the centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and John Stones actually performed quite well.

At least the striking duo of Suárez and Sturridge couldn’t get the better of them.

Several of Liverpool’s attacks were thwarted before they could reach the defensive line.

This made even Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, find it hard to believe.

As a loyal stalwart of Great Britain, Brian Kidd shouted excitedly at Yang Cheng.

“See? These young players, as long as you give them a chance, they improve very quickly.”

“Defenders, they’re all forged through making constant mistakes and getting constantly beaten.”

Yang Cheng really wanted to say, “Right, right, everything you say is right!”

But he had to admit, in this match, this line of useless bunch on defense had really made him see them in a new light.

Especially Harry Maguire, who commanded the defense with the air of a great leader.

But deep down, Yang Cheng knew very well that the reason these guys were a useless bunch wasn’t because they lacked ability.

Quite the contrary, they were actually very talented.

But when you placed high hopes on them, then sorry, they would immediately transform into liabilities and leave you bleeding from the head.

What was infuriating was that when you didn’t have much hope for them, or even low expectations, they would often surprise you.

This was exactly what Yang Cheng was feeling at this moment!

So, after seeing the players’ performance on the field, Yang Cheng became even more certain that this defense line of useless bunch was just too damn unreliable!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese lost 0-1 to Liverpool away from home.

Manchester City also lost 2-3 at home to Norwich.

Manchester United drew 5-5 away at West Bromwich Albion.

Arsenal defeated Newcastle 1-0 away.

Chelsea beat Reading 2-1 at home.

It could be said that the top three, with their positions sealed, basically treated the final match with a relaxed attitude.

But in the brutal relegation battle, the teams involved fought tooth and nail.

For example, in the match between Newcastle and Arsenal, The Magpies gave it their all but ultimately lost 0-1 at home to The Gunners.

Sunderland also fought with everything they had but still lost 0-1 to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

After all thirty-eight rounds were completed, Reading remained at the bottom, with Wigan Athletic in nineteenth.

And Newcastle, by a margin of one point, ultimately lost out to Sunderland, finishing eighteenth and suffering a tragic relegation.

This was Newcastle’s second relegation to the Championship since their promotion to the Premier League in 2010.

In terms of goalscoring, Robert Lewandowski’s tally finally stopped at forty-two goals.

This had already set the all-time record for the highest single-season goal count in the Premier League.

The previous record held by Alan Shearer was only thirty-four goals.

The Polish centre-forward had raised the bar by a full eight goals.

Whether it was his legendary performance, his four-goal haul against Real Madrid, or his hat-trick at Camp Nou, Robert Lewandowski’s fame skyrocketed, making him a darling of football fans worldwide.

Many even began to say that the Polish centre-forward was the third-best player after Messi and C. Ronaldo.

Gareth Bale also scored thirty-one goals, a new high in his career.

On the Premier League’s top scorer chart, Bayswater Chinese players occupied the top two spots.

Lewandowski, in particular, was miles ahead.

After Gareth Bale, van Persie had only scored twenty-six goals.

Luis Suárez had twenty-three goals.

And to the disappointment of many England fans, after scoring nineteen goals last season, Theo Walcott’s tally this season had dropped to nine.

This was mainly related to his playing time.

Yang Cheng had previously explained to reporters that due to the European Championship and the Olympics, Walcott had missed a long period from pre-season training to the start of the league.

And during that time, Eden Hazard’s performance was outstanding.

Under these circumstances, the Belgian gained an advantage in the competition for a starting spot.

This led to Walcott being ranked behind Hazard in the pecking order, especially in important matches, which was why both his playing time and goal count had sharply decreased.

But Yang Cheng also repeatedly stressed, “In my mind, Walcott and Hazard have the same status. They are both very important members of the team!”

Although Walcott’s goal count had dropped, his overall performance was not bad. Especially in the games he did play, The Little Tiger delivered convincing performances.

…

As the final round of the Premier League concluded, across the English Channel, Ligue 1 also welcomed its final matchday.

Ronald Koeman’s OGC Nice defeated Ajaccio 2-0 away.

Paris Saint-Germain also beat FC Lorient 3-1 away.

After this round of Ligue 1 matches, the final standings were released.

Paris Saint-Germain had already clinched the title two rounds in advance, leading OGC Nice by seven points.

OGC Nice finished second in Ligue 1 with seventy-four points, securing their spot in next season’s Champions League.

Marseille finished third with seventy-one points and would have to go through the preliminary qualifying round.

Although OGC Nice ended up as the Ligue 1 runners-up, they successfully defeated Bordeaux 3-1 in the Coupe de France to win the cup.

For Nice, this was still a season full of achievements.

But most importantly, the new stadium, which had taken two years to build, was basically completed and would be officially opened in August 2013.

Bayswater Chinese had already received an official invitation to travel to Nice to play a pre-season friendly against the Ligue 1 team to celebrate the inauguration of the new stadium.

According to data fed back from Nice, residents of Nice and the surrounding towns were full of anticipation for the new stadium. Coupled with Nice’s excellent results over the past few years, they were very confident that Nice’s home attendance rate would be at full capacity for the upcoming season.

Of the thirty-six thousand one hundred and seventy-eight seats, at least thirty-five thousand would be filled.

However, Nice was not a big city after all. Although it had many tourists, the residents’ spending power was far inferior to that of Paris.

Nice had once conducted a market survey and jointly developed a ticket pricing model with a third-party ticketing agency.

Based on the current average ticket price of fifteen euros in Ligue 1 for Nice, the price would be raised to twenty euros after moving into the new stadium.

This was already on par with teams like Lyon and Lille.

This would also ensure that thirty-five thousand seats were filled for every match.

But it was still clearly short of Paris Saint-Germain’s twenty-five euros.

If the price were raised further, it would definitely cause some price-sensitive fans not to attend matches live.

Under these circumstances, Nice decided to set the average ticket price at twenty euros.

This meant that after moving into the new stadium and stabilizing their performance, ticket revenue from Ligue 1 alone could exceed thirteen million euros.

Perhaps many people don’t have a concept of this.

In Ligue 1, this past season, the club with the lowest revenue was Brest, estimated to be around fifteen million euros.

If you added the ticket revenue from the Coupe de France and the Champions League group stage, the overall income would be very substantial.

Therefore, from the moment Nice moved into their new stadium, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier were all very certain that this team was on the right track.

From now on, as long as Nice maintained its current momentum, continued to focus on its youth academy, and firmly rooted itself in the French and African football markets, they believed the team’s business would become increasingly successful and its strength would grow.

Of course, the most important reason Nice could get on track so quickly was the backing of the towering tree that was Bayswater Chinese.

It was also inseparable from Yang Cheng’s strategic planning behind the scenes.

At the very least, without Yang Cheng’s support, it would have been impossible for Nice to assemble such a squad so quickly.

…

As the major European leagues came to a close one after another, the Champions League final gradually came into everyone’s view.

May 25th, Wembley Stadium, London!

Before the Champions League final, UEFA announced a major change first.

Starting in 2015, the winner of the Europa League would directly qualify for the next season’s Champions League!

This quickly sparked heated discussions throughout European football.

Everyone knew that from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League, although many changes had been made to the format, it was still difficult to change the Europa League’s “chicken rib” status.

Many people even joked that the biggest use of the Europa League was to help teams and leagues rack up European competition coefficient points.

Yes, the coefficient points earned in the Europa League were the same as those earned in the Champions League.

As the media and fans sarcastically put it, it was much easier to farm coefficient points in the Europa League than in the Champions League.

But from the perspective of the event organizers, the “chicken rib” nature of the Europa League was undoubtedly something no one wanted to see.

So, they hoped to further increase the prestige of the Europa League by tying it to the Champions League.

After all, everyone knew that qualification for the Champions League meant an income of twenty to thirty million euros.

In addition to the Europa League winner entering the Champions League, the Champions League winner would also directly get a spot in the next season’s competition.

The latter actually had a precedent.

For example, when Liverpool won the Champions League but couldn’t finish in the top four in the league, they were given special approval by UEFA to enter the Champions League, but they had to start from the first preliminary qualifying round.

That’s why there were five Premier League teams in the 2005/06 Champions League.

Now, UEFA was officially rolling it out.

Besides the major news from UEFA, some bombshells also came from Bayern.

For example, the Bundesliga champions had a pre-contract agreement with Borussia Dortmund’s core player, Götze.

And they did it by paying his release clause.

This was undoubtedly very surprising.

German media also revealed that after reaching the Champions League final, each first-team player at Bayern would receive a bonus of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, while head coach Jupp Heynckes received a bonus of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.

Furthermore, Heynckes had clearly stated his willingness to stay on and continue coaching Bayern.

But the British media were clearly dismissive of this.

Why?

Arch-rivals, of course!

The Sun was the first to enter mockery mode.

The British media believed that Bayern was being too cheap.

Such a huge powerhouse club, yet so stingy with player bonuses.

Reaching the Champions League final, and the first-team regulars only get one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling?

“Norwich, ever heard of them?”

“Finished twelfth in the Premier League this season.”

“Just a few days ago, Norwich successfully avoided relegation in the Premier League and gave each of their first-team players a survival bonus of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling each!”

The Times also mentioned in its report that after winning the Champions League final last season, Bayswater Chinese gave each player a victory bonus of three hundred thousand pounds sterling.

“Note, this was just the extra victory bonus after the Champions League final!”

“The total Treble bonus that Bayswater Chinese players received for the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League was far higher than outside estimates!”

“Yang Cheng has always been very willing to invest in this area.”

Facing the “accusations” from the British media, Bayern immediately came forward to clarify.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed that the one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling was just the bonus for reaching the final, and the club would later award a Treble bonus.

But Rummenigge refused to disclose the specific amount, only saying it was a record-breaking figure.

The match hadn’t even been played, but the media on both sides had already started a war of words.

As the game drew nearer, the players and everyone else began to speak out.

Before Bayern departed for London, Schweinsteiger, in an interview with German media, stated that Bayswater Chinese was a very strong opponent.

“It will be a tense match. We need to stay focused, be at our best, from kickoff to the final whistle!”

But Little Piggy also mentioned, “We hope to settle the match within ninety minutes. We already have a plan!”

At the end of the interview, Schweinsteiger even used a rather exaggerated way to express his desire for the championship.

“If I can win this trophy, I’m willing to live a few years less!”

Bayern’s captain, Lahm, also said in an interview with reporters, “The Champions League trophy is very big. I’ve been practicing at home how to lift it.”

“How did I practice? It’s simple. I often lift my son up and put him down!”

“That’s the best preparation!”

The general Thomas Müller made a bold statement, “This season, we absolutely cannot lose!”

“If we lose to Bayswater Chinese again, we will be forever branded as losers!”

“So, we must win!”

Bayern Munich’s head coach, Jupp Heynckes, also stated in an interview with reporters that the Bayern players had shown unprecedented ambition and fighting spirit over the past season.

“We have delivered world-class performances!”

“For many players in our team, they must have a Champions League trophy. They will use all their strength to achieve this goal!”

The all-pervasive British media also broke some major stories.

The Daily Mail revealed that Bayern Munich’s hotel in London was the Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel, near the east gate of Hyde Park.

This hotel had an exceptionally large ballroom that could accommodate one thousand eight hundred people. It was originally an ice rink where Queen Elizabeth learned to skate at the age of seven, and it was converted into a ballroom before World War II.

American generals Eisenhower and General Patton often dined there.

The Daily Mail revealed that Bayern Munich had not only booked rooms at the hotel but had also booked this grand ballroom and requested that the associated bar remain open until five o’clock the next morning.

In other words, Bayern had already started preparing their victory celebration!

The British media slammed this, believing the Germans were being far too arrogant.

“The Germans always think they’re very clever, but in reality, all their actions in London are no secret.”

“About one hundred and eighty meters east of their hotel is the headquarters of Bayswater Chinese, where hundreds of Bayswater Chinese employees are gathered.”

The implication was that Bayern’s every move was right under the nose of Bayswater Chinese.

Bayswater Chinese players also began to counterattack the statements made by the Bayern players.

From captain Modrić to other players, they all came forward to make bold statements in the media.

This was not only a retaliation but also a way to motivate themselves and their teammates.

And the most eye-catching among them was Toni Kroos.

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, the German midfielder stated, “Whether in terms of honors, achievements, or ability, the current Bayswater Chinese are a class above Bayern!”

This single sentence made the whole of Germany lose its composure!

Chapter 280: The Traitor’s Worldie! Yang Cheng’s Three-Pronged Attack! Anyone But Him!

On the evening of May 25th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Led by Italian head referee Nicola Rizzoli, the players of both teams walked onto the pitch.

Every corner of Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans.

This was London. This was Wembley!

The Bayern Munich players were not surprised by this.

But tonight, they were the designated home team, taking the home dressing room.

Yang Cheng followed behind his players, striding into Wembley Stadium.

The first person he saw was Jupp Heynckes, standing near the entrance of the players’ tunnel.

“Hallo, Josef!” Yang Cheng greeted Heynckes in fluent German.

Heynckes knew Yang Cheng and was aware of his proficiency in multiple languages, so he wasn’t surprised.

“I heard you’ve prepared a three-pronged attack especially for us tonight. Is that true?” Heynckes asked with a smile.

Yang Cheng had said this during the pre-match press conference.

Yang Cheng nodded with a smile. “We’ll find out how effective it is in a moment.”

But soon, Yang Cheng noticed something unexpected.

“Why are you wearing glasses tonight?”

In his memory, Heynckes rarely wore glasses on a day-to-day basis.

And these were thick, black-framed glasses.

They looked like reading glasses.

“With them on, I can see more clearly, which gives me more confidence in the match,” Heynckes retorted tit-for-tat.

He knew Yang Cheng was deliberately implying he was getting old and couldn’t see clearly anymore.

Yang Cheng chuckled but didn’t press the topic.

All sorts of rumors were flying around.

One moment, it was that Bayswater Chinese had sent spies into Bayern’s hotel; the next, it was that Bayswater Chinese was collaborating with the Marriott Hotel, and then something else…

But in reality, Bayswater Chinese had done nothing of the sort.

The Bayern top brass knew better than the fans where the Bayswater Chinese headquarters were located.

Their choice of the Marriott Hotel was ultimately their own decision.

The British media deliberately made an issue of the distance, purely for the sake of grabbing headlines.

…

When Yang Cheng walked from the players’ tunnel to the front of the away team’s technical area, the first thing he did was grab a cup of water.

Then, he looked at his assistants.

Those seated on the coaching bench all had their specific responsibilities.

Behind them in the stands, there was also a support team from Bayswater Chinese.

The data analysis team, for example.

If everyone sat on the bench, there wouldn’t be enough space.

And it wasn’t necessary.

“Gianni, once the game starts, I want you to keep a close eye on Bayern’s midfield and defense, okay?”

Gianni Vio nodded solemnly.

Yang Cheng turned and walked back to the edge of the pitch.

By now, the two teams on the field had finished the coin toss. Bayern Munich had won the kick-off.

Mandžukić and Thomas Müller stood in the center circle, ready to start the game.

Bayern’s starting lineup tonight was still their 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Alaba, Dante, Daniel Van Buyten, and Lahm;

Midfielders: Schweinsteiger and Gustavo formed the double pivot, with Ribéry, Thomas Müller, and Shaqiri in front of them;

Forward: Mandžukić.

Bayern’s starting eleven held no surprises for Yang Cheng and his staff.

This was the lineup Heynckes had relied on most this season, and it was also their most competitive one.

Yang Cheng’s side also stuck with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defenders: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfielders: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski, and Gareth Bale.

However, even the television commentators noticed something different from usual.

As Bayern’s two forwards prepared to kick off in the center circle, Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale positioned themselves on either side of it.

Eden Hazard, meanwhile, was at the bottom of the center circle in the Bayswater Chinese half.

At first glance, Hazard looked less like a left winger and more like a central number 10.

Looking at their overall positioning, the midfield more closely resembled a diamond, with Hazard advanced, Toni Kroos and Modrić in the middle, and Nemanja Matić holding.

A 4-4-2 diamond formation?

Not only did some of the more experienced fans in the stands notice this, but so did Heynckes in the away technical area. Wearing his glasses, his brow was deeply furrowed as he watched the pitch intently, as if trying to capture every single movement of every player.

…

With a blow of head referee Rizzoli’s whistle, the highly anticipated Champions League final officially began.

The ball was quickly passed back from the center circle to the deeper-lying Schweinsteiger, who then played it to Dante.

Standing on the touchline, Yang Cheng continuously flexed his hands, his fingers dancing up and down as if playing a piano, but his attention remained fixed on the pitch.

He saw that as soon as the ball reached Dante, Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale shot forward like two sharp blades, piercing towards Bayern’s backline.

Dante evaded Bale’s press early, turning to the left and looking to pass to Alaba.

But Bayswater Chinese pressed forward as a unit, and Bale quickly changed direction towards Alaba.

Alaba glanced ahead, saw no passing lanes, and immediately passed back to Dante.

Dante then switched the play to the right, giving the ball to Lahm.

By this time, Hazard had already sprinted over.

This earned a silent nod of approval from Yang Cheng, who gave Hazard a mental thumbs-up.

“Well done, Eden, keep running!” Yang Cheng shouted loudly towards Hazard, who was nearby.

The Belgian, while running, turned his head and grinned at Yang Cheng. He had clearly heard him and was happy to receive his coach’s affirmation.

With that, the Belgian ran even more actively.

Between the two centre-backs, Van Buyten and Dante, it was Dante who was responsible for distribution.

But Gareth Bale was marking him very tightly on that side.

Seeing that Dante had lost his passing options, Schweinsteiger actively dropped very deep.

He positioned himself on the same line as the centre-backs.

Neuer would also actively come out to the edge of his penalty area to receive the ball.

Ever since joining Bayswater Chinese and having more of his skills developed by Yang Cheng, Neuer had returned to the Bundesliga and consistently played an important role in Bayern’s build-up play from the back.

The ball eventually found its way to Schweinsteiger’s feet.

“Little Piggy” controlled the ball inside the penalty area and moved towards the arc.

Bayswater Chinese weren’t pressing exceptionally high up the pitch.

Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were mostly hovering around the 30-meter area.

As Schweinsteiger dribbled forward, Yang Cheng could clearly see that Dante and Van Buyten had pulled very wide, almost into the full-back positions.

This was very similar to how Bayswater Chinese played.

A typical solution when facing a high press.

But at this moment, Bayswater’s entire midfield had actually dropped back into their own half.

Only Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale were left up front to press Bayern’s three players.

Alaba and Lahm had also pushed up to the halfway line on the wings.

When Dante received a pass from Schweinsteiger near the left touchline in the 30-meter area, Modrić immediately closed him down, with Gareth Bale also approaching.

This prompted Dante to forgo another pass and instead boot the ball long downfield.

The pass went towards the attack, intended for Mandžukić.

But just outside the penalty area, Pepe got there a step ahead, heading the ball down to Nemanja Matić.

Bayern began their high press.

Nemanja Matić quickly moved the ball.

After a series of one-touch passes, they bypassed Bayern’s first wave of counter-pressing.

The match clock read exactly 45 seconds.

Yang Cheng glanced at the time on the scoreboard, taking note.

He hadn’t instructed his team to press ferociously from the start.

This was a key part of his game plan.

They shouldn’t push up too far, but rather try to give the Bundesliga team time and space on the ball within their 30-meter area.

The purpose of this was to avoid compressing the opponent’s defensive shape too much.

An overly flat defensive line would be extremely detrimental to the Bayswater Chinese attack.

But after spotting an opportunity, Toni Kroos sent a long pass with pinpoint accuracy to the center of the pitch upfield.

Robert Lewandowski, making a quick forward run, managed to head the ball down first.

He directed the header into an empty space in the middle.

Immediately after, Hazard made a surging run, latched onto the ball, and continued to drive forward.

Bayern’s double pivot was scrambling back, but after a skillful dribble, Hazard evaded Gustavo’s tackle and played a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale burst forward.

But the pass was a bit too rushed.

Neuer came off his line, anticipating the danger, and smothered the ball.

The time was only 1 minute and 2 seconds.

In just over a minute, both sides had already traded blows.

“Well done!”

“Keep the pressure on, hold them off!”

“Push up from the back, keep them pinned!”

Yang Cheng shouted from the touchline.

Although the stadium was deafening, Yang Cheng’s voice was particularly loud, and he used hand gestures, so the players saw him.

Bayswater Chinese quickly pressed forward again.

But they mainly operated around Bayern’s 30-meter area.

It was still Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale entering the 30-meter zone, with Hazard and the three midfielders positioned outside.

When on the attack, the two full-backs, Marcelo and Piszczek, also pushed up quite high.

Nemanja Matić, on the other hand, was always keeping an eye on Thomas Müller.

Yang Cheng’s first prong of his attack wasn’t a change in formation or a surprise player.

It was Eden Hazard.

From the start of the match, Hazard had appeared on the left flank, in the right half-space, but mostly in the center.

He was playing something of a free role.

But in truth, he wasn’t free.

Yang Cheng had given him a clear task: use his dribbling advantage to put pressure on Bayern’s midfield and defense, carry the ball into the 30-meter area, and then distribute it to his teammates.

With Hazard’s dribbling ability, one man simply couldn’t contain him.

Just as Yang Cheng had said before the match, Bayern’s passing and possession advantage was relative to other Bundesliga teams.

In the Champions League, their average possession rate was only 53%.

And on their way to the final, Bayern hadn’t faced any particularly strong teams.

Therefore, in this match, Bayswater Chinese was determined to dominate possession.

Bayern wouldn’t compete with Bayswater for possession.

It was the same principle as why Yang Cheng wouldn’t try to out-possess Barça.

With possession secured, how could they break down Bayern’s defense?

Yang Cheng bestowed the first prong of his attack upon Eden Hazard.

And just 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the game, Marcelo sent a diagonal pass from the left flank to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder was particularly lively against his former club.

After controlling the ball, he played a diagonal pass to Hazard upfield.

As Hazard received the ball, he dribbled past Schweinsteiger and immediately charged forward.

Upon entering Bayern’s 30-meter area, Hazard quickly passed the ball to Gareth Bale on the left, just before Dante could close him down.

The Welshman had just switched to the left wing.

The moment Gareth Bale received the ball, he knocked it past Van Buyten and burst into acceleration, storming into the left side of the penalty area.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the entire stadium became electric.

Although Van Buyten was beaten, his recovery speed was fast.

After reaching the left side of the box, Gareth Bale whipped in a cross towards the far post.

Robert Lewandowski was in an unmarked position, but the ball was a bit too high for him to strike directly, and it wasn’t ideal for a header either.

The Polish centre-forward could only use his foot to bring the ball down.

Neuer seized this split second, decisively coming off his line and rushing to the right corner of the six-yard box. As Lewandowski was about to shoot, Neuer spread his arms and legs wide, blocking all of Lewandowski’s shooting angles.

The ball hit Neuer’s hand and rebounded to the right of the penalty spot.

But Bayswater Chinese’s next wave of attack came immediately.

“The ball is still in the penalty area.”

“Modrić with an overlapping run, shoots again!”

“Van Buyten, right in front of goal, blocks Modrić’s shot.”

“But there’s still a chance, Hazard shoots again!”

“A third shot!!”

“Hazard couldn’t keep the ball down and sends it high.”

“A very unfortunate attack!”

“Bayswater Chinese had three consecutive shots inside Bayern’s penalty area, all of them extremely dangerous.”

“But they were all blocked!”

“This is the attacking speed that Bayswater Chinese wants!”

“Just over 4 minutes into the game, Yang Cheng’s team has produced the first high-tempo spell of the match.”

“Bayern’s defense is indeed quite solid.”

“At critical moments, whether it was Van Buyten’s clearance in front of goal or blocks from other players, they denied Bayswater Chinese’s shots.”

“But we must also see that Bayswater Chinese is now starting to gradually dominate the game, and their attacks are intensifying.”

Standing on the touchline, Yang Cheng saw Hazard’s final shot go over the bar. He clapped his hands together forcefully and shook his head with a touch of resignation, clearly disappointed that the attack hadn’t resulted in a goal.

But he quickly composed himself and began to applaud vigorously.

“Well done!”

“Keep playing like this!”

“Maintain the pressure, keep pushing!”

In the stands, the numerically superior Bayswater Chinese fans were also clapping and cheering non-stop.

The fans chanted the players’ names, cheering them on.

…

“This kid really doesn’t seem like someone in his early thirties. His tactics are truly ruthless!”

In the chairman’s box, Beckenbauer was seated with Platini and others, while Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß sat together.

They had all been world-class players and their understanding of football far surpassed others.

Naturally, they could see the tactical adjustments Yang Cheng had made for this match.

Hearing Hoeneß’s words, Rummenigge sighed and shook his head. “Even Josef is on the back foot. That says it all.”

Heynckes’ technical and tactical level was there for all to see.

To lead Real Madrid to a Champions League title in the 90s spoke volumes about his ability.

“His tactical intent is clear now. He’s using Hazard’s dribbling and breakout ability to mess with our defensive formation as much as possible.”

“Once he breaks through at a certain point, he immediately links up with Robert Lewandowski and Gareth Bale in front.”

“Especially Gareth Bale.”

“That kid is incredibly fast, has outstanding dribbling skills, and his threat is truly terrifying!”

Hoeneß deeply agreed with Rummenigge’s assessment.

“Yeah, and Gareth Bale still has a lot of untapped potential. If it’s fully unleashed, he could be another C. Ronaldo-level player.”

“Yang Cheng won’t let Gareth Bale become another C. Ronaldo, especially not the C. Ronaldo from his later years at Manchester United and at Real Madrid. You can tell just by looking at the way Bale plays and his development path.”

“That’s what makes it even more terrifying!” Hoeneß said with a wry smile. “He scored thirty-one goals in the Premier League this season and had many assists. His overall performance is even better than C. Ronaldo’s in his later years at Manchester United.”

For the past two years, everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese players had been treated unfairly in various awards, especially those from FIFA and UEFA.

To put it bluntly, UEFA was desperately trying to suppress the Premier League to prevent one league from dominating.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for a Bayswater Chinese player to win a major award.

“I have a feeling we’re in a very dangerous position right now!” Hoeneß sighed again.

On the pitch, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

After that wave of consecutive shots, Bayswater had completely seized the momentum.

Bayern was now under immense pressure, forced to defend deep.

But as Bayern retreated, Bayswater Chinese gradually began to lay siege to their goal.

Both full-backs had also pushed forward.

“Even if we concede one goal, it’s not a huge problem. We still have ways to get it back.”

Rummenigge, on the other hand, had a very clear perspective on this.

Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz was the most threatening in the world, and also the most difficult to defend against.

After a pause, he added another sentence.

“But it can’t be that traitor!”

Hoeneß glanced at Rummenigge, wanting to laugh at this inappropriate moment.

Fortunately, he held it in.

The “traitor” Rummenigge was referring to was, without a doubt, Toni Kroos.

That kid had openly declared in an interview with Bild: “Bayswater Chinese is a level above Bayern Munich!”

When this statement reached Germany, it immediately sparked a heated debate across the entire German football world, with endless criticism.

Strictly speaking, based on their results and influence over the past few years, the statement wasn’t wrong.

The club ranked first in the world for revenue, the club with the most glorious achievements in recent years, a team full of stars…

For such a team to be described as a tier above Bayern was really nothing outrageous.

But in everyone else’s eyes, what was Bayswater Chinese?

A complete upstart!

Ten years ago, this club was still competing in the third tier of English football.

Who would have given this club a second look?

For many fans, especially those of traditional giants, Bayswater Chinese was nothing.

But the club’s achievements were there for all to see.

In terms of revenue, results, influence, and even their youth academy, who could compare to them?

In the past, fans could just bury their heads in the sand and pretend not to notice Bayswater Chinese.

If you can’t beat them, don’t talk about them!

But now, with one sentence, Toni Kroos had dragged everyone out, forcing them to confront the gap.

As a result, almost all German fans lost their composure.

Even Rummenigge’s composure cracked a little, which was why he directly called Toni Kroos a traitor.

…

The match continued.

By the 12th minute, Bayswater Chinese was still besieging Bayern.

After a period of attack, however, Bayswater didn’t push too far forward. Instead, they orchestrated their play around the 30-meter area, with Toni Kroos and Modrić responsible for organization and passing.

During their last attack, Bayern Munich’s entire backline had retreated inside the penalty area line.

Even Schweinsteiger had dropped back.

So now there were five Bayern defenders on the line of the penalty area.

Gustavo stood alone at the top of the arc.

Thomas Müller had tracked back to mark Modrić, who had the ball.

The Croatian didn’t continue to dribble forward after entering the 30-meter area but instead played a cross pass to Toni Kroos.

At that moment, Marcelo made a quick overlapping run from the flank, raising his hand to call for the ball. His side was open.

Toni Kroos saw the opportunity, especially after seeing Hazard run over, and immediately passed the ball over.

The Belgian winger received the ball in the left half-space, took two steps forward, and arrived at the left corner of the penalty area.

Meanwhile, Marcelo was positioned outside the box on the left, almost level with the Bayern backline.

At this moment, Bayern’s defensive line had retreated to the level of the penalty spot.

Hazard was facing a double team from Lahm and Shaqiri.

They were worried about Hazard cutting inside with the ball, while also being wary of him combining with Marcelo.

Modrić made a quick sprint forward, drawing Thomas Müller and Gustavo back towards the edge of the penalty area as well.

But just when everyone thought Hazard would take the ball himself or pass to Marcelo, as the Belgian dribbled to the left corner of the box, he suddenly played a diagonal back pass towards the area just outside the arc on the left.

This was a key part of Yang Cheng’s pre-match plan.

By using Hazard’s dribbling, combined with the movement of other players, they forced Bayern to continuously compress their own defensive shape.

In doing so, a mistake appeared in Bayern’s defense.

At this very moment, the entire area in front of the penalty box, especially directly in front of it, was completely empty.

Hazard’s pass was brilliant. The speed and trajectory were just right, perfect for a late runner to strike with power.

Toni Kroos charged forward, adjusted his stride with quick, short steps, and upon reaching the ball, he immediately unleashed a furious shot.

The ball was a good 25 meters away from the goal!

By the time Gustavo rushed out from the penalty area line, by the time Mandžukić sprinted over to block, it was already too late.

Toni Kroos didn’t take a touch, simply hitting it with a powerful first-time power shot.

The football rocketed off his foot at tremendous speed, giving Bayern’s defenders no chance to react.

Especially the goalkeeper Neuer in the six-yard box.

The German master goalkeeper was positioned slightly to his left, but his view was obstructed by both defenders and attackers.

By the time Toni Kroos’s sudden long shot was unleashed, by the time he heard the sound and then saw the ball, it was too late for a diving save.

This was a worldie, heading straight for the top left corner of the goal!

“A long shot from outside the box by Toni Kroos!”

“The German midfielder has blasted a long-range worldie!”

“Twelve minutes into the first half, Bayswater Chinese has finally breached Bayern Munich’s goal!”

“It’s a worldie from former Bayern Munich midfielder, Toni Kroos!”

The moment the goal was scored, Toni Kroos quickly turned and ran off the pitch.

The German midfielder, with a rare, wide grin, ran to the touchline and made a celebratory right fist pump towards the live camera.

His teammates all rushed over, and they mobbed Toni Kroos in a celebratory huddle by the sideline.

“This came from a Bayswater Chinese attack, continuous passing combinations, constantly changing the point of attack, and they capitalized on Bayern Munich’s defense dropping too deep, exposing the defensive issues at the edge of the penalty area.”

“Toni Kroos has scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese with a magnificent worldie!”

“1-0!”

“Bayern Munich put up a very stubborn fight from the start, but in the end, they couldn’t withstand Bayswater Chinese’s assault.”

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that in this defensive sequence, Lahm and Shaqiri were both focused on stopping Hazard’s attack, while Gustavo’s attention was drawn by Modrić.”

“No one noticed the more distant Toni Kroos.”

“But who would have thought that a late run and a long shot from Toni Kroos would be the one to pierce Bayern’s goal.”

“From the camera angle behind the goal, we can see the ball traveled at an incredible speed and the angle was extremely precise. For goalkeeper Neuer, it was a very difficult save to make.”

“Now, the camera is on Bayswater Chinese’s head coach, Yang Cheng.”

“The moment Toni Kroos’s long shot found the net, he excitedly ran out of his technical area.”

“And in the stands, the two Bayern Munich executives… Hoeneß has a look of utter shock, while Rummenigge’s expression is a bit odd now, as if he’s just been slapped. He’s holding his left cheek with his hand, haha…”

“The score is now 1-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese has broken the deadlock.”

…

After the deadlock was broken, the situation on the pitch didn’t change much.

Bayswater Chinese still held the initiative, pressing Bayern Munich.

Bayern, on the other hand, was looking more to threaten Bayswater’s goal through quick counter-attacks after winning the ball.

But the Bundesliga team’s counter-attacking methods relied more on long passes.

In the 16th minute, Bayswater Chinese quickly created another chance.

After a one-two pass between Toni Kroos and Marcelo on the left, Kroos delivered a precise through ball.

Gareth Bale accelerated, carrying the ball down the left flank. Facing Van Buyten outside the penalty area, he first slowed down, then suddenly burst forward again, using his speed to power past Van Buyten and into the left side of Bayern’s box.

Although Van Buyten desperately tracked back, Gareth Bale still found an opportunity to shoot from the left side of the penalty area.

The Welshman blasted a shot with his left foot, aiming straight for the goal.

But this time, Neuer’s reaction was incredibly fast, and he parried Bale’s shot away with both hands.

Robert Lewandowski wanted to follow up, but Dante got to the ball first and cleared the danger.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese only got a throw-in.

Just four minutes later, it was Hazard again on the ball in the middle, drawing the attention of Gustavo and Schweinsteiger before passing to Modrić in the right half-space.

The Croatian played a through ball to the right side outside Bayern’s penalty area.

Piszczek made a high-speed overlapping run, getting ahead of David Alaba and delivering a cross with his right foot into the center of the box.

Robert Lewandowski jumped for a close-range header.

But under the combined pressure of Van Buyten and Dante, Lewandowski couldn’t get a clean connection.

Gareth Bale at the far post also made a move, but was just an inch away from reaching the ball.

In the end, Piszczek’s cross went out for a goal kick.

The continuous attacks left Bayern Munich’s goal area in a state of panic.

Bayswater Chinese played with increasing fighting spirit, and their attacking combinations became more and more fluid.

Anyone could see that Yang Cheng’s team was extremely well-prepared with their targeted attacks.

Although Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski up front seemed to be playing as two strikers.

In reality, Bale’s position frequently shifted between the wings.

Hazard was not confined to the center either.

This made the combination of the front three attackers distinctly different from usual.

Bayern Munich’s defenders were clearly struggling to cope with such attacking combinations, and their coordination became more strained.

Just when everyone thought Bayswater Chinese had a good chance to press their advantage and seal the game, Bayern Munich, after being quiet for over ten minutes, finally launched a counter-attack.

On the left wing, Ribéry used his individual skill to break through, driving into the left side of Bayswater’s penalty area. After a series of feints that left Piszczek behind, he delivered a cross in front of the goal.

Mandžukić’s header was a bit too central, and Courtois instinctively tipped it over the crossbar.

Corner kick!

Ribéry himself stood at the corner flag.

At this moment, all of Bayern’s tall players surged into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

In terms of height, especially aerial superiority, Bayern had a very clear advantage.

From the very beginning, Heynckes had designated this as one of Bayern’s most important weapons.

Yang Cheng had also specifically prepared a targeted defense for this.

But when Ribéry took the corner, chaos erupted in the box.

Dante and Van Buyten both ran towards the near post, which left Mandžukić unmarked in a more central, deeper position.

The Croatian centre-forward leaped high, and with a powerful header, he sent the ball into the back of the Bayswater Chinese net.

Courtois was helpless.

1-1!

The Bayern fans in the stadium exploded!

“The game is back on level terms!”

“In the 26th minute of the first half, Bayern, who had been on the back foot, capitalized on a corner kick opportunity, with Ribéry assisting Mandžukić for a headed goal!”

“1-1!”

“This is actually Bayern’s first shot on target against Bayswater Chinese since the start of the match.”

“Unexpectedly, their first shot on target resulted in a goal.”

“It must be said, Bayern’s attacking efficiency is quite high.”

“On this set piece defense, Bayern’s attacking runs misled the defenders, which led to Mandžukić being left unmarked.”

“This is the unpredictability of defending set pieces.”

“In a very short amount of time, both sides are battling, and no one knows what will happen.”

“Of course, Ribéry’s delivery was excellent, and Mandžukić’s header was beautiful!”

…

Yang Cheng was disappointed with the conceded goal, but he still walked to the touchline, applauded forcefully, and shouted to his players, encouraging them and urging them to regroup as quickly as possible.

Bayswater Chinese’s tactics from the start of the game had been very successful.

But things on a football pitch are hard to predict and can change in an instant.

No one expected Bayern to equalize from a corner kick.

Yang Cheng was prepared, and Heynckes certainly was too.

Both sides were giving their all for this match!

This Bayswater Chinese team had one advantage: the players had a wealth of experience in finals.

Pepe, Thiago Silva, and others were seasoned veterans with immense experience.

Modrić had followed the team all the way up from the lower leagues, witnessing the rise of Bayswater Chinese!

Even players like Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski had played in many major finals.

So they knew exactly how to adjust their mentality in a game like this.

Conceded a goal?

No problem!

Besides, the head coach on the sideline had said it.

The tactics are working, keep at it!

So, after the restart, Bayswater Chinese quickly steadied themselves and essentially continued with their previous tactics and game strategy.

As for Bayern…

After equalizing, they became even more cautious.

They anticipated a furious backlash from Bayswater Chinese.

In the 33rd minute of the first half, it was Hazard again who passed the ball in the center to Modrić, before making a quick forward run himself.

After dribbling forward, Modrić passed the ball to the area outside the right corner of the box.

Gareth Bale quickly drifted wide to receive the pass.

As the Welshman received the ball from Modrić, the Croatian made a lateral run to draw defensive attention.

But Gareth Bale suddenly played a through ball towards the right byline inside the penalty area.

Hazard made a quick forward run into space. Unmarked, he caught up to Bale’s pass near the byline and dribbled horizontally towards the six-yard box.

As Dante and Schweinsteiger both charged towards him, Hazard showcased his boldness from supreme skill, remaining incredibly calm.

Near the byline, he found a gap between the two defenders and delivered a cut-back pass to the center, just in front of the six-yard box.

At almost the same instant, Robert Lewandowski sprinted in from the left side of the six-yard box, met Hazard’s pull-back, and swept it in with his right foot.

The ball shot into the right side of the goal at incredible speed.

Although Neuer made a dive, he was powerless against such a close-range shot.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 33rd minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese has broken through Bayern’s goal once again!”

“Another brilliantly worked team goal from an attack!”

“Gareth Bale pulls wide, stretching the defense, then Hazard makes a sudden forward run, catching the Bayern backline off guard, before a cut-back pass assists Lewandowski for the goal!”

“This attacking combination from Bayswater Chinese was exceptionally clever.”

“Bayern’s defense clearly had no good answer for such interchanging runs.”

“2-1!”

“Just seven minutes after their opponents equalized, Bayswater Chinese retakes the lead.”

After scoring, Robert Lewandowski excitedly ran off the pitch.

He sprinted all the way to the sideline to celebrate his goal.

At this moment, the entire Wembley Stadium echoed with the roar of the Bayswater Chinese fans.

The live television broadcast also focused on Robert Lewandowski.

“The Polish centre-forward is, so far this season, second only to Messi as the most prolific goalscorer in European football!”

“In fact, we could even say that he is on par with Messi.”

“In their respective leagues, one has forty-two goals, the other forty-six, with Messi slightly ahead.”

“But in the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese has reached the final, while Messi’s Barça was knocked out in the semi-finals.”

“Lewandowski’s performance this season has even overshadowed that of C. Ronaldo at Real Madrid!”

…

Just two minutes after Bayswater Chinese retook the lead, their attack tore through Bayern’s defense once again.

Toni Kroos received a long pass from Thiago Silva, and Robert Lewandowski quickly moved to the right side of the attack.

Upon receiving the ball, Lewandowski, facing a desperately retreating Dante, performed a feint before knocking the ball towards the byline, accelerating after it, and delivering a cross with his right foot.

But this time the cross was not well-placed, landing too close to the goal.

Goalkeeper Neuer came off his line and, getting there before anyone else, plucked the ball out of the air.

However, Neuer’s throw-out did not lead to a Bayern attack. Instead, it was intercepted by Bayswater’s counter-press, and they immediately launched another attack.

After Hazard dribbled into the left side of the box, his attempted cross was blocked by a timely recovery from Schweinsteiger, resulting in a corner.

Modrić took the corner from the left, sending a precise delivery into the penalty area.

After Pepe’s feint at the near post, Robert Lewandowski won the ball in the middle and headed towards goal.

However, the header was straight at Neuer, who instinctively blocked it with both hands.

After a scramble in the box, Thiago Silva’s follow-up shot hit Van Buyten and skimmed past the post and out for another corner.

It was almost an own goal!

This time, Toni Kroos took the corner, but it was headed out at the near post by Van Buyten.

Another corner!

Toni Kroos took it again.

The German midfielder aimed for the center, just in front of the six-yard box, but this time Pepe fell before he could jump.

Dante headed the ball clear, sending it out of the penalty area.

Marcelo collected the ball on the edge of the box and took a long shot, which went high over the bar.

Inside the box, Pepe was protesting to the head referee, claiming that Dante had committed a foul by pulling him to prevent him from jumping.

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that it was indeed a very obvious pull.”

“Dante was clearly aware of the danger Pepe posed and wanted to stop him from jumping.”

“However, head referee Rizzoli apparently didn’t see it.”

“Because the penalty area was chaotic at the time, the referee’s view was obstructed, so he didn’t see Dante’s pulling action.”

“This is actually quite normal.”

“The Bayswater Chinese players only protested for a moment and didn’t linger on it.”

“This is actually a common psychological tactic in a match. When you feel you’ve been wronged, you have to let the referee know.”

“Pleading your case to the referee a few more times can win you some sympathy.”

Under this continuous onslaught from Bayswater Chinese, Bayern Munich was extremely passive on the field.

This was especially true in the final phase of the first half.

Heynckes’s team was almost completely pinned back, absorbing pressure.

This also showed the difference in quality between the two teams.

Although the first half ended 2-1, with Bayswater Chinese holding a temporary lead.

But judging by the flow of the game, apart from that one corner kick, Bayern Munich had almost no other chances that directly threatened the goal.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had organized and created multiple dangerous attacks.

They even came close to scoring more goals.

“Before this match, Yang Cheng told the media that he had carefully prepared a three-pronged attack for Bayern Munich.”

“Although we don’t know the specifics.”

“But from the way the game has unfolded, it’s clear that Bayswater Chinese has more than just three tricks up their sleeve.”

“Whether it’s the fluid movement of Hazard, Lewandowski, and Bale, or their combinations in the final third, it has caused immense trouble for Bayern Munich’s defenders.”

“Hazard’s dribbling and ability to break lines, Gareth Bale’s explosive power and destructive force, Lewandowski’s scoring ability, and his threat to the goal inside the box.”

“All of this has put Bayern Munich’s midfield and defense on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy!”

“And in midfield, you have Toni Kroos and Modrić, both of whom have been actively pushing forward to join the attack.”

“In contrast, we can see that Nemanja Matić, Pepe, and Thiago Silva have mostly stayed in their own half.”

“Clearly, this must have been a meticulously prepared tactical arrangement from the coaching staff before the match.”

When head referee Rizzoli blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium all rose to their feet, applauding and cheering for their players.

The 2-1 lead gave Bayswater Chinese control of the match.

For Yang Cheng, the situation in the first half was not unexpected.

Because the players had executed the targeted tactics perfectly.

If you look closely, Bayern’s few attacks in the first half were mostly created by players relying on individual skill.

In a sense, this was not a good thing.

Because it meant the players were fighting on their own.

One reason for this situation was that Bayern didn’t have possession and could only resort to counter-attacks.

And counter-attacks are all about speed and efficiency.

To put it simply, they had to be fast.

On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese had effectively locked down Mandžukić and Thomas Müller.

This forced Bayern’s forwards, Ribéry and Shaqiri, to receive the ball mostly on the flanks.

As a result, the two wings were stretched very wide.

If this were the Bundesliga, where Bayern held an overwhelming advantage in strength, this would be a good thing.

But in tonight’s Champions League final, it left the Bayern players isolated and fighting alone.

And the defenders of Bayswater Chinese were capable of handling their opponents.

Especially on the right flank.

After successfully neutralizing C. Ronaldo, Piszczek’s defense against Ribéry was also very successful.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese went into the halftime break with a 2-1 lead.

Chapter 281: Defending the Champions League! A Solo Run! The Cruyff Turn! The Model Student of European Football!

At halftime, Bayern Munich made some very obvious adjustments.

As soon as the second half began, Bayern, trailing by one goal, took the initiative and launched an offensive against Bayswater Chinese.

Barely two minutes in, Ribéry received a pass from Alaba in the left channel, cut inside horizontally, and passed the ball to Schweinsteiger in the center.

As “Little Piggy” controlled the ball, he was pressed by Toni Kroos but still managed to distribute it to the open right flank.

Lahm was completely free on that side.

The Bayern captain dribbled forward, rushing to the right side of the penalty area before whipping a curling cross into the middle of the box.

Mandžukić, right in the center on the edge of the six-yard box, met it with a header, aiming for the far post.

But the ball went wide of the goal.

“That was a nice attack from Bayern.”

“Lahm on the right wing has always been at the core of Bayern’s offense.”

“In the Bundesliga this past season, Lahm alone contributed eleven assists.”

“His performance on the right flank is outstanding.”

“But Mandžukić’s header this time was a bit of a shame!”

“We can see that head coach Jupp Heynckes on the sideline seems pleased with that attack. He’s clapping continuously, signaling for his team to stick with this tactic.”

“Meanwhile, Yang Cheng, in front of the away team’s dugout, is reminding his left-back, Marcelo.”

“Just now, Marcelo followed Shaqiri’s move inside, leaving the flank wide open.”

“Clearly, Heynckes has realized that the new formation Bayswater Chinese deployed in the first half has issues protecting the wings.”

“Especially with Modrić and Toni Kroos positioned a bit too centrally.”

“Now, let’s see how Yang Cheng plans to solve this problem.”

…

A minute later, Bayern was on the attack again.

The Bundesliga champions had been on the front foot ever since the second half started.

They passed the ball into the final third, finding Thomas Müller.

He played it back to Schweinsteiger.

Who then passed it back to Thomas Müller.

“Thomas Müller suddenly unleashes a long shot!”

“Danger!”

“A sudden long shot from Thomas Müller from outside the penalty area.”

“It went just over the crossbar.”

“That’s Bayern’s second shot of the second half.”

“Their attack is ferocious!”

“Actually, Thomas Müller should have passed to the right just now. Lahm was open again on that side.”

“But he was clearly a bit anxious and chose to shoot himself.”

…

In the 49th minute, Bayern Munich launched another quick counter-attack after winning the ball in midfield.

This time, it was Alaba and Ribéry combining on the left flank.

After receiving a pass just outside the left corner of the penalty area, the Frenchman immediately dribbled into the box.

Facing Piszczek, Ribéry used a series of feints to shake off his marker, then suddenly cut inside horizontally and fired a power shot towards the far corner.

The quality of the shot was extremely high.

But with Pepe and Thiago Silva between him and the goal, Ribéry’s attempt to hit the far corner slid just wide of the post, failing to find the back of the net.

A gasp of collective fear echoed through Wembley Stadium.

Ribéry grabbed his hair in frustration, clearly annoyed that his shot hadn’t resulted in a goal.

From receiving the ball to shaking off Piszczek and taking the shot, the entire sequence had been one fluid motion, as smooth as flowing water.

Ribéry himself had been very confident.

But in the end, the trajectory was off by the slightest of margins.

A tiny difference in where he struck the ball resulted in a much bigger miss by the time it reached the goal.

The Bayern fans in the stadium gave their team a warm round of applause.

Evidently, they were very satisfied with how their team had started the second half, pressing Bayswater Chinese and dominating the play!

If they could just maintain this momentum, how could they fail to equalize, or even turn the game around?

…

“Bayern’s adjustments at halftime were very timely. They are still a very strong side!”

In the Chairman’s box, UEFA President Platini said to UEFA General Secretary Infantino with a smile.

Whether from UEFA’s standpoint or for personal reasons, he did not want to see Bayswater Chinese win.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had faced the most difficult path in the Champions League.

The group stage was one thing.

In the knockout stage, they first faced Valencia, then Real Madrid, and then Barça.

It could be said that every one of Bayswater Chinese’s matches in the knockout stage was a clash between top teams.

And one shouldn’t underestimate Valencia.

The Bats had fought neck and neck with Bayern in the group stage, with one draw, one loss, and only by a single goal.

In La Liga against Real Madrid and Barça, they drew at home and lost by only one goal away.

This showed that The Bats’ strength was not to be taken lightly.

To some extent, UEFA had already done everything in its power to upset Bayswater Chinese while still maintaining a semblance of propriety.

What?

Intervene directly?

That would be utterly foolish.

It would give people ammunition, not to mention where would that leave UEFA’s authority as the event organizer and the ones calling the shots in European football?

Everything had to be done by the book.

Within the rules, you could play however you wanted.

Go beyond the rules, and the whole thing would collapse!

Moreover, if UEFA were the first to break the rules, you could bet that by tomorrow, there would be no rules left in European football!

And the one who would suffer the most in the end would be UEFA!

So, no matter what Platini did, he always started by changing the rules.

For example, the Financial Fair Play regulations, or his support for smaller nations.

“Yang Cheng’s team is truly very strong.”

Infantino was also filled with admiration. “Who would have thought that the invincible La Liga’s big two would lose so badly in the quarter-finals and semi-final?”

Platini couldn’t help but nod.

This had definitely exceeded everyone’s expectations.

That’s why rumors of match-fixing were now flying everywhere.

Some even said that UEFA was deliberately propping up Bayswater Chinese to take down La Liga’s big two.

Wasn’t that just ridiculous?

“The most important thing is that we really don’t have any good way to deal with this team,” Platini sighed.

Compared to other Premier League teams, Bayswater Chinese truly had no weaknesses.

Youth academy?

Top-tier in Europe!

Finances?

Although they were deep in debt from building a new stadium, UEFA’s own rules stipulated that debts incurred from investments in stadiums and youth academies were not subject to Financial Fair Play assessments.

Putting those aside, Bayswater Chinese had already surpassed Real Madrid to become the football club with the highest revenue in Europe.

Technical and tactical ability?

For the past few years, this team had been a trendsetter for tactics and techniques in European football!

Even the salary structure problem, which almost all powerhouse clubs faced, was handled flawlessly by Bayswater Chinese.

Their wage expenditure was consistently maintained at around forty percent.

This wasn’t just a model student.

This was practically the ideal!

Their results on the pitch were also impeccable, and the team’s performance was outstanding.

This left UEFA without any angle to even try to restrain Bayswater Chinese.

The only thing people criticized was the relationship between Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice.

There was a bit of a fuss about it three years ago.

But three years had passed without any incident, and people had gradually grown accustomed to it.

On the contrary, after three years of management, OGC Nice had not only become a formidable team in Ligue 1 but had even reached the Champions League semi-final this season.

What a model of success!

OGC Nice built a new training facility, constructed a new stadium, invested heavily in their youth academy, and their financial situation improved rapidly.

Many said they were practically the Ligue 1 version of Bayswater Chinese!

All of this showcased the strength of Bayswater Chinese!

Previously, some German media outlets had even suggested that they should adopt the Bayswater Chinese model.

Listen to that, even the Bundesliga recognized the advanced nature of this model.

“I heard they’ve been making moves in Italy recently?” Platini asked with concern.

“I’ve heard that too. They’ve apparently approached a few teams, but it’s still unclear which one,” Infantino replied.

“Serie A? That’s a much tougher challenge than Ligue 1,” Platini said with a laugh.

As UEFA President, he was all too aware of the difficulties Serie A was currently facing.

Without even owning their own stadiums, Serie A’s development was already capped.

“Perhaps many insiders in the Italian industry are hoping Yang Cheng can bring some surprises,” Infantino said with a wry smile.

“So, the Italians aren’t opposed to him.”

“With the successful cases of Bayswater Chinese and Nice as precedents, and with Serie A in such a slump…”

Platini nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

He was a star who had come from Serie A, and seeing its current state left a sour taste in his mouth.

He even hoped that Yang Cheng and his team could bring something different to Italian football.

This was where Platini was conflicted.

On one hand, he greatly admired the achievements of Yang Cheng and his team.

But on the other, the dominance of Bayswater Chinese and the Premier League gave him a huge headache.

And then there was that International Champions Cup!

At this thought, Platini looked out onto the pitch with some frustration.

Bayern was still pressing the attack.

Since the second half began, Heynckes’s team had been pinning Bayswater Chinese back.

Anyone could see that the Bundesliga champions wanted to capitalize on their early second-half momentum to equalize as quickly as possible, perhaps even turn the game around.

And Bayswater Chinese had been forced into a defensive posture by this wave of attacks from Bayern.

This couldn’t help but stir a little hope in Platini’s heart.

“Come on, Bayern, come on. Hurry up and score!” the UEFA President muttered to himself, as if praying.

At that moment on the pitch, Bayern Munich passed the ball to the right flank during an attack.

It landed at the feet of “the Swiss Messi,” Shaqiri.

…

As Bayern intensified their attack at the start of the second half, Yang Cheng made a decisive adjustment.

Gareth Bale was moved to the left wing.

Which was the right side of the pitch for Bayswater Chinese.

The purpose was clear: to suppress Lahm.

Gareth Bale’s great strengths were his immense stamina and blistering pace. Moreover, having started his youth career as a full-back, he possessed excellent defensive awareness and a strong willingness to contribute defensively.

So, Yang Cheng moved him to this side as an adjustment against Bayern.

Gareth Bale naturally understood the head coach’s instructions.

When he saw Lahm advancing with the ball along the right flank, he tracked back all the way.

The Welshman chased back to the edge of his own penalty area. When he saw Lahm make a cross pass to Shaqiri, he positioned himself outside the right corner of the box, keeping an eye on Lahm while also providing defensive support against Shaqiri.

Just as Shaqiri was about to cut inside with the ball, Gareth Bale glanced at Lahm, then pushed off hard with his feet. He shot forward like a bolt of lightning, suddenly pressing high.

Shaqiri was not tall, standing at 1.69 meters, but his nickname “the Swiss Messi” told you he had decent physical strength.

He was a stocky type of player, quick on his feet, with good upper body strength for challenges.

So when he saw Gareth Bale charging at him, he was caught by surprise, partly because the Welshman was so fast.

But he was also somewhat confident in his own ability to hold off a challenge. ditambah with the desire of a young player wanting to prove himself, he didn’t pass the ball away immediately.

This was, in fact, one of Shaqiri’s flaws.

When Gareth Bale rushed in, he first initiated physical contact, bumping Shaqiri’s shoulder directly with his chest.

The two collided solidly.

Shaqiri, being shorter and at a weight disadvantage, inevitably stumbled a bit, his dribbling thrown into disarray.

In that instant, he already regretted his overconfidence and quickly tried to recover and pass the ball away.

But unexpectedly, in the next step, the long-legged Gareth Bale stretched out his right foot and poked the ball away first.

As he kicked the ball, he happened to trip Shaqiri.

Seeing that he had lost the ball, the Swiss Messi immediately went to ground, hoping the head referee would blow his whistle.

But Rizzoli was nearby and had a clear view of the contact between the two players.

Gareth Bale had touched the ball first.

So, he did not blow the whistle.

After seeing Shaqiri fall, Gareth Bale didn’t give it a second thought. When the ball he had poked away landed at the feet of Robert Lewandowski, who had dropped back to defend, he immediately skirted around Shaqiri and sprinted forward.

Not hearing the referee’s whistle, he immediately burst forward at top speed.

Lewandowski had just received the ball when he saw Gareth Bale accelerating and immediately passed it forward.

Bayern’s defenders were scrambling back.

But Gareth Bale’s speed was incredible.

Lewandowski’s pass landed perfectly in front of Gareth Bale.

The Welshman caught up to it, immediately knocked the ball further ahead, and continued to accelerate, getting faster and faster.

In an instant, Gareth Bale had already reached the left side of the center circle at the halfway line.

And his speed was still increasing.

About two body lengths behind him was Bayern’s holding midfielder, Gustavo.

And directly in front of him was Daniel Van Buyten.

Next to Van Buyten in the center were Dante and Alaba.

The Welshman was like a supercar launching off the line, knocking the ball far ahead with each stride to build up more speed. He was so fast that before he even entered Bayern’s 30-meter area, he had already caught up to Van Buyten.

The veteran Belgian was tall but slow and could no longer retreat.

So, after shouting to his teammate Dante, he immediately chose to move sideways to close the gap.

He wanted to “sacrifice” himself to slow down Gareth Bale’s advance, buying more time for Dante and Alaba to get back and defend.

Sure enough, Dante, who was sprinting back with all his might, immediately cut across to cover the space behind Van Buyten.

But Gareth Bale didn’t slow down.

Just when everyone thought Van Buyten had a chance to tackle, Gareth Bale got to the ball first, knocking it forward once again, and shot through Van Buyten’s defensive zone like a flash of lightning.

The Belgian didn’t even have time to commit a foul.

The Welshman was simply too fast!

In that instant, the entire Wembley Stadium was utterly ignited!

Countless fans had already jumped out of their seats, excitedly shouting Gareth Bale’s name.

After catching up to the ball he had kicked ahead, the Welshman had already broken into Bayern’s 30-meter area.

By this time, Dante had also closed in.

Dante chased Gareth Bale all the way to the edge of Bayern’s penalty area.

At this point, the Welshman suddenly slowed slightly, feinting as if he was going to cut inside diagonally.

Although he had slowed down, he was still incredibly fast, giving Dante no time to react.

In that instant, the Brazilian had to decide whether Gareth Bale was actually going to cut inside.

Dante wasn’t sure, but he still took a step sideways.

But just then, Gareth Bale accelerated again, his feet a blur as he kept the ball under close control. With another burst of speed, he pushed the ball towards the left side of the penalty area and launched himself forward once more.

Dante was also a tall, powerfully built centre-back. He was always a bit slow to turn and lacked top-end speed.

With one slow and one fast player, in the blink of an eye, Gareth Bale left Dante behind and burst into the left side of Bayern Munich’s penalty area.

The moment Gareth Bale broke past Dante’s defense and entered the left side of the box, Neuer decisively came off his line.

The master German goalkeeper had played at Bayswater Chinese for years; he knew Gareth Bale’s abilities better than anyone.

Especially on the left side of the penalty area.

Once the Welshman broke past Dante, only the goalkeeper stood a chance of stopping him.

Neuer’s rush off his line was nothing short of decisive and extremely fast.

But Gareth Bale was faster.

Just as he burst past Dante’s defense and stepped into Bayern’s penalty area with one foot, seeing Neuer charging out, Gareth Bale quickly planted his right foot to steady himself and then swiftly struck the ball with his left.

A loud thump echoed around the stadium.

The football shot off Gareth Bale’s left foot at a speed that was hard to follow with the naked eye. It flew in an almost perfectly straight line, streaking past Neuer.

The German goalkeeper could only rely on pure reflex as he dived low to make the save.

But he was a fraction too late.

The ball zipped past him and flew straight into the unguarded Bayern goal.

“GOAL!!!”

“My goodness, in the 54th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese have breached Bayern’s goal again!”

“A quick counter-attack from Gareth Bale!”

“Incredibly fast!”

“The Welshman carried the ball on a 70-meter solo run, beating two Bayern defenders before unleashing a furious shot from the left side of the box to score!”

“3-1!”

“This is simply unbelievable!”

“After the second half began, Bayern mounted a one-sided assault, repeatedly creating attacking advantages.”

“But Bayswater Chinese not only held firm at the back but also capitalized on a quick counter-attack, with Gareth Bale scoring after a long-distance sprint!”

“This is Bayswater Chinese’s first shot of the second half!”

The entire stadium was instantly drowned in the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

Countless supporters had already risen to their feet cheering during Gareth Bale’s solo run. When the goal came, they screamed until their throats were raw, completely lost in the moment.

After scoring, Gareth Bale sprinted to the sideline and made a heart shape with his hands toward the fans in the stands.

Then, he was swarmed by his overjoyed teammates.

3-1!

This goal was absolutely crucial!

It could even be said that it would shatter the balance of the game.

Bayern now faced a very dire situation.

They needed to score two goals just to equalize.

But for the Bundesliga champions, that was an incredibly tall order!

…

On the sideline, Yang Cheng clapped continuously for Gareth Bale’s goal.

At the same time, he noticed that Jupp Heynckes had, at some point, returned to his seat in the home team’s dugout.

The Bayern head coach had been standing on the touchline directing the match since the start of the second half.

But now, he didn’t want anyone to see his expression.

Gareth Bale’s goal was indeed of paramount importance.

It was a huge blow to the morale of the Bayern players.

If Bayern had actually scored during that flurry of attacks at the beginning of the second half, it would have been Bayswater Chinese who suffered the blow.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng’s team had withstood the pressure!

Having played so many matches, especially so many Champions League finals, the players of Bayswater Chinese knew exactly which tactics to employ and when.

Besides, Bayswater Chinese’s defense was not to be trifled with.

With this thought, Yang Cheng walked quickly to the sideline and signaled for the team to push forward a bit.

They had been on the back foot since the start of the second half.

That was ultimately not a good thing.

In a match of the caliber of a Champions League final, being pinned down by the opponent like this, who could guarantee they wouldn’t make a mistake?

“Bayern will probably make a substitution.”

As Yang Cheng was thinking, Brian Kidd offered a reminder.

Yang Cheng glanced at the home team’s bench, where there was indeed some movement.

Several players, including Mario Gomes, had gone out to warm up.

It was a rather obvious attempt to hide their intentions.

“They must be bringing on Mario Gomes to strengthen their attack.”

Yang Cheng put himself in Heynckes’s shoes, trying to guess his thoughts.

If it were him, he would probably take off Shaqiri.

The Swiss Messi had a rather average, if not poor, performance in this match.

Substituting Shaqiri for Gomes and moving Mandžukić to the wing would bolster their forward line.

Especially their threat inside the penalty area.

“So, are we making a change?” Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng shook his head. “Let’s wait. We’ll observe for a bit first.”

With Bayswater Chinese leading by two goals, Yang Cheng could afford to wait!

Bayern, on the other hand, was running out of time.

…

When the match reached the 60th minute, during a break in play, Bayern did indeed make a substitution.

Gomes replaced Shaqiri.

After the change, Thomas Müller moved to the wing, and Bayern’s formation looked something like a 4-4-2, with the dual centre-forward pairing of Mandžukić and Mario Gomes up front.

This put some pressure on Yang Cheng.

So, he began to signal for Nemanja Matić to be mindful of tracking back to protect the centre-backs, especially Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian centre-back was truly excellent, even outstanding in defending high balls.

But his relative lack of height and strength was a disadvantage, and facing tall center-forwards of the caliber of Mandžukić and Gomes would be quite stressful.

Especially with crosses coming in from the wings.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had guessed Heynckes’s intention.

To put it simply: high-altitude bombing!

Although Bayswater Chinese had a significant height advantage against La Liga teams like Real Madrid and Barça, they truly held no advantage in height and physical strength against Bayern.

Of course, in terms of technique and passing and moving combination play, Bayswater Chinese had a clear edge.

It could be said that each team had its own strengths.

After the substitution, Bayern began to intensify their attacks down both flanks.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, gradually pushed forward and engaged in a back-and-forth contest with Bayern.

But it was clear that after the 60-minute mark, the pace of the game slowed slightly for both sides.

After all, at this stage of the match, both teams had expended a great deal of energy.

“Looking at the statistics as the game stands now…”

“In the first sixty-five minutes, Bayswater Chinese has had sixty-two percent of possession, while Bayern has had only thirty-eight percent.”

“This clearly reflects the gap between the two teams.”

“In terms of shots, Bayswater Chinese has created sixteen, while Bayern has only managed nine.”

“And both teams have one yellow card so far.”

“So overall, the game has been very fluid. Both teams have played attacking football, making for a very exciting match.”

“This is quite rare for a game of this level, a Champions League final.”

“Last season’s Champions League final, when Bayswater Chinese played Barça, was also a very exciting game.”

“It has to be said, Bayswater Chinese’s matches are always highly entertaining.”

“That’s why, whether in the Champions League or the Premier League, their home game attendance rate is extremely high. They are renowned as the team with the highest home attendance in European football, and they often boost the attendance rate for their away games as well.”

“Alright, let’s watch this Bayern attack.”

“They’re going down the right side again, giving it to Thomas Müller.”

“Marcelo presses high in time.”

“A brilliant tackle.”

“A quick counter-attack for Bayswater Chinese, let’s see if there’s a chance!”

“Gareth Bale fails to control the ball under pressure.”

“A back pass, Toni Kroos has it.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s initial fast break didn’t come off.”

When Toni Kroos received the back pass from Gareth Bale on the left side of Bayern’s 30-meter area, Marcelo had already made an overlapping on the flank.

At that moment, everyone thought Bayswater Chinese was going to attack down the left.

After all, Gareth Bale had just scored from a breakthrough on that same side.

As Toni Kroos controlled the ball, he faced directly forward and even raised a hand, directing Marcelo’s run. It really looked like he was going to do what everyone expected.

But just as everyone was waiting for Toni Kroos to pass, the German suddenly pushed the ball horizontally with the outside of his right foot, took a step forward, and swiftly kicked out with his right.

The football carved a flat, fast arc, landing precisely at the right corner of Bayern’s penalty area.

It was an incredibly sudden switch of play.

Lewandowski was in the center.

Eden Hazard was at the arc of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale was on the left edge of the box, and Marcelo was on the left side of the box.

Bayswater Chinese’s entire attack was virtually concentrated in the left half of the pitch.

Therefore, Bayern’s defensive focus was also heavily weighted to their own right side.

Under these circumstances, Toni Kroos’s cross-field pass truly caught everyone by surprise.

Could Piszczek get to that ball?

The Polish defender was still near the right touchline, around the 30-meter area, pinning down Ribéry.

Everyone’s first reaction was: was that a misplaced pass?

If he was passing to Piszczek, the ball clearly lacked power.

But in the next second, the intended recipient appeared.

Modrić was seen making a rapid forward run. Completely unmarked, he burst into the vicinity of the right corner of Bayern’s box, chested the ball down, and brought it into the right side of the penalty area.

Bayern’s defense reacted very quickly as well.

Alaba immediately rushed over.

Dante also quickly shifted over to maintain a safe distance, afraid that Modrić might get past Alaba.

The Croatian controlled the ball on the right side of Bayern’s penalty area, almost on the right-hand line of the box.

As Alaba closed in, before the defender could plant his feet, Modrić knocked the ball forward.

After creating a sliver of space, Modrić sent in a curling cross with his right foot.

When Dante saw Modrić knock the ball, he immediately ran towards the byline, and a gap formed between him and Alaba.

Modrić’s pass threaded through that very gap, landing near the penalty spot.

As Bayern’s defensive line shifted horizontally, Robert Lewandowski had been running between Van Buyten and Dante.

Because Dante moved to cover for Alaba, the distance between them widened.

Lewandowski used his body to shield the ball from Van Buyten.

Facing Modrić’s pass with his back to goal, he cushioned the ball with the inside of his right foot.

The moment he brought the ball down, Lewandowski also used his right shoulder to nudge Van Buyten, preventing the Belgian centre-back from immediately closing him down.

This created space for him to make his next move.

Schweinsteiger, who had been tracking back, also arrived at this moment, looking to sandwich Lewandowski from both front and back.

Especially seeing the Polish centre-forward bring the ball under control, Little Piggy immediately ran over to make a clearance.

But to his surprise, Lewandowski’s next move was to suddenly flick the ball behind him.

Towards the goal.

“A beautiful Cruyff Turn!!!”

“Lewandowski has created a chance inside the box!”

“He shoots!!”

“GOAL!!!!”

“My goodness, in the 68th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A beautiful attacking combination from Bayswater Chinese! A cross-field pass from Toni Kroos, and a cross from the right by Modrić.”

“Inside the penalty area, Robert Lewandowski executed a magnificent Cruyff Turn, shaking off both Van Buyten and Schweinsteiger, and found the net with a shot from inside the box.”

“4-1!”

“What a wonderfully crafted goal from Bayswater Chinese!”

“The Pole has scored twice in the Champions League final!”

“If his first goal in the first half demonstrated Lewandowski’s keen poaching instincts…”

“Then this goal is a showcase of Robert Lewandowski’s individual skill.”

“Especially that Cruyff Turn.”

“Look at that move, so smooth. The Polish centre-forward’s individual ability was on full display in that flick and turn, and he was so composed!”

“When an opportunity arises, composure becomes the most precious quality!”

“That is the role of a centre-forward!”

The moment Lewandowski scored, Wembley Stadium erupted once again!

The Polish centre-forward sprinted to the sideline, jumped in the air, and punched it in celebration.

Yang Cheng also clenched both fists tightly on the sideline.

The game was decided!

The second half had been going for a while, and it was almost the 70th minute.

A 4-1 scoreline had essentially sealed the outcome of this match.

Yang Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, he still didn’t dare to let his guard down.

Yang Cheng would never allow his team to make the mistake of suffering an unexpected defeat.

So, after seeing the players finish their celebrations and walk back onto the pitch, he quickly went to the sideline, clapped loudly, and drew the players’ attention.

Yang Cheng’s instructions were clear: stay focused, and keep things stable.

…

As time ticked by, especially after the 75th minute, Yang Cheng started making substitutions.

First, he brought on Aaron Ramsey for Eden Hazard.

This was a clear move to strengthen the midfield.

Yang Cheng’s intention was crystal clear: to maintain control in the middle of the park, hold their ground, and run down the final ten-plus minutes.

Bayern, on the other hand, made no more substitutions after bringing on Gomes.

This didn’t surprise Yang Cheng or his coaching staff.

Because the Bundesliga champions’ strongest lineup was pretty much already on the pitch.

Another substitution?

Who else could they bring on?

Bayern currently had no suitable players to substitute in.

So, for the remainder of the match, Bayern’s tactic was also clear: to fully utilize their two centre-forwards up front.

And as it turned out, this was indeed effective.

It just took a little too long to bear fruit.

After Bayswater Chinese made a series of substitutions, Bayern finally scored their second goal in the 85th minute.

Heynckes’s tactic had paid off.

Ribéry, with the ball on the left wing, forced his way past Piszczek and delivered a cross from near the byline.

At the near post inside the box, Pepe was marking Mandžukić.

Nemanja Matić had dropped back into the box to track Gomes near the penalty spot.

And at the far post, Thomas Müller got ahead of Thiago Silva and headed the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s goal from close range.

2-4!

After scoring, Thomas Müller didn’t celebrate. Instead, he rushed into the goal, scooped up the ball, and ran all the way to the halfway line, placing it on the center spot.

At the same time, the Bayern players were urging their teammates: “No celebrating, get back quickly!”

There were only a few minutes left in the game.

Still trailing by two goals, they had to be careful!

Yang Cheng was also shouting from the sideline, demanding his players stay alert.

In the 86th minute, Yang Cheng made his final substitution.

After bringing on Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott, Yang Cheng used his last substitution spot on the young left-sided player, Luke Shaw.

This was a substitution aimed at strengthening the defense.

Marcelo had expended a lot of energy, and he was struggling somewhat to defend against Thomas Müller.

So, Yang Cheng brought on Luke Shaw, who was stronger defensively and had more stamina.

After this change, Bayswater Chinese’s entire defensive line was more or less stabilized.

In the final few minutes, Bayern began to launch a frenzied all-out attack, just as they had at the beginning of the second half.

But their energy was also heavily depleted, and their coordination was clearly not as sharp as it had been earlier, so their attacks were ineffective.

It was very difficult to create any more chances at this point.

When the match reached the 93rd minute, the head referee from Italy, Rizzoli, blew the final whistle right on time.

At that instant, the Bayswater Chinese players, coaches, and staff who had been waiting on the sideline all swarmed onto the pitch.

In the stands, the fans had already begun celebrating impatiently.

When the whistle blew, the entire stadium transformed into a sea of celebration for Bayswater Chinese!

“Let us congratulate Bayswater Chinese!”

“4-2!”

“With a brace from Robert Lewandowski and goals from Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale, Bayswater Chinese have defeated Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga 4-2 to successfully defend their Champions League title!”

“This is their second successful title defense!”

“And since the Champions League was reformatted, the only two successful title defenses have both come from Bayswater Chinese!”

“It must be said, this is a remarkable achievement!”

“Moreover, we must note that compared to the Bayswater Chinese team that defended the Champions League title in 2009, this team, four years later, has changed in eight starting positions.”

“In other words, to some extent, this is a Bayswater Chinese team that has been completely overhauled and rebuilt!”

“We must pay our respects to Yang Cheng!”

“He used four years to forge a brand-new Bayswater Chinese team, and successfully defended the Champions League title!”

“Such a feat is something other teams and other world-class managers can only dream of.”

“But Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese have done it twice!”

“We even have reason to believe that with their current strength, Bayswater Chinese is fully capable of continuing this dominant lineup and form.”

“Because this team, as of now, has an average age of under twenty-four. They are still very young.”

At the beginning of the season, the average age of Bayswater Chinese was 22.88.

A season had passed, so now it should be just over 23, but still under 24.

With such a young average age and performing at this level, coupled with Bayswater Chinese’s financial power that now reigns supreme in European football, it was entirely possible for them to continue this era of dominance.

Of course, achieving that wouldn’t be easy.

As Pep Guardiola said.

Yang Cheng had to find a way to solve the problem of motivation within the team.

As the players, coaches, and staff rushed onto the pitch to celebrate, Yang Cheng first stood alone on the sideline, hands on his hips, trying to act cool.

Jupp Heynckes came over to shake his hand and exchange a few words.

It was mostly just to congratulate Yang Cheng’s team on their successful title defense.

Compared to the Treble-winning Bayern from Yang Cheng’s previous life, Heynckes’s current Bayern team was indeed a bit weaker.

Right-winger Robben was at Manchester United.

Toni Kroos and Javi Martínez were both at Bayswater Chinese.

Centre-back Jérôme Boateng was at Manchester City.

The biggest impacts were really the right-winger and the centre-back positions.

Compared to Robben, Shaqiri’s attacking threat was a whole level lower.

Boateng’s influence was felt in defense.

Both centre-backs, Daniel Van Buyten and Dante, were tall but slow to turn and lacked agility, so they were suited to playing a deeper role.

But if both centre-backs were of this type, the defense could easily drop too deep.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the partnership between Jérôme Boateng and Dante was one where one would press high while the other covered, a much more complementary pairing.

Why was Yang Cheng’s first move in the first half to have Eden Hazard dribble at Bayern’s defensive line?

He had precisely identified this weakness.

Bayswater Chinese’s centre-backs were a bit special.

Both Thiago Silva and Pepe were the type who could either press high or play a deeper role.

Having played together for many years, they had excellent chemistry. Who pressed and who covered was decided with just a look.

But Bayswater Chinese’s problem lay in the departure of Vincent Kompany, which left the defense somewhat thin.

Neither Harry Maguire nor John Stones had been able to fill the void.

Or rather, that useless bunch was temporarily unable to fill it.

The “centre-back incubator” José Fonte could no longer meet the demands of Bayswater Chinese.

Although he played a significant role in the dressing room, his performance on the pitch was unsatisfactory.

If his playing time was reduced, what could a “centre-back incubator” even incubate?

In the past, the Bayswater Chinese squad was predominantly young players, so José Fonte’s role in the dressing room was very important.

But now?

Modrić had been captain for nine years and was a world-class midfielder; his prestige was unquestionable.

Pepe, Thiago Silva, Piszczek, and others had also become pillars in the dressing room.

Homegrown players like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Aaron Ramsey had also matured.

The dressing room of today’s Bayswater Chinese was completely different from before.

Under these circumstances, was it still necessary to keep José Fonte?

The answer was obvious.

In his several conversations with José Fonte previously, Yang Cheng had hinted at this, and José Fonte had said he would seriously consider Yang Cheng’s arrangements.

To put it bluntly, the 25-man squad list was so precious that Yang Cheng had to consider it carefully.

Of course, whether he stayed or left, Yang Cheng would respect José Fonte and would give him the respect he deserved.

This was a reward for his years of loyalty and contribution, and also a message to everyone else on the team.

After all, no player wants to play for a cold and heartless club, right?

As for the midfield and attack, Yang Cheng’s main thought for now was to maintain stability.

He was confident that as long as the team’s midfield and attack remained unchanged and the defensive bench was strengthened, Bayswater Chinese could challenge for the Treble again next season!

Just as Yang Cheng was lost in thought, the players who had been celebrating wildly on the pitch suddenly rushed over from all directions, lifted Yang Cheng up, and tossed him into the air!

The strains of “We Are the Champions” drifted through the night sky over Wembley Stadium!

Chapter 282: Huge Profits! A New Record High! I’m Here to Spend! Serie A Satellite Club, Activated!

The day after the Champions League final, the entire city of London was still immersed in the afterglow of the previous night’s globally anticipated crucial match.

The air hung heavy with the scent of gunpowder from the fierce battle.

Just as the sky began to lighten, sanitation workers were already starting their busy day.

Last night, after the match, vast numbers of fans had gathered around Wembley Stadium, the Brent training center, and the Bayswater area, celebrating deep into the night.

Some had even fallen asleep right on the side of the road.

As was customary, the municipal departments coordinated with unions and contractors to assign extra staff to these areas, arranging for sanitation workers to work overtime to clear away the trash left behind by the revelry as quickly as possible.

The police were also out early, rousing the drunken fans passed out on the roadsides.

They needed to clear the main thoroughfares as quickly as possible before the morning rush hour brought an influx of people and traffic.

London’s various departments already had a complete and mature set of response plans for such situations.

Of course, all of this came at a cost.

Bayswater Chinese paid an additional fee to cover the overtime for the police, sanitation workers, and garbage truck drivers.

In this regard, Bayswater Chinese was always very generous.

In addition to providing a substantial sum for overtime, club staff also prepared breakfast and drinks for the police and sanitation workers on duty, thanking them for their prompt response.

As the city of London gradually awoke, the flow of traffic and people in all areas grew livelier.

Everyone began another busy day.

Last night’s Champions League final became the best weapon for street newsstands to attract customers and for television and radio stations to draw in viewers.

Major media outlets around the world were scrambling to report on the match.

On the streets of London, in the subway stations, at bus stops—everywhere, people were discussing the previous night’s game.

Bayswater Chinese became the common topic of conversation for everyone.

Excitement, goals, and end-to-end action were the most talked-about subjects among the fans.

Amid the discussions, many also brought up the afternoon’s victory parade.

The route and plan had been announced by the London city government and various departments on the morning of the 26th.

Just like last year, Bayswater Chinese had formally applied for a victory parade route.

They would start from the north of Notting Hill, travel south along Ladbroke Grove, pass through the heart of Notting Hill, reach the north gate of Holland Park, and then head east to the Queensway tube station.

Finally, a spectacular celebration ceremony would be held at the Prudential Stadium.

The entire route was about four kilometers long.

Consequently, the London city government and various departments issued notices that from the afternoon onwards, the roads along this route would be subject to traffic control, and all passing vehicles would be required to take detours.

During the Notting Hill Carnival every August, the world sees a magnificent celebration with over a million people.

But for the municipal departments and sanitation workers, it meant streets littered with trash and days of strenuous overtime.

It often sparked all sorts of controversies.

So, an inquisitive journalist made a point of interviewing the sanitation workers from the municipal contractor for the Notting Hill area, asking for their opinion on the Bayswater Chinese victory parade.

The results were surprisingly different. The unions, contractors, and sanitation workers, who were full of complaints about the Notting Hill Carnival, were incredibly supportive of the Bayswater Chinese parade.

Not only did they support it, but they even hoped Bayswater Chinese would win the title every season and hold a parade.

Why such a stark contrast in opinions?

When the reporter dug deeper, it was easy to find that the reason was actually quite simple.

Both events resulted in streets littered with trash, but the overtime pay and benefits offered by the London council and its departments were pitifully small, and often nonexistent.

However, after last year’s victory parade, Bayswater Chinese had paid a handsome overtime fee and had even treated them to a grand meal.

By comparison, they naturally preferred to see a Bayswater Chinese victory parade.

It wasn’t just the sanitation workers; the London police were also noticeably more proactive and professional when dealing with matters concerning Bayswater Chinese than at other times.

Starting from noon, numerous police officers began their duties at various intersections in the northwest quadrant of London’s core district.

By the afternoon, well before the scheduled start of the victory parade, the number of fans gathered on-site had swelled, forcing traffic control measures to be implemented ahead of schedule.

When reporting, the police in West London repeatedly emphasized one thing: the number of fans attending this year’s victory parade would far exceed last year’s.

Keep in mind, last year they had won the Treble!

This season, they had “only” secured the Double champion title with the Premier League and the Champions League!

Fewer trophies, yet more fans—this reflected the growing influence of Bayswater Chinese in London and the surrounding areas, and the increasing number of supporters for the team.

The London Police Department had to hastily dispatch reinforcements from neighboring districts.

Among them was a police officer from a suburban town named Mark.

Having just dealt with a scuffle between fans caused by overcrowding, he appeared in the BBC television’s live broadcast studio for an interview with a reporter.

What made him special was that this police officer, Mark, was also an amateur league player.

His son played for the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

“Now, our entire family, including all our relatives and friends, are all fans of Bayswater Chinese.”

“We are all incredibly proud of the honors this team has achieved!”

He hoped that one day his son could be like the stars of the first team, fighting for this club in the Premier League and the Champions League.

The atmosphere throughout West London reached its zenith when the double-decker open-top bus carrying the Bayswater Chinese team arrived at Ladbroke Grove in northern Notting Hill.

A spectacular victory parade had begun in West London!

…

After playing the Champions League final on the 25th and holding the victory parade on the 26th, the club hosted a grand victory banquet in the evening.

On the morning of the 27th, the team assembled and was formally dismissed.

By the afternoon of the 27th, the heads and deputies of all departments at Bayswater Chinese gathered in the headquarters’ conference room at Grosvenor Square for a meeting.

The main focus was to summarize and analyze the gains and losses of the past season and to look forward to the upcoming new season.

At the same time, they were to lay out plans for the summer transfer market.

As before, it was Adam Crozier who announced the team’s specific business performance from the last season.

Compared to the 11/12 season, all three of the club’s major revenue streams had grown.

This indicated that Bayswater Chinese’s current development momentum was still quite rapid.

Among the three streams, the growth in broadcast revenue was the smallest.

Although they had won the Premier League and Champions League Double, it didn’t have a major impact on this income.

Currently, broadcast revenue was projected to be around 130 million pound sterling, with growth being almost negligible.

However, this income stream was set to see significant growth in the upcoming season.

Because starting from the 13/14 season, the new round of Premier League broadcast rights would take effect, and the champion team’s income was expected to be close to, or even exceed, one hundred million pound sterling.

Right now, that figure was only around 61 million pound sterling.

Of course, for Bayswater Chinese to receive the highest share, they would have to win the title again.

This was also very difficult.

Especially with Manchester City reportedly interested in poaching Messi.

This summer’s transfer market was bound to be a frantic drama of restructuring.

Major clubs, including Manchester City, Barça, and Real Madrid, were expected to spend heavily.

Especially if Messi were to actually transfer.

The areas where Bayswater Chinese saw significant revenue growth were matchday revenue and commercial revenue.

According to statistics from Xia Qing and the finance department, in the past season, Bayswater Chinese’s income from ticket sales alone officially broke the one hundred million pound sterling mark.

This was the first time in the history of European football, and to date, the only club to have single-season ticket sales surpass one hundred million pound sterling.

Not even Barça or Real Madrid had achieved such a result!

And that was just from ticket sales.

Additionally, after moving into the new stadium, matchday retail revenue jumped from an average of 900 thousand pound sterling per game to 1.2 million pound sterling per game.

In European leagues, breaking one million pound sterling in single-game matchday retail is already an excellent figure.

But in this new stadium, Bayswater Chinese had reached 1.2 million pound sterling, surpassing the operational level of almost all powerhouse teams.

Adam Crozier and Chris Hunt, head of the infrastructure department, were still full of confidence about the future of matchday retail, believing there was still significant room for further improvement.

All of this was thanks to the Prudential Stadium’s design and planning, which had fully considered the rational distribution and utilization of commercial space, maximizing its potential.

But since it was only the stadium’s first season of operation, many things still needed to be explored and optimized.

The 250 VIP boxes, along with the sky bar, skywalk, fan bars, and fan restaurants that were also open to the public on non-match days, brought in over 70 million pound sterling in revenue for the club over the past season.

This portion of income was the most surprising.

The reason was simple: huge profits!

Behind a club’s revenue, there are always labor costs and various other expenses to be paid.

Strictly speaking, the net profit isn’t that high.

This is why many clubs are keen on building VIP boxes.

Even at the new stadium in OGC Nice, France, the club built 100 VIP boxes.

Because the spending power of fans in VIP boxes is high, the profits are also high—a pure windfall!

For Bayswater Chinese, the 70 million pound sterling in revenue from the new stadium’s boxes and commercial facilities was even higher than the total matchday revenue of many powerhouse teams.

With the boost from the new stadium, Bayswater Chinese’s total matchday revenue would exceed 200 million pound sterling.

This would once again break a historical record in European football!

And what Bayswater Chinese relied on was the Prudential Stadium’s staggering average attendance of 90,000, the high ticket prices in the Premier League, and London’s high-end consumer population.

Another benefit of the new stadium’s inauguration was the 30 million pound sterling a year increase in stadium naming rights fees.

Adding to that the 10 million pound sterling annual licensing fee from the American SMG Company, and the 30 million pound sterling from the Qatar Tourism Authority for the naming rights of the Brent center and the ten Satellite Training Centres.

Bayswater Chinese’s commercial revenue leaped from the previous 170 million pound sterling to 245 million pound sterling.

This was attributed to the tremendous success of the club’s globalization strategy over the past few years.

The cooperative system with dozens of sponsors, combined with the operation of various hardware facilities, greatly enhanced Bayswater Chinese’s earning capacity.

In the last three years, Bayswater Chinese’s commercial revenue jumped from 105 million pound sterling to last season’s 170 million pound sterling.

This season, it leaped again to 245 million pound sterling.

The commercial department, led by Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, had achieved enormous success over the past few years!

Adam Crozier believed that Bayswater Chinese’s total operating revenue for the 12/13 season was expected to reach 575 million pound sterling, which is about 718 million euro.

This would far exceed the total revenue of any other European powerhouse, making them the first club in world football history to break the 600 million euro and 700 million euro revenue barriers.

According to intelligence obtained by Xia Qing, Real Madrid’s revenue this season would be similar to last season’s.

Or rather, the growth would be very small.

It would still be around 515 million euro.

This meant Bayswater Chinese had pulled ahead by a full 200 million euro.

Yang Cheng took a look and saw that the biggest difference between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid now was actually in the stadium and training center.

The naming rights for the new stadium and training center alone amounted to 60 million pound sterling.

The licensing fee was 10 million pound sterling.

On top of that, there was the increased ticket revenue and matchday income from the larger capacity, plus the income from the 250 VIP boxes.

All of these combined roughly accounted for the portion by which Bayswater Chinese led Real Madrid.

“There’s news that Florentino Pérez is now very ambitious. Seeing the great success we’ve had with our new stadium, they also want to renovate the Bernabéu Stadium, but it’s going to be very difficult.”

Adam Crozier’s words brought a smile to everyone’s face.

From the decision to build the new stadium to its full completion and opening, Bayswater Chinese had spent a good seven or eight years.

If Real Madrid wanted to renovate the Bernabéu Stadium in the center of Madrid, not only would the investment be higher, but they would certainly encounter more difficulties, and the project would probably drag on for much longer.

Bayswater Chinese’s revenue had set a new historical high, but its expenditures had also set a new high.

Under the strict control of Yang Cheng and Xia Qing, the club’s salary expenditure had always been controlled at around 45 percent.

This was a very healthy ratio.

This was the total salary expenditure for everyone at the club; the players’ share alone was not that high.

Although the salary expenses were well-controlled, if you factored in the various fees and costs for the new stadium, the club’s profit wasn’t actually that large.

For one thing, the various fees and welfare subsidies paid annually to the police and municipal departments were a huge sum of money.

But there was no helping it; in a capitalist country like this, everything costs money.

Bayswater Chinese now had to maintain its social image and status, so various expenses and spending could not be scrimped on.

Furthermore, with globalization, a lot of the income from around the world wouldn’t actually enter England.

For example, recently, Yang Cheng had Xia Qing raise a sum of money to acquire a football club in Italy, and they were working intensively on an acquisition proposal.

It wasn’t just about convincing the target of the acquisition, but also about persuading the local government and fans.

There were also development plans and investment for the next few years.

This was a very complex systems engineering project.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others had been actively preparing for a long time.

The two sides had even already started multiple secret contacts.

After the season ended, Yang Cheng stayed in London for a few days to handle matters for Bayswater Chinese before taking Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the negotiation team to Italy.

…

Since 2010, when Atalanta was relegated to the Italian second division and Antonio Percasci and his son Luca Percasci acquired the club, the blue-and-black team spent one year getting promoted from Serie B.

In their first season back in Serie A, head coach Stefano Colantuono successfully led the team to avoid relegation.

But midway through this season, the Italian media suddenly broke a major story: Atalanta, mired in financial difficulties, was preparing to sell.

Moreover, the acquirer was likely a Chinese consortium.

This immediately threw Atalanta into a state of anxiety.

Many local extremist fans even unfurled large banners during home games to protest the foreign takeover.

Outside the Zingonia training ground on the outskirts of Bergamo, fans demonstrated and protested every day.

This seriously affected the club’s normal training and matches.

In the end, even Bergamo’s mayor, Franco Tentorio, had to step in, stating that the city government would strictly review the sale of Atalanta to protect the interests of local fans.

It was the appearance of this highly respected mayor, who had worked in the city council for 50 years, that barely managed to appease the fans.

But the club’s performance, originally in 15th place, plummeted into the relegation zone.

Head coach Stefano Colantuono was forced to resign.

In March, Gian Piero Gasperini, who had just been sacked by Palermo and was the former head coach of Inter Milan, took over mid-season as a firefighter.

This caused a huge stir at the time.

All of Italy found this almost nonsensical appointment baffling.

At that time, Atalanta was in 18th place, fighting relegation.

Palermo was in 17th place, also fighting relegation.

So, after firing Colantuono, Atalanta hired Gasperini, who had just been fired by Palermo?

Isn’t that comical?

But the result was unexpected.

After Gasperini took charge, it took him just over a month to lead the team out of the relegation zone.

By the end of the season, Atalanta finished in 15th place.

And this was despite a two-point deduction from a match-fixing case.

The most exciting match was the away game against Inter Milan.

Gasperini’s team, thanks to a hat-trick from Argentine striker Germán Denis, came from behind to win 4-3 away at Inter Milan.

This was a crucial battle in Atalanta’s fight for survival!

Although they narrowly avoided relegation, morale at Atalanta was shattered.

It was under these circumstances that Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport broke the news again.

The Chinese acquisition of Atalanta was nearing completion.

“Behind the Chinese consortium stands Bayswater Chinese!”

“According to reliable intelligence obtained by our reporters, the decision Atalanta made in March to hire Gasperini—a move ridiculed by all of Italy—came from Yang Cheng’s suggestion.”

With the outbreak of the Eurozone debt crisis, Italy’s economy slumped, and the Percassi family’s business was hit hard.

Under these circumstances, the Percassi family had no heart to invest in Atalanta’s operations.

The match-fixing scandals that erupted for two consecutive years were rooted in problems like the club’s failure to pay salaries.

This also disheartened the Percassi family.

Their acquisition of Atalanta had always been a case of forcing someone to do something they’re not cut out for.

“Now, Antonio Percasci has made up his mind to sell Atalanta.”

“The sale rumors have had a huge impact on Atalanta. The main full-back, newly capped international Federico Peluso, has already decided to join Juventus for a transfer fee estimated between 4.5 and 5 million euro.”

“The 32-year-old Argentine striker Germán Denis is the most popular player at Atalanta and has attracted interest from several teams, including Inter Milan.”

“Last season, with fifteen Serie A goals and five assists, he was Atalanta’s top scorer and top assist provider.”

“This summer, Atalanta’s disintegration will be inevitable!”

With this exposé from Gazzetta dello Sport, Atalanta was once again pushed into the eye of the storm of public opinion in Italy.

Though not a traditional giant, the influence of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese brought Atalanta a great deal of attention.

Everyone had seen how, after three years of management, OGC Nice had transformed from a lower-mid-table Ligue 1 weakling into one of the hottest teams in European football today.

Last season, they even reached the Champions League semi-final.

Moreover, after drastic reforms over the past few years, the entire team at OGC Nice seemed to have been completely reborn from top to bottom.

This gave many Atalanta fans a sense of anticipation.

But many other fans expressed anger and dissatisfaction.

Being acquired by foreign capital, especially by the Chinese, was something they could not accept under any circumstances.

It was in this atmosphere that Yang Cheng and his team arrived by chartered flight from London at the international airport southeast of Bergamo.

…

Yang Cheng and his group kept a very low profile.

After arriving at the international airport, they first checked into a resort hotel on the southern shore of Lake Iseo.

They looked no different from ordinary tourists.

Bergamo is located northeast of Milan, about forty kilometers from the city center, and is part of the Milan metropolitan area.

Although the city’s population is just over 120,000, the surrounding province of Bergamo has a population of over one million. Its economy is very active, making it a highly competitive industrial city in both Italy and Europe, ranking fourth among all Italian cities in terms of annual export value.

After arriving in Bergamo, Yang Cheng’s group rested briefly. That afternoon, they departed from Lake Iseo and headed to the southern suburbs of Bergamo.

About six kilometers from Bergamo’s city center, between the two small towns of Verdellino and Ciserano, lay a large industrial area called Zingonia.

Atalanta’s Zingonia training ground was located in the northwest of this industrial area.

This was Yang Cheng’s first visit.

The person responsible for receiving them was Atalanta’s Sporting Director, Gabriele Zamagna.

The 50-year-old Zamagna was once a professional player himself, having played for teams like Livorno, Parma, and Reggina.

He was responsible for introducing Atalanta’s Zingonia training ground to Yang Cheng’s group.

As the club with the best youth academy in Italy, the Zingonia training ground was naturally equipped with Italy’s best hardware and software facilities.

There were eight standard football pitches, one of which was a large multi-purpose training ground.

In addition, there was a smaller pitch used by the youth academy.

Judging from the exterior of the buildings, the training ground had been around for some years.

After the Percassi family acquired the club in 2010, they built a brand-new training building for the first team.

The well-organized youth teams and comprehensive training facilities were the guarantee of the continuous stream of young talent that Atalanta had produced over the years.

But all of this required investment.

And investment came with risks.

For example, the talent produced by Atalanta’s youth teams in recent years was clearly a significant step down from the generation of Pazzini and Montolivo.

Before coming, Yang Cheng had already received detailed information from the club.

What Yang Cheng valued most about Atalanta was undoubtedly its youth system and this training base.

As for everything else, it was truly mediocre.

After all, building a complete youth team system was no easy task.

OGC Nice was now in its third year, with continuous investment annually, but currently, it could only be considered to have reached the upper-tier level of Ligue 1.

It was comparable to teams like Saint-Étienne and Lille, but still slightly inferior to traditional giants like Lyon and Marseille.

And Atalanta’s youth academy was the best in Italy!

But it also had some problems.

For example, although the training building at the traditional youth academy was old, its facilities were more complete, and the atmosphere felt better.

The new first-team training building was indeed more modern, but its facilities were not yet complete, and the overall atmosphere felt poor, which might be related to it having just been opened.

During the tour, Yang Cheng didn’t offer any opinions, just listening to Gabriele Zamagna boast about Atalanta’s youth academy achievements and how many championships their youth teams had won.

Yang Cheng found this somewhat speechless.

With Italian youth football in such a shaky state, what was there to brag about?

After visiting the Zingonia training ground, the group set off for Bergamo’s city center.

In the northeast of the city, one could easily find the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.

It was also known as the Bergamo Municipal Stadium.

As the name implies, this stadium, like those of most Italian professional clubs, belonged to the municipal government.

Atalanta had to pay an annual rent to the government.

But that wasn’t the main point.

The point was that this stadium, built in 1928, had extremely outdated facilities.

The entire stadium was oriented northeast-southwest. Apart from the narrow roofs covering the stands on two sides, all the other seats in the stadium were open-air.

Because of this, the various facilities in the stadium were very poor; for example, the seats and aisles were extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, it was not originally designed as a dedicated football stadium, so it was equipped with an athletics track.

This made the entire atmosphere of the stadium exceptionally poor.

According to Zamagna’s introduction, Atalanta had proposed renovating this stadium more than ten years ago and even once suggested building a new football stadium on the outskirts of the city, but it was never approved, and the matter has been dragged out until now.

Without the right to renovate, matchday revenue was minimal.

The stadium’s facilities were aging, and a large sum of money had to be invested in maintenance every year.

By comparison, the rent paid to the Bergamo city government was really nothing.

Although Yang Cheng had been mentally prepared, he still felt very disappointed when he saw the stadium.

Especially when compared to the Prudential Stadium in London, it was like a product from a different era.

“Mr. Yang, it’s about time. We should get going.”

Seeing that Yang Cheng had been silent the whole way, Zamagna was a bit baffled.

Looking at the time, he immediately reminded him.

“Mayor Franco Tentorio is still waiting for us.”

Yang Cheng remained silent but nodded in agreement.

The group then traveled from the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia to the city hall.

…

Franco Tentorio was a 68-year-old Bergamo native.

Despite his age and portly figure, he still participated in some sports and competitions every year.

For example, the Giro d’Italia cycling race.

And then there was the unfailing tradition of “playing” a game of football at Atalanta’s municipal stadium every year.

At the beginning of the year, he had assured protesting fans that he was a most loyal Atalanta supporter!

A university graduate with degrees in accounting, economics, and business, Tentorio had worked in the city government for over forty years, starting as a city councilor. He was elected deputy mayor in 1999 and mayor in 2009.

When Yang Cheng’s group arrived at the Bergamo city hall, they met not only Mayor Franco Tentorio but also Deputy Mayors Giorgio Gori and Marcello Zenoni, and member of the Chamber of Deputies Elena Carnevali, among others.

They all represented different political parties but all welcomed Yang Cheng’s arrival.

Yang Cheng’s time was also very precious, so he didn’t waste words and chose to get straight to the point.

As the current hottest top coach in world football and the owner of Bayswater Chinese, backed by a Chinese consortium, Yang Cheng was here to spend money.

“Frankly, I find Atalanta’s current situation very regrettable.”

“If we cannot break through the restrictions on the ownership of the municipal stadium, then there’s no need to continue discussing many things.”

Yang Cheng’s precondition for acquiring Atalanta was that the city government must sell the municipal stadium to Atalanta.

In Italy’s past, this was almost impossible.

If it were feasible, powerhouse teams like Inter Milan, AC Milan, AS Roma, and Lazio would have already done it.

Why wait until now?

When Juventus was building their new stadium, they also used a roundabout method, leasing it for 99 years to avoid the issue of ownership.

But the reason Yang Cheng chose Atalanta was that this club had succeeded.

In 2017, Atalanta successfully bought the municipal stadium.

This was a rare case in Italy.

As long as he could buy the stadium, many things would become easier to handle.

“Mr. Yang, you should know that this violates our Italian laws,” said Elena Carnevali.

“I know,” Yang Cheng nodded, “but I believe that nothing is set in stone.”

“I trust you have all seen the market research report we submitted. The business operations of Italian teams are extremely unhealthy, overly reliant on broadcast revenue, while matchday and commercial revenues are very poor.”

This was not only true for Atalanta; even powerhouse teams like AC Milan and Inter Milan were the same.

It was as if they had just thrown in the towel.

For example, participating in the International Champions Cup.

It had been years, yet Serie A teams still didn’t have a comprehensive global promotion plan.

Their attitude toward the International Champions Cup was to earn some appearance fees, get some exposure, and see if any sponsors would come knocking.

None?

If not, then so be it, back home they went!

While teams from the Premier League, La Liga, and Bundesliga were vigorously developing the global market, Italian teams were lying flat.

“If you allow us to tear down and rebuild this stadium, we estimate we will invest at least two hundred million euro, and we will also bring a great number of jobs and tax revenue to this city every year.”

“We are confident we can boost Atalanta’s stadium attendance and attract more fans.”

Tentorio and the others exchanged glances, clearly interested in the investment Yang Cheng proposed.

Two hundred million euro!

For the city of Bergamo at this moment, this was a massive investment.

Not to mention the subsequent creation of jobs and continuous tax revenue.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Yang, but the facades of the southeast and northwest stands of the municipal stadium are under historical and cultural protection. They cannot be demolished or altered under any circumstances,” Elena Carnevali reminded him.

Yang Cheng smiled slightly and nodded, “We can leave that part untouched. Or, you could allow us to build a brand new stadium in a convenient location on the outskirts of the city, with a capacity of about 25,000.”

According to market research, this was the limit of what Bergamo could support.

Building it any larger would be pointless if it couldn’t be filled.

“We have studied and discussed this carefully.”

Mayor Tentorio finally spoke. “Building a new stadium on the outskirts is definitely not allowed. As for selling the municipal stadium, we also need to submit it for discussion, which will take some time.”

“But what we want to know now is, if we sell the municipal stadium to Atalanta, what specific plans do you have?”

Yang Cheng glanced at his assistant, who immediately handed over several documents to the people on the other side of the negotiation table.

“We have made a preliminary estimate. Renovating this stadium, including the square outside the south stand, is expected to cost at least one hundred million euro.”

“After the renovation is complete, the surface parking lot outside the south stand will be moved underground. We will gain a large public square of over six thousand square meters, providing more public space for the residents of the city center.”

To put it simply, they would excavate the entire area outside the stadium’s south stand, which was currently a surface parking lot.

The surface parking lot would become an underground one.

The ground level would indeed gain a large, six-thousand-square-meter public square.

But most importantly, by freeing up the ground level, the stadium would also gain a large amount of commercial space.

This would allow for the maximum utilization of the stadium for revenue generation.

Moreover, this was the center of Bergamo, surrounded by residential areas.

Such a large commercial building area would be very attractive for attracting businesses.

But most importantly, the entire stadium would be covered by a roof, leaving only an opening directly above the pitch.

The interior of the stadium would be renovated to provide fans with a better viewing experience.

At the very least, they would no longer have to sit under the sun as they do now, and things wouldn’t be a mess whenever it was windy or rainy.

For the Bergamo city government, keeping the municipal stadium only brought in about seven to eight hundred thousand euro in rent per year.

But if they sold the stadium, although its valuation was not high, they could secure a one-hundred-million-euro investment project at once, while also increasing jobs and tax revenue.

This was indeed very attractive.

More importantly, from now on, Atalanta would be backed by the towering tree that was Bayswater Chinese.

The success of OGC Nice was a model for Atalanta.

This was indeed very appealing.

“We need to go back and study this carefully.”

Yang Cheng nodded without rushing them. “It would be best if you could hurry. If possible, I hope to have an answer within a week.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng smiled faintly, “You know, with Atalanta’s current situation, and the Percassi family unwilling to invest, it’s very uncertain whether they can avoid relegation in the new Serie A season.”

If they were relegated, Atalanta would not be worth what it was now.

“Furthermore, we can sign an agreement in the contract: the new stadium renovation will begin within one year and be completed within two, with an investment of at least one hundred million euro. We are absolutely sincere!”

Yang Cheng spoke with great determination.

Tentorio and the others exchanged glances, feeling quite helpless.

If they could, they would really prefer a local Italian company to take over.

This would minimize protests from local fans.

But the problem was, with even Berlusconi abandoning AC Milan, the Agnelli family reluctant to invest heavily in Juventus, and Moratti preparing to sell Inter Milan, who else would be willing to take over Atalanta?

Back in 2010, when Atalanta last changed hands, it was already a huge commotion.

In the end, it was the Percassi family who stepped up to take over.

Now, who else was willing to step forward?

…

After leaving the city hall, Yang Cheng’s group headed east, returning to their hotel by Lake Iseo.

That evening, in Telgate, not far from Lake Iseo, Yang Cheng’s group met with Atalanta’s majority shareholder, Antonio Percasci, and his son, Luca Percasci.

As the hosts, the Percassi family was responsible for entertaining Yang Cheng’s group.

There was actually no disagreement between the two sides in the club negotiations.

The only point of contention now was that Yang Cheng insisted on obtaining ownership and renovation rights for the stadium before he would complete the acquisition of Atalanta.

For this matter, both Yang Cheng’s team and the Percassi family, and even the minority shareholder Ruggeri family, were all exerting their influence, lobbying the Bergamo city government to accept Yang Cheng’s demands.

These two families were influential in Bergamo, veritable local tycoons.

“If Mayor Tentorio really said that, then it’s very likely a done deal!”

After hearing Yang Cheng’s account, Antonio Percasci smiled confidently.

From beginning to end, no one cared about the actual value of the municipal stadium.

Because it was cheap.

According to Yang Cheng’s side’s estimate, it would not exceed 10 million euro.

The real big ticket item was the 100 million euro investment after the acquisition, which was the focus of the negotiations.

Yang Cheng had always stressed that for such a huge investment of 100 million euro, he must be granted ownership of the stadium.

Only leasing rights? No deal!

What kind of joke was that?

A foreign investor comes in and only gets leasing rights?

What if a new mayor comes in two days later, changes the policy, and refuses to lease it anymore? What would I do then?

Wouldn’t the entire investment go down the drain?

The value of Atalanta club itself wasn’t high either.

The Zingonia training ground, how much was that worth?

In 2010, how much did the Percassi family spend to buy Atalanta?

Now, Yang Cheng’s side’s preliminary estimate was an offer of 30 million euro.

Of course, Antonio Percasci was an old fox.

As soon as he decided to sell the team, he immediately sold the left-back Peluso to Juventus.

It was said that he was now also looking to sell the Argentine striker Denis.

The two players were expected to bring in 10 million euro.

Yang Cheng didn’t think much of it. If he wants to sell, let him sell.

His target was Atalanta, the club!

“We’ve been in contact about this deal since last year, talking for over half a year. I hope we can complete it as soon as possible,” Yang Cheng urged.

Antonio Percasci thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “I’ll go talk to them again tomorrow.”

Those mayors, deputy mayors, councilors, and the like, had to come out and campaign for votes during every election, and also had to solicit campaign funds from wealthy people, so these wealthy individuals still had a lot of political clout.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best!”

Antonio Percasci also wanted to get rid of this hot potato as soon as possible.

Because it was really burning a hole in his pocket.

With the Percassi family’s wealth, they really couldn’t afford to play this game!

…

After having a meal with the Percassi father and son, Yang Cheng’s group returned to the hotel.

They had their own considerations.

A few months ago, Yang Cheng had strongly recommended Gasperini to take charge of Atalanta. On one hand, it was because he had just been sacked by Palermo and was indeed jobless, sitting idle at home.

On the other hand, Yang Cheng needed someone he could trust to get a better understanding of Atalanta’s actual situation.

Gasperini was undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

Moreover, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Gasperini’s coaching record at Atalanta was excellent.

He wasn’t the type of head coach who would change jobs as soon as his team performed well. Instead, he had been deeply involved with Atalanta for many years, nurturing this Youth Guard.

When Yang Cheng called Gasperini, he himself was very surprised.

He hadn’t expected the rumors circulating outside to be true.

“Back then, you were the one who told me that Italian football desperately needs a team like our Bayswater Chinese.”

“Now, as you wished, we plan to enter the Italian football market.”

“So, you have to help me now!”

Just like that, Gasperini was pushed forward to become Atalanta’s head coach.

But it also caused a great deal of controversy.

Palermo had lost faith in Gasperini, yet Atalanta eagerly brought him over.

What was that all about?

Fortunately, at the end of the season, Gasperini proved his ability with his coaching performance.

He also showed everyone that Atalanta’s choice of him was the right decision.

However, their contract was only signed until the end of the season.

If Yang Cheng were to acquire Atalanta, he would have to re-sign a coaching contract with Gasperini.

If the acquisition failed, then nothing would matter.

And once the acquisition was successful, the club’s senior management would be drawn from Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice.

After the success with OGC Nice, Yang Cheng now had experience in opening satellite clubs.

Chapter 283: Faith Collapses! A Talent Finds His Patron! He Will Make All of Serie A Tremble!

From the moment Yang Cheng personally arrived in Italy, the negotiations accelerated comprehensively.

The Bergamo city government also responded quickly.

It only took them two days.

In fact, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and the others hadn’t even finished exploring the area around Lake Iseo before they received news from Antonio Percassi.

This was followed by a call from Bergamo’s mayor, Franco Tentorio.

The city of Bergamo had, in principle, agreed to sell the municipal stadium, but with one condition: the owner had to be Atalanta.

In other words, Yang Cheng could only purchase the stadium in the name of the Atalanta club.

This was, in fact, a constraint of theirs, binding Atalanta and the municipal stadium together.

Of course, Yang Cheng had no problem with this.

Thus, the two parties immediately began their second meeting.

This time, it was to negotiate the acquisition of the municipal stadium.

The final result of the talks was that the stadium, built in 1928 and long since dilapidated, was sold for eight million euros.

This was two hundred thousand euros more than the seven point eight million euros Atalanta paid for the municipal stadium in 2017, in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

But for the current Yang Cheng, this was nothing.

He could just consider it rounding up to an even number!

The most important thing now was that Atalanta could buy the stadium and begin renovations.

However, there was one issue: the exterior facades on both sides of the stadium were historically protected buildings, so they could neither be demolished nor altered.

To the north of the stadium were residential buildings and factories, to the east was a road, and to the west was the municipal sports center.

The city hall for Bergamo’s third district was also located within this sports center.

Only to the south of the stadium was there a six-thousand-square-meter parking lot, but it wasn’t large and could only be converted into commercial space.

In reality, Xia Qing and Adam Crozier had already hired a third party to study the situation.

The stadium was old, and the structure and design of the stands were very unreasonable.

At this point, rather than expending great effort on renovation, it might be more cost-effective to simply tear it down and rebuild.

But the problem was that the buildings on the east and west sides were protected and couldn’t be altered or moved.

Therefore, the best solution was still renovation.

Of course, it was called a renovation for the sake of appearances. In reality, apart from the two buildings that could not be demolished, almost everything else would be torn down.

A running track still separated the stands from the pitch.

So, the plan was to dig down one level, extend the stands forward, and convert it into a dedicated football stadium.

The two protected buildings would not be left idle either; the street-facing shops would be rented out, and the top floors would be refurbished into VIP boxes.

According to the calculations and design plans of the third-party agency, it was projected that the stadium would have fifty VIP boxes, and the home capacity would not be the twenty-five thousand Yang Cheng reported to the city government, but could reach thirty thousand.

As for whether they could fill those thirty thousand seats, that would depend on the operational capabilities of the new team.

In the southern area of the stadium, the parking lot would be moved underground, and the ground level would be transformed into a public square, which would also greatly expand the commercial space inside the stadium.

Yang Cheng and his team had studied this long ago.

After comprehensive consideration, they still felt that buying the stadium and investing one hundred million euros in its renovation was a very worthwhile deal.

Furthermore, renovating this stadium had another advantage.

Considering Atalanta’s currently low home game attendance, Yang Cheng and the others felt there was no need to rent another stadium. Instead, they could carry out the demolition and renovation in phases.

For example, they could demolish the north stand first, then the south.

This would save another significant sum of money.

Yang Cheng didn’t reveal his full hand, and the Bergamo city government didn’t pay it much mind.

After all, what investor would blindly and unconditionally follow a government’s demands?

When the time came, the design plans would be submitted for approval.

But one point was written into the contract: the investment of one hundred million euros over two years had to be fulfilled!

…

Following an announcement from the Bergamo city government, a powerful earthquake immediately shook the whole of Italy.

Everyone realized that the acquisition, which had been rumored for over half a year, had finally landed!

The announcement only revealed that the city government intended to sell the municipal stadium to the Atalanta club for eight million euros.

Although no further details were given, everyone knew that if Atalanta hadn’t been acquired, where would they have gotten the money to buy the stadium?

Not to mention, the announcement also revealed that the reason for the sale was that the Atalanta club would invest one hundred million euros over the next two years to renovate the stadium.

All of Italy was in an uproar once again.

Although the official wording was very cautious and revealed little, both media reporters and fans knew that the one acquiring Atalanta was Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

Due to the success of OGC Nice, many people approved of this acquisition.

They hoped that Yang Cheng and his team could lead Atalanta out of its slump.

Moreover, both parties were known for their emphasis on youth academies.

But there were also many fans who opposed the acquisition.

All sorts of rumors circulated on the market.

For example, some said that after being acquired by Yang Cheng, Atalanta’s blue and black jerseys would be changed to the red of Bayswater Chinese.

Others said that Yang Cheng was only interested in Atalanta’s youth academy and would never invest in the transfer market.

Some fans even said that unless Yang Cheng came to coach personally, they would not accept such an acquisition.

Finally, some extremist fans went to the gates of the municipal stadium and burned the Nerazzurri jerseys.

Their faith had collapsed!

Some fans also went to the entrance of the Zingonia training ground to protest.

Atalanta’s club offices were located at Zingonia.

The reason for the fans’ protest was that Atalanta was holding a board of directors meeting that day to discuss the upcoming share transfer.

At 4:53 PM, after the board meeting ended, Antonio Percassi, accompanied by his son Luka, was leaving Zingonia in his Bentley when he was blocked by Atalanta fans who had been waiting outside.

The angry fans questioned why he had betrayed Atalanta.

The scene even descended into chaos at one point.

Antonio Percassi had no choice but to get out of the car and speak with the furious fans.

Percassi stated that selling Atalanta was a sad decision.

“But we must do it, because we see no hope of improvement if we continue on this path!”

Antonio Percassi expressed his pessimism about the future of Serie A and Atalanta.

“This past season, we were on the verge of being relegated to the second division, which is something none of us wanted to see.”

“We don’t have the money to bring in good players; we are even behind on some players’ salaries.”

“We must find a solution to these problems.”

Antonio Percassi said that he had asked many businesses and wealthy individuals in the province of Bergamo, but everyone kept their distance from football.

“We will still go to the stadium to watch every match, but we are all fully aware that Atalanta needs to make more changes. This is an opportunity we must seize.”

Percassi revealed that he had played for Atalanta in the 1960s and had a very deep affection for the club.

“Behind us, this Zingonia training ground was built by me in the early 1990s, during my first tenure as club chairman, along with the youth system we are so proud of.”

Percassi recounted his contributions to Atalanta and his deep feelings for the club, trying to win the sympathy of the fans present.

“I hope that through this partnership, the club can achieve better room for development.”

“This is a huge challenge!”

“But I believe that collaborating with these world-renowned football teams can effectively promote our Atalanta’s growth!”

Antonio Percassi also revealed that although he had decided to sell his shares in the club, he would continue to hold a position within the club. He did not disclose what that position would be.

“I can guarantee that many of the rumors out there are false.”

“Our jerseys will still be blue and black, and we will continue to adhere to a development path centered on our youth academy.”

“But on this foundation, we must become more international. We must strive to become a Serie A football club with international influence. This is the major trend of the future!”

Some fans were persuaded by Percassi’s speech, but others were not.

The media’s reaction was generally one of wait-and-see, or cautious optimism.

The Bayswater Chinese were simply too formidable.

It had taken Yang Cheng and his team three years to build up a powerful OGC Nice.

Everyone was filled with anticipation: could he continue this glorious run with Atalanta?

If he really could, then being acquired might not be such a bad thing after all.

…

Due to the protests at the Zingonia training ground, the whole situation had become very delicate.

Therefore, Yang Cheng and Antonio Percassi decided to hold the acquisition negotiation meeting in Telgate, near Lake Iseo.

It was the same place where they had dined last time.

It was several kilometers from the city center of Bergamo, so the media and fans were unlikely to find them there.

Attending this negotiation meeting, besides Percassi and his son, were their hired accountant, Mario Volpi, and their legal representative.

From the Ruggeri family, siblings Alessandro Ruggeri and Francesca Ruggeri, along with their lawyer, also attended the meeting.

The Ruggeri family still held twenty-four percent of Atalanta’s shares.

The negotiations proceeded very smoothly.

Or rather, there wasn’t much to negotiate.

The two sides had already been in contact for over half a year.

If not for the stadium project failing to get the city government’s approval, the deal would have been completed long ago.

Now that the city government had given the green light, the transaction could immediately move forward.

Yang Cheng’s side would acquire one hundred percent of Atalanta’s shares for a total price of thirty million euros.

This included all the shares from both Percassi and the Ruggeri family.

This was already a very good acquisition price.

In 2010, when Percassi acquired Atalanta, the club’s valuation was only eighteen million euros.

Of course, at that time, Atalanta had been relegated to the Italian second division, whereas now they had successfully avoided relegation from Serie A.

So, Yang Cheng’s offer of thirty million euros was actually quite good.

As a concession, Percassi had suspended negotiations for Germán Denis’s transfer to Inter Milan.

Inter Milan’s offer had reached five point five million euros.

However, the deal to sell Peluso to Juventus had already taken effect, with a transfer fee of five million euros.

Yang Cheng didn’t quibble over this.

Not only that, but he also stated that after the acquisition procedures were completed, Atalanta would continue to push for Denis’s transfer to Inter Milan.

There were two other valuable players on the team, both from their own youth academy.

One was the twenty-six-year-old goalkeeper, Andrea Consigli, currently valued at eight million euros.

The other was the twenty-three-year-old midfielder, Giacomo Bonaventura, who had just been called up to the Italian national team.

Both players had received their training at Atalanta since they were young, and their skills were extraordinary.

This was also why Yang Cheng was very optimistic about Atalanta.

The club’s youth academy had a sterling reputation in Italy and was constantly producing players.

Needless to say about Bonaventura, there were others to come, like Alessandro Bastoni, the international centre-back who would later play for Inter Milan, who also came from Atalanta and should be in the youth teams right now.

The contract negotiations went very smoothly.

Mainly because there were no issues with the price.

Both the Percassi family and the Ruggeri family made a request.

Although they were selling the club, they still hoped to maintain a close cooperative relationship between their families and the club.

Yang Cheng was naturally happy to see this happen.

Thus, he took the initiative to invite Antonio Percassi to serve as the club’s Honorary Chairman and Francesca Ruggeri to continue as an Honorary Director.

The two would act as a link between Yang Cheng’s team and the local Italian community.

And although the two major families had sold Atalanta in exchange for a large sum of money, they could still continue to play the Atalanta football card. It was a situation where each takes what they need.

…

After reaching an agreement, the two parties officially held a press conference.

Accompanied by Antonio Percassi and his son, and Francesca Ruggeri and her brother, Atalanta’s new management team made its official debut and announced a series of major initiatives for the club.

After the acquisition was completed, Atalanta would ensure the stability of the club’s management and operations to the greatest extent possible.

Atalanta’s new Chairman of the Board was an Englishman named Tom Wheatley.

Thirty-eight-year-old Tom Wheatley was a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science. After graduation, he worked in the City of London before joining Bayswater Chinese in 2006. He first worked in the commercial department and formally became Adam Crozier’s deputy three years ago.

Now, he had been appointed by Yang Cheng as the Chairman of the Atalanta club.

The reason for choosing Tom Wheatley, aside from his personal abilities, was his fluency in Italian.

Yang Cheng formally authorized Tom Wheatley to be responsible for Atalanta’s operations.

At the press conference, Tom Wheatley, also representing the investors behind him, officially addressed all Atalanta fans, stating that the team would invest one hundred million euros in the stadium renovation.

“We have reason to believe that the stadium renovation is a good thing for all the fans and will greatly enhance the match-viewing experience.”

The preliminary renovation plan had already been presented to the city government, and Tom Wheatley presented it again on the spot.

After the press conference, press releases would be sent to all major media outlets.

In addition to parachuting in a Chairman of the Board, the head of the marketing department also came from Bayswater Chinese.

To put it simply, Bayswater Chinese would completely take over Atalanta’s operations and marketing sectors.

Atalanta’s current Chief Executive Officer was no small fry; he was quite a figure.

His name was Pierpaolo Marino.

Anyone familiar with Italy would surely recognize this bald, bespectacled Italian, as he had worked twice at S.S.C. Napoli, the first time in the mid-1980s, during the Maradona era.

At that time, Marino was only in his early thirties.

Later, he served as an advisor at AS Roma, then as chairman at Avellino, followed by a stint as Sporting Director at Pescara.

In 1999, he began working at Udinese, and over five years, he built the club’s highly acclaimed global scouting network and its “selling club” model, achieving great success.

In September 2004, he was poached by De Laurentiis, who had just acquired S.S.C. Napoli, and returned to the club. Over several years, he led the club back to Serie A and established it as a strong force in the league.

In 2009, he left S.S.C. Napoli due to a conflict of ideas with De Laurentiis.

In the summer of 2011, he officially joined Atalanta, first as technical director, and then in 2012, he was formally promoted to the club’s Chief Executive Officer, taking full charge of Atalanta’s operations.

At only fifty-nine years old, Marino already had thirty years of experience working in Italian football, and his abilities were largely unquestionable.

During the acquisition period, Yang Cheng’s team had also had multiple contacts with Marino.

The two sides hit it off on many ideas and philosophies, and Marino was very supportive of Yang Cheng’s team’s plans to transform Atalanta.

Thus, Yang Cheng decided to keep Marino on.

At the press conference, Marino, representing the new management team, promised all the fans that Atalanta would continue on its current development path and would continue to bring more exciting football to Italian fans.

At the same time, Marino also formally announced that head coach Gasperini would officially sign a coaching contract with the club.

After taking over mid-season last year, Gasperini’s coaching had earned a certain degree of recognition.

Moreover, he was a former head coach of Inter Milan and was well-known in Italian football circles.

More importantly, he was strongly recommended by Yang Cheng.

Previously, he had signed a short-term coaching contract of a few months with Atalanta, a so-called “caretaker contract.”

Now, he was officially signing a long-term one.

Besides Marino staying on, the club’s Sporting Director, Gabriele Zamagna, would also continue in his role.

However, the club would poach Giovanni Sartori from Verona to serve as Atalanta’s technical director, with full responsibility for youth academy matters.

Giovanni Sartori had been working at Verona since 1992, mainly in charge of the youth academy, and his results were remarkable.

Over the years, the level of Verona’s youth academy had improved significantly, earning a stellar reputation within the industry.

Yang Cheng had known him for a long time, and he was also familiar with Gasperini, Marino, and Sartori. So, bringing him over this time was to increase investment in the youth academy.

Coming along with Sartori was Verona’s head of youth development, Maurizio Costanzi.

After joining, Costanzi would serve as the director of Atalanta’s youth academy, mainly to support Sartori’s work.

The former head of the youth academy, Mino Favini, was promoted to be the academy director.

This seventy-seven-year-old Italian man had worked in Atalanta’s youth academy for twenty-two years, witnessing its development and growth over the years, and could be said to have made immense contributions.

Now, he was beginning to move into a behind-the-scenes role, preparing for retirement.

Among the many appointments, there was one less noticeable decision.

The former head of international scouting at Atalanta, twenty-seven-year-old Spaniard Pablo Longoria, was officially appointed as Atalanta’s head of scouting.

This was another major talent, just that he was still unknown at present.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this Pablo Longoria left Atalanta in 2013 and job-hopped to the newly promoted Serie A team Sassuolo, where he served as head of scouting.

After two successful years at Sassuolo, he caught the eye of Juventus and moved to the Zebras to head their scouting department.

In February 2018, he was poached by Valencia for a hefty sum to become the Sporting Director for The Bats.

But he only stayed at Valencia until February 2019, before moving to Marseille in Ligue 1.

At that time, Marseille had been acquired by foreign investors and was making drastic reforms, preparing to make a big splash.

At Marseille, Longoria first served as Managing Director, then became Chairman of Marseille.

When Yang Cheng was transported, Longoria was doing quite well at Marseille.

So, this time, after acquiring Atalanta, Yang Cheng would certainly not let such a talent go.

He directly promoted Longoria to head of scouting, giving him full responsibility for the scouting department.

Especially after a thorough conversation, Pablo Longoria was extremely grateful for Yang Cheng’s trust, feeling very much like a fine steed that had finally met its discerning judge.

Both within Atalanta and in the Italian football world, Yang Cheng’s series of appointments and promotions after acquiring Atalanta were drastic and full of魄力, demonstrating his boldness.

This made everyone feel the change in style brought by the Bayswater Chinese team, led by Yang Cheng, upon their arrival at Atalanta.

…

“Right now, everyone in the Italian football circles is discussing what you’ve done at Atalanta in just a few days.”

“Swift and decisive, with a sharp edge!”

When Yang Cheng met Gasperini again at the hotel by Lake Iseo, the white-haired old man laughingly relayed the Italian professional circle’s assessment of Yang Cheng’s actions.

“We’ve been preparing for this day for a year and planning it for over six months. What do you think?” Yang Cheng replied with a smile.

From the decision a year ago to acquire a club, Yang Cheng and his team had been making preparations.

“But the moves have been really big. From the management system to the organizational structure, everything has changed!” Gasperini said in admiration.

The aim was to fully align with Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice.

“I spent a total of forty million euros to buy Atalanta, and I’m going to invest another one hundred million. I definitely have to fight this battle well, otherwise, wouldn’t my money be wasted?”

After joking, Yang Cheng shifted the conversation to the reason he had invited Gasperini over.

That was Atalanta’s summer transfers.

“Recently, I’ve watched many of Atalanta’s matches from last season, some coached by you, some by your predecessor. To be honest, this team’s overall strength is quite average, not very competitive in Serie A, and the style of play needs to change.”

“As you said, playing that kind of lifeless football doesn’t appeal to young fans at all.”

The situation in the Serie A was quite dire right now.

It might be hard for people to believe.

Atalanta’s Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia had a capacity of 24,726, and last season’s average attendance was 15,088.

The attendance rate was sixty-one percent.

When anyone sees this data, their first reaction must be: what the hell, how can it be so bad?

Hey, don’t be so quick to criticize!

Whether it’s bad or not depends on the competition.

This attendance rate ranked third in Serie A last season.

Yes, you read that right, third.

First place was Juventus with eighty-five percent, followed by Sampdoria with sixty-four percent.

Inter Milan was seventh with fifty-seven percent, and AC Milan was ninth with fifty-four percent.

At the bottom was Chievo, with only twenty-four percent.

Others, like Lazio, had thirty-nine percent, and AS Roma had forty-eight percent.

Of course, looking only at the attendance rate isn’t entirely objective, because stadium capacities vary.

In terms of attendance numbers, since the Meazza/San Siro stadium holds over eighty thousand people, the Milan duo, despite their low attendance rates, had an average of over forty thousand fans per game, leading Serie A.

Next was S.S.C. Napoli, with also close to forty thousand.

After them came AS Roma, Juventus, and Lazio.

Atalanta’s fifteen thousand people ranked about thirteenth in Serie A.

This, in fact, objectively reflects a widespread problem in Serie A right now.

The home attendance rate is terrible!

And if you look closely at the Serie A attendance rankings, it’s easy to see that Juventus’s rate is pulling away from the pack.

This is mainly because the Zebras’ stadium facilities are new.

A new stadium not only provides fans with a better viewing experience and more commercial services but also helps create a better home atmosphere for the fans, something old stadiums lack.

To put it bluntly, you get baked by the sun during the day, blown by the wind at night, soaked when it rains, and it’s even worse in snow and sleet.

With such a viewing experience, who would come?

Might as well stay at home and watch the live broadcast!

Another point is that Serie A teams play such ugly football.

They are all known for defending with all their might, praised as “reinforced concrete.”

Damn it, what era are we in? Who still watches this stuff?

Especially now, when the main consumers of tickets are young people and middle-aged families.

In this era of globalization and information, a fast pace is king. Who wants to watch your slow-paced defend and counter-attack?

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s opinion was that the style of play must be attractive, there must be many shots, and the game must be fluid.

These were all things Gasperini excelled at!

“That old fox Antonio Percassi was originally planning to sell Denis to Inter Milan.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

As soon as the money from selling Peluso to Juventus arrived, it was transferred out of the club’s account by the Percassi family under various pretexts.

“But I put a stop to Denis’s transfer this time, though I still plan to sell him.”

Gasperini nodded repeatedly. He knew Yang Cheng must have more to say.

Having known each other for so long, he felt he understood Yang Cheng to some extent.

“And the goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, linked with AC Milan. I plan to let him go as well.”

“But don’t worry, I will do my utmost to keep Bonaventura!”

Consigli and Bonaventura were both homegrown players, and both were true sons of Atalanta’s academy.

Both players had also been targeted for poaching by AC Milan.

But Yang Cheng only planned to sell Consigli.

He would definitely do everything to keep Bonaventura. This was an active international who had just been called up to the national team, a hot commodity.

“I won’t hide it from you. After buying the club and the stadium, my funds aren’t particularly abundant right now. So I plan to sell these two players to raise funds for transfer operations.”

“AC Milan is in urgent need of a goalkeeper right now. Abbiati is already thirty-six, and the backup goalkeepers like Gabriel are performing averagely. The Rossoneri are very interested in Consigli and should be able to pay his market value.”

Consigli’s current market value was eight million euros, which was also Yang Cheng’s psychological price point.

In today’s Serie A, you could forget about selling high, especially for a goalkeeper.

Every Serie A team was pinching pennies until they bled.

After some thought, Gasperini replied, “I personally don’t have any objections, but you have to know, Denis scored fifteen goals and had five assists in Serie A last season. He was the team’s top scorer and top assist provider.”

“If we lose him, what will we do for our offense next season?”

Atalanta last season was basically built around two players.

One was the Argentine forward Germán Denis, now a thirty-one-year-old veteran.

The other was Bonaventura, who scored seven goals and had four assists last season, second only to Denis.

“Take a look at this.”

Yang Cheng casually picked up a file from the table in front of him and handed it to Gasperini.

“Luca Toni?”

Gasperini opened it and saw the familiar name.

This file was from the technical team of Bayswater Chinese, an assessment report on Luca Toni.

This top-class centre-forward, once famous throughout European football, had first been loaned to AS Roma after losing his starting spot at Bayern Munich, then made a free transfer to Genoa in the summer of 2010.

After half a season at Genoa, he made another free transfer to Juventus during the winter transfer window.

He played for the Zebras for a year, and in January 2012, he transferred to the UAE-based club Al-Nassr.

Half a year later, he returned to Serie A, joining Fiorentina.

In this report, the technical team of Bayswater Chinese analyzed Luca Toni.

Although he was now thirty-six, his overall performance was still quite good.

For example, during the winter transfer window of the 2009/10 season, after being loaned from Bayern to Roma, he made fifteen appearances, scoring five goals and providing one assist.

Looking at these stats alone, one might think they are average.

But he only played 931 minutes in total.

Furthermore, just as he was settling in at Roma and had scored a brace, he was sidelined for over a month due to a torn thigh muscle fiber.

In the half-season he spent at Genoa on a free transfer, apart from the first two rounds, he played in all the other sixteen matches, producing three goals and three assists. Not a great performance, but not too bad either.

But then he joined Juventus and was again sidelined for over half a month due to a knee problem, after which he became a permanent substitute.

So, in his first half-year at Juventus, he had two goals and one assist, an average performance.

By the ’11/’12 season, Luca Toni had been completely relegated to the bench, barely getting any playing time, so he went to the UAE to cash in during the winter transfer window, and his performance was decent.

He scored three goals and had two assists in eight matches.

Last season, after returning to Serie A from the Middle East, he played for Fiorentina, making twenty-seven appearances, but only for 1321 minutes.

This meant he was mostly a substitute.

Luca Toni delivered a report card of eight goals and four assists.

Looking at his goal distribution and playing time, whenever he started, he either scored or assisted.

“You want the thirty-six-year-old Luca Toni to be the starting centre-forward?” Gasperini frowned.

Yang Cheng understood the white-haired old man’s concern.

Even if the stats showed Luca Toni was performing well, his age was a factor.

At this age, a player’s form can be completely different each year, and they are heavily affected by injuries.

But Yang Cheng naturally wouldn’t tell him, this was Luca Toni!

The old monster who would score over twenty goals in Serie A each season for the next two years.

If he remembered correctly, in the 2013/14 Serie A season, Luca Toni scored twenty goals and provided eleven assists for Verona.

The guy who activated Luca Toni was named Juan Iturbe, with dual Argentine and Paraguayan nationality, currently languishing at Porto.

It was precisely because of his outstanding performance at Verona that Iturbe’s market value shot up from the original two or three million euros to twenty million euros, and in 2014 he was transferred to AS Roma for twenty-five million euros.

His value increased nearly tenfold in one year.

One could imagine how well Iturbe performed at Verona.

“Don’t worry, of course I won’t just give you one Luca Toni. I’ll also provide you with a young centre-forward, let him learn from Luca Toni for two or three years, and then he can take over smoothly,” Yang Cheng said with full confidence.

Gasperini still had a lot of faith in Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

“You think Luca Toni can replace Denis?”

Yang Cheng nodded, “The tactics will need to be adjusted slightly. You should adopt a high-pressing tactic, focusing on the two flanks to play to Luca Toni’s attacking strengths. I guarantee you, this veteran will make the entire Serie A tremble!”

Serie A had always had a problem: a lack of wingers.

As soon as a good winger emerged, they were immediately poached.

Moreover, Serie A’s football style itself was not very conducive to developing wingers.

But for players like Iturbe, Yang Cheng had already started talks with Porto.

“Right now, I can give you a guarantee.”

Yang Cheng looked at Gasperini with confidence, “Next season, whether you want to play with a three-at-the-back or a four-at-the-back formation, it’s no problem at all. I will provide you with enough players.”

“I only have one requirement: the style of play must be attractive, with proactive offense, and the team’s results must improve.”

Gasperini’s eyes lit up. “No problem on my end. As long as the squad you build has the strength, I will definitely bring out their potential.”

“Of course, I will also need the full cooperation of all departments of the team.”

“You can rest assured on that point,” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

He had already talked with Wheatley, Marino, and the others.

At this point, Yang Cheng smiled and extended his hand, “Then I’ll wish you success here in leading this new Atalanta to shine in Serie A!”

Gasperini also smiled and extended his hand, firmly shaking Yang Cheng’s.

From his eyes, Yang Cheng felt a strong desire.

It was a desire for success, for victory, for external recognition!

…

Atalanta acquired by a Chinese consortium!

This news instantly spread across the globe.

But what followed were various doubts and concerns, especially protests from Atalanta’s die-hard fans.

In response, Atalanta’s new team adopted various measures, including a cool-down approach and appeasement.

But as the transfer market slowly opened, the worries of Atalanta fans grew more intense.

First, last season’s top scorer, thirty-one-year-old Argentine forward Germán Denis, was sold by the club to powerhouse Inter Milan for a transfer fee of five point five million euros.

After selling Peluso, now they had sold Denis. Who would score goals for them in the new Serie A season?

At the same time, AC Milan also announced that they had bought homegrown goalkeeper Consigli from Atalanta for a transfer fee of eight million euros.

The twenty-six-year-old goalkeeper had once been included in the Italian national team’s training camp, though he was ultimately not selected and never played.

After successively selling two players, Atalanta announced that they had signed former Italian international Luca Toni on a free transfer, whose contract with Fiorentina had just ended.

Gazzetta dello Sport revealed that Atalanta’s most powerful weapon in persuading Luca Toni to join was offering the thirty-six-year-old veteran a two-year professional contract that could be automatically extended for another year.

For the thirty-six-year-old Luca Toni, this was an offer he simply couldn’t refuse.

Although the annual salary offered by Atalanta was only one million euros, lower than Luca Toni’s expectations, the Italian centre-forward still signed with Atalanta.

But almost everyone was pessimistic about this deal.

Because Luca Toni’s performance over the past few years had been very inconsistent, intermittent, and he hadn’t played well.

More importantly, his advanced age of thirty-six made it hard for anyone to believe he could succeed at Atalanta.

Even Gazzetta dello Sport believed this was more of a move by Atalanta’s new team to placate local fans.

Bringing in a former international centre-forward to appease the local supporters.

At the same time, Atalanta announced that they had signed winger Iturbe from Primeira Liga’s Porto for a transfer fee of three point five million euros.

The twenty-year-old Paraguayan international had joined Porto in the summer of 2011 from Paraguayan top-flight club Cerro Porteño for four point two five million euros.

But in the Primeira Liga, Iturbe never got a chance to shine, so in January 2013, he was loaned back to River Plate.

In Argentina, Iturbe made seventeen appearances and scored nine goals, performing exceptionally well.

However, in the talent-rich Porto, Iturbe still found it hard to get a chance.

Atalanta making a move at this time was undoubtedly in line with Porto’s wishes.

The Primeira Liga team had originally hoped to send Iturbe out on a loan-to-buy deal, but Atalanta was more willing to buy him outright.

This was also at Yang Cheng’s instruction.

Because in his previous life, Iturbe was loaned to Verona for one million euros and ended up performing brilliantly.

A year later, Iturbe’s market value skyrocketed, and Verona ended up signing him for his release clause of fifteen million euros.

After signing him, Verona immediately sold him to AS Roma for twenty-five million euros, making a ten-million-euro profit.

But now, Yang Cheng was not willing to let Porto earn that extra sum.

Because after signing Iturbe, Porto found there was no place for him in the team, and the player’s performance in the Primeira Liga was not satisfactory. Under these circumstances, it was natural to sell him at a discount.

The price Atalanta offered was Iturbe’s current market valuation.

After successively signing Luca Toni and Juan Iturbe, Atalanta then signed the versatile player Rômulo, who holds dual Brazilian and Italian citizenship, from Fiorentina for two million euros.

The twenty-six-year-old Brazilian midfielder is only 1.78 meters tall but can play in all positions in midfield and on the right flank.

After that, Atalanta signed twenty-five-year-old homegrown centre-back Francesco Acerbi from Genoa for a total of three point six million euros.

Of this three point six million euros, half was paid to Genoa, and the other half was paid to AC Milan.

The latter part was directly deducted from Consigli’s transfer fee.

This was because the player was co-owned by Genoa and AC Milan but played for Genoa.

At the same time, Atalanta signed eighteen-year-old centre-back Milan Škriniar from Slovakian club MŠK Žilina for a transfer fee of six hundred thousand euros.

And on a free transfer, they signed Spanish defender Marcos Alonso from Championship team Bolton.

Afterward, Atalanta spent another two point five million euros to sign twenty-year-old young centre-back Antonio Rüdiger from Bundesliga’s VfB Stuttgart.

Rüdiger had established himself in VfB Stuttgart’s first team in the second half of last season, but his playing time and position were not very stable.

In the new season, VfB Stuttgart was rife with internal conflicts, and Rüdiger lacked confidence in his future. Just then, Atalanta, backed by the mighty Bayswater Chinese, extended an olive branch and promised him a starting position.

The two sides hit it off, and VfB Stuttgart also received a transfer fee of two point five million euros.

Besides Rüdiger, Atalanta also brought in Polish centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik from another Bundesliga team, Bayer Leverkusen.

The nineteen-year-old Milik had previously played in the Polish domestic league, performed well, and was called up to the Polish national team as Lewandowski’s partner.

In January 2013, Milik transferred from Górnik Zabrze to Bayer Leverkusen for two point five million euros.

But at the talent-rich Company’s Eleven, Milik failed to prove himself in several first-team appearances and spent more time playing for the B team.

According to The Company’s Eleven’s original plan, they intended to loan Milik out, as he was still young and they were optimistic about his potential.

But just then, Atalanta made a move, offering a transfer fee of two point five million euros, successfully persuading the club.

In addition, Atalanta also signed goalkeeper Alisson Becker from Brazil’s Internacional for three hundred thousand euros.

After a series of transfers, Atalanta soon announced two more signings, acquiring Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia from Belgium’s Anderlecht for a transfer fee of eight million euros.

And winger Felipe Anderson from Brazil’s Santos for a transfer fee of seven million euros.

The two transfer deals cost a total of fifteen million euros.

Adding in the previous deals, Atalanta had spent a total of thirty million euros in the transfer market.

Although selling Consigli and Denis brought back thirteen point five million euros, the net investment reached sixteen point five million euros.

In the generally sluggish Serie A transfer market, this was already a considerable investment.

And as the club announced one transfer after another, Atalanta fans gradually came to accept the new team.

They couldn’t refuse even if they wanted to. The acquisition was complete, they were planning to build a new stadium, and they had invested thirty million euros in the transfer market, something the Percassi family could never provide.

For Yang Cheng, although he had spent sixteen point five million euros out of his own pocket, firstly, the players he brought in were very young with huge potential for appreciation, so such deals wouldn’t be a loss.

Secondly, the goalkeeper and all three lines of the team had been significantly upgraded. Atalanta’s overall strength would definitely be a big step up from last season.

Under these circumstances, Atalanta would certainly have no problem avoiding relegation in the new season.

Yang Cheng’s own expectation was for the upper-middle half of the table.

Exactly how high they could go would depend on Gasperini’s ability.

And while Atalanta’s operations continued, Yang Cheng received a long-awaited phone call.

Chapter 284: Soap Opera! Let’s Go to the Premier League! A Spending Spree, Burning Money for a Bright Future!

Castelldefels, in the western suburbs of Barcelona.

Ever since Messi had risen to prominence at Barça and received a contract extension with a salary increase, the first thing he did was buy a detached villa for himself and his family on a semi-secluded hillside by the sea in Castelldefels.

Later, after another contract extension and pay raise, he bought the house next door.

After connecting the two properties, he and his girlfriend lived in one, while his parents and brothers lived in the other.

Not only that, but he also entrusted his father and brothers with managing his agency business.

This was his way of repaying his parents and family.

Back then, they had given their all to help him, which is why the Messi of today exists.

The family had always gotten along harmoniously.

But at this very moment, in Messi’s home, his father and brothers were furiously denouncing the actions of Barça’s senior management.

“They are absolutely shameless!”

“Now they’re trying to pin all the problems on us.”

“What happened to the protection they promised the players?”

“They’re throwing us out to be the scapegoats. Barça’s poor performance last season is all our fault, as if they bear no responsibility at all!”

“It’s been almost a month, and not a single person has stood up to say even one word for us!”

Messi’s father, Jorge, roared with great agitation, venting the anger and dissatisfaction pent up inside him.

“I can say with absolute certainty now, they genuinely want to sell us to Manchester City!”

Messi remained silent from beginning to end.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t have his own thoughts.

On the contrary, Messi had always been like this.

Once he made a decision, no one could change it.

“I think we should just leave Barça and be done with it!” Jorge Messi said, venting his frustration.

“Since they said that even without Messi, Barça is still Barça, then let’s go. We’ll try our luck in the Premier League!”

It would be a lie to say Jorge Messi wasn’t tempted by the terms Manchester City was offering.

A weekly wage of 350,000 pound sterling, and it was even negotiable.

Most importantly, the commission offered was also very generous.

All of this was something Barça could not provide under any circumstances.

Moreover, Pep Guardiola had already taken over at Manchester City.

Manchester City’s head coach, Ancelotti, had gone to Real Madrid, and Real Madrid’s head coach, Mourinho, had gone to Chelsea.

This summer, many of Europe’s top clubs were changing managers.

“Leo, what do you think?” After finishing his tirade, Jorge realized that Messi hadn’t said a word.

Previously, when faced with Manchester City’s offer, the Messi family had sat down to discuss it, just like now.

The conclusion they reached was to hold off on renewing the contract for now, to wait and see.

On one hand, this was to put some pressure on Barça and gain more leverage in the contract negotiations.

On the other hand, Barça’s competitiveness was indeed lacking, and they needed to invest in new signings.

But unexpectedly, Barça’s management had now thrown Messi under the bus.

“Any movement from their side?” Messi asked, instead of answering.

“No one has come out to say anything, but people are constantly leaking information through the media. Based on the intelligence we have, if they do let us transfer, the players they want to sign most are Robert Lewandowski, followed by Suárez.”

“Their transfer budget is capped at around one hundred million euros, but that’s not enough to buy Lewandowski, and it might not be enough for Suárez either.”

Suárez was crucial to Liverpool at this point.

The current European transfer market was insane.

How absurd was it?

A centre-back from Porto named Mangala was being quoted at fifty million euros.

If that wasn’t absurd, what was?

One major reason for the panic in the European transfer market was that Monaco in Ligue 1 had also been acquired by a Russian tycoon and was now waving its checkbook, buying players everywhere.

First, they signed James Rodríguez for forty-five million euros, then they signed Portuguese midfielder Moutinho for twenty-five million euros, spending seventy million euros on just two transfers.

On top of that, they signed the youngster Kondogbia from Sevilla for twenty million euros.

The entire European football world had gone mad!

Paris Saint-Germain was already a powerhouse of wealth, and now another one, Monaco, had emerged.

With more bidders than quality players available, competition was naturally fierce.

Right now, the entire transfer market was a chaotic mess.

No one could make sense of the current transfer market!

“There are reports that Barça secretly inquired with both Bayswater Chinese and Liverpool, but were rejected.”

“Last year, Paris Saint-Germain made a one-hundred-million-pound offer for Lewandowski, but Bayswater Chinese turned it down. His value will only be higher now.”

“Suárez would be relatively cheaper, but his performance isn’t as good as Lewandowski’s, and the Saudi consortium behind Liverpool has no intention of selling. So Barça might not be able to get Suárez.”

“Once the Uruguayan renews his contract with Liverpool, no one will be able to poach him!”

The Premier League was different from La Liga and the Bundesliga.

When Bayern Munich wanted Borussia Dortmund’s Götze and BVB didn’t want to sell, Bayern simply activated his release clause.

Manchester City also wanted to activate Messi’s release clause.

But the Premier League doesn’t have release clauses.

Therefore, to buy a player from the Premier League, the most important thing was to keep piling on the transfer fees.

“Leo!”

At this point, Jorge Messi looked deeply at his son. “Things have come to this. There’s no point in staying. Let’s go to the Premier League!”

His brother sitting beside him clearly shared the same sentiment.

They still had some affection for Barça.

After all, they had lived here for over a decade.

But many of the actions of Barça’s management were simply too despicable.

“Just give the word, and I’ll call Pep. You know, he’s been waiting for your decision.”

Manchester City’s contact with Messi’s camp was generally handled through Guardiola’s agent brother.

He was also the agent for many Barça players.

This method of contact naturally saved a lot of trouble and avoided any rule violations.

After all, it was just relaying messages, not secret meetings.

Over the past period, leaving Barça for the Premier League had become an increasingly likely option for Messi, especially recently.

The public opinion outside was vicious.

Barça’s management might have been trying to use the media and fans to apply pressure and force Messi to submit.

But they had overplayed their hand!

Once the public opinion took hold, Messi became the scapegoat for the team’s poor results.

A couple of days ago, fans had even blocked his car outside his residential community, which had left Messi feeling a bit panicked.

But the thought of actually leaving Barça for Manchester City was also daunting for Messi.

He had been at Barça for over ten years; he was familiar with everything here.

Leaving all that familiarity behind to start a brand new journey in England was easier said than done.

Moreover, could he really adapt to the Premier League?

Thinking about this, Messi felt uncertain.

“I want to meet with Pep!” Messi said suddenly.

Jorge Messi was stunned for a moment, then became ecstatic.

He knew that as long as Messi was willing to take this step, joining Manchester City was a real possibility!

…

Even before the end of last season, Yang Cheng had spoken with José Fonte about his future.

At that time, Yang Cheng had given the 29-year-old Portuguese centre-back two options.

Either he could find a new team himself, and the club would let him go on a free transfer.

That way, he could secure a higher salary.

Or he could go play for OGC Nice in Ligue 1. Yang Cheng believed that with José Fonte’s ability, he could still shine in the French league.

And as a “centre-back incubator,” he could also mentor players like Koulibaly, which would be killing two birds with one stone.

José Fonte was well aware of his situation.

With his skill level, he was basically at the standard of a mid-to-lower table Premier League team.

For the current Bayswater Chinese, his position was very awkward.

And he was getting older.

This caused José Fonte considerable distress.

After a period of careful consideration, José Fonte finally made his choice.

He was willing to go play for OGC Nice in Ligue 1.

The reason for this decision wasn’t a lack of interest from Premier League clubs, but rather that he felt this was the most stable option.

The competition in the Premier League is fierce, and at 29, José Fonte was worried about how much longer he could continue playing. He also needed more match practice.

Playing in Ligue 1 would be a more relaxed environment.

More importantly, Nice could also play in the Champions League.

This was a very attractive prospect for José Fonte.

When Yang Cheng received José Fonte’s call in Bergamo, Italy, he immediately smiled and said, “That’s an excellent choice, José!”

The whole world knew that Nice and Bayswater Chinese were owned by the same entity!

Yang Cheng’s plan was also for José Fonte to go to Nice, hopefully to help develop centre-backs like Koulibaly, Shkodran Mustafi, and Umtiti.

Right now in European football, the price of top centre-backs was simply too high!

No, it was ludicrous!

When Porto quoted a crazy price of fifty million euros for Mangala, the whole world was shocked.

If Mangala was worth that much, what about others?

Their prices would go through the roof.

After hanging up with José Fonte, Yang Cheng made another call to Adam Crozier in London, followed by a call to Emmanuel Perrin at OGC Nice in France.

The main topic was José Fonte’s transfer.

“Transfer van Dijk to Bayswater Chinese!” Yang Cheng said to Emmanuel Perrin.

Van Dijk had performed well in Ligue 1 last season.

But interestingly, the centre-back’s performances weren’t particularly outstanding, not as impressive as Marquinhos.

This was because his style was based on reading the game.

To put it simply, van Dijk’s defending was very different from that of a typical centre-back.

He rarely got tight and made close-contact tackles. Instead, he would shadow his opponent, using his positioning to restrict their movement and constantly compress their space and dribbling lanes.

This was how he achieved his defensive objectives.

This defensive style was very modern, but in 2013, it was still a bit ahead of its time.

In contrast, players like Marquinhos, Koulibaly, Umtiti, and Shkodran Mustafi, their strengths were immediately obvious.

Moreover, van Dijk was quite an interesting centre-back.

He could both press high and play a holding role.

Though he had a towering frame, he was fast and could track back quickly after pressing.

This was something Bayswater Chinese needed.

Pepe was already 30, and Thiago Silva would soon be 29.

Harry Maguire was definitely on the slower side.

So, having a centre-back who could push up and also get back was a pretty good thing.

Van Dijk had excellent passing ability; once he won the ball, he could launch a counter-attack from deep.

This also fit Bayswater Chinese’s requirements perfectly.

Therefore, Yang Cheng decided to swap José Fonte for van Dijk.

As for any difference in transfer fees, it was just moving money from the left pocket to the right. Yang Cheng let them sort it out themselves.

On the phone, Emmanuel Perrin also reported on Nice’s situation this summer.

Last season in Ligue 1, Nice finished as runners-up but reached the Champions League semi-final, stealing the limelight.

The most notable players on the team were centre-back Marquinhos and centre-forward Christian Benteke.

Both players were now being closely watched by many clubs.

For example, The Sun had previously reported that Chelsea was targeting Benteke as one of their transfer targets.

The reason was that Mourinho had a penchant for using that type of centre-forward.

Tottenham Hotspur was another interested party.

The North London club also had its eyes on Benteke.

The Belgian centre-forward had scored twenty-eight goals in Ligue 1 last season, delivering a very impressive performance.

His brawny physique, excellent heading ability, and solid footwork had left a deep impression on everyone.

The last time a Ligue 1 top scorer netted twenty-eight goals was back in the ’84/’85 season.

Even the legendary Papin never reached that number, scoring a maximum of twenty-seven goals.

But Papin winning the Ligue 1 Golden Boot for five consecutive seasons was a legend in itself.

So, right now, both Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco in Ligue 1 were vying for Manchester City’s Ibrahimović.

If they couldn’t get Ibra, Benteke would be their backup centre-forward.

As for Ibrahimović, due to his fallout with Guardiola, the Swedish striker announced his departure as soon as Guardiola was appointed Manchester City’s manager.

It was rather amusing.

Ibra had originally come to Manchester City after falling out with Guardiola at Barça.

And now…

Guardiola had followed him to Manchester City, and Ibra immediately announced he was leaving again.

It was as if Guardiola was hunting him to the ends of the earth!

After hanging up with Emmanuel Perrin, Yang Cheng walked back to his hotel room.

Atalanta’s newly promoted young head of scouting, Pablo Longoria, was still sitting in the room, waiting.

“Sorry, Pablo, a few too many calls,” Yang Cheng apologized casually.

He had been on the phone for about ten minutes.

Longoria quickly said he wouldn’t dare presume.

Given Yang Cheng’s current status and position, it was natural that he was extremely busy.

For him to make time to meet was already a sign of his high regard.

“I’ve had a quick look at your report. It’s excellent. Leave it with me, along with the files. I’ll find some time tonight to go over it in detail and give you an answer tomorrow,” Yang Cheng said with a smile, pointing to a report and a USB drive on the table.

Pablo Longoria immediately nodded in agreement and stood up to leave.

“By the way, Pablo, we need to start work on the data-driven reforms for the scouting department as soon as possible, and fully integrate it into the Bayswater Chinese scouting system. You know, this is a fantastic opportunity for Atalanta.”

“I know. I’ll push it forward immediately and won’t cause any delays,” Pablo Longoria promised.

Atalanta had its own scouting system and database, but it was mainly focused on Italy.

In the rest of Europe, their scouting network didn’t have much coverage.

To put it bluntly, the coverage of a scouting network is directly proportional to the investment put into it.

They only had some intelligence on the Iberian Peninsula because of Pablo Longoria’s connections.

Besides the scouting department, Atalanta was to align everything from daily management to training and matches with Bayswater Chinese and Nice, to implement data-driven management.

This was a revolution that went deep to the core!

After seeing Longoria off, Yang Cheng returned to his room, sat back on the sofa, and casually flipped through the player report prepared by Pablo Longoria. It recommended many excellent young players.

For example, the Argentine forward Dybala, who played for Palermo.

Palermo had been relegated from Serie A to the Italian second division this season, but trying to buy him at rock bottom wouldn’t be easy.

Last summer, Palermo had paid twelve million euros for Dybala.

And last season in Serie A, Dybala had already started to make a name for himself with some good performances.

If Atalanta wanted to sign him, they would likely have to pay a higher transfer fee than that.

Although they knew it would be a profitable investment, it wasn’t really necessary for Atalanta.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford Dybala, but that other players offered better value for money!

Among the several recommended players, besides Dybala, Yang Cheng also found many familiar names.

For example, Bruno Fernandes, who played for Novara in the Italian second division.

This was the “B. Fernandes” many fans in Yang Cheng’s previous life talked about.

There was also Bernardo Silva from Benfica’s youth team, known to fans as “B. Silva”.

Unlike Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva had yet to make an appearance for Benfica’s first team, but he had played some matches for Portugal’s U19s and performed well.

There were also two Brazilian players: right-back Fabinho and holding midfielder Casemiro.

Fabinho’s rights belonged to Rio Ave in the Primeira Liga, but he had been on loan at Real Madrid’s B team, Castilla, last season.

Casemiro was currently at São Paulo in Brazil, but in January 2013, he was loaned to Real Madrid, also playing for Castilla.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Fabinho didn’t transition from right-back to holding midfielder until he went to Monaco in Ligue 1, where he became one of the world’s top players in that position.

As for Casemiro, he reportedly had a decent season, and Real Madrid was interested in buying him for a fee of around six million euros.

The other three players, B. Silva, B. Fernandes, and Fabinho, were all valued at around 2.5 million euros.

Pablo Longoria was clearly trying to take this opportunity to prove his abilities to Yang Cheng.

Therefore, the player report and materials were compiled in meticulous detail.

Although Yang Cheng recognized many future stars at a glance, he didn’t make a decision immediately.

The man had done such a thorough job. If he just gave it a cursory look and responded on the spot, it would be somewhat irresponsible.

So, he said he needed to take a closer look.

…

The next day at noon, Yang Cheng called Pablo Longoria.

“I support your decision. You can sign Bruno Fernandes.”

“As for Bernardo Silva, Nice is currently short of midfielders in Ligue 1. I plan to have Nice sign him.”

The main reason Yang Cheng made this decision was his uncertainty about whether Bernardo Silva could adapt to Serie A.

There would be no problem with Bruno Fernandes.

Besides, Nice’s midfield creativity currently rested on Kovačić alone. The young B. Silva could play multiple positions in the attacking midfield, making him a strong and versatile backup.

As for Fabinho, the biggest issue was the foreign player quota.

Italy’s foreign player restrictions were arguably the most complex among Europe’s top five leagues.

It was the so-called “3 plus 3” policy.

“3 plus 3” meant three homegrown players from the club’s own youth academy, plus three homegrown players from other Italian academies.

Although Serie A didn’t limit the number of foreign players a team could have, each team could only field a maximum of three at a time.

And for new signings, a team could sign at most one non-EU player from a league outside of Italy each year. To sign another, they had to sell one of their existing foreign players.

This summer, Atalanta had signed two new foreign players, goalkeeper Alisson and winger Felipe Anderson, and had also sold their veteran Brazilian winger, Pinto.

That was how they made the numbers work.

As for Lucas Biglia, Rômulo, and Juan Iturbe, they all held dual nationality, so they weren’t subject to the restriction.

Furthermore, Rômulo was signed from Fiorentina in Serie A.

Under these circumstances, Atalanta had no foreign player slots left to sign Fabinho.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s idea was to send Fabinho to OGC Nice in Ligue 1.

Croatia would join the European Union in July 2013, so Nice’s backup midfielder Brozović could be transferred to Atalanta.

This would bypass the foreign player restriction issue.

Pablo Longoria was very pleased to hear this.

His first player recommendation had received Yang Cheng’s backing, which filled him with even more motivation.

Yang Cheng encouraged him to keep up the good work.

“Here with me, people who work hard and get results will never be short-changed!” Yang Cheng dangled a small carrot.

This boosted Pablo Longoria’s motivation even further.

He was still a long way from being the Chairman of Marseille he would become over a decade later.

After getting Yang Cheng’s support, Atalanta immediately took action.

Through Pablo Longoria’s connections, the Serie A club quickly signed Bruno Fernandes from the Italian second division side Novara for 2.5 million euros.

Then they signed Croatian midfielder Brozović from OGC Nice.

In turn, Nice signed the young Bernardo Silva from Benfica for 2.5 million euros.

Subsequently, they signed Brazilian right-back Fabinho from Primeira Liga side Rio Ave for another 2.5 million euros.

…

When Bayswater Chinese officially announced the signing of van Dijk from Ligue 1, it immediately caught the attention of the transfer market.

Everyone knew that the two teams were effectively under the same ownership.

But the deal still had to be done by the book, with none of the procedures skipped.

The final method was a player exchange.

José Fonte was swapped for van Dijk.

Just after Bayswater Chinese signed van Dijk, Paris Saint-Germain also announced that they had signed Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos from OGC Nice for a hefty price of fifty million euros.

The 19-year-old Brazilian centre-back had been outstanding in both Ligue 1 and the Champions League last season, arguably the key player in Nice’s run to the semi-final. His quality had earned widespread recognition.

Think about it: when even Porto dared to ask for fifty million euros for a player like Mangala, was it really that strange for Nice to sell Marquinhos for fifty million euros amidst competition from Monaco?

Actually, Nice’s initial asking price was sixty million euros, but that scared off many potential buyers.

Even the extravagantly wealthy Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco haggled repeatedly.

In reality, Porto’s asking price of fifty million euros probably meant their real target price was around forty million.

So, when Paris Saint-Germain offered fifty million, Nice agreed.

For a 19-year-old Brazilian centre-back of his quality, it wasn’t an exorbitant price.

After missing out on Marquinhos, Monaco turned around and signed Carvalho from Real Madrid.

With Mourinho returning to coach Chelsea, Carvalho’s situation at Real Madrid became awkward.

His salary wasn’t cheap, but he was getting old, which made it difficult for Carvalho to establish himself in any of the top four leagues.

Ultimately, he chose a free transfer to Monaco.

Also joining Monaco on a free transfer was Barça’s left-back, Abidal.

This significantly boosted the strength of the newly promoted Ligue 1 team.

After signing Marquinhos, Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Swedish centre-forward Ibrahimović from Premier League side Manchester City for thirty million euros.

The Swedish striker had declared his intention to leave The Blue Moons as soon as Guardiola was appointed Manchester City manager.

Now, his wish was finally granted.

Not only did Paris Saint-Germain pay a thirty million euro transfer fee for Ibra, but they also offered him an annual salary of fifteen million euros.

This was even higher than what he earned at Manchester City.

A thirty-million-euro Ibrahimović, a fifty-million-euro Marquinhos, plus a twenty-five-million-euro Cabaye and a fifteen-million-euro Digne—Paris Saint-Germain continued their spending spree this summer.

The Qatar consortium had burned through a staggering 120 million euros in the transfer market, which was astonishing!

After being thwarted in their pursuit of Ibrahimović, Monaco turned its attention to Suárez, but Liverpool completely ignored their offer.

There were even rumors in the market that Monaco was interested in signing Manchester United’s Rooney.

But this was mostly interpreted as Rooney using Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain as leverage to demand a high-paying contract extension from Manchester United.

After failing to sign several strikers, Monaco, the season’s newly promoted team, signed Belgian centre-forward Christian Benteke from Nice for forty-five million euros.

A forty-five-million-euro James Rodríguez, a forty-five-million-euro Benteke, a twenty-five-million-euro Moutinho, and a twenty-million-euro Kondogbia.

Plus several other transfers in the ten-million and multi-million euro range.

After receiving investment from the Russian billionaire, Monaco’s performance in the transfer market was even crazier than Paris Saint-Germain’s!

The two tycoon-backed clubs’ frantic buying spree quickly drew the attention of football fans worldwide to the Ligue 1.

Many even speculated that with the massive influx of foreign capital, Ligue 1 had a good chance of surpassing the Bundesliga and Serie A to become one of the top three leagues in the world.

France’s L’Équipe even commented, “A spending spree, burning money for a bright future for Ligue 1!”

But the question was, how long could Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco sustain this frantic spending model?

After selling Benteke for forty-five million euros, Nice signed 17-year-old French youngster Anthony Martial from Lyon for five million euros.

At the same time, they signed 16-year-old French youngster Ndombele on a free transfer from the youth team of French Second Division side Guingamp.

The Martial transfer was at Yang Cheng’s instruction, but the Ndombele signing was Nice’s own decision.

In this summer’s transfer market, Nice sold Benteke, Marquinhos, van Dijk, and Brozović, while signing José Fonte, Martial, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, and Ndombele.

Overall, Nice remained very competitive in Ligue 1.

Even if they couldn’t match Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, Yang Cheng believed they still had a clear strength advantage over other Ligue 1 teams.

Moreover, head coach Ronald Koeman would remain with the team.

This was because no team from the top four leagues had offered him a job.

It was indeed quite awkward.

As the head coach of a Champions League semi-finalist last season, with several top clubs changing managers this summer, no one had chosen him.

Presumably, everyone knew the guy had a difficult personality.

But what truly interested Yang Cheng was the future trend of Ligue 1’s development.

Monaco, just like in his previous life, started with a spending spree.

But after a year or two of burning cash, Monaco began to realize that the model wasn’t sustainable. The club’s foundation was thin, and no amount of spending would change that.

So they later transitioned to the “selling club” model.

But here was the problem.

Now, Nice was the renowned selling club in Ligue 1, and indeed in all of European football.

Could Monaco still succeed with that model?

Even with the support of agents like Mendes, could Monaco operate as it did in Yang Cheng’s previous life?

Unrealistic!

Now, Monaco’s niche had been occupied by Nice.

Nice was teeming with talent. As long as they could maintain stability and secure a Champions League spot every season, Monaco wouldn’t be able to compete with them without burning through cash.

Yang Cheng was very confident about this.

It remained to be seen what Monaco’s next move would be.

If they continued their spending spree, it would be a good thing for Monaco, for Nice, and for the entire Ligue 1!

…

The end of June arrived.

In Brazil, the Confederations Cup was in full swing.

But in the Premier League, there was blockbuster news.

Fulham had been acquired.

Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American, had successfully purchased Fulham for two hundred million pound sterling.

This was another formidable tycoon, reportedly worth billions of pound sterling and a figure on the Forbes rich list.

His main business was in automobiles, and he was also the owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars in the United States.

However, although Shahid Khan was wealthy, media reports suggested he did not intend to splash out on transfer fees for Fulham, preferring to maintain the club’s current operating model.

This left Fulham fans somewhat disappointed.

They had been hoping for a tycoon owner who would spend lavishly, competing with their West London neighbors, Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.

At the very least, they wanted to make a name for the West London derby!

And this summer, the Premier League club making the biggest waves in the transfer market was undoubtedly Manchester City.

With Guardiola’s arrival, The Blue Moons had become thoroughly Spanish-ized.

From the management to the head coach, even down to the club’s employees, most were from Spain or had a La Liga background.

After Guardiola announced he would manage Manchester City, his first transfer target was Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester City made a fifty-million-pound bid for Toni Kroos.

This caused a huge stir in the transfer market.

But Bayswater Chinese refused to negotiate with Manchester City.

Not only that, Adam Crozier also publicly revealed that the club was in the process of renewing Toni Kroos’s contract.

Once the renewal was complete, Toni Kroos would officially join the club’s top tier of earners.

Of course, within that top tier, Toni Kroos’s weekly wage would still be slightly less than Modrić’s.

Toni Kroos also quickly came forward to give an interview, repeatedly stressing that he had no intention of leaving Bayswater Chinese.

“I am very happy living here, and I hope to contribute even more to Bayswater Chinese!”

Toni Kroos expressed his immense gratitude for Yang Cheng’s support and trust in him back in the day.

“Without him, I wouldn’t be here, and I certainly wouldn’t have achieved what I have today!”

Therefore, Toni Kroos stated he had no intention of leaving Bayswater Chinese. “I want to stay with this team, a team that can challenge for every trophy in the new season!”

The implication was that Manchester City’s current strength and squad were inferior to Bayswater Chinese’s.

Having failed to sign Toni Kroos, Guardiola immediately changed targets, signing the talented midfielder Thiago from Barça for a high price of twenty-four million pound sterling, or thirty million euros.

Already having David Silva, signing Thiago was undoubtedly a major move by Guardiola to reshape Manchester City’s midfield.

And after letting Ibrahimović go, Guardiola’s arrival essentially sealed Kaká’s fate.

Since joining Manchester City, Kaká had performed well overall and had even continued his excellent form from Serie A for a time, becoming a key player for City.

But with age and issues of transitioning his playstyle, Kaká’s performance gradually declined.

The arrival of stars like Yaya Touré and David Silva also squeezed Kaká’s tactical importance at Manchester City.

Now, with Guardiola taking over, it was hard to find a place for Kaká in his 4-3-3 formation.

Thus, after Ibrahimović’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, Kaká also announced his return to AC Milan.

This left countless fans sighing with emotion.

The end of one era marked the beginning of a new one!

Guardiola’s arrival would signal the start of Manchester City’s tactical reforms.

Besides Ibra and Kaká, Guardiola also quickly signaled a clear-out.

Players including Carlos Tevez, Sinclair, and Gareth Barry all appeared on Guardiola’s clear-out list.

These were all players who had performed excellently for Manchester City, but now, without exception, they were all put on the transfer market.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, when Guardiola coached Manchester City, Yaya Touré was frozen out.

But this time, since the Ivorian had previously played for Bayswater Chinese, there was no bad blood between him and Guardiola. They were not familiar with each other, so there was no issue.

On the contrary, both were now full of anticipation and excitement for their collaboration.

This gave Yang Cheng a sense of the absurd.

While clearing out redundant players, Guardiola also began to carry out drastic reforms in terms of signings.

He signed Spanish right-winger Jesús Navas from Sevilla for fifteen million pound sterling.

He signed Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine for thirty million pound sterling.

He signed Montenegrin winger Jovetić from Serie A’s Fiorentina for twenty-two million pound sterling.

He signed Demichelis from Atlético Madrid for four million pound sterling.

Looking at the current squad, Manchester City could be said to be teeming with talent in all three lines.

After signing Demichelis for the defense, along with Jérôme Boateng, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, and Savić, Manchester City now had a total of five centre-backs.

Of course, Demichelis could also play as a holding midfielder.

In midfield, the lineup of Pirlo, Marco Verratti, David Silva, Thiago, Yaya Touré, and Fernandinho also gave Manchester City formidable strength.

The forward line was relatively weaker. After the departures of Ibra and Tevez, they currently had Agüero, Jesús Navas, and Jovetić.

And the whole world knew that Manchester City was going all out to poach Messi.

If successful, Manchester City’s entire attacking firepower would be elevated by more than just a single level.

And just as everyone was reporting on the long-running soap opera of Messi’s transfer, Manchester City once again announced that they had signed the young German goalkeeper ter Stegen from Bundesliga’s Borussia Mönchengladbach for fifteen million pound sterling.

The British media reported that Guardiola was not satisfied with Joe Hart’s characteristics and abilities.

Last season, Guardiola had watched several of Joe Hart’s matches and was displeased with his style and some of the mistakes he made.

Guardiola wanted a more modern goalkeeper, like Neuer.

Unfortunately, Bayern Munich would not sell Neuer.

So, Guardiola settled for the next best thing, choosing to sign the “Young Lion King” ter Stegen from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

“Next season, Joe Hart will have to compete with ter Stegen for the starting goalkeeper position!”

Everyone could clearly feel the earth-shattering changes that had taken place at Manchester City in just one month under Guardiola’s management.

The Manchester City board was also extremely supportive.

Many times, they overpaid for transfers and undersold players.

But with a tycoon like the Abu Dhabi consortium backing them, Guardiola didn’t have to worry about money at all.

…

Aside from Manchester City, the other Premier League giants were relatively cautious with their signings.

Bayswater Chinese, needless to say, besides swapping José Fonte for van Dijk, Yang Cheng had rejected offers for Toni Kroos and Robert Lewandowski.

Yang Cheng stated clearly in the media that Bayswater Chinese would not be selling any players this summer.

This was largely in line with the public’s impression of Bayswater Chinese.

In terms of strength, the team didn’t need a major overhaul.

Manchester United also made no significant moves.

Ferguson repeatedly emphasized that besides signing the defender Varela from Uruguay, Manchester United did not plan to enter the transfer market.

Over the past two seasons, Manchester United had indeed spent a lot of money.

And everyone’s expectation that Chelsea would go on a spending spree after Mourinho’s arrival did not materialize either.

The Blues made no major moves besides signing André Schürrle from Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen for eighteen million pound sterling.

Mourinho repeatedly stated that he was satisfied with Chelsea’s current squad.

On the contrary, teams like Tottenham, Everton, Swansea City, and Southampton were actively investing significant funds in the transfer market, buoyed by the sharp increase in broadcasting revenue.

This led everyone to speculate that the new Premier League season would be even more intense!

Compared to the general lack of major activity among the Premier League’s top clubs, the transfer market in La Liga was mainly driven by Real Madrid.

The Galácticos first signed Illarramendi from Real Sociedad for thirty million euros.

But few knew that before signing Illarramendi, Real Madrid had made a forty-million-euro offer to Bayswater Chinese for Javi Martínez.

However, it was rejected by Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Subsequently, Real Madrid signed Isco from Málaga CF for thirty million euros.

Málaga CF was once dubbed the “Manchester City of La Liga,” but after being acquired by a Middle Eastern tycoon for a year, Málaga quickly reverted to its former self.

The reason was that the Middle Eastern tycoon wasn’t actually that rich and later even went missing.

After signing Illarramendi and Isco, Real Madrid also signed Carvajal and Casemiro.

After Ancelotti took over, Real Madrid focused more on signing talented, young, local players.

In contrast to Real Madrid’s frequent activity, Barça was relatively quiet.

Having sold Thiago and David Villa, and letting Abidal go to Monaco on a free transfer, Barça showed no intention of bringing in major reinforcements. Moreover, their search for a new coach was not making any progress.

Candidates from Nice’s manager Ronald Koeman to Valverde to Juande Ramos and other famous coaches were all linked with Barça, but nothing was finalized.

More importantly, Messi’s transfer saga was escalating.

The fans in Catalonia had vastly different attitudes towards Messi’s potential transfer.

Some fans believed that if Messi wanted to leave, he should just get lost; Barça would still be Barça no matter who left.

But many fans argued that Messi was the team’s core fighting strength and could not be allowed to leave under any circumstances.

Players like Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, and Piqué also came forward one after another, stating that the club should do everything in its power to keep Messi.

But the Barça management, led by Rosell, seemed to have no such intention.

Whether from the media narrative or the official stance, it gave off the impression that they couldn’t wait for Messi to leave.

On the last day of June, the British newspaper The Sun, known for its transfer scoops, was the first to break a shocking piece of news.

Messi had decided to accept the invitation and offer from Manchester City!

The Argentine would pay his own release clause of two hundred million pound sterling, or 250 million euros, to buy out his contract and transfer to Manchester City!

It was like a bombshell that exploded across the world.

Although this soap opera had been running for a year, when the finale finally arrived, everyone was still utterly shocked.

Especially in Spain, which bore the brunt of the impact.

In the Catalonia region, the fans’ reaction was even more intense.

Previously, when rumors spread that Messi was joining Manchester City, many extremist fans took to the streets to protest, even blocking Messi’s car at the entrance of his community, causing difficulties for him and his family.

Now that Messi had truly decided to transfer, even more fans were outraged.

They flocked to the streets, protesting the inaction of the Barça management and demanding Rosell’s resignation!

Even Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez publicly stated, “By allowing Messi to transfer to the Premier League, Barça has made an unforgivable mistake!”

The Spanish Football Federation president, Villar, also said in an interview with the media, “As the most influential superstar in the world, I cannot understand why Barça would force Messi out.”

As Barça’s primary sponsor, Nike also expressed regret over Barça’s decision to let Messi go.

Fortunately for them, Messi was transferring from Nike-sponsored Barça to the also Nike-sponsored Manchester City.

At the same time Messi announced his transfer to Manchester City, Liverpool announced a contract extension with Suárez for a weekly wage of 200,000 pound sterling!

Chapter 285: Hiking Up the Price! Go Buy C. Ronaldo From Real Madrid! Did Barça Win or Lose in the End?

Barcelona, Camp Nou stadium, Chairman’s office.

Smack!

Rosell angrily slammed the file in his hand onto the desk, glaring at the vice-chairmen and department heads before him.

“Didn’t you all say you had conducted a thorough public opinion survey?”

“Didn’t you say you had all sorts of countermeasures and contingency plans?”

“Didn’t you say you had already communicated with the sponsors?”

“So what the hell is going on now?”

Rosell stood with his left hand on his hip, his right hand pointing at the document in front of him.

Before him, Barça’s top executives were as silent as church mice.

The situation was spiraling out of their control.

And in just two or three short days, public opinion had fermented rapidly.

Barça had partnerships with Diario Sport, Mundo Deportivo, and all the major media outlets in Catalonia.

But now, judging by the feedback from the major newspapers, the tide of public opinion was impossible to suppress.

“Can anyone tell me why so many people have suddenly come out to speak up for Messi?”

No one in the room could answer Rosell’s question.

Because they didn’t know either.

Or rather, no one had foreseen such an outcome.

“The silent majority,” sighed Javier Faus, the Vice-Chairman in charge of finance.

Just about a month ago, it was Javier Faus who, in an interview with the media, publicly stated that Barça had no reason to give Messi a pay raise.

The context was that Real Madrid was preparing to renew C. Ronaldo’s contract, which would make his annual salary exceed Messi’s.

At that time, the feedback from all major media outlets was unanimous: Messi was using Manchester City’s invitation to threaten Barça into giving him a better, more substantial contract.

Javier Faus’s public statement wasn’t really a problem in itself.

Isn’t that how normal negotiations are supposed to work?

But now?

Messi was actually gone!

“We have so many members and so many fans. Any market research or public opinion survey has its limitations. The current situation can only mean that our public relations department’s survey was flawed.”

Javier Faus’s words were reasonable, and the public relations department couldn’t refute them.

“Then what about the contingency plan? We’re facing such a serious situation now, how do we handle it? How do we appease the fans?” Rosell was getting anxious.

A membership-based club has its own set of rules and ways of operating, but it also has its limitations.

The chairman wields absolute power, and the club isn’t private property. Therefore, in many situations, various forms of corruption or abuse of power for personal gain can easily fester—a problem common to all membership-based clubs.

The only difference is the scale and frequency.

The only check on this power is the opposition faction on the board of directors.

Because there are elections!

“Actually, appeasing the fans is simple. As long as we quickly sign a superstar comparable to Messi, we can placate them to a certain extent.”

Vice-Chairman Bartomeu suggested, “If one isn’t enough, then we’ll buy two. We have 250 million euros in cash right now!”

That was right. Messi had just paid his 250 million euro release clause, and it was a one-time, full payment.

Barça was now so flush with cash it was almost unbelievable.

Across all of Europe, aside from Middle Eastern tycoon-owned clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Paris Saint-Germain, you probably couldn’t find another club that could produce so much money at once.

As for how Manchester City managed to sign Messi while still complying with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, that was not Barça’s concern.

Hearing this, Rosell’s expression softened slightly. “But Suárez just renewed his contract with Liverpool, didn’t he? Who else can we buy? Are we supposed to go to Real Madrid and buy C. Ronaldo?”

Was that even possible?

Just yesterday, Florentino Pérez had called Rosell to inquire about Messi’s transfer.

It involved the marketing strategies of the two giants.

For the past few years, Real Madrid had played the C. Ronaldo card while Barça played the Messi card. The entire La Liga had been building up the narrative of the two all-conquering titans of their generation, turning El Clásico into La Liga’s premier event.

Now, great. Messi had gone to the Premier League.

What was the plan now?

“As things stand, Real Madrid will not sell C. Ronaldo under any circumstances,” Javier Faus said.

The media had previously reported that Manchester United had considered buying C. Ronaldo back, even being willing to offer up to 100 million pounds, but Real Madrid had rejected it.

No one knew the exact details, but 100 million pounds was nowhere near enough to buy C. Ronaldo at this point.

Real Madrid’s contract with C. Ronaldo had a release clause of one billion euros.

With that in mind, without Real Madrid’s consent, who could possibly buy C. Ronaldo?

At this point, Rosell had to admit that Barça’s handling of many matters was indeed inferior to Real Madrid’s.

Why hadn’t they realized the danger back then?

C. Ronaldo’s release clause was one billion euros, while Messi’s was only 250 million euros. Wasn’t that absurd?

Oh, right. At the time, they thought no team would be foolish enough to pay 250 million euros for Messi.

But they never expected that a “fool” would actually appear.

So, how was Barça supposed to respond?

“What’s the word from the Bayswater Chinese?” Rosell asked suddenly.

Robert Lewandowski had always been the player Barça wanted to sign most, even before Suárez.

Previously, when Barça’s two mouthpieces, Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo, conducted fan polls, Lewandowski was the superstar that Barça fans most wanted to sign, and by a wide margin.

It couldn’t be helped. The Polish centre-forward’s performance last season was simply too good.

And he had been performing at an extremely high level for several consecutive seasons.

More importantly, he was born on August 21, 1988, which meant he was technically only twenty-four years old.

“The Bayswater Chinese refuse to negotiate with us. They’ve closed their transfer market,” replied Sporting Director Zubizarreta.

“Then contact them again, talk to them again!” Rosell’s tone grew forceful.

Zubizarreta nodded quickly.

Beside him, Bartomeu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go talk to them myself.”

Rosell considered it and agreed that was for the best.

“Also, on the board, Laporta and Casas are now making an issue of Neymar’s transfer. We must suppress this as quickly as possible.”

Javier Faus was personally involved, as he was in charge of finances, and Neymar’s transfer involved the composition of the transfer fee and the flow of funds.

The opposition’s main suspicion was whether there was something fishy about the Neymar transfer, or if someone had lined their own pockets.

“I’ve answered this repeatedly before. The official line is that there’s a confidentiality agreement, and we cannot disclose the specific details of the clauses.”

Rosell and the others all nodded in agreement.

The inside story of Neymar’s transfer wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. Once the specific clauses were exposed, it would be a devastating blow to Rosell, and he might even be forced to resign.

“But they’re still relentless. I think, maybe we should talk to them?” Javier Faus suggested.

When necessary, one must compromise.

This issue couldn’t be allowed to escalate.

If Messi’s transfer and Neymar’s transfer got tangled together, things would become even more chaotic.

“I have nothing to talk about with Laporta and Casas. I don’t believe they’d dare to flip the table over!” Rosell said fiercely.

If it were anyone else, Rosell might have been willing to talk, but Laporta… in his dreams!

Years ago, Rosell had left Nike to join Laporta’s campaign as an aide, helping him win the Barça presidential election. Laporta ascended to the chairman’s seat, and Rosell became vice-chairman.

During his tenure as vice-chairman, Rosell brought in numerous superstars like Ronaldinho and Deco, playing a crucial role in building Barça’s Dream Team Two. And what was the result?

What did he get?

Laporta forced him to resign, kicking him out of Barça.

So, he vowed to stage a comeback.

And the first thing he did after being elected Barça’s chairman was to clean up the accounts from Laporta’s era, relentlessly pursuing Laporta, almost to the point of sending him to prison.

The enmity between them ran deep. For Rosell to compromise with the opposition now was impossible!

After the executive meeting concluded, everyone left the chairman’s office one by one.

Only Vice-Chairmen Bartomeu and Javier Faus were asked to stay behind.

They were Rosell’s true right-hand men.

“Josep.”

Rosell first let out a sigh, then looked deeply at Bartomeu.

“We’re being attacked from both front and rear, so we must appease the fans as quickly as possible. As long as the fans are calm, even if the Neymar affair is exposed in the future, it won’t be a huge problem.”

“Even if it comes to the worst, at the very end, I’ll just take the blame and resign. You won’t be affected.”

This was a case of sacrificing the king to save the castle!

Barça was a membership-based club; it was normal for the chairman to take responsibility.

Rosell’s meaning was clear: he was telling Bartomeu that if it came to that, he would step down voluntarily, and as the first vice-chairman, Bartomeu would naturally take over as Barça’s chairman.

That way, their little clique’s interests and power could be maintained.

“I understand,” Bartomeu nodded.

“We have to sign Lewandowski, no matter the cost. Convince the Bayswater Chinese at all costs!” Rosell said fiercely.

Bartomeu and Javier Faus exchanged a look, both clearly sensing Rosell’s determination.

Things had indeed reached a very dangerous point.

After Messi paid his own release clause and left, there was deep resentment towards the management from both the fans outside and within the dressing room.

Rosell had to appease all parties as quickly as possible.

As for “at all costs”…

Barça was a membership-based club. The price Barça paid wasn’t a price they had to pay personally…

…

Manchester City had really signed Messi!

When Yang Cheng heard the news, he was completely stunned.

His first reaction was, this world has gone completely insane!

He believed that at this moment, every fan and media reporter in the world was having basically the same reaction.

He had lived through Paris Saint-Germain’s signing of Neymar, so he had some immunity, but even he felt this way. What about everyone else?

“The league is going to be tough!”

This was Yang Cheng’s first thought after he calmed down and his brain started working again.

Pep Guardiola’s possession-based football was already very suitable for league competition. Without Messi, it wouldn’t have been a severe problem.

But now, they’d given him a Messi. How was anyone supposed to compete?

Yang Cheng wasn’t actually worried about whether Messi could adapt to the Premier League.

Firstly, there was Guardiola’s possession-based system, and secondly, the Premier League wasn’t as brutish as it used to be.

“I’m afraid Guardiola will want to stick with a 4-3-3. A front line of Agüero and Messi would still be incredibly potent,” Brian Kidd also found the situation to be a major headache.

The two had played together since the Argentine youth team, had a great relationship, and their on-field chemistry wouldn’t be an issue.

“I think the question now is, how will Manchester City line up their midfield?”

Hearing Brian Kidd’s words, the members of the Bayswater Chinese core coaching team fell into contemplation.

Guardiola had taken a year off and was fully recharged. No one knew how he would play now.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Guardiola was never one to stick to a single formula.

From Barça to Bayern, from Bayern to Manchester City, he was always actively seeking change, always adjusting his tactical ideas and playstyle according to the league and his team.

Now, coming directly from Barça to Manchester City, and crucially, being given Messi, how would he play?

“If it were me, the front three would be a combination of David Silva, Agüero, and Messi. The midfield would be Marco Verratti, Pirlo, and Yaya Touré,” Yang Cheng shared his thoughts.

“Tiago and Fernandinho would be important substitutes.”

After listening, everyone began to analyze the rationality of this midfield and forward configuration and its various potential playstyles.

Yang Cheng’s speculation was not without reason.

In his previous life, a major reason Yaya Touré didn’t fit Guardiola’s requirements was that Touré was a deep-lying midfielder, the Number 4 role.

In Guardiola’s possession system, this position was of utmost importance.

But Yaya Touré was not a player who could provide stability to the midfield.

To some extent, the real threat to Yaya Touré’s position at the time wasn’t Busquets, but Iniesta and Xavi further up the pitch.

It was because of the presence of Iniesta and Xavi that Yaya Touré’s dribbling runs from deep and his specialty of distributing the ball at the edge of the box were useless to Barça, as Iniesta and Xavi could provide the same functions.

Therefore, Busquets was a better fit than Yaya Touré.

But at Manchester City, there was no Iniesta and no Xavi.

Moreover, Yaya Touré’s physicality could inject power and intensity into the midfield.

This was actually demonstrated at Barça, for example, when Guardiola later signed Seydou Keita.

Yang Cheng couldn’t be sure now if the collaboration between Yaya Touré and Guardiola would end on bad terms as it did in his previous life.

But such a midfield and forward combination would be incredibly strong.

Pirlo’s organization and passing range, and as an Italian player, his tactical awareness and discipline were unquestionable. Playing in the Number 4 role should also be fine.

At worst, his defending would be relatively weaker.

But his long passes and orchestrating ability would definitely be a deadly weapon.

Pirlo’s biggest issue was his age.

Born in 1979, he was already thirty-four years old.

But considering Guardiola bought a thirty-three-year-old Xabi Alonso in 1981 to be a starter at Bayern, it showed that Pirlo’s age wasn’t really a major issue.

As for the attack, Jovetić would also be a very competitive player, but Yang Cheng believed that David Silva would likely occupy one of the spots.

A midfield and forward combination of David Silva, Messi, Verratti, and Pirlo would have immense control.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Guardiola was a great admirer of Verratti.

Well, there was another player he greatly admired: Eden Hazard.

But now that he had Messi, he wouldn’t try to poach Hazard too, would he?

“What worries me most now is the chain reaction this transfer will trigger,” Yang Cheng said with a frown.

Brian Kidd and the others looked at each other.

“You think Barça will make a move?”

“Definitely. With 250 million euros in cash, if Barça is willing to spend it, they can use it like it’s 500 million euros, no problem at all.” Yang Cheng felt that Barça would certainly take action.

It was inevitable.

Take 2013 from Yang Cheng’s previous life, for example.

After Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a sky-high price, Tottenham immediately spent all the money, instantly becoming the most active club in the Premier League’s summer transfer market.

And after Paris Saint-Germain poached Neymar, didn’t Barça also start making retaliatory signings?

Ultimately, it was a natural phenomenon.

Yang Cheng had another concern: Robert Lewandowski.

Barça had been watching Lewandowski for several years and had inquired about his price before, but were turned away.

Now that Suárez had renewed his contract with Liverpool, the possibility of Barça poaching him was gone.

Under these circumstances, Lewandowski had become the best option available to Barça.

Either that, or go to Real Madrid and poach C. Ronaldo.

“I saw the news. Things have been getting pretty heated in Spain these past few days.”

As Brian Kidd said this, a wry smile appeared on his face.

“Before, when Messi hadn’t transferred, the fans and media were all cursing him, as if they couldn’t wait for him to leave. But now that Messi’s really gone, they’ve all turned around and started cursing Barça’s management…”

Sometimes the world is just that absurd.

Perhaps before Messi actually left, they all thought they had him in the bag, that he would never leave.

Weren’t there plenty of similar cases?

Like Neymar later on.

And Bayern and Toni Kroos in 2014.

In the end, this world is full of shambolic operations that have played their hands wrong!

…

On the third day after Messi’s transfer to Manchester City, Barça’s Vice-Chairman Bartomeu personally led a delegation to London.

The world’s media were also paying very close attention.

Because the purpose of Bartomeu’s trip was to sign Robert Lewandowski.

But the Bayswater Chinese’s attitude was extremely firm; they wouldn’t even discuss it with Barça.

According to an exclusive inside scoop from The Times, the CEO of the Bayswater Chinese, Adam Crozier, only had a meal with Bartomeu to convey the club’s intentions.

After that, the Bayswater Chinese closed their doors to him!

Time moved into July.

As the summer training camp approached, the Bayswater Chinese made a major move.

They launched Gareth Bale’s personal brand for the first time.

Fans familiar with Gareth Bale know that after every goal, the Welsh star makes a heart-shaped gesture with his hands, which has become his signature celebration.

Now, the Bayswater Chinese, in collaboration with Gareth Bale’s team, had officially registered it as a trademark.

The brand was “Eleven Of Hearts.”

The logo was the heart-shaped hand gesture with the number 11 inside.

The Bayswater Chinese’s first press conference in July was dedicated to this trademark.

At the press conference, the Bayswater Chinese’s Commercial Director, Omar Berrada, explained the origin of the trademark.

“This is the first step in taking Gareth Bale’s personal brand global!”

In world football, it’s not uncommon for superstars to have their own personal trademarks, with the most famous being Beckham and C. Ronaldo.

They are both among the most influential superstars in the world and have astonishing commercial value.

Now, the Bayswater Chinese’s commercial team was also going to create a personal brand for Gareth Bale.

Omar Berrada revealed that Beckham’s current annual commercial revenue was around twenty-six million pounds, C. Ronaldo’s was thirteen million pounds, and what about Gareth Bale?

“In the past 2012/13 season, Gareth Bale’s endorsement income reached ten million pounds!”

Omar Berrada’s statement caused an uproar among everyone present.

They knew that the Bayswater Chinese had been stepping up their efforts to promote and market stars like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott over the past few years, but they never expected Gareth Bale’s commercial income to be so high.

It was almost catching up to C. Ronaldo!

And for many media reporters from outside of England, they were even more shocked that a British star could be so popular and have such a huge advantage in global promotion.

Actually, it wasn’t that surprising if you thought about it.

Omar Berrada stated that Gareth Bale’s personal brand was an experiment for the Bayswater Chinese.

An independent tribunal had recognized the exclusive logo, and the club had already registered the trademark globally.

“In the near future, we will collaborate with sponsors and partners worldwide.”

“This personal trademark, exclusive to Gareth Bale, will be used on a wide variety of merchandise such as clothes, shoes, hats, scarves, and more. We initially project it will generate over five million pounds in revenue annually!”

Another uproar erupted in the room.

If this came to fruition, Gareth Bale’s commercial value would surpass C. Ronaldo’s.

Not to mention Messi.

Of course, this was also a natural progression.

The Bayswater Chinese’s commercial revenue had already surpassed Real Madrid’s. Launching personal brands for their star players was undoubtedly an important step in the team’s commercial growth.

Because the club owned fifty percent of the image rights for Gareth Bale and other players.

In this situation, building a star player’s personal brand was undoubtedly also generating revenue for the club.

Gareth Bale, who had cut his vacation short to return to London for the press conference, also brought along his childhood sweetheart, Emma Rhys-Jones.

Gareth Bale stated that this was a move he had long been looking forward to, as he also aspired to be beloved by more fans, just like Beckham and C. Ronaldo.

At the same time, he expressed his immense gratitude to the Bayswater Chinese and head coach Yang Cheng.

“When I was just a naive teenager, I came to the Bayswater Chinese. It was the greatest decision I’ve ever made in my life!”

“I played my first professional games here, and it’s here that I became known to countless people. All the Bayswater Chinese fans are like my family. I love them, and they love me!”

“It’s a wonderful thing!”

During the subsequent individual question-and-answer session, a media member asked about Messi’s transfer to Manchester City.

Gareth Bale didn’t comment on it, but he believed that something similar would not happen to him.

“Because in my contract with the club, there is no release clause!”

After making a joke, Gareth Bale solemnly promised, “As long as the club still needs me, I will never leave!”

This declaration earned him a round of warm applause from the audience.

As a homegrown British star, Gareth Bale had even surpassed Rooney last season to become England’s most globally influential superstar.

And he was also one of the top stars that the Bayswater Chinese were heavily promoting!

Although Lewandowski surpassed Gareth Bale in terms of goals and on-field performance, the latter’s commercial value was clearly higher.

This could be considered a unique, natural advantage for British players.

…

This summer, the Bayswater Chinese’s training camp and preparations underwent significant changes.

First was the expansion of the International Champions Cup.

It had expanded from the original twelve teams to the current sixteen teams.

They were divided into a total of four groups.

Both the North American and Asian divisions had two groups each.

After the winners were decided in the four groups, they would play in the North American final and the Asian final.

After those two finals, the winning teams would play in a grand final.

The venue for that was set at the Prudential Stadium in London.

This undoubtedly made for a tighter schedule.

In addition, the Bayswater Chinese had to take on more responsibilities for promoting the Premier League.

Over the past few years, the Premier League had a tradition of pre-season overseas matches, but many top clubs, including the Bayswater Chinese, had communicated with the Premier League and did not participate in these events.

But now, although they didn’t have to participate in the overseas matches, they had to be involved in more overseas promotion.

For example, this year, the Bayswater Chinese were responsible for the Asian region.

Teams like Tottenham Hotspur would also travel to Asia during the International Champions Cup to participate in the Premier League Asia Trophy.

This was, in fact, a type of overseas tournament, but it was held in Hong Kong, China.

A total of three Premier League teams would participate.

There was also the Premier League Americas Cup, primarily held in regions like Mexico and South America.

As the auction prices for Premier League broadcast rights continued to climb, the enthusiasm of all Premier League teams for developing overseas markets was completely ignited.

With the strong cooperation of the clubs, the Premier League found it much easier to organize and prepare various pre-season friendlies.

Broadcasters in various regions were also very happy to have Premier League teams come and play, as it was hugely beneficial for them to promote the upcoming Premier League season.

Just as all the clubs were rubbing their hands in anticipation, preparing to start their new season’s training camp, Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo dropped a bombshell.

Despite Bartomeu’s personal trip to London for negotiations being rejected, Barça had decided to make a formal offer anyway.

They were willing to pay 100 million pounds, which is 125 million euros, for Robert Lewandowski.

But just a few hours later, The Sun revealed that the Bayswater Chinese had rejected the offer from Barça.

Just two days later, Barcelona raised their offer again.

Mundo Deportivo revealed that Barça had increased their bid to 120 million pounds, which is 150 million euros.

The Catalan media outlet also revealed that Barça fans were generally welcoming of Lewandowski’s potential arrival.

They believed that after sending Messi away, Lewandowski’s arrival could fill the void left by Messi to the greatest extent possible.

“The two are not the same type of player, but with Barça already having Neymar, bringing in Lewandowski can best plug Barça’s goal-scoring hole.”

“He is the world’s closest super-scorer to Messi and C. Ronaldo, and he’s only twenty-four years old, still very young!”

“Last season, Lewandowski scored forty-two goals in the Premier League.”

“With his scoring efficiency, he could score at least fifty goals in La Liga!”

This caused another shift in public opinion in Spain.

The media and fans who had been wildly criticizing Rosell now began to hype up Lewandowski’s arrival.

Many media outlets even believed that with Lewandowski’s arrival, Barça would become even stronger than before.

But faced with a transfer offer of 150 million euros, the Bayswater Chinese rejected it once again!

This made the whole world feel the determination of the Bayswater Chinese to hold on to their players.

After receiving the club’s notification, Lewandowski did not come forward to respond.

But his agent, Polish parliament member Cezary Kucharski, in an interview with the media, expressed his gratitude for the generous offer from Barça, considering it a recognition of Lewandowski.

“An offer of 150 million euros, this proves Robert’s value!”

“I believe he deserves such a transfer fee!”

But regarding the player’s attitude, Kucharski stated that Lewandowski had not yet considered the matter in detail.

“He has just finished his vacation and is preparing to return to London to participate in the club’s summer training camp. I believe he will carefully study this issue with the head coach and the club.”

“We all know that he is a very sentimental person. The Bayswater Chinese developed him, so no matter what decision he makes, he will maintain good communication with the club.”

As for joining Barça, Kucharski stated that it was a temptation that was difficult for any player to refuse.

“We all know that in the past few years, the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or have come from La Liga, and mostly from Barça. This is a temptation that is hard for any player to resist!”

This statement from the agent also made the media and fans around the world sense a shift in the situation.

That’s right. By going to Barça, not only could he get a higher salary, but it would also be beneficial for competing for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Who could refuse such a temptation?

Some media outlets even revealed that with Lewandowski’s outstanding performance last season, and the championships and honors he had won, if he were playing in La Liga for Barça, he would have basically already locked up the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

The Catalan media also revealed that Barça had picked up on the signal from Lewandowski’s agent.

“If Lewandowski joins Barça, then Barça will do everything in its power to support Lewandowski in his quest for the FIFA Ballon d’Or.”

“The Polish centre-forward has been incredibly regretful about missing out on this honor for the past two years!”

But no matter how intense the public opinion storm, the Bayswater Chinese once again rejected the offer from Barça.

A spokesperson for the Bayswater Chinese stated in an interview with media reporters, “Robert Lewandowski is one of the club’s most important players. We have no intention of selling him.”

Regarding agent Kucharski’s statement, the spokesperson said that the specific situation was hard to say at the moment.

“After the player finishes his vacation and returns to London, we will communicate with him.”

It was under these circumstances that Mundo Deportivo revealed that Barça had raised their offer yet again.

This time, the offer from Barça was 140 million pounds, which is 175 million euros.

This was already an incredibly insane offer!

As Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo said, with such a transfer fee, you could buy two world-class superstars.

The highest offer made for Suárez previously was only seventy million pounds.

Although Liverpool refused to sell, no team offered more than seventy million pounds.

Now, Barça’s offer of 140 million pounds for Lewandowski was already extremely high!

But several British media outlets reported that Barça was currently in a state of panic.

Because after letting Messi go, there was a gap of up to sixty goals per season to fill. Looking at the current world of football, besides C. Ronaldo, only Lewandowski had that kind of capability.

Suárez?

How many league goals did he score?

More importantly, Lewandowski had maintained a prolific scoring record for four or five consecutive seasons, proving his quality.

He was also younger than Suárez.

“The Bayswater Chinese now hold all the cards, and Barça has 200 million pounds in cash!”

It was against this backdrop and atmosphere that Yang Cheng met with Lewandowski, who had returned to the team early, in London.

The two talked behind closed doors in the head coach’s office at the Brent training center for over an hour.

But both sides refused to reveal a single detail of their conversation to the media reporters waiting outside.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that on the day after Yang Cheng met with Lewandowski, Barça’s Chairman Rosell personally flew to London with two vice-chairmen, Bartomeu and Javier Faus.

…

London, east gate of Hyde Park, JW Marriott Hotel.

In a conference room at this five-star hotel where Bayern had stayed during the Champions League final, Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier met with the chairman and two vice-chairmen of Barça, who had traveled from afar.

And as soon as they met, Adam Crozier got straight to the point and gave them an offer.

One hundred and sixty million pounds!

Which is 200 million euros!

“Are you crazy? That’s impossible!”

Rosell slammed the table on the spot.

But everyone could sense the lack of confidence in his angry roar.

Was it really impossible?

If so, why had Barça raised their offer time and time again?

They had already reached 175 million euros, what was this last little push?

“Adam, this is a number that would never appear under normal circumstances!” The calmer and more rational Javier Faus said, looking at Adam Crozier.

But beside him, Omar Berrada also laughed and replied, “But these aren’t normal circumstances, are they!”

Everyone from Barça was left speechless.

Who could argue with that?

Under normal circumstances, who would spend 175 million euros to buy a player?

Or rather, who would spend 200 million pounds to buy a player?

The current situation was more like, everyone was normal, except Barça.

Why?

Manchester City signed Messi because they felt Messi was worth that price.

Or perhaps to look at it from another angle, besides Manchester City, would any other team be willing to pay the 250 million euro release clause for Messi?

If you really looked into it, there probably were.

For example, Real Madrid, or Paris Saint-Germain, or even Liverpool, Chelsea, or Arsenal.

They all had the financial means.

But the problem now was that Barça had lost its rationality.

After Messi was poached, everyone could see that Barça now had 200 million pounds in cash and desperately needed to find a player to fill Messi’s shoes.

Who could do it?

Suárez?

Putting aside everything else, his stature was far below Lewandowski’s, and he was older than Lewandowski.

What’s more, he had already renewed his contract with Liverpool.

Under these circumstances, only Robert Lewandowski remained.

Across the entire European football world, with this amount of money, who else could Barça buy?

The only superstars comparable in stature to Lewandowski were Real Madrid’s C. Ronaldo or the Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale.

But it was obvious that neither of these two superstars would be sold!

Therefore, Lewandowski was Barça’s only choice!

Under these circumstances, there were only two options for Barça regarding the price demanded by the Bayswater Chinese.

Either accept it, or don’t buy!

When Barça was holding so much cash, the transfer fee for any player they wanted to sign was bound to be inflated.

So, rationality?

It didn’t exist!

“Adam, our two clubs have always had a good relationship. To be honest, 140 million pounds is already the absolute limit we can offer. Please, reconsider it!” Javier Faus was also helpless.

He knew that in this situation, Barça had no bargaining chips at all.

Especially now, when the player was unwilling to step up and cooperate.

Previously, they had communicated with Lewandowski’s agent, hoping to prevent Lewandowski from returning to London.

As long as the player didn’t report back, Barça would have a few more bargaining chips.

But it was clear that Lewandowski had ultimately returned to London.

The agent said that it was Yang Cheng who, planning ahead, personally made a phone call to Lewandowski, “forcing” him to return to London to talk.

The Polish centre-forward couldn’t refuse Yang Cheng, so he came back.

This also meant that Barça had completely lost all its bargaining chips.

Except for money.

“Alright then, we’ll go back and consider it, and you do the same.”

Adam Crozier was not in a hurry at all and agreed with a smile.

Just like that, the first formal negotiation between the two sides ended after lasting less than twenty minutes.

…

Adam Crozier and his team walked out of the Marriott Hotel in broad daylight.

This allowed the media reporters who had heard the news and were blocking the entrance to photograph them. They chased after them, asking about the progress of the negotiations.

Adam Crozier smiled and said, “We are very happy that Robert Lewandowski will continue to stay with the Bayswater Chinese!”

But as for the specific content of the negotiations, Adam Crozier didn’t say a word.

However, the media reporters were all sharp.

They went in and came out in less than half an hour. Including greetings and pleasantries, they could have talked for ten minutes at most. What kind of result could they have reached?

It was probably a breakdown in talks!

And so, the media completely erupted.

Especially when the news traveled back to Spain, the fans in Catalonia were even more dissatisfied.

Hope after hope, disappointment after disappointment.

And news from the British media revealed that after his discussion with Yang Cheng, Lewandowski had made a decision.

“The player is willing to join Barça, but he hopes that Barça can reach an agreement with the Bayswater Chinese, rather than the player actively submitting a transfer request.”

“Because the latter would infuriate the Bayswater Chinese and the fans!”

The Sun revealed that a very important reason why Lewandowski hoped to join Barça was that he felt he had a better chance of winning the FIFA Ballon d’Or at Barça.

“But parting with the club on peaceful terms is his greatest wish.”

Spain’s Marca revealed that the Barça board’s original plan was to arrange for Lewandowski to make a trip to Barcelona after his vacation, to express his desire to join Barça and also to appease the Barça fans.

“But this move was seen through by the Bayswater Chinese. Yang Cheng personally called Lewandowski, asking him to return to the team early for talks.”

Marca believed that after Messi left by paying his release clause, the direction of public opinion changed very quickly.

“The fans’ complaints about the club’s board are constantly increasing, coupled with the various problems exposed by the Neymar transfer.”

“All of this has made the Barça board realize that they must act quickly and complete a sensational signing in the transfer market to effectively appease the fans.”

“The Bayswater Chinese also know this, so they are hiking up the price on the spot!”

What made everyone at Barça even more frustrated was that with Messi’s arrival, Manchester City held a spectacular presentation ceremony for the Argentine superstar and launched the new Messi No. 10 jersey on the spot.

As a result, in just one day, 100,000 jerseys were sold in several shops in Manchester, becoming an unprecedented bestseller.

You have to remember, the replica version of Messi’s jersey was priced higher than other players’ jerseys, at seventy pounds.

If it was the authentic player version, the price was as high as 100 pounds.

In other words, in just one day, Manchester City had earned back seven million pounds from Messi’s jerseys alone.

This was completely outrageous!

And when Arsenal’s manager, Wenger, commented on this transfer deal, he mentioned that it was a very cost-effective deal.

“We wouldn’t make such a deal; it doesn’t fit our team’s current situation.”

“But I want to say, signing Messi for such a transfer fee is really cheap!”

Wenger also revealed that in the next few years, the transfer values of players in the European market would continue to climb, and sky-high prices would appear more and more frequently.

And on the third day after Messi’s presentation, which was the day before the Bayswater Chinese’s summer training camp opened—the deadline Yang Cheng had given for negotiations—Barça’s Vice-Chairman Bartomeu, who had remained in London, once again called Adam Crozier.

Barça officially accepted the Bayswater Chinese’s asking price!

One hundred and sixty million pounds, 200 million euros!

Robert Lewandowski to Barça!

The two sides quickly signed an agreement and began to initiate the transfer negotiations.

And in the details of the negotiations, the Bayswater Chinese rejected Barça’s proposal to add clauses, such as additional payments if he won the Ballon d’Or, or if his total goal count reached a certain number.

The requirement given by the Bayswater Chinese was simple: the 200 million euros must be paid in a single lump sum.

The two sides argued over this for several more hours, with a fierce battle of words, but the Bayswater Chinese’s attitude was extremely firm.

There was nothing Barça could do about it.

In the end, they could only compromise.

That evening, both sides announced publicly that they had officially reached an agreement.

Robert Lewandowski would join Barça for a transfer fee of 200 million euros!

As for the specific payment terms, they were later leaked by the media.

This left everyone sighing with emotion.

They sold Messi for 250 million euros, and immediately turned around to sign Lewandowski for 200 million euros.

In this back-and-forth, did Barça ultimately win or lose?

Chapter 286: The Battle for Top Star! A String of Upsets! We Scored Against Bayswater Chinese!

When Yang Cheng received the call from Adam Crozier confirming Lewandowski’s transfer to Barça for 160 million pounds sterling, he wasn’t at the Brent training center.

He was accompanying Xia Qing, who had secretly skipped work. The two were sitting on the top floor of the Tate Modern on the South Bank of the River Thames, sipping coffee leisurely as they overlooked the City of London in the distance and admired the beautiful scenery along the river.

In the east stood The Shard, which had just been completed.

It made him recall the feeling of when they were first falling in love.

As Bayswater Chinese grew larger, they both became busier.

Apart from their annual vacation together during the summer when the league was on break, it was rare for them to have opportunities like this to go shopping and drink coffee together.

Oh, right, the architects of the Tate Modern were Herzog & de Meuron, the same designers as the Bird’s Nest stadium.

They were also designers whom Yang Cheng greatly admired.

“I’ve been in London for so many years, and the Tate Modern has been here for so many years, yet this is my first time visiting!”

Yang Cheng found it somewhat amusing.

People were always like that; once they got busy, they simply couldn’t stop.

“I’m an expert at exploring London!” Xia Qing, sitting across from Yang Cheng, chuckled softly. “From now on, whenever it’s one match a week, just give yourself a day off. I’ll be in charge of taking you out to wander around and find good things to eat everywhere.”

Yang Cheng was tempted, but the thought of the likely reactions from Adam Crozier, Chris Hunt, and the others made him smile.

“Tell me, does this count as the boss seducing a female executive to skip work for a date? Should I dock your pay?”

Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh as well. “In any case, I’m under orders to accompany the boss on a date.”

A perfectly valid reason.

After strolling through the Tate Modern and having coffee for a while, the two walked across the River Thames via the Millennium Bridge.

It had to be said, the view of the Tate Modern and the nearby Shard from the Millennium Bridge was truly beautiful!

The angle was fantastic!

One of the benefits of walking around London was that even if you were recognized, people wouldn’t just come up and disturb you.

Hand in hand, they crossed the Millennium Bridge, headed north across Queen Victoria Street, and arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Neither Yang Cheng nor Xia Qing was religious, but they went inside for a look around anyway.

Leaving St Paul’s Cathedral and walking two hundred meters east, they reached the final destination of their trip.

Milk Street.

Xia Qing had brought Yang Cheng here to see a building.

30 Gresham Street.

It was a nine-story office building, completed in 2003, developed by Landsec, the UK’s largest property developer. It occupied a 1.6-acre plot and had a total floor area of forty thousand square meters.

The main reason Xia Qing had her eye on this building was its extremely prime location.

Situated in the very heart of the City of London, it was directly across the road from the Guildhall, and within two hundred meters of the Bank of England, St Paul’s Cathedral, and the London Stock Exchange.

In the City of London, where every inch of land was precious, this was a uniquely advantageous position.

Completed in 2003, the building’s design was very modern, with an irregular layout that curved along the surrounding streets. Even the glass curtain walls and aluminum on the facade featured a curved design.

This was considered quite visually striking, even in the City of London.

Currently, the building was owned by an Asian sovereign wealth fund and was listed for sale.

What attracted Xia Qing most was that it was the UK headquarters of Commerzbank.

In addition, a South African investment firm, Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Samsung Asset Management, and several other private equity and investment firms in the City were long-term tenants with twenty years remaining on their leases.

There were also some retail units on the ground floor, all of which were managed by a professional office leasing company and were fully leased out.

The annual rental income was 20 million pounds sterling.

And the current asking price for the building was 300 million pounds sterling!

Xia Qing’s idea was to take the 160 million pounds sterling from Lewandowski’s sale to Barça, have the club chip in a bit more to reach a total of 200 million pounds sterling, and buy the building.

She calculated it for Yang Cheng.

The current long-term leases guaranteed stable income for the next twenty years, with a fixed annual rental yield of 6.67%.

London’s office property market was still in a downturn, making it an excellent time to buy.

Furthermore, the building’s superb location had to be considered.

As it was in the core area of the City of London, it would never lack tenants.

Yang Cheng remembered this building, as its location was too good, right across from the Guildhall.

If he recalled correctly, this building was later bought by the South Korean Samsung Group.

Five years later, Samsung sold it to a Hong Kong property company for 460 million pounds sterling.

By that calculation, the return on investment was indeed quite substantial.

Yang Cheng had actually considered continuing to buy stocks, like Apple’s.

Over the past few years, he had invested a significant portion of his annual salary in stocks, buying Apple and Tesla.

After the 2-for-1 stock split in 2005, he now held eight hundred thousand Apple shares, most of which were bought in the early years when the stock price was low.

But now, Apple’s stock price had reached four hundred dollars.

Although there would be more stock splits in 2014 and 2020, should he continue to invest?

Yang Cheng was already one of Apple’s top five individual shareholders.

Moreover, at his level, true wealth wasn’t just a string of numbers in a bank account.

The most important thing was assets that could continuously generate positive returns!

Like this building right in front of them. It had a uniquely advantageous location, and now Yang Cheng happened to have the cash on hand.

After buying it, for the foreseeable decades, he would essentially be collecting rent while lying down.

Crucially, office properties in London were still appreciating in value.

More importantly, Xia Qing told Yang Cheng that investing in London made it easier to transfer money out of the club.

Currently, the rent from the four office buildings in Prudential Square was not counted as part of Bayswater Chinese’s revenue.

And for the headquarters at Grosvenor Square, the club still had to pay an annual rent.

This involved very complex financial operations. Yang Cheng didn’t understand the specifics; Xia Qing handled it all.

From the time Yang Cheng, concerned about the British government’s forced seizure of Roman Abramovich’s assets, had Xia Qing start these operations, she had been doing similar things.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, after all.

Pep Guardiola’s annual salary of 15 million pounds sterling for coaching Manchester City shocked the world.

But Yang Cheng’s actual take-home salary exceeded 20 million pounds sterling.

And he had been earning it for several years.

Over the past few years, Yang Cheng’s salary had mostly been managed by Xia Qing, so he himself had no clear idea of how much money or how many assets he had.

The only thing he could clearly account for was about 200 million pounds sterling worth of Apple stock.

Oh, right, and there was OneFoot, currently the world’s largest online football information platform.

But the company was still in a rapid expansion phase.

Yang Cheng had to invest a sum of money into it every year, and it had not yet sought external financing.

Xia Qing’s idea was to first find stable revenue streams and establish a viable business model before seeking financing, which would result in a higher valuation.

Just a while ago, Cranach had taken another 10 million pounds sterling from Yang Cheng, saying the company was going to collaborate with Adidas, Puma, and Nike to explore some commercial ventures.

At this stage, advertising was the primary source of income.

Despite only holding a 10% stake, Cranach was giving it his all.

So, after discussing it, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing decided to buy another building.

…

Lewandowski’s departure didn’t actually affect Bayswater Chinese too much.

Over the years, the players at Bayswater Chinese had grown accustomed to such things.

Besides, for professional players, teammates coming and going was the norm; those who stayed with one team for a long time were the rarity.

As for the transfer fee, which was being hyped up by the media and fans, it didn’t really have much of an impact on the players.

Ultimately, players didn’t care about such things.

What they were really concerned about were their own futures and the salaries they received.

For example, for Giroud and Harry Kane, Lewandowski’s departure was actually a good thing.

The same was true for Gareth Bale.

Previously, Lewandowski had the team’s first shooting priority.

Now, Gareth Bale had become the team’s most relied-upon number one scorer.

On the first day of the team’s training camp, Yang Cheng called Gareth Bale into his office to talk about this matter.

He who would wear the crown must first bear its weight.

Yang Cheng told Gareth Bale that he would make tactical adjustments during the upcoming summer training camp, but Bale had to deliver a sufficiently outstanding performance to prove his ability and show everyone that he deserved this special treatment.

Gareth Bale assured Yang Cheng that he would not let him down!

Additionally, Yang Cheng had conversations with Giroud, Harry Kane, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and others.

After letting Lewandowski go, Yang Cheng discussed it with the coaching staff and ultimately decided not to sign a new forward.

The reason was simple: Yang Cheng wanted to further develop Harry Kane.

Harry Kane was about to turn twenty.

Previously, Lewandowski held the starting spot, with Giroud as an important substitute, and Harry Kane third in line. Now, Yang Cheng wanted to promote him and have him take on more responsibility.

Although the English centre-forward had been a substitute for the past few years, his performances had always been good.

He got plenty of opportunities each season, and his ability had been steadily improving.

It was time to put more responsibility on his shoulders.

Although there were only two centre-forwards, Theo Walcott could also play in that position.

Therefore, Yang Cheng felt that the current configuration was reasonable.

As for the team’s offensive tactics after Lewandowski’s departure, those were already in place.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had practiced tactics and tried various attacking combinations every season.

The players knew exactly how to coordinate and attack, whether it was Giroud or Harry Kane starting.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to worry much about these things.

But one obvious change was that after the summer training camp began, players including Gareth Bale, Giroud, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott were clearly working harder.

And although Thiago Silva, Marcelo, and Javi Martínez had participated in the 2013 Confederations Cup held in Brazil…

As was customary, Yang Cheng extended their holidays, allowing them to return later.

But after playing the Confederations Cup final on July 1st, they only took a few days off before reporting back to the team on time.

The entire training camp was a hive of intense activity.

After José Fonte’s departure, the new signing van Dijk had also spurred Harry Maguire and John Stones to train with more vigor.

Yang Cheng was even considering with the coaching staff trying out a three-at-the-back formation during the summer training camp.

He had previously discussed the three-at-the-back system with Gasperini in Italy.

Now, Bayswater Chinese had the capability to implement it.

…

After ten days of training at the Brent training center in London, the team departed from London on a private jet, leaving Europe behind.

The first stop of this year’s Asia Tour was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

This was an itinerary arranged by the Premier League.

In the market distribution of the Premier League’s overseas broadcasting rights, Vietnam ranked relatively low in Asia, similar to Japan.

The Premier League’s rights in the Japanese market didn’t sell for much, less than in China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Among them, Hong Kong was the most profitable market for Premier League rights in Asia.

Although Vietnam’s market size was not yet large, its potential was considerable.

When the team arrived in Hanoi, a wave of heat hit them as soon as they disembarked.

Everyone felt a bit uncomfortable.

Except for Yang Cheng.

Having grown up in a coastal city in southern China, the summer heat was a memory etched into his very bones.

As the first Premier League team in history to visit Vietnam, Bayswater Chinese felt the fans’ fanaticism the moment they got off the plane.

Over a thousand fans came to greet them at the airport, the media was very supportive, and the whole atmosphere was incredibly enthusiastic.

Especially when the team boarded the bus arranged by the organizers and slowly drove out of the airport, many fans were even chasing behind them.

At first, the bus was moving slowly, so the group of fans managed to run and chase it for a very long distance.

One fan even chased it for five or six kilometers.

From a distance, it really looked like a real-life version of Temple Run.

When the bus sped up and he started to fall behind, the fan somehow got a motorcycle and caught up again. This worried Yang Cheng and the players on the bus, who kept urging him to slow down, afraid he would have an accident.

Finally, the new media staff suggested they just let him on the bus.

Yang Cheng agreed.

Thus, this lucky fan simply ditched his motorcycle on the side of the road and became the first Vietnamese person ever to board the Bayswater Chinese team bus.

Fluent in English, the handsome young Vietnamese man took out his phone as soon as he got on and took photos with the players one by one.

He even had the players sign his body.

But then he thought, when he went back to shower, wouldn’t the signatures wash off?

In the end, Yang Cheng gave him a jersey, and everyone signed it.

The young man then happily got off the bus.

As he left, the entire bus applauded for the young Vietnamese fan.

This news story made it onto the prime-time news of Vietnam’s most influential television station that very day, spreading throughout the country.

But the consequence was that the next day, over a thousand excited Vietnamese fans on motorcycles chased the Bayswater Chinese bus wherever it went.

Their goal was to get onto the Bayswater Chinese bus again.

But neither Yang Cheng nor the local Vietnamese security wanted any more trouble.

With so many people chasing behind, if they stopped, the situation could become uncontrollable.

As a result, this story once again became major news in Vietnam.

And both stories quickly spread around the world.

Who would have thought that Bayswater Chinese’s first trip to Vietnam would become a hot topic not because of a football match, but because of these fanatical Vietnamese fans.

On the third day of their arrival in Vietnam, Bayswater Chinese played against the Vietnam national team at the Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi.

That evening, the stadium was packed to capacity, with a full forty thousand fans in attendance.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese cleanly defeated the Vietnam national team 7-1.

Being able to score a goal against Bayswater Chinese made everyone in Vietnam incredibly excited.

The next morning, major Vietnamese newspapers all reported on it.

“We Scored Against Bayswater Chinese!”

This was the strongest team in world football today!

When Yang Cheng heard the news, he chuckled to himself.

He wasn’t about to say that he had told the players to deliberately go easy on them for that last goal, was he?

Moreover, although Bayswater Chinese had just gone through a grueling schedule and their general condition was not ideal, Yang Cheng still had the players hold back.

Otherwise, they could have easily scored in the double digits.

The gap in skill was just too vast!

…

After the match in Vietnam, escorted by several thousand Vietnamese fans, Bayswater Chinese departed from Hanoi for Bangkok, Thailand.

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s first-ever visit to Thailand.

In Premier League rights auctions, Thailand had always been bundled with Cambodia and Laos.

The three countries combined were roughly equivalent to mainland China in terms of market weight.

The sensation caused by Bayswater Chinese in Vietnam had already whipped the entire Southeast Asian region into a frenzy.

Upon arriving in Bangkok, the already fanatical Thai fans became even more frenzied.

The Thai government also gave Bayswater Chinese a very high-level reception.

For them, as a top global club, Bayswater Chinese’s visit could enhance Thailand’s international visibility and attention, which was undoubtedly a good thing.

In Bangkok, Bayswater Chinese’s opponents were the Thai All-Stars.

The match was scheduled at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.

The stadium, which can hold sixty thousand people, was filled with fans.

Besides local Thai fans, it was said that many had made a special trip from Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.

The atmosphere at the scene was also extremely feverish!

Whether in Hanoi or Bangkok, Bayswater Chinese adhered to a professional attitude of getting the job done for the money, treating all fans very courteously.

They participated in various commercial activities organized by the hosts before the match, and did a lap of honour after the match to thank the fans, engaging in a series of interactions with them, giving out various gifts and souvenirs.

And the final result of this match was also 7-1!

The fans at the scene had a great time, the opponents scored a goal, giving them plenty of face, and it was a win-win for everyone!

For Bayswater Chinese, their ability to control the game was quite good!

…

After the game in Bangkok, Yang Cheng led the team south to Singapore.

This was the last pre-season friendly of the Asia Tour arranged by the Premier League.

This time, the opponent was fellow Premier League side Everton.

Everton had traveled north from Australia, to Malaysia, and then to Singapore.

The two teams played a friendly match in Singapore.

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s first high-quality pre-season friendly of the summer.

In the end, the two teams drew 2-2.

The main reason was that players who participated in the Confederations Cup, like Thiago Silva, did not play.

Pepe had sustained a minor injury before the match, so Yang Cheng adopted a three-at-the-back formation, fielding a combination of Stones, Harry Maguire, and Kyle Walker.

As it turned out, these liabilities were down 2-1 to Everton by halftime, with Everton scoring two goals.

The score was only leveled in the second half.

But for Yang Cheng, the result of a friendly match didn’t matter.

It was actually a good thing to expose more problems during pre-season.

…

After completing the Premier League’s Asia Tour plan, Bayswater Chinese headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It had been two years since the decision was made to expand the International Champions Cup.

Over the past two years, the ICC Company, led by David Pemsel and Richard Masters, had been committed to developing the markets in Asia and Oceania, especially Southeast Asia and Australia.

Previously, the International Champions Cup had always been held in East Asia.

This year, after being divided into two major regions, Bayswater Chinese was responsible for the Southeast Asia and Oceania region. The first match was scheduled at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Although the stadium claimed to have a capacity of one hundred thousand, in reality, it could at most accommodate eighty-seven thousand people.

Driven by the wave of excitement that Bayswater Chinese had generated from Vietnam and Thailand to Singapore, and with more than half of the Premier League teams heading to the Americas, Asia, and Oceania this summer, the entire summer football market was exceptionally hot.

Although the ticket price for this year’s International Champions Cup was raised by another 5%, the eighty-seven thousand tickets were still sold out.

Because this match was Bayswater Chinese against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich!

This was a clash of titans between the two opponents from last season’s Champions League final!

This caused the eighty-seven thousand tickets to be in short supply, with ticket touts repeatedly raising prices for resale.

For the first time since the start of summer training, Yang Cheng fielded what he considered his ideal starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Bayern Munich also fielded their full-strength squad.

Apart from Lewandowski’s transfer to Barça, the two teams had practically replicated last season’s Champions League final.

And unlike the Champions League final, both teams now attacked each other without holding anything back.

In the end, the two sides drew 3-3 in Kuala Lumpur!

For Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos scored in the first half, and Theo Walcott scored in the second.

For Bayern, Ribéry, Mandžukić, and Thomas Müller were the goalscorers.

Throughout the match, both teams played very proactively. The game was exciting and star-studded, so the fans in the stadium thoroughly enjoyed it.

Incidentally, after the match, Jupp Heynckes complained to Yang Cheng’s face about Toni Kroos.

“Why do you always think about scoring every time you play against Bayern?”

A true Bayern-killer!

Faced with his former benefactor from his Leverkusen days, what could Toni Kroos say but smile?

…

The second match of the International Champions Cup was scheduled at the Jakarta Stadium in Indonesia.

It was a stadium that could accommodate seventy-seven thousand people.

And this time, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent was Paris Saint-Germain from Ligue 1.

With the addition of Ibrahimović, the improvement in Paris Saint-Germain’s overall strength was plain to see.

However, when facing Bayswater Chinese, Paris Saint-Germain’s current strength was still slightly inferior.

After ninety minutes of play, the final score was 3-1. Bayswater Chinese, with Gareth Bale’s brace and a goal from Theo Walcott, defeated Paris Saint-Germain.

On a side note, after a series of pre-season friendlies, Theo Walcott had been in excellent form recently.

This was related to his hard work over the past period.

Last season, due to the European Championship and the Olympics, Walcott was unable to dislodge Hazard in the competition for a starting spot.

This summer, he was determined to prove himself.

So he trained exceptionally hard, and his performance was also quite outstanding.

Yang Cheng also noted that Walcott’s crosses from the right wing were a great help to Giroud and Gareth Bale.

In short, Hazard and Walcott now each had their own strengths.

As for how to arrange them, Yang Cheng needed to observe further.

…

The final group stage match of the International Champions Cup was scheduled in Sydney, Australia.

Bayswater Chinese versus Liverpool.

Incidentally, Liverpool’s previous match was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where they defeated Bayern in front of ninety-five thousand fans, securing two consecutive wins in the group stage.

If they could defeat Bayswater Chinese in this match, Mancini’s team would finish first in the group with a perfect record and return to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

That would be the venue for this year’s International Champions Cup Asian final!

Since a place in the final was at stake and both sides wanted to fully assess their own strength, they both went all out.

Liverpool’s biggest achievement in this summer’s transfer market was keeping Suárez.

Despite giving him a weekly wage of 200,000 pounds sterling, being able to retain the Uruguayan forward amidst poaching attempts from teams like Barça and Paris Saint-Germain was undoubtedly a victory in itself.

Bayswater Chinese once again fielded a full-strength lineup.

The two sides fought hard for ninety minutes at the Australia Stadium, witnessed by eighty-three thousand fans.

In the end, it was Bayswater Chinese who defeated Liverpool 2-1, thanks to a direct free kick from Gareth Bale.

Yang Cheng’s team, with two wins and one draw, advanced to the Asian final.

Meanwhile, Manchester United, the first-place team from the East Asia region, had arrived in Melbourne a day earlier than Bayswater Chinese.

…

A light rain was falling in wintery Melbourne.

But this still couldn’t dampen the excellent atmosphere created by the enthusiastic fans.

Although the Melbourne Cricket Ground was not a proper football stadium, one hundred thousand people poured into the venue, filling every seat in the stands. The roar they created dissipated the chill brought by the winter rain.

Facing Ferguson’s Manchester United, Yang Cheng’s team played very proactively from the start.

Manchester United did the same.

The two teams engaged in a fierce battle right from the beginning.

Just twenty minutes into the game, a dribbling run from Theo Walcott on the right flank created a goal for Giroud inside the box.

Just four minutes later, after Gareth Bale broke through on the left, he chipped the ball over De Gea from the left side of the penalty area, sending it into Manchester United’s goal again.

And just before halftime, from an attacking free-kick, Modrić provided an assist, and Pepe headed the ball in, completely removing any suspense from the match.

But just when everyone thought the game was over, the tables turned in the second half.

Both sides made some substitutions, but Manchester United brought on their regular starters.

First, Robben cut inside from the right and scored with a left-footed long shot, piercing through Courtois’s goal.

Then, Strootman provided an assist, Cavani flicked on a header, and Rooney scored with a sliding shot from the middle, changing the score to 2-3.

The entire situation had been turned upside down.

But in the 82nd minute, substitute Harry Kane received the ball in the box, and with a brilliant touch, turn, and push shot, he once again broke through De Gea’s goal, extending the lead.

The match was full of twists and turns, thoroughly entertaining the one hundred thousand fans present.

And even up until the final whistle, both sides were constantly creating chances, trying to score more goals.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 4-2!

From the way the match unfolded, Yang Cheng could see that Manchester United’s problems still lay in their defense.

Vidić and Ferdinand were getting old.

Evra was already thirty-two, and Manchester United had always had a weakness on the right flank.

For example, the free kick that led to Pepe’s goal was caused by a foul from Phil Jones on the right side.

And Evra was somewhat outmatched when facing Theo Walcott.

But as Ferguson said, Manchester United was still in the process of adjusting their form.

There was a very clear difference between the two teams.

Bayswater Chinese had to play in the Community Shield, while Manchester United did not, so they had an extra week to prepare for the new season.

And Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in this year’s Community Shield was Manchester City.

…

If the Asian region was still ruled by the Premier League, then in the North American region, an incredible change had undoubtedly occurred.

Simeone’s Atlético Madrid first defeated Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Mourinho’s Chelsea in the eastern group stage to finish first and reach the final.

Then, in the final, they took down Luis Enrique’s Barça to win the North American championship.

It was truly a string of upsets!

But precisely because of these upsets, which were unexpected by everyone, they won the unanimous approval of the media and fans.

Cup competitions are always more exciting when they produce some surprises and shocks.

If the result of every match and every tournament could be predicted in advance, it wouldn’t be as beautiful.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that because he had hijacked the deal for Courtois, Atlético Madrid had signed Oblak ahead of schedule.

So, apart from the change in goalkeeper, Simeone’s team was almost identical to the Atlético of his previous life.

Yang Cheng was now very much looking forward to seeing if Simeone and his Atlético could recreate the glory of his past life.

And after losing Messi, Barça was clearly still in a period of adjustment.

After all, Lewandowski was a centre-forward, and a goal-scoring one at that, completely different from Messi. This meant Barça now had to make significant adjustments to their attacking tactics.

Especially to accommodate Lewandowski’s technical and tactical characteristics, in order to maximize the Polish centre-forward’s goal-scoring ability.

In addition, the relationship between Neymar and Lewandowski was something Barça needed to pay attention to.

The Brazilian genius was brought in as Messi’s successor.

Now that Messi was gone, Neymar, whether due to his technical style or his original positioning, should rightfully be the club’s new top star.

But Lewandowski, signed for 200 million euro, clearly had a bigger profile.

How to coordinate between the two superstars was a major test for Barça’s management and coaching staff.

At least from the pre-season friendlies and the International Champions Cup, their coordination could only be described as average.

Not as electrifying as the connection between Neymar and Messi.

Having concluded the Asia Tour, Bayswater Chinese finally returned to London.

After a two-day rest at the Brent training center, the team hosted Simeone’s Atlético Madrid at the Prudential Stadium.

With the warm-up from last year’s inaugural match at the Prudential Stadium, even though this year’s final opponent was Atlético Madrid, it still attracted ninety thousand fans.

Today, Bayswater Chinese possessed a powerful appeal in both England and London.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Atlético Madrid 3-1 at home.

Gareth Bale scored another brace, with Theo Walcott adding a goal.

Giroud, Modrić, and substitute Eden Hazard each had an assist.

…

Winning the International Champions Cup grand final earned Yang Cheng’s team praise from the outside world once again.

After all, the teams participating in this tournament were among Europe’s elite.

It was billed as a pre-season friendly, but the prestige of the competition was clearly higher than that of a typical friendly.

Of course, compared to an official match like a Champions League knockout stage game, there was still some gap.

But from this series of pre-season friendlies, it was clear that Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength had not declined much despite Lewandowski’s departure.

The midfield and defense remained stable.

As for the attack, losing Lewandowski certainly had an impact.

But just how big that impact was, remained to be seen.

In an interview with the media, Yang Cheng stated very confidently, “I believe our players can make up for this shortcoming.”

“Giroud and Harry Kane are both very capable centre-forwards, and our attacking players like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and Sterling are all worth looking forward to!”

Yang Cheng’s implication was that if the centre-forwards couldn’t score, the wingers could.

Bayswater Chinese possessed a group of strong wingers who could completely fill the goal-scoring void left by Lewandowski.

Even if they couldn’t compare to last season, their attacking firepower would not be weak.

The outside world’s assessment of this was to wait and see.

After the International Champions Cup final, Yang Cheng took a short break and then led the team on a private jet to Nice, France.

This had been arranged in advance.

The first round of the new Ligue 1 season coincided with the Community Shield, both taking place over the weekend.

Ligue 1 was on August 10th and 11th, and the Community Shield was on the 11th.

So, this match was scheduled for midweek.

This was also the inauguration ceremony for Nice’s new stadium.

On the night of the match, the stadium, named by Allianz, was filled with thirty-seven thousand fans, completely sold out.

Even the VIP boxes were packed.

A match involving Bayswater Chinese, even in France, was a huge draw!

Ronald Koeman still opted for a 4-3-3 formation for this match.

Goalkeeper: Navas;

Defence: Kurzawa, José Fonte, Koulibaly, and Aurier;

Midfield: Jorginho in a holding role, with Kanté and Allan in front of him;

Forwards: Sadio Mané, Choupo-Moting, and Mahrez.

OGC Nice had just played in the group stage of the International Champions Cup in North America, played a few more friendlies there, and had more time to adjust after returning to Europe.

More importantly, Ronald Koeman had Kanté and Allan start together in the match.

Both players were midfielders known for their running, interceptions, and defensive abilities.

Yang Cheng had a feeling during the game.

The current Kanté had not yet reached that superhuman level of his previous life where he could cover 30% of the Earth’s surface, but when partnered with Allan, the two were genuinely able to suppress Bayswater Chinese’s midfield.

Of course, this was also related to Bayswater Chinese’s continuous matches and travels, which left the players not in their ideal state.

Moreover, to prepare for the upcoming Community Shield, Yang Cheng had to rotate the squad appropriately.

Their opponent was Manchester City, featuring Messi!

Besides, this match was the inaugural game for OGC Nice’s new stadium. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he naturally had to give OGC Nice some face.

A home victory against Bayswater Chinese would also boost ticket sales for OGC Nice’s new season.

As for Bayswater Chinese, it was just a friendly match, so there was no real loss.

After a tough ninety-minute battle, OGC Nice defeated Bayswater Chinese 2-0, thanks to goals from Sadio Mané and Koulibaly.

…

Afternoon of August 11th, Wembley Stadium, London.

Community Shield, Manchester City versus Bayswater Chinese.

A whistle from head referee Mark Clattenburg officially kicked off this globally anticipated crucial match.

Manchester City’s starting lineup used a 4-3-3 tactic.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defence: Leighton Baines, Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with David Silva and Marco Verratti in front of him;

Forwards: Jovetić, Agüero, and Messi.

Yang Cheng also fielded his full-strength team.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Luke Shaw, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Luke Shaw was used at left-back because Marcelo had a slight muscle strain after the International Champions Cup final, so Yang Cheng did not play him.

And although this Community Shield was considered an official match, it also had the nature of a friendly.

Yang Cheng paid great attention to Messi, but unexpectedly, it was Jovetić who struck first.

Just six minutes into the game, Jovetić exploited a defensive lapse on Bayswater Chinese’s right flank and passed the ball to Agüero inside the box.

The Argentine forward controlled the ball, evaded Pepe, and shot directly to score.

Manchester City had a dream start!

But then, the two teams engaged in a fierce battle, and Bayswater Chinese gradually stabilized.

Pep Guardiola’s team still focused on possession-based football.

Yang Cheng changed his strategy, having Giroud drop back to press Yaya Touré.

Just before halftime, it was Giroud’s tackle that led to a lob pass from Toni Kroos, creating a two-on-one situation with Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard.

The Welshman passed it across the box to an unmarked Hazard.

The Belgian winger scored with an easy push shot.

1-1!

But after the second half began, both teams made successive substitutions.

In the 60th minute, Yang Cheng replaced three players at once.

Guardiola also made substitutions, but he only replaced two.

First, he brought on Pirlo for Yaya Touré, and Jesús Navas for Agüero.

After the substitutions, Messi moved to a central position.

At this point, Manchester City’s possession-based game was clearly more dominant than before.

Especially the passing combinations between Messi, David Silva, and Verratti, which put immense pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense.

In the 79th minute, a dribbling run from Messi forced Javi Martínez to commit a foul, giving Manchester City a free kick in a central attacking position.

Pirlo coolly took it and scored with one kick, putting Manchester City back in the lead.

After that, both sides made more substitutions.

But no matter how Bayswater Chinese adjusted, possession remained firmly in Manchester City’s hands.

The Blue Moons ultimately defeated Bayswater Chinese 2-1 with goals from Agüero and Pirlo, winning the Community Shield!

After the match, Manchester City was as ecstatic as if it were a holiday!

Manchester City’s Chairman Mubarak even excitedly told the media, “This will be a historic match!”

“This match witnesses the rise of our Manchester City!”

“From now on, we can proudly tell everyone that we will overthrow the dominance of Bayswater Chinese in the new Premier League season!”

The British media also mostly agreed that the arrival of Guardiola and Messi in the Premier League was indeed changing the balance of power.

Especially Messi.

He was clearly new and had not yet adapted to the pace of the Premier League, and his performance was relatively average.

But every time the Argentine got the ball, he was still a threat.

Fouls?

That couldn’t intimidate the Argentine at all!

Of course, Yang Cheng felt that this was also related to Bayswater Chinese playing too gentlemanly.

If they had faced a team with a rougher style of play, Messi might have had a tougher time.

It was a pity that Reading had been relegated last season!

Yang Cheng and the players didn’t take this match too seriously.

A loss was a loss.

The main reason was that Bayswater Chinese had been constantly traveling and playing games over the past period. Although they were for training purposes, the players were indeed quite tired.

At the very least, traveling to France mid-week to play OGC Nice was an extra game that Manchester City didn’t have.

So, after the Community Shield, Yang Cheng didn’t say much. He closed the doors and focused on recovery and adjustment at the Brent training center.

A week later, in the first round of the new season, Bayswater Chinese traveled to Manchester’s Etihad Stadium.

An away match against Manchester City!

Chapter 287: First Win of the Season! The Unstoppable Messi! The Premier League’s Biggest Trash Talker! Yang Cheng: Let Me Play!

The media and fans outside the club had no idea, but losing the Community Shield had a significant impact on the Bayswater Chinese.

The last time the Bayswater Chinese had missed out on the Community Shield title was back in 2006.

That was because in the 2005/06 season, their first in the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team had won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup, which naturally made them ineligible for the Community Shield.

Since 2007, the Bayswater Chinese had won six consecutive Community Shield trophies.

But this year, they lost to Manchester City.

Although everyone, including Yang Cheng, kept emphasizing that the Community Shield was insignificant, just a charity match, having won it for so many years straight made losing it feel somewhat disappointing.

Moreover, over the past years, the Bayswater Chinese had been virtually unstoppable in the Premier League. Naturally, the players had grown a bit proud.

This pride was something Yang Cheng had intentionally cultivated.

What constitutes the aura of a powerhouse?

Pride and confidence are essential!

But they must be built on a foundation of solid results.

Losing the Community Shield left the Bayswater Chinese dressing room feeling somewhat dejected.

On top of that, Robert Lewandowski’s transfer to Barça now made the players even more anxious and uneasy.

This was a centre-forward who could contribute fifty to sixty goals a season!

Losing the Community Shield undoubtedly exacerbated these negative emotions.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were acutely aware of the players’ mood. Therefore, after the Community Shield match, the team began to prepare for the season quietly.

The club refrained from any further commercial activities, promotions, or publicity.

The team simply kept a low profile at the Brent training center every day, focusing on adjusting their condition and training.

Yang Cheng, the coaching staff, and the psychologists also spoke with the players one by one, doing everything possible to help the team overcome these negative feelings. But it was clearly not an easy task.

Confidence is something that can only be regained one match at a time.

Of course, Yang Cheng never worried that the team would collapse.

The foundation they had painstakingly built over the years, the confidence the players had established, couldn’t be shattered by a single match.

If it could, the Bayswater Chinese would be far too fragile.

However, the upcoming opening league match was an away game at the Etihad Stadium. For the Bayswater Chinese, who had just lost the Community Shield, this would be a significant challenge.

Therefore, Yang Cheng needed the team to return to peak form as quickly as possible.

Only then would the Bayswater Chinese have a chance to leave the away ground unscathed.

At the same time, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff began an in-depth analysis of the tactics and changes Manchester City had shown since Pep Guardiola took over.

From the International Champions Cup to the Community Shield, Manchester City had played quite a few matches.

A lot could be gleaned from their performances.

…

“In the past, under Ancelotti, Manchester City’s attacking schemes were very detailed, meticulously prepared, and very structured. But a major characteristic was their use of long-range switches of play.”

Brian Kidd was dissecting Manchester City’s past tactical features.

This was not only a feature of Manchester City but of the Premier League in general.

Teams like Manchester United and Liverpool were the same.

Arsenal was something of an exception.

Arsenal didn’t use many long-range switches; they relied more on short passing combinations.

There was another difference between the Gunners and other teams: when their players received the ball, their first instinct was to dribble, not pass.

The Bayswater Chinese emphasized one-touch passing—pass first, then dribble.

But the Gunners were the type to dribble first, then pass.

If you watched Arsenal’s matches closely, you could see quite a few differences in their combination play.

Of course, from a fan’s perspective, both teams relied on fluid passing and moving combination play and were very entertaining to watch.

Long-range switches of play weren’t invented by the Bayswater Chinese.

The old Premier League style of long-ball tactics had always been that way.

When Manchester United won the Treble in 1999, Beckham’s diagonal long passes from the wing were legendary.

If one were to point out a change brought by Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, it would be the horizontal long-range switches of play.

This became particularly important after Toni Kroos joined the team.

Looking at other Premier League teams, like Manchester United, although they had Carrick, their long passes were still primarily forward-looking through balls and diagonal passes.

Ancelotti’s Manchester City, with a master of switching play like Pirlo, also primarily used forward diagonal passes and long balls towards Ibrahimović.

This tactic of horizontal long-range switches was a unique feature and advantage of the Bayswater Chinese, putting them in a class of their own.

But what were the characteristics of Guardiola’s Barça?

The whole world knew.

Barça was a team that almost never used long balls or crosses from the wings.

This was because the efficiency and accuracy of long balls and crosses were not high enough.

It contradicted Barça’s possession-based philosophy.

Barça’s core concept was to secure as much possession as possible.

So they cherished every possession. Why would they adopt such an inefficient and error-prone passing method?

“But this season, after taking charge of Manchester City, we can easily see a very distinct change in Guardiola’s approach during the build-up phase of an attack.”

“On the one hand, players like David Silva, Marco Verratti, Messi, Pirlo, and also Yaya Touré and Agüero, give Manchester City the technical foundation to play possession-based football.”

“So, they’ve started to use continuous short passes, penetrating the opponent’s defensive formation with this dense, uninterrupted passing. It’s very reminiscent of Barça and aligns perfectly with Guardiola’s coaching philosophy.”

“But on top of that, the characteristic left over from Ancelotti’s era—the long-range switch of play—has been retained. Both Yaya Touré and Pirlo have become the starting points for these switches.”

Even back when he played for the Bayswater Chinese, Yaya Touré’s long-passing ability was quite good.

Pirlo’s, of course, went without saying.

“We can now be fairly certain that Guardiola’s tactical philosophy for Manchester City is to try and fuse his possession-based ideas with City’s existing long-range switches and the fast-paced attacking style of the Premier League.”

Fusion!

When Yang Cheng heard Brian Kidd use that word, he nodded emphatically.

This was also his feeling after watching Guardiola’s first few matches.

Guardiola was never a coach who stuck to one formula.

On the contrary, he was always seeking breakthroughs, always aiming to improve.

Coming to the Premier League, he would naturally seek a path to fuse his football philosophy with the characteristics of the league.

“From the past few matches, I feel that Guardiola’s team hasn’t quite perfected this yet, or rather, they’re not there yet. This was especially apparent in the Community Shield match and the International Champions Cup game against Atlético Madrid.”

In those two matches, the intensity was high, the opponents were strong, and the defensive pressure was immense.

This led Manchester City to easily expose some of their current problems and hidden dangers.

“Also, Manchester City’s players are not yet fully accustomed to this tactical system. Problems can easily arise during their link-up play, from the movement of the team’s overall formation down to individual players’ running, coordination, and support.”

For Guardiola and Manchester City, these were all normal phenomena.

Just as it was obvious to anyone now that Messi had not yet integrated into Manchester City, nor had he adapted to the Premier League.

Moving from La Liga to the Premier League, it would be strange if he adapted instantly.

Both Guardiola and Messi were adapting, and so was the rebuilt Manchester City.

This was the Bayswater Chinese’s opportunity!

Adaptation takes time.

But the real showdown between the two teams was in the first round of the league, leaving Manchester City with little time.

Besides Brian Kidd, other members of the coaching staff and the sports science department also analyzed Guardiola’s Manchester City from their respective fields, offering various suggestions and match strategies.

This Manchester City team still had many problems.

Including Yaya Touré or Pirlo playing as a lone holding midfielder, or the lack of coordination among the forwards when pressing high up the pitch.

There was also the challenge faced by the defenders in a high defensive line.

It was worth noting that whether it was Manchester City before the Abu Dhabi consortium’s acquisition, or under Eriksson and Ancelotti after, they had always employed low-block defending.

Manchester City’s defenders and midfielders were more familiar with that defensive strategy.

But Guardiola, to ensure possession, opted for a high defensive line.

Of course, it wasn’t that they couldn’t play it.

Vincent Kompany, Giorgio Chiellini, Jérôme Boateng, Savić, and Demichelis were all outstanding centre-backs, fully capable of anchoring Manchester City’s backline.

But everyone knew that Guardiola had always had a rather peculiar obsession with centre-backs.

Or perhaps, in his tactical system, centre-backs were put under immense strain and were prone to injuries.

After listening to everyone’s thoughts and suggestions, Yang Cheng consolidated them with his own ideas and formulated the guiding principles for the team’s preparation for the first league match of the week.

“For the first round against Manchester City, we need to adopt a simple and direct attack. We will use our rapid breakthroughs and forward drives to tear through their defense. This will be our biggest advantage in the match!”

Before the Community Shield, the Bayswater Chinese had played two matches in quick succession.

First, they flew back from Asia, then flew to Nice, France, for a midweek match before flying back again.

It was safe to say the players were exhausted, and their form was not ideal.

But now, a week’s rest was enough for the Bayswater Chinese to get their players’ conditions back on track.

As for specific tactics…

Since Robert Lewandowski’s departure, Yang Cheng had been focused on developing Giroud and Harry Kane.

But the former was more mature, while Harry Kane was still relatively weaker.

Especially in terms of physical confrontation.

As a centre-forward, you couldn’t be weak physically.

Harry Kane, who had just turned twenty, had performed well, but it was still too early to rush him into the starting lineup.

Giroud was a typical tall center-forward, and his tactical role was clear.

Yang Cheng’s idea was to leverage this advantage of Giroud’s, and then use the piercing attacks from wingers like Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard, Theo Walcott, and even Sterling to unleash the Bayswater Chinese’s attacking prowess.

This was different from before.

In the past, Robert Lewandowski was like the tip of an arrow, spending most of his time pinning down the opponent’s defensive line.

After explaining his thoughts, Yang Cheng began to unify the thinking of the coaching staff and various departments.

He considered this match to be crucial for the start of the season.

“Winning it will boost our confidence and allow us to approach the new season with a more positive mindset, both tactically and mentally!”

Robert Lewandowski had been with the team for so many years. To say his departure had no impact, or a minor one, on the Bayswater Chinese would be self-deception.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was certain that the battle at the Etihad Stadium was very important for the Bayswater Chinese.

Of course, it was equally important for Guardiola, Messi, and Manchester City.

Isn’t that the strategic significance of clashes between top teams?

…

As the new season approached, a thick “smoke of war” gradually filled the air across England.

The media began to speculate feverishly about who would win the Premier League title.

For example, The Sun, in a personal column, invited the former renowned England manager Terry Venables to give his outlook on the new season.

The legendary manager was full of anticipation for the new Premier League season.

“The arrival of Guardiola and the return of Mourinho make the new Premier League season even more unpredictable!”

Venables believed that in the current Premier League, the teams with the best chances of winning the title were Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese and Guardiola’s Manchester City.

“There’s almost no gap between these two giants!”

“The real test will be over the course of the long season. Countless subtle differences in their performances over 38 matches will ultimately lead to vastly different outcomes, deciding the fate of the title.”

But Venables also thought that the biggest problem for Yang Cheng’s team was the impact of losing Robert Lewandowski.

“Losing a super striker who scores more than 50 goals a season is an irreplaceable void for any team.”

“Neither Giroud nor Harry Kane can fill Lewandowski’s goal-scoring shoes in a short period of time.”

Manchester City’s biggest challenge was the localization of Guardiola’s tactics and how quickly Messi could adapt to the Premier League.

“Judging from preseason matches like the International Champions Cup and the Community Shield, Messi is currently far from his level at Barça. Manchester City needs to do more to help him integrate into the team.”

“The same goes for Guardiola; they both need time.”

The difference was the length of that time.

Venables also believed that with both the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City likely to make mistakes, Ferguson’s Manchester United, Wenger’s Arsenal, Mourinho’s Chelsea, and Mancini’s Liverpool all had a chance.

“They are all championship-winning managers with excellent coaching abilities, and their teams have outstanding overall strength.”

“The competition for the Premier League title this season will be fiercer than ever!”

The sentiment Venables expressed in his column was similar to Mourinho’s.

The new season hadn’t even started, but Mourinho’s classic war of words had already begun.

Since his return to the Premier League, Mourinho had maintained a very high profile.

Incidentally, Chelsea had won the Europa League for the second consecutive season last year.

So, in the upcoming UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea would be playing against the Bayswater Chinese.

After landing in the Premier League, Mourinho had given exclusive interviews to The Sun, the Daily Mail, and The Guardian.

Before the season started, he also appeared on a Sky Sports program.

It was part of the Premier League’s preseason warm-up.

On the show, Mourinho declared, “The Premier League of the past five years has been dull, a Premier League lacking in appeal!”

It was as if he had a restless need to be provocative.

The Special One’s opening move was a King bomb, and he aimed it directly at Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

“For me, I’ve never found the Premier League of the past five years to be particularly exciting.”

“Before these five years, we saw the fantastic Arsenal of the 2003/04 season win the Premier League title with an invincible season. That was unprecedented!”

“We saw Chelsea, with their incredibly dominant performances, break numerous historical records and win back-to-back Premier League titles!”

“We also saw Ferguson build two different Manchester United teams that conquered both the league and the Champions League!”

“I believe that in the Premier League seasons before these last five years, the championship-winning teams were extremely powerful and utterly convincing!”

At this point, Mourinho changed the subject. “But in the past five years, I haven’t seen that in the Premier League.”

The Portuguese maverick stated that winning the title was the result of a combination of different factors.

Strength and performance were one aspect, but whether your opponents made mistakes was another.

“It’s clear that in the past five years in the Premier League, you could win even if you weren’t strong enough. That makes the Premier League title lack credibility!”

Mourinho believed his arrival would completely change this situation.

“In recent years, we’ve seen in Chelsea the problems faced by many of the Premier League’s traditional powerhouses.”

“But now, I’m here. I have an excellent squad. We will be better, we will try not to make mistakes, and we will become more consistent!”

“The race for the title will last for ten months, over 38 matches. I say, let’s take our time!”

Mourinho believed that six teams were capable of challenging for the Premier League title this season.

They were Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and the Bayswater Chinese.

Why was Yang Cheng’s team ranked last?

“I don’t think a team with ambition would sell a centre-forward who can consistently bring in over fifty goals.”

“What’s most ridiculous is that after selling him, they didn’t even make a targeted signing to replace him. That’s extremely foolish!”

“This problem is bound to explode during the season.”

Therefore, for the Bayswater Chinese, Mourinho believed the most realistic goal was to aim for the top four.

This was because the Portuguese maverick also firmly believed that the new Premier League season would be unprecedentedly fierce.

Mourinho’s comments undoubtedly set the media world on fire.

His questioning of the Bayswater Chinese, in particular, was hyped up by numerous media outlets and fans.

This was Mourinho’s usual tactic.

Every word he spoke was a mixture of truth and falsehood.

It sounded reasonable, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t necessarily so.

But the pro-Chelsea Daily Mail ran a front-page headline: “The Great Era of the Premier League: Who Will Challenge Mourinho?”

When Yang Cheng saw this report, his first reaction was, Go fuck yourselves!

The Daily Mail was a major newspaper, yet it could be so shameless, so devoid of principles as to kiss Mourinho’s ass?

When had this guy ever dominated the Premier League?

Oh, so upon his return, he was the strongest in the Premier League just by running his mouth?

“I bet, from top to bottom, from striker to goalkeeper, Mourinho’s mouth is the toughest thing at Chelsea!”

But Yang Cheng only grumbled this in private.

His focus now was on preparing for the first league match, so there was no need to engage in a war of words with Mourinho from afar.

He even suspected that Mourinho saw this clearly, which was why he deliberately used the Bayswater Chinese as a stepping stone.

Mourinho didn’t care about the impact on the Bayswater Chinese; what he cared about was the stimulating and motivating effect of his words on everyone at Chelsea.

On a related note, after Robert Lewandowski moved to Barça, the Spanish super club was indeed going all out to promote and build hype around him.

This had subtly made the Polish centre-forward the biggest favorite for this year’s UEFA European Footballer of the Year award.

The trend was already very clear.

UEFA was now desperately propping up La Liga and suppressing the Premier League.

It had even reached a point where they weren’t even trying to hide it.

Before the first round of the Premier League kicked off, the British media also began to pay close attention to the registered squads of the twenty Premier League teams, as well as the predicted starting lineups for the first round.

They were surprised to find that among the predicted starting lineups for the twenty teams, the proportion of English players was a meager 30 percent.

This once again sparked a debate in the British public opinion about the prosperity of the Premier League and the long-term weakness of the England national team.

Many believed that the influx of foreign players into the Premier League had severely squeezed the living space of local English players.

It’s worth noting that this 30 percent included veterans like Terry, Ashley Cole, Lampard, and Ferdinand.

What about the new generation?

Among the top six teams, apart from Rooney, the situation didn’t seem ideal for most.

Theo Walcott had to compete with Eden Hazard, Joe Hart with ter Stegen, Gary Cahill with Benatia, and Arsenal’s Wilshere had to compete with Gourcuff, Fàbregas, and Mikel Arteta.

Many media outlets believed that England did not lack excellent players.

Rather, in the fierce competition of the Premier League, England’s talented players were not getting enough opportunities for match practice.

This led many media outlets and fans to call for further restrictions on foreign players.

But this move was opposed by the major Premier League managers, club executives, and even the Premier League itself.

There was a lot of such public opinion, but so far, nothing had managed to make significant waves.

It was amidst this tide that Yang Cheng led his team north to Manchester.

…

On the afternoon of August 17th, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

The first round of the 13/14 Premier League season: Bayswater Chinese vs. Manchester City away.

As the first match of the new season, both Guardiola and Yang Cheng took it very seriously.

After a week of rest, both teams fielded their strongest available lineups.

Manchester City started in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Pirlo in a holding role, with Yaya Touré and Marco Verratti ahead of him;

Forwards: David Silva, Agüero, and Messi.

Although there were constant rumors that Guardiola was dissatisfied with Joe Hart and wanted to replace him with ter Stegen, in reality, apart from a few appearances in pre-season friendlies, Guardiola started Joe Hart in both the Community Shield and the opening game of the new season.

This was, to some extent, a move born of necessity.

As Manchester City’s starting goalkeeper for the past few years and England’s number one, Joe Hart’s performances were often criticized, but his status was undeniable.

To replace Joe Hart with ter Stegen immediately was clearly not appropriate.

On this matter, Guardiola had to make some compromises.

Bayswater Chinese also made some adjustments to their starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić ahead of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Compared to the Community Shield, Yang Cheng made changes in three positions.

Marcelo returned from injury, Javi Martínez replaced Nemanja Matić, and Theo Walcott took Eden Hazard’s spot.

The left-back change was a normal rotation.

Although Javi Martínez conceded a crucial “foul” while defending against Messi in the Community Shield, he had effectively neutralized Messi for the rest of the match.

In terms of defensive ability, Javi Martínez had indeed performed better.

As for the changes in the attack, it was mainly due to the different tactical strategy Yang Cheng was employing for this match.

His game plan was to play fast, to use a simple, direct attacking style to tear apart Manchester City’s defense.

Under these circumstances, the combination of Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott was clearly more suitable.

However, Yang Cheng still brought Eden Hazard along and put him on the bench.

When necessary, the Belgian could also come on and make an impact.

Both teams were scheming against each other while fielding their strongest lineups.

Moreover, this was the Premier League debut for both Messi and Guardiola.

This made the opening match of the new Premier League season a focus of worldwide attention!

The FA also specially assigned Howard Webb to officiate the match—a truly top-tier setup!

…

With a blast of Howard Webb’s whistle, amidst the cheers of forty-seven thousand fans filling the Etihad, Giroud kicked the ball to Gareth Bale, officially starting this crucial match.

Yang Cheng stood tall on the sideline, watching as Manchester City’s players quickly pushed forward, pressing towards the Bayswater Chinese’s half.

After the kickoff, the Bayswater Chinese quickly passed the ball back to their defensive line.

Marcelo, from the left flank, hit a diagonal long pass with precision, finding Giroud upfield.

The French centre-forward immediately flicked a header on, trying to knock it behind the defensive line for Gareth Bale to chase.

But the Welshman was impeded, his start was a bit slow, and a timely tracking Jérôme Boateng got to the ball first, passing it back to goalkeeper Joe Hart.

The Bayswater Chinese’s front three quickly pressed, organizing a counter-press.

Manchester City’s midfield and defense also rapidly dropped back to support.

From the start, Yang Cheng’s team seized the initiative as the away team. They didn’t let Manchester City control possession but took the fight to them, cutting off their organization and possession through pressing and pressure.

This was the strategy Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had devised.

The Manchester City players still lacked chemistry, their understanding of Guardiola’s tactics was not yet deep, and their coordination was a bit rusty.

In this situation, applying pressure would force the opposition to expose more problems.

Yang Cheng was not at all worried about Guardiola’s team playing long balls in behind.

Although Agüero and Messi were a handful, Thiago Silva and Pepe were also very fast on the recovery.

And as it turned out, this opening strategy from Yang Cheng and his team was effective.

In the first five minutes, faced with the away team’s tactics, Manchester City struggled to create any threatening attacks.

Then, in the 6th minute, as Yaya Touré tried to power through the midfield with the ball, Modrić stayed tight, poking the ball away to the right flank just a moment before him.

Piszczek surged forward, playing the ball to Walcott.

As “The Little Tiger” received the ball on the right wing, he took a touch that set him up perfectly, turning and accelerating past Leighton Baines, then catching up to the ball he had pushed ahead.

Vincent Kompany had been watching closely and tracked back quickly, but Walcott was a step ahead, delivering a diagonal cross with his right foot.

The ball deflected off a sliding Kompany, changing its trajectory slightly, but still dropped towards the arc of the penalty area of Manchester City’s box.

It was originally intended for Giroud to challenge for in the air, but at this moment, the French centre-forward, having made a quick forward run, had to change his plan.

Jérôme Boateng judged the ball’s landing spot and threw himself into a sliding tackle, trying to clear it away.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart also came off his line, rushing out of the six-yard box towards the arc.

But unexpectedly, Giroud, with his height and long legs, got there a step first, cushioning the ball with the inside of his left foot, directing it to the right side of the penalty area.

Jérôme Boateng’s tackle hit nothing but air, and the onrushing Joe Hart was stunned.

Giroud, after controlling the ball, quickly sprinted after it.

Although Joe Hart reacted swiftly, turning and lunging for the ball, Giroud still reached it first on the right side of the box and poked it with the outside of his left foot.

The ball flew past Joe Hart and into the unguarded net behind him.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Just six minutes into the match, a left-footed push shot from French centre-forward Giroud!”

“Bayswater Chinese have gotten off to a dream start!”

“Just six minutes in, and it’s 1-0!”

Giroud immediately sprinted towards the right flank to celebrate the goal with Walcott.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng also clenched his fists in excitement, clapping vigorously for his players.

…

In front of the home team’s dugout, Guardiola shook his head helplessly and walked back to his seat.

“Jérôme Boateng shouldn’t have gone to ground with that tackle just now!”

If Kompany’s initial sliding tackle was an attempt to clear the ball out for a throw-in, a very common defensive move, then Jérôme Boateng, as the last defender, going to ground for a sliding tackle before the ball had even landed was far too rash and reckless.

“This player has always had this problem in his defending. He goes to ground with tackles too often. It’s a big issue,” said assistant coach Domènec Torrent, equally exasperated.

He even felt that Jérôme Boateng resembled a centre-back who hadn’t gone through modern defensive training in recent years.

“If he had chosen to get close, stick to Giroud, and block his left foot, the situation might not have gotten worse.”

But now…

There was nothing Torrent could do.

“Joe Hart’s timing for coming out wasn’t great either,” Guardiola added, frustrated.

Joe Hart was more of a shot-stopper who stayed on his line; coming off his line was not his strong suit.

Moreover, his footwork wasn’t very good.

This was why Guardiola had decided to sign ter Stegen as soon as he took over at Manchester City.

The German goalkeeper’s technical ability with his feet and his passing were excellent.

But replacing the country’s number one goalkeeper with a foreign one was obviously not a simple matter.

“I think we still need to work on Joe Hart’s passing, and also give Jérôme Boateng special training on his defending, especially this bad habit of going to ground at the drop of a hat. It has to be corrected!”

Guardiola nodded repeatedly at Torrent’s suggestion.

But he was also keenly aware that conceding this early goal would have a negative impact on Manchester City.

So, Guardiola quickly walked to the sideline, clapping continuously, urging his players to stay calm and patient.

Patience is the foundation of possession-based tactics.

Without patience, you simply can’t control the ball well.

And in football, building that kind of patience often requires extensive training, as well as the test of real matches and results to back it up.

After the Community Shield, Guardiola’s tactics were quite clear.

Manchester City’s problems were also laid bare.

Many of the hidden issues were things Guardiola couldn’t solve in a short time.

And for this match, Yang Cheng had adopted a targeted strategy to exploit these problems.

This gave Guardiola a huge headache.

He was even a little worried.

…

The match continued.

After scoring, the Bayswater Chinese showed no signs of letting up.

On the contrary.

Giroud’s goal boosted the Bayswater Chinese’s confidence.

At the very least, it showed them that Yang Cheng’s starting tactics were working.

In this situation, despite playing away from home, the Bayswater Chinese players seized control of the game.

The two teams had roughly equal possession, but whenever the Bayswater Chinese won the ball, they would launch a rapid counter-attack, using their speed. Often, two or three passes were enough to threaten the defensive line, or even the goal itself.

This style of play was causing Manchester City a lot of trouble.

They often didn’t even have time to organize a counter-press before the Bayswater Chinese counter-attack was already underway.

For example, in the 19th minute, after Walcott intercepted a pass intended for Leighton Baines in the attacking third, he feinted a through ball for the onrushing Giroud, but instead suddenly cut inside, shaking off Baines’s counter-press, and played a cross pass.

Gareth Bale, from the left side of the arc, took a long shot.

But it went just wide.

Just one minute later, after another tackle in the left channel of midfield, Marcelo played a through ball.

Gareth Bale used his speed on the left wing to muscle past Pablo Zabaleta, then drove to the left of the penalty area and chipped a pass towards the near corner of the six-yard box with his left foot.

Giroud made a quick run and headed the ball towards the far post.

The header went just wide again.

Compared to the Community Shield a week ago, the Bayswater Chinese were playing with a much more targeted approach in this match. The players’ form and the team’s overall performance on the pitch were also much better.

This meant that Manchester City had failed to create any threatening attacks since the start of the game.

Then, in the 22nd minute, another turnover near midfield.

Modrić, after shaking off Yaya Touré, passed the ball to Giroud’s feet just outside the arc.

The French centre-forward, with his back to goal, controlled the ball and turned to face the left sideline.

At that moment, the ball was on Giroud’s left foot, and the defender was shielded on his right side, completely unable to stop Giroud from playing a through ball with his left.

Gareth Bale broke free from Zabaleta, making a quick run into the left side of the penalty area. Meeting Giroud’s through ball, he didn’t take a touch, instead hitting a left-footed push shot towards the far corner.

The ball traveled in a straight line, struck the inside of the post, and rebounded back out.

Although Joe Hart didn’t save it initially, he quickly scooped the ball out from behind the goal line.

The Manchester City players all protested, claiming the ball hadn’t crossed the line.

But head referee Howard Webb, with his sharp eyes, ruled the goal valid.

2-0!

The Manchester City players began to protest, but Howard Webb reminded them that starting this season, the Premier League had officially implemented the Hawk-Eye system.

As soon as the ball crossed the line, the referee’s watch would be alerted.

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that the ball did indeed go in!”

“Just 22 minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese score again from a quick counter-attack, with Giroud assisting Gareth Bale!”

“This is already the Bayswater Chinese’s seventh shot in the first 22 minutes.”

“Meanwhile, Manchester City have only managed two shots so far.”

“It’s fair to say, based on the performance in the opening period, that the Bayswater Chinese’s starting tactics have been more successful and more targeted.”

“Guardiola’s team has certainly exposed some problems.”

“Of course, these aren’t huge issues. After all, Manchester City have just rebuilt, and this is Guardiola’s first time managing a Premier League team.”

…

After taking a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese still showed no intention of stopping.

In the 28th minute, the team created another chance.

Modrić made a quick forward run to receive a pass from Giroud but was pulled down by a tracking Pirlo.

The Manchester City midfielder was shown a yellow card.

After maintaining a high-tempo attack and intense pressing from the start, the Bayswater Chinese gradually began to slow the pace after the 30-minute mark.

After all, they were two goals up.

But at this point, Manchester City began to take the opportunity to stabilize their possession.

From the 30th minute onwards, Manchester City’s possession rate climbed rapidly.

It was clear that as the Bayswater Chinese’s pressing eased slightly, City found more space on the ball, and their possession-based passing ability was unleashed.

In the ten minutes between the 30th and 40th minute, Manchester City’s possession rate reached as high as 65 percent.

In all their years, apart from playing against Barça, the Bayswater Chinese had rarely been at such a disadvantage in terms of possession.

But in the 41st minute, Toni Kroos sent a diagonal long pass from the left to the right side of the penalty area.

Walcott made a quick run between two defenders from the right channel and, without taking a touch, crossed the ball to the front of the goal with his right foot.

Giroud, at the near post of the six-yard box, headed the ball, but it went straight at Joe Hart and was blocked by the Manchester City goalkeeper.

And just before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale also sent in a cross from the left.

But Giroud’s power shot from the arc of the penalty area went high over the bar.

Ultimately, the first half ended with the Bayswater Chinese leading by two goals.

“From the first-half performance, Bayswater Chinese created more chances, but Giroud’s ability to convert chances and his goal-scoring efficiency are indeed a far cry from Robert Lewandowski’s.”

“If it had been Lewandowski, the game probably would have been over by halftime!”

The second half began after the teams switched sides.

Manchester City still wanted to control possession, but the Bayswater Chinese seized opportunities to blitz them, launching counter-attacks at a fast pace.

Especially Giroud.

In the 51st minute of the second half, Walcott played a through ball, and Giroud’s shot from in front of the six-yard box was blocked by a flying Kompany.

Just one minute later, after a one-two pass between Gareth Bale and Giroud, Bale sent his teammate through for a one-on-one.

But the French centre-forward somehow managed to miss the target from near the penalty spot.

What could you say to that?

Yang Cheng felt an urge to tear his hair out.

If he could, he would have wanted to say to Giroud: “Come off, and let me play!”

From the flow of the game, the Bayswater Chinese were constantly creating attacking opportunities.

And they were all threatening shooting chances.

For example, in the 57th minute, another breakthrough and cross from Walcott on the right found Giroud for a header from the edge of the six-yard box, which went wide again.

Everyone could clearly see that the Bayswater Chinese’s ability to create shooting opportunities was no different from before.

It might even have been better.

The real problem was the efficiency in front of goal.

As the match reached the 60th minute, Manchester City made a substitution.

Tiago came on for Pirlo.

Manchester City’s midfield now consisted of Yaya Touré in a holding role, with Tiago and Verratti in the middle.

Then, in the 67th minute, Messi suddenly seized an opportunity. After receiving a pass from Verratti, he burst forward, dribbling past Marcelo and Javi Martínez before breaking into the right side of the penalty area.

Thiago Silva quickly closed Messi down, using his body to shield the Argentine superstar, trying to block his shot.

But Messi’s movement was too quick, and Thiago Silva’s challenge brought him down.

The Argentine superstar fell inside the penalty area.

The entire Etihad Stadium erupted in thunderous applause.

Howard Webb had a clear view and awarded a penalty.

Messi placed the ball on the spot himself, took a slow run-up, and scored with one kick, sending the ball past Courtois into the net.

2-1!

This goal completely ignited the flames of hope for Manchester City.

Afterward, the Blue Moons began to launch wave after wave of attacks.

Especially in the 72nd minute, Messi dribbled past three players, forcing his way into the box. He was simply unstoppable.

His final shot was saved by a timely rush from Courtois.

In the 78th minute, it was Messi again, dribbling into the box. This time, he received the ball in the center, suddenly burst into the left side of the area, and went down after contact with a tracking Piszczek.

But this time, Howard Webb refused to award a penalty.

Seeing Messi stealing the show, Yang Cheng immediately made adjustments, using substitutions and tactical changes to strengthen their efforts to neutralize him.

Only then did they manage to suppress Manchester City’s offensive momentum again.

In the 81st minute, a header from Gareth Bale from the left side of the six-yard box hit the crossbar and rebounded back into the box.

In the 85th minute, Modrić made a forward run, received a pull-back from Giroud, and played a through ball.

Walcott burst into the right side of the penalty area, received the ball for a one-on-one, and coolly slotted it home.

3-1!

This scoreline held until the final whistle!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 3-1 away from home, securing their first win of the new season!

Chapter 288: Three Straight Wins! The Group of Death! Chelsea’s Predicament! Remember, You Are Harry Kane

Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 3-1 away from home!

The match at the Etihad Stadium immediately sparked heated discussions among fans worldwide.

If Pep Guardiola’s 2-0 victory in the Community Shield a week ago was a step ahead, then on the true stage of the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s team proved their strength with a 3-1 win.

After the match, public opinion also leaned in favor of Bayswater Chinese.

Looking at the game as a whole, the possession stats were 57% to 43%, with Bayswater Chinese trailing by about fourteen percentage points.

However, in terms of shots, Bayswater Chinese created twenty-one attempts, while Manchester City only managed thirteen.

In its post-match summary, Sky Sports mentioned that Bayswater Chinese did an excellent job of containing Manchester City’s possession-based style.

It even stated, “Looking at European football today, no one can limit Guardiola’s possession system like Yang Cheng can, not even Mourinho.”

Yang Cheng’s containment wasn’t just about simple defending; it was about restricting the opponent while still adhering to his own playstyle, capable of going toe-to-toe with them in a direct and physical contest.

They even held an advantage in attacking statistics.

However, Sky Sports also believed that, scoreline and result aside, the match fully exposed the problems of both teams.

Bayswater Chinese only scored three goals despite having twenty-one shots.

Giroud, in particular, as the centre-forward, only scored one goal and wasted numerous chances, which was inexcusable.

“If Giroud had the scoring efficiency of Robert Lewandowski, Manchester City could very well have been thrashed by a large margin!”

“The French centre-forward wasted at least three golden opportunities!”

This echoed what all the pundits had predicted before the match: Bayswater Chinese’s biggest challenge now, following Lewandowski’s transfer, was who would step up to lead the attack.

Yang Cheng had high hopes for Gareth Bale.

The team’s tactical adjustments would take time. Gareth Bale had performed well, but was he ready to be the main man?

Sky Sports also felt that, based on the flow of the game, Bayswater Chinese’s performance was indeed impressive.

Although Giroud missed many chances, the overall performance of the front three was commendable.

After all, it was the first round of the league, and it was a clash between top teams right from the start.

This was certainly a major test.

“After the first round of the league, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule is very tight.”

“Due to the UEFA Super Cup, the third round of the league has been moved forward to the midweek between the first and second rounds.”

“For the next two league matches, Bayswater Chinese will be at home against West Ham United and Fulham, neither of whom are particularly strong opponents. This will be the biggest test of Yang Cheng’s team’s attacking firepower.”

Sky Sports believed that from the perspective of a clash between top teams, beating Manchester City 3-1 was indeed quite impressive.

But the test for Bayswater Chinese had only just begun.

The key was how to maintain a steady goal-scoring record over the long season.

Because last season, although Gareth Bale scored thirty-one goals, his goals were mostly distributed in hat-tricks and braces.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, was able to provide the team with a consistent expectation of goals.

As for Guardiola and Manchester City’s first league game, Sky Sports’ assessment was also quite positive.

Messi’s performance had shown clear improvement compared to the Community Shield a week ago.

Whether it was the dribble that won the penalty or his subsequent runs with the ball, they all showed glimpses of the flair Messi displayed in La Liga, but he still needed to further adapt to the pace of the Premier League.

“The defensive intensity of the Premier League, and the greater physical contact, will undoubtedly pose a greater challenge for Messi.”

“But both Guardiola and Messi are fully prepared.”

…

After all ten matches of the first league round were completed, the overall statistics showed a slight decline compared to last season.

For instance, the number of goals dropped from twenty-eight last season to twenty-five this season.

This indirectly proved one thing.

The competition in the Premier League was now clearly more intense.

But there was one very good phenomenon: the total attendance for the ten first-round matches increased from 345,000 last season to 370,000 this season, a very welcome change.

The Times also specifically emphasized that in the first round of last season, Bayswater Chinese had a home game.

In that match, the Prudential Stadium drew a crowd of 90,000 fans.

But this season, Bayswater Chinese played away. The Etihad Stadium was sold out, but it only held 47,000 people.

This was because the Etihad Stadium had not yet been expanded as it would be in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Under these circumstances, for the average attendance of the ten matches to still reach 37,000 was enough to prove that the appeal of the Premier League to fans was rapidly increasing.

Statistically, all ten matches were basically sell-outs.

The reason why attendance figures couldn’t go higher was the stadiums’ capacity.

For example, Arsenal drew 1-1 at home against Aston Villa this round, a minor upset.

Their home stadium was packed with 60,000 people.

Manchester United defeated Swansea City 4-1 away. The Liberty Stadium was completely full, but that was only just over 23,000 people.

Chelsea beat Hull City 2-0 at home. Even at full capacity, Stamford Bridge only held just over 41,000.

And Liverpool, thanks to a goal from Sturridge, beat Stoke City 1-0 at home. A full Anfield was 45,000.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Anfield was expanded to a capacity of over 60,000.

But now, the Saudi consortium’s intention was clearly not to expand Anfield, but to build a new stadium.

Incidentally, although a year had passed since the London Olympics, West Ham United had not yet moved into the London Bowl and continued to use Upton Park, so their capacity was also only 35,000.

It was clear from the very first round of the new season that the Premier League football market was becoming increasingly hot.

Stadium capacity had become the biggest obstacle limiting the further growth of the Premier League’s market.

Whether it was Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane, or Liverpool’s Anfield, they were all restricting their respective club’s matchday revenue.

All the teams were green with envy, especially after seeing Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal nearly double their matchday revenue after moving into new stadiums.

Chelsea had repeatedly proposed to rebuild a new stadium on the current site, but it had never been approved.

The London city government, of course, supported Chelsea’s redevelopment plans.

But the area around Stamford Bridge was all residential, and it was a residential area for veterans and military widows, which involved very sensitive land acquisition issues.

Chelsea wasn’t stubbornly fixated on Stamford Bridge either.

Over the past few years, The Blues had also considered building a new stadium elsewhere on multiple occasions.

For example, the Battersea Power Station on the south bank of the River Thames.

But that piece of land was eventually bought by a Malaysian consortium, which planned to build residential areas, office buildings, and a shopping center.

Let alone anything else, Chelsea simply couldn’t afford the land price.

According to the city’s planning, there was also a plot of land near Earls Court, north of Stamford Bridge, that had been linked with Chelsea in rumors.

But that plot of land was irregularly shaped, and a subway line passed through it.

This subway line was not underground but ran directly on the surface.

To the north of the plot was a tube depot. Building a new stadium here was basically unrealistic.

Unless they relocated the surrounding residential areas.

Doesn’t that bring them back to the same problem they face at Stamford Bridge?

The most recent hot topic was White City, on the northwest corner of Hyde Park and west of Notting Hill.

It was also a plot planned by the city government, located north of the famous Westfield Shopping Centre in London. It had convenient transportation with many tube stations, comparable to the location of the Prudential Stadium.

But the biggest problem was that the land price was extremely expensive. Opposite it was the headquarters of the BBC, and to the south was the bustling Westfield Shopping Centre in London’s West End.

One can imagine how high the price of the land would be.

They couldn’t even accept the land price of Battersea Power Station, so how could they hope to buy White City?

After going around in circles, everyone at Chelsea discovered with great frustration that they were trapped at Stamford Bridge.

Unless they moved out of the core urban area, they would likely have little chance of rebuilding.

But once they moved out, let alone finding a new site to build, even just renting Wembley Stadium had caused strong dissatisfaction among Chelsea fans. They were out of options.

Major British media outlets had repeatedly reported that Roman Abramovich deeply regretted not making the decisive move to buy the plot of land for what is now Bayswater Chinese’s stadium.

“Over the past few years, the Russian’s anger towards Pini Zahavi and his gradual distancing from the Israeli has been largely because they had the chance to buy the land for the Prudential Stadium for 10 million pounds sterling.”

“But because of Pini Zahavi’s foolishness, trying to save 5 million pounds sterling, Chelsea missed out on the most fantastical stadium in the world.”

“Now, looking back, if they had spent an extra 5 million pounds sterling 10 years ago to buy this land, today that would be nothing more than the annual rent for a single building in one of its corners.”

Whenever the media started hyping up Chelsea’s stadium problem, they would often praise Yang Cheng.

Because in 2003, it was this then-23-year-old rich kid who, after taking over the team, went against all advice and repeatedly rejected Chelsea’s acquisition offers, thus keeping what is now the Prudential Stadium.

Today, this stadium has become the foundation of Bayswater Chinese’s status as a top club!

In contrast, after missing a golden opportunity, Chelsea will probably find it very difficult to get another chance to build a new stadium!

Under these circumstances, many voices have already called for Chelsea to simply move out of London’s city center and build a new stadium in the suburbs.

But if they did that, even if they managed to placate their fans, would Chelsea still be the same Chelsea in the suburbs?

And with time, especially as other Premier League teams gradually became limited by their stadium capacities, the role played by Bayswater Chinese’s stadium grew larger and larger.

Yang Cheng’s status within the club also grew higher and higher.

Not just because of his team’s results, but also because of his decisiveness and foresight back then.

Although the team and the land for the stadium were bought by his father, Yang Jianguo.

But Yang Cheng had long since surpassed everyone, becoming the undisputed one calling the shots at the club!

…

On the evening of August 21st, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Round 3, Bayswater Chinese vs. Fulham at home.

Due to the UEFA Super Cup, the third-round Premier League matches for both Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea were moved forward to Wednesday evening of this week.

Yang Cheng also made appropriate rotations to the team’s lineup, and as a result, the first half ended 0-0.

This left the Bayswater Chinese players looking utterly frustrated as they returned to the dressing room.

Throughout the first half, they had dominated possession but couldn’t score.

They had an overwhelming advantage, but they just couldn’t seize their chances when it came to the final touch.

As the players entered the dressing room, they all walked with their heads hanging low, worried in their hearts whether they would be reprimanded by the head coach.

Especially when they came face-to-face with Yang Cheng in the dressing room, a flash of panic crossed all their faces.

But in the next moment, Yang Cheng’s words gave them a shot of reassurance.

“We played very well in the first half, I’m very satisfied!”

In the dressing room, all eleven starting players snapped their heads up, looking at the head coach in disbelief.

Very satisfied?

With a 0-0 scoreline?

“Although we didn’t break through Fulham’s goal, from the process of the game, we performed very well.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he gave the players a double thumbs-up with both hands and smiled.

“Really fantastic, keep it up in the second half!”

Only at that moment did everyone realize that the head coach wasn’t joking.

He was serious.

However, after praising the players and seeing them all sigh with relief, Yang Cheng subtly changed the subject.

“But we still exposed a lot of problems, which is why we didn’t score.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Harry.”

Yang Cheng pointed at Harry Kane.

He was in the starting lineup for this match.

“Amorebieta and Aaron Hughes are both very experienced centre-backs, and they are very strong physically.”

Although the 36-year-old Amorebieta was born in the Basque Country of Spain, played for Athletic Bilbao from a young age, and established himself early on, he chose to play for the Venezuelan national team in 2011.

Like many players from the Basque Lions, his defensive style was quite aggressive, which also made him a controversial figure.

As for Northern Irish centre-back Aaron Hughes, there was no need for introductions.

A product of Newcastle’s youth academy, he later played for Aston Villa for a long time, a typical British defender.

Although Harry Kane had a good physique, he was only twenty years old and not yet at the point where he could directly bulk up.

Therefore, in terms of physical confrontation, Harry Kane was at a disadvantage.

But as a centre-forward, he was too fixated on trying to overpower the opponents.

This caused Bayswater Chinese’s entire attack to feel disjointed.

Fulham, on the other hand, was quite well-organized in defense.

“Remember what I told you before the match, your job isn’t to suppress the opponent’s defensive line, but to drive our entire attack up front through your movement, your ball control, and your passing.”

“When you get stuck, our attack gets stuck too. That’s the crux of why we couldn’t score in the first half!”

When everyone heard this, they all turned to look at Harry Kane.

Even Harry Kane himself had an incredulous look on his face.

Before the match, and even during the summer training camp, Yang Cheng had repeatedly said that he wanted to give Harry Kane more responsibility.

He wanted him to take on more of a burden.

But it was clear that Harry Kane’s understanding of his role had deviated somewhat.

And everyone else was surprised by Yang Cheng’s on-the-spot declaration.

This almost represented the tactical importance Yang Cheng placed on Harry Kane!

The core of the attack!

“Remember, you are not Džeko, not Lewandowski, not Giroud, you are Harry Kane!”

After giving Harry Kane a big boost of encouragement, Yang Cheng turned to the other players.

He was very satisfied with the other players, including Pogba, Hazard, and Sterling.

From this game, it was clear that Fulham’s strength was far inferior to that of Bayswater Chinese.

They were playing at home, and they still had the weekend and next week’s UEFA Super Cup to think about.

That’s why Yang Cheng boldly rotated the squad.

Even the 0-0 score in the first half couldn’t shake Yang Cheng’s confidence.

“In the second half, we’ll keep playing the same way, and the key point is our centre-forward.”

“Harry, as long as you start moving, become more active, our entire attack will come alive, understand?”

Harry Kane nodded heavily in agreement.

He felt the unconditional trust from his head coach!

…

The second half began with an attack from Fulham.

After keeping a clean sheet in the first half, Martin Jol’s team started to play more positively in the second half, even looking to launch a sneak attack away from home to snatch a goal.

But just four minutes into the half, Harry Kane suddenly dropped back, controlled the ball with his back to goal, then turned and sent a through ball between Fulham’s right-back Zverotić and Aaron Hughes.

Hazard made a diagonal run into the center, and just as he controlled the ball between the two defenders, he came to an abrupt stop.

The Belgian’s sudden halt caused Fulham’s defensive line to stop as well.

But just then, Hazard suddenly exploded into motion and sent a cross pass.

Sterling burst out from the side, received the ball, and broke into the right side of the penalty spot for a one-on-one, calmly pushing the shot past the keeper and into Fulham’s goal.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“Bayswater Chinese have finally scored!”

“In the 49th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese’s young talent Sterling is the first to break through Fulham’s goal!”

“That was a truly beautiful attacking combination.”

“Harry Kane dropped deep, drew out the centre-back, and then played the through ball.”

“Hazard assists Sterling for a one-on-one goal!”

After conceding the first goal, Martin Jol quickly made his first substitution.

Swedish winger and former Liverpool player Alexander Kačaniklić replaced Costa Rican winger Bryan Ruiz.

Bryan Ruiz had excellent ball control and attacking drive on the flank, but he played too selfishly.

Both players were left-footed but played on the right wing.

But just as Fulham was making the change, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attack.

Previously, Harry Kane had orchestrated the play; this time, the English centre-forward delivered the killer pass directly.

Aaron Ramsey made a late run from deep, received a cross pass from Harry Kane, dribbled into the box, and fired a power shot into the net.

2-0!

After the two goals, Bayswater Chinese’s attack was completely revitalized.

Just three minutes later, Pogba made a late run, controlled the ball in the penalty area, and his shot was blocked by Amorebieta.

The French midfielder reacted quickly, turning in time and using his physical advantage to control the ball before pulling it back to the edge of the arc.

Nemanja Matić made a quick overlapping run and unleashed a furious long shot, which rocketed into the back of Fulham’s net.

3-0!

Within a short span of three minutes, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals.

And in the 67th minute, Pogba once again made a late run, receiving a brilliant pass from Hazard. In the box, he chipped the ball over centre-back Aaron Hughes before unleashing a powerful shot that pierced Fulham’s goal.

4-0!

In seven minutes, they had scored three goals!

Bayswater Chinese had unleashed an exhilarating offensive onslaught!

Then, in the 74th minute, Pogba received the ball on the left side just outside the box and sent a cross pass.

Harry Kane controlled the ball inside the arc with the outside of his left foot, taking it past the opposing centre-back before shooting with his left foot again.

The football flew straight into the bottom right corner of Fulham’s goal.

5-0!

Bayswater Chinese’s momentum was irresistible.

Then, in the 84th minute, it was again Harry Kane dropping back to create a chance, completing a wonderful reverse run with Aaron Ramsey.

At the edge of the penalty area, Harry Kane flicked the ball on with a backheel, and Aaron Ramsey burst into the box to slot it home with a push shot.

6-0!

The Welsh midfielder had scored a brace!

This scoreline remained until the end of the match.

Thanks to Harry Kane’s one goal and two assists, and their irresistible momentum in the second half, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Fulham 6-0 at home!

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng highly praised this group of young players from Bayswater Chinese.

Besides Harry Kane, Paul Pogba and Aaron Ramsey, who scored a brace, were also singled out for praise by Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng believed that this group of young players had shown extraordinary quality in this match.

“In the first half, we were contained by our opponent.”

“But in the second half, especially when the opponent’s stamina began to waver, our players got their chance to shine, and they seized it!”

As one of the standout players of the match, Harry Kane revealed in a post-match interview with the British media.

“The head coach’s talk during the halftime break motivated us!”

“His tactical adjustments were very targeted, and they allowed us to find our rhythm for scoring and winning right away!”

Paul Pogba also believed that Yang Cheng’s halftime adjustments were the key to the team’s victory.

And Aaron Ramsey, who was named man of the match, said after the game, “The second half was our true strength!”

At Stamford Bridge, Mourinho’s team, on the other hand, defeated Aston Villa 2-1, thanks to an own goal from the opposition and a goal from Ivanović.

…

Perhaps spurred on by the outstanding performance of the young players in the midweek match, when it came to the second round of the Premier League on the weekend, Bayswater Chinese were aggressive from the very start in their home game against West Ham United.

For this match, Yang Cheng once again fielded his starting lineup.

From the kick-off, the team held an overwhelming advantage.

But West Ham United defended with all their might.

Old rival Allardyce had made a bold statement before the match, vowing to defeat Bayswater Chinese away from home.

And for this game, The Hammers even fielded a formation with three holding midfielders.

How battered was West Ham United?

It wasn’t until the 40th minute that Stewart Downing managed their first shot of the game.

And before that, for over ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese had been virtually battering West Ham one-sidedly.

Facing the opponent’s parked bus, Bayswater Chinese’s shots were mostly from outside the box and were blocked time and again, unable to breach the defensive line.

But in the 42nd minute, Kyle Walker, who had pushed forward to attack, made a sudden diagonal run into the box, received a diagonal pass from Toni Kroos, and headed the ball back to the left side of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale surged forward and scored with a narrow-angle push shot, giving the team the opening goal.

1-0!

After the break, just two minutes into the second half, Modrić delivered a free kick from the left. Pepe headed it in from the left side of the six-yard box, scoring another goal for the team.

2-0!

After that, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks.

In the 66th minute, from a corner kick opportunity, Pepe flicked the ball on with a header at the far post, and Thiago Silva redirected it into the goal from the edge of the six-yard box. 3-0!

West Ham United’s defeat was like a landslide!

The Hammers came very close to scoring in the 71st minute, but Courtois made a valiant save to keep a clean sheet.

Then, in the 81st minute, Theo Walcott delivered a precise cross from the right wing. Gareth Bale made a diagonal run into the center and scored with a close-range header, completing his brace.

4-0!

Anyone could see that Bayswater Chinese’s attack was now unstoppable.

In the 82nd minute, West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan was shown a straight red card for an elbow foul while defending against Toni Kroos.

After a brief recovery on the pitch, the German midfielder, in the 84th minute, played a brilliant through ball with a feint, sending it into the left side of the box. Gareth Bale dashed forward and scored with a left-footed power shot to the far corner.

This was the Welshman’s favorite scoring zone!

Hat-trick!

5-0!

Gareth Bale ran to the sideline for the third time, making his signature heart-shaped celebration gesture for the live camera!

Bayswater Chinese even had another chance in the 89th minute.

Substitute De Bruyne sent a sublime diagonal pass.

After storming into the left side of the box, Gareth Bale crossed it to the right.

But Walcott’s timing on his run was off by just a fraction, and he missed the shooting opportunity right in front of the post.

The Little Tiger’s sliding shot sent his entire body into the goal, but the ball just grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

Walcott pounded the ground with both hands in frustration.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed West Ham United 5-0 at home!

…

Two consecutive big home wins, and clean sheets at that!

This immediately showed everyone the strength of Bayswater Chinese.

If the midweek game, fielded by the youngsters, saw goals coming from all over the pitch, then the weekend game, with Gareth Bale’s hat-trick and goals from two centre-backs, still exposed some issues with the team.

The attack up front was still lacking a little something.

But everyone admitted that Bayswater Chinese was getting into their groove.

“Yang Cheng’s team is shaking off the shadow of Lewandowski!”

How so?

Compared to the first three matches of last season, this season they had scored fourteen goals and conceded only one.

And last season?

They scored thirteen goals and conceded three.

At first glance, it might seem like the defense had only improved slightly.

But a deeper look immediately revealed the difference.

Last season’s first three rounds were two wins and one draw, but this season it was three straight wins.

More importantly, last season’s thirteen goals came from six players.

This season’s fourteen goals came from ten players; goals were coming from all over the pitch.

This also highlighted some differences.

As the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng knew very well that such a comparison wasn’t objective.

Lewandowski’s departure had made the team’s goal-scoring more spread out, which could be a good thing, but also a bad thing.

It could reduce the team’s reliance on a single player, but on the other hand, in clashes between top teams, lacking an absolute strong point wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

It was like the first-round match against Manchester City, where the team missed many scoring opportunities.

But in the subsequent matches against mid-to-lower table teams like Fulham and West Ham United, the team capitalized on their chances.

In any case, securing three consecutive victories was a good thing for the team.

The other nine matches were over, and the results were in.

After a surprising draw against Aston Villa at home in the first round, Arsenal defeated Fulham 3-1 away.

Yang Cheng felt that Wenger should thank him for this match.

At the very least, he had exhausted Fulham midweek, causing The Cottagers to be unable to stop Arsenal’s attack on the weekend.

All three goals were scored in the first half.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated Aston Villa 1-0 away thanks to a goal from Sturridge.

Manchester City thrashed Cardiff 4-0 away.

But in this round, Manchester United drew 0-0 at home with Chelsea.

After the match, Mourinho blamed the failure to win away at Manchester United on having two games a week.

The general consensus from the British media about this match was: boring!

Even the Daily Mail, which is close to Chelsea, was unsparing in its post-match review, calling it a disappointing clash between top teams.

“A highly anticipated showdown, Mourinho’s first away challenge against Ferguson since his return to the Premier League, delivered a disappointing result.”

“For Premier League fans, this match was an utter failure!”

“This battle made Old Trafford stink!”

The reason it was so heavily criticized was that Manchester United had some defensive issues, but Mourinho’s team was more focused on how to defend and didn’t dare to commit men to the attack.

Sky Sports even described it as, “Whether it was Manchester United or Chelsea, whenever the opponent had the ball in midfield, they would choose to pack themselves tightly near the box, trying every means to kill all space.”

“Manchester United’s Evra barely pushed up to assist as he usually does, and Rooney often dropped back to defend at the edge of the box.”

“Chelsea’s two full-backs, Ashley Cole and Ivanović, no longer pressed forward, and Lampard and Ramires stayed firmly in front of the defensive line.”

Relatively speaking, Manchester United was a bit more proactive.

But after being hit by a few Chelsea counter-attacks early on, Ferguson also pulled his team back.

The Times was even more direct, stating that in this season’s Premier League, six teams had the quality to challenge for the title, and they would be competing for four Champions League spots.

Each team’s strategy was markedly different.

Both Manchester United and Chelsea prioritized “not losing” above all else.

Minimize mistakes, wait for the opponent to make a mistake—that was their match strategy!

But both Ferguson and Mourinho blamed the other, claiming it was the opponent’s conservative approach that led to the dull draw.

…

After playing the second round of the Premier League on the 25th, Bayswater Chinese rested in London for three days. On the afternoon of the 29th, they took a private jet from London to Prague, Czech Republic.

This year’s UEFA Super Cup was not held at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, but was moved to the Eden Arena in the Czech capital, Prague.

So, after arriving in Prague at noon and checking into their pre-booked hotel, Bayswater Chinese went to the Eden Arena in the afternoon for a familiarization training session.

Chelsea’s schedule was pretty much the same.

In the evening, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff watched the Champions League group stage draw and the subsequent award ceremony in their hotel room.

Bayswater Chinese was represented at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco by CEO Adam Crozier.

Before the draw, the 32 teams participating in the group stage had already been divided into four pots based on their European competition coefficient points.

The entire Champions League group stage draw ceremony was hosted by UEFA General Secretary Infantino and Director of Competitions Marchetti.

This season’s Champions League final will be held at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, so before the draw, the legendary captain McNeill, who helped Benfica win the Champions League, appeared holding the Big Ears Cup.

Figo, the ambassador for the final’s host city, also appeared.

During the subsequent draw, Figo would be the guest responsible for drawing the groups for the teams.

McNeill was responsible for drawing the teams from Pot 1.

As the defending champions, and with their outstanding European record over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese was in Pot 1 as a seeded team.

Moreover, they were the first to be drawn by McNeill, and Figo drew them into Group A.

This was indeed something new.

The defending champions being drawn first and then placed in Group A was truly rare.

But the subsequent draw didn’t seem so promising.

There were many strong teams in Pot 2, such as Atlético Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, as well as AC Milan and Juventus, all of whom were formidable sides.

The strongest among them was probably Simeone’s Atlético Madrid.

And the guest responsible for drawing the teams changed from McNeill to Barça godfather Cruyff.

But coincidentally, the first team Cruyff drew was AC Milan, and even more interestingly, the group Figo drew for AC Milan was also Group A.

The Rossoneri were placed in the same group as Bayswater Chinese.

“It’s no big deal, we’re not afraid of AC Milan!” Yang Cheng still felt everything was normal at this point.

At the very least, their luck was decent enough, they had avoided Atlético Madrid, hadn’t they?

The guest for the Pot 3 draw was Michael Owen.

There were also many strong teams in this pot.

Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and OGC Nice were all teams from the top five leagues.

Among them, OGC Nice had been a Champions League semi-finalist last season.

Other teams like Ajax, Zenit, and Galatasaray were no pushovers either.

Due to the country protection rule, Manchester City could not be drawn into this group.

But this time, the first team Owen drew was ‘The Company’s Eleven’, Bayer Leverkusen.

Figo was in charge of drawing the group.

As he reached into the bowl to pick a ball, Figo made a joke, saying he hoped it wouldn’t be Group A this time.

“Otherwise, tomorrow morning, everyone will definitely say there’s something fishy going on!”

The venue erupted in laughter.

But to everyone’s surprise, when the small ball was opened, Group A appeared once again!

For the first three pots, the first team drawn was placed in Group A.

This was just outrageous!

However, up to this point, Yang Cheng and the others still felt alright.

“We avoided the strongest team in Pot 3, Borussia Dortmund, so our luck is still okay!” Yang Cheng commented with a smile.

Brian Kidd looked at Pot 4.

“According to the country protection rule, since we drew AC Milan from Pot 2, we avoid Naples from Pot 4.”

“Among the remaining seven teams, apart from Real Sociedad, there are no teams from the top five leagues, nor from Portugal, the Netherlands, Russia, or Ukraine. They shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with!”

“One out of seven, we can’t be that unlucky, can we?”

Everyone laughed.

The probability was indeed quite low.

The guest for the Pot 4 draw was Portuguese legend Paulo Sousa.

This time, the first team he drew was Copenhagen, but Figo didn’t draw Group A.

Yang Cheng and the others were a bit disappointed.

Subsequently, the Pot 4 teams were drawn one by one, but Group A never appeared.

Everyone’s hearts began to pound.

Especially after seeing teams like Celtic, Steaua București, Viktoria Plzeň, and Austria Wien being drawn into other groups one by one, everyone became truly nervous.

On the sixth draw, Paulo Sousa drew Anderlecht.

“Last chance!” Brian Kidd’s hands were already clenched into tight fists.

“If it’s not Group A this time, I’ll seriously suspect there’s something fishy going on!” Gianni Vio was also getting annoyed.

The probability was too low.

In the draws for the first three pots, all the first picks went to Group A.

But now, Pot 4 still hadn’t produced a Group A draw, which was a bit absurd.

Only three teams were left: Anderlecht, S.S.C. Napoli, and Real Sociedad.

Now that Anderlecht was drawn, if it wasn’t Group A, wouldn’t that mean Bayswater Chinese would get Real Sociedad?

Because S.S.C. Napoli couldn’t be drawn against Bayswater Chinese!

Figo looked a bit embarrassed at this moment, repeatedly stating that he wasn’t doing it on purpose and that the balls were drawn randomly.

But as it turned out, Anderlecht was drawn into Group C.

The whole place was in an uproar.

The TV broadcast even gave Adam Crozier a big close-up.

The Bayswater Chinese CEO seemed to have anticipated the camera finding him, as he wore a smile.

Yang Cheng and the others all sighed.

“This must be a trick! A setup! There must be a setup!” Brian Kidd exclaimed.

There was no need to even choose for the last two teams.

After S.S.C. Napoli was drawn, the Group A ball was removed, leaving only Group F.

The last team, Real Sociedad, was naturally drawn into Group A.

After all 32 teams were drawn, the four teams in Group A were Bayswater Chinese, AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Sociedad.

A single group had gathered teams from the four major leagues!

Looking at all eight groups of the Champions League group stage, Group A had the smallest gap in strength and the most intense competition.

Needless to say, Bayswater Chinese was in a league of its own in terms of strength.

But AC Milan was third in Serie A last season, Bayer Leverkusen was third in the Bundesliga last season, and Real Sociedad was fourth in La Liga last season.

This meant that the remaining three teams were all fully capable of challenging Bayswater Chinese.

Yes, individually, Yang Cheng’s team was the strongest.

But so what?

They would have to play in the Premier League and then the Champions League midweek, with opponents of such high caliber. This would be a huge challenge for Bayswater Chinese.

A single slip-up could lead to an unexpected defeat.

Therefore, calling it the group of death was no exaggeration at all.

After hearing Brian Kidd’s complaint, Yang Cheng smiled and comforted him, “At least we don’t have to go play in Ukraine, Russia, or Northern Europe in freezing weather, and we don’t have to travel a long way to Turkey. It’s quite good.”

That was indeed true!

But having teams from the four major leagues in one Champions League group was still a headache.

Yang Cheng certainly wouldn’t say that in his previous life, AC Milan had a terrible season this year.

Real Sociedad’s performance also declined sharply.

Only Bayer Leverkusen remained relatively consistent.

So, from a strength perspective, Bayswater Chinese should have no major problem finishing top of the group.

The real challenge was fighting on two fronts.

But he wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.

Because everything had changed now, and he wasn’t sure if these things would still happen.

And in the subsequent UEFA Best Player in Europe award ceremony, the result of the first round of voting, in no particular order, revealed the top three players to be Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Lewandowski.

Yang Cheng really wanted to curse Platini, Fuck you!

The moment Lewandowski left the Premier League, he immediately made it into the top three!

Of course, if one really wanted to argue the point, they had a valid case.

Last season’s double champion of the Premier League and Champions League, with 42 goals in the Premier League. Was he not deserving?

In the first round of voting, Gareth Bale ranked fourth with 57 points, just narrowly missing out on the top three.

This also left Yang Cheng speechless.

And in the second round of voting conducted live, when the results came out, Lewandowski was elected this year’s UEFA Best Player in Europe with a high vote of 36!

Messi only received 13 votes.

C. Ronaldo only got 3.

Barring any surprises, this was likely the ranking of the top three from the first round of voting as well.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng really wanted to curse UEFA a few more times.

Incidentally, neither Messi nor C. Ronaldo came to Monaco to receive the award, even though they knew beforehand they were in the top three.

In his acceptance speech, Lewandowski made a special mention of Yang Cheng, Bayswater Chinese, and his teammates.

He expressed his gratitude to everyone.

Yang Cheng was very curious to see if the upcoming FIFA Ballon d’Or would follow the same ranking.

Chapter 289: The Siege of Bayswater! Yang Cheng’s Clapback! The Special One: We Will Absolutely Not Play Defensively!

The grand event at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco immediately sparked heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

The general consensus, from both the media and the fans, was one of approval for Robert Lewandowski beating Messi and C. Ronaldo to win last season’s UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

The Spanish media were also very excited.

The Catalonian media, in particular, believed that signing Lewandowski was a very shrewd decision by Barça’s upper management.

Many media outlets even kicked Messi while he was down, suggesting that his transfer to the Premier League would be the beginning of his career’s decline.

Reactions to the Champions League group stage draw were also varied.

In truth, there was one channel that best reflected the outside world’s view of the draw.

Immediately after the draw concluded, twelve of the world’s top betting companies, including Bwin and William Hill, updated their odds for the new season’s Champions League winners.

As the two-time defending champions, Bayswater Chinese saw their ranking drop from third to fourth right after the draw results were announced.

The top spot was occupied by Barça.

Although Barça had suffered a crushing defeat last season and lost Messi this season, the arrival of Robert Lewandowski brought Luis Enrique’s team a great deal of attention.

They were ranked first in the odds offered by the twelve major betting companies.

Real Madrid’s odds were actually on par with Barça’s, but they were ranked second.

This led many to believe that while the La Liga’s big two might have their ups and downs in terms of results, their squads and team configurations were still the strongest in world football.

Bayswater Chinese had originally been in third place.

The reason was simple.

Despite selling Lewandowski and not making a direct replacement, Bayswater Chinese remained one of the most powerful teams in world football.

Moreover, head coach Yang Cheng had been in charge for many years with a stellar record, and everyone believed Bayswater Chinese were still extremely competitive.

But after the group stage draw, their odds immediately slipped to fourth.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City took their place.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City had a very favorable draw. Combined with the signings of stars like Messi, Jesús Navas, Fernandinho, and Jovetić, their squad was now strong enough to challenge the La Liga’s big two.

The arrival of head coach Pep Guardiola further raised Manchester City’s ceiling.

Furthermore, the Blue Moons had a great group stage draw, and qualification was almost a certainty.

Following them were Manchester United in fifth, Arsenal in sixth, Bayern Munich in seventh, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund in eighth and ninth respectively, and the tenth spot went to Serie A’s Juventus.

But the Zebras’ odds of winning were already over thirty to one, some even over forty.

Of course, in Yang Cheng’s view, this was all rather unreliable.

For example, Simeone’s Atlético Madrid had odds as high as 67 to 1.

The betting companies’ odds were based on fans’ wagers.

And fans tended to bet based on who had the stronger squad and greater ability.

But on the football pitch, victory was never decided by squad lineups alone.

After the draw ceremony, Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier admitted in an interview with the media.

“Compared to Manchester City, Manchester United, and Arsenal, our luck was indeed a bit worse.”

But Adam Crozier revealed that no Champions League match is easy.

“We’re in the most balanced group, so the matches will be very difficult, there’s no doubt about that.”

“But for us, it’s a very interesting challenge.”

Just a challenge?

“Over the past few years, we’ve proven time and again that in the Champions League, after every draw, it’s our opponents who end up with the bigger headache, or even despair!”

As for the group of death group stage, Adam Crozier said, “We will work hard together with our followers all over the world!”

“I think we need to establish an advantage as soon as possible!”

The implication was to secure as many wins as possible, quickly.

The media across Europe also turned their attention to this group of death.

With teams from the four major leagues gathered, the media in Italy, Germany, and Spain generally believed this was a planned encirclement of the Premier League.

A siege on Bayswater Chinese!

This was a very difficult challenge, “because they are a team with an extremely high competitive level, very rich European experience, and they play very beautiful football.”

“More importantly, we’ve won the Champions League for two consecutive seasons!”

But whether in Italy, Spain, or Germany, there were calls for AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Sociedad to do everything in their power to upset Bayswater Chinese.

Many media outlets, when analyzing Bayswater Chinese, invariably mentioned one point.

“I think Yang Cheng still needs to sign a quality forward before the summer transfer window closes to fill the void left by Lewandowski!”

Coincidentally, as their opponent in the UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea’s head coach Mourinho also mentioned this in an interview.

“I believe the departure of Lewandowski is a fatal blow to Bayswater Chinese!”

“What our neighbors can achieve this season will largely depend on their actions in the final two days of the transfer market!”

Regarding the upcoming UEFA Super Cup, Mourinho also believed Chelsea’s biggest advantage was their forward line.

“We have the world’s finest attack with Falcao, Eto’o, André Schürrle, and William. Our midfield has Oscar, Sneijder, Ramires, and Lampard—all world-class players.”

“Additionally, we have a powerful centre-forward like Lukaku on the bench.”

Mourinho believed that the match in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, would be a contest between the two teams’ forward strengths.

“We will adopt a more proactive and aggressive tactic to establish an advantage in the match as quickly as possible!”

The Portuguese Special One’s subtext was clear: we will not play defensively!

Absolutely not!

…

On the evening of August 30th, at the Eden Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

The UEFA Super Cup: Bayswater Chinese versus Chelsea.

In the dressing room before the match, when Yang Cheng received Chelsea’s starting lineup, his first reaction was to laugh.

“See, I told you. You can’t believe a single letter of what that bastard Mourinho says before a match. Just treat it as him farting!”

Chelsea’s starting lineup for this match was Mourinho’s classic 4-2-3-1.

Yes, Mourinho had now transitioned from his previous 4-3-3 to a more balanced 4-2-3-1.

This was a change he had adopted during his time coaching Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, Terry, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Ramires and Lampard formed the double pivot, with André Schürrle, Oscar, and Eto’o in front of them;

Forward: Falcao.

On the bench sat players like Essien, Mikel, Sneijder, and Lukaku.

Crucially, in the number ten role, Mourinho had opted for the younger Oscar over Sneijder.

But at centre-back, captain Terry started, while Benatia was left on the bench.

To some extent, this also reflected Mourinho’s cautious attitude.

The backline could not afford to make any mistakes!

Yang Cheng also fielded his strongest available players for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Why Hazard instead of Theo Walcott?

Because Yang Cheng was certain from the beginning that Mourinho would play a defend and counter-attack style.

In that situation, there would be very little space for Walcott and Gareth Bale to run into and exploit.

Breaking down a packed defense would be more important.

Under these circumstances, Hazard’s dribbling and ability to break through could play a more crucial role.

At the very least, it would create more opportunities for attacking free-kicks, wouldn’t it?

“This guy is invincible at trash talk, but he’s insecure inside!” Yang Cheng saw right through Mourinho.

Chelsea’s current lineup wasn’t very Mourinho-like at all!

What did that mean?

The Portuguese Special One wasn’t good at managing a team like this.

Looking at Mourinho’s tactics, a centre-forward was essential.

But in the current Chelsea squad, was there a powerful centre-forward?

Falcao was an efficient goalscorer, not a tactical centre-forward.

Neither was Eto’o.

Lukaku?

Every time he saw the name of this “king of standing still like a post,” Yang Cheng couldn’t help but picture Lautaro Martínez.

The 1.74-meter Lautaro Martínez, alongside the 1.91-meter Lukaku, formed a dynamic duo on Inter Milan’s front line that was in a league of their own.

It was just too comical!

This was enough to prove that the king of standing still like a post was not the powerhouse striker Mourinho envisioned.

So, after looking at Chelsea’s starting lineup, Yang Cheng immediately smiled and walked towards his players.

He clapped his hands loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

Then, Yang Cheng calmly stood before his players.

“Tonight’s European Super Cup has only one test for us.”

Everyone looked up, focusing on the head coach, waiting for the answer.

“Attack!”

…

7:44 PM.

Mourinho stood in front of the away team’s dugout at Eden Arena.

He had specifically worn his lucky dark blue suit and a striped tie today, hoping the match would bring him good fortune.

Just like four days ago at Old Trafford, when he came away with a 0-0 draw.

With the game yet to start, Mourinho turned his head and glanced at Yang Cheng in front of the home team’s dugout.

A white shirt, black trousers, and gleaming leather shoes—this had become Yang Cheng’s signature look.

And it was all designer brands!

It was said that everything on Yang Cheng, including his watch, was sponsored, and he was raking in sponsorship fees.

The cuffs of his sleeves were casually rolled up to his elbows. He wore a watch on his left wrist, a lucky bracelet on his right, and a couple’s ring on his middle finger.

A reporter had previously snapped photos of him hugging and kissing the female financial officer of Bayswater Chinese on the streets of London, a public display of affection. They were both wearing matching bracelets and rings. It was sickeningly sweet!

At this moment, Mourinho looked over and happened to see Yang’s right hand, and couldn’t help but curse inwardly, “Show-off!”

But he quickly turned his gaze back to the pitch.

The Swedish head referee, Jonas Eriksson, was ready to kick off the match.

This made Mourinho a little nervous.

No matter how loudly he shouted or how tough he sounded, Mourinho knew Chelsea’s true strength.

For this match, the Blues’ strategy was to defend and counter-attack.

On the pitch, Chelsea’s players were all poised and ready.

When the head referee blew his whistle, the trident of Falcao, André Schürrle, and Eto’o immediately dashed across the halfway line, charging into Bayswater Chinese territory.

Bayswater Chinese, who kicked off, immediately passed the ball to Javi Martínez.

But in the blink of an eye, Chelsea had already swarmed them.

As a Premier League team, Bayswater Chinese were accustomed to this kind of aggressive pressing from their opponents.

After a series of one-touch passes, Chelsea failed to win the ball.

But Bayswater Chinese’s first attacking attempt also failed to pose a threat.

Giroud tried to get on the end of a long ball, but Terry beat him to it with a headed clearance.

Just one minute and thirty seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese strung together a series of passes, moving the ball to the right flank.

Piszczek made a quick forward run, crossed the halfway line, and passed to Modrić, who then played it forward to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman controlled the ball and cut inside toward the middle.

The Blues’ defense was very tight.

Gareth Bale had no opening, so he passed back to Modrić.

The Croatian then distributed it back to the right wing.

Right in the space that Gareth Bale had just vacated by cutting inside, Piszczek made an overlapping run, received the ball, took a touch forward, looked up, and delivered a diagonal cross with his right foot.

Giroud made a quick run into the center. Sandwiched between Gary Cahill and Terry, he managed to get to the ball but his forced header went wide.

Eden Arena wasn’t large, with just over seventeen thousand fans.

At this moment, they all sighed in disappointment at Giroud’s header but still offered applause.

As Giroud walked back, he gave Piszczek a thumbs-up from a distance.

Mourinho, on the sideline, saw this and quickly walked to the edge of the technical area, clapping vigorously and shouting encouragement to his players, indicating that they had defended well.

But soon, Bayswater Chinese organized another attack.

Yang Cheng’s teams were known for their opening blitz.

Mourinho had anticipated this scenario.

In the 5th minute, Hazard received the ball on the left, suddenly accelerated, shook off Ivanović, and as he cut inside, he unleashed a power shot just before Lampard could close him down.

The Belgian winger’s long shot from outside the box was somewhat unexpected, but it still went wide.

Less than two minutes later, Giroud suddenly appeared at the right corner of the penalty area. After winning the ball in the air, he headed it down to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman trapped it with his chest, then chipped a pass with his left foot directly to the left side of Chelsea’s penalty area.

Hazard made a quick forward run and hit a volley, but he failed to connect cleanly, and the ball went wide of the byline.

Mourinho glanced across at the opposing dugout and saw Yang Cheng applauding, while also making a hand gesture with his right hand that seemed to be instructing his forward players to switch positions.

This made Mourinho feel a pang of frustration.

Lewandowski’s departure had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

But what followed was a tactical shift from Yang Cheng.

From the past few games, the positions of Giroud and Harry Kane were no longer fixed.

Previously, Lewandowski always had to be a threat to the goal.

But now?

Neither Giroud nor Harry Kane needed to be.

After giving up one focal point of attack, their offense could become more fluid.

Therefore, the positions of Giroud and Harry Kane became more unpredictable.

Mourinho immediately walked to the sideline and shouted for Terry, signaling him to pay close attention to the movements of Bayswater Chinese’s attacking players, not to be led by the nose and leave someone unmarked!

The very experienced Terry nodded emphatically.

In the 9th minute, Giroud dropped back to receive the ball and played a through ball for Gareth Bale.

But Čech came out in time and collected the ball before Gareth Bale could reach it.

Later, Giroud himself had a long shot, but it was blocked by Cahill and didn’t threaten the goal.

In the 17th minute, Hazard dropped deep into the left channel to receive the ball, then suddenly took off, dribbling past Lampard and driving forward before playing a through ball to the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a diagonal run from the right of the arc to the left of the penalty spot, received the ball, and shot. However, he was disturbed by the timely tracking back of Terry, and his shot was parried away by a diving Čech.

Just three minutes later, Hazard’s dribble through the center drew a foul from Ramires, who was shown a yellow card by the head referee. This also gave Bayswater Chinese an attacking free-kick.

Unfortunately, Gareth Bale’s free kick hit the wall.

It wasn’t until the 23rd minute that Chelsea managed their first shot of the match.

During a counter-attack, Oscar played a through ball.

Falcao broke into the right side of the box, but under pressure from Thiago Silva, his shot went wide.

This was also Chelsea’s first shot of the entire game.

Mourinho clapped forcefully, shouting praise for his players.

“Well done, stay patient, don’t rush, keep playing like this!”

But as he walked back to the dugout, Mourinho cursed under his breath.

“Thiago Silva is a fucking pain in the ass!”

His assistants all nodded in agreement.

The Brazilian was clearly behind Falcao, yet after accelerating, he somehow caught up.

Thiago Silva wasn’t exceptionally fast, but his ability to turn and track back was excellent.

Most importantly, his reading of the play and restriction of the opponent’s path were superb.

It was obvious that as he tracked back, Falcao’s dribbling became awkward.

Because his path was being encroached upon.

Moreover, Thiago Silva and Courtois had a great understanding.

Courtois also had complete faith in Thiago Silva. After the Brazilian recovered, the keeper completely ignored Falcao’s right foot, positioning himself more centrally, clearly to counter a shot with Falcao’s left foot.

And it proved to be the right decision. With his right foot and shooting angle restricted, Falcao could only aim for the far corner, and in his haste, he missed.

But Mourinho wondered, if it had been Drogba on that counter-attack, he could have just used his body to muscle Thiago Silva out of the way—that was the Brazilian centre-back’s biggest weakness.

Unfortunately, even if the current Drogba were to return, he wouldn’t be able to do that anymore.

…

As the match entered the 30-minute mark, the general flow of the game remained unchanged.

Bayswater Chinese still held the initiative.

Chelsea, on the other hand, had adopted a tactic of defending with all their might.

In the first thirty minutes, aside from that one shot, Chelsea had hardly threatened the goal guarded by Courtois.

This largely confirmed what Yang Cheng had told his players in the dressing room before the match.

The biggest test for Bayswater Chinese in this game was their attack.

And just in the 31st minute, when Chelsea won the ball in midfield and passed it to Oscar to launch an attack, Modrić suddenly dropped back and successfully tackled the ball away from behind.

Javi Martínez suddenly surged forward, beat Oscar to the ball, and passed it to Hazard in the left channel.

The Belgian controlled the ball and turned. Under pressure from a pulling Lampard, he started to run, charging forward.

After shaking off Lampard, Hazard continued to dribble forward.

Upfront, Giroud and Gareth Bale also immediately surged forward.

But Ramires quickly closed in, pressuring Hazard and preventing the Belgian from linking up with Gareth Bale in the right channel.

Terry, who was marking him head-on, stood firmly in front of Hazard.

With boldness born from supreme skill, the Belgian had immense confidence in his dribbling. He recklessly charged forward.

He dribbled all the way from the halfway line, broke into Chelsea’s 30-meter area, and reached the edge of the penalty box.

Ramires already had a yellow card, so he didn’t dare make a move.

Seeing that Hazard was about to threaten the penalty area with the ball, Terry finally couldn’t take it anymore and decided to press high.

At almost the same moment, Hazard saw Giroud making a run, and after a quick feint, he passed the ball with his left foot.

The football curved past Terry’s left side and landed at the left corner of Chelsea’s penalty area.

Almost simultaneously, Giroud made a quick diagonal run behind Terry, catching up to Hazard’s pass near the left corner of the box.

After controlling the ball, Giroud turned and saw that Cahill had followed him, while Terry wanted to drop back into the penalty area to defend.

Giroud, with the ball at the left corner of the penalty area and facing Cahill, suddenly pushed the ball towards the byline and accelerated after it.

Having created just a bit of space, he immediately sent a low cross with his left foot.

The ball zipped past Cahill and headed towards the penalty spot.

As this was a fast break, the forward runs by Bayswater Chinese, especially Gareth Bale’s, put immense pressure on defenders like Ashley Cole and Ramires.

At this moment, Ashley Cole had already rushed to the edge of the six-yard box.

Because he didn’t know when or where Giroud would cross.

Gareth Bale, on the other hand, had started running across as soon as he saw Giroud about to cross.

The left-footed Gareth Bale arrived at the penalty spot just as Giroud’s pass came in from the left side of the box.

Without taking a touch, the Welshman unleashed a power shot with his left foot.

The ball shot like a cannonball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Čech had been performing brilliantly in this match, but after Giroud’s cross, he had to move laterally.

When Gareth Bale then shot back towards the bottom left, the Czech goalkeeper had no chance of stopping it.

The ball hit the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 31st minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese have finally broken through Chelsea’s goal!”

“A left-footed power shot from Gareth Bale, from a cross by Giroud on the left!”

“Bayswater Chinese executed this fast counter-attack beautifully!”

“From Hazard’s dribbling run, to Giroud pulling wide for the cross, and then Gareth Bale running into the center to get on the end of it—we’re seeing the changes in the attacking combinations of Bayswater Chinese’s front three!”

“Chelsea’s defenders were pulled out of position again and again, finally leaving a gap in the middle. No one picked up Gareth Bale in time, giving the Welshman a chance for a calm power shot!”

“1-0!”

…

After the goal, the deadlock was broken.

Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage.

Chelsea’s problems were soon exposed again.

It was another breakthrough by Hazard after dropping back into the left channel to receive the ball. Just like before, Giroud pulled out to the wing, received a pass from Hazard, and crossed from the byline to the center.

This time, however, Cahill managed to block Gareth Bale in time.

The Welshman controlled the ball to the right of the penalty spot, moved toward the center to shake off Cahill, took another step, and shot with his left foot.

Faced with a power shot from near the penalty spot at a sharp angle, a well-prepared Čech reacted with lightning speed, diving to his side and blocking the ball with one hand.

The entire Eden Arena erupted in thunderous cheers!

“That was a crucial save from Čech!”

“You could even call it a miracle save!”

“In less than three minutes, Bayswater Chinese have used the exact same attacking scheme twice.”

“Chelsea’s defense is facing a huge challenge.”

The last attack of the first half was a brilliant piece of combination play from Bayswater Chinese on the right.

Piszczek, Gareth Bale, Modrić, and Giroud tore through Chelsea’s defense with a series of one-touch passes.

Giroud controlled the ball and turned at the right of the arc, then passed it to the left corner of the box.

Hazard received the ball at the left corner of the penalty area, moved toward the center, cut inside past Ivanović, and suddenly curled a shot with his right foot.

It went just a little too high.

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s final attack of the first half.

Although their continuous attacks failed to breach Chelsea’s goal again, they had severely dampened Mourinho’s spirit.

At the very least, it made the Portuguese Special One clearly feel the gap in quality between the two teams.

Even without Lewandowski, Bayswater Chinese were still a class above Chelsea.

Bayswater Chinese’s relentless wave of attacks left Chelsea almost breathless.

But in the end, the first half ended 1-0.

Just as everyone was breathing a quiet sigh of relief for Chelsea, thinking the Blues should use the halftime break to adjust their tactics for the second half, Bayswater Chinese delivered a stunning blow right at the start.

Less than a minute into the second half, Bayswater Chinese won the ball back.

After winning possession, the team immediately launched a quick counter-attack.

But this time, Chelsea was prepared.

Bayswater Chinese’s quick counter failed, and they were forced to pass back and regroup.

Chelsea seized the opportunity to press forward, trying to win the ball near the halfway line.

The ball was passed back again and again, landing at the feet of centre-back Pepe.

Chelsea continued to press forward.

Pepe passed it across to Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian centre-back then distributed it to Marcelo.

Marcelo advanced with the ball along the left flank and played a through ball.

Hazard made a quick run forward, getting to Marcelo’s through ball just outside the left side of the penalty area before Ivanović.

Upon controlling the ball, Hazard immediately slowed down, dribbling inside towards the left side of the penalty area.

Ivanović desperately tracked back, almost overrunning the play.

By the time Ivanović regained his balance and turned to chase, Terry was already in position on the left side of the box.

Hazard kept the ball under control, running swiftly, then suddenly accelerated, taking the ball past Terry near the penalty area line.

After creating a sliver of space, Hazard unleashed an unexpected long shot, a right-footed power shot.

This shot wasn’t a curling effort towards the far corner like in the first half, but a low drive that sped into the near corner of the goal.

Čech clearly hadn’t expected Terry to let Hazard get a shot off so easily.

By the time he reacted and stuck out a foot to block it, the ball had already zipped past him and into the net behind.

The entire stadium once again erupted in thunderous cheers.

Čech angrily slammed the turf, got up, and roared at Terry and Ivanović.

Two men were covering the left side, how could they let Hazard cut inside and shoot so easily?

This match was being held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

As the Czech national team’s number one, Čech desperately wanted to put on his best performance in front of his home country’s fans.

Throughout the first half, he had made several fantastic saves, high and low.

But unexpectedly, his goal was breached time and again.

He had truly given his all!

But Chelsea’s defense was just not good enough anymore!

Almost everyone could feel that Chelsea’s biggest problem wasn’t in their defense, but in their midfield.

Especially the holding midfield position.

Lampard and Ramires were simply unable to provide a protective shield for Chelsea’s midfield.

The English midfielder was already 35 years old.

How much longer could he keep this up?

How much of his form could he maintain?

…

Conceding a goal just two minutes into the second half was a huge blow to Chelsea.

Being two goals down forced Chelsea to adopt a more proactive and aggressive strategy.

But now, Yang Cheng turned the tables, first solidifying his own defense, allowing Chelsea to push forward, and then hitting them on the counter-attack.

The Blues’ most threatening attack came in the 64th minute.

But after Oscar’s long shot was calmly saved by Courtois, Falcao’s close-range follow-up was blocked by Pepe’s body.

Falcao protested that the ball had hit Pepe’s arm.

But head referee Eriksson refused to award a penalty.

The reason was that when Pepe blocked the ball, his arm was tucked against his body, not extended.

Starting from the 65th minute, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative again, launching relentless attacks.

This led to a very dramatic scene.

Up to this point in the match, only Ramires had received a yellow card.

But from the 65th minute onwards, Chelsea’s midfield and defensive players started getting booked in turns.

First, Gary Cahill was booked for a foul on Gareth Bale.

Then Terry, followed by Falcao.

Especially after the 78th minute, Ashley Cole and Ivanović were booked in succession.

Watching this from the sidelines, Yang Cheng found it all too familiar.

This was classic Mourinho!

“After all these years, Mourinho’s tricks haven’t changed a bit!” Yang Cheng shook his head with a chuckle.

But it had to be admitted that Chelsea’s defending was indeed solid.

Especially their set piece defense.

They stubbornly denied Bayswater Chinese any clear-cut chances.

But in the 87th minute of the match, Hazard drew a foul while dribbling down the left wing.

Since Ivanović was already on a yellow card, head referee Eriksson only issued a warning and didn’t show another card.

It was precisely from this attacking free-kick that Toni Kroos delivered a pinpoint curling ball to the far post.

Chelsea’s defenders were focused on Gareth Bale, Pepe, and Giroud.

But it was Thiago Silva at the back post, completely unmarked, who headed the ball back towards the front. Javi Martínez emerged from the ensuing scramble and headed the ball into Chelsea’s goal from close range.

3-0!

At this point, the match was essentially over.

Bayswater Chinese ultimately won the UEFA Super Cup, defeating Chelsea 3-0 with goals from Gareth Bale, Hazard, and Javi Martínez!

…

When the UEFA Super Cup in Prague concluded with Bayswater Chinese’s 3-0 victory over Chelsea, it immediately caused a stir throughout European football.

But the most explosive news came after the match.

In front of Mourinho, Yang Cheng said one sentence to the media during an interview.

“A 3-0 scoreline proves this is a very convincing trophy!”

Media reports claimed that Mourinho’s face changed instantly when he heard this.

Because just over half a month ago, Mourinho had questioned the convincing nature of Bayswater Chinese’s titles.

Tonight, Yang Cheng’s clapback had arrived!

Looking at the specifics of the match, the three goals came from three different players!

The most notable characteristic of Bayswater Chinese so far this season was that their goals were spread out.

In four matches, they had scored seventeen goals, coming from twelve different players.

This was truly astonishing.

But unlike last season, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded one goal in these four matches this season.

Their defensive level had improved once again.

Many pundits感慨, stating that Yang Cheng’s coaching and control over his team had truly reached a state of perfection.

After selling a major goal threat like Lewandowski, he had maintained Bayswater Chinese’s attacking edge by having multiple players contribute goals.

In four matches, twelve different players had scored.

Looking across European football today, Bayswater Chinese were in a class of their own.

As a clear comparison, only two teams had started the Premier League season with three consecutive wins.

Those were Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese and Mancini’s Liverpool.

However, the Reds had only scored three goals in their first three league matches.

And all three of those goals came from the same player: Sturridge!

On the Premier League table, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top with an absolute advantage.

One team had goals coming from all over the pitch, while the other was overly concentrated. It was a fascinating contrast.

In the third round, Liverpool also defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Sturridge.

Manchester City won 2-0 at home against Hull City, with goals from Messi and Yaya Touré.

Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home, with a goal from Benzema.

After three rounds, Bayswater Chinese led the league table, with Liverpool in second place due to an inferior goal difference.

Mourinho’s Chelsea had seven points, placing them third.

Wenger’s Arsenal also had seven points but were in fourth due to goal difference.

Manchester City had six points, sitting in fifth place.

Manchester United had one win, one draw, and one loss in their first three rounds, earning only four points, which put them in eighth place.

But to doubt Ferguson’s Red Devils based on this would be premature.

Because in their first three matches, Manchester United had two clashes between top teams.

They were held to a frustrating draw at home by Chelsea and lost 1-0 away to Liverpool.

Of course, from the perspective of these big matches, Ferguson’s team had indeed started the season slowly.

But it was believed that Ferguson could quickly make adjustments.

In clashes between top teams like these, the outcome is often unpredictable, so there was still much to look forward to from Manchester United’s overall performance.

After the third round of the Premier League, the league paused for a two-week international break in September.

With Bayswater Chinese’s outstanding performance, the number of international players in their squad grew.

Not only the main players but also the likes of Pogba, De Bruyne, and Sterling all made their national teams.

And almost all of them were key members of their respective national squads.

This presented a significant challenge for Bayswater Chinese’s season.

On one hand, having many international players was a sign of the team’s excellent quality.

But on the other hand, every international break brought considerable trouble for the club.

…

Two weeks after the international break, on September 14th, the Premier League returned for its fourth round.

Because Bayswater Chinese had a Champions League match on Wednesday—a home game against Bayer Leverkusen—Yang Cheng, as was his custom, made extensive squad rotations.

Players like Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Modrić, and Toni Kroos, who had played two full matches for their national teams, were rested by Yang Cheng to focus on the midweek Champions League game.

After all, that was the match Yang Cheng currently valued the most.

But in the away game against Aston Villa, Bayswater Chinese faced a stubborn challenge.

Just ten minutes into the game, Aston Villa scored on a counter-attack through Agbonlahor.

In the 24th minute, Aaron Ramsey equalized for Bayswater Chinese with an overlapping run.

But just before halftime, after a long period of unsuccessful attacks, Bayswater Chinese conceded again.

It was another quick counter-attack from Agbonlahor. Centre-back van Dijk committed a foul during his defensive attempt, giving away a penalty.

Agbonlahor converted it himself, extending the lead once again.

Van Dijk also received his first yellow card in his Premier League career.

After the break, just three minutes into the second half, Aaron Ramsey scored another goal, completing his brace and equalizing the score once more.

It is worth noting that both of Aaron Ramsey’s goals were assisted by Harry Kane.

But in the 78th minute of the second half, from a corner kick opportunity, Dutch centre-back Ron Vlaar scored with a header.

3-2!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 3-2 away to Aston Villa.

On a brighter note, Aaron Ramsey scored a brace for the second time this season, bringing his goal tally to four, tying with Gareth Bale as the team’s top scorer.

Actually, it wasn’t just Bayswater Chinese who had a poor showing this round.

Other teams fared similarly.

Manchester City drew 0-0 away to Stoke City.

Chelsea lost 1-0 away to Everton.

Liverpool drew 2-2 away to Swansea City.

Arsenal and Manchester United were the only two of the top six teams to win.

But both were dishonorable victories.

Arsenal’s goal came from a controversial penalty in the 48th minute of the second half.

The Gunners scraped a 1-0 win away at Sunderland.

Manchester United’s win was even more dubious. At home against Crystal Palace, after a goalless first half, a controversial decision from referee Jonathan Moss saw a Crystal Palace centre-back sent off with a red card, and a penalty awarded to Manchester United.

Cavani succeeded in a single attempt, scoring the opening goal for Manchester United.

And just before the end of the second half, a goal from Rooney helped Manchester United defeat Crystal Palace 2-0.

After the match, Yang Cheng’s old “friend,” Ian Holloway, launched a tirade against Ferguson.

“A very important reason why Manchester United is not as good as Bayswater Chinese is that they always get some inexplicable special treatment at home!”

This also sparked huge controversy.

Ferguson was furious, accusing Ian Holloway of being a sore loser.

…

Three days later, the first round of the Champions League group stage.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayer Leverkusen at home.

Before this match, everyone was very worried.

Yang Cheng’s team had just lost an important league game, relinquishing their position as league leader.

Would this affect Bayswater Chinese’s performance in the Champions League?

At Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng’s team took only eight minutes to completely dispel everyone’s doubts.

Marcelo crossed from the left, Giroud made a feint at the near post, and an unmarked Gareth Bale tapped it in from the right corner of the six-yard box, beating Leno in The Company’s Eleven’s goal.

1-0!

And in the 41st minute of the first half, from a direct free kick in the center of the pitch, a full 28 meters from goal.

Gareth Bale calmly stepped up and struck a superb butterfly ball that once again found its way past Leverkusen’s goal.

2-0!

The atmosphere in the entire Prudential Stadium was set ablaze by the Welshman’s brace!

This made it clear to everyone that the previous away loss to Aston Villa was mostly due to the effects of the international break.

When Bayswater Chinese had readjusted, when the team’s form and fitness had recovered, no one could stop Yang Cheng’s team.

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese immediately launched an all-out attack.

In the 52nd minute, a mistake by a Leverkusen defender was pounced upon by Giroud.

After dribbling into the penalty area, the French centre-forward rounded goalkeeper Leno and took a shot.

Giroud’s shot went just wide.

But just as the ball was about to slide past the post, Gareth Bale suddenly burst forward, threw his entire body forward, and with a sliding shot, bundled both himself and the ball into Leverkusen’s goal.

3-0!

Hat-trick!

Gareth Bale was so excited he ran off the pitch, celebrating wildly.

Although Leverkusen managed to pull one back in the 70th minute when a long shot from Simon Rolfes took a deflection off a defender and found its way into Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

But in the 79th minute, Giroud played a through ball on the counter-attack. Theo Walcott made a diagonal run from the right, broke into the penalty area to the right of the penalty spot, and scored with a power shot.

4-1!

In the 88th minute, just before the end of the match, Bayswater Chinese had another corner kick opportunity, but Pepe’s close-range header hit the crossbar, missing the chance to score again.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 at home!

Chapter 290: The Strongest Centre-Forward! A Divine Soldier Descends! An Attacking Defender! A Star-Studded New Era for the Premier League!

Knock, knock, knock.

Harry Kane knocked on the door of Head Coach Yang Cheng’s office at the Brent training center.

Soon, the head coach’s response came from within.

“Come in.”

Harry Kane pushed the door open a crack and peeked his head in first, his eyes meeting those of the head coach, who was sitting behind his desk in front of a computer monitor. He immediately broke into a wide grin.

“Boss, you were looking for me?”

Harry Kane walked in, feeling a bit sheepish, and turned to close the door behind him.

Yang Cheng didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pointed to the chair opposite his desk, signaling for him to sit.

“I just got a call from the marketing department. They said your brother turned down a commercial event for tomorrow?”

Harry Kane had expected this, as his brother had told him about it the previous night.

“Boss, I need to focus on preparing for the match the day after tomorrow,” Harry Kane said, somewhat timidly.

Yang Cheng looked up in surprise, glanced at Harry Kane, and then let out a soft chuckle. “And you think you’re going to play?”

Harry Kane was at a loss for words, scratching his head in embarrassment.

And why not?

Before the head coach announced the starting lineup, who could say for sure they would play?

But he had a gut feeling that he would.

“Boss, I was just guessing, wasn’t I?” Harry Kane said with a sheepish laugh.

Yang Cheng continued to smile faintly but said nothing more.

“Oliver played the full ninety minutes last match. Shouldn’t it be my turn next?” Harry Kane muttered.

Hearing this, Yang Cheng suddenly felt like laughing.

But in truth, he was quite pleased.

At the very least, the boy hadn’t let fame get to his head and knew how to show restraint when it came to commercial activities.

In contrast, many players lacked this awareness.

Some even required Yang Cheng to intervene and coordinate, reducing the time and frequency of their commercial and advertising commitments.

But here was Harry Kane, with the marketing department complaining that he had turned down an event.

And it was an advertisement for a well-known British company, no less.

They had specifically requested Harry Kane for the ad.

“Shooting an ad doesn’t take much time. Just do it in your spare time after training. I’ve already agreed on your behalf. There will be a car from the club to pick you up at noon tomorrow,” Yang Cheng instructed.

“They think very highly of you. You can’t turn this down!”

Harry Kane wanted to say something, but when he heard Yang Cheng’s last sentence, he swallowed his words.

“I’m not saying what you did was wrong, but you know how professional football is these days. Football, the media, and business are all very tightly integrated. You have to learn to accept it,” Yang Cheng advised.

Harry Kane nodded. “I understand. I’ll let my brother know.”

The Bayswater Chinese didn’t have many commercial activities, and they were always scheduled so as not to interfere with player training and matches. They also provided players with extra income, so the players were generally receptive to them.

For example, the brand Harry Kane was working with this time was an oatmeal company.

Had it been any other player, they probably would have jumped at the opportunity.

“I looked into it. They’re just taking some stills. The marketing department will coordinate everything in advance. From the time you leave to the time you get back, it will probably take less than three hours. It’ll be quick.”

Shooting one advertisement could bring in an annual income of one million pound sterling.

Although he had to split it with the club, for Harry Kane, whose weekly wage wasn’t particularly high, it was still a very good deal.

This was part of the Bayswater Chinese’s current strategy.

Weekly wages were not exorbitant, but players’ incomes could be boosted through commercial activities and endorsements.

As a result, the income of many players on the team was not low at all.

Aaron Ramsey, for example, had a very high commercial revenue because he was handsome, and his jerseys sold well.

At the end of the day, this was an era that valued good looks!

Harry Kane was a local player, which made him particularly popular with advertisers.

He wasn’t handsome, but he played well. Everyone knew he was the homegrown talent the Bayswater Chinese were promoting, handpicked by Yang Cheng, and even written into the team anthem as the future superstar.

This made Harry Kane a favorite for numerous advertisements and commercial activities right from his debut.

Ultimately, he was a bargain right now.

Once he truly became famous, his price would be far higher than it was at present.

Omar Berrada had also seen the brand’s potential and thought a long-term partnership was possible, which was why he had messaged and called Yang Cheng, hoping to persuade Harry Kane to accept the activity.

It would be too much of a pity to miss it!

Moreover, if Harry Kane turned it down, the company would likely approach Manchester United’s Rooney instead.

“Boss, what did you think of my performance in the match against Aston Villa?”

After settling the business matter, Harry Kane showed no intention of leaving, instead shifting the topic to a question that had been on his mind recently.

“It was pretty good. What’s up?”

“I looked at the post-match report the technical analysis team gave me, and I’ve been studying the match recording and highlights. I was just wondering, is this playing style really going to work?”

“I’ve read that report too.”

As soon as Yang Cheng said this, Harry Kane’s eyes lit up.

The Englishman rejoiced inwardly: The boss really does value me.

He’s so busy with so many things every day, yet he still finds time to read my post-match analysis report. If that’s not valuing me, what is?

“First, tell me what you think,” Yang Cheng said, putting down his work and looking directly at Harry Kane.

He was clearly taking this matter more seriously than the commercial activity discussed earlier.

“Honestly, boss, I know my own problems. For example, my physical condition isn’t top-tier, so in terms of physical confrontations, I’m definitely not as good as Carroll, or even Rooney back in his day.”

A major reason why Carroll could win headers was that his physical strength in duels was truly badass.

A crucial reason why Rooney was hailed as England’s future superstar by Ferguson and so many professionals right from his debut was also his outstanding physical talent.

Harry Kane was self-aware about this.

“I’ve talked to Brian and Sad about it before. Modern football demands more from a centre-forward than just scoring goals. They also need to have tactical value in tough matches.”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly, not interrupting, letting him continue.

“From a technical standpoint, whether it’s trapping the ball, using both feet, or the full range of holding up play with my back to goal and turning, I have no problem. I’ve mastered all of it.”

Harry Kane had been at the Bayswater Chinese youth academy for ten years; he was a genuine product of the youth academy.

His technique was definitely better than it was in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

But some things couldn’t be changed.

For instance, his natural physical gifts.

Some people are born built like a tank, while others are born skinny as a rake.

Can that be changed?

Take Theo Walcott for example. No matter how much he trains, he could never become Gareth Bale.

Right?

Harry Kane wasn’t that bad, of course, but he was still young.

“In the youth team, I always played as an all-around centre-forward. But in the Premier League, I’ve consistently been at a disadvantage in physical battles. So, a lot of the time, I can only choose to avoid the defenders when I play.”

This wasn’t just Harry Kane’s choice.

For example, a month ago, in the third round of the league at home against Fulham, Yang Cheng had warned Harry Kane at halftime that he wasn’t Robert Lewandowski, nor was he Giroud.

This was because Harry Kane had spent the first half trying to play like an all-around centre-forward.

But his physical weakness meant he couldn’t hold up the ball or win it.

So, the overall effect was very poor.

After changing his approach in the second half, the situation improved significantly.

The same went for the fourth-round match away at Aston Villa, after the two-week international break. Harry Kane provided two assists, playing in a similar style.

This allowed him to play to his strengths.

But it had to be admitted that from a tactical value perspective, this style wouldn’t work in the long run. It wasn’t suitable for tough matches!

Why was Drogba, despite not scoring a huge number of goals, still recognized by countless fans?

And why did powerful centre-forwards like Adriano and Vieri leave such a massive impact on fans?

Was it because their stats were f*cking awesome?

No!

It was because they left a deep impression on fans during matches, especially in high-intensity, tough encounters.

Drogba’s tactical value was demonstrated by his ability to hold off any defensive line and still turn.

Why was Giroud’s tactical value considered higher than Harry Kane’s right now?

Kane understood it himself. His place in the pecking order was below Giroud’s, which was why he was so eager to improve.

To put it bluntly, he couldn’t hold off a defensive line.

Looking at it from another angle, when a team’s forwards can’t hold their own against a backline, even a team as strong as Barça struggles.

After Xavi, Puyol, and others aged, when did Barça reach its next peak?

After Suárez joined, right?

The Uruguayan forward’s role was crucial because of his strong ability to battle defenders.

At Manchester City now, Agüero’s physicality was not weak either.

Without a forward who excelled in physical confrontations, even a team as mighty as Barça would find their play awkward and extremely uncomfortable.

That was the tactical value of a centre-forward!

Harry Kane understood this point very well himself.

“Boss, you’ve seen it too. I’m 1.88 meters tall, with a larger frame, a long torso, and short legs. My movements aren’t very agile. Right now, on the pitch, I’m just constantly running into space to receive and pass the ball.”

“But if the opposition specifically marks me, it will be very difficult for me to keep playing like this.”

Harry Kane wasn’t a tall center-forward with outstanding technique like Ibrahimović or Džeko.

Yang Cheng knew this, of course.

“So, you’ll need to continue strengthening your physique and power in duels,” Yang Cheng pointed him in a clear direction.

“But they must have also told you that building physical strength is a process. We don’t want you to suffer any major injuries during this crucial period of your development.”

Or even leave behind hidden risks!

Harry Kane knew that the club had always been extremely cautious in this regard, and its protection of players was well-regarded.

“Our midfield and defense are very strong right now, and our lineup on both flanks is arguably the best in the world. Your ball control, passing, and shooting are all fine, and you have plenty of stamina.”

“So, you should make good use of these advantages. Use your best attribute, your movement, to create chances for yourself and the team, and showcase your all-around scoring ability.”

“Give yourself a little more time. Once your physical strength in duels improves, you’ll be even more powerful and more of a threat than you are now!”

In the end, it was a process of steady improvement, one step at a time, year after year.

As Harry Kane himself had said moments ago, a long torso and short legs indicated he truly didn’t possess top-tier physical gifts.

Even at his peak, no matter how hard he trained, it would be difficult for him to bulldoze an entire defensive line like Drogba, Giroud, or Carroll.

Therefore, the path the Bayswater Chinese had planned for him was precisely the one that suited him best.

And his future professional career would be a long one.

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t want Harry Kane to drop back into the midfield or even defense to receive the ball and start attacks, as he had in his past life at Tottenham.

That was only because Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield was weak, forcing Kane to do so.

The price was that Harry Kane had to significantly reduce his attacking threat in the final third.

For Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, that was completely unnecessary.

Yang Cheng’s team-building strategy had always been to place immense importance on the midfield, even using midfield dominance to suppress opponents.

In such circumstances, Harry Kane’s range of activity would be more confined to the attacking third.

Yang Cheng had every reason to believe that in this tactical environment, with the support of his teammates, Kane would become even stronger!

Perhaps even the strongest centre-forward!

“It’s like I’ve told you before: you are the centre-forward who will play for our Bayswater Chinese for over twenty years. You’re just starting out now, so don’t be anxious, ever. Have patience and confidence in yourself, and in us!”

Harry Kane understood what the head coach meant.

“I get it, boss!”

Yang Cheng’s words further solidified his thoughts.

…

On the afternoon of September 21st, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the fifth round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Hull City.

So far this season, Hull City’s record in the first four rounds was one win, one draw, and two losses.

Both losses were 2-0 defeats, against Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.

Therefore, for this match against the Bayswater Chinese, Hull City’s head coach Steve Bruce was very cautious beforehand, stating that the team’s goal on the road was a draw.

But when the match actually began, Hull City showed an aggressive posture right from the start.

Due to the midweek Champions League match, the Bayswater Chinese implemented a strategy of significant squad rotation for this game.

This was based on the experience Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had accumulated over the past few years.

Through long-term rotation, they avoided player fatigue while also establishing a habit and rhythm of rotation. By Christmas and after the winter transfer window, the team’s overall performance would be more stable.

Manchester United had always operated this way.

Conversely, teams that weren’t good at rotation often suffered after Christmas and the winter break.

After the kickoff, Hull City showed a strong intention to seize the initiative as the away team, wanting to take advantage of the situation to fight for dominance.

Incidentally, former Bayswater Chinese midfielder, Huddlestone, had now transferred from Tottenham to Hull City and was in the starting lineup for this match.

Hull City’s starting double pivot for this match was Huddlestone and Livermore.

This was Tottenham’s main double pivot from two years ago.

From this, one could indirectly gauge the strength of Premier League teams nowadays.

Hull City, ranked sixteenth and aiming to avoid relegation, had a squad strength comparable to that of Tottenham Hotspur two years ago.

The match itself was not easy.

Especially after being subjected to a spell of high pressing and pressure from Hull City at the start, the Bayswater Chinese played with some disarray.

But in the sixteenth minute, a move where Harry Kane dropped deep drew out a defender, allowing him to play a one-two with the overlapping Pogba.

The English forward sent a through ball with his right foot, and Pogba drove forward with the ball, broke into the penalty area, and fired a shot into the net.

1-0!

Then, in the thirtieth minute, Sterling broke through on the left flank and sent a pass to the far post. Harry Kane made a late run and scored with a close-range push shot.

2-0!

And in the thirty-seventh minute, it was Harry Kane again, dropping deep to receive the ball, turning, and sending a through ball. Theo Walcott made a diagonal run in behind, received the pass for a one-on-one, and scored again.

3-0!

Two assists and one goal!

Harry Kane, just turned twenty, had an outstanding first half, earning thunderous applause and cheers from the ninety thousand fans at Prudential Stadium.

After the break, the game changed somewhat.

In the fifty-third minute, an assist from Livermore allowed Hull City’s striker Sagbo to beat the offside trap and score against the Bayswater Chinese.

But in the eighty-eighth minute, a pass from Luke Shaw found Aaron Ramsey, whose powerful shot deflected off a defender. Sterling astutely seized the opportunity, poking the ball in from close range.

4-1!

The Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 4-1 victory over Hull City at home!

…

After the match, Harry Kane, who was named Man of the Match, received unanimous praise from the British media.

For a youngster of only twenty, his performance this season was truly commendable.

But interestingly, he was praised more for his assists than for his goals.

This was indeed quite intriguing.

So far, Harry Kane had started three games in the Premier League, contributing six assists, making him the player with the most assists in the Premier League to date.

Note, this included all Premier League players!

This was just outrageous!

Wasn’t he a 1.88-meter-tall center-forward?

How had he become known for his assists?

In the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng addressed this situation.

Yang Cheng stated that Harry Kane was a very intelligent player who was still figuring out his own style of play.

“At the current Bayswater Chinese, his first job is to help the team perform better, not just to score goals!”

However, Yang Cheng also said that Harry Kane had the potential to become a top-class centre-forward.

“But that will take some time!”

Given Yang Cheng’s statement, combined with Harry Kane’s status as a homegrown player, the media’s interpretation was more thorough.

No one was defining Harry Kane as a playmaker; rather, they believed the intelligent Englishman’s primary focus right now was to establish himself in the team.

“The facts prove he’s doing an excellent job!” Alan Shearer commented on Harry Kane during a television program.

“His technique is outstanding, but he’s not fast enough, and his physical presence isn’t strong enough. This temporarily prevents him from being the kind of goal-scoring centre-forward who breaks through defenses. So, he has chosen to use active movement and passing to stretch the defense and create opportunities.”

Alan Shearer believed that Robert Lewandowski’s departure had a huge impact on the Bayswater Chinese’s entire attacking strategy.

“Yang Cheng has said more than once that neither Giroud nor Harry Kane can replace Lewandowski.”

“But there’s never just one way to play football.”

“There are many different ways to achieve the same objective.”

“Just like what Harry Kane is doing now. He may not be scoring enough, but he can provide assists. Through his passing and movement, he can create more scoring chances for his teammates. This is also a way for a centre-forward to play.”

Alan Shearer once again stated that Harry Kane was a very intelligent player.

“I’ve met him a few times. He’s genuinely very smart and has a clear thought process. I believe that with his personality and the importance the Bayswater Chinese place on him, he must have a very clear career plan.”

Alan Shearer mentioned that the Premier League has never lacked top strikers with strong assist-making abilities.

Examples included Sheringham, Henry, Drogba, and Rooney.

Regarding Harry Kane, Alan Shearer believed the English forward was more like a combination of himself and Sheringham.

“I’ve looked into his matches in the youth team. He has a high goal-scoring rate, a strong ability to find the net, and a very comprehensive range of shooting techniques.”

“What he needs to do now is to adapt to the intensity and rhythm of the Premier League as quickly as possible.”

“Perhaps, starting out by trying to become the Premier League’s assist king isn’t a bad idea!”

Alan Shearer was joking with that last sentence.

But it also reflected his admiration and expectations for this junior.

He even stated bluntly that Harry Kane would be the hope of England’s forward line for the next decade.

Interestingly, the future England forwards he rated most highly were all at the Bayswater Chinese.

Harry Kane, Sterling, and Theo Walcott—this was the attacking trio that Alan Shearer believed would be England’s most potent in the future.

…

As the Bayswater Chinese defeated Hull City, the results of the other Premier League round five matches came in.

Liverpool beat Southampton 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Škrtel.

Chelsea defeated Fulham 2-0 at home, with goals from Oscar and Mikel.

Mourinho’s team also rotated their squad in this match.

Arsenal beat Stoke City 3-1 at home.

The most anticipated match of the round, the Manchester derby, was held at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City hosted Manchester United.

As it turned out, the two Manchester giants played out a spectacular end-to-end game.

Just sixteen minutes in, Agüero scored the opening goal for Manchester City, assisted by Leighton Baines.

But subsequently, Manchester United scored two goals in quick succession.

First, Strootman assisted Robben to score, then Juan Mata assisted Cavani to score another goal.

The Red Devils successfully turned the score around.

At this point in the match, Manchester United had gained the upper hand.

But just before halftime, in the forty-seventh minute, Messi dropped deep to receive a pass from Yaya Touré, then suddenly burst forward with the ball. Despite being pulled and tugged at by Manchester United’s midfielders and defenders, he didn’t stop, carrying the ball to the edge of the penalty area and playing a through ball.

Agüero scored again inside the box.

2-2!

Just two minutes into the second half, it was Messi again with a dribbling run. He passed to Yaya Touré inside the box, and the Ivorian controlled the ball before shooting, scoring the third goal.

3-2!

At this moment, the momentum had completely swung in Manchester City’s favor.

But just three minutes later, Manchester United equalized again.

This time, the scorer was Rooney.

Afterward, both teams made substitutions, and the match remained in a stalemate.

Manchester City controlled possession, while Manchester United responded with a defend and counter-attack strategy.

It wasn’t until the eighty-seventh minute that a substitute, Jesús Navas, broke through on the right wing and delivered a cross.

Messi received the ball in the middle, shimmied past Carrick and De Rossi, and then fired a left-footed power shot that once again beat De Gea’s goal.

The ball went straight into the bottom left corner of the net!

4-3!

In the end, The Blue Moons secured a narrow victory at home!

Media and fans worldwide praised the spectacular goal-fest.

All seven goals were magnificent!

Messi was named Man of the Match.

Two assists and one goal were all crucial contributions.

After this match, almost everyone, including Pep Guardiola, believed that Messi had basically integrated into the Premier League and had found his best form.

The British media were generally thrilled.

With Messi’s integration into the Premier League, his impact on the entire league was very apparent.

Some media outlets even called for Manchester United to buy back C. Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

At that point, the entire Premier League would reach another level.

The Bayswater Chinese had Gareth Bale, Manchester City had Messi, and if Manchester United could really buy back C. Ronaldo, the Premier League would enter a three-way standoff!

However, the Liverpool Echo argued that the Premier League was already in a new era of warring states.

Even without C. Ronaldo, Manchester United had Rooney and Cavani.

Liverpool had Suárez and Sturridge, Arsenal had Benzema and van Persie, and Chelsea had Falcao and Eto’o.

The Bayswater Chinese had Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, while Manchester City had Messi and Agüero.

In the current Premier League, all of the Big Six teams had their own superstars, all of whom were exceptionally talented.

This created an unprecedented, star-studded situation in the Premier League.

After five rounds of matches, Arsenal sat at the top of the Premier League table with thirteen points.

The Gunners’ greatest strength this season was their stability.

Both Benzema and van Persie provided the team with a very stable goal-scoring rate.

The midfield also operated very smoothly.

Liverpool also had thirteen points, but their wins were all 1-0, so they were at a disadvantage in terms of goal difference.

This was also related to Suárez’s absence.

The Bayswater Chinese were in third place with twelve points.

Following them were Manchester City and Chelsea, both with ten points.

Manchester United had only managed to secure seven points so far.

But Ferguson’s team had already played three clashes between top teams in the first five rounds of the league.

The outcomes were all rather tragic.

After a frustrating 0-0 draw at home against Chelsea, they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool.

And now, a narrow 4-3 loss to Manchester City.

Overall, Manchester United’s performance was not bad, but they just lacked that final edge.

As The Times pointed out after the fifth round of matches, the biggest difference between Manchester United and Manchester City right now was the lack of a Messi.

“Perhaps The Red Devils should really consider re-signing C. Ronaldo!”

This was originally an impossible option.

But with even Messi transferring to the Premier League, re-signing C. Ronaldo no longer seemed entirely impossible.

During the summer transfer window, there were rumors in the media that Manchester United wanted to re-sign C. Ronaldo.

The reason was that Manchester United’s shirt sponsor, Nike, was willing to pay Manchester United a hefty sponsorship deal to help The Red Devils afford C. Ronaldo’s sky-high transfer fee.

This was because Real Madrid’s sponsor was Adidas.

But in the end, Real Madrid refused to sell C. Ronaldo.

And unlike Messi, C. Ronaldo’s release clause was a staggering one billion euros.

However, everyone could see that La Liga’s decline was becoming more and more obvious.

With Messi already having departed for the Premier League, if C. Ronaldo were to return as well, how much appeal would La Liga have left?

…

Midweek, in the third round of the League Cup.

The Bayswater Chinese faced Leicester City away.

Since being acquired by a Thai consortium, Leicester City had always adopted a pragmatic management strategy, steadily improving their strength.

Facing the Bayswater Chinese at home this time, even though the latter fielded a full reserve lineup, Leicester City still showed impressive competitiveness.

For almost the entire first half, they gave their opponents virtually no chances.

It wasn’t until the forty-second minute that Harry Kane seized an opportunity, scoring off an assist from De Bruyne to give his team the lead.

But in the seventy-eighth minute of the second half, Leicester City’s holding midfielder Danny Drinkwater equalized for the home team.

Fortunately, three minutes later, youngster Sterling scored a goal, helping the team secure a narrow 2-1 victory away at Leicester City.

…

On September 28th, the sixth round of the Premier League.

Mourinho’s team challenged Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Facing his old club, André Villas-Boas was determined to prove himself.

Tottenham scored in the nineteenth minute of the first half.

They held the lead until the eighty-first minute of the second half, when Falcao scored an equalizer.

1-1, the two sides ultimately had a draw.

Manchester United, playing at home, defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 with goals from Cavani and Rooney.

Manchester City continued their excellent form from the previous round, with Messi contributing another goal and assist to help The Blue Moons beat Aston Villa 3-2 away.

Incidentally, Aston Villa equalized twice, only to be defeated by a last-minute winner from Yaya Touré.

This match was also very intense and exciting!

The current Premier League not only had the highest broadcast quality but also boasted the strongest competitive level in Europe.

Therefore, the satisfaction level of fans worldwide with the Premier League was also the highest.

It was widely believed that the Premier League’s entertainment value was unparalleled among European leagues!

Arsenal defeated Swansea City 2-1 away, with goals from Fàbregas and van Persie.

Liverpool beat Sunderland 3-1 away, thanks to a brace from Suárez and a goal from Sturridge.

Due to the midweek Champions League fixture, Yang Cheng made appropriate rotations for the away match against Everton.

Just eleven minutes in, Everton’s youngster Ross Barkley scored for the home team.

But in the twenty-second minute, Modrić assisted Theo Walcott to equalize.

Just before the end of the first half, Marcelo assisted Gareth Bale to score another goal, successfully turning the game around.

And at the start of the second half, in the forty-eighth minute, it was Marcelo again with the assist, as Gareth Bale scored his second of the night.

Everton scored again in the sixty-fifth minute from a set piece opportunity, with Lukaku finding the net.

Ultimately, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Everton 3-2 away.

…

Midweek, in the second round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese challenged AC Milan away.

Although the decline of Serie A was lamented by countless fans, looking purely at the lineup, AC Milan was not bad at all.

Their forward line had stars like Robinho and Kaká, while the midfield featured players like Montolivo, Nigel de Jong, and Muntari.

It could be said that The Rossoneri’s strength was genuinely not poor.

And at home, Allegri also adopted a pragmatic defend and counter-attack strategy, making it difficult for the Bayswater Chinese’s attack to get going.

In the twenty-third minute of the first half, Gareth Bale scored from a Modrić assist.

But in the seventy-sixth minute of the second half, during a swift counter-attack, Robinho received a brilliant pass from Kaká and equalized for AC Milan.

Throughout the match, the Bayswater Chinese held an overwhelming advantage but just couldn’t break through The Rossoneri’s defense again.

In the end, the two sides had a 1-1 draw.

It was a rather dull match.

Under AC Milan’s strategy of defending with all their might, the Bayswater Chinese really couldn’t create good scoring opportunities.

In the other match, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 at home.

After two rounds, the Bayswater Chinese and AC Milan both had one win and one draw, with four points.

Bayer Leverkusen had one win and one loss, with three points.

Real Sociedad had suffered two consecutive defeats.

…

After two consecutive away games with less than ideal results, the Bayswater Chinese were feeling rather frustrated.

First, they were almost held to a draw by Everton, followed by a dull draw against AC Milan. This left everyone at the Bayswater Chinese feeling pent up.

Under these circumstances, the seventh round of the Premier League brought a match against newly promoted Cardiff.

Although it was still an away game, Yang Cheng fielded his main lineup.

Just nine minutes into the first half, Piszczek on the right flank delivered a precise cross from outside the right corner of the box to the edge of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale surged forward like a heavy tank, reaching the edge of the six-yard box and scoring with a header to give the team the opening goal!

1-0!

In the sixteenth minute, a set piece opportunity from the front.

Modrić delivered a beautiful curling ball with precision.

Dutch centre-back van Dijk, who was starting in place of Pepe for this match, rose above all opponents in the box and scored with a powerful header.

2-0!

But what no one expected was that just eight minutes later, in the twenty-fifth minute, Eden Hazard’s dribbling in the final third drew another foul.

Modrić took the free kick again, and it was van Dijk once more, scoring with a header in the box.

3-0!

Everyone was completely stunned.

Even Yang Cheng himself hadn’t expected van Dijk to score a brace with his head.

A proper attacking defender!

And just before the end of the first half, an assist from Giroud set up Gareth Bale to score another goal, also completing a brace.

4-0!

At this point, the match had effectively lost all suspense.

After the break, in the fifty-fourth minute, Gareth Bale cut inside from the right and delivered a brilliant pass. Giroud chested the ball down in the box and scored with his right foot.

5-0!

Then, in the seventy-fifth minute, from a corner kick, van Dijk flicked the ball on at the near post, and Gareth Bale headed it in at the far post.

6-0!

The Welshman had completed a hat-trick!

Yang Cheng himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He wasn’t surprised by Gareth Bale’s hat-trick.

The Welshman was capable of it.

He had already scored multiple hat-tricks in the Premier League last season.

What truly surprised Yang Cheng was van Dijk.

Was this kid’s heading really that good?

Van Dijk’s performance in this match could only be described as a divine soldier descending!

Perhaps because Thiago Silva was playing a holding role, it completely unleashed van Dijk’s ability to press forward.

Not only did the Dutchman frequently press high with great success, but his recovery runs were also impressive.

But what was most eye-catching were his three headers.

Two goals and an assist for Gareth Bale’s hat-trick.

This was truly beyond everyone’s expectations.

Including Yang Cheng and the coaching staff.

“I personally feel we should design some set piece tactics around him, and Maguire as well.”

Gianni Vio offered a suggestion to Yang Cheng.

Both centre-backs were big, tall defenders with strong heading abilities.

In recent years, as Pepe aged, his scoring efficiency from set pieces had begun to decline.

Coupled with opponents’ increased attention and tight marking, the threat of the Bayswater Chinese’s set piece attacks had noticeably weakened.

Under these circumstances, as a set piece specialist, Gianni Vio’s eyes lit up seeing van Dijk in this match.

Yang Cheng was naturally happy to oblige.

Having lost Lewandowski, the team needed to find ways to fill the goal-scoring gap through various methods and channels. Set piece tactics were a crucial part of that.

…

As the Bayswater Chinese thrashed the newly promoted Cardiff 6-0 away, the other matches of the seventh Premier League round also concluded.

Manchester City beat Everton 3-1 at home, thanks to a brace from Agüero and a goal and assist from Messi.

Manchester United came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 away, with a brace from Cavani.

Chelsea defeated Norwich 3-1 away.

Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at home, with goals from Suárez, Sturridge, and Rakitić.

Arsenal, after conceding first away from home, came back to beat The Baggies with goals from Wilshere and Benzema.

After seven rounds of matches, the Bayswater Chinese remained in third place in the Premier League.

After the seventh round of the Premier League, European leagues went on hiatus for the two-week national team training camp in October.

The Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center was once again deserted.

Yang Cheng and everyone else spent the time on edge.

Fortunately, although the team had many international players, none of them were injured, and all returned to the team on time.

Two weeks later, the eighth round of the Premier League arrived.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

This was another crucial match that had to be faced on the path to the championship.

Affected by the national team training camp, and with a home game against Real Sociedad in midweek, Yang Cheng had to rotate the squad.

Van Dijk, who had been very impressive recently, started this time, partnering Pepe in central defense.

Along with Luke Shaw and Piszczek, they formed the Bayswater Chinese’s backline.

The midfield combination was Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić.

The forward trident was made up of Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Liverpool, on the other hand, continued with their 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Buffon;

Defense: Aleksandar Kolarov, Nastasić, Škrtel, and Glen Johnson;

Midfield: Rakitić and Javier Mascherano with Gerrard in a holding role, and Coutinho further forward;

Forwards: Suárez and Sturridge.

This was the strongest lineup that Mancini had settled on this season for Liverpool.

And the most dangerous part of it was the trident of Coutinho, Suárez, and Sturridge.

But when facing the Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool mostly focused on a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Just nine minutes into the game, a long shot from Toni Kroos forced Buffon into a crucial save.

But Liverpool quickly launched a counter-attack.

A through ball from Coutinho sent Sturridge racing into the right side of the box, but Courtois came out to smother the ball.

The two teams began a fast-paced battle of attack and defense.

In the twentieth and twenty-second minutes, the Bayswater Chinese won successive corner kicks.

First, Giroud’s header was blocked on the line by Aleksandar Kolarov.

Then, van Dijk’s header went just over the bar.

As Liverpool launched a counter-attack, the Bayswater Chinese managed to win the ball back in their own half.

After successfully tackling, Nemanja Matić quickly passed to Giroud ahead of him.

Giroud, having dropped back, then distributed it to Gareth Bale on the left.

The Welshman drove forward with the ball, but on the edge of the box to the left, he suddenly laid it off to the overlapping Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder struck a long shot from twenty-eight meters out. The ball bounced before flying past Buffon and into the net.

1-0!

This spectacular goal completely ignited the atmosphere at Prudential Stadium.

At the same time, it meant Liverpool could no longer afford to sit back and defend.

The game opened up as a result.

Liverpool, currently second in the Premier League, were ambitious and naturally unwilling to lose away from home.

The two sides began a spell of fast-paced, end-to-end attacks, both creating several chances.

But in the forty-second minute, after Liverpool won the ball in midfield, Rakitić sent a through ball forward.

Suárez, dropping back to receive the pass, used an unconventional but beautiful trap and turn to shake off the pressing van Dijk. He then burst forward, sprinting with the ball.

After being beaten, van Dijk’s recovery speed was also fast, and he pursued relentlessly.

Just as Suárez was about to break into the Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area with the ball, van Dijk still couldn’t get in front of the Uruguayan forward. He was forced to commit a foul, pulling him from behind.

But what no one expected was that Suárez wasn’t pulled down by the first tug. He continued to charge forward with the ball, stepping one foot into the Bayswater Chinese’s box.

Van Dijk was still young, after all.

After the first pull failed to bring his opponent down, he didn’t immediately let go. Instead, he was dragged into the penalty area by Suárez.

The next moment, the Uruguayan finally went down.

Head referee Andrew Marriner immediately blew his whistle, pointed to the penalty spot, and showed van Dijk a red card!

The ultimate punishment!

Chapter 291: I’m the Ace! Buffon’s Heroics! Defending a Ten-Year Record! Wenger’s Victory!

“He’s still a bit too inexperienced!”

When he saw van Dijk receive a straight red card from head referee Andrew Marriner, assistant coach Brian Kidd clasped his head in his hands, looking utterly helpless.

Anyone could see there was nothing wrong with the decision.

If anyone was to blame, it was Suárez for being so cunning!

That was just how South American players were—always full of bizarre, brilliant ideas that could also make you grind your teeth in frustration.

“Just now, Suárez was clearly trying to win a penalty. If van Dijk were more experienced, he never would have fallen for it.”

Brian Kidd sounded incredibly frustrated.

A red card and a penalty before the first half was even over—this was a truly terrible situation for Bayswater Chinese!

And the player sent off was a centre-back.

Yang Cheng’s team selection hadn’t been a problem.

It was a long-standing tradition of his over the years to leave international players who had made the long journey back from South America after a two-week international break out of the matchday squad.

This was especially true considering they had the third round of the Champions League group stage mid-week.

Under these circumstances, starting van Dijk was a decision everyone had agreed on.

“This kid’s defensive style relies heavily on experience. Let’s take it slow,” Yang Cheng said, taking a more philosophical view.

To many, Bayswater Chinese’s unbeaten home record was a matter of faith.

But for Yang Cheng, it wasn’t much of a burden.

All unbeaten streaks eventually come to an end.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many said van Dijk was a late bloomer, which was both true and not.

Ultimately, his style of defending, which was based on reading the game, truly depended on accumulated experience.

But defenders always grew through adversity.

Yang Cheng quickly walked to the touchline and extended his hands toward van Dijk, who was walking off the pitch.

The Dutch centre-back, originally filled with indignation and a hint of panic in his eyes, felt a sudden pang of guilt and regret for reasons he couldn’t explain when he saw his head coach’s gesture.

Still, he walked over quickly and embraced Yang Cheng.

“It’s alright. Go take a shower and rest up. I’ll take care of this for you!”

Yang Cheng patted van Dijk on the shoulder, signaling for him to head to the dressing room.

At Yang Cheng’s gesture, the home fans, who had been displeased with van Dijk, instantly changed their tune.

Above the players’ tunnel, many fans even started chanting his name, offering him encouragement.

This gave the Dutchman an unfamiliar feeling he had never experienced before.

Just as he stepped into the players’ tunnel, he heard a roar of cheers from the stadium far behind him.

Gerrard had scored the penalty!

1-1!

The two teams were back on level terms.

More importantly, Liverpool now had an extra man on the pitch.

In a clash between top teams, how could you play when you were a man down before halftime?

…

“Damn it, what the hell have I done?”

In the dressing room, van Dijk stood in the shower area, the tap turned to full blast. He tilted his head back, letting the water curtain wash over his face, his curly hair completely soaked.

He stood there, letting the water run for he didn’t know how long.

He had started playing football when he was very young.

He played every week, sometimes every day.

Especially on Sundays, he would go to church in the morning and spend the afternoon playing on the five-a-side pitch donated by the Cruyff Foundation.

In the Netherlands, almost every city had such a pitch.

People formed teams randomly and took turns playing.

The winners stayed on, the losers stepped off.

Van Dijk had honed his excellent footwork and incredible stamina on pitches like these.

During that time, whenever he played, his team would often keep winning.

So, everyone vied to be on his team.

His mother was Surinamese, and his father was Dutch. His grandfather had been a player and later a referee.

When he was ten, Jan van Loon, the youth academy director at Willem II, discovered him.

Having spent so much time playing on five-a-side pitches, van Dijk, whose physique and skills were far superior to his peers, had also developed some very bad habits.

For example, a casual attitude, and an inability to control his flamboyant mentality.

He was always a standout in the Willem II youth academy.

He mainly played as a right-back, but he had also played in midfield and even as a forward.

But because of his casual attitude, many people didn’t think highly of him, believing he would never become a proper defender.

His career took a drastic turn when his height shot up by eighteen centimeters in a very short period.

He went from being the shortest and most agile player on the team to suddenly feeling “clumsy and slow.”

Of course, this was all relative.

But that bad habit of not taking things seriously continued to plague him.

In the end, Willem II concluded that he lacked focus.

So, when Ligue 1 club OGC Nice extended an offer, Willem II sold him without hesitation.

Moving from the Netherlands to the south coast of France, many things changed.

Though his salary wasn’t high, it was enough for him to support himself.

He no longer had to work part-time washing dishes in a restaurant.

His new home wasn’t too far, allowing him to cycle back and forth on his beloved bike.

Most importantly, he began to learn things he could never have learned at Willem II.

Ronald Koeman was a head coach who demanded a lot from his defenders, constantly pushing him to press forward and participate in high-pressing defense.

This was incredibly difficult for the nonchalant him!

The forwards in Ligue 1 were fast, and the pace of the game was relentless.

This made van Dijk very uncomfortable.

The effortless ease he had played with at Willem II vanished in Ligue 1.

He even had to play more fiercely, with more aggression.

But it was precisely this discomfort, this hardship, that led to a dramatic improvement in van Dijk’s abilities.

He began to understand what defending was all about.

He realized that at a professional club, it wasn’t just about sending you out to play.

They would tell you, clearly and directly, why you played a certain way!

This was something he could never have been exposed to or learned in the Netherlands.

One day, the man behind OGC Nice, Bayswater Chinese’s head coach Yang Cheng, came to the club, met van Dijk, and said one thing to him.

“You’re a player I have my eye on. Hurry up and improve. I’ll be waiting for you in London!”

That was the first time van Dijk felt the best football club and the best head coach in the world beckoning to him.

From then on, he improved incredibly quickly, got more and more playing time, and gradually secured his spot as a regular starter.

Last season, he helped OGC Nice reach the Champions League semi-final.

That was when the world first became acquainted with a Dutch centre-back named van Dijk.

Consequently, he was called up to the Netherlands national team.

This summer, he fulfilled his dream of coming to the Premier League, to London, and joining the team he had always dreamed of.

Everyone told him that playing in the Premier League would be harder.

Especially Stam.

“The forwards in the Premier League are faster than in Ligue 1, and the pace is quicker. You need to maintain absolute focus!”

Van Dijk listened, but he didn’t take it seriously enough.

After arriving in the Premier League, he felt he was adapting quite well.

He had excellent passing ability, a superb physique, and he could handle his defensive duties with ease.

It seemed the Premier League wasn’t so difficult after all!

But today, when he faced Suárez, especially when he pressed high only to be effortlessly brushed aside by the Uruguayan, he truly panicked!

He chased with all his might, at his top speed.

From five-a-side to Willem II to OGC Nice, van Dijk had faced many fast forwards.

But he always found a way to catch up or stop them.

Against Suárez, however, he couldn’t catch him.

He watched helplessly as Suárez broke toward the penalty area.

In that moment, panic consumed him, and he reached out to commit a foul.

In his mind, it would be a yellow card at most, giving Liverpool a free kick in their attacking half.

That had to be better than letting Suárez into the box, right?

But to his dismay, the cunning Uruguayan dragged him into the penalty area.

When Suárez fell, van Dijk wished he could chop his own hand off.

Just like now, standing under the showerhead, letting the water cascade over his face, he felt a chilling cold seep into his heart.

He regretted his overconfidence, which was why Suárez had so easily slipped past him when he pressed high.

He regretted not being good enough, not being fast enough, which was why he couldn’t catch Suárez.

He regretted his misjudgment. Why hadn’t he dragged Suárez down at the first opportunity?

The game wasn’t even at halftime, they had conceded an equalizer from a penalty, and now they would be a man down for the entire second half.

How could they possibly play?

Was the ten-year unbeaten home record really going to be shattered by his hands?

For the first time in his life, the twenty-two-year-old Dutch centre-back felt guilt and fear.

He heard the dressing room door open outside.

First, the coaching staff returned to prepare for the halftime break.

Someone entered the shower area and saw van Dijk, but no one spoke to him.

Were they angry? Blaming him?

Or did they not want to disturb him in his guilt?

Then his teammates came back.

Every one of them looked deeply worried.

Liverpool was currently second in the Premier League, level on points with top-of-the-table Arsenal, and they were a formidable team.

Mancini’s team was having a breakout season.

The long-term investment from the Saudi consortium after the takeover was finally paying off.

Everyone was worried that the unbeaten home record would be broken.

It was a record that countless predecessors and teammates had fought tooth and nail to protect over the past ten years.

It was forged through one brutal battle after another.

Was it really going to be lost?

Everyone was on edge.

This made van Dijk feel even more ashamed. He didn’t even dare to step out.

As van Dijk stood under the water, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Virgil, is the water in our stadium free?”

It was the voice of the captain, Modrić.

Startled, van Dijk quickly turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and began to dry himself frantically.

“That play just now had nothing to do with you. Don’t blame yourself!”

Van Dijk froze, pulling the towel away from his face to stare at Modrić in disbelief.

“I’ve been teammates with Rakitić for so many years. I thought he was going to pass to Coutinho, but he passed straight to Suárez instead. So, it was my fault for not closing him down immediately.”

“It had nothing to do with you!”

With that, Modrić turned and left.

Van Dijk stood there alone, dumbfounded.

Since joining the club, he had always felt that Modrić wasn’t a suitable captain.

He was quiet, almost wooden, not one for motivational speeches, and even seemed a bit of a loner.

But for some reason, at this very moment, he suddenly felt that Modrić was the best captain in the world!

“Hey, if you’re done showering, get out. Stop hogging the spot, it’s my turn!”

The brawny-faced Pepe barged in.

Even though there were plenty of empty spots, he forcibly pushed the trouserless van Dijk out.

The dressing room erupted in laughter.

Someone even whistled at him.

At this moment, van Dijk was incredibly grateful for the unwritten rule in English dressing rooms that women were not allowed.

“What’s all the fuss? Never seen a big dick before?”

The words tumbled out of van Dijk’s mouth.

The room burst into another round of laughter and jeers.

So shameless!

But that sentence was typical of van Dijk’s usual personality and the kind of thing he would say.

The next moment, a naked Pepe walked out from the showers and asked with feigned confusion, “Are you guys talking about me?”

Another round of laughter and playful curses followed.

The Bayswater Chinese players were a shameless bunch, one more so than the next!

The laughter only died down when head coach Yang Cheng entered the room.

The atmosphere immediately grew serious.

Van Dijk and Pepe quickly pulled on their underwear and shorts.

All eyes were on the head coach.

Yang Cheng looked at van Dijk. “Apart from that red card, you played very well for the rest of the first half.”

“Leave the second half to us!”

Hearing this, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Van Dijk also felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

But along with the relief, he was deeply moved.

Such a critical mistake had been brushed aside with a single, simple sentence.

“We’ll be a man down in the second half.”

Yang Cheng paid no more attention to van Dijk; there was no time.

He needed to quickly lay out the tactics for the second half.

“But I have an idea. We can’t let them control the game. So, we’re going to try and score first!”

As he spoke, his assistants had already brought over the tactics board.

Yang Cheng arranged the players’ positions on the board.

Luke Shaw, Pepe, and Piszczek would form a three-at-the-back defense.

The midfield and attack would remain unchanged, but Nemanja Matić was instructed to drop into the centre-back position when necessary to help defend.

Toni Kroos and Modrić also had to track back diligently to protect the defensive line.

The same went for Giroud and the others.

Being a man down meant everyone else had to work harder.

But the most important thing was the attack.

Yang Cheng’s plan was to launch a blitz at the start of the second half and try to score first.

Only by scoring first and seizing the initiative could they then switch to a defend and counter-attack strategy.

That would give them a better chance!

Otherwise, if they just sat back and defended from the start, letting Liverpool attack, they would be finished!

“Don’t worry, boss. Leave the midfield to me and Toni!” Modrić stood up, the first to pledge his commitment.

“No problem for me,” Toni Kroos added.

“Leave the defense to me. When we blitz, everyone who needs to push up should go. Nemanja and I will hold back,” Pepe declared.

Nemanja Matić agreed that the arrangement was fine.

“Luke and I will be extra careful. Only one of us will go up at a time. We’ll especially watch Sturridge, that kid is seriously fast!”

Piszczek’s position put him directly up against Sturridge.

“If we’re going to blitz, we have to be decisive. We’ll aim to pin Liverpool in their own half.”

“They like to defend and counter-attack, don’t they? So we’ll give them what they want!”

“That’s right, just press them and attack!”

“We’re one man short in defense, so we in the midfield and attack will have to work harder!”

“No problem on my end.”

“I’m good too.”

One by one, the players voiced their agreement.

Soon, a consensus was reached throughout the dressing room.

“After the blitz, at the sixty-minute mark at the latest, regardless of whether we’ve scored, I will make a substitution!”

When Yang Cheng had returned at halftime, he had already told Harry Maguire to get ready.

“OK!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully. “Then it’s decided. Everyone, hurry up and get ready. Let’s aim to score one in the second half. Let’s go, let’s go!”

Everyone responded enthusiastically.

From beginning to end, not a single person had blamed van Dijk.

The Dutch centre-back listened and watched in silence.

As everyone gathered around the head coach, shoulder to shoulder, hands stacked for a final cheer, he was suddenly inspired to walk over and place his hand on top of theirs.

In that moment, he truly understood what it meant to be a teammate!

…

“A quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Toni Kroos with a diagonal long pass, switching the play to Walcott on the right wing.”

“The Little Tiger, with his back to goal, uses his body to hold off Aleksandar Kolarov, takes the ball down on his chest, then turns and gets away.”

“A beautiful turn!”

“The Little Tiger cuts inside with the ball and sends a diagonal pass into space.”

“Giroud in the center couldn’t quite get there.”

“Look at Gareth Bale on the left, near the byline, a cut-back pass.”

“There’s a chance!!!”

“Giroud shoots, it hits Škrtel! Corner kick.”

“Bayswater Chinese, a man down in the second half, are instead taking the initiative and attacking.”

“This is certainly a huge surprise.”

“Let’s see this corner kick… Pepe with the header.”

“It’s wide of the post.”

“Forty-eighth minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese have had two threatening shots in three minutes.”

…

“Liverpool in their own half, Mascherano passes to Rakitić.”

“Rakitić dribbles forward, but Modrić presses high and wins the ball.”

“A brilliant tackle high up the pitch.”

“Let’s see this counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Will Modrić pass?”

“He opts to shoot himself!”

“The ball is collected by Buffon.”

“Although that shot was on target, it was a bit too central, and Buffon dealt with it very comfortably.”

“Fifty-first minute, Bayswater Chinese create another shooting opportunity.”

…

“Alright, let’s see this one.”

“A successful defensive play by Pepe, who gives it to Nemanja Matić.”

“And forward again.”

“Giroud drops back, laying the ball off to Gareth Bale.”

“Gareth Bale bursts forward, driving with the ball.”

“A swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese.”

“Bale spreads the ball to the right wing.”

“There’s no one there, Walcott is in full flight!”

“His pace is no issue, he’s incredibly fast.”

“He’s reached the right side of Liverpool’s penalty area.”

“The Little Tiger looks like he’s going to cross it this time.”

“Gareth Bale is in the middle, Giroud at the far post.”

“Let’s see the delivery.”

“He crosses it to the center, finds Gareth Bale, a header!”

“Just wide!”

“A very threatening attack.”

“Fifty-third minute of the second half, Walcott crosses from the right, and Gareth Bale connects with a header.”

“What a pity!”

“That counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese was incredibly sudden, but Liverpool’s defense got back in time.”

…

“One minute later, Bayswater Chinese are on the attack in the final third again.”

“Toni Kroos with a cross pass to Modrić.”

“Switched out to the right, again to Walcott.”

“Walcott tries to go down the byline and break into the penalty area.”

“But there’s no opening, he passes back.”

“Piszczek has pushed forward.”

“Bayswater Chinese’s blitz in the second half has been very determined.”

“Let’s see this, Piszczek crosses from the right into the center of the box.”

“Is there an opportunity?”

“Giroud with a left-footed power shot.”

“Still just wide.”

“Liverpool’s defense is very solid, but Bayswater Chinese’s blitz has been very threatening.”

“It’s fair to say that for the opening ten minutes of the second half, Bayswater Chinese have been almost completely dominating Liverpool.”

“This is something none of us expected.”

“A man down, yet Bayswater Chinese have launched relentless attacks.”

“Meanwhile Liverpool, with an extra man, have been on the back foot.”

“It’s quite surprising.”

“But we should also note that this blitz from Bayswater Chinese hasn’t been enough to break through Liverpool’s goal.”

…

56 minutes and 33 seconds.

Toni Kroos glanced at the time on the scoreboard, a sense of urgency creeping in.

The sixty-minute mark for the substitution, as mentioned by the head coach, was fast approaching.

If they couldn’t grab a goal soon, they would have to switch to a defensive posture.

In a clash between top teams like this, being a man down, even a team as strong as Bayswater Chinese couldn’t guarantee they could hold out for the entire second half.

If they did retreat, launching another attack would be much more difficult.

But Toni Kroos had his own problems.

Liverpool were marking him extremely tightly.

Especially Gerrard.

Knowing the threat of Toni Kroos’s diagonal long passes and long shots from overlapping runs, Liverpool had specifically assigned Gerrard to mark him, making it very difficult for the German to find space to pass.

Almost every time he got the ball, Gerrard was nearby, closing him down instantly.

This left Toni Kroos feeling very frustrated.

This can’t go on!

Toni Kroos glanced at Modrić and saw that he was also being tightly marked.

So, he turned his gaze to Nemanja Matić.

The two had played together for over three years and had long since developed excellent chemistry.

With just a look, Nemanja Matić knew what Toni Kroos needed him to do.

Bayswater Chinese soon launched another attack.

Luke Shaw on the left flank surged forward with the ball, joining the attack.

Gareth Bale was also on that side.

But Liverpool’s defense shifted to cover that flank.

After a series of quick passes, Gareth Bale found no opening and immediately played a pull-back to Toni Kroos.

The moment the German turned, Gerrard pounced, giving him no chance to launch a long pass.

Toni Kroos scanned the center.

It was open.

He immediately played a pass.

It wasn’t powerful, sent straight down the middle, landing between the bottom of the center circle in Liverpool’s half and the 30-meter area.

He knew Nemanja Matić would come for it.

And he did.

The next moment, Nemanja Matić moved up to receive the ball.

Upon receiving it, the Serbian midfielder didn’t continue forward or to the left but changed direction and went right.

Coutinho immediately rushed to close him down, and Suárez was also tracking back diligently.

But after Nemanja Matić dribbled into Liverpool’s 30-meter area, he quickly sent a diagonal pass.

Luke Shaw on the left was rapidly retreating, while Piszczek on the right was making a quick forward run.

But Nemanja Matić’s pass wasn’t for Piszczek. It went directly to Walcott, who was level with the penalty area line, hugging the right touchline.

The Little Tiger had been waiting for a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos.

Upon receiving the ball, Walcott took a touch and moved horizontally toward the center.

Piszczek immediately made an overlapping run down the right touchline, ready to push forward.

This indeed drew the attention of Liverpool’s defenders.

At that exact moment, Walcott played a seemingly casual cross pass to the right side of the arc of the penalty area, finding Modrić.

After passing, the Little Tiger himself made a quick forward run.

Modrić, understanding his intent, played a through ball.

The ball zipped right between Rakitić and Nastasić, landing inside the penalty area towards the right byline.

Walcott took off like lightning, instantly piercing through Liverpool’s defensive line.

In that instant, a collective gasp went through the entire Prudential Stadium!

The Little Tiger reached the byline, caught up to Modrić’s through ball, and without taking a touch, crossed it to the edge of the six-yard box.

Giroud, who had just made a late run forward, used his body to shield Škrtel while trying to get a shot off.

In his physical battle with Škrtel, Giroud didn’t gain the upper hand. As he went to strike with his right foot, his body lost balance. Škrtel’s challenge made him lose his center of gravity, and he stumbled.

But he still made contact with the ball.

And the contact was clean.

It just lacked power.

“Giroud with a poacher’s finish inside the box!”

“There’s a chance!!!”

“A shot from Bayswater Chinese!!”

But just as everyone thought it was a certain goal, a figure suddenly dove sideways like a soaring dragon, acrobatically getting a hand to Giroud’s point-blank shot.

“My God!”

“At the crucial moment, Buffon comes up with a heroic save!!”

“Goalkeeper Buffon denies Giroud’s shot from close range!!”

“But the ball isn’t clear yet! It’s still inside Liverpool’s box!”

“Who will get to it first!”

The entire Liverpool penalty area descended into chaos.

The ball had moved from the left to the center, and finally to the right, where it had broken through Liverpool’s defense.

But the ball Buffon had saved now fell towards the left side of the penalty area.

All of Liverpool’s defenders were concentrated in the center and on the right.

Gerrard was the first to track back.

The Liverpool captain’s defensive awareness had always been top-class.

Just as he was about to reach the ball for a clearance, Gerrard suddenly felt an immense force on his left shoulder.

It was as if a mountain had collapsed, forcibly knocking him aside.

The next moment, Gerrard saw a player in the red home kit of Bayswater Chinese use his body to barge past him, his right foot planted between him and the ball.

He controlled it with his left foot, then suddenly shot again!

In that instant, Gerrard wished he could just lunge and tackle the man to the ground.

But he couldn’t.

He realized that at thirty-three years old, he simply couldn’t move Gareth Bale.

The Welshman’s left-footed backswing wasn’t large, but the shot was powerful.

The ball traveled in a near-straight line and flew into the Liverpool goal.

Although Buffon scrambled up from the ground to attempt another save, it was too late.

“GOAL!!!!”

“2-1!!!”

“Fifty-seventh minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese retake the lead!”

“Despite being down to ten men, Bayswater Chinese launched a ferocious blitz in the second half, suppressing Liverpool, and in the fifty-seventh minute, Gareth Bale breached Liverpool’s goal.”

“2-1!”

“Even with only ten men, Bayswater Chinese are not to be messed with!”

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a breathtaking display of passion!

Ninety thousand fans leaped from their seats, roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs.

An ecstatic Gareth Bale turned and ran off the pitch, making his signature heart-shaped celebration gesture.

Behind him, all his Bayswater Chinese teammates sprinted after him.

“At the team’s most critical moment, when they needed him most, Gareth Bale stepped up!”

“With a brilliant left-footed power shot, he has put Bayswater Chinese ahead once again.”

“With his actions, he has shown everyone why he is Bayswater Chinese’s undisputed ace!”

“And with this goal, he tells everyone that at Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium, they are still the invincible kings!”

“Even a man down against their opponents, they can still score, they can still find the net, they can still overwhelm their rivals!”

“Even if that opponent is Liverpool!”

Yang Cheng, like all the fans in the stadium, jumped up in celebration.

He had no idea that at this very moment, in the unseen dressing room, van Dijk had just received the news of the goal on his phone.

The Dutch centre-back let out an ecstatic roar and dropped to his knees in the dressing room.

He looked even more thrilled than if he had scored the goal himself.

The next moment, tears almost uncontrollably welled up in his eyes.

He really couldn’t hold it back!

He knew he would remember this match for the rest of his life!

At the same time, he knew with absolute clarity that from this moment on, he had to work twice as hard—no, ten times, a hundred times harder.

He had to repay his teammates, this team, and the head coach who trusted him with better performances and concrete actions!

…

After Gareth Bale’s goal, Yang Cheng quickly made a substitution.

In the 60th minute, Harry Maguire came on for centre-forward Giroud.

Bayswater Chinese’s formation then shifted to a 4-3-2.

The midfield remained unchanged, and the defense now had four players, but up front, only Gareth Bale and Walcott were left.

This was a necessary choice.

Yang Cheng’s team couldn’t maintain their blitz tactic for the entire second half.

If they did, their stamina would be completely drained by the seventieth minute at the latest.

For the final twenty minutes of the match, the team would be at the mercy of their opponents.

Yang Cheng chose this moment to make a change because he wanted to switch to a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Liverpool also quickly made a substitution.

Forward Aubameyang replaced midfielder Glen Johnson.

After the change, Liverpool shifted to a 3-4-3 formation.

The defense switched to a three-at-the-back system, the midfield was largely unchanged, but the attack now consisted of a trident of Sturridge, Suárez, and Aubameyang.

Moreover, all three players were highly aggressive attackers.

Bayswater Chinese, a man down, began to find themselves on the back foot on the pitch.

In terms of possession, however, the two teams were still evenly matched.

However, the home team no longer dared to hold the ball for too long in their own half. After winning it back, they mostly opted for direct long balls forward.

They let Gareth Bale and Walcott use their pace to attack.

Even the overlapping runs of Toni Kroos and Modrić became very cautious.

On the flanks, usually only one full-back would push up at a time.

With Bayswater Chinese playing cautiously and methodically, Liverpool’s attacks were thwarted.

Although there were instances where Liverpool broke into Bayswater Chinese’s penalty area and unleashed a series of shots, the home team also managed to launch a quick counter-attack through Walcott, who made a surging run and nearly scored.

It could be said that both teams had their moments in attack and defense.

The match entered a stalemate.

Liverpool soon made their second substitution.

Mario Balotelli came on for Javier Mascherano.

At this point, Liverpool’s forward line was set up in a 4-forward tactic.

There were only fifteen minutes left in the game.

Mancini was clearly going all-out.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese had no choice but to retreat and defend with everyone.

The players’ energy was nearly depleted.

But the resilient home team continued to repel Liverpool’s attacks time and time again.

The home fans were also constantly cheering for their team.

Especially after the eightieth minute, many fans stood up from their seats, singing the team anthem and shouting the players’ names, cheering on the players on the pitch.

“This is truly a very moving scene at this moment!”

“Bayswater Chinese had a player sent off with a red card in the first half.”

“But Yang Cheng, with his sudden blitz at the start of the second half, managed to snatch a goal.”

“Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese have been on the defensive, but they have defended with great determination.”

“Facing a Liverpool side with an extra man, Yang Cheng’s team has managed to protect their goal through a tight and disciplined defense.”

“The home fans have also been incredible, continuously cheering for their team’s players.”

But ultimately, they were still a man down.

As time wore on, Bayswater Chinese’s situation became increasingly dire.

Especially as the match neared its end and Liverpool began to press forward in numbers, their numerical advantage became glaringly obvious.

In the eighty-seventh minute, Bayswater Chinese made a clearance from inside their box.

Harry Maguire headed a pass intended for Balotelli out of the penalty area.

Nemanja Matić headed it forward again.

But the clearance wasn’t very far.

Škrtel won the first ball outside the box, heading it to Gerrard.

Gerrard played a through ball into the penalty area, to the feet of Suárez.

The Uruguayan forward, with his back to goal, shielded the ball from Pepe and brought it under control.

Suárez first tried to turn after controlling the ball, but Pepe blocked him. With no options, the Uruguayan chose to pass back to Coutinho outside the arc of the penalty area.

For a brief moment, Coutinho found himself in an unmarked position.

Nemanja Matić immediately rushed towards him.

But Coutinho, without a second thought, took one touch to control the ball, made a slight adjustment, and unleashed a long shot with his right foot.

The ball shot forward like a cloud-piercing arrow, tracing a lightning-fast arc as it cut through the Bayswater Chinese defense and flew into the right side of the goal.

Courtois’s view was partially obstructed. By the time he reacted and dived, it was beyond his reach.

The ball flew past the Belgian goalkeeper’s fingertips and into the net behind him.

2-2!

Head referee Marriner’s whistle blew, signaling a valid goal!

The stadium was once again in an uproar.

But soon, a thunderous round of applause echoed through Prudential Stadium.

Almost every fan in the stadium stood up, cheering for the team, applauding their efforts.

It’s only 2-2!

Keep going!

There are still a few minutes left!

But the most outrageous thing was when the fourth official held up the board showing five minutes of stoppage time. Yang Cheng was about to explode with anger.

On what basis did they add so much time?

There were no injuries or lengthy interruptions in the second half, so why was there so much added time?

Yang Cheng’s furious roar on the touchline caught the attention of the head referee, Andrew Marriner.

He quickly ran off the pitch and showed Yang Cheng a yellow card as a warning.

Marriner explained his decision for the five minutes of stoppage time.

It was mainly because there had been quite a few fouls in the second half.

Quite a few?

It seemed so.

Gerrard, Škrtel, and Sturridge had all received yellow cards.

For Bayswater Chinese, Nemanja Matić and Piszczek were booked.

That meant a total of five yellow cards were shown in the second half.

Actually, Yang Cheng knew what was going on.

Andrew Marriner’s officiating in the second half had been slightly lenient towards Bayswater Chinese.

This wasn’t any special treatment.

Any fan who regularly watches football knows that this is simply a way for the referee to find a balance.

Having given Bayswater Chinese a red card and a penalty so early in the first half, if he had continued to be harsh on them, there would have been no point in playing the second half.

Of course, Yang Cheng didn’t feel that the referee’s officiating had “helped” Bayswater Chinese.

Ultimately, the team’s ability to hold on until this point was due to the entire squad.

It was because every single person on the team had worked together and given their absolute all.

In the ninety-second minute, Gerrard played a pass, but Balotelli’s shot from the edge of the six-yard box went over the bar.

In the ninety-fourth minute, Suárez took a direct free kick, but it was caught easily by Courtois.

That was the last shot of the match.

When head referee Andrew Marriner blew the final whistle, the ten Bayswater Chinese players on the pitch all collapsed onto the grass, completely drained of energy.

Yang Cheng, on the touchline, also felt a sense of exhaustion.

2-2!

Bayswater Chinese had fought desperately to preserve their unbeaten home record!

As the match ended, van Dijk was seen running out from the players’ tunnel, onto the pitch, and embracing his teammates.

The fans in the stands gave them a thunderous round of applause.

“It’s a draw!”

“But it’s also a victory!”

“In such a crucial clash between top teams, after suffering a red card and a penalty in the first half, Bayswater Chinese not only took the lead again but also held on for a precious draw!”

“For Bayswater Chinese, this is a match that will boost team morale and solidify their team spirit.”

“Of course, Bayswater Chinese’s blitz in the second half was a truly unexpected and brilliant move.”

“At a critical moment, Yang Cheng once again demonstrated the decisiveness and courage of a world-class coach.”

“And along with that, his admirable tactical genius!”

Once Yang Cheng caught his breath, he composed himself.

He first turned to high-five Brian Kidd and his other assistants before walking over to the away team’s dugout.

Mancini was clearly very dissatisfied with the result.

Before today, Liverpool had only played in one clash between top teams this season, a 1-0 home victory against Manchester United.

Mancini was very pleased with his team’s situation.

Especially in the first half, with the ultimate punishment of a red card and a penalty, he had even been looking forward to his team finishing off Bayswater Chinese in the second half and securing their position as the league leader.

That was normal, wasn’t it?

But he truly hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to not make any substitutions at halftime and instead push his team forward for an all-out attack.

Everyone knew how sharp Yang Cheng’s blitz could be.

Liverpool had been suppressed by this almost suicidal attack for over ten minutes.

And they had conceded a crucial goal!

“If it weren’t for that blitz at the start of the second half, you guys definitely wouldn’t have been able to hold on!” Mancini said resentfully.

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded. “Perhaps. But we chose to take the initiative!”

Hearing this, Mancini couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.

In a clash between top teams, a man down, and still daring to take the initiative and attack.

In European football today, how many head coaches had such courage?

What was even more ridiculous was that he had attacked for over ten minutes until he scored a goal.

This was the ability of a world-class manager!

In hindsight, of course, one could find a plethora of reasons to prove Yang Cheng’s decision was correct.

But at that moment, how many would have had the courage to make such a decision?

Mancini asked himself, and he knew he probably couldn’t have done it!

“Look, you’ve dragged us down with you, and now you’ve just handed Wenger an advantage for nothing. What was the point?” Mancini said with a wry smile.

Yang Cheng grinned. “Wenger and I are good friends. He sends me wine every holiday. What do you think?”

Mancini burst out laughing.

The fact that Wenger sent wine to Yang Cheng had been reported by the media for a long time; it was old news.

“Alright, I’ll remember that. Next holiday, I’ll send you some too. Just remember to help me out then!”

Yang Cheng, of course, agreed.

Next time?

Who knew when next time would be?

But it was true that the draw with Liverpool had really benefited Wenger and Arsenal.

The Gunners had been level on points with Liverpool, and now Wenger’s team was all alone at the top of the table.

Chapter 292: Pep Guardiola Loses His Composure! Train Him to Death for Me! That Stings, Yang Cheng!

After the eighth round of the Premier League, almost all media outlets were praising Bayswater Chinese.

Even though the match at Prudential Stadium ended in a 2-2 draw.

But as Sky Sports stated in its post-match summary: This was more precious than a victory!

The Times believed that this match showed everyone the strength of Bayswater Chinese!

“Ferguson will be terrified by this!”

“Because the current Bayswater Chinese is surpassing Manchester United in every aspect, be it in terms of strength or spirit!”

For many years, the Red Devils’ imposing dominance in the Premier League had been in a class of its own.

The so-called “Red Devil spirit,” in particular, was like a buff, providing an extra boost to Manchester United’s overall strength.

But now, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese were also displaying a unique resilience characteristic of a West London team.

“This match was not only a success for the head coach on a technical and tactical level, but also a success of the dressing room’s unity!”

The Times argued that in such a crucial clash between top teams, to be a man down in the first half, still score the opening goal, maintain the lead for a long time, and only be equalized at the very end…

“Looking at the current Premier League, besides Bayswater Chinese, there is probably no other team that could have pulled this off!”

“All Premier League title contenders will be worried.”

“Because they are facing such a tenacious, such a resilient opponent!”

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng took the initiative to defend van Dijk.

He believed the head referee’s decision was correct, and the team had no intention of appealing the red card.

But for van Dijk, Yang Cheng believed, “This is a valuable lesson for him.”

“Once he steps out of the shadow of this red card, he will become even stronger!”

In this round of matches, Arsenal thrashed Norwich 4-1 at home.

Manchester United defeated Southampton 2-1 at home.

Chelsea beat Cardiff 4-1 at home.

And Manchester City, with a brace from Agüero, defeated West Ham United 3-1 away.

After eight rounds, Arsenal led the Premier League table with twenty-two points.

Just as Mancini had said, after Bayswater Chinese held Liverpool back, Arsenal had pulled away from the pack.

Liverpool was second with twenty points, two points behind Arsenal.

Bayswater Chinese, with six wins, one draw, and one loss, had nineteen points.

Manchester City also had nineteen points.

But due to Bayswater Chinese’s superior goal difference, Yang Cheng’s team was currently third, with Manchester City in fourth.

Chelsea had seventeen points, ranking fifth.

Manchester United was sixth with sixteen points.

Looking at the overall trend of the new season, the top six teams were all very close to each other.

Arsenal and Manchester City had the strongest momentum.

But the Gunners currently had one problem.

In the first eight rounds, Wenger’s team had yet to face any of the tough opponents from the top six.

In other words, Wenger’s team had not yet been tested in a clash between top teams.

Therefore, to some extent, their position as league leaders was still somewhat inflated.

Manchester City had played in a clash between top teams, losing to Bayswater Chinese at home but defeating Manchester United.

Pep Guardiola’s team’s real test would be their ninth-round away match against Chelsea.

This would be a very eye-catching decisive battle!

The rivalry between Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in La Liga was now being replicated in the Premier League.

But their circumstances were completely different now.

Chelsea was a team with Mourinho’s deep imprint, and the entire team’s spirit was a perfect match for him.

Manchester City, on the other hand…

Pep Guardiola had just arrived and was still in the process of transforming the team.

Although they had Messi, whether they could challenge Chelsea in a clash of titans remained a huge question mark.

As for Manchester United…

Although Ferguson’s team was currently in sixth place, which didn’t look great…

What was the reality?

The Red Devils had already played three clashes between top teams.

Given Manchester United’s efficiency at picking up points against weaker teams, their charge up the league table was just beginning.

Of course, Ferguson’s biggest problem was his poor record in the big games.

Conversely, if Manchester United were still ranked high after three tough matches, they would be the undisputed top favorites for the title.

So, after eight rounds, the Premier League situation was gradually becoming clearer.

Among the Big 6, each team basically had its own problems.

Their overall strength was very high, but issues also existed.

Therefore, the next phase would be a race to see which of these six teams could solve their own problems better and faster, and whoever did so would likely surge ahead.

…

The day after the eighth round of the Premier League, when Yang Cheng arrived at the Brent training center, he saw a bicycle.

This surprised him a little.

It was van Dijk’s bicycle.

Apparently, the lad had been fond of cycling back in the Netherlands.

When he was at OGC Nice in Ligue 1, he would basically ride his bike to the training ground.

After coming to Bayswater Chinese, he had continued this habit.

“You’re here so early today?”

Yang Cheng was rather surprised.

In his memory, van Dijk had always been quite laid-back.

This was probably not just because he grew up playing five-a-side football, but also due to something that ran deeper in his blood.

For example, his mother was from Suriname.

Suriname is a country in South America, right next to Brazil.

One could imagine that the people there were probably not too different from Brazilians—wasn’t being laid-back quite normal?

After arriving at his office in the training center, the first thing Yang Cheng did was read the daily briefing.

Every day, the coaching staff and various departments would send him briefings, reporting on the events of the past day.

For instance, after yesterday’s match, the medical department would report on the players’ injuries.

The sports analysis department would report on the players’ general physical condition and fitness levels.

Yang Cheng quickly scanned through it and got the gist of things.

But during the morning meeting, fitness coach Oliver Bartlett and technical coach Danny McGrain both brought up the same matter.

It turned out van Dijk had come to see them early in the morning.

“He said he wants to strengthen his physical training,” Oliver Bartlett said with a smile.

Yang Cheng was a bit surprised. “Doesn’t he usually dislike training in the gym?”

Oliver Bartlett shrugged, indicating he didn’t know either.

As for seeking out Danny McGrain, it was mainly to work on his defensive training.

“He said he’s never really had any formal training in defensive techniques.”

Don’t think this sounds outrageous.

In fact, in European leagues, many teams’ training for defenders is very unrefined.

It’s essentially as if they believe that for defense, you just throw a player onto the pitch and he’ll naturally learn it.

Is that really the case?

Actually, it kind of is.

Former Arsenal defender Kolo Touré had only received professional training for a short time, yet he was able to start playing in the Premier League and perform so well.

Compared to midfielders and forwards, defenders rely more on their physical attributes.

Of course, some basic defensive moves are easy to learn.

For example, not long ago, Pep Guardiola was very dissatisfied with Jérôme Boateng.

Why?

Even though he was already a German international, Guardiola felt that Boateng barely knew how to defend and had never properly trained in defensive techniques.

That’s why he would throw himself to the ground for a slide tackle at the drop of a hat.

This was a very bad habit!

So, Manchester City was now giving Jérôme Boateng special training.

And almost everyone believed that defenders are forged through being tormented.

Throw them onto the pitch, let them constantly accumulate experience of being beaten. Once they’ve been beaten enough, their experience will naturally become rich.

In fact, in this aspect, Italy’s development of defenders was the best and most systematic.

That’s why, over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s first team coaching staff and youth academy team had Italian coaches specifically for defensive training.

OGC Nice had them too.

But according to the information Yang Cheng received, van Dijk didn’t seem very proactive about strengthening this aspect of his training back at Nice.

Because his physique was outstanding and he was fast enough, it always made defending seem effortless for him.

Since that was the case, why would he need extra practice?

But after coming to the Premier League, especially after suffering a major setback against Suárez in yesterday’s match, van Dijk had clearly started to change.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng was not at all surprised when van Dijk said he wanted to improve his defensive skills and awareness.

Of course, he would never tell van Dijk that while Suárez’s name wasn’t that famous yet, his individual ability was definitely among the very best in world football today.

Can’t defend against Suárez?

That’s like not being able to defend against Messi.

But since this misunderstanding had motivated the player, Yang Cheng certainly had to oblige.

“Then draw up a complete special training plan for him, let him improve and strengthen himself. But remember, you have to keep a close eye on him. Don’t let him slack off and be laid-back.”

Yang Cheng’s words made the coaches laugh.

He was planning to take this opportunity to rein in van Dijk.

The kid was usually quite casual, so it was rare for him to be so motivated. Of course, they had to increase discipline and supervision, and ideally, use this chance to correct some of his bad habits.

“For now, it’s most suitable for him to continue as a pressing centre-back,” Yang Cheng gave him a basic role assignment.

No one had any objections.

Bayswater Chinese’s centre-backs had always operated in a one-forward, one-back system.

With Pepe and Thiago Silva, it wasn’t fixed who would press and who would cover; the two of them decided on their own.

But it was obvious that as players aged, the scarcity of pressing centre-backs was now presenting a challenge for Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had assigned van Dijk, Harry Maguire, and John Stones to the pressing role.

On one hand, they were all young, with good physical qualities at this stage, so pressing high would fully utilize their strengths.

Moreover, they lacked experience, and playing a holding role would expose their weaknesses and shortcomings.

On the other hand, it related to a common pattern among top-class centre-backs: their careers generally progressed from pressing to a holding role.

Cannavaro, Nesta, Samuel, Ferdinand, Vidić—all of them followed this path.

When they were young, they pushed up. As they got older, more experienced, and their bodies began to decline, they dropped back.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many fans’ impression of van Dijk was basically of him in a holding role.

Some even said he was a pure covering centre-back.

This wasn’t entirely accurate.

In the Eredivisie, the Scottish Premiership, and at Southampton, van Dijk was basically a pressing centre-back.

Why was José Fonte renowned as a ‘centre-back incubator’?

Because among the centre-backs he nurtured was van Dijk.

Van Dijk made his name in the Premier League with his excellent pressing and astonishing recovery speed.

His real transformation came after a severe injury in January 2017, which kept him out for over two hundred days.

The injury was to his ankle.

This brought up another issue.

A 1.93-meter-tall centre-back is like a heavy tank.

But a pressing centre-back needs to be agile and quick in recovery, constantly making quick sprints and changes of direction during a match.

This puts a lot of strain on a player’s ankle joints.

So, why were Pep Guardiola’s centre-backs always prone to injury?

The reason was also related to his team’s tactical style.

This serious injury forced van Dijk to change his playing style, gradually transforming from a pressing centre-back into the pure covering centre-back that fans were familiar with.

Yang Cheng still clearly remembered a statistic about van Dijk from his previous life that had left an incredibly deep impression on him.

In football matches, there are statistics for physical duels between a defending player and an opposing player when contesting for the ball.

If the defender successfully wins possession in a duel, it’s recorded as a successful duel.

Then, a duel success rate is calculated based on the total number of duels and successful duels.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to have a high duel success rate, especially in the top leagues.

At that time, the best statistics in world football showed a duel success rate of less than seventy percent.

Generally, sixty percent was already considered a very excellent defender.

And what was van Dijk’s statistic?

There were no such statistics for his earlier days in the Eredivisie and the Scottish Premiership, but at Southampton, his worst figure was seventy-three percent.

He was in a league of his own, a top-tier existence!

Mind you, that was his worst.

From Southampton to Liverpool, his duel success rate was consistently around seventy-five percent.

Remember, in the Premier League, he was facing powerful centre-forwards!

So, Yang Cheng was very excited now and absolutely would not allow van Dijk to continue being lax.

He wanted to quickly forge this formidable centre-back, extending the peak of his professional career.

What was rare was that the player himself had actively requested it, so he couldn’t let him off the hook.

Yang Cheng gave the coaching staff a special directive.

While ensuring it was scientific and the player’s health was protected, “Train him to death for me!”

As for the centre-back’s ankles and other injury-prone areas, Bayswater Chinese already had a system of close monitoring in place, so Yang Cheng didn’t need to give too many instructions.

…

On the evening of October 23rd, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Champions League Group A, third round match: Bayswater Chinese versus Real Sociedad at home.

Having drawn 1-1 with AC Milan away in the second round, Yang Cheng placed great importance on this home game.

He knew very well that if they couldn’t win this match at home, their chances of advancing from the group would become very precarious.

Therefore, he fielded a full-strength team this time.

Real Sociedad were no pushovers.

Although their best holding midfielder from last season, Illarramendi, had been signed by Real Madrid through his release clause, Real Sociedad’s overall strength was still formidable.

Up front, they had former Arsenal forward Vela and the French player Griezmann.

Yang Cheng’s side had just played Liverpool and needed some squad rotation, while Real Sociedad planned to defend and counter-attack away from home.

As a typical team from the north of Spain, Real Sociedad’s style was also very tenacious.

Playing away at Prudential Stadium, they still performed fiercely, not holding back at all just because they were the visiting team.

In contrast, Yang Cheng’s team, after implementing a rotation strategy, started the game a bit cautiously.

It wasn’t until the 37th minute that Giroud provided a brilliant assist, and Gareth Bale broke into the right side of the penalty area to score past Real Sociedad’s goalkeeper.

1-0!

After changing sides in the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched an all-out attack.

Just three minutes into the half, another assist from Giroud set up Aaron Ramsey to score another goal for the team.

2-0!

But in the 67th minute, a wonderful pass from Aaron Ramsey found Gareth Bale, who cut inside from the right with the ball, beat a defender, and unleashed a worldie with his left foot, once again finding the back of Real Sociedad’s net.

The Welsh winger scored a brace.

3-0!

And after a series of substitutions, in the 87th minute, Eden Hazard delivered a fine pass to Harry Kane, who had come on for Giroud. Kane controlled the ball in the penalty area and hit a power shot into the goal.

4-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese convincingly defeated Real Sociedad 4-0 at home!

Everyone could see that the two teams were not on the same level.

A team like Real Sociedad had everything click last season—their tactics were in place, and their players hit top form, resulting in an excellent performance.

But as soon as they achieved success, a player like Illarramendi was immediately poached by Real Madrid.

This was a huge blow to Real Sociedad.

Bayswater Chinese’s 4-0 victory was a complete triumph, whether in terms of the match’s progression, the on-field performance, or the final score.

In the other group match, AC Milan drew 1-1 away against Bayer Leverkusen.

As a result, after three rounds of group stage matches, Bayswater Chinese topped the table with two wins and one draw.

AC Milan, with two consecutive draws, was in second place.

Bayer Leverkusen was third.

Real Sociedad still had zero points.

…

At the weekend, the ninth round of the Premier League.

The first match of this round saw Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 2-0 away.

Liverpool then thrashed West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at home, thanks to a hat-trick from Suárez.

Manchester United, also playing at home, came from behind twice to beat Stoke City 3-2 with goals from Cavani, Rooney, and Javier Hernández.

Ferguson’s team showed incredible resilience in this match and earned widespread praise afterwards.

Bayswater Chinese’s match this round was away against Sunderland.

The Black Cats had been strange in the Premier League this season, performing well at home but poorly away.

Bayswater Chinese had just played Liverpool and Real Sociedad, and van Dijk was suspended due to a red card.

This forced Yang Cheng to rotate his squad.

As a result, just five minutes into the game, Steven Fletcher scored the opening goal for the Black Cats, assisted by former Manchester City player Adam Johnson.

And the defense, led by O’Shea and Dossena, also performed very stubbornly.

It wasn’t until the 28th minute that a pass from Modrić found the young Sterling, who successfully beat the offside trap and scored past Westwood to equalize for his team.

Then, in the 36th minute of the first half, Sterling provided a brilliant pass to Theo Walcott, who, on the left side of the penalty area, dribbled past a defender and scored with a right-footed curling shot, putting his team in the lead.

2-1!

After the halftime break, in the 52nd minute, another quick counter-attack followed an interception in midfield.

Harry Kane dropped back to receive the ball and played a through pass. Sterling broke through with the ball and passed it horizontally to the center.

The Little Tiger scored another goal, sending the ball into the back of the net once again.

3-1!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1, thanks to a brace from Theo Walcott and a goal from Sterling!

The crucial match of this round was Chelsea hosting Manchester City.

This was also the grand finale of the round!

Both teams had European fixtures; Chelsea had the Europa League, and Manchester City had the Champions League.

And their opponents were not weak either.

Mourinho played a reserve lineup and won 2-1 at home against Kazan Rubin, clearly conserving energy for the weekend.

Pep Guardiola’s team continued with their 4-3-3 formation.

But in terms of lineup, Guardiola had obviously made some changes.

Fernandinho played as the single holding midfielder in the number four role, with Yaya Touré and Marco Verratti in front of him.

The front line consisted of David Silva, Agüero, and Messi.

But Mourinho had set up an inescapable net at his home ground.

After the match started, although Manchester City had possession, they found it difficult to break through Chelsea’s defense.

Especially Messi.

He was fouled by Ramires several times when he got on the ball.

The key was that the head referee, Howard Webb, was rather “lenient” towards this kind of foul.

This made Guardiola very unhappy.

While watching the live broadcast, Yang Cheng immediately sensed something unusual about Guardiola.

“He’s getting a bit anxious!”

Who could say he wasn’t?

As Guardiola and Mourinho reunited in the Premier League, there was a certain sense of rivalry between them.

Moreover, the two had clashed head-to-head plenty of times in Spain.

“Webb’s officiating can’t be called biased, only that it’s more typical of the Premier League, especially since it’s Chelsea’s home game,” Brian Kidd said, hitting the nail on the head.

The whole world knew that the Premier League’s refereeing standards, especially regarding physical contact and certain actions, were indeed a bit more lenient than La Liga’s.

This was actually much better than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

After all, the standards had already been revised once.

But who was Mourinho?

When it came to exploiting the rules, Mourinho was a master who would stop at nothing.

Playing at home, he exploited this advantage to the fullest.

And Guardiola soon exposed his own problem.

He was too impatient!

For a possession-based team, this was truly fatal.

And so it proved.

In the 33rd minute, during a quick counter-attack, André Schürle broke through on the left and passed superbly to Falcao.

The Colombian then passed it across to the center, and Eto’o scored with one kick to give Chelsea the opening goal!

Interestingly, Eto’o was also a former Barça player who had been driven out by Guardiola.

Now, he was fired up to get his revenge on Guardiola.

And now he had it. The Panther was ecstatic after scoring.

Messi had been quiet for the entire first half. Not to say he was invisible, but he certainly posed no threat.

Mourinho really did have his own unique methods for defending against Messi.

But after the second half began, Manchester City suddenly launched a wave of attacks. In the 48th minute, Messi dribbled through the center and delivered a precise through ball.

Agüero scored with a power shot from the left side of the penalty area, equalizing for Manchester City.

1-1!

The match once again fell into a stalemate.

Subsequently, both sides made continuous substitutions.

Mourinho brought on William, Mikel, and others, all to strengthen the defense.

Guardiola, on the other hand, brought on Jesús Navas, Tiago, and other players, mainly to bolster the attack.

The game remained deadlocked.

Right until the 90th minute, just as it seemed the match would end in a 1-1 draw, Manchester City, who had possession, made a back pass, and Joe Hart made a terrible mistake.

As he came out to receive a teammate’s pass, Joe Hart seemed to have a sudden brain freeze.

Vincent Kompany had clearly headed the ball back to him. All he had to do was casually catch it.

No one knew what wire got crossed in Joe Hart’s head, but he chose to control the ball instead.

Controlling it would have been fine, but he failed to control it properly, and his touch was heavy.

This was near the penalty spot in the large penalty area.

The heavy touch was a gift for Falcao, who was overjoyed.

The Colombian centre-forward rushed forward, got to the ball before Joe Hart, and poked it away.

He then chased after it himself and easily scored into the empty net with a push shot.

2-1!

Mourinho stormed onto the pitch, cheering ecstatically, and ran around the field.

It was as if he had scored the goal himself!

Guardiola, on the other hand, was fuming on the sidelines, constantly roaring at the players on the field, having completely lost his composure!

This was the final moment of the game!

For the starting goalkeeper to make such a mistake and gift the opponent a goal, how could they possibly continue the match?

In the end, Manchester City lost 1-2 away to Chelsea!

Mourinho’s post-match comments only rubbed more salt into Guardiola’s wounds.

“Many people say we won this match because of luck.”

“That’s wrong!”

“We won because, from start to finish, we always believed in ourselves!”

“In the final moment of the match, Falcao believed in himself, wanting to score, and that’s what got us the most crucial goal!”

After defeating Manchester City 2-1 at home, Mourinho admitted he had lost his composure a bit.

But he then added, “I didn’t actually do anything. Our players just performed at their usual speed and offensive efficiency, and we beat Manchester City!”

There was another detail after the match: Guardiola refused to shake hands with Mourinho.

The Portuguese madman, having won the game, couldn’t stop smiling. “I understand how he feels at this moment. It’s not important!”

At the post-match press conference, Guardiola had only one word for his team’s late-game conceded goal.

Stupid!

But Guardiola said his feelings were currently complicated.

“There’s still a long way to go, and anything can happen.”

As for the concerns many had about Joe Hart’s starting position, Guardiola said it wasn’t the right time to discuss the issue.

But everyone knew that Joe Hart, who had never been favored by Guardiola, would likely find it difficult to hold on to his spot as the starting goalkeeper.

Regarding his refusal to shake hands with Mourinho, Guardiola was also blunt.

“I didn’t want to shake his hand!”

Why?

“When Chelsea scored at the last minute, he rushed onto the pitch to celebrate, running right past our bench. That was very classless behavior, and he didn’t apologize for it!”

But everyone could tell that the prideful Manchester City manager was mostly just in a terrible mood because he had lost the game.

Yang Cheng had little interest in the feud between the two.

The only thing that interested him was that Manchester City had lost.

64.5% possession rate, fifteen shots, and they still lost!

That’s very Guardiola, isn’t it?

…

After defeating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City 2-1 at home, Mourinho was truly in high spirits.

But his glory didn’t stop there.

In the mid-week League Cup, Chelsea visited the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal away.

The Blues fielded a rotated lineup and ended up beating Arsenal 2-0 away, with goals from Azpilicueta and Sneijder.

The Gunners didn’t go all out in the first half, instead playing their rotated and substitute players.

But by the time Wenger wanted to turn up the heat in the second half, it was already too late.

Mourinho was absolutely badass!

The British media showered the Portuguese madman with praise!

First, he took down Manchester City, then he swept aside the Gunners. Mourinho was lauded by countless media outlets and Chelsea fans.

After the match, the Daily Mail, which was close to Chelsea, even published an account of Mourinho’s pre-match motivational speech, claiming that his passionate and eloquent words had fired up the entire Chelsea squad.

A six-game winning streak, during which they took down giants Manchester City and Arsenal, meant that the current Chelsea could be described as completely reborn compared to before.

“Compared to last season, Chelsea hasn’t made too many adjustments or changes to their personnel, and their transfer market activity wasn’t significant either.”

“But with the same squad, in Mourinho’s hands, Chelsea has displayed astonishing fighting spirit!”

“The Chelsea of today is an iron lion capable of competing on four fronts!”

When interviewed by the media, Mourinho made no secret of his pride, or even his smugness.

“It’s still too early to say, but our recent form has been quite good, and I hope we can keep it up!”

Wenger’s mood was clearly better than Guardiola’s, as his team was currently the league leader.

As for losing the League Cup, Wenger was quite relaxed, stating that the loss was mainly due to players’ mistakes.

Also during the mid-week fixtures, Bayswater Chinese defeated Fulham 1-0 at home.

The meritorious veteran who scored the goal was Harry Maguire!

The English centre-back scored with a header from an attacking free-kick in the 53rd minute of the second half, securing the only goal of the game for his team.

Besides the goal, Harry Maguire also performed very well for the rest of the match.

Manchester United beat Norwich 4-0 at home.

Manchester City defeated Newcastle 2-0 away.

Guardiola’s team quickly recovered from their setback at Stamford Bridge.

And this very weekend, Bayswater Chinese was set to host Chelsea!

…

Ever since October 29th, after the League Cup matches had concluded, the British media had been frantically hyping up the tenth round of the Premier League.

The opening match of this round was Bayswater Chinese hosting Chelsea!

Both teams were among the best-performing in the Premier League this season.

And both were from West London.

The Sun called it the greatest West London derby of all time!

Why?

Although Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese had played a West London derby against Mourinho’s Chelsea before…

The two teams had even faced off in the UEFA Super Cup previously.

But the situation was clearly different this time.

“The Chelsea of August was still in the turmoil of a managerial change; Mourinho’s coaching had not yet borne fruit!”

“But now, the Portuguese madman is leading his blue-blooded lions on a six-game winning streak in the Premier League and League Cup. They are truly unstoppable!”

“Especially in their last two games, defeating Manchester City at home and then Arsenal away, Chelsea has fully gelled!”

“Mourinho and his Chelsea are rubbing their hands in anticipation, ready to avenge their previous defeat at Prudential Stadium!”

If Mourinho’s Chelsea was unstoppable, then this season’s Bayswater Chinese had been somewhat inconsistent.

Losing Robert Lewandowski had had a significant impact on Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

But the most important thing was their results.

So far, in nine league matches, Bayswater Chinese had already drawn one and lost one.

“This is the West London team’s worst league start in the past three years!”

What did that mean?

In the 10/11 season, Yang Cheng’s team was unstoppable, securing a nine-game winning streak.

In the 11/12 season, Bayswater Chinese maintained their potent attack, once again recording a nine-game winning streak to start the season.

In the 12/13 season, although the team’s performance had declined slightly, they remained unbeaten in the first nine rounds with seven wins and two draws.

But what about this season?

So far, Yang Cheng’s team had seven wins, one draw, and one loss.

In terms of points, it was only one point less than last season.

But losing a match, that was the key point!

The Sun made it very clear that the dominance of Yang Cheng’s team was declining.

And no one could deny this.

On one side, Bayswater Chinese’s dominance was waning; on the other, Mourinho’s Chelsea was rapidly rising and in excellent recent form.

As one waned, the other grew. Many speculated that Mourinho’s team had a good chance of avenging their previous defeat away from home, taking down Bayswater Chinese just as they had taken down Manchester City and Arsenal.

Mourinho was clearly full of anticipation for the upcoming crucial match and was taking it extremely seriously.

After defeating Arsenal, Mourinho told reporters that the team’s ability to repeatedly overcome strong opponents came from the players’ own relentless efforts.

“An outstanding team should have a collective consciousness; all players are part of the collective.”

“Who scores, who doesn’t; who plays well, who doesn’t, none of that matters.”

“The most important thing is that we do our best in every single match.”

“Against Arsenal, against Manchester City, they were very tough games, but we won them both!”

Regarding Bayswater Chinese, Mourinho admitted that this West London arch-rival was the strongest team in the Premier League, and even in European football, at the moment.

“But they’re facing some trouble now.”

“That’s very normal!”

“No team can maintain peak competitiveness for a long time.”

Mourinho stated that Chelsea was in excellent condition right now. “Everyone in the team is very healthy and full of fighting spirit.”

Having no major injuries was a huge advantage.

And for the away match against Bayswater Chinese, who would be in the lineup?

Mourinho said, “It’s a very difficult choice. My players are all excellent, and they all want to play in this match, but I only have eleven spots!”

From this series of interviews, one could easily read Mourinho’s satisfaction with his team’s current state and his confidence for the upcoming match.

After repeatedly defeating strong opponents, the ambitious Portuguese madman was eager to make his mark.

Chelsea fans were also eager for their team to avenge their past defeats!

After all, for the past few years, they had been unable to hold their heads high in front of their West London arch-rivals.

Now, it was time for Bayswater Chinese to look up to Chelsea!

Media reporters revealed that the day after the Arsenal match, Roman Abramovich made a rare visit to the Cobham training ground to give the team a pre-match pep talk.

Not only that, the Chelsea management would also offer a substantial win bonus to motivate the players to defeat their opponent.

Chelsea was determined to secure a third consecutive victory in the clashes between top teams!

What made things even worse for Bayswater Chinese was that it was expected to rain for the match.

Although they were playing at home and had the geographical advantage, the timing and morale seemed to be in Chelsea’s favor.

This made many media outlets and fans sweat for Bayswater Chinese before the match.

…

After the League Cup match on October 29th, the tenth round of the Premier League would kick off at 12:45 PM on November 2nd.

This was the opening match of the tenth round!

On the afternoon of November 1st, after the final training session, Yang Cheng held a pre-match press conference in the press conference hall at the Brent training center and announced the eighteen-man matchday squad for the game.

Yang Cheng didn’t engage much with Mourinho’s pre-match provocations.

But he delivered a stinging reply, “He’s full of confidence before every single match.”

“But in all these years, when has he ever been the one smiling happily after a game?”

The reporters were delighted.

Yang Cheng was a man of few, but harsh, words!

He wasn’t going to engage in Mourinho’s nonsense; he just asked one question: how many times have you won?

That stings, my friend!

But after the press conference, Yang Cheng convened a meeting with his coaching staff.

They had also received Chelsea’s eighteen-man squad list for tomorrow’s match.

“We had a reporter from The Times who we’re friendly with try to provoke Mourinho, but the guy refused to reveal his starting lineup for anything.”

Brian Kidd shook his head with a wry smile.

Previously, when Mourinho was managing Real Madrid, he had once announced his starting lineup early.

So, Yang Cheng had the club arrange to test Mourinho’s reaction.

As it turned out, the guy’s lips were sealed tight today.

If you’ve got the guts, announce it early again, old Mou!

Yang Cheng grumbled to himself.

“We’ve received reliable intelligence that before the League Cup match, Mourinho made some sort of pact with the dressing room: the best performers would play in this weekend’s league match.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Cheng’s brows furrowed. “Knowing Mourinho, he will definitely keep his promise.”

Although Mourinho was a controversial figure, with many who loved and hated him…

One thing everyone had to admit was that he was always a man of his word.

Especially in front of his players.

“If that’s the case…”

Gianni Vio displayed Mourinho’s eighteen-man squad list on the big screen, along with the list of all players who played against Arsenal and their post-match ratings.

“Add the Manchester City match to that as well,” Yang Cheng added.

Soon, the players who had played against Manchester City and their post-match ratings also appeared on the screen.

With that, many things became clear at a glance.

“Sneijder, Oscar, William… it should be them!”

Mourinho played a 4-2-3-1 formation, and these three players would be the ‘3’.

Having said that, Brian Kidd had another question. “But how will he arrange these three?”

No one knew the answer.

If Yang Cheng could guess that, what secrets would Mourinho have left?

All three were versatile players.

William could play on both wings, while Oscar and Sneijder could play in all three positions.

This made it even harder to guess.

“These three players share a common characteristic: they are all small, technical players, and they are all good at passing.”

Yang Cheng pointed out the commonality among the three players.

William had speed and explosiveness, making him a good ball carrier, but his dribbling ability wasn’t particularly outstanding.

As for Sneijder and Oscar, they were skilled at passing and orchestrating play, but their ability to beat players was not strong.

“Mourinho has a certain stubbornness about him.”

“In past matches, he has always insisted on using Ramires and Lampard as his double pivot, including in the previous UEFA Super Cup.”

“But against Arsenal, he used Mikel and Essien.”

At the Emirates Stadium, this double pivot actually performed reasonably well, with Essien even assisting Azpilicueta for the first goal.

William assisted Sneijder for the second goal.

“So will he use Essien to replace either Ramires or Lampard?” Brian Kidd asked.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment, then immediately shook his head and said decisively, “No!”

“Lampard is the core of the midfield and an important means for Mourinho to stabilize the dressing room, but Ramires is the fighting force in the double pivot. Under these circumstances, neither of them will be touched.”

With that, the midfield and attack became quite clear.

The striker would be Falcao.

The defense line shouldn’t be a big issue either; Mourinho would likely trust the centre-back pairing of Cahill and Terry.

The full-backs would still be Ashley Cole and Ivanović.

After this analysis by Yang Cheng and his assistants, Chelsea’s starting lineup was basically clear.

He was confident that unless something unexpected happened before the match, this would be Chelsea’s starting eleven!

The only thing left was how Bayswater Chinese would respond.

“Is it going to rain tomorrow?” Yang Cheng asked.

The media outside was already hyping it up.

Something about the weather and morale being on Chelsea’s side.

What a load of crap!

Did these bastards not know that the roof of Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium was retractable?

Oh, right. In England today, besides the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, only Prudential Stadium had a retractable roof.

So, it was normal that they didn’t think of it.

“The temperature is a bit low, and there’s moderate rain, which is not in our favor,” Brian Kidd reminded him.

Yang Cheng nodded. “Then inform the stadium staff to close the roof tonight and give the pitch some proper maintenance.”

“Tomorrow, we’re taking down the Blues!”

Chapter 293: The Unbeaten Myth! The Madman’s Ascension! A Looming Defeat! The Flying Dutchman!

Every time Mourinho walked into London’s Prudential Stadium, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration.

Then, he would lift his head to look at the closed roof, a flicker of annoyance rising within him.

He couldn’t help but curse under his breath, “What an outrageous monster!”

The admiration was for this fantastical stadium.

Just over a year after its completion, it had been acclaimed as the best and most dreamlike football stadium in the world.

For the past year and more—no, strictly speaking, ever since the design renderings were released—it had completely monopolized the top spot in every global stadium ranking for the last few years.

After it opened, countless tourists from all over the world flocked to visit the stadium every day.

It was said that the income from tour tickets alone over the past year was a substantial sum.

This also brought incredibly lucrative returns to the surrounding businesses.

For example, the ultra-luxurious Bvlgari and The Peninsula hotels.

It was well known that ultra-luxury hotels generally preferred not to be located in bustling downtown areas to protect the privacy of their distinguished guests.

Let alone next to a football stadium.

With a football match every few days, ninety thousand fans flooding in, the traffic congestion was one thing, but the constant ebb and flow of supporters was like a tide—a fatal flaw for any hotel.

Yet, surprisingly, not only did these two hotels choose to build next to the stadium, but they were also welcomed by their guests.

The reason was simple: they viewed the stadium as a work of art.

The constant stream of fans made it a truly unique experience in the world.

In the words of Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, “Prudential Stadium, amidst the crowds, is what makes it complete!”

Thus, being situated in the bustling Prudential Square, far from diminishing the prestige of the two ultra-luxury hotels, Bvlgari and The Peninsula, it created the most unique living experience in the world for them.

In contrast, consider the other stadium completed at the same time, the London Bowl, the main venue for the London Olympics. It was surrounded by a world-class commercial district like Westfield Shopping Centre, but what was the result?

The London Bowl couldn’t compare to Prudential Stadium in any aspect!

Was the only difference between the two stadiums that one was in West London and the other in East London?

Like everyone else, Mourinho would sigh in admiration upon entering this stadium.

The difference was, along with his admiration, he would also curse Yang Cheng.

There was nothing he could do about it. Who else but Yang Cheng had made him so uncomfortable over the past years?

And this damned monster had even succeeded in building such a stadium, which naturally made Mourinho feel even more uneasy whenever he stepped inside.

It was said that many of the stadium’s unique features and creative ideas came from Yang Cheng.

Who knew what that bastard’s brain was made of?

But every time he walked into this stadium, Mourinho was filled with ambition.

He longed to defeat Yang Cheng!

Perhaps he had failed many times in the past, but what if he succeeded this time?

When Mourinho arrived at the away team’s dugout, Yang Cheng walked over with a smile to greet him.

“This time, you’re dead meat!” Mourinho said fiercely.

Yang Cheng still had a smile on his face. “You’ve been in such good form lately; we really do need to be careful.”

Since when are you so easy to talk to?

Mourinho was a little surprised.

Sure enough, Yang Cheng’s tone shifted. “But don’t you think you pushed yourselves too hard in the last two games against Manchester City and Arsenal? Now, playing away at Prudential Stadium, do you have any strength left?”

“Hmph, it’s the West London derby. It’s do or die. What do you think?” Mourinho remained defiant.

He was always like this.

Even if he lost the match, thoroughly beaten, his words would still be tough.

“This time, we will crush you completely in front of all the fans around the world!”

Yang Cheng nodded. “We’ll see!”

No matter how tough they talked, both men took the match extremely seriously.

They wouldn’t let even the slightest detail slip by.

Chelsea’s starting lineup for this match held no surprises for Yang Cheng.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, Terry, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Ramires and Lampard formed the double pivot, with Willian, Sneijder, and Oscar ahead of them;

Forward: Falcao.

Yang Cheng had always harbored some doubts about Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

The main reason was that the double pivot wasn’t strong enough.

Additionally, the centre-forward wasn’t a great fit.

Falcao was a goal-scoring type of player, and playing as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 was indeed a struggle for him.

But regardless, under Mourinho’s guidance, Chelsea had recently achieved a six-game winning streak.

They had also defeated Manchester City and Arsenal successively.

This put The Blues in the spotlight.

Before the match, many media outlets and fans even believed that if Chelsea could also slay the Bayswater Chinese, then this season’s Mourinho would truly be deified!

Upon his return to the Premier League, The Portuguese Madman seemed to be back in his comfort zone.

However, given the formidable reputation of the Bayswater Chinese, coupled with their unbeaten home record, the momentum of both Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea was considered roughly equal before the match.

Yang Cheng’s starting lineup for this match was also not very surprising.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

The reason Yang Cheng started Hazard was his consideration that Chelsea would adopt a tight defensive strategy in an away game.

When it came to breaking down a deep defense, Hazard’s role would be more significant than Theo Walcott’s.

Bayswater Chinese had arguably fielded their strongest possible lineup.

This match was the first of the tenth round of the Premier League, scheduled to kick off at 12:45 PM.

This time slot was perfect for simultaneous live broadcast across the world.

The West London derby, a showdown between Yang Cheng and Mourinho.

This match was packed with prestige!

Long before the game, The Premier League had announced that over four hundred media outlets from all over the world would be on-site to report and broadcast the match, covering every corner of the globe.

This also showed everyone the influence of the Premier League!

…

With a whistle from head referee Lee Mason, this globally anticipated crucial match officially began.

After the kickoff, the Bayswater Chinese smoothly took control of the game.

The very first attack of the match, Hazard’s first dribble, won the home team a free kick in the attacking third and led to the first shot.

It was a header from centre-back Pepe, but it went slightly wide.

Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz forced Chelsea to adopt a defensive counter-attack strategy.

Even so, The Blues were still pinned down by the home team, looking battered and finding it extremely difficult to play.

Especially in the thirteenth minute, from a corner kick opportunity.

Toni Kroos quickly took the corner, sending it to the near post of the penalty area. Pepe outjumped his opponent for a header.

The ball flew towards the far post, hit the crossbar, and bounced back into play.

In the ensuing chaos, Giroud’s left-footed hook shot struck Gary Cahill and deflected out for a byline.

Another corner kick.

Modrić took the corner, once again causing chaos in the penalty area.

But Čech charged out at the crucial moment, punching the ball away with both fists.

The Czech master goalkeeper’s critical intervention defused a very dangerous corner kick attack.

Despite their continuous attacks, Bayswater Chinese held an overwhelming advantage but couldn’t breach Chelsea’s goal.

This seemed to become the theme of the match.

The Blues grew more confident the longer they defended.

This was especially true of their recent form.

Whether against Manchester City or Arsenal, they had been on the back foot, but ultimately, they defeated both opponents with their solid defense and sharp counter-attacks.

The situation in this match was even more difficult.

It wasn’t until the thirty-second minute that Chelsea created a corner kick, thanks to Oscar dribbling down the right wing.

Terry’s header was saved by Courtois near the goal line.

This was Chelsea’s first shot of the entire match.

But immediately, the Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Throughout the first half, the home team pressed Chelsea relentlessly but were unable to break through their goal.

Especially in the forty-fifth minute, Gareth Bale got a free kick from a central position slightly to the right of the attacking third, his favorite area.

The result was a butterfly ball that went wide.

The first half ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw.

During halftime, Yang Cheng encouraged the team and also asked everyone to remain patient.

After swapping sides for the second half, the Bayswater Chinese launched another blitz.

Yang Cheng and the players wanted to break down Chelsea’s defense in one fell swoop.

But just as the second half began, in the forty-ninth minute, Pepe pressed forward to defend against Falcao. During an aerial duel, the Bayswater Chinese defender twisted his right foot upon landing.

At first, Pepe didn’t fall immediately; he tried to chase back after Falcao.

But he suddenly stopped.

Thiago Silva tracked back in time and successfully dispossessed Falcao.

But the Brazilian centre-back immediately kicked the ball out on the right touchline.

Only then did everyone notice that Pepe was sitting on the grass at some point, clutching his right ankle with his right hand.

Head referee Lee Mason and the surrounding Bayswater Chinese players all gathered around him.

Soon, the referee signaled for the medical staff and a stretcher to enter the field.

“It looks like Pepe was injured when he landed after that aerial duel.”

“It seems to be a twisted right ankle.”

“This is not good news for the Bayswater Chinese.”

“After a long period of unsuccessful attacks and hitting the post once, the team was already affected.”

“Now, with a key defender injured, it will undoubtedly deal a blow to the team’s morale.”

“If not handled well, the Bayswater Chinese might really lose at home.”

After the medical staff entered the field, they quickly gave Pepe some simple treatment.

The Portuguese centre-back even stood up and took a couple of steps on the spot, but then shook his head.

At this point, Yang Cheng on the sideline realized something was wrong.

He immediately turned to Brian Kidd and signaled. The assistant coach hurried to the bench to tell van Dijk to warm up quickly.

But the Dutch centre-back jumped up straight away, indicating he didn’t need to warm up.

During the halftime break, he had just trained with his teammates on the pitch, and his body was still warm.

Soon, Pepe, supported by team doctor David Fevre and Head Physiotherapist Rob Price, slowly walked off the pitch, his expression calm, showing little pain.

This brought a sense of relief to Yang Cheng.

The Bayswater Chinese were very strict with monitoring their players’ physical condition; any potential injury would be taken seriously.

After giving van Dijk some instructions, Yang Cheng sent him on to replace Pepe.

“How is he?” Yang Cheng walked towards the bench and asked with concern.

“It looks like a sprained ankle. For now, it doesn’t seem too serious, but he’ll definitely need to rest for a while,” David Fevre gave his preliminary diagnosis.

He was an expert in this field, and his skill had been evident over the years, earning him a reputation as one of the world’s top team doctors.

If he said so, it was almost a sure thing.

“It’s alright, Pepe. Get a good rest. We’ll be waiting for your return!” Yang Cheng patted Pepe’s shoulder encouragingly.

In fact, Yang Cheng didn’t think it was a major problem either.

He could even vaguely guess the approximate recovery time.

A sprained ankle that prevented him from playing would likely mean three to six weeks out.

This was a very common sports injury, impossible to avoid.

“Pepe is already thirty. Situations like this will become more and more frequent in the future,” Brian Kidd sighed.

Pepe had joined the team at the age of twenty-three.

Back then, he was still a very rash player.

Over the past few years, he had continuously improved, gradually shedding his recklessness and becoming more composed.

The partnership of Pepe and Thiago Silva had been hailed as the world’s best centre-back duo for several years.

But he was also getting older.

A player’s body usually peaks at twenty-six, and after that, it’s a matter of how long they can maintain it.

Their physical condition would inevitably decline; it was just a matter of how fast.

From the current look of things, Pepe could play for a few more years without any problem.

But injuries would certainly become more frequent.

Especially for a centre-back.

Their livelihood truly depended on their bodies.

As they aged, injuries were bound to become more common.

Great generals of old are like beautiful women; the world is not meant to see them grow old.

Yang Cheng felt a touch of wistfulness.

…

In the fifty-fourth minute, Hazard broke through on the left and delivered a cross, but Terry cleared the ball just in time.

Toni Kroos made an overlapping run and took a long shot from twenty-eight meters out.

It went slightly wide.

In the fifty-eighth minute, Modrić sent a through ball, and Piszczek made an overlapping run down the flank, delivering a straight pass from the right.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box and hit a power shot towards the far corner from a tight angle, which was heroically saved by Čech.

In the sixty-first minute, again on the left, Hazard combined with Marcelo. Giroud flicked on a header at the near post, and Gareth Bale took a sweeping shot with his left foot from eight meters out.

At the crucial moment, the valiant Czech master goalkeeper Čech once again saved the ball.

Yes, not parried, but saved. Čech caught the ball in his arms, pressing it firmly beneath him.

This brilliant save even drew a gasp of admiration from the home fans at Prudential Stadium.

In the sixty-fifth minute, Gareth Bale dropped back to receive the ball in the right channel, turned, and made a diagonal run towards the center, delivering a through ball with his left foot.

Hazard drew the defense’s attention in the left channel at the edge of the box, allowing Marcelo to make an overlapping run. He cut diagonally into the left side of the penalty area, received the ball, and hit a push shot towards the far corner, only for it to be saved by Čech once again.

In the sixty-ninth minute, Gareth Bale suddenly appeared on the left, playing a series of quick one-twos with Hazard and Marcelo before breaking into the left channel of the box and shooting from his favorite “Bale Zone.”

Disturbed by the onrushing Čech, Bale’s shot slid just past the post.

Just one minute later, Chelsea launched a swift counter-attack.

Ivanović sent in a cross from the right. Falcao turned and shot from the right side of the six-yard box, but Thiago Silva made a flying slide tackle to block the ball out for a corner.

Falcao then protested to the head referee, Lee Mason, arguing that Thiago Silva’s hand had touched the ball during the slide tackle and it should have been a penalty kick.

But the referee ignored him.

“From the slow-motion replay, we can see that Thiago Silva’s hand did indeed touch the ball when he slid in.”

“But it appears to be an unintentional handball, and it didn’t affect the ball’s trajectory, as Thiago Silva had already tackled the ball by then.”

“Chelsea seems to be preparing to make a substitution now!”

…

Mourinho was getting restless on the sideline.

Seventy minutes had passed.

As he had expected, the score was still 0-0!

This was one of the outcomes he had hoped for before the match, a relatively good result for Chelsea.

Because holding on for seventy minutes without conceding meant that the Bayswater Chinese’s attack had been successfully thwarted.

The Portuguese Madman let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Actually, the Bayswater Chinese defense is quite solid. For example, their defending and pressing on our three attacking players has been excellent. That holding midfielder, Nemanja Matić, is truly mouth-watering!”

Mourinho looked at Nemanja Matić on the pitch with covetous eyes.

The Serbian holding midfielder was tall and powerfully built, with impressive defensive abilities and excellent technique. He was said to have started as a number ten but was converted by Yang Cheng into a deep-lying playmaker.

Crucially, his defending and positioning were genuinely good, and he covered a lot of ground, much better than Mikel.

If Chelsea had a player like Nemanja Matić, Mourinho felt The Blues’ defense could reach an even higher level.

Unfortunately, the Bayswater Chinese would never sell!

In this match, Yang Cheng’s defensive plan against Willian, Sneijder, and Oscar was perfectly executed, with Nemanja Matić being the cornerstone.

This led to Chelsea having very few threatening attacks up to this point in the match.

With the three small, technical players in front of him contained, Falcao found it difficult to get opportunities up front.

The Colombian striker was heavily reliant on the passes from his teammates behind him.

With this in mind, he immediately made his first substitution.

André Schürrle came on for Sneijder.

After the change, Oscar moved back to the center, and Schürrle went to the right.

After the first seventy minutes, Mourinho realized Oscar was not suited for the right wing.

The Brazilian was better in the middle.

And Sneijder, despite being only twenty-nine, had seen a noticeable decline in form.

Competing with the young and energetic Oscar, who was eager to make his mark, the Dutch midfielder was at a disadvantage.

Mourinho didn’t feel sorry about this at all.

He loved this kind of competition!

“Once you’re on, seize the opportunity and attack the space behind Marcelo!”

This was Mourinho’s instruction to Schürrle as he was about to come on.

The German’s speed was perfect for exploiting the gap behind Marcelo on the counter-attack.

After sending Schürrle onto the pitch and shaking hands with the departing Sneijder, Mourinho turned his attention back to the game.

He was full of confidence.

“They’re almost done for!”

“Their luck isn’t great—hit the crossbar once, and now Pepe is injured. Heaven, earth, and man—they have none of them on their side!”

“Today, right here, we will shatter their unbeaten myth!”

As he finished speaking, Mourinho clenched his fists.

His tone even carried a hint of excitement.

At the same time, he had assistant coach Faria instruct Eto’o to warm up, ready to come on at any moment.

This was his second planned substitution, a trump card.

If Chelsea’s counter-attack still wasn’t effective after Schürrle came on, he would send Eto’o on to further strengthen the attack.

“I refuse to believe I can’t finish you off today!”

Just then, the Bayswater Chinese launched an attack from the left.

Marcelo’s attacking play was becoming more and more active, and his impact on the game was growing.

Many even said he was playing the role of a flank organizer.

Some media outlets had even coined a new name for it: Playmaking full-back.

This time, it was Lampard who brought Marcelo down while tracking back, giving away a free kick in the attacking third.

But it was a bit far from the goal and angled towards the left.

Mourinho wasn’t worried. He walked to the edge of his technical area, clapping his hands loudly, signaling for everyone to stay focused.

The Chelsea players weren’t worried either.

The wall wasn’t very large, as it was too far out.

Everyone’s attention was still focused on defending around the penalty area.

All of Bayswater Chinese’s tall players had pushed forward.

“We still need to be careful with van Dijk. He scored a brace before; the kid’s heading is good.”

Faria offered a reminder, but the players on the pitch couldn’t hear him.

After a pause, the assistant coach smiled again.

“We haven’t conceded from a defensive free kick all season.”

They had conceded one direct free kick in the UEFA Super Cup, but it wasn’t a goal conceded from defending a set piece routine.

And the goalscorer happened to be Gareth Bale.

Since then, Chelsea had not conceded from another set piece.

Not even a direct free kick.

This had always been one of Mourinho’s strengths.

Therefore, Chelsea’s players and staff were not overly concerned about this angled free kick, defending it as they normally would.

Giroud, Gareth Bale, Nemanja Matić, Thiago Silva, and van Dijk.

The several Bayswater Chinese players with strong aerial abilities were all positioned near the line of the penalty area, ready to charge forward for a header.

Chelsea’s defenders marked them tightly, as if facing a formidable enemy.

And just at this moment, Mourinho noticed that the Italian from the home team’s dugout had come out to direct again.

Gianni Vio!

Back in the day, he was spoken of with mythical reverence.

It was said he had thousands of set piece routines.

He once struck fear into the entire Premier League; it was said that whenever he walked out, everyone would tremble.

But years had passed, and everyone had been demystified.

Although the Bayswater Chinese’s set piece attacks were indeed good, they no longer had the same shocking impact as before.

Everyone was beginning to understand how to defend against them.

Now, seeing Gianni Vio walk out, Mourinho felt no worry, but rather a bit of amusement.

He came out for every set piece attack, but what was the effect?

…

On the pitch, at the bottom of the arc, van Dijk stood with his hands on his hips.

He watched as Modrić placed the ball, then used his foot to stomp down on the turf behind the ball, packing it firmly.

Then, the captain slowly backed away.

Diagonally across, Chelsea had set up a two-man wall.

But to be honest, it was mostly symbolic.

Willian and Lampard were there more for a token obstruction.

Van Dijk stuck out his tongue and licked his slightly dry lips, feeling a little thirsty.

When he glanced towards the sideline, he happened to see Gianni Vio gesturing.

He received his instructions.

This time, he was the main attacker!

Gareth Bale was the secondary attacker!

Van Dijk turned his head and saw Gareth Bale standing far away, detached from the crowd, almost at the right corner of the penalty area.

Moreover, he had dropped deeper than anyone else, looking like he wasn’t planning to attack the right side of the box.

Of course, if he were to be part of a tactical play from that deep, the distance was a bit too far.

So, on the same line as him but in the center, there was also Toni Kroos.

This layout was actually meant to confuse the opponent.

At the very least, to make Chelsea’s defenders believe they were planning a tactical combination.

Of course, no one knew if they would actually do it.

But in the context of attacking the box, Gareth Bale was not considered much of a threat from that position.

Van Dijk knew this.

Gianni Vio had left it to Gareth Bale to accurately assess the distance, factoring in his current stamina and speed.

The objective was clear.

When he made his run, he had to be able to reach his designated position at the exact moment the ball arrived.

Van Dijk exchanged a look with Gareth Bale, and both acknowledged it with a nod.

When the Dutch centre-back looked back at Modrić, he took a deep breath.

And at almost the same instant, head referee Lee Mason blew his whistle.

Modrić quickly began his run-up.

A commotion erupted among the players at the edge of the box, and everyone started running.

Van Dijk didn’t charge forward immediately, nor did he run diagonally towards the near post.

That area was the focal point of Chelsea’s defense, and any player charging in that direction would be intercepted.

He turned and ran to his right.

He ran around the defenders positioned on the edge of the box.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the defending players had no time to think.

Van Dijk was fast. In an instant, he reached the right side of the penalty area’s edge, running between two defenders in blue jerseys.

He didn’t even have time to see who those two were.

As soon as he reached the spot, van Dijk suddenly changed direction, switching from a lateral run to a forward charge. At the same time, he noticed that one of the defenders in blue reacted quickly and reached out to pull him.

But he immediately raised his own hand, forcefully pushing the opponent’s hand away, and sprinted forward at top speed.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale charged diagonally from the outside towards the right corner of the six-yard box with incredible speed.

The football sailed through the air in a curve, landing precisely at the right corner of the six-yard box.

This was the spot they had agreed upon beforehand.

At almost the same moment, both van Dijk and Gareth Bale arrived.

But this time, van Dijk was more on the inside and a step faster. As he reached the right edge of the six-yard box, the Dutch centre-back launched himself into the air, diving forward to head the ball.

In that moment, he felt his entire body was like a glider, about to take flight.

And the ball arrived perfectly in front of him, right where he could meet it with his head.

The rest was simple.

Čech quickly shuffled along his goal line towards the right post.

But van Dijk was a step ahead, heading the ball towards the left side of the goal.

Behind him, Gareth Bale saw him leap for the header and held his own jump.

Because van Dijk’s header was perfect, directing the ball straight into the left side of the net.

Čech was completely helpless against such a header.

The ball hit the back of the net!

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the seventy-second minute of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese have finally broken through Chelsea’s goal!”

“From the Flying Dutchman, a header from Virgil van Dijk!”

“Another brilliant set piece combination!”

“Modrić delivered a precise curling ball, and van Dijk, completely unmarked, headed it home!”

“A fantastic set piece goal!”

“This is the specialty of the Bayswater Chinese!”

“And this is the first time Chelsea have conceded from a defensive free kick this season!”

After scoring, van Dijk turned excitedly and ran off the pitch.

This was his third Premier League goal of the season!

Just over three months after joining the Bayswater Chinese, he had already scored three Premier League goals for the team!

It was simply astonishing!

But at this moment, van Dijk was more certain than ever: the coaching staff of the Bayswater Chinese was truly magical!

Because this set piece was executed almost exactly as Gianni Vio had designed.

He had even factored in the opponents’ likely reactions.

Van Dijk simply reacted according to the pre-arranged plan, appeared exactly where he was supposed to be, and scored with a header.

Scoring a goal seemed just that simple!

The moment he saw the goal, Yang Cheng jumped up in excitement from the sideline.

Then he looked over at Mourinho in the adjacent away team dugout, who looked as if he had just swallowed a fly; his expression couldn’t have been more wretched.

This made Yang Cheng burst into loud laughter. He even deliberately turned, opened his arms, and embraced his assistants one by one, shouting loud enough for Mourinho to hear and see.

The Portuguese Madman’s eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire.

He thought he was about to win this match.

But who would have thought that Chelsea’s first concession from a set piece defense this season would happen now!

What the hell is going on?

…

After conceding the first goal, Mourinho made a move that greatly surprised Yang Cheng.

He brought on Eto’o for Lampard.

At this point, Chelsea switched to a 4-4-2, intending to launch an all-out attack.

Yang Cheng was initially startled, but he quickly understood.

This was Mourinho!

A big gambler!

When his team was struggling to attack, his common tactic was to frantically pile on strikers.

And when his team was facing adversity, he often resorted to gambler-like moves.

Just like now.

Yang Cheng really wanted to ask him if he truly believed that a midfield of Ramires and Oscar could stop the Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Even with the substitution, the control of the game remained firmly with the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team continued to press forward.

In the seventy-ninth minute, Hazard received the ball on the front left, then suddenly cut inside with the ball.

This was an instruction from Yang Cheng.

The weakness of a 4-4-2 formation lies in the space between the two lines of defense.

Hazard’s inward dribble immediately threw Chelsea’s defense into disarray.

Giroud pulled to the left side of the penalty area to offer support. After receiving a pass from Hazard, he flicked the ball with his left foot as it came to him, sending it back to the left side outside the box.

Marcelo, making a high-speed overlapping run, received the ball, came to a sudden stop, sidestepped the onrushing Terry, and sent in a cross pass.

Near the penalty spot, Gareth Bale made a sudden surge forward, shaking off Gary Cahill, and met the incoming ball with a sweeping shot from his left foot.

The ball drilled into the bottom left corner of Chelsea’s goal at high speed.

Although Čech made a valiant dive, he was still beyond reach, a fraction of a second too late.

The ball was in the net again!

“Another goal!!”

“Just seven minutes after the last one, the Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A left-footed power shot from Gareth Bale.”

“2-0!”

“Chelsea’s defense has been breached once again!”

“The first was a set piece goal, but this one came from open play.”

“Perhaps the earlier goal and the substitution loosened Chelsea’s defense, and the players’ mentality shifted, causing their defending to lose its previous resolve and solidity.”

“On the other hand, the Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity, scored again, and have essentially sealed the victory!”

…

Ultimately, thanks to goals from van Dijk and Gareth Bale, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-0 at home!

After the match, Yang Cheng once again went to the away team’s dugout to find Mourinho, wanting to invite him for a drink.

But the Portuguese was clearly not in the mood.

At the post-match press conference, Mourinho expressed great disappointment with the loss.

“I didn’t like Chelsea today!”

Mourinho believed that Chelsea’s performance today deserved a loss.

“We actually had some chances in the game, but we didn’t take them. We lacked efficiency!”

Mourinho thought the team lacked a sense of crisis, especially when defending set pieces.

“That was the turning point of the match!”

“Before that, our defense was doing very well, and we had plans in place to try and score.”

“But that unexpected goal had a huge impact on us.”

“In a ninety-minute match, our defense was successful for eighty minutes, but in just those ten minutes, we conceded two goals. That’s the reality!”

Regarding his team selection and tactics for the match, Mourinho admitted he had made mistakes.

“I made eleven mistakes!”

But The Portuguese Madman also defended himself.

“Before this match, many of our players were in excellent form. We had just beaten Manchester City and Arsenal, and that felt very good at the time.”

“We all felt that we could beat the Bayswater Chinese, away from home.”

“But we were wrong, so we deserved to lose!”

But there was one thing Mourinho refused to admit: that the Bayswater Chinese had performed better.

The Portuguese Madman felt that Yang Cheng’s team had also played poorly; otherwise, why had it taken them so long to score?

“We lost this match not because our opponents were stronger or played better, but because we made mistakes and we weren’t good enough!”

In contrast to Mourinho, Yang Cheng had only one word for his team’s performance.

Satisfied!

“Long before the match, we all knew it would be a very difficult game.”

“Our opponents have been in great form recently, and they are very good at defending. This was bound to cause us a lot of trouble.”

“Not only that, but we also encountered other difficulties during the game.”

“For example, we hit the crossbar, and Pepe was injured and had to come off.”

“But I’m very happy that in the end, we withstood the pressure!”

Yang Cheng stated that the substitute van Dijk played a crucial role.

“It’s no accident. His heading ability is very strong, our team values him highly, and I’m not surprised at all that he was able to score.”

Like Mourinho, Yang Cheng also believed that van Dijk’s goal was the turning point of the match.

Yang Cheng also had high hopes for the Dutch centre-back.

“He needs to continue to improve the aggressiveness of his defending. He always plays too relaxed.”

“Defenders need stability, but sometimes he’s not focused enough and prone to making small mistakes. He needs special training to strengthen this aspect. It’s very important for him and for our team.”

After this bit of critique, Yang Cheng added another sentence.

“He has the conditions and talent to become a world-class defender, but he still needs to work harder and continue to improve!”

In a post-match interview with reporters, van Dijk expressed his gratitude for head coach Yang Cheng’s trust.

As for Yang Cheng’s comments, van Dijk said he heard them.

“I know I still have a long way to go to meet the head coach’s expectations, but I will work even harder!”

…

All matches of the tenth round of the Premier League were completed.

The Bayswater Chinese defeated the in-form Chelsea 2-0 at home.

This victory surprised and invigorated the entire country and Premier League fans worldwide.

This was the standard the Premier League should have!

Especially for many Premier League fans, this season had been full of surprises.

Top teams always seemed to be slipping up, and the teams favored before matches always seemed to produce unexpected results.

Before the match, so many people favored Chelsea, but what was the result?

The Blues were beaten black and blue by Yang Cheng’s team, completely unable to fight back.

The Times even analyzed that Chelsea’s defeat in this match was a complete one.

And the difference between the two sides was in the midfield.

In the 4-2-3-1 formation, the “3” was basically ineffective in this match.

The double pivot also performed quite ordinarily.

The Times believed that Chelsea’s biggest problem this season wasn’t the “3,” but the “2.”

In the double pivot, the combination of Ramires and Lampard was not good enough and lacked stability.

Even during their winning streak, they had made mistakes.

Against the Bayswater Chinese, the problem became even more apparent.

“Without strengthening the holding midfielder position, Mourinho’s team will have a hard time challenging for the title this season!”

In another match, Manchester United defeated Fulham 3-1 away from home with goals from Cavani, Rooney, and Valencia.

Manchester City was also in excellent form, thrashing Norwich 7-0 at home.

Messi scored his first hat-trick since joining the Premier League!

The Argentinian also had two assists.

He single-handedly orchestrated five goals.

This not only helped Manchester City completely shake off the shadow of their loss to Chelsea in the previous round but also made everyone realize with surprise that Pep Guardiola’s team was completely revitalized.

Messi had even found his best form from his La Liga days!

As the Manchester Evening News put it.

“Seeing Messi at the Etihad Stadium, who can still say the Argentinian can’t adapt to the Premier League?”

But many media outlets believed that it wasn’t Messi adapting to the Premier League, but Guardiola transforming Manchester City to adapt to Messi.

The current Blue Moons played a very controlling style of football.

To some extent, they were a faster-paced version of Barça.

Unlike at Barça, Messi was now surrounded by an array of outstanding stars like Agüero, David Silva, Pirlo, Yaya Touré, and Marco Verratti.

This made everyone even more expectant of Manchester City and Messi.

Guardiola also spoke publicly for the first time about the relationship between Messi and the team.

He admitted very bluntly, “When Messi is on any team, he is always special!”

The implication was that at Manchester City, Messi was the most unique existence.

There was another crucial match in this round: Arsenal at home against Liverpool.

Wenger’s team was currently the league leader.

Having just been knocked out of the League Cup by Chelsea, everyone thought The Gunners would be demoralized.

But back in the league, back at home, The Gunners killed off Liverpool with a 2-0 victory.

The goalscorers were Fàbregas and van Persie.

The goals came in the nineteenth minute of the first half and the fifty-ninth minute of the second half, respectively.

Throughout the match, The Gunners also held the advantage.

As for Liverpool, their performance in clashes between top teams this season had been excellent.

They had beaten Manchester United at home and drawn with the Bayswater Chinese away.

Liverpool remained unbeaten in two major clashes.

And in the Premier League table, The Reds were also performing very well.

In contrast, this was the first major clash for Wenger’s team.

In the end, Wenger’s team withstood the pressure and secured a crucial 2-0 victory, continuing their lead at the top of the table.

After ten rounds, Arsenal sat at the top of the league table with twenty-eight points.

Wenger’s team was leading the way.

The Bayswater Chinese were in second place with twenty-five points.

Due to their loss to Chelsea last round, Manchester City currently had twenty-three points, placing them third.

Although Liverpool lost to Arsenal this round, they also had twenty-three points, ranking fourth.

Manchester United, with twenty-two points, leapfrogged Chelsea into fifth place.

Chelsea was in sixth place with twenty points.

This was the state of the Premier League after ten rounds this season.

The top six teams were locked in a fierce battle, with wins and losses all around. No one knew what would happen in the next round.

This had fans all over the world cheering with excitement.

Suspense is the most important weapon to attract fans!

Who will be the champion, and who can break into the top four—this is the biggest suspense of this Premier League season!

Chapter 294: Reactivating the Nuclear Weapon! Invincible Army! Youth Academy Sanctuary! Bayswater Chinese’s Comeuppance!

On the evening of November 5th, at the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián, Spain.

In the fourth round of the Champions League Group A, Bayswater Chinese faced Real Sociedad away from home.

Having just played a grueling match against Chelsea before immediately flying to Spain, Yang Cheng had no choice but to rotate his squad.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

But in the 65th minute of the second half, an attack was launched from the left flank.

Sterling, Luke Shaw, and Pogba executed a brilliant series of one-two passes.

Ultimately, Sterling sent a diagonal pass from the left touchline to the feet of Harry Kane at the edge of the penalty area.

Kane took one touch to bring the ball into the left side of the box, chased it down, and then abruptly sent a cross with his left foot.

Aaron Ramsey, making an overlapping run from the center, met the ball with a right-footed volleyed tap-in.

The ball shot straight into the bottom right corner of the goal, past Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

1-0!

As the match neared its end, Bayswater Chinese launched another wave of attacks.

Aaron Ramsey, making a forward run to receive the ball in the right half-space within Real Sociedad’s 30-meter area, stopped it with his right foot and immediately played it out to the right flank with his left.

The entire sequence was as smooth as flowing water, executed beautifully.

The Real Sociedad defenders had no time to react.

After receiving the ball on the right touchline, Theo Walcott assessed the attacking routes upfield and delivered a curling cross with his right foot.

He aimed neither for Harry Kane in front nor for Sterling at the far post, but rather to the right of the penalty spot.

At that moment, Aaron Ramsey made a quick overlapping run, met Walcott’s cross, and unleashed a sweeping volley.

The ball, traveling at high speed, once again found its way into the goal guarded by Bravo.

2-0!

After scoring, Aaron Ramsey excitedly turned and ran off in celebration.

The Welsh midfielder, having scored twice, was exceptionally thrilled.

The sight brought great joy to Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, and the others on the sidelines.

Especially Yang Cheng.

Without the leg-breaking incident of his previous life, Aaron Ramsey’s progress had been remarkably steady, and he now possessed formidable abilities.

His seemingly tireless stamina, skilled footwork, precise passing, and excellent awareness for overlapping runs made him a superb contributor to any team.

Take the second goal, for instance.

He received the ball from the left, controlled it with the inside of his right foot, and immediately passed it with his left, leaving the defenders completely helpless.

More importantly, the lad was not yet 23, but his role in the team was becoming increasingly significant.

And he was a homegrown talent from the youth academy.

“He’s a real gem!” Brian Kidd said with a chuckle.

Yang Cheng couldn’t agree more.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 away from home, thanks to Aaron Ramsey’s brace.

In the other group match, AC Milan secured a narrow 1-0 victory at home against Bayer Leverkusen.

Thus, the group standings remained unchanged.

Bayswater Chinese continued to lead, with AC Milan in second and Bayer Leverkusen in third.

Real Sociedad had yet to earn a single point in the Champions League group stage, sitting on a big fat zero.

Sometimes, it felt quite cruel.

Last season’s fourth-place team in La Liga was immediately exposed on the Champions League stage.

But even in La Liga this season, Real Sociedad was not performing well.

After 12 rounds, they were currently in 7th place.

This was the biggest problem for smaller clubs.

A flash-in-the-pan success doesn’t always lead to a positive outcome.

Some might say they sold Illarramendi, but didn’t they get funds in return?

The problem was, Real Sociedad couldn’t really spend that money.

It might be hard for many to believe, but in La Liga, Real Sociedad was one of the few financially healthy clubs that also placed a strong emphasis on its youth academy.

Hadn’t Yang Cheng ordered scouting reports on teams in Italy and Spain before?

He had taken notice of Real Sociedad.

However, clubs in northern Spain have always been rather staunch and resistant to foreign influence.

In contrast, the southern part of Spain, near the Mediterranean, was relatively more open to foreign investment.

Moreover, being adjacent to the African continent and the Strait of Gibraltar, it served as the first port of call for many African and South American players.

Incidentally, in June 2000, the European Union and 77 member states from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands signed an agreement in Cotonou, the capital of Benin.

The agreement included certain labor policies.

In football, this meant that players from these countries were not considered foreign players when playing in the 15 EU member states.

The Spanish government officially ratified and implemented this in 2007.

This provided a huge convenience for many African players coming to play in Spain.

Of course, in terms of attracting African players, La Liga still couldn’t compare to Ligue 1.

The natural advantages of being a former colonial power and sharing a language were insurmountable.

But Spain still remained a veritable treasure trove of talent.

…

On the afternoon of November 9th, at White Hart Lane in London.

In the 11th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Tottenham Hotspur away from home.

Yang Cheng once again came up against André Villas-Boas.

But from the very beginning, this match was destined to be incredibly difficult.

Villas-Boas deployed a double pivot of Paulinho and Dembélé, with Eriksen playing in front of them.

Yang Cheng’s team, on the other hand, focused on an all-out attack.

In the 15th minute, Eden Hazard cut inside with the ball from the left, dribbling past two Tottenham defenders before sending a diagonal pass to the right side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run into the box and scored with a push shot from a tight angle on the right, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

This scoreline held until the end of the first half.

But just one minute after the restart, Gareth Bale and Dembélé collided, and both were forced off with injuries.

After a preliminary diagnosis by team doctor David Fevre, Gareth Bale had only a minor muscle strain and was fine.

Theo Walcott, who came on as a substitute, was very active.

In the 50th minute, while breaking through on the right wing, he was fouled by a sliding tackle from behind by defender Daniel Rose.

The head referee showed a direct red card, sending Daniel Rose off and awarding Bayswater Chinese a free kick on the right side of the pitch.

Modrić took the free kick. Giroud flicked it on with a header back towards the arc of the penalty area.

Toni Kroos made an overlapping run and blasted a power shot, piercing through Tottenham’s goal.

Being a man down and two goals behind was a disaster for the home side, Tottenham Hotspur.

In the 53rd minute, Giroud got on the scoresheet.

In the 59th minute, the substitute Walcott scored another goal.

In the 78th minute, from a corner kick opportunity, van Dijk scored another goal.

The Dutch centre-back had already scored four goals in the Premier League this season.

He was a true attacking defender!

Although his defending was still not entirely reassuring and he lacked experience, in aerial duels, whether from corner kicks or free kicks, he was a real asset.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 away from home.

After the match, many media outlets believed that with the rise of van Dijk and Harry Maguire, Bayswater Chinese had reactivated their set-piece nuclear weapon, once again becoming a terrifying force!

In the 11th round of the Premier League, Chelsea drew 2-2 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

But the most interesting part of this match wasn’t Chelsea’s last-gasp equalizer in the 6th minute of stoppage time, but the relentless, grueling battle between the two sides.

Chelsea paid the price with three yellow cards.

And The Baggies?

A staggering seven yellow cards.

That meant a total of ten yellow cards were shown in the match.

A major reason the two teams fought so fiercely was that West Bromwich Albion’s head coach, Steve Clarke, was not only Mourinho’s former assistant coach at Chelsea, but his own head coach position was now under threat.

Under these circumstances, The Baggies chose to go all-out against Chelsea.

This left Mourinho fuming.

To be held to a draw at home by West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool, meanwhile, thrashed Fulham 4-0 at home, with Suárez scoring twice.

Manchester City defeated Sunderland 1-0 away thanks to a goal from substitute Messi.

The most significant crucial match of the round was at Old Trafford in Manchester, where Manchester United faced Arsenal. The two sides engaged in a battle of titans.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Cavani scored the opening goal for Manchester United.

But after the restart, The Gunners launched a massive counter-offensive, and van Persie scored for them.

In the end, after 90 minutes of intense battle, the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.

After 11 matches, Arsenal continued to lead the Premier League table with 29 points.

Bayswater Chinese was second with 28 points.

Liverpool stood third with 26 points.

Manchester City was fourth with 25 points.

Manchester United was fifth with 23 points.

Chelsea dropped back to 6th place with 21 points.

Although only eleven rounds had been played, the top six in the league were tightly packed in terms of points.

The chaotic battles between them were particularly spectacular.

Almost every round featured a crucial match, which undoubtedly had fans all over the world cheering with excitement.

…

After the 11th round of the Premier League, there was a two-week international break for national team training camps.

The Premier League came to a halt once again.

While the national teams were in action, Yang Cheng was not idle.

On one hand, he arranged for the coaching staff and scouts to track the status of the players on international duty, including their performance and injuries.

On the other hand, he urged the suits to manage the logistical support, especially the travel arrangements for the international players.

These were all routine tasks, but each time was different.

As the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng’s extra attention made them take their roles more seriously and avoid problems.

During this period, Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, and others also participated in an FA event on youth development, primarily discussing the reform of England’s youth system.

During the event, he was invited to watch two of the England U21 team’s European Championship qualifiers, coached by Gareth Southgate.

Both were home games against relatively weak opponents, Finland and San Marino.

It was clear that England U21 would have no problem winning.

The only question was how they would win.

The first match was against Finland at Millwall’s home ground on the south bank of the River Thames in London.

As the head coach of Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng was naturally more concerned about his own players.

Although Sterling had already made it to the senior national team, he was called back to play in the qualifiers.

He was only 18.

Luke Shaw, Harry Kane, and John Stones were all age-eligible.

In Southgate’s reform-minded England youth team, Bayswater Chinese contributed four players, all of whom were starting-caliber.

This was the most contributed by any Premier League club.

Of course, Manchester United also supplied a good number of international players, such as Ravel Morrison, Michael Keane, and the ‘King’ Lingard.

It was for this reason that The FA paid so much attention to Bayswater Chinese.

As a club with many international players, they couldn’t be ignored.

The match itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

Against Finland, Southampton’s Ward-Prowse first assisted Michael Keane for a header.

Then, Luke Shaw assisted Harry Kane for a goal.

In the second half, Lingard assisted Harry Kane to complete his brace.

The final score was 3-0 over Finland.

It was just as Harry Kane had told Yang Cheng before.

In youth team matches, when his physical strength was no longer a disadvantage, his abilities were truly outstanding and well-rounded, much stronger than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

A significant reason he became an assist king in the Premier League was that he lacked a physical advantage.

He had to play in a way that avoided physical confrontations with defenders.

The advantage was even more pronounced in the second match against San Marino.

The game was played in Watford.

Harry Kane scored a hat-trick, Sterling scored a brace, and Luke Shaw provided three assists.

Their performances were all outstanding.

In addition, Michael Keane, a centre-back from Manchester United’s youth academy, scored again.

The final score was 9-0 over San Marino.

John Stones also played the full ninety minutes in both matches and performed very well.

The reasons were similar to Harry Kane’s.

Among Bayswater Chinese’s four age-eligible U21 players, Sterling was the best-developed.

He was the youngest, but already had a wealth of match experience, and his positioning and performance were excellent.

This was also related to his technical characteristics.

Luke Shaw was also performing well. He made his breakthrough last season and had improved significantly this season.

The same went for Harry Kane.

John Stones’ performances in the Premier League were slightly less satisfactory, but still good overall.

This player’s strength lay in his passing.

Yang Cheng had also tried playing him in the holding midfielder position, but to be honest, it didn’t suit him.

Even though Pep Guardiola played him there in Yang Cheng’s previous life, strictly speaking, he wasn’t necessarily suited for the holding midfield role.

Besides, the team already had excellent players for that role; there was no need to force Stones into it.

Yang Cheng’s current approach with Stones was to have him try different positions and roles to develop his versatility.

In these two England U21 matches, Stones displayed a commanding presence, handling various complex situations with ease.

This was also related to how Yang Cheng had nurtured him over the past two years.

With more experience, he naturally became more composed.

“From the looks of it, our next batch of youth academy graduates should be from the ’99, ’00, and ’01 age groups.”

Dan Ashworth was very pleased with the performances of the four youngsters.

But within the Bayswater Chinese youth team, it was the ’99 batch that was the invincible army, sweeping away countless opponents.

They were practically unbeatable!

The ’99 forward was Eddie Nketiah, the midfielder was Declan Rice, and the defender was Reece James.

There were also Jadon Sancho from the ’00 group and Bukayo Saka from the ’01 group.

These players were all roughly in the same age bracket.

Therefore, this age group at Bayswater Chinese was unstoppable throughout the UK, conquering all before them.

And it wasn’t just through physical and speed advantages, but through highly refined footwork and passing and moving combination play.

This style of play was rare in England.

Yang Cheng was also paying close attention to the current U10 squad, which boasted two geniuses in Bellingham and Musiala.

But they were still too young and not yet widely known.

Yang Cheng, however, had been keeping an eye on their progress and training.

Whenever he had time, he would walk over to the youth academy to watch them, occasionally making his presence known to these young talents.

This also satisfied a certain mischievous desire of his.

There were definitely reforms happening in England’s youth development, especially in the team coached by Gareth Southgate.

For example, there was a greater emphasis on technical skills and passing combinations.

As the most successful team in the Premier League and a club that supplied many international players, Bayswater Chinese’s technical and tactical style would naturally be emulated by Southgate.

After watching the two matches, Yang Cheng also offered many of his own opinions.

For example, he believed that England’s youth development still had significant problems.

Apart from the few players from Bayswater Chinese, other players generally lacked the confidence to try things, and the midfield lacked imagination.

Manchester United’s super talent, Ravel Morrison, was truly incredible.

He and Sterling were the kind of players who, upon seeing them on the pitch, would make you exclaim, “Damn, what a genius!”

But the kid was also a notorious troublemaker, and Ferguson was completely at a loss with him.

In contrast, Sterling was younger but was developing much better now.

It was all thanks to Yang Cheng’s cultivation!

Yang Cheng had another proposal: to relax the talent recruitment restrictions for top-tier youth academies.

Currently, the recruitment range for youth academies was limiting Bayswater Chinese’s potential.

Yang Cheng even bluntly stated, “We have the strongest youth academy in all of Europe, perhaps even the world, but we haven’t found enough talent.”

“Every year, we receive countless applications from players across the UK who want to join our academy. Some of these players are incredibly talented, but due to the youth academy rules, we can only regretfully tell them ‘sorry’.”

Youth development in England was not yet widespread, and there was still a large disparity in quality among academies.

As the man at the helm of Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had a very clear understanding of his own team’s youth system.

He was responsible for providing suggestions; whether The FA accepted them was another matter.

In addition, Yang Cheng had a long discussion with Southgate about the team’s tactics and players’ daily training, primarily sharing Bayswater Chinese’s own experiences.

…

“In a few more years, Southgate’s group of players should be able to achieve better results!”

After the meeting with The FA ended, Yang Cheng and his group returned to Brent.

In the car, Brian Kidd offered his assessment.

“I think their strength can go up another level,” Dan Ashworth judged.

Industry insiders could get a sense of whether a team had potential or not.

Just like the youth development reform in Germany.

Weren’t the executives at Bayern Munich able to grasp the rhythm of the talent boom perfectly?

“With continued investment, England has a chance to return to the top!” Yang Cheng’s view was even more optimistic.

In his previous life, England had achieved good results even without him and Bayswater Chinese.

Now, with the push from Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, coupled with a talent explosion, Yang Cheng believed that England’s achievements would surely surpass those of his past life.

If nothing else, that shaky backline of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker should at least not be too bad after tempering themselves and leveling up at Bayswater Chinese for a while, right?

After all, the training standards at Bayswater Chinese were quite high.

Their ability to develop and polish players was also top-tier in Europe.

Plus, young players weren’t short of game time, so their improvement was very noticeable.

Whenever Yang Cheng thought about that defensive line, plus Declan Rice, Bellingham, Sterling, Sancho, Saka, Harry Kane, and others, all coming from Bayswater Chinese…

Wouldn’t the future England national team be more than half composed of players from his team?

If Musiala didn’t go to Germany like in his previous life, but stayed in the UK and joined England, then this England team could really take off!

Lost in thought, the group arrived back in Brent.

But they didn’t return to the first team training center. Instead, they passed the main gate and headed towards the youth team’s home ground.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center had become world-renowned.

It was universally acknowledged as the world’s top training facility.

Manchester City’s £200 million training complex borrowed heavily from and was inspired by Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center; some parts were even direct copies.

But many had gradually forgotten that this training base had only completed its first and second phases.

This was partly due to the club’s less-than-ideal financial situation at the time.

After all, the Prudential Stadium project was like a money-swallowing beast, a bottomless pit that constantly demanded more investment.

Therefore, the third phase of the training center’s construction, the redevelopment of Silver Jubilee Park, was temporarily put on hold.

For the past few years, after a simple renovation, Silver Jubilee Park had been used as the match ground for the Bayswater Chinese youth team.

Compared to the world-class Brent training center, this stadium was frankly quite shabby.

In 2012, Prudential Stadium was officially opened.

Over the past year, the youth academy had been proposing the construction of a brand-new, dedicated stadium for the youth team.

Players, their families, and fan organizations had also been consistently pushing for it.

Contrary to what many might imagine.

The football culture in England is truly intense. For a giant club like Bayswater Chinese, not only are the first team matches packed, but even the youth team games draw large crowds.

Silver Jubilee Park’s capacity was already small, and priority was given to players’ families and friends, so it was inconvenient for fans to get in, often requiring long queues.

Moreover, the stands were very basic. Never mind a roof, some seats were in terrible condition.

Bayswater Chinese had made repairs, but the foundation was what it was.

Over the past year, Bayswater Chinese had been gradually pushing the project forward.

On one hand, they had to submit an application for redevelopment; on the other, they had to invite a design team to participate in the design and planning.

By the summer of this year, all preparations were in place.

But the team still had various matters to prepare for, such as arranging where the youth team would play after Silver Jubilee Park was demolished.

It wasn’t until September that all the work was ready, and Bayswater Chinese finally kicked off the new stadium project.

Demolishing Silver Jubilee Park took another month.

Now, Yang Cheng and his group were here to inspect the construction site.

The original location of Silver Jubilee Park had now been razed to the ground.

Pile drivers were already at work.

Outside the construction site, an artist’s rendering of the new stadium was displayed.

From the image, one could see a stadium with four stands, all equipped with roofs.

The stadium’s capacity was not large, only 8,000.

The overall planning and design came from Norman Foster’s firm again, with a style that was consistent with the entire training center and Prudential Stadium.

At the very least, the facade was very beautiful.

The stadium was oriented north-south, with the largest stands on the east and west sides. The east side was adjacent to the training center’s youth academy and also housed the players’ tunnel, complete with dressing rooms, a press conference hall, and other necessary facilities.

The west stand was equipped with some basic commercial spaces, mainly to provide various services for fans and players’ families on match days.

In this respect, Bayswater Chinese was different from Manchester City.

The Blue Moons’ youth team home ground was built together with their training building.

Bayswater Chinese’s, however, was separate from the youth academy, with a road in between.

The entire project was estimated to cost £20 million.

This had already exceeded Bayswater Chinese’s previous budget.

It couldn’t be helped. Now that Bayswater Chinese was rich, Yang Cheng, being a Virgo, had higher standards, so the investment naturally increased.

Spending £20 million to build a new stadium was indeed quite extravagant!

And this stadium would have all the necessary facilities, from the lighting system to the under-soil heating system, all designed to Premier League standards.

In addition, to the south of the stadium, there would be a parking lot with 700 spaces for fans attending the matches.

Buses could also reach the location.

The tube station was a short walk away.

All in all, for a stadium dedicated to a youth team, this new facility was built to a very high standard.

According to Adam Crozier, once the stadium was completed, it definitely couldn’t be called Silver Jubilee Park anymore.

They had to find a sponsor for the naming rights.

Due to the poor facilities at the old Silver Jubilee Park, the club charged very low ticket prices for youth team matches.

But with the construction of this new stadium, it was expected that adult tickets would be set at £5, and youth tickets at £2.

This was still very low compared to the first team’s ticket prices, but the main goal was to cultivate a larger base of potential fans.

This ticket income was a drop in the ocean for Bayswater Chinese.

It might not even be enough to cover the maintenance costs of the stadium.

But since all the other teams did it, Bayswater Chinese should charge as well.

Yang Cheng took Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, and others on a tour of the construction site, and also spoke with the contractor and the supervising company.

They were confident that the project would be fully completed before Christmas 2014.

By then, the Brent training center would truly be complete!

Standing on high ground, Yang Cheng looked down at the construction site and the youth academy and first team training center in the distance, a surge of pride welling up within him.

He still remembered when he first bought this place, he was racking his brain over how to raise the money to build this training center.

“Our total budget back then was just £20 million, which already shocked the whole of England, and even Europe,” Yang Cheng said with a hint of pride.

This made him prouder than winning matches on the pitch.

“Isn’t that the truth?” Brian Kidd had been through it all with Yang Cheng.

“Even now, look at the Premier League teams. Besides us, Chelsea and Arsenal have built new training bases, Liverpool and Manchester City are still building theirs. Are there any other teams?”

“Manchester United is still holding on to Carrington, and the training facilities of other teams are also very poor.”

Brian Kidd sounded exasperated at this point.

Was it that those teams had no money?

No, they would rather spend the money on buying players than invest in training facilities.

If you asked them why, they would cite the pressure for results.

But was that really the case?

Of course, the situation was much better now.

Many teams were beginning to launch plans to build training facilities, and they were expected to spring up like mushrooms in the coming years.

And Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese were definitely trailblazers of this wave!

…

November 23rd, Premier League, Matchday 12.

The first match of this round was another crucial one.

The Merseyside derby!

Liverpool faced Everton away.

As a result, the two arch-rival teams played to a 3-3 draw!

That was quite a surprise.

For Liverpool, Coutinho, Suárez, and Sturridge scored.

For Everton, Lukaku scored a brace.

The Belgian centre-forward made a name for himself in this match; both his goals came in the second half, and both were from counter-attacks.

His performance was truly impressive.

This round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Norwich at home.

The latter set up a parked-bus formation, looking determined to defend to the end.

Bayswater Chinese attacked relentlessly for 40 minutes, and it wasn’t until the 41st minute that Gareth Bale scored from a direct free kick, breaking through Norwich’s goal.

Just three minutes into the second half, Walcott provided an assist, and Gareth Bale scored another goal, completing his brace.

Yang Cheng then began making substitutions.

The substitute Sterling scored twice in the 63rd and 73rd minutes.

The second goal was assisted by Harry Kane.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Norwich 4-0 at home.

Arsenal defeated Southampton 2-0 at home, thanks to a brace from Benzema.

Chelsea beat West Ham United 3-0 away, with Lampard scoring twice.

Manchester City, on the other hand, pulled off a “major upset” at home, thrashing Tottenham Hotspur 6-0.

Messi and Agüero both scored a brace!

Messi also had two assists.

Manchester City was getting into their groove, and their performance was getting better and better.

Everyone could clearly see that with a little more time, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City might truly challenge for the top of the table.

Because the Blue Moons’ squad depth was simply too formidable!

Manchester United defeated Cardiff 2-1 away this round, with Rooney and Evra each scoring a goal.

…

Midweek, Champions League Group A, Matchday 5.

Bayswater Chinese was highly likely to advance as the group winner, so when they visited the BayArena, Yang Cheng fielded a rotated lineup.

Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, set up in a defensive 4-3-2-1 formation.

Sami Hyypiä clearly hoped to defeat Bayswater Chinese through a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Unexpectedly, just 22 minutes into the game, an assist from Harry Kane allowed Walcott to score the opening goal for the visiting team.

1-0!

But in the 30th minute, Bayer Leverkusen scored from a corner kick, successfully equalizing.

1-1!

However, after the restart, in the 65th minute, from a free kick in the attacking third, Harry Maguire scored with a header, putting Bayswater Chinese back in the lead.

2-1!

Then, in the 77th minute, Kyle Walker broke into the right side of the box and unleashed a spectacular power shot, scoring again to make it 3-1!

And in the 88th minute, youngster Sterling scored another for the team, assisted by De Bruyne.

4-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 away from home.

Incidentally, Harry Kane provided two assists.

…

Weekend, Premier League, Matchday 13.

Arsenal defeated Cardiff 3-0 away, thanks to a brace from Fàbregas.

The Gunners had been in formidable form so far this season, and their performance was very stable.

Wenger’s team seemed determined to maintain their lead until the end of the season.

This round, Yang Cheng’s team hosted West Bromwich Albion.

Gareth Bale opened the scoring for the team in the 36th minute.

But in the 53rd minute, Chris Brunt equalized for West Bromwich Albion.

Just four minutes later, Giroud provided another assist, and Hazard scored again.

2-1!

The French centre-forward contributed two assists, helping Bayswater Chinese defeat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at home.

Manchester United, meanwhile, defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away thanks to a controversial penalty kick.

Before the penalty, Rooney had scored in the 32nd minute of the first half.

But in the 54th minute, Tottenham equalized.

Just three minutes later, head referee Mike Dean awarded Manchester United a penalty.

Rooney calmly converted it.

After the match, Tottenham’s head coach, Villas-Boas, was furious, believing that Ferguson had received favorable treatment from the referee.

Losing this match also put Villas-Boas’s head coach position in jeopardy.

Liverpool narrowly defeated Hull City 3-2 away.

The two teams fought hard until the 87th minute, when Škrtel scored a crucial last-minute winner.

Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1 at home against Southampton.

The Saints took the lead just one minute into the game, and The Blues only managed to turn the game around and secure the victory just before the end.

Manchester City defeated Swansea 3-0 at home, with Messi scoring a brace.

Recently, Messi had been scoring goals for fun, and his performances were getting better and better.

…

Midweek, League Cup quarter-finals.

Bayswater Chinese faced Tottenham Hotspur away.

Due to the packed schedule, Yang Cheng continued to field a rotated and backup lineup for this match.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

But just one minute into the second half, Pogba opened the scoring with a power shot from inside the box.

After that, Bayswater Chinese maintained their lead.

But in the 88th minute, substitute Adebayor outjumped Stones to head the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s goal, equalizing for Tottenham Hotspur.

1-1!

The match ended in a draw after regular time and went straight to extra time.

In the 118th minute, Tottenham striker Defoe scored again against Bayswater Chinese.

In the end, Tottenham eliminated Bayswater Chinese 2-1, thanks to Defoe’s goal in extra time.

The other three teams to reach the League Cup semi-finals were Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City.

…

Weekend, Premier League, Matchday 14.

Liverpool, playing at home, thrashed Norwich 5-1, with Suárez scoring a four-goal haul.

Arsenal defeated Hull City 2-0, with goals from van Persie and Mikel Arteta.

Manchester United narrowly beat Everton 1-0 at home, with Cavani scoring the only goal.

Ferguson’s team had been surrounded by controversy recently, and this time the goal came in the 86th minute.

After the match, David Moyes protested, arguing that Cavani’s goal was suspected to be offside.

Chelsea narrowly won 4-3 away against Sunderland this round.

Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-2 away, with Yaya Touré scoring a brace.

Yang Cheng’s team won 3-1 away against Swansea, with goals from Piszczek, Marcelo, and Modrić.

The two full-backs both scored in the same match.

One opened the scoring, the other restored the lead, and both performed quite well.

Piszczek’s goal was assisted by Marcelo.

And Marcelo’s goal was assisted by Harry Kane.

…

Midweek, the final round of the Champions League group stage.

The group situation was already quite clear.

Bayswater Chinese would advance as group winners, with AC Milan in second place.

The two giants advanced hand in hand.

Bayer Leverkusen finished third and would play in the Europa League, while Real Sociedad had lost all five of their previous matches without gaining a single point.

So, the final round was essentially meaningless.

More importantly, after this match, Bayswater Chinese would travel to Old Trafford to face Ferguson’s Manchester United on the weekend.

Both Bayswater Chinese and AC Milan fielded rotated lineups.

Yang Cheng, in particular, fielded his young players.

As a result, in the 67th minute of the second half, a goal from Harry Kane secured the victory for Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team defeated AC Milan 1-0 at home.

From start to finish, Yang Cheng did not use his starting lineup.

…

The afternoon of December 14th.

After this match, Bayswater Chinese would be heading to Morocco to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup.

They would consequently miss the next two rounds of Premier League matches, midweek and next weekend.

Therefore, Yang Cheng took this match very seriously.

Moreover, the opponent was Manchester United.

Both teams fielded their strongest possible lineups, but with some differences.

Manchester United’s Rooney was out with an injury.

Bayswater Chinese was also missing the injured Pepe.

But both sides fielded their strongest available teams.

Manchester United, in particular, was set up in a formidable 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Evra, David Luiz, Vidić, and Rafael;

Midfield: De Rossi and Carrick as a double pivot, with Nani, Juan Mata, and Robben in front;

Forward: Cavani.

Yang Cheng countered with his usual 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

The match kicked off at a fast pace from the very beginning.

Both teams employed highly targeted tactics.

But Ferguson’s team was still restricted in midfield.

This was Yang Cheng’s specialty.

However, the first truly threatening attack of the match occurred in the 2nd minute of first-half stoppage time.

Modrić suddenly executed a brilliant feint, sending a through pass with the outside of his foot.

Gareth Bale darted behind Evra, making a quick diagonal run into the right side of the box. After controlling Modrić’s pass with his right foot, he shot for the far post with his left.

De Gea decisively came off his line, reacted quickly, and managed to get a touch on Gareth Bale’s certain goal.

The ball shaved the left post as it went wide.

The Welshman had missed a golden opportunity.

Then, in the 49th minute of the second half, it was Bayswater Chinese’s high press again.

They specifically targeted David Luiz, forcing the Brazilian centre-back into an error. Giroud collected the ball and broke into the box. Facing De Gea, he chose not to shoot but to pass across to Hazard.

The ball was cleared for a corner by a timely recovery from Vidić.

After missing two clear chances, Bayswater Chinese faced their retribution.

In the 55th minute, Nani sent a cross from the left, and Cavani headed it from the edge of the six-yard box.

Courtois reacted quickly and managed to block the ball.

The ball bounced up, hit the crossbar, and rebounded back into the box.

Bayswater Chinese was almost caught on the counter by Manchester United.

Yang Cheng shook his head as he watched from the sidelines and immediately walked to the edge of the technical area.

During a moment when the team was tracking back, Yang Cheng called Toni Kroos over.

“We’re pushed up too far. Everyone drop back a bit.”

“Except for Bale!”

“Have Bale push up and pin down Evra.”

“David Luiz and Evra both push forward often. When we win the ball back, just play a long ball straight to Bale.”

Yang Cheng gave his instructions concisely.

Toni Kroos understood the head coach’s intentions, immediately ran back onto the pitch, and relayed the message to his teammates.

Soon, Gareth Bale also received the message.

After confirming with Yang Cheng, the Welshman began to move along Manchester United’s left flank, specifically keeping an eye on Evra.

The rest of Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense slowly retreated, allowing Manchester United to push forward a bit.

Giroud and Hazard also dropped back.

As a result, apart from Gareth Bale, almost everyone had retreated.

Since Gareth Bale was sticking to the flank, it was easy to mistake it for Bayswater Chinese going into a full defensive retreat if one wasn’t paying close attention.

Just six minutes later, Yang Cheng’s adjustment paid off.

Chapter 295: Sprint, Bale! New Premier League Leader! The Biggest Gain from the Club World Cup!

Marcelo moved constantly back and forth along the left flank.

But his movements were mostly lateral.

He needed to keep an eye on Toni Kroos’s position.

The German midfielder was like an anchor in Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system.

Almost everyone, especially the players on the left side of the pitch, used his position as a reference point for both attack and defense.

This was a detail that many outsiders failed to notice.

Bayswater Chinese’s three-man midfield, particularly Toni Kroos and Modrić, were irreplaceable.

Regardless of whether Nemanja Matić or Javi Martínez played the holding role, the three appeared to have distinct responsibilities, yet they were also mutually compatible, coordinating with each other to form a seamless unit.

They all possessed outstanding organizational and passing abilities, especially in short-passing interplay in tight spaces.

But at the same time, they all had an excellent capacity for long, switching passes.

They would adopt different strategies based on the situation on the pitch and their own understanding of the game.

As a teammate, Marcelo felt this was also why Aaron Ramsey could never replace Toni Kroos or Modrić.

The Welsh midfielder was still lacking a bit in this aspect.

For example, when they felt the opponent’s pressure was relatively light, they would choose to push up into high positions.

Combined with their ability to switch the mode and direction of attack at will through either short passing combinations or long balls, and配合上the fast wingers up front, it left the opposition completely unable to defend against them.

Some opponents were aware of how difficult Bayswater Chinese were to handle, so they would opt for a high press in the midfield and final third.

They would try to confine the battle to Bayswater Chinese’s half.

When the defense and midfield were under pressure, Bayswater Chinese’s midfielders would choose to drop back.

Nemanja Matić or Javi Martínez would promptly retreat to the defensive midfield area to help the backline play the ball forward.

Toni Kroos and Modrić, on the other hand, would decide whether to drop back based on the intensity of the pressure the opponents were applying to the defense.

This was especially true for Toni Kroos.

Marcelo’s side was Bayswater Chinese’s main attacking threat.

Toni Kroos’s decision to drop back determined whether Marcelo would make a forward run.

This was because the German always had to provide sufficient cover and support for the space Marcelo left behind.

This was the experience Bayswater Chinese had accumulated and refined through countless matches over the past few years.

Otherwise, given Marcelo’s aggressive forward runs, the space behind him would have long been torn apart by opponents.

Marcelo’s vertical runs were timed according to Toni Kroos’s retreat.

But more importantly, Toni Kroos would often point out the direction of attack for Marcelo.

When the match reached the 61st minute, as centre-back van Dijk had the ball, Manchester United’s attacking players were pressing forward, trying to put pressure on Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

Cavani, like an indefatigable and powerful centre-forward, relentlessly pressed in the attacking third.

But van Dijk’s technique was excellent. After passing to Nemanja Matić, he passed it back to Thiago Silva.

Manchester United’s pressing still created some pressure on the defense, making it difficult to pass forward.

Just then, Toni Kroos dropped back from a more advanced position and raised his hand, calling for the ball.

As soon as Marcelo saw Toni Kroos drop back, he immediately ran a little further forward.

Almost at the moment their positions were level, Toni Kroos received the ball. But just before Nani closed him down, he passed it horizontally to Marcelo’s feet and shouted at him.

“Two o’clock!”

Marcelo knocked the ball forward with one touch and chased after it at top speed.

Just as the ball left the 30-meter area, Marcelo caught up to it.

The Brazilian lifted his head and habitually looked towards the right side of the attack.

Just a moment ago, Bayswater Chinese had attacked down the right, but Gareth Bale was still positioned at the very front.

Yet, the whole world knew that Bayswater Chinese’s left flank was their main attacking threat.

The moment Marcelo surged forward, Manchester United immediately shifted their defense towards their own right side, on high alert, waiting for the assault from Marcelo and Eden Hazard.

But in doing so, the right flank was left open.

In the blink of an eye, Marcelo had deduced all of this in his mind.

He deeply admired the intelligence of players like Toni Kroos and Modrić.

He couldn’t understand what their brains were made of.

How could they control every detail so perfectly?

But he knew even more clearly that Toni Kroos was right.

Two o’clock was the direction to attack.

Thus, after catching up to the ball, Marcelo didn’t even take a touch to adjust, launching a long pass with his left foot.

Many people knew Marcelo was good at attacking runs, dribbling, and passing, and especially adept at controlling the ball.

But he was equally skilled at long passes.

When the ball was played as a diagonal long pass from the left side of their own 30-meter area, flying over the halfway line and landing on the right flank just outside Manchester United’s 30-meter area, everyone was taken by surprise.

But this was the kind of long, switching pass that Bayswater Chinese excelled at.

The moment he made the pass, Marcelo was almost screaming in his heart.

Sprint, Bale!

The Welshman was already prepared. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he sprinted forward with swift, powerful strides.

Evra was also prepared and tracked back at top speed.

The two were in a race.

Gareth Bale was originally a step behind, but he was closer to the right flank.

Evra was positioned deeper, but he had been closer to the center to provide cover for his centre-backs.

As they both sprinted forward, it was the faster Gareth Bale who got there a step ahead.

Evra, after all, was getting older, and his pace had slowed considerably.

And he was shorter.

After chasing the ball down, as it dropped, Gareth Bale didn’t even need to jump. He simply leaned forward and met the ball with his head, knocking it on into the space ahead of him.

What was even more despairing for Evra was that after heading the ball, Gareth Bale suddenly accelerated, even faster than before.

It gave the French left-back a sense of hopelessness: Is he a master of controlling his speed?

Did he not use his top speed just now simply because he thought he only needed a fraction of his power to beat me by a step?

And was the purpose to suddenly accelerate after heading the ball to leave me in the dust?

Can fast people really do whatever they want?

But Evra could only watch as Gareth Bale disappeared into the distance; he didn’t even have time to commit a foul.

After heading the ball forward, Gareth Bale chased it down at top speed and quickly caught up.

Manchester United’s two centre-backs and the holding midfielder De Rossi also rapidly tracked back.

The Welsh winger’s individual ability was extraordinary; they had to be cautious.

After catching up to the ball, Gareth Bale knocked it towards the right corner of the penalty area.

This immediately prompted the covering David Luiz to press forward.

This was the Brazilian centre-back’s duty.

His job was to press high.

Especially now, he had to stop Gareth Bale.

At the same time, the retreating De Rossi dropped deeper.

He needed to cover for David Luiz, especially to prevent Gareth Bale from using his pace to burst past David Luiz and create a chance from the right side of the box.

Giroud was already making his run.

No one knew what Gareth Bale would choose to do.

Just as the Welshman carried the ball into the right corner of the penalty area, he suddenly came to a sharp halt, performed a series of feints with his feet that confused David Luiz, and then abruptly cut inside, knocking the ball horizontally with the outside of his left boot.

The timing of this move was perfect, taking the ball right past the onrushing David Luiz.

After cutting inside, Gareth Bale took another small touch horizontally with his left foot, just enough to evade David Luiz’s defense.

If time were to freeze at that moment, you would see that Manchester United’s entire defensive line had been completely breached.

De Rossi, in covering for David Luiz, had dropped too deep, leaving the area in front of Manchester United’s box on the right side completely undefended.

David Luiz’s attempt to press was bypassed by the lightning-fast Gareth Bale, leaving him unable to prevent Bale’s next move.

Therefore, Vidić, who had been marking Giroud as the last man, immediately rushed over, trying his best to position himself between Giroud and Gareth Bale.

This would both sever the link between the two attackers and block Gareth Bale’s shooting angle.

Everyone was making the best choice they could in that instant.

But the side in control was Bayswater Chinese!

It was Gareth Bale!

After taking one touch horizontally, the Welshman took one more.

Just when everyone thought he would shoot directly, lashing at the goal with his left foot, he suddenly played a diagonal pass.

The ball traveled from the right side just outside the arc, diagonally towards the left side of Manchester United’s penalty area.

Carrick, who had just gotten back into position, went in with a slide tackle but couldn’t reach the ball.

The football skimmed across the turf towards the left side of the box.

Eden Hazard followed up quickly, getting to the ball before Rafael da Silva and controlling it with the inside of his left foot.

After planting his left foot firmly, he immediately unleashed a power shot with his right, hitting a low, driven ball.

The football shot towards the bottom left corner of the Manchester United goal at high speed.

Goalkeeper De Gea had moved halfway across and dived for it with all his might, but it was beyond his reach.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 62nd minute, at a crucial moment, Bayswater Chinese have finally broken through Manchester United’s goal!”

“A brilliant assist from Gareth Bale, and a power shot from inside the box by Eden Hazard gives the team the opening goal!”

“1-0!”

“Bayswater Chinese finally get a precious goal!”

“It was another swift counter-attack!”

“Manchester United’s defensive line chose to push up, but that exposed the space behind them.”

“This is indeed a very difficult choice.”

“If they don’t press up, Bayswater Chinese’s passing and movement create a huge threat for Manchester United.”

“But if they do press up, the opponent can use long, switching passes to create a threat.”

“It’s too difficult!”

“You could even say there’s no solution!”

After scoring, an ecstatic Hazard turned and ran off the pitch.

But Gareth Bale, Giroud, and others quickly caught up, grabbing him by the waist and tackling him to the ground near the edge of the box.

Everyone rushed out激动地to celebrate.

This was a very crucial goal!

It could even be the goal that decided the match!

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese did indeed defeat Manchester United 1-0 away from home, thanks to Hazard’s goal.

This left Ferguson full of complaints when he was having a drink with Yang Cheng after the match.

“Just once!”

“Our defense made only one mistake, and you guys seized it!”

“Tell me, what is this if not bad luck?”

Ferguson blamed the loss on luck.

Yang Cheng didn’t want to argue with him initially. After all, having won the match, he should show some magnanimity.

Why bicker with a defeated opponent?

Right?

But hearing Ferguson’s words, he felt a little displeased.

“It wasn’t just once, was it? That free kick defense…”

“I’m talking about open play!” Ferguson interrupted Yang Cheng, not letting him continue.

“We only conceded once in open play, right?”

Yang Cheng laughed and said no more.

The man had already set such a specific prefix. If he pressed the issue, Ferguson would just add more qualifiers.

Isn’t there a saying?

If you add enough qualifying prefixes, anyone can be number one in the world.

In the second half, Bayswater Chinese actually created another goal.

It came from a set piece in the attacking third.

Van Dijk flicked on a free kick with his head, and Giroud, on the left side of the six-yard box, headed the ball into the net.

But the goal was disallowed for offside by the head referee.

For most of the second half, Manchester United failed to create any threatening attacks.

So, although it was a 1-0 victory, in reality, looking at the whole match, Bayswater Chinese were in control of the game and played with great dominance.

Ferguson obviously knew this too, so after a few complaints, he sighed.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “You can’t just sigh. Manchester United’s strength is what it is right now. It’s good, but not exceptionally strong.”

“You know, the Premier League today is not the Premier League of the past.”

In years past, the Premier League, when it came down to it, only had two teams capable of challenging for the title.

Manchester United and Arsenal.

Later, when Chelsea rose, there were three.

That’s why, whether it was in the early years of the century or in Yang Cheng’s previous life, no matter how badly Arsenal performed, even when Wenger fielded a large group of fledgling youngsters, they could still finish in the top four.

Why?

Wenger’s coaching ability was of course formidable, but more importantly, the other teams in the Premier League really weren’t competitive!

But what about now?

Look at the lineup of the top six, and then look at the squads of teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

Players like Adebayor, Rafael van der Vaart, and Roberto Soldado were all formerly key players for teams like Real Madrid and Sevilla.

Add to that a bunch of players who have moved down from the Big 6, and Tottenham Hotspur’s current strength is highly competitive even on the European stage.

Let alone the Big 6.

Pep Guardiola had said that the clashes between top teams in the Premier League now are harder than El Clásico used to be!

The squads are truly formidable!

In comparison, Manchester United’s current squad isn’t bad, but it’s just missing that certain something.

For example, they lack a powerful, explosive game-changer.

Cavani and Rooney are both very good, but not explosive enough.

As for Robben, he has never been a game-changer known for his goal-scoring ability.

Players like Nani, Valencia, Ashley Young, and Juan Mata are all functional, support-type players.

But most importantly, Manchester United’s defensive line is aging.

For example, Evra on the left flank is starting to lose his pace.

“Didn’t you guys say you wanted to buy C. Ronaldo before? Is it true?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Ferguson nodded slightly. “There was contact, but it wasn’t deep.”

This confirmed Yang Cheng’s suspicions.

“Since when did you lot become so rich?” Yang Cheng laughed.

“Messi has come to Manchester City. Our neighbor has a lot of momentum now, and there’s definitely pressure on us in terms of results.”

The Glazer family did continuously drain money from Manchester United, but with the club now under pressure to perform, they had to take it seriously.

Previously, missing out on the Champions League had cost them dearly.

If it happened again, the sponsors would surely be the first to come after them.

When that time came, things wouldn’t be easy for the Glazer family either.

More importantly, if C. Ronaldo were to come to Manchester United, he would not only bring an improvement in results but also, more significantly, commercial value.

“A transfer of a superstar of this level often takes time; it can’t be done overnight.”

Ferguson sighed again.

From what he was saying, Manchester United was planning to play the long game.

Yang Cheng understood.

If they were to force a transfer, the price Manchester United would have to pay would certainly exceed what Manchester City paid for Messi.

Because C. Ronaldo’s compensation fee was as high as one billion euros. How could they possibly force that?

Under these circumstances, the only thing Manchester United could do was wait.

Wait for the right opportunity!

Wait until a rift appeared between C. Ronaldo and Real Madrid, and then Manchester United would make their move.

However, when that time came, Manchester United certainly wouldn’t be the only suitor.

For a superstar of C. Ronaldo’s level, any hint of trouble would surely set all of Europe’s top clubs in motion.

Even if Manchester United wanted to sign him, they would definitely have to pay a steep price.

As for whether it would be worth it…

Yang Cheng could only answer with a quote from Florentino Pérez.

The most expensive is often the cheapest!

…

Manchester United lost 0-1 at home to Bayswater Chinese.

This immediately sparked heated discussion throughout England after the match.

The game had also received intense attention from Premier League fans all over the world.

Although the score was only 1-0, Bayswater Chinese’s dominant performance won everyone’s approval.

In another match, Chelsea suffered a surprising 2-3 upset away to Stoke City.

After a brilliant start to the league season, Mourinho’s team had begun to lose steam recently.

The weakness in midfield, in particular, had affected the Blues’ overall performance.

Almost everyone unanimously agreed that the Blues needed to strengthen their midfield signings during the winter transfer window.

Otherwise, it was feared that Mourinho’s team would struggle to achieve anything.

The British media also widely believed that Chelsea had four targets for midfield reinforcement.

The top target was Javi Martínez from Bayswater Chinese.

But this player was currently being pursued by several top clubs, especially Real Madrid.

The Galácticos had tried to sign Javi Martínez in the summer but failed, only then turning to sign Illarramendi from Real Sociedad by paying his compensation fee.

Based on his actual performances, Illarramendi was currently unable to meet Real Madrid’s requirements.

Florentino Pérez still held high hopes for his compatriot, Javi Martínez.

Besides Javi Martínez, Mourinho was also interested in Nemanja Matić.

“But trying to poach a starting midfielder from Bayswater Chinese is basically unrealistic,” revealed The Sun.

If the first two targets were unattainable, then Mourinho would consider signing Sami Khedira from his former club, Real Madrid, or Guarín from Inter Milan.

Both players were of a type that Mourinho greatly admired.

In addition, The Sun also revealed that besides wanting to sign a midfielder, Mourinho was also targeting Atlético Madrid’s centre-forward Diego Costa, Benfica’s winger Marković, and Inter Milan’s centre-back Ranocchia.

Mourinho’s intention was to comprehensively upgrade all three lines of Chelsea’s squad.

But to sign all these players in a single winter transfer window was undoubtedly unrealistic.

Also in the 15th round of the Premier League, Manchester City won 2-1 away against Southampton, with goals from Agüero and Messi.

Liverpool, meanwhile, defeated West Ham United 4-1 at home, thanks to a brace from Suárez.

Arsenal beat Everton 2-1, with Sánchez scoring twice.

But the biggest news of this round was the managerial changes.

Including Tottenham’s André Villas-Boas and West Bromwich Albion’s Clark, five Premier League teams had already changed managers just as December began, setting a new all-time record.

On the other hand, this also showed everyone just how fierce the competition in the Premier League was this season.

Not only was the competition between teams intense, but the pressure on head coaches had also increased accordingly.

Getting sacked for poor results had become an inevitability.

And all the teams that changed managers had only one goal: avoiding relegation!

A guaranteed income of over sixty million pounds sterling per season.

This was something no team dared to lose easily.

Therefore, every Premier League team was fighting for survival, and every team would go crazy to avoid relegation!

After 15 rounds, Arsenal continued to lead with 41 points.

The Gunners’ position as league leaders was becoming more and more secure.

But everyone was also waiting.

According to the usual pattern of previous years, Wenger’s team always tended to collapse during the Christmas and winter schedule.

Everyone wanted to see if the Gunners would do so again.

After defeating Manchester United away, Yang Cheng’s team had, without anyone noticing, racked up a 7-game winning streak and were now unbeaten in 11 matches.

So far this season, they had played 15 matches with a record of 13 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, earning 40 points.

Against the other five teams in the top six, Yang Cheng’s team had already played four matches, missing only Arsenal.

Their record was 3 wins and 1 draw.

Such a record in clashes between top teams was truly outstanding.

Therefore, many people also believed that Yang Cheng’s team was still one of the big favorites to challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Manchester City were in third place in the Premier League with 37 points.

Liverpool were in fourth with 36 points.

After losing this round, Manchester United were in fifth with 32 points.

Chelsea were in sixth with 30 points.

Given the intensity of the competition this season, with only 15 rounds played, there would be many more changes to come.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese didn’t even have time to rest before they immediately boarded a private jet to Morocco.

…

After playing their Premier League match on the afternoon of the 14th, their private jet arrived at the international airport of the Moroccan coastal city of Agadir at 11:55 PM.

Even though it was midnight, quite a few fans were there to welcome them.

Morocco had previously bid to host the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, but failed both times.

Being able to host the Club World Cup this time was more importantly about proving to the world that they were capable of hosting major tournaments.

Their goal was set on the bidding rights for the 2026 World Cup.

Because of this, the organizers placed special importance on Bayswater Chinese.

This was a team with significant influence worldwide, and they were afraid of even the slightest mishap happening to Bayswater Chinese in Morocco.

They gave them the warmest welcome as the plane landed.

Not only did media and television stations report and broadcast live, but many fans were also there to greet them.

More importantly, the organizers had specially hired a very professional security team to provide Bayswater Chinese with 24-hour personal security services.

With the escort of the security team and the police, the team arrived at the Tikida Golf Palace hotel in the city an hour and a half after landing.

Was that it?

Obviously not!

The team checked into the hotel at around 1:30 AM on the 15th.

But in reality, the hotel had already stopped accepting outside guests since the 11th.

All 54 suites of the hotel were provided for the use of Bayswater Chinese’s players, coaches, and staff.

Not only that, but they had also comprehensively upgraded the hotel facilities according to Bayswater Chinese’s requests.

As a golf hotel, besides the golf course, there was also a football training ground next door.

Bayswater Chinese would conduct their daily training here.

It was said that to meet the team’s needs, the turf had been completely replaced, specially ordered and airlifted from England, so the quality was excellent.

In addition, all the team’s meals were handled inside the hotel, prepared by the culinary team that Bayswater Chinese had brought with them.

All ingredients and drinking water were flown in daily from London, England, to ensure that everyone in the team could adapt.

It could be said that apart from training and matches, after checking into this hotel, Bayswater Chinese had no need to go out.

Or perhaps, it was inconvenient to go out.

After the team checked in, police patrolled the hotel’s surroundings 24 hours a day.

The security team patrolled inside the hotel.

At the same time, photography was prohibited outside the hotel.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was definitely an unprecedentedly high level of treatment.

Yang Cheng and the players initially found it hard to understand.

After all, even when they went to South America, it wasn’t this big of a deal.

The next day, when the team departed from the hotel and took a bus ride halfway around the block to the training ground east of the golf course, they immediately understood why.

All they saw along the way were slum areas.

Along the road, not only were fans chasing them, but many children were also running after the team bus.

When the team arrived at the training ground, they found it surrounded by heavily armed police, three layers deep, protecting the training ground tightly.

But even so, the fans who had heard the news still surrounded the training ground completely.

When Yang Cheng came out with the entire team, he found that outside the wire fence surrounding the training ground, it was packed with people. The sight was truly shocking!

And when they saw Yang Cheng and the others appear, they all cheered.

The vast majority of them could even shout out the players’ names.

This left Yang Cheng and the others quite surprised.

Besides the crowd of crazed fans, there were also three hundred media reporters on site.

Yang Cheng had originally planned, as was customary, to have the team interact with the fans.

But he was stopped by the local police.

The reason was simple: they could not guarantee safety.

Left with no choice, Yang Cheng had to abandon the idea.

But before training, he still had Modrić lead the players on a lap around the pitch to have some simple, distant interactions with the fans, which was met with a warm welcome.

“To be honest, Morocco is very beautiful, but it’s also very poor!” Brian Kidd remarked with emotion.

“I heard that when Atlético Mineiro and Guangzhou Evergrande came for the competition, they couldn’t even find a satisfactory training ground and had to keep changing venues. What we have is considered good,” said Head Scout Gary Worthington with a wry smile.

The conditions in Morocco were indeed quite poor.

The frequent changes of training grounds were said to be because there were only two fields in all of Agadir that met international competition standards.

The other fields were very poor.

Some didn’t even have adequate lighting facilities.

To be able to host the Club World Cup under such circumstances was truly not easy.

It could be said that the Moroccan hosts had already provided the best possible conditions to Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng certainly had no complaints, nor would he question why FIFA had decided to hold the Club World Cup in Morocco.

Especially when he saw the crowd of fans outside the wire fence, he was truly lost for words.

…

On the evening of the second day after Bayswater Chinese’s arrival in Morocco, Xia Qing and Adam Crozier accompanied a Chinese official to the hotel where Bayswater Chinese was staying and had dinner with Yang Cheng.

This official was the head of the General Administration of Sport.

Normally, Guangzhou Evergrande’s participation in the Club World Cup wouldn’t warrant the presence of a leader of his rank.

But this time, he personally led the delegation to Morocco with a very important mission: this meeting with Yang Cheng.

Before meeting Yang Cheng, he had already met with Xia Qing and had a discussion.

The topic of this meeting was Bayswater Chinese’s intention to develop football youth academies in the Southern Xinjiang region.

The matter originated with Yang Cheng’s older brother-in-law, Xia Xi.

Over a year ago, Xia Xi had volunteered to provide assistance to Xinjiang.

According to what Xia Anmin had let slip, Xia Xi’s abilities and talents had been recognized by the organization, and after his return from Xinjiang, he would definitely be promoted and given important responsibilities.

At Xia Xi’s current age and rank, his future was limitless!

Later, after arriving in Xinjiang, Xia Xi called Yang Cheng a few times and talked about many things, including some of the difficulties he encountered.

Yang Cheng then proposed an idea, thinking that the football atmosphere in Southern Xinjiang was quite strong and that it was entirely possible to develop a youth academy there to provide another path for the children and young people.

In Yang Cheng’s memory, before he traveled through time, the youth football program in Southern Xinjiang was flourishing and had produced a lot of football talent; it was truly a treasure trove.

Unexpectedly, Yang Cheng’s casual mention caught Xia Xi’s attention.

He immediately began planning and soon came up with a proposal. He then approached Yang Cheng, hoping to use the influence of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese to carry out this plan.

More importantly, this initiative would also help to dispel some of the misunderstandings and prejudices that the outside world had held about Xinjiang for so many years.

Therefore, Xia Xi’s plan received unanimous approval, from Xinjiang to the central government.

Over the past few years, Yang Cheng had also intended to contribute to the development of football in his motherland.

Acquiring a club was out of the question.

But setting up youth academies to discover and cultivate more football talent was something he could do.

Thus, the two sides hit it off immediately.

In Europe, Bayswater Chinese invested in youth training under the banner of developing the Chinese market.

In the past few years, many top European clubs had invested in youth academies in China, so this aspect wasn’t a major issue.

In China, Bayswater Chinese would act as a bridge, while also hoping to use its global influence to make all parties pay more attention to Xinjiang.

This time, Yang Cheng’s meeting with the leader from the General Administration of Sport was to finalize this cooperation.

The entire youth academy plan was to be divided into several steps.

First, Bayswater Chinese, in the name of the club, would build a top-tier youth academy in Southern Xinjiang, aiming to be the best in the country and even in Asia, with an estimated investment of over thirty million pounds sterling.

That was over three hundred million yuan.

This was not a small sum in 2014.

The youth academy would strictly adhere to Bayswater Chinese’s standards.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese would also cooperate with some schools in Southern Xinjiang, cultivating and discovering young players by donating jerseys, providing hardware and software for youth training systems, and organizing campus football competitions.

More importantly, there was a ten-year plan for training youth coaches.

Bayswater Chinese promised to train several batches of high-level youth coaches for Southern Xinjiang every year for the next ten years.

To a certain extent, high-level youth coaches were far more important than youth players.

And in this regard, Bayswater Chinese’s ability was universally acclaimed.

The Brent training center and the ten satellite clubs, plus OGC Nice and Atalanta, were all renowned for their youth development.

It could be said that the youth development resources Yang Cheng held, as well as the network he had built in European and even world football over the years, were not to be underestimated.

If this continued for a few years, the youth coaches trained by Bayswater Chinese would continuously blossom and bear fruit in Southern Xinjiang.

If it was successful, it might even be promoted nationwide in the future.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s actions were not entirely selfless.

Besides giving back to their motherland, the main reason was Xia Xi’s career.

If this plan was implemented and achieved results, then undoubtedly, the primary meritorious veteran, Xia Xi, would have an even brighter future.

The better his brother-in-law developed, the more Yang Cheng would naturally benefit.

In fact, it wasn’t just Yang Cheng.

The Yang’s Group had already begun to make plans to invest more funds in relatively underdeveloped provinces like Xinjiang and Guizhou in the coming years, engaging in philanthropy, driving employment through industry, and boosting regional economic development.

In this respect, both Yang Cheng and Yang Jianguo were very conscientious!

This time, the meeting between the leader of the General Administration of Sport and Yang Cheng effectively finalized the cooperation.

FIFA was naturally very supportive of this and would provide all kinds of assistance.

Ultimately, they were also eager for Chinese football to develop quickly.

This market was too big, and China’s absence from the World Cup was a source of great frustration for them as well.

If nothing else, if China could qualify for the World Cup, how much would the commercial value of each World Cup increase?

Therefore, Blatter was very supportive.

He would provide policies if policies were needed, and talent if talent was needed.

In any case, the bulk of the investment came from Bayswater Chinese, so they were happy to see it happen.

…

For Yang Cheng, the Club World Cup was like a formality.

The matter he truly valued had already been settled before the tournament even began.

Next, most of the work would be handled by Xia Qing, Xia Xi, Adam Crozier, and others who would be responsible for coordination and pushing the project forward.

Yang Cheng planned to visit Southern Xinjiang next summer.

If the plan went smoothly, the official launch would likely be announced during that visit.

They arrived in Morocco in the early hours of the 15th, and on the evening of the 17th, they played their semi-final match.

The opponent was Guangzhou Evergrande.

As China’s strongest club team, the only thing they could hold up against Bayswater Chinese was their head coach, Marcello Lippi.

Before the match, Yang Cheng met with Lippi and had a chat.

But when it came to the game itself, he showed no mercy.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated their opponent 4-0.

Interestingly, Guangzhou Evergrande had only one shot in the entire match, and it came near the very end.

Yang Cheng really couldn’t bear to watch anymore and told his players to go easy on them.

Also, despite there being only four goals, they had actually hit the crossbar or post six times during the match.

To be honest, any discerning eye could see that Bayswater Chinese were already using their squad rotation and substitutes, but they still held an overwhelming advantage.

Whether it was Pogba, Harry Kane, Theo Walcott, or De Bruyne, the opponents had no answer for them.

The six shots that hit the woodwork seemed more like a display of their power.

What surprised Yang Cheng and the others was that while everyone had expected Ronaldinho to lead Atlético Mineiro to the final, they unexpectedly lost 1-3 to the local team Raja Casablanca in the semi-final.

…

After playing Guangzhou Evergrande, Bayswater Chinese set off for Marrakesh.

The Club World Cup final was held there.

On the evening of the 21st, Bayswater Chinese faced Raja Casablanca.

Although they were facing the host team, Bayswater Chinese did not go easy on them.

In the first half, they took a 3-0 lead with a brace from Gareth Bale and a corner kick goal from van Dijk.

After the break, Theo Walcott scored another goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Raja Casablanca 4-0, successfully defending their Club World Cup title!

After the match, Gareth Bale was named the best player of the tournament.

…

While Bayswater Chinese were competing in the Club World Cup in Morocco, two rounds of the league were being played back in the Premier League.

In the crucial match of the 16th round, Manchester City defeated Arsenal 6-4 at home.

The two teams unleashed a frenzied attacking storm at the Etihad Stadium.

Messi delivered an outstanding performance in this match, with two goals and two assists, leading Manchester City to a 6-4 victory over the Gunners.

For Wenger’s team, Benzema scored a brace, while van Persie and Mertesacker each added a goal.

This offensive storm allowed Manchester City to catch up to Bayswater Chinese and also close the gap on the Gunners.

Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at home.

Manchester United won 3-0 away at Aston Villa, thanks to a brace from Cavani.

Liverpool thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 away, with Suárez also scoring a brace.

…

In the 17th round of the Premier League over the weekend, Suárez scored another brace to help Liverpool beat Cardiff 3-1 at home.

The Uruguayan forward was having a massive breakout season, with his performances getting better and better.

He had now scored a brace in three consecutive rounds.

And before that, he had a four-goal haul in one match.

Despite missing the first five rounds of the season, Suárez had already scored 19 Premier League goals, placing him at the top of the Premier League top scorer chart.

Bayswater Chinese’s Gareth Bale was in second place with 15 goals.

Manchester City, who had thrashed Arsenal at home in the previous round, beat Fulham 4-1 away in this round.

The four goals came from Yaya Touré, Vincent Kompany, Jesús Navas, and Messi respectively.

Manchester United defeated West Ham United 3-1 at home, with goals from Cavani, Welbeck, and Ashley Young.

In this round, Wenger’s team drew 0-0 with Chelsea at home.

The Gunners dominated the entire match, pinning Chelsea back into a defensive counter-attack posture.

But Wenger’s team could never break through Chelsea’s goal.

In the end, the two sides had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

After 17 rounds, Manchester City had overtaken Arsenal with 43 points, sitting at the top of the Premier League table.

This was the first time Pep Guardiola’s team had reached the top spot this season.

The Blue Moons’ ascent to the top earned them unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide.

For Guardiola to produce such a performance in his first season coaching in the Premier League was truly outstanding.

Of course, as The Times pointed out, Guardiola’s team was indeed very strong in terms of their squad.

Arsenal and Liverpool both had 42 points.

But Liverpool had a better goal difference than Arsenal, so the Reds successfully overtook the Gunners to rank second in the Premier League table, just one point behind Manchester City.

Arsenal were in third place.

Bayswater Chinese, having played two fewer games, still had 40 points and were in fourth place.

Manchester United were in fifth with 38 points.

Chelsea were in sixth with 34 points.

This clearly showed that Mourinho’s team was gradually falling behind.

They were already nine points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Of course, being nine points behind before Christmas was not a huge deal.

The key issue was that if the Blues couldn’t strengthen their squad with new signings during the winter transfer window, it would be difficult for them to mount a comeback in the second half of the season.

And the top priority was strengthening the midfield.

Bayswater Chinese had played two fewer games, causing their ranking to drop to fourth.

The opponents for these two rescheduled matches were Southampton at home and Crystal Palace away.

The Saints were relatively tricky, but beating Crystal Palace shouldn’t be a major problem.

The real challenge was the schedule.

From the looks of it, these two rescheduled matches for Bayswater Chinese would be scheduled for January at the earliest.

They might even be postponed again.

The match schedule would be very congested then, which would be a major challenge for Bayswater Chinese, who usually focused on conditioning the team’s fitness in January.

As for this year’s Christmas schedule, Bayswater Chinese’s three matches were two at home and one away.

They were at home against Stoke City, at home against Arsenal, and away against West Bromwich Albion.

The match dates were December 26th and 28th, and January 1st.

However, the team facing the biggest challenge was Liverpool.

The Reds had to play Manchester City away on the 26th and Chelsea away on the 28th.

Facing two clashes between top teams in such a short period was truly a nightmare for the Reds.

So, as Yang Cheng’s team returned from Morocco with the Club World Cup trophy, Liverpool manager Mancini was complaining bitterly to the media about the unfair schedule.

Chapter 296: Chain Reaction in the Transfer Market! Frenzied Contract Renewals! The Heavy-Duty Truck That Can Score!

Returning to London from Morocco, Yang Cheng found himself even busier.

Every Christmas, the teams in the Premier League become exceptionally busy.

Bayswater Chinese, with its now vast family and business enterprise, was naturally even more occupied.

As the team’s head coach and owner, Yang Cheng not only had to manage daily training and Christmas activities but also had to oversee some club affairs.

This included dealing with major sponsors.

Yang Cheng had now mostly handed over matters concerning government liaison to Adam Crozier.

This man was now renowned in England as a superstar employee, well-connected in both political and business circles.

It wasn’t until the training session ended on the afternoon of the 24th that the team finally got a day off.

But they had to reassemble on the morning of the 26th.

According to the schedule, Bayswater Chinese’s situation was actually quite good.

The match was scheduled to kick off at 3 PM.

And it was a home game.

Manchester United had the worst of it; they were away to Hull City at 12:45 PM.

The journey from Manchester to Hull City takes over two hours, and adding in pre-match preparations and other matters, Manchester United would certainly have to set off early in the morning, which would be a major test for all the players.

It was probably like having to rush to the office for overtime early on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

And without any damn overtime pay.

One could imagine it would be a wonder if the players were in a good mood.

By the time Yang Cheng drove from the Brent training center back to his home west of Holland Park.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he immediately noticed a difference.

The villas and small yards of every household along the way had been meticulously decorated, filled with a Christmas atmosphere.

But Yang Cheng’s home was somewhat special.

In addition to the Christmas decorations, there were also red lanterns hanging and spring couplets posted.

Isn’t that for the Spring Festival?

Yang Cheng took several looks back and forth as he entered, finding it somewhat amusing.

Could this be considered a kind of Chinese-Western fusion?

Opening the door and entering, just as he took off his jacket, he saw Xia Qing, dressed in loose and casual homewear, coming towards him.

“You’re back? It must be very cold outside now, right?”

As she spoke, she gently and considerately took the jacket from Yang Cheng’s hands and hung it on the wall in the entryway.

“It is a bit cold. It’s much more comfortable at home,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

The heating was on inside, making it warm and particularly comfortable.

Xia Qing affectionately held Yang Cheng’s right arm, leading him towards the dining room. “I’ve prepared a Christmas present for you.”

“What?” Yang Cheng felt a little surprised.

They had been like an old married couple for so many years, and although it had always been just the two of them, they had never been this romantic.

Arriving at the dining room, he saw four dishes and a soup neatly arranged on the table.

“Reporting to the boss, I skipped out of work this afternoon, went to the supermarket to buy groceries, and made you a home-cooked meal.”

Yang Cheng was very surprised. “You made this yourself? It’s not takeout?”

Xia Qing shot him a look, her expressive eyes seeming to ask back: Do you really have to look down on me that much?

But it had to be said, over the years, Xia Qing had become increasingly busy, and the opportunities for her to cook personally had become fewer and fewer.

As soon as Yang Cheng sat down at the table, he immediately saw that all the dishes were his favorites.

For example, tofu and fish head soup, and braised beef brisket with potatoes.

Just by the look of them, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but rub his hands, his mouth watering in anticipation. He didn’t even bother getting rice, sitting down and digging right into the dishes.

Xia Qing sat opposite him, her hands propping up her chin, watching Yang Cheng wolf down his food with a smile.

Clearly, Yang Cheng’s actions were more well-received than any compliment.

“You should eat too, or there won’t be any left.”

At home, Yang Cheng never stood on ceremony with Xia Qing.

Especially when it came to eating.

After being together for so many years, Xia Qing was long used to it.

“I was already full from cooking,” Xia Qing said with a radiant smile.

Yang Cheng stuffed a piece of beef brisket into his mouth, chewing with relish and nodding repeatedly. “This beef brisket is delicious.”

After a pause, he added, “When I get fired in the future and can’t coach anymore, we’ll go back to China and open a beef restaurant. With your beef brisket and teppanyaki beef, you’d definitely be qualified!”

Xia Qing smiled so much her eyes nearly squinted shut, feeling incredibly happy.

But soon, she gave him another exasperated look. “Tell me, with your high prestige, who would dare to fire you?”

“That Goddess of Wealth at our club, she’s very fierce. We’re all afraid of her!”

Xia Qing almost lunged at him on the spot.

“Do you think if we opened a beef restaurant back home, anyone would come?”

Yang Cheng bantered on his own. “If there’s no business, let’s just set up a stall at the entrance of our parents’ residential community and sell breakfast. I hear that’s quite profitable too, just that waking up early is very tiring.”

Listening to Yang Cheng’s seemingly earnest “planning” for the future, Xia Qing nearly agreed.

Sometimes she thought about it, and the time the two of them could sit down together for a meal like this was becoming less and less frequent.

They were both just too busy!

Especially Yang Cheng.

Whenever there was a busy stretch of matches, they often couldn’t even sit together for more than half a month.

But there was one thing about Yang Cheng that Xia Qing trusted immensely: no matter where he went, he would always let her know.

No matter how late he worked, he would always come home.

At first, afraid of disturbing her rest, he would sleep in another room.

Later, at Xia Qing’s strong insistence, no matter how late he came home, Yang Cheng would still sleep beside her.

According to Xia Qing, the two of them were relying on each other in London!

At Yang Cheng’s strong request, Xia Qing joined him, and together they polished off the four dishes and soup on the table.

Originally, Yang Cheng suggested leaving the cleanup for the housekeeper, but Xia Qing insisted on doing it herself.

So, the two of them busied themselves for a while, thoroughly tidying up the kitchen and dining room.

After they were done, they sat in the living room, cut up a plate of fruit, and enjoyed watching the movie The Grandmaster.

“When I went back to China this time, my dad, my mom, and my sister-in-law told me a lot of things.”

While watching the movie, Xia Qing leaned against Yang Cheng, speaking softly.

The fresh scent of her hair wafted through the air.

“My brother did a great job this time. If he can pull this off, he’ll definitely take a crucial step up.”

“He’s only thirty-five now. To have come this far at his age, it’s a sure thing.” Yang Cheng now had some understanding of the official promotion system in China.

Age was a very important criterion for evaluating officials.

“My dad also said that Uncle was very supportive this time, did a lot, and invested in many projects locally, including some poverty alleviation projects. The investment wasn’t small either.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

At the level Yang’s Group had reached, the amount of money was not particularly important anymore.

In fact, Yang Cheng was particularly grateful to his father-in-law, Xia Anmin.

He used to be clear about his own father’s personality, but in recent years, by being close to Xia Anmin and being influenced by him, coupled with his flourishing career, his father’s personality had changed a lot.

For both families, the most important thing now wasn’t how much money they made, but the development of the next generation.

Needless to say, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing now had money and fame.

If nothing else, selling Bayswater Chinese would bring at least tens of billions of yuan back to China.

And what about OGC Nice and Atalanta?

Both clubs were being managed quite well now.

Then there was Yang’s Group in China, currently the number one sports brand in the country. Its real estate business had also entered the top twenty nationwide, making it a well-known property developer that had made a huge profit over the past few years.

This was even after Yang Cheng’s repeated reminders, demanding that they restrain their financial situation and slow down their development speed.

Otherwise, breaking into the top ten would have been no problem at all.

Besides these two well-known listed companies, Yang’s Investment Company had also invested in many famous domestic enterprises over the years.

It now boasted a vast family and business enterprise.

Xia Xi and his wife both worked in government departments, and both were being specially promoted and cultivated at a young age, taking a different path.

Perhaps because Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were abroad all year round, and the relationship between the two families was getting better and better, the two families now acted as one, taking care of and supporting each other.

This full support for Xia Xi was just one small matter among many.

“My sister-in-law is also facing a promotion recently. She and my brother haven’t seen each other for a long time either.”

Given the Xia family’s background, when Xia Xi was looking for a partner back then, it wasn’t a casual affair.

“So, did our parents say anything else?” Yang Cheng hinted, smiling slyly.

Xia Qing, of course, guessed his meaning, tightening her grip on his arm and leaning in closer.

Every time she went home, Xia Anmin and his wife would repeatedly urge her.

It was always about: Your brother might be away, but at least he has a child. What about you?

You’re not even married yet!

Not just Xia Anmin’s couple, Yang Jianguo’s an his wife were also urging them.

However, they would only scold Yang Cheng.

It was funny, really. Xia Anmin and his wife doted on Yang Cheng so much they couldn’t bear to say a single word of criticism, nor could they stand to hear any.

Everything was always Xia Qing’s fault.

Yang Jianguo and his wife were the exact opposite. Whenever anything happened, they would scold Yang Cheng, and Xia Qing was always the best.

Believe it or not, the two families got along even more harmoniously this way.

As for Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s relationship, getting married or not didn’t really matter; it was just a piece of paper.

But in the eyes of the older generation, not being married was ultimately unacceptable.

And as soon as they got married, they would immediately start pressing for children.

Sometimes, thinking about it, this was also a kind of happiness.

…

After the movie, the two took a shower together and played a game.

Finally, they lay in bed, chatting about recent events.

Xia Qing mentioned that the young people in the team’s new media department had recently organized a very interesting Christmas event.

They had created various funny Christmas cards of the players.

The theme of the event was festive, but they were all particularly humorous and were sold in the fan shop and online.

They sold extremely well.

Especially the signed versions from the star players, which sold out almost instantly.

Of course, the so-called signed versions weren’t actually signed by the players themselves but by an auto-pen machine.

But the handwriting was indeed the players’ own.

And they weren’t sold at a high price.

It generated considerable buzz on the internet and in various fan forums.

Xia Qing said that the club had given the event high praise internally, and it was expected to become an annual tradition with new creations each year. The person in charge was also promoted and given more responsibility.

Within the team, they were very supportive of such creative and imaginative young people.

“I also got some news today.”

Xia Qing snuggled into Yang Cheng’s embrace.

“Real Madrid is still discussing contract renewals with Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira.”

Yang Cheng had already received this information, but Xia Qing’s intelligence was that the two sides had not yet reached an agreement.

“Xabi Alonso’s contract expires in 2014, and Khedira’s in 2015. Both players’ contracts are ending soon, which is a bit of a problem.”

Most importantly, their annual salaries were not high.

“Xabi Alonso’s current annual salary is four million euros, and Khedira’s is four point five million euros. But on the renewal issue for both players, Real Madrid has been rather tough.”

Unlike in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Real Madrid now basically relied on Khedira and Xabi Alonso in the holding midfielder position, as Illarramendi’s performance was not ideal.

But that was also where the problem lay.

Xabi Alonso’s contract expired in 2014, with only half a year left, giving the player the upper hand in renewal negotiations. He hoped for a more generous contract.

But Real Madrid was only willing to offer up to six point five million euros and only a two-year contract, with an automatic one-year extension based on playing time.

A so-called 2+1 contract.

This clearly did not meet Xabi Alonso’s demands.

Before Christmas, Ancelotti had already made it clear that the Christmas gift he most wanted was to see Xabi Alonso renew his contract.

But obviously, the suits at Real Madrid couldn’t satisfy his request.

The issue with Xabi Alonso’s renewal was essentially a consequence of signing Illarramendi last summer.

At the time, Real Madrid’s intention was that Illarramendi’s arrival would put some pressure on Xabi Alonso, which would help Real Madrid gain the upper hand in renewal negotiations and force Xabi Alonso to compromise.

Unexpectedly, Illarramendi, signed via his release clause, performed poorly, and Xabi Alonso’s importance instead increased.

Moreover, with only six months left on his contract, Xabi Alonso now held all the cards.

In this matter, it’s hard to say who was right or wrong.

After all, no one expected Illarramendi to be unable to adapt to Real Madrid.

Khedira’s problem was like Xabi Alonso’s in 2013.

His contract expired in 2015, but Real Madrid offered an annual salary of five point five million euros.

Khedira’s current salary was about three point five million euros after tax, and his demand was reportedly five point five million euros after tax.

Real Madrid’s offer, however, was five point five million euros before tax.

All in all, Real Madrid was in a bit of a passive position right now.

“I’ve received news that Chelsea is considering signing Khedira. Mourinho thinks very highly of him, and The Blues can offer a better salary package than Real Madrid,” Xia Qing said.

She also had her own sources of information, mainly from financial channels.

Their reliability was quite high.

Chelsea’s holding midfielder position was currently a weak point, and everyone knew Mourinho admired Khedira.

As for offering five point five million euros after tax, that would be a weekly wage of about one hundred sixty thousand pounds sterling before tax.

For Chelsea, that wasn’t a huge amount.

“I’m worried that if Real Madrid can’t agree with Khedira, will they just sell the German midfielder for a high price during the winter transfer window?”

If they don’t sell now and still can’t agree on a renewal, by the summer, with only one year left on his contract, they won’t get a good price.

As Xia Qing said this, she changed the subject. “After selling Khedira, would the chain reaction cause Real Madrid to bring up the Javi Martínez transfer again?”

Just this summer, Bayswater Chinese had already rejected Real Madrid once.

At that time, Yang Cheng had insisted on keeping Javi Martínez.

Ultimately, it’s difficult for Spanish players to refuse Real Madrid and Barça.

But if Real Madrid really made room and intensified their efforts to poach Javi Martínez, could Bayswater Chinese still hold on to him?

“Javi Martínez has played in the Champions League now. Even if he goes to Real Madrid, he can’t represent them in the Champions League.”

Yang Cheng was also assessing whether Real Madrid would make a serious move for Javi Martínez during the winter transfer window.

“But signing Javi Martínez would also impact the renewal of Xabi Alonso,” Xia Qing reminded him.

A single action can affect the whole situation.

Of course, a midfielder of Xabi Alonso’s caliber wouldn’t lack interested teams.

For example, Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s team had always had a soft spot for Spanish players.

There had been news before that Manchester City was interested in signing Iniesta and Xabi Alonso.

But interestingly, Barça renewed Iniesta’s contract with a sky-high salary, extending it to 2018 with an after-tax annual salary of fourteen million euros.

This was tantamount to completely cutting off any possibility of Manchester City poaching him.

Clearly, Barça was now scarred, afraid that the incident of Messi being poached would repeat itself.

But this was somewhat irrational.

However, it was somewhat related to the current situation of chairman Rosell.

Due to the Neymar transfer, Rosell was currently under immense pressure, and calls for him to step down were growing louder.

Under these circumstances, Barça’s core management, including Bartomeu, desperately needed support from local players like Iniesta and Xavi.

Offering a sky-high salary for a contract renewal at this time had that intention.

In addition, there was news that Manchester United had basically reached a renewal agreement with Rooney.

After the renewal, Rooney’s weekly wage would reach three hundred thousand pounds sterling.

This would make Rooney the second-highest-paid player in the Premier League, second only to Messi.

It was quite shocking to think about.

A weekly wage of three hundred thousand pounds sterling is roughly equivalent to an annual salary of twenty million euros.

“This football market is becoming more and more irrational,” Yang Cheng sighed deeply.

Transfer fees were getting higher and higher, and annual and weekly wages were also climbing steadily.

Bayswater Chinese certainly had no right to comment on this, as Yang Cheng’s team had always been a beneficiary.

But being in the midst of it, he certainly felt the pressure.

If nothing else, Rooney’s weekly wage was three hundred thousand pounds sterling, while Gareth Bale’s was one hundred fifty thousand pounds sterling.

How big was that gap?

Bayswater Chinese had commercial development for its players, and Manchester United also had commercial development for Rooney.

As the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng knew very well that Bayswater Chinese’s salaries were becoming less and less competitive.

Under these circumstances, it was inevitable that some players would be poached.

Of course, for Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng didn’t plan to change.

The team’s top salary was only one hundred fifty thousand pounds sterling.

But Bayswater Chinese had its own rhythm for salary increases.

They had to consider both the team’s revenue and the players’ ages.

Modrić was born in ’85, and the team planned to sign him to a lifetime contract within the next year or two.

By then, the team’s salary structure would be broken once again.

Then there were players like Gareth Bale, who was also on the top salary, but he was only 24 years old.

In the foreseeable future, he would need at least two, maybe even three, more contract renewals.

At that time, the salary structure would be broken repeatedly.

This was why Yang Cheng and Xia Qing had to repeatedly control the ceiling of the salary structure.

Most players compare annual salaries, and if salaries rise too quickly, it really becomes uncontrollable.

Not to mention, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, by 2020, when that pandemic storm hit, all teams would face immense financial pressure.

The larger the salary increases now, the greater the pressure would be then.

This was what Yang Cheng least wanted to see.

…

On the afternoon of December 26th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 18, Bayswater Chinese hosted Stoke City.

It was a very interesting match.

The Boxing Day match each year usually saw teams not at their best.

For example, in the midday match between Manchester United and Hull City, The Red Devils conceded two goals right at the start.

In the end, they relied on an own goal to narrowly escape with a 3-2 victory away from home.

But Valencia also received a red card.

As many joked, in the Boxing Day match, players took to the field with a bit of a temper.

Home games were better, but it was almost always the case for away teams.

Just like Stoke City in this match.

Bayswater Chinese’s form in the first half was actually very poor, and they consistently failed to create any threatening attacks.

But in the 34th minute, Stoke City midfielder Whelan fouled Pogba and received a yellow card.

Just six minutes later, Whelan fouled Pogba again and got another yellow card.

This time, two yellows turned into a red, and he was sent off directly.

Was that it?

No!

Just three minutes after the first red card, while defending against Harry Kane in the penalty area, centre-back Wilson was caught out of position by the Englishman’s run.

Out of desperation, as Harry Kane received the ball and turned, Wilson brought him down from behind.

Well, the ultimate punishment package of a red card and a penalty kick!

Yang Cheng himself was a bit dumbfounded watching from the sidelines.

Another midfielder, Steven N’Zonzi, couldn’t take it and protested to the head referee Martin Atkinson, earning himself a yellow card.

Fortunately, captain Shawcross quickly pulled N’Zonzi away; otherwise, the persistent French midfielder would have received another red card.

Then the match wouldn’t need to be played, saving everyone the trouble.

But Yang Cheng really found it amusing.

After all these years!

The transmigrator’s protagonist plot armor had finally fallen upon him!

Was it easy?

Who would have thought that Stoke City’s players would offer such a Christmas gift?

“I declare, from now on, Mark Hughes is my good friend. None of you are allowed to badmouth him!”

As Yang Cheng walked back to the dugout, he couldn’t stop smiling.

Everyone else also found it funny.

Stoke City’s gift was truly generous.

After all, this team was currently ranked 10th in the Premier League and was performing quite well.

“Their players probably came with a grudge too!” Brian Kidd chuckled.

For the penalty kick, Harry Kane, who had earned it himself, took the shot and succeeded in a single attempt, beating Thomas Sørensen’s goal.

But even more surprisingly, after scoring in the 43rd minute, the game restarted.

Just one minute later, Sterling provided an assist, and Harry Kane got on the end of it in the box, once again beating Sørensen’s goal to score a brace.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese had established their advantage in the first half.

And Stoke City was down two players.

Subsequently, the second half completely turned into a one-sided attacking display for Bayswater Chinese.

Just three minutes after the kickoff, Theo Walcott scored a goal.

3-0!

In the 56th minute, an assist from Aaron Ramsey allowed Harry Kane to once again score from inside the penalty area.

The English centre-forward had completed a hat-trick.

Who would have thought?

The happiest person was undoubtedly Harry Kane.

The lad was so excited he was beyond words, sprinting straight off the pitch.

And the entire Prudential Stadium erupted in cheers for him.

This was his first-ever hat-trick in the Premier League.

Everyone knew it was because the opponent was down two men, playing eleven against nine, an overwhelming advantage.

But the goals were real, weren’t they?

In the 66th minute, Pogba met a cross from Kyle Walker on the right and headed it into the net after breaking into the box.

5-0!

And in the 80th minute, Sterling provided another assist, and Walcott scored another goal, completing his brace.

6-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Stoke City 6-0 at home.

Everyone had initially thought it would be a very difficult match.

But unexpectedly, the game turned out to be so easy.

And it was a victory by a large margin.

It had to be said, football matches are always full of surprises.

Yang Cheng finally got to experience the privileged treatment of a football novel protagonist!

The other matches played at the same time also had decisive results.

Arsenal, after conceding first away from home, scored three goals in a short span of 10 minutes in the second half to come from behind and beat West Ham United 3-1.

Chelsea defeated Swansea City 1-0 at home with a goal from Falcao.

And the most anticipated crucial match of this round took place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Manchester City hosted Liverpool.

The result was 2-1.

Liverpool scored the opening goal through Coutinho.

But Manchester City scored two goals in the first half to overturn the deficit.

Especially Messi’s goal in the first minute of stoppage time.

After the second half, neither side was able to maintain the attacking rhythm of the first half, and Liverpool failed to reclaim the lead.

…

On the afternoon of December 28th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 19, Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

This was a globally-watched crucial match.

Not only because the two teams were close in the league table, but more importantly, this match would decide the half-season champions and the trend for the second half of the season.

The Gunners were aiming to be the half-season champions, vowing to surpass Manchester City and claim the top of the table.

Therefore, Wenger fielded his strongest lineup for this match.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Koscielny, Chygrynskiy, and Lichtsteiner;

Midfield: Alexandre Song and Wilshere formed a double pivot, with Sánchez, Fàbregas, and Nasri in front of them;

Forward: Benzema.

This season, with an increase in injuries and due to his age, van Persie’s performance had declined.

But Benzema’s rise had shouldered the attacking burden of Arsenal’s front line.

Additionally, Sánchez also performed exceptionally well.

And in midfield, Wilshere’s performance even overshadowed Mikel Arteta and Gourcuff, which surprised everyone.

The English midfielder’s performance this season was commendable, leaving a deep impression.

Bayswater Chinese also fielded its strongest lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Eden Hazard had suffered a minor injury in training before Christmas, but it wasn’t serious, so he didn’t start this match.

From the kick-off, the away team, Arsenal, seized the initiative, sounding the first call to attack.

The flanks, led by Sánchez and Nasri, broke through several times, creating threats for the home team’s defense.

But Bayswater Chinese’s defense was solid, not giving The Gunners any chance to shoot.

It wasn’t until the 12th minute that Bayswater Chinese launched their first threatening attack.

A long pass from Javi Martínez found Theo Walcott, who quickly broke into the right side of the penalty area, but his first touch was a bit heavy, and he missed a great shooting opportunity.

And in the 15th minute, a cross pass from Walcott set up Toni Kroos for a long shot, which was the first shot of the entire match.

Yes, it was the first shot from either side since the start of the game!

This showed that both sides had done their homework in terms of targeted tactics.

Both Yang Cheng and Wenger were prioritizing caution.

Playing two matches in three days, with strong opponents, while making significant squad rotations, meant that staying stable and avoiding mistakes was paramount.

Arsenal’s first shot occurred in the 23rd minute, a long shot from Wilshere.

Then Fàbregas sent a pass, and Sánchez also tried a long shot.

The two teams exchanged attacks, but overall, neither played particularly well.

After all, both sides were unable to fully let loose.

The first half ended 0-0.

After the second half began, the stalemate continued.

The two teams engaged in a fierce struggle but still found it hard to create truly threatening offensive opportunities.

It wasn’t until the 65th minute that Modrić suddenly sent a through ball.

Theo Walcott made a quick forward run and received the ball to the right of the penalty spot, finding himself in a one-on-one situation.

But Lloris decisively came off his line, trying to close down the shooting angle before Walcott could get a shot off.

The Little Tiger was not a pushover, he went for a chip shot, lifting the ball over Lloris.

But Chygrynskiy, on the goal line, headed Walcott’s chip shot away.

The Little Tiger charged forward again, and his follow-up shot from near the right corner of the six-yard box hit Koscielny and deflected out for a corner.

Corner kick.

At that moment, a wave of enthusiastic applause erupted throughout the Prudential Stadium.

Through consecutive attacks, The Little Tiger had shown his tenacity.

Especially with Gareth Bale being heavily marked, the opportunities on his side had clearly increased.

And at this moment, Modrić had already placed the football in the right-hand corner arc.

…

Inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, Giroud stood near the penalty spot, hands on his hips.

At this time, Modrić had just placed the ball and was slowly backing away.

The captain was clearly composing himself, thinking about how to take this corner.

Meanwhile, in the box, Arsenal’s defenders were as if facing a formidable enemy.

The Gunners were one of the shorter teams in the Premier League.

Koscielny, Chygrynskiy, and Alexandre Song were the three players over 1.85 meters tall.

Lichtsteiner was only 1.82 meters, which was considered relatively tall among them.

In contrast, on the Bayswater Chinese side, Thiago Silva was not tall but was skilled at headers.

Pepe, Javi Martínez, Gareth Bale, and Giroud were all of a decent height and also proficient in heading.

This undoubtedly put great pressure and burden on Arsenal’s set-piece defense.

Interestingly, the player who came to mark Giroud was none other than Benzema.

Giroud’s rival in the France national team.

From any perspective, Giroud didn’t seem like a player who could compete with Benzema.

The two were so different!

Benzema was a prodigious talent who became famous at a young age, a well-known genius striker in French football early on, cultivated with all the resources of the powerhouse Lyon. Later, his transfer to Arsenal saw him nurtured by Wenger as a top-tier talent.

In fact, Benzema did not disappoint anyone’s expectations.

He was now a renowned centre-forward in European football.

In contrast, Giroud.

To be honest, Giroud himself knew very well that in terms of talent, he was far inferior to Benzema.

Therefore, he had never been highly regarded, and his professional career started at a very low level.

But along the way, through his own relentless efforts and Yang Cheng’s favorable eye back then, he became a famous centre-forward in European football today.

Even so, even at Bayswater Chinese, Giroud’s goal-scoring efficiency had always been criticized.

Especially when compared to his predecessor, Robert Lewandowski, Giroud’s goal-scoring rate was really not up to par.

Giroud had once asked head coach Yang Cheng some questions about this matter.

Yang Cheng gave him a very vivid analogy.

An F1 car is certainly dazzling and eye-catching, but is it really better than a truck?

Giroud, of course, didn’t know that in Yang Cheng’s previous life, there was a debate about F1 cars versus go-karts.

Yang Cheng just changed it to F1 cars and trucks.

But from the head coach’s analogy, he felt the coach’s expectations.

F1 cars and trucks are suitable for different occasions, different tracks.

For racing, of course, the F1 car is superior.

But what about hauling cargo?

Can an F1 car out-pull a truck?

Just like at this very moment.

When Giroud was near the penalty spot in the box, his left shoulder pressing against Benzema’s, they locked eyes, and both immediately sensed the tension in the other’s gaze.

They were rivals for the national team!

Now, both wanted to dominate the other in this match.

Truck Giroud, facing F1 Car Benzema, showed no sign of inferiority.

On the contrary, he held his head high, very confident.

Following a whistle from the head referee Probert, Modrić slowly raised his right hand, making a gesture.

The players in the box immediately started moving.

Pepe, responsible for the near post, immediately rushed forward from the right side of the six-yard box, as if to contest the first ball on the right side of the larger penalty area.

And almost simultaneously, Giroud made a diagonal run from the penalty spot into the space just vacated by Pepe.

Koscielny followed Pepe, leaving the space on the right side of the six-yard box open.

Benzema had been marking Giroud all along, and this time was no exception.

But Giroud seized the initiative, forcing Benzema to use his hands, trying hard to press down on Giroud’s shoulder to prevent him from jumping.

But when the French centre-forward reached the right side of the six-yard box, he still managed to leap off the ground.

Despite being pressed down by Benzema, Giroud’s jump actually prevented Benzema, who had been chasing him, from jumping himself.

The ball also landed precisely on Giroud’s head. The French centre-forward flicked his head, sending the ball into the goal behind him.

Goalkeeper Lloris made a desperate dive but was powerless to stop it.

“GOAL!!!”

“GIROUD!!”

“In the 66th minute, from a right-sided corner kick.”

“Giroud scores with a header, giving Bayswater Chinese the opening goal!”

After jumping and heading the ball, Giroud quickly landed.

But he knew the ball was in.

Even if he was a truck, he, Olivier Giroud, was a truck that could score in crucial moments!

So, after landing, Giroud turned and ran, sprinting off the pitch.

Intercepted by teammates along the way, Big Giroud still ran on, leaving the field.

Finally, amidst the cheers of ninety thousand fans, Giroud knelt down on the sideline.

And Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home, thanks to Giroud’s crucial goal.

…

In the post-match press conference after the 1-0 victory over Arsenal, Yang Cheng publicly praised Giroud.

“He is an outstanding centre-forward!”

Yang Cheng defended Giroud, stating he didn’t understand why so many people criticized Giroud’s goal-scoring.

In fact, his goal-scoring efficiency was good.

“Just like in today’s match, he played a crucial role!”

Yang Cheng continued to have high hopes for Giroud.

“I believe he will continue to prove himself with goals!”

In a subsequent interview with reporters, Giroud also expressed his gratitude to the head coach.

And in this round, the top teams in the Premier League generally underperformed.

Manchester United defeated Norwich 1-0 away.

Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at home.

And the most watched match between Chelsea and Liverpool was also surprising.

Just three minutes into the game, Liverpool scored through Škrtel.

But then, Falcao and Eto’o each scored a goal, completing the comeback.

Chelsea ultimately defeated Liverpool 2-1.

Liverpool, who had started the league with irresistible momentum, suffered two consecutive defeats during the crucial Christmas schedule.

Failing to win, or even draw, in two consecutive clashes between top teams was indeed regrettable.

…

Three days later, Premier League Matchday 20.

Under the high pressure of continuous matches, every team was under enormous strain.

Especially after the two matches on the 26th and 28th, the physical toll was truly immense.

Manchester City, in this round, twice took the lead away from home, only to be pegged back twice by Swansea City.

In the end, they secured an away victory over Swansea with a direct free-kick from Pirlo.

Interestingly, all three of Manchester City’s goals came from their holding midfielders.

Fernandinho, Yaya Touré, and the substitute Pirlo.

Arsenal, on the other hand, defeated Cardiff 2-0 at home with goals from Benzema and Sánchez.

But The Gunners’ two goals came in the 88th and 92nd minutes respectively.

Both goalscorers were substitutes.

Chelsea defeated Southampton 3-0 away, with all three of Mourinho’s goals coming in the second half.

Liverpool defeated Hull City 2-0 at home.

Mancini’s team finally secured a victory after two consecutive defeats.

Meanwhile, Manchester United lost 1-2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

This match was somewhat surprising, as Manchester United lost at their home ground.

Ferguson stated that the previous two rounds of the league had completely exhausted Manchester United.

And Bayswater Chinese also encountered problems in this round.

The team faced West Bromwich Albion away.

After the all-out battle against Arsenal in the previous round, Yang Cheng fielded a rotated lineup for this match.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

This was within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

His original plan was similar to other top teams: bring on substitutes in the second half to push for a win.

But unexpectedly, in the 65th minute, during a defensive play, Thiago Silva collided with Anelka, and the Brazilian centre-back was injured and had to be substituted.

This sparked a conflict between the players of both teams on the pitch.

Bayswater Chinese players believed Anelka had made a clear pushing motion, which caused Thiago Silva to lose his balance and get injured upon landing.

And it looked like a serious injury.

During the conflict between the players, Kyle Walker made a clear shoving motion, pushing over the opponent’s player Billy Jones. The head referee Lee Mason directly sent him off with a red card.

This once again sparked protests from the Bayswater Chinese players.

After this conflict, the players on both sides were playing with a fiery temper.

Especially on the Bayswater Chinese side, Yang Cheng had to make a substitution, bringing on Harry Maguire for the injured Thiago Silva.

The result of this substitution was that in the 87th minute, while defending against Anelka, Maguire was beaten by the French striker and then tripped him inside the penalty area.

The head referee immediately awarded a penalty kick.

Yang Cheng looked helpless on the sidelines.

From how it played out, the penalty was not questionable; Maguire did have his hands on him.

Anelka calmly converted the penalty, breaking the deadlock for West Bromwich Albion.

Bayswater Chinese ultimately lost 0-1 to The Baggies!

This was also Bayswater Chinese’s second loss of the season!

After the match, Yang Cheng stated in an interview with reporters that he was disappointed with the loss.

“But this is a professional league!”

“We did our best, but various accidents and problems are unavoidable.”

Regarding Kyle Walker’s red card and Maguire’s penalty, Yang Cheng defended his players.

“They did make mistakes, but that’s part of a football match!”

“In fact, over the past two seasons, Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire have made very obvious progress.”

Kyle Walker was even capable of rotating with Piszczek, holding down the entire right flank both offensively and defensively.

His only problem was being slightly rash and not calm enough.

For a 23-year-old English defender, this was actually normal.

As for Maguire, Yang Cheng also defended him.

After 20 Premier League matches, Bayswater Chinese had a record of 15 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses, earning 46 points and ranking 3rd in the Premier League.

The current team at the top of the Premier League table was Manchester City, with 52 points.

The Blue Moons maintained a perfect record of three wins in three matches during the Christmas period, the only top team to do so.

Pep Guardiola’s tactics were genuinely very stable in the league.

Arsenal was in second place with 48 points.

Liverpool was in 4th place with 45 points.

Manchester United was in 5th place with 44 points.

Chelsea was in 6th place with 43 points.

Overall, the competition in the Premier League was still very intense.

Although Bayswater Chinese was a full 6 points behind Manchester City, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Yang Cheng’s team had played two fewer games.

Thiago Silva was expected to be out for six weeks with a hip injury.

At the same time, a transfer offer was placed in front of Yang Cheng.

Chapter 297: A Transfer Love Triangle! Yang Cheng, Why Don’t You Just Fly to the Heavens? An Astronomical Asking Price, With a Landing Fee!

2014 was a World Cup year in Brazil.

In order to give the national teams more preparation time, the major European leagues all compressed their schedules.

La Liga’s winter break was also shortened.

The battles resumed on January 4th.

This round, Real Madrid had a home game against Celta Vigo.

But the Galácticos’ situation had not been ideal recently.

After seventeen rounds, Real Madrid was in third place in La Liga, trailing Barça and Atlético Madrid.

Those two teams were both on forty-six points, five points ahead of Real Madrid.

Everyone at the Galácticos was extremely frustrated by this.

Losing to anyone would have been better.

But they had lost to their city arch-rivals!

All Real Madrid fans hoped the club would use the winter break to strengthen the squad and improve the team’s competitiveness for a renewed title charge in the second half of the season.

But for Real Madrid, the problem was more complex.

For La Liga as a whole, the situation was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez’s Christmas holiday lasted only two days before he was startled by a piece of insider news.

Barça president Rosell was about to step down!

Although it hadn’t been officially announced, it was already set in stone.

He had engaged in irregular operations during the Neymar transfer, possibly even involving embezzlement, and his resignation was certain.

Of course, this was a matter for the club’s management and had little to do with results on the pitch.

But as one of La Liga’s big two, Real Madrid was naturally paying close attention.

After entering 2014, Florentino Pérez’s first order of business was to visit Valdebebas.

With the team resuming training, he wanted to be there in person to meet with the players and coaching staff.

Ancelotti once again brought up the matter of player contract renewals with him.

Especially those of Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira.

More importantly, on a vacant plot of land to the north of Valdebebas, Real Madrid had decided to invest a sum of money to build a long, rectangular headquarters office building.

The project was still in the preparatory stage.

Real Madrid had a vast family and business enterprise now, with so many office staff. If Florentino Pérez wanted to renovate the Bernabéu, he had to get this building constructed first and move the headquarters there.

Otherwise, where would the club’s employees work during the Bernabéu renovation?

This was another matter that would cost time and money.

After returning to the Bernabéu, Florentino Pérez immediately summoned José Ángel Sánchez to his office and personally instructed him to begin planning the bidding process for the design proposal.

Real Madrid was a member-owned club, so all work had to follow procedures, making a public tender inevitable.

Florentino Pérez had to take Rosell’s cautionary tale seriously.

“Have we heard back on the offer for the Bayswater Chinese player?”

After discussing the headquarters building, Florentino Pérez brought up the other matter that concerned him most.

Just yesterday, Real Madrid had sent a faxed offer to the Bayswater Chinese.

Real Madrid hoped to sign Javi Martínez for forty million euros.

This was just a move to test the waters.

Last summer, Real Madrid had also offered forty million euros, but the Bayswater Chinese had rejected it.

Under these circumstances, the Bayswater Chinese were unlikely to agree to this offer during the winter transfer window.

But Real Madrid submitted it anyway.

They just wanted to see if the Bayswater Chinese were willing to negotiate.

As long as they were willing to talk, there was a chance!

At most, it would be a question of price.

“They rejected it,” José Ángel Sánchez replied.

This was within Real Madrid’s expectations.

“What does the agent say?”

According to procedure, when Real Madrid made an offer, the Bayswater Chinese were required to inform the player and his agent.

Not doing so would be a breach of regulations.

“The player is indeed interested in returning to La Liga.”

Florentino Pérez knew this much.

That had been the attitude last summer as well.

Javi Martínez had performed very well for the Bayswater Chinese, making great contributions to the team.

But he faced competition from Nemanja Matić.

In fact, the Serbian midfielder was even ahead of him in the pecking order.

This was because Matić was a deep-lying playmaker, with better passing and ball control, which better suited Yang Cheng’s requirements.

But Javi Martínez’s stance was clear: he would not participate in negotiations, let alone pressure the club.

This came down to the player’s character.

Some players, in their quest to climb higher, would seize every opportunity, even resorting to certain tactics.

Like refusing to train.

Other players wouldn’t do that; they hoped to part on good terms.

If he had to choose, Florentino Pérez actually preferred the latter type.

This was likely related to his experience managing a large construction group.

Besides, if a player could use underhanded tactics to join Real Madrid today, he could just as easily cause trouble to leave Real Madrid tomorrow.

Having moved in high society for so many years, Florentino Pérez knew one thing for certain.

Many things were more important than money!

“What’s the situation with Khedira and Xabi Alonso?” Florentino Pérez felt a headache coming on.

“Actually, from a purely financial standpoint, Khedira’s value will likely rise again after the World Cup, but by then, he’ll only have one year left on his contract.”

Everyone in the world knew that a player with only one year left on his contract wouldn’t sell for a high price.

Khedira’s current market valuation was around twenty million euros.

If they sold him now during the winter transfer window when players were in demand, they might be able to get a slightly higher price.

But what if they waited until the summer transfer window?

At twenty-seven years old, with only a year left on his contract, even if he performed well at the World Cup and his value rose, how high could it go?

The player’s technical attributes were also clear; he obviously wasn’t the type to be a decisive factor.

Under these circumstances, Real Madrid also had to consider its own interests.

“Xabi Alonso’s side is even more resolute. There are reports that Pep Guardiola wants to sign him.”

José Ángel Sánchez was clearly not very certain.

Since Xabi Alonso’s contract was due to expire in 2014.

According to the rules, he could already make contact with other clubs.

So, there were many things Real Madrid didn’t really know.

“Don’t they already have a Pirlo?”

“After this season, Pirlo will be thirty-five. Xabi Alonso is only thirty-two.”

After a pause, José Ángel Sánchez added, “The main thing is that this type of midfielder is too rare nowadays, extremely scarce, which is why Guardiola wants to make a move.”

The whole world knew Guardiola’s coaching style.

And he was indeed formidable.

He had taken Messi to the Premier League and reached the top of the table in just half a season.

He might even manage to overthrow the Bayswater Chinese’s five-year reign over the Premier League this season.

“Also, I’ve received news that AC Milan is preparing to sign Essien from Chelsea, but The Blues haven’t given the green light yet.”

Florentino Pérez could guess what Chelsea was waiting for.

As soon as Real Madrid gave the nod for Khedira’s transfer, Chelsea would immediately let Essien go.

And Real Madrid, in turn, was waiting for the Bayswater Chinese.

If they could sign Javi Martínez, letting Khedira go would not be unacceptable.

Florentino Pérez and Real Madrid’s technical team had also studied this matter, and there were still considerable disagreements.

The main issue was his Champions League eligibility.

Javi Martínez had already played in the Champions League for the Bayswater Chinese, so he couldn’t play for Real Madrid in the competition.

Was it worth spending a lot of money on a player who couldn’t play in the Champions League?

This was what Florentino Pérez was most conflicted about right now.

Suddenly, he was filled with regret.

If he had known, he should have pushed harder last summer and signed Javi Martínez then.

If they had signed him back then, they wouldn’t have so many problems now.

But at the time, everyone thought Illarramendi could replace Xabi Alonso.

He was, after all, the best holding midfielder in La Liga last season.

Who could have imagined that after moving from Real Sociedad to Real Madrid, Illarramendi’s performance would be so much worse?

Thinking of this, Florentino Pérez couldn’t help but sigh at one thing.

People in European football circles all said that a Yang Cheng product was a guarantee of quality.

It seemed now that poaching players from the Bayswater Chinese was a bit expensive, but it was worth the money!

In contrast, someone like Illarramendi wasn’t much cheaper, but his performance was worlds apart.

At this thought, Florentino Pérez gritted his teeth and looked at José Ángel Sánchez before him.

“José, get ready. Take some people and make another trip to London. Get in touch with the Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.”

José Ángel Sánchez understood the Chairman’s meaning.

Sell Khedira, sign Javi Martínez.

Two deals to be conducted simultaneously.

“So… how should we negotiate?” José Ángel Sánchez needed to know the club’s bottom line.

“The price difference must be kept under thirty million euros, no matter what!” Florentino Pérez said solemnly.

As Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez knew exactly where that thirty-million-euro difference came from.

On one hand, prices in the winter transfer window were inflated, but not excessively so.

Especially since Javi Martínez couldn’t play in the Champions League, the fans would certainly not accept it if the price difference was too large.

On the other hand, Real Madrid’s finances were not particularly flush at the moment. Moreover, 2014 was a World Cup year, and Real Madrid needed to set aside funds for the summer transfer market.

In the past two years, Real Madrid had been under enormous pressure in terms of revenue.

They had already been surpassed by the Bayswater Chinese.

Now, with Messi in the Premier League, C. Ronaldo seemed to stand alone, but anyone familiar with the operational model of La Liga’s big two knew that this was, in fact, indirectly diminishing C. Ronaldo’s commercial value.

It was the same principle as shipping a couple.

When C. Ronaldo and Messi were marketed together, one plus one was greater than two.

Now that Messi had gone to the Premier League, C. Ronaldo was a lone wolf.

He had scarcity value, but his overall commercial value was clearly lower.

Not only that, but the influence of El Clásico had also waned considerably.

Robert Lewandowski had the stature, and Neymar had the background, but neither could replace Messi.

Therefore, Real Madrid was keen to ride the wave of the Brazil World Cup this summer and sign a heavyweight superstar.

As for who, it would depend on who shone at the World Cup.

That’s how it always was in a major tournament year: buy whoever becomes a sensation.

At times like these, tactical value had to give way to commercial value!

So, Real Madrid couldn’t invest too much money in Javi Martínez right now.

…

After the twentieth round of the Premier League, the upcoming schedule was a nightmare for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

How brutal was it?

Since their opponents for the sixteenth round, Southampton, and the seventeenth round, Crystal Palace, had not reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, both rescheduled matches were scheduled for January.

Because it was a World Cup year, all schedules had to be compressed.

Thus, after playing three Premier League matches on December 26th, 28th, and January 1st, the Bayswater Chinese were about to face a grueling schedule.

January 4th, FA Cup third round, away to Aston Villa.

January 8th, Premier League sixteenth round rescheduled match, home against Southampton.

January 11th, Premier League twenty-first round, home against Manchester City.

January 15th, if the FA Cup third round match between the Bayswater Chinese and Crystal Palace was a draw, it would be the replay. If not, it would be the rescheduled seventeenth round Premier League match, away to Crystal Palace.

January 18th, Premier League twenty-second round, away to West Bromwich Albion.

In other words, from December 26th to January 18th, a total of twenty-four days, the Bayswater Chinese had to play a full eight matches.

And all of them were against Premier League teams!

This included two clashes between top teams against Arsenal and Manchester City.

So, when the schedule for the two rescheduled league matches came out, Yang Cheng felt a huge headache.

This meant that from Christmas until late January, the Bayswater Chinese would have almost no chance to catch their breath.

While other teams could rest, the Bayswater Chinese had to keep fighting.

To make matters worse, Thiago Silva was injured.

But there was no choice. Participating in the Club World Cup had caused them to miss two rounds of matches, and now they had to make them up.

Therefore, in the FA Cup third round match away to Aston Villa, Yang Cheng fielded a full backup lineup.

The defense even featured the calamitous English backline of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker.

The attack was also an all-English combination of Sterling, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott.

Yang Cheng had even mentally prepared himself for the worst-case scenario.

That is, being knocked out in the first round of the FA Cup.

But sometimes, things are just that interesting.

Although Aston Villa took the match seriously, they didn’t field all their starters either.

They were also rotating.

In the twentieth minute, Sterling scored the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese, assisted by Aaron Ramsey.

What surprised Yang Cheng even more was that the liability-ridden backline actually performed well throughout the entire match.

This was also partly due to Javi Martínez’s defensive work in front of them.

It wasn’t until the seventy-fifth minute of the second half that Aston Villa’s tall Danish center-forward, Niklas Helenius, who stood at 1.96 meters, capitalized on an attacking free-kick to equalize for Aston Villa.

But just six minutes later, Luke Shaw assisted Walcott to score another goal, putting them back in the lead.

After that, the score remained unchanged until the end of the match.

The Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 2-1 away from home, advancing smoothly to the next round.

The news that left Yang Cheng unsure whether to be happy or sad was that Crystal Palace had defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 away.

This meant that the rescheduled league match on January 15th would proceed as planned.

The upset of this FA Cup round was Manchester United’s 1-2 home defeat to Swansea City.

Ferguson’s team had once again fallen at the first hurdle of the FA Cup.

The Manchester United fans at Old Trafford were very unhappy about this.

Because this was not the first time.

…

On January 8th, in the rescheduled sixteenth round of the Premier League, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Southampton.

With a crucial home game against Manchester City on the weekend, Yang Cheng once again implemented a significant squad rotation for this match.

In the twenty-fifth minute of the first half, Gareth Bale assisted Modrić, who broke into the penalty area and beat The Saints’ goalkeeper.

In the thirty-eighth minute, Piszczek made an overlapping run, burst into the right side of the box, received a lay-off from Giroud, and unleashed a long shot that found the back of Southampton’s net once more.

After establishing a comfortable lead in the first half, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions after the halftime break.

It wasn’t until the eighty-sixth minute that substitute Walcott, assisted by fellow substitute Harry Kane, scored another goal.

3-0!

The Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a comprehensive three-goal victory over Southampton at home.

…

January 11th, Prudential Stadium, London.

Premier League twenty-first round, Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City at home.

Just eight minutes into the game, on the left side of the halfway line, Marcelo received a pass from Eden Hazard. After a slight adjustment, he sent a precise diagonal pass over the top with his left foot.

The ball flew directly over the heads of Giorgio Chiellini and Vincent Kompany, dropping behind the defensive line.

Almost at the same instant, a red figure shot out from between Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta.

Gareth Bale, like a bolt of red lightning, pierced through Manchester City’s defense and raced to the right side of the edge of the box.

Meeting Marcelo’s pass, Gareth Bale controlled the ball with his chest.

Manchester City’s German goalkeeper, ter Stegen, came off his line, rushing straight towards Gareth Bale.

Without letting the ball hit the ground, and before he could even steady himself, the Welshman flicked out a chip shot with his left foot.

After chipping the ball, Gareth Bale completely lost his balance and fell to the ground on the right side of Manchester City’s penalty area.

But the football sailed over ter Stegen’s head, slowly descending towards the unguarded goal behind him.

The moment the football crossed the goal line, the watch on head referee Mike Jones’s wrist immediately sent an alert.

The clear sound of the whistle blew instantly.

Goal is valid!

1-0!

In that instant, a thunderous cheer erupted from Prudential Stadium.

Gareth Bale leaped up from the ground, sprinted towards the sideline, and celebrated wildly.

The Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz had worked again!

Recently, with consecutive matches on multiple fronts and facing strong opponents, Yang Cheng’s team was under immense pressure.

To be able to break through Manchester City’s defense so early in an opening blitz was undoubtedly a great start to this clash of titans.

But Yang Cheng knew better.

The true test of the match was not in the beginning.

Although Manchester City had also played a League Cup semi-final midweek, Guardiola had benched Messi and Agüero in the starting lineup, clearly intending to unleash them in the second half.

Therefore, after scoring, Yang Cheng decisively signaled for the team to continue attacking.

A 1-0 lead was far too precarious!

Yang Cheng hoped the team could build on their success and score another goal.

But Guardiola had fielded a backline of Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, and Pablo Zabaleta in this match.

In front of them was a midfield trio of Yaya Touré, Fernandinho, and Marco Verratti.

With such a setup in midfield and defense, Manchester City’s defensive capabilities were not to be underestimated.

Faced with the Bayswater Chinese’s wave of attacks, The Blue Moons managed to hold firm and repel the offensive.

The first half ended with a 1-0 lead for the Bayswater Chinese.

But after the restart, the situation began to change.

Manchester City gradually took control of the game.

Especially starting from the fifty-fifth minute, Guardiola first brought on Agüero.

In the sixty-first minute, he replaced Fernandinho with Messi.

With this, Manchester City set their stall out for an all-out attack.

The Bayswater Chinese were able to cope at first.

The centre-back pairing of Pepe and van Dijk, along with Javi Martínez, formed a solid protective shield in front of the goal.

But in the seventy-ninth minute, Guardiola made another substitution, bringing on Jesús Navas.

Manchester City sounded the horn for a full-scale assault!

And in the ninety-first minute, the first minute of stoppage time, Messi broke through the middle with the ball and passed to Agüero. The Argentine striker was fouled by van Dijk just outside the penalty area.

Manchester City was awarded a free kick in a very dangerous position.

Messi calmly took it, striking a ball with a significant curve that found its way into the Bayswater Chinese goal!

While the world was praising the free-kick prowess of C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Pirlo, many had underestimated Messi’s ability.

This time, the Argentine used a magnificent direct free kick to preserve Manchester City’s position as the league leader.

1-1!

In the end, the two teams settled for a draw.

…

In the same twenty-first round of the Premier League, Chelsea won 2-0 away at Hull City.

Manchester United, fresh off their upset loss to Swansea in the FA Cup, defeated Swansea 2-0 at home to avenge their defeat.

Arsenal won 2-1 away at Aston Villa.

Liverpool, meanwhile, played out a goal-fest away from home, defeating Stoke City 5-3.

Suárez once again scored a brace.

The Uruguayan striker’s goal-scoring form this season was truly ferocious.

Just two days after the twenty-first round of the Premier League, on January 13th, FIFA’s awards ceremony was held in Zurich, Switzerland, and the final result was somewhat surprising.

C. Ronaldo was named this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or winner with 27.99% of the votes.

Messi came in second with 24.72%.

Robert Lewandowski was third with 23.36%.

Courtois, Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, Modrić, and Toni Kroos were all named to the Team of the Year, making them the club with the most players selected among all the European giants.

But the most important front three were C. Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, and Messi.

Robert Lewandowski had already transferred to Barça, so he was considered a Barça player.

Gareth Bale unfortunately did not make the Team of the Year.

But Yang Cheng won the Best Men’s Coach award.

However, Yang Cheng did not attend the ceremony to receive his award, citing his duties in managing a match.

On January 15th, after the awards ceremony, the Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 away to Crystal Palace.

Moroccan striker Chamakh capitalized on an error in the Bayswater Chinese defense in the twenty-eighth minute of the first half to score past Courtois.

But in the sixty-fifth minute of the second half, substitute Gareth Bale equalized for the team.

After that, neither side was able to score again.

1-1, the Bayswater Chinese were held to another draw.

After the two rescheduled matches, the Bayswater Chinese had a record of 16 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, earning 51 points.

After 21 rounds, Manchester City topped the Premier League table with 53 points.

The Bayswater Chinese were second with 51 points.

Arsenal also had 51 points but were in third place due to goal difference.

Liverpool was fourth in the Premier League with 48 points.

Manchester United was fifth with 47 points.

Chelsea was in sixth place with 46 points.

The competition remained incredibly fierce.

Only seven points separated sixth place from the top of the table.

As many media outlets said, this was the most competitive Premier League season ever.

This wasn’t just true for the teams challenging for the title.

From eleventh to twentieth place, there was only a four-point difference.

The relegation situation was quite dire.

…

January 18th, Premier League twenty-second round.

This round saw the Bayswater Chinese travel to face The Hammers, West Ham United.

Big Sam Allardyce’s team had no midweek League Cup semi-final, nor any rescheduled matches.

They were playing at home, well-rested, and had just fired the first shot in their battle for survival with a 2-0 away win against fellow relegation-strugglers Cardiff.

Before the match, Allardyce called on his team to show their burn-the-bridges determination for survival at home and to upset the Bayswater Chinese.

After all, Yang Cheng’s team was now weary from a long campaign.

Playing eight matches in a short span of twenty-four days would exhaust even an ironclad body.

Moreover, their last two matches were 1-1 draws.

This included the 1-1 away draw in the rescheduled match against the bottom-of-the-table team, Crystal Palace.

This was practically a gift from heaven for West Ham United.

If bottom-placed Crystal Palace could do it, eighteenth-placed West Ham United could surely do better!

Allardyce set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, even specifically starting former Bayswater Chinese player Andy Carroll up front.

But the match did not unfold as Allardyce had anticipated.

Just sixteen minutes into the first half, Eden Hazard delivered a wonderful pass, and Gareth Bale broke into the right side of the penalty area, smashing a shot with his left foot to score the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Just like when he scored against Crystal Palace in the previous round, the Welsh player excitedly ran off the pitch, roaring wildly all the way, venting his inner frustration.

With his performance, he still couldn’t make the Team of the Year!

It was simply outrageous!

But everyone knew Gareth Bale’s personality; he wouldn’t express his dissatisfaction outwardly.

He would only vent through his performance on the pitch.

In the thirty-third minute, Gareth Bale provided an assist, and Giroud scored with a close-range push shot from his left foot.

2-0!

And in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Giroud returned the favor, providing an assist for Gareth Bale to score another goal, completing his brace.

3-0!

Allardyce was practically stunned.

Were the Bayswater Chinese playing well?

In truth, not particularly well.

But they just kept scoring!

This was the impact of star players!

What made Allardyce despair even more was that just one minute after the restart of the second half, another assist from Giroud found Gareth Bale, who cut inside from the right edge of the box and fired a left-footed shot into the far corner.

4-0!

The Welshman had completed his hat-trick!

This was a goal from the very first shot of the second half!

It’s safe to say that at this point, the match was basically over.

And Yang Cheng certainly thought so.

So, he began to make changes.

He substituted Walcott for the hat-trick hero Gareth Bale, allowing the Welshman a well-deserved rest.

But unexpectedly, in the sixty-eighth minute, Hazard again cut inside from the left, passed diagonally to the right side of the box, and Walcott made a lightning-fast run, scoring with a push shot past the West Ham keeper.

5-0!

Just three minutes later, a through ball from Aaron Ramsey in the middle found Walcott, who beat the offside trap, controlled the ball in the box, and scored with a low left-footed shot.

6-0!

The Little Tiger had scored a brace!

Yang Cheng then made two more substitutions.

But in the seventy-ninth minute, substitute Harry Kane provided another assist, and Sterling broke into the box and scored with a power shot.

7-0!

Allardyce almost cried on the spot!

What the hell was going on?

Weren’t they supposed to be exhausted?

How could they still keep scoring like this?

What made Allardyce even more exasperated was that after the match, Yang Cheng “severely criticized” his team, believing they played poorly and made many mistakes. “This is not the standard of performance we normally expect from the Bayswater Chinese!”

Big Sam really wanted to ask him to his face: if you can score seven against us when you’re below par, what happens when you play normally?

Yang Cheng, why don’t you just fly to the heavens?

In this round, Manchester City defeated Cardiff 4-2 at home.

Arsenal beat Fulham 2-0 at home.

Liverpool drew 2-2 at home against Aston Villa.

Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1 at home.

Among them, the match at Stamford Bridge garnered the most attention.

Eto’o scored a hat-trick.

Manchester United centre-back David Luiz faced a torrent of criticism after the match, as his performance at centre-back was far from satisfactory, especially with his costly mistakes.

After this round of matches, Manchester City led with 56 points.

The Bayswater Chinese were second with 54 points.

Arsenal also had 54 points, placing them third.

Liverpool and Chelsea both had 49 points, but The Reds were in fourth place due to goal difference.

Manchester United, having lost away to Chelsea, had 47 points and were in sixth place.

It was only after this round of matches that the Bayswater Chinese finally got a week’s respite.

Twenty-four days, eight matches.

The Bayswater Chinese had almost given their all.

Everyone was mentally and physically exhausted.

But thankfully, they had withstood the pressure in the end.

The day after their twenty-second Premier League match, on January 19th, Yang Cheng received a call from Adam Crozier.

Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez, had arrived in London with his team.

…

Morning of the 20th, Brent training center, head coach’s office.

After the morning training session, Adam Crozier, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and chief assistant coach Brian Kidd came to Yang Cheng’s office.

Adam Crozier reported on what he had learned from his dinner with José Ángel Sánchez and his delegation the previous night.

Real Madrid wanted to sign Javi Martínez!

This was an “open secret” known to the whole world.

“Fifty million… euros or pounds?”

When Adam Crozier mentioned the number fifty million, Yang Cheng asked this question.

“Euros, of course,” Adam Crozier said with a wry smile.

“With Real Madrid’s typical behavior, do you think they’d jump from forty million euros to fifty million pounds sterling just like that?”

Florentino Pérez’s poaching was always out in the open, but that didn’t mean Real Madrid was a sucker to be taken advantage of.

Everyone chuckled.

“Then we’re not selling!” Yang Cheng refused again.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

In the winter transfer window, agreeing too early would be disadvantageous for the Bayswater Chinese.

Besides, selling Javi Martínez now would not be good for the team’s upcoming schedule.

“I’ve looked into it. The player himself does have the idea of returning to Spain to play, and Real Madrid is discussing Khedira’s transfer with Chelsea. It’s said that Chelsea is constantly increasing their offer.”

Chelsea was currently in fifth place but level on points with Liverpool.

The Blues hadn’t been in the Champions League for several years and were clearly determined to make a push for it now.

Getting into the Champions League now meant tens of millions of euros in revenue.

Not to mention the significance for The Blues of returning to the Champions League after so many years.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng had to admit, that fellow Mourinho really had a few tricks up his sleeve when coaching Chelsea.

“What’s Khedira’s price at now?”

“Twenty-five million euros,” Dan Ashworth replied.

“But both sides are holding firm at that line, unwilling to budge.”

Khedira’s current market valuation was between eighteen and twenty million euros.

Selling him for twenty-five million euros was actually quite good.

The main factors were his age and ability.

He was already twenty-seven.

“Also, Gazzetta dello Sport reported that if Mourinho can’t sign Khedira, he might turn to Inter Milan’s midfielder Guarín, whose transfer fee would be slightly cheaper than Khedira’s,” Mike Rigg added.

The rumors in the transfer market were a mix of truth and fiction, confusing and unpredictable.

Both sides were playing a game of chess.

“Mourinho… I know him. He likes to stick with what he knows, which is why he doesn’t like young players and prefers players he’s familiar with. So, he’d rather spend a little more money to sign Khedira.”

Yang Cheng tried to analyze the possibility of this transfer from Mourinho’s personality.

“Real Madrid is quite anxious.”

As Adam Crozier said this, his phone suddenly rang again.

The caller ID showed: José Ángel Sánchez.

The Bayswater Chinese’s CEO showed his phone’s caller ID to Yang Cheng and smiled faintly, “I’ll take this outside.”

With that, he got up and left the room.

Less than two minutes later, he walked back in.

“José Ángel Sánchez has invited me to lunch.”

Everyone immediately turned to look at Yang Cheng.

“Then go and talk!” Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

The player wanted to leave, and Real Madrid wanted to buy; it was bound to happen sooner or later.

“What’s your price range?” Adam Crozier asked.

“Fifty-five million euros, plus Casemiro.”

“Casemiro?”

Everyone was very surprised.

No one was a stranger to this Brazilian midfielder.

He was twenty-one, but he had very little playing time at Real Madrid this season, so none of them were very familiar with him.

The only impression they had was that he hadn’t performed well.

The reason was simple: if he had performed well, why would Real Madrid be desperate to sign Javi Martínez in the winter window?

Casemiro was fourth or fifth in the pecking order for holding midfielders at Real Madrid, even behind Illarramendi.

Dan Ashworth immediately took out a tablet and looked up Casemiro’s information.

“Four appearances in La Liga, totaling only ninety-six minutes.”

“But he played as a substitute twice in the Champions League, both for very short periods, but he did play.”

This meant that, like Javi Martínez, even if Casemiro were transferred, he would not be able to play for his new team in the Champions League.

“Casemiro doesn’t have enough international caps,” Mike Rigg also reminded them.

Although Casemiro made his debut for Brazil on September 15, 2011, he had only played five times for Brazil so far, all in garbage time for a few minutes, and all in friendly matches.

When it came to the official Copa América, he couldn’t even make the matchday squad.

Since Brazil was the host of the 2014 World Cup, they did not participate in the World Cup qualifiers.

“He hasn’t played a single minute for the Brazil national team since June 2012, nor has he been called up.”

“With his record, he won’t get a work permit.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

Not getting a work permit was not a problem for the Bayswater Chinese.

At worst, they could just apply for the Special Talent Clause.

Last summer, Real Madrid had just signed Casemiro for six million euros.

Despite his poor performance, the Brazilian midfielder’s value was around five million euros.

With this, Adam Crozier knew Yang Cheng’s price range.

“I think we should not mention Casemiro first; let’s use Illarramendi,” Mike Rigg suggested.

“That’s right, use Illarramendi first, or Isco, to create a smokescreen,” Dan Ashworth agreed.

With Yang Cheng’s reputation, if he directly targeted Casemiro, it might make Real Madrid suspicious, and they probably wouldn’t be willing to sell.

As for Illarramendi and Isco, Real Madrid would never sell them.

Both were highly-rated homegrown players for Real Madrid.

After some thought, Adam Crozier had a plan.

An astronomical asking price, with a landing fee!

…

Half an hour later, at the Mayfair Marriott Hotel in central London.

When Adam Crozier met José Ángel Sánchez again, it was naturally another round of polite greetings.

After having lunch together in the hotel’s high-end restaurant, they chatted about many things.

Including Khedira’s transfer to Chelsea.

From José Ángel Sánchez’s words, Adam Crozier gathered that the transfer had made a breakthrough.

Chelsea was willing to increase their offer.

But Real Madrid had not yet given the green light.

The reason was simple.

They still hadn’t secured Javi Martínez, whom they wanted to sign.

This made Adam Crozier quite curious.

If Casemiro was valued by Yang Cheng, it proved the Brazilian player had potential, so why wasn’t Real Madrid giving him a chance?

When the topic turned to Javi Martínez, Adam Crozier put on a troubled expression and shook his head repeatedly.

“You know, we’re currently trailing Manchester City in the league, and the team is under a lot of pressure. I just went to Brent to see our boss, and he won’t agree to sell Javi Martínez.”

After a pause, Adam Crozier added, “You know, we need to launch a desperate counter-attack in the second half of the season to overtake Manchester City!”

This explanation was reasonable.

Given the Bayswater Chinese’s squad, selling Javi Martínez would indeed have a significant impact.

After hearing this, José Ángel Sánchez’s frown deepened.

Of course, he didn’t fully believe what Adam Crozier said.

A thousand reasons, ten thousand excuses, all boiling down to one thing: They’ll have to pay more!

“You have an abundance of talent in midfield right now; you shouldn’t be short one Javi Martínez, right?” José Ángel Sánchez said with a smile.

“Short? Of course we’re short!”

After a pause, Adam Crozier glanced at José Ángel Sánchez and changed the subject. “However, our boss is a great admirer of Isco. If you are willing to offer thirty million euros plus Isco, I am confident I can persuade him.”

Thirty million euros, plus Isco?

José Ángel Sánchez almost jumped out of his seat.

You’ve got some nerve!

Isco was one of Spain’s hottest top talents, valued at thirty-five million euros.

“That’s impossible, Adam. Isco has never been on our transfer list, nor can he be included in the Javi Martínez transfer. This is not up for discussion,” José Ángel Sánchez refused without hesitation.

“What a pity!”

Adam Crozier shook his head and sighed with great regret. “How about this, we’ll go with your offer, but for fifty million euros plus Illarramendi, we could also consider it.”

“Are you insane? We spent thirty-two million euros to sign Illarramendi last year. Are you planning to ask for over eighty million euros for Javi Martínez?”

Adam Crozier shook his head, “We both know his normal market value is only about twelve million euros.”

The implication was, who forced you to pay the release clause?

José Ángel Sánchez was also frustrated.

Illarramendi’s market valuation was indeed only twelve million euros, but when Real Madrid wanted to sign him, Real Sociedad refused, so they had to pay the release clause, which is why they paid thirty-two million euros.

In fact, after accounting for various taxes and fees, the total cost was around thirty-five million euros.

“Adam, Illarramendi is a young player we have high hopes for. He is the successor to Xabi Alonso. We will not sell him either. But we can consider loaning him to the Bayswater Chinese for the second half of the season.”

Hearing this, Adam Crozier let out a chuckle and burst out laughing.

“In your dreams! You can’t develop him yourselves, so you loan him to us, we develop him for you, and then you recall him?”

José Ángel Sánchez himself couldn’t help but laugh.

He knew, of course, that this was basically impossible.

Where in the world could you find such a good deal?

But whether it was Isco or Illarramendi, Real Madrid would not let them go.

“Then there’s basically nothing to talk about. We can’t find a replacement for Javi Martínez at the moment, so I can only apologize.”

Upon hearing this, José Ángel Sánchez couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

He had almost reached an agreement with Chelsea.

The Blues were willing to increase their offer to thirty million euros.

For Khedira, whose market value was around twenty million euros, this was a very good price.

After some thought, José Ángel Sánchez looked at Adam Crozier again. “We are willing to offer sixty million euros, which is fifty million pounds sterling!”

This was the absolute limit of what Real Madrid could offer.

José Ángel Sánchez’s authority ended here.

“José, the problem now is that with this money, we simply can’t find a suitable replacement for Javi Martínez. Go look around the European transfer market, can you find anyone who can replace him?”

If there were, would Real Madrid be so persistent in pursuing Javi Martínez?

“Don’t you have Nemanja Matić?”

“One holding midfielder isn’t enough. We need at least one backup, right?”

José Ángel Sánchez was in a difficult position.

He now believed that the Bayswater Chinese genuinely wanted Illarramendi.

He was young, talented, had proven himself, and was just not a good fit for Real Madrid.

But Real Madrid would absolutely not sell him!

At least, not right now.

At that moment, José Ángel Sánchez finally remembered another holding midfielder in the first team: Casemiro.

“Casemiro?”

“That’s right, he’s a very talented player. Our technical team is also very optimistic about him.”

“Who are you kidding? If you were really optimistic about him, why don’t you play him? Also, has he played in the Champions League? Can he get a work permit?”

The answer to all those questions was no!

“Then what would we want him for?”

“Fifty-five million euros, plus Casemiro. His value is at least five million euros,” José Ángel Sánchez proposed another offer.

Adam Crozier looked at José Ángel Sánchez, then at the others around them, and saw that everyone was staring at him.

The Englishman feigned difficulty, sighing with a very reluctant expression, “Sixty million euros, plus Casemiro!”

“Done!” José Ángel Sánchez sealed the deal on the spot.

The Real Madrid General Manager didn’t even give Adam Crozier a chance to back out, insisting on pulling him aside to sign the agreement right then and there.

Chapter 298: The Ceremony Trio, Assembled! The Premier League’s Clairefontaine! Yang Cheng’s Retaliation!

Following a decade of development, Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy had built an outstanding reputation in England, and even across Europe.

Through the Brent training center, ten satellite training centers, and a network of partner youth clubs spanning the London periphery, Bayswater Chinese’s youth system covered the entire Greater London metropolitan area and its surroundings.

The permanent population within this region exceeded twenty million.

It could be said that under this well-organized youth development system, Bayswater Chinese produced a continuous stream of talent.

Take the England U16 national team, for example.

The U16 age group covered players born in 1997 and 1998.

In head coach Kenny Swain’s 30-man squad, a full eleven players were from Bayswater Chinese.

It was the youth team with the most selected players out of all English clubs.

It was even common to see Bayswater Chinese players making up half of the starting lineup.

Among them, the one who garnered the most external attention, and whom Yang Cheng also watched most closely, was the gifted 1997-born youngster, Patrick Roberts.

This young player was already a renowned talent throughout Europe, with a valuation reaching two and a half million pounds sterling.

On this U16 national team, there was another player Yang Cheng paid close attention to.

That was Liverpool’s right-back, Alexander-Arnold, who had only been selected in November.

He had only played two matches for the England U16s.

In the younger U15 training squad, which had a total of fifty players, Bayswater Chinese accounted for a full seventeen spots.

Among them, players receiving special cultivation from Bayswater Chinese included midfielders Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Trevoh Chalobah, Reiss Nelson, and Japhet Tanganga.

In addition, there were the two Yang Cheng was most focused on: Declan Rice and Reece James.

This age group was currently the strongest in the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

They had won nearly every championship available in English and European competitions!

And on this team, Yang Cheng also kept an eye on Mount from the Chelsea youth academy.

Everyone knew that the next England U16 squad would be selected from the current U15 training team.

Further up were the U17s, U18s, U19s, U21s, and so on.

For the foreseeable future, Bayswater Chinese was set to become a talent supply base for the England national team.

The strength of Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy, as well as the club’s investment in youth development, was evident to all.

At least up to this point, everyone had to admire the major decisions Yang Cheng had made a decade ago.

One was the construction of the Brent training ground.

The other was the establishment of ten satellite training centers.

This allowed Bayswater Chinese’s youth development to cover a quarter of England’s population.

Especially in London, the most densely populated area with the largest immigrant population, it was a veritable treasure trove of English talent.

It was hailed as the Premier League’s version of Clairefontaine!

How ridiculous was it?

According to an investigation once conducted by The Guardian in England, the powerful brand appeal of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy had already suppressed the clubs in the surrounding London area.

The simplest example was talent recruitment.

Outstanding young players were often scouted first by Bayswater Chinese. Only those who weren’t selected would then go for trials at other teams.

This meant that the youth academy levels of Premier League giants like Arsenal and Chelsea were not only far inferior to Bayswater Chinese’s but also far below the standards those two clubs had in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

This was especially true for Chelsea.

The Guardian had previously reported that Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, and Patrick Roberts all hailed from the same place.

Kingston upon Thames in southwest London.

It was very close to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.

However, all three players went to Bayswater Chinese.

Patrick Roberts first received training at a satellite training center, and after distinguishing himself, he was immediately selected for the Brent training center, becoming a top performer.

It was like harvesting radishes from a field.

Bayswater Chinese came first, reaping the best and highest quality crop.

What remained was left for teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, and even Millwall, Crystal Palace, and Charlton Athletic to compete over.

There was nothing they could do about it.

Bayswater Chinese had already built a brand effect with its youth academy; the best young players all wanted to join the best youth system.

This had formed a siphon effect.

For clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham, they were, on one hand, competing for the gems overlooked by Bayswater Chinese’s youth system.

When Yang Cheng first established the youth academy, he had strictly controlled the number of players in each age group to guarantee playing time for everyone.

Under this system of survival of the fittest, it was inevitable that some players would be eliminated.

On the other hand, they had to go further afield to discover and find outstanding young players.

For example, Mount was born in Portsmouth, which was not originally within Chelsea’s scouting range.

But the price of doing this was higher costs for the club and more difficulty in talent recruitment.

They simply couldn’t compete with Bayswater Chinese.

Besides that, they had another method.

Poaching.

Youth teams often played against each other. From a young age, through all the age groups, they competed against one another and participated in youth leagues, so they were quite familiar with each other.

Once a young player from Bayswater Chinese began to show promise, they would immediately attract the attention of major clubs.

They would then use every means possible, trying everything they could, to poach the player.

This method was actually quite difficult for Bayswater Chinese to handle.

With a vast family and business enterprise came great restrictions.

For example, teams like Arsenal and Chelsea could promise all sorts of benefits and preferential treatment. Could Bayswater Chinese do the same?

No!

With so much talent in the youth academy, if you gave it to one, what about the others?

But within the youth academy, whether it was the players or their families, the primary consideration was the player’s growth and development.

At Bayswater Chinese, they could compete and train with the best peers in all of England—something no other team could offer.

Therefore, below the U16 level, this situation was generally not serious.

But above U16, especially before the age of seventeen, the situation became tricky.

According to The FA’s regulations, a player cannot sign a professional contract before turning seventeen.

This model was exactly the same as when Arsenal signed Fàbregas from Barça and Manchester United signed Piqué from Barça.

Of course, the club had countermeasures, such as signing certain agreements to ensure the player would sign a professional contract with the club upon turning seventeen.

The prerequisite was some form of remuneration, like scholarships or living stipends.

Furthermore, even if a player of this age was poached, Bayswater Chinese would receive a compensation fee, and if the player were to be transferred in the future, the club would receive a considerable sell-on percentage.

But from a talent competition perspective, Bayswater Chinese would also do its utmost to keep the player.

After all, after another two or three years of development, the transfer fee would be even higher.

The world-renowned talented winger, Patrick Roberts, was currently in this situation.

He was born on February 5, 1997.

He was about to turn seventeen.

He hadn’t signed a professional contract yet, but he had a private agreement with the club.

Since last year, numerous powerhouse clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City, and even European giants like Real Madrid, Barça, and Bayern Munich, had shown great interest in this talented youngster.

Many said he was just like Sterling before him.

And Sterling was now shining brightly in the first team.

Given the current situation, as long as the player was willing, these clubs would be more than happy to pay a compensation fee for breaching the agreement.

This was the problem Bayswater Chinese was currently facing.

“We’ve met with Patrick Roberts’ family several times.”

“Both the player and his family’s first choice is to stay with our club.”

“But they have their concerns. After all, the competition in our first team is indeed too fierce right now.”

Youth academy director Matt Crocker felt helpless about this.

Patrick Roberts was a winger, but currently in Bayswater Chinese’s first team, not to mention The Twin Stars, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, who were both born in ’89.

Eden Hazard and Sterling were born in ’91 and ’94, respectively.

Under these circumstances, Patrick Roberts would naturally worry about his development prospects at the club.

This was a problem that almost all powerhouse clubs faced.

Unless they didn’t develop their youth academy, it was unavoidable.

Back when Barça’s youth academy was experiencing a talent boom, even players like Xavi and Iniesta had almost left the team.

Iniesta had almost gone to Real Madrid.

“So…”

“Our thinking is to let him train with the first team and give him playing time in the FA Cup.”

Matt Crocker’s suggestion was a good one.

After hearing it, Yang Cheng nodded heavily. “In that case, I’ll give him a call.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. This was the best outcome.

A single word from Yang Cheng was more effective than hours of talk from anyone else.

Yang Cheng already knew about Patrick Roberts from his previous life.

He was indeed very talented, with excellent technique, good at dribbling and ball control, and very nimble with his feet.

His speed and explosive power were also quite good.

Overall, he was a rare find.

The biggest issue limiting his development was a tendency for injuries.

And later, he was poached early by Manchester City for ten million pounds sterling. With the abundance of talent at The Blue Moons, he found it difficult to get opportunities, so his performance gradually declined.

Of course, in the end, it was because the player’s own raw ability wasn’t strong enough.

But right now, everyone at Bayswater Chinese, and indeed across England and Europe, recognized him as a talent.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese would definitely do everything in its power to keep him.

“Are these powerhouse clubs pursuing him aggressively?” Yang Cheng asked, his tone unfriendly.

“Yes, Liverpool is the most aggressive. His whole family are Liverpool fans, and The Reds have been visiting them non-stop to persuade them.”

Hearing Matt Crocker say this, a hint of anger rose in Yang Cheng.

“Mike.”

Yang Cheng looked at Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg. “Go and make contact with the family of Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold.”

Mike Rigg immediately understood Yang Cheng’s meaning and nodded with a smile. “Understood.”

This was retaliation!

The Reds were playing dirty!

Trying to reap the rewards of a player Bayswater Chinese had spent years developing?

“Also, Chelsea’s Mount, and in Manchester City’s youth academy, there’s a kid named Phil Foden on the U15 team, and one named Cole Palmer on the U13 team. Contact them as well.”

Yang Cheng said flatly.

You started it, so don’t blame me for what comes next!

Mike Rigg, Dan Ashworth, and Matt Crocker quickly jotted down the names.

Yang Cheng rarely named players, but when he did, it meant he had been scouting them for a long time and they had caught his eye.

Over the past few years, any player Yang Cheng had set his sights on had basically made it.

For Yang Cheng, whether or not these players could be signed was not important.

What was important was to strike back.

He couldn’t let people think Bayswater Chinese was a pushover that could be easily squeezed.

Take Alexander-Arnold, for example. They had Reece James in their own youth academy.

Without injuries, was Reece James any worse than Alexander-Arnold?

Yang Cheng really didn’t think so.

London was the true treasure trove of English football talent.

Especially as European football was becoming increasingly dominated by players of African descent, the south bank of the River Thames would only become more valuable.

Bayswater Chinese’s entire youth system would continue to cultivate the Greater London and surrounding markets.

Moreover, Yang Cheng had been trying to persuade The FA to lift the restrictions on scouting areas.

Given Bayswater Chinese’s current youth academy level, if the restrictions were lifted, the situation for other clubs would become even more difficult.

Just as Yang Cheng finished his discussion with the youth academy staff, he received a call from Adam Crozier.

Javi Martínez was transferring to Real Madrid!

The transfer fee was fifty million pounds sterling, which was sixty million euros, plus Casemiro.

This exceeded Yang Cheng’s expectations.

His psychological price had been fifty-five million euros plus Casemiro.

After receiving the call, Yang Cheng secretly made a fist.

The 22-year-old Casemiro was coming.

The Ceremony Trio was finally assembled!

This midfield was just too complete.

Whether in attack or defense, whether with long passes or short passes, they could handle it all with ease.

For the holding midfielder role, when deciding to sell Javi Martínez, Yang Cheng had also considered N’Golo Kanté from Nice.

But how to put it?

Kanté’s performance at Nice was indeed excellent, and he had improved immensely, but due to his role as a defensive workhorse, he wasn’t yet receiving much attention, though his skills were constantly improving.

However, Kanté was not suited to play as a single pivot.

With midfield talents like Toni Kroos, Modrić, Aaron Ramsey, Pogba, and De Bruyne, the 4-3-3 formation was currently, and for the foreseeable future, the best choice for Bayswater Chinese.

But there was no place for Kanté!

This was why Yang Cheng had placed Kanté at Nice.

Single pivot players like Nemanja Matić, Casemiro, and Javi Martínez were what Bayswater Chinese needed most right now.

Casemiro’s situation at Real Madrid was dire.

It was equivalent to having no playing time.

The reason was that he hadn’t received formal defensive training back in Brazil.

When he came to Real Madrid, he first went to Castilla, and after his purchase was finalized, he joined the first team.

Fans familiar with Real Madrid knew that the Galácticos were not a place for developing players.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Casemiro only began to improve rapidly after joining Porto in 2014.

On one hand, he gained match experience; on the other, Lopetegui gave him special training.

Especially defensive training.

This greatly enhanced Casemiro’s abilities, so his skills soared during his time at Porto.

It was said that Lopetegui would stay with Casemiro after matches to analyze game footage.

Another reason was that at Real Madrid, they played a 4-2-3-1, and Casemiro had to play in a double pivot.

But at Porto, Lopetegui played a 4-3-3, with Casemiro playing as the single pivot in the Number 4 role.

Fans familiar with tactics knew that a double pivot and a single pivot were two very different systems, with completely different requirements for the player.

Therefore, Casemiro was clearly better suited for the single pivot role.

His amazing physical attributes and excellent strength in duels meant Casemiro feared no opponent in a head-to-head confrontation.

His ample stamina also guaranteed a large defensive coverage area.

Yang Cheng still clearly remembered that during his season at Porto, Casemiro averaged 5.6 tackles, 3.8 interceptions, and 2.6 clearances per game, and was also the most fouled player in the Primeira Liga.

These were the stats of a crazy ball-winning machine!

A height of 1.85 meters, outstanding strength and physicality, a ball-winning machine, and his Brazilian background gave him excellent technique and passing ability.

This was the “Fat Tiger” of the Ceremony Trio!

And right now, what this Brazilian “Fat Tiger” lacked wasn’t ability, but more opportunities and a transformation in his skills!

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng immediately called assistant coach Brian Kidd, technical coach Danny McGrain, and chief analyst Gianni Vio, giving them each some instructions.

On January 21, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, where Real Madrid beat Espanyol 1-0 away, Casemiro was left in Madrid by Ancelotti.

The goalscorer for Real Madrid was Džeko.

But Casemiro couldn’t even make it into the 18-man matchday squad.

He was already used to it.

It might be hard for many to believe, but just a year ago at this time, he was dreaming of a bright future after joining Real Madrid, promised that he would get to play for the first team as soon as possible.

But that “as soon as possible” took a full six months.

As early as 2011, many European teams had taken notice of him.

By the end of 2011, several Italian giants were chasing him.

Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, AS Roma, and Lazio all wanted to sign him.

During the winter transfer window of January 2012, he was incredibly close to joining AS Roma.

But the negotiations ultimately broke down.

The check from Roma couldn’t meet São Paulo’s demands.

The transfer fell through.

São Paulo didn’t get the ten million euros they had hoped for.

But over the following year, Casemiro performed even better.

In Brazil, he wasn’t just a defensive player.

On the contrary, he would actively push forward to participate in the attack, he could pass, he could shoot from distance, and he could provide more support for his attacking teammates—these were his strengths.

He helped São Paulo fight all the way to the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana.

The Copa Sudamericana was equivalent to the Europa League, second only to the Copa Libertadores in South American club competitions.

On January 31, 2013, he achieved his dream of landing in a top European league on loan, and it was at the very top-tier club, Real Madrid.

He was full of expectations for his future.

He was ambitious and wanted to forge a brilliant future for himself at Real Madrid.

But unexpectedly, what awaited him was Real Madrid’s B team, Castilla.

For a full six months, he didn’t play a single minute for the Real Madrid first team.

Even so, in the summer of 2013, Real Madrid still exercised their option and bought Casemiro for six million euros, as per their prior agreement.

For the extravagantly wealthy Real Madrid, this was nothing.

At the start of the season, Ancelotti took over and began a tactical overhaul at Real Madrid, promoting a group of young players from the youth team.

At the same time, players like Illarramendi and Isco were brought in from outside.

This subjected Casemiro to fierce competition.

His playing opportunities were few and far between, mostly coming on as a substitute during garbage time.

He still clearly remembered that so far this season, after twenty-one rounds in La Liga, he had made the matchday squad eleven times, came on as a substitute four times, and failed to even make the squad ten times.

In the Champions League, out of six matches, he made the squad three times and came on as a substitute twice.

Even in the Copa del Rey, where Real Madrid had played two rounds and four matches so far, the first two were against an amateur team, and Casemiro started and played the full ninety minutes.

But in the Round of 16 against Osasuna, Casemiro played a total of twenty-eight minutes over two legs.

The Brazilian holding midfielder trained very hard, wanting to improve his situation at Real Madrid.

But he didn’t know where to start.

Especially over the past six months, Real Madrid had been constantly linked with Javi Martínez.

On January 21, for the away game against Espanyol, he didn’t even make the 18-man squad.

The starting holding midfielders were Illarramendi and Xabi Alonso.

It was just before this match that Casemiro received a call from his agent, Joseph Lee.

Real Madrid had decided to include him in the transfer for Javi Martínez.

“We have no say in this matter; we can only follow Real Madrid’s arrangements!” Joseph Lee said helplessly.

He wasn’t a big-name agent and couldn’t challenge the Real Madrid management.

What followed was very simple.

The whole transfer proceeded very quickly.

Real Madrid’s negotiations with Javi Martínez over personal terms went very smoothly.

The Galácticos showed great sincerity.

Bayswater Chinese, on their end, made a call to Joseph Lee. The agent flew to London and finalized Casemiro’s contract terms on the same day.

His salary at Real Madrid was very low, only five hundred thousand euros before tax, which was about four hundred and twenty thousand euros after tax.

Bayswater Chinese also offered a good salary.

A weekly wage of twenty thousand pounds sterling before tax.

The agent specifically called Casemiro and did the math.

The tax rates in the Premier League and La Liga were very different; after tax, he would take home around seven hundred thousand euros.

This was a raise.

Furthermore, Bayswater Chinese would place him directly in the first team.

However, since Casemiro had played in the Champions League for Real Madrid, he would not be eligible to be registered for the competition this season.

Then there was the work permit.

Bayswater Chinese would need some time to use the Special Talent Clause to apply for a work permit for him.

But for the current Bayswater Chinese, this wasn’t an issue at all.

“Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. The FA’s office is very close to Bayswater Chinese’s office, and they have a good relationship.”

These were agent Joseph Lee’s exact words over the phone.

Later, a settlement officer from Bayswater Chinese’s logistics department called him to understand his situation and ask about various things.

Including issues like renting an apartment, food, and accommodation.

This surprised Casemiro.

Because at the end of January 2013, when he arrived in Madrid from Brazil, he had never received such a reception.

But Bayswater Chinese had arranged everything for him, from plane tickets to hotels to renting a place, and even for his family members.

On the 25th, accompanied by his agent Joseph Lee, Casemiro flew from Madrid to London on a ticket booked by Bayswater Chinese. A car from their sponsor, Mercedes-Benz, picked them up at the airport.

“There’s an FA Cup match at Prudential Stadium this afternoon. We’ve arranged for you to stay at a nearby hotel, and you can go watch the match then.”

The logistics staff who picked them up also mentioned that three players at the club were willing to provide temporary accommodation for Casemiro.

They were Thiago Silva, Marcelo, and Pepe.

All Brazilians.

This was also because the club was worried Casemiro might struggle to adapt initially.

But he could also consider continuing to stay at the hotel near Brent.

In short, the club offered very considerate arrangements; it was up to the player to choose.

Casemiro checked into The Peninsula Hotels with his agent.

They also saw with their own eyes the super stadium hailed as the most futuristic in the world.

After checking into the hotel, the two couldn’t wait to head to Prudential Stadium.

By this time, fans were already pouring into the stadium.

From the outside to the inside, every detail amazed Casemiro!

“This place is even more magical than the Bernabéu!” Casemiro praised sincerely.

Upon entering Prudential Stadium, the hidden commercial facilities were something Casemiro had never even heard of.

And the moment he stepped into the stands, the feeling of openness brought him a huge shock!

This was the best football stadium in the world!

It could hold a full ninety thousand people!

Even though it was just an FA Cup match, and the opponent was only Premier League relegation battlers Crystal Palace, the place was packed.

In this match, Bayswater Chinese still fielded a lineup of rotated and substitute players.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the young Sterling was particularly active.

He first assisted a goal for Pogba in the 36th minute of the first half.

But in the second half, Crystal Palace equalized.

However, in the 78th minute, Sterling received a diagonal pass from De Bruyne and scored with a low shot from the far left corner, once again breaking through Crystal Palace’s goal.

In that instant, the entire Prudential Stadium erupted!

Ninety thousand fans shot out of their seats at the same time, cheering and shouting wildly.

The overwhelming momentum made Casemiro feel like he was on fire!

“The atmosphere here is so much better than the Bernabéu or Camp Nou!”

The match was intense, and coupled with the fervent atmosphere, Casemiro was completely captivated.

The Brazilian midfielder wished he could go on the pitch and play himself!

In the 80th minute, seeing that victory was basically secured, Yang Cheng made his final substitution.

The sixteen-year-old youngster Patrick Roberts came on to the cheers of the entire stadium, replacing Sterling, who had a goal and an assist.

The entire stadium was cheering wildly!

First, they chanted Sterling’s name, then they started chanting for Patrick Roberts.

“What is the announcer saying?” Casemiro couldn’t understand English and asked with some confusion.

“This is Patrick Roberts’ first appearance for the first team. He won’t turn seventeen until February,” agent Joseph Lee translated.

“I’ve heard of this youngster. He’s said to be coveted by almost all the top clubs in Europe, especially the other Premier League giants. He has outstanding talent and extraordinary ability. He hasn’t even made a first-team appearance, but his valuation is already two and a half million pounds sterling.”

That was over three million euros.

Casemiro nodded repeatedly.

He had played for two or three years, even helping São Paulo reach the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana, before finally making it to a top European league, and his transfer fee was only six million euros.

For a player who hadn’t even made a first-team appearance to have a valuation of two and a half million pounds sterling spoke volumes of his potential and talent.

Patrick Roberts was not a youngster who shied away from the big stage.

After coming on, he performed well on several occasions with the ball, daring to receive it, daring to dribble, very confident.

The home fans also gave this young player a lot of applause and encouragement.

Even when he lost the ball or made a mistake, they would applaud.

“The atmosphere in the Premier League is really great!” Casemiro praised.

“The atmosphere at Prudential Stadium is the best among Premier League teams, especially when the roof is closed.”

Hearing his agent’s words, Casemiro couldn’t help but look up at the open roof, a little regretfully.

“Don’t worry, after joining Bayswater Chinese, you’ll definitely have a chance to experience the atmosphere of a closed Prudential Stadium!”

Casemiro nodded heavily.

After a week of rest, Bayswater Chinese defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 in the FA Cup, smoothly advancing to the fifth round.

It was still early after the match.

Accompanied by his agent and a settlement officer from Bayswater Chinese, Casemiro visited the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

This was the first time Casemiro had stepped into this dressing room.

He met the long-admired Yang Cheng, hailed as the world’s number one manager.

He also saw the Bayswater Chinese stars he had only seen in the news before.

Although stars like Gareth Bale, Modrić, and Toni Kroos hadn’t played, they had come to watch the match and were in the dressing room afterward.

When he met Casemiro, the most enthusiastic person was Marcelo.

The two had met before in the Brazil national team.

Thiago Silva had also met him before.

Pepe played for Portugal, so he had never met Casemiro.

As the pet of the Bayswater Chinese dressing room, Marcelo naturally took on the task of introducing Casemiro.

Yang Cheng had many things to attend to and didn’t have much time to talk with Casemiro, only saying they would talk in detail back at the training center.

Later, everyone took the team bus from Prudential Stadium back to the Brent training center.

What surprised Casemiro was that even Bayswater Chinese’s team bus was more luxurious than Real Madrid’s.

When he arrived at the Brent training center, the Brazilian player was even more amazed.

Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground was built around the same time as Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center.

But whether in terms of hardware facilities or the software atmosphere, the Brent training center was a step above Valdebebas, and it covered a larger area.

The thought of training here for the next few years made Casemiro feel a surge of excitement.

But what excited Casemiro the most was meeting head coach Yang Cheng.

The two met in the head coach’s office.

To Casemiro’s surprise, they didn’t need a translator at all.

Yang Cheng could communicate with Casemiro directly in fluent Spanish.

Yang Cheng welcomed Casemiro’s arrival.

“Although this is our first meeting, there are some things I must say upfront.”

Yang Cheng looked at Casemiro with a very serious expression.

“Although people outside might say you joined the team as part of Javi Martínez’s transfer, I want to tell you that you are a player I wanted and are part of my plans.”

Yang Cheng’s earnest words made Casemiro feel sincerity and valued.

“So, I hope you won’t let those outside opinions affect you.”

Casemiro nodded solemnly and promised, “Please rest assured, I will do my absolute best to meet your requirements!”

“I don’t doubt your ability, because my assistants and I have studied your match footage, from Brazil to Real Madrid, we’ve seen it all. And we’ve also prepared a very detailed analysis report.”

With that, Yang Cheng picked up a thick analysis report from his desk and handed it to Casemiro.

“Also, this is a welcome gift from our video analysis team. It contains some classic defensive clips from our team over the years featuring a single pivot, as well as some common tactical plays.”

Yang Cheng handed over a USB drive.

Over the next few days, Bayswater Chinese needed to apply for a work permit for Casemiro, which would definitely take some time.

At the very least, the process would take several days.

For example, they had to apply first, get rejected, then invoke the Special Talent Clause, and then hold a hearing.

After the hearing was passed, it would have to go through several layers of approval before the permit was finally issued.

Given the efficiency of The FA and the UK Department for Sport, it would take at least half a month, and sometimes even a month or two.

Even with the special circumstances of the winter transfer window, Yang Cheng had asked Adam Crozier to push for it to be expedited.

During this period, Casemiro could still train with the team but couldn’t play in matches.

So, Yang Cheng’s task for him was to quickly grasp Bayswater Chinese’s technical and tactical system and routines, and also to familiarize himself with his tasks and responsibilities.

These would be reflected in the upcoming training sessions; the contents of the analysis report and the USB drive were for Casemiro to get familiar with in advance.

Additionally, the report pointed out some of Casemiro’s weaknesses that he needed to work on.

Besides that, Yang Cheng also gave him a latest model iPhone and an iPad, which were the dedicated phone and tablet for Bayswater Chinese, with some of the team’s internal apps installed.

For example, after every training session, a training analysis report for the player would be pushed through the app.

After every match, an analysis report and some match footage clips would also be pushed.

All of this was to help players correct their problems and improve their abilities.

Casemiro looked at the Apple phone in front of him. After opening it, he indeed saw many internal team apps, which he found very novel.

He never would have thought that Bayswater Chinese’s management had become fully digitized.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this back in Brazil or in La Liga,” Casemiro said in amazement.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “Actually, we can’t be completely paperless either. After all, many things still need to be put on paper, like signings, contracts, and so on.”

Casemiro nodded repeatedly.

For him, this was like opening up a whole new world.

“By the way, we’ll sign the contract here in a bit. Then you’ll need to go to the press conference hall to take a few photos. The news team and new media team will conduct an interview with you.”

These were all standard signing procedures.

Once everything was done, the club would send out a press release to all major media outlets.

To this day, Bayswater Chinese still didn’t have a tradition of holding presentation ceremonies for new players.

Even when they signed Javi Martínez back then, they followed the same procedure.

Last summer, when van Dijk joined, the only addition was a photoshoot at Prudential Stadium.

“Finally…”

Yang Cheng stood up from the sofa and solemnly extended his hand towards Casemiro.

“Welcome to Bayswater Chinese!”

Casemiro quickly stood up, extended both hands, and firmly shook Yang Cheng’s right hand.

“Thank you, boss!”

This was one of the English phrases he had crammed at the last minute.

Javi Martínez transfers to Real Madrid for fifty million pounds sterling!

Once officially announced by both parties, it immediately caused a huge stir throughout European football.

This was the biggest signing of the 2014 European winter transfer window, a true marquee signing!

At the same time, Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira transferred to Chelsea for thirty million euros!

The two transfers happened simultaneously and were announced together, sparking heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Although rumors had been circulating for a long time, when it actually happened, everyone was still quite surprised.

The main reason was that Real Madrid had shelled out fifty million pounds for Javi Martínez, which was just so extravagantly wealthy!

At the Bernabéu, Real Madrid also held a grand presentation ceremony for the Spanish holding midfielder to show how much they valued him.

All of Spain was happy about Javi Martínez’s return.

With Messi having transferred to Manchester City and Xabi Alonso also rumored to be joining Manchester City, the return of a heavyweight player to La Liga was undoubtedly a huge morale booster.

Ancelotti was also satisfied with the deal. “Javi Martínez’s arrival will greatly enhance our defensive strength in midfield and defense. This is something we are very happy about!”

But Ancelotti still stressed his hope that Real Madrid would renew Xabi Alonso’s contract as soon as possible.

In England, after signing with Bayswater Chinese, Casemiro was interviewed by the official website and new media.

The Brazilian midfielder was full of praise for everything he had seen and heard since arriving in London.

He gave his head coach a perfect score for his first meeting with Yang Cheng.

“I am very grateful that he took over half an hour out of his busy schedule to talk with me.”

“In this pleasant conversation, he gave me a clearer understanding of my position on the team and the role I am to play. He also let me know which direction I should work towards.”

“This is very important to me!”

Since it was an interview with their own official website and new media, they didn’t try to trap the young Brazilian player.

In the interview, Casemiro stated, “I know my characteristics and strengths, and I am very confident that I can adapt to the Premier League!”

“I can’t wait to play for the team!”

After meeting his teammates, Casemiro ultimately chose to stay temporarily at Thiago Silva’s house.

The next morning, it was Thiago Silva who brought him to the training center, and captain Modrić who introduced him to all the players in the dressing room.

After the FA Cup match on the 25th, the 23rd round of the Premier League came on the 28th, followed by the 24th round on February 1st.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese’s training intensity was not high, focusing mainly on recovery and adjusting their condition.

This also helped Casemiro integrate into the team.

Midweek, Premier League Matchday 23.

In this round, Bayswater Chinese faced Norwich away.

For the FA Cup match against Crystal Palace, Yang Cheng had started John Stones as the single pivot.

This time, Nemanja Matić was rotated in.

Norwich was an interesting team. They consistently lost by large margins in away matches, but at home, they always fought with particular tenacity.

In this match, Yang Cheng still didn’t field his full-strength lineup, opting instead for a partial rotation.

He needed to adjust the fitness and form of his main players.

This was to ensure the team wouldn’t run out of steam when European competitions resumed and they were fighting on multiple fronts.

And away from home, Yang Cheng’s team was indeed stubbornly upset by Norwich.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

But in the 53rd minute, Giroud delivered a brilliant pass, and Aaron Ramsey broke through Norwich’s goal, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

Just nine minutes later, Luke Shaw made an overlapping run into the box and scored another goal for the team with a furious shot.

2-0!

Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Norwich 2-0 away, thanks to goals from Ramsey and Luke Shaw.

The other matches played at the same time also concluded one after another.

Arsenal narrowly won 2-1 away against Southampton.

Pochettino’s team gave Arsenal a lot of trouble at home, even coming very close to equalizing or even turning the game around.

Manchester United, at home, defeated Cardiff 2-0, thanks to a goal from Cavani in the opening six minutes and an icing on the cake goal from Ashley Young in the second half.

Liverpool had the Merseyside derby this round, thrashing Everton 4-0 at home with a hat-trick from Sturridge.

Chelsea drew 0-0 at home against West Ham United.

Manchester City thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 away.

Messi had a goal and an assist, putting on a brilliant performance.

Apart from Chelsea, the other top teams basically all won their matches.

Manchester City led the table with 59 points.

Bayswater Chinese was second with 57 points.

Arsenal also had 57 points but was in third place.

Liverpool was fourth with 52 points.

Chelsea and Manchester United both had 50 points, but The Blues were in fifth place due to a better goal difference.

Ferguson’s Manchester United was in sixth place.

On a side note, Khedira, who had joined for thirty million euros, did not appear in the home game against West Ham United as he was new to the team.

Chapter 299: The Fourth Place Fiend! Formation Change, Chelsea! Ancelotti: Yang Cheng, Do You Even Hear Yourself?

The European winter transfer window of 2014 was quite bleak.

The biggest move came from Real Madrid.

Their signing of Javi Martínez for a staggering fifty million pounds plus Casemiro demonstrated Real Madrid’s determination.

The Galácticos were determined to surpass Barça in La Liga.

Chelsea’s signing of Sami Khedira for thirty million euros also showcased The Blues’ boldness.

Not only that, but Mourinho’s team also signed centre-back Kurt Zouma from Saint-Étienne for fifteen million pounds.

The Blues also invested a considerable amount in the winter transfer window.

Furthermore, The Blues sold Essien to AC Milan.

Paris Saint-Germain, on the other hand, signed Cabaye from Newcastle for twenty-five million pounds.

These were the three most significant transfers in this year’s winter transfer window.

For the Premier League, the most important aspect of this winter transfer window was the loaning out of young players.

Clubs sent their young players on loan, mostly hoping they would get more opportunities for match experience.

Despite various data proving that loan spells were not ideally effective, the major clubs remained enthusiastic about it.

Manchester United, for example, loaned out eleven players in one go during the winter transfer window.

This included players like Zaha, Macheda, Anderson, Fábio da Silva, and Barmby.

Chelsea also loaned out nine players.

Another player who caught Yang Cheng’s attention was Ryan Bertrand.

Two years ago, the English native had transferred to Chelsea for twenty million pounds.

But with Mourinho’s appointment, Ryan Bertrand was not favored by The Portuguese Madman in the left-back position.

He even preferred to play the right-footed Azpilicueta on the left flank rather than use Ryan Bertrand much.

Therefore, this winter, Aston Villa hoped to loan Ryan Bertrand.

But the offer was rejected by both Chelsea and the player.

Both The Blues and Ryan Bertrand hoped the player could make his mark at Chelsea.

It was a rather helpless situation.

A new ruler brings new courtiers.

Under Mourinho, it was difficult for Ryan Bertrand to get opportunities.

His agent had even contacted Bayswater Chinese, testing the waters for a potential return to the team.

But Luke Shaw had shown significant improvement this season, so the team currently had no place for Ryan Bertrand.

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese declined the agent’s proposal.

…

Time moved into February.

The Premier League entered its 24th round.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Sunderland at home.

Just nineteen minutes into the first half, Eden Hazard scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese, breaching The Black Cats’ net.

In the 23rd minute, Gareth Bale scored another goal.

Both goals were assisted by Harry Kane.

Then, in the 80th minute of the second half, Hazard provided another assist, and Modrić once again found the back of Sunderland’s net, scoring another goal for the home team.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a resounding 3-0 victory over Sunderland at home.

In this match, the starting holding midfielder was Nemanja Matić.

Casemiro had not yet obtained his work permit.

But Yang Cheng placed great importance on the Brazilian midfielder.

Not only did he arrange for him to participate in group scrimmages in every training session, but he also provided him with special training.

The main hope was to help him integrate into the team as quickly as possible and improve his defensive awareness.

The most significant crucial match of this round was undoubtedly Manchester City hosting Chelsea.

The Premier League showdown between Pep Guardiola and Mourinho continued to capture the attention of media and fans worldwide.

Especially since Chelsea had defeated Manchester City in the 9th round.

This filled everyone with anticipation for this match.

Moreover, Mourinho’s long-awaited reinforcement, Sami Khedira, was finally available to play.

At the Etihad Stadium, Mourinho deployed a lineup that surprised everyone, one that could be described as hopelessly clueless guy-like in its toughness.

Goalkeeper: Čech;

Defense: Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Terry, and Ivanović;

Midfield: Lampard and Khedira formed a double pivot, with William, Oscar, and Ramires in front of them;

Forward: Falcao.

Putting everything else aside, looking at this starting lineup, one had to ask: are they tough or what?

Guardiola, playing at home, fielded a lineup that was equally surprising to everyone.

Goalkeeper: ter Stegen;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Pirlo in a holding role, with Tiago and Marco Verratti in the center;

Forwards: David Silva, Agüero, and Messi.

No one had expected this before the match.

If Mourinho’s starting lineup exuded a sense of iron will and rigidity, then Guardiola’s lineup was a classic example of using softness to overcome hardness.

Two teams, two different tactical philosophies, two completely different tactical styles, clashed fiercely at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola’s team completely controlled possession and the flow of the game, but Mourinho’s team did not just defend with all one’s might. Instead, they pressed all over the pitch, giving Manchester City not even the slightest opening.

Yang Cheng was also paying close attention to this match.

If Chelsea defeated Manchester City, or even just drew, Bayswater Chinese would be able to surge to the top of the table.

The score remained 0-0 for a long time.

What was more interesting was that neither team made any substitutions.

It wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Messi received the ball in the center, suddenly accelerated with a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area, and completed a series of quick one-twos with Agüero and David Silva in a tight space.

The Argentine broke into the left side of the box and fired a low shot, breaking through Chelsea’s goal.

At the crucial moment, Messi relied on his individual ability to give Manchester City the lead.

In the 83rd minute, Mourinho began making successive substitutions to strengthen the attack.

Guardiola quickly responded with a substitution of his own, bringing on Jovetić for Tiago, moving David Silva back to the center.

In the end, the score remained 1-0!

Manchester City clinched a narrow victory over Chelsea at home, thanks to Messi’s goal.

Although they lost the game, Chelsea’s defense left an incredibly deep impression on everyone.

As for Mourinho blaming the referee, Guardiola, and Manchester City’s players after the match, that was just standard procedure.

This match also received unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide after it ended.

The clash between the two teams showcased the current diversity of tactical styles in the Premier League.

However, Manchester United narrowly beat Stoke City 2-1 away, so Chelsea’s league ranking dropped back to 6th.

Manchester United climbed to 5th.

Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away.

Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 at home.

…

After the 24th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had a precious week of rest.

But what followed was a series of tough matches.

February 8th, League Round 25, away against Chelsea.

February 12th, League Round 26, home against Tottenham Hotspur.

February 15th, FA Cup 5th Round, away against Cardiff.

February 18th, Champions League Round of 16, first leg, away against Borussia Dortmund.

February 22nd, Premier League Round 27, home against Aston Villa.

Due to the dense schedule, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff spent the following week focusing on the team’s fitness, adjusting their condition, and preparing lineups in advance.

The good news was that Thiago Silva, who was originally expected to be out for six weeks, received clearance from the team doctor the day after the Sunderland match and was able to resume simple training ahead of schedule.

For Yang Cheng, this was the best news he could have hoped for.

But Casemiro’s work permit still hadn’t been approved.

Bayswater Chinese had applied once, but it was rejected by the UK’s Department for Sport for not meeting compliance.

The team was currently applying under the Special Talent Clause, but a hearing needed to be scheduled.

Bayswater Chinese had everything prepared, and Yang Cheng had even decided on the guest for the hearing.

It was Real Madrid’s head coach, Ancelotti.

The reason, as Yang Cheng told Ancelotti over the phone, was this:

“Carlo, no one is more suitable than you!”

“Bullshit, can’t you just find someone else?” Ancelotti was getting a little worked up.

He had a lot on his own plate and was very busy.

“Of course not. Just think about it, in the entire world of football today, who has more authority than you?”

That bit of flattery from Yang Cheng was quite well-received by Ancelotti.

“A former world-class midfielder, now a world-class manager, and most importantly, you’re the head coach of Real Madrid and you managed him for a while. Who would dare question your words?”

Yang Cheng’s reasoning was indeed quite solid.

“But, Yang, do you think people are stupid? Oh, he’s a talent, and I sold him to you at Bayswater Chinese?”

Ancelotti found the logic hilarious just thinking about it.

“Because Javi Martínez is more important to you. You need immediate impact, whereas Casemiro has the future.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng cut to the chase.

“Anyway, I’ve already submitted the list. You have to come. If you won’t, I’ll just call Florentino Pérez. We had an agreement that Real Madrid would do everything they could to help us with the work permit application.”

Ancelotti, on the other end of the line, was getting seriously annoyed.

They’d already sold the player, and now they had to be messed around like this?

“How about this, if you ever need to apply for a work permit for a player in the future, I promise to show up for you. My word carries more weight than yours. I can get one for whomever you want!” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

Ancelotti didn’t catch it at first, but after thinking it over, something wasn’t right.

“Hey, are you f*cking cursing me to get sacked?”

“Does La Liga even require work permits?”

Yang Cheng immediately chuckled, “A misunderstanding, wasn’t it? What I meant was, I’ll repay you.”

“How about this, if we meet in the Champions League next time, I’ll score one less goal against you.”

“Get the hell out of here!” Ancelotti couldn’t take it anymore.

Yang Cheng, is that any way for a person to talk?

So, you ask for a favor and don’t even say a single nice thing?

But after hanging up, Ancelotti sent a text message, asking Yang Cheng to send him the time and place of the hearing.

“Round-trip airfare will be reimbursed, and I’ll treat you to dinner,” Yang Cheng texted back, adding a smiley face at the end.

This made Ancelotti, all the way in Madrid, so angry he almost smashed his phone.

He was clearly the head coach of Real Madrid, so how did it seem like he was the head coach of Bayswater Chinese!

What kind of world was this?

Reimburse round-trip airfare?

Shouldn’t that be a given?

Was he supposed to pay for his own ticket to fly over and be their witness?

The audacity!

“It’s only because I’m good-natured that I don’t stoop to your level. If it were Mourinho, he’d have been in London with a knife to chop you up by now!”

Ancelotti wore a gloomy expression, as if he regretted his choice of friends.

What a mess this all was!

…

While Yang Cheng and Ancelotti were on the phone, in the head coach’s office at the Cobham training ground in south London, Mourinho inexplicably let out a huge sneeze.

“Damn it, which bastard is badmouthing me behind my back?” Mourinho cursed angrily.

He was with his assistants, analyzing the gains and losses from the away game against Manchester City.

After this match, the external evaluation of Chelsea was actually very high.

Although they lost 1-0, lost in possession, and lost on the pitch’s appearance, in reality, any fan who watched the entire game would find that The Blues actually fought Manchester City on equal footing.

One could even say they were not at a disadvantage.

Of course, this lack of disadvantage wasn’t about possession rate or the number of shots.

It was a purely intuitive feeling from watching the match.

Because for most of the game, Manchester City really had no good way to break down Chelsea’s defense.

“The most successful thing we did in this match was putting Ramires on the right.”

Assistant coach Rui Faria played a video analysis clip.

“Placing Ramires on the right had a very significant effect for us. Defensively, he could track back in time, dropping into the defensive line to help Ivanović defend against David Silva.”

“And on the attack, he could also press forward. This was very important for us!”

“In this match, we successfully neutralized Manchester City’s left flank, and Ramires deserves immense credit for that.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ramires was indeed a very versatile player.

Whether as a holding midfielder, on the right wing, or on the left wing, he could handle the role.

Most importantly, he always did his job well.

In the match against Manchester City, Mourinho didn’t actually park the bus; it wasn’t a case of defending with all one’s might. Instead, he went head-to-head with Manchester City, and they couldn’t find a solution.

This was the key reason Mourinho received so much praise after the game.

“Barring any surprises, Bayswater Chinese’s left flank should still be Hazard. So, I think we could perhaps have Ramires continue to play on the right wing, to provide cover for the right-back’s defensive duties.”

Everyone nodded again.

Hazard’s individual ability, especially his dribbling and ability to take on players, far surpassed David Silva’s.

If they had Ivanović mark Hazard one-on-one, he probably wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Both of Bayswater Chinese’s flanks were simply too strong!

“The match against Manchester City also exposed the shortcomings in our central midfield defense,” another assistant coach, Portuguese José Morais, analyzed.

“Ramires moved to the right wing, but our midfield is prone to making mistakes under pressure. I believe Yang Cheng has definitely seen this. Don’t forget, they have Modrić on their team, and Pogba is also quite good.”

Modrić might not have Messi’s dribbling ability, but his ability to drive the ball forward through the center was exceptional.

Moreover, his distribution after advancing, especially his outside-of-the-boot passes, whether through balls or passes to the flanks, were incredibly difficult to deal with.

The most troublesome thing about Bayswater Chinese was precisely that they weren’t just sharp on the wings; their central play was equally formidable.

It was only because Robert Lewandowski left this season that their centre-forward goal count had dropped sharply.

But overall, their strength was still exceptional.

“If we stick to the same game plan we used against Manchester City, Yang Cheng will have certainly studied that match beforehand. By then, we might find ourselves in a very passive position.”

José Morais’s words were echoed by the others.

Yang Cheng was famous for his meticulous preparation.

It was said that before a match, he would simulate every possible scenario that could occur and devise corresponding plans, making his preparation incredibly detailed.

That was why Bayswater Chinese players often said that even unexpected events during a match were never outside Yang Cheng’s expectations.

Many thought he was infallible.

But what was the reality?

It was because he provided so many plans, covering all sorts of possibilities.

Of course, to be able to instill so many detailed plans into the players and have them execute them without panic was a skill in itself.

Others couldn’t learn it even if they wanted to!

“From the match against Manchester City, we can see that our overall tactical direction is correct,” José Morais said, looking at Mourinho.

“But we need to refine the local and detailed aspects.”

The so-called overall direction was to stabilize the defense and launch a counter-attack immediately after winning the ball.

And Chelsea’s counter-attack involved players pressing forward in waves, like a tide, forming layered attacking echelons.

The number of players committed might not be large, but the effect was absolutely excellent.

Especially with a super striker like Falcao up front.

This was another major transformation under Mourinho since he started managing Chelsea.

In the past, many said that Mourinho couldn’t win without parking the bus.

Defend and counter-attack was Mourinho’s trademark!

In fact, during his first spell at Chelsea, Mourinho had once retorted to external criticism.

“When I have a super centre-forward like Drogba, why should I play short passing combinations?”

At Chelsea, Mourinho had Drogba; at Inter Milan, Mourinho signed Diego Milito; at Real Madrid, Mourinho signed Džeko for a sky-high price.

But the current Chelsea had no such centre-forward!

How were they to play?

Many were very worried about Mourinho, especially as the season progressed and his team’s performance went from high to low.

They were once ranked high, but soon fell.

Many said Mourinho had been exposed.

But the Portuguese was actually always reinventing himself.

The match against Manchester City was a prime example.

He proved to everyone that even without parking the bus, even going toe-to-toe with Manchester City, he could still compete on equal terms.

In fact, many even said that at the Etihad Stadium, Mourinho’s Chelsea looked more like a total football team than Guardiola’s, and the players’ tactical execution was even more on point.

The surrounding assistants chimed in with their opinions, one after another, but Mourinho remained silent.

Only when everyone had finished and fallen silent, looking at him, did he finally speak his mind.

“If we play against Bayswater Chinese the way we played against Manchester City, especially defensively, we will die a horrible death!”

Everyone looked at each other, stunned.

They had not expected Mourinho to rate Bayswater Chinese so highly.

But on second thought, it was normal.

If Bayswater Chinese weren’t strong, how did they win five consecutive Premier League titles and two consecutive Champions Leagues?

“Playing against Bayswater Chinese, I’m actually not worried about the attack.”

Mourinho ignored his assistants’ surprise and continued.

“Given Yang Cheng’s coaching style and Bayswater Chinese’s football DNA, they will definitely adopt an attacking strategy.”

“As long as we can defend well, we will definitely create chances and score goals. I am very sure of this!”

Falcao was not a pushover!

“But the biggest problem now is, how do we defend against Bayswater Chinese’s attack?”

No one present had any particularly good ideas about this.

Over the past years, looking across world football, no team had been able to withstand Bayswater Chinese’s offensive onslaught.

So, after a moment of silence, everyone’s gazes turned back to Mourinho.

At this moment, only Mourinho could provide an answer.

“I’m thinking of making some adjustments based on the match at the Etihad Stadium.”

Everyone was clearly a bit surprised.

After all, Mourinho’s coaching style had been relatively fixed over the years.

Ever since he used the 4-2-3-1 formation at Inter Milan, he had stuck to it at Real Madrid as well.

Coming to the Premier League, he had basically done the same.

Even in the last round against Manchester City, he had still used a double pivot.

One could say that the match against Manchester City had pushed the current lineup and tactics to their absolute limit.

What more adjustments could be made?

“I want to play a 5-4-1 formation!”

“5-4-1?”

Rui Faria and the others’ expressions changed instantly.

Was he planning to park the bus?

Wouldn’t that be a step backward from the Manchester City game?

“Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, Terry, Ivanović, and Azpilicueta.”

“Among these five defenders, Cahill, Terry, and Ivanović will play as centre-backs, while Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta will be the full-backs.”

“When defending, the full-backs will drop back, forming a five-man defense.加上 a double pivot, we will definitely have enough numbers in defense to maximally contain Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

“Especially their attacks in the half-spaces.”

To put it bluntly, if all else failed, you could just stack players in defense.

The so-called “parking the bus.”

But Mourinho’s plan was more than just that.

When there wasn’t much pressure on the flanks, Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta could push forward to participate in the attack, opening up channels on the wings.

“The double pivot will be Ramires and Khedira. They can maximize our midfield intensity and defensive coverage, while also providing protection for the backline.”

“Oscar and William will be responsible for playing on the wings and in the two half-spaces up front, with Falcao as the striker.”

As he spoke, Mourinho specifically arranged the pieces on his tactics board, so everyone could get a more intuitive view.

It was called a 5-4-1, but in reality, it would be a 3-4-2-1 or even a 3-2-4-1 when attacking.

This system was very flexible, with many variations.

And it could ensure maximum defensive solidity.

When necessary, the five defenders and the double pivot would mean seven players committed to defense.

Even more if Oscar and William also tracked back diligently.

“When I was coaching Inter Milan, the Italians were very fond of playing with three-at-the-back. I think we can do that too.”

After a pause, Mourinho spoke again.

“It’s the same thing I said before: as long as we can withstand Bayswater Chinese’s attack, we will definitely be able to score against them, maybe even more than once!”

Everyone was seriously contemplating the idea.

Mourinho’s idea was indeed very interesting, and it was a step beyond the Manchester City game.

If it really worked, Chelsea would surely win!

…

February 8th, 3:36 PM.

Stamford Bridge, London.

Premier League Round 25, Chelsea hosting Bayswater Chinese.

The match was in its 36th minute.

When William received the ball near the byline on the right side outside the penalty area, facing a pincer attack from Marcelo and Toni Kroos, the Brazilian skillfully dribbled the ball back and forth with both feet, trying to break through between the two defenders into the box.

But Marcelo and Toni Kroos’s coordination was impeccable.

The Brazilian left-back pressed William from the front, while Toni Kroos gave a gentle push from behind.

This caused William, who was trying to dribble his way out, to lose his balance and give up the ball.

But just when everyone thought Chelsea’s attack was over, Azpilicueta suddenly burst forward from behind Kroos’s side.

The Spanish right-back made a quick overlapping run, took the ball William had lost, carried it into the right side of the penalty area, and accelerated to catch up to it, delivering a low, driven cross from near the byline.

This sudden change disrupted Bayswater Chinese’s defensive formation.

The ball landed at the edge of the six-yard box.

Falcao quickly cut in front of his marker and met the incoming ball with a power shot from his right foot.

The football rocketed into the left side of the goal at lightning speed.

To ensure a better chance of scoring, the Colombian centre-forward deliberately shot across the goal.

1-0!

The entire Stamford Bridge stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Especially the Chelsea fans behind the goal, who frantically rushed out of their seats, screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs.

After more than half an hour of play, Chelsea had finally taken the lead!

Falcao excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to celebrate in front of the broadcast cameras.

This match was being broadcast live to the entire world.

And the image of his goal would be presented to all the fans around the globe.

If tonight, Chelsea could truly defeat Bayswater Chinese as the head coach had predicted before the match, then Falcao’s name would be on the front page of every media outlet in the world tomorrow!

Just the thought of it made the Colombian centre-forward feel as if he had been set on fire.

At almost the same time, on the sideline, in the home team’s dugout, Mourinho was even more ecstatic, pumping his fists repeatedly and roaring at the pitch, venting his excitement.

He flagrantly spread his arms, repeatedly motioning for the fans in the stands to cheer louder.

Turning back, he high-fived his assistants one by one in celebration.

“See? I told you, as long as we block their attack, scoring won’t be a problem!”

Rui Faria, José Morais, and the others all nodded.

Mourinho had indeed said so before the match, and this was indeed how he had predicted it.

And his change of formation, after a week of repeated drills and adjustments, played a crucial role in this match.

At least, for the first thirty-plus minutes, Chelsea had withstood Bayswater Chinese’s tide-like onslaught.

After celebrating with everyone, Mourinho smiled and turned to look at the away team’s dugout.

Yang Cheng was still dressed in his black suit, white shirt, and leather shoes, standing on the sideline as always.

But at this moment, his expression looked very troubled.

His brow was furrowed deeply.

This couldn’t help but make Mourinho feel a sense of smug satisfaction.

“What goes around, comes around. Today, it’s my turn to win!” Mourinho said with great satisfaction.

At least for the first 36 minutes, Chelsea had been in control, with a few scares but nothing outside of Mourinho’s grasp.

Now it remained to be see if, in the last hour or so of the match, Yang Cheng could come up with an effective solution to break down Chelsea’s defensive setup.

“My assistants and I spent a whole week preparing and perfecting this defensive formation. You only have 90 minutes. Can you break it?” Mourinho chuckled inwardly.

…

“Mourinho’s style in this game is generally the same as against Manchester City: full-pitch attack and defense, not conservative at all.”

Brian Kidd sighed with a hint of resignation as he saw Yang Cheng walk back.

“But unlike the game against City, this time he’s using three centre-backs, or a five-man defense.”

Yang Cheng wasn’t actually surprised by this setup.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Tactics always evolve in this spiral fashion.

Mourinho’s current modifications already showed many traces of the Italian three-at-the-back system.

“Gianni, let me see the analysis charts.”

Gianni Vio immediately compiled the analytical data Yang Cheng requested and handed it to him on a tablet.

Yang Cheng flipped through the data. “Chelsea’s attack is now mainly concentrated on the two flanks, Oscar and William.”

“I need to see the defensive data, and the regional activity heat map.”

When all the data was presented to Yang Cheng, it confirmed some of his thoughts.

One obvious point was that Chelsea’s right-sided defense was quite solid.

This corresponded to Bayswater Chinese’s left flank.

This was mainly due to William’s diligent tracking back.

But on the right flank, it was clear that they were somewhat lacking.

This was mainly because Oscar actually preferred to operate more centrally.

“You win some, you lose some. Chelsea’s system is indeed effective defensively. If they were to adopt a purely defensive tactic, their defense would be a real headache.”

“But Mourinho isn’t content to just park the bus. As a result, on both flanks, Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta have too much ground to cover, the full-backs have to run too far back and forth.”

This was also understandable.

Oscar and William were positioned further forward to support Falcao.

Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta had to press forward in attack and track back in defense.

Wasn’t that last goal created by Azpilicueta’s sudden overlapping run?

But as a result, the distance the two full-backs had to cover was too long, and their stamina consumption would be immense.

More importantly, a large gap would be exposed behind them.

In Chelsea’s five-man defensive system, to maintain defensive layers, the full-backs’ positioning was relatively high.

The reason was actually quite simple, because Mourinho knew that his own midfield flanks lacked protection.

Unless Oscar and William both dropped back.

Ramires and Khedira?

They had to hold the center and the half-spaces.

This wasn’t some profound or mysterious concept.

With eleven players on the pitch, the area they could control was limited.

By exploiting this, one could seize upon Chelsea’s weakness.

The difference was, how to exploit it?

In the early stages of the first half, Bayswater Chinese had actually had one good attack.

Hazard cut inside from the left and curled a shot towards the far corner, which hit the crossbar.

Mourinho’s team had a lucky escape.

Yang Cheng could see that Hazard was very active today.

With this in mind, Yang Cheng immediately had an idea.

He quickly walked to the edge of the technical area and called over Toni Kroos.

In the first half, Bayswater Chinese was attacking from right to left, and Toni Kroos happened to be on Yang Cheng’s side of the pitch.

“Toni.”

Yang Cheng wrapped an arm around Toni Kroos’s neck.

He noticed that that bastard Mourinho was constantly watching them, as if trying to eavesdrop.

So, he simply wrapped his arm around Kroos’s neck, turning his back to Mourinho, and spoke head-to-head.

“Put some more pressure on Chelsea. Use chipped long passes to bypass their full-backs and wide centre-backs, directly to the area near the byline on the right side of their box.”

“Have Gareth Bale or Piszczek make the run, then cross it back to the center to create a scoring opportunity!”

Toni Kroos nodded in understanding.

This was actually a passing route he often used, one that Bayswater Chinese had drilled in training.

The German midfielder didn’t ask why they were doing this.

He knew that if Yang Cheng arranged it this way, he must have spotted a weakness in Chelsea’s defense.

After making the adjustment, Yang Cheng sent Toni Kroos back onto the pitch.

He himself then quickly walked to the sideline, clapping vigorously to encourage all the players on the field.

The Bayswater Chinese players were very experienced and extremely confident.

For them, being down by one goal was not a problem at all.

…

After conceding the goal, Yang Cheng made his adjustment.

Toni Kroos then relayed the instructions to his nearby teammates.

The team then began to adjust and find their rhythm.

In the process, the clock ticked past 40 minutes.

But executing a coordinated play is often not an easy task.

After the 40th minute mark, the away team had practically pinned Chelsea inside their own half, even pounding them within the 30-meter area.

The Blues, in turn, retreated their entire line to in and around their own penalty area.

It was a fast-paced game, and both sides were expending a lot of energy.

Especially Chelsea.

They didn’t have an advantage in possession-based football, relying more on players’ running and burning stamina to compensate for their technical and tactical deficiencies.

After 40 minutes, Bayswater Chinese consistently attacked down the left.

The side where Hazard was.

Giroud also actively drifted towards the left side of the penalty area, and Gareth Bale followed suit by moving towards the center of the box.

Chelsea’s defenders did not dare to be careless.

Whether it was Giroud or Gareth Bale, if Hazard managed to get a pass through, it would be extremely dangerous.

Time ticked by.

Soon, it was the 44th minute.

The fourth official on the sideline began to show the board for two minutes of stoppage time.

Bayswater Chinese continued to play with great patience, constantly trying to find opportunities on the left flank.

Marcelo also began to push forward actively, participating in the attack and creative play in the final third.

This forced Chelsea’s defense to shift towards their own right side.

At the very least, their strong defensive players had all moved over.

Just as the clock ticked over to 45 minutes, Marcelo received the ball on the left flank but couldn’t find an opening, forcing him to pass back to Toni Kroos in the left channel, near the 30-meter area.

The German midfielder, unmarked, took a touch horizontally with his right foot, and the ball immediately moved towards the center.

And almost at the same instant Kroos took the touch, Gareth Bale, who was originally on the right side of the box, suddenly made a move.

Gary Cahill immediately closed in, using his body to shield Gareth Bale, preventing him from rushing into the right side of the six-yard box, keeping him away from a threatening position.

Giroud, on the left side near the six-yard box, was also being marked by Terry and couldn’t make a forward run.

In a physical battle, Chelsea’s defenders were never afraid of any attacker.

Blocked by Cahill, Gareth Bale was forced to run towards the center.

Ashley Cole was positioned slightly further forward but also instinctively shifted towards the middle.

He needed to maintain distance with his teammates to avoid leaving a gap.

Modrić had also moved up, just outside the arc of the penalty area, which made Ramires hesitant to drop back into the box.

Khedira, on the left outside the arc, and William, at the left corner of the box, both closed in on Toni Kroos simultaneously.

One on one.

It seemed like there were no passing lanes left.

But just when everyone thought so, Toni Kroos took two quick strides, caught up to the ball, and sent a chipped diagonal long pass with his right foot.

The football flew from the left channel near the 30-meter area, diagonally over the arc, over the penalty spot, over the heads of Cahill, Terry, and others, and landed near the byline on the right side of the six-yard box.

While everyone was stunned, wondering how Toni Kroos had managed that pass, a red figure quickly made a diagonal run from outside of Ashley Cole towards the bottom of the six-yard box.

The Chelsea left-back’s attention had been focused on the center, and caught off guard, by the time he reacted, it was too late to catch up.

It turned out that the reason Toni Kroos had dribbled horizontally was not because he couldn’t find a passing lane.

He was waiting for Piszczek to make an overlapping run!

The Polish right-back sprinted to the right byline of the six-yard box, and Toni Kroos’s diagonal pass Arrived at full tilt.

Over the past few years, the two had combined like this many times.

Piszczek used his right foot to chip Kroos’s diagonal pass back towards the center.

Due to Piszczek’s forward run, both of Chelsea’s centre-backs, Gary Cahill and Terry, had simultaneously dropped back in front of the goal.

Only Ivanović remained near the left corner of the six-yard box, guarding against Giroud.

As the ball flew over, Giroud leaped high to meet Piszczek’s chipped pass. With no angle to shoot, Giroud headed the ball back towards the center of the six-yard box.

And at almost the same time, Gareth Bale surged forward.

From this position, his left foot was awkward, but without taking a touch with his right, he met Giroud’s flick-on and unleashed a furious shot.

The ball, moving at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye, drilled into the left side of Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, a thunderous right-footed shot from Gareth Bale!”

“1-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese have successfully equalized just before the end of the first half!”

“My goodness, this has been a fantastic first half, with both teams attacking and defending.”

“Bayswater Chinese persisted with their attack, but Chelsea’s defend and counter-attack was also very sharp.”

“At the crucial moment, Yang Cheng’s touchline management has once again proven effective!”

“This goal is so incredibly important for Bayswater Chinese!”

“Going into halftime with the score at 1-1 will be very advantageous for Bayswater Chinese’s situation in the second half!”

…

Ultimately, the first half did indeed end in a 1-1 draw.

During halftime, when Yang Cheng returned to the away dressing room at Stamford Bridge, the first piece of news he received was that Mourinho had received a yellow card.

Just now in the players’ tunnel, Mourinho, extremely dissatisfied with the conceded goal, had been pestering head referee Howard Webb, protesting that Piszczek’s pass had gone out of bounds.

Webb stated it had not, and that his decision was supported by the linesman.

But Mourinho refused to accept it, argued with Webb for a few more sentences, and was subsequently shown a yellow card.

Yang Cheng didn’t comment on the matter.

However, he believed that Mourinho was probably trying to influence Webb’s officiating.

After all, this was Stamford Bridge!

Upon entering the dressing room, Yang Cheng’s first words were to affirm the players’ performance, especially the final goal.

“Our tactics for the second half remain unchanged. We’ll use chipped long passes and switches of play, primarily using the two flanks to create chances, break through Chelsea’s defensive line, and create threats.”

Yang Cheng used the tactics board to express his ideas more clearly.

“Also, in the second half, Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta’s stamina will be heavily depleted, and that will become our opportunity!”

“So, don’t feel any pressure. Just play at our rhythm, and in the second half, we will definitely conquer Stamford Bridge!”

Yang Cheng was full of confidence about this.

But just as he finished his halftime pep talk and sent the players back onto the pitch, he received news from another match.

In another showdown played earlier in the day, Liverpool had thrashed Arsenal 5-3 at home!

Yang Cheng was very surprised.

What shocked him even more was that Liverpool had scored four goals in the first 20 minutes.

After that, Arsenal scored three in a row and were even on the verge of equalizing.

But unexpectedly, after the second half began, in the 69th minute, a goal from Rakitić helped The Reds secure the victory at home.

Mancini had done a great job of molding Liverpool this season.

Most importantly, their attack up front was flowing smoothly.

The combination of Coutinho, Suárez, and Sturridge had allowed Liverpool to unleash an extremely potent attacking force.

Wenger’s team was actually very strong too, but in clashes between top teams, The Gunners always seemed a bit soft.

With this kind of performance, it looked like Arsenal was destined to return to their fate as The Fourth Place Fiend!

Was this Wenger’s destiny?

As for Yang Cheng, this match was one he had to win at all costs.

Manchester City was playing away at Norwich this round, and a win was highly probable.

If Bayswater Chinese couldn’t beat Chelsea, the gap with Manchester City would immediately widen.

This was unacceptable to Yang Cheng.

Chapter 300: A Farce! Don’t Be Afraid, José, This is Just the Beginning! Fake News from La Liga!

With a blast from head referee Howard Webb’s whistle, Giroud kicked the ball to Gareth Bale at the center circle, and Chelsea’s forward, Falcao, immediately pressed forward.

When Gareth Bale passed the ball back to the holding midfielder, Nemanja Matić, everyone was surprised.

They had all expected Chelsea to adopt a high-pressing strategy.

Unexpectedly, apart from Falcao, not a single other player crossed the halfway line.

Bayswater Chinese patiently passed the ball back and forth in their own half, organizing and probing for attacking opportunities.

Falcao merely made a token effort up front, pressing for a short while before retreating to the center circle.

Evidently, Chelsea’s tactic for the second half was still to stabilize their defense first.

But a few minutes later, Bayswater Chinese created another chance.

Once again, it was Toni Kroos who received the ball on the left side, just outside the penalty area. After a slight adjustment, he launched a long cross-field pass.

Piszczek surged forward on the right flank, controlled the ball, passed it to Gareth Bale, and then sprinted towards the byline at top speed.

The Welsh winger controlled the ball and played a pull-back pass towards the byline.

Piszczek caught up to it and sent a low, driven cross towards the front of the goal from near the byline.

In the end, right in front of the six-yard box, Giroud, under pressure from Terry, failed to connect with the ball, and so did Terry.

The ball zipped across the penalty area and out to the left flank.

Eden Hazard chased it down, intercepting it just before it went out of bounds.

The Belgian dribbled forward, shook off Azpilicueta, and delivered a cross to the left side of the box.

Marcelo overlapped, controlled the ball, and unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

The shot was powerful and on target.

But Čech managed to palm the ball out for a corner with one hand.

A cold sweat broke out across the entirety of Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho, agitated, rushed to the touchline, yelling at his players to stay focused and maintain their defensive shape.

Yet, just six minutes later, another switch of play from Bayswater Chinese worked its magic.

Outside the right corner of the penalty area, Gareth Bale controlled the ball, used his left foot to cut inside past Ashley Cole, and was tripped by Cole just as he was about to move horizontally.

The referee’s whistle blew sharply.

An attacking free-kick!

The position was a bit wide, making a direct shot difficult.

But Gareth Bale stood to the side of the ball.

Modrić also stood at the spot.

The two were clearly discussing how to take the free kick.

At the same time, Mourinho saw that damned Gianni Vio emerge once again.

Heaven knows what kind of trick that perpetually gesticulating Italian was up to this time.

At the sound of referee Webb’s whistle, Modrić started his run-up.

Just as everyone thought Modrić was a decoy and Gareth Bale was the real taker, the Croatian midfielder quickly whipped in a curling ball.

At that moment, the players in the box were all on the move.

Chelsea’s entire penalty area descended into chaos.

And amid the turmoil, a powerful figure burst forth, leaping high into the air and directing a mighty header towards the goal.

“Van Dijk!!!”

But just at that critical moment, Čech dived sideways and blocked the ball with one hand.

Everyone in the stadium thought it was a goal.

Only after they realized what had happened did they erupt in thunderous applause and cheers for the Czech master goalkeeper.

Over forty thousand Chelsea fans chanted Čech’s name.

“That save was a masterpiece from Čech!”

“Chelsea’s set-piece defense was breached yet again, but an incredible save from Čech kept the goal safe!”

“That’s the impact of a world-class goalkeeper!”

“In the ten minutes or so since the second half began, Čech has already made two crucial saves.”

“Without Čech, I’m sure the score wouldn’t still be 1-1!”

…

“They’re targeting one of our flanks, hammering it, and then suddenly switching to the other side when an opportunity arises.”

Rui Faria felt very uneasy about the situation at the start of the second half.

Bayswater Chinese’s blitz was simply too fierce!

“It’s no longer a question of whether our players will make a mistake, but… even if we don’t, we might not be able to stop them!”

Mourinho remained silent, but he glanced at his other assistant coach, José Morais.

He saw that the latter’s expression was also extremely grim.

The current situation was indeed dire.

Before he ever started coaching, and even during his first stint at Chelsea, he had always believed that conceding a goal meant someone had made a mistake.

The reasoning was simple: if no one made a mistake, why would you concede?

Benítez shared a similar logic.

His most famous line was: “Give me eleven robots, and I can win every game.”

The logic behind this was that as long as his players didn’t make mistakes, he would win.

From this perspective, he would demand a great deal from his players, using training and various other methods to ensure they made no errors and maintained absolute focus during a match.

By reducing the probability of player error, wouldn’t the team concede fewer goals?

All of this was based on one premise.

If a player wants to do something, he can!

But was that really the case?

After being sacked by Chelsea, Mourinho took some time off.

He watched many matches, studied many tactics, and spoke with many people.

When he calmed down and reflected, he realized that many, including Ferguson and Wenger, believed that most goals were conceded due to player error.

But in reality, some goals were simply unavoidable.

They were unanswerable!

By the same token, some attacks were also unanswerable.

Why?

Because human ability is finite!

Many times, a head coach thinks a player can do something.

But if you put yourself in the player’s shoes, truly in the midst of the game, you’d have the frustrating realization that he can’t!

Or, he can’t do it well.

Mourinho remembered a term he had heard when talking with Yang Cheng.

Margin for error!

That was a long, long time ago.

Yang Cheng had said that when designing tactics, he would leave his players ample room to make mistakes.

Mourinho had thought it was absurd!

Every match demanded a full effort; how could you leave room for error?

But now, as his coaching experience grew richer with the passing years, he began to understand why.

Take Toni Kroos’s long pass, for example.

You know he’s going to pass, and you know where he’s going to pass it.

But you just can’t stop him.

Because he passes too quickly, too accurately.

He always runs into space to receive the ball, and the moment he gets it, he makes a slight adjustment and immediately launches a long pass.

Defenders simply don’t have enough time to stop him.

The ball always moves faster than a man.

Once the ball is passed, the movement of Chelsea’s defensive formation could never be faster than the adjustments of Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

By the time the attack reached them, Chelsea’s defense was still shifting and adjusting.

Mistakes were inevitable!

People would see it as a player’s error.

But what was the reality?

This was another form of being unanswerable.

If a head coach demands his players to move quickly, perfectly defend against the opposition’s attack, and maintain the team’s overall formation…

Perhaps they could manage it once or twice, but to expect it every time, or even most of the time—is that realistic?

If the players can’t do it, isn’t that an unanswerable problem?

Thinking of this, a frustrating fire ignited in Mourinho’s heart.

His pride wouldn’t allow him to simply submit and show weakness.

But his rational mind told him this was not the time to compete with Yang Cheng.

If he still wanted to win, he had to hold the scoreline.

It came back to the same thing.

As long as they could block Bayswater Chinese’s attacks, a goal would surely come!

And so, Mourinho gritted his teeth, strode to the touchline, and shouted the names of Terry and Sami Khedira.

Mourinho’s latest instruction was for the team to drop back their defensive line slightly.

So, Yang Cheng was exploiting the space behind Chelsea’s full-backs and wide centre-backs?

Fine! I’ll voluntarily retreat, tighten up the defense, and deny you that space!

Mourinho had absolutely no psychological burden about ceding the initiative and control of the game.

This was what he did best!

But Mourinho overlooked another thing.

The players of Bayswater Chinese weren’t fools.

On the contrary, Yang Cheng had always given his players a high degree of freedom to improvise within the tactical framework of a match.

When Chelsea adopted a deep defensive block, the Bayswater Chinese players immediately noticed the change.

The team’s tactics quickly adjusted in response.

…

In the 63rd minute, Bayswater Chinese were again attacking down the left flank.

Marcelo, Hazard, and Toni Kroos launched an offensive on the left.

But this time, Chelsea specifically focused on protecting the area outside the box.

Sami Khedira dropped back to block Toni Kroos.

When Hazard dribbled into the left side of the penalty area, he was also surrounded by three defenders.

This made it very difficult for Bayswater Chinese to advance their attack.

Switching play was also difficult.

Marcelo promptly appeared on the left outside the box to offer support.

Hazard shielded the ball amidst the pressure and passed it out to Marcelo.

Marcelo, known as a playmaking full-back, controlled the ball and glanced towards the center of the box.

Giroud was in the middle, and Gareth Bale was on the right; both had pushed up to the six-yard line.

In this situation, if he could get a cross in, they could go for a direct header.

But Chelsea had a line of defenders packed near their six-yard box.

Even if the cross went in, would there be a chance?

Chelsea had now dragged their entire defensive line very deep, leaving Bayswater Chinese no space to attack.

The moment Marcelo got the ball, Azpilicueta rushed out from the penalty area.

But the Brazilian left-back feigned a run towards the byline, then abruptly stopped and cut the ball back, creating a sliver of space.

All of Chelsea’s defenders were focused on him going to the byline.

But as soon as Marcelo cut back, he adjusted and immediately sent in a cross.

To avoid the defenders in the box, the cross had a high arc.

But it wasn’t aimed at the six-yard box; instead, it dropped towards the right side of the penalty spot.

Almost at the same instant, Gareth Bale suddenly dropped back from the right corner of the six-yard box, turned, and sprinted towards the right side of the D.

Chelsea’s defensive line was too deep, and Sami Khedira and Ramires were at the edge of the penalty area.

A gap had appeared between the two lines of defense.

On the right side of the penalty spot, Gareth Bale swung his left foot, using the inside of his foot to bring the ball under control towards the penalty spot.

In his next move, the Welshman pushed off powerfully with both feet, sprinted sideways, and used his right shoulder to block Gary Cahill, who was rushing over to intercept.

Blocked by Gareth Bale, the Chelsea centre-back couldn’t get to the ball.

The Welshman saw it: a clear channel from his position to the left side of the goal in the crowded penalty area.

After a quick adjustment and planting his right foot firmly, he unleashed a furious shot with his left.

The ball flew out with incredible speed, giving no one time to react, and skimmed the inside of the left post before crashing into the side netting of Chelsea’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 63rd minute of the second half, another crucial goal from Gareth Bale!”

“2-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese have completed the comeback!”

“That was a truly magnificent goal.”

“A powerful left-footed shot from the Welsh winger after cutting inside from the right!”

“He’s scored a brace!”

“Chelsea wanted to seal off the space behind their defense, so they dropped deep. But Bayswater Chinese cleverly changed their approach, abandoning attacks in behind and instead targeting the gap in front of their defensive line.”

“When the replay freezes, we can see that Chelsea have many players in their backline, but they are disconnected from the midfield.”

“Marcelo’s pass was incredibly clever; he saw that gap!”

“That’s the role of a playmaking full-back!”

“The situation is now very unfavorable for Chelsea!”

“Mourinho needs to hurry and think of something.”

When Yang Cheng saw Gareth Bale score his second goal and run off to celebrate, he also jumped up excitedly, clenching his right fist.

He glanced over at the home team’s dugout, where Mourinho looked utterly dejected, clearly very disappointed with the conceded goal.

Seeing that expression on the Portuguese Madman’s face made Yang Cheng happier than if he had scored a goal himself.

He even wished he could walk over and give Mourinho a friendly hug to console his old friend.

Don’t be afraid, José!

This is just the comeback.

We’re going to keep scoring!

…

After going down 2-1, Chelsea could no longer afford to sit back.

Mourinho’s team had to push forward.

Otherwise, their home game would truly be over!

Mourinho’s first substitution was to bring on Eto’o for Ashley Cole.

Azpilicueta moved to left-back, and Chelsea returned to their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation.

This was a clear signal to press forward and attack.

After the substitution in the 65th minute, Bayswater Chinese threatened Chelsea’s goal again in the 69th minute with a free kick in the attacking half.

Hazard was fouled by Ivanović while dribbling down the left flank.

Eto’o’s job was to attack and score, so he wasn’t diligent in tracking back to help Ivanović.

This led to Ivanović nearly being beaten one-on-one while marking Hazard.

The Serbian defender’s foul gave Bayswater Chinese a free-kick opportunity on the left wing.

Toni Kroos stepped up to take it.

The German delivered a fast and sharp curling ball that dropped precisely to the center of the six-yard box.

Van Dijk made a sudden run forward, shaking off all defenders, and met the ball with a fierce header, directing it towards the left side of the goal.

Having already hit the woodwork once in the first half, van Dijk’s header struck the left post again, rebounding back into the penalty area where it was cleared by Chelsea’s defenders.

The Dutch centre-back’s heading ability was truly formidable and had become an important offensive weapon for Bayswater Chinese.

But his luck was out today.

Hitting the woodwork twice, what more could be said?

Chelsea immediately made their second substitution.

André Schürrle came on for Willian.

This change was intended to strengthen the attack on the wings.

Moreover, Yang Cheng saw Demba Ba warming up on the sidelines, ready to come on as a substitute at any moment.

But not long after Schürrle came on, as Chelsea began to launch their attacks, the away team seized an opportunity.

After receiving the ball on the left, Toni Kroos sent a diagonal long pass with precision into the space behind the defensive line in the attacking third.

Gareth Bale surged forward at top speed.

Azpilicueta was a right-footed player at left-back, while Gareth Bale was a left-footed player at right wing.

But the Welshman had an advantage.

His right foot, after years of hard practice, was actually quite good.

Thus, after controlling the ball on the right side of the penalty area, the Welshman dribbled straight for the byline and sent in a high cross.

The ball was lofted by Gareth Bale to the area directly in front of the six-yard box.

Giroud arrived at full tilt, leaping high into the air to get ahead of Terry and head the ball towards the goal.

But at the crucial moment, Čech made another key diving save, parrying the ball with one hand.

Before the Stamford Bridge fans could even gasp, Giroud, after landing, quickly scrambled to his feet and, with no one marking him, sent the ball into the net with his right foot.

“GOAL!!!”

“3-1!!”

“A goal from Giroud in the 74th minute!”

“The French centre-forward’s header was saved by Čech, but he alertly followed up with a shot of his own and scored!”

“That was a beautiful quick counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“Although Yang Cheng’s team conceded first in the first half, they quickly scored three unanswered goals!”

“Mourinho’s team has also played very bravely.”

“Although Chelsea dropped back for a period in the second half, overall, The Blues chose to go head-to-head with Bayswater Chinese, a very courageous and bold choice.”

“But as it turns out, going on the offensive against Bayswater Chinese is not a good choice!”

The moment he saw Giroud’s push shot find the net, Yang Cheng had already thrown a forceful punch into the air.

The game is decided!

But looking at how the match unfolded, the victory was actually quite perilous.

Especially in the first half.

No one had expected Mourinho’s team to opt for a three-at-the-back, or you could call it a five-at-the-back, formation.

It was completely unexpected and caught Bayswater Chinese off guard.

As for how they managed to come back, Yang Cheng felt the most important factor was the sheer quality of Bayswater Chinese.

The clearest example was Demba Ba.

After the centre-forward came on as a substitute, he was clearly meant to challenge Bayswater Chinese down the middle and create a threat in the box.

The result?

Demba Ba couldn’t gain any advantage against van Dijk and Pepe.

Whether it was physical strength, technique, or experience, he was outmatched in every aspect.

On the other hand, after Oscar was substituted, Chelsea’s distribution from midfield was affected.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese overturned the scoreline to win 3-1 away at Chelsea!

…

Bayswater Chinese come from behind to beat Chelsea!

This news quickly became a hot topic in the world of football.

Interpretations of the match varied.

Some criticized Mourinho for his arrogance in trying to go toe-to-toe with Bayswater Chinese.

Others believed Chelsea simply lacked the quality.

Still others marveled at the formidable strength of Bayswater Chinese.

But almost all media and fans were praising Yang Cheng.

Because his touchline management during the first half was the crucial turning point of the match.

“The space behind the full-backs and centre-backs became Chelsea’s nightmare in this match!”

The Times even asserted that if Mourinho couldn’t solve this problem, more teams would surely attack this weakness in the future.

Because two of Bayswater Chinese’s three goals were scored through this route.

“Pep Guardiola must be frustrated that Manchester City’s match against Chelsea was before this one!”

“In this highly anticipated clash between top teams, Yang Cheng once again proved his world-class coaching ability.”

“His touchline management is still the best in world football today!”

Gareth Bale, who scored a brace and was involved in creating the third goal, was not named man of the match.

Instead, Toni Kroos was chosen as MVP by Sky Sports after the game!

The reason given was: The German player once again showed the world why Yang Cheng was willing to wait five years for him!

In fact, since his arrival in the Premier League, Toni Kroos had continually proven himself, earning more and more recognition, especially for his passing and long passes.

He consistently had the highest pass completion rate and the highest long pass completion rate in the Premier League.

There were no positional qualifiers; his rates were the highest among all players.

Not even defenders could match him.

It was just outrageous!

And at Stamford Bridge, Toni Kroos once again demonstrated his strategic value.

Statistically, he was unremarkable—no goals, no assists, and even his key passes weren’t particularly eye-catching.

But his importance was clear to everyone who watched the game.

In a post-match interview with reporters, Mourinho also stated, “I didn’t lose to Yang Cheng!”

“The only thing separating us from Bayswater Chinese is Toni Kroos!”

This was undoubtedly a validation of the German midfielder!

The media immediately began to interpret this, suggesting that Chelsea might try to sign Toni Kroos in the summer.

Mourinho gave an ambiguous reply, “Why not? He’s a player every team needs!”

In response to Mourinho’s advances, Toni Kroos, when interviewed by reporters, shook his head with a very cool demeanor.

“I won’t thank the Chelsea manager for his recruitment attempt out of politeness.”

“Because that’s not what I want.”

“Nor do I seek the approval of other teams’ head coaches.”

“For me, the only thing that matters is the opinion of my head coach and my teammates!”

Toni Kroos’s statement immediately won unanimous praise from Bayswater Chinese fans.

Many fans flocked online to show their support and like the German midfielder’s comments.

His cool and aloof manner of speaking was particularly admired.

But his words were so heartwarming.

In other matches played in the same round, Manchester City defeated Norwich 2-0 away, with a brace from Messi.

Manchester United beat Fulham 3-2 at home.

Just as the 25th round of the Premier League concluded, a bombshell story suddenly broke from Spain.

Yang Cheng was going to acquire the relegation-threatened La Liga club, Málaga CF!

This immediately rocked the football world.

All media and fans were stunned by the news.

But after Yang Cheng had acquired OGC Nice in Ligue 1 and Atalanta in Serie A through various means, acquiring Málaga in La Liga now didn’t seem so strange.

…

“This is completely and utterly fake news!”

In Bayswater Chinese’s head office in central London, a hurried Yang Cheng met with key executives from various departments in the conference room.

Adam Crozier assured him, “I swear, since last May, I haven’t met with the Málaga team even once!”

“Then where is this news coming from?” Yang Cheng asked with a frown.

If he had actually done it and been exposed, that would be one thing.

The problem was, he hadn’t!

This was clearly someone trying to drag him into the mess.

He was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

“As soon as the news broke, we traced its origin. The source is in Spain. We immediately contacted our media contacts there, and based on what we’ve gathered, it seems the Middle Eastern owner leaked it.”

Al Thani?

According to the investigation by Bayswater Chinese’s public relations department, the story first came from Al Thani himself during an interview with the Spanish newspaper Málaga Opinion, where he said, “We are in contact with the private team of Bayswater Chinese’s owner, Yang Cheng.”

To be honest, Málaga didn’t have much of a following anymore, and media attention had waned considerably.

But Bayswater Chinese and Yang Cheng were a different story, at the peak of their power.

The moment the news came out, it immediately sparked heated discussions among media and fans worldwide, going viral.

The reality was that Yang Cheng’s team had indeed been in contact with Málaga’s team, including Al Thani.

And it was quite early on.

They had been in contact in 2012 and a few more times intermittently after that.

But in 2013, Yang Cheng ultimately chose Atalanta.

In August 2013, Al Thani sold 49% of his shares to a hotel and resort chain called BlueBay, headquartered in Marbella.

The selling price was a symbolic one euro.

Many people would probably find this astonishing.

Had Al Thani gone mad?

He didn’t sell to Yang Cheng, but turned around and sold to BlueBay for a symbolic one euro?

No, he wasn’t stupid.

Because Málaga had 130 million euros in debt. Although BlueBay only paid one euro, they had to assume the debt and unpaid taxes corresponding to their share.

In other words, BlueBay’s actual acquisition price was over 65 million euros for a 49% stake in Málaga.

At the time, Yang Cheng’s team had done an assessment, estimating it would be over 80 million euros.

The price Al Thani had quoted Yang Cheng was that he wanted to take 100 million euros, with Yang Cheng’s side assuming all debts and unpaid taxes.

After some negotiation, it was lowered to 50 million euros.

But this was still beyond what Yang Cheng was willing to accept, so he chose Atalanta instead.

Of course, the reason Málaga was so expensive was that they owned the Rosaleda Stadium.

Moreover, at the time, Málaga had many talented players like Isco, and their head coach was Pellegrini.

But the current Málaga was a shadow of its former self, and they had also been suspended by UEFA due to their debts.

This season, after 23 La Liga matches so far, Málaga was in 16th place, very close to the relegation zone.

“What kind of trouble is Al Thani trying to stir up this time?” Yang Cheng asked curiously.

“According to our intelligence, over the past season under BlueBay’s management, Málaga has earned over 30 million euros from player sales, but the club has spent almost nothing on new signings. All the funds have been used to pay off debts.”

“So, Málaga’s financial situation has improved significantly.”

“But they still have nearly 100 million euros in debt, and their annual budget has now been cut to 30 million euros.”

In other words, their debt was equivalent to three years of their budget.

“Back when Al Thani acquired Málaga, he once planned to invest 400 million euros to expand the marina in Marbella, west of Málaga. But since 2011, this project has been repeatedly blocked and has yet to start.”

“Al Thani is very dissatisfied with this and is naturally unwilling to invest further.”

“After BlueBay became a shareholder and started managing Málaga, they successfully reduced the debt and eased the financial pressure through a series of operations. That’s when Al Thani started having regrets.”

“He believes that BlueBay didn’t invest a single penny and was only able to relieve the debt by selling off the assets he had accumulated with his nearly 200 million euro investment over the past few years.”

“So, he feels he got a raw deal by selling 49% of the shares for a symbolic one euro.”

“He regrets it now!”

“So, he has filed a criminal lawsuit against BlueBay and the two investment advisors he previously worked with, alleging that the three parties conspired to defraud him of his shares.”

“On the other hand, Málaga fans are very unhappy with the team’s current situation and have been protesting repeatedly, afraid Málaga will be relegated. Pressured by the fans, the Málaga city government is also putting pressure on Al Thani.”

“Either invest more or sell the club quickly.”

“It was under these circumstances that Al Thani made those grand statements to the media, including the claim that we are acquiring Málaga.”

“The most ridiculous part is that BlueBay is also accusing Al Thani of secretly transferring Málaga’s shares without their consent.”

It was a complete mess!

Back in August 2013, after Al Thani and BlueBay reached an agreement, they jointly established a company called NAS 2000, with Al Thani holding 51% and BlueBay 49%.

After NAS was established, it acquired 96.9% of Málaga’s shares for a symbolic one euro.

The remaining 3.1% was held by a small shareholders’ association composed of many fans.

According to the agreement, Al Thani handed over the management of the club, and BlueBay officially took over Málaga, initiating a series of reforms.

But the problem was, Al Thani regretted it.

“According to our intelligence, Al Thani’s regret might be because BlueBay failed to help him with the Marbella marina project.”

“So, just recently, he established another company, NAS Football. He is the sole shareholder of this company, but he has transferred all the shares of NAS 2000 to this new company.”

“When NAS 2000 was established, BlueBay did not contribute capital. Instead, they sponsored Málaga’s shirt for two million euros in the name of their hotel.”

“So, BlueBay was unaware of Al Thani’s transfer of shares.”

“Right now, the whole thing is a muddled affair.”

Yang Cheng was also confused listening to this, but he vaguely guessed Al Thani’s intention.

The Middle Eastern tycoon was deliberately trying to muddy the waters.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this dispute erupted in 2014 and continued to escalate for years. It was a protracted battle that, even in 2024 when he transmigrated, was still ongoing.

There was simply no resolution.

Al Thani felt he had been deceived, losing 49% of his shares for nothing.

BlueBay felt they had been played for suckers, having managed the team and alleviated its debt.

And the small shareholders’ association?

Don’t underestimate them just because of their small stake. They had 2,500 shareholders and considerable influence.

Among them was the chairman of Málaga before Al Thani’s acquisition, Fernando Sanz.

Many might not be familiar with his name, even though he once played for Real Madrid.

But he had a very famous father, former Real Madrid Chairman Sanz.

The very same unlucky fellow who won two Champions League titles in three years, got overconfident, called for an early re-election, only to be knocked out by Florentino Pérez playing the Figo card!

Fernando Sanz transferred from Real Madrid to Málaga in ’99. After retiring in ’06, he became Málaga’s chairman and held the position until 2010 when he sold the club to Al Thani.

But after selling 96.9% of the shares, their small shareholders’ association still held 3.1%.

Neither Fernando Sanz nor the chairman of the small shareholders’ association, Antonio Aguilera, were pushovers.

Why hadn’t Yang Cheng been willing to continue negotiations with Al Thani to acquire Málaga?

It was precisely because he saw the whole thing becoming increasingly complex and very difficult to handle!

So, he wasn’t surprised that Al Thani was now struggling.

If Al Thani could handle something that even he found to be a headache, that would be truly strange.

But he really hadn’t expected Al Thani to drag him into it.

This was so damn ridiculous!

“What’s the public reaction now?” Yang Cheng felt a headache coming on.

As soon as Yang Cheng asked this, everyone present, including Adam Crozier, broke into a smile.

“Did you know? After the news came out, the Málaga Daily and Málaga Opinion both conducted surveys, and it turns out the vast majority of fans actually support us acquiring Málaga.”

Yang Cheng was stunned.

What was going on?

“Really, over 80% in both, and the most influential local paper, the Málaga Daily, had over 90%.”

Yang Cheng found it amusing himself.

Were Málaga’s fans that desperate to sell the club?

“Actually, it’s mainly because after we acquired Nice and Atalanta, both teams’ results improved quite quickly.”

“Needless to say about Nice, but Atalanta is also doing very well in Serie A right now. For many Málaga fans, if the club has to be sold, it might as well be sold to us. At least we have Bayswater Chinese as a backer.”

Hearing Adam Crozier’s explanation, Yang Cheng found the situation rather absurd.

Were they trying to find themselves a rich sugar daddy?

“No, this whole affair is too difficult and too troublesome,” Yang Cheng refused.

Setting aside other issues, the three parties involved—Al Thani, BlueBay, and the small shareholders’ association—none of them were easy to deal with.

If Yang Cheng were to step into that mess, he would probably suffer a huge loss.

The team had always trusted Yang Cheng’s judgment and decisions.

Last year, Yang Cheng had rejected Málaga and chosen Atalanta.

Looking at Málaga’s dire situation now, it was clear that his decision had been correct.

“However, that bastard Al Thani has gone a bit too far. Dragging my name through the mud for no reason, using our popularity is one thing, but making us the scapegoat?”

Yang Cheng was no pushover either.

His code of conduct had always been: If others don’t bother me, I won’t bother them.

But if they cross me, I will retaliate!

“Isn’t Al Thani and his three children drawing salaries from Málaga’s board?”

Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier. “Have the PR department contact either Marca or AS, and leak this story.”

“He wants publicity? We’ll give him more publicity. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to burn him to the ground!”

Xia Qing had always been very cautious in her work.

Whether it was Nice or Atalanta, before any acquisition, she would hire a third party to conduct very detailed due diligence.

She had done the same when Yang Cheng was in contact with Málaga.

That was how Yang Cheng knew about Al Thani and his three children drawing salaries from the club.

The four of them were paid a total of 1.5 million euros per season.

Don’t underestimate this amount or think it’s nothing.

In reality, all their expenses in Spain—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—were all reimbursed.

The Glazer family, who owned Manchester United, did something similar.

“Let’s go with Marca. We have a better relationship with them, so it’ll be easier to manage,” Adam Crozier suggested.

“You decide. If we don’t teach him a lesson, he’ll think we’re a soft target!”

As for whether this would have any impact on Málaga, that was not within Yang Cheng’s consideration.

Besides, he wouldn’t be directly involved.

The news would be leaked by Marca; it would have nothing to do with him.

And besides, wasn’t it the truth?

…

The next morning, the Spanish newspaper Marca indeed published the story in a prominent section.

Al Thani and his three children had been drawing high salaries from Málaga all along.

At the same time, Bayswater Chinese held a press conference in London.

Adam Crozier represented the club and Yang Cheng, denying that Yang Cheng was in the process of acquiring Málaga.

The Bayswater Chinese CEO emphasized that both the club and Yang Cheng would strictly adhere to the regulations of FIFA, UEFA, and the respective national football associations.

“Mr. Yang Cheng has always been a law-abiding operator. Since he took over Bayswater Chinese in 2003, neither our club nor he personally has ever been involved in a single regulatory violation!”

“Therefore, any external news about him acquiring Málaga is a baseless rumor, and we reserve the right to pursue legal action!”

Marca’s revelation, combined with Bayswater Chinese’s clarification, once again thrust Al Thani into the eye of the storm, making the already anxious situation at Málaga even more turbulent.

After two consecutive seasons of selling off nearly every valuable player in the team, this scandal broke, immediately drawing strong protests from the small shareholders’ association.

The association’s chairman, Antonio Aguilera, demanded a thorough investigation into the positions and salaries of the Al Thani family at Málaga.

What was more interesting was that since Málaga was currently under BlueBay’s management, they quickly released damning information confirming Marca’s exposé.

For a time, Al Thani faced a public opinion backlash.

The Middle Eastern “Sheikh” had originally wanted to use the media to build momentum for himself.

He never expected to be devoured by the very public opinion he had created.

And the farce at Málaga had only just begun.

…

Midweek, Premier League Week 26.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Tottenham Hotspur at their home stadium.

After André Villas-Boas was sacked, Tottenham’s current head coach was Sherwood.

In the 19th minute of the first half, Harry Kane, who was in the starting lineup, scored with a poacher’s finish inside the box to break the deadlock against Tottenham.

After that, neither side was able to score again.

It wasn’t until the 53rd minute of the second half that Pogba scored another goal for the team.

2-0!

Then, in the 82nd minute, Harry Kane once again connected with a pass from Theo Walcott, overpowering Kaboul to score a close-range header, sending the ball into the net once more.

3-0!

The English centre-forward had scored a brace!

With more playing opportunities and his physical attributes gradually improving, Harry Kane’s performances were getting better and better.

He had already scored one hat-trick and now had a brace to his name, a commendable performance.

And as the match neared its end, in the 88th minute, Theo Walcott scored again against Tottenham.

In the end, the score was locked at 4-0!

Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing home victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

In the same round, Chelsea drew 1-1 away at West Bromwich Albion.

Interestingly, The Baggies’ goal came from a lob pass played into the space behind the full-back, followed by a cut-back to the center.

It was almost identical to one of Bayswater Chinese’s previous goals.

The most anticipated match of the round was Arsenal’s 0-0 draw at home against Manchester United.

It had to be said, it was not the summit clash everyone had hoped for.

Both Wenger and Ferguson played rather cautiously, resulting in a somewhat constrained game where neither side could score.

This left many fans disappointed.

Liverpool, after equalizing twice away from home, managed to beat Fulham 3-2 thanks to a controversial penalty from Gerrard in stoppage time.

Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 3-2 at home, with goals from Fernandinho and a brace from Messi.

Messi’s two goals came in the 88th and 91st minutes.

And he scored them after coming on as a substitute.

After 26 rounds of matches, Manchester City was at the top of the table with 68 points.

Bayswater Chinese was in second with 66 points.

Liverpool and Arsenal both had 61 points, but The Reds were in third place due to a superior goal difference.

Manchester United was in fifth with 57 points.

Chelsea was in sixth with 51 points.

The Premier League landscape was becoming increasingly clear.

Chapter 301: God of Speed! Big Giroud’s Moment in the Spotlight! Battle with Manchester United, Fat Tiger’s First Roar!

On the afternoon of February 15th, at Cardiff City Stadium.

In the 5th round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese faced Cardiff in an away game.

Yang Cheng once again deployed a full reserve lineup for this match.

In the 18th minute of the first half, Harry Maguire capitalized on an attacking free-kick to score the opening goal for the visiting team.

But in the 27th minute, Cardiff’s former Manchester United striker, Campbell, scored with a swift counter-attack.

The centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and John Stones exposed some weaknesses during that defensive sequence, especially when the team’s defensive line was high and faced a counter-attack from a pacy striker.

However, in the 40th minute of the first half, Pogba scored for Bayswater Chinese.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Cardiff 2-1 away from home, smoothly advancing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

…

On the evening of February 18th, in Dortmund, Germany.

In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage, Bayswater Chinese challenged Borussia Dortmund away.

Before the match, a sudden downpour made the Dortmund night both cold and wet, adding more variables to the game.

After the match began, both sides played relatively cautiously.

Klopp’s team was playing at home and did not want to give Bayswater Chinese any chances for an away goal.

Yang Cheng’s team, affected by the sudden change in weather, appeared exceptionally cautious. Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese were better at passing and moving. The muddy, slippery pitch was not ideal for their style of play.

Before this match, Thiago Silva had finally returned from injury in time and was named in the starting lineup. His centre-back partnership with Pepe was still the one Yang Cheng trusted and relied on the most.

But in the 27th minute of the first half, it was Thiago Silva who launched a long pass, trying to find Gareth Bale on the right flank, only for Subotić to get there a step ahead and clear it with a header.

Borussia Dortmund quickly launched a counter-attack. As Marco Reus charged through the middle with the ball, facing two of Bayswater Chinese’s defenders, the German winger managed to weave through them with continuous changes of direction and delivered a through ball behind the defense.

Mkhitaryan made an overlapping run, received the ball to go one-on-one, rounded the onrushing Courtois, and sent a low shot from the left side of the six-yard box into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

This goal completely ignited the fervent atmosphere in the stadium!

And this scoreline held until the end of the first half.

Throughout the first half, Bayswater Chinese played very poorly. Affected by the heavy rain and the pitch, being the away team, and facing Dortmund’s traditional chaotic style—a flurry of random punches that can beat the old master—they were left somewhat dumbfounded.

In the entire first half, they didn’t even manage a single shot on target. Yes, Bayswater Chinese had seven shots in the first half, but none found the target.

In the second half, the situation remained largely the same.

But in the 58th minute, after tracking back to challenge Mkhitaryan, Nemanja Matić successfully won the ball with a tackle outside the penalty area.

Pepe suddenly darted out, beat everyone to the ball, knocked it forward, chased it down, and then launched a long pass, accurately sending it to the right side of the attack.

Gareth Bale was sprinting forward.

Schmelzer and Hummels were left in his wake.

After catching up to the ball near the byline on the right, just outside the penalty area, the Welshman deliberately slowed down.

As Hummels rushed over, he suddenly cut inside, using his body to shield the ball from Hummels. After stopping the ball, he turned and used his left foot to flick it past Schmelzer, who was attempting a clearance.

Hummels immediately tried to use his body to block Gareth Bale, preventing the Welshman from breaking into the penalty area. But Gareth Bale’s physical strength was in no way inferior to that of top centre-forwards. He held off Hummels and bulldozed his way towards the box.

Just as Gareth Bale was about to burst into the penalty area, Hummels made a decisive sliding tackle.

But he was a step too late.

Gareth Bale accelerated with the ball, cutting horizontally into the box. As Subotić and midfielder Kehl both tracked back to intercept him, Gareth Bale sent a cross pass with his left foot.

The ball traveled diagonally from outside the right corner of the six-yard box towards the left post.

Giroud made a quick run and met the ball with a sliding shot, using his left foot to turn it into the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 58th minute, Bayswater Chinese have finally equalized!”

“An assist from Gareth Bale, and Giroud’s sliding shot breaks through Dortmund’s goal!”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay of that goal.”

“Gareth Bale is simply a beast!”

“Two Dortmund players couldn’t stop him, and he still managed to barge his way into the penalty area.”

“1-1!”

“Both sides are now back on level terms!”

“But Bayswater Chinese have secured a precious away goal.”

…

After equalizing, Bayswater Chinese actually had more opportunities.

Yang Cheng clearly noticed that after the 55th minute of the second half, Dortmund’s overall performance had declined significantly.

On one hand, the BVB’s overall strength was a considerable drop from the past.

On the other hand, Dortmund’s players were likely beginning to feel the strain of Klopp’s tactical style.

This was all within Yang Cheng’s expectations.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese started to press on, taking the initiative to attack.

The most threatening chance came in the 70th minute when Eden Hazard cut inside from the left with the ball and passed to Modrić. The Croatian sent a through ball, putting Giroud through one-on-one.

The French centre-forward likely wanted to pass to Gareth Bale, a gesture of returning the favor. But his intention was too obvious, and the pass was intercepted by Hummels. A one-on-one opportunity was squandered just like that.

Gareth Bale himself had a long shot after cutting in from the right, as well as a three-on-three counter-attack in the 88th minute. But neither attack resulted in a goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese drew 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund away from home.

The good news, however, was that in this match, Sven Bender, Schmelzer, and Subotić all received yellow cards. All three players would be suspended for the second leg.

After the match, Dortmund also announced that their key midfielder, Gündoğan, had been injured.

Yang Cheng didn’t see this as a stroke of luck from the heavens. To put it bluntly, Klopp’s tactical style was extremely draining on the players’ bodies. After a certain point, a rapid decline or an injury crisis was inevitable. Dortmund’s current situation was undoubtedly a case in point.

…

On the afternoon of February 22nd, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 27, Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

The efficiency of the officials at the Department for Sport was appallingly low. Before this match, they had not even held a hearing for Casemiro’s work permit application. This meant Nemanja Matić had to start again in this match after playing against Dortmund.

Although Aston Villa were currently 13th in the Premier League, they were only three points above the relegation zone. The situation was still very dangerous, so they couldn’t afford any complacency.

Away from home, Villa set up to defend with all their might. For them, earning a single point at the Prudential Stadium would be a victory.

Under these circumstances, after a comprehensive assessment with the coaching staff, Yang Cheng concluded that starting Stones as a holding midfielder or having Pogba play out of position were both too risky. Besides, the most important thing in this match was the attack.

Bayswater Chinese attacked, while Aston Villa defended with everything they had.

The two sides were deadlocked for the entire match.

Yang Cheng began making a series of substitutions from the 70th minute onwards, continually strengthening the attack.

But it wasn’t until the 92nd minute that Gareth Bale crossed from the left. Harry Kane took a power shot from the arc of the penalty area, which deflected off a defender and fell into the box.

At the penalty spot, with his back to goal, Giroud got to the loose ball, shielded it, turned past Aston Villa’s centre-back Ron Vlaar, and fired home with his left foot.

1-0!

This was the only goal of the entire match!

Following his last-minute winner against Arsenal in the 19th round, Big Giroud had once again delivered a crucial late goal!

Moreover, he had just scored in the Champions League knockout stage to help the team draw away at Dortmund. All of this earned Giroud widespread praise from the media and fans after the match.

The French centre-forward was finally having his moment in the spotlight!

Affected by their European campaigns, all the top Premier League teams performed averagely in this round.

Chelsea secured a 1-0 last-minute winner at home against Everton. Mourinho’s team had it even tougher than Yang Cheng’s; their goal from Lampard didn’t come until the sixth minute of stoppage time. Consequently, Everton manager David Moyes was furious, believing the added time was excessive. Moyes accused referee Lee Probert of favoring Chelsea by allowing for such an extended period of stoppage time.

Arsenal came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 at home after conceding first. The hero of the last-minute winner was Koscielny, scoring in the 87th minute.

Manchester City defeated Stoke City 1-0 at home, with Yaya Touré as the goalscorer.

Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-0 away. But Ferguson’s team’s first goal was a controversial penalty. The two goals came within five minutes of each other, and Crystal Palace were also very dissatisfied, believing the incorrect penalty decision cost them the home game.

Liverpool, meanwhile, beat Swansea City 4-3 at home. The Reds’ performance this season was indeed eye-catching, but it also exposed serious problems. Their attack was sharp, but their defense was a huge liability. Often, while they were scoring at one end, they were conceding at the other. It really didn’t look like a team coached by an Italian manager.

…

Before the 28th round of the Premier League, news finally came from the sluggish Department for Sport. The hearing for Casemiro’s work permit application was held at The FA headquarters in SOHO Square, London.

As the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng accompanied Casemiro to the hearing.

As a witness, Ancelotti flew in specially from Madrid, Spain to London to testify for Casemiro.

This reminded Yang Cheng of the time Modrić applied for his work permit. Back then, Bayswater Chinese were not as formidable as they were now, and Yang Cheng’s network in European football was not as extensive. He had to build good relations with Dinamo Zagreb just to find someone to testify for Modrić.

And now?

The people from Dinamo Zagreb were all very courteous whenever they saw Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng was also very generous to Ancelotti. Not only did he cover all travel and accommodation expenses, but he also gave him a carefully selected, lavish gift. He knew Ancelotti enjoyed smoking, especially cigars. So, he had someone find a box of exquisite, handmade Cuban cigars.

Yang Cheng didn’t smoke, so he knew nothing about cigars, but judging from the way Ancelotti couldn’t stop beaming when he received the gift, it was undoubtedly something special.

The entire hearing went very smoothly, more like a formality. With two world-renowned managers, Yang Cheng and Ancelotti, present, what more could anyone say?

But the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

Subsequently, in the 28th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Hull City 5-0 away.

In the 10th minute of the first half, Gareth Bale received an assist from Piszczek to score the opening goal for the team.

In the 42nd minute, Giroud scored another goal. The French centre-forward had now scored in three consecutive matches.

Just one minute into the second half, Harry Maguire headed home from a set piece.

Then, in the 55th minute, Gareth Bale scored again, completing his brace.

Finally, in stoppage time, Aaron Ramsey scored the final goal.

5-0, Bayswater Chinese demolished The Tigers away from home.

In this round, Arsenal defeated Stoke City 1-0 away.

Chelsea, thanks to a hat-trick from Falcao, beat Fulham 3-1 away.

Liverpool beat Southampton 3-0 away.

The crucial match of this round took place at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Manchester United hosted Manchester City.

To everyone’s surprise, just 46 seconds into the game, Messi beat De Gea.

After that, Manchester City firmly controlled the game.

In the 56th minute of the second half, it was Messi again who scored, further extending Manchester City’s lead.

Finally, in stoppage time, a goal from Yaya Touré sealed the victory.

Manchester City thrashed Manchester United 3-0 away!

The Argentine superstar, with his brace, was dazzling, winning unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide!

Everyone clearly realized that with Messi, Manchester City’s strength had long surpassed that of their local rivals. Ferguson could do nothing about it.

As The Times put it after the match, “The old gaffer’s face was swollen with anger!”

…

Wednesday, March 5th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

“Beep!”

“Good evening, viewers, and welcome to Sky Sports.”

“We are here for the live broadcast of the 2013/14 Premier League season’s 29th round match between Bayswater Chinese and Everton.”

“The match has just begun, and we see Bayswater Chinese’s Modrić play a through ball, Gareth Bale has a chance!!”

“GOAL!!!!!”

“My goodness!”

“Just nine seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese launched a lightning attack right from the kick-off! Modrić sent a through ball, and Gareth Bale broke through between Everton’s left-back Garbutt and Alcaraz.”

“Inside the box, a calm left-footed power shot beats the Everton goalkeeper!”

“Just nine seconds!”

“My mouth is actually fast enough to have finished that opening line!”

“The exact time is 9.23 seconds!”

“This breaks the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history, set by Tottenham’s an centre-back Ledley King in 2000.”

“Ledley King’s record was 9.82 seconds!”

“Now, Gareth Bale has bettered it by nearly 0.6 seconds!”

“From the slow-motion replay, we can clearly see that Bayswater Chinese’s start was incredibly sudden.”

“They were obviously looking for a fast start.”

“Gareth Bale’s run was also very intelligent. He first feinted as if he was going to run down the outside, but upon seeing Modrić advancing with the ball, he decisively changed his route and cut inside.”

“Garbutt and Alcaraz clearly didn’t react in time.”

“The rest was simple. Modrić with the through ball, and Gareth Bale beat the offside trap to go one-on-one.”

“1-0!”

“The fastest goal in Premier League history has been scored!”

“9.23 seconds, remember that number!”

“In 2000, after Ledley King set the record of 9.82 seconds, everyone thought it would be a historical record that would be very difficult to break.”

“But now, Gareth Bale has set a brand new one!”

“Everton are clearly stunned!”

…

After setting the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history at the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese added another through Marcelo in the 31st minute.

Ultimately, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Everton 2-0 at home!

And in the weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final knockout match, Yang Cheng continued with a full reserve lineup.

Goals from Theo Walcott and Kyle Walker in the 27th and 47th minutes respectively secured a 2-1 away victory against Hull City, successfully advancing them to the semi-finals.

After reaching the semi-finals, Bayswater Chinese’s opponent would be Arsenal.

Manchester City also made it to the semi-finals, where they would face Sheffield United.

In the 29th round of the Premier League, Manchester United, who had suffered a crushing defeat in the local derby in the previous round, secured a precious 3-0 victory away at West Bromwich Albion.

Chelsea thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at home. All four of The Blues’ goals came in the second half, and all were scored after Tottenham’s centre-back Kaboul was sent off with a red card.

Arsenal beat Swansea City 2-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-1 at home.

Manchester City thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 at home. Messi once again scored a brace, with Jovetić and Yaya Touré also getting a goal each.

…

On the evening of March 11th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage, second leg. Bayswater Chinese hosted Borussia Dortmund.

Hit by an injury crisis and yellow card suspensions, Borussia Dortmund were already in dire straits before this match. Affected by injuries, the BVB’s overall form was terrible. Klopp was even forced to field Kehl and Şahin as his double pivot in midfield. Kehl’s recent form was poor, while Şahin had not played much.

Even so, Klopp stuck to his trademark style of play, full of grit, passion, and a desire to win.

Playing at home, Bayswater Chinese didn’t hold back either.

From the very beginning, Yang Cheng set his team up for a tit for tat, all-out attack.

Just two minutes into the game, Marcelo pushed forward to join the attack.

After cutting into the half-space with the ball, Hazard suddenly played a diagonal pass to the left side outside the penalty area. Giroud pulled out to the left side of the box to receive the ball, used his body to shield it from centre-back Papastathopoulos, controlled it, turned, and passed horizontally to Marcelo.

The Brazilian left-back had made an overlapping run to the left edge of the penalty area, received the ball, carried it into the box, and delivered a cross pass.

With Giroud having pulled wide, Gareth Bale swiftly moved into the middle, playing the role of a centre-forward, and scored with a brilliant left-footed push shot into the right side of Dortmund’s goal.

1-0!

“Gareth Bale has breached Dortmund’s goal!”

“Just 2 minutes and 47 seconds into the game!”

“Last Wednesday, in the midweek Premier League match, Gareth Bale scored for Bayswater Chinese just over 9 seconds into the game, setting the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history!”

“And now, he has scored again for Bayswater Chinese in under 3 minutes.”

“This is simply incredible!”

“Gareth Bale is truly the God of Speed!”

“His goal has given Bayswater Chinese a perfect start!”

“The aggregate score is now 2-1, and Bayswater Chinese also have a precious away goal.”

“The situation is very favorable for Bayswater Chinese!”

“This attack fully demonstrated the clever positional interchanges of Bayswater Chinese’s players in attack.”

“Hazard cutting inside, Giroud pulling wide, and Gareth Bale moving centrally—this kind of offensive combination left Dortmund’s defenders completely disoriented.”

…

After scoring, Bayswater Chinese did not sit back but continued to press their advantage.

Yang Cheng’s strategy was to take advantage of Dortmund’s situation—suffering from suspensions to key players and an injury crisis—and crush them in one fell swoop.

And in the 8th minute, after Modrić was tackled, Nemanja Matić seized an opportunity, quickly surging forward to play a long pass over the top of the defensive line.

Gareth Bale successfully beat the offside trap, appearing on the right side of the edge of Dortmund’s penalty area. After a chest trap, he took a touch into the box with his left foot. With Hummels tracking back in time, the Welsh winger used his body to hold him off and unleashed a furious shot with his right foot, once again beating Weidenfeller.

2-0!

Aggregate score 3-1!

Gareth Bale had scored a brace!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted with the fans’ wild passion!

It hadn’t even been ten minutes!

Who could have imagined that Bayswater Chinese would unleash such a tidal wave of attacks right from the start, leaving Dortmund utterly helpless. Klopp’s team couldn’t even hold their defense, repeatedly having to pick the ball out of their net.

Just three minutes later, Bayswater Chinese’s attack surged forward again.

Modrić distributed the ball to the right flank. Gareth Bale went on a blistering run, advancing into Dortmund’s 30-meter area. Faced with Kehl, he suddenly chose to cut inside horizontally.

After creating a sliver of space, the in-form Gareth Bale suddenly unleashed a thunderous long shot from over 30 meters out.

The long shot flew towards the goal and was parried by Weidenfeller. But the Dortmund goalkeeper couldn’t even hold onto the ball, a testament to the power of Gareth Bale’s strike!

Then, in the 19th minute, as Bayswater Chinese won the ball back in the attacking third, Gareth Bale was fouled by Kehl while on the ball in the central area.

The Dortmund captain received a yellow card.

It also gave Bayswater Chinese a direct free kick in a very good position.

Gareth Bale placed the ball, then calmly delivered a butterfly ball. The football flew over the wall, dipped sharply, swerved unpredictably in mid-air to deceive Weidenfeller, and nestled into the right side of Dortmund’s goal.

3-0!

Hat-trick!

“This is absolutely insane!”

“Less than 20 minutes into the first half, Gareth Bale has secured the victory for Bayswater Chinese with a hat-trick!”

“The aggregate score is now 4-1!”

“Dortmund are experiencing a nightmare start!”

“Klopp is clearly extremely dissatisfied with his team’s performance.”

“But there’s nothing he can do.”

“Several players are suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, and the team is also affected by an injury crisis. This has led to a severely depleted starting lineup for Dortmund in this match, with several key players unable to play.”

“On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese are at full strength, formidable, and playing at home.”

“With one side waning while the other grows, Dortmund is clearly outmatched!”

After the half-time break, with a match against Manchester United on the weekend, Yang Cheng substituted the Welsh winger early with Theo Walcott after he had completed his hat-trick.

In the 63rd minute, Theo Walcott suddenly accelerated with the ball on the right, broke past Schmelzer on the outside, burst into the penalty area from near the byline, and then crossed to the front of the goal. Giroud tapped it in from close range, scoring another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

4-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle!

Thanks to Gareth Bale’s hat-trick, Bayswater Chinese defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-0 at home, winning 5-1 on aggregate, and smoothly advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals!

In the subsequent Champions League quarter-final draw, a very strange scene unfolded.

Bayswater Chinese were drawn against fellow Premier League side Manchester City!

The top two teams in the Premier League table were to meet so early in the Champions League quarter-finals.

What was even more surprising was that the other two Premier League teams that also reached the quarter-finals, Arsenal and Manchester United, were also drawn against each other.

In other words, this season’s Champions League quarter-finals featured a scenario where four English teams were pitted against each other in a duel.

As soon as the news broke, it caused a huge uproar around the world.

For years, the entire world knew that UEFA wanted to suppress the Premier League. This was no longer even a secret. But at the very least, they used to try to disguise it. Now, everyone felt that UEFA wasn’t even bothering to hide it anymore.

Out of eight teams, what a coincidence that the four Premier League teams were drawn together.

After the draw, the host of the ceremony, UEFA President Platini, even gave an interview to the media, calling it an “interesting coincidence.”

But on the flip side, after these duels, it guaranteed that at least two English teams would reach the semi-finals. According to the tournament bracket, these two teams would not meet in the semi-finals either.

…

On the afternoon of March 15th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League Matchday 30, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

When head referee Mark Clattenburg led the two teams onto the pitch at Prudential Stadium, a deafening roar erupted from the crowd.

When the stadium announcer called out an unfamiliar name, the entire stadium gave a warm round of applause.

Casemiro!

From joining the team in January until now, for almost two full months, the Brazilian midfielder had finally received his work permit, allowing him to play his first match for Bayswater Chinese. And it was in a crucial home game against Manchester United!

Yang Cheng was actually a little apprehensive about this decision.

The work permit had come through just before the Dortmund match. Bayswater Chinese immediately completed all the necessary registration procedures for Casemiro to ensure he could play in the weekend’s game.

But a home game against Manchester United was a huge challenge for any player. Especially for a debut!

Before the match, Yang Cheng had spoken with Casemiro multiple times. The Brazilian midfielder was becoming restless. He repeatedly told Yang Cheng that he was fully prepared. Moreover, after two months of training and familiarization, he understood the team’s tactics and the role of a holding midfielder.

“Please, you must believe me. I will give it my all and do my best!”

Considering the player’s eagerness to play, and the fact that Casemiro’s performance in training, especially in practice matches, was indeed excellent, coupled with the recent packed schedule that left players with no time to rest—with Nemanja Matić in particular working non-stop—Yang Cheng ultimately chose to start Casemiro.

There was a saying that went, ‘Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you distrust!’

Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup for this match was still a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Luke Shaw, Pepe, van Dijk, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and De Bruyne ahead of him;

Attack: Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott.

Having just played against Dortmund in midweek, Yang Cheng had rotated the squad for this match.

Ferguson, on the other hand, stuck with his most-used 4-2-3-1 formation this season.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Evra, David Luiz, Vidić, and Phil Jones;

Midfield: Carrick and De Rossi formed the double pivot, with Nani, Rooney, and Valencia in front of them;

Forward: Cavani.

From Ferguson’s lineup, it was easy to see his intentions. Manchester United, fighting on two fronts, also employed a squad rotation strategy, with players like Juan Mata and Robben on the bench. The front four of Nani, Rooney, Valencia, and Cavani were all direct and physical players. This clearly indicated a plan to use a high-pressing tactic.

So, when Yang Cheng saw this starting lineup, his first reaction was to warn everyone to be wary of Manchester United’s high press.

And his biggest worry was Casemiro.

After all, this was the Brazilian’s debut!

However, worry was one thing. Before the players took to the field, he still gave Casemiro encouragement and affirmation.

…

As referee Clattenburg stood by the center circle, glancing at his watch and ready to blow the whistle, Casemiro stood at the bottom of the center circle in his own half.

He first turned to look at his teammates behind him.

Thiago Silva wasn’t playing in this match. Since his injury, the Brazilian centre-back’s performance had been a bit unstable. After all, being out for two months, it was impossible to regain top form instantly. So, for this match, Pepe was partnered with van Dijk.

The front line was all-English. The midfield consisted of Toni Kroos and De Bruyne.

Casemiro was keenly aware that his task in this match was heavy. But he had been waiting for this day for too long, far too long!

Since joining Real Madrid in January 2013, Casemiro had been longing to play for their first team. But it took half a year before he got some garbage time, and always as a substitute. He only got starting opportunities in the Copa del Rey against amateur teams.

The top four leagues?

They seemed to be beyond his reach.

Moving from Madrid to London, Casemiro felt his luck was about to turn. But the work permit had restricted his participation. He waited and waited. After nearly two full months, the work permit finally came.

In the past two months, he had trained diligently every day, not daring to slack off for a moment. Besides training hard on the pitch, he also went to the gym on his own for extra sessions. He knew the Premier League was extremely physical.

Not only that, he attended every Bayswater Chinese match in person, studied Nemanja Matić’s style and characteristics, and observed the technical traits and playing habits of all his teammates. Every day, he insisted on reading analysis reports and watching match recordings.

The past two months had been more fulfilling than ever before. In his 22 years of life, no period had been like the last two months. He had almost forgotten everything else, his mind completely focused on football.

In training, his improvement and progress were visible to the naked eye. He had been sticking to the special defensive training designed for him by technical coach Danny McGrain for two months. And there was the physical and strength training in the gym.

Casemiro gritted his teeth and persevered through it all.

Now, it was finally time to test the results!

So, when Yang Cheng asked him if he wanted to start or be a substitute, Casemiro chose to start without hesitation!

Even though he knew that making his debut in a top-four league against Manchester United carried immense pressure and was a bit risky.

But that was exactly what he wanted to do!

He wanted to push himself to the limit, to see if he could handle it!

He was fed up with those days of warming the bench at Real Madrid.

…

With a blast of Clattenburg’s whistle, the match began.

As head coach Yang Cheng had predicted, Manchester United pressed forward quickly from the start, closing down at every opportunity. Bayswater Chinese were under pressure from United’s high press right from the kick-off.

Yang Cheng stood on the touchline the whole time, watching his players’ every move. His attention was focused on Casemiro. If Casemiro could withstand Manchester United’s pressure, then Bayswater Chinese could win.

The Brazilian midfielder’s first touch came exactly one minute into the game. Luke Shaw, on the left, was being pressed by Valencia, while Cavani, after closing down Pepe, turned to double-team Shaw. Just as the two Manchester United players were about to close in, Casemiro ran over horizontally and raised his hand for the ball.

After two months of English lessons and a private tutor, Casemiro’s English had improved significantly. At least, communication on the pitch was not a problem.

Luke Shaw quickly passed the ball.

Before Casemiro received it, Rooney was right behind him, waiting for him to control the ball. Alerted by his teammates, Casemiro continued to dribble to the left and passed to Toni Kroos, who had pulled wide to offer support.

Twenty-five seconds later, Casemiro had his second touch of the ball. The ball was still in their own half. This time, Kyle Walker was advancing with the ball on the right, looking to pass to De Bruyne ahead of him, when Carrick suddenly intercepted it.

After winning the ball, the Englishman immediately played a through pass to Rooney on the left edge of the penalty area.

Just as Rooney received the ball, Casemiro charged at him like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, crashing solidly into him. At the same time, he stuck out a foot and dispossessed him.

Rooney was sent tumbling to the ground.

The referee blew his whistle, signaling a foul by Casemiro during the tackle.

Manchester United were awarded a free kick on the left side, just outside the penalty area. But the home fans still gave Casemiro a warm round of applause.

Yang Cheng was a little surprised.

Wasn’t this Fat Tiger a bit too fierce?

That was Little Fatty Rooney. And he’d just been knocked over on their first encounter?

After continuous pressure, Manchester United’s momentum grew stronger. Especially when the free kick failed to create a threat, the entire United team pressed high up the pitch.

Van Dijk, Pepe, and Courtois were continuously passing the ball among themselves. Both full-backs were positioned very wide.

Yang Cheng noticed that as Manchester United pressed into the penalty area, with the centre-backs splitting, Casemiro proactively dropped deep to the arc to provide a passing option. Pepe promptly passed the ball to Casemiro, who skillfully dribbled away from Rooney’s close marking, moved horizontally, and passed to Luke Shaw on the left. This successfully evaded United’s wave of pressure.

Seeing this, Yang Cheng clapped vigorously, shouting praise towards Casemiro on the field.

Over the next three minutes, Casemiro’s performance remained relatively composed. But in the 6th minute, he made a mistake. Manchester United delivered a cross from the right. Casemiro tracked back in time, positioning himself in front of the right side of the six-yard box and winning the initial header. However, his clearance didn’t go far, landing at Valencia’s feet.

The initial work was good, but the clearance was not ideal. Of course, he immediately rushed out to remedy the situation, sticking close to Valencia and blocking the ball out for a corner.

Then, in the 10th minute, Casemiro showed another side of his game. Having weathered Manchester United’s initial storm of pressure, Bayswater Chinese began to push forward and attack.

After receiving a pass from Kyle Walker, Casemiro suddenly surged forward with the ball. He carried it from his own 30-meter area, quickly crossed the halfway line, and charged straight for the penalty area.

At that moment, Yang Cheng truly saw the Brazilian genes in him. Ultimately, Casemiro was brought down by De Rossi outside Manchester United’s 30-meter area, earning a free kick for his team in an attacking position.

…

The game gradually opened up. The pace of attack and defense grew faster and faster.

In the 16th minute, Manchester United won the ball in midfield and launched a quick counter-attack. Nani broke through on the left with the ball and sent in a cross.

Once again, it was Casemiro who tracked back in time, heading the ball clear from the center, just in front of the six-yard box. This clearance was excellent, and his positioning was timely.

In the 18th minute, Casemiro also demonstrated his tenacious, sticky nature. He first charged towards Nani, who had the ball, forcing him to pass back to Carrick. He then turned and pounced on Carrick, successfully winning the ball.

After tackling the ball, and under pressure from a counter-press by United players, Casemiro promptly turned to shield the ball and passed it back to the covering van Dijk.

This earned him a thunderous round of applause from the entire stadium!

Whether the performance was good or not was debatable. But all fans loved to see that kind of tenacious, fighting spirit in their players!

After that, Casemiro engaged in a series of one-touch passes with Kyle Walker, De Bruyne, and van Dijk.

As time went on, Casemiro clearly got better and better. Especially as he settled into the rhythm of the game, his coordination with his teammates became more and more in tune. He played with increasing skill and appeared more composed.

In several physical duels, whether against Rooney, Valencia, or even Cavani, he held his own. He even came out on top at times.

Fat Tiger’s physicality was indeed very good.

What pleased Yang Cheng the most was that Casemiro not only performed well defensively, but when the team’s build-up play was stifled, his positioning to receive the ball was excellent. Whether on the left, the right, or in the two half-spaces, he could appear in the right position at the right time to receive a pass from a teammate. And after receiving the ball, he could distribute it very quickly.

In the first thirty minutes of the game, the score was 0-0. Although Casemiro had a few misplaced passes and one flawed clearance, overall, his performance was commendable. Not sensational, but very solid overall.

“This kid is really smart!” Brian Kidd laughed heartily.

Yang Cheng also nodded with a satisfied smile, “The main thing is he has the stamina, physicality, and technique, so he can be willful!”

Of course, the most important thing was Casemiro’s own strong desire to compete. So, after entering the match, he fought ferociously, constantly moving. In fact, whenever the ball was near his defensive zone, he would contest every single one. That was very rare!

As Yang Cheng had said before, if a team has too much success, the players will inevitably become complacent. At times like these, a player like Casemiro was needed to come in and force everyone to start grinding and competing intensely again.

“In less than a year, no, perhaps by the end of this season, this kid will surprise everyone!”

Brian Kidd felt that Yang Cheng had made another very shrewd deal. Although he had sold an immediate impact player in Javi Martínez, Casemiro had all the right attributes and was already a relatively mature player. Now, with a bit of polishing from Bayswater Chinese, Casemiro was very likely to become a star!

And in the 34th minute, it was Casemiro who quickly closed down Rooney, using his body to block the turn, successfully dispossessing him, and then passing the ball to De Bruyne ahead of him.

After controlling the ball, the Belgian midfielder sent a diagonal pass with his right foot.

The ball traveled behind Manchester United’s two centre-backs, landing on the left side of the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a diagonal run into the left side of the box at high speed, caught up with the ball, carried it to the left of the six-yard box, and cut it back to the middle.

Harry Kane made a late run and scored with a right-footed push shot, sending the ball into De Gea’s net.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted instantly!

Chapter 302: Invincible Bale! Yang Cheng’s Psychological Warfare! Ferguson’s True Love! Conquering the Etihad!

“He’s dug up another gem!”

In the away team’s dugout at Prudential Stadium, Ferguson sighed with a mix of awe and regret as he watched the game unfold.

His gaze was fixed on the midfielder named Casemiro.

Manchester United had very little intelligence on this player.

They only knew he had played well in Brazil but had been consistently overlooked since joining Real Madrid.

He had barely featured this season, and when he did, it was only during garbage time.

So, from the very beginning, everyone assumed he was just a makeweight in the transfer for Javi Martínez.

But then, Bayswater Chinese used the Special Talent Clause for him, and only then did people start to take notice.

Yang Cheng had personally appeared at the hearing, with Ancelotti providing testimony.

What a high-profile treatment that was!

In the past, Yang Cheng had used the Special Talent Clause for players like Modrić and Džeko.

As it turned out, those players blossomed into world-class stars.

Still, most people remained skeptical.

With the current state of football development and the rapid advancements in sports science, wasn’t it obvious whether a player had talent or potential?

How could Bayswater Chinese possibly unearth another hidden gem?

The moment his work permit was approved, Casemiro was in the starting lineup!

The outside world interpreted this as a sign of Yang Cheng’s long-held expectations for him.

And in the match, despite having played for just over half an hour, Ferguson could already feel Casemiro’s quality.

At only twenty-two years old and making his Premier League debut, it was normal for him to have both brilliant moments and mistakes.

What was crucial were the qualities Casemiro displayed.

The Brazilian midfielder was physical and strong in confrontations, especially the challenge that sent Rooney to the ground—it almost made Ferguson drool.

Not only did he have immense stamina, but he was also a workhorse, covering a vast area of the pitch with his incredibly active defending.

He was, in short, the perfect mold for a ball-winning machine in midfield.

But was that all?

Statistically, his passing and dribbling abilities were also quite impressive.

One shouldn’t forget he was a Brazilian player.

Even Brazilian defenders possessed excellent technique on the ball.

Ferguson knew this from personal experience; he had David Luiz in his own squad.

But unlike the liability that was David Luiz, Casemiro appeared diligent and professional.

He wasn’t as flashy as David Luiz, but he didn’t have his flaws either.

After coaching for so many years, having seen so many players and nurtured so much young talent, how could Ferguson not see it?

If Casemiro continued on this trajectory, he would undoubtedly be a success within half a year!

This made Ferguson instinctively turn to look at Phil Jones on the bench.

Ferguson had also been taken with Phil Jones at first sight.

So much passion, such great physical attributes!

But compared to Casemiro, aside from the homegrown player advantage, Phil Jones was inferior in every aspect of technique and awareness.

And unfortunately, it was technique and awareness that determined a player’s ceiling.

“Has Real Madrid lost its mind? How could they send a player like this to Bayswater Chinese?”

Ferguson found it utterly baffling.

If a player like that were at Manchester United, he would certainly be a key prospect for Ferguson to develop.

“It’s probably because Real Madrid lacks the right environment for player development. That’s why Casemiro had no chance there, but at Bayswater Chinese, he not only starts but his performance is improving by leaps and bounds,” assistant coach René Meulensteen said with a wry smile.

This wasn’t surprising; most giant clubs were like that.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was an anomaly among the giants.

“What I’m truly curious about is how on earth they scouted Casemiro,” Ferguson voiced his biggest question.

Watching Casemiro run tirelessly on the pitch, putting in an immense effort, he was genuinely in love!

But the fact that this player didn’t belong to Manchester United left him feeling frustrated.

Meulensteen couldn’t answer that question either.

For years, Bayswater Chinese had managed to pluck impressive players from obscure corners of the world, a feat that had long become a historical mystery for media and fans worldwide.

Some said Yang Cheng had a list of all the players he admired.

Others claimed the Bayswater Chinese scouting system spanned the globe, equipped with its own analytical system to precisely identify talented players.

Still others argued that Bayswater Chinese’s ability to pick players was average, but Yang Cheng’s skill in developing them was the key factor.

The most typical example was Toni Kroos.

What was he like at Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen?

And what did he become after joining Bayswater Chinese?

In short, there were all sorts of theories.

“I heard that Real Madrid was the one who insisted on including Casemiro in the negotiations,” another assistant coach, Mike Phelan, added with a smile.

“According to Spain’s Marca, Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez, wanted to sign Javi Martínez for thirty million euros plus Sami Khedira, but couldn’t reach an agreement with Bayswater Chinese.”

“In the end, they added Casemiro to the deal, and only then was Adam Crozier convinced.”

This rumor came not only from Marca but was also confirmed by The Sun, a paper renowned worldwide for its transfer stories.

Ferguson shook his head upon hearing this.

Could that really be true?

He had his reservations.

Knowing Yang Cheng, this didn’t seem like something he would do.

It felt more like Yang Cheng had methodically led Real Madrid into a pre-set trap, while making them think it was their own idea.

Of course, this was just a feeling; Ferguson had no proof.

But he was genuinely curious. How did Yang Cheng spot Casemiro?

How did he take a fancy to a player who was unknown, had barely played at Real Madrid, and had never proven himself?

And even more, how did he dare to sell Javi Martínez and choose to develop Casemiro?

But he knew this question was destined to remain unanswered.

Yang Cheng would certainly never tell him.

Still, it gnawed at him.

Who wouldn’t want to possess such a talent for scouting players?

Less than two minutes into the second half, Bayswater Chinese launched an aggressive press high up the pitch, with the entire team pushing forward.

As soon as David Luiz received the ball, Harry Kane was on him in an instant.

Walcott, De Bruyne, and others surged forward simultaneously, putting Manchester United under immense pressure.

Just as David Luiz, harried by De Bruyne, played a direct pass to Carrick, Casemiro suddenly darted forward, bursting out from a diagonal position behind him.

The Brazilian midfielder first grabbed Carrick’s arm, gave it a hard tug, and then immediately let go.

This was enough to prevent Carrick from reaching his teammate’s pass in time.

Instead, it was Casemiro who intercepted it midway.

Carrick tried to counter-press but was simply shoved aside by Casemiro.

The Manchester United midfielder was no match for Casemiro’s strength. He turned to the head referee in the center of the pitch, tugging at his own shirt sleeve to protest Casemiro’s pull, wondering why there was no whistle.

But Casemiro paid no mind. After intercepting the ball, he immediately played a direct pass to the right flank.

Walcott burst past Evra and received the ball on the right side of the penalty area. Facing David Luiz, he made a sudden move and instantly broke through the defender’s line.

After breaking through, Walcott made a diagonal run into the box from the right, drawing both David Luiz and Vidić towards him before crossing with his right foot to the far post.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt and tapped it in with ease.

2-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in an instant!

Everyone was celebrating.

Just two minutes into the second half, Bayswater Chinese had scored again, extending their lead.

After going two goals down, Manchester United’s morale took a heavy blow.

Ferguson began making adjustments, trying to strengthen his attack.

But the Red Devils’ offense still lacked a cutting edge.

A crucial reason for this was their loss of control in midfield.

Casemiro’s sweeping presence in the middle of the park was particularly damaging.

The Brazilian covered a huge amount of ground, not just in a holding role, but also frequently pressing high up the pitch.

It was clear to everyone that he had been holding back for a long time and was now unleashing all his pent-up energy.

Under these circumstances, Manchester United found it very difficult to play through the midfield.

As a result, their counter-attacks lacked any real threat.

The deadlock continued until the seventy-third minute. Bayswater Chinese had possession in their deep midfield, drawing Manchester United’s double pivot forward to press, while Harry Kane dropped back.

De Bruyne threaded a direct pass, precisely to Harry Kane’s feet.

The Englishman controlled the ball, turned, and played a through ball. Walcott made a quick run forward, perfectly beating the offside trap. He was one-on-one with the keeper and coolly pushed the shot into the net, beating De Gea once again.

3-0!

A thunderous cheer erupted from Prudential Stadium once more.

Ultimately, this scoreline held until the final whistle.

After the clash of titans at Prudential Stadium concluded, the media and fans were all stunned by the 3-0 scoreline.

Sky Sports commented, “For Manchester United and their fans, the times have truly changed!”

Everyone agreed that Ferguson’s team had shown a very noticeable decline in their ability to control the game.

A significant factor was the aging of Manchester United’s players.

It was a sad story.

Although United had young players like twenty-two-year-old Phil Jones and twenty-four-year-old Chris Smalling, these youngsters shared a common trait: they were not yet ready for a key role.

The Manchester United of today still relied heavily on its veterans.

For example, thirty-two-year-old Vidić, thirty-five-year-old Ferdinand, thirty-three-year-old Evra, and Carrick, who was about to turn thirty-three.

Looking at United’s defense and midfield, although they had stars in their prime like De Rossi and David Luiz, the aging problem was severe.

Evra’s form on the left flank had declined significantly, that much was obvious. In the center, Vidić and Ferdinand were far from the dominant force they were in their youth, and David Luiz was a hit-or-miss liability…

The most absurd situation was on the right flank.

Phil Jones, Smalling, Rafael da Silva…

Ferguson kept rotating young players in that position, but none of them could provide a sense of security.

If the defense and midfield were riddled with problems, what about the attack?

The combination of Cavani and Rooney was certainly excellent, but Robben was frequently injured, while players like Nani, Valencia, Ashley Young, and Juan Mata were inconsistent. There was no fixed system or lineup.

Contrast that with Liverpool.

For the past several years, Liverpool’s defense had been a constant source of criticism.

But this season, Liverpool took a different approach, forging an attacking trident of Coutinho, Suárez, and Sturridge, supported by midfielders like Gerrard and Rakitić.

This meant that although Liverpool’s defense had many problems and conceded a lot, their attack was genuinely lethal.

Their decision to keep Suárez last year proved to be an exceptionally wise one.

Sky Sports believed that Liverpool’s strong resurgence this season was due to their creation of an explosive attack led by Suárez.

Manchester United’s attack, however, lacked such a game-changer.

Neither Cavani nor Rooney fit that mold.

This was most evident in the second half against Bayswater Chinese.

When Manchester United tried to mount a comeback, their attack failed to pose a threat.

“Perhaps, Ferguson really should consider bringing C. Ronaldo back as soon as possible!”

As for Bayswater Chinese, Gareth Bale had already scored twenty-seven goals so far this season, an outstanding performance, and he was likely to surpass last season’s tally.

Walcott had also found the net thirteen times, boasting impressive numbers in both goals and assists.

Then there was Harry Kane, who had now scored eight goals, a new personal best for his career.

But his assists were what truly stood out this season.

Indeed, against Manchester United, he had assisted Walcott’s goal.

Overall, with increasing playing time this season, Harry Kane’s performance had shown clear improvement.

After this match, Casemiro also garnered a great deal of attention.

The Brazilian holding midfielder received a rating of eight for his performance against Manchester United, a very decent score.

For a Premier League debut, Casemiro’s performance was commendable.

He made a number of mistakes, but the positives outweighed them.

In this round of matches, Manchester City thrashed Southampton 4-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated Everton 2-1 away.

Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-1 away.

It’s worth mentioning that Liverpool seems to have become a favorite of referees lately, earning two penalty kicks in this match.

The number of penalties the Reds were getting was becoming almost unbelievable.

Chelsea defeated Stoke City 3-0 at home.

While the Premier League was in its thirtieth round, La Liga had only played twenty-eight.

Real Madrid, away from home, secured a 1-0 victory over Málaga CF thanks to a goal from C. Ronaldo.

The unfortunate team from the south coast had now lost six consecutive matches since their 3-2 home victory against Sevilla in early February, a complete collapse.

Their morale had also plummeted.

The main cause was the chaos within their management.

Additionally, the club had a severe problem with unpaid wages.

Unpaid wages were a common phenomenon in La Liga, so it wasn’t widely discussed.

But as the conflict between Al Thani and BlueBay escalated, the dispute became increasingly sharp and unmanageable.

This led to a state of panic and anxiety throughout Málaga.

After losing to Real Madrid, Málaga’s league position dropped to nineteenth, just five points above bottom-placed Real Betis, making their prospects for avoiding relegation extremely grim.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, had ridden a proud record of seven wins and two draws to overtake Atlético Madrid.

Ancelotti’s team now led the La Liga table with seventy points, three ahead of Atlético Madrid.

Although Javi Martínez couldn’t play in the Champions League, he was performing exceptionally well in La Liga.

On the way back to Madrid from Málaga, Ancelotti saw the news from London and learned about Casemiro’s debut, which left the portly Italian feeling a little helpless.

“Casemiro’s performance at Bayswater Chinese is completely different from his performance at Real Madrid,” assistant coach Demichelis remarked after watching the match highlights.

“It must be that rich football atmosphere in London that nurtures players!”

“It’s Bayswater Chinese that knows how to develop players!” Ancelotti said with a smile.

After a pause, he continued to explain.

“When I attended the hearing, I spoke with Casemiro. Do you know how much Bayswater Chinese has invested in him since he joined?”

“Yang Cheng and his coaching staff have put a tremendous amount of effort and energy into Casemiro, and various departments at Bayswater Chinese have provided him with specialized advice and support.”

“Do you think something like that could happen at Real Madrid?”

Demichelis was silent.

Real Madrid actually had all the resources, departments, and employees that Bayswater Chinese possessed.

But having them and being effective were two different things.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese operated like a coordinated corporate group, with highly efficient internal operations and scientific, rational collaboration between departments.

In contrast, Real Madrid had a sports science department, a medical department, a data analysis department…

But they operated more like a fragmented collection of individual units.

That was the biggest difference!

“Ultimately, it’s because Yang Cheng has been coaching there for so long and has such high prestige that he can unite the entire club into a single entity, with everyone revolving around him.”

“This is actually very similar to how Manchester United revolves around Ferguson, and Arsenal around Wenger.”

“But at Real Madrid, we’re just head coaches on a contract. If our results aren’t good for a single season, or even just for a period of time, we have to pack up and leave.”

“For us, the various departments are just there to provide help; the level of cooperation doesn’t matter. Developing young players isn’t important either.”

“Because by the time a young player is developed, we might not even be around to use them, benefiting someone else for free. We might even be dragged down by it, affecting our results.”

Demichelis’s words hit the nail on the head.

“So, what Bayswater Chinese can give Casemiro, we can’t!”

Ancelotti smiled faintly upon hearing this.

He himself didn’t think much of it; in fact, this was the norm in European football.

But the media and fans outside didn’t see it that way.

They would wonder how Real Madrid could be so blind as to let a talented young player like Casemiro go.

On March 22nd, Premier League matchday thirty-one.

Chelsea, at home, defeated Arsenal 2-1.

Although the Gunners conceded two goals within the first seven minutes, they performed better afterward.

Unfortunately, Mourinho’s team managed to hold on to their lead.

Liverpool defeated Cardiff 6-3 away from home.

The Reds were the same as ever: sharp on offense, shaky on defense.

Among the goals, Škrtel scored a brace from set pieces.

Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Fulham 3-0 at home.

Manchester United won 2-0 away against West Ham United, with Rooney scoring twice.

Yang Cheng’s team faced a stubborn upset attempt from Crystal Palace at home this round.

The London team set up to park the bus in their away game.

After a continuous run of matches, Bayswater Chinese finally had a chance to catch their breath. Yang Cheng made appropriate squad rotations to manage his players’ fitness for the difficult schedule ahead.

In matchday thirty-two, Bayswater Chinese were to play Liverpool away.

Three days later, they would host Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng had to make some preparations in advance.

In the end, it was Gareth Bale who came on as a substitute in the second half to score the winning goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0, a narrow victory for Bayswater Chinese over Crystal Palace.

On a side note, this was Gareth Bale’s fourth consecutive Premier League match with a goal.

This pleased Yang Cheng.

In the past, the Welsh winger was more of an explosive, streaky scorer—once he got going, the goals would flow.

But his goal-scoring form was often inconsistent.

This season, however, he had scored twenty-eight goals in thirty-one matches, spread across eighteen games.

In his last eleven matches, he had scored twelve goals, spread across eight games.

Considering squad rotation and other issues, the Welshman’s goal-scoring consistency had clearly improved.

Moreover, Gareth Bale was now a much more complete player.

He could pose a threat from almost any position in the attacking third, making him an extremely dangerous all-around scorer.

On the afternoon of March 29th, Premier League matchday thirty-two.

The four Premier League teams about to be pitted against each other in the Champions League quarter-finals faced completely different situations.

In the first match of the day, Manchester City defeated West Ham United 2-0 in the first half with goals from Messi and Vincent Kompany, securing the victory early.

Pep Guardiola’s team, playing at home, proceeded steadily and surely, substituting three key players early in the second half.

Manchester United, on the other hand, was the type to lose its way during rotation.

In their away match against Southampton, Rickie Lambert scored for the Saints in the twenty-eighth minute of the first half.

This made Ferguson a little flustered.

Fortunately, a goal from Juan Mata in the second half helped Manchester United equalize.

But after that, no matter how much United attacked, they couldn’t break down the Saints again.

The two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

Wenger’s Arsenal opted for a heavy rotation strategy, as their opponents this round were relegation team Norwich.

The Gunners had an overwhelming advantage in quality.

In the end, goals from Gourcuff and Sagna helped Arsenal secure a 2-0 away victory over Norwich.

The most anticipated match of this round was Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese away game against Liverpool.

The pressure from the title race was immense.

Especially since Manchester City had already secured three points.

On the other hand, there was the pressure of the upcoming Champions League match against Manchester City at home on Wednesday.

And this was an away game.

Yang Cheng decisively implemented a rotation strategy, and his tactics worked.

In the twentieth minute of the first half, from an attacking free-kick, van Dijk once again scored with a header.

The Dutch centre-back’s goal made Yang Cheng incredibly excited.

In his plan, this goal was the hardest part!

But unexpectedly, not long after the second half began, the situation took a turn that Yang Cheng hadn’t anticipated.

As Liverpool launched wave after wave of attacks, the frenetic atmosphere at Anfield, combined with the pressure from title rivals Manchester City, caused players from both sides to start losing control.

In the sixty-third minute, Luke Shaw fouled Suárez, giving Liverpool an attacking free-kick.

Gerrard assisted Daniel Agger to score, successfully leveling the score.

This goal also disrupted Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm.

Just two minutes later, Gerrard played a pass, and Suárez controlled the ball between Luke Shaw and Thiago Silva, turning past the defenders. He broke into the penalty area and laid it off for Sturridge to score.

2-1!

A comeback!

In just two minutes, Liverpool had scored two goals!

Yang Cheng immediately made adjustments, changing tactics to prepare for an attack.

Mancini finally remembered he was an Italian head coach.

He began to focus on defending and counter-attacking.

His aim was to force Bayswater Chinese to press forward, then hit them on the counter.

Perhaps affected by his recent mistakes, Luke Shaw fouled Suárez again in the sixty-sixth minute while defending, receiving another yellow card.

Two yellows made a red!

Yang Cheng could only shake his head on the sidelines.

“The players are under a lot of psychological pressure right now, especially the young ones,” Brian Kidd sighed.

No head coach could do anything when a player had a sudden brain fart like this in such a short span of time.

In the end, Yang Cheng’s team lost 2-1 away to Liverpool!

This was Bayswater Chinese’s third defeat of the season!

After losing this match, the gap between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City widened to five points.

With only six rounds left in the league, it would be very difficult for Bayswater Chinese to stage a comeback.

The last time Bayswater Chinese had lost three games in the first thirty-two rounds was in the 2007/08 season.

And that season, Bayswater Chinese missed out on the Premier League title!

Therefore, the general consensus was that this season’s Premier League title would almost certainly go to Manchester City.

On the evening of April 1st, at Prudential Stadium in London.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City at home.

Long before the match, everyone was speculating about what tactics Yang Cheng would employ.

A Champions League knockout stage, first leg, home game, and the team had just lost to Liverpool, practically losing the league title…

Faced with so many unfavorable factors, how would Yang Cheng play?

Guardiola’s Manchester City stuck with their specialty: possession-based tactics.

Goalkeeper: ter Stegen;

Defense: Leighton Baines, Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with David Silva and Marco Verratti in the center;

Forwards: Jovetić, Agüero, and Messi.

It was nominally a 4-3-3, but in practice, it was more like a 4-4-2.

Messi acted more like a free role player between the midfield and the forward line.

Jovetić and Agüero operated as two strikers.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, continued with their 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

But contrary to many pre-match predictions, Yang Cheng’s tactical approach for this game was very clear.

They barely contested possession with Manchester City and didn’t press high, instead choosing to defend their own half.

When necessary, they even dropped back into their 30-meter area.

This gave Manchester City a lot of space to control the ball.

However, although Manchester City dominated possession and seemingly controlled the game, they were unable to effectively penetrate the heart of Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

This stalemate continued from the first half into the second, all the way until the seventy-ninth minute.

After winning the ball in midfield, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Modrić played a diagonal long pass, switching the ball to the left flank behind Manchester City’s defensive line.

Giroud made a run towards the outside of the left corner of the penalty area, controlled the ball with his chest, and then delivered a cross pass with the outside of his left foot.

Gareth Bale made a diagonal run from the right side of the arc towards the left of the penalty spot. He controlled the ball with his left foot, taking it past Kompany, and then immediately shot again with his left foot.

The ball rocketed into the bottom left corner of Manchester City’s goal!

ter Stegen was powerless against such a powerful shot.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a frenzy!

After conceding, Manchester City decisively intensified their attack.

But Bayswater Chinese became even more focused on defense.

Then, in the eighty-ninth minute, with the match seemingly drawing to a close, Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield again.

Toni Kroos played a direct pass.

Hazard received the ball on the left side of the attacking third and played a cross pass to the overlapping Marcelo.

The Brazilian swiftly carried the ball forward along the left half-space, running swiftly down the flank and into the left side of the penalty area before knocking it across the face of the goal with his left foot.

Giroud in the center couldn’t quite get there in time, but Gareth Bale arrived at the far post, meeting the ball with a sweeping left-footed shot that sent it into Manchester City’s goal once again.

2-0!

A brace!

The Welshman excitedly turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting along the sideline to soak in the cheers and applause from the home fans!

This was also the last goal of the match!

In the end, thanks to Gareth Bale’s brace, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 2-0.

“The two-legged tie is already over!”

At the post-match press conference, a comment from Yang Cheng during his analysis of the game caused a stir throughout the hall.

Everyone was shocked.

They never expected the usually calm and cautious Yang Cheng to suddenly break character and say something so aggressive and provocative.

But Yang Cheng didn’t elaborate on the reasoning behind his judgment.

The outside world largely interpreted his words as psychological warfare.

Guardiola retaliated against Yang Cheng’s comments, stating that Manchester City would definitely turn the situation around and break through Bayswater Chinese’s defense when they returned to their home ground.

“They may have built an impenetrable fortress in front of their goal, but back at the Etihad, we will do everything we can to score!”

Guardiola argued that despite losing the first leg 2-0, Manchester City had enjoyed an absolute advantage in possession.

The Blue Moons’ possession rate in this match set a new record for their games against Bayswater Chinese in recent years.

It was incredible.

Not just Guardiola, but many Manchester City players, including Messi, David Silva, and Agüero, also came forward to declare that the team was determined to overturn the deficit against Bayswater Chinese at home!

This demonstrated Manchester City’s resolve to everyone.

In the Premier League’s thirty-third round over the weekend, both teams made heavy rotations.

Manchester City truly had a huge advantage in their schedule.

Their opponent this round was Hull City.

Even with heavy rotation, the Blue Moons easily defeated their opponents 2-0.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, faced their West London derby rivals, Fulham.

They managed a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Walcott.

Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 away win against Tottenham Hotspur.

But Manchester United had a disastrous result.

Ferguson’s team lost 2-0 at home to Liverpool.

Chelsea lost 1-0 away to Aston Villa.

On the evening of April 8th, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Bayswater Chinese away against Manchester City.

At eight minutes and thirty-six seconds into the match, the away team won the ball in midfield. Toni Kroos sent a long pass over the top, directly into the penalty area.

Giroud, leading the line, made a quick run forward, dragging the two centre-backs, Kompany and Giorgio Chiellini, with him into the box.

But at the crucial moment, ter Stegen decisively came off his line, leaping high inside the penalty area to punch the ball away before anyone else could reach it.

However, the ball didn’t travel far.

In the left-central area of Manchester City’s 30-meter area, Gareth Bale, who had been sprinting forward to form a second wave of attack, suddenly slowed down, judged the ball’s trajectory, and brought it down.

As he controlled the ball, he looked up and saw that ter Stegen, after punching the ball away, had nearly collided with Giroud, Kompany, and Chiellini, leaving the penalty area completely empty.

The Welsh winger didn’t hesitate. After controlling the ball, he lofted a curling shot with his left foot.

The ball sailed in a beautiful arc towards Manchester City’s unguarded goal and landed precisely over the line.

The referee’s whistle, signaling a valid goal, suddenly pierced the air!

Only then did the Manchester City fans in the stadium let out a gasp of astonishment.

Gareth Bale had already turned and run off the pitch, making his signature heart-shaped celebration gesture.

1-0!

Yang Cheng, on the sideline, was beaming, tightly clenching his right fist.

This goal was crucial!

The aggregate score was now 3-0!

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese had secured an away goal.

Manchester City, however, had failed to score in the first leg at Prudential Stadium.

This meant that Manchester City now needed to score at least four goals!

This was Yang Cheng’s psychological warfare!

The reason he had spoken so boldly after the first leg was to put pressure on Manchester City.

But his entire strategy had been formulated before the first leg even began.

At that time, Manchester City had practically secured the league title, and their morale was sky-high.

And Bayswater Chinese?

They had lost to Liverpool, their morale was low, and they had just watched the league title slip away. One could imagine the mood within the team.

Under such circumstances, if Yang Cheng had continued to go all-out against Manchester City as he had in the past, it would have been suicide.

So, he chose to defend.

A great man knows when to yield and when to stand firm!

It could be said that in the first leg, Guardiola won on the pitch, won possession, and won the approval of the outside world.

But he had lost the two-legged tie!

The moment his team failed to get an away goal, the match was already over!

All competitive sports involving humans are influenced by the athletes’ psychological state.

Football is different in that it involves more participants.

But this time, Yang Cheng had directly struck a blow to every single Manchester City player.

If you’re behind, you have to push forward and attack; if you push forward and attack, I’ll hit you on the counter-attack.

A two-goal lead from the first leg with no away goals conceded meant that in the second leg, for every goal Bayswater Chinese scored, Manchester City would need to score four. If they scored two, City would need five.

Could this goal-scoring game even be played anymore?

As it turned out, Yang Cheng’s strategy was correct.

After going one goal ahead, Manchester City continued to ramp up their attack.

For the Blue Moons, the second leg had only just begun.

So what if it was four goals?

They had the ability!

If they could completely suppress Bayswater Chinese, they still had a chance.

Even Guardiola was constantly gesturing from the sidelines for the team to press forward and attack.

But Manchester City’s players were clearly getting desperate.

In the fourteenth minute, Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the center circle in their own half and passed it to Giroud.

Giroud dropped back to receive it and laid it off to Hazard.

The Belgian feinted with his right foot, skipping past the pressing Zabaleta, then sent a diagonal pass over the top with his right foot.

Gareth Bale surged forward at incredible speed, racing towards the right side of the edge of Manchester City’s penalty area.

Chiellini was also tracking back quickly, sticking close to Gareth Bale.

But the Welshman executed a beautiful flick with the inside of his right foot, lifting the ball over the recovering Chiellini. He then turned towards the center, controlled the ball with his chest, and then pushed it horizontally with the outside of his left foot.

The ball skimmed past Kompany and into the unguarded space on the left side of the penalty area.

Giroud, after laying off the ball, had immediately started his forward run. He arrived at full tilt just in time to meet Bale’s pass and unleashed a furious left-footed shot, which once again pierced Manchester City’s goal.

2-0!

“My God, in less than fifteen minutes, Bayswater Chinese have scored two goals!”

“This is exactly like what happened after they scored in the first leg!”

“Manchester City pushed forward to attack, leaving their defense exposed, and Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity!”

“Gareth Bale’s assist was absolutely magnificent!”

“Looking at the two legs, you could almost say the Welshman single-handedly dismantled Manchester City!”

When Bayswater Chinese scored two goals just six minutes apart, both the fans in the stadium and the viewers at home could feel the frenzied atmosphere of the match.

Both sides had clearly lost their composure.

Especially the Manchester City players.

They had to score five goals.

It was a virtually impossible task!

But their professional ethics compelled them to at least try.

So, they continued to launch attack after attack.

But in the twentieth minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a fast break from the edge of their own penalty area, initiated by Nemanja Matić.

Giroud drifted out to the right flank near the halfway line. Unmarked, he controlled the ball with his chest and then played a through ball with the outside of his left foot.

Gareth Bale was then seen bolting from the center circle at lightning speed.

Manchester City’s defenders desperately chased back, but over the length of an entire half-pitch.

How could they possibly catch Gareth Bale at full sprint?

The Welshman’s speed was on full display in that moment as he left everyone behind, catching up to Giroud’s pass just outside the penalty arc.

Facing the onrushing ter Stegen, Gareth Bale performed a skillful step-over, wrong-footing the German keeper. He then took a touch with his right foot into the penalty area and shot.

The ball quickly found its way into Manchester City’s net!

Without slowing down, Gareth Bale turned and once again ran off the pitch, celebrating wildly!

3-0!

Aggregate score 5-0!

“Invincible Bale!”

“Another brace!”

“Manchester City must score at least six goals to turn this around!”

“This is an impossible task for the Blue Moons!”

Even more incredibly, after scoring three goals in quick succession, Bayswater Chinese showed no signs of letting up.

Just as Manchester City, seemingly, still refused to give up and were patiently looking for attacking opportunities.

In the twenty-eighth minute, a misplaced pass in Manchester City’s midfield was intercepted by Modrić, who then passed to Hazard.

Hazard started his run from the center circle in his own half, charging straight through the middle. He quickly broke into Manchester City’s half and played a diagonal pass, switching the ball to the right flank.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball unmarked on the outside of the right corner of the penalty area.

By this time, Leighton Baines had recovered his position.

But in the next moment, Gareth Bale feinted as if to drive forward into the box, tricking Baines into retreating with him.

Suddenly, Bale flicked the ball towards the center with the outside of his left foot, changed direction, and cut inside horizontally, shaking off Baines. He then gave it a gentle nudge forward, just enough to get it past Chiellini.

Bale quickly gave chase, shrugging off Chiellini’s pull with his right hand, and continued his run before meeting the ball with a powerful left-footed shot.

The football shot off his foot like a cannonball, searing through the air in an arc and nestling into the top left corner of Manchester City’s goal!

It was a perfect shot into the corner of the goal!

Despite his best efforts, ter Stegen couldn’t get a hand to it, only able to watch helplessly as the ball hit the back of the net.

The entire Etihad Stadium was left completely stunned.

Gareth Bale had scored a hat-trick!

Less than thirty minutes played, four goals conceded, and the aggregate score was now 6-0!

This meant that if Manchester City wanted to advance, they would need to score at least seven goals.

How was that possible?

The entire Etihad Stadium fell into a deathly silence!

They had been thoroughly conquered!

In front of the home team’s dugout, Guardiola wore a look of utter dejection, clearly blindsided by this result.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, was cheering excitedly on the sidelines.

This was the scenario he had designed before the first leg!

Although there were some minor deviations in the process, the overall outcome was following his plan!

This feeling of having everything under control was truly wonderful!

Chapter 303: The Dominance of the Premier League King! Marching Towards a Three-Peat! A Blistering Goal Run at the Bernabéu!

The result of the summit clash at the Etihad Stadium sent the world’s media and fans into an immediate frenzy!

Even before the match, no media pundit, however confident in Bayswater Chinese, or any die-hard fan could have imagined such a staggering scoreline over two legs.

6-0!

This completely stripped Manchester City of all their dignity!

Sky Sports was the first to publish a post-match commentary piece.

Guardiola’s Football is Dead!

In the article, Sky Sports listed various statistics from the two legs.

The most telling was the possession rate.

In the second leg, Manchester City’s possession still reached a high of 69.5%, while Bayswater Chinese had only 30.5%.

Despite such a huge disparity, Manchester City were hammered for four goals at home.

It was something no one could believe!

“Pep Guardiola’s possession-based football philosophy has encountered the biggest crisis of his coaching career!”

Could this possession-based philosophy truly work in the Premier League?

This concern had been a topic of major debate ever since rumors of Guardiola coaching Manchester City first surfaced.

And this controversy had persisted throughout the entire past season.

To provide Guardiola with maximum support, Manchester City had even gone so far as to activate a 250 million euro compensation fee to sign Messi, safeguarding their new era.

But what was the result?

They were indeed leading the Premier League, and by a considerable margin.

But in the Champions League?

Facing Bayswater Chinese in the quarter-finals, they conceded six goals over two legs.

Sky Sports believed, “This defeat is a failure of Guardiola’s touchline management, and also a failure of Manchester City’s year-long, Barça-style transformation!”

The Champions League broadcaster commented that although Guardiola’s football hadn’t won the Champions League in recent years, his success in La Liga, coupled with the success of Spanish football, had made him an object of study for coaches worldwide.

Countless head coaches were studying how to counter Guardiola’s Barça!

“Yang Cheng is the best of the best among Barça’s nemeses.”

Sky Sports believed that compared to Guardiola’s stubbornness and inflexibility, Yang Cheng’s trademark was his adaptability and versatility.

When Guardiola’s signature possession football arrived in the Premier League, a league seen by all as a technical wasteland, there was a clear incompatibility—something everyone had worried about all along.

“His extreme devotion to the intricate short-passing penetration of La Masia, ignoring the overall style of the Premier League and the existing conditions of Manchester City’s players, has led to Guardiola’s football being unacclimatized in England.”

One of the most obvious points was the defenders.

At Barça, Guardiola had developed centre-backs with excellent footwork like Piqué and Puyol.

But in the Premier League?

Defenders like Vincent Kompany, Giorgio Chiellini, and Jérôme Boateng couldn’t be called technically crude, but they were certainly not on the level of Puyol and Piqué.

Tall and strong, but somewhat slow to turn—these issues became a severe case of being unacclimatized within a possession system that prioritized speed and agility.

“Furthermore, Guardiola’s Manchester City has been in a class of one’s own in the Premier League this season!”

Over the past few years, no matter the team, the Premier League has been known for its wingers.

Bayswater Chinese, the five-time consecutive Premier League champions, had cultivated numerous outstanding wingers.

But what about Guardiola’s Manchester City?

Messi was more active in the center and the half-spaces.

Jovetić?

No, Manchester City’s starting left winger was David Silva.

But the Spaniard was also known for his passing and assists; dribbling down the flank and scoring were not his strong suits.

“In a Premier League where wing play is king, it is quite incredible that Guardiola’s team lacks outstanding wingers.”

Sky Sports stated that Guardiola’s persistence with his football philosophy was admirable.

But as a head coach, he still needed to make more changes.

“On this point, he should really learn from Yang Cheng!”

“Yang Cheng’s team is built on flexibility and versatility.”

“Whether in London or Manchester, the foundations of Yang Cheng’s teams are ample stamina, meticulous tactics, a united team, swift counter-pressing, and sharp counter-attacks.”

“These are all, in fact, traditional characteristics of English football.”

“On this foundation, Yang Cheng has injected more passing and moving combination play. They can play long balls or use short passing and penetration. Their main feature is flexibility and versatility, with a multi-dimensional style of play that leaves opponents unable to defend against them!”

Sky Sports believed that Bayswater Chinese was the role model for English football to learn from at present!

…

As if anticipating the tide of criticism and accusations from the outside world, Pep Guardiola took full responsibility for the loss at the post-match press conference.

“The Champions League is the highest level of competition in Europe. We made some mistakes and were punished for them.”

“I am very disappointed with the heavy defeat. I will work hard to help the players lift their spirits. We must fight for the league title!”

However, Guardiola insisted there was nothing wrong with his possession-based philosophy.

“We have performed very well in the Premier League, dominating the competition with possession football. Therefore, I don’t believe the reason for the loss lies with possession!”

Technical director Txiki Begiristain also expressed his support for the head coach’s statement.

“We faced a team that performed better, was more experienced, and is the strongest team in Europe.”

“For us, being knocked out in the quarter-finals is indeed disappointing, but we are leading in the Premier League. I think this proves we are heading in the right direction.”

“Next, we need to further strengthen and improve the team’s capabilities!”

Besides Begiristain, many Manchester City players also came forward to speak to the media, defending Guardiola and showing their full support for him.

At the same post-match press conference, Yang Cheng, when interviewed by reporters, stated, “Perhaps many people will focus on the second leg, but I want to say that our most crucial match was the first leg!”

Yang Cheng did not elaborate on the specific reasons.

“When we stepped onto the pitch at the Etihad Stadium for the second leg, we were all very calm.”

“Just as I said after the first leg, the two-legged tie was already over.”

“Of course, I didn’t expect us to win by such a large margin in the second leg either.”

Regarding Guardiola, Yang Cheng said that they had a very good relationship.

“I don’t think he’s in trouble. They are still leading the Premier League table.”

“In the last six years, they are the only team that has been able to lead us at the end of the season.”

“All Manchester City fans should be proud of that!”

When Yang Cheng said this, all the reporters were at a loss for how to react.

It was so incredibly imposing and dominant!

This was the aura of a five-time consecutive Premier League champion!

Gareth Bale, who scored a brace in both legs and was named Man of the Match, said in an interview with the media, “The head coach deserves all the credit. He taught us how to win!”

Regarding the two-legged tie, Gareth Bale believed, “After the first leg, we knew we could win!”

As for this season’s Champions League, the Welsh winger was blunt.

“We will challenge for the title, and we will definitely win it!”

…

As a world-renowned “football know-it-all” and the author of Inverting the Pyramid, Jonathan Wilson analyzed the match in his column.

He believed that Yang Cheng had completely figured out the possession-based football philosophy!

“Looking at the two legs, Guardiola’s football had almost no secrets in front of Yang Cheng!”

Jonathan Wilson supported Yang Cheng’s post-match statement, believing the real showdown between the two sides was in the first leg.

After securing a 2-0 home win in the first leg without conceding an away goal, Bayswater Chinese had practically sealed their victory.

“All media outlets will tell you the probability of losing the tie after a 0-2 away defeat in the first leg, but they all overlook one thing: the players’ mentality!”

“Do you remember what Yang Cheng said in the press conference after the first leg?”

“‘The match is already over.’”

“This wasn’t a baseless statement; it was psychological warfare!”

“In fact, look at the match at the Etihad Stadium, look at the mentality of the Manchester City players. It was obvious they were completely outplayed by Yang Cheng.”

“Under such circumstances, any of Guardiola’s tactics would struggle to achieve their intended effect on the pitch.”

“And for Bayswater Chinese, who were sure of victory and full of confidence, they could play however they wanted.”

“This is the gap!”

“The gap between Guardiola and the world’s top-tier managers!”

“He was completely played by Yang Cheng!”

As an armchair expert, Jonathan Wilson did not analyze the match from a technical and tactical perspective this time.

Instead, he approached it from an emotional one.

He believed there wasn’t much to say about the tactics of the two legs.

Yang Cheng willingly ceded possession and didn’t compete with Manchester City for it.

“Because at that time, Bayswater Chinese was in a slump. They had lost to Liverpool and had all but lost the league title. The team’s morale had taken a hit.”

“In contrast, Manchester City’s morale was sky-high.”

“Yang Cheng chose a match strategy that he was most confident in and that best suited the actual situation of Bayswater Chinese.”

Jonathan Wilson stated that both sides adopted familiar game plans, but the difference in mentality, especially the one caused by the first-leg result, led to this one-sided slaughter in the second leg.

“Many people say that Guardiola brought his artistic football to the Premier League and dominated it.”

“But don’t forget, in the Premier League this season, Manchester City’s record against Bayswater Chinese is one draw and one loss.”

“In the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City was subjected to the double by Yang Cheng’s team, and with a humiliating aggregate score of 0-6.”

“Even if Manchester City ultimately wins the Premier League title, they were completely defeated when facing Bayswater Chinese!”

Jonathan Wilson believed that Manchester City’s ability to win the league title was more reliant on their consistent performance throughout the season and the strength of their squad.

But in crucial clashes between top teams, Manchester City was utterly defeated by Bayswater Chinese.

“In the Champions League quarter-finals, Yang Cheng and his team once again proved with their performance that they are the strongest team in world football right now!”

…

Major media outlets and renowned columnists all joined the attack.

The Manchester Evening News stated that Guardiola was trying to copy Barça in the Premier League.

“But after a year’s break, Guardiola’s football hasn’t evolved. It’s still a lot of possession, a lot of passing, but it lacks penetration, lacks shots, and doesn’t create many goal-scoring opportunities.”

“The Manchester City under his management looks very much like the Barça that was humiliated by a large margin last season!”

The Times also commented after the match, “Yang Cheng humiliated Guardiola!”

The article commented that the 0-6 aggregate score was a huge humiliation for Guardiola.

“Last season, when Vilanova’s Barça lost heavily to Bayswater Chinese, Barça fans dearly missed Guardiola. They believed that if Guardiola were still there, Barça would not have suffered such a disgrace.”

“But now, Guardiola’s Manchester City has shown everyone with their actions that it’s the same even with Guardiola in charge!”

The Sun commented that Manchester City’s Champions League dream had ended once again.

“The huge 0-6 scoreline forces The Blue Moons to face the gap between themselves and Bayswater Chinese.”

The Daily Telegraph commented, “Bayswater Chinese slaughtered Manchester City to advance to the Champions League semi-finals.”

“Yang Cheng and his players are marching towards a three-peat in the Champions League!”

The Daily Mail stated, “The two legs were nothing short of a disaster for Guardiola and Manchester City.”

In Europe, other countries remained more neutral about the all-English showdown.

But they were all shocked by Bayswater Chinese doing the double over Manchester City, and by an aggregate score of 6-0.

Spain’s Marca believed that Guardiola had encountered an unprecedented challenge in the Premier League. “He has run into the strongest Bayswater Chinese in history!”

“Guardiola suffered a historic, disastrous defeat, bidding farewell to the Champions League stage!”

Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo also agreed, “A Manchester City with Messi had no chances in the match, not even managing to enter the opponent’s penalty area many times.”

“It proves that after leaving Barça, both Messi and Guardiola have suffered humiliating defeats!”

In the other three Champions League quarter-final matches that followed, in the showdown between Arsenal and Manchester United, Ferguson’s Red Devils, after drawing 1-1 away in the first leg, defeated The Gunners 2-0 at home.

Manchester United advanced to the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 3-1.

Ferguson’s team showed great resilience, especially in the first leg away, where they scraped a draw by defending with all their might.

At a critical moment, Robben’s return to the pitch helped Cavani score the equalizer.

It was also a crucial away goal.

It was thanks to this away goal that Manchester United’s defend and counter-attack strategy was executed even more decisively when they returned home for the second leg.

Real Madrid, after a 3-0 home victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg, drew 1-1 away.

Ancelotti’s team advanced to the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 4-1.

Atlético Madrid, after a 1-1 away draw and a 1-0 home win, defeated Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate to advance.

According to the previous quarter-final draw, upon entering the semi-finals, Bayswater Chinese would face Real Madrid.

Manchester United would face Atlético Madrid.

…

After playing the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Yang Cheng faced Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in an “away game.”

Affected by the Champions League knockout stage, both teams made significant squad rotations.

However, The Gunners’ bench was clearly deeper than that of Bayswater Chinese.

Even so, the two sides were level until the 63rd minute.

In the 63rd minute, Theo Walcott from Bayswater Chinese broke through on the right flank and provided a cut-back pass, assisting Aaron Ramsey in scoring against The Gunners.

But Wenger’s team equalized in the 82nd minute, with Mertesacker scoring from a corner kick.

After that, both teams were deadlocked again.

After 90 minutes of regulation time, the score was still 1-1!

Unlike the previous rounds, there was no replay for a draw in the FA Cup semi-final.

So, the game went into extra time, but neither side could score again.

After 120 minutes of play, the score was 1-1.

The match went to a penalty shootout.

After five rounds of penalties, Bayswater Chinese had missed two.

Wenger’s team converted all five.

In the end, Wenger’s team advanced to the FA Cup final.

Yang Cheng was not disappointed with the result.

As he said in a post-match interview, “This will be an incredibly valuable asset for our group of young players!”

“They experienced a brutal penalty shootout!”

Goalkeeper Robert Green failed to save any penalties, but Yang Cheng defended him.

The media generally agreed that for Bayswater Chinese to challenge Arsenal with such a young lineup and only lose in a cruel penalty shootout was already a very commendable achievement.

Interestingly, in the other semi-final, Manchester City also won, advancing to the final.

In the end, the two teams that had just been knocked out of the Champions League would meet in the FA Cup final.

Incidentally, Manchester City was also this season’s League Cup champion!

…

Midweek, a rescheduled match for the 34th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese played away against Stoke City.

Mark Hughes’ team had spent the last ten days preparing just for this one match.

He confidently stated that his team had a chance to beat their opponents at home.

And it turned out they did perform quite well.

It wasn’t until the 32nd minute that Gareth Bale broke the deadlock for Stoke City.

But in the 40th minute, Peter Crouch equalized for Stoke City.

Just before halftime, midfielder Stephen Ireland put Stoke City in the lead.

However, after the break, Bayswater Chinese equalized again in the 51st minute, with Modrić scoring.

In the 71st minute, substitute Theo Walcott assisted Gareth Bale to score another goal.

The Welshman scored a brace, putting his team back in the lead.

In the 87th minute, Walcott scored the fourth goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 4-2 away against Stoke City.

In the same round, Chelsea beat Swansea City 1-0 away.

Arsenal came from behind to beat West Ham United 3-1 at home.

Manchester United defeated Hull City 3-1 at home.

And in the crucial match of the round, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, after ten days of preparation, Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 at home.

Suárez, Škrtel, and Coutinho each scored for Liverpool, while David Silva scored for Manchester City.

After 34 matches, Manchester City sat top of the Premier League table with 89 points.

Bayswater Chinese was second with 87 points.

Because Manchester City was upset by Liverpool, the gap between the two teams had narrowed once again.

Liverpool was third with 85 points.

Arsenal was fourth with 77 points.

Manchester United was fifth with 72 points.

Chelsea was sixth with 69 points.

So far, the competitive landscape of the Premier League was quite clear.

With only four rounds left in the league, Guardiola’s Manchester City was only competing on two fronts: the Premier League and the FA Cup.

Winning the title was a high-probability event.

Bayswater Chinese was trailing by two points.

But Yang Cheng’s team was about to face the Champions League semi-finals.

Liverpool had performed exceptionally well this season, but it would be very difficult for them to overtake the top two teams.

The possibility of both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City slipping up at the same time was minuscule.

…

Weekend, Premier League match week 35.

This round kicked off with Bayswater Chinese hosting Swansea City in the afternoon.

Just 23 minutes into the game, Modrić assisted Gareth Bale to score against Swansea.

In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Marcelo provided another assist for Theo Walcott to score another goal.

After the break, with the game decided, Bayswater Chinese substituted Gareth Bale and Modrić to rest them for Wednesday’s Champions League match.

And finally, in the 92nd minute, Walcott scored the third goal of the match.

The Little Tiger scored a brace, helping the team secure a 3-0 home victory against Swansea.

Now, all the pressure was on Manchester City.

However, interestingly, Manchester City didn’t buckle under the pressure. Instead, it was Manchester United and Chelsea who fell first.

The Blues, despite Eto’o scoring first, suffered a 1-2 comeback defeat at home to Sunderland.

That’s right, Mourinho’s team had capsized at home.

Manchester United lost 0-1 away to Everton.

Ferguson’s decision in this match was mainly to rest players for the upcoming Wednesday Champions League game, but unexpectedly, Everton snuck a goal just before halftime.

No matter how Manchester United attacked afterward, it was to no avail.

Arsenal won 3-0 away against Hull City, with Benzema scoring a brace.

Liverpool won 3-2 away against Norwich.

Manchester City, on the other hand, scored two goals within the first ten minutes and ultimately won 3-1 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

…

On the evening of April 22nd, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese faced Real Madrid away from home.

Both sides were facing personnel shortages for this battle.

Due to the winter transfer window, Real Madrid had sold Sami Khedira and brought in Javi Martínez, who was ineligible for the Champions League.

Therefore, for this match at the Bernabéu, Ancelotti started Illarramendi alongside Xabi Alonso.

The two partnered in a double pivot, with C. Ronaldo, Isco, and Di María in front of them.

Džeko was the centre-forward.

In defense were Coentrão, Ramos, Varane, and Carvajal.

The goalkeeper was Casillas.

The Spanish national team captain had regained his starting position after Ancelotti’s appointment.

But it was clear that Casillas’s form was far from what it used to be.

This was a common problem for shorter goalkeepers.

Once they reached a certain age and their physical abilities declined, their overall performance was inevitably affected.

And Casillas was about to turn 33.

Bayswater Chinese faced a similar problem.

Casemiro, signed from Real Madrid, was ineligible for the Champions League, so Yang Cheng started Nemanja Matić.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić ahead of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Yang Cheng had briefly considered having van Dijk mark Džeko.

Partnering the Dutch centre-back with Pepe would obviously be better against a tall center-forward like Džeko.

Moreover, Thiago Silva had been injured mid-season, and after being out for six weeks, his form was somewhat affected.

But after much consideration, Yang Cheng still chose the combination of Thiago Silva and Pepe.

After all, it was a Champions League semi-final, and an away game at that.

Right from the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative, launching an all-out attack.

This was the strategy Yang Cheng had decided on before the match.

Playing away, the goal was, of course, to secure an away goal!

Get an away goal, establish an advantage, and the match becomes easier to play.

More importantly, Yang Cheng knew Real Madrid’s weaknesses clearly.

The biggest problem for the Galácticos was that when their two wingers pushed forward to attack, if they lost the ball up front, the full-backs were easily left isolated and helpless, especially on C. Ronaldo’s side, as he rarely tracked back.

Coentrão’s flank would be under pressure.

And on the right, Carvajal, unlike Álvaro Arbeloa or Ramos, was primarily an attacking full-back.

Even if Di María had the intention to defend, he was a winger; once he pushed up, how could he possibly worry about what was happening behind him?

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s attacking strategy for this match was to resolutely attack the flanks.

Previously, the double pivot of Khedira and Xabi Alonso, while also struggling defensively, was still somewhat effective.

But now, with Illarramendi partnering Xabi Alonso, the situation was even worse.

The Spanish midfielder, who had been outstanding at Real Sociedad, had struggled to find his form since joining Real Madrid.

Especially his confidence!

It was clear that Illarramendi’s biggest problem was a lack of confidence.

So, attacking the flanks was the first step; the real ace up his sleeve was through the middle!

For example, in the 5th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack on the right flank. Gareth Bale received the ball, cut inside from the right, and delivered a cross pass.

Toni Kroos made an overlapping run and took a long shot, forcing a save from Casillas who couldn’t hold on to the ball.

Fortunately, Giroud didn’t follow up in time, otherwise, it would have been a chance.

But this shot boosted the morale of Bayswater Chinese.

The away team continued to attack.

Yang Cheng wanted to use his specialty, the opening blitz, to take down Real Madrid in one fell swoop.

The Galácticos, however, chose to defend deep, even retreating.

Ancelotti’s match strategy was actually the same as Yang Cheng’s against Manchester City.

First, ensure they don’t concede at home.

As long as they don’t concede at home, it will be easier to play the away leg.

This led to a completely one-sided first ten minutes.

Bayswater Chinese completely dominated the game, holding a staggering 90% of the possession.

But although they had three shots, none of them posed a real threat.

Just when everyone thought Bayswater Chinese’s blitz was about to end, they finally seized an opportunity.

In the 12th minute, Marcelo made an overlapping run to join the attack, passing the ball to Hazard on the edge of the box on the left, while he himself quickly went to the byline.

This made Carvajal think Marcelo was going to play a one-two with Hazard, so he followed Marcelo.

At this moment, Giroud dropped back to the arc of the penalty area to receive the ball, while Gareth Bale, on the contrary, pushed forward to the right of the penalty spot.

This kind of interchange was a specialty of Bayswater Chinese.

In that instant, Hazard didn’t look for Marcelo but suddenly cut inside after controlling the ball.

Real Madrid’s defenders had clearly anticipated this and immediately reacted.

After drawing Varane out, Hazard quickly passed the ball back to the open space on the left outside the penalty area.

Giroud, running out from the arc to receive the ball, suddenly came to a sharp stop, turned with the ball, evaded Illarramendi, and sent a through pass with his left foot to the arc.

Right to the spot where Giroud had been before he ran out to receive the ball.

One could see that Gareth Bale, who was inside the box to the right of the penalty spot just moments ago, had now dropped back to the center of the arc, with his back to the attacking direction, shielding Ramos behind him.

Facing Giroud’s through ball, Gareth Bale controlled it with the inside of his left foot towards the left side of the arc, then suddenly turned and took a step after it.

Almost at the same time, Varane also sensed the danger, immediately leaving Hazard and quickly closing in on Gareth Bale, trying to block him with Ramos and close down the shooting angle.

The three of them converged at the intersection of the left side of the arc and the penalty area line. Before the two Real Madrid defenders could successfully close in, Gareth Bale took a step ahead and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot.

The ball shot out like a cannonball, streaking in an arc at incredible speed towards the left side of the Real Madrid goal.

Casillas dived with all his might, trying to push the ball away.

But it was too late.

Gareth Bale’s left-footed power shot went straight into the top left corner of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 13th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese scores the opening goal!”

“On the edge of the penalty area, Gareth Bale controls the ball, turns, and unleashes a furious left-footed shot past Casillas.”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay.”

“If Casillas were a few centimeters taller, with slightly longer arms, perhaps he could have saved that.”

“Although Gareth Bale isn’t a centre-forward, his ability to receive the ball with his back to goal, control it, and turn is truly a masterclass.”

“It’s clear he has undergone special training as a centre-forward.”

“The entire sequence of controlling, turning, and then shooting was incredibly fluid.”

“Two Real Madrid players couldn’t stop him!”

“Since the start of the match until now, Bayswater Chinese has had 87% possession!”

“Their fourth shot finally breached Real Madrid’s goal!”

“Meanwhile, the home team, Real Madrid, has yet to even manage a single shot.”

…

“Gareth Bale is just too good now!”

In the home team’s dugout at the Bernabéu Stadium, upon seeing Gareth Bale turn and shoot to score, assistant coach Demichelis, sitting next to Ancelotti, shook his head and sighed.

Ancelotti and the others all nodded in agreement.

Just that move of controlling the ball, turning, and then shooting was top-class centre-forward technique.

Yet it was displayed by Gareth Bale.

A crucial reason why C. Ronaldo couldn’t play in the middle was his lack of such centre-forward skills and abilities.

But Gareth Bale?

Left, center, right—he could play them all!

And he played them all exceptionally well!

“The most important thing is Yang Cheng’s development and protection of him. It’s truly been on point, and he has invested a lot of effort,” Ancelotti said calmly.

Yang Cheng had nurtured Gareth Bale with even more care and attention than Ferguson had with C. Ronaldo.

The reason was simple: C. Ronaldo was more talented and physically superior to Gareth Bale.

But Yang Cheng had painstakingly molded Gareth Bale into a player who could now compete with C. Ronaldo in terms of level and performance.

For that alone, Yang Cheng deserved credit.

Moreover, for a winger known for his explosive power, Gareth Bale had surprisingly few injuries. How could one not be impressed?

Ancelotti had heard during his time coaching in the Premier League that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese were almost constantly monitoring Gareth Bale’s condition.

The sports science department had even conducted special research on Bale’s physical fitness and muscle condition, creating a tailor-made training program for him.

It was said that the department’s advisors included two expert professors from Oxford University specializing in the human body and muscles.

In today’s European football scene, which club could do that?

Neither Real Madrid with C. Ronaldo, nor Barça or Manchester City with Messi, received such meticulous care.

Gareth Bale naturally returned the favor. After Robert Lewandowski’s transfer to Barça this season, he shouldered the team’s attacking responsibilities and performed exceptionally well.

“More importantly, Bayswater Chinese isn’t afraid at all that Gareth Bale will be poached,” Demichelis said teasingly.

Those around him chuckled.

It was true.

Because Gareth Bale was famously introverted and very sentimental about his roots.

There were rumors before that Manchester City wanted to sign him, but Gareth Bale rejected them without a second thought.

The reason given was that it was closer to get back to Cardiff from London.

Of course, that was an excuse.

But according to an explosive revelation by the British media, Gareth Bale had grown up in a close-knit circle of acquaintances.

Despite being famous for years, his parents still lived in the old house where he was born.

After his sister got married, she also moved to live near his old home.

His girlfriend was his childhood sweetheart from back home.

His uncles, aunts, and other relatives and friends all lived within the same community.

The Sun had previously reported a funny story.

Gareth Bale had bought a house in the western suburbs of London, and recently his washing machine broke.

What happened?

He didn’t do his laundry at the club, nor did he find a laundromat. He certainly didn’t just wave his checkbook to buy a new one.

The guy drove 250 kilometers, a three-hour journey, back to his old home in Cardiff, had his mother do his laundry, and then brought it back to London.

Therefore, many people said that it was almost impossible for Gareth Bale to be poached.

Among all the top clubs in the Premier League and Europe, none were closer to Cardiff than Bayswater Chinese, located in West London.

Ancelotti, however, wasn’t the least bit envious of Bayswater Chinese.

Because he also had two superstar wingers.

C. Ronaldo and Di María!

After seeing Gareth Bale run off the pitch to celebrate his goal, the Italian quickly walked to the touchline and gestured to his players, signaling them to press forward actively.

Having conceded first, the game plan had to change.

They could no longer defend deep and counter-attack!

…

After the restart, Real Madrid abandoned their initial defend and counter-attack strategy and took the initiative.

But Bayswater Chinese didn’t just sit back and defend their lead.

On the contrary, Yang Cheng’s strategy was still to fight for more away goals.

This was the mindset of almost all teams playing away in the Champions League knockout stage.

The away goal advantage was just too significant!

Thus, the two teams quickly engaged in a fast-paced, end-to-end game.

The match became more and more open.

In the 19th minute, Marcelo sent a cross from the left. Giroud made a flick-on at the near post, heading the ball to the far post where Gareth Bale volleyed it from nine meters out.

The shot was blocked by Ramos.

The ball ricocheted off Ramos and out of the penalty area, where it was immediately snatched up by Xabi Alonso.

The Spanish midfielder turned and sent a diagonal pass, quickly launching a counter-attack.

Di María received the ball near the center circle on the right.

The Argentine had just received the ball when Nemanja Matić closed him down.

Di María was well aware of the Serbian midfielder’s quality.

But the Argentine reacted quickly. Instead of turning to attack, he dribbled back diagonally towards the right flank.

When Carvajal sprinted forward at top speed, Di María played the ball into his path.

The Real Madrid right-back raced forward with the ball, exploiting the defensive gap left by Marcelo’s forward run.

Although the Brazilian desperately tracked back, Carvajal was a step faster.

Carvajal dribbled into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a cross pass to the left side of the six-yard box.

C. Ronaldo was seen making a high-speed run, and with a push shot, he sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

1-1!

The entire Bernabéu Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

An elated C. Ronaldo turned and ran off the pitch, striking his signature celebration pose on the sideline.

The entire stadium was chanting his name wildly.

…

Buoyed by C. Ronaldo’s goal, Real Madrid immediately launched a wave of attacks.

Having conceded an away goal, the Galácticos were determined to win at home no matter what.

Ancelotti’s team wanted to overturn the score in one go.

When Real Madrid went all out on the attack at home, their momentum was quite daunting.

What’s more, Bayswater Chinese had just gone through an intense opening blitz.

Thus, Yang Cheng’s team quickly found themselves on the back foot.

Just one minute after the goal, Di María sent a diagonal pass from the right, and C. Ronaldo headed the ball from close range.

Courtois securely caught the ball.

In the 23rd minute, it was Di María again who orchestrated an attack. Džeko unleashed an unexpected long shot with his left foot, which was safely held by Courtois.

But Bayswater Chinese quickly responded in kind.

In the 25th minute, during a quick counter-attack, Gareth Bale made a diagonal run behind Coentrão, received a through ball from Modrić, and cut it back to the center.

But Giroud’s push shot from near the penalty spot went straight over the bar.

Yang Cheng clapped from the sidelines.

For that miss, Giroud was definitely going to get an earful after the match!

He assisted the first goal, made the flick-on, but he was also the one who skied the ball!

That’s Giroud for you!

Bayswater Chinese quickly hit back.

Hazard, dribbling on the left, created a corner kick opportunity while combining with Marcelo.

Modrić took the corner from the left, and Pepe headed it from close range, but it was straight at Casillas, who caught it easily.

With both sides trading blows in an end-to-end game, the match became a fantastic spectacle.

The tempo was incredibly high.

Both Real Madrid and Bayswater Chinese were quite accustomed to this kind of pace.

Only Isco seemed a bit uncomfortable.

After 30 minutes, Bayswater Chinese, having recovered, gradually began to press forward again, launching a counter-offensive.

Especially in the midfield and attack, they started to put more pressure on Real Madrid.

And the focus was on the double pivot.

But no one could have expected the match to take such a dramatic turn.

In the 34th minute, Giroud dropped back to press Xabi Alonso, forcing him to pass to Ramos.

This was a sign that the high press was not working.

So, Bayswater Chinese began to retreat into their own half.

Ramos dribbled a few steps forward, and as he exited his own 30-meter area, he sent a diagonal pass towards Illarramendi near the center spot.

The latter was in space.

But just as Ramos passed the ball, Toni Kroos suddenly sprinted towards Illarramendi.

This immediately alarmed Xabi Alonso, who quickly shouted a warning to his partner.

Illarramendi, with his back to the attacking direction, had no idea how close Toni Kroos was.

Facing a medium-range diagonal pass from Ramos, he didn’t dare let the ball linger at his feet and tried to play a first-time back pass to Varane.

But not only was the pass fast, but it was also powerful.

Caught off guard, Illarramendi tried to pass it back in one touch but couldn’t get enough power on it.

Hazard suddenly darted out, intercepted the ball midway, and quickly launched a counter-attack.

Giroud in the center circle also broke away from Xabi Alonso and sprinted forward.

Hazard dribbled forward through the middle, continuously closing in on Varane.

Giroud looped around from behind Hazard, quickly charging towards the left side of the penalty area.

As the Belgian winger dribbled into the arc at the top of Real Madrid’s penalty area, he was surrounded by no less than five defenders.

Varane and Ramos were blocking his path ahead, Xabi Alonso was tracking back beside him, and Illarramendi and Coentrão were retreating behind him.

All of Real Madrid’s defenders were concentrated in the middle.

But Hazard, with boldness from supreme skill, was unfazed.

After charging into the arc, the Belgian feigned a shot and passed the ball to the left side of the box.

Giroud arrived at full tilt, received the ball with the inside of his left foot, adjusted, and shot again with his left.

At the crucial moment, Casillas came off his line to the left side of the six-yard box and made a diving save, parrying Giroud’s shot that was aimed for the far corner.

But Giroud’s shot was just too powerful.

Although Casillas saved it, the ball miraculously slipped between Xabi Alonso and Ramos.

Neither defender had time to make a clearance.

And just at that moment, a red figure, like a bolt of lightning, arrived at full tilt, meeting the ball that Casillas had parried, and smashed it with his right foot.

The football shot like a cannonball, instantly flying into Real Madrid’s goal.

In that instant, everyone was utterly stunned!

“Gareth Bale has scored!!!”

“A brace!!”

“In the 34th minute, Bayswater Chinese scores another goal!”

“It’s Gareth Bale again!”

“My God, look at the slow-motion replay of this goal.”

“At the moment Hazard intercepted the ball, Gareth Bale was still on the right side of his own half, about to track back defensively.”

“But by the time Giroud’s follow-up shot was parried by Casillas, he had already sprinted to the edge of Real Madrid’s six-yard box.”

“What astonishing speed!”

“He ran 60 meters in an incredibly short time!”

“Gareth Bale has perfectly demonstrated what it means to start later but arrive first!”

“2-1!”

“Bayswater Chinese has taken the lead once again!”

Chapter 304: The Top Superstar! A Goal Fest! Reclaiming the Ballon d’Or! Back-to-Back Braces!

When the final whistle blew at the Bernabéu, Ancelotti was staring at the pitch, speechless.

1-2!

That was the final result of the match!

All three goals had been scored in the first half.

After Gareth Bale’s spectacular long-distance sprint and goal, neither side managed to score again.

Real Madrid were wary of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attacks, and Yang Cheng had already gotten the result he wanted.

The match thus settled into a stalemate.

In the second half, Real Madrid had a period where they tried to regroup and fight for an equalizer.

But Bayswater Chinese’s sharp counter-attacks left them with no answer.

Besides, Yang Cheng’s team was genuinely solid in defense.

Real Madrid’s attacks were repelled time and again, and ultimately, they failed to score another goal.

A 1-2 loss was a terrible result for Real Madrid!

But Ancelotti knew in his heart that this was more like paying for their past decisions.

Even before this match, several members of Real Madrid’s senior management, including Florentino Pérez, had already told him.

Real Madrid would not be judging Ancelotti’s performance based on their Champions League results this season.

Because they all knew this wasn’t Ancelotti’s fault.

It was the management’s!

During the winter transfer window, due to Chelsea’s attempts to poach Sami Khedira, Real Madrid chose to sell him and sign Javi Martínez.

While it was certainly an exciting decision, it also meant Real Madrid lost a very important central midfielder.

Javi Martínez was ineligible to play in the Champions League.

Therefore, Ancelotti had no choice but to field a partnership of Illarramendi and Xabi Alonso for this match.

And everyone saw the final result.

Bayswater Chinese’s first goal was scored from the arc of the penalty area.

The second goal came from Illarramendi’s misplaced back pass.

Although it might seem a bit irresponsible to say so, Ancelotti felt that if Sami Khedira had been playing, would a problem like that have occurred?

Losing 1-2 at home to Bayswater Chinese virtually meant that Real Madrid’s journey in the Champions League would end in the semi-finals.

This left Ancelotti deeply disappointed.

He felt that his team could have gone further.

…

The walk from the home dugout to the visitors’ was long enough for Ancelotti’s expression to undergo a complete transformation.

He shed his look of disappointment, replacing it with a smile.

And a piece of chewing gum that he’d popped into his mouth at some point.

Arriving in front of Yang Cheng and shaking his hand, Ancelotti even offered him a piece of gum.

“I don’t smoke, so I don’t have that habit,” Yang Cheng politely declined.

Ancelotti didn’t press the issue.

“Looks like we’ll have to settle this in London!” the Italian lamented.

Yang Cheng looked at Ancelotti with interest, as if to ask: Are you serious?

But Ancelotti’s face was unreadable, appearing utterly sincere.

“A 1-2 loss at home, and you still think you can settle it in an away game?” Yang Cheng laughed.

“Carlo, you should just focus on winning your La Liga title!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added, “You’ve got the Copa del Rey, and if you add the La Liga title, you’ll be able to account for your season.”

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this season’s La Liga had been quite the battle of minnows.

Both Real Madrid and Barça faced their own problems, which allowed Atlético Madrid to sneak in and steal the title.

It wasn’t that Simeone’s team wasn’t strong, but rather that Real Madrid and Barça had shot themselves in the foot.

But now, with Javi Martínez joining during the winter break, Real Madrid’s performance in the league had indeed been solid.

So far, after 34 rounds, Real Madrid were still level on points with Atlético Madrid at 85 points.

With only four rounds left in La Liga, who would have the last laugh was still anyone’s guess.

It was similar to how in the Premier League, Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese were still two points behind Manchester City, and he still had to fight for it.

The only difference was that the competition in La Liga was much less intense than in the Premier League.

In their final four rounds, Real Madrid had basically no strong opponents.

But in the Premier League?

After this match, Bayswater Chinese had to play Arsenal away.

The Gunners were no pushovers.

“That’s not necessarily true. Don’t I have Wenger helping me out?” Ancelotti chuckled.

In terms of the schedule, Real Madrid truly had a huge advantage.

“And you’re so sure I have to go all-out against Arsenal?”

“Of course, unless you don’t want the Premier League title!” Ancelotti said bluntly.

With five consecutive titles, Bayswater Chinese had already achieved something unprecedented, and it was unlikely anyone would match it in the future.

Every step forward was history in the making.

Moreover, Ancelotti believed he knew Yang Cheng well enough to know he wouldn’t give up easily.

It was fair to say that the schedule was Ancelotti’s biggest bargaining chip.

“By the way, I heard Xabi Alonso is really returning to the Premier League?” Yang Cheng asked casually, though it was more of a statement.

Ancelotti’s face stiffened.

This was indeed something he didn’t want to see happen.

Real Madrid’s original plan was that after signing Javi Martínez, they could pressure Xabi Alonso into making concessions.

Unexpectedly, Manchester City made a very generous offer, with a longer contract than Real Madrid’s, so Xabi Alonso ultimately decided to go to Manchester City.

Both sides had a tacit agreement not to announce the matter publicly until the end of the season.

But the media was already abuzz with rumors.

“With Xabi Alonso gone, what will you do about your midfield at Real Madrid?”

In Ancelotti’s eyes, Yang Cheng’s taunting expression at that moment was utterly detestable!

Can’t you just die if you don’t poke people’s sore spots?

Do you know why the Bernabéu fans can’t stand you?

It’s because you’re so damn annoying!

“I’ve already submitted the transfer list. Toni Kroos and Modrić, we will get one of them.”

Ancelotti was no pushover either.

He knew how much Yang Cheng treasured these two midfield stars and deliberately targeted his weakness.

“Have you asked me?” Yang Cheng shot back with an unconcerned smile.

“Then you’d better keep a close eye on your own players, or they might just run off with someone else!”

With that, Ancelotti decided not to linger. He waved his hand and left.

It was best to put a stop to this mutual jabbing and bleeding.

That bastard Yang Cheng was always relentless when he had the upper hand!

Exchanging another word with him was a waste of life!

…

Gareth Bale had become a sensation!

After the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, the Welshman shot to global fame overnight.

Although he had been one of Europe’s hottest top wingers for years, never lacking in championships and honors, he had also faced constant criticism.

Many said he only succeeded because of Bayswater Chinese’s tactical system.

In particular, a lot of his outstanding performances were attributed to suitable tactics and the teammates around him.

The midfield was a given, but up front, it was first Džeko, and later Robert Lewandowski.

Both were world-class centre-forwards who scored goals for fun.

Playing alongside them, Gareth Bale’s stats were astonishing.

Therefore, many felt the Welshman wasn’t as formidable as his stats or on-pitch performances suggested.

At the very least, he had yet to single-handedly dominate a crucial match with a convincingly commanding performance.

But this season, with Robert Lewandowski’s transfer to Barça, Gareth Bale gradually became the undisputed main man for Bayswater Chinese.

The Welshman’s performances began to win over more and more fans.

This was especially true in the recent Champions League knockout stages.

Scoring goals in consecutive matches, netting brace after brace, Gareth Bale left everyone stunned!

Take this semi-final at the Bernabéu, for example.

For the first goal, he looked like a centre-forward.

He controlled the ball, turned, and fired a power shot with his left foot.

The second goal was an overlapping run from deep, a long-distance sprint.

Although it was a follow-up shot from a rebound, the key was his speed, covering 60 meters, and the composure of his final power shot.

After the match, many media outlets declared that Gareth Bale had conquered the Bernabéu!

C. Ronaldo had actually played well in the match, scoring the equalizer.

But compared to the dazzling Gareth Bale, he was ultimately overshadowed.

Yang Cheng publicly praised Bale at the post-match press conference.

“I can’t imagine how, if a player like Gareth Bale can’t win the FIFA Ballon d’Or, then I don’t think these so-called awards need to be held anymore.”

“They completely lack any authority!”

“Gareth Bale is the best-performing and strongest superstar in European football this season!”

“He deserves all the honors and praise!”

Yang Cheng’s words were met with unanimous approval from the media and fans.

In the Premier League, Gareth Bale had already scored 31 goals, equaling his career-best goal-scoring record.

And in the Champions League, he had been on an unstoppable tear, leading Bayswater Chinese through all obstacles to reach the semi-finals.

Especially from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals, he had scored a brace in three consecutive matches.

A player like that, with performances like these, doesn’t deserve the Ballon d’Or?

Yang Cheng’s call was unanimously endorsed by the British media.

Almost all British media outlets began to build momentum for Gareth Bale, universally agreeing that his performance this season was absolutely Ballon d’Or-worthy.

Even the authoritative The Times posed the question, “If a performance like Gareth Bale’s doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or, then Yang Cheng is absolutely right—such an award will lose its authority!”

For years, there had been a consensus that UEFA and FIFA’s major awards had intentionally or unintentionally downplayed the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese had undoubtedly achieved excellent results, but they had always been criticized for lacking a core superstar on the team.

Some even said that in the past, the spotlight at Bayswater Chinese was shared among several stars.

But now, with all the team’s brilliance focused on Gareth Bale, what more was there to say?

The Spanish media quickly retaliated.

Because this was 2014, a World Cup year!

Traditionally, in a major tournament year, the spotlight often shines on the stars who excel in that tournament.

Furthermore, the 2014 World Cup was in Brazil, Neymar’s home turf.

Therefore, the Spanish media believed that the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or would still come down to Neymar and C. Ronaldo.

Messi?

In the past, before the Argentinian transferred, he was always favored by the Spanish media.

But now that he was in the Premier League, things were different.

And when had Argentina ever delivered in a major tournament in recent years?

As for Gareth Bale, there was even less to say.

The Welshman couldn’t even qualify for the World Cup.

The British and Spanish media began a debate over the highest individual honor for a player in 2014.

In terms of public opinion, the British media currently held the upper hand.

But the key would still depend on this summer’s World Cup, as well as performances in the upcoming matches.

If Neymar could truly lead Brazil to win the World Cup on home soil, then there was no doubt that Gareth Bale would once again be tragically left out!

…

Knock, knock, knock!

Yang Cheng, sitting in his office, heard the knock and looked up to see Gareth Bale walk in.

“Boss, you were looking for me?”

“You’re here. Have a seat.”

Yang Cheng pointed to the sofa next to him, motioning for Gareth Bale to sit wherever he liked.

Gareth Bale often came to Yang Cheng’s office, sometimes to be called in for a lecture, other times just to chat.

To outsiders, Gareth Bale seemed rather introverted.

But once you got to know him, you’d find that he just didn’t like talking much to people he wasn’t familiar with.

Inwardly, though, he had his own strong opinions.

And once you were familiar with him, he was actually quite personable.

Of course, he was still a man of few words.

Just like now, after being called over by Yang Cheng, he didn’t ask what it was about, just sat quietly.

He was waiting for Yang Cheng to speak first.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng thought that the excited celebrations on the pitch after scoring a goal were probably the most emotion he was capable of showing.

“You’ve been in great form recently. I’m planning to start you again this weekend against Arsenal.”

Yang Cheng said calmly.

Gareth Bale nodded silently, offering no opinion.

“What do you think?” Yang Cheng was speechless and had to ask directly.

“I think my physical condition is still very good. No problem.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Also, you should have noticed the recent news, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it.”

“Our public relations and marketing departments are firing on all cylinders right now. We want to build momentum for you.”

Yang Cheng was being quite direct.

Surely no one would think that so many British media outlets were simultaneously praising Gareth Bale without a push from Bayswater Chinese behind the scenes, right?

“To be honest, after Messi joined Manchester City, he took some time to adapt, and his performance this season hasn’t been as brilliant as in the past. At least his goals and various stats aren’t as eye-catching.”

“C. Ronaldo’s performance at Real Madrid is decent, but they’re very likely to be knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals.”

“You need to push a little harder now, try to maintain your current form, and go for it with everything you’ve got!”

“You understand what I mean, right?”

Yang Cheng looked at Gareth Bale. He felt he had been clear enough.

Gareth Bale might be a bit introverted, but that didn’t mean he was stupid.

On the contrary, the lad was quite shrewd and immediately understood what Yang Cheng was getting at.

“I understand. Don’t worry, boss. I’ll give it my all!”

Yang Cheng was satisfied with his response.

“I’m not worried about your private life or news off the pitch, but I think on the pitch, you need to be more aggressive, more assertive. When you have a chance, take more shots yourself, try to score.”

Media hype requires a wave to ride on.

News speculation needs material.

In recent years, many said Messi won the Ballon d’Or because of the Spanish media’s promotion.

And that was true.

But at the very least, Messi’s record-breaking goals were real.

“You know, over the years, we’ve developed many superstars, but not a single player has made it into the top three for the Ballon d’Or, let alone won it, while playing for our club.”

This had always been a thorn in Yang Cheng’s side.

Only by having a Ballon d’Or winner would Bayswater Chinese truly solidify their status as a giant club!

Moreover, their commercial value would also rise to a new level.

Especially considering that Gareth Bale was a British player.

“Gareth, push yourself. Help us reclaim the Ballon d’Or!” Yang Cheng said, looking deeply at Gareth Bale with a sense of urgency.

Feeling the weight of his manager’s expectations, and bolstered by the bond they had built over the years, Gareth Bale nodded solemnly.

“Just wait for my good news!”

The Welshman didn’t have a flamboyant personality; he wouldn’t say much to the media.

Even in private, this was the limit of the promise he could give.

But Yang Cheng had no doubt that he would give it his all!

Because this was what he had always wanted too!

…

On the afternoon of April 26th, at the Emirates Stadium in London.

In the 36th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Arsenal away from home.

The Gunners’ overall strength was actually quite impressive.

Up front, they had attacking players like Benzema, Sánchez, van Persie, Nasri, Cazorla, and Rosický.

In midfield, they had Fàbregas, Mikel Arteta, Wilshere, Toulalan, Alexandre Song, and Gourcuff.

It was fair to say that in terms of squad depth, Wenger’s team ranked among the top of the Premier League’s powerhouses.

But Arsenal’s biggest problem this season was their poor record in clashes between top teams.

Of course, it wasn’t terrible either.

Which was why the Gunners were still fourth in the Premier League.

Teams that truly performed poorly in big games, like Manchester United and Chelsea, had already dropped out of the top four.

Before the 36th round of the Premier League, Wenger’s team had no Champions League pressure, giving them a full week to rest and prepare, which was a huge advantage in terms of schedule.

Wenger also fielded his strongest possible lineup.

Goalkeeper: Lloris;

Defense: Clichy, Koscielny, Mertesacker, and Lichtsteiner;

Midfield: Mikel Arteta partnered with Alexandre Song in a double pivot, with Fàbregas in front of them;

Forwards: Sánchez, Benzema, and Nasri.

With van Persie’s frequent injuries, the Dutch centre-forward’s form had been inconsistent, and his performance this season had dropped significantly.

He was on the bench for this match.

Bayswater Chinese made some appropriate squad rotations, but several key players still started.

Ancelotti’s prediction was spot on; Yang Cheng still hoped to defeat Arsenal and keep the pressure on Manchester City.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Pogba and Aaron Ramsey in the center;

Forwards: Theo Walcott, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

After the game kicked off, there was one noticeable change: Theo Walcott was on the left flank, while Gareth Bale remained on the right.

Yang Cheng hoped to create a threat using inverted wingers.

And from the very beginning, both teams went on an all-out attack.

Just 1 minute and 24 seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese launched the first dangerous attack.

After a throw-in from Marcelo on the left flank, Pogba controlled the ball, shook off the defending Mikel Arteta, and unleashed a sudden long shot.

The ball shaved the post and went out for a goal kick.

This sudden thunderous shot sent a shiver down the spine of the entire stadium.

But Wenger’s team quickly responded in kind.

In the 3rd minute, Nasri passed from a central position slightly to the right. Sánchez, on the left side just outside the penalty area, controlled the ball, cut inside, and suddenly fired a long shot.

The position was almost identical to Pogba’s earlier long shot, the angle was similar, and even the trajectory was nearly a mirror image.

The result was the same: it slid past the post.

Both teams had created a threat with their first shot.

It was as if they were telling everyone that this would be a tit-for-tat showdown!

In the 6th minute, Marcelo played a through ball down the left flank. Theo Walcott, near the byline on the left side of the box, saw no shooting opportunity and sent a cross pass.

Harry Kane’s follow-up push shot from the center was blocked by Koscielny.

Pogba controlled the ball near the left side of the penalty arc and took another shot.

Unfortunately, it was still off target.

In the 9th minute, a through ball from Fàbregas found Sánchez, whose push shot from the left side of the box was collected by Courtois.

This end-to-end battle not only sent an adrenaline rush through the fans in the stadium but also had viewers at home roaring with excitement.

The Sky Sports commentator kept repeating, “Neither team is playing conservatively tonight, this could very well be another goal fest!”

As the top teams in the Premier League became more evenly matched and their tactical styles more open, goal fests in clashes between top teams had become a common occurrence this season.

And in the 14th minute, Marcelo saw that Arsenal’s entire defensive line was tilting towards his left flank, leaving the right side wide open. Gareth Bale was raising his hand, calling for the ball, so he delivered a low, diagonal long pass.

The ball accurately traveled from the left of Arsenal’s 30-meter area diagonally to the right of the penalty spot inside the box.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, used his body to hold off Clichy, controlled the ball with his right foot, and then unleashed a power shot with his left.

The ball shot like a cannonball, instantly piercing through Lloris’s defenses and nestling into the back of the net.

1-0!

Gareth Bale excitedly turned and ran off the pitch, braving the chorus of boos from the Emirates Stadium, celebrating his goal.

“This is Gareth Bale’s 32nd Premier League goal of the season!”

“He has surpassed last season’s 31 goals, setting a new personal career high!”

“He is now the most lethal attacking player in European football!”

…

The game resumed.

Arsenal didn’t choose to play conservatively despite conceding a goal; on the contrary, the Gunners’ counter-attack was even fiercer.

The pace of the game quickened, and the play became even more open.

In the 18th minute, after cutting inside from the left of the penalty area, Theo Walcott’s curling shot to the far corner was caught directly by Lloris.

In the 21st minute, Sagna delivered a cross from the right flank. Benzema’s header at the near post went just wide.

In the 24th minute, Aaron Ramsey pressed high up the pitch, tackling Alexandre Song just outside Arsenal’s penalty area. He then played a through ball, and Harry Kane, under pressure, managed a low shot, but it was straight at Lloris, who made the save.

In the 26th minute, Nasri, dribbling down the right flank, won a corner kick.

From the resulting corner, Koscielny’s header found the back of the net, successfully equalizing the score.

1-1!

The two teams were back on level terms.

The entire Emirates Stadium erupted with cheers from the Gunners’ fans.

This match was absolutely thrilling!

After the Gunners equalized, Bayswater Chinese launched another counter-attack.

Starting from the 30th minute, Yang Cheng’s team laid siege to Arsenal’s goal.

Then, in the 34th minute, just outside the 30-meter area in Arsenal’s half, after winning the ball in midfield, Pogba drove forward and passed to Harry Kane, who had dropped back to receive it.

After receiving the pass, Kane turned and dribbled to the right, then laid off a diagonal pass.

Gareth Bale received the ball on the right flank, facing Clichy. He dribbled relentlessly, pushing towards the right corner of Arsenal’s box, then suddenly cut back horizontally inside.

The Welshman first cut inside past Clichy, then accelerated past Koscielny, and from the right side of the arc, he fired a left-footed power shot. It was a bouncing ball that aimed for the bottom left corner of the goal.

Although Lloris made a diving save, he still couldn’t keep the ball out.

2-1!

“A brace!!”

“Gareth Bale puts Bayswater Chinese ahead again in the 34th minute!”

“That was a truly magnificent long shot!”

Falling behind again, Arsenal quickly launched another counter-attack.

In the 42nd minute, Sánchez unleashed a power shot from the edge of the box on the left, which was parried by Courtois, causing a scramble in the penalty area.

At the crucial moment, Fàbregas made a sudden overlapping run and toe-poked the ball, once again breaching Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

2-2!

Just before halftime, the Gunners had equalized again.

The first half ended in a 2-2 draw.

After the second half began, Arsenal started to press more intensely.

Having fallen behind twice and equalized twice, the Gunners were feeling the pressure.

Especially on their home turf.

But Bayswater Chinese continued to strengthen their attack.

Long before the match, Yang Cheng had already told his players that he would be making substitutions in the 60th minute.

After all, they had a home game against Real Madrid in three days.

Therefore, players like Gareth Bale and Marcelo were scheduled to be substituted.

The players were aware of this.

So, at the start of the second half, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack, while Arsenal adopted an extremely aggressive pressing and defensive strategy.

But just as Yang Cheng was about to make a substitution in the 61st minute, Marcelo made a successful tackle on the left side of his own half.

Theo Walcott sprinted forward with the ball and, from the left side just outside Arsenal’s penalty area, played a through ball behind the defense.

Harry Kane made a quick diagonal run into the left side of the box, caught up to Walcott’s pass, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot.

The Gunners’ goalkeeper, Lloris, quickly came off his line and made a diving save, parrying the ball away.

The ball landed on the right side of the penalty spot.

Gareth Bale, who had seen Harry Kane’s diagonal run and was about to slow down, reacted instantly. He rushed forward, met the incoming ball, and coolly slotted it home with his left foot.

The ball was easily sent into the Gunners’ net!

3-2!

Hat-trick!

The entire Emirates Stadium fell silent!

Sixty thousand fans stared at the sprinting figure of Gareth Bale on the pitch.

The Welshman emotionally ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline, celebrating his goal with wild abandon.

This was his fourth hat-trick of the season!

…

A minute after the goal, Yang Cheng substituted Sterling for Gareth Bale.

Not long after, Luke Shaw replaced Marcelo.

In the 80th minute, Yang Cheng used his final substitution.

As the pillar of strength for the defense this season, Pepe’s performance had been remarkably consistent.

It was fair to say the Portuguese centre-back was at the peak of his career.

But at the same time, he had also played the most minutes.

So, in the 80th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Harry Maguire to replace Pepe, giving him some rest.

But to everyone’s surprise, in the 93rd minute, Sagna sent in a pass from the right flank.

The substitute van Persie received the ball at the edge of the box, dribbled into the right side for a one-on-one, and fired a left-footed power shot that beat Courtois.

In the end, the two teams drew 3-3!

Yang Cheng wasn’t satisfied with this result.

At the post-match press conference, he stated that he believed his team had been the better side throughout the match.

Especially in the second half.

The Gunners were mostly on the defensive.

But unfortunately, van Persie’s goal in stoppage time helped Arsenal secure a valuable point at home.

However, Wenger wasn’t having an easy time either.

Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 away.

Manchester United won a commanding 4-0 victory over Norwich at home.

And in this round, Liverpool lost 0-2 at home to Chelsea.

Interestingly, both of Mourinho’s team’s goals came during stoppage time.

The first was in the third minute of first-half stoppage time, scored by Falcao.

The second was in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, scored by Willian.

Mancini was extremely dissatisfied with the head referee’s officiating, even declaring that Liverpool had been screwed over at Anfield!

“The better team was robbed of three points.”

The reason was simple: excessive stoppage time.

In this match, Chelsea received four yellow cards, while Liverpool received none.

But both of Chelsea’s goals were scored in stoppage time.

Mancini felt this was extremely unfair to Liverpool.

But in reality, looking at the entire match, Liverpool’s attack was indeed effectively neutralized by Chelsea.

The gap between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City had widened once again.

…

On the evening of April 29th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

In the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Real Madrid.

Compared to Real Madrid, who had confidently declared their intention to stage a comeback away from home before the match, the home side, Bayswater Chinese, adopted a more cautious strategy.

As Yang Cheng had said before the match, “We are walking into Prudential Stadium with a clear advantage!”

In their starting lineups, both teams employed different strategies.

Real Madrid made significant adjustments.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Coentrão, Ramos, Varane, and Carvajal;

Midfield: Xabi Alonso in a holding role, with Di María and Isco in front of him;

Forwards: C. Ronaldo, Džeko, and Mesut Özil.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Mesut Özil had already transferred to Arsenal.

But in the current Gunners squad, there was simply no place for him.

The German with the dead-fish eyes was also in a worsening situation at Real Madrid, especially after Isco’s arrival, which had relegated him to the bench.

For this match, Ancelotti was clearly looking to use him to bolster the attack.

Yang Cheng also made some adjustments to his starting lineup for this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Compared to the first leg, Yang Cheng made one change: Kyle Walker replaced Piszczek.

The main reason for this change was that Yang Cheng wanted to use Kyle Walker to mark C. Ronaldo.

In his view, if they could neutralize C. Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s attacking threat would be cut by more than half.

Moreover, in this match, time was on Bayswater Chinese’s side.

From a foul committed early in the game, the anxiety of the Real Madrid players was evident.

Just 2 minutes and 11 seconds into the game, Ramos, just outside his own 30-meter area, made a mistake while receiving a back pass from Xabi Alonso, and the ball was stolen by Gareth Bale.

After successfully winning the ball, Gareth Bale immediately tried to charge into Real Madrid’s 30-meter area.

However, Ramos chased him down from behind and to the side with a sliding tackle, bringing down both Gareth Bale and the ball.

The head referee immediately blew his whistle and issued a yellow card.

Ramos was clearly unhappy with the decision and tried to argue, but he was pulled away by Xabi Alonso.

If not for the early stage of the game, that challenge could have easily been a red card!

This was actually a common phenomenon in refereeing.

Their primary goal was to control the entire match.

Issuing a red card at the very beginning, especially when Real Madrid had already lost the first leg at home, would essentially kill all suspense in the tie.

Yang Cheng understood this unwritten rule of officiating, so he didn’t overreact, merely shouting a few protests from the sideline.

You still had to apply pressure when it was due.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

If you’re too well-behaved, the referee will think you’re easy to handle!

If even Ramos was this anxious, one could imagine the state of the other Real Madrid players.

On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese patiently controlled the game.

Yang Cheng’s team, contrary to their usual fast-paced, high-pressing start, and unlike their open style against Arsenal three days prior, proceeded steadily and surely, patiently wearing down Real Madrid.

In the 14th minute, Real Madrid finally lost their patience and made another mistake.

Isco’s attempt to dribble past Toni Kroos failed, and he passed horizontally to Mesut Özil.

Unexpectedly, Modrić suddenly executed a sliding tackle, bringing down both Mesut Özil and the ball.

This happened in Bayswater Chinese’s half, to the right of the center circle.

The referee did not blow his whistle.

Modrić charged forward with the ball, skillfully weaving between his left and right foot to dribble past the pressing Xabi Alonso, and continued his advance.

Real Madrid’s defensive line kept retreating, but their midfield had been completely bypassed.

Just as Real Madrid’s defense fell back to the edge of their own penalty area, Ramos finally couldn’t hold back and chose to press, attempting to intercept Modrić, who was charging into the 30-meter area.

Giroud, positioned at the top of the arc, drew the attention of Varane.

At that moment, Modrić slid a through ball.

The ball zipped past Ramos and slid into the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area.

Gareth Bale sprinted forward at full speed, leaving Coentrão behind.

As soon as Ramos pressed forward, the Welshman decisively made a diagonal run into the right side of the box.

Initially, to avoid being offside, he had deliberately slowed down, staying behind Varane who was the last defender at the arc.

But once Modrić played the through ball, Gareth Bale had no more reservations, accelerating at top speed to chase down the pass on the right side of the penalty area.

Goalkeeper Casillas decisively came off his line, rushing to the right corner of the six-yard box.

But Gareth Bale reacted faster, controlling the ball with his right foot, shifting it to his left, and then taking a horizontal touch to bypass the diving Casillas.

He caught up to the ball again and calmly slotted it into the empty net with his left foot.

After completing this series of brilliant actions, Gareth Bale didn’t slow down, sprinting directly towards the left side outside the penalty area.

In that instant, the entire Prudential Stadium erupted with frantic passion.

Ninety thousand fans chanted Gareth Bale’s name in unison.

“That was a brilliant connection between two players.”

“After winning the ball, Modrić launched a counter-attack himself, dribbling past Real Madrid’s midfielders and directly threatening their defense.”

“It must be said, at least half the credit for this goal goes to Modrić.”

“It was the Croatian midfielder’s tackle, subsequent run, and final through ball that gave Gareth Bale a one-on-one opportunity.”

“Of course, Gareth Bale’s handling of the one-on-one was also incredibly composed. He rounded Casillas and slotted it into the empty net with his left foot. The whole sequence was as smooth as flowing water, absolutely beautiful!”

…

The 2-1 result from the first leg, and the goal 14 minutes into the second leg, still didn’t deter Real Madrid.

The aggregate score was 3-1.

For Real Madrid, they only needed to score two goals to level the aggregate score.

Given Real Madrid’s quality, this was entirely achievable.

Yang Cheng walked to the sideline, constantly reminding his players that they had to stay focused.

Especially Kyle Walker.

The English right-back’s most important task in this match was to mark C. Ronaldo.

As Real Madrid’s main attacker, the two had been battling it out from the very beginning.

Whether in terms of physical strength or speed, C. Ronaldo struggled to get any advantage over Kyle Walker.

After several unsuccessful attempts to break through on the left flank, C. Ronaldo had to start changing his attacking routes.

First, he appeared in the center, but was also suppressed by Nemanja Matić.

Then, he showed up on the right flank, coordinating with Di María to attack Marcelo’s side.

Starting from the 20th minute, Real Madrid frequently created threats.

First, a powerful shot from Džeko just outside the six-yard box nearly breached Courtois’s goal.

Then came a long shot from C. Ronaldo, followed by a header from the Portuguese superstar, both of which were just slightly off target.

But just as Real Madrid was building momentum, Bayswater Chinese executed a brilliant defensive play.

In the 34th minute, Thiago Silva anticipated a pass, stepping in front of his man to intercept a ball from Isco intended for Džeko, and launched a quick counter-attack.

Eden Hazard dribbled the ball forward, surging into Real Madrid’s half.

Marcelo made a quick overlapping run down the flank, receiving a pass from Eden Hazard on the left side outside the penalty area.

But by this time, Carvajal had already tracked back into position.

Having learned from the first goal they conceded, Real Madrid’s defense was now tracking back much faster.

The left-back faced the right-back in a one-on-one duel.

Marcelo used a series of dribbles and feints to try and deceive Carvajal, but the Real Madrid right-back remained composed.

The Brazilian left-back finally seized an opportunity. Instead of going to the byline to cross, he cut inside from the left corner of the penalty area.

Just after cutting in, Marcelo delivered a diagonal pass with his right foot, precisely switching the ball to the far post.

From that position and angle, the diagonal switch was impossible for Real Madrid’s defenders to handle.

The ball dropped perfectly near the right corner of the six-yard box.

At almost the same instant, Gareth Bale made a rapid forward run, bursting into the right side of Real Madrid’s box with irresistible momentum. Using his inertia, he leaped high into the air to meet Marcelo’s diagonal pass and smashed a powerful header.

The ball was fiercely headed by Gareth Bale into Real Madrid’s goal, flying past Casillas’s hand and into the left side of the net.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 34th minute, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“It’s Gareth Bale again!”

“The Welshman has scored another brace!”

“This is absolutely incredible!”

“His form is simply sensational!”

“Ever since the Champions League knockout stage began, he has been scoring goals non-stop, and recently, he’s been getting braces in consecutive matches!”

“The unstoppable Bale is leading Bayswater Chinese on a triumphant advance!”

“The aggregate score is 4-1!”

“Real Madrid are in a very difficult situation now.”

“They need to score at least three goals in the remaining 60 minutes.”

“But at Prudential Stadium, that is an almost impossible task!”

It could be said that Gareth Bale’s second goal completely shattered the morale and fighting spirit of the Real Madrid players.

With a two-goal deficit, they still had a chance.

But to score three goals, without letting Bayswater Chinese score on the counter-attack, was nearly impossible.

Especially at Prudential Stadium.

And with only an hour of game time left.

Who could do it?

After Gareth Bale’s goal, the morale of the Real Madrid players was visibly depleting.

A very clear change was that they were no longer playing with the same aggression and attacking intent as at the beginning of the match.

They even started to adopt a more cautious approach, just like Bayswater Chinese.

And Ancelotti could do nothing about it.

After the second half began, he didn’t make a substitution until the 70th minute.

He brought on Morata for Mesut Özil, switching to a 4-4-2 formation.

Then he replaced Isco with Illarramendi.

This was a very clear signal.

Yang Cheng was also making adjustments.

Harry Kane, Pogba, and Sterling were brought on as substitutes in rotation.

Yang Cheng wanted to give them a taste of the atmosphere and rhythm of a Champions League semi-final.

In the end, thanks to another brace from Gareth Bale, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid 2-0.

They advanced to the final with an aggregate score of 4-1!

In the other semi-final, after drawing 1-1 with Manchester United away, Atlético Madrid defeated the Red Devils 2-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese’s opponent in the Champions League final would be Simeone’s Atlético Madrid!

Chapter 305: A Bountiful Harvest! Premier League Turmoil! Yang Cheng’s Successor! The Deciding Factor in the Champions League Final!

A striker’s goal-scoring form can be a strange thing.

When they were out of form, nothing would go in.

But once their form returned, they could score no matter how they kicked it.

Gareth Bale had been the perfect example of this recently.

In the 37th round of the Premier League over the weekend, he was in the starting lineup once again for the home game against Cardiff City.

Cardiff City had changed their head coach during the winter transfer window, and their current manager was the renowned Solskjær, a Manchester United club legend.

At the Prudential Stadium, Solskjær set up a defensive 4-5-1 formation and managed to hold on for twenty-six minutes.

In the 26th minute, Aaron Ramsey assisted Harry Kane, who broke the deadlock and put the ball into Cardiff City’s net.

1-0!

Then, just before the end of the first half, Gareth Bale, who had returned to the left wing for this match, received a diagonal pass from De Bruyne inside the box. From the left side of the penalty area, he unleashed one of his trademark power shots into the far corner, scoring again.

2-0!

This result was more or less in line with the pre-match assessments of the two teams’ strengths.

However, right after the second half began, Theo Walcott dribbled into the right side of the Cardiff City penalty area and was pulled down by their centre-back, Cala.

The head referee, Phil Dowd, immediately showed a red card and awarded a penalty kick—the ultimate punishment.

It was an indisputable foul!

Cala had acted only because he couldn’t stop Walcott.

The Little Tiger calmly converted the penalty, extending the lead further.

3-0!

At that moment, the match had lost all suspense.

But miraculously, Solskjær didn’t rush to reinforce his defense.

He chose to substitute on the winger Zaha, who was on loan from Manchester United.

This was a bit absurd.

A red card and a penalty—the full package. Down a centre-back, playing away against Bayswater Chinese, and you don’t strengthen your defense but bring on a winger?

No one knew what Solskjær was thinking.

Perhaps he genuinely wanted to help Bayswater Chinese pad their goal stats!

Or maybe Solskjær truly believed that dropping Chilean midfielder Gary Medel back to play centre-back would be enough for their midfield to hold its own.

In any case, that was the adjustment Solskjær made.

And so, the match turned into a completely one-sided affair.

In the 53rd minute, Gareth Bale scored another goal, completing his brace.

4-0!

In the 61st minute, Walcott also found the net, scoring his second of the game.

5-0!

By the 64th minute, Solskjær finally seemed to realize what was happening and made another substitution. He took off left-back Fábio, also on loan from Manchester United, but brought on striker Jones.

Now Yang Cheng understood completely!

Solskjær was determined to go all-out against him.

Whether he was trying to salvage an away goal or simply demonstrate his unyielding, attack-minded resolve, nobody knew.

Out of respect for his opponent, Yang Cheng’s choice was simple: crush them!

Thus, in the 67th minute, Gareth Bale scored again, completing his hat-trick.

6-0!

In the 73rd minute, Sterling, who had just come on as a substitute for Gareth Bale, also scored.

7-0!

One minute after that goal, Solskjær finally made his third substitution.

Striker Craig Bellamy replaced Manchester United’s centre-forward, Campbell.

A like-for-like change!

A man of such backbone is truly admirable!

And so, in the 76th minute, Sterling provided an assist, and Walcott scored again, also completing his hat-trick.

8-0!

In the 84th minute, Sterling delivered another assist, and Harry Kane scored, securing his brace.

9-0!

In the final minutes of the match, Yang Cheng made two more substitutions.

Youngster Patrick Roberts and Stones came off the bench.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Cardiff City 9-0 at home!

After the match, when Yang Cheng shook hands with Solskjær, he really wanted to ask him.

What on earth were you thinking?

You were a man down right at the an start of the second half, the gap in quality is immense, and instead of defending, you decided to go all-out against me?

You’ve completely lost your mind!

But in the end, he held his tongue, refusing to kick someone when they’re down.

I’m a famous coach with class, after all!

But just after this match ended, a piece of news suddenly came from Manchester.

Manchester United had lost 1-0 at home to Sunderland.

But that wasn’t the main point.

The main point was that before the match, Ferguson had suddenly suffered a stroke and been hospitalized.

This abrupt, dramatic turn of events quickly spread around the world, capturing the attention of countless media outlets and fans.

…

It was about three hundred kilometers from London to Manchester.

The train ride takes over two hours.

There was a full week’s break between the 37th and 38th rounds of the Premier League.

Yang Cheng had the club’s driver take the 6-seater Mercedes-Benz MPV sponsored by the brand and drive north from London to Manchester.

Accompanying him were not only assistant coach Brian Kidd but also Arsenal manager Wenger and Chelsea manager Mourinho.

If the media had snapped a picture of this scene, it would have surely caused a sensation.

But for them, it wasn’t particularly strange.

They actually met privately from time to time, even sharing meals together.

What surprised Yang Cheng was that as soon as Brian Kidd heard about Ferguson’s condition and Yang Cheng’s decision to go visit him, he offered to come along.

It seemed that in the face of life and death, the old grudges between the two were about to be put aside.

“I say, Arsène, haven’t you always been wishing for him to die sooner? Why are you going to visit him?”

Mourinho, sitting in the third row, ribbed Wenger, who was in the second.

The three-hour journey was boring, and the silence would have been suffocating without some conversation.

Wenger snorted, “Aren’t you the same? How tough was your talk before?”

Without missing a beat, Wenger added, “If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to even go. If it weren’t for his illness, you’d have finished 6th in the league, ha…”

Mourinho, having been hit where it hurt, scowled. “I’ll destroy you next season!”

“We’ll see about that next season. At least for now, you can’t destroy me, and I’ve made it to the FA Cup final,” Wenger said with a hint of pride.

Success is always relative.

Without comparison, there’s no pain.

“Honestly, before I came to the Premier League this season, I never expected the competition to be this brutal. It’s ridiculously insane!” Mourinho cursed in frustration.

He was no stranger to clashes between top teams.

But he had been away from the Premier League for several years and truly hadn’t realized that even the bottom-table teams were so competitive now.

Chelsea’s performance in big matches this season was actually decent, but they had dropped too many points in games they should have won, which was Mourinho’s biggest source of dissatisfaction.

Winning against strong teams but losing points to weaker ones—who could you complain to?

Of course, this was a problem that came from being away from the front lines of the Premier League for too long.

A person’s energy is always limited.

Whether coaching Real Madrid or Inter Milan, his focus had primarily been on the top teams in the Premier League.

This meant Mourinho had little concept of how much the mid-to-lower-table teams in the league had improved over the past few years.

Well, you learn from your mistakes!

“Let me tell you, next season, my team will definitely break into the top four!” Mourinho declared.

Wenger just scoffed, clearly not believing a word.

Because if Chelsea made it into the top four, the most likely team to be pushed out would be Arsenal.

“Say, don’t you guys think that old man should retire too?” Mourinho suddenly tossed out another question.

“I think so,” Yang Cheng chimed in.

Wenger also sighed, “After a brush with death, he really should. He’s seventy-two.”

Although the media reports made it sound dire, it was actually much milder than the stroke he had in 2018 in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Mainly because it was detected early and the hospital provided timely treatment, he was out of danger on the same day.

“The guy hasn’t been in great health for the past few years. He’s had a pacemaker for over a decade. There have always been rumors he was going to retire, but he just stubbornly refused to leave, dragging it out until now.”

Wenger’s words sounded more like concern than criticism of Ferguson.

After all, they had been rivals for so many years.

Suddenly, Ferguson was retiring, and he felt a strange pang.

“I heard he’s been under enormous pressure these past few years, especially this season. He hasn’t been sleeping well. Failure to get into the top four would be a catastrophic loss for Manchester United!” Mourinho sighed as well.

In today’s football world, it was about much more than just the sport itself.

Missing out on Champions League qualification would cost Manchester United tens of millions of pounds.

Not to mention the pressure from sponsors.

But the competitive pressure in the league was there for all to see. Who could claim to be perennially dominant?

“It’s for the best that he retires. In his current condition, if he continues to coach, who knows if he might just die on the dugout during a match?” Wenger “scolded” again.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

That was an outcome nobody wanted to see.

To others, Ferguson was single-mindedly focused on rebuilding Manchester United.

But for Yang Cheng, the feeling was very different.

He felt that Ferguson had saved David Moyes’s coaching career.

How so?

In Yang Cheng’s past life, he had always felt that Moyes was made a scapegoat.

It’s hard to say for whom he took the fall, but while Moyes was responsible for Manchester United’s decline in the 13/14 season, he wasn’t the main cause.

The biggest problems behind United’s fall were the quality of the squad and the enormous power vacuum that appeared in the entire management structure after Ferguson left.

This was something that had always worried Yang Cheng.

Because his position at Bayswater Chinese was actually very similar to Ferguson’s at Manchester United.

Perhaps even more severe.

Over the years, he had promoted people like Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, but many major decisions still couldn’t be made without him.

In fact, as outsiders often said, the entire sporting department of Bayswater Chinese revolved around Yang Cheng.

If one day, Yang Cheng decided to step down, who could take his place?

The answer was: no one!

Not a single person!

That was the current state of affairs at Bayswater Chinese!

Yang Cheng had been considering this issue for some time.

Now, with Ferguson’s situation, Manchester United was certain to face a period of chaos.

Yang Cheng had to take this even more seriously.

…

Ferguson was actually not in any grave danger.

But having just had a brush with death, his spirits were naturally low.

He was quite happy to see Yang Cheng, Wenger, and Mourinho make a special trip to visit him.

Seeing Brian Kidd, however, was somewhat awkward.

Two men who were once so close, who had fought side by side for so many years, suddenly went their separate ways. Meeting again now under such circumstances, both felt a bit awkward.

But they were both old men now.

With Yang Cheng helping to break the ice, Brian Kidd asked a few concerned questions, and the two started talking again.

Ferguson was a very proud man.

Even now, he never mentioned what happened back then, nor did he apologize.

Brian Kidd was the same.

But they both chose to set aside their dispute and talk only about the present.

Ferguson’s wife, Cathy, had made it clear that Ferguson must retire.

As for who would succeed him, nothing was decided yet.

For the time being, an assistant coach would manage the team for the final match of the season.

From the current situation, it seemed there was still a lot of debate.

There had long been rumors that Moyes would succeed Ferguson.

But looking at Manchester United’s current situation and the state of the Premier League, if Moyes took over, could he really turn things around?

Or rather, did Moyes have the ability?

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, that was highly unlikely.

But this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

After all, if Moyes took charge of Manchester United at this point, he would undoubtedly fail.

Given Ferguson’s condition, once he retired, he wouldn’t need to worry about his future.

Countless positions at Manchester United, the Premier League, UEFA, and even FIFA awaited him.

Such was his standing in the football world!

After the visit, Yang Cheng’s group headed south back to London.

On the way, the main topic of discussion was Manchester United’s future after Ferguson’s retirement.

The change had come so suddenly that no one knew what would happen next.

After dropping off Wenger and Mourinho, Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd returned to the Brent training ground.

After the afternoon training session, Yang Cheng summoned Brian Kidd, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, Thad Foucher, and Gianni Vio to his office.

The core topic of discussion was: grooming a successor!

Currently, Yang Cheng had no timetable for retirement, but it was inevitable.

Maybe in two or three years, maybe longer, no one knew.

With the management of Bayswater Chinese, OGC Nice, and Atalanta, Yang Cheng’s responsibilities were growing.

And that was on top of his other businesses.

It was safe to say that Yang Cheng’s retirement was only a matter of time.

Who would succeed him?

This was a major issue.

Throughout history, situations like this were often resolved by promoting from within.

For example, when Sacchi stepped down, his assistant coach Fabio Capello took over and continued the glory of the Milan dynasty.

Take Manchester United now as an example. With Ferguson retiring, his assistant coaches Mike Phelan and René Meulensteen still lacked the necessary credentials.

This was because before them, Ferguson’s handpicked successor had been assistant coach Carlos Queiroz.

But now, Yang Cheng’s assistant coach was Brian Kidd, who was about to turn sixty-five.

In a few years, when Yang Cheng retired, Kidd might be seventy.

Starting a new job at seventy?

That wasn’t realistic!

The Bayswater Chinese of today was no longer the League Two club of over a decade ago, where just about anyone could be head coach.

The West London giants now had a vast enterprise.

The squad was filled with superstars.

A head coach without sufficient skill and prestige would not be able to command the dressing room.

The most typical example was the current Manchester United.

With Ferguson gone, who would take over was a huge problem.

“Personally, I think Ferguson’s precedent of grooming Queiroz is the most suitable path for us right now,” technical director Dan Ashworth proposed.

“There are many advantages to this. First, it allows the players and the new coach to familiarize themselves and gel. It also allows us to evaluate his coaching ability and gradually transition power. When the time is right, the handover can take place.”

“This would ensure the smoothest possible transition and the team’s stability to the greatest extent.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

That had been Ferguson’s intention when he groomed Queiroz.

“However, this approach also brings new problems,” Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg reminded them.

“The truly top-tier, established managers would likely not consider coming to our team as an assistant coach.”

“Also, we are choosing a head coach for a few years down the line, so this person must be young, which is quite difficult.”

Everyone nodded again.

He needed to be young, capable, have potential for growth, and be willing to come to Bayswater Chinese as an assistant coach.

This was indeed a tall order.

With Bayswater Chinese’s current influence, any search for a manager would surely target only the top names.

But what top manager would be willing to be an assistant?

Besides, among the top managers, only Pep Guardiola was relatively young.

And he was currently the head coach of Manchester City.

As a top club, the head coach position at Bayswater Chinese was attractive to all managers.

Even as an assistant, the same applied.

The reason was simple: it was like getting gilded.

Mourinho was an assistant at Barça, and he immediately landed a job at Portuguese giants Benfica.

Ten Cate gave up a head coach position at an Eredivisie club to be Frank Rijkaard’s assistant at Barça, also to enhance his credentials.

With the current influence of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, if they sent out an invitation, managers from Ligue 1, Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, and even mid-to-lower table teams in the top four leagues would likely be interested.

They could come here to gild their résumés for a few years. Even if they didn’t end up taking over, a few years from now they could walk away with the title of “Yang Cheng’s successor at Bayswater Chinese,” which would be enough for them to live a good and prosperous life in European football.

Listening to everyone’s discussion, the first person who came to Yang Cheng’s mind was Zidane.

But he immediately dismissed the idea.

Ultimately, there was no way Zidane would come to coach Bayswater Chinese, let alone be Yang Cheng’s assistant.

Looking at it from another angle, even if he did come, Yang Cheng wouldn’t feel at ease.

Given his relationship with Real Madrid, what if after a few years of grooming, he just job-hopped and went back to coach Real Madrid? Who would Yang Cheng cry to then?

Wouldn’t that be like training a head coach for Real Madrid?

Thinking this, Yang Cheng realized he didn’t have any good candidates in mind.

If he had, he would have acted long ago.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng had worked at Bayswater Chinese for so many years, investing so much heart and soul. Finding a successor was easier said than done.

Of course, this method of succession would only happen this one time.

Once Yang Cheng stepped down, the team’s management structure would undergo some adjustments and changes.

By then, Yang Cheng would move behind the scenes, controlling the bigger picture.

Future coaching selections wouldn’t be as complicated as this one.

After all, there could never be a second Yang Cheng at Bayswater Chinese.

“You guys discuss this first and come up with a selection plan as soon as possible. Define a scope, then release the news, and draw up a list. We can take our time selecting from there.”

Yang Cheng shared some of his thoughts.

“As for age, younger is definitely better. No older than fifty at most.”

“He should have rich coaching experience, whether as a head coach, an assistant coach, or a youth team coach.”

With the age limit, the number of qualified first-team head coaches was very small.

After all, anyone under fifty was considered a young manager.

How many could be called young managers in European football?

Pochettino? Guardiola? Antonio Conte?

Please, none of them would come to be Yang Cheng’s assistant.

Many coaches in this age group were still assistant coaches or were coaching youth teams.

Like Zidane.

More importantly, even if Bayswater Chinese was interested, the other party had to be willing to come.

So, the manager selection process was usually like this: first, you put out the feelers, and interested candidates could submit their résumés or be recommended.

Then, Bayswater Chinese would finalize a list and narrow down the scope.

“For our selection, the most important thing is a strong ability to learn!”

“Furthermore, with data analysis becoming so advanced and the division of labor so detailed, the head coach’s primary job is no longer on the technical and tactical level.”

“So, when selecting a candidate, we must pay special attention to his personality and his ability to handle the complex relationships with everyone up and down the club. That’s the key!”

This was what many fans were familiar with: when coaching a top club, managing the dressing room is paramount.

But it was more than just that.

It also involved coordination and communication between various departments.

To put it simply, in Yang Cheng’s view, the future head coach would be like a project manager, doing more management work.

To some extent, Guardiola didn’t meet Yang Cheng’s requirements.

Although he was adept at creating his own football philosophy, he was clearly not outstanding at handling complex interpersonal relationships.

At Manchester City now, Guardiola held almost absolute power and could push forward his ideas as he pleased.

But at Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng and the team’s management system would never grant a head coach that kind of authority.

To put it bluntly, that doesn’t align with modern management principles!

Conversely, if Guardiola’s tactical philosophy hadn’t been so far ahead of its time and achieved success at Barça and with Spain, would Manchester City have given him that kind of authority?

So, when Yang Cheng was selecting a candidate, both coaching ability and personnel management were very important.

It was actually quite difficult.

But that was to be expected.

This was about choosing a successor for Yang Cheng.

If it weren’t difficult, wouldn’t they be a dime a dozen?

…

May 11th, 3:00 PM.

Premier League, Round 38.

Bayswater Chinese played away against Southampton.

Just six minutes into the game, Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the team.

But afterward, Bayswater Chinese faced a stubborn upset from Southampton.

Pochettino’s team was not a pushover, and they were playing at home.

Their double pivot of Schneiderlin and Wanyama made for a very solid defense.

If not for the early advantage gained from their opening blitz, it would not have been so easy to break through.

In the 61st minute of the second half, the young substitute Sterling received an assist from Gareth Bale and scored another goal for the team.

2-0!

And in the final stages of the match, Modrić scored a goal that sealed the victory.

In the end, thanks to Gareth Bale’s goal and assist, Bayswater Chinese defeated Southampton 3-0 away from home.

Affected by Ferguson’s stroke, Manchester United had lost their last home game.

But in this match, The Red Devils, once again playing at home, came back from a goal down to score four, securing a 4-1 comeback victory against Aston Villa in a crucial win.

Chelsea, on the other hand, lost 1-0 away to Crystal Palace, with Terry scoring an own goal.

Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at home.

Arsenal and Manchester City each scored one goal, playing to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

With that, the 2013/14 Premier League season came to a complete close.

Manchester City ultimately won the Premier League title this season with 99 points!

Bayswater Chinese, with 31 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses, finished with 97 points, placing second in the Premier League.

Liverpool finished third with 92 points.

Arsenal came in fourth with 87 points.

Manchester United and Chelsea both finished with 76 points, but due to goal difference, Manchester United ranked 5th, while Chelsea was 6th.

In terms of individual player performance, Gareth Bale finished at the top of the Premier League top scorer chart with 38 league goals, marking the first time in his career he had been crowned the Premier League’s top scorer.

The Little Tiger, Theo Walcott, was Bayswater Chinese’s second-highest scorer with 20 goals.

After a slump last season, Walcott’s performance had clearly rebounded this season.

It is worth noting that in this Premier League season, Harry Kane also scored 10 goals, and Sterling scored 8.

Both young players delivered very impressive performances.

Additionally, players like Paul Pogba, De Bruyne, and Casemiro also performed exceptionally well.

Especially Casemiro.

Although he only started playing for the team in March after joining during the winter transfer window, and only in the Premier League, Casemiro’s performances were commendable and consistently outstanding.

During this period, although there was a 3-3 draw against The Gunners, it had little to do with Casemiro.

That match was primarily a result of both teams playing very open football.

In such circumstances, no team can avoid conceding goals.

After the 38th round of the Premier League, the season was officially over.

Next up were the FA Cup final and the Champions League final.

But these had nothing to do with Manchester United anymore.

Manchester United’s officials soon announced news that the public had long speculated about.

Due to health reasons, veteran manager Ferguson was officially retiring.

Manchester United would soon begin the process of selecting a new manager for The Red Devils’ upcoming season.

Currently on Manchester United’s shortlist were Everton manager David Moyes, Southampton manager Pochettino, OGC Nice’s Ronald Koeman from Ligue 1, and the Netherlands national team coach van Gaal, among others.

These were the head coaches with the best records in European football over the past few years.

And Manchester United wanted only the best!

…

With the Premier League over, Bayswater Chinese had only one match left: the Champions League final.

From May 11th to May 24th, there were nearly two weeks.

How to spend these two weeks was a considerable test for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Since the Champions League final was being held in Lisbon, Portugal.

The club had previously arranged for the team to have a short rest in London after the 38th round of the Premier League, before heading south to Marbella, a city on the Mediterranean coast in southern Spain, for a pre-match training camp.

But this training camp was different from the usual ones.

In addition to the first-team players, their families were also invited to accompany them.

According to Yang Cheng, it was more like a relaxation period before a major competition, which he called a “vacation-style training camp.”

Marbella is a famous resort city on the Mediterranean coast. Yang Cheng brought his team, employees, and their families on a grand trip south, naturally attracting the attention of the Spanish media.

Especially considering that in the upcoming Champions League final, Bayswater Chinese would be facing Atlético Madrid.

Therefore, every move made by Yang Cheng and his team was closely watched by the Spanish public.

But interestingly, after Bayswater Chinese arrived in Marbella, they were mostly relaxing and having fun.

Beach football matches, jet skiing, yacht trips…

A wide variety of activities were arranged, with a very rich schedule.

The media outlets following and reporting on Bayswater Chinese were quite surprised.

Is this how you prepare for a Champions League final?

Are you sure you’re not here on vacation?

But how could they know that as the most experienced team in the Champions League final in world football today, having reached the final for three consecutive years and won it twice, the most important thing for Bayswater Chinese right now was to relax and recalibrate.

Moreover, many activities that seemed like playing on the surface were actually quite physically demanding.

For example, the beach football matches.

Also, while most of the publicly visible time was spent on recreation, the team had a set training schedule every day.

The sports science department had specifically designed it to maintain the team’s activity levels and ensure the players’ form.

On May 17th, Yang Cheng, along with Brian Kidd and Gianni Vio, secretly traveled from Marbella to Barcelona to watch the final round of La Liga at Camp Nou.

The result was a 1-1 draw between Barça and Atlético Madrid, despite Barça having 64% of the possession.

After the two teams drew, it was Ancelotti’s Real Madrid who benefited.

At the Bernabéu, C. Ronaldo scored a brace to help Real Madrid defeat Espanyol 3-1.

Ultimately, Real Madrid won this season’s La Liga title!

As for the battle at Camp Nou that Yang Cheng was most focused on, although Simeone’s possession-based football was inferior to Barça’s, his team completely suppressed Barça throughout the match.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, in this very match, Simeone’s team had seen both Diego Costa and Turan get injured and substituted off early in the game.

This led to Turan missing the subsequent Champions League final.

Although Diego Costa started in the Champions League final, he was injured and substituted off after just nine minutes.

This was interpreted by many as the reason why Atlético Madrid narrowly lost to Real Madrid.

But now, in that match, neither player was injured.

This meant they would both appear in the Champions League final!

“This Atlético Madrid team under Simeone is incredibly tough, and very different from Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, especially in terms of defensive organization,” Gianni Vio said, hitting the nail on the head.

“This Atlético team has a deep shadow of Italian football.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

On the pitch, this translated to Barça having possession, but Atlético Madrid completely suppressing them.

Neymar had the ball but was no threat, while Robert Lewandowski was isolated and helpless up front.

Barça’s front trident was cut off, leaving them fragmented and fighting their own battles.

Once a player got the ball, they were faced with Atlético’s layered defense and were essentially powerless.

“Brian, what do you think?” Yang Cheng looked at Brian Kidd.

“At the end of the day, playing against Atlético and playing against Borussia Dortmund might differ in the details, but the overall strategy is the same. Especially in a match of the caliber of the Champions League final, we have to wear them down.”

This was the deciding factor!

Just as everyone knew that with a possession advantage against Borussia Dortmund, the key was to exhaust the opponent relentlessly and then strike after the 60-minute mark in the second half.

Playing against Atlético Madrid was actually quite similar.

At most, Simeone’s team might be able to hold out a little longer than Klopp’s.

But that was it.

But was it really that simple?

Simeone wasn’t a fool. How could he not be aware of his own team’s issues?

“Five minutes into today’s match, Diego Costa drew a yellow card from Piqué. That wasn’t a coincidence!” Yang Cheng said.

Brian Kidd and Gianni Vio’s eyes lit up.

They hadn’t paid attention to that yellow card.

Or rather, they had forgotten about it.

This made them look at Yang Cheng with a sense of admiration.

A great manager had to be more perceptive than anyone else!

“Simeone knows his weaknesses. He won’t get into a war of attrition with us. He’ll do everything he can to score against us within a timeframe he’s confident in!”

“You mean… he’ll go for an opening blitz?” Brian Kidd guessed.

“Isn’t that too risky?” Gianni Vio frowned.

“The whole world knows we’re good at opening blitzes. He wants to play that game with us?”

Isn’t that just asking for trouble?

But Yang Cheng didn’t see it that way.

If they were to defend with all their might, how long could Atlético hold out?

With Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower, could The Mattress Makers really withstand the pressure?

If he were in Simeone’s shoes, Yang Cheng would launch an opening blitz, try to score an early goal to steady his troops and disrupt the opponent’s rhythm, then slowly play from there.

In a match of the Champions League final’s magnitude, scoring first provides a huge psychological advantage!

Looking at their opening blitz against Barça in this match, it was obvious he was using Barça as a training exercise.

The only question was how far Simeone was willing to take it.

“When we get back, get the recording of this match as soon as possible. We need to study it carefully, especially the opening!”

Yang Cheng instructed Gianni Vio.

Whether in a knockout stage or a final, it was more about the chess match between the head coaches.

Yang Cheng and Simeone were both trying to guess each other’s game plan, analyzing their own and their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

Football tactics, at their core, are about maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses.

How to play, Yang Cheng hadn’t decided yet!

…

After the final round of La Liga, Real Madrid won the title, with Atlético Madrid and Barça finishing second and third, respectively.

Ancelotti’s team won both the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey this season, achieving a Double.

It is worth noting that in the final round of La Liga, Málaga CF failed to avoid relegation, dropping into the Spanish second division with 39 points.

The southern coast team had been plagued by turmoil this season.

Especially after the winter transfer window.

A series of scandals involving owner Al Thani exposed the conflicts within Málaga CF’s management and the internal chaos to the public, letting everyone see the mess the team was in.

Under these circumstances, it wasn’t surprising that Málaga CF was relegated.

Besides, the team had been in the relegation zone for a long time.

At the same time, in the English FA Cup final, Arsenal defeated Manchester City.

Wenger’s team had won the FA Cup!

This was a form of validation for Wenger’s performance this season.

Moreover, throughout the match, Wenger’s team did not play conservatively but went tit for tat and defeated Manchester City fair and square.

This was somewhat embarrassing for the newly crowned Premier League champions.

Other European leagues also concluded at the same time.

In the final round of Ligue 1, OGC Nice defeated Lyon 1-0 at home with a goal from Martial.

After 38 matches, OGC Nice finished 2nd in Ligue 1 with 85 points, just behind Paris Saint-Germain’s 89 points, and ahead of Monaco’s 80 points.

More importantly, in the several clashes between top teams this season, OGC Nice performed well.

Although Ronald Koeman’s team had sold several players, they still showed great strength this season.

In terms of overall quality, Ronald Koeman’s team indeed deserved such a performance.

If OGC Nice’s continued excellence over the past few seasons had become a familiar sight to the public, then Atalanta’s stunning performance in Serie A this season shocked everyone.

Gasperini, a head coach fired by Inter Milan, took charge of a team that had nearly been relegated last season. In just one year after being taken over by Bayswater Chinese, he built a team capable of competing with the giants of Serie A.

After 38 matches, Atalanta ranked 3rd in Serie A, earning an astonishing 80 points, second only to Juventus’s 102 points and AS Roma’s 85 points.

This was simply unbelievable!

But the most ridiculous part was Atalanta’s recruitment.

37-year-old veteran Luca Toni, whether at Genoa, Juventus, or after a stint in the Middle East and a return to Fiorentina, had never shown great form.

Everyone had basically thought Luca Toni’s career was over.

For this reason, when the Italian centre-forward joined Atalanta on a free transfer from Fiorentina last summer, it barely garnered any attention.

Everyone thought it was normal.

He was just there to retire.

But no one could have expected that after one season, Luca Toni would score a whopping 26 goals in 38 Serie A matches, his personal career best, second only to his 31 goals in the 05/06 season!

This was a 37-year-old veteran!

In second place was Immobile from Turin, who had only scored 22 goals.

Juventus’s star striker Tevez had only scored 19 goals.

Inter Milan’s striker Rodrigo Palacio and S.S.C. Napoli’s Argentine striker Higuaín had only scored 17 goals each.

Yet Luca Toni, a centre-forward who joined Atalanta on a free transfer, scored 26 goals.

This shattered everyone’s expectations!

All of Italy was abuzz with rumors that Atalanta’s scouts were like magicians!

And everyone knew that behind Atalanta were Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

If Bayswater Chinese’s success was the result of years of management, what about OGC Nice’s success in Ligue 1?

And now, what about Atalanta’s sudden rise in Serie A?

It wasn’t just Luca Toni.

Polish centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik was overlooked in the Bundesliga, but this season he scored 10 goals in Serie A.

The source of Atalanta’s forwards’ constant goals lay in the team’s midfield and two wings.

The two wingers, Felipe Anderson and Iturbe, shone brightly in Serie A this season, dribbling past countless opponents.

Midfielders like Lucas Biglia, Brozović, and Bonaventura all performed at an extremely high level.

The young Portuguese player Bruno Fernandes also displayed exquisite passing skills.

It could be said that the entire midfield and wings were constantly supplying ammunition to the centre-forwards up front, allowing Luca Toni and Arkadiusz Milik to score frequently, which led to Atalanta’s sudden rise this season.

They even surpassed S.S.C. Napoli to break into the top three of Serie A and enter the Champions League qualification zone.

It could be said that Atalanta’s success made everyone in European football clearly realize that Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese seemed to genuinely possess some secret to victory.

Otherwise, how could one explain the rise of OGC Nice and Atalanta?

Especially Atalanta.

It had only been one season!

Gazzetta dello Sport believed that what Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese brought to Atalanta was not just a complete technical and tactical system, modern club management, and various advanced hardware and software facilities.

More importantly, it was the sharing of a top-quality, global scouting network.

Atalanta’s success was more a success of talent recruitment, a success of the team’s transfer operations.

And behind this was their unparalleled global scouting network.

There was no need to even mention the players in the midfield and attack; goalkeeper Alisson’s performance was outstanding.

The three-at-the-back formation of Škriniar, Acerbi, and Rüdiger also impressed the entire Serie A, and their defensive level was a complete transformation compared to the previous Atalanta.

One must remember that Marcos Alonso’s previous performances in the Premier League and the Championship were less than satisfactory.

But after coming to Serie A, his performance improved by leaps and bounds, making him one of the best left-sided players in Serie A this season.

Since Gasperini consistently used a three-at-the-back system, Marcos Alonso always played as a left wing-back.

The football world was largely astounded by Atalanta’s performance this season.

The only exception was Yang Cheng.

He felt this was just a normal performance.

Because the current Serie A was truly a league of weaklings!

With Atalanta’s current squad, if Gasperini couldn’t break into the top three, he would have truly been a waste of talent!

Not to mention anything else.

After OGC Nice’s excellent performance in Ligue 1, Yang Cheng had to worry about poaching from Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, or other leagues.

But Atalanta?

Frankly, Yang Cheng wasn’t particularly worried.

Because in Serie A, at present, there were very few teams capable of poaching Atalanta’s players.

Mainly because these teams were all poor!

Juventus was relatively wealthy, but how much money could they spend?

Besides, after entering the Champions League, Atalanta’s income would also skyrocket.

So, Yang Cheng had even less to worry about.

With the conclusion of the top four leagues, this season had been a great harvest for Yang Cheng.

But the biggest prize was still waiting for him in Lisbon, Portugal!

Chapter 306: Blitz! The Game is Decided!

May 24, 2014, evening. The Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal. The away team’s dressing room.

It was almost 7:45 PM, the time for kickoff.

The Atlético Madrid players were already fully kitted out, sitting in their places and waiting for the final words of motivation from their head coach, Diego Simeone.

The Argentinian “bandit chief” was, as always, dressed in his signature black suit.

It was his lucky color.

Interestingly, during the warm-up earlier, Yang Cheng of the Bayswater Chinese had also worn a suit, but without the jacket. He was in a white shirt with an open collar and rolled-up sleeves, looking very casual.

Simeone was clearly taking a moment to gather his thoughts and choose his words.

This pre-match pep talk was crucial for Atlético Madrid.

Because this game was different from any they had played before.

“First of all, I want to congratulate all of us!”

Simeone pointed to himself, then to the players before him.

“That’s right. Me, and you. Us!”

With that single sentence, Simeone bound himself together with all his players.

“If I were to tell you that I didn’t prepare a script for a pre-match speech, I’d be lying.”

“I prepared a lot, but the moment I walked into this dressing room, I threw it all in the trash.”

All the players watched their head coach in silence.

They knew there was more to come.

This was the Diego Simeone they knew and trusted!

“What I want to say is, if a match like this still needs a pep talk from me, then it proves that all the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve poured into this team, into you, for the past few years, has been for nothing!”

Hearing this, the vast majority of players nodded in unison.

Vigorous nods.

“We are facing a team that is, I must say, the strongest team I have ever encountered in my playing career!”

“Many people say Sacchi’s Milan dynasty was stronger, but I don’t know.”

“In my mind, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese are the strongest!”

As he spoke, Simeone paced back and forth under the watchful eyes of his players.

“At yesterday’s pre-match press conference, I heard Yang Cheng say something.”

“A journalist asked Yang Cheng why his team is always able to win championships.”

“Although they lost it this season, they had five consecutive Premier League titles. They’ve reached the Champions League final for three years in a row, winning twice.”

“They are the only team to have successfully defended their title since the Champions League was restructured, and they’ve done it twice.”

“No other powerhouse, not even Real Madrid or Barça, has managed that!”

“Yang Cheng’s answer left a profound impression on me.”

“He said that the Bayswater Chinese have indeed been winning titles consistently. It looks easy, but in reality, it’s not.”

“It’s just that he and his team have made something incredibly difficult seem simple, so much so that everyone has grown accustomed to it.”

Upon hearing this, the players nodded once more.

Yang Cheng’s words were very insightful.

It was like what people always said about Messi and C. Ronaldo.

Is scoring goals easy?

Not at all!

It’s just that Messi and C. Ronaldo, with their superhuman abilities, have made something that should be immensely difficult seem ordinary.

Fans get used to this “ordinariness.”

So they take it for granted and wonder why other players, other teams, can’t do the same.

What they don’t realize is that not being able to do it is what’s normal!

From his very first sentence, Simeone had been praising the Bayswater Chinese, praising the opponent they were about to face.

You could tell he genuinely admired Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

Many of the Atlético players felt the same.

But after all that praise, every single one of them was holding in a simmering fire!

Because in this match, this team they admired so much would be their opponent!

They would be the greatest obstacle on their path to the championship!

The realization of this fact made every one of them feel defiant, feel aggrieved!

Outside, the bookmakers, the media, and the fans were unanimously backing the Bayswater Chinese.

It was as if anything other than a Bayswater Chinese victory would be a dark conspiracy, a fixed match.

But what about the reality?

Are we at Atlético Madrid made of clay?

Did we fight our way into the Champions League final just to serve as background scenery for the Bayswater Chinese, to be their foil?

Do we have no pride, no dignity?

Simeone continued his praise, but the Atlético players’ anger levels kept rising.

The Argentinian was doing it on purpose.

Because he knew the team he had built.

He knew that this Atlético team, in its very blood, in the depths of its soul, carried a rebellious spirit against the powerful, an unyielding refusal to admit defeat!

It was just like the words their former chairman, old Gil, had once shouted at Real Madrid.

“We don’t care if we get relegated, we just want you, Real Madrid, to lose!”

Now, those same words, that same spirit, was directed at the Bayswater Chinese.

“I don’t know what you are all thinking right now.”

“But for me, playing against a team like this gets my blood boiling! It’s more thrilling than sleeping with ten beautiful women at once!”

“Because they are the strongest, and if we beat them, it proves that we are stronger than the strongest!”

“What could possibly be more wonderful than that?”

Simeone stopped here, standing before all his players and flinging his arms wide open.

“So, we have no psychological burden to bear. The burden is on our opponents!”

“We go out on that pitch to do one thing, and one thing only.”

“Fuck up this bunch of pampered dogs from London!”

That final curse, accompanied by Simeone’s body language, completely unleashed the wildness that all the Atlético players had been suppressing.

Unable to contain themselves, they all sprang up from their seats, following their head coach’s lead with激动 excited, angry roars.

They howled like beasts, wishing they could get on the pitch that very second and tear the Bayswater Chinese to shreds!

…

Tweet!

With a blast of the whistle from Dutch head referee Björn Kuipers, the highly anticipated Champions League final officially began.

Right from the kickoff, Atlético Madrid launched a ferocious press in the attacking third.

And they committed a lot of players to it.

You could even say it was an all-out press.

This was completely different from the Atlético of the past.

Just one minute and seven seconds into the game, Atlético launched a blitz down the left flank.

A full four players appeared in the attacking left channel.

Left full-back Filipe Luís pushed forward, played a straight pass, and then cut inside himself.

Koke made a quick run to the left side outside the box, received the ball, and tried to cross it to Diego Costa inside, but the ball was deflected by Piszczek and fell back to the edge of the left corner of the penalty area.

Filipe Luís was right there to pounce on the ball. He still didn’t pass to Diego Costa in the box, instead crossing it to David Villa at the arc of the penalty area, who immediately unleashed a furious shot.

Amidst the gasps of everyone in the stadium, the football grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

This showed everyone Atlético Madrid’s strategy for the match.

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted, Simeone adopted the same strategy he had used a week ago in the final La Liga round at Camp Nou against Barça: a desperate opening blitz.

He wanted to settle the fight at the start!

Because he knew that the longer the game dragged on, the worse it would be for him and Atlético!

Before the match, Yang Cheng had already run through this scenario with his players.

Of course, they didn’t know exactly what kind of blitz Atlético would employ.

So the only option was to first steady their own formation, to meet change with constancy.

This was the difference between a strong team and a weaker one.

Strong teams play their own game, sticking to their own rhythm.

They may make some targeted adjustments, but overall, they stick to the style they are most comfortable and proficient with.

Weaker teams are at a disadvantage in terms of quality, so they need to win by surprise.

Just like Atlético Madrid today.

Simeone knew very well that if his team couldn’t gain an advantage by the second half, the match would be essentially over.

So, for Atlético Madrid, the most crucial part of this game was the first half.

The opening!

Simeone’s strategy was to grab a goal in the opening phase, then let the game settle into the defend and counter-attack rhythm he was most familiar with.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, responded with composure.

The Bayswater Chinese had the advantage in quality, and this advantage would become more and more apparent in the second half.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng wouldn’t get fixated on it, much less change his own team’s style to counter the opponent.

That’s something Pep Guardiola would do.

Atlético wants a blitz?

Then let them!

Let’s see how long you can keep it up!

Besides, when it came to defending and counter-attacking, the Bayswater Chinese were no pushovers either!

For this match, both teams fielded their strongest lineups.

Bayswater Chinese were in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Atlético Madrid were in what was nominally a 4-4-2, but in practice was a 4-4-1-1, or you could even call it a 4-2-3-1.

Goalkeeper: Oblak;

Defence: Filipe Luís, Godín, Miranda, and Juanfran;

Midfield: Koke, Gabi, Tiago, and Turan;

Forwards: Diego Costa and David Villa.

Of the two forwards, Diego Costa generally played furthest up, operating inside the penalty area and challenging the centre-backs.

The veteran David Villa roamed more around the outside of the box.

Just like in that last attack, Diego Costa battled Pepe inside the box, while Villa seized the opportunity at the arc of the penalty area.

For Atlético to have finished second in La Liga and reached the Champions League final, Simeone’s team certainly had a few tricks up their sleeve.

And today, The Mattress Makers’ strategy was an all-out press.

They were very willing to commit numbers forward.

Whether in attack or in their pressing, they were incredibly aggressive.

In the fourth minute, Turan won the ball from Marcelo on the right flank and delivered a diagonal pass.

Atlético’s two forwards then executed a beautiful combination in the box.

Diego Costa first used his physical advantage to challenge Thiago Silva.

With his back to goal, he couldn’t turn, but Diego Costa got to the ball first, laying it back towards the penalty spot.

Villa unleashed another furious shot, aiming for the bottom right corner of the goal.

But this time, Courtois’s reaction was lightning-fast. He dove to his side and securely parried the ball out for a corner.

A corner kick.

Although it didn’t result in a goal, the attack was beautifully executed.

Especially Diego Costa’s hold-up play, laying the ball back for Villa.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng loudly protested, arguing that Turan had pulled Marcelo’s shirt, but the referee, Kuipers, ignored him and did not blow for a foul.

From this, it was clear that his refereeing style was indeed lenient.

And this lenient style of officiating inherently favored Atlético Madrid.

…

The Bayswater Chinese were no pushovers either.

Although they were hit by a wave of attacks from Atlético at the start, Yang Cheng’s team quickly returned the favor.

In the fifth minute, after receiving the ball in the left channel, Toni Kroos delivered a diagonal pass, precisely to the right of the penalty spot. Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, out-jumped Godín, and headed the ball.

However, he couldn’t get enough power on it, and Oblak easily collected the ball.

But the Bayswater Chinese’s next attack came quickly.

In the left channel, Eden Hazard completed a beautiful one-two pass with Marcelo, and the Belgian winger surged forward.

Marcelo passed to Toni Kroos, and the German played a straight through ball that found Hazard inside the box. The Belgian controlled it and took a push shot.

The shot was blocked by Oblak for a corner.

It was another corner kick.

Modrić took it, and Pepe’s header at the near post towards the far corner slid just past the post.

The more than sixty thousand fans in the Stadium of Light let out a collective gasp.

“Eight minutes into the match, and the game has been completely unexpected!”

“Before this match, all the media and fans believed it would be a clash of attack versus defense.”

“Because the Bayswater Chinese are skilled at attacking, and Atlético are skilled at defending.”

“But to everyone’s surprise, the two teams are engaged in an end-to-end game.”

“Atlético Madrid are not playing conservatively at all right now.”

“This is a very surprising choice.”

“Simeone is clearly hoping to seize the initiative with a high-tempo opening blitz.”

“As long as they score first, the game will fall into the defend and counter-attack rhythm that Atlético is most familiar with and best at.”

“But the Bayswater Chinese are clearly aware of this as well.”

The Bayswater Chinese launched two more attacks in quick succession.

One was a cross from Modrić on the right, finding Giroud.

But the French centre-forward’s header again lacked power.

The next was a cross from the overlapping Piszczek, leading to a long shot from Modrić as he advanced towards the edge of the box.

“Atlético’s defense is still very tight.”

“The Bayswater Chinese don’t really have a good solution against their impenetrable fortress of a defense.”

“But after the ten-minute mark, the Bayswater Chinese gradually began to turn the tide of the match.”

“They started to take control of the game.”

“This is very bad news for Atlético Madrid.”

“Look at this, another attack from the Bayswater Chinese.”

“They’re trying to pass into the box.”

“Godín clears it.”

“The ball is out of the penalty area.”

As the match reached the thirteenth minute, Atlético won the ball near their own penalty area line and quickly passed it to Turan on the right.

The Turkish player dropped back to receive the ball, immediately drawing the attention of both Nemanja Matić and Toni Kroos.

This was because Marcelo had pushed forward to join the attack.

Turan, with his slick footwork, shielded the ball and passed it to Gabi.

But by this time, Atlético’s forwards had already pushed all the way up.

Gabi hit a diagonal long pass, sending the ball into the right side of the 30-meter area.

Diego Costa charged forward, outmuscling Thiago Silva and getting a flick-on, directing the ball towards the right side of the penalty area.

At almost the same instant, Villa made a run, controlled the ball inside the box, shielded it from Pepe, and then unleashed a powerful right-footed shot.

The ball flew at incredible speed, brushing the inside of the right post as it rocketed into the Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“Thirteenth minute of the first half! Just thirteen minutes into the game, Atlético Madrid are the first to break the deadlock!”

“A powerful shot from the Spanish veteran David Villa at a crucial moment.”

“It has to be said, this was a brilliant, swift counter-attack!”

“And a very classic counter-attacking combination!”

“Diego Costa with the flick-on, and Villa scores with a powerful shot under pressure from Pepe inside the box.”

“Atlético’s counter-attack is extremely efficient and sudden!”

“This is the attacking power of The Mattress Makers!”

…

“Everyone, buck up!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s not the first time we’ve been behind!”

While the Atlético players were still rushing to the sideline to celebrate the crucial goal, the Bayswater Chinese players returned to their own half, looking a bit dejected.

Captain Modrić clapped his hands forcefully, shouting loudly to encourage his teammates.

“That’s right, keep your heads up! The game’s just started!” Toni Kroos chimed in.

Then Pepe, Marcelo, and others joined in the shouting.

Taking advantage of the time while the Atlético players were celebrating, Modrić called his nearby teammates over for a quick huddle.

“From now on, we execute Plan Three!”

Everyone nodded in unison, understanding what their captain meant.

Before the match, the coaching staff had prepared several plans, including a tactical adjustment for conceding an early goal.

“Atlético’s opening blitz today is ferocious and has put us under a lot of pressure. But I think, even after scoring, they won’t just sit back. They’ll keep up the pressure for a while longer!” Modrić said with conviction.

This was an insight gleaned from being coached by Yang Cheng.

In the current situation, if Atlético were to immediately switch to defense after scoring, it might seem safe, but it would actually be incredibly foolish.

Because that would be handing the initiative of the game over to their opponents.

Don’t forget, there are authoritative statistics showing that the ten minutes after a goal is scored is also a high-scoring period.

Either one’s own team scores again, or the opponent does.

To score a goal and then immediately surrender the initiative—isn’t that just giving the opponent a chance to score?

Therefore, experienced defend and counter-attack teams often continue to attack for a spell after scoring, to keep pressuring the opponent and see if they can grab another goal.

Don’t forget, before the rise of the Bayswater Chinese, they had made their name playing defend and counter-attack.

Yang Cheng’s specialty was to score first with an opening blitz, and then slowly grind out a win with a defend and counter-attack strategy.

The Bayswater Chinese were very familiar with this approach.

It was just that so many years had passed, and the Bayswater Chinese had become so strong that they no longer played that way.

So, many of the newer players didn’t remember this “dark history.”

But not Modrić.

He had joined the team in 2003 and had grown with them from the lower leagues. He knew better than anyone how the team used to play.

And now, he knew exactly what Simeone was thinking.

“Their retreat speed is very fast, and their defense is very layered. They are also man-marking several of our players, so…” Giroud said, feeling the pressure.

Just then, Toni Kroos suddenly spoke up, “Then let’s keep them in our half!”

Modrić’s eyes lit up instantly as he looked at the German midfielder.

“As long as the ball is in our half, they won’t retreat so easily. We keep them there, then hit them with a quick transition.”

“We’ll empty the right flank, and Gareth’s speed can be unleashed.”

“Atlético is different from us; they’re not used to leaving space at the back!”

After hearing this, Modrić agreed it was feasible.

“Let’s do it! Come on, everyone!!!”

“Let’s go!”

All the players’ hands piled on top of each other as they shouted in unison.

“Let’s go!!”

Then, they quickly dispersed.

…

The match restarted.

Giroud kicked the ball to Gareth Bale, and the Welshman quickly knocked it back into their own half.

The Bayswater Chinese began to build from the back.

But it was clear that Atlético chose not to press rashly this time.

They opted to set up their defensive shape first, and then let their forwards apply some pressure.

The Bayswater Chinese tried to launch an attack from the left.

But Marcelo’s cross was cleared by Miranda.

The Portuguese midfielder Tiago then kicked the ball up to Turan.

The Turkish midfielder once again orchestrated an attack.

This time, however, the Bayswater Chinese quickly retreated and successfully won the ball back at the edge of their penalty area.

The Bayswater Chinese still wanted to attack down the left.

Diego Costa immediately lunged towards Thiago Silva on the left.

Turan, Villa, and Gabi also applied pressure in the left half of the Bayswater Chinese’s pitch.

But the Bayswater Chinese were no rookies; these players were all seasoned veterans, experienced campaigners.

They had faced this kind of pressing countless times.

After a series of one-touch passes, Marcelo evaded Turan on the left touchline and passed the ball to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder hit a low, sweeping horizontal pass. He kept the trajectory flat and the pace high, switching play from the left channel inside their own 30-meter area to the right flank near the halfway line.

At this moment, Gareth Bale’s area was completely empty.

The Welshman had dropped very deep.

At 15 minutes and 11 seconds, Gareth Bale received Toni Kroos’s pass.

Having already surveyed his surroundings, he used his left foot to push the ball directly in front of him, then powerfully pushed off with both legs, launching himself forward like an arrow from a bow.

How fast was Gareth Bale?

He received the ball at 11 seconds and reached Atlético’s 30-meter area by 15 seconds.

He didn’t even give the pressing Atlético players enough time to react.

Just moments before, Giroud had deliberately drifted to the right flank to prevent Filipe Luís from tracking Gareth Bale.

And now, the French centre-forward chose to run on the outside, leaving the entire inside channel for Gareth Bale.

At 16 seconds, Gareth Bale charged with the ball to the edge of the penalty area.

At this point, a hastily reacting Filipe Luís could no longer worry about Giroud and chose to intercept Bale outside the box.

Godín stood inside of Filipe Luís to provide cover, while Miranda was positioned at the arc of the penalty area.

This meant that Giroud was in an offside position.

Gareth Bale was well aware of this, and he had no intention of passing.

He wanted to do it himself!

This was his mission!

But Giroud was also very clever.

The moment he saw the Atlético defender wasn’t tracking him, he immediately chose to drop back, putting himself in an onside position.

Right behind Filipe Luís.

This forced Godín to divide his attention to keep an eye on Giroud.

If he didn’t, a pass from Bale would put Giroud clean through on goal.

Although everyone said Giroud’s scoring efficiency wasn’t high, for a centre-forward of his caliber, it would be difficult to miss a one-on-one, right?

Godín’s split-second of distraction proved fatal!

When the Welshman reached the edge of the box, he executed a step-over, a feint, that deceived Filipe Luís, baiting him into committing a tackle, then knocked the ball with his left foot to cut inside horizontally.

Gareth Bale had the advantage of surprise and was moving at incredible speed.

Filipe Luís lunged in for an interception, but Bale had already darted past him.

After cutting inside, the Welsh winger noticed that Godín had not immediately closed him down.

It turned out that Giroud had not only shouted but also made a forward run, drawing Godín to track him.

By the time Godín realized Filipe Luís had been beaten and he himself had been duped by Giroud, he immediately turned and lunged forward.

But Gareth Bale had already passed Filipe Luís and seized the initiative, charging diagonally towards the right of the arc.

The Welshman was just too fast!

From 17 to 18 seconds, in just two short seconds, Atlético’s defense was thrown into complete chaos.

When Godín closed in again, he realized he could no longer prevent Gareth Bale from shooting.

Miranda rushed out from the arc of the penalty area, trying to block Gareth Bale in time.

But after a quick shuffle of his feet to adjust, the Welshman unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

The ball rocketed off Gareth Bale’s left foot at incredible speed, heading for the left side of the goal.

Giroud’s earlier run had been a stroke of genius. Although he was offside, it not only confused Godín but also startled the goalkeeper, Oblak, causing him to shift his position slightly to the right.

As Gareth Bale’s shot was released, Oblak reacted with lightning speed, moving quickly, but realizing he wouldn’t make it in time, he threw himself sideways in a desperate dive.

Oblak gave it his all, stretching his body as far as it could go, but it was beyond his reach.

The ball hit the back of the net, nestling into the left side of Atlético’s goal.

At that moment, the clock stopped at 15 minutes and 20 seconds!

“GOAL!!!!!”

“My God!”

“A swift blitz from the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Gareth Bale, with lightning speed, has torn through Atlético Madrid’s defensive line and leveled the score for his team!”

“Just two minutes after The Mattress Makers scored, the Bayswater Chinese have successfully equalized!”

“Magnificent!”

“This match is simply breathtaking!”

“The Bayswater Chinese’s blitz was just too fast!”

“From touching the ball to scoring, it took Gareth Bale only nine seconds!”

The Bayswater Chinese players all rushed off the pitch, sprinting to the sideline to celebrate.

The entire Stadium of Light erupted with the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans!

When the broadcast camera cut to the sidelines, Simeone was clearly stunned by the result, in disbelief, throwing his arms open and repeatedly questioning what had just happened.

Yang Cheng, however, clenched his right fist, unsurprised by the outcome.

Because his team had that kind of quality!

…

Just two minutes, from being behind to being level!

But for the players of both teams, the psychological impact was completely different.

For the Atlético players, besides disappointment, there was also worry.

As the saying goes, a great reputation is well-deserved.

The Bayswater Chinese had earned their renown over the past few years through real grit and skill.

To be pegged back just two minutes after taking the lead, with so much time left to play, made the rest of the match seem daunting.

But for the Bayswater Chinese players, it was more about confidence.

Over the years, they had been behind more than once, but they had always managed to equalize, and even overturn the result.

Now, in the Champions League final against Atlético Madrid, the same thing was happening.

This filled every one of them with a potent sense of self-belief.

With the momentum and morale shifting, the game became even more intense.

The Bayswater Chinese were more interested in pulling the game back into a rhythm they were familiar with.

But The Mattress Makers had other ideas.

Once the opponent found their fluid passing and moving combination play, Atlético would have no choice but to retreat into defense.

So, The Mattress Makers reverted to what they knew best.

Ferocity!

In the seventeenth minute, Turan committed a foul on Marcelo while defending.

And it was a foul from the side and behind.

Kuipers had no choice but to show him a yellow card.

But in the twenty-second minute, Miranda fouled Giroud and received another yellow card.

After that, Koke also received a yellow card for a foul on Hazard.

Atlético clearly hoped to disrupt the Bayswater Chinese’s rhythm through this aggressive style of defense.

At the very least, they couldn’t let their opponents dominate the match smoothly.

But on the other hand, The Mattress Makers hadn’t given up their pursuit of a goal.

Especially in the twenty-ninth minute, when Atlético seized a counter-attacking opportunity, and Koke played a straight through ball.

Villa beat the offside trap, broke into the left side of the box, received the ball, and took a push shot, which Courtois smothered with a diving save.

He was just an inch away from scoring.

But for most of the remaining time, Atlético chose to compress their defensive lines, limiting the Bayswater Chinese’s attacking space.

In the thirty-fourth minute, with Hazard unable to get on the ball up front, he chose to drop back.

Juanfran immediately followed, pressing high.

Tiago also closed in at the same time.

When Toni Kroos passed the ball, Hazard, with his back to goal, shielded it with his body from Juanfran. He seemed to be letting the ball run across him, intending to turn and receive it on the outside to overtake his man.

This move, of course, did not fool the experienced Spanish defender Juanfran, who immediately moved to block the path.

But unexpectedly, Hazard, halfway through his turn, skillfully stopped the ball with his left foot, moving it towards his left, towards the center.

The motion of turning outwards not only stopped abruptly but was redirected towards the middle. His right foot then deftly flicked the ball to his left.

By the time the agile Belgian winger had turned around, Juanfran hadn’t even shifted his center of gravity.

Tiago tried to intercept, but Hazard simply dinked the ball past him.

A silky smooth feint, control, and turn blew past two of Atlético’s defensive players, and he broke through with the ball.

After breaking through, Hazard continued to dribble forward.

Unfortunately, his pace wasn’t particularly fast.

Miranda immediately closed in, blocking the inside and forcing Hazard to go wide.

Reaching the left side of the box, Hazard paused, feigning a move back to cut inside.

But by this time, Juanfran had already tracked back inside the penalty area line, and he and Miranda now had Hazard cornered.

The Belgian executed another flick, this time knocking the ball directly towards the byline.

He turned and accelerated after it, bursting into the penalty area. Near the byline, he hit a low, driven cross with his left foot towards the front of the goal.

Unfortunately, Giroud, who was waiting in the middle, was tightly marked by Miranda just outside the six-yard box and couldn’t reach the ball at all.

The ball slid across the front of Atlético’s six-yard box, and incredibly, no one could get on the end of it.

But at the far post, Gareth Bale, taking two steps for every one, quickly chased it down. As he received the ball, before Filipe Luís could close in, he hit a low, right-footed pass back into the six-yard box.

This time, Giroud finally seized the opportunity.

When Hazard made his run, the French centre-forward had been pinned behind Miranda.

But now the ball came from the right.

Godín tried to block Giroud again, but the Frenchman was a step ahead, getting in front of him and toe-poking Gareth Bale’s pass into Atlético’s goal with his right foot.

Faced with this point-blank shot, Oblak was utterly helpless.

The Atlético goalkeeper could only watch powerlessly as the football nestled into his own net.

2-1!

“A comeback!!!”

“In the thirty-fourth minute, the Bayswater Chinese score through Giroud!”

“2-1!”

“The score has been overturned!”

“A large part of the credit for this goal must go to Eden Hazard.”

“Within Atlético’s tightly-packed defense, the Belgian used his slick dribbling skills to force open a crack and deliver a low, driven cross in front of goal.”

“Although it didn’t directly lead to an assist, Gareth Bale’s subsequent cross created the goal-scoring opportunity for Giroud!”

“Atlético are in a bit of danger now!”

“From a 1-0 lead to now being 2-1 behind, it’s going to be very difficult for Atlético to keep defending.”

“Simeone’s team needs to think of something quickly, to push forward and take the initiative.”

…

Conceding two quick goals and falling behind, Atlético were truly desperate!

Most of The Mattress Makers’ players were participating in their first Champions League final.

It might even be the only one of their careers.

So, they began to fight with the desperation of men with nothing to lose.

In the forty-second minute, Villa committed a foul while tracking back and was shown a yellow card.

In the forty-fourth minute, Juanfran fouled Hazard and received another yellow card.

In the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, Gabi committed a foul while trying to win the ball, taking down Nemanja Matić, which led to a confrontation with Pepe.

The referee decided to punish both sides equally, giving each a yellow card.

In the entire first half, Atlético Madrid received a total of six yellow cards, distributed among six different players.

The Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had only received one.

Uh, no, that’s wrong. It was two.

Because when Kuipers punished both sides and showed Pepe a card, Yang Cheng furiously protested on the sideline and was also shown a yellow card as a warning by the head referee.

But the first half ultimately ended with the Bayswater Chinese in the lead.

2-1!

“Throughout the first half, we can clearly see that the Bayswater Chinese’s experience and mentality when dealing with being behind are significantly better and more mature than Atlético’s players.”

“Many of their players have participated in multiple Champions League finals.”

“In fact, many of them have been starters in their consecutive runs to the final for the last three years.”

“So, in terms of experience, Atlético are indeed inferior to their opponents.”

“But we must also acknowledge that Atlético showed considerable quality in the first half.”

“They are not without the ability to fight back!”

“Therefore, with a score of 2-1, we can’t yet say that the Bayswater Chinese have locked up the victory.”

“The key will be to see what adjustments Simeone makes during halftime.”

…

“They used up a lot of energy in the first half, and they already have six players on yellow cards.”

During halftime, in the dressing room, Yang Cheng was very satisfied with the team’s performance in the first half.

Especially Toni Kroos and Modrić, the two brains on the field.

Without explicit instructions from him, they adapted to the situation on the pitch, which led to the excellent outcome of equalizing in just two minutes.

It could be said that no one understands the situation on the pitch better than the players themselves.

So, Yang Cheng was not stingy with his praise, giving them plenty of commendation.

For the second half, Yang Cheng still believed that Atlético would opt for another blitz.

“Just like they did at the start of the first half. This is their last chance!”

“Once their energy levels drop, they’ll have to reduce their midfield press, and the likely result is that they’ll retreat into their own 30-meter area and adopt defensive tactics.”

This was a tactic for when stamina was severely depleted.

With Atlético’s defensive quality, if Simeone really chose to do that, combined with substitutions, holding the score should not be a big problem.

But they were currently behind.

So, Simeone would definitely try everything to score a goal at the beginning of the second half.

Yang Cheng then pointed out some issues that arose in the final stages of the first half.

That is, the tempo of the game had slowed down.

Especially after they had overturned the score.

“I’ve said it before, we need to control the tempo, to keep it as fast as possible.”

“We have the advantage in stamina!”

From May eleventh to the twenty-fourth, the Bayswater Chinese had rested for nearly two weeks.

And Atlético?

On the eighteenth, they had played a final, decisive La Liga match, an away game where they had to go all-out against Barça.

And that was just the schedule.

In terms of tactics and playing style, the Bayswater Chinese, in terms of both quality and style, inherently had the advantage.

Atlético relied on expending energy to compensate for their gap in technical and tactical ability.

Of course, Yang Cheng could also understand.

After turning the score around to 2-1, the players were naturally a bit worried and wanted to play it safe, so slowing down the pace was understandable.

“After the second half begins, we immediately push the tempo, constantly wear down the opponent, and control the game at the pace we’re best at!”

Finally, Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully, gathering everyone around him.

“Gentlemen, I believe that your feelings right now are the same as mine.”

“In the history of the Champions League, only three teams have achieved a three-peat.”

One was Real Madrid, who won five consecutive titles in the early days of the European Cup, but the competition was not as structured back then.

Next came Ajax and Bayern Munich in the 1970s.

But at that time, there were fewer participating teams, and the difficulty was far from what it is now.

Since the Champions League was restructured, forget a three-peat, even defending the title is incredibly difficult.

Only the Bayswater Chinese have managed it.

And they’ve done it twice.

Now, Yang Cheng’s team had reached the final and had the opportunity for a three-peat!

“I want to say, we are just the last forty-five minutes away from becoming legends!”

“But the closer we get, the more we need to remain calm, the more we need to be rational!”

“Toni, Luka!”

Yang Cheng called out the names of Toni Kroos and Modrić.

They were the type of players who remained calm in a crisis, who could hold their nerve the more critical the moment became.

Both looked towards Yang Cheng.

“Control the game, control the midfield, control the tempo!”

“Believe in yourselves, we can definitely win this match and make history!”

All the players felt Yang Cheng’s determination and cheered in unison.

…

As expected.

At the start of the second half, Atlético was the first to try and launch a wave of attacks.

But the Bayswater Chinese did not back down. They took the initiative, significantly increasing the pace of the game.

Going head-to-head in an end-to-end game was practically the Bayswater Chinese’s specialty.

When the second half reached the fifty-seventh minute, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the halfway line in their own half.

Before receiving the ball, Toni Kroos had already noticed Marcelo’s forward run.

As soon as he controlled the ball, he immediately turned and played a pass that crossed the halfway line and landed in front of Marcelo.

The Brazilian quickly chased after it, then played another through ball down the line from the outside.

The left winger Eden Hazard made a decisive run, receiving the ball on the left side of the box. Under the watchful eye of Juanfran, he tried to dribble into the box.

Juanfran defended as if facing a formidable enemy, sticking close to Hazard at all times.

No matter how the Belgian stopped or changed direction, he couldn’t shake off Juanfran.

Nor could he find a gap to the center.

Atlético’s defense was truly impenetrable.

Left with no other choice, especially after seeing Atlético’s midfielders starting to track back, Hazard had to stop, shield the ball, and make a back pass out of the penalty area to the left side outside the box.

Marcelo had just arrived. As he controlled the ball, he glanced at the penalty area and lofted a cross with his left foot, sending in a curling ball.

Near the left corner of the six-yard box, at the near post, Giroud drew the tight marking of Miranda.

But Marcelo’s cross flew over Giroud and the others, heading directly for the far post.

Godín was right behind Giroud. Seeing the high cross, he immediately sensed the danger and turned to rush towards the ball’s landing spot.

But Gareth Bale was faster. The Welshman was already tall, and after a high-speed run-up, he leaped into the air. He looked like a god descending from the heavens as he met Marcelo’s cross with a powerful header.

Gareth Bale connected perfectly with the ball, changing its direction and sending it straight into the right side of Atlético’s goal.

Oblak dove to his side, but it was still beyond his reach.

3-1!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Fifty-seventh minute of the second half, the Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“Another swift counter-attack! Hazard draws the defensive attention on the left, and Marcelo delivers the cross.”

“Gareth Bale with a header at the far post!”

“A brace!”

“Gareth Bale has scored a brace in several consecutive Champions League matches!”

“The Welshman’s performance is simply unstoppable!”

“The Bayswater Chinese lead 3-1!”

On the sideline, Yang Cheng also powerfully pumped his right fist, venting his inner excitement.

3-1!

The game is decided!

Chapter 307: Three Consecutive Champions League Titles! The Greatest Dynasty in History! The Uninvited Guests at the Door!

The moment the Dutch head referee, Björn Kuipers, blew the final whistle, Diego Simeone was momentarily dazed.

This was the third competition he had lost this season!

The Argentinian tilted his head back, opening his mouth wide in an effort to calm himself.

Atlético Madrid had never been a powerhouse!

Although they had won the Spanish Double in the mid-1990s, it came at the cost of the club’s future!

As a result, just a few years after the Double, Atlético Madrid was relegated from La Liga.

The team that won the Double, led by Simeone, immediately scattered.

After finally making their way back to La Liga, The Mattress Makers consistently lingered in the middle of the table.

It was only in recent years that Atlético Madrid gradually found its identity and carved out a path for itself.

Especially after Simeone took charge, The Mattress Makers forged ahead on this path.

But titles always remained just out of reach.

Until this season!

Atlético Madrid once had a chance to win the La Liga title, but Real Madrid broke the bank during the winter transfer window to sign Javi Martínez, stabilizing their midfield and defense, leaving Atlético with no chance in the second half of the season.

In the Copa del Rey semi-final, Atlético was humiliated 5-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid.

And now, after making it to the Champions League final, they had fallen at the feet of Bayswater Chinese.

At this thought, Simeone took a sharp breath.

He was incredibly resentful.

Given Atlético’s financial resources and squad, reaching the Champions League final was a victory in itself.

But was there truly not even the slightest chance?

Simeone was no fool.

He saw things very clearly.

Kuipers’s officiating had been lenient.

This favored Atlético.

Yet even so, Atlético still received so many yellow cards.

That could only mean one thing.

The gap in strength between the two teams was truly significant.

At least greater than the 3-1 scoreline suggested!

This left a bitter taste in Simeone’s mouth.

This Atlético team was like his child, one he had watched grow up. Now, unable to win a title, it was likely to fall apart this summer.

Would they ever have another chance to reach the Champions League final?

Would they ever have another chance to get their hands on the La Liga title?

Simeone opened his mouth wide again, feeling uneasy, uncomfortable, and unwilling to accept defeat!

But when he saw Yang Cheng walking over, he took another deep breath, calmed himself, and squeezed out a stiff smile as he extended his hand.

“Congratulations, Yang. Your team was so composed!” Simeone praised.

This sentence was sincere.

Bayswater Chinese had indeed been remarkably steady.

Their midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić, apart from an initial shaky period, had almost complete control of the game, giving Atlético few opportunities.

There were even many times when The Mattress Makers were forced to fall back and defend.

If one had to pinpoint the biggest difference in strength, it was certainly in the midfield.

With the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio aging, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield was second to none in the world!

Yang Cheng cheerfully shook Simeone’s hand, but he could sense the mood of the Argentine “Bandit chief.”

Failing to make that final breakthrough was a huge blow to both Simeone and Atlético.

Given The Mattress Makers’ current situation, especially with clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool all coveting their players, failing to win a trophy this season was surely a source of deep frustration for Simeone.

But funnily enough, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, most of the players from this Atlético squad performed averagely after leaving the club.

Of course, that was in his past life.

Now, times had changed, and no one knew if these players would fare any better after their departures.

…

Knowing Simeone was in a bad mood, Yang Cheng didn’t say much more to him.

After turning away, Yang Cheng walked toward the refereeing team in the distance.

Tonight, Björn Kuipers’s officiating was genuinely biased.

And it was a very obvious bias.

During the match, Bayswater Chinese seemed to have the upper hand for long periods but could never establish their fluid passing and moving combination play. Anyone could see that this was due to Atlético’s aggressive, foul-heavy tactics.

But experienced observers could tell that the head referee’s officiating had emboldened these tactics, amplifying their effect.

There were times when he could have played the advantage for an attacking team, but he chose to blow the whistle.

Yes, Atlético had committed a foul, giving Bayswater Chinese a free kick opportunity.

But it broke up their fast attacks.

After all, fouls often happen when a player is beaten, broken through, or when the defender is unable to stop the play.

So, throughout the match, Bayswater Chinese’s play was also rather disjointed.

But on second thought, it was normal.

It was the Champions League final, after all.

Moreover, UEFA didn’t want Bayswater Chinese to win a three-peat!

Such things really couldn’t be spoken about publicly.

It was, after all, within the referee’s officiating authority.

And it was also one of European football’s unwritten rules.

If you wanted to win, you had to endure it with true skill, just as Bayswater Chinese had done.

Complaining after a loss was pointless; the media and fans wouldn’t necessarily support you, and it would only tarnish your own image.

And if you won, there was even less need to say anything.

Just like at this moment, when Yang Cheng met Kuipers and the other referees, he wore a smile as he shook their hands and chatted amicably.

Because he knew that many things were not decided by these referees.

Besides, they might run into them again in next season’s matches.

Laughing and chatting built good will.

This, in turn, explained why many people said Ferguson’s Manchester United often received preferential treatment from Premier League referees.

Ultimately, that was how it worked.

…

After the final whistle blew, the players and staff of Bayswater Chinese celebrated all over the pitch.

In contrast, Atlético’s players stood rooted to the spot, dumbstruck.

The difference between the two was stark.

At the same time, preparations for the awards ceremony were in full swing in the stands.

Bayswater Chinese’s name began to be engraved on the body of the championship trophy.

This was the 5th Champions League trophy in Bayswater Chinese’s history!

With this trophy, the club would surpass Barça, Ajax, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich to become the third most successful club in Champions League history.

They would be second only to Real Madrid with nine titles and AC Milan with seven.

Not to mention Manchester United, with its three titles.

This essentially signaled that Bayswater Chinese had officially entered the ranks of the world’s most elite football clubs!

The awards ceremony on the podium tonight was also star-studded.

British Prime Minister Cameron and royal representatives Prince William and his wife, Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy, and Spanish King Juan Carlos all appeared on the podium, ready to present awards to the two finalist teams.

Of course, UEFA President Platini, General Secretary Infantino, and others were also present.

Yang Cheng went over to shake hands and hug his assistants and players one by one.

Everyone was exceptionally emotional.

For Bayswater Chinese, a season’s hard work had finally culminated in winning this most prestigious trophy!

While the players celebrated on the field, Yang Cheng noticed Adam Crozier waving at him from an inconspicuous corner of the pitch. He nonchalantly walked over.

“Congratulations, Yang! You and the players were fantastic!”

The moment they met, Adam Crozier gave Yang Cheng a warm hug.

Yang Cheng smiled and thanked him.

He knew that Adam Crozier must have something important to discuss.

“What’s up?”

“Al Thani is here,” Adam Crozier said, pointing up at the stands.

“Who?”

“Al Thani, that Middle Eastern owner of Málaga CF,” Adam Crozier reminded him.

Only then did it click for Yang Cheng. “Let him be. Ignore him!”

The Champions League final was held in Lisbon, and with Atlético participating, it was normal for many Spanish fans to travel to Portugal to watch the game.

Málaga was only four or five hundred kilometers from Lisbon, making it very convenient to attend.

But Al Thani was clearly not just here to watch the game.

Even before the final, while Yang Cheng was conducting a training camp in Marbella, Al Thani had tried to arrange a meeting several times, but Adam Crozier had blocked him each time.

Yang Cheng didn’t want to see him!

Firstly, the team was preparing for a crucial match. Secondly, there was no point in meeting him.

Málaga CF had been relegated.

For Al Thani, Málaga was now a hot potato.

And he had decided to let it rot, refusing to invest any more money.

So now, Málaga couldn’t even pay its players’ salaries.

BlueBay wouldn’t invest either, as they were still embroiled in a lawsuit with Al Thani. Who would be foolish enough to throw money into that pit?

Thus, the situation had stagnated, turning into a complete mess.

Xia Qing had specially arranged for someone to investigate Al Thani in the Middle East.

The guy was nowhere near as wealthy as the rumors claimed.

In fact, to some extent, he had always operated in this grey area of half-truths, with a touch of deceit.

For example, why was the Marbella marina redevelopment project halted?

It had originally been a project with immense potential.

Marbella is a very famous tourist resort in Europe, attracting countless visitors for holidays every year.

The so-called marina redevelopment wasn’t just about renovating the marina; it included high-end shopping streets and other tourist facilities, an all-in-one package.

In China, it would be called a commercial complex.

But after securing the project, he didn’t invest, operating with a leveraged buyout mentality.

Then there was his investment in Málaga.

He did invest a lot of money, publicly claiming it was 200 million euros, though the exact figure was unclear.

But why were so many of his plans put on hold?

For instance, Málaga’s training ground.

The reason was simple: he wanted to sell the Rosaleda Stadium.

He had tied these two issues together.

Essentially, he would only have the money to build a training ground if he sold the Rosaleda Stadium.

But how much was the Rosaleda Stadium worth?

It’s laughable, but many people probably don’t know that Málaga still doesn’t have its own training ground to this day.

That’s right, they really don’t!

Around 2003, their first team and B team shared a single training pitch. Later, for a period, they just trained inside the Rosaleda Stadium itself.

In 2009, after the Málaga Municipal Stadium was built, which was a multi-purpose stadium with an athletics track, Málaga rented it as a training ground for the first team.

A basketball arena just across the road was rented to Málaga’s basketball team.

Yes, besides football, Málaga also had a basketball team, both of which were losing money.

The location of the Rosaleda Stadium wasn’t great either, being a full two kilometers from the nearest metro station, and the surrounding area wasn’t bustling.

Coupled with the team’s poor performance, the attendance rate was low.

So, the current Málaga was truly a money-losing venture!

Many people must be wondering.

If it was so bad in every respect, why did Yang Cheng take an interest in Málaga in the first place?

Málaga’s youth academy was actually doing quite well.

Even before Al Thani’s acquisition, they had consistently invested in youth development, building several youth academies in Málaga and surrounding cities, and now they have a relatively sound youth system.

But it wasn’t exactly top-tier.

As Spain’s sixth-largest city with no other major clubs nearby, Málaga had a unique advantage.

And across the sea was North Africa.

Furthermore, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Spain was set to host the 2030 World Cup, with Málaga as one of the host cities and the Rosaleda Stadium as one of the venues.

More importantly, over the past few years, the Spanish football league had been planning to reform La Liga’s broadcast rights, abolishing the old system where Real Madrid and Barça sold their own rights, and adopting the Premier League model.

This would have a very positive impact on La Liga teams.

In the long run, its value was certain to increase.

Plus, Spain itself is fertile ground for football, with the huge markets of South America and Africa on its doorstep.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng naturally wanted to plant a flag there.

Just imagine: OGC Nice in Ligue 1, and if he had another team in La Liga, what worries would Bayswater Chinese have about its talent supply in the future?

Even in 2024, when Yang Cheng’s advantage as a Transmigrator was gone, the entire system would still be able to function smoothly.

Isn’t that how Manchester City’s City Football Group operates?

Only now, Yang Cheng wanted to leverage his first-mover advantage to build something even bigger than the City Football Group.

If he had the chance, he even wanted to expand into the Bundesliga, Primeira Liga, Eredivisie, and other leagues, creating a massive football empire!

And Bayswater Chinese would be the dazzling centerpiece of this empire!

But even so, Málaga was too much of a mess right now.

Yang Cheng wasn’t interested.

He wasn’t the type of person who liked to clean up someone’s mess.

So, Al Thani… he would not see him!

…

The greatest team in history!

As Bayswater Chinese lifted the Champions League trophy once again at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, The Guardian in England was the first to publish a commentary.

It lavished high praise on Bayswater Chinese’s three consecutive Champions League titles.

“Facing the strong La Liga opponent Atlético Madrid, Bayswater Chinese, despite a brief period of passivity in the first half, performed with great composure throughout the match, smoothly defeating their rivals to win the championship!”

“With this victory, Yang Cheng’s team has completed an unprecedented three-peat since the Champions League was rebranded!”

The Guardian believed that Bayswater Chinese’s previous two consecutive defenses of the Champions League title were already great achievements.

This season, to have made history once again by achieving a three-peat was simply incredible!

In the history of the Champions League, only Ajax and Bayern Munich had achieved a three-peat.

Bayswater Chinese was the third.

“They have surpassed Nottingham Forest of the 1970s and Liverpool of the 1980s to become the greatest team in English history!”

“At the same time, they are also the greatest team in the history of European football!”

Although Real Madrid’s five consecutive titles stood before Bayswater Chinese, The Guardian argued that the Champions League was in its infancy then, and Real Madrid’s five-peat lacked credibility.

A simple point: back then, a team only needed to play seven matches to win the title.

But now?

It requires thirteen matches!

Moreover, the value and prestige of the competition today far exceed that of the past.

The Guardian asserted that Yang Cheng’s team had surpassed all teams in Champions League history to forge the greatest Champions League dynasty!

“Five consecutive Premier League titles, three consecutive Champions League titles—is there a more glorious legend than this?”

Besides Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng was also making history.

Since the Champions League rebrand, only two managers, Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, had led their teams to the Champions League final for three consecutive years.

But neither of the Italians managed to defend the title.

Yang Cheng not only defended it but created a three-peat.

“This is an unprecedented legendary achievement in Champions League history, one that will be difficult to replicate in the next 50 years!”

…

The Golden Age of the Premier League!

Compared to The Guardian, The Sun was more provocative.

In its report, the Fleet Street media outlet not only praised Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese but also dedicated significant space to belittling La Liga.

For instance, one sentence read, “The upset that La Liga fans had hoped for did not materialize; Atlético Madrid, who reached the Champions League final, failed to defeat Bayswater Chinese.”

“The 3-1 scoreline and all the match statistics prove the gap between the two teams.”

“This is also the gap between the Premier League and La Liga!”

The Sun finally showed its true colors.

“As two of the world’s most-watched football leagues, the Premier League and La Liga have the attention and support of countless fans.”

“Over the past few years, the debate over which is the number one league has never ceased.”

“But now, with an undisputed 3-1 victory, Bayswater Chinese has shattered La Liga’s dream and created a golden age for the Premier League!”

The Sun went on to praise Bayswater Chinese as the most formidable leader of the Premier League.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s performance in European competitions has been there for all to see.

Especially against La Liga teams.

Real Madrid, Barça, and now Atlético Madrid have often found themselves at a disadvantage when facing Bayswater Chinese.

“They can only flex their muscles in La Liga. When they come to the European stage and face Yang Cheng and his team, they can only return in defeat time and time again!”

…

The 5th Title Belongs to the Magical Bale!

This was the post-match commentary from The Times.

In the report from this authoritative British media outlet, Gareth Bale received exceptionally high praise.

A brace and an assist.

It could be said that Gareth Bale single-handedly directed this great victory.

The Times asserted, “This night’s Champions League final belongs to Gareth Bale!”

The British media analyzed various aspects of the match, noting that the performance of Bayswater Chinese’s players was generally excellent.

Especially as more details were revealed post-match.

Including how Modrić and Toni Kroos adjusted the team’s attacking rhythm and tactics after conceding, quickly equalizing within two minutes.

And Hazard’s several brilliant dribbles also left an incredibly deep impression.

The Times also gave these very high ratings.

But Gareth Bale was the protagonist of this match.

Even the usually composed The Times offered a surprisingly glowing review.

“On this night in Lisbon, the Welshman was radiant!”

“His skill seemed to make time stand still, making football incredibly captivating!”

In the end, The Times couldn’t help but express a regretful sentiment.

“Back then, Gareth Bale turned down England, which means we won’t be able to see the Welsh player at this year’s World Cup in Brazil, nor will we be able to appreciate this superstar’s performance!”

“This is a loss for the World Cup! And an even greater loss for English football!”

…

Besides the few authoritative outlets, other British media also sang praises for Bayswater Chinese.

The Daily Mail wrote an article immediately after the match praising Bayswater Chinese.

“A Champions League three-peat!”

“In this era of the most brutal competition, such an achievement is nothing short of a miracle!”

“In an age where legendary superstars like Messi and C. Ronaldo shine, the stars of Bayswater Chinese have written their own most brilliant chapter!”

The Daily Telegraph also wrote after the game, “The magical coach Yang Cheng has once again made history.”

“Five trips to the Champions League final, five victories—Bayswater Chinese has completed its domination of the Champions League!”

“Just like their previous domination of the Premier League.”

“It’s time for the giants of other European leagues to feel the terror that the Premier League has felt under Bayswater Chinese’s rule for the past few years!”

Even the Spanish media, including Marca, AS newspaper, El País, ABC, Diario Sport, Mundo Deportivo, and others, generally acknowledged and congratulated Bayswater Chinese on their three-peat.

But because they had defeated a Spanish team this time, they didn’t praise them as wildly as the British media.

Germany’s Bild and kicker magazine, France’s L’Équipe and France Football magazine, Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport and La Repubblica, almost all major European media outlets sang praises for Bayswater Chinese immediately after the match.

A Champions League three-peat!

Since the mid-to-late 1970s, no other football giant had managed to achieve this feat.

Not even the Liverpool of the 1980s at their peak!

After Yang Cheng led the team through the Champions League final, received the awards, and returned to the dressing room, he received a flood of text messages and congratulations, as well as calls from many friends and family.

But the one that surprised Yang Cheng the most was from Ferguson.

The Manchester United godfather, lying in a hospital bed after a stroke, watched the Champions League final and called Yang Cheng.

“You’ve done what I always wanted to do but never managed!”

What was that?

Yang Cheng knew.

It was knocking Liverpool off their throne!

Manchester United at their peak was truly outstanding, but the Liverpool of the 1980s was the pinnacle of English football.

Ferguson had dedicated his life to leading Manchester United to surpass Liverpool’s peak era.

But he never quite managed it.

Now, Yang Cheng had.

Perhaps in terms of the number of titles, mainly league titles, Bayswater Chinese still couldn’t compare to Liverpool for now.

But a Champions League three-peat and five consecutive Premier League titles—these two weighty achievements meant that Bayswater Chinese had surpassed the peak-era Liverpool in terms of accomplishment.

They could be called the greatest dynasty in the history of English football!

Ferguson’s call was like a stamp of approval on the achievements of Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

…

After winning the title, the team celebrated all night in Lisbon.

It wasn’t until the following afternoon that they took a private jet from Lisbon to London.

Upon landing, they were met with a frenzied welcome from passionate fans.

From Heathrow Airport to the West End of London, the route was lined with cheering supporters.

Many fans even drove their cars, following the team bus.

As was tradition, the team organized a victory parade in the West End of London, just like in previous years.

But as Bayswater Chinese’s success grew over the past few years, so did its fanbase, and the scale of each parade became larger and larger.

This time was particularly special, as it came with a Champions League three-peat!

This was the first time an English team had ever won three consecutive Champions League titles.

So, the parade was unprecedentedly lively.

Finally, everyone gathered at the plaza by the Prudential Stadium.

Prudential Plaza had been bustling since the day of the Champions League final.

On the night of the final, Bayswater Chinese had opened up Prudential Stadium, allowing season ticket holders to enter and watch the match together.

From before and after the final to the victory parade the next day, the area around the stadium was constantly swarming with people.

Countless fans even refused to leave their seats in the stadium.

Because they knew that the final stop of the victory parade was the Prudential Stadium.

So, when the Bayswater Chinese players entered with the Champions League trophy, the entire stadium was packed.

The atmosphere was electric!

As a die-hard Bayswater Chinese fan, superstar Adele even came to congratulate the team in person and sang the team anthem for them.

This had become a routine part of Bayswater Chinese’s title celebrations over the past few years.

Whenever she could spare the time, she would definitely be there to offer her congratulations.

This also made Bayswater Chinese’s victory celebration a focal point for countless fans and media.

After this spectacular celebration, Bayswater Chinese also held a victory banquet.

Only then did the first day of official championship celebrations come to an end.

But on the streets of London, countless fans were still celebrating on their own.

…

The next afternoon, Yang Cheng went to the club office in Soho to attend a routine executive meeting.

The main topic of this meeting was the team’s financial income and expenditure for the past season.

Overall, Bayswater Chinese was still growing.

And the growth rate was significant.

But the breakdown was a bit different.

In general, the growth of matchday revenue had begun to slow down.

In the long run, the growth in this area will become smaller and smaller, essentially becoming fixed.

This is a characteristic of matchday revenue.

Very stable!

In terms of commercial revenue, Bayswater Chinese’s growth over the past year was not substantial.

This was mainly because, in the 2013/14 season, the club faced the expiration of sponsorship contracts with several partners.

The commercial department had been working hard to negotiate renewals with sponsors from all over the world.

Out of 12 sponsorship contracts, 9 chose to renew.

This showed that the returns Bayswater Chinese brought to its sponsors were very positive.

And new sponsorship efforts were also proceeding in an orderly manner.

So, signing a few new sponsorships while losing a few was perfectly normal.

But even so, the club’s commercial revenue still managed to grow.

Omar Berrada predicted that the Champions League three-peat would further stimulate Bayswater Chinese’s commercial potential and enhance the club’s commercial value, ensuring that commercial revenue would continue to grow in the coming years.

Over the past year, the area with the largest growth for Bayswater Chinese was broadcast rights revenue.

After winning the Champions League this season, the club’s prize money and share of the pot from the competition would reach around 50 million pounds sterling.

The exact figure would have to wait for UEFA to finalize the accounts, but it would be around that number.

The real big money came from the Premier League.

Although the Premier League had not yet given the final figures, according to Bayswater Chinese’s preliminary calculations, the team’s share of the Premier League broadcast fees for this season is expected to reach 100 million pounds sterling.

More importantly, Manchester City, who won the title, is estimated to receive only 98 million pounds sterling.

That is to say, Bayswater Chinese’s prize money would be more than the champion, Manchester City.

The reason for this phenomenon was that Bayswater Chinese had more matches broadcast than Manchester City.

According to statistics, when all factors were combined, the difference was about 4 million pounds sterling.

The prize money for league position was 2 million pounds sterling less.

Overall, Bayswater Chinese would still earn 2 million pounds sterling more than Manchester City.

More importantly, Bayswater Chinese will become the first team in Premier League history to break the 100 million pounds sterling mark in broadcast revenue!

Even more importantly, the team that finished at the bottom of the Premier League this season, Cardiff City, received a broadcast rights payout of 64 million pounds sterling.

What does that mean?

Last season, when Bayswater Chinese won the Premier League title, their broadcast fee share was 61 million pounds sterling.

In other words, the bottom-placed Cardiff City earned more than last season’s champions!

This was simply outrageous!

That’s why this season’s Premier League relegation battle was so fierce, and the promotion battle in the Championship was equally intense.

It’s worth mentioning that in the promotion playoffs, Newcastle defeated Queens Park Rangers to get promoted to the Premier League.

The other two newly promoted teams were Leicester City and Burnley.

There are rumors that American real estate tycoon Steve Ross was furious that Queens Park Rangers failed to get promoted.

He had put the West London team up for sale for a long time, but there were no takers.

This time he invested heavily to try and get back to the Premier League, only to be upset by Newcastle.

A guaranteed income of 64 million pounds sterling for one season!

The American was probably kicking himself!

And all of this was due to the Premier League’s new broadcasting contract.

According to Xia Qing’s preliminary estimates, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue this season will be around 630 million pounds sterling.

That’s about 790 million euros.

The exact figures would have to wait for UEFA and the Premier League to settle their accounts.

But they would certainly continue to lead the pack in European football.

Because according to previous reports from the Spanish media, Real Madrid’s total income is expected to be around 460 million pounds sterling, which is about 575 million euros.

It is worth mentioning that Manchester United’s revenue this season will surpass that of Barça and Bayern Munich, reaching 440 million pounds sterling, ranking third in European football.

And with the implementation of the Premier League’s new broadcast rights this season, the income of all Premier League teams has generally increased.

The Daily Mail previously revealed that all six of the Premier League’s Big 6 will enter the top 10 of the European football revenue rankings.

This will be a very stunning feat!

In addition, teams like Swansea City, Stoke City, and Sunderland will all enter the top 30 list.

In the top 30, the Premier League will occupy 15 spots, accounting for half the list.

This is a truly, truly astonishing thing!

It means that from now on, even the mid-to-lower-table teams in the Premier League will have excellent purchasing power.

In the top 30 rankings, La Liga had three teams: Real Madrid, Barça, and Atlético Madrid.

The Bundesliga had Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, and Hamburger SV.

Among them, Hamburger SV was the most surprising.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this club, the “Kings of the North” who could never forgive the Bundesliga, had a really solid foundation.

To break into the top 30 of European revenue without European competition, what else is there to say?

Who knows how they managed to run the club into the ground?

What surprised Yang Cheng was Serie A.

Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, S.S.C. Napoli, and AS Roma.

Serie A had a full five teams in the top 30, with Juventus being the highest-ranked at 11th.

This, to some extent, also showed that the income distribution in Serie A is still relatively uneven.

Ligue 1 only had two teams, Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille.

Paris Saint-Germain was close to 400 million pounds sterling, while Marseille just crossed the 100 million pounds sterling mark.

But the revenue of Ligue 1 teams does not include transfer income.

Although OGC Nice’s income has increased significantly, overall, it is still some distance from the top 30.

For now, OGC Nice can only be financially self-sufficient.

As for Atalanta, having just taken over, the situation has not yet improved.

And the renovation of the training ground and stadium will require a lot of investment.

Coupled with the current environment in Serie A, Atalanta will not see any improvement in the short term.

Yang Cheng and his team were already mentally prepared for a long battle.

…

“According to reliable intelligence we’ve received, Manchester United’s search for a manager has been basically decided.”

At the end of the meeting, Adam Crozier shared the latest news.

“Barring any surprises, Manchester United’s new head coach will be van Gaal!”

“Van Gaal?”

Yang Cheng repeated the name, feeling a little surprised.

After going round and round, they were back to where they started.

But on second thought, it didn’t seem strange.

At the end of the day, there were too few top-class managers available in European football.

According to information previously gathered by Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United’s initial list of candidates had more than a dozen names.

But it was quickly narrowed down to just five.

Being invited to coach is one thing; Manchester United has to want them, and they have to be willing to come.

Of those who are wanted and willing to come, there must be no contract disputes.

This involved many issues.

For example, it was previously rumored that Manchester United was interested in Atlético Madrid’s coach, Diego Simeone.

But what happened?

Before the Champions League final, Simeone chose to extend his contract with Atlético, with a huge salary increase.

Besides Simeone, Borussia Dortmund’s coach Klopp was also very popular, and his coaching ability had been proven.

But he had a contract with Borussia Dortmund.

If Manchester United wanted to poach him, Dortmund wouldn’t let him go, and Klopp wasn’t willing to offend Dortmund.

In this situation, the deal was a non-starter.

Of course, there were other coaches, such as Ronald Koeman from OGC Nice.

But Ronald Koeman was ranked relatively low among the many candidates.

It was said he was even ranked behind David Moyes.

The reason was simple: Ronald Koeman had a bad temper and a poor reputation from his past. He didn’t get along well with big-name players in the dressing room, which made Manchester United wary of him.

In comparison, wasn’t Moyes more suitable?

But in the end, they settled on another coach with a rather strong temper and a stubborn personality: van Gaal.

Ultimately, van Gaal had the prestige!

Sometimes, prestige really is effective.

Especially when coaching a giant club.

To put it bluntly, let Moyes coach Manchester United?

Would the players listen to him?

If they disagreed, they could just ask him: how many Champions League games have you managed? What experience do you have to be lecturing us?

How would Moyes answer?

This was also one of the reasons why Yang Cheng was so particular about his successor.

If a head coach with a very strong personality came to lead Bayswater Chinese, there’s no doubt it would be a disaster!

Why?

Could their prestige be greater than that of the current group of players?

They wouldn’t be able to command the dressing room!

Unless it was Zidane or Pep Guardiola, any other strong-willed head coach would have a tough time.

That’s why, when Yang Cheng was choosing, he emphasized one thing: personality!

At a top giant club, a head coach who can command the dressing room doesn’t even need to be a tactical genius!

As for Manchester United choosing van Gaal, it was probably for similar reasons.

Besides, looking at the current European football scene, there was probably no more suitable big-name manager than van Gaal.

There were too many clubs and too few top managers; all the good ones were already employed!

“Weren’t there rumors about Pellegrini and Benítez before?” Omar Berrada asked curiously.

“Pellegrini is currently unemployed, but Manchester United had concerns about him and ultimately chose the more strong-willed van Gaal.”

“As for Benítez, it’s said that S.S.C. Napoli wouldn’t let him go. You know De Laurentiis’s personality… very troublesome!”

After Adam Crozier’s explanation, everyone couldn’t help but smile.

Pellegrini’s coaching level is very high, but he really isn’t suited to manage a giant club.

Mainly because his personality is a bit soft, which is just not a good fit.

On the contrary, he can better utilize his strengths managing mid-to-lower-table teams.

The dressing rooms of mid-to-lower-table teams are relatively simpler, putting more of a test on the head coach’s coaching ability.

“Van Gaal will take over at Manchester United after the World Cup. There’s news that Manchester United has given him a transfer budget of 200 million pounds sterling this time,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

“Bullshit!” Yang Cheng burst out laughing on the spot.

He wouldn’t believe it for a second.

Manchester United would give that much money?

“The Daily Mirror said it. Go argue with them,” Adam Crozier laughed as well.

After a pause, the Bayswater Chinese CEO mentioned another matter.

“Atlético Madrid is becoming the hottest team on the summer transfer market. Diego Costa, Koke, Turan—all have become targets of interest for major clubs.”

“It’s said that Diego Costa is closest to Chelsea. Mourinho is very interested in him, and Falcao also came from Atlético, so Mourinho might want to reunite the former Atlético striker partnership.”

Back then, Atlético had formed a formidable striker partnership with Diego Costa and Falcao, who were outstanding in La Liga.

Diego Costa’s tactical importance was especially obvious.

“Additionally, Atlético’s entire defensive line is being targeted. Juanfran, Godín, Miranda, and Filipe Luís—all have clubs interested, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and others, all watching them.”

Hearing this, everyone felt a bit wistful.

Once upon a time, Bayswater Chinese was in the same situation as Atlético now.

But times have changed.

Today’s Bayswater Chinese might not be extravagantly wealthy, but at the very least, they could hold on to their players.

Especially the core players.

In contrast, a club like Atlético simply couldn’t keep its talent.

Their salaries weren’t high, but their players were strong, and reaching the Champions League final was the best proof of that.

“Atlético is in a real pickle right now. It’s impossible to keep everyone. Who to let go and who to keep will be crucial!”

Yang Cheng thought for a moment. “Filipe Luís will definitely go to Chelsea. Ashley Cole has already transferred. Mourinho has been watching Filipe Luís for a long time; he won’t let him go.”

The only question was the transfer fee.

The two centre-backs, Godín and Miranda, were currently valued at around 25 million pounds sterling.

The main reason was their age.

Miranda was born in September 1984, so he could basically be considered a 30-year-old player.

Godín was born in February 1986, making him 28 now.

Both now and in the future, any player sold for a high price is usually a young player.

Can older players be sold for a high price?

It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult.

Unless the player is extremely scarce for the buying team or has shown exceptional strength.

For both Miranda and Godín, this was roughly their market value at the moment.

And any team wanting to buy them would probably weigh whether it was worth it.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, both centre-backs stayed at Atlético for a while longer before leaving.

But now, with a shortage of centre-backs in European football, no one knew what would happen next.

“Oh, right. Real Madrid is looking for a goalkeeper,” Adam Crozier reminded him.

This was another piece of blockbuster news.

After his clash with Mourinho, Casillas had been benched for a while. Coupled with his age, his form could no longer be guaranteed.

But there weren’t many excellent goalkeepers in European football right now, and even fewer who met Real Madrid’s standards.

The Galácticos had leaks all over the place, with problems in several positions.

The key was to see what happened at this summer’s World Cup.

Bayswater Chinese had quite a few players participating, which made Yang Cheng feel quite conflicted.

On one hand, he hoped they would perform well. On the other hand, he worried that if they performed too well, they would be poached. What then?

He wasn’t worried about core players like Modrić and Toni Kroos.

After all, he could keep them.

But what about the other players?

For now, there was no point in dwelling on it.

He could only deal with it when it happened.

After the routine executive meeting ended, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing held a smaller meeting with the core senior management, including Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt.

In a few days, once things in London were settled, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing were going back to China for a trip.

Yang Cheng hadn’t been back in several years. Xia Qing went back from time to time, but this time they would definitely stay longer.

So, many things had to be communicated in advance.

Fortunately, phones and the internet made it convenient to stay in touch, so it wasn’t a big problem.

Just as they finished their small meeting, a message came from the front desk downstairs.

A Middle Eastern businessman calling himself Abdullah Al Thani was downstairs with several people, saying he had something very important to discuss with Yang Cheng.

Al Thani?

Yang Cheng looked at Adam Crozier, only to find the latter looking just as bewildered.

How did this guy find his way here?

Chapter 308: A Shocking Secret! Value-for-Money Signings! The Best Right Wing-Back of the Future!

Yang Cheng had a terrible impression of Al Thani.

In his view, the member of the Qatari royal family was a real charlatan.

Or at the very least, a big talker.

And he had never been interested in such people.

But since the man had come knocking, Yang Cheng reluctantly agreed to meet him.

After all, hadn’t Yang Cheng been interested in Málaga CF before?

Attending the meeting on Yang Cheng’s side were Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt.

Al Thani brought his three sons, along with his lawyer and investment advisor.

The Middle Eastern prince wasn’t old himself, and his three sons looked to be in their early twenties, all rather slim.

In contrast, the prince himself was slightly overweight.

He wasn’t wearing his signature white headdress and robes, but was dressed in a suit. The LV logo on his belt buckle, however, was exceptionally conspicuous.

All in all, Al Thani’s first impression on Yang Cheng was neither that of a traditional Middle Eastern noble nor a European, but rather an incongruous nouveau riche.

However, since they had decided to meet, the requisite politeness and hospitality were naturally observed.

Their trip to London was clearly for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

Málaga CF was in a terrible state.

Especially after being relegated to the Spanish second division, their income would plummet, and their financial situation would worsen.

Al Thani made no secret of his true thoughts.

He was currently in a tactical battle with the local Spanish company, BlueBay, fighting for shares and control of the club.

According to him, it was a conspiracy against foreign investment.

“There’s absolutely no reason for us to give them 49 percent of the shares when they haven’t paid a single cent. Do you think I look like an idiot?” Al Thani asked Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng didn’t quite know how to answer.

Perhaps he was a big talker, but he certainly didn’t seem stupid.

“Do you know why they can’t touch me now?”

“Because they used dishonorable tactics! They deceived me, they deceived everyone, including the Málaga fans!”

The more Al Thani spoke, the more agitated he became.

Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier exchanged glances, sharing a silent understanding.

It seemed this guy really had been screwed over.

But the matter was too convoluted, too complex. Who could say for sure?

This was a pitfall they couldn’t afford to step into!

“Mr. Yang, my biggest weakness right now is football!”

After venting his frustrations, Al Thani gradually calmed down.

“My sons and I are completely clueless about football. They criticize us for holding positions at the club, and I find that very strange. Isn’t that perfectly normal?”

“I open a company in Spain, so I’m not supposed to hold a position and draw a salary?”

Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

It was normal!

The key was how much salary was drawn.

Those assholes from the Glazer family behind Manchester United took far too much.

When Yang Cheng had exposed the matter, he never intended to destroy Al Thani, but merely to annoy him.

Who asked him to drag him into the mess for no reason?

“Actually, I understand, Mr. Yang. What I said to the media six months ago… I didn’t give you a heads-up or talk to you beforehand. That was our mistake. On that, I apologize!” Al Thani’s tone softened.

This, in turn, caught Yang Cheng by surprise.

Why the sudden change of tune?

“But what I want to say is, I am genuinely sincere about cooperating with you. The prestige and status you and the Bayswater Chinese command in European football are exactly what we need, and something I underestimated in the past.”

“I truly had no idea that football held such a high place in the hearts of Europeans, especially the Spanish. It far exceeded our expectations!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng could no longer remain silent. He smiled and expressed his thanks.

But he still said nothing more.

“I had someone look into OGC Nice and Atalanta. To be honest, you really know football, and your team is truly formidable. That’s why I believe that if we join forces, we can definitely make Málaga a major power, even challenging Real Madrid and Barça!”

Towards the end, Al Thani began to get excited again.

This gave Yang Cheng a feeling. With a personality like this, could he really be a charlatan?

Yang Cheng secretly gave Adam Crozier a look, who understood immediately.

“Mr. Al Thani, since you’ve already looked into us, you must know that we don’t like to partner with others.”

“Many years ago, numerous consortiums from the Middle East wanted to acquire shares in the Bayswater Chinese, but we never agreed. Later, with OGC Nice and Atalanta, we also carried out 100 percent acquisitions.”

Adam Crozier paused, smiling slightly. “Given Málaga’s current situation, I’m sure you understand that a partnership with conflicting interests is a nightmare for both parties!”

Al Thani had clearly suffered greatly from this, but he wasn’t ready to give up.

“I know, Mr. Yang, and everyone here, that you’re worried about my financial strength. But I can tell you that my family and I are preparing to invest 137 million euros to acquire the Andalusia racing team.”

“Our strength is not an issue!”

Adam Crozier smiled and nodded with gentlemanly grace. “No, you misunderstand, Mr. Al Thani. We don’t doubt your strength, but we have our own investment style.”

“Then I can promise, and even write it into the contract, that after we partner up, I will not interfere in any of Málaga’s daily operations. I can entrust them entirely to you.”

When Yang Cheng and Xia Qing heard this, they exchanged a look, both sensing something was amiss.

“Then what do you want, Mr. Al Thani?” Xia Qing asked.

Al Thani’s people had clearly done their homework and knew that this beautiful Chief Financial Officer was Yang Cheng’s girlfriend, second only to him in power and influence at the Bayswater Chinese.

But Xia Qing’s question made Al Thani hesitate; he didn’t answer immediately.

This made everyone even more curious.

It didn’t make sense, did it?

Could it be that he just wanted to be a philanthropist?

Who would believe that?

“Mr. Al Thani, we heard about your project to expand the marina in Marbella. It’s been put on hold, I believe,” Chris Hunt interjected at this moment.

The moment Al Thani heard this, he grew angry again.

“It’s all the fault of those damn Spaniards! They deliberately set me up!”

And then came another round of complaints.

Yang Cheng knew a little about this matter.

It probably wasn’t a deliberate setup, but the resistance was indeed significant.

It was similar to the situation when China’s richest man, Wang, tried to buy a building in Madrid.

Spain had its own way of doing things.

Of course, if you had powerful connections and a vast network, it was a different story.

But Al Thani clearly did not!

Seeing the silence from the Bayswater Chinese camp, Al Thani’s side grew anxious.

He had gone through so much trouble to get a meeting with Yang Cheng. Were they just going to part ways without discussing anything?

“To be frank, Mr. Yang, our initial idea was to use Málaga CF as a foothold. As you know, Marbella is part of the Málaga province.”

Yang Cheng nodded. He knew that, of course.

The two cities were not only close but practically connected.

For example, they both boasted beaches that attracted people from all over the world.

Málaga’s was called the Costa del Sol, and Marbella’s, the Sunshine Coast.

To get to Marbella, one had to go through Málaga’s international airport.

Furthermore, Atlético Madrid’s Gil family had very special connections and prestige in Marbella.

As for Málaga, former Real Madrid legends like the Hierro and Sanz families were highly influential.

Moreover, Hierro and Sanz were both small shareholders in Málaga CF.

So, for Al Thani, who didn’t understand football, had no connections, and no prestige, to barge in so recklessly, it would be a miracle if he wasn’t played to death!

Al Thani hesitated and hemmed and hawed for a while, but finally chose to speak.

“Mr. Yang, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Málaga?”

Yang Cheng shook his head slightly.

He understood that “been” in this context meant as a tourist.

“The coastline stretching for dozens of kilometers from Málaga’s Costa del Sol to Marbella’s Sunshine Coast is known as one of the best in the world. Countless tourists come here for vacation every year.”

Yang Cheng nodded. That was true.

Málaga and Marbella were indeed very famous European tourist and winter destinations.

How to put it?

It was similar to people from northern China going to Hainan for the winter.

It was the same in Europe, except they all flocked to the Mediterranean coast, to places like Nice, Málaga, and Marbella.

“But you surely don’t know that on that magnificent and charming coastline, there’s a large, abandoned stretch of beach.”

Yang Cheng and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

“How is that possible? The entire stretch from Málaga’s Costa del Sol to Marbella’s Sunshine Coast is called the string of pearls of the Mediterranean. Where would an abandoned beach come from?”

Adam Crozier was also skeptical.

“It’s just southeast of Málaga’s international airport, between the Picasso Hotel and the Golf Hotel, near shopping centers like IKEA and Decathlon.”

“That plot is a full 53 hectares, and that doesn’t even include the nearly one-kilometer-long beach along the coast!”

Yang Cheng and the others were visibly astonished.

An abandoned plot of that size on the priceless Costa del Sol?

The Málaga city government and investors from around the world weren’t fools, were they?

“Mr. Al Thani, you must be joking, right? We’re not very interested in real estate investment,” Chris Hunt said with a smile.

“No, this isn’t real estate. It was designated by the Málaga city government years ago for Málaga CF to build a training ground!”

At this, Yang Cheng and the others were stunned.

“A training ground?”

“That’s right. Back in the 1990s, when the Andalusian government was planning Málaga, this 53-hectare plot of land was originally intended for a tourism complex, including high-end residences, a marina, a shopping center, and so on, to connect with the surrounding area.”

“But in the early 2000s, in Málaga, the Socialist Party replaced the People’s Party. After taking power, they responded to the citizens’ calls, feeling that the entire Costa del Sol was filled with reinforced concrete and reckless development, severely damaging the coastline.”

“Coupled with a lack of startup capital for the project, they scrapped the plan and decided to turn it into a public green space, proposing the so-called Málaga Metropolitan Park plan, which also fell through.”

“For many years, Málaga CF has never had its own training ground, yet the team’s youth academy is quite good. As Spain’s sixth-largest city, Málaga has a very strong football culture.”

“So, at that time, it was proposed to give this 53-hectare plot to Málaga CF to build a training ground.”

“Both sides hit it off immediately.”

“But after getting the land, many years have passed, and Málaga CF has never had sufficient funds to build a training ground.”

“So, this land has been left abandoned, becoming one of the forgotten projects. It’s also the only undeveloped piece of land on the Costa del Sol!”

“Almost every mayor, upon taking office, would bring up this project during their planning, heavily emphasizing that it would be launched during their term. It has almost become a sore spot for the citizens of Málaga.”

Yang Cheng and his team listened, utterly dumbfounded.

A 53-hectare plot of land, on the priceless Costa del Sol, for Málaga CF to use as a training ground?

It sounded absolutely absurd!

But thinking about it carefully, it was indeed possible.

On one hand, it was a matter from a decade or eight years ago, involving political factors.

On the other hand, the fact that Málaga CF didn’t have a training ground had always been a point of criticism.

In the top five leagues, which team didn’t have its own training ground?

Premier League teams’ training grounds might be a bit shabby, but at least they had them!

And with Al Thani’s explanation, Yang Cheng immediately connected all the dots.

Why did he want to sell Rosaleda Stadium to build a training ground before?

It wasn’t about building a training ground at all; it was a public excuse to develop this piece of land!

And BlueBay, were they using all sorts of tactics to fight Al Thani for shares for any reason other than coveting this land?

Don’t forget, that company ran hotels in Marbella!

How profitable would it be to open a high-end hotel on the priceless Costa del Sol?

Yang Cheng also realized why, in his previous life, Al Thani, despite being broke and even imprisoned in Qatar, had clung so tightly to his shares in Málaga CF.

Damn it, so there was such a huge secret behind it all!

Of course, it wasn’t really a secret.

But outside investors were definitely unaware of the inside story.

Who would have thought that the dirt-poor Málaga CF still held the development rights to such a piece of land?

As for the land being for a training ground rather than real estate development…

All things in the world are connected.

This plot of land in Bayswater was also for building a stadium and training ground, and now?

Uh, yes, it was still a stadium, just with a few extra supporting facilities.

This was getting interesting!

Yang Cheng nodded to himself.

He had originally thought it was just the mess that was Málaga CF, and he wasn’t very interested.

But now, it seemed it wasn’t that simple.

A 53-hectare plot on the Costa del Sol in Málaga—the key wasn’t the money, but the value!

And Al Thani also held the expansion rights to a marina in the center of Marbella.

It had to be said, this Middle Eastern tycoon really had something up his sleeve!

Everyone could call him a big talker, but no one could call him stupid.

On the contrary, the man’s vision was incredibly sharp!

He just lacked the means and the resources to pull it off now!

…

Watching Al Thani and his three sons leave with dejected faces.

Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt were all very puzzled.

Yang Cheng wasn’t interested in real estate investment?

That excuse to fob off Al Thani didn’t fly with them.

Because Yang Cheng’s family was in real estate!

“Yang, do you have something else in mind?” Adam Crozier seemed to have an inkling of Yang Cheng’s thoughts.

Xia Qing, on the other hand, smiled sweetly at Yang Cheng. “Playing hard to get… Our CEO Yang doesn’t even have a cooldown!”

Yang Cheng chuckled.

“Although Al Thani is very sincere about cooperating, to be honest, I have no interest in partnering with him, because his plan is simply unworkable!”

In the end, Al Thani had the vision, but his methods and resources were too poor.

If the Qatari consortium had been involved, it would probably be a different story.

“I had a feeling you’d be interested,” Chris Hunt said with a laugh.

He was the head of the infrastructure department and was responsible for this area.

“The Gil family is very well-connected in Marbella, I’m not unfamiliar with Hierro, and Florentino Pérez has enough connections in Spain…” As he spoke, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Tell me, if he can’t make the game work, but I can, why should I bring him along?”

In Spain, the big players in football were all either rich or noble, with connections in high places!

Everyone nodded.

Speaking purely from a business perspective, Al Thani was indeed out of the game.

Anyone who took over would strike him out immediately.

“In the end, this guy is just broke. If he had money, he would have built the training ground back in 2010, and none of this would be an issue. It wouldn’t have dragged on until now,” Yang Cheng sneered.

Some might find it strange.

Wait, didn’t Al Thani claim he had invested 200 million euros in Málaga?

Could you believe such talk?

After BlueBay took over Málaga, they immediately reduced the club’s debt from over one hundred million euros to just over ten million euros.

What did that mean?

The players Al Thani bought for Málaga were probably financed through debt, aside from the initial down payments.

This guy wanted to come in… you couldn’t say he was trying to get something for nothing, but at the very least, he was trying to use a small stake to win big.

And he failed!

Partnering with someone like that? Had Yang Cheng lost his mind?

“So what’s the next step?” Adam Crozier asked.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “Didn’t I say I was going to treat him to a meal? You go on my behalf and talk to him slowly.”

“Get him to sell voluntarily?”

Yang Cheng nodded. “I can handle the small shareholders. We’ll buy his Málaga shares, and as for his dispute with BlueBay, let them sort it out themselves.”

Strictly speaking, BlueBay didn’t directly hold Málaga shares but held them indirectly through Al Thani’s company.

This was why Al Thani was able to secretly transfer shares behind BlueBay’s back.

Therefore, if Yang Cheng bought Málaga’s shares, there would be no conflict with BlueBay.

“He’s so desperate right now, I guess he must be under some kind of pressure. Málaga has been relegated, their income has plummeted. He’s like an ant on a hot pan. He has no choice but to agree!”

On this matter, Yang Cheng would not be soft-hearted.

A man like Al Thani might be willing to cooperate now, but what about in the future?

“Understood, I’ll go have a good talk with him!” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

He was an expert in this area!

Yang Cheng exchanged a knowing smile with Xia Qing.

If they could really secure these two projects from Al Thani, then the next step would be to have a good talk with his so-called father about cooperation.

…

“Father, what do you think they really mean?”

As Al Thani’s group left the Bayswater Chinese office and walked back to their hotel, his youngest son Nasser asked anxiously.

“We’ve even revealed such a shocking secret, and they’re not even a little bit tempted?”

“Or are they just not interested in Málaga at all?”

Al Thani and his other two sons also wore worried expressions.

The three sons were still young and not yet capable of handling major affairs. Al Thani was the one supporting everything, and they could only help by keeping an eye on things.

But on this matter, Al Thani genuinely couldn’t figure out what Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese were thinking.

If they weren’t interested, they were the ones who had approached him in the first place.

But if they were interested, why the cold and indifferent attitude now?

Al Thani was no rookie; he could tell whether Yang Cheng was deliberately stringing him along.

From Marbella to Lisbon to London, Yang Cheng truly didn’t want to get involved in this mess.

“I have some understanding of Yang Cheng.”

The lawyer at his side spoke up.

“Hurry up and tell us,” Nasser urged impatiently.

“I’ve heard some rumors about Yang Cheng in football circles. They say he’s a Virgo, with an obsession with cleanliness.”

“A Virgo? Obsessed with cleanliness?”

“Yes, that’s why he dislikes loaning other people’s players, dislikes third-party ownership, and has repeatedly refused to let others invest in his clubs. He even had a major falling out with Chelsea over this matter back in the day.”

Al Thani and his son nodded.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of football had heard about this.

“I suspect it’s not that Yang Cheng isn’t interested; he simply doesn’t want to share.”

Everyone started to understand.

Either he buys it all, or he leaves it.

As Al Thani thought about it, it seemed to be exactly the case.

“I think we should consider a different approach,” the lawyer suggested.

“A different approach?”

“In Málaga, the Small Shareholders’ Association is already very dissatisfied with us, the fans are very dissatisfied with us, and so is the city government.”

“Right now, the major fan clubs are organizing and calling for fans to sign a petition. They’re threatening to get over 100,000 signatures and take it to the Málaga city government to file a complaint against us.”

The lawyer stopped there, his point made.

But everyone knew that if there were really 100,000 signatures demanding the Al Thani family get the hell out, could they still maintain a foothold in Málaga?

What would they be left with then?

This was why Al Thani was so desperate.

“So, I think, perhaps letting go now is also a good option.”

“Bullshit!” Nasser flared up on the spot.

“The four of us have worked so hard for four years, taken so many risks, and finally built this foundation. You want us to give it all up now? What will we get? Money?”

Money was important, of course.

But for the wealthy, assets were never just about the numbers.

“But if we refuse, we might not even get the money,” said the eldest brother, Nayef.

The second brother, Rakan, nodded. “There was news that they’re investigating us for using the company for money laundering. The team is relegated now. If it goes bankrupt, the court will inevitably intervene and take over management. We’ll be completely out of the picture!”

The father and his three sons looked at each other, speechless.

The lawyer and the others stood on the periphery, all silent.

This scene, on the bustling streets of London, was particularly conspicuous.

…

Yang Cheng truly hadn’t expected that an idle move he’d made half a year ago would bring him such a huge surprise.

If he hadn’t exposed these matters to the media six months ago, Al Thani could probably have dragged things on.

At least he could have clung on for a few more years.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Málaga CF held on until 2018 before being relegated.

The club only went bankrupt in 2018, when it was placed under court administration, and Al Thani was out.

After that, the Spanish court ruled in favor of BlueBay, confirming their 49 percent stake.

And after that, Málaga CF struggled in the lower leagues, gradually fading from relevance.

But who would have thought that Málaga would be relegated ahead of schedule now?

After meeting with Al Thani once, Yang Cheng didn’t involve himself in the matter any further.

The Middle Eastern tycoon was no rookie, nor was he a pushover. He definitely wouldn’t let go until the very last moment.

So, after having dinner with Adam Crozier and the others, he returned to Spain.

Everything seemed to have returned to square one.

But in reality, both sides had sounded out each other’s intentions.

After handling matters in London, Yang Cheng took Xia Qing and flew from London to Milan, then went to Bergamo.

It was rather interesting.

In Yang Cheng’s past impression, France and England were separated only by the English Channel, which was quite close.

Italy was farther away.

But flying from London to Milan was more convenient than flying to Nice.

Driving from Bergamo to Nice was only 370 kilometers.

This truly gave Yang Cheng a sense of just how “small” Europe was.

Atalanta had performed well in Serie A last season, finishing in the top three ahead of S.S.C. Napoli.

This was undoubtedly a breakthrough for Atalanta in terms of results.

Gasperini was fond of a three-at-the-back formation, but he wasn’t limited to 3-4-3, 3-5-2, or 3-4-2-1.

He would arrange different formations based on different opponents.

When Yang Cheng arrived in Bergamo and met with Gasperini and the Atalanta club executives, the head coach made one request: more manpower.

Especially center-backs.

To play a three-at-the-back tactic, having only three center-backs was not enough!

CEO Pierpaolo Marino also pointed out that with the team participating in the Champions League in the new season, they would be fighting on three fronts, so the bench depth had to be strengthened.

Simply put, the squad needed an upgrade.

Corresponding to the squad upgrade was the team’s salary structure.

Here, one had to mention the current general salary levels in Serie A.

As Yang Cheng had said before, salaries in Serie A were generally very low, which made it difficult for the league to attract top players from other leagues.

On the contrary, players who performed well in Serie A were often easily poached by teams from other leagues.

Within Serie A, at the top of the food chain were Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and AS Roma.

These four traditional powerhouses were undoubtedly the most influential in the league.

They also had the highest salaries.

For example, Juventus’s highest earner was Carlos Tevez, at 4.5 million euros.

Many people might not have a concept of this.

At Atalanta, only two players earned a salary of one million euros a year.

One was Luca Toni, the other was Lucas Biglia.

All other players earned less than one million euros.

For example, Felipe Anderson, who had performed brilliantly last season.

His annual salary was 700,000 euros.

Iturbe was the best winger in Serie A last season, with an annual salary of 900,000 euros.

Homegrown player Bonaventura was the team captain, with an annual salary of 700,000 euros.

This led Atalanta’s Chairman, Tom Wheatley, to once joke:

At Juventus, the combined salaries of the 4.5 million euro Tevez and the 4 million euro Vidal were almost equal to Atalanta’s entire team payroll.

That was the gap.

But the highest-paid player in Serie A was S.S.C. Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuaín, at 5.5 million euros.

Zúñiga made 3.2 million euros, Hamšík 3 million, Callejón 2.6 million, and Raúl Albiol 2.1 million.

Why was Napoli’s De Laurentiis so furious after the season?

It wasn’t just because Napoli had missed out on Champions League qualification.

More importantly, he had invested so much, paid out so much in salaries, only to finish behind Atalanta.

That was what infuriated him the most!

You have to understand, Napoli’s salary level had now caught up with Juventus, the two Milan clubs, and AS Roma.

Serie A salaries held no advantage over La Liga or the Bundesliga.

Not to mention the Premier League.

Looking at Serie A from a Premier League perspective, you would find that the players were incredible value for money, with truly cheap salaries.

But now, a very obvious problem faced Atalanta.

After qualifying for the Champions League, the team needed to overhaul its squad on one hand.

Building on last season, they had to offload a batch of players who no longer fit the team’s plans and bring in a batch of more capable players who met the team’s future requirements.

After this turnover, the overall strength of the team’s squad would be significantly improved.

On the other hand, the salaries had to keep up.

“Iturbe’s agent told me that AS Roma is willing to pay him an annual salary of 2.5 million euros.”

Pierpaolo Marino reported to Yang Cheng with some frustration.

“This is a mid-range income at AS Roma, but for us, it’s impossible to meet.”

2.5 million euros versus 900,000 euros was simply incomparable.

“So, Iturbe means that he wants to leave the team!” Pierpaolo Marino said with a bitter smile.

After joining the team for just one season and performing so brilliantly, he wanted to leave right away.

“How much can AS Roma offer?”

“The player’s current market value is 20 million euros. We haven’t talked to AS Roma yet, but it will be at least 25 million euros.”

A premium of five million.

This was a normal phenomenon in Serie A.

“Is AS Roma that rich now?” Yang Cheng found it somewhat amusing.

Everyone else also smiled.

Whether you had money or not really depended on whether you dared to spend it!

Living beyond one’s means was a very common occurrence in professional football.

“AS Roma has also decided to buy out Nainggolan from Cagliari.”

The Belgian midfielder’s ability was truly strong; he had been loaned to AS Roma in January 2014.

Yang Cheng had actually taken a liking to him last summer, but there was nothing he could do. This wasn’t a player Atalanta could covet.

His annual salary at Cagliari was already 900,000 euros.

During the winter transfer window, AS Roma paid him a full 1.8 million euros.

It was said that after this buyout, Nainggolan’s annual salary would rise to 3.2 million euros.

To put it bluntly, a player like that would be a heavy burden for Atalanta.

“If you sell Iturbe to AS Roma, what do you plan to do?” Yang Cheng was more concerned about another issue.

Pierpaolo Marino handed over a list of summer transfer targets that his team had drawn up.

Yang Cheng saw that the first name on the list was Diego Perotti.

The 26-year-old Argentine winger played for Sevilla in La Liga, but in recent years, especially in the 2013/14 season, he had been plagued by injuries, lost his place at Sevilla, and had very few appearances.

“We have communicated with Perotti’s side before, and I personally went to Argentina. His main problem was being overused during his time at Sevilla, leading to too many injuries, but there’s no problem with his ability.”

Yang Cheng knew this player. When he first debuted, he was once looked at by Real Madrid.

That was enough to prove his quality.

And 26 wasn’t too old.

More importantly, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after he joined Genoa in Serie A, his injuries became much less frequent, and his overall form and performance were excellent. He was poached by AS Roma after playing for just a year and a half.

Atalanta had already decided to sign this player for a transfer fee of 350,000 euros.

“What is his requested annual salary?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“500,000 euros.”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

It was only half of Iturbe’s.

But considering Perotti’s current situation, it was understandable.

With the technical foundation of the Bayswater Chinese in sports science, medical rehabilitation, and other areas, if Perotti joined, he would only be better off than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

If they could really sell Iturbe for 25 million and sign Perotti for 350,000, they would make a profit on the transfer fee and save on the annual salary. This deal looked worthwhile from every angle.

…

In Atalanta’s transfer plans, besides signing Perotti for 350,000 euros, there was another player: Nicolò Barella, a 17-year-old youngster from Cagliari’s youth team.

This young player had always been a regular in Italy’s national team setup at various age levels, performing quite well, and was highly regarded by Cagliari.

Cagliari now needed a goalkeeper and had their eyes on Atalanta’s homegrown talent, the 23-year-old local keeper Simone Colombi.

Due to Alisson’s outstanding performance, Simone Colombi couldn’t get playing time with the first team, but he had always been the main goalkeeper for Italy’s national teams at various age levels, so the player wanted to go to Cagliari.

After negotiations, the two sides decided to exchange Simone Colombi for Nicolò Barella.

The former was more mature and an immediate reinforcement, but he was a goalkeeper.

So, the two sides hit it off.

AC Milan also wanted to make a deal with Atalanta.

They hoped to exchange their young player, Bryan Cristante, for Atalanta’s homegrown Bonaventura.

But this deal was rejected by both Atalanta and the player.

As a product of the club’s youth academy, Bonaventura saw that after Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese took over, Atalanta’s strength had skyrocketed in just one season, the club was undergoing a complete transformation in all aspects, and they could now participate in the Champions League.

The player wasn’t eager to leave.

What’s more, AC Milan couldn’t even qualify for the Europa League, finishing 9th in Serie A last season.

Under these circumstances, Bonaventura, with only one year left on his contract, naturally chose to renew with the club.

Instead, Bryan Cristante, with a market value of 3 million euros, was favored by Gasperini.

Thus, Atalanta decided to talk to AC Milan about transferring this player.

Cristante was not highly regarded at The Rossoneri.

After making contact, the two sides agreed on the market price of 3 million euros.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Primeira Liga’s Benfica only panic-bought Cristante from AC Milan on the last day of the summer transfer window, ending up spending 5.2 million euros.

By that calculation, Atalanta’s deal was quite a good one.

…

Looking at these few transfers, Yang Cheng was quite impressed with the capabilities of this Atalanta management team.

Especially in terms of signings, they had done a really good job, adhering to the consistent style of the Bayswater Chinese.

“The real headache right now is Rômulo. Juventus has taken a liking to him.”

“They are willing to offer an eight million euro transfer fee for Rômulo, and an annual salary of 1.2 million euros,” Pierpaolo Marino reported.

Juventus’s current situation was a shortage on the right flank.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Lichtsteiner should be at Juventus now, but history had changed, and he was now at Arsenal.

This left Juventus’s right flank rather empty.

In Gasperini’s tactical system, the flanks were basically covered by one player from end to end.

For example, Marcos Alonso on the left flank.

It was the same for Rômulo on the right.

Both wing-backs had performed brilliantly last season, so it was normal for Juventus to notice them.

“We can negotiate the transfer fee further. If the player wants to leave, then sell him,” Yang Cheng said decisively.

Atalanta couldn’t afford such a salary.

Once they did, the entire team’s salary structure would have to be raised.

“But we haven’t found a suitable right-back yet,” Pierpaolo Marino said with a frown and a sigh.

“The main thing is, wing-backs are really hard to find.”

After hearing this, Yang Cheng smiled and looked at Gasperini.

Clearly, Gasperini had fought hard with Marino over this matter.

“Sell Rômulo!”

“Sell him?” Gasperini was a bit surprised.

Yang Cheng smiled at him. “I’ll pick out the best future right wing-back in European football for you. You help me develop him, and maybe the Bayswater Chinese can use him in the future.”

Coincidentally, this was a player Yang Cheng had just heard about a few days ago.

It was João Cancelo, the right-back who, on May 27th in France, helped the Portugal U20 youth team defeat China U20 4-1.

“Poaching from Benfica? Is that feasible?” Pierpaolo Marino was a little worried.

Although Atalanta was now in Serie A, Benfica was also a giant of the Primeira Liga.

“Cancelo has only played for Benfica once, in the final round of last season. He played for 65 minutes before being substituted by the Swedish center-back Victor Lindelöf.”

“His current market value is about two million euros. Pierpaolo, you go talk to Benfica and sign him for the lowest possible price. I’m very optimistic about this player!”

Whether he was the best right wing-back might be debatable, but that he was one of the best during his peak was definitely not wrong.

Hearing Yang Cheng say this, Marino naturally had no more doubts.

In European football today, who didn’t trust Yang Cheng’s eye for talent?

Which of the players he had his eye on had ever been a misjudgment?

“While you’re at it, make a trip to the Netherlands and have a good talk with Feyenoord. Try to sign the Dutch international center-back Stefan de Vrij before the World Cup. This 22-year-old center-back is also very talented.”

Marino quickly jotted down the player’s name and then added a special note: before the World Cup.

As a professional manager, he of course understood what Yang Cheng meant by emphasizing this.

It meant he was optimistic that De Vrij would shine at the World Cup.

Therefore, they needed to sign him before the World Cup.

“What would be a suitable price?” Marino asked.

“Seven million euros,” Yang Cheng said.

This was the price De Vrij joined Lazio for in his previous life, and Yang Cheng felt it was a reasonable price.

Because De Vrij’s current market valuation was six million euros.

Besides Cancelo and De Vrij, Yang Cheng also suggested Marino go to the Serbian club Vojvodina and sign the 19-year-old Milinković-Savić.

Yang Cheng had been keeping an eye on this midfielder, whose value would exceed one hundred million at his peak, for quite some time.

If he remembered correctly, Milinković-Savić should have transferred to the Belgian club Genk this summer.

But the transfers hadn’t started yet, so Atalanta still had time to hijack the deal.

Also, in the Paris Saint-Germain youth academy, Kingsley Coman had already had a falling out with the club. He definitely wouldn’t renew his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and would leave on a free transfer.

He wanted to go to a team where he could get more opportunities.

OGC Nice’s winger positions were already overcrowded, while Atalanta only had Perotti and Felipe Anderson, which was not enough to cope with fighting on three fronts.

Coman’s arrival would undoubtedly be a strong reinforcement.

In the past, Atalanta certainly couldn’t compete with giants like Juventus for young talents.

But times were different now.

With the backing of the Bayswater Chinese, Atalanta’s standing in the eyes of young talents was completely different from before.

So, it was still worth a shot.

And the last player Yang Cheng proposed was also not cheap, costing 6.5 million euros: Rodrigo De Paul from Racing Club de Avellaneda in Argentina.

Most fans’ impression of De Paul would be from the World Cup, as the player who always fought with a flushed face, protecting Messi and helping Argentina win the World Cup.

But he was not just a defensive midfield enforcer; he was a well-rounded player, both offensively and defensively, with comprehensive skills, and could play as an attacking midfielder or a winger.

For such a player, a transfer fee of around 6.5 million euros was an excellent bargain.

The players Yang Cheng suggested all had a common characteristic: they were young, and their annual salaries were not high.

For example, Kingsley Coman; when he joined Juventus in Yang Cheng’s previous life, his annual salary was only 600,000 to 800,000 euros.

De Vrij, as one of the best center-backs of the World Cup, had an annual salary of only 900,000 euros at Lazio.

Such players were truly excellent value for money!

Come across them, pass by them, but you absolutely could not miss them!

By bringing in these eight players and selling a few others, Atalanta’s lineup for the new season would be something to look forward to!

Chapter 309: The Second Zidane! Real Madrid’s “Royal Selection”! The Hottest Star of the World Cup!

Compared to Atalanta, OGC Nice was in a much better position.

As the runner-up in Ligue 1 last season and having reached the Round of 16 in the Champions League, Nice’s revenue was steadily increasing.

This was a long-term accumulation process.

This was especially true after the official opening of their training base, reputed to be the best in all of France.

In Yang Cheng’s view, having the best hardware didn’t necessarily mean having the best youth academy.

But if a club was unwilling to invest even in hardware, one could imagine how the other aspects would fare.

Because in a youth academy system, hardware was actually the cheapest part.

Take Manchester United, for example.

The Red Devils’ Carrington training ground hadn’t been updated in over a decade, and much of the equipment hadn’t been replaced in five or six years.

Not to mention, the last five years had been a period where top-tier sports science had massively entered the world of football.

All sorts of advanced instruments, equipment, and facilities, even training philosophies, were undergoing earth-shattering changes.

In a situation like Manchester United’s, where they were reluctant to invest in hardware and equipment and couldn’t keep up with the times, how could they possibly do well?

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s strategy had always been simple.

Get the hardware in place first, then properly manage the software. With consistent long-term investment, results would eventually accumulate and become visible.

Furthermore, with Bayswater Chinese as its backer, OGC Nice’s appeal to young players was exceptional.

For example, Martial from Lyon.

The player had emerged last season with an outstanding performance and was set to be heavily utilized by Nice in the new season, possibly even becoming the team’s main striker.

He was one of the talents Nice had poached from Lyon.

The youth academy also had Mbappé, born in December 1998, and Ousmane Dembélé, born in May 1997.

Both of these players had been handpicked by Yang Cheng.

There was also a local Nice player in the academy, a centre-back born in January 1999 named Malang Sarr.

He was a homegrown talent, born and raised in Nice, who had joined the Nice youth team at the age of six and had been there ever since.

A player like him would be highly valued at any club.

However, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, this player’s achievements weren’t particularly high. He had spells at Porto, Chelsea, and Monaco but never truly made his mark.

Nice’s youth academy certainly wouldn’t have just one centre-back like Malang Sarr.

Dayot Upamecano, born in October 1998, joined the Nice youth academy in 2013.

And the person who recommended him would probably surprise everyone.

Ousmane Dembélé!

The two were of a similar age, had known each other since childhood, grew up in the same neighborhood, played football together, and had a very close relationship.

Even after Dembélé moved to Nice, they never lost contact.

Last year, Upamecano was scouted by Valenciennes, who were in Ligue 1 at the time, and invited for a trial.

Dembélé also recommended him to Nice, and it was a perfect match.

Now, the two play in the same age group and are likely to be promoted to the first team in the new season.

After Yang Cheng arrived in Nice, technical director Emmanuel Perrin also reported on the latest developments.

In the summer of 2014, the club’s youth academy was also busy recruiting personnel.

They brought in quite a few players, including two centre-backs.

One was from Paris FC—note, not Paris Saint-Germain—which currently competed in the third tier of French football.

Nice signed Ibrahima Konaté, a centre-back born in 1999 with dual French and Malian nationality, from Paris FC’s youth academy.

The other was William Saliba, who came for a trial from the Bondy club in the suburbs of Paris and passed.

Sound familiar?

Nice had previously signed another young player from the Bondy club, Mbappé.

Mbappé’s father was still coaching a youth team at Bondy.

And as the former head of scouting for Bayswater Chinese in France, Emmanuel Perrin’s most familiar territory was the greater Paris region.

Therefore, Nice had also established a very comprehensive network of partners in Paris, with the Bondy club being one of them.

If London was the treasure trove of English football talent, then Paris was the treasure trove of French football talent.

Over the past few years, Nice’s cooperation with clubs in the Paris region had never ceased.

The French football youth system had an interesting characteristic.

Youth clubs would typically nurture players to a certain level and then arrange for them to go to higher-level academies for further development.

For example, Clairefontaine or other clubs renowned for their youth development.

Nice was now undoubtedly one of the top choices for many young French players.

This summer, the first challenge Nice encountered was PSG’s pursuit of two of their full-backs.

Aurier and Layvin Kurzawa, one on the right and one on the left, were both targeted.

This aligned with PSG’s extravagantly wealthy strategy of stockpiling talent.

The left-back position wasn’t a major issue; they had 20-year-old Benjamin Mendy on the bench.

There was also 19-year-old Ferland Mendy in the youth team.

Ferland Mendy had also joined in the summer of 2013 from the amateur team Mantois, after a successful trial.

After discussing it, Yang Cheng and Emmanuel Perrin felt that with these two Mendys, the left flank was secure.

As for the right flank, Yang Cheng proposed a candidate.

Benjamin Pavard from Lille’s youth academy.

After Yang Cheng left Nice, Emmanuel Perrin was in contact with Lille, hoping to sign the 18-year-old local right-back.

As for the transfers of Aurier and Kurzawa, negotiations with PSG were still ongoing.

Other players had also attracted attention from many clubs, but they were mostly from abroad.

In the current Ligue 1, apart from PSG and Monaco, no other team could even dream of poaching players from Nice.

…

Beijing.

As dawn broke, this residential area near Tsinghua and Peking Universities was already bustling with activity.

The retired Professor Ma from the next building was leading a group of elderly ladies in plaza dancing; Grandpa Wang from downstairs was kicking a shuttlecock with his wife; and Director Li from the neighborhood committee was practicing ground calligraphy early in the morning…

The community was filled with laughter and cheerful voices, a lively scene indeed.

Cao Wenhui walked downstairs with a vegetable basket, greeted by people all along the way.

“Teacher Cao, out so early?”

“Oh, Teacher Cao, hurry up and join us for a dance, we’re waiting for you.”

“Good morning, Teacher Cao.”

Cao Wenhui wore an especially bright smile, continuously greeting the neighbors and colleagues she had lived with for many years.

“Not today, I have to hurry to the market to buy groceries. My daughter and son-in-law are coming back today.”

“Oh my, Teacher Cao, your son-in-law is coming back too?”

“Yes, they’re coming back together. They’re usually so busy, they haven’t been back in years.” Every time Cao Wenhui mentioned this, her face was filled with a mixture of love and concern.

Everyone knew she doted on this son-in-law even more than her own son.

“Talented people are always busy! Teacher Cao, you’re so blessed. Your son, daughter-in-law, daughter, and son-in-law are all so capable!”

“Teacher Cao’s son-in-law is truly amazing. I just saw in the Party newspaper yesterday that he’s donating to build the largest and best football center in all of Asia right here in our Northwest. It’s said to be top-tier, even by world standards. Incredible!”

“Of course! He’s a five-time Champions League winning coach, with a three-peat! Do you know what level that is? Even the FIFA president Blatter has to be polite to him. The man earns his living through real skill!”

“That’s just too remarkable! Congratulations, Teacher Cao!”

Cao Wenhui was grinning from ear to ear, quickly waving her hand. “It’s not that exaggerated. The boy just loves football. I used to worry he wasn’t focused on a proper career, but now he’s able to contribute to our country’s cause.”

“Teacher Cao, you’re being too modest.”

“I feel like if Teacher Cao’s son-in-law came back to coach the national team, he might actually be able to lead them into the World Cup.”

“I think so too, but he’s the world’s number one now. Who would come back to coach the national team?”

“It’s not a matter of willingness. I think even if the world’s number one came back to coach the national team, it would be hopeless. Nobody could do it.”

Seeing the few old football fans in the community start to argue again, Cao Wenhui quickly smiled and walked away.

Over the past years, Yang Cheng had brought her a great deal of pride.

Whether it was students at the university or her relatives and friends, whenever Yang Cheng was mentioned, they would shower him with praise.

After all, our national team is not good, yet we produced such a world-class manager, right?

The key was, not only was he a brilliant coach, but he also had a knack for running clubs, which were said to be the best in the world right now.

Uh, no, that’s not right. Xia Qing had corrected her.

Apparently, he had bought two more in recent years, one in France and one in Italy, and both were doing very well.

The Yang Cheng of today was a highly sought-after figure!

Just last night, before going to bed, Xia Anmin had mentioned that several of his superiors, upon hearing that Yang Cheng was returning to China, had approached him to try and arrange a meeting.

Honestly, Yang Cheng is in football. What is there to discuss with people from banking and officialdom?

At the market, Cao Wenhui specifically chose dishes that Yang Cheng and Xia Qing liked.

Her son, Xia Xi, was away, and her daughter-in-law was busy with her job at a ministry. Fortunately, Cao Wenhui had reached retirement age and was now a full-time grandmother, which brought its own kind of flavor to life.

After buying the groceries and returning home, her daughter-in-law was just about to leave for work.

She and Xia Xi had their own apartment, but since Xia Xi was away for long periods, wasn’t he?

So she had simply moved back in, making it easier for Cao Wenhui to help with the child.

“Mom, what time is Xia Qing’s flight? I’ll go pick them up,” the daughter-in-law asked, hastily putting on her shoes before leaving.

“No need, your dad said he’s arranged for a driver to pick them up.”

“Oh, then when are Uncle Yang and his family arriving?”

“Probably in the next day or two. They haven’t seen each other in so long. It’s rare for them to come back; usually, they have to go abroad just to meet.”

“Then I’ll be back for lunch. Mom, I’m off to work.”

After seeing her daughter-in-law off, Cao Wenhui started bustling in the kitchen.

Apart from taking a break to feed her grandson when he woke up, she spent the whole time preparing lunch.

During this time, Xia Xi called to ask if Yang Cheng and the others had arrived yet.

This made Cao Wenhui feel very content.

At her age, all she wanted was for her family to get along harmoniously, to be healthy and safe.

The kitchen window happened to face the community gate, and she would occasionally stand on her tiptoes to look out.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that she saw Xia Anmin’s black sedan drive into the community and pull up in front of their building.

Then she saw Yang Cheng and Xia Qing get out of the car, their hands full of bags big and small.

As soon as the neighbors in the community saw them, they all greeted them enthusiastically.

Many even ran over, asking to have their picture taken with Yang Cheng.

Among them were her colleagues and friends.

Even from upstairs, she could hear the praises from the neighbors.

This filled Cao Wenhui’s heart with an indescribable sense of pride!

As soon as she saw them coming upstairs, Cao Wenhui immediately went to open the door, also calling her grandson over and reminding him to greet them properly later.

Just as the door opened, she saw Yang Cheng walking out of the elevator, his hands full of things.

“Mom, I’m back!”

Those words from Yang Cheng brought tears to Cao Wenhui’s eyes.

He hadn’t been back to China in years, but this child was as sweet-tongued as ever.

…

On the day Yang Cheng and Xia Qing returned to China, his parents also arrived in Beijing.

Over the next two days, Yang Cheng accompanied Xia Qing to visit her paternal and maternal grandparents, bringing gifts for each of them.

There were also some unavoidable social obligations.

This included agreeing to participate in a Huaxia Television program recording, which was about showcasing the scenery and culture of Xinjiang.

It was Xia Xi who had put in a good word for them, which was why Yang Cheng agreed.

He had to give his older brother-in-law face.

During their time in Beijing, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing also secretly took care of a private matter.

They got their marriage certificate!

After “driving without a license” for so many years, they were finally legal.

When the two of them showed the marriage certificate to their parents, everyone ended up in tears.

After so many years, they had finally come around!

And so, they began to discuss when to get married, how many banquet tables to have, how many friends and relatives to invite…

It quickly escalated to planning how many children to have, and whether the kids should be educated in China or abroad…

As a professor at Tsinghua and Peking Universities, Ms. Cao Wenhui proposed that they attend school in China up to high school, and then go abroad for university.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing strongly objected to this.

Because they had no such plans yet.

“What plans do you need?” Yang Cheng’s mother grew anxious.

“You don’t need a plan. You just have to nod, and everything before and after the baby is born, including raising the child and finding schools, you won’t have to worry about any of it. Leave it all to us.”

This proposal received unanimous approval from everyone.

They were in their thirties already. If they didn’t hurry, they’d be having children at an advanced maternal age!

“I don’t care, Yang Cheng, you must take responsibility for our Xia Qing!” Li Hongying said, pointing at Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng almost cried.

Mom, I’m your biological son, whose side are you on?

However, this was all in good fun, more like a playful topic among family members.

Both sets of parents were eager, but they wouldn’t actually force them.

Just like how they hadn’t gotten married for so many years, the most they did was drop a few hints in private.

After dinner, however, when Yang Cheng, Yang Jianguo, and Xia Anmin were having tea in the study, Yang Cheng took the initiative to bring up the matter of Málaga CF and Marbella.

“This is a deal worth doing!” Yang Jianguo slapped his thigh in approval as soon as he heard it.

“I’ve heard of Marbella before. I heard that as early as the 1950s, the high society of Europe loved to vacation in Marbella. It’s a gathering place for European royalty and top billionaires.”

“Countless political and business celebrities live and own property there. The King of Saudi Arabia even built a summer palace there and brings a team of three to four hundred people to escape the heat every summer.”

“And there’s Puerto Banús, the Marbella Club Hotel, and others—all world-famous brands!”

Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected his father to know so much.

Xia Anmin had clearly heard a lot about Marbella as well.

It was indeed a tourist and holiday destination highly favored by the world’s rich.

It had three yacht marinas.

The world-famous Puerto Banús was in the new district to the west, but the yacht marina that Al Thani had secured expansion rights for was the La Bajadilla Port in the old town.

Marbella’s world-renowned seaside promenade runs from La Bajadilla Port to Puerto Banús.

But unlike Puerto Banús, which represented luxury goods, fancy cars, and beautiful women, La Bajadilla Port had never been renovated or expanded.

Although it now docks yachts, local fishermen also moor their fishing boats there.

Due to its old facilities, problems often occurred.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, in 2023, there had been a fire that burned eighty yachts, widely reported by European media, with údajně massive losses.

The main reason Al Thani hadn’t been able to start construction after obtaining the expansion rights was resistance from local residents.

And he himself was indeed short of funds.

It seemed more like he wanted to secure the expansion rights and then go around seeking investment, including from the Middle East.

From the local government’s perspective, they definitely wanted the yacht marina to be expanded and renovated, to become a complex like the other two, integrating a marina, hotels, a shopping center, commercial streets, leisure and entertainment, and luxury residences.

After all, this stretch of the Sunshine Coast was hailed by countless people as the beach with the most beautiful sunset in the world!

“If we really go for it, the investment won’t be small. And there’s that project in Málaga, 800 acres of land, over a kilometer of beachfront, another whole complex. Can you handle it?” Yang Cheng teased his so-called father.

Yang Jianguo felt he was being looked down upon and immediately straightened his back. “It’s just a few billion, isn’t it?”

But the bravado didn’t last long.

“I’ll see if I can scrape it together. It should be fine.”

Yang Cheng and Xia Anmin both burst out laughing.

“If you’re really interested, and Uncle Xia also thinks it’s feasible, then I’ll let the people in Europe handle the negotiations. I’ll take care of the land and the permits. We’ll secure them first, then slowly smooth over the relationships. Then Yang’s Group can go in and invest as a Chinese entity.”

“As for the specific operations, I won’t be involved. You can manage that. I’ll be responsible for the football and club matters, and I’ll do my best to help open doors and build connections.”

Yang Jianguo and Xia Anmin exchanged a look and both agreed this was a viable plan.

And just like that, the matter was settled.

…

As the World Cup in Brazil ignited, Yang Cheng and Xia Qing flew from Beijing to Xinjiang.

Accompanying them were not only government officials but also employees from the Chinese branch of Bayswater Chinese.

That’s right, Bayswater Chinese had established a branch in China long ago, specifically for commercial development, and it was doing very well.

Also accompanying them were a dozen authoritative British and European media outlets invited by Bayswater Chinese.

The large entourage flew to Xinjiang and was received with a grand reception by the provincial leaders.

Everyone knew that this was more of an opportunity for Xinjiang to present itself to the world.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing also saw the long-unseen Xia Xi.

His older brother-in-law was much tanner now, but he looked more energetic.

And standing there, he truly had begun to carry the air of a leader.

There were many things that didn’t need to be said; everyone understood.

On the third day after arriving in Xinjiang, Yang Cheng traveled to the southern part of the province to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bayswater Football Centre.

This had been arranged long ago.

Everything from the site selection to the scale and investment had already been settled.

And it was completely open to the global media.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Yang Cheng spoke highly of the future of football in Xinjiang.

He introduced the physical conditions and qualities of Xinjiang players to everyone, believing that the people living here had physical attributes very suitable for playing football, and many players were very talented.

“The population living on this vast land is equivalent to the combined population of the Netherlands and Belgium!”

Yang Cheng used words that everyone in Europe could understand to tell them just how much potential value was here.

“We are very confident, and we are determined to continuously invest here, persist with youth development, and cultivate their own ‘Robbens’ and ‘Eden Hazards’ for this place!”

“This is the purpose of our investment in youth development here!”

In fact, over the past few months, as the news about Bayswater Chinese continued to spread, more details had already become known to the media.

And this time, the invitation for major European media outlets to join them naturally attracted the attention of football fans worldwide.

With social media being so developed, coupled with the influence of Bayswater Chinese’s new media, all the sights and scenery from the journey were displayed before the eyes of the world.

The media from various countries generally gave positive reports and support for this initiative.

FIFA and UEFA also gave their strong support.

Youth development, in the world of football, is the ultimate political correctness!

After the official activities concluded, when Yang Cheng communicated privately with the Xinjiang leaders and Xia Xi, the main topic of discussion was the sustainability of the youth development plan.

Bayswater Chinese had money, but coaches from Western Europe were simply too expensive.

And they probably wouldn’t be willing to come to China, to Xinjiang.

Even if Bayswater Chinese had the financial resources and influence, it would be difficult to sustain it in the long run.

Yang Cheng was clearly prepared for this.

“We at Bayswater Chinese also have our own channels and connections in Eastern Europe.”

“When we decided to invest in this football center, we had already begun recruiting a group of outstanding youth coaches in Eastern Europe, mainly in countries like Serbia and Croatia.”

“The salaries for coaches there are much cheaper than in Western Europe, and they tend to stay once they come.”

“After recruitment, these coaches will all be sent to our Brent training center in London for centralized training, and then dispersed to our various Satellite Training Centres to familiarize themselves with the operations.”

“By the time this training center is completed, we will bring at least 20 outstanding European youth coaches, and the person in charge and the management staff of the training center will be our most talented people from Bayswater Chinese!”

Following Yang Cheng’s suggestion, they would first bring in excellent foreign coaches to build the entire framework and system.

Then, through training, hiring, and other methods, they would continue to expand the youth coaching team, gradually cultivating their own domestic coaching echelon.

Finally, the entire system would become operational, turning into a sustainable, virtuous cycle.

By then, Xinjiang would not lack youth coaches.

A decade later, football talent in Xinjiang would spring up like mushrooms after the rain, emerging in a continuous stream.

Of course, the Xinjiang leaders also made an on-the-spot decision to promptly formulate a series of policies to cooperate.

For example, holding provincial-level school football leagues, calling on primary and secondary schools to organize campus football competitions, and so on.

Yang’s Group’s sports brand would provide title sponsorship.

And Yang Cheng also promised that talented individuals from the training center who reached a European standard would be sent to Europe to play football.

In the future, Bayswater Chinese would arrange a series of tour matches every year, including youth teams visiting Xinjiang or Xinjiang youth teams visiting Europe.

“We now have our own football teams and training centers in England, Italy, and France. In the future, we will continue to expand our football empire to Spain, Germany, and even other Western European countries.”

In short, Yang Cheng was determined to connect the entire chain to help Xinjiang, and even football talent cultivated within the country, to continuously go abroad.

Of course, if the domestic league environment changed in the coming years, Yang Cheng would also consider returning to China to invest and develop.

But that was something for the distant future.

It was only at this moment that all the attending Xinjiang leaders, as well as leaders from relevant central government departments, gained a deeper understanding of the determination and sincerity of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese in giving back to the motherland and developing football in Xinjiang.

Why else would it be called Bayswater Chinese?

…

During the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, Yang Cheng hardly had any time to watch the matches.

But he received a daily briefing from the club.

It contained information on player performances and some details about the World Cup matches.

It also highlighted some players who performed exceptionally well.

There was an interesting phenomenon in this World Cup: most of the main players from Premier League giants performed averagely.

For example, Suárez and Agüero did not play up to expectations for Uruguay and Argentina.

On the contrary, some club substitutes shone brightly.

For example, Robben and van Persie.

Interestingly, both Dutchmen had been affected by injuries in the Premier League last season and their performances had been less than satisfactory.

But in the World Cup, under van Gaal, they were brilliant, even thrashing Spain 5-1!

Spain’s World Cup debut was a slaughter at the hands of van Gaal’s Netherlands!

No one had expected this.

Was it a fluke?

Clearly not.

For France, Bayswater Chinese’s substitute player Paul Pogba also performed brilliantly.

But this French team was clearly different from the one in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

The biggest variable was Kanté!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, while Kanté performed well in the French Second Division in 2014, helping SM Caen get promoted to Ligue 1 and being a formidable player himself.

But at that time, Kanté hadn’t even gotten a foot in the door of the national team.

But now?

He was already a well-known powerhouse midfielder at OGC Nice, with consistently outstanding performances in Ligue 1.

This presented Didier Deschamps with a dilemma.

In the first match, he fielded a starting midfield of Pogba, Kanté, and Matuidi, which was quite impressive in a 3-0 victory over Honduras, with the team playing steadily throughout.

But Deschamps made an adjustment in the second match against Switzerland.

He paired the two PSG midfielders, Cabaye and Matuidi, with Pogba, and up front, he paired Benzema with Giroud.

The result was a 2-2 draw with Switzerland.

The final group stage match became a crucial one.

Deschamps pulled another trick, surprisingly starting Pogba and Schneiderlin alongside Matuidi.

France ultimately won 1-0 against Ecuador thanks to a goal from Pogba.

With two wins and one draw in three matches, but with Switzerland beating Honduras 3-0, France finished second in the group behind Switzerland on goal difference.

In the Round of 16, France faced Messi’s Argentina.

The two sides were locked in a long, hard-fought battle.

Unlike the Argentina led by Maradona in 2010, the team coached by Alejandro Sabella was more cohesive and resilient.

But Deschamps learned his lesson from the group stage and once again deployed the midfield combination of Pogba, Kanté, and Matuidi.

They used their midfield to suppress Argentina.

Kanté, in particular, was ferocious, seemingly everywhere at once.

In the 79th minute of the second half, Pogba scored for France, assisted by Giroud.

Then, in the 92nd minute of stoppage time, another assist from Giroud allowed Pogba to score again.

The French midfielder scored a brace, helping France eliminate Argentina 2-0.

Messi’s World Cup journey ended early.

In the quarter-finals, a goal from Giroud during an early blitz helped France defeat Belgium 1-0.

Eden Hazard’s performance throughout the World Cup was rather average.

This matched the general perception.

All the players who were regulars in the Premier League were exhausted and underperformed at the World Cup.

It is worth mentioning that both dark horses of this World Cup were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Colombia, led by James Rodríguez and Falcao, lost to the host nation Brazil in the quarter-finals.

Costa Rica, led by Nice’s goalkeeper Navas, also regrettably lost to the Netherlands in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.

But in the semi-finals, to the astonishment of the entire world, Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1.

All the fans thought it must have been match-fixing!

But on second thought, why would Brazil throw a match like that on home soil?

Toni Kroos performed exceptionally well, was named the man of the match, and won cheers and applause from around the world.

At this moment, everyone fully recognized the value of Toni Kroos.

They finally understood why Yang Cheng was willing to wait five years for him!

Even the Brazilian media believed that the German midfielder had orchestrated this insane slaughter.

In the match between France and the Netherlands, the two sides battled for 90 minutes to a 0-0 draw.

But in extra time, Pogba scored a winning goal for France with a chip shot on an overlapping run, breaking through the Dutch defense.

1-0, France defeated the Netherlands and advanced to the final.

In the final, France continued to show great resilience, using solid defense and excellent midfield interceptions to suppress Germany.

After 90 minutes of intense battle, the score was still 0-0.

Even at the 118th minute, it was still 0-0!

Just as it seemed the match was heading for a penalty shootout, Toni Kroos unleashed a thunderous long shot that pierced the goal guarded by Lloris, securing the World Cup trophy for Germany!

In the end, thanks to his crucial goal in the final, Toni Kroos won the Golden Ball for this World Cup!

French midfielder Paul Pogba won the Silver Ball.

Thomas Müller, who scored five goals, took home the Bronze Ball.

In addition, the Golden Boot winner was James Rodríguez, who scored six goals.

Thomas Müller and Neymar both scored five goals, placing second and third respectively.

The Golden Glove award went to Neuer.

The Best Young Player award was given to Paul Pogba.

And the Best XI was in a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Marcos Rojo, Thiago Silva, Hummels, de Vrij;

Midfielders: James Rodríguez, Philipp Lahm, Paul Pogba, and Toni Kroos;

Forwards: Robben and Thomas Müller.

A significant reason Robben beat Neymar for a spot in the Best XI was that he led the Netherlands to a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the third-place playoff.

After losing 1-7 to Germany, Brazil suffered another crushing defeat to the Netherlands.

However, there was a small controversy regarding the best goalkeeper award.

Mainly because Costa Rica’s goalkeeper Navas had been too eye-catching.

His 91% save rate far surpassed all other goalkeepers.

Perhaps another, more intuitive statistic could represent Navas’s outstanding performance.

Before the World Cup, his estimated value on Transfermarkt was 7 million euros.

After the World Cup?

It soared directly to 15 million euros.

Additionally, goalkeepers like Mexico’s Ochoa and Argentina’s Romero also performed well.

Just as there was a list of players who performed exceptionally, there was also a list of those who disappointed.

Bayswater Chinese stars like Eden Hazard, Pepe, and Theo Walcott all made the disappointing lineup.

This confirmed the saying.

The Premier League is too draining; the better a player performs for his club, the more lackluster he is for his national team.

Others included Spain’s Diego Costa, Uruguay’s Suárez, Portugal’s C. Ronaldo, Côte d’Ivoire’s Yaya Touré, Liverpool’s Gerrard, Real Madrid’s Ramos and Casillas, and Barça’s Dani Alves.

These were all household names, but their World Cup performances were disappointing.

Ultimately, it was due to them performing too well at the club level.

After the World Cup concluded, the World Cup Silver Ball winner Paul Pogba and Golden Boot winner James Rodríguez completely exploded in popularity, even surpassing the Golden Ball winner Toni Kroos!

This was actually quite normal.

Toni Kroos was an organizing midfielder. Although he was the core, on the pitch he was destined to be a supporting character.

But James Rodríguez and Pogba scored six and four goals respectively, making them the most eye-catching hottest star players of the World Cup.

James Rodríguez, born in 1991, was only 23, while Pogba, born in 1993, was even younger at 21.

But both midfielders had already shown extraordinary skill and talent.

Naturally, they attracted the favor of major European giants.

How absurd was it?

Before the World Cup, James Rodríguez’s estimated market value on Transfermarkt was only 35 million euros. It shot up to 60 million euros, nearly doubling.

The younger Paul Pogba’s estimated market value before the World Cup was 45 million euros. After the World Cup, it soared to 80 million euros.

In such a short period, the market value of players who perform well skyrockets.

This is the World Cup!

…

For football fans, the World Cup is a once-every-four-years football feast.

But for a powerhouse club like Real Madrid, it’s more like a “royal selection.”

The “beloved consort” just happens to be a certain star player.

As the dust settled on the World Cup, Real Madrid’s “royal selection” game also entered its final stages.

The two players who made it to the final showdown were freshly revealed.

Paul Pogba from Bayswater Chinese and James Rodríguez from Ligue 1’s Monaco.

Both stars had their pros and cons.

Paul Pogba had been handpicked by Yang Cheng, which was as good as a stamp of approval.

In European football, any player who had been personally approved by Yang Cheng was almost guaranteed to be good.

For example, Toni Kroos, who had just won the World Cup Golden Ball.

Bayern Munich was probably regretting it to their graves!

Especially when receiving the Golden Ball, during his acceptance speech, Toni Kroos didn’t forget to throw some shade at Bayern, thanking Yang Cheng for helping him out of a difficult situation and bringing him to the Premier League!

The implication was that things had been really tough for him at Bayern!

And with Paul Pogba’s rise to fame at the World Cup, his agent Raiola also became more active.

Serie A’s Juventus and Inter Milan, the Premier League’s Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal, as well as La Liga’s Barça, were all said to be watching Pogba.

When interviewed, Raiola’s words were ambiguous, saying things like it was difficult for the player to challenge the positions of Toni Kroos and Modrić at Bayswater Chinese, and that he hoped for more opportunities.

But everyone knew that with Pogba’s current market value and his age of 21, convincing Bayswater Chinese to let him go would require a staggering, sky-high price!

The agent for the equally sky-high priced James Rodríguez was Mendes.

Playing for Monaco in Ligue 1 made poaching James Rodríguez almost effortless.

As long as you were willing to pay, you could take the player.

The premise was that you had to convince Monaco.

Mendes has also been very active lately, frequently appearing in the newspapers.

Clearly, these two were the hottest superstar midfielders on the summer transfer market.

How to choose?

This became a difficult problem for Real Madrid’s chairman, Florentino Pérez.

“I support Pogba!”

Zidane, the chairman’s advisor, was the first to state his position.

As a Frenchman, he was very familiar with Pogba.

“I have to say, this player has unparalleled technique and talent, and his physical condition is astonishing. He reminds me of myself back when I was playing.”

Zidane’s assessment of Pogba did not come as a surprise.

Anyone who has watched Pogba play would not argue.

“I want to say that for a midfielder like him, no matter how much we pay in transfer fees, we won’t lose out!”

“He’s worth it!”

Zidane’s words carried a lot of weight.

He truly hoped that Real Madrid would listen to his advice and sign Pogba.

Just like when they signed Varane years ago.

But not everyone supported Zidane.

General Manager José Ángel Sánchez held a different opinion.

“Knowing the typical behavior of Bayswater Chinese, if we want to poach Pogba, it will cost at least 100 million euros, and even then we might not get him!” José Ángel Sánchez said, seemingly still scarred from past dealings with Bayswater Chinese.

Those guys are damn good at negotiating!

“I actually think James Rodríguez is more suitable for us.”

“How so?” Florentino Pérez asked with concern.

“Firstly, he plays in the number 10 position, a typical South American attacking midfielder. He has excellent technique, delicate footwork, is very creative, his passing is very imaginative, and his ability to attack with overlapping runs is strong.”

“Of course, his physical attributes are not as good as Pogba’s, but they are not bad, completely sufficient.”

As a Spanish club, Real Madrid naturally had a closer affinity for South American players.

And everyone knew that South American players always had an advantage in various awards.

To put it simply, South American players are more likely to win individual honors.

“Secondly, I think James Rodríguez’s image is a better fit for our Real Madrid brand. This would be a very good boost for us!”

As soon as José Ángel Sánchez said this, Zidane, who was beside him, could hardly listen anymore.

“For such a blockbuster transfer, I think we should primarily consider it from a sporting perspective. The commercial angle can only be a reference. And Pogba’s advantage on the sporting level is definitely greater than James Rodríguez’s.”

“Don’t forget, Paul Pogba is a player favored by Yang Cheng!”

That fact alone was worth an untold amount.

“I admit that!” José Ángel Sánchez nodded in agreement.

“But I still support James Rodríguez because I’ve always believed that when we at Real Madrid sign a player, we need to consider not just the sporting factors, but also the player’s image and commercial aspects.”

Florentino Pérez looked at Zidane, then at José Ángel Sánchez, without making any commitment.

He didn’t even show any reaction on his face.

“Anything else?” the Real Madrid chairman asked.

José Ángel Sánchez knew that the chairman didn’t want them to continue arguing.

Because it was pointless.

“Finally, and I think this is the most important point, Pogba belongs to Bayswater Chinese. Convincing them to let him go will be no easy task.”

“Even if a deal is eventually made, it will surely be for a sky-high price. James Rodríguez is clearly a more suitable option.”

After a pause, José Ángel Sánchez added another sentence.

“Chairman, players who have a great tournament often have inflated market values. Pogba is so hot right now, but will any team be willing to make a bid for him? I think that’s a question.”

“If not, then by next year, his price will inevitably fall. We can make our move then and pick up a bargain.”

Florentino Pérez hesitated.

The Real Madrid chairman frowned and thought for a long time.

Both Zidane and José Ángel Sánchez had their own valid points.

They were both sticking to their professional duties.

Considering everything, it was truly difficult to choose between these two players.

For a moment, Florentino Pérez couldn’t make a decision.

But just then, the Real Madrid chairman suddenly remembered the transfer from last summer.

Real Madrid’s initial bid was for Javi Martínez, but they gave up because Bayswater Chinese’s asking price was too high. They ended up signing Illarramendi from Real Sociedad by activating his release clause.

As a result, Illarramendi performed poorly.

Real Madrid was forced to sign Javi Martínez for a high price during the winter transfer window.

After joining, the latter helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title, performing impressively.

Yang Cheng’s reputation had always been solid.

It might be a bit expensive, but it was always worth the money!

“Alright, José, send an offer to Bayswater Chinese. 80 million euros for Paul Pogba!”

Florentino Pérez made a swift decision.

Chapter 310: Breaking a Hundred Million Again! Mad Manchester United! The Super Selling Club! Manchester City is Reaching for the Sky!

The 2014 European summer transfer window had descended into utter chaos!

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that all the teams had gone on a rampage!

The first transfer in this summer’s market that surprised Yang Cheng was that of Aurier from OGC Nice.

The Côte d’Ivoire international had been linked with Paris Saint-Germain long before the World Cup.

Even Yang Cheng and Nice believed that PSG had basically snapped up both of Nice’s full-backs—Aurier and Layvin Kurzawa.

The only sticking point at the time was the transfer fee.

Bayswater Chinese demanded a fee of twenty-five million euros.

But PSG was only willing to offer fifteen million euros for Aurier at most.

With both sides at a stalemate, they continued to negotiate and drag things out.

But no one could have predicted what would happen at the World Cup. Aurier, representing the Côte d’Ivoire national team, put on an outstanding performance.

In their World Cup debut, Côte d’Ivoire defeated Japan two to one.

Aurier contributed two assists.

This allowed the Ivorian right flank to shine brightly on the world stage.

And in the previous Ligue 1 season, Aurier had contributed six goals and six assists, becoming the most active player on Nice’s right flank.

Although Côte d’Ivoire failed to advance from the group stage and was eliminated early, Aurier’s performance had already earned him recognition from the outside world. European clubs caught wind and acted.

It was just that at the time, with the World Cup in full swing, no one paid much attention.

The first to make a bid for Aurier was Arsenal.

The Gunners directly met Nice’s demand, offering twenty-five million euros.

Wenger was very interested in Aurier and wanted to bring him to the Premier League to bolster the Gunners’ right flank.

Although Arsenal already had Lichtsteiner, Sagna was already thirty-two, and Wenger wanted to use Aurier to strengthen the team’s bench depth.

Also on Wenger’s radar was the French international Debuchy, who played for Newcastle.

Although Debuchy was cheaper, he was also older at twenty-nine.

Aurier was only twenty-two, but his ability was already quite impressive.

Arsenal’s sudden intervention caused an unexpected turn in a transfer that PSG had considered a done deal.

And who was Nice’s CEO, Martin Harrison?

He was lauded by numerous French media outlets as the most ruthless professional manager since Aulas.

He didn’t immediately accept Arsenal’s bid. Instead, he played it cool and simultaneously leaked the news.

Twenty-five million euros was the pre-World Cup price.

That amount wouldn’t buy Aurier now.

PSG, as expected, followed up and raised their offer to twenty-eight million euros, outbidding Arsenal.

This made Wenger hesitate.

After all, the Gunners still had Lichtsteiner; there was no need to spend such a high transfer fee on Aurier.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, Manchester City submitted a bid of thirty million euros.

The Blue Moons had suddenly joined the fray!

This was something no one had anticipated, including Nice’s Martin Harrison.

Why would the Blue Moons be interested in Aurier?

According to the Manchester Evening News, it was because their pursuit of Daniel Alves from Barça had been rejected.

He was the best right-back in Pep Guardiola’s mind.

Later, they tried to buy Lahm from Bayern Munich, but that too was rejected.

Currently, Manchester City had two right-backs. Pablo Zabaleta was born in January 1985 and was about to turn thirty.

Micah Richards was a homegrown player, but his style was not at all what Guardiola admired, and his technique didn’t meet the requirements. He had been cast aside by Guardiola early on.

Under these circumstances, signing a high-level right-back had become an urgent priority for Manchester City.

And Manchester City’s consistent transfer style was to lie low, wait for the right moment, and then strike with deadly precision!

What could you do? They were tycoons, after all.

PSG were also tycoons and, unwilling to be outdone, immediately made another offer of thirty-two million euros.

But to their surprise, Manchester City directly added another three million, bringing the offer to thirty-five million euros, and knocked PSG out of the running!

Not only that, but the Blue Moons were also keeping an eye on Kurzawa.

Manchester City’s left flank also only had one trustworthy player in Leighton Baines.

But the Blue Moons’ main focus was on Borussia Dortmund’s winger Marco Reus.

This winger was also being watched by Manchester United and Chelsea.

PSG seized this opportunity, decisively raised their price, and agreed to Nice’s asking price, signing Kurzawa for thirty million euros.

The transfers of Nice’s two full-backs surprised Yang Cheng.

It also astonished the European football world.

Before the World Cup, Aurier’s transfer valuation was only around fifteen million euros, and Kurzawa’s was similar.

Now, the two players had been sold for a grand total of sixty-five million euros, more than double their previous value.

…

Amidst the rolling tide of the World Cup, the transfers of Aurier and Kurzawa didn’t attract too much attention from the fans.

After all, these two players were not big-name stars.

But then, a series of moves by Chelsea stunned everyone.

Chelsea subsequently announced several blockbuster transfers.

The Blues first signed centre-forward Diego Costa from Atlético Madrid for a transfer fee of fifty million pounds sterling.

This deal was seen as a very good piece of business.

The main reason was that Diego Costa had performed poorly at the World Cup and was even named in the most disappointing team of the tournament.

Of course, he couldn’t be entirely blamed for that.

The entire Spanish team had performed poorly.

Then, they signed Juan Cuadrado from Serie A’s Fiorentina for thirty million pounds sterling.

They also signed Filipe Luís from Atlético Madrid for a transfer fee of twenty million pounds sterling.

Also a left-back, the main reason Filipe Luís only sold for twenty million pounds sterling was his age of twenty-nine.

Adding to that the fifteen million pounds sterling for French centre-forward Rémy, Chelsea had invested one hundred and fifteen million pounds sterling in the transfer market!

Roman Abramovich had truly opened his wallet wide.

To raise funds, Chelsea sold Lukaku to Everton for forty million pounds sterling.

They also cleared out a batch of surplus players, including Demba Ba, Lampard, and Ashley Cole.

The fact that Everton could stump up forty million pounds sterling for Lukaku showed just how strong the purchasing power of Premier League teams had become.

In one fell swoop, Chelsea had secured Atlético Madrid’s centre-forward and left-back, significantly boosting their overall strength.

Plus, Sami Khedira had joined during the winter transfer window.

For the new season, Mourinho’s team was well-equipped and brimming with ambition!

…

After missing out on Aurier, Arsenal’s Wenger turned around and signed Debuchy for fifteen million pounds sterling.

But at the same time, the Gunners sold their centre-back Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona for twenty million pounds sterling.

During his time at Arsenal, the Belgian centre-back was frequently plagued by injuries, which made his performances inconsistent.

However, his technical style was a good fit for Barça’s requirements.

Under pressure from Barça’s poaching, Arsenal had to let him go.

Another player to leave due to injury was the twenty-seven-year-old Ukrainian centre-back Chygrynskiy.

After being sidelined for half a year last season due to injury, he completely lost his place in the team.

Now, the Gunners had sent him back to Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk for a transfer fee of fifteen million pounds sterling.

After selling two centre-backs, the Gunners signed centre-back Mustafi from Ligue 1’s OGC Nice for thirty-five million pounds sterling.

This player had left Everton in January 2012 for a transfer fee of eighty thousand euros.

In just a year and a half, he returned to the Premier League for a sky-high price of thirty-five million pounds sterling, and to Arsenal no less.

It was truly a return in glory!

The main reason was that in the previous Ligue 1 season, under the tutelage of José Fonte, the “centre-back incubator,” Mustafi had demonstrated great strength and his abilities were fully unleashed.

He had also earned Wenger’s approval!

This transfer was already considered expensive, but Yang Cheng felt a tinge of regret about it.

Mustafi had been cut from Löw’s final squad just before the World Cup.

If he had represented Germany and won the World Cup, even just by being on the squad, his value would have risen even more.

In addition, the Gunners also signed defender Chambers from Southampton for a transfer fee of twenty million pounds sterling.

…

As the Premier League arms race kicked off, Liverpool was not idle either.

The Reds first signed Adam Lallana from Southampton for thirty-five million pounds sterling.

This transfer deal shocked everyone.

Next came the signing of winger Marković from Benfica for twenty-five million pounds sterling.

Then the signing of centre-back Lovren from Southampton for thirty million pounds sterling.

And the signing of Moreno from La Liga’s Sevilla for twenty million pounds sterling.

They also signed Emre Can from Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen for fifteen million pounds sterling.

After that, they signed Rickie Lambert from Southampton for another ten million pounds sterling.

The Reds had qualified for the Champions League last season and were ambitious this summer, determined to retain their spot and hoping to improve their results.

The Saudi consortium was not lacking in financial power, and they did not hold back on their investments.

Among these, Lambert’s return to Liverpool caused quite a stir in the British media.

The former Bayswater Chinese player was originally a product of Liverpool’s youth academy, but unfortunately, he failed to make the cut at the Reds.

He even drifted into amateur football for a time.

It wasn’t until he was spotted by Yang Cheng and brought to Bayswater Chinese that he gradually made a name for himself again.

Now, after an excellent spell at Southampton, Lambert was able to return to Liverpool.

In an interview with the media, Lambert repeatedly stressed his gratitude to Bayswater Chinese and to Yang Cheng for the guidance and trust he had been given.

The transfer fee for this deal was not high, and the player was not widely known, but it generated a huge reaction within England, especially regarding the reputation of Bayswater Chinese.

This was set against the backdrop of the England national team’s disastrous campaign in the Brazil World Cup.

Three matches, zero wins, one draw, and two losses.

Such a record was completely at odds with the prosperity of the Premier League.

As the authoritative newspaper, The Times, put it:

England has done a very poor job in youth development over the past few years.

Bayswater Chinese could be described as one of the few bright spots.

In fact, this club now supported England’s national teams at all age levels and had always been a club with many international players.

Lambert’s story was just one of Bayswater Chinese’s many success stories.

“We need more and more teams like Bayswater Chinese, dedicated to youth development, dedicated to nurturing players, to help England return to the pinnacle of world football!”

The Sun also believed that an increasing number of local English fans saw Bayswater Chinese as the future of English football.

Because this team, from the first team to the youth academy, was teeming with young talent!

BBC television even produced a special program detailing Bayswater Chinese’s youth system, featuring interviews with Technical Director Dan Ashworth and Head of Youth Development Matt Crocker.

In the program, the BBC not only highlighted the achievements of Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy over the years but also detailed the club’s sustained investment in youth development for over a decade.

This was an investment made with no expense spared!

“Many people say that Bayswater Chinese is stingy and cheap in the transfer market.”

“But in reality, when it comes to youth development, training facilities, and technological research and development, Bayswater Chinese is incredibly generous.”

The BBC presented the percentage of Bayswater Chinese’s youth players in England’s national teams at various levels.

At its peak, it was nearly half.

This was simply outrageous!

Dan Ashworth and Matt Crocker both made a prediction.

“We are very confident that the club’s youth academy will see an explosive growth in five years, and we have reason to believe that England will benefit immensely from it in five years’ time!”

“By then, our club will help England return to the top of the world!”

Dan Ashworth’s powerful statement sent shockwaves throughout Britain.

If there was one team in the Premier League with such influence, it used to be Manchester United or Liverpool, but now, it was only Bayswater Chinese!

In Britain, more and more fans were becoming ardent supporters of Bayswater Chinese.

Especially after watching the BBC program, they understood even more clearly the importance of Bayswater Chinese to English football!

…

The World Cup had finally come to a close!

But the battle for stars was still raging.

The hottest topic in the transfer market was Bayswater Chinese’s Paul Pogba.

The French midfielder had dazzled at the World Cup, becoming the undisputed core of France’s midfield, helping Les Bleus reach the World Cup final and secure the runner-up position, narrowly losing to Germany.

But many fans viewed this final as Pogba’s failed challenge against Toni Kroos!

The reason was that the German team had defeated France with a last-minute winner from Toni Kroos to claim the championship.

Although he lost this “competition,” Paul Pogba’s age and talent were undeniable.

The French midfielder successfully attracted the attention of numerous giants including Real Madrid, Barça, PSG, Manchester United, and Liverpool, sparking widespread speculation.

His agent, Raiola, was particularly active in the media, stating clearly that the player had not yet made a decision about his future.

The implication was clear: all interested teams should hurry up!

Let’s talk business!

And almost everyone knew that Paul Pogba, whose value had soared to eighty million euros after the World Cup, would inevitably become this summer’s marquee signing if he were to transfer.

Who would land this superstar?

But no one expected that the first to ignite the transfer market competition would not be Paul Pogba.

It was Borussia Dortmund’s “Little Rocket,” Marco Reus, who had missed the Brazil World Cup due to injury!

It was a stroke of bad luck.

Reus was injured in the final warm-up match before the World Cup, tearing a ligament and being sidelined for two months.

This caused him to miss out on a World Cup title!

But as the best-performing player in the Bundesliga last season—starting twenty-six games, coming on as a substitute four times, scoring sixteen goals, providing thirteen assists, and averaging 2.7 dribbles per game—and having won the Bundesliga Player of the Year award for the second time in three years, Marco Reus had earned everyone’s approval even without participating in the World Cup.

As soon as van Gaal took over at Manchester United, his first transfer target was Reus.

Manchester United had given van Gaal a transfer budget of two hundred million pounds sterling, allowing him to build his squad freely.

And on the transfer list compiled by van Gaal, both Reus and Hummels were from Borussia Dortmund.

This showed just how highly van Gaal valued Reus.

Manchester United’s approach was also quite generous.

Their first offer was a direct fifty million pounds sterling, higher than Reus’s market valuation.

Fifty million pounds sterling, which was sixty million euros.

Faced with such an offer, it was hard for BVB to say they weren’t tempted.

The whole world knew that the value of Bundesliga players was generally on the low side.

Given BVB’s current situation, if they sold Reus and got that money, there were so many things the team could do.

Besides, in the Bundesliga, Dortmund couldn’t compete with Bayern Munich anyway.

German media revealed that back when Dortmund bought Reus from Borussia Mönchengladbach by triggering his release clause, there was a clause in their contract.

If Dortmund failed to win a major trophy, meaning the league or the Champions League, for three consecutive seasons, then Dortmund had to accept offers from other teams.

The German media reported that this clause was primarily intended as a back door for a move to Bayern Munich.

But unexpectedly, the one knocking on the door now was Manchester United.

What about Bayern Munich?

Although the Bundesliga giants were wealthy, they had always been relatively stingy with their spending in the transfer market.

Engage in a bidding war with Manchester United?

That was clearly not Bayern’s style.

They preferred poaching players the way they did with Götze.

It wasn’t that Reus was too expensive to afford, but that a free transfer was better value for money!

Conversely, Reus himself had reservations about joining Manchester United.

The reason was that Manchester United couldn’t play in the Champions League!

But Borussia Dortmund seriously considered Manchester United’s offer.

And just when Manchester United felt they had it in the bag, and all the media and fans believed Reus was bound to join them, the ever-quiet Manchester City suddenly made a move.

The Premier League champions came in with an offer of sixty-five million euros!

Guardiola publicly “flirted” with Reus in the media.

“Reus is an absolutely incredible player, he is the kind of player I have longed for my entire life!”

“At the same time, he will become an important piece of the puzzle in Manchester City’s squad!”

The public opinion exploded!

Oh my god!

Manchester City is reaching for the sky!

A combination of Reus, Agüero, and Messi—they were going to tear through the Premier League and then do it all over again in the Champions League!

Sky Sports even ran the story as their front-page headline.

“Little Rocket Set to Land at the Etihad, Guardiola Aims for Champions League Glory!”

Famous English football pundit Jonathan Wilson wrote in his column that Guardiola had always wanted David Silva to move back to midfield to partner with Verratti.

Now, with the arrival of Xabi Alonso, Manchester City’s midfield was overflowing with talent.

If they were to sign Reus, they would add a superstar to the left wing, which would undoubtedly give Manchester City’s overall strength a massive boost.

This would greatly relieve the pressure on Messi!

The public was in an uproar.

This immediately made Borussia Dortmund realize that their opportunity had come!

Manchester United also felt the threat and immediately raised their offer to seventy million euros!

Manchester United CEO Ed Woodward publicly stated to the media, “We are determined to get Reus!”

“All Manchester United fans can look forward to seeing Reus soaring at Old Trafford next season!”

But Ed Woodward never expected that Manchester City’s counter-attack would be so brutal.

The Blue Moons didn’t engage in a war of words; they just slapped back with a seventy-five-million-euro offer.

It was like a slap across Ed Woodward’s face.

The Manchester United CEO immediately called a team meeting to hastily draw up a new offer.

In the end, the Red Devils submitted a bid of seventy-eight million euros.

But it was clear to everyone that Manchester United was already stretching their limits.

Manchester United, who claimed to have a two-hundred-million-pound-sterling transfer budget, was also pursuing Bayswater Chinese’s Paul Pogba at the same time.

They had previously signed Argentine defender Rojo from Sporting Lisbon for twenty million pounds sterling.

And paid the release clause for Athletic Bilbao’s midfielder Herrera for twenty-eight point five million pounds sterling.

This forced Manchester United to be meticulous with their spending.

But Manchester City had no such concerns.

As soon as the Blue Moons saw Manchester United showing signs of weakness, they immediately added more fuel to the fire, offering eighty million euros.

This left the media and fans all over the world in a state of shock!

Madness!

Utter madness!

Even Borussia Dortmund themselves never imagined that Reus could be sold for such a sky-high price.

Eighty million euros!

When BVB saw that Manchester United was not going to bid any higher, they immediately accepted Manchester City’s offer.

And after a phone call with Guardiola, Reus publicly revealed his intentions to the media.

“To be able to fight alongside a player like Messi is a pride that all professional players dream of!”

Just like that, the Little Rocket transferred from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City for a sky-high price of eighty million euros!

Manchester United, on the other hand, was dealt a heavy blow.

From Aurier to Reus, they had failed to sign any of the players they targeted.

Especially Reus.

Despite raising their bid several times, they couldn’t stop Manchester City, which was a source of great frustration for Manchester United, a club that prided itself on being wealthy.

And the Red Devils’ CEO, Ed Woodward, also faced criticism from the fans.

Didn’t you say you had a two-hundred-million-pound-sterling transfer budget?

Why couldn’t you sign Reus?

…

When Yang Cheng received the news that Reus had transferred to Manchester City for eighty million euros, he was stunned for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Qing was startled by Yang Cheng’s reaction.

They had just returned from Xinjiang and were planning to stay in the capital for a few days before heading back to Europe.

There were still many things to take care of over there.

Especially in Málaga, Spain, where things were changing every day.

“Guardiola made an excellent deal!” Yang Cheng shook his head with a sense of helplessness.

Last season, Manchester City had a clear weakness.

Their attack was too slow, and their flanks were not strong enough.

Jovetić was decent, but ultimately not outstanding enough.

David Silva on the left wing lacked sharp dribbling and speed.

To some extent, this constrained Manchester City’s strength, especially Messi’s.

But now, Reus had arrived!

This was enough to prove that Guardiola was truly building this Manchester City team according to his own vision.

Eighty million euros for Reus!

It certainly looked crazy.

But Manchester City needed him.

Many had previously rumored that Guardiola was interested in Bayswater Chinese’s Eden Hazard.

Yang Cheng had never believed it.

The reason was simple: if Hazard joined, his role would overlap with Messi’s.

If they hadn’t bought Messi, Yang Cheng was certain Guardiola would have signed Hazard.

But not now.

Reus, on the other hand, was perfect.

This deal was done too well!

“Manchester City will be tough to play against next season!” Yang Cheng frowned.

But to his surprise, Xia Qing, who was sitting next to him, heard this and burst into laughter.

“You say that before every season, but it turns out you get good results every time.”

“So, I have faith in you!”

Yang Cheng smiled, enjoying the compliment.

It felt good to receive encouragement and affirmation from someone close to him.

But this time, Manchester City had truly strengthened.

It even seemed like they had no weaknesses left.

“Should I raise some money on my end so you can sign one or two big-name stars?” Xia Qing suddenly asked with a smile.

Yang Cheng was slightly taken aback but quickly shook his head.

“Let’s not. There are still many places where we need to spend money.”

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s annual revenue had been hitting new highs.

Every year, Xia Qing would invite PricewaterhouseCoopers to audit the club’s finances, so Bayswater Chinese was arguably the club with the best financial health in European football, and also the most recognized by the outside world.

And it was profitable every year.

What outsiders didn’t know was that Xia Qing would extract a significant amount of funds from the club every year through various channels and methods.

It was a bit like running a company and moving money from the business account to a private one.

There were many ways to do this, including various service fees, rental fees, licensing fees, and so on.

And the money that was drawn out, besides being used to acquire OGC Nice and Atalanta, as well as the training center being built back home, was also intended for the upcoming purchase of Málaga CF from Al Thani.

Although Yang Cheng was in China, he had been keeping a close eye on every move in Europe.

Especially Al Thani.

After Málaga’s relegation, the team’s situation was getting worse and worse, and the pressure on him was mounting.

It was said that several local fan organizations in Málaga were publicly calling for fans to sign a petition. They planned to gather one hundred thousand signatures and go to the city hall to protest against him and his family.

There were also reports that after Málaga’s relegation, their financial chain had broken, and they were seriously behind on player salaries, facing the risk of bankruptcy at any moment.

If that was true, then Al Thani wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.

So right now, Yang Cheng certainly wouldn’t be splashing cash on stars.

Besides, what stars out there were better than the ones he already had?

“Don’t worry about my side of things. Just prepare and raise the funds. I think Al Thani is about to crumble.”

Yang Cheng instructed Xia Qing.

“Don’t worry, I have it ready anytime.” Xia Qing gave him a “rich woman” smile.

…

The day before Yang Cheng returned to London, Real Madrid made a second offer for Paul Pogba.

After their first tentative offer of eighty million euros was rejected without hesitation by Bayswater Chinese, the Galácticos quickly put together a new bid.

This time they raised the transfer fee to ninety million euros.

For a player who was only twenty-one but already valued at eighty million euros, this wasn’t considered high.

Especially with the general hype surrounding the World Cup.

After losing the race for Reus to Manchester City, Manchester United suffered another setback in their attempt to sign Hummels.

The German centre-back refused to join Manchester United!

The reason was simple: Manchester United couldn’t play in the Champions League.

And Hummels was full of anticipation for a return to Bayern Munich.

After selling Reus, Borussia Dortmund was unwilling to sell Hummels as well.

BVB turned around and signed Aubameyang from Liverpool.

After successive setbacks, Manchester United turned their attention to Paul Pogba.

This was also a very important target for the Red Devils this summer.

Especially after the failures with Aurier, Reus, and Hummels, Ed Woodward was even more determined to sign Paul Pogba.

He couldn’t just be driving up the price for others all the time, could he?

After Real Madrid offered ninety million euros, Manchester United quickly followed with a bid of ninety-five million euros.

But Real Madrid was clearly determined to sign Pogba as well, and they immediately raised their offer again, to one hundred million euros.

That was eighty million pounds sterling.

This once again caused an uproar in the entire transfer market.

Another player with a transfer fee breaking the one-hundred-million mark was born!

But Manchester United reacted quickly, raising their offer again to eighty-five million pounds sterling.

Everyone could see that this was a bidding war between Real Madrid and Manchester United!

Anyone could tell that both giants were determined to sign Pogba.

Pogba and his agent, Raiola, were in a secure position, maintaining communication with both sides.

And the world’s media and fans were hanging on their every move.

Everyone could see that this was going to be this summer’s record transfer signing!

As the best-performing player at the World Cup, Pogba’s transfer was bound to be the most watched event of the summer.

However, Real Madrid had always loved chasing hotspots and traffic.

As the hottest star player of the World Cup, how could Real Madrid bear to miss out on Pogba?

Especially when it meant snatching the French midfielder from the hands of Manchester United.

Thus, Real Madrid soon submitted another offer: ninety million pounds sterling.

Manchester United quickly countered with a bid of ninety-five million pounds sterling.

But Real Madrid soon raised their offer to one hundred million pounds sterling.

The premium had already reached fifty percent!

Everyone could clearly feel that both powerhouse clubs were starting to become more cautious.

It was at this time that The Sun, always known for its transfer rumors, suddenly broke a sensational story.

Paul Pogba’s transfer looked like a battle between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

But in reality, a power struggle between sponsors was involved behind the scenes.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese’s sponsor was Puma, Real Madrid’s was Adidas, and Manchester United’s was Nike.

As the hottest star player in world football, both Adidas and Nike wanted to recruit Pogba to a team under their banner, rather than letting him stay in the Puma camp.

Under these circumstances, both sponsors were backing their respective teams, both indicating that if they could sign Paul Pogba, the sponsor would support the club by increasing their annual sponsorship fee!

This gave both Real Madrid and Manchester United plenty of motivation.

Thus, both sides quickly raised their bids again.

Manchester United offered one hundred and five million pounds sterling.

But Real Madrid, after much hesitation, also raised theirs to one hundred and ten million pounds sterling.

The media and fans all over the world were watching the bidding war between two of Europe’s giants.

Pogba had already revealed through his agent Raiola that as long as his personal terms were met, he would not object to joining either Manchester United or Real Madrid.

Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez, told the Spanish media that one hundred and ten million pounds sterling would not be Real Madrid’s final offer. “We’ve done our assessment, Paul Pogba will become a superstar idol like Zidane!”

Marca revealed that the higher-ups at Real Madrid believed this offer was enough to fend off Manchester United!

And now, the ball was in Manchester United’s court.

With the price raised to this level, would Manchester United follow?

In an interview with the media, Ed Woodward stated that it was a crazy decision!

One hundred and ten million pounds sterling was close to one hundred and forty million euros.

“There is no doubt that Paul Pogba is an excellent and very promising player, but we must seriously consider whether to continue bidding!”

But Ed Woodward’s comments were met with criticism from the media and Manchester United fans.

The atmosphere has been built up to this point, and you come out with this now?

Are you planning to back down?

It was the same with Reus.

They kept driving up the price with Manchester City, and then Manchester United went soft.

Now, is it going to be the same with Pogba?

…

Manchester United’s head office was located in Soho, London, very close to Grosvenor Square where Bayswater Chinese was based.

It was just a short walk away.

But unlike Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United’s office building was rented.

And it was a terraced building on the street, not a standalone one, so it was much smaller.

In the past few days, the British media had even arranged for people to stake out Manchester United’s headquarters.

They had previously snapped a picture of van Gaal coming to sign his contract.

Now they were waiting to see when Manchester United would run over to Grosvenor Square to connect with Bayswater Chinese.

According to them, Manchester United had a unique advantage.

Walking over to make an offer was surely more direct than sending a fax!

Of course, that was a joke.

But Ed Woodward was in no mood to laugh right now.

He was checkmated!

“According to public opinion analysis, the fans are extremely dissatisfied with our transfer operations this summer. From Aurier to Reus to Hummels, and now Paul Pogba, we have not successfully signed anyone!”

Although Manchester United had signed Herrera and Rojo, the influence of these two players was nothing compared to the others.

This led to the impression among fans that Manchester United couldn’t sign any of the stars they wanted.

“Some fans are even mocking us as ‘Price-Hiking United’!”

“Price-Hiking United?” Ed Woodward was taken aback.

That nickname was an insult to him and to Manchester United!

“Do they really think buying players in the transfer market is like buying cabbages at the market?” Ed Woodward felt aggrieved.

Why couldn’t the fans understand the club’s difficulties?

That was one hundred and ten million pounds sterling!

“In addition, our negotiations with Nike and Adidas have also been affected.”

“What do you mean?” Ed Woodward’s heart skipped a beat.

If it were just criticism and anger from the fans, he wouldn’t really care.

Because he wasn’t responsible to the fans.

He only cared about the reaction of his superiors, the Glazer family.

But now that it involved sponsors, he had to take it seriously.

“They are all worried about whether we can return to the top four!”

Hearing his assistant’s words, Ed Woodward fell silent.

Simply put, the sponsors lacked confidence in Manchester United’s future.

Because Ferguson had retired!

Manchester United’s long-standing partnership with Nike was set to expire in 2015.

For the past two years, Manchester United had been negotiating a sponsorship renewal with Nike.

But there was a disagreement between Nike and Manchester United over the amount of the sponsorship contract, and it was a significant one.

Ed Woodward knew in his heart that Nike was actually watching Bayswater Chinese.

The West London team’s sponsorship contract with Puma would expire in 2016, with an annual fee of thirty million pounds sterling.

With Bayswater Chinese currently at the peak of its power, Puma would definitely have to show more sincerity if they wanted to renew.

Moreover, could a company of Puma’s size truly handle the current Bayswater Chinese?

Both Nike and Adidas were undoubtedly coveting this team.

It was within Ed Woodward’s expectations that they would neglect Manchester United at this time.

But the Red Devils’ sponsorship contract needed to be finalized as soon as possible.

The psychological expectation of Ed Woodward and the Glazer family behind him was over seventy million pounds sterling per year.

This would significantly boost Manchester United’s commercial revenue and overall financial performance.

But at this critical moment, Ferguson suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, and Manchester United failed to make it into the top four, losing their Champions League qualification.

This was why Manchester United was so desperate to sign stars like Reus and Pogba this summer.

The Red Devils needed to sign superstars to stimulate the football market and also to prove to all sponsors, including Nike and Adidas, that the Red Devils had the ambition and strength to return to the top four!

Thinking of this, Ed Woodward felt a headache coming on.

As for Real Madrid’s offer, one hundred and ten million pounds sterling must also be the Galácticos’ limit.

Or close to it.

The two sides were not far apart in strength, and they both knew it.

If it weren’t for the momentum of the World Cup, Paul Pogba would never have reached such a valuation.

But the problem was, they couldn’t delay the deal until next year.

At this thought, Ed Woodward gritted his teeth.

“Go, prepare a brand-new offer!”

“How much?” his assistant’s voice trembled slightly.

“One hundred and twenty million pounds sterling!”

“That much?”

A fierce glint flashed in Ed Woodward’s eyes. “We can’t let Real Madrid drive the price up any further!”

End it now!

“But…”

“I’ll call the boss right away to discuss it. You go and get it done.” Ed Woodward was resolute.

Only by signing Pogba could they have a good conversation with the sponsors.

That was a ten-year sponsorship contract. If it increased by five million pounds sterling per year, wouldn’t that be fifty million pounds sterling over ten years?

The twenty-one-year-old Paul Pogba could play for Manchester United for at least another ten years.

This deal was still quite cost-effective.

With this thought, Ed Woodward’s eyes became even more determined.

…

When Manchester United, after two days of hesitation, suddenly announced a bid of one hundred and twenty million pounds sterling for Paul Pogba, the whole world was in an uproar.

Almost everyone found it unbelievable!

One hundred and twenty million pounds sterling, a full one hundred and fifty million euros!

Manchester United was insane!

Where did they get so much money?

But what was even more surprising was that after Manchester United made their offer, Real Madrid immediately announced their withdrawal from the race for Paul Pogba.

In other words, Manchester United’s one-hundred-and-twenty-million-pound offer was the only one on the table.

Bayswater Chinese announced their acceptance of Manchester United’s offer.

But the problems that followed surprised everyone and also revealed the incompetence of Manchester United’s new management team.

After getting the green light from Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United officially began negotiations with Pogba’s agent, Raiola, regarding the player’s salary.

The Italian directly demanded a sky-high weekly wage of three hundred thousand pounds sterling!

Within the Manchester United squad, there was only one person whose weekly wage reached three hundred thousand pounds sterling.

And that was Rooney!

Pogba was demanding to be on par with Rooney from day one!

What surprised everyone even more was that Ed Woodward, after negotiations, actually agreed!

Yes, he actually agreed to Raiola’s demand for a three-hundred-thousand-pound weekly wage.

Everyone was dumbfounded!

Paying a sky-high transfer fee of one hundred and twenty million pounds sterling on one hand, and then a sky-high weekly wage of three hundred thousand pounds sterling to the player on the other—had Manchester United gone mad?

After withdrawing from the race for Paul Pogba, Real Madrid turned around and signed Colombian attacking midfielder James Rodríguez from Ligue 1’s Monaco for eighty million euros.

Not only that, but Real Madrid also won the battle against Paris Saint-Germain, signing Costa Rican goalkeeper Navas, who had shone at the World Cup, from Nice for a transfer fee of thirty million euros.

While sending Navas off, Nice also officially announced the signing of Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson from Primeira Liga’s Rio Ave for one million euros.

The twenty-one-year-old Brazilian goalkeeper had joined the youth academy of Portuguese giants Benfica from São Paulo in Brazil in January 2010.

But in the summer of 2011, he moved on a free transfer to the lower-league club Ribeirão 1968.

A year later, he transferred to Primeira Liga’s Rio Ave.

After a year on the bench at Rio Ave, in the ninth round of the 13/14 Primeira Liga season, starting goalkeeper Romain Salin was injured. Ederson came on as a substitute, seized the opportunity, and performed well.

Subsequently, in eighteen Primeira Liga matches, he conceded twenty-eight goals, a performance that could only be described as average.

But behind this Brazilian goalkeeper was the famous Portuguese super agent, Mendes!

Not only that, Mendes also held fifty percent of Ederson’s ownership rights.

Nice had scouted this player through their system, picking him from Yang Cheng’s watchlist.

Over the past few years, as Bayswater Chinese grew stronger, their relationship with agents had gradually become more dominant.

Mendes was also eager to form a closer partnership with Yang Cheng.

So, the two sides hit it off, and Mendes and Rio Ave sold one hundred percent of Ederson’s ownership to Nice.

In addition, Nice also announced the sale of Algerian international winger Mahrez to Barça for a transfer fee of sixty million euros.

As the best winger in Ligue 1 last season, Mahrez averaged 3.5 dribbles per game and was hailed as the “Ligue 1 Messi.”

At the World Cup, it was his outstanding performance that helped Algeria break through the group stage, creating the best World Cup result in Algeria’s history.

Mahrez was a major contributor!

Thanks to his excellent performance in Ligue 1 and his eye-catching display on the World Cup stage, although Mahrez was not as famous as superstars like Pogba and James Rodríguez, he had attracted the attention of many giant clubs.

In the end, it was Barça that successfully persuaded Nice to bring him to Camp Nou for sixty million euros to fill the void on the right flank left by Messi’s departure.

The whole world was shocked once again!

Ruthless!

Nice was truly ruthless now!

Almost everyone felt that Barça had been ripped off in signing Mahrez.

But there was nothing to be done. The player was good and very rare, and Barça was in desperate need, so they had to be fleeced.

Just as the news of Barça signing Mahrez came out, Yang Cheng also received news from Málaga.

Chapter 311: Fleecing Real Madrid, Poaching from Barça! A Total Meltdown! Yang Cheng, You’ve Got Some Nerve!

Unpaid wages!

Player strikes!

Fans familiar with La Liga would certainly not be strangers to these two terms.

It was an issue that seemed to crop up almost every summer.

It often escalated to the point of league-wide shutdowns, causing the first round, or even the first two or three rounds, of the season to be postponed.

This had become a unique feature of the Spanish league.

Well, the PIIGS countries of Europe always had their own peculiar problems!

As the new season drew ever closer, Málaga’s situation was only getting worse.

Their cash flow had dried up, and they couldn’t pay salaries.

Following the team’s relegation, morale had disintegrated, and the players were all desperate to leave.

This sent a chilling shiver through the entire city of Málaga amidst the sweltering summer heat.

The moment the team was relegated, their number one star, international player Camacho, left!

Starting goalkeeper Caballero also went to Manchester City.

Portuguese left-back Antunes would rather go to the icy-cold Dynamo Kyiv than stay in sunny Málaga.

Jesús Gámez went to Atlético Madrid.

Santa Cruz went to Mexico.

In the years since BlueBay had taken over, all of Málaga’s valuable players had long been sold off.

Even Isco, a genuine product of their own youth academy, was sold to Real Madrid.

The result of all this was that Málaga’s debt was reduced from nearly two hundred million euros to just over fifteen million euros today.

This was all accomplished by selling players!

But now, the few remaining players on the team who still attracted any interest were all gone.

For the upcoming season, it was an unknown whether Málaga could even avoid relegation in the Spanish second division, let alone return to La Liga.

Just as the local residents and fans of Málaga were wracked with anxiety, the local media dropped another bombshell.

Málaga still owed salaries to numerous players, including former head coach Pellegrini.

The players who remained were mostly of limited ability with nowhere better to go.

But now, they were starting to protest, planning to go on strike before the pre-season training camp.

Because the club still hadn’t paid their wages!

They hadn’t been paid in months. They had families and children to support; they wanted their salaries back!

This only added fuel to the fire within the already volatile club, making the situation even more tense.

The number of fans signing petitions organized by fan groups to oust Al Thani was growing by the day.

Yet, to this day, not a single person had stood up to ask: what happens after we get rid of Al Thani?

But for now, the Middle Eastern tycoon had become the outlet for everyone’s frustration.

He had to get the hell out!

As for Málaga’s future path, that was a discussion for after Al Thani was gone.

In an interview with local media, Mayor Francisco de la Torre revealed that the city government was very concerned about the matter and had urged the relevant departments and the club to handle it properly, find a solution as soon as possible, and appease the fans.

“This has dragged on for far too long. We will ensure the club provides a reasonable solution in the shortest possible time!”

Al Thani was being pushed into a corner.

With no other options, he was forced to call Adam Crozier.

But the offer Adam Crozier gave made him jump up on the spot.

…

“Fifty million euros?”

“Are you robbing me?”

Al Thani furiously questioned Adam Crozier over the phone.

“You need to understand, although Málaga was relegated, its foundation is still there. We have the Rosaleda Stadium, which can hold thirty thousand people, we have a basketball team, we have a training base…”

Al Thani nearly roared into the phone.

He was genuinely panicking now!

He said a lot, and Adam Crozier never interrupted, letting him vent.

After nearly five minutes, Al Thani finally stopped, his throat dry.

Only then did Adam Crozier calmly say from the other end of the line, “I must remind you, Mr. Al Thani, that Málaga currently has only two things that are worth any money.”

“First, the Rosaleda Stadium you mentioned, which can hold thirty thousand people. But I’d like to remind you that the stadium was built in 1941 and is over seventy years old. Although it was reinforced and renovated in 2006, it is still very old.”

“Second is Málaga’s right to compete in the Spanish second division.”

Adam Crozier’s tone over the phone was cold and devoid of any emotion.

This was completely different from their previous meeting in London.

Back then, in Al Thani’s eyes, Adam Crozier was a paragon of British gentlemanliness!

He had even told his three sons several times to learn from Adam Crozier.

Now, it seemed he was just a beast in fine clothes, taking advantage of their predicament!

“In Spain, basketball teams hardly make any money. Your training base is rented, and many of the youth academy fields are also rented.”

“Also, I must correct you on one point, Mr. Al Thani. This fifty million euros is not just for Málaga, but also for your company in Marbella.”

“All of that together adds up to fifty million euros!”

On his end of the line, Al Thani fell into a powerless silence.

In this matter, he had no leverage at all.

“In fact, you know, Mr. Al Thani, if you continue to drag this out, even if you manage to find a solution to your current difficulties, Málaga will still be a bottomless pit for you and your family to keep pouring money into.”

“This price we’re offering is already quite sincere, considering you have indeed done a lot in Málaga.”

Al Thani still couldn’t bring himself to speak.

For him, this deal pretty much meant that he and his family had toiled away in Spain for the past few years for absolutely nothing.

The total funds they had invested in various aspects far exceeded this amount.

If you included the investment in Marbella, it would certainly be one or two hundred million euros.

But now, it was all lost!

Back then, he had seen how Mansour from Abu Dhabi was thriving in the Premier League. Just as La Liga was heavily courting investment from the Middle East, he wanted to seize the opportunity to invest, and also to move some of his assets out of Qatar.

He never expected to fall into such a massive pit.

Thinking of this, Al Thani’s face was filled with despair.

He looked at his three sons, who were all watching him, and a wave of sorrow washed over him.

“I have one condition.”

“Go on.”

“I want cash. You will be responsible for all outstanding salaries and debts.”

“No problem, but you will have to resolve your dispute with BlueBay yourselves.”

“Alright. When can we sign?” Al Thani asked in a low voice, gritting his teeth.

“Our boss is still on vacation. I’ll call and ask him, but I will arrange for a team to be in Málaga tomorrow to coordinate with you.”

There were still many procedures to handle before the contract could be signed.

…

When Yang Cheng received Adam Crozier’s call, he was unperturbed.

This was not outside his expectations.

But he changed his plans on the spot, canceling his flight back to London and flying directly to Madrid, Spain.

After meeting up with Xia Qing and his assistant team, who had arrived in Madrid ahead of time, Yang Cheng arranged to have dinner with Real Madrid’s chairman, Florentino Pérez, that very day.

Yang Cheng had always admired this man, who was incredibly well-connected in both the political and business circles of Spain.

But the moment they met, Florentino Pérez started complaining that Bayswater Chinese wasn’t being “honorable.”

They were waiting for the highest bidder on Paul Pogba’s transfer!

“It must be Adam Crozier. That’s just how he does things. I have no idea how many times I’ve cursed him out!”

Yang Cheng proceeded to criticize Adam Crozier several more times.

“Next time, Florentino, next time something like this happens, just call me directly. I’ll take care of it for you!”

After saying this, Yang Cheng went on another rant.

The gist of it was that the people below him sometimes made a mess of things, lacking a sense of the bigger picture!

Did Florentino Pérez believe him?

Xia Qing almost couldn’t hold back her laughter on the spot.

As for whether Florentino Pérez would call?

Was there even a need to think about that?

Real Madrid was a members-owned club.

To call Yang Cheng for official Real Madrid business and owe him a big favor?

As long as Florentino Pérez wasn’t out of his mind, he would never make that call easily.

But if he ever did, Yang Cheng would definitely give him face.

It was just tough on Adam Crozier.

But as the saying goes, half the money this British super-executive earned was for taking the blame for his boss.

However, Florentino Pérez felt a sense of balance.

When it came to fleecing people, Yang Cheng treated everyone equally.

And right now, he was fleecing Barça even more ruthlessly.

He sold Mahrez for sixty million euros, my god!

Just thinking about it was exhilarating!

“Let me tell you, you should thank me for Barça being such a sucker. They’re just trying to catch up to us at Real Madrid.”

Yang Cheng nodded very cooperatively and offered his thanks.

Real Madrid winning the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles last season, achieving the Double, had put a lot of pressure on Barça.

Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid now shared many common interests.

The competition between the Premier League and La Liga was market-driven.

In reality, it was mostly on a public relations level. When it came to actually developing the market, La Liga was even learning from the Premier League. What animosity could there be?

Wasn’t Real Madrid doing the same now?

Florentino Pérez wanted to renovate the Bernabéu; wasn’t he just trying to learn from Bayswater Chinese?

Once the relationship was well-established and the atmosphere was right, Yang Cheng brought up his intention to acquire Málaga.

“That’s simple. After you acquire them, you’ll surely want to get promoted to La Liga, right? No matter how many players you need, you can pick anyone from our Real Madrid youth academy. We’ll loan them to you for free to help you get promoted!”

Look at that, such “righteous” words!

Yang Cheng was so moved he almost cried.

But Yang Cheng had no intention of developing players for Real Madrid.

His trip was clearly not for this purpose; he wanted to cooperate with Florentino Pérez.

Florentino Pérez wasn’t just the chairman of Real Madrid; he was also the chairman of ACS Group, the largest construction company in Spain and even Europe.

And before that, he had worked in government.

Across the world, anyone in the real estate business inevitably needed connections in both politics and business.

The two projects Yang Cheng proposed this time had a total investment of over one billion euros.

Yang’s Group only did real estate, not infrastructure, especially in Europe. So naturally, they needed to find a reliable partner.

And as a partner, shouldn’t Florentino Pérez help out with the problems Yang Cheng was currently facing?

“I knew it. You definitely had ulterior motives.”

After hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Florentino Pérez finally had a moment of realization.

So that’s what he was after—these two massive projects.

“For the Marbella marina expansion project, I suggest you ask Little Gil for help. His family’s network in Marbella is extraordinary. Old Gil’s problems that led to his imprisonment happened while he was the mayor of Marbella.”

“That’s their home base. Although Old Gil is gone, Little Gil inherited a lot of his influence. I’m sure it won’t be a big problem.”

This was more or less what Yang Cheng had been thinking.

“The Málaga issue is a bit trickier. I know that plot of land. It’s truly blessed by nature, with an excellent location, arguably the crown jewel of the entire Costa del Sol. There’s a reason the initial developers chose it.”

“They wanted to build a marina that could accommodate one thousand yachts, which would have been the largest in all of Andalusia and the only one in the immediate vicinity of Málaga.”

“But the controversial issue at the time was that they wanted to tear down all the beaches, excavate the entire inland area, and bring in seawater to create a series of sea islands accessible to yachts.”

“Each island would be an independent complex, serving as a hotel, a shopping center, and so on, connected by bridges.”

“That project caused a huge stir back then, with a lot of controversy in our country, mainly centered on the fact that this approach would severely damage the Costa del Sol.”

Yang Cheng instantly understood.

So that was the story.

“But after the developers were blocked in Málaga, the plan wasn’t canceled. They just moved it to Benalmádena, about ten kilometers south of Málaga. The only yacht marina along the Costa del Sol now is there, and it uses that very design.”

“Moreover, Benalmádena’s tourism economy has developed quite well in recent years, and its unique marina has become a beautiful scenic spot. So I guess Málaga deeply regrets losing such a high-quality project back then.”

“At the time, Málaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, fought desperately to keep the project and made many efforts, but ultimately failed. So, over the years, he has brought up this project during every term of his office.”

Yang Cheng was slightly taken aback. “He’s served many terms?”

Florentino Pérez smiled slightly. “He’s been in office since 2000. What do you think? Given his popularity in Málaga, he’ll probably continue until he can’t anymore.”

Yang Cheng nodded in understanding.

“If you want to do this project, you must find Mayor Francisco de la Torre. This is a sore spot for him. Besides, the media recently reported that the locals in Málaga are very unhappy with that plot of land because it’s still a construction site and very dangerous at night.”

“I believe Francisco de la Torre would be very happy to facilitate this plan.”

“The premise is that you have to come up with a plan that’s compelling enough to move him.”

Florentino Pérez had already said enough.

He also promised to help Yang Cheng act as a go-between and introduce him to some friends.

But what to do specifically still depended on Yang Cheng himself.

…

After arriving in Madrid, Yang Cheng didn’t rush south. Instead, he chose to stay.

He had to wait until his team finished their work in Málaga and Marbella, completed their inspections, and came up with a plan before heading south to sign the contracts.

But he wasn’t idle in Madrid.

He had dinner with Florentino Pérez three times.

The second and third time, Florentino Pérez brought along some friends, and without exception, they were all related to the Málaga project Yang Cheng was interested in.

With Spain’s economy in a slump, various regions were very interested in foreign investment.

One could even say they were extremely supportive!

After these few meals, Yang Cheng understood many things and knew how to overcome various obstacles.

He also met with Little Gil.

Atlético Madrid had been invited to the International Champions Cup last year. Although they didn’t have founding shares or dividends, they had still made a huge profit.

If nothing else, The Mattress Makers’ revenue last year was 178 million euros.

This didn’t just include operating revenue but also transfer income.

Participating in the International Champions Cup, playing a few matches, plus various bonuses, subsidies, and profit shares, they could earn nearly ten million euros. For The Mattress Makers, this was practically free money.

And that didn’t even count the commercial value brought by playing in North America and Asia.

The key was, they had it last year, they had it this year, and they’ll have it again next year.

With such a good thing going, one can imagine Little Gil’s attitude towards Yang Cheng.

When Yang Cheng mentioned that he was going to acquire Málaga, Little Gil, though surprised, was very supportive, saying that Atlético Madrid was willing to help in any way needed.

Regarding the Marbella marina, Little Gil said he was willing to help, but he couldn’t guarantee success.

After all, Old Gil’s death was a huge blow to their family’s political resources.

Besides, Old Gil’s time as mayor of Marbella was back in the late last century and the beginning of this one.

Yang Cheng, of course, expressed his gratitude.

It would be for the best if Little Gil was willing to help.

Fernando Hierro had been in Madrid recently.

The Real Madrid legend had indeed fallen on hard times after his retirement.

He served as the Spanish Football Federation’s Sporting Director from 2007, responsible for the national team and the U20s, but he stepped down in 2011 to become the Sporting Director at Málaga.

At that time, Málaga and Al Thani were as thick as thieves.

But just one year later, their relationship soured, and Hierro left Málaga.

For the past two years, he hadn’t done anything serious, until this summer.

Not long ago, Zidane had resigned as the first team’s assistant coach to manage Real Madrid’s B team, Castilla.

This left a vacancy for an assistant coach on the first team.

So, Hierro planned to go to Real Madrid to be Ancelotti’s assistant coach.

Yang Cheng had met Hierro a few times before. Although they weren’t close, they had talked, and being in the same football circle, they had plenty of common topics.

After some pleasantries, Yang Cheng extended an olive branch, asking if Hierro was interested in coming to London to be his assistant coach.

This surprised Hierro.

After all, Bayswater Chinese’s status in the world of football was quite transcendent now.

Yang Cheng himself was hailed as one of the world’s top managers.

How many people longed to coach at Bayswater Chinese?

Even if it was just to gild their credentials, to witness the so-called most advanced management system and the most scientific training system in world football, it would be worth it.

Everyone knew this represented the future!

As for Yang Cheng, according to his original plan, he was actively looking for a “successor,” with Brian Kidd in full charge of the initial selection.

Since he already had one, Yang Cheng didn’t mind having another assistant coach.

Unfortunately, Hierro politely declined Yang Cheng’s invitation, stating that he had already decided to go to Real Madrid to be Ancelotti’s assistant.

“That’s such a pity, Fernando. I was really hoping we’d have a chance to work together!” Yang Cheng said with a look of regret.

Hierro was very flattered by Yang Cheng’s attitude.

You see, he had to fight for his assistant coach position at Real Madrid.

That was completely different from Yang Cheng proactively offering him an olive branch!

In the future, he could proudly tell everyone that Yang Cheng had invited him to be his assistant.

This was definitely a plus for him!

“Although it’s a pity, I still very much hope you’ll have the opportunity to communicate with us more often. Our youth team and Real Madrid’s youth team have always had matches and exchanges.”

Upon hearing this, Hierro immediately smiled and promised that he would definitely go to London to learn.

Once the atmosphere was right, Yang Cheng casually mentioned that he was considering whether or not to acquire Málaga.

But he pretended not to know the inside details, only mentioning the Small Shareholders’ Association.

They didn’t hold many shares, but the shareholders had a great deal of influence over the club.

Hierro was a native of Málaga, and Yang Cheng had come specifically to ask for his opinion.

The Real Madrid legend was clearly surprised that Yang Cheng wanted to acquire Málaga, as he hadn’t received any news recently.

The previous rumors had been denied by Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

But he expressed his welcome!

In fact, as early as the beginning of the year, when Al Thani’s news broke, the local fans in Málaga had already welcomed Yang Cheng.

Now, of course, Hierro wouldn’t object.

As for the Small Shareholders’ Association, Hierro explained that he and his two brothers were involved, and their shareholding went way back.

Málaga had been in financial trouble back then, so they, along with many other fans, had chipped in to buy shares. There were a total of 2500 small shareholders, each holding a pitifully small number of shares, which all together only amounted to 3%.

It was more of a sentimental gesture.

Yang Cheng, however, stated that he hadn’t decided whether to acquire the club yet, but if he did, he wanted one hundred percent ownership.

“You know, Fernando, the existence of the Small Shareholders’ Association is always a problem for us.”

Acquiring these 3% of shares wasn’t worth much money.

The key was to convince them to sell.

Hierro understood what Yang Cheng meant. After all, once things were laid bare, everyone knew what was going on.

“I can help you set up a meeting with Antonio Aguilera. He’s the chairman of the Small Shareholders’ Association, and he’s the one who recently initiated the petition, organizing fans to sign and sue Al Thani.”

Yang Cheng repeatedly thanked him.

Just two days later, Antonio Aguilera traveled from Málaga to Madrid to meet with Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng’s pitch was that he intended to introduce a modern management system in Málaga, fully integrated with Bayswater Chinese.

“You know, Bayswater Chinese, Atalanta, and Nice—our entire football alliance is interconnected, sharing resources. We are confident we can bring Málaga back to La Liga in the shortest possible time!”

But before reforming the management system, Yang Cheng wanted to buy back all the shares, including those of the Small Shareholders’ Association.

Because it was a potential threat.

However, in exchange, Yang Cheng would appoint Antonio Aguilera as an independent advisor to the club, responsible for overseeing the club’s operations and communicating with local fans.

Given Yang Cheng’s reputation and credibility in European football, his promise carried a lot of weight.

Antonio Aguilera, for his part, said that Málaga’s fans had truly suffered over the past two or three years.

“We all eagerly hope that you and your team can help our club out of this mire!”

Yang Cheng nodded solemnly. “I give you my word!”

…

After the Bayswater Chinese team returned from Málaga to Madrid, Yang Cheng stayed for two more days.

He primarily discussed the land deal and various current issues in Málaga with his team.

The most important among them was the issue of unpaid wages.

This needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.

And among those owed a significant amount was the Chilean engineer, Pellegrini.

Of course, it wasn’t a huge amount, only three months’ salary.

Pellegrini’s annual salary at Málaga was 3.5 million euros, so three months’ pay wasn’t much.

However, despite being owed wages, Pellegrini did a good job during the latter part of his tenure at Málaga and was well-loved by the fans.

Yang Cheng made a call to Pellegrini, arranging to meet him in Málaga.

After handling various matters, Yang Cheng led his team south to Málaga.

Upon arrival, he went directly to the Mayor’s Office to meet with Mayor Francisco de la Torre.

Also attending the meeting was the President of the Málaga Provincial Council, Juan Espadas.

Before his current position, he was the Minister of Territorial Planning for the province of Málaga.

He had been in charge of the marina project back then.

This time, Yang Cheng brought a plan for the famous Chinese real estate company, Yang’s Group, to invest in Málaga.

Yang’s Group would acquire Málaga CF, taking over all its current liabilities and assets.

“We can guarantee that within three days of the takeover, the funds will arrive to resolve all current salary arrears, ensuring Málaga participates in the new La Liga 2 season,” Yang Cheng gave a firm promise.

If the wage issue dragged on, Málaga could be disqualified from competing.

Francisco de la Torre had been the mayor of Málaga for over a decade. He was very familiar with everything here and held great prestige. The Hierro brothers and Antonio Aguilera were all very familiar with him.

He had already received confirmed news before this meeting.

Antonio Aguilera was helping to persuade the small shareholders to sell their shares, allowing the Chinese consortium to complete a full acquisition smoothly.

Francisco de la Torre knew how troublesome this Small Shareholders’ Association could be.

That Yang Cheng could dismantle it so smoothly was a testament to his ability and background.

Truly worthy of being the owner of the world’s number one club!

Since the Small Shareholders’ Association was no longer an issue, the Málaga city government would certainly give the green light.

After some official pleasantries, the matter was considered settled.

But the real key to this meeting was the fifty-three-hectare plot of land on the Costa del Sol.

Yang Cheng stated that after acquiring the club, he was considering investing at least one billion euros to build a “Football Park” project on this land.

A Football Park?

What did that mean?

While everyone was confused, Yang Cheng explained with a smile.

“We have statistics showing that over the past years, during every winter transfer window, many teams from the north come to Málaga or Marbella for winter training.”

Mayor de la Torre and Espadas exchanged glances; this was not unfamiliar to them.

Even in winter, the temperature in southern Spain was still pleasant.

Many northern teams, including those from Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, had a tradition of heading south for winter training, just to different places.

For example, Bayern Munich had been going to the Middle East in recent years to participate in cup competitions organized by the ICC Company.

But most still came to southern Spain.

“In early May this year, I brought my team to train in Marbella in preparation for the Champions League final.”

This had been widely reported by the media at the time and was no secret.

Marbella was also part of the province of Málaga.

“But whether it’s us or other clubs, coming south for winter training inevitably presents many problems, the main ones being training grounds and supporting facilities.”

Mayor de la Torre and the others were all sharp people. When they heard this, they instantly understood what Yang Cheng was getting at.

“We plan to build a Football Park on that plot of land in Alejanal. It will serve as the training base for the club’s first team and youth academy on a daily basis. During the winter transfer window, it can be leased to teams coming south for winter training, generating revenue for the club.”

Mayor de la Torre and the others looked at each other, clearly not expecting Yang Cheng to propose such a concept.

But they also faintly caught some unusual signals.

It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

Even for a professional training base, would it require so much investment?

One billion euros?

That was too ridiculous, wasn’t it?

Yang Cheng slowly elaborated on his vision.

The whole project would still invite a famous designer to create it, striving to make it a璀璨的明珠 on the Costa del Sol, and even the entire southern coast of Spain, worthy of this world-famous coastline.

Since it was intended to be leased to European teams for winter training, it would naturally need some supporting facilities.

After all, other places were just not professional.

Providing a one-stop service would be much more attractive, wouldn’t it?

Since they were providing supporting services, there had to be accommodation and dining, right?

There had to be leisure and entertainment facilities too, right?

Anyone who could rise to Mayor de la Torre’s level was a shrewd operator.

Besides, what kind of situations and people hadn’t this man in his early seventies seen?

As soon as he heard Yang Cheng’s words, he immediately guessed what was going on.

This made de la Torre inwardly admire him.

Truly worthy of being a world-class manager and the owner of the world’s number one club.

He had some serious nerve!

If Yang Cheng hadn’t built the world-renowned Prudential Stadium in London, de la Torre wouldn’t have dared to believe him.

And in the back of the Málaga mayor’s mind, a deeper thought emerged.

Given the current economic climate in Spain and Europe, probably no one other than a Chinese consortium would be willing to invest in this project.

Especially since this plot of land had already been allocated to Málaga.

Based on Yang Cheng’s ambition, it seemed he didn’t just want to take this fifty-three-hectare plot of land, but also swallow the large piece of wasteland north of the road.

By then, wouldn’t the two major commercial areas of IKEA and Decathlon be connected?

Wouldn’t the entire new district of Málaga take shape?

More importantly, wouldn’t the problem that had been weighing on his mind for over a decade be solved?

And there would be no more complaints from citizens about the dangerous construction site?

Thinking of this, de la Torre glanced at Espadas and saw that the latter nodded in understanding.

In this day and age, whoever could bring in investment was king!

An investment of one billion euros, such a large project—how many jobs would it create after completion?

Not to mention, if it could really attract more European teams for winter training, the fame and consumption it would bring would be very considerable.

It would solve a major headache for the Málaga provincial government, heal a sore spot for the citizens of Málaga, provide the city with an advanced training base, and also boost employment and generate revenue for economic development…

Who could refuse such a win-win situation that achieved multiple goals?

After their unspoken agreement, Espadas was the more professional one.

The former Minister of Territorial Planning quietly reminded Yang Cheng that in the planning, the coastal beach must be integrated with the surrounding area, and attention must be paid to protecting nature and focusing on environmental conservation and energy efficiency.

Yang Cheng understood the hint and immediately smiled, saying that once he contacted the design team, he would definitely visit Espadas again to ask for his guidance on the planning and design work.

As for the private land involved in the northern plot, the acquisition costs could exceed ten million euros. Yang Cheng agreed on the spot, appearing exceptionally wealthy.

This left both de la Torre and Espadas deeply impressed.

Compared to Al Thani, this was a real tycoon!

The Chinese were all so rich!

…

Yang Cheng was escorted out of the Mayor’s Office by de la Torre and Espadas.

The entire meeting had gone very smoothly!

But Yang Cheng knew in his heart that the smoothness was predicated on all the preparatory work he had done beforehand.

Without all that, who would have even paid him any mind?

After leaving the city hall, Yang Cheng first returned to the hotel.

Before he could even rest properly, Al Thani and his sons had already come knocking, unable to wait.

They knew that Yang Cheng and his team had arrived in Málaga today.

But they clearly didn’t know who Yang Cheng and his team had met with.

As soon as they met, Al Thani repeatedly emphasized how dire Málaga’s current situation was.

The unpaid players and staff were complaining desperately; the Small Shareholders’ Association was organizing a petition with one hundred thousand signatures to sue him; the Málaga provincial government was very dissatisfied with the situation…

And the courts were also closely monitoring Málaga’s every move…

Al Thani clearly hadn’t given up yet.

He wanted to emphasize his own importance, hoping to retain some shares.

It was obvious he also knew that with Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese team taking over, Málaga’s prospects were looking up.

Retaining some shares at this time would definitely be a huge profit.

Yang Cheng and his team were well aware of Al Thani’s intentions.

“We’ve calculated that the team’s current salary arrears are around ten million euros. Once we’ve completed all the procedures and the handover is complete, our funds will arrive immediately, and all outstanding salaries will be paid instantly!”

Yang Cheng didn’t intend to let Al Thani harbor any more illusions.

Clearly, the Middle Eastern tycoon didn’t know just how much money Yang Cheng had now.

Yang Cheng wasn’t the kind of fake rich man who puffed up his cheeks to look fat!

“As for the Small Shareholders’ Association, I’ve already taken care of it. Next, I will acquire the 3.1% of shares held by the 2500 shareholders. In the future, Málaga will have no small shareholders, and naturally, no Small Shareholders’ Association!”

Al Thani and his three sons were all stunned.

The small shareholders were willing to sell their shares?

That’s impossible!

“You’re kidding, right? We tried everything in our power, but they stubbornly refused to sell. And there are too many of them, trying to persuade them one by one is simply not realistic, and it’s also very difficult to acquire them through compulsory means…”

The youngest son, Nasser, was clearly skeptical.

But soon, a phone call came in that left them dumbfounded.

Yang Cheng deliberately showed them the caller ID on his phone.

Antonio Aguilera!

Chairman of the Small Shareholders’ Association!

They had dealt with this guy a lot over the past few years.

He was the leader of the 2500 small shareholders.

And the content of the phone call was that most of the 2500 shareholders were willing to sell their shares.

The remaining few weren’t a big problem; it was just a matter of time and persuasion.

On one hand, the price Yang Cheng offered was good.

Though not a lot, it was a token of his sincerity.

More importantly, Yang Cheng believed that when the team was in trouble, these 2500 fans stepped up righteously, so the club would grant these 2500 fans a special membership status to acknowledge their past contributions.

The shares themselves were cheap, but the emotional value was off the charts.

Coupled with Antonio Aguilera and the Hierro brothers helping to persuade them, and backed by the reputation of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, the fans easily agreed.

This left Al Thani and his sons on the verge of a breakdown.

The Small Shareholders’ Association, which they had fought for two or three years and failed to win over, was so easily resolved by Yang Cheng?

And that Antonio Aguilera, wasn’t he a loyal, hardcore Málaga fan?

How was he also “bought” by Yang Cheng?

My god, what was all this?

“Then the Málaga government…” Nasser stammered.

This was their last hope.

Surely he hadn’t settled that too?

“We just came back from the Málaga city hall. We met with Mayor de la Torre and Provincial Council President Espadas.”

Al Thani and his sons were truly dumbfounded now!

“They have agreed in principle to our plan. The construction of Málaga’s training base should start soon. When it’s completed and operational, I’ll invite you over for a tour.”

That final smile on Yang Cheng’s face looked as eerie as a demon’s to Al Thani and his sons.

This was just too ridiculous!

A situation they had struggled with for years without success was resolved by Yang Cheng in such a short time?

If they had clung to a sliver of hope before, they now saw the gap clearly.

The four of them combined couldn’t even compare to one of Yang Cheng’s fingers.

So, this was how efficiently truly powerful people got things done!

And here they were, thinking they were just unlucky.

Now it seemed people really couldn’t be compared.

After comparing, you just had to throw them away!

…

Watching the four Al Thanis, having completely lost their composure, leave in a daze, Yang Cheng shook his head and chuckled.

Did he really accomplish all this in just a few days?

Without his prior dealings with Florentino Pérez, Little Gil, Hierro, and others, without a certain exchange of interests, could things have progressed so smoothly?

Ultimately, it was due to the lack of competence of Al Thani and his sons!

To put it bluntly, the Glazer family was able to pull off a leveraged buyout because their methods were truly brilliant!

At the very least, their financial maneuvers back then left the entire European football world stunned.

Even Manchester United hadn’t seen anything like it!

In contrast, Al Thani and his sons had no money and no connections. They claimed to be members of the Qatari royal family, but in reality, how much say did they have?

Yang Cheng quickly put the matter out of his mind.

Once the people from China arrived and the contracts were signed, Al Thani and his sons would be a thing of the past.

It was the upcoming matters that he needed to consider carefully.

“I plan to hire Pellegrini to return to coach Málaga!” Yang Cheng said to Xia Qing.

Upon hearing this, Xia Qing’s beautiful brows furrowed slightly. “His current annual salary is 3.5 million euros. That’s very expensive.”

“Worth it!” Yang Cheng said with conviction.

“Málaga is playing in the second division next season. No top-tier head coach would be willing to come. Pellegrini, on the other hand, might be persuaded.”

“The Chilean engineer isn’t suitable for managing a giant club, but he’s excellent at coaching small to medium-sized teams. Most importantly, his coaching ability and professional skills are truly impeccable.”

If he didn’t have sufficient coaching ability, could he have led Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals?

Or led Málaga to the Champions League quarter-finals?

So, Pellegrini was almost the best head coach that Málaga could attract at the moment.

“Although he’s currently on a break, are you sure he’s willing to manage in the second division?” Xia Qing still had reservations.

Pellegrini was a famous coach who had managed Real Madrid. His influence was undeniable, and he carried a lot of weight among Málaga fans.

Hiring him would indeed be an excellent, even ideal, choice.

But would he be willing to condescend to coach in a lower division?

“That depends on how we negotiate,” Yang Cheng said with a mysterious smile.

Xia Qing immediately guessed that Yang Cheng was up to some trick again.

“If the head coach’s salary is high, then the team’s salary budget has to be lowered. We’ll build a young team with an average age of around eighteen, let Pellegrini train them in the second division for a year or two, shape them up, and then get promoted to La Liga!”

As he said this, Yang Cheng let out a sly chuckle.

He believed this would be an attractive proposition for Pellegrini.

A coach like him desperately wanted a team on which he could leave his own mark.

Villarreal once was, but Real Madrid and Málaga afterwards were not.

Young players had many advantages: cheap transfer fees and low salaries.

This was perfect for the current Málaga!

Xia Qing wasn’t an expert on football matters.

But she believed that if Yang Cheng stepped in and decided it was feasible, then it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Over the past few years, she and Yang Cheng had always worked together with great tacit understanding.

Yang Cheng was now just waiting for Pellegrini to arrive in Spain so they could sit down and have a good talk. He was confident he could persuade the Chilean engineer to take the job.

As for next season’s Málaga, all the valuable players had long been sold off. After being relegated this summer, another batch left amidst the chaos.

The current Málaga had nothing; you could say it was starting from scratch.

But this, in turn, was a better canvas for Yang Cheng and Pellegrini to work on.

And the first player he wanted to poach was from Barça!

Chapter 312: The Future World’s Best Holding Midfielder! Blessed by Messi! A First in World Football!

A very interesting scenario had unfolded in the Spanish second division last season.

Real Madrid’s B team, Castilla, was relegated from the second division, dropping down to the third tier.

Meanwhile, their arch-rival Barça’s B team finished third in the second division, behind only Eibar and Deportivo La Coruña.

However, due to rules preventing them from being promoted, they could not participate in the promotion playoffs, and the spot went to the next team in the standings.

Having B teams play in the professional leagues was a unique feature of La Liga.

It had a significant impact on the development of young players, especially for some of the stronger teams in La Liga.

It was common to see powerhouses with excellent youth academies whose B teams would break into the second division and even secure high rankings.

The Premier League had also discussed this possibility before.

But as everyone knows, there are far too many clubs in England. Furthermore, the Premier League belongs to The Premier League, while the lower divisions fall under The FA, leading to many conflicts of interest.

Returning to La Liga.

Looking specifically at Real Madrid and Barça, one could see a clear difference between the two giants.

For years, Barça’s B team had always insisted on keeping its players’ ages under twenty-three, with most being around twenty.

It was rare to see players over twenty.

In other words, Barça’s B team was essentially still a youth team.

Real Madrid’s Castilla, on the other hand, was more like an independent football club. The players weren’t old, but it wasn’t uncommon for them to be over twenty, or even twenty-four or twenty-five.

So, which approach was better?

It’s hard to say.

Álvaro Arbeloa, for example, was already at the “advanced” age of twenty-three when he left Castilla.

When he arrived at Deportivo La Coruña, he was already a very mature player and was signed by Liverpool after just half a season.

Carvajal’s situation was similar.

He played for Castilla until he was twenty, a relatively mature age, before transferring to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. After just one year, Real Madrid bought him back using their buy-back option.

To a certain extent, this reflected the two clubs’ different youth development philosophies.

But one thing was the same.

They were both poaching talented youngsters from all over.

In the 2012/13 Spanish second division season, Real Madrid’s Castilla finished eighth, and Barça’s B team finished ninth.

In the summer of 2013, Castilla poached centre-back Leandro Cabrera from Atlético Madrid and Kiko Femenía, among other young players, from Barça.

However, due to the departure of a batch of outstanding players like Jesé, Morata, Cheryshev, and Moreno—either because they were getting “too old” or were promoted to the first team—the strength of Real Madrid’s B team plummeted like an avalanche.

In the end, they could only face relegation.

In contrast, starting from 2011, Barça’s transfer market spending for three consecutive summers never fell below three million euros.

They brought in players including Kiko Femenía, Rodri Ríos, Joan Román, and Denis Suárez.

Among them, Kiko Femenía was signed by Barça from Hércules for two million euros.

But after failing to get a chance in Barça’s youth setup, he moved to Real Madrid’s Castilla on a free transfer.

Unexpectedly, after he joined, Real Madrid’s Castilla was relegated.

If you had to name the three hottest young talents in European football this summer, it would have to be Alen Halilović of Dinamo Zagreb, the Norwegian prodigy Martin Ødegaard, and Patrick Roberts of Bayswater Chinese.

All three talents were young but had already displayed impressive skill and talent.

For instance, Halilović was only eighteen but had already played for Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatian national team.

Although Patrick Roberts hadn’t made his national team debut, he had played for the Bayswater Chinese first team and had performed quite well.

Ødegaard’s club wasn’t a major team, but as the youngest goal-scorer in the history of the Norwegian league, his talent and brilliance were there for all to see.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Ødegaard, after much deliberation, eventually chose Real Madrid.

Halilović was signed by Barça for a sky-high price of five million euros.

But to convince Dinamo Zagreb, Barça also gave the Croatian giants one of their own academy youngsters for free.

That was the sixteen-year-old Spanish youngster Dani Olmo.

Olmo had Croatian heritage and wasn’t getting opportunities at Barça, so he wasn’t opposed to joining Dinamo Zagreb.

Yang Cheng, from the year 2024, could only say that as the Chairman of Barça, Bartomeu was a true professional when it came to screwing over his own club!

But after that moment of reflection, Yang Cheng acted without hesitation.

Before Barça could sign Halilović, people from Málaga had already approached Dani Olmo and his family.

Málaga’s newly appointed General Manager was Alfonso Díaz, a forty-three-year-old Spaniard.

He had received football training in Spain in his youth but failed to make it as a professional.

However, in the football industry, those who aren’t good at playing are often skilled in other areas.

Alfonso Díaz was one such person.

After graduating from university, he returned to the football industry, first working at the Spanish Football Federation for over a decade, primarily responsible for grassroots youth development. He had personally experienced Spain’s youth training reforms and talent boom over the past ten-plus years.

In 2006, he joined Bayswater Chinese, leading the construction of their scouting network on the Iberian Peninsula.

Due to his outstanding performance, he was transferred to London two years later to serve as the deputy head of the scouting department, assisting Gary Worthington.

Over the past few years, he had been indispensable to Bayswater Chinese’s global scouting network and their push for data-driven reforms.

Because Alfonso Díaz was familiar with the football environment on the Iberian Peninsula, he was involved throughout the entire process of acquiring Málaga.

This time, he even led the team to Málaga for liaison and inspection, participating in the entire acquisition process.

The Football Park plan was his proposal, which Yang Cheng adopted.

Therefore, after acquiring Málaga, Yang Cheng promoted this highly capable Spaniard to General Manager of Málaga, giving him full responsibility for the club’s future operations.

His partner, the technical director, was the thirty-five-year-old Portuguese, Bruno Maruta.

Bruno Maruta’s football career began in Sporting Lisbon’s youth academy. He played all the way up to the B team and was once a very talented player, but a serious injury during his developmental years forced him into early retirement.

As a Loughborough University graduate with a master’s degree in data science, he was one of the earliest core employees to join Bayswater Chinese’s data analysis department and had always been Gianni Vio’s right-hand man.

At the same time, he was a key figure in pushing for comprehensive data-driven reform across Bayswater Chinese’s various competitive departments over the past few years.

His professional capabilities and overall qualities had earned Yang Cheng’s approval.

He was also involved in the acquisition of Málaga from start to finish.

After the acquisition was complete, Yang Cheng arranged for him and Alfonso Díaz to partner up and take charge of Málaga.

…

To put it without exaggeration, many European teams’ scouts kept their eyes peeled, poaching from Barça’s La Masia.

There was no helping it; who could argue with the talent boom Spain had been experiencing in recent years?

This summer, for example, Sevilla poached Xavi Romero from Barça.

Almería poached Jordi Mola.

Espanyol poached Steven Prieto.

Stuttgart poached Giorgos Spanoudakis.

Juventus poached Carlos Blanco.

Fans might still find such situations novel, but for clubs and the media, it was perfectly normal.

The movement of young players was extremely frequent.

For Barça, it was even more commonplace.

They poached others, and others poached from them.

Besides, Barça had long since hidden away the best gems of their generation in the academy.

For example, Oriol Busquets, the younger brother of Barça’s current starting holding midfielder, Busquets, had been promoted early on by Barça, making him impossible for other teams to poach.

There was also the midfielder Brama Fati.

He had a very famous younger brother, Ansu Fati, who was now in Barça’s youth academy.

In fact, many people didn’t know that Ansu Fati’s older brother, Brama Fati, had entered the Barça youth academy earlier than him.

Now, both brothers were highly regarded young players at Barça and were naturally protected very carefully.

Additionally, don’t even think about taking exceptionally brilliant players like Adama Traoré away from La Masia.

If he were poached, it would definitely be considered a dereliction of duty on the part of Barça’s employees.

Not to mention a young talent like Denis Suárez, whom Barça had poached from Manchester City last year.

At the same time as signing Dani Olmo, Málaga also signed the eighteen-year-old youngster Grimaldo from Barça’s B team.

The Spanish left-back had started his youth training at Valencia but was poached by Barça at the age of thirteen and brought to La Masia, where he worked his way up to the B team.

However, last season, he tore his cruciate ligament and was sidelined for over half a year. After recovering, he remained on the bench.

Unlike Olmo, however, Grimaldo had already signed a professional contract with Barça, so Málaga had to pay a transfer fee of 1.5 million euros.

Málaga’s new management team also had an unusual relationship with Barça.

After several rounds of negotiations, Málaga paid the fee promptly, and Barça did not pursue Olmo’s transfer.

At the same time, Barça also “gifted” them two more players for free: goalkeeper Onana and centre-back Sergi Gómez.

The Cameroonian goalkeeper wasn’t getting many opportunities at Barça.

As for the twenty-two-year-old Sergi Gómez, with only one year left on his contract and his ability having plateaued, he knew he couldn’t break into Barça’s first team and wanted a transfer to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Given his performance in the Spanish second division last season, joining Málaga was undoubtedly a good choice.

After all, Málaga was now backed by Bayswater Chinese.

Having signed four players from Barça’s youth academy in one go, the newly appointed Bruno Maruta returned laden with success.

But he didn’t leave Barcelona. Instead, he headed to the city’s northwestern suburbs.

This was a special mission that Yang Cheng had privately entrusted to him.

It could even be called the most important mission of this trip!

…

From Barça’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, it was about a fifty-kilometer drive to the small town of Granollers in the northwestern suburbs.

The landmark that signaled your arrival in Granollers was the world-famous Circuit de Catalunya, a Formula 1 racetrack.

This was one of the most perfect circuits in the world!

Countless racing enthusiasts visited it every year.

In contrast, very few people had heard of the small town of Granollers.

“Bruno, why do you think Mr. Yang went to such great lengths to have us come to this town, to find a little-known club, and to put so much effort into signing a seven-year-old kid?”

Gerardo Guzmán, Málaga’s Chief Scout who was driving, asked with great curiosity.

Thirty-nine-year-old Gerardo Guzmán had been the chief scout for Villarreal’s youth team since he was twenty-six.

From 2001 to 2008, he discovered a great deal of young talent for Villarreal’s youth teams.

In 2008, he was poached by Atlético Madrid for a hefty sum, where he continued to serve as the chief youth scout.

After Málaga was acquired by Al Thani and began investing heavily, it was hailed as the Manchester City of La Liga. Besides signing numerous stars, they also invested in youth development, which led Gerardo Guzmán to move from Atlético Madrid to Málaga.

But in 2013, due to unpaid wages and internal turmoil at the club, he chose to leave and joined Bayswater Chinese.

Unexpectedly, just one year later, he was back at Málaga, this time as the Director of Scouting.

Sometimes, things in the world are just that strange.

After going full circle, he was back, and with a promotion.

Although he had worked at Bayswater Chinese for a year, his work was mainly focused on the youth team and the Iberian Peninsula, so he wasn’t very familiar with Yang Cheng.

Therefore, he was extremely puzzled when Yang Cheng tasked them with going to La Torreta club in the town of Granollers to find a seven-year-old boy named Lamine Yamal.

What kind of person could be so unforgettable to Yang Cheng?

“Didn’t I tell you? This player is special. Messi baptized him when he was three months old. He’s been blessed.”

As Bruno Maruta said this, he himself couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Blessed by Messi?

Could that really be a reason to sign a young player?

“Isn’t that a bit superstitious?” Guzmán still felt it wasn’t very reliable.

Although scouts often relied on feeling and experience when evaluating players, there was always an underlying logic to it.

Signing a kid just because he was blessed by Messi?

“Mr. Yang has always been like this when he does things—a bit mysterious. But the more you work with him, the more you’ll realize that he’s always right.”

Bruno Maruta had worked at Bayswater Chinese for many years and was more familiar with Yang Cheng.

“Inside Bayswater Chinese, we all call it the ‘mysterious magic from the East.’”

It sounded like something out of a fantasy, but it actually managed to awe Gerardo Guzmán.

Otherwise, how could one explain the rapid rise of Bayswater Chinese over the past few years?

“Does that mean we should sign everyone who’s been bathed by Messi?” Gerardo Guzmán apparently had a good sense of humor.

Bruno Maruta burst out laughing. “Sure, I can authorize it, as long as you can find anyone else.”

Gerardo Guzmán was at a loss for words.

Who even pays attention to that?

It would be truly difficult to find someone like that if he tried.

The two drove to the eastern side of Granollers.

There was a simple football pitch here.

But not all the young players could play on this patch of grass.

More of the younger children chased and kicked balls on the hardened ground south of the pitch.

La Torreta was not a professional team. The children receiving training here were mostly the children of immigrant workers.

After finding people from the club, they easily located the player, Lamine Yamal.

His father, Mounir Nasraoui, was from Morocco, and his mother, Sheila Ebanana, was from Equatorial Guinea.

His father had moved to Spain with his family in 1988. He had played football before becoming a painter.

Sheila Ebanana had come to Spain from Equatorial Guinea for work. After meeting Mounir, she gave birth to Yamal at the age of eighteen.

At the time, they lived in the center of Barcelona, in the Esplugues de Llobregat district, where the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper and Camp Nou are located.

It was because of this that, by a stroke of luck, at a community charity event, the three-month-old Yamal was baptized by Messi.

But the good times didn’t last. Soon after, his parents divorced, and his mother, Sheila Ebanana, took Yamal to Granollers in the northwestern suburbs. She enrolled him in the La Torreta club for youth training at a very young age.

Living in a single-parent household, with Sheila Ebanana working as just a waitress, life was quite difficult for mother and son.

When Bruno Maruta and Gerardo Guzmán showed up representing Málaga and invited them to join the club, Sheila Ebanana was very surprised.

Her son was indeed a very good player on the La Torreta team, but being poached was something she had never imagined.

The terms offered by Málaga were very tempting.

The team was willing to provide a monthly living allowance to help her take better care of her child.

How could Sheila Ebanana refuse?

The African mother’s only request was for two round-trip tickets from Spain to Equatorial Guinea each year.

This was because they returned to Equatorial Guinea every Christmas to celebrate the new year with their family.

After Málaga agreed, she immediately decided to take Yamal to visit Málaga.

This was standard procedure for signing young players.

They always had to inspect the place in person to avoid being deceived.

Bruno Maruta and Gerardo Guzmán also signed an agreement with La Torreta.

…

After completing their work in Barcelona, Bruno Maruta and Gerardo Guzmán made a special stop in Villarreal on their way back to Málaga.

Thanks to Gerardo Guzmán’s special relationship with Villarreal, Málaga smoothly signed the just-turned-eighteen-year-old Spanish midfielder Rodri from The Yellow Submarine’s U19 team.

This young player had previously been with Atlético Madrid’s youth academy, but in the summer of 2013, he was forced to leave due to his physical condition and a lack of ability, and he joined Villarreal.

But in Villarreal’s U19 team, his performance could only be described as average.

This was why The Yellow Submarine so readily agreed to let him go.

Among his peers in Spain, there were countless players like Rodri.

As for Rodri, he couldn’t even get a starting spot in Villarreal’s U19 team last season. Now that Málaga had taken an interest in him, giving him a chance to play in the Spanish second division under the wing of a powerhouse like Bayswater Chinese, he naturally had no objections.

And so, the future world’s best holding midfielder officially joined Málaga.

But for the new season, Málaga’s midfield certainly couldn’t rely on a player who couldn’t even make it in a youth team.

General Manager Alfonso Díaz traveled to Madrid to negotiate with Atlético Madrid.

For a transfer fee of one million euros, he signed Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey from Atlético.

The twenty-one-year-old holding midfielder had been loaned out by Atlético to Royal Mallorca last season and had performed well in the Spanish second division.

But there was simply no place for Thomas in this season’s Atlético Madrid team.

The Mattress Makers were brimming with talent; where would they need a player like him?

Naturally, they did Málaga a favor.

In addition, Alfonso Díaz also took Theo Hernández and Lucas Hernández from the Atlético Madrid youth academy.

These two promising youngsters were both performing well in Atlético’s academy.

Theo Hernández was only sixteen and had yet to sign a professional contract.

His older brother, Lucas Hernández, was already eighteen and had just signed a professional contract, expected to be promoted to Atlético’s B team this season.

Málaga, on the other hand, promised them a place in the first team.

As for why these players were chosen, Alfonso Díaz explained that Málaga was indeed in financial difficulty at the moment.

The team had just been saved from the brink of bankruptcy and would definitely need to recuperate in the Spanish second division.

Therefore, the focus had to be on developing young players.

Atlético Madrid accepted this explanation.

As for what would happen after young talents like Theo Hernández and Lucas Hernández went to Málaga and performed well, Málaga gave Atlético a priority purchase option in the contract.

This was different from the buy-back clauses that Real Madrid favored.

A buy-back clause usually stipulated that Real Madrid could buy the player back for a certain price within a few years.

So, once a player broke out and his market value exceeded the buy-back price, Real Madrid would not hesitate to activate the clause.

The most typical example was Negredo. After Real Madrid bought him back, they immediately sold him, making a profit on the difference.

This practice was actually quite ruthless.

Of course, business is business, and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Málaga made it clear that they would refuse such a clause but agreed to give Atlético a priority purchase option.

A buy-back clause has a time limit, usually two or three years, but a priority purchase option is permanent.

As long as the player is still at Málaga, Atlético can sign him first if they match any other offer.

This was actually not a bad deal for Atlético.

The Mattress Makers were a big club now.

If Málaga could help develop their players in the second division, it would be a bargain for them to buy them back for a few million euros.

Besides poaching from Atlético, Málaga also signed eighteen-year-old centre-back Lenglet from French Second Division side AS Nancy for 200,000 euros.

They signed seventeen-year-old centre-back Robin Le Normand from French Second Division side Brest on a free transfer.

Through a friendly agreement, they paid a compensation fee of up to 500,000 euros for the seventeen-year-old midfield youngster Frenkie de Jong from the Willem II youth team.

They paid a compensation fee of 350,000 euros for the eighteen-year-old centre-back Rúben Dias from Benfica’s U17 team.

Additionally, through Bruno Maruta’s channels in Portugal, they signed Félix, who had been released from Porto’s academy for being too small, on a free transfer.

At the same time, Málaga signed the soon-to-be seventeen-year-old Lautaro Martínez from the Argentinian club Liniers of Bahía Blanca on a free transfer.

They then signed eighteen-year-old midfielder Lo Celso from Rosario Central’s youth team by paying a compensation fee.

After that, for a very low compensation fee, they signed Federico Valverde from the Uruguayan club Peñarol’s youth team.

Among them, Federico Valverde’s situation was very sensitive because he would not turn sixteen until July 22nd.

Handling such a transfer was also very troublesome.

In April of this year, FIFA announced a severe penalty against Barça, banning them from making any transfers for fourteen months.

The reason was Barça’s illegal signing of players under eighteen.

Before 2009, FIFA’s restrictions on the transfer of players under eighteen were not very strict.

But after that, FIFA began to crack down hard on intercontinental transfers of players under eighteen.

Chelsea, Barça, and even Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid all ran afoul of the rules at one point or another.

The major clubs all had their own ways of dealing with FIFA’s regulations.

For example, by arranging jobs for the players’ families and so on.

The only difference was that before 2009, nobody paid attention. After 2009, FIFA set up a special investigation panel, and clubs had to submit all materials for underage transfers to this panel for review.

There were two main reasons why Barça was hit with such a heavy penalty this time.

One was the sheer number of players.

From 2009 to 2013, a dozen non-EU underage players joined Barça.

But the most important reason was the second one: Barça did not cooperate with FIFA’s work at all.

Despite so many underage players joining, Barça not only failed to submit assessment reports but also bypassed the special investigation panel’s review.

Even after being notified by the FIFA panel, they still refused to provide supporting documents.

Tell me, if not you, Barça, who should be punished?

Málaga, on the other hand, was different.

Although the club had just gone through a bankruptcy crisis, its management came from Bayswater Chinese, and all transfers had to go through compliance checks.

Transfers within the European Union were more lenient for players over sixteen, so Rúben Dias’s transfer was fine. But Félix was only fourteen, clearly not meeting the age limit.

So, Málaga provided a series of documents proving that after being released by Porto, Félix simply couldn’t find a team to take him in, and Málaga was quite optimistic about the young player.

Additionally, Félix’s parents would also move to Málaga to live.

Only then did they get permission from FIFA’s special panel.

But they made it clear that from now on, Málaga would have to provide the player’s documents every year so they could monitor his progress until he turned sixteen.

As an Argentinian player, Lo Celso was already eighteen, and he also had Italian citizenship, so there were no problems with him playing in Spain.

Lautaro Martínez was a different story. He had no EU citizenship and would not turn seventeen until August 22nd.

Although he was over sixteen, he was still a minor.

Therefore, Málaga also had to arrange jobs and housing for his parents, and these jobs could not be within the club.

Submitting the case to the FIFA special investigation panel for review also took some time.

Of course, a little greasing of the wheels was inevitable.

Federico Valverde’s situation was the most special; he wasn’t even sixteen yet.

So, the club did not submit his documents right away. Instead, they signed the player first and would submit them in early August.

At that time, they would submit all the paperwork for Valverde’s family’s employment in Málaga to the FIFA special investigation panel for review. Otherwise, it would be impossible to get it approved.

It could be said that to sign these players from across the Atlantic, Málaga expended a great deal of effort and even used many of Bayswater Chinese’s resources to barely get it done.

But this approach wouldn’t work in Brazil.

If in countries like Argentina and Uruguay, one had to comply with FIFA regulations.

Then in Brazil, one had to comply with Brazil’s domestic Pelé Law.

Players under the age of eighteen were not allowed to leave Brazil to play abroad.

Therefore, Málaga simultaneously signed winger Raphinha and centre-back Gabriel from the youth team of Avaí FC in Florianópolis, Brazil.

One was born on December 14, 1996, and the other on December 19, 1997.

According to the contract signed between Málaga and Avaí, Raphinha, born in ’96, would join on January 1, 2015.

Gabriel, born in ’97, would join on January 1, 2016.

According to the agreement signed by both parties, Málaga paid a deposit for the two players, but the transfer fee would only be paid when the players joined.

Of course, the transfer fees were not high.

But for a small team like Avaí, it was already quite good.

While signing multiple players, Málaga also announced that they had signed the young player Gavi from the youth academy of Real Betis, a club in the same Andalusian city of Sevilla, for a compensation fee of 10,000 euros.

The ten-year-old youngster came because of the reputation of Bayswater Chinese.

They believed that under the management of Bayswater Chinese, Málaga was bound to experience rapid development.

Just like OGC Nice in Ligue 1 and Atalanta in Serie A.

…

As the new season approached.

The various news about Málaga gradually settled.

First, there were leaks to the media, and then Málaga officially announced that a Chinese consortium had formally taken over all of Al Thani’s shares in Málaga.

Al Thani also announced that he had reached a settlement with BlueBay.

The day after the acquisition was completed, Málaga’s new team showed everyone their formidable strength.

Not only did they pay the entire acquisition fee in one lump sum, but they also cleared all the unpaid wages from the past two years and all the club’s debts within a single day.

Including the acquisition costs, the total exceeded eighty million euros!

Paid in cash, all at once!

The whole of Spain was in an uproar!

And the happiest of all were the Málaga fans.

Because everyone knew that the one who acquired Málaga was Yang Cheng.

The club’s General Manager was a high-level executive from Bayswater Chinese.

The entire management team was basically from the Premier League giants.

Investing so much money in one go showed how much importance Yang Cheng placed on Málaga.

But what truly shocked everyone was what came next: the club’s flurry of signings and contract renewals.

Last season, Málaga’s starting goalkeeper was the Cameroonian keeper Carlos Kameni, who had now gone to Fenerbahçe in Turkey.

However, Málaga turned around and signed another black goalkeeper from Barça’s youth academy, also from Cameroon: Onana.

This caught the attention of the Spanish domestic media.

Could it be that Málaga had a special preference for black goalkeepers?

After all, black goalkeepers were a rare sight in European football.

Following the announcements of one signing after another, Málaga soon made another official statement.

The club had decided to re-hire the Chilean engineer, Pellegrini, to return to the team and lead them in the Spanish second division.

“We are confident that under the leadership of Pellegrini, the team will definitely stand out in the new season of the Spanish second division and return to La Liga!”

Pellegrini was also filled with emotion upon his return to manage Málaga.

According to Spanish media reports, it was Yang Cheng who convinced Pellegrini.

The Málaga Daily revealed that Málaga had signed a five-year contract with Pellegrini, with his annual salary remaining the same as before at 3.5 million euros.

For the current Málaga, this was a gesture of utmost sincerity!

“Before leaving Spain, Yang Cheng met with Pellegrini and they talked for several hours. They had a full exchange of views on Málaga’s future development plans.”

“This led to Pellegrini agreeing to return to Málaga!”

Not only that, but for the next three years, Málaga would not conduct any performance assessments on Pellegrini.

“The new management hopes that Pellegrini can build a young, vibrant Youth Guard at Málaga!”

However, Pellegrini also had his own requests.

For example, he hoped the team would keep the thirty-two-year-old veteran, Santa Cruz.

Málaga’s new team respected Pellegrini’s opinion.

In addition, the club officially announced that they had renewed the contract of the nineteen-year-old academy winger, Samu Castillejo, and promoted the youngster to the first team.

They renewed the contract of the twenty-year-old midfielder with dual Spanish and Venezuelan nationality, Juanpi Añor, and promoted him to the first team.

They renewed the contract of the twenty-one-year-old academy left winger, Juanmi.

On a free transfer, they signed the twenty-eight-year-old Spanish versatile defender and former Real Madrid player, Miguel Torres, from Olympiacos in Greece.

After this player left Real Madrid, he played for Getafe CF.

In 2013, he moved to Olympiacos in Greece for 500,000 euros but still couldn’t get playing time.

This summer, he left Greece as a free agent and was forced to return to Spain to look for a team.

This made him a perfect match for the relegated Málaga.

Málaga needed an experienced, mature, and versatile defender.

Miguel Torres was also optimistic about Málaga’s future under the support of Bayswater Chinese.

A series of signings and renewals, bringing in almost exclusively young players, made Málaga look completely refreshed for the new season.

And as the pre-season summer training camp was about to begin, Málaga’s General Manager, Alfonso Díaz, held a press conference at Rosaleda Stadium to officially announce Málaga’s various new policies.

Among them, three were the most eye-catching.

First was the overhaul of the youth academy.

This was nothing new.

After Yang Cheng acquired Nice and Atalanta, the first thing he did was overhaul their youth academies.

Atalanta’s youth academy was already very strong on its own.

Although Málaga had invested a lot of money in youth development in recent years, their training camps were very scattered, and the quality of youth training was not high. The biggest crux of the problem was the team’s lack of a training base.

Therefore, Málaga’s new team decided to build a modern training base that could rival Bayswater Chinese’s Brent training center!

More importantly, this project would be launched in the near future.

And it had already received permission from the Málaga city government.

“As the sixth-largest city in Spain, with a metropolitan area of over one million people, we not only want to build a training base, but we also hope to turn it into a beautiful landmark for the Costa del Sol!”

As for the investment in the training base, Alfonso Díaz did not disclose the amount, but it would certainly not be small.

In addition, Málaga’s scattered youth camps, including the one in Marbella, would all be upgraded and renovated, fully replicating the satellite training center model of Bayswater Chinese.

This would be an innovation in Spain!

Because Spain had no restrictions on the scope of youth talent recruitment.

Málaga’s second new policy was full integration with Bayswater Chinese, from youth training to first-team training, from the club’s daily management to the scouting system, all aspects would be aligned, and resources would be shared.

This was actually within everyone’s expectations.

But the real bombshell was the third policy. Alfonso Díaz announced that the club would formally launch an evaluation process to consider whether it was necessary to rebuild Rosaleda Stadium.

And, if it were to be rebuilt, should it be on the original site or a new one?

This simply stunned all the media reporters present!

Building a new stadium was something Al Thani had proposed before, which had also caused a stir, but it ultimately came to nothing.

Now, with the new management bringing it up again, something clearly felt different.

Alfonso Díaz revealed that the reason for this consideration was that Rosaleda Stadium was built in 1941 and was now over seventy years old. Its various facilities were very outdated and did not meet current needs.

Not only that, but the fan experience was also very poor.

“Málaga attracts six million tourists from all over the world every year, many of whom are interested in Málaga’s football. But the old facilities of Rosaleda Stadium will be the biggest obstacle preventing them from entering the stadium.”

However, Alfonso Díaz also admitted that, for the time being, building a new stadium needed to be done with extreme caution.

“Our team will make a decision after conducting thorough planning and research.”

This last point was actually just a big promise to please the fans.

Because Rosaleda Stadium simply did not have the space for reconstruction.

The stadium is located in the old city, with main roads to the south and west, a school to the north, and the Guadalmedina River, which runs through the city from north to south, to the east.

Under these circumstances, how could it be expanded?

In 2024, Spain decided to build a new stadium on the original site, which would involve incorporating all the municipal green space along the banks of the Guadalmedina River, as well as building two bridges over the river to connect with the stadium.

It would also require relocating a school to the north.

Not only was Yang Cheng bringing it up now, but he was also going to spend a sum of money to commission a famous design firm to plan and design the surrounding area and produce renderings. He wanted to get this project established first.

This would both please the fans and seize the initiative.

As for when it would be built…

Just think about it. Relocating a school, requisitioning municipal green space, especially along the riverbank—this would definitely be a long and drawn-out affair. They could mess around with it slowly!

But this could maximally divert attention from that Football Park project of Alejanar’s.

It told the fans: we really plan to make big moves. Not only is the investment in the training base significant, but the new stadium is an even bigger deal.

It’s just that the progress on the new stadium is slow.

Sure enough, as soon as the news spread, the Málaga fans were truly ecstatic!

Building a training base and considering a new stadium—this was clearly the setup for some major action!

Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese had a renowned reputation; they weren’t big talkers like Al Thani.

This was practically the plan to build Málaga into a La Liga powerhouse!

Amidst this public opinion, the transfer of shares from the fan-shareholders of the Small Shareholders’ Association also proceeded very smoothly.

Yang Cheng easily bought back all the shares, completing his control over Málaga.

Of course, Yang Cheng also fulfilled his promise, appointing Antonio Aguilera as an independent advisor to the club, to supervise the club’s operations as a fan representative and to be responsible for communication between the club and the fans.

…

Yang Cheng was quite satisfied with Málaga’s recruitment for the new season.

But it wasn’t without its setbacks.

For example, Málaga wanted to go to the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands to recruit the twelve-year-old Pedri from the Laguna Youth Club, inviting him to join Málaga’s youth academy.

Unfortunately, after understanding Málaga’s situation, Pedri and his father politely declined.

The main reasons were the incomplete youth team structure and the lack of a training base.

However, Yang Cheng was not discouraged.

He asked Málaga to continue maintaining private contact with Pedri, sending gifts during holidays and festivals.

As long as they laid the groundwork well, once the training base was built and the youth teams were well-established, he was confident Pedri would come.

After all, Málaga was one of the closest Spanish cities to the Canary Islands.

Not long after Yang Cheng left Spain and returned to London, the Spanish newspaper Marca suddenly broke a major story.

Starting from the 2016/17 season, the four teams—Bayswater Chinese from the Premier League, OGC Nice from Ligue 1, Atalanta from Serie A, and Málaga from the Spanish second division—would bundle their commercial sponsorships.

The most attractive aspects were the kit and chest advertising.

Currently, Bayswater Chinese’s contracts for their kit and chest sponsorship both run until the 2015/16 season.

Nice’s previous sponsorship contracts with Puma and Orange Telecom also expire at the end of the 2015/16 season.

“This is definitely not without basis!”

Marca revealed that Atalanta’s current kit sponsor is the local Italian brand ERREA.

The two parties had cooperated for many years, but it had already been decided that the contract would run until the 2015/16 season and would not be renewed upon expiry.

Málaga’s current sponsor is Nike, but the sponsorship fee is very low and has not been publicly disclosed.

This contract started in 2011 for a period of five years, also expiring in 2016.

Four clubs, different sponsors, all expiring in 2016—this was definitely not a coincidence, but a premeditated, deliberate arrangement.

Marca revealed that, led by Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng’s football alliance would, for the first time, carry out a simultaneous tender for the two major sponsorships: kits and chest advertising.

“This is a first in European professional football!”

Marca believed that Yang Cheng’s commercial team felt that through this kind of bundled tender, they could maximize their resources.

“For the past year, there have been constant rumors that Nike and Adidas are interested in snatching Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship contract from Puma.”

“Now, the shrewd Yang Cheng and his team hope to use Bayswater Chinese as the flagship to drive the development and progress of the other three clubs.”

“This will bring a brand new opportunity for the development of Atalanta, Málaga, and Nice!”

In La Liga, kit sponsorship and chest advertising are very cheap.

But this bundled approach would also be a brand new challenge for sponsors like Nike, Adidas, and Puma.

“According to reliable intelligence, the three major brands will evaluate this carefully, and the first tender is expected to be held in the summer of 2015.”

That’s one year from now!

This will be a first in world football!

Chapter 313: A Great Revolution! The Moat of the Top Giants! The Successor Has Arrived! A New Journey!

After returning to London, Yang Cheng went straight to the Brent training center to begin the final preparations for the new season.

Adam Crozier arrived with Omar Berrada and a few others.

Along with several heads from the sporting department, they all sat down for a meal to discuss some matters.

Naturally, the conversation started with the hottest topic in European football over the past two days.

Bayswater Chinese, OGC Nice, Atalanta, and Málaga CF were seeking bundled sponsorship!

Opinions on the matter varied.

Some believed it was a violation of the rules.

What did that even mean?

In the past, everyone knew Yang Cheng owned multiple clubs, but he at least tried to be discreet about it, so people pretended not to notice.

But now, he was openly looking for sponsors.

What was he trying to do?

Afraid we didn’t know?

If all teams started doing this, what would be the point of the Champions League and the Europa League in the future?

So, Bayswater Chinese’s little brother from Serie A plays against Manchester City, Manchester City’s little brother from La Liga plays against Manchester United, Manchester United’s big brother from Ligue 1 takes on Chelsea, and Chelsea’s sibling from the Eredivisie plays The Gunners?

What’s the fun in that?

Is this still professional football as we understand it?

Could it eventually evolve to a point where teams in Europe’s top five leagues are all owned by a few multinational corporations, turning into an internal brawl between these conglomerates?

Even more concerning, how could the media and fans tell whether these matches were real or fixed?

Clearly, the media outlets holding these views were fundamentally opposed to the idea.

Some even argued that UEFA and FIFA should step in to prevent such situations from occurring.

“Yang Cheng is killing the future of European football!”

However, other media outlets and fans held a contrary opinion.

They believed the above concerns were malicious speculation.

As leaders in the industry, the most important task for UEFA and FIFA was to establish rules and create a framework for the leagues.

As long as Yang Cheng’s teams were compliant, didn’t break any regulations, and abided by the laws of the European Union and individual countries, they should be allowed to operate.

As for the fear of football turning into a game for multinational corporations, that was just baseless anxiety.

“Look across the world of football, how many people possess the capabilities of Yang Cheng and his team?”

“Bayswater Chinese has proven with OGC Nice and Atalanta that their successful experience is replicable.”

“But there is only one Yang Cheng in the world, and only one Bayswater Chinese!”

As for the so-called potential risk of match-fixing, outlets including The Times scoffed at the idea.

“This is nothing short of malicious speculation!”

“What are UEFA and FIFA paid for? Their very purpose is to uphold the integrity and fairness of competitions.”

“If a situation of internal match-fixing, as many fear, were to occur, wouldn’t that be the perfect opportunity for UEFA and FIFA to punish them?”

The Times cited authoritative survey data, arguing that Bayswater Chinese’s record on legal and regulatory compliance was arguably the best in world football.

The operational compliance of OGC Nice and Atalanta had also undergone a revolutionary change after Yang Cheng took over.

“This proves that with the introduction of modern management, the compliance of multinational enterprises is still highly valued in professional football.”

The Times pointed out that over the years, clubs in the major leagues had engaged in countless shady practices and scandals, many of which were conveniently covered up by UEFA and FIFA. Was there any shortage of such incidents?

“In contrast, clubs like Bayswater Chinese, OGC Nice, and Atalanta represent a quantum leap forward!”

Several media outlets, including The Times, The Guardian, and Germany’s Bild, stated that for such a new development, both the media and fans should adopt a tolerant attitude and wait to see how things unfolded.

“The facts show that after several years of development for Nice and the rise of Atalanta, nothing has changed for the worse.”

Bild even revealed that some German media had previously called for the introduction of Bayswater Chinese’s model into the Bundesliga to boost its football market and appeal.

However, within Germany, Bayern Munich voiced the strongest opposition.

“It’s obvious that Bayern Munich sees the Bundesliga as their own backyard. They naturally don’t want to see a team like Bayswater Chinese enter the league and create more rivals for them.”

The implication was that, as long as Yang Cheng’s team wasn’t breaking any rules, anyone who sought to shut them down was likely doing so because their own interests were threatened.

Spain’s El País believed that Yang Cheng’s model could be an opportunity for the struggling La Liga.

It was common knowledge that for many years, La Liga had been dominated by the big two.

Although teams like Atlético Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, and Villarreal had occasionally risen to challenge them, their success was always fleeting and they could never sustain a long-term rivalry.

For the vast majority of mid-to-lower-table teams in La Liga and the Spanish second division, this was a living nightmare.

Take Valencia, for example.

How much was The Bats’ kit sponsorship worth?

Did people know how vast the gap was between them and La Liga’s big two?

Both were sponsored by Adidas, both played in La Liga. Real Madrid received nearly 60 million euros a year from Adidas, while Valencia?

The Bats had just signed a deal with Adidas in 2014 for 4 million euros a year.

And that was after Adidas had doubled the previous amount.

Their sponsor last season was the Spanish local brand JOMA, which paid a paltry two million euros.

Under these circumstances, how could Valencia possibly compete with Real Madrid?

What exactly caused such a massive disparity between the two teams?

If a strong La Liga team like Valencia was in this situation, what about the other mid-to-lower-table clubs?

Was kit sponsorship the only area of disparity?

What about shirt advertising?

Broadcasting fees?

The end result was that Real Madrid and Barça could poach players from any other team in La Liga with impunity.

No team could refuse!

Because they could offer much higher salaries and benefits!

In this environment, you had Real Madrid and Barça soaring to new heights on one side, and on the other, the mid-to-lower-table teams of La Liga and the Spanish second division trapped in a yearly cycle of unpaid wages, strikes, bankruptcy, and mounting debt.

It had become a unique feature of La Liga!

Strikes were the only leverage the smaller clubs had against Real Madrid and Barça.

If they couldn’t make a living, they might as well flip the table!

El País argued that what Yang Cheng was doing with Málaga CF might have far more profound significance.

It was even possible that in the near future, more and more multinational conglomerates would create their own cross-league club alliances in a similar fashion.

“This will be a great revolution!”

…

“The outside world is in an uproar. All sorts of claims and opinions are popping up everywhere.”

“It’s even gotten to the point where Marca published two conflicting opinion columns on the same page on the same day.”

“European football has always argued over star players, but to see it arguing over club business models is extremely rare!”

Adam Crozier found the situation amusing as he described it.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh after hearing it. “It’s a good thing. The more they argue, the more attention we get, right?”

“Exactly. The public sentiment seems fierce right now, with both sides acting like it’s a life-or-death struggle. But in reality, the vast majority of the media and fans are neutral, and now they’ve all started paying attention to us.”

“I bet clubs like Nice and Atalanta have never enjoyed this kind of treatment, being in the spotlight of global media and fans. Even Málaga, during Al Thani’s acquisition and superstar shopping spree, probably didn’t get this much attention.”

As the commercial director, Omar Berrada knew that traffic equaled value.

“What’s crucial now is what we do next. The traffic is here, we need to be able to handle it,” Yang Cheng said, offering a high-level perspective.

Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and the others all nodded in agreement.

The responsibility for implementing the specifics fell to them.

“This cross-league club alliance model has incredible room for maneuvering, and its potential is astonishing.”

“Sharing a scouting network is a given; that much is obvious. Let’s talk about the youth academy.”

“Once our youth system at Málaga is established and the training base is built, doesn’t that mean our Bayswater Chinese youth teams can go to Málaga, Nice, or Atalanta to train and play, just like they do at the Brent training center?”

“And wouldn’t the internal movement of players become much more convenient?”

“How much cost can be saved here? How much value can be created?”

Aren’t Premier League teams known for being technically unrefined?

For the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had arranged for its youth teams to travel abroad for friendly matches and for its top youth talents to train with foreign teams.

All of this cost money.

In the future, couldn’t this money be spent within the alliance instead?

And wouldn’t it be far more convenient?

Take a simple example.

If Yang Cheng arranged for Bellingham to go to Barcelona for half a year of training, how many things would he have to worry about?

Would Barça put in a genuine effort?

Would they see Bellingham’s potential and try every trick in the book to entice and poach him?

Would the player’s diet, living arrangements, and daily habits be affected?

But what if this exchange took place at Málaga? Or Nice?

Within the alliance, most of these barriers could be completely removed.

Player ownership would remain unchanged, and different players could be sent to different clubs for development based on their specific characteristics.

For instance, defensive players could go to Atalanta in Italy, while technical players could go to Málaga in La Liga.

And that was just player training.

What about matches?

In La Liga, B teams could play in the Spanish second division.

In the future, once Málaga was stable and its youth academy was up and running, and its B team was developed, couldn’t they send the top youth prospects from Bayswater Chinese, Nice, and Atalanta to play for Málaga in the Spanish second division?

Yang Cheng had been mulling over these ideas for a long time.

He knew very well that if things went as he planned and the internal systems were fully integrated, the advantage in talent development would be enormous, perhaps even immeasurable.

But there was one crucial reason he hadn’t told anyone.

Not even Xia Qing.

In the coming years, as globalization deepened and capital flooded into the market, the value of players in European football would skyrocket.

Transfer fees and player salaries would continue to climb, reaching a point that would be painful for all clubs.

But what if, at that time, I had clubs in all five major leagues? With a large pool of players to choose from internally, wouldn’t the cost of internal transactions be far lower than external ones?

The Premier League primarily targets the English-speaking market, Serie A’s strength is in Eastern Europe, Ligue 1 in Africa, and La Liga in Latin America.

The talent supply channels would effectively complement each other.

Then, by establishing a unified internal talent scouting and data analysis system, and sharing match and player performance data.

Once all these links in the chain were connected, how big would the advantage be?

At that point, if other clubs wanted to sell to me at an inflated price, would I still buy?

Wouldn’t I then have an unequal competitive advantage over other clubs that were forced to pay high premiums and high salaries for players?

Gradually, this would form a kind of moat.

More importantly, Yang Cheng still had the advantage of being a transmigrator.

So he had to do everything in his power, in the shortest time possible, to dig his moat deeper and wider, making his advantage even more pronounced.

In the future, what would other giants have to compete with Bayswater Chinese and the teams within the alliance?

And this was just on the sporting level.

On the commercial side, the disparity between Real Madrid and Valencia highlighted by El País already revealed the problem.

Professional football follows the 80/20 rule.

The top giants receive all the attention, the winner takes all, securing the largest piece of the market pie.

The problem was, they couldn’t eat it all!

The spillover effect meant that the aura of a giant club couldn’t possibly consume everything, leading only to waste.

In this situation, a club alliance could optimize the internal allocation of resources and maximize profits.

In the simplest terms, the kit sponsorships for Bayswater Chinese, Nice, Atalanta, and Málaga could be bundled together.

Nike, Adidas, or other brands want to sponsor Bayswater Chinese?

Fine, but you have to take Nice, Atalanta, and Málaga as well.

Name your price!

The same could be done with shirt advertising.

And resources like the LED advertising boards in stadiums could be handled this way too.

Since it was a bundled sponsorship, couldn’t they integrate IP resources internally, develop co-branded products, and leverage their respective league and regional advantages to expand sales channels?

Couldn’t they also engage in more joint marketing activities and organize more alliance events to attract more fans?

Furthermore, Xia Qing had once secretly mentioned to Yang Cheng.

If they had enough clubs, the alliance could leverage the differences in tax laws and rates between countries to optimize cash flow.

Achieving this was actually quite easy, through internal corporate loans or by transferring funds and profits via various services and agreements.

In European football, using player transfers to cook the financial statements was already an open secret.

In a nutshell, the advantages of a club alliance were obvious.

Of course, the potential risks were also enormous.

The main one was coordinating the operations between the various clubs.

Especially with more clubs, internal competition and even conflicts were inevitable.

A classic example was Manchester City’s City Football Group in Yang Cheng’s previous life, which faced similar problems.

This was why Yang Cheng’s current strategy was to advance gradually.

With his current wealth and resources, he could acquire a dozen clubs across Europe in a short time.

But what would be the point?

If they all ended up fighting their own battles and the internal structure became a chaotic mess, the losses would outweigh the gains.

Proceeding steadily, as he was doing now, was the best choice!

…

After listening to Yang Cheng’s high-level and visionary plan, both Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada were completely stunned.

Without a doubt, they were all outstanding elites.

In terms of individual ability and overall quality, they were at the top of their industry, certainly not inferior to Yang Cheng.

But Yang Cheng’s greatest advantage was his vision and perspective, which were far ahead of this era.

The blueprint he laid out left this group of world football’s elites dumbfounded.

From sporting to commercial aspects, Yang Cheng already had a complete and well-thought-out vision and plan for the big picture.

“Now I truly understand. We really need to find you a successor as an assistant coach as soon as possible, so you can free up your hands to work on these more important things.”

Adam Crozier was completely in awe.

When Yang Cheng had first poached him, he had been somewhat reluctant, even feeling that it was a step down.

But now, he was proud of his decision, and proud to be part of Bayswater Chinese!

As for Omar Berrada and the others, it went without saying.

Was there any one of them who didn’t revere Yang Cheng?

Yang Cheng quite enjoyed this feeling of being admired as a company founder, like that Iron Man in the United States, or that Steve Jobs at Apple. It felt pretty good!

But after indulging for a moment, he calmed himself down.

Having lived three lives, he was long past that stage.

“Speaking of a successor for the assistant coach position…”

Yang Cheng turned to Brian Kidd, “Brian, have you folks made a choice?”

“We have. I was just about to tell you. We’ve selected five people in total. I’ll send you their detailed information later. Do you want to pick one, or invite them all for an interview?”

Bayswater Chinese’s search for an assistant coach hadn’t caused much of a stir publicly, but within football circles, it had made a huge splash.

It was widely rumored that Yang Cheng was looking for his own successor.

Therefore, many qualified coaches had submitted their résumés.

Brian Kidd and his team had been meticulous in their selection, going through multiple rounds and choosing the best of the best from every angle.

They had finally arrived at this shortlist of five finalists.

Yang Cheng had only been involved in the initial screening, where he did recognize many coaches who were famous in his previous life.

Some were world-renowned managers, some were head coaches, and others were well-known figures in the industry.

As for who the final five were, he really didn’t know.

“Send them to me first, and I’ll take a look.”

Yang Cheng was also a little expectant.

…

Bammental, an insignificant German country town.

From Heidelberg, one had to travel more than ten kilometers through mountain roads to get here.

A single story could perfectly describe how marginal and underdeveloped Bammental was.

When Hans-Dieter Flick was six years old, his parents wanted him to learn football for exercise. However, there was no football club in Bammental, so his father had to take him to Mückenloch, another small town ten kilometers away, for his youth training.

From Mückenloch to Neckargemünd, and later to Sandhausen.

Like leveling up in a video game, Flick made his way step by step from the deepest parts of the Black Forest to the banks of the Neckar River.

At the age of twenty, he boarded a train to Munich.

He had become a Bayern Munich player!

This instantly made him the pride of Bammental, the kid other parents compared you to.

A few years later, this small country town finally got its own club, named after the town itself: FC Bammental.

From Bayern to FC Köln, until a serious injury forced him to retire in September 1992, that little-known hometown had always been on Flick’s mind.

In 1993, the retired Flick returned to Bammental.

He played for the amateur club while studying for his coaching licenses, and began his coaching career in 1996.

Even now, Bammental was not a famous team.

The most famous player produced here was named Matthias Born.

A midfielder.

In 1993, he arrived in Bammental at the same time as Flick. Two years later, Flick recommended his 21-year-old “teammate” to Bayern, and Born successfully joined Bayern’s B team.

In 2000, when Flick was coaching Hoffenheim, he even brought Born to his team.

Unfortunately, Born never managed to develop into a top player.

There was also the young Thorsten Müller, a player Flick had coached in Bammental. At seventeen, Flick recommended him to Hoffenheim, but he didn’t make it either.

Whenever he was on vacation, Flick always loved to return to the depths of the Black Forest, back to this hometown that he dreamed of.

He loved and was accustomed to the peaceful feeling of living here.

Just like now.

Having just helped Joachim Löw lead the German national team to a World Cup victory in Brazil as an assistant coach, Flick chose to bring his wife, Silke, back to the secluded and quiet Bammental after the wild celebrations with the team.

He had once again become a local celebrity.

Countless relatives, friends, and neighbors were happy for him.

He enjoyed this feeling!

He also ran a sports goods store in town.

It had been many, many years, since just after he retired.

In recent years, his family had been managing it.

Thanks to him, the store had always done well.

Whenever he returned and sat in the shop, people from the town or neighboring villages would make a special trip to buy things, chat with him, and ask him about various matters.

Some teams would also invite him to watch the children’s games, hoping to get his recommendation.

Just like Matthias Born back in the day.

But honestly, he hadn’t seen a promising kid in a long time.

Many “geniuses” who seemed incredible in the eyes of ordinary people were, in fact, quite average when they reached the professional stage.

This time back, Flick turned down all invitations.

He didn’t even go to the store.

He spent his days sitting quietly in his courtyard at home, lost in thought.

His family knew something was on his mind, but no one disturbed him.

Both his daughters had finished their studies and were working elsewhere.

His wife, Silke, took care of his daily needs, and life was leisurely.

He and his wife were practically childhood sweethearts; they met at eighteen and married at twenty-two.

They had two daughters, 25-year-old Kathrin and 23-year-old Hannah.

He could never hide anything from his wife.

“Still no news from London?” his wife Silke asked, approaching quietly and sitting down on the floor beside him.

Flick, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, turned to look at his wife, and smiled faintly.

“How could it be that easy? I heard that many people in the industry are frantically sending in their résumés. We’re talking about Yang Cheng, the number one manager in world football today, with four clubs in the top five leagues under his belt.”

Though he was smiling, Silke could still feel the strain and bitterness behind it.

“It’s three top-five league clubs. Didn’t Málaga get relegated?” Silke deliberately challenged him.

Flick couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “You’re right, but they’ll definitely be back in La Liga next year.”

“You’re so sure?”

“I don’t have much faith in Málaga, but I have faith in Yang Cheng. He’s truly incredible!”

“So, you want to go to London?”

Flick’s gaze drifted to the distant sky.

The sky over the Black Forest was very blue.

“I want to go out and see the world!”

Just to see?

Obviously not.

Silke knew that her husband greatly admired Jupp Heynckes.

During his time at Bayern, Heynckes was in his first stint as head coach. They had a very good relationship, and Flick was deeply influenced and shaped by him.

Continuous learning was one of the most valuable qualities Flick learned from Heynckes.

Moreover, both were former professional players. As coaches, they were very good at dealing with players and relied heavily on communication to build mutual trust.

Through this method, they created a positive atmosphere in the dressing room.

“Are you really going to resign from the national team?” Silke changed the subject.

“Yes, I think now is the best time.”

His wife was a bit confused, so Flick explained further.

“Löw and I don’t actually have any conflicts, but we have our differences. He’s the head coach, so I have to listen to him, and he doesn’t necessarily listen to all of my opinions.”

At this, Flick let out a heavy sigh. “We’ve worked together for eight years. Honestly, the fact that we could cooperate for so long was beyond both our expectations.”

“I’m worried that if we continue, problems will arise between us.”

His wife said no more.

She had always trusted her husband, always believed that Flick had enough ability and wisdom to handle his own affairs.

All she needed to do was support him silently from behind, trust him. That was enough.

“Whatever you decide to do next, I support you,” Silke said with an encouraging smile.

Flick nodded and smiled back.

“I’ve already spoken with the national team. Löw knows. If I don’t hear back from London, I’ll work at the Football Association for a while as a transition,” Flick said, having clearly thought things through.

Seeing the topic return to London and Bayswater Chinese, Silke felt a little curious.

“Is the competition really that fierce this time?”

“Of course. Everyone in the industry is saying that Yang Cheng’s search for an assistant coach this time is just like when Ferguson chose Queiroz.”

“What do you mean?”

“A successor!”

“You mean, to succeed him one day and coach Bayswater Chinese?” Silke was shocked.

She was well aware of Bayswater Chinese’s status in European football.

They were undoubtedly one of the world’s most elite clubs!

Whoever coached this team would instantly become a world-class manager!

“Exactly. So the competition is incredibly fierce. Many people I know have sent in their résumés, including that Thomas Tuchel from Mainz. I think he’s probably the most competitive candidate of all.”

“Isn’t he coaching at Mainz?”

“Ha, he’s probably not too happy coaching at Mainz. Besides, can Mainz even compare to Bayswater Chinese?”

Silke thought about it and agreed.

But her mood instantly grew heavy.

If even this Thomas Tuchel had applied, what chance did Flick have?

Tuchel was currently the hottest young manager in German football, and his coaching record was quite impressive.

Whether at the youth teams of VfB Stuttgart and Mainz, or the first team at Mainz, he had earned almost universal acclaim. Many even said he was better than Klopp was at that age.

More importantly, his coaching style was very advanced; some called him the German Pep Guardiola.

Flick, on the other hand, had a coaching résumé that was nothing to write home about.

Whether at Bammental or later at Hoffenheim, he hadn’t achieved convincing results.

At Salzburg and with the German national team, he was always an assistant, never the one in charge.

Compared to the illustrious Tuchel, anyone would know who to choose.

Thinking this, Silke suddenly understood why Flick had been so preoccupied.

Her husband had once told her that his playing career had been a step-by-step journey, walking out from the depths of the Black Forest, breaking through layers of mist to reach Munich, to reach the world’s biggest stage.

After retiring and becoming a coach, he had stumbled forward, struggling constantly, as if shrouded in another layer of mist that he could never break through.

He firmly believed he could break through the mist again, see the vast world outside, and shine once more.

But he didn’t know when.

So, like everyone else, he felt lost and struggled.

At least, helping Löw win the World Cup with the German national team could be considered a breakthrough, couldn’t it?

Flick perhaps felt that his words and attitude had been a bit too negative.

So, after turning to look at his wife, he smiled and stood up from his chair.

“Alright, no more overthinking. I’m cooking today. What would you like to eat?”

Cooking was his biggest hobby after football, and he was genuinely good at it.

“I’d like pasta, a pan-seared steak, and some wine.”

“No problem.”

Flick smiled and agreed, turning to head for the kitchen.

Just then, his phone, which was on the table nearby, suddenly rang.

Flick hurriedly walked back to answer it.

“Is it those two girls? Did they hear you were cooking and want to rush back?” Silke asked jokingly.

Flick, however, frowned. It was an unfamiliar international call.

The caller ID showed that the call was from England.

This made Flick’s hand tremble instinctively, and he gripped the phone tighter.

“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Hans-Dieter Flick?”

“This is Bayswater Chinese Football Club in London, England.”

“We are pleased to inform you that after reviewing your résumé, we feel you might be a good fit for our position. We were wondering if it would be convenient for you to come to London in the near future?”

“Mr. Yang Cheng would like to speak with you in person. Would that be possible?”

Flick was completely stunned.

…

Two days later, Flick arrived in London with his wife.

The plane landed at Heathrow Airport.

When his two daughters heard he had a chance to work at Bayswater Chinese, they were extremely excited and insisted on paying for their own plane tickets to accompany him, but he refused.

Too much of an entourage would put him under pressure.

Although, during the call inviting him for the interview, he had inquired and learned that he was the one and only person being brought in for an interview.

This made Flick feel incredibly flattered!

Bayswater Chinese had booked the plane tickets, so they knew the time and flight number and had arranged for a car to pick them up.

They went directly from Heathrow Airport to the Brent training center.

“This car is for your exclusive use. During your time in London, you can call me to take you anywhere.”

The driver gave him his number after they got in the car.

Flick was once again surprised.

“The hospitality at this club is really top-notch!” his wife Silke praised from the side.

Flick nodded.

It was even better than at Bayern Munich.

Upon arriving at the renowned Brent training center, Flick, like everyone else, was amazed by the sheer scale of the facility.

Since the team had already begun its summer training camp, the center was bustling with activity.

Media reporters and fans were gathered outside as well.

This was the influence of a world-class giant!

The car drove directly into the training center.

At that moment, it happened to be the team’s training session.

Accompanied by staff, Flick watched the team train from a distance.

He was familiar with all the members of Bayswater Chinese’s coaching staff; he had even met some of them before.

As for the players, he was even more familiar with Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder had clearly seen him too and waved from afar.

Flick smiled and waved back.

Then he saw Yang Cheng turn around and beckon to him.

Flick asked his wife to wait outside as he passed through the wire fence and entered the training pitch.

“Hey, it’s great to see you, Hans.”

Yang Cheng looked genuinely happy; it was written all over his face.

Flick felt a little overwhelmed but greeted Yang Cheng with composure.

He also greeted Brian Kidd and the others.

The training session continued.

But just as the rumors said, Yang Cheng barely participated in directing the training, merely observing from the sidelines.

“You know, I don’t really know how to play football, so I don’t know how to coach it,” Yang Cheng said with great frankness.

But this man who didn’t know how to play football had built the best football team in the world.

Throughout the training session, Yang Cheng and Flick stood on the sidelines, watching and discussing specific training details.

Although it was summer training camp, focused on pre-season fitness, which was largely the same everywhere, Bayswater Chinese still had many details that set them apart from other teams.

Yang Cheng said these were the fruits of the sports science department’s work over the past few years.

After the session, Toni Kroos made a point of coming over to see Flick and chat for a few moments.

It was clear that the German midfielder, who enjoyed Yang Cheng’s trust, was truly happy at Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, Flick had never seen that faint, subtle smile on his face with the German national team.

It was something that couldn’t be faked.

After training, Yang Cheng personally gave Flick a tour of the Brent training center.

The whole experience drew constant praise from Flick.

From the training facilities to the environment to all the hardware and software, everything was at the absolute highest level in world football.

But what surprised Flick the most was the atmosphere.

Hardware and equipment could be bought with money, but an atmosphere like this was truly difficult to cultivate.

And speaking of atmosphere, Yang Cheng mentioned one thing.

“To be honest, we carefully selected five people from many résumés, but I ultimately chose you. Do you know why?”

Flick shook his head.

“Actually, there were a few others I also admire greatly, for example, Thomas Tuchel.”

Flick was instantly curious.

“However, while there’s no question about Tuchel’s ability, and I really like his coaching style—he’s even the best in many aspects…”

Even Flick had to admit this.

“But there’s one thing where I think you’re better.”

Flick immediately stopped walking.

Clearly, this was the key to his “victory” over Tuchel.

“I believe that modern professional football is becoming more and more complex, with increasingly specialized roles, like data analysis, the medical department, scouting… The head coach is like a connection point between all these different departments.”

“Therefore, this person’s personality must be able to properly handle all sorts of complex interpersonal relationships, and they must also be able to constantly learn and embrace new things.”

As Yang Cheng said this, he smiled at Flick.

“According to my knowledge, in this aspect, Tuchel is not as good as you!”

In Yang Cheng’s view, Flick was very much like Jupp Heynckes.

Tuchel, on the other hand, was a bit like Pep Guardiola.

It was hard to say who was better, only that for now, a “Heynckes” was a better fit for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

So, after Brian Kidd had shortlisted the final five, Yang Cheng had personally called the other four to express his thanks and sent each of them a generous gift.

Only Flick was given the opportunity for an interview.

When Flick heard Yang Cheng mention Jupp Heynckes, he felt an immediate resonance.

Because he had always felt the same way.

“As far as I’m concerned, there are no more issues. If you’re willing to accept this job, we can sign the contract at any time.”

“As for when you start, that depends on whether you need to handle any handover work. We’re heading to the United States for the International Champions Cup in a few days. You can also start when we return to Europe.”

Yang Cheng was being extremely courteous, showing him the utmost respect.

Flick felt the importance Yang Cheng placed on him and nodded immediately. “I’ve actually already communicated with the German Football Association and the national team. I don’t have much to take care of. I can start anytime!”

“And I also hope to join the team for pre-season preparations to familiarize myself with the work as soon as possible.”

Yang Cheng was clearly pleased with this.

…

Signing a coach is different from signing a player.

Generally, a coach’s signing doesn’t need to be publicly announced.

But this time, Bayswater Chinese formally announced the signing.

From the club’s official website to its social media platforms, and in press releases sent to various media outlets, they announced the partnership with Flick.

Upon joining the team, Flick’s title was assistant coach, the same as Brian Kidd.

There was another more subtle change that few people noticed: the seating arrangement on the dugout during matches.

Few fans probably paid attention to this detail.

The dugout has limited seating, but must accommodate several different types of coaches and staff.

For example, the team doctor.

But one thing was clear: the closer the seat to the head coach, the more important the position.

This was mainly to facilitate communication during the match.

After Flick joined the team, his title was assistant coach, the same as Brian Kidd’s.

But in the seating arrangement, he sat between Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd.

Moreover, from his very first day, when Yang Cheng introduced him, he emphasized that if he wasn’t present, Flick could exercise the authority of the head coach on his behalf.

Flick was selected by Brian Kidd, who understood Yang Cheng’s intentions and was naturally supportive.

For Yang Cheng, this delegated power could be revoked at any time.

But this was also a test for Flick.

If he truly had the ability, he needed to quickly build enough trust with the players, establish his own authority within the team, and unite everyone. Only then would he have a chance to succeed Yang Cheng.

But if he couldn’t handle it, then unfortunately, he probably wouldn’t last long at the club.

The entire transition and handover would not be completed overnight. It could take two or three years at the shortest, or even longer.

Years ago, Carlos Queiroz, who had been head coach of Sporting Lisbon, the UAE national team, and the South African national team, came to Manchester United as Ferguson’s assistant. Apart from a one-season stint coaching Real Madrid, he stayed from 2002 to 2008.

But in the end, he couldn’t outlast Ferguson, so he left in 2008 to coach the Portuguese national team.

Yang Cheng promised himself he wouldn’t cling to power like Ferguson, but he would certainly test Flick thoroughly, gradually delegating authority, and only step down completely after confirming there were no problems.

Yang Cheng was candid with Flick about all of this.

The German clearly accepted these terms.

Actually, in Yang Cheng’s opinion, the most suitable successors to take over Bayswater Chinese in the future were Modrić and Toni Kroos.

Those two were genuinely intelligent, and their authority as players was unquestionable.

Barring any surprises, they would both retire at Bayswater Chinese.

Especially Modrić.

A club legend and captain, transitioning to head coach after retirement—it would be a wonderful story.

Unfortunately, they were still far from retiring.

He would have to find opportunities to develop them properly in the future.

After assuming his post, Flick immediately began assisting Brian Kidd, primarily familiarizing himself with and learning Bayswater Chinese’s training methods and various work processes.

Although he had worked at clubs before and had been with the German national team, and had contact with giants like Bayern Munich, Flick found that Bayswater Chinese was completely different from any team he had ever seen.

The work environment, the atmosphere—it was all different.

How to put it?

There were many departments, but management was mostly flat, and the efficiency was incredibly high.

As Yang Cheng had said, the head coach was the connection point.

This made Flick realize that his position was an excellent training ground.

The pressure was immense, the challenges great, but more importantly, the opportunity was incredibly rare.

After just one day on the job, in discussions with Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd, Flick revealed that he had already learned a great deal.

This made him understand even more clearly why Yang Cheng was so deliberate in selecting a successor.

With such a complex system, could you just hand it over to an unfamiliar head coach and expect them to manage it?

If the connection point broke, wouldn’t the club’s operations grind to a halt?

Realizing this, Flick threw himself into his work with even more vigor.

And at the first team meeting Flick attended, Yang Cheng made a high-profile appeal, demanding that all players and employees dedicate themselves completely to their work, striving for better performances and more outstanding results in the new season.

“I want to say that this new season, for us at Bayswater Chinese, will be a brand new journey!”

“It will also be a very important turning point!”

“We must win this battle!”

Everyone responded in unison.

This allowed the newcomer Flick to feel the sublime authority Yang Cheng commanded within this team!

It was something no one could challenge!

Chapter 314: The Premier League Overlord! He Created a Miracle in Serie A! A Flash of Brilliance from the Young Genius!

Just as Adam Crozier had said, Yang Cheng’s schedule was getting increasingly packed.

Before the team departed for the United States, he made a special trip to Italy.

The main purpose of his visit was to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Atalanta stadium renovation project.

This stadium reconstruction project, costing one hundred million euros, caused quite a stir in Italian football.

The mayor of Bergamo, Franco Tentorio, also personally attended the ceremony.

Soon after the acquisition of Atalanta last year, the reconstruction plan was immediately put on the agenda.

Over the past year, Atalanta submitted multiple applications which were approved by the city government, but progress was hindered for various reasons.

Initially, it was the issue of preserving and renovating the historical buildings on both sides of the stadium.

Then, it was the impact of the northward expansion of the stands on the surrounding residents.

For instance, a few families across the street at the northeast corner, despite being Atalanta fans, believed that adding a roof to the renovated stadium would affect their homes’ lighting and ventilation.

And this was indeed true.

In short, all sorts of troubles came knocking one after another.

Everyone knew about the efficiency of Italian government departments.

The whole affair just kept dragging on.

It wasn’t until May of this year that Atalanta astonishingly secured third place in Serie A, historically breaking into the Champions League.

This was the first time in Atalanta’s history that they had entered the Champions League!

The entire city of Bergamo was in an uproar!

All the fans were proud of the team and had even greater admiration for the management skills of Yang Cheng’s team.

But at the same time, new problems emerged.

After entering the Champions League, what was to be done about the stadium?

Atalanta’s current stadium was old and dilapidated.

UEFA arranged for an inspection in June, but the result was a foregone conclusion; they rejected it on the spot.

It didn’t meet the standards for hosting European matches!

This was like a powerful slap across the faces of the people of Bergamo.

The team had made them proud, fighting its way into the Champions League, and what was the result?

The stadium wasn’t up to standard, so they couldn’t host the games!

What now?

Borrow one!

The closest was the San Siro, also known as the Meazza Stadium, in Milan.

But both AC Milan and Inter Milan said no!

Why?

You have to look at it from our perspective. The two giants of Milan couldn’t even get into the Champions League, yet Atalanta, our little underling who we never gave a second thought to, made it.

Oh, so you made it, and now you want to come play on our doorstep?

Do you think we, the two giants of Milan, have no shame?

It wasn’t just the clubs; even the fans in Milan were furious and adamantly refused to lend their stadium.

This was just too humiliating!

Alright, if Milan wouldn’t lend it, they’d find someone else.

Brescia?

Sorry, the stadium’s too small, with a capacity of less than twenty thousand.

Doesn’t meet the standard.

Piacenza?

Damn it, built in 1919, the facilities are even older and more outdated.

Doesn’t meet the standard either.

Parma was a no-go either!

After looking all around, they finally managed to borrow a stadium from Sassuolo, two hundred kilometers away.

The Mapei Stadium had just been renovated in 2008 and barely met UEFA’s requirements.

However, UEFA sent an inquiry: was the home attendance rate guaranteed?

The entire affair caused a massive reaction within Italy.

It was so embarrassing!

In the northern region, supposedly the most economically developed part of Italy, was it really that hard to find a stadium that met UEFA’s standards?

Two hundred kilometers apart—how were Atalanta’s fans supposed to get to the games?

How could the home attendance rate be guaranteed?

In the end, it was Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese who stepped in to mediate, and with the Italian Football Association putting in a good word, they managed to persuade the Milan giants to let Atalanta use the San Siro for their Champions League matches in the new season.

But the whole incident severely provoked the city of Bergamo.

Especially the Atalanta fans.

Many fan organizations launched petitions, hoping to get the stadium renovation plan approved as soon as possible.

As Bergamo’s team, having to play European matches in other cities, and even struggling to borrow a stadium, was nothing short of a disgrace!

During a public address to the fans, Mayor Franco Tentorio promised that the city government would push the project forward as quickly as possible.

And so, the original project to expand the north stand was smoothly approved after Atalanta paid a certain amount of compensation to the surrounding residents and community.

The renovation of the historical buildings on the other two stands also passed inspection smoothly.

The original plan to dig an underground parking garage outside the south stand, which had been blocked by environmentalists, was also greenlit this time.

Even the expansion of the commercial space at the south stand was accepted.

Obstacles that were previously difficult to overcome were all approved at once this time.

The stadium’s budget also quickly climbed from the original one hundred million euros to one hundred and thirty million euros.

Although it was an extra thirty million, Yang Cheng was incredibly happy to spend it. It was completely worth it!

The stadium’s capacity would exceed thirty thousand, and after a complete reconstruction, including the east and west stands, the entire stadium would be brand new.

The entire renovation would be divided into two phases, mainly involving the reconstruction of the north and south stands in turns.

The construction period was estimated to be three years.

In fact, the entire project was even more complex than tearing everything down and building a new stadium from scratch.

The renovation of the east and west stands would be completed within these three years.

By 2017, Atalanta would have a brand-new, modern stadium!

…

“We’ve given our all to support this, so you must also continue to invest resources to ensure Atalanta’s success!”

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Yang Cheng had a meal with Mayor Franco Tentorio, accompanied by Atalanta Chairman Tom Wheatley and CEO Pierpaolo Marino.

At the dinner table, the Bergamo mayor made his “request” to Yang Cheng.

“Rest assured, Mayor Tentorio, you should trust my colleagues. They are all highly professional talents. You’ve seen Atalanta’s progress and results over the past year.”

“Indeed, it’s been like a miracle!” Franco Tentorio praised.

The resurgence of veteran Luca Toni, in particular, was something no one had expected.

Many people were even saying he should return to the national team.

Dude, he’s thirty-seven years old. Return to the national team?

Have you ever heard of something so absurd?

But this also proved just how good Luca Toni’s form was.

Throughout Italy, everyone was saying: Yang Cheng must know magic!

“It’s hard to say about results. Football is full of uncertainty, and the season is very long, but I can guarantee that the new season’s Atalanta will be even stronger than last season’s!”

Rômulo and Iturbe had left, but they had signed João Cancelo and Diego Perotti.

They also added Dutch international centre-back Stefan de Vrij, French prodigy Kingsley Coman, and Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.

In addition, there were Bryan Cristante and Nicolò Barella, who were already somewhat known within Italy.

Atalanta’s summer signings in the transfer market were essentially an upgrade on last season’s squad.

Their strength had definitely reached a new level.

But results were truly unpredictable.

There were issues of player integration and adaptation, as well as injuries and fluctuations in form over a long season.

All these things were difficult to foresee and control.

“What I can guarantee is that in the next few years, our investment in Atalanta will only increase, not decrease.”

“If I were to promise you that the team is aiming for the title, you certainly wouldn’t believe me. Our goal is to ensure we can consistently participate in European competitions every season, preferably the Champions League!”

For the past couple of years, Serie A had three Champions League spots, but the third-place team had to go through a playoff.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, UEFA later reformed the Champions League format, and starting in 2018, the top four leagues in the European competition coefficient points ranking would get four spots.

Of course, Yang Cheng’s goal was still quite challenging.

The main reason was that teams like S.S.C. Napoli were genuinely strong, and Benítez was a renowned European manager.

Managing to beat them last season was largely thanks to Luca Toni’s outstanding performance.

No one was familiar with the team Gasperini had built.

But after their sudden rise last season, they would surely receive more attention and be specifically targeted.

However, Yang Cheng’s promise was already a massive surprise for Atalanta.

Before being acquired by Yang Cheng, Atalanta, which was over a hundred years old, had only won seven trophies.

Five Serie B titles and one Serie C title.

The most significant was the Coppa Italia title from the 1962/63 season.

So, for a team like this, being able to consistently participate in European competitions was in itself a miracle.

This also showed just how huge a surprise the team’s entry into the Champions League this season was for the fans in Bergamo.

However, if Franco Tentorio knew what Yang Cheng was really thinking, he would probably be even more shocked.

He might not even believe it.

In Yang Cheng’s view, Serie A was currently like a flock of minnows pecking at each other.

Atalanta might well have a chance to challenge for the title!

If nothing else, Yang Cheng had assembled this Atalanta team, this squad, and he knew their strength. If Gasperini integrated them well and got their form right, a title charge wasn’t impossible.

Juventus?

Without Pirlo, Pogba, Giorgio Chiellini, and Lichtsteiner from history, how much strength did this Juventus team have left?

They could only throw their weight around within Serie A!

Of course, when Yang Cheng conducted his business, especially in front of government officials like this, he was certainly more conservative and reserved.

…

While Yang Cheng was in Italy, team training was left in the hands of Flick and Brian Kidd.

Although Flick was new, Yang Cheng entrusted him with significant responsibility, having him dive straight into work.

This was the assistant coach who had just led the German national team to World Cup glory; his touch was still hot.

There’s a saying that’s very true: you can tell if someone is capable or not as soon as they get their hands on the work.

When Yang Cheng returned to London, Brian Kidd’s assessment was very high.

His abilities weren’t entirely clear yet, but he was undoubtedly excellent.

His two most prominent strengths were that he was meticulous and comprehensive, handling every detail personally.

The other was his affability and skill in communication, which left a good impression on the players.

Yang Cheng was reminded of an amusing anecdote he’d heard in his previous life.

Back in 2014, before Germany’s World Cup preparations, Löw was more focused on possession-based football.

After considering everything, Flick felt it was inappropriate for the team not to practice set-piece tactics, so he proposed it to Löw.

In the end, it was through set-piece tactics that the German team was ultimately able to claim the World Cup trophy!

From this, one could see that Flick was indeed very meticulous and comprehensive in his thinking.

Afterward, Yang Cheng also spoke with the players to get their opinions on the new coach.

Overall, the feedback was mostly positive.

The only issue was that his English was truly atrocious.

According to them, Flick’s English proficiency was likely limited to specific football terminology.

But Yang Cheng wasn’t worried; he just arranged for an English tutor for him from the club.

In his memory, Flick spoke fluent English when he coached Barça.

This showed that mastering English shouldn’t be a problem for him.

After Yang Cheng returned to London, the team departed for the East Coast of the United States.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s return to the United States after several years, and they were warmly welcomed by American fans.

Bayswater Chinese were now the former five-time consecutive Premier League champions and the current three-time consecutive Champions League overlords!

The arrival of such a team in the United States immediately created a wave of excitement.

This was especially true for stars like Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Modrić, and Toni Kroos, who were well-known to the average American fan.

As for players who had emerged in recent years like Harry Kane, Aaron Ramsey, and Sterling, that went without saying.

As The New York Times put it: Bayswater Chinese has stirred up a football tornado in North America!

Although the ICC Company no longer had the World Football Challenge as a competitor in recent years, it had been continuously iterating and improving.

The International Champions Cup’s influence was also constantly expanding.

Whether in event preparation or marketing and promotion, they were clearly more professional and capable than in previous years.

After several years of development, the company’s scale was no longer comparable to what it once was.

There was one thing that best demonstrated their event-organizing capabilities.

Bayswater Chinese’s training camp on the East Coast was set up at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

And it was right on the Harvard campus, using three football pitches and the school’s athletic center.

The facilities were comprehensive and well-equipped, and apart from Harvard students, they were rarely disturbed by the outside world.

As for the open training sessions for fans, they were mostly arranged at the stadium the day before the match, combined with the usual pitch familiarization training, which was obviously more scientific and reasonable.

During this US training camp and tour, Yang Cheng basically began to take a step back.

Daily training and match preparation were mostly handled by Flick and Brian Kidd.

After arriving in the United States and resting briefly, the team immediately had its first pre-season friendly.

They flew to Toronto, Canada, to play a friendly against Toronto FC.

This was also a warm-up match arranged by the ICC Company.

It was also the first time in history that Bayswater Chinese had played a match in Canada, and they received a warm welcome from Canadian fans.

And Bayswater Chinese did not disappoint, cleanly defeating Toronto FC 7-0.

The spectacular match and the flood of goals had the Canadian fans roaring with excitement.

Bayswater Chinese also showed everyone their excellent competitive form.

Subsequently, the team played two more pre-season friendlies in the United States, against the New York Red Bulls and Club América.

Bayswater Chinese had a clear advantage in strength and comfortably won both matches.

In the International Champions Cup, their opponents this time were Ligue 1’s OGC Nice, Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund, and La Liga’s Barça.

In the three matches, Bayswater Chinese achieved a record of two wins and one draw.

The draw was a 2-2 result against Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund.

After finishing first in the group, Yang Cheng led the team to Bristol, Tennessee.

The motor speedway in Bristol had now become the annual venue for the American final of the International Champions Cup.

And every year, the attendance rate steadily exceeded 155,000 people.

Such an attendance rate naturally made the ICC Company cherish it.

Everyone was also very感慨， that the ICC Company’s planning and investment back then had unexpectedly created such a world-famous football stadium, which was truly a wonderful story.

And this time, their opponent in the final was Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Unfortunately, in this final, Bayswater Chinese lost 1-2 to Manchester City.

After winning the North American title, The Blue Moons went on to defeat Ancelotti’s Galácticos 2-0 at the Prudential Stadium in London, claiming this year’s overall International Champions Cup title!

Having defeated Manchester United, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayswater Chinese, and Real Madrid to win the overall International Champions Cup, Guardiola’s team had already made a statement before the season even began.

Everyone could also see that after a season of integration, Messi had completely settled into Manchester City.

The Manchester City players had also basically adapted to Guardiola’s possession-based football style.

The addition of Marco Reus further strengthened Manchester City’s squad.

…

After the International Champions Cup final, Prudential Stadium was once again a hot topic.

The new season was drawing closer.

And every summer before the Premier League kicks off, the topic of ticket prices is unavoidable.

Especially this year.

Premier League ticket prices were generally on the rise this season; the only difference was by how much.

This had been the norm for the past few years.

Generally, the increase was between two to four percent.

For example, Arsenal’s tickets went up by three percent this year.

In a capitalist society, this is called adjusting for inflation.

Among the Big Six teams, Manchester City had the largest increase, at ten percent.

Clearly, after winning the league title last season, coupled with the arrival of superstars like Messi and Marco Reus, Manchester City began planning to raise ticket prices to increase matchday revenue.

This was the second consecutive season Manchester City had significantly raised its ticket prices.

Last season in the Premier League, the price of Manchester City’s cheapest season ticket rose by eight percent, while the most expensive one rose by five percent.

This season, both the highest and lowest prices were increased by another ten percent.

However, even so, Manchester City’s prices were still far below those of their city rivals, Manchester United.

The Red Devils had previously raised their prices consecutively, and now their lowest-tier season ticket was a hefty 532 pounds, while the highest tier was 950 pounds.

And after the price hike, Manchester City’s were only 329 pounds and 859 pounds.

Still a considerable gap from Manchester United.

In fact, even after the price increase, Manchester City’s lowest ticket price was still one of the lowest in the Premier League, comparable to Aston Villa’s.

The area with the highest ticket prices in all of the United Kingdom was London.

In London, the lowest season ticket price was Bayswater Chinese’s 660 pounds.

It might seem more expensive than Chelsea’s 595 pounds and West Ham United’s 640 pounds, but don’t forget, Bayswater Chinese’s ticket covered twenty-two matches, including three Champions League games.

Chelsea and West Ham United, on the other hand, only covered nineteen matches.

The teams with relatively high lowest-priced tickets were Tottenham and Arsenal.

Notably, The Gunners had increased both their lowest and highest ticket prices.

Now, Arsenal’s lowest ticket price exceeded one thousand, reaching 1,014 pounds.

The highest ticket price reached 2,013 pounds.

The cost for Bayswater Chinese fans to watch a game was still the lowest in the London area.

This also meant that every match at the Prudential Stadium was basically a sell-out, and season tickets were highly sought after.

Before the start of the new season, Bayswater Chinese held a press conference.

In addition to media reporters, many fan representatives were also present.

Adam Crozier announced that starting from the 2015/16 season, Bayswater Chinese would officially adjust its season ticket sales channels to a fully online model.

Using the current Bayswater Chinese official website and member app as channels, all fans and members could purchase season tickets online and join a waiting list.

Adam Crozier stated that this was to better serve the fans.

Because registration on the website and member app required real names, the waiting list would also be based on real names.

“As of July, the 70,000 season tickets our club offered for the 2014/15 season have all been sold out!”

Adam Crozier’s words astonished everyone present.

Manchester United’s season tickets were only 50,000, and they hadn’t sold out yet.

Of course, The Red Devils’ season tickets were never a hard sell, just a bit slower.

But for Bayswater Chinese’s tickets to be in such high demand was proof of how much supply fell short of demand.

“As of today, we’ve tallied that there are over 30,000 fans on the waiting list through various channels, and the number is still rising.”

If the previous number was surprising, this one made people gasp.

What did that mean?

The new season hadn’t even started, and there were already over thirty thousand people in line, waiting for someone to give up their season ticket so they could pick up the leftovers.

“In addition, for this season so far, apart from the tickets reserved for our partner organizations, all individual match tickets we’ve made available for public sale have also completely sold out!”

This was the true overlord of the Premier League!

Adam Crozier explained that as fans’ recognition of Bayswater Chinese grew, the number of fans on the waiting list also increased, which led to many chaotic situations.

Therefore, the club decided to consolidate the channels, focusing on online ticket sales and waiting lists.

Because it used a real-name system and would accumulate fan membership points, it was more convenient for serving the fans.

In addition, Adam Crozier also announced that from the 2015/16 season, the team would reform the structure of its season tickets.

Previously, a Bayswater Chinese season ticket covered twenty-two matches: nineteen Premier League games plus three Champions League group stage matches.

But now, the team was going to reform it, pulling out the three Champions League group stage matches and creating a separate package.

The official explanation was that some fans didn’t have time to watch Champions League matches on weekdays.

The club’s move would give fans more freedom of choice.

Of course, Yang Cheng knew the real reason.

On one hand, previously, Bayswater Chinese’s home games didn’t have enough drawing power, and attendance was insufficient, so they had to use Champions League matches to attract fans to buy season tickets.

But everyone knew that Champions League ticket prices were always much more expensive than Premier League tickets.

Bayswater Chinese’s model was, in itself, a way of giving back to the fans.

Now, the team’s brand was established, and there was no need to worry about home attendance.

Last season, the number of people on the waiting list for Bayswater Chinese season tickets reached a peak of 150,000.

What did that mean?

Even if they canceled all current season tickets, they could replace them with two new waves of fans without any problem.

That was the influence of Bayswater Chinese now!

Under these circumstances, the team no longer needed to offer such discounts.

So, separating the two competitions was beneficial for price increases and revenue generation.

To give a simple example, after the separation, Bayswater Chinese’s lowest ticket price would be only 570 pounds.

What did that mean?

Southampton’s lowest ticket price was 585 pounds.

Chelsea’s was 595 pounds.

West Ham United’s was 640 pounds.

Liverpool’s was 710 pounds.

Tottenham’s was 795 pounds.

And Arsenal’s was even higher.

In this context, was Bayswater Chinese’s price increase excessive?

Of course, from a humanitarian standpoint, Adam Crozier promised that Bayswater Chinese would continue to maintain its lowest ticket price.

“Our team’s revenue has been improving over the past few years, so, starting from 2015, for the next three years, the lowest ticket price will remain unchanged, to give back to the fans who have supported us so diligently all these years!”

Adam Crozier didn’t forget to throw some shade at other competitors.

“We could actually raise the lowest ticket price by another 200 pounds, which would give us at least an additional four million pounds in revenue, but what’s the point of that for us?”

“Our club’s owner, Mr. Yang Cheng, said something to us when we were discussing this matter in a meeting, and it left a very deep impression on me.”

“He said, ‘Adding four million pounds means little to a club like ours with hundreds of millions in annual revenue, but an extra two hundred pounds makes a world of difference for the fans who buy our cheapest season tickets!’”

“We are different from all other clubs; we are committed to letting more fans enjoy our football!”

“That is the philosophy of Bayswater Chinese!”

Upon hearing this, the venue erupted in incredibly enthusiastic applause.

At a time when Premier League ticket prices were rising across the board, Bayswater Chinese’s approach was undoubtedly in a class of its own.

Of course, there would surely be those who questioned whether Bayswater Chinese was trying to have it both ways.

This controversy had existed for the past few years.

The simplest point was, why was the number of lowest-priced season tickets decreasing every year?

When they used third-party sales channels, media reporters could still get intelligence. Now that they were switching to the official website and member app, would the data be kept confidential in the future?

Could it be that Bayswater Chinese only had to offer one lowest-priced ticket to maintain this persona?

Adam Crozier smiled and said, “We welcome all our friends from the media to supervise us!”

This time, Bayswater Chinese was playing with its cards on the table.

…

If the suits at Grosvenor Square were playing with an open hand, then at the Brent training center, Yang Cheng was also making some reforms and adjustments.

With Pogba’s transfer, Bayswater Chinese’s first team squad for this season only had twenty-three players.

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Robert Green;

Defenders: Pepe, Thiago Silva, Piszczek, Marcelo, Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and van Dijk;

Midfielders: Nemanja Matić, Modrić, Toni Kroos, Aaron Ramsey, De Bruyne, and Casemiro;

Forwards: Harry Kane, Giroud, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and Sterling.

For the past few years, Yang Cheng had always adhered to the strategy of “quality over quantity”.

The number of first-team players had always been kept between twenty-three and twenty-five.

So, having twenty-three players now didn’t seem like a problem.

But Flick, Brian Kidd, as well as Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and Matt Crocker, all suggested to Yang Cheng that more young players should be brought into the first team to train together.

The reasons were quite compelling.

For example, Patrick Roberts.

At his age of seventeen, loaning him out to gain experience was the most common practice for Premier League clubs.

But was it effective?

In reality, as everyone knew, the results were often very poor.

Because loaned-out players were rarely given significant roles by the other team, let alone nurtured, which was also a blow to the player’s development.

At the end of the day, why would they nurture a player for you?

But Bayswater Chinese’s current crop of players in the seventeen to nineteen age group actually had several really good ones.

Patrick Roberts was a given, but there were also players like Nathaniel Chalobah and Dominic Solanke.

According to Matt Crocker, players of this age group were already considered quite good for the U21 League.

But if they could go a step further and train with the first team, alongside the best players in the world, “it would definitely be the biggest motivation for them and an extremely valuable asset!”

Moreover, the first team’s resources were actually very abundant right now.

Dan Ashworth believed that at seventeen, selecting outstanding players from the academy to join the first team would be the best reward for the young players.

Because all the players considered it an honor to play for Bayswater Chinese’s first team!

Training with the first team, playing most games in the U21 League, and getting opportunities to play in the League Cup and FA Cup.

That was enough for young players.

If they performed even better, like Sterling, they could gradually establish themselves in the first team.

And even start to shine brightly.

To take it a step further, even if they ultimately couldn’t meet the first team’s standards and were forced to leave, their market value would be higher than when they were in the youth academy.

In short, no matter how you looked at it, this was a good thing for Bayswater Chinese.

Flick mentioned a point that aligned with Yang Cheng’s own thoughts: this kind of motivation wasn’t just for the young players.

It applied to the first-team players as well!

This season, Bayswater Chinese had no new signings, only Casemiro who joined in January.

This wasn’t a good thing!

But a stable squad was beneficial for the team to maintain a high level of performance.

The prerequisite was to be able to better motivate the team.

What could be more suitable than bringing in young players and injecting fresh blood?

These players from the youth academy were talented, driven, young, and full of energy. They were at an age where they were fighting for their futures, so when they joined the first team, even in training, they would go all out against the veterans!

One had to ask, what would the veterans think?

If they really performed worse than these youngsters in daily training, would they still have the face to ask for a starting spot?

Even more so, if by some chance a veteran was upstaged by a youngster, that would be a fun situation!

Flick had basically voiced Yang Cheng’s thoughts.

So, he decided that, in addition to Patrick Roberts, he would call up six more players aged seventeen to nineteen from the youth academy.

The youngest among them was the youth team’s top scorer, Dominic Solanke.

This player would not turn seventeen until September 14th.

Why did Yang Cheng have an impression of him?

Because Yang Cheng’s birthday was September 13th.

There was another thing: Solanke was one of the first batch of players recruited by the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

An amusing incident had occurred back then.

Solanke and his family lived in Basingstoke, eighty kilometers southeast of London.

From there to the Brent training center, even with some motorway driving, it would take a little over an hour.

Just a few minutes over.

When Bayswater Chinese registered him back then, The FA had an issue with this.

But Solanke’s parents drove multiple times, taking different routes, and finally managed to keep the time at around fifty-nine minutes.

That was how he narrowly passed.

Over the past few years, Solanke had performed exceptionally well in Bayswater Chinese’s youth teams.

You could say that after Harry Kane, it was Solanke.

For example, although he was not yet seventeen, he had already represented the team in the U21 League last season, scoring twenty-three goals in twenty-four appearances. His performance was extremely eye-catching, helping the team win the U21 League title and the FA Youth Cup.

You could say that in his age group, his talent was second only to Patrick Roberts.

As early as 2011, the England U16 team had eagerly called him up.

He moved up to the U17s in 2012, the U18s in 2013, and would likely make the U19s this year.

You could say he was always playing above his age group.

His African heritage gave him excellent physical attributes, and having been trained at Bayswater Chinese from a young age, he had developed superb technical skills.

So, just like with Patrick Roberts, Solanke was called up to train with the first team for the new season.

He would now feature more in the U21 League and represent Bayswater Chinese in the UEFA Youth League.

Yang Cheng certainly remembered this young player.

In fact, the trick his parents used back then was actually Yang Cheng’s advice from behind the scenes.

Yang Cheng had been quietly following this young player.

But overall, Solanke’s development had not deviated from Yang Cheng’s expectations.

His African descent gave him excellent physical and athletic abilities, which made him a terrifying presence on the forward line.

At the very least, Yang Cheng had already decided to let him and a few of his peers get some experience in the early rounds of the League Cup and FA Cup.

…

On the afternoon of August 16th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

2014/15 season, Premier League first round, Bayswater Chinese hosted Hull City.

This was the first match of the new season and the second of this round.

Earlier in the day, van Gaal’s Manchester United had narrowly beaten Swansea City 2-1 at home.

Everyone knew that the first round of the season was always tough.

The UEFA Super Cup had been moved up to August 13th and was held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Bayswater Chinese, thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale, won the trophy once again, securing a winning start to the new season.

And in the first round of the season, Yang Cheng still fielded his strongest lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

Compared to last season, there were two changes to the starting lineup.

But this was mainly due to injuries.

Pepe and Giroud were both injured in pre-season friendlies. The issues weren’t serious, but they would miss the start of the league season.

Against Hull City, Bayswater Chinese had the advantage in strength.

So, from the start, the home team pressed forward with a massive attack.

But Hull City set up to defend with all their might, and it wasn’t until the sixth minute that Harry Kane, receiving a through ball from Hazard, took a long shot from twenty-three meters out on the left, which was the first shot of the match.

But in the sixteenth minute, from a corner kick opportunity, van Dijk scored with a header amidst the chaos, scoring the opening goal for the team!

1-0!

This goal completely broke the deadlock, but Hull City’s staunch defense continued.

Just before halftime, Hull City cleared the ball from just outside their own penalty area. Nemanja Matić made an overlapping run, won an aerial duel, and headed the ball back into the box.

Gareth Bale suddenly surged forward, forcing Hull City’s centre-back, former Tottenham player Michael Dawson, to make a clearance error.

After getting the ball, Gareth Bale shielded it with his back to goal before laying it off to the arc of the penalty area.

Harry Kane followed up with a furious shot that tore through Hull City’s goal.

2-0!

After switching sides in the second half, Bayswater Chinese continued to control the match.

In the fifty-seventh minute, a diagonal long pass from Toni Kroos found Gareth Bale making a quick run forward. He headed the ball into the net from the right corner of the six-yard box, but the head referee signaled for offside, and the goal was disallowed.

But just nine minutes later, Modrić delivered a wonderful pass.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball horizontally with the outside of his left foot, cut inside, and unleashed a power shot with his left, sending the ball straight into the top left corner of the goal.

3-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium was filled with the cheers of the fans!

With the victory secured, Yang Cheng began to make substitutions.

In the seventy-sixth minute, substitute Sterling provided an assist, but Theo Walcott’s header from the back post in the six-yard box went just wide.

Later, Walcott sent in a cross pass, but Harry Kane’s shot was blocked by a self-sacrificing Michael Dawson.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 at home against Hull City, securing a winning start to the season!

Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at home.

Liverpool defeated Southampton 2-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Newcastle 2-0 away.

Chelsea came from behind to beat Burnley 3-1 away after conceding first.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese, with their 3-0 home victory, jumped to the top of the league table.

But many fans were already looking forward.

Because the second round would feature a clash between top teams.

…

August 23rd, Premier League, Round 2.

The crucial match of this round was Manchester City hosting Liverpool.

The game was deadlocked right from the start.

Mancini set up a tight defend and counter-attack formation.

Although Manchester City controlled the game’s tempo, they found it difficult to effectively break through Liverpool’s defensive setup.

One side had possession, the other defended staunchly. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a pretty match to watch.

There weren’t many threatening attacks either.

The entire first half was spent in this stalemate.

But just before the end of the half, there was a sudden turn of events.

Marco Reus suddenly switched to the right flank, broke through with the ball, and crossed it towards Agüero.

Croatian centre-back Lovren, who had just joined Liverpool this season, alertly cleared the ball out of the penalty area.

But the ball didn’t travel far.

Messi intercepted the ball a step ahead, broke into the edge of the six-yard box, and scored with a push shot.

1-0!

Everyone expected the second half to be very exciting.

And it was.

After the restart, Liverpool launched an all-out attack.

Just four minutes in, Glen Johnson crossed from the right. Vincent Kompany’s header clearance was disrupted by Suárez, and he couldn’t get a clean connection.

Sturridge easily tapped it in at the back post, successfully equalizing.

1-1!

The game was wide open!

But playing openly clearly put Liverpool at a disadvantage.

In the fifty-fifth minute, David Silva and Messi completed a brilliant one-two pass, after which the Argentine delivered a clever backheel.

Marco Reus broke into the box and pulled it back for Messi, who, unmarked, easily scored with a left-footed power shot.

2-1!

Without defending with all their might, Liverpool simply couldn’t withstand Manchester City’s attacks!

And in the sixty-ninth minute, it was another through ball from Messi that found Agüero in the box for a one-on-one, and he scored with a low shot.

3-1!

And just before the end of the match, Rickie Lambert, who had just come on as a substitute, met a cross from Sturridge in the six-yard box and scored with a header, changing the score to 2-3!

Although Liverpool launched a frantic attack, they ultimately failed to equalize.

In this round, Yang Cheng’s team traveled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham away.

Just eight minutes into the game, Theo Walcott broke through on the right flank and sent a through ball.

Modrić, making an overlapping run, passed it across from the right side of the box, and Gareth Bale scored with a push shot from the left side of the six-yard box!

The Welshman had scored in two consecutive rounds.

1-0!

After that, the game fell into a stalemate.

It wasn’t until the forty-ninth minute of the second half that Bayswater Chinese pressed high up the pitch again. Marcelo tackled the ball from Tottenham’s right winger, Érik Lamela, dribbled all the way into the left side of the box, and scored with a left-footed power shot, extending the team’s lead.

2-0!

And after a substitution, Sterling completed a very spectacular attack in the seventieth minute.

Receiving a pass from Nemanja Matić, Sterling dribbled past three Tottenham defenders, broke into their box, and easily scored with a toe-poke from the edge of the six-yard box, sealing the victory for Bayswater Chinese!

The nineteen-year-old youngster was ecstatic after scoring, completely forgetting himself.

This was truly a flash of brilliance from the young genius!

He even had another brilliant tight-angle power shot five minutes later, but it hit the post, missing the chance for a brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 away, securing two consecutive wins.

In this round, Chelsea defeated Leicester City 2-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Diego Costa.

Meanwhile, The Gunners came from behind to beat Everton 2-1 away, with goals from Benzema and Fàbregas.

David Moyes’s team had breached Lloris’s goal in the nineteenth minute of the first half.

Manchester United’s away game against Sunderland in this round was also a perilous one.

Although Juan Mata scored in the seventeenth minute, Jack Rodwell equalized in the thirtieth.

It wasn’t until a crucial moment in the second half that a goal from Cavani helped The Red Devils beat Sunderland 2-1 away.

After two rounds of matches, Yang Cheng’s team continued to lead the Premier League table.

But his biggest concerns were the upcoming Champions League draw and whether Gareth Bale could win the UEFA Best Player in Europe award that he so desperately wanted.

Chapter 315: A New Record High! A Wish Granted! Yang Cheng’s Fearsome Team Is Back!

August 28th, 5:30 PM.

When Yang Cheng, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, stepped out of the chauffeured car, the entire square in front of the Grimaldi Forum erupted!

All the media reporters gathered at the scene were utterly thrilled!

Yang Cheng was here!

Why was he here?

One moment, everyone was looking at Yang Cheng in complete surprise.

In their memory, Yang Cheng rarely appeared at such occasions.

The next moment, they all snapped back to reality, raising their video and photo cameras, frantically shooting at Yang Cheng while shouting incessantly.

“Yang Cheng, here, look at me!”

“I’m from The Times, Yang Cheng, look over here.”

“kicker magazine, Mr. Yang, over here!”

“Here, here, Yang, I’m here.”

All the media reporters, whether they knew him or not, were shouting at him at the top of their lungs.

Yang Cheng got out of the car, maintained a polite smile, and waved to the surrounding fans and reporters as he slowly walked toward the entrance of the conference center.

Soon, the players from Bayswater Chinese also began to arrive.

UEFA had already announced the top three finalists from the first round of voting for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award.

In no particular order: C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Toni Kroos.

In UEFA’s introduction of the three finalists, C. Ronaldo was noted for his 31 La Liga goals, which made him the top scorer in the league.

But most importantly, he had scored 17 Champions League goals, setting a new record for the most goals in a single season in the history of the competition.

Even though Real Madrid didn’t make it to the final, C. Ronaldo’s performance was there for all to see.

It could be said that the Portuguese star had truly “won”!

Gareth Bale was a different story. A Champions League winner, he had scored 38 goals in the Premier League and was last season’s European Golden Boot recipient.

It was safe to say that the Welshman had experienced a massive breakout season.

Almost everyone said that Gareth Bale was challenging C. Ronaldo’s position.

Because the technical characteristics of these two players were truly very similar!

Therefore, they were also secretly competing against each other!

Besides winning the Champions League with Bayswater Chinese, Toni Kroos had also won the World Cup with the German national team in Brazil just recently, even scoring the last-minute winner in the final himself.

This led everyone to give Toni Kroos extremely high praise!

The German midfielder was hailed as the number one hero in Germany’s World Cup victory!

Over the past few years, the performance of Bayswater Chinese was undeniable.

But they had largely been overlooked for major individual awards.

This was why Yang Cheng rarely attended grand events like today’s.

He even skipped most of FIFA’s award ceremonies.

Many people claimed it was a struggle between him and FIFA and UEFA.

But now, he was here!

Two of his players were in the top three.

For him to attend at this particular time, the answer was clearly about to be revealed.

So, would it be Gareth Bale, or Toni Kroos?

When the two stars from Bayswater Chinese stepped out of the car together, they immediately caused another sensation.

Success makes a person look good!

If Toni Kroos had always embodied the image of a classic handsome German, then Gareth Bale had undergone a complete transformation in recent years.

When he first debuted, he was as skinny as a monkey, with almost gaunt features.

So, many people thought, how could this kid possibly look like a star?

But gradually, as he played better and better, he started receiving more support, paid more attention to his image, and learned how to dress and groom himself.

Especially in the last few years, as he grew stronger and more powerful, everyone was surprised to find that their impression of him had undergone a dramatic, subconscious change.

He still didn’t fit everyone’s definition of a handsome man.

But that didn’t stop him from cultivating a healthy image in the minds of countless female fans in Europe, North America, and around the world, earning the support of all fans.

For a football player, performance on the pitch is ultimately what speaks loudest!

…

The commotion Yang Cheng caused outside naturally spread into the venue.

The moment he walked into the conference center, he immediately became the center of attention.

To describe the current Yang Cheng in one sentence: Though he rarely attended, his legend preceded him at every gathering.

As soon as he entered, people continuously came over to greet him and shake his hand.

Aside from the guests for the draw and other invited guests, almost everyone present today were club representatives from the 32 teams participating in the Champions League.

Representatives from teams in Europe’s major leagues, in particular, would all take the initiative to go and speak with Yang Cheng.

Because they all knew very well what kind of status Yang Cheng held in European football today.

As for the teams from mid- to lower-tier leagues, they had no chance of breaking into this circle to get close to Yang Cheng. They could only stand on the periphery, looking on with envy at Yang Cheng in the spotlight.

He was not only the most successful head coach in world football today but also the most successful owner!

Some even said he was one of the most influential figures in world football today!

He was adorned with so many dazzling halos that it was hard to tell which one represented the real Yang Cheng.

But as the man himself, Yang Cheng found it taxing to deal with everyone.

After finally breaking away from the crowd, he saw Florentino Pérez walking towards him.

“Hey, Florentino, what are you doing here?” Yang Cheng said with a smile, shaking his hand and giving him a hug.

Given their relationship and shared interests, it was no exaggeration to call them the best of allies.

“I wasn’t planning on coming, but I heard you were attending, so I had to come and show my support.”

Even though he knew it was just a nice thing to say, it was pleasant to hear.

Yang Cheng smiled and thanked him, then greeted Real Madrid’s General Manager, José Ángel Sánchez, and chief steward, Manuel Redondo, who were following Florentino Pérez closely.

“You’ve heard about what’s been happening the last couple of days, right?”

After the pleasantries, Yang Cheng and Florentino Pérez moved to a less crowded area.

Manuel Redondo and José Ángel Sánchez stood on the outside, perfectly positioned to block others from approaching.

This allowed the two of them to talk freely.

Such is the benefit of having considerate assistants.

“You mean, the Nations League?” Yang Cheng asked.

Florentino Pérez nodded.

Every year, UEFA holds regular meetings to discuss various matters.

If an unexpected event occurs, they will also convene an emergency meeting.

For instance, UEFA would hold a meeting just before the Champions League group stage draw.

The news that ordinary people get from such meetings is usually what UEFA intentionally wants people to know.

For example, what agreements were reached, what decisions were made, and so on.

But in reality, most of the time in these meetings is spent on discussions.

These discussions might not lead to anything, or they might take years to come to fruition, but the discussions themselves represent a trend.

As heavyweight clubs in European football, both Real Madrid and Bayswater Chinese were certain to get inside information.

To put it bluntly, who doesn’t have a few friends?

If you don’t have friends, you shouldn’t be in this circle.

“They started discussing it last year, but back then it was just about establishing a national team competition covering all 54 member associations.”

“But now, they’re discussing the format of this competition. They say it’ll adopt a league model, not the old tournament-style.”

“Also, I’ve received news that FIFA is discussing some things too. For example, they’re planning to cancel friendly matches between national teams and establish a so-called World League.”

Discussions were just that, for now. Nothing was set in stone.

But both discussions pointed to the same trend.

Neither FIFA nor UEFA was content with their past roles as industry regulators; they were starting to want a piece of the pie.

In fact, they wanted the biggest slice of the cake!

“Whether it’s the Nations League or the World League, neither can be pushed through in a short time. The various countries will surely have strong opinions. I think we should just wait and see for now.”

Having said that, Yang Cheng changed the subject. “You see, last time when UEFA decided to give the Europa League winner a spot in the Champions League group stage, the countries already started arguing.”

Florentino Pérez understood what Yang Cheng meant.

Unequal distribution of benefits!

From UEFA’s perspective, giving the Europa League winner a spot in the Champions League group stage would enhance the competitiveness of the Europa League, raise the level of the competition, and in turn increase its influence and entertainment value.

The end result would be more commercial revenue.

But for the domestic leagues of various countries, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

The most important issue wasn’t the spot itself, but the fact that it opened a breach.

Previously, there was one and only one way for a club to qualify for the Champions League and Europa League: through their league ranking.

The domestic league was the only ticket.

This was a long-standing agreement between the national football associations and UEFA.

Later, after Liverpool won the title and participated in the Champions League as defending champions, it was considered a special exception. It caused some controversy, but everyone grudgingly accepted it.

And now?

They wanted to turn the exception into a rule.

This breach was getting wider and wider.

The key point was that the Europa League winner would get a Champions League qualification spot.

What did that mean?

For the Premier League, the Europa League trophy would be more valuable than finishing fourth in the league.

Because the fourth-placed team still had to go through the play-offs.

Taking it a step further, as UEFA’s reach extended, the expansion of the 2016 European Championship was already foreseeably going to be a huge moneymaker for them. And now they wanted to reach even further?

What if one day, they kept widening this breach? Would league rankings even have any meaning?

Would UEFA just be able to run its own show in the future?

The Champions League would be the top tier, the Europa League the second tier, and they could just bring back the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

A three-tiered UEFA cup system, directly covering the top 10 teams from the top five leagues, with its own promotion and relegation!

Believe it or not, talk of reviving the European Cup Winners’ Cup had been around for a while.

Some might say these were all just hypotheticals.

But if such things weren’t dealt with in their nascent stages, they would be impossible to stop once they took shape.

By then, they would just lay their cards on the table, and how would you play against them?

So, the debate over this matter was fierce.

Additionally, there was another noticeable change this year.

The UEFA Super Cup was held earlier.

Previously, the UEFA Super Cup was always at the end of August, the day after the Champions League group stage draw.

But starting this year, it was moved to mid-August, before the domestic leagues started.

The venue was also constantly changing. It used to be held at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, then last year in Prague, Czech Republic, and this year in Cardiff.

What about next year?

Again, this wasn’t an imminent problem, but a trend.

What was UEFA planning to do?

“I heard that someone within UEFA proposed gathering the four finalists from the Champions League and Europa League to play a Super Cup tournament outside of Europe during the summer!” Florentino Pérez said with a grave expression.

“I’ve heard that too,” Yang Cheng nodded.

“They’ve really gone mad now, getting greedier and greedier!”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly.

In his previous life, this proposal never came to fruition.

Instead, a few years later, FIFA expanded the Club World Cup and moved it to the summer.

And the FIFA president who made that happen was the current UEFA Secretary General, Infantino!

Often, everything is connected.

The International Champions Cup cake was getting bigger and bigger, and everyone was green with envy.

To give a simple example, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after the 2016 European Championship was expanded, the profit it brought to UEFA increased from over 700 million US dollars to 900 million US dollars.

The number of participating teams doubled, and there were many more matches, but the value of the tournament didn’t increase by much.

This was marginal utility!

Everyone knew that expansion led to a drop in the quality of the matches.

What was the point of bringing those minnows into the European Championship?

But what about the International Champions Cup?

After years of mature operation, its commercial value was constantly rising, and its influence was also expanding.

Especially as the number of countries and regions covered by its broadcasts increased, so did the viewership ratings.

This caused the value of the tournament to climb at an exponential rate.

Every successful edition made the event more and more prestigious.

The most crucial point was that the European Championship was held every four years, while the International Champions Cup was played annually.

All the giant clubs had clearly seen this, which was why Florentino Pérez was so nervous.

If UEFA really expanded the Super Cup and held it in countries outside of Europe, then its intention was very clear.

If the International Champions Cup wouldn’t be brought into the fold, then UEFA would create a competition to directly challenge it.

“I am the industry regulator. All European clubs listen to me.”

No matter how great the International Champions Cup was, no matter how fast its revenue grew, could it grow faster than the Champions League?

If UEFA expanded the UEFA Super Cup, would the powerhouse clubs dare not to play?

Refuse to play?

Then you can forget about the Champions League!

The potential of the International Champions Cup was for the future.

But the Champions League was solid, tangible income right now!

That was UEFA’s leverage!

“Don’t worry, football is a highly mature industry. Even if UEFA wants to push for the expansion of the UEFA Super Cup, it won’t happen overnight!” Yang Cheng saw it clearly, but he also knew that this plan would not succeed.

At least, it didn’t in his previous life.

And it wouldn’t now.

“That’s easy for you to say. They are constantly probing, constantly experimenting. Last year they changed the venue, this year they moved the date forward. Are they going to announce the expansion next year?”

It had to be said, Florentino Pérez was a natural-born rebel.

Or rather, Real Madrid had always been the ringleader of rebellion against UEFA.

“It’s not that simple. Expansion involves huge interests. Even if it’s just four teams, let’s not talk about anything else, if we don’t cooperate, can they really use coercive measures?”

That certainly wouldn’t happen.

They would surely try persuasion first, then push it slowly.

This was UEFA’s usual approach.

That way, there would be time.

Yang Cheng was a transmigrator, he knew what would happen next, but others didn’t!

“Did you hear something?” Florentino Pérez guessed.

Even if they pushed it slowly, it would eventually happen.

But Yang Cheng didn’t seem scared at all.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment but didn’t reveal too much, especially about the US government’s intention to take down FIFA and UEFA. If that news leaked ahead of time, it might not happen.

Organizations like FIFA and UEFA also had very strong lobbying and diplomatic capabilities with governments.

Under normal circumstances, governments were quite willing to cooperate with them rather than attack them.

“There’s been a lot of internal conflict within FIFA recently, hasn’t there,” Yang Cheng casually changed the subject.

“It’s been years. That business with the World Cup bid…”

Florentino Pérez stopped abruptly mid-sentence.

Among the countries bidding for the World Cup back then, England was one, but they lost to Russia.

Subsequently, two successive chairmen of The FA stepped down because of it.

Could it be…

“Don’t look at me like that, I really don’t know,” Yang Cheng chuckled.

But the more he said that, the more suspicious Florentino Pérez became.

This actually made him see Yang Cheng in a new light.

He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to have such sources within the British government.

It seemed his background was truly not simple!

In just a few short years, this young partner of his was becoming more and more astonishing!

This also made Florentino Pérez hold Yang Cheng in even higher regard, and he secretly decided to stick with Yang Cheng through thick and thin in the future!

If a major government really made a move, then FIFA and UEFA would be nothing!

…

After finishing their crucial conversation, the two of them tacitly changed the subject.

When Platini arrived with Infantino, Florentino Pérez was in the middle of complaining about Yang Cheng.

“What secrets are you two discussing?” Platini asked with a broad smile.

These were the two rebel leaders who gave him the biggest headaches. He was always worried about them teaming up.

“Ha, Michel.” Florentino Pérez politely greeted Platini and Infantino.

“I was just ‘warning’ him to keep a lower profile in Spain.”

“Oh?” Platini was intrigued. “Have they been making big moves recently?”

“You don’t know?” Florentino Pérez asked back with a smile.

But soon, he answered his own question.

“Don’t be fooled by Málaga being a Spanish second division team now. In the past two months, they’ve invested a lot of funds and started integrating all the youth academies in the Province of Málaga, acquiring a few, on top of the ones they already had and some partnerships.”

“Now, the youth talent in the whole of Andalusia is basically monopolized by Málaga’s youth academy.”

As soon as Florentino Pérez finished, Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

“You’re exaggerating. What do you mean, monopolized? Wasn’t Málaga already the biggest La Liga team in southern Andalusia?”

“Besides, it’s just the million-plus population of the Province of Málaga. To the east, there’s Granada, and north, across the Sierra de las Nieves and the Baetic System, there’s Sevilla. There’s no way we could monopolize anything.”

“The whole of Andalusia has a population of over six million.”

Yang Cheng’s retort made Platini and Infantino laugh.

When it came to youth development, they were definitely supportive.

Málaga’s focus on youth training, reorganizing the youth clubs in the surrounding areas through acquisition or partnership, was actually beneficial for Spanish football as a whole.

In fact, the youth development potential in the Málaga area was quite significant.

For instance, before Yang Cheng transmigrated in his previous life, Serie A’s Juventus had scouted a young Dutch centre-back named Dean Huijsen from Málaga’s youth academy.

The young lad was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and held dual Dutch and Spanish nationality.

His father, Donny Huijsen, started at Ajax and was a professional player, but his career was unremarkable, with stints at Ajax and AZ Alkmaar where he was average.

After retiring early at 25, he moved to Marbella with his 5-year-old son, Dean Huijsen, in 2010.

Many people from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Nordic countries were just like his family.

So, the potential in this area was immense.

Yang Cheng had specifically looked into it a few days ago and found that this Dean Huijsen was currently playing for a small youth club in Marbella called Costa Unida.

And this club had a partnership with Málaga.

For Yang Cheng and Málaga, the current priority was to overhaul the youth development in the entire Province of Málaga, to fully unearth more talents like Huijsen from immigrant families, and to comprehensively raise the level of their youth training.

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t reveal his plans. He just retorted Florentino Pérez.

“You guys at Real Madrid occupy Madrid, you’re extravagantly wealthy, so of course you don’t have to worry about anything. But we’re different, we have to be meticulous with our calculations in everything.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng said self-deprecatingly, “If Málaga doesn’t show any improvement soon, I’ll probably be cursed to death by the fans!”

Everyone chuckled at his words.

The chaos at Málaga over the past few years had been truly ridiculous.

Otherwise, UEFA wouldn’t have imposed a suspension on them.

Although Málaga later paid off its debts, the suspension was only reduced from four years to two.

Of course, now that the team was relegated, the suspension didn’t matter anymore.

But Platini was quite pleased with the “dispute” between Yang Cheng and Florentino Pérez.

He even wished the two of them would start a fight right on the spot.

Real Madrid was the strongest in history.

Bayswater Chinese was the strongest in the present!

How strong?

Everyone was about to find out.

…

As everyone knows, during the draw, UEFA always announces the club coefficient rankings for the past five years.

Five years includes the current season.

So, it’s a look back at the previous four years.

In the past four seasons, Bayswater Chinese had won three Champions League titles and reached the semi-finals once.

Their total points reached 159.942!

Many people might not have a concept of what that means.

Second-placed Real Madrid was just over 138 points.

Barça was just over 128.

Bayern Munich was just over 122.

In other words, Bayswater Chinese was in a league of its own, with a lead of more than 20 points over the teams behind them.

Consider this: among the 32 Champions League teams, less than half might score over 20 points in a single season.

Bayswater Chinese’s lead was just that dominant!

When UEFA President Platini announced this, he had to congratulate Bayswater Chinese.

“This sets the highest record since we started tracking Champions League coefficient points!”

It was that ridiculous!

The venue erupted in warm applause.

Yang Cheng, however, remained quite composed.

Because he couldn’t tell how many people were genuinely appreciative and how many were just being insincere.

But when it came to the draw, Bayswater Chinese’s luck had never been very good.

This time was no exception.

From Pot 2, they drew the Serie A champions, Juventus.

But there was no complaining about that, because Pot 2 included teams like Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Schalke 04, and Shakhtar Donetsk.

In comparison, Yang Cheng actually thought drawing Juventus wasn’t bad.

But Pot 3 was a bit unlucky, as they drew Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen.

Pot 4 brought them La Liga’s Athletic Bilbao.

In other words, teams from the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, and La Liga were grouped together again.

When the draw results were announced, Yang Cheng really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Bayswater Chinese’s draw luck wasn’t great, but Nice and Atalanta had good fortune.

It was actually quite normal when you thought about it.

Whenever a group of death like this appeared, it often meant that another group would have a battle of minnows.

Atalanta was drawn into a group with Primeira Liga’s Benfica, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Süper Lig’s Galatasaray.

The crowd was in an uproar.

But everyone was used to it.

Ever since Platini took office, almost every season of the Champions League would have a similar group.

And that wasn’t all.

In the qualifying rounds before the group stage, you would often see top teams from the four major leagues pitted against each other in a duel, while teams from smaller national leagues engaged in a battle of minnows. Who would believe there was no manipulation involved?

Nice’s luck was also good, drawing Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and AS Roma.

In terms of strength, the four teams in this group were very evenly matched, with probably the smallest gap between them.

The key would be who could perform better in the group.

As for Bayswater Chinese’s draw, Yang Cheng wasn’t really concerned.

It was their opponents who should be concerned!

…

After the draw, the tense second round of voting for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award began.

Infantino hosted the awards ceremony, inviting the three players present on stage for a brief interview.

Sitting in the audience, Yang Cheng looked at his two players on stage and felt a sense of pride.

This year was a breakthrough year for Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, two players had made it into the top three for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award.

Moreover, Platini had called him several times before, all to hint that a Bayswater Chinese player would win.

So, Yang Cheng wasn’t actually worried.

It made sense, too.

If, with the achievements of Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos, they still didn’t win, then UEFA might as well scrap the award.

When the voting ended and Platini walked onto the stage amidst thunderous applause, everyone knew the most nerve-wracking moment had arrived.

The UEFA President held the final voting results.

“Let us congratulate, from Bayswater Chinese…”

When Platini read out the club’s name, C. Ronaldo’s expression on stage visibly dimmed.

He had expected it, but when the moment came, he still felt disappointed.

But he quickly composed himself.

He was never someone who would be easily defeated.

Such setbacks would only fuel his fighting spirit and push him to work even harder!

“…Gareth Bale!”

Platini finally announced the winner’s name!

The venue instantly erupted in incredibly enthusiastic applause.

The Welshman was so excited that he jumped up.

His wish had finally been granted!

But he quickly turned around and hugged his teammate Toni Kroos tightly, then shook hands and hugged C. Ronaldo.

The big screen at the venue immediately played a promotional video for Gareth Bale’s award.

The Welsh international had experienced a massive breakout in his career last season.

At 25 years old, he was entering the prime of his career.

Many people said he was like C. Ronaldo.

But in reality, everyone knew he wasn’t quite C. Ronaldo.

The Portuguese star had reached the pinnacle of world football at the age of 23.

But Gareth Bale was now 25 and had only just won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award.

However, everyone also knew that Gareth Bale had a very good chance of winning the Ballon d’Or this year.

He had beaten C. Ronaldo in the voting for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, and Messi’s performance in the Premier League last season was not at its best.

Gareth Bale had already beaten Messi in the voting for the Premier League Player of the Year.

His biggest rival was originally the Brazilian superstar Neymar, who was playing at home.

But Brazil’s consecutive humiliating defeats at home made Neymar lose all face, making it impossible for him to win the award.

As for Germany, the eventual champions, their team didn’t have a particularly standout superstar.

Toni Kroos scored a last-minute winner in the final, but within the Bayswater Chinese team, the number one star was Gareth Bale.

So, after winning this award, as long as Gareth Bale maintained a high level of performance for the next six months, it was believed he had a very good chance of claiming the highest individual honor.

In his acceptance speech, the Welsh winger thanked his teammates.

“Without the team, I could never have won this award!”

He also specifically thanked head coach Yang Cheng.

“From Southampton to Bayswater Chinese, it was the best decision I ever made in my life!”

“I still remember the words you said to me when we first met. I will definitely continue to work hard!”

When the news of Gareth Bale winning the UEFA Best Player in Europe award in Monaco reached England, the British media universally sang his praises.

The Sun’s headline on the front page the next day read “Master of Europe,” praising Gareth Bale for becoming the king of Europe.

The British media believed that Gareth Bale fully deserved the award.

The Times also considered Gareth Bale’s performance over the past year to be dreamlike.

But the authoritative newspaper also believed that if the Welshman wanted to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or, he would have to continue working hard.

Because Messi and C. Ronaldo had extremely high popularity worldwide.

“As we all know, popularity often carries a lot of weight in the voting for FIFA awards.”

The Times suggested that Gareth Bale should keep scoring goals and be in top form in the second half of the year.

Gareth Bale himself seemed to think so too.

…

Afternoon of August 30th, Prudential Stadium, London.

Premier League Round 3, Bayswater Chinese home against Sunderland.

Before the match, the club specially arranged a trophy presentation.

Gareth Bale carried the award he had just won in Monaco, parading around the pitch to the fervent cheers of the entire stadium.

And in the match itself, the Welshman showed an aggressive spirit from the very beginning.

Visiting the Prudential Stadium, Sunderland naturally adopted a defensive, park-the-bus strategy.

But Gus Poyet’s team’s defense only held for 12 minutes.

In the 12th minute, Gareth Bale made a sharp stop on the right side of the penalty area, shook off a defender, and scored with a left-footed power shot, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

The Welshman had scored in three consecutive rounds!

Just six minutes later, Eden Hazard made a brilliant pass after a dribbling run on the left side of the box. Inside the area, Harry Kane made a clever run and, unmarked, scored with a close-range push shot into an empty net.

2-0!

In the 37th minute of the first half, it was again Hazard dribbling on the left flank. After cutting inside past three defenders, he delivered another wonderful pass, and an unmarked Modrić scored with a push shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

3-0!

After halftime, Sunderland still defended with all their might, but in the 63rd minute, Marcelo crossed from the left. Harry Kane’s power shot from near the penalty spot was parried by the goalkeeper, but Gareth Bale easily followed up with a tap-in.

4-0!

A brace!

Having just won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, Gareth Bale celebrated with two goals!

But Bayswater Chinese’s attack continued.

In the 69th minute, after cutting inside with the ball, Hazard sent a through ball. Harry Kane scored with a power shot from near the left corner of the six-yard box, completing his own brace.

5-0!

In the 78th minute, Hazard finally got an opportunity, scoring with an unexpected long shot that flew past Sunderland’s goalkeeper.

It was his first Premier League goal of the season.

6-0!

By this point, Sunderland had completely collapsed.

Just one minute later, Harry Kane dropped deep to receive the ball and played a through ball. Gareth Bale scored again with a right-footed push shot from the right side of the penalty area.

7-0!

Hat-trick!

The Welshman was so excited that he sprinted around the pitch in celebration!

And what was even more unexpected was that in the 80th minute, Yang Cheng substituted Theo Walcott for Gareth Bale.

Less than a minute after coming on as a substitute, Walcott scored again with a push shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

8-0!

The assist came from Modrić!

This was also the last goal of the match.

At the Prudential Stadium, Bayswater Chinese celebrated Gareth Bale’s award with an exhilarating 8-0 thrashing!

And the Welshman proved his determination to strive for the highest individual honor with a hat-trick!

In this round of matches, Manchester City beat Stoke City 1-0 at home.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away to Burnley.

Chelsea beat Everton 6-3 away.

Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 away.

Arsenal beat Leicester City 2-1 away.

After three rounds, Bayswater Chinese led the league.

In the first three rounds, Yang Cheng’s team had scored 14 goals and conceded 0!

This shocked the entire Premier League, and indeed, the whole of European football.

Just as The Times commented after this round.

“That fearsome Bayswater Chinese team that everyone feared is back!”

…

After the third round of the Premier League, there was a two-week international break.

Two weeks later, when the Premier League resumed, Bayswater Chinese faced Manchester United away in the fourth round.

This was the first clash between top teams for the two clubs this season.

Unlike Bayswater Chinese’s irresistible momentum, van Gaal’s team had a stumbling start to the season.

A major reason was the Dutchman’s insistence on the three-at-the-back system that had been so successful for him at the World Cup.

Despite winning some games, van Gaal still faced a lot of criticism.

Especially after the 0-0 away draw against Burnley in the previous round.

Public criticism of the three-at-the-back formation began to grow louder.

But van Gaal insisted that there was no problem with Manchester United using a three-at-the-back formation.

He even deployed a three-at-the-back system at home against Bayswater Chinese.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Rojo, Daley Blind, and David Luiz;

Midfield: Ashley Young, Pogba, De Rossi, Strootman, and Valencia;

Forwards: Rooney and Robben.

Clearly, van Gaal’s so-called 3-5-2 formation wasn’t a rigid three-at-the-back.

It was more like a flexible system.

But due to the departure of veterans like Evra, Vidić, and Ferdinand, Manchester United’s defense was now seriously depleted.

After several experiments, especially since playing David Luiz as the central centre-back wasn’t very reliable, he chose Daley Blind.

For this match, Yang Cheng stuck to his 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, van Dijk, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Aaron Ramsey in front of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott.

Apart from goalkeeper Courtois, almost all the international players who had played two full matches for their national teams, as well as those from Eastern Europe and South America, were rotated.

This showed Yang Cheng’s confidence in his team’s strength.

And right at the start of the match, just 46 seconds in, left-back Luke Shaw made a quick overlapping run and took an angled shot from the left side of the penalty area, aiming for the far corner, but the ball slid just past the post.

“Manchester United seem a bit slow to get into the game today.”

“Luke Shaw’s shot was more like a wake-up call to the Manchester United players that the game has started!”

Although Bayswater Chinese was playing away, they gradually took control of the match.

Manchester United didn’t sit back and defend but played aggressively at home.

In terms of quality, Bayswater Chinese was still superior.

But Bayswater Chinese’s several attacks failed to break through Manchester United’s defense.

And most of them were long shots.

A more dangerous moment came in the 17th minute when Luke Shaw sent in a cross from the left. Harry Kane, under close marking from Daley Blind, couldn’t control the ball effectively when he received it.

The tracking-back David Luiz got to the ball first and cleared it.

The Brazilian centre-back might be a bit rash and prone to mistakes, but his performance was full of energy.

However, there was a very clear situation in the match.

Manchester United’s three-at-the-back system meant that both Ashley Young and Valencia, although they tracked back actively on the wings, spent more time in midfield.

So, from the 20th minute onwards, Yang Cheng decisively adjusted his tactics, specifically targeting the space behind them after winning the ball.

This quickly paid off.

In the 24th minute, while Walcott was dribbling in the right channel, he was fouled by De Rossi and Rojo who were tracking back.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a free kick in an advanced position.

Although the position was a bit to the right, the distance was good.

Gareth Bale stood at the spot, placed the ball, and slowly backed up, measuring his run-up.

After Manchester United’s wall was set, head referee Phil Dowd blew his whistle. Gareth Bale started his run-up quickly and struck a brilliant butterfly ball with his left foot.

The ball climbed rapidly over the wall and then dipped sharply, its flight path somewhat erratic.

This made it difficult for goalkeeper De Gea to make an accurate prediction, and when he dived, he couldn’t get a hand to the ball.

The ball flew into the top right corner of the Manchester United goal.

1-0!

Gareth Bale had scored in four consecutive games!

The Welshman’s scoring form this season was excellent!

Conceding a goal at home in a clash between top teams was a truly terrible situation for Manchester United.

Thus, van Gaal’s team began to attack proactively.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, waited for opportunities to counter-attack.

In the 31st minute, Toni Kroos had already created a golden opportunity on a counter-attack.

A diagonal long pass caused De Gea to come out and miss the ball, but Walcott’s shot lacked power and was cleared off the line by Daley Blind.

But this dangerous fast break still didn’t intimidate Manchester United.

Just four minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched another quick counter-attack.

Toni Kroos played a through ball into space. Gareth Bale knocked the ball past his opponents and ran around them, using his speed to forcefully overtake Strootman and De Rossi, heading straight for the penalty area.

Manchester United’s right-sided player Valencia was desperately chasing back.

From outside the box on the left, Gareth Bale played a diagonal pass into the left side of the penalty area.

Harry Kane made a diagonal run into the left side of the box and shot immediately.

The ball hit the timely-tracking David Luiz and bounced out.

But the second wave of attack came immediately.

Aaron Ramsey followed up quickly and smashed a power shot into the Manchester United goal.

2-0!

But Manchester United still played with great ferocity, still trying to fight back.

Just before the end of the first half, after a series of passes between Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Aaron Ramsey, and Luke Shaw, Luke Shaw delivered a cross pass into the box.

From the left of the penalty spot, Harry Kane, with his back to goal, used his body to shield the ball from Daley Blind, received it, turned, and fired a right-footed power shot that once again flew past the Manchester United goalkeeper.

3-0!

The entire Old Trafford stadium fell almost completely silent.

Conceding three goals in the first half, almost all originating from the flanks.

And after the break, Bayswater Chinese weathered Manchester United’s opening blitz. In the 58th minute, Toni Kroos played a diagonal pass from the left channel across to near the right corner of the six-yard box.

This time, Walcott arrived at full tilt, caught up to the ball, and scored with a right-footed tap-in, sending the ball into Manchester United’s net once again.

4-0!

In the 78th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a counter-press in the attacking third.

Under pressure from Harry Kane, Argentine defender Rojo made a mistake with a back pass.

Substitute youngster Sterling suddenly made a diagonal run from the outside into the right side of the box, intercepted the ball before Daley Blind could get to it, and scored with a push shot to the far corner from the edge of the six-yard box.

5-0!

A deathly silence fell over Old Trafford!

Under the ferocious assault of Bayswater Chinese, van Gaal’s Manchester United was completely exposed!

Is three-at-the-back really suitable for the Premier League?

Chapter 316: A £200 Million Shopping Spree! The Premier League Spectacle That Shocked the World! The Gods Finally Bleed!

After the match at Old Trafford, the British media completely collapsed!

In fact, even before this game, the public had low expectations for van Gaal’s first clash between top teams of the new season, especially since the opponent was Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

It’s safe to say that apart from Manchester United fans, everyone from the media to the commentators believed that a narrow loss would be acceptable.

After all, this was van Gaal’s first major match since arriving in the Premier League.

Even van Gaal himself, when interviewed by reporters, stated that he wasn’t concerned about the result of this particular game.

“I care more about our performance during the match!”

However, van Gaal also expressed his belief that the team could deliver a satisfactory result at Old Trafford.

The implication was that even in defeat, Manchester United would go down fighting!

But what was the result?

Sky Sports’ post-match comment was a single sentence: “Manchester United were utterly knocked down, the kind they can’t get up from!”

A 5-0 scoreline!

And at Old Trafford, no less.

This was simply unacceptable to everyone.

After the match, numerous British media outlets launched a full-scale attack.

Manchester United legends Scholes and Michael Owen, serving as commentators for BT Sport, questioned van Gaal’s 3-5-2 formation in their post-match analysis.

Scholes stated that Manchester United’s traditional style was the 4-4-2, “the formation that brought Manchester United success for the past twenty years.”

“But van Gaal seems obsessed with the 3-5-2, because it was very effective for him at the World Cup.”

Scholes pointed out that Manchester United played too slowly under van Gaal and didn’t look like a Premier League team at all.

“In the past, many people worried that if Pep Guardiola coached a Premier League team, his possession-based football style would fail because the tempo was too slow. But in reality, Guardiola has succeeded in the Premier League.”

“He’s picking up the pace!”

“But so far this season, Manchester United gives me the feeling of being slow, a very clumsy, sluggish kind of slow.”

“The players on the pitch are always trying hard to control the ball, but they can never break through or create an attacking threat.”

Scholes believed that this issue wasn’t obvious in the first three rounds because the opponents were not strong.

But when facing a top-tier team like Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United’s problems were laid bare.

Up front, there was no speed in attack, and they couldn’t open up the game.

In the back, they abandoned the familiar four-at-the-back system for a three-at-the-back formation.

“This past summer, we lost veterans like Evra, Vidić, and Ferdinand. Our backline is too young and lacks experience, and our players are slightly lacking in overall quality.”

“Under these circumstances, using the more familiar four-at-the-back system would surely have been better.”

“But van Gaal stubbornly uses three-at-the-back, and that has become a problem.”

David Luiz was still not steady enough, and while Daley Blind’s distribution was good as the central centre-back, he struggled physically.

During the match, Blind couldn’t gain an advantage against Harry Kane.

As for the Argentine, Rojo, he had just arrived and still hadn’t adapted to the Premier League. Where was the outstanding performance he showed at the World Cup?

Manchester United actually had two other centre-backs, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.

But van Gaal was clearly rotating the squad.

Scholes believed that during the match, the Manchester United players’ unfamiliarity with the three-at-the-back tactics was exploited by Yang Cheng.

“From the very first goal, every Bayswater Chinese attack started by hitting the flanks, specifically targeting the gap between the wide centre-back and the wing-back.”

“Manchester United had no response to this, nor could they come up with any effective solution.”

Michael Owen chimed in at this point, “Theoretically, when the wing-backs track back in time and drop into the defensive line, they become full-backs. But because the players are not used to it, they’re not doing a good enough job with their timing and positioning when defending.”

“Exactly!” Scholes immediately agreed. “Ashley Young and Valencia are both wingers by trade. They are not full-backs in the strict sense of the word. Asking them to play as wing-backs is asking a bit too much of them.”

“A new formation, new tactics, a new coach, new teammates, plus new positions and new responsibilities…”

“It leaves the players completely bewildered.”

“It’s not just the wing-backs; the entire Manchester United team is like this. Their play is incredibly boring, with no substance!”

Scholes thought that victories against weaker teams in the first three rounds had led van Gaal to underestimate the intensity of the Premier League.

“This disastrous defeat is indeed hard to accept, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“At the very least, it might serve as a wake-up call for van Gaal!”

As a Manchester United legend, Scholes stated that with the current squad and quality, apart from a relatively weaker defense, the team’s results and strength would certainly not be an issue once they quickly adjusted.

…

After the 5-0 thrashing by Bayswater Chinese, van Gaal stated at the press conference that he was disappointed with the loss. “We must learn our lesson from this defeat.”

The renowned Dutch coach admitted that this match gave him an up-close experience of a clash between top teams in the Premier League.

“This was a contest between the two highest-level teams in the Premier League. We failed to play at our proper level and were punished for it, but the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story!”

Where did Manchester United perform poorly?

Van Gaal didn’t think it was an issue with the three-at-the-back formation.

“We didn’t play as a unit!”

“Our opponents played with great pressure and aggression. They had speed, good passing, and the players had excellent chemistry, which made it very difficult for us to cope.”

“So, we needed a strong, solid unit, but we didn’t achieve that.”

Van Gaal stated that whether it was three-at-the-back or four-at-the-back, it wasn’t really important.

The stubborn Dutch coach insisted that he was very satisfied with the current squad.

But he needed more time for the players to adapt to and accept his tactics, and for the team to play with more chemistry and cohesion.

“A season is a long process.”

“Winning this match doesn’t mean they are the champions, and losing it doesn’t mean we don’t have a chance.”

“Whether we can win the title will only be known at the end of the season!”

The implication was that he still believed Manchester United had a chance to challenge for the league title!

And after this crushing defeat, numerous media outlets, including The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, and the Daily Mail, all revealed that Manchester United’s CEO, Ed Woodward, was planning a massive £200 million shopping spree!

And the target was Real Madrid’s C. Ronaldo!

C. Ronaldo returning to the Premier League to join Manchester United was hardly news.

But this humiliating loss made Manchester United’s desire for the Portuguese superstar even stronger.

A £100 million transfer fee, plus a weekly wage of £350,000 on a five-year contract.

All told, the total value would be close to £200 million!

The Daily Telegraph revealed that Manchester United had been hesitant about this deal, but the disastrous defeat, especially after seeing Gareth Bale’s outstanding performance and Messi’s impact at Manchester City, created a sense of urgency for The Red Devils.

They needed C. Ronaldo!

And what about C. Ronaldo?

The Independent disclosed that a source from Spain indicated that after Messi’s move to the Premier League, C. Ronaldo was also very eager to return. He had said more than once that Manchester United was his home and he hoped to come back one day.

“More importantly, as the greatest player in the world, C. Ronaldo doesn’t want to earn less than anyone else.”

“But Real Madrid is no longer willing to meet C. Ronaldo’s demands, because Spain will once again initiate tax reforms on January 1, 2015.”

“Once the new tax system is implemented, the so-called Beckham Law will no longer apply to footballers.”

“By then, C. Ronaldo’s personal income tax rate will be as high as 52%, even slightly higher than in the Premier League.”

The Independent revealed that for this very reason, selling C. Ronaldo was no longer an unthinkable option for Real Madrid.

After all, even Barça had sold Messi.

And what about Manchester United?

The Daily Telegraph reported that this summer, after signing Pogba for a sky-high price, Manchester United officially signed a brand-new, ten-year super sponsorship deal with Adidas.

The German sponsor will provide Manchester United with £75 million per year!

This is the highest shirt sponsorship deal in the history of world football!

The contract will take effect from the 15/16 season.

In other words, in the summer of 2015, Manchester United will be able to receive the payment for the first year of the sponsorship contract, which is enough to support the signing of C. Ronaldo.

The bookmaker William Hill has opened a special bet on C. Ronaldo’s return to the Premier League.

“When the world’s best stars like Messi and Gareth Bale are playing in the Premier League, C. Ronaldo is also desperate to return to Manchester United!”

“In today’s world football, the Premier League is the number one league in the world!”

…

As the first match of the fourth round, broadcast live worldwide at noon, the other Premier League matches also concluded one after another.

In another crucial match of this round, Arsenal drew 2-2 at home with Manchester City.

Messi assisted Agüero to score the opening goal in the first half, but Wilshere, with a goal and an assist in a short span of 10 minutes in the second half, helped Arsenal overturn the score.

In the 83rd minute, Manchester City managed to equalize with a goal from Giorgio Chiellini.

The two teams ultimately shook hands on a 2-2 draw.

Chelsea, on the other hand, came back from being a goal down at home, with Diego Costa scoring a hat-trick in the second half to win 4-2 against Swansea City.

As for Liverpool, they were caught off guard at home just nine minutes into the game by a goal from Aston Villa’s striker, Agbonlahor.

But The Reds failed to equalize for the entire match.

After four rounds of matches, the most eye-catching teams in the Premier League were Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea.

Both teams had won all four of their games.

Yang Cheng’s team goes without saying; they had scored 19 goals in 4 matches so far and conceded 0, a performance that shocked everyone!

Amidst this astonishing performance, Dutch centre-back van Dijk received a flood of praise.

The 23-year-old Dutchman has been incredibly impressive as a pressing centre-back since the start of the season.

He has been paired with centre-backs like Thiago Silva and Harry Maguire and has received very high praise in all instances.

He is physically strong, defensively solid, and crucially, fast.

His ball handling is also very clean and composed.

Many are saying that van Dijk is becoming one of Europe’s top centre-backs.

In the match against Manchester United, Harry Maguire played a deep-lying defense role, and his partnership with van Dijk was also excellent.

This allowed Thiago Silva and Pepe to be rested for the midweek Champions League match.

After all, Pepe is already 31, and Thiago Silva is 30.

Now, with van Dijk’s powerful emergence and with Harry Maguire and John Stones both performing well, the four consecutive clean sheets at the start of the season have made everyone even more confident in Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

In addition, Casemiro also had a solid performance in midfield in this match.

And then there’s Harry Kane on the forward line.

Due to Giroud’s injury before the season, Harry Kane has played 4 matches so far, scoring 4 goals, a very good performance.

This has also greatly excited the British media.

Calls for the 21-year-old Harry Kane to be selected for the national team are growing louder.

If Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese’s excellent performance was not surprising, then Mourinho’s Chelsea has undergone an astonishing transformation.

The Blues have also won all four of their matches so far this season.

A very important change, of course, was the signing of Diego Costa from Atlético Madrid.

Everyone thought Mourinho would continue with Simeone’s 4-4-2 formation from Atlético Madrid, or perhaps continue with a 4-2-3-1, but with Diego Costa on the wing to fully activate Falcao.

But to everyone’s surprise, in the first four rounds, Mourinho started Diego Costa as a lone striker in every match.

William on the left, Oscar as the attacking midfielder, and André Schürrle on the right, with a double pivot of Ramires and Sami Khedira.

Mourinho had another trick up his sleeve: Filipe Luís, signed for a hefty fee from Atlético Madrid, didn’t make the starting lineup. Instead, the Spanish right-back Azpilicueta appeared at left-back.

One could say that with this adjustment, Chelsea’s entire team came to life.

The attack was a torrent, the midfield was full of pressure, and the defensive line became much more stable.

As a result, Chelsea’s overall performance improved.

Four consecutive wins to start the season, Mourinho’s new Blues team this season is truly a sight to behold!

Because of this, this season’s Premier League has been a pleasant surprise for all the fans.

Chelsea’s resurgence has also added another halo to Mourinho’s reputation!

…

After the fourth round of the Premier League, the first round of the Champions League group stage arrived.

In this round, Juventus hosted Athletic Bilbao, while Bayswater Chinese challenged Bayer Leverkusen away.

Giroud returned from injury to the starting lineup.

However, in this match, The Company’s Eleven put up a very tenacious fight at home.

It wasn’t until the 61st minute of the second half that Giroud delivered a brilliant assist. Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and beat goalkeeper Bernd Leno to score the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!

1-0!

But after that, neither side managed to score again.

The 1-0 scoreline held until the final whistle.

In the other match, however, a brace from Carlos Tevez helped Juventus defeat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at home.

Llorente had a decent performance against his old club, contributing an assist.

Incidentally, Allegri also adopted a 3-5-2 formation.

In recent years, the three-at-the-back system has become increasingly popular in Serie A.

Yang Cheng had actually studied this style of play but had only dabbled in it.

The reason was simple: Bayswater Chinese had powerful wingers in their midfield and attack.

In fact, the three-at-the-back system is already starting to diversify.

For example, last season’s 3-4-3 system at Atalanta under Gasperini’s coaching.

Allegri’s 3-5-2 system is essentially the mainstream three-at-the-back style of Serie A in recent years.

The reason is the lack of wingers.

As Yang Cheng said, to achieve results in Serie A, it’s very simple: a strong centre-forward and two strong flanks.

Because Serie A lacks good wingers.

If you don’t believe it, just look at how many powerful wingers Serie A has produced in recent years.

Therefore, the so-called three-at-the-back in Serie A is fundamentally because of the lack of powerful wingers up front, forcing full-backs to push forward and take responsibility for the entire flank, both in attack and defense.

But in reality, the wing-backs are still more responsible for defending; their defensive zone has just been pushed forward.

So, the mainstream three-at-the-back tactic in Italy is still defensive.

Allegri’s Juventus is a case in point.

But Gasperini’s 3-4-3 is a different story, as he still fields two wingers up front.

Yang Cheng had communicated with Gasperini about this several times.

This is also why Yang Cheng later insisted on Gasperini coaching Atalanta.

And in his first full season, Atalanta went from a relegation team to soaring directly into the Champions League places.

At that time, Gasperini mentioned two points to Yang Cheng.

First, the three centre-backs in his 3-4-3 system were essentially for better ball possession and distribution.

Therefore, Atalanta’s training involved a great deal of on-the-ball practice.

It’s difficult to get the ball in the attacking third in Serie A.

Since that’s the case, increase the number of players who can receive and distribute the ball from the back.

Isn’t this concept very similar to Barça’s Number 4 role philosophy?

Doesn’t Busquets also often drop back?

When the two full-backs push into the midfield and attack, Busquets drops back, and the two centre-backs pull wide, isn’t that a three-at-the-back?

More importantly, Gasperini believed that adopting a three-at-the-back formation could effectively increase control in the midfield and defense, reduce players’ running, and decrease the team’s energy consumption.

Last season, many Italian media outlets were saying that Atalanta’s players were always running in matches.

Yes, they were always running.

But if you tallied up all the running distances, you would find that their total distance was actually similar to that of teams ranked just above or below them.

Yet, on the pitch, the impression it gave the fans was different.

It always seemed like Atalanta’s players ran a lot.

This is a kind of illusion created by the team’s control of the game and their formation.

Therefore, Gasperini’s three-at-the-back is clearly different from Allegri’s three-at-the-back.

Yang Cheng had tried Atalanta’s type of 3-at-the-back, but found that in the end, it wasn’t much different from a 4-3-3.

There’s no good or bad when it comes to tactics; it’s just a matter of whether it’s suitable.

…

Back in the Premier League, the 5th round of matches arrived.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Stoke City at home.

Just 6 minutes into the game, Gareth Bale won a foul while dribbling down the left flank, earning an attacking free-kick.

Modrić took the free kick, and van Dijk once again connected with a header to score the opening goal for the team.

1-0!

This was the Dutch centre-back’s second league goal of the season!

After scoring his first Premier League goal of the season, he found the net once again.

And in the last two seasons, ever since Harry Maguire and van Dijk joined, Bayswater Chinese’s set pieces have once again become a major threat.

In the 33rd minute of the first half, another assist from Modrić allowed Gareth Bale to break into the left side of the penalty area and score, extending the team’s lead.

2-0!

And just 4 minutes into the second half, the Welshman cut inside with the ball from the left wing and unleashed a right-footed power shot from the left side of the arc, beating Stoke City’s goalkeeper to complete his brace!

3-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Stoke City at home.

Gareth Bale scored twice, taking his tally to 8 goals in 5 Premier League games.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had kept a clean sheet for 5 consecutive rounds!

In this round, Arsenal won 3-0 away at Aston Villa.

Manchester City drew 1-1 at home with Chelsea.

A key reason why Pep Guardiola’s team failed to win at home was that in the 66th minute, Pablo Zabaleta received a second yellow card and was sent off, leaving Manchester City with 10 men.

This allowed Mourinho’s team to equalize.

As for Liverpool, they lost 3-1 away to West Ham United in this round.

The Reds’ performance this season has not been very good, mainly due to the influence of the World Cup.

Especially Suárez.

The Uruguayan striker’s performance this season has seen a noticeable decline compared to last season.

But no matter how much he declined, it was nothing compared to van Gaal’s Manchester United.

The Red Devils faced Leicester City away in this round.

They were actually playing quite well in the first half.

Cavani and Pogba scored successive goals.

Although the opponent pulled one back, they still led 2-1 overall.

Not long after the second half began, Pogba assisted Herrera to score, making it 3-1!

But just at that moment, Manchester United seemed to have a very obvious lapse.

Especially starting from the 60th minute, they made a series of mistakes.

They conceded two goals in quick succession in the 62nd and 64th minutes.

At this point, the aggregate score was tied at 3-3.

The Red Devils completely panicked.

Then, in the 79th and 83rd minutes, Vardy scored again.

In the end, Leicester City completed a 5-3 comeback against Manchester United.

Looking at the whole game, Manchester United played well for the most part, and the three-at-the-back system didn’t seem to have any major problems.

But in the second half, they suddenly and inexplicably collapsed.

And it was just for that short period.

Sometimes, things are just inexplicably strange.

After the match, all the media and fans once again attacked van Gaal’s three-at-the-back system in unison.

…

Midweek, in the 3rd round of the League Cup, Manchester United, who had just suddenly collapsed in the league, bizarrely collapsed again in a match against third-division team Milton Keynes Dons.

0-4!

Two consecutive matches with disastrous losses!

Everyone was extremely surprised.

Van Gaal publicly stated that he had fielded a full reserve team for the League Cup match.

But the problem is, that can’t be an excuse for losing to a third-division team.

While Manchester United played away against the third-division Milton Keynes Dons, Bayswater Chinese hosted the second-division Championship team Sheffield Wednesday.

Both teams fielded full reserve lineups.

The result?

Yang Cheng’s team thrashed their opponents 7-0.

Although the big win was partly due to the opponent’s centre-back Zayatte being sent off in the 59th minute.

But before that, Yang Cheng’s team was already leading 3-0.

Such a big win allowed substitute youngsters Dominic Solanke and Patrick Roberts to each score a goal in the 88th and 93rd minutes, respectively.

This was also Solanke’s first goal for the first team.

However, interestingly enough…

Arsenal lost 1-2 at home to Southampton, joining Manchester United in their misery.

Liverpool drew 1-1 at home with Championship team Middlesbrough.

After 120 minutes of extra time, the score was 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, the two teams finished at 16-15!

This was a spectacle that shocked the world of football!

After the match, some media joked that Buffon had saved more penalties in one game than he had in his entire Premier League career.

Manchester City and Chelsea both advanced.

…

Over the weekend, it was the 6th round of the Premier League.

Liverpool, having just gone through a penalty shootout, returned home to a 1-1 draw with Everton.

David Moyes’s team equalized in the 92nd minute.

This left the Liverpool fans very frustrated.

They should have won the game.

Chelsea, on the other hand, defeated Aston Villa 3-0 at home with goals from Diego Costa, William, and Oscar.

Mourinho’s team showed no mercy when it came to bullying weaker teams.

This round, Manchester City defeated Hull City 4-1 away, thanks to a brace from Messi.

Manchester United defeated West Ham United 2-1 at home with goals from Rooney and Cavani.

This victory somewhat saved van Gaal.

If the disastrous defeats had continued, the old Dutch manager would probably have been packing his bags before Christmas.

But this time, van Gaal heeded the advice and reverted to a four-at-the-back formation.

Arsenal, meanwhile, came from a goal down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home.

Bayswater Chinese were away to Southampton in this round.

Things were different from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Without players like Pellè, Sadio Mané, José Fonte, and Luke Shaw, Southampton’s performance last season did not reach the heights of Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Although Pochettino’s team was highly praised for its style and overall performance, he himself was not poached by Tottenham Hotspur.

And the current Ronald Koeman was still coaching OGC Nice in Ligue 1.

But even so, the double pivot of Wanyama and Schneiderlin this season still created a lot of trouble for Bayswater Chinese during the match.

Pochettino’s team didn’t even give Bayswater Chinese too many good chances throughout the first half.

However, in the second half, as fatigue began to set in, The Saints couldn’t hold on.

In the 61st minute, an assist from Harry Kane set up Toni Kroos for a long shot that pierced the goal guarded by Forster.

In the 80th minute, Theo Walcott scored another goal, extending the lead to 2-0!

And in the 88th minute, another assist from Harry Kane allowed substitute Sterling to score the third goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 away at Southampton.

Gareth Bale worked incredibly hard throughout the match, but his consecutive goal-scoring streak was finally brought to a halt.

There was nothing he could do. Pochettino’s team defended against him with all their might in this game.

The two full-backs were Clyne and Bertrand, both fast players who could keep up with Gareth Bale’s pace and rhythm, aided by the cooperation of other players.

For the first time this season, the Welshman started a match and didn’t score!

…

On the evening of October 1st, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

In the second round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese hosted Juventus.

Without a doubt, this was the first clash between the two most competitive teams in this group.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had won 6 consecutive matches in the Premier League, 1 in the League Cup, and 1 each in the UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League.

Yang Cheng’s team had a perfect record of 8 wins on all fronts!

And Allegri’s Juventus was no less impressive.

So far, Juventus had a perfect record of 6 wins on all fronts.

This included the 5th round of Serie A that had just concluded, where Juventus defeated Atalanta 2-1 away.

Gasperini’s team, so far this season, had a record of 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 5 matches, ranking 5th in Serie A. The draw was an away match against Inter Milan.

Before playing Bayswater Chinese, Juventus defeated Atalanta, a match that Tuttosport regarded as a warm-up.

Taking on the little brother for practice before facing the big brother.

Although there were some bumps along the way, Juventus’s overall strength was more than enough to handle Atalanta.

But the British media didn’t see it that way.

The Sun commented before the match that Juventus had slapped Atalanta twice before the game, and Bayswater Chinese would definitely seek justice for their little brother.

“Allegri, have you washed up yet?”

Yang Cheng still employed his previous 4-3-3 formation.

But what was different was that from the very beginning of the match, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative and launched an all-out attack.

And it was the entire team pressing forward.

Clearly, this was Yang Cheng’s trademark blitz.

At 4 minutes and 27 seconds into the game, Piszczek received a pass from Modrić on the right flank, near Juventus’s 30-meter area.

At this moment, Evra had already coordinated with Juventus’s three centre-backs and dropped back to the edge of the right corner of the penalty area.

As soon as he saw Piszczek with the ball, Evra immediately looked to his side and chose to press high.

Marchisio also charged out at once.

In contrast, Theo Walcott made a quick diagonal run from the right side of the penalty area behind Evra, drawing away centre-back Ogbonna.

But just as Marchisio and Evra were about to form a pincer movement, and everyone thought Piszczek would play a through ball to Theo Walcott who had pulled wide again, the Polish full-back suddenly sent a diagonal cross.

The ball was crossed at a 45-degree angle from the right flank to the right of the penalty spot.

Giroud stood at the penalty spot, with his back to the goal. After seeing Piszczek’s pass, he suddenly moved to his left front, towards the right side of the arc.

After taking two steps, still inside the penalty area, the French centre-forward leaped high.

Bonucci, who had been marking him closely, clearly had no good way to deal with this, and could only shout to remind his teammate Cáceres.

Giroud flicked the ball on with his head, redirecting it towards the left side of the goal.

And the next moment, Gareth Bale pushed away Cáceres’s entanglement and burst into the left side of the six-yard box at incredible speed, meeting Giroud’s flick-on with a tap-in from his left foot.

The ball flew into the nearby Juventus goal at a speed that was hard to follow with the naked eye.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!!”

“Less than 5 minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese have broken the deadlock against Juventus!”

“It’s Gareth Bale again!”

After scoring, the Welshman pushed himself up from the ground with both hands, turned around, and ran off the pitch. He first made his signature heart celebration, then knelt before the fans.

“So far this season, Gareth Bale’s goals have been flowing like a tide!”

“The Welsh winger is now single-mindedly aiming for the highest individual honor of 2014!”

“Even before this match, Yang Cheng had warned Allegri that after failing to score in the last Premier League round, Gareth Bale is in excellent form and could explode at any moment!”

“And sure enough, the Welshman scored just 5 minutes into the game!”

“Let’s look at the slow-motion replay again.”

“Giroud’s flick-on was beautiful, and Cáceres just couldn’t hold Gareth Bale back.”

“He’s unstoppable!”

“The Welshman is now gunning for the Ballon d’Or!”

…

After taking the early lead, the game restarted.

Bayswater Chinese smoothly controlled possession.

Juventus, on the other hand, adopted a more defensive strategy.

But perhaps because the goal came so early, the German head referee, Felix Brych, seemed a bit biased in his officiating.

For example, when Bayswater Chinese was on the attack in the 13th minute, Gareth Bale broke through Cáceres on the left wing and crossed into the center of the box.

When Giroud and Bonucci went for an aerial duel, the Italian centre-back used his elbow to push Giroud away.

Was that an elbowing?

The players from both teams started arguing.

And in the 20th minute, Theo Walcott received a pass from Piszczek and crossed from the right byline.

This time, he found Giroud precisely, and the Frenchman’s left-footed power shot was blocked by the hand of Vidal, who was tracking back.

Giroud and the surrounding home team players all shouted for handball, appealing to the referee for a penalty.

However, Felix Brych did not blow his whistle or make a call, simply ignoring them.

It wasn’t until Yang Cheng protested loudly from the sidelines that he ran over to explain that although Vidal’s arm was outstretched, it was an unintentional handball.

Yang Cheng accepted this explanation.

Or rather, his protest wasn’t aimed at overturning the previous decision, as that was already a done deal.

What he wanted was an explanation.

As long as an explanation was given for every controversial call, the referee’s officiating couldn’t be too biased.

This was also a strategy used by experienced head coaches during a match.

“It’s obvious UEFA is ‘taking care’ of us more and more,” Brian Kidd complained.

Yang Cheng smiled and looked at Flick. “Hans, it seems your influence isn’t strong enough.”

Flick couldn’t help but laugh.

As a German, he was quite familiar with Felix Brych.

Before the match, Yang Cheng had specifically asked Flick to try and build some rapport with him.

But during the actual game, not only was there no home-field advantage from the referee, but it seemed he was slightly favoring Juventus.

At least, these two controversial decisions had both gone in The Zebras’ favor.

“We’ve won it three times in a row. Someone doesn’t want us to keep winning!” Yang Cheng knew what was going on.

To put it bluntly, with Bayswater Chinese’s current strength, a victory for any team other than the Premier League’s Big 6 and La Liga’s big two would be considered an upset.

But under Yang Cheng’s coaching, Bayswater Chinese’s record against these teams over the past few years was there for all to see.

Therefore, there would definitely be some “special care” in the officiating.

…

After the second half resumed, Bayswater Chinese continued to use fast counter-attacks to target the space behind the wing-backs.

And in the 73rd minute, Bayswater Chinese’s right flank once again produced a brilliant combination play.

After Piszczek and Modrić won the ball near the halfway line, they passed it to Theo Walcott.

When The Little Tiger received the ball on the wing in the attacking third, he played a pull-back to Piszczek, who had made a run into the open space, while he himself sprinted forward at top speed.

This was Yang Cheng’s pre-match strategy: attack the space behind Evra.

Just bullying him for his age!

After receiving the ball in the open space, Piszczek sent a through ball ahead of Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger caught up to it at speed, but as he received the ball, he saw that Juventus centre-back Ogbonna assumed he was going to the byline and had given him a bit too much space.

Theo Walcott suddenly changed his mind, adjusted, and sent in a cross with his right foot.

At this moment, inside the penalty area, just in front of the six-yard box, Giroud was dragging Bonucci with him as he rushed towards the near post, as if to attack the front post.

But in reality, he was creating an opportunity for Gareth Bale behind him.

The Welshman had the best chemistry with Theo Walcott!

And sure enough, Theo Walcott’s cross fell to the center. Gareth Bale quickly broke free from Cáceres, leaped high, and sent a powerful header, once again directing the ball into the left side of the Juventus goal.

2-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

“A brace!!”

“Gareth Bale scores again, completing his brace!”

“My goodness, the Welshman’s goal-scoring momentum is unstoppable right now!”

“You could say, there’s just no stopping him in this match!”

“Rômulo, who joined this summer, plus Cáceres—two players can’t even stop one Gareth Bale!”

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Juventus 2-0 at home, thanks to Gareth Bale’s brace.

In the other match, Athletic Bilbao also defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at home.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese led the group with two consecutive wins.

Juventus and Athletic Bilbao both had 3 points each, while Bayer Leverkusen had lost two in a row.

…

After a continuous period of two games a week and fighting on three fronts, Bayswater Chinese finally showed signs of fatigue.

In the words of the Sky Sports commentator during the match: The gods finally bleed!

In the 7th round of the Premier League, away against West Ham United, in the 27th minute, Yang Cheng had rotated his squad. A midfield passing error allowed Mark Noble to score for West Ham United!

After scoring, The Hammers’ captain was so thrilled that he ran off the pitch and did a lap of celebration, looking incredibly excited.

He was the first player to score against Bayswater Chinese this season!

Note, that’s across all competitions!

Therefore, Noble’s celebration lasted for over a minute, and the Hammers fans in the stadium all jumped out of their seats, wildly celebrating the goal.

For them, this was a tremendous honor!

Head coach Big Sam Allardyce was so excited he ran out of the technical area, looking even more thrilled than if he had scored the goal himself.

He even received a yellow card warning from the referee for it.

However, after the celebration, just before the end of the first half, Eden Hazard cut inside from the left and delivered an exquisite diagonal pass. Theo Walcott burst into the right side of the penalty area and scored against West Ham United.

1-1!

The Little Tiger equalized for the team.

After the second half resumed, in the 68th minute, with an assist from De Bruyne, The Little Tiger scored another goal, successfully overturning the score.

2-1!

In the 83rd minute, Harry Kane scored again.

3-1!

After bleeding, the gods were thoroughly enraged!

Throughout the second half, if it weren’t for West Ham United defending with all their might, it would have turned into a high-scoring game.

And after the match ended, not only were the West Ham United fans at the stadium unable to be happy, but Allardyce also looked extremely embarrassed.

He had originally thought he could hold on to the 1-0 lead until the end of time.

Turns out, he celebrated too early!

In this round, Liverpool defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 2-0 away.

Manchester United narrowly beat Everton 2-1 with goals from Pogba and Cavani.

Van Gaal’s team returned to a four-at-the-back formation and secured two consecutive wins, but both matches were hard-fought victories.

But in the clash between top teams of this round, Chelsea defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Diego Costa.

Wenger’s team was pushed out of the top 4 by Manchester United due to goal difference.

…

After the 7th round of the Premier League, the league once again took a break for the October national team training camp.

Taking advantage of this national team break, UEFA organized an event at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, inviting senior executives from major European clubs and renowned coaches to participate.

During the event, UEFA announced for the first time that, after consultations, they had decided to implement a new set of rules for the Champions League group stage draw, starting next season.

The 8 top-seeded teams will consist of the defending champions and the league champions from the top 7 leagues based on European competition coefficient points.

According to the current European coefficients, the top seven are the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Primeira Liga, and the Russian Premier League.

If the defending champions and the champions of a top-7 league are the same team, the spot will be given to the 8th-ranked Eredivisie.

Everyone knew that this was, in fact, another measure aimed at the Premier League.

If based on coefficients, Premier League teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayswater Chinese, and Manchester United would all be top seeds.

But after the rule change, the Premier League will only have one top-seeded team.

The same applies to other leagues like La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1.

But one must remember, apart from La Liga’s big two, most other Spanish teams are in the second pot, or even the last pot.

Serie A is even more so; Juventus is only in the second pot.

But under the new rules, Juventus will directly become a top seed.

According to the new rules, the probability of a “group of death” appearing in the future will definitely increase significantly.

One could even say it’s an inevitability.

For instance, 3 teams from the Premier League, 2 teams from La Liga, plus teams from Serie A and the Bundesliga could very well be drawn together to form a group of death.

Of course, the benefits of doing this are also obvious.

The competition in the Champions League group stage will become more intense, and the viewing spectacle will certainly be further enhanced.

“You don’t seem surprised by this at all, Yang.”

After Platini announced the decision, the “Football Emperor” Beckenbauer approached Yang Cheng with great interest.

This immediately put Yang Cheng on alert.

This guy is up to something!

Chapter 317: Irresistible Momentum! Investing in the Bundesliga! Building an Ecosystem! I’m Striking Gold in Brazil!

Was UEFA’s decision really that surprising?

What’s so surprising about it?

This is the third time I’ve been through this.

Yang Cheng grumbled to himself, but on the surface, he wore a smile as he shook hands and embraced Beckenbauer.

The Bayern Munich legend seemed to be increasingly distancing himself from both the club and the Bundesliga.

Previously, many said he was determined to join FIFA, even giving up the chance to compete against Platini for the UEFA presidency in 2007.

But now, it seemed his progress within FIFA wasn’t going smoothly either.

In contrast, both Platini and Infantino had used the UEFA presidency as a stepping stone to the throne of FIFA.

So, sometimes, choices were truly difficult to judge.

In the face of the great tide of the era, who could dare say their decisions were definitely the right ones?

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. At least, the current Yang Cheng could.

Beckenbauer obviously hadn’t come just to chat with Yang Cheng about UEFA’s new reform.

It was merely his opening gambit.

Yang Cheng offered no comment on whether the decision was good or bad.

Whether it was the old system based purely on European competition coefficient points or the new one with champions from the top seven European leagues, neither was truly objective.

To put it bluntly, weren’t the champions of the Russian, Dutch, and Belgian leagues inferior to not just the Premier League’s top four, but even the Bundesliga’s?

But Platini’s move was clearly aimed at further weakening the top leagues, especially the Premier League.

However, as a transmigrator, Yang Cheng knew very well that this move would be useless.

Seeing Yang Cheng’s lukewarm reaction, Beckenbauer tactfully changed the subject.

“I heard from friends at kicker magazine that you’ve been closely watching clubs in Germany recently?”

Beckenbauer’s question took Yang Cheng by surprise.

Was that happening?

Wasn’t that a long time ago?

Certainly not recently.

“The media rumors are a bit exaggerated,” Yang Cheng replied with a faint smile.

When he saw that Beckenbauer didn’t seem convinced, Yang Cheng could only give a wry smile.

He couldn’t really blame him, or the media and fans for their speculation.

Yang Cheng now held stakes in teams in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1.

Uh, no, that should be the Spanish second division.

This led many to turn their attention to the Bundesliga.

Besides, hadn’t there been rumors in German football for the past few years about interest in adopting the Bayswater Chinese model?

So, many people were saying that Yang Cheng’s next step would be to enter the Bundesliga.

Regarding this, neither Yang Cheng nor Bayswater Chinese had ever issued any public clarification.

How should he put it?

There had been contact, but the prospects were unclear, and there was no progress at the moment.

“I’ll be honest with you, Franz. We’ve been in touch with Hamburger SV and Hertha BSC before.”

Beckenbauer’s eyes lit up as he asked with concern, “How did it go?”

“Very poorly.” Yang Cheng shook his head with a wry smile.

Neither of these clubs was a major powerhouse, and Hamburger SV had degenerated to the point of near-relegation from the Bundesliga.

Moreover, both clubs were heavily in debt.

Yang Cheng’s team had contacted more than just these two German clubs; besides a few from the Bundesliga, they had even reached out to teams in the German second division.

But the contact with these two had been the most frequent and in-depth.

“Our contact with Hamburg was around 2012 to 2013. As you know, Hamburg has been in a terrible situation these past few years. Not only are their finances a mess, but their results are also awful.”

“In my opinion, it’s simply unbelievable!”

Beckenbauer nodded with a look of resignation.

This was the current state of the Bundesliga!

Many people believed the 50+1 rule was a good thing, but what was the reality?

Take a club like Hamburg, with such a strong city economy, such passionate fans, and good matchday and other revenues.

Yet they managed to run the club into its current state.

Heavily in debt, results worsening year after year—they almost got relegated last season.

And was Hamburg the only one?

“I’ll tell you the truth, Yang. Many people out there say Bayern Munich is the most opposed to abolishing the 50+1 rule, but I can tell you clearly right now, on the contrary, we at Bayern are its biggest supporters.”

“Over the past few years, we’ve pushed for it internally more than once, but to no avail. Too many clubs are against it.”

“You know, a club like ours, Bayern, wants to see the Bundesliga break its current shackles, become more international, for the league as a whole to be more prosperous, with more strong opponents, just like the Premier League.”

“A league dominated by one team is certainly easy, but it has no potential for development. And the 50+1 rule has completely blocked the Bundesliga’s path to internationalization!”

Beckenbauer’s words genuinely surprised Yang Cheng.

The news he had always heard was that Bayern was the most staunch opponent of abolishing the 50+1 rule, wanting to keep the Bundesliga as their own personal backyard.

Was that not the case?

Seeing Yang Cheng’s stunned, surprised expression, Beckenbauer sighed, leaned in closer, and whispered a secret.

“To be honest with you, you’ve probably heard of RB Leipzig in the German second division, right?”

Yang Cheng nodded.

That club had caused a huge stir and made a lot of noise.

“When they were acquiring a club in Leipzig, it was me who helped come up with the idea and recommended friends.”

Yang Cheng looked at Beckenbauer in astonishment.

The Football Emperor nodded with a smile. “Actually, I recommended many clubs and teams, including teams from western Germany, but in the end, they chose Leipzig.”

That made sense.

“Honestly, from Bayern’s perspective, we truly hope that more compliant, well-managed foreign investors like Red Bull and you enter the Bundesliga. It’s a good thing for us.”

This time, Yang Cheng truly believe him.

“This matter is impossible to resolve.” Yang Cheng shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Take Hamburg. They have over one hundred million euros in debt. Didn’t they launch that so-called HSVPlus thing in January?”

Beckenbauer nodded. That matter had been settled.

The so-called HSVPlus was a shareholding system for external financing.

“Back then, they also mentioned this to us. According to them, we would only be responsible for investing and holding shares in the club, while also sending personnel to serve as advisors to help Hamburg reform its first team and youth academy.”

“And we, Bayswater Chinese, would have to share scouting resources and training experience with Hamburg.”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Franz, tell me, do we look like fools?”

Beckenbauer also smiled wryly.

That was indeed some inexplicable self-confidence!

To put it bluntly, why should Bayswater Chinese share these assets with Hamburg?

Not only share, but they had to spend money to buy your shares just for the privilege of sharing?

How shameless could they be?

The most ludicrous part was that after giving them shares, they gave no decision-making power. What the hell was that?

In other words, Yang Cheng was only supposed to invest money, but he had no say in how it was spent or how the club was run.

Wouldn’t that make him a sucker?

Frankly, if Hamburg’s management was really that capable, would they have run the Kings of the North into the ground like this?

And what was their shield?

The 50+1 rule!

The so-called 50+1 rule didn’t actually restrict foreign investment in acquiring shares of Bundesliga and German second division clubs.

What did that mean?

It meant you could buy, buy as much as you want, no problem.

But even if you held one hundred percent of the shares, it was useless, because you could have at most forty-nine percent of the decision-making power.

The management team elected by the member fans held fifty-one percent of the decision-making power.

So, may I ask, what’s the point of me spending so much money to buy your club?

Oh, so in the end, I’m just shelling out money and staying out of things!

“That’s the biggest problem now!” Beckenbauer shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Hamburg doesn’t lack interested investors. I heard a local billionaire invested one hundred million euros to support their HSVPlus plan, but he has his own interests to pursue.”

Local billionaires were clearly different from foreign investors.

Beckenbauer sighed. “When Red Bull was looking for a team in Germany back then, they encountered the same problems. In the end, they chose a fifth-tier team, because only in such a low-level league did they have a chance to reform the club’s membership system.”

RB Leipzig’s model was simple: choose a club with very, very few members, acquire it, persuade all existing members to leave, and then establish a new membership system.

The membership fee wasn’t high, probably only one thousand euros, but there was an added clause.

All new members had to be approved by the old members.

This effectively controlled the entry barrier for membership.

Therefore, Leipzig currently has very few members, only about a dozen, and they are all employees of the Red Bull GmbH.

In theory, RB Leipzig is still a member-based club; it just has a very, very small number of members.

Could Yang Cheng play the same game?

Actually, yes.

But with the precedent set by RB Leipzig, the second team to do so would undoubtedly become a public enemy.

After careful consideration, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier all felt it wasn’t necessary.

Especially given the insular nature of the Bundesliga.

To be blunt, as long as the 50+1 rule isn’t abolished, what’s the point of entering the Bundesliga?

When the policy is eventually abolished, will acquiring a club still be such a hassle?

Yang Cheng’s current model was to first build a leading flagship and then work his way down.

Bayswater Chinese was the flagship, with Nice, Atalanta, and Málaga CF as the next tier.

Under these circumstances, did having a team in the Bundesliga make a significant difference?

“To be honest, after all this trouble with Hamburg and Hertha BSC, I’ve really lost interest,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Beckenbauer sighed again.

With the 50+1 rule, the loudest voices opposing its abolition were, paradoxically, the clubs from smaller cities and people like Hamburg’s management. It was their protective umbrella!

As for the German fans, they were content with the status quo.

The reason was simple: ticket prices in Germany were very low.

Everyone believed that once the 50+1 rule was broken and foreign investment was introduced, ticket prices would skyrocket.

This would directly affect the fans’ personal interests.

Moreover, they were also worried that an acquisition would destroy the local football culture.

In the minds of German fans, a league like the Premier League, completely controlled by capital, was not worth emulating at all.

But Bayern Munich knew best.

Nowadays, German players were continuously leaving Germany.

The Bundesliga had no advantage in the competition for superstars.

Even more absurdly, the 50+1 rule acted like a protective umbrella, under which all the mid-to-lower table teams severely lacked competitiveness and market-oriented management awareness, failing to keep up with the times.

As for financial health, how was that possible?

How to put this?

This policy did provide a safety net for Bundesliga and German second division clubs, maximizing the social aspect of football, but it also capped the clubs’ potential.

All the clubs seemed to be operating slowly within a comfortable safety zone.

Although there were inevitably clubs like Hamburg with over one hundred million euros in debt, most were still operating conscientiously.

Was this a good thing?

It depended on one’s perspective.

In the rolling tide of globalization, where was the Bundesliga headed?

Who knew?

…

“What did he say to you?”

As soon as Beckenbauer left, Adam Crozier came over.

Yang Cheng glanced at him; he had clearly been waiting in the distance for quite some time.

“He invited us to invest in the Bundesliga.”

“Invest in the Bundesliga?” Adam Crozier also found it strange. “Can we even get in?”

Yang Cheng nodded with a smile.

From an investor’s standpoint, Yang Cheng currently had no interest in the Bundesliga.

At least not now.

As Beckenbauer said, no investor, including the Red Bull GmbH, would be interested in such an uncontrollable investment.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the local billionaire who invested one hundred million euros in Hamburg and the German tycoon who invested three or four hundred million euros in Hertha BSC both ended up being unceremoniously struck out by the management.

There was no need to replicate RB Leipzig’s experience either.

With that kind of time and money, wouldn’t it be much better for Yang Cheng to acquire teams in the Primeira Liga, Eredivisie, or the Belgian Pro League?

Besides, in the Bundesliga, Yang Cheng the investor would be a junior.

In other leagues, money made you the boss.

For example, Brazil.

He was preparing to strike gold in Brazil!

In fact, many fans severely underestimated the impact of Brazil’s惨败 at the 2014 home World Cup.

To be thrashed like that by Germany on home soil, followed by another complete defeat in the third-place match, was practically like tearing a hole in the sky of the Football Kingdom.

Therefore, after the World Cup ended, public resentment in Brazil was practically boiling over.

The Brazilian Football Association immediately responded, determined to launch a sweeping reform.

The first priority was youth development.

Not long ago, the Brazilian Football Association announced that it would establish a youth academy in each of the 15 states that did not host World Cup matches, each capable of accommodating 720 players, primarily recruiting young players aged seven to fourteen.

In Brazilian terms, this was to create 15 “Clairefontaines” in 15 states.

At the same time, Brazil began to assess and grade the youth training facilities, financial investment, and youth development systems of all professional clubs.

This was learning from Germany’s experience, with a focus on the fourteen to eighteen age group.

Next was the creation of the first-ever U20 Youth Football Championship.

In the future, they might create more youth team competitions for different age groups.

But for Yang Cheng, the most crucial point was this: “The Brazilian Football Association hopes to introduce a typical European football youth development model, combine it with Brazil’s national conditions, and explore a path for youth development with Brazilian characteristics.”

To some extent, Brazil had admitted its shortcomings and weaknesses in youth development.

After all, apart from Neymar, Brazil hadn’t produced a genius in a long time.

Even the number of excellent star players was dwindling.

This was completely different from the past when geniuses emerged like mushrooms after rain.

They felt the crisis of a talent gap!

And the reasons were both internal and external.

Domestically, Brazil’s economy was developing rapidly.

One of the BRICS nations, after all!

Abroad, the era of football globalization had arrived. Brazil’s old free-range, unsystematic youth training was far behind Europe’s systematic approach.

It was under these circumstances that the Brazilian Football Association approached Bayswater Chinese.

They sent delegations to London twice to learn, and they also made special trips to OGC Nice in Ligue 1 and Atalanta for inspection.

They held the Bayswater Chinese youth development model in high regard, believing it to be the most advanced youth system among professional clubs.

They hoped to introduce it to Brazil.

For this reason, they were willing to make an exception for Bayswater Chinese.

In today’s Brazil, all clubs were member-owned.

But Yang Cheng was being allowed to acquire a professional club in Brazil.

This would be the first-ever foreign-owned club!

Back at the beginning of the century, with the support of a Russian oligarch, Kia Joorabchian’s MSI Company had once acquired Corinthians, but only held a fifty-one percent stake.

The logic behind this was actually the same as the Bundesliga’s 50+1 rule.

The general idea was that Corinthians would form a joint-stock company and sell shares to MSI to pay off its debts, but Joorabchian would not be directly involved in the club’s management.

At that time, Corinthians brought in players like Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, causing a huge sensation.

But within a few years, Corinthians rapidly declined, and the MSI Company was quickly kicked out.

This time, it was different for Yang Cheng. He was being allowed to directly acquire a club in Brazil.

This was also why Yang Cheng had no desire to go to the Bundesliga.

In Brazil, he would be the big boss.

In the Bundesliga, he’d be treated like a nobody.

Speaking of which, he really had to thank the Brazil national team for their disastrous defeat at the World Cup.

Of course, more importantly, it was due to the successful development of Brazilian players by Yang Cheng and his teams over the past few years.

“How are things progressing in Brazil?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“We’ve been making steady progress. We’ve narrowed it down to two clubs, but both have been performing poorly recently and are in the relegation zone of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A,” Adam Crozier said with a wry smile.

The extravagantly wealthy clubs were basically out of the question.

Clubs like Cruzeiro, São Paulo, Corinthians, and Santos were clearly well-run.

Unless forced into a corner, no club management or fans would accept being acquired by a foreign entity.

“Which two teams?”

“Palmeiras from São Paulo, and Botafogo from Rio de Janeiro.”

Upon hearing the names, Yang Cheng also nodded with a wry smile.

“They really are shaky, absolute top contenders for relegation!”

Botafogo was even the bottom of the table team in the league.

Although Palmeiras was a historic club, it was long past its glory days. It had even been relegated from the top flight in 2012 and had only returned this season, currently hovering near the relegation zone again.

Since he had received this royal charter, being brought into Brazil by the Brazilian Football Association as a model case, Yang Cheng and his team naturally had to carefully select a quality team with development potential.

Palmeiras and Botafogo each had a stadium.

But both stadiums, for various reasons, had not been put into use on time.

“Have them arrange it. We’ll fly over in the next couple of days to take a look,” Yang Cheng said.

Adam Crozier nodded.

Now that the targets were identified, Yang Cheng definitely needed to go see them in person and give his approval. Afterward, Xia Qing would have to conduct due diligence to check their debt situation.

In today’s Brazil, you couldn’t find a single club without debt.

Every single one was heavily indebted; the only difference was the amount.

…

Just two days after returning to London from Nyon, Switzerland, Yang Cheng, accompanied by Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and Chris Hunt, flew to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For the past few months, a team from Bayswater Chinese had been scouting and making contacts all over Brazil.

After being picked up at the airport, the group headed towards the city center.

The first stop was the Rio Olympic Stadium.

Before 2012, this stadium was named after FIFA President João Havelange, called the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange.

But because Havelange became embroiled in a bribery scandal, it was renamed the Estádio Nilton Santos.

It was originally built for the 2007 Pan American Games.

The budget was only thirty million reals when planned in 2003, but by its completion in 2007, the total cost was nearly two hundred million reals.

Then, in 2013, it was closed to the public due to roof instability during high winds.

Currently, it was undergoing renovations and reinforcement for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The funny thing was, due to funding issues, workers went on strike in April 2014, and work was currently halted.

So, when Yang Cheng’s group arrived outside the stadium, they could only look at it from the outside; they couldn’t get in.

And according to the team’s investigation, Botafogo’s lease on this stadium ran until 2027.

After seeing the unfinished stadium, the group went to another nearby stadium, the Estádio São Januário, home of Vasco da Gama, currently in the Brazilian second division.

But the conditions of this stadium were even worse.

Especially after they went to see the nearby Maracanã Stadium, it was almost unbearable to look back.

The Maracanã was what you call a modern football stadium!

Currently, three Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams were using this stadium: Flamengo, Fluminense, and Botafogo.

Incidentally, Botafogo finished fourth in the Brazilian top flight last season, making them a bona fide strong team.

But this season, they were currently at the bottom of the table.

Something that would be sensational in European football was actually quite common in the Brazilian league.

Therefore, for Brazilian clubs, referencing their results was largely meaningless.

A team could win the championship one season and get relegated the next.

It was more important to consider the club’s assets, system, and brand value.

Botafogo’s first-team squad this season had a total valuation of less than thirty million euros.

That converted to about one hundred million reals.

But there was one good thing: their debt wasn’t too high.

In comparison, the other team, Palmeiras from São Paulo, currently had a first-team market valuation of forty-seven million euros, which was around one hundred fifty million reals.

But this club’s debt had already exceeded one hundred million reals.

As for the training grounds of the two clubs, they were generally in very poor condition.

Palmeiras’ youth academy was relatively better, but only by a limited margin.

The biggest advantage of this São Paulo-based team was that they had a brand new stadium, the Allianz Parque, which was basically completed and about to be inaugurated.

The next day, when Yang Cheng’s group arrived at the heart of downtown São Paulo and saw the brand-new Allianz Parque, it felt so much more comfortable compared to the two old stadiums they had seen in Rio de Janeiro!

But for the next thirty years, this stadium would not entirely belong to Palmeiras.

This involved a very complex transaction.

As early as 2008, Palmeiras proposed building a new stadium, but at the time it had nothing to do with the Brazil World Cup; it was purely because the location was excellent.

So, Palmeiras signed an agreement with a Brazilian construction developer, the WTorre Company, for them to fund the construction of a brand-new football stadium here.

After its completion, all revenue from sponsorships, services, VIP box rentals, and various stadium events for the next thirty years would go to the WTorre Company. Palmeiras would only receive matchday ticket and operational income.

So, while the stadium was said to belong to Palmeiras, it wasn’t entirely theirs.

But don’t think that the WTorre Company made a huge profit.

Actually, they didn’t.

When construction began in 2010, their budget for the stadium was three hundred thirty million reals, about one hundred million euros, and it was originally scheduled to open before the 2014 World Cup.

That way, they could also receive some federal funding support from the government.

But unexpectedly, the stadium’s construction progress was repeatedly delayed and it still hadn’t officially opened.

Not only did they fail to catch the World Cup wave, but the budget also increased from the original three hundred thirty million reals to the current six hundred thirty million reals, almost doubling.

In contrast, the new stadium of their neighbor, Corinthians, which was built from 2011 to 2014, successfully made it in time for the World Cup. Although it cost one point one five billion reals, four hundred million of that was supported by the Brazilian government.

The WTorre Company primarily dealt in industrial real estate, warehousing, and commercial properties. However, over the past few years, due to the subprime mortgage and European debt crises, Brazil’s domestic economy had also been generally sluggish.

Coupled with the stadium’s budget nearly doubling and failing to be ready for the Brazil World Cup, they missed out on a large sum of federal funds.

Under the combined effect of these factors, the company was now facing severe debt pressure.

Now that it was completed, the WTorre Company itself lacked the ability to attract business for such sports venues.

The stadium also had an amphitheater that could hold eighteen thousand people, one hundred sixty VIP boxes, and two thousand parking spaces.

For the WTorre Company, they simply didn’t have the capability to operate such a venue.

So, they would definitely have to contract out the venue management.

“According to the intelligence we have, the combined debt of the construction company and Palmeiras is one hundred sixty million reals. Adding Palmeiras’ own debt, they simply can’t afford to pay it off!”

Yang Cheng’s team was directly managed by Xia Qing, so their information was certainly not without basis.

Any project that reached Yang Cheng had definitely been carefully selected; they were the ones believed to have the most potential and value.

Otherwise, given how busy Yang Cheng was, where would he find the time to slowly investigate?

Besides, he wasn’t an expert in this field himself.

One hundred sixty million reals sounded intimidating, but what was it really?

Less than forty million pound sterling.

But if you added Palmeiras’s own debt and also wanted to acquire the ownership of Allianz Parque from the real estate company, it would be no small sum.

…

“How much would it cost to acquire Palmeiras now?”

After returning to the hotel, Yang Cheng asked Xia Qing with concern.

“From the current look of things, the most valuable asset is this stadium. Six hundred thirty million reals, which is about one hundred ninety million euros. Based on the current valuation, that should be about right,” Xia Qing analyzed.

“But the company is in a difficult situation right now. I’m not sure if we can negotiate the price down a bit.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“It will probably be tough to negotiate. The value of assets in Brazil has been rising these past few years. Even if they are in financial trouble now, they might not be willing to sell at a low price,” Chris Hunt had clearly done his homework as well.

The prestige of the BRICS nations was still quite high.

Moreover, São Paulo was Brazil’s largest city and the economic center of South America. This stadium was located in a prime area of São Paulo, so its value was indeed very high.

“As for the club, Palmeiras’s current valuation is around one hundred million euros. The main asset is their training ground, which is right next to the stadium and has only three standard pitches.”

Not only Palmeiras, but São Paulo’s training ground was also nearby. The two clubs were neighbors, right on the banks of the Tietê River.

“I did a preliminary calculation. A total price of three hundred million euros to sign the deal.”

The value Xia Qing estimated was likely quite accurate.

“Additionally, we’ve conducted relevant research. Based on the current market assessment of prime locations in São Paulo, this stadium, excluding matchday ticket and operational income, has a return on investment of about ten percent, which is around twenty million euros per year.”

“This includes venue rentals, VIP boxes, and so on. There’s also the stadium’s naming rights. Since 2013, they signed a twenty-year naming rights deal with Allianz, worth a total of three hundred million reals, which was one hundred six million euros at the exchange rate back then.”

“Palmeiras only gets a twenty percent share of that, which is about twenty-one million euros.”

Allianz’s naming rights fee certainly wouldn’t be paid in one lump sum, but rather annually before the due date.

Once the acquisition was complete, this money would naturally be collected by Yang Cheng’s side.

Based on the current research, a ten percent return on investment, plus ticket sales and matchday operations, plus the stadium naming rights—all in all, it was quite good.

“I can handle the three hundred million euros in funding. You should mainly consider the competitive side of things,” Xia Qing said, looking at Yang Cheng.

She really didn’t understand the football side of things.

Yang Cheng didn’t doubt that Xia Qing could mobilize such a large sum of money now.

After all, Bayswater Chinese was practically a money-printing machine.

“We now hold four teams in Europe’s top leagues. If we acquire a club in Brazil, it would be like connecting the entire professional football ecosystem.”

“From the transfers of players like Neymar, Oscar, and Lucas Moura, we can see that the Pelé Law will have an increasingly bigger impact on Brazilian football. In the future, the value of top Brazilian players will only get higher.”

How high?

Neymar, needless to say, was close to ninety million euros.

Lucas Moura’s transfer from São Paulo to Paris Saint-Germain was also forty million euros.

And Oscar’s transfer from Internacional to Chelsea was a hefty thirty-two million euros.

This in itself proved that transfer fees for Brazilian players were constantly climbing.

In a few years, Vinícius and Rodrygo would both be forty-five million euros, and Endrick would go for as high as forty-seven point five million euros.

Of these, Endrick came from Palmeiras.

Also, Gabriel Jesus, currently in the Palmeiras youth academy, would transfer to Manchester City in 2016 for thirty-two million euros.

To some extent, Brazilian players were no longer the so-called “good value for money.”

Truly high-level Brazilian players would only become more and more expensive.

In this situation, if Yang Cheng’s team could be the first to own a club in Brazil focusing on youth development, it could provide a continuous supply of talent for the European teams.

The entire ecosystem would become more complete.

But more importantly, whether it was Vinícius or Rodrygo, the age at which they were spotted by European giants was getting younger and younger.

Just imagine, if Vinícius and Rodrygo were sold to European clubs only after they turned eighteen, what would their value be?

The shrewd approach of European clubs was to make an early bid to buy the player just as they were starting to make a name for themselves, and then loan them back to a Brazilian club to continue their development.

If Bayswater Chinese had its own club, wouldn’t that be equivalent to internal development within the group?

Wouldn’t Raphinha and Gabriel, who were on loan at Avaí, be able to transfer directly to Palmeiras?

In fact, Yang Cheng could take this opportunity to scout and poach talents from all over Brazil.

Other European teams had to wait until they were eighteen, but Yang Cheng didn’t have to. He could poach them directly.

After poaching them, he could place them at Palmeiras for a few years of development, and then move them to Europe once they started to shine.

And Palmeiras’s youth academy was considered quite good within Brazil.

In this way, wouldn’t he have another channel for “good value for money” Brazilian players?

Then consider that in 2022, the City Football Group acquired a ninety percent stake in Bahia, then a Brazilian second division team, for one hundred thirty-three million euros.

Spending this money to acquire Palmeiras now was actually a great deal.

After all, Brazilian football would only complete its shareholding reform in 2022. Right now, there was no sign of it, so values were still relatively low.

Realizing this, Yang Cheng didn’t hesitate any longer.

…

Before leaving Brazil, Yang Cheng made a point to meet and have dinner with the Chairman of Palmeiras, the forty-six-year-old Paulo Nobre, and the club’s First Vice-Chairman, Maurício Galiotte.

Palmeiras’s current situation was something no one wanted to see.

This traditional powerhouse had fought so hard to get back into the top flight, and now they were facing relegation again?

But the state of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was indeed very poor.

Problems like debt and unpaid wages were rampant.

These were old problems in the Brazilian league.

Some even said that if there was a team in Brazil that didn’t owe wages, that team would be one every player dreamed of joining.

When they had money to pay salaries, they could challenge for the title; when they didn’t and delayed payments, they might be fighting relegation.

This was the chaotic Brazilian league!

Bayswater Chinese also operated a scouting network in Brazil and had some connections and channels, so they were aware of this.

When Yang Cheng met with Nobre and Galiotte, the point he emphasized most was that he would manage and standardize Palmeiras according to the standards of a European club.

No unpaid wages, no delayed bonuses—that was the bare minimum!

But in the Brazilian league, this was clearly a very generous condition.

Nobre was elected Chairman of Palmeiras in January 2013, making him the second-youngest chairman in the club’s history.

His term was only two years, so it was expiring this year.

On November 20th, Palmeiras would hold its presidential election.

But Nobre told Yang Cheng that this election would be a direct vote. Over four thousand Palmeiras members would participate, deciding whether to accept Yang Cheng’s acquisition.

“So, over the next month or so, I hope your people can work with us to try and persuade these members, to win as many ‘yes’ votes as possible!”

Procedurally, to acquire Palmeiras, the club first had to complete its shareholding reform.

The members would become shareholders.

Only after the shareholding reform was complete could Yang Cheng acquire the club from the shareholders.

Maurício Galiotte was of Italian descent, only forty-five years old this year. He graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and had a master’s degree in Marketing from FAAP-SP.

He had trained at Palmeiras’s youth academy as a child but didn’t make it in professional football. He started working at Palmeiras at the age of thirty-five, rose through the ranks, and ran on a joint ticket with Nobre last year, currently serving as the First Vice-Chairman.

Yang Cheng had no impression of Paulo Nobre.

But this Maurício Galiotte, Yang Cheng remembered him.

He was very capable. He took over from Nobre in 2016 as Chairman of Palmeiras and quickly transformed the fallen traditional giant back into a top domestic powerhouse, with revenue soaring year after year.

How ridiculously well did he do?

From 2016 until the pandemic, Palmeiras’s annual revenue grew by forty percent.

It was only in 2020, after the pandemic struck, that Palmeiras, having overextended itself, quickly became the most indebted club in Brazil, on the verge of bankruptcy.

So, he stepped down at the end of 2021.

After meeting with the two from Palmeiras, as they were leaving, Yang Cheng gave instructions to Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and Chris Hunt.

“From his words and demeanor, I think this Maurício Galiotte is quite capable. And didn’t you say before that he has a lot of influence among the fans? Ask him later if he’s willing to stay on as CEO.”

Yang Cheng certainly couldn’t let such a talented person go.

Xia Qing and the others were a bit baffled.

They had all eaten together, so how come they hadn’t noticed that this Maurício Galiotte was a talent?

He hadn’t even said much.

On the contrary, Paulo Nobre was quite active. It was said he used to be a rally driver and was also involved in some investments himself.

However, since Yang Cheng said so, they would definitely pay more attention.

…

On the afternoon of October 18th, at Prudential Stadium in London.

Premier League Matchday 8, Bayswater Chinese hosted Liverpool.

Bayswater Chinese had to be mindful of the Champions League match next Wednesday, while Liverpool was heavily affected by the international break.

Sturridge was injured, and Suárez had made a long trip back to South America for matches.

All of this seriously hampered Liverpool’s performance.

Just four minutes into the match, Eden Hazard, while cutting inside with the ball in the attacking third, suddenly played a through ball into the left side of the penalty area.

Harry Kane made a quick diagonal run and, without taking a touch, hit a power shot with his left foot.

The close-range shot was calmly saved by Buffon.

Afterward, Liverpool steadily weathered Bayswater Chinese’s opening blitz.

But in the eleventh minute, after winning the ball back, Bayswater Chinese quickly launched a counter-attack.

Harry Kane dropped deep to receive the ball, controlled it, turned, and passed to Sterling on the left flank.

Sterling dribbled forward along the left wing and was double-teamed by Glen Johnson and Gerrard.

Just when everyone thought it would be difficult for Sterling to break through the two defenders, the young Bayswater Chinese player suddenly feinted and nutmegged Glen Johnson.

Short but incredibly fast, Sterling slipped between Glen Johnson and Gerrard like an eel, received the ball behind the Liverpool right-back, and carried it all the way into the left side of the box.

Sterling opted not to shoot himself but instead sent a cross pass to the far post.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt and calmly slotted the ball into the net.

Faced with such a close-range push shot, Buffon had no chance at all.

1-0!

After taking the lead, the match once again fell into a stalemate.

But just before the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack down the left flank.

Luke Shaw moved up to support Sterling.

Sterling tried to cut into the half-space with the ball but was unsuccessful, so he passed it back to the left side outside the penalty area.

Luke Shaw surged forward, getting to the ball before Glen Johnson, poked it towards the byline, and accelerated to catch up. He then sent a cross with his left foot to the near post.

Harry Kane rushed forward. Under pressure from Lovren and with no angle to shoot, Kane opted for a flick-on, nudging the ball towards the far post.

Gareth Bale, who had been lurking on the right side of the penalty area, quickly charged towards the six-yard box. Meeting the ball flicked on by Harry Kane, he executed a diving header, sending both himself and the ball into the goal guarded by Buffon.

2-0!

A brace!

“Another brace!”

“After failing to score for two rounds, the Welsh winger has once again shown his excellent form!”

“But for these two goals, he should thank Sterling for his selflessness and Harry Kane for his brilliant flick-on.”

“In any case, with ten goals in eight rounds, Gareth Bale’s performance is simply unstoppable!”

“Bayswater Chinese has also demonstrated superb competitive form in this match!”

In the second half, around the seventy-first minute, Gareth Bale’s attacking momentum on his side had noticeably slowed down. In contrast, Sterling was much more active on the other flank.

A through ball from De Bruyne was played directly behind the Liverpool defense, just outside the arc of the penalty area.

Sterling made a quick diagonal run from the left channel, received the ball, and broke into the right side of Liverpool’s penalty area before unleashing a power shot.

The shot was blocked by Škrtel’s body.

Sterling reacted faster, getting to the ball first to control it.

But Liverpool’s defense had already recovered, and there was no longer an angle for another shot.

Just then, on the right side of the box, Sterling suddenly turned and played a pull-back to the vicinity of the penalty spot.

Harry Kane, who had made a late run from deep, arrived just in time and calmly side-footed the ball into the back of Liverpool’s net.

3-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted once again!

All the fans were cheering and shouting wildly.

Yang Cheng also clenched his fist, full of confidence.

In the end, the match concluded with a 3-0 home victory for Bayswater Chinese over Liverpool.

Yang Cheng and his team had secured their eighth consecutive win, a truly irresistible momentum!

But the same couldn’t be said for the other four teams in the Big 6.

Chapter 318: For the Ballon d’Or! Who’s Stronger, Me or Messi? A Soul-Stirring Revolution!

While the Bayswater Chinese were celebrating a 3-0 home victory over Liverpool, over at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s team had thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-1.

But that wasn’t the main story.

The most dazzling player in that match was Messi.

The Argentine superstar scored a four-goal haul!

He also assisted Agüero’s goal.

In other words, he had single-handedly orchestrated five goals, staging a massacre at the Etihad Stadium!

After the match, everyone was stunned.

Especially by Messi’s form this season.

This was the true power of the Argentine after integrating into the Premier League!

However, Tottenham Hotspur were not ready to concede defeat.

In an interview with the media, head coach Sherwood stated that if it weren’t for Fazio’s red card in the 67th minute, it would never have been such a devastating loss.

The most reasonable result for the match, he argued, should have been 2-1.

Before the red card, Messi had scored a brace, but Tottenham had also scored in the first half through Eriksson.

It could be said that both sides were evenly matched.

But the red card rewrote the outcome of the game.

From that point on, Manchester City’s momentum was irresistible, and Tottenham collapsed completely.

Unlike Guardiola’s victory, Arsenal drew 2-2 at home against Hull City.

The Gunners’ performance this season had been inconsistent.

At the very least, dropping points at home to Hull City was inexcusable.

In contrast, Mourinho’s Chelsea had truly taken flight this season.

In their away match against Crystal Palace, Oscar scored just six minutes in, but Azpilicueta received a red card in the 40th minute.

Even so, Mourinho’s team still managed to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 away from home, thanks to a goal from Sami Khedira.

In terms of sheer resilience, the teams led by the Portuguese Madman were truly something to behold.

But as Mourinho’s former mentor, van Gaal’s Manchester United once again proved shaky.

They drew 2-2 away at West Bromwich Albion.

Worse, they had been trailing twice, only managing to equalize in the 87th minute.

The hero of the equalizer was Daley Blind.

This left Manchester United fans feeling frustrated and conflicted.

Previously, the excuse for van Gaal’s poor performance was his three-at-the-back formation.

But now, van Gaal had listened to advice and switched back to a four-at-the-back.

The problem was, now the midfield was in disarray.

Van Gaal, ever the eccentric, played Pogba on the left wing in this match, with the Argentine Rojo behind him.

The result was that Manchester United’s left flank was completely nullified by The Baggies.

As a player, however, Pogba actually performed very well. Of the two goals, one came from his direct assist, and the other was orchestrated by him.

But it was useless. Their left flank was exploited, and they couldn’t win the game.

Eight rounds into the league season, the Bayswater Chinese had won all eight matches, leading the league table with twenty-four points.

Mourinho’s Chelsea followed closely behind with twenty-two points.

Guardiola’s Manchester City were third with twenty points.

Manchester United and Arsenal were tied for fourth and fifth with seventeen points each.

Liverpool were currently in eleventh place with ten points.

The Reds’ biggest problem was that their once-proud front line from last season was struggling. Suárez was not in good form, and Sturridge was frequently injured, forcing Liverpool to rely on Mario Balotelli and Lambert up front.

This created a very awkward situation for The Reds’ attack.

In the match against the Bayswater Chinese, aside from Coutinho, they posed almost no threat.

…

On the evening of October 22nd, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, the Bayswater Chinese hosted Athletic Bilbao.

The team of Basque Lions, coached by Valverde, was young and full of energy.

Although it was the first time many of them were playing in the Champions League, and they were away against a powerhouse like the Bayswater Chinese, the young men of Athletic Bilbao showed no fear.

From the moment the whistle blew, they began to press Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and defense relentlessly.

This was their consistent playing style.

Fierce, tough, and full of aggression.

This tactic was often very effective against teams that weren’t particularly outstanding in their technical and tactical execution, or whose strength was not significantly greater than theirs.

Even when facing giants like Real Madrid and Barça, they could cause their opponents a great deal of trouble.

However, against Real Madrid and Barça, they often ended up suffering heavy defeats.

This had been the case for the past few years.

The underlying issue was the team’s technical and tactical style.

It was like how people always said Atlético Madrid versus Barça often resulted in high-scoring games.

There was a reason for it.

When weaker teams play stronger teams, most adopt a pragmatic, defend and counter-attack approach.

If you go head-to-head, you’re likely to lose by a large margin.

So, when Yang Cheng saw Athletic Bilbao’s trident of Muniain, Aduriz, and Susaeta pressing his backline from the outset, he guessed Valverde’s strategy.

He still refused to defend and counter-attack!

Or perhaps, a team like Athletic Bilbao was simply unyielding in its bones.

Therefore, such a team was incapable of sitting back and defending.

They would only charge forward bravely and relentlessly, like the 300 Spartans.

For this spirit, for a team that so steadfastly adhered to its philosophy, Yang Cheng felt a deep sense of admiration.

But on the professional stage, his way of respecting an opponent was to give his all to defeat them.

Because the high press was so fierce, at one minute and forty-four seconds, when Pepe moved forward to receive the ball just outside his own 30-meter area, Athletic Bilbao still had two players inside Bayswater’s 30-meter zone.

Pepe saw his chance, immediately turned towards the right flank, and played a pass into the path of Kyle Walker, who was making an overlapping run down the right sideline.

As the English right-back reached the ball, Theo Walcott was preparing to make his run.

If Walker could play a direct through ball down the line, The Little Tiger could use his speed to shake off the defender.

But Athletic Bilbao’s midfielder Iturraspe quickly closed in, blocking Walker’s direct passing lane.

If he had passed, Iturraspe would have likely slid in and cleared the ball out for a throw-in.

Kyle Walker didn’t risk the pass. Instead, he saw Modrić dropping back from an advanced position to receive the ball and immediately played a cross pass.

It was precisely into the space that Iturraspe had vacated when he moved wide to intercept.

Bayswater’s passing and movement were best at exploiting such spaces.

And the players’ coordination was incredibly fluid and intuitive.

As Modrić dropped back, The Little Tiger, who was further upfield, also dropped back.

The Croatian didn’t trap the ball immediately, as there were defenders around him.

So, he shielded the ball from the backtracking Rico, then swept it with his right foot, playing a one-touch pass to The Little Tiger, who was dropping back in front of him.

As Walcott dropped back, Athletic Bilbao’s left-back Mikel Balenziaga also pressed high.

His task was clearly to mark The Little Tiger tightly, not giving him any chance to receive the ball and accelerate.

With Walcott’s speed, if he was allowed to get going with so much open space behind him, how could they possibly stop him?

But The Little Tiger didn’t receive the ball either.

As the ball came towards him, he checked his run, leaned back, and gently flicked it with the inside of his right foot.

The ball deflected off the inside of Walcott’s foot, changing its trajectory from vertical to horizontal, rolling towards the right sideline.

The football slid towards the touchline.

Just as everyone thought the ball might go out of bounds, a red figure streaked past the halfway line at incredible speed, caught up to Walcott’s pass, and powerfully kicked the ball forward.

After playing the ball, Kyle Walker exploded with another burst of speed, charging towards Athletic Bilbao’s penalty area like a bolt of red lightning.

But Balenziaga’s recovery speed was also fast, and centre-back Laporte quickly shifted over to provide cover.

The two of them worked together, forcing Kyle Walker to slow down just outside the right side of the penalty area.

The attacking combination from the Bayswater Chinese was beautifully executed, all with one-touch passes and at incredible speed.

As Kyle Walker slowed down to the cheers of the home crowd, the Englishman chose not to attempt another move. Instead, after a sharp stop, he pulled the ball back.

Only then did Balenziaga suddenly realize that, in his focus on chasing Kyle Walker, he had completely forgotten about Walcott.

The ball rolled towards the area just outside the right corner of the box. Walcott quickly caught up to it and, without taking a touch, whipped in a cross.

At that moment, Giroud was positioned near the front of the six-yard box, slightly to the left, drawing the attention of Athletic Bilbao’s main defenders.

The French centre-forward even feigned a run towards the near post to challenge for a header.

This made everyone neglect the far post.

Gareth Bale surged forward at high speed. Just outside the left post, meeting Walcott’s cross, he didn’t jump but simply executed a direct header, nodding the ball back towards the center.

The goalkeeper, who was rapidly moving to cover the near post, was caught off guard by Gareth Bale’s powerful header and tried to block the ball with his hands.

He managed to get a touch on it, but he couldn’t stop it.

The football shot straight into the Athletic Bilbao net!

Giroud, who had been ready for a follow-up shot in the middle, shook his head with a wry smile.

Gareth Bale, however, quickly turned and ran off to celebrate.

In that instant, the entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a thunderous cheer!

1-0!

…

Despite the goal, the game continued in the same vein as it had started.

The Bayswater Chinese used their home advantage to put Athletic Bilbao under pressure.

The Basque Lions still refused to back down, continuing to employ their aggressive pressing tactics.

In the 6th minute, Athletic Bilbao made their first foray into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area. But as they attempted a cross pass, Thiago Silva suddenly stepped up to intercept the ball, clearing it with one kick to Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos controlled the ball, turned, and sent a through ball forward.

Gareth Bale made a quick run down the left channel, received the ball, and drove towards the left side of Athletic Bilbao’s penalty area.

Inside the box, facing the constantly retreating De Marcos, Gareth Bale performed a series of step-overs before suddenly cutting inside and unleashing a power shot with his right foot.

The shot wasn’t aimed at the far corner; instead, he kept it low and aimed for the near post.

Athletic Bilbao’s goalkeeper, Iraizoz, managed to dive and parry the ball away.

After that, the Bayswater Chinese gradually gained control of the match, dominating possession and pinning Athletic Bilbao back.

In the 17th minute, Pepe sent a medium-range diagonal long pass from the right side of the center circle near the halfway line to the right side of the Basque Lions’ 30-meter area.

Kyle Walker quickly brought the ball down before playing a cross pass to Walcott in the half-space.

With his back to goal, The Little Tiger controlled the incoming ball, deftly flicking it with his backheel towards the right side of the penalty area.

Kyle Walker, making an outside run, cut in diagonally from the right side of the box, met Walcott’s pass, and drilled a low, driven cross towards the front of the goal.

Giroud lunged with his left foot, but he was just a fraction of a second too late, unable to connect.

The ball flashed across the face of the goal!

A collective groan of disappointment echoed through the stadium.

Just three minutes later, Athletic Bilbao once again broke into the Bayswater Chinese penalty area.

But this time, the pass was cleared by Thiago Silva near the penalty spot, who kicked the ball away.

During the scramble for the ball outside the box, Nemanja Matić got to it first and poked it to Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos switched the play with a diagonal long pass, accurately sending the ball to the right flank in the attacking half.

Walcott made a quick overlapping run, received the ball, and dribbled forward. After drawing the defenders’ attention, he played a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.

Giroud, arriving late, controlled the ball. With his left foot blocked, the French centre-forward couldn’t pass to the unmarked Gareth Bale in time and chose to shoot with his right foot.

The shot was smothered by the goalkeeper Iraizoz.

However, a moment later, Athletic Bilbao threatened Courtois’ goal with a long shot created from a corner kick opportunity. The effort, from midfielder Rico, was a sudden strike from distance.

It grazed the top of the crossbar and went over the byline, a very dangerous attempt.

The two teams engaged in a tit-for-tat, end-to-end battle.

With their energy levels high, Athletic Bilbao’s fighting spirit was truly remarkable, and their quality was quite impressive.

The players’ execution of their tactics was also excellent.

But the Bayswater Chinese were still able to consistently create threats through their superior overall quality.

They were always just inches away from scoring again.

This continued until just before halftime. In the 43rd minute, Walcott and Kyle Walker combined again on the right flank, earning a corner kick on the right side.

Toni Kroos took the corner, delivering a curling ball with pinpoint accuracy.

Inside the penalty area, Giroud, who had missed several golden opportunities in the match, finally seized his chance, heading the ball into the Athletic Bilbao net.

2-0!

Entering halftime with a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese were noticeably more composed and confident.

After the break, just four minutes into the second half, Marcelo won the ball on the left flank and passed it to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman headed it on to Toni Kroos.

The German, without taking a touch, played another through ball, this time to Giroud’s feet in the left channel of the attacking third.

Giroud carried the ball forward to orchestrate the attack.

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale turned and made a diagonal run towards the center.

After reaching Athletic Bilbao’s thirty-meter area, Giroud played a cross pass with his left foot to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman controlled the ball with his right foot, then sent a chipped diagonal pass in behind the defense with his left.

Walcott sprinted forward at top speed, controlled the ball on the right side of the box, and unleashed a power shot, blasting the ball into the back of the Athletic Bilbao net.

3-0!

But the formidable Basque Lions continued their full-pitch press.

In the 53rd minute, Pepe, under pressure in his own half, passed directly to Nemanja Matić.

He then passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian passed to Giroud.

Giroud played a through ball in behind the defense.

Walcott sprinted forward, chasing down Giroud’s pass, and by the time he reached it, he was already on the right side of Athletic Bilbao’s penalty area.

The Little Tiger crossed the ball to the left of the penalty spot.

Gareth Bale arrived at full tilt and effortlessly volleyed the ball with his left foot into the left side of the goal.

4-0!

In the 59th minute, it was another quick counter-attack after winning the ball in their own half.

Toni Kroos passed to Modrić, who then played a diagonal pass to the right flank.

Gareth Bale, who had switched positions, controlled the ball and drove straight towards the right side of the penalty area.

Facing the defending Balenziaga, the Welshman performed a series of feints before suddenly playing a cross pass with his left foot to the right side of the arc of the penalty area.

Walcott followed up with a low shot, sending the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

5-0!

This was also the final goal of the match!

For the remaining half hour, Athletic Bilbao’s stamina was heavily depleted, and Yang Cheng made several substitutions.

In the end, neither team could score again.

But the Bayswater Chinese had demolished Athletic Bilbao 5-0 at home!

The scoreline was indeed a landslide, and on the pitch, it was a complete victory.

But any fan who actually watched the game would know that the process was quite difficult.

Both teams expended a huge amount of energy.

This was what made Athletic Bilbao so tough to play against.

In the other group match, Bayer Leverkusen, who had lost their first two games, defeated Juventus 3-1 at home.

…

Back in the Premier League, the 9th round of matches quickly arrived.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted Aston Villa.

Yang Cheng once again implemented some squad rotation, but Gareth Bale and Walcott, both in excellent form, continued to start.

To everyone’s surprise, just three days after their 5-0 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, Yang Cheng’s team demolished Aston Villa 6-1 at home.

In the first half alone, Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick, while Walcott contributed two goals and two assists!

5-1 was the score at halftime.

It was arguably the most exhilarating forty-five minutes the Bayswater Chinese had played all season.

In the second half, after the teams switched ends, Aston Villa began to defend with all their might. It wasn’t until the 71st minute that the Bayswater Chinese managed to score again, through Harry Kane.

The goal came from a Gareth Bale assist.

The Welshman was in spectacular form!

Everyone could see that he was giving his all, aiming for the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

And the entire Bayswater Chinese squad was supporting him in his quest for the award!

This was not just a first for Gareth Bale.

It was also a historic first for the Bayswater Chinese!

While Yang Cheng’s team secured their ninth consecutive victory, Guardiola’s Manchester City, affected by fighting on two fronts, lost 2-1 away to West Ham United.

Although Messi scored a goal, Manchester City still suffered an away defeat.

In this round, Liverpool defeated Hull City 3-0 at home.

Suárez scored a brace, showing signs of returning to form.

Rakitić was outstanding, contributing two assists and a goal.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Sunderland 2-0 away, thanks to a brace from Sánchez.

The crucial match of the round saw Manchester United snatch a 1-1 draw against Chelsea with a penalty in the 95th minute of stoppage time!

The clash between Mourinho and his former mentor van Gaal ended in a war of words.

The Portuguese Madman argued that the stoppage time was excessive.

It was already the 94th minute, and the referee still gave a red card and a penalty?

But van Gaal believed that Ivanović had clearly fouled Cavani, and the red card and penalty were fully justified.

However, Mourinho quickly retorted, questioning why there were five minutes of stoppage time in the first place.

But soon, both renowned managers ceased their squabbling.

There was no point in continuing the fight.

The next round featured the crucial matches that all fans were eagerly anticipating.

Chelsea versus the Bayswater Chinese at home.

Manchester City versus Manchester United at home.

The West London derby and the Manchester derby, happening in the same round.

One had to admit, only a league like the Premier League could afford such a luxurious fixture schedule.

…

On October 28th, the League Cup Round of 16 knockout stage.

Before the official West London derby, the Bayswater Chinese faced a pseudo-West London derby in the League Cup.

Their opponent was Fulham, who had been relegated to the Championship last season.

As before, Yang Cheng fielded a team of all substitutes and young players.

He lined up a defense of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker.

The goalkeeper was Robert Green.

Talk about bold, right?

An all-English defensive line comprised of a former international, a current international, and a future international!

As it turned out, this unreliable bunch conceded two goals in the 27th and 45th minutes of the first half, both scored by Fulham’s striker Mousa Dembélé.

Watching from the sidelines, Yang Cheng was completely dumbfounded!

“Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?”

Everyone else just smiled wryly.

They had been steamrolling through the league, conceding only two goals in nine matches.

And yet, this all-English defense had let in two in just forty-five minutes.

What else could you say? England was truly something else, wasn’t it?

Fortunately, in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Giroud scored a goal.

Speaking of the French centre-forward, he had every right to feel aggrieved.

He got injured at the start of the league season, which allowed Harry Kane to play a few games.

And the result?

The English lad had simply taken over the starting spot and refused to let go.

Do you have any idea how ridiculous it was?

Seven goals in nine rounds!

He was tied with Walcott as the team’s second-highest scorer, only behind Gareth Bale, who had thirteen goals.

Giroud himself found it hard to accept.

I, the big tiger, just took a little nap, and you sneaked in and stole my home?

To make matters worse, Giroud wasn’t a centre-forward known for his prolific goal-scoring.

What infuriated Giroud even more was that Harry Kane’s physique had also improved. Although he wasn’t as effective as Giroud in terms of tactical contribution, he was performing exceptionally well in the Premier League.

Crucially, the kid was young, a local player, and a product of their own youth academy. How could he possibly compete?

Plus, the team had been on a winning streak with irresistible momentum. As long as the head coach wasn’t an idiot, he wouldn’t casually change the starting lineup, right?

Although Yang Cheng had appeased him, Giroud could only grudgingly accept his fate of being rotated in for cup competitions.

From a core starter to competing for a spot, Giroud felt that London’s winter seemed even colder this year.

So, he vented all his pent-up frustration on Fulham.

After the second half began, Giroud first assisted an Eden Hazard goal.

Then, he assisted a Sterling goal, successfully completing the comeback.

And after his teammates scored, Giroud appeared even happier than the goal-scorers themselves.

The way he sprinted around excitedly was as if he were yelling at Yang Cheng: “Boss, take another good look at your poor Giroud!”

Even though I don’t score as many goals as Harry, my background isn’t as good as Harry’s, and I’m not as young as Harry, I’m handsomer than him!

And I know how to assist, too!

In the end, thanks to the outstanding performance of their attacking players, the Bayswater Chinese overturned the deficit to win 5-2 against Fulham.

Giroud was named the man of the match!

When Yang Cheng singled him out for praise in the dressing room after the match, the Frenchman finally broke into a brilliant smile.

But, three days later, the centre-forward in the starting lineup at Stamford Bridge was still Harry Kane.

…

On the afternoon of November 1st, the 10th round of the Premier League.

The Bayswater Chinese challenged Chelsea away from home.

After seventy minutes of play, the score was still 1-1.

In the 32nd minute of the first half, Oscar scored the opening goal for Chelsea, assisted by Diego Costa.

But in the 42nd minute, Harry Kane seized an opportunity during a goalmouth scramble to equalize for his team.

After that, neither side was able to score again.

Chelsea primarily focused on a defend and counter-attack strategy.

In this match, Mourinho employed a tactic of defending with all his might, doing everything possible to stifle Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Yang Cheng continued with the trident of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Walcott.

But apart from Harry Kane’s goal, they were contained for the entire match.

It was clear that Mourinho had put a lot of effort into devising tactics to neutralize the Bayswater Chinese.

Up to this point in the match, both sides had made one substitution each.

In the 60th minute, Yang Cheng brought on Giroud for Harry Kane.

The intention was clear: against a team defending so deep, Giroud’s tactical contribution would be more significant.

Although Harry Kane had been outstanding this season, he wasn’t particularly skilled in breaking down stubborn defenses, especially in the physical battles inside the penalty area.

His younger body was also at a disadvantage in physical confrontations.

Mourinho, on the other hand, brought on André Schürrle for Willian.

This was a substitution aimed at increasing the speed of their counter-attacks.

But neither team’s substitution had a significant effect.

The clock ticked to seventy minutes, and the game remained deadlocked.

However, Eden Hazard, having finished his warm-up, appeared before Yang Cheng right on schedule.

“See number 3?”

Yang Cheng pulled Hazard close and pointed to Filipe Luís.

Hazard, of course, nodded.

“When he was in La Liga, he used to mark Messi. They say he’s very experienced.”

With that one sentence, Yang Cheng made Hazard’s eyes light up, his whole body eager to get in on the action.

“When you get on, you’re in charge of dealing with him. Whether you want to take him on yourself or pass the ball, it’s up to you!”

The task Yang Cheng gave Hazard was very simple.

Hazard nodded emphatically.

He loved challenging tasks like this.

It excited him.

Especially when he came on for Walcott and went straight up against Filipe Luís.

Very experienced against Messi, huh?

Then let’s see if you can handle me.

…

There was often no rhyme or reason to the way Hazard played football.

Many people analyzed his gameplay videos and could draw countless conclusions, even formulating so-called theories.

But what was the reality?

The Belgian always felt he was being over-analyzed.

Because when he played, he never thought that much.

He played purely on instinct and experience.

Just like at this very moment.

When he received the ball on the right sideline, near Chelsea’s 30-meter area, facing Filipe Luís, he saw the defender blocking his path forward.

Clearly, Filipe Luís didn’t want him to break through and go to the byline for a cross.

That’s the tactic to deal with Walcott!

Not very effective against me!

As that thought flashed through Hazard’s mind, he immediately controlled the ball with his right foot and began dribbling diagonally towards the center.

The Belgian’s movements were swift.

Upon receiving the ball, he immediately cut inside, leaving Filipe Luís no time to think.

But Chelsea had numbers in the central midfield.

Blocking Hazard’s path in the middle were the double pivot of Ramires and Sami Khedira.

But Filipe Luís still tracked him all the way.

Hazard had absolute confidence in his dribbling ability, so he didn’t change direction, continuing his diagonal run towards the middle.

This was his habit when playing.

Many said he liked to dribble into crowded areas.

But they didn’t realize that was the most thrilling and dangerous way to beat a man!

Hazard continued to dribble, moving past the half-space and into the center. Just as Ramires and Filipe Luís were about to close in and trap him, the Belgian suddenly cut the ball with his left foot, changing direction and bursting into the space behind Filipe Luís.

This sudden move left Filipe Luís completely helpless. He stuck out a leg to try and block, but how could he possibly stop him?

By the time Hazard had dribbled past, Filipe Luís hadn’t even managed to turn around and give chase.

The Brazilian left-back could only watch helplessly as Hazard drove towards the penalty area.

Fortunately, just in front of Chelsea’s penalty area, Gary Cahill was timely in his positioning.

The English centre-back retreated into the penalty area, tracking Hazard’s advance.

But the Belgian kept dribbling.

He wasn’t just dribbling; he was constantly closing the distance to Cahill.

Cahill was an experienced centre-back. He turned his body sideways, keeping his eyes glued to the ball at Hazard’s right foot, and pressured him.

He wanted to force Hazard towards the sideline!

Ideally, the Belgian would choose to stop and shield the ball.

That would diffuse the crisis for the moment.

But unexpectedly, the Belgian dribbled closer and closer.

Hazard was short, while Cahill was tall. Once they got close, it was a huge disadvantage for Cahill.

Especially when Hazard suddenly came to a dead stop, cut the ball from his right foot to his left, and went behind Cahill’s back, leaving the defender completely baffled.

This damned Belgian is proficient with both feet!

Cahill immediately turned, trying to recover.

But it was as if Hazard had been waiting for him to turn. He cut the ball back to his right foot, instantly shaking Cahill off.

Cahill, who was only halfway through his turn, was left dumbfounded.

His dribbling is too fast, too agile!

He’s almost as fast as Messi!

He barely had time to think. On impulse, he reached out his hand, hoping against hope to grab Hazard, even just to delay him for a moment and buy himself a fraction of a second to react.

But that grab caused Hazard to lose his balance, and he tumbled to the ground inside the penalty area.

The head referee Mike Jones’s whistle blew sharply.

No question about it, a yellow card and a penalty!

Whether Hazard intentionally went down or genuinely lost his balance was irrelevant at this point.

He was down!

“My goodness, just three minutes after coming on, with his second touch of the ball, Hazard goes on a mazy run, bursts into the Chelsea penalty area, and wins a penalty!”

“A foul by Gary Cahill!”

“We see that the Bayswater Chinese have been awarded a penalty in the 74th minute of the second half!”

“Who will step up to take it?”

“Let’s take another look at how that penalty was won.”

“Hazard’s dribbling is simply outstanding! He’s treating Chelsea’s defenders like wooden posts.”

By the time Hazard was helped up by his teammates, Stamford Bridge was already filled with a cacophony of boos.

But amidst the jeers, there was a faint smattering of applause.

It came from the Bayswater Chinese fans who had traveled to the away game.

As Gareth Bale, Giroud, and others came over and helped Hazard up, they all pushed the Belgian towards the penalty spot.

Hazard didn’t stand on ceremony. He picked up the ball, placed it on the spot, and slowly backed away.

He stared straight at Čech, took a deep breath, and then ran up and coolly converted the penalty, sending the ball into the Chelsea goal.

The score on the scoreboard instantly changed to 2-1!

After scoring the penalty, the Belgian winger excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the stands where the fans were to celebrate.

No one knew that at this moment, his heart was screaming with excitement.

Who’s stronger, me or Messi?

…

While the Bayswater Chinese players were celebrating on the pitch, in one of the VIP boxes at Stamford Bridge, two very unusual guests were present.

November in London was damp and cold.

Both men were wearing heavy black overcoats.

One was an old man with white hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses. He was clearly of advanced age, but he still looked very sharp.

His face was cleanly shaven, and his hair was impeccably combed.

But the other man was distinctly different.

If the old man’s attire was business-like, then this man in his early forties was decidedly scruffy.

Not only was his clothing casual, but the beard on his face clearly hadn’t been groomed in a long time.

He had a long, thin face and also wore a pair of black glasses. Combined with his tall, slender frame, if Yang Cheng were present, his first impression would undoubtedly be: “Wow, that guy looks a bit like the actor Liao Fan.”

But in reality, his name was Fredi Bobic, a former German international centre-forward.

Bobic began his career at VfB Stuttgart but later played for clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Bolton in the Premier League, Hannover 96, and Hertha BSC.

If you just mentioned the name, many fans from the late 90s would probably recognize him.

But with his current appearance, the scruffy beard, and those glasses, if this middle-aged man were walking down the street, it’s unlikely anyone would recognize him.

Of course, if Yang Cheng heard the name Bobic, he would surely recall a piece of news from September.

Fredi Bobic, former sports director of Stuttgart, resigned on September 24, 2014.

But Yang Cheng would surely be puzzled as to why he would appear in London and watch a match at Stamford Bridge.

At this moment, in the spacious VIP box, there were only the two of them and two assistants.

But they were clearly not Bobic’s.

Rather, they belonged to the old man, whom Bobic addressed as his friend, Wolfgang.

“The Premier League is truly exciting!”

After seeing Hazard’s goal, Wolfgang was clearly very excited as well.

“In the Bundesliga, we never get to see such spectacular matches. The clash between Yang Cheng and Mourinho is definitely one of the most exciting games on the planet!”

Bobic laughed, his eyes behind his glasses narrowing into thin lines.

“Weren’t you just saying you wanted to see the Manchester derby too? Have you changed your mind?”

Wolfgang smiled and waved his hand. “Of course, I still want to, but who can blame the Premier League for being so ridiculous? They scheduled two such important matches so close together. There’s just not enough time!”

“Well, how about we have them arrange a private jet? We can watch this match, then hurry over to Manchester for the next one.”

Hearing this, Wolfgang let out a “tsk.” “Are you planning on footing the bill for that? Or should I get the club to reimburse me?”

After saying that, he burst out laughing.

Bobic laughed along with him.

Despite their significant age difference, they were genuine friends who had bridged the generation gap.

And they had been for over a decade.

They had met in the Faroe Islands.

Bobic still remembered the date: June 11, 2003.

At the time, he was a German international player with the national team for a European Championship qualifier in the Faroe Islands. Wolfgang, as a fan, had traveled with the team and witnessed Bobic score a brilliant goal in the match.

After the game, they met in the hotel bar, had their first conversation, and had been friends ever since.

“I still don’t understand why you made a special trip here just to watch a Premier League match,” Bobic said, somewhat surprised.

Wolfgang smiled and adjusted the glasses on his nose. “You know, I work in stock trading and financial investment. In our line of work, keeping up with the times is an essential quality.”

“So, I believe football should be the same!”

“And so?” Bobic still didn’t quite understand.

“So I think the Bundesliga must change quickly, especially with some major, deep-rooted changes.”

“But change isn’t always for the better,” Bobic said, his smile fading.

After a pause, he added, “Just like that friend of yours, the Mad King from Deutsche Bank!”

The Mad King was the nickname many Germans gave to the former CEO of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann.

Why was he called that?

Because he was incredibly aggressive, to the point of madness.

As the CEO of a bank, an industry that requires the utmost security, the first thing he did after taking office in 2002 was to sideline the risk management department of the investment banking division.

After that, through a series of reforms to Deutsche Bank’s power structure, he completely seized control of Germany’s largest bank.

Was that all?

No, he made another crazy move.

He poached Anshu Jain, an Indian-British expert and master of financial derivatives.

With these two crazy and aggressive individuals joining forces, Deutsche Bank’s investment banking division became like an untamed wild horse. Risk management, legal, and administration all served their quest for efficiency.

In just a few short years, Deutsche Bank’s balance sheet expanded rapidly.

It got to the point where everyone joked: “At Deutsche Bank, there was only the Mark, no thought”—a play on the name Marx.

But everything came crashing down with the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, followed by the European debt crisis, plunging Germany’s largest bank into a major crisis.

By now, Josef Ackermann had been retired for two years, but Anshu Jain, the Briton, was still there.

Only, his days were numbered.

Everyone felt that if he were to be ousted tomorrow, it wouldn’t even be considered news.

“Perhaps it’s something in our German DNA. We seem to be born with a dislike for change.”

Wolfgang’s tone had a hint of an old man lecturing the young.

“But honestly, look at the Premier League, look at the Bayswater Chinese. They are so well-run, so powerful. Have their fans been shut out of the stadium because of their success?”

“I heard that the Bayswater Chinese do a great, great deal for the community, for the fans, and for society as a whole every year, even more than most German clubs.”

“And yet we are the ones who always pride ourselves on our social and public welfare attributes.”

Bobic knew this was true, but…

“Our Bundesliga clubs aren’t as rich as they are.”

“That’s an excuse, Fredi. When you want to find a reason, it’s always there.”

Wolfgang looked at his friend. “But that only serves to console yourself. It doesn’t change the current situation at all, does it?”

Bobic knew that was the truth.

“You know, I’m in finance. I have many, many friends in the business world. I always hope to use my position to act as a bridge, to attract more investors and sponsors for our club.”

“Before the man you call the Mad King, my good friend Josef Ackermann, retired, I spoke to him about something at the Bayreuth Festival. I hoped to help the club secure a sponsorship from Deutsche Bank.”

“That’s very important, isn’t it?”

Bobic nodded heavily.

If they could secure sponsorship from Deutsche Bank, it would undoubtedly bring enormous influence.

It would be like Bayern Munich getting sponsorship from Audi or Adidas.

It was a recognition of strength!

Even though Deutsche Bank seemed to be in trouble now, it didn’t diminish its authority in Germany and Europe.

“You know, Josef Ackermann told me something.”

“It turns out, they had already discussed this matter internally, after I had brought it up a few times.”

“But in the end, they came to a conclusion. Including Anshu Jain, almost everyone was worried that sponsoring our club would give their bank’s clients a feeling of insecurity.”

At this point, Wolfgang couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

But his smile was tinged with bitterness, and even sarcasm.

“Two crazy and aggressive guys who make the whole world feel insecure, actually thought that we weren’t safe enough!”

“From that day on, Fredi, my friend, I knew with absolute certainty that we must change. A very profound, soul-stirring change.”

“Only then will we have a chance to grow. Otherwise, we will never have a chance!”

Bobic looked at his friend with some astonishment.

A rare loss of composure!

But this was the real him.

Full of passion, full of drive.

And also, very brave!

Chapter 319: A Divine Strike! An Unprecedented Football Empire! Cradle of Stars! A Historic Vote!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-1 in their away game, thanks to goals from Harry Kane and substitute Eden Hazard.

But what truly ignited public opinion was something Gareth Bale said in a post-match interview when a reporter asked why he chose to let Hazard take the penalty.

“Eden is an incredibly magical player. In my heart, he’s our Messi!”

“He’s encountered some problems this season, but in this match, after coming on as a substitute, he performed exceptionally well.”

“I felt there was no reason for me to take that penalty, because Eden needed it more than I did!”

Having scored only one goal so far this season, Hazard truly did need that penalty.

Spurred on by that goal, Hazard became Bayswater Chinese’s most dangerous player for the remainder of the match, delivering a brilliant performance.

It convinced everyone that he still had what it took to compete with Theo Walcott for a starting position!

In fact, he was very trustworthy in many crucial moments.

The media widely agreed that at this stage, with the team on a ten-game winning streak, Yang Cheng was highly unlikely to make major changes to the starting lineup, as it would be foolish.

But Hazard’s outstanding performance gave Yang Cheng more options and created more possibilities.

And Gareth Bale’s words earned him a wave of praise after the match.

Everyone noticed that as the team’s top scorer and star player, Gareth Bale was increasingly displaying the demeanor and magnanimity of a great leader.

He was also beginning to better understand how to unite his teammates.

In a way, this was more gratifying than his technical improvement on the pitch.

Chelsea’s head coach, Mourinho, also publicly praised Hazard at the post-match press conference, believing the Belgian had completely changed the game after coming on as a substitute.

“He is a phenomenal player!”

But the man couldn’t resist setting a trap for Yang Cheng.

“A player like him should be an undisputed starter and the tactical core of any team, but at Bayswater Chinese, that’s clearly not the case.”

Yang Cheng’s response to this was: get the hell out!

Liverpool defeated Newcastle 1-0 away, courtesy of a goal from Suárez.

The Uruguayan centre-forward’s form was recovering, and The Reds’ performance was beginning to pick up.

Meanwhile, Arsenal defeated Burnley 3-0 at home, with Sánchez scoring a brace.

The “Chilean Messi” had now scored a brace in consecutive matches, performing brilliantly.

In the most anticipated match of the round, the Manchester derby, controversy erupted once again.

Just thirty-nine minutes into the game, Manchester United defender Chris Smalling committed a foul, accumulating two yellow cards and being sent off with a red card.

This plunged The Red Devils, playing away from home, into a nightmare.

Afterward, the match became completely one-sided.

Manchester City furiously pressed Manchester United but were consistently unable to break through their goal.

It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that Messi produced a magnificent solo run, taking the ball, breaking through the defense, and finally assisting Agüero for the goal.

Manchester City defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home!

After the match, however, Manchester United manager van Gaal openly criticized head referee Michael Oliver, arguing that the second yellow card in the 39th minute should never have been given.

“It completely broke the balance of the game!”

But Pep Guardiola believed Smalling’s foul indeed warranted a yellow card.

“If anyone thinks the red card was unfair, they should ask their own player why he would make such a dangerous foul when he was already on a yellow card.”

Interestingly, van Gaal’s last match was a master vs. apprentice showdown with Mourinho, and this round was a master vs. apprentice showdown with Guardiola.

Both ended up sparking intense controversy.

And judging by the results, van Gaal came out on the losing end both times.

This also led to ridicule and mockery from the British media.

…

Midweek, the fourth round of the Champions League group stage.

Yang Cheng’s team traveled to Spain for an away match against Athletic Bilbao.

If one had to pinpoint Yang Cheng’s strategy for this match, it was simply to wait at ease for an exhausted enemy.

Bayswater Chinese held the initiative.

If Athletic Bilbao still wanted to advance from the group, they had to win this home game.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was extremely patient in his approach.

On the contrary, Athletic Bilbao’s tactical style was physically demanding, they were in a disadvantageous position overall, and time was not on their side.

As early as the first half, their over-eagerness in the 43rd minute led to a mistake in their defensive line.

But the head referee did not award a penalty for the foul on Giroud in the box.

It was a very clear misjudgment.

Or rather, there was a suspicion of favoritism towards the home team.

During halftime, Valverde made a desperate move, burning his bridges.

He brought on two players at once, Muniain and Iraola.

It was a signal to strengthen the attack!

But in the 55th minute, following a quick counter-attack after winning the ball in midfield, Hazard, who had performed excellently as a substitute in the previous round, broke through with the ball and assisted Giroud to score against Athletic Bilbao.

In the 73rd minute, Hazard scored a goal himself.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 away.

The entire match was steady and unremarkable, with truly nothing worth mentioning in detail.

The only thing to note was that Hazard was indeed in good form.

In the other match, Juventus drew 2-2 at home against Bayer Leverkusen.

What truly helped Juventus secure the draw was a penalty scored by Vidal in the 95th minute.

As Yang Cheng had said before, without Pirlo, Pogba, Giorgio Chiellini, and Lichtsteiner, today’s Juventus was a far cry from the Juventus of Yang Cheng’s previous life.

If not for Bayer Leverkusen’s own lack of strength, they probably would have thrashed Juventus by a large margin.

But in the end, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw.

This outcome was actually favorable for Bayswater Chinese.

Four consecutive wins had secured them the top spot in the group early on.

For the remaining two matches, the team could play with much more ease.

…

November 8th, the 11th round of the Premier League.

The first match of this round was a clash between top teams.

Liverpool hosted Chelsea at home.

The Reds got off to a smooth start, with Suárez breaching The Blues’ goal in just the ninth minute.

The Uruguayan striker was now scoring in consecutive games.

But later, Chelsea first scored from a corner kick, and then Diego Costa put them ahead.

Subsequently, Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Juan Mata.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Swansea City 2-1 away, thanks to another brace from Sánchez.

Sánchez’s recent performances were truly sensational!

Another crucial match of this round was Bayswater Chinese hosting Manchester City.

This was another battle of titans watched by the whole world.

Both teams were affected by fighting on multiple fronts, and both were neck and neck in the Premier League, chasing with fierce determination.

Bayswater Chinese was still the only team in the top five major leagues to maintain a perfect winning record this season.

Under these circumstances, Guardiola naturally took the match extremely seriously.

The Manchester City head coach even uncharacteristically fielded a midfield combination of Fernandinho, Xabi Alonso, and Yaya Touré, clearly lacking confidence in his team’s midfield.

During the match, both teams had done their homework and were specifically targeting their opponents, especially the star players.

Both Gareth Bale and Messi, the superstars of their respective teams, received special attention from the opposition.

In the 21st minute, Piszczek assisted Hazard, who opened the scoring.

The “Belgian Messi” was determined to prove himself in front of Messi and had repeatedly asked to play before the match.

He was also extremely active during the game.

But in the 32nd minute, Xabi Alonso orchestrated a quick counter-attack, and Marco Reus assisted Agüero to equalize.

1-1!

After halftime, in the 76th minute, Harry Kane used his body to hold off Giorgio Chiellini in the penalty area, turned, and fired a left-footed power shot into the net, putting his team ahead once more.

But just seven minutes later, Yaya Touré delivered a through ball from the edge of the box. Agüero shook off Pepe and scored with a close-range toe-poke.

2-2!

The two teams were truly tit for tat.

But no matter what changed or what adjustments were made, Gareth Bale and Messi remained tightly marked.

The two superstars were like caged animals, unable to break free.

…

Time ticked away.

The score remained 2-2.

The time left for both sides was running out.

The match was about to end.

Gareth Bale was panting heavily, beginning to feel fatigued.

Especially recently, he had been giving his all, insisting on playing continuously in both the Premier League and Champions League matches, fighting on two fronts, aside from the domestic cup competitions.

Although he would sometimes be substituted off early, a heavy burden still rested on him.

However, what weighed on him most was the pressure he put on himself.

He wanted to challenge for the highest honor a professional player could achieve!

He didn’t know if he could win it, nor did he know what it would take.

But he could only give it his all!

Over the past years, many players had come through Bayswater Chinese, some even having the chance to win the FIFA World Player of the Year or the Ballon d’Or, but none had ever succeeded.

For example, Ribéry, Andrei Arshavin, Džeko, Robert Lewandowski…

This group of outstanding teammates around him had all come close, but had always missed out.

That wasn’t what Gareth Bale wanted!

The Welshman knew clearly that this was the closest he had ever been to that award in his entire life.

He didn’t know if he would ever get another chance.

If he missed it, he would surely regret it for the rest of his life!

So, he had to give it everything he had!

And to win that award, he had to prove he was the best player.

In the last round against Chelsea, the one who saved the team was the substitute, Hazard.

That time, Gareth Bale could console himself by saying that Mourinho’s tight defense left him no room to play, so he could only choose to draw defensive attention and tie down the opponent.

But what about this match?

Bayswater Chinese was playing at home, Manchester City wasn’t playing conservatively, and the game was open.

And he still couldn’t make an impact?

Especially with Messi on the other side!

Gareth Bale looked at the Argentinian.

He was already laden with honors but was still working hard to find an opportunity.

What reason did he have to slack off?

The clock hit 89 minutes.

The score was unchanged.

Even the Sky Sports commentators felt the match would likely end in a 2-2 draw.

Both sides had executed their specific tactical plans perfectly, locking down the opponent’s most dangerous player.

Just as the sideline official raised the board for three minutes of stoppage time, on the right side of the pitch, Modrić dropped back into his own half and, with Piszczek, tackled the ball away from Marco Reus.

As soon as Modrić won the ball, he immediately dribbled towards the centerline.

Manchester City’s midfielders immediately swarmed him, trying to form a counter-press in the attacking half.

The Croatian midfielder cleverly shielded the ball, evaded the tackle, and sent a cross pass to the center circle.

Casemiro surged forward and received the ball near the center spot. Before Fernandinho could close in, he immediately played a through ball.

Gareth Bale, positioned at the bottom right of the center circle, made a diagonal run towards the middle. After receiving the ball behind Fernandinho, he continued to drive forward.

After just two strides, as he was about to break into Manchester City’s 30-meter area, he saw that City’s backline had retreated to the edge of the box, blocking his path.

Xabi Alonso, beside him, was also tracking back immediately.

The Welshman glanced forward.

Since there was no one in the penalty area, ter Stegen’s positioning was a bit high; he was standing just outside the six-yard box.

An opportunity!

A flash of inspiration struck Gareth Bale’s mind. Seizing the chance, he took a quick run-up, planted his right foot firmly to steady himself at an angle, and poured all his strength into his left foot.

With all his might, he swung his left leg and unleashed a ferocious, powerful blast!

A dull thud was heard on the pitch, and the ball shot off Gareth Bale’s left foot at incredible speed.

It was impossible to track its trajectory with the naked eye.

The goalkeeper, ter Stegen, was also taken by surprise, initially backpedaling continuously.

But this blast from over thirty meters out was not only incredibly fast but also had a relatively low arc.

This made ter Stegen uncertain. By the time he retreated to the middle of the six-yard box, his only choice was to make a desperate two-handed block.

But the ball streaked past his hands and flew towards the goal behind him.

Then came another thud.

With his back to the attack, ter Stegen’s heart leaped with joy.

Did it hit the crossbar?

But when he turned around, he saw the ball had bounced down and crossed the goal line.

It had indeed hit the crossbar, but it struck the underside, just grazing it enough to slightly alter its direction before still going in.

A divine strike!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a thunderous roar in an instant!

Over ninety thousand fans shot out of their seats, roaring wildly.

After taking the shot, Gareth Bale’s body had lost some balance.

But he quickly steadied himself and rushed to the sideline to celebrate.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 89th minute of the match, Gareth Bale unleashed a thunderous worldie from over thirty meters out, blasting through Manchester City’s goal!”

“This is the power of a world-class superstar!”

“Give him an inch of space, and he can create a scoring threat.”

“Gareth Bale did not disappoint! His long shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net!”

“3-2!”

“Bayswater Chinese has once again taken the lead in the final moments of the game!”

…

Thanks to Gareth Bale’s goal, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 3-2 at home.

This victory once again put the Welshman on the front pages of major media outlets.

As November began and the Ballon d’Or announcement drew closer, with Bayswater Chinese fanning the flames, the British media’s hype around Gareth Bale grew ever louder.

This wonder goal, in particular, earned Gareth Bale a standing ovation!

This was, in fact, a necessary part of the B`allon d’Or race.

One needed to provide material for the media to hype and promote, while also winning the favor of the journalists.

The two were complementary and indispensable.

Bayswater Chinese would continue to push, including arranging for Gareth Bale to do interviews with influential media outlets and participate in high-profile events.

The commercial department was also organizing sponsors to get involved.

After all, if Gareth Bale were to win, Bayswater Chinese would have its own Ballon d’Or superstar, which would be a good thing for everyone.

Thirteen goals in eleven matches.

So far this season, Gareth Bale’s performance had outshone fellow Premier League superstars like Messi, Suárez, and Agüero.

In the Champions League, the Welshman had also led the team to four straight victories, securing first place in the group ahead of schedule.

It could be said that such a performance made Gareth Bale worthy of the praise lavished upon him by the British media.

Coupled with the team’s solid results, especially the Champions League three-peat, which was practically an ultimate weapon.

Gareth Bale’s performance on all fronts was also beyond reproach.

Champions League Final MVP, UEFA Best Player in Europe, and various other awards—the Welshman was practically drowning in them.

Now, Bayswater Chinese and the British media were to work together to build momentum.

It wasn’t just about creating hype for Gareth Bale, but about creating a powerful narrative.

The message to FIFA and all the media and football figures involved in the voting was: if you don’t vote for Gareth Bale, are you sure you even know football?

Amidst the roaring public opinion, several other news stories were also circulating.

After the 11th round of the Premier League, the league paused again for the November national team training camp.

During this period, the German media broke another story.

Yang Cheng and his team were interested in acquiring a Bundesliga club.

The teams currently being considered included Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC, and VfB Stuttgart.

These teams all shared a common trait: they were located in big cities with rich histories, but their current performance was abysmal, hovering near the relegation zone.

As the media stirred the pot, fans of the rumored clubs reacted differently.

According to public feedback, the majority of fans from each club were still relatively resistant.

A significant reason for this was that Yang Cheng came from the Premier League.

It goes without saying that England and Germany have always been arch-rivals.

Many German fans worried that Yang Cheng’s arrival would bring the bad habits of the Premier League into the Bundesliga.

For example, excessive commercialization, being profit-driven, and so on.

They preferred Bundesliga teams to maintain a purer form of football.

Of course, in the media, the debate between embracing globalization and commercialization by reforming the 50+1 rule, or sticking to the traditions of German football, has been a recurring discussion for the past few years.

Ever since the implementation of the 50+1 rule in the late 1990s, similar disputes have repeatedly emerged.

If there was anything different this time, it was the appearance of the “Football Emperor,” Beckenbauer.

In an interview with reporters, Beckenbauer stated that German football needed to embrace more changes and keep up with the trends of the era. “Globalization is the future!”

Beckenbauer clearly understood the sentiments of German fans.

Therefore, the Football Emperor stated that German football should embrace change while holding onto its own traditions, and reforms needed to be cautious.

“For a club owner like Yang Cheng, who understands both football and business, I think we can appropriately loosen some restrictions.”

“I believe his arrival can bring more positive changes to our entire league.”

…

Yang Cheng saw Beckenbauer’s interview while in the first-class cabin of a flight to São Paulo, Brazil.

There were also some news reports from German media.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t planning on acquiring a Bundesliga team?”

Xia Qing, sitting next to him, asked with great interest.

“That’s right. I won’t go out of my way, but I’m waiting for interested teams to come knocking.”

After saying this, Yang Cheng couldn’t help but laugh.

“We hit a wall with Hamburger SV, mainly because we were too proactive.”

“Honestly, even if Hamburger SV’s board of directors and supervisory board had agreed to be acquired by us at the beginning of the year, could we have really completed the acquisition?”

Without waiting for Xia Qing’s answer, Yang Cheng shook his head directly, “Impossible!”

What was the situation like now?

It was like the Premier League in 1998!

In the late nineties, the Premier League had not yet taken that step towards globalization.

The simplest example was that there were very, very few foreign owners of Premier League clubs at that time.

And then a piece of news broke.

The big boss behind Sky Sports, News Corp chairman Murdoch, wanted to acquire Manchester United!

At that time, Manchester United’s management had already agreed, and the two sides had even basically reached an agreement.

But in the end, it was Manchester United’s fans who stood up to protest, and they were strongly opposed.

How loud was the opposition?

It directly alarmed the British government.

The Red Rebels, formed by Manchester United fans, were born at that time.

Ultimately, the British government intervened and vetoed the acquisition on grounds of suspected monopoly.

And by 2005, why was the Glazer family able to acquire Manchester United?

Because the times had changed!

In 2003, Roman Abramovich’s acquisition of Chelsea completely changed the landscape of English football.

The powerful rise of Chelsea also made everyone feel a brand new way of playing professional football in the age of capital.

But even so, in 2005, how many Manchester United fans still stood up to oppose the Glazer family’s acquisition?

After the incident with Hamburger SV, Yang Cheng had completely understood.

The more you proactively chase after it, the less likely it is to happen!

Instead, it’s better to do what he was doing now: release the news, cast a wide net, and see which club, whether in the Bundesliga or the German second division, is interested in being acquired. It didn’t matter.

As long as they were willing to be acquired, and as long as they could handle their fans, then everything would be easy.

“What if no club is interested?” Xia Qing was still puzzled.

Yang Cheng smiled faintly, “Then it proves that the resources, technology, experience, and strength we currently possess are of no value to Bundesliga teams. In that case, what’s the use of us entering the market now?”

“And if we do have value, but they reject us, that’s not our problem, but their loss, isn’t it?”

Xia Qing had to admit that Yang Cheng’s logic was sound.

“Recently, some people have strangely asked me, what’s the point of spending so much money to acquire a club in Brazil?”

“Is it just to complete your so-called ecosystem?”

Hearing the question, Yang Cheng laughed again.

“Completing the ecosystem is one aspect, but don’t you think Brazilian football is a treasure trove?”

“Everyone knows that, it’s the kingdom of football,” Xia Qing replied matter-of-factly.

Some say that if European leagues completely lifted restrictions on foreign players, they would be flooded with Brazilian players.

Because they have far too many excellent players!

“Then what do you think is the biggest obstacle for Brazilian players playing in European leagues?”

“Or, let me put it more directly, what do you think is the biggest concern for teams in Europe’s top five leagues when signing Brazilian players?”

Having been in the professional football industry for so many years, Xia Qing immediately began to ponder after hearing Yang Cheng’s words.

In transfers, the biggest risk is definitely not ability.

Because ability is something that can be thoroughly scouted beforehand.

“Adaptation and integration!” Xia Qing immediately found the answer.

“Exactly!”

Yang Cheng gave his wife a big thumbs-up.

“The problem that Brazilian youth training is encountering now is actually a conflict between Brazilian youth training and Europe’s professional leagues. The players they produce find it difficult to integrate, or are unable to integrate, after arriving in Europe.”

“And over the past few years, with the continuous deepening of industrialization and globalization in European football, and the constant updating and iteration of technical and tactical levels, the cultivation and instillation of young players by domestic clubs in Brazil have lagged far behind the development and progress of European football.”

It was a bit like university education back home.

What was learned in university was disconnected from the skills that companies required employees to master!

In the past, the problem was that the players’ ability was not an issue, they just couldn’t adapt.

But now, not only is adaptation still a problem, but integration during matches has also become an issue.

Didn’t Marcelo tell Yang Cheng before that he couldn’t understand the technical and tactical concepts of European football?

This was due to insufficient cultivation of tactical literacy from a young age.

In the past, when tactics were relatively crude, a head coach didn’t even need to arrange any tactics. They could just throw the players onto the pitch and they could play on their own and win.

But now, with tactics becoming more and more detailed, the division of labor becoming clearer, and the requirements for players’ tactical literacy and game awareness becoming higher.

Playing with your head is no longer just an empty phrase.

Brazil clearly hadn’t realized this yet!

When did they finally react?

At least another five years from now.

In the years before Yang Cheng’s transmigration, everyone discovered that Brazilian players were once again pouring into European leagues in batches, and high-level players were constantly emerging.

Around 2024, Palmeiras could even wholesale two or three high-level players to top European leagues every year.

A single summer transfer window could bring in over one hundred million euros in revenue.

How did they do it?

Reform!

Their youth academy fully aligned with the standards of European teams, adopting more scientific training models, and strengthening the cultivation of players’ technical, tactical, physical, psychological, and cultural aspects.

They completely upgraded training facilities and resource allocation.

In his previous life, around 2022, Yang Cheng had visited São Paulo FC and discovered that each of their youth teams was equipped with four technical coaches, one professional fitness coach, one scout to assess player performance, one nutritionist, one doctor, and one psychologist.

Note, this was the configuration for every single age group.

These people would form a team to tailor specific training plans for each player, from physical to psychological, from intellectual to physical, helping them grow and progress.

In addition, they placed great importance on the analysis of match and training data.

Why was Real Madrid willing to spend big money to sign Vinícius, Rodrygo, and Endrick?

Did they really think Real Madrid had too much money and were foolish? A huge gamble?

No.

In fact, before Real Madrid signed these players, they had already collected a lot of data on them from matches, but more importantly, from training, and analyzed the players’ technical characteristics, abilities, and potential.

Every club had its own set of data analysis models.

Bayswater Chinese had already developed this and was starting to put it into use.

Before Yang Cheng’s transmigration in his previous life, he had received accurate information that the average amount of training and match data collected by top European clubs for players under 16 was 2.7TB.

Note, this was only match and training data, not including videos and recordings.

Therefore, as player transfer fees continue to rise, more and more clubs will pay greater attention to young players.

And under the coverage of big data, any young player who performs well will have nowhere to hide.

This is why, in 2024, player values became increasingly transparent, making it almost impossible to profit from information asymmetry.

And in the present, after Bayswater Chinese acquires Palmeiras, they can introduce a complete set of Bayswater Chinese’s youth training system, as well as the club’s world-leading data analysis capabilities.

They could also share the most advanced technical and tactical concepts from Europe at any time, guiding the development of young players in Brazil.

For players in Brazil, after several years of standard Bayswater Chinese youth training, they would be familiar with advanced global tactical concepts, European football culture, proficient in European languages, and their own abilities would have reached a certain level.

Under these circumstances, wouldn’t their chances of successfully establishing themselves and integrating into a team after arriving in Europe be greatly increased?

This business alone would be enough for Palmeiras to make a huge profit!

In a way, this was also the original intention of the Brazilian Football Association in bringing in Bayswater Chinese, wasn’t it?

And what Yang Cheng wanted to do was to seize this time difference and build up the Palmeiras brand.

He wanted to make this Brazilian club a stepping stone for many young Brazilian players to reach Europe’s top leagues.

At the same time, it would attract top European teams to scout players,最大限度地 eliminating their concerns about whether players could integrate and adapt.

Backed by Brazil’s astounding talent pool, Palmeiras was practically an inexhaustible star-making factory.

If this step was taken and succeeded, then Yang Cheng would consider buying a club in Argentina next.

His goal was to build an unprecedented, immensely powerful football empire!

…

The dream is beautiful, but reality is harsh.

Yang Cheng’s trip to São Paulo this time was mainly to prepare for the upcoming members’ vote.

The vote was on November 20th, but before that, he needed to appear in person to secure more votes.

After all, Yang Cheng was very influential in Brazil.

Especially among ordinary fans.

Upon arriving in Brazil, Yang Cheng learned more news from the team Xia Qing had left behind.

The Brazilian league doesn’t run on a cross-year season format; it runs from late April to December each year.

In 2013, Palmeiras’ revenue was only one hundred and seventy million Real, roughly fifty million euros.

A truly shabby figure!

Even in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, this revenue ranked in the teens.

For comparison, Botafogo from Rio de Janeiro earned more.

This showed just how bleak Palmeiras’s business operations were.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that their new stadium had not been put into use in time.

Another point, which Yang Cheng’s team only found out after in-depth investigation, was that the club’s debt of over one hundred million Real was actually from the club chairman, Paulo Nobre.

When the team was in trouble, it was Paulo Nobre who paid out of his own pocket and sought funds from outside, totaling one hundred and twenty million Real.

This was also the reason why Paulo Nobre was actively selling Palmeiras.

From the interactions with various parties over the past period, especially with WTorre Company, Xia Qing’s previous budget of three hundred million euros to buy Palmeiras and Allianz Parque should not be a problem.

But Yang Cheng’s visit this time was clearly not to make the final decision.

It was to campaign for votes.

Currently, Palmeiras ranked 17th out of 20 teams in the Brazilian top flight, right in the relegation zone.

After arriving in São Paulo, Yang Cheng participated in several member events organized by the club.

He solemnly promised that once he completed the acquisition, all funds would be transferred the next day, immediately resolving all outstanding salary issues for players, coaches, and employees.

At the same time, he would offer a substantial bonus for avoiding relegation, to help the team succeed!

Who was Yang Cheng?

A world-class manager!

He had already proven to be a man of his word at Málaga CF, fulfilling his promises.

Now, his words carried a very high degree of credibility.

The members’ attitude towards this was also quite positive.

The team had been relegated once before, and it had fallen apart.

2014 was Palmeiras’s centenary, and if they were relegated this year, it would be all over.

In addition, Yang Cheng promised that after acquiring Palmeiras, he would buy back the operating rights for Allianz Parque for the next thirty years from WTorre Company, allowing Palmeiras to officially have a stadium that was completely its own.

“I will make Palmeiras a football club that all of Brazil, and even all of South America, will envy!”

Teams that owned their own stadiums usually had very old ones.

Teams that played in new stadiums usually didn’t own them.

This was the reality for Brazilian teams!

Furthermore, Yang Cheng made a third promise.

If he completed the acquisition of Palmeiras, he would officially start the renovation and construction of two training bases in 2015.

The first was the renovation of the training ground for the first team and the U20s, located northwest of Allianz Parque. It only had three pitches, exclusively for the use of the first team and the U20 team.

The second was the construction of a youth academy, located north of the Tietê Ecological Park in the northeast of São Paulo.

The training bases of São Paulo’s teams were all clustered together.

For example, near Allianz Parque, Palmeiras’s training base was adjacent to São Paulo’s.

Both training bases were located on the banks of the Tietê River.

The Tietê Ecological Park was in the northeast of the city, on both banks of the Tietê River.

To the south of the park were the youth centers of Santos and Corinthians, and to the north was Palmeiras’s youth center.

São Paulo’s training base was not in the city but in a western suburb, in a small town called Cotia.

Palmeiras’s youth center at the Tietê Ecological Park was for the U10 to U17 age groups, but it only had five football pitches, built in 2002, and the conditions were very poor.

The training facilities were also very outdated, with the training building being just a low bungalow.

Yang Cheng’s team had inspected it. The plot of land was also adjacent to a tributary of the Tietê River, next to a warehouse district and parking lot of a used car company.

But business had been bleak in recent years, so they had downsized, leaving a large area deserted.

The land price in this area was actually very cheap.

Therefore, Yang Cheng promised that if he acquired Palmeiras, he would invest one hundred million Real, about thirty-five million euros, to completely transform Palmeiras’s training base and youth center.

“We have reached a consensus with the government and businesses to buy the 300-mu deserted warehouse district north of the Tietê Ecological Park and connect it with our existing 70-mu youth center to create the largest, most advanced, and most scientifically laid-out youth center in all of South America.”

“In the future, that place will become the cradle of stars for all of São Paulo, all of Brazil, and even all of South America!”

After a few events, the Palmeiras members were fired up.

This Brazilian club had a hundred-year history.

The land for the youth center was acquired in the late 1990s, took several years to build, and was only completed in 2002. But it only had five pitches, which didn’t even meet FIFA standards.

But this had already exhausted all of Palmeiras’s strength.

For the past few years, they had been unable to upgrade the hardware and software.

Now, Yang Cheng was here, not only to expand it by 300 mu but also to build the biggest and best youth center in Brazil.

This was simply too exciting!

That was a full one hundred million Real!

Palmeiras’s total annual income was only one hundred and seventy million Real, even if they didn’t eat or drink.

So domineering!

In the past, they envied Corinthians’ training base south of the ecological park, but that was just building two training buildings.

They also envied São Paulo’s youth center in Cotia, which could accommodate 1,800 players.

But now, why would they need to envy others?

Sell!

We must sell!

Miss this opportunity, and there won’t be another!

If they didn’t sell now, he would turn around and buy another team, and it would be too late for regrets!

Finally, Yang Cheng attended Palmeiras’s home game against Sport Recife on November 19th.

This team was currently ranked 12th in the Brazilian league.

They were five places and eight points ahead of Palmeiras.

But most importantly, before this match, Palmeiras had suffered a six-game losing streak.

The opponents in these six lost matches included Cruzeiro, city rivals Corinthians, bottom-of-the-table team Bahia, Atlético Mineiro, and city rivals São Paulo.

Almost everyone felt that Palmeiras’s chances of avoiding relegation were very slim.

But before this match, Yang Cheng, accompanied by his team, entered the dressing room and met with the Palmeiras players.

He stated that he was preparing to acquire Palmeiras and would likely get the support of the members on the 20th.

“But the prerequisite is that you must help me win this battle!”

Yang Cheng promised that once he acquired Palmeiras, he would immediately pay all the team’s outstanding salaries and bonuses, and would also provide a handsome additional bonus for avoiding relegation.

“I know this is what you deserve!”

And before the match, Yang Cheng appeared in the center of the pitch at Allianz Parque.

He spoke directly to the forty-three thousand fans through the stadium’s public address system.

Yang Cheng reiterated his various promises and said he would do everything in his power to help Palmeiras avoid relegation.

“I hope to bring this traditional powerhouse back to the pinnacle of Brazilian and South American football within five years!”

The Palmeiras fans, who had already received the news, were fired up with passion.

Although there were still many dissenting fans in the stadium, even booing in protest.

But it was clear that the majority of the fans were supportive.

In addition, several Palmeiras legends, including Rivaldo, Dudu, Roberto Carlos, and the ’02 World Cup starting goalkeeper Marcos, all made appearances to support Yang Cheng.

In the subsequent match, Palmeiras defeated Sport Recife 2-0.

This was Palmeiras’s first victory in nearly two months!

Many media outlets in Brazil also began to build up momentum.

Football Association officials also came forward to express their support for Palmeiras’s shareholding system reform.

“This will be a historic attempt!”

And with the atmosphere whipped up to this level, Yang Cheng and his team could be said to have done everything they possibly could.

The rest was left for the Palmeiras members to decide.

The day after the match against Sport Recife, more than four thousand members with voting rights gathered at Allianz Parque.

In the past, Palmeiras’s presidential elections had at most just over two hundred votes.

But this time was different; more than four thousand members all came.

They each cast their precious vote, deciding whether to support the club’s shareholding system reform and accept the acquisition by Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, or to reject the deal.

The voting proceeded with tension and intensity.

The subsequent vote count captivated the attention of all of Brazil, and even the media and fans around the world.

This was a first for Brazilian football!

And the first step towards reform!

Under the witness of a notary, the vote count was constantly updated.

At the beginning, the votes for and against the acquisition were very close, even trending neck and neck.

It was only after both sides surpassed one thousand votes that the votes in favor of the acquisition gradually gained an advantage.

And the gap began to widen.

It was only at this moment that Yang Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But it wasn’t enough, because a 60% majority was needed for success.

That night, Allianz Parque was still brightly lit, with numerous media and fans gathered there.

Waiting for the final result to be announced.

It wasn’t until after 9 p.m. that Paulo Nobre received the final tally.

“We used a direct member voting model this time, with a total of 4,080 votes.”

“Of these, 48 were blank ballots, which are considered invalid.”

“Votes in favor of the shareholding system reform and the Bayswater Chinese acquisition agreement reached 2,421!”

“Votes against the shareholding system reform and acquisition were 1,611!”

“We announce that the votes in favor of the shareholding system reform and acquisition have exceeded 60%!”

As Paulo Nobre announced loudly, applause actually broke out from many in the media and the fans.

But it was also mixed with the disappointed curses of many other fans.

This was actually quite normal.

Some fans simply did not want the club to be acquired.

Yang Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

That was too close!

Just over 60%!

“If you hadn’t personally come to campaign, I estimate it wouldn’t have passed at all!” Adam Crozier also felt very fortunate.

Yang Cheng was thrilled.

But at the same time, he felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

At least 60% of Palmeiras fans recognized and supported him.

He could not let these supporters down!

Chapter 320: Yang Cheng’s Counterattack! The Platini Upset! The Ballon d’Or Final Three! A Football Earthquake!

In Frankfurt, mentioning Sachsenhausen brings to mind Goethe, the Römerberg plaza, the city’s impressive museums, and its buildings steeped in history.

Well, some might also remember the red-light district near the old train station.

But mention Westend, and the adjectives that immediately pop into everyone’s head are undoubtedly “upscale” and “modern.”

Wolfgang Stubing had always lived in Westend.

Although he could easily walk to Sachsenhausen, he rarely went there.

It wasn’t that he disliked the old town; he simply preferred standing at the pinnacle of Frankfurt’s skyline, gazing down at the magnificent Main River and the entire city under the night sky.

At this moment, the two men sitting across from him were much the same.

The 66-year-old Heribert Bruchhagen had once been a professional player, but without much success.

After retiring, he did quite well as a head coach.

Especially in the 1990s, he had managed Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, and Arminia Bielefeld.

In 2001, he joined the German Football Association as its CEO.

That was quite a significant career change.

Since he was primarily responsible for sporting affairs, his main contribution was promoting the reform of German football’s youth academy system.

But just as the project was getting off the ground, he was headhunted by Eintracht Frankfurt on December 1, 2003.

His position was Chairman of the Board and Sporting Director.

He truly held sole authority over all sporting matters.

During this time, he also served as a board member for both the German Football League and the German Football Association.

This shouldn’t be surprising, as Frankfurt has always been special in this regard.

The club’s headquarters, stadium, and training ground were just over a kilometer away from the Football Association’s headquarters and the national team training camp. The unique relationship is easy to imagine.

In short, Heribert Bruchhagen wielded extraordinary influence in German football.

The other man was a 47-year-old German named Oliver Frankenbach.

He was a long-time employee of Frankfurt.

He joined Eintracht Frankfurt AG on January 1, 1998, as the manager of the finance department.

Due to his outstanding capabilities, he was promoted in 2001 to head the finance and human resources department, as well as the marketing department.

One man was in charge of two crucial departments.

On June 1, 2007, he officially became the CEO of Eintracht Frankfurt AG.

Here, it’s necessary to clarify the current management model of the Eintracht Frankfurt football club.

Firstly, Eintracht Frankfurt is a member-based football club.

However, the club also established a corporation, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG.

This company currently has three major shareholders: Eintracht Frankfurt e.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the club, holds 68%.

Another is Freunde der Eintracht, a company established by an organization similar to the Frankfurt supporters’ club, which holds 28.5%.

The third is Wolfgang Stubing’s company, Stubing AG, holding 3.5%.

Wolfgang Stubing acquired his shares in 2010 by purchasing one hundred thousand shares of Eintracht Frankfurt.

It was these shares that granted him a seat on Frankfurt’s Supervisory Board.

This is a management model unique to German football clubs.

Eintracht Frankfurt AG is fully responsible for all of the club’s business operations. The shareholders form a Supervisory Board, which oversees the operations of the company and the Board of Directors but has no actual operational power.

Eintracht Frankfurt AG, in turn, establishes a Board of Directors responsible for all business activities of the company and the club.

Wolfgang Stubing was one of the nine members of the Supervisory Board, while Bruchhagen and Frankenbach were key figures on the Board of Directors.

And at this moment, they were having dinner together in a private VIP box at the top of the Westend skyline in Frankfurt.

“Have you seen the news? There’s been a major shake-up at Palmeiras in Brazil!”

The three men sat at a round table in a triangular formation. Wolfgang Stubing looked directly at the two men before him and spoke calmly.

“It’s being reported all over the world. Overnight, it went from a member-based club to a joint-stock company and then was fully acquired. That’s a huge leap!” Bruchhagen remarked with a hint of emotion.

Every time he saw news like this, he would lament that he was already 66 years old and was starting to fall behind the times.

“Yang Cheng is truly formidable. The elite team he has under him is also incredibly impressive and highly effective,” Frankenbach added with a soft sigh.

“Didn’t the league organize a visit for us last time? Their office is located in the heart of London, in Soho. The whole working atmosphere is just like those multinational corporations in London—extremely efficient.”

“But here, our interpersonal relationships are so convoluted. It’s incredibly difficult to get anything done!”

As he finished speaking, Frankenbach picked up his wine glass and drained it in one go, shaking his head incessantly.

“Outsiders who don’t know any better always praise us, saying our finances are healthy, that we have the most reasonable and best system, maintaining the social aspects of a member-based club while avoiding its drawbacks, and possessing the advantages of a joint-stock company.”

“But only those of us on the inside know the truth. We do have the advantages of both systems, but we don’t lack any of their disadvantages either; they’re just hidden deeper and more secretly.”

Sitting opposite him, Stubing heard the CEO’s complaint and laughed. He stood up, picked up his own wine, and walked over to pour him another glass. “Everything has its drawbacks. Do you think there are no problems with Yang Cheng as an owner?”

“Right now, Yang Cheng is indeed very bold and capable, and he has achieved great things. But what about the future? Will his successor be like him? What if someone less capable takes over?”

“If you ask me, the only thing that never changes in this world is that it is always changing. And we must actively seek change!”

“Of course, change always comes with risks. Some choose to change and bear the risks; others refuse to change and avoid them.”

“There’s no absolute right or wrong in anything!”

Both Bruchhagen and Frankenbach nodded in agreement.

Those words were very insightful.

“But the problem with our Eintracht Frankfurt now is that it has reached a point where it must actively seek change. Otherwise, it will truly die!”

As Stubing’s words fell, the other two men fell silent.

If this got out, the media and fans would surely tear Stubing to shreds.

Frankfurt was doing just fine, and its Bundesliga ranking wasn’t bad. How could it be dying?

But these two men wouldn’t think that.

After hearing this, Frankenbach picked up his glass again and downed it in one go.

“Peter told me a couple of days ago,” Bruchhagen spoke up, “that he’s trying to find some money to help the team get through this difficult period. The plan is to sell a 5% stake from the club’s side.”

Selling shares was the nicer way of putting it.

In reality, the club was out of money and looking for investors.

“Didn’t he just slam Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg, and Bayer Leverkusen in the media? And now he wants to sell shares?” Stubing asked, amused.

In Germany today, four professional teams were exceptions, not adhering to the 50+1 rule.

They were Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, Wolfsburg, and Bayer Leverkusen.

They had always been the targets of criticism from other Bundesliga clubs.

Why were they special?

“I’ve discussed this with many people in the league. They also want to promote some changes, but all the clubs are held hostage by fan opinion. If you want reform, the fans can vote you out.”

“No one dares to open that door. Everyone is just papering over the cracks!”

“The fans all think our finances are healthy, that while we’re not developing quickly, we’re not controlled by capital, our ticket prices are low, and our club has no debt, but…”

“They haven’t opened their eyes to see that in the 2013-14 Premier League season, all 20 teams turned a profit!”

“Over the past few years, their financial situations have been constantly improving.”

“And what about us?”

Although Bruchhagen was not young, those who knew him knew he was always someone who dared to speak his mind.

“I won’t talk about other clubs, but look at the people in our club. How many of the 100-odd employees are actually doing their jobs? Are even half of them here because of their abilities and not connections?”

“Philipp Reschke, he’s a lawyer. He joined the company in 2001 and went into the marketing department.”

“Why did he get in? Because his father, Hans-Hermann Reschke, used to be the Chief Financial Officer of the German Federal Railway and is now a partner at Frankfurt Bank!”

“Two years after Philipp Reschke started working for the company, his father also became a member of our club’s Supervisory Board, and we got a loan from Frankfurt Bank!”

As Bruchhagen said this, he threw his hands up in the air.

“How many people like him are there in our company? Have you ever counted?”

Hearing this question, Frankenbach, as the head of the marketing department, had his own grievances.

Could he refuse someone sent down from above?

If he refused, what about the loan?

Without the loan, how would they pay the salaries of players and employees?

“Do you know? We are located in Germany’s most modern financial center, surrounded by businesses, multinational corporations, and brands. And yet, the income from our commercial department is absolutely pitiful.”

“Our club’s annual revenue is only 80 million euros, and what about our salary expenses? When the sporting department comes to me for a transfer budget, what can I give them?”

With only about 100 employees, after subtracting those for grounds maintenance, the coaching staff, and various other staff, and then setting aside all the well-connected individuals and those who collect a salary without doing any work, how many people were left who could actually get things done?

And what kind of projects could these few people push forward?

Why has Frankfurt’s youth academy system never performed well?

Simple: no people, and even less money!

“This isn’t just a Frankfurt problem. The league chairman has lost his temper in front of me many times, cursing out the managers of these clubs, but is it any use? It’s useless. Almost none of the clubs want to change!”

“If they change, how will they make a living?” Bruchhagen hit the nail on the head.

Wolfgang Stubing was clearly well aware of the entire situation.

In fact, all the influential figures on the Supervisory Board, all of whom were either rich or powerful, knew Frankfurt’s situation.

But no one would come forward to say anything.

Because what they wanted was this platform and the network of connections it provided.

As for whether the platform developed well or not, was that important to them?

On the contrary, wouldn’t it be better for them if it didn’t develop well?

“What worries me most right now is a trend, a trend coming down from the Supervisory Board,” Stubing said with a grave expression.

Bruchhagen and Frankenbach both looked over at him.

“Peter Fischer has been trying to get into politics for years and has been very close to the opposition party, especially in recent years. He even brought former mayor Achim von der Reck onto the Supervisory Board and has repeatedly made politically biased statements in public.”

“This is very dangerous, and very frightening!”

Stubing’s words made both men fall silent.

The issue was extremely sensitive, but anyone in their position could see it.

In Germany, football has a very strong social attribute.

That’s why Chancellor Angela Merkel often attended football matches.

If Peter Fischer were to use the Frankfurt club platform to voice support for the opposition party, it would be far too dangerous.

“I’ve made my decision!”

Wolfgang Stubing stood up from his seat.

“I will run for Chairman of the Supervisory Board in 2015. At the same time, I will negotiate with the league and the Football Association. As long as I am elected, I will fully push for further reforms at the Eintracht Frankfurt club.”

“The 50+1 rule no longer fits the current trend of European football development. It will change; it will be gradually relaxed.”

“For example, changing the investment period from a continuous 20 years to 10 years, or even 5 years, to attract long-term capital, restricting the proportion of salary expenditure, mandating investment in youth academies, and so on. Loosening with the left hand while restraining with the right—that is the future!”

“I hope to bring in an efficient and professional team like Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, to replicate their best resources and most professional system here in Frankfurt!”

“I believe that right here in Frankfurt, we can build a strong team capable of competing with Bayern Munich!”

As Wolfgang Stubing spoke, he became visibly excited.

He had just celebrated his 65th birthday.

He had lived in this city his whole life, and he had watched Frankfurt’s football his whole life.

But he supported reform!

Because he firmly believed it would make Frankfurt better and stronger!

On the afternoon of November 22nd, the Premier League entered its 12th round.

At home, Chelsea defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0, thanks to a goal from Diego Costa in the 11th minute.

Although The Baggies’ holding midfielder, Yacob, received a red card in the 29th minute of the first half, Chelsea failed to score again in the subsequent hour of play.

At home, Manchester City came from behind to beat Swansea City 2-1, with goals from Messi and Yaya Touré.

Arsenal, on the other hand, lost 1-0 at home to Manchester United.

The Red Devils only secured the victory in the 85th minute, with a goal from Rooney.

However, Liverpool lost 3-1 away to Crystal Palace.

For this round’s away match against Newcastle, Yang Cheng implemented squad rotation.

All international players who had played the full two matches for their national teams, as well as those from South America, were rested.

Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the team in the first half.

But in the 79th minute of the second half, Moussa Sissoko equalized for Newcastle.

In the end, the two teams drew 1-1!

Bayswater Chinese’s winning streak came to an end at 11 matches, but they extended their unbeaten run to 12 rounds.

Three days later, it was the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Bayer Leverkusen.

For The Company’s Eleven, this was a crucial match.

But for Bayswater Chinese, the team had already qualified, so Yang Cheng made significant rotations.

Unexpectedly, just nine minutes into the game, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese saw Kyle Walker storm down the right flank with the ball, initiating the attack before delivering a perfect pass.

Theo Walcott scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!

This goal completely broke the deadlock on the pitch!

Leverkusen began a frantic counter-attack.

But in the 38th minute, Sterling on the left flank sent a brilliant pass, and Giroud, in the center, seized the opportunity in front of goal to score.

2-0!

After half-time, in the 62nd minute, Aaron Ramsey intercepted the ball in midfield and played a through ball. Giroud timed his run perfectly, beating the offside trap to score in a one-on-one situation.

3-0!

The French centre-forward had scored a brace.

Just three minutes later, from a corner kick opportunity, De Bruyne took the kick. It was Giroud again who connected with a header, completing his hat-trick.

4-0!

Even Yang Cheng himself was very surprised.

He hadn’t expected Leverkusen to push forward so aggressively.

It had reached the point where they completely disregarded their defense.

In the other match, Juventus won 2-0 away against Athletic Bilbao.

The situation in this group was now largely clear.

But what truly ignited public opinion was when UEFA President Platini, in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE, publicly stated that he did not support Gareth Bale winning the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Why?

“Four years ago, before the FIFA awards ceremony, I had already stated my opinion, and I still hold that view today.”

“In a World Cup or European Championship year, the highest individual honor should go to a World Cup champion!”

“So, four years ago, I supported a Spanish player to win the award. Now, I support a German!”

Platini’s remarks quickly caused a huge stir in European football, and indeed, around the world.

For a UEFA president of such high stature to publicly declare his preference for the Ballon d’Or winner was a clear attempt to influence the voting.

The target was obviously Gareth Bale.

The reason was simple: Gareth Bale was from Wales, a country that hadn’t even qualified for the World Cup.

According to Platini’s criteria, he didn’t even deserve to be in the top three, let alone win the award.

The British media swiftly counter-attacked Platini’s statements.

“We don’t remember if he said this four years ago, but we certainly remember that four years ago, in a World Cup year, UEFA’s Club Footballer of the Year award was not given to a Spaniard.”

The implication was clear: why are you spouting nonsense now about something your own organization didn’t even do four years ago?

The German media quickly responded, supporting Platini’s statement.

The media of both countries began a war of words to support their respective players.

Over the weekend, it was the 13th round of the Premier League.

Away from home, Arsenal defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 with a goal from Benzema.

Liverpool beat Stoke City 1-0 thanks to a goal from Glen Johnson.

Manchester United defeated Hull City 3-0 at home with goals from Chris Smalling, Rooney, and Cavani.

At home, Bayswater Chinese conceded a goal in just four minutes but came back to win 3-1 against Leicester City, with goals from van Dijk, Eden Hazard, and Gareth Bale.

Gareth Bale also provided the assist for the second goal.

Chelsea, in this round, drew 0-0 away at Sunderland.

But Manchester City won 3-0 away at Southampton.

After Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 comeback victory against Leicester City, a journalist at the press conference asked Yang Cheng for his opinion on Platini’s statement supporting a German player for the Ballon d’Or. Yang Cheng smiled and retorted, “Is he supporting Toni Kroos?”

The entire room erupted in laughter.

“I believe Platini was a very outstanding legendary player, and he has his own understanding and views on football. But to be honest, I think that as the President of UEFA, he should not be publicly expressing any opinion on the Ballon d’Or at this time.”

“It is incorrect, and it is immoral!”

The room was in an uproar.

Yang Cheng’s counter-attack was fierce.

“Incorrect” was self-explanatory.

The key word was “immoral.”

What did that mean?

This was a very serious accusation.

Was he implying that Platini was deliberately targeting Bayswater Chinese?

If so, did that mean the two were about to have a complete fallout?

When the journalists on the scene pressed Yang Cheng on whether their understanding was correct, he smiled and said, “That’s what I said. How you understand it is your business.”

This was already a very clear hint.

Yang Cheng had struck back!

But what truly surprised everyone was that after Yang Cheng’s retaliation, Bayswater Chinese quickly published a public statement on its official website and all major social media platforms, clearly expressing its dissatisfaction with Platini.

In the statement, Bayswater Chinese said that the list of the top three players for the FIFA Ballon d’Or was about to be announced. For Platini, as the UEFA President, to make such a statement before the announcement, Bayswater Chinese demanded an explanation.

“Although he has repeatedly stressed that it is his personal preference, as the President of UEFA, is he taking an impartial stance by expressing such a view, and will this affect the upcoming results?”

Bayswater Chinese stated that the FIFA Ballon d’Or is an individual award to recognize the most outstanding player in the world. Whether it is awarded to Gareth Bale or a German player, the primary consideration should be the player’s performance.

“Everyone who participates in the voting should carefully consider the players’ individual performances and achievements. Every vote they cast affects the reputation of the Ballon d’Or.”

The tricky part for Bayswater Chinese was that whether the award went to Gareth Bale or Toni Kroos, both were Bayswater Chinese players.

But for Germany, the champion team, the captain was Lahm.

By convention, it was very possible that a situation similar to 2006 could occur, where Cannavaro accepted the Ballon d’Or on behalf of the entire Italian team.

This was what Bayswater Chinese wanted to avoid at all costs!

Therefore, in the statement, Bayswater Chinese listed the performances and achievements of both Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos over the past year.

“They both deserve the Ballon d’Or!”

Bayswater Chinese’s public relations department immediately went on the offensive.

Whether online, in print media, or on television, they launched a full-scale media campaign to build momentum for their two players.

After Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese chose to fight back, the British media also went on an all-out offensive!

This came as a great surprise to the entire European football world, as well as to media and fans worldwide.

They had never seen Bayswater Chinese act so forcefully.

But it was at this very moment that they truly realized that Bayswater Chinese did not lack power or influence; they had just been incredibly low-key before!

This was the football club with the highest revenue in the world!

Not only did Yang Cheng and the team publicly retaliate, but Bayswater Chinese’s players also stepped forward.

Captain Modrić stated in an interview with the media, “Whether the Ballon d’Or is awarded to Gareth Bale or Toni Kroos, it would be well-deserved.”

“But if it’s not one of them, it will be a scandal!”

Forward Theo Walcott threw his full support behind his best friend, Gareth Bale.

“If any other player wins the Ballon d’Or, they should be ashamed, because Gareth Bale has produced a record over the past year that everyone can only look up to!”

Thiago Silva also publicly stated that there was almost no suspense regarding the Ballon d’Or.

“If the main criteria are club achievements and performance, then it must be Gareth Bale. If it’s based on World Cup performance, then it must be Toni Kroos.”

“Besides the two of them, no one else is qualified to win this award.”

However, many players chose to stay out of the spotlight.

For example, Pepe.

Another major favorite for the Ballon d’Or was C. Ronaldo, Pepe’s good friend on the national team.

So, whatever Pepe said would be sensitive.

What surprised everyone was that many German players, apart from the Bayern players, chose to remain neutral.

But the Bayern players felt that Germany plays as a collective, so the award should be accepted by captain Lahm on behalf of the entire team.

Or by the goalkeeper Neuer, who had shone at the World Cup.

The implication was clear: it had nothing to do with you, Toni Kroos.

As for the parties involved, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos followed the advice of the club’s PR department and did not say a single word to the public.

All the media pressure was being handled by the club!

The Times of London openly declared, “For the sake of its players, Bayswater Chinese has chosen to declare war on UEFA President Michel Platini!”

Among the many opinions, there was one surprising voice.

Bayern’s superstar Ribéry, when interviewed by reporters, did not publicly state who he supported.

But he did criticize Platini’s remarks.

“Actually, I’ve learned a lot from the past few Ballon d’Or ceremonies.”

“When I arrived at the venue that year, I told my wife I had absolutely no chance!”

“As it turned out, I wasn’t wrong!”

Ribéry believed that many excellent players deserved the Ballon d’Or—Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Lahm, or Neuer were all fully qualified.

“But I don’t think Platini should have spoken out.”

“He knows full well what it means when he says something like that, but he chose to say it anyway.”

“This is a very bad thing. He’s filled the Ballon d’Or with politics!”

However, in the face of the accusations and questions from Bayswater Chinese and the media storm from the British press, Platini made no response.

Three days later, midweek, came the 14th round of the Premier League.

Liverpool defeated Leicester City 3-1 away.

Manchester United beat Stoke City 2-1 at home.

Arsenal defeated Southampton 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Sánchez.

Chelsea, on the other hand, beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home.

Away from home, Manchester City came from behind to beat Sunderland 4-1, with Messi contributing two goals and one assist.

Clearly, with the Ballon d’Or announcement imminent, Messi was feeling the pressure.

As for Bayswater Chinese, they won 2-0 away against Swansea City.

The two goals were scored in the 78th and 83rd minutes.

Gareth Bale had one goal and one assist, with the other goal coming from Toni Kroos.

Interestingly, the assist for Gareth Bale’s goal also came from Toni Kroos.

After the match, this sparked heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Just when everyone thought the two were rivals for the Ballon d’Or, they were assisting each other in the game.

After scoring, the two of them running to the sideline to celebrate together became a topic of praise among countless media outlets and fans.

Many even believed that the reason Bayswater Chinese waited until the 78th minute to score was to create this very scene of them assisting each other.

After the afternoon match, that same evening, FIFA announced the final three-man shortlist for the 2014 Ballon d’Or on its official website, along with a highlight reel for each player.

They were C. Ronaldo from Real Madrid!

And Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos from Bayswater Chinese!

In an instant, the entire public opinion exploded!

The British media, in particular, celebrated as if it were a holiday!

Platini had lost!

The “conspiracy” of the high-and-mighty UEFA President had failed!

“Bayswater Chinese’s dominant counterattack has caused Platini’s scheme to fail completely!”

But UEFA officially still refused to make any response to the matter.

When FIFA’s final three-man list was released, everyone at Bayswater Chinese breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Although the final result was not yet out, and C. Ronaldo still had a good chance of winning.

After all, he had won the La Liga and Copa del Rey double, and was also the top scorer in both La Liga and the Champions League.

But for Bayswater Chinese, having two players in the top three was a victory in itself.

More importantly, this upset against Platini had been very successful.

The main reason was that Platini idiot had inexplicably volunteered himself as a sucker.

Actually, Yang Cheng also found it very strange. Why had he done that?

But the day after FIFA’s three-man list was released, Adam Crozier brought him the answer.

“It wasn’t a preconceived statement at all. The EFE journalist just asked casually, and probably even expected Platini to respond with some official boilerplate.”

“But unexpectedly, he just said it.”

“The reason was simply that he really wanted to use EFE to curry favor with the Spanish, and incidentally, the Germans as well.”

When Yang Cheng heard this reason, he couldn’t believe it himself.

“It’s that simple?”

“It’s that simple!”

Yang Cheng thought about it carefully. Platini’s original words, by mentioning the 2010 incident, showed his support for Spain while also pleasing the Germans.

It was indeed possible.

“But why?”

“No reason. It was purely his on-the-spot improvisation.”

The phrase “on-the-spot improvisation” was used brilliantly.

Yang Cheng, Flick, Brian Kidd, and the others all burst out laughing.

As a number 10 holding midfielder, Platini indeed had an artistic flair for improvisation.

“And the funniest part of this whole thing is, take a guess,” Crozier said.

Of course, Yang Cheng and the others couldn’t guess.

“Inside UEFA, they’re in total chaos.”

“How so?” Yang Cheng’s gossip-loving side was now piqued.

“At first, they didn’t think it was a big deal. Platini actually misspeaks often. He’s the kind of guy who likes to do that. Sometimes he just says things off the cuff that are quite unreliable. The PR department often has to clean up his mess.”

Yang Cheng understood this.

In fact, some European politicians—and to some extent, the UEFA President is a politician—are very glib and often have to speak in public.

When you talk a lot, you’re bound to make mistakes.

So for them, misspeaking is normal, and having a thick skin is the most basic quality for a politician.

If you can’t endure insults, how dare you run for election?

“But this time was different. Everyone knows Platini did it to please the Spanish and German fans, so at first, the public opinion was fine, and the media didn’t make a big move. So the UEFA PR department chose to do nothing.”

“Why should they? This wasn’t my damn mess. It’s like this every time. You go out and talk crap, then come back and expect us to clean up your mess? You feel good, but what about us? Have you ever considered our feelings?”

Adam Crozier’s imitation of the UEFA PR department’s frustration was so vivid that it made Yang Cheng and the others roar with laughter.

“Later, as public opinion grew, we started to fight back, and the British media came out in full force. The situation escalated.”

“Apparently—and this is just what I heard—Platini called Infantino and the head of the PR department into his office and gave them a harsh scolding. The gist of it was, ‘How the hell did you clean up my mess this time?’”

“The PR department felt wronged too. It’s your mess, and you’re blaming us?”

“So this time, they just gave up and asked Platini, ‘You tell us, how should we respond?’”

“Guess what Platini said?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Platini said, ‘If I knew, I would have done it myself. Why would I wait until now?’”

Everyone burst out laughing upon hearing this.

So this UEFA President had been anxiously fuming for a long time before he finally lost his temper.

He deserved it!

“The trouble with the whole thing is that Platini and UEFA know they’re in the wrong. To say something like that at a time like this for no reason, isn’t that just sticking your face out to be slapped?”

“In the end, the PR department’s advice was to let it cool down. Just wait for this wave of public opinion to pass and it’ll be over.”

“If they came out to respond now and misjudged the public sentiment or said the wrong thing, it would just be adding fuel to the fire.”

“So, we ended up with the situation we’re seeing now. The entire UEFA is in hiding. Nobody has made a public appearance for days, afraid of being asked about this and being thrown under the bus by Platini.”

When everyone heard this, they all found it quite amusing.

Who would have thought that the whole affair, from beginning to end, was just because that fellow Platini spoke too quickly on a whim, driven by a small calculation in his mind?

UEFA’s authority was being eroded bit by bit like this.

“Just today, something very bizarre also happened in Spain,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

Everyone immediately pressed for details.

It was gossip time after the training session.

“Barça’s chairman, Bartomeu, wrote a letter to FIFA President Blatter.”

“A love letter?” Flick showed off a unique brand of German humor.

Everyone burst out laughing.

Damn it, is this scoop for real?

“In the letter, Bartomeu righteously told Blatter that he strongly disapproved of FIFA’s transfer ban, and also stressed that Barça would not change the working model of La Masia.”

Barça’s transfer ban came from the intercontinental transfers of more than a dozen of their young players. They hadn’t reported them to FIFA in time and, after being reminded by FIFA multiple times, still refused to provide the materials.

So they were banned from transfers.

“In this letter, Bartomeu also stated that Barça would not send representatives to attend the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards ceremony hosted by FIFA on January 12th.”

After hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded again.

Seeing that everyone clearly hadn’t gotten the point, Adam Crozier spelled it out for them.

“The letter was made public today, but it was sent and received by FIFA before they announced the three-man shortlist. And this time, no one from Barça made it into the top three.”

“Messi is at Manchester City!”

Everyone suddenly understood.

Bartomeu was just making a fool of himself.

You don’t even have anyone in the final three; who cares if you go or not?

Sometimes, Yang Cheng really felt that these elected officials were truly one more unreliable than the next.

One more shameless than the next!

Anyone with even a shred of decency would never get elected in the first place!

“Tell the PR department to continue the media war. Not only to build momentum for our players, but also to give Platini a punch every now and then. Let that boy suffer a bit, so he’ll play fewer of his little tricks on us in the future.”

Yang Cheng really had very little fear of Platini.

Even if Platini were standing in front of him right now, he would dare to curse him to his face.

Why?

Because his achievements were solid enough!

Because reason was on his side!

Perhaps the court of public opinion isn’t a place for reason.

But if you have enough power and are forceful enough, then everyone has to reason with you.

That was the case with Platini this time.

Yang Cheng had no intention of letting him off the hook so lightly.

Even if he couldn’t take him down, he had to teach him a lesson, to make him remember that Bayswater Chinese was not to be trifled with.

Isn’t it just a matter of having the media publish an article every few days?

For Bayswater Chinese, that was a trivial matter!

It didn’t even require Adam Crozier’s involvement; the head of the PR department could coordinate and handle it.

“We’ll drag Platini out for a lashing every two or three days, make him a little uncomfortable. Sounds good,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

This was the disadvantage of provoking an extravagantly wealthy opponent!

It wasn’t about bringing you down; it was purely to annoy you and make you miserable.

Spending a little money? I don’t care!

But Yang Cheng actually had another idea.

He wanted to use this incident as a hook to keep Platini firmly on the line.

It was now December 2014.

At the upcoming Club World Cup in Morocco, an “earthquake” was about to happen that probably no one could have imagined right now.

Before the Club World Cup, all 25 members of FIFA’s Executive Committee would gather in Marrakesh, Morocco.

This was routine, standard practice.

Because the Club World Cup was the last major event of 2014, followed by Christmas.

And since it was rare for so many members to be together, FIFA was scheduled to hold an Executive Committee meeting to discuss matters for 2015.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the investigation report on the World Cup bids, conducted by American lawyer Michael Garcia with an FBI background, had already been completed at the end of September.

But this matter had been suppressed by Blatter all along.

The British media had also been pushing this issue.

Because England had been a victim in the 2018 World Cup bid.

Just recently, in November, FIFA’s Ethics Committee released a 42-page summary version of the report.

But the full report was over 430 pages long.

Why release so little?

Everyone knew the reason.

And in Marrakesh, many people, including Platini, would put pressure on Blatter.

Of course, one should not think that Platini was impartial and incorruptible, unable to tolerate any wrongdoing.

Wrong!

His goal was to make Blatter compromise and not seek re-election.

Once Blatter was out, Platini would have a chance to take over.

This was a case of dog bites dog.

Neither of them was a good guy!

Yang Cheng now wanted to use this incident as a hook to keep Platini firmly on the line. When the critical moment came, if he found an opportunity, he would deliver a fatal blow to Platini!

This time he was the victim. The next time he stood up to fight back, no one could say anything about him.

The key was how to make it a one-hit kill!

Right now, Yang Cheng’s biggest advantage was that everyone, including FIFA, Blatter, Platini, and even all the media and fans, believed this was an internal matter between FIFA and UEFA, within the football world.

But only Yang Cheng knew the truth: Michael Garcia had an FBI background, and the United States had been secretly plotting revenge, even arresting the president of the CONCACAF federation.

They were just waiting for an opportunity to completely overturn FIFA!

This was probably the only time in Yang Cheng’s three lives that he approved of and supported the United States’ role as the world’s policeman.

But Yang Cheng hadn’t told anyone about this, not even Xia Qing.

He had just been secretly observing the situation, waiting for an opportunity.

And this time, Platini had actively provoked him, and the timing was close, which gave Yang Cheng a chance to get involved.

That’s why he asked Adam Crozier to use this opportunity to create some trouble for Platini first.

It would be best if he could dig up some dirt on him first, so they could deal with it all at once later.

This grand drama was just beginning!

Chapter 321: King of Finals! Club World Cup Three-peat! Tell me, do you want to be FIFA President?

December 6th, the 15th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, faced a Burnley side that defended with all their might.

The two sides fought hard for the entire first half, but the score remained 0-0.

The match was incredibly intense.

But in the 51st minute of the second half, Gareth Bale found the back of Burnley’s net, thanks to an assist from Harry Kane.

In the 74th minute, Piszczek assisted Harry Kane, who scored the second goal.

Having gradually cemented his place in the first team’s starting lineup this season, Harry Kane’s progress was remarkable. He was scoring more and more goals and his performances were getting better and better.

If last season he was known more for his assists, leading many to believe he was a centre-forward with a low scoring rate, things were different now.

Now, with his improved physical strength, he had completely transformed into a more complete and versatile goalscorer.

Unfortunately, this meant that Giroud had lost his starting spot in the league.

The French centre-forward was mostly limited to playing in the Champions League.

And so far in the domestic League Cup, the youngster Dominic Solanke had also been performing well.

Especially after joining the first team, the 17-year-old had shown the fearless attitude of a newborn calf that does not fear the tiger.

This gave Giroud a huge headache.

Why was the competition getting more and more intense?

After scoring another goal in this round, Harry Kane’s Premier League goal count for the season had reached ten.

After only fifteen rounds, his goal tally had already matched last season’s total.

Everyone looked forward to Harry Kane scoring more goals and delivering even better performances in the upcoming matches.

After all, he was a player Yang Cheng had written into the team anthem.

He had been showered with love by Bayswater Chinese fans since he was a child!

Most importantly, he truly lived up to expectations!

…

After the 15th round of the Premier League, the final round of the Champions League group stage arrived midweek.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Juventus in an away game.

Before this match, the situation in this group was actually quite tense.

Bayswater Chinese had five consecutive wins, securing the top spot with fifteen points.

Juventus currently had seven points.

Bayer Leverkusen, after a crushing away defeat to Bayswater Chinese in the previous round, also had seven points.

According to the group stage rules, if the points are tied, the head-to-head record between the two teams is considered.

Bayer Leverkusen had one win and one draw against Juventus, so they were ranked second in the group.

Athletic Bilbao was at the bottom with three points.

So, in the final round of the group stage, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen were competing for the last qualifying spot.

For The Zebras to advance, they not only had to defeat Bayswater Chinese but also hope that Bayer Leverkusen wouldn’t win their home game against Athletic Bilbao.

If Yang Cheng had already “gone easy” on Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round, then in this round against Juventus, he went even easier, perhaps even more so.

Yang Cheng fielded a full lineup of substitutes and young players.

His message was clear: a loss wouldn’t matter.

Whether Bayer Leverkusen advanced or not was up to The Company’s Eleven themselves; it had nothing to do with Bayswater Chinese.

Playing at home, Juventus fielded all their key players and were very aggressive.

But to Yang Cheng’s surprise, the English backline he put out—Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker, with Robert Green in goal—actually performed quite well.

It was hard to say whether Juventus’s attack was toothless or if this defensive line was just in excellent form that night.

Whatever the reason, Juventus’s attacks were repeatedly repelled.

Of course, the midfield combination of Aaron Ramsey, Casemiro, and De Bruyne also performed exceptionally well.

Juventus truly struggled to find a way through.

After the 25th minute, The Zebras began to lose some steam.

This was because, in the match at Germany’s BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen had scored.

The situation fluctuated back and forth after that.

Whether it was because they were wary of the threat posed by the front three of Sterling, Giroud, and Theo Walcott, or for other reasons, Juventus’s attack always lacked conviction.

In the second half, Yang Cheng began making substitutions.

Youngsters Patrick Roberts and Dominic Solanke were brought on successively.

This was Solanke’s first time representing the team in the Champions League, and he replaced Giroud.

Yang Cheng felt a little guilty and made sure to comfort Giroud.

There was nothing to be done; they were a top-tier club now, and the competition was just that fierce!

Don’t be fooled by Solanke’s young age; he was a powerhouse.

A product of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy, his footwork was top-notch, his physical strength was outstanding, and he was quick with the ball. When he started running, he was like a rampaging young bull!

The British media praised him, saying he was very similar to Rooney when he first burst onto the scene.

But in Yang Cheng’s own opinion, Solanke’s skills on the ball were much better than Rooney’s, and he was taller too—the perfect build for a centre-forward.

Crucially, despite his height, his African heritage gave him powerful athleticism; he could run endlessly!

After coming on as a substitute, he immediately wreaked havoc on the Juventus defense.

Brian Kidd, being a former striker, couldn’t stop praising Solanke.

Flick also thought the kid was genuinely impressive.

And he was a homegrown player from their own youth academy.

Then there was Patrick Roberts, who was just a little bit slower.

If his speed was just a tad faster, he would be another Sterling.

Ultimately, over in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-2.

Here, Juventus played out a 0-0 draw with Bayswater Chinese.

What Yang Cheng found rather amusing was that Maguire was voted Man of the Match.

If the Manchester United fans from Yang Cheng’s past life saw this, he wondered what they would think.

After all the Champions League group stage matches were completed, all four Premier League teams had advanced to the Round of 16.

This was something everyone had expected.

What made Yang Cheng happy was that, thanks to an extremely fortunate draw earlier, Atalanta had actually managed to qualify in first place in their group.

Gasperini’s team, after gelling last season, was indeed performing fiercely this season.

Most importantly, Luca Toni continued his excellent form from last season, putting on quite a show.

The substitute centre-forward, Arkadiusz Milik, also played well.

Of course, despite being group winners, their record of three wins, two draws, and one loss was still the weakest among the eight groups.

OGC Nice continued their steady performance from the past, qualifying in second place.

But this was enough to satisfy Yang Cheng.

…

December 13th, the 16th round of the Premier League.

Chelsea defeated Hull City 1-0 at home.

In the 60th minute, former Bayswater Chinese player Huddlestone was sent off with a red card.

Diego Costa scored the winning goal in the 68th minute.

Manchester City, playing away, defeated Leicester City 1-0 with a goal from Messi.

Arsenal, with both Benzema and Cazorla scoring a brace, defeated Newcastle 4-1 at home.

Manchester United, at home, thoroughly defeated Liverpool 3-0 with goals from Rooney, Juan Mata, and Cavani.

Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese, playing away, defeated Everton 3-1 with goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Toni Kroos.

Everyone could see that while he hadn’t had much of a chance before, now that he was in the top three for the Ballon d’Or, Toni Kroos might be having thoughts of making a final push. As a result, his form had been excellent recently.

…

After the 16th round of the Premier League, while other teams were preparing for the League Cup quarter-finals midweek, Bayswater Chinese traveled without stopping from London to Morocco to participate in the Club World Cup.

At the same time, far away in South America, the 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season in Brazil officially came to a close.

Originally, with only four rounds left in the league, most people thought that Palmeiras’s acquisition by Yang Cheng would inevitably lead to turmoil and an even more disastrous performance.

Relegation had seemed a certainty!

Even their 2-0 victory over Sport Recife at the inauguration ceremony of Allianz Parque did not change public perception.

But as the saying goes: great rewards bring forth brave men.

The day after defeating Sport Recife, Palmeiras held a vote among its members, and the results were tallied that very night.

The next morning, Palmeiras confirmed the results, and the Brazilian Football Confederation announced its acceptance.

Although many fans gathered to protest that day, the acquisition agreement was still signed smoothly that afternoon.

Xia Qing signed the agreement in Brazil on behalf of Yang Cheng.

That afternoon, they began to sort out the team’s finances, with the top priority being the salaries and bonuses of players, employees, and staff.

By that evening, everyone’s salaries and bonuses had been paid in full.

In the words of the Brazilian media, “In just twelve hours, the new team at Palmeiras showed everyone the difference!”

Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s largest and most influential newspaper, was allowed to have its reporters follow and report on the entire process.

This was, to some extent, a form of crisis management.

They used very detailed reports to inform all their readers about what had happened during those twelve hours.

The most pressing question was: how did the new team at Palmeiras manage to sort out the accounts and pay the salaries and bonuses in just twelve hours?

The answer was simple: paying wages was made the number one priority.

“Upon taking over Palmeiras, Bayswater Chinese’s CFO Xia Qing used her full authority to push for financial restructuring, placing salaries and bonuses at the highest priority.”

“What particularly impressed the reporter was something she said: ‘From this moment on, unpaid wages and bonuses for players, employees, and staff will never be tolerated at Palmeiras!’”

“It would have been impossible for the new team to sort out the muddled accounts and bad debts of the past few years in just twelve hours.”

“But acting on the principle of mutual trust, the new Palmeiras team started with salaries and bonuses, putting the interests of all players and employees first.”

“The new team stated that sorting out the payroll was just the first step. They would follow up by settling any discrepancies. If any players or employees had disputes about their pay, they could reconcile the accounts with the new team.”

“This is the efficiency and boldness of a world-class football club!”

Folha de S.Paulo stated that while local Brazilian clubs were trying every means to cut players’ salaries and bonuses, the new team at Palmeiras was a breath of fresh air.

“Valuing players, valuing talent—they have truly put these words into practice!”

This was also the club image and values that the new Palmeiras team wanted to project to the outside world!

Folha de S.Paulo revealed that although the team was inevitably in a state of chaos right after the takeover, it did not affect the confidence and morale brought by the new team.

The most direct proof was the team’s three consecutive wins in the following three matches.

By the end of the 38-round league season, Palmeiras finished 12th in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with 48 points.

In contrast, Botafogo was relegated in 19th place.

This newly acquired team could be described as having undergone a complete transformation in the final four rounds.

The team’s success in avoiding relegation was the new management’s first victory after acquiring Palmeiras.

At the very least, all signs pointed to a new wind blowing through Palmeiras for the fans.

It was something they had never experienced before.

The voices of protest gradually subsided, replaced by a growing wait-and-see attitude.

But like other Brazilian clubs, many remnants of the past still affected Palmeiras.

For example, at the end of every season, many players would leave on free transfers.

This was because their contracts were only for one year.

Players like key midfielder Wesley, starting centre-back Tiago Alves, and starting left-back Gerley.

Starting right-back Luís Felipe had also announced early on that he would join Benfica during the winter transfer window for two million euros.

Since Benfica had not yet paid, the money fell into the hands of the new team.

Another issue was the chaotic state of the club’s first-team squad.

How absurd was it?

The number of first-team players exceeded fifty.

And looking at other Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams, their first-team squads were quite similar.

The reason for this situation was that besides the national league, teams from São Paulo also had to play in the state league.

For example, the Campeonato Paulista used a single round-robin format, meaning a team had to play twelve matches.

To win the title, they’d have to play sixteen.

There were also South American club competitions like the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, as well as domestic cup competitions in Brazil.

All in all, it added up to at least fifty-plus matches a year.

Added to this was the insufficient protection Brazilian clubs provided for players, including a lack of focus on injuries and other aspects.

Players here were treated like consumables—used up and thrown away.

Anyway, many players were on one-year contracts, some didn’t even have one, so replacing them was not a cost concern.

Therefore, every team had a bloated squad.

A fifty-man first team was the norm; some were even more bloated.

For instance, after this season ended, nine players left on free transfers as their contracts expired.

The players were also very accustomed to this situation.

For many Brazilian players, signing short-term contracts was a form of protection.

Why?

Because clubs chronically delaying salary and bonus payments was the norm.

If a player signed a long-term contract and the club withheld their pay, what could they do?

With a short-term contract, sometimes only for half a year, if the club defaulted on payment, the player could leave immediately.

One could say this was a characteristic feature of Brazilian football!

So, even some seemingly good players would switch teams after playing for six months or a year.

There was even a saying in Brazil: whoever pays salaries on time, wins the championship.

The team from Bayswater Chinese was now starting to rectify this chaotic situation at Palmeiras.

Because it was not in Yang Cheng’s interest.

Furthermore, this was precisely the role that the Brazilian Football Confederation, and even the Brazilian government, hoped Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese would play.

Over the past few years, Bayswater Chinese had also built a scouting network in Brazil and had some understanding of the Brazilian football market. Now, after taking over Palmeiras, their understanding deepened.

According to the recommendations from the technical team, the number of players in the first team had to be controlled.

In soldiers, quality is better than quantity.

By providing sufficient guarantees and security, they could attract high-level players to join, ensuring the rights of both parties through longer contracts.

On the surface, it seemed that players’ salaries would increase, but after downsizing the first-team squad, the overall wage expenditure wouldn’t be much different from before.

Moreover, with a streamlined squad, the players on the team would get more opportunities for match experience.

As long as players’ playing time was reasonably and scientifically managed, and the team’s medical and physiotherapy standards were improved, dealing with multiple competitions should not be a major issue.

Bayswater Chinese could handle fifty-five matches with twenty-three players.

They even played more.

In Brazil, wasn’t thirty enough?

Besides, as a head coach, who could possibly manage so many first-team players?

In the end, wouldn’t they just use the same twenty or thirty players?

Speaking of the head coach, the new team presented a difficult problem to Yang Cheng.

Since Scolari’s departure in 2012, Palmeiras had gone through four head coaches in two years.

It was safe to say that the turnover was frequent, and the team was in a state of turmoil.

But now, who would take over this team?

This was clearly the next top priority!

…

When the team arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a piece of news began to circulate in the Spanish media.

As the captain of the Brazil national team, Neymar had cast his first-place vote for the Ballon d’Or for his former teammate and good friend, Messi.

His second-place vote went to his rival, C. Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

And the third vote went to Thiago Silva.

This was a new rule for the Ballon d’Or voting, where coaches and captains of national teams could vote for players from their own country.

But Neymar did not vote for the popular favorites Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos, nor did he vote for any German players.

The reason was probably related to the crushing defeat at the World Cup.

In an interview with a television station, Neymar revealed, “I believe Thiago Silva is the best centre-back in the world, and he deserves recognition from the Ballon d’Or!”

This once again brought the upcoming Ballon d’Or to the attention of all media and fans.

It had long been a tradition for national team coaches and captains to announce their votes.

Some people would even specifically track the votes of coaches and captains from top teams to provide an alternative version of the results.

Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese did not react to this.

Who to vote for, and who not to, was everyone’s own right, and no one could interfere.

After arriving in Marrakesh, the team faced the Club World Cup semi-final on December 16th.

Their opponent was Cruz Azul from Mexico.

An interesting fact was that although the average age of Bayswater Chinese was increasing year by year, they were still one of the youngest teams in European football.

But the average age of Cruz Azul was close to thirty-one.

This reflected a very interesting phenomenon: the brain drain of talent in Mexico was severe, and the development of youth talent could not keep up.

There was not much to say about the match itself.

Due to FIFA’s requirements, Yang Cheng had to rotate his squad. In the end, they easily defeated Cruz Azul 5-0 and advanced to the final.

Toni Kroos was named Man of the Match.

After the game, FIFA publicly stated, “He is the one player who cannot be erased from Bayswater Chinese’s tactics board!”

“We are not used to seeing Kroos make mistakes, because he only misplaces two or three passes in an entire game.”

“He is a phenomenal midfielder!”

After playing the semi-final, the team remained in Marrakesh for training, preparing for the upcoming Club World Cup final.

Their opponent was San Lorenzo from Argentina.

And before the final, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, twenty-five FIFA Executive Committee members gathered in Morocco.

Including FIFA President Blatter, a total of twenty-six people held a FIFA Executive Committee meeting.

After the meeting, David Gill—Vice-Chairman of The FA, Vice-President of UEFA, member of the FIFA Executive Committee, and former CEO of Manchester United—came to the hotel where Bayswater Chinese was staying, under the guise of a visit.

…

Many things developed without completely deviating from the trajectory of Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Although Yang Cheng’s butterfly effect was at play, some things would not change.

For example, human nature.

David Gill revealed that before this executive committee meeting in Marrakesh, Platini had already gathered a number of supporters and openly opposed Blatter, demanding that he release the full 430-page Garcia Report.

Blatter still employed his usual delaying tactics.

This was his most common method.

As the emperor of world football, as long as he didn’t yield, it was difficult for anyone to force his hand.

Over the past years, scandals involving bribery, illicit funds, and vote-buying had emerged almost every year, but did they have any impact?

Didn’t they all just fizzle out in the end?

So, whether it was Blatter, Platini, or even the people around Yang Cheng like David Gill and Adam Crozier, none of them believed this incident was any different from the past.

As for the struggle between UEFA and FIFA, it had been going on for decades.

It was nothing new.

To put it bluntly, Blatter didn’t want to step down, but Platini wanted to take his place, so the two sides were locked in a power struggle.

They would fight without breaking ties; neither side would truly go for the jugular.

“Just as you said before, I roughly got a sense of the attitudes of the attending executive committee members before and after the meeting. Basically, they all think that in the end, Blatter and Platini will sort things out, and one side will back down and compromise.”

“So, for them, this whole affair is less about a high-stakes power struggle and more about an opportunity for everyone to profit.”

As he finished speaking, David Gill couldn’t help but laugh.

This was not hard to understand.

The top brass fight back and forth, but the outcome is always the same old story.

What difference does it make who comes out on top?

Since that’s the case, why would the executive committee members consider the future? Wouldn’t they all be thinking about how to ensure they or the powers behind them benefit?

It had to be said, this was a tragedy in itself.

Just like with England.

They constantly decried that Russia and Qatar’s World Cup hosting rights were obtained dishonorably, but was England’s own bid honorable?

It was just the impotent rage of a loser!

The only difference was that now, Yang Cheng’s interests aligned with England’s.

“What are your own thoughts?” Yang Cheng looked calmly at the former Manchester United CEO.

This was a capable man!

At the very least, he was one of the few talents in European football that Yang Cheng held in high regard.

“Me?” David Gill smiled again. “Following the current trend, I’m considering taking another step up next year, maybe aiming for the FIFA vice-presidency. If possible, I’d like to be in charge of finance.”

In any organization, finance is the lifeblood!

But David Gill had experience in this area at Manchester United, The FA, and UEFA.

He graduated from the University of Birmingham and was once a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers—a true professional!

Moreover, his track record during his more than a decade at Manchester United was there for all to see.

In 2013, David Gill resigned from his job at Manchester United and moved from The FA to UEFA, a move strongly supported by The Premier League and The FA.

As Yang Cheng had said before, the Premier League had its people in UEFA.

“I think you can dream a little bigger.” Yang Cheng seriously drew a circle in the air in front of David Gill.

It was like offering a huge pie.

“Bigger?” David Gill was surprised.

It wasn’t just him; Adam Crozier was also puzzled.

Was he planning a high-level power play?

Yang Cheng smiled and nodded. “I can let you in on a little secret. Blatter’s trouble this time isn’t so simple. Even if he sorts things out with Platini, he won’t get through this.”

Yang Cheng stopped there, not revealing everything.

This was how high-level games were played.

All participating parties had to maintain their own sense of mystery.

Figure it out if you can!

“More trouble than Platini?”

David Gill and Adam Crozier were both extremely surprised.

Yang Cheng nodded without speaking.

Both men sucked in a breath of cold air.

What kind of power and influence would that require?

They couldn’t imagine it!

If they hadn’t experienced it firsthand, no one in the world could imagine it.

But Yang Cheng was going to use this opportunity to further cultivate his own aura of mystery.

When it all came to light, how would they feel?

“In short, listen to me. Quietly start preparing. At the crucial moment, either don’t make a move, or if you do, make it a single, decisive strike!”

David Gill frowned. “You mean, run for FIFA President directly?”

After saying this, David Gill shook his head himself. “That’s impossible, there’s still Platini…”

“I’ll handle him for you!” Yang Cheng said, staring into David Gill’s eyes.

David Gill was suddenly speechless.

Over the past years, Yang Cheng’s reputation in Europe and in world football was formidable.

His words carried absolute weight.

But could he really handle the UEFA President?

Of course, Yang Cheng wouldn’t say what leverage or chips he had. Everything would be done in the shadows, letting them guess.

Hearing this, David Gill’s breathing clearly became more rapid.

There were about six months left until the FIFA presidential election. If he prepared in advance, and if Blatter and Platini were indeed taken down one after another, he really had a chance to profit from the chaos.

Of course, he had many rivals.

“Don’t worry, you go ahead and prepare. Act as if you’re running for vice-president, make thorough preparations, especially in winning over all sides. I’ll take care of the rest for you.”

David Gill still found it hard to believe.

Could Yang Cheng wield such immense power?

What kind of forces stood behind him?

But many things were beyond his disbelief.

And this prize was too tempting!

“If, and I’m saying if, I succeed, what do you want?”

With that one question, David Gill proved he was hooked.

“What do you think I need? Money? Fame? Status? Or something else?”

Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

He lacked for nothing now.

Oh, right, he only had one wife.

But the thing was, if he wanted to, with his current status and position, would he ever be short of women?

“My reason for helping you is simple. I don’t like Blatter and Platini. And by the way, I want official recognition for the International Champions Cup!”

With that status, organizing the tournament in the future would be much easier.

Many sponsors and partners were still hesitating precisely because they were worried the tournament could be shut down at any moment.

After all, given the past behavior of UEFA and FIFA, how could they let such a juicy piece of meat slip through their fingers?

Once it received official recognition, the tournament’s development would far exceed everyone’s imagination.

“I need to think about it carefully.” David Gill still felt it was all too thrilling.

He needed to calm down and think it over.

Yang Cheng didn’t press him and nodded in agreement.

It was a high-stakes game. If David Gill didn’t want to play, no one could force him.

…

On the evening of December 20th, in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The Club World Cup final: Bayswater Chinese versus San Lorenzo of Argentina.

As per FIFA requirements, both teams had to field their strongest lineups for this match.

Yang Cheng naturally didn’t hold anything back.

As for the in-game tactics, there wasn’t much to say.

Yang Cheng had only one demand: direct and overwhelming pressure.

Right from the start of the match, Bayswater Chinese’s high-tempo blitz caught the San Lorenzo players off guard.

When had they ever encountered such tactics in South America?

In just the 5th minute, Bayswater Chinese was awarded an attacking free-kick.

But it was too far out, a full thirty-two meters.

However, seven minutes later, Bayswater Chinese won a second free-kick opportunity.

San Lorenzo had clearly never heard of Bayswater Chinese’s reputation in South America; otherwise, it was hard to imagine why they would concede so many attacking free-kicks.

This time, Gareth Bale calmly took the shot, converting a direct free-kick from twenty-three meters.

San Lorenzo’s goalkeeper, Torrico, didn’t even have time to react.

1-0!

After taking an early lead, Bayswater Chinese began to dominate.

San Lorenzo gradually retreated, trying to stabilize their formation and launch counter-attacks.

But in the 34th minute, Harry Kane delivered a brilliant pass during a counter-attack. Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and fired a power shot from a tight angle towards the far post, which was parried away by a diving Torrico.

Corner kick.

Toni Kroos took the corner, and Thiago Silva’s header found the back of the net, scoring another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

2-0!

After halftime, in the 51st minute, Modrić sent a wonderful pass. Gareth Bale switched over to the right side of the penalty area and scored with a left-footed low shot, completing his brace.

3-0!

In terms of skill, San Lorenzo was not on the same level as Bayswater Chinese at all.

But the South American team’s style of play was very rough, with many small fouls.

Especially when they were trailing and conceding goals, they committed fouls even more frequently.

However, in the end, they couldn’t change the course of the match.

Bayswater Chinese cleanly defeated San Lorenzo 3-0.

After scoring a brace, Gareth Bale was named Man of the Match!

…

A Club World Cup three-peat!

After the match in Morocco, The Times of London immediately published a commentary, expressing heartfelt admiration.

“San Lorenzo’s head coach, Bauza, said after the match that Bayswater Chinese has many world-class star players with outstanding individual abilities, and he had made very specific plans for them.”

“But during the actual game, they simply couldn’t be stopped, and all the targeted defensive measures completely vanished.”

“Bauza specifically mentioned Gareth Bale.”

“The Argentine club’s head coach believes that while speed is Gareth Bale’s most dangerous weapon, in reality, his instincts, interchanging runs, abundant stamina, and strong physique are all becoming his weapons.”

“All of these things make Gareth Bale even more threatening!”

But what truly won over the Argentinians was the Bayswater Chinese team as a whole.

“Bauza believes that at the start of the match, his players were not yet ready, and they had already conceded a goal.”

“It was a very bad start, a huge blow to San Lorenzo’s morale.”

The Times concluded that in this Club World Cup final, Bayswater Chinese proved their strength to everyone!

The Guardian used an equally eye-catching headline for its post-match commentary: “Bale, the King of Finals!”

The Guardian revealed that over the past years, whenever Gareth Bale participated in an important final, he always delivered a superb performance and never disappointed.

In last season’s Champions League final, he scored a brace.

In this season’s UEFA Super Cup, he also scored a brace.

And now, in the Club World Cup, he once again scored a brace.

“He’s like a man born for finals!” praised The Guardian.

In the final in Morocco, Gareth Bale demonstrated an astonishing level of skill.

“He deserves the title of Man of the Match, and he deserves all the honors!”

Besides praising Bayswater Chinese and Gareth Bale, The Sun of Britain also mentioned Thiago Silva’s goal.

The Brazilian centre-back had long been an important part of Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

“Whenever the team needs him, Thiago Silva always steps up.”

“If not in front of his own goal, then in front of the opponent’s!”

And while public opinion was overwhelmingly praising Bayswater Chinese and their players, the British media was also reporting on another piece of news.

But it didn’t happen on the pitch, but during the awards ceremony after the match.

Anyone who watched the live broadcast of the match and saw the post-match awards ceremony would have noticed that as Yang Cheng walked at the front, leading his team up to the podium, he was warmly welcomed by numerous guests along the way.

First were the people from The FA, followed by the UEFA executive committee members.

As Yang Cheng walked past, he smiled and greeted them, shaking hands with each one.

When he encountered someone he knew well, like David Gill, he would even go up and give him a warm hug, accepting his congratulations.

But when he neared Blatter and passed in front of Platini, his hand noticeably went past Platini and straight to Blatter’s.

This left Platini, who was standing between the two and had been smiling, ready to shake Yang Cheng’s hand, looking completely awkward.

This scene was broadcast live to the entire world!

At that moment, the live commentators naturally began to talk about some of the conflicts between Yang Cheng and Platini that had occurred before the Club World Cup final.

“Platini should feel embarrassed now. He shouldn’t have said those things before the match.”

“It’s like someone is preparing for a wedding, and you go to their doorstep and say something inauspicious. Aren’t you just asking for trouble?”

What was truly a slap in the face was that, following Yang Cheng, almost all the Bayswater Chinese players chose to bypass Platini. Not a single one of them voluntarily shook the UEFA President’s hand.

“Truly the moment the UEFA President has had the least presence ever!”

How far did things go?

When the last person to go on stage, Bayswater Chinese captain Modrić, was about to pass Platini, the UEFA President actually smiled and opened his arms, wanting to hug him.

But unexpectedly, Modrić put his hands forward and firmly blocked Platini.

In the end, there was no hug, not even a handshake; he only managed to grab Modrić’s arm.

This scene unfolded during the broadcast, right under the noses of all the fans watching the live stream around the world.

And it was even more exciting than the Club World Cup match itself!

Bayswater Chinese would just disrespect the UEFA President like that?

After the match, no one from Bayswater Chinese made any comments on the matter, refusing all interviews.

But public opinion continued to ferment.

The next afternoon, when the team returned to London from Morocco, to avoid reporters, the team bus drove directly onto the tarmac to pick up the players. Without stopping, it went straight to the Brent training center.

There was no contact with the media or fans throughout the entire process.

The Club World Cup trophy presentation ceremony, which was originally planned to be held before the World Cup, was also announced by the club to be postponed.

“Clearly, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese do not intend to give Platini any face!” analyzed The Times.

At least from their current attitude, they intended to let public opinion continue to grow.

But by the third day, UEFA could finally no longer sit still.

Spokesperson Pinto held a press conference at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, to clarify the matter.

“I want to explain that Bayswater Chinese did not deliberately target Platini. This is a groundless rumor!”

Then what about the scene that happened on live television?

“Actually, it was just an accident. As a European team winning the Club World Cup for the third consecutive year, Platini and UEFA had already congratulated Yang Cheng and his players immediately after the match.”

“They are the heroes of European football, great victors!”

“That is the reason for the lack of a handshake at the post-match awards ceremony!”

A reporter asked on the spot, so does that mean they had already shaken hands and offered congratulations right after the match?

Pinto confirmed with great certainty, “That’s right!”

“So, what happened on the podium simply didn’t happen.”

“The fact is, at that time, both sides felt that since they had already talked and shaken hands before the award ceremony, there was no need to do it again. Besides, Platini was also talking to other people at the time.”

But was the problem really solved?

On December 24th, during the routine activities before Christmas, Bayswater Chinese went out in full force, splitting into several groups to participate in club-arranged events.

All media reporters who came upon hearing the news were informed of one thing in advance.

Players and the coach would only answer questions related to Christmas.

No one responded to the matters of public concern.

But sometimes, no response is a response in itself.

The French newspaper L’Équipe commented in its news, “Platini’s previous remarks have united everyone at Bayswater Chinese against a common enemy!”

“To this day, he has never apologized for his inappropriate comments!”

“He hasn’t even offered an explanation!”

“But now, Bayswater Chinese has no intention of reconciling with him either.”

The Spanish newspaper Marca believed this was retaliation from Bayswater Chinese.

The reason was that Platini’s series of inappropriate remarks had completely infuriated Yang Cheng and his players.

“Although two of their players were shortlisted in the top three, and FIFA used this move to slap Platini in the face, Yang Cheng and his players still decided to deliberately ignore Platini in front of fans all over the world.”

“This is their revenge against the UEFA President!”

Germany’s Bild believed that this incident stemmed from a series of inappropriate remarks by the UEFA President.

“If he is unwilling to apologize for his previous comments, then he is not qualified to ask for Bayswater Chinese’s understanding.”

By December 25th, Christmas Day, the European media, and indeed the media and fans all over the world, were still following this news.

Many people were even waiting for some Christmas gossip.

According to explosive news from the British media, near noon on Christmas Day, Platini made a holiday phone call to Bayswater Chinese.

This would not normally be a big deal, but at this particular moment, the call clearly had a special meaning.

But the call was answered by the club’s receptionist.

“Our UEFA President was informed by the receptionist that the club was on holiday and no one was in.”

Then why was she able to answer the phone?

Because the landline was forwarded to her mobile phone.

The British media widely reported on this matter, believing that Platini was trying to break the ice over Christmas, only to hit an iceberg.

“Bayswater Chinese is giving him no chance of reconciliation!”

The German media was very surprised.

Did the UEFA President really call to wish them a Merry Christmas without scheduling a time with Bayswater Chinese in advance?

Were things being handled so carelessly?

Now, the call went unanswered. Awkward, wasn’t it?

UEFA spokesperson Pinto urgently responded, stating that it was a spontaneous phone call and had indeed not been scheduled in advance.

But he repeatedly stressed that this kind of thing was very normal and nothing to be alarmed about.

“On behalf of UEFA, I can assure everyone that our communication with Bayswater Chinese is smooth, and there are no problems whatsoever.”

“I have also spoken with Platini, and he told me that Bayswater Chinese is the best, most successful, and most influential football club in Europe, and indeed the world.”

“As UEFA President, he feels very sad when people think his relationship with Bayswater Chinese is not good.”

“Because that is not the truth!”

And on the afternoon of December 26th, in the 18th round of the Premier League.

Platini, who should have been on vacation, suddenly visited London’s Emirates Stadium.

He was there to watch the globally anticipated crucial match between Arsenal and Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 322: Super Kane! Comeback Against the Gunners! Yang Cheng Loses His Composure! Platini, Have You No Shame?

“This damn London weather is awful!”

Sitting in the stands of London’s Emirates Stadium, UEFA President Platini was wearing a thick suit with a scarf wrapped around his neck, but his nose was still red from the cold.

Every breath he exhaled turned into a white mist, making him extremely uncomfortable.

But the biting winter cold could not dampen the passionate cheers of the sixty thousand fans in the stadium.

At this moment, the Premier League’s 18th-round crucial match of the 2014-15 season was underway.

Arsenal at home against Bayswater Chinese!

Only the Premier League could afford the luxury of staging such a summit clash on Boxing Day!

But for Platini, who had made a special trip from France to watch the match, it was truly an ordeal.

He had set out early this morning and only arrived in London in the afternoon.

After a quick bite, he headed straight for the Emirates Stadium.

His purpose was clear: to make an appearance in front of the cameras before the game, broadcast live to the entire world.

This was an idea from his public relations team at UEFA.

So Bayswater Chinese was avoiding him?

Then he would march right up to them and confront them directly, heading to their dressing room after the match so they couldn’t possibly avoid him!

Although this approach was a bit shameless, it was better than letting the stalemate with Bayswater Chinese continue, right?

Not to mention, as the President of UEFA, for Platini to have a complete falling out with the most influential European club in the world, severing all contact, would be a massive blow to him.

This was especially crucial considering that Platini still wanted to “persuade” Blatter to withdraw from the FIFA presidential election at the end of May.

That was his most important battle right now!

As for Bayswater Chinese, he would just try to placate them for the time being.

Once the dust settled and Platini achieved his goal, he would have a free hand to slowly deal with Yang Cheng and his teams.

And that International Champions Cup!

Platini and his team had even planned it all out.

Once he was seated in the FIFA president’s chair, he would start dealing with this ICC Company, abolish the International Champions Cup, and replace it with another tournament.

At that point, with top clubs on his left and UEFA under his control on his right, he would become the most powerful FIFA president in history.

He would reach a historical height that even Blatter could not achieve!

More importantly, by expanding the market for summer tournaments and getting a bigger piece of the pie, Platini could share it with those in his circle, which would unite everyone more closely around him.

He would become the greatest FIFA president in history!

Just thinking about it made Platini’s heart race.

Compared to his grand ambitions, what was coming to London to make an appearance and endure a few cold shoulders? Nothing at all.

…

On the pitch, Bayswater Chinese played with great aggression from the very start of the match.

Of the three matches during this year’s grueling Christmas schedule, only the one against Arsenal was a clash between top teams.

For Yang Cheng and his players, if they won this one, they had a good chance of winning the remaining two.

For a Bayswater Chinese side that had only drawn once so far this season, this was an excellent opportunity.

Therefore, Yang Cheng’s team came out swinging right from the kick-off.

They even pressed Arsenal back, forcing them to play on the defend and counter-attack.

In the 10th minute, Arsenal finally found an opportunity and tried to pass the ball into the penalty area, but Kyle Walker suddenly stepped up and kicked the ball forward, sending it directly out over the right touchline.

An Arsenal throw-in.

The Gunners’ left-back Clichy quickly came forward. Before the Bayswater Chinese defense could get into position, he caught the ball thrown by a ball boy and forcefully threw it to Mikel Arteta, who was positioned furthest back.

Arteta pushed the ball forward with one touch to Fàbregas ahead of him.

Fàbregas didn’t dwell on the ball either. Seizing the moment, he played a through ball into the space behind the defense.

Kyle Walker was marking Sánchez, but he had pushed up a little too rashly.

As he pressed forward, Fàbregas suddenly played the ball in behind him, giving him no time to turn and chase back before Sánchez had already sped past him.

After quickly catching up to his teammate’s pass, the Chilean Messi took a touch towards the right side of the penalty area.

However, Kyle Walker wasn’t flustered at all and immediately turned to pursue.

Because behind him today was van Dijk.

The Dutch centre-back quickly shifted wide, successfully blocking Sánchez outside the right side of the box.

Kyle Walker also tracked back immediately.

Seeing that the two were about to double-team him, Sánchez had no chance to dribble into the penalty area and could only hastily choose to play a cross pass.

The ball went between Kyle Walker and van Dijk, heading straight for the penalty spot.

When van Dijk had moved to the flank, Thiago Silva had immediately adjusted his position to maintain their defensive shape.

Sánchez’s hurried pass had no clear target, meaning even Thiago Silva couldn’t reach it. He could only turn and chase towards the penalty spot.

Benzema also rushed forward, ready to take a shot.

But at the crucial moment, Thiago Silva got a foot out to block the ball.

The shot hit the Brazilian centre-back’s leg, popped up high, and changed direction, falling towards the left side of the penalty area.

But in that instant, Thiago Silva saw Casemiro racing towards the left side of the box behind him, specifically towards where the ball was dropping.

The Brazilian centre-back immediately sensed the danger and turned around.

But both Thiago Silva and Casemiro were a fraction of a second too slow.

Van Persie stormed into the left side of the penalty area and, meeting the falling ball, struck a volley with his left foot without taking a touch.

It was a beautiful strike, and he connected with the ball perfectly.

The ball rocketed into the Bayswater Chinese goal at high speed.

The next second, all sixty thousand fans in the stadium leaped from their seats, roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs!

Van Persie quickly turned and sprinted off the pitch.

The Dutch centre-forward had been completely overshadowed by Benzema, Sánchez, and Nasri in the last two seasons.

But that was because of injuries!

With his skill, give van Persie an inch of sunlight, and he could blossom brilliantly!

And in the stands, amidst the excited cheers and celebrations, Sky Sports’ broadcast director astutely locked onto Platini’s position.

The UEFA President, who had made a special trip to watch this match, leaped up from his seat just like all the Gunners fans around him, celebrating with his hands raised high.

Jackpot!

“Commentator, talk about Platini! Milk it for all it’s worth!”

Receiving the instruction, the commentator immediately spoke out.

This was his specialty!

“We can see in the stands at the Emirates Stadium, Platini, who made a special trip to cheer for Arsenal, is also celebrating the Gunners’ goal!”

“As a fellow countryman of Wenger, even on Boxing Day, he chose to leave his family and come to London to support Wenger’s team!”

“Of course, more importantly, today they share a common enemy: Bayswater Chinese!”

After saying this, the Sky Sports commentator gave a brief summary of the feud between Bayswater Chinese and Platini, which was already known to most media and fans worldwide.

“This afternoon, at the Emirates Stadium, Platini has chosen to cheer for Arsenal!”

Platini was obviously unaware that his celebration for van Persie’s goal had been captured by Sky Sports and was about to be turned into a major news story.

He was still putting on a show, acting just like a regular fan.

Below the stands, photographers he had contacted beforehand would be taking his picture.

His team had even pre-written a press release about his post-match visit to the dressing room to meet with Bayswater Chinese.

But this was the age of the internet!

News spread countless times faster than even Gareth Bale’s sprints on the pitch.

After conceding a goal in the 10th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese fought back aggressively but were unable to break through Arsenal’s defense.

However, throughout the first half, Yang Cheng’s team created more shooting opportunities and had a possession rate of 68%.

It was safe to say that apart from the goal they conceded, they were a very dominant force.

When the head referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the Sky Sports commentator, in his summary, didn’t forget to mention Platini.

“Perhaps it was the UEFA President’s special visit that boosted Arsenal’s morale, as the Gunners have been remarkably resilient.”

“They only had two shots in the entire first half but managed to score one goal.”

“Platini truly is Arsenal’s lucky charm!”

At almost the same moment, video clips of Platini’s reaction to van Persie’s goal had already been posted by Sky Sports on their official website and social media platforms.

Instantly, all media outlets that smelled an opportunity swarmed in.

Public opinion quickly exploded.

“Just how big is the grudge between Bayswater Chinese and Platini? He won’t even take a Christmas break and made a special trip to London to support Arsenal,” a popular fan account on Twitter commented while retweeting the video.

“Before, many people said Platini was out to get Bayswater Chinese, and I didn’t believe it. Now it seems it’s true,” another influential account retweeted.

“This is disgusting! He’s the UEFA President, how can he be so biased?” a fan’s righteous indignation instantly got liked into a top comment.

“To the person above, you probably don’t know, do you? Not long ago, he publicly opposed giving the Ballon d’Or to Gareth Bale. I don’t get it, what does a FIFA award have to do with the UEFA President?”

“Exactly, and now he’s come to the Premier League, right to their doorstep, to support their arch-rivals just to spite them. It’s shameless!”

“Honestly, I think Platini’s recent actions have been really foolish!”

“I really can’t think of any reason for him to do this other than suppressing Bayswater Chinese.”

“What can you do? It’s all because Bayswater Chinese has been too strong these past few years, winning the Champions League three times in a row. And Yang Cheng and Platini don’t see eye to eye, so of course, Platini doesn’t like him. Who else would he target?”

“If you ask me, Yang Cheng and his team are exemplary. They don’t rely on buying players but on their youth academy and developing unknown young talent. A team like this is a model for world football. To target even a team like this, what hope is there for European football under Platini’s leadership?”

“That’s right, as a Frenchman, I can’t stand Platini either. I support Bayswater Chinese!” The IP address below was from Nice, France.

“When you get down to it, it’s all about the International Champions Cup. UEFA demanded that Bayswater Chinese not participate in the tournament. Platini has always wanted to take over the competition run by the American company, but Yang Cheng refused to compromise, and that’s what infuriated Platini!”

“My god, has Platini lost his mind? It’s a tournament hosted by an American company, what right does he have?”

“A greedy man doesn’t deserve to be UEFA President!”

“Look at that face of his, sucking up to Arsenal. A man like that is not fit to lead European football!”

“Honestly, with UEFA cracking down on them so hard, I’m afraid Bayswater Chinese will have a hard time achieving anything in the Champions League this season.”

“No matter what, Bayswater Chinese’s defiance in the face of power deserves support! Just because he’s the UEFA President, does everyone have to listen to him?”

…

Inside London’s Emirates Stadium, no one knew that public opinion outside was already in an uproar.

Bayswater Chinese’s public relations department, especially the new media team, quickly noticed the sentiment.

But Yang Cheng’s previous instruction to them was to stir up trouble for Platini from time to time.

Now that the UEFA President had made a special trip to the Emirates, regardless of whether he was there to cheer for Arsenal, the direction of online opinion was in line with Yang Cheng’s strategy. So they let the舆论 ferment.

At a time like this, for Bayswater Chinese to not step in and kick him while he’s down was already showing considerable restraint.

On the other hand, at UEFA, the organization was overstaffed and underworked, or perhaps everyone was on Christmas break. No one noticed the shift in public opinion, and Platini was still sitting happily in the stands of the Emirates Stadium.

He was even hoping to see Wenger’s Arsenal teach Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese a good lesson today.

After the second half began, Bayswater Chinese continued with their first-half tactics.

Yang Cheng had made significant squad rotations for this match.

Over the past few years, he had developed a wealth of experience in how to handle the Christmas schedule.

This was especially true after his young players had matured.

Take the midfield, for example.

Toni Kroos and Modrić were the two core starters.

For this match, Yang Cheng had paired Aaron Ramsey with Modrić.

Behind them, Casemiro was responsible for defensive duties.

For the next match, Yang Cheng planned to pair Toni Kroos with De Bruyne, with Nemanja Matić in the holding role.

Although the ‘Ceremony Trio’ had been split up, both midfield combinations were still quite formidable.

Just like in this match, they still managed a 68% possession rate in the first half.

The same was true for the frontline.

Sterling, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

Yang Cheng was also implementing appropriate rotations.

But unlike in midfield, Yang Cheng would substitute Gareth Bale off between the 60th and 65th minutes.

That way, he could come on as a substitute in the next match.

Of course, if everything went smoothly, he might not play at all, and then play the full match in the final game of the Christmas period.

As time wore on, Arsenal’s situation on the pitch gradually became more passive.

Especially after the 55th minute, Bayswater Chinese’s dominance on the field became even more apparent.

The team gradually pushed forward, beginning to lay siege to Arsenal’s goal.

In the 57th minute, a diagonal pass from Thiago Silva accurately found Modrić at his feet in the right half-space outside the 30-meter area. The latter played a cross pass to Kyle Walker on the right wing.

The England right-back controlled the ball and entered the 30-meter zone.

By this time, Arsenal’s two defensive lines were already neatly arranged outside the penalty area and within the 30-meter zone.

As soon as Kyle Walker received the ball, Sánchez immediately rushed over, forcing him to pass it back to Modrić.

Gareth Bale, who was up front, suddenly dropped back.

Modrić, without taking a touch, hit a direct through ball to the outside.

Gareth Bale controlled the ball, turned, and with a quick touch, tried to get past Clichy.

But although Clichy was not tall and was at a disadvantage physically, he still managed to block Gareth Bale from behind.

The Welshman couldn’t break through on the outside and immediately changed his direction of attack, cutting inside instead.

As mentioned earlier, Arsenal’s two defensive lines were already in position, their defense very tight.

Gareth Bale was forced to a sudden stop. After shielding the ball, he passed it back to Modrić.

Modrić passed it to Kyle Walker again, still trying to break through on that flank.

Kyle Walker played a through ball, and it once again found Gareth Bale.

The Welshman still wanted to go down the outside, but there was no opportunity, so he passed it back to Modrić’s feet, shaking his head at the same time.

There was no way through on this side for the moment!

But after continuously attacking the right flank, Arsenal’s defense had shifted heavily to their left.

When Modrić saw the ball coming back to him, he didn’t take a touch and instead hit a big cross-field pass, switching the play to the left flank.

Marcelo was already there waiting for the ball.

But as the ball arrived, van Persie suddenly tracked back defensively, about to press Marcelo.

However, at the same time, Sterling immediately ran out to provide a passing option.

Marcelo controlled the ball with one touch, bringing it down steadily. Before it hit the ground, he chipped it to Sterling and then sprinted forward along the left flank.

With his back to goal, Sterling drew out Arsenal’s right-back Lichtsteiner. He met Marcelo’s chipped pass with his right foot and flicked it behind him to the left side outside the box.

Marcelo timed his run perfectly, taking Sterling’s pass forward with one touch before chasing it down and delivering a low, driven cross.

The ball was sent to the middle of the six-yard box, searching for Harry Kane.

But at the crucial moment, Koscielny got there first and blocked the ball out to the left side of the six-yard box.

Koscielny chased after it again and cleared the ball out of the penalty area.

The ball didn’t travel far and landed at the feet of Sterling, who had dropped back to receive it on the edge of the area.

After controlling the ball, Sterling passed it to Marcelo outside the left corner of the box and made a quick run forward.

Marcelo understood and played a one-touch pull-back.

Sterling ran onto it and unleashed a furious shot.

He kept the shot down, but it hit Toulalan and rebounded back to the edge of the penalty area.

Aaron Ramsey followed up and immediately unleashed another furious shot.

The ball flew towards the goal like a cannonball.

But Mertesacker’s towering frame proved useful at this moment, as he managed to get his head to it, clearing the ball out of the penalty area once again.

However, Bayswater Chinese had already established a siege on Arsenal’s goal.

The ball once again landed outside the left corner of the penalty area.

After controlling the ball, Marcelo dribbled into the left side of the box and once again crossed it to the middle of the six-yard box.

Koscielny made a crucial sliding tackle, getting a block on the ball.

Toulalan then cleared the ball out of the penalty area again.

But the next moment, as Mikel Arteta received the ball outside the box and tried to pass to Fàbregas, he was intercepted by a sudden high press from Casemiro.

The ball didn’t reach Fàbregas but instead fell to the feet of a retreating Modrić.

The Croatian had originally been dropping back to cover the space left by Casemiro’s press but now found himself the closest person to the ball.

He immediately turned, chased it down, and passed it to Gareth Bale.

Bayswater Chinese were on the attack again!

Even Arsenal hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly!

This recent wave of attacks had been relentless, one after another.

On the right side of the edge of the penalty area, Gareth Bale used his body to shield the ball from Clichy, controlled it, turned, and burst into the right side of the box, unleashing a furious shot with his right foot.

Although he was left-footed, his right foot was also very sharp, having long since mastered the skill of shooting with it.

And this shot was aimed at the far corner.

But at the critical moment, Lloris made a diving save, getting both hands to the ball and changing its trajectory.

In that instant, everyone at the Emirates Stadium collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

In the space of about a minute, Bayswater Chinese had created several shooting opportunities in a row.

Arsenal’s defense had been breached, and they were purely hanging on by a thread.

At this moment, Lloris’s save seemed to signal another failed attack from Bayswater Chinese.

They had held on!

But before anyone could fully exhale, a gray figure appeared like a ghost on the left side of Arsenal’s six-yard box, completely unexpectedly.

The ball parried by Lloris had changed its trajectory and was rolling towards the byline to the left of the goal.

But the sudden appearance of Harry Kane made everyone gasp in shock.

When did he get there?

Harry Kane rushed forward and met the ball Lloris had saved with his left foot, guiding a simple push shot back into the Arsenal goal.

There was no one in front of the goal to stop it.

The ball hit the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“My God!”

“In the 58th minute of the second half, at a crucial moment, Harry Kane’s follow-up shot in front of goal has broken through Arsenal’s defense.”

“1-1!”

“The game is back on level terms!”

“Bayswater Chinese created a series of shooting opportunities in the last minute, and Arsenal’s defense was completely torn apart several times.”

“But this time, Yang Cheng’s team finally capitalized on their chance!”

As the entire Emirates Stadium sighed in disappointment, and as the Bayswater Chinese players were running off the pitch to celebrate, Sky Sports’ broadcast director once again switched the live feed to the stands, focusing on Platini.

Just moments ago, the UEFA President had been hoping Arsenal could win this match and earn him some vindication.

Now, seeing Harry Kane score, he shook his head in disappointment, his hands gesturing subconsciously. Anyone could see he was disappointed with the goal.

And this was precisely the image the Sky Sports director wanted to capture.

Heh heh, Platini, your crime of trying to undermine Bayswater Chinese is now set in stone, isn’t it?

…

After Bayswater Chinese equalized, the match completely opened up.

Arsenal finally abandoned their defend and counter-attack tactics and chose to take the initiative.

They had no choice; they were playing at home, and it was a clash between top teams. They wanted to win.

Three minutes after Harry Kane’s equalizer, in the 59th minute, Arsenal created a direct free kick opportunity from a central position about 30 meters from goal during a counter-attack.

It was from a foul by Casemiro!

The Brazilian holding midfielder was marking Fàbregas at the time. During their challenge, Casemiro pulled Fàbregas down from the side and behind, earning him a yellow card from the head referee.

Arsenal took the free kick but didn’t shoot directly. Instead, they wanted to find the tall Mertesacker.

Van Dijk got there first, heading the ball clear towards the right side of the penalty area.

Kyle Walker quickly rushed out of the right side of the box, knocked the ball forward, and chased after it at top speed.

Faced with Mikel Arteta’s block, Kyle Walker simply knocked the ball past the opponent and ran around him, forcibly overtaking him near the right touchline.

After shaking off Arteta, the England right-back continued to dribble along the right wing, storming into Arsenal’s half.

Kyle Walker’s speed was simply too fast!

In the current Bayswater Chinese frontline, only Gareth Bale and Sterling could keep up with him.

The front quickly formed a three-on-two situation.

And just before entering the 30-meter area, the England right-back drew out Koscielny and then played a through ball into the space behind.

Gareth Bale chased onto the ball, dribbled into the right side of the box, and faced with the onrushing Lloris, calmly executed a push shot.

The ball went straight into the Arsenal goal.

2-1!

A comeback!

Gareth Bale excitedly ran off the pitch, right up to the live camera, and made his signature heart-shaped celebration.

At the same time, the live camera once again switched to the stands to capture Platini’s reaction.

Three minutes after the goal, Yang Cheng substituted Theo Walcott for Gareth Bale.

After coming on, The Little Tiger was also very active, his threat in the attack still potent.

In the 65th minute, Bayswater Chinese created another chance up front.

After a series of quick passes, Aaron Ramsey found an opportunity on the left side of the arc of the penalty area. He suddenly took a shot, unleashing a thunderous long shot that rocketed towards the goal.

Lloris made a crucial save and did get a hand to the ball.

But the power of the long shot was too great, and Lloris couldn’t hold on.

The ball fell to the right side of the six-yard box.

Harry Kane was in the middle but was too late to react.

But the next moment, Walcott, who had just come on as a substitute and was equally adept at positioning, suddenly appeared in front of the goal. Facing Lloris, who was getting up from the ground to attempt a second save, Walcott chose a low shot instead of a chip.

The Little Tiger’s decision was incredibly calm!

Like all other goalkeepers, Lloris expected him to chip it, so he launched himself high.

But unexpectedly, he left a gap underneath him.

The ball rolled under him and into the goal behind.

3-1!

The entire Emirates Stadium fell silent!

Wenger immediately made a substitution, bringing on Nasri for Toulalan.

Arsenal reverted to the 4-4-2 formation they had excelled at in past years, with Benzema and van Persie pairing up as two strikers.

And in the 82nd minute, it was Nasri on a counter-attack down the right flank who sent in a cross.

Van Persie let the ball run past him at the near post, and Benzema got in front of van Dijk at the far post, heading the ball from close range into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

2-3!

At this point, the match had reached a fever pitch.

Both sides were going all out in an attacking battle.

Arsenal, having pulled one back, seemed to see a glimmer of hope and attacked even more aggressively.

Wenger clearly did not want to lose at home.

At the very least, he wanted a draw.

In the 86th minute, Arsenal was pushing too hard.

Outside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, Casemiro successfully won a tackle.

After winning the ball, the Brazilian immediately gave it to Modrić to launch a quick counter-attack.

But this time, Arsenal’s defense tracked back very quickly, fouling Walcott just as he crossed the halfway line.

Although it gave away an attacking free-kick, it also stopped a quick break.

Bayswater Chinese took a quick free-kick, still looking to attack the right flank.

But Arsenal’s defense shifted over in time.

When Modrić got the ball again, he played a cross pass to Aaron Ramsey.

The Welsh midfielder hit a diagonal long pass, looking for Sterling up front.

Sterling made a run to the left outside the penalty area and tried to dribble past Lichtsteiner but was unsuccessful. Forced to turn back, he passed to Marcelo.

As Marcelo controlled the ball, he glanced into the box and immediately sent a 45-degree diagonal pass with his left foot to the front of the six-yard box.

Harry Kane made a quick run, using his body to overpower Koscielny and win the header, directing it into the top left corner.

The ball once again found the back of the Arsenal net.

A brace!

4-2!

Harry Kane excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline. He sat down directly on the grass, spread his arms wide, and let out a roar to everyone.

He knew that today’s match was being broadcast live to the whole world.

It was Boxing Day, and everyone was on holiday.

They could all see his performance and spectacular goals today!

In this crucial clash between top teams, Super Kane, who had just scored a brace, felt like he was on fire!

He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

…

The final score was 4-2!

Bayswater Chinese had successfully defeated Arsenal in their away game!

This Boxing Day match was as exciting as everyone had predicted.

The summit clash between the two Premier League powerhouses had fans all over the world, who were glued to their TVs, roaring with excitement.

But the match itself soon went from being the main event to a sideshow.

After the match ended, UEFA President Platini, without prior notice, suddenly visited the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

The official reason was to offer belated Christmas greetings and to congratulate Bayswater Chinese on their victory!

At that time, Yang Cheng was celebrating the hard-fought victory with his players.

He never expected Platini to suddenly show up.

He was the UEFA President, after all!

The man was standing at the door; could they really turn him away?

No choice, let him in!

What followed were unavoidable handshakes and a round of congratulations that was impossible to tell whether they were sincere or fake.

The atmosphere throughout the entire process was awkward.

Apart from Platini, who had achieved his goal, almost no one there was happy.

Yang Cheng was truly surprised that Platini, who had refused to apologize or explain, would go to such lengths.

After Platini left, he immediately called Adam Crozier.

The result was even more surprising: Adam Crozier told him that public opinion outside had completely exploded!

“What do you mean?”

“You were managing the match, so of course you don’t know. Today is Boxing Day, the whole world is on holiday, and Sky Sports released video clips of Platini in the stands. When van Persie scored, the guy was cheering excitedly.”

“And when we scored, he was covering his face in disappointment.”

Yang Cheng was still a bit confused. “And then?”

“And then the narrative is now basically set in stone: Platini is deliberately targeting us, Bayswater Chinese. Those videos are the best proof.”

Yang Cheng kind of understood, but not completely.

“If Platini’s team is smart enough, they’d better not publicize his reconciliation with our club right now. Otherwise, his image will only be further ruined, and his reputation will stink even more!”

Who asked you to be so disgusting?

You’ve been constantly belittling Bayswater Chinese, wishing for them to lose. That’s one thing. But for your own reputation, for your own election campaign, you still have the nerve to scurry over to their dressing room after the game for a handshake, to ride on their coattails?

Platini, have you no shame?

Now Yang Cheng truly and completely understood!

…

At the post-match press conference, Yang Cheng was “late” by a few minutes.

The reason given was that UEFA President Platini had visited the dressing room.

“We are very grateful to Platini for taking time out of his busy schedule to come and watch our match.”

“He congratulated us on our win!”

Yang Cheng gave the impression that he and Platini were about to bury the hatchet.

But the media wasn’t having it.

How could you two reconcile?

This was the moment of peak interest; you should keep fighting!

So, a journalist immediately stood up and, while asking a question, showed the video clips from the match.

As a result, Yang Cheng’s expression changed on the spot.

One moment it was bright sunshine, the next it was dark clouds, giving off a strong feeling of “I’ve been duped!”

The media reporters in attendance loved it!

Look, Yang, you’re just too honest, that’s why you were tricked by these politicians!

He came to visit the dressing room for votes, to leech off your popularity.

But what’s the reality?

Look at the genuine emotions of Platini in the stands. He wishes you were dead!

Yang Cheng was furious. He stood up directly, his face grim, turned around, and walked away, ending the press conference prematurely.

But all the media reporters present were satisfied.

This was the effect they wanted.

Tomorrow’s front-page headline was written.

Yang Cheng loses his composure!

…

Even if Platini’s team was slow to react, by that evening, they had received the news.

The online sentiment was bad. The situation’s gone south, pull back!

The press release could not be sent!

Platini made a quick decision to hold it for now.

The series of planned media promotions were all halted.

This was so fucking ridiculous!

Sky Sports were absolute madmen!

They would do anything for ratings.

Was I really cheering for Arsenal’s goal?

Was I really disappointed when Bayswater Chinese scored?

Platini was extremely frustrated, feeling he had been wronged.

But looking at the people around him, at their helpless and disappointed eyes…

“No, I wasn’t as obvious as the video makes it seem. I admit, I don’t like Bayswater Chinese, but…”

Platini trailed off, unable to continue under the questioning gazes of everyone present.

“Michel, you’re just too genuine with your feelings!” the head of the PR team said, shaking his head regretfully.

The entire day’s work had been for nothing.

A perfectly good Christmas, instead of staying home with our wives and kids, we came with you to London to stand in the cold, and what happens? You, with one meme-worthy expression, made all our efforts go down the drain!

Couldn’t you have just held it in?

Was it that uncontrollable?

Or have you just gotten too used to playing the drama king?

Platini was speechless too.

The video was right there.

How could he explain it?

And who was Sky Sports?

A subsidiary of News Corp!

How many leagues’ broadcast rights across Europe did they buy?

How much money did they pay to the major European leagues each year?

Even if Platini was the UEFA President, could he afford to provoke Sky Sports? Would he dare to?

But the problem was, I really didn’t!

After a day in London, Platini was even more dumbfounded the next day.

From England to France, from Spain to Portugal, from Germany to Austria…

Even as far away as North America, Asia, and South America…

Almost every media outlet was reporting on this news.

Even more ridiculously, the news of Platini visiting the Bayswater Chinese dressing room after the match was leaked.

And it seemed the team hadn’t coordinated well with the media they had arranged beforehand, as a few of them still published the press release as scheduled.

Now the public uproar was even worse!

My God!

This was an unprecedented scandal!

In the past, people often said that officials from FIFA, UEFA, and various national football associations were all politicians, saying one thing in public and another in private.

But that was just talk, never laid bare so openly.

But now, Platini had provided a live demonstration, showing everyone just how quickly his stance could change.

One moment he’s in the stands supporting Bayswater Chinese’s arch-rivals, cheering for Arsenal’s goals and showing disappointment at Bayswater’s. The next, he can scurry over to leech off their popularity and make peace with them.

What kind of behavior was this?

“Unless UEFA announces that Platini has a split personality, it’s difficult to explain the rationality of such contradictory behavior!”

Britain’s The Sun, ever eager to stir up trouble, fired the first shot.

Other media outlets quickly followed suit.

It was explosive, it had traffic, it attracted worldwide attention, and it was Christmas when everyone was bored…

The time, the place, and the people—everything was perfect!

Not creating a major news story at a time like this would be a real waste!

Especially when combined with Yang Cheng’s transformation at the post-match press conference, it was just too dramatic!

“Completely kept in the dark, Yang Cheng loses his composure!”

“Yang Cheng is still too naive. People who play and coach football are often too genuine and underestimate the shamelessness of these politicians.”

“Isn’t that the truth? I feel bad for Yang Cheng; he was still praising Platini.”

“I never thought the UEFA President would be this kind of person. Who elected him?”

“They should round up the people who voted for Platini and have them shot!”

“I feel for Yang Cheng! I feel for Bayswater Chinese! Stay away from these shameless politicians!”

“Football is becoming less and less pure, and it’s people like Platini who are corrupting it.”

“Indeed, I feel like throwing up just hearing the name Platini now!”

As public opinion continued to ferment, Platini’s reputation was not only deteriorating online, but in print media and on television, the news about the UEFA President had also become a complete laughingstock.

Who would have thought he could stoop so low!

The funniest part was, you did it, but how did you get caught?

Even though he was the UEFA President, with news like this, European media, including French media, still dragged Platini out for a public flogging.

In this day and age, who would pass up on so much traffic?

So, even into the next day, public opinion continued to grow, even showing signs of intensifying.

…

Platini returned to his home in France, completely bewildered by the current media storm.

Because he hadn’t really done anything!

The press release was held back, so how did it still leak?

His PR team told him it might have been an operational error, but it could also have been that some of their media partners deliberately “made an error” to ride this wave of traffic. Who knew?

In any case, at this point, they couldn’t explain their way out of it no matter what.

“The only option now is to play dead!”

Faced with such public opinion, anything Platini did could backfire.

So, the best solution now was to play dead.

Lie flat and take the ridicule!

Go on a vacation with the family!

After coming back, this wave of public opinion would have passed.

But the UEFA President’s image would probably be very difficult to restore.

But this was still better than coming forward now to confront public opinion head-on, right?

If he went out to explain now, who would listen?

Not only would they not listen, but they would probably curse him even more viciously.

Hearing this, Platini really wanted to cry.

During the nice Christmas holiday, he could have done nothing, stayed at home, and slept with his wife in his arms.

He had just wanted to salvage his image, to break the ice with Bayswater Chinese.

Who could have guessed that both the situation and his personal image would end up even worse!

Yang Cheng was so angry he didn’t even finish his press conference. He must hate my guts, right?

What the hell kind of mess was this?

The more Platini thought about it, the more frantic he became. He even had the urge to get into a flame war with everyone.

Everyone was sympathizing with Yang Cheng, sympathizing with Bayswater Chinese.

But did anyone know that I’m a victim too!

…

Platini had no idea that Yang Cheng, the man he thought was so angry he had stormed off and was probably now in a furious rage, was actually completely fine after leaving the press conference.

That evening, he went home and had a lovely meal with Xia Qing.

Oh, right, at this very moment, he was on the phone.

And far away, in the inconspicuous small town of Ootmarsum in the eastern Netherlands, a football coach who had gone home for Christmas received Yang Cheng’s call.

They agreed that after Christmas, he would go to London to meet with Yang Cheng and discuss some matters.

Chapter 323: The First in History! The Ballon d’Or Winner is Born! Bayswater Chinese Are Finally Tired!

On the afternoon of December 28th, the 19th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Crystal Palace at home.

Playing a match on the 26th and another on the 28th, such a dense schedule forced all teams to adopt a strategy of heavy squad rotation.

Crystal Palace’s strategy was to park the bus, defending with all their might in a 4-5-1 formation.

This caused immense trouble for Bayswater Chinese.

They failed to break down Crystal Palace for the entire first half.

But in the second half, just as Yang Cheng had decided to bring on Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos suddenly broke the deadlock with a long shot, rattling the Crystal Palace goal.

The goal came in the 59th minute.

But Gareth Bale was already standing on the sidelines, so there was no choice but to bring him on.

After coming on, in the 71st minute, Gareth Bale connected with a cross from Luke Shaw on the left flank and headed the ball into the Crystal Palace goal from close range, extending the team’s lead.

In the 81st minute, off a through ball from Piszczek, Gareth Bale broke into the right side of the penalty area and fired a power shot from close range, once again finding the back of the Crystal Palace net to complete his brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at home!

…

January 1st, the 20th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese continued their home stand, welcoming Swansea City.

In the previous round, Swansea had been thrashed 4-1 by The Reds in an away match against Liverpool.

Now, facing Bayswater Chinese away from home, Swansea was as if facing a formidable enemy.

Their 4-2-3-1 formation was set up with rigid discipline.

But just one minute after kickoff, on Bayswater Chinese’s very first attack and their first shot, Gareth Bale unleashed a furious shot from outside the box that pierced Swansea’s goal.

Subsequently, Bayswater Chinese launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the 20th minute, Modrić sent a piercing through ball, and Harry Kane, after receiving it in the penalty area, turned and fired a power shot into the net.

2-0!

It was a very typical centre-forward’s goal.

Hold-up play with his back to goal, then turn and shoot!

Harry Kane had received such training since his youth team days, and his skills as a centre-forward had always been quite solid.

But in the past, his lack of physical strength and power made it difficult for him to perform in the Premier League.

Last season, he mostly played by avoiding centre-backs.

Now, however, with his improved physical prowess, Harry Kane was gradually starting to play to his strengths.

Especially a move like the one just now—holding off a defender in the box, receiving the ball, turning, and shooting—it was quite brilliant!

What seemed like a simple goal was, in fact, a testament to Harry Kane’s progress and the hard work he had put in.

In the 34th minute, Harry Kane once again pounced on a chance in front of goal, breaching Swansea’s net again.

3-0!

As he hadn’t played in the previous match, Harry Kane had now scored a brace in two consecutive appearances!

The young English centre-forward was finally having his breakout!

And Harry Kane’s explosion directly fueled the improvement of Bayswater Chinese’s overall strength.

Just two minutes later, an in-form Harry Kane delivered a through ball, and Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area to score.

4-0!

After that, the match entered a stalemate until the 79th minute, when substitute Sterling scored another goal.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese crushed Swansea 5-0 at home!

…

While Bayswater Chinese ended the Christmas gruelling schedule with three consecutive wins, their Premier League rivals were not idle either, especially Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Although The Blue Moons had a somewhat rocky 20th round, letting a two-goal lead slip to a draw.

But in the end, a last-minute winner from substitute Messi helped Manchester City defeat Sunderland 3-2.

Interestingly, all five goals were scored after the 60-minute mark.

This also reflected the sheer intensity of the Premier League’s Christmas schedule.

After 60 minutes, all teams’ stamina began to decline, and defenses could no longer hold firm.

With the win over Sunderland and a previous 3-1 victory over Burnley, Manchester City also claimed three wins from three.

Although Wenger’s Arsenal lost to Bayswater Chinese on Boxing Day, they won their next two matches, defeating West Ham United 2-1 and Southampton 2-0 away.

The Gunners’ record over the Christmas period was two wins and one loss.

In comparison, Mourinho’s Chelsea was a bit unfortunate.

Chelsea had comfortably won their first two matches, defeating West Ham United 2-0 and Southampton 2-0, making everyone believe a third straight victory was on the cards.

Unexpectedly, Mourinho’s team, after scoring first in their final match, suffered a crushing 3-5 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

So, Mourinho’s team also finished with two wins and one loss.

The most surprising performance over the Christmas period came from Liverpool, whose results had been unremarkable before.

The Reds actually had the easiest schedule.

An away 1-0 win against Burnley, a home 4-1 win against Swansea, and a home 3-1 win against Leicester City.

Mancini’s team didn’t face any strong opponents during Christmas and secured comfortable victories.

After 20 rounds, Bayswater Chinese, with a record of 18 wins and 1 draw, had accumulated 55 points, sitting at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester City followed closely with 51 points.

Chelsea and Arsenal both had 45 points, but Mourinho’s team was ranked third in the Premier League due to a superior goal difference, with Arsenal in fourth.

Manchester United was fifth with 42 points, while Liverpool’s performance had dropped sharply this season, managing only 33 points to sit in sixth place.

Looking at the overall situation in the Premier League, the point gaps between teams had widened across the board, making the picture quite clear.

Currently, the only teams with a realistic shot at the title were Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

Chelsea and Arsenal were already 10 points behind, and while a comeback wasn’t impossible, the chances were very slim.

In the race for the top four, Manchester United was the only team with a chance to challenge Chelsea and Arsenal.

Liverpool and the teams below them had already fallen significantly behind.

In the relegation battle, the situation was also extremely intense.

The gap between last-place Leicester City and tenth-place Newcastle was only seven points.

Sunderland, in 15th place, was only three points ahead of 20th-place Leicester City.

It could be said that while the competition for the title and the top four in this season’s Premier League was fierce, the relegation battle could only be described as brutal.

…

After playing the 20th Premier League round on January 1st, the 3rd round of the FA Cup followed on January 4th.

This time, Bayswater Chinese faced Sheffield United away.

Yang Cheng once again fielded a lineup composed entirely of young players.

Facing his old club, Harry Maguire was naturally eager to put on a good performance.

But the one who truly decided the match was the youngster Sterling.

Sterling scored a brace, helping the team to a 3-0 away victory over Sheffield United.

The other goal came from centre-forward Dominic Solanke, with the assist provided by De Bruyne.

…

After the FA Cup match, other teams could finally get some rest.

Except for Bayswater Chinese and Southampton.

Due to the Club World Cup in December, Bayswater Chinese had missed two matches.

One was the 17th round of the Premier League, and the other was the League Cup quarter-final knockout match.

The 17th-round match could be postponed further, but the League Cup match had to be scheduled as soon as possible.

Because on January 20th, the first leg of the League Cup semi-final was set to take place.

The winner between Bayswater Chinese and Southampton would face Chelsea.

Continuous matches, coupled with Yang Cheng’s relative indifference towards the League Cup, resulted in the team’s performance being rather average.

However, Southampton wasn’t much better off.

Pochettino’s team was also under great pressure from their fixture list.

Neither team went all out.

But in the end, it was Bayswater Chinese who defeated The Saints 1-0, thanks to a 63rd-minute goal from Giroud.

…

January 10th, the 21st round of the Premier League.

Liverpool defeated Sunderland 1-0 away.

Chelsea defeated Newcastle 2-0 at home.

Manchester City defeated Everton 2-0 away.

Arsenal defeated Stoke City 3-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated Southampton 3-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese lost 0-1 away to Burnley.

Recently, the continuous multi-front battle, with all matches crammed together on top of the Christmas gruelling schedule, had taken its toll on Bayswater Chinese.

They finally suffered their first defeat of the season!

Bayswater Chinese are finally tired!

This was the headline on the front page of almost every newspaper in England, and even Europe, the day after the loss.

Before this match, Burnley had the same number of points as Leicester City but was 19th in the table. Their relegation situation was extremely perilous, so they gave their all in this home game.

Additionally, besides physical fatigue, there was another important reason for Yang Cheng’s team’s poor performance.

That was the FIFA awards ceremony to be held in Zurich, Switzerland on January 12th.

Not only was Gareth Bale’s performance underwhelming, but even Toni Kroos seemed out of sorts.

It was clear that they were, to some extent, affected.

Having lost only this one match so far this season, both the media and the fans were generally understanding.

Moreover, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was simply too tight.

Fortunately, after the 21st round, the team would have a week’s rest.

The rescheduled match for the 17th Premier League round was originally scheduled for Wednesday of the following week.

But West Bromwich Albion had drawn their 3rd round FA Cup match away against Everton, so they had to play their FA Cup third-round replay mid-week.

Based on priority, the FA Cup 3rd round replay had to be played first, so the 17th round league match had to be postponed again, with the new date yet to be determined.

After the league match on the 10th, the team rested briefly on the 11th and trained as usual on the morning of the 12th.

Around noon, the team took a private jet to Zurich, Switzerland.

…

Night fell.

The lakeside neon lights adorned Zurich Lake, making it look like a dream.

The Opera House in the city center, in particular, was teeming with people.

Every time a FIFA guest car drove past on the road by the lake, it would draw cheers from the fans lining both sides of the street.

Tonight, almost everyone appearing at the Zurich Opera House was a prominent figure in the world of football.

And their female companions.

In previous years, Bayswater Chinese rarely made such a grand appearance.

Even head coach Yang Cheng seldom attended such occasions.

Despite being shortlisted for the Best Men’s Coach award multiple times, he had always refused to attend.

He had even been consistently dissatisfied with UEFA’s elections, believing his players were treated unfairly.

But this time, he came!

When the guest car slowly stopped in front of the red carpet at the side of the road, and Yang Cheng, dressed in a black suit, opened the door and stepped out, all the media reporters present looked as if they wanted to break their cameras from taking too many pictures.

The fans at the scene chanted his name even louder.

Yang Cheng smiled and waved to everyone, then slowly walked around the back of the car to the red carpet side, personally opening the door to help Xia Qing out.

Tonight, Xia Qing also wore a black deep-V evening gown, which perfectly accentuated her graceful figure.

Hand in hand, they walked down the red carpet side by side.

Along the way, media reporters constantly shouted Yang Cheng’s name, and fans screamed their lungs out.

This made everyone present feel that in the hearts of the media and fans, Yang Cheng, as a head coach, carried no less weight than those superstar players in their prime.

But it was no wonder; after all, Yang Cheng was still quite young.

“Did you hear that?”

Maintaining a gentlemanly smile, Yang Cheng slowly walked with Xia Qing towards the entrance of the Opera House, but from an angle no one noticed, he whispered to her.

“Hear what?”

“A gorgeous woman just said she wanted to have my babies,” Yang Cheng used his smile while waving to the fans to conceal his inner glee.

“Are you sure you didn’t mishear? I could have sworn I heard her say she wanted to have monkeys,” Xia Qing shot him an exasperated glare.

But she squeezed his hand, noticeably tighter, as if afraid he’d be snatched away.

Exchanging secret whispers, the two entered the Zurich Opera House.

“Hello, Yang, so glad you could come!”

As soon as Yang Cheng stepped into the venue, a middle-aged man in his fifties with a French accent greeted him.

He was Jérôme Valcke, FIFA Secretary-General and Blatter’s right-hand man.

“Thank you, Jérôme. You called, so I had to come.”

Jérôme Valcke was also very pleased.

In fact, not only had he called, but Blatter had as well.

And more than once.

How to put it?

The situation in world football right now was very interesting.

UEFA President Platini was leading a group to pressure Blatter into stepping down, their weapon of choice being the Garcia Report from the American lawyer.

Everyone believed it contained many unknown secrets that could threaten Blatter’s reign.

Blatter, on the other hand, was still employing delaying tactics, desperately trying to push things back, preferably until after the presidential election.

Once he was re-elected, many things would become easier to handle.

Everything would be set in stone, and Platini would have no choice but to compromise.

The election at the end of May was drawing ever closer.

This was a time of intense struggle between the two sides.

To make matters worse, media all over the world had recently been reporting on the fallout between Yang Cheng and Platini.

Especially Platini.

His recent actions had caused the UEFA President to lose face completely, even becoming a laughing stock in the football world.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng accepted FIFA’s invitation and came to Zurich, Switzerland, to attend the awards ceremony.

More importantly, he didn’t come alone.

Bayswater Chinese CEO Adam Crozier and his team had arrived long ago.

Yang Cheng was also accompanied by his wife, who was also the Chief Financial Officer of Bayswater Chinese.

As for the players, a full seven of them had come.

This was enough to prove that Bayswater Chinese took this awards ceremony extremely seriously.

At a time when UEFA and Bayswater Chinese had completely fallen out and were at loggerheads, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese’s high-profile support for FIFA was a statement in itself!

Therefore, Valcke personally came out to greet him, giving Yang Cheng a great deal of respect.

When Blatter received the news, he also came over quickly, treating Yang Cheng with the utmost courtesy and care.

Especially later, when the Bayswater Chinese players began to arrive, the scene outside became even more lively, and the atmosphere inside also became noticeably different.

At least this time, Bayswater Chinese really showed a lot of respect!

Of course, their reasons were certainly sufficient.

In the FIFPro World Best XI for the year, which had just been announced in advance, Bayswater Chinese occupied seven of the eleven positions.

One could say that FIFA had spared no expense!

Goalkeeper: Neuer;

Defenders: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Lahm;

Midfielders: Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić;

Forwards: C. Ronaldo, Messi, and Gareth Bale.

The entire midfield was completely monopolized by Bayswater Chinese!

And in the top three for the Ballon d’Or, Bayswater Chinese had two players.

Yang Cheng was also a top-three finalist for the Best Men’s Coach award.

Of course, the coach’s award was basically destined for Löw.

Yang Cheng felt that if he wanted the award, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.

He was fully qualified, and winning it wouldn’t cause much controversy.

In fact, for many years, everyone felt that both FIFA and UEFA owed him.

But in the end, Yang Cheng still supported Löw.

After all, he didn’t need such an award to prove himself.

Löw, on the other hand, needed it more.

Besides, with Yang Cheng’s current status and position, he had to be more careful about his reputation.

Yang Cheng felt it wasn’t necessary to tarnish his image for an award that was dispensable to him.

It was better not to take it at all, which would actually create a more favorable impression.

And so, after seeing off Blatter and Valcke, Löw came over with a smile to shake hands and embrace Yang Cheng.

He knew he was going to win the award, and he couldn’t be happier.

Yang Cheng also gave him plenty of face, showering him with praise.

“I saw what you said in the British media yesterday, thank you so much!” Löw expressed his sincere thanks.

Although he was older than Yang Cheng, Yang Cheng had become famous earlier, and his coaching ability was widely recognized as superior.

Therefore, Yang Cheng speaking up for him in the media was the greatest affirmation of him.

Even more authoritative than winning the award!

After Löw left, David Gill also came over to chat for a few moments.

What truly surprised Yang Cheng was that Messi had come too!

C. Ronaldo was a finalist, so his presence was expected.

Real Madrid’s Florentino Pérez was also here.

But Messi’s attendance was a real surprise to Yang Cheng.

“It’s probably a bit of a power play against Bartomeu,” David Gill pointed out instantly.

Yang Cheng nodded; that reason was likely the answer.

Hadn’t Barça previously said they would completely sever ties with FIFA and that their players would not attend the awards ceremony?

Well now.

Not a single Barça player made it into the Best XI, nor were any on the nominee lists.

Under these circumstances, for Messi to choose to attend, wasn’t it a direct challenge to Barça’s chairman, Bartomeu?

You won’t let Barça players go, but I’m not a Barça player now, so I can go!

“Those good-for-nothings at Barça!” Yang Cheng shook his head helplessly.

Just then, Xia Qing discreetly poked Yang Cheng in the back and gave him a look.

Yang Cheng immediately saw Platini and Infantino walking towards him.

Great, this guy is still trying to get close!

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself but showed no reaction on his face.

Just as they were about to reach him, he suddenly called out, “Diego.”

With that, he walked forward to greet him.

At that very moment, Atlético Madrid’s head coach, Diego Simeone, had just entered.

Yang Cheng proactively went up to greet Diego Simeone with a warm handshake and embrace, and they began chatting as they walked, completely leaving Platini hanging behind them.

How shrewd was Simeone?

A single glance was all it took for him to guess what was happening, and he immediately extorted a round of drinks from Yang Cheng and played along.

Even though Xia Qing knew perfectly well that Platini was right there, she couldn’t help but let a smile slip.

Fortunately, she quickly followed Yang Cheng.

Leaving Platini and Infantino standing there, their expressions fluctuating between dark and light.

What could he do?

With Yang Cheng’s current status in world football, what did Platini dare to do to him?

Moreover, he had been in the wrong from the beginning.

The man had publicly praised him at a press conference.

And what was the result?

That selectively edited video clip?

“Let’s find another opportunity,” Infantino said, equally exasperated, trying to console him.

Today was FIFA’s home turf, so Platini could only endure it for now.

…

The awards ceremony itself was rather straightforward.

Before tonight, many of the awards had already been announced to the public.

For example, the Best XI.

The award presenter was Juventus’s Piero, and the host of the ceremony was Sky Sports’ female anchor, Abdo.

Therefore, the atmosphere of the entire ceremony was quite good, filled with constant laughter.

First, the Best XI was presented, followed by the FIFA Presidential Award, which went to a Japanese journalist.

The Best Women’s Coach went to the male coach of the Wolfsburg women’s team, Kellermann.

The Best Men’s Coach was awarded to Löw.

So, German football was also a huge winner.

They swept both the best men’s and women’s coach awards.

Kellermann’s achievement was leading the Wolfsburg women’s team to back-to-back UEFA Women’s Champions League titles, as well as the German league title.

Last season, Bayswater Chinese had won three consecutive Champions League trophies, and the Wolfsburg women’s team had also won back-to-back Women’s Champions League titles.

It’s worth mentioning that when Löw received his award, he made a point to thank Yang Cheng.

The Fair Play Award went to the FIFA Volunteers.

The Puskás Award was given to Real Madrid’s superstar, James Rodríguez.

The FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year was German midfielder Kessler.

None of these really had any controversy or suspense.

The true grand finale was the last award.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or.

The presenter was Thierry Henry.

When the host, Abdo, invited the three final nominees onto the stage, the venue erupted in incredibly enthusiastic applause.

Henry then commented on his impression and evaluation of each of the three players, giving them all high praise.

The large screen behind them also showed highlights of the three players’ brilliant performances over the past year.

It could be said that everyone standing on this stage was one of the absolute top superstars in world football today.

Sitting in the audience, Yang Cheng looked at the players on stage with mixed feelings.

Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos were both players he had personally developed!

And now, they were standing on the awards stage.

For many years, he had been waiting to see when Bayswater Chinese would have its own homegrown FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or winner.

And tonight, it was really going to happen!

Yes, he had a very strong feeling!

C. Ronaldo was indeed outstanding, but a La Liga and Copa del Rey double champion still couldn’t compare to the Champions League, let alone Toni Kroos’s last-minute winner in the World Cup final!

Or the shock of the thrashing of the Samba army on their home turf in Brazil!

Whether it was Gareth Bale or Toni Kroos, Yang Cheng would be happy with whoever won the award.

On stage, before revealing the final result, Henry had to interact with the three players for a while.

When the time was right and the trophy was on stage, he began to announce the winner.

“I am honored to announce that the winner of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or is…”

The entire Opera House fell silent.

At this moment, all the fans around the world watching the live broadcast must have felt the same tension.

Even Yang Cheng felt a little anxious.

He was confident, but what if?

Fortunately, Henry didn’t keep him waiting for long.

The French forward quickly shouted a name that made Yang Cheng want to jump for joy.

“Gareth Bale!!!”

Instantly, the roar of Gareth Bale’s goal celebration echoed through the theatre’s speakers.

The large screen behind him began playing a montage of Gareth Bale’s spectacular goals.

The entire audience erupted in thunderous applause!

The first-ever Ballon d’Or winner in the history of Bayswater Chinese was born!

And it was truly a Ballon d’Or winner produced by their own youth academy!

At this moment, Yang Cheng was truly thrilled!

Even more thrilled than when he won a championship!

Though he had a premonition, when the moment actually arrived, he was still incredibly excited!

On stage, Gareth Bale also seemed stunned for a moment.

In contrast, Toni Kroos, with a calm expression, turned and embraced Gareth Bale beside him, which finally snapped the Welshman back to reality.

“Congratulations, Gareth!”

“Thanks, Toni!”

After shaking hands and embracing C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale slowly walked towards Henry.

As he took the Ballon d’Or trophy from Henry’s hands, you could clearly see that the Welshman was actually trembling!

“Thank you to everyone who voted for me! Thank you to my family! Thank you to my teammates! Thank you to the head coach I respect the most!”

“Thank you to everyone at Bayswater Chinese, all the fans, without you, I couldn’t have won this award!”

“Thank you all!!”

As Gareth Bale spoke, his voice began to crack with emotion.

After taking a moment to calm himself, the Welshman continued.

“When I was 16, I was in the Southampton youth academy, but back then I was still very skinny and small. Everyone thought this kid wasn’t cut out for football.”

“That was a very painful memory, but my good friend Theo Walcott always supported me.”

“When I had the opportunity to come to Bayswater Chinese, our head coach, Mr. Yang Cheng.”

Gareth Bale pointed towards where Yang Cheng was sitting below, his voice filled with emotion, “He told me with absolute certainty, ‘Gareth, believe me, you will become the best player in the world!’”

“I couldn’t believe those words, and I never imagined a day like this would come, but that was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to me. I felt like my whole world had changed.”

“Because of those words, I wanted to become a great player, a successful player!”

“I know that even today, our head coach would still tell me, ‘Don’t get carried away, Gareth, you still have a lot of room for improvement, you can become even better!’”

“I know I can!”

By this point, Gareth Bale’s eyes were completely red.

“I want to say, thank you, boss!”

“Without you, I would have never had the chance to stand on this stage!”

“You know, I’ve never been much of a talker, but there’s something I’ve always wanted to say to you.”

“I believe in you, so please, believe in me too. I will work even harder to improve, pushing myself every day to become better and stronger!”

“I love Bayswater Chinese! I love all the fans, all the players, all the staff there!”

“Thank you!”

By the end, Gareth Bale was unable to speak for a long time.

Those who knew him knew that he was not a man of many words.

But today, on that stage, he had said a lot.

And it was truly touching.

After he finished speaking, the audience gave him a massive, enthusiastic round of applause.

Everyone rose from their seats to applaud Gareth Bale.

It was an honor the Welshman deserved!

…

As the awards ceremony in Zurich concluded, Gareth Bale won the first Ballon d’Or of his career, which was also the first in the history of Bayswater Chinese.

The news spread like wildfire across the globe.

The British BBC was particularly ecstatic, showering Gareth Bale with the highest praise.

Because he was the first player in the history of British football to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or!

Everyone knew that the FIFA Ballon d’Or was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year and the European Ballon d’Or.

In the past, no British player had ever won the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Gareth Bale was the first!

As for the European Ballon d’Or, the very first winner was the Englishman Stanley Matthews.

Subsequently, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Kevin Keegan, and Michael Owen had all won the European Ballon d’Or.

But there were distinctions among them.

Stanley Matthews was the first winner, from Blackpool.

Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, and George Best were all from that legendary Manchester United team of the 1960s.

Michael Owen was from the Liverpool team coached by Gérard Houllier.

And Kevin Keegan won the Ballon d’Or for his outstanding performances in the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.

So, strictly speaking, Kevin Keegan did not win the award while playing in the English league.

But regardless, Gareth Bale was the sixth British player to win the Ballon d’Or.

After the two awards were merged, he became the first British player to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or!

This made BBC television almost delirious with joy!

“He has proven to the world that he is the best player today!”

The Times in Britain also ran a lengthy report on Gareth Bale’s win, stating that it was not only an honor for Bayswater Chinese but also for England and the entire United Kingdom!

Since the Manchester United dynasty of the 1960s, in the nearly half-century since, there had been only one player from the English league to win the Ballon d’Or, and that was Michael Owen.

But although Michael Owen won the Ballon d’Or that year, he missed out on the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Now, Gareth Bale had won the FIFA Ballon d’Or directly, filling a void in British football in this respect and becoming the first in history!

“At just 25 years old, Gareth Bale is fully capable of catching up to many legendary players and becoming one of the greatest players in the history of football!”

The Guardian stated, “Bale’s win is no surprise. He should have won this award long ago!”

“Although the award was overdue, Gareth Bale has proven himself to be an out-and-out genius!”

The Daily Mail revealed that the key to Gareth Bale beating Toni Kroos and C. Ronaldo was that he was the number one superstar at Bayswater Chinese.

The Daily Telegraph commented, “Bale deserves this honor. He possesses a strength that strikes fear into his opponents. He is a formidable goal-scoring machine, and at the same time, he is one of the most influential superstars in world football!”

Germany’s Bild expressed regret that Toni Kroos did not win the award.

“Toni Kroos applauded his teammate Bale, but he missed out on this historic honor.”

“As Yang Cheng said after the awards ceremony, for a midfielder to finish second for the Ballon d’Or is a victory in itself!”

Bild also expressed its affirmation of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

The progress Toni Kroos had made at Bayswater Chinese over the past few years had not only benefited Yang Cheng’s team but also the German national team.

Spain’s Marca believed that C. Ronaldo’s lack of major honors over the past year compared to Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos was the reason he finished third.

“Although Real Madrid won La Liga and the Copa del Rey, achieving the Double, in the face of Bayswater Chinese’s Champions League and Germany’s World Cup victory, these two trophies lose some of their luster.”

And while all the media were praising Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, and C. Ronaldo, another piece of news broke: UEFA President Platini had written a letter to Gareth Bale after the awards ceremony.

The content of the letter was nothing special, just congratulating Gareth Bale on winning the first Ballon d’Or of his career, wishing him continued good luck, and so on.

But the issue wasn’t the content, but the motive behind writing the letter.

“Platini wants to indicate that the past is in the past; he wants to congratulate Gareth Bale and Bayswater Chinese as soon as possible,” The Times commented.

“Platini wants to use this letter to break the ice from the conflict over the Ballon d’Or between him and Bayswater Chinese,” The Sun analyzed.

But Bayswater Chinese refused to comment on the letter.

When Gareth Bale returned to London and was welcomed by numerous media and fans, he made no mention of whether he had received such a letter.

And as the whole world was immersed in the frenzy of Gareth Bale’s Ballon d’Or victory, a Dutchman set foot on London soil.

…

From a very young age, Erik ten Hag felt that he was different.

But he had never told anyone this feeling.

He was born in the small town of Haaksbergen, 10 kilometers southwest of Enschede in the eastern Netherlands.

Everyone there was a fan of FC Twente; they were proud to be Tukkers.

The term “Tukkers” here was not just a regional designation for people from the eastern Netherlands, but also a special way of life.

The people there would always say, “We’re different from Amsterdam. People in the capital are more arrogant, thinking they know everything.”

For Tukkers, defeating Ajax was a great achievement.

Like David defeating Goliath.

Ten Hag’s father was in real estate, and as the family’s fortunes improved, they gradually moved out of Haaksbergen to live in Ootmarsum, about 10 kilometers northeast of Enschede.

But he never stopped playing football.

Whenever he was on the pitch, he always felt different from the others.

Growing up, his peers always followed the head coach’s instructions when they played, but he always liked to figure things out for himself. He was used to asking about things he didn’t understand.

So, on the training ground, he was always talking, always asking questions.

He even spoke more than the coach.

This habit continued throughout his entire professional career.

Some coaches liked such a thoughtful child, but others did not; they only liked children who obeyed orders unconditionally.

Thus, Ten Hag’s professional career was a bumpy one, but after some twists and turns, he eventually returned to FC Twente.

The proudest match of his career was leading FC Twente in 2001 to defeat a PSV Eindhoven team full of stars like Van Nistelrooy, Kežman, and van Bommel in the Dutch Cup final.

But his team was no match for PSV Eindhoven and could only rely on tenacious defense.

They managed to hold on for a 0-0 draw, taking the game to a penalty shootout, where they finally defeated their opponents.

That was one of the most important championship trophies in FC Twente’s club history!

A year later, Ten Hag chose to retire and went directly into coaching at the FC Twente youth team.

From U17 to U19, and from 2006, he joined the first team as an assistant coach to Fred Rutten.

After Rutten was sacked in 2008, his successor was an Englishman, Ferguson’s former assistant coach, Steve McClaren.

From these famous coaches, Ten Hag learned a great deal.

During this period, he also befriended Ricardo Moniz, a proponent of Coerver Coaching.

In 2009, at Rutten’s invitation, he moved from FC Twente to PSV Eindhoven to continue as Rutten’s assistant coach.

It wasn’t until 2012 that Go Ahead Eagles of the Dutch second division invited him to be their head coach.

In the following season, he took Go Ahead Eagles from a mid-table Dutch second division team to the Eredivisie.

It was because of his excellent results at Go Ahead Eagles that Ten Hag was once offered the opportunity to coach the Bayern Munich B team.

But he didn’t go.

Because he felt he wouldn’t learn much by going there.

He actually preferred to learn alongside world-class coaches like Yang Cheng and Pep Guardiola, which he believed would be an invaluable experience for him.

In the 2013/14 season, Ten Hag continued to coach Go Ahead Eagles, who had been promoted to the Eredivisie, and successfully led the team to avoid relegation.

For a time, Ten Hag began to make a name for himself in Dutch football.

But this season, after leading the team for only seven rounds, he was sacked due to poor results.

In those seven rounds, Go Ahead Eagles’ record was two draws and five losses.

The crushing defeat that led to his dismissal was a 0-4 home loss to Feyenoord.

This record was nothing short of disastrous!

Ten Hag also began to face a crisis of confidence.

In October, November, and December, Ten Hag was traveling and studying.

He was an admirer of Pep Guardiola, so he chose to go to Manchester City in Manchester, following The Blue Moons’ training and matches, and he had many extensive discussions with Guardiola.

They shared a common football philosophy!

But Ten Hag was also somewhat different from Guardiola.

Just before Christmas, Ten Hag returned to the Netherlands from England.

He just never expected that he would be back in England so soon.

…

Sitting in the car sent by Bayswater Chinese, Ten Hag still couldn’t quite believe it.

He had actually received a call from Yang Cheng!

Did he want to talk to him about something?

On the phone, Yang Cheng only mentioned it was related to coaching and invited him to meet in person, so Ten Hag wasn’t sure about the specifics.

But he believed this should be a good opportunity.

After all, the worst team under Yang Cheng’s umbrella was Málaga CF in the Spanish second division.

However, from what he understood, whether it was Ronald Koeman at OGC Nice, Gasperini at Atalanta, or Pellegrini at Málaga CF in the second division, their head coach positions were all very secure.

So what did Yang Cheng want him to do?

Ten Hag quickly thought of the storm surrounding Yang Cheng’s choice of an assistant coach that had shocked European football last year.

He had also submitted his resume at the time but heard nothing back.

Could it be that?

Ten Hag quickly shook his head vigorously.

He knew he was still very far from that position.

Even if it were offered to him, he wasn’t confident he could handle it.

Especially after he had witnessed Guardiola’s coaching at Manchester City with his own eyes.

If he were to really take over Bayswater Chinese, wouldn’t the superstars in the team eat Ten Hag alive?

Thinking of this, Ten Hag began to feel conflicted again.

He was just that kind of person, prone to overthinking.

If there was something he couldn’t figure out or understand, he had to get to the bottom of it immediately, otherwise he would feel very uneasy.

When he was a player, he had fallen out with his head coach more than once over this issue.

After all, no one liked a guy who was constantly pestering them with questions and was a chatterbox in the team and the dressing room.

But after becoming a coach, Ten Hag found that his talkative habit actually made it easy for him to build good relationships with his players.

As he mulled this over, he arrived at the long-admired and world-renowned Brent training center.

Chapter 324: Scouting for Geniuses! European Football’s Current Meta! The Price of Player Capitalization!

Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese’s acquisition of the Brazilian club Palmeiras was off to a truly brilliant start!

In particular, the guarantee to never delay wage and bonus payments for players, coaches, and employees was an ultimate weapon.

This was an absolutely unimpeachable move!

Whether in the Brazilian football world, amongst the domestic media, or even with the Brazilian government, the move garnered immense support.

As a crucial industry in Brazil, or one could even say an “export product,” the chaos that had plagued Brazilian football for so many years was plain for all to see.

Even now, in 2015, many chaotic phenomena that were rarely seen elsewhere in the world were still rampant in Brazilian football.

Yang Cheng’s acquisition of Palmeiras was like a catfish thrown into a tank, completely stirring up the Brazilian professional league.

This sparked considerable controversy.

Many in the industry relentlessly attacked Yang Cheng and his Palmeiras.

They argued that Yang Cheng was merely using the Palmeiras platform to buy Brazilian players at a lower price and had no intention of helping Brazilian football.

Others claimed Yang Cheng was a new-age football colonialist, aiming to turn the Brazilian domestic league into his personal youth academy.

Some even publicly accused Yang Cheng’s acquisition of Palmeiras of being illegal.

After all, clubs in Brazil were member-based, so why should Palmeiras be an exception?

One could say that the emergence of this new Palmeiras had ignited a firestorm of controversy.

But behind the controversy lay immense opportunity.

After acquiring Palmeiras, Xia Qing began restructuring the club’s management team.

Once the outstanding debts were paid, Chairman Paulo Nobre announced his departure from Palmeiras.

However, the first Vice-Chairman, Maurício Galiotte, chose to stay on.

He would serve as the CEO of the reorganized Palmeiras, with full authority over the club’s daily operations.

The new Chairman of Palmeiras was a 49-year-old Englishman named Richard Warner.

Strictly speaking, Richard Warner was not an employee of Bayswater Chinese, but rather the finance director of Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s private foundation.

He was a former colleague of Xia Qing’s at Goldman Sachs.

Before joining Goldman Sachs, he had worked for over a decade in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ European and South American divisions, primarily overseeing investments in sports, entertainment, and media groups.

Later, when Goldman Sachs decided to enter this sector, they poached him from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

During his time at Goldman Sachs, he had also managed investments in several clubs, mainly professional teams in Eastern Europe, such as in the Czech Republic and Greece, though the sums weren’t massive.

Eventually, he was headhunted by Xia Qing.

For the past few years, he had been helping manage Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s foundation, participating in projects such as the Soho office headquarters, the office building in the City of London, and the acquisitions of clubs like Málaga CF, Atalanta, and OGC Nice.

The acquisition of Palmeiras was primarily managed by Xia Qing, with Richard Warner assisting.

Yang Cheng was highly affirmative of Maurício Galiotte’s abilities.

Especially before Christmas, when Maurício Galiotte led a team to London for inspection and coordination, Yang Cheng had an in-depth conversation with him. Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier were all very impressed with his capabilities.

For instance, he pointed out that Palmeiras had been severely hampered by its old club structure. He hoped to leverage the opportunity to connect with the football alliance centered around Bayswater Chinese to drive the modernization and professionalization of Palmeiras’s management system.

By introducing modern accounting and administrative operation systems, he aimed to advance the club’s digital management transformation, reduce the old bureaucratic management style, and comprehensively improve administrative efficiency.

Since Yang Cheng had already bought back the usage rights to the stadium, the shackles binding Palmeiras had been completely broken.

The stadium was located in a prime area in downtown São Paulo, arguably the most advantageously located stadium in all of South America, with enormous potential for development.

He even boldy guaranteed to Yang Cheng that by 2017, Palmeiras’s revenue would exceed five hundred million Real.

It was important to note that Palmeiras’s revenue did not include the commercial operating income from Allianz Parque.

This was indeed a remarkably ambitious promise!

For this reason, after discussions among Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier, they chose Richard Warner.

Warner’s ability was unquestionable, but his greatest strength was his personality.

Both Yang Cheng and Xia Qing felt that pairing Richard Warner with Maurício Galiotte would not only unleash Galiotte’s full potential but also ensure firm control over Palmeiras’s development direction.

After several meetings, Maurício Galiotte was also quite satisfied with his new colleague.

As for the current controversy surrounding Palmeiras in Brazil, Galiotte was unconcerned.

“Pioneers of reform always face more doubt and pressure!”

But with crisis comes opportunity.

Galiotte mentioned that, at the very least, after contacting many São Paulo-based companies, he found their general reaction to be very positive.

“They have had enough of the chaotic football environment of the past!”

Chaos often meant unpredictable risks and crises.

Moreover, Palmeiras’s reforms were met with enthusiastic welcome from the players, coaches, and employees.

For so many years, they had been the ones to suffer.

“Even leaders of many other clubs have called me to express their anticipation for our reforms at Palmeiras.”

“All discerning individuals know that this is the necessary path for Brazil’s football industry to become standardized and achieve sustainable, long-term development!”

“The role of Palmeiras as a ‘catfish’ is, for them, a positive thing!”

There was one very clear example.

After Yang Cheng took over Palmeiras, he immediately dispatched a group of elite personnel from Bayswater Chinese to Brazil. They were embedded in various departments at Palmeiras, forming the backbone of the new team.

At the same time, a significant amount of local talent needed to be recruited from Brazil.

For example, Palmeiras needed to hire a Chief Scout familiar with the local Brazilian scene.

After a thorough search, they ultimately chose Juarez Fischer from Fluminense.

He was a very experienced and highly capable scout.

Yang Cheng was very familiar with him, as in the Football Manager game, he was consistently one of the most god-tier scouts in Brazil, and indeed in the entire game, for many editions.

In reality, he was also formidable, especially in evaluating young players.

From 1984 to 2009, he worked at Grêmio, where he discovered Ronaldinho.

He then moved to Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro.

But he only stayed at Vasco da Gama for a year, returning to Grêmio in 2011. In 2012, he joined Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro, where he had been working ever since.

When he received the call from Palmeiras, he traveled from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo the very next day. After understanding the specific job content and responsibilities, and inquiring about the salary, he agreed to join Palmeiras on the spot.

His position was Chief Scout.

Juarez Fischer was not the only one.

Palmeiras also sought to recruit ten technical observers for its youth academy from within Brazil.

As soon as the news was out, résumés flew in like snowflakes.

Why?

Palmeiras’s most attractive feature was its promise to never delay wage and bonus payments.

Furthermore, the salaries offered by the club were higher than the industry average.

Under these circumstances, who wouldn’t want to join Palmeiras?

After a meticulous selection process, the club finally chose ten technical observers who met its philosophy and requirements.

One of them, named Marcão, had over twenty years of experience working at São Paulo and Santos and was incredibly experienced.

Others came from Grêmio, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, and more.

These ten technical observers almost all came from major Brazilian teams, either as experienced coaches or scouts.

Upon arriving at Palmeiras, each of them would be responsible for tracking a specific age group, assessing the players’ training and match performances.

At the very moment Gareth Bale was receiving the Ballon d’Or, Palmeiras was in the process of recruiting technical coaches, fitness coaches, nutritionists, team doctors, and psychologists in Brazil.

Especially psychologists.

Ever since his time at Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had placed great importance on players’ mental health.

Bayswater Chinese had a professional psychologist assigned to every age group, tracking the players’ growth and psychological changes, which had yielded excellent results over the past few years.

Now, this model was being replicated at OGC Nice, Atalanta, Málaga CF, and other teams.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many players’ potential was wasted due to psychological issues, a point that all teams tended to overlook.

The most typical example was Ousmane Dembélé.

The “internet-addicted” youth’s upbringing had led to an over-reliance on games and the internet, a problem that wasn’t properly addressed even after he joined Barça.

Neither Borussia Dortmund nor Barça gave him the support he needed.

But now, at OGC Nice, Yang Cheng had specifically looked into it and found Dembélé’s situation to be much better than in his previous life. The player himself was much more cheerful.

This allowed him to break into the OGC Nice first team and start making a name for himself.

Palmeiras’s large-scale recruitment and the formation of such a vast team undoubtedly sent shockwaves through Brazil—not just in football circles, not just in the sports world, but across various industries.

A team of this size meant a hefty payroll.

Would it really be effective?

Everyone was waiting to see!

Most of the talent could be recruited from within Brazil, but some positions couldn’t.

The head coach, for example.

Any fan familiar with Brazilian football would know that Brazilian head coaches have never been particularly outstanding.

Although world-class managers like Zagallo, Parreira, and Scolari had emerged, and someone like Luxemburgo had even coached Real Madrid, Brazilian coaches generally struggled to achieve good results in European football.

In Yang Cheng’s memory, he truly couldn’t think of any who had.

This had a lot to do with the football atmosphere in Brazil.

Perhaps such soil just wasn’t suited for producing coaches.

Argentina, on the other hand, had produced quite a few famous managers.

If Yang Cheng wanted to reform Palmeiras, the first step was to bring them the most advanced tactical philosophies from Europe.

Under these circumstances, looking for a coach within Brazil was clearly not an option.

If Brazil had such talent, would they even need Yang Cheng’s help?

So, what were the most advanced tactical philosophies in Europe right now?

Bayswater Chinese’s pass-and-move and Pep Guardiola and Spain’s possession football.

Clearly, these were the hottest trends at the moment.

Both shared many similar concepts, such as emphasizing passing, player movement, pressing, and control of space.

Ultimately, it could all be traced back to one thing.

Dutch Total Football!

If one were to analyze the European football scene at the time, the head coaches with advanced possession-based or pass-and-move tactical systems were often influenced by Dutch football.

Guardiola was a prime example, and Yang Cheng himself was also heavily influenced.

Others included Mourinho, van Gaal, Tuchel, Klopp, André Villas-Boas, and more.

Bielsa had influenced many, including Pochettino and Guardiola, but he himself was influenced by van Gaal.

Or perhaps it should be said, this was the current and future “meta” for technical and tactical football in Europe!

But among these excellent coaches with advanced tactical philosophies who were skilled at building systems, inviting one to coach Palmeiras was truly difficult.

Take André Villas-Boas, for example.

Despite his lackluster results at Chelsea and Tottenham, his coaching ability was actually quite good, and his ideas were very advanced. He really had substance.

The problem was, his current annual salary at Zenit was several million euros.

Could Palmeiras afford that?

Clearly, it wasn’t realistic!

Bielsa was Argentine, so coaching in Brazil was already a bit problematic, and he was currently trying to make his mark in European football.

After much deliberation, Yang Cheng found that finding a head coach willing to go to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, who also had advanced tactical ideas and decent coaching ability, was extremely difficult!

He discussed it with his technical team several times, repeatedly defining and narrowing the scope.

They finally settled on two targets.

One was the former head coach of the Portuguese national team, Paulo Bento.

His biggest advantage was being Portuguese, making it easier for him to adapt to the Brazilian football environment.

Especially in recent years, Portuguese coaches had begun to move to Brazil to manage.

If Yang Cheng remembered correctly, Paulo Bento himself would go on to coach in Brazil.

His tactical philosophy was actually a bit defensive, but it was relatively modern overall. However, he wasn’t particularly skilled at building an entire system.

The other was the Dutchman, Erik ten Hag.

Initially, Yang Cheng hadn’t even noticed Ten Hag. It was only when his name appeared on the technical team’s list that he remembered him.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after leading Go Ahead Eagles to promotion to the Eredivisie in 2013, Ten Hag was supposed to have gone to coach Bayern Munich’s B team, following Guardiola to learn for two years.

After that, he returned to the Eredivisie to coach FC Utrecht, which made his name once again, followed by his tenure at Ajax.

But what about now?

He didn’t go to coach Bayern’s B team in 2013 because Bayern’s head coach at the time was Jupp Heynckes, not Guardiola, whom Ten Hag most admired.

He continued to coach Go Ahead Eagles and successfully avoided relegation from the Eredivisie, but he was fired at the beginning of this season due to poor results.

However, his performance while coaching Go Ahead Eagles had won the approval of Yang Cheng’s technical team.

And he was Dutch.

As for Ten Hag, Yang Cheng felt there were no issues with his tactical philosophy.

This man could not only build an entire tactical system based on advanced concepts, but he was also very good at developing young players.

This perfectly matched Yang Cheng’s vision for Palmeiras’s future.

His commitment to attacking football would also allow him to easily adapt to the Brazilian league.

Everyone knew that in Brazil, if you didn’t play attacking football, you would surely be criticized.

Paulo Bento, by comparison, was more conservative.

Able to build a tactical system, good at developing young players, and capable of getting results—Ten Hag was indeed the perfect choice.

As for Ten Hag’s coaching tenure at Manchester United in Yang Cheng’s previous life…

In a word, whether it was a problem with the players and coach, or a problem with Manchester United, only time would tell.

But Yang Cheng believed that a head coach who could lead Ajax to the Champions League semi-final was definitely remarkable!

So, he decided to give Ten Hag that call.

…

When Ten Hag arrived at the Brent training center, Yang Cheng personally received him and gave him a tour of the facility, which the Dutchman had long admired.

Flick, Brian Kidd, and others accompanied them.

A group of football coaches together naturally meant a lively conversation.

To Yang Cheng’s surprise, Ten Hag was a very talkative person, an endless stream of words, one question after another.

After arriving at the Brent training center, he was like a wide-eyed tourist in a new city.

At first, Yang Cheng patiently introduced things and chatted with him, but he soon realized it wouldn’t work.

If they continued talking like this, they would never get to the main topic.

He might even end up revealing all his secrets.

So, Yang Cheng suggested they go to the office.

Once they were seated, Yang Cheng didn’t beat around the bush. He got straight to the point, expressing his hope to invite him to coach Palmeiras in the Brazilian league.

At the same time, Yang Cheng introduced some details about Palmeiras.

For instance, the club would be fully integrated with Bayswater Chinese and other teams within the alliance.

Conditions in all aspects would be benchmarked against European clubs, even Bayswater Chinese itself.

The team’s goal was to focus on young players, with no performance demands for at least two years, allowing the head coach complete freedom.

Ten Hag was quite resistant at first.

As a Dutch head coach, although he had been dismissed from Go Ahead Eagles, the common practice was to remain unemployed for a period and wait for the next coaching opportunity.

For example, if a team changed its manager mid-season, or if a team was looking for a new coach, he would naturally be considered.

With his current reputation in the Netherlands, he was confident he could find a new job by the summer at the latest.

But the terms Yang Cheng offered were actually quite good.

First, the salary was good, and he was willing to give him more authority in technical and tactical matters.

At the same time, Yang Cheng promised that as long as he helped build up Palmeiras and achieved good coaching results, within three years at most, he would definitely help him return to European football to coach a team in one of the top five leagues.

This was indeed a very attractive bargaining chip!

Given Ten Hag’s current status in European football, it would be difficult for him to secure a coaching position in a top-five league within three years.

After all, the influence of the Eredivisie was currently very limited.

Besides, this was also like an opportunity to enhance one’s credentials.

Right now, clubs all over the world wanted to emulate Bayswater Chinese.

It was a rare opportunity for him to gain in-depth exposure to and learn from Bayswater Chinese’s entire system, which would undoubtedly be a huge advantage for his future coaching career.

“Erik, we’re not in a hurry. You can go back and think about it carefully before giving me an answer.”

Yang Cheng didn’t demand an immediate response.

But to his surprise, after a moment of contemplation, Ten Hag nodded immediately. “I’m willing to coach Palmeiras, but there’s one problem: I don’t speak Portuguese, and I’m very unfamiliar with the Brazilian football environment.”

“We’ve already considered that for you.”

Yang Cheng said with a smile, “Do you know Mitchell van der Gaag?”

“Of course, how has he been lately?” Ten Hag asked.

Mitchell van der Gaag was also a Dutch coach, 43 years old this year.

He started his playing career in the PSV Eindhoven youth academy, later moved to FC Utrecht, and then to Marítimo in the Primeira Liga.

In 2006, he even played in the UAE for a year, retiring in 2007.

Six months after retiring, he began coaching Marítimo’s B team, and later coached the first team, but his results weren’t very good.

In the summer of 2012, he began coaching the Portuguese second-division club Belenenses, leading them to promotion to the Primeira Liga as Liga de Honra champions.

However, in the first five rounds of the 2013/14 Primeira Liga season, his record was one win and four losses, leaving them near the bottom of the table.

He himself suffered a sudden heart attack during a match, fell ill on the sidelines, and temporarily left the dugout.

But more than a year had passed, and after recovering from his heart condition, he had been looking for an opportunity to return to coaching.

Why did Yang Cheng mention this person?

He and Pepe were teammates at Marítimo, playing together for three years.

After preparing for his comeback, he used his connection with Pepe in the hope of coming to Bayswater Chinese to learn.

Yang Cheng had also spoken with him several times and found him to be a very talented person. Not only did he have a good personality and was skilled at communicating with players, but he was also fluent in six languages.

Yang Cheng had taken notice of him back then.

If the Primeira Liga was the first choice for Brazilian players to land in European football, then Marítimo, located on Cristiano Ronaldo’s home island of Madeira, was the first choice for many Brazilian players to land in the Primeira Liga.

Pepe and others had launched their European careers from there.

So, having spent ten years at Marítimo and over a decade in Portugal, van der Gaag was very good at communicating with Brazilians and had a certain understanding of the Brazilian football environment.

And when he thought of Ten Hag this time, Yang Cheng also thought of Mitchell van der Gaag.

He guessed the two surely knew each other.

Not only because they both played in the Eredivisie during their playing days—Ten Hag played for FC Utrecht until 1996 before returning to his hometown club FC Twente, while van der Gaag joined FC Utrecht in 1997.

The Netherlands was so small; it was impossible they didn’t know each other.

And it turned out they did indeed know each other.

When Ten Hag asked how van der Gaag was doing, he was showing concern about his heart condition.

“He’s doing well!” Yang Cheng nodded with a smile. “If you take over Palmeiras, I plan to hire van der Gaag as your assistant coach. In addition, we will hire an experienced coach in Brazil who is familiar with the Brazilian football environment to be your assistant.”

Ten Hag partnering with van der Gaag—a future Manchester United coaching staff configuration.

After hearing Yang Cheng’s introduction of van der Gaag’s strengths, Ten Hag clearly had no objections.

But he also thought of his own coaching staff.

At the very least, an assistant coach, a fitness coach, and a goalkeeping coach.

Yang Cheng had no problem with that either.

A setup with three assistant coaches was indeed a bit extravagant, but considering Ten Hag’s unfamiliarity with the Brazilian environment, it was justifiable.

What truly surprised Yang Cheng was that Ten Hag chose Alfred Schreuder, the Dutch coach who had been dismissed from FC Twente.

Yang Cheng had heard of this person.

Schreuder also came from the PSV Eindhoven youth academy, around the same time as van der Gaag, but he later went to Feyenoord and FC Twente.

Starting in 2009, he worked as an assistant coach at Vitesse, then moved to FC Twente, serving as an assistant to Co Adriaanse, McClaren, and others.

FC Twente’s Eredivisie title was achieved with him assisting McClaren.

Ten Hag had a strong network at FC Twente. If he said he wanted to hire Schreuder as his assistant, there shouldn’t be any problem.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Schreuder was Ten Hag’s assistant coach at FC Utrecht, and they later coached Ajax together.

The Ajax team that reached the Champions League semi-final was the masterpiece of these two.

But later, his solo coaching tenures at Hoffenheim were not ideal. He once went to Barça to be Ronald Koeman’s assistant coach, and later coached Ajax and Club Brugge on his own.

All in all, such a coaching team was indeed solid!

Of course, with three assistant coaches plus the rest of the coaching staff, the salary would be considered quite high for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

But as long as they could build Palmeiras’s tactical system, Yang Cheng felt it was worth it!

…

The Palmeiras matter was thus settled.

But Yang Cheng sought out Ten Hag not just for Palmeiras.

He had another matter in mind.

FC Twente!

Ten Hag and his family had significant influence in Enschede.

His father, Hennie ten Hag, ran one of the largest real estate companies in Enschede.

Moreover, Ten Hag’s status at FC Twente was very high. After returning to FC Twente in 1996, he led the team to defeat PSV Eindhoven and win the Dutch Cup in 2001, making him a hero in Enschede.

After retiring in 2002, he immediately started coaching the youth team.

Consequently, his father became the finance director of the Twente ’65 Foundation in 2002.

The Twente ’65 Foundation held all the shares of the FC Twente club.

So, strictly speaking, Hennie ten Hag was FC Twente’s God of Wealth.

The reason Hennie ten Hag was appointed to this position was not only because he was a well-known local entrepreneur in Enschede, but also crucially because in 2002 and 2003, FC Twente declared bankruptcy due to owing the tax authorities fourteen million euros in taxes.

But in 2003, the Enschede municipal government provided a 1.5 million euro bridge loan, saving the club.

Then, in 2007, FC Twente borrowed another twenty million euros from the city government to expand De Grolsch Veste stadium.

Unexpectedly, in 2011, due to construction problems by the contractor, the stadium roof structure being erected became unstable and collapsed, instantly killing two young workers and injuring nine.

Although FC Twente quickly rebuilt the roof, three years later, the incident was still under investigation.

In recent years, FC Twente’s financial situation had been a complete mess.

The city’s loan had not been repaid, new debts were piling up, and the stadium expansion project was forced to halt, with only three out of four stands completed. As a result, FC Twente was now heavily in debt.

Just on January 9th, the Dutch Football Association issued a public warning to FC Twente.

Due to the club’s worrying financial situation, the Dutch FA demanded that FC Twente improve its finances as soon as possible, pay off the overdue government taxes and a series of other fees, or face a points deduction penalty.

Most football fans associated the Eredivisie with Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord.

But in the area around Enschede in the eastern Netherlands, FC Twente was the faith of the Tukkers.

Since 2002, FC Twente had been on the brink of bankruptcy time and again, only to be saved time and again.

But this was the first time they were threatened with a points deduction.

More importantly, FC Twente was also involved in another case.

Doyen Sports.

A private equity fund headquartered in London’s Soho.

Their biggest business was investing in player ownership, the so-called third-party ownership.

This had been explicitly banned by FIFA.

But it was useless.

Because many European clubs were short on cash.

When you have no money but want to buy players, or need to raise funds urgently to overcome difficulties, what do you do?

You find this kind of private equity fund, secretly sign an agreement, and sell the player’s ownership.

In 2014, FC Twente’s chairman Joop Munsterman and vice-chairman Aldo van der Laan signed an agreement with Doyen Sports.

Doyen Sports paid five million euros to help FC Twente through its financial crisis, but in return, FC Twente transferred the transfer rights of seven players to Doyen Sports, with percentages ranging from 10% to 50%.

But these idiots were too careless in their dealings.

The matter was soon exposed by the media, the Dutch FA began to investigate, and both UEFA and FIFA took it very seriously. So, FC Twente’s problem this time was extremely severe.

Yang Cheng was quite interested in FC Twente.

The club was located in the eastern Netherlands, on the border with Germany.

Its current stadium capacity was the fourth largest in the Netherlands, only behind the traditional big three, and its attendance rate was consistently sold out, with a very vibrant football market.

If the original plan to expand the fourth stand had been completed, the total capacity would exceed 45,000, surpassing PSV Eindhoven’s Philips Stadion and second only to Ajax and Feyenoord.

With this stadium, plus FC Twente’s hot football market, and more importantly, the Netherlands having almost no restrictions on foreign players.

This policy advantage was simply too important for the football alliance that Yang Cheng wanted to build.

So, Yang Cheng wanted to try and understand Ten Hag’s view on a foreign acquisition of FC Twente.

…

“Frankly, I don’t know.”

After hearing Yang Cheng’s question, Ten Hag shook his head with a wry smile.

“Not just me, but probably everyone in Enschede right now, including all the Tukkers, doesn’t know.”

After a pause, the Dutch head coach continued.

“You’re right, my father is indeed the finance director of the Twente ’65 Foundation. I can tell you for sure, the intelligence you’ve gathered is accurate. FC Twente is on the verge of bankruptcy again, otherwise they wouldn’t have resorted to something like that.”

“We already went bankrupt once in 2002, and since then, it’s been a source of anxiety almost every year.”

“The situation started to improve in 2007, but then in 2010, after successfully winning the Eredivisie title, the club reached its historical peak, but with it came soaring debts that we simply couldn’t repay!”

Speaking of his hometown team, Ten Hag felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

“My father told me that the club’s idea at the time was to strive for better results, expand the stadium, increase matchday revenue, and at the same time, build a reputation to further increase the team’s income, but they misjudged the situation.”

“The entire Eredivisie is in decline, and FC Twente is sinking even faster. To increase debt at a time like this…”

Ten Hag shook his head repeatedly with a wry smile.

He had gone to PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2009 to be Fred Rutten’s assistant coach.

“We are all sick of this constant threat of bankruptcy, of living in fear. Many players are unwilling to come, wage arrears are the norm, and crucially, the team lacks competitiveness.”

“But if we were to sell the club to foreign investors…”

Ten Hag trailed off, but his meaning was clear. This would certainly be met with protests from the local fans.

As for how loud the protests would be, who knew?

Yang Cheng had guessed as much.

Many European fans were like this.

I know my team is crap, I know the management are a bunch of good-for-nothings, and I myself wish I could take a gun and get rid of them all.

But foreign investors want to buy the club?

Absolutely not!

The only difference was the number of fans who felt this way.

Fortunately, Yang Cheng wasn’t planning on forcing the issue.

“Erik, please pass a message to your father and the management of FC Twente for me.”

Ten Hag nodded seriously.

“I am very interested in acquiring FC Twente. I can clear all the debts, I can settle the overdue taxes and wages, and I can even handle the dispute with Doyen Sports, as well as matters with UEFA and FIFA.”

“Ask them to consider it. If they are interested, they can come to London to find me.”

Ten Hag was visibly stunned for a moment.

In his mind, Yang Cheng was a world-class, famous manager.

But at this moment, the Yang Cheng he saw seemed like a tycoon who could make the entire football world tremble with a stomp of his foot!

Who was Doyen Sports?

A globally renowned private equity fund, the masters of third-party player ownership.

Did he know how famous they were?

The transfers of Neymar, Falcao, James Rodríguez, and others were all their handiwork.

More importantly, how many clubs across Europe had borrowed money from them?

How many clubs had sold players to them?

Countless!

Yes, UEFA and FIFA had explicitly banned it.

But when a club was on the verge of bankruptcy, who cared about your ban?

Being in the industry, Ten Hag knew just how much influence Doyen Sports had on European football.

The Portuguese Nelio Lucas was the son of a Kazakh businessman. He studied marketing communications in the United States and initially worked at an entertainment celebrity agency.

At the turn of the century, he returned to Europe and worked under the Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, starting his involvement in the football agent business, but the two soon parted ways.

The ultimate boss behind Doyen Sports was a consortium from Kazakhstan, four brothers currently living in Istanbul, Turkey, whose family was mainly in the mining business and swimming in money.

Nelio Lucas used their money to operate both as a football agent and in the third-party ownership trade, and he even provided loans to clubs.

FC Twente was one of their clients.

In early 2011, Doyen Sports established a company in London, taking its business to a new level.

Ten Hag had previously heard a secret rumor in the industry.

In January 2014, Nelio Lucas held a birthday party in an old church in Mayfair, London, and 118 distinguished guests from the European football world attended to congratulate him.

Among them were Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez, Barça Chairman Bartomeu, Atlético Madrid CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, and AC Milan Vice-Chairman Adriano Galliani and his daughter.

Also present were FIFA’s Sporting Director, the son of Porto’s Chairman, a director from Fulham, the Vice-Chairman of Sevilla…

One could imagine just how influential this company was!

But Yang Cheng had just said he could handle it, and he said it so nonchalantly.

Ten Hag was truly stunned!

It also made him realize for the first time that Yang Cheng’s power in the football world might be far beyond his imagination.

After understanding this, Ten Hag promised he would definitely relay the message.

…

After seeing off Ten Hag, Yang Cheng smiled faintly.

Nelio Lucas was indeed very influential, and his business was formidable.

For example, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, this private equity fund directly handled all of Monaco’s transfers.

From Falcao to James Rodríguez to Bernardo Silva.

Their most common tactic was to buy a player’s ownership at a low price, “sell” him at a high price to a partner club to showcase his talent, and then “sell” him at an even higher price to another partner club.

Once the player’s value had risen to a certain level, they would sell him to a “final buyer” willing to pay a sky-high price.

Some might wonder, were those partner clubs fools?

No, they were not foolish at all.

Because all the “buyer” clubs would receive a substantial share of the transfer fee, around 10%.

Take Atlético Madrid’s Falcao, for example.

From Porto to Atlético to Monaco, Atlético didn’t have to pay a single penny. They got a top striker for free, won the league title, and even received a share of Falcao’s transfer fee to Monaco.

Of course, The Mattress Makers had to pay Falcao’s salary during his time there.

And then there was James Rodríguez.

Many media outlets said the Colombian’s sky-high transfer to Real Madrid was due to Florentino Pérez’s construction company’s projects in Colombia, which was quite absurd.

Because construction projects of that magnitude often involved state-level diplomatic intervention.

A more reliable explanation was that after moving from Porto to Monaco and with the help of the World Cup, James’s value had already been hyped up sufficiently.

At that point, Doyen Sports convinced Real Madrid and Florentino Pérez to sign the Colombian midfielder for a sky-high price.

As for what else was going on behind the scenes, who knew?

Doyen Sports was essentially running this business like a game of hot potato.

Players like Witsel and Hulk were basically handled in the same way.

On the surface, this model seemed pretty good, with all parties getting what they wanted.

But was that really the case?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, in 2015, Marseille was short on cash and “entrusted” their young midfielder, Imbula, to Nelio Lucas’s Doyen Sports, hoping to inflate his price and cash out quickly.

At the time, Imbula was performing well in Ligue 1, and Nelio Lucas saw his potential, so he decided to “sign” Imbula for a transfer fee of twenty million euros.

If they sold him for a higher price, they would make a huge profit.

At the time, Nelio Lucas’s plan was to sell Imbula to Inter Milan and then help Galliani’s AC Milan sign Kondogbia.

Kondogbia’s journey from Lens to Sevilla and back to Monaco had already earned Doyen Sports a fortune.

Unexpectedly, Inter Milan’s team chose Kondogbia and wasn’t interested in Imbula.

With no other choice, Nelio Lucas went to Porto, and Doyen Sports provided the funds to help Porto sign Imbula from Marseille for twenty million euros.

But Imbula’s performance in the Primeira Liga was not ideal, and he couldn’t get playing time.

Just as the deal was about to go down the drain, Nelio Lucas made a decisive move in January 2016, taking Imbula from the Primeira Liga to the Premier League, where he joined Stoke City, who were desperate for reinforcements at the time.

The transfer fee was twenty-four million euros.

They still made a profit on the deal.

But in just six months, moving from Ligue 1 to the Primeira Liga to the Premier League, and almost to Serie A in between, Imbula’s performance plummeted, and he never recovered.

That was the price!

The whole affair was only investigated and made public later by the French newspaper Libération.

Even Zidane’s agent was involved in Imbula’s transfer, investing five million euros.

Who knows how many prices like Imbula’s have been paid.

And Mangala, signed by Manchester City, had 33% of his ownership rights belonging to Doyen Sports.

Manchester United’s hopeful star Januzaj sold half of his image rights to Doyen Sports in February 2014.

Very few fans would ever learn of these secrets.

They mostly saw the players’ performances on the pitch.

Little did they know that off the pitch, many players had been completely and utterly capitalized.

Doyen Sports’ London office was also in Soho, very close to Bayswater Chinese’s headquarters and The FA’s headquarters.

But Bayswater Chinese would never get involved in their business.

Yang Cheng knew about many things but couldn’t interfere.

To put it bluntly, many of these situations involved one willing party and another willing participant.

But if FC Twente was willing to accept Yang Cheng’s investment, then if he personally stepped in, Nelio Lucas would certainly give him face.

It was a small matter.

As for FIFA and UEFA, it was an even smaller issue.

Once the contracts were bought back, the matter would be settled, and they would be happy to have one less thing to worry about.

…

With Ten Hag accepting Yang Cheng’s invitation, the Dutchman would immediately begin to assemble his team.

Meanwhile, Yang Cheng took advantage of the team’s one-week break to focus on the restructuring of Palmeiras.

This time, Yang Cheng decided not to get involved in clearing out the squad’s redundant players and deciding who would stay and who would go.

However, he did earmark several players for Palmeiras.

As the saying goes, the pavilion closest to the water gets the moonlight first.

What’s more, in Brazil, it was very normal for young players to be transferred back and forth.

After all, if the first team had such frequent turnover, the youth team was even more so.

As they say in Brazilian football, young players are like radishes in a field; they just keep popping up.

Yang Cheng first set his sights on the other teams in the same city.

São Paulo was the first to suffer.

São Paulo U17’s goalkeeper Lucas Perri and winger David Neres were poached in succession.

Even young Antony, who wouldn’t turn 15 until February, was lured away by Palmeiras.

The most outrageous part was that Palmeiras didn’t even spare 8-year-old Endrick.

With over a thousand young players in São Paulo’s youth academy, they might not have even noticed the departure of these four.

Next, Palmeiras poached the young Rodrygo, born on January 9, 2001, from Santos’s U15 youth team.

The two clubs’ youth academies were located on the south and north sides of Tietê Ecological Park, respectively. For Rodrygo, it was just a few extra steps.

But with Bayswater Chinese backing them, Palmeiras’s prospects were clearly much better.

Right next to Santos’s youth academy, Corinthians U16 also had a young midfielder, Carlos Augusto, lured away.

Yang Cheng even made a special note that this left-footed player should preferably be converted into a left-back.

Perhaps reading this, many would find it strange.

How could Palmeiras poach whoever they wanted?

Were young players in Brazil really that easy to get?

The answer is, yes.

Take Gabriel Martinelli, for example.

The 13-year-old youngster joined Corinthians’ youth academy at the age of 9 and performed brilliantly.

He scored 66 goals for the U9 team and 56 goals in the state league gold-level matches.

In the following three years, he scored a total of 69 goals for Corinthians’ U11, U13, and U15 teams.

From 2010 to 2014, he scored a total of 222 goals for Corinthians’ youth teams.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, this talented youngster left Corinthians in 2015 to join an obscure team.

Ituano FC, located a few dozen kilometers northwest of São Paulo.

Why?

Because that club had a partnership with Manchester United.

In fact, it was at Ituano that Martinelli was noticed by Manchester United. He even played in a friendly match for them in 2017 and had four trials, but failed to join United and ended up at Arsenal instead.

But now, this young prodigy chose Palmeiras.

It was no joke. Ituano was just a club with a partnership with Manchester United, and they could attract a talent like Martinelli from Corinthians. Palmeiras was not only a traditional giant in Brazil but also an alliance club of Bayswater Chinese.

With Yang Cheng, Bayswater Chinese, OGC Nice, Málaga CF, and Atalanta as backing, who couldn’t Palmeiras poach?

And in Ituano’s youth team, Yang Cheng circled a centre-back named Luiz Felipe.

From the club Ponte Preta in the city of Campinas, north of São Paulo, Palmeiras signed a midfielder named Emerson Royal.

The 16-year-old Emerson Royal started at São Paulo’s youth academy and joined the youth academy of the second-division team Ponte Preta on a free transfer in January 2014.

After finishing with the state of São Paulo, Palmeiras turned its attention to Rio de Janeiro.

From Flamengo’s youth team, 14-year-old Vinícius chose to join Palmeiras’s youth academy.

Also joining from Flamengo’s youth team was 17-year-old midfielder Lucas Paquetá.

The 17-year-old midfielder Gerson, who played for Fluminense, also moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo.

And 16-year-old Douglas Luiz from Vasco da Gama’s youth team also chose to join Palmeiras.

In addition, Palmeiras signed right-back Dodô from Coritiba.

From Sport Recife, they signed 18-year-old versatile forward Joelinton.

From América Mineiro, they signed 17-year-old winger Richarlison.

From Grêmio, they signed 18-year-old midfielder Arthur.

From Grêmio Osasco Audax, they signed 17-year-old midfielder Bruno Guimarães.

At the same time, Palmeiras’s scouts in Barrancas, Colombia, found an 18-year-old prospect named Luis Díaz, who had made a name for himself on the local amateur scene.

Although it was an international transfer, since Luis Díaz was already 18 and had been playing in amateur football, the transfer faced no obstacles.

With these players, plus Palmeiras’s own talent like Gabriel Jesus, Yang Cheng was confident that Palmeiras wouldn’t have to worry about results for the next few years.

While Palmeiras was busy scouting young geniuses all over Brazil, Ten Hag began to rub his hands in anticipation, recruiting personnel, assembling his own team, and determined to make a big impact in Brazil in preparation for coaching in a top-five league in three years.

Yang Cheng’s team, meanwhile, was at the Prudential Stadium in London, welcoming van Gaal’s Manchester United.

This was another fight to the death, a battle of titans!

After a shocking away loss to Burnley in the last round, Manchester City had quietly closed the gap.

And The Blue Moons were hosting Arsenal at home this round.

Two clashes between top teams could very well change the course of this season’s Premier League.

Chapter 325: Breaking Out! A Sky-High Auction! Two Hat-tricks in a Single Match! Have the Tides Turned in the Premier League?

If one were to name the most eye-catching tactical innovation in European football during the 2014/15 season, it would have to be the system Louis van Gaal polished at Manchester United, a style of play fans mockingly dubbed the “Big Circle Tactic.”

At its core, the “Big Circle Tactic” was simply another term for circulating the ball among the defenders and switching play horizontally.

By 2015, almost every team placed immense importance on possession.

Attacks were no longer the all-or-nothing affairs of the past.

If an attack broke down, teams would opt to pass back to their defense and reorganize.

Van Gaal’s “Big Circle Tactic” was fundamentally the same.

So where was the difference?

A look at Manchester United’s squad revealed the Red Devils’ biggest problem: a lack of control in midfield and an inability to apply consistent pressure up front.

This might sound strange to many.

A midfield composed of Paul Pogba, Strootman, Carrick, Herrera, De Rossi, and Juan Mata, supported by a forward line of Cavani, Rooney, Robben, Ashley Young, and Valencia, wasn’t strong enough?

But that was indeed the case.

Van Gaal’s season started with a series of stumbles. His three-at-the-back formation was heavily criticized, and a switch to a four-at-the-back system didn’t yield much improvement, forcing him into constant adjustments.

Was there not a single reliable centre-back?

Daley Blind was moved to centre-back, but he lacked the physical strength.

David Luiz was certainly brave, but far too reckless.

What was to be done?

Van Gaal decided to borrow some experience from the Italian national team, dropping De Rossi back to partner David Luiz.

Daley Blind played on the left, Valencia on the right, with Carrick as the single pivot.

On the surface, it was a four-at-the-back formation, but in reality, Blind and Valencia often pushed forward, while Carrick frequently dropped back.

The entire formation shifted between a three-at-the-back and a four-at-the-back.

More interestingly, when Blind and Valencia pushed up, the centre-backs would spread wide, creating space for Carrick to drop into while also providing support to the flanks.

This resulted in Manchester United primarily playing down the wings when in possession.

If an attack down the left was thwarted, the ball went back to the defense and was switched horizontally to the right. If the right flank was blocked, it was back to the defenders and over to the left again.

See the pattern?

It was essentially the same old possession-based football.

Occasionally, Pogba, Herrera, Carrick, or Strootman would attempt a long-range switch of play.

The ball was mostly active between the two flanks and the defensive line.

This left the central midfield area very empty.

It looked as if they were just passing the ball in a circle.

This was the so-called “Big Circle Tactic.”

The benefits of this tactic were obvious: it maximized Manchester United’s overall stability and their control over the game.

This was because the ball was constantly in the wide areas and at the back, where there was more space.

As mentioned before, Manchester United’s midfield control was insufficient.

Or rather, the team had lacked the DNA for possession football since the Ferguson era.

But van Gaal’s system ensured maximum control.

Furthermore, it played to the strengths of Manchester United’s wing attacks.

Pogba himself was adept at operating in the left channel.

Daley Blind was a somewhat awkward player. Whether at holding midfield, centre-back, or left-back, he had his shortcomings, but his strengths were equally clear: excellent distribution and awareness.

Comparatively, playing him at left-back was actually the most suitable role.

Blind, Pogba, and Rooney formed the left flank, while Herrera, Robben or Mata, and Valencia made up the right.

Cavani anchored the attack as the centre-forward, with De Rossi, Carrick, and David Luiz behind him.

This formed Manchester United’s unique, yet refreshing, “Big Circle Tactic.”

Frankly, facing this system was a real headache.

Take a simple example.

To win the ball back, you had to press high, as Manchester United were passing it around at the back. This inevitably exposed gaps behind your own lines.

Look at Manchester United’s backline and midfield. Aside from Pogba, the other players weren’t exceptional dribblers, but their distribution was top-notch.

If you pressed, Manchester United had a numerical advantage at the back and would find an opportunity to play a direct ball in behind you.

But if you didn’t press?

Wouldn’t that just be handing possession over to Manchester United?

Dropping De Rossi to centre-back to partner David Luiz had indeed stabilized Manchester United’s defense considerably.

And their ability to play out from the back was excellent.

Under these circumstances, teams weaker than Manchester United were almost always dominated and put on the back foot.

Teams of similar strength, or even stronger ones, often found the Red Devils a difficult opponent to handle.

After Manchester United’s 1-0 away defeat to Manchester City in the 10th round of the season, van Gaal began to develop this system.

From round 11 to the current round 21, Manchester United had gone on an undefeated run of 8 wins and 3 draws in just 11 matches.

Two of those draws had come during the grueling Christmas schedule.

But most importantly, they secured a 2-1 away victory against Arsenal and a 3-0 home win against Liverpool.

Van Gaal’s Manchester United had won both clashes between top teams in style.

In their most recent match, they had thrashed Pochettino’s Southampton 3-0 at home.

It was safe to say that, apart from Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City, van Gaal’s Manchester United had been the most impressive team over the past period.

In the words of Manchester United fans: “The Big Circle Tactic is just awesome!”

Every Manchester United player performed exceptionally well within this tactical system.

The standout performer was Pogba.

Many said that Carrick was the core of this “Big Circle Tactic.”

But Yang Cheng didn’t think so.

What defines a core player?

It’s someone without whom the whole system would fall apart.

Was that Carrick?

Clearly not.

Carrick’s role was to distribute the ball, switch play, and occasionally launch quick flank attacks with long passes.

Blind, De Rossi, David Luiz, and Strootman were all capable of doing the same.

Perhaps not as well as Carrick, but while he was important to the system, he wasn’t the core.

What about the centre-forward, Cavani?

Not him either.

Cavani was a centre-forward, but in this system, he wasn’t one in the traditional sense.

When the ball reached the final third, Cavani’s main job was to pull defenders out of position and wear them down.

It was Pogba, with his overlapping runs, his ability to hold up the ball under pressure, and his exceptional physical strength, who was the key to Manchester United’s tactics.

If, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Fellaini was the linchpin of van Gaal’s “Big Circle Tactic,” then now, Pogba was its soul and core.

The French midfielder was in his element within this system, fully unleashing his abilities and threat.

Therefore, teams that had previously focused on marking Carrick or pressing the defenders’ distribution had been soundly beaten by van Gaal’s Manchester United.

When Bayswater Chinese was designing their tactical plan for the match, Yang Cheng had only offered one piece of advice.

That was to have Casemiro mark Pogba.

“Stop Pogba from entering dangerous areas, and this game is won!”

As the man who had personally coached Pogba, Yang Cheng knew his threat all too well.

The other tactical aspects were largely left to Flick and Brian Kidd to handle.

But van Gaal’s tactics were never just about the “Big Circle.”

That was the overall framework.

In the details, there were many other things to watch out for.

For example, Valencia on the right flank.

Many wondered why a winger was being played as a full-back.

The answer became apparent just three minutes into the match at Prudential Stadium.

At that moment, Manchester United were switching the play from the left to the right.

After receiving the ball, Robben cut inside from the right flank into the right channel but passed it back to Herrera.

This left the entire right wing open.

In that instant, Valencia made a decisive forward run, crossing the halfway line at incredible speed.

Herrera’s pass was timed perfectly, played into the space in front of him.

Valencia was exceptionally fast, and with Robben drawing defenders, Bayswater Chinese’s left flank was somewhat exposed.

So, Manchester United’s right-back drove forward with the ball, almost piercing through the Bayswater Chinese defense.

At the crucial moment, Pepe decisively rushed out of the penalty area and executed a perfectly timed sliding tackle near the byline on the left side of the box, knocking the ball out for a corner.

Pepe’s precise defending earned him a thunderous applause from the Prudential Stadium crowd.

The veteran centre-back, who was about to turn 32, seemed to be getting better with age.

This season, both veteran centre-backs, Pepe and Thiago Silva, had been outstanding, forming a solid defensive line with the younger van Dijk, Harry Maguire, and John Stones.

So far, in 21 Premier League matches, Bayswater Chinese had conceded only 11 goals.

The tackle, however, gave Manchester United a corner kick.

…

“That was a very decisive and experienced piece of defending from Pepe.”

“He timed it perfectly, getting his foot in just as Valencia was about to cross, and successfully cleared the danger with a sliding tackle.”

“You could say that tackle was a perfect demonstration of Pepe’s experience and quality as a world-class centre-back!”

“But Bayswater Chinese need to be careful.”

“Marcelo was just drawn away by Robben cutting inside, which left their entire left flank a bit exposed.”

“We can see that Valencia’s forward runs are genuinely fast and very sudden.”

“Of course, looking at the slow-motion replay, we can also see Casemiro sticking to Pogba the entire time.”

“The two were teammates for a while at Bayswater Chinese, but Pogba looks very unhappy with Casemiro right now. He probably feels he’s being followed too closely, he’s too clingy!”

“Haha, this must be Yang Cheng’s specific tactic for this match.”

“He didn’t choose to shut down Carrick or mark Cavani, but went after Pogba instead.”

“It’s now 3 minutes and 40 seconds into the game, the first corner of the match.”

“Let’s see what Manchester United do with this.”

“They’ve taken the corner short.”

“Manchester United didn’t cross it in directly; they passed it back.”

“They find Robben.”

“Robben with an inswinging cross with his left foot, aiming for the far post. He’s looking for Pogba making a late run.”

“Bayswater Chinese have men in the box.”

“A brilliant defensive header from van Dijk, who clears the ball away.”

“In crucial moments, you can always count on van Dijk!”

Van Dijk’s headed clearance sent the ball out of the penalty area.

Harry Kane dropped back quickly, positioning himself perfectly in his own 30-meter area to win the first ball, flicking it on with his head to Hazard in the center.

Unmarked, Hazard sprinted forward. As the ball dropped, he cushioned it forward with his forehead, accelerated to catch up, and brought it under firm control.

At that moment, Gareth Bale on the right flank had already started his run.

If Valencia’s sudden forward surge had posed a huge threat to Bayswater Chinese, then now it was the Welshman’s turn—the man who had just shown off his FIFA Ballon d’Or trophy to the home fans before the match—to truly take flight.

Just as Hazard reached the center circle with the ball, he spotted an opportunity and played a diagonal pass into the path of Gareth Bale in the right channel.

Harry Kane was sprinting forward as fast as he could, but he was a step too slow.

Gareth Bale caught up to Hazard’s pass at blistering speed, continued his run, and angled towards the right side of Manchester United’s penalty area, forcing De Rossi to shift over.

David Luiz also moved across to help.

One-on-one, neither of them was confident they could stop a full-sprint Gareth Bale.

After charging to the edge of the penalty area on the right, the Welshman suddenly faked a move, a feint, before cutting back inside and delivering a cross pass with his left foot.

Only then did Harry Kane arrive on an overlapping run, collecting Bale’s pass and carrying the ball into Manchester United’s penalty area.

David Luiz tried to turn and intercept, but after entering the box, Harry Kane shifted the ball to his left foot.

Once he had steadied himself, facing the onrushing De Gea, Harry Kane coolly struck the ball with his left.

De Gea dived, but he was too late.

The ball flew in a straight line into the Manchester United net.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“Just 4 minutes and 5 seconds into the match, a swift counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese! A shot from Harry Kane breaks the deadlock against Manchester United!”

“The speed of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack is just incredible!”

“We were just talking about how Valencia’s sudden forward runs are a major threat, a secret weapon from van Gaal.”

“But now, we have to say that Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack is even faster and sharper than Manchester United’s secret weapon!”

“Harry Kane runs off the pitch in celebration.”

“This young centre-forward has been the biggest discovery for Bayswater Chinese this season!”

“We have to admit, Bayswater Chinese’s ability to develop stars is truly remarkable.”

“When Robert Lewandowski left, we were all worried for Yang Cheng’s team, thinking Giroud would struggle to carry the offensive burden.”

“But, after just one season of development, Harry Kane has emerged and had a massive breakthrough.”

“This is his 16th Premier League goal of the season!”

…

Ferguson sat in the stands of Prudential Stadium.

Watching Manchester United kick off again, full of passion, relentlessly pushing forward but failing to find a way into the heart of their defense, the Manchester United godfather shook his head helplessly.

“Yang Cheng has suffocated Manchester United’s core. Van Gaal’s Big Circle Tactic has been broken!”

Watching the game with Ferguson was his brother, Martin Ferguson, Manchester United’s former Chief Scout.

For over a decade, the two brothers—one the head coach, the other the scout—often traveled to away games together.

And for a crucial match like today’s, the retired brothers naturally couldn’t miss it.

“You mean, Pogba?” Martin Ferguson asked, slightly puzzled.

“That’s right. Neither Wenger nor Mancini paid enough attention to Pogba, which led to their failures. But Yang Cheng is focusing heavily on him. Look at Casemiro…”

At this point, Ferguson couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration.

“This kid is built like a tank, so strong and sturdy-looking. He should be playing for us at Manchester United!”

Hearing this, Martin Ferguson gave a slightly awkward smile.

He wanted to remind his brother that he was no longer Manchester United’s head coach and shouldn’t worry about these things.

Every time he saw a good player, he’d say they should be playing for United.

He wasn’t considering whether, given United’s current form, these players would even want to come.

“That Yang Cheng fellow is really something magical. Tell me, what’s his secret? He always manages to dig up some gems from obscure corners or completely unlock the potential of players others couldn’t use properly.”

Ferguson looked speechless upon hearing this.

If I knew, would I have been so angry I had a stroke?

“Van Gaal’s team is in an awkward position now. They have a slight advantage in possession, but that’s only because Bayswater Chinese haven’t gone full throttle yet.”

“But even with possession, once they get to the final third, they can’t break through. They’re just passing it around the perimeter.”

Ferguson clicked his tongue twice and shook his head.

“They can’t get through the middle!” Martin Ferguson sighed.

Cavani was a very strong centre-forward, but the problem was that today he was up against van Dijk and Pepe.

Those two centre-backs were also formidable, making it very difficult for Cavani to make an impact.

“If this continues, there will be more trouble sooner or later.”

Ferguson now had the clarity of an onlooker.

Combined with his years of coaching experience, he could clearly see the underlying problem for Manchester United.

To put it bluntly, what was the point of your so-called “Big Circle Tactic” if it couldn’t create any offensive threat and you were just passing sideways in non-threatening areas?

But your whole formation was already pushed up. If the opposition won the ball and launched a direct counter-attack, the space you left behind would be fatal.

Otherwise, why wouldn’t Yang Cheng fight for possession with Manchester United?

“Doesn’t van Gaal see this?” Ferguson muttered to himself.

He felt that wasn’t right; he must have seen it.

But since they were trailing, he wanted to press for a bit longer.

Thinking this, Ferguson looked up at the score: 1-0.

He couldn’t help but smile wryly.

That Yang Cheng fellow was a real schemer.

Playing against an opponent like him was a massive headache!

Just like this match.

Without that early goal, Ferguson was sure that van Gaal and Manchester United would be under much less pressure.

But the thing was, without that goal, Yang Cheng would have certainly employed a different tactic and rhythm.

Sometimes, facing such a terrifying opponent could really make your blood pressure soar!

I hope van Gaal can handle it and find a solution! Ferguson prayed silently.

…

As it turned out, van Gaal’s experience was also plentiful.

After conceding in the 4th minute, he pushed for an all-out attack for a few minutes. Seeing it had little effect, he began to focus on strengthening the defense.

Bayswater Chinese also started playing with more composure.

They weren’t in a hurry to push for another goal.

After all, they were one goal ahead.

The deadlock continued.

Manchester United would get on the ball from time to time, playing their “Big Circle Tactic,” but they consistently failed to create any real threat.

Just when everyone thought the game had settled into a calm, even dull, rhythm, in the 35th minute, Manchester United were passing the ball back and forth near the halfway line.

The ball was passed back to Carrick in the defensive line.

But he couldn’t find an immediate outlet.

Rooney dropped back to the left channel near the halfway line, in Bayswater Chinese’s right channel, and raised his hand for the ball.

Carrick immediately played a medium-long pass to Rooney’s feet.

But just as the English striker, with his back to goal, was about to receive the pass, he suddenly received warnings from his teammates.

Out of nowhere, van Dijk had suddenly decided to press high.

The Dutch centre-back was fast and had timed his run perfectly, anticipating Carrick’s pass and Rooney’s reception, and charged forward decisively.

As Rooney tried to receive the ball with his back to goal, van Dijk appeared right behind him.

Although he’d been warned by his teammates, Rooney still hurried to shield the ball.

Rooney stood at 1.76 meters, while van Dijk was 1.95 meters tall.

There was a height difference of nearly 20 centimeters between them.

The Dutchman came charging from behind, using his momentum to close in and challenge Rooney physically.

The feeling was like a small car stopped at a red light, with the driver’s foot on the brake, only to be rear-ended by a fully loaded dump truck that forcibly shoved it forward uncontrollably.

That was exactly how helpless Rooney felt now.

He couldn’t stop himself from stumbling forward.

But van Dijk’s timing was perfect.

Although Rooney fell to the ground, van Dijk went down with him.

The Manchester United players thought it was a foul.

Van Dijk had fouled Rooney from behind.

But the head referee, Neil Swarbrick, didn’t blow his whistle and instead waved play on.

This was a nightmare for the Manchester United players!

In the Premier League, it was usually Manchester United who got the favorable calls from referees.

How had the tides turned now?

He didn’t even call that?

Modrić was the closest and immediately sprinted over, taking the ball forward.

The Croatian midfielder charged into Manchester United’s half and was immediately closed down by three United players.

In their state of panic, Manchester United completely lost their defensive shape.

Modrić, a step ahead, played a diagonal pass to an unmarked Harry Kane in the 30-meter area.

Harry Kane controlled the ball with his back to goal and turned to his right.

It looked like he was about to link up with Gareth Bale.

The Welshman immediately started to make a run forward.

David Luiz, De Rossi, Carrick, and others all focused on Harry Kane and Gareth Bale as if facing a formidable enemy.

But unexpectedly, while Harry Kane did turn to his right, what he actually did was different.

After turning, he used a backheel to gently flick the ball behind him.

A red shirt sprinted forward, knocked the ball into Manchester United’s penalty area, and chased after it at top speed.

The Belgian burst into the box with the ball, slicing through Manchester United’s defense and creating a one-on-one situation.

After a series of quick, small steps to adjust, Hazard reached the edge of the six-yard box on the left and unleashed a power shot, sending the ball right through De Gea’s legs and into the Manchester United goal.

A low shot, clean through his legs!

“GOAL AGAIN!!”

“A goal from Hazard!”

“In the 35th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“After losing the ball near the halfway line, Manchester United were hit by a swift counter-attack.”

“It has to be said, Manchester United’s defense was a bit careless.”

“Especially when Modrić was carrying the ball forward, the three defending players all lost their composure.”

“Of course, we should also acknowledge how simple and beautiful Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was.”

“Especially that backheel pass from Harry Kane.”

After scoring, Hazard ran off the field in celebration.

All 90,000 fans in the stadium were cheering for the Belgian!

At that moment, Ferguson, sitting in the stands, could only shake his head helplessly.

This game was lost!

And it could be a heavy defeat!

Because they couldn’t create any threatening attacks up front.

With Pogba locked down, Manchester United’s offense was completely stifled.

…

The first half ended 2-0.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese largely continued with their first-half tactics, patiently playing against Manchester United.

And the Red Devils soon showed cracks.

In the 53rd minute, a Manchester United pass in midfield went astray.

David Luiz played a risky pass.

As Pogba tried to receive it, Casemiro suddenly darted out from the side and intercepted the ball.

After winning possession, Casemiro didn’t pass but instead played a long, driven ground pass himself.

The ball skimmed across the grass at high speed towards Gareth Bale in the right channel.

The Welshman, with his back to the touchline, cushioned the ball forward with his right foot, then put his pedal to the metal, sprinting forward at top speed.

In an instant, Gareth Bale burst past De Rossi’s defense like a flash of lightning, chasing the ball played in behind Manchester United’s backline.

The Welshman’s speed was incredible, and in a blink, he had carried the ball into the right side of Manchester United’s penalty area.

De Gea was constantly adjusting his position, trying to close down Bale’s shooting angle.

He was particularly wary of the near post.

But Gareth Bale had eyes in the back of his head.

As soon as he saw De Rossi rushing over, he came to a sudden stop and shifted the ball to his left foot.

After shifting his balance, instead of cutting inside, he whipped in a curling ball with his left foot.

The ball traced a beautiful arc before nestling into the left side of the Manchester United goal.

De Rossi, who had been chasing back furiously, overran the play completely.

3-0!

The entire stadium erupted once again!

Everyone was chanting Gareth Bale’s name.

Against Manchester United, with a goal and an assist, Gareth Bale had once again delivered a stellar performance!

…

Bayswater Chinese ultimately secured a comprehensive 3-0 home victory over Manchester United, with goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Eden Hazard.

The Bayswater Chinese players received a flood of praise after the match.

Van Gaal, on the other hand, was deeply disappointed with the result.

His team had been unbeaten in 11 matches, only to fall at Prudential Stadium in London.

Sky Sports commented immediately after the match that the biggest difference between Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese was in their attacking prowess.

“Undoubtedly, if Manchester United want to challenge Bayswater Chinese, they need to strengthen at least two or three more positions!”

After the game, Gareth Bale was unsurprisingly named Man of the Match.

But Harry Kane and Eden Hazard also received high ratings.

Casemiro also earned a very high score.

The Brazilian holding midfielder had performed well since joining last season and had taken another step forward this season.

Especially in this match against Manchester United, he completely neutralized Pogba. After the game, Yang Cheng singled him out for praise, calling Casemiro the key to their victory.

This greatly boosted the Brazilian’s reputation.

The Spanish media酸溜溜地 expressed, “Real Madrid feels Bayern’s pain from years ago!”

The implication was that Casemiro had underperformed at Real Madrid but was now thriving at Bayswater Chinese, a story eerily similar to that of Toni Kroos years ago.

Daily Mail columnist Martin Samuel offered his opinion on Manchester United.

He believed there was a clear gap in quality between the two teams, with the biggest difference being in attack.

“Manchester United need a Gareth Bale!”

The meaning was clear: either make a move for Gareth Bale, which was highly unlikely.

Or buy back C. Ronaldo.

To rebuild Manchester United, they had to be willing to invest heavily and sign superstars.

Robben?

He was too injury-prone and not consistent enough.

Cavani and Rooney?

These two were ultimately a tier below superstars like C. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Messi.

All matches for round 22 had been played.

Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 2-0 away from home.

Chelsea thrashed Swansea City 5-0 away, with both Diego Costa and Oscar scoring a brace.

In Manchester City’s home match against Arsenal, after conceding a penalty in the 24th minute of the first half.

Messi was sensational in the second half, with a goal and an assist, helping Manchester City come from behind to beat the Gunners 2-1.

Pep Guardiola’s team had secured another three points.

…

Midweek, the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Chelsea.

Having just had a tough battle against Manchester United and now facing Chelsea, Yang Cheng had no choice but to make some rotations.

In the 18th minute, centre-back Harry Maguire fouled Diego Costa while defending.

The latter went down inside the Bayswater Chinese penalty area, and referee Atkinson immediately awarded a penalty.

Diego Costa coolly converted the spot-kick, scoring the opening goal for Chelsea.

But it wasn’t until the 59th minute that Bayswater Chinese equalized. Sterling received a pass from De Bruyne, used his pace to get past Sami Khedira, then beat Gary Cahill, evading two defenders before breaking into the box and finding the net.

Later, Aaron Ramsey had a long shot that hit the post.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Chelsea.

…

On January 24th, the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese faced Reading away.

As before, Yang Cheng fielded a team of young players and backups.

They conceded a goal in the 25th minute of the first half.

But after the break, Aaron Ramsey first equalized for the team.

Then Dominic Solanke scored another.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese came from behind to beat Reading 2-1, successfully advancing to the 5th round.

…

Midweek, the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Bayswater Chinese traveled to Stamford Bridge.

This time, Yang Cheng fielded a full-strength lineup, including Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard.

But Mourinho also set up his team to defend with all their might at home.

The two sides battled for 90 minutes, ending in a 0-0 draw.

According to League Cup rules, the match went into extra time.

In the 114th minute, Chelsea won an attacking free-kick.

Ivanović found space and headed home a free kick delivered by Prince William, beating Robert Green.

1-0!

In the end, Chelsea, thanks to that extra-time goal, won 1-0 at home, securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Bayswater Chinese to advance to the League Cup final.

The other team in the final was Liverpool.

Yang Cheng wasn’t too concerned about the League Cup exit.

The reason was simple: it wasn’t the team’s priority.

With their excellent position in the Premier League, the league and the Champions League were the main battlegrounds this season.

Compared to Bayswater Chinese, who were conserving energy and rotating their squad, Chelsea had gone all out with their strongest team.

Given the different levels of commitment, Chelsea’s victory was not surprising.

…

After their defeat at Stamford Bridge, the weekend brought the 23rd round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese faced an away trip to Stoke City.

Mark Hughes’s team was ready and waiting at their home ground.

But in the 21st minute, Harry Kane broke the deadlock.

In the 34th and 36th minutes, it was Harry Kane again, scoring two more goals.

What was more interesting was that all three goals were assisted by Modrić.

One player scored a hat-trick, while the other provided a hat-trick of assists—a beautiful story indeed!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Stoke City 3-1 away from home.

Mark Hughes’s team managed to pull one back towards the end of the second half.

In this round, Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-0 at home.

Manchester United defeated Leicester City 3-1.

Van Gaal’s “Big Circle Tactic” was still very effective against teams weaker than his own.

The highlight of the round was undoubtedly the clash between Mourinho’s Chelsea and Guardiola’s Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

However, having exerted all their energy in the League Cup, Chelsea seemed fatigued at home.

They ultimately lost 2-1 to Manchester City.

Messi and David Silva each scored a goal.

Arsenal, meanwhile, thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at home.

…

After the 23rd round of the Premier League, apart from the teams needing to play FA Cup 4th round replays, the other Premier League teams got a precious break.

But Bayswater Chinese were not idle.

Since West Bromwich Albion had beaten Birmingham City 2-1 away in the FA Cup 4th round, they didn’t need a replay.

So, on February 3rd, Bayswater Chinese played their rescheduled match from round 17.

They hosted The Baggies.

This was a challenge for both teams.

Especially for Bayswater Chinese.

From Christmas until now, the team had been working non-stop. Apart from a week’s rest mid-month, they had been playing two games a week.

They had to cope with the league, the League Cup, and the FA Cup, while also keeping the Champions League Round of 16 in late February in mind.

This was a significant challenge for Bayswater Chinese.

Therefore, for the home game against West Bromwich Albion, Yang Cheng rotated his squad heavily.

Fortunately, the players did not disappoint him.

Just 4 minutes into the game, De Bruyne provided an assist for Theo Walcott, who beat the offside trap and scored in a one-on-one situation, giving the team the lead.

1-0!

Just 10 minutes later, “The Little Tiger” Walcott scored again, this time assisted by Giroud, to put the team further ahead.

2-0!

Only 3 minutes later, a pass from John Stones found Sterling, who cut in from the left and scored another for Bayswater Chinese. 3-0!

The Baggies were fighting to avoid relegation, but they were helpless against this rescheduled midweek fixture.

Perhaps, for them, it was better to conserve energy for their weekend clash with fellow relegation team Burnley, rather than go all-out against Bayswater Chinese midweek.

At least the weekend match would have a bigger impact on their survival hopes.

After all, it was a rescheduled match; a loss wouldn’t drastically change their situation.

Of course, if they could win, that would be a different story.

But winning against Bayswater Chinese at Prudential Stadium? Was that even possible?

With this mindset, West Bromwich Albion’s performance was rather mediocre.

In the 37th minute, another assist from De Bruyne found Walcott, who once again broke into the box to receive the ball and score against West Bromwich Albion.

4-0!

In the second half, West Bromwich Albion managed to pull one back from a corner kick.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese, thanks to Walcott’s hat-trick and a goal from Sterling, defeated West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at home.

After this match, Walcott received a flood of praise.

With the team weary from a long run of games, “The Little Tiger” stepped up at a crucial moment, scoring a hat-trick to help his team defeat their opponents and secure three valuable points.

This would be crucial for the league standings going forward.

After this rescheduled match, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the Premier League with an impressive record of 21 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss from 23 games, amassing 64 points.

Manchester City were second with 60 points.

The Blue Moons had also been outstanding this season, but unfortunately, they were up against a more consistent Bayswater Chinese.

Chelsea and Arsenal were both on 51 points.

Interestingly, Mourinho’s team had a better goal difference than Arsenal.

So, The Blues were currently in 3rd, with Arsenal in 4th.

Manchester United, thanks to van Gaal’s recent winning streak, were in 5th place with 48 points.

Liverpool were in 6th with 42 points.

From the current overall standings, this season’s title would be decided between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

But the race for the top four was still fierce.

Especially Manchester United.

Van Gaal’s “Big Circle Tactic” had revived the Red Devils, who were now only 3 points behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

At this point, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top.

As for relegation, the situation remained perilous.

…

As Bayswater Chinese finished their rescheduled 17th-round match, the entire English football world was eagerly awaiting an auction to be held in London on February 8th, the day after the 24th round of the Premier League.

It was the first phase of the blind auction for the 2016 to 2019 Premier League broadcast rights.

With the Premier League developing so rapidly in recent seasons, and with all Big6 teams being highly competitive, the league’s competitive landscape had become fiercer than ever.

Last season, in particular, Manchester City’s first title victory over Bayswater Chinese had thrilled fans worldwide.

The Premier League had put in a lot of effort for the broadcast rights for the next three years.

For example, the number of bidders for the domestic rights auction had increased from two to four.

They had brought in overseas giants like the American Discovery Channel and Qatar’s BeIN Sports.

This instantly made the auction for domestic Premier League broadcast rights much more competitive.

In addition, the Premier League had also worked extensively on the packages.

With six teams now having strong market appeal, the number of broadcasted matches per round had also increased.

Over the next three years, the total number of broadcasted matches per season would reach 168.

These 168 matches were divided into 7 packages.

Every broadcaster participating in the auction would place blind bids on these 7 packages.

The number of broadcasted matches had increased, but the time slots were fixed. How would they coordinate?

At a pre-season summit, the Premier League had already secured unanimous agreement from all 20 clubs that, starting with this new package, the league would officially introduce Friday night matches.

In the past, most Premier League matches were played in the afternoon.

But there simply wasn’t enough time in the schedule anymore, so they added the Friday night slot.

However, it was clear that important matches with a global audience would still be scheduled for the afternoon.

The time difference had to be considered.

All these changes meant that the Premier League’s broadcast rights auction for the next three years was destined to fetch an unprecedented, sky-high price!

As before, Yang Cheng wasn’t particularly curious about the domestic rights auction. Broadly speaking, Sky Sports would still secure the majority of the rights, and they would undoubtedly do everything in their power to calculate a price as close to the limit as possible.

The market was only so big, not much different from his previous life.

But it was the overseas rights that Yang Cheng was most interested in.

This time, they were certain to be much more lucrative than in his past life.

Because so far this season, after only 23 rounds, the Premier League was already being broadcast in over 180 countries and regions worldwide, with nearly four billion people regularly watching it.

Note, that was “regularly watches,” not “has watched.”

This demonstrated the immense appeal of the Premier League.

It was also the result of the efforts of all Premier League clubs to develop overseas markets over the past few years.

In the 24th round of the Premier League.

Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 away, thanks to a goal from Fàbregas.

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 away.

Manchester City defeated Hull City 2-0 at home, with both goals coming from Messi.

Bayswater Chinese beat Southampton 1-0 at home.

The goalscorer was Gareth Bale.

Liverpool, however, were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Everton away.

Mancini’s team had been quite average this season, especially with Suárez failing to replicate last season’s red-hot form, the Reds’ overall performance was not ideal.

Manchester United, on the other hand, beat West Ham United 2-1 away.

Van Gaal’s team only managed to defeat The Hammers and secure the valuable three points thanks to a 92nd-minute last-minute winner from Daley Blind.

And after the 24th round of the Premier League, the whole world turned its attention to the sky-high auction in London.

Chapter 326: A Crazy, Sky-High Price! The Secret to Creating Superstars! Gutting the Bayswater Chinese!

For many years, English football had been defined by its so-called North-South rivalry.

It was a competition between the South, led by London, and the North, spearheaded by Manchester United and Liverpool.

Without a doubt, before the turn of the century, English football was dominated by the northern teams.

But this balance was shattered with the meteoric rise of Chelsea, Arsenal, and especially the Bayswater Chinese. London gradually reclaimed its center stage position as the capital of football.

In recent years, with the increase in immigration and growing attention, London’s football talent has flourished, making the city’s role in English football increasingly vital.

And within London, the area around Hyde Park has undeniably become the core of the core.

This has been especially true in the last few years.

Organizations like The FA, the Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Manchester City have all established their headquarters in Soho, just east of Hyde Park.

Back in the early nineties, when the Premier League was first formed, its headquarters was in Connaught Square, northeast of Hyde Park and north of the Marble Arch tube station.

In 2005, as The FA continued to expand and its staff grew, they rented a three-story office building in Gloucester Square, about seven hundred meters from Connaught Square.

The annual rent was nearly one million pound sterling for a fifteen-year lease, but the space was not large.

Gloucester Square is directly east of the Royal Lancaster Hotel and only about one kilometer away from the Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium.

Thus, many said that Hyde Park was not only the core of British politics, economy, and tourism, but also the very heart of English football.

Of course, Stamford Bridge was five or six kilometers south of Hyde Park, not to mention its distance from The FA headquarters to the east and the Premier League headquarters to the north.

But the Bayswater Chinese were undoubtedly at the center of it all.

The Premier League’s three-story office building was not very large, so they often held many of their meetings and important press conferences at the adjacent Royal Lancaster Hotel.

This was quite similar to the Bayswater Chinese.

At this very moment, the grand conference hall of the Royal Lancaster Hotel had been set up for a press conference. The backdrop behind the podium was covered with the Premier League logo.

In front of the podium, over a hundred journalists from all over the world filled the hall to capacity.

Along the sides and at the back, cameramen and photographers had set up their arsenal of equipment, all aimed at the main stage.

The atmosphere grew increasingly electric.

Everyone was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the key figures.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that a stir was heard outside the conference hall.

Everyone turned to see two men entering through the open doors.

The older of the two was Richard Scudamore, CEO of the Premier League.

He was a meritorious veteran of the Premier League, having led the organization to build a vast global empire over the past decade.

Beside him was Dan Johnson, the Premier League’s Director of Media, who was in his early thirties.

Dan Johnson was not only the Director of Media but was also responsible for digital, marketing, and communications, representing one of the most anticipated new business areas within the Premier League in recent years.

After all, this was the internet age.

He was also the Premier League official who dealt most frequently with the media present.

As the two impeccably dressed Premier League officials entered, everyone could read the positive and optimistic signals from the smiles on their faces. It seemed the outside speculation was accurate.

Previously, almost all British media had predicted that the auction for the 2016-19 Premier League domestic broadcast rights would exceed a total of four billion pound sterling.

The Guardian and The Times, known for their authority, had even asserted it would surpass five billion pound sterling.

This meant the Premier League would overtake Major League Baseball in the United States to become the second-most expensive top-tier sports league in the world.

It would only be second to the National Football League in the United States.

But everyone knew that the NFL’s five billion dollars a year was truly in a league of its own, with its unique circumstances.

Now, seeing the expressions on Scudamore and Dan Johnson’s faces, the journalists in the room began to get excited.

This was thrilling!

After taking their seats at the main table, the two men first greeted the journalists with a smile, thanking them for their attendance.

Scudamore then immediately announced the news everyone had been waiting for.

“After intense bidding from four domestic and international media companies, the final result has exceeded all our expectations.”

“Sky Television, our partner for over twenty years, has purchased five broadcast packages—A, C, D, E, and G—for the 2016–19 seasons for an astonishing 4.18 billion pound sterling, totaling 126 matches!”

“BT Sport has secured packages B and F, totaling 42 matches, for which they paid 960 million pound sterling!”

“And BBC television has bought the Premier League highlights for the next three seasons for 200 million pound sterling!”

As Richard Scudamore announced these three bombshells in a proud yet firm tone, a collective gasp went through the room.

Was this for real?

5.34 billion pounds?

This was far beyond anyone’s imagination!

The entire conference hall erupted.

When they had walked into this room, they had already guessed it would be a new record.

Some had speculated four billion, while The Guardian and The Times had predicted it would break five billion, which was already unbelievable to many.

But now, it had reached 5.34 billion pound sterling.

This was simply incredible!

It was absolutely insane!

Scudamore and Dan Johnson exchanged a glance, clearly satisfied with the explosive effect their announcement had created.

Even these seasoned football media professionals were this shocked.

One could only imagine the reaction from media and fans worldwide once the news broke. Wouldn’t the world just go crazy?

In fact, even within the Premier League, they were very surprised by the outcome.

They could hardly believe it themselves.

But this was clearly not the only “bomb” they had prepared.

After the journalists had finally managed to compose themselves, Richard Scudamore raised a hand to signal for quiet.

He had even more important news to announce.

The noisy conference hall instantly fell silent.

“As you all know, for the past several years, we have been dedicated to developing the global market and promoting the globalization of the Premier League.”

“The auction of global rights has always been a top priority for the Premier League.”

“In recent years, the sale of the Premier League’s overseas rights has repeatedly set new records. For example, the 2010–13 seasons brought in 1.5 billion pound sterling, which rose to 2.56 billion pounds for the 2013–16 seasons.”

“Now, we are proud to announce that the sale of global rights for the 2016–19 seasons, excluding the domestic market, has largely concluded, with the total sales reaching a staggering 4.37 billion pound sterling!”

Everyone in the room was stunned.

4.37 billion pounds?

Just like the last contract, it was another massive increase!

The entire audience stared, dumbfounded, at Scudamore and Dan Johnson on the stage, unable to believe what they were hearing.

This was simply outrageous!

If you added the domestic rights, the total was a staggering 9.7 billion, nearly ten billion pound sterling.

Scudamore proudly detailed the overseas market development and operations of Premier League teams over the past few years, especially the increasingly successful summer preseason tours.

Although the International Champions Cup was in full swing, the Premier League’s overseas preseason tours were also doing well, carving out a niche in markets on the periphery of the ICC.

Moreover, the International Champions Cup featured a full six Premier League teams.

Therefore, the Premier League’s overseas market was expanding at a very rapid pace, and the market response was extremely enthusiastic.

The North American and Asian markets, in particular, had seen explosive growth.

The South American and African markets were also advancing by leaps and bounds.

This allowed the Premier League to make a huge profit in the global market.

What did 4.37 billion pounds over three years mean?

According to the Premier League’s equal sharing rule for overseas rights sales, each club would receive around 72 million pound sterling per season.

And remember, this was just from the overseas market!

What about the domestic market?

Scudamore proudly announced that, from the 2016 to 2019 seasons, even the lowest-earning Premier League team was projected to earn over one hundred million pound sterling, while the highest-earning team was expected to reach around one hundred and sixty million pound sterling.

Everyone really went crazy!

It was just too insane!

They knew the Premier League was profitable, but they never imagined it would be this profitable!

My God!

One hundred and sixty million pounds per season was equivalent to two hundred million euros.

Just think about it, if you lined up every football club in Europe, how many of them had annual revenues that reached two hundred million euros?

The journalists clearly had no interest in listening to Scudamore’s concluding remarks and thank-yous.

They were all too stunned by the Premier League’s crazy, sky-high broadcast rights deal.

And they could well imagine that once the news was officially announced, the media and fans all over the world would lose their minds.

…

While Scudamore was holding the press conference at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Yang Cheng received the news at the Brent training center.

Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others had all traveled from London to the training center to meet with him.

Everyone was shocked by the result.

Interestingly, after every rights auction, everyone always felt that the Premier League had squeezed out every last drop of profit, yet the next one would still manage to surprise everyone.

But for industry insiders who knew the situation, it wasn’t quite so unexpected.

Of course, Yang Cheng was pleasantly surprised by the overseas rights sales.

The reason many people were surprised was that they only looked at the total figure.

For example, the previous deal was over three billion, and now it was over five billion—an increase of two billion. It seemed outrageous.

But was it really?

What they failed to notice was that the Premier League had added over twenty more broadcasted matches per season in this three-year rights package.

More importantly, a Friday evening slot had been added.

What did that mean?

It meant that there would be live Premier League matches from Friday evening, Saturday noon, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, Sunday noon, afternoon, and evening, and Monday evening.

In other words, the Premier League’s broadcast window had expanded from the original three days to four days.

The number of broadcasted matches increased slightly, but the broadcast times expanded significantly, resulting in much longer total live coverage for each round of the Premier League.

Under these circumstances, broadcasters like Sky Television and BT Sport could also expect greater returns.

One had to remember that in the UK, Premier League broadcasts were the ace in the hole for attracting ratings and paid subscribers!

They weren’t fools.

Even so, there was a ceiling to what local UK fans were willing to pay; it couldn’t just keep rising indefinitely.

Therefore, the growth in this domestic rights auction was actually more attributable to the increase in broadcast times and match slots.

So what about the overseas rights?

To see such a massive surge in two consecutive auctions—while not doubling, a growth of around seventy percent was still terrifying.

The reason was that the Premier League had gradually moved away from its traditional auction model, instead attracting two or three broadcasters to compete in each country and region to maximize the league’s interests.

With the exception of China!

Why?

Because the Premier League had started to listen to advice.

In the past, Yang Cheng had told Scudamore that for the Chinese market, with its huge population base, the fans’ paying habits still needed to be cultivated. Rushing in to pursue high returns would only be counterproductive.

The Premier League didn’t believe him at first, but after hitting a few walls, especially after seeing the different business model the International Champions Cup adopted in China and the huge profits it made, they began to change their thinking.

But the slow revenue growth in the Chinese market didn’t at all affect the Premier League’s frenzied harvesting of profits around the world.

4.37 billion pound sterling far exceeded the 3.1 billion pounds from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

It could be said that it had truly exceeded Yang Cheng’s expectations.

Even more ridiculously, based on the broadcast rights revenue for the next three years, every Premier League team would earn at least one hundred million pound sterling.

The highest could reach one hundred and sixty million pounds.

This meant the value of Premier League clubs would also skyrocket. A rising tide lifts all boats.

And the competition in the Premier League would become increasingly fierce.

“In the next few years, foreign capital is bound to pour in once again!” Yang Cheng said with absolute certainty.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

It was obvious.

All the early investors had essentially made huge profits.

Take Manchester City, for example. Looking back now, did the Abu Dhabi consortium profit or lose on their investment in Manchester City?

In contrast, the Qatar consortium acquired Paris Saint-Germain. They spent a lot of money, but given the state of Ligue 1, did the Qataris profit or lose?

What if, back then, they had acquired Manchester United instead of PSG? How would that deal look now?

These investors were unlike Yang Cheng; they couldn’t prophesize the future.

One could only say that the choices made back then determined the situation today.

Yang Cheng had also been accelerating his plans in recent years.

Because time was running out.

If he couldn’t complete his arrangements in the last two or three years, he would end up like the City Football Group after 2020, when the broadcast rights for major leagues sold for higher and higher prices, and the value of clubs rose accordingly.

By then, trying to make these moves would be extremely difficult!

In a way, this was Yang Cheng’s greatest advantage as a transmigrator!

…

“There are a few things that need to be taken care of immediately.”

Yang Cheng looked at everyone and instructed.

“First, salaries. Our team’s wages need to be raised again. The top salary should be raised to 200,000 pound sterling.”

Yang Cheng directed this comment to Xia Qing.

Once the top salary, the ceiling, was set, the rest of the wage structure would be left to Xia Qing and her team.

A top salary of two hundred thousand pound sterling per week translated to an annual salary of 10.4 million pounds, roughly thirteen million euros.

This was already very high.

Of course, compared to Messi and C. Ronaldo, who earned three to four hundred thousand pound sterling per week, it was still a bit lower.

But under Yang Cheng’s control, the Bayswater Chinese had never had a tradition of paying exorbitant salaries over the past decade.

To be blunt, if a player was solely focused on making money, Yang Cheng wouldn’t mind selling him.

Barça was the best example.

Right now, Barça had a large group of stars with annual salaries exceeding ten million.

A team like that was simply unsustainable.

The Bayswater Chinese could certainly afford it now, but what about a few years down the line?

Putting aside the pandemic in 2020, take Gareth Bale. He was twenty-five now. If they gave him a contract extension, what about the next one?

Salaries had to be controlled.

If you didn’t control them, they would only get higher and higher.

The simplest example was Manchester United signing Pogba and immediately giving him a weekly wage of three hundred thousand pound sterling. That was just ridiculous!

Yang Cheng didn’t know how Manchester United’s team had negotiated with Raiola.

Even a fool knew you couldn’t just let the other side dictate the price.

Now, Pogba was earning the same as Rooney, but how old was Pogba?

If he played poorly, Manchester United would suffer a huge loss.

If he played well, how would they renew his contract?

Would they have to sell him on the cheap when his contract was about to expire?

Ultimately, a lot of the time when clubs sell star players, it comes down to salary issues.

Besides, Yang Cheng didn’t like having players on his team who played solely for money.

Money, you definitely had to earn it.

But playing only for money made you a mercenary.

So, for the past few years, the Bayswater Chinese had been deliberately keeping the team’s salaries in check, a decision based on various comprehensive considerations.

“I already have a basic framework. I’ll refine it later, and we’ll implement it starting next season.”

Yang Cheng had mentioned the salary increase to Xia Qing before.

Back when Pogba transferred to Manchester United, the French midfielder’s salary had an impact on the players at Bayswater Chinese.

To be honest, to get such a huge raise in one go, Raiola was truly formidable.

But for the players, it was certainly something to be envious of.

A raise for the Bayswater Chinese now would serve as a way to appease them.

“What’s the word from FC Twente?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Adam Crozier shook his head. “I’ve been in contact with them. There’s a lot of opposition. Many within the Twente ’65 Foundation are also against it, so I’m letting them cool off for now.”

Being too hasty could lead to being fleeced.

“How does FC Twente plan to solve their financial problems?” Yang Cheng asked.

“According to Erik ten Hag, they are actively seeking help from local wealthy benefactors. If that fails, they’ll turn to the Enschede city government, but they already owe the city twenty million euros…”

A city government like that wasn’t exactly flush with cash; even repairing a road would require years of study.

Twenty million euros was probably all they could scrape together by selling everything they owned.

Given FC Twente’s current situation, they definitely wouldn’t survive without money.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, FC Twente had points deducted twice by the Dutch Football Association and nearly lost their license to compete in the next Eredivisie season, almost being forced into relegation.

In the end, the problem was never solved. It just dragged on until they were relegated in 2018, and then it was all over.

The current situation was very unfavorable for FC Twente; they certainly couldn’t come up with the money.

To resolve unpaid wages, debts, and the agreement with Doyen Sports, they would need a figure in the tens of millions.

“It’s fine, let’s just put it aside for now. There will come a time when they come looking for us!” Yang Cheng wasn’t worried at all.

If it really didn’t work out, they could just find another club.

The leagues in Belgium and the Netherlands had no restrictions on foreign players.

What was the difference who they bought?

“Erik ten Hag should be in Brazil by now, right?”

“Yes, he went over with his coaching staff. He’s getting familiar with the situation. The guy is full of drive right now,” Adam Crozier said with a smile.

Yang Cheng also found it amusing.

With the opportunity to coach in one of the top five leagues in three years, how could he not be fired up?

However, Yang Cheng had given him full authority for now.

Erik ten Hag was the head coach and director of football.

This meant that besides being in charge of the first team, he would also be responsible for the youth academy.

Palmeiras would certainly continue to invest in its youth academy in the coming years. Furthermore, the expansion of both the youth academy and the first-team training ground were already on the agenda.

Within two years, the club would be completely transformed.

“Brazil will be an important talent base for us in the coming years. We must give it our full support!” Yang Cheng instructed.

Everyone nodded.

Yang Cheng had been keeping an eye on the developments in Brazil recently.

Although the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was still two months away, it was undoubtedly necessary for Erik ten Hag and his team to go there now.

In fact, time was a bit tight.

After all, he was a newcomer.

Meanwhile, Palmeiras was already prepared.

And the list of players Yang Cheng had personally selected was still growing.

In the past few days, Palmeiras had been constantly recruiting personnel.

Besides coaches and staff, the player rosters for the first team and youth team were also seeing constant transfers in and out.

For example, Raphinha and Gabriel, who were on loan from Málaga CF at Avaí FC.

After turning eighteen, Raphinha went to Málaga in the Spanish second division, while Gabriel was subsequently loaned to Palmeiras.

In addition, Palmeiras signed a ten-year-old youngster named Savinho from the Atlético Mineiro youth team.

They poached seventeen-year-old centre-back Éder Militão from the São Paulo youth team.

From the Desportivo Brasil youth team, they snapped up two youngsters at once: seventeen-year-old defender Bremer and fifteen-year-old midfielder Edson.

A twelve-year-old right-sided youngster from the Coritiba academy, Yan Couto, also came to São Paulo to join the Palmeiras youth teams, where he would be nurtured with the most advanced youth development concepts.

And Murillo, a twelve-year-old from the São Caetano youth team, still chose Palmeiras despite invitations from several clubs, including ECUS from the second division.

Making a similar choice was fifteen-year-old forward Evanilson. The two-footed youngster had been scouted by Fluminense and had even decided to join the Brazilian giants.

But Palmeiras hijacked the deal midway, successfully persuading him to join them instead.

In Canela, Rio Grande do Sul, a scout sent by Palmeiras’s Chief Scout Juarez Fischer found sixteen-year-old Roger Ibañez on a street football pitch and signed him to Palmeiras.

The reason was that Yang Cheng, while casually browsing YouTube, had seen a brilliant play of his on a street pitch and was deeply impressed, thinking he was a talent worth cultivating.

And in the São Bernardo youth academy, fifteen-year-old Samuel Lino also received an invitation from Palmeiras and decided to head to São Paulo.

Yang Cheng was now relying on his memory to scour Brazil for young geniuses.

Whether they were young adults or very young players, he didn’t want to miss a single one, poaching whoever he could.

This was actually a strategy of Yang Cheng’s.

There’s a saying: in business, it’s about having what others don’t, and when others have it, yours is better.

As for “when others’ are better, mine is cheaper,” Yang Cheng definitely wanted to avoid that.

Vicious, intense competition was not the way to go.

Right now, Yang Cheng’s Palmeiras had what others didn’t—a unique advantage.

Of course, Yang Cheng had to seize the moment and maximize this advantage.

Once Palmeiras, this “catfish,” stirred things up in Brazil, it would attract more and more domestic clubs to transform. And in the coming years, Brazil would gradually relax its policies on foreign investment.

By then, other Brazilian clubs would possess the advantages Palmeiras had now.

But after a few years of accumulation, Palmeiras would have already formed its own unique competitive edge, built a brand advantage, and established channels to connect with European clubs.

At that point, wouldn’t it be a case of “what others have, mine is better”?

As long as they continued to iterate, their advantage would only become more pronounced.

But it had to be said, Yang Cheng felt quite emotional about it.

He found that even looking back from 2024, there weren’t that many football talents in Brazil.

It was a stark contrast to the nineties and the early 2000s, when talent was blossoming everywhere in an explosive manner.

Actually, this was a somewhat inevitable phenomenon.

Why was that?

If you carefully study the history of Brazilian football, this phenomenon is not surprising.

As everyone knows, the greatest characteristic of Brazilian players is their ability on the ball, their free-spirited Samba football.

In the sixties and seventies, the overall technical and tactical aspects of world football were still quite crude. Football at that time relied more on individual player ability. Therefore, teams from Brazil and other South American countries shone brightly during that period.

But with the rise of numerous football philosophies, such as Italy’s defensive system and the Netherlands’ Total Football, Brazil lay dormant for a while. It wasn’t until the nineties, with the rise of a generation of once-in-a-generation geniuses like Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho, that they once again dominated world football, winning their fourth and fifth World Cups.

Many people reminisce about Ronaldo’s unstoppable form in the Netherlands and at Barça, but they are unaware that while Ronaldo’s individual ability was extraordinary at the time, it also reflected the fact that the tactical systems of that era were not yet airtight.

When he went to Italy, Ronaldo was clearly much more contained.

But this situation changed again in the new century.

From 2004, led by figures like Mourinho and Rehhagel, and represented by teams like Porto and the Greek national team, the concept of collective football began to permeate European football, sweeping across the globe with unstoppable force.

By 2010, everyone could see that collective football had become the mainstream trend at the World Cup.

And “collective” was precisely what Brazil lacked most.

Why couldn’t Scolari make it in European football?

Because the tactics he used to lead Brazil to win the 2002 World Cup seemed far too crude in the mainstream European leagues!

Subsequently, very different types of Brazilians like Rivaldo, Kaká, Deco, and Diego Costa began to become mainstream.

Traditional Brazilian stars like Denílson and Robinho gradually faded from the historical stage.

At this point, Brazil fell into confusion.

The entirety of Brazilian football plunged into chaos.

Where was Brazilian football heading? What kind of players should it produce? How should it keep up with this tactical revolution initiated in Europe that was rapidly sweeping the globe?

This confusion reached its peak in 2014 with the humiliating defeat to Germany on home soil.

Especially when they were shocked to find that, driven by collective football, even teams like Peru, Paraguay, Chile, and Venezuela in South America had the strength to challenge Brazil.

They were truly panicked!

And they had no idea what to do.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this confusion would last for many years before Brazil gradually found a path of its own and began to catch up with this wave.

But even by 2024, Brazil had not returned to its peak.

By acquiring Palmeiras, Yang Cheng was, to some extent, seizing the opportunity presented by Brazilian football’s period of confusion.

Yang Cheng still clearly remembered a report he had seen in 2024, just before he transmigrated.

Why did Real Madrid want to buy Kylian Mbappé?

Many people found it strange.

But this report listed a set of data.

In 2024, according to Google statistics, who was the most searched football player in the world?

Everyone would surely be very surprised.

It was actually the two all-conquering titans of their generation, who had long since left the mainstream European leagues.

In everyone’s mind, these two had left the top leagues, and their exposure had been severely reduced.

According to past traditions, they should have been gradually declining and fading from public view.

But what was the reality?

Their search volume on Google was still leagues ahead of everyone else.

The kind that made their pursuers despair!

And who came after them?

Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.

The two were close, a level below the two titans, but also a level above those behind them, like Harry Kane.

Why did this phenomenon occur?

The reason was actually quite simple. In an increasingly collectivist technical and tactical system, the individual’s role was diminished, and players became more and more homogenized.

So, many fans in 2024 felt that world football had entered an era lacking in star players.

It wasn’t just Brazil that lacked stars; the whole world did.

There was even a misconception that it was because the individual ability of players had declined.

But what was the reality?

It wasn’t that the players’ abilities had declined.

Rather, in the context of collective tactical systems, the individual’s role was weakened. The kind of performances where one player would take on an entire defensive line were no longer seen.

In reality, the overall quality of players was constantly improving.

This could be seen from the increasing intensity of matches.

But at the same time, as star players entered an era of homogenization, fans became particularly interested in those with a very unique personal style.

Therefore, whether it was Gareth Bale’s sudden emergence, Mbappé’s stunning performance at the World Cup, or the unique Samba flair of Neymar, they immediately captured the world’s attention.

Because they all possessed unique, shining qualities that set them apart from other players.

And these unique shining qualities were perfect for creating a personal brand!

As the world gradually entered the mobile internet era, especially with the rise of social media, everyone was voicing their opinions, and the barrier to entry for media or self-media became lower and lower.

But this did not lead to the dispersion of traffic.

On the contrary, it made traffic more and more concentrated.

This is the so-called superstar effect, where the winner takes all!

So, even though C. Ronaldo and Messi were far from the mainstream leagues, they remained the undisputed kings of traffic.

This was the secret to creating superstars!

In that 2024 report, Yang Cheng had actually noticed one person.

Harry Kane.

He was fifth in searches, but his number of followers was not very large, even ranking far behind.

Although his search volume was one or two orders of magnitude lower than C. Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé, he was higher than players with more followers like Ramos, Marcelo, and Benzema.

This actually represented a unique advantage for English players.

In terms of clubs, the ones with the most fans were Real Madrid, Barça, Manchester United, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and others.

They were also the most searched.

But in the rankings of this statistic, many Brazilian teams appeared in the top one hundred most-searched teams.

For example, Palmeiras ranked eighth, even higher than European giants like Chelsea, Barça, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Liverpool.

Grêmio and São Paulo also made it into the top twenty, with Santos at twenty-second.

This reflected that, after finding their path and getting a feel for the pulse of the times, Brazilian football paid particular attention to digital marketing and invested unstintingly in it.

Yang Cheng was now the big boss pulling the strings behind the scenes; he didn’t need to do everything himself.

His job was to provide a high-level perspective and point the way.

So, when communicating with people like Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada, Yang Cheng always emphasized that they should build the players’ personal brands and unique characteristics.

For example, Gareth Bale was fast and had a strong scoring ability.

Theo Walcott was also lightning-fast and agile.

Aaron Ramsey was handsome and, crucially, had endless stamina.

Toni Kroos was the calm, almost cold, god of passing, while Modrić was the elegant and graceful master of rhythm.

Through this kind of brand shaping, which matched the players’ individual characteristics, the Bayswater Chinese’s star players had gained enormous fame over the past period, especially on the global internet, attracting countless fans.

On the club side, the Bayswater Chinese’s new media team had achieved excellent results but was also constantly expanding, as every club Yang Cheng acquired added to the new media team’s workload.

This entire operational model was undoubtedly at the forefront of the times, and it allowed Yang Cheng, his clubs, and his players to reap the rewards of the era.

But Yang Cheng felt it was far from enough.

So, he tasked Adam Crozier with continuing to increase investment in new media.

This was an attractive blue ocean, and they had to seize the first-mover advantage.

…

As expected by the outside world.

When the Premier League’s announcement was made, media and fans all over the world were shocked.

Domestic plus overseas, the broadcast rights sold for 9.7 billion pound sterling. It was simply incredible.

Everyone felt the terrifying power of the Premier League!

But for countless investors, they also saw the Premier League’s potential.

It was also an opportunity.

The contract would not take effect until the summer of 2016, a year and a half away.

So, while the world’s media and fans were stunned by the Premier League’s extravagant wealth, countless investors smelled opportunity and began to plot ways to seek investment opportunities in the league.

However, the Premier League of today was not the same as it was in the past.

In the 2013-14 season, all twenty Premier League teams achieved the historic feat of being profitable.

Coupled with the expectations brought by this sky-high broadcast contract, buying a Premier League club now was no easy task.

Thus, wealthy investors looked to the Premier League, while those with slightly less means looked to the Championship, or even the lower tiers of League One and League Two.

For a time, a surge of foreign investment swept through English football.

Amidst this frenzy, the Premier League welcomed its 25th round.

The Bayswater Chinese faced Sunderland away from home.

In the 17th minute of the match, Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the team.

But just before halftime, Theo Walcott also scored, extending the lead.

After the break, Harry Kane found the back of the net in the 47th minute.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Sunderland away from home.

Meanwhile, Arsenal defeated Leicester City 2-1 at home.

Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at home.

Manchester United defeated Burnley 3-1 at home.

Chelsea eked out a 1-0 win against Everton at home.

Manchester City thrashed Stoke City 4-1 away.

…

Three days later, over the weekend, the 5th round of the FA Cup took place.

The Bayswater Chinese traveled to face Championship side Derby County.

Yang Cheng continued to field a lineup of all substitutes and young players. The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

After the break, in the 53rd minute, Dominic Solanke assisted Sterling for a goal.

But in the 61st minute, former Premier League star Darren Bent equalized for Derby County.

Both teams were back on level terms.

It wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Sterling returned the favor, delivering a brilliant pass. Dominic Solanke, who had an excellent game, got on the end of it in the box and fired home, breaking Derby County’s goal.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 2-1 away victory over Derby County!

…

On the evening of February 17th, at the Prince’s Park stadium in Paris.

In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Paris Saint-Germain hosted the Bayswater Chinese.

This was a crucial match that captured the world’s attention!

But what drew even more attention was that before the match, UEFA President Platini personally came to the Prince’s Park stadium to oversee the game.

Although Platini repeatedly stated before the match that he was not biased towards either team, as a Frenchman, and given his previous grievances with the Bayswater Chinese, his presence was interpreted by the media and fans as sending a stronger signal.

Paris Saint-Germain’s chairman, Nasser, warmly welcomed Platini.

The two walked one after the other into the stands of the Prince’s Park stadium.

The large screen on site even gave them a close-up, and the fans responded with a round of welcoming applause.

Clearly, they also hoped that Platini’s presence would bring more good luck to Paris Saint-Germain.

Looking at the two opposing sides, both teams fielded their strongest lineups.

Paris Saint-Germain’s head coach, Blanc, still employed his usual formation that switched between 4-3-3 and 4-4-2.

Goalkeeper: Sirigu;

Defense: Maxwell, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, and Van der Wiel;

Midfield: Matuidi, Rabiot, Cabaye, and Javier Pastore;

Forwards: Lavezzi and Ibrahimović.

Paris Saint-Germain’s formation looked like a 4-4-2, but in reality, when attacking, Pastore would push forward to become a winger.

Lavezzi would drift to the left flank, playing as a winger.

At this point, the team’s formation would shift to a 4-3-3.

And on Paris Saint-Germain’s bench sat famous players like Lucas Moura and Digne.

The Bayswater Chinese were playing away in this match, but they still fielded their full-strength lineup.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

Both sides could be said to be at full strength, making for a highly anticipated contest!

“So? What are our chances in this match?”

As soon as he sat down in the Chairman’s box, Platini asked the nearby Nasser with a smile.

The Paris Saint-Germain chairman gave a wry smile. “We’re facing the Bayswater Chinese. We’ll do our best!”

This was not just Nasser’s thought, but the thought of all of Paris Saint-Germain, and indeed all of France.

Facing a team like the Bayswater Chinese, all you could do was give it your best shot!

“Actually, this team isn’t as fearsome as they seem. They’ve already won a three-peat; some complacency is inevitable. Especially these players, every one of them has achieved fame and success. You still have a good chance!”

After a pause, Platini added encouragingly, “You guys aren’t bad either. You have plenty of star players and are very strong.”

But we are still a bit weaker!

Nasser kept this thought to himself.

He knew that Platini’s feud with the Bayswater Chinese ran deep.

Clearly, the UEFA president, for both official and personal reasons, hoped that Paris Saint-Germain would defeat the Bayswater Chinese.

After all, they had already won a three-peat!

If they kept winning like this, wouldn’t the Champions League become the private preserve of the Bayswater Chinese?

But right now, Yang Cheng and his team were genuinely strong!

“I hear you’ve been having people research Premier League clubs recently.”

Platini casually brought up a new topic.

Nasser’s heart skipped a beat.

He hadn’t expected Platini’s information to be so up-to-date.

“Are you planning to acquire Manchester United? Or some other team?” Platini asked with a smile.

But Nasser did not believe for a second that Platini’s smile was harmless.

“It’s actually an idea from Qatar. Just some reconnaissance, you know. We’re primarily in investment. When the new Premier League broadcast deal was announced, the investment experts in Qatar felt some regret.”

“I’m just going through the motions. Manchester United or any other team, it’s all preliminary. But for now, and for the next few years, the most certain thing is that we will continue to invest in Paris Saint-Germain, invest in Ligue 1!”

After hearing this, Platini nodded with a hint of satisfaction.

This was the consensus reached by all parties back then.

Especially the French President, Sarkozy.

Of course, Sarkozy was no longer in office now and was even under investigation for alleged bribery, abuse of power, and violation of professional secrecy.

He was in a world of trouble!

Platini was also getting a headache from this matter.

Because back then, it was Sarkozy who acted as the middleman, connecting Platini with Qatar.

Platini had also put in a lot of effort to support Qatar’s bid for the World Cup.

The condition was that the Qatar consortium invested in Ligue 1.

Platini’s most important priority right now was to pressure Blatter to withdraw from the re-election campaign.

And the situation had already reached a point of no return.

So, he certainly didn’t want any more trouble brewing on the Paris Saint-Germain side, which would make them a public enemy.

“If you ask me, instead of investing so much money in acquiring a Premier League team, you should think of ways to poach a few more players from the Bayswater Chinese to Ligue 1. You could even gut them completely. It would weaken a rival and strengthen yourselves.”

Platini said with a “humorous” smile.

Nasser naturally played along, laughing and nodding repeatedly.

But inwardly, he was thinking: Our relationship with the Bayswater Chinese is quite good right now.

If we were to poach anyone, it would be through friendly negotiation.

Who listens to you?

And so, this highly anticipated battle between England and France began amidst the laughter of the two men.

Chapter 327: Europe’s Dribbling King! He’s a Giant! Have You Ever Seen Such a Sight?

With a blow of the whistle from Turkish head referee Çakır, the visiting Bayswater Chinese immediately pressed forward.

Ibrahimović kicked off, sending the ball back to the holding Cabaye.

Cabaye then passed it to Van der Wiel on the right flank.

The former Chelsea player had just received the ball when he saw Eden Hazard rapidly closing in on him.

Forced to turn and shield the ball, Van der Wiel quickly passed it back to the deep-lying centre-back Marquinhos.

But by this point, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield and attack had already pushed past the halfway line.

Paris Saint-Germain, on the other hand, began to retreat.

From the very start of the match, both sides made their intentions clear.

The visiting Bayswater Chinese took the initiative, looking to seize an opportunity to score an away goal.

Meanwhile, the home side, Paris Saint-Germain, clearly wanted to solidify their defense and threaten Bayswater Chinese with quick counter-attacks.

There was nothing unusual about this match strategy.

Paris Saint-Germain was evidently positioning themselves as the underdogs.

They would first ensure they didn’t concede at home, ideally keeping a clean sheet against Bayswater Chinese.

Even a 0-0 draw would be a very good result.

At the away game, PSG would surely adopt a more aggressive strategy to snatch an away goal.

This was a very common approach to advancing in the Champions League knockout stage.

Head coach Laurent Blanc was constantly adjusting his team’s defense from the touchline.

PSG were very wary of Bayswater Chinese’s all-out attack, so they played with great resolve from the start.

They were determined to defend with all their might!

Therefore, PSG dropped deep after the kickoff, ceding ground.

But one should not think that this made PSG any less of a threat.

On the contrary, Lavezzi was always up front, waiting for an opportunity.

The Argentine forward’s speed and individual skill were something Bayswater Chinese had to be wary of.

In the first ten minutes, the two teams fiercely tested each other.

Bayswater Chinese pushed their whole team forward, using aggressive pressing in the midfield and attack to create a chance.

Eden Hazard dribbled past Van der Wiel multiple times on the left flank before passing to Marcelo.

The Brazilian broke into the left side of the penalty area and sent a low cross in front of the goal.

Just as Giroud was about to make a follow-up shot, Marquinhos cleared the ball at the last second.

Although it didn’t result in a shot, the attack was very threatening, penetrating deep into PSG’s box.

However, after Bayswater Chinese’s attack failed to produce a result, PSG quickly launched a swift counter-attack.

Cabaye sent a pass through the middle, and Maxwell surged forward, delivering a through ball down the left flank.

Lavezzi used his pace to burst through before crossing from near the left byline towards the goal.

Ibrahimović followed up, using his body to shield the ball from Thiago Silva before turning and unleashing a furious shot with his left foot.

But the shot was saved securely by Courtois.

After that, the two teams continued their back-and-forth battle.

…

“I think we should maintain the high tempo and keep applying pressure.”

Ten minutes into the game, Yang Cheng walked back to the dugout for a drink of water and to look at the real-time match data.

Flick presented the data while offering his own suggestions.

“Look, PSG has basically retreated into their own half, leaving no one up front. This is definitely to our advantage. If we push everyone forward and hit them with a fierce barrage, we can score a goal and knock them down for good!”

Flick pointed to a chart in the match data.

“Look here. When they try to counter-attack, they often misplace passes and lose possession.”

“Right now, they’re sitting so deep that even their forwards have practically retreated into their own half. The distance they have to cover to turn a counter-attack into a threat is huge, and they can’t guarantee their pass completion rate along the way.”

A glance at PSG’s midfield configuration made it quite clear.

When defending, PSG looked more like a 4-4-2.

The midfield was lined up with Matuidi, Cabaye, Rabiot, and Javier Pastore.

Dropping back so far meant their midfield wasn’t quick enough to transition forward.

And their player setup clearly wasn’t suited for a pass-and-move style.

So, on the counter-attack, they were more likely to opt for a through ball to the forwards.

Javier Pastore had tried to make things happen on the right flank a few times, but with little success.

In contrast, Maxwell’s overlapping run earlier, which led to a through ball, had created PSG’s most dangerous attack.

“We should strengthen our interceptions in midfield, try to win the ball while they’re countering, and then counter their counter-attack!”

Flick’s proposal was almost identical to what Yang Cheng was thinking.

“That’s a great idea!”

Yang Cheng nodded at Flick, praising him before turning and walking back to the touchline.

The German coach smiled faintly at Yang Cheng’s back.

To have his opinion accepted by Yang Cheng in such a crucial match was a huge source of accomplishment for Flick.

More importantly, he felt that Yang Cheng was a very special person.

Yang Cheng often said, “Trust those you employ.”

He was always willing to delegate authority to his subordinates in their daily work.

He was also good at listening to others’ opinions.

But the most important thing was that regardless of whether the opinion aligned with his own thoughts, he would always offer a word of praise.

This made the person offering advice feel good, even if their opinion wasn’t adopted.

But this time, when Flick returned to his seat, he saw Yang Cheng first shout to Giroud, then to Nemanja Matić, signaling for the team’s midfield to increase the intensity of their interceptions in the area between PSG’s 30-meter area and the halfway line.

Nemanja Matić nodded emphatically.

Seeing this, Flick smiled happily to himself.

He turned his head and saw Brian Kidd also smiling and nodding at him.

Flick had been handpicked by Brian Kidd, and the German’s good temperament meant that although his arrival had diminished some of Brian Kidd’s authority, the two got along very well.

The most crucial factor in this was that Brian Kidd would be sixty-six years old by the end of the season.

At his age, there was nothing left for him to compete for.

If he were twenty years younger, there would have been no place for Flick.

Now, however, Brian Kidd was actually quite happy to help Flick integrate into the team.

He wouldn’t even rule out assisting Flick in the future if he had the energy.

Of course, Flick himself was also very good at getting along with those around him.

He was learning English quickly.

The German’s personality was quite likable.

…

When the match reached the thirteenth minute, Paris Saint-Germain once again had a chance to counter-attack.

The ball came to Rabiot.

But Toni Kroos immediately pressed him.

As Rabiot shielded the ball, he realized his passing lane to Javier Pastore on the right flank was cut off.

He then looked to his side and saw that Matuidi was a bit too far away.

Pass back to Cabaye?

Modrić was roaming nearby.

The young Rabiot looked ahead towards Ibrahimović.

So, he played a direct through ball, trying to find Ibrahimović up front.

But he didn’t expect Nemanja Matić to be lurking nearby.

Nemanja had deliberately left that passing lane open.

The Serbian midfielder burst out from the side, intercepting the pass with the outside of his left foot just before it reached Ibrahimović.

After a successful interception, Nemanja Matić immediately chased the ball down and, before anyone else could react, kicked it to Toni Kroos.

The German played a one-touch through ball to Eden Hazard’s feet.

The Belgian received the ball and tried to break through immediately, but Van der Wiel reacted quickly, sticking close to Hazard and preventing him from getting past.

Eden Hazard’s pace wasn’t quite fast enough.

But his support had arrived.

Marcelo was seen making a quick overlapping run through the half-space, heading straight for the left side of the penalty area.

Eden Hazard sent a cross pass, intending for Marcelo to take the ball into the left side of the box.

But PSG’s defense was no pushover, especially Marquinhos, who tracked Marcelo’s run diligently.

With Van der Wiel also turning to track back, the two of them double-teamed him.

When Marcelo managed to get a cross in, the ball hit Marquinhos’s leg and rebounded out of the left side of the box, landing behind Van der Wiel.

Eden Hazard quickly moved forward, controlled the ball first, and then decided against going to the byline.

He saw that Giroud had already made a run towards the byline, and PSG’s defenders were all wary of them going wide.

Eden Hazard took a step back, evading Van der Wiel’s pressure, and then sent a high, chipped pass with his right foot towards the arc of the penalty area, finding Gareth Bale.

As the Welshman chested the ball down, he saw Giroud quickly running back to avoid being offside.

PSG’s Kimpembe and Maxwell both rushed towards Gareth Bale simultaneously.

Midfielders like Cabaye and Matuidi had also retreated to the vicinity.

At the same time, Modrić was making a quick run into the right side of the penalty area.

If Gareth Bale had passed back to Nemanja Matić, allowing him to distribute to Modrić while Bale himself made a run to challenge for a header, it could have easily resulted in a shot.

And a very dangerous one at that.

But Gareth Bale felt confident from this position.

So, after chesting the ball down, the Welshman took a few small steps forward to adjust, then immediately followed up, unleashing a furious shot with his left foot that produced a curling ball.

The football carved an elegant arc before rocketing into the top-left corner of the PSG goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the thirteenth minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese are the first to score!”

“A long shot from Gareth Bale from outside the box, right on the arc!”

“A truly spectacular wonder goal!”

“The curve was beautiful, and the angle was incredibly precise. Goalkeeper Sirigu made a dive, but he couldn’t get anywhere near it!”

“This is what a superstar does!”

“At a crucial moment when the team was struggling to break through, Gareth Bale chose to take the shot himself.”

“With a magnificent worldie, he scores the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“Now, for Paris Saint-Germain, the match just got a lot harder!”

…

Gareth Bale’s goal did not change the course of the match.

Despite being one goal ahead, Bayswater Chinese did not let up and continued to press their advantage.

This had always been the style of Yang Cheng’s teams.

It’s best to press the advantage and pursue a routed enemy, not to chase hollow glory.

After conceding, PSG’s defense began to show signs of disarray.

Just two minutes later, Modrić suddenly sent a through ball from the right half-space.

Piszczek made a sudden overlapping run down the flank, intercepted the ball near the byline, carried it into the right side of the box, and then pulled it back for Gareth Bale.

The Welshman sent a curling ball with his left foot towards the far post, looking for Eden Hazard.

The Belgian’s close-range header went just wide of the post.

Bayswater Chinese’s attack was very fluid.

The constant switching of play between the left and right flanks was proving very difficult for PSG to defend against.

But sitting in the dugout, Flick felt that something was not quite right.

And in the seventeenth minute, just four minutes after conceding, Javier Pastore was dispossessed near midfield.

After winning the ball, Toni Kroos quickly passed it to Nemanja Matić.

Nemanja Matić controlled the ball, took two steps forward, and sent a through ball behind Cabaye.

Giroud dropped back to receive it, turned, and played a through ball with his left foot.

Eden Hazard quickly made a diagonal run from the left corner of the box into the penalty area, caught up to Giroud’s pass, and sent a push shot with his right foot into the far right corner of the PSG goal.

2-0!

A collective gasp echoed throughout Prince’s Park!

Eden Hazard excitedly turned and ran, shouting in celebration.

His Bayswater teammates all chased after him, clearly overjoyed by Hazard’s goal.

A two-goal lead away from home was a fantastic start for Bayswater Chinese.

It set the foundation for victory in this match!

But Flick, sitting in the dugout, was completely stunned!

He saw it!

He finally saw it!

He had felt something was off but couldn’t put his finger on it. But just now, when he saw Giroud drop back, it all became clear.

For the first goal, Gareth Bale was at the arc of the penalty area.

For the second goal, the one who assisted Eden Hazard was Giroud, who was positioned behind Cabaye.

That is, in the gap between the defensive line and the midfield.

Both goals came from this area.

Was it a coincidence?

Obviously not!

Thinking of this, Flick looked at Yang Cheng’s back—first clenching his fist in celebration, then applauding his players—and suddenly remembered why Yang Cheng had called out to Giroud first, then Nemanja Matić.

A sense of shame washed over him!

Just moments ago, he thought he was offering advice to Yang Cheng, that he had a clear view of the match.

But what was the reality?

He had only seen the first layer.

Yang Cheng had seen the second, even the third and fourth layers.

When defending, PSG adopted a 4-4-2 formation, which seemed solid. But Cabaye, Matuidi, and Rabiot were not traditional holding midfielders, and they couldn’t effectively protect the backline.

For most of the game, Cabaye playing a holding role wasn’t a problem.

But in the brief moments of transitioning from attack to defense, PSG was prone to exposing the gap between their midfield and defense.

Flick was instantly filled with shame.

He had underestimated Yang Cheng!

In fact, even after being at Bayswater Chinese for over six months and gradually getting the hang of some of his duties, Flick was still often surprised by Yang Cheng.

He had learned so much from him.

All of this made him realize that he still had a lot to learn.

…

Conceding two goals in less than twenty minutes was a huge blow to Paris Saint-Germain.

But they were not completely toothless.

In the twenty-second minute, PSG began to take the initiative.

Matuidi received the ball near the halfway line and drove forward with it himself.

He had played for Bayswater Chinese for many years; he knew the strength of this team very well.

Modrić tracked Matuidi all the way back, forcing the PSG captain to move towards the flank, where he eventually played a through ball to Lavezzi.

Lavezzi received the ball near the left touchline and tried to get past Piszczek, but there was no opening.

The Argentine came to a sharp stop and played a cross pass to the center with his left foot.

Ibrahimović rushed forward to meet it, hoping to break into the box from the arc, but he held onto the ball for too long.

Thiago Silva decisively rushed out and slid in with a tackle, cleanly taking the ball from Ibrahimović’s feet.

It was a perfectly timed tackle!

Later, Matuidi again made a sudden dribbling run in the left channel, only to be tripped by Nemanja Matić near Bayswater’s 30-meter area, earning Paris Saint-Germain an attacking free-kick.

The PSG captain was clearly fired up tonight.

After all, he was facing his old club.

But Bayswater Chinese quickly responded in kind.

A counter-attack after winning the ball in midfield.

After a series of slick exchanges between Eden Hazard and Marcelo on the left side of the box, Hazard suddenly passed back to the edge of the area.

Toni Kroos followed up and unleashed a furious shot.

The ball shot like a cannonball towards the right side of the goal.

It ended up striking the right post and bouncing out.

The first half ended with Bayswater Chinese leading 2-0.

Both teams had fought hard.

Especially after the twenty-minute mark, the pace of the game picked up noticeably, and the players’ energy was being consumed quickly.

But after the sides switched ends for the second half, the game began to open up.

The home side, PSG, would certainly not be content with a two-goal deficit.

In the 55th minute, Blanc made a substitution.

Winger Lucas Moura came on for Rabiot.

At this point, PSG switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Javier Pastore moved to the number 10 position, with Lavezzi and Lucas Moura on the left and right flanks, respectively.

Matuidi and Cabaye formed a double pivot in midfield.

It was a clear signal of their intent to strengthen the attack.

But in the 63rd minute, Bayswater Chinese once again won the ball near midfield.

It was Modrić with the tackle again.

After winning the ball, he passed it to Gareth Bale in the right half-space.

The Welshman started to run with the ball, quickly launching a counter-attack, creating a three-on-four situation.

Giroud made a diagonal run to the right, pulling a defender away.

Gareth Bale dribbled diagonally towards the center, drawing the attention of the central defenders.

But once inside PSG’s 30-meter area, Gareth Bale played a through ball.

Eden Hazard chased down Gareth Bale’s pass on the left edge of the penalty area. Facing Kimpembe, who had tracked back in time, the Belgian executed a feint and then suddenly poked the ball forward.

The football went right through Kimpembe’s legs.

Hazard himself was like a slippery eel, sliding past Kimpembe and into the penalty area. Upon reaching the ball, he immediately unleashed a power shot with his left foot.

The ball flew into the near corner of the PSG goal.

3-0!

A brace!

Eden Hazard excitedly turned and ran off the pitch, jumping in the air and cheering, celebrating his second goal!

The other Bayswater Chinese players all rushed out to surround him in a huddle.

…

With a three-goal lead, the match had effectively entered garbage time.

For Paris Saint-Germain, they were mostly seeing the vast difference in quality between the two teams.

They couldn’t compete with Bayswater Chinese on a technical and tactical level, nor in terms of overall player quality.

This left the PSG players feeling disheartened.

The clearest example of this was in the 73rd minute.

They were passing the ball back and forth on the right side, just outside their own penalty area.

It was like playing with fire.

As a result, when Cabaye tried to pass to Javier Pastore, Nemanja Matić suddenly pressed high and stole the ball directly.

After winning the ball, Nemanja Matić played a short pass.

Surrounded by three players, Eden Hazard somehow managed to dribble out of the crowd, cut inside to the left of the arc, and deliver a diagonal pass with his right foot.

An unmarked Gareth Bale made an easy diagonal run into the right side of the box and smashed a right-footed power shot into the net, scoring another goal for Bayswater Chinese.

4-0!

The defeat was becoming a rout!

As the Welsh winger excitedly ran off the pitch to celebrate, the entire Prince’s Park stadium fell silent.

It wasn’t until the 88th minute that PSG managed to launch another quick counter-attack.

On the right, Lucas Moura sped down the flank with the ball, trying to break into the right side of the box before sending a cross to the center for Ibrahimović.

Thiago Silva got to the ball first and blocked it.

But Matuidi, arriving on a late run, unleashed a furious long shot from the arc with his left foot, which flew into the left side of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-4!

Only then did Prince’s Park erupt in thunderous cheers!

Throughout the match, Matuidi had been extremely active against his former club.

“Perhaps he still wanted to prove his worth in front of Yang Cheng!”

“After all, he was once a key midfielder for Bayswater Chinese!”

“But from this match, we can see that European teams don’t really have any good solutions when facing Bayswater Chinese.”

“Apart from Barça and Manchester City, who can use their possession advantage to gain some control over the game, other teams inevitably find themselves in a bind against Yang Cheng’s side.”

“If you press high and play an open game against Bayswater Chinese, it’s definitely not going to work.”

“If you just sit back and defend deep, that doesn’t work either.”

“Blanc’s approach in this match was a bit of a tale of two extremes. He started off overly cautious, and after conceding two goals, especially in the second half, he clearly played a bit too aggressively.”

“The fourth goal, in particular, was a result of PSG’s morale taking a huge hit after conceding three in a row.”

“All in all, many teams are at a loss for how to play against Bayswater Chinese. It’s a massive headache.”

The television cameras then cut to the stands of Prince’s Park.

Everyone noticed that Platini, who had been all smiles before the match, now wore a solemn expression.

“That’s UEFA President Platini. He seems very disappointed with PSG’s performance today and very dissatisfied with the result.”

“The gap really is a bit too large!”

…

The 4-1 away demolition of Paris Saint-Germain earned Bayswater Chinese unanimous praise from media and fans worldwide, especially for Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, who both scored a brace.

There’s not much more to say about Gareth Bale.

After winning the first-ever FIFA Ballon d’Or in British history, Gareth Bale’s performance has not faded in the slightest. Instead, he has become even more formidable, playing with greater confidence.

In the match against PSG, it was his wonder goal that opened the door to victory.

After the match, he received the joint-highest rating on the team.

Eden Hazard was the other player with the highest rating.

Although both scored a brace, Eden Hazard’s performance in this match left an incredibly deep impression.

The Guardian stated that as the Champions League’s dribbling king, Eden Hazard was Bayswater Chinese’s most dangerous player in the match.

The most telling statistic was the number of times he was fouled.

Eden Hazard was fouled nine times in this match, one more than Gareth Bale.

Interestingly, in the Champions League group stage, Eden Hazard had completed more dribbles than Messi, making him the player with the most dribbles in the group stage and the undisputed dribbling king.

“At Prince’s Park, every time Eden Hazard had the ball, he created a threat that struck fear into the hearts of Paris Saint-Germain’s defenders, especially with his continuous dribbling runs down the left flank.”

During his time at Chelsea, Van der Wiel didn’t get many opportunities to play.

“So, he hadn’t experienced the terror of facing Hazard.”

“But in Paris, in the Champions League, he fully felt the Belgian winger’s superhuman dribbling ability, which is in no way inferior to Messi’s.”

In fact, although both scored twice, the man of the match was undoubtedly Eden Hazard.

Paris Saint-Germain’s head coach, Laurent Blanc, commented after the match that the biggest difference between PSG and Bayswater Chinese was Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale.

“They have two superstars with incredible individual ability!”

Clearly, the French legend placed Eden Hazard on the same level as Gareth Bale.

Although Theo Walcott’s excellent form this season meant that Hazard was mostly used in squad rotation or as a substitute in the league, he still contributed five goals.

His performances were commendable.

But in the Champions League, the Belgian became Bayswater Chinese’s most dangerous player.

This was the true measure of Eden Hazard’s ability!

The player with the second-highest rating on the team, after Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale, was Nemanja Matić.

According to OPTA statistics, the Serbian midfielder completed the second-most passes on the team in this match, with eighty-seven, second only to Toni Kroos’s ninety-nine.

But compared to Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić’s passes in this match were actually more threatening, with more forward passes.

Moreover, Nemanja Matić was actively carrying the ball forward.

Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, Nemanja Matić’s technique on the ball was also excellent.

The French newspaper L’Équipe stated that a major reason for PSG’s thrashing by Bayswater Chinese at Prince’s Park was their loss of control in midfield.

Blanc’s indecisive tactics were reflected on the pitch, with PSG’s midfield being completely dominated.

L’Équipe specifically pointed to Nemanja Matić as the most threatening player on the Bayswater Chinese team.

In addition to his passing and organizing statistics, he also had three tackles, one clearance, and one interception. Over the course of the game, he made eight ball recoveries, the most of any Bayswater Chinese player.

What was even more impressive was that despite his tall stature, Nemanja Matić was still running all over the pitch in this match.

“Wherever the ball was, he would appear!”

“The Serbian midfielder’s presence gave Bayswater Chinese an overwhelming advantage in midfield, preventing PSG’s midfielders from successfully controlling possession.”

The British newspaper Daily Mail also gave Nemanja Matić high praise, believing his performances in midfield were becoming increasingly intelligent.

“He’s not just a defensive player; he’s showing astonishing talent in organizing play!”

At twenty-six years old, Nemanja Matić was undoubtedly entering the peak of his career.

And in this match against PSG, he earned the admiration of everyone.

“He was like a giant, guarding the area in front of Bayswater Chinese’s penalty box!”

Besides praising the players, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese also received widespread acclaim and praise from the media.

Defeating PSG 4-1 away in the first leg made their advancement to the Champions League quarter-finals seem like a done deal.

Although Yang Cheng repeatedly emphasized in the post-match press conference that there was still a second leg to play.

But practically everyone, including the French media, believed that PSG’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals were gone.

…

After the Champions League Round of 16 match, the team returned to London to rest and prepare for the weekend’s Premier League Matchday 26 fixture.

This round, Bayswater Chinese were to face Hull City away.

Before the match, the British newspaper The Sun published a piece of news.

Manchester United had decided to renew Rooney’s contract ahead of schedule.

The Manchester United superstar would receive a sky-high contract worth £350,000 per week.

This would put Rooney’s weekly wage on par with Messi’s!

What did that mean?

£350,000 per week, £18.2 million a year, which is around 23 million euro.

If Manchester City had offered such a staggering sum to lure Messi from Barça, then Manchester United renewing Rooney’s contract for £350,000 a week seemed utterly absurd!

The Sun’s analysis suggested that ever since Paul Pogba joined Manchester United on a weekly wage of £300,000, Rooney had repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction to the club’s management through his agent.

As a club legend, Rooney felt it was an insult to be paid the same as the young Pogba, who had yet to make any significant contributions.

Previously, Rooney’s agent, Paul Stretford, had told reporters that his player was very disappointed with the current situation at Manchester United.

“This season’s Manchester United has completely lost its old magic and is no longer as competitive as it used to be!”

At the time, many people thought Stretford was aiming his criticism at the newly signed Paul Pogba.

The insinuation was that a Manchester United built around Pogba lacked competitiveness.

Many Manchester United fans also wondered if it was worth spending so much money on Pogba.

Of course, based on all the data and performances, Pogba was indeed one of the best-performing players at Manchester United.

Especially within van Gaal’s “Big Circle Tactic” system.

Rooney, on the other hand, had become a victim, forced to play on the wing.

So, many people felt that Stretford was applying pressure.

Later, Rooney was linked with clubs like Chelsea and Real Madrid.

In an interview, Stretford had given a response that caused a huge stir.

“We are considering all possibilities!”

This statement sent a wave of panic through the Manchester United management!

Now, everything was clear.

To put it bluntly, it was all about a new contract.

This time, Manchester United signed Rooney to a sky-high contract worth £350,000 per week.

The Sun’s analysis suggested that Manchester United’s confidence in accepting such a contract came from the new record-breaking Premier League broadcasting deal from 2016 to 2019.

By then, each team’s share of the broadcast revenue would exceed £100 million.

Given Manchester United’s stature, it was highly likely their share would exceed £150 million.

Under these circumstances, the Manchester United management felt they could accept Rooney’s pay rise.

So, they broke the team’s wage structure and offered a weekly wage of £350,000.

Almost everyone in the football world, including Yang Cheng, had mentally prepared for this outcome.

But it was still somewhat hard to accept.

From the moment Manchester United offered Pogba £300,000 a week, a pay rise for Rooney was inevitable.

Unless Manchester United wanted to sell Rooney.

But now, they’d given Rooney a raise. What would happen next?

“Manchester United’s management has such amateurish negotiation skills!”

Yang Cheng recalled Adam Crozier’s previous assessment of Manchester United.

Looking back now, it was spot on.

In the Premier League Matchday 26 fixture, Bayswater Chinese made significant squad rotations for their away game.

It wasn’t until the 40th minute of the first half that Bayswater Chinese scored through Theo Walcott.

In the 50th minute of the second half, Modrić assisted Gareth Bale to score another goal, extending the lead to 2-0!

In the 78th minute, substitute Eden Hazard scored the team’s third goal, assisted by Luke Shaw.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Hull City.

In the same round of matches, Chelsea defeated Burnley 1-0 at home thanks to a 14th-minute goal from Ivanović.

Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 2-1 away with goals from Cazorla and Benzema.

Manchester City thrashed Newcastle 5-0 at home, with Messi scoring a brace.

Liverpool defeated Southampton 1-0 away thanks to a 3rd-minute goal from Coutinho.

And Manchester United, having just renewed Rooney’s contract, lost 2-1 away to Swansea City after taking the lead.

The Red Devils had gone ahead in the 28th minute through Herrera.

But they conceded an equalizer just two minutes later and then another goal.

Their overall performance was not ideal.

Pogba, who had been performing so well, had a very poor game.

Rooney, despite his new contract and his efforts, was ultimately powerless.

This defeat raised concerns about Manchester United’s prospects.

…

After Matchday 26 of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese finally had a chance to catch their breath.

After a week of rest, Yang Cheng’s team, in optimal condition, hosted Tottenham Hotspur.

As it turned out, just nine minutes into the match, an assist from Casemiro allowed Toni Kroos to break through Tottenham’s goal with a long shot, scoring the opener for the team.

And in the 19th minute, Casemiro took matters into his own hands, scoring from the arc of the penalty area to break through Tottenham’s goal once again.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

It’s worth mentioning that this was Bayswater Chinese’s fourth consecutive league match with a clean sheet.

In the same round, Manchester United continued to play poorly.

Despite playing at Old Trafford, they couldn’t break down The Black Cats, Sunderland.

It wasn’t until the 65th minute that former Manchester United player Wes Brown committed a foul on Rooney and was sent off with a red card.

This also gave Manchester United a penalty kick.

Rooney calmly converted the penalty, scoring the opening goal for his team.

And in the 84th minute, Rooney scored again, completing his brace.

Ultimately, Manchester United defeated Sunderland 2-0.

But the match sparked considerable controversy afterward.

The main issue was Wes Brown’s foul, the red card, and the penalty.

Sunderland had always had intricate connections with Manchester United.

Former Manchester United legends and captains like Steve Bruce and Roy Keane had both managed Sunderland.

Sunderland’s current starting centre-backs, Wes Brown and O’Shea, were also from Manchester United.

At such a sensitive time, Wes Brown’s red card inevitably led to some over-speculation.

Arsenal, meanwhile, defeated Everton 2-0 at home with goals from Benzema and Rosický.

Chelsea, after conceding first away from home, came from behind to win 3-1 against Leicester City with three second-half goals.

The crucial match of the round was Liverpool hosting Manchester City.

Everyone expected a battle of titans.

But unexpectedly, Manchester City broke through Buffon’s goal just eleven minutes in, thanks to Messi.

In the 26th minute, Messi scored again, completing his brace.

With that, the match lost all suspense.

Although Liverpool eventually pulled one back through Coutinho, they ultimately lost 1-2 at home.

The worst aspect of Mancini’s team this season had been their performance in clashes between top teams.

…

Three days later, midweek, came Premier League Matchday 28.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal at home.

The match started at a fast pace right from the kickoff.

Both teams had rotated their squads in the previous round to prepare for this showdown.

At the same time, both teams had done their homework on targeted tactics.

But in the 6th minute, Gareth Bale broke through on the left, earning a corner kick.

Modrić calmly took the corner.

But it wasn’t a conventional corner. It landed on the left side of the box and bounced up.

At the near post, van Dijk met the bouncing ball, flicking it up with his back to the goal.

This completely disrupted Arsenal’s defensive setup.

The ball fell to the far post, where an unmarked Harry Kane headed it in from close range.

1-0!

But just seven minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

On the right, Theo Walcott received a pass from a teammate and charged forward, carrying the ball into the right side of Arsenal’s box. His cross to the center was deflected by Mertesacker.

But Harry Kane read the situation perfectly, pouncing on the opportunity and smashing a left-footed power shot past Lloris.

2-0!

A brace!

Just thirteen minutes into the game, Bayswater Chinese had already scored twice!

The entire Prudential Stadium roared for Harry Kane!

But after that, the game fell into a stalemate.

In the 38th minute, Arsenal seized an opportunity. Nasri broke through on the left and delivered a brilliant pass.

Inside the box, Benzema dummied past Thiago Silva and fired home from close range, pulling one back for Arsenal.

1-2!

This scoreline held until halftime.

After the break, the two teams maintained the same pace as the first half.

Arsenal, in particular, took the initiative with an all-out attack.

But in the 50th minute, van Dijk launched a long pass from the back.

To The Gunners’ despair, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott all managed to beat the offside trap at the same time.

The Gunners’ defensive line had pushed up too far, leaving their entire backyard exposed.

A scene where three players beat the offside trap at the same time… have you ever seen such a thing?

The ball fell to the middle. Harry Kane controlled it, carried it into the box, and calmly scored in a one-on-one.

Lloris didn’t even bother to come out.

There was no point.

If he rushed Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott would be faced with an open goal.

Arsenal’s defenders had given up the chase early on.

Clearly, they had lost the will to track back.

3-1!

Harry Kane had a hat-trick!

Wenger stood in front of the away dugout. As he watched Harry Kane excitedly run off the pitch, charge forward, and slide on his stomach across the grass to the sideline, he was completely speechless.

They finally got rid of Yaya Touré, and now here comes a Harry Kane.

“How on earth did our youth team let him go back then?” Wenger wondered.

Judging by his performance, it seemed Harry Kane would play with extra fire every time he faced Arsenal.

Wasn’t this just like Eto’o playing against Real Madrid?

“They said he was too fat back then, so…” Pat Rice was also at a loss for words.

Who could have imagined that the little fatty from back then would now become England’s future superstar?

And perform so dominantly!

“We need to make some changes at the youth academy. From now on, we have to be more tolerant of kids who are a bit overweight.”

After saying this, Wenger shook his head with a helpless sigh.

“You really can’t mess with the chubby kids these days!”

But in the 64th minute, from a corner kick, Koscielny also scored against his old club, pulling another goal back for The Gunners.

2-3!

However, in the 90th minute, Gareth Bale forcefully overtook Lichtsteiner on the left flank, carried the ball into the left side of the box, and scored.

4-2!

Wenger was utterly speechless.

It was already the 90th minute, how could this guy still sprint like that?

Where did he get the energy?

But regardless, Bayswater Chinese ultimately defeated Arsenal 4-2 at home, thanks to Harry Kane’s hat-trick.

It was after this match that Yang Cheng received two consecutive pieces of major news.

Chapter 328: The World is in Chaos! Platini Has Surrendered! Once Yang Cheng Arrives, We’ll Be Saved!

From the moment Michel Platini defeated Lennart Johansson in January 2007 to become the UEFA Chairman, almost everyone concluded that he was Sepp Blatter’s successor.

Everyone believed he would make the journey from Nyon, Switzerland, to Zurich.

Even Blatter himself was convinced of it.

In fact, it was Blatter who had personally campaigned for Platini, helping the young “successor” defeat his long-time rival, Johansson.

But the most interesting thing about the world is that it is always changing.

Goals change, decisions change, and everyone’s actions change.

By June 2014, Platini had publicly stood in opposition to Blatter for the first time.

At the 64th FIFA Executive Committee meeting, he single-handedly orchestrated a motion to force Blatter’s abdication.

He demanded strict limits on the age and tenure of incumbent FIFA officials.

Everyone knew this was aimed at Blatter.

But the cunning old fox Blatter was no pushover.

The two of them manufactured an absurd farce that left football fans around the world bewildered.

The electronic voting devices, prepared by none other than FIFA for all the Executive Committee members present, suddenly all malfunctioned just moments before the vote.

According to procedure, if the electronic voting devices failed, everyone would switch to a traditional manual ballot.

Some might say, aren’t both electronic and manual voting just forms of voting?

Electronic voting is anonymous. No one knows which button you pressed.

But manual voting is done right under Blatter’s nose. He would know exactly how you voted.

Everyone knew that with Blatter’s vindictive personality, those who opposed him would not meet a good end.

With this single move, Blatter completely turned his unfavorable situation around, and Platini’s attempt to force his hand was thwarted.

But the two former allies were now in open and complete opposition.

When news of this scene spread, media outlets and fans worldwide found it incredible.

Could FIFA, which earns so much money every year, not afford better quality electronic voting machines, preferably ones Made in China?

And even if one broke, that would be understandable, but why did they all break?

At the same time!

FIFA Secretary General Valcke also felt very “wronged,” stating that they had tested the devices before the meeting and everything was normal.

Afterward, they blamed the supplier of the voting machines, saying they would switch to another company.

But the matter was simply left at that.

The result of the vote was that FIFA would continue to have no restrictions on the age or tenure of its officials.

This high-level political struggle didn’t attract too much attention.

Even in December 2014, when FIFA held another Executive Committee meeting in Morocco and Platini led the charge to demand the public release of the World Cup bid investigation report, few fans paid attention.

But everyone in the industry felt a tense premonition, a storm brewing on the horizon.

The FIFA presidential election at the end of May 2015 was drawing ever closer.

Everyone felt that Platini’s pressure campaign would only intensify.

But just as time moved into March, not long ago, Platini attended a meeting of the 54 European football associations. He publicly stated that he would focus more on his work at UEFA.

“I love UEFA deeply, and it would be incredibly painful for me to change jobs!”

Those were Platini’s exact words.

The entire European football world was in an uproar.

That wasn’t what he had said before.

When Platini had previously launched a tirade against Blatter, he had said, “Blatter is a liar who has deceived everyone. He promised me he would not seek a fifth term.”

“I feel very uncomfortable now, to think that I actually supported such a sham!”

Over the past period, he had also frequently expressed his ambition to take the next step, repeatedly criticizing Blatter’s FIFA for its stench of corruption and the need for new blood.

The implication was clear, wasn’t it? That he, the younger man, was that new blood.

So why the change of heart now?

And the strangest thing was that just after Platini finished speaking, FIFA Executive Committee member Michel D’Hooghe came forward for an interview.

“This is a very positive signal. We are very happy that he is willing to continue as UEFA Chairman.”

“It means that there is no so-called struggle between FIFA and UEFA.”

The implication was that peace had returned to the football world!

Was it that simple?

No.

Not only had Platini himself accepted this recruitment, but he was also secretly persuading the chairman of the Dutch Football Association, former Ajax chairman van Praag, and the legendary star player Figo to withdraw from the FIFA presidential race one after another.

Figo had announced his candidacy in January. In less than two months, the Portuguese superstar announced his withdrawal.

The former rebel leader was the first to surrender!

Everyone knew there must have been some backroom deal involved.

But no one knew the details.

Including David Gill.

…

“Platini’s decision was very sudden. Even we were all very surprised. He doesn’t seem to have discussed it with anyone else.”

David Gill was also baffled by this outcome.

Given the current situation, with only two months left until the FIFA election, Blatter’s only remaining competitor was Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, but he was in no position to challenge Blatter.

Ultimately, his foundation was too shallow.

Everyone felt that this impending storm was becoming increasingly bizarre.

Yang Cheng, being in the thick of it, also found it more and more exciting.

In the end, it was a bit like the succession of the throne in a feudal dynasty.

Blatter was the emperor on high, and below him were the numerous princes vying for the throne.

Platini was the universally acknowledged Young Master.

David Gill, on the other hand, was the unfavored prince, a non-entity with no powerful maternal family to back him.

And now, Yang Cheng was backing this very overlooked prince.

“From the looks of it, Blatter and Platini must have reached some kind of agreement, which is why Platini would persuade van Praag and Figo to withdraw,” Adam Crozier analyzed.

This was obvious.

The key question was, what agreement did they reach?

“There’s another possibility: Blatter has some dirt on Platini.”

Yang Cheng had an idea of what it was, but he wasn’t entirely sure.

After hearing this, the others mulled it over and nodded in agreement.

Reaching an agreement shouldn’t be enough to make Platini work so hard for Blatter, right?

The most likely scenario was what Yang Cheng said: Blatter had some kind of leverage that made Platini extremely wary.

Using this as a basis, Blatter and Platini reached a cooperation agreement.

For example, Blatter would serve one more term, and then support Platini’s candidacy in the next election.

This was highly possible.

Because Platini was not yet sixty.

For a normal person, that was indeed not young, but for FIFA, it was considered very young indeed.

“If things continue like this, Blatter will have no opponents, and his re-election is a set in stone.”

As he said this, David Gill couldn’t help but turn to look at Yang Cheng.

It was Yang Cheng who had encouraged him to step up and contend, but now it was clear he couldn’t win.

Yang Cheng, however, saw the desire for power in David Gill’s eyes.

This was a good thing!

With that desire, he would fight for it, which would make their cooperation much smoother.

“Don’t worry, David. As I’ve said, the whole situation is not out of control. Everything is still proceeding according to plan.”

Yang Cheng gave him a confident smile.

“You should stick to our original plan. Aim for the positions of Vice-Chairman and finance director. This is a choice that perfectly suits your current position, and no one will suspect you.”

“You can also use this as a pretext to lobby everywhere.”

Right now, everyone’s attention was on Blatter and Platini. Who would care about David Gill?

Where did this Englishman even come from?

To put it bluntly, what qualifications did he have to be elected FIFA President?

Putting aside everything else, just going by seniority, there was FIFA Secretary General Valcke, Dutch Football Association Chairman and UEFA Vice-Chairman van Praag, Spanish Football Federation Chairman and UEFA Vice-Chairman Villar, UEFA Secretary General Infantino…

Which one of them didn’t have a better chance than David Gill?

Especially people like van Praag and Villar, who had been old hands in FIFA and UEFA for decades.

Frankly, as long as David Gill wasn’t foolish enough to jump out and declare his candidacy, no one would even notice him.

Even when Figo himself jumped into the race, who thought he had a chance?

Sometimes, in high-stakes power struggles like this, not just anyone can take a seat at the table. Seniority matters.

It’s not something you can have just because you want it.

For some reason, David Gill had always felt a sense of confidence emanating from Yang Cheng.

Perhaps it came not just from Yang Cheng himself, but also from the forces behind him.

“By now, you should see clearly that this is a dangerous struggle. You should use this time to go back and sort through your past, see if there are any violations or unclear areas.”

“It’s better for us to discover and resolve certain things in time than for our opponents to dig them up later and use them as weapons against us.”

This was no longer a hint from Yang Cheng; it was a direct instruction.

David Gill nodded, “Don’t worry. Since joining UEFA and FIFA, I’ve been careful at every step. I don’t believe I’ve made any mistakes. As for my time at Manchester United, there were no major blunders either.”

“You know, Manchester United introduced modern management models very early on and was one of the first European clubs to commercialize. The compensation was also high, so there were many things I wouldn’t touch.”

“That’s good,” Yang Cheng said with a smiling nod.

In his memory, David Gill had indeed never been exposed in any scandals.

“Next, we’ll stick to the original plan. Rest assured, neither Blatter nor Platini will be around for much longer. Someone will deal with them soon enough!”

Both David Gill and Adam Crozier were visibly astonished.

FIFA and UEFA both had their headquarters in the permanently neutral country of Switzerland.

On an international law level, this isolated them from the jurisdiction of other countries and regions.

Not only that, but they had also signed immunity agreements with their host country, Switzerland.

Therefore, even Switzerland’s own laws couldn’t effectively govern them.

Even in the case of many disputes and accusations, they were often resolved by paying a fine and leaving it at that.

This was, in a way, Switzerland providing a protective umbrella for these organizations.

The question was, in the current world system, who else could deal with Blatter and Platini?

But Yang Cheng didn’t say, and they couldn’t very well ask.

They could only tell from Yang Cheng’s tone and his way of doing things that it must be an incredibly powerful force.

Where in the world of football, or even European football, was there such a powerful force?

…

After seeing David Gill off, Xia Qing soon brought Yang Cheng another piece of a news.

The Dutch Football Association had finally issued its first penalty against FC Twente.

A three-point deduction.

For FC Twente, currently mid-table in the Eredivisie, this wasn’t particularly important.

They were safe from avoiding relegation, had no hope of winning the title, and reaching the European qualification spots was unrealistic.

Therefore, FC Twente’s reaction was lukewarm.

The Dutch Football Association had already issued a warning back on January 9th, but FC Twente hadn’t paid it any mind.

So, being punished now was within expectations.

The key was the next step.

“Now, the Dutch Football Association is demanding that FC Twente do three things within one month.”

Xia Qing reported the intelligence she had gathered from the Netherlands.

“First, effectively improve the club’s financial situation and produce a plan and timetable as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will be docked another three points in a month, which would make it a total of six points.”

Currently, after 26 rounds in the Eredivisie, FC Twente was in 8th place with 36 points.

Deducting three points would put them in 9th place.

Deducting six points would put them in 12th place.

There was still a certain distance from the relegation zone.

So, this wasn’t a major overhaul.

But being punished twice would certainly not look good, and it would have a significant impact on the team.

Especially on player morale.

So, if they really did this, it was hard to say what the outcome would be.

“Another matter is the transfer of Ziyech.”

“For the past few years, FC Twente has been playing fast and loose with the rules. The Dutch Football Association has turned a blind eye time and again. For example, in April 2014, FC Twente didn’t even submit its annual accounts for the 12/13 season and was fined 35,000 euro.”

“In June, FC Twente’s submitted accounts were incomplete, and their financial situation was worrying, so they were placed in Category 1 by the Dutch Football Association, meaning they were subject to financial supervision by the federation.”

“But in the summer of 2014, FC Twente sold their star player Tadić to Premier League side Southampton for 14 million euro and Quincy Promes to Spartak Moscow in Russia for 11.5 million euro.”

“Also, they bought Ziyech from Heerenveen for 3.5 million euro.”

“None of these three transfers were submitted to the Dutch Football Association for approval.”

“Moreover, the Dutch Football Association suspects that parts of the two sales involved so-called third-party ownership, specifically the matter of Doyen Sports buying the ownership rights of seven FC Twente players for 5 million euro.”

“FC Twente has not provided a reasonable explanation for any of this.”

“This brings us to the third matter: the agreement FC Twente signed with Doyen Sports must be disclosed to the Dutch Football Association.”

“The Dutch Football Association’s stance now is that a response must be given within one month. Otherwise, they will begin discussions on whether to revoke FC Twente’s eligibility to participate in the next Eredivisie season.”

Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and the others all shook their heads with wry smiles after hearing this.

The European football world was truly full of shambolic operations.

It was the same when Barça was punished by FIFA, and now it was the same with FC Twente being punished by the Dutch Football Association.

They’ve already let you off the hook several times, let things slide, so can’t you cooperate just a little?

Everyone knows there are problems with your transfers and sales.

But you’re just going to do this, not even bothering with the superficials, and just lie flat and take the ridicule?

“So, I’ve always felt that the reason many European clubs harbor a bunch of good-for-nothings is because they’ve been spoiled by local governments and fans!” Yang Cheng said with a sigh.

Including that bunch of good-for-nothings at Hamburger SV!

And that group at Barça, they’re all the same.

Perhaps when it comes to running election campaigns and internal struggles, they are all masters.

But when it comes to business operations, they are truly in a league of their own.

“How is FC Twente responding now?” Yang Cheng asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Xia Qing also shook her head speechlessly, “No response.”

“No response?” Adam Crozier blurted out.

They’re not even doing the most basic crisis PR?

“FC Twente is in big trouble of its own right now,” Xia Qing said with a bitter smile.

“What do you mean?”

What could be more troublesome than this?

“FC Twente’s tickets are operated and managed by an IT company called XS2, including season ticket and ticket sales. So, daily maintenance and ticket checks for fans entering the stadium are also services provided by this company.”

“But now, this company has gone bankrupt, and its operations have been suspended!”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

This could happen?

“But the key is, when the local media in Enschede went to XS2’s headquarters in Amsterdam to find out what was going on, they discovered that the company actually only had 19 employees, and its owner is the son of FC Twente’s Chairman, Joop Munsterman.”

Everyone suddenly had a moment of realization.

So that’s how it is!

This was truly fascinating!

It was about to be complete chaos!

“The board of directors within FC Twente is already in an uproar. The fans’ season tickets and ticket sales are with this now-bankrupt company, and it also involves the club chairman being suspected of corruption. On top of that, there’s pressure from the Dutch Football Association. It’s truly a case of internal and external troubles.”

Yang Cheng really had no idea that the story at FC Twente would be so dramatic.

In his previous life, this small club had very little presence. Apart from knowing that FC Twente was heavily in debt, he didn’t know much else.

Now that he knew the inside story, he discovered that although the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs.

The things that big clubs do, small clubs don’t lack any of them.

That’s how it is with member-based clubs!

Even with shareholding system reform of a member-based club, it still can’t be changed.

To put it bluntly, the club is not the property of the management. Who can effectively supervise the management?

The fans?

Isn’t the management elected by the fans?

The situation is worse here in the Netherlands. In Germany, there’s a so-called Supervisory Board.

But is it useful?

Ultimately, the fans care about results.

If the club’s management handles the team’s results well, and has been in charge for many years with sufficient prestige, who can supervise them?

This situation at FC Twente was indeed small potatoes.

But the question was, how much money did this club pay XS2 company each year for these services?

Were there any other partnerships?

This was a complete mess!

There was no telling how many similar incidents there were in European football.

Even with the introduction of modern management systems, it was impossible to completely prevent such things from happening.

“Currently, FC Twente itself has not made any public response. Instead, it’s their kit sponsor, the Swiss-based Qatari sports brand Burrda, and their shirt sponsor, the famous Dutch mobile payment software XXImo, who have both come forward.”

“They have both clearly stated that if the Dutch Football Association’s punishment is truly handed down and FC Twente cannot participate in the next Eredivisie season, they will reconsider their sponsorship deals.”

Burrda was a new brand, founded in 2007, but it had invested heavily in recent years, including sponsoring Premier League teams.

“What about the Enschede municipal government?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

“Enschede is currently changing mayors. The former mayor, Peter den Oudsten, has been transferred to become the mayor of Groningen. The current mayor is the former mayor of Hoorn, Onno van Veldhuizen, who has just taken office in recent days. No one has time to deal with FC Twente.”

“A government spokesperson told local media that they were disappointed with the Dutch Football Association’s point deduction and urged FC Twente to rectify the situation as soon as possible, followed by a bunch of pompous platitudes.”

“As for media inquiries about whether the government would step in to support FC Twente, the Enschede municipal government declined to comment.”

“According to local media reports, FC Twente’s current debt has exceeded 90 million euro!”

“90 million euro?”

Adam Crozier was startled. “How did they accumulate that much?”

“Who knows?” Xia Qing shook her head with a wry smile.

“In the summer of 2014, the Dutch Football Association announced they would supervise their finances and cut their spending. But even so, for the 14/15 season, they are projected to lose 8 to 10 million euro.”

These were debts accumulated over the past decade or so, simply left unresolved.

For a Dutch club, 90 million euros was indeed a terrifying amount.

But in European football, it really wasn’t that much.

For example, the Premier League’s Red Devils, Manchester United, had a debt of 500 million pound sterling.

This was thanks to the “generosity” of the Glazer family.

Primeira Liga’s Benfica was also heavily in debt, with over 300 million euro.

The most absurd case was West London’s Queens Park Rangers.

After being acquired by American real estate tycoon Steve Ross, they incurred losses year after year.

It was said that their debt now exceeded 300 million pound sterling, more than five times their fixed assets.

So, Queens Park Rangers was now like a leech attached to Steve Ross, and the American tycoon couldn’t shake it off.

He invested funds several times, attempting to get back into the Premier League, but all attempts ended in failure, resulting in even greater losses.

Now, Steve Ross was also lying flat and taking the ridicule.

Another interesting thing was that Benfica was a publicly traded company. The club’s stock was now worth just over one euro per share, and the total market capitalization was only a little over twenty million euro.

So, what was the value of this Primeira Liga club?

No matter how Yang Cheng calculated it, they weren’t worth over 300 million euro.

Moreover, with Benfica’s and the Primeira Liga’s income, how long would it take to pay off a debt of over 300 million euro? Ages ago?

To some extent, acquiring such a club was truly worthless!

Not to mention, the Primeira Liga had been very chaotic over the years, especially in third-party ownership of players, where it was arguably the unparalleled leader in European football.

Don’t be fooled by how high those Primeira Liga teams seem to sell their players for; in reality?

The prices are inflated. How much of it actually ends up in the club’s pocket?

Under these circumstances, buying a team like Benfica was like stepping into a bottomless pit.

Not to mention the fan protests.

…

Fifty-two-year-old Onno van Veldhuizen had worked his way up from the city of Nieuwkoop with a population of over ten thousand, to the city of Hoorn with over fifty thousand.

After twelve years of hard work in Hoorn, he finally took a crucial step, arriving in the large city of Enschede.

As a mayor who had risen from the grassroots and had an educational background from the University of Münster in Germany, he knew very well why he had been assigned to the border city of Enschede.

The higher-ups hoped to leverage his experience in Germany and his close ties with Westphalia to promote cooperation between Enschede and German cities, thereby driving Enschede’s development.

Onno van Veldhuizen was also ambitious and wanted to achieve great things in Enschede.

While still in Hoorn, he had already formulated a three-pronged approach.

The first was football.

In any city in the Netherlands, football is very important and the best way to connect with the citizens.

The second was Germany.

And the third was the University of Twente.

It was with this understanding that Van Veldhuizen’s first inspection after taking office was to the University of Twente.

At the university, he also invited many famous alumni to meet and discuss the city’s development plans.

His first official trip abroad was to cross the border on the edge of the city to visit old friends in Münster, Germany, seeking opportunities for mutual cooperation and benefit.

But regarding Enschede’s team, FC Twente, Van Veldhuizen had yet to make a move.

Because he didn’t know what to do right now.

He had worked in Hoorn for over a decade.

The city is located on the shores of the Markermeer, north of Amsterdam, and very close to Alkmaar.

He was not only familiar with the capital, Amsterdam, but even more so with Alkmaar.

He had personally witnessed the entire process of how AZ Alkmaar rapidly developed into a Dutch powerhouse within a few years.

Van Gaal’s coaching was certainly crucial, but the most important factor was the youth academy.

Building on the foundation laid by van Gaal, AZ Alkmaar has always insisted on creating the best youth academy in the Netherlands.

Today, AZ Alkmaar’s youth academy is even on par with Ajax’s, not to mention Feyenoord’s and PSV Eindhoven’s.

This was the foundation of AZ Alkmaar!

But what about FC Twente?

Their youth academy was a mess, and the first team was also terrible.

From the late 1990s to the present, they have had to seek financial support from the municipal government almost every year just to keep operating.

It was a bottomless pit for the city’s finances!

To some extent, this team was a drag on the city!

Of course, no one dared to admit this.

Because this was the faith of Enschede, of the Tukkers!

But it was indeed a drag.

Just like the place where Van Veldhuizen was standing at this very moment.

The Diekman Stadium in the southern part of Enschede.

This was a very old stadium, once a landmark of the city.

After FC Twente was founded in 1965, they played their matches in this stadium until 1998, when they moved to De Grolsch Veste, located in the northwest of the city next to the University of Twente.

At that time, the newly built stadium was not called by this name, but the Arke Stadion, with a capacity of only 13,500.

So what was to be done with the abandoned Diekman Stadium?

Together with the municipal government at the time, FC Twente planned to build a modern training complex here, one that could rival those of powerhouse teams like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord.

This was the Diekman Football Park plan.

The entire plan not only covered the Diekman Stadium but also a large area of surrounding land.

From 1998 to 2015, seventeen years had passed, and the place was overgrown with weeds.

It was muddy on rainy days, and at night, residents passing by felt panicked.

If it were just that, it would be one thing.

At most, it would mean FC Twente didn’t have the money to build a training ground and was just occupying a large piece of land.

This was common in every city in Europe and the Netherlands.

Football stadiums inherently take up a lot of space.

In 2004, six years after moving into the Arke Stadion, FC Twente, which had just emerged from a bankruptcy crisis with a government loan, proposed to expand the stadium from 13,500 to 24,000 capacity.

They believed that expanding the stadium’s capacity would bring the team more lucrative home game matchday revenue.

They even submitted a plan that convinced the municipal government at the time to support it.

It took a full four years, from 2004 to 2008, to expand the first stand.

But was that it?

No!

In 2008, they again requested a 20 million euro loan from the municipal government to expand the two side stands, increasing the stadium’s capacity from 24,000 to 30,000.

But on July 7, 2011, the roof of the stand under construction collapsed, killing two young construction workers and injuring nine others. The project was forced to a halt.

An investigation revealed that the cause of the accident was improper operation by the contractor hired by FC Twente.

This caused a huge uproar at the time, but in the end, no definitive answer was ever given.

The reason was simple: it involved many issues that could not be disclosed to the public.

Including internal corruption at the club.

It was precisely because of the collapse of the stand roof that caused the strange sight of De Grolsch Veste having only three of its four stands expanded.

Over the past years, the Enschede municipal government has had to spend a large sum of money to support FC Twente every year.

The club’s debt has grown higher and higher, now reaching 90 million euros.

What’s even more outrageous is that shortly after Van Veldhuizen took office, the club’s ticketing and turnstile system collapsed, and behind it all, once again, were allegations of corruption involving the FC Twente chairman.

Van Veldhuizen hardly knew how to describe his feelings at this moment.

He even began to suspect, were these bastards sucking FC Twente’s blood?

No, they were sucking the blood of the Enschede municipal government, the blood of all its citizens!

Van Veldhuizen knew full well that if he couldn’t get rid of this burden, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything during his term. Just filling their financial holes every year would be enough to overwhelm him.

That was a loss of 8 to 10 million euro every season!

On one hand, the citizens would surely call on the municipal government to step in and save this symbol of the Tukkers’ faith.

On the other hand, FC Twente’s management was lying flat with such audacity, even enriching themselves.

…

“Hennie, you are a successful real estate businessman. Do you have any good ideas to solve the current problem?”

On the stands of the Diekman Stadium, looking at the completely dilapidated old stadium, Van Veldhuizen shook his head speechlessly.

The current situation was even worse than he had anticipated.

Hennie ten Hag was not only a famous real estate developer in Enschede but also FC Twente’s God of Wealth.

“Frankly, Mayor, right now, there really isn’t a good solution. If the municipal government doesn’t step in, at the very least to guarantee a loan for FC Twente, the club definitely won’t be able to survive.”

Hearing this, a look of disgust flashed across Van Veldhuizen’s face.

He had been in this city for a few days, and several people had said similar things to him.

He didn’t like this feeling of being threatened!

If it happened once, it would certainly happen a second and a third time, until it ran through his entire term.

“Is this how you’ve always operated, using the fans as leverage to force the municipal government’s hand?” Van Veldhuizen retorted in a hostile tone.

A hint of panic flashed across Hennie ten Hag’s face. “Mayor, you’re exaggerating.”

“Am I?”

Van Veldhuizen’s tone grew even harsher. “Before becoming the mayor of Nieuwkoop, I worked in the business sector for many years. We have a market economy. As a joint-stock company with an independent legal personality, shouldn’t you at FC Twente be trying to save yourselves?”

“Have you ever seen a company that loses money year after year and demands support from the municipal government year after year?”

At this point, a sharp glint flashed in Van Veldhuizen’s eyes. “If this is your attitude, then I have only one attitude as well: let this club go bankrupt and be relegated!”

This time, Hennie ten Hag was genuinely flustered.

“Mayor, FC Twente is the only Eredivisie team in our entire Enschede region. It cannot be relegated!”

“There’s nothing that’s impossible!”

Van Veldhuizen’s tone grew heavier. “For the past dozen years, you have repeatedly made various demands of the municipal government. How much money do you owe the city? And how many bank loans has the city guaranteed for you?”

“But what about you? Have you ever thought of saving yourselves? No, not once!”

“What’s the deal with the ticketing and turnstile system this time? Where is Joop Munsterman, why isn’t he here? Shouldn’t he give us, and all the fans, an explanation?”

Hennie ten Hag was unable to utter a single word.

This matter was escalating and becoming increasingly unmanageable.

Joop Munsterman was already considering resigning!

This had been the standard practice for previous FC Twente chairmen when trouble arose.

For example, the collapse on July 7, 2011, ended with the chairman’s resignation.

As for the cause of the accident, it remains unclear to this day.

Why?

Come on, the chairman already resigned, what’s left to investigate?

“You people, you were already in cahoots before anything happened, and when things go wrong, you protect each other. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to. Your tricks only work on ordinary fans. They won’t work on me!”

Hennie ten Hag was so scolded he didn’t dare to breathe.

Because he knew he was in the wrong.

More importantly, he knew that to save FC Twente now, they could only rely on the municipal government, on this newly appointed mayor.

It’s just a few scolding words, right?

I’ll endure it!

As long as the money comes, things will be easier to handle in the future.

“Take my words back to Munsterman and those people at the FC Twente foundation. This time, the municipal government will not give you a single cent, nor will we provide any guarantees or preferential treatment. You figure out how to solve your own problems!”

Hearing Van Veldhuizen speak so resolutely, Hennie ten Hag began to panic.

“Mayor, we can’t do that. If we really do that, FC Twente will definitely be relegated, or even go bankrupt.”

“If it should be relegated, it will be relegated. If it should go bankrupt, it will go bankrupt!” Van Veldhuizen maintained his resolute stance.

As Hennie ten Hag thought about this, a flash of brilliance suddenly struck him. “If there’s really no other way, then I’m afraid we can only accept an acquisition by foreign investors and sell the club.”

This was originally intended as a threat.

But unexpectedly, when Van Veldhuizen heard it, his eyes lit up. “There are foreign investors who want to acquire FC Twente?”

Hennie ten Hag was stunned.

Mayor, we’re talking about a foreign takeover right now.

Shouldn’t you be firmly opposed to it?

From the perspective of Enschede, from the perspective of all the Tukkers fans, you should be resolutely against it.

You need to consider the consequences, the political implications!

How can you not play by the established routine?

If the club is really acquired by foreign capital and the local fans riot, can you control the situation?

“Which country’s capital wants to acquire FC Twente? The United States? Germany? Or somewhere else?”

Now Hennie ten Hag truly understood.

This new mayor really didn’t have any of that historical baggage. He really was planning to sell FC Twente.

The Enschede municipal government was currently FC Twente’s largest creditor!

“From China!” Hennie ten Hag replied faintly.

Van Veldhuizen frowned upon hearing this.

Bringing in capital from China indeed required more consideration.

But just as Hennie ten Hag thought he had intimidated the new mayor, Van Veldhuizen’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“You’re not talking about Yang Cheng of the Premier League’s Bayswater Chinese, are you?”

As he spoke, he looked incredibly excited and delighted.

Hennie ten Hag was momentarily stunned.

Wait, you were just frowning. How did you get so happy all of a sudden?

“Is it Yang Cheng?” Van Veldhuizen pressed again.

Hennie ten Hag knew he couldn’t hide this. Many people were aware of it.

“He is indeed interested, but…”

“Yang Cheng is great!” Van Veldhuizen had no intention of letting him continue and cut him off directly.

“I had thought of him before. I never expected him to be interested in investing in our Enschede.”

“This is fantastic! As long as he comes, Enschede will be saved!”

“He previously acquired OGC Nice in Ligue 1, built a training complex, and then built a new stadium. After a few years of operation, Nice is now a strong team in Ligue 1, and its youth academy is also developing rapidly.”

“And Atalanta, I heard they’re also renovating their stadium, expanding their training complex, and reorganizing their youth academy.”

“Málaga CF is even more incredible. They have the largest training complex in all of Spain, a brand-new stadium, and a real estate project worth over one billion euro.”

The more he spoke, the brighter Van Veldhuizen’s eyes became.

If Yang Cheng really came to invest in Enschede, wouldn’t that be absolutely amazing?

What kind of place was Enschede?

Putting everything else aside, just the expansion of one side of De Grolsch Veste’s stands took four years.

Why?

No money!

And this stadium before them, overgrown with weeds and abandoned for over a decade, why was it still being kept?

Wasn’t it also because of a lack of money?

Why was FC Twente’s youth academy so poor?

Ultimately, it was still a lack of money!

Yang Cheng is great!

If he was willing to invest in Enschede, bringing the formidable strength of the Bayswater Chinese and their world-class youth development capabilities, wouldn’t FC Twente just take off?

Then, FC Twente could even rival Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord, becoming a powerhouse in the eastern Netherlands!

At this thought, Van Veldhuizen’s heart burned with excitement.

Wasn’t this the political achievement he had been desperately craving?

Hennie ten Hag, standing to the side, had been closely observing the changes in Van Veldhuizen’s expression.

He realized that the new mayor was clearly leaning more and more towards bringing in Yang Cheng.

This made him panic.

If Yang Cheng came and took over FC Twente, what would happen to old-timers like them?

How would they be able to leech off FC Twente for profit then?

“Mayor, I have to remind you, FC Twente is the only Eredivisie team in our surrounding region, covering a population of one million with countless fans. If we sell to foreign investors, have you considered the fans’ reaction?”

Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in Van Veldhuizen’s eyes.

This was no longer a reminder, but a threat.

It represented that group of vampires at FC Twente!

“Hennie, you’re a smart man. You should know very well that FC Twente can’t last much longer.”

“Let’s make a guess. Given the team’s current situation, if I were to make everything public, would the fans be more willing to continue accepting you all, or to welcome foreign capital like Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese?”

That was truly hard to say.

The vocal ones might all be against foreign investment, but what about the vast silent majority?

“Let me tell you, you are far less important than you imagine yourselves to be!” Van Veldhuizen also made his stance clear.

“I’ll say it again: if you have the ability to solve the team’s current problems and become self-sufficient from now on, then I will respect your opinions. But if you want to continue as you have in the past, I’m sorry, I disagree!”

Hearing this, Hennie ten Hag finally understood completely.

Times had changed!

The easygoing Peter den Oudsten was already in Groningen.

For the next few years, the mayor of Enschede would be Van Veldhuizen.

“If I’m not mistaken, Hennie, your son, Erik ten Hag, previously accepted Yang Cheng’s invitation to go to Brazil and coach Palmeiras, right?”

This matter had been reported by the local media in Enschede before.

Hennie ten Hag nodded, somewhat dazed.

“In that case, I can rest assured leaving this matter to you. You will be responsible for connecting with Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese. Try to invite them for a trip to the Netherlands. I will speak with them personally!”

Having said that, Van Veldhuizen looked deeply at Hennie ten Hag again.

“I’ll say it one last time, Hennie. If you can solve the problem yourselves, I won’t interfere. Otherwise, do as I say.”

“Don’t forget, you only have one month!”

Hennie ten Hag stood frozen in place, watching in utter confusion as Van Veldhuizen turned and walked away.

Chapter 329: Storming Bayswater! The Three Giants of La Liga vs. Yang Cheng! This is the Power of a World-Class Midfielder!

On the evening of March 7th, in an FA Cup quarter-final knockout match, Bayswater Chinese traveled to Villa Park to challenge Aston Villa.

Aston Villa was currently 18th in the Premier League, their situation precarious.

However, there was only a five-point gap between them and 11th-placed Newcastle.

This meant the battle in the bottom half of the league was still incredibly tight.

With the final ten rounds of the season remaining, every team was giving their all.

Under these circumstances, Aston Villa wouldn’t be fielding their full-strength squad for this match.

For instance, midfielder Tom Cleverley, on loan from Manchester United, and their own youth academy prospect, Grealish, both started the game.

Yang Cheng also fielded a lineup of substitutes and young players.

As a result, although it was a clash between two Premier League teams, it was actually a battle among youngsters.

It wasn’t until the 40th minute of the first half that Sterling assisted Theo Walcott for a goal.

This gave the visiting Bayswater Chinese a one-goal lead heading into halftime.

After the break, in the 51st minute, De Bruyne received the ball in central midfield and sent a 45-degree cross. Sterling made a precise run into the left side of the penalty area, collected the ball, and scored with a push shot.

2-0!

As the match neared its end, in the 85th minute, Grealish assisted Sinclair, who found the back of the net.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 2-1 away from home, successfully advancing to the FA Cup semi-finals.

…

On the evening of March 10th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

In the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Bayswater Chinese hosted Paris Saint-Germain.

Having won the first leg 4-1 away, Yang Cheng’s team held a commanding advantage.

In the second leg, Blanc had no choice but to adopt a more proactive and aggressive strategy.

Almost everyone believed that PSG’s hopes of advancing were gone.

But even so, they had to show the right attitude.

Therefore, from the kick-off, the visiting Paris Saint-Germain adopted a do-or-die approach, launching an aggressive and ferocious press against Bayswater Chinese across the entire front line.

They played with a determination that suggested they wouldn’t rest until they won.

Yang Cheng and his coaching staff had anticipated that their opponents would do this from the very beginning.

They had no other choice!

The contest between the two sides was incredibly fierce.

Just three minutes into the game, former Inter Milan centre-back Kamara fouled Giroud while defending and was shown a yellow card.

At only 1.82 meters tall and approaching his 36th birthday, Kamara was at a clear disadvantage against the young, strong, and towering Giroud.

But there was nothing to be done; this was a mistake PSG had made during their team-building.

They had placed too much emphasis on their midfield and attack, neglecting their central defense.

In the first leg, Blanc started Kimpembe, but the young centre-back lacked experience, and PSG’s entire backline was torn to shreds by their opponents.

Now, playing away, Blanc opted for the veteran Kamara.

But this meant that the two short centre-backs, Kamara and Marquinhos, were in a very difficult position when facing Giroud.

At the 13-minute mark, Bayswater Chinese gained possession in their own half.

PSG pressed forward aggressively.

The moment Ibrahimović saw Toni Kroos on the ball, he charged toward him.

Seeing Kroos pass back to Nemanja Matić, the Swedish centre-forward then rushed towards Matić.

The ball then went to Thiago Silva, who was positioned furthest back.

Ibrahimović once again chased after the Brazilian centre-back.

The surrounding PSG players were doing much the same.

Thirteen minutes had passed, and they still hadn’t created a threatening attack. How were they supposed to fight for a spot in the next round?

When Thiago Silva received the ball outside the arc of his own penalty area and saw Ibrahimović charging at him, he immediately dribbled to the right and quickly played a low through ball.

Modrić dropped back from an advanced position, raising his hand to call for the ball.

In this match, PSG’s starting front three were Javier Pastore, Ibrahimović, and Lucas Moura.

Pastore was on the same side as Modrić. As soon as he saw Modrić dropping back to receive the ball, he immediately abandoned Piszczek and sprinted towards the Croatian.

The Argentine’s plan was well-calculated.

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that Modrić had his back to him, closing in to tackle him as he received the ball.

Against Toni Kroos, Pastore’s physical advantage might not be obvious, but against Modrić, he felt he could do it.

The Argentinian closed in quickly from behind, a flicker of glee in his heart.

He hasn’t spotted me!

But just as Pastore closed in on Modrić, right as Modrić was about to control the ball with his back to the direction of attack, the Croatian suddenly dipped his left shoulder, as if to turn towards the right touchline.

This delighted Pastore, who immediately reacted.

But as soon as he took that step, the Argentinian knew he was done for.

Why would he turn before even receiving the ball?

His action had been purely instinctive, and Modrić had fooled him.

Sure enough, while Modrić feigned a turn to the outside, he actually used the outside of his right foot to control the ball, immediately spinning towards the center.

As he turned, his left foot followed through, and he burst into motion.

Pastore’s reaction was quite fast; he instantly regained his balance.

But Modrić was faster. The control and turn were seamless, and he slipped right past Pastore.

By the time the Argentinian turned around, Modrić was already surging forward with the ball.

My God, this is the power of a world-class midfielder!

Does he have eyes in the back of his head?

Didn’t he see me?

Or did he see me all along and was just pretending not to?

Did he see me or not?

While Pastore was lost in his confusion, Matuidi was the first to rush over and intercept Modrić as he charged forward.

But the French midfielder hadn’t expected Pastore to be beaten so easily, which caused him to misjudge the timing.

He came in too aggressively. Modrić, who had been dribbling diagonally towards the center, suddenly changed direction and went straight forward.

After evading Matuidi, Modrić had already carried the ball to the halfway line.

Cabaye was the first to react, launching into a sliding tackle, trying to stop both man and ball outside his team’s half.

But Modrić’s reactions were swift. He poked the ball forward just in time and accelerated to chase after it.

Cabaye’s sliding tackle hit nothing but air.

Modrić continued to drive forward with the ball, pressing towards Paris Saint-Germain’s 30-meter area.

PSG’s defensive line was in constant retreat, all their attention focused on Gareth Bale on the right flank.

Everyone knew that Modrić favored the right side and had a better understanding with Gareth Bale.

But just as Modrić carried the ball into PSG’s 30-meter area, he suddenly played a diagonal pass with the inside of his right foot.

The ball threaded through the gap between Marquinhos and Kamara, heading towards the left side of the penalty area.

Kamara immediately turned to chase back.

He saw a red silhouette making a quick diagonal run into the box from the left.

It was Eden Hazard!

He instinctively reached out, placing a hand on Hazard’s shoulder, wanting to pull the Belgian winger back.

But he hesitated.

He was already on a yellow card.

Pulling him down and conceding a set piece outside the box wasn’t the main issue.

The key was that he would definitely receive another card.

A red card just thirteen minutes into the match would mean the game was over.

In that fleeting moment of Kamara’s hesitation, Hazard broke free from the French defender’s grasp, received the ball, and drove into the left side of the box. Facing the onrushing Sirigu, the Belgian coolly fired a power shot, sending the ball into the Paris Saint-Germain goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 13th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese takes the lead at home!”

“A goal from Eden Hazard!”

“The Belgian youngster’s performance has been outstanding!”

“Of course, the primary credit for this goal should go to Modrić.”

“It was his incredible long-distance sprint and dribble that created this brilliant assist for Hazard!”

“Gareth Bale drew the defense’s attention, but the goalscorer is Hazard!”

The entire Prudential Stadium instantly erupted in thunderous cheers.

All the fans were screaming at the top of their lungs.

The Bayswater Chinese players celebrated with wild abandon.

1-0!

5-1 on aggregate!

How could PSG possibly come back from this?

…

After Hazard’s goal, the game opened up.

Just five minutes later, PSG also created an opportunity.

Matuidi broke into the left side of the penalty area and played a clever backheel pass. Ibrahimović unleashed a power shot from the edge of the six-yard box and scored.

1-1!

The two sides were back on level terms.

But when it came to an all-out attacking game, Bayswater Chinese had never been afraid of anyone.

Bayswater Chinese soon began to dominate the game, pinning PSG back.

In the 34th minute, Hazard received the ball on the left outside the penalty area. Facing Van der Wiel, the Belgian used a series of feints to successfully shake off the defender before sending in a cross from the left.

Giroud, in the center, followed up quickly, overpowering Kamara to score with a header.

2-1!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers once again!

The first half ended 2-1.

After the break, PSG continued their all-out attack.

In the 48th minute, Lucas Moura dribbled on the right side of the box. After a series of feints deceived Luke Shaw, he turned, went to the byline, and sent a low, driven cross to the front of the goal.

Ibrahimović slid in for a shot at the goalmouth.

The ball hit the side netting.

But Bayswater Chinese swiftly retaliated.

In the 70th minute, after winning the ball back in their own half, Bayswater Chinese passed it to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder lofted a diagonal long pass, delivering the ball with precision to the front line.

Giroud made a quick diagonal run to the right side outside the box. As the ball came down, he used the inside of his left foot to control it towards the center.

Gareth Bale sprinted forward at lightning speed, catching up to Giroud’s pass and carrying the ball towards the left side of the arc of the penalty area.

Upon reaching the ball again, Gareth Bale unleashed a furious shot, a long shot that seemed to carry the force of a thunderbolt.

The football, like a missile, shot into the left side of the PSG goal at incredible speed.

3-1!

7-2 on aggregate!

With only twenty minutes left in the match, PSG had little chance of turning things around.

In the final stages of the game, it was clear that both sides had more or less accepted the result.

This was especially true for Yang Cheng’s team.

They made successive substitutions.

And when the final whistle blew, the entire stadium once again descended into a frenzy.

7-2!

Bayswater Chinese had once again stormed into the Champions League quarter-finals!

And they had done so with such an astonishingly wide margin!

At that moment, in the stands of the Prudential Stadium, fans began to rise from their seats, shouting Yang Cheng’s name at the top of their lungs.

More and more fans stood up and chanted.

Eventually, the entire stadium, all ninety thousand people, were on their feet.

They first chanted Yang Cheng’s name for a long time, then Modrić’s, then Gareth Bale’s, Toni Kroos’, and other players.

After chanting each player’s name, they roared in unison from the stands, “Champions League! Champions League!! Champions League!!!”

“I wonder if the fans watching on television can hear the roars from the Prudential Stadium, from ninety thousand Bayswater Chinese supporters. They are all chanting for the Champions League.”

“Despite having already won three consecutive titles, it seems their hunger for the Champions League is as strong as ever!”

“That’s right, in the past few decades, no team has ever won the Champions League four years in a row!”

“Never!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s performance has been incredibly dominant. Defeating Paris Saint-Germain 7-2 has shown everyone the invincible strength of this team.”

…

On the afternoon of March 14th, in the 29th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese faced Crystal Palace away from home.

As a renowned Premier League manager, Alan Pardew was also one to keep up with the times.

Playing at home, his team attempted to threaten Bayswater Chinese right from the start through passing, possession, and relying on their key players, in a classic “the best defense is a good offense” approach.

The players Alan Pardew was relying on were former Manchester United forward Campbell and winger Zaha.

The team from the south bank of the River Thames boasted a huge talent pool, further supplemented by the overflow of youth academy prospects from giants like Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

All of this made Crystal Palace a very respectable side.

The most typical example was Zaha.

He was an Afro-descendant player from the south bank of the Thames.

As a winger, the 22-year-old Zaha had clearly made a name for himself at a young age. The best proof of this was that he had been scouted early on by Ferguson and signed by Manchester United for a high fee.

This season, he was first loaned back to Crystal Palace from Manchester United, where he performed exceptionally well, and was then bought outright by Crystal Palace during the winter transfer window.

It couldn’t be helped; the price was too cheap, only three million pound sterling.

Crystal Palace was actually a very interesting and discussion-worthy team.

On this team, there were many players like Zaha.

Is Zaha good?

Almost everyone who has watched him play would think, “This kid is very good.”

His individual ability is undeniable.

Dribbling, speed, physical resistance—he possesses all the qualities of a top-tier winger.

Crucially, he genuinely breezes past defenders with ease.

This season in the Premier League, he averaged 2.8 dribbles per game. That’s an impressive statistic, isn’t it?

But many people would surely wonder.

Why isn’t a top club interested in such a talented winger?

There are actually many players like him, such as Saint-Maximin, who played for Newcastle in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Upon deeper analysis, it’s easy to discover that these players have clear strengths and weaknesses.

Take Zaha this season as an example.

Although his average successful dribbles per game is 2.8, his key passes per game are only 0.5.

In other words, he only delivers a killer pass once every two games.

This starkly reflects the problem Zaha faces.

Furthermore, as a Premier League player, and a winger at that, Zaha’s pass completion rate this season is a mere 73%.

Most of his passes occur in the midfield and final third, with a 71% completion rate in the attacking third and 77% in midfield.

His cross completion rate is only 18%.

The data clearly shows that Zaha is essentially a winger who can only dribble past players but offers little threat afterward.

Let’s make a direct comparison.

Among the four wingers at Bayswater Chinese, let’s not even bring up Gareth Bale to bully him.

Eden Hazard averages 4.8 dribbles per game in the Premier League, and in the Champions League, it’s as high as 7.3.

The Belgian averages 2.6 key passes per game, with a pass completion rate of 87% and a cross completion rate of 25%.

Putting Hazard aside, let’s talk about Walcott.

The Little Tiger’s average dribbles per game is 1.5, a fair bit lower than Zaha’s, right?

But his average key passes per game is 1.3.

Furthermore, his pass completion rate is 83%, with a 90% completion rate in midfield, 78% in the final third, and a cross completion rate of 31%.

Among the three players, Sterling’s dribbling numbers are actually the closest to Zaha’s.

Sterling averages 2.9 dribbles per game.

But his average key passes per game is a staggering 2.1, a full four times that of Zaha.

His pass completion rate is 81%, and his cross completion rate is 22%.

And everyone knows that Bayswater Chinese is not a team that relies heavily on crosses.

From this comparison of players, it’s easy to see why Zaha couldn’t establish himself at a top club.

But his ability is indeed very strong.

The current Crystal Palace team is filled with players like Zaha.

Distinctive strengths, high ability, but also very obvious weaknesses.

If Zaha’s passing ability were stronger, he could absolutely play a role as a specialist player in a top team.

But unfortunately, his pass completion rate is simply too low.

And in this match against Crystal Palace, the strategy Yang Cheng adopted was to leave the right wing open, letting Zaha dribble and charge forward.

This was somewhat like the principle from the ancient Chinese art of war: when you surround an army, leave an outlet free.

Just seven minutes into the game, it was Marcelo who intercepted a pass from Zaha and quickly launched a counter-attack.

Gareth Bale received a through ball from Modrić, beat a defender to the ball, poked it into the right side of the box, then accelerated to chase it down and calmly scored from the right side of the penalty area, scoring the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

Then, just before the end of the first half, another swift counter-attack was launched after winning the ball in midfield.

Gareth Bale, on the right side near the edge of the box, controlled the ball, cut inside, and suddenly unleashed a furious shot.

The goalkeeper, Speroni, parried the ball, but Harry Kane pounced on the rebound inside the six-yard box and scored, doubling the team’s lead.

2-0!

After the break, it was Zaha again, who, upon receiving the ball in the penalty area, hesitated to shoot. His eventual shot was blocked in time by Thiago Silva and cleared out of the box.

Casemiro launched a counter-attack.

Gareth Bale went on a long solo run, suddenly came to a sharp stop on the right side of the penalty area, cut inside, shook off a defender, and scored with a power shot from his left foot, extending the lead once more.

3-0!

Gareth Bale had scored a brace!

At this point, the match had completely entered garbage time.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace away from home, thanks to Gareth Bale’s brace.

In the same round of fixtures, Arsenal defeated West Ham United 3-0 at home.

Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at home.

Liverpool won 1-0 away against Swansea City.

Manchester City defeated Burnley 1-0 away.

Only Chelsea drew, held 1-1 at home by Southampton.

Mourinho’s team had taken the lead in the 11th minute through Diego Costa.

But in the 19th minute, The Saints’ forward Tadić equalized.

Neither side was able to score again after that.

A 1-1 draw, and the two teams shared the points.

…

After the 29th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had a week-long break.

During the midweek, the remaining four second-leg matches of the Champions League Round of 16 were played.

Once all the matches were completed, there were some surprising results.

Previously, all four Premier League teams had advanced from the Champions League group stage. But after the Round of 16, while Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City advanced with big wins, and Arsenal also made it to the quarter-finals, Liverpool, who had been underperforming this season, was eliminated.

Mancini’s team lost to Juventus in the Round of 16.

In this Italian “derby,” Mancini’s team’s performance was indeed very lackluster.

Moreover, the team was now showing many problems.

The British media were now widely reporting that Mancini would likely be sacked at the end of the season.

Clearly, no one believed that Mancini had the ability to turn Liverpool’s current predicament around.

Real Madrid, Barça, and Atlético Madrid all advanced as expected, which was no surprise.

Among them, Real Madrid defeated Atalanta.

Gasperini’s team lost narrowly in both legs against Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, 3-4 at home and 1-2 away.

Ultimately, they lost 4-6 on aggregate to Real Madrid, their journey ending in the Round of 16.

For Atalanta, participating in the Champions League for the first time, this was already a very good result.

At the very least, it was better than the Giallorossi, AS Roma, who were eliminated in the group stage.

The real upset came from OGC Nice of Ligue 1.

The French team first defeated Bayern Munich 3-1 away in the Round of 16, then drew 1-1 at home with the Bundesliga team.

In the end, Nice knocked the Bundesliga champions out of the Champions League with an aggregate score of 4-2.

Thus, the eight teams for this season’s Champions League quarter-finals were decided.

The Premier League had three teams: Bayswater Chinese, Manchester City, and Arsenal.

La Liga also had three teams: Real Madrid, Barça, and Atlético Madrid.

Ligue 1 had one team: Nice.

Serie A had one team: Juventus.

The Bundesliga was completely wiped out!

When this result was announced, the German media was in an uproar.

They couldn’t accept the embarrassing situation of all German teams being eliminated.

But they had to admit that the Bundesliga was currently technically inferior.

Neither Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern nor Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund seemed to have the strength to dominate European football.

Especially Klopp.

Borussia Dortmund’s performance in the Bundesliga had declined sharply this season, and the German “boxer” was also currently facing pressure to be sacked.

After the draw, the quarter-final matchups were revealed.

Nice from Ligue 1 was drawn against Juventus from Serie A.

Real Madrid from La Liga was drawn against their city rivals, Atlético Madrid.

Manchester City from the Premier League was drawn against their domestic rivals, Arsenal.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, was drawn against Luis Enrique’s Barça.

This lineup for the quarter-finals was actually quite interesting.

No matter how it played out, by the semi-finals, there would be at most two Premier League teams or two La Liga teams.

And according to the quarter-final draw, the winner of the Bayswater Chinese vs. Barça tie would face the winner of the Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid tie in the semi-finals.

So, after the draw was announced, many people predicted that this was the three giants of La Liga ganging up on Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese!

For Yang Cheng’s team to break out of the encirclement of the three La Liga powerhouses would be no easy feat.

Real Madrid and Barça need no introduction, and Atlético Madrid were last season’s Champions League runners-up. Even though Simeone’s team had sold several players, their overall strength remained formidable.

This made many people worry about the upcoming situation for Bayswater Chinese.

Some in the British media even believed that this was an attempt to stop Bayswater Chinese from winning their fourth consecutive title!

The first leg of the quarter-final knockout stage was scheduled for April 14th.

…

Over the weekend, in the 30th round of the Premier League.

Manchester City won 3-0 at home against West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester United defeated Liverpool 2-1 away, thanks to a controversial penalty from Rooney in the 94th minute of stoppage time.

Gerrard was sent off with a red card just one minute into the second half.

This Northwest Derby was as fiery as ever.

Chelsea narrowly won 3-2 away against Hull City.

Arsenal secured a 2-1 away victory against Newcastle.

Bayswater Chinese, meanwhile, defeated David Moyes’ Everton 2-1 at home.

Gareth Bale scored in the 18th minute.

Everton’s right-back, Coleman, successfully equalized in the 65th minute.

Theo Walcott then scored again for the team in the 77th minute.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated their opponents 2-1.

After thirty matches, Bayswater Chinese had accumulated 85 points, sitting at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester City was second with 79 points, closely behind.

There was a six-point gap between the two teams, but with eight rounds still to play, anything could happen.

Mourinho’s Chelsea was in third place with 70 points.

Arsenal was fourth with 66 points.

Manchester United was fifth with 64 points.

Liverpool was sixth with 55 points.

From the current overall situation, it was highly probable that Bayswater Chinese would win this season’s Premier League title.

But Manchester City had not given up and continued to put pressure on Bayswater Chinese.

In the race for the top four, Arsenal currently held a two-point advantage, but the situation was still very dangerous.

Manchester United was also preparing on two fronts.

On one hand, they were doing their best to secure a top-four finish in the league.

On the other hand, The Red Devils were also focusing on the Europa League.

As early as two years ago, UEFA had announced reforms for the Europa League and the Champions League group stage top seeds.

One of the changes was that the Europa League winner would get a direct spot in the Champions League group stage.

Both Manchester United and Chelsea were currently competing in the Europa League and had already reached the Round of 16.

The British media analyzed that if The Red Devils missed out on the top four in the league, they could still play in next season’s Champions League as long as they won the Europa League.

…

After the 30th round of the Premier League, European leagues paused for a two-week international break.

By March and April, players are generally quite fatigued, making it a high-risk period for injuries.

Therefore, Bayswater Chinese closely monitored the training and matches of their international players, maintaining constant communication.

In this regard, Bayswater Chinese had a wealth of experience and was extremely cautious.

Flick was very meticulous in his work. After Yang Cheng handed this matter over to him, he himself had much less to worry about.

Fortunately, though there were some scares, the players encountered no serious problems while on international duty.

Upon returning to the Premier FLeague, they immediately faced the 31st round.

As soon as Arsenal’s players returned, they had a crucial match.

Their opponent was Liverpool.

As it turned out, Wenger’s team thrashed Liverpool 4-1 at home.

Mancini’s team’s performance this season has been truly shaky.

Van Gaal’s Manchester United, meanwhile, beat Aston Villa 3-1 at home.

Chelsea defeated Stoke City 2-1 at home.

Manchester City, after going a goal down away from home, came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1, thanks to goals from Messi and Yaya Touré.

It’s worth mentioning that Yang Cheng’s earlier guess was completely correct.

Without Iniesta and Xavi at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola and Yaya Touré were getting along quite well.

Bayswater Chinese played away against West Bromwich Albion this round.

Yang Cheng once again employed a heavy squad rotation strategy, so the South American internationals, as well as those who had played two full matches for their national teams, were all on the bench.

In the 15th minute of the first half, Hazard scored the opening goal after receiving a brilliant pass from Harry Kane.

In the 37th minute, Hazard returned the favor, assisting Harry Kane for another goal after a breakthrough on the left flank.

2-0!

And just before the end of the first half, Aaron Ramsey assisted Theo Walcott for another goal.

3-0!

Although West Bromwich Albion scored a goal in the second half, Aaron Ramsey later broke into the box himself and scored.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated The Baggies 4-1 away from home.

…

A week later, on April 11th, was the 32nd round of the Premier League.

The day before, on April 10th, Yang Cheng received the latest news from the Netherlands.

Because FC Twente had failed to submit their planned financial improvement plan on schedule over the past month, nor had they met the financial targets required by the Dutch Football Association, they were in trouble.

They hadn’t even submitted any information regarding Ziyech’s transfer or the agreement between FC Twente and Doyen Sports, nor had they provided any explanation to the Dutch Football Association.

In light of this, the Dutch Football Association decided to penalize FC Twente again, deducting three points for the season.

This meant that, to date, FC Twente would have a total of six points deducted.

The Dutch Football Association also stated that FC Twente must submit all relevant explanations and disclose the contents of the agreement with Doyen Sports by June 1st, before the summer transfer window opens.

If FC Twente continued to refuse to cooperate, the Dutch Football Association’s Executive Committee would meet to discuss whether to grant FC Twente a license to compete in the Eredivisie for the new season.

The announcement from the Dutch Football Association immediately caused a significant stir in Dutch football.

Although FC Twente was not a traditional giant, it was a formidable team in the Eredivisie.

To have fallen to such a state was truly lamentable.

Yang Cheng only glanced at the news before moving on.

Right now, he was more focused on the upcoming Premier League and Champions League matches.

A home league match against Chelsea on the weekend, a home Champions League match against Barça on Wednesday, and an away FA Cup match against Arsenal the following weekend.

After that, an away match against Barça.

This continuous and dense series of clashes between top teams would be a huge test for Bayswater Chinese.

Especially since it was happening in April.

During the international break, Yang Cheng had already formulated a very detailed game strategy with his coaching staff.

Now, the team was executing this strategy step by step.

Even during the matches themselves, everything went very smoothly.

For example, in the 32nd round of the Premier League, the home game against Chelsea.

From the kick-off, Yang Cheng had his team target Chelsea’s flanks.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, in particular, were very active from the start.

In the 12th minute, Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area, and his shot was blocked by Terry.

Harry Kane once again picked up a bargain in front of goal, but his shot was saved by Čech.

Gareth Bale rushed to the left corner of the six-yard box and took another clever shot, only for it to be blocked by Gary Cahill on the goal line.

Three consecutive shots, all of them extremely threatening, yet none resulted in a goal.

Fortunately, the successive shots created chaos in front of the Chelsea goal. The fourth shot was taken by Aaron Ramsey from eight meters out, and he sent the ball into The Blues’ net.

1-0!

After that, the match between the two teams reached a stalemate.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese once again intensified their attacks but failed to score.

Instead, it was Chelsea who, after steadying their rhythm, began to launch a counter-attack.

Mourinho made successive substitutions to strengthen his attack.

But in the 70th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a swift counter-attack.

Gareth Bale dribbled down the left flank, reaching the left side of Chelsea’s penalty area. He crossed the ball to the front of the goal, and Harry Kane calmly guided the ball into Chelsea’s net.

2-0!

But just as everyone was celebrating the goal, Gareth Bale fell to the ground near the Chelsea goal.

The team doctor quickly ran over from the sideline. After a preliminary check, he shook his head at Yang Cheng.

“It’s probably a strain from the sudden stop just now,” Flick, a former professional player, guessed the problem.

Muscle strains are very common when a player is physically exhausted.

But for Gareth Bale to get injured at this time was not good news for Bayswater Chinese.

Because they were facing Barça next Wednesday.

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 2-0 at home, thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsey and Kane.

In the same round, Arsenal beat Burnley 1-0 away.

Liverpool defeated Newcastle 2-0 at home.

The other crucial match of the round saw Manchester United draw 4-4 with Manchester City at home.

The Blue Moons scored first, but van Gaal’s team scored successive goals to overturn the lead.

After that, the two sides engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest.

It wasn’t until the 89th minute that Messi assisted Agüero to level the score.

The two teams drew 4-4!

Old Trafford had witnessed a goal-fest.

This was certainly good news for Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester City had only gained one point, increasing the gap between them and Bayswater Chinese.

But the bad news was that the day after the match, after a detailed examination, Yang Cheng held a press conference at the Brent training center to announce Gareth Bale’s injury.

The Welshman had a thigh muscle strain and was expected to be out for two weeks.

This meant that the Welshman would definitely miss the match against Barça.

Yang Cheng was speechless about this.

Gareth Bale was the team’s most threatening player, and now he couldn’t play against Barça. This would have a huge impact on the team.

But for an injury like this, even knowing that disclosing it would give Barça a chance to prepare in advance, they had to announce the injury.

UEFA, the Premier League, and other leagues all have similar regulations requiring clubs to provide timely updates on player status and not to conceal major injuries to ensure fair play.

Violators are considered to have withheld information.

In addition to league and cup regulations, proactively disclosing injuries is also beneficial for controlling public opinion, maintaining good relations with fans, and managing expectations reasonably.

If the club didn’t announce Gareth Bale’s injury, and a fan bought an expensive ticket for the home game against Barça next Wednesday, only to find out at the match that Gareth Bale was absent due to injury, wouldn’t the club be sued to death by the fan?

The media might also take the opportunity to spread rumors.

For example, that Yang Cheng and Gareth Bale had a conflict, and the Welshman was being benched.

Or other various rumors.

All in all, in European football, for injuries like this, proactive disclosure is the most appropriate way to handle it.

Even if you know it might help your opponent.

As for Yang Cheng, after the press conference, he was more concerned with how to remedy the situation.

…

“Robert, what did you say?”

In the head coach’s office at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Barcelona, Spain, Luis Enrique jumped up in surprise when he heard the report from his assistant coach, Robert Moreno.

“Say that again.”

Robert Moreno had been following Enrique since 2008, coaching at the Barça B team.

At that time, he was only 31 years old.

Over the past few years, he had followed Enrique through thick and thin, and had finally returned to Barça.

Now, the young Barça assistant coach also looked excited.

“We just got the news. Gareth Bale is injured, out for at least two weeks.”

“What kind of injury?”

“A muscle strain, sustained during the Chelsea match.”

“I knew it!” Luis Enrique clapped his hands forcefully.

“I guessed it when I saw the way he left the pitch. The kid is finally injured!”

Luis Enrique laughed with a hint of schadenfreude.

This was the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barça’s territory. He wasn’t afraid of being overheard gloating.

In fact, even if word did get out, it wouldn’t matter much.

At worst, he’d be mocked a little for lacking sportsmanship.

But Gareth Bale’s injury was absolutely fantastic news for Barça.

“I’ve always found it strange. You know, they say all speed-based players get injured easily, but it’s always the ones at Bayswater Chinese who rarely get injured. It’s not logical, right?”

Luis Enrique chuckled.

Anyone could see that Gareth Bale’s injury had instantly lifted his spirits.

“Bayswater Chinese does have its own unique methods when it comes to injuries,” another assistant coach, and also the goalkeeping coach, Unzué, added.

He had previously been to London to observe, and he knew that Yang Cheng invested heavily in injury prevention and rehabilitation therapy.

Speaking of which, Unzué’s feelings about Bayswater Chinese were even more complex.

On one hand, he acknowledged the advanced nature of Yang Cheng’s team.

On the other hand, he had been a goalkeeping coach at Barça since 2003, assisting Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola.

Later, he went out to coach on his own for a season without success, then returned to assist Guardiola.

During Vilanova’s time, he went out to coach alone again, but returned in 2013 with Luis Enrique as an assistant coach.

Putting everything else aside, just think about how many goals Yang Cheng’s teams had scored against the goalkeepers Unzué had trained over the past decade or so.

Could that tally even be counted?

“What do you guys think? With Gareth Bale injured, who will Yang Cheng play to replace him? Walcott? Or Sterling?”

Luis Enrique immediately moved on to the next question.

“From a tactical and technical standpoint, I think it will be Walcott,” Robert Moreno offered his opinion.

“Hazard and Gareth Bale, one on the left and one on the right, have been Bayswater Chinese’s best winger combination for the past few years. Their characteristics complement each other very well.”

“From that perspective, Walcott is clearly the best choice to fill the void left by Gareth Bale.”

After a pause, Moreno added, “However, I think Hazard will become the main attacker.”

Luis Enrique pondered for a moment and nodded slightly.

Hazard’s performance in the Champions League this season had been outstanding, arguably one of the best players.

“I also support Robert’s view. Sterling is also quite good, but he’s still a bit young, and his style is a bit similar to Hazard’s. He can’t provide the same effect as Walcott,” Unzué agreed.

Luis Enrique thought it over and felt that both of his assistants had made valid points.

But was that all Yang Cheng was capable of?

Clearly, that didn’t sound like the Yang Cheng that Luis Enrique feared.

If Yang Cheng only had that much up his sleeve, would he still be Yang Cheng?

He had a nagging feeling, but Luis Enrique couldn’t figure out what kind of adjustment Yang Cheng would make.

“Forget it!”

Luis Enrique gritted his teeth and made a decisive call.

“We’re playing away, and Bayswater Chinese’s star player is out injured. This is a huge advantage for us. We must seize this opportunity.”

Both Moreno and Unzué nodded in agreement.

For the past few years, Barcelona had been “bullied” by Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese. What a state they were in!

Now, they finally had a chance to hold their heads high, and they definitely had to get some serious revenge on their rivals.

“Don’t they say that Bayswater Chinese never loses at home?”

As Luis Enrique said this, a cruel smile spread across his face.

“Then we’ll beat them away from home!”

“Tell our players, next Wednesday, we are going to storm Bayswater!”

Chapter 330: Aerial Master! Overtaking on the Sideline! Setting up the Cannons to Bombard Barça! They’re Just Too Brutal!

On the evening of April 14th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals knockout stage match, Bayswater Chinese versus Barça.

Amidst the roaring cheers of ninety thousand fans, the head referee from Germany, Felix Brych, blew the whistle to start the match.

Barça, who kicked off first, started in the center circle, with Neymar passing the ball to Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward, returning to Prudential Stadium to face his old club, was eager to prove himself. He passed the ball to Busquets, who was holding a deep position in the center circle, before sprinting forward.

At almost the same instant, the trident of Hazard, Giroud, and Sterling surged into Barça’s half.

Leading the charge was the lone striker, Giroud, who immediately bolted towards Busquets at top speed.

Busquets, unhurried, turned sideways and kicked the incoming ball to the deep-lying centre-back, Mathieu.

Mathieu then passed it to Piqué.

After bypassing Busquets, Giroud began to slow his pressing pace.

Hazard and Sterling also tucked into the two half-spaces.

At this point, only eight seconds had passed in the match.

All the fans watching the live broadcast could clearly see that as Piqué passed the ball back to Mathieu, the Bayswater Chinese front three were simultaneously shifting towards their own right flank, which was Barça’s left.

Barça then did something inconsistent with their past style.

They played a long diagonal pass, sending the ball towards the right flank near the halfway line.

Dani Alves pushed forward into that area to receive the ball.

But just as Yang Cheng had said before, these kinds of long switches of play often have a problem.

The arc is too high, the ball speed too slow.

Especially when the passer needs to control the accuracy of the pass, the ball speed is often very slow.

By the time the ball reached Dani Alves’ feet, Toni Kroos had already arrived to block him.

The Brazilian controlled the ball and immediately played a through ball to Mahrez upfield.

Mahrez, tightly marked by Marcelo, didn’t take a touch and passed it straight back to Xavi.

Xavi, feeling the pressure from Casemiro, passed it back again.

The ball was once again at Dani Alves’ feet.

The only difference was that this time, Dani Alves was standing in the Bayswater Chinese half.

Dani Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta…

A series of one-touch passes, just like the Barça of old.

The ball was moved from the right side of the center circle to the left.

At this moment, Alba made an overlapping run down the flank to offer support.

Modrić, meanwhile, stuck tightly to Iniesta.

Especially when Iniesta wanted to complete a one-two pass with Alba, the return pass was blocked by Sterling, who had tracked back in time.

Iniesta managed to intercept the ball first, but the opportunity for a quick attack had been lost.

Therefore, Iniesta was forced to pass back to Xavi, who then passed back to Mathieu in his own half.

But Giroud continued to press Mathieu relentlessly, forcing the French centre-back to pass back to his goalkeeper.

This was thirty seconds into the match.

Barça’s first probing attack ended in failure.

Bayswater Chinese had completed a brilliant defensive sequence!

So, the moment Barça passed the ball back across the halfway line, another round of fervent applause erupted from the home crowd.

The Bayswater Chinese players, amidst the thunderous applause, reorganized their defensive formation and pushed forward in unison, pressing into Barça’s half once more.

“This is a clash between the top teams in world football right now!”

“An absolute contest of the highest technical and tactical level!”

“Neither side is holding back; they’ve gone into a high-tempo game right from the start.”

“Clearly, this wasn’t Barça’s intention. They don’t want to play this kind of fast-paced, high-consumption game.”

“But this is Prudential Stadium in London!”

“While we have a moment, let’s introduce the starting lineups for both teams.”

“Barça is sticking with their 4-3-3 formation.”

Goalkeeper: Claudio Bravo;

Defense: Alba, Mathieu, Piqué, and Dani Alves;

Midfield: Iniesta, Busquets, and Xavi;

Forwards: Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, and Mahrez.

“This is Barça’s strongest core lineup at the moment, and their most potent attacking combination. You could say they are at full strength.”

“On the other hand, Bayswater Chinese has been affected by injuries, especially with their core player Gareth Bale out. He’s watching this match from the stands.”

“But Yang Cheng’s starting lineup is a bit surprising.”

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Modrić;

Forwards: Hazard, Giroud, and Sterling.

“Before this match, we all speculated that Yang Cheng would likely start Theo Walcott.”

“But in fact, he chose the youngster, Sterling.”

“This is a very surprising choice.”

“Because we all know that with Gareth Bale absent, the biggest impact on Bayswater Chinese is their goal-scoring ability. Walcott is currently Bayswater Chinese’s top scorer after Gareth Bale and Harry Kane.”

“In the past, Yang Cheng has always used Giroud at centre-forward in the Champions League.”

“There’s no change there for this match, but on the wing, he chose Sterling over the more experienced Walcott.”

“Moreover, from the short thirty seconds of play we’ve seen, we can actually deduce a lot.”

“For instance, during that defensive phase just now, Sterling even tracked back into his own 30-meter area to mark Alba.”

“That’s what broke up Barça’s attack.”

“Also, in midfield.”

“Previously, the midfield three of Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Modrić were usually positioned in an inverted triangle, with Casemiro in the holding role, the Number 4 role.”

“But from their positioning in this match, it seems they are playing on a flat line.”

“This is very surprising.”

“Having lost their key goal-scorer Gareth Bale, nobody knew how Bayswater Chinese would play this match, but Yang Cheng’s formation and tactics have been refreshing right from the start.”

“But we all know that the more it comes to a summit clash like this, the more stability is required.”

“Especially in a two-legged home-and-away tie, the most important thing for the home team is to not concede an away goal.”

“Let’s see if Yang Cheng’s arrangements for this match will be effective.”

…

When Barça played the ball out from goalkeeper Bravo, they once again chose to go down the left flank.

After a series of passes, near the halfway line, Alba was being tracked by Sterling and passed it to Mathieu.

The Frenchman once again hit a long diagonal pass.

The ball was again aimed for Dani Alves on the right flank.

But just like last time.

By the time the ball arrived, the Bayswater Chinese defense had already shifted over.

When Yang Cheng saw this, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

Barça must be longing for a player like Toni Kroos right now!

Under Luis Enrique’s coaching, this Barça team had started to incorporate more long balls.

This was something unseen in the Barça of Pep Guardiola and Vilanova.

But Barça still held firm to their core philosophy of controlling possession.

The most typical example was when Dani Alves received the ball on the right flank and couldn’t find an outlet; Lewandowski ran back from the front line, moving into space to receive the pass.

And everyone knows that Lewandowski is a scorer who becomes more dangerous the closer he is to the penalty area.

The reason he was doing this must have been an instruction from Luis Enrique.

And the core principle was simple: ensure Barça maintained possession.

This had been a standard tactic for Barça over the past two years.

Lewandowski was the only player in the Barça squad with the ability to play with his back to goal.

So, as soon as Lewandowski got the ball, Pepe pressed him, and with Casemiro joining in, they immediately formed a pincer around him.

The Pole wanted to drive forward with the ball but found his path blocked from behind.

He couldn’t even find a passing lane.

Take them on by himself?

Facing the defense of Casemiro and Pepe, Robert Lewandowski knew he didn’t have that in him.

It was too risky.

So, Lewandowski could only pass it back to Xavi to restart the attack.

When faced with this kind of situation, Barça’s usual approach was to pass the ball, or give it to Messi and Iniesta.

But Messi was gone.

Mahrez was pinned to the right flank.

So, it was Iniesta who received the ball in the middle.

The Spanish maestro carried the ball forward, breaking through the midfield defensive line.

But the problem was, this was as far as he could go.

Just as he was about to pass to Neymar, van Dijk suddenly stepped up and intercepted the ball.

After the interception, van Dijk played a straight pass to Sterling’s feet.

Sterling controlled the ball, turned, and immediately launched a counter-attack.

Although Sterling’s running posture with the ball wasn’t pretty, he was fast enough, stable enough on the ball, and had deft footwork. He carried it all the way to the right corner of Barça’s penalty area and delivered a switch of play.

When Hazard received the ball on the left side of the box, he tried to take on Piqué one-on-one to deliver a cross, but the ball was blocked out for a corner by Piqué.

The subsequent corner kick failed to create a threat.

This was Bayswater Chinese’s first attack of the entire match.

It happened at one minute and thirty seconds!

In just ninety seconds, the two teams went back and forth, and the tempo of the game shot up rapidly.

There was no time for anyone to breathe or think.

Everyone’s emotions and thoughts were swept along with the game.

This reflected the strategy of both teams for the night.

Barça, playing away, were not conservative. They wanted to take advantage of Gareth Bale’s absence to overcome Bayswater Chinese in one fell swoop and conquer West London!

And Bayswater Chinese, playing at home, were not to be outdone.

Even without Gareth Bale, Yang Cheng’s team still wanted to stick to their attacking football at home.

So, the game was spectacular, and the pace just took off!

“This is definitely the most exciting start to a match so far this season!” the Sky Sports commentator praised without exaggeration.

Even though he had only watched for ninety seconds.

The main reason was that both sides were playing so fluidly, at such a high tempo.

For all the fans, it was a visual treat.

After the corner kick, Bayswater Chinese continued with their opening strategy and soon created the first shot of the game.

It was another quick counter-attack from Sterling’s side, with Piszczek making a lightning-fast overlapping run down the flank.

As Sterling drew the attention of defenders in the half-space, he suddenly played a diagonal pass towards the byline.

Piszczek, arriving on an overlapping run, sent in a cross, and Giroud headed it from close range.

But it went over the bar.

However, everyone could now see the trend of the match.

Bayswater Chinese’s tactics seemed to be working perfectly!

Not only were they suppressing Barça in midfield, but their attack was also beginning to show its power.

But just as the scales began to tip, the game took a sudden, major turn.

At the third minute, Lewandowski suddenly dropped deep to receive the ball and laid it off to Mahrez.

Mahrez, with his back to Marcelo and unable to turn, created a chance for Dani Alves.

Dani Alves, hugging the right touchline with no passing options nearby, hit a long diagonal pass to Neymar on the left side, just outside the penalty area.

But it was Neymar who, at the crucial moment after controlling the ball, suddenly cut inside. He first dribbled past Piszczek, then shrugged off van Dijk’s challenge with a lateral move, and from inside the arc of the penalty area, he unleashed a long shot.

The ball flew at high speed into the right side of the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Goal!!

In an instant, the entire Prudential Stadium was stunned into silence.

Neymar, ecstatic, ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline to celebrate.

The surrounding Barça players all chased after him.

Courtois, who had dived in vain, got up from the ground and yelled at Pepe.

Pepe, in turn, was yelling at Casemiro.

Position!

Just now, when the ball was at Dani Alves’ feet, Casemiro had drifted away from the center, which was supposed to be a good thing.

But when Barça switched the play with a long pass to Neymar, Casemiro didn’t get back into position in time.

The Brazilian midfielder’s performance had been particularly brilliant this season, truly outstanding.

But in terms of positional awareness, he still had some issues.

Casemiro himself was speechless. This was on him; he had to be the scapegoat!

…

“Hey, hey, hey!!”

Yang Cheng saw his players blaming each other on the sideline and shouted loudly.

“Forget about that goal, OK?”

“No one is responsible for that goal. Everyone, cheer up!”

“Casemiro, well done, keep playing like you were just now, listen to me!”

“Thibaut, Pepe, no complaints, okay?”

Yang Cheng shouted several sentences in quick succession.

On the pitch, the Bayswater Chinese players heard him and instantly fell silent.

Actually, thinking about it, they all knew that conceding that goal was a bit unfortunate.

Neymar’s move was just too fast!

More importantly, Yang Cheng’s midfield arrangement for this match was different.

You couldn’t really blame it all on Casemiro.

“Alright, everyone cheer up. It’s just one goal, don’t concede another!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully, urging all his players to pay attention.

“Casemiro.”

Still worried, Yang Cheng immediately called Casemiro’s name, signaling for the Brazilian to run over.

“Hey, handsome, you did great. I’m very satisfied, understand?”

Casemiro looked at the head coach with some surprise.

They just conceded, and he was satisfied?

“Listen to me, that goal wasn’t your fault. It’s my responsibility, I’ll take it. Your job is to keep playing like you did at the start, but I need you to run faster, be more active, and cover more ground, understand?”

Casemiro nodded heavily.

He knew that if Yang Cheng said he’d take the blame, then the responsibility for that goal would certainly not fall on him.

It wasn’t that he wanted to shirk responsibility, but it was a form of psychological comfort.

“Trust me, we’ve encountered situations like this countless times. Don’t panic after conceding one goal. We are Bayswater Chinese! The invincible Bayswater Chinese!”

As Yang Cheng spoke, he excitedly clenched his right fist, conveying his confidence to Casemiro.

“Go ask them, how many teams have taken the lead against us in the past few years, and what was the result?”

“Trust me, keep playing like this, work hard, there won’t be a problem!”

After speaking, Yang Cheng patted Casemiro on the shoulder and sent him back onto the pitch.

In situations like this, the most troublesome problem wasn’t the players’ ability or form, but that they started to doubt the head coach’s tactics, worrying if this playing style would still work.

This kind of indecisiveness was fatal!

Yang Cheng was relatively confident in his other players, but Casemiro was a newcomer and played in the crucial Number 4 role. His mentality had to be corrected.

Moreover, Yang Cheng knew in his heart.

In this match, the team’s positioning was indeed different from the past.

Mainly, the three central midfielders were basically on a flat line.

The purpose of this was so that the two wingers up front could be more active in the half-spaces, leaving the flanks for the full-backs to push up into.

Just like a moment ago, Piszczek had repeatedly made quick runs up the flank.

So, for that conceded goal, Yang Cheng really didn’t blame Casemiro, nor any of the players.

He was purely being made a scapegoat!

“That kind of cross-field pass is really rare for Barça,” Flick said, shaking his head with a sigh as Yang Cheng walked back to the home team’s dugout.

His words were also meant to comfort Yang Cheng.

“They’re also keeping up with the times, making some changes,” Yang Cheng said faintly.

The entire tactical core of Yang Cheng’s plan for this match was in the midfield!

To put it simply, Bayswater Chinese’s midfield could run more, press more, and apply more pressure than Barça’s, and their passing was just as good.

And Yang Cheng’s strategy had two parts.

Quick counter-attacks after winning the ball.

Why not use Walcott?

It wasn’t that The Little Tiger lacked ability, but that Sterling was better at taking players on one-on-one.

Especially in the half-space areas.

The other part was for the defense and midfield to hold the ball and invite Barça to press.

With Barça’s shaky defensive system, as long as they pushed up, a ball in behind would surely finish them off.

The reason Hazard and Sterling were in the half-spaces was also to maintain the overall advantage in midfield.

And in this match, the two full-backs, Marcelo and Piszczek, were very active.

Because almost the entire attack on the flanks was entrusted to them.

So for Neymar’s goal just now, you really couldn’t blame Casemiro.

He was being a complete scapegoat!

From the start of the game, strategically speaking, Yang Cheng’s plan was correct and effective.

That’s why Bayswater Chinese began to create threat after threat.

But looking at the details, the team made a mistake in execution.

Or rather, faced with Neymar’s incredible individual ability, an avoidable mistake was made.

This was understandable and forgivable.

But in many other details, Bayswater Chinese’s plan was also effective.

For example, the specific defensive plan against the front three.

Only three minutes had passed, but if you looked closely, when Lewandowski dropped deep to receive the ball, he could turn, but it was very difficult for him to distribute it.

And Neymar and Mahrez?

Whenever they wanted to receive the ball, there were always defenders marking them tightly.

Neither of these two players had the ability to receive the ball with their back to goal, turn, and launch an attack.

As long as the front three were controlled, Barça’s midfield would gradually lose control of the tempo as the game progressed.

In fact, they couldn’t control it from the very start.

Barça prefers a slow tempo, but from the kickoff, the game was played at a blistering pace.

Fundamentally, Xavi and Iniesta were not playing at their most familiar tempo right now.

So, conceding a goal wasn’t a problem.

It was just an issue that arose during the initial settling-in period of the match. Once solved, it would be fine.

…

Bayswater Chinese’s counter-punch came quickly.

After the restart, Marcelo carried the ball down the left flank into Barça’s half. When Hazard received it, he first broke forward through the left channel, dribbling between two defenders.

When he reached the front left side of Barça’s penalty area, he suddenly changed direction and cut inside.

This sudden move caught Barça’s centre-back Piqué off guard, and he immediately chose to foul Hazard, pulling him down.

Modrić took the direct free kick, but it went just over the bar.

After Barça restarted play, just as they crossed the halfway line, Casemiro made a tackle.

Toni Kroos received the ball and quickly passed it again to Hazard in the half-space up ahead.

The Belgian dribbled forward, attracting the attention of the defense, before laying it off to the left flank.

As Marcelo received the ball outside the left corner of the box, he delivered a diagonal cross with his left foot towards the near post.

Giroud, who had suddenly made a run from near the left side of the D, managed to get a header off despite being held back by Piqué.

But the French centre-forward’s header hit the side netting.

Giroud slammed his fist hard into the turf.

His second chance of the match!

The home fans still gave Giroud a warm round of applause.

For this diligent and uncomplaining French aerial master, the Bayswater Chinese fans really couldn’t ask for more.

His tactical importance was very clear.

Not a strong goal-scorer?

That couldn’t be helped, you couldn’t be too demanding, could you?

Giroud was quickly pulled up from the grass by his teammates.

He heard the applause from the fans in the stadium.

Especially behind the goal, countless Bayswater Chinese fans in red jerseys were shouting his name.

They were all cheering him on!

This sent a wave of warmth through the French centre-forward.

He loved this city, this team, and these fans!

Giroud clapped towards the fans, then turned and jogged back to midfield.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, cheer up, come on, come on!!”

“Olivier!”

Hearing his name called, Giroud turned and saw the head coach giving him a thumbs-up.

This touched Giroud’s heart, and he nodded back at Yang Cheng.

If he had taken one of his two chances, the situation would be very different now.

But just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

After conceding…

Or, to be precise, even before conceding, the scales of the match had already begun to tip.

After the goal, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, and Modrić all became more active, which made Bayswater Chinese’s advantage even more pronounced.

In the ninth minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Still from the left, still Marcelo, still a cross from the left looking for Giroud.

But this time, Piqué headed it clear.

By now, everyone could feel the pressure Barça was under.

Their midfield was suppressed!

Bayswater Chinese were now like cannons set up right at Barça’s gate, bombarding them relentlessly!

This style of play was actually a tactic Barça used to use against teams with weaker possession skills.

But now, Bayswater Chinese was using it against Barça.

Premier League teams are different from Barça.

Barça is obsessed with possession, but Bayswater Chinese didn’t want possession. Instead, they used midfield pressure to win the ball and quickly launch counter-attacks.

If a quick counter-attack could be formed, they would convert it into a threat as soon as possible.

Often within five or six passes, they would be taking a shot on goal.

Many times, the team didn’t even consider if they were wasting an opportunity.

If they couldn’t quickly convert it into an attacking threat, they would get to the final third, especially near the penalty area, and then pass back to reorganize.

This would lure Barça’s midfield and attack out to press.

Just like what happened in the eleventh minute.

When Barça’s midfield and attack pressed forward to win the ball, Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line even retreated into their own half.

Seizing an opportunity, they once again switched the play to the left flank.

Again, it was passed to Marcelo and Hazard.

But this time was different.

Marcelo was in the half-space, and Hazard suddenly appeared on the left wing.

As Marcelo attempted to dribble forward, he passed the ball out to Hazard on the left.

The Belgian received the ball on the left side, outside the penalty area. Facing Dani Alves, he first feinted as if to take it to the byline, then suddenly pulled the ball back, creating a sliver of a passing lane to the center past Dani Alves, and quickly delivered a cross with his right foot.

The ball zipped between Dani Alves and a backtracking Xavi, landing at the near post, just in front of the six-yard box on the left side.

Giroud was originally at the penalty spot, with Piqué standing between him and the goal, arm outstretched to block him.

Sterling, meanwhile, was sprinting from outside the box on the right towards the far post.

Alba stuck to Sterling like glue, keeping a close eye on the situation on the left flank.

Just as Hazard took on Dani Alves, Giroud suddenly burst into motion, rushing towards the six-yard box.

He was going for the end of Hazard’s low, driven cross.

But unexpectedly, Hazard failed to get past Dani Alves, came to a sudden stop, and pulled the ball back.

Giroud, at the edge of the six-yard box, quickly halted.

Piqué still stood between Giroud and the goal.

The French centre-forward saw his chance, quickly dashed forward, and shouted to Hazard.

The Belgian heard Giroud’s shout and, just then, crossed the ball with his right foot.

As the ball came in, Giroud firmly shielded Piqué behind him.

Through that series of movements, the Frenchman had already secured the most advantageous position, and Piqué was powerless to move him.

When the ball arrived, Giroud judged its trajectory and didn’t even need to jump. He simply took a step forward and met it with his head, directing the ball towards the top-left corner of the goal.

So far in this match, Giroud had missed several chances.

But this time, the French centre-forward had a great feeling about it; the feeling on the shot was incredibly strong.

After changing direction, the football flew at high speed towards the top-left corner of Barça’s goal.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo dived to his side, but it was beyond his reach.

The ball went straight into the left side of the goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the eleventh minute, Bayswater Chinese have successfully equalized!”

“A header from the French centre-forward, Giroud!”

“This is already Giroud’s fourth shot of the match so far!”

“He has finally scored the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“1-1!”

In that instant, every fan in the stadium leaped from their seats, shouting Giroud’s name at the top of their lungs.

The French centre-forward was so thrilled he ran off the pitch, sprinting to the sideline and sliding to his knees on the grass, roaring in celebration of his goal!

…

After Bayswater Chinese equalized, the tide of the match had completely turned.

Just four minutes after the goal, Bayswater Chinese attacked again from the left flank.

The reason it was always the left flank was that Yang Cheng wanted to use the attack on the left to suppress Dani Alves’s attacking threat on that side.

The Brazilian right-back was more dangerous than Alba on the left.

Marcelo’s 45-degree cross was headed out of the box by Piqué.

But Toni Kroos made an overlapping run from deep, received the ball, cut diagonally past Xavi, and suddenly unleashed a long shot.

The ball flew towards Barça’s goal at high speed.

Then came a dull thud.

The German midfielder’s long shot smashed squarely against the crossbar and bounced back out.

Not long after, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

During a counter-attack, Toni Kroos played a through ball to Giroud’s feet near the front-left of the penalty area.

Giroud laid it off with his left foot to Hazard at the left corner of the box.

The Belgian cut inside with the ball, shook off his defender, and hit a curling shot with his right foot towards the far corner.

But the shot went just wide.

Bayswater Chinese’s relentless attacks had the Barça players constantly on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.

If they had to defend, they simply couldn’t hold them off!

Therefore, Barça’s strategy was to use offense as the best defense.

Starting from the twentieth minute, Barça took advantage of a lull in Bayswater Chinese’s attack to launch a series of their own.

But this was when Yang Cheng’s setup began to pay dividends.

Especially with the three midfielders in a flat line, the protection of the two half-spaces was excellent.

In the twenty-fifth minute, Xavi attempted a chipped pass over the top, trying to find Mahrez making a run into the right side of the box.

But Casemiro appeared just in time, sticking out a foot to flick the ball away, clearing it out of the penalty area.

The ball fell in front of Toni Kroos, who headed it directly towards the left flank.

Marcelo sprinted forward at high speed, controlled the ball with his foot near the left touchline, and sent a through ball forward.

Hazard took off at speed.

Giroud in the center also opened up his stride, sprinting forward.

Sterling on the right had been tracking back, but he too broke into a sprint at full speed.

Hazard dribbled all the way to the outside of the left corner of Barça’s box.

Busquets rushed over in time to help a pulled-wide Piqué, the two of them working together to contain Hazard who was charging into the penalty area.

Inside the penalty area, they simply couldn’t tackle the ball off Hazard.

In fact, one clumsy move could easily result in a penalty.

So, they focused more on joint defending, forcing Hazard to be unable to break through.

After breaking into the box, the Belgian, facing the combined defense of Busquets and Piqué, performed a series of feints, then suddenly stopped, pulled the ball from his left foot to his right, and turned back.

Then, with his right foot, he sent a cross pass.

The ball traveled from near the left corner of Barça’s box, along the penalty area line, to the right side of the arc.

Only then did people notice Sterling, arriving late from deep, with his hand raised calling for the ball.

The young English winger chased it down. Facing a timely backtracking Alba, Sterling first controlled the ball with the inside of his right foot towards his left, tricking Alba into lunging towards the arc.

He was afraid Sterling would cut inside and smash it with his left foot, just like Gareth Bale.

But the next second, Sterling suddenly changed direction, chopping the ball back with his left foot.

That single touch took him right past Alba.

The Spanish left-back was completely out of position.

Sterling pushed the ball forward with his left foot and burst right past Alba into the right side of Barça’s penalty area.

Alba could do nothing about it.

After entering the box, Sterling was faced with the onrushing goalkeeper, Bravo.

But the English youngster was very composed, and with a push shot from his right foot, the football zipped into the goal behind Bravo just before he could hit the ground.

2-1!

The comeback was complete!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted once again in thunderous cheers!

Countless fans leaped out of their seats, shouting Sterling’s name at the top of their lungs.

The English youngster, ecstatic, ran off the pitch, celebrating his goal wildly, basking in the cheers of ninety thousand fans!

…

After overturning the scoreline, Bayswater Chinese had completely seized momentum.

Especially in midfield and attack, they had Barça firmly pinned down.

In the thirty-second minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese broke through in attack.

On the right flank, Sterling completed a one-two pass with the overlapping Piszczek. Piszczek went to the byline and crossed to the front post, where Mathieu got a foot to it, deflecting it out for a corner kick.

A corner kick.

Modrić took it.

Bayswater Chinese sent all their tall players forward.

The Barça players were terrified.

Putting everything else aside, in terms of height alone, Bayswater Chinese truly towered over Barça.

Giroud, Casemiro, Pepe, and van Dijk all poured into the penalty area.

But Modrić’s corner went to the back post, where van Dijk headed it from close range.

The ball hit the defender Piqué, dropped to the ground, and was cleared out of the penalty area.

But the ball didn’t go far.

Toni Kroos got to it first, intercepted it, and played a diagonal pass out to the right flank.

Piszczek pushed forward to receive it and passed it cross-field to Modrić.

The latter, after taking the corner, had rushed back to an onside position to receive the pass. He then flicked the ball behind him, towards the byline.

Piszczek was seen making a swift overlapping run, chasing down the ball near the byline and whipping in a high cross back towards the front of the goal.

At this moment, the heart of the 1.84-meter-tall Chilean goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, was in turmoil.

Because at that instant, what he saw was Piqué desperately trying to hold onto van Dijk, but completely failing.

Mathieu was trying to block Giroud, but couldn’t.

And that damned Pepe, why was no one marking him?

Three of Bayswater Chinese’s hulking brutes were charging towards his goal simultaneously.

Bravo didn’t dare to come out.

The distance was a bit too far, and he wasn’t sure if he could get to the ball before those three.

The next moment, he saw all three of them jumping.

Bravo truly broke down!

Help!

It’s not that I don’t want to a stop them, they’re just too brutal!

The next moment, an unmarked Pepe powered a header, smashing the ball into Barça’s net.

Bravo guessed the direction correctly, but his diving save couldn’t reach the ball.

3-1!

All the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium were cheering!

This was also the last goal of the first half!

…

After the restart for the second half, Luis Enrique frustratingly discovered that Yang Cheng was no longer using the same tactics from the first half.

Or rather, he had abandoned one of his two first-half tactics—the relentless pressing—and switched to another.

He was using the advantage of his defenders’ and midfielders’ distribution to lure Barça into attacking.

It was an overt scheme.

Because Barça’s backline was weak, if they didn’t push out, they probably wouldn’t be able to defend.

What’s more, Luis Enrique also wanted to launch an all-out attack at the start of the second half.

And in the fiftieth minute, Barça was orchestrating an attack outside the Bayswater Chinese 30-meter area.

When Neymar received the ball in the left channel, he was tightly marked by Modrić, unable to turn and launch an attack. He was forced to pass back, trying to find Busquets.

But to his utter surprise, just as Busquets was about to receive the ball, Giroud suddenly burst out from the side, using his body to forcefully shove Busquets aside and trap the ball for a nearby Sterling.

Sterling immediately took the ball and launched an attack.

Alba and Iniesta both rushed over to double-team him.

Alba, in particular, reached out and pulled Sterling’s shirt, causing the Englishman to stumble and almost lose the ball.

Fortunately, Giroud followed up in time and pushed the ball forward.

Up ahead, Hazard was constantly making diagonal runs, quickly cutting across in front of Giroud and heading for the right side of the penalty area.

Giroud promptly played the ball to Hazard.

Sterling, meanwhile, followed behind Giroud and switched his run towards the center.

When Hazard received the ball inside the box on the right, he feinted a shot, tricking Piqué into a sliding tackle. He then suddenly chopped the ball to change direction, avoiding Piqué while also taking a step back to evade the tracking Busquets.

From the right side of the penalty area, the Belgian suddenly delivered a cross pass.

Giroud had by this point reached the right side of the penalty spot.

But he was surrounded by Piqué and Mathieu.

Both were marking Giroud tightly.

However, at the far post, an unmarked Sterling had just entered the box from the left side of the arc. He controlled the ball with the inside of his left foot and then quickly hit a power shot with his right, sending the ball into the virtually unguarded left side of the goal.

Goalkeeper Bravo was positioned near the right post and was completely powerless against such a shot.

4-1!

“It’s another goal!!!”

“Just five minutes into the second half, a rapid counter-attack from Bayswater Chinese!”

“A brilliant combination from the front three!”

“That was beautiful!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack was incredibly swift.”

“Three players completely turned Barça’s five defenders inside out and scored!”

“4-1!”

“The situation is now very dire for Luis Enrique!”

…

After conceding a series of goals, Barça’s morale completely collapsed.

They all knew very well that if they couldn’t reduce the deficit, their chances of a comeback at Camp Nou would be virtually zero.

Under these circumstances, they chose to continue strengthening their attack.

Luis Enrique had even seen that his team’s midfield was completely suppressed, so he prepared to make a substitution.

Pedro was to replace the underperforming Xavi.

This was a signal to intensify the attack!

And in the fifty-ninth minute, just before Barça’s substitution, they won a corner kick.

Xavi’s corner kick went directly towards the arc of the penalty area.

But unexpectedly, Casemiro reacted faster, suddenly stepping forward to kick the ball out to the left flank first.

He meant it as a clearance.

Almost simultaneously, a very awkward running posture made all the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium cheer in unison.

Sterling was seen sticking his backside out, looking almost like a waddling duck, but his speed was ridiculously fast.

The English youngster flew towards the left touchline and used his momentum to barge into Iniesta.

Sterling actually knocked Iniesta clean over.

But knocking over Iniesta wasn’t the main point.

The point was, Sterling, before the ball went out of play, kicked it ahead.

At that moment, Busquets was running over to intercept. After Sterling kicked the ball, he ran around from outside the sideline, suddenly cut back onto the pitch, and burst past Busquets from behind.

Everyone was completely stunned!

Wasn’t that just too ferocious?

One man just took out two of Barça’s world-class midfielders like that?

A gutter run, uh, no, that’s not right, it was an overtake on the sideline?

Did he get Gareth Bale’s script tonight?

Even Yang Cheng himself was stunned.

But then, seeing Sterling’s duck-like sprinting posture, he really didn’t look like someone with a protagonist’s plot armor.

Sterling charged forward with the ball.

Busquets was desperately grabbing his jersey from behind, trying his best to slow him down.

This was a golden opportunity!

Sterling refused to go down, no matter what.

If he went down, a fantastic counter-attacking opportunity would be lost!

Thus, a very strange scene unfolded on the pitch.

Busquets desperately stretched the jersey out, but Sterling stubbornly refused to fall.

It had to be said, the quality of this Puma jersey was truly excellent!

After Sterling reached Barça’s 30-meter area, he finally couldn’t hold on any longer. Seeing Giroud catching up, he sent a cross pass.

Giroud almost overran it, but he quickly turned to shield the ball from Iniesta, brought it under control with his back to goal, and laid it off to the right side outside the penalty area.

Modrić followed up and played a through ball.

Hazard made a quick run into the right side of the penalty area. Receiving Modrić’s through ball, the Belgian took one touch to control it and a second to push it into the bottom of Barça’s net.

5-1!

At this point, the match had completely lost all suspense!

Especially for Barça.

Although they got a precious away goal, they conceded five.

A 5-1 scoreline rendered the second leg at Camp Nou utterly devoid of suspense!

And although Luis Enrique made substitutions to try and strengthen the attack, with their midfield suppressed, Barça was simply unable to form any effective organization, let alone launch a threatening attack.

What made Barça feel even more hopeless was that throughout the entire match, their possession rate was not even higher than Bayswater Chinese’s.

The match finally ended 5-1.

The possession stats were 49% to 51%.

But in terms of shots, Bayswater Chinese unleashed a whopping twenty-three shots, while Barça only managed a meager eleven.

This left everyone at Barça feeling very frustrated.

Not only did they fail to gain any advantage in possession, but they were also completely outmatched in organizing and creating attacks.

To use the Sky Sports commentator’s post-match summary, this was a complete and utter defeat!

A defeat on all fronts!

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, with their massive 5-1 home victory, had practically seized their ticket to the next round with both hands.

So, when the match ended, all the fans in the stadium were celebrating the victory with wild abandon!

Chapter 331: The Passing King! Champions League Dark Horse! European Stepping Stone! Yang, Let’s Have an All-Out Attack!

Barça is getting old!

In the wake of their crushing 1-5 defeat to the Bayswater Chinese at Prudential Stadium, the Catalonian newspaper Mundo Deportivo was the first to publish its post-match commentary.

They were immensely disappointed with Barça’s performance in London.

The two-legged tie was essentially lost in the first leg!

“This is not the Barça we were hoping to see!” Mundo Deportivo commented.

Where did Barça go wrong?

In the post-match press conference, head coach Luis Enrique stated that the gap between the two teams wasn’t actually that large.

“We did well in the opening stages, and we even scored with our first shot on goal.”

“We should have extended our lead, but we failed to do so.”

So where was the problem?

Luis Enrique believed the team’s biggest issue was their defensive errors.

“We have to accept the fact that in European football, there have always been teams stronger than us.”

“And that team is the Bayswater Chinese!”

“They played exceptionally well, better than us.”

Luis Enrique argued that Barça should learn from this match instead of dwelling on the result itself.

“As the team’s head coach, I could feel that when we were trailing 1-2, our players were already having issues with their mentality.”

“We were once a team with a very strong psychological resolve, but against the Bayswater Chinese, we had no advantage whatsoever. In fact, we were inferior to them.”

Regarding the match itself, Luis Enrique said the team had hoped to control the proceedings.

“Gareth Bale’s absence was a huge blow to our opponents. Of course, we don’t mean to belittle their other players, but when a player of Gareth Bale’s caliber can’t play, it greatly increases our chances of winning.”

“But at Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng’s lineup and touchline management were completely unexpected.”

“Especially after conceding just three minutes into the game, they showed no signs of panic.”

“They deserve a victory like this!”

Mundo Deportivo agreed with Luis Enrique’s assessment.

The Bayswater Chinese had indeed performed exceptionally well.

But regarding Barça itself, the newspaper held a different opinion.

“Luis Enrique is clearly holding a lot back.”

What was he not saying?

It was about the team’s four captains.

The 35-year-old Xavi, the soon-to-be 31-year-old Iniesta, the 26-year-old Busquets, and the 28-year-old Piqué.

Add to that the fact that left centre-back Mathieu was already 31, and right-back Dani Alves was about to turn 32.

It was clear: Barça was now old!

This Barça team no longer bore any resemblance to the Dream Team Three under Pep Guardiola that had swept across Europe.

And the fact was, even the Dream Team Three at its peak couldn’t gain the slightest advantage against Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese.

What could this old and weary Barça do now?

Mundo Deportivo believed that what everyone at Prudential Stadium witnessed was an aging Barça.

Their average age was approaching 30.

That was the fatal flaw!

“While we fielded a centre-back pairing of Piqué and Mathieu with an average age close to 30, our opponents lined up 32-year-old Pepe alongside 23-year-old van Dijk.”

“While our midfield consisted of the aging Xavi and Iniesta leading the 26-year-old Busquets, our opponents had 29-year-old Modrić leading 25-year-old Toni Kroos and 23-year-old Casemiro.”

Mundo Deportivo acknowledged that experience was, of course, important in the world of football.

“But we cannot live in the past forever. Our future must rely on younger players.”

The newspaper concluded that the disastrous defeat was, at its core, a result of the serious problems brought on by Barça’s aging squad.

“We need to bring in a group of younger, more energetic players!”

…

Another Spanish newspaper, Marca, opined that the match at London’s Prudential Stadium had completely exposed Luis Enrique.

“Barça’s head coach needs to reflect on this foolish, suicidal act.”

Why suicidal?

Marca argued that for many years, Barça had prided itself on having a world-class midfield.

But this time, in London, they had to admit that their midfield had nothing to be proud of in front of the Bayswater Chinese.

Not even their possession.

Because the possession rate for both teams was evenly matched.

But the Bayswater Chinese far surpassed Barça in terms of efficiency and tempo.

“When a typical fast-paced Premier League team has the same possession rate as Barça, the consequences are predictable.”

Marca suggested that this match was well worth studying for Real Madrid.

Because Barça had thoroughly exposed their weakness when not in possession of the ball.

“In the eras of Guardiola and Vilanova, Barça’s possession was more about horizontal circulation. Luis Enrique has injected more verticality into this team.”

“To that end, they brought in Robert Lewandowski, who has the ability to play with his back to goal.”

“But in this match, we still saw this Barça team riddled with errors.”

“This was an indisputable, all-encompassing, crushing defeat!”

“Enrique and his players must take responsibility for this debacle!”

England’s The Times attributed the team’s victory to head coach Yang Cheng.

The authoritative media outlet believed that before the match, Gareth Bale’s injury had everyone worried for the Bayswater Chinese, as the Welshman was simply too important!

“While everyone was assessing the risks of Gareth Bale’s absence, Yang Cheng quietly deployed a different solution.”

“He didn’t choose the lightning-fast Theo Walcott, but instead paired Sterling with Eden Hazard.”

“It was a truly magical combination!”

The Times also included heat maps of the two shorter players in their report, showing that their activity was concentrated in the half-spaces, but their range of movement was vast, and both were diligent in tracking back to defend.

Especially Sterling.

With the three midfielders lined up horizontally, Hazard and Sterling functioned more like wide attacking midfielders, making it seem like the Bayswater Chinese were playing a 4-3-3, when in reality it was a 4-3-2-1 formation.

The benefits were obvious: both full-backs were very aggressive in pushing forward to join the attack.

Hazard and Sterling could also roam freely and adapt on the fly, capable of playing both centrally and on the wings, which caused major headaches for Barça’s defenders.

Especially when combined with Giroud, who also covered a lot of ground.

“At Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng taught Luis Enrique a vivid lesson!”

“Gareth Bale is indeed important, but without Gareth Bale, the Bayswater Chinese are still the Bayswater Chinese!”

“Over the past years, it has been proven time and again that on this team, only one person is indispensable!”

The British newspaper The Guardian lavished praise on Hazard and Sterling.

The media outlet believed that in Gareth Bale’s absence, the two players had completely subdued Barça.

“Yang Cheng is like a magician, always able to turn stone into gold and bring us all surprises.”

Hazard has been the best player in the Champions League so far this season.

Perhaps even without qualification.

He continued his “dribbling king” performance from the group stage, consistently playing brilliantly in the knockout stage.

“At Prudential Stadium, he played a great match!” The Guardian acclaimed.

Sterling, on the other hand, has become the Bayswater Chinese’s biggest discovery.

“In a crucial match, he shouldered the pressure and filled the void left by Gareth Bale.”

The Guardian even playfully teased Walcott.

“The Little Tiger, sitting on the bench, must have been filled with tension and anxiety.”

“Because Sterling’s rise will inevitably impact his position with the Bayswater Chinese.”

Previously, Walcott and Hazard each had their own strengths and worked in concert.

But now, Sterling’s emergence has undoubtedly intensified the internal competition within the team.

“At Prudential Stadium, the Bayswater Chinese played a magnificent game!”

“With this victory, they showed everyone that even without their top star, Gareth Bale, they are still the strongest team in Europe!”

“Because the Bayswater Chinese have never relied on a single superstar; they rely on the close cooperation of the entire team!”

The German magazine kicker also covered the match in its midweek Champions League special issue.

But besides reporting on the several star players of the Bayswater Chinese, the Germans focused more on Toni Kroos.

In this match against Barça, the German midfielder once again produced a set of statistics that seemed simple and unadorned but were actually incredibly impressive.

In front of Xavi, he earned the honor of “Passing King” of the match!

Ninety-seven passes in the entire game, with ninety-six completions.

That was Toni Kroos!

In this direct confrontation, he completely overshadowed Xavi, Iniesta, and even Busquets.

This was outrageous!

Because the whole world knew that passing was Barça’s specialty.

Who could compete with Barça in passing?

But now, the Bayswater Chinese and Toni Kroos had done it!

kicker argued that Toni Kroos’s ability to link up play was exceptional, and his defending was very precise.

He might not seem aggressive, lack a strong personality, and even appear a bit soft, but in reality, he was incredibly consistent.

“After conceding just three minutes into the game, Toni Kroos immediately stabilized the situation, continuously orchestrating attacks on the left flank, supporting Marcelo and Hazard to create constant threats up front.”

“He is never the most eye-catching player on the pitch, but he is the most important core midfielder for the Bayswater Chinese.”

kicker also provided an in-depth analysis of the changes in Toni Kroos since his move to the Premier League.

In the Bundesliga, Toni Kroos had never managed to display his strengths and characteristics.

But in the Premier League, under Yang Cheng, he delivered a dazzling performance.

A crucial factor in this was that he had Modrić beside him.

Their characteristics were very complementary, and they coordinated with great chemistry, always seeming to be on the same wavelength.

“Both Toni Kroos and Modrić have mentioned in interviews more than once that the other is the partner they connect with most instinctively on the pitch.”

To better unleash the abilities of these two midfielders, Yang Cheng always deployed a holding midfielder like Nemanja Matić, Javi Martínez, or Casemiro behind them, allowing them to play without inhibition.

kicker admitted that Toni Kroos’s choice to join the Bayswater Chinese was the right one.

“Yang Cheng is the head coach in world football today who understands him best!”

…

How much trouble was it to get from London to Enschede?

Heathrow Airport had no flights to Amsterdam, so one had to go north to Luton or south to Gatwick Airport in Crawley.

After about an hour and a half flight, upon arrival at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, it was a drive west.

The journey took two and a half to three hours at best.

Enschede actually had its own airport, Twente Airport, to the north of the city, which was originally a joint military-civilian airport.

But a decade ago, the airport was declared closed.

Many airlines now send their decommissioned aircraft here to be dismantled for parts, which are then used for repairs.

Thus, the place was also known as a plane graveyard.

Yang Cheng had come this time at the invitation of Enschede’s mayor, Onno van Veldhuizen.

The Enschede municipal government was currently FC Twente’s largest creditor and had been in contact with Yang Cheng’s team before.

After the game against Barça, the team had to prepare for the FA Cup match against Arsenal.

Yang Cheng really didn’t have much time.

But Mayor Onno van Veldhuizen had called him personally.

So, he had no choice but to make a trip over.

This was his first time in Enschede.

From Amsterdam, he took the A1 motorway east, exiting at Hengelo, a small town just west of Enschede.

FC Twente’s training ground was located at Veldwijk Sports Park, on the eastern side of Hengelo.

This was Hengelo’s sports center, with a cluster of indoor arenas, tennis clubs, rugby clubs, and so on.

There were two football clubs.

FC Twente’s first team and youth team were both based here, using the multi-purpose Veldwijk Stadium and two and a half of the four and a half football pitches to the east of the stadium.

The “half” was because that pitch was a small-sided one, not a standard field.

Hengelo’s local amateur team, Barbaros, used the other two football pitches.

In other words, from the first team to the youth academy, FC Twente had only these two and a half pitches and the multi-purpose stadium.

Their training building was also a converted space behind the stadium’s stands.

When Yang Cheng arrived, FC Twente’s “God of Wealth,” Hennie ten Hag, was already waiting for him. He gave Yang Cheng a quick tour, during which Yang Cheng shook his head repeatedly.

This made Hennie ten Hag feel ashamed.

What they considered decent facilities, in Yang Cheng’s eyes, were simply subpar.

Continuing east from Veldwijk Sports Park, the straight-line distance was about 2.5 kilometers, but due to a railway line, they had to take a detour of about 4 kilometers to reach De Grolsch Veste.

The southwest and southeast sides of the stadium were surrounded by a diverted river tributary. To the southeast, it was adjacent to one of Enschede’s largest wastewater treatment plants, while to the northwest, it bordered an entertainment center with an ice rink, a bowling alley, and a shopping center.

To the north was a railway line, and beyond that lay the world-renowned University of Twente.

And as everyone knew, over the past few years, only three sides of De Grolsch Veste’s stands had been built up.

In fact, space had been reserved between the northeast stand and the railway line for future expansion.

It was just that FC Twente had never had the money.

From the training ground to De Grolsch Veste, Yang Cheng and his entourage gave everything a cursory glance.

Afterward, the group went to Diekman Sports Park, south of Enschede city.

This was an old football stadium that had been abandoned for years, surrounded by overgrown wasteland.

But it was also a densely populated residential area for the citizens of Enschede.

According to Hennie ten Hag, the plan was to demolish this stadium and build a sports park on the site back in 1998, when FC Twente moved into what was then called the Arke Stadion, now De Grolsch Veste.

But for various reasons, the plan was temporarily shelved.

The specific reason was simple: no money.

Although Enschede wasn’t a large city, there were many football clubs in the city center, and they all occupied considerable space.

This, in a way, reflected the Dutch government’s emphasis on football.

FC Twente’s “God of Wealth” seemed to have accepted his fate, knowing they could no longer hold onto the club, so he told Yang Cheng something else.

The municipal government actually had another plan.

If they couldn’t reach an agreement with Yang Cheng, the city would step in and use De Grolsch Veste to raise funds from the public, expecting to gather around thirty-five million euros.

Of that, twenty million euros would be used to repay the twenty-million-euro municipal loan owed to the city from the previous stadium expansion.

The remaining fifteen million euros would be used to alleviate FC Twente’s current financial difficulties.

But the price for this would be that FC Twente would have to pay a hefty stadium rent every year thereafter.

The various parties involved in the financing would form a stadium management foundation to jointly handle this business.

Yang Cheng’s eyes lit up when he heard this.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this was the tactic that allowed FC Twente in his previous life to barely survive until 2018.

And Hennie ten Hag’s words proved that not only was FC Twente broke, but the municipal government was too.

This was getting interesting!

Enschede’s City Hall was in the old town, north of Diekman Stadium.

That area could be considered the core of Enschede’s tourism, with two old churches in addition to the city hall.

It attracted many tourists every year.

But the new mayor, Onno van Veldhuizen, didn’t work in the City Hall. Instead, he rented an office building near the train station, north of the old town.

It was said that there were plans to build a new municipal building nearby.

This demonstrated Onno van Veldhuizen’s ambition!

As Yang Cheng passed by, he just glanced out the car window; the old town did indeed look aged.

Upon arriving at the office building serving as the mayor’s temporary office, Onno van Veldhuizen came out to greet them.

Local media reporters were on site taking pictures.

For them, Yang Cheng’s arrival was a major event!

Many people participated in the conversation.

On Yang Cheng’s side were Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and Chris Hunt, along with two lawyers and an assistant team.

Onno van Veldhuizen’s side also included all the decision-makers from the Enschede municipal government.

But as the party in question, FC Twente only sent two people: Hennie ten Hag and an interim chairman.

Munsterman had become the former chairman.

Once the formal talks began, van Veldhuizen started by introducing the situation of Enschede and FC Twente.

Although he had savaged FC Twente behind closed doors, in front of Yang Cheng, he still spoke many kind words about the club.

But some things simply couldn’t be covered up.

For example, the accident on July 7, 2011.

How serious was it?

It directly led the Dutch government to revise its building safety regulations!

It was no secret that over the past few years, FC Twente had been in debt annually, verging on bankruptcy every year.

Currently, their total debt exceeded ninety million euros, but the main creditor was the Enschede municipal government.

Besides direct government loans, most of it was in the form of guaranteed bank loans.

After listening for a while, Yang Cheng basically understood the situation.

To put it bluntly, the municipal government was also under immense pressure and couldn’t handle it anymore.

If he remembered correctly, in his previous life, FC Twente’s relegation and bankruptcy happened within the next two or three years, right during van Veldhuizen’s term.

The difference was, in his previous life, he himself hadn’t shown up.

Van Veldhuizen stated that the Enschede municipal government, in principle, agreed to FC Twente bringing in investors, as long as it complied with EU and Dutch law, as well as UEFA and the Dutch Football Association’s requirements. The city had no problem with it.

But the prerequisite was that he had to ensure the interests of Enschede’s citizens and the fans from the surrounding areas.

This was, of course, a diplomatic statement.

In reality, the Enschede government meant that the Diekman Sports Park had to be built, and the last stand of De Grolsch Veste also had to be expanded.

This actually involved a kind of competition between Enschede and Hengelo.

Hengelo had also been hoping for FC Twente to expand its local training base, so they had signed a long-term contract.

There were, in fact, solutions to such issues.

It was simple: Hengelo would continue to serve as the team’s training base, while construction would begin at Diekman Sports Park.

Once the Diekman facility was completed, the other one would be expanded and renovated to be used as one of the youth academies in the future.

The Veldwijk Stadium could also serve as the home ground for the B team and youth teams.

The Diekman Sports Park project was large and would certainly require a significant investment.

According to previous assessments by Chris Hunt and others, the total investment for the three locations would be around seventy million euros.

This was truly nothing for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese.

But for the Enschede municipal government, it was a major project not seen in years.

The real point of conflict between the two sides was the issue of debt.

Currently, FC Twente’s player roster wasn’t worth much, nor was its license to compete in the Eredivisie.

The most valuable asset of the entire club was De Grolsch Veste.

The stadium was built in 1998, and based on later exchange rates, the initial investment was about thirty-five million euros.

In 2008, the southwest stand was expanded for fifty million euros.

In 2011, it was expanded again for another fifteen million euros.

In other words, the stadium had cost about ninety million euros to date.

Yang Cheng’s proposal was that he would assume all of FC Twente’s debts, and the club would be sold to him for a symbolic one euro.

The confidence behind Yang Cheng’s proposal was precisely what Hennie ten Hag had just said: FC Twente and the Enschede municipal government were out of money.

Van Veldhuizen also wanted to build a new municipal building north of the train station, which also required funds.

If FC Twente wasn’t sold, it would remain a financial black hole.

If it was sold to Yang Cheng, the twenty million euro municipal loan owed to the city could be paid off immediately by Yang Cheng.

“Furthermore, I can guarantee that within the next two years, we will begin expanding the northeast stand, increasing the stadium’s capacity to 45,000, and invest in building the training facility at Diekman Sports Park.”

Ticket prices in the Netherlands were quite decent.

Currently, FC Twente’s average ticket price was around twenty-five euros.

According to Chris Hunt’s estimate, the expansion would require an investment of about sixty million euros, increasing the capacity to 45,000, which was 14,000 more than the current capacity.

The projected increase in revenue per match would be 350,000 euros.

Over a year, that would be 6.3 million euros.

And that was just from ticket revenue.

Then there were the VIP boxes.

The Enschede municipal government was focusing its development around the University of Twente, mainly on innovation and investment, so the surrounding area was currently very vibrant and becoming increasingly bustling.

Renovating the interior of the stadium to include restaurants, a hotel, conference centers, and more would generate another substantial stream of extra income.

Additionally, Hennie ten Hag told Yang Cheng that the reason De Grolsch Veste was called that was because in 2008, the naming rights were sold to the local Grolsch Brewery.

They signed an eight-year contract at the time.

Over the past period, the two parties had been in constant dispute, mainly over the naming rights fee.

Grolsch Brewery had long since been acquired and was unwilling to pay additional fees.

According to Chris Hunt, after the contract expired in 2016, they wouldn’t renew it and would find a new sponsor.

This would be another source of income.

All in all, this was a very worthwhile deal.

For the Enschede municipal government, this deal was also worth making.

Thus, the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

After Yang Cheng and van Veldhuizen formally signed the agreement, all that remained were the formalities and procedures.

But all of that would be handled by their subordinates.

…

Leaving behind the relevant personnel to handle the handover and push things forward, Yang Cheng and his team returned to Amsterdam without stopping.

On the way, Yang Cheng talked about his positioning for FC Twente.

The positioning of FC Twente was essentially equivalent to the positioning of the Eredivisie.

This was actually quite interesting.

The Netherlands had no restrictions on foreign players. Although it had been in decline in recent years, it actually attracted a diverse range of players.

There were players from South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

They all loved to make their first stop in the Eredivisie.

But there was another region that many overlooked: Scandinavia.

Players from Nordic countries like Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland were also very fond of making their debut in the Netherlands.

For instance, Ibrahimović made his name at Ajax.

And now, whenever Yang Cheng thought of Scandinavia, Majin Buu Haaland immediately came to mind.

There were also players from Belgium.

Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Vermaelen, and others all came through the Eredivisie.

So why was Dutch football getting worse year by year?

In terms of population, the Netherlands has seventeen million people, more than Portugal, and its economy is also very good.

But look at the Primeira Liga in Portugal—it’s becoming more and more competitive.

Of course, the Primeira Liga is backed by the whole of South America, and the natural advantage of the Portuguese language makes it easier for them to attract South American players.

But let’s not forget, back in the day, players like Ronaldo and Romário all made their first stop in the Netherlands.

How can that be explained?

At the end of the day, it boils down to one thing: the administrators of the Dutch league and clubs have failed to keep up with the times.

Especially in recent years.

PSV Eindhoven, backed by the Philips Group, was content to enjoy the shade under the big tree and dominate domestically.

Ajax and Feyenoord have also had their own problems.

Especially Ajax.

As a pioneer of Dutch football, Ajax had tried.

As early as the beginning of the century, they actively developed overseas markets, for example, by establishing Ajax Cape Town in South Africa.

But mismanagement led to the premature demise of Ajax’s first step towards internationalization.

In recent years, Ajax itself has been mired in difficulties, so how could it have paid attention to anything else?

As European integration continued to evolve, especially in the football industry, information became increasingly transparent. Whenever a young player started to emerge somewhere, teams from the top five leagues would immediately rush in.

The Primeira Liga is dominated by South American players, the Bundesliga has begun to absorb talent from Eastern Europe on a large scale, Ligue 1 has Africa as its home base…

All of this has caused the Eredivisie, as a stepping stone to the top leagues, to lose its competitive advantage in the battle for young talent.

More importantly, Dutch homegrown youth development also seems to have hit a bottleneck.

In recent years, have any outstanding young Dutch players emerged?

The answer is obvious.

In an era where European football is increasingly pursuing globalization, the self-complacent Netherlands is clearly failing to keep up.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, the Eredivisie had a very unique advantage.

That is, to cultivate young players who fit the modern football philosophy!

And its geographical advantage also makes the Netherlands very attractive to players from the Nordic region.

“Man proposes, God disposes.”

In the car, Yang Cheng let out a soft sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Qing asked with concern.

“I didn’t expect the acquisition of FC Twente to happen so quickly. If I had known, I should have let Erik ten Hag stay and coach FC Twente,” Yang Cheng said with a wry smile.

Erik ten Hag coaching FC Twente would definitely have been an ace up his sleeve.

“I don’t see it that way,” Xia Qing objected. “Think about it. Given his family’s connections and influence in Enschede, and his father’s personality, if Erik ten Hag succeeded in coaching at Twente, it would certainly bring many conveniences, but the trouble in the future would also be significant, perhaps even more so.”

“That’s right, I don’t support Erik ten Hag coaching FC Twente either,” Adam Crozier also stated his position.

Yang Cheng didn’t deny it; it was just a passing thought.

After the acquisition of FC Twente, the Twente ’65 Foundation would no longer be necessary, and Hennie ten Hag would also leave.

The rest was for Yang Cheng to handle behind closed doors.

As for a head coach, Yang Cheng wasn’t really short of one Erik ten Hag.

In terms of players, FC Twente would definitely continue to focus on players from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and South America.

As a side note, a recent hot topic in the Netherlands was Roman Abramovich’s investment in Eredivisie club Vitesse.

They believed Abramovich was the man pulling the strings behind the scenes at Vitesse.

Thinking of this, Yang Cheng found it amusing.

That investigation was going to last for a very long time.

Later, after the Russo-Ukrainian War broke out, when Europe was sanctioning Abramovich, the Dutch Football Association was still trying to determine Vitesse’s connection to Abramovich, but they never found any solid evidence.

By the same token, they wouldn’t find any connection between Yang Cheng and FC Twente this time either.

…

A one-day round trip between the Netherlands and England.

Afterward, Yang Cheng threw himself into preparations for the weekend’s FA Cup semi-final.

With Flick on board, Yang Cheng’s pressure was significantly reduced.

But playing Arsenal away, with Gareth Bale injured, and after going all-out against Chelsea and Barça in the same week, with another match against Barça coming up, the Bayswater Chinese had to make significant squad rotations.

The Gunners were also distracted by the Champions League, and Wenger also opted for some rotation, but key players including Sánchez, Fàbregas, Cazorla, Koscielny, and Mertesacker all started.

In the 39th minute, it was Fàbregas who assisted Sánchez to score past Robert Green.

But after halftime, Harry Kane assisted Sterling to score against Arsenal, leveling the score.

The two teams then fell back into a grueling physical battle.

The 1-1 scoreline held until the final whistle.

According to the rules, there would be no second leg replay; instead, the match went directly into extra time.

Both teams were locked in a stalemate.

It wasn’t until the 115th minute that another goal from Sánchez helped Arsenal beat the Bayswater Chinese 2-1.

Wenger’s team ultimately won the match and advanced to the FA Cup final!

“It looks like you’ve really given up on the Champions League!”

After the match, when Wenger came over to shake hands with Yang Cheng, Yang Cheng didn’t take the loss to heart.

From Wenger fielding so many key players, and seeing them play the entire match, to even subbing on Benzema and Nasri in the 72nd minute when they couldn’t break the deadlock, it was clear what Wenger’s mentality was.

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Wenger revealed a faint, bitter smile.

A 1-3 home loss to Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

How could they possibly turn that around in the second leg?

Wenger’s strategy was to secure the FA Cup that was within their grasp first.

In any case, the FA Cup was more important than the League Cup.

…

On the evening of April 21st, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

The Bayswater Chinese traveled to the Camp Nou to challenge Barça away from home.

Before the match even started, the moment Luis Enrique saw the Bayswater Chinese’s starting lineup, he was so angry he wanted to curse up a storm.

Why?

Because Yang Cheng had adjusted his starting lineup again.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

The first thought that popped into Luis Enrique’s mind when he saw this lineup was Yang Cheng’s sinister, evil laugh: Hehe, come at me, I’ll hit you on the counter-attack!

This really made Luis Enrique feel like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

Can’t we have a bit of the spirit of a top European giant?

Just like in the first leg at your home ground, let’s go on an all-out attack, can’t we?

As soon as the match started, Barça felt the pressure.

It was the same familiar feeling.

Midfield suppression!

Due to the midfield trio of Iniesta, Busquets, and Xavi not covering enough ground in the first leg, Luis Enrique made an adjustment for the home game, starting homegrown player Sergi Roberto in place of Xavi in midfield.

This player was currently playing in midfield, but in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he later converted to a right-back and performed quite well for a time.

Up front, Pedro also replaced Mahrez in an attempt to strengthen the attack.

As a result, just 14 minutes into the game, Sergi Roberto made a passing error under heavy pressure. Modrić won the tackle and sent a through ball straight behind Alba.

Walcott’s speed was unleashed in that instant, making a threatening run behind the defensive line. After receiving the ball, he dribbled into the right side of the penalty area and scored with a push shot in a one-on-one.

1-0!

After scoring, The Little Tiger excitedly ran off the pitch to celebrate.

The first leg had truly been frustrating for him!

As for Barça, their opening blitz wasn’t even over, and their own goal had been breached.

The aggregate score was now 1-6. How could they possibly play on?

But before the Barça players could regroup, the Bayswater Chinese seized another opportunity 20 minutes later.

It was another quick counter-attack down the right flank. Piszczek sent a through ball, and Walcott knocked the ball past Alba and sprinted around him, forcefully shaking off the defender before charging towards the right side of Barça’s penalty area.

This time, The Little Tiger truly maximized the threat of his speed.

After storming into the right side of Barça’s box, facing the tracking-back Mathieu, Walcott sent a low, angled cross to the back post.

Hazard made a quick run to meet it, scoring with a close-range toe-poke.

Giroud, who had followed the run into the center, looked aggrieved!

He looked at himself, then at Walcott, then at the celebrating Hazard, and the Frenchman felt an urge to cry.

I’m completely unmarked here, why didn’t you pass to me?

Why did you have to go for the far option and pass to Hazard?

Walcott pointed at Piqué, implying that if he had tried to pass around Mathieu to Giroud, he feared Piqué would have intercepted it.

When Giroud ran to the sideline to celebrate the goal with Hazard, he made sure to wrap one arm around Hazard’s neck and the other around Walcott’s shoulder. “I don’t care, you have to get me one!”

“I want to score!”

One clear signal that Luis Enrique was still too inexperienced was that at halftime, he directly substituted Xavi for Sergi Roberto.

The midfielder was taken off after just 45 minutes.

Barça’s midfield returned to the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio.

Interestingly, in the second half, the Bayswater Chinese played with more composure.

Barça, on the other hand, controlled possession firmly but struggled to create effective attacks.

Time ticked by.

In the end, Giroud did not get the goal he craved.

The Bayswater Chinese, thanks to Walcott’s goal and assist in the first half, defeated Barça 2-0.

With an aggregate score of 7-1, they smoothly advanced to the Champions League semi-finals!

…

After the match, media and fans all over the world reported on the game.

They were especially unstinting in their praise for the Bayswater Chinese, who were advancing with irresistible momentum.

Barça, on the other hand, faced criticism, including from the Catalonian media.

The crushing 7-1 defeat was a complete loss of face for Barça!

At the same time, it thoroughly exposed the weakness of Barça’s defensive line.

In the other three Champions League matches, the winners were also decided.

Much to Yang Cheng’s surprise, Ronald Koeman’s Nice, after losing 0-1 away to Juventus in the first leg, returned home and swept aside The Zebras 2-0.

Young forwards Martial and Sadio Mané each scored a goal.

Another winger, Salah, contributed an assist.

This season, Nice’s front three had been very impressive, especially the talented youngster Martial.

Many compared him to Henry, believing he had the potential to become the next Henry.

In the match against Juventus, it was Martial who drifted to the left wing, combined with Mané, then suddenly broke through with the ball, cut into the left side of the penalty area, and scored with a shot.

Dribbling into the box from the left—that was Henry’s specialty!

Sadio Mané also had a brilliant performance in the match, scoring the crucial second goal for the team.

The assist came from Salah.

This Champions League dark horse narrowly defeated Juventus 2-1 on aggregate, once again reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Their opponents would be Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

The Blue Moons, after beating Arsenal 3-1 away in the first leg, returned home to defeat Arsenal 2-0, with Marco Reus scoring twice!

The German winger had been outstanding for Manchester City this season.

Guardiola’s team was formidable and immensely talented this season.

Although Arsenal had eliminated the Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup, they had given it their all and were unable to turn the tide in the second leg of the Champions League.

In the final match, Real Madrid, after a 0-0 draw away at Atlético Madrid, returned to the Bernabéu Stadium and defeated Atlético 1-0 thanks to an 88th-minute goal from Di María, smoothly advancing to the semi-finals.

Thus, based on the draw made during the quarter-finals, Manchester City would face Nice.

And the Bayswater Chinese would face Real Madrid.

As soon as the Champions League semi-final matchups were announced, major European bookmakers refreshed their odds.

The Bayswater Chinese remained at the top, with Manchester City close behind.

There wasn’t much difference in the odds for the two teams.

This was mainly because both teams had shown an extraordinary level of performance in the Champions League this season.

As for Real Madrid, facing the Bayswater Chinese in the semi-finals, they would need to deliver an even better performance to reach the final.

And with Nice facing Manchester City, almost everyone concluded that the Ligue 1 team was just there to make up the numbers.

Ronald Koeman facing his “junior,” Pep Guardiola, was certain to be a battle of titans.

…

After the Champions League quarter-finals, the weekend brought the 34th round of the Premier League.

The Bayswater Chinese hosted West Ham United at home.

Due to the FA Cup semi-final, the 33rd round’s rescheduled match was postponed to Wednesday, and the following weekend was the 35th round, an away match against Liverpool, followed by the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, away at the Bernabéu Stadium against Real Madrid.

After playing Real Madrid, the weekend would bring the 36th league match, away against Manchester City.

For Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, this period’s schedule was a “devil’s schedule.”

Having already been knocked out of the FA Cup, any further slip-ups could mean losing the league and the Champions League, ending up empty-handed.

And on the afternoon of April 25th, at Prudential Stadium.

Facing a West Ham United team that was defending with all its might, the Bayswater Chinese struggled to find an effective way to break through their goal.

Chapter 332: The Guardian’s Last-Minute Winner! A Tsunami at Prudential Stadium! Ancelotti: I Signed a Mole!

With less than two minutes left in the match.

All ninety thousand fans at London’s Prudential Stadium held their breath, their eyes glued to the ongoing game on the pitch.

The fans’ gazes shifted back and forth between the team’s various star players.

Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Theo Walcott, Modrić…

And Gareth Bale, who had come on as a substitute in the second half.

This was the Welsh star’s first match back after a two-week injury layoff.

Over the past two weeks, Bayswater Chinese had undergone significant changes.

The team had thrashed Barça 7-1 on aggregate over two legs.

Eden Hazard’s performance had been particularly outstanding.

This made everyone feel that the current Bayswater Chinese side was no longer completely dependent on Gareth Bale.

But back in the Premier League, Allardyce’s West Ham United had given Bayswater Chinese a sharp reality check.

In the past few seasons, “Big Sam” had suffered greatly at the hands of Bayswater Chinese.

But this time, he was finally getting his own back!

At a crucial moment in the Premier League title race, Big Sam’s team defended with all their might in this away game, dragging the match into a stalemate with a series of defensive “park the bus” formations.

Bayswater Chinese had been unable to breach West Ham United’s goal.

Meanwhile, in Manchester to the north, Manchester City, playing at their home ground, the Etihad Stadium, had secured a last-minute 3-2 victory over Aston Villa, thanks to a goal from Messi.

The Blue Moons had scored just three minutes into the game and solidified their advantage by the 66th minute.

Then they conceded two goals and nearly suffered an unexpected defeat.

But in the 89th minute, Messi’s goal secured the victory for Manchester City.

If Manchester City won and Bayswater Chinese were held to a draw at home, the title race would become incredibly precarious.

Because Bayswater Chinese’s grueling schedule was set to continue.

Realizing this, the fans at Prudential Stadium began to grow tense.

Some couldn’t even remain in their seats, rising to their feet.

The match entered stoppage time.

When the team tried to attack again, only to be repelled by West Ham, more and more fans stood up, shouting ceaselessly, encouraging their players to keep pressing forward.

Never give up until the very last moment!

The fans grew increasingly agitated.

But at that moment, Toni Kroos actually passed the ball back across the halfway line to centre-back Thiago Silva.

Modrić raised his hand, signaling for the team to calm the tempo and not to rush.

There’s no time!

Attack!

The fans were bursting with impatience, roaring from the stands with all their might.

All the voices merged into an unintelligible din.

The entire stadium was like a vast ocean.

All anyone could hear was the roar of a tsunami.

But they could clearly see that both Modrić and Toni Kroos had retreated into their own half.

Receive the ball, pass it back, receive it again, pass it back again…

Have you given up?

Have you given up?!

The fans in the stands became emotional.

They couldn’t accept this result.

A 0-0 draw would preserve their unbeaten home record, but this wasn’t the Bayswater Chinese way.

And what about the head coach, Yang Cheng?

Why wasn’t he shouting at the players? Why was he letting them slow the pace and give up on the match?

The first minute of stoppage time… the second minute…

The ball shuttled back and forth around the halfway line.

Probing, passing back, switching play with cross passes…

The tempo was still too slow!

Some of the more anxious fans were starting to get angry.

They kept shouting with all their strength, some even started cursing.

They weren’t targeting the players specifically, but rather their lack of ambition.

The match was about to end!

…

“We’ve finally held on!”

When West Ham United’s head coach, Sam Allardyce, saw Modrić pass the ball back into his own half again, he couldn’t contain his excitement and broke into a smile from his seat in the away team’s dugout.

“That was incredibly tough,” assistant coach Neil McDonald said, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

The clock was about to tick over to 93 minutes.

Although the head referee had added four minutes of stoppage time, once it passed 93 minutes, the match could end at any moment.

“To be honest, Bayswater Chinese are really strong!” McDonald said with a sigh.

West Ham United had been under pressure for the entire match, forced to park the bus.

To have held on was, in fact, quite lucky.

But that’s how football is.

Sometimes, luck is a form of strength.

“To get a point from Prudential Stadium… no team has managed that so far this season. Only us!” Allardyce declared with pride.

“More importantly, we’ve just upset Bayswater Chinese. Let’s see how they continue their title charge now!”

McDonald nodded in agreement.

For now, Bayswater Chinese still held the lead, but you couldn’t look at it that way.

This was a trend.

More importantly was the psychological shift this draw would bring.

What lay ahead for Bayswater Chinese was a series of tough battles, mostly clashes between top teams.

This would be a huge test for them.

Of course, if they won the title, the fans could boast about its prestige.

But on the other hand, it also meant they could slip up unexpectedly at any moment and end up with nothing.

Therefore, West Ham United holding Bayswater Chinese to a draw away from home could very well be the beginning of that.

“Honestly, for the past few years, every time I’ve played against Bayswater Chinese, it’s been a headache. We always got thrashed. Now, I can finally hold my head high,” Allardyce couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Everyone knew about the feud between him and Bayswater Chinese, which dated back to the Roy Carroll incident years ago.

“After the match, I’m going to the post-match press conference. You tell the players that after the game, I’m taking everyone out for a big meal to celebrate!” Allardyce announced loudly.

Now, even McDonald was happy.

Just at that moment, the match clock ticked into the 93rd minute.

…

As soon as Eden Hazard received the ball in the left channel, he was immediately swarmed by West Ham players. He quickly passed the ball back.

Luke Shaw received it, hugging the left touchline.

But winger Stewart Downing immediately rushed towards him.

Even though the match was about to end, the West Ham players didn’t dare let their guard down for a second.

Luke Shaw immediately passed back to the holding midfielder, Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian centre-back received the ball in his own half, to the left of the center circle, and immediately sent a cross pass to van Dijk on the right side of the circle.

At that point, Toni Kroos had started to move back towards the left side of the center circle on the halfway line, ready to receive the ball.

But he was being shadowed by a West Ham forward, Carlton Cole.

Right now, West Ham had set their pressing zone in midfield, while their defense and deeper midfield adopted a compact defensive shape.

As for Bayswater Chinese passing the ball around in their defense, they were welcome to it.

Once marked by Carlton Cole, Toni Kroos immediately raised his hand, pointed forward, and shouted at van Dijk.

Speed up!

Charge!

It’s almost time!

This is the last chance to attack!

At almost the same instant, Modrić quickly dropped back to receive the ball.

van Dijk immediately passed the ball forward to Modrić’s feet.

As the Croatian received the ball to the right of the center circle, he came to a sudden stop, flicked the ball horizontally with the outside of his foot, turned, and immediately sent a cross pass.

The ball traveled almost along the halfway line, past the center circle, and landed at Toni Kroos’s feet.

In that instant, the apeed of the passing suddenly accelerated.

“Bayswater Chinese are beginning their final attack.”

“There’s only one minute of the match left.”

Toni Kroos didn’t let the ball linger at his feet at all. He met the incoming pass and, with the inside of his right foot, pushed it forward.

If time were to freeze at this moment, everyone would be astonished.

Because West Ham’s entire midfield and defense was packed with players.

Two lines of defense were neatly arranged around their own 30-meter area.

Why this area?

This was “directed” by Toni Kroos and Modrić.

Constant forward pressure and relentless attacking would only force West Ham into a solid, impenetrable block.

So, the team had kept retreating, back to the halfway line, even into their own half.

At this point, for West Ham to defend more effectively, they had to push their entire formation up.

Otherwise, they would be leaving Bayswater Chinese free to take long shots and launch long passes into the box.

Two defensive lines, nine players, all very organized.

This was proof that Allardyce, as a renowned English manager, was very capable.

But the key was that Harry Kane had dropped back into the gap behind the two holding midfielders, Cheikhou Kouyaté and Mark Noble, to receive the ball.

The genius of Toni Kroos’s pass was that it arrived at Harry Kane’s feet in the precise zone between the defensive line and the double pivot, just as Kane dropped back.

Everything seemed to have been calculated in advance.

Eden Hazard and Theo Walcott were still on the flanks, responsible for stretching the defense wide.

And West Ham had three players in the center of their defensive line.

The moment Harry Kane controlled the ball and turned, West Ham’s midfield quickly retreated, while their defensive line turned to fall back.

This was their consistent approach throughout the game.

As long as they retreated into the penalty area and defended with all their might, they would be safe.

But they couldn’t all retreat.

The main centre-back, James Collins, chose to press high, rushing towards Harry Kane.

The best-case scenario was to stop Harry Kane from advancing or passing.

It could be said that West Ham’s defending had been more than good enough.

It was almost identical to what they had done for the previous 93 minutes of the game.

The only difference was that in the space where Harry Kane was, there was a window of about one second where no one could interfere with the English centre-forward.

And as James Collins pressed forward, Gareth Bale, who had been lurking nearby, suddenly burst into motion, making a diagonal run at high speed into the area James Collins had just vacated.

Almost at the exact moment Bale was level with the defensive line, Harry Kane played a through ball.

James Collins reacted.

As a Welsh international, he was all too aware of Gareth Bale’s abilities.

So, he immediately went into a sliding tackle, trying to intercept Harry Kane’s through ball.

Best to just clear it away.

But he miscalculated.

Harry Kane’s through ball was played fast and sharp.

By the time James Collins hit the ground, the ball had already slipped past him.

Gareth Bale surged forward with a diagonal run at incredible speed, racing towards the left side of the arc of the penalty area.

“ONE-ON-ONE!!!”

“NOT OFFSIDE! HE’S NOT OFFSIDE!!”

The Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

The 90,000 fans in the stadium let out a collective gasp of shock.

The Spanish goalkeeper, Adrián, decisively came off his line, rushing towards Harry Kane’s through ball.

But Gareth Bale was faster.

The Welshman got to it first, knocking the ball to his left with his right foot, just enough to evade Adrián who had rushed out to near the penalty spot, while he himself continued his sprint forward.

Adrián saw a blur flash before his eyes as Gareth Bale shot past him.

The Welsh winger quickly chased after the ball he had played ahead.

But Adrián also reacted quickly, turning to give chase.

Gareth Bale took a long stride, just edging ahead of Adrián by a body’s length. After catching up to the ball on the left side of the penalty area, he unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

Adrián, from behind Gareth Bale, dived with all his might, trying to block the shot.

But the shot was powerful and fast, and it was kept low.

Adrián couldn’t get to it at all.

The ball, with lightning speed, zipped into the bottom right corner of the West Ham net.

The force of the shot caused Gareth Bale to lose his balance and fall inside the penalty area.

But the next moment, he slapped the ground and sprang to his feet, turning and running off the pitch.

“A LAST-MINUTE WINNER!!!”

“My God, in the 93rd minute, Gareth Bale has scored a magnificent last-minute winner!”

“1-0!”

“When it matters most, you can always count on Gareth Bale!”

“The guardian angel of Prudential Stadium!”

“After being sidelined for two weeks with an injury, the Welshman returns to the pitch, comes on as a substitute, and gives his team a spectacular winning goal!”

“The 93rd minute, a goal in the 93rd minute!”

Gareth Bale excitedly ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the touchline.

Along the way, he kept making his signature heart-shaped celebration gesture to the fans, finally sliding to his knees by the sideline.

Behind him, his teammates chased after him one by one, surrounding him in a huddle.

The entire stadium erupted with the deafening cheers of 90,000 fans.

Everyone was chanting Gareth Bale’s name!

“This is simply unbelievable!”

“Let’s watch the replay of that goal.”

“We can even venture a guess that this was Bayswater Chinese’s strategy all along.”

“Toni Kroos and Modrić were constantly signaling for their teammates to slow the tempo, for the entire formation to drop back, to give the opponent more space.”

“At the time, we all thought Bayswater Chinese were ready to give up on this match.”

“But now, looking back, it was precisely this move that forced West Ham’s entire formation to push up, and at the same time, their players began to slack off.”

“With only one minute left in the game, Bayswater Chinese calmly seized an opportunity and capitalized on a defensive error from West Ham!”

“This is Bayswater Chinese!”

“So confident!”

“This team has immense confidence in their own abilities and in the abilities of their teammates. They knew they could do it, and they were certain they would, which is why they dared to play this way.”

“Toni Kroos and Modrić are truly rare core midfielders!”

“The credit for this goal, of course, goes to Gareth Bale, and to Harry Kane for the assist.”

“But from the entire buildup to the goal, we can see that Toni Kroos and Modrić were the true masterminds, the meritorious veterans behind the scenes.”

“West Ham defended with all their might for 93 minutes, but in the final minute, they relaxed!”

“And that rendered all their efforts from the previous 93 minutes completely useless.”

“1-0!”

“Gareth Bale scores the winner on his return!”

“With this brilliant one-on-one goal, beating the offside trap, he has proven that he is still the guardian angel of Prudential Stadium!”

“Bayswater Chinese’s indispensable number one goalscorer!”

The television cameras also cut to the sidelines.

You could clearly see the jaw-dropping expression on Sam Allardyce’s face in the away team’s dugout, followed by him jumping up and down in anger.

Clearly, he was extremely disappointed with the final result.

Because just a moment before, he thought he would be leaving Prudential Stadium with a point.

…

In the 34th round of the Premier League, the competition was fierce for both the teams at the top and those fighting relegation.

Both Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City secured narrow victories with last-minute winners.

After the match, Bayswater Chinese remained at the top of the Premier League table with 94 points.

Manchester City was in second place with 89 points.

However, Bayswater Chinese had not yet played their 33rd-round match, so they had a game in hand.

Therefore, after securing the win against West Ham, almost everyone believed that the game was decided for Bayswater Chinese.

Winning the title was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

The media also gave extremely high praise to Gareth Bale for scoring the winner.

Returning after a two-week injury layoff, coming on as a substitute to score a crucial last-minute winner!

For a player like that, besides heaping praise on him, there was really nothing else to say.

While the top two teams were far ahead, Chelsea followed in third place with 77 points.

But Mourinho’s team had drawn 0-0 away at Arsenal in this round.

The Gunners were now in 4th place with 74 points.

Manchester United, on the other hand, suffered a stunning 0-3 defeat away to David Moyes’ Everton.

Moyes had finally gotten his revenge for not being able to manage Manchester United.

The Red Devils were now in 5th place with 68 points.

It could be said that, as things stood, the chances of van Gaal’s team breaking into the top four were not high.

But it was precisely because of this that many were speculating Manchester United might have chosen another path.

The Europa League.

As long as they won the Europa League, Manchester United could still qualify for next season’s Champions League.

In the relegation battle, teams from 13th place downwards were basically at high risk.

So, the outcome was still uncertain.

Bayswater Chinese’s next opponent, Aston Villa, was in 17th place, just one point above 19th-placed Sunderland.

This was destined to be another all-out fight!

…

After the West Ham game, Yang Cheng and his coaching staff made specific arrangements for the final stretch of the season.

April 28th, away to relegation-threatened Aston Villa.

May 2nd, away to Liverpool.

May 5th, away to Real Madrid.

May 9th, away to Manchester City.

May 12th, home to Real Madrid.

May 16th, home to relegation-threatened Newcastle.

It was safe to say that every upcoming match was a crucial, life-or-death battle.

For Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, the pressure to win all these games was immense.

It was also Flick’s first time experiencing such a situation.

Although they had a five-point lead and a game in hand.

The problem was, one loss meant three points gone.

Of course, Bayswater Chinese were under pressure, but so was Manchester City.

So, Yang Cheng deliberately cracked a joke with everyone.

“I’ve already called Ronald Koeman and told him to go all-out against Manchester City, no matter what, to give us a better chance of winning the title!”

“It would be best if our two teams meet in the Champions League final!”

If it really came to that, and Bayswater Chinese were upset by OGC Nice, that would certainly be an interesting scene.

But everyone knew this was just a joke.

Manchester City’s strength was genuinely formidable.

Defeating Manchester City was no easy task.

Gianni Vio’s data analysis team specifically conducted data-level analysis and simulations of the upcoming league situation, including how to best leverage the team’s current five-point lead and game in hand.

The two legs of the Champions League semi-final were the real key!

But they couldn’t allow Manchester City to overtake them in the league either.

How to make good use of this advantage was actually crucial.

It was also Flick’s first time witnessing the role of data analysis in season analysis and forecasting.

After detailed analysis and calculating various probabilities, many things that were once vague immediately became clear.

This left Flick amazed, and he also learned a great deal.

…

Midweek, at Villa Park.

In the rescheduled 33rd round Premier League match, Bayswater Chinese faced Aston Villa away from home.

Yang Cheng implemented a heavy squad rotation.

But just seven minutes into the match, the team’s quick blitz resulted in Theo Walcott scoring the opening goal.

After grabbing a goal, Yang Cheng slowed the tempo, using his team’s advantage in possession-based football to control the opponent, adopting a defend deep and counter-attack strategy.

For a top-tier powerhouse, this wasn’t very glorious.

But what choice was there?

Yang Cheng was fielding a team with many substitutes and still wanted to take all three points from the away game.

In the 55th minute of the second half, a cross from the right flank by Theo Walcott led to a goal by Marcelo.

2-0!

Later, Agbonlahor pulled one back for Aston Villa.

But in the 78th minute, Walcott assisted Giroud, who scored with a header.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Aston Villa 3-1 away from home.

…

On the weekend, in the 35th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Liverpool away.

Yang Cheng’s team was still rotating.

Because next Wednesday, they had to travel to the Bernabéu to face Real Madrid.

As a result, in the 19th minute of the first half, Lambert assisted Coutinho, who unleashed a cloud-piercing arrow that flew past Courtois and into the net, scoring the opening goal for Liverpool.

Afterward, The Reds launched continuous attacks.

They even forced Bayswater Chinese onto the back foot for a time.

This situation continued into the second half.

In the 73rd minute, off a pass from Nemanja Matić, Aaron Ramsey chipped the ball over Gerrard and scored from inside the box, equalizing for his team.

1-1!

Neither side was able to score again after that.

Although Liverpool pressed forward aggressively, even bringing on four attacking players towards the end, they still couldn’t break through Bayswater Chinese’s defense.

The two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.

But in the same round, Manchester City, playing away, secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to a 29th-minute goal from Agüero.

The Blue Moons also heavily rotated their squad for this match, to a great extent.

Their midfield featured a double pivot of Fernando and Fernandinho.

The only regular starter was Agüero.

Clearly, Agüero would miss the midweek Champions League match.

Tottenham also created many chances in the game but were consistently unable to breach Manchester City’s goal.

As a result, Bayswater Chinese’s lead was reduced to six points.

There were three rounds left in the league.

…

On the evening of May 5th, at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

Champions League semi-final, first leg. Bayswater Chinese versus Real Madrid.

Both teams fielded their strongest lineups for this match.

Ancelotti once again set Real Madrid up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defense: Coentrão, Ramos, Varane, and Carvajal;

Midfield: Javi Martínez in a holding role, with Isco and James Rodríguez ahead of him;

Forwards: C. Ronaldo, Džeko, and Di María.

This was the strongest lineup Real Madrid could currently field.

On the bench were stars like Jesé, Javier Hernández, Illarramendi, and Álvaro Arbeloa.

Bayswater Chinese were no less formidable.

Yang Cheng’s previous continuous rotations were all in preparation for fielding his strongest XI in this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

In defense, when facing teams with a strong, tall center-forward, Yang Cheng preferred to use Pepe and van Dijk.

Thiago Silva was a very strong player, but he struggled against tall center-forwards.

van Dijk’s individual ability was exceptional, and his performances were getting better and better. He could press high or sit deep, contribute to attack and defense. He was proving to be an increasingly valuable player.

Moreover, both Pepe and Thiago Silva were veterans over thirty years old.

Yang Cheng had to be careful with how he used them, not pushing them as he would younger players.

He especially wanted to minimize injuries.

At their age, frequent injuries were a serious problem, and their form could decline very rapidly.

Some injuries could even lead to early retirement.

In terms of specific tactical arrangements, Yang Cheng once again targeted Real Madrid’s midfield.

Javi Martínez, Isco, and James Rodríguez.

This combination looked lavish and had strong attacking power, but in reality?

This midfield lacked control.

Under Ancelotti’s guidance, Isco had improved significantly this season and was diligent in his defensive duties.

But he was not skilled at organizing the team’s midfield or initiating attacks.

James Rodríguez was more like a traditional number 10 attacking midfielder, which meant he was more inclined to make forward runs to join the attack rather than stay back and organize from midfield.

Yang Cheng targeted this weakness in Real Madrid’s setup. From the kick-off, his front three took the initiative.

Since it was the first leg and an away game, Yang Cheng of course wanted to make a preemptive strike.

After the start, through a planned and purposeful press targeting Real Madrid’s defensive line, combined with the entire midfield pushing up, they forced Real Madrid’s defense to retreat.

This easily caused a disconnect in Real Madrid’s formation.

The gap between Javi Martínez and the defense, and between Isco, James Rodríguez, and the front three widened.

Real Madrid had clearly underestimated the almost brutish high press from Bayswater Chinese’s attack and midfield right from the start.

In the 7th minute, James Rodríguez received the ball in the right channel, outside his own team’s 30-meter area.

As the Colombian tried to turn, Marcelo launched a counter-press on the spot, suddenly closing in on him. He hassled and harried, pulling and tugging, forcing James to the ground and successfully winning the ball.

The moment he won the ball, Marcelo glanced up and sent a diagonal long pass with his left foot, switching the play from the left channel in front of the 30-meter area to the right side of the six-yard box.

At almost the same instant, Gareth Bale shot through Real Madrid’s defensive line like a bolt of red lightning. He surged to the edge of the six-yard box, leaped high, and connected with a close-range header.

Marcelo’s pass was perfectly met by Gareth Bale, and the ball flew into the right side of Real Madrid’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“It’s Gareth Bale again!”

“At a crucial moment, the Welsh winger delivers once more!”

“1-0!”

“That’s a precious, golden away goal!”

“Just seven minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese have taken the lead!”

The Real Madrid players were still dumbfounded.

How long had the match been on? They had already conceded?

Coentrão hadn’t even had time to track back.

Although Ramos had followed Gareth Bale defensively, he was a step too slow, and he really couldn’t compete with Gareth Bale in an aerial duel.

But half the credit for this goal had to go to Marcelo.

So after scoring, Gareth Bale turned and ran, waving at Marcelo as he did.

The Brazilian left-back’s delivery had been absolutely perfect!

…

The moment Gareth Bale scored, Ancelotti slapped his own forehead hard.

He had actually anticipated such a result before the match.

When playing against Bayswater Chinese, if a head coach didn’t prepare for the possibility of conceding first, they weren’t a qualified head coach.

But when Ancelotti actually saw the goal go in, he was left speechless.

“That kid Marcelo is ridiculous. His technique and skill are not like a defender’s at all!”

Ancelotti’s words were a mix of helplessness and praise.

He himself was a former professional player.

“That’s because Yang Cheng doesn’t use him as a defender,” said Fernando Hierro, sitting beside him.

He had become close to Yang Cheng back during his time at Málaga CF.

He had even chatted with Yang Cheng for a while in the players’ tunnel just before, arranging to have a drink together after the match.

Of course, Ancelotti would be joining them.

But right at this moment, Ancelotti was in no mood to be happy.

After all, his team was a goal down.

“Honestly, Yang Cheng is a genius. Look at their setup on the left flank, especially placing Toni Kroos as the left central midfielder. It has completely unleashed Marcelo.”

Hierro had great admiration for Yang Cheng’s coaching abilities.

Ancelotti couldn’t help but agree.

“Back then, Jupp Heynckes used to play Toni Kroos as a left midfielder. Yang Cheng probably got his inspiration from that. But regardless, Toni Kroos and Marcelo are a perfect match.”

Their partnership was quite interesting.

Toni Kroos was a central midfielder, but he often had to clean up Marcelo’s messes, even dropping back to provide defensive cover for him.

This didn’t hinder Toni Kroos’s performance in the slightest.

Because the German’s greatest strength was his passing, especially his long passes.

Dropping deep would be a disaster for other midfielders, but for Toni Kroos, it was actually a good thing.

And Marcelo?

With Toni Kroos as his partner, he could fully unleash his attacking talent.

Is he a defender?

Are you sure?

Have you ever seen a defender get dribbled past five or six times in a single match?

You haven’t?

Well, that’s Marcelo!

Is his defending that bad?

Not really.

Anyone familiar with Marcelo knows that when he’s genuinely committed to defending, he’s quite capable.

Not excellent, but at least a competent defender.

The problem is, the number of times he genuinely commits to defending is far too few.

Or perhaps it should be said that Yang Cheng uses him precisely to get him to commit to the attack.

After discussing Bayswater Chinese, Ancelotti and Hierro naturally turned the conversation back to Real Madrid.

For this match, Ancelotti’s strategy was likely to have Di María focus his attacks on Marcelo’s flank.

James Rodríguez would provide support from behind, along with Carvajal.

This provided sufficient attacking power on the right flank.

But after the kick-off, Bayswater Chinese’s high press was so intense that it forced Real Madrid’s defensive line to retreat again and again, causing a disconnect in the midfield.

Once the midfield was disconnected, distribution from the back became a problem.

The tactics Ancelotti had planned before the match became ineffective.

Whether it was James Rodríguez or Di María, they were both South American players who needed the ball at their feet to be a threat.

Thinking of this, Ancelotti instinctively looked over at the Bayswater Chinese side.

Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Modrić.

Damn it, if you gave me that midfield trio, I could lead Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League trophies too!

The problem was, the cards he currently held, apart from Javi Martínez, were Isco and James Rodríguez, who weren’t quite up to snuff.

The most important thing was tempo!

The current Real Madrid side severely lacked a midfielder who could control the tempo!

Bayswater Chinese had two, plus two halves in Aaron Ramsey and De Bruyne.

Manchester City was even more lavish: David Silva, Marco Verratti, Tiago, Pirlo, and Xabi Alonso…

Arsenal had Fàbregas, Mikel Arteta, and Gourcuff.

And Barça went without saying.

But Real Madrid, right now, had none!

…

Despite taking a one-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese didn’t immediately sit back.

In the 10th minute, Bayswater Chinese got another opportunity.

Once again, after winning the ball in the center of the pitch, Modrić initiated a quick counter-attack and found Eden Hazard with a diagonal pass.

But Real Madrid recovered quickly.

Hazard was forced to dribble towards the left touchline, where he was double-teamed by Carvajal and James Rodríguez.

But the Belgian still managed to pass the ball back to Toni Kroos from between the two players.

After drifting to the left touchline to receive the pass, the German midfielder controlled it with the inside of his right foot, glanced forward, and immediately hit another diagonal long pass to the right side of the penalty area.

The next moment, Gareth Bale suddenly burst out from between Ramos and Coentrão, charged into the box, and before anyone else could react, unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

He struck the ball cleanly, so it had quite a bit of power.

But at the critical moment, Casillas managed to tip the shot over the crossbar.

Corner kick.

Modrić took the corner, delivering it precisely into the box. van Dijk flicked it on at the near post, and Pepe unleashed a powerful header at the far post.

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back.

A collective gasp of relief echoed throughout the Bernabéu Stadium!

Everyone felt the immense attacking pressure from Bayswater Chinese.

Even a team as strong as Real Madrid, even at the Bernabéu, was being pressed and dominated by Bayswater Chinese from the start.

This passive, defensive situation didn’t ease until after the 15th minute.

But Real Madrid still struggled to organize any effective attacks.

Losing control of the midfield made it very difficult for Real Madrid to play.

And in the latter half of the half, Real Madrid’s performance clearly showed some problems.

The main issue was the players’ stamina.

Ultimately, it all came back to the midfield.

Ancelotti’s team lacked effective control in midfield, which meant the team’s rhythm was often switching back and forth between fast attacks and quick defensive recovery.

On the pitch, this translated to players either launching fast attacks forward or rapidly retreating to defend.

This resulted in Real Madrid’s players doing a lot of high-intensity shuttle runs.

And anyone who has played football knows that for a player, running at a constant pace and doing high-intensity shuttle runs are two completely different types of exertion.

The latter is far, far more draining than the former.

So, by the second half of the season, Real Madrid’s excessive energy consumption led to widespread injuries, which, combined with technical and tactical issues, caused the team’s performance to be inconsistent.

When things went well, they could thrash Granada CF 9-1, but when they didn’t, they could also be惨败 0-4 by Atlético Madrid.

But just as Real Madrid eased the pressure on their midfield and defense and began to try to create more threatening attacks, they soon made another mistake.

In the 22nd minute, after Real Madrid won the ball in their own half, Varane passed to James Rodríguez.

At that time, both Hazard and Marcelo were on the left side of Real Madrid’s 30-meter area.

They both charged towards James Rodríguez to apply pressure.

After an elegant touch and turn, the Colombian passed the ball forward, intending to find Di María up ahead.

But he never expected that his passing intention would be so obvious.

Toni Kroos appeared perfectly in the passing lane between him and Di María.

So, the pass was less for Di María and more a direct pass to Toni Kroos.

The Real Madrid players were all dumbfounded.

The Real Madrid fans in the stands were stunned.

What the hell!

Eighty million euros to sign a mole?

Toni Kroos controlled the ball, pushed it forward, chased after it, and passed it to Hazard.

With his back to goal, the latter controlled the pass and laid it off for Marcelo.

The Brazilian defender took a touch and then knocked it horizontally to Giroud outside the arc of the penalty area.

The French centre-forward had just dropped back. He controlled the ball with the inside of his right foot, turned, used his body to shield it from Javi Martínez, and then played a through ball behind the defense with his left foot.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale quickly shook off Coentrão, making a run from the right side of the arc into the right side of Real Madrid’s penalty area to meet Giroud’s through ball.

One touch, then a push shot!

The ball rolled past the onrushing Casillas and into the Real Madrid goal.

2-0!

Gareth Bale excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

The entire Bayswater Chinese team rushed off the field, celebrating the brilliant team goal.

Meanwhile, the Real Madrid players stood on the pitch as if turned to stone.

Clearly, they were all dejected by conceding such a goal.

It was a huge blow to their morale!

How ridiculous was it that a teammate seemed to “orchestrate” a goal for the opposition?

But everyone knew that James Rodríguez hadn’t done it on purpose.

…

When the score became 2-0, even the Real Madrid fans in the stadium had an ominous feeling.

Real Madrid might be done for.

After taking a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese began to adopt a more cautious approach.

At the very least, they weren’t as aggressive as they were at the start.

This was also part of Yang Cheng’s match strategy.

Yang Cheng still had to play Manchester City next. If he could secure a win at the Bernabéu in a more relaxed manner, he would certainly be happy to do so.

This was especially true in the second half.

Ancelotti started to push, and Real Madrid intensified their attacks.

But now, the fans in the Bernabéu discovered with frustration that Bayswater Chinese’s holding midfielder could really bloody run. His coverage area was massive, his physical strength formidable, and he wasn’t intimidated by anyone he faced.

By the 75th minute, he had already run 11 kilometers.

Toni Kroos and Modrić were also actively running and passing.

This seemed utterly ridiculous to the Bernabéu fans.

Back when Casemiro was at Real Madrid, he didn’t seem this strong, did he?

Back then, the guy was a liability, full of problems.

But how was it that at Bayswater Chinese, Casemiro seemed like a completely different person?

It was too absurd!

Could it be that the London air was just that nourishing?

In any case, throughout the second half, while Real Madrid’s performance did improve somewhat, especially in attack, and they did create a few threats, they were mainly concentrated on C. Ronaldo’s side.

Di María and James Rodríguez were still being contained.

And with Real Madrid having conceded two goals in the first half, their morale was affected, which meant their second-half attacks failed to create much of a threat.

By the time the match ended, the Bernabéu fans had no choice but to glumly accept a 2-0 defeat.

Thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale, Bayswater Chinese defeated Real Madrid 2-0 away from home.

This scoreline all but guaranteed that Bayswater Chinese had one foot in the door of the Stadio Olimpico in Berlin.

If Bayswater Chinese’s 2-0 away victory over Real Madrid wasn’t considered a major upset, then the match that truly made everyone’s jaws drop was the other one.

At the Allianz Arena in Nice, France, facing Manchester City, OGC Nice scored just six minutes into the game from a corner kick, with Koulibaly breaking the deadlock against ter Stegen.

But Nice’s lead didn’t last long, as Manchester City quickly overturned the score to 2-1 with two goals from Messi.

The Blue Moons completely dominated the first half.

But after the break, just as Pep Guardiola’s team was looking to finish off Nice once and for all, a brilliant central run from Kovačić led to a wonderful pass. The youngster Martial broke through Manchester City’s defense to equalize for his team.

2-2!

Then, in the 74th minute, another assist from Kovačić. Salah dribbled into the right side of the box, shook off Leighton Baines, and scored another goal for Nice.

3-2!

This scoreline held until the final whistle!

OGC Nice had pulled off a stunning upset at home, defeating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City!

This shocked the media and fans around the world.

Could it be that this super dark horse was really going to go all the way?

Was the Champions League final really going to be a civil war between two brother clubs?

Chapter 333: Into the Final! A Brilliant Move! The Perfect Centre-Forward! My Strength Won’t Let You Keep Your Dignity!

“No, absolutely not!”

“Under no circumstances can we allow Bayswater Chinese and Nice to meet in the Champions League final. It cannot be permitted!”

In Paris, France, Platini had a lavishly decorated private office.

It was said that he had owned it since the time he was helping France bid for the 1998 World Cup.

Only his closest friends were ever invited to this place.

At this very moment, the UEFA Chairman was in this office, venting his fury at his friends.

Although he was a Frenchman, he was incensed that Nice had managed a 3-2 upset against Manchester City.

“What in the world is wrong with Manchester City? They have Messi, Marco Reus, Agüero, David Silva, Yaya Touré…”

“They have so many superstars, so why did they still lose to Nice?”

Platini found it utterly incomprehensible.

He had always known that Ronald Koeman was capable, but he never imagined he was this capable.

“I’ve discussed it with the Club Competitions Committee. Looking at the match itself and the refereeing, there’s really nothing to complain about. Nice has been truly outstanding this season,” Secretary General Infantino said patiently with a sigh.

The entity everyone referred to as UEFA was broadly composed of three parts: the associations, the Executive Committee, and the Congress.

The associations, needless to say, were the member nations.

The Congress was theoretically UEFA’s highest authority, composed of representatives selected by the member associations.

The Executive Committee was UEFA’s decision-making and executive body, with its power granted by the Congress.

Below the Executive Committee were over a dozen committees and working groups responsible for various affairs, such as the Finance Committee, the Referees Committee, National Team Competitions, Club Competitions, Youth and Amateur Football, and so on.

In fact, the Referees Committee, which many fans often hear about, did not hold a particularly high status among all the committees.

For instance, the current chairman of the Referees Committee, the bald referee Collina, was not even on the Executive Committee.

In contrast, the chairman of the Finance Committee, David Gill, was not only on the Executive Committee but also held a status equivalent to a Vice-Chairman.

This was standard practice at UEFA.

The Executive Committee was composed of one Chairman, one First Vice-Chairman, and four Vice-Chairmen.

However, the chairman of the Finance Committee, the finance director, held a status equivalent to a UEFA Vice-Chairman.

Among all the committees, the most important was the Club Competitions Committee, even more so than the National Team Competitions Committee.

Generally, the First Vice-Chairman also served as the chairman of the Club Competitions Committee.

For example, the current chairman of the Club Competitions Committee was the First Vice-Chairman, who was also the chairman of the Spanish Football Federation, Villar.

Villar was also Platini’s ally, which was why he was here.

After hearing Infantino’s words, Villar also sighed. “Nice has indeed performed exceptionally well this season. They’re even ahead of Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, sitting at the top of the table. The value of many of their players has skyrocketed, making them hot commodities on the transfer market.”

Hearing this left a sour taste in Platini’s mouth.

How did Yang Cheng end up with all the good fortune?

“Where on earth does he unearth so many gems? Is their scouting system really as miraculous as the legends say?”

The men looked at each other and shared a bitter smile.

“They’ve made a name for themselves now. Just like Málaga CF; even though they were relegated to the Spanish second division, a horde of young players are still lining up to join them, all drawn by the reputation of Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese youth academy,” Villar added with a light sigh.

He had actually dealt with Yang Cheng multiple times.

However, due to his relationship with Platini, he didn’t see Yang Cheng as an ally.

Most importantly, Yang Cheng’s side always emphasized legality and compliance in their dealings, leaving him with very little leverage.

In short, he disliked the man, the club, and the entire organization’s way of doing things.

“In any case, I don’t care. We absolutely cannot let Bayswater Chinese and Nice meet in the Champions League final. Otherwise, the fairness and authority of our Champions League will be compromised!”

Infantino and Villar exchanged a look and both nodded.

They knew exactly what needed to be done.

“And another thing, what’s wrong with your Spanish teams? Real Madrid, Barça, and Atlético Madrid—three teams ganging up on a single Bayswater Chinese, and you still let them get this far?”

“Weren’t you very confident before?”

Platini fired off a barrage of questions at Villar, the chairman of the Spanish Football Federation.

Villar felt a sting at his words.

Barça had been utterly crushed 7-1.

And it was a double over two legs.

Now, Real Madrid had suffered a crushing 0-2 defeat at home.

“We really did our best, within the scope of what we could do. We even put in a word with the Referees Committee, we really did everything, but it was no use. They are just too strong!”

That was the most frustrating part.

The feeling of defeat that washes over you when you realize you can’t upset your opponent even within the rules and your capabilities is truly demoralizing.

The Champions League wasn’t filled with as many dark conspiracies and dirty tricks as many believed.

Organizations like FIFA and UEFA prided themselves on being above the laws of any country, not subject to any government’s jurisdiction.

But could they really act with complete impunity?

If so, why did FIFA and UEFA invite so many legendary players, coaches, and respected public figures into their organizations every year?

Ultimately, their transcendent status was built on one foundation.

The approval of everyone!

This was an intangible asset, but it was also the shackles that bound them.

So, while UEFA might be able to manipulate things like the Champions League draw or influence refereeing decisions within certain limits, they would never dare to be too blatant.

Especially in recent years, in the age of global information, the slightest misstep could trigger a wave of public opinion, forcing UEFA to tread carefully.

Moreover, the UEFA Chairman couldn’t always rule with an iron fist.

Would the people below be willing to cooperate? Would they feign compliance while acting otherwise?

Putting other things aside, as UEFA’s First Vice-Chairman, Villar had presided over the Club Competitions Committee for years. One would think his position carried significant weight and power, right?

But one of his two vice-chairmen was the finance director, David Gill.

When the Premier League sent David Gill, an expert in finance, over, they had precisely targeted this route to influence.

Furthermore, Yang Cheng also had a very good personal relationship with Collina.

And over the past few years, Yang Cheng had maintained, at least on the surface, very good relations with UEFA personnel.

Including Platini.

It all came back to the same point: UEFA’s power stemmed from everyone’s approval.

But professionals like Yang Cheng, who possessed enormous influence and had achieved great success, could sway public “approval” with every word, thereby putting pressure on UEFA.

This was why Platini was completely helpless against Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

“David Gill has been getting a bit restless lately. I hear he’s been lobbying for votes everywhere.”

Infantino’s thoughts drifted from Bayswater Chinese to David Gill.

Because he felt threatened!

There were generally three types of officials at UEFA.

Either they were like Platini and Villar, from a football background, the so-called homegrown talent; or they were people involved in football who held high prestige and influence in society.

The former group entered UEFA with connections and background but often lacked professional skills.

Some didn’t even have management abilities.

The latter were usually prestigious names propped up by UEFA, who rarely held real power, serving as honorary advisors or the like.

Therefore, much of UEFA’s work often depended on the third type of person: the technical official.

Infantino belonged to this third category.

That was why Platini couldn’t do anything without him and had to consult him on everything.

But David Gill was different.

He came from a football background, but he was also a technical official. He controlled UEFA’s Finance Committee and had one foot in the Club Competitions Committee. He seemed unassuming, but his influence was incredibly widespread.

The Premier League’s support for him had been an incredibly brilliant move.

It was said that Yang Cheng had been a strong backer behind the scenes.

As a technical official, Infantino had always paid close attention to David Gill.

“He’s talked to me about this matter,” Platini said faintly.

“I also support his bid for the position of FIFA’s finance director.”

Slightly different from UEFA, FIFA’s finance director was a legitimate Vice-President, and a powerful one at that.

“Yes, we even introduced him to some of our contacts,” Villar chuckled.

Infantino looked at Platini, then at Villar, and understood.

Clearly, Platini still coveted the FIFA presidency.

If David Gill could successfully take control of the treasury, it would be a massive boost for Platini.

But at the same time, Infantino felt a sense of unease.

He knew that, to a certain extent, he was still not accepted by these homegrown football figures.

Or rather, there was always a bit of a divide.

David Gill, on the other hand, was more easily accepted by them.

If that Englishman were to hold the position of finance director for both FIFA and UEFA, his power would be far greater than it was now.

“Honestly, Michel, I don’t get it. With such a great opportunity, why didn’t you run? Why did you pull out?” Infantino changed the subject.

Platini had never told him the reason.

At the mention of this, a complex and helpless look flashed in Platini’s eyes.

“Forget it. He was my benefactor, after all. We worked together back in the day. And this time, he’s really made up his mind—one more term at most, and then he’ll retire. I’m still young. I can afford to wait!” Platini said fiercely.

But Infantino didn’t believe a word of it.

If Platini was comparing himself to Blatter, then yes, he was still young.

After all, Blatter was 62 when he was elected chairman.

But what about João Havelange?

The Brazilian was elected FIFA chairman at 58.

Platini was 60 this year.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore.”

Platini sighed, waved his hand, and dismissed the matter.

“The most important thing right now is that Bayswater Chinese and Nice must not meet in the Champions League final. Ideally, both teams should be knocked out in the semi-finals!”

Infantino and Villar both nodded.

They would do their best.

“Also, I heard Yang Cheng bought FC Twente in the Netherlands?”

Infantino nodded. “It’s been confirmed.”

Platini cursed resentfully in French.

“He’s getting more and more out of line. He’s simply ignoring us, buying clubs everywhere. Did he even ask us?”

“He already has three clubs in the top five leagues, and he wants to buy more?”

Just as Platini finished speaking, Villar coughed lightly.

“Strictly speaking, it might become four.”

“What?” Platini and Infantino were both stunned.

Four?

“Málaga CF is currently fourth in the Spanish second division and is almost certain to make the promotion playoffs. If they perform well, they could be back in La Liga next season.”

Bayswater Chinese in the Premier League, Atalanta in Serie A, Nice in Ligue 1, and now adding Málaga CF from La Liga.

Isn’t that four?

Upon hearing this, Platini truly lost his composure.

“I’m telling you, have you investigated for so long and really found no evidence to prove the connection between these clubs? Let’s not even talk about that. Where did the funds to acquire these clubs come from?”

Infantino gave a bitter smile.

He had been in charge of this matter.

“We really can’t find anything. After all, we’re not a government agency; we don’t have that much power. A lot of their funds come from outside Europe, so we simply can’t trace them.”

After a pause, Infantino seemed defeated.

“I asked David Gill, and he gave me a straight answer.”

“What did he say?”

“He said Yang Cheng’s wife used to be a top investment expert at Goldman Sachs, and their company’s talent is almost all scouted from the City of London—famous investment banks, law firms, accounting firms… all top experts in the world.”

“And us? To investigate them, we have to hire a third party, which could very well be friends of these people. It’s even possible that the people we hired were the ones who helped them set everything up in the first place. How can we investigate?”

Platini was speechless.

Actually, he had been mentally prepared for this for a long time.

Forget UEFA investigating Yang Cheng.

What was the result of the highly publicized investigation into Manchester City’s finances, especially their sponsorship income?

They found absolutely nothing.

The Dutch Football Association had been investigating the dealings between Vitesse and Roman Abramovich for ages. Did they find anything?

They tell you straight up that Vitesse’s money comes from Abramovich’s side.

But can you find proof?

You can’t!

These people are masters at playing with money. How could you possibly catch them?

“They’ve bought four clubs in the top five leagues, with only the Bundesliga left. At this rate, they might as well form their own Champions League!” Platini said, feeling very discouraged.

How the hell are we supposed to play this game?

“David Gill said this situation is just like when the Glazer family acquired Manchester United. It’s a complete mismatch. By the time Manchester United realized what was happening, it was too late. There was simply no way to stop it!” Infantino sighed as well.

He was out of options on this matter.

Platini let out a long sigh and shook his head repeatedly.

“I have a very strong feeling that I’m going to be played to death by Yang Cheng sooner or later!”

The Frenchman was filled with anger he couldn’t vent.

“Not just me. You, you, all of us will be played to death by him!”

Infantino and Villar glanced at each other helplessly.

It was just a burst of anger.

…

At noon on May 9th, in the 36th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Manchester City in an away game.

This was a crucial match watched by the entire world.

Manchester City had to win at home against Bayswater Chinese to keep their title hopes alive.

Although the chances were slim, at least there was still hope.

But if this match ended in a draw or a loss, Manchester City would be surrendering the league title for the season.

Moreover, both teams had reached the Champions League semi-finals.

Bayswater Chinese were facing the formidable Real Madrid.

Manchester City were up against the relatively weaker Ligue 1 side, Nice.

But no one expected Manchester City to suffer a 3-2 upset away to Nice.

This effectively pushed Guardiola’s team into a corner.

Manchester City had to win both of their next two must-win matches!

Playing at home, and directly against their title rivals, neither Guardiola, the Manchester City players, nor their fans could accept the sight of their opponents clinching the title at their home stadium.

So, for this match, Guardiola implemented some squad rotation, but not a single one of his key players was rested.

In contrast, the visiting Bayswater Chinese rotated their squad more heavily.

This was understandable.

Even if they lost this game, Yang Cheng’s team would still be the clear favorites to win the title.

They needed to conserve their energy for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final the following Wednesday.

Although they had won 2-0 away, everyone knew that against Real Madrid, such a lead was not safe at all.

Under these circumstances, Manchester City launched an all-out attack right from the start.

In just the fourth minute, Agüero scored the opening goal for his team, assisted by David Silva.

1-0!

After that, Manchester City continued to press forward for a while, but to no avail.

After the tenth minute, Bayswater Chinese began to stabilize and launch counter-attacks.

Manchester City also started to slow down the pace, focusing on possession.

But in the 32nd minute of the first half, after Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield, Aaron Ramsey sent a through ball forward.

Sterling dribbled the ball down the left flank.

Pablo Zabaleta kept backpedaling, but he always maintained a certain distance from Sterling.

Marco Verratti was nearby, tracking Sterling’s run.

Manchester City’s entire defensive line was also retreating.

Harry Kane was in the left channel, near Sterling, constantly pointing to the space in front of him, signaling for a pass.

But Sterling couldn’t find an opportunity to pass.

Just as Manchester City’s backline retreated into the penalty area, Sterling finally seized an opportunity and delivered a cross pass.

But by this point, Harry Kane had already charged into the box.

He had overrun it!

The moment Sterling passed the ball, Harry Kane reacted.

But he glanced at the Manchester City centre-back, George Boateng, in front of him. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly pivoted, using his right shoulder to lean into Boateng.

Since they were inside the penalty area, Boateng’s first reaction to Kane’s sudden, almost theatrical move was to raise his hands, signaling to the nearby head referee: I didn’t touch him, he initiated the contact.

But this was exactly what Kane wanted.

The Englishman leaned his shoulder into Boateng while simultaneously reaching out with the inside of his left foot, controlling Sterling’s cross and guiding the ball behind him. He then continued to turn to his left.

Throughout the entire process, Boateng remained motionless, like a wooden post, as Kane simply spun around him.

Moreover, the German centre-back never even saw the ball.

When Sterling had made the pass, Boateng’s eyes were fixed on Kane.

By the time Boateng realized something was wrong, he immediately turned to chase.

But by then, Harry Kane had already turned, taken another light touch with his left foot to adjust the ball’s speed, and followed up with a right-footed power shot.

From Sterling’s pass to Harry Kane’s control and turn, the entire sequence was executed in one fluid motion, with remarkable composure and style.

But all of this was built on the English centre-forward’s incredibly solid fundamentals and technique.

The subsequent shot forced goalkeeper ter Stegen to dive to his side, trying to block the ball.

But he was a fraction of a second too late.

The ball squeezed under ter Stegen and into the right side of the goal behind him.

“GOAL!!!”

“In the 32nd minute, Bayswater Chinese have equalized!”

“A magnificent goal from Harry Kane!”

“1-1!”

“The two sides are back on level terms!”

“At a crucial moment, the English centre-forward uses a fantastic drag-back and turn inside the box before firing a shot from the left side of the area to level the score for Bayswater Chinese.”

“This is Harry Kane’s 27th Premier League goal of the season!”

“He is in absolutely sensational form!”

After scoring, the English centre-forward excitedly turned and ran off the pitch.

He paid no mind to the feelings of the Manchester City fans in the stadium, instead rushing to the sideline to celebrate with abandon.

…

The first half ended 1-1.

After the break, Manchester City once again launched a wave of attacks.

But just five minutes into the second half, Bayswater Chinese won the ball and launched a swift counter-attack.

De Bruyne received the ball, turned, and sent a diagonal pass into space behind the defense.

Theo Walcott sprinted down the right flank at top speed, chasing down De Bruyne’s pass and carrying it towards the right side just outside the box.

As he charged into the right side of Manchester City’s penalty area, “The Little Tiger” glanced towards the center and delivered a low, driven cross.

Harry Kane and Manchester City centre-back Mangala both surged forward.

Initially, Mangala managed to keep Harry Kane behind him, cutting off the connection to Walcott.

As Walcott delivered the cross, both players reached the penalty spot.

But then, Harry Kane suddenly slowed his pace.

Since Mangala had to watch both Walcott and Harry Kane, by the time he reacted, he had already reached the edge of the six-yard box.

Harry Kane, a step behind him, suddenly darted around him from behind, making a quick diagonal run to the near post.

Walcott’s pass arrived perfectly at the edge of the six-yard box, bounced once, and dropped again.

Harry Kane met the falling ball and unleashed a furious shot.

The shot was from extremely close range, giving the goalkeeper no chance to save it.

2-1!

A comeback!

The entire Etihad Stadium fell silent!

Harry Kane ran straight to the sideline, celebrating his brace with a knee slide!

All the Bayswater Chinese players rushed out, swarming around him.

A comeback!

And there were still only 60 minutes on the clock!

…

“This kid is so damn smart when he plays, you can’t even defend against him!”

In the home dugout, Manchester City’s head coach, Pep Guardiola, shook his head as he watched Harry Kane run off to celebrate, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes.

Although he had mentally prepared himself for losing the title before this match, he had to give it his all, whether to appease the fans or simply because of his personal style.

He had even made preparations in advance.

Messi and Marco Reus would be coming on as substitutes later.

No matter what, Manchester City could not allow Bayswater Chinese to clinch the title at the Etihad Stadium!

Therefore, Manchester City had to win this match!

But Harry Kane had become Guardiola’s biggest headache.

“His positioning is too clever, his physical presence is getting better and better, and his technique is excellent. That makes him very difficult to handle,” assistant coach Domènec Torrent said with a sense of helplessness.

“Honestly, a lot of people say he’s like Alan Shearer and Sheringham, but I don’t think so. He’s more modern, more complete!”

Domènec Torrent had followed Guardiola for years, ever since their time at Barcelona.

He knew Guardiola’s preferences very well.

Agüero was good, but he was a bit short and lacked some physicality.

In Guardiola’s mind, the perfect centre-forward was Patrick Kluivert.

That was why he had signed Ibrahimović back then.

But there was no second Kluivert in the world.

From what he could see, Harry Kane was truly a very complete player.

If last season’s Harry Kane showed everyone his passing and assisting abilities, then this season, his explosive stats had caught everyone’s attention.

His average number of successful aerial duels per game had risen from 1.4 to 2.3 this season.

He also contributed an average of 1.4 key passes per game, which was frighteningly good.

In terms of shooting efficiency, his shot accuracy was 53%, and his goal conversion rate was 26%—truly a highly efficient scorer.

Just now, the goal he scored from the left corner of the box, receiving Sterling’s pass, turning past Boateng, and shooting, was a demonstration of a centre-forward’s technical prowess.

Without an exceptionally solid technical foundation, he could never have executed such a fluid move.

Manchester City’s defenders were powerless to stop him.

And the goal just now was a reflection of his astute movement off the ball.

This showed that he was a player with an extremely high football IQ.

He was also the type of player Guardiola greatly admired.

But he belonged to Bayswater Chinese!

And he was a player immortalized in the team anthem by Yang Cheng himself.

Could such a player be poached?

…

Amidst Guardiola’s sighs, the clock soon ticked past the 60-minute mark.

Manchester City made two substitutions.

Marco Reus and Messi came on as substitutes, replacing David Silva and Agüero.

Clearly, Guardiola still wanted to save some energy for the crucial home Champions League game next Wednesday.

That was arguably the most important match of the season so far!

Playing against Bayswater Chinese?

This match seemed important, but in reality, the result wouldn’t change much.

It was more about managing the emotions of the fans and players.

After Messi came on, the balance of the game quickly shifted.

The Argentine’s skill soon created problems for Bayswater Chinese.

But Yang Cheng also quickly made substitutions, starting to strengthen his team’s defense.

After the 70th minute, Yang Cheng even had his team practice a three-at-the-back formation.

This made Guardiola, on the sidelines, frown.

He had also experimented with a three-at-the-back formation!

No matter how hard Manchester City attacked, they couldn’t breach the Bayswater Chinese goal.

It wasn’t until the 87th minute that Messi dropped deep to receive the ball, shook off Aaron Ramsey, and drove forward before threading a brilliant through pass.

Marco Reus made a quick run into the left side of the box, latched onto Messi’s pass, dummied the holding defender Harry Maguire, and calmly placed a push shot into the far corner, equalizing for Manchester City.

But in the remaining few minutes, Manchester City was simply unable to change the outcome of the match.

The two sides played to a 2-2 draw.

…

After the 36th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese sat atop the league table with 99 points.

Manchester City was in second place with 93 points.

Guardiola’s team was a full 6 points behind Bayswater Chinese.

According to Premier League rules, if points are tied, goal difference is the first tiebreaker.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had conceded only 21 goals while scoring 105, giving them a commanding lead in goal difference.

Therefore, even if Bayswater Chinese lost both of their final two matches and Manchester City won both of theirs, Yang Cheng’s team would still win the title.

When the match ended, Bayswater Chinese began their title celebrations right there at the Etihad Stadium.

The Manchester City players and fans on site looked utterly dejected.

They had truly given their all, but they still couldn’t stop Bayswater Chinese from clinching the title early.

So much so that when Yang Cheng shook hands with Guardiola after the match, the Spaniard just shook his head with a wry smile.

“You really wouldn’t even leave me a shred of dignity.”

Yang Cheng, however, chuckled and replied, “I wanted to, but my team’s strength wouldn’t allow it!”

Guardiola burst out into a mix of laughter and curses.

He truly admired Yang Cheng.

Not just for Bayswater Chinese, but also for Nice.

The squad of that team was said to have been personally tailored for Ronald Koeman by Yang Cheng.

The result was two appearances in the Champions League semi-finals.

He had to admit, Yang Cheng was not only a brilliant manager himself, but he was also incredibly skilled at building teams for others.

And only someone who had managed a team himself knew that being able to build a team for someone else was what was truly badass!

In the shadow of Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Bayswater Chinese and Yang Cheng’s team securing the title with two games to spare, few paid any attention to Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

Or Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Swansea City, and Manchester United’s 2-1 away victory against Crystal Palace.

All the media and fans were singing praises for Yang Cheng’s team.

After missing out on the league title last season, their comeback this season, especially with Harry Kane’s explosive performance, undoubtedly showed everyone the terrifying strength of the West London club!

How deep must their foundations be to continuously produce players even after selling so many every year?

…

Yang Cheng handled the early title win with a low profile.

Because the upcoming Champions League match against Real Madrid was critically important.

A 2-0 victory in the first leg at the Bernabéu.

This was certainly an ideal result for Bayswater Chinese.

But it also forced Real Madrid to go on the offensive in the second leg away from home.

So, from the very beginning, Real Madrid pressed forward and attacked.

But in the 5th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

Gareth Bale sent a diagonal pass, and as Eden Hazard carried the ball into the left side of the box, he was brought down by a double-team from Varane and Carvajal.

It was an indisputable penalty!

Even the broadcast cameras showed Carvajal pulling down Hazard from behind.

But the head referee ignored it.

The match continued.

Real Madrid was still on the attack, but Bayswater Chinese gradually took control of the game.

In the 17th minute, Toni Kroos received a back pass from Hazard and sent a through ball forward.

Marcelo made an overlapping run, chased down the German midfielder’s pass, broke into the left side of the box, and crossed to an unmarked Gareth Bale, who tapped the ball into the empty net.

But before the Bayswater Chinese players could celebrate, the linesman raised his flag, and the head referee signaled for offside.

Everyone was stunned.

There was no way Gareth Bale was offside.

Could it have been Marcelo?

The slow-motion replay showed Marcelo was clearly onside.

On the sideline, Yang Cheng was jumping up and down in anger.

Wasn’t this a bit too obvious?

This was the second time!

A penalty wasn’t given just now, and now a perfectly good goal was disallowed?

Yang Cheng’s outburst earned him a yellow card.

Both Brian Kidd and Flick tried to calm him down.

“We have a Champions League final to get to. You can’t lose your head!”

Yang Cheng knew what he was doing.

Afterward, the two teams resumed play.

But Real Madrid clearly couldn’t create any threatening attacks.

On the contrary, in the 50th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese nearly scored again.

Gareth Bale’s long shot from the right flank hit the post.

In the 67th minute, Real Madrid’s attacks became more and more frantic, and they finally exposed a gap in their defense.

Giroud sent a pass in behind, and Gareth Bale successfully beat the offside trap.

The Welshman had deliberately hung back a step before making his run.

If this was called offside, the referee really needed to have his eyes checked.

Finally, Gareth Bale broke through one-on-one and scored past the Real Madrid goalkeeper.

Yang Cheng and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn’t that Real Madrid wasn’t strong enough, but their midfield wasn’t powerful enough, and being behind from the first leg forced them to take risks and attack.

But in the 78th minute, Džeko dropped back to receive the ball, then suddenly burst forward into the box and was pulled down by van Dijk.

This time, the head referee was sharp-eyed, immediately awarding a penalty.

C. Ronaldo calmly converted the spot-kick, equalizing for Real Madrid.

1-1!

This time, Yang Cheng didn’t protest.

For one, van Dijk had indeed committed a foul.

Once a centre-forward like Džeko gets going, it’s really hard to stop him!

The current van Dijk was not yet in his peak form.

Secondly, he already had a yellow card. If he protested again and received another, he would be sent off with a red card. Who would coach in the Champions League final?

He had too much to lose to act recklessly.

After that, Real Madrid launched continuous attacks.

But in the 89th minute, Modrić sent a through ball, and Gareth Bale launched a quick counter-attack, breaking into the right side of Real Madrid’s box before unselfishly crossing to an unmarked Eden Hazard.

The Belgian easily toe-poked the ball into the net from close range.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese scored another one!

At this point in the game, all suspense was gone.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese won 2-1 at home and 2-0 away, knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League with an aggregate score of 4-1!

…

If the match between Bayswater Chinese and Real Madrid was full of twists and turns but ultimately ended without any real scares, then the other match, Manchester City at home, was truly a perilous affair.

Yang Cheng, Flick, and Brian Kidd even made a special trip from London up to Manchester to watch the game.

Of course, he didn’t inform anyone, including the people from Nice.

But from the moment the match started, he realized that Ronald Koeman had made a very fatal mistake.

He was too conservative!

When you’re the weaker team and you’ve won the first leg 3-2 at home, how do you play the second leg away?

This was a question with no absolutely correct answer.

But one thing was certain: if you let the opponent dominate the game, it would be very dangerous.

Ronald Koeman’s approach from the start was clearly too conservative.

He anticipated that Manchester City would go all out on the attack, but he chose to defend with all his might.

It was a gamble.

If Manchester City scored just one goal, they could turn the tide of the match.

At that point, Nice would have to push forward.

Koeman’s conservatism allowed Manchester City to dominate the game far too easily.

Throughout the first half, Guardiola’s team had nearly 80% possession.

Nice only managed a single long shot from Salah in the opening stages.

Other than that, Nice failed to produce a single shot for the entire half.

One shot!

One can imagine how passive Nice was on the pitch.

However, while they contributed nothing on offense, Nice’s defense was solid.

The presence of José Fonte allowed Koulibaly to have an outstanding performance.

Coupled with the exceptional play of the midfield iron triangle of Kovačić, Jorginho, and Kanté, Nice displayed a very high level of performance, managing to hold the scoreline and deny Manchester City any clear chances.

Perhaps realizing this, Nice started to increase the intensity of their counter-attacks at the beginning of the second half.

Salah, in particular, was very active.

But in the 61st minute, Salah committed a foul while tracking back on David Silva.

Having already received a yellow card in the first half, the referee showed him another one.

Two yellow cards meant Salah was sent off with a red card!

The entire Etihad Stadium erupted in applause.

But Yang Cheng, Flick, and Brian Kidd all shook their heads.

“That second yellow was harsh,” Brian Kidd said.

“Harsh is an understatement. I feel like the refereeing in this match is similar to ours. If you say it’s biased, they’d probably argue with you, but if you say it’s not, well, it definitely is,” Flick said with a bitter smile.

How to put it?

Referees have a lot of discretionary power.

The referees in both these matches had, within the scope of their authority, leaned towards Real Madrid and Manchester City.

“Someone doesn’t want us and Nice to meet in the final!” Yang Cheng voiced his suspicion.

The others thought about it and generally understood what was happening.

If that were the case, the Champions League final would be even more difficult!

With their most threatening player sent off, Nice suffered a devastating blow.

But the Ligue 1 team still defended very tightly.

Manchester City’s best chance of the entire match came in the 80th minute.

Messi received a pass from David Silva, shook off José Fonte, and took a shot from the right side of the box.

But the shot was saved brilliantly by goalkeeper Ederson.

The Brazilian goalkeeper also had a good game.

After that, Manchester City continued to launch wave after wave of attacks.

Towards the end, Guardiola even made successive substitutions to strengthen his attack.

It wasn’t until the first minute of stoppage time that Messi suddenly took the ball and once again charged towards the right side of the box.

Benjamin Mendy had done a good job containing Messi throughout the match, but this time he couldn’t stop him, so he opted to foul, trying to pull Messi down just outside the box.

But unexpectedly, the Argentine refused to go down, broke through, and delivered a diagonal pass to the far post.

Marco Reus arrived at full tilt and, just in front of the left post, turned Messi’s pass into the Nice goal.

1-0!

In an instant, the entire Etihad Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers!

Aggregate score 3-3!

But Manchester City had two away goals!

The entire complexion of the tie had completely turned!

Ronald Koeman had been conservative for the entire match, only to concede in stoppage time. With their star player Salah sent off, how could they continue this game?

In the end, Nice lost 0-1 away to Manchester City.

The aggregate score was 3-3, but due to the away goals rule, they were eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester City.

In the stands, Yang Cheng felt quite helpless.

Ultimately, Nice just wasn’t strong enough.

And Ronald Koeman had made a mistake in this match.

He was too conservative!

If they had played a bit more positively at the start of the game, or in the first half, and created some threat on the counter-attack, even without scoring, it would have eased the pressure on their defense.

Now, by letting the opponent attack relentlessly, coupled with the refereeing factor, Nice was almost completely on the receiving end.

In a similar situation with a biased referee, Bayswater Chinese had the strength to turn the tables and suppress Real Madrid.

“Regardless, for this group of players to compete like this against Manchester City and reach the Champions League semi-finals is already quite remarkable,” Brian Kidd said with a smile.

Yang Cheng also smiled. “But they failed to advance today. Who knows when the next time will be.”

Given Nice’s performance this season, they were likely to be dismantled by big clubs in the summer.

Moreover, head coach Ronald Koeman would probably leave as well.

After such a rebuild, it would be goodness knows when before Nice returned to the Champions League semi-finals again.

But this team’s performance this season was truly outstanding.

Not only in the Champions League but also in Ligue 1, where they had even beaten Paris Saint-Germain to clinch the French league title early.

Their performance was truly stunning.

Especially the front trident, the midfield duo of Kanté and Kovačić, and defenders like Koulibaly.

José Fonte was older, so probably no one would be interested in him.

That, in turn, was a good thing!

Chapter 334: Platini Loses His Cool! There’s a Mole in UEFA! Yang Cheng: I’ve Had My Fill of This Drama!

Swish!

Platini pulled open the bedroom curtains, instantly bathing himself in the bright sunlight.

It even felt a little dazzling.

In the distance, the Eiffel Tower was clearly visible.

The sight filled him with a sense of comfort and ease.

Just last night, Manchester City had defeated OGC Nice one to zero.

The scenario of Yang Cheng’s two teams meeting in the Champions League final had finally been avoided!

Platini let out a long sigh of relief.

But there was still a hint of regret.

Real Madrid had failed to beat the Bayswater Chinese.

If Real Madrid had won, the result would have been even more perfect!

At this thought, Platini couldn’t help but stretch his arms out wide.

“What beautiful weather today!”

Platini walked back into the bedroom, changed his clothes, and went downstairs for breakfast.

He had a busy day ahead of him.

He was staying in Paris this morning and had lunch plans with a few friends who were bankers and investors.

The most important event of the summer was the joint commercial sponsorship drive for the several clubs under Yang Cheng’s umbrella, wasn’t it?

UEFA was also keeping a close eye on the matter.

In fact, Infantino’s report the other day had served as a reminder to Platini.

There was likely a mole inside UEFA!

Or perhaps a mole within one of the third-party companies working with UEFA!

So, he wanted to hear other opinions and see if there was any way to deal with Yang Cheng.

He had to admit, he was completely clueless in this area and could only turn to his friends.

Fortunately, he had plenty of friends in France.

While eating breakfast, Platini casually flipped through the day’s freshly printed French newspapers.

Le Figaro was crying foul for Nice.

The underlying message was that in last night’s match against Manchester City, Salah’s second yellow card was far too harsh.

Furthermore, judging by the flow of the game, the Norwegian head referee, Moen, was clearly biased in favor of the Premier League team.

Le Figaro believed there was definitely something fishy going on.

“This isn’t the first time Moen has made such a terrible call in the Champions League knockout stage.”

“In the Champions League group stage two seasons ago, during Real Madrid’s match against Dinamo Zagreb, C. Ronaldo was maliciously fouled and needed three stitches after the game, yet Moen did nothing. He missed at least three penalty kicks.”

“And last season in the Champions League, Arsenal’s Wenger accused Moen of ruining the match because his highly controversial call awarded a penalty kick to Arsenal.”

“Now, Moen has once again made a rookie mistake, only this time the beneficiary is a Premier League team, Manchester City.”

Le Figaro’s analysis stated that based on the officiating throughout the match, Moen was indeed biased toward the home team.

“Home-field advantage from the referee has always existed, but this level of favoritism, especially in such a crucial game—sending off the Egyptian for what was only a minor foul on Salah—is tantamount to killing Nice’s chances.”

Le Figaro argued that typically, when a player is already on a yellow card, the head referee tends to be more cautious before issuing a second one.

But Moen was not only incautious, he delivered a severe punishment.

“After the match, Nice Chairman Martin Harrison, who had personally traveled to England to oversee the team, blasted the head referee Moen’s officiating in an interview with the media. ‘It’s obvious someone doesn’t want us in the final!’”

However, Le Figaro suggested that this might have been a misjudgment and that Martin Harrison’s post-match accusation was more likely just him venting his frustration after a loss.

At least from the overall performance, Nice’s strength was indeed inferior to Manchester City’s.

Besides Le Figaro, other French media outlets like Le Monde, Libération, and Le Parisien also reported on the match.

Their stance was more or less the same.

In the grand context of an England-France rivalry, they generally believed that Nice had been treated unfairly.

At least in terms of officiating.

Of course, many media outlets also analyzed that Nice was simply outmatched.

As an authoritative sports newspaper, L’Équipe pointed out Ronald Koeman’s conservative tactics.

“He made a terrible mistake in the one game where he couldn’t afford to!”

But L’Équipe also believed that Moen was the key reason for Nice’s defeat.

Nice could have ended the match with a zero-zero scoreline to take into the second leg.

“Their defense withstood Manchester City’s relentless attacks. Kanté, José Fonte, Koulibaly, and others gave what was arguably their best performance of the season, perhaps even of their careers.”

“But Salah’s red card ruined everything!”

Platini quickly scanned the newspapers while finishing his breakfast.

When he came across a topic of interest, he would pay closer attention and read through it.

He had fully anticipated the French media’s reaction to Nice’s elimination.

After all, Nice was the best-performing Ligue 1 team in the Champions League this season.

The French media was bound to cover it.

The current public opinion was basically within his expectations.

Even the complaint from Nice’s Chairman, Martin Harrison.

“He actually guessed right. Someone really didn’t want Nice in the final.”

Platini smiled and closed the newspaper noncommittally.

Things like this happened over and over again every season.

So what?

Any decision a head referee makes within the scope of their authority can be understood and forgiven.

Sometimes, even if there’s a deviation, it can be explained away as a lapse in officiating or a misjudgment.

Was there anything the clubs could do?

The answer was no!

Appeal?

Appeal to whom?

Wouldn’t it go right back to UEFA?

And in the end, wouldn’t it be UEFA acting as the judge and making the final ruling?

Even when things blew up, they could almost always be resolved through various under-the-table negotiations.

If all else failed, how about we “compensate” you appropriately next season?

But this season’s result was set in stone.

As for how far you get next season, well, that’s up to you.

What?

Accuse UEFA?

Go ahead and sue. See if anyone takes the case!

In European football, UEFA was the supreme ruler.

The European Union?

True, to a certain extent, UEFA had to comply with EU law.

But could the EU control UEFA?

At least legally, they couldn’t!

This was the source of Platini’s confidence!

After breakfast, Platini began to prepare to leave.

While waiting, he casually turned on the living room TV. It was tuned to the CANAL+ sports channel, which was broadcasting a news segment.

An Englishman appeared on the screen.

Platini found him familiar. A glance at the subtitles confirmed it was Nice’s CEO, Martin Harrison.

The Englishman was on a French television station, once again denouncing the Norwegian head referee Moen’s officiating.

Platini scoffed at such clichés.

But just as he was about to turn off the TV and head out, he suddenly heard Martin Harrison say something.

“I have evidence. Someone told me with absolute certainty that a hand was manipulating this match. They don’t want us to advance to the final.”

When Platini heard “I have evidence,” his heart skipped a beat.

He felt a pang of guilt.

He immediately called Infantino to ask about the specifics.

Infantino assured him that he had tied up all the loose ends cleanly and there were no problems.

Still uneasy, Platini called Villar.

The old Spaniard was still asleep.

The call went unanswered.

Platini let out a heavy breath.

He trusted Infantino’s ability to get things done, but he worried about mistakes from the people below him.

However, he quickly put his mind at ease.

Whatever, it’s just Nice. Not a big club.

How many people would even hear what Martin Harrison said?

And even if they did, how many would care?

Frankly, the vast majority of fans only cared about the top giants and star players. Who cared if Nice was the victim of a bad call?

In fact, most fans would probably be happy about such a “misjudgment.”

Why?

Because they would get to see superstars like Messi, Agüero, and Marco Reus in the Champions League final.

This world is a very realistic place!

With that thought, Platini left without a care.

The weather today really was nice!

…

“Things are about to get lively for a while!”

Yang Cheng said with a smile as he sat in his dining room, having breakfast with Xia Qing while watching a news live stream on his tablet.

The first fire had been lit!

Going by the time, things should be heating up in the United States soon as well.

He just hoped the Americans wouldn’t disappoint him.

It would be best if they could make an even bigger scene!

“We still need to be careful. Let’s not slip up and give anyone an opening,” Xia Qing reminded him gently from across the table. She was worried that Yang Cheng’s subordinates might get carried away.

“Don’t worry, Adam Crozier will have people keeping a close eye on everything.”

Xia Qing also felt there wouldn’t be any issues.

The entire plan had been hashed out and repeatedly refined by their group, who stayed up all night yesterday.

Yesterday, after watching the match in Manchester, Yang Cheng had met with Martin Harrison.

It was obvious that the referees in both London for the Bayswater Chinese versus Real Madrid game, and in Manchester for the Manchester City versus Nice game, were far too biased.

The match at Prudential Stadium in London even saw a penalty kick denied and a goal disallowed.

If the Bayswater Chinese hadn’t been so tough and simply better, they would have been done for.

But Nice wasn’t so lucky.

They were already the underdogs, holding a slight advantage from their 3-2 first-leg win. Then Ronald Koeman made a tactical error, and Pep Guardiola seized the opportunity.

But the turning point of the game was Salah’s red card.

So, Yang Cheng had Martin Harrison launch a direct tirade.

A perfectly justified one.

Light the fuse first!

This wasn’t really a big deal.

After every Champions League season, some executive would come out with a tirade or accusation.

Martin Harrison first launched his tirade in Manchester, and then continued it in interviews after returning to France.

Starting today, public opinion would begin to draw Platini and Infantino into the fray.

Yang Cheng was certain it was these two.

According to Yang Cheng’s initial plan, he was also supposed to give a media interview today, bringing up the incident at Prudential Stadium to criticize the two men and further amplify the public outcry.

But when Yang Cheng proposed this, Xia Qing objected.

The couple argued behind closed doors for a while and still felt it wasn’t appropriate.

So, Adam Crozier was dragged out of a nightclub for a late-night meeting, along with Omar Berrada, and several of Yang Cheng’s trusted lawyers and PR advisors.

The final conclusion was that if Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese stepped forward now, it would be tantamount to revealing their own hand.

It wouldn’t inflict much damage and would instead divert the topic!

What did that mean?

While fans certainly despised Platini’s actions, they weren’t necessarily fond of Yang Cheng owning both the Bayswater Chinese and OGC Nice.

From a business perspective, it was a logically sound enterprise.

But when dealing with fans and the general public, one had to appeal to emotion.

Some things were better known than seen.

The media and fans all suspected that the Bayswater Chinese and Nice were one and the same.

But Yang Cheng could never come out and admit it himself.

Once he did, the nature of the situation would change completely.

It was like the relationship between Vitesse and Roman Abramovich.

Or the relationship between teams like Granada CF, Watford, and Udinese, and the Pozzo family.

Therefore, Xia Qing and the others dissuaded Yang Cheng. The Bayswater Chinese absolutely could not get involved in this.

The moment they entered the fray, they would just muddy the waters.

Right now, it was Nice versus UEFA.

If Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese joined, it would become Yang Cheng, the Bayswater Chinese, and Nice against UEFA.

At that point, many rational people would start to have a new question: Yang Cheng, the Bayswater Chinese, and Nice may not be legally related, but what’s the meaning of you all standing together so openly?

Besides, Nice was currently the victim, the weaker party. By standing up to UEFA, they had a natural advantage in garnering sympathy.

But the Bayswater Chinese had won and were heading to the final.

You won the match, and you’re still coming out to denounce the referee?

Putting aside whether there was any real evidence, wouldn’t that seem a bit melodramatic?

Wouldn’t it risk a backlash?

After some calculation and deliberation, the group devised a new plan.

And so, Martin Harrison’s morning interview on CANAL+ television came to be.

Next, the public narrative would gradually shift towards Platini.

Why?

As a Frenchman, as the esteemed Chairman of UEFA, you don’t help a Ligue 1 team, but instead you help the Premier League? You help capital from the Middle East?

More importantly, during the interview, Martin Harrison would reveal something.

He had evidence!

So, did Yang Cheng and his team actually have evidence?

If they really did, would they need to fight a media war?

Then why say it?

Because the next step would involve a company.

Remember when FC Twente was threatened with relegation by the Dutch Football Association, and their shirt sponsor came forward to speak up?

Who was their sponsor?

Burrda.

A new sports brand headquartered in Switzerland but actually belonging to Qatar.

Since its launch in Switzerland in 2011, Burrda had grown incredibly fast in recent years, sponsoring many teams. Besides football, they also sponsored handball and rugby teams in the United States, and teams across Europe, especially in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and England.

How could this company afford to throw money around so lavishly in the European sports market?

Pay attention.

In this world, at least in European football, money can’t buy you everything.

American real estate tycoon Steve Ross is rich enough, isn’t he?

Since breaking into the Premier League, he’s still being tormented by Queens Park Rangers.

Every industry has its own special rules.

If you don’t know the rules and rush in blindly, you’ll be eaten alive, not even your bones will be left.

So how did this Qatari sports brand, founded in 2007, expand so quickly in European football?

Just because its headquarters are in Switzerland?

No!

Because its CEO has a remarkable name.

Platini!

…

On the morning of May 14th.

Nice CEO Martin Harrison’s accusations and tirade against the referee didn’t attract much attention.

Just as Platini predicted, Nice simply didn’t command much of a spotlight.

Except in France.

Nice’s elimination from the Champions League sparked intense outrage among the French media and fans.

How many years had it been since a Ligue 1 team reached the Champions League final?

The last time was Monaco in the 2003/04 season, more than a decade ago.

Now, Nice finally had a chance, and they were cheated out of it.

How could anyone tolerate that?

Thus, the French media began to sensationalize the issue.

Many reporters with a keen sense of smell, including those from L’Équipe and Le Figaro, caught a whiff of something and began to focus on the “evidence” Martin Harrison mentioned.

In Europe, the media is an industry of intense competition.

This horde of grinding reporters swarmed to Nice, blocking the club’s gates and demanding that Martin Harrison explain himself.

You have evidence?

Then make it public!

All sorts of rumors and explosive revelations began to circulate, and public opinion gradually started to mention two names: UEFA Chairman Platini and Secretary General Infantino.

This was something French fans could not accept.

As a Frenchman, put into the UEFA chairman position by France, was this how Platini repaid Ligue 1?

Didn’t he know that Nice was a French team?

If a Ligue 1 team could reach the Champions League final, and maybe even pull off an upset to defeat the Bayswater Chinese and bring home a Champions League trophy, wouldn’t the revival of Ligue 1 be just around the corner?

Furious French fans began to assail Platini on the internet.

But up to this point, the situation was still manageable.

At most, it was just fermenting on the internet, on sites like the world’s largest football information website, Onefootball, and in the forums of some news media websites.

After noon, Nice CEO Martin Harrison was cornered in his office and forced to give a group interview to reporters from several media outlets.

Under the media’s “aggressive” questioning, he had no choice but to reveal his supposed evidence.

“Before the match, someone warned me with great certainty that the referee had received orders not to let us advance to the final. As for who gave the orders, I believe I don’t need to say it for you to guess.”

“He also told me that if we had accepted the sponsorship from the Swiss brand Burrda back then, what happened last night would not have happened!”

All the reporters were disappointed.

That’s it?

In the end, it’s just another damn conspiracy theory!

If this could be considered evidence, I, your father, would have been the FIFA president long ago!

A small club is a small club, so irresponsible in what they say and do!

I hear a hundred conspiracy theories like this every day in Paris!

Wait, the Swiss brand Burrda?

Sponsorship?

What the hell?

This sports brand has that kind of power?

Being in the same circle, many reporters immediately smelled something fishy.

Over the past few years, Burrda had expanded very rapidly in countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and England, spending money like water.

But could a mere sports brand influence a Champions League match?

A few reporters with sharp instincts immediately sprang into action.

How else can you describe it? This world is just a collection of shambolic operations.

The reporters quickly dug up a piece of news.

Burrda no longer belonged to the Qataris.

Or rather, not entirely to the Qatar Investment Authority.

It belonged to a company called Pilatus Sports Management, founded in Switzerland in 2011.

This company had acquired ownership of Burrda from the Qataris.

This was even more bizarre.

The reporters immediately followed the trail, digging deeper, and eventually unearthed Burrda’s CEO, Laurent Platini.

Now this was a huge, explosive revelation!

Although Laurent Platini was very low-key, he couldn’t hide.

Because his father was the current UEFA Chairman, Michel Platini.

As the saying goes: a tiger father does not beget a dog son.

This talented young man, only thirty-four years old, had studied law. After graduating from university in 2005, he went straight to Paris Saint-Germain as the head of legal affairs.

Everyone knew what state Paris Saint-Germain was in during those years.

So, in February 2009, he left PSG and joined the sports division of the globally renowned sports and entertainment giant, the Lagardère Group, as vice president of legal affairs.

In January 2011, Qatar successfully won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, with the European votes, led by Platini, abandoning the United States and going to Qatar.

Not long after, Laurent Platini left the Lagardère Group and founded a company in Switzerland called Pilatus Sports Management.

Immediately after its establishment, the company received an investment from the Qatar Investment Authority. Not only did they provide funds, but they also gave him ownership of the Burrda brand. He began aggressively poaching talent from Nike, Adidas, and Puma and expanding rampantly.

When did FC Twente sign with Burrda?

April 5, 2011.

In fact, Burrda had also contacted Nice at the time, hoping to secure their shirt sponsorship.

They even offered to help resolve Nice’s existing contract with Puma.

But Nice rejected them.

And over the past few years, Burrda had expanded like wildfire in European football, especially in Western Europe.

The Qatar Investment Authority played their business game well. They not only wanted to cultivate a giant team like Paris Saint-Germain in football, but they also wanted to enter the sports equipment market and create their own sports brand.

So, it turned out that Burrda was the UEFA Chairman’s “family business.”

This also explained why the Burrda brand, flush with Qatari money, could do as it pleased in European football.

Now, think back to what Martin Harrison said.

Burrda wanted to sponsor Nice, but Nice rejected them.

If Nice had agreed back then, would last night’s red card have ever happened?

What the hell!

It all made sense!

Especially when combined with the extensive, detailed seventeen-page report published by the British newspaper The Times in 2014.

And the investigative report in France Football magazine that took up a full twenty pages.

Two authoritative media outlets had dedicated massive coverage to how the Qatar Investment Authority had bid for the 2022 World Cup.

But in all of this, both the French and Qatari governments got what they wanted.

The only missing piece was Platini’s involvement.

Was Platini just that benevolent?

In the past, everyone just thought that Platini had accepted an invitation from French President Sarkozy and, for the sake of French interests, changed his originally intended vote for the United States to Qatar.

But who would have thought that Platini wasn’t doing it for France at all, but for himself?

Putting everything else aside, the Burrda brand itself was now worth a considerable amount.

How much money had the Qataris poured in over the past few years? How many teams had they sponsored?

And then there was Laurent Platini.

Without his UEFA Chairman father backing him, could he have reached where he is today?

And now, Platini was even instructing a referee to screw over a Ligue 1 team, Nice, for his personal gain?

Was this the legendary football star they remembered?

This was nothing more than a black-hearted, profit-driven politician!

Especially when considered alongside the series of scandals that erupted from Platini’s various objections to Gareth Bale receiving awards.

Countless French fans completely lost their composure!

They even began to grow furious!

…

This is a fast-paced era.

Everything happens quickly.

Especially public opinion.

By May 15th, when Platini got the news, he was already in Nyon, Switzerland.

When he saw the news that was already blanketing the internet and the real world, he was completely stunned.

The feeling was like having his underwear yanked down in public.

He simply couldn’t believe it.

“What’s going on? Weren’t they just talking about Nice’s red card? How did it get to Pilatus Sports Management? How did Laurent get dragged into this?”

Platini lost his cool too!

This was his fatal weakness!

He had been hit right where it hurts!

Last year, the reports from The Times and France Football magazine, while infuriating, had not made him lose control.

But now, with his son’s exposure, he was furious out of shame and humiliation.

“Who did this? What the hell is going on? Give me an explanation!”

Platini roared at Infantino and the others standing before him.

He was truly panicking!

That’s why he needed to roar to mask his inner turmoil.

“Things were under control. The situation wasn’t a big deal. We all thought Nice would just complain a bit like other teams, and it would blow over.”

“But who would have thought that public opinion would escalate so quickly? The media, especially the French media, kept digging deeper and deeper, and somehow, it got linked to Burrda.”

Infantino also felt that something was off about the whole affair.

Although public opinion is difficult to control, it’s not entirely without a trail.

But this time, it felt like it came out of nowhere, almost inexplicably.

“Could someone be deliberately trying to screw us over?” Platini immediately sensed something was wrong.

He himself often pulled strings like this from behind the scenes.

“What has Yang Cheng of the Bayswater Chinese been up to lately?” Platini’s first suspicion fell on Yang Cheng.

“He’s preparing for the Champions League final. Didn’t the Bayswater Chinese just clinch the title early? He’s declined all interviews and celebrations and is completely focused on training.”

Platini’s brow furrowed.

The reason he thought of Yang Cheng first was that Yang Cheng was the biggest victim of the officiating in the Champions League semi-final second leg.

Both the Bayswater Chinese and Nice were his teams.

And the previous affair with Gareth Bale had ended with Platini and Yang Cheng on bad terms.

If Yang Cheng wanted to come after him, Platini would completely understand.

“What about the other people at the Bayswater Chinese?”

Infantino shook his head. “No movement. Everything’s normal.”

After a pause, Infantino added, “And in this whole affair, it’s mostly the French media reporting, plus that German site Onefootball. They’re relentlessly digging for inside information.”

Platini felt a massive headache coming on.

The internet was like a double-edged sword.

Onefootball was a German internet company that had been around for years. It was a leader in its field worldwide, hailed as a unicorn in the football domain. Its forums attracted countless fans from all over the world and had extremely high engagement.

So, it was normal for public opinion to ferment there.

As for the French media, Nice was a French team.

Everything seemed normal.

But it was precisely because it was too normal that it seemed abnormal.

Platini had his own network and channels in France.

He immediately made a few calls to friends in France to get a handle on the situation.

Having climbed to the position of UEFA Chairman, Platini was no pushover.

It took him just one afternoon to capture the key piece of information.

The trail that led to Burrda originated from that one statement by Martin Harrison.

But Platini was even more confused.

Who had warned Martin Harrison before the match?

Or rather, did this person even exist?

Platini recalled the confident expression on Martin Harrison’s face on the CANAL+ sports channel when he declared, “I have evidence,” which made it hard for him not to believe it.

So, who was it?

Yang Cheng?

How would Yang Cheng know?

If Yang Cheng knew beforehand, would the match have turned out this way?

Very few people knew about this beforehand, perhaps only a handful.

Platini looked up, his suspicious gaze sweeping over Infantino, Villar, and the others before him.

Everyone in the room was his confidant.

Even someone like David Gill, whom Platini had entrusted with a significant task and sent ahead to infiltrate FIFA, was not invited here.

Now it seemed that someone among his own confidants had leaked the information.

The key question was, who was it leaked to?

Platini found he couldn’t make a judgment.

Because there were too many potential leakers.

For instance, Infantino.

Was he really reliable?

He had once been eager to support Platini’s move to FIFA so he could naturally take over as UEFA Chairman.

So, after Platini reconciled with Blatter, Infantino had questioned him about the reasons multiple times.

And then there was Villar.

This Spaniard wasn’t clean either.

Like van Praag from the Netherlands, he was ambitious and always looking for a chance to climb higher.

It was like a game of thrones!

Platini suddenly realized that his own camp was not monolithic.

He couldn’t even clearly see who might stab him in the back at the last moment.

Just like now.

Very few people knew about the relationship between Laurent Platini, Pilatus Sports Management, and Burrda.

Neither The Times nor France Football had uncovered it before.

But now, the whole world knew.

Only those close to him could have possibly found clues from the small details and followed the trail to uncover the information.

Then, at the critical moment, they threw it out, trying to bury him!

And after burying him, who would benefit the most?

Platini couldn’t imagine.

Blatter, Infantino, Villar… they were all possibilities.

Had they even joined forces?

Wasn’t this Blatter’s specialty?

He had planted him in UEFA from FIFA, then supported him in taking down Lennart Johansson.

Would he not support someone else now to take him down?

Ultimately, he and Blatter were already in a fight to the death, with absolutely no trust between them.

Realizing this, Platini suddenly felt his heart sink.

“You can all leave. I need to think.”

Platini waved his hand wearily, gesturing for everyone to leave.

Infantino wanted to say something, but seeing Villar and the others all leaving, he hesitated and followed them out.

Leaving Platini alone at his desk, fingers intertwined under his chin, his eyes like lightning, staring grimly at the newly closed door.

He was all alone!

…

The escalation of public opinion was spiraling out of everyone’s control.

Including Yang Cheng’s.

As the narrative continued to ferment, more and more media outlets got involved, and more and more truths began to surface.

Including many unknown inside stories.

Especially when reporters followed the trail of Laurent Platini and dug upwards, the things they found became more and more explosive.

Under pressure from public opinion, Laurent Platini was the first to step forward and issue a clarification, stating that his father was an upright man who had let him choose his own life, studies, and career since he was a child.

“He respects and trusts me.”

The reason he joined Paris Saint-Germain after graduating from university was because he had always been a loyal fan of the club.

Why did he choose to establish Pilatus Sports Management and take over Burrda?

Laurent stated that it had nothing to do with his father.

It was because of his outstanding performance during his time at Paris Saint-Germain, which earned him the recognition of his colleagues and a very good relationship with the major shareholders of the club at the time.

To increase his credibility, he specifically mentioned two names: Sébastien Bazin, then the chairman of PSG, and Guillaume Kuperfils, a famous French lawyer.

Laurent Platini stated that it was through the recommendations of these two seniors that he was noticed by the Qatar Investment Authority, which led to the establishment of Pilatus Sports Management and his takeover of Burrda.

Kuperfils was a very famous lawyer in France who provided advisory services to many private equity funds and investment companies.

In the football world, he was best known for serving as the legal advisor for Paris Saint-Germain from 2006 to 2011.

What happened at Paris Saint-Germain during this period?

At that time, PSG was in a financial crisis, and three private equity funds acquired the capital’s powerhouse team: Colony Capital from the United States, Butler Capital Partners, and Morgan Stanley, each holding a thirty-three percent stake.

By 2008, Colony Capital had bought most of the shares from Butler Capital Partners, with the latter retaining only five percent.

The specific transaction amount was not publicly disclosed.

Then in 2011, Colony Capital sold PSG to the Qatari consortium, undoubtedly making a profit in the process.

Colony Capital is an American private equity fund headquartered in Los Angeles, and its European president was Sébastien Bazin.

Following Laurent Platini’s interview, the media reporters once again followed the trail, digging deeper, and directly locked onto Sébastien Bazin.

This was a legendary figure!

Everyone who knew Sébastien Bazin would praise him, saying he was an elegant French gentleman.

The image he always presented was one of gentle refinement.

But in fact, his origins were not particularly good.

After graduating with a Master of Science in Management from Sorbonne University, he decided to try his luck in New York, relying on his father-in-law to get a job as a trader in an aluminum company where his father-in-law was on the board of directors.

Unfortunately, in 1987, the company was sold.

After returning to France, Bazin’s life still seemed to be quite rough.

Until May 13, 1993.

On that day, a hostage situation involving a gunman took place in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a western suburb of Paris.

The hostages were twenty-one children.

Of course, nothing unfortunate happened, because the future French President Sarkozy intervened and quickly rescued the children. This earned Sarkozy a tide of praise from all over France and laid a solid foundation for his future ascent to the presidency.

And among those twenty-one children, the youngest one was Sébastien Bazin’s little daughter.

Just like that, because of this incident, Bazin became Sarkozy’s best friend.

Bazin’s career began to flourish. He successfully joined the American private equity fund Colony Capital, and thanks to his experience in the United States, he gained the trust of his American boss and became the head of the European region.

Until 2006, when he successfully took over as chairman of Paris Saint-Germain.

What few people knew was that Sarkozy was a football fan, and a Paris Saint-Germain fan at that.

So, after Bazin took over PSG, Sarkozy often appeared at Prince’s Park, watching games together.

During those years, Bazin also became a regular guest at banquets at the Palace of Versailles, mingling with politicians and celebrities from various countries.

In 2010, when Sarkozy, Qatar’s supreme leader, and Platini met at the Élysée Palace, Sébastien Bazin was also present.

What followed was the script everyone knew.

After Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, Qatar Airways ordered fifty planes from the French company Airbus.

The Doha-based Al Jazeera announced its entry into the French market, spending hundreds of millions of euros to buy the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

After French President Sarkozy lost the 2012 election, there were always rumors that he had received a promise of 250 million euros from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund to establish a private equity fund.

Through Sébastien Bazin’s operations, PSG was sold to the Qatari consortium.

And in 2013, Sébastien Bazin also changed jobs, leaving Colony Capital to become the CEO of Accor, Europe’s largest hotel chain.

It was like a vast web had been woven, connecting all the events that had previously seemed completely unrelated.

Laurent Platini himself had never imagined that the two names he casually mentioned to prove his credibility would lead to such an explosive story.

Now, not only was all of France shocked, but all of Europe, and indeed the whole world, was in an uproar.

What do you call exciting?

Could fiction ever be as exciting as reality?

When Yang Cheng saw the media reports, he himself was taken aback.

He truly didn’t know so many secrets.

But he knew about the Accor Group.

In 2017, Sarkozy became an independent director of the Accor Group.

Since the 1950s, he was the first former French president to serve on the board of a company.

It was similar to the revolving door of American politics.

Sarkozy had set a precedent.

The affair caused a huge uproar and became widely known.

But who would have thought that Sébastien Bazin and Sarkozy had such a relationship?

“This drama is juicier than I ever imagined!”

Yang Cheng had his fill.

Fortunately, neither he nor the Bayswater Chinese had personally entered the fray.

Nice had only lit a small fire.

The fact that it had burned into such an inferno was truly beyond everyone’s expectations.

Why?

The French government had been investigating Sarkozy’s affairs all along.

Now that things had been exposed to this extent, could Platini and his son still shake off the blame?

“I bet Sébastien Bazin and Sarkozy both want to find Laurent Platini and kill him to silence him right now!” Adam Crozier couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

This was too amusing!

How could this kid just blurt it out like that?

Don’t you know that what seems like a mundane event to you is seen as privilege in the eyes of others?

Why are you still spouting it everywhere?

“I’m guessing Platini is going crazy right now!” Yang Cheng laughed heartily.

That was a certainty.

When things had been blown open to this degree, implicating so many people and covering such a wide scope, Platini simply couldn’t explain it away.

Because he couldn’t reveal how many agreements were reached at the Élysée Palace that night.

Which of these agreements belonged to the French government.

And which belonged to them personally.

In fact, if one were to dig deeper, it was highly likely that what they would find would be even more explosive than what was known now.

Yang Cheng could already foresee it.

He had personally handed the knife to Blatter; would he not use it to stab him?

If he let Platini off so lightly, then Blatter wouldn’t be Blatter!

And would Platini be willing to be taken down just like that?

Would he stretch out his neck for the axe and not fight back?

The events to come would be even more interesting!

…

In the UEFA headquarters office in Nyon, Switzerland, Finance Director David Gill watched the drama unfold, his jaw practically on the floor.

The office was in complete chaos.

A state of panic and anxiety had gripped all of UEFA.

Everyone realized that the era of Platini was coming to an end!

If he could walk away unscathed after such a major incident, he wouldn’t be Platini; he’d be the Son of God!

But David Gill was clearly more shocked than anyone else.

Because he knew that behind this whole affair, there truly was a hand silently manipulating everything.

He had no idea that Yang Cheng was just as surprised as he was.

He just felt that Yang Cheng and the people behind him were simply terrifying!

This was beyond what a UEFA president, or even a FIFA president, could contend with.

If Sarkozy hadn’t already stepped down, this whole affair could have genuinely toppled a nation’s government!

This ability to hold immense power to change situations at will was not something a single person could achieve.

Could it be that behind Yang Cheng stood…

But David Gill shook his head again.

Because in his impression, that country had always maintained a harmless and innocent image, swallowing its pride.

Or, was it the United States?

Or perhaps, on this matter, the two countries were cooperating?

The more David Gill thought, the more terrifying it became.

But when he connected it with Yang Cheng’s various legendary deeds, especially how Yang Cheng had repeatedly told him with such confidence to be calm and composed, it now seemed like he had everything under control, that victory was already in his grasp!

But David Gill thought of something else.

At this point, Platini and Infantino were probably finished.

Villar would likely not escape either.

It was just a matter of time.

But what about Blatter?

He was the only candidate for FIFA president.

Could it be that Yang Cheng still had one final, ultimate move he hadn’t used, one specifically aimed at Blatter?

David Gill, his mind in turmoil, looked out the window.

The sky was filled with dark, ominous clouds. It was a terrifying sight!

Chapter 335: Football is Dead! Totally Exposed! The Key to the Mystery! Come, Mutual Destruction!

While Yang Cheng was enjoying the drama, the Premier League season continued.

These were two distinct worlds.

Football was football, and the politics of football was another matter entirely.

However, Yang Cheng still made some arrangements.

For instance, he handed over the preparation and command of the last two Premier League matches entirely to Flick, with Brian Kidd assisting.

He wanted to use this opportunity to assess Flick’s ability to take charge independently.

More importantly, through this gradual delegation of power, he wanted to let Flick take over step-by-step and slowly build his authority within the team.

After working together for the past season, Yang Cheng was most satisfied with Flick’s personality.

How should one put it?

It took him only a very short time to get along with everyone in the team.

This was his skill and personal charisma!

But when it came to taking over Bayswater Chinese, he was indeed still lacking something.

After all, as an assistant coach, he could be friends with the players.

But as a head coach, he had to make the players obey and accept his leadership.

That was a different matter altogether.

Therefore, Yang Cheng stuck to his original plan of gradually handing over power.

In the 37th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese played at home against Newcastle.

This was the first match that Flick prepared for and commanded on his own.

His pre-match preparations were meticulous, and his starting tactics were highly targeted, relentlessly attacking Newcastle’s weaknesses.

Just two minutes into the game, Harry Kane scored the opening goal for the team.

Then, in the 12th, 23rd, and 38th minutes, Gareth Bale scored three consecutive goals, completing a hat-trick.

And just before the end of the first half, Harry Kane scored another goal, securing a brace.

5-0!

After changing sides in the second half, Theo Walcott also began to shine.

In the 51st and 53rd minutes, The Little Tiger scored two goals in quick succession.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Newcastle 7-0 at home.

After the 60th minute, the team made several substitutions and adjustments, and failed to score again.

Flick himself was quite satisfied with this match.

Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd, the technical team, and the dressing room all gave very positive feedback.

With the team united, the tactics on point, and preparation thorough, it was a normal outcome for a team of Bayswater Chinese’s strength to crush Newcastle at home.

But in the same round, Manchester City defeated Swansea City 4-2 away.

Manchester United drew 1-1 with Arsenal at home.

Chelsea suffered a crushing 0-3 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at home.

Liverpool lost 1-3 to Crystal Palace.

And after this match, at Prudential Stadium, Bayswater Chinese lifted the Premier League trophy for the 2014-15 season!

But Yang Cheng still demanded a low-key celebration.

The Champions League final was what truly mattered!

…

Premier League, Round 38, the grand finale.

Arsenal thrashed West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at home.

Manchester City defeated Southampton 2-0 at home.

Manchester United drew 0-0 with Hull City away.

Chelsea defeated Sunderland 3-1 at home.

Liverpool suffered a devastating 1-6 defeat to Stoke City away.

There were two main reasons for The Reds’ two consecutive losses.

One was that it was impossible for the team to break into the top four, so they had nothing left to play for.

The other was that head coach Mancini announced he would be leaving at the end of the season.

Clearly, the Saudi consortium was also very dissatisfied with Mancini’s coaching this season.

Due to the looming Champions League final, Bayswater Chinese did not go all out in this match as they had in the previous one.

This match was an away game against Leicester City.

Sixteen minutes into the game, Harry Kane scored the opening goal for the team.

But it wasn’t until just before halftime that Gareth Bale added another goal.

After the break, Bayswater Chinese scored two goals in the space of two minutes, courtesy of Eden Hazard and Modrić.

Later, Leicester City pulled one back through Vardy.

But just before the end of the match, substitute De Bruyne scored another.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated Leicester City 5-1 away from home.

Flick had won both matches he had taken charge of.

And both were convincing victories.

With all 38 rounds completed, the final Premier League table was out.

After securing the title early, Bayswater Chinese still won their last two matches, finishing with an impressive record of 34 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, accumulating 105 points. Their points total broke the one hundred mark again as they became Premier League champions.

Manchester City, with 99 points, finished second in the Premier League.

This could almost be described as the most tragic runner-up in league history.

To get 99 points in the league and still not win the title.

As Pep Guardiola said in an interview with the media, he was proud of his players.

Manchester City had their best season in recent years and achieved their highest point total in history.

But unfortunately, they ran into a stronger and more consistent Bayswater Chinese team.

Chelsea and Arsenal both finished with 84 points.

Interestingly, however, because of that unexpected 0-3 loss to West Bromwich Albion, Mourinho’s team lost out to Arsenal on goal difference, forcing them into 4th place in the Premier League.

Although Mourinho’s team had a stunning start to the season, as the season wore on, their overall performance lagged considerably behind Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

At least in terms of strength, the gap was quite large.

Manchester United, on the other hand, earned 73 points and finished in 5th place.

However, despite missing out on the top four in the league, Manchester United performed exceptionally well in the Europa League.

In the semi-final, they defeated Serie A’s S.S.C. Napoli 2-1 on aggregate score.

The Red Devils advanced to the Europa League final, where they would face Sevilla from La Liga.

If van Gaal’s team could successfully defeat Sevilla and win the Europa League final, Manchester United would qualify for next season’s Champions League group stage.

At that point, the Premier League would have five teams participating in the Champions League group stage.

Manchester United’s 0-0 draw away at Hull City in the final round was, in fact, because van Gaal was resting his key players for the Europa League final just three days later.

In terms of relegation, the three teams that dropped down to the Championship were Burnley, Hull City, and Aston Villa.

Among them, Hull City, Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Sunderland all finished with the same number of points.

It was only because Hull City and Aston Villa’s goal difference was so poor that they fell into the Championship.

…

As all the matches in the Premier League concluded, other European leagues also wrapped up their seasons.

In Serie A, Atalanta largely continued their outstanding performance from the previous season.

Especially centre-forward Luca Toni, who remained as strong as ever, delivering a very impressive performance.

This season, the veteran once again contributed 26 goals in Serie A, being crowned the top scorer.

This was simply jaw-dropping for everyone.

At the ripe old age of 38, to win the Serie A top scorer award for two consecutive seasons was simply incredible!

But that wasn’t even the most amazing part.

After the team sold Iturbe and Rômulo for high prices last season, the whole of Italy thought Atalanta was likely to suffer a steep decline.

At the very least, Luca Toni’s goal-scoring form would be hard to maintain.

More importantly, in the new season, Atalanta would have to divide their attention with the Champions League, fighting on two fronts, which is a major taboo for small and medium-sized clubs.

But what was the reality?

Diego Perotti, who joined for a very low price, quickly filled the void left by Iturbe, and even performed more brilliantly than Iturbe.

The young Brazilian Felipe Anderson also played more impressively than last season, posing a greater threat.

While Rômulo’s performance at Juventus was less than ideal, the young Portuguese player João Cancelo shone brightly on Atalanta’s right flank, becoming a new favorite among the Nerazzurri fans.

In midfield, the additions of players like Barella, Cristante, and De Paul further strengthened the team’s midfield depth.

The arrival of centre-back Stefan de Vrij greatly enhanced Atalanta’s defensive strength.

After a season of intense battles, Gasperini’s team delivered a stunning report card.

Atalanta surpassed AS Roma in Serie A, finishing second with 77 points, second only to Juventus who had 81 points.

But that wasn’t the main point.

The main point was that Atalanta had completed the double over Juventus in their two league encounters.

This brought Gasperini’s team great fame.

If everyone was shocked when Atalanta finished 3rd in Serie A last season, then this season, as Atalanta went one step further to secure the runner-up position, everyone’s perception completely changed.

It was clear that after Yang Cheng took over, this Youth Guard, previously unnoticed by everyone, had shown astonishing competitiveness.

Especially in the transfer market and team building.

Just to give an example, they sold Iturbe for 25 million euros and signed Perotti for 350,000 euros.

And as it turned out, Perotti performed even better than Iturbe.

Such astute transfers, who else in European football could compare?

But for Atalanta, the biggest challenge right now was the veteran Luca Toni.

After all, he was already 38 years old, and how long he could maintain his form was an unknown.

After Atalanta fully integrated with Bayswater Chinese, their training ground was expanded and renovated, their medical facilities and physiotherapy systems were all upgraded, and player protection was more comprehensive.

But age and physical condition were ultimately irreversible.

However, within the Atalanta squad, Polish centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik scored 11 goals and provided 4 assists in Serie A last season.

In the team’s Champions League campaign, he played in 5 of the 8 matches, scoring 3 goals and providing 1 assist.

Overall, Milik had indeed shown a fairly good level of performance.

…

In Ligue 1, OGC Nice surprisingly defeated Paris Saint-Germain to top the Ligue 1 table.

This team from the south coast of France, neither spent lavishly like Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, nor did they have a top scorer like Lyon’s Lacazette.

This season, Nice’s main strength was their teamwork.

Over the past few years, after successively selling players like Pellè, Benteke, Aubameyang, and Mahrez, Nice fostered the front three of Mané, Martial, and Salah last season.

These three players spearheaded a run-and-gun tactical approach.

The top scorer was Martial, with just 16 goals, ranking 7th on the Ligue 1 top scorer chart.

Compared to Lacazette’s 27 goals and Ibrahimović’s 26, it was far inferior.

The team’s second-highest scorer was Mané, who had 15 goals and 15 assists last season.

His defining trait was being an all-rounder!

Oh, and by the way, Martial also had 11 assists.

Salah only had 14 goals, but provided 13 assists.

Individually, none of the front three were anything special in Ligue 1.

But together, their 45 goals were the most in the league!

Youth, energy, stamina, speed, strong individual ability…

When all these qualities were put together, it formed this vibrant OGC Nice team.

Not only did they cause chaos for PSG and Monaco in Ligue 1, but they also kicked Lyon out of the Champions League places.

A 4-2 thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain, a 5-1 demolition of Lyon, a 4-1 victory over Monaco…

Every match was a classic!

Ronald Koeman’s team, over the past season, created a youth storm not just in Ligue 1, but across the whole of European football.

Besides the front three, the midfield also featured players like Kovačić, Kanté, Jorginho, Fabinho, Allan, and Bernardo Silva, all of whom performed brilliantly.

It could be said that throughout the season, Nice was the most eye-catching team in European football.

Ronald Koeman’s fame skyrocketed as a result.

Almost everyone speculated that Ronald Koeman would move to one of the top four leagues this summer.

And the most likely destination was the Premier League.

According to the Liverpool Echo, after The Reds decided to sack head coach Mancini, the final two candidates on their list were Nice’s Ronald Koeman.

The other was the renowned German manager Klopp, who had just left Borussia Dortmund.

In addition, Ronald Koeman was also on Tottenham Hotspur’s list of potential managers, ranked very highly.

But there was one thing that the French media and fans were most worried about.

Following their outstanding performance last season, Nice had been targeted by numerous European giants.

It was highly likely that the team would be carved up by these giants in the new season.

This was the fate of Ligue 1 teams!

But it was precisely because of this that the French media and fans voiced their condemnation of Platini and Infantino even more loudly.

If not for Platini and Infantino, how would Nice have been stopped at the Champions League semi-final?

…

As the major European leagues gradually concluded, time quickly moved towards the Champions League and Europa League finals at the end of May.

But there was another important event: the FIFA presidential election on May 29th.

As the French media and fans relentlessly condemned Platini, especially with the media unearthing more explosive news and bombshells, UEFA, led by Platini, adopted a strategy of playing dead.

No response to any questions!

Even Laurent Platini, who had made a mistake when responding to the media earlier, had now completely disappeared from public view.

Everyone knew very well that this was the usual tactic of UEFA and FIFA.

Using delaying tactics to solve problems.

But things unfolded just as Yang Cheng had predicted. Once the knife was thrown, someone would naturally come to pick it up.

FIFA President Blatter gave interviews to several media outlets at the headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

But this shrewd old Swiss man didn’t mention the dinner at the Élysée Palace in Paris at the end of 2010 at all. He focused more on the controversy sparked by the Champions League semi-final.

Moreover, he didn’t mention Platini but pointed to Infantino and Villar, who had been named by the media.

Everyone knew these two were Platini’s trusted men.

“I have authorized the Ethics Committee to investigate this matter.”

“Undoubtedly, this is UEFA’s business, but if they encounter certain obstacles and are unable to perform their duties, FIFA has an obligation to provide some assistance.”

“Isn’t the purpose of establishing the Ethics Committee to be effective at times like this?”

Blatter’s underlying message was that FIFA’s Ethics Committee might intervene in the investigation of the Champions League semi-final.

This was a major taboo!

Everyone knew that for many years, FIFA and UEFA had not been on good terms.

If FIFA were allowed to get involved, it would be easy to invite the gods in but hard to send them away. Getting them to leave again would likely be impossible.

This matter also caused a huge stir within UEFA.

No matter how much UEFA fought amongst themselves, it was their own business.

FIFA wants to interfere?

No way!

Therefore, UEFA clearly couldn’t continue to play dead.

Platini must have been grinding his teeth in hatred, but he had no choice but to step forward and respond to the current hot topics.

He also studiously avoided mentioning the Élysée Palace affair, but repeatedly clarified that Laurent Platini’s cooperation with Qatar had nothing to do with him.

Regarding the events of the Champions League semi-final, Platini also repeatedly clarified, stating that nothing of the sort had occurred.

“We have specialized bodies that conduct very close supervision of every single match of the entire tournament, before, during, and after the game, and we have complete archival records.”

As for the red card that led to Nice’s elimination in the semi-final, Platini stated that it was a forgivable misjudgment by the head referee.

“Our Referees Committee will question the Norwegian head referee and give all the fans an explanation.”

Platini reiterated once again that Champions League matches must be open, fair, and just.

Perhaps a referee’s officiating might have errors, but there would absolutely be no match-fixing.

“We will absolutely not allow anyone to manipulate matches!” Platini proclaimed with righteous indignation!

And according to past tradition, once the FIFA and UEFA presidents had successively made their positions clear, the matter would soon come to a temporary close.

After all, very little had surfaced.

Everything would move behind the scenes.

But Yang Cheng was very, very dissatisfied with the first round of shadowboxing between Blatter and Platini.

The fighting wasn’t intense enough!

They were both big shots aiming to become the FIFA president, couldn’t they be a bit more ruthless?

Why were they still holding back?

Did they still want to be good old pals?

…

“Clearly, neither side has struck a hard enough blow!”

In the head coach’s office at the Brent training center, Yang Cheng held a closed-door meeting with Adam Crozier and others who had rushed over.

Everyone thought they were discussing the upcoming Champions League final in Berlin, Germany.

But who would have thought they were lamenting that the recent news wasn’t explosive enough?

“Of course, Blatter definitely wouldn’t dare to go all out. If a lot of Platini’s dirty laundry is aired, it’ll open a can of worms, and Blatter himself won’t come out clean,” Xia Qing said, with an I-knew-it-all-along expression.

This was why FIFA, UEFA, and all their subordinate continental confederations, down to the national football associations, all acted in collusion. They were a community of interests that had been maintained for decades.

Did Platini want to take Blatter down for good?

He probably dreamed of it.

But what was the prerequisite for taking Blatter down?

He had to clear his own name first.

If in taking down Blatter, he also took himself down, wouldn’t that just benefit someone else?

It was the same for FIFA and UEFA, and wasn’t it the same for the continental confederations and national associations?

That was why in Yang Cheng’s previous life, many people said that China’s Football Association was a world model in everything except football!

And there was real truth to that.

“The way they’re going at it now feels like they’re just scratching an itch. There’s no satisfaction at all,” Adam Crozier said, also quite frustrated.

They were an alliance of interests, monolithic. What could be done?

Yang Cheng had a bellyful of dirt on them now, but he didn’t know how to expose it.

Because he knew many things but had no evidence.

Moreover, if he himself were exposed, things would get interesting.

The simplest question would be: how did you, Yang Cheng, know all this?

And just like that, he would become the prime suspect!

“If this continues, I think it won’t be long before this fire dies down again,” Adam Crozier said helplessly.

After all, this was an alliance forged over decades; it wouldn’t be so easily dismantled.

But Yang Cheng had no intention of letting them off so easily.

“Have you guys heard of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists?” Yang Cheng asked.

Xia Qing and Adam Crozier both shook their heads.

“It’s an organization headquartered in the United States, founded in 1997, aimed at serving the public interest. The topics it focuses on are mostly transnational crime, corruption, and power accountability. It currently has nearly 200 journalists worldwide.”

“The Luxembourg tax evasion scandal in November 2014, and HSBC’s Swiss branch helping global clients hide 100 billion US dollars in assets in February 2015, were both exposed by journalists from this organization.”

“They use a distributed investigation method, distributing documents to journalists in different countries for local verification, so the case investigations are very fast.”

Xia Qing and Adam Crozier were somewhat confused.

“Are you planning to use this organization to investigate FIFA?” Xia Qing asked.

Yang Cheng smiled and shook his head, “No, I just want to anonymously provide them with a small clue.”

The clue was indeed small, but these matters concerning FIFA and UEFA were very hot topics. He believed the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists would be interested.

Besides, these journalists were all sharp as tacks. They knew very well that no matter how small a clue, if they followed the trail, the bombshell they could unearth might be even bigger.

Who didn’t want to break a big story?

“What’s your plan?”

Adam Crozier thought about it. It wouldn’t be difficult to pull this off.

“Use encrypted communication, under the name John Doe, and contact the Obermaier brothers at Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung.”

“Why use that name to contact them?” Xia Qing was a little surprised.

But Adam Crozier had already figured it out, looking at Yang Cheng with the expression of one looking at an expert.

He hadn’t even reacted yet, and Yang Cheng had already planned the next step.

Impressive!

John Doe was also known as Jane Doe, a name used in England for centuries, and also commonly used in Canada and the United States.

For example, in court, this name was used to protect someone’s true identity.

It was also used for some unidentified bodies.

Later, it gradually evolved to be used by anonymous individuals.

As for why Süddeutsche Zeitung, Adam Crozier wasn’t sure.

After Adam Crozier explained the origin of John Doe, Yang Cheng explained the reason for choosing Süddeutsche Zeitung.

In the past few years, the two major cases handled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists were basically articles dug up by Süddeutsche Zeitung based on data leaks. They had a lot of secret intelligence from South America and the Caribbean.

More importantly, this newspaper had tasted success before and would definitely latch on and dig deep.

Given their status within the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the investigation would surely proceed faster.

As for the Obermaier brothers, they were famous journalists at Süddeutsche Zeitung, so there was no problem there.

Yang Cheng’s explanation was quite logical.

Whether for secrecy or other reasons, there were no major issues.

They would contact the Obermaier brothers using encrypted communication.

“By the way, what do you want to investigate?” Adam Crozier asked.

“For so many years, many financial transactions of FIFA, UEFA, and even the continental confederations and football associations have passed through the money-laundering haven of Panama. The Mossack Fonseca law firm is an unavoidable part of their operations.”

Mossack Fonseca law firm?

For big shots at the level of Xia Qing and Adam Crozier, it was impossible not to have heard of this company.

The world’s fourth largest offshore law firm.

Its business spanned the globe, from government dignitaries to ordinary multinational traders, and even arms dealers and drug traffickers active around the world… Countless people used this law firm to register shell companies to operate various tax evasion and money laundering businesses.

“Isn’t this a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack?” Adam Crozier smiled wryly.

Yang Cheng, however, was full of confidence. “Don’t worry, they have their ways.”

This left Adam Crozier completely puzzled.

Were the journalists at Süddeutsche Zeitung that amazing?

But out of trust for Yang Cheng, he decided to do as he was told.

…

Thirty-seven-year-old Bastian Obermaier was the head of the investigative department at Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Over the past few years, under his leadership, Süddeutsche Zeitung had published a series of weighty investigative articles that had caused a huge stir in the world of journalism.

He himself had also won several awards.

Influenced by him, his younger brother Frederik Obermaier also joined the investigative department of Süddeutsche Zeitung.

When brothers work together, their strength can break metal.

For the past few months, they and their team had been secretly studying a batch of documents.

These documents came from an anonymous whistleblower named John Doe, in early 2015.

There were as many as 11.5 million documents, involving two to three hundred thousand tax avoidance networks, and individuals and companies from over two hundred countries.

The time span ranged from 1970 to 2015.

The total volume of files was a staggering 2.6 terabytes.

Obermaier and his colleagues shared these files with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and gave it a codename: the Panama Papers.

According to John Doe, these files came from a database leak at Mossack Fonseca, the world’s fourth-largest law firm in Panama.

The source was only interested in whistleblowing, not a reward.

This was very much in line with Süddeutsche Zeitung’s long-standing practice.

They never paid for intelligence; it was a matter of principle.

For the past few months, the Obermaier brothers and their colleagues had been completely immersed in these files.

They tried every possible way to unravel the connections from the massive amount of documents.

But unfortunately, it was all in vain.

Mossack Fonseca was one of the world’s largest suppliers of anonymous shell companies. They were not picky about their clients and were very famous in the industry.

More importantly, this company was like an impenetrable firewall.

Whenever Obermaier and his team followed a trail deep into their investigation, they would always come to a dead end right in front of this wall.

Either on this side of the wall or that side.

Mossack Fonseca in the middle was like a black hole.

Anyone who has done investigations knows that if you can’t connect the clues on both sides to form an effective closed loop, then everything is useless.

Not to mention the massive volume of files and data.

Several months had passed, and they had made no progress, no headway at all.

This left the Obermaier brothers feeling very frustrated.

But just this evening, an anonymous encrypted message came through on Bastian Obermaier’s phone.

John Doe!

But it was clear that this was not the person who had secretly sent him the files a few months ago, but someone else.

“I hear you have a lot of secret data from the Caribbean and South America. Interested in investigating a corruption scandal involving FIFA and UEFA?”

This single sentence stunned Bastian Obermaier.

“Who are you?”

Just as Obermaier was about to send it, he immediately realized that once this sentence was sent, the other party would probably disappear.

So, he quietly deleted it and typed a new sentence, “Are you willing to help? We don’t offer payment.”

“Of course. I simply hate those parasites.”

This sentence resonated with Obermaier.

He felt the same way.

“How should we proceed?”

“Have you heard of the Uruguayan club Peñarol?”

“Of course, one of the powerhouses of the Uruguayan league.”

“Do you know who their chairman is?”

“No.”

“Juan Pedro Damiani, a famous Uruguayan lawyer and a staunch ally of the Uruguayan Eugenio Figueredo.”

“Wait, who is Eugenio Figueredo?”

“FIFA Vice-Chairman, Finance Director, and President of the South American Football Confederation.”

“Over the past years, Damiani, using his status as a lawyer and through his law firm, has helped Figueredo, as well as his predecessor, the former FIFA Vice-Chairman and President of the South American Football Confederation, the Argentinian Julio Grondona, to secretly register 200 offshore companies with the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama.”

“Follow this lead, and you’ll definitely find something.”

Bastian Obermaier was thrilled.

If before he was adrift in a vast ocean, completely lost as to where to start.

Then now, the clue provided by this anonymous person had given him coordinates and a direction.

This was the secret key he had been waiting for!

“Didn’t Julio Grondona die last year?” Obermaier was also a football fan.

This man was also FIFA’s Finance Director, known as Blatter’s purse.

Just on this point alone, Obermaier clearly realized that once he unlocked this secret, it would definitely be a massive news story that would shock the world.

“That’s right, but Figueredo inherited everything from him. They have always been the most die-hard allies, including Damiani.”

That’s right!

Obermaier nodded repeatedly.

Something like this absolutely required a lawyer, otherwise, it couldn’t be done.

“You investigate first. Once you’ve clarified this matter, I’ll give you the next piece of information.”

A series?

Obermaier was immediately excited.

This was going to be a series of explosive news stories.

With that massive batch of files, and now with the key in hand, he could solve the mystery right away!

…

As the Champions League final drew closer, more and more fans began to flock to Germany, especially to the capital, Berlin.

But on this day, Süddeutsche Zeitung, headquartered in Munich, Germany, suddenly published a bombshell.

It added a hefty log to the already blazing fire of the world football scene.

Bastian Obermaier, a famous investigative journalist for Süddeutsche Zeitung, wrote a lengthy investigative report, exposing a corruption case involving FIFA Vice-Chairman and Finance Director Figueredo and the chairman of the Uruguayan club Peñarol, Juan Damiani.

Since the late 1990s, they had been using the money-laundering haven of Panama to secretly set up over two hundred companies, specifically for laundering money and evading taxes for officials from FIFA, UEFA, and other continental football confederations.

Between 2011 and 2015, they paid out salaries and bonuses totaling as much as 80 million US dollars to FIFA President Blatter, Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, and Director of Corporate Services Markus Kattner.

The report listed in great detail every account and contract.

For example, in 2011, before the FIFA presidential election, Blatter authorized the signing of eight-and-a-half-year contract extensions with Valcke and Kattner.

The contract terms stated that if Blatter failed to be re-elected and the two lost their jobs, they would receive severance pay of 17.6 million and 9.9 million US dollars respectively from FIFA.

The reason was that at the time, Blatter was unsure if he could secure re-election.

The purpose of this was to protect the interests of Valcke and Kattner.

Not only that, but the three of them received a special bonus totaling 23.5 million US dollars four months after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

This money did not appear in any contract but was approved for payment by the late FIFA Finance Director Julio Grondona.

And at the 2014 World Cup, the trio received another bonus of 14.3 million US dollars.

In June 2014, they received a bonus of 15.8 million US dollars for the 2018 Russia World Cup.

All of this was dug up by Süddeutsche Zeitung from the massive trove of the Panama Papers.

Furthermore, FIFA Vice-Chairman Figueredo, through a company established by Damiani in Panama, provided “loans” to officials of many sports organizations.

Just this February, Damiani also requested the Mossack Fonseca law firm to grant Figueredo’s wife special powers over a company called Gilson Overseas SA.

This was a real estate company established on May 9, 2003, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, with dedicated offices in Europe and Asia.

Süddeutsche Zeitung not only published the report but also released the relevant documents.

This immediately caused a global uproar!

So it turned out that not only was UEFA dirty, but FIFA was no better.

This was insane!

From the FIFA President Blatter, to the Vice-Chairman, to the Secretary General…

God, the world of football is so dark!

…

Bang!

In the president’s office at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Blatter angrily slammed his hand on the desk in front of him.

“Has Platini gone mad?”

Blatter was trembling with rage.

“He even dares to leak this stuff? Does he really think I don’t know about the dirty things he’s done?”

Standing before Blatter were Secretary General Valcke and Vice-Chairman Figueredo, both also looking furious.

They had been completely exposed!

“It’s all over. Juan Damiani just called me. all our offshore companies have been exposed. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is digging up all our dirt.”

As Figueredo spoke, he gritted his teeth in hatred.

“Damn you, Platini! This is an all-out war!”

Blatter was also seething with hatred.

Before, his back-and-forth with Platini was just like usual, a little show for the media and fans outside. Once things calmed down, people would forget.

For so many years, this was how FIFA had always handled things.

But now, he had gone and flipped the whole table.

“That unruly bastard!” Blatter cursed.

“If you want me dead, then don’t think you’ll live either!”

“Jérôme, go, arrange it. Leak that business about the 2 million Swiss francs he received in 2011!”

Blatter had gone ruthless too.

This was called returning the favor!

…

As the Swiss media broke the story that UEFA President Platini had illegally received a payment of 2 million Swiss francs from FIFA in 2011, UEFA was once again thrust into the spotlight of global media and fans.

FIFA had just been exposed, and now UEFA was back on stage.

This grand drama was truly spectacular!

But what was more important was back at Süddeutsche Zeitung.

It was another investigative report by Bastian Obermaier.

In 2006, Infantino, who was then UEFA’s Director of Legal Affairs, signed a deal with a shell company established in Panama called Cross Trading for the broadcast rights in Ecuador for competitions such as the Champions League, UEFA Cup, and European Championship from 2006 to 2009.

The amount signed for was merely 97,000 euros.

But the company immediately turned around and sold them to Amazon TV for three times the price.

Investigations showed that this shell company belonged to a company called Full Play, founded by Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis.

They were from Argentina.

FP Company was an Argentine sports marketing firm specializing in advertising, but it had always acted as an intermediary, facilitating illegal payments between sports marketing enterprises and football officials.

Among them was the late FIFA Vice-Chairman and South American Football Confederation President Julio Grondona.

Grondona was also an Argentinian.

In other words, Infantino was suspected of profiting from selling UEFA competition broadcast rights at a low price!

Not only that, but Süddeutsche Zeitung dug even deeper, discovering who the current Secretary General and Director of Legal Affairs of the South American Football Confederation was, and also a key right-hand man to FIFA Vice-Chairman Figueredo.

The Spaniard Gorka Villar.

The son of UEFA Vice-Chairman and Spanish Football Federation Chairman Villar!

Everything was connected again!

It turned out that it wasn’t just UEFA; FIFA was just as bad.

A Spaniard went to South America to be the Secretary General of a football confederation?

What kind of internationalist spirit was this?

Even more outrageous, as the digging went deeper, more and more dirt on the Villar father and son duo was successively unearthed.

All crows under the sun are black!

While the whole world was eagerly awaiting the Champions League final, no one expected such astonishing news to be broken.

The entire world erupted!

…

They were on a rampage!

A complete rampage!

Sitting in his office at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Platini’s mind was a complete blank.

He was also thoroughly enraged!

Because he realized he had been completely exposed.

Not just him, but also Infantino, Villar, and others under him, not a single one was spared. They were all exposed.

And the most likely person to expose him was Blatter!

By taking out him and his trusted men, Blatter stood to gain the most!

“That damn old geezer, his own hands aren’t clean, and when he gets exposed, he wants to drag me down with him!”

Platini didn’t even doubt for a second that the previous exposure of him and his son was Blatter’s handiwork.

Of course, there must have been a mole!

Fine, you want to expose things, do you?

Then let’s go, let’s see who dies first!

…

The day before the Champions League final, before departing from Nyon, Switzerland for Berlin, UEFA President Platini gave an interview to the media in his office, publicly criticizing FIFA President Blatter.

He believed that Blatter’s obsession with power was the root cause of the current chaos and corruption in world football.

“In fact, as far back as 2011, I asked him not to seek re-election, but he couldn’t let go of the power in his hands!”

As for the 2 million Swiss francs, this made Platini even more certain that it was Blatter who had leaked it.

“That wasn’t some immoral income. It was my salary from my time working at FIFA, which had been in arrears and was only paid in 2011.”

But these words sounded exceptionally weak and unconvincing.

Platini, in turn, exposed how Blatter had used the competition between bidding nations to gain illicit benefits during several World Cup bids, as well as his bribery during the FIFA presidential elections.

This immediately sparked another heated debate worldwide.

Who had ever seen the UEFA President report the FIFA President by name?

Blatter was no pushover either, publicly accusing Platini of malicious slander.

“I have instructed the Ethics Committee to begin investigations into the corrupt practices of certain important officials during the Qatar World Cup bidding process. Once confirmed, we will punish them severely!”

Platini immediately retaliated.

“Does this still need an investigation? Why doesn’t he dare to release Garcia’s full investigation report? He has a guilty conscience! There’s evidence of him accepting bribes in there!”

Blatter immediately responded, denying he had accepted any bribes and accusing Platini of using his son to amass wealth!

When the two most powerful men in world football, in front of the media, accused each other like shrews bickering in the street, yet no institution could effectively restrain or punish them, the entire world’s media and fans were left dumbfounded.

Why did Blatter and Platini dare to do this?

Because they knew no one could punish them!

At least, under the existing laws, there was no way!

Was the corruption in FIFA and UEFA a secret?

No.

Although there had never been concrete evidence, it had long been rumored worldwide.

But now, even with evidence, so what?

Who could punish them when they were so brazenly defiant?

No one!

That was the most tragic thing!

Football is dead!

Chapter 336: Declaration of War! Football Isn’t Dead! Yang Cheng’s Ascension! The Judgment of Fans Worldwide!

The 2014/15 Champions League final was held at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Built in 1936, it was a stadium with rather outdated facilities and design concepts.

Moreover, it was not a dedicated football stadium.

Between the pitch and the stands lay a wide athletics track.

To host this match, the track was covered with turf, making it look green.

The decision to choose Berlin as the venue for the Champions League final had sparked considerable controversy from the start.

With so many professional football stadiums in Europe, many with larger capacities, why choose Berlin?

UEFA never provided a public explanation for their specific reasons.

As for London’s Prudential Stadium, a venue highly anticipated by many in the media and fans, UEFA’s Secretary General Infantino once explained the situation during a press interview.

“As far as I know, we never received any bid from London’s Prudential Stadium.”

The implication was clear: it wasn’t that they didn’t choose Prudential Stadium, but that it never submitted a bid.

So why didn’t Prudential Stadium bid to host the Champions League final?

Bayswater Chinese never offered any official explanation.

This left many media outlets and fans feeling regretful.

After all, ever since its completion, Prudential Stadium had been regarded by everyone as the most dream-like temple of football!

The afternoon before the Champions League final, when Yang Cheng led his team to the Olympiastadion for pre-match training to familiarize themselves with the venue, he was not entirely satisfied with some of the stadium’s facilities.

Of course, they weren’t terrible.

Any stadium capable of hosting a Champions League final was guaranteed to meet certain standards for its pitch and facilities.

The players were all very experienced and knew what to focus on during familiarization training.

For many of the Bayswater Chinese players, how many times had they played in a Champions League final by now?

During a break in training, Yang Cheng spotted Adam Crozier.

He handed the training session over to Flick and Brian Kidd and walked over to the sidelines.

“Everything is arranged,” Adam Crozier reported.

According to the schedule, a pre-match press conference would be held shortly.

Yang Cheng was supposed to announce the eighteen-man matchday squad and discuss matters related to tomorrow’s game.

But that was not Yang Cheng’s main focus for the day.

His focus was to speak his mind about Platini, UEFA, and FIFA.

This was a hook he had been baiting since last year.

His falling out with Platini back then was, in the end, all for this moment.

Knowing the typical behavior of the media, they would surely seize the opportunity to ask for Yang Cheng’s opinion on the whole affair.

Over the past few days, the media had been in a frenzy. The public bickering between Platini and Blatter, like shrews bickering in the street, had been quite the spectacle for the fans.

But what was the point?

The answer was: none!

So far, not a single heavyweight in the industry had stepped forward to offer an opinion.

Thus, the media lamented in unison: Football is dead!

It wasn’t hard to understand why.

No one could control FIFA or UEFA.

As they exchanged fire from a distance, who would dare to step up and voice an opinion?

You could criticize them on any other day, but in this matter, if you picked the wrong side, the moment these two titans turned their attention back, they could crush you in an instant!

So, even the well-known big mouths in the circle had gone silent.

Everyone who made a living in this industry was sharp; none of them were simpletons.

“I think you should reconsider. There’s no need for you to get personally involved,” Adam Crozier advised.

“Or, I can handle these things.”

This was his way of offering to be a scapegoat for Yang Cheng!

Yang Cheng smiled and clapped Adam Crozier on the shoulder. “Your words don’t carry enough weight!”

And it was true!

Who was Yang Cheng?

The number one head coach in world football, winner of three consecutive Champions League trophies, and currently aiming for a fourth.

Tomorrow was the Champions League final!

At this moment, every word Yang Cheng uttered would be broadcast by the world’s media to every corner of the globe at lightning speed.

This was precisely the effect Yang Cheng wanted to achieve!

“But I’m afraid that once Platini and Blatter are free, we’ll be in great danger!” Adam Crozier said.

If he were the one to speak out, and things got too rough, the worst that could happen was that he’d be fired.

Given Yang Cheng’s prestige and connections, both Blatter and Platini would have to give him that much face.

The matter would blow over.

“I’m not the kind of person who casually sacrifices colleagues and subordinates. Besides, this is something that’s all or nothing. If we’re going to do it, we must strike like a lion pouncing on a rabbit—with all our might, leaving them no chance to recover!”

After a pause, Yang Cheng turned to reassure Adam Crozier.

He said things like it was nothing to worry about, that those two were just posturing paper tigers.

But to Adam Crozier, Xia Qing, and everyone else, while the two might seem weak at the moment, they were by no means paper tigers!

On the contrary, they were the most ferocious tigers in world football!

For the past several decades, who had been able to restrain them?

To stand up and publicly challenge them now would certainly win everyone’s approval, but at what cost?

Was it worth it?

Being a hero was not so easy!

But Yang Cheng always projected an air of supreme confidence, as if victory was already his.

“By the way, David Gill managed to have a quick word with me earlier. Both FIFA and UEFA are in chaos right now. Platini and Infantino haven’t even arrived in Berlin yet; they’re busy putting out fires everywhere.”

“He was shocked when he heard you planned to get involved personally. He thinks it’s too risky and asked me to talk you out of it.”

Yang Cheng nodded slightly. “He’s got some conscience, at least.”

For that alone, Yang Cheng felt he hadn’t misjudged David Gill.

He couldn’t be called righteous, perhaps, but he was at least decent enough to be a friend.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing with this.”

After a short pause, Yang Cheng flashed another confident smile. “You’ve worked with me for so many years. Don’t you know me by now?”

“Would a guy who’s as afraid of dying as I am dare to step into the ring myself if I wasn’t sure I could win?”

Yang Cheng had his own calculations.

At this moment, everyone was afraid to speak.

Therefore, the person who did speak up would earn the admiration of all!

As for the danger…

Were two men on the verge of collapse really a danger to Yang Cheng?

…

Just as Yang Cheng had predicted.

Although it was an all-Premier League final, the Champions League final still drew the attention of media and fans from all over the world.

Journalists flocked in from every corner of the globe, packing the press conference hall at the Olympiastadion until it was overflowing.

When Yang Cheng walked in with a smile, he was greeted by a round of warm applause.

Just before him, Pep Guardiola had already finished his press conference.

Interestingly, until the final tomorrow, the Champions League trophy would be displayed in Manchester City’s dressing room.

This had always been a tradition for the Champions League.

UEFA would invite media, fans, celebrities, and others from around the world to attend events on-site.

It was a super IP, and many people would come to ride the wave of its popularity every day.

Many fans would also enter the stadium for tours, so the Champions League trophy would be temporarily placed in one of the dressing rooms.

This time, it was placed in Manchester City’s dressing room, displayed alongside Messi’s jersey.

When the media asked for Yang Cheng’s thoughts, he smiled and said he didn’t mind.

“They can only hold onto it until tomorrow evening at the latest. From tomorrow night on, we’ll be able to sleep with it.”

The room erupted in laughter.

There were no real surprises in either team’s eighteen-man matchday squad.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, the reason Pep Guardiola would sometimes make bizarre decisions before a Champions League final was a lack of inner confidence.

To put it bluntly, he lacked faith in a certain aspect of his team.

Especially the attack.

But now, he had stars like Messi, Agüero, Marco Reus, and David Silva. His squad was formidable.

Under these circumstances, Guardiola wouldn’t mess around.

Yang Cheng’s press conferences were usually quite cheerful.

Of course, it was inevitable that some journalists would ask some relatively sensitive questions.

But it usually happened step by step.

For example, they first asked why Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium had not bid to host the Champions League final.

This was, in fact, a probe.

Whether Yang Cheng answered, and the content of his answer, would influence their next line of questioning.

Yang Cheng was well aware of this.

But he still pretended to hesitate for a moment, sighed, and gave a “wry smile.”

“Actually, before I came in here, our director of communications and the club’s assistant were both over there trying to persuade me, telling me to be careful and not to fall into the traps you’ve all dug.”

The room once again broke into laughter.

But Yang Cheng’s expression quickly turned serious.

“But I still want to talk about this.”

“First of all, I am very grateful to the media and fans for their high praise of our Prudential Stadium. Thank you very much!”

“When this stadium was officially opened, hosting the Champions League final was already on our agenda. Everyone knows that the Mayor of London, Mr. Ken Livingstone, said he would fully support us.”

Everyone nodded.

This had all been in the news at the time.

“Why, after several years, has it never happened? The reasons are actually multi-faceted.”

Yang Cheng paused deliberately here, let out a breath, and looked somewhat troubled.

“As you all know, UEFA has very high requirements for stadiums hosting the Champions League final: capacity, hardware and software facilities, broadcasting conditions, the host city, transportation, hotel accommodations, and so on.”

“None of these are problems for us, right?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Bayswater Chinese’s Prudential Stadium was located in London’s most prosperous, bustling, and accessible core, the West End.

“Many people even know that during the Champions League final period, for about half a month, we would need to remove all of our sponsors’ logos inside the stadium and replace them with UEFA’s designated sponsors.”

“That’s not really a problem for us. All our sponsors, including Prudential, support our bid to host the Champions League final. This even includes covering up the illuminated stadium sign at the very top of our stadium, as well as the street signs outside Prudential Plaza.”

“None of that is the problem.”

Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but wonder.

If none of those were the problems, then what was?

“In fact, we have been in contact with UEFA several times. Their demands go far beyond these. They explicitly told us that if we want to host this event, our stadium needs to undergo renovations.”

“There were many requested changes, including some of our stands, our roof, and some of our internal facilities. It wasn’t just a matter of simple venue dressing.”

“Their demand was that for that half-month period, they would have exclusive rights to use the stadium.”

“As you all know, we now host all sorts of commercial activities in the stadium every month, every week, sometimes every few days. We have signed commercial contracts with all these parties.”

“If we were to comply with UEFA’s demands, we would be in breach of contract and would have to compensate them for their losses.”

“Of course, since we could prepare two years in advance, the losses would be relatively smaller, but by our own estimates, it would still be a very large sum—at least eight figures.”

An eight-figure loss in half a month?

Was the stadium really that profitable now?

“But guess how much UEFA was willing to pay for the exclusive use of this stadium for half a month?”

The entire room fell silent.

“Including all the renovations, the compensation to our sponsors and partners, the setup around the venue, and so on… for all of this, UEFA offered a subsidy of only one million euros. That’s it!”

A collective gasp of astonishment filled the room.

How could they be so stingy?

“When we communicated with UEFA, they were extremely domineering and forcefully told us that hosting the Champions League final is an honor for any stadium, an honor for the entire city, an honor for our club…”

“When my colleague relayed these words to me, I had only one response: ‘Tell them to get lost!’”

“We provided the best and most advanced football stadium in the world, one that we spent years and over a billion pounds to build. It’s in the best location in the world, in the best city in the world…”

“And then you stand there on your high horse and tell us this is a handout you’re giving us?”

At this point, Yang Cheng let out a snort and a cold laugh, saying no more.

This was the reason why Bayswater Chinese had not yet hosted a Champions League final.

Everyone in the room understood Yang Cheng’s decision.

Did Prudential Stadium, located in the heart of London’s West End, need this?

Did the city of London need your Champions League final to attract visitors?

This was a test, but Yang Cheng had said more than enough.

The journalists naturally sensed his resentment and immediately began to press further.

After a few questions, the topic naturally became more and more sensitive.

Finally, The New York Times from the United States asked the question that the entire world’s media was interested in.

What were Yang Cheng’s thoughts on the series of farces involving FIFA and UEFA over the past period?

As soon as the question was asked, Yang Cheng immediately smiled.

“The hole you’re digging for me is getting bigger and bigger. Look at our communications director, he’s been waving at me this whole time, telling me not to step in it.”

Everyone in the room followed Yang Cheng’s gesture, but it was impossible to see if anyone was actually waving.

But they all laughed.

“Honestly, I shouldn’t be discussing this sensitive topic. No one is willing to talk about it right now.”

Everyone nodded.

The football world was currently keeping its mouth shut on this topic, choosing to protect itself.

“However, I think that’s wrong!”

Yang Cheng’s words made everyone in the room sit up straight.

“Regarding the series of farces directed by FIFA and UEFA recently, my only feeling is… disgrace!”

“Regarding the fact that in all this time, not a single person has dared to stand up and speak their mind, my only feeling is shame!”

“As far as I know, many of my colleagues and friends are privately very angry and dissatisfied with these matters.”

“But why don’t they dare to speak out?”

“Because they’re afraid of retaliation!”

As soon as Yang Cheng said this, the entire hall was in an uproar.

This was as blunt as it could get.

“But I was thinking, if we are dissatisfied with the status quo, then we should take the initiative to stand up, make our voices heard, and try to change it, rather than remain silent.”

“I know many people feel pressured, and I understand that completely. Even before I walked in here, I promised my colleagues that I would try my best to be restrained and not offer an opinion.”

“But that’s wrong!”

Yang Cheng repeatedly emphasized the difference between right and wrong!

“I don’t understand. Things have already reached this point. The whole world’s fans, even the children, know that FIFA and UEFA have done wrong, they know that Blatter, Platini, Infantino, and the others are corrupt. So why is there no one to hold them accountable?”

“Here in 2015, can there still be a place beyond the law? Is there truly no way to sanction them?”

“If so, then it is a disgrace to football!”

The room was now dead silent.

Everyone had hoped Yang Cheng would talk.

But no one had expected him to name names and speak so bluntly.

“I saw the news from Spain. During his election campaign, Villar directly intimidated his opponent over the phone.”

“He said: ‘My referees, my coaches…’”

“My God, are these things his? What does he think he is? How dare he be so shamelessly arrogant?”

“If this were in my home country, anyone who dared to make such an arrogant and domineering claim would be under investigation the very next day. Yet now, in Spain, no one has stepped up to say anything.”

“And then there’s Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino…”

“The law seems to be completely useless against these people and their insane boasts.”

“I think this is a disgrace. Not just a disgrace for our football world, but a disgrace to European law, and indeed, to the laws of the entire world!”

“Blatter explained that FIFA needs evolution, not revolution…”

Yang Cheng let out a snort, on the verge of laughing out loud.

“Do you know what year this Olympiastadion we’re in was built?”

“Construction started in 1934 and it was opened in 1936.”

“In the past eighty years, this stadium has undergone two major renovations, including in 2004 for the World Cup in Germany, when a roof was added for over two hundred million euros.”

“But why is it that this stadium, which clearly has seventy-five thousand seats, only opens up seventy thousand for the Champions League final and other major events?”

“The reason is simple. The design concept of this stadium was outdated. Many restrictions have caused problems with the seating for modern fans. For example, some seats are behind pillars, and many have no view of the pitch at all.”

“So they have to make do and choose to reduce the number of available seats.”

“I think the current FIFA and UEFA are just like that.”

“Of course they hope to just keep ‘evolving,’ tinkering here and there, patching things up. Because in the end, it’s always the same people, their people. What can that possibly change?”

“It’s just like this Olympiastadion. As long as the main frame of the stadium remains unchanged, as long as those pillars are still there, the stadium is destined to be limited.”

Yang Cheng’s words had made his stance crystal clear.

For the current FIFA and UEFA, a thorough and complete reform was necessary to break up the deeply entrenched old guard. Only then would it be possible to create a more transparent FIFA and UEFA!

As for the upcoming reforms, Yang Cheng also briefly offered some of his own preliminary suggestions.

For example, the power of the presidents and officials of FIFA and UEFA must be constrained.

The first step was to limit their terms in office and reform the election system.

For UEFA, Yang Cheng felt that the power of the clubs must be taken seriously.

Club competitions are UEFA’s biggest source of income, yet not a single club representative can sit on the UEFA Executive Committee.

Is this reasonable?

Then there was the matter of financial transparency at FIFA and UEFA.

“I read the report in Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, and I was shocked. A massive sum of over eighty million US dollars just disappeared into certain people’s pockets without a trace.”

“I would like to ask, are FIFA’s financial procedures and oversight systems just for show?”

“Is it the world’s FIFA, or is it Blatter’s personal FIFA?”

“And UEFA, is it European football’s UEFA, or is it Platini’s UEFA?”

Yang Cheng roared out his questions.

“I am a businessman, but I am also a head coach. Football is the noble cause I have dedicated my life to.”

“But in my philosophy of football, there is absolutely no place for the likes of Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar. I will never accept a world of football or a European football led by such a group of people!”

“I also hope that everyone at FIFA and UEFA can reflect on one thing.”

“Why is it that as this situation has developed, not a single media outlet, not a single fan, has raised the question: Could FIFA and UEFA have been framed? Could Blatter, Platini, and the others be innocent?”

“None!”

“Not a single one!”

“This in itself is a judgment from the fans!”

“Here, I also want to take this opportunity, on behalf of myself and on behalf of Bayswater Chinese, to demand that FIFA and UEFA must carry out a complete and thorough overhaul, and present a reform plan and timetable as soon as possible!”

“Only through a complete self-revolution, by drawing a clear line with the corruption and dark forces of the past, by showing the determination to burn one’s bridges, by accepting the supervision of all media and fans, and by bringing power into the light of day, can FIFA and UEFA regain the trust of the fans!”

“This is my stance, and the stance of Bayswater Chinese!”

The entire press conference hall erupted!

…

Declaration of War!

That evening, the famous German football app Onefootball was the first to push the news report to fans all over the world.

The content was Yang Cheng’s press conference at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

“Everyone attending this press conference thought it was just about the Champions League final.”

“But no one expected that Yang Cheng’s impassioned questions would sound more like a declaration of war against the corrupt elements within FIFA and UEFA!”

Britain’s The Times also immediately published a commentary, arguing that Yang Cheng’s words had clearly been suppressed in his heart for a long time, as Bayswater Chinese had suffered no small amount of “bullying” from UEFA over the past few years.

The most well-known incident was UEFA President Platini publicly being pessimistic about Gareth Bale before the FIFA Ballon d’Or voting, which greatly displeased Yang Cheng.

Although that incident ended with Platini’s “surrender,” a rift had already formed between the two.

“Yang Cheng has never been a head coach liked by FIFA and UEFA. For instance, he has almost never attended UEFA’s Elite Coaches Forum.”

“FIFA and UEFA have also held many events, seminars, and even award ceremonies, but the number of times Yang Cheng has attended can be counted on one hand.”

“For the past several years, he has been known throughout the circle as the most uncooperative head coach with FIFA and UEFA, and so his team has often received ‘special attention.’”

“This time, when the whole world chose to remain silent, it was Yang Cheng who bravely stood up and said what everyone wanted to say but didn’t dare.”

“He said he could only represent himself and Bayswater Chinese.”

“But in fact, he represents all conscientious football professionals, media, and fans worldwide!”

“Everyone has suffered under FIFA and UEFA for a long time!”

The Guardian in England even featured Yang Cheng on its cover, with a front-page headline.

The title they gave him was: Hero!

The Guardian believed that Yang Cheng’s stepping forward represented the conscience of football!

“He made no secret of the fact that he is not a noble figure; he is just a businessman, a football coach.”

“But it is precisely because of his lack of pretense that his actions are so precious!”

The Guardian stated that Yang Cheng’s outcry was the outcry of countless professionals in the industry.

But they might lack influence, be constrained by various personal relationships, or be bound by other ties, which made them unwilling to speak out.

But Yang Cheng chose to stand up!

“There was actually another small incident.”

“After the press conference, UEFA officials came forward and demanded that the several hundred media journalists present not publicly report on Yang Cheng’s statements. The communications director for Bayswater Chinese was also very anxious, saying that this would cause huge trouble.”

“But Yang Cheng stood on the stage and told everyone with absolute certainty, ‘Report it!’”

“Because he wanted the whole world’s fans to see this darkness, and at the same time, he wanted everyone to see that even in the pitch-black night, there are still people shining a light!”

“Football isn’t dead, there is still hope!”

The New York Times also published a commentary that evening, arguing that the corruption and scandals at FIFA and UEFA had long caused suffering for everyone in the industry.

It was just that everyone was angry but dared not speak out.

“This time, Yang Cheng has played the role of a whistleblower!”

“This world-class head coach feels he has an obligation to stand up and say these things.”

“Because, if someone at his level doesn’t dare to speak up, how can others be expected to?”

“This brave Chinese man has chosen to declare war on the corrupt FIFA and UEFA!”

“He wants to shatter the order of international football that has existed for decades!”

However, many media outlets and fans also believed that while Yang Cheng’s decision to speak out at this moment was admirable, the consequences could be very dangerous.

Given the usual methods of Blatter and Platini, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese would likely face extremely painful crackdowns, or even “special treatment.”

“Say no more. Just for the fact that he dared to stand up and say these things at a time like this, I support Yang Cheng! I support Bayswater Chinese!”

“That’s right, Yang Cheng, well done!”

“Blatter and Platini are truly shameless. Do they really think no one can deal with them?”

“I support Yang Cheng for FIFA President, to sweep away all the filth and dirt!”

“To the person above, let’s start with UEFA President. He’s more familiar with European matters!”

“Since I started watching football, Yang Cheng is the coach with the most guts I’ve ever seen. To dare to stand up to FIFA and UEFA at a time like this, he’s the first person I’ve truly admired from the bottom of my heart!”

“This is the Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese we’ve been supporting all these years!”

“Yes, even if we face crackdowns from FIFA and UEFA, we support Yang Cheng, and we support Bayswater Chinese!”

Overnight, media outlets and fans all over the world were reporting on it.

Yang Cheng’s voice spread to every corner of the earth in a single night.

He had directly exposed all the various scandals of FIFA and UEFA to the public.

And his call to action received unanimous approval and support from all media and fans.

Yes.

Everyone had always known about the actions of FIFA and UEFA, of Blatter, Platini, and the others.

But in the past, they had no way to punish them, to expose them.

But the fans’ eyes are sharp.

So, as the situation has developed, not a single voice has been heard defending them.

This was a judgment in itself!

…

“He’s crazy! Yang Cheng has completely lost his mind!”

At the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Blatter angrily swept a stack of documents off his desk. He shot up from his seat, roaring like a thunderclap.

“He has a Champions League final to play, so what’s all this nonsense he’s spouting?”

“What do the affairs of FIFA and UEFA have to do with him?”

Blatter was indeed old, but when he got angry, his presence was still formidable.

He was, after all, the “emperor” who had ruled world football for over a decade!

Even now, he still did not tolerate provocation from anyone.

“Yang Cheng must have done this on purpose. Taking advantage of an opportunity like this, it’s now spread all over the world overnight. We can’t suppress it even if we wanted to,” Jérôme Valcke said, feeling helpless.

This was the biggest headache!

According to all of Blatter’s previous plans, no matter how much he and Platini fought, they would ultimately share some common interests.

Once the results of the FIFA presidential election were out, the two of them could sit down and talk again.

At worst, Blatter would just finish his new term and not run again.

But now, with Yang Cheng stirring things up, the situation had suddenly become much more complicated.

“That bastard, jumping out at a time like this. What on earth is he trying to do?” Blatter, while angry, couldn’t help but ponder Yang Cheng’s motives.

A fierce glint flashed in Valcke’s eyes. “Our initial guess is that it’s related to his previous grudge with Platini.”

“Damn it!” Blatter cursed furiously.

It was unclear whether he was cursing Yang Cheng or Platini.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever his motive is, since he dared to jump out, he’d better be prepared to face our wrath and punishment.”

Blatter took a deep breath. “Let him dance for a couple more days. Two days from now, after the FIFA presidential election results are out and I’m re-elected, I’ll deal with him slowly!”

Although it was difficult for FIFA to directly interfere in UEFA’s work, especially in governing clubs, if Blatter really wanted to deal with Yang Cheng, there were still many ways.

Especially if he ordered all his subordinates to examine Bayswater Chinese with a microscope, many problems would come to light.

As the club in world football that placed the highest importance on legal compliance, Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese had certainly done their utmost.

But they couldn’t guard against the fact that many of FIFA’s rules and regulations were inherently vague.

If FIFA just latched onto a few things, Bayswater Chinese would be in for more trouble than they could handle.

“Jérôme, go arrange for some people to take a good, hard look at Bayswater Chinese for me.”

As soon as he was re-elected, he would make an example of Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese!

Valcke agreed that this was the right course of action.

…

Platini, Infantino, and Villar only arrived in Berlin at noon on the day of the Champions League final.

They had heard the news last night, and Platini had been so angry he couldn’t sleep a wink.

Upon arriving in Berlin, they found that the news had already spread all over the world.

The internet was already buzzing with it.

This gave Platini a huge headache.

“That bastard wants to kill me!” the UEFA President said, sitting in the car on the way to the hotel, feeling his breath catch in his chest.

“I think he came prepared,” Infantino said.

“Look at the ideas he proposed. They weren’t improvised on the spot; he’d thought about them beforehand.”

“So that means the bastard has been planning a rebellion for a long time!” Villar also gritted his teeth.

This news involved not just him, but also his son, Gorka Villar.

Now, his son’s future was essentially ruined.

Yang Cheng had even mentioned his name yesterday, which made Villar clench his teeth in hatred.

“What’s the attitude from the outside world?” Platini was more concerned about the bigger picture.

“It’s not clear,” Infantino shook his head.

“There’s a state of panic and anxiety within UEFA right now, and we can’t get much done. We can only ascertain that, so far, no one has come out to support Yang Cheng.”

“However, I’m worried that those big clubs might jump out. They won’t let an opportunity like this pass.”

The big clubs Infantino was referring to were the former G14 teams.

After being disbanded by UEFA, they re-formed as the European Club Association under UEFA’s umbrella.

Now, this association included several hundred clubs from across Europe.

But it no longer had the sharp edge of the G14 days.

However, the old G14 clubs were still troublemakers, creating problems for UEFA from time to time.

“With Yang Cheng taking the lead like this, this group is probably getting restless.”

A ruthless look flashed in Platini’s eyes.

“But it doesn’t matter. We could take them down once before, and we can do it a second time.”

“Keep a close eye on their every move. Any team, no matter who they are, if they dare to stick their head out at a time like this, don’t blame me for finding an opportunity to deal with them!”

At this point, Platini glanced at Villar. “You should also have a word with those two clubs in Spain. Tell them not to cause trouble at a time like this, understand?”

Villar, of course, knew who Platini was talking about.

Real Madrid and Barça.

Just then, Infantino suddenly received a call. He only responded with a series of “uh-huhs.”

After hanging up, he looked at Platini with a grave expression.

“Just got word. 10 Downing Street in London just held a brief press conference.”

Platini closed his eyes, his brow furrowing even tighter.

“What did they say?”

“A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office stated their support for the reasonable demands of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, and called on FIFA and UEFA to give an account to the world’s fans as soon as possible and to carry out a徹底整頓和改革 on themselves.”

“Damn it!” Platini cursed through gritted teeth.

This was the first national government to come out in support of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

But on second thought, it wasn’t surprising.

Why?

Because the British government had long been extremely dissatisfied with FIFA and UEFA.

Over the past few years, the FA Chairman had changed several times, all because of the 2018 World Cup bid.

And the British government was furious that FIFA and UEFA had supported Russia to host the 2018 World Cup instead of England.

It was perfectly normal for them to stand up and support Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese now.

After all, Bayswater Chinese was a top-tier Premier League giant!

“Also, 10 Downing Street revealed that Prime Minister Cameron has changed his schedule and will attend tonight’s Champions League final.”

Needless to say, this was a show of strong support for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese!

Adding to the London Mayor and members of the Royal Family who had already confirmed their attendance, it was likely that the FA, the Premier League, the Department for Sport, and others would soon follow suit and state their positions.

The fire Yang Cheng had started was really beginning to burn!

“We need a truce with Blatter,” Platini sighed and said faintly.

“Right now, we need to join forces with Blatter and eliminate the internal traitors first!”

By the end, Platini was practically speaking through gritted teeth.

Right now, he wished he could tear Yang Cheng to pieces.

…

“Yang Cheng is playing with fire!”

In the chairman’s office at the Bernabéu Stadium in Spain, Florentino Pérez also saw the latest news.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had made a last-minute decision to travel to the Olympiastadion in Berlin to watch the Champions League final.

And a spokesperson for 10 Downing Street had clearly stated their support for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

Anyone could see that this was like putting a suit of armor on Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese.

“Will it be effective?” José Ángel Sánchez asked with concern.

Florentino Pérez shook his head. “It’s hard to say. No one knows.”

“Then should we still hold a press conference to support them?” José Ángel Sánchez pressed.

Florentino Pérez shook his head again. “We’ve already waited this long and missed the initial opportunity. Let’s just wait and see.”

After a pause, Florentino Pérez sighed with a mix of emotion and nostalgia.

“I never thought that Yang Cheng, who usually keeps a low profile, would suddenly bring us such a huge surprise this time. This is a truly big play!”

José Ángel Sánchez didn’t quite understand. “Chairman, do you think it’s really okay for him to stick his neck out like this, to go head-to-head with FIFA and UEFA so openly?”

“Even with the support of the British government behind them, it will be hard for them to withstand a combined crackdown from FIFA and UEFA, right?”

Leaving other things aside, if they just found one mistake and slapped them with a heavy penalty, forbidding them from making transfers for two or three years, could Bayswater Chinese maintain their status as a top giant?

The key was, as long as Blatter and Platini weren’t toppled, they could just issue another penalty in two or three years.

If they kept playing this game, Bayswater Chinese would sooner or later be driven into the ground.

Yang Cheng hadn’t just offended Blatter and Platini now; he had offended the entire old guard they represented.

This group was a community of shared interests.

Cutting off a person’s livelihood is like killing their parents!

“The risk is indeed enormous, but so are the rewards. Look at the situation now. Almost the entire world is looking to him and Bayswater Chinese as leaders. He has won all the praise and applause.”

“As long as he can withstand the retaliation that follows, he will truly achieve legendary status!”

Seeing that José Ángel Sánchez still seemed confused, Florentino Pérez smiled.

“Do you know why we, Real Madrid, have always been recognized as the most special top-tier giant in Europe?”

José Ángel Sánchez, unsure, shook his head.

“Sixty years ago, we were the ones who took the lead, leading many European teams to rebel against UEFA and establish the European Champion Clubs’ Cup!”

As the General Manager of Real Madrid, José Ángel Sánchez of course knew this piece of history.

“Many people talk about the heritage of a great club. This is heritage!”

“From sixty years ago, we were the leaders of European football. After the European Cup was established, we won five consecutive titles, becoming the undisputed number one giant.”

“From then on, through accumulation and sedimentation, step by step, we built the Real Madrid of today!”

“But in the final analysis, it all goes back to that rebellion sixty years ago.”

“It’s a legacy, a consensus, and even more, a habit!”

As Florentino Pérez spoke, a flicker of admiration crossed his eyes.

“Now, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese are doing what Chairman Santiago Bernabéu did sixty years ago.”

And it was what I wanted to do, but hesitated and didn’t.

Florentino Pérez felt a twinge of disappointment.

This was something that should have been done by Real Madrid.

José Ángel Sánchez instantly understood the chairman’s meaning.

Sixty years ago, Real Madrid led a rebellion, won five consecutive European Cups, and became the number one giant.

Sixty years later, Bayswater Chinese is leading a rebellion. They have won three consecutive Champions League trophies and are charging towards a fourth, also aiming to become the number one giant.

The difference is that sixty years ago, limited by communication and broadcasting media, Real Madrid was Europe’s number one giant.

But now, Bayswater Chinese is aiming to become the world’s number one giant.

“Now, all the flowers and applause have gone to Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese. Even if we step forward now, we’d just be riding on their coattails. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Florentino Pérez sounded somewhat helpless as he said this.

Rationally, he truly hoped that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese would succeed and withstand the series of retaliations from FIFA and UEFA that were sure to come.

That would be a good thing for everyone.

But emotionally, he felt very conflicted.

Because he had always felt that this was something he and Real Madrid should have done.

But regardless, he had to admit, Yang Cheng had played this hand beautifully.

He had hit FIFA and UEFA so hard they had no way to counter!

But could he and his team really withstand the crazy retaliation that was to come?

Chapter 337: We Won! Four Consecutive Champions League Titles! The War of Superstars! Let Platini Give Me the Award!

The “home team” dressing room at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

The Manchester City players were all seated.

Some, like Messi, Vincent Kompany, and Yaya Touré, wore relaxed expressions, chatting and laughing at ease.

They had all experienced many Champions League finals before.

Though not always with Manchester City.

Others had solemn, serious faces, clearly steeling themselves for the impending final.

Some were seasoned veterans, nearing the twilight of their careers.

But before taking the pitch, every single one of them was filled with anticipation for the final.

Just moments ago, Chairman Mubarak, accompanied by General Manager Soriano, Technical Director Txiki Begiristain, and others, had visited the dressing room to offer words of encouragement to all the players.

After Pep Guardiola saw them out, he chatted with them for a little longer outside.

When he returned to the dressing room, all eyes immediately turned to him.

Guardiola’s mouth twitched into a smile as he walked over to his players.

It was almost time.

Time for one last rally.

“Tonight will be a very special Champions League final!”

Guardiola looked at the players before him and spoke in a calm voice.

“I believe you’ve all seen the news outside. The situation right now is very… chaotic.”

Guardiola paused for a moment before finding a suitable word.

“The Chairman, and Filan, they all just spoke to me about this. Their thoughts are the same as mine. As players and coaches, we don’t need to concern ourselves with anything else.”

“I only care about this match on the football pitch!”

The players nodded in unison.

“I don’t know what will happen on the pitch later. Maybe something will, maybe it won’t, but it’s not important!”

“As professional coaches and professional players, our job is to give everything we have to help Manchester City win tonight’s match, no matter who our opponent is, understand?”

Guardiola’s question was met with nods of agreement from everyone.

“Bayswater Chinese are a very respectable opponent. We have players who came from their team, and some of us have been rivals for years. I believe no one will object to that statement.”

Yaya Touré, Kompany, Messi, and others nodded in agreement.

“They did something that, in my opinion, is remarkable and great, but that has nothing to do with tonight’s game!”

“We respect this opponent, so we must give our all to defeat them!”

“Yang Cheng and I are very good friends. We talk often. Whenever I’m in London, or he comes to Manchester for a match, we’ll have a drink. I think he said something very well.”

“Right, or, wrong!”

“We must persist in doing what we believe is right according to our values.”

“Tonight, we are not discussing FIFA or UEFA. We are only concerned with the match ahead.”

“Persisting in doing what we believe is right is the greatest support and affirmation we can give Yang Cheng!”

Guardiola’s words once again earned the unanimous agreement of all the Manchester City players.

FIFA and UEFA were not distant concepts to them.

They, too, often felt the problems and pressures from these governing bodies.

As players, while their experience might not be as profound as the clubs’, they were aware of all the corruption.

No one liked it!

So, emotionally, they all agreed with and supported Yang Cheng.

Including Messi.

The Panama Papers had mentioned the Argentinian Julio Grondona.

In the summer of 2014, Messi had attended Julio Grondona’s funeral.

He was a very complex and contradictory man.

All Argentinians called him a tyrant.

And it was true. He had ruled Argentinian football for over thirty years. He and his son had thrown the domestic football environment and the Argentine Football Association into chaos and disarray.

Everyone detested it!

However, everyone also admitted that without Grondona speaking up for Argentina on the international stage, the state of domestic football might have been infinitely worse.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the peak of Argentinian football history with a World Cup title and a runner-up finish, everyone only remembered Maradona.

But few knew that when Maradona’s participation in the World Cup was in jeopardy due to interference from S.S.C. Napoli, it was Grondona who stepped in to mediate. He even threatened to use his family’s resources to support Boca Juniors in buying Maradona back.

That, combined with negotiations with the Italian Football Association, was what allowed Maradona to play in the World Cup.

And that was what led to Argentina’s championship!

On the other hand, he, his two sons, and his family controlled Argentinian football. They blindly pushed for shareholding system reform, turning the entire Argentine league into a mess.

For over a decade, each generation of Argentinian players was worse than the last.

So, when Grondona passed away, many in Argentinian football, while attending his funeral, were also shouting: A new dawn is coming.

The real world has always been complex and contradictory.

But Messi felt that for Yang Cheng to dare to stand up and speak out at a time like this was, in itself, worthy of affirmation and praise.

Therefore, he agreed with what Guardiola said.

The best way to support and affirm Yang Cheng was to defeat him in the upcoming match!

“Finally!”

As the head referee’s bell rang to signal the players to enter the pitch, Guardiola clapped his hands forcefully, motioning for everyone to stand up.

“I’ll add one more thing. I hope tonight will be a brilliant and clean football match!”

“And, give it your all, and bring the trophy back!”

All the players roared their approval!

…

“I’m very sorry, everyone!”

Forty meters away, in the other dressing room, Yang Cheng’s rallying speech began with an apology to everyone.

“Because of some matters involving me and the club, you may have been affected, especially before a final.”

Yang Cheng spread his hands helplessly and said with a wry smile, “I don’t know what will happen in this Champions League final. Maybe something will, maybe it won’t. I can’t be sure.”

“But I want to say that I have never regretted the choices I’ve made or the words I’ve spoken.”

“The only ones I need to apologize to are you!”

“You are the best players in the world, you are the best team in the world, and I think you deserve to win everything.”

“I am so proud of you!”

“I sincerely hope that things outside the pitch will not interfere with or affect your performance on it.”

“I know it’s difficult, but I truly hope you can put everything else aside and deliver your best performance and form to face this upcoming match!”

“I believe you can win the championship!”

“And you deserve to win the championship!”

Just as Yang Cheng was about to say more, Modrić, who had been looking down and tying his shoelaces, suddenly lifted his head, looked directly at Yang Cheng, and asked in a loud voice, “Boss, do you have so little faith in us?”

That single sentence left Yang Cheng speechless, the many words he had prepared instantly forgotten.

The dressing room fell silent.

“I came to London when I was eighteen, and now I’m about to turn thirty.”

“I’ve played under you for twelve years, and now you’re saying this to me?”

Modrić first glanced at his teammates to his left and right, then looked back at Yang Cheng. “Besides, I never thought you did anything wrong.”

“Quite the opposite. As your player, as a member of Bayswater Chinese, I am proud of you, and of our team!”

“So, you don’t need to say anything. When the match starts, just stand on the sidelines and watch how we win the trophy back for you!”

“Well said, Luka!”

Toni Kroos also spoke up in support of his partner.

“Boss, you did what you thought was right. So did we. And right now, the most correct thing for us to do is to win the match and take the championship!”

Gareth Bale then leaped to his feet.

“Platini should be here tonight, right?”

Everyone saw a Welsh star who was eager for a fight.

They all remembered how Platini had treated Gareth Bale six months ago.

Even though he later apologized.

But could a grudge, once formed, be settled with a simple apology?

“Boss, I’ll win the trophy back for you later. I want Platini to see for himself whether I deserve the Ballon d’Or or not. And I want him to place the Champions League winner’s medal around my neck with his own hands!”

This was the Welshman’s revenge!

The other players also voiced their support one after another.

Everyone’s attitude was unanimous.

Yang Cheng was not wrong!

They had all heard of, or even experienced, the corruption and darkness within FIFA and UEFA.

For Yang Cheng to dare to stand up, he was a hero!

As members of Bayswater Chinese, they were not affected by the outside world, nor were they afraid of what might happen in the upcoming match. They had only one thought now.

For Yang Cheng, bring the trophy back!

…

Yang Cheng was quite moved by the players’ declarations.

Unwittingly, these guys had all matured.

Especially Modrić.

Yang Cheng still remembered when this shepherd boy first came to London, he was so scrawny he looked like he might fall apart with the slightest bump. But now, he was the team’s meritorious captain, a legendary star.

Receiving the players’ support at a time like this gave Yang Cheng even more confidence.

Of course, he wasn’t completely unprepared for the upcoming match.

After the players, Brian Kidd, and Flick left the dressing room, Yang Cheng met Adam Crozier in the players’ tunnel. The latter informed Yang Cheng in a low voice.

“I’ve met with David Gill and Collina separately to get an understanding of the situation.”

David Gill, of course, had been networking everywhere recently, preparing to run for the position of FIFA Vice-Chairman.

The very position left vacant by Julio Grondona.

After Grondona’s death, Blatter and FIFA, as was customary, did not hold a new election, but directly appointed Figueredo to take over.

But now, the term was up, and a new election was needed.

David Gill admitted that he was very confident.

Platini and Villar both supported his bid for this vice-chairmanship, to manage FIFA’s finances.

This was in preparation for the next step: taking control of FIFA.

“David Gill said that UEFA has been in complete disarray for the past two days. Platini, Infantino, and Villar only arrived in Berlin this afternoon, so they probably haven’t even seen Collina.”

The bald Italian referee, Collina, had joined UEFA’s Referees Committee after retiring.

This committee was rather interesting.

It had always been headed by Italians.

Even after a major scandal like Calciopoli, it remained an exclusive domain for the Italians.

This was more like a division of power.

Of course, Italian referees were indeed very skilled.

In the real world, things were rarely black and white.

Take Collina, for example. As a head referee, his achievements were immense, right?

But when he joined the UEFA Referees Committee, he was still capable of doing things that would challenge the values of ordinary football fans.

For example, in the support and assignment of referees, and the appointment of certain officials.

There were many gray areas.

So, over the past few years, maintaining relationships with referees has been a key aspect of a club’s external relations.

Bayswater Chinese had always maintained good relationships with referees in the Premier League, Europe, and even internationally.

Especially for tournaments like the International Champions Cup, the appointed referees were world-class, and the appearance fees were very high.

Of course, many of Bayswater Chinese’s actions were defensive in nature.

To put it simply, they wouldn’t proactively screw others over, but they sought to avoid being screwed over themselves.

Sometimes, the club was thick-skinned enough not to make a big deal even if they were wronged a little.

For example, in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, a penalty wasn’t given, and a goal was disallowed, yet Bayswater Chinese said nothing in the end.

After the match, they treated the head referee with the same hospitality as always, gave him the same souvenirs as always, and everything proceeded as normal.

Because often, a referee’s decisions are influenced by pressure, and sometimes their hands are tied.

Show some understanding this time, and maybe someday in the future, he’ll repay you in a way he can.

Just like this time.

“We met with Collina in a public setting. His exact words were, ‘The Turkish referee has a very high standard of officiating.’”

Yang Cheng understood.

That proved that Platini, Infantino, and the others were indeed too preoccupied to intervene.

This brought Yang Cheng a sigh of relief.

…

With a whistle from the Turkish head referee, Cakir, the highly anticipated crucial match officially began.

The crowd at the Berlin Olympic Stadium reached 70,442 people.

Before the match, the television broadcast cameras made a point of panning to the stands.

Representing the British Royal Family were Prince William and his wife, Prime Minister Cameron, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, as well as the Minister for Sport, and numerous officials from The FA and the Premier League, all present in the stands.

After all, both teams in the final were from the Premier League.

UEFA President Platini, accompanied by Secretary General Infantino and others, was also seated in the chairman’s box.

Perhaps under special instruction, the commentators made no mention of the pre-match controversies.

But it felt a bit like burying one’s head in the sand.

As for the two opponents, both fielded their strongest lineups for this match.

Manchester City once again opted for a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: ter Stegen;

Defense: Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with David Silva and Marco Verratti ahead of him;

Forwards: Marco Reus, Agüero, and Messi.

For this match, Guardiola’s personnel choices in two positions were different from usual.

One was at left-back.

Leighton Baines was already thirty years old.

Before the match, many were worried whether Leighton Baines could handle Gareth Bale.

Many even predicted that the two flanks would be the key areas of attack for Bayswater Chinese.

So, Guardiola’s decision to play Chiellini on the left was partly in the hope of using the Italian to defend against Gareth Bale.

But as a centre-back, even though Chiellini started his career as a left-back, whether he could adapt was still a question.

Then there was the midfield.

Guardiola had often used Xabi Alonso as the holding midfielder this season.

But everyone knew that with Xabi Alonso as a single pivot, defense would be a major problem.

Yaya Touré as a single holding midfielder also had some defensive vulnerabilities, but at the very least, he provided height and strength.

Moreover, overlapping runs were Yaya Touré’s specialty.

However, in terms of passing, especially long balls and playmaking, Yaya Touré was not as good as Xabi Alonso.

In truth, Guardiola’s options for this position were extremely luxurious.

There were also Fernandinho and Fernando.

Both players were more defensively oriented.

But Guardiola used neither, instead starting Yaya Touré, with Xabi Alonso on the bench.

As for the Italian veteran Pirlo, he had gradually lost his place.

There had been rumors that he might transfer back to Italy this summer, or even retire.

Bayswater Chinese also employed a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Eden Hazard, Giroud, and Gareth Bale.

This was essentially Yang Cheng’s standard lineup for Champions League matches.

The holding midfielders, Nemanja Matić and Casemiro, were frequently rotated.

Although Casemiro had performed exceptionally well this season, in crucial moments, Matić was clearly the calmer presence.

As for the centre-backs, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and van Dijk had all been outstanding this season.

Yang Cheng and the coaching staff felt that van Dijk should be given the chance to feature in a key match.

The Dutchman looked ready!

From the kickoff, both sides immediately launched into a typical Premier League-style fast-paced attack and defense.

The tempo was maxed out from the start.

Manchester City kicked off.

From the very first attack, some of the strategies of both teams were evident.

Manchester City did not try to control possession too much in midfield, instead choosing to distribute the ball quickly.

They focused more on getting the ball into the final third, leaving it to Reus, Agüero, and Messi to orchestrate the attack.

All three players possessed strong individual abilities.

As soon as one of them got the ball, the other two would immediately make runs to support and combine.

David Silva would also quickly follow up from behind.

This style of play was more or less consistent with Guardiola’s tactics at Manchester City this season.

The major difference was in possession.

From the very beginning, Manchester City’s tactics made it clear that Guardiola was not very confident about winning the possession battle in this match.

The iron triangle of Toni Kroos, Nemanja Matić, and Modrić all possessed exceptional ball-holding and passing abilities.

More importantly, their coordination was superb.

Yang Cheng’s confidence also stemmed from this.

The midfield iron triangle remained stable, balanced in attack and defense.

The front three players pressed aggressively.

When Manchester City opted for quick distribution to their forwards, Bayswater Chinese’s defenders focused more on compressing the space, avoiding direct one-on-one confrontations with Manchester City’s front three.

This was also a very rational strategy.

Given the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line, as long as they didn’t commit to rash tackles and instead aimed to shrink the space for the opposition, it wouldn’t be easy for Manchester City’s trident to dribble past them.

But Messi was an exception.

The Argentinian’s dribbling ability was impossible for a single player to contain.

So, after the start of the match, once Manchester City realized this, possession in the final third gradually tilted towards Messi.

But every time the Argentinian received the ball, he would be swarmed by defenders, blocking his path forward.

Even Marcelo was less aggressive in joining the attack.

And although Messi was nominally the right winger, in the actual game, he played more of a free role.

For Bayswater Chinese, how to defend against Messi was not an unfamiliar task.

It could be said that both sides had done their homework on tactical counters, and both had studied various attacking approaches based on the opponent’s lineup.

And the first threatening attack of the entire match came from Messi.

In the eleventh minute, the Argentinian dropped back to the center of midfield to receive the ball.

At that time, Manchester City’s entire midfield was being suppressed by Bayswater Chinese.

After receiving the ball, Messi turned to shake off Nemanja Matić’s challenge. Although he couldn’t break through with the ball, he delivered a through ball behind the defensive line.

Agüero made a quick run forward, reached Messi’s pass first, and charged towards the right side of the penalty area.

Thiago Silva chased him down relentlessly and successfully closed in on Agüero.

With Courtois also coming off his line, the two of them were confident they could block Agüero’s shooting angle.

But unexpectedly, the Argentinian suddenly came to a sharp stop and knocked the ball sideways with his right foot to Reus, who was on the left of the penalty spot.

In that critical moment, van Dijk, having rushed back with all his might, finally made it back into his own penalty area and executed a crucial sliding tackle to block Reus’s shot.

Not only that, but the Dutchman also scrambled up from the ground, rushed forward again, and stopped the ball just before it went out for a goal kick. He then turned and cleared it out of the box with a long pass upfield.

Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

The entire stadium applauded van Dijk’s brilliant display!

“The performance of this Dutch centre-back is simply eye-catching!”

“I can hardly believe my eyes.”

“Just a moment ago, he was so far away, and then he just rushed over. He’s incredibly fast!”

“The key is, he’s so fierce!”

“I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that van Dijk is one of the strongest centre-backs in world football today.”

…

The back-and-forth attacking play between the two sides had all the fans on the edge of their seats, shouting with excitement.

And there was another aspect of this match that satisfied everyone.

The fluency.

Neither side engaged in many unnecessary petty fouls, yet both defended with all their might.

It could be said that they were both focused solely on the football.

The head referee, Cakir, was the same.

His every call was perfectly judged.

Even the players from both sides were relatively courteous on the pitch.

For example, during one instance defending against a dribble from Reus, Piszczek tracked back all the way and tackled Reus.

After tackling the ball out for a throw-in, the Polish defender, who was about to turn thirty, immediately turned and offered a hand to help Reus up.

The German winger didn’t linger, grabbing Piszczek’s hand to get back to his feet.

The stadium erupted in applause once more.

Clearly, it was a clean tackle.

Head referee Cakir didn’t even call a foul, simply awarding Manchester City a throw-in.

“The atmosphere of this match is truly different from many others we’ve seen before.”

“It’s very fluid, very exciting to watch, but most importantly is the sportsmanship displayed by both sides.”

“I think this feels more like a return to the purity of the simplest form of football.”

“Neither side is resorting to all sorts of tricks, there are few petty fouls, the challenges aren’t overly aggressive, and the passing and movement are so skillful and smooth. It makes the game truly beautiful to watch.”

But not long after the commentator’s praise, in the eighteenth minute, Bayswater Chinese scored from a quick counter-attack.

After receiving the ball, Toni Kroos immediately hit a diagonal long pass, switching the play to the right flank.

Gareth Bale sprinted forward at incredible speed.

The Welsh winger was like a bolt of lightning.

Chiellini was not slow either and tracked back very promptly, chasing Gareth Bale from behind.

Bale reached the right side just outside Manchester City’s penalty area, but he was tightly marked by Chiellini and never got a chance to control the ball.

Just as the ball was about to cross the byline, Gareth Bale, in a moment of inspiration, suddenly quickened his pace and, just before the ball went out, flicked it up towards the right side of the penalty area.

After chipping the ball, Gareth Bale came to an abrupt halt, stopping his forward momentum and immediately cutting inside horizontally.

Chiellini was stunned.

He had thought the ball was going out of play.

He never expected Gareth Bale to pull off such a move.

Just as Chiellini was about to turn, the Welshman had already beaten him to the spot, shielding the ball with his body and blocking Chiellini behind him as he burst into the penalty area.

Kompany had already dropped back into the box, but he was positioned to the right of the penalty spot.

He had to be mindful of Giroud, who was trailing the play.

When Kompany saw Bale break past Chiellini in such a manner, he could no longer worry about Giroud and immediately rushed towards Bale.

The Welshman caught up to his own chipped pass on the right side of the penalty area, and before Kompany could close him down, he met the ball with a direct power shot from his left foot.

Kompanyinstinctively lifted his foot to block, but he was a fraction of a second too late.

The ball flew off Gareth Bale’s left foot at high speed, tracing an arc as it soared over ter Stegen’s outstretched hands and crashed into the back of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“A magnificent shot after cutting in from the right!”

“It’s Gareth Bale!”

“This is the quality of a world-class superstar!”

“Gareth Bale, single-handedly, breaks through past Chiellini and unleashes a furious shot from the right side of the box.”

“That was a truly violent power shot!”

“A classic Bale-esque goal!”

After scoring, Gareth Bale was overcome with excitement and ran off the pitch.

The Welshman charged all the way to the edge of the chairman’s box, celebrating his goal with passion.

At that moment, the television cameras very pointedly switched to the chairman’s box.

Platini sat there, unmoving, with a dark expression on his face.

But everyone could see that he was extremely unhappy with Gareth Bale’s goal.

…

With Bayswater Chinese taking the lead, the game began to open up even more.

Especially for Manchester City.

Their attacking players started to play with complete freedom.

The Argentinian, Messi, was like a starving wolf. Every time he got the ball, he would launch a ferocious assault on the Bayswater Chinese defense.

And everyone knew that once Messi got the ball and started running, it was incredibly difficult to stop him.

Sometimes, fouling was the only option.

But not every foul was effective.

In the twenty-ninth minute, the match continued at its breakneck pace.

Messi received the ball on the right half-space and drove forward, drawing both Nemanja Matić and Marcelo towards him, yet he continued to try and force his way into the box.

It was utterly unreasonable.

Marcelo made a crucial tackle, bringing Messi down just outside the right corner of the penalty area.

It was a foul, and although the tackle was clean, the referee still showed a yellow card and awarded a free kick just outside the right corner of the box.

Verratti ran over to take it.

Messi, however, pointed to the space in front of him.

The Italian midfielder passed the ball to him.

As soon as Messi received it, he was surrounded by no fewer than four defenders.

In front of him were Thiago Silva and Marcelo, to his left was Nemanja Matić, and behind him to the right was Toni Kroos.

All four closed in on Messi simultaneously.

Just as it seemed the Argentinian was about to be sandwiched, unable to enter the penalty area, Messi controlled the ball and started moving, his body feinting left and right with incredible frequency.

First, he used his right foot to pull the ball back and evade Marcelo, then his left foot to cut it, just barely getting past Thiago Silva.

No one in the stadium knew how the Argentinian did it.

But he had somehow managed to dribble the ball out from the encirclement of four defenders.

And just as the question formed in everyone’s mind: How did he do that?

The Argentinian, having just broken past Thiago Silva, gave the Brazilian centre-back no chance to recover, and immediately sent a cross pass with his right foot.

The ball was delivered in front of the goal.

Agüero rushed forward first, sliding to meet the ball and sending it into the Bayswater Chinese net.

1-1!

Level!

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers once again!

“Absolutely brilliant!”

“My God, Messi still managed to bring the ball out while being surrounded by four players.”

“The Argentinian used his magical footwork to break through Bayswater Chinese’s layered defense, assisting Agüero for a sliding shot at the goal line to level the score!”

“It’s the 30th minute of the match, and both teams are back on level terms!”

“This is Messi!”

“An unreasonably good Messi!”

“Just like Gareth Bale’s furious shot earlier, it left the defenders with no answer.”

“What defines a top-tier superstar?”

“They are the definition!”

“Even when you know what they want to do, you still can’t stop them!”

…

After Manchester City equalized, Bayswater Chinese continued to ramp up their attack.

As the game progressed, Yang Cheng’s team gradually began to dominate the midfield.

In terms of possession, Bayswater Chinese were surprisingly evenly matched with Manchester City.

In the first thirty minutes, it was 51% to 49%, almost no difference.

Even in the number of shots, both sides were pretty much level, with five each.

According to the live commentator, both teams had executed their targeted defensive strategies to perfection, yet their offenses could still find some loopholes and create opportunities.

As Bayswater Chinese began to intensify their attack, they gradually gained an advantage on the pitch.

But there were also regrets.

In the thirty-seventh minute, Gareth Bale dribbled down the right flank, broke through between two Manchester City defenders, and delivered a cross pass to the front of the goal. Giroud, under pressure from Boateng, toe-poked his shot wide.

Later, he had another header, also from Giroud, which went over the bar.

The French centre-forward was indeed somewhat lacking in shooting efficiency.

Manchester City, on the other hand, tightened their defense.

Especially their defense against Gareth Bale on the right flank.

After forty minutes, Bayswater Chinese began to intensify their attacks down the left flank.

Marcelo also started to actively participate in the attack.

In the forty-fourth minute, Hazard and Marcelo combined on the left wing for an attacking play. When the low cross was delivered to the near post, it was Boateng again who got to the ball before Giroud, knocking it out for a corner.

Corner kick.

Toni Kroos quickly ran over, picked up the ball, and placed it in the corner arc.

At this moment, all of Manchester City’s defenders had retreated.

The two full-backs, Piszczek and Marcelo, stayed outside the 30-meter area.

Because the two centre-backs, Thiago Silva and van Dijk, had already entered the penalty area, preparing for an aerial duel.

Van Dijk’s heading ability was a very important attacking weapon for Bayswater Chinese.

Manchester City was on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Gianni Vio once again ran to the sideline to direct the defense.

But just when everyone thought Toni Kroos would deliver the ball directly into the penalty area, he suddenly opted for a quick corner, passing it directly to Hazard.

After passing, Toni Kroos quickly ran towards the penalty area.

Manchester City was prepared.

The moment Hazard received the ball, Zabaleta immediately closed him down, forcing the Belgian to retreat.

Toni Kroos ran into the box, careful to avoid being offside, but he was blocked from behind by a quick-reacting Yaya Touré.

The German midfielder constantly scanned his surroundings and immediately raised his hand, shouting, “Marcelo.”

Hazard instantly played a back pass.

The ball traveled back along the left touchline, perfectly into the path of the overlapping Marcelo.

Before the Brazilian even received the ball, he had already seen Toni Kroos’s gesture.

Pass it in front of him.

Although Yaya Touré was blocking Toni Kroos, he also had to be wary of Hazard not passing and instead trying to dribble past Zabaleta and make a diagonal run towards the byline for a cross.

That would be very dangerous.

At this moment, the penalty area was packed with players.

So, Yaya Touré’s attention was constantly shifting between Hazard, Zabaleta, and Toni Kroos behind him.

When Toni Kroos shouted for Marcelo, Yaya Touré almost instinctively glanced at Hazard.

But in that one glance, Toni Kroos quickly darted around in front of him, moving to his left front, and gestured for Marcelo to pass the ball quickly.

Yaya Touré immediately followed him.

Although he had missed the prime opportunity, he still had to block Toni Kroos.

Marcelo’s pass arrived perfectly at Toni Kroos’s feet.

But the German midfielder didn’t control it. Instead, he simply deflected it, and the ball passed through the narrow channel behind Zabaleta and in front of Yaya Touré, heading towards the byline.

Hazard had been sticking close to Zabaleta, wary of being offside.

After Toni Kroos passed, he immediately started his run forward. He caught up to the pass near the byline and sent a high cross with his left foot.

At the near post, van Dijk suddenly darted in front of his marker and powered a close-range header into the Manchester City goal!

“GOAL!!!!”

“2-1!”

“Just before the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese have once again breached Manchester City’s goal.”

“An assist from Hazard, a header from van Dijk!”

“A brilliant set-piece corner routine, very unexpected.”

“Everyone thought Bayswater Chinese would take a direct corner, but instead, they opted for a short, tactical corner and executed a wonderful move.”

“Manchester City’s corner kick defense has been completely dismantled!”

…

The first half ended 2-1.

But after the break, Manchester City launched another offensive, and began to commit more players forward.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, began to slow the tempo appropriately, trying to control the game.

After all, they were leading.

And Yang Cheng also hoped the team would capitalize on Manchester City pushing forward, looking to hit them on the defend and counter-attack.

In the fifty-fourth minute, Nemanja Matić successfully won the ball outside his own penalty area and quickly passed it to Modrić.

Modrić carried the ball forward, and after crossing the halfway line, he immediately sent a medium-range, half-high ball directly to the right half-space.

The advancing Gareth Bale sprinted forward at top speed, securing the optimal position first. He used his body to shield the ball from Chiellini and controlled it with his left foot for the overlapping Giroud.

The French centre-forward was a bit slower and trailed slightly behind Gareth Bale. After receiving the ball, he took a touch diagonally forward with his left foot and played a through ball.

The ball passed between Boateng and Kompany, bounced inside Manchester City’s penalty area, and headed towards the left side of the box.

Almost simultaneously, Hazard made a quick diagonal run into the penalty area.

The Belgian wasn’t exceptionally fast, but he managed to keep Zabaleta behind him.

After Giroud’s pass bounced, it landed perfectly in front of Hazard.

In terms of finishing, the French centre-forward was indeed average.

But his passing was exceptionally precise.

As Hazard arrived, the ball dropped again.

Without taking a touch, the Belgian shot with his right foot.

Just when everyone thought Hazard would aim for the far corner, the Belgian suddenly chose to shoot at the near post.

The ball practically grazed the base of the right post as it flew into the Manchester City goal.

Ter Stegen’s dive was just a fraction too late.

“3-1!”

“Hazard scores another goal for Bayswater Chinese!”

“My God, the speed of Bayswater Chinese’s counter-attack is just too fast!”

“From winning the ball to launching the counter, Manchester City’s defense didn’t even have time to react before their backline was breached again.”

“Now, Guardiola’s team faces a very difficult dilemma.”

“If they push forward to attack, their defense will be vulnerable.”

“But if they don’t push forward, they are currently trailing.”

“Now we’ll see what choice Guardiola makes.”

…

Guardiola did indeed make a substitution quickly.

In the fifty-ninth minute, Xabi Alonso replaced Zabaleta.

Manchester City switched to a three-at-the-back formation.

Chiellini, Kompany, and Boateng.

The midfield now had Xabi Alonso in a holding role, giving Yaya Touré more license to join the attack.

And it was precisely this adjustment that, in the seventy-third minute, saw Yaya Touré receive a pass from Messi just outside the penalty area. He used his body to hold off Nemanja Matić before delivering a chipped pass to the right side of the box.

Agüero broke into the right side of the penalty area, controlled the ball, and shot low again, beating Courtois.

2-3!

This goal rekindled the hopes of the Manchester City players.

Although for most of the match, Messi seemed to be locked in a cage, with very little space to receive the ball.

But the Argentinian could still use his ball control and passing to create chances for his teammates.

Both of Manchester City’s goals were orchestrated by Messi’s possession and playmaking.

And after pulling the score back to 2-3, the Manchester City players clearly felt they still had a chance.

Thus, Manchester City began to increase their attacking intensity.

Especially in the seventy-fifth minute, when Guardiola replaced the exhausted Verratti with Tiago.

But it was this very substitution that caused problems for Manchester City.

In the seventy-ninth minute, while Tiago was carrying the ball in midfield, he was successfully tackled by Modrić. The Croatian then passed sideways to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder immediately launched a diagonal long pass, sending the ball far behind the Manchester City defense.

At that moment, the Blue Moons’ entire defensive line had pushed past the halfway line.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale shot forward like a red bolt of lightning, piercing through Manchester City’s backline and sprinting with all his might.

Chiellini frantically chased back, trying to stick close to Gareth Bale.

But the Welshman was unfazed.

Especially after breaking into Manchester City’s half-pitch, his speed only increased.

Everyone could clearly see the Welshman go from being a body length behind to gradually drawing level.

After entering Manchester City’s 30-meter area, he even surpassed Chiellini, reaching the bouncing ball first and knocking it into the penalty area.

Chiellini reached out, intending to pull Gareth Bale back and prevent him from entering the penalty area.

He was willing to get a red card for it!

But as his hand went to grab, it touched the soaking wet jersey on Gareth Bale’s back.

As he tried to grip the shirt, his hand slipped.

Not only did he fail to grab him, but he also stumbled.

Gareth Bale quickly caught up to the ball he had knocked ahead and, facing the onrushing ter Stegen, calmly chipped it with his right foot.

The momentum caused him to trip over the diving ter Stegen. He lost his balance, tumbled forward twice, and rolled past the byline.

But the ball, lofted by his touch, sailed over ter Stegen’s head and slowly descended towards the empty goal.

The Turkish head referee, Cakir, had to sprint just to get to the edge of the penalty area.

He couldn’t help it; Gareth Bale’s speed was just too fast!

But Cakir immediately blew his whistle, signaling that the goal was valid.

4-2!

The entire stadium erupted in cheers.

The Manchester City players did not protest.

Because they all knew very well.

It was either a penalty, or a goal.

And the score on the scoreboard aptly changed from 2-3 to 2-4!

Yang Cheng clenched his fists in excitement.

We won!

He began to look forward to Platini’s award ceremony!

Chapter 338: The King of World Football! Troublemakers, All of Them! Get on Your Knees and Beg, Yang Cheng!

“This is a Champions League final destined to become a classic!”

This was the commentary from the on-site announcer just before the final whistle blew.

It wasn’t just because of the final score of 4-2, nor the thirty-two shots on goal contributed by both teams. It certainly wasn’t just because of the fluid and skillful coordination, or the end-to-end game that both teams insisted on playing.

More importantly, it was the atmosphere.

In the past, let alone a Champions League final, even in the knockout stage, two teams would often fight to the death to advance.

They would even resort to any means necessary.

But in this match, both teams played very cleanly, completely immersing themselves in the game of football.

There were no excessive fouls or physical altercations, no complicated schemes or provocations.

There was only the unwavering pursuit of victory from every single player on both teams.

And it was for this very reason that when the Turkish head referee, Cakir, blew the final whistle, the Manchester City players did not feel heartbroken for losing the Champions League final.

Yes, they would certainly be disappointed.

But not heartbroken.

Because they had given it their all.

Instead, they high-fived, shook hands, and embraced the surrounding Bayswater Chinese players.

They stood around in twos and threes, chatting. Some even put their arms around each other’s shoulders and interacted with the fans in the stadium.

This was something rarely seen after previous Champions League finals.

As the Sky Sports commentator summarized after the match:

“This was a special Champions League final held under special circumstances!”

“I believe it will be difficult for something like this to happen again.”

“In today’s increasingly commercialized era, it’s rare to see such a pure football match.”

“Especially on the stage of the world’s most prestigious event, the Champions League final!”

“Both teams provided us with a magnificent football feast.”

“The Bayswater Chinese players won the championship, which is certainly something to be happy about.”

“But the Manchester City players are not disappointed either, because they did their best.”

“Tonight, all the players who participated in the match were in excellent form; they all pushed themselves to their limits.”

“The 4-2 score more accurately reflects the gap between the two teams.”

“Bayswater Chinese is truly the strongest team in world football today, bar none!”

As mentioned before, the Berlin Olympic Stadium had a wide athletics track.

As soon as the final whistle blew, staff immediately ran onto the field and began setting up the awards passage between the track and the main awards podium.

A spacious awards area was also quickly cleared on the main stand.

This was a unique feature of the Berlin Olympic Stadium!

After shaking hands and embracing his own players, as well as the Manchester City players, Yang Cheng approached Pep Guardiola.

“Hey, congratulations, Yang!”

“Thanks, Pep.”

After shaking hands, the two shared a long hug.

“I really admire you. You’ve done something incredible.”

Yang Cheng smiled faintly. “You guys didn’t go easy on us tonight, did you?”

Guardiola was clearly taken aback for a moment, then immediately started laughing. “As soon as the match ended, three of our players got cramps on the spot. What do you think?”

Yang Cheng grinned; he had, of course, seen it happen.

“Are you going up on stage for the award later?” Guardiola asked, looking at Yang Cheng with a playful expression, ready to enjoy the drama.

“Of course. We won the championship, why wouldn’t I go?” Yang Cheng replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Then how are you going to face Platini?” Guardiola asked, full of gossip.

Yang Cheng shot the Spaniard an exasperated look, who couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

According to tradition, both the champions and the runners-up had to go on stage to receive their awards from Platini.

This had always been a Champions League tradition.

But given the current relationship between Yang Cheng and Platini, countless media outlets and fans around the world were probably waiting to enjoy the drama.

Some were even speculating whether the two would come to blows on the spot.

“What’s so hard to face? I’m the champion, I’m proud. It’s the runner-up who should be embarrassed to go up and get an award, right?”

Yang Cheng’s single sentence wiped the smile right off Guardiola’s face.

What the hell, you’re still so sharp-tongued even at a time like this.

“But, Pep, what do you think? If he and I got into a fight, I’d win, right?” Yang Cheng asked with a laugh.

Guardiola started laughing again.

He looked at Yang Cheng, dressed in a sharp suit, in good shape, full of spirit, and still young.

Then he thought of Platini, who was getting on in years. He was never tall to begin with, and after retiring, he had put on middle-age weight. Now he was rather plump and looked clumsy.

But he was a former professional player, so his foundation was still there.

“Taking that long to think? I’ve been working out regularly,” Yang Cheng said, somewhat dissatisfied with Guardiola’s hesitation.

Guardiola burst out laughing and reminded him, “But he’ll have Infantino standing next to him.”

Two against one, you think you can handle that?

Yang Cheng paused, secretly sizing up the situation, and felt it was indeed a bit of a challenge.

Most importantly, he was a civilized man, not good at fighting.

As a fine young man of the new era, he had never been in a fight, and the mere thought of it made him nervous.

But Yang Cheng was stubborn.

“I’m the head coach, I walk at the very front. I have a whole crew of brothers behind me, more than twenty of them.”

“If they try to mess with me, do you think those two will be able to leave here tonight?”

The way he said it, he really sounded like Brother Honam from Causeway Bay.

Guardiola was thoroughly amused by him.

Of course, this was all just a joke.

With the whole world watching live, how could they possibly fight?

No matter how great the grudge or deep the hatred, it would never be displayed on such an occasion.

“In that case, I support you. Knock him down later, and hit him hard.”

Yang Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, cursing inwardly: Isn’t he your godfather?

And you’re helping me strategize how to beat him up?

…

After the head referee, the Manchester City players also walked onto the awards podium one by one.

Although they were only the runners-up, it was clear that their mood and spirits were still quite good.

Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese players lined up at the side of the field.

As the head coach, Yang Cheng was the first in line.

The captain, Modrić, was last.

Once the Manchester City players had mostly received their medals, a staff member politely gestured to Yang Cheng, indicating that he could go up.

Yang Cheng unbuttoned the front of his suit jacket, revealing the white shirt underneath, and strode forward.

Along the way, many fans and club legends were shouting Yang Cheng’s name, reaching out to shake his hand.

Yang Cheng politely waved in response.

Occasionally, seeing a few familiar faces, he would go over to shake their hands.

But when he reached the level of the awards podium and walked horizontally towards it, his progress immediately became painstakingly slow.

He was hugged by almost every person he passed.

To some extent, this reflected their attitude towards him.

Everyone in the industry wanted to see a more transparent FIFA and UEFA, with their power kept in check.

Among these people, many might have participated in under-the-table deals or even benefited from FIFA and UEFA.

But those with foresight had long grown tired of, and even detested, such an ecosystem.

Why?

Because everyone could see that FIFA and UEFA were doing worse and worse.

How bad had it gotten?

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, both Mandela and the South African president had publicly criticized FIFA for its insatiable greed.

At the time, everyone thought it was just a matter of unequal distribution of profits.

And now?

To say nothing of other things, just the more than twenty million US dollars that went into the pockets of Blatter, Valcke, and Kattner.

What did that even mean?

Later, UBS published a 32-page report analyzing the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The conclusion was that South Africa invested at least three point five billion US dollars in the World Cup, but the return was almost zero, possibly even negative.

So who benefited the most from the South Africa World Cup?

FIFA.

A staggering three point two billion US dollars.

This included revenue from broadcast rights, sponsorships, tickets, merchandise, and a whole series of other income streams.

From beginning to end, FIFA never publicly disclosed where that three point two billion dollars was spent.

How much was spent on appearance fees, travel, and other expenses for each participating team?

There was no public statement on any of this.

Forget everything else, was that bonus of over twenty million dollars, which wasn’t in any contract, really just an exception?

Many people might say, wait a minute, if the World Cup doesn’t make money, why would South Africa apply to host it?

It might not be profitable on paper, but building so many stadiums and improving so much transportation infrastructure also provides a stimulus for South Africa.

And with so many tourists pouring in, what kind of stimulus would that bring to the entire South African economy?

But what was the reality?

All sorts of data from both the 2010 event in South Africa and the 2014 event in Brazil showed that they simply didn’t make money!

Brazil invested a total of thirteen billion US dollars. According to their estimates at the time of the bid, the World Cup was expected to stimulate the Brazilian economy by thirteen point five billion dollars, with most of it coming from tourism, projected to reach nine billion dollars over ten years.

The actual data seemed pretty good too.

During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, one million foreign fans poured into the country, and three million domestic fans traveled around to watch the games.

The numbers look great, right?

But what about the reality?

The data released by the Brazilian Aviation Association showed that in June 2014, air transport volume decreased by 15% compared to the same period in 2013.

Why?

Because of the World Cup!

Everyone knew the World Cup would be bustling, there would be many fans, traffic would be congested, and hotels would be expensive.

So, the tourists and business people who would normally visit Brazil in June all rescheduled to avoid the peak.

Was this a coincidence?

No.

The 2012 London Olympics also failed to meet the expectations of the London City Council.

If not for Bayswater Chinese, Prudential Stadium, and the entire Queensway project propping things up, could Ken Livingstone have expected to be re-elected as Mayor of London?

On one side, the hosts suffered huge losses; on the other, FIFA made a huge profit.

But most of the money FIFA earned went to unknown places.

Some even ended up in the pockets of people like Blatter.

Wasn’t UEFA the same?

Ultimately, they were draining the pond to catch the fish, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!

Any discerning person could see that this was not sustainable.

To some extent, what they were doing now was the same as when former Real Madrid Chairman Ramón Calderón abused the Real Madrid IP, causing its commercial value to plummet in a short period.

It was just that the World Cup and the European Championship were held every four years and were backed by national identities, so the decline was slower.

So now, with Yang Cheng stepping forward, he was immediately met with a massive wave of support.

This scene made Platini and Infantino, standing on the awards stage not far away, look extremely grim.

At yesterday evening’s press conference, Yang Cheng’s words had resonated with the entire world.

Why didn’t a single media outlet or fan step up to ask if UEFA and FIFA might be innocent? If Blatter, Platini, and their ilk were being wrongly accused?

Not one!

And that in itself was the greatest judgment!

Now, this scene was unfolding starkly before their very eyes.

Right in front of Platini and Infantino, people were welcoming Yang Cheng as if he were a hero.

It even left the entire awards stage completely empty.

At this moment, below the stands, countless media reporters were taking photos.

The live television broadcast clearly showed one end of the awards passage crowded with people, all flocking around Yang Cheng.

At the other end stood a lonely Platini and Infantino, holding the championship medals, waiting for Yang Cheng and his team to come and receive them.

The contrast in this scene was filled with irony.

After finally breaking free from the entanglement of fans, friends, and sponsoring partners, Yang Cheng finally made his way over.

His hair was a bit messy, and his suit was somewhat wrinkled.

But he didn’t care.

He casually ran a hand through his hair, tugged at his suit, and walked straight up to Platini and Infantino.

Infantino had a wide grin on his face the whole time.

Because he knew this scene would be captured by countless people.

The live cameras were even nearby.

Platini also managed a slight smile and said to Yang Cheng, “Congratulations.”

Yang Cheng didn’t answer. Instead, he tilted his head up slightly, looked directly at Platini, and extended his right hand.

The atmosphere seemed to freeze in that instant.

The surrounding sounds seemed to vanish completely.

Platini and Infantino were standing on the awards stage, so they were slightly higher than Yang Cheng and the others.

According to the normal awards procedure, Yang Cheng was supposed to bow his head so Platini could place the medal over his head and around his neck.

But at this moment, he held his head high, refusing to bow.

And he held out his right hand.

The meaning was clear: Give it to me!

Platini’s eyes looked as if they were about to shoot fire.

He knew Yang Cheng was doing it on purpose.

He was deliberately embarrassing him in front of so many people from all over the world!

The UEFA Chairman gritted his teeth in anger but could only hold it in, suppressing the rage in his chest.

About four or five seconds passed.

Neither of them moved.

It was as if time had stood still.

Everyone was worried about what would happen next.

Infantino, too, was racking his brain, trying to find a solution that was both dignified and could break the stalemate.

But suddenly, Yang Cheng laughed.

“It’s fine. I have several of these at home anyway.”

After saying that, he actually turned as if to walk on.

A former professional player through and through, Platini’s reaction was incredibly fast.

In a split second, he calculated his gains and losses.

In the end, he realized that if he didn’t give him the medal, he would lose even more face.

So, he quickly reached out, grabbed Yang Cheng’s right hand, and placed the medal directly into his palm.

Afterward, the UEFA Chairman even gave Yang Cheng a perfunctory pat on the shoulder, as if nothing had happened.

But in the next moment, his smile froze again.

Gareth Bale was right behind Yang Cheng. He did the exact same thing: held out his hand, tilted his head up, and refused to bow to receive his medal.

Platini almost coughed up blood from anger.

A troublemaker!

The team brought up by a troublemaker is full of goddamn troublemakers!

Platini didn’t hesitate for long this time. He directly handed the medal to Gareth Bale.

The traditional etiquette of handshakes and hugs was all skipped.

With the head coach and the top star setting the example, the others followed suit, one after another.

After the first and second time, Platini got used to it.

Whatever!

So, for every player that came up, he would just say a bland “congratulations” and hand over the medal.

Done!

This was definitely the least ceremonial, yet at the same time, the most unique awards ceremony in history.

When it came to the end, Modrić took the medal from Platini’s hand, and along with it, the championship trophy. He ran straight to the front of the podium and, together with all his teammates, raised the trophy high.

At that moment, absolutely no one noticed the grim-faced Platini and Infantino behind the champion team.

All anyone saw were the cheering players of Bayswater Chinese.

Fireworks lit up the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

There was no lack of a champion’s atmosphere.

…

“I still stand by my previous point. I believe FIFA and UEFA need a complete and thorough reform!”

“Only then can we inject new vitality into these two organizations and bring a different kind of football to fans all over the world, instead of the way things are now.”

“Yes, I am quite certain that some people need to leave!”

“Permanently and completely!”

“Why? It’s simple. Just look at what FIFA and UEFA are doing now.”

“They are playing dead! They refuse to directly face the issues that all media and fans are concerned about.”

“You cannot expect, when these two organizations are facing such a level and scale of systemic corruption, for them to just pretend their leaders are innocent.”

“You cannot still believe that these leaders can effectively guide FIFA and UEFA to continue developing in the right direction.”

“Isn’t that ironic?”

“If, in tomorrow’s FIFA election, he is still elected, then I will definitely stand up again. I will call for more forces to join the action. We need to do something.”

“Certainly, I may not have that much influence, but I must do this!”

On the television, the live broadcast showed Yang Cheng speaking into the camera after the Champions League awards ceremony, discussing his current stance and his views on the next day’s FIFA presidential election with fans all over the world. Watching this, Blatter gritted his teeth in hatred.

“Platini is such a useless fool, letting him win another title!”

After saying this, Blatter picked up a glass of whiskey from the table in front of him and downed it in one go.

Without a drink, he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

He was infuriated by that bastard Yang Cheng.

He could already predict that by early the next morning, all public opinion would once again be discussing the matter of corruption.

“Jérôme, how are the preparations on your end?”

After finishing his drink, Blatter turned to his trusted assistant.

UEFA Secretary General, Jérôme Valcke.

“Everything has been arranged. We currently have over 140 votes confirmed for us, so it will be over in the first round of voting,” Valcke reported.

Blatter nodded with satisfaction.

Currently, FIFA had a total of 209 member associations, which meant 209 votes.

According to FIFA’s statutes, if Blatter could secure over two-thirds of the votes in the first round, he would win directly.

If he failed to get two-thirds, it would automatically go to a second round of voting.

But the second round was essentially a follow-up to the first.

Unless the votes were extremely close, an upset was impossible.

Two-thirds of 209 is 140.

As Blatter’s rival, Prince Ali of Jordan, if he got more than half the votes, which is 105, Blatter would have to announce his resignation.

“For the past few years, under the Chairman’s leadership, our entire association has been very united internally. The welfare and benefits for our members have been quite good. Everyone holds the Chairman in high regard and hopes he can continue for another term,” Valcke praised.

Blatter laughed heartily.

“What about the Executive Committee?”

“They’ve mostly agreed, but there are a few positions up for election on the committee this time.”

Blatter nodded. “Platini has already sent me a signal. The most important thing now is not internal strife, but to first eliminate traitors like Yang Cheng. So, we need to respond.”

“The Chairman’s meaning is…”

“Have Figueredo withdraw from the election. The Vice-Chairman position will go to David Gill.”

Valcke frowned and cautiously reminded him, “Won’t that be a little…”

“We have no choice. The most important thing right now is to stabilize Platini first. David Gill is very good with finances. Figueredo is a useless bum. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have had so many problems, and they wouldn’t have gotten a hold of this incriminating evidence.”

The root of this matter was the Panama Papers.

Without those documents, how would outsiders know so many inside details?

For the past few decades, FIFA had always operated like this.

It was an independent kingdom!

And he, Blatter, the FIFA Chairman, was the emperor of this kingdom!

“The benefits for the Executive Committee can be relaxed a little more.”

This was one of Blatter’s ways of winning people over.

“It’s already very high, Chairman,” Valcke said, looking troubled.

“We currently give Executive Committee members an annual salary of three hundred thousand US dollars, plus a five hundred dollar daily allowance.”

“Nominally, they can only fly first class and stay in five-star hotels when on official business. But in reality, we’ve been very lenient with reimbursements. We approve whatever comes in, with almost no restrictions.”

Valcke also felt a major headache coming on.

Many people think that FIFA is high and mighty, and that the various continental confederations and national football associations are glamorous.

But what’s the reality?

If you actually deal with them, you’ll find that many of these people are like flies. Calling them profit-driven would be a compliment.

Dealing with these people is a real pain.

And Blatter’s method, whenever a crisis hit, was to relax the benefits and win over as many people as possible.

The benefit of this was obvious: it made the inside of FIFA monolithic. Everyone shared a common interest; everyone ate meat and drank soup with Blatter.

But what was the cost?

It might sound unbelievable.

After all these years and all the money FIFA has made, it actually only has one point five billion US dollars left in the bank.

Yes, that’s all.

Where’s the rest of the money?

Nobody knows!

For decades, the books have never been properly audited. Who knows where the money went?

Why couldn’t the Garcia Report be made public?

Because there were many financial entries in it that couldn’t be explained, many things that were indefensible.

Sometimes, Valcke himself had thought about it.

If things continued like this, how much longer could FIFA last?

If Platini took over, would he necessarily be any better than Blatter?

Wasn’t everything he did at UEFA learned from Blatter?

The Cook Islands, with a population of about ten thousand, had the same voting weight as China, with its population of one point four billion.

Many people probably wouldn’t believe that it didn’t cost much to buy the vote of the Cook Islands.

Just with some small favors and expense reimbursements here and there, they could be made to feel indebted to Blatter.

Blatter, of course, knew Valcke’s difficulties.

They had discussed this many times before.

“Jérôme, the most important thing right now is to present a united front against the outsiders.”

After a pause, Blatter added with a firm nod, “Don’t worry, I’ll only do one more term at most. In four years, we’ll step down, and we’ll leave everything for Platini to clean up. It will have nothing to do with us anymore.”

Valcke nodded.

Back then, Blatter had taken over this mess from his predecessor in the same way.

It was like a game of hot potato.

When the music stopped, who knew who would be the unlucky one left holding the flower.

“By the way, I asked you to investigate Yang Cheng thoroughly. How is that going?” Blatter asked with a stern expression.

“We’ve looked into it, but we haven’t found any strong leads or evidence yet.”

“Didn’t he acquire clubs like Atalanta, OGC Nice, and Málaga CF?”

“Yes, but it was done very cleanly. Legally speaking, Bayswater Chinese has no connection to these clubs. At most, it’s a partnership, and we’ve never had any rules prohibiting such collaborations.”

“What about a financial audit?”

“They hire renowned accounting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers every year for financial audits, which are made public.”

Blatter was somewhat surprised to hear this. “Is this a fucking football club?”

Why did it sound like a publicly listed company?

“They’re in London, and their management is fully in line with those multinational conglomerates in London. They place a great emphasis on compliance, so we are still looking for leads.”

Hearing this, Blatter felt a pang of frustration. “So, there are no weaknesses at all.”

“Of course not, impossible. We are currently focusing on some gray areas, but their legal team is very strong. We must obtain solid evidence, otherwise, if we lose the lawsuit…”

Valcke’s words silenced Blatter.

If FIFA punished Bayswater Chinese and then lost the lawsuit, it would be an even greater humiliation.

“You’re right to be cautious. No matter what, it must be a decisive blow!”

“Understood. We are considering approaching it from the angle of transfers.”

Blatter nodded. “Think of a way. Ban him for a few years. It won’t matter how many clubs he has then.”

In theory, a transfer ban prohibits a player from registering with FIFA.

Bayswater Chinese and the other clubs were not the same entity, so they couldn’t just promote players directly from a youth academy.

Therefore, if they were hit with a transfer ban, having more clubs would be useless.

Most importantly, everyone knew that transfers involved the most parties and complications, and also had the most gray areas.

If one really wanted to go after a club, transfers were the best way to do it.

…

Bayswater Chinese’s defeat of Manchester City in the Champions League final to achieve their Four consecutive titles once again sparked heated discussions among media and fans worldwide.

Besides the praise for the team’s performance and acclaim for the stars, especially top players like Gareth Bale, a significant portion of the media focused on the remarks Yang Cheng made during an interview after the award ceremony.

The media and fans generally gave high praise to Yang Cheng’s words.

They all believed that if, under such circumstances, the FIFA election result was still a victory for Blatter, it would be an absolute disgrace to football!

It was also noteworthy that many media outlets reported the news of British officials, including Prime Minister Cameron, entering the Bayswater Chinese dressing room after the match.

Cameron gave extremely high praise for the team’s performance.

But he emphasized the spirit of football that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese represented.

Cameron supported Yang Cheng, especially for his recent stance against FIFA and UEFA.

The British Prime Minister agreed with Yang Cheng’s statement that people like Blatter and Platini were no longer fit to lead world and European football.

In addition, a major FIFA sponsor, VISA, also commented in a media interview, stating that they were closely monitoring the situation and hoped that FIFA would provide a clear response as soon as possible.

This was the first sponsor to actively step forward and put pressure on FIFA.

Everyone could clearly see that after continuous fermentation, more and more voices were joining the chorus.

But within the football world itself, there was still no movement.

FIFA and UEFA both refused to make any public statements.

UEFA Chairman Platini and Secretary General Infantino left the Berlin Olympic Stadium early after the Champions League final, refusing to accept any interviews and not responding to any public concerns.

The attitudes of the two major organizations were surprisingly consistent.

They simply did not respond, did not engage.

It was very much a “dead pig doesn’t fear boiling water” kind of attitude.

Go ahead and make a fuss!

Make all the fuss you want!

Faced with this attitude from FIFA and UEFA, neither the media, the fans, Yang Cheng, nor even Cameron could do anything.

That was right. Cameron himself had said that the British government was powerless.

If there were a way, the British government would have dealt with them long ago!

Yang Cheng had actually consulted his lawyers. The biggest problem lay in a very special type of company form under Swiss law.

The Swiss Verein, an association under Swiss law!

This special type of organization does not require business registration upon its establishment; signing the articles of association is sufficient.

Its biggest advantage is that every member within the organization is independent of each other. There is no legal principal-agent relationship, nor any joint liability for debts or responsibilities.

Simply put, if any member of the organization runs into trouble, it has no connection to the headquarters or other members.

It is precisely because of this convenience that many international organizations prefer to have their headquarters in Switzerland.

There is another industry that follows this model: multinational law firms, most of which are also structured this way.

This is why many law firms operate as partnerships.

Returning to the issue of FIFA.

Legally speaking, the British government has no authority to regulate FIFA. They can only regulate FIFA’s subordinate members within the UK, such as The FA.

By the same logic, the United States only has jurisdiction over the U.S. Soccer Federation, and Switzerland only has jurisdiction over the Swiss Football Association.

What about FIFA?

None!

There really is none!

This is what makes the Swiss Verein structure so popular with these organizations.

If it were 2024, when Yang Cheng time-traveled, many fans would surely ask.

Wait a minute, then how did the United States go after FIFA in 2015?

In fact, if you look closely, you’ll find that the US hardly went after FIFA at all.

The US merely used its domestic laws to arrest some FIFA officials, most of whom were from North America and the Caribbean.

And the precondition for them to use their domestic laws was that these officials had used American bank cards, accounts, and so on during their corrupt activities, thus falling within US jurisdiction.

Didn’t the US refrain from taking action against Blatter and Platini?

But even with what the US did, it still sparked great controversy within their own country.

For example, Harvard Law School professors Norman Feldman and Elizabeth Loftus had different opinions on the matter.

Feldman published an article in Bloomberg arguing that the United States treating FIFA like the Mafia was legally untenable.

He said that FIFA might have serious problems, but legally, the US couldn’t touch it.

Professor Loftus held a different view, believing that US jurisdiction was legally sound.

And the prerequisite for that was that the US, in exercising its domestic law, needed the support of the European Union and Switzerland.

In short, this involved a series of very, very complex legal issues.

For so many years, FIFA had relied on this to evade all sorts of disputes.

The most typical example is the bankruptcy case of the ISL company. The Swiss prosecutor’s office conducted a ten-year investigation and confirmed that former FIFA Chairman João Havelange and his son-in-law had received eighteen million euros in bribes from ISL, with conclusive evidence.

But what was the final outcome?

Blatter said, nothing of the sort happened.

They didn’t receive bribes; at the time, that money was classified as a business expense.

Ask FIFA to provide its financial records?

No.

The Swiss prosecutor’s office was helpless and eventually had to drop the case.

Because legally, they were stuck in a dead-end loop.

Legally, the Swiss prosecutor’s office needs sufficient evidence to prove that FIFA’s operational status is problematic before the Swiss federal government can investigate a non-profit organization like FIFA.

But for an organization like FIFA, which is never audited, whose accounts are a complete mystery, and which never discloses them publicly, outsiders have no way of knowing their operational status, making it impossible to prove they have problems.

If you can’t prove they have problems, you can’t investigate.

If Switzerland, the country where the headquarters is located, is like this, then other countries have even less authority.

So, some people say that FIFA exists in a vacuum of modern law, unbound by any constraints.

Unless, some country decides to play dirty with it!

But the problem is, even the most roguish country, the United States, didn’t actually touch Blatter or Platini.

Many people might find this strange.

Since FIFA is so invincible and they can get away with it by playing dead, why did Yang Cheng even get involved?

Isn’t he just asking for trouble?

The answer lies in the fact that the US was playing dirty.

Riding on the momentum of the US actions, Yang Cheng was confident he could further pressure Blatter and Platini to step down.

At the same time, wasn’t there the Panama Papers?

In theory, this was enough for the Swiss federal government to launch an investigation into FIFA using Switzerland’s domestic “anti-corruption law.”

All that was missing now was a catalyst.

Besides, on this matter, Yang Cheng held the ultimate moral high ground.

Even if the big hooligan USA and the coward Switzerland failed to act as Yang Cheng wished, and even did worse than in his previous life…

In other words, even if Yang Cheng ended up in the worst possible situation, the most he’d face was a penalty.

With his current status and influence in world football, what could Blatter really do to him?

At most, it would be a light punishment to serve as a warning for Yang Cheng to stop pestering him, and that’s it.

Yang Cheng guessed that the absolute worst they could do was find some fault and impose a transfer ban or something similar.

Did he care?

As for UEFA, Yang Cheng paid even less attention to Platini.

Did he dare kick Bayswater Chinese out of the Champions League?

Don’t be ridiculous. If he did that, the sponsors would be the first to cause him trouble.

The other top clubs wouldn’t sit idly by either.

Why?

It’s simple. If Platini actually managed to freeze out Bayswater Chinese, then tomorrow he would dare to freeze out Real Madrid, Barça, and Bayern Munich!

If it came to that, all the top clubs would have to kneel before Platini.

What’s more, would Platini and Blatter dare to commit such a flagrant act?

So, while outsiders thought that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese were in a precarious position,

Yang Cheng saw it as the exact opposite.

…

The next morning at 10 AM.

After a night of celebrating, the Bayswater Chinese team got up, packed their luggage, and, carrying the Champions League trophy, boarded a charter flight from Qatar Airways, preparing to fly from Berlin back to London.

At Heathrow Airport in London, a prepared open-top bus and countless Bayswater Chinese fans were already eagerly awaiting the team’s triumphant return.

Today’s victory parade was set to be the grandest in London’s history!

And at that very moment, the FIFA delegates left the most luxurious hotel in downtown Zurich, the Baur au Lac, and headed to the FIFA headquarters in the eastern suburbs.

The FIFA presidential election was about to officially begin.

This time, there were only two candidates.

The incumbent FIFA Chairman, Blatter, and Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan.

Before the voting, Blatter gave a speech.

The 79-year-old FIFA Chairman addressed all the members regarding the recent corruption scandal.

But he stated that these were just the individual actions of certain people.

As an organization, FIFA was still good.

“We cannot let the corrupt actions of individual members affect the reputation of our entire organization.”

“If I am successfully re-elected, I will lead FIFA in restoring its good name from the past. It will be a new beginning!”

Regarding FIFA, Blatter stated that it had ruled world football for many, many years, and had always done an excellent job.

“It is by no means as corrupt, old, and useless as some people claim.”

“On the contrary, like all of us here, it may be a bit old, but it is still full of vitality and ambition. That is why I have always said that FIFA does not need a revolution.”

“What we need is evolution!”

When Blatter said this, the room erupted in a very enthusiastic round of applause.

This lifted the FIFA Chairman from his recent slump, making him appear remarkably spirited once again.

He was still the king of world football!

And in his heart, he swore that as soon as he was elected, he would use every means at his disposal to make that rebel, Yang Cheng, crawl back before him and beg for mercy on his knees!

Only then could he reclaim his former dignity and glory!

After Blatter’s speech, Prince Ali of Jordan also went up to speak.

But it was clear that Prince Ali’s speech was actually quite poor.

He could neither use the same campaign slogans as Blatter, nor did he dare to call for a revolution.

So he did not receive much applause either.

After both candidates had spoken, Secretary General Valcke stood up to introduce the first round of voting.

FIFA has 209 members, meaning 209 votes. 206 members were present.

Blatter needed to win a two-thirds majority in the first round to be victorious.

But Prince Ali only needed more than half of the votes to force Blatter to step down.

To ensure privacy and protect the voting rights of the members, the voting would take place in a completely sealed black room.

When the voting began, the 206 delegates present took their ballots and entered the black room to vote.

This was done to ensure the fairness of the vote.

So, in the end, no one would know who voted for whom.

After Valcke announced the rules and order of the vote, the 206 delegates on site stood up and, one by one, walked towards the black room for their turn to vote.

Blatter sat upright on the main stage, his right hand resting on his forehead.

Although he had made thorough preparations beforehand and was very confident of winning,
he still felt nervous when this moment arrived.

Because this would be the last time he would run for election.

He hoped to be able to retire unscathed, just like João Havelange.

Preferably, his successor would also be able to clean up his mess.

Just like what he had done for Havelange.

The delegates entered the room one by one to vote.

The entire process lasted for over an hour.

In the end, two transparent boxes were brought out.

Everyone could clearly see that the number of ballots in the box representing Prince Ali was very small.

About half of what was in Blatter’s box.

This proved that it was unlikely he had even reached a simple majority.

This made Prince Ali feel very disappointed, and he couldn’t help but shake his head.

Blatter, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief, and a smile began to appear on his face.

Now, the final suspense was whether Blatter’s vote count could exceed two-thirds.

Which was 140 votes.

Chapter 339: A Shocking Upheaval! The Anti-corruption Vanguard! Blatter Has Won! Resign with Dignity!

For the 79-year-old Blatter, patience had never been a problem.

But for some reason, today, he had lost his usual composure.

An uncontrollable agitation kept bubbling up from the bottom of his heart.

The vote-counting process wasn’t long and was broadcast live to the public.

The ballots were displayed one by one.

Blatter watched his vote count rise, but Prince Ali’s was also climbing steadily.

It was even somewhat beyond his expectations.

Especially when Prince Ali’s vote count hit sixty-six, Blatter’s hand trembled noticeably.

When he looked at Valcke again, his once cloudy, aged eyes seemed to shoot out two bolts of lightning.

The FIFA Secretary General lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze.

This meant that among the voters he had secured, some had not voted for Blatter at all.

But they didn’t know who.

The final result was 133 votes for Blatter and 73 for Prince Ali.

Blatter had won!

But the victory was narrow and lacked dignity.

And Blatter’s expression turned ugly.

Failing to reach the two-thirds majority of 140 votes in the first round meant the election had to proceed to a second.

Of course, given the current situation, Blatter’s election was a done deal.

But ironically, he had also lost.

According to the number of people Valcke had contacted beforehand, at least ten people had not voted for Blatter.

Those damnable bastards had sworn their loyalty before the vote, shouting their allegiance and demanding all sorts of benefits from him, yet when it came to the actual ballot, they chose Blatter’s enemy!

What infuriated Blatter even more was that he didn’t know who these people were!

And then there was that buffoon, Ali.

Before the vote, everyone had speculated he would get 50 votes at most, posing no threat to Blatter whatsoever.

Why?

Because prior to this, only nineteen countries had publicly supported Prince Ali.

Yes, only nineteen countries publicly supported him, yet he received a staggering seventy-three votes.

Even Prince Ali himself never imagined he could get so many votes.

He had lost, but he was still grinning.

If Blatter had known Prince Ali could secure so many votes, he would never have let him reach the final round of the election.

The experienced Blatter immediately guessed where the problem lay.

Yang Cheng!

That damn guy!

He had given more and more people a reason to resist!

It took Blatter two or three minutes to forcibly suppress the rage in his heart.

Just as he was about to stand up and say something, Prince Ali of Jordan rose to his feet before him.

The Jordanian very gracefully announced his withdrawal from the second round of voting.

He conceded defeat!

On one hand, he knew full well that he would still lose even if he entered the second round.

“This has been a wonderful journey!”

“I want to extend a special thanks to all the friends who bravely voted for me.”

“But please forgive me, I don’t wish for this vote to cause any more trouble for everyone.”

“Therefore, I choose to withdraw!”

After Prince Ali finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the hall, followed by a round of enthusiastic applause.

Blatter also stood up and clapped along.

He had won!

But for some reason, he felt terrible.

This was not the kind of victory he had hoped for.

With Prince Ali’s withdrawal, he became the sole candidate and was elected as the new FIFA president without any suspense.

His term would last until May 2019.

“This will be my last term as FIFA president!” Blatter solemnly promised in his victory speech.

But there was little reaction from the audience below, only scattered applause.

Why?

Because he had gone back on his word again and again over the years.

Who could believe him?

“I am very grateful to FIFA, and I am very grateful to everyone present.”

“Thank you for choosing me to continue commanding this ship, FIFA, for the next four years!”

“I promise you, I will bring it safely back to port!”

The implication was that he would properly handle all the corruption scandals concerning FIFA.

His explanation for this was that although FIFA led world football, although it was one of the most influential international organizations, although every member of FIFA worked very hard…

“But we cannot supervise every single member within our organization. We can only correct problems when they arise.”

Blatter stated that international football was indeed facing enormous trouble.

“Now more than ever, it needs a strong, experienced leader.”

“I am very honored and very proud that you have chosen me!”

“I am willing to bear all of FIFA’s responsibilities, and I am willing to share this responsibility with all of you present.”

“I can do it, and I believe we can all do it!”

Blatter also briefly shared some of his preliminary thoughts on his upcoming work.

For example, he would not touch the World Cup.

Regarding the outside world’s talk of World Cup reforms, he stated he would not make such a decision lightly.

The 2018 World Cup belonged to Russia, and the 2022 World Cup belonged to Qatar.

This was already a settled fact, and he would not change it.

This part was actually very awkward, so Blatter basically glossed over it in one or two sentences.

The awkwardness stemmed from the fact that the hosting rights for these two World Cups were decided in January 2011.

Blatter’s previous term began in May 2011.

And the World Cups were in 2018 and 2022.

You sold off the World Cups for the term after next and the term after that in advance.

Who gave you that authority?

This matter had caused huge controversy within FIFA at the time.

What if Blatter hadn’t been elected in May 2011?

What would future FIFA presidents have left to sell?

This was why Blatter had to do everything in his power, using any means necessary, to run for election in 2011.

Because he knew that if he wasn’t elected in May 2011, his successor would very likely overturn the hosting rights for the two World Cups.

Or at least one of them.

After downplaying his own mistake, Blatter continued to make promises.

He said that after his four years were up, he would leave his successor an incredibly strong FIFA.

“Now, I am the leader of football for the entire world!”

“I am the president of all of FIFA!”

“I like everyone here, and I like my job.”

“I’m not perfect, no one is perfect, but I will strive to lead everyone forward together!”

“Let’s move forward, hand in hand!”

Only then did the hall erupt in enthusiastic applause again.

…

There was a very interesting, yet very thought-provoking phenomenon: as soon as the news of Blatter’s re-election as FIFA president spread, public opinion suddenly exploded.

Don’t misunderstand—the voices of criticism suddenly multiplied.

In an interview with the media after the FIFA Congress, UEFA President Platini stated, “In my opinion, if FIFA wants to regain everyone’s confidence, it must make strong and powerful changes.”

“Both I and UEFA will defend and support the movement for change within FIFA!”

At the same time, the media outlet interviewing Platini also revealed that the UEFA president had remained seated throughout Blatter’s victory speech without applauding.

Portuguese football legend Luís Figo also revealed in a media interview, “Today, FIFA lost, but most importantly, football lost, and everyone who truly cares about it has lost miserably.”

“If Blatter truly cared about football, he would have chosen to give up.”

“If he had a minimum of decency, he should resign within a few days!”

English football legend Gary Lineker commented, “As predictable as it is depressing.”

“All the FIFA members who voted for Blatter have betrayed the very game they should cherish!”

Meanwhile, FA Chairman Greg Dyke stated: “I do not believe FIFA will reform under Blatter’s leadership, because he had sixteen years to do it before, and he didn’t.”

During the interview, Greg Dyke also mentioned Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, once again declaring his firm support for the Premier League giants.

Many voices in the outside world were worried that Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese might suffer persecution from FIFA.

In response, Greg Dyke stated that Yang Cheng was a respected figure in football and Bayswater Chinese was one of the most competitive and influential top clubs in the Premier League and the world.

“England will not, under any circumstances, nor under any coercion or pressure, ask them to withdraw from any football competition!”

And what if Bayswater Chinese were to be banned from European or international competitions?

“That would violate the agreements between The FA, UEFA, and FIFA. We would file a complaint!”

Clearly, The FA’s stance was to fully support Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese!

Germany’s Bild also pointed out that despite the fierce rumors, in reality, if either FIFA or UEFA wanted to target Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, they had better be able to produce convincing evidence.

At the very least, they would need to be able to win a lawsuit!

The Sun in England revealed that when the voting results were announced, an unprecedented and spectacular victory parade was taking place in London.

Tens of thousands of Bayswater Chinese fans flooded the streets of London.

They chased the team bus, shouting slogans in support of Yang Cheng and the club, celebrating this season’s Premier League and Champions League double on the streets of London.

And a Club World Cup title as well!

Some fans even created graffiti depicting Blatter presenting the Club World Cup trophy to Bayswater Chinese, but in the graffiti, Blatter was kneeling.

Among the crowd in the victory parade, many people were chanting Yang Cheng’s name.

But Yang Cheng did not appear.

The Sun revealed that at the time of the FIFA election, Yang Cheng did not want to bring more trouble to the team.

After the election results came out, numerous British media outlets, including the BBC, The Times, and The Guardian, all called Yang Cheng, hoping he would come forward for an interview.

That afternoon, in the press conference hall of London’s Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng reappeared and took questions from the media, publicly stating, “I am very disappointed with the result of this election!”

“All I can say is that FIFA and UEFA have completely lost the ability to self-correct.”

“What they need is a thorough, top-to-bottom revolution!”

“They definitely can’t do it just by themselves!”

Not only that, Yang Cheng once again issued a call to action, hoping more people would step forward.

“If even we, the practitioners of football, are unwilling to unite and speak out for justice, who can we count on?”

…

“Just got a call from Zurich.”

After finishing the press conference at Prudential Stadium, Yang Cheng went directly to the club’s office in Soho.

Adam Crozier reported the latest developments to him.

“Figueredo withdrew, and David Gill was elected as FIFA Vice-Chairman, in charge of finance. He got what he wanted!”

After saying this, Adam Crozier couldn’t help but laugh.

Yang Cheng, however, wasn’t surprised at all.

Since David Gill could handle Platini and Villar, it was no great problem for him to secure this position.

This was indeed good news for their side.

But it was limited.

“What do we do next?” Adam Crozier asked again.

The current media storm was still raging.

Even more fiercely than before.

The main reason was the FIFA presidential election.

Before the election, everything was uncertain, so many people didn’t dare to speak out.

But now, the election was over, and the dust had settled.

The whole world thought Blatter had won!

And that Yang Cheng had been utterly defeated!

Under these circumstances, many people actually dared to speak out.

Because no matter what they said, it wouldn’t shake Blatter, which ironically meant it wouldn’t provoke the FIFA president.

So, Yang Cheng also began to intensify his offensive, calling on more people to step forward.

“Wait!” Yang Cheng said calmly.

“Wait for what?”

Yang Cheng shook his head and chuckled, “I don’t know.”

This answer made Adam Crozier feel like he was about to fall apart.

Wait for what when you don’t even know what you’re waiting for?

“It’s what I said before: I’ve already handed out the knife. Anyone who’s interested will naturally come and pick it up.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng asked in return, “Do you really think Platini is the only one who’s interested?”

If Yang Cheng were to describe the difference between the current situation and his past life, the difference was huge.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, two days before the FIFA Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with the Swiss police, raided the Baur au Lac hotel where FIFA delegates were staying and took away several high-ranking officials.

Simultaneously, in the United States, the Department of Justice formally indicted nine FIFA officials and four corporate executives.

This shocked the entire world.

But while this event seemed momentous, what was the actual result?

Blatter and Platini were unharmed.

They were only questioned and faced no charges.

So why did the United States suddenly act two days before the FIFA Congress?

It was definitely not a coincidence.

Because they couldn’t touch Blatter.

Therefore, their main objective in doing so was to make Blatter lose the election two days later.

What truly got Blatter and Platini into deep trouble later on were the Panama Papers.

As Yang Cheng had said before, the Swiss government was powerless against FIFA.

Legally, at least, they were caught in a vicious circle.

But the emergence of the Panama Papers gave them leverage.

But it was only leverage.

So later, when FIFA didn’t cooperate, Blatter and Platini were fine again.

But in Yang Cheng’s previous life, the Panama Papers appeared at the end of 2015 and in 2016.

There were too many documents, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists needed time to sift through and investigate them.

The papers contained much more than just FIFA’s affairs; they included things like the leader of Iceland.

A vast amount of sensitive content.

In fact, FIFA’s issues were just a trivial matter among them.

But in Yang Cheng’s current reality, the Panama Papers had been released early.

Yang Cheng could say with absolute certainty that the United States and Switzerland were definitely already making preparations.

It was just a matter of when they would act.

As soon as they took action, Yang Cheng’s side would definitely follow suit.

He had already built up momentum.

Bringing down Blatter, bringing down Platini—he was the undisputed anti-corruption vanguard of international football!

Once Blatter and Platini fell, Yang Cheng could rise with the tide!

…

Night fell.

The Baur au Lac hotel was renowned as one of Europe’s most luxurious five-star hotels.

With over 170 years of history, this grand hotel, still standing at the pinnacle of the world’s luxury hotels, was situated on the shores of Lake Zurich, overlooking the magnificent Alps.

At this moment, a grand “victory banquet” was being held in the hotel’s ballroom.

The newly re-elected FIFA president, Blatter, was warmly entertaining all the FIFA delegates and the officials under his command.

Despite his public feud with Platini, the Frenchman was certain to attend such an occasion.

Blatter, accompanied by Valcke, David Gill, Platini, Villar, and others, went around greeting the guests one by one.

Everyone was laughing and chatting; the atmosphere was lively and extremely harmonious.

It was far from the tense situation rumored in the outside world.

David Gill had just been elected as the FIFA Vice-Chairman in charge of finance.

But he knew that whether it was UEFA or FIFA, the finances were a tangled mess of accounts.

His role as Vice-Chairman, to put it bluntly, was to help the presidents of FIFA and UEFA manage the flow of money.

Blatter had shed his morning anxiety and was now in high spirits, looking much younger.

Platini showed no signs of being a loser either.

The whole world thought he supported Prince Ali.

But those who knew him well knew that he had never expected the Jordanian to be able to challenge Blatter.

In Platini’s mind, looking at the current world of football, the only person who could possibly challenge Blatter was himself!

The atmosphere of the banquet grew increasingly festive.

Blatter’s mood improved with it.

Especially after being showered with compliments and flattery from those around him, he couldn’t stop grinning.

After a few drinks, he completely let go of his inhibitions and began to talk animatedly with those around him, even making a series of promises.

For Valcke and Platini, scenes like this were nothing new.

Interests were always the best weapon to unite people around you!

Blatter was a firm believer in this principle.

But just as the banquet’s atmosphere reached its peak, the ballroom doors were suddenly burst open from the outside.

Then, police officers in Swiss police uniforms poured in.

Everyone in the ballroom was instantly startled.

A FIFA official near the ballroom entrance, somewhat drunk, angrily walked toward the Swiss police, shouting at them to get out.

“This is a FIFA ballroom, get out now!”

But the response he received was a direct and rough shove from the lead Swiss police officer, who pushed him hard to the ground.

“Everyone, stay where you are! Don’t move, and don’t make a sound!”

Faced with this sudden turn of events, everyone was completely stunned.

When had they ever seen such a display?

Blatter was also slightly tipsy, but he knew he had to step forward now.

Just as he pushed through the crowd, preparing to go and inquire, he saw a group of people walk in from outside the ballroom entrance.

He had seen the man leading them before.

From the Swiss Attorney General’s Office.

He had forgotten the specific name.

He saw the man walk in, straight up to Blatter and everyone else, and hold up a stamped document in his hand, which also bore a signature.

“This is an arrest warrant signed and approved by the Swiss Attorney General!”

“At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Swiss police will cooperate in arresting the following FIFA officials.”

“Current FIFA Vice-President and Executive Committee member, President of CONCACAF, Jeffrey Webb.”

“Current FIFA Executive Committee member, CONCACAF Executive Committee member, President of the Costa Rican Football Federation, Eduardo Li.”

“Current FIFA Development Officer, former CONCACAF President, President of the Nicaraguan Football Association, Julio Rocha.”

“Current attach to the CONCACAF president, former General Secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association, Costas Takkas.”

…

As the man read out one name after another, everyone present was dumbfounded.

Including current Executive Committee member and one of Blatter’s right-hand men, Figueredo, and former FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner, among others—twelve names were read out in one breath.

This instantly plunged the entire ballroom into dead silence.

After the Swiss official finally finished reading the arrest warrant, Blatter took a deep breath and, supported by Valcke, stepped forward.

“These are all important members of our FIFA. I would like to know what law they have broken.”

He was the FIFA president, after all, and had never been afraid of Swiss law in the past.

But at this moment, the Swiss official looked at Blatter coldly.

“As I said, at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, we are assisting. They will all be extradited to the United States later, so for specifics on their crimes, you can inquire with the U.S. Department of Justice.”

“They should be preparing to hold a press conference right about now.”

After a pause, the Swiss official produced another document and once again held it high above his head.

“This is a notice from the Swiss Attorney General’s Office.”

“We now formally request the cooperation of the following individuals to come with us to assist in an investigation.”

“Current FIFA President, Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter.”

“Current FIFA Secretary General, Jérôme Valcke.”

“Current UEFA President, Michel Platini.”

“Current UEFA Secretary General, Gianni Infantino.”

“Current FIFA Vice-President, UEFA Vice-President, and President of the Spanish Football Federation, José María Villar.”

The ballroom was eerily quiet!

Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.

This had never happened in the history of FIFA and UEFA.

It sent a bone-chilling fear through everyone present!

This was the power of a government’s judicial iron fist in action!

Some delegates even collapsed limply to the floor, terrified that their own name would be the next one they heard.

Fortunately, that grim voice did not continue reading.

Afterward, the Swiss police immediately moved forward, two officers flanking each person, and escorted everyone whose name had been called out of the room.

No handcuffs were used, but they were not allowed to make any unnecessary movements, including giving instructions.

Only after everyone had left did David Gill collapse into a nearby chair, his face pale.

He suddenly thought of Yang Cheng.

When Blatter won re-election, everyone thought Yang Cheng had lost.

Lost utterly and completely!

Many even speculated that Yang Cheng would face relentless attacks from Blatter and might never recover.

David Gill had called Yang Cheng. On the phone, Yang Cheng had congratulated him on his election as FIFA Vice-President, but at the same time, told him to hurry up and prepare.

At the time, he thought Yang Cheng couldn’t see the situation clearly.

But now it seemed that Yang Cheng had a perfect grasp of everything.

He held the real king bomb in his hand!

Now, he had thrown it, and it had knocked the entire FIFA and UEFA senseless.

Twelve FIFA officials were taken away.

Blatter, Platini, Valcke, Infantino, and Villar were all taken down in one fell swoop.

Although there was a difference between the two groups—one arrested, the other assisting with an investigation—everyone knew that once the news broke, they would be completely finished!

Play dead?

They had already been taken away. How could they play dead?

David Gill now completely understood why Yang Cheng had been so confident.

He must have received word in advance, and perhaps was even involved.

The U.S. government, the Swiss Attorney General’s Office…

David Gill found it incredible just thinking about it.

Combining this with British Prime Minister Cameron’s previous attitude toward Yang Cheng, David Gill realized he had been too naive!

Football was never beyond the reach of the law!

In the past, the United States and other governments didn’t touch FIFA and UEFA because they felt it was unnecessary.

Or rather, it hadn’t harmed the interests of these national governments.

But now, Blatter and Platini had crossed the line!

How brazen, how arrogant must they be to go against the U.S. government for personal gain!

To give the 2018 World Cup to Russia instead of England; to give the 2022 World Cup to Qatar instead of the United States?

This group of people was insane!

Their arrogance had gone beyond the solar system!

David Gill hadn’t realized this at all before, because in his subconscious, FIFA and UEFA had always been beyond the reach of the law.

But now, the iron fist had fallen.

He was beginning to get scared!

And just as the entire Baur au Lac hotel was plunged into chaos, with all the FIFA delegates scurrying around like stray dogs, a small squad of Swiss police raided the FIFA headquarters, seizing numerous documents and computer hard drives.

…

West of Holland Park, London.

Yang Cheng walked into his courtyard to answer a call from David Gill in Zurich, Switzerland.

On the phone, he received first-hand news from Zurich.

He could hear that David Gill’s voice was still trembling.

Clearly, these pampered gentlemen were terrified!

It was no wonder. Nothing like this had ever happened in the world of football.

This was the very first time!

“Listen to me, David, calm down.”

Yang Cheng, on his end of the line, was still very composed, which gave David Gill on the other end some measure of confidence.

“I’m telling you, Blatter, Platini, and the others are all finished.”

After saying this, Yang Cheng could clearly hear David Gill’s breathing become exceptionally heavy on the other side of the line.

“Your most important task right now is to stabilize the situation. Don’t forget, you are a FIFA Vice-President and a UEFA Vice-President. You should step up now and take charge of everything.”

Yang Cheng’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over David Gill’s head, jolting him and bringing him to his senses.

He was no coward.

Having worked at Manchester United for so many years, he had seen his fair share of storms.

It was just that what happened today was so unbelievable that he had lost his composure.

Now, with Yang Cheng’s reminder, he immediately realized this was an excellent opportunity!

And it was the very opportunity Yang Cheng had repeatedly mentioned to him before!

“David, listen to me.”

Yang Cheng’s tone was still very calm, almost cruelly so.

“You handle stabilizing the situation in Zurich, and I’ll contact Greg Dyke.”

“Greg Dyke?”

The FA Chairman.

“That’s right, David. If you want to get that position, you can’t do it alone. You need the support of all of Europe, understand?”

David Gill understood completely.

“Okay, I get it.”

“Also, once what happened today gets out, it will cause a worldwide uproar tomorrow. You need to step forward then, clearly draw a line between yourself and all the corrupt elements, and publicly support the actions of Switzerland and the United States!”

“You should know that the whole world is disgusted with this corrupt football institution by now. Only by completely distancing yourself from them can you gain the upper hand.”

“Think carefully about how to play this hand!”

David Gill let out a heavy breath and nodded in agreement.

Xia Qing had appeared behind Yang Cheng at some point.

It was only after he hung up the phone that she came forward and took his hand from behind. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Yang Cheng smiled at Xia Qing. “It was David Gill. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Attorney’s Office collaborated and arrested twelve FIFA officials in one go.”

“Blatter, Platini, Valcke, Infantino, and Villar have all been taken in to assist with the investigation.”

At this point, Yang Cheng grinned, looking particularly relaxed.

“Right at Blatter’s victory banquet, in the ballroom of the Baur au Lac hotel!”

Upon hearing this, Xia Qing’s first reaction was not joy, but shock!

This was truly outrageous!

In all its years, international football had never seen something so ridiculous.

It was something no one could have imagined.

The governments of the United States and Switzerland had personally intervened!

It was too absurd!

“What now?” Xia Qing quickly came to her senses and asked Yang Cheng with concern.

“The opportunity I’ve been waiting for has arrived!” Yang Cheng laughed.

“Help me contact Adam Crozier. Have him call Greg Dyke and the Premier League CEO, Richard Scudamore. I want to set up a meeting.”

Xia Qing nodded hastily. “And you?”

“I need to make a few calls too.”

Yang Cheng first made a call to Florentino Pérez.

Florentino was old and had already gone to bed, but was woken up by Yang Cheng’s call.

But upon hearing Yang Cheng’s brief summary of what had happened in Zurich, the Real Madrid Chairman nearly jumped out of bed.

This made Yang Cheng, on the other end of the line, a little worried for him.

He was getting old; he shouldn’t get so worked up. He might throw out his back!

“Florentino, as I’ve said before, for years, the club competitions have been UEFA’s biggest moneymaker, yet our clubs don’t even have a single seat on the UEFA Executive Committee. We don’t have anyone to speak for us.”

“Do you think that’s reasonable?”

Yang Cheng’s question got Florentino completely fired up.

He knew what Yang Cheng wanted to do.

“Don’t worry, Yang. I’ll contact Barça and Atlético Madrid, as well as the Spanish Football Federation. Even though Villar has been arrested, we can still make our voices heard.”

“Excellent!”

Afterward, Yang Cheng made a series of calls to Juventus Chairman Andrea Agnelli, Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, PSG Chairman Nasser, Manchester City Chairman Mubarak, and Manchester United CEO Ed Woodward.

When they heard the news Yang Cheng relayed, they were all fundamentally shocked.

Those who could reach their level were all astute people, and they all understood very clearly.

The world of football was about to undergo a seismic shift!

And Yang Cheng’s proposal was something they had been thinking about all along.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the European clubs to make their voices heard!

At the very least, they had to escape the situation of being at the mercy of others!

…

After finishing his calls, Yang Cheng immediately drove with Xia Qing to the office in Soho, east of Hyde Park.

By now, Adam Crozier, FA Chairman Greg Dyke, and Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore had already arrived.

And in the time it took Yang Cheng to make those calls and get to Soho, the latest intelligence had come in from the United States.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had held a press conference, formally indicting twelve FIFA officials and executives from four sports marketing companies.

Among them were the Argentinian father and son duo, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis.

They were from one of the four companies.

Lynch also revealed for the first time that they had been secretly gathering evidence of FIFA’s crimes for the past few years and had already obtained plea agreements from former CONCACAF Secretary General Charles Blazer and others.

The charges against the FIFA officials included forty-seven counts, such as receiving bribes, tax evasion, money laundering, racketeering, and wire fraud, with most of the alleged crimes concentrated in the United States, North and Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.

The amount involved exceeded one hundred fifty million US dollars.

Additionally, Lynch revealed that they were closely monitoring the Swiss Attorney’s Office’s criminal investigation into FIFA President Blatter, UEFA President Platini, and others, and that the two countries would maintain close cooperation.

Everyone was utterly shocked by the current situation.

Especially since Blatter, Platini, and the others had been taken away by the Swiss Attorney’s Office.

Ostensibly it was to assist in an investigation, but in reality, everyone knew they were criminal suspects.

As long as the Swiss Attorney’s Office obtained solid evidence, they wouldn’t be getting out.

And everyone was concerned about the Swiss police raiding the FIFA headquarters and taking away documents and hard drives.

No one knew if there was any criminal evidence inside.

But Yang Cheng told them he didn’t care about any of that.

“Starting tomorrow, we need to apply more pressure, force Blatter, Platini, and the others to feel the heat and resign voluntarily!” Yang Cheng said fiercely.

Previously, this was almost unimaginable.

But now, the situation had completely turned around.

After such a shocking upheaval, if Blatter and Platini still tried to cling to power, their end would only be more tragic.

Of course, they certainly wouldn’t be willing to step down just like that.

Or rather, even if they were to step down, they would need to secure enough guarantees to ensure they could make a clean getaway after resigning.

This guarantee would definitely have to come from FIFA, as well as the governments of the United States and Switzerland.

“Now that five leaders from FIFA and UEFA have been taken down in one fell swoop, I think we should do everything in our power to support David Gill in his bid for the FIFA presidency.”

“The FIFA presidency?” Greg Dyke was somewhat astonished.

“With so many presidents and vice-presidents down, he has a perfect opportunity!” Yang Cheng nodded.

“Moreover, the current situation is completely different from the past. With such a major upheaval, everyone wants reform. At a time like this, whoever unequivocally supports reform will gain recognition.”

“Those old guards at FIFA and UEFA have absolutely no chance!”

Being an old guard was, of course, a good thing in the past.

But now?

All anyone had to do was ask you one question: In all these years, what exactly have you done with Platini and Blatter?

None of these old-timers could answer.

Given the current situation, major reforms at FIFA and UEFA were inevitable.

The key was who would lead these reforms.

“As long as David Gill can get the support of UEFA, his chances of being elected are very, very high.”

When a UEFA candidate is running, it’s difficult for the AFC to win.

South America and North America are the current hotbeds of corruption, so no one from there could even think of running.

Africa?

To put it bluntly, they aren’t much better than South America and North America.

Oceania only has a few countries.

So, as long as UEFA supports him, David Gill is certain to win the election.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Infantino’s election was also due to strong backing from UEFA.

Previously, The FA and the Premier League had supported David Gill’s entry into UEFA mainly in the hope of having someone to speak up for the Premier League and English football within UEFA.

But they never expected things to develop to the point of him running for the FIFA presidency.

This was indeed a bit beyond everyone’s expectations.

But it was actually not a big deal.

FIFA’s history had seen three English presidents: the 2nd, the 5th, and the 6th.

After the 6th, Sir Stanley Rous, stepped down, the Brazilian João Havelange became president.

Then came Blatter.

So, strictly speaking, having an Englishman as FIFA president had a deep tradition.

David Gill’s biggest advantage over others was that he was a technical official, and he hadn’t been in FIFA and UEFA for long. His resume and background were relatively clean.

“In such a rush, can David Gill actually win?” Richard Scudamore was a bit troubled.

In terms of resume and influence, David Gill was indeed lacking.

Yang Cheng smiled. “According to FIFA’s statutes, even if Blatter steps down now, another election won’t be held within four months. The earliest would likely be the end of the year, so there’s still plenty of time.”

After hearing this and seeing Yang Cheng’s confident expression, the others no longer hesitated.

This kind of thing required decisive action.

When an opportunity comes, if you don’t seize it, you’ll regret it later.

…

Overnight, the landscape of world football underwent a seismic change.

As news of the Swiss police raid on the Baur au Lac hotel and FIFA headquarters spread rapidly, and with the U.S. Department of Justice’s press conference, the media and fans around the world were utterly shocked!

This had never happened before in the history of world football.

Who could have imagined that the U.S. government would personally intervene?

Well, now it had happened.

Blatter, Platini, and others were taken away by the Swiss Attorney’s Office to assist in an investigation, twelve FIFA officials were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice…

Everything proved one thing.

Yang Cheng was right!

FIFA and UEFA had rotted to a point where they would surely die if they didn’t undergo a complete revolution.

While the world’s media and fans were reeling in shock, Yang Cheng, in an interview with several British media outlets, stated that what happened in Zurich was a great humiliation for FIFA, for UEFA, and for football all over the world!

“I can’t describe my feelings at this moment. Besides sorrow, I feel more anger.”

“They took the trust of fans all over the world and used it for personal gain.”

“They even cultivated a culture of corruption and greed within FIFA and UEFA, creating an unfair playing field for the world’s greatest sport. This is unforgivable under any circumstances!”

“They have betrayed everyone’s trust in them, and they should be punished!”

Yang Cheng stated that this shocking upheaval was not necessarily a bad thing for FIFA, UEFA, or world football.

“On the contrary, as I said before, with the intervention of external forces, international football can finally have a fresh start!”

“This is an opportunity!”

“Fans all over the world still deeply love this sport, and they are still hoping and longing for it to become better and better!”

“I still hope that FIFA and UEFA can seize this opportunity to carry out thorough reforms, make themselves more transparent, expose their power to the light of day, and accept the supervision of everyone.”

“Here, I hope that Blatter, Platini, and the others can hold on to the last shred of dignity they have left!”

The implication was clear: resign!

Chapter 340: The Biggest Beneficiary! Unprecedented Reforms! If They Won’t Go Gracefully, Force Them To!

As Yang Cheng rallied support, more and more figures from the world of football began to courageously step forward.

In an interview with AS newspaper, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez publicly demanded that FIFA and UEFA come up with a solution to the current situation as soon as possible.

“They must present a reform plan that is convincing enough to restore the outside world’s confidence in football!”

In addition to Real Madrid, Andrea Agnelli of Juventus, Mubarak of Manchester City, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of Bayern Munich all came forward to publicly pressure FIFA and UEFA.

This group of top club executives believed that the events in Zurich had caused FIFA and UEFA to completely lose the trust of fans worldwide.

This was unprecedented in the football world.

Therefore, the two organizations had to demonstrate sufficient resolve and swiftly present a reform plan.

During their interviews, these club executives also unanimously agreed that the voices of the clubs needed to be better represented in any reform plan.

Besides the club executives, The FA Chairman Greg Dyke also came forward. He expressed that for Chairman Blatter to be taken away just hours after his re-election, along with the UEFA Chairman, was deeply concerning.

Although they were only assisting with an investigation, it had left everyone disappointed with the corruption that had plagued FIFA and UEFA for so many years. “At this point, I don’t believe this organization has the strength to reform itself.”

Amidst the roaring public outcry, the newly elected FIFA Vice-Chairman, UEFA Vice-Chairman, and The FA Vice-Chairman, David Gill, also made a public appearance, giving an interview to the media in Zurich, Switzerland.

David Gill expressed regret over what had happened the previous night and apologized to football fans around the world on behalf of FIFA.

He stated that because the events of the previous night had been so sudden, no one was prepared.

Currently, the core management of both FIFA and UEFA was in a state of shutdown.

“We are planning to convene an emergency ad hoc session of the FIFA Congress, but first, we must understand what exactly has happened.”

David Gill noted that FIFA and UEFA executives like Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar had only been asked by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office to assist with an investigation.

The specific details still required further clarification.

“If they are indeed involved in corruption or other issues, we will definitely treat it with the utmost seriousness!”

However, a reporter at the scene raised a question.

If Blatter had indeed made mistakes and been found guilty with conclusive evidence, even being sentenced by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office, what would happen if he refused to step down?

Because under the current operational mechanisms of FIFA and UEFA, the Chairman’s power is immense.

One could even say he is a dictator!

What if they refused to resign?

Within the existing rules of FIFA and UEFA, there was actually no way to impose necessary punitive measures on them.

Because they could not possibly punish themselves!

David Gill said this would be one of the key topics for discussion at the upcoming ad hoc session of the FIFA Congress.

But for now, there was no good solution.

David Gill believed that if their wrongdoing was confirmed by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office, they should take responsibility voluntarily, rather than letting FIFA or UEFA be a scapegoat for them.

Of course, if they refused to do so, FIFA and UEFA would find a way to resolve it.

“That will be a difficult, brave, but correct decision!”

David Gill was the first high-ranking FIFA official to step forward and face the public.

But his answers were clearly unsatisfactory.

Especially when everyone saw that even if the two chairmen of FIFA and UEFA committed crimes and the evidence was irrefutable, as long as they were unwilling to go gracefully, no one could force them to.

To quote a line from an article in The New York Times.

“This time, the actions of the U.S. Department of Justice have shown the world exactly why Blatter is called the emperor of world football!”

Amidst a worldwide storm of condemnation, an ad hoc FIFA meeting was held at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

Just yesterday, this very place had hosted the FIFA Chairman election.

Who would have thought that one day later, it would be the venue for discussing the criminal issues of the just-re-elected FIFA Chairman?

Countless reporters from all over the world were stationed outside the FIFA headquarters, waiting for the latest news.

The entire meeting lasted for a full day.

Aside from a lunch break, the rest of the time was spent in heated “discussions.”

Yes, whether it was the real-time reports from journalists or the live television news broadcasts, the word “heated” was used.

As a reporter from The Sun put it, you could hear the sounds of arguing from inside even when standing outside the conference hall.

“In the past day, they have accomplished nothing but arguing!”

This was the conclusion given by The Sun.

And the final result was indeed a disappointment to everyone.

The only consensus reached was that Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar would all be temporarily suspended, pending the results of the investigation by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office.

As the delegates walked out of the conference hall one after another, each of them gave high-sounding, self-righteous answers to the reporters’ questions.

But upon closer listening, one would realize they had said nothing at all.

David Gill expressed his regret in an interview with the media, “It’s very regrettable that we couldn’t reach any consensus!”

However, he refused to disclose the content of the meeting.

The Times subsequently published a commentary that vividly described the current state of FIFA.

“In this ad hoc meeting, this group of old men still failed to recognize the reality of the situation. They see themselves as a government ruling world football, not a multinational corporation.”

“Let me ask, if you were a member of this government’s ruling class, would you want to bring in outside forces?”

And this debate showed no signs of abating the next day.

It was still the same on the third day.

This gave everyone the feeling that this group of old-timers could really go on arguing endlessly like this.

But could the media reporters outside, and the fans around the world paying close attention, keep following FIFA’s news forever?

Perhaps a big story would break somewhere tomorrow, and everyone’s attention would be immediately diverted.

The reporters and the concerned fans around the globe could do nothing about it.

All they could do was wait.

On the afternoon of the third day, the meeting was finally paused.

Not because the arguments had produced a result, but because Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar had been released.

Although they were out, they were required to remain in Switzerland and be available for questioning by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office at any time.

The Swiss Attorney General’s Office also held a press conference in the afternoon to inform the public about the entire incident.

They stated that the investigation into the five officials from FIFA and UEFA was still ongoing.

However, specific progress could not be disclosed to the public at this time.

As for the origin of the matter, the Swiss Attorney General’s Office explained that the Swiss government had been cracking down on sports corruption for the past few years and had achieved some success.

This was merely the latest result of their anti-corruption efforts in sports.

“As of now, there are approximately sixty-five international sports federations and organizations in Switzerland, including the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, FIFA in Zurich, UEFA in Nyon, as well as world governing bodies for sports like gymnastics, cycling, volleyball, basketball, skiing, and ice hockey.”

“They enjoy generous tax breaks and flexible legal policies in Switzerland, but at the same time, this inevitably brings more corruption problems.”

“This is a long-term, protracted war!”

The Swiss Attorney General’s Office called on these international sports governing bodies in Switzerland to practice self-censorship and restraint, and to increase the transparency of their operations.

However, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that the Swiss government had no intention of deliberately targeting these international sports governing bodies, but was acting more under pressure from international public opinion.

After all, the corruption problems in many organizations were simply too outrageous.

It was 2015, yet they could still act so unscrupulously!

Now that the United States had made a move, could Switzerland remain calm?

But the benefits these international organizations brought to Switzerland were also obvious.

As early as 2007, a survey showed that in the Canton of Vaud alone, where Lausanne is located, these international sports organizations brought 1,400 high-paying jobs and two hundred million US dollars in annual tax revenue.

That was just one canton. What about all of Switzerland?

Under these circumstances, how could Switzerland bear to really drive these international organizations to extinction?

After regaining their freedom, Blatter, Platini, and the others held a press conference that very day in a Zurich hotel, proclaiming their innocence and stating they were merely cooperating with the investigation.

Regarding the various rumors circulating, Blatter dismissed them as mere hearsay.

As for resigning voluntarily…

“That’s impossible. I have done nothing wrong, why should I resign?”

However, regarding the current state of FIFA, Blatter acknowledged that it had indeed reached a point where thorough reform was necessary.

As for how to reform, Blatter said he would need to wait until he returned to his post to convene a congress for discussion and decision.

“But I can guarantee that this will be the most radical institutional reform in history!”

“Will external supervision be introduced?”

“Of course, I have never been against that!”

“We established the IGC FIFA Independent Governance Committee in 2011, composed of thirteen members including senior anti-corruption and legal experts. This has always been part of my work plan.”

Blatter also responded for the first time to Yang Cheng, who was highly praised by numerous media outlets and fans as the vanguard of anti-corruption in world football. “He is my friend. I have always hoped for an opportunity to have a good talk with him.”

“I believe he can bring many practical and valuable suggestions to me and to FIFA.”

“Blatter wants to see me?”

When Yang Cheng met David Gill in London, the latter brought a piece of news that Yang Cheng found amusing.

Although he had already seen it in the media.

“I thought he was just kidding,” Yang Cheng said, amused.

But David Gill said very seriously, “He’s serious.”

Yang Cheng was genuinely surprised.

But on second thought, it was actually quite normal.

Blatter’s style had always been to suppress when he could, and if he couldn’t, he would recruit them into the fold.

He would offer all sorts of conditions to bring those rebels into line.

More importantly, right now, Blatter needed to use Yang Cheng to appease all the media and fans, and to quell public opinion.

“We absolutely cannot let Blatter come back!” Yang Cheng reminded him gravely.

David Gill nodded solemnly.

But soon, the Englishman let out another heavy breath.

“Actually, after meeting with these people over the past few days, my biggest feeling is exhaustion.”

After speaking, David Gill let out another tired and helpless sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, within FIFA, the calls for reform are quite loud. But as the media says, the entire meeting is just arguing, and it’s hard to reach any conclusions.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng found it somewhat funny.

He had anticipated such a scene.

With over two hundred people gathered together, it was impossible not to argue.

This actually involved a long-standing controversy.

Efficiency.

As an international organization, every major decision FIFA makes often needs to take into account the economic, cultural, and other differences among countries, and to balance various political influences.

In particular, the independence of FIFA must be considered.

“No politics” was not just an empty phrase in FIFA, the continental confederations, or even national football associations and leagues.

Considering so much naturally leads to complex games and trade-offs.

Take one example: who gets to host the World Cup every four years?

If this single issue were put up for public discussion, believe it or not, the World Cup would never be held!

To some extent, for an organization like FIFA, if you want efficiency, a lot of under-the-table deals are bound to happen. It’s unavoidable.

In fact, the reason governments around the world have turned a blind eye to organizations like FIFA for so many years stems from this. No matter who was in charge, it would be the same.

Let alone the two hundred-plus delegates, even the Executive Committee, which now has twenty-four members, still argues during meetings.

Everyone has their own interests, making it difficult to reach a consensus.

Therefore, for so many years, the usual practice of João Havelange and Blatter was backroom deals and exchanging favors.

But over time, this inevitably led to systemic corruption.

For the past few days, Yang Cheng had also been pondering a question.

What should FIFA’s next step be?

Reform, but how?

In 2011, FIFA actually underwent a major reform.

This was the IGC FIFA Independent Governance Committee that Blatter mentioned in his interview with the media.

The members of the IGC came from both inside and outside FIFA. The most famous among them was the Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth.

Mark Pieth was the founder of the Basel Institute on Governance, a high-level international law firm specializing in white-collar crime and Swiss criminal law, headquartered in Basel.

With over thirty years of legal experience, Mark Pieth had a brilliant career, possessing extensive experience in economic crimes such as corruption, money laundering, and fraud, as well as Swiss law in domestic and international litigation.

He was a professor of criminal law at the University of Basel for twenty-seven years and had played important legal roles in many international organizations.

In 2011, FIFA hired him to head the IGC, and together with the other twelve members, they were tasked with carrying out institutional reforms at FIFA.

But the IGC only existed for one year.

During that year, the most significant reform they made within FIFA was to split the Ethics Committee, which was established in 2006.

Here it is necessary to mention a very important premise: within FIFA, including the continental confederations and national football associations, there is a common unwritten rule—not to resort to national laws.

To put it simply, internal conflicts are resolved internally.

This is actually understandable.

Once conflicts between members become public, they can easily escalate into conflicts between nations, which then rises to the political level and becomes very troublesome.

It could even spiral completely out of control.

After all, the world is not a peaceful place, and there are still historical conflicts and hatred between many countries.

If FIFA were to get bogged down in that, it simply couldn’t continue.

Since problems were to be solved internally, there had to be internal judicial bodies.

FIFA has three internal judicial bodies. The first is the Disciplinary Committee, which mainly deals with member associations, clubs, officials, players, agents, and match participants.

Then there is the Appeal Committee, which is mainly responsible for handling appeals against the decisions of the Disciplinary Committee.

Although the final decision of the Appeal Committee is binding on all parties, one can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if they disagree.

The third, and also the most powerful, is the Ethics Committee, established in 2006. It is mainly responsible for anvestigating and adjudicating violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which includes anti-corruption anvestigations.

From 2006 to 2012, the Ethics Committee was a mere figurehead, as it held all the power, answered only to the FIFA Chairman, and was itself deeply mired in corruption.

So, after 2011, under external pressure, FIFA invited Mark Pieth and others to form the IGC, and the first thing they did was to split the Ethics Committee.

Weren’t the duties of the Ethics Committee investigation and adjudication?

Fine, let’s separate those two powers into an investigatory chamber and an adjudicatory chamber.

According to the ideas of Mark Pieth and his colleagues, splitting the Ethics Committee was just the first step, with the goal of fighting internal corruption.

The next step was to establish a brand-new governance structure.

Additionally, looking back from 2015, the IGC had another very important achievement.

The Garcia Report!

The American, Garcia, was also one of the thirteen members of the IGC, brought into FIFA by Mark Pieth.

As it turned out, this catfish stirred up a storm in FIFA, producing the Garcia Report.

From this, one can see the significant impact the IGC had on FIFA at the time.

So why was this body dissolved after only one year?

Because a very important measure in the second phase of reforms proposed by the IGC was to impose strict age and term limits on everyone at FIFA.

At the same time, they wanted to conduct due diligence on the officials of all of FIFA’s executive committees.

In the eyes of Mark Pieth and his colleagues, this was a very normal thing that all large multinational corporations do.

FIFA is such a huge organization; if you don’t conduct internal due diligence, how do you know who in the organization can do their job and who can’t?

But FIFA was clearly not normal.

Well, this directly poked the hornet’s nest.

Blatter was the first to object!

Limiting age and term limits? Isn’t that just limiting myself?

I’m not an idiot!

The IGC sparked a huge debate within FIFA, but strangely, it garnered very little attention from the media and public opinion outside.

Many high-ranking FIFA officials, even Executive Committee members, agreed with the IGC’s reform plan.

But in reality, everyone had their own agenda.

For example, Mark Pieth’s staunch supporter, former FIFA Executive Committee member and German Football Association Chairman Theo Zwanziger.

This old German gentleman still frequently appears in the media to offer his comments.

Even recently, he often came forward to say how he supported reform back then, only to be framed and so on.

But what was the reality?

In 2002, when Germany was bidding for the 2006 World Cup, Zwanziger resorted to bribery, including giving ten million Swiss francs to AFC Chairman Hammam.

The key is, after the matter was exposed, he didn’t resign voluntarily. In the end, even the German Football Association couldn’t stand it anymore and demanded his resignation.

All in all, it was another farce.

So, within FIFA, there are various different voices regarding reform.

Everyone has their own interests.

Over the past period, Yang Cheng had also been thinking about this matter.

In fact, it wasn’t just the failure of the IGC’s reforms.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after Blatter and Platini stepped down, Infantino rose unexpectedly to take charge of FIFA.

At that time, Infantino launched a vigorous reform campaign, including age limits, term limits, and various other reforms.

It seemed very bold, but what was the reality?

It was just a delaying tactic by Infantino.

By 2021, when Infantino had solidified his position and held firm power, the first thing he did was to remove the chief prosecutor of the Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert.

He then appointed Colombian lawyer Maria Claudia Rojas to take over.

By controlling the Ethics Committee through such appointments, he projected his will onto this internal anti-corruption body, greatly expanding Infantino’s power.

From this series of actions, Yang Cheng believed that the biggest problem with FIFA’s anti-corruption efforts was the lack of institutional independence.

Like the Ethics Committee.

FIFA always says that three of its four independent committees are judicial bodies.

The Ethics Committee is often cited as proof of FIFA’s determination to fight internal corruption.

But on closer inspection, the head of this body, the chairman, can be removed and replaced at will by the Chairman.

As the comedian Luo Yonghao once said: they are all being kept, so where is the independent, objective third party?

Now that David Gill was unable to make further progress, Yang Cheng opportunistically offered his own suggestion.

“For now, let’s ignore Blatter and the others. Let’s seize the moral high ground, use the pressure from public opinion, and reform FIFA’s statutes!”

“First, reform the 24-member Executive Committee. Expand it into a 36-member Council, elected from the 209 delegates.”

David Gill was taken aback for a moment. “Impossible, they won’t agree.”

Yang Cheng smiled. “Think again. Of the 24 members of the Executive Committee, how many are left now? By expanding it to a 36-member Council, how many delegates will have a chance to get in?”

David Gill paused, then immediately understood the key to the issue.

Once the Englishman figured out the trick, he slammed the table in admiration!

Genius!

After the mess caused by the American and Swiss governments, more than half of the 24-member Executive Committee was gone.

Among those remaining, who wouldn’t want to join a 36-member Council?

These people would definitely support the reform!

“Separate governance from management. The Council will be responsible for FIFA’s overall operational strategy, development direction, official selection, and financial approval, while the committees below will be managed by professionals.”

In this way, the previously all-powerful 24-member Executive Committee would be split in two. Although the Council expanded to 36 members, the executive committees were separated from it.

“Establish a Supervisory Board, parallel to the Council, completely independent, with no subordinate relationship between the two. The Supervisory Board will attend Council meetings and have compliance oversight authority, including the power to review documents, audit financial reports, and conduct due diligence on officials.”

“The Supervisory Board will not participate in the Council’s decision-making or the committees’ operations, but it will have the power to investigate misconduct by officials and propose the removal of derelict officials.”

If David Gill hadn’t yet seen the full picture with the Council reform, the mention of the Supervisory Board made it crystal clear to the Englishman.

This was about diluting the FIFA Chairman’s power!

Although it wouldn’t participate in specific decision-making and execution, the Supervisory Board would have the power of inquiry and impeachment, and it could also monitor officials.

Isn’t this equivalent to hanging a sword over the FIFA Chairman’s head?

This was a bit outrageous!

“This might be difficult. In FIFA’s current statutes, there is no Supervisory Board or Council.”

“That’s why I said we need to reform the statutes.”

Yang Cheng also saw through David Gill’s slight hesitation.

Frankly, given the chance to become FIFA Chairman, who would be willing to share power with others?

“Of course, the Supervisory Board’s power can’t be excessive either, otherwise it will exacerbate internal friction. So it’s best if the Supervisory Board is composed of people from outside FIFA, somewhat like independent directors of a listed company.”

Hearing this, David Gill completely understood the benefits of the mechanism Yang Cheng was outlining.

From an organizational structure perspective, such a reform was a major overhaul, with unprecedented boldness.

But the most critical part was the establishment of the Supervisory Board.

In theory, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board would be almost on par with the FIFA Chairman, who is also the Chairman of the Council.

But he would be independent of FIFA.

Isn’t this the external supervision that the outside world has been calling for?

For FIFA, there was now a pressing need for a strong “independent director” to endorse FIFA’s credibility and convince the world’s media and fans of FIFA’s determination and boldness to reform.

This could help FIFA overcome the current crisis of confidence.

As Yang Cheng had said before, the biggest problem for an institution like FIFA is trust.

He must win the trust of fans all over the world!

And all things considered, who was more suitable for this position right now than Yang Cheng?

David Gill even wondered if Yang Cheng had planned this from the very beginning.

Just like how he managed to get Blatter, Platini, and the others investigated?

He had become the biggest beneficiary!

But on second thought, with the power Yang Cheng and his backers possessed, did he need to do this?

If viewed purely from an institutional perspective, the reforms Yang Cheng had designed were indeed very good, and highly feasible.

As long as the carrot of the 36-member Council was dangled, the chances of it passing were likely very high.

“David, Blatter and Platini are out. They must be maneuvering everywhere right now.”

Yang Cheng looked at David Gill, adding more fuel to the fire.

“We absolutely cannot let them make a comeback. Otherwise, I’ll be fine, but those who opposed him will definitely suffer.”

The fact that Blatter was willing to talk to him proved that Yang Cheng held strong united front value for him.

“Once the institutional reform is established, the Supervisory Board can justifiably conduct a financial audit. You come from a finance background, so you definitely know that even if FIFA’s books are a mess, we can still pull out what we want from that mess.”

“The Swiss Attorney General’s Office probably doesn’t have enough evidence right now, but if we hand over these things, it will be enough to send Blatter and Platini back in!”

“If they still don’t want to go gracefully by then, we’ll make them go gracefully!”

David Gill was a smart man.

He knew very well that he was currently the FIFA Vice-Chairman.

But in reality?

How many people listened to him?

Who could he command?

If he followed Yang Cheng’s advice, initiated this reform, and forced Blatter to step down, he could then gain Yang Cheng’s support to ascent to the FIFA Chairman’s position. Although he would be supervised and his power would be curbed, it would still be much better than his current situation.

Conversely, if he refused to cooperate, the outcome was hard to say.

At the very least, in his current situation, without Yang Cheng’s support, he could forget about becoming FIFA Chairman!

“I understand!”

As soon as David Gill thought of this, clarity dawned on him.

“I’ll return to Zurich tonight and start preparing tomorrow. I will propose inviting you to attend the FIFA Congress as an observer!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng broke into a smile.

Talking to a smart person saved so much trouble!

As long as he appeared at the FIFA Congress, many things would be beyond the delegates’ control to oppose!

Still want to argue nonsense?

Believe it or not, the moment I step outside, I’ll tell the media all about your disgraceful behavior.

Yang Cheng had actually made preparations on two fronts.

After David Gill left, he gave a joint interview the next day to several authoritative media outlets, including The Times and The Guardian.

During this interview, Yang Cheng stated that he had no intention of meeting with Blatter.

“I don’t see what meaning such a meeting would have.”

Yang Cheng also expressed great disappointment that FIFA had been slow to reach a conclusion.

“I don’t know the specific reasons, because I don’t have the qualification to attend and observe!”

This sentence from Yang Cheng was immediately magnified by the media.

Various voices began to emerge in the media and online, arguing that since FIFA said it wanted to introduce external supervision…

Then it should start with this FIFA Congress!

Inviting Yang Cheng to observe would be a great opportunity, wouldn’t it?

“As an anti-corruption champion, Yang Cheng’s struggle against Blatter, Platini, and others during this period has been witnessed by the whole world.”

“Now, having him attend the FIFA Congress as an observer would be an excellent opportunity for FIFA to further enhance its transparency!”

“At the very least, it would show us FIFA’s determination to reform!”

“If they are so timid that they can’t even do something this small, then how can we believe that they are determined to carry out internal reforms?”

From the day Yang Cheng stood up against Blatter and Platini, he became the center of public opinion, the focus of everyone’s attention.

The vast majority of people at FIFA were against letting an outsider attend the FIFA Congress as an observer.

The reason was simple: they believed it would interfere with FIFA’s normal decision-making process.

But as soon as the news broke, it once again triggered a media firestorm and public outrage.

Normal decision-making?

With an outsider present, FIFA can’t make normal decisions?

Yang Cheng was even more relentless, directly challenging FIFA in the media.

“Is your ‘normal decision-making’ so shameful it can’t be seen by others?”

“It’s 2015, and so much has happened. Do you still think you are normal?”

Public opinion erupted once again!

For two consecutive days, FIFA was under immense public pressure.

David Gill, meanwhile, repeatedly made proposals within FIFA and gained the support of many reformists.

Finally, the FIFA Congress officially extended an invitation to Yang Cheng.

When Yang Cheng flew from London to Zurich, he checked into the most luxurious suite of the Baur au Lac hotel, renowned as one of the most lavish in the world.

In his hotel room, Yang Cheng met with the FIFA Vice-Chairmen, including David Gill.

Afterward, they attended a press conference together and took questions from reporters.

“I am very proud to have received this invitation from FIFA. I believe FIFA has taken a positive first step!”

Yang Cheng promised that in the following days, he would give interviews to the media every day, relaying to them and the fans what he saw and any information he was able to disclose.

“Of course, some things are inconvenient to talk about for the time being, so please forgive my discretion!”

And facts proved that with Yang Cheng’s participation, the discussions at the FIFA Congress were significantly more efficient.

The previous situation of constant bickering had improved markedly.

Although opinions still differed and they couldn’t convince each other, at least the discussions were substantive.

To use Yang Cheng’s words to David Gill after a meeting:

“They weren’t as noisy as you complained about, and the meeting wasn’t as chaotic as you described.”

What could David Gill do but smile wryly?

Subsequently, David Gill proposed reforming FIFA’s statutes and put forward a package of reform plans.

For example, the reforms of institutions like the Supervisory Board, the Council, and the committees sparked huge controversy.

But just as Yang Cheng had expected, the offering of 36 seats on the Council attracted the keen interest of many FIFA delegates.

For them, this was a brand-new opportunity!

But to Yang Cheng’s surprise, the reform of the committees also met with little resistance.

A very important reason was that these committees were not in the hands of these delegates to begin with.

Or rather, the main power was not in their hands.

In the past, which of those lucrative committees wasn’t firmly held by Blatter and his cronies?

And in large part, these people were just figureheads.

What kind of professionals were they?

Weren’t they all just holding the title of person in charge, while leaving the actual work to their subordinates?

Now, separating the executive and operational aspects and handing them over to professionals meant no real loss for many of them.

And anything that doesn’t involve a loss is easy to reform.

As for the Supervisory Board, the opposition was indeed the strongest.

Just as they had consistently opposed Yang Cheng’s attendance as an observer, they now also opposed the establishment of a Supervisory Board.

The reason was simple: who would want to bring someone in to supervise them?

Just as everyone was about to start arguing again, Yang Cheng, who had been silent all along, took the opportunity to cough twice while taking a sip of water.

The microphone was accidentally left on.

In an instant, the entire hall fell silent.

During the past few days of meetings, Yang Cheng had been too low-key, not saying a single word.

So much so that they had started to get a bit let loose again, forgetting that such a person was present.

Who was this?

The world’s number one head coach!

He had just won four consecutive Champions League titles!

When no one else dared to speak up, he dared to stand up alone and challenge the authority of Blatter and Platini!

And now, he was a figure supported and lauded by fans all over the world!

Realizing this, everyone couldn’t help but reconsider their own views.

From the moment Yang Cheng walked into this conference hall, reform had become an unstoppable trend.

Finally, after several days of consultations among various parties, it was decided by vote: the Supervisory Board was established!

This meant that the main framework of the entire reform plan was now set!

The FIFA Congress also had some regulations for the members of the Supervisory Board.

For instance, the special nature of the sport of football had to be fully considered. So, although the members of the Supervisory Board would be independent of FIFA, they couldn’t be completely unrelated to football.

Therefore, the members would primarily come from among players, club officials, league representatives, football association officials, football journalists, sponsor representatives, and so on.

Since it also had to supervise and assist FIFA in its institutional reform, the Supervisory Board would also invite professional anti-corruption experts, such as Mark Pieth and other core experts from the original IGC.

The initial plan was for the first Supervisory Board to have nine members, including one Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

After several days of meetings, when FIFA officially announced the reform plan, the media and fans around the world expressed their approval.

The Supervisory Board, which introduced an external supervision mechanism to FIFA, received particularly high praise.

When interviewed by reporters, Yang Cheng even intentionally jabbed at Blatter, saying, “This is true, unprecedented reform!”

This time, FIFA had only carried out a preliminary framework reform; the specific plans still needed to be further refined.

Especially the numerous details.

But there was one thing that had to be done while the iron was hot.

David Gill proposed to immediately start the election for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

This immediately received the support of many FIFA delegates.

They had already come this far, might as well finish the last step!

Although the Supervisory Board had supervisory duties, they weren’t sure how to operate it specifically, and they did need to quickly elect someone to take charge.

Thus, at the FIFA Congress the next day, David Gill was the first to propose that Yang Cheng serve as the first Chairman of the Supervisory Board, responsible for its formation and member selection.

Of course, all of this had to be submitted to the FIFA Congress for a vote.

It’s unknown if it was because Yang Cheng was present, but in the end, he was elected smoothly with a unanimous vote.

This was clearly beyond the expectations of both Yang Cheng and David Gill.

Immediately after his election, Yang Cheng requested an audit of FIFA’s financial situation.

And he would hire a professional third-party accounting firm to audit FIFA’s finances.

Regarding the selection of members for the Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng said he would submit a list in the near future.

Once the personnel were in place, they would discuss the specific procedures for the Supervisory Board.

But the financial audit was imperative.

Yang Cheng’s reasoning was also very compelling: they had to respond to public opinion as soon as possible, especially to the most pressing concerns of the fans.

It was only at this moment that the delegates noticed that sixteen of their “colleagues” were to be extradited to the United States for trial, and five of their superiors were required by the Swiss government to be on call to cooperate with the investigation.

Subsequently, FIFA held a press conference to formally introduce Yang Cheng’s new identity.

The first Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board!

At the press conference, Yang Cheng made a high-profile promise that he would form a Supervisory Board team as soon as possible, and would also quickly begin auditing FIFA’s financial situation over the past many years.

“This will help resolve the issues between FIFA and the governments of the United States and Switzerland, and effectively respond to the corruption concerns raised by fans and public opinion!”

A reporter at the scene asked what the FIFA Supervisory Board planned to do if this financial audit revealed that Blatter, Platini, and others were indeed involved in corruption.

Yang Cheng replied with great certainty: “We will submit the evidence to the Swiss Attorney General’s Office!”

Yang Cheng stated that this decision of his would help to further enhance FIFA’s transparency, break the deadlock of past systemic corruption, and improve its public credibility.

Yang Cheng said that as a football head coach, and also as the owner of Bayswater Chinese, especially after having listened intently to the speeches of everyone at the FIFA Congress over the past few days.

“I have a deep understanding that football, as the world’s number one sport, especially having to face the various differences and demands of 209 member countries and regions, does have its peculiarities, and many of the past rules were not entirely bad.”

“But I am even more clear that the recent shocking corruption scandal was by no means accidental, nor did it happen overnight.”

“We should change the past shortcomings of improper internal operating mechanisms and low self-governance efficiency, and proactively seek external judicial assistance to explore a series of legal issues such as sports autonomy and judicial jurisdiction.”

“I believe that right now, FIFA should actively reflect, purify its own governance rules, enhance the legalization of its autonomy rules, effectively coordinate the organic combination of sports autonomy and external justice, and perfect its own organizational structure and operational efficiency.”

Yang Cheng believed that only in this way could a more transparent and trustworthy FIFA be built!

Yang Cheng’s remarks at the press conference were immediately spread by the media and quickly caused a huge response around the world.

Everyone realized that this time, FIFA’s transformation was truly earth-shattering.

At the very least, a crack had been opened in the self-enclosed football kingdom of the past, and sunlight was now shining in.

And as Yang Cheng’s speech at the press conference won unanimous praise from the media and fans worldwide, right there in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA Chairman Blatter, UEFA Chairman Platini, and the others all looked ashen-faced.

They had lost!

Utterly defeated!

Chapter 341: Super Selling Club! Monopolizing Power! The World-Shocking Three-Way Transfer! Let’s Surrender!

“We’ve lost!”

In a hotel in Zurich, Blatter looked at the four fellow sufferers before him. His cloudy, aged eyes had completely lost their former spirit, becoming dim and lifeless.

Blatter, Platini, Valcke, Infantino, and Villar…

They looked more like an alliance of failures!

“Let’s surrender!” Jérôme Valcke proposed, his face a mask of panic.

As FIFA’s Secretary General, he knew exactly what would happen once Yang Cheng began a financial audit of FIFA. They wouldn’t stand a chance!

“Surrender? Are you kidding me? He wants to wipe us out completely, and you want to surrender now?” Villar clearly still hadn’t grasped the situation.

“Didn’t we say it before? As long as we don’t resign voluntarily, what can they do?”

Two years ago, when the bribery scandal involving the former German Football Association president, Zwanziger, was confirmed, he had refused to resign, and even FIFA was powerless to do anything about it.

In the end, it was Blatter who had to ask Beckenbauer to intervene, and then get the German FA involved. Only through a multi-pronged approach did Zwanziger finally step down.

And he was just one of twenty-four Executive Committee members.

Everyone present was from the highest echelons of FIFA and UEFA.

Surrender before the battle had even begun?

Infantino glanced at Villar, feeling a little speechless.

He had always thought the Spaniard was rather brainless.

But he never imagined he could be this clueless.

To not even see the current situation clearly was just too short-sighted.

“The momentum for FIFA’s reform is already building. The framework has been established. Did it get the approval of the Chairman, Secretary General, or Vice-Chairman?”

Infantino’s question left Villar speechless.

Blatter, Valcke, and Platini all wore grim expressions.

They weren’t even qualified to sit in on the meetings, making them even less influential than Yang Cheng.

“We have all been stripped of our power!”

Infantino stated a fact that everyone present knew but was unwilling to admit.

“Even if we’ve been stripped of our power, what can they do if we don’t step down ourselves?” Villar retorted, sounding even more self-righteous.

The Spaniard gave off the impression that he was shamelessly unconcerned, like a dead pig that doesn’t fear boiling water.

Platini finally spoke up. “The reason we’re not stepping down is to bargain. At the very least, we want a dignified exit. For instance, FIFA could step in to protect us, allowing us to walk away unscathed.”

“At the very least, they wouldn’t investigate our past issues.”

The group had never spoken of this openly; after all, it was rather humiliating to say out loud.

But to their surprise, Villar hadn’t figured it out.

My god, what kind of brain does this man have?

“So what now? No more bargaining?” Villar still didn’t understand.

“Bargain with what?” Valcke’s tone had turned unfriendly. “Yang Cheng is going to audit the finances now. Do you have any idea how many messy accounts there are? They just need to grab a handful and turn them over to the Swiss Attorney General’s Office, and we’re all finished.”

Valcke let out another long sigh.

After glancing at Blatter, he continued, filled with indignation, “Yang Cheng now controls the Supervisory Board and has auditing power. If he audits the finances, do you know what that means?”

“It means that almost every representative in FIFA today could have their secrets exposed by him. He can investigate whoever he wants, target whoever he wants, with ease!”

Although everyone present was already aware of this, hearing Valcke say it out loud still sent a chill down their spines.

On the surface, after the reform, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board was an independent outsider, only responsible for compliance supervision.

But the problem was that FIFA’s internal corruption had been too outrageous, too severe.

Never mind anything else, just consider all the travel expenses over the years—the plane tickets, hotel bills, and various other costs that representatives, Executive Committee members, and delegates from national associations had claimed for reimbursement. Were they truly all legitimate?

Valcke knew better than anyone that the amount of shady business involved was immense.

There were even some Executive Committee members and representatives who appeared upright and just, speaking and acting with impartiality. But in reality?

He had no idea how much they had pocketed just from those reimbursements.

No one ever paid attention to such small sums of money.

FIFA hadn’t audited its own finances in decades, so there was never any risk.

In fact, to a certain extent, Blatter had always used this to keep everyone in line.

And now…

All that leverage had fallen into Yang Cheng’s hands.

Once the audit began, all the problems would be exposed.

At that point, Yang Cheng would only need to present the evidence and call for impeachment, and they would fall one by one.

As for Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar, the same applied to them.

None of them were clean!

“Let’s surrender!”

Valcke understood better than anyone just how ruthless Yang Cheng’s move was.

“If we surrender and beg for mercy now, we might get a lighter sentence. At the very least, less evidence will be submitted, and our guilt will seem less severe.”

This statement silenced the other four men.

They knew they had lost, but they never expected to lose so completely.

This was simply too cruel for them.

Not long ago, they had been the renowned and spirited top leaders of FIFA.

Now, they were effectively prisoners.

And the one holding the power of life and death over them was the very person they had always looked down upon—Yang Cheng.

But the situation no longer allowed for hesitation or delay.

Once Yang Cheng got his hands on concrete evidence, it would be too late to surrender.

…

Yang Cheng had been incredibly busy lately.

He had almost completely set aside his own personal affairs, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to FIFA’s business.

He had attended countless meetings, both large and small.

Even at night, after returning to the Baur au Lac hotel, a steady stream of visitors would come to his door.

Some he could turn away, but others he couldn’t and had to see.

Yang Cheng took some time to make a trip to Basel to meet Mark Pieth.

Their first conversation was very pleasant.

Before the meeting, Yang Cheng had made a point to review the reports and recommendations that Mark Pieth and the IGC team had previously submitted to FIFA.

Among them was a set of indicators proposed by experts from the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration to assess the transparency of governance in international sports organizations, which resulted in as many as fifty-nine recommendations.

In the end, FIFA had only adopted seven of them.

Yang Cheng felt that while many of the fifty-nine recommendations were indeed overly idealistic and academic, many were still valuable.

For example, limiting the age and term of office for officials, disclosing employee salaries, conducting regular asset reviews for officials, and establishing financial disclosure procedures for FIFA and its member organizations.

These were all excellent ideas.

Unfortunately, they were never implemented at the time.

This time, when Yang Cheng met Mark Pieth, he expressed his hope that Pieth would join the Supervisory Board as an expert, primarily responsible for supervising and assisting with the procedural reforms of FIFA and its member organizations.

Mark Pieth was, of course, very willing.

Despite having been fired once, he was still very enthusiastic.

The reason was actually quite simple.

Many of Switzerland’s international organizations were in dire need of structural reform.

If Mark Pieth could help FIFA be the first to complete its reforms, the subsequent business would allow him to make a huge profit.

After securing Mark Pieth, Yang Cheng turned his attention to the sponsors.

FIFA’s current top-tier sponsors were Adidas, Coca-Cola, VISA, and Hyundai-Kia.

Hyundai-Kia was the newest among them, and South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon was currently mired in scandal.

Speaking of which, that guy was truly outrageous.

I mean, everyone with eyes could see what you South Koreans did in 2002.

You benefited from it, and that should have been the end of it. After all, South Korean football has indeed made great strides in recent years, right?

But Chung Mong-joon, in 2014, while running for mayor of Seoul, had the audacity to publicly and smugly declare that he had helped South Korea “take care of the referees” in 2002.

Are you trying to become mayor?

Are you sure you’re not just trying to self-destruct?

Blatter had already referred Chung Mong-joon to the Ethics Committee for investigation during his presidency.

Yang Cheng had no intention of saving him.

VISA had been a FIFA partner since 2007, making it a newer partner than Adidas and Coca-Cola.

But the American credit card company was the first among all sponsors to publicly condemn FIFA.

A seat on the Supervisory Board had to be reserved for them.

Yang Cheng made a call to VISA’s chairman, Dee Hock, who said he was too old, already in his eighties, and not suited for such a heavy responsibility. He recommended CEO Charlie Scharf instead.

As for Adidas, the company had intricate connections with various football organizations, clubs, and players, so it was not suitable for a position on the Supervisory Board.

Nike was even more out of the question, as it wasn’t even a FIFA sponsor.

If Adidas couldn’t get in, Nike had no chance.

Coca-Cola’s situation was largely the same as Adidas’s.

So, the sponsor representative would be from VISA.

A player representative also needed to be selected.

As Mark Pieth had said, this would send a positive, people-oriented signal to the outside world.

The King of Football, Pelé, was the best candidate.

Maradona’s image was still somewhat problematic.

As for Beckenbauer, to be honest, the German Football Emperor was facing many problems himself. Not only the 2006 World Cup bid but also several subsequent ones were not clean.

He had been too deeply involved in his ambition to lead FIFA.

In contrast, Pelé’s global image and fame were undeniable.

As for a media representative, the first person Yang Cheng thought of was Marie-Odile Amaury.

Many people probably knew the French lady from the Tour de France; she was ranked number one among the most influential figures in world cycling and was the controller of the race.

But in reality, she also controlled the Amaury Group, whose media assets included the two authoritative outlets, L’Équipe and France Football magazine.

Yang Cheng knew Marie-Odile Amaury, but not well. Xia Qing, on the other hand, was very familiar with her.

So, Yang Cheng asked Xia Qing to sound her out, and she indicated that she would consider it seriously.

After all, joining the FIFA Supervisory Board at this moment was an affirmation of one’s reputation and status, but it also meant endorsing FIFA’s credibility.

At their level, to put it bluntly, they didn’t really need to pay much attention to FIFA.

But for that very reason, their presence on the Supervisory Board would be all the more convincing.

In addition, there was also a reformer from within FIFA, an Executive Committee member and the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati.

He was the staunch reformer David Gill had mentioned.

Don’t be mistaken into thinking Sunil Gulati was a typical football official. On the contrary, he was an economist from the Columbia Business School who had led the U.S. Soccer Federation to astonishingly rapid growth in recent years—a classic technocrat.

Oh, and he was of Indian descent.

This was also quite necessary, as various complex factors had to be considered.

For instance, the representative for women’s football was Lydia Nsekera from Africa.

She was a leading figure in promoting women’s football in Africa and around the world. A former internal auditor, she became president of the Burundi Football Association in 2004, later held a position in the Confederation of African Football, and was also a member of the organizing committee for the 2008 Olympics.

She joined the International Olympic Committee in 2009 and was now the chair of the Women in Sport Commission.

Yang Cheng, Marie-Odile Amaury, Charlie Scharf, Sunil Gulati, Lydia Nsekera, and the King of Football, Pelé—these six individuals came from various industries and were leaders in their respective fields.

The remaining three were all professionals.

Mark Pieth goes without saying.

The other two were also formidable figures.

One was Michael Hershman, the president and CEO of the American Fairfax Group.

Michael Hershman had been involved in intelligence and investigation work in Europe as early as the 1960s, when he was a special agent for the U.S. Military Intelligence, working in counter-terrorism.

After his military service, he moved to the New York Attorney General’s office, where he worked on anti-government corruption and financial fraud.

His claim to fame was the Watergate scandal in the United States, where he was the chief investigator.

He later joined the Federal Election Commission as chief investigator and director of security, responsible for auditing and investigating all presidential candidates and election committees.

He was an internationally recognized expert on matters related to transparency, accountability, governance, and security.

Guillermo Jorge, an Argentinian law professor, ran a law firm specializing in the prevention and enforcement of anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations, as well as asset recovery remedies.

Since 2003, he had served as an independent advisor on financial crime, anti-money laundering, and anti-corruption for numerous international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and Latin American governments.

He was a globally recognized expert in anti-corruption, compliance, and anti-money laundering.

Although Mark Pieth, Michael Hershman, and Guillermo Jorge joined the Supervisory Board as individuals, they would in fact bring their respective teams into FIFA.

Their task was to supervise and assist the FIFA Council and its committees in completing a comprehensive reform of FIFA’s internal structure, as well as the continental confederations and national associations under it.

Charlie Scharf had achieved tremendous success in helping VISA complete its data transformation over the past few years.

This time, he would also provide his valuable experience to FIFA, helping the aging international organization complete its reform and transformation.

The entire list was put together under Yang Cheng’s leadership, with input from David Gill and other senior FIFA officials.

Thus, the nine-member list was quickly submitted to the FIFA Congress for review.

Ultimately, the list received unanimous approval from the delegates.

From that moment on, FIFA’s first-ever Supervisory Board would officially begin its work!

It was at this time that Yang Cheng received a message from David Gill.

Blatter and Platini had surrendered!

The five of them had decided to resign voluntarily in exchange for lenient treatment from FIFA.

After discussing it, Yang Cheng and David Gill decided to accept their surrender.

The main reason was that the ongoing reforms within FIFA were causing a great stir and a state of panic and anxiety.

But this couldn’t be a long-term solution.

Relentlessly pursuing them would only make the reform process more difficult in the long run.

Of course, for Blatter, Platini, and the others, there was no such thing as a partial surrender.

Even if they surrendered now, the evidence that needed to be handed over to the Swiss Attorney General’s Office would still be handed over.

After all, these cases had already garnered worldwide attention. To raise the sword high and bring it down gently was not Yang Cheng’s style, nor was it good for FIFA’s reform.

Within FIFA, Yang Cheng’s stance was a lifetime ban, forcing them to leave the football world forever.

As for how the Swiss Attorney General’s Office would rule, Yang Cheng didn’t care. They could figure it out themselves.

For Yang Cheng, not kicking them when they were down was the greatest mercy he could show.

Besides, it would be easy for him to explain to the fans.

After all, FIFA’s penalty was the maximum possible. Yang Cheng and FIFA couldn’t interfere with the ruling of the Swiss Attorney General’s Office.

…

“I have been deeply reflecting on my time as Chairman.”

“I love FIFA very much, and I only want to do what is best for FIFA and for football.”

“But my efforts have been hindered.”

Facing a crowd of media, Blatter explained his actions in a slightly choked voice.

He praised the current reforms at FIFA.

But he claimed that these were things he had always wanted to do but had been unable to accomplish.

He also acknowledged that corruption in FIFA had reached a point where a complete overhaul was necessary.

“Yes, I used to always stress evolution, not revolution.”

“But it turns out I was wrong. We need a vigorous revolution.”

“I am very happy to see the earth-shattering changes that have happened at FIFA recently.”

“They have changed the statutes, changed the management structure, and next they will impose limits on the age and terms of officials.”

“This is a good thing. I always wanted to do this, but the resistance was too great.”

Regarding the establishment of the Supervisory Board, Blatter said it was a very bold change that had been affirmed by media and fans worldwide, and it was something he was happy to see.

“In the past, I also fought hard for these changes, but as everyone knows, I did not succeed.”

“Therefore, I must choose to step down and end my term as FIFA Chairman early.”

Blatter said that it was a very sad decision, but he believed it was the right one.

“I have discussed it with them, and I have given my recommendation. The regular FIFA Congress in Mexico City in May 2016 is too far away. There should be an extraordinary one held in the interim.”

“Candidates interested in the FIFA presidency will have about half a year to prepare, and FIFA can take the opportunity to vet all the candidates.”

“I heard that the Supervisory Board will, for the first time, propose integrity checks on all candidates and establish integrity files for officials. I think this is a very good change.”

“I also sincerely wish them success!”

Blatter said that he had not yet spoken with the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng, but after he stepped down, Chairman Yang Cheng would be responsible for overseeing the election of his successor.

“He has the trust of people inside and outside FIFA, especially from the media and fans around the world. This is undoubtedly crucial for FIFA at this time, and I believe he is up to the task.”

“This is also what prompted me to make this decision today.”

Finally, Blatter stated that his era was over, but football would continue.

He hoped that football would always be the winner!

Following Blatter, Valcke, Platini, Infantino, and Villar successively announced their resignations.

All five men were under investigation by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office, which had damaged FIFA’s reputation, leading to strong public calls for their resignations.

But they had dragged it out until today, finally deciding to step down.

As soon as the news broke, it immediately sparked widespread discussion among media and fans worldwide.

On one side was FIFA’s reform, a move of burning one’s bridges.

Especially Yang Cheng.

He continuously posted updates on the progress of the FIFA Supervisory Board on social media platforms like Twitter.

In particular, the résumés and backgrounds of the nine Supervisory Board members showed everyone FIFA’s transformation.

Putting everything else aside, it would be difficult to assemble another supervisory board with such a prominent lineup of talent and background anywhere in the world, which gave everyone confidence in the reform.

At the same time, the FIFA Ethics Committee made a series of unusually swift judgments.

Although Blatter, Platini, Valcke, Infantino, and Villar had all voluntarily resigned, their punishments were not reduced.

The German judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert, announced a lifetime ban for all five individuals.

And it was effective immediately.

The investigation into South Korean official Chung Mong-joon began in January 2015, and a verdict was handed down now as well: a ten-year suspension.

This was actually longer than in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

But what could be done? The South Korean had the misfortune of running straight into the current anti-corruption crackdown.

After all the dust had settled, Yang Cheng convened the first meeting of the nine-member Supervisory Board in Switzerland.

The main topic was to discuss the division of labor.

After all, people like Yang Cheng, Marie-Odile Amaury, and Charlie Scharf did not work full-time at FIFA.

The Supervisory Board was like a board of independent directors, responsible only for oversight.

Although the entire operational mechanism and structure were not yet in place, for Yang Cheng and the others, the rest was a matter of taking the time to gradually push forward and build it.

So, after the nine-person meeting and a clear division of labor, Yang Cheng and the others left Zurich.

…

During this period, Yang Cheng had been busy with FIFA affairs.

He had completely neglected his own business.

For that spirit alone, FIFA really should award him a special presidential prize!

However, there was one more thing to mention.

Due to Blatter’s resignation and lifetime ban, the awards at the 2015 FIFA awards ceremony, which were originally to be presented by the Chairman, would now be presented by Yang Cheng.

This gave him a real taste of being the FIFA Chairman.

Yang Cheng gave Gareth Bale a call, telling him to put in extra effort in the coming period.

“It would be best if I could present the award to you!” Yang Cheng was really looking forward to it.

Gareth Bale solemnly promised over the phone.

And as soon as Yang Cheng returned to London, before he could even get started on many things, Florentino Pérez flew over.

The two had a meal together at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, north of Hyde Park in London.

Florentino Pérez asked caringly about the FIFA situation.

He also subtly mentioned the Supervisory Board.

Yang Cheng explained that the Supervisory Board only had nine members and was currently very short-staffed.

In truth, Florentino Pérez knew very well that with Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese involved, Real Madrid had little chance, so he wasn’t too concerned about it.

However, Yang Cheng did give him another surprise.

“UEFA’s Executive Committee will also undergo reforms. Club representatives will be selected from the European Club Association to join the Executive Committee. The preliminary plan is for three positions.”

Florentino Pérez’s eyes lit up.

He couldn’t compete with Yang Cheng for a seat on the FIFA Supervisory Board, but surely Real Madrid was qualified to occupy a spot on the UEFA Executive Committee?

And since they were talking about UEFA, the election following Platini’s resignation was an unavoidable topic.

Right now, both FIFA and UEFA were without a leader, and both needed to hold elections.

From the current looks of it, UEFA would probably hold its election first. The earliest for FIFA would be February of next year.

By then, the entire FIFA reform should have begun to take shape.

“From the current situation, it’s unlikely that a major country will win this time. It will probably be someone from a smaller country.”

Yang Cheng reminded him.

The corruption problem was so severe now that people from countries like Spain, Germany, France, and Italy were more or less implicated, which gave major nations a natural disadvantage in the election.

More importantly, the smaller nations had more votes.

England was currently going all out to support David Gill’s bid for the FIFA presidency, so they were unlikely to participate in the UEFA presidential election.

After all, if an Englishman were elected UEFA Chairman, David Gill could not become FIFA Chairman.

But no matter what, the power of both FIFA and UEFA would be constrained.

The inclusion of three club representatives on the UEFA Executive Committee was the best proof.

Moreover, UEFA would also be subject to the supervision and auditing of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

Hearing Yang Cheng’s words, Florentino Pérez had a rough idea of what he should do.

Of course, he was also well aware that if he and Real Madrid wanted to get onto the UEFA Executive Committee, having Yang Cheng’s support would certainly make things much easier.

“By the way, what did you want to see me about?” Yang Cheng looked at the Real Madrid Chairman with a smile.

He wouldn’t have come all this way without a reason.

He absolutely did not believe that Florentino Pérez would fly over just to have a meal with him for no reason.

Sure enough, Florentino Pérez didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

Real Madrid wanted to buy Eden Hazard!

“Why?” Yang Cheng was surprised.

“Because you definitely won’t sell Gareth Bale,” Florentino Pérez said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Yang Cheng laughed in exasperation. “No, I mean, you already have C. Ronaldo and Di María, why would you want to buy Hazard?”

At this question, Florentino Pérez was a bit speechless.

“It’s all that damned Manchester United’s fault!”

This left Yang Cheng, who had been somewhat detached from football recently, completely bewildered.

It was only after Florentino Pérez explained that he understood a little.

Wasn’t Real Madrid’s Casillas getting old?

Although they had signed Jesús Navas from OGC Nice in Ligue 1, the Costa Rican international was not a big name.

Given Florentino Pérez’s typical behavior, the most suitable person for the Real Madrid goalkeeper position was undoubtedly the Spanish international, De Gea.

So, for the past two years, Real Madrid had been in talks with Manchester United about De Gea’s transfer.

Manchester United was quite ruthless.

They had previously made a bold statement: trade Ramos for De Gea.

Real Madrid would definitely not agree to that.

Who was Ramos?

A homegrown player signed by Florentino Pérez, and the natural choice for captain after Casillas’s departure.

Sell him to Manchester United?

Were they out of their minds?

That’s why people said Manchester United had gotten smarter.

Not selling Ramos, huh?

Then how about C. Ronaldo!

Florentino Pérez almost flew to London to kill Ed Woodward.

But C. Ronaldo was also actually considering a return to Manchester United.

Moreover, the Portuguese star was already thirty years old.

From the perspective of someone from the future, Yang Cheng of course knew that the superstar could continue playing for many more years.

But at present, who could know that?

It was a common understanding that players started to decline at the age of thirty.

This summer, C. Ronaldo was first linked with Paris Saint-Germain, and then with Manchester United.

In Spain, the Portuguese player no longer had a tax advantage.

But after Messi and others moved to the Premier League, their salaries had skyrocketed. Coupled with the growing popularity of the Premier League, C. Ronaldo had definitely considered returning to Manchester United.

This back-and-forth led to Real Madrid and Manchester United getting entangled.

But Florentino Pérez was not a pushover. He first kept Manchester United on the hook while tentatively trying to poach Hazard from the Bayswater Chinese.

The Belgian’s attitude was also quite ambiguous.

On one hand, he was playing very well with the Bayswater Chinese, but he was still subordinate to Gareth Bale.

On the other hand, Theo Walcott also posed a threat to him from time to time.

If he went to Real Madrid and filled the void left by C. Ronaldo’s departure, he would be the undisputed top star of Real Madrid.

Continue to stay with the Bayswater Chinese and be Gareth Bale’s deputy?

Or go to Real Madrid and be the top star?

This shouldn’t be a difficult choice.

But the Bayswater Chinese did not agree.

Adam Crozier refused to sell Hazard.

Moreover, without Yang Cheng’s approval, no one could take Hazard away.

So, Florentino Pérez had come to him directly.

Yang Cheng hadn’t expected it to turn into a three-way deal.

“I need to discuss this with the technical team. I can’t give you an answer right now,” Yang Cheng said honestly.

Florentino Pérez naturally understood.

“Then I will await your call!”

…

After dinner with Florentino Pérez, Yang Cheng didn’t take a car. He walked east along the north side of Hyde Park and soon arrived at Grosvenor Square in Soho.

The most prominent office building here was Yang Cheng’s property.

He went straight to the top-floor office. Xia Qing had already informed the front desk.

As soon as Yang Cheng arrived, he went straight to the conference room for a meeting.

And the first thing Yang Cheng asked about was Hazard’s transfer.

“The player seems quite tempted,” Adam Crozier said.

Yang Cheng knew this was about what he had expected.

“What do Flick and Brian Kidd say?”

“Of course they’re not very willing,” Adam Crozier said with a chuckle. “But they both said that if the player really wants to leave, they still have to ask for your opinion. Your decision is final.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

Actually, if Hazard were to be transferred, the impact on the Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t be that great.

Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Sterling were already a formidable force.

Sancho and the others in the youth team were still too young.

But Felipe Anderson at Atalanta, and Sadio Mané and Salah at Nice, were already very mature.

So, Yang Cheng wasn’t really afraid of Hazard leaving.

“How much did Manchester United offer for De Gea?”

“Forty million pound sterling plus Navas.”

“What the hell, Florentino Pérez would agree to that?”

Who would have thought that as soon as Yang Cheng said this, Adam Crozier burst out laughing?

“Real Madrid is even more ruthless. For the thirty-year-old C. Ronaldo, they’re asking for one hundred and fifty million pounds.”

Yang Cheng immediately burst out laughing.

Indeed, it was a world of ruthless people!

“So how much did he offer for Hazard?”

“One hundred million pounds.”

Yang Cheng cursed on the spot, “Tell him to get lost!”

What a great deal he was trying to make!

He really thought he could trade a thirty-year-old C. Ronaldo for a top-tier goalkeeper and a top-tier winger?

Florentino Pérez’s calculations were truly shrewd.

“Real Madrid has been very active this summer. They signed two Brazilian full-backs, Danilo and Alex Sandro, from Porto in one go. And now they’re eyeing Atalanta’s Lucas Biglia and Nice’s Kovačić.”

Yang Cheng was a bit puzzled, “Is Real Madrid that rich now?”

“It’s said that their revenue last season exceeded six hundred million euro.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

The highest revenue was still with the Bayswater Chinese, and by a long shot.

Real Madrid was second.

The Bayswater Chinese were now teeming with talent.

But as Yang Cheng had noted before, the starting lineup was not a big problem.

The worry was that other teams would adopt this kind of ‘Tian Ji’s horse race’ strategy of poaching players.

“Then you go talk to Real Madrid. If a thirty-year-old C. Ronaldo can be sold for one hundred and fifty million pounds, then a twenty-four-year-old Hazard can’t possibly be cheaper than C. Ronaldo, don’t you think?”

Adam Crozier nodded on the spot.

…

During the time Yang Cheng was in Switzerland handling FIFA affairs, a lot had happened in European football.

For example, former Borussia Dortmund head coach Klopp took charge of Liverpool.

The unlucky Ronald Koeman lost to Klopp in the competition for the Reds’ head coach position.

The “boxer” took charge at Anfield, just as in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

However, thanks to his excellent coaching at Nice, Ronald Koeman successfully “defeated” Southampton’s head coach, Pochettino, to become the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur.

This was completely different from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Moving from Champions League semi-finalist Nice to a Tottenham team that couldn’t play in the Champions League, Ronald Koeman admitted that he was convinced by Tottenham’s ambitious goals.

He hoped to lead Tottenham to better results in the Premier League.

Preferably, to get into the top four!

And after Ronald Koeman took office, the first player he tried to poach was Nice’s winger, Sadio Mané.

As it turned out, Mané also attracted competition from Liverpool and Chelsea.

The African player had performed exceptionally well in both Ligue 1 and the Champions League last season.

Liverpool hoped Mané’s arrival would boost the team’s attack.

Especially in partnership with Suárez.

According to a revelation from the Liverpool Echo, Klopp’s top picks for the wings were Mané and Salah.

In the battle for Mané, the player’s price kept rising.

Nice, in particular, held firm on their asking price.

After Tottenham and Chelsea successively withdrew from the race, Liverpool directly raised their offer to sixty million pounds, finally convincing Nice.

Just as Nice announced Mané’s sixty-million-pound transfer to Liverpool, the Bayswater Chinese also officially announced the signing of Salah from Nice.

The specific transfer fee was not disclosed.

But media reports suggested that Salah’s transfer fee would only be more expensive than Mané’s.

After missing out on Mané and Salah, Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of South Korean player Son Heung-min from Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen for thirty million pounds.

For Ronald Koeman, this was some consolation.

After missing out on Mané, Chelsea signed Pedro from Barça for twenty-five million pounds.

While signing Pedro, Mourinho’s team also set their sights on Nice’s centre-back, Koulibaly.

The centre-back, who holds dual Senegalese and French nationality, had performed brilliantly in the Champions League last season.

Mourinho was very fond of this physically strong young centre-back with excellent positioning and distribution skills.

But in negotiations with Nice, Chelsea suffered repeated setbacks.

Especially after Liverpool and Bayern Munich joined the race for Koulibaly, the centre-back’s price immediately soared.

In the end, amidst the competition from the three major European giants, Koulibaly joined Premier League’s Liverpool from Nice for a sky-high price of fifty million pounds.

The Reds had been plagued by defensive problems for the past few years.

Besides Koulibaly, Klopp also hoped to sign one of his former favorites from Borussia Dortmund, either Hummels or Subotić, to rebuild Liverpool’s defense.

In attack, Firmino was transferred from Hoffenheim to Liverpool for a high price of thirty million pounds.

But at the same time, Mario Balotelli was loaned to AC Milan.

Players like Fabio Borini and Lambert also left the team one after another.

Klopp was determined to give Liverpool a complete makeover.

With the arrival of Mané, Koulibaly, Firmino, and others, everyone believed that the new season’s Liverpool would look completely different.

In addition, Liverpool also signed defender Clyne from Southampton for a transfer fee of fifteen million pounds.

Besides selling Clyne, Southampton also sold their key French midfielder, Schneiderlin, to Manchester United for a hefty thirty million pounds.

But in terms of signings, Southampton had yet to make any significant moves.

In the City of London, rumors were gradually spreading that the Saints were looking for international buyers.

The Liebherr family behind Southampton was interested in selling their shares in the club.

Everyone knew that this was a very clear signal that they were planning to exit.

For Southampton, which had performed well in recent years, as long as they could avoid relegation in the Premier League, their final ranking made no difference to them.

The Liebherr family was no longer willing to continue investing time and energy in Southampton.

In fact, as early as 2014, there were rumors that Southampton would be sold, and they had been looking for international buyers all along.

With the club’s lack of ambition, coupled with the successive sales of key players, Southampton’s head coach, Pochettino, finally chose to leave, disheartened.

Because of Yang Cheng’s appearance, Southampton’s development was far worse than in his previous life, and Pochettino’s coaching record was also affected. He did not go on to coach Tottenham Hotspur as he had in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

And this time, he chose to leave Southampton precisely because he had received an offer from Ligue 1.

Nice invited Pochettino to coach in France.

Leading Southampton to avoid relegation versus leading Nice to play in the Champions League—the choice between the two was an easy one for Pochettino to make.

Moreover, Yang Cheng had personally given him a call.

The Argentinian chose to coach Nice.

But on the day he chose to coach Nice, the Ligue 1 team announced that they had sold their young forward, Martial, to Manchester United for a transfer fee of sixty million pounds, with add-ons that could take the total to a sky-high price of seventy million pounds.

At the same time, Chelsea signed French midfielder N’Golo Kanté for a sky-high price of fifty million pounds.

Real Madrid announced the signing of Kovačić from Nice for a sky-high price of fifty million pounds.

All the media and fans around the world were completely stunned.

Sixty million pounds for Mané, sixty million pounds for Martial, fifty million pounds for Kanté, fifty million pounds for Kovačić, plus a fifty-million-pound Koulibaly.

Five players sold for a total of two hundred and seventy million pounds.

Everyone was utterly shocked!

On one hand, the transfer fees for players in European football were soaring higher and higher.

Especially the purchasing power of Premier League teams, which was frighteningly high.

On the other hand, wasn’t Nice’s “selling club” a bit too much of a rip-off?

Two hundred and seventy million pounds in revenue in one summer.

And that didn’t even include Salah.

This was completely insane!

But the entire Ligue 1 also clearly realized that last season’s Champions League semi-finalist team had been carved up by Premier League teams overnight.

Even their domestic rival, Paris Saint-Germain, didn’t have a chance to get a piece of the pie.

All the players were poached by the top four leagues.

And what about Nice?

The Ligue 1 team didn’t make many big moves.

With the trident of Mané, Salah, and Martial gone, the team still had Choupo-Moting, Florian Thauvin, and Ousmane Dembélé, while also promoting the young Kylian Mbappé from the youth team.

Then, Nice signed the young Marcus Thuram from Sochaux in the French Second Division.

They signed sixteen-year-old youngster Muani from the youth academy club Torcy.

They signed the nineteen-year-old centre-forward Serhou Guirassy, who holds dual French and Guinean nationality, from French Second Division’s Laval FC for a transfer fee of five hundred thousand euro.

At the same time, Nice also poached the twelve-year-old youngster Camavinga from the Rennes youth academy.

And signed the fifteen-year-old youngster Tchouaméni from the Bordeaux youth academy.

After a major overhaul and bloodletting, Nice returned to its business model of developing young players.

It was at this time that The Sun suddenly dropped a bombshell.

The Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, and Real Madrid had completed a three-way deal that shocked the football world.

Manchester United announced the signing of C. Ronaldo and Jesús Navas from Real Madrid for a transfer fee of one hundred million pounds plus De Gea.

This deal sent a massive earthquake through the world’s media and fans.

The Spanish media, in particular, was in an uproar.

Following Messi’s departure, C. Ronaldo was now also returning to the Premier League.

The thirty-year-old Portuguese was undoubtedly still in his prime and in excellent form.

The new Premier League season would undoubtedly become even more star-studded. The Manchester derby between C. Ronaldo and Messi, in particular, would become a highly attractive derby match.

After sending off C. Ronaldo, Real Madrid announced the signing of Hazard from the Bayswater Chinese for one hundred and fifty million pounds.

This once again caused a worldwide shock.

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized why the Bayswater Chinese had signed Salah from Nice.

It was to let Hazard go.

These two sky-high price deals completely detonated the summer transfer market!

But at the same time, other teams, including Manchester City, also turned their poaching tentacles towards the Bayswater Chinese.

Chapter 342: Pogba the Second! Equivalent Retaliation! Recruiting Drive! The Future Leader of World Football!

In the past few years, Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy had grown increasingly formidable.

With the Brent training center and ten satellite training centers, their talent recruitment network covered London and its surrounding cities.

With such a vast recruitment scope, the quality of Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy had also soared.

It was not just a source of despair for other Premier League teams; it had become a benchmark that was difficult to match across all of European football.

But this soon gave rise to another strategy.

Poaching.

It was reminiscent of how powerhouse clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal used to target and poach talents from Barça’s La Masia.

Nowadays, many of Europe’s top clubs had their eyes fixed on Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy, constantly looking to poach players.

The moment a promising young player emerged, they were immediately targeted.

What followed were relentless tactics.

Whether through reason, emotional appeals, or tempting offers, they tried every conceivable method to lure players away from Bayswater Chinese.

In truth, Bayswater Chinese had no foolproof way to counter this.

Or perhaps, there was no need to deliberately stop it.

Take Patrick Roberts, for example.

The 18-year-old youngster had officially submitted a transfer request.

He hoped the club would allow him to leave.

He wanted to move to Manchester City and play under Pep Guardiola.

The young player had also attracted interest from numerous other giants, including Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool.

Bayswater Chinese’s technical team also held him in high regard, which was why they had previously recommended Yang Cheng promote him to the first team. Yang Cheng had indeed done so and had given him plenty of opportunities.

But everyone thinks differently.

Dominic Solanke, for instance, chose to stay.

Patrick Roberts, on the other hand, wanted to join another team and embrace a new challenge.

Faced with such a decision, Bayswater Chinese really had no good solution.

The first team had a limited number of spots.

Given Bayswater Chinese’s current stature in European football, even with Eden Hazard gone, could Yang Cheng confidently entrust Patrick Roberts with a greater responsibility?

Whether for the sake of stability or for long-term interests, Yang Cheng was more inclined to sign Salah.

That way, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Salah, and Sterling—four excellent wingers—would be more than capable of handling multiple competitions throughout the season.

Even if injuries occurred, the impact would be minimal.

But replacing Salah with Patrick Roberts would certainly create a potential vulnerability.

Of course, the best option would be for all four wingers and Patrick Roberts to remain with the team.

At 18 years old, to get more playing time at a top club like Bayswater Chinese, you had to be a genius.

Rumors had long circulated that Patrick Roberts was on par with Sterling.

But Yang Cheng and the club itself knew very well that he was far from Sterling’s level.

However, the player himself didn’t see it that way.

So, after two years of being pursued by Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal, and especially after seeing the club sell Hazard and sign Salah, Patrick Roberts chose to submit a written transfer request.

He wanted to go to Manchester City!

Clearly, he had already reached a private agreement with them.

Manchester City also showed great sincerity, willing to pay a transfer fee of twenty million pounds for Patrick Roberts.

They genuinely believed Patrick Roberts could become the next Sterling.

What did this mean?

The moment this transfer was announced, it immediately sparked heated discussions among the entire British media and fanbase.

He was second only to Wayne Rooney back in the day!

In 2004, Rooney’s transfer from Everton to Manchester United cost The Red Devils 30.7 million pounds.

This had remained the transfer fee record for an under-18 player in the Premier League, and it had yet to be broken.

Patrick Roberts was now the second most expensive!

Of course, if Yang Cheng had chosen to sell Harry Kane or Sterling back then, the transfer fee would certainly have been much higher, even surpassing Rooney’s.

But now, Patrick Roberts was receiving praise from the entire British media and its fans.

Everyone believed he would become the next Sterling.

For twenty million pounds, signing a player on the verge of becoming another Sterling seemed like an absolute bargain!

After Patrick Roberts’s transfer to Manchester City, the Premier League giants did not stop their poaching efforts.

They stared at Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy like hungry wolves, drooling with desire.

Their next target was Eddie Nketiah.

This 16-year-old youngster had yet to sign a professional contract with Bayswater Chinese, but he had already made a name for himself in the youth team and had been selected for England’s national team setup.

Nketiah, who has Ghanaian heritage, was fast and had intelligent movement. He scored a lot of goals for the youth team and was the most-watched rising star in the national youth setup, naturally attracting the attention of many top clubs.

But at Bayswater Chinese, his situation was also rather awkward.

Ahead of him was the 22-year-old local centre-forward Harry Kane, whose name Yang Cheng had even written into the team anthem.

Last season, he scored 31 Premier League goals, firmly establishing his position!

And Giroud’s status was self-evident.

Behind these two star centre-forwards was the hardworking and improving 17-year-old Dominic Solanke.

It was worth noting that Solanke’s goal-scoring records in the youth team and the national youth setup were record-breaking.

Under these circumstances, Nketiah saw absolutely no hope of breaking through.

So, before he was old enough to sign a professional contract, numerous top clubs came knocking.

One club would make a promise, another would offer a certain package…

The final result was that Liverpool, with a more generous offer, brought the young prodigy to the north.

All they left Bayswater Chinese with was a negligible youth training compensation fee.

Of course, if Nketiah were transferred in the future, Bayswater Chinese would be entitled to a significant portion of the fee.

But this M.O. of poaching was becoming more and more rampant, and Yang Cheng could no longer stand by and watch.

“We have to mete out some punishment, or they’ll really think we’re a pushover they can walk all over!”

Yang Cheng made a swift decision, immediately filing a complaint against Liverpool with The FA.

But everyone knew The FA’s typical behavior; they would surely prioritize mediation.

It was impossible for Yang Cheng to personally handle such a trivial matter—it would be beneath him!

Therefore, Yang Cheng instructed Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg to take immediate action.

They poached Trent Alexander-Arnold, also 16 and yet to sign a professional contract, from Liverpool’s youth academy.

What was this called?

This was called equivalent retaliation!

You poach one of mine, I’ll poach one of yours.

Whatever compensation you give me, I’ll give you the same.

Fair, isn’t it?

And believe it or not, Liverpool really couldn’t say a word!

But knowing Yang Cheng, he either did nothing or went all out. He certainly wouldn’t stop there.

Thus, Bayswater Chinese made a series of moves.

They signed 15-year-old Phil Foden and 13-year-old Cole Palmer from Manchester City’s youth academy.

Not only that, Bayswater Chinese also targeted other famous youngsters from the youth academies of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, and other teams, showing an intent to sweep up all the renowned young talents.

Who were Bayswater Chinese?

The dominant force that had won five consecutive Premier League titles and four consecutive Champions League titles!

A top-tier giant that every player in the world dreamed of joining.

When a team of this stature engaged in poaching, with a little effort and a few promises, they could secure pretty much anyone they wanted.

This instantly sent shockwaves through English football.

The major clubs all lodged complaints and protests.

The FA could truly no longer sit idyll.

They immediately summoned the football directors from Bayswater Chinese, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and other Premier League teams to London for a meeting at the Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The general message was: Don’t take things too far!

What was the point of all this poaching back and forth, creating such a mess?

This matter ends here!

What’s past is past, but from now on, all guns must be pointed outward. No more such chaotic poaching within England.

Everyone had to sign a non-poaching agreement!

If you want to sign a player, go through official channels and engage in proper negotiations!

Bayswater Chinese’s representative, Dan Ashworth, was the first to sign.

Regardless of what the other teams thought, they had no choice but to sign as well.

Manchester City felt the most aggrieved. They immediately asked what would happen now that Bayswater Chinese had poached their two youth academy gems, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer.

FA Chairman Greg Dyke was also fired up. “I already said, what’s past is past. Besides, you poached their Patrick Roberts.”

“We paid for him! Twenty million pounds! But they… they didn’t pay!”

Greg Dyke was momentarily stunned.

How could this debt be settled clearly?

“You should resolve this through private negotiations.”

Manchester City almost burst into tears on the spot!

It was all Liverpool’s damn fault!

They didn’t play by the rules!

Liverpool, on the other hand, was snickering: Manchester City are such idiots. They spent twenty million pounds to poach Patrick Roberts and ended up giving away Phil Foden and Cole Palmer.

Wait, I should write down the names of those two kids. They might be useful in the future.

Unlike us. Although we lost a defender, we got a more valuable forward.

This was such a shrewd piece of business!

I can’t help but give myself a pat on the back!

Bayswater Chinese’s stance was clear.

Dan Ashworth had received his orders from Yang Cheng: We can pay the money, but we will absolutely not return the players!

You think you can get back players who have already walked through my door?

In your dreams!

The final outcome of the negotiations was that Bayswater Chinese paid Manchester City a youth training compensation fee.

It wasn’t much, just over a hundred thousand pounds in total.

After all, both players were very young.

Upon hearing the news, Yang Cheng promptly made a grand gesture.

After Alexander-Arnold arrived at the club, he was immediately assigned to train with the first team.

At the same time, Declan Rice and Reece James were promoted from the youth team to the first team.

…

After handling matters in London, Yang Cheng, accompanied by Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, and others, flew directly to São Paulo, Brazil.

In just six months, the efficiency of Yang Cheng’s team was evident.

In the city center, after reclaiming Allianz Parque, a comprehensive renovation began to expand its commercial spaces.

Although a considerable amount of money was invested, it would significantly boost future revenues.

Maurício Galiotte told Yang Cheng that many interested partners were already making inquiries.

He was full of confidence about achieving the revenue targets he had previously promised.

The first-team training ground near Allianz Parque was also undergoing renovation.

Not only would a new training building be constructed, but all hardware facilities would be upgraded, and various advanced instruments and equipment would be brought in.

In short, Palmeiras was to be fully benchmarked against Bayswater Chinese.

Meanwhile, north of Tietê Ecological Park, the renovation of the youth academy was also on the agenda.

Land acquisition, approvals, and planning had all completed the necessary procedures.

They were just waiting for the design firm to produce the architectural drawings and for the bidding process for contractors to begin.

The entire Palmeiras club could be said to have been completely transformed.

In just six months, Yang Cheng’s team had shown all of Brazil, and even all of South American football, what was meant by Chinese speed!

On the pitch, Palmeiras’s performance had also improved significantly.

The Brazilian team resolutely adhered to Yang Cheng’s earlier promise: never to delay payment of wages and bonuses.

However, the team was predominantly composed of young players.

After Erik ten Hag and his Dutch coaching staff arrived in Brazil, they certainly needed a period of adaptation.

But the benefits were also apparent.

He not only managed the first team but also carried out a comprehensive overhaul of the Palmeiras youth system, bringing in many high-level youth coaches from Europe.

This gave Erik ten Hag a sense of empowerment he had never experienced in Europe, a feeling of being in complete control.

According to the Brazilian schedule, the state championship is played first, followed by the national league.

The Campeonato Paulista had just concluded.

The tournament features twenty teams playing fifteen rounds, with the top eight advancing to the championship play-offs.

The bottom four teams are relegated.

Palmeiras actually had a terrible start to the championship.

Although Palmeiras didn’t perform well in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A last season, in the state of São Paulo, they were definitely a strong team.

But they started with a three-game losing streak, dropping them straight to the bottom of the table.

If the first three rounds included two stronger opponents, Ponte Preta and Corinthians, where they lost 0-1 at home, it might have been understandable.

But losing 0-2 away to Red Bull Bragantino’s B team? What was that about?

Red Bull Bragantino was a second-division team, and you lost 0-2 to their B team?

Wasn’t that a complete and utter embarrassment?

Perhaps some of my dear readers are confused.

Wait, how can a second-division team use their B team to play in the state league? And what’s with Red Bull?

To clarify, although Red Bull Bragantino is called Red Bull now, it is only a naming rights sponsorship; they have not yet been acquired.

Currently, Palmeiras is the only club in the league that has been acquired by foreign investors.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Red Bull wouldn’t acquire Bragantino until 2020.

So, for now, it’s just a naming rights deal, with no equity involved.

So why did they use their B team?

Because their first team was also playing in the state league.

The most absurd part is that after all fifteen rounds were played, Bragantino’s first team finished 19th and was relegated.

And the B team?

They finished 6th and entered the championship play-offs.

In the fourth round, Bragantino’s first team lost 2-3 at home to their own B team.

Such bizarre events could truly only be seen in the chaotic Brazilian league.

As for Erik ten Hag, after the initial three-game losing streak, especially the loss to Bragantino’s B team, he did face a crisis of confidence.

Many people felt that this European coach was not up to the task.

He was unfamiliar with the Brazilian football environment, the players, and the opponents.

He couldn’t even speak the language and had to rely on a translator.

Wasn’t this just a complete mess?

At the time, many also suggested changing the coach quickly while there was still time.

But Yang Cheng and his team had one advantage: they didn’t judge everything solely on results.

After an analysis by the technical team, the conclusion was that the team’s performance was improving with each game.

The players’ feedback was also very positive.

These young players were like blank slates, with a strong ability to absorb new tactics.

As a result, the Palmeiras management withstood the pressure and fully supported Erik ten Hag to continue coaching.

Starting from the 3-0 home victory against Rio Claro in the fourth round, including the 2-1 comeback win away at Santos in the ninth round, and the 3-0 thrashing of São Paulo at home in the twelfth round.

Palmeiras went on a nine-game winning streak.

From a three-game losing streak to a nine-game winning streak, Erik ten Hag’s team felt like it was on a rollercoaster.

In the end, Erik ten Hag’s team finished with 10 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses in 15 matches, earning 31 points to finish fourth in the state league and qualify for the championship play-offs.

In the play-offs, Erik ten Hag’s team continued to perform well.

They first defeated Botafogo 1-0, then in the semi-final, they drew 2-2 away at Corinthians and defeated their rivals in a penalty shootout to reach the final.

In the two-legged final, Palmeiras first defeated Santos 1-0 at home, then drew 2-2 away.

They ultimately won the Campeonato Paulista title with an aggregate score of 3-2 over Santos!

Although the journey was a bit perilous, it was a championship trophy nonetheless.

Erik ten Hag’s initial struggles followed by success earned him recognition, and he began to establish a firm footing at Palmeiras, winning everyone over. At the very least, his coaching ability was quite impressive.

Most importantly, Palmeiras played truly beautiful football.

After the Campeonato Paulista ended, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A began without stopping.

In the first eight rounds, Erik ten Hag’s team achieved an impressive record of 6 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, accumulating 19 points and currently sitting at the top of the league table.

This included a 2-2 draw at home against Atlético Mineiro, a 2-0 away victory over local rivals Corinthians, and a 2-1 home win against Fluminense, among other notable victories.

But in the eighth round, Erik ten Hag’s team lost 0-1 away to Grêmio.

The goalscorer for Grêmio was the Uruguayan centre-forward Braian Rodríguez, who was on loan from Real Betis in La Liga this season.

When Yang Cheng arrived in São Paulo, he was just in time to watch the ninth-round local derby.

Palmeiras hosted São Paulo, a team featuring Pato, Fabiano, and Ganso.

From all the pre-match indications, many were still more optimistic about São Paulo.

They had bigger names and stronger players.

Palmeiras was composed mostly of young players.

Even those who favored Palmeiras generally felt that the two teams were evenly matched.

But no one could have expected that at Allianz Parque, São Paulo’s defense would only hold for 30 minutes.

For the first 30 minutes, Palmeiras employed a high-press tactic, putting immense pressure on São Paulo in the midfield and attacking third.

In the 32nd minute, Jesus broke through São Paulo’s goal.

Just before the end of the first half, centre-back Bremer scored again from a corner kick.

After the break, Gerson scored first, followed by another goal from Richarlison.

After only 72 minutes, Palmeiras had completely crushed São Paulo with overwhelming force.

Pato had a lackluster performance throughout the match and was substituted off for his teammate Ribeiro in the 75th minute.

After that, neither team managed to score again.

Palmeiras ultimately defeated São Paulo 4-0 at home!

After the match, Yang Cheng entered the Palmeiras dressing room to meet with the young players.

He gave very high praise for their brilliant performance.

“I almost suspect I was watching a top European league match!”

Facing the players, Yang Cheng also fully affirmed Erik ten Hag’s coaching and the team’s technical and tactical style, which was completely different from other Brazilian teams.

It was more integrated, more aggressive, while still retaining the Brazilians’ skillful and fluid coordination.

“I believe that the future for all of you here is definitely in the top European leagues.”

Yang Cheng’s words were met with approval from everyone present.

Playing in Brazil meant many games and heavy responsibilities, but the salaries were poor.

Palmeiras was relatively good; at least they didn’t delay wages and bonuses.

In other teams, you’d play games and not get paid, making it difficult to even support a family.

“Palmeiras is a window for you, a stepping stone!”

Yang Cheng smiled as he spoke about Gerson, one of the goalscorers.

“Recently, many people have been asking me about you, including Barça and Juventus. Luis Enrique and Barça’s team are very impressed with you. It seems they’ve been in contact with you before, haven’t they?”

Yang Cheng asked straightforwardly, and the young 18-year-old midfielder nodded without hesitation.

It wasn’t a secret anyway.

“To be honest, the prices offered by both Juventus and Barça are very high.”

Yang Cheng spoke as if he were chatting with a friend, discussing a serious transfer that could decide a player’s entire career.

“If our club were to sell you, with that money, we could buy any midfielder we want in Brazil. And not just one; we could probably buy several.”

Juventus had offered 18 million euros.

Barça’s offer was 20 million euros.

Why?

Because Gerson had performed exceptionally well in the Campeonato Paulista.

Using Palmeiras as a platform, coupled with the club’s promotion and publicity, and especially with Gerson as the captain of Brazil’s U20 national team, his value had skyrocketed.

The media described Gerson as being very similar to Pogba.

That alone was enough to make him extremely popular.

“But you know, I told our club officials that I recommended rejecting their offers.”

Yang Cheng’s statement surprised everyone in the dressing room.

“I’m not trying to stop you from playing in Europe, nor am I trying to force you to stay and continue playing for Palmeiras. I can tell you frankly, if we accepted their offers, we could buy many players with that money.”

“But why didn’t I agree?”

Yang Cheng took out an analysis report from the technical team and handed it directly to Gerson.

“Take a look. This is an assessment report on you. You’re playing well in Brazil, but if you go to Europe, your physical strength is too poor. You won’t be able to adapt at all.”

“You can ask those players who have played in European leagues, like Pato and Fabiano in the dressing room next door. Ask them how intense the physical battles are in the top European leagues.”

“If your physicality isn’t up to par, no matter how good your technique or awareness is, it’s all useless. You simply won’t be able to adapt.”

“And at your current age, if you can’t adapt to the pace and physicality of a top European league, you might play a few games, perform poorly, and then be benched for good.”

“Maybe in a year, or even six months, you’ll be loaned back here. But by then, your confidence and ambition will be completely different from now. You will have become a failure!”

These words were Yang Cheng’s truest thoughts, so he spoke with great conviction.

The players weren’t fools; they could tell the difference between perfunctory remarks and sincerity.

At the very least, there was no reason for Yang Cheng to deceive them.

With the way other Brazilian clubs operated, they would be eager for the player to leave as soon as they got the money.

“One of the very important reasons I decided to buy Palmeiras is that I don’t want to see so many talented young Brazilians going to Europe every year, only to fail for various reasons.”

“So at Palmeiras, you will work harder than at other clubs. You will have to master English and other foreign languages. You will have to abide by some of the most basic rules of top European clubs.”

“You will have to enter the dreaded gym and strengthen your physical training, just like professional players in Europe.”

“You will have to attend two or three tactical classes each week that seem boring and of unknown use.”

“But please believe me, when you get to Europe, you will discover that all of this is to help you better establish yourselves in the top European leagues!”

Yang Cheng’s speech received unanimous approval from all the players present.

The dressing room erupted in warm applause.

Afterward, Yang Cheng specifically gave Gerson a USB drive as a gift.

“They all say you’re very much like Paul Pogba.”

Yang Cheng smiled at Gerson. “Paul was a player I brought to Bayswater Chinese and whom I developed. Even now, he maintains close contact with me.”

“You’re 18, so take a look at the 18-year-old Paul Pogba. Then you’ll know where the gap lies.”

With that, Yang Cheng gave Gerson an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

He then met with Jesus, Neres, Richarlison, and others one by one.

These were all exceptionally talented young men who had also performed quite well.

He didn’t give USB drives to the others.

But once the Palmeiras training base renovation was complete and fully integrated with Bayswater Chinese, Nice, Atalanta, FC Twente, Málaga CF, and other clubs, the Palmeiras technical team would be able to access these videos and materials at any time.

By then, the young players at Palmeiras would know the gap between themselves and their European counterparts.

These weren’t just match footages, but all sorts of detailed training data and player physical stats.

Yang Cheng’s speech at Palmeiras sparked a fervent response within the Brazilian club.

From the players to the coaching staff to the employees, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

This was especially true for the young players on the team.

They were indeed anxious to make money, but firstly, the salary at Palmeiras was decent, and they were never late with payments.

Secondly, Yang Cheng was right.

Rushing to play in Europe, failing to adapt, and suffering a major setback could potentially ruin their entire careers.

Was that really what they wanted?

Instead of that, wouldn’t it be better to prepare for another year or two at Palmeiras, wait until they were more mature and stronger, and then head to Europe?

They wouldn’t earn less money, would they?

To quote Erik ten Hag, Yang Cheng’s words were more effective than anything he and the coaching staff could have said.

At least now, these young players no longer resisted the gym or the tactical classes.

Yang Cheng, in turn, gave high praise to Erik ten Hag’s coaching, encouraging him to keep up the good work.

“Once you’ve successfully developed this Palmeiras team, I promise to fulfill your wish!”

With Yang Cheng’s current status and influence, as long as Erik ten Hag produced results, recommending him to coach in one of Europe’s top five leagues would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?

Although Erik ten Hag knew it was just making empty promises, he happily bought into it.

He even worked with more enthusiasm.

…

Returning to Europe from Brazil, Yang Cheng’s first stop was Málaga, Spain.

After completely taking over the project from the Middle Eastern tycoon Al Thani, Yang’s Group began developing real estate projects in the cities of Málaga and Marbella.

Yang Cheng made a special trip to Marbella to see for himself.

After the expansion, the yacht marina would be transformed into a high-end commercial complex for tourism and consumption.

Yang’s Group had a high evaluation of this project and great expectations for it.

Although the short-term results of such projects were not obvious, once they matured, the long-term income would be very substantial.

The land in Málaga was also a commercial project themed around tourism and vacation, but construction had not yet begun.

On the other hand, the land to the north of this plot had already been acquired, and the construction of Málaga’s training base had started.

Notably, under the leadership of Pellegrini, Málaga CF had returned to La Liga after a year’s absence.

Although they had only spent one season in the Spanish second division, for the local fans in Málaga, it felt like a trip to hell and back. Their mindset was completely different from the past.

Looking at the past season, although the team was mainly composed of youngsters, players like centre-forward Santa Cruz, local winger Juanmi, Venezuelan midfielder Juanpi, and former Real Madrid player Miguel Torres all performed well.

But after helping Málaga CF return to La Liga, the 34-year-old Santa Cruz had also completed his mission.

After negotiations with the club, he eventually left Málaga CF on a free transfer.

As the team’s top scorer, having scored 17 goals in the Spanish second division last season and provided 10 assists, the performance of the 22-year-old local youngster Juanmi won unanimous recognition from the outside world.

Premier League club Southampton successfully signed the local winger for a transfer fee of 10 million euros.

Both Málaga CF and Pellegrini would have preferred to keep Juanmi.

His performance was indeed quite impressive.

But unfortunately, Southampton offered a higher salary and a bigger stage, and Juanmi chose to go to the Premier League.

As the core midfielder last season, Juanpi also attracted the attention of many La Liga teams.

Especially the newly promoted La Liga team from Andalusia, Real Betis.

Speaking of Real Betis, they are quite a swindler.

In the summer of 2014, both Real Betis and Málaga CF were relegated from La Liga.

At that time, Real Betis took advantage of Málaga’s bankruptcy to poach players from them.

Including players like Portillo; although he was poached, the 1 million euro transfer fee was still outstanding.

Now they wanted to sign Juanpi again.

The Venezuelan player’s value was not high, only 3 million euros.

But Real Betis had a reputation for being unreliable.

After returning to La Liga, Real Betis was indeed very active.

They signed Joaquín Sánchez and Juan Vargas from Fiorentina, and Rafael van der Vaart and Westermann from Hamburger SV…

Real Betis itself wasn’t particularly wealthy, so many players were signed on free transfers.

The annual salaries were not low.

This undoubtedly greatly increased the operational pressure on Real Betis.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng had Málaga’s General Manager Alfonso Díaz negotiate with Real Betis.

You want Juanpi?

Fine, give us 4 million euros directly!

No money?

No problem, we can trade for a player.

And just like that, Ceballos came to Málaga for 4 million euros.

In last season’s Spanish second division, Ceballos made 33 appearances, contributing 5 goals and 5 assists.

Juanpi made 29 appearances, with 6 goals and 5 assists, his overall performance being slightly better than Ceballos’s.

However, Ceballos was a local player and only 18 years old.

Juanpi was 21.

Although the Venezuelan midfielder was more mature, Pellegrini had a greater appreciation for Ceballos.

After selling two key players, Juanmi and Juanpi, and letting go of centre-forward Santa Cruz, the newly promoted Málaga also began its recruiting drive.

But the team still adhered to a frugal strategy, not engaging in a spending spree like fellow newly promoted team Real Betis, but focusing on low-cost acquisitions.

After the Brazilian centre-back Gabriel joined, Málaga’s defense was basically solid.

But in midfield and attack, there were big problems.

After signing Ceballos, on Yang Cheng’s recommendation, Málaga signed Luís Alberto from Liverpool for a transfer fee of 2 million euros.

This Spanish midfielder had performed excellently at Sevilla and Barça’s B team, but after transferring to Liverpool, he never got a chance.

He was loaned back to La Liga last season but also performed poorly.

His market value has dropped from a peak of 8 million euros to the current 2.5 million euros.

So, Málaga CF smoothly signed Luís Alberto for 2 million euros.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this player was originally loaned back to Deportivo La Coruña in the 15/16 season, where his form recovered. He later transferred to Serie A’s Lazio and reached the peak of his career.

There was no problem with his ability; he just couldn’t adapt to the Premier League.

At 22 years old, he was still full of potential.

In the forward line, after Santa Cruz’s departure, although Málaga still had Lautaro Martínez, the Argentine striker who would turn 18 in August was certainly not enough to meet the team’s requirements for competing in La Liga.

So, the team signed local striker Gerard Moreno from Villarreal for 3 million euros.

This local forward was not a regular starter at Villarreal, but he was very efficient in La Liga and the Europa League last season.

His shot accuracy was over fifty percent, and in the Europa League, it reached 58%.

He scored 1 goal for every 3 shots on average, a very impressive performance.

Moreover, his contract with Villarreal had only one year left, so Málaga CF signed him for 3 million euros.

In addition, Málaga signed 18-year-old Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur from Argentina’s Boca Juniors for 2 million euros.

And 20-year-old Belgian winger Trossard from Belgium’s Genk for 500,000 euros.

Furthermore, Málaga also signed Moroccan winger Ziyech from Eredivisie’s FC Twente.

However, the specific transfer fee for this latter deal was not disclosed publicly.

Ziyech had an outstanding season in the Eredivisie, with 11 goals and 16 assists in 31 appearances.

His current market value is estimated at over ten million.

Also, after a year of relentless pursuit, especially after seeing Málaga CF return to La Liga, Pedri from the Canary Islands finally agreed to join Málaga’s youth academy.

Unfortunately, when Yang Cheng arrived in Málaga, Pedri had not yet reported, so he didn’t get to meet him.

But when he met with Pellegrini, the Chilean engineer was very satisfied with the team’s current transfer business, especially the players they had signed.

He believed that with the team’s current level, avoiding relegation should not be a major problem.

This was also Yang Cheng’s requirement for Málaga in the new season.

They couldn’t just climb out of the Spanish second division only to be relegated right back, becoming a yo-yo club, could they?

…

With matters in Málaga concluded, Yang Cheng set off for Nice, France.

Compared to Málaga, Nice’s problems were simpler.

After years of operation, their talent reserve was well-established.

The only issue was that the defensive line was relatively weak.

With Koulibaly gone, the only centre-backs left were José Fonte and Umtiti.

Konaté, Upamecano, and Saliba were in the youth team, but they were all very young.

The oldest, Upamecano, was only 16. Could he be used?

So, Yang Cheng had previously instructed Nice to sign 20-year-old Akanji from FC Winterthur in Switzerland for 700,000 euros.

This way, although Nice had a major exodus this summer, their player roster was still decent.

With another two years of development, they’d be a strong team again!

…

Contrary to Nice’s situation, the biggest problem for Serie A’s Atalanta was not in the defense or midfield.

Although Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia had transferred to Real Madrid, their own academy product, young Franck Kessié, was promoted to the first team, so their talent pool was still abundant.

Moreover, Atalanta had also signed 15-year-old local youngster Sandro Tonali from Brescia’s youth team.

Tonali had joined Brescia from Piacenza on a free transfer in the summer of 2012.

Now he had moved to Atalanta.

In defense, they signed 17-year-old left-back Dimarco from Inter Milan for 1 million euros.

Additionally, there was another of Yang Cheng’s highly valued proteges in the youth academy, the 16-year-old centre-back Bastoni.

He had also been promoted to the first team.

It could be said that Atalanta’s overall strength was still very formidable.

The only problem was the centre-forward position.

Luca Toni was getting older. Although he was still going strong for his age, his form had declined sharply in the second half of last season.

At one point, he went through a long goal drought.

Under these circumstances, relying solely on Arkadiusz Milik was not enough.

On the two wings, they had Felipe Anderson, Diego Perotti, and Kingsley Coman, plus the versatile player Rodrigo De Paul. The overall strength was more than sufficient, and they could continuously create opportunities for the centre-forward.

The key was that if Luca Toni really couldn’t perform, they would definitely need to sign a new centre-forward.

Toni himself was aware of the problem, so he planned to retire in 2016.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng recommended Immobile, who was struggling at Borussia Dortmund, to Gasperini.

This Italian centre-forward, or rather, just forward.

Anyone who had watched Immobile play would probably have a rather average impression of him.

He had a decent physique but wasn’t very strong; you couldn’t expect him to take on an entire defensive line by himself.

He wasn’t slow, but he wasn’t fast either.

His footwork wasn’t rough, but it wasn’t delicate either.

He could hold up the ball and shake off defenders, but he wasn’t exceptional at either.

He was the type of player who was very unremarkable, with no particularly striking advantages, a player who didn’t leave a lasting impression.

In fact, Immobile’s career had been just like that.

From Juventus to Turin to Borussia Dortmund, the only surprise was that one season at Turin where he exploded.

He won the top scorer award with 22 Serie A goals.

But after a high-priced transfer to Borussia Dortmund, he struggled again.

Everyone thought Immobile was finished.

His market value had also fallen from a peak of 20 million euros to the current 10 million euros.

But in his previous life, Yang Cheng actually had the chance to talk with Immobile once.

Just as many people perceived, Immobile was a player who seemed unremarkable and, in fact, had no special talents.

So he lacked confidence and was also relatively introverted in private.

This led to his high-priced move to Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund, where, on one hand, BVB was in a difficult period, and almost no one was not struggling, including head coach Klopp.

On the other hand, having arrived as a big-money signing, everyone had high expectations for him.

But he was a newcomer, couldn’t speak the language, and had no friends around, which left him completely dumbfounded.

And his experience at Borussia Dortmund was a huge blow to him.

So in Yang Cheng’s previous life, he was later loaned to Sevilla and Turin but failed to regain his form.

Until he joined Lazio.

To say something that many might not understand, being on loan versus being transferred has a completely different psychological effect on a player.

Returning to Serie A on a permanent transfer, joining Lazio, a team that focused on building from the back, passing and penetrating, and flexible movement in the final third, Immobile’s originally unremarkable all-around ability instead became an advantage.

So, he experienced a massive release of form.

At Yang Cheng’s strong recommendation, Gasperini personally met with Immobile.

Many things fell into place after that.

Atalanta signed the Italian centre-forward back from Borussia Dortmund for a transfer fee of 10 million euros.

This was also the most significant signing since Yang Cheng took over Atalanta.

As Yang Cheng traveled from Málaga to Nice, and then to Bergamo, he personally met with Gasperini and Immobile.

Yang Cheng offered great encouragement to Immobile.

He expressed his high hopes for Immobile’s performance upon returning to Serie A, telling him to play with peace of mind and gradually regain his confidence.

Immobile also promised to do his best.

Yang Cheng also had a discussion with Gasperini on how to use Immobile.

After dealing with matters in Italy, Yang Cheng and his entourage set off for the Netherlands.

FC Twente was the last stop on his trip.

And the most important one!

After years of turmoil, the Eredivisie team was welcoming a summer without financial worries for the first time in over a decade.

And although the team’s number one star, Ziyech, was sold to Málaga CF in La Liga.

Yang Cheng had also signed several major players for the Eredivisie team.

Including a future leader of world football!

Chapter 343: The Great Poaching War! Poaching the Eredivisie to Tears! Majin Buu’s Path to Leveling Up!

In the past, when Yang Cheng watched historical costume dramas, he always found the scenes where people stopped processions on the street to file imperial complaints quite baffling.

How did these complainants know the emperor’s itinerary with such accuracy?

One had to understand, unofficially leaking the emperor’s whereabouts was no small matter.

It was practically a death wish!

If he were the emperor, he would definitely investigate the source of the leak.

But when he was stopped and complained to while flying from Milan to Amsterdam, how could he possibly have the mind to chase down the source of the information?

The display was simply too grand!

The man leading the group was none other than UEFA Vice-Chairman and Dutch Football Association Chairman, van Praag.

Accompanying him, besides officials from the Dutch FA, were the three bigwigs from Ajax: Bergkamp, Edwin van der Sar, and Marc Overmars.

Also present were PSV Eindhoven’s CEO Toon Gerbrands and director of football Marcel Brands.

Both of PSV Eindhoven’s men came from AZ Alkmaar.

Over the past few years, AZ Alkmaar had achieved remarkable results with both its first team and youth team, so its top management was poached wholesale by PSV Eindhoven.

Then there were Feyenoord’s CEO Eric Gudde and technical director Martin van Geel.

Both of them had resumes and backgrounds tied to Ajax.

It could be said that the relationships between the Eredivisie’s big three were, in fact, incredibly complex and intertwined.

And the reason for them “intercepting” Yang Cheng with such a grand formation was for a single purpose: to complain!

Complain about whom?

The Premier League clubs.

It was just too fucking outrageous!

As Yang Cheng had said before, with the massive influx of capital, especially in the Premier League where broadcasting rights fees were soaring, every club was making a huge profit.

But the competition was too fierce.

The gap between the Premier League and the Championship was tens of millions of pound sterling annually, and with the new broadcasting contract, that gap would instantly widen to over a hundred million.

So what were the Premier League teams to do?

Poach players, of course!

A frantic poaching spree!

To avoid relegation, they were truly willing to risk everything.

Therefore, the purchasing power of the Premier League was incredibly strong.

What followed was a universal surge in player transfer fees across the entire European transfer market, and they were only getting higher.

Under these circumstances, many teams, especially those Premier League clubs with excellent youth academies, began to adopt a two-pronged approach.

They poached players while simultaneously developing their own youth talent.

In fact, teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur had started doing this long ago.

It was just that this trend was becoming more and more pronounced.

Especially with The FA and the Premier League vigorously supporting youth development, and UEFA’s financial regulations also encouraging it, these clubs had done the math.

Rather than spending lavishly on relatively mature players, it was better to support their own youth academies and target young players specifically.

So, which age group of players offered the best value for money?

Actually, if one looked closely at the Premier League today, it was easy to discover that, apart from Bayswater Chinese, almost no club had youth teams for age groups below U10.

Let alone satellite youth academies like those of Bayswater Chinese, which even had six- and seven-year-old players.

For them, this was simply impossible.

One reason was the limitation on talent recruitment pools, and the other was that their facilities didn’t allow for it.

Not long ago, Arsenal’s Wenger had said something during an interview with a reporter from The Sun.

The reporter asked him why Arsenal couldn’t continuously produce young players like Bayswater Chinese and instead had to keep poaching from them.

Wenger first joked, “If you can poach, why develop them yourself?”

But he later explained that it was because Arsenal lacked the conditions for a complete youth development system.

Using a simple analogy, if a youth academy was considered an agent covering a certain area, Arsenal’s Colney training ground was like the general agent for the entire London region.

But Bayswater Chinese’s ten youth academies were like district agents that could reach down into individual boroughs.

These district agents would then connect to a wider network of community-level youth clubs, like capillaries.

This formed a dense youth development network.

It had become one of Bayswater Chinese’s moats.

The other London clubs simply couldn’t learn from it.

After Arsenal and Chelsea realized this, they also wanted to build satellite youth academies, but after building one or two, the costs became prohibitively high.

In recent years, property values in London had risen sharply, and with player values soaring, the cost of youth development had also surged. A rising tide lifts all boats.

They had already missed the best time to enter the game.

Forget about London, which was dominated by Bayswater Chinese; even in Manchester, Manchester City had tried to emulate the model, but they also had to stop after building only two.

Ultimately, the cost and output were disproportionate.

Wenger said they had run the numbers. Bayswater Chinese, relying on sponsorships and player development, not only managed to be financially self-sufficient in its youth academy operations each year but also turned a profit.

And what about Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham?

They had also done the math. Instead of making massive investments, it was better to maintain the status quo. Poaching players from Bayswater Chinese’s youth system each year and paying a fee was more cost-effective and saved on expenses.

But what was the price of this?

It was that the best and most outstanding young players each year were often monopolized by Bayswater Chinese.

They could only pick from what Bayswater Chinese left behind.

Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Hidden gems were always inevitable.

But these Premier League clubs weren’t fools either.

In London, in the Premier League, “I, your father,” can’t out-poach Bayswater Chinese, but if I go out across Europe, even the whole world, do you think I still can’t out-poach other clubs?

With the current prestige of the Premier League, was it really that hard to poach young players?

So, all the Premier League giants, including Arsenal and Chelsea, basically paid little attention to their U12 and younger age groups because it wasn’t worth the investment for them.

Their focus was on poaching homegrown players over the age of twelve.

At the same time, they were scouring the globe for outstanding young players around the age of fifteen.

Thus, you could often see news of a young player emerging somewhere, immediately attracting the attention of multiple Premier League teams, all of them swarming in.

Were they fighting over a person?

They were fighting for the future!

For young players around sixteen, their overall abilities had mostly taken shape. Scouts could see it, and their probability of success was very high.

After poaching them, a little bit of development for two or three years, and they would immediately stand out.

But for clubs in other European leagues, this was a real disaster.

According to their disgusted descriptions of Premier League teams, these damn Englishmen were like locusts.

After they passed through, not a blade of grass was left!

But the biggest problem wasn’t even that.

Take the Eredivisie clubs, for example.

They actually welcomed Premier League teams coming across the English Channel to poach their players.

Because that was how they made a living.

Without the Premier League clubs poaching, where would their income come from?

And the Premier League paid more.

The problem was, you couldn’t just exclusively poach rookies around the age of sixteen.

At that age, they hadn’t signed professional contracts yet. Poaching them meant no profit at all.

Even fishermen know to use a larger net mesh. You Premier League teams are really trying to wipe us out!

A recent piece of news involved Ajax.

Their academy genius, Donyell Malen, was poached by Arsenal.

He was only sixteen!

How could they be so ruthless? Animals!

The most outrageous part was that Arsenal had snatched Donyell Malen from the clutches of several other giants.

Including Manchester United, Barça, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City…

Oh, right, Donyell Malen’s agent was Raiola!

Damn it, even the agents were competing so fiercely!

Was this an isolated incident?

Obviously not!

Clubs like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, and AZ Alkmaar were being poached from countless times every year.

There was no way to stop it!

So, van Praag’s purpose in stopping Yang Cheng this time was to complain about those European giants.

“This time, I’ve decided to run for UEFA President. If I’m elected, I will definitely establish stricter rules and regulations to protect these young players.”

“Because at their age, going to a giant club like Arsenal gives them absolutely no chance. It might even ruin their entire lives!” van Praag said with righteous indignation.

Van der Sar and the others all chimed in in agreement.

They had clearly reached a consensus.

Yang Cheng also wore a serious expression, nodding continuously, looking as if he took the matter very seriously.

But in reality?

He was already cursing them in his head.

Get the hell out, you lot!

Feeling wronged?

Did Arsenal not leave you with compensation?

At most, it was just a little less than you wanted.

Besides, didn’t you, Ajax, also poach Donyell Malen from another club?

Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.

At least Arsenal left you with a compensation fee.

But when you poached Donyell Malen from Hollandia, you didn’t pay a single cent.

He was only ten back then!

When it came to this sort of thing, if you really calculated it, no one was more noble than anyone else.

It was just business.

It was just that the decline of the Eredivisie was so obvious now that players saw little hope and were all eagerly running towards the top leagues.

Did Donyell Malen not know that he wouldn’t get to play for a few years if he went to Arsenal?

He knew.

But going there would give him a better chance!

Staying in the Eredivisie, with Ajax in such a state of internal turmoil for the past few years—Cruyff launched his so-called revolution, only to end up suing Ajax in court over a personal grudge with van Gaal, causing a huge scandal.

It was just too ugly!

Were things any better at PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord?

They were also just flat-track bullies!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, many fans saw Erik ten Hag’s Ajax reach the Champions League semi-final and thought Ajax was badass and on the verge of a revival, but what was the reality?

Don’t even think about it.

That revival was just a fluke.

Or perhaps it should be said, it was a fortunate coincidence that arose from Ajax’s internal strife!

The current Ajax still operates on the rule of man.

It still lacks a complete, mature, and stable management structure.

The situations at Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven were similar.

This was why the Eredivisie was getting worse and worse!

Besides, many giant clubs now had their own methods for developing young players.

For example, Chelsea poached so many young talents only to turn around and send them to Vitesse to play in the Eredivisie.

This was also why the Dutch Football Association had been investigating the relationship between Vitesse and Roman Abramovich for so long but had found nothing.

Of course, Yang Cheng couldn’t say any of this out loud.

They were here to complain, and besides, they weren’t complaining about him, so what was there for him to say?

Moreover, the key point of van Praag’s speech wasn’t about youth players being poached.

It was that he had decided to run for UEFA President!

As a top student cultivated by nine years of compulsory education in China, Yang Cheng’s reading comprehension was quite sharp.

But just as this thought flashed through Yang Cheng’s mind, Toon Gerbrands of PSV Eindhoven pointed the finger directly at him.

Or rather, not at Yang Cheng, but at FC Twente.

Gerbrands stated that it wasn’t just clubs from the top five leagues abroad who were undermining Dutch football; even within the Eredivisie, someone was breaking the rules.

And that was FC Twente!

This summer, Twente had first poached a sixteen-year-old young player named Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven’s youth academy.

That was one thing.

After all, Gakpo hadn’t played for the first team yet, nor had he signed a professional contract, so being poached was just that.

But Twente had then poached another seventeen-year-old youngster named Steven Bergwijn.

This was breaking the rules.

Bergwijn had already made an appearance for PSV Eindhoven’s first team.

Even if it was only for a mere eleven minutes, he had still played.

Moreover, he was a Dutch U19 and U21 international player, highly regarded and favored by everyone, in no way inferior to Donyell Malen who was poached by Arsenal.

Listening to Gerbrands’s indignant and tearful accusation, Yang Cheng nodded in agreement.

At the same time, he was secretly sizing up the group opposite him.

And as soon as Gerbrands finished speaking, a stream of complaints began from Marc Overmars over there.

Twente was poaching from Ajax’s youth academy too.

Seventeen-year-old Moroccan youngster Mazraoui, fifteen-year-old Sven Botman, fourteen-year-old Jurriën Timber, thirteen-year-old Ryan Gravenberch…

Twente was fixated on Ajax’s flock, shearing it relentlessly.

The most outrageous thing was that they had even used some trick to forcibly snatch away Matthijs de Ligt, a player highly regarded within Ajax who wouldn’t even turn sixteen until August.

“This player is universally recognized in our Ajax academy as a future star, a key target for cultivation!”

Overmars’s heart bled as he spoke of this.

When Yang Cheng heard this, he instantly became enraged and slammed the table as he stood up.

“How can this be allowed? This is completely against the rules!”

“What on earth is FC Twente doing? Completely disregarding the rules, it’s just a complete fucking mess!”

“By the way, Michael, this kind of behavior from Twente must be heavily, heavily punished!”

Yang Cheng’s declaration, however, made the Dutch FA Chairman van Praag, who was standing to the side, feel awkward.

Why?

If he could punish them, he would have done so long ago.

They were poaching, yes, but not mindlessly.

For instance, when Twente poached the 16-year-old de Ligt, why didn’t they poach the 17-year-old van de Beek?

Because van de Beek couldn’t be poached; he had signed a professional contract.

And de Ligt?

He wasn’t old enough yet, so he hadn’t signed a professional contract.

As for Mazraoui, that was purely Ajax digging its own grave.

Although the Moroccan player was seventeen, he also hadn’t signed a professional contract.

The key was, although Twente was poaching, they were doing it by the book, leaving behind compensation fees.

As for why the players wanted to leave, did anyone even need to ask?

Twente was now clinging to the thick thigh of Bayswater Chinese. Who couldn’t see the future of this team?

On the other hand, Ajax—what a mess its internal affairs had been over the past few years.

It was heartbreaking just to think about it.

Van Praag had been Ajax’s Chairman for over twenty years, creating the club’s glory in the early 1990s.

Who would have thought this team would fall to such a state?

After his outburst, Yang Cheng immediately turned to Feyenoord’s Eric Gudde and Martin van Geel.

“Speak up. Did Twente poach players from your youth team as well?”

“Tell me, and I’ll definitely hold them accountable!”

But as soon as Yang Cheng finished speaking, Eric Gudde and Martin van Geel looked embarrassed.

“Actually… actually, Twente hasn’t poached anyone from us,” van Geel said with a bitter smile.

“They haven’t?”

Yang Cheng wore an expression of absolute disbelief. “How could they not have? You don’t need to cover for them. Just speak up boldly, I’ll back you up. You think I’ll let them get away with it?”

Van Geel’s smile was uglier than a grimace. “Really, they haven’t.”

“Huh?” Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at van Praag.

The Dutch FA Chairman looked even more awkward.

“In recent years, Feyenoord’s youth academy has indeed been… a bit miserable.”

Nearby, Adam Crozier and Xia Qing almost burst out laughing.

Even the people from Ajax and PSV Eindhoven had expressions of barely suppressed amusement.

How did this situation seem to be veering into a farce?

Frankly, even though Yang Cheng’s self-control had improved by leaps and bounds over the years, he was struggling immensely to keep a straight face at this moment.

Just how miserable could they be?

Poaching from Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, but not from Feyenoord?

This was more than just a normal humiliation!

If Yang Cheng were from Feyenoord, he would probably march over to Twente and demand an explanation: Do you look down on us that much?

On what grounds do you poach from Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, but not from us, Feyenoord?

We are the big three of the Eredivisie, united as one. If you’re going to poach, you have to poach from all of us. That’s what you call fucking fairness!

You can’t do this!

Eric Gudde clearly sensed the awkward atmosphere in the room and immediately coughed lightly a couple of times.

“Although Twente hasn’t poached from us at Feyenoord, they have caused widespread complaints throughout the Dutch football world.”

“They poached 19-year-old youngster Denzel Dumfries from Sparta Rotterdam.”

“They poached 14-year-old youngster Micky van de Ven from Volendam’s youth team.”

“They poached 13-year-old youngster Sepp van den Berg from Zwolle’s youth team.”

“They poached 17-year-old youngster Teun Koopmeiners from AZ Alkmaar’s youth team.”

“They signed 13-year-old goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen from Breda.”

“They poached 15-year-old youngster Paul van Hecke from the JVOZ academy in Zeeland.”

“They signed 14-year-old Joshua Zirkzee from ADO in The Hague.”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng’s brow furrowed, and he once again looked at van Praag.

“Is Twente just so brazen, poaching for free from everywhere?”

Van Praag couldn’t have been more frustrated.

Bro, no, big bro, my dear bro, can we stop playing dumb?

What kind of relationship you have with Twente, you know, I know, everyone here knows.

Why I brought them here, I know, and you know too.

Can’t you just be straight with me?

“Actually, Twente’s widespread poaching has indeed caused a lot of resentment, but they operate within the rules. And although they poach, they do leave compensation fees.”

“Also, they don’t just poach young players. For example, Heerenveen’s captain, Marten de Roon, transferred to Twente for a fee of one point three million euros.”

“But Heerenveen is also unhappy because they wanted to keep de Roon. If Twente hadn’t intervened, the two sides might have renewed his contract.”

Yang Cheng had a moment of realization.

In his previous life, de Roon had transferred to Serie A’s Atalanta this very summer, later becoming Atalanta’s captain and performing exceptionally well.

He never expected that, after all the twists and turns, de Roon wouldn’t end up at Atalanta but would still fall into his hands.

Seeing that the time was right, Yang Cheng decided not to beat around the bush any longer.

“Alright then. I’ll head over to Twente later to get an understanding of the situation. If it’s true, I’ll definitely give them a stern talking-to!”

Yang Cheng’s tone was not that of Bayswater Chinese’s owner.

It was that of the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

After a pause, Yang Cheng turned to look at the expectant van Praag and smiled faintly.

“The current environment is indeed a bit chaotic, and we really do need more experienced people like you, Michael, to come out and sort out this mess!”

Upon hearing this, van Praag’s eyes instantly lit up.

There was hope!

At the very least, Yang Cheng wasn’t opposed!

Seeing van Praag’s understanding, Yang Cheng chuckled inwardly.

It was within his expectations that van Praag would run for UEFA President.

But whether he could win, Yang Cheng couldn’t guarantee, nor would he lower himself to get involved in such matters.

Besides, on what grounds should van Praag expect Yang Cheng’s open support?

The fact that Yang Cheng wasn’t opposing his candidacy was already quite polite.

As for whether he could win, that would depend on his own abilities.

…

After having a meal with van Praag and the others.

As soon as they stepped out, Yang Cheng told Adam Crozier and Xia Qing that they needed to give the Twente team a bonus.

At the very least, they had done an excellent job.

They had poached so much that they nearly made the whole league weep!

If one were to look back from the year 2024, how on earth did Twente manage to pick out only the most badass young players to poach?

Were they cheating?

But in reality, from the perspective of 2015, aside from a few like de Ligt, most of these players were not yet very conspicuous. The truly exceptional ones, like Donyell Malen, had already been snatched away by the giants.

Of course, a player’s growth doesn’t solely depend on talent.

Especially now.

As the level of youth development gets higher and higher, whether a player can succeed depends on talent and personal effort, of course, but the surrounding environment is also crucial, especially the atmosphere of the club they are in.

Take Donyell Malen for example.

He was currently favored by all the top clubs in European football; everyone was optimistic about him.

There were indeed no problems with his talent or himself as a player.

Raiola had a very good eye for talent.

But this player ultimately didn’t live up to Arsenal’s expectations, mainly because the football environment at The Gunners wasn’t great.

After returning to the Netherlands and joining PSV Eindhoven, he immediately started performing again.

A similar situation occurred with the genius Martin Ødegaard, who joined Real Madrid.

After bouncing around so many clubs, the fact that he was able to succeed in the end was quite surprising.

Another genius, Sergio Canales, wasn’t so lucky.

So, a lot of the time, youth development is also a matter of luck.

When Yang Cheng and his entourage arrived in Enschede again, besides being greeted by the people from FC Twente, they were also warmly welcomed by the mayor of Enschede, Onno van Veldhuizen.

Several months had passed, and the current Yang Cheng was not just the owner of Bayswater Chinese, but also the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

This made van Veldhuizen incredibly proud.

He had had the foresight to contact Yang Cheng in time.

If he had been any later, by now, he probably wouldn’t have even had the chance.

After Yang Cheng acquired Twente, his team immediately fulfilled their promises.

As for Doyen Sports in London, Yang Cheng made a phone call, paid off the outstanding loan, and bought back the players’ ownership rights. The matter was considered closed.

Doyen Sports certainly had to give Yang Cheng face.

After buying back the players’ ownership, Twente could righteously send documents to the Dutch Football Association, proving that the club had not sold player ownership to third-party companies like Doyen Sports.

The Dutch FA wisely accepted the gesture and immediately approved it, publicly clarifying the matter.

As for the debt owed to the Enschede city government, it was paid off the day after the acquisition was finalized.

In the meantime, Twente had halted the renewal of the naming rights for De Grolsch Veste stadium and initiated plans to expand the final stand of the stadium. They also launched the training ground project at Diekman Sports Park, south of the city center.

The training ground in Hengelo was also undergoing renovations.

In short, with money, many things became much easier to handle.

Internally, Twente fully adopted the management system of Bayswater Chinese.

For the most important position of head coach, Yang Cheng personally invited Vitesse’s head coach, Peter Bosz.

Up to this point, Peter Bosz hadn’t really produced any truly dazzling coaching results.

His tenure at De Graafschap at the beginning of the century was a failure. Later, his coaching at Heracles Almelo was good, not only leading the team to promotion to the Eredivisie but also successfully avoiding relegation.

It was because of his excellent coaching at Heracles Almelo that he was able to move to Feyenoord as director of football.

It wasn’t until 2010 that he returned to coach Heracles Almelo.

In 2013, he began coaching Vitesse, and their results had been relatively stable.

In recent years, Vitesse had been mired in financial difficulties. It was rumored that Roman Abramovich’s financial support was what saved the team from bankruptcy.

So, in terms of investment, Vitesse actually didn’t spend much.

But under Peter Bosz’s management, Vitesse’s results were consistently among the top in the Eredivisie, a testament to his skill.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Peter Bosz coached Vitesse until January 2016, after which he was poached by the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he coached for half a year with excellent results.

In the summer of 2016, he returned to the Netherlands to coach Ajax.

In recent years, Ajax had been in chaos internally, but on the football side, under the coaching of Frank de Boer, their results had steadily improved.

In the just-concluded 2014-15 season, they finished as runners-up in the Eredivisie with 71 points, behind PSV Eindhoven’s 88.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, in the 2015-16 season, de Boer’s last year coaching Ajax, the team earned 82 points, second only to PSV Eindhoven’s 84, once again finishing as runners-up.

And in the 2016-17 season, de Boer went to Serie A to coach Inter Milan, while Peter Bosz took over Ajax, earning 81 points, second only to Feyenoord’s 82.

Runners-up three seasons in a row!

He also led the team to the Europa League final, only to narrowly lose to Manchester United.

But Peter Bosz’s advanced high-pressing and possession-based tactics, and his passion for attacking football, earned the Ajax team under his management overwhelming praise.

For example, he implemented a “5-second rule” specifically for Ajax.

It was a philosophy in the same vein as Pep Guardiola’s.

The goal was to do everything possible to win back possession within five seconds of losing the ball.

This made the Ajax team under Bosz the most potent attacking force and the most solid defensive team in the Eredivisie at the time.

But what was most impressive was Peter Bosz’s promotion and cultivation of young players.

Youngsters like van de Beek, de Ligt, and Frenkie de Jong were all promoted and entrusted with important roles during Peter Bosz’s tenure.

It could be said that this laid the foundation for Erik ten Hag’s later Ajax team that reached the Champions League semi-final.

So why did Peter Bosz leave Ajax?

This was what Yang Cheng mentioned earlier: Ajax was a complete mess internally.

At that time, Peter Bosz, with his passionate, attacking style of football and his vigorous promotion of young players, had completely won everyone over.

But at that moment, conflicts arose within Ajax.

Some conflicts from the board of directors were passed down to the first team, leading to friction between the outsider head coach, Peter Bosz, and assistant coaches like Andries Spijkerman and Bergkamp.

Spijkerman and Bergkamp were both Ajax veterans, especially the Ice Prince, who was a legendary club figure.

CEO Edwin van der Sar sided with the two veterans, while Marc Overmars supported Peter Bosz.

The final result was that Peter Bosz left Ajax in a fit of anger and went to coach Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

As it turned out, this breakup was terrible for both parties.

Peter Bosz experienced a Waterloo at Dortmund, getting sacked by December.

Ajax’s new head coach, promoted from the B team and also an Ajax legend, Marcel Keizer, didn’t achieve good results and was also sacked by December.

At that time, Ajax had once considered bringing Peter Bosz back.

But in the end, Ajax chose Erik ten Hag.

Peter Bosz was unemployed for a year before taking over Bayer Leverkusen in December 2018, and later coached Lyon and PSV Eindhoven.

Overall, Peter Bosz’s coaching level was quite good.

Yang Cheng poached him for Twente this time partly because his ability was indeed very good, and his technical and tactical style was a perfect fit for Yang Cheng’s vision for the club.

On the other hand, he was also very skilled at developing young players.

During his visit to Enschede, Yang Cheng made a point of meeting with Peter Bosz to have a long chat about Twente’s future direction.

Their philosophies were very similar, and many of their ideas clicked instantly.

In terms of results, Yang Cheng was also very pragmatic and did not set overly high expectations.

Peter Bosz, on the other hand, hoped to use Twente as a platform to take his coaching career to the next level.

Whether it was OGC Nice, Atalanta, Málaga CF, or even Palmeiras in Brazil, Yang Cheng and his team’s ability to build a team was there for all to see.

Naturally, Peter Bosz also hoped to showcase his talents at Twente.

Over the past period, besides poaching from all over the Netherlands, Twente had also been active in regions like Northern and Eastern Europe.

For example, they bought back 20-year-old Dutch defender Nathan Aké from the Premier League’s Chelsea youth team.

This player had been at Chelsea for four or five years but never got a chance to break through and was now about to be sent out on successive loans.

In the end, he chose to return to the Netherlands and join Twente.

Yang Cheng’s team spent one point five million euros on him.

In addition, the team also poached 14-year-old Dutch youngster Jeremie Frimpong from Manchester City’s youth team.

From Norwegian club Hødd, they signed 19-year-old midfielder Fredrik Aursnes.

This player only cost Twente five hundred thousand euros.

From Viking in Norway, they signed 17-year-old defender Julian Ryerson.

From the JMG Academy Bamako in Mali’s capital, they signed 17-year-old midfielder Amadou Haidara.

This transfer cost Twente five hundred thousand euros, and since Haidara would not turn eighteen until January 31, 2016, the transfer would be completed during the winter transfer window.

Twente also signed 14-year-old youngster Dominik Szoboszlai from the Főnix-GOLD club in White City, southwest of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on a free transfer.

As it was an intra-European Union transfer, it was unaffected despite Szoboszlai being only fourteen.

Just like another Hungarian player, Milos Kerkez, who was only eleven now but had already transferred from Serbia to Austria’s Rapid Vienna over six months ago.

Now, he was transferring to Eredivisie’s Twente to continue his development in their youth academy.

And joining the team around the same time was another young player from Georgia, the 14-year-old Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Twente also signed centre-forward Alexander Isak from Sweden’s AIK, who would turn sixteen at the end of September.

This youngster held both Swedish and Eritrean nationality.

From Djursholm in Sweden, they signed 16-year-old Swedish and Burkinabé dual-nationality centre-back Isak Hien.

Twente also signed 17-year-old centre-back Dávid Hancko from Slovakia’s MŠK Žilina.

From Copenhagen in Denmark, they signed 16-year-old youngster Morten Hjulmand.

From Swiss club Servette, they signed 18-year-old midfielder Denis Zakaria.

Twente also signed Ukrainian midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko from Russian Premier League relegation team FC Ufa for a transfer fee of six hundred and fifty thousand euros.

The 18-year-old had started twice and appeared as a substitute five times in previous Russian Premier League matches, playing only 235 minutes with a very average performance.

The team also signed 18-year-old centre-forward Artem Dovbyk from Dnipro’s Cherkashchyna in Ukraine.

Among all the players, the one Yang Cheng valued most was the 15-year-old youngster Erling Haaland, signed from Norway’s Bryne.

Haaland had already made a name for himself at Bryne, and Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy had been watching him for a long time, keeping in contact, as he was a future leader of world football.

Haaland’s father was a former professional player and preferred his son to grow and progress step by step.

Joining a giant club in one go was, of course, a huge leap, but it came with intense competitive pressure that could even overwhelm a player.

This was clearly not what the elder Haaland wanted to see.

Thus, although they had maintained contact with Bayswater Chinese, the younger Haaland had never joined them.

But this time, after Yang Cheng acquired Twente, he called the father and son and promised the younger Haaland first-team playing opportunities in the Eredivisie.

This greatly tempted the elder Haaland.

It was very much in line with his thinking.

The Eredivisie was close to Norway, and the quality of Dutch youth development was undeniable.

After being acquired by Yang Cheng, Twente would definitely increase its investment, especially in the development of young players.

If nothing else, every so often, the Twente youth team could participate in European exchange matches, invitationals, and overseas training camps. Not only would the players get more match experience, but they could also familiarize themselves with the level of opponents from other leagues early on.

This would be a great help to a player’s future development.

Stay at Bryne?

Continue to be stuck in Norway?

After careful consideration, the elder Haaland decided to bring his son to the Netherlands to join Twente.

…

Over the past few months, Bayswater Chinese’s scouting network in the Netherlands, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe had been operating at full throttle, searching for young players everywhere.

Even some who were just beginning to emerge were recruited.

This turned Twente’s first team and youth teams into a multinational force.

When Yang Cheng visited the Hengelo training ground for an inspection, he specifically reminded them to take good care of these young players, no matter what.

Bayswater Chinese had accumulated a wealth of experience over the years on how to accommodate them and create a good atmosphere.

From schooling to accommodation to food, Twente had already made thorough preparations.

Besides the players signed from the Netherlands and from Northern and Eastern Europe, Twente also had a group of homegrown youth players, such as goalkeeper Joël Drommel and midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.

These two players were promoted to the first team and would continue to play a role for the club.

Reijnders, in particular, had joined Twente’s youth academy in 2011 but was originally planning to leave in 2015. However, after Yang Cheng acquired Twente, he chose to renew his contract and stay.

In the coming years, Twente’s team-building strategy would remain the same: focusing on homegrown talent, supplemented by young players from other European countries and regions, to form a young, vibrant, and competitive team.

Yang Cheng stayed in Enschede for three days.

He not only had in-depth discussions with Peter Bosz but also communicated with everyone at the club.

The elder Haaland even made a special trip from Norway with his son to meet him.

Yang Cheng had high hopes for Haaland.

“You’re a player I have my eye on. Your future is definitely in London!”

Yang Cheng patted Haaland’s shoulder and offered solemn encouragement.

“Work hard, build a solid foundation first. After you’ve maxed out your level at Twente, we’ll take it one step at a time.”

“When you land in London in the future, you will definitely shock the world!”

Playing in the Eredivisie at fifteen?

Why not?

According to research from Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy, if a player’s skill level reached that of a U13 player, it was best to have them play at the U15 level.

By the same token, if their level reached U15, they should go to U17.

In other words, they should always skip one or two levels.

Whether it was one or two levels depended on the specific case, so the guidance and planning of youth coaches were very important.

Why couldn’t they stay at U13 or U15?

It was simple. When a player’s skill reached that level, keeping them at U13 or U15 was tantamount to letting them stay in their comfort zone. Their pace of improvement would slow down, or even stagnate.

Making them skip levels and keeping them under a certain amount of pressure would make them improve faster.

Of course, one couldn’t rush their development excessively.

The specific arrangements still needed to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

It was definitely impossible for Haaland to be a regular starter in the Eredivisie.

But playing as a substitute, making occasional appearances, with his main battlefield remaining the B team or the U18s—Yang Cheng felt this was very suitable.

Once he had improved enough, he could go directly from the Eredivisie to Ligue 1’s Nice or La Liga’s Málaga to gain more experience.

In short, the goal was to keep him constantly hungry and improving.

For example, Kylian Mbappé was about to make his first-team debut now.

The biggest difference between teams like Nice, Málaga, Atalanta, and Twente and Bayswater Chinese was that Bayswater Chinese had to pursue results.

But the other teams didn’t. Their main purpose was to develop players.

Of course, the prerequisite was avoiding relegation. If they could achieve good results along the way, that would be even better.

Who would refuse that?

But the club’s most important task was still player development.

Although he had already received Yang Cheng’s promise over the phone, receiving a face-to-face guarantee now filled Haaland with fighting spirit!

“Don’t worry, I’ll be in London to find you soon!” Haaland was already eager to have a try.

Yang Cheng, of course, smiled and gave his affirmation.

But in his heart, there was a tinge of regret.

By the time Haaland was good enough to play for Bayswater Chinese, when Majin Buu landed in the Premier League, the head coach of Bayswater Chinese would certainly no longer be Yang Cheng.

In recent years, as he acquired more and more teams, Yang Cheng’s affairs became increasingly busy.

His parents back in China were getting older, and inheriting the family business was becoming an urgent matter.

Now, Xia Qing had already started to take over some of Yang’s Group’s overseas operations.

The group was so large, with two publicly listed companies; there were too many things to handle.

And Yang Cheng was also very busy on his end.

Especially after becoming the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng had even more to deal with.

Or perhaps it should be said, his playing field was no longer confined to the football pitch.

With his current status and position, continuing to coach was indeed not very appropriate.

For one thing, when referees encountered him, what were they supposed to do?

Wasn’t this clearly taking advantage of his position?

Besides, Yang Cheng’s arena was no longer limited to the stadium.

He was already standing on a higher and broader stage.

Therefore, Yang Cheng had previously discussed with Xia Qing and Adam Crozier that he planned to step down after this season. If Flick could smoothly take over the team, Yang Cheng would basically retire from coaching.

But this was only the idea of Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and Adam Crozier.

The specifics would have to wait until he returned to London to have a proper talk with Brian Kidd, Flick, and the others.

Having managed Bayswater Chinese for so many years, Yang Cheng had an emotional attachment to it.

At the same time, his feelings were quite complicated.

His main worry now was whether Flick could successfully take over the team.

Could he command the dressing room?

That was the question!

Chapter 344: The Most Insane Price in History! Yang Cheng’s Success Can Be Replicated! The First Step Toward Globalization

The new season’s training camp was about to begin.

Returning to England from the Netherlands, Yang Cheng threw himself into a whirlwind of work.

On one hand, he was remotely monitoring the progress back at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. On the other, he was preparing for the Bayswater Chinese “Summer Sponsorship Conference.”

This conference was drawing considerable attention within the industry.

For the first time, Yang Cheng was consolidating the commercial rights of several clubs under his command, launching a unified sponsorship drive. The scale of the operation was truly extraordinary.

Bayswater Chinese, of course, needed no introduction.

Atalanta had been the runner-up in Serie A last season, consistently qualifying for the Champions League.

OGC Nice were the reigning champions of Ligue 1 and had reached the Champions League semi-finals.

Although Málaga CF was a newly promoted team in La Liga, they boasted the renowned manager Pellegrini, and their young squad was quite competitive.

At the very least, they had already knocked out two La Liga teams in last season’s Copa del Rey.

Then there was FC Twente. Historically a mid-table Eredivisie team, they had now appointed the famous local coach Peter Bosz and made significant moves, bringing in a host of young players to inject new vitality into the squad.

The signing of Heerenveen’s captain and core midfielder, Marten de Roon, in particular, had raised expectations for FC Twente’s performance in the upcoming season.

Even in distant Brazil, Palmeiras had not only won the Campeonato Paulista but was also currently leading the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

As The Times and The Guardian had previously reported, Yang Cheng and his team were executing a complete mismatch against the rest of European, and even world, football.

And their most central weapon was their methodology!

Both of these authoritative media outlets had conducted in-depth reports and analyses on the transformations of Yang Cheng’s clubs over the past few years.

Bayswater Chinese was undoubtedly the benchmark Yang Cheng had established, a team he had painstakingly built over many years.

But from the very beginning, this team was different from all others.

It was even completely different from powerhouse clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester United, which had incorporated modern management and possessed formidable commercial operations.

The fundamental reason was that the successful model Yang Cheng had created for Bayswater Chinese could be replicated.

From Bayswater Chinese to OGC Nice, then to Atalanta, and now to Málaga CF, FC Twente, and Palmeiras.

Yang Cheng and his team were applying the successful methodology of Bayswater Chinese to their other clubs.

Perhaps in the short term, it didn’t seem entirely successful, but in the long run, success was inevitable.

Take Atalanta, for example.

This summer, Atalanta sold only one midfielder: Lucas Biglia.

The 29-year-old Argentine midfielder brought in a transfer fee of 30 million euros for Atalanta.

But Atalanta only spent 10 million euros to sign Immobile.

With one departure and one arrival, Atalanta had turned a profit of 20 million euros.

And any fan who watched Atalanta’s games last season would not worry about Biglia’s departure affecting the True Black and Blues. They still had midfielders like Bruno Fernandes, Brozović, Bryan Cristante, Nicolò Barella, and Milinković-Savić.

With such a roster, Atalanta’s midfield remained incredibly competitive for the new season.

Juventus, AS Roma, and Inter Milan wanted to poach Felipe Anderson, but they simply couldn’t meet Atalanta’s asking price.

AC Milan’s attempt to sign Bonaventura was also rejected.

The Atalanta youth academy product even publicly stated that he wanted to play in the Champions League.

This was a devastating blow to the fans of the Rossoneri.

Some fans even threatened to prevent Atalanta from playing their Champions League matches at the San Siro in the new season.

With Immobile’s arrival, the biggest question was whether he could regain his form.

If Immobile could rediscover the form he had at Turin, then Atalanta might very well launch a challenge for the Serie A title in the new season. For the True Black and Blues, this would be an unprecedented charge!

In their entire history, Atalanta had never won the Serie A championship.

And even if this charge failed, what about the next season? Or the season after that?

Given Atalanta’s current club management, once the new stadium was renovated, they would be completely transformed, undergoing a metamorphosis.

By then, they would become one of the very few clubs in all of Serie A to own their own stadium.

“If we observe closely, it’s easy to see that Atalanta is following the very path that Nice successfully navigated.”

“Perhaps the scenery along the way is different, and the potholes in the road vary, but their direction is the same.”

“This is what we’re talking about, the methodology that Yang Cheng and his team have distilled from the success of Bayswater Chinese.”

“He is now applying this methodology to his other teams.”

“Nice succeeded, Atalanta has basically succeeded, and next, Palmeiras, Málaga, and FC Twente are also certain to succeed!”

The Times and The Guardian both stated that everyone in the industry was paying close attention to the upcoming sponsorship conference.

It would represent an analysis of Yang Cheng and his team’s model from a commercial perspective, through the eyes of the sponsors.

This was a first in the industry!

“In the past, many capitalists or consortiums have owned multiple clubs simultaneously, but to circumvent the rules, they would employ various methods to avoid scrutiny or to conceal their activities.”

“But no one has ever been like Yang Cheng and his team, who have laid everything bare, accepting the supervision of all, while simultaneously pioneering an unprecedented business model.”

The Times and The Guardian both asserted that if sponsors endorsed Yang Cheng’s approach, then more and more capitalists and consortiums would surely emulate and learn from his model in the future.

Manchester City, for instance.

The Blue Moons were already loudly announcing the formation of the City Football Group.

The consortium from Abu Dhabi was also ambitious, aiming to build its own football empire across the globe.

“They all clearly see the advanced nature of Yang Cheng’s model.”

“But the challenge is that many capitalists and consortiums can’t even manage a single club properly. Blind expansion will only lead to them confusing their priorities, and could even lead to their ruin.”

…

When Hans-Dieter Flick, back from his vacation, knocked on the door of Yang Cheng’s office, Yang Cheng was wearing headphones, in a video conference on his tablet with Mark Pieth and others in Zurich.

Motioning for Flick to take a seat, Yang Cheng continued his meeting.

The meeting lasted for nearly an hour.

The parties involved were the members of the Supervisory Board, led by Mark Pieth, and the members of FIFA’s reform committee, led by Vice-Chairman David Gill. The topic was FIFA’s next steps in its reform process.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to speak throughout the entire session; he was just there to listen.

But his presence was required.

“I’ve just been too busy lately, no time to travel. So they suggested I join by video, and I couldn’t really refuse,” Yang Cheng explained to Flick with a wry smile after the meeting ended.

The entire meeting had lasted a full three hours.

There were simply too many matters to discuss.

He felt stiff all over from sitting so long.

Yang Cheng suggested they go for a walk.

As soon as Flick returned to the club, he had heard about Yang Cheng’s schedule.

Since returning from Zurich, he had been swamped with endless tasks. Before that, he had toured their various operations, from Brazil to Spain, France, Italy, and finally from the Netherlands back to London.

The great are always busy!

Flick now fully understood the meaning of that phrase.

The Brent training center was huge!

It was divided into two sections: the first team in the south and the youth academy in the north.

Both sections were adjacent to the Brent Reservoir, just in different locations.

Near the reservoir, Bayswater Chinese had designed and built a beautiful waterfront walking path.

It was right below the players’ dormitory building.

From their rooms, they could overlook the entire Brent Reservoir, a stunning view.

In their leisure time, they could take a relaxing walk on the path.

There was even a consensus within Bayswater Chinese.

The sunrise from the first-team’s side of the waterfront path was beautiful, but the sunset from the youth academy’s side was truly a sight to behold.

It was now time to watch the sunset, and Yang Cheng and Flick were walking along the first-team’s path.

When the lights came on, it created a unique atmosphere.

“Hans, you’ve been with our club for a year now. How do you feel?” Yang Cheng asked casually as they walked.

“Very good. Everything is very good,” Flick replied.

He was not someone who hadn’t seen the world. He had spent time at big clubs like Bayern Munich and had visited many other top teams.

So he knew that the “good” at Bayswater Chinese was genuinely good.

“What are your thoughts on the team for the new season?”

Without much thought, Flick replied offhandedly, “Our current age structure is excellent, a very reasonable mix of veterans, players in their prime, and youngsters. I believe we’ll still be very competitive in the new season.”

Among the veterans, players like Pepe, Thiago Silva, and Piszczek were still very competitive.

They had all maintained their form well.

Giroud and Modrić were both 29, in the prime of their careers, and also in excellent shape.

As for the young players, that went without saying.

Sterling, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Harry Kane, and others.

Although Aaron Ramsey had been famous for years, he was actually only 24.

De Bruyne was also 24 now.

The entire age structure of Bayswater Chinese was currently at a perfect stage for achieving results.

Excluding the few youngsters promoted from the youth team, the average age was 25.47 years.

Even including Solanke, Declan Rice, and Alexander-Arnold, the average age was still only 24.42.

It was, one might say, a very, very suitable age.

If Yang Cheng were to manage the team himself, with no distractions, he could guarantee that for many years to come, no team in the Premier League or Europe could compare to Bayswater Chinese.

His team would sweep across the entire world of football!

Flick’s assessment of the team’s current situation was quite similar to Yang Cheng’s.

And so Yang Cheng asked him for his thoughts on the team’s next steps for the future.

Flick then realized this was another personal interview from the owner.

So, he thought seriously for a moment.

“To be honest, from what I see now, I believe that for many years to come, we will still need to build our core around midfielders like Toni Kroos, Modrić, De Bruyne, and Aaron Ramsey.”

“Looking at European football today, midfielders of their caliber have become extremely rare.”

Yang Cheng smiled slightly.

He was quite satisfied with Flick’s answer.

Toni Kroos and Modrić were indeed a midfield combination that was hard to replicate.

Players of their type were becoming increasingly scarce.

But that wasn’t really important.

Yang Cheng wasn’t devaluing the two of them; on the contrary, he felt it would be difficult for anyone to replicate their success in the future.

Just as Barça could never replicate the success of the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio.

Every player is unique.

But football is always moving forward.

When one type of player disappears, another type will emerge.

Combined, they form another classic partnership, capable of playing a crucial role.

It’s a trend, and an inevitability.

“At Málaga, there’s a Dutch midfielder named Frenkie de Jong. At Nice, Bernardo Silva is also very promising. And at Atalanta, there’s Barella and Tonali…”

Yang Cheng reeled off the names of several players from different teams.

He believed that once these players developed, Bayswater Chinese’s range of midfield recruitment options would be very broad.

Of course, with such an overflow of talent, it was inevitable that some players would be poached by other top clubs for high prices.

That was unavoidable.

Flick was surprised.

He hadn’t expected Yang Cheng to have made so many preparations in secret.

Was he planning to bring all the young talents in the world under his wing?

“With the midfield pairing of Toni Kroos and Modrić, we have at least eight to ten years of peak performance left. You can tell just by the way they play.”

The first part of the sentence was fine, but the second half was clearly a jab.

Flick couldn’t help but laugh.

He had a feeling that Toni Kroos was the main subject of that jest.

Of course, Flick would never doubt Yang Cheng’s fondness for Toni Kroos.

But he had to admit, Toni Kroos did play with a certain “laziness.”

This “laziness” wasn’t about a lack of effort or dedication, but a kind of intelligence, a kind of wisdom.

Yang Cheng meant that clever players like them often have very long careers.

Flick had played football himself, so he understood what Yang Cheng meant.

Ten years?

Toni Kroos would still be fine; he’d only be 35.

But Modrić would be almost 40.

Could he last that long?

But then he thought about how Modrić looked thin and frail, yet possessed a deep-seated resilience.

Flick actually thought it might be possible.

“Hans, I have a task for you.”

Flick nodded in agreement. “Go on.”

“I’ll give you one year. I want you to complete a proposal, a plan for how Bayswater Chinese’s football should continue to develop and remain competitive in the coming years, starting from the summer of 2016. How our transfer operations should work…”

Flick was stunned.

He knew, of course, what this meant.

But even though he had come to Bayswater Chinese a year ago with this very goal in mind, it still caught him off guard.

It was too soon!

“Nothing is constant, and the only unchangeable thing is that everything is always changing,” Yang Cheng said with a self-deprecating smile.

His original plan was three years, to let Flick gradually take over the team.

But now, it seemed that if everything went smoothly, it would have to be moved up.

The main reason was that he was getting busier and busier, to the point where he really couldn’t manage so many things anymore.

He had considered just coaching the team during matches and not participating in training or preparation.

It seemed feasible, but in reality, it wasn’t.

As the head coach, if he wasn’t involved, if he didn’t know what the players were thinking, what they had trained, or how to counter the opposition, how could he possibly manage the game?

Of course, he could rely on his knowledge of the Premier League and European football from the past decade or so to manage for a while, but what about in the long run?

Ferguson didn’t lead training or preparations for a long time, but he was involved in all other aspects of the work.

In other words, he knew everything about the team and had it all under his control.

That’s why Manchester United’s performance plummeted the moment he left.

Yang Cheng’s problem now was that he didn’t have that much time.

Flick was the successor handpicked by the technical team.

In terms of ability, personality, and other aspects, he was the best of the best, with no issues.

In his year at Bayswater Chinese, he had also built good relationships with the players.

This was an advantage of his personality and charisma.

But what satisfied Yang Cheng the most was his ability to learn and improve on his own.

He didn’t speak English when he arrived?

A year later, he spoke English more fluently than anyone.

He not only learned English but also Portuguese and Spanish, because there were many South American players on the team.

Over the past year, he had picked up all his duties very quickly.

The technical team also had a very high opinion of him.

He got along well with everyone.

Of course, he wasn’t the type to blindly cater to others, to sacrifice his principles just to maintain good relationships.

On the contrary, he had a quintessential German sense of principle.

That was very rare.

Overall, Yang Cheng and the technical team had a very high opinion of Flick.

“Don’t feel any pressure, Hans.”

Seeing the serious expression on Flick’s face, Yang Cheng immediately broke into a smile.

“You haven’t passed my assessment yet, and I can’t hand the team over to you just yet. But I can promise that when you do take over, you will have my utmost trust!”

Flick swallowed hard, his heart pounding with excitement.

This was one of the top super clubs in world football!

Taking over from Yang Cheng came with immense pressure and an even greater challenge, but the allure was also enormous.

If he succeeded, he could ascend to the ranks of top-tier managers overnight.

But was it really that easy?

“I’ll help you!” Yang Cheng said with an encouraging smile.

When it came to power transitions, Yang Cheng could think of far too many ways to handle it.

For example, he could hand over the power of squad renewal to Flick. As long as he wasn’t as foolish as André Villas-Boas, he would surely be able to stabilize the dressing room quickly.

After all, Flick was over a decade more mature than Villas-Boas and had experience with the German national team at the World Cup.

This kind of transition at Bayswater Chinese was completely different from the handover between a head coach and an assistant coach at other clubs.

Yang Cheng would do everything in his power to ensure a smooth transition for Flick.

But that might not be the case at other clubs.

In any case, for Flick, this was both a challenge and an opportunity!

…

The entire sponsorship conference was primarily managed by the team led by Adam Crozier and Omar Berrada.

The bidding process this time adopted an invitation-only, sealed-bid auction model.

The invitation-only aspect meant that the team would reach out and negotiate with interested companies and brands.

A few final candidates would then be selected.

After that came the sealed-bid auction.

Each company would be given a code, and all bid documents would follow a standardized format.

All bidding companies would submit their sealed bids simultaneously and independently, completely unaware of each other’s offers.

Then, all bids would be opened publicly at the same time.

The advantage of this method was that it made it difficult for participants to collude.

Each bidding company would, based on its own circumstances, provide the maximum valuation it was willing to bear.

The open bidding often seen on television or at land auctions, while seemingly exciting, could easily lead to follow-on bidding or collusion.

Moreover, many large corporations are actually unwilling to participate in such open auctions.

The Premier League’s broadcast rights, for example, are mostly decided through a sealed-bid process.

Using a sealed-bid model also helps to minimize the risk of passion-fueled bidding, which could lead to inflated prices.

If it were a one-shot deal, that would be fine.

But this was a five-year contract, with the potential for long-term cooperation.

A reasonable valuation, healthy development, and a win-win business were the keys to longevity.

When Yang Cheng arrived at the headquarters office in Grosvenor Square, he saw the three invited kit sponsorship companies.

It was no surprise to him.

America’s Nike, and Germany’s Adidas and Puma.

Puma had been a long-time partner of Bayswater Chinese.

But honestly, in recent years, Puma’s development had not met external expectations.

“Can Puma handle a cake this big?” Yang Cheng asked Adam Crozier with concern.

Adam Crozier shook his head with a wry smile. “But right now, they’re the only ones with both the will and the ability to compete with Nike and Adidas.”

In the current sportswear brand landscape, Nike and Adidas were the two giants.

The other brands lagged far behind them.

This gap wasn’t just about the amount of sponsorship money they could offer.

There was another aspect many people overlooked: brand influence and sales channels.

Clubs receive a percentage of kit sales.

Different clubs have different negotiating power.

Smaller clubs have almost no chance of negotiating with Nike or Adidas.

And those giants have no interest in sponsoring such small teams.

Even when many renowned powerhouse clubs negotiate, the share of kit sales offered by Nike and Adidas is very low.

One should not underestimate this share of revenue.

It amounts to a significant sum of money each year.

Now, Yang Cheng was using Bayswater Chinese to bundle together smaller teams like OGC Nice, Atalanta, Palmeiras, and FC Twente, which Nike and Adidas would normally overlook.

Not only could they land a major sponsor, but they could also negotiate a generous share of kit sales.

The effect might not be obvious in the short term, but in the long run, the brand value of these teams would rise like a rising tide lifts all boats.

If nothing else, after signing a major sponsor, wouldn’t it be much easier to negotiate with other sponsors?

So, barring any surprises, it would likely be either Nike or Adidas who won.

Puma was purely there to make up the numbers.

Of course, unless Puma had lost its mind, they wouldn’t submit a bid beyond their means during the sealed-bid auction.

Yang Cheng understood the situation.

After discussing some more details about the bidding process, the meeting was adjourned.

Yang Cheng went back to Xia Qing’s office with her.

With the door closed, they primarily discussed family matters.

Xia Qing wanted to buy back the global brand rights for Umbro.

But this would require a huge sum of money, an estimated 100 million US dollars.

The story of the British brand Umbro was one of misfortune.

It was sold to Nike for over 200 million pounds, and just four years later, Nike sold it for 200 million US dollars to Iconix Brand Group, a brand management company headquartered in New York.

This company owned many brands and operated on a light-asset model, managing them through relationships with major retailers in the US and around the world, such as Walmart and Macy’s.

In the three years since 2012, Umbro had declined day by day under this company’s ownership.

And the company itself was not in a good position now; even its founder, Neil Cole, had been forced to resign, and its stock price had plummeted.

“I’ve actually spoken with Umbro’s Vice President of Marketing, Paul Nugent, and others. Over the past few years, whether under Nike or Iconix, they’ve lost a lot, but they’ve also gained a lot.”

“They’ve lost almost all of their star player endorsements and team sponsorships. Almost all of their football-related business is gone.”

“Right now, in its home base in England’s Premier League, Umbro only sponsors Everton. That’s it.”

Nike’s absorption of Umbro’s football business had been incredibly thorough.

The acquisition was certainly a good deal for Nike.

“But it was precisely during those years of being owned by Nike that Umbro also improved, thanks to Nike. Nike’s positioning for them was to elevate them from a football brand to a lifestyle and leisure brand. This was a complete brand upgrade.”

“Nike’s resources gave Umbro a significant boost, with comprehensive improvements in everything from distributor channels to marketing activities.”

“After being acquired by the American company Iconix, they signed cooperation agreements with some of the world’s largest and most famous retailers, like Walmart and Macy’s, and also have relationships with online retailers in the US. These are the areas our group lacks the most.”

“For the past few years, the brand core of our China Umbro has been ‘Love Sports, Love Life.’ I believe that acquiring the global Umbro can help us take a solid step toward globalization!”

At this point, Xia Qing told Yang Cheng that the sportswear brands under the Yang’s Group had surpassed Nike in China with revenues exceeding 14 billion yuan in 2014.

The projected revenue for the full year of 2015 was over 20 billion yuan.

For many consecutive years, it had been the top-selling domestic brand, with the Umbro sub-brand making a huge contribution and being highly profitable.

Now, it was necessary to take that step toward globalization.

Acquiring the global Umbro was an excellent opportunity.

Yang Cheng understood what Xia Qing meant.

Why had his father gone to England to acquire a club and found Bayswater Chinese all those years ago?

Wasn’t it in the hope that one day, through this football club, they could take the first step toward globalization and create a global sportswear brand for the Chinese people?

Now, having accumulated strength over a long period, with such an opportunity presenting itself, it was indeed time to venture out.

“What does my old man say?”

Xia Qing smiled beautifully. “He’s put me in charge of all overseas matters.”

Yang Cheng broke into a smile as well.

If they could really pull this off, it would fulfill a long-held wish of his father and Lin Zhongqiu.

This was a good thing!

…

The entire auction was actually divided into three sessions.

They were for the kit, the chest advertisement, and the sleeve patch advertisement.

Among these, the kit and chest sponsorships were undoubtedly the most high-profile.

The three bidding sessions were held consecutively, with the bids opened on the spot.

The kit and chest sponsors were top-tier sponsors with exclusivity rights.

The auction was once again held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, by the north gate of Hyde Park.

According to Yang Cheng, this was Bayswater Chinese’s lucky place.

On the day of the auction, a large crowd of media reporters, having heard the news, had gathered outside the hotel.

This showed all the potential partners attending the auction the influence of Bayswater Chinese.

This was currently the most influential top-tier powerhouse in world football!

There were only three brands bidding for the kit sponsorship.

But there were nine brands bidding for the chest sponsorship.

And there were as many as fifteen brands bidding for the sleeve sponsorship.

This in itself reflected many things.

It was mainly because the sleeve sponsorship was not expensive, so many potential brands, including some of Bayswater Chinese’s current sponsors, were very interested.

After becoming a sponsor, they could ride on Bayswater Chinese’s popularity in their marketing.

It was normal for there to be fewer kit sponsors.

There were only a handful of sportswear brands in the world with the scale to provide such sponsorships. Even brands like Under Armour and New Balance, which had grown rapidly in recent years, lacked this capability.

And all eyes were on Nike and Adidas.

Both sportswear giants took this very seriously.

At the hotel entrance, when interviewed by the media, they both expressed their determination to win.

To sponsor six clubs at once, covering the leagues of the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Eredivisie, and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, all of which were teams with great development potential.

This would undoubtedly provide a huge boost to the two major sponsors.

Especially Bayswater Chinese.

In 2014, Adidas snatched the Red Devils Manchester United from Nike, offering a sky-high price of £750 million over ten years.

This gave Manchester United the highest kit sponsorship deal in history.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese had signed a £30 million per year contract with Puma in 2011.

At the time, it seemed like a sky-high price, but now, it had long been surpassed by several top clubs.

This auction had once again become the stage for a duel between the two top sponsors.

There had even been talk that a major reason Nike gave up Manchester United was to go all-in to secure this sponsorship deal with Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng personally attended the auction and met many old acquaintances.

Prudential also participated in the bidding for the chest advertisement sponsorship.

Over the past few years of cooperation with Bayswater Chinese, Prudential had also reaped substantial benefits.

The name of the Prudential Stadium, in particular, had allowed Prudential to make a huge profit.

Now, they were also determined to win the chest sponsorship.

In the grand ballroom of the Royal Lancaster Hotel, after some preparations, the auction officially began.

Bayswater Chinese, OGC Nice, Atalanta, Málaga CF, FC Twente, and Palmeiras all had senior executives present.

After the bidding, they would need to sign the contracts.

Commercial Director Omar Berrada hosted the auction.

Before the bidding started, Yang Cheng went on stage to give a speech.

He mainly elaborated on his judgments about the current and future development trends in world football and introduced the alliance model of Bayswater Chinese and the other clubs, highlighting the benefits it could bring.

He believed that this model would comprehensively drive the rapid development of the other clubs, making them the most competitive teams in their respective leagues.

This had already been proven with OGC Nice and Atalanta.

Next, it would also be proven with Málaga CF and FC Twente.

As for Palmeiras, Yang Cheng considered it a new frontier, an entry into the BRICS nations.

“We are currently the only foreign-owned club in the Brazilian league. All of Brazil, and even all of South America, is paying close attention to our Palmeiras’ development with great anticipation,” Yang Cheng said.

He was confident that the successful methodology of Bayswater Chinese would succeed in South America, even after leaving Europe.

This was a very important step in their future global expansion!

And this globalization was a very attractive opportunity for all partners aiming for global reach!

Yang Cheng’s speech received a round of enthusiastic applause. Afterward, the notary introduced the bidding process and rules.

The first item up for auction was the kit sponsorship.

The six clubs, though their kit colors varied, all required the winning sponsor to design home, away, and third kits that catered to the fans, based on the cultural characteristics of each club.

Additionally, there were other more detailed requirements regarding sales channels, product launches, and other aspects.

If they were to seek sponsorship individually, teams like OGC Nice and Atalanta would never be able to propose such conditions.

In fact, across all of European football, the number of top clubs that could impose these conditions on sponsors like Nike and Adidas could be counted on one hand.

Since there were only two major sponsors, plus Puma, they quickly came forward to submit their bids.

Next, representatives from the nine sponsors bidding for the chest advertisement went up to submit their bids.

Finally, it was the fifteen sponsors bidding for the sleeve patch.

The entire bidding process was conducted under the supervision of a notary and was legally binding.

Once all the participating companies had submitted their bids, Adam Crozier walked onto the stage to prepare for the opening of the bids.

At this moment, everyone in the hall was very tense.

The first bids to be opened were the three for the kit sponsorship.

Although codes were used, everyone knew they were Nike, Adidas, and Puma.

When the bids were opened, Puma’s offer was the lowest.

The German company was only willing to offer a sponsorship of £600 million.

That was £120 million per year.

But another company offered £140 million per year, for a total of £700 million, a sky-high price.

However, the highest bid came from number 3, offering £150 million per year, for a total of £750 million.

The entire hall erupted in an uproar.

If Manchester United’s £750 million deal was for ten years, then this £750 million deal for five years would create the most insane price in the history of world football!

The entire venue was stunned.

And the final result was… Nike!

The Nike representative also seemed particularly excited, clearly determined to win this sponsorship!

This was a result calculated from a comprehensive package. How much of it was allocated to Bayswater Chinese and how much to the other five teams was no longer important.

Let Yang Cheng and his team figure out that math later!

After the bids were opened, the atmosphere in the venue immediately became much more heated.

As if stimulated by the sky-high price of the previous sponsorship, everyone became excited.

The second auction was for the chest advertisement sponsorship.

This time, a total of nine companies participated.

Besides Prudential, which had been cooperating with Bayswater Chinese for many years, there were several other companies, including an internet company from the United States.

But almost everyone thought that Prudential had it in the bag.

Their collaboration with Bayswater Chinese was too deep, including the partnership on the Prudential Stadium.

Previously, they were even considering signing stadium naming rights sponsorship contracts with the other four teams, besides Bayswater Chinese and Palmeiras.

Palmeiras’s stadium naming rights had already been sold to Allianz.

In recent years, famous insurance companies worldwide had been competing for stadium naming rights, vying for these landmark buildings.

It was worth mentioning that Allianz and Axa, two insurance companies, also participated in this chest advertisement auction.

Clearly, the competition was fierce.

But to everyone’s astonishment, the first bid that was opened left everyone in the hall stunned.

Especially the representatives from insurance companies like Prudential, Allianz, and Axa.

Their faces all changed.

Clearly, this bid had far exceeded their estimates.

Bidder number 1 directly offered £700 million over five years, which was £140 million per year.

The entire hall was once again in an uproar.

As the name suggests, chest advertisement sponsorship is generally less valuable than kit sponsorship.

There’s a reason for this.

Sportswear brands that sponsor kits can gain more profit from the sale of kits and other merchandise, as well as the brand value brought by the sport of football.

So they are naturally willing to invest more than chest advertisement sponsors.

Before this, the best expectation for this chest sponsorship from the outside world was around £500 million, or £100 million per year.

In the subsequent bids that were opened, Prudential had offered £600 million, which was £120 million per year.

This was already considered very high.

That’s why they had appeared so confident before, without any worries.

But they never expected someone to bid even higher.

And by so much!

When Adam Crozier announced the winning bidder, everyone was surprised once again.

It was the online travel platform from the United States, Priceline Group, a company they had paid no attention to before.

This American internet company had been expanding and acquiring frantically across the globe in recent years, showing great ambition. This time, they hoped to quickly make a name for themselves globally by sponsoring Bayswater Chinese and the other five clubs.

Everyone was stunned!

Truly stunned!

Two contracts would bring in at least £1.45 billion over the next five years!

Is this a football club?

No, this is a money-printing machine!

Neither Yang Cheng nor Xia Qing had expected such an enthusiastic response.

And the final bid was for the sleeve advertisement of these six clubs.

Although it had the most bidders, the amount was the smallest.

In the end, it was won by Vodafone for a total of £150 million over five years.

Thus, over the next five years, the three sponsorship contracts for the kit, chest, and sleeve would bring in an astounding £1.6 billion in revenue for the six clubs under Yang Cheng.

The entire auction hall descended into a state of chaotic emotion.

And when the results of the auction were announced and reached the outside, the media reporters waiting outside also went wild.

No one had expected such a sky-high price.

£1.6 billion over five years!

My God.

What does that even mean?

An annual income of £320 million!

This sum alone was enough to leave all the top clubs in the world in the dust!

Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich…

Which of these top clubs could reach such a staggering level?

And a large part of this came from Bayswater Chinese.

It had been estimated before that if Manchester United’s kit sponsorship was £75 million a year, Bayswater Chinese’s would surely break £100 million.

Now, the result was out!

The media representatives at the scene immediately descended into chaos.

They were making calls, posting on Twitter; some even squatted on the side of the road, busily writing their articles, preparing to be the first to publish.

Inside, a series of contract-signing ceremonies were taking place.

After all the contracts were signed, a press conference was held on the spot.

All the media reporters were invited in.

Adam Crozier proudly announced the results of the auction and declared it a complete success!

As the club’s CEO, Adam Crozier was confident that over the next five years, Bayswater Chinese and the other five alliance clubs would continue to bring more commercial benefits to all sponsors and partners.

“At the very least, for so many years, all the brands and companies that have cooperated with us have praised us. Our reputation in the industry is there for all to see!” Adam Crozier said with a proud smile.

No one would doubt the commercial value of Bayswater Chinese.

Five consecutive Premier League titles, four consecutive Champions League titles—these were history-making achievements that made this club even more extraordinary.

Especially now.

Yang Cheng had become the Chairman of FIFA’s Supervisory Board!

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese and the other five teams were destined for even greater development.

Yang Cheng and Xia Qing also happily accepted interviews from the media reporters.

They both expressed their gratitude to all the sponsors, partners, and all the companies that participated in the auction.

This was an affirmation of Bayswater Chinese!

It was also an endorsement of their entire business model.

And after Yang Cheng finished his interview with the reporters, people from Prudential specially pulled him aside, urging him to give the naming rights for the several stadiums to Prudential, no matter what.

But at this point, how could Yang Cheng agree? Of course, he dodged the question with vague words.

But the impact of this auction was still growing.

It far exceeded the expectations of Yang Cheng and everyone else.

Chapter 345: The Ace in the Hole for Entering the Bundesliga! Creating Another World Champion! Can’t Catch Up and Can’t Do It!

London, Soho, Manchester United Headquarters.

Ed Woodward sat in his office, aimlessly scrolling through news and videos online.

His mind was filled with a single, recurring thought: Bayswater Chinese is making a fortune!

One point six billion pounds over five years—it left Manchester United in the dust.

In his own plans, Ed Woodward had been immensely proud of securing a kit sponsorship worth a staggering seventy-five million pounds per year for Manchester United.

When he reported this to the Glazer brothers in the United States, he had held his head high.

The problem was, Manchester United’s chest sponsorship was only worth forty-seven million pounds a year.

And Bayswater Chinese?

Although the deal was shared with five other teams, any discerning observer could see that most of the influence came from Bayswater Chinese.

Three hundred and twenty million pounds a year. My God!

It sounded absurd just thinking about it!

What dealt an even bigger blow to Ed Woodward was Vodafone.

The world-renowned telecommunications company had a long history with Manchester United.

Back in 2000, after Ferguson’s Manchester United won the Treble, their chest sponsor switched from Sharp, a partner of over a decade, to the then extremely popular Vodafone.

That period was arguably the peak of the Red Devils era in the memories of Manchester United fans, carrying countless wonderful moments.

From 2006 onwards, Vodafone was replaced by AIG Insurance, then Aon, and finally Chevrolet in 2014.

But many fans still fondly remembered the Vodafone days.

In fact, before partnering with Chevrolet in 2014, Ed Woodward had visited Vodafone and strongly pitched Manchester United, but they hadn’t shown much interest.

He never expected them to turn around and sign with Bayswater Chinese.

And it was just for sleeve sponsorship!

Thirty million pounds a year!

That was almost as much as Manchester United’s chest sponsorship!

Of course, Bayswater Chinese’s current sleeve sponsor was China Umbro, at five million pounds a year.

But everyone knew this was because of Yang Cheng; it was said to be his family’s business, a friendly price of sorts.

Regardless, the Bayswater Chinese kit was undoubtedly the most expensive in world football today!

Just as Ed Woodward was stewing in his frustration, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

Ed Woodward grabbed it and saw the caller ID: Joel Glazer.

He immediately felt a sense of unease.

But no matter what, he quickly answered the call.

“Hello, Mr. Glazer.”

“Ed, did you see the latest news?”

“What news?”

“Bayswater Chinese. Is there any hotter news than them right now?”

Ed Woodward gave an awkward laugh. “I saw it.”

“Why, as fellow Premier League teams, is our sponsorship income at Manchester United so much lower than Bayswater Chinese’s?”

“They have had excellent results these past few years.”

“But that’s not what you said before. You said results aren’t everything, that business has its own rules. That’s why we spent so much money to poach Pogba, C. Ronaldo, and Martial. Where is the commercial value in all that?”

“Mr. Glazer, our contract with Chevrolet is quite long.”

“Then figure something out. And what’s this sleeve sponsorship they’ve developed? Why don’t we have one?”

“We are currently researching it and seeking sponsors.”

“Then hurry up. It’s thirty million pounds a year, you know,” Joel Glazer urged impatiently over the phone.

Ed Woodward hastily agreed.

He was just an employee, not working for Manchester United, but for the Glazer family.

“Also, get on it immediately. Talk to Chevrolet and Adidas again. We didn’t have C. Ronaldo before, but now we do. Shouldn’t the price go up?”

Ed Woodward wanted to scream: “Do you have any fucking sense of contractual obligation?”

Bayswater Chinese signed contracts for five million and thirty million a year. They knew they were losing money on them, but haven’t they honored them to this day?

You want to raise the price on a sponsor at the drop of a hat? Who the hell would dare sign a contract with you in the future?

But while he cursed inwardly, Ed Woodward remained polite on the surface, nodding in agreement.

“Okay, I understand.”

“Get it done as soon as possible. Whatever Bayswater Chinese can do, we at Manchester United can do too!”

“Right.”

Ed Woodward felt a wave of despair.

I really can’t do it!

…

“This is just ridiculous!”

In the Spanish capital of Madrid, inside the chairman’s office at Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium, Florentino Pérez pointed at the latest news report and spoke to General Manager José Ángel Sánchez.

“Our chest sponsorship is only thirty-two million euros a year, and they’re getting thirty million pounds for a single sleeve patch.”

“Pounds!”

Although the pound’s exchange rate had dropped significantly in recent years, it was still higher than the euro.

By that calculation, Bayswater Chinese’s sleeve sponsorship was worth nearly as much as Real Madrid’s chest sponsorship.

This was enough to make Florentino Pérez’s head spin!

The commercial empire he had worked so hard to build was worth less than someone’s sleeve. It was simply preposterous!

“That’s for six teams, and it takes into account their projected performance over the next five years,” José Ángel Sánchez explained helplessly.

To put it simply, the sponsors were very optimistic about the development trajectory of these six teams over the next five years, which was why they offered such a high valuation.

If their growth over the next five years didn’t meet expectations, the next contract would surely be devalued.

The sponsors weren’t fools; they had their own evaluation criteria.

“Right now, Bayswater Chinese is making too much money. We can’t catch up!” Florentino Pérez shook his head in frustration.

“Not only has their sponsorship fee increased, but their requirements and evaluations for sponsors are also getting stricter. It will become increasingly difficult for us to keep pace.”

It was common practice for major clubs to vet their sponsors.

For instance, Omar Berrada used to be responsible for vetting sponsors at Barça.

After all, elite clubs have their own considerations. Although they endorse sponsors for money, if a sponsor is too disreputable, it can negatively impact the club’s commercial value and brand credibility.

The commercial departments of top clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Barça fly all over the world every year to vet sponsors and partners.

And each top club has its own set of standards.

One of the simplest criteria, shared by Bayswater Chinese, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Barça, is that many of them no longer accept sponsorships from betting companies or online gambling firms.

It damages their image.

But look at the top five leagues—how many teams still take money from these betting and gambling companies?

This is where the standards differ.

Take the American internet company, Priceline, for example.

Why would they pay a sky-high price to sponsor Bayswater Chinese?

Frankly, it was because Bayswater Chinese had high standards for its sponsors. By being able to afford such a massive fee and sign the contract, Priceline would have more leverage when negotiating with other partners in the future.

It was now widely acknowledged in the industry that Bayswater Chinese had the highest standards.

But their sponsorship fees were also the most expensive.

“I heard Audi also wants to compete for Bayswater Chinese’s car sponsorship deal?” Florentino Pérez’s expression soured. Audi had been a partner of Real Madrid for many years.

Of course, Audi didn’t just sponsor Real Madrid; they also had deals with Barça, AC Milan, and other major clubs.

“Yes. Bayswater Chinese’s sponsorship with Mercedes-Benz ends after the 15/16 season. Audi is very interested and has reportedly made a very generous offer, but Mercedes-Benz is also in talks to renew.”

Florentino Pérez shook his head, speechless.

“I’ve noticed that ever since Bayswater Chinese snatched the title of the world’s highest-earning club from us, it feels like all our good luck has gradually deserted us.”

José Ángel Sánchez smiled wryly. “At the end of the day, professional football is also a winner-takes-all world.”

In La Liga, Real Madrid and Barça took almost half of the total broadcasting revenue.

This forced the La Liga authorities to step in and push for reforms; otherwise, the other clubs wouldn’t be able to survive.

But how could you reform something like advertising sponsorship?

Bayswater Chinese simply had that kind of influence and appeal. What could anyone do?

A single sleeve patch worth thirty million pounds—it was insane!

Oh, right. They could even sell the naming rights to their training center.

That was another thirty million pounds a year.

Bought by the Qatar Tourism Authority.

It was just too ridiculous!

…

Frankfurt’s old town.

Inside a high-end private club, Wolfgang Stubing, who had just been elected Chairman of the Eintracht Frankfurt Supervisory Board on June 8th, was welcoming his last guest.

Reinhard Rauball, Chairman of Borussia Dortmund and Vice-Chairman of the German Football Association.

When the 68-year-old Rauball walked into the private room, he saw that besides Wolfgang Stubing, there was another person present: Reinhard Grindel, the Finance Director of the German Football Association.

The recent anti-corruption storm at FIFA had swept across the entire football world.

It not only decapitated the leadership of FIFA and UEFA but also triggered powerful anti-corruption campaigns in continental federations and national associations.

The Chairman of the German Football Association—no, the former Chairman, Wolfgang Niersbach—had stepped down due to bribery and the World Cup bidding scandal. The German Football Association was now temporarily managed by two vice-chairmen.

Besides Rauball, the other vice-chairman was Rainer Koch.

The German Football Association would hold its presidential election at the end of the year. Rauball was quite old and had almost certainly decided not to run.

The two leading candidates were the man before Rauball, the 54-year-old Finance Director Grindel, and the 56-year-old Rainer Koch.

Grindel was considered a relative newcomer to football. He had started his career in German television and had been working in the German Bundestag from 2002 until now. From 2011 to 2014, he served as the first vice-chairman of the Lower Saxony Football Association.

He had been the Finance Director of the German Football Association since 2013.

If Grindel was a typical crossover official, then Rainer Koch was a product of the football system through and through.

He had been a coach, worked in youth development, managed youth teams, and served as a regional youth academy director, among many other roles. He had risen through the ranks of the football system, becoming a vice-chairman of the association in 2007.

The competition between these two men, to some extent, represented a clash of two different philosophies.

For instance, on the 50+1 rule, Rainer Koch had repeatedly stated to the media that he would defend it resolutely.

This earned him the approval of countless fans.

Grindel, on the other hand, was non-committal, but he consistently argued that German football needed to undergo more changes to catch up with other European leagues.

It was clear he supported abolishing or amending the 50+1 rule.

And what about Rauball?

This old fox was as watertight as they came, never revealing any hint of his position, either in public or in private.

But he had good relationships with both sides.

No one knew which way he leaned.

But he had accepted Stubing’s invitation to this private room.

This was a signal in itself.

“Wolfgang, have you been traveling to England a bit too frequently lately?”

As soon as he sat down, Rauball teased Stubing with a smile.

Stubing didn’t mind. “You have no idea. The scene was truly spectacular. Dozens of sponsors were bidding against each other. They sold five years for one point six billion pounds! My God, one point six billion, and in pounds sterling!”

As he spoke, Stubing seemed about to catch fire with excitement.

“Bayswater Chinese is indeed very profitable now, and their model of a club alliance, with the big leading the small, allows for incredibly fast development,” Grindel praised.

“Indeed. There was a lot of doubt before, but now that the auction results are out, the whole world is in an uproar.”

“In London, I heard those journalists on Fleet Street discussing it. They’re all saying that many Premier League clubs are going to do the same. Manchester City has already formed the City Football Group, Roman Abramovich is eager to make a move, and so is the Saudi consortium behind Liverpool…”

“Think about it. What if all these clubs, like Bayswater Chinese, build entire club alliances, from South America to the Eredivisie and Primeira Liga, cultivating players from the youth academy to semi-adulthood themselves…”

“My God, how can our clubs ever compete with them?”

Grindel nodded continuously.

But at that moment, Rauball replied coolly, “But they’re also showing signs of being overly reliant on capital now. That’s dangerous, just like we were back in the day.”

“Come on, Reinhard. Look at OGC Nice. They made two hundred and seventy million pounds from transfers this summer. So many of Europe’s top clubs went to poach their players—they voted with their feet.”

“And Atalanta. They used to be losing so much money, but now? Their youth academy is churning out talent, the first team is getting stronger and stronger, and they’re projected to challenge for the Serie A title this season.”

At this point, Stubing looked deeply at Rauball. “If you ask me, Reinhard, the reason your Borussia Dortmund hasn’t been able to beat Bayern Munich all these years is, ultimately, because you’ve been constrained.”

On this topic, Rauball just smiled and said no more.

“By the way, did you meet Yang Cheng on your trip to London?” Grindel tactfully changed the subject to avoid awkwardness.

“I did. He’s a man who does great things. We chatted for a bit. He’s incredibly busy right now.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

He was also currently serving as the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

“Although we didn’t talk for long, the information he revealed suggested to me that he’s also very interested in entering the Bundesliga. He also feels that our league is severely undervalued.”

“As the leader of the European economy, the development of our football league is still too slow, especially in terms of globalization. We are lagging behind; even Ligue 1 is ahead of us.”

At this, Stubing took a sip of wine to wet his throat before continuing.

“People like him see things completely differently from us. His perspective is also different from ours.”

Hearing this, not only Grindel but even Rauball looked up with concern on his face.

“Yang Cheng said that the Premier League has a natural advantage in language and cultural dissemination. Spain is backed by the talent treasure trove of South America. France has a wealth of domestic talent and a talent base in Africa. What do we have in Germany?”

“Our advantage lies in Eastern Europe, but over the past years, we’ve done a terrible job. The Bundesliga’s globalization hasn’t taken off, so we have no advantage in attracting foreign talent.”

“He’s truly sharp. He mentioned a statistic to me offhand: the vast majority of the sponsors for our eighteen Bundesliga teams are local German companies. But in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1, regardless of the sponsorship fees, most of them are multinational corporations.”

“It’s like we’re in a closed little circle, just entertaining ourselves here.”

This last sentence was clearly Stubing’s own conclusion, not Yang Cheng’s.

But it was a fact.

Grindel understood Stubing’s intentions very well.

He had known about them even before Stubing ran for Chairman of the Eintracht Frankfurt Supervisory Board.

Rauball was also aware.

The room fell silent for a few seconds before Rauball cleared his throat softly.

“Lately, Martin Kind from Hannover 96 has been very active, secretly contacting a few people and pulling a lot of strings.”

This seemingly random statement puzzled the other two men.

“What is he trying to do?” Stubing asked with concern.

He knew Rauball well; he would never speak without reason.

“He started investing in Hannover 96 in February of ’97.”

Rauball’s words sent the other two into a thoughtful silence.

Then, realization dawned on them all.

February 1997.

That was eighteen years ago.

The German Football Association’s 50+1 rule was established in 1999, but Hannover 96 was not granted an exception at the time.

According to the rules, an investor must continuously invest in a club for twenty years to be eligible to apply for an exemption.

Martin Kind was approaching the twenty-year mark.

“Isn’t he quite old?” Grindel said with some amusement.

“Seventy-one,” Rauball replied.

But it had nothing to do with age.

If he could take control of Hannover 96, it would be like obtaining a special ticket.

In Germany, football was never just about football!

“Are the prospects optimistic?” Stubing asked again, concerned.

“If they were optimistic, do you think he’d still be running around like this?” Rauball countered.

“But there has to be some kind of explanation, right? Didn’t the rules say that investing for twenty years could lead to an exception? So what’s the story now? Only clubs owned by major corporations and conglomerates can get exemptions, but not others?”

Stubing was getting agitated.

If this failed, it would undoubtedly block another path for him.

“When the 50+1 rule was formulated, the wording was indeed very vague. It mentioned providing ‘significant support’ for a continuous twenty-year period, but it never clearly defined what ‘significant support’ meant or where the line was.”

This was a loophole in the regulations.

“In December 2014, after the issue with Hoffenheim arose, the German Football Association held a discussion and issued an explanatory guide. It specifically clarified the definition of ‘significant support.’ In principle, the funds invested over twenty years must be at least on par with the club’s main sponsor, and it requires the approval of the club and the Bundesliga’s board of directors.”

“And Martin Kind is nowhere near that amount. He’s a shareholder, but he hasn’t invested much money.”

Hearing this, Stubing shook his head repeatedly, looking dejected.

“So that means this path is a dead end?”

According to Stubing’s plan, it would be best if the German Football Association relaxed the policy, for example, by shortening the twenty-year period to ten or even five years.

This would give Yang Cheng something tangible and achievable to grasp.

Twenty years was too long; who knew what would happen in twenty years, right?

But now, it seemed shortening it would be very difficult.

“Don’t you get it yet, Wolfgang?”

Seeing his expression, Rauball gave a helpless, bitter smile.

“Your biggest enemy has never been the German Football Association, never been us, and not even the handful of clubs in the Bundesliga.”

“Look at the Bundesliga now. How many clubs haven’t undergone shareholding system reform? Which club hasn’t sold shares to external parties? When has the DFB not turned a blind eye?”

“The regulations say a company can’t invest in multiple clubs at the same time, but how many clubs does Volkswagen invest in?”

“Without these investments, the clubs would go bankrupt!”

“And look at the situation now. The whole Bundesliga looks okay on the surface, but in reality, it’s a mess, a foul atmosphere. Is this what we want to see?”

“Do you think we don’t know that this model has problems?”

Stubing and Grindel were both rendered speechless.

Anyone could grumble and complain.

But that wouldn’t change the current situation one bit!

“Did you know? How many clubs have transferred their league competition licenses by establishing joint-stock companies? On the surface, it still looks like 50+1, but in reality? It’s been hollowed out. Even the competition license no longer belongs to the club!”

The weapon the DFB used to force all clubs to comply with the 50+1 rule was the competition license.

Whether the license was held by the club or by a joint-stock company looked the same from the outside, but in legal terms, it was different.

If a joint-stock company held the competition license, wouldn’t they have the voting rights at meetings organized by the DFB?

And if all the shares of this company were sold, who would be competing in the matches?

The rules state that a company cannot hold more than 10% of the shares in two or more clubs simultaneously.

Fine, then just hold one.

Besides, Volkswagen holds stakes in several clubs, all exceeding 10%.

Is there a solution?

Right now, everything was a mess. Many clubs were desperately trying to find money.

Without money, they would die!

So who was the biggest enemy of the 50+1 rule?

The fans!

The fans all across Germany!

Over the past decade or so, they have been completely and utterly brainwashed!

They believe that their system of rules is the most advanced and scientific.

Although development is a bit slower, at least it’s stable.

But is that really the case?

Do they not see how many clubs fall into financial difficulties every year?

Besides the fans, it’s some of the mid-to-lower-table Bundesliga clubs and the German second division clubs.

They have no desire to see this rule broken.

And as it happens, when it comes to voting, they are the majority.

With these clubs on the inside and the fans on the outside, if anyone dares to propose a vote, the insiders will speak out, make a fuss in the media, and the fans will immediately rise up in protest. Anyone who tries will be forced to step down!

In this situation, who would dare to stand up?

Who would dare to challenge the 50+1 rule?

The three men present knew all of this, but they were powerless.

“Wolfgang, now that you’re the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, perhaps you can persuade Yang Cheng to acquire shares, just like the other clubs have been doing, through covert operations,” Grindel suggested.

Stubing shook his head with a wry smile. “I’ve spoken with Bayswater Chinese’s CEO Adam Crozier and their CFO. The warning from their lawyers is that it lacks security.”

“An investment of one or two hundred million euros, and it’s foreign capital. What do you think?”

Upon reflection, it was true.

With such a huge sum of money invested, you, Stubing, are the Chairman of the Supervisory Board now, so of course you can promise me security. But what happens in two or three years, or whenever you get voted out?

Will the next chairman be willing to give me the same guarantee?

If I run into a malicious one, they could screw me over completely, and I might not even get my money back.

“They have studied our German laws and the 50+1 rule. They’ve proposed another approach.”

This was the real reason Stubing had invited them both here.

To complain and vent?

They didn’t have that much time.

“What approach?”

“Yang Cheng’s legal team has proposed the idea of directly filing a lawsuit in the German Federal Court, alleging that the 50+1 rule violates Germany’s antitrust laws, thereby invalidating it.”

“Antitrust law?”

Rauball and Grindel were both stunned.

They had never really looked into that.

But they didn’t really understand the specific legal issues involved.

“Have they researched it?” Rauball asked with concern.

Stubing nodded. “We all know how strong Yang Cheng’s and Bayswater Chinese’s legal team is. FIFA and UEFA simultaneously investigated them, and their compliance was found to be flawless.”

“Apparently, they specifically formed a team to study this matter and believe they can try to fight the case from an antitrust perspective.”

Rauball and Grindel looked at each other, both feeling that this was a bit audacious.

It was even beyond their control.

But they both hoped the 50+1 rule could be abolished, or at least loosened.

RB Leipzig’s path had been blocked, and Hannover 96’s path was also basically a dead end.

Winning a lawsuit based on antitrust law would be a different approach entirely.

“What’s their plan?” Rauball asked, intrigued.

“They’re still researching it. They need our cooperation.”

Stubing immediately leaned in and began to whisper.

The gist of it was that Eintracht Frankfurt would, through a joint-stock company, sell shares to a Chinese company founded by Yang Cheng.

When this Chinese company took control of Eintracht Frankfurt, it would inevitably violate the 50+1 rule.

The deal would then be halted.

At that point, they would seize the opportunity to sue, claiming the 50+1 rule was an illegal monopoly.

“Their legal team says there is a legal paradox between antitrust law and the current implementation of the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga. They are very confident!”

After hearing this, Rauball couldn’t help but slam the table in admiration, thoroughly impressed despite not fully understanding every detail!

He didn’t know law, but Yang Cheng was willing to invest so much money and had always placed great importance on compliance. If his team said there was such an issue, then there definitely was one.

“Now that’s what I call truly badass!” Rauball praised with a laugh.

So many German professional clubs had tried so many methods and studied for so many years without unearthing anything significant, resorting to secretly undermining the system. But this man, with one move, had grasped a crucial core issue.

Of course, whether it would work remained to be seen.

Ultimately, no one knew for sure without trying.

No one knew how big the fan reaction would be either.

If it led to a massive public outcry, even if the rule was indeed illegal, they could still drive Yang Cheng out.

“You guys prepare first. We’ll talk about everything after the election!” Rauball proposed.

Stubing and Grindel both nodded.

Grindel supported reform. If he was elected, many things would be much easier.

If Rainer Koch won, however, the resistance would be much greater.

“This is our ace in the hole. Once we leave this room, no one says a word. We don’t want to act rashly and alert the enemy!” Rauball reminded them again.

Both men nodded in agreement.

…

As the players returned one by one, the new season’s training camp officially began.

After the auction concluded, Yang Cheng completely put the matter out of his mind and threw himself into preparations for the new season.

Salah arrived early to report to the team and had a long conversation with Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng actually valued the Egyptian star quite highly.

His commercial value was truly immense.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Salah’s jersey sales were among the highest in world football for a long time, even rivaling those of C. Ronaldo and Messi.

Salah’s influence in North Africa and the Middle East was enormous.

This was also a huge draw for Bayswater Chinese.

More importantly, Salah’s skill was beyond doubt.

Yang Cheng made it clear that at Bayswater Chinese, he wouldn’t have to worry about not getting playing time.

Excluding the young players, the first team squad still consisted of twenty-three members. With the team competing on multiple fronts in the new season, Salah would have plenty of opportunities to play.

Of course, if he wanted to secure a permanent spot, he would have to outperform Sterling, Theo Walcott, and even Gareth Bale in competition.

As long as his form was good enough, he would play!

This year, Bayswater Chinese would once again travel to North America to participate in the International Champions Cup.

But it was different from previous years.

This time, the team would first hold a training camp in London and play a few pre-season friendlies in the surrounding areas before heading to the United States for the International Champions Cup.

After all, holding the training camp overseas every year was somewhat disappointing for the local fans.

This was especially true for some of the surrounding partner clubs.

For Bayswater Chinese to come over and play a friendly meant an income of several hundred thousand pounds for them.

After the training camp began, Yang Cheng gradually transferred more authority to Flick.

Everyone realized that the German was progressively taking over the reins as head coach.

They weren’t stupid; they all knew what was happening, so everyone was fired up.

Flick was a smart man, he got along well with the players, had good relationships in the dressing room, and the players had generally accepted him.

The only regret was about Yang Cheng.

But the players had been mentally preparing for this since Flick joined the team.

Previously, when Yang Cheng was elected Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, some even said he would stop coaching altogether.

Now, at least, the players were given one more chance.

They went all out, training desperately, and the entire team was holding its breath.

Yang Cheng also cherished the time he spent with the players.

After all, they had worked together for over a decade.

Although he no longer directed training on the pitch himself, he was always on the sidelines, “supervising” the players’ training.

He naturally noticed what was going on.

The feeling was much like the Manchester United team of the 12/13 season from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Ferguson was retiring, and everyone at Manchester United was fired up, determined to give him a glorious send-off!

The current group of Bayswater Chinese players felt much the same way.

After a week of training at the Brent training center, the team began to play three pre-season friendlies in the surrounding areas.

The opponents were mostly lower-league teams from the region.

They won all three matches.

All the players performed exceptionally well.

Afterward, the team departed from London for the United States.

Riding the wave of their four consecutive Champions League titles and the recently concluded auction, Bayswater Chinese was met with immense enthusiasm from the media and fans upon their arrival in the US.

Even their daily training sessions attracted many fans who bought tickets to watch.

This showed everyone the extent of Bayswater Chinese’s influence in North America.

But Yang Cheng was more focused on the progress with the ICC Company.

On the third day after arriving in the United States, Yang Cheng met with the two top executives of the ICC Company, David Pemsel and Richard Masters.

…

“How did the trip to Switzerland go? Was it a success?”

Yang Cheng and the others sat down in the hotel’s cafe and started talking about the situation in Switzerland.

“It went quite smoothly. There were a few obstacles, but nothing major. We resolved them all.”

David Pemsel was clearly very satisfied with the outcome.

He and Richard Masters had spent over a week in Switzerland, primarily in negotiations with FIFA.

Originally, according to the agreement between Yang Cheng and David Gill, Yang Cheng was to help David Gill secure the FIFA presidency, and in return, David Gill would facilitate the International Champions Cup receiving FIFA’s recognition and authorization.

This brought up the necessity of authorization.

In theory, FIFA is the highest governing body in football. Without this authorization, the tournament would lack legitimacy, and FIFA or the continental confederations could shut it down at any time.

Of course, this would involve many complex legal issues.

There were precedents for this.

For example,一些 intercontinental friendly matches.

If the profits were substantial enough, it was impossible for the continental confederations and national associations to ignore it.

It could eventually escalate into endless legal battles.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, one of the main reasons the International Champions Cup eventually failed, aside from the organizers’ blind expansion leading to a decline in market appeal, was their failure to gain FIFA’s recognition.

Starting in 2016, there were constant rumors that FIFA wanted to expand the Club World Cup to compete with the International Champions Cup and seize this lucrative market.

This posed a huge threat to a tournament.

For one thing, major sponsors would be wary and hesitant to get involved.

Why?

I’ve spent so much money sponsoring you, only for you to be shut down later. Wouldn’t my money go down the drain?

When major sponsors support a tournament, their goal is to help it grow and establish a long-term partnership.

Therefore, not having authorization wasn’t a big deal at the beginning.

But once it developed to a certain point, the drawbacks would become apparent.

Just imagine, if FIFA really did expand the Club World Cup and scheduled it in July or August to compete directly against the International Champions Cup, how could the latter possibly defend itself?

At that point, would clubs participate in the International Champions Cup? Or the Club World Cup?

Of course, with Yang Cheng around now, such a thing was unlikely to happen.

And he had been planning for this all along.

This huge piece of cake was definitely his for the taking.

The previous agreement with David Gill?

It still stood, but he could get the authorization himself now. He didn’t need David Gill anymore.

Most importantly, FIFA and the continental confederations had virtually no tournaments scheduled in July and August.

There was little resistance to granting this authorization.

“With this authorization, we are now an officially recognized FIFA tournament!”

Richard Masters rubbed his hands together at this point, eager to get started.

“Next, we definitely need to go big. Especially with the major sponsors, we must build up this tournament as quickly as possible, make it bigger and stronger.”

The best way to make a tournament bigger and stronger was to attract sponsors.

With the foundation laid over the past few years and now with FIFA’s authorization, they believed major sponsors could confidently come on board.

Sponsors bring in substantial sponsorship revenue, which in turn becomes appearance fees and prize money for the teams.

When all the participating teams are making huge profits, everything else will naturally fall into place.

According to David Pemsel, over the past few years, the International Champions Cup had been broadcast on television in North America, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Europe.

And the number of broadcasting countries and regions was increasing.

It could be said that the International Champions Cup had been cultivating its market for the past few years.

Now that they had the authorization, it was time to go big.

“Right now it’s 12+4. We’ll stick with that framework for now, but moving forward, you need to talk more with the sponsors. If possible, we should expand further!” Yang Cheng proposed.

“Expand further?”

David Pemsel and Richard Masters were both a bit surprised.

“That’s right. As long as the sponsors are willing to pay, and the appearance fees go up, expansion is inevitable!”

This was the best time to seize the market.

If not expand now, should they wait for other tournaments to fill the market gap?

“My idea is to stick to an invitational format. We’ll invite top-performing teams from South America, North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, making it a tournament similar to the Club World Cup.”

David Pemsel’s eyes lit up. “An expanded Club World Cup!”

“Exactly. The timing will still be in July and August, and we’ll still market it as a pre-season tournament.”

With Yang Cheng’s explanation, David Pemsel and Richard Masters immediately understood.

They were very sharp individuals; otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten to where they were today.

With a little guidance from Yang Cheng, they immediately grasped the tournament’s potential.

Since they had the authorization, they had to turn it into a major international competition.

Previously, all sixteen teams were European.

That wasn’t good enough; it lacked an international flavor.

Although clubs from Africa, North America, Asia, and South America might be weaker in terms of skill, their influence in their respective countries and regions was real.

The most important thing was the title.

World Champion!

The World Cup was for national teams. Although the Club World Cup claimed to be for club world champions, it had few participating teams, a tight schedule, and severely lacking influence.

More importantly, it wasn’t very exciting.

Every year, a European team wins the championship. Is that fun?

Who wants to watch a tournament with no suspense?

But now?

It would be by invitation.

European teams were obviously the biggest box office draws, but they needed to provide them with some tougher competition.

The champions and runners-up from North America, the top teams from the Copa Libertadores in South America, and the powerhouses from Africa and Asia—invite them all to play.

Could they really not beat the European teams?

By then, would the Club World Cup have more prestige than the International Champions Cup?

Not to mention, how much influence did a Club World Cup held in mid-December, during the most congested part of the season, really have?

But July and August were different.

This was a void in the tournament calendar.

Holding matches during this period meant practically monopolizing the entire market!

The champion decided at this time would be the true club world champion!

“But there’s one problem. Won’t there be too many matches? Will the schedule be too tight?”

Previously, when the International Champions Cup was expanding, the ICC Company had been worried about this issue.

After all, the league season started in mid-August.

“No worries. We can move the tournament a bit earlier. As long as the appearance fees are high enough and the revenue from the matches is large enough, the players and clubs will be more than happy to participate.”

David Pemsel thought about it and realized it made sense.

As long as the prize money was high enough, the clubs would definitely take it seriously, and the prestige of the tournament would naturally increase.

As for the pressure on the players…

“I’m considering proposing five substitutions per match to reduce the pressure on the players.”

Five substitutions?

Everyone present was astonished.

This was an absolutely revolutionary proposal.

Even disruptive!

Why?

Most current match strategies were based on three substitutions.

But if you could make five, it would be like giving a coach two more opportunities to change the course of a match.

More importantly, with two extra fresh players, the team’s overall physical output in the second half would be significantly higher.

Take Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, for example. When they went all out, the team’s stamina could barely last sixty minutes.

Then they had to make substitutions.

What if the number of substitutions was increased from three to five?

The competitiveness of Klopp’s style of play would be greatly enhanced.

But most importantly, it could significantly increase the suspense of a match.

Overall, it would certainly benefit the stronger teams, but only to a limited extent.

But the chain reactions it would cause, such as the pace of the game and the level of suspense, would undoubtedly make football more interesting.

At the very least, garbage time would be greatly reduced.

And the effect Yang Cheng mentioned—reducing the pressure on players—would be very obvious.

Yang Cheng himself found it a bit amusing.

On one hand, as a capitalist, he was trying every means to make his business bigger and stronger, which inevitably increased the number of matches for players.

But on the other hand, he genuinely wanted to help reduce the players’ burden.

Wasn’t that a contradiction?

But sometimes he thought, aren’t people always full of contradictions?

If they could really make this cake bigger, the players would also get higher appearance fees and prize money.

In the end, the benefits should still outweigh the drawbacks.

Chapter 346: Unanimous Vote! Winning Two Trophies! Reform and Expansion! My Magical Premier League Debut

For Yang Cheng and the ICC Company, this year’s International Champions Cup was not just a tournament but also a comprehensive market research and analysis exercise.

To better understand the entire market, the ICC Company hired three highly professional agencies to analyze the tournament from multiple perspectives—including market, fan, and competitive angles—to prepare for further expansion.

During this period, Yang Cheng led his team to compete in the International Champions Cup in North America.

This time, Bayswater Chinese faced Real Madrid directly in the group stage, a true summit clash.

The final result was a 1-0 victory for Yang Cheng’s team, who defeated Real Madrid soundly with a goal from Theo Walcott.

In the remaining two group stage matches, Yang Cheng’s team also defeated Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund.

They finished the group stage with three consecutive wins.

In the final held in Tennessee, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Mourinho’s Chelsea 2-0, successfully advancing to the grand final.

Meanwhile, in the final on the Asian circuit, Manchester United and Manchester City staged the anticipated summit clash.

The encounter between Messi and C. Ronaldo, held in the Chinese capital, ignited the domestic market and set off a wave of frenzy.

In the end, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City came out slightly ahead.

Messi and C. Ronaldo were evenly matched in their individual performances, but as a team, Manchester City was more mature than Manchester United.

After the match, van Gaal expressed his satisfaction with Manchester United’s overall performance.

He believed that C. Ronaldo’s arrival would provide a massive boost to Manchester United’s morale and elevate the team’s strength.

“We are the strongest contenders for the Premier League and Champions League this season!”

Indeed, although Manchester United only finished fifth in the Premier League last season, their victory in the Europa League meant they could also participate in the Champions League group stage.

This season, the Champions League would once again feature the grand spectacle of five Premier League teams.

For other teams, this was an absolute nightmare!

However, this year’s Champions League group stage seeding would be based on the defending champions and league winners, which would make the draw very interesting.

At the very least, it would be completely different from the past.

In the International Champions Cup grand final held at London’s Prudential Stadium, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Sterling.

Pep Guardiola’s team ultimately couldn’t withstand the relentless onslaught from Bayswater Chinese.

After all, the match was at the Prudential Stadium in London!

As a side note, Patrick Roberts, who had been poached from Bayswater Chinese, came on as a substitute in the second half.

However, facing his former club, the player’s performance was average.

Manchester City currently boasts top-tier wingers like Messi and Marco Reus, along with other stars like Jovetić, making their overall strength formidable.

Whether Patrick Roberts made the right move by leaving Bayswater Chinese for Manchester City was truly hard to say.

After the International Champions Cup final, the Community Shield match soon followed.

As league champions, Bayswater Chinese faced last season’s FA Cup winners, Arsenal.

The match was held at Wembley Stadium.

Both Yang Cheng and Wenger were more inclined to use the match as a training exercise.

But from the kick-off, the players from both sides competed fiercely.

Bayswater Chinese repeatedly used short passing combinations to try and penetrate Arsenal’s penalty area.

But The Gunners were not to be outdone.

Although they were at a disadvantage in terms of game control and possession rate, they put up a very tenacious fight.

It wasn’t until the 23rd minute that Theo Walcott, after a dribbling run, made a cross pass to Modrić.

When the Croatian midfielder tried to break through the center, he was fouled by Toulalan, winning a free kick in the attacking half.

The spot was 27 meters from the goal, slightly to the right of the center.

Gareth Bale calmly took the shot, striking a magnificent butterfly ball that soared precisely into the goal guarded by Lloris.

1-0!

The match became more open afterward.

In the first half, The Gunners also had an excellent opportunity.

In the 37th minute, Sánchez sent in a cross from the left flank. Benzema made an overlapping run from deep and headed the ball at the far post from the six-yard box. After goalkeeper Courtois parried it, the onrushing Fàbregas took a power shot from close range.

But Courtois, already on the ground, suddenly lunged up again, managing to block Fàbregas’s shot.

This save, as if guided by a divine hand, earned Courtois a thunderous round of applause from the Wembley crowd.

In the second half, however, the match completely turned into a Bayswater Chinese performance.

Especially after the 60th minute, substitute Sterling was extremely active, continuously creating chances.

In the 86th minute, Sterling received a brilliant pass from a teammate at the edge of the box and broke through for a one-on-one. His power shot was blocked by Lloris, but Ramsey followed up with a push shot, sending the ball into Arsenal’s net once again.

Just before the final whistle, it was Sterling again who, on a dribbling run, delivered a through ball, giving substitute Salah a golden one-on-one opportunity.

The Egyptian winger probably couldn’t believe his luck at being presented with such a heaven-sent chance.

This caused him to falter on his final shot, which was saved by Lloris yet again.

Salah sank to his knees in the penalty area.

What a perfect opportunity!

A chance to score against Arsenal!

He had just let it slip by.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 2-0 with goals from Gareth Bale and Ramsey, winning the Community Shield!

After the Community Shield, Bayswater Chinese had their final break before the new season began.

But Yang Cheng was still incredibly busy.

Besides his duties at FIFA, he also found time to attend the ICC Company’s shareholder meeting at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Having secured authorization from FIFA and signed licensing agreements with UEFA, South America, and other continental confederations, the ICC Company could now hold its meetings openly and proudly.

There were even many media reporters waiting outside the hotel during the meeting.

The club representatives attending the shareholder meeting also walked with their heads held high.

For the past few years, they had been cautious, holding meetings as if they were sneaking around like thieves.

Now, they could finally operate in the light of day.

Because of this, the atmosphere in the conference room was quite enthusiastic when Yang Cheng entered.

The bosses of the 12 clubs, plus the ICC Company’s largest shareholder, Yang Cheng, all sat together for a round-table conference.

Before the meeting began, everyone was discussing the UEFA presidential election scheduled for mid-September.

Currently, only two people had announced their candidacy.

One was van Praag, Chairman of the Dutch Football Association and a UEFA Vice-Chairman.

The other was Aleksander Čeferin, Chairman of the Football Association of Slovenia.

UEFA was the first continental confederation to hold a presidential election after FIFA’s reforms, so they would be the first to implement the new mechanisms.

From now on, the terms of key officials like the president and vice-presidents of FIFA would be limited to a maximum of three terms, a total of 12 years, with no possibility of re-election afterward.

The continental confederations below would follow the same rule.

The purpose of this was to further limit the power of the presidents of FIFA and the continental confederations and to further curb corruption within FIFA.

In the past, FIFA and UEFA presidents were almost like emperors, with virtually no term limits.

Blatter had claimed many times that he would not seek re-election and that it was his last term.

But when his term was about to end, he would stir up a series of unforeseen troubles, making it seem as though he had no choice but to run again, framing it as a necessity to maintain stability in world football.

Bah!

Now, finally, all terms were limited to three, written directly into the FIFA statutes. No one could change it!

As for the UEFA presidency, Yang Cheng didn’t actually care that much.

Whether it was Čeferin or van Praag, whoever took office wouldn’t change the big picture in the short term.

By the time they consolidated their power, FIFA’s reforms would be largely settled. With the overall situation decided, it would be difficult for them to stir up any major storms.

But judging from the current situation, Čeferin’s support was much stronger.

It had to be said, this Slovenian was quite formidable.

He firmly positioned himself as a reformer, actively responding to the reforms within FIFA and UEFA, and echoing the calls for change from various large and small nations under UEFA’s umbrella.

Čeferin was a law graduate from the University of Ljubljana, spoke four foreign languages, and had been the Chairman of the Slovenian FA since 2011. He had just won re-election before the UEFA presidential election.

During his tenure as the Slovenian FA chairman, he successfully hosted the U-17 European Youth Championship and used this tournament to build an excellent network of contacts within UEFA and European football.

However, anyone familiar with the workings of European football who studied the candidates for the UEFA presidency would easily find that it was essentially a contest between Western Europe and non-Western European regions.

The first president, Schwartz, was Danish. The second, Wiederkehr, was Swiss. The third, Franchi, was Italian. The fourth, Jacques Georges, was French. The fifth, Lennart Johansson, was Swedish.

The sixth was Platini, a Frenchman.

This time, van Praag was from the Netherlands and seemed to represent Western Europe, but in reality, many Western European countries, including Germany, chose to support Čeferin.

This was where Čeferin was more skilled than van Praag.

Slovenia, after all, only joined the European Union in 2004.

It wouldn’t have been surprising if Nordic countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland had chosen to support Čeferin.

But when even some Western European countries, including Germany and Italy, supported Čeferin, along with the Balkans and Turkey, who would also lean towards him…

There was basically no need for an election!

The 12 powerhouse clubs took the opportunity during the meeting to decide they wanted their voices heard in the upcoming European Club Association elections.

Simply put, they wanted seats on the UEFA Executive Committee!

Clubs had three spots available.

With club representation, the UEFA Executive Committee would surely have to give more consideration to the clubs’ interests when formulating policies.

Although the current European Club Association covers hundreds of professional clubs across Europe, the ones with a real say are still the top teams.

The final consensus reached was that this time, one team each from Serie A, the Bundesliga, and La Liga would be put forward for election.

Barring any surprises, the Serie A representative would surely be Juventus, and the Bundesliga’s would be Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid was the most likely candidate from La Liga.

Florentino Pérez’s biggest challenge would be getting Barça and Atlético Madrid on his side.

As for the Premier League and Ligue 1, they would wait for the next turn.

The Premier League’s goal was simple: to throw everything behind getting David Gill into a position of power.

It shouldn’t be assumed that these 12 clubs were being blindly arrogant or forming a clique.

In fact, when UEFA dismantled the G-14 and founded the European Club Association, it was precisely to win over these powerful clubs.

And now, the next three UEFA Executive Committee members were, for the most part, decided in a setting like this.

At the start of the meeting, David Pemsel announced several pieces of news.

First, this year’s International Champions Cup was more profitable than any previous year, and revenues were steadily climbing.

In simple terms, everyone would get a bigger slice of the pie.

But no money would be distributed this year!

Why not?

Because the ICC Company was about to undertake several major initiatives.

It had been seven years since the company was founded, and the International Champions Cup had been successfully held six times.

The ICC Company now had offices not only at its headquarters in the United States, but also in London, the Chinese capital, and the Middle East.

The company’s scale was growing, with over one hundred direct employees.

This didn’t even include the personnel from outsourced services and third-party partners.

David Pemsel stated that after years of accumulating experience, the ICC Company now possessed outstanding tournament operation capabilities.

Therefore, the company planned to launch a women’s football tournament within the next three years—the International Women’s Champions Cup.

Why?

Because women’s football was becoming increasingly popular and receiving more and more attention.

Now was the perfect time to enter the market!

This was evident from this year’s UEFA presidential election.

Both Čeferin and van Praag were clearly playing the women’s football card.

This alone proved that women’s football was gaining increasing importance in Europe and around the world.

More and more clubs were starting to form women’s teams.

Interestingly, in La Liga, Real Madrid and Barça are titans, right?

But in women’s football, Rayo Vallecano is the top dog.

Bayswater Chinese was also considering forming a women’s team because the number of female players and fans of women’s football was growing, and it was gradually attracting significant attention.

The investment required to set up a women’s team is actually very small.

Given Bayswater Chinese’s current situation, just a tiny fraction of their budget would be more than enough to support a top-tier European powerhouse in women’s football, even a world-class team.

Another important reason for Yang Cheng’s interest was that while China’s men’s football team was struggling, the women’s team was still quite good.

Wang Shuang, for example.

As a side note, after Yang Cheng acquired the Eredivisie club FC Twente, he had actually contacted several Chinese players who had the ability to play in the Dutch league.

But the responses were not very positive.

On one hand, FC Twente couldn’t afford the high salaries they earned domestically.

On the other hand, for the players, football is a short career, and they have families to support.

To put it bluntly, pursuing ideals and life goals is a great luxury for anyone.

At the very least, one must have a certain level of security first, right?

Playing in Europe doesn’t necessarily mean earning more money, but it’s definitely more tiring.

As for succeeding, who could guarantee that?

Even someone like Yang Cheng couldn’t possibly guarantee: “Just come, and even if you don’t play well, I’ll still back you.”

That’s not how it works, is it?

Conversely, the women’s team was a really good prospect.

In addition to women’s football, the ICC Company also planned to enter the youth tournament scene.

There are many youth tournaments in Europe, but they are mostly just friendly matches, lacking a series of formal competitions.

The most formal one currently is the UEFA Youth League.

The ICC Company wanted to enter this field. They were optimistic about this market, believing that youth tournaments required low investment but had huge potential, and that all clubs had an urgent need for them.

And all of this required investment!

The bosses of the 12 clubs present didn’t care much about the small share of profits, but they were increasingly optimistic about the long-term development of the ICC Company.

Especially when David Pemsel announced the next plan.

Tournament rights management!

The ultimate reason for creating the Women’s Champions Cup and a Youth Champions Cup was to establish the tournaments and then sell the broadcasting rights.

This was something the ICC Company could now do with ease from long practice, and their resources and channels were well-established.

It’s quite interesting.

The world’s best sports venue operator is an American company. It started by managing NFL stadiums, beginning with a single venue and gradually accumulating experience to grow bigger and stronger.

In just twenty to thirty years, it became number one in the world.

Now, the ICC Company intended to follow the same path.

“We are already in talks with UEFA to obtain the agency rights for UEFA-run competitions in certain countries in North and Central America, and South America. This will be a completely new business expansion for us!”

The so-called agency rights didn’t mean buying them outright and then reselling them in parts.

No, it was about being an agent!

In simple terms, they would be the middleman, helping to find buyers.

For many years, UEFA had its own partner, Team Marketing, a company headquartered in Switzerland. This company had cooperated with UEFA for many years, acting as the agent for the global broadcast rights sales of all UEFA competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League, and European Championship.

Regarding the scandal that Infantino was previously involved in, he shifted all the blame to the TM Company.

The former UEFA Secretary General stated that the Argentinian company that was buying low and selling high was not found by him at all; it was recommended to him by the TM Company.

Everyone knew that there were many gray areas involved.

For example, for many years, the TM Company had been the exclusive global agent for all of UEFA’s competitions.

Could there really be no issues in all that?

The same logic applied to FIFA and other continental competitions.

But now, wasn’t there reform?

It was time to introduce more competition.

The ICC Company had successfully operated the International Champions Cup, building up its own channels and networks globally over the past seven years. They planned to enter the lucrative industry of sports rights agency.

And they would start with North America, the market they knew best.

As for South America, it was ultimately because of the trouble Infantino had gotten into.

From UEFA’s perspective, introducing more competition was also a good thing.

In past years, the TM Company had the final say on how much the rights were sold for. Without competitive pressure, UEFA was also very unhappy.

Just look at the Premier League’s global operations—they were making a huge profit.

But what about the Champions League?

That’s the true jewel of world club competitions, isn’t it?

David Pemsel revealed that the negotiations with UEFA for the agency rights in North and Central America were progressing very smoothly.

If they secured these rights, it would undoubtedly add another business segment with great development potential to the company’s future.

Everyone present knew the value of broadcasting rights, especially in today’s globalized world.

To be blunt, which club didn’t make a huge profit from selling rights and their IP?

Only a fool wouldn’t support the ICC Company entering this field!

What’s more, the ICC Company now had someone in a high place.

Yang Cheng was the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board!

Thinking of this, everyone present felt a deep sense of regret.

Back then, Yang Cheng had offered to transfer more shares to them, but at the time, none of them dared to accept.

And now look.

As the company’s business continued to expand and its value soared, it was too late for regrets!

During this meeting, there was another crucial topic: the expansion of the International Champions Cup!

The ICC Company had previously hired three firms to conduct market research and provide more suggestions for the tournament’s expansion and format.

Now, the reports were out.

The 12 shareholders, plus Yang Cheng, each received a very detailed evaluation report.

It detailed the current development potential of the International Champions Cup, the potential value of expansion, and future prospects. But more importantly, it outlined various suggestions they had proposed.

One of these was completely unexpected by Yang Cheng.

All three reports “criticized” the current format of the International Champions Cup.

In fact, before making any major decision, the ICC Company always conducted thorough market research.

But everyone knew that the International Champions Cup filled a vacuum in world football; no one had done anything like it before.

The International Champions Cup from Yang Cheng’s previous life served as a cautionary tale, so many of his ideas and suggestions were based on that experience.

And the results had proven to be excellent.

Over the past few years, the International Champions Cup had expanded its market at an extremely rapid pace, and its popularity and fan response had been incredibly enthusiastic.

The tournament could be called a great success!

But in this year’s three reports, they all independently raised one issue.

Aesthetic fatigue!

Although the teams participating in the International Champions Cup were of high quality, the matches were relatively intense, and there was no shortage of star players, spectacular goals, and off-field news, including transfer rumors.

Simply put, it had all the elements of a blockbuster.

That’s why the International Champions Cup had reached new heights year after year.

But was this a good thing?

For a year or two, three to five years, the fans remained passionate.

But what if the time frame was extended?

What about after five or seven years?

The International Champions Cup was about to face its so-called “seven-year itch.”

The tournament was always held in North America and Asia, a blockbuster every summer, always igniting the football market.

But gradually, no matter how much passion the fans had, it would fade.

The novelty would gradually wear off!

All three reports pointed out that in the last two years, signs of this were already beginning to show. Fans in North America and Asia were starting to experience some aesthetic fatigue.

Although the teams changed each year after the draw, watching such a grand spectacle every summer would eventually become tiresome!

Some might ask, wait, the Champions League is played every year, why doesn’t it get old?

The reports also highlighted the difference.

Emotion!

In Europe, when fans support their club in the Champions League, they are investing real emotion, sometimes emotion built over a decade or even several decades.

But in North America and Asia, it’s a commercial show.

Even if the show is a hit, watching it every year, over and over again, will eventually cause it to lose its novelty and become dull.

Once it starts to become dull, the football market will gradually decline, and all sorts of problems will follow.

There was another issue: expansion.

Currently, there were 16 teams, 12+4. If they were to expand further, it would undoubtedly require adding more regions.

That would be a huge challenge, even a disaster, for the organization of the entire tournament.

No one could imagine simultaneously holding a tournament in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania, especially one that required a knockout stage. It would be an absolute disaster!

All participating teams would go crazy!

Therefore, all three reports simultaneously pointed out that if they were to expand, the format had to be changed.

And they had to do everything possible to prevent fan fatigue.

How do the World Cup and the European Championship operate?

Once every four years!

That’s why they are such massive events every time!

What if the World Cup was held every year?

Obviously, it wouldn’t be the same.

So, should the International Champions Cup also be held every four years?

No, a club competition definitely couldn’t be run that way.

The suggestion they gave was to still hold it annually, but to concentrate all the teams in one country.

This year in the United States, next year in East Asia, then Oceania and Southeast Asia, followed by Africa and Europe…

There were many advantages to this approach.

One was to prevent fan fatigue to the greatest extent possible.

Another was that by concentrating the teams, the schedule could be more compact, and the matches more intense.

Especially for the knockout stage.

By creating a continuous stream of exciting matches in a short period, they could ignite the football market and maximize the tournament’s influence.

This would also be a great opportunity for all sponsors, broadcasters, and partners.

They would be more willing to pay higher sponsorship and broadcasting fees, thereby increasing the value of the entire tournament.

Rotating the host country would surely attract interest from more countries and regions, and they would be more willing to offer favorable conditions and generous benefits.

This could transform the tournament into a truly international cup competition!

When Yang Cheng read the report, he was a little dumbfounded.

He looked back and wondered if the International Champions Cup from his previous life had also faced such problems.

It seemed that it really had.

Especially around 2018 and 2019, wasn’t there a sense of aesthetic fatigue setting in?

Initially, a multi-region format in North America, Asia, and Oceania was used to establish the International Champions Cup brand as quickly as possible, allowing the tournament to gain a firm footing and increase its global influence.

Looking back now, it was very successful.

Today’s International Champions Cup was a FIFA-sanctioned event, warmly received by sponsors, broadcasters, and fans. But in terms of format, it was still very loose.

Moving from a loose structure to a consolidated one represented a completely new phase.

Yang Cheng had to admit that, at least in this area, he was not professional enough.

The conclusions drawn by the ICC Company and these research agencies truly gave him a sense of an epiphany.

As he had said before: The only thing that doesn’t change in this world is that it is always changing!

In the subsequent vote, Yang Cheng was the first to raise his card in support of David Pemsel’s proposed reform of the International Champions Cup format. Pemsel promised to commit to creating a more memorable viewing experience that was well-suited for sharing on the internet.

In the end, it was a unanimous vote!

On the evening of August 7th, at the London Brent Training Centre.

Tomorrow was the first round of the 15/16 Premier League season. Bayswater Chinese would be traveling south for an away game against Bournemouth.

After a day of training, all the players gradually returned to the dressing room.

Showering, changing clothes, and chatting about tomorrow’s match.

Bournemouth is about 170 kilometers southwest of London, a little further southwest than Southampton.

The journey would take about two and a half hours.

The match was scheduled to kick off at 12:45 PM.

The match between Bayswater Chinese and Bournemouth was the season opener for the Premier League.

Teammates familiar with the Premier League and the club’s arrangements were explaining things to the newcomers.

On the evening of the 11th, the team would play the UEFA Super Cup in Georgia against Manchester United.

Manchester United’s fixture this round was a home game against Tottenham, scheduled for 3:00 PM on the 7th.

Looking at the schedule, both teams were under a lot of pressure.

After all, the distance from London to Georgia was not short.

After returning, the following weekend would be the second round of the Premier League, with Bayswater Chinese hosting Manchester United.

It was undeniably a challenging schedule.

Starting the new season with such a run of fixtures put immense pressure on the team.

But as a new signing, Salah didn’t see much tension or pressure on his teammates’ faces.

It was as if they were already used to it.

“Mohamed, have you got everything ready in your room?”

Captain Modrić asked in a seemingly casual tone.

Salah was taken aback for a moment but quickly nodded, “Everything’s ready.”

During his time at OGC Nice in Ligue 1, he had already started learning English.

Moreover, many things at Bayswater Chinese were similar to Nice, so adapting wasn’t difficult.

Of course, the teammates around him were different—much stronger!

“That’s good. Let me know if you need anything later.”

With that, Modrić walked away.

Salah was a bit bewildered, not understanding why the captain had suddenly asked him that.

Just then, the sound of clapping came from the dressing room entrance.

Everyone turned to see Yang Cheng walking in with Flick, Brian Kidd, and others.

“Everyone, listen up. We need to talk about something.”

All the players immediately hurried to finish what they were doing.

Once finished, they all gathered around.

Yang Cheng gestured to Flick.

The German coach stepped forward, holding a document.

This scene had played out many times before.

In the past, announcing the starting lineup and the matchday squad for away games was the head coach’s job.

But now, Yang Cheng was gradually delegating this authority to Flick.

Everyone had gradually accepted and adapted to this change.

“Okay, we’re going to announce the squad for tomorrow’s away game. All selected players will have to stay at our training base tonight. If you need to go home to get anything, you must be back by 10 PM tonight. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Everyone responded in unison.

This had been the rule for many years.

The drive from the Brent training center to Bournemouth was a full two and a half hours.

The match was at 12:45 PM, and the team had to arrive early, so they basically had to set off first thing in the morning.

Allowing players to stay at home could easily lead to problems.

For example, waking up late, getting stuck in traffic, or other issues.

All in all, having the players stay at the training base the night before was the most suitable option.

Of course, this meant the players had to be away from their families.

This was, in fact, the norm for many Premier League teams.

There was no choice; to accommodate fans around the world, too many matches were scheduled for midday and afternoon.

Take Pep Guardiola, for example.

When he was at Barça, wasn’t his management style known for being humane?

One of his policies was allowing players to go home the night before a match.

But there was a prerequisite: La Liga rarely had afternoon matches, let alone midday ones.

The Premier League was different.

So, after coming to the Premier League, Guardiola changed all that, requiring everyone to stay at the training center the night before a match.

Yang Cheng was actually a bit more lenient.

If time permitted, he would let his players go home.

But in a situation like this—traveling to Bournemouth for a midday away game—time was tight, so staying home the night before was out of the question.

It was only at this moment that Salah understood why Modrić had asked him that question.

“I will now announce the starting lineup for tomorrow’s match.”

Flick’s directness in announcing the starters surprised many.

But he immediately began reading out the names.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Luke Shaw, Thiago Silva, John Stones, and Kyle Walker;

Midfield: Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and De Bruyne;

Forwards: Sterling, Harry Kane, and Salah.

When Flick called his name, Salah was completely dumbfounded.

The Egyptian winger looked to his left, then to his right, and saw that everyone else seemed to find it normal. It was as if he was the only one who was surprised.

“Mohamed, is there a problem?”

Yang Cheng asked.

Salah first shook his head in a daze, then nodded. “I… I’m starting?”

This was the first match of the new season.

Some people around him chuckled.

They clearly thought this newcomer was a bit nervous.

Salah swore that if this were during a match, he would never be like this.

But he was indeed a little nervous.

He had just arrived, and it was his debut in the new season.

“Yes. Get prepared tonight, rest early. Although Bournemouth is a newly promoted team, their overall strength is not to be underestimated. They’re aiming to avoid relegation this season, so they’ll be fighting for their lives right from the first round!”

Yang Cheng paused, then smiled slightly at Salah. “Don’t be nervous, Mohamed, we’ll be fine!”

His teammates let out another wave of good-natured laughter.

Salah could feel that it wasn’t mockery, but a kind of friendly teasing.

Okay, I’m not nervous!

If none of you are nervous, what do I have to be nervous about?

Besides, I’m partnering with Harry Kane and Sterling.

In midfield, there’s Toni Kroos and De Bruyne.

What am I afraid of?

Salah forced himself to take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

The remaining seven players were the substitutes.

Tonight, these 18 players would stay at the training center.

The others could go home, but they still had to return on time for training tomorrow morning.

Their task was to prepare for the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday and the second round of the league on the weekend.

The opponent for both matches was Manchester United.

Salah also noticed that Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were not in the 18-man squad.

Neither was Modrić.

It had to be said, the coaching staff’s decision was truly bold.

Or perhaps, they were just very confident in the team’s own strength.

But on second thought, it seemed normal.

Who could possibly play all three of these matches consecutively?

Especially with a flight to Georgia in between.

On the afternoon of August 8th, at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.

The first round of the 15/16 Premier League season: Bayswater Chinese away against Bournemouth.

Just like yesterday evening when he was dumbfounded, Salah never would have imagined that as a newcomer, he would start the first league match and then get hit with a sucker punch right at the beginning.

In his view, Bayswater Chinese’s squad rotation was surely well-calculated.

The coaching staff must have had enough confidence in the team’s strength.

Facing a newly promoted team should be relatively easy.

At least, that’s how it was in Ligue 1 and other leagues.

But just 48 seconds into the match.

Yes, a mere 48 seconds.

Salah hadn’t even truly touched the ball once before he heard cheers coming from his own goal area while he was near the halfway line, on the right side of his team’s half.

Then, he saw Bournemouth’s right-sided player wearing number 30 excitedly run off the pitch.

Salah played on the right, and the number 30 player, Matt Ritchie, was on the other side of the pitch, so he couldn’t even get a clear look at what the guy looked like.

Vaguely, he was short and seemed quite fast.

But… they had conceded a goal already?

Salah was stunned!

The Egyptian silently cried out to God in his mind; he felt this was just too absurd.

Although the goal wasn’t conceded from his side of the right flank, it had happened far too quickly, hadn’t it?

It hadn’t even been a minute.

How did it go in?

But the next moment, Salah heard a shout from his teammate, De Bruyne.

“Mohamed, what the hell are you doing?”

Salah paused, then quickly turned his head, still looking completely lost.

“Where’s the man you were supposed to be marking?”

Man?

Salah’s first glance was at number 4.

But he quickly realized that was wrong.

Number 4 was positioned in central midfield.

Then who was the left-back?

“Number 11, for God’s sake!” Kyle Walker cried out, jumping in frustration.

Salah suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Of course!

They had gone over it repeatedly before the match.

The opponent’s left-back wore number 11.

Salah genuinely felt the urge to curse up a storm!

Seriously, who lets a full-back wear the number 11 shirt?

Step forward, I swear I’ll kill him!

How could Bournemouth do something like that?

Now Salah knew exactly how the goal was scored.

He was a little out of it.

The pace of the Premier League was too fast. He had taken a moment to observe his surroundings, and that number 11, Daniels, had suddenly charged forward, received the ball, and sent in a cross from the left.

The number 30 on the right flank, Matt Ritchie, who was left-footed, made a sudden diagonal run into the right side of the box and smashed a left-footed power shot past Courtois.

And the root cause was that Salah had lost his man, and Kyle Walker hadn’t been able to cover in time.

He had his own man to mark.

Salah tensed up completely.

This is the Premier League!

The damn Premier League!

The pace is just too fast!

In just 48 seconds, it had given him a harsh show of strength to intimidate a newcomer!

“It’s okay, it’s okay, everyone, pull yourselves together, get ready, we’re going to fight back!”

Harry Kane jogged back quickly.

Despite being only 22, as a homegrown talent through and through, Harry Kane held an unusual amount of sway in the dressing room.

The other players, including Kyle Walker, were also constantly urging their teammates on.

Toni Kroos even made a bold declaration.

“Proceed steadily and surely, we’ll equalize in 10 minutes. C’mon, everyone get running!”

The pace of the Premier League was just insane!

Salah tried hard to keep his head clear, and he quickly got into the rhythm of the game.

He was 23 years old, not some rookie who knew nothing.

He had played in Ligue 1 and the Champions League with OGC Nice.

What just happened was just a moment of carelessness.

Soon, he witnessed the magic of Bayswater Chinese.

Toni Kroos had said they would equalize within 10 minutes, and everyone focused their efforts on that goal.

Especially around the nine-minute mark, seeing Bournemouth defending deep and unable to break through, everyone fought even harder.

They were truly going all out, determined to equalize within 10 minutes!

When everyone shared the same goal, the combat effectiveness they unleashed was terrifying.

Including Salah himself.

He gradually let go of the nervousness of his Premier League debut. He started to get into the game, immersing himself in the rhythm and atmosphere created by his teammates.

But Bournemouth was indeed strong!

They used a 4-4-2 formation, but in reality, their two central midfielders, numbers 4 and 6, dropped very deep.

Added to that, their two wide midfielders actively tracked back.

As a result, there were always two lines of defense in front of their penalty area, watertight and very difficult to break through.

Salah himself had tried to dribble past them twice, but was blocked both times.

There was a lot of physical contact and plenty of small fouls, but mostly it was a contest of strength.

With each encounter, Salah’s impression of the Premier League was being reshaped.

On the other side, Sterling was much more aggressive than him, charging forward every time he got the ball.

Time was ticking away. The one minute from nine to ten minutes seemed to pass incredibly slowly.

But eventually, it had to end.

Are we still not going to equalize?

Just as Salah began to have his doubts, as he cut inside from the half-space with the ball and was once again blocked by a defender, he heard someone behind him calling his name.

Toni Kroos!

That German midfielder!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Salah immediately passed the ball to him.

When the ball reached Toni Kroos, the German didn’t even take a touch to control it. Instead, he lunged forward, and just before a defender could close him down, he sent a lob pass over the top with his right foot.

The ball flew over Bournemouth’s two defensive lines, over the heads of all the players, and dropped near the right side of Bournemouth’s six-yard box.

At almost the same instant, a red figure could be seen darting out from between Bournemouth’s central defenders.

Without any warning, the two players had executed a move of perfect chemistry.

Harry Kane had successfully beaten the offside trap. After breaking into the box, he rushed to the edge of the six-yard box and, just before the onrushing goalkeeper could reach it, he deftly volleyed Toni Kroos’s lob pass.

After being touched by Harry Kane, the ball changed direction, skimming past the advancing Polish goalkeeper Boruc and into the unguarded net.

1-1!

A gasp of surprise echoed through the Vitality Stadium.

It was immediately followed by cheers for Harry Kane’s goal!

Salah was stunned!

They really equalized!

Not a second more, not a second less, exactly 10 minutes!

This was his magical Premier League debut!

Chapter 347: The Premier League’s Big Seven! Yang Cheng, Your Secret Is Out! Manchester United’s Exorbitant Price!

Seventeen minutes into the match, Luke Shaw made a sudden overlapping run and unleashed a long shot from just outside the left corner of the penalty area. The ball struck opposing centre-back Distin’s leg and rebounded away.

After blocking the shot, the former Everton centre-back immediately turned and charged out.

But Sterling was faster. He intercepted the ball a step ahead of him and, slippery as an eel, ran swiftly forward. He dribbled past Distin, broke into the penalty area, and faced the other centre-back, Steve Cook.

Inside the box, Sterling first came to a sudden halt, then feigned a horizontal cut inside. After shaking off Cook, he suddenly burst straight forward and calmly hit a push shot with his right foot.

The ball passed under the goalkeeper and into the near corner of the net. 2-1!

A comeback!

The entire momentum of the match had completely shifted.

Bournemouth was in total disarray!

Bayswater Chinese continued to press the attack.

The entire team gradually found their rhythm.

Especially Salah.

The Egyptian winger began to showcase his true abilities.

Seeing his team turn the game around, he felt a wave of relief.

In the 29th minute, while dribbling down the right flank, Salah won a corner kick.

Toni Kroos took the corner, delivering it precisely to the near post.

Thiago Silva got to the ball first, heading it towards the near corner.

The goalkeeper, Boruc, dived and managed to palm the ball away with one hand.

But while the ball was saved, there was no one near the six-yard box.

At that crucial moment, Harry Kane appeared in the vital spot. Meeting the ball as it came off Boruc’s save, he calmly tapped it into the empty net.

3-1!

A brace!

The first half ended with the team holding a 3-1 lead.

In the dressing room, Yang Cheng expressed his satisfaction with the team’s first-half performance.

However, he felt that after going up 3-1, they hadn’t applied enough pressure on the opponent.

He wanted them to appropriately ramp up the attack in the second half.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!! Let’s go!!!”

Yang Cheng’s encouragement spurred the team to come out fiercely after the break.

Even with a 3-1 lead, the Bayswater Chinese players went all out with every play.

In the 56th minute, De Bruyne received a pass from Salah in midfield. He took a touch forward to evade a defender and then sent a diagonal pass through.

The pass was like a scalpel, precisely dissecting Bournemouth’s defensive line.

Harry Kane made a quick forward run, perfectly collecting De Bruyne’s pass right behind Distin.

The English centre-forward didn’t take a touch, instead directly striking the ball with his left foot and sending it into the right side of the goal once more.

4-1!

Hat-trick!

Overcome with excitement, Harry Kane turned and ran, cheering wildly all the way.

The entire sequence of the goal unfolded right before Salah’s eyes.

He suddenly had a clear understanding of something a teammate had once told him.

“You know what the biggest difference is between playing for Bayswater Chinese and any other team?”

“As an attacking player, we don’t ever need to think about how the ball will be passed.”

“The only thing we need to think about is how to run!”

“Behind us, we have the best midfield in the world for organization and passing. No matter how we run, as long as we find space, they will deliver the ball to us with precision!”

Just now, Harry Kane’s sudden run and De Bruyne’s exquisitely brilliant pass gave Salah a feeling akin to a scalpel making a precise incision on skin.

It was so fine!

Distin saw it coming but was powerless to stop it.

It was as if De Bruyne had calculated his shift in center of gravity into the pass itself.

And when Harry Kane received the ball, it was an easy finish.

It was less a shot with his left foot and more of a redirection.

At this thought, an idea suddenly sparked in Salah’s mind.

Just seven minutes later, during a horizontal run, he abruptly changed direction and sprinted forward.

But just as he broke through Bournemouth’s defensive line, a flicker of regret crossed his mind.

Damn it!

I forgot to call for it!

And I ran too fast, I’m offside!

But to Salah’s amazement, the linesman’s flag stayed down, and the whistle never blew.

When the Egyptian winger turned his head, he saw the football flying right toward him.

What the hell!

So what they said in the dressing room is all true!

We just need to run, and they’ll get the ball to us!

Salah reacted instantly. He turned sideways, chested the ball down in front of him, and accelerated to chase after it.

Facing the onrushing Boruc, the Egyptian, now one-on-one, calmly pushed the ball into the net.

5-1!

Salah turned and ran, overcome with excitement.

Nobody was going to stop him!

He sprinted wildly, running all the way to the broadcast camera on the sideline, cheering and shouting with all his might.

He had seen this scene on television countless times.

For the past few years, he had been dreaming of putting on the Bayswater Chinese jersey, of breaking through defenses for this team, and celebrating a goal just like this.

He had missed a golden opportunity before!

Now, he had made up for that regret!

It’s finally my turn to celebrate a goal!

…

The first round of the league is always the toughest.

In the season opener, Bayswater Chinese came from a goal down to score five unanswered goals, securing a 5-1 comeback victory against newly promoted Bournemouth, creating a huge sensation.

Whether it was Harry Kane’s hat-trick or the goals from Sterling and Salah, the performance showcased the team’s formidable strength.

Even with the departure of Eden Hazard, Bayswater Chinese remained the most competitive team in the Premier League!

In a subsequent match, Manchester United faced a stubborn challenge at home from Tottenham Hotspur.

However, in the 22nd minute, C. Ronaldo used his individual skill to force a breakthrough, cutting inside the penalty area and scoring successfully.

This was Manchester United’s only goal of the entire match.

The Red Devils secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at home.

But Mourinho’s team wasn’t so lucky.

In their match against Swansea City, The Blues took the lead twice, only to be pegged back by their opponents both times.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw at home.

The Gunners, meanwhile, defeated West Ham United 2-0 at home, thanks to goals from Benzema and Sánchez.

Liverpool defeated Stoke City 1-0 away from home with a goal from Coutinho.

Klopp’s Premier League debut got off to a winning start.

Manchester City, on the other hand, defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 away, with goals from David Silva, Messi, and Vincent Kompany.

After this round of matches, Bayswater Chinese sat at the top of the Premier League table on goal difference!

It was worth noting that just before this round, news had circulated in the British media.

The Qatari consortium that had acquired Paris Saint-Germain was interested in buying a Premier League team.

Their priority target was Manchester United!

But according to intelligence from The Sun, the Glazer family’s asking price for Manchester United once again far exceeded what the Qatari consortium was willing to pay, causing the Middle Eastern investors to back away again.

However, the Qatari consortium still hoped to find a team in the Premier League.

Besides Manchester United, their priorities were teams in or around London.

In this season’s Premier League, there were quite a few teams from London and its surrounding areas.

Aside from Bayswater Chinese, Arsenal, and Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur was controlled by the ENIC Group.

The Qatari consortium’s potential targets included Premier League sides West Ham United and Crystal Palace, as well as Watford from the northwest suburbs of London.

Bournemouth and Southampton were also in the vicinity of London.

Among them, The Saints of Southampton were currently up for sale, leading to widespread speculation.

Additionally, in the Championship, Queens Park Rangers, Brentford, Reading, Charlton Athletic, and Fulham were all teams from London and its surrounding towns.

Therefore, many were eagerly awaiting the Qatari consortium’s next move.

But regardless, with the financial might of the Qatari consortium, if they were to acquire a team and enter the London scene, it would undoubtedly make the world’s most fiercely competitive football city even more explosive.

You had to remember, London already boasted three of the Big Six teams. If the Qatari consortium entered the fray, the Big Six would likely become the Premier League’s Big Seven.

At that point, the London football market would truly become a bloodbath!

Yang Cheng was privy to more inside information than what was being reported publicly.

Over the past few years, the Premier League’s broadcast rights had soared, and its globalization was progressing better and better.

More and more investors wanted a piece of this market.

But Premier League teams were becoming increasingly expensive, and many clubs were naturally constrained.

Take Queens Park Rangers, for example.

Even if a team like that was acquired by the Qatari consortium, what could they do?

The consortium wasn’t stupid.

Right now, the most attractive team in London was West Ham United.

Because the team’s home ground was the London Bowl, its potential for development was huge.

But the London Bowl was only leased, which posed a problem.

Tottenham Hotspur had long wanted to build a new stadium but lacked the funds.

However, the price for the North London team would be extremely high.

Anyone familiar with the style of the ENIC Group’s Lewis and Daniel Levy would know that acquiring Tottenham would require an astronomical sum.

In the Championship, Brentford was also planning a new stadium, while Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace on the south bank of the River Thames also had the potential to expand their grounds.

Further afield, Watford and Reading weren’t strictly in London but were considered part of the metropolitan area.

In short, until a decision was made, no one knew what the Qatari consortium would choose.

As for Manchester United, it was truly a shame.

The Glazer family continued to leech off the club, and their sky-high asking price for a sale had scared off all potential investors.

At the very least, The Red Devils’ fans truly despised the family with a passion.

…

What Manchester United fans thought of the Glazer family’s exorbitant demands was none of Yang Cheng’s business.

But he was well aware that van Gaal’s Manchester United should not be underestimated.

After the first round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese rested briefly in London before taking a private jet to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

In the past, he would have complained relentlessly about UEFA’s penchant for such bothersome arrangements.

But now, as the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, he had to admit that such moves were necessary, whether for votes or for the greater good.

Of course, from UEFA’s perspective, they weren’t the ones being inconvenienced.

The match kicked off at 19:45.

Both Yang Cheng and van Gaal rotated their starting lineups.

This was because after this match, both teams would return to the Premier League for another fixture.

But clearly, both sides placed more importance on this UEFA Super Cup.

After all, it was a European title!

Bayswater Chinese stuck to their signature 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Aaron Ramsey and Modrić in front of him;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

Unlike the previous league opener, Yang Cheng had changed the entire starting lineup.

However, players like Harry Kane and Toni Kroos were on the bench, ready to come on at any time.

Manchester United had also undergone significant squad rotation.

Goalkeeper: Jesús Navas;

Defense: Daley Blind, De Rossi, David Luiz, and Valencia;

Midfield: Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger formed a double pivot, with C. Ronaldo, Pogba, and Rooney in front of them;

Forward: Cavani.

Manchester United’s lineup appeared to be a 4-2-3-1, but in reality, when they attacked, Valencia’s aggressive overlapping runs would transform the formation into something resembling a three-at-the-back system.

With C. Ronaldo and Rooney pushing forward, they would form a front three with Cavani.

At that point, it would become a 3-4-3 shape.

It was clear that summer signings like Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger were being heavily relied upon by van Gaal.

But from the very start of the match, Bayswater Chinese demonstrated their superiority.

The mature and stable tactical framework built over many years allowed the players to coordinate with seamless understanding.

The players in all three lines moved like tightly interlocked gears, relentlessly driving the team’s war machine forward, launching wave after wave of attacks on Manchester United.

The Red Devils had clearly anticipated this and had organized their defense tightly.

Van Gaal’s Manchester United still employed a high press.

But it was more targeted.

If they failed to win the ball, they would immediately drop back into their defensive positions.

Their transition between attack and defense and their speed in tracking back were very quick.

After a full season of coaching, Manchester United could now switch smoothly between three, four, and even five-at-the-back formations.

Facing the speed threat of players like Gareth Bale and Walcott, Manchester United’s strategy was to compress the space for distribution from midfield.

The double pivot of Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger served precisely this purpose.

On paper, this double pivot combination was truly impressive.

Many might wonder if Manchester United was foolish to spend so much money on Schneiderlin.

But they weren’t!

Over the past three seasons, Schneiderlin’s average ball recoveries per game in the Premier League were 7, 6.5, and 7.2.

These figures ranked him among the top five midfielders in the Premier League.

More importantly, his pass completion rate had consistently remained at 89%.

His passing in the defensive third was as high as 97%, and in the middle of the pitch, it was around 91%.

He was a ball-winning machine with strong passing ability.

So, when people said Schneiderlin was a box-to-box midfielder, they were spot on.

If you looked only at the names on paper, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger were very complementary.

With these two as a double pivot, the midfield was definitely solid!

Moreover, Manchester United and van Gaal weren’t stupid.

Schneiderlin was suited to pressing high, while Schweinsteiger was responsible for the holding role. This was the task they assigned to this double pivot.

It was the arrangement that best maximized their strengths.

So where was the problem?

In his previous life, Yang Cheng had seen an interview with Schneiderlin that was very interesting, but one that footballers would understand.

Schneiderlin said that the reason he played poorly at Manchester United and couldn’t adapt to van Gaal’s tactics was that he thought too much on the pitch.

Sound absurd?

Not at all.

Schneiderlin explained that he had always been a player who relied on instinct.

During a match, he would use his intuition to decide what he should and shouldn’t do.

But van Gaal’s tactical restrictions made it difficult for him to adapt.

The Dutch coach was so strict that he dictated what Schneiderlin must do with the ball and without the ball, which left Schneiderlin at a loss.

Every time he was about to act, he had to first think about what the head coach wanted him to do.

Then, he found that he was starting to forget how to play football.

Especially when his judgments consistently led to mistakes.

Constant errors and a disorienting way of playing caused his confidence to plummet.

So how did Pochettino handle him at Southampton?

They designed tactics around Schneiderlin’s habits and style of play.

Ultimately, it came down to two different coaching philosophies.

Van Gaal, Benítez, and others like them truly treated players like robots.

Yang Cheng felt deep sympathy for Schneiderlin’s plight.

He actually quite liked the player.

But now they were opponents.

So, Yang Cheng had to exploit this weakness to strike at Manchester United.

Another point was that both Pogba and C. Ronaldo were on the left half-pitch.

Neither of these two attacking players had a strong desire to track back.

Combine that with Schneiderlin’s tendency to press high and subsequently lose his position, and you had a vulnerability.

Therefore, Yang Cheng designed his tactics specifically to target this point.

In the 17th minute, during a quick counter-attack, Giroud dropped deep to receive the ball. Modrić, positioned in the right half-space in front of Schneiderlin but behind Pogba, collected the ball. He drew Schneiderlin out to press him before passing to Piszczek.

The Polish right-back delivered a 45-degree diagonal pass behind Manchester United’s defensive line.

Gareth Bale, who had already missed one chance in the box, made a quick forward run. Near the left corner of the six-yard box, he beat the goalkeeper Jesús Navas to the ball and headed it into the right side of the goal.

Although Navas did everything he could to make the save, he was still helpless.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese, who had controlled the game from the start, finally breached Manchester United’s goal!

Then, in the 42nd minute of the first half, it happened in the same area.

Giroud received the ball, drifted wide, and laid it back to Walcott.

The Little Tiger made a quick forward run, playing a beautiful one-two pass with the overlapping Modrić, which took Schneiderlin completely out of the play.

Walcott made a diagonal run into the right side of the penalty area, received the ball one-on-one, and shot again, beating Manchester United’s goalkeeper.

2-0!

The 55,000 fans inside the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi erupted in cheers!

For the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese had utterly dominated Manchester United, pinning them down relentlessly.

It was a clear demonstration to everyone that although both were Premier League teams and top European clubs, there was still a vast gap in their quality.

After the break, the teams switched sides. Right from the restart, Bayswater Chinese launched a brilliant counter-attack down the left flank.

Gareth Bale went on a blistering run, charging forward to the astonishment of everyone in the stadium. He unleashed a power shot from the left side of the box aimed at the near corner.

The ball struck the base of the left post and rebounded out, where David Luiz hastily cleared it for a corner.

Modrić took the corner kick.

The Croatian precisely delivered the ball to the back post of the penalty area.

Van Dijk quickly shook off the two Manchester United players marking him and, on the right edge of the six-yard box, launched himself into a diving header, powerfully directing the ball into the left side of Manchester United’s goal.

Navas flew across in a diving save, but it was beyond his reach.

3-0!

The game was decided!

And it was only the 53rd minute.

For the final 40 minutes or so, both teams mostly made substitutions and ran down the clock.

They had no choice; there was a league match on the weekend.

And both teams had to endure a long journey back to London for their next game.

The toll on both teams was immense.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 3-0 to win the UEFA Super Cup!

…

On the afternoon of August 15th, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 2, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester United.

At 59 minutes and 56 seconds, Sterling dribbled from the left side, making a diagonal run into the box. He instantly drew a joint defending effort from two Manchester United midfielders, Herrera and Strootman.

Plus a holding Schweinsteiger.

Manchester United’s entire defensive focus had shifted to that side.

But after charging into the 30-meter area and drawing the defenders’ attention, Sterling played a cross pass into the empty space in the center.

Casemiro surged forward, reaching Sterling’s pass a step ahead of his marker. Just as Schneiderlin closed in, he played a diagonal pass into the space behind the defense.

At the arc of the penalty area, De Rossi, the last man back, shouted as he immediately turned and charged toward the right side of the box.

A red figure was seen sprinting forward at incredible speed, chasing down Casemiro’s diagonal ball.

It was Gareth Bale. He even adjusted the ball slightly with the inside of his right foot near the right corner of the box. Just before De Rossi could close him down, he unleashed a furious shot.

The close-range shot was incredibly powerful.

And it wasn’t a low drive, but a more difficult high shot.

The football rocketed forward at immense speed, practically skimming the underside of the crossbar as it flew into Manchester United’s goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 60th minute, just as the match hits the 60-minute mark, Gareth Bale smashes a powerful, close-range angry shot past Manchester United’s keeper!”

“And with his right foot!”

“We can see how difficult that shot was. He didn’t go for a safer angle but aimed high, clearly targeting Navas’s height disadvantage.”

“But if a shot like that isn’t controlled properly, if the ball isn’t kept down, it can easily turn into a skied shot.”

“We can see the quality of Gareth Bale’s strike was exceptionally high, and the ball speed was immense.”

“After years of refinement, Gareth Bale’s shooting has become increasingly skillful. He is now one of the most dangerous finishers in European football, and his right foot can produce shots every bit as good as his left!”

“He’s truly a complete player!”

Manchester United’s best chance of the match came late in the second half.

Pogba sent a through ball behind the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

Substitute C. Ronaldo made a quick forward run, received the ball on the left side of the penalty area, and, facing the onrushing Courtois, aimed a push shot for the far corner.

Courtois, halfway out, suddenly dived to the side.

The slow-motion replay showed that the Belgian goalkeeper’s fingertips did indeed touch the ball, causing it to deflect and slide past the post.

But the head referee awarded a goal kick instead of a corner kick.

After the match, van Gaal seized on this point, blasting it as a serious refereeing error.

As if giving them a corner would have guaranteed a goal for Manchester United.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, played innocent after getting the favorable call, saying he didn’t even notice if it should have been a corner.

“It all happened so fast.”

“But I don’t think it would have had any impact on the overall state of the game.”

“Whether it was a corner or not is completely unimportant!”

Also in the second round, Arsenal came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 away, with Benzema contributing a goal and an assist.

Liverpool defeated Bournemouth 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Suárez.

And in the other crucial match of the round, Manchester City crushed Chelsea 3-0 at home, with a brace from Messi and a goal from Agüero.

Mourinho’s team suffered a heavy blow!

…

A week later, Premier League Round 3.

Yang Cheng’s team traveled to face Crystal Palace.

Alan Pardew’s side defended with all their might at home.

Bayswater Chinese couldn’t break through until the 29th minute, when Harry Kane provided an assist for Modrić, who scored on an overlapping run from midfield.

Then, in the second half, in the 60th minute, Gareth Bale scored from a Modrić assist to score another goal for the team.

This was the Welshman’s second consecutive league match with a goal!

Just six minutes later, Harry Kane scored again with a long shot from outside the box, once again beating the Crystal Palace keeper.

3-0!

Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing away victory over Crystal Palace!

Yang Cheng’s team once again displayed their aggressive dominance.

From the very start of the season, they had shown an irresistible and unstoppable momentum.

Manchester United, having suffered two consecutive defeats, managed a 1-0 victory over Newcastle in this round thanks to a last-minute winner from C. Ronaldo.

Chelsea eked out a 3-2 away win against West Bromwich Albion.

Manchester City defeated Everton 2-0 away.

Messi had a goal and an assist.

The crucial match of the round saw Arsenal draw 0-0 at home with Liverpool.

The two teams engaged in a fierce battle, but neither could find the back of the net.

…

Premier League Round 4.

After failing to beat Liverpool in the previous round, Wenger’s Gunners let off some steam.

Thanks to a goal from Nasri, they defeated Newcastle 1-0 away.

Manchester City beat Watford 2-0 at home, with a goal from Messi.

Liverpool defeated West Ham United 3-0 at home.

Suárez was in fine form, scoring a brace.

Chelsea, after going a goal down at home, managed a 2-1 comeback victory against Crystal Palace.

Manchester United, however, drew 2-2 away at Swansea City, with goals from Mata and C. Ronaldo.

Despite significant investment in the summer, van Gaal’s Red Devils had a rather bumpy start to the league season.

The most important issue was that the team’s tactics had not been sorted out, especially regarding player compatibility.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Sunderland.

Just 19 minutes into the match, Walcott scored the opening goal for the team.

1-0!

The assist for The Little Tiger came from Gareth Bale!

After listening to Yang Cheng’s advice, the Welshman was determined to challenge for the FIFA Ballon d’Or again this season.

And the first step was the UEFA Best Player in Europe award at the ceremony in Monaco.

In the 31st minute, Harry Kane delivered a brilliant assist, helping Gareth Bale get a goal.

2-0!

After the break, Defoe pulled one back for Sunderland.

This gave Sunderland a glimmer of hope.

But five minutes later, Pepe scored another goal for the team.

3-1!

In the 60th minute, Walcott assisted Harry Kane for another goal, further extending the lead.

4-1!

And in the 62nd minute, Toni Kroos assisted Gareth Bale, who scored again!

5-1!

The Welshman had scored a brace.

In the 76th minute, a through ball from Harry Kane found Gareth Bale breaking into the left side of the box, and he scored again.

In the end, Gareth Bale completed his hat-trick, helping the team to a resounding 6-1 home victory over Sunderland.

…

After the 4th round of the Premier League, the league paused for the annual Champions League group stage draw and the UEFA awards ceremony.

In the past, Yang Cheng rarely attended such events.

But times had changed.

Now, as the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board and the owner of Bayswater Chinese, he was obligated to attend for both public and private reasons. So, he arrived early at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco with his players.

Every major event is a social venue where various forces mingle and interact.

The Champions League group stage draw was no exception.

What the media and fans saw was the draw and the awards.

But in Yang Cheng’s eyes, it was a “diplomatic” stage for maneuvering and forming alliances.

In September, the UEFA presidential election would begin.

It was currently the most intense period of competition between Dutchman van Praag and Slovenian Čeferin.

Both men were present at this grand event.

But the first person Yang Cheng met upon entering the venue was not them.

It was Nasser, the chairman of Paris Saint-Germain.

Nasser was a very smooth operator.

When Yang Cheng entered, he was talking with Manchester United’s CEO, Ed Woodward.

If a picture of this got out, tomorrow’s news would probably be about the Qatari consortium wanting to buy Manchester United again.

But in reality, those in the industry knew that this deal had long since fallen through.

The Glazer family’s asking price was very high.

A couple of days ago, there was even a news report that the Qataris wanted to buy Newcastle.

They were another traditional giant of the Premier League, though they had fallen on hard times.

After Yang Cheng entered with Adam Crozier and Gareth Bale, Nasser excused himself from Ed Woodward and was the first to approach them.

The Qatari man began by congratulating Gareth Bale in advance, wishing him success in winning the award again.

This gesture immediately earned him the goodwill of Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier.

After Gareth Bale left, Adam Crozier jokingly asked if he was still keen on Manchester United.

Nasser smiled wryly and shook his head. “Do you know what price the Glazer family is asking for?”

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier exchanged a look, both curious.

“Four billion pounds!”

“Four billion pounds?” Adam Crozier was visibly shocked.

Yang Cheng was calmer, but he couldn’t help but admire the Glazer family’s audacity.

With four billion pounds, who the hell would buy Manchester United?

Did Manchester United have a mountain of gold or something?

Even if Manchester United was still one of the most influential clubs in world football, with the strongest commercial operations and highest brand value, it wasn’t worth a terrifying four billion pounds.

For one thing, since the Glazer family took over, not a single piece of equipment at the Carrington training ground had been replaced.

C. Ronaldo had recently complained that in the six years since he left Manchester United—six years of rapid advancement in football training standards across Europe—Carrington remained exactly the same.

There were even fewer staff than before.

Those Americans were truly stingy!

“We have indeed been looking at teams in London recently. We hope to have the opportunity in the future to play London derbies with you, Bayswater Chinese, as well as with other giants like Arsenal and Chelsea!”

The information Nasser revealed carried deep implications.

Adam Crozier glanced at Yang Cheng, then said with a smile, “It seems you’re planning a big move!”

“Of course. Once we’re in the Premier League, we will certainly challenge Bayswater Chinese for your dominant position.”

The three of them laughed heartily at that.

After some lighthearted banter, Nasser asked Yang Cheng about some other matters.

For example, the current attitude within FIFA regarding the bid for the 2022 World Cup.

This wasn’t exactly a secret.

Qatar had long been worried that the power struggle within FIFA would lead to them losing their hosting rights.

They had invested an enormous amount of money and effort into their bid.

If their World Cup hosting rights were revoked, it would be a massive blow to Qatar.

Yang Cheng didn’t hide anything and directly shared some of the controversies within FIFA.

There were indeed some voices calling for Qatar’s hosting rights to be canceled.

Additionally, some were questioning whether players could even handle playing a World Cup in Qatar during the summer.

It was too hot.

In fact, Qatar knew this themselves, which was why they even researched stadium-wide air conditioning when designing the venues.

But these were minor issues.

The key question was, who would be willing to play a World Cup in Qatar in 40-degree heat?

One could only say that Blatter must have had his brain kicked by a donkey back then.

Qatar was now very anxious, lobbying everywhere in hopes of quelling the debate and securing their hosting rights.

Thinking of this, a sudden realization flashed in Yang Cheng’s mind.

He instantly understood why the Qatari consortium wanted to buy a Premier League team.

Next, the Qataris would probably invest heavily in the United Kingdom, just as they did in France.

In a way, this was even more justifiable than their investment in France.

Because for many years, Middle Eastern consortiums had been investing in the UK.

“You’re right.”

After Nasser left, David Gill came over and confirmed Yang Cheng’s suspicions.

“They have indeed been lobbying on Downing Street recently. I’ve met with them several times. This acquisition of a Premier League team is part of it. I heard they’re also going to bring in superstars.”

“The next step is to continue investing in other industries. It’s clear they’ve heard the rumors.”

A duck is the first to know when the river water warms in spring.

Qatar, the duck in this situation, would certainly be the first to sense the changing currents.

Yang Cheng recalled what David Pemsel had said before, that the Middle Eastern Al Jazeera was considering stepping up its efforts to acquire the broadcast rights for the International Champions Cup in the Middle East and Africa at a high price.

This was also a gesture of goodwill towards him and the 12 giant clubs.

“I hear you’re also supporting Čeferin?” Yang Cheng changed the subject.

“Yes. Čeferin met with me and Greg Dyke in Northern Europe. He promised that if he’s elected, he will support my bid for the FIFA presidency on behalf of UEFA.”

“What about van Praag?” Yang Cheng asked.

“He hasn’t made his position clear!”

Hearing this, Yang Cheng was momentarily speechless.

Even at this stage, van Praag still couldn’t read the situation.

Sometimes, Yang Cheng felt that these old guards of football, while they were said to be skilled at power struggles, often appeared foolish at critical moments, lacking a keen sense of awareness.

Yet, you couldn’t say they were unskilled, as they had all emerged from countless power struggles.

Perhaps the only explanation was that they were getting old.

“Your competition this time isn’t strong. The most important thing is to accumulate enough political capital for yourself during the FIFA reforms. You need to be able to stabilize the situation and maintain control.”

Yang Cheng offered a couple of pointers to David Gill.

He was in a position to do so now.

To some extent, if he didn’t support David Gill, the latter’s chances of being elected were practically nil.

Of course, the other candidates weren’t much to write home about either.

For example, Prince Ali of Jordan, who had just been a token opponent to Blatter.

A fresher face was the South African businessman, Sexwale, who had been an inmate with Mandela and later made his fortune, becoming chairman of the South African Football Association.

There was also Sheikh Salman of the Bahraini royal family, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

But none of them posed a significant threat to David Gill.

“I’ve spoken with Greg Dyke and the Minister for Sport. The situation now is that if I’m elected, the hosting rights for Russia and Qatar can’t really be changed. Otherwise, the problems it would cause would be even more severe.”

Yang Cheng nodded.

This was not a simple matter.

A single action could affect the whole situation.

FIFA couldn’t afford another major upheaval so soon.

“So, I’ve discussed with Čeferin: England hosts the 2028 European Championship, and the 2026 World Cup goes to the United States. What do you think?”

David Gill sought Yang Cheng’s opinion.

He hadn’t made a firm commitment, mainly because he was worried Yang Cheng might also want to bid for the World Cup for his own country.

After all, this was a rare opportunity.

To his surprise, Yang Cheng just smiled nonchalantly.

“I have no problem with that.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng added with a smile, “My homeland’s economy is prosperous and thriving. It doesn’t need a World Cup to stimulate it.”

“But when it comes to youth academy and coach development, you have to remember to give us more support. We are severely lacking in that area right now!”

The main reason was that the men’s national team was just too poor.

It was better to hide their weakness than to display their incompetence.

David Gill let out a huge sigh of relief.

If Yang Cheng also wanted to compete for the World Cup bid, he would be in big trouble.

The current arrangement was simply perfect.

“That’s definitely not a problem. In the future, whatever you need, I will do my utmost to provide it,” David Gill promised on the spot.

“Still, don’t be careless. The election campaign is long. Focus on pushing through the internal reforms. That is your greatest trump card!”

David Gill nodded eagerly in agreement.

He was well aware that reform was the irresistible trend.

Look at the election between Čeferin and van Praag—it was the difference between the new generation of reformers and the old guard.

The situation was very favorable for him right now.

With the support of Yang Cheng and the Supervisory Board, he was now the leader of FIFA’s internal reform group. If he could show tangible results before the election, who could possibly compete with him?

…

After meeting with David Gill, both Čeferin and van Praag naturally came over to pay their respects.

As he had heard, Čeferin was not only young but also very methodical in his speech and actions. He was eloquent and clearly a member of the elite.

After meeting the two UEFA presidential candidates, Yang Cheng was pulled aside by Bayern Munich’s Chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

“I heard you are planning to acquire Eintracht Frankfurt?”

“Who did you hear that from?” Yang Cheng was somewhat surprised.

This matter had been handled very discreetly. How was it exposed so quickly?

Rummenigge sensed Yang Cheng’s vigilance. “Don’t worry. At Bayern, at most two or three people know about this. It will absolutely not be spread. The other clubs probably have no idea.”

After a pause, the Bayern chairman took the initiative to say, “Aren’t you about to conduct due diligence on Eintracht Frankfurt?”

An acquisition, especially a cross-border one like this, required thorough due diligence beforehand.

Otherwise, if you ended up taking over a financial black hole, who would you cry to?

So, it was impossible to keep this matter completely a secret.

Once the media caught even a whiff of it, it would be exposed immediately.

Of course, Yang Cheng had already made preparations for the aftermath.

“Rest assured, we support you coming in,” Rummenigge said with a smile.

Fans might care about results.

But as club operators, they were more concerned with competitiveness.

In this era of globalization, for Bayern to further enhance its competitiveness, it had to break the constraints of the Bundesliga.

Bringing in foreign investment was undoubtedly an excellent option.

Furthermore, once the restrictions were broken, couldn’t Bayern also sell shares?

“You’re starting your preparations now, which is good timing. It’s best to be discreet and drag it out until October, after the German Football Association’s presidential election results are out,” Rummenigge advised.

Only then did Yang Cheng believe that Rummenigge genuinely supported his entry into the market.

“When it comes time to vote, would you dare to publicly cast a vote in favor?” Yang Cheng asked with a hint of mischief.

Rummenigge was speechless.

Clearly, he wouldn’t dare.

In Germany, even a powerhouse like Bayern didn’t dare to publicly state its position, for fear of being eaten alive by the fans.

It was a testament to how deeply entrenched the 50+1 rule was in Germany.

Chapter 348: Double Standards! UEFA Best Player in Europe! A Perfect Goal Machine! Wenger Completely Loses His Composure!

Starting from the 2015/16 Champions League group stage, the seeding rules were completely changed.

In the past, Champions League seeding was based on European competition coefficient points—the top eight teams were designated as top seeds.

But now, it was the defending champions plus the league champions from the top seven leagues based on European competition coefficient points.

Since Bayswater Chinese had won both the Champions League and the Premier League, that seventh spot was passed down to the eighth-ranked league, the Eredivisie.

PSV Eindhoven picked up a bargain because of this, landing a spot among the top seeds.

The other twenty-four teams continued to be divided into three pots according to their European competition coefficient points.

Were these seeding rules reasonable?

Not really.

For example, PSV Eindhoven, who had been promoted to Pot 1, had a coefficient of only 58.195 points, making them a solid Pot 3 team. Now they were designated as a top seed.

Zenit St. Petersburg, the champion of the seventh-ranked league, was also a definite Pot 3 team but was now a top seed as well.

OGC Nice from Ligue 1, Benfica from the Primeira Liga, and Juventus from Serie A would all have been in the second pot based on their coefficients.

As a result, they all became top seeds now.

A subsequent problem arose with the second pot.

Didn’t the Premier League have five teams in the Champions League this season?

Apart from Bayswater Chinese, who were defending champions and a top seed, the other four teams were all in the second pot.

This was completely absurd.

So much so that when the Champions League seedings were announced, everyone saw the implications almost immediately.

Who were the remaining four teams in the second pot?

Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Porto, and Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayswater Chinese was destined to draw one of these four teams.

With a bit of luck, they would draw PSG.

Although the Ligue 1 team was full of star players, their overall strength wasn’t that formidable, ultimately a notch below the two Madrid clubs.

Head coach Blanc’s Champions League experience wasn’t extensive either; he was fine bullying newcomers.

Or there was Porto.

Facing the two La Liga powerhouses would be the most troublesome scenario.

With a fifty-fifty chance, Bayswater Chinese drew Porto.

After avoiding the two Madrid clubs and drawing Porto, the draws for the third and fourth pots were much easier.

They could handle anyone.

From the third pot, they drew the formidable Ligue 1 team, Lyon.

From the fourth pot, they drew Borussia Mönchengladbach from the Bundesliga.

In the end, the draw was considered average.

They didn’t face powerhouse teams like the Madrid giants, but Porto, Lyon, and Borussia Mönchengladbach were all respectable opponents.

Sitting in the audience, Yang Cheng didn’t see any problem with the draw.

His luck had always been pretty average anyway.

Teams that were practically free wins, like Astana or Maccabi Tel Aviv, were rarely drawn against him.

Besides, in terms of overall strength, Bayswater Chinese clearly had the upper hand against Porto, Lyon, and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

As long as there were no surprises, finishing first in the group should be a certainty.

It was just that the current seeding rules still felt a little awkward.

There was also the issue of the Europa League champions qualifying for the Champions League, which was a bit problematic.

The competition for the top four in the Premier League was currently far too fierce.

One could imagine that teams unable to qualify for the Champions League would go all out to fight for the Europa League title.

Did you know how much less money was earned when five Premier League teams participated in the Champions League?

An explanation is necessary here.

The income from participating in the Champions League, aside from matchday revenue and ticket sales, primarily came from UEFA in two parts.

One part was the appearance fees and prize money.

That is, how much for each match played, how much for advancing, how much for a win, how much for a draw…

The other part was broadcasting fees, what many people called the prize pool.

Each league had a different prize pool, which was divided among the participating teams from that league. Of course, performance was also a factor, but there was a base amount.

So, in theory, the fewer teams participating, the more money each team received from the prize pool.

The most outrageous example was probably Juventus.

Because no other Serie A teams had advanced to the Round of 16 and were all knocked out in the group stage, The Zebras had exclusively claimed the majority of the Italian prize pool revenue on several occasions, feasting lavishly.

The Premier League’s prize pool was the largest of all leagues.

In the past, it was split among four teams. Now it had to be split among five, which was definitely a huge loss.

Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese did some calculations and figured they would lose at least several million pounds.

It was conceivable that such situations would become more common in the future.

Compared to fighting for a top-four league finish, winning the Europa League was clearly much easier.

…

After the draw, the most anticipated event was the award ceremony for the UEFA Best Player in Europe.

The three players who made it to the final three this year were Messi, C. Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale.

The three players were not ranked in any particular order.

Gareth Bale and Messi were, needless to say, the top stars of the Champions League winner and runner-up.

C. Ronaldo secured the third spot with his torrent of goals for Real Madrid.

And these were also the three players with the highest buzz for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or.

According to the rules, the top three players entered a second round of voting, where fifty-four sports journalists present at the ceremony would vote.

Unlike previous years, several other awards were added this year.

The Best Goal award was given to Manchester City’s Messi.

After joining the Premier League, the Argentinian had completely dispelled all doubts about him. Not only did he integrate into the league, but he also performed exceptionally well, leading Manchester City all the way to the Champions League final.

But the Best Save award went to Bayswater Chinese’s Courtois.

The Belgian goalkeeper was now a world-class keeper, performing with remarkable consistency.

Crucially, he wasn’t old; he was only twenty-three.

Considering Courtois’s height and attributes, along with the typical career length of a goalkeeper, he easily had at least ten more years in his prime. This led to extremely high praise for Courtois from the outside world.

Both the Best Goal and Best Save awards were voted for online by fans.

It could be said that they were basically given to the players with the most popularity.

There was another award, the UEFA Best Women’s Player in Europe, which was presented to Sevilla women’s player Celia Šašić.

In women’s football, Spain was indeed ahead of the curve, and their strength was truly formidable.

For the grand finale award, the fifty-four journalists present voted, and the result was that Gareth Bale was once again named the UEFA Best Player in Europe.

The Welshman received thirty-three of the fifty-four votes, a clear majority.

Messi received eleven votes, while C. Ronaldo received ten.

When the final vote counts for the three players were announced, a thunderous round of applause erupted from the audience.

As UEFA’s Vice-Chairman in charge of club competitions, van Praag presented the award to Gareth Bale on behalf of UEFA.

The Welshman excitedly held up the trophy engraved with his name.

In his subsequent acceptance speech, the Welshman repeatedly stated that he could still do better.

“I have to thank all my teammates, coaches, and staff at Bayswater Chinese here!”

“Without you, I absolutely would not be where I am today!”

Furthermore, Gareth Bale promised that he would continue to strive for excellence and hoped to be in even better form this season.

Sitting in the audience, Yang Cheng saw it very clearly.

As Gareth Bale made his promise, his eyes were fixed on him.

He knew the Welshman wanted to give him a fitting gift!

This was great!

At the very least, all the effort he had invested in this team, in these players, and in Gareth Bale over the past years had not been in vain.

…

They returned triumphantly from Monaco, having secured two awards and a relatively good draw.

All of England was singing Gareth Bale’s praises.

Winning the UEFA Best Player in Europe for two consecutive years, especially this season by beating out C. Ronaldo and Messi, was a prize of top-notch value. It further solidified Gareth Bale’s status in world football.

At the same time, it laid a very solid foundation for the upcoming FIFA Ballon d’Or campaign.

It wasn’t a major tournament year, he had the Double champion title of the Champions League and Premier League in hand, he had the backing of Bayswater Chinese, and now he had won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, which was considered a bellwether for the Ballon d’Or.

It was safe to say that Gareth Bale was the undisputed number one favorite.

Yang Cheng had led the team from London to Nice, and then from Nice to Monaco.

But on the flight back from Nice to London, Yang Cheng was not present.

He stayed behind in Monaco.

The Ligue 1 team had encountered trouble at the start of the new season.

In their first four matches, their record was one win, two draws, and one loss, including a home defeat to Monaco.

Pochettino’s start to the Ligue 1 season was indeed not ideal.

Yang Cheng took the opportunity to stay behind and exchange some views with Pochettino.

Especially regarding this OGC Nice team.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, the team’s strength should not result in such a performance.

Of course, Yang Cheng had absolute trust in Pochettino.

He was like a tactical advisor, only responsible for offering suggestions and providing some reference points for Pochettino.

After a two-day stay in Nice, Yang Cheng set off for Zurich.

FIFA’s reforms were progressing in an orderly manner.

As an “outsider,” Yang Cheng’s role was more about overseeing the affairs of the Supervisory Board and the progress of the reform group.

He generally did not get involved in other matters.

Let alone making media appearances.

But things were very lively on the outside.

As the UEFA presidential election drew nearer, all sorts of news kept breaking.

First was the situation.

The election had not even started, but Čeferin had already received public support from thirty-three of the fifty-five member nations.

It was an overwhelming advantage.

How much support did his rival, van Praag, have?

Only three were willing to publicly support van Praag.

The Netherlands, Belgium, and Iceland.

This was a completely asymmetrical “duel.”

And the most critical reason was that the smaller countries, which held the most votes, all resisted van Praag.

Even more ridiculously, the major footballing nations of Western Europe, which should have supported van Praag, had all switched their support to Čeferin.

Including England.

This was a very intriguing matter.

When Yang Cheng communicated privately with David Gill, he reminded him to pay close attention to this.

While Čeferin was campaigning everywhere, he was verbally attacking the powerful nations of Western Europe, especially criticizing the top five leagues.

For example, he believed that the agreement reached in a previous UEFA meeting, which gave England, Spain, Germany, and Italy four Champions League spots each, totaling sixteen spots, was outrageous.

They didn’t even need to play in qualifiers, going straight to the group stage. This was a completely ridiculous matter.

“This has seriously sacrificed the interests of leagues like my home country, Slovenia.”

“Slovenia only has two million people, but we also need to be respected!”

Listen to what the man was saying.

When the smaller countries with votes heard this, they must have felt great.

This is one of us!

The Netherlands?

That’s a developed Western European country, a football powerhouse!

However, Čeferin’s campaign was not entirely smooth sailing.

From the beginning of his campaign, he had always emphasized that he owned a large law firm in Slovenia, and that he himself came from a famous legal family in Slovenia; his father and brother were both renowned lawyers in the country.

As a lawyer with twenty-five years of practice, Čeferin had defended construction tycoon Zidar, Ljubljana’s mayor Janković and his son, and the family of former Slovenian Prime Minister Bratušek.

This was all public information.

He was indeed no ordinary person.

But before the election, his resume was dug up and exposed.

Suspected of falsification!

According to the election rules of the Football Association of Slovenia, to run for high-ranking positions such as President or Vice-President, one must have at least five years of experience in the football industry.

But magically, Čeferin’s football experience was exactly five years, no more, no less.

He served as a director at Olimpija Ljubljana from 2006 to 2011.

It was these five years that just happened to qualify him to run for the presidency of the Football Association of Slovenia.

Was this a coincidence?

Some media outlets went to Slovenia to investigate and learned that Čeferin had indeed cooperated with the club since 2006, but only as an external legal advisor, not holding an internal position.

He officially joined the club in 2010 as a director.

In other words, his actual experience in the football industry was only a little over a year.

The chairman of Olimpija Ljubljana, Franci Zavrl, was now the Vice-President of the Football Association of Slovenia, Čeferin’s right-hand man.

Back in 2011, when Čeferin was running for president, his resume had already been investigated.

But a law school in Nova Gorica issued a certificate validating Čeferin’s resume.

Interestingly, Čeferin’s brother was a teacher at this law school.

With this certificate, Čeferin was successfully added to the list of candidates.

Even more coincidentally, he had almost no competitors and was elected directly.

Journalists raised doubts about Čeferin’s resume!

There were too many coincidences.

From his five years of experience to his candidacy, every step Čeferin took seemed to be perfectly timed.

Elected president of the Slovenian FA in 2011, successfully re-elected in 2015, seized the opportunity of Platini’s downfall to decisively run for office, and now became the top favorite for UEFA president.

Was there really nothing suspicious about all this?

Were all the coincidences just coincidences?

No one knew.

Čeferin didn’t even respond to any of it.

After the news broke, it was a hot topic for two days but failed to make any real waves, and then it quickly dissipated.

On September 8th, accompanied by David Gill and others, Yang Cheng flew from Zurich, Switzerland, to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta.

On the 10th and 11th, the UEFA Congress for the election would be held in Malta.

In fact, the UEFA Executive Committee had already held a meeting back in June.

The main topics of discussion were determining the venues for the 2017 Champions League and Europa League finals.

There were also some issues regarding the 2016 European Championship play-offs.

Additionally, they confirmed the host associations for a series of UEFA meetings in 2017 and 2018.

Just like this September meeting, it was originally supposed to be an Executive Committee meeting but was changed to an electoral congress at the last minute.

This required some preparation time for the host, Malta.

This included how to welcome the representatives from all member countries, as well as the FIFA delegation led by Yang Cheng.

As UEFA’s “superior,” FIFA certainly had to send representatives.

After arriving in Malta, Yang Cheng paid special attention and noticed that no one cared about that news report at all.

At that moment, he knew very clearly that Čeferin’s victory was a done deal!

In his campaign speech before the vote on the 10th, Čeferin was as passionate as ever, speaking up for the smaller nations and repeatedly emphasizing that he would maintain fairness if elected.

For example, he proposed the concept of so-called proportionality.

Čeferin pointed out that when imposing penalties, more consideration should be given to UEFA members with tight budgets.

A fine of one hundred thousand euros was a huge amount for the Faroe Islands Football Association.

But for the wealthy FAs of Western European countries, it was a drop in the ocean.

This was where proportionality should be considered, to appropriately reduce the pressure on the Faroe Islands Football Association.

What about when distributing prize money?

Ah, no mention of proportionality then.

Yang Cheng suddenly realized that such double standards were truly everywhere!

Van Praag also seemed to have seen his defeat coming, so his campaign speech was rather bland in content and ideas.

For example, he repeatedly stressed that he wanted to restore pride in football and prevent it from becoming a slave to money.

He also stated that he had extensive management experience and could lead UEFA to greater achievements.

It was all the same old rhetoric.

Comparing the two, Yang Cheng understood why everyone chose Čeferin.

At the very least, the man genuinely promised significant benefits.

Van Praag was still just spouting slogans.

If it were me, I’d choose Čeferin too!

As it turned out, Čeferin ultimately received forty-two of the fifty-five votes.

Van Praag received thirteen votes, a very wide margin.

In Yang Cheng’s view, besides the promises he made, there was another very important reason, one that he himself repeatedly emphasized.

“I am a newcomer, not part of the old system. I have some new ideas, and I am very transparent!”

And van Praag?

The elderly Dutchman couldn’t bring himself to say such things, instead repeatedly emphasizing his experience.

But this only exacerbated people’s concerns about his relationship with Platini!

After being successfully elected, Čeferin also delivered his victory speech.

He once again outlined the reforms he would undertake during his term.

This included term limits for the UEFA president and senior officials, as well as reforms of some institutions.

One point that caught Yang Cheng’s attention was his statement that he would fully support David Gill in his bid for the FIFA presidency.

This was also endorsed by everyone present.

Subsequently, UEFA held a press conference to announce to the world the birth of the new UEFA President.

Aleksander Čeferin, a lawyer from Slovenia, a country with a population of only two million, was successfully elected as UEFA President!

This signaled a reform at UEFA!

At the banquet that evening, Yang Cheng also congratulated Čeferin on behalf of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

Čeferin, in turn, thanked Yang Cheng for his presence.

Next up was October, when UEFA would hold a general assembly in Prague, Czech Republic, to elect the new members of the UEFA Executive Committee.

Currently, the three representatives from the European Club Association had already been chosen.

Andrea Agnelli of Juventus, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of Bayern Munich, and Florentino Pérez of Real Madrid.

They would all be “elected” at the October congress.

At that time, Yang Cheng would probably have to attend as well.

Whether as Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board or as a member of the European Club Association, he should be present.

He could just treat it as a business trip!

…

After returning to London from Malta, Yang Cheng threw himself back into his busy work schedule.

The Premier League reignited, kicking off its fifth round.

In this round, Bayswater Chinese faced Ranieri’s Leicester City away from home.

The Tinkerman once again deployed his favored 4-4-2 formation for this match.

Clearly, he hoped to leverage the impact of the international break and use a defend and counter-attack strategy to threaten Bayswater Chinese at home.

What could he do? Bayswater Chinese just had so many international players.

Compared to the Leicester City of Yang Cheng’s previous life, this team lacked Kanté and Mahrez, but their overall strength was still not to be underestimated.

As soon as the match started, both sides immediately set the fast pace characteristic of the Premier League.

In the ninth minute, just outside his own penalty area, Drinkwater suddenly pressed high, tackling De Bruyne to the ground and winning the ball.

The Belgian midfielder was brought down, but the head referee didn’t blow the whistle for a foul.

Drinkwater quickly sent a long pass, sending the ball directly behind the Bayswater Chinese defensive line.

Vardy made a quick run forward, reached the left channel, and controlled the ball. Faced with Harry Maguire, Vardy executed a brilliant move, knocking the ball past his opponent and running around him. He forcefully broke past Maguire, entered the left side of the penalty area, and fired a low shot with his right foot towards the far corner.

The ball struck the inside of the far post and bounced into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

King Power Stadium erupted with the cheers of Leicester City fans!

Just nine minutes into the game, they had scored the opening goal.

But Bayswater Chinese did not panic.

On the contrary, the team quickly reorganized, especially in midfield, and swiftly steadied themselves.

The front trident consisted of Gareth Bale, Giroud, and Theo Walcott.

And just in the thirteenth minute, Giroud dropped back to receive the ball, turned, and sent a through ball with his left foot.

Walcott on the left flank made a quick run, sprinting between Leicester City’s right centre-back Morgan and right-back De Laet to meet Giroud’s pass.

At this moment, Walcott found himself on the left side of the Leicester City penalty area.

The Little Tiger calmly seized the opportunity and fired a low shot with his right foot to the far corner.

The football nestled into the bottom right corner of Leicester City’s net.

1-1!

In just four minutes, Bayswater Chinese had successfully equalized!

But more importantly, the buildup to Walcott’s goal was almost identical to Vardy’s goal a moment ago.

It was as if it was a direct response to Vardy’s goal.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!

Perfectly fair!

And then, in the eighteenth minute, Luke Shaw made an overlapping run from the back and sent a diagonal pass with his left foot to the center of the penalty area.

With Giroud having dropped back outside the box, Gareth Bale made a swift forward run, got in front of the goal, and headed the ball into Leicester City’s net.

2-1!

A comeback!

Goalkeeper Schmeichel, furious, scrambled up from the six-yard box and roared at his teammates in front of him.

The excellent goalkeeper was clearly unhappy about conceding two goals in quick succession.

Especially the second one.

The two defenders, Morgan and Robert Huth, had somehow failed to track Gareth Bale.

Why?

Because all the Bayswater Chinese players were constantly moving.

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued to attack.

In the thirty-third minute, Giroud pulled out to the right flank to receive a pass.

De Bruyne passed the ball to the French centre-forward, who, without turning, flicked the ball behind him with his left foot.

Kyle Walker burst forward at high speed from a wide position, caught up with the ball near the byline, and delivered a low, driven cross towards the near post.

Gareth Bale, in front of the right post, easily swept the ball into the net, sending it into Leicester City’s goal once again.

3-1!

A brace!

And just four minutes later, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

De Bruyne sent a through ball to Gareth Bale in the right channel.

The Welshman controlled the ball, shook off Drinkwater, took a step horizontally, saw an opportunity, and unleashed a long shot with his left foot.

The long shot was like a thunderbolt, the ball traveling at incredible speed. After entering the penalty area, it took a bounce just outside the six-yard box. After the bounce, the ball’s speed actually increased.

Goalkeeper Schmeichel had not anticipated the bounce at all.

Despite diving sideways with his whole body, he was still unable to stop the ball from rocketing into the left side of the goal.

4-1!

Hat-trick!

After the break, just three minutes into the second half, a blitz by Leicester City gave Bayswater Chinese a chance for a quick counter-attack down the left flank.

Walcott and Luke Shaw executed a brilliant combination.

Luke Shaw charged down the left wing with the ball.

Upon reaching the left side of Leicester City’s penalty area, he delivered a cross to the center.

Giroud turned near the penalty spot and fired a power shot with his left foot, sending the ball into Leicester City’s goal once again.

5-1!

At this point, Bayswater Chinese had basically sealed the victory!

Immediately after, Yang Cheng made substitutions.

Notably, he took off Gareth Bale, who had been in excellent form recently.

He needed to save some energy for the Champions League match on Wednesday.

…

Also in Round 5.

In contrast to Bayswater Chinese’s 5-1 comeback against Leicester City, Chelsea suffered a surprising 1-3 upset away at Everton.

Mourinho’s team had indeed gotten off to a poor start this season.

The Gunners, on the other hand, defeated Stoke City 2-0 with goals from Sánchez and Benzema.

Manchester City traveled south to London for an away match against Crystal Palace.

But it wasn’t until the 90th minute that substitute Messi scored the winning goal.

In the end, it was a narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

The crucial match of this round was the Northwest Derby.

Manchester United, playing at home, defeated Liverpool 3-1 with goals from Daley Blind, Pogba, and Martial.

Especially Martial.

The French youngster’s goal was reminiscent of Henry. After receiving the ball, he twisted and turned near the penalty area as if no one was there, completely disrupting Liverpool’s defense before personally putting the ball in the net.

This goal made Martial an overnight star in the Premier League!

Ultimately, van Gaal’s team defeated Klopp’s The Reds 3-1, securing three valuable points.

After this round of matches, there were only two teams in the Premier League with a perfect record of five wins.

They were Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

…

Three days later, the first round of the Champions League group stage.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Yang Cheng’s team launched a fierce attack on Borussia Mönchengladbach from the very first minute of the match.

In this game, Sterling played on the left flank, while Gareth Bale remained on the right.

From the start, Sterling was extremely active.

In just five minutes, he dribbled into the penalty area and drew a foul from Borussia Mönchengladbach’s centre-back, Tony Jantschke.

The Czech head referee, Pavel Královec, immediately awarded a penalty kick.

Neither Gareth Bale nor Harry Kane took the penalty; they let Sterling take it himself.

But unexpectedly, Sterling’s penalty was saved by Swiss goalkeeper Sommer.

In this direct showdown, Sterling couldn’t keep his composure and lost to Sommer.

However, the English youngster reacted quickly enough, pouncing on the rebound and putting the ball into the net.

He scored from the rebound of his own missed penalty!

This goal broke the deadlock on the pitch.

But Borussia Mönchengladbach also reacted quickly, reorganizing into a tight defense.

The first half ended 1-0.

But just two minutes into the second half, Gareth Bale on the right flank provided an assist. Harry Kane controlled the ball in the penalty area and scored with a clever chip shot, once again beating Sommer.

2-0!

And in the 58th minute, with an assist from Harry Kane, Gareth Bale broke into the right side of the penalty area and scored with a powerful left-footed shot, further extending the lead.

3-0!

In the 78th minute of the match, again with an assist from Harry Kane, Toni Kroos found the back of the net with a long shot, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach’s goalkeeper.

The German midfielder always seemed to play with extra vigor against teams from his home country.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a dominant 4-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach at home.

In the other match of the group, Porto drew 2-2 away at Lyon.

…

Over the weekend, Premier League Round 6.

Bayswater Chinese hosted West Bromwich Albion.

Just five minutes into the game, Aaron Ramsey made an overlapping run into the penalty area and scored from close range, opening the scoring for the team.

In the 35th minute, Walcott scored another goal, extending the lead.

After the break, in the 72nd minute, substitute Gareth Bale received an assist from Walcott on the left, and from the left side of the penalty area, he fired a left-footed power shot into the near corner, sealing the victory for the team.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0.

This was Gareth Bale’s ninth Premier League goal of the season so far.

Nine goals in six league matches!

Most crucially, Gareth Bale had only played in five of those matches, and he had scored in all of them.

The Welshman’s performance was nothing short of spectacular!

In addition, Walcott also scored again in this round.

The Little Tiger had now scored in three consecutive Premier League matches.

Yang Cheng gave high praise to the team’s current excellent performance.

Especially for Gareth Bale.

“Without a doubt, he is in the best form of his career!”

Yang Cheng believed that Gareth Bale’s performance was better than ever before.

“I’m not surprised at all that he’s in this kind of form.”

“Because for the past while, he has always been the first to arrive at the Brent training center and the last to leave.”

Regarding the current Gareth Bale, Yang Cheng stated that he was a very perfect killer.

“Actually, you can tell from his goal-scoring stats this season. He has headers, long shots, left-footed goals, and right-footed goals.”

“His goal-scoring skills are becoming more and more diverse, and his physical prowess is getting better and better, especially his muscle and core strength.”

“More than one person has told me that Gareth Bale is turning into a perfect goal machine!”

“But I don’t think so. He does more than just score.”

Yang Cheng felt that Gareth Bale’s dribbling skills were underestimated, especially his sense of rhythm while on the ball.

“That long shot from the last round is the best proof.”

“His entire dribbling, rhythm, and power generation were impeccable, and the final shot he produced was also stunning.”

Coming on as a substitute for twenty-five minutes, Gareth Bale had three shots, but also three tackles.

Yang Cheng believed this was something many people overlooked.

“He is not just a scorer; his contribution on the defensive end is also very significant.”

In the past six league matches, Bayswater Chinese had scored twenty-three goals.

They also won their first Champions League group stage match 4-0 at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Bayswater Chinese’s goal-scoring momentum this season was unstoppable.

This proved many of the preseason pundits wrong.

They had originally thought that Eden Hazard’s departure would affect Bayswater Chinese’s attacking firepower.

After all, last season, the iron triangle of Hazard, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale was Bayswater Chinese’s most threatening attacking combination.

Hazard’s ability to hold the ball and drive forward was an indispensable part of their attack.

But this season?

Everyone suddenly discovered that Walcott was scoring more.

Sterling had also become more active.

Even Salah had been a pleasant surprise.

Bayswater Chinese’s attacking tempo was faster and sharper.

Yang Cheng responded with a smile, “This is the credit of the entire team, it can’t be attributed just to the forwards.”

“Without a doubt, he is a world-class player!”

Yang Cheng gave Walcott extremely high praise.

“Not only him, but Sterling and Salah also have the potential to become world-class players.”

Yang Cheng believed that Walcott’s greatest strength was his mobility.

He was very fast, had a keen sense for positioning, and was always making runs, which was a headache for any player defending him and could create huge problems for the opponent’s backline.

“Many people wonder how he’s always able to get or create scoring opportunities. It’s because he’s always running.”

Yang Cheng made no secret of his satisfaction with the current squad and his ambitions for the season.

“Continue to challenge for more titles?”

“Why not?”

“We are fully capable of it, aren’t we?”

Yang Cheng’s words were met with a positive response from the players.

Everyone was going all out, wanting to do their best to help the team achieve more and better results!

…

Also in Round 6, Arsenal was dealt a heavy blow.

They lost 1-2 away to Mourinho’s Chelsea.

But the match was not without controversy.

First was the red card in first-half stoppage time.

At the time, Arsenal was leading 1-0.

But during stoppage time, a clash between Shkodran Mustafi and Diego Costa earned them both a yellow card.

Mustafi then lightly pushed away Diego Costa, who was trying to make peace with a handshake. The latter went down theatrically.

The head referee gave another yellow card, sending Mustafi off with a red card.

Wenger was furious on the sidelines, jumping up and down in rage.

This was clearly a blatant attempt to stage an incident. How could that be a yellow card?

After the break, Mourinho’s team equalized from a corner kick, with Benatia scoring.

But in the 79th minute, Cazorla committed another foul on defense and received another yellow card.

Well, what do you know, he already had a yellow card.

So, the Spaniard was sent off with a red card.

This time, Wenger completely lost it!

As a result, Wenger was also sent off with a red card!

Who could you even complain to?

Mourinho’s team didn’t secure the win until stoppage time, in the 92nd minute, when Arsenal player Chambers “scored” a goal for them, helping Chelsea win 2-1 at home.

A clash between top teams like this ended with three red cards and an own goal.

In any case, Wenger completely lost his composure!

After the match, the Professor let loose a tirade of abuse at the referee, Mike Dean.

In this round, Manchester City defeated West Ham United 2-1 at home.

Liverpool drew 1-1 at home with Norwich.

Manchester United, meanwhile, came from behind to win 3-2 away at Southampton.

Martial scored a brace.

The young French player’s performance was getting better and better.

C. Ronaldo scored the other goal.

By now, hardly anyone would doubt Martial’s value!

…

Three days later, the third round of the League Cup.

Bayswater Chinese travelled to Craven Cottage to challenge Championship side Fulham.

Yang Cheng still fielded a full backup lineup.

As a result, in the 33rd minute, with an assist from De Bruyne, Dominic Solanke scored from inside the penalty area to give the team the lead.

This scoreline held until the final whistle.

It is worth noting that in the second half, Yang Cheng successively brought on Declan Rice and Alexander-Arnold.

This was the first time these two youngsters had played for Bayswater Chinese.

Declan Rice replaced Casemiro.

Alexander-Arnold replaced Kyle Walker.

…

Over the weekend, Premier League Round 7.

Bayswater Chinese travelled to Anfield to challenge Klopp’s Liverpool.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese seemed to have irresistible momentum, winning one game after another, but a problem had actually been exposed.

And it was a very fatal problem.

That was their tendency to start matches slowly.

In the first six Premier League matches, Bayswater Chinese had only conceded three goals, a testament to their excellent defense.

But two of these three goals were conceded in the opening stages of the first half, and one was in the opening stages of the second half.

This was actually a very serious problem.

Anyone who paid close attention to Bayswater Chinese’s overall performance could easily reach this conclusion.

Yang Cheng and his team had actually discovered this problem long ago.

Slow starters!

This was a problem that almost all teams encounter as they age.

Ancelotti’s AC Milan back in the day, and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in his later years.

They all faced similar issues.

It wasn’t a matter of players’ focus, but that many older players simply took longer to get into the rhythm of the game.

And imperceptibly, the number of veterans in Bayswater Chinese’s defense had gradually increased.

Inevitably, this would lead to this problem.

But this problem was thoroughly exposed by Klopp’s targeted tactics against Liverpool.

Just sixty-four seconds into the first half, Coutinho assisted Rakitić, who scored with a long shot, breaking through the Bayswater Chinese goal.

Afterward, Klopp’s team defended with all their might, using relentless energy to block Bayswater Chinese’s frantic comeback attempts, desperately holding onto their 1-0 lead.

And after the break, just three minutes into the second half, Clyne crossed from the right, and Coutinho unleashed a cloud-piercing arrow from the edge of the penalty area, which was saved by a flying Courtois.

But at the crucial moment, Suárez arrived in time and scored from the follow-up shot right in front of the goal.

2-0!

The entire Anfield stadium erupted!

Both goals were scored in the opening stages of the halves.

Klopp had firmly locked onto Bayswater Chinese’s fatal weakness!

The rest of the match seemed to follow the script designed by Klopp.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, patiently controlled the situation, organizing and planning their attacks.

In the 66th minute, Piszczek delivered a cross from the byline on the right. Harry Kane shook off Škrtel’s challenge and scored with a close-range push shot, pulling one back for the team.

And just five minutes later, Marcelo broke through on the left flank with the ball and delivered a cross with his left foot to the far post. Gareth Bale charged forward, outmuscling Koulibaly, and scored with a close-range header, smashing the ball past Buffon.

2-2!

They’re level!

In just five minutes, Bayswater Chinese had scored two goals!

But just as Bayswater Chinese launched another attack, hoping to take the lead in one fell swoop, Liverpool hit them with a counter-attack.

Substitute Sturridge played a one-two with Coutinho. Inside the penalty area, Coutinho produced a spectacular backheel pass, and Suárez scored with a push shot from near the penalty spot, putting Liverpool ahead again.

3-2!

But in the 87th minute, Modrić sent a brilliant pass through the middle, and Gareth Bale went on a blistering run down the right flank.

Even as the match drew to a close, the Welshman was still full of energy.

Gareth Bale practically dragged Kolarov with him as he burst into the right side of Liverpool’s penalty area and fired a power shot with his right foot.

Goalkeeper Buffon parried the ball with one hand.

But the onrushing Harry Kane easily picked up the bargain, sending the ball into the unguarded net.

3-3!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese was held to a draw by Liverpool in a hard-fought away match.

The two goals conceded in the opening stages thoroughly exposed Bayswater Chinese’s problem.

But conceding goals continuously after the 65th minute of the second half also exposed the problems of Klopp’s Liverpool.

Bayswater Chinese had earned their first draw of the season!

Chapter 349: Acquiring Eintracht Frankfurt! A Life-or-Death Transition! The Bundesliga Media Explodes!

Yang Cheng had two cars at home.

One was the latest Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG, and the other was a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

Both cars were sponsorships from Mercedes-Benz.

Furthermore, both were painted in a particularly high-end red, a custom color exclusive to the Bayswater Chinese.

It was said that while Mercedes-Benz made it available to fans worldwide, adding this specific paint color cost a significant amount of extra money.

But it was undeniably beautiful.

Every morning, after they finished breakfast, Yang Cheng would drive the SUV, and Xia Qing would drive her sedan, leaving one after the other.

She didn’t like SUVs, nor did she care for large executive cars like the Maybach. She preferred to drive herself.

In central London, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was undoubtedly the perfect fit.

When they reached Notting Hill Gate, they waved goodbye from their cars and went their separate ways.

Xia Qing had to head east, driving along the north side of Hyde Park towards Soho.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, cut through Notting Hill and headed northwest.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the Brent training center.

He had a dedicated parking spot. He parked the car, walked in, and went to his office.

At this moment, several documents were already neatly arranged on his desk.

They included yesterday’s match report, the players’ medical reports, an injury brief…

And the analysis report Yang Cheng had asked Gianni Vio and the technical team to prepare yesterday.

So far this season, the Bayswater Chinese had conceded six goals in the Premier League.

Yesterday against Liverpool, they let in three in one go.

Without a doubt, the opening periods of both halves were the most dangerous times for the Bayswater Chinese.

Yesterday was a prime example.

Of the three goals conceded, one was at the start of the first half, and another at the start of the second.

After a quick look at the other reports, Yang Cheng focused on browsing the one from the technical team.

The report was very detailed, listing various possibilities and some of the current problems facing the Bayswater Chinese.

Frequently conceding at the start of a match was a known phenomenon in European football.

But it wasn’t very common.

The most common reason for this was insufficient pre-match preparation.

Or the players’ mentality being too relaxed after kick-off.

If it were the beginning of the season, it could very well be a problem with the team’s chemistry.

Another type was like AC Milan in the 2006/07 season.

That team was very interesting; they were slow to get into the game but had incredible resilience.

Yang Cheng had discussed this very issue with Ancelotti.

Ancelotti had mentioned a concept to Yang Cheng called “rational allocation, striking later.”

What did that mean?

It meant that as players got older, it was difficult for their stamina to last for ninety minutes of high-intensity play, so they needed to ration their energy.

They focused more on possession-based football, wearing down the opponent while waiting for the right moment to seize an opportunity and deliver a fatal blow.

The most typical example was from Yang Cheng’s previous life, in AC Milan’s match against Manchester United.

In short, it was about sitting deep first, then waiting for either the opponent to make a mistake or for their own star player to have a moment of brilliance.

The issue with the Bayswater Chinese was not quite the same.

Gianni Vio and the technical team believed that age was one factor, and tactics were another.

But the main reason was that the increase in age led to a decline in the players’ athletic ability. The team still maintained its past high-intensity pressing an harassing style, which made the backline prone to errors.

In other words, situations they could control in the past might now expose vulnerabilities.

If an opponent capitalized on this vulnerability with a counter-attack, then the Bayswater Chinese would be very likely to concede early in the match.

However, this phenomenon would ease as the team settled into the rhythm of the game.

In response to this situation, the technical team also offered suggestions.

First, they should strengthen targeted training for the opening stages of matches.

Second was to conduct concentration training.

Third was to place more importance on pre-match guidance.

And finally, to appropriately adjust the team’s tactics.

For example, dropping the defensive line back ten meters.

One should not underestimate those ten meters.

If this change were made, the entire tactical system of the Bayswater Chinese would undergo a massive transformation.

First, for explosive players like Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott, every sprint would cover a greater distance.

On average, how many times does a player sprint in a match?

By how much would their stamina consumption increase?

Whether it was a winger or a full-back, this increased distance would lead to greater exhaustion. By how much would the risk of injury increase?

All of these factors involved a degree of probability.

From a tactical perspective, Modrić would drop back ten meters, but everyone knew his greatest strength was carrying the ball forward over short distances.

With those extra ten meters, how much would it affect him?

How much would it affect the entire ball progression through the midfield for the Bayswater Chinese?

And what about Toni Kroos, De Bruyne, Aaron Ramsey, and the others?

It was a case of a single action affecting the whole situation.

Yang Cheng had to be extremely cautious.

However, this was actually a common occurrence.

For example, Ancelotti’s AC Milan team sat deep on defense and relied on Kaká to burst forward.

What was the price?

It was the excessive overuse of Kaká.

In the world of professional football, the vast majority of players inevitably have to go through multiple transitions.

When young players make their debut and want to establish themselves in the professional scene, they often have to change themselves.

But this kind of transition is relatively easy.

A young player is like a blank canvas, their body is in peak condition. As long as they have a competent head coach and a decent team, they can usually make the transition successfully.

The most typical example was C. Ronaldo.

Yang Cheng had always felt that C. Ronaldo was the ceiling for a “mortal” superstar.

Because with the body of a mortal, he had gone head-to-head with the “celestial” Messi.

The difference in their footballing talent was obvious.

But C. Ronaldo did it!

And C. Ronaldo’s first transition was at Manchester United, completed under the guidance of Ferguson and his teammates.

He slowly transformed from that flashy, ostentatious teenager into one of Europe’s most threatening attacking players.

And after that?

C. Ronaldo actually went through another transition.

He gradually shifted from being an all-around attacking player on the wing to a pure goalscorer.

This transition took place in recent years, right after his physical functions began to decline.

Almost all professional players will inevitably face such a transition.

The exceptions are control-type players like Modrić, Xavi, or Pirlo.

But these types of players often struggle to find their definite position in the early stages of their careers.

Modrić had played as a winger, an attacking midfielder, a central midfielder, and a holding midfielder.

Xavi started as Barça’s number four, played as an attacking midfielder, and later settled in central midfield.

Pirlo was a traditional number 10 player who, upon meeting Ancelotti, became a deep-lying playmaker, transformed into a holding midfielder.

As one can see, no player can escape transitions in their career.

The reason Kaká’s star faded so early was because he encountered serious injury problems during his transition phase.

Ronaldinho’s problem was that he was unwilling to transition; he had too much faith in his own talent.

And then?

When he was young, he could rely on his talent and physical gifts to perform brilliantly.

He could go to a nightclub the night before a match and still be full of energy the next day, tearing defenses apart.

Once he reached a certain age and his body began to decline, unable to support his previous style of play, he was no longer the unstoppable magician.

Any defender could handle him!

By then, it was too late to transition.

All long-time, senior football fans could easily see that in the history of world football, among all the top players from past to present, their peak careers often lasted only a few years.

They were all very brief.

Some were like shooting stars, shining brightly for a year before disappearing.

With time, fans would only remember the glory of their most brilliant year.

Players like C. Ronaldo and Messi, whose peak careers lasted for over a decade, were already heaven-defying existences.

Because they were very fortunate to have come of age in this era.

In recent years, with the development of science and the improvement of training methods, players’ professional careers have become longer and longer.

But every one of them has to go through a painful transition period.

For example, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski.

C. Ronaldo and Messi also had transition periods; it’s just that their transitions seemed so smooth that fans generally didn’t notice. They might even wonder in return, why don’t other players know how to transition?

Little did they know, transition is a life-or-death struggle!

The most typical example is Gareth Bale.

From left-back to left winger, from the left flank to the right, to the center, and even to striker.

Was Gareth Bale’s talent not good enough?

He couldn’t be compared to C. Ronaldo and Messi, but he was at least exceptionally talented.

Was the Welshman not hardworking and self-disciplined enough?

He had no scandals, was low-key and introverted, diligent and hardworking. It was only in his later years that he started playing a bit of golf.

A player whose entire career was a constant transition ultimately fell on the path of transition.

Football is like this, and aren’t other sports the same?

The most familiar to the Chinese people is the giant Yao Ming in basketball.

What was his playing style in China?

When he went to the United States, to adapt to the intensity there, he had to constantly gain weight, make huge sacrifices, and change his own technical characteristics before finally establishing himself.

Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott were already 26 years old.

At their age, if they didn’t hurry up and transition, it would be too late.

Therefore, for the past two years, Yang Cheng had been helping them.

All the fans could see that Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott’s off-the-ball movement had improved, their ball control and passing were more refined, and their dribbling rhythm was stronger.

The team’s overall high-pressing tactic had also reduced their old, direct sprinting style, encouraging them to observe and move within the opponent’s defensive formation instead.

This was, in fact, an intentional effort to help them transition.

But in doing so, the team’s overall formation had to push forward.

The defensive line had to move up.

Just like top giants such as Real Madrid and Barça, they had to actively press and suppress the opponent.

This would inevitably expose the space behind them.

When the defenders were younger, they could barely cover the holes in the backline.

Now that they were older, many problems could no longer be concealed.

But at this point, asking Yang Cheng to pull the defense back ten meters was clearly not in line with his previous plans.

…

Before every day’s training session, the coaching staff would hold a regular meeting.

The main purpose was to discuss the day’s training and various points of attention.

Yang Cheng passed the reports around for the coaching staff to read.

He also provided a comprehensive assessment of the team’s current situation.

He believed the team’s current problems were not major and the defensive crisis was still manageable.

As long as the attack could continue to score goals, the problems in the backline would solve themselves.

It was a matter of trade-offs.

Moreover, van Dijk, Harry Maguire, and John Stones were now starting to take on more game responsibilities.

With five centre-backs, it wasn’t a huge problem.

At the meeting, Yang Cheng handed this matter over to Flick to handle.

After the meeting, he specifically asked Flick and Brian Kidd to stay behind, focusing the discussion on Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott’s transitions.

A successful transition could greatly extend a player’s career.

And from the current situation, both players’ transitions were going quite well.

But they needed more time.

“During this period, Hans, I need you to keep a close eye on them for me,” Yang Cheng instructed Flick.

The latter solemnly agreed.

In his heart, he knew clearly that Yang Cheng was intentionally or unintentionally creating opportunities for him.

If he could help Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott transition successfully, it would be a huge benefit for his future coaching career. At the very least, the two biggest stars on the team would respect him.

Conversely, if he messed it up, his succession would probably not be so easy.

Yang Cheng and Brian Kidd had already given the whole affair a good start; what Flick needed to do wasn’t actually that difficult.

In addition, Yang Cheng was still heavily relying on Piszczek this season.

If Flick took over next season, he would boldly start Kyle Walker, promoting a new player to replace Piszczek.

This was an opportunity Yang Cheng deliberately left for Flick.

Flick knew very well that this would be impossible at any other club.

But at the Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng was doing everything in his power to help him take over the team.

Therefore, the German coach was also working with utmost dedication, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

…

Three days after the Liverpool match, the second round of the Champions League group stage arrived.

The Bayswater Chinese faced Porto away from home.

This was a clash between the group’s top seed and the second pot team.

Since the first round ended in a draw, this match would, to some extent, be key to creating a gap in the standings.

Porto also knew that if they lost this match, their situation in the group would become very precarious.

Lopetegui’s team also chose to attack proactively, but in the 45th minute of the first half, the Bayswater Chinese won the ball in midfield and delivered an assist.

Gareth Bale broke into the left side of the penalty area and sent a low shot with his left foot into the goal, scoring the opening goal for the Bayswater Chinese.

But in the 49th minute of the second half, Porto’s right winger André broke through Marcelo’s defensive line with a quick counter-attack, got past Pepe, and equalized for Porto.

Just three minutes later, from an attacking free-kick, Pepe scored for the team, putting them ahead again.

The Portuguese centre-back had failed to stop André earlier, and this time he decisively pushed forward to atone for his mistake.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Porto 2-1!

In the other match played at the same time, Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 0-2 at home to Lyon.

After two rounds of the group stage, the Bayswater Chinese were in first place with two consecutive wins.

Lyon was second with one win and one loss.

Porto and Borussia Mönchengladbach both had one draw and one loss.

…

Frankfurt, Germany, Commerzbank-Arena.

Looking out from the offices of Eintracht Frankfurt, one could see the first team’s training ground.

It was a training ground the size of only four standard football pitches, but only three had ever been in use.

And it wasn’t just Eintracht Frankfurt that used it.

Neither the stadium nor the training ground belonged to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Everything was rented.

The annual rent was eight million euros, and they had to bear almost all the stadium’s operating costs.

Not only that, but they also had to make time for some of the Frankfurt city government’s events each year.

In addition, Eintracht Frankfurt had promised in the contract that besides the normal ticket prices, they would also provide a large number of cheap tickets annually, with children’s tickets at only five euros and adult tickets at only ten euros.

This was a way for the Frankfurt city government to give back to its citizens.

In many people’s eyes, Eintracht Frankfurt got a very good deal, being able to use such a stadium.

But in Wolfgang Stubing’s view, none of these conditions had actually given Eintracht Frankfurt an advantage.

Don’t believe it?

Then let’s ask the question from the other side. To bid for the World Cup, Frankfurt invested 188 million euros to renovate this stadium built in 1925.

If Eintracht Frankfurt hadn’t taken it over, wouldn’t this stadium have been completely abandoned?

And now?

Not only does Eintracht Frankfurt invest a large sum of money each year to maintain the stadium, but they also pay eight million euros in rent and provide a large number of cheap tickets.

Is it a good deal?

Wolfgang Stubing loved this city and this club, but at his age, he knew very well that everyone surrounding Eintracht Frankfurt, including himself, wanted something from the club.

The city government was no exception!

Over the past few years, Eintracht Frankfurt’s home game attendance had been quite good, with every match sold out, at around 99% capacity.

The Frankfurt city government had always hoped to further expand the stadium, mainly the stands at both ends.

It was estimated that after the expansion, there would be more than twenty thousand new standing places, and about ten thousand new seats.

By then, this stadium would become one of the few large stadiums in Germany with a capacity of over sixty thousand.

Yes, in Germany, the tradition of standing-room tickets is still preserved.

The reason it hadn’t been started yet was that one problem remained unsolved.

Where would the money come from?

At the club’s shareholder meeting more than a month ago, Eintracht Frankfurt announced its financial report for the 2014/2015 season.

Chairman Peter Fischer proudly announced that the years of debt were finally over, and the club had achieved a profit of 1.2 million euros in the past year.

This was the first time in many years that they had made a profit!

When the news broke, everyone cheered.

The fans outside were even more excited, feeling that Eintracht Frankfurt was finally on the verge of a revival.

But right at that moment, Wolfgang Stubing, in his capacity as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, stood up and exposed the lie.

“To get this season’s financial report showing a profit of 1.2 million euros, we lost our main goalkeeper, Trapp!”

“Do you think it was worth it?”

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on all the fans.

All their enthusiasm vanished completely.

Trapp, a 25-year-old goalkeeper in his prime, was highly regarded by so many.

He transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2012 for 1.5 million euros and was the best player the club had signed in recent years.

He was loved by many Eintracht Frankfurt fans and was also the team captain.

In the summer of 2015, he transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for 9 million euros.

The local Frankfurt media followed Stubing’s lead and immediately uncovered the truth.

Why was there a profit?

Because they had included the 9 million euro transfer fee for Trapp.

Without those 9 million euros, could Eintracht Frankfurt still have made a profit?

What followed was a series of squabbles.

Fischer was unhappy with Stubing’s actions, believing that as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he shouldn’t have done such a thing.

Stubing, on the other hand, believed that the club needed to change, rather than constantly covering up crises and pretending everything was fine.

And this conflict between the two was perfectly embodied in the head coach, Armin Veh.

Stubing and Armin Veh were good friends, and he had strongly invited the veteran coach, who had managed many Bundesliga teams, to come to Eintracht Frankfurt.

As a result, after seven rounds, Eintracht Frankfurt’s record was one win, three draws, and three losses, with six points, placing them 14th in the Bundesliga, close to the relegation zone.

At the end of last season, Eintracht Frankfurt finished 9th in the Bundesliga.

Both Stubing and Armin Veh questioned the current state of the team, focusing mainly on the summer signings.

Peter Fischer, however, criticized Armin Veh’s coaching ability.

His greatest pride was leading three teams to promotion to the Bundesliga.

“But we are Eintracht Frankfurt, we’re not playing in the German second division, we’re in the Bundesliga!”

The implication was that Armin Veh’s coaching record in the Bundesliga was not ideal.

The two sides engaged in a battle of words, fighting incessantly.

And not long ago, in an interview with the media, Stubing publicly stated that as one of Germany’s most international cities, Frankfurt should be the first to make a change.

“We should actively embrace change!”

What change?

Bring in foreign investors, bring in a team with more extensive experience, and transform Eintracht Frankfurt!

This statement immediately caused a huge reaction.

If the series of actions by Hannover 96’s Martin Kind had already sparked strong protests from fans, then Wolfgang Stubing’s words not only angered Eintracht Frankfurt fans but also thoroughly enraged football fans across Germany.

He was challenging the 50+1 rule!

But would Eintracht Frankfurt listen to him?

Although he was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he only had supervisory power, not management rights.

Club Chairman Peter Fischer went directly to the media and demanded Stubing’s resignation!

Yes, this Chairman of the Supervisory Board, who had only been in office for a few months, was being asked to resign.

More importantly, this Chairman of the Supervisory Board also held 3.5% of Eintracht Frankfurt’s shares.

In 2010, he bought one hundred thousand shares of Eintracht Frankfurt stock.

This money was used to repay a debt.

At that time, the club had built a youth academy on the east side of the city with only one standard football pitch and one match pitch.

But they owed a large sum of money, so Peter Fischer contacted Stubing.

As a result, the training building at the youth academy was named the Wolfgang Stubing Hall.

He had contributed to the team and invested a considerable amount of money.

But now, he had become a public enemy.

And today, in this stadium, the nine members of the Supervisory Board would vote on whether to accept the investment from a Chinese consortium.

…

Attending this meeting, besides the nine members of Frankfurt’s Supervisory Board, was also Markus Frank, the head of the Frankfurt Department for Sport.

He would act as a witness for the government.

In addition, some of the club’s core executives would also be present as observers.

There were also many media reporters outside.

But the votes of the nine Supervisory Board members were not yet final, as their decision would need to be voted on by the 1,148 “shareholders,” that is, at the members’ assembly.

Only if it passed the members’ assembly vote would the transaction be truly accepted.

Markus Frank was the first to stand up and speak.

He expressed the stance of the Frankfurt city government, stating that they would respect the outcome of Eintracht Frankfurt’s vote.

Prior to this, representatives from the Frankfurt city government had already met with Wolfgang Stubing and representatives from the Chinese consortium.

The offer on the table was very attractive.

First, after the Chinese side acquired Eintracht Frankfurt, they would initiate a buyout of the Commerzbank-Arena.

The purpose of buying the stadium was for better expansion and renovation.

In addition, the first-team training base on the east side of the stadium would also be renovated.

The Chinese consortium also hoped the Frankfurt city government would approve two plots of land.

One was located northwest of the current stadium, adjacent to the railway line. An indoor arena would be built there for the Frankfurt basketball and hockey teams, with a considerable investment expected.

The other plot of land was for building a brand new, modern training base.

The promise of investment, coupled with Frankfurt’s current bleak situation, had made the Frankfurt city government quite tempted.

But they would not step forward.

Because whoever did would offend the fans.

Before the vote, Peter Fischer was the first to take the stage.

As the club’s Chairman, he stated that during his years of management, Eintracht Frankfurt had made very significant progress.

“In 2005, when I took over the team, our Eintracht Frankfurt’s revenue was only 30 million euros. But now, it’s over 70 million euros, and we are confident of setting a new record this season!”

Peter Fischer reminded everyone present.

“We are not just discussing a football club now, but a community organization with 20 different departments, comprising sports such as football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, hockey, and table tennis.”

Peter Fischer stated that in the nearly concluded year of 2015, another five thousand fans had submitted membership applications.

It was expected that by the end of 2015, Eintracht Frankfurt’s membership would exceed thirty five thousand.

This number was only fifteen thousand in 2012.

In 2005, when he took over the team, it was even smaller.

Peter Fischer reminded everyone that in his ten years of managing the team, Eintracht Frankfurt had undergone a monumental transformation.

“I don’t think we need to bring in any foreign capital.”

“Because they are not here to run this club; they are here to make money.”

“I can fully imagine that the first thing they will do after capital enters our Eintracht Frankfurt is to raise ticket prices!”

“That’s what they are best at, and we have no way to stop it!”

Furthermore, Peter Fischer reminded everyone that even if shares were sold to foreign capital, the decision-making power of Eintracht Frankfurt would still remain in the hands of the fans.

“We will absolutely not compromise with capital!”

“Never!”

Peter Fischer’s speech won him warm applause.

Clearly, he had voiced the thoughts of many.

After Peter Fischer, Wolfgang Stubing also stood up to present some of his own ideas.

As an investor, Wolfgang Stubing first introduced Eintracht Frankfurt’s financial situation over the past few years.

He stated that things were not as rosy as they appeared on the surface.

Over the past years, the club’s debt had indeed been limited and kept well under control.

But they had been constantly selling shares.

He admitted that the club’s revenue had more than doubled compared to a decade ago, but was that enough?

“We should step out of our small Eintracht Frankfurt circle and open our eyes to the outside world.”

“In the last ten years, how much has Bayern Munich’s revenue grown? How much has Borussia Dortmund’s revenue grown?”

“Even our neighbors, Mainz, how much has their revenue grown?”

“I can responsibly say that our growth rate is decent, but this is built on a foundation of economic aid such as stadium naming rights and training ground naming rights!”

“But even so, have we truly made a profit?”

After settling the economic accounts, Stubing began to tally the football accounts.

He first acknowledged Peter Fischer’s contributions.

When he took over in 2005, Eintracht Frankfurt had just been relegated to the German second division.

But in the 2005/06 season, Eintracht Frankfurt returned to the Bundesliga.

However, in the 2010/11 season, the team was relegated again.

This time, they returned to the Bundesliga after just one season.

From the 2012/13 season until now, Eintracht Frankfurt had been lingering in the lower half of the Bundesliga, their strength not being particularly strong.

“As you all know, I am the son of a village policeman, born in Bockenheim, raised in Praunheim. When I was eleven, I came to Frankfurt and have never left since.”

“I first worked at Commerzbank, then started my own business, and now I have my own enterprise.”

“From ’84 to ’94, I served as the chairman of SG Frankfurt.”

At this point, Stubing grinned. “Our results improved by leaps and bounds in those ten years. We not only won the Black Forest state league championship but also came very close to being promoted to the German second division.”

“Over the years, public places named after me have appeared at the Frank Children’s Home, the Senckenberg Museum, the School of Finance, and other locations, including our youth academy.”

“I even received the Black Forest Order of Merit from the state.”

Wolfgang Stubing had always been very low-key.

So at this moment, when he stood on stage and listed his achievements over the years, there was an uproar from the audience below.

“I am not saying these things to show off, but to prove one thing: I don’t lack money, and I don’t lack fame!”

“I am already 66 years old!”

“I love this city, I love this club, I love everyone here, but I believe it must change, and it must be a huge change!”

Stubing described his visit to London and his observations at the Bayswater Chinese.

He tried his best to make everyone understand the vast disparity between Eintracht Frankfurt and the world’s most advanced and powerful clubs.

“In the past ten years, we have been relegated twice. And now, it’s happening again!”

Stubing felt that if Eintracht Frankfurt wanted to revive, it must break through its current barriers and undergo a complete reform.

“We need to leverage stronger forces, more advanced management philosophies, to transform and strengthen ourselves!”

Stubing stated that the Chinese capital had promised that if they acquired Eintracht Frankfurt, they would cooperate with the Bayswater Chinese.

They would buy out and expand the current stadium, build a modern training base, and bring in high-level players.

Regarding the biggest concern of the Eintracht Frankfurt fans, the Chinese capital promised to maintain the current status quo regarding ticket prices and other matters.

Stubing also mentioned the Bayswater Chinese.

“As one of the world’s top giants, they have always been the club with the lowest ticket prices in the Premier League!”

Finally, Stubing shared his wish.

“I hope that one day, I can see Eintracht Frankfurt become a powerhouse in German football, able to compete in European competitions. I hope to see our club in a healthy financial situation.”

“I hope even more to see players wearing our jersey galloping on the field, showcasing our Frankfurt football spirit and culture!”

“And if the club wants to make these changes, it must have the support of everyone present!”

“The vote in your hands will not only decide my fate but also the future of Eintracht Frankfurt!”

…

After the speeches by Peter Fischer and Wolfgang Stubing, the next step was the voting session.

Markus Frank, as a witness, was responsible for presiding over the vote.

Only the nine members of the Supervisory Board were eligible to participate in this vote.

Currently, Eintracht Frankfurt’s shares were mainly divided into three parts: 62.9% belonged to the Eintracht Frankfurt joint-stock company, 28.5% to the Friends of Eintracht Frankfurt, and 3.6% to Wolfgang Stubing.

Another 5% had been recently transferred and belonged to BHF Bank, Germany’s largest independent private bank, under Deutsche Bank.

Of the current nine Supervisory Board members, besides Peter Fischer and Wolfgang Stubing, there was also Dieter Burkhardt, a member of the Executive Board.

The 65-year-old Burkhardt was Peter Fischer’s most loyal ally and had been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2000.

After a one-year leave due to health reasons, he returned to the Supervisory Board in June this year at Fischer’s invitation.

The 48-year-old Oliver Frankenbach was currently Eintracht Frankfurt’s CEO and head of the marketing department.

Fischer, Burkhardt, and Frankenbach were all appointed on behalf of the Eintracht Frankfurt joint-stock company during the new Supervisory Board elections on June 8th.

The 58-year-old Frank Behrends had worked at BHF Bank for thirty-two years and was currently the Chief Risk Officer of BHF Bank.

The bank’s headquarters were in Frankfurt.

The 63-year-old Hans Dieter Berner previously worked at the state bank of Hesse and was now the bank’s General Manager.

Behrends and Berner were both elected to the Supervisory Board on June 8th.

Along with the elected Chairman Wolfgang Stubing, they all came from the financial sector.

The other three were Philipp Holzer, Reinhard Gödel, and Claudio Montanini.

They had all been long-standing members of the Frankfurt Supervisory Board for many years.

Fischer appeared exceptionally confident.

Because he had already arranged everything beforehand.

He knew very well that Behrends and Berner would support Stubing.

Their side had at least three votes, and his side had Burkhardt and Frankenbach, also three votes.

So the key was the three votes from Philipp Holzer, Gödel, and Montanini.

Originally, according to Stubing’s plan, a Supervisory Board meeting for voting was to be held in September.

But Fischer had kept delaying it.

The purpose was to secure these three votes.

In the end, he secured the votes of Holzer and Gödel.

That was enough.

In the end, 5-4, he would still win!

Thinking of this, Peter Fischer was filled with ambition.

He had already made a promise to Holzer.

As long as they won this vote, he would demand Stubing’s resignation, and at that time, Holzer would become the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

This fan, who had been on the Supervisory Board since 2009, had been coveting this position for a long time.

Seeing that all nine members were ready, Markus Frank began to read out the purpose of the vote.

If the vote passed, the resolution would be submitted to the members’ assembly for a final vote.

This would undoubtedly be a major event that would shake the entire German football world!

If the vote did not pass, the matter would be dropped!

“Now, I declare the voting officially begins.”

Markus Frank announced in a loud voice.

“Those who support Eintracht Frankfurt accepting the acquisition by Chinese investors, please raise your hand!”

As soon as Markus Frank’s words fell, Wolfgang Stubing firmly raised his right hand.

Seeing his impatient expression, Peter Fischer couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

This guy is becoming more and more childish with age!

After the vote, let’s see how I deal with him!

Next, Behrends and Berner also raised their hands one after another.

This was within Peter Fischer’s expectations.

The positions and attitudes of these three were reformist.

And another was Montanini, who also raised his hand.

Four votes!

Peter Fischer couldn’t help but let out a slight smile.

It really is these four votes!

I’ve won!

Peter Fischer placed his hands on the conference table, stood up from his chair, and was about to declare his victory.

But just at that moment, Oliver Frankenbach beside him also raised his hand.

This stunned Peter Fischer.

“Oliver, we’re voting ‘yes’ right now. What are you raising your hand for? Put it down immediately,” Peter Fischer snapped.

But unexpectedly, Oliver Frankenbach turned his head, glanced at Fischer, and then turned back.

He didn’t say a word the whole time, but his hand remained raised, firm.

This traitor!

Five votes!

It’s fine!

Betrayed, Peter Fischer forcefully suppressed the rage in his chest, trying to calm himself down.

5-4, the gap isn’t wide.

He still had options.

Just as the thought crossed Fischer’s mind, he saw Reinhard Gödel also raise his hand.

“What’s going on? Reinhard, you clearly promised me!” Fischer completely lost his composure.

Reinhard Gödel did turn his head to look at Peter Fischer. “I’m sorry, Peter, my friend. I did promise you, but I never said I would vote for you.”

“What I said then was, you can rest assured, I will definitely make the best choice for Eintracht Frankfurt!”

Fischer remembered.

At the time, he had a good chat with Gödel, and he thought that phrase meant the other would definitely vote for him.

He never expected it to be the opposite!

“You bunch of traitors! You have betrayed the trust the fans of Eintracht Frankfurt placed in you! You have betrayed me!”

Peter Fischer’s deep roar let everyone feel his anger and loss of control at that moment.

6 to 3!

Stubing had complete control of the situation!

But at this moment, the “victor” of Eintracht Frankfurt showed not a hint of joy.

He stood up, looking directly at Peter Fischer.

“I am very pleased that my colleagues have made the most correct decision!”

Markus Frank also opportunely announced the voting results.

Stubing’s proposal was approved by the Supervisory Board!

The next step for Eintracht Frankfurt would be to begin organizing the members’ assembly.

The current tentative date was mid-October.

This members’ assembly would have 1,148 members participating, and the venue would be the Wolfgang Stubing Hall at the youth academy on the east side of the city.

That had been the venue for Eintracht Frankfurt’s members’ assemblies in recent years.

If it passed at the members’ assembly, then Eintracht Frankfurt’s sale of club shares to the Chinese consortium could be executed.

But after Markus Frank announced the results, Peter Fischer stared intently at Stubing.

“I promise you, your conspiracy will never succeed!”

With that, he stormed off in a huff.

He was going to make all of this public!

Burkhardt and Holzer also stood up and followed him out.

…

As soon as the results from Frankfurt came out, Yang Cheng received the news immediately.

Someone from his team was at the voting site waiting for the news and called him as soon as the result was out.

This made Yang Cheng breathe a sigh of relief.

But it was only the first step!

There was still much to do, and it would definitely cause a huge media storm.

But this time, he was not involved in it.

Everyone only knew that a Chinese consortium wanted to acquire Eintracht Frankfurt.

“For the next period, you must fully cooperate with Wolfgang Stubing and Oliver Frankenbach to mobilize the members. We must win this battle, no matter what!” Yang Cheng urged over the phone.

The sensitivity of this matter was that he couldn’t personally appear or even get involved.

So, he could only manage it remotely.

Yang Cheng anticipated that the upcoming media coverage would be fierce, so he immediately called Xia Qing again, asking her to arrange for the club’s staff to closely monitor public opinion and be prepared to respond.

As expected.

The moment the voting results from Frankfurt were out, they immediately caused a huge uproar in the German football world.

Due to the recent frequent acquisitions by Chinese capital in Europe, with connections to clubs like AC Milan and Inter Milan, the news was big, so no one immediately connected it to Yang Cheng.

But when it came to foreign acquisitions, the first reaction in the German football world was, rejection!

On the weekend, October 3rd, the eighth round of the Premier League.

Thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale and goals from Harry Kane and Theo Walcott, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Stoke City 4-0 at home.

Although the team had drawn 3-3 away against Liverpool in the previous round, Manchester City suffered an unexpected upset away to Ronald Koeman’s Tottenham, losing 1-3 at White Hart Lane.

So, after this round, Yang Cheng’s team continued to lead the Premier League table.

However, Manchester City was in good form this round. Starting from the 52nd minute of the second half, Messi scored five goals in just twenty minutes, until the 72nd minute, completing a five-goal haul with irresistible momentum.

It was also after this round of matches that the European leagues went on another break.

The Bundesliga media completely exploded!

Chapter 350: An Exception! Another Exception! The Ace in the Hole! You Can Only Choose One! I’m Here in the Bundesliga to Do Charity

Every two or three years, a piece of news related to the 50+1 rule would pop up in German football.

And then, it would swiftly ignite heated discussions across the nation.

From Hannover 96 in 2009, to RB Leipzig later on, and then Hoffenheim in 2014…

Recently, Hannover 96 Chairman Martin Kind had dredged up the old topic again, stirring up another round of debate…

Previously, both Hamburger SV and Hertha BSC had been in the news for potential takeovers.

Now, it was Eintracht Frankfurt’s turn.

It all started with some remarks made by Eintracht Frankfurt Chairman Peter Fischer in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau.

He believed that money was corrupting the football of the German people!

During the interview, Peter Fischer expressed his disappointment with the results of the recently concluded vote among the members of Frankfurt’s Supervisory Board.

He had just lost the vote three to six.

It had happened under the watchful eyes of government officials, key club management, and sponsors.

But the Frankfurt chairman was dissatisfied with this outcome, believing it to be the result of someone’s malicious machinations.

“When I first started my tenure at Frankfurt, we only had ten thousand members. When I said that back then, many people truly laughed at us. But now, we have thirty-five thousand members, and that number will only grow.”

“I am proud of the work I’ve done over the past decade!”

“Our club has made so many contributions to the city of Frankfurt and has built a positive image.”

“But now, those who have been corrupted by money, by capital, are jumping out and telling us that all of this is outdated!”

“I cannot accept such a result.”

“Money cannot be the sole pursuit of a football club!”

Peter Fischer stated that under his management, Frankfurt’s financial situation had been good over the past few years.

Moreover, the club had achieved profitability for two consecutive years.

This was a remarkable achievement.

“But they are still not satisfied!”

Who were “they”?

In a simultaneous interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Finance Director, Thomas Forster, pointed the finger directly at a group of reformists led by Wolfgang Stubing.

As the Finance Director, the data Thomas Forster provided was even clearer.

Eintracht Frankfurt had been profitable for two consecutive years, with a profit of 351,000 euros in the 13/14 season and 1.2 million euros in the 14/15 season.

This was a very positive sign.

It proved that Frankfurt’s situation was steadily improving.

So why was the team now mired on the brink of relegation?

Especially after the eighth round, when they lost 0-2 away to Darmstadt.

This had caused immense dissatisfaction among the Frankfurt fans.

Who was Darmstadt?

A team from the same state of Hesse, located just southwest of Frankfurt, with a population of a mere 150,000.

In the eyes of Frankfurt fans, no matter how bad things got, the team shouldn’t be losing to this little brother from the same state, right?

But what about now?

Frankfurt was ranked 15th, one step away from the relegation zone.

Darmstadt was in 10th place.

Peter Fischer first stated that he bore responsibility.

But then, he turned his sights on the team’s head coach, Armin Veh.

Armin Veh had recently criticized the club for not giving him enough support with player signings before the season.

“I don’t understand. What kind of support does he want?”

“Those unrealistic players who are simply never coming to Frankfurt?”

Peter Fischer stated that he had formally filed a complaint with the German Football Association and the German Football League (DFL).

“I believe the resolution of the Frankfurt Supervisory Board violates the German Football Association’s 50+1 rule and should be prohibited from being executed!”

In other words, it shouldn’t be put to a vote at the members’ assembly.

Although, Peter Fischer repeatedly emphasized that the 1,148 members would surely support him and reject the proposal.

…

The Frankfurter Rundschau published the interviews with Peter Fischer and Thomas Forster.

But in another report, they also interviewed Wolfgang Stubing.

The latter pointed out the various problems Frankfurt was currently facing.

Not just financially, but also in football and club management.

For the past few years, Frankfurt had been consistently selling shares; otherwise, they would not have been able to meet the requirements of the German Football Association and the German Football League.

A profit of 350,000 euros and 1.2 million euros?

Why not calculate how many shares were sold?

How many players were sold?

In his interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, Wolfgang Stubing even stated high-profilely that he understood and had considered all the fans’ concerns.

For example, he would bring in a management team with extensive football experience.

He didn’t say it explicitly, but the Frankfurter Rundschau directly added a parenthetical note: Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.

Then, it listed Yang Cheng’s successes over the past few years.

Including Bayswater Chinese in the Premier League, OGC Nice in Ligue 1, Atalanta in Serie A, and Málaga CF in La Liga.

Most miraculously, in this season’s Eredivisie, FC Twente, recently acquired by Yang Cheng, was having an excellent start under the coaching of Peter Bosz.

Six wins and two draws, remaining undefeated.

The two draws were a 2-2 at home against Ajax and a 2-2 away game against AZ Alkmaar.

After eight rounds, Twente had scored twenty-one league goals and conceded five.

They were currently at the top of the Eredivisie league table.

Of course, many people questioned these results, because apart from Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, Twente hadn’t faced any other strong teams, so the prestige of their record was yet to be tested.

But it was undeniable that this Twente team, coached by Peter Bosz, played truly beautiful football!

This left everyone wondering.

What kind of magic did Yang Cheng and his team possess?

Why was it that any team he acquired could be so completely transformed almost immediately after he took over?

The Frankfurter Rundschau’s commentary on the matter was to acknowledge both parties’ affection for the Eintracht Frankfurt club, but noted their philosophies had diverged.

Wolfgang Stubing, from the financial industry, was more receptive to external changes, thus he actively sought to bring in foreign capital and outstanding football management teams to strengthen Frankfurt itself.

Peter Fischer, on the other hand, was more traditional, adhering to Germany’s native football philosophy and rejecting the temptations of money and capital.

But here, the Frankfurter Rundschau also posed a question to each side.

To Peter Fischer, the most authoritative media outlet in the Frankfurt region raised a doubt.

He talked a big game about upholding tradition and rejecting money and capital, but why had Frankfurt been continuously selling shares to investors in the past? Why were there investors from the financial industry like Wolfgang Stubing on the Supervisory Board?

Wasn’t that a huge contradiction?

Also, how did he explain the illusion of the club’s profitability?

Over the years, Frankfurt’s performance had been up and down, and complaints among the local Frankfurt fans had long been rampant.

Was he not aware of this?

What had he and his management team done about it? How much had they done?

The tradition he spoke of, the 50+1 rule, had actually only been around for a little over a decade.

Was he upholding tradition, or was he unwilling to let go of the little power he held?

As for Wolfgang Stubing, the Frankfurter Rundschau was sharper and more direct.

Bringing in foreign capital was bound to cause strong outrage among the majority of Frankfurt fans.

But why did Stubing want to do it?

What benefits had the foreign investors promised him?

The Frankfurter Rundschau acknowledged Stubing’s relay of the promises made by Yang Cheng’s team, including various investments, the redevelopment of Frankfurt, and even the construction of a dedicated sports arena for the basketball and hockey teams.

This was indeed very tempting!

But the fans’ biggest worry was that once this local club was acquired by foreign capital, transforming from a non-profit association into private property, who would be there to restrain these investors in the future?

Wolfgang Stubing’s reaction to this was very quick.

He stated that he had received no promises from the investors; he was acting more as a citizen and fan of Frankfurt, hoping to see the club develop and grow stronger.

“If Frankfurt can become a top team like Bayern or Dortmund, that is the benefit I hope to receive!”

Regarding restraining the investors, Stubing said that the German Football Association and the German Football League both have very comprehensive rules and regulations.

And for the issue fans were most worried about, Stubing directly threw out his ace in the hole.

“The investors are willing to promise that ticket prices will not increase for the next ten years!”

Stubing stated that this was not just empty talk, but a public commitment they were willing to have notarized by the Frankfurt city government.

On this point, Yang Cheng, Xia Qing, and the team had done an estimate.

When many people calculate Bundesliga ticket prices, they often overlook one point.

The Bundesliga has standing tickets.

In the Bundesliga, the price of a seated ticket is much, much higher than a standing ticket.

Take Frankfurt for example. The current price for their cheapest standing season ticket is 159 euros.

The cheapest seated season ticket is 379 euros, and the most expensive is 653 euros.

Note, these are not the prices for VIP seats or boxes.

In the Bundesliga, stadiums have dedicated seating and standing sections, with the standing sections usually located at both ends of the pitch.

They use a type of removable seating.

Especially for teams participating in European competitions, they often install seats for European matches, turning them into seating sections.

When it comes to Bundesliga matches, they remove the seats, turning them back into standing sections.

Frankfurt’s ticket prices were notoriously low in the entire Bundesliga, fourth from the bottom.

The lowest was Wolfsburg, with the cheapest standing ticket at just 130 euros, followed by Bayern at 140 euros, and then Hoffenheim at 150.

And the highest?

Darmstadt’s was 240 euros, Hamburger SV’s was 208.7 euros, and Borussia Dortmund’s was 207 euros.

That’s why, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, after the Kings of the North fell into the German second division, they could never forgive the Bundesliga.

Why?

Life in the German second division was great!

Charging nearly the highest ticket prices in Germany while playing in the second division, wasn’t that sweet?

Based on statistics from the past few years, combined with Yang Cheng’s experience from his previous life, by 2024, the level of Bundesliga ticket prices, especially for Frankfurt, should be around 190 euros.

Promising not to raise ticket prices for ten years was actually not a big loss for Yang Cheng’s team.

But for Frankfurt’s fans, it was absolutely the most sincere and devastatingly effective promise.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, under the painstaking management of Frankenbach, Frankfurt’s revenue soared in the coming years, reaching an astonishing 240 million euros by the time he traveled back in 2024.

And now?

It was only 70 million euros.

Why?

Because it’s Frankfurt!

Perhaps Frankfurt fell short of the Kings of the North, Hamburger SV, in some areas, but this city absolutely possessed enormous potential and commercial value.

Due to historical and other reasons, Germany doesn’t really have a central city that dominates in the way London, Madrid, or Paris do.

But undoubtedly, Frankfurt could certainly be considered Germany’s economic, financial, and aviation hub.

In the current Bundesliga and German second division, Frankfurt has another team, FSV Frankfurt.

But this team was not strong, and its influence in the local Frankfurt area couldn’t compare to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Because of this, Eintracht Frankfurt was the banner of this city.

So much so that Yang Cheng, Adam Crozier, and the others found it very strange.

How could a team like this, guarding such a treasure trove, fail to develop? Who could stand it?

They were just as bad as the management of the Kings of the North, Hamburger SV!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, from the moment Stubing took over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Frankenbach took over Frankfurt, the club’s revenue and management began to get on the right track.

Not only did revenue climb steadily, but the club’s overall strength also improved along with it.

And what truly prompted Frankfurt’s management to make changes was the threat of relegation this season.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Frankfurt only managed to finish 16th in the Bundesliga in the 15/16 season.

According to the rules of the Bundesliga and the German second division, the 17th and 18th placed teams in the Bundesliga are directly relegated, while the champion and runner-up of the second division are directly promoted.

But the 16th placed team in the Bundesliga plays a play-off against the 3rd placed team in the second division.

Frankfurt could be said to have had one foot in the grave.

And in the first leg of the promotion playoffs, they drew 1-1 at home against Nuremberg.

But in the end, they won 1-0 away against Nuremberg, narrowly escaping death and preserving their Bundesliga status.

This also led everyone, including Stubing, to reach a consensus: Frankfurt needed reform.

But unlike in his previous life, there was now a Yang Cheng.

In short, after thorough deduction and calculation, Yang Cheng and his team concluded that taking over Frankfurt at this time was an absolutely cost-effective deal.

The premise was, they had to get past the 50+1 rule.

So, besides promising not to raise ticket prices for ten years, Yang Cheng’s team made many other promises.

For example, how much charity work they would do for the community and fans each year.

Hadn’t the club previously promised to provide low-priced tickets for low-to-middle-income groups?

The new team promised not only to honor that but to double it!

Over the past years, Bayswater Chinese had done a lot of charity work in London to give back to society, the fans, and the community. Now, Frankfurt was taking all of it and promising it to the fans.

For German fans of the past, especially Frankfurt’s fans, when had they ever seen so much?

And all of this was to create one narrative.

The Chinese consortium wasn’t here to make money.

Or rather, they had no intention of making money off the fans!

On the contrary, the new team would give back to the fans with more vigor than ever before.

On what grounds?

Were they doing charity?

Of course not.

The new team had the ability to make money from sponsors, from broadcast rights, from other areas. Why would they need to make money from the fans?

Isn’t that what Bayern Munich has always touted?

And this series of moves was truly effective.

Crucially, it wasn’t just empty promises; it was written directly into the contract, with the city government as a witness!

More importantly, the new team had achieved great success in Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga, and the Eredivisie.

“In the Bundesliga, our goal is to build Frankfurt into the most competitive top team in the league, a team worthy of the city of Frankfurt!”

Could the old team led by Peter Fischer do that?

Besides selling off club shares, besides corruption, besides using Frankfurt for personal gain, what else could you do?

Listen to what they’re saying, this is what the fans want!

Public opinion quickly turned.

While the media in Germany was in an uproar, even wildly attacking Frankfurt for undermining the 50+1 rule, among Frankfurt’s fans and members, the new team received more and more positive reviews.

And Onefootball’s full support played a big part in this.

Especially the fan community.

On the second Sunday of October, the 11th, at the youth academy on the east side of Frankfurt, in the Wolfgang Stubing Hall of the training building, 1,148 member representatives gathered.

There were so many people that the meeting had to be postponed by fifty minutes.

The Frankfurt city government, sponsors, key club departments, and members of the Supervisory Board were all in attendance.

Even the German Football Association and the German Football League arranged for representatives to be present at the voting site.

But at this moment, Peter Fischer had completely lost his earlier confidence.

He was now like a fighting cock with bloodshot eyes, pecking at anyone he came across.

Representatives from the new Chinese team were allowed to attend the vote and made written promises and guarantees on the spot.

All previous promises would be fulfilled.

Notaries and lawyers were present to provide verification.

After the on-site vote, the result was that out of 1,148 votes, 829 were in favor.

209 were against.

110 abstained.

In the end, the takeover proposal passed the vote of the Frankfurt members’ assembly with an overwhelming majority!

Wolfgang Stubing emotionally stated that this would be the most memorable day in the history of the Frankfurt club!

It was bound to become a significant mark in the history of German football!

As Germany’s most open and international city, Frankfurt’s football team had taken the first step in the reform of German football!

But everyone knew this was just the beginning!

…

Yang Cheng was in Prague, Czech Republic, when he received the call from his team, informing him of the resolution passed by the vote in Frankfurt.

At that moment, he was standing with Bayern’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the Chairman of Borussia Dortmund, who was also the Vice-Chairman of the German Football Association and Chairman of the German Football League, Reinhard Rauball.

Also with them was Reinhard Grindel, the newly elected Chairman of the German Football Association.

The three of them were representing Bayern, the German Football Association, and the German Football League respectively, attending the UEFA congress in Prague, and they would all be joining the UEFA Executive Committee.

Yes, in the new UEFA Executive Committee, the Germans had secured a full three seats.

Interestingly, the four men received their calls almost at the same time. They each turned away to take the call, and when they returned, they looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile.

The other three were impressed by Yang Cheng’s abilities.

Many of the promises, let alone Frankfurt, even Bayern and Dortmund couldn’t make.

For example, no ticket price increases for the next ten years.

But Yang Cheng did it.

This move was indeed incredibly powerful.

Because German fans insisted on the 50+1 rule largely due to this concern.

Of course, they weren’t afraid of a price hike after ten years.

If the increase was too high, they would protest at the city hall.

There were always ways to deal with Frankfurt’s management.

“Just a few days ago, I was telling them that Bayern and Dortmund are good examples for us to learn from.”

“Bayern’s commercial operation capabilities, Dortmund’s management of their home game atmosphere, are all very much worth studying,” Yang Cheng said with a polite smile.

The three bigwigs present all chuckled along.

“Regarding this matter in Frankfurt, we can’t really do much. It mainly depends on you,” Grindel stated his position.

The biggest problem now was not the German Football Association.

It was the German Football League and the fans!

The German Football League is composed of 36 teams from the Bundesliga and the second division, and everyone is equal.

The strongest supporters of the 50+1 rule were often the 18 teams in the second division and the 10 teams in the lower half of the Bundesliga.

Interestingly, Frankfurt had always been one of the staunchest supporters in the past.

“There’s very little I can do. You know, I’m like a mascot within the league,” Rauball said with a smile.

“Understood.”

Yang Cheng clasped his hands together, expressing his gratitude to the three men present.

To some extent, their non-opposition was the greatest support.

The reason was simple. If this acquisition was rejected, he would at most lose some money and the effort he put in, then pack up and leave.

But what about them?

They had to continue to make their way in Germany.

People need to be considerate of each other for a partnership to last.

“I’ve already had someone speak with Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, and Hoffenheim.”

Yang Cheng’s words startled the three men.

This was him getting serious.

“I’ve also hired the best legal team specializing in sports law and antitrust law. Next, I’ll just need the Football Association and the Football League to hurry up and reject our acquisition!”

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but find his own words amusing.

Yes.

The most crucial step in his plan was to be rejected!

In fact, from any angle, they wouldn’t agree.

Especially considering the current loud opposition from fans in Germany, how could they agree?

Who would dare to agree?

“I’ll make a call later and have my colleagues quickly review the documents you’ve submitted,” Grindel nodded in agreement.

Rauball promised the same.

But Yang Cheng was anxious.

He had to be.

Because there were still many things to do.

It was mid-October, and Yang Cheng still hoped to complete everything before February 1st, 2016.

But there was Christmas in between.

That was very troublesome.

If he couldn’t complete it before February 1st, and Frankfurt really got relegated, he would suffer a huge loss.

“No need to look, the reasons are all ready-made. Frankfurt’s license to compete was transferred to the Frankfurt joint-stock company a few years ago, and the Chinese company is now acquiring all the shares of the Frankfurt joint-stock company.”

“With 100% control, the Chinese company can exercise all power through the Frankfurt joint-stock company. This is already a de facto violation of the 50+1 rule!”

Rauball, Rummenigge, and Grindel all looked at each other, stunned.

Have you ever seen such a person or such a thing?

This world was simply too absurd!

He even helped them find the reason for rejection. This was simply outrageous!

“Alright, have them submit it quickly, and I’ll go make the call right now,” Rauball said, amused.

Whatever, I’m done with this. I’ll just handle it officially, that can’t be wrong.

Grindel had the same attitude.

Yang Cheng, however, looked at Rummenigge. “Didn’t you plan to stand up and support me last time?”

“Did I say that?” Rummenigge had forgotten.

“Didn’t you?” Yang Cheng retorted with a laugh.

Rummenigge instantly knew the kid was joking.

“What do you plan to do next?”

“Sue, of course.”

“And then?”

“If it doesn’t work in Germany, then I’ll sue at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.”

If even the European Union couldn’t help, then there was truly nothing to be done.

Cases like this were not resolved overnight.

It would take at least a few months.

No wonder Yang Cheng was in a hurry.

…

As Frankfurt passed the acquisition plan and began submitting various materials to the German Football Association and the German Football League, it immediately attracted intense attention from the German media.

Public opinion grew more and more heated.

Especially among German fans.

First, Frankfurt fans who opposed the acquisition protested outside the club offices and the Frankfurt city hall.

Then, fans from other cities protested the acquisition.

The reason was simple: the deal violated the 50+1 rule.

According to the 50+1 rule, the Chinese consortium’s acquisition of 100% of Frankfurt’s limited company shares was not actually affected.

But the problem lay in the fact that the Frankfurt joint-stock company held the club’s license to compete in the German professional leagues.

With the license came voting rights.

However, according to the 50+1 rule, investors could hold at most 49% of the voting rights.

So, unless the Chinese consortium transferred the competition license back into the hands of the club’s members’ assembly, it was a violation!

Because in Germany, ownership of a football club belongs to its fan members!

There were only three exceptions.

Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen, having operated their clubs for a long time, were exceptions from the very beginning.

Hoffenheim was granted an exception for investing for over twenty years.

But even so, Hoffenheim’s investor, Dietmar Hopp, held 96% of the club’s shares but only had 49% of the voting rights.

Of course, everyone knew this was just the public story.

RB Leipzig?

No, RB Leipzig was not an exception.

From a legal standpoint, they still strictly adhered to the 50+1 rule.

This time, the German Football Association and the German Football League reacted quickly, actively responding to the hot-button issue that the media and fans were keenly watching, and immediately held a press conference.

Both German football governing bodies unequivocally stated to the public that the Chinese consortium’s acquisition of Frankfurt violated German football’s 50+1 rule and would not be permitted by the German Football Association and the German Football League.

If both parties still insisted on completing the transaction, Eintracht Frankfurt would be stripped of its license to compete in the German professional leagues.

As soon as the news was released, it received enormous support within Germany.

The majority of Bundesliga fans were actively opposed to foreign takeovers.

Even though the promises made by the Chinese consortium were very attractive, it was still not allowed!

Because those promises were made to Frankfurt, not to all of Germany’s fans.

And the stance of the German Football Association and the German Football League also caused a huge reaction in Frankfurt.

The fans who had supported the acquisition were deeply disappointed, while those who had staunchly opposed it were thrilled.

Frankfurt Chairman Peter Fischer even stated in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, “This is a victory for football!”

“A great victory in defense of tradition!”

As long as the acquisition wasn’t complete, he was still the chairman of Frankfurt.

But just one day after the German Football Association and the German Football League blocked the acquisition, the Chinese consortium’s representative lawyer in Germany appeared in Karlsruhe in the country’s southwest.

The lawyer, representing the Chinese consortium, formally sued the German Football Association and the German Football League at the German Federal Court of Justice.

The reason for the lawsuit was that the regulations of these two bodies violated the antitrust laws of the European Union and Germany.

“It restricts market access for participating in football clubs. The monopolists are abusing their power, leaving investors in the German market with no choice!”

“The only way to participate in the Bundesliga is to obey these rules. This is an abuse of monopoly power!”

The lawyer for the Chinese consortium stated that this regulation simply could not stand up to judicial and antitrust scrutiny because it disproportionately restricted competition in the market for shares in sports companies.

The German Federal Court of Justice announced that it had accepted the lawsuit.

This immediately sparked another intense debate throughout Germany.

The Chinese consortium had taken both the German Football Association and the German Football League to court at the same time.

A spokesperson for the German Football League (DFL) Executive Committee stated in an interview with reporters that the 50+1 rule was a fundamental component of German football.

The DFL would actively cooperate with the Federal Court’s investigation, but there was no problem with the policy itself.

“As a professional football league, we must ensure that the league’s laws are rooted in society, and ensure a close connection between competitive sports, especially the teams with competition licenses, and the German people.”

Regarding the legal basis of the 50+1 rule, the DFL’s representative lawyer pointed out that the DFL had not violated antitrust law.

“Within the framework of its autonomy as a sports organization, the football association is fundamentally independent of the state and has the right to maintain the existence of grassroots sports and a controllable capital system through its own regulations.”

“This is a very important manifestation of value in sports!”

The German Supporters Alliance resolutely opposed the entry of investors and stated they were actively organizing more protests, hoping to create a more significant social impact.

“Our demand is simple and consistent: consistently enforce the 50+1 rule. Other than that, everything else is non-negotiable for us. We will defend the 50+1 rule at all costs!”

Not only that, the German Supporters Alliance also demanded that the DFL and the German Football Association must immediately issue a statement.

“If Frankfurt is unwilling to abide by the 50+1 rule, they can get out of the professional league. We do not welcome such a club in our league system!”

There were also many rational fans who believed that since antitrust was involved, the German Federal Cartel Office should step in and review the 50+1 rule. If it indeed violated antitrust law, then a way to fix it should be found as soon as possible to close this loophole.

The Chinese consortium’s lawyer was clearly well-prepared.

In the next interview with the media, he presented direct evidence.

In Article 16C of the DFB’s statutes and Article 8 of the DFL’s statutes, it is stipulated.

Only companies in which the respective clubs hold a majority of the voting shares are permitted to participate in the league’s match operations.

But there were exceptions.

Article 8, Section 3 of the DFL statutes states: under certain conditions, a commercial enterprise that has continuously invested in and promoted club football for 20 years is allowed to control a league participant itself.

Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hoffenheim—all three teams used Article 8, Section 3 to circumvent the 50+1 rule, which is the “special case” all fans are familiar with.

According to EU and German antitrust law, if Germany’s 50+1 rule, as the DFB and DFL claim, benefits from an exemption from antitrust law for laudable social and moral reasons, then it must be applied to all members in a uniform, consistent, and non-discriminatory manner.

And therein lies the problem.

If you, the DFB and DFL, insist that the 50+1 rule falls under the exemption clause of antitrust law, then how did Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hoffenheim get their special exceptions?

Conversely, if you argue that it is reasonable for Wolfsburg, The Company’s Eleven, and Hoffenheim to get special exceptions, then you are in violation of antitrust law.

Take your pick!

You can only choose one. Where exactly did you go wrong?

This could almost be described as a king bomb! An ace in the hole!

When the lawyer dropped it, aside from the fans who were still passionately protesting, marching, and venting, everyone from the DFB to the DFL fell silent.

The German media interviewed many lawyers specializing in sports law and court judges, asking for their opinions on the Chinese consortium’s lawyer’s argument. Almost all of them believed it was unanswerable!

A last-minute winner!

But was that all?

No!

Many fans actually had a misunderstanding.

They thought the 50+1 rule was created after the Kirch Group went bankrupt and Bundesliga teams faced a massive bankruptcy crisis.

In fact, it wasn’t.

It was born in 1998.

The Kirch Group went bankrupt in 2001.

Everyone knew that the Bundesliga of ’98 was at its peak.

At that time, German football was undergoing a vigorous shareholding system reform for clubs, and the stock market listings of clubs like Borussia Dortmund also occurred during that period.

If you wanted to go public and bring in investors, you definitely had to carry out shareholding reform.

Thus, the 50+1 rule came into being.

But Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen were very special teams.

They could almost be called factory teams.

This was a pragmatic compromise made for a special case at the time.

The later case of Hoffenheim was the same.

After all, having invested for so many years and bringing a village team to the Bundesliga, wasn’t that enough?

But the problem was, this indeed violated antitrust law and restricted the threshold for entry.

To put it bluntly, what right did German fans have to curse at RB Leipzig?

They restricted the threshold for membership, wasn’t that exactly the same as the German Football Association restricting the investment threshold for clubs?

The Berlin-based German Federal Cartel Office soon issued a statement, announcing that at the request of the German Federal Court of Justice, they would conduct a review of the 50+1 rule.

This news immediately put countless people on alert.

Even many fans began to realize that there was a real problem.

Fabian Reinholz, a Berlin-based expert in sports and intellectual property law, said in a media interview, “From all current indications, the DFB and DFL’s violation of antitrust law is basically established!”

Olsson, a Munich-based antitrust law expert, revealed in an interview that if the 50+1 rule is determined to have indeed violated German and EU antitrust laws, then the 36 teams in the DFL are obligated to pay compensation to their respective investors to make up for the investors’ losses.

The specific amount would depend on the court’s final judgment!

Public opinion flipped in an instant.

Although the supporters’ alliance was still chanting the slogan “Football belongs to the fans,” they already knew.

This was a very fatal crisis!

The Chinese investors had come prepared.

They had precisely identified the legal loophole in the 50+1 rule and struck its fatal weakness with a single blow.

…

Afternoon of November 20th.

Frankfurt, DFL Headquarters.

DFB Chairman Grindel, Vice-Chairman and DFL Chairman Rauball, and other key figures in German football, along with representatives from the 36 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs, gathered in the spacious and bright conference room.

The topic of discussion was something that frustrated them all.

“We have had talks with representatives from the Federal Cartel Office and have received very clear information.”

“The results are very unfavorable for us!”

Grindel announced this result with a somewhat pained expression.

Everyone present reacted relatively calmly.

Including the representatives of the 36 clubs.

Because over the past month, they had received information from various sources and were already mentally prepared for this outcome.

Especially when the European Court of Justice had also stepped in recently.

Only the rules of sports associations that do not cause particular harm can be considered for exemption from antitrust law.

In plain language, your 50+1 rule in Germany restricts and constrains investors, while at the same time failing to ensure consistent treatment.

Although they had known the result for a long time, its arrival still left everyone feeling down.

“So what now?” a more impatient club representative asked.

Grindel sighed, “We have already discussed with the Cartel Office. They will postpone the public announcement of the results. We must seize this time to come up with a reform plan.”

“How do we reform?”

“Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hoffenheim must establish another committee above the club, adding another layer. As for the specific operation, we will assign a professional legal team to provide guidance.”

“We’ve communicated with the Cartel Office, and they think it’s feasible.”

“But this solution can only be used once.”

The representatives of Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hoffenheim all expressed their support for the reform and pledged their full cooperation.

“The biggest trouble now is that both the Federal Court and the Cartel Office have advised us to end this lawsuit as soon as possible, preferably through an out-of-court settlement.”

The representatives of the 36 clubs looked at each other.

An out-of-court settlement?

That meant they had to discuss and negotiate with the Chinese consortium.

“The Federal Court has also made it very clear to me that once the Cartel Office issues its report, even if they wanted to help us, it would be very difficult for us to win.”

“Even if we win domestically, if the other party sues at the European Court of Justice, we are certain to lose.”

“At that time…”

Grindel’s gaze swept over the representatives of the 36 clubs present.

He noticed that Frankfurt’s representative was not Chairman Peter Fischer, but Oliver Frankenbach.

Clearly, Frankfurt had already completed its power transfer internally.

Yang Cheng was truly cunning!

Even if his acquisition was ruled against by the German Federal Court, their appeal to the EU would be a long and protracted lawsuit.

But now, he was already eager to push forward with this acquisition and exercise his power in advance.

“If the Federal Court or the European Court of Justice rules against us, then the 36 clubs present, as well as our German professional clubs, will all have to pay a sum of compensation to our investment shareholders.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the conference room erupted.

The previous rulings were all about the bigger picture.

Especially for the mid-to-lower-table and second-division clubs, they were mostly defending the 50+1 rule.

But now?

If they lost, every one of their clubs would have to pay.

This was cutting their own flesh, a pain they could truly feel!

But it was also inevitable.

Many lawyers had already issued warnings.

Unless the shareholders voluntarily gave up their claim.

But just think, this sum of money would probably not be small. Would the shareholders be foolish enough not to take it?

They asked themselves, were their own shareholders that generous?

“The situation is now before us. Either we fight the lawsuit and go all-out against them to the bitter end.”

“Or, we step forward, negotiate with the other party, and try to reach an out-of-court settlement.”

“Everyone, please share your opinions. I will respect everyone’s decision!”

After Grindel finished speaking, he almost couldn’t hold back a smile.

Many people thought that the Chairman of the German Football Association had a lot of power.

Little did they know, he often had to put up with nonsense from these clubs.

When had he ever felt as vindicated as he did now?

How else could you say that Yang Cheng was capable?

He hired top lawyers who could even dig out such an obscure legal loophole. It was impossible not to be impressed!

Fortunately, he and Yang Cheng were friends on the same side.

The 36 clubs were in a clamor, arguing amongst themselves.

Clearly, everyone had different opinions.

Some supported fighting to the bitter end, unafraid of him.

But others believed they should seize the time and settle out of court.

Waiting for the Cartel Office to publish its review report would only put them at a greater disadvantage.

Someone even questioned Oliver Frankenbach on the spot, was Frankfurt even a German club?

Why were they helping the Chinese bully their own people?

Frankenbach also looked innocent: I’m just in charge of business operations.

I don’t know about this stuff!

However, no matter how much they argued, they had to come up with an answer in the end.

Time waited for no one.

Ultimately, when it came to a vote, 31 of the 36 clubs supported an out-of-court settlement.

Two opposed, and three abstained.

However, based on the conditions for the settlement, the various parties once again fell into a heated argument.

Clearly, the best way to persuade the Chinese investors to withdraw the lawsuit was to accept their acquisition of Frankfurt.

As long as they agreed to the acquisition, the matter would be resolved.

But for the 36 clubs, this was undoubtedly a very difficult decision.

Even though Grindel repeatedly stressed that this was a special case.

Just like Hoffenheim.

Afterward, the DFB and DFL would cooperate with the Cartel Office to legally perfect the 50+1 rule, making it compatible with antitrust law.

But it was still hard for everyone to accept.

Before, Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen were special cases.

Later, Hoffenheim was another special case.

Now, foreign capital was to become a special case.

Wouldn’t the 50+1 rule become even more of a rule in name only in the future?

But Grindel was out of options.

If they didn’t make this exception, how could they persuade the Chinese consortium to withdraw the lawsuit?

What chips did they have to negotiate with the other party for an out-of-court settlement?

Everyone was speechless.

Because the other party had more money than them!

What did they have to negotiate with?

In the end, Grindel and Rauball stepped forward, and it was the old rule: a vote to decide.

Everyone was given ample time to consider before the final vote was held.

The result was that among the 36 clubs, 24 supported it, but repeatedly emphasized, only this once!

Twelve opposed.

This time, there were no abstentions.

Grindel accepted this voting result and stated that a team would be formed in the near future to negotiate with the Chinese investors.

But after the meeting, as he walked out of the conference room, he secretly sent a text message to Yang Cheng.

Done!

Chapter 351: Choosing a Coach! Global Advisor! He’s Superman! The Final Victory Will Definitely Be Ours

Done!

When Yang Cheng received Grindel’s text, he deleted it with a faint smile.

He immediately called Adam Crozier to share the news, telling him to make preparations as soon as possible.

And then there was Xia Qing.

For the past month, Xia Qing’s people had been auditing Eintracht Frankfurt’s books, and the more they dug, the more dirt they found.

Peter Fischer and the others had quite a few skeletons in their closets.

As a result, they had been keeping a much lower profile recently.

Yang Cheng’s team was no pushover, either. Although they had promised Peter Fischer and the others that they wouldn’t publicize some of their dirty laundry as long as they behaved, avoiding further escalation, it didn’t stop someone from secretly leaking information to the media and on the Onefootball fan community.

Many of the revelations were truly sensational.

Yang Cheng was used to this sort of thing.

At his level, he didn’t care about a few million, or even tens of millions of euros in corruption.

What he truly cared about was whether he could get what he wanted.

As long as Peter Fischer didn’t cause trouble and actively cooperated with the acquisition and handover, many of these things could be avoided.

Wolfgang Stubing had said he never intended to profit from the Chinese consortium’s acquisition of Eintracht Frankfurt.

That was half-true, half-false.

If there was no benefit, would he really have been running around so diligently?

First was the matter of acquiring shares.

Yang Cheng promised that the training building at the youth academy would be named the Wolfgang Stubing Building.

What was once a hall had now become an entire building.

And it would be further expanded.

That was more than enough, wasn’t it?

Yang Cheng acquired all of his 3.5% stake in the club at the original price.

Considering Eintracht Frankfurt’s current situation, Yang Cheng was already taking a loss by buying at the original price.

Furthermore, hadn’t Germany’s antitrust authority, the Cartel Office, reached an agreement with the DFB and DFL?

Several clubs were required to restructure.

They would have to put another corporate shell around the original club.

If the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement and Yang Cheng’s acquisition of Eintracht Frankfurt was approved, he would have to do the same.

It was rather interesting.

Yang Cheng had now secured ownership of Eintracht Frankfurt, but in doing so, he had also reinforced the legal standing of the 50+1 rule.

One could well imagine that it would be nearly impossible for anyone else to use the same method to enter the Bundesliga in the future.

For many years to come, other clubs in the top two German divisions would surely attack Eintracht Frankfurt relentlessly.

Just as they had previously attacked RB Leipzig, and even Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hoffenheim.

Who told them to be the exceptions?

But the competition in the Bundesliga would undoubtedly become fiercer than ever before.

Just as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had said.

After Yang Cheng’s entry, Eintracht Frankfurt would inevitably rise, and the Bundesliga would become even more exciting.

Fierce competition is what draws spectators, after all.

Since Eintracht Frankfurt had to add another corporate shell and establish some blasted committee with members who were all fans, the question of who to invite was up to the club.

Yang Cheng gave Wolfgang Stubing a position as a reward.

In a partnership, when you’re eating the meat, you have to at least give others a sip of the soup.

Besides, Wolfgang Stubing had an extraordinary network of connections in Frankfurt, especially in the financial sector.

Frankfurt was Europe’s second-largest financial center after London, with banks everywhere.

The club’s future development would also rely on Stubing’s advice and matchmaking.

Stubing, in turn, needed to continue using Eintracht Frankfurt as a platform to further connect with his friends in the financial world.

On this point, both sides easily reached an agreement.

On the management side, Oliver Frankenbach’s abilities had already been proven in Yang Cheng’s previous life, so he would remain in his position. To everyone else, this seemed like a reward for one of Yang Cheng’s loyal retainers.

Little did they know, this man had engineered Eintracht Frankfurt’s rise in his past life.

And that was with Peter Fischer and his cronies holding him back.

If his shackles were removed and he was allowed to work freely, Yang Cheng believed he would bring even greater surprises.

As for the club’s Chairman, Yang Cheng would appoint someone he trusted.

According to the current timeline, the out-of-court settlement negotiations would take some time. After the contract was signed, there would be more paperwork to handle before it could be submitted for approval.

It was uncertain if the entire process could be completed before Christmas.

On the football side, Yang Cheng had already sent his technical team to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Eintracht Frankfurt and submit a report as soon as possible.

Armin Veh was definitely going to be sacked.

It wasn’t just because of the recent drama, but more importantly, Eintracht Frankfurt’s results had been disastrous.

After a 2-0 away loss to Darmstadt, they suffered a crushing 5-1 defeat at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Yang Cheng was speechless about that one.

Borussia Mönchengladbach!

The very team that Bayswater Chinese had thrashed so badly in the Champions League that they didn’t know which way was up.

They really weren’t that strong!

Later, they lost 2-1 away to Hannover 96, followed by a 0-0 home draw against Bayern Munich and a 0-0 away draw with Hoffenheim.

That was a decent run of form.

But then, just this weekend, they lost 3-1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

After 13 rounds, Eintracht Frankfurt had only managed to secure eight points, leaving them second to last in the table.

And guess who was in last place?

Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim was having a terrible season, also on eight points.

But Eintracht Frankfurt had a slightly better goal difference.

Hoffenheim had already changed their coach at the end of October, replacing Markus Gisdol with the Dutch coach Huub Stevens.

Judging by the results over the past month, Stevens’s performance had been mediocre, and he probably wouldn’t last long either.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Stevens would lead the team until February before Hoffenheim changed coaches again.

This time, they promoted Julian Nagelsmann from the B team.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Nagelsmann was known as Guardiola 2.0 or the little Mourinho.

But now, people called him the mini Yang Cheng.

Since October, Yang Cheng had been scouting for a new head coach for Eintracht Frankfurt, and his technical team was conducting various assessments.

In his mind, there were two candidates who were difficult to choose between.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say they were six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Interestingly, both of them would make a name for themselves this season.

One was Nagelsmann, and the other was the “scientist” Niko Kovač.

The forty-four-year-old Niko Kovač was a famous player who had played for clubs like Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, and Hertha BSC.

The Kovač brothers were prominent figures in the Bundesliga back in their day.

He retired in 2009 at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and began his coaching career there, later managing the Croatia U21s and then the senior national team, which he led to the World Cup.

In September 2015, he stepped down from the Croatian national team.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, Niko Kovač would take over at Eintracht Frankfurt in March 2016 and help the team successfully avoid relegation.

He then managed the team for the 16/17 and 17/18 seasons with considerable success.

His most notable achievement was leading the team to the German Cup final two seasons in a row.

They lost to Borussia Dortmund in 2017 but defeated Bayern Munich 3-1 in the 2018 final.

He was then poached by Bayern Munich in the summer of 2018, winning the double in the 18/19 season.

But he was sacked midway through the 19/20 season.

His replacement was the all-conquering Flick.

Compared to Niko Kovač, Julian Nagelsmann did not have an illustrious playing career.

He began his training at Augsburg’s youth academy, later moving to 1860 Munich where he was the U17 captain, performing very well as a promising German centre-back.

But after returning to Augsburg’s B team, he was plagued by serious injuries.

First, three vertebral fractures, then two surgeries for osteoarthritis, followed by meniscus and tendon damage…

In short, it was another story of a potential star whose career was derailed by injuries during his formative years.

The main culprit was that his first surgery was not very successful, and his post-op recovery was not well-managed.

This was quite common in European football.

At the age of 20, he ended his playing career and returned to school to study sports science, with plans to also study business administration.

But just when Nagelsmann thought his life no longer had much to do with the football pitch, someone appeared.

Thomas Tuchel.

The Academy Manager and B team head coach at Augsburg.

Since he was still under contract with Augsburg, Tuchel offered him a new job: a scout.

It was a choice.

Augsburg had no reason to pay Nagelsmann for nothing, so he could either accept the job or terminate his contract early.

He worked as a scout for six months.

That period was incredibly beneficial for him, both in terms of broadening his horizons and developing his abilities.

He learned a great deal, especially from Tuchel.

It was during that time that he confirmed his new direction and obtained his coaching license.

Six months later, Tuchel moved to Mainz.

Before leaving, he recommended Nagelsmann to Schmidt, the U17 head coach at 1860 Munich, as an assistant.

And so, Nagelsmann embarked on his coaching path.

After two years with the 1860 Munich U17s, he moved to the Hoffenheim U17s, again as an assistant coach.

But a year later, in 2011, he became the head coach of the Hoffenheim U17s.

From 2011 until now, he had been working at Hoffenheim. In the first half of 2013, he was briefly promoted to the first team to lead warm-ups before training sessions for six months, which gave him a feel for the first-team atmosphere.

But it was only for half a year.

In the summer of 2013, because he hadn’t yet obtained the coaching license required to coach a first team, he couldn’t serve as an assistant coach, so he returned to the U19s as head coach.

That season, he led the team to the U19 Bundesliga championship!

In the 14/15 season, he led them to the championship of the West and Southwest regional leagues!

For a time, Julian Nagelsmann’s name became famous throughout German football.

The term “Genius Coach” frequently appeared in newspapers.

Many people began to draw comparisons between him and Yang Cheng in the Premier League.

In the summer of 2015, he rejected an offer from Bayern Munich to coach their youth team and stayed at Hoffenheim.

Niko Kovač?

Or Julian Nagelsmann?

Yang Cheng had been mulling it over.

Both coaches had their strengths.

Niko Kovač was Eintracht Frankfurt’s head coach in Yang Cheng’s previous life. His coaching approach was predictable, and his results were very good.

If Yang Cheng appointed him as head coach, he would just need to sign a few players who fit his style, and there would likely be no problems.

But the issue with Niko Kovač was that his tactical style wasn’t quite to Yang Cheng’s taste.

And he wasn’t particularly good at developing young players.

Nagelsmann’s tactical philosophy was very advanced, his style was much more to Yang Cheng’s liking, and he was skilled at nurturing young talent.

But he was too young, lacked a strong track record, and didn’t have enough authority.

Of course, this would be a problem when managing a top club, but for Eintracht Frankfurt, it wasn’t a major issue.

His tactics were versatile and flexible, but they could also backfire spectacularly.

Furthermore, he wasn’t yet qualified to coach a Bundesliga team.

It was said he wouldn’t get his license until after graduating in February.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, when he took over in the 21st round of the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim was at the bottom of the table.

Nine rounds later, by the 30th round, Hoffenheim had secured their survival ahead of schedule.

But that achievement came with a major caveat: he was familiar with Hoffenheim.

What if he came to Eintracht Frankfurt?

Yang Cheng’s people at Eintracht Frankfurt were in contact with both Niko Kovač and Julian Nagelsmann.

Both were interested in taking over mid-season.

Everyone knew this was Yang Cheng’s team.

Originally, when Hoffenheim hired Stevens at the end of October, they had wanted to sign an agreement for Nagelsmann to coach the first team starting in the summer of 2016. But due to Eintracht Frankfurt’s approach, they had held off on signing.

Nagelsmann was waiting for Eintracht Frankfurt, waiting for Yang Cheng’s decision.

Once the acquisition was complete, a decision on the head coach had to be made as quickly as possible.

This would give the new coach enough time to familiarize himself with the team during the nearly month-long winter training camp and prepare for the second half of the season.

Besides waiting for the acquisition to be finalized, Yang Cheng was also waiting for a report from his technical team assessing these two head coaches.

…

Over the past period, Bayswater Chinese had been progressing smoothly on all fronts.

In the 9th round of the Premier League, affected by the national team training camp, the team drew 2-2 away at Chelsea.

Harry Kane and Gareth Bale each scored a goal.

In the third round of the Champions League group stage mid-week, a brace from Gareth Bale secured a 2-0 away victory for Bayswater Chinese against French side Lyon, marking their third consecutive win in the group stage.

In the other match, Porto defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 at home.

The Bundesliga team was truly struggling in the Champions League.

Returning to the Premier League for the 10th round, they hosted Swansea City.

Just ten minutes into the match, Sterling scored the opening goal for the team.

Just before halftime, Theo Walcott scored another goal to seal the victory.

But after the break, Gareth Bale, who came on as a substitute, scored another brace in the 65th and 80th minutes.

The Welshman was giving his all in pursuit of the second major honor of his career.

October 27th brought the 4th round of the League Cup.

This time, they hosted Chelsea.

As before, Yang Cheng fielded a full lineup of substitutes.

But he didn’t include the three youngsters, Dominic Solanke, Declan Rice, and Alexander-Arnold.

This was primarily to protect them.

If he put them on at this stage and they got crushed, it could shatter the young players’ confidence.

However, the front line still featured the trio of Sterling, Giroud, and Salah, and the backline was an all-English defense of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Kyle Walker.

This time, in the 90 minutes of regulation, they didn’t disappoint Yang Cheng.

Yes, that’s right, only for 90 minutes.

Because in the 91st minute, they conceded.

During a corner kick defense, John Stones failed to block Rémy in time, and the latter scored with a header.

1-1!

In the 52nd minute, Aaron Ramsey had assisted Giroud to break through Chelsea’s goal.

The match went into extra time, followed by a penalty shootout.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese eliminated Chelsea 6-5 on penalties.

It had to be said, this group of young players showed incredible resilience and performed exceptionally well.

Going all-out against Chelsea was a valuable learning experience for them.

The final match of October was the 11th round of the Premier League, an away game against Ronald Koeman’s Tottenham.

Just six minutes into the first half, Tottenham scored on a counter-attack.

But in the 31st minute and again in the 72nd minute of the second half, Gareth Bale scored twice.

The Welshman delivered another brace, helping the team secure a 2-1 comeback victory away at Tottenham.

And three days later, in the 4th round of the Champions League group stage at home against Lyon, Giroud scored for the team just three minutes into the game.

But at the start of the second half, Lacazette scored for Lyon, equalizing the score.

However, subsequent goals from Gareth Bale and Sterling sealed the deal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Lyon 3-1 at home, securing their fourth straight Champions League win.

In the other match, Porto drew 2-2 away at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

On November 7th, in the 12th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Manchester City.

Both teams threw everything they had into this match, each focusing on neutralizing the other’s key players.

But in the 33rd minute of the first half, Theo Walcott scored the opening goal, assisted by De Bruyne.

Just before halftime, another assist from De Bruyne allowed Harry Kane to shake off a defender in the box and score again.

Manchester City didn’t manage to score until the 82nd minute, with a goal from Yaya Touré.

Both Gareth Bale and Messi were effectively neutralized.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester City 2-1 at home.

After 12 rounds of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese were at the top of the table with 32 points from 10 wins and 2 draws.

Arsenal followed in second place with 29 points.

Manchester City was third with 28 points.

Manchester United was fourth with 26 points.

Liverpool was in 5th place with 25 points.

Chelsea, on the other hand, had only managed 20 points and was languishing in 7th place.

…

After a two-week national team break, the Premier League resumed with the 13th round.

Bayswater Chinese were away to Everton.

It was just before departing for the away game that Yang Cheng received the text from Grindel.

The following afternoon, they faced The Toffees at Goodison Park.

Just 17 minutes into the match, Gareth Bale scored the opening goal for the team.

After that, Bayswater Chinese’s momentum was irresistible.

In the 28th minute, Harry Kane scored another goal, assisted by right-back Kyle Walker.

In the 42nd minute, it was Gareth Bale again, scoring for the team once more.

This was the Welsh winger’s fourth brace in the Premier League this season.

After the break, in the 59th minute, Gareth Bale dribbled past defenders, drew their attention, and assisted Harry Kane to score again against Everton.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Everton 4-0 away from home!

…

On the evening of November 24th, in the 5th round of the Champions League group stage, Bayswater Chinese played away against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The Mönchengladbach head coach, André Schubert, set up his team in a 4-4-2 formation to host Bayswater Chinese.

Since his team had already secured the top spot in the group, Yang Cheng fielded a rotated and substitute lineup for this match.

As it turned out, just 20 minutes into the game, Harry Maguire capitalized on an attacking free-kick, scoring with a close-range header to give his team the lead.

Although Maguire struggled when defending one-on-one against pacy players, in an environment that suited his strengths, he was very effective and performed excellently.

Just before halftime, the Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen, on loan at Mönchengladbach from Chelsea and only 19 years old, committed a foul while marking Gareth Bale.

He was shown a straight red card by the head referee—the ultimate punishment.

The rest of the match became a showcase for Bayswater Chinese.

Especially in the second half.

In the 64th minute, Salah scored another goal for the team.

In the 77th minute, Luke Shaw’s assist from the left flank set up De Bruyne for a power shot inside the box, which once again found the back of Mönchengladbach’s net.

Finally, from a corner kick, the young substitute centre-forward, Solanke, scored with a header.

4-0!

Bayswater Chinese demolished Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home.

Meanwhile, in the other match, Porto lost 2-0 at home to Lyon.

There was nothing to be done about it.

In such a crucial showdown, Porto’s loss meant they had surrendered the initiative for group qualification to Lyon.

In the final round, Lyon would host the bottom-placed and already eliminated Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Bayswater Chinese would host Porto.

Comparing the two fixtures, Porto’s chances of advancing were slim.

…

On the afternoon of November 28th, in the 14th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese hosted Watford.

Without the influence of a midweek game, the Bayswater Chinese players were well-rested and broke through Watford’s goal just four minutes into the match.

Gareth Bale scored the opening goal.

Watford defended with all their might, but in the 38th minute, an assist from Gareth Bale allowed Harry Kane to score again, extending the lead.

2-0!

Just three minutes into the second half, Marcelo unleashed a long shot from the left side just outside the penalty area, piercing Watford’s goal.

3-0!

At this point, the match was effectively over.

But later, Theo Walcott scored the final goal that sealed the victory, assisted by Harry Kane.

4-0!

Four goals scored by four different players!

…

On December 1st, in the League Cup quarter-finals, Bayswater Chinese hosted Sheffield Wednesday.

Facing the Championship side, Yang Cheng once again fielded a full lineup of substitutes.

This time, Solanke, Declan Rice, and Alexander-Arnold all started.

In the 30th minute, Solanke assisted Sterling for the opening goal.

After the break, in the 75th minute, Kyle Walker scored the second goal for the team.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Sheffield Wednesday 2-0, advancing smoothly to the League Cup semi-finals.

The other three teams to reach the semi-finals were Liverpool, Manchester City, and Everton.

After the draw, Bayswater Chinese were paired against Klopp’s Liverpool.

…

Over the weekend, it was the 15th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese played away against Southampton.

In the 44th minute of the first half, a goal from van Dijk broke the deadlock.

After the break, in the 73rd minute, a long shot from Casemiro secured the advantage for the team.

Ultimately, the team won 2-0 away at Southampton.

The day after this match, news came from Germany.

The German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) officially announced that they had reached an agreement with the Chinese consortium and Eintracht Frankfurt club for an out-of-court settlement.

The Chinese consortium and Eintracht Frankfurt formally withdrew their lawsuit against the DFB and DFL.

This news immediately sparked widespread discussion.

Many media outlets offered their interpretations.

Bild believed it was the best outcome for both sides.

After all, if it had gone to court, the final result might not have been what either party wanted.

The club might have won, but getting the acquisition deal completed would likely not have been easy.

It might even have been blocked.

For the DFB and DFL, losing the case would have been a severe blow.

And it could have triggered a chain reaction.

Club investors and shareholders might have filed claims for damages.

If it had come to that, both the DFB and DFL would have suffered huge losses in reputation and finances.

So, reaching an out-of-court settlement was a win-win for everyone.

The only ones who were likely unhappy were the German fans.

Anyone could see that once an out-of-court settlement was reached, the acquisition would inevitably be approved.

This meant that, in addition to Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, and RB Leipzig, the Bundesliga would have another special team.

This was something no German fan wanted to see.

But with things having reached this stage, no one could stop it.

Sure enough, the day after the out-of-court settlement was announced, the DFB and DFL announced that they would begin reviewing the acquisition documents submitted by Eintracht Frankfurt.

And everyone knew that approving the acquisition was now only a matter of time.

…

Midweek, the final round of the Champions League group stage.

With qualification already secured, Bayswater Chinese faced Porto with a full lineup of substitutes and rotated players.

Just 12 minutes into the game, Giroud scored the opening goal.

In the 52nd minute, Sterling assisted Salah for another goal.

The team ultimately defeated Porto 2-0 at home.

In the other match, Lyon defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 at home.

Bayswater Chinese and Lyon advanced from the group together.

…

On the afternoon of December 13th, the 16th round of the Premier League.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Arsenal.

This was a match where both sides gave their all.

In the Champions League, both teams had already qualified, so they had fielded substitutes and rotated players.

All their key players were rested, fully focused on preparing for this league match.

The Gunners were determined to upset Bayswater Chinese.

Before the match, in an interview with the media, Wenger said, “So far this season, they have been invincible, defeating almost every team.”

“But that won’t include us, Arsenal!”

That was Wenger’s stance!

Wenger not only said it, he thought it, and he acted on it.

In this match at Prudential Stadium, Wenger’s team, apart from the goalkeeper, set up its ten outfield players in a comprehensive defensive formation. They essentially gave up possession but didn’t resort to parking the bus.

Instead, the Gunners relied on player movement and joint defending to limit Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

Behind centre-forward Benzema were Sánchez, Fàbregas, and Nasri, with Toulalan and Mikel Arteta as the double pivot. The entire midfield was like a moving wall.

Wherever Bayswater Chinese moved the ball, they shifted their defensive formation.

From a high press in the attacking third to dropping back to protect the defense, their midfield was virtually impenetrable.

But what surprised Yang Cheng the most was the players’ execution!

“This is, by far, the best tactical execution I’ve seen from Arsenal’s players all season, bar none!”

Yang Cheng remarked to Flick during the match.

No one would deny Yang Cheng’s assessment.

Because the Gunners’ execution was simply perfect.

Bayswater Chinese seemed to have the upper hand, but they had few truly threatening attacks.

Every time it looked like they were about to score, they just couldn’t break through that final barrier.

They were always just that little bit short!

The first half ended 0-0.

In the dressing room at halftime, Yang Cheng repeatedly told his players that Arsenal’s tactics in the first half had been successful.

“Extremely successful!”

Yang Cheng lavished praise on Arsenal.

Finally, he turned to his players and said, “I’m proud of you!”

“It was you who pushed a top team in the Premier League and even in Europe to this extent!”

“Looking across all of European football—no, the entire world—no other team could do this but us!”

“This is Wenger and his Arsenal, praising us with their actions!”

After shifting the focus back, Yang Cheng told his players.

In this world, no tactic is flawless.

Arsenal’s tactic was successful, but at what cost?

The cost was their relentless, energy-draining running.

Especially in the midfield and attack.

Their midfield was suffering, but their defense was also working extremely hard.

The tactic was successful, but the match is 90 minutes long.

They held out for 45 minutes, but what about the second half?

Even if they hold out for 85 minutes, so what?

Can they hold on for the last five minutes?

“What is our team’s greatest strength?”

“Confidence! And experience!”

“If they like to defend, let them defend. We’ll stick to our own rhythm, keep wearing them down until they can’t take it anymore!”

“Believe me, the final victory will definitely be ours!”

…

After the second half began, the game continued in much the same way as the first.

Arsenal tried to launch a blitz at the start of the half, but it was ineffective.

Instead, Bayswater Chinese quickly counter-attacked and put Arsenal under pressure.

But the situation soon reverted to the first-half stalemate.

Both sides went back and forth, relentlessly attacking and wearing each other down.

Once fatigue started to set in, Wenger began making substitutions.

By the 72nd minute, he had even taken off Nasri.

The goal was to bring on Alexandre Song to strengthen the midfield’s interceptions and defense.

But even so, Wenger’s team still ran into problems.

In the 81st minute, right-back Lichtsteiner pushed forward and passed to Benzema, who had drifted to the right wing.

After receiving the ball on the right side outside the box, Benzema went to the byline and crossed.

In the center, Thiago Silva beat Fàbregas to the ball, heading it clear.

As the ball came out, Toni Kroos outside the box cushioned it away.

Gareth Bale dropped back from the front and trapped the ball with his chest.

With Lichtsteiner behind him and Mikel Arteta rushing back to challenge, Gareth Bale immediately shielded the ball tightly.

Harry Kane made a quick diagonal run into the left channel behind Lichtsteiner and called out to Bale.

The Welshman turned and immediately played a through ball.

In a rush, Lichtsteiner went for a sliding tackle, trying to intercept the ball.

He went to ground, but the ball got past him.

But it was fine.

Arsenal’s defense was solid.

Koscielny tracked Harry Kane all the way, trying to pin him to the left touchline.

Everyone knew Harry Kane wasn’t fast and couldn’t build up a head of steam.

But the moment Harry Kane received the ball, Gareth Bale shot forward like an arrow from a bow, sprinting straight down the left channel at incredible speed.

Lichtsteiner had gone to ground and missed the tackle, hadn’t he?

At this moment, no one could stop Gareth Bale.

Arsenal’s right-back frantically shouted for help.

Gareth Bale was incredibly fast, crossing the halfway line in an instant.

Everyone was stunned.

Was he Superman?

It was the 81st minute, yet he could still sprint at such an astonishing speed.

Harry Kane was indeed being forced to the left flank by Koscielny, but as Bale crossed the halfway line, he immediately shouted to Kane.

Mertesacker, the last man back, realized something was wrong and immediately charged over.

After dribbling along the left touchline, Harry Kane feinted and played a diagonal pass towards the left channel ahead.

Gareth Bale was sprinting.

Mertesacker was sprinting.

Every Arsenal midfielder was sprinting back.

And on the right channel, the substitute youngster Salah was full of energy.

The Egyptian winger was also sprinting.

The 90,000 fans in Prudential Stadium held their breath, their eyes glued to the pitch.

Gareth Bale and Mertesacker chased the ball simultaneously.

One had the advantage of speed, the other had the advantage of starting position as the last man back.

Who would get to the ball first?

Just a second later, the answer was revealed.

Gareth Bale got a touch on the ball first, simultaneously avoiding Mertesacker’s challenge.

But to do so, the Welshman’s footwork became slightly unsteady, and he had to slow down.

Otherwise, he would have tumbled forward.

But in that split second of hesitation, Lloris came charging out!

Everyone gasped.

Countless fans instinctively jumped to their feet, cheering for Gareth Bale.

The Welshman readjusted his footing and immediately continued sprinting forward at top speed.

The ball was past the defense!

There was no one else in or around the penalty area!

Gareth Bale had only the onrushing Lloris in front of him.

And in the center, there was an unmarked Salah.

As he sprinted, the Welshman didn’t forget to glance towards the middle, but his speed didn’t decrease; if anything, it increased.

Anyone watching the slow-motion replay later would see the ferocious expression on Gareth Bale’s face as he grit his teeth and charged forward.

After battling for 81 minutes, his energy was also largely depleted.

But at this moment, he still summoned all his strength to push forward.

Finally, he caught up!

Lloris was actually going to reach the ball a fraction of a second earlier.

But he couldn’t use his hands outside the box.

If he came out and tried to kick it, there was a high chance Bale would block it.

So, the French goalkeeper went down inside the penalty area, waiting for the ball to come to him.

But just then, Gareth Bale got his foot to it first, knocking the ball sideways.

To avoid hitting Lloris, Bale’s kick was aimed at the ground, tearing up a large chunk of turf.

Then, his whole body flew forward, tumbling over the grounded Lloris and landing heavily inside Arsenal’s box. He rolled two or three times, nearly tumbling off the pitch.

But the ball was free from Lloris’s control, rolling towards the arc of the penalty area.

Salah immediately changed direction, rushed over, controlled Bale’s pass into the box, chased it down, and slotted the ball into the net.

Then, the Egyptian winger turned and ran towards the fallen Gareth Bale.

In an instant, the entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

“GOOOOAL!!!!”

“My God!”

“In the 81st minute, Gareth Bale assists Salah to score against Arsenal!”

“1-0!”

“That was an incredibly sharp and fast counter-attack!”

“We can see Gareth Bale is still on the ground; he hasn’t gotten up.”

“It looks like he took a really nasty fall.”

“But I have to say, the Bayswater Chinese players fought incredibly hard for this one, and they finally battled their way to a goal.”

“I feel like I’m on fire watching this!”

“This is the magic of football!”

When Gareth Bale finally got to his feet, all the fans in the stadium gave him a standing ovation.

Salah hugged the Welshman tightly.

The vast majority of the credit for this crucial goal belonged to Gareth Bale.

But everyone would remember Salah!

The Welshman, also very emotional, made a goal celebration gesture to the home crowd and raised Salah’s arm high, celebrating the golden goal for his teammate.

1-0!

After the celebration, as Gareth Bale walked back, he made a point of going over to shake hands with Lloris.

He had almost kicked the French goalkeeper just now.

Lloris knew it too. If Bale had played dirty, he probably wouldn’t have pulled back and would have just kicked right through.

As the Welshman walked back, passing by the penalty area line, he even went out of his way to put the torn-up piece of turf back in place, stomping on it a few times.

The entire stadium echoed with thunderous applause and cheers.

And in the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Arsenal, thanks to Salah’s goal!

…

“Playing so fiercely, won’t it affect your chances of winning the Club World Cup?”

After the match, Yang Cheng invited Wenger for a drink inside the stadium. The French Professor made a snarky, sarcastic comment.

He couldn’t help it. He had given it his all and still lost.

In this match, his players had truly fought incredibly hard.

But hadn’t Bayswater Chinese done the same?

After chasing down that ball, Gareth Bale was immediately substituted for Sterling.

“Is Gareth Bale injured? Is it serious?”

“Alright, alright, look at you, being so petty. It’s embarrassing!”

Yang Cheng looked at Wenger with disdain.

“If you’ve got the guts, give me a draw!” Wenger fired back.

He felt the match should have been a draw.

His players made only one mistake, and it resulted in a goal.

“If you’ve got the guts, score one yourself!” Yang Cheng retorted sharply.

His players had worked their butts off on the pitch to earn that goal and secure three points.

Was he going to let Wenger get the last word?

“Are you really planning to leave at the end of this season?” Wenger asked with concern.

This wasn’t really a secret anymore.

The media had already reported on it, and neither Yang Cheng nor Bayswater Chinese had denied it.

In fact, everyone had seen it coming as early as 2014.

Otherwise, why would Flick have been brought in?

“If I leave, shouldn’t you be happy?” Yang Cheng asked with a laugh.

Wenger first nodded with a smile, but then quickly shook his head.

“Ferguson left, now you’re leaving too. I reckon I’ll be next soon,” Wenger sighed.

He wasn’t young anymore either.

Unexpectedly, Yang Cheng’s interest was piqued by this.

“Hey, remember what I told you all those years ago?”

“What?”

“If you step down from the head coach position at Arsenal, come to my team. I’ll give you a coaching job, technical director, or maybe a Global Advisor or something. What do you think?”

Believe it or not, Yang Cheng actually had this thought.

Wenger, as a person, could be a bit indecisive with his touchline management during matches.

But in terms of his tactical philosophy and knowledge, he was truly world-class.

Yang Cheng thought it would be a good idea to hire him as a Global Advisor.

Whenever a team had a problem, he could send Wenger over to consult. That sounded pretty good.

Most importantly, Wenger had a great personality and was well-liked, able to get along with anyone.

Not like Ferguson with his foul temper.

The more Yang Cheng thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

“I’m serious, why don’t you consider it?”

“Consider it? My ass!” Wenger almost exploded.

I came here for a drink, for Christ’s sake! I was just getting a little sentimental, why are you latching onto it?

What’s this?

You won the match, and now you want to win me over too?

In your dreams!

“You’re not getting any younger, and your team’s results have been poor these past few years. You’ll probably be sacked soon, so you should start thinking about your future.”

Wenger almost coughed up blood.

“Well, I really must thank you for your concern.”

Who would have thought that Yang Cheng would reply with a particularly annoying smile, “Don’t mention it.”

Wenger lost his composure again.

To hell with ‘don’t mention it’!

Chapter 352: A Joyous Treble! A Centre-Forward, Frankfurt’s Surprise! Yang Cheng, Did You Eat My Apple?

With the conclusion of the 38th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the 2015 Brazilian league season had come to a close.

This season’s Série A was hailed as the most fiercely competitive in the last five years, perhaps even in over a decade.

After the 37th round, Palmeiras and Corinthians were tied on points, both with 78.

Even their goal difference was extremely close.

Only two goals separated them.

It could be said that all the suspense was packed into the final round.

Erik ten Hag’s team had a season of starting low and finishing high, stunning everyone.

At the beginning of 2015, nobody was optimistic about the Dutchman.

In fact, the consensus in Brazil was that appointing a Dutchman to coach a Brazilian club was sheer nonsense.

As the mecca of world football, did Brazil really need a Dutchman to coach its teams?

Even the more rational voices mostly felt that ten Hag was unfamiliar with the Brazilian football environment, couldn’t speak the language, and would struggle to communicate with the players. How could he possibly lead a team to success under such circumstances?

The dismal start in the Campeonato Paulista seemed to confirm everyone’s opinion.

But to everyone’s surprise, ten Hag’s team gradually climbed out of the mire and went on a triumphant run.

They even ended up winning the Campeonato Paulista!

But that was, after all, just a state league.

In the Série A, Palmeiras also had a very good start, with six wins, one draw, and one loss in the first eight rounds.

Their 4-0 demolition of local rivals São Paulo at home in the ninth round was particularly shocking to everyone.

But entering July, and especially in August, Palmeiras began to show instability and turmoil.

Palmeiras had no South American competitions, but they advanced to the third round of the Copa do Brasil, facing progressively tougher opponents.

This team, composed mainly of young players, finally hit a period of fatigue in July and August after continuous matches in the state and national leagues, at one point suffering three consecutive losses.

In October, they suffered a shocking 5-1 away defeat to Chapecoense.

It was fair to say that Palmeiras was plagued with problems during this period.

There were even frequent rumors that ten Hag was on the verge of being sacked.

But at the critical moment, Palmeiras withstood the pressure.

By November, their form gradually improved, and the players’ conditions steadily recovered.

Their run in the Copa do Brasil, however, was a stumbling one.

In the Round of 16, they narrowly defeated Cruzeiro with a 2-1 home win and a 3-2 away win.

In the quarter-finals, they edged out Internacional with a 1-1 away draw and a 3-2 home win.

In the semi-final, they were level on aggregate with Fluminense after a 1-2 loss away and a 2-1 win at home.

But they ultimately defeated Fluminense 4-1 on penalties to reach the final.

This victory once again earned ten Hag widespread praise and acclaim.

Because he had specifically drilled his team on penalties before the match.

The Copa do Brasil final is different from other cup finals; it’s a two-legged affair.

The first leg was on November 25th.

Palmeiras lost 0-1 away to their local rivals, Santos.

Meanwhile, affected by fighting on two fronts, Palmeiras lost 0-2 at home to Coritiba in the 37th round of the league.

Although they were level with Corinthians on 78 points, Palmeiras fell behind on goal difference, relinquishing their position at the top of the table.

The team in third place, Atlético Mineiro, had only 66 points.

The championship would be decided in the final round.

But between the 37th and 38th rounds was the second leg of the Copa do Brasil final.

It was an understatement to say that ten Hag’s team was under immense pressure.

Santos’s squad and strength were formidable.

Oliveira, Barbosa, Robinho, and others were all famous stars in the football world.

In contrast, Palmeiras was a Youth Guard composed of a bunch of young lads.

It was a grueling local derby.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle, neither willing to lose.

Palmeiras was behind from the first leg and had to score in the second.

Ten Hag’s team pressed their opponents with their signature high press and tactical discipline, launching a frenzied attack.

Santos, on the other hand, relied on the individual brilliance of their star players, attempting to defend deep and counter-attack to upset their rivals.

Just as they had in the first leg.

The battle raged on for 68 minutes.

A crucial goal from Jesus helped the team level the aggregate score.

But Palmeiras was still not satisfied and continued to press forward.

Finally, in the 85th minute, it was Jesus again.

The 18-year-old youngster scored again for his team!

Everyone thought they were going to win!

But just two minutes later, Robinho capitalized on a loophole in the Palmeiras defense, assisting Oliveira for a goal.

The rules of the Copa do Brasil were a bit complicated.

From the Round of 16, it followed the Champions League knockout format, with away goals deciding ties.

But in the final, a draw on aggregate went straight to a penalty shootout.

So, even though Palmeiras lost 0-1 away and won 2-1 at home, giving Santos an away goal, the match still went to a brutal penalty shootout.

And this time, the young players of Palmeiras once again held their nerve, beating Santos 4-3 to keep them from the championship trophy!

The 18-year-old goalkeeper Lucas Perri was the hero once again, winning them the Copa do Brasil!

After the all-out battle with Santos, Palmeiras traveled to challenge Flamengo in the 38th round of the Série A.

After conceding a goal in the first half, Gerson and the substitute Jesus scored in the second half.

A 2-1 comeback against Flamengo!

In the other match, Corinthians drew 1-1 with Avaí at the crucial moment.

This proved one thing yet again.

When it comes to the critical moment of winning a championship, it ultimately comes down to guts and morale.

Coming from behind to beat Santos and win the Copa do Brasil was the pressure Palmeiras put on Corinthians.

In the end, Palmeiras won the season’s Série A title with 81 points, two points ahead of Corinthians.

Thirty-eight league matches, 25 wins, 6 draws, 7 losses, for 81 league points.

Corinthians had 24 wins, 7 draws, 7 losses, for 79 league points.

They scored 67 goals, second-most in the Série A, only behind Corinthians’ 68.

They conceded 31 goals, tied with Corinthians for the best defense in the league.

For his first time as a head coach, and managing in the unfamiliar Brazilian league, ten Hag’s results were more than satisfactory.

In fact, it was almost a perfect report card.

Campeonato Paulista champions!

Copa do Brasil champions!

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions!

This treble-winning achievement was stunning enough!

More importantly, the aggressive, oppressive, and cohesive style of football that Palmeiras displayed was in a class of its own in Brazil.

And this was just his first season.

No one doubted that ten Hag’s team would only be more competitive next season.

And they were also set to participate in the Copa Libertadores.

After Bayswater Chinese played Arsenal, Yang Cheng had already received the news from Brazil.

He immediately called ten Hag to congratulate him.

The young Dutch manager was clearly still shaken, his heart still pounding.

“Honestly, it was just luck!”

Ten Hag told Yang Cheng that he had no confidence at all.

But the matches had reached a point where they had no choice but to go all-out.

He himself hadn’t expected such a result after giving it everything they had.

On the phone, as ten Hag spoke, he became so emotional he choked up.

“To this day, we still don’t understand why we suddenly couldn’t play anymore. When we lost 5-1 to Chapecoense, I swear I was about to have a breakdown, you know?”

“Before that, we beat Figueirense 2-0 and won 4-1 away against Fluminense.”

“We all thought the team’s form was picking up. Then we narrowly beat Grêmio 3-2, and we thought it was just a small defensive issue.”

“But then came the 1-1 away draw with São Paulo, followed by the crushing 5-1 defeat to Chapecoense.”

“We were all completely dumbfounded.”

Ten Hag said these words almost through sobs.

After winning the championship, he was showered with honors, but only he knew how broken he had been during that period, and how much pressure he had endured.

“None of us knew what to do. We were completely at a loss.”

“It was the technical team that gave me a very detailed report. They spent a long time putting together every match from the beginning of the season until now for a comprehensive analysis and evaluation.”

“They told me which position had problems, whose form had declined significantly…”

Ten Hag took a deep breath, trying hard to compose himself.

“That’s football, Erik!”

On his end of the line, Yang Cheng played the part of a good listener.

Ten Hag would never say things like this to anyone else, including the players, the media, or club officials.

But he said them to Yang Cheng.

For one, they were both head coaches, and ten Hag felt that Yang Cheng would understand him.

For another, he was incredibly grateful to Yang Cheng.

He couldn’t imagine getting through the past season without the support of the technical team at critical moments, without the help of so many colleagues. He would never have made it to this day.

And all of this was given to him by Yang Cheng!

“Sometimes, people think we win games by intuition, that it’s some kind of dark art. Indeed, the wins can be baffling, and so can the losses.”

“Data is just a tool. It can’t guarantee we win every match. Its greatest function is to help us, as much as possible, to see the essence of the phenomena and strive to maintain an elusive balance.”

“The strongest is also the weakest!”

On the other end of the line, ten Hag took the lesson to heart.

…

When Yang Cheng led the team to Japan, he was warmly welcomed by local fans.

The Japanese Football Association even sent officials to personally greet them at the airport.

Today, Yang Cheng was not just the owner of Bayswater Chinese, but also the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

For Asian football, this was an absolutely momentous event.

Yang Cheng was almost embarrassed by the enthusiastic reception.

He now thoroughly understood why those high-ranking FIFA officials couldn’t resist temptation.

Who could withstand this level of hospitality from the Japanese Football Association?

Especially the thought that with just a slight nod from him, famous starlets would be queueing up for his selection.

Not satisfied?

Let’s get a new batch!

My goodness, the Japanese might not be great at other things, but they are masters of corruption.

But I am a good young man who has received nine years of compulsory education. I cannot make such mistakes!

Thus, Yang Cheng righteously refused all special treatment and took the team to check into the hotel for the Club World Cup.

But deep down, he still felt it was a bit of a shame.

After arriving in Japan, Yang Cheng spent most of his time in meetings and receiving visitors.

The annual Club World Cup was a rare gathering for FIFA’s top brass, and they often took the opportunity to hold an Executive Committee meeting.

Of course, it was now called the Council.

The 36 Council members had all been elected.

This time, they all gathered in Tokyo for the Club World Cup.

The few members of the Supervisory Board permanently based in Zurich also came.

The main topic of the meetings was FIFA reform.

The Supervisory Board first held a small internal meeting where Mark Pieth reported the latest progress and situation to Yang Cheng.

The overall framework was in place; the next step was to further refine the details.

This was a long-term project that needed to be advanced slowly.

Overall, the reforms were having a good effect.

The entire organizational structure was mostly as expected.

The election of the UEFA president had also set a good precedent.

From now on, the terms for major officials from FIFA to UEFA would be essentially locked at three terms, or twelve years.

Progress was also being made in financial transparency.

FIFA was currently in contact with several renowned accounting firms, including KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young. Audits would be conducted twice a year, and semi-annual and annual financial reports would be made public.

This was undoubtedly a huge step forward.

As for issues like bidding for tournaments, there really wasn’t much that could be done.

If the Supervisory Board controlled every aspect of the Council’s authority too tightly, they wouldn’t be able to get anything done.

For one, future World Cups and Confederations Cups probably wouldn’t even happen.

Even the various competitions under FIFA could be halted.

Why?

There were too many things to bicker about.

Mark Pieth himself admitted that the behind-the-scenes dealings were incredibly complex.

And they couldn’t be made public.

Many matters had to be discussed behind closed doors; once made public, they would become extremely complicated.

Authority had to be delegated, but with appropriate constraints. This involved a degree of balance and discussion.

But overall, after more than six months, FIFA’s reforms had indeed achieved satisfactory progress.

The employees had also basically shed the old, stagnant atmosphere and had been revitalized.

Energetic young employees were gradually replacing the old ones, and administrative efficiency had increased significantly.

Yang Cheng could see the fruits of the labor of Mark Pieth and the Supervisory Board members.

After arriving in Tokyo, Yang Cheng also began to meet many people.

Especially some of the candidates for the FIFA presidency.

They all knew very well that with Yang Cheng’s current influence in the football world, if he were to step forward and rally support, it would be a huge boost to their campaigns.

So, they were all trying by any means necessary to gain Yang Cheng’s support.

Countless people came to visit the hotel every day.

Some even just waited directly in the hotel.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to give face to some of them, but with others, he had to maintain a surface level of politeness. He would meet those he had to, but he certainly wouldn’t give any promises.

He didn’t care what they offered.

With his current status, he didn’t need to bother with such things.

David Gill, on the other hand, was a different story.

The Englishman had the strong backing of UEFA and had also gained a lot of visibility during the FIFA reforms over the past six months, winning many opportunities to appear in the spotlight.

Everyone even believed that the entire reform plan was led by Yang Cheng and the Supervisory Board, with David Gill responsible for its execution.

As a result, David Gill had earned many positive impressions.

Football associations from all continents were very supportive of David Gill.

But in Tokyo, he did not visit Yang Cheng privately.

The two only chatted for a few sentences when they met at some of FIFA’s public meetings, and they always kept it brief.

He would even argue his case with Yang Cheng and the Supervisory Board members on issues involving the Supervisory Board and the Council.

This was a kind of tacit understanding between them.

After all, he now had to represent the Council.

…

On December 17th, in the Club World Cup semi-final, Bayswater Chinese faced Guangzhou Evergrande from China.

Yang Cheng did not field his full starting lineup for this match.

Even the team’s top star, Gareth Bale, was excluded from the matchday squad under the pretext of injury recovery.

But he would definitely appear in the final.

From the start of the match, Scolari’s team consciously adopted a defend and counter-attack posture.

Bayswater Chinese smoothly controlled the game.

Just 15 minutes in, there was a beautiful piece of combination play on the left flank.

After Sterling passed the ball to Harry Kane, the English centre-forward chose to lay it back from the edge of the penalty area.

Modrić sent a through ball.

Harry Kane, turning to make a run, slotted the ball into the back of the net.

1-0!

After half-time, Bayswater Chinese stepped up their efforts again.

Once again on the left flank, Sterling’s dribble attracted the attention of the defense before he passed it across to the center.

The substitute Giroud took a furious shot with his left foot, causing the goalkeeper to fumble. Salah, at the far post, astutely seized the opportunity and scored from the follow-up shot.

2-0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Guangzhou Evergrande 2-0 and advanced to the final.

This was no surprise to anyone; it was considered business as usual.

…

December 20th, the Club World Cup final.

Bayswater Chinese versus River Plate of Argentina.

Gareth Bale finally made his “injury” comeback, appearing just in time for the final.

But the superstar showed no signs of being injured at all.

Just 11 minutes into the game, from a through ball by Modrić, Gareth Bale received the ball on the right side of the box, stopped abruptly to shake off a defender, and unleashed a furious shot with his left foot.

The ball flew into the far corner, opening the scoring for the team.

1-0!

Having taken the early lead, Bayswater Chinese continued their fierce assault on River Plate.

Just before halftime, Toni Kroos delivered a diagonal pass from the left half-space towards the byline on the right side of River Plate’s penalty area.

Gareth Bale surged forward at high speed and headed the ball back across the face of the goal.

Harry Kane pounced at the front post, scoring with a push shot to extend the team’s lead.

2-0!

With a two-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese’s offense was like a surging tide.

After the break, during a swift counter-attack, Nemanja Matić threaded a through ball.

Harry Kane, who was initially looking to drop back and hold up the ball, suddenly turned and made a forward run. He got to the ball before anyone else and chipped it over the keeper, sending it into River Plate’s goal once again.

3-0!

Harry Kane scored a brace!

In the 77th minute, Marcelo broke through on the left flank and, from the edge of the penalty area, floated a chipped pass.

Harry Kane, at the edge of the six-yard box, scored with a close-range header, smashing the ball into River Plate’s goal again.

4-0!

The English centre-forward had completed his hat-trick!

And just before the end of the match, Theo Walcott also made a breakthrough run, charging into River Plate’s penalty area, but fell during a tussle with a defender.

The head referee didn’t give a penalty, but the slow-motion replay clearly showed that Walcott had been pulled down.

A missed penalty opportunity.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese, thanks to Harry Kane’s hat-trick, secured a resounding 4-0 victory over River Plate.

After the match, Harry Kane, who had scored four goals, was named the best player of this year’s Club World Cup!

…

While Yang Cheng was leading his team in the Club World Cup in Japan, the 17th round of the Premier League took place.

But this round was filled with upsets.

Yang Cheng was shocked when he returned to London from Japan.

Chelsea, however, was not one of the upsets.

Mourinho’s team defeated Sunderland 3-1.

Speaking of which, this was another butterfly effect brought about by Yang Cheng.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Mourinho was supposed to have been sacked before this round.

But now, he was still firmly in his head coach position at Chelsea.

Of course, Chelsea’s results weren’t as disastrous as they were in that other timeline.

This 3-1 victory over Sunderland had extended Mourinho’s stay.

But other teams were not so lucky.

Van Gaal’s team, despite a goal from Martial, still lost 1-2 at home to Norwich.

On the eve of Christmas, The Red Devils suffered an upset.

But the biggest shock was Liverpool.

Klopp’s team, in a bizarre turn of events, lost 0-3 away to Watford.

No one knew how it happened; they just inexplicably lost.

Klopp himself was dumbfounded.

According to the Liverpool Echo, it was likely related to the upcoming Christmas fixture schedule.

Perhaps Klopp wanted to make some adjustments and preparations in advance, changing the lineup that had been performing well.

As a result, Liverpool fell into disarray.

The course of the match also reflected this.

They conceded a goal in the third minute.

Then Liverpool frantically chased Watford all over the pitch.

In the 15th minute, they were caught out again.

Finally, just before the end of the match, they conceded another.

This was the Premier League of today.

A moment of carelessness, and you could be knocked down at any time.

And by a score of 3-0!

When Yang Cheng heard the news, he himself could hardly believe it.

Watford beating Liverpool 3-0? Who would believe that?

Perhaps it was Yang Cheng’s previous comment, “Your results are so bad, you should have been sacked long ago,” that spurred Wenger on.

Back at home, Wenger avenged his previous defeat.

In this round against Manchester City, he rolled up his sleeves and went all-out against them.

In the 33rd minute, Sánchez scored.

In the 45th minute, Benzema scored.

They had beaten Manchester City 2-0 by halftime.

It wasn’t until the end of the second half that a goal from Yaya Touré managed to save some face for Manchester City.

But they had already lost the match.

This was the news that made Yang Cheng the happiest.

So, as soon as his plane landed in London, Yang Cheng immediately called Wenger.

“Old Wenger, it proves your skills are still there, so my previous offer still stands.”

“Think about it. Retire from Arsenal’s head coach position as soon as possible and come be my Global Advisor.”

“The salary, well, it certainly won’t be as high as at Arsenal, but don’t worry, it’ll definitely be enough for you to retire on!”

Wenger was so angry he cursed loudly on the phone and accidentally smashed his handset.

Yang Cheng, hearing the dial tone on the other end, thought Wenger had just hung up on him.

Little did he know that at the Colney training ground, Wenger was grinding his teeth in fury.

His brand new Apple 6SP!

And he had bought it at the Prudential Plaza store!

“Yang Cheng, you bastard, pay me back for my Apple!”

This left assistant coach Pat Rice, who had come over to see what was wrong, completely dumbfounded.

What kind of apple was so precious?

Did Yang Cheng steal it and eat it?

…

Yang Cheng had no time to worry about why Wenger had hung up on him.

The old man had a few bad days every month; who had time to deal with him?

More importantly, Yang Cheng was really busy.

With serious business!

After arriving in London, the team went directly back to the Brent training center.

There, Technical Director Dan Ashworth and Chief Talent Officer Mike Rigg were hosting a young man who had made a special trip from Germany.

Twenty-eight-year-old Julian Nagelsmann.

Nagelsmann had come to London after leading his team in a match the previous day.

Bayswater Chinese had arranged for someone to pick him up from the airport, took him directly to the hotel at Prudential Plaza, and then arranged for him to watch Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City.

This morning, he came to visit the Brent training center.

When Yang Cheng and his group returned to London, they happened to meet this rising star of German football in the office.

Their first meeting was very interesting.

Yang Cheng had started coaching Bayswater Chinese at 23 and was still only 35.

But he was already a world-renowned top manager.

Julian Nagelsmann was only 28, which was truly, truly young in the coaching world.

But in front of Yang Cheng, he was already considered a bit old.

Because at his age, Yang Cheng had already won the Champions League.

“Hi, Julian. Welcome to Bayswater Chinese.”

“It’s a great honor to meet you, Yang.”

Nagelsmann extended both hands to shake Yang Cheng’s, looking quite excited.

“Please, have a seat.”

After sitting down, the conversation naturally began with Bayswater Chinese’s training center.

Nagelsmann was full of praise for the Brent training center.

After all, it was a world-famous institution, widely recognized as the most scientifically laid out and best-equipped training ground in the world.

And then there was Prudential Stadium.

After visiting it, he was also incredibly amazed.

He was staying at the Bvlgari Hotel right next to the stadium.

“By the way, Julian, have you received your German Football Association coaching license yet?” Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Nagelsmann shook his head. “Probably by the end of February or March.”

The requirements for a German coaching license were very strict. To coach a Bundesliga team, one must have the German Football Association’s license.

Previously, Nagelsmann coached the youth team, so a regional association’s coaching license was sufficient.

As for leading the first team before, it was only for daily training.

During matches, he couldn’t sit in the head coach or assistant coach’s seat.

“That’s not a big problem,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Bypassing this issue was quite simple; they just needed to pair him with an assistant who had a coaching license.

Before Yang Cheng left for Japan, he had already received the analysis from his technical team.

In fact, their assessment of Niko Kovač and Julian Nagelsmann was quite similar to Yang Cheng’s previous impression.

The two were more or less on par.

But Nagelsmann was a better fit for Yang Cheng’s overall tactical philosophy.

Also, when he coached Hoffenheim U19, his tactics were very flexible.

He frequently switched between three-at-the-back and four-at-the-back, focusing on micro-adjustments.

Looking at their past coaching records, both had their pros and cons.

Nagelsmann’s tactics were on the right track; he was good at developing young players, having coached youth teams for so many years. He was also relatively young himself, open to new things, and had a very advanced tactical philosophy.

But precisely because he was young and had never played professional football, he lacked experience.

Niko Kovač’s tactics were more conservative. Yang Cheng had specifically asked Modrić about him and had a basic understanding of him. His coaching ability was certainly good.

Moreover, his advantage was his rich experience, and his professional playing career gave him a greater stature.

This shouldn’t be underestimated; players who were stars do indeed find it easier to control the dressing room.

Of course, for Eintracht Frankfurt right now, this wasn’t a major issue.

Besides, Yang Cheng could just equip Nagelsmann with an assistant coach skilled in management.

It was the same principle as when Barça paired Frank Rijkaard with Ten Cate back in the day.

They complement each other.

Nagelsmann had clearly come prepared.

When they were about to get down to business, he directly opened his laptop, which contained a lot of his recent preparations.

According to him, he had watched all of Eintracht Frankfurt’s match recordings from this season and the last.

“I believe Frankfurt has many problems this season. There are issues in attack, defense, and midfield organization.”

“But the biggest problem is the team’s overall cohesion.”

Using the materials on his computer, Nagelsmann analyzed the situation for Yang Cheng, explaining his views.

He believed a crucial reason for Frankfurt’s lack of team cohesion was that the three lines were not compact enough.

Frankfurt’s players were not particularly strong individually.

With a loose and non-compact formation, as soon as the opponent applied pressure in a match, they would immediately fall apart.

The weaker the team’s players, the more it needs to emphasize cohesion.

Teams like Real Madrid and Barça could afford to play a bit looser because they had superb individual ability.

Frankfurt could not.

The lack of compactness made Frankfurt easy to break apart, which was why their defense repeatedly had problems.

In attack, after the defense was broken, the players’ positioning when winning the ball back was also very loose, lacking support, which meant the team couldn’t launch quick counter-attacks.

This manifested in the team’s very slow transition speed.

Almost the slowest in the Bundesliga!

It could be said that so far this season, Frankfurt’s biggest reliance in attack had been their top scorer, Alexander Meier.

But the veteran was about to turn 33.

And he was frequently injured.

Meier joined Eintracht Frankfurt in 2005 and has played for the team ever since. He is a very important member of the team and is beloved by the Frankfurt fans.

In the previous Bundesliga season, Meier scored 19 goals, making him the league’s top scorer.

But on April 9th, he underwent knee surgery, missed the entire summer, and only returned at the end of August.

His form this season has been decent.

So far, he has made 13 appearances, scored 7 goals, and provided 1 assist, which is quite good.

But here, we must mention Alexander Meier’s technical characteristics.

As a 1.96-meter-tall player, Meier’s physical attributes are excellent. His off-the-ball movement is intelligent, his goal-scoring instincts are sharp, and he has outstanding abilities in hold-up play and turning to shoot.

His heading is also exceptional.

So far this season, Meier has won an average of 5.4 aerial duels per game, ranking first in the Bundesliga.

Last season, it was the same number, also first in the Bundesliga.

But Meier isn’t really the type of centre-forward who directly battles the defensive line.

His strength isn’t in close physical combat with defenders, but rather in dropping back, spotting gaps in the opponent’s defensive line, and then quickly making interchanging runs to receive a pass from a teammate.

See the similarity?

In the Premier League, there’s a player very much like him.

Fellaini!

Of course, whether Fellaini is like Meier or Meier is like Fellaini, there’s no need to get caught up in that.

In short, Meier’s technical characteristics are very reliant on interchanging runs and passes from teammates.

But Nagelsmann showed Yang Cheng a set of data.

Although Meier was still performing very well this season, in reality, his shot accuracy and passing ability had begun to decline significantly, as had his ability to convert chances.

And this was mainly due to injuries and age.

When Armin Veh coached Frankfurt, his slogan was attacking football, to be friends with beautiful football.

“But in reality, so far this season, Frankfurt’s goal tally ranks fourth from the bottom in the Bundesliga, while their goals conceded ranks fourth from the top,” Nagelsmann analyzed.

Goals scored at the bottom means the attack is poor.

Goals conceded at the top means the defense is poor.

This is why Frankfurt is currently at the bottom of the table.

Yang Cheng had already had his technical team analyze these issues before.

Their conclusions were similar to Nagelsmann’s.

It’s one thing to identify problems, but another to come up with solutions.

Regarding his tactical approach if he were to coach Frankfurt, Nagelsmann believed that he must start with the defense.

Without a stable defense, any attack is like a reflection of the moon in water.

For tactics, he had prepared several different sets.

He would try to use a three-at-the-back formation.

Why three-at-the-back?

To improve the defensive line’s ability to hold the ball and for distribution.

The holding centre-back is one thing, but the centre-backs on either side would have a wider range for their passing.

A 3-1-4-2 was a formation he had tried with Hoffenheim U17, one he was familiar with and confident in.

But Frankfurt currently lacked the “1,” the holding midfielder.

This player is somewhat like Barça’s Number 4 role.

“In the Bundesliga, many teams like to use a high press, directly pressuring the defensive line.”

“In this situation, with a three-at-the-back spread out, the holding midfielder needs to constantly maintain their position, be able to receive and distribute the ball under high pressure, and at the same time, provide strong protection for the backline during defense.”

“It’s very difficult!”

When Nagelsmann said this, he shook his head. “Right now at Frankfurt, I really don’t see a player like that.”

Such players are indeed rare and highly sought after, but their impact is huge.

Of course, he wasn’t saying he wanted a holding midfielder of the caliber of Busquets, Nemanja Matić, or Javi Martínez.

Frankfurt couldn’t afford a Number 4 player of that level.

What he wanted was a player whose technical characteristics fit the tactical role.

“In a 3-1-4-2 formation, the two central midfielders need to provide a huge amount of coverage for the team, have strong running ability, be able to push up in attack, and apply high pressure on the opponent in their own half during defense.”

“To try and win the ball back in the shortest possible time.”

Nagelsmann was clearly designing tactics for Alexander Meier.

So the two strikers wouldn’t have fixed positions, but would more often drop back and move to the flanks to stretch the opponent’s defense, then try to attack back through the middle.

This arrangement would obviously suit Meier’s style.

And the two wide players would support the strikers, aggressively attacking the opponent’s half-spaces and supplying crosses.

In a 4-3-3 formation, the central striker would also drop deep, but the two wingers would make diagonal runs into the space vacated by the striker, which is a fairly standard 4-3-3 attacking tactic.

The central striker role was also tailored for Meier.

Nagelsmann would also make some minor adjustments to these two formations.

For example, the 4-3-3 could become a 4-1-4-1, and the 3-1-4-2 could become a 5-3-2, and so on.

When Nagelsmann talked about tactics, his whole demeanor changed, his eyes shining.

And it was clear that his entire tactical approach placed great emphasis on pressing high up the pitch, as well as on possession and distribution from the back and midfield.

This was indeed a very advanced tactical philosophy.

“I have a question. Do you think Alexander Meier can adapt to your system? Can he provide the kind of running and coverage you want up front?”

Yang Cheng’s question was sharp.

Although some tactics were designed around Alexander Meier’s characteristics, the overall team still had to be considered.

Nagelsmann’s tactics were advanced, but player movement was crucial.

Especially for a centre-forward.

Alexander Meier was 1.96 meters tall and about to turn 33. Could he provide that much running?

If not, then the entire tactic would surely be compromised.

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure right now, because I don’t really know Meier’s current physical condition,” Nagelsmann couldn’t give a definite answer.

Yang Cheng nodded silently.

Just as his previous impression of Nagelsmann had been.

This young German coach had advanced tactical ideas, with shades of Yang Cheng, Pep Guardiola, Tuchel, and Klopp.

But he was also very flexible and adaptable.

This kind of young coach needed to be paired with a very experienced and tactically astute assistant coach to help him patch up any holes. Otherwise, it would be easy for his ambitious plans to backfire and lead to a disastrous defeat.

Many of Nagelsmann’s ideas were things Yang Cheng would have done if he were coaching Frankfurt.

But Alexander Meier was a legend and club legend at Frankfurt.

If it were Yang Cheng, he was confident he could manage Meier, even putting him on rotation or on the bench.

But Nagelsmann might not have that kind of prestige or authority.

This was the difference between a top manager and an ordinary coach!

“If you use Meier as the centre-forward, the two players in central midfield will have to be able to run a lot, and it would be best if their passing ability is also good. This would free up Meier as much as possible and relieve his pressure.”

“But even so, at most, it would work for one game a week.”

“So, you need two Alexander Meiers, just in case!”

When Yang Cheng said this, he couldn’t help but laugh.

But currently, Frankfurt only had one Meier.

If they had two, Frankfurt wouldn’t be in their current predicament.

Nagelsmann had to admit that having an owner who understood football better than he did was a truly unique experience.

He could even proactively help him identify problems, find issues, and offer solutions.

“The Number 4 player you want, honestly, isn’t hard to find, but he certainly won’t be particularly strong. Don’t even think about established players. Given Frankfurt’s current situation, even if I stepped in, I definitely couldn’t sign one.”

Nagelsmann nodded.

That was a realistic assessment.

“But don’t worry, I’ll help you find a player who fits your tactical needs and whom Frankfurt can afford to sign.”

After a pause, Yang Cheng thought for a moment and shook his head: “But he might need some time to integrate, so it’s best to use the winter transfer window to properly drill the tactics and get everyone on the same page.”

“You mean…”

“When you go back in the next couple of days, sort out the paperwork with Hoffenheim. We’ll pay whatever compensation fee is required to terminate your contract.”

The salary of a U19 youth team coach isn’t high to begin with; how much could the compensation fee be?

If it were Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, they probably wouldn’t even want a compensation fee, they’d just let him go.

Doing someone a favor might open doors for future cooperation.

Nagelsmann was also a straightforward person. After thinking about it, he nodded and said, “I can get it done when I go back. I can start work at Frankfurt after Christmas.”

Yang Cheng nodded. “Can goalkeeper Hradecky be used?”

After selling Kevin Trapp, Frankfurt’s current goalkeeper was the Finnish keeper Lukas Hradecky.

Although not as good as Trapp, his overall performance was decent.

He was very focused and had a good long pass.

“I think so,” Nagelsmann nodded.

After a moment’s hesitation, he asked another question, “Then, the forward signing…”

Yang Cheng secretly smiled to himself, knowing that if he didn’t offer something concrete, the young man would probably still be a bit uneasy.

He thought for a moment and then asked with a smile, “What do you think of Niclas Füllkrug from Nuremberg in the German second division?”

Füllkrug?

Nagelsmann was certainly no stranger to him.

Füllkrug was a German international at youth level, having risen through the ranks to the U20 team.

He started at Werder Bremen but was sold to Nuremberg in the second division for three hundred thousand euros in 2014.

Last season, he scored 3 goals in 24 appearances but had a solid 7 assists.

The reason he only played 24 times was due to a serious injury, a knee cartilage damage that kept him out for six months.

He only returned at the end of August this year.

So far this season, he has made 15 appearances in the second division, scoring 4 goals and providing 3 assists.

The player is 1.89 meters tall, can play as a centre-forward and left winger, has good technique, and is especially good with his head.

His average successful aerial duels per game in the second division is 5.6.

And he was born in February 1993, so he’s only 22 now.

Nagelsmann hadn’t even thought of Füllkrug before.

Now that Yang Cheng mentioned him, he immediately thought of him, and he realized that this player was a very suitable fit.

Whether partnering with Meier or rotating with him, he would be excellent.

But Yang Cheng had just mentioned him so casually.

He must have prepared this beforehand.

Little did Nagelsmann know that in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Füllkrug had a major breakout in the second half of this season, performed exceptionally well, and then joined Hannover 96.

He later moved to Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund, performing very well in the Bundesliga.

Unfortunately, his career was affected by injuries, so his performance was always up and down.

And now, Frankfurt had the perfect opportunity to sign him.

The transfer fee was expected to be no more than one million euro.

This was a striker whose peak market value was twenty million euros.

And besides Füllkrug, Yang Cheng had actually prepared more surprises for Nagelsmann.

He was just waiting for him to take up his post!

Regardless, this season, Eintracht Frankfurt must avoid relegation!

Chapter 353: The Best Assistant Coach! The Super Flop! Yang Cheng: I’ll Make It Hard for You to Get Relegated Even If You Wanted To!

It might sound amusing, but finding an assistant is actually harder than finding a head coach.

An assistant coach like Brian Kidd could find a new job in minutes if he ever left Bayswater Chinese.

A whole host of top clubs were waiting to poach him.

He was experienced, highly capable, and meticulous in his work. Crucially, as an assistant coach, he wasn’t overbearing and had a good personality.

Talent like that was rare; you could search all of European football with a lantern and struggle to find more than a few like him.

Modern professional football is all about division of labor and cooperation.

This applies to the players on the pitch, and just as much to the coaches on the sidelines.

Imagine hiring an assistant coach who argues and clashes with you all day. Who would have the mind to work?

That’s why head coaches normally prefer to bring their own staff.

Julian Nagelsmann had his own team as well.

Video analyst Benjamin Glück and team manager Timo Hardung.

The three of them shared a common trait: youth.

Nagelsmann was twenty-eight, Timo Hardung was only twenty-six, and Glück, slightly older, was just twenty-nine.

All three had started working at the Hoffenheim youth academy very early on. Being of similar age and sharing common interests, they naturally gravitated toward each other and became close friends. Later, Nagelsmann brought them along to the U17 and U19 teams.

Now that he was striking out on his own as a head coach, the three musketeers would naturally stick together.

Yang Cheng had no objections to this.

Based on his experience from his previous life, Glück would go on to become one of Germany’s best video analysts, following Nagelsmann to Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, and the German national team.

Timo Hardung, as the team manager, was primarily responsible for team management, team building, and tactical planning—an important member of the head coach’s support team.

In Yang Cheng’s past life, he had followed Nagelsmann to RB Leipzig but hadn’t gone on to Bayern. Instead, he moved directly to Eintracht Frankfurt and later became their Sporting Director, showcasing his outstanding abilities.

All in all, both men were indeed very good.

Of course, the most important thing was the opportunity to gain experience.

Currently, Frankfurt’s chief analyst was Marcel Daum, who was only twenty-nine.

A chief analyst and a video analyst were two different roles.

Usually, a data analysis team comprises many different positions, including data analysis, video analysis, and so on.

A video analyst’s job is more focused on editing videos, somewhat like a content creator.

Marcel Daum was already making a name for himself in German football and was poised to become one of Germany’s best analysts in the coming years.

When Xabi Alonso coached Bayer Leverkusen, Daum was his assistant coach, providing strategic advice and playing a huge role in The Company’s Eleven’s title win.

Setting aside these future accolades, Marcel Daum was also one of the first coaches in Germany to work as an analyst.

He was only twenty-one at the time.

Many would surely find this baffling. Isn’t that ridiculous?

An analyst at twenty-one?

Right after graduating from university?

No need for an apprenticeship, just jumping straight in?

That’s right.

Because the head coach of FC Köln at the time was his father, Christoph Daum.

He was the same guy who was reported by Uli Hoeneß for drug use at the turn of the century, ultimately costing him the head coach position for the German national team.

Although the drug scandal caused a huge stir and forced Daum to leave German football, leading him to coach in countries like Turkey and Austria, he returned to Germany in 2006 to manage FC Köln.

As one of Germany’s renowned managers, Daum’s influence and connections in German football were extraordinary.

In January 2008, Marcel Daum joined FC Köln and began working as a match analyst.

After that, he followed his father from Köln to Fenerbahçe to Frankfurt.

The elder Daum’s tenure at Frankfurt in 2011 was as a firefighter manager, taking over in March and being dismissed in May after the team failed to avoid relegation.

After his father left, the younger Daum stayed on, remaining with the team as they fought their way back to the Bundesliga.

Now, Marcel Daum had become Frankfurt’s chief analyst.

In truth, it’s the same in every profession, including football.

Even data analysis is a job where practice makes perfect.

Cases like the elder Daum mentoring his son were quite common. For example, didn’t Ancelotti always bring his son and son-in-law along with him?

In any case, there was no conflict between Marcel Daum serving as chief analyst and Nagelsmann bringing in Glück as his video analyst.

But this created a very serious problem for the coaching team as a whole.

They were too young!

They were all a group of young men under thirty.

Except for Marcel Daum, none of them had even a shred of Bundesliga coaching experience.

Could they be trusted?

Yang Cheng didn’t actually doubt Nagelsmann’s ability.

Whether someone had real substance or not was something Yang Cheng, Dan Ashworth, and Mike Rigg could figure out after a single conversation.

Nagelsmann was capable.

This coaching job at Frankfurt was a crucial opportunity in his life.

He trusted Glück and Timo Hardung, so they weren’t a problem either.

The key issue was their lack of experience.

Yang Cheng couldn’t help but think back to Erik ten Hag’s phone call.

The upcoming period was truly critical for Frankfurt; there was no room for error.

The best way to harness the drive and advanced ideas of the youth while mitigating their inexperience and avoiding pitfalls was to pair him with a capable, seasoned assistant coach.

Crucially, this person also had to be compatible with the head coach.

The first person that came to Yang Cheng’s mind was Hermann Gerland.

The 61-year-old German had spent his entire playing career at Bochum. After retiring in the 80s, he first coached at Bochum, then moved to Bayern Munich to coach the youth team. From 1991 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2009, he was the head coach of Bayern’s B team.

In the intervening years, he had tried his hand at managing solo but without success.

Starting in 2009, he assisted renowned managers like van Gaal, Jupp Heynckes, and Ancelotti.

Yang Cheng knew this assistant coach, nicknamed “The Tiger” within Bayern, but the problem was he couldn’t be poached.

He wasn’t young anymore, and after so many years at Bayern, he probably had no intention of ever leaving.

And Bayern certainly wouldn’t want him to go.

It was like how AC Milan used to have Tassotti as their first-team assistant coach.

Tassotti was the constant, while the head coaches came and went.

For any incoming head coach, having such an experienced person who was familiar with everything inside Bayern made the job much easier to start.

Yang Cheng’s current vision for Brian Kidd’s role was quite similar.

Such a person was simply impossible to poach.

However, Yang Cheng soon thought of someone else.

The 63-year-old Peter Hermann.

If Gerland belonged to Bayern, then Peter Hermann belonged to Bayer Leverkusen.

Peter Hermann had been working at Bayer Leverkusen since the 80s. He became a first-team assistant coach in 1996 and, over twelve years, had seen at least seven or eight head coaches come and go.

He had experienced Leverkusen’s “Triple runner-up” era as well as their low points.

Moreover, besides being a first-team assistant coach, he also served as the head coach of the B team.

He spent the 2008/09 season as an assistant to Dieter Hecking at Nuremberg before being brought back to Leverkusen by Jupp Heynckes in 2009. In 2011, he followed Heynckes to Bayern.

Yes, during Heynckes’s tenure as Bayern’s head coach, he had assembled the two best assistant coaches in the Bundesliga at the time under his command.

Hermann Gerland and Peter Hermann.

After Ancelotti replaced Heynckes as Bayern’s head coach, where had he gone?

…

“What do you guys think of Peter Hermann?” Yang Cheng suddenly asked.

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg, sitting opposite him, were both taken aback for a moment.

But they both reacted almost immediately.

If they could poach Peter Hermann to be Nagelsmann’s assistant coach, it would be a perfect fit.

The man was famously good-natured and could work with anyone. Crucially, his ability was unquestionable; he was absolutely top-tier in Germany.

And he was incredibly experienced.

It was a brilliant idea!

“Yang, Peter Hermann is perfect!” Dan Ashworth exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table in approval.

This was why Yang Cheng was the owner.

They were still trying to sort things out, and he had already thought of a suitable candidate.

And what a candidate he was.

Yang Cheng turned to look at Nagelsmann.

In European clubs, this wasn’t really something a head coach had control over.

Everyone had their roles and responsibilities.

But the fact that Yang Cheng shared this information with Nagelsmann beforehand was a sign of respect.

This made Nagelsmann feel both happy and deeply grateful.

Bringing Peter Hermann over to be his assistant was less about assisting and more about guiding him, helping him get his foot in the door.

This was a massive boost for his entire coaching career.

The veteran’s reputation in German football was rock-solid.

His ability and character were universally praised.

So, upon hearing the name, Nagelsmann was overjoyed and nodded enthusiastically.

“Where is Peter Hermann working?” Yang Cheng asked, looking at Mike Rigg.

Mike Rigg was already checking. “At Düsseldorf in the German second division.”

“In the second division?”

“Yes.”

“How did he end up in the second division?”

Mike Rigg did a quick search and then smiled wryly. “A situation similar to ours.”

“What do you mean?” Dan Ashworth was a bit confused.

“Didn’t Düsseldorf get relegated from the Bundesliga in 2013? In the two seasons since, they’ve finished 6th and 10th in the second division, so things aren’t great. This season, they hired the young Frank Kramer to coach.”

Frank Kramer was currently forty-three, which was indeed very young for a head coach.

Oh, right, he came from Hoffenheim, where he coached the B team and also served as a firefighter manager for the first team.

“However, Frank Kramer’s tenure at Düsseldorf was a failure. After 15 games, his record was 3 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses, leaving them 17th in the German second division. He was sacked in late November.”

“After Frank Kramer was sacked, Peter Hermann took over as a firefighter manager for four games to finish the first half of the season. Düsseldorf is currently still looking for a new head coach.”

Clearly, Peter Hermann’s contract was with Düsseldorf and not tied to the head coach.

That complicated things a bit.

Yang Cheng picked up his phone from the table, scrolled through his contacts, and quickly found Peter Hermann’s number. He stood up and walked out onto the balcony to make the call.

They had known each other for quite a long time, but they didn’t really keep in touch unless something came up.

“Hello, Peter, it’s me, Yang Cheng.”

“Hey, Yang, so good to hear from you.” Peter Hermann sounded quite cheerful.

Yang Cheng exchanged a few pleasantries before getting straight to the point.

Peter Hermann was naturally aware of the situation at Frankfurt. When Yang Cheng told him he was planning to hire Nagelsmann as the head coach, the veteran of German football was almost stunned into silence.

“Isn’t that too risky?” Peter Hermann found it hard to believe.

But this was indeed something Yang Cheng would do.

“If you talk to this young man, you’ll find he’s full of ideas. I think I should give him a chance to prove himself.”

Peter Hermann agreed with that sentiment.

It was hard to say whether Yang Cheng’s decision was right or wrong.

But for young people, without opportunities, they could only wait.

And as they waited, their sharpness and drive might just fade away.

Just like him, right now.

Düsseldorf had asked him if he was willing to become the head coach.

Peter Hermann had refused.

Why?

It was too tiring!

At his age, he simply didn’t have the energy for it anymore.

“Peter, you surely know why I’m calling. We’re old friends, so I won’t beat around the bush. If you’re willing to come to Frankfurt, I’ll sign you to a long-term contract. You can sign for as long as you want.”

“I’ll pay your compensation fee to Düsseldorf.”

Even if they weren’t old friends, for someone trying to poach him, Yang Cheng’s offer was incredibly generous.

“The release clause is about one million euro. I’ll talk to Düsseldorf. I should be able to leave right after Christmas.”

Peter Hermann was also very straightforward.

The main factor was Yang Cheng himself, and his Football Alliance.

For Peter Hermann, the older he got, the more he wanted a stable situation.

Just like Hermann Gerland, staying with one team, clocking in and out, a comfortable nine-to-five routine!

“Then it’s settled. I’ll have Mike Rigg contact you in a bit.”

“Sounds good, a pleasure doing business with you, Yang!” Peter Hermann said with a cheerful laugh.

“Thank you, Peter. Help me keep an eye on Nagelsmann. The kid’s really got something!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my utmost to support him.”

“Thanks.”

“No need to be so polite. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

“Deal.”

After hanging up, Yang Cheng let out a deep breath.

This was the advantage of having many acquaintances in European football.

Others trying to reach Peter Hermann would often have to go through several layers of contacts.

Yang Cheng didn’t need to. He could just make a direct call and negotiate face-to-face.

…

Yang Cheng was incredibly busy.

The time he could carve out for Frankfurt was actually very limited.

After returning to England from Japan, he was immediately caught up in a series of Christmas activities.

This was an extremely important affair.

As both the owner and head coach of Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had to attend.

There was also the annual Christmas dinner.

After that, Yang Cheng was invited to UEFA’s pre-Christmas gathering in Nyon, Switzerland.

Čeferin once again reiterated that UEFA fully supported David Gill’s bid for the FIFA presidency.

This was undoubtedly a final mobilization effort for the election in February.

So, Yang Cheng’s attendance was a must.

He then went to FIFA headquarters in Zurich to attend a FIFA event.

Many UEFA officials were also FIFA officials, so the two organizations’ events were scheduled at different times.

It wasn’t until December 24th that Yang Cheng managed to find some free time again.

Instead of flying directly back to London from Zurich, he went to Frankfurt.

Wolfgang Stubing personally picked him up from the airport, and they talked a lot on the way.

The acquisition procedures were now all complete.

Yang Cheng was not stingy with this meritorious veteran, not only giving him a seat on a committee as a fan representative but also appointing him as an advisor to the club.

On one hand, he wanted to leverage Stubing’s connections in Frankfurt to support future commercial development.

On the other hand, it was a reward for his efforts.

Stubing, in turn, hoped to use this connection to further expand his own network and channels.

Honestly, if Frankfurt had remained in its previous half-dead state, many things would have been impossible to accomplish.

As it happened, on the way, Yang Cheng discussed a big deal with him.

With the driver in the front, the two of them sat in the back, studying the matter of purchasing the Commerzbank-Arena from the city government.

This was no small sum of money, and Yang Cheng wasn’t a fool. He certainly wouldn’t pay for it out of his own pocket. He would borrow from a bank, and Frankfurt would repay it in the future.

What if Frankfurt couldn’t pay?

What was there to fear?

Yang Cheng would back them up!

Furthermore, after the purchase, it needed to be expanded.

The indoor arena for basketball and hockey had to be built.

Plans for purchasing land and constructing a training base had to be initiated.

All of this required money, and all of it had to go through banks.

Stubing was very familiar with this area of business and laid it all out for Yang Cheng right there and then.

The specific operations would be handled by Xia Qing’s people later. Yang Cheng was not a professional and wouldn’t be involved.

Actually, Frankfurt’s Commerzbank-Arena was just east of Frankfurt Airport, about a ten-minute drive.

When Yang Cheng arrived at the stadium, he found that not only were Frankenbach, Dan Ashworth, Mike Rigg, and Marcel Daum present, but Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann had also come.

Clearly, they all knew he was coming and had come specifically to wait for him.

In fact, the deeper one delved into Frankfurt’s situation, the more one discovered that the club’s problems were deep-rooted.

Digging deeper, it was even somewhat shocking.

On the surface, Frankfurt’s poor performance this season was attributed to an injury crisis.

But what if you dug deeper?

Take the Peruvian centre-back, Carlos Zambrano.

At twenty-six, he was in his prime.

He was once a mainstay of Frankfurt’s defense, but since last season, he had suffered recurring injuries.

The most severe was a lateral collateral ligament strain in his knee, which kept him out for 108 days.

In the 2014/15 season, he was injured six times, missing 146 days, spread throughout the season.

This season was even more absurd.

From September to now, he had already been injured four times: a fractured rib in September, fatigue rest in October, the flu in November, and a muscle strain in December.

This was truly ridiculous.

And he wasn’t an isolated case.

Another player, Stefan Reinartz, twenty-six, could play both centre-back and holding midfielder. He had joined on a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015.

Fans of Toni Kroos would surely know him; he was Kroos’s loyal friend.

After Toni Kroos joined Bayswater Chinese, Reinartz often spoke out in his defense, acting as Kroos’s best mouthpiece in Germany. His skills were also genuinely impressive.

But he had too many injuries.

And they were all the very troublesome kind.

He was currently resting due to patellar tendonitis.

Yang Cheng had a strong impression of Reinartz, mainly because in his past life, the player’s injuries persisted even after groin surgery in 2016, leading him to retire.

But he had a sharp mind.

After retiring, he started his own data analysis company specializing in the passing quality of midfielders.

In the past, analysis of midfield passing was largely limited to stats like completion rate, assists, and key passes. Quantifying passing quality was difficult, and there was no standard system.

But Reinartz’s company was interesting. They created a data model specifically to measure the quality of a midfielder’s passes.

For example, how many times they bypassed an opponent’s block to deliver a precise pass and initiate an attack.

Later, many clubs bought data from his company.

Yang Cheng had also purchased it during his coaching days.

But he didn’t need it anymore. He was familiar with the system, so he had Bayswater Chinese develop their own.

As for what Reinartz and others planned to do in the future, Yang Cheng had no idea.

In short, the player was genuinely talented, just very injury-prone.

If it were just one or two players in this situation, it could be called a coincidence.

Or just bad luck.

But if many players on the first team were like this, it proved that something was definitely wrong.

The 20-year-old talent Marc Stendera was a product of Frankfurt’s own youth academy, having joined the club at fourteen.

He was a homegrown international player in every sense of the word, progressing from the U17s all the way up, having just recently made it to the U21s.

He wasn’t tall, but his footwork was exquisite, and he was skilled at both passing and dribbling. He had already made a name for himself in the Bundesliga last season.

Almost everyone agreed: this kid was a genius!

At sixteen, in the summer of 2012, he joined the first team. Right away, he injured his shoulder in pre-season training and was out for 80 days, repeatedly delaying his debut.

That season, he started twice, came on as a substitute three times, and contributed one assist.

An assist in the Bundesliga was a pretty good start.

But then, in the 2013/14 season, during a pre-season friendly, he tore his cruciate ligament just eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, effectively writing off most of his season. His performance for the entire season was a mess.

Stendera’s rise was halted.

But no matter, he regained his form in the 2014/15 season and played exceptionally well, earning praise from the entire German football world. Yet, he continued to be plagued by injuries.

He suffered five injuries that season.

The most serious one saw him miss ten matches.

And this season?

On August 13th, just as the league started, he injured his hamstring and missed two games.

In late November, an adductor injury sidelined him for over a week.

This was a talent that all of German football was eagerly anticipating, a player with high hopes placed upon him!

If this had happened ten years ago, or even five, Yang Cheng might have found it understandable.

But now, in 2015, every club treated its homegrown geniuses like precious treasures.

Who could you even complain to?

The 27-year-old Brazilian centre-back Ânderson had previously played for Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

He was first loaned to Frankfurt in 2011 and bought outright a year later.

Since 2012, he had been constantly injured. First, an abdominal muscle strain kept him out for two months. In 2014, he tore a ligament and was out for half a year.

In May 2015, he had knee surgery and still hadn’t returned.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Ânderson remained injured until his contract with the club was terminated in April 2017, and he announced his retirement.

Marco Russ, a 30-year-old homegrown centre-back, had spent his entire career at Frankfurt, except for the 2011/12 season when he was sold to Wolfsburg.

He was another glass man, getting injured two or three times almost every season. In the 2010/11 season, he tore his meniscus twice.

In the 2013/14 season, he tore a muscle twice.

In the 2014/15 season, it was meniscus damage, an adductor strain, an ankle injury…

And this season?

A muscle strain and a hamstring injury. He only started training again in early December.

But wasn’t it a strange coincidence that the one season he went to Wolfsburg, in 2011/12, he played 24 Bundesliga matches and had no issues at all?

A situation like Frankfurt’s was truly very, very complex.

Yang Cheng and his team weren’t detectives; they couldn’t possibly get to the bottom of what was happening.

If you asked, the answer was that injuries are uncontrollable.

But so many players, so many injuries, for several consecutive years—all uncontrollable?

Did the club itself have problems?

Would other teams experience such a widespread and persistent injury crisis over several years like Frankfurt?

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Stendera tore his cruciate ligament again in 2016, once more writing off almost an entire season.

In the end, this German talent’s career fizzled out.

Of course, the two cruciate ligament tears were in different locations.

The first was in his right leg, the second in his left.

No team can completely avoid injuries; they can only try to minimize them.

But a situation like Frankfurt’s was truly rare.

At least in Yang Cheng’s view, there was only one logical explanation.

The training standards and conditions were too poor, and the medical and rehabilitation facilities were inadequate.

And at its core, it all came down to a severe lack of investment by the club in these areas.

“We need to get on top of this right away!”

Yang Cheng turned to Dan Ashworth. “After Christmas, we have about a month until the second half of the season starts. I want you to immediately arrange for people to inspect the stadium, the first-team training ground, and the youth team training ground. Check all the pitches, grounds, training facilities, including the dressing rooms, medical rooms, rehab rooms, everything.”

“Every single thing must be rigorously checked against our standards.”

“Replace what needs to be replaced, tear down what needs to be torn down. If it’s really not up to scratch, then tear down the entire stadium, the training ground, even the Stubing Building, and I’ll build a new one!”

By the end of his speech, Yang Cheng was genuinely furious!

What kind of team was this?

It was already 2015, couldn’t they invest a little?

Buy one less player, or a slightly cheaper one. You wouldn’t even need a million euro. If you invested a few hundred thousand euro a year, that would be enough!

But ironically, there were just some people, some club management, in this world.

For example, Manchester United was willing to spend one or two hundred million on C. Ronaldo and Pogba but was reluctant to spend one or two million to upgrade Carrington.

Was it because these people didn’t understand football?

No.

It was because the people at Carrington had no say.

Whenever the club needed to cut its budget, they were always the first to be targeted.

Even someone like Wolfgang Stubing, who knew the team’s problems were serious, had no idea they were this severe.

Of course, Frankfurt was indeed poor.

But no one knew where the money went.

“A month, is that enough time?” Peter Hermann asked.

Dan Ashworth looked at Yang Cheng and nodded solemnly. “If we were in London, absolutely no problem. In Germany, I’ll do my best, but the winter training camp…”

“Let’s go to Málaga. The training base there is up and running. Think of it as a vacation too; bring the players and their families.”

Yang Cheng knew this wasn’t the time to lose his temper.

But as a head coach, he found Frankfurt’s current situation truly ridiculous.

And in the grand scheme of European football, they weren’t even the most absurd case.

Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

It was a good reason. It provided a benefit for the players while also preventing training from being disrupted.

“Then let’s start planning the winter training camp.”

…

According to Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann, many of Frankfurt’s current players were usable.

The main problem was the sheer number of injuries.

For example, the Argentine centre-back David Abraham.

His quality was actually decent.

Japanese international Makoto Hasebe could play right-back and in midfield and could be retained.

Frankenbach believed the Japanese international could help the club develop the Japanese market.

American international Timothy Chandler, twenty-five, could play anywhere on the right flank and could also be useful.

Left-back Bastian Oczipka was a good player with an excellent cross, so he was definitely staying.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, Stefan Reinartz’s condition never improved after his groin surgery in January 2016, and he retired at the end of the season.

This time, Yang Cheng’s plan was to arrange for the world’s best specialists to examine him thoroughly before any surgery, to see if his career could be saved.

The player was a real talent, with a good head on his shoulders, and he was a close friend of Toni Kroos.

On January 1st, he would only be turning twenty-seven.

As for Stendera, it went without saying that he needed proper treatment.

If a player like him could be cured and helped back to form, he would be a homegrown international!

Marco Russ was a youth academy product and would also be kept.

And there was the Serbian youngster, Mijat Gaćinović.

The 20-year-old Gaćinović was still a substitute this season, but he was a talented player. In Yang Cheng’s previous life, he was one of the meritorious veterans who helped Frankfurt reach the Europa League final, performing brilliantly and showing his quality.

But not all players chose to stay.

The recent turmoil at the club had created a state of panic and anxiety, especially with the threat of relegation, so many players were looking to leave.

There were no particularly valuable players in the defense or midfield. Currently, the one looking to leave was the Peruvian centre-back, Carlos Zambrano.

Hadn’t he just returned from injury?

He now wanted to go to Kazan Rubin in the Russian Premier League.

Kazan Rubin was extravagantly wealthy these days and was willing to pay a five million euro transfer fee for him.

Then there was the Swiss international, Haris Seferović.

The centre-forward was signed by Frankfurt in the summer of 2014 from La Liga side Real Sociedad for 3.2 million euro.

Last season, he made 32 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring 10 goals and providing 8 assists, a good performance.

So far this season, he had made 14 appearances, scoring 3 goals and assisting 5 times.

He was currently attracting attention from several clubs.

After all, a centre-forward who could also provide assists was a rare commodity these days.

According to Frankenbach, Seferović’s agent had been contacting teams for a while.

If it were up to Yang Cheng, he would have wanted to keep Seferović.

In his past life, after transferring to Benfica in 2017, the player performed exceptionally well, with his peak market value reaching 20 million euro.

But unfortunately, the player was already set on leaving.

The expected transfer fee was around 10 million euro.

With Seferović gone, scoring goals would become a major problem for the attack.

Another was the Dutch centre-forward, Luc Castaignos.

The player had transferred from FC Twente in the Eredivisie in 2015 for a fee of 2.5 million euro.

But since his arrival, he had been constantly injured.

Selling him now would probably bring in about 2.5 million euro.

After all, he had scored 4 goals in his limited playing time.

The most urgent case was the Czech forward, Václav Kadlec.

The 23-year-old forward had already found a new team: Midtjylland from Denmark.

They were offering a transfer fee of 2.1 million euro.

The deal was already agreed upon, but it couldn’t be finalized because the transfer window hadn’t opened yet.

To sign him in 2013, Frankfurt had spent 3.2 million euro.

There was also the homegrown right-sided player, Stefan Aigner.

He had joined Frankfurt on a free transfer from 1860 Munich in 2012.

Now, 1860 Munich was willing to buy him back for 3 million euro.

1860 Munich was fighting to avoid relegation in the German second division this season and was in a precarious position, hoping this homegrown player could provide a swift reinforcement.

There was one other player who had wanted to leave.

That was the homegrown youngster, 19-year-old forward Luca Waldschmidt.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this player also transferred to Hamburger SV in 2016, where he became the top scorer at the European Youth Championship, shot to fame, and then moved to SC Freiburg. There, he achieved success and was even called up to the national team.

Now that Yang Cheng was in charge, he was determined to keep a player like this.

A left-footed player who was fast, had good technique, and could play in any attacking position—a versatile player like that, and a homegrown one at that, had to be kept.

As things stood, the transfers mentioned above were more or less finalized.

Frankfurt was expected to receive over 20 million euro in revenue.

But it would all be in installments.

In the past, Yang Cheng’s transfer dealings were all about being meticulous with calculations and buying low, selling high.

But things were different now.

Frankfurt’s most important task was to regroup and fight to avoid relegation in the second half of the season.

The team’s biggest problem at the moment was injuries.

Aside from goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, the other three lines of the team all needed strengthening.

So, this time, Yang Cheng was ready to spend big.

The first player he wanted to sign was none other than the midfielder from Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, Naby Keïta!

For many fans, the biggest impression of this Guinean player was probably that of a flop.

A super flop, at that.

Because Liverpool spent a fortune to sign him, only for him to leave on a free transfer years later, worthless.

But in Yang Cheng’s view, the crucial question was why Liverpool and Klopp would go to such lengths, paying a sky-high price, to sign this player a year in advance.

Keep in mind, Liverpool had snatched Naby Keïta from the grasp of giants like Barça.

Was everyone stupid?

No!

In the 2016/17 Bundesliga season, Naby Keïta claimed a host of number-one spots.

An average of 8.5 ball recoveries per game, number one among Bundesliga midfielders.

8 goals scored, number one among Bundesliga midfielders.

8 assists, number one among Bundesliga midfielders.

An average of 2.7 dribbles per game, number one among Bundesliga midfielders.

Chance creation ability, number one among Bundesliga midfielders.

A pass completion rate of 82%, number one at RB Leipzig and 11th among Bundesliga midfielders.

But after joining Liverpool, the player’s pass completion rate suddenly soared to 89%.

This showed that he had been held back by the overall level of RB Leipzig.

Naby Keïta in that season was an unbelievably all-rounded player.

He wasn’t tall, only 1.71 meters, but his technique was excellent, he was very fast, incredibly agile, and had an exceptional engine.

He could win the ball, pass, assist, dribble past opponents, and crucially, he could run like crazy…

He was like Kanté with the technique and awareness of Pogba!

Just on that point alone, how much was he worth?

Klopp and Liverpool weren’t fools.

The moment they saw Naby Keïta emerge, they immediately swooped in with their checkbook and signed him a year ahead of schedule.

As for what happened to him after joining Liverpool, that was another story entirely.

Naby “Kanté” joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2014 from Istres in France for 1.5 million euro.

Last season, he made 30 appearances, scoring 5 goals and providing 2 assists.

This season, his performance had improved further. So far, he had made 18 appearances, scoring 8 goals and assisting 6 times.

Currently, the Guinean international’s market value was around 7.5 million euro.

Yang Cheng told Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg to negotiate without holding back.

According to Yang Cheng’s budget, they should be able to get him for under 15 million euro.

This was already a very high price in the Austrian league.

But Yang Cheng felt it was well worth it!

Most importantly, Naby Keïta could provide the midfield intensity that Frankfurt desperately needed.

15 million euro?

Hearing Yang Cheng say this, Stubing and Frankenbach, who were standing by, grew restless.

Frankfurt hadn’t seen such a large transfer deal in many, many years.

Selling several players only to spend 15 million euro to bring in Naby Keïta?

“In soldiers, quality is better than quantity. A single good midfielder can bring about a complete transformation for the entire team!”

Yang Cheng made the decision on the spot. That was how they would negotiate!

Just one Naby Keïta in midfield was definitely not enough.

Yang Cheng had said before that he would sign a holding midfielder for Nagelsmann.

This time, he gave a specific name.

Stanislav Lobotka, a Slovakian midfielder playing for FC Nordsjælland in the Danish league.

The player had transferred to Nordsjælland at the end of August 2015 for 500,000 euro.

Since joining, he had played in every single one of Nordsjælland’s matches.

But Nordsjælland itself wasn’t a strong team in the Danish league, so his performance could only be considered decent.

Yang Cheng knew Lobotka well because the player later played at a very high level for Celta Vigo and S.S.C. Napoli in La Liga.

It could be said that, apart from being a bit short, he had almost no flaws as a holding midfielder.

You have to remember, in the 2017/18 La Liga season, he averaged 7.6 ball recoveries per game. He was an absolute ball-winning machine, alright.

And crucially, his passing was steady as a rock!

He was also famous for never pushing forward.

Which is why he didn’t score.

But this guy could pass, distribute, escape pressure, organize, play long passes…

He could do everything!

Yang Cheng couldn’t bear to see such a player continue to be buried in the Danish league!

He was bought for only 500,000 euro half a year ago, and his current market value was assessed at 600,000 euro.

So, Yang Cheng said they should aim to sign him for under one million euro.

There were countless players in Europe. It was impossible for Nagelsmann or Peter Hermann to know every single one or be intimately familiar with their characteristics.

They had heard of some players but weren’t familiar with them.

If they had heard of Naby Keïta, then Lobotka was someone they had genuinely never even heard of.

Were these two players really as good as Yang Cheng claimed?

Hearing is one thing, but seeing is believing.

Yang Cheng immediately had Dan Ashworth open his laptop, connect to the database, and show them match footage and technical analysis of the two players.

Everyone present was stunned!

On one hand, after watching the footage, they truly saw that these two players were incredibly good.

Absolute hidden gems!

Nagelsmann couldn’t help but get excited.

He could imagine that if these two players were in his Frankfurt team, the team would absolutely take off in the second half of the season.

And keep in mind, they were both still relatively young.

Lobotka was born on November 25, 1994, making him just 21.

Naby Keïta was born in February 1995, making him just 20.

Players at this age have their technical characteristics starting to solidify and their abilities are largely on display, but they haven’t yet reached their peak.

Judging by the abilities they showed at Red Bull Salzburg and Nordsjælland, they were definitely worth getting excited about.

Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann just glanced at each other, and both could see the shock in the other’s eyes.

They were shocked by the sheer coverage of the Bayswater Chinese scouting network.

But the most incredible and shocking part of the whole thing was that Yang Cheng could actually unearth two players like this for them.

They provided immediate quality but were also young, with immense future potential.

This was simply unbelievable!

If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, who would believe such a thing?

If this transfer operation succeeded, it would absolutely make the whole world’s jaws drop.

My goodness, looking across all of European football, who else besides Yang Cheng could pull this off?

The more the two of them thought about it, the more shocked they became.

But the more shocked they were, the more they looked forward to what was to come for Frankfurt.

Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese were an absolute treasure trove.

Who knows how many more gems could be unearthed from this treasure trove in the future?

How many more surprises and unexpected turns could they bring to the world?

“Don’t get too excited just yet, Julian.”

Yang Cheng could see Nagelsmann rubbing his hands in anticipation, eager to have a try.

Any coach with a discerning eye could see the quality of these two midfielders.

“This is just the beginning. I have more surprises in store for you.”

“More?” Nagelsmann was a bit surprised.

From the few players he knew about so far, from Füllkrug to Naby Keïta, and now Lobotka.

If they could really sign these three, he was already quite confident he could lead the team to safety.

Because their quality was obvious.

Especially the addition of the two midfielders, which would absolutely transform Frankfurt and take their strength to the next level.

Yang Cheng smiled at Nagelsmann.

“You know me, I’m a Virgo. I don’t like surprises. So, I will prepare a powerful squad for you, one that will make it hard for you to get relegated even if you wanted to!”

Yang Cheng’s supremely confident demeanor left Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann stunned.

Could such a good thing really exist in this world?

Chapter 354: Winning Streak! The Most Blockbuster Signing! An Unstoppable Bale! Yang Cheng is Truly Incredible!

Yang Cheng arrived in a hurry and left just as quickly.

Dan Ashworth and Mike Rigg also accompanied him.

They had to catch an afternoon flight back to London to spend Christmas with their families.

The local core team at Eintracht Frankfurt was left sighing with emotion.

They found it hard to believe.

In the past, the various legends about Bayswater Chinese felt too distant, too mysterious.

But this time, they had experienced it up close.

The efficiency was truly off the charts.

More importantly, every single person was exceptionally outstanding.

Especially Yang Cheng.

All sorts of information, all kinds of player profiles—he had them all at his fingertips.

It was as if everything was already deeply etched in his mind, ready to be retrieved and used at any moment.

“Right now, I’m not interested in how he managed to turn Bayswater Chinese into a top global powerhouse in just over a decade.”

“Nor am I interested in the rise and success of teams like OGC Nice, Atalanta, Málaga CF, and FC Twente.”

At this, Peter Hermann let out a chuckle and laughed.

“What I’m interested in now is his time management.”

“I really want to know, how does he find the time to familiarize himself with the technical characteristics of so many players when he’s so busy with so many things every day? He must have watched a lot of matches.”

Merely looking at data reports or scout reports might give you a preliminary impression of a player.

But it was obvious that wasn’t the case with Yang Cheng.

The confident expression on his face when he introduced Naby Keïta and Lobotka couldn’t be faked.

He must have watched many of their games.

But where did he find the time?

Did he not need to sleep?

Or did he have some special ability, like watching football matches in his dreams while others slept?

“I, for one, see his decisiveness in a new light.”

Wolfgang Stubing offered a different perspective.

“Frankfurt’s problems are long-standing, accumulated over the past decade, or even several decades. They can’t be changed overnight. But the swift and decisive manner he’s shown is something you really don’t see in German football.”

“The most important thing is his confidence!”

CEO Oliver Frankenbach nodded repeatedly. “He has absolute faith in his team.”

Including me!

Frankenbach didn’t say this last part out loud, but he told himself this inwardly.

Yang Cheng trusted him immensely.

This trust was nothing like the kind he had for Wolfgang Stubing.

To put it bluntly, Yang Cheng wasn’t really giving Wolfgang Stubing any significant responsibilities; there was even a sense of building him up only to leave him out in the cold.

Because Stubing wasn’t part of the decision-making circle.

Of course, Wolfgang Stubing himself knew this, and his ambitions didn’t lie there either.

But as for Frankenbach, Yang Cheng had only spoken with him once, for about two hours.

Xia Qing, Adam Crozier, Omar Berrada, and others were present at the time.

It was more like an interview.

After that, Frankenbach took full charge of Frankfurt’s operations as CEO.

The initiatives he had pushed forward in the time since had been met with very positive cooperation.

Some of the club’s old guard had tried to obstruct him, but one by one, they were all dismissed.

This gave Frankenbach a sense of vindication, a feeling that his talents were finally being put to good use.

Yang Cheng and Adam Crozier had brought people over from Bayswater Chinese, Ligue 1’s OGC Nice, and other places to form the backbone of Frankfurt.

As for the remaining staff, those who were capable were kept, and those who weren’t were let go.

Compensation and severance were all handled according to German law.

It was all legal, legitimate, and efficient!

“You know what? For the past few years, we’ve had Japanese international Makoto Hasebe and US international Timothy Chandler. We’ve been wanting to develop the Japanese and American markets, but we could never find a way in.”

“The other day, I mentioned it to our head of the commercial department, who came from Bayswater Chinese. He contacted the London office, and Omar Berrada called me right away.”

“One phone call, a brief discussion, and the next day, I had a pile of materials on Japanese and American sponsors, including their preferences for football sponsorships, their taboos, and their current sponsorship targets and budgets…”

“I was completely stunned. I got goosebumps. It was a step I had wanted to take at Frankfurt for years but couldn’t. Now, a single phone call gave me a hundred, a thousand times the resources.”

“I told our marketing department right then, ‘This is an unbelievably luxurious way to fight a battle!’”

Frankenbach himself found it incredible.

After exchanging a glance, Nagelsmann and Peter Hermann understood what the other was thinking.

Before today, they would never have understood what Frankenbach’s words meant, nor could they have related to that feeling.

But now, they truly got it.

This battle was indeed being fought in an incredibly luxurious way!

Füllkrug, Naby Keïta, and Lobotka were just the beginning.

Yang Cheng had said he wanted to assemble a squad so strong that Nagelsmann would find it difficult to fail in avoiding relegation.

This made both of them even more expectant for Frankfurt’s second half of the season.

It was really quite incredible.

Just from holding this one meeting today, everyone present felt as if a crack had finally appeared in the dense, suffocating dark cloud that had long hung over Frankfurt.

Golden sunlight was finally piercing through!

It made each of them feel as though they were breathing fresh air.

Yang Cheng was truly incredible!

…

Yang Cheng wasn’t incredible at all.

Just like everyone else, his day had only twenty-four hours.

After returning to London and spending Christmas with his wife, the morning of the 26th brought the 18th round of the Premier League.

Due to the Club World Cup, the 17th round had been temporarily postponed.

But on one point, Yang Cheng’s thoughts were the same as theirs.

It had been a long time since he had fought such a luxurious, such a comfortable battle.

This year, the Premier League’s Christmas schedule still consisted of three matches, on the 26th, the 28th, and January 2nd.

However, this caused the FA Cup schedule to be pushed back slightly.

So, immediately after the 20th round of the Premier League, the League Cup semi-final matches were scheduled.

For the two-legged tie, Bayswater Chinese would host Liverpool in the first leg.

The opponents in the three Christmas matches were not particularly strong.

A home game against West Ham United, an away game against Norwich, and an away game against Sunderland.

With the rise of Harry Kane, especially this season, and the gradual maturing of the team’s young players, Yang Cheng’s squad rotation had become even bolder.

His strategy was quite simple, really.

Splitting his forces.

As the team’s two main goal-scorers, Harry Kane would play the match on the 26th, and Gareth Bale would play on the 28th.

The midfielders were split up in the same way.

Modrić partnered with Aaron Ramsey for the match on the 26th, while Toni Kroos and De Bruyne played together on the 28th.

Other positions in the team were handled similarly.

Ultimately, it all depended on the players’ performances.

On the afternoon of the 26th, in the home game against West Ham United, the first twenty-plus minutes were quite shaky, with neither side in good form.

The only memorable moment was a left-footed long shot from outside the box by Aaron Ramsey.

But it was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, Adrián.

However, starting from the 23rd minute, the home side, Bayswater Chinese, gradually found their rhythm.

A pass from Sterling on the left flank led to another power shot from Aaron Ramsey outside the penalty area.

The ball deflected off an opposing defender and bounced into the box.

Just then, the alert Harry Kane seized the opportunity, turned to shake off centre-back James Collins, and unleashed a furious shot from ten meters out, piercing West Ham’s goal.

But The Hammers were a tough bunch.

Just two minutes later, a long shot from Mark Noble was blocked by Matić and also took a deflection.

As a result, the overlapping midfielder Kouyaté pounced on the ball and sent a push shot into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-1!

The two sides were level again.

During this period, both teams had their issues.

But from the 30-minute mark, Bayswater Chinese began to control the game.

In the 33rd minute, from a corner kick opportunity, Matić, who had just made an error, made amends with a close-range header that found the back of West Ham’s net, putting his team ahead once more.

2-1!

It had to be said, Matić was still very effective in set-piece situations.

After retaking the lead, Bayswater Chinese practically pinned West Ham back.

First, Sterling hit the post after a series of dribbles inside the box. Then, after another breakthrough on the left, Sterling’s sudden pull-back pass found Aaron Ramsey, whose shot struck the crossbar.

Even Harry Kane, who was usually clinical, missed a one-on-one opportunity this time.

But in the second half, just five minutes after the restart, an errant pass from the opposition was intercepted by Modrić in the final third. He threaded a through ball forward.

Harry Kane beat the offside trap, received the ball in the box, and scored with a one-on-one push shot, completing his brace.

3-1!

After the successive goals, the team’s attack was completely unleashed.

Both Sterling and Salah missed one-on-one chances.

Especially Salah.

The young Egyptian had already gotten his shot off in the one-on-one, but the angle was too straight. He tried for a nutmeg, but goalkeeper Adrián blocked it.

But in the 83rd minute, after a beautiful exchange between Salah and Kyle Walker on the right flank, Kyle Walker broke into the right side of the penalty area and fired a furious shot that blasted through West Ham’s goal.

4-1!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed West Ham United 4-1 at home!

…

On the afternoon of the 28th, in the 19th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Norwich away.

Although they were playing away, Bayswater Chinese launched a lightning attack right from the start.

Just one minute and forty-three seconds in, Theo Walcott broke through on the right flank and sent in a precise cross.

Giroud, in the center, seized the opportunity and scored with a close-range left-footed push shot, giving his team the opening goal.

1-0!

This goal set a great tone for the match.

At home, Norwich had always played very defensively, making them a tough nut to crack.

But in the 30th minute, Bayswater Chinese won a free kick in the attacking half. Gareth Bale scored with a magnificent butterfly ball, once again breaching Norwich’s goal and extending the lead.

2-0!

After the break, during a swift counter-attack in the second half, De Bruyne delivered a spectacular diagonal through ball behind the defense.

The ball precisely pierced through Norwich’s two defensive lines, passing through an extremely narrow gap to the left side of the penalty arc, behind the defense.

Gareth Bale caught up to the ball at incredible speed, broke into the box, and scored in a one-on-one situation.

3-0!

Gareth Bale had scored a brace once again!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 away victory over Norwich!

…

If Norwich’s home ground was a tough nut to crack, then Sunderland’s was a steel plate.

To make matters worse, the team had worked hard to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup, where they faced Liverpool, a match Yang Cheng was certainly taking more seriously.

Therefore, in the 20th round Premier League away match against Sunderland, Yang Cheng had to rest players for the League Cup.

This made the match incredibly difficult.

Especially for Harry Kane.

The English centre-forward was completely neutralized in this game.

The hard-fought battle dragged on until the 82nd minute of the second half, when Sterling provided an assist for Casemiro, whose long shot pierced Sunderland’s goal, securing three points for the team.

And so, Bayswater Chinese edged out The Black Cats of Sunderland 1-0 away from home.

After the three-round Christmas schedule, a clear distinction began to emerge among the Premier League teams.

Even among the top clubs.

Besides Bayswater Chinese, two other teams won all three of their matches.

Manchester City and Arsenal.

Wenger was probably truly spurred on by Yang Cheng’s words back then, as his team had been in incredible form recently.

Mourinho’s team, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well. On Boxing Day, the 26th, they failed to beat Watford at home.

On the 28th, they drew 0-0 away to Manchester United.

Although their final match was a 3-0 away victory against Crystal Palace, a record of one win and two draws in three games was somewhat disappointing.

Manchester United, meanwhile, had two wins and one draw.

So, after 20 rounds, Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten with 17 wins and 2 draws, amassing 53 points.

Arsenal, thanks to their 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the 17th round, leapfrogged The Blue Moons.

Wenger could finally hold his head high, with his team sitting in second place with 48 points after 20 matches.

Manchester City was third with 43 points.

Liverpool and Manchester United both had 38 points, but Liverpool was ahead of United on goal difference.

This was mainly because after C. Ronaldo joined The Red Devils, he still struggled to adapt to van Gaal’s tactical system.

Or perhaps, it should be said that van Gaal didn’t build his tactics around C. Ronaldo.

This led to some discordant voices gradually emerging within Manchester United.

That was just how van Gaal was; even the biggest superstars were treated as utility players.

This might be fine for other players, but it clearly didn’t work for C. Ronaldo.

Chelsea, meanwhile, had only 32 points.

From the current situation, Bayswater Chinese was pulling away from the pack.

But based on their performance during the Christmas schedule, Manchester City’s form was recovering very quickly, and they were likely to push hard in the second half of the season.

As for Arsenal.

Wenger’s teams were always known for performing well in the first half of the season and then faltering in the second. It remained to be seen if they could avoid that this time.

…

On the evening of January 5th, at Prudential Stadium in London.

The first leg of the League Cup semi-final: Bayswater Chinese versus Liverpool.

It was a spectacularly explosive start.

From the very first second, both teams pushed the tempo to the maximum.

In less than 38 seconds, Suárez threatened Courtois’s goal with a long shot from outside the box.

Subsequently, Liverpool employed a signature Klopp tactic—a suffocating high press that pinned Bayswater Chinese back.

The front three of Firmino, Suárez, and Sadio Mané practically chased down Bayswater Chinese’s backline relentlessly.

Whoever had the ball was immediately swarmed and cornered.

For the first 15 minutes, the home side, Bayswater Chinese, couldn’t even manage a single shot.

Of course, Liverpool themselves had very few shots.

Both teams adopted relatively cautious tactics that played to their respective strengths.

Liverpool wanted to press high, while Bayswater Chinese hoped to use possession to stretch and wear down their opponents.

The match was incredibly intense, but both sides found it difficult to create clear-cut chances.

The atmosphere, however, was extremely tense.

With such a close, physical battle, the slightest chink in the armor would be exploited by the opponent for a fatal blow.

The game felt like a meat grinder, with the players of both teams all tangled up together.

An intense and tense atmosphere filled the entire Prudential Stadium.

The 90,000 fans in attendance were all on the edge of their seats.

The match continued this way until the 37th minute, when a breakthrough finally occurred.

Unfortunately, it was an error from the home team.

A goal kick from Buffon was sent directly to the right flank of the attack, which was Bayswater Chinese’s left flank.

Sadio Mané used his body to shield the ball from Marcelo, relentlessly pushing the Brazilian full-back backward.

Mané wasn’t tall, but he was incredibly strong, with excellent physical resistance.

Marcelo had no good answer for such an opponent and was effectively boxed out.

Mané controlled the ball and laid it off to Rakitić before turning and sprinting forward.

As soon as Rakitić received the ball, he immediately played a through ball.

Besides his physical strength, Mané was also extremely fast. Once he got going, Marcelo was left behind.

After receiving Rakitić’s pass just outside the right corner of the box, Mané stopped his forward run. He feigned to cut inside but suddenly played a through ball behind Thiago Silva.

Suárez made a quick diagonal run, collected the ball, carried it near the byline, and sent a cross in front of the goal.

Firmino was making a run to meet it.

At the crucial moment, the long-legged van Dijk got there first and poked the ball away.

But the Dutch centre-back and Firmino ended up in a heap, falling inside the penalty area.

Just then, Coutinho, arriving from deep, hit a push shot that sent the ball into the Bayswater Chinese goal.

1-0!

The Liverpool players were ecstatic.

They all knew that Prudential Stadium was nicknamed the “impenetrable fortress”!

But now, a crack had appeared in this unbreakable bastion.

However, the Liverpool players’ joy was short-lived.

After Bayswater Chinese restarted the match, Liverpool, still overly excited from a goal, also made a mistake.

While defending against Theo Walcott on the left flank, Aleksandar Kolarov blocked the ball out for a throw-in.

Piszczek took a quick throw-in. Walcott and Modrić completed a one-two, and the ball was played back to the right flank.

The Polish right-back sent a through ball down the line.

Walcott hugged the right touchline, zipped past Kolarov’s defense like a flash of lightning, and broke in behind Liverpool’s defensive line before delivering a cross.

Giroud made a run to the near post, drawing the attention of Koulibaly and Nastasić.

But Gareth Bale made an overlapping run to the far post, met Walcott’s cross, and out-jumped Nathaniel Clyne to power a header past Buffon into the goal.

1-1!

Level!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

In the space of a minute, the two teams had exchanged a goal each.

The match was back on level terms.

But this showed everyone just how intense and tense this game was.

The slightest mistake would be punished by the opposition.

The game then reverted to the same state it was in at the start.

Neither team changed their tactics.

During halftime, Yang Cheng expressed understanding for the team’s mistake in the first half but also pointed out the problem.

Marcelo’s defensive side was indeed a weak point and needed more attention.

Mané had started the match on the left but later switched to the right, a clear move to target Marcelo.

“It’s the same as before: possession, possession, and more possession!”

…

After play resumed in the second half, Bayswater Chinese stuck to the same tactics.

The state of the game also remained unchanged.

This puzzled many people.

In the entire first half, Bayswater Chinese had managed only three shots.

Liverpool didn’t have many more, with only four.

But each side had scored a goal.

Why wasn’t Yang Cheng adjusting his tactics?

The players, however, continued to execute their head coach’s instructions without question.

At the beginning of the second half, Liverpool was still pressing aggressively.

But after an initial wave of pressure, lasting about ten minutes, it was noticeable that the intensity of Liverpool’s press was waning.

The energy cost of such a high press varied against different teams.

For example, against Arsenal and Manchester City.

Wenger’s and Pep Guardiola’s teams favored short passes, with passing distances mostly kept within ten meters.

If Klopp were to employ his high-press tactic, as long as his team worked as a unit, while the physical toll would be high, they could sustain it for a considerable period.

At the very least, sixty minutes—and if they gritted their teeth, sixty-five to seventy minutes wasn’t out of the question.

But what about against Bayswater Chinese?

Many people saw that Bayswater Chinese’s tactics seemed the same as before, but a closer look revealed that tonight, their overall formation was more spread out.

The players were spaced further apart, and the passing distances were longer.

This was why Liverpool often won the ball back and launched counter-attacks.

But what was the benefit?

It fully stretched the opposition, forcing Liverpool’s players to run constantly.

More medium and long-range passes, especially through balls, forced Liverpool’s players to sprint.

By the second half, it was clear that Liverpool’s players were significantly fatigued, and the intensity of their press was nowhere near what it had been at the start of the match.

After another ten minutes, they were visibly struggling.

The proof was in the increasing number of fouls they committed.

For example, the incident in the 59th minute.

After winning the ball near the halfway line, Liverpool launched a long pass, trying to find Suárez.

Van Dijk rushed out first, clearing the ball with a header towards the right flank.

Nemanja Matić was the first to race towards the right flank.

Just as he got the ball under control, Kolarov charged in and brought Matić down.

A free kick was awarded in their own half.

He quickly retreated.

He knew he couldn’t stop Matić.

The Bayswater Chinese players didn’t linger on it.

After getting up, Matić took a quick free-kick, passing directly to Piszczek.

Piszczek immediately charged forward and played the ball to Modrić.

Modrić carried the ball forward, facing interception from Liverpool’s midfield, but after crossing the halfway line, he sent a through ball to the feet of Giroud, who had dropped back.

With his back to goal, Giroud simply flicked the ball with his left foot as it arrived.

The ball was flicked by Giroud behind the defensive line, passing right between Koulibaly and Nastasić.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale, like a bolt of lightning, made a quick diagonal run from the left towards the penalty area, into the space on the left side of the arc.

Nathaniel Clyne and Koulibaly, who had reacted and turned to chase back, were utterly unable to stop Gareth Bale.

The Welshman, caught between two defenders, forcefully broke through their block, reached Giroud’s flicked pass first on the left side of the box, and took a touch towards the penalty spot.

Gareth Bale caught up to it again and unleashed a furious right-footed shot.

The ball rocketed past Buffon and into the back of the net.

2-1!

A comeback!

Gareth Bale scored his second of the night!

The entire Prudential Stadium instantly erupted in a thunderous roar.

All the fans leaped from their seats at the same time, screaming Gareth Bale’s name at the top of their lungs.

The Welshman also quickly turned and ran off the pitch, excitedly making his signature heart gesture to celebrate his goal.

…

After conceding another goal, Liverpool’s situation became even more precarious.

In the 63rd minute, Liverpool made their first substitution.

Lucas Leiva came on for Coutinho.

It was a substitution with little warning.

But Yang Cheng noticed that as Coutinho left the pitch, he had a pained look on his face.

He had probably picked up a slight injury.

Or perhaps he was carrying a minor injury, and the match had aggravated it.

A match like this placed immense pressure on Liverpool’s players.

In the 72nd minute, Klopp used his second substitution.

Lallana replaced Sadio Mané.

At this point, Liverpool’s tactics were beginning to resemble a 4-3-1-2 formation.

Up front was the two-striker partnership of Suárez and Firmino.

This was the clearest signal possible.

Liverpool was going to sit back!

Yang Cheng immediately responded with a substitution of his own.

Harry Kane came on for Giroud.

Strengthen the attack!

When Harry Kane came on as a substitute, the entire stadium erupted.

He was the darling of Prudential Stadium.

Everyone was anticipating a goal from him off the bench.

Yang Cheng, however, noticed the bitter expression on Giroud’s face as he walked off.

Come to think of it, the French centre-forward was quite pitiful.

He was clearly trying so hard, but in the hearts of the Bayswater Chinese fans, he still couldn’t compare to Harry Kane.

It was truly heartbreaking!

Fortunately, the head coach was there on the sideline to offer some compassionate consolation.

“Olivier, you did a fantastic job, you exceeded my expectations for you. Well done!”

Hearing this, Giroud’s heart was instantly filled with a warmth like sunshine. He smiled, hugged Yang Cheng, and then turned to walk back to the bench.

He took a thick down jacket from a staff member to keep warm, and also took a cup of water, gulping it all down before plopping onto the bench.

He instantly felt much more clear-headed.

But as his mind cleared, his thoughts started racing.

Wait a minute.

What does he mean, ‘exceeded my expectations for you’?

Boss, are your expectations for me really that low?

Realizing this, Giroud’s heart filled with bitterness once again.

When he looked back at head coach Yang Cheng standing on the sideline, his gaze held a hint of resentment, like a jilted woman looking at her unfaithful husband.

You once said I was your most trusted centre-forward, but now that you have Harry Kane, what have I become?

To make matters worse, after Harry Kane came on, Liverpool mostly adopted a defensive, compact tactic.

Bayswater Chinese completely dominated the game.

Especially in terms of possession, they completely suppressed Liverpool.

From the 70th minute onwards, Bayswater Chinese kept pushing forward, constantly orchestrating attacks.

Liverpool, meanwhile, retreated to the edge of their box, relying solely on defending and counter-attacking.

Yang Cheng’s team continued to play at a calm, unhurried pace, patiently controlling the ball and constantly stretching their opponents.

Passing from the left to the center, from the center to the right, and from the right back to the center…

Especially around the 74th-minute mark, for nearly two full minutes, Liverpool simply couldn’t get a hold of the ball.

The most they could do was disrupt possession.

The ball just kept circulating among the Bayswater Chinese players.

And then, at 75 minutes and 55 seconds, Modrić played a through ball, precisely to the feet of Harry Kane at the edge of the penalty arc.

The English centre-forward used his body to shield the ball from Nastasić, then suddenly controlled it with a turn, shrugging off Nastasić. From the right side of the arc, he abruptly unleashed a long shot.

From Modrić’s pass to Harry Kane’s control and turn, the entire sequence was executed in one fluid motion.

Liverpool’s defenders were a step too slow to even attempt an interception.

They had all been lulled by the preceding series of passes.

No one expected Bayswater Chinese to suddenly unleash such a shot in the middle of their passing game.

But just like that, the ball once again breached Buffon’s goal.

The Italian goalkeeper was getting on in years, after all, and he was a step too slow to react to such a long shot.

3-1!

On the substitutes’ bench, Giroud, like all his teammates around him, leaped up from his seat, clapping and cheering loudly for Harry Kane’s goal.

This goal was so crucial for the two-legged tie!

The players on the pitch were also celebrating with abandon.

But it didn’t take long for Giroud to process what had happened, and the bitterness in his heart deepened.

I was on the pitch for so long without scoring, how did Harry Kane score right after coming on?

Oh, God, how can you keep picking on me just because I’m an honest man?

…

Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 home victory over Liverpool immediately earned them lavish praise from the British media.

In the other League Cup semi-final, Everton pulled off a 2-1 upset against Manchester City, thanks to a goal from a corner kick and another from a Lukaku counter-attack.

The player who assisted Lukaku’s goal was none other than former Manchester City midfielder and current Everton captain, Gareth Barry.

A proper backstab!

When Yang Cheng received the news, he had to give David Moyes’ team a thumbs-up.

These days, which of the big clubs hadn’t been backstabbed by a former player?

You just get used to it!

But the key would be the second leg.

Moyes’ team would have to withstand Manchester City’s onslaught when they visited Manchester.

A clash between top teams like Bayswater Chinese’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool.

An upset like Everton’s shock win over Manchester City.

This season’s League Cup was proving to be incredibly exciting. Not only were the fans enjoying it, but the viewership ratings were also soaring.

Now, the Europa League champion gets a direct spot in the Champions League group stage.

For Premier League teams, winning the Europa League was a much more certain path to the Champions League than finishing in the top four of the league.

At the very least, they had a better chance of running roughshod over teams from other European leagues.

Precisely because of this, the League Cup, which offered a path to the Europa League, had become a hot commodity.

With the League Cup gaining popularity, it went without saying that the traditionally popular FA Cup was even more of a focus.

…

On January 9th, the third knockout round of the FA Cup.

Bayswater Chinese faced Doncaster, a relegation team from the third-tier League One, away from home.

Yang Cheng once again deployed his rotation strategy, fielding a lineup of all substitutes and young players.

Youngsters like Dominic Solanke, Declan Rice, and Alexander-Arnold all started.

And the young players did not disappoint Yang Cheng.

In the 15th minute, Solanke scored the opening goal for the team.

Although Doncaster equalized in the 25th minute, Salah scored the team’s second goal in the 57th minute of the second half.

Ultimately, Bayswater Chinese defeated Doncaster 2-1 away from home.

This time, all of the Premier League’s Big 6 advanced smoothly.

…

From Christmas to January each year, while other leagues went on break, the Premier League became the most unique spectacle in the world, capturing the attention of football fans everywhere.

But away from the bustling Premier League, in Frankfurt, central Germany, the team that had just completed a transaction that shocked the entire country was quietly undergoing a reformation.

The team from Bayswater Chinese was discreetly carrying out a comprehensive overhaul of Frankfurt’s grounds, facilities, and other aspects, with the aim of eliminating the source of the injury problems that had plagued the club for years.

At the same time, Frankfurt was also actively operating in the winter transfer window.

Peruvian centre-back Carlos Zambrano, Swiss centre-forward Haris Seferović, Dutch centre-forward Luc Castaignos, Czech forward Michal Kadlec, local winger Aigner…

As players left the team one after another, Frankfurt received a series of transfer fees.

But the pressure from public opinion gradually intensified.

Many Frankfurt fans were worried. If the new management kept selling players like this, how would Frankfurt compete in the second half of the season?

What would they use to avoid relegation?

The fans’ panic reached an all-new peak when Frankfurt announced the official appointment of Hoffenheim’s U19 youth team head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, as the team’s new head coach!

The entire city of Frankfurt erupted!

During a crucial relegation battle, the team was appointing a twenty-eight-year-old youth coach?

Frankenbach had anticipated the public outcry. So, while announcing Nagelsmann’s appointment, he also released another piece of news: the renowned local coach Peter Hermann would serve as the team’s chief assistant coach to support Nagelsmann.

But this news still failed to quell everyone’s anxiety.

Peter Hermann was certainly well-regarded, but he was only an assistant coach.

An incompetent general exhausts his army!

But at this critical moment, the Frankfurter Rundschau revealed a piece of information.

The appointment of Nagelsmann was recommended by Yang Cheng!

The local Frankfurt media outlet revealed that before Christmas, Nagelsmann had personally traveled to London for a lengthy meeting with Yang Cheng. The two had a full exchange of ideas and communication regarding Frankfurt’s team building and strategy for the second half of the season.

In the end, Yang Cheng recommended Nagelsmann to Frankfurt.

“Yang Cheng believes that the 28-year-old Nagelsmann is capable of leading Frankfurt out of adversity!”

Yang Cheng’s name was indeed very influential.

This gradually quieted the public outcry and made more people adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

It was at this time that Frankfurt officially announced the signing of German youth international Niclas Füllkrug from German second division side Nuremberg for one million euros.

After Christmas, the team had no holiday.

In January, Frankfurt once again announced the signing of Guinean international Naby Keïta from Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg for a high price of fifteen million euros.

They also signed Slovakian midfielder Lobotka from Danish league side FC Nordsjælland for a transfer fee of one million euros.

Three consecutive deals completed in a short period of time demonstrated the high efficiency of Frankfurt’s new management to everyone.

But this was just the beginning.

Frankfurt soon announced the signing of twenty-year-old midfielder Tomáš Souček from Czech side Slavia Prague for a transfer fee of one million euros.

The player had been performing exceptionally well in the Czech league this season, playing in fifteen of the sixteen league matches, and playing the full ninety minutes in all of them.

The only match he missed was due to a suspension for accumulated yellow cards.

Soon after, Frankfurt again announced the signing of Croatian forward Andrej Kramarić from Premier League team Leicester City for a transfer fee of five million euros.

The twenty-four-year-old Croatian forward was a versatile player who could play almost any position in the attack. He had been outstanding in his home country, scoring goals prolifically.

In January 2015, he moved from Croatia’s HNK Rijeka to Leicester City for a transfer fee of nine million euros.

But at Leicester City, Kramarić performed poorly and had completely lost his place this season.

So far, he had only made two appearances in the Premier League, for a total of twenty-four minutes.

His market value had now dropped to four million euros.

The reason Frankfurt had to offer five million euros was due to competition from Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim was also fighting against relegation and naturally needed to recruit players.

But they were more interested in a loan deal.

Leicester City wasn’t willing to let Kramarić go just like that.

In the end, Frankfurt had no choice but to raise the price to five million euros.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this player was loaned to Hoffenheim, where he produced an impressive five goals and four assists in fifteen games in the second half of the season, helping Hoffenheim successfully avoid relegation.

At his peak, his market value reached forty million euros.

Next, Frankfurt announced the signing of Kosovan centre-back Amir Rrahmani from Croatia’s RNK Split for a transfer fee of one million euros.

The twenty-one-year-old Kosovan centre-back had joined RNK Split on a free transfer in the summer of 2015.

In the Croatian league this season, he played as a starting centre-back and performed very well. His market value was currently 800,000 euros, and Frankfurt ultimately signed him for one million euros.

Also a centre-back, Frankfurt announced the signing of twenty-two-year-old Brazilian centre-back Diego Carlos from Primeira Liga side G.D. Estoril Praia for 1.5 million euros.

The Brazilian centre-back had joined G.D. Estoril Praia on a free transfer in 2014.

But he was immediately loaned out to the Porto B team.

There, Diego Carlos performed very poorly.

After returning to G.D. Estoril Praia this season, he began to play as a starting centre-back in the Primeira Liga and had been performing decently.

Frankfurt signed the Brazilian centre-back, whose current market value was only one million euros, at a 50% premium.

The team announced the signing of twenty-one-year-old left-back Robin Gosens, who holds dual German and Dutch citizenship, from Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo for a transfer fee of one million euros.

But the biggest moves were made on the forward line.

At the beginning of January, Frankfurt announced the signing of eighteen-year-old centre-forward Luka Jović from Serbian side Red Star Belgrade for two million euros.

Incidentally, Frankfurt’s David Abraham currently held dual Argentine and Italian citizenship.

Brazilian centre-back Anderson was unregistered after undergoing major surgery for a serious injury.

And Diego Carlos also had dual Brazilian and Spanish citizenship.

So, after signing Luka Jović, Frankfurt signed twenty-one-year-old Ivorian tall center-forward Sébastien Haller from Eredivisie side FC Utrecht for eight million euros, though his estimated value was six million euros.

Haller had been outstanding in the Eredivisie this season, scoring ten goals and providing two assists in sixteen appearances.

But what was most impressive was his average of 5.9 successful aerial duels per game.

Frankfurt also signed Croatian winger Ante Rebić from Serie A side Fiorentina for one million euros.

The twenty-two-year-old Rebić had joined Fiorentina in 2013 for 4.5 million euros but never got a real chance.

He was loaned to German second division side RB Leipzig for the 14/15 season but still couldn’t find opportunities.

After returning to Serie A this season, he had only made 4 appearances in the first half of the season, for a total of 228 minutes, scoring one goal.

Fiorentina had lost faith in him and wanted to loan him out again.

Frankfurt made their move at just the right time and brought him in.

In attack, Frankfurt also signed German U20 centre-forward Tim Kleindienst from German second division side SC Freiburg for 500,000 euros.

But this twenty-year-old local centre-forward was somewhat special.

He was currently not a starter at SC Freiburg, and he had suffered a tear of the medial collateral ligament in his knee at the end of November. He was still recovering and was not expected to return until March.

Frankfurt still decided to sign him, which showed their confidence in the young local forward.

After signing a string of players, Frankfurt’s most important signing of the winter transfer window was finally sealed before the team’s Winter training camp.

That was Hoffenheim’s starting centre-back, Niklas Süle.

The twenty-year-old centre-back was a native of Frankfurt and a product of the Frankfurt youth academy.

He originally played as an attacking player in midfield or up front. After moving from Frankfurt’s youth academy to Darmstadt, and then to Hoffenheim, he was converted to a centre-back and made a name for himself there.

This season, both Hoffenheim and Frankfurt had fallen into the relegation zone, and their situations were dire.

But after Frankfurt was acquired by Yang Cheng, it received intense attention from the outside world.

As a talented German centre-back, Süle naturally attracted the attention and interest of many top Bundesliga teams, including Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who even wanted to poach him.

Under these circumstances, Frankfurt made an offer of fifteen million euros, a premium of 100%.

But the two most important factors were:

One was returning to his hometown of Frankfurt.

The other was Nagelsmann.

It was a real coincidence.

When Süle arrived at Hoffenheim, the head coach who promoted him to the U17s and converted him into a defender was a coach named Zembrod.

At that time, Zembrod’s assistant coach was Nagelsmann.

When the season ended, Zembrod left for SC Freiburg, and Nagelsmann took over Hoffenheim’s U17s, at which point Süle was promoted to the U19s.

But interestingly, when Süle was promoted to Hoffenheim’s first team by head coach Markus Gisdol, the assistant coach was, once again, Nagelsmann.

It could be said that these two coincidences created an intricate connection between Süle and Nagelsmann.

Especially since they had worked together at Hoffenheim for many years.

Now, Nagelsmann was coaching Frankfurt. His hometown club, backed by Bayswater Chinese after being acquired by Yang Cheng, was extending an olive branch to Süle.

In the end, the homegrown Frankfurt native finally nodded in agreement to return to his hometown team.

Frankfurt paid a high price of fifteen million euros to Hoffenheim for him.

As these transfers were announced one by one, the entire German transfer market was repeatedly shocked.

No one had expected Frankfurt to be willing to spend so much money on transfers after being acquired by the Chinese consortium.

Especially Süle, a local gem snatched from the hands of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

This was even more exciting for the Frankfurt fans.

The Frankfurter Rundschau applauded admiringly.

After signing these players, Frankfurt had invested a total of over fifty million euros in the winter transfer window.

This was the sum of Frankfurt’s transfer spending over the past few years combined!

And the entire team was completely refreshed.

Yang Cheng did the math. After deducting the fees from selling players and adding the initially planned five million euros for the transfer market, Frankfurt had actually only spent about twenty million euros more.

And it was to be paid in installments.

With Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese backing them, this amount of money was not a problem.

But Frankfurt’s overall strength was now on a completely different level.

The additions of Süle, Naby Keïta, Lobotka, Haller, Füllkrug, and others had greatly improved the entire spine of the team.

Now, it was up to Nagelsmann’s ability to integrate them.

If he could get the team to gel during the Winter training camp, then avoiding relegation would not be a problem.

As of now, Frankfurt’s top priority was to avoid relegation.

So, the players he brought in now were all of a certain quality, capable of helping the team, and willing to join.

Other more established players, like the already famous Sané, would never come to Frankfurt.

After this season ends, Yang Cheng will continue to bring in more players for Frankfurt.

For example, centre-back Anton from Hannover 96, who would be relegated this season.

Serbian player Filip Kostić from another relegated team, VfB Stuttgart.

He was also a very good player.

Not to mention the sixteen-year-old youngster Nico Schlotterbeck from German second division side Karlsruhe.

Leverkusen’s youngster Havertz, FC Köln’s youngster Wirtz, Swedish youngster Gyökeres, Belgian youngster Openda, Swedish youngster Kulusevski—all were part of Yang Cheng’s plans.

But the prerequisite was that Frankfurt must first succeed in avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga.

If they failed to even stay up, how could these young players be willing to join Frankfurt?

In addition, the training facilities and the youth academy system also needed to be upgraded.

In short, this was all just the beginning!

Chapter 355: Aiming for the Quadruple! The Team’s Crown Jewel! Comeback! He’s the Hottest Thing on the Transfer Market!

“Süle really went to Eintracht Frankfurt?”

In southern Germany, at Bayern Munich’s headquarters on Säbener Strasse in Munich, Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge asked Sporting Director Matthias Sammer in his office.

“It’s been officially announced. Hoffenheim wasn’t too keen on letting him go, but Eintracht Frankfurt used all sorts of methods to persuade Süle.”

Rummenigge was somewhat disappointed to hear this.

Niklas Süle, a 20-year-old centre-back nearly two meters tall, had been performing exceptionally well, earning unanimous praise from everyone in Germany and abroad.

Almost everyone was certain he would become a top-tier centre-back in Germany, and even the world.

Everyone knew that a club like Hoffenheim couldn’t possibly hold on to such a jewel.

Hoffenheim was currently struggling to survive, having fallen into the relegation zone.

Even Hoffenheim themselves were psychologically prepared to lose Süle.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen…

Almost every powerhouse in the Bundesliga wanted to sign the young centre-back.

But previously, the message conveyed through Süle’s agent was that the player was unwilling to leave Hoffenheim at this time.

He wanted to stay and help Hoffenheim avoid relegation!

It was precisely because of the player’s wishes that many clubs, including Bayern Munich, held back.

But to everyone’s surprise, the player’s mind had changed so quickly.

“Everyone is stunned and very surprised right now. Job-hopping from one team in the relegation zone to another is a bit too absurd,” Sammer said with a wry smile.

Sammer himself had been an outstanding centre-back, and he held Süle in very high regard.

“Besides returning to his hometown team, I suppose he also saw the support of Bayswater Chinese in the background!” Rummenigge said.

As the saying goes, a person’s name is like a tree’s shadow—it precedes them.

The reputation of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese still held considerable appeal in the world of football.

More importantly, over the past few years, every club that had been associated with them had achieved success.

This had always been one of the most puzzling things in European football.

No one knew what kind of magic this club possessed.

“Eintracht Frankfurt has been very active during the winter break. Just in the past two days, they spent one million euros to sign midfielder Konrad Laimer from Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.”

“Laimer?”

“Eighteen years old, a substitute midfielder for Red Bull Salzburg. He made his first-team debut last season, has only started twice this season, made five substitute appearances, and has mostly been on the bench otherwise. I have no idea what they see in him.”

At this point, Sammer added another detail.

“I even specifically checked our player database. The player is on the Austria U19 national team, but his performance has been rather average.”

Rummenigge nodded slightly.

Being selected for the U19 national team at eighteen only proved that Laimer was quite good among his peers in Austria.

If his performance in the U19 team was average, it meant his ability was capped.

Playing up an age group might be more convincing in countries like Spain, Germany, or France, which have strong youth academies and an abundance of young talent, but in Austria, it didn’t carry much weight.

“This scouting system of Bayswater Chinese really has something. We at Bayern Munich have been studying it for many years, but we’ve never managed to grasp its essence.”

“We’ve poached quite a few people from them over the past few years, but we can only get a glimpse of the bigger picture. We can’t replicate such a scouting system and network. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

Rummenigge considered it a great regret.

But such things were common in European football.

For example, Monchi of Sevilla.

How many people wanted to poach Monchi to replicate Sevilla’s scouting system? Had any succeeded?

In this business, you learn from me, I learn from you.

The competition between clubs, much like business wars in the corporate world, was often plain and simple.

“All these years, those who tried to copy Bayswater Chinese have mostly failed,” Sammer said, also feeling helpless.

Rummenigge laughed. “But look at them. OGC Nice in Ligue 1, Atalanta in Serie A, Málaga CF in La Liga—they’ve all basically succeeded. FC Twente in the Eredivisie and Palmeiras in Brazil have also done brilliantly.”

“Now it’s Eintracht Frankfurt’s turn.”

Others failed to learn, but they themselves kept succeeding when replicating their own model.

It had to be said, there was surely some so-called methodology for success.

The higher-ups at Bayswater Chinese, and those who had left, were always discussing it.

Everyone was interested.

Some people even made a living giving lectures everywhere about the so-called success rate of Bayswater Chinese.

But no one could truly master it.

“Look at these teams. When they were acquired, their situations were all completely different. At the time, many said they bought OGC Nice for the stadium, Atalanta for its youth academy, and Málaga CF for the land.”

“Then what about FC Twente and Palmeiras? And Eintracht Frankfurt, they’re in the relegation zone.”

“Their approaches are also different. Other teams were mostly small investments for big returns, but look at Eintracht Frankfurt this season during the winter transfer window.”

This year’s winter transfer window was being hailed as the bleakest in history.

Why?

Because no major clubs were buying players.

Almost every team was avoiding purchases if they could, tightening their purse strings.

Times were tough for everyone.

But amidst this situation, Eintracht Frankfurt suddenly entered the scene, waving a checkbook.

An investment of over fifty million euros had completely stunned the entire European football world.

Everyone was shocked!

This was neither like Eintracht Frankfurt nor like Yang Cheng.

Putting everything else aside, in all the years Yang Cheng had managed Bayswater Chinese, what was his biggest transfer signing?

Twelve point eight million pounds, poaching Javi Martínez from Athletic Bilbao in La Liga by activating his sixteen million euro release clause.

Even Toni Kroos…

The mere thought of the German midfielder made Rummenigge very uncomfortable.

But Toni Kroos’s transfer fee to Bayswater Chinese was only twelve point five million euros.

Yang Cheng’s business philosophy had always been small investments, signing semi-finished products, and focusing on youth academy development and player cultivation.

From Bayswater Chinese to OGC Nice, to Atalanta, Málaga CF and others, it had basically always been this way.

But this time, at Eintracht Frankfurt, he had changed!

Fifteen million euros to sign Naby Keïta, fifteen million euros to sign Niklas Süle.

Some even said that the transfer fees Yang Cheng had spent at Eintracht Frankfurt in a single winter window were more than all his spending over the past decade combined.

Isn’t that outrageous?

“Perhaps it’s because Eintracht Frankfurt is in the relegation zone, and he wants to ensure they avoid it,” Sammer speculated.

Rummenigge laughed. “He’s the hottest thing on the transfer market right now!”

Sammer couldn’t help but laugh along.

In the bleakest winter transfer window in history, he had actually splashed out over fifty million euros. One could only say, Yang Cheng was badass!

“I have a very strong feeling, especially given my understanding of Yang Cheng, that as long as there are no issues with Nagelsmann, Eintracht Frankfurt will astonish all of us in the second half of the season.”

Sammer’s eyes lit up. “You mean…”

“They are currently fourteen points behind sixth-placed Schalke 04 and sixteen points behind fourth-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach. Do you think a miracle could happen?”

As Rummenigge said this, his eyes clearly showed anticipation and excitement.

Bayern Munich had dominated the Bundesliga for too many years.

But the league desperately needed some storylines, some legends.

Schalke 04 currently had seventeen points, while Bayern Munich had forty-six, a gap of nearly twenty points.

What suspense was there?

None at all!

But if Eintracht Frankfurt could truly stage a comeback in the second half of the season, that would be a legendary story to amaze the world!

More importantly, it would add another layer to Yang Cheng’s halo.

“That’s not possible, is it? Even if Yang Cheng can turn decay into magic, he can’t pull that off. Catching up by over ten points in half a season?” Sammer felt this defied logic.

But if it happened, it would be legendary!

“Let’s wait and see.” Rummenigge was actually looking forward to it.

“By the way, what has Eintracht Frankfurt been up to recently?”

“They went to Spain for their winter training camp.”

“Winter training in Spain?”

“Yes, Málaga.”

Rummenigge understood.

Didn’t Yang Cheng have teams or training camps in both Málaga and Marbella?

For Eintracht Frankfurt, going to Málaga was like going home.

“You just wait. Even if they don’t pull off a legend this season, next season, or give him two years at most, Eintracht Frankfurt will become our strongest competitor in the Bundesliga.”

Sammer didn’t deny this.

He had come to the same conclusion himself.

“By the way, I also received news that Nike is preparing to increase its sponsorship fee for Eintracht Frankfurt.”

“Such good news?”

“They switched from Jako to Nike in 2014, signing a five-year deal for three million euros a year. It’s said that Eintracht Frankfurt is preparing to talk with Nike. It will definitely go up; it’s just a matter of how much.”

“Will Nike agree?”

“Probably. You know, Nike has a very deep partnership with Bayswater Chinese.”

Bayern Munich’s sponsor was Adidas, a partnership that had lasted for decades.

Just this May, Adidas renewed their sponsorship contract with Bayern Munich until 2030, increasing the annual fee to sixty million euros, which was unique in the Bundesliga.

No other team could possibly get such a deal.

For example, the Kings of the North, Hamburger SV, only received four point five million euros per year.

Schalke 04 regularly participates in the Champions League, right? Their sponsorship fee is only four million euros.

Their sponsor is also Adidas.

As for Nike, they currently sponsor five or six teams, including Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt.

But the sponsorship fees for these teams are not high.

The sponsorship fee Borussia Dortmund gets from Puma is second only to Bayern Munich’s.

But Rummenigge never expected Nike to be willing to increase its sponsorship for Eintracht Frankfurt.

The American company was not a pushover. They must have seen market potential and thought it was profitable.

“I also heard that Eintracht Frankfurt has decided not to renew with Alfa Romeo.”

Alfa Romeo is an Italian car brand that has been sponsoring Eintracht Frankfurt since 2013, but the fee is said to be very low.

This was because the commercial situation in the Bundesliga had not been very prosperous in recent years.

In the 12/13 season, Eintracht Frankfurt even played without a chest sponsor.

And over the past few years, there have been instances of teams playing sponsor-less every season, while some have had to resort to sponsorships from betting companies.

Although there are many German companies, not every one of them is willing to sponsor football.

In terms of chest sponsorship, Bayern Munich was still in a class of its own in Germany.

“According to the information I have, although Bayswater Chinese’s new deal won’t take effect until the 16/17 season, adding Eintracht Frankfurt might complicate negotiations. So, in the coming years, Eintracht Frankfurt will likely choose to secure sponsorships independently.”

“And they are basically targeting companies outside of Germany.”

After hearing this, Rummenigge’s eyes narrowed slightly, sensing Eintracht Frankfurt’s ambition.

With Bayswater Chinese as their backer, the pieces Eintracht Frankfurt was putting in place were truly impressive.

“Truly worthy of being Yang Cheng!”

“Truly worthy of being Bayswater Chinese!”

Rummenigge sighed with mixed feelings.

…

While the headquarters of Bayern Munich was filled with sighs and感慨, Yang Cheng was leading his team against Crystal Palace at the Prudential Stadium in London.

This was the 21st matchday of the Premier League, held on a Wednesday.

After the first leg of the League Cup, where they defeated Liverpool 3-1, Yang Cheng began to make adjustments.

The main focus was on the players’ form and fitness.

Next up, Bayswater Chinese would be competing on four fronts: the Premier League, the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the Champions League. This demanded more from the team’s fitness and form than ever before.

Yang Cheng had also discussed with the coaching staff the need to make appropriate fitness adjustments in January.

The goal was to ensure the players maintained better form in the second half of the season.

Because of this, for the Premier League matchday 21 home game against Crystal Palace, Yang Cheng made significant squad rotations.

As a result, the team’s performance at home was average.

It wasn’t until the 58th minute of the second half that a corner kick opportunity arose, and Harry Maguire scored the opening goal with a header, breaking through Crystal Palace’s defense.

This made Yang Cheng, who was about to make a substitution, hold back on his impulse.

In the end, the team secured a narrow 1-0 victory at home.

…

On January 16th, the weekend, again at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Premier League matchday 22, Bayswater Chinese hosted Leicester City.

They had managed to get through the last round, but this time against Leicester City, the situation was a bit tricky.

The match remained deadlocked.

But in stoppage time of the first half, a swift counter-attack from Jamie Vardy broke through Bayswater Chinese’s goal.

After the second half began, starting from the 60th minute, Yang Cheng made substitutions.

First, Theo Walcott replaced Salah.

As it turned out, just nine minutes after coming on, The Little Tiger seized an opportunity, receiving an assist from Giroud, to score the opening goal for the team, successfully leveling the score.

In the 80th minute, Yang Cheng made his second substitution, bringing on Gareth Bale for Casemiro.

Just four minutes after coming on, Gareth Bale drew a foul from Leicester City’s right-back Danny Simpson while dribbling down the left flank. Simpson received his second yellow card and was sent off.

After that, Bayswater Chinese launched a relentless bombardment on Leicester City.

During stoppage time, Gareth Bale received an assist from Sterling, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and fired a power shot with his left foot, scoring another goal for the team.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese had overturned the score against Leicester City, securing another three points!

…

Since Newcastle was eliminated in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, they had no match scheduled for the 3rd round replay on January 19th.

Bayswater Chinese also had no match.

Therefore, the Premier League matchday 17 fixture that was postponed before Christmas due to the Club World Cup was rescheduled for this day.

Yang Cheng led his team north to face Newcastle in an away game.

Bayswater Chinese continued with its squad rotation strategy, and the match was still a bit of a struggle.

But in the 72nd minute of the second half, substitute Harry Kane received the ball in the penalty area, turned, and shot, breaking through Newcastle’s goal.

1-0!

Bayswater Chinese had secured an away victory against Newcastle!

This was the fourth consecutive match won by a single goal.

The outside world had plenty to say about Bayswater Chinese’s performance in January.

Some believed that Bayswater Chinese’s current situation was not ideal, and their performance was average.

Their ability to win was purely down to head coach Yang Cheng’s second-half substitutions and the flashes of brilliance from the star players who came off the bench.

But many others pointed out that Bayswater Chinese had been rotating their squad heavily recently.

It was obvious that Yang Cheng was managing the team’s fitness.

1-0-ism?

Not a chance!

Bayswater Chinese was just taking a moment to catch their breath.

Besides, Bayswater Chinese currently had a significant lead.

…

But in the 23rd matchday, Yang Cheng’s team was held to a 0-0 draw by West Bromwich Albion in an away game.

Coincidentally, in another match, Liverpool secured a thrilling 5-4 victory over Norwich away from home.

Klopp’s team, after scoring the opening goal, thought victory was assured.

Unexpectedly, they conceded three goals in a row before scoring three consecutive goals themselves starting from the 60th minute.

But in stoppage time, Norwich scored again.

Adam Lallana scored the winning goal for Liverpool in the 5th minute of stoppage time.

Whether it was Liverpool’s thrilling 5-4 win or Bayswater Chinese’s 0-0 draw, there was really only one reason.

The second leg of the League Cup semi-final next Wednesday.

Liverpool, playing at home and trailing 1-3 from the first leg, would surely fight back desperately.

Both teams were conserving their energy.

The only difference was that Klopp’s second-half substitutions paid off.

Yang Cheng’s second-half substitutions, Gareth Bale and Harry Kane, failed to break through West Bromwich Albion’s goal.

In this round, Manchester United defeated Southampton 2-1 at home.

C. Ronaldo scored the opening goal for The Red Devils in the first half, but The Saints equalized in the 87th minute.

At the crucial moment, it was C. Ronaldo who stepped up, securing the win for The Red Devils in the 93rd minute.

After this match, a lot of talk circulated in the outside world.

The main target was van Gaal.

As one of the world’s top goal-scorers, C. Ronaldo should receive more support and more scoring opportunities.

C. Ronaldo himself stated after the match that the team’s support was insufficient.

Without enough passes, even if C. Ronaldo could score, it was useless.

In London, when West Ham United faced Manchester City, they scored just one minute into the game.

They led twice, only to be pegged back twice.

Agüero scored a brace.

And in stoppage time, a goal from Messi helped Manchester City take three points from the away game.

Arsenal, who had been in excellent form recently, stumbled at home this time.

Just 18 minutes into the game, Mertesacker was sent off with a red card.

This led to Wenger’s team losing 0-1 to Chelsea.

Wenger was extremely dissatisfied, believing the head referee’s red card was too harsh.

“If we had played with eleven men, we definitely would have beaten Chelsea!”

Mourinho pursed his lips with prideful coyness.

Why did that sound so familiar?

…

On the afternoon of January 24th, in Frankfurt, Germany, at the Commerzbank-Arena.

Bundesliga matchday 18, bottom-ranked Eintracht Frankfurt hosted seventh-placed Wolfsburg.

Long before the match, everyone knew it was a lopsided contest.

Especially for Eintracht Frankfurt.

The team underwent a major overhaul during the winter break, with the lineup almost completely changed.

But more importantly was what happened before the match.

Several local fan groups in Frankfurt were actively urging fans to boycott Eintracht Frankfurt’s games.

Many fans even returned their previously purchased season tickets and individual tickets to show their dissatisfaction with the foreign takeover of the club.

At the same time, before the match, many local fans protested outside the stadium, demanding that Chinese capital get out of German football.

They believed that being acquired by foreign capital was a disgrace for Eintracht Frankfurt!

One very clear piece of data could prove the awkwardness of this match.

Eintracht Frankfurt, always known for its high attendance rate, only had 36,000 fans enter the stadium for this match.

Note, this number included standing tickets.

The Commerzbank-Arena has a total capacity of 51,500, including both seated and standing tickets.

The attendance rate was less than seventy percent.

This set a record for Eintracht Frankfurt’s lowest attendance in over a decade.

Countless people were waiting to watch the drama unfold.

Especially if Eintracht Frankfurt were to be defeated by Wolfsburg at home, it would absolutely become a huge joke.

Moreover, this was the first professional match for the 28-year-old head coach, Julian Nagelsmann.

Out of caution, Nagelsmann’s starting lineup and tactical arrangement still tended to continue the lineup from the first half of the season.

He still used a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Lukas Hradecky;

Defense: Oczipka, David Abraham, Süle, and Makoto Hasebe;

Midfield: Gaćinović, Naby Keïta, Lobotka, and Stendera;

Forwards: Waldschmidt partnered with Alexander Meier.

From Nagelsmann’s starting lineup, it was not difficult to see that he actually hoped to improve upon the team’s original tactics and lineup.

After all, although there was a winter training camp, many new signings had joined the team relatively late, had little time to train together, and lacked chemistry.

This could be considered a match strategy.

No matter how strong a team is, it always needs chemistry to pose a threat.

After the match began, the situation progressed relatively smoothly.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s overall strength had clearly improved, and their coordination was decent.

But in the 25th minute, Wolfsburg’s centre-back, former Bayern Munich player Dante, scored the opening goal for Wolfsburg from a corner kick, beating Hradecky.

1-0!

This goal broke the deadlock on the pitch.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s coordination became a bit chaotic, and the team played without much structure.

The first half ended 0-1.

This confirmed the outside world’s predictions.

Even the commentators for the Bundesliga broadcast believed, “Nagelsmann is indeed too young!”

“This team might even be worse than the Eintracht Frankfurt of the first half of the season!”

Many fans in the stadium were also booing.

Clearly, they were not satisfied with this result.

The match was in the afternoon, but Yang Cheng had to prepare his team for the League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, so he didn’t have time to be there.

But he watched the live broadcast in his office with Brian Kidd and others.

Watching at halftime, he also sensed Nagelsmann’s hesitation.

“He’s a rookie, after all, still lacking some confidence!”

Yang Cheng immediately made a call to Frankenbach.

The latter immediately left the stands, went to the dressing room, knocked on the door, and said a few words to Nagelsmann.

“Yang is watching the live broadcast in London. He asked me to relay two things: don’t overthink it, just let loose and play, the result might be better.”

Nagelsmann nodded heavily.

“Also, he said, just go for it boldly, he’s got your back for anything!”

This time, Nagelsmann looked up in genuine surprise, staring directly at Frankenbach.

Only after the latter nodded solemnly did he confirm that these words were from Yang Cheng.

He was providing a safety net, giving him confidence, backing him up!

Thinking of this, and then of the 0-1 score, Nagelsmann no longer hesitated.

Before the second half even began, Eintracht Frankfurt made an early substitution.

Diego Carlos replaced Gaćinović.

At this point, the team switched to a three-at-the-back, adopting a 3-1-4-2 formation.

Three defenders: David Abraham, Süle, and Diego Carlos.

In midfield, Lobotka played a holding role, with Oczipka, Naby Keïta, Stendera, and Makoto Hasebe in front of him.

The two strikers were still Waldschmidt and Alexander Meier.

With this adjustment, the entire dynamic of the game for Eintracht Frankfurt changed dramatically in the second half.

On the pitch, they directly suppressed Wolfsburg.

This was a bright spot for everyone watching.

Especially with Lobotka holding at the back, forming a small diamond-like passing structure with the three defenders.

This allowed Eintracht Frankfurt to firmly lock down possession.

And in midfield, Naby Keïta and Stendera constantly pressed forward.

Eintracht Frankfurt held an overwhelming advantage in the entire midfield and attack.

But there were still no truly threatening attacks.

In the 60th minute, Nagelsmann made his second substitution.

Andrej Kramarić replaced Waldschmidt.

After this substitution, the two strikers up front began to exert themselves, playing more aggressively.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s entire tactic began to resemble an “offense is the best defense” approach, with both wingers pushing further forward.

Since the midfield and defense had secured possession, the two full-backs also made more aggressive overlapping runs.

Wolfsburg easily found themselves in a very difficult situation.

When the ball was distributed to the left and right full-backs, Wolfsburg’s full-backs, in their 4-3-3 formation, had no choice but to pull out to the flanks to defend.

But this allowed Andrej Kramarić and Alexander Meier to directly pressure the centre-backs.

Moreover, both forwards had excellent abilities to drop back to receive the ball and make runs from deep.

In the 66th minute, just six minutes after coming on as a substitute, Andrej Kramarić was on the pitch when Stendera assisted Alexander Meier for a goal, successfully equalizing the score.

This goal gave everyone at Eintracht Frankfurt a taste of success.

And just seven minutes later, in the 79th minute, Andrej Kramarić assisted Alexander Meier to score another goal.

2-1!

The score was overturned!

This time, everyone in the stadium was truly shaken!

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause.

From the start of the second half, Eintracht Frankfurt had been practically pinning Wolfsburg in their own half.

Unlike the chaotic Eintracht Frankfurt of the first half, the second-half team was a complete transformation.

But Wolfsburg’s head coach, Dieter Hecking, was no pushover and immediately identified the problem.

A swift counter-attack went straight through the midfield to André Schürrle, who once again beat Hradecky’s goal, leveling the score again.

2-2!

One minute after conceding, in the 80th minute, Nagelsmann made his third and final substitution.

Tomáš Souček replaced Stendera.

The reason for conceding was that Stendera was starting to tire, and the pressure he applied wasn’t enough.

Moreover, the midfield indeed lacked some height.

Having used their last substitution, Eintracht Frankfurt continued to press and attack Wolfsburg relentlessly.

It wasn’t until the 93rd minute that Naby Keïta, after winning the ball in midfield, suddenly surged forward with it, dribbling past two Wolfsburg defenders before delivering a brilliant through ball to Alexander Meier.

At this moment, Meier had already appeared inside the penalty area.

The Eintracht Frankfurt veteran calmly seized the opportunity, sending the ball into Wolfsburg’s goal once again.

3-2!

In an instant, the entire stadium erupted!

There is nothing more infectious for the fans than goals and victory.

The spirit and attitude displayed by the players on the pitch absolutely cannot be hidden from the fans.

3-2!

Eintracht Frankfurt had mounted a comeback against Wolfsburg!

But more importantly, this hard-fought victory revealed a completely different Eintracht Frankfurt.

Especially in the entire second half.

Eintracht Frankfurt was almost constantly pressing and attacking Wolfsburg.

This team had truly changed!

And after this round, as Hoffenheim drew 1-1 at home against Bayer Leverkusen…

And Hannover 96 lost 1-2 at home to Darmstadt…

So, after securing a precious three points, Eintracht Frankfurt’s league points tally became sixteen, moving them up to 16th place.

This was the relegation play-off spot!

After the match, the entire German media was full of praise for the game.

Not just for Alexander Meier’s hat-trick.

But also for this rejuvenated Eintracht Frankfurt!

The team’s performance in the second half made everyone see them in a new light!

…

On the evening of January 26th, at Anfield in Liverpool.

League Cup semi-final, second leg. Bayswater Chinese challenged Liverpool away from home.

The match was at forty-five minutes and thirteen seconds of the first half.

The official on the sideline had just raised the board indicating one minute of stoppage time.

The ball was on the right side of Liverpool’s six-yard box line.

Buffon had retreated near the goal line, preparing for a goal kick.

At this moment, all of Liverpool’s players had pushed forward.

Buffon kept urging his two centre-backs, Koulibaly and Škrtel, to push up as well.

This was only the first half.

But Liverpool had already shown their do-or-die determination.

Just like in this match, head coach Klopp’s starting lineup.

4-1-4-1!

Klopp had fielded almost his strongest attacking lineup, leaving only Javier Mascherano as a single holding midfielder.

There were a full five attacking players up front, plus two full-backs.

The determination Liverpool showed in this match would have been unstoppable for any other team.

Even a team as strong as Bayswater Chinese was forced onto the defensive for the entire first half.

So, the score so far was still 0-0!

In the stands of Anfield, the Liverpool fans had been singing non-stop since the first minute.

This was their tradition!

It was also the source of strength for the Liverpool players!

Even now, Bayswater Chinese still dared not be careless.

Yang Cheng also fielded his strongest starters for this match.

Because he had guessed that this would be an arduous battle!

Without giving it their all, it would be difficult for Bayswater Chinese to retreat unscathed.

Buffon took a deep breath, quickly ran up, and booted the ball forward.

At this moment, both teams were near the halfway line.

Liverpool’s defensive line had even pushed up to the sides of the center circle.

The ball went straight past the halfway line.

Rakitić, in Bayswater Chinese’s half, to the left of the bottom of the center circle, jumped up for an aerial duel, but the ball was slightly too high.

The Croatian midfielder misjudged the header.

But it was okay.

Suárez and Firmino were still up front.

Suárez was seen rushing over, meeting the falling football, and controlling it with his chest.

Just as he controlled the ball, Thiago Silva beside him suddenly stuck out a foot, poking the ball away in mid-air.

But at this moment, Firmino quickly ran over, trying to head the ball over again.

At the crucial moment, van Dijk headed it back to midfield.

Henderson got to the landing spot first, intending to head it back to the halfway line, but Toni Kroos, just inside his own half near the bottom of the center circle, flicked it up with his foot in the nick of time.

And at almost the same time, Modrić, at the junction of the center circle and the halfway line on the right, quickly moved forward and brought the ball down with his foot.

The ball seemed to stick to Modrić’s feet.

A flick and a trap—the telepathic understanding between the two Bayswater Chinese midfielders was simply breathtaking.

What was even more spectacular was that after trapping the ball, Modrić saw Mascherano charging towards him, and he immediately passed the ball to the outside of the bottom of the center circle in Liverpool’s half.

Almost at the same instant, Toni Kroos surged forward and sent a diagonal pass with his left foot.

Liverpool’s defense was rapidly closing in, trying to block the ball near the center circle.

But this left both flanks wide open.

Especially the right side.

After Walcott caught up to the ball, there was no one defending him. He took a touch into the penalty area, his whole body accelerating.

Koulibaly was also sprinting back with all his might. His speed was not slow by any means, but the problem was, Walcott was like he was taking off.

And the Little Tiger was also very smart. He didn’t take the shot himself, but upon reaching the right edge of Liverpool’s penalty area, he suddenly crossed the ball.

And at almost the same time, Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, arriving at full tilt, just ahead of Škrtel, to meet Walcott’s pass in the center.

Right in the middle, just in front of the six-yard box, Gareth Bale took a low shot with his left foot, sending the ball into the right side of the goal guarded by Buffon.

The whole sequence happened in the blink of an eye.

At this time, 45 minutes and 32 seconds.

From Buffon’s goal kick to Gareth Bale’s goal, it took less than twenty seconds from start to finish.

And the entire Anfield stadium erupted in gasps of surprise at the moment of the goal.

The few Bayswater Chinese fans who had followed the team to the away game, in their corner, let out cheers that swept across the entire stadium, even overpowering the Liverpool fans.

1-0!

Everyone knew what this goal meant!

Yang Cheng, on the sideline, applauded vigorously.

He applauded both Gareth Bale’s goal and Walcott’s assist.

He was also cheering for Toni Kroos and Modrić.

The brilliant and clever coordination between the two midfielders not only evaded Liverpool’s press but also quickly distributed the ball to an open area, which led to Walcott’s assist.

“They really are the crown jewels of our team!” Flick praised with a hearty laugh.

Anyone who understands football knows the importance of Toni Kroos and Modrić.

Flick knew this better than anyone.

Because he believed that these two midfielders would surely help him reach the pinnacle of his coaching career!

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a narrow 1-0 away victory over Liverpool!

With an aggregate score of 4-1, they successfully advanced to the League Cup final.

In the other match, Manchester City, after suffering a 1-2 upset away to Everton, returned home, went down a goal, but then reversed the score 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Messi.

The final aggregate score was 4-3, sending The Toffees out of the League Cup.

As such, this season’s League Cup final will be contested between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

This is the first time since 2011 that Bayswater Chinese has reached the League Cup final.

…

On the weekend, in the 4th round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese hosted Stoke City.

Yang Cheng still fielded a lineup of substitutes and rotated players for this match.

But in the 19th minute, a goal from Salah gave the team the opening score.

The assist came from Aaron Ramsey.

After that, Bayswater Chinese firmly controlled the match.

Stoke City could do nothing about it.

In the end, the team defeated their opponents 1-0, successfully advancing to the Round of 16 of the FA Cup.

On the same weekend, the Bundesliga held its 19th matchday.

Eintracht Frankfurt faced Augsburg away from home in this round.

With the experience from the previous round, Nagelsmann was clearly more confident this time.

He was also more self-assured in his team selection and tactics.

As it turned out, they conceded a goal just eleven minutes into the game.

But in the 36th minute, a goal from Naby Keïta helped the team equalize.

After halftime, in the 62nd minute, Andrej Kramarić scored another goal for the team from a Naby Keïta assist, putting them in the lead.

And Naby Keïta scored the team’s third goal in the 74th minute.

In the end, Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Augsburg 3-1 away from home.

As Hoffenheim lost 0-2 away to Bayern Munich, Hannover 96 lost 0-3 away to Bayer Leverkusen, and Werder Bremen drew 3-3 at home with Hertha BSC…

So, after this round of matches, Eintracht Frankfurt had nineteen points, level with Werder Bremen.

However, thanks to a better goal difference, Eintracht Frankfurt edged out Werder Bremen to rank 15th in the Bundesliga.

In other words, Eintracht Frankfurt had officially escaped the relegation zone.

And their next opponent is 14th-placed VfB Stuttgart, who currently have twenty-one points.

The two teams could be considered direct competitors in the battle to avoid relegation.

…

On Tuesday, February 2nd, Premier League matchday 24.

Bayswater Chinese challenged West Ham United away from home.

On their home turf, The Hammers set up a tight defensive formation, shackling Bayswater Chinese.

The two teams fought hard into the second half, and finally, in the 58th minute, Modrić first assisted Gareth Bale for a goal.

Then, Giroud assisted Toni Kroos for another.

Bayswater Chinese defeated The Hammers 2-0 away from home, securing another three points.

…

On February 6th, Premier League matchday 25.

Bayswater Chinese hosted Norwich.

The team’s performance was still not ideal.

But in the 45th minute, from a corner kick opportunity, van Dijk headed home, scoring the opening goal for the team.

Just six minutes into the second half, De Bruyne assisted Harry Kane for another goal.

2-0!

The team secured another three points.

At the same time, in the 20th round of the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt faced direct competitor VfB Stuttgart.

After the integration of the previous two rounds and adjustments over the past week, Nagelsmann’s team finally had a massive release in this match.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Stendera scored the opening goal for the team.

Just before the end of the first half, Naby Keïta scored again.

Eintracht Frankfurt went into the second half with a 2-0 lead.

After the restart, Stendera first assisted Alexander Meier for a goal.

Then, Andrej Kramarić, assisted by Naby Keïta, once again broke through VfB Stuttgart’s goal.

It wasn’t until the 76th minute of the second half that Filip Kostić pulled one back for VfB Stuttgart.

But in the end, Eintracht Frankfurt still thrashed VfB Stuttgart 4-1 at home.

In this direct clash with a relegation rival, Eintracht Frankfurt secured a huge victory.

In the same round, Werder Bremen was crushed 1-5 away by Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Hannover 96 lost 0-1 at home to Mainz.

Hoffenheim lost 0-2 at home to Darmstadt.

After twenty matches, Eintracht Frankfurt, thanks to a three-game winning streak after the winter break, had earned twenty-two points, placing them 13th in the Bundesliga, three points ahead of 16th-placed Werder Bremen.

At this point, Yang Cheng could basically rest easy about Eintracht Frankfurt.

Judging from both the process of the matches and the results, Nagelsmann’s team was gradually performing at its expected level.

Especially players like Naby Keïta, Lobotka, and Andrej Kramarić, who all performed exceptionally well.

Stendera and Alexander Meier also had outstanding performances.

With their current momentum, Yang Cheng had every reason to believe that the possibility of this team falling back into the relegation zone was very, very small.

Unless Nagelsmann himself had a brain freeze.

But with Peter Hermann assisting him, Yang Cheng believed that Nagelsmann shouldn’t encounter such a problem.

Next, he would completely put aside matters concerning Eintracht Frankfurt and devote himself wholeheartedly to Bayswater Chinese’s upcoming busy schedule.

In February, Bayswater Chinese’s schedule was extremely tight.

The Champions League was restarting, they were in the Round of 16 of the FA Cup, had reached the final of the League Cup, and the Premier League was entering its sprint phase.

The fluctuating performance in the latter half of January was mostly a result of Yang Cheng’s deliberate adjustments.

The goal was to start pushing hard from February onwards!

This time, Yang Cheng’s goal was very clear.

He was aiming for the unprecedented quadruple!

Chapter 356: Acquiring a Premier League Club! A Sky-High Release Clause! When it Comes to Beating Pep Guardiola, I’m the Best!

Before the 26th round of the Premier League, where Klopp’s Liverpool was set to challenge Bayswater Chinese away, Yang Cheng said this in a pre-match press conference when interviewed by the British media.

“I feel that Klopp hasn’t adapted yet, or rather, hasn’t had the time to adapt to the Premier League!”

“He’s like a restless boy in his adolescence. He needs to become more mature, more rational!”

It was truly comical!

A thirty-five-year-old Yang Cheng was advising the forty-eight-year-old Klopp to be more mature.

Many people believed this was Yang Cheng playing psychological warfare with Klopp before the match.

But only Klopp himself knew the truth.

Yang Cheng was giving him pointers!

Since coming to the Premier League, he had played against Yang Cheng several times and had drinks with him a few times.

The thing Yang Cheng emphasized the most was the difference between the Premier League and the Bundesliga.

Klopp felt he was already mentally prepared.

But Yang Cheng thought he wasn’t.

This had once made Klopp feel defiant.

But having played through the season so far, for twenty-six rounds, with Liverpool also reaching the League Cup semi-final, Klopp asked himself honestly: Yang Cheng was right!

The tactical system he excelled at in the Bundesliga had indeed brought earth-shattering changes to Liverpool upon arriving in the Premier League.

The high degree of compatibility between his tactics, the team’s philosophy, and their mentality made Klopp’s high press and fast counter-attack style feel completely in its element at Liverpool.

The matches were incredibly exciting to watch.

All the fans were raving about it.

Many even said that Klopp was the most suitable head coach for Liverpool in the new century.

There was nothing wrong with that statement!

But after the initial honeymoon period, various problems began to surface.

Liverpool had actually performed well in clashes between top teams this season, but stamina management had always been a huge issue.

Charging forward relentlessly was exhilarating, of course.

But what happened after the rush?

When your stamina began to wane, you were pinned down and completely dominated by the opponent.

The League Cup semi-final against Bayswater Chinese was the best proof.

Yang Cheng said he needed to become more mature, more rational.

In Klopp’s understanding, this was telling him to learn to control the match, to control the tempo.

Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, a fluctuating pace—that’s what made sense!

And the biggest difference between the Premier League and the Bundesliga was that the mid and lower-table teams in the Premier League were just so damn strong!

When Klopp was coaching in the Bundesliga, apart from Bayern Munich, he barely paid any attention to the other teams, especially those in the middle and lower parts of the table.

But in the Premier League?

The effectiveness of Klopp’s high press and fast counter-attack tactics was actually less potent in England than in Germany.

Why?

Because most teams in the Premier League played on the fast counter-attack.

The tempo was incredibly fast.

That left the high press as his biggest advantage.

But the most disgusting thing about the mid and lower-table Premier League teams was that they had their own set of game strategies.

With their strong purchasing power, they didn’t poach star players but specifically targeted capable, solid players, mostly physically imposing, tall center-forwards and lightning-fast wingers.

Their main strategy was a direct, physical style of play.

In recent years, the level of defending in European football had advanced by leaps and bounds.

The mid and lower-table Premier League teams had enough money to buy excellent defenders, so every one of them built a solid defense.

Thus, when facing top teams, they would defend and counter-attack.

And the teams they feared the least were precisely those like Liverpool that pressed high and committed to attacking.

Once your attack up front failed, they’d hit you with a counter-attack in behind your defense.

The powerful, imposing players and the speedsters would immediately teach you a lesson!

This situation was rarely seen in the Bundesliga.

The mid and lower-table teams in the Bundesliga were generally incapable of playing at such a level.

Therefore, the teams that Premier League clubs feared the most were possession-based teams like Manchester City, and pass-and-move teams like Bayswater Chinese and Arsenal.

Look, Mourinho’s style wasn’t working at Chelsea anymore.

Van Gaal was also encountering trouble at Manchester United.

And now, so was Klopp.

The root cause was what Yang Cheng had said: when your attack isn’t working, you need to control the ball, readjust, reorganize, and launch another wave.

If one wave doesn’t work, then a second, a third, pushing forward wave after wave until the opponent’s defense breaks!

But this required a player who could control the tempo in midfield.

Liverpool didn’t have such a player right now.

Klopp had wanted to sign Gündoğan from Borussia Dortmund during the winter transfer window, but they couldn’t agree on a price.

At the beginning of the season, the reason he signed Sadio Mané for a hefty fee was his firm belief that you couldn’t succeed in the Premier League without speed.

He was proven right.

But now, he discovered that you also couldn’t succeed without an excellent creative playmaker.

Many people only saw that string of 1-0 victories and one 0-0 draw for Bayswater Chinese in January and thought that Yang Cheng and his team were perhaps losing steam.

But no one knew how much Klopp envied Yang Cheng.

The point of winning ugly wasn’t the “ugly” part, nor was it just about winning.

More importantly, behind the ugliness was the Bayswater Chinese players’ management of their fitness.

Once they recovered their energy from this period of adjustment, Bayswater Chinese would be back to their vigorous selves in the second half of the season!

What was despairing was that they could still win even during their adjustment period!

In contrast, Liverpool…

In the 26th round of the Premier League, Klopp learned from his previous experience and hoped his team could be a bit more stable in the first half and manage their stamina reasonably.

He wanted to avoid a repeat of the situation where their energy would deplete in the second half.

Especially when playing against Bayswater Chinese.

If you ran out of stamina before the sixtieth minute, how the hell were you supposed to play?

The idea was good.

But it was just an idea.

Because when Liverpool couldn’t exert enough pressure on Bayswater Chinese in the final third, Yang Cheng’s team used their attack to dismantle Liverpool’s defense time and again.

In the twentieth minute, Toni Kroos assisted Harry Kane for a goal.

In the thirty-third minute, Modrić broke into the penalty area and found the back of Liverpool’s net again.

Only half an hour had been played in the first half, and Liverpool were already two goals down.

Klopp realized with stark clarity that he had been wrong!

By going all-out to pressure the opponent, his team might run out of steam after sixty minutes and be forced onto the back foot.

But at least they could last for sixty minutes.

After the sixtieth minute, adopting a defend-with-all-one’s-might tactic might still offer a glimmer of hope.

But if he abandoned his greatest weapon, trying to both press and conserve energy, the result was that he achieved neither.

The match hadn’t even reached the sixtieth minute—strictly speaking, it had only been thirty minutes—and he had already lost!

The second half held no surprises.

Liverpool indeed still performed well after the sixtieth minute.

Suárez scored for the team in the sixty-fifth minute.

But in the sixty-seventh minute, Gareth Bale extended his team’s lead once more.

In the seventy-sixth minute, for a foul while trying to stop Theo Walcott, Aleksandar Kolarov received his second yellow card and was sent off.

In the League Cup semi-final, Kolarov had been beaten by Walcott.

This time he desperately tried to stop him, and the price was a red card.

It was just like Klopp’s own predicament!

Facing Bayswater Chinese, the harder he struggled, the quicker he died.

In the end, Klopp’s team suffered a 3-1 defeat away from home!

…

On the evening of February 17th, it was the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Serie A’s The Giallorossi, AS Roma, away from home.

AS Roma at this time could be considered to have a strong squad, boasting famous players like El Shaarawy, Totti, Miralem Pjanić, and Nainggolan.

But on their home turf, Spalletti’s team still couldn’t stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

The Giallorossi held on bitterly for forty-three minutes.

Walcott delivered a cross from the right flank, and Gareth Bale scored from the left flank, opening the scoring for his team.

After the break, in the fifty-fourth minute, Gareth Bale once again received the ball on the left, suddenly accelerated past Florenzi, and forced his way into the left side of the penalty area before firing a low shot past the Roma goalkeeper.

2-0!

Just six minutes later, Giroud sealed the victory for Bayswater Chinese with a ferocious header.

3-0!

The match had only reached the sixtieth minute.

Although Nainggolan managed to pull one back for AS Roma in the subsequent play, The Giallorossi ultimately lost 3-1 at home, essentially surrendering their chances of advancing.

…

On February 20th, in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese traveled to White Hart Lane to challenge Tottenham Hotspur.

As the match entered stoppage time in the first half, Kyle Walker received the ball on the right side of Tottenham’s half.

As he received it, he lifted his head and glanced ahead.

Salah had drifted to the right, almost hugging the touchline, ready to receive his pass.

This let Kyle Walker know what to do.

The English right-back quickly dribbled forward, but cut diagonally into the half-space.

Upon entering Tottenham’s 30-meter area, before Bentaleb could close him down, he made a cross pass and continued his sprint forward.

As Modrić ran horizontally to receive the ball, he saw Salah on the right touchline raising his hand, calling for the ball.

At almost the same instant, Kyle Walker had already charged to the right half-space just outside the penalty area.

Tottenham’s left-back, Daniel Rose, was drawn by Walker’s movement and shifted towards the penalty area.

Having played together for many years, Modrić instantly figured out how this attack would unfold.

He first came to a sudden stop and feinted as if to charge forward.

This immediately made Bentaleb, who was near the flank, retreat defensively.

But just then, Modrić, who was supposed to be running forward, suddenly flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot, passing it diagonally to the right touchline, into the path of Salah.

With Bentaleb drawn towards the center, Salah was almost unmarked on the right touchline.

Tottenham’s left-back Daniel Rose immediately rushed over to close him down.

The unfortunate Daniel Rose had no idea that Salah was waiting for him to commit.

As soon as the Egyptian received the ball, before Daniel Rose could get near, he sent a diagonal pass into the right side of the penalty area.

And Kyle Walker, who had already sprinted to the edge of the box, suddenly accelerated, cutting in from the half-space into the right side, perfectly timing his run to meet Salah’s pass.

Kyle Walker received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and used his body to engage in a solid physical contest with Toby Alderweireld.

Using the momentum, Kyle Walker caught up to the ball again and unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

The Dutch goalkeeper, Michel Vorm, was only 1.83 meters tall and was quick to get down for low shots.

But Kyle Walker’s furious shot went straight for his head, flying past his outstretched hands and into the back of the net.

1-0!

An excited Kyle Walker turned and ran, sprinting off the pitch in celebration.

Yang Cheng, on the sidelines, couldn’t help but applaud repeatedly.

Kyle Walker had indeed performed exceptionally well this season.

It was obvious to everyone that the thirty-year-old Piszczek was gradually being overshadowed by his teammate.

His speed was truly incredible, and he was very strong in physical contests.

An average of 6.3 ball recoveries per game was a testament to his excellence.

In the coming years, before Alexander-Arnold matured, Bayswater Chinese’s right flank would depend on him!

…

After the fifth round of the FA Cup, the team got a week’s rest.

A week later, the Premier League would see its 27th round, but Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City were scheduled to play in the League Cup final.

Before this final, however, Yang Cheng took the time to travel to Zurich, Switzerland, to attend the FIFA Extraordinary Congress held on the 26th.

The date for this congress had been set last December at the Council meeting in Tokyo, Japan.

The venue wasn’t the FIFA headquarters but the Hallenstadion in the northern part of Zurich.

It was a fully enclosed indoor stadium, often rented out for events like basketball, boxing, and ice hockey, as well as concerts and stage plays—a very popular multi-functional arena.

Now, the stadium had been set up as a very spacious conference hall.

Yang Cheng arrived in Zurich early on the 23rd.

On the 24th, he attended an internal meeting of the Supervisory Board, mainly focusing on the progress of reforms and the agenda for the Extraordinary Congress on the 26th. This was a FIFA congress held only once every few years, a very grand occasion.

On the 25th, Yang Cheng and the members of the Supervisory Board met with the FIFA Council, primarily to discuss the various agenda items for the 26th and FIFA’s upcoming reform plans.

There were also preparations and arrangements for major tournaments and other matters.

On the morning of the 26th, around 8:00 AM, representatives from over two hundred FIFA member nations and regions, along with FIFA’s top executives, employees, media reporters from all over the world, and everyone concerned about the development of international football, gathered at the Hallenstadion.

The media reporters were not allowed inside but were gathered outside, conducting interviews and reporting.

Yang Cheng was undoubtedly the center of everyone’s attention.

As the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng would deliver the opening address on behalf of FIFA.

This was a first in history!

By convention, this had always been the job of the FIFA President.

But this was already the second time Yang Cheng had performed duties in place of the FIFA President.

The first was at the FIFA awards ceremony in January.

Bayswater Chinese had been overwhelmingly successful.

Out of the eleven players in the Best XI of the year, a full seven were from Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng won the award for Best Men’s Coach!

Gareth Bale also won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive time!

At the time, it was Yang Cheng who personally presented the award to Gareth Bale, which became a celebrated story within FIFA.

Now, Yang Cheng was once again acting as the FIFA President.

Over the past period, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng had frequently released updates and news on the reforms within the Supervisory Board and FIFA, and this time everyone was paying close attention.

Yang Cheng smiled and expressed his approval of FIFA’s achievements during this period.

“In over half a year, we have fought a very beautiful war against corruption and have achieved a major victory!”

Were there any specific fruits of victory that could be revealed in advance?

Yang Cheng smiled and said, “In the past, at every Extraordinary Congress, you could only wait outside the stadium, but now, we can enter the venue. This is a huge step forward!”

A round of warm applause immediately erupted from the crowd.

It was true!

Previously, everyone could only wait outside, waiting for FIFA’s final press release.

Now, they could enter.

Of course, the entire Extraordinary Congress would be broadcast live.

Football fans all over the world who were interested could watch the live stream online.

At 9:40 AM, the Extraordinary Congress officially began!

As the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng delivered the opening address on behalf of FIFA.

He extended a warm welcome to all the member representatives, FIFA colleagues, and media reporters present.

Yang Cheng stated that over the past period, FIFA had faced unprecedentedly severe challenges, as well as various problems accumulated over the past several decades.

“Today, the eyes of the world are focused on this Extraordinary Congress!”

“After more than half a year, the world’s football fans are waiting for us to provide an answer.”

“I want to say that as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, over the past six months, my colleagues and I have always held one belief: only by unswervingly promoting reform can we help FIFA rebuild its credibility and regain the trust of the fans!”

The venue erupted in incredibly enthusiastic applause.

Yang Cheng announced that due to the suspension of Indonesia and Kuwait’s memberships, there were 207 member association representatives present today.

The entire Extraordinary Congress would be divided into two parts.

First was the vote on several proposals, including the FIFA Statutes, the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes, and the Standing Orders of the Congress.

Among these, various reform measures previously decided by FIFA, including the reform of the Executive Committee into the Council, and term and age limits for officials, were all reflected in these proposals.

Once passed, it would mean that a brand-new governance framework for FIFA would be implemented.

After the vote, it would be the FIFA presidential election, which everyone was very concerned about.

There were currently three candidates.

One was David Gill from England.

The other two were from Asia: Prince Ali of Jordan, and Sheikh Salman, the President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and a FIFA Vice-Chairman.

The first item on the agenda was chaired by the head of the reform task force, David Gill.

He first read out all the reform proposals, explained the amendments, and articulated the necessity of the reforms.

In fact, many of these had already been approved internally, but this time they were brought out into the open for a public vote to prove their authority.

And the final votes were basically all in favour.

Every time a reform proposal was passed, a wave of enthusiastic applause would ripple through the venue.

This showed everyone the high regard for reform within FIFA.

This trend was unstoppable!

During the subsequent election with the three candidates, Yang Cheng presided.

There was a very clear signal when David Gill gave his pre-election speech; he received the most enthusiastic applause.

The Englishman had made reform his campaign slogan, and he himself had been personally involved in the entire process of FIFA’s reforms, earning the approval of most people.

Most importantly, he was basically free of scandals.

In contrast, his biggest rival, Sheikh Salman from Bahrain, the AFC President, was embroiled in a bribery scandal from his 2009 election for the FIFA Executive Committee member position, which was exposed by the British media right after he announced his candidacy.

He had spent one million six hundred thousand US dollars to orchestrate it.

But this money allegedly came from the sports development funds allocated by FIFA to Bahrain.

Sheikh Salman’s lawyers denied these accusations, but it still made people worried about his situation.

Over the past years, the FIFA President had either been from Europe or the Americas.

No one from Asia or Africa had ever been elected.

Some even joked that if Yang Cheng were to run, he would definitely be elected.

But if Yang Cheng ran, many of his other ventures would become impossible.

As the candidate endorsed by the AFC, Sheikh Salman was also highly anticipated.

After all, if he could break the “monopoly” of Europe and the Americas over the FIFA presidency, it would bring a breath of fresh air.

It was just unexpected that he would be hit by such a scandal, which damaged his image.

As the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Yang Cheng presided over the entire voting process and also announced the start of the vote.

According to the rules, in the first round of voting, if any of the three candidates could secure a majority of more than two-thirds of the votes, they would win immediately.

If no one exceeded the two-thirds threshold, the top two vote-getters would proceed to a second round.

After the voting began, the 207 member representatives sitting in front of the stage began to press the electronic buttons in their hands, casting their precious votes.

The large screen on the stage displayed the vote counts for each candidate in real-time.

The atmosphere in the entire stadium suddenly became tense.

Although Yang Cheng didn’t mind who became president, he still hoped David Gill would win.

And the facts proved that David Gill led from the very beginning, and the gap gradually widened.

It even grew larger and larger.

Once the voting started, only one question remained: could David Gill surpass the two-thirds majority?

The answer was revealed soon enough.

The final number was locked in at 143 votes!

Sheikh Salman received 47 votes, and Prince Ali received 17.

David Gill didn’t need a second round; with a majority advantage of over two-thirds, he directly won the position of FIFA President!

In an instant, the entire stadium thundered with applause.

Everyone was satisfied with this result.

Because over the past period, the achievements of the FIFA reforms led by David Gill were there for all to see.

And now, his election also signaled that FIFA’s reforms would continue to advance.

When Yang Cheng, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, announced this result and invited David Gill onto the stage, the Englishman excitedly embraced Yang Cheng, holding on for a long time.

“I can’t describe how I feel at this moment!”

“This past half-year has been an extraordinary experience for me. I have met many amazing people who love football, and I have learned so much from them.”

“I hope to work with you, with everyone, to create a new era for international football!”

When presenting his future vision for FIFA, David Gill stated that he would unswervingly push for reform.

At the same time, he expressed great gratitude to the Supervisory Board, led by Yang Cheng, for its oversight of himself, the FIFA Council, the continental confederations, and all member associations.

He believed that, judging from over a hundred years of history, this was very necessary.

Regarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, David Gill said he would not make any changes.

The reason was simple: Russia and Qatar had already invested huge sums of money in the preparations for these two World Cups.

Moreover, revoking their hosting rights would not be in FIFA’s interest.

But for these two tournaments, David Gill stated that FIFA would invest more time and energy to ensure they would be two successful football festivals.

David Gill also shared many of his other ideas.

Yang Cheng stood aside, listening with a smile.

But in reality, he wasn’t really taking it in.

In his heart, he felt a little emotional.

This guy had finally gotten his wish!

He still clearly remembered how he had initially just encouraged David Gill to become a God of Wealth.

But who could have guessed that he would now be the FIFA President.

Things in this world really changed too quickly!

He wasn’t worried about whether David Gill would honor his promises because his own requests were actually very simple.

He had already secured the authorization for events like the International Champions Cup.

What remained was to increase support for youth academy development in China.

This wasn’t just a matter of money; the most important thing was talent.

Developing a youth academy was impossible without talent.

Building a youth coaching system, and all other aspects, required talented people.

For example, the youth academy in Xinjiang.

Yang Cheng spent money to invite excellent youth coaches from Eastern Europe to coach there, but no matter how much he called for it, it was less effective than FIFA taking the lead.

For David Gill, this was also a good thing.

China’s economy was at the peak of its power, but its football, especially the men’s team, was so far behind.

No matter who was elected FIFA President, they would surely want to help China qualify for the World Cup finals.

Who could imagine that football, the world’s number one sport, and the World Cup, its most prestigious tournament, wouldn’t feature China, a country with a population of 1.4 billion.

Oh, right, India wasn’t there either.

But could India’s value compare to China’s?

Just looking at the Chinese sponsors each year, they could leave India in the dust by a country mile.

So, on the matter of helping China improve its football standards, David Gill could push for it with full justification.

However, at the luncheon after the election, Yang Cheng saw Nasser from the Qatar consortium.

He had come to Zurich with the Qatar delegation.

And Nasser brought Yang Cheng a piece of earth-shattering news.

“The deal for a Premier League club that we’ve been working on has made a breakthrough.”

When Nasser delivered this news with a smile, Yang Cheng was quite astonished.

“Which team?” Yang Cheng blurted out.

“Tottenham Hotspur!”

“Huh?” Yang Cheng was even more surprised.

How could it be Tottenham Hotspur?

Weren’t there rumors about many other teams before?

Yang Cheng had never really thought it would be Southampton.

Why?

Because Southampton wasn’t in a major city.

Recently, there had been constant news in the media about clubs like Everton.

Buying that team to become city rivals with Liverpool would actually be quite interesting.

Then there was West Ham United in London.

The latter had secured a long-term lease for the London Bowl, a stadium that was a hot property.

There were even rumors of a team on the south bank of the River Thames, like Crystal Palace.

But Yang Cheng never expected it to be Tottenham Hotspur.

Because Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy were too shrewd!

It wasn’t that investors hadn’t been interested in Tottenham in the past, but their asking price was always very high.

“How much did you spend?” Yang Cheng asked with great interest.

He was already expecting to hear an astronomical figure.

“One point five billion pounds sterling!”

As expected!

Although Yang Cheng had lived through the sales of Manchester United and Chelsea in his previous life and was somewhat desensitized to large numbers, the acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur for one point five billion pounds would surely shock the European football world, and even the entire globe.

This would further inflate the prices of Premier League clubs!

Frankly, this was not very friendly to the several Chinese consortiums currently interested in investing in the Premier League.

“That’s too high!” Yang Cheng shook his head repeatedly.

Nasser smiled and nodded, “Yes, but Tottenham Hotspur has a project that we are very interested in.”

“You mean the Northumberland Development Project?”

“That’s right, we are very interested in this plan. In fact, we think we can make it even bigger,” Nasser said, full of excitement.

The area in northeast London where Tottenham Hotspur is located is actually quite remote and relatively poor, with inadequate facilities.

The reason the London city government insisted on placing the London Bowl in the east of the city back then was to revitalize East London.

It had been at least ten years since Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium plan was first proposed.

The local council had specifically collaborated with the club based on the new stadium project to propose the Northumberland Project, a plan to revitalize and redevelop the old urban area.

The plan was divided into three parts.

In the middle was the stadium. To the north was a two-story complex containing a supermarket, a car park, and some commercial space.

The most important part of the project was to the south of the stadium, where four separate residential buildings were planned.

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, this project for Tottenham Hotspur was revised again and again.

For example, the complex to the north was changed from two stories to four because Tottenham Hotspur later moved the club’s offices into that building.

The residential buildings to the south were also changed repeatedly, from the original 200 units to 285.

But after the stadium was completed, construction on the residential buildings never began.

Before Yang Cheng was reincarnated, the latest news was that they would no longer build residential buildings but would redevelop the area, starting with a 30-story hotel.

But whatever it was, the project was indeed very attractive.

“We are in close discussions with the London city government and the Haringey Council. We even hope to further expand the Northumberland Project to cover a wider area.”

“We hope to build a landmark architectural complex in East London around the new stadium project, just like the catalytic effect your Prudential Stadium has had in Bayswater, driving the development of the entire surrounding area.”

Yang Cheng chuckled to himself upon hearing this.

We drove the development around Bayswater?

But if the Qatar consortium really planned to do something like that in the Tottenham area, it would indeed drive the development of the surrounding region.

Because the whole area was quite poor.

“One and a half billion pounds is really expensive,” Yang Cheng said, clicking his tongue.

“But it’s worth it, isn’t it?” Nasser said with a smile.

For them, the most important thing wasn’t the numbers but the assets.

If one and a half billion pounds, plus subsequent investments, could bring them high-quality assets in the London area, it would be a very cost-effective deal.

What’s more, they would also have Tottenham Hotspur.

Ever since Bayswater Chinese became successful, foreign investors, every single one of them, had followed the scent and come over.

They had all clearly realized that running a football club didn’t necessarily mean you had to make money from the football club itself.

There could be other, and even more and better, money-making projects.

“With you guys coming in, London is going to get really lively,” Yang Cheng laughed.

Bayswater Chinese, Chelsea, Arsenal, and now Tottenham Hotspur.

Four powerhouse teams in London—this was going to be insane!

“By the way, I remember you said last time that you would sign a superstar. Were you talking about Ibrahimović?” Yang Cheng suddenly remembered this question.

Ibrahimović was currently playing for Paris Saint-Germain, so a transfer to Tottenham in London would be quite normal.

“And Neymar!”

“Who?” Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment, suspecting he had misheard.

“Neymar from Barça!” Nasser repeated, enunciating each word.

This time, Yang Cheng was truly shocked.

They were bringing Neymar to London?

Weren’t they supposed to take him to Paris?

Nasser was very satisfied with Yang Cheng’s surprise because this was the effect he had wanted to achieve.

If even Yang Cheng was this shocked, one could only imagine how shocked the whole world would be when the news broke.

“We have basically reached an agreement with Neymar’s team. We an agreement with Neymar’s team. We’re willing to pay his two hundred and twenty million euro release clause for him to join Tottenham Hotspur, along with Ibrahimović.”

“In addition, we will also bring in other star players to build a top team that is the most competitive in the Premier League, and even in European football.”

Yang Cheng automatically ignored Nasser’s last sentence.

What truly astonished him was that Neymar was coming to the Premier League, and he was joining Tottenham Hotspur.

That was what surprised him the most.

Because everything had changed!

The world he was familiar with was changing more and more.

It was even completely different now.

Why would Neymar come to the Premier League?

Shouldn’t the Qatar consortium continue to invest in Paris…

Wait!

Yang Cheng immediately realized the crux of the issue.

Why did the Qatar consortium invest in Paris?

Because of the 2022 World Cup.

It was the French who helped them win the bid for that World Cup, and in return, they invested in Ligue 1 and PSG.

But now, the FIFA President was David Gill, and the main business of Supervisory Board Chairman Yang Cheng was in England.

Previously, Yang Cheng had been hearing that the Qataris were lobbying all over London, hoping to secure their hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup.

Whether as a payback or for investment considerations, they chose to invest in a Premier League team.

This was actually a very good deal!

In Yang Cheng’s previous life, after the Qatar consortium invested so much money in PSG, why did they still want to acquire Manchester United?

Ultimately, it was because they valued the influence and value of the Premier League.

Under these circumstances, Neymar coming to the Premier League was undoubtedly no longer surprising.

“I need to digest this. With what you guys are doing, won’t the competition in the Premier League become too brutal in the future?”

“When we play the London derby, people might actually die!”

Nasser roared with laughter at this.

For a head coach or a player, such a complaint was a normal reaction.

But as investors, as club operators, they would be delighted to see such a situation.

Because it would make the overall brand value of the Premier League, and the matches themselves, more prestigious and more attractive to fans.

…

The shock brought by the Qataris still hadn’t completely worn off even after Yang Cheng left Zurich and returned to London.

When he told Xia Qing and Adam Crozier this news, they were equally shocked.

One point five billion pounds to acquire Tottenham Hotspur.

Plus the Northumberland Project, which would require at least another one point five billion pounds in investment.

Three billion pounds sterling!

Good heavens, how were the Qataris so rich?

“Qing, what do you think? If we just sell the club, take the money and run, and live off the rent from a few buildings in the future, how about that?” Yang Cheng asked, suddenly having a brain fart.

Xia Qing shot him an annoyed glare.

Fortunately, they were in her office, and there was no one else around.

If this got out, who knew what kind of storm it would cause.

“Let me tell you, I don’t know about the other clubs, but Bayswater Chinese cannot be sold, not even for five billion pounds.”

“Why?”

“If you have five billion pounds, where are you going to find a business that makes you hundreds of millions of pounds a year?”

Yang Cheng wanted to remind his wife.

The reason Bayswater Chinese was so profitable was because he was there.

When he retired, the profitability would probably decrease a bit.

But no matter what, it should still be quite profitable.

After all, Bayswater Chinese’s revenue was already at a level that far surpassed others.

Besides, Yang Cheng wasn’t stupid.

The clubs under his command were of no ordinary value.

He wasn’t crazy, why would he sell them?

“The Qataris’ investment and Neymar’s arrival in the Premier League are both good things for us,” Xia Qing analyzed.

Yang Cheng deeply agreed.

“Oh, by the way, you mentioned Everton just now. We have reliable intelligence that Everton has also been acquired.”

“Who acquired them? When did this happen?”

Yang Cheng was a bit surprised.

“Just recently. The only thing certain is that it’s a consortium from the Middle East, but the specifics haven’t been disclosed. They probably want to maintain a bit of mystery.”

Some consortiums did prefer not to be identified, especially some sensitive ones, like certain royal families or oligarchs.

“How much did Everton sell for?”

“Two hundred million pounds.”

The difference between that and Tottenham Hotspur was huge.

This was the difference between Liverpool and London.

The Qatar consortium would rather spend one and a half billion pounds to acquire Tottenham Hotspur than two hundred million to acquire Everton.

“Also, in recent times, football deals in the City of London have become increasingly popular. Consortiums from the United States, Asia, and the Middle East are all very interested in teams in the Premier League, the Championship, and even League One and League Two.”

Yang Cheng nodded; he wasn’t surprised.

Because the new Premier League broadcast contract would take effect in the summer of 2016.

By then, every Premier League team would receive a huge sum of money each season.

For these investors, acquiring a Premier League club was indeed a very worthwhile business.

Everton only cost two hundred million pounds!

Of course, in the business of football, one couldn’t just look at the acquisition cost. The subsequent operating expenses of the club were the real big ticket item.

With the influx of this capital, the competition in the Premier League would become more and more intense, but its overall influence would definitely grow as well.

“By the way, have you figured out how to play against Manchester City?” Xia Qing asked with concern.

“I heard that over the past week, Pep Guardiola has kept the entire Manchester City team locked in the training ground for a closed-door training camp, conserving energy just for this League Cup final.”

“Is that so?” Yang Cheng chuckled upon hearing this.

If that were true, then Pep Guardiola really did value the League Cup.

Of course, that wasn’t surprising.

From the current standings, Manchester City had already fallen quite a bit behind in the Premier League this season.

With Guardiola’s personality, he would definitely try to secure the League Cup title first, then plan for a comeback in the league.

“Don’t worry. If it were anyone else, I might not be so confident, but when it comes to beating Pep Guardiola, I’m the best!”

Yang Cheng’s exaggerated remark made Xia Qing burst out laughing with a ‘pfft’.

But on second thought, Yang Cheng had never really lost in his encounters with Pep Guardiola.

“So how are you planning to play?” Xia Qing looked at Yang Cheng with concern.

“Klopp’s style is pretty good. It’ll be very effective in countering Guardiola’s possession-based football,” Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Klopp’s style was a bit completely unreasonable, a bit like a flurry of random punches beating the old master.

But you had to admit, his style was indeed quite effective.

It seemed very aggressive, but in reality, through the pressure from the forwards and the players’ abilities, it wreaked havoc on the opponent’s defensive line.

Even a team as strong as Bayswater Chinese was suppressed for most of the match before, weren’t they?

“No wonder I’ve seen Flick and Brian Kidd practicing tactics recently. But how are you going to solve the stamina consumption problem?” Xia Qing was a bit curious.

Yang Cheng grinned, “I don’t need to solve the stamina consumption problem. It can’t be solved, unless the laws of physics don’t exist.”

Xia Qing was a little puzzled.

“If you don’t solve the stamina consumption problem, didn’t Klopp still lose?”

“That’s Klopp!”

Yang Cheng said with a look of prideful coyness.

“Besides, Klopp lost not because his tactics were wrong, but because his team couldn’t score.”

Xia Qing seemed to understand, but at the same time, she didn’t grasp anything at all.

“As long as we can score against Manchester City before our stamina is depleted to a certain extent, then Klopp’s problem will no longer be a problem!”

This time, Xia Qing finally understood.

Although she still didn’t completely get it, she vaguely guessed that Yang Cheng had decided to go all-out against Manchester City.

And with a high press, a tit-for-tat, all-out battle!

This would undoubtedly make the match even more suspenseful.

And how would Pep Guardiola want to play?

Chapter 357: An Historic Moment! The World’s Number One Centre-Back! Neymar is Here! A Special Gift!

On the evening of February 28th, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The English League Cup Final: Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester City.

This was a clash of titans, evenly matched.

One could tell just by looking at the starting lineups of both sides.

Yang Cheng had fielded his strongest team.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defence: Marcelo, Pepe, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Sterling, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

Bayswater Chinese once again deployed their most familiar 4-3-3 formation.

And right from the kickoff, they began to hound and press Manchester City.

Through high-intensity pressing, they completely suppressed Manchester City.

The three forwards, with their constant movement and bewildering positional interchanges, gave Manchester City’s backline a torrid time, throwing the Blue Moons’ defense and midfield into disarray and stretching them thin.

First, Toni Kroos distributed the ball to Sterling on the left flank. Facing a double-team from two Manchester City defenders, he managed to draw their attention before laying the ball off into the half-space.

Marcelo made a high-speed overlapping run, charging toward the left side of the penalty area.

But at the crucial moment, ter Stegen decisively came off his line and smothered the ball.

Shortly after, a long shot from Gareth Bale sailed just over the crossbar.

In the first ten minutes, Bayswater Chinese had completely dominated Manchester City.

They frequently created threatening attacks.

Unfortunately, Yang Cheng’s team couldn’t create a clear-cut chance to break the deadlock.

Pep Guardiola’s starting tactic was also a 4-3-3.

Goalkeeper: ter Stegen;

Defence: Leighton Baines, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincent Kompany, and Pablo Zabaleta;

Midfield: Yaya Touré in a holding role, with David Silva and Marco Verratti ahead of him;

Forwards: Marco Reus, Agüero, and Messi.

If Yang Cheng had rotated Theo Walcott, then Pep Guardiola had sent out every single one of his available key players.

Moreover, he had been honing this lineup for three years, and the players’ performance and coordination were now quite impressive.

For the first ten minutes, Manchester City were pinned back by Bayswater Chinese.

But after the ten-minute mark, the Blue Moons gradually found their footing and began to fight for possession.

At that moment, Bayswater Chinese’s bold, high-pressing, almost brutish approach since the start of the game presented Manchester City with an opportunity.

In the nineteenth minute, Messi received the ball in the right half-space, turned to shake off Toni Kroos, and began driving diagonally towards the center.

Just before Nemanja Matić could close him down, he threaded a through ball.

The ball arrived at the feet of Agüero, on the left side of the center circle.

The Argentine’s first touch took the ball past the defensive line as he pushed off with both feet, rapidly giving chase.

Van Dijk, who was originally positioned inside the center circle, immediately started sprinting back the moment he saw Messi make the pass.

Pepe, further away, was the last man back, so an offside trap was impossible.

By the time Agüero caught up to the ball again, van Dijk was already back in position.

The Dutch centre-back was even slightly ahead of Agüero.

But van Dijk chose not to get tight or go in for a direct tackle.

He kept his eyes glued to Agüero’s dribbling path. The moment they were about to make contact, he took a diagonal step, intruding into Agüero’s line.

This forced Agüero to abandon his direct forward path, making him shift slightly towards the left flank.

Before the match, van Dijk had received detailed statistics.

The number of goals Agüero scored with his right foot was four times that of his left.

Aside from his short stature and weakness in the air, his feet were also imbalanced.

Therefore, during that defensive sequence, van Dijk had dared to position himself more centrally, wanting Agüero to receive the ball on his left.

Now, by closing in, he was forcing the right-footed Agüero to drift further out towards the left touchline.

But the two still maintained a small distance.

Van Dijk had absolute confidence in his own pace.

And he was constantly reading Agüero’s movements.

To all the fans, it looked as if van Dijk was simply retreating while sticking close to Agüero.

But as they entered his team’s 30-meter area, van Dijk closed the gap by another step, perfectly timing it with Agüero’s stride.

This forced Agüero to abruptly change his pace and adjust his dribbling path again, moving even further to the left.

As a result, he slowed down.

It might seem like a small thing, but one shouldn’t underestimate it.

If van Dijk’s timing had been off, Agüero could very well have knocked the ball forward and run right past him.

Or he could have suddenly decelerated and cut inside.

But as van Dijk tracked back, his every step locked onto Agüero, compelling the Argentine to keep drifting towards the left flank.

In doing so, Agüero began to encroach on Marco Reus’s territory.

The German “Little Rocket” was renowned for his speed.

But with Agüero now drifting into his path, Reus found it difficult to utilize his own pace.

As he neared the edge of the penalty area, Agüero decided to stop abruptly, shielded the ball, and played a through pass.

Marco Reus sprinted in from the side at top speed, chasing after the ball.

Van Dijk was no slouch either, sticking to him like glue, remaining on Reus’s inside and successfully blocking off the German winger.

On the left side, just outside the penalty area, Reus first slowed down and then suddenly accelerated again, trying to shake off van Dijk.

But no matter how the German “Little Rocket” sprinted or slowed, van Dijk clung to him like a stubborn plaster.

In the end, the attack concluded with Reus hastily delivering a cross, which was caught comfortably by a well-positioned Courtois.

Manchester City’s most dangerous attack of the game so far had been snuffed out.

Yet from start to finish, van Dijk hadn’t even made a single attempt at a tackle; he had simply chased his opponents while retreating.

The Bayswater Chinese fans in the stadium still gave him the most enthusiastic round of applause.

“What a textbook piece of defending!”

“Van Dijk single-handedly stopped Manchester City’s fast counter-attack!”

“This Dutch centre-back is truly formidable. No wonder Yang Cheng is so confident in pushing his team’s formation so high up, leaving just van Dijk and Pepe to defend at the back.”

“One against two, and van Dijk still handled it with ease!”

…

“This van Dijk is seriously good!”

In the Manchester City dugout, Pep Guardiola rested his right elbow on his thigh, cupped his chin, and praised him repeatedly.

Assistant coach Domènec Torrent nodded in agreement.

“In terms of individual ability, I think he’s the best centre-back in the world right now.”

Pep Guardiola turned to look at his assistant, surprised that Torrent held van Dijk in such high regard.

But upon reflection, it seemed perfectly normal.

In the past few years, everyone had showered praise on Thiago Silva and Pepe, considering them a world-class centre-back pairing.

Even when playing separately, they were both world-class centre-backs.

But now, whenever anyone mentioned Bayswater Chinese’s defense, van Dijk’s name would inevitably come up.

The Dutch centre-back had managed to force his way into a spot between the two Brazilians.

Some even said he was now the most stable and indispensable player in the Bayswater Chinese backline.

“That fellow Yang Cheng, instead of learning good things, he’s actually learning from Klopp!” Pep Guardiola said with a laugh.

“But Bayswater Chinese are not Liverpool,” Torrent reminded him.

Pep Guardiola nodded.

Liverpool’s biggest problem was their lack of control in midfield.

They had neither an organizer nor a core player to dictate the tempo, which made Liverpool’s entire game frantic.

Furthermore, Liverpool’s ability to play the ball out from the back was not strong.

But Bayswater Chinese were different.

“Have you noticed? He looks like he’s copying Klopp, but in reality, it’s still the same old Bayswater Chinese.”

“For the first ten minutes, they came at us with an all-out blitz. When that didn’t kill us, they changed tactics.”

“After winning the ball, they started passing it around in their own half, daring us to press them.”

The purpose of this was simple: to draw Manchester City out, which would favor their attack.

The whole world knew that Pep Guardiola considered possession as vital as life itself.

If the ball was in Bayswater Chinese’s hands, Pep Guardiola’s team would definitely try to win it back.

That meant they couldn’t immediately drop back to defend.

With Bayswater Chinese’s organization and attacking prowess, they would have a chance to get in behind.

This was the biggest difference between Bayswater Chinese and Liverpool.

Just then, the ball appeared on Bayswater Chinese’s right flank.

Reus and others pressed high quickly.

Against such pressure from Manchester City, most teams, aside from Arsenal, would probably choose to pass back quickly.

Or switch the play.

But Bayswater Chinese?

They had absolute confidence in their pass-and-move football, so they continued to pass it around.

The players moved actively to create opportunities, trying to advance the ball.

Manchester City were no pushovers either, and their interceptions in midfield and defense were also very good.

But winning the ball back was not easy.

This particular attack ended with Harry Kane dropping deep and crossing the ball to the left flank, looking for Marcelo. Yaya Touré suddenly charged over and, just before Marcelo could receive it, slid in to tackle the ball out for a throw-in.

But he also tripped Marcelo in the process.

The head referee awarded a throw-in.

But Yaya Touré’s tackle was a bit aggressive.

Marcelo pointed at Yaya Touré on the ground and let loose a string of curses.

After getting up, Yaya Touré grinned and raised his hands in apology.

Many people had forgotten that Yaya Touré had also come from Bayswater Chinese.

Two former teammates, and one almost got taken out by a tackle; it was only natural to complain a bit.

But to Pep Guardiola and his staff, it was a different matter entirely.

“This kid is only this compliant when he’s facing Bayswater Chinese,” Torrent muttered.

Pep Guardiola didn’t commit one way or the other.

Yaya Touré was indeed rebellious, and as a holding midfielder, he wasn’t the type Guardiola preferred.

But it was undeniable that Yaya Touré brought power and intensity to Manchester City’s midfield.

“Bayswater Chinese really are a unique kind of team!” Pep Guardiola said with a slight smile.

But anyone could hear that the statement was more of a compliment.

“You need to think of something, Pep,” Torrent suggested.

Pep Guardiola frowned, thought for a moment, and shook his head. “We need the ball!”

Manchester City needed the ball.

To some extent, Yang Cheng was right: without the ball, Manchester City didn’t know how to play.

Based on this fact, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City really didn’t have a good answer to Bayswater Chinese’s strategy.

Both teams were playing with their cards on the table.

Both were under pressure.

It was just a matter of who would crack first.

And from the current situation, it seemed more likely that Manchester City would be the first to make a mistake.

Because they were starting to get a little anxious.

In truth, Bayswater Chinese had always possessed the ability to compete with Manchester City for possession.

But for Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, possession was merely a tool to win.

For Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, possession was life.

If you lose a tool, you can just find another one.

But if you lose your life, everything is over.

This was the most fundamental difference between the two teams.

…

Following van Dijk’s brilliant piece of defending, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared.

The defensive line also performed with greater stability.

But Manchester City soon created another chance.

David Silva and Marco Reus combined on the left.

The Spaniard broke into the left side of the penalty area and crossed the ball into the box.

High crosses were clearly not suited for Manchester City’s players.

Pepe got to the ball before Messi, heading it clear.

But Yaya Touré intercepted the ball just outside the penalty area and passed it to Verratti.

Verratti was marked by Toni Kroos and was forced to pass it back to Kompany, who was holding a deep position in the defensive line.

He made a cross pass to Chiellini, who then distributed it to the left flank.

Leighton Baines received the ball and passed it forward to Reus.

The German “Little Rocket” was marked by Piszczek and passed it back to David Silva.

The latter played a through ball that landed perfectly at Agüero’s feet.

The Manchester City players executed a series of beautiful one-touch passes.

On the left side, just outside the penalty area, Agüero received David Silva’s pass with his back to goal, using his body to hold off van Dijk.

The moment he received the ball, the agile Argentine tried to turn and break through.

But Agüero never expected that van Dijk was waiting for him.

The Dutch centre-back deftly stepped in first, cleanly dispossessing him of the ball.

Agüero stumbled and fell to the ground.

But the head referee didn’t blow his whistle.

Van Dijk played a direct pass to Modrić’s feet.

Almost simultaneously, Manchester City’s midfielders and forwards swarmed towards Modrić.

David Silva and Verratti, in particular, closed in on Modrić from the left and right.

The Croatian midfielder was unfazed. After trapping the ball and turning, he dribbled past David Silva’s tackle, took a step forward, and, just before Yaya Touré arrived, played a diagonal pass.

Harry Kane had run into space, receiving the ball behind Yaya Touré and playing it wide to Gareth Bale on the right.

The Welshman quickly drove the ball forward.

The other players all surged upfield at high speed.

Harry Kane sprinted, quickly reaching the edge of the penalty area, on the right side of the arc.

He saw Gareth Bale being blocked by Leighton Baines just outside the right corner of the box.

Seeing this, Harry Kane decisively changed direction, making a diagonal run behind Leighton Baines, shouting to Gareth Bale and pointing to indicate his run.

Gareth Bale suddenly accelerated, and after a feint, he cut inside and played a through ball with the inside of his left foot, directing it towards the right byline for Harry Kane to chase.

After passing, Gareth Bale first ran towards the right side of the arc, confusing the Manchester City defenders.

Since the pass had been played behind Leighton Baines, Chiellini had followed Harry Kane out to defend.

After Bale made the pass, Leighton Baines also immediately turned to double-team Harry Kane.

In that brief moment, a vacuum appeared between Chiellini and Kompany.

When Gareth Bale reached the right side of the arc, he suddenly changed direction and made a direct, high-speed run forward.

Just before receiving Bale’s pass on the right side outside the penalty area, Harry Kane glanced around to see the positions of Chiellini and Leighton Baines, then suddenly poked the ball towards the byline and accelerated after it.

Near the byline, Harry Kane delivered a right-footed cross.

It was a half-high ball that evaded Chiellini’s attempted block with his left foot.

After entering the penalty box, the ball landed on the right side of the six-yard box and bounced up.

At almost the exact same moment, Gareth Bale came sprinting in at full speed.

Kompany was the first to sense the danger and immediately abandoned Sterling and the others, rushing towards the near post.

But Gareth Bale was a step quicker. He used his body to shield the ball from Kompany and, with his right foot, sent it into the goal guarded by ter Stegen, nestling it into the bottom right corner of the net.

“GOAL!!!!”

“The 24th minute, the 24th minute, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break through Manchester City’s goal!”

“A poacher’s finish from Gareth Bale!”

“It’s just as we said before, the interchanging movement of Bayswater Chinese’s front three, like shifting shadows, constantly swapping positions, created gaps in Manchester City’s defense.”

“A cross from the right by Harry Kane, a predatory finish from Gareth Bale, and Bayswater Chinese have scored the opening goal!”

The entire Wembley Stadium erupted with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans!

Gareth Bale pulled Harry Kane along as they excitedly ran off the pitch, soaking in the cheers from the crowd.

The other players also followed, celebrating the goal together on the sidelines.

One-nil!

…

Following Bayswater Chinese’s goal, Manchester City began to lose their composure.

Pep Guardiola’s players tried to launch an all-out attack after conceding, but it was ineffective.

Their best chance came from outside the penalty area, where Messi received the ball in the middle, faked past Nemanja Matić, and tried to pass to Agüero, but the ball was intercepted by a sliding tackle from van Dijk just outside the box.

This brilliant piece of defending once again earned van Dijk a stadium-wide applause.

Afterward, Manchester City tried several times to penetrate the heart of Bayswater Chinese’s defense, but they were unsuccessful.

This caused the game to gradually return to the previous stalemate.

Manchester City strived for possession, while Bayswater Chinese continued to proceed steadily and surely.

But every time they won the ball, Bayswater Chinese would quickly launch a counter-attack with swift passing and moving.

If the counter-attack failed, they would decisively pass the ball back and reorganize.

This style of play was very frustrating for Manchester City.

And it was also very physically demanding for their players.

Ultimately, the first half ended with the score at one-nil.

Neither side had actually created too many good opportunities.

Both were focused on neutralizing the other.

Take Messi, for example.

Throughout the match, whenever the Argentine got the ball, he would be suppressed by at least two players.

But precisely because so much defensive attention was on Messi, Agüero and David Silva, especially Agüero, were more active.

The Argentine striker attempted to take on defenders several times, but was stopped by van Dijk each time.

The Dutch centre-back was the standout performer of the entire first half.

“His defending in the first half could be described as almost watertight!”

“Absolutely no mistakes!”

“It’s unbelievable!”

It wasn’t just the commentators; Yang Cheng also specifically praised van Dijk during the halftime break.

Everyone could see that the twenty-four-year-old Dutch centre-back was entering the golden age of his career.

Both his physical attributes and his experience were beginning to reach their peak!

For the second half, Yang Cheng predicted that Pep Guardiola’s team would opt for a blitz at the start.

Yang Cheng also made adjustments based on some situations that occurred in the first half.

For instance, he believed that during the transition from defense to attack, the team’s overall shape was not stretched enough.

Especially the full-backs.

They needed to resolutely stretch the width of the attack to create enough space in the center and half-spaces for interchanging runs.

Sterling, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale, through continuous positional interchanges, could penetrate Manchester City’s defense.

As for defending, Yang Cheng expressed full confidence in van Dijk and Pepe.

And in the holding midfield role, didn’t they still have Nemanja Matić anchoring them?

After the break, as the second half began, Manchester City, just as Yang Cheng had predicted, took the initiative to attack.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, chose to shore up their defense.

First, David Silva played a brilliant pass, and Messi dribbled into the right side of the penalty area. Under pressure from Pepe, his shot went wide and posed no threat.

This was only the second time Messi had taken a shot from inside the penalty area in this match.

This alone showed how successfully Bayswater Chinese’s defense had contained Messi.

After that, Yaya Touré unleashed a long shot from outside the box, but it went high.

But Bayswater Chinese soon responded in kind.

Again, after winning the ball back, they played a series of one-touch passes within their own 30-meter area. Modrić carried the ball forward past the halfway line and then distributed it.

Gareth Bale dribbled down the right flank, constantly closing in on Leighton Baines. Spotting an opportunity, he knocked the ball past him and ran around him, catching up to his own pass on the right side outside the box and delivering a low cross to the center.

Harry Kane, making an overlapping run, was being tightly marked by Kompany and hastily got a shot off.

Harry Kane was aiming for the bottom right corner.

Unexpectedly, the ball struck the right post and bounced back.

Evidently, Kompany’s tight marking had been effective.

This back-and-forth battle of attack and defense made the match incredibly intense, and the fans were on the edge of their seats.

After ten minutes, Manchester City’s offensive momentum gradually waned.

Bayswater Chinese took this opportunity to gradually regain control of the game.

Yang Cheng used this chance to walk to the touchline, constantly shouting at his players and making hand gestures.

“Yang Cheng is directing his team.”

“He seems to be signaling for the team to spread out.”

“Manchester City’s recent blitz put some pressure on Bayswater Chinese.”

“Their formation has indeed become quite compact.”

“Yang Cheng’s instruction now is to try and stretch the play.”

“Indeed, for Bayswater Chinese, an overly compact formation isn’t conducive to their strengths.”

“Whether it’s the defense, midfield, or attack, they aren’t suited for such tight positioning.”

“This actually plays more to the strengths of Manchester City’s players.”

“Pep Guardiola’s team is very adept at using continuous passing combinations in these tight, congested spaces to break down defenses.”

“That’s why their players are generally shorter in stature.”

“But Bayswater Chinese’s players are taller.”

“Look at this.”

“The team is trying an attack down the left, with Marcelo dribbling forward on the flank.”

“Zabaleta blocks the ball out for a throw-in.”

“That was a very clean piece of defending. Bayswater Chinese wanted to play quickly, but it didn’t work.”

“Marcelo takes a quick throw-in to Toni Kroos.”

“Manchester City are pressing step by step.”

“Toni Kroos passes back to Marcelo.”

“Marcelo plays a medium-long cross-field pass to van Dijk.”

“They’re still using the Dutch centre-back as the pivot.”

“Van Dijk is in excellent form today.”

“Look at this, van Dijk plays a long diagonal pass to the right flank in the attacking third.”

“Piszczek also receives the ball near the right touchline; the formation is stretched very wide.”

“Two defenders are closing in, let’s see how Piszczek deals with it.”

“He plays a cross pass to Gareth Bale.”

“Modrić comes over to receive the ball, passes it back, still to Gareth Bale.”

“Another pass back to Harry Kane, who has dropped deep to support.”

“Harry Kane passes it back!”

“A series of quick one-two passes.”

“Gareth Bale appears at the arc to receive the ball, and with his left foot, plays a diagonal pass to the left corner of the six-yard box.”

“Sterling follows up with a push shot!”

“GOAL!!!!”

“In the 60th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A magnificent passing and moving combination play!”

“A series of one-touch passes!”

“This is exactly what we were talking about earlier. After Bayswater Chinese win the ball, if they can’t launch a quick counter-attack, they will try to pass it back, draw out the Manchester City players, and then employ their masterfully executed passing and moving combinations.”

“From the left flank to the right, then advancing from the right, and after a series of one-touch passes, the ball is switched back to the left.”

“Sterling seized the opportunity at the crucial moment, scoring with a push shot to extend the team’s lead!”

“What a brilliant team goal!”

In the stands of Wembley Stadium, the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans were everywhere.

…

When Sterling scored the team’s second goal, everyone realized that the result of this match was unlikely to change.

Although statistically, Manchester City had a slight advantage in possession rate and pass count, in terms of the overall game, probably no one saw it that way.

Because Manchester City as a whole did not show any clear superiority.

On the contrary, they were repeatedly scored upon by Bayswater Chinese.

Both goals were basically scored through the coordinated efforts of the front trident.

This surprised everyone.

But at the same time, they had to admit that in terms of overall strength, Bayswater Chinese were indeed a cut above.

In the remainder of the match, especially around the 80th-minute mark, there was a period of intense action.

Manchester City tried to mount a comeback, attempting to create chances several times.

But Bayswater Chinese resolutely hit back.

One of the most threatening attacks occurred in the 83rd minute, when Sterling, dribbling down the left flank, was brought down from behind by a chasing Yaya Touré inside the penalty area.

But the head referee didn’t blow his whistle.

After all, at this point, Bayswater Chinese were already leading by two goals.

So, the referee waved play on.

The slow-motion replay showed that it was indeed a foul.

Until the very end of the game, neither team managed to score again.

Bayswater Chinese, thanks to goals from Gareth Bale and Sterling, ultimately defeated Manchester City two-nil, winning the League Cup title once again after a five-year wait!

When the final result was confirmed, the entire British media loudly praised Bayswater Chinese’s performance.

The Guardian, on its front page, published a photo of the Bayswater Chinese players celebrating with the League Cup trophy in the dressing room, allowing everyone to feel the joyous atmosphere of their victory.

Leading the league, winning the League Cup—for Bayswater Chinese, this was undoubtedly the first shot fired in their new season campaign for titles on all fronts!

With this first victory, the team would become even more confident!

Unexpectedly, after the match, although Gareth Bale, with a goal and an assist, and the young local talent Sterling received much praise.

The player everyone was lauding was actually the Dutch centre-back, van Dijk.

In this match, the Dutch centre-back was not only steady in his passing but also exceptionally decisive and seasoned in his defending.

As Sky Sports commented after the match, he finished the game with zero errors.

Van Dijk won every single one-on-one duel in the match!

This was an incredible achievement.

Especially that moment in the first half when he single-handedly neutralized a counter-attack from both Agüero and Marco Reus—it was the art of defending executed to perfection.

The Times mentioned in its post-match review, “Van Dijk delivered a spectacular performance worthy of a world-class centre-back!”

The Sun also declared, “Van Dijk is the undisputed number one centre-back in the world!”

After the match, in an interview with a Daily Mail reporter, van Dijk stated that everyone at Bayswater Chinese was filled with desire, hoping to win every single trophy.

“It’s very difficult; it requires us to win all our games!”

“But that’s the goal we want to challenge ourselves with right now!”

Why?

Facing the media’s cameras, the Dutch centre-back calmly replied, “It’s a special gift!”

This statement once again sparked speculation among the media and fans.

Ever since the beginning of the season, when Yang Cheng was elected Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, there had been rumors that he would step down from his position as head coach of Bayswater Chinese.

After all, with his current high-ranking and influential position, his status was extraordinary, and it was no longer quite appropriate for him to continue coaching.

Moreover, he had been grooming Flick as his successor.

Now, with van Dijk’s comment, it further corroborated these external speculations.

Some media outlets even broke the explosive news that Yang Cheng had already announced in the dressing room that he would be leaving the head coach position at Bayswater Chinese at the end of the season.

“This is a secret that everyone within the Bayswater Chinese team knows but is unwilling to talk about.”

Bayswater Chinese win the League Cup again after a five-year hiatus!

Coupled with their commanding lead in the Premier League, reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, and having one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating whether this season’s Bayswater Chinese could hold on until the very end on the other three fronts.

After all, in the history of English football, and even in the history of European football, no team had ever achieved a Grand Slam.

That’s right, none!

Even at their peak, Bayswater Chinese had never managed to win both domestic cup competitions simultaneously.

But now, Bayswater Chinese had already secured the League Cup.

The Premier League title was also highly probable.

If they were to also win the FA Cup and the Champions League, then Bayswater Chinese would achieve a seasonal Grand Slam.

And Yang Cheng’s team would be etched into the annals of world football history!

…

After winning the League Cup, Bayswater Chinese did not hold any major celebrations.

After playing the League Cup final on the 28th, they had a Premier League match in the 28th round just three days later.

Perhaps affected by losing the League Cup final, Manchester City’s performance at Anfield was rather sluggish.

In contrast, Klopp’s Reds, after losing to Bayswater Chinese in the 26th round, had spent a week making adjustments and had thrashed Everton four-nil at home.

And in this round, Klopp’s team once again unleashed their signature boxer-like style of play.

From the very beginning, Liverpool came out swinging, throwing a flurry of wild punches.

Manchester City still wanted to control possession, but their morale was clearly affected.

So for the first half-hour, the match was not particularly enjoyable to watch.

As Pep Guardiola had said before, if his team could withstand Liverpool’s initial onslaught, and wait for their opponents’ energy to deplete, then the second half would be Manchester City’s for the taking.

But the crucial problem was that in the 34th minute, Rakitić assisted Suárez for a goal.

Even worse, in the 41st minute, Suárez backheeled the ball to Firmino, who then passed it to an overlapping Rakitić, who unleashed a furious shot that once again breached Manchester City’s goal.

Liverpool even had another chance before halftime.

Firmino’s header at goal was cleared off the line by Kompany.

Conceding two goals in the first half was a huge blow to Manchester City.

Liverpool, on the other hand, were brimming with confidence.

At the start of the second half, Manchester City took the initiative to attack, but Liverpool chose to defend deep and counter-attack.

In the 57th minute, a brilliant pass from Rakitić set up Firmino for a simple push shot in front of goal.

Three-nil!

The rest of the match largely followed a pattern of Manchester City attacking and Liverpool defending.

But the Blue Moons could never break through Liverpool’s goal.

In the end, Pep Guardiola’s team suffered a crushing three-nil defeat away from home!

Everyone found this result hard to believe.

No one could have imagined that Pep Guardiola’s team would lose so miserably.

But for Yang Cheng, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

Klopp had Bayswater Chinese’s League Cup victory to thank.

More importantly, Pep Guardiola’s team had always been poor at playing from behind.

Losing the League Cup final, and then immediately facing Klopp’s side without stopping.

Pep Guardiola had clearly intended to replicate Yang Cheng’s tactics from the 26th round, but unexpectedly, his team conceded in the first half.

The tactics weren’t the problem, but the players’ execution, combined with Liverpool’s recent form, led to Manchester City’s disastrous defeat!

Coincidentally, Yang Cheng’s other rival, Wenger’s Arsenal, also lost at home.

Due to the continuous fixtures and it being a midweek game, Wenger’s team had made some adjustments.

And this match was played on the evening of March 1st.

It was raining in London at the time.

The two teams were not really on the same level in terms of quality.

So, after the kickoff, Wenger’s team smoothly suppressed Swansea and attacked relentlessly.

In the first ten minutes of the match, the Gunners missed three golden opportunities.

This showed the gap between the two teams.

It also set the stage for the rest of the match.

In the 14th minute, Sánchez played a chipped pass from the edge of the area, and Benzema swept it in from inside the box to give Arsenal the lead.

It should have been a very good start.

After taking the lead, Arsenal firmly controlled the initiative and possession, at one point having nearly seventy percent of the ball.

But they were also continuously squandering chances.

Then, in the 31st minute, Swansea launched a counter-attack with a through ball in behind.

This should have been a very normal counter-attack.

And Arsenal were defending with a very normal offside trap.

But it was raining that night, wasn’t it?

As Mertesacker was setting the offside trap, he stepped on a puddle on the pitch and nearly fell over.

Swansea’s winger, Wayne Routledge, timed his run perfectly, beating the offside trap. He collected the ball and found himself one-on-one with the keeper, equalizing for his team.

This goal completely changed the course of the match.

Afterward, Arsenal attacked relentlessly but kept wasting chances.

It was the same in the first half, and the same in the second.

The more anxious the Gunners’ players became, the further away a goal seemed.

Wenger even brought on van Persie to strengthen the attack.

But it was useless.

Van Persie’s first shot on goal hit the woodwork.

Chances were repeatedly wasted.

Finally, in the 74th minute, from a free kick in the attacking third, Swansea’s centre-back Ashley Williams scored again, breaking through Arsenal’s goal.

Two-one!

The Gunners, in their own stadium, had been overturned by relegation-battling Swansea!

At the post-match press conference, Wenger expressed his immense disappointment with the loss.

“We created so many chances, if we had just taken one or two of them, we would have won this match.”

“But our luck was terrible, we were very unlucky to lose the game!”

Wenger believed that the rainy weather and slippery pitch caused Mertesacker’s mistake.

“Without that goal, the game would have remained under our control.”

But the media clearly did not buy Wenger’s explanation.

Setting other things aside, with the Gunners wasting so many chances in the game, was Arsenal completely blameless?

As for the two goals conceded, the first might be attributed to Mertesacker’s bad luck, but what about the defending on the second goal from the free kick?

Regarding the title race this season, Wenger stated that it was still too early to say.

“All of us are dropping points now and then. It’s a very difficult period, and the players’ fitness and form are affected.”

“So, the title race is hard to predict. We can only focus on each game!”

But under persistent questioning from the media, Wenger had to admit.

“Bayswater Chinese certainly have the advantage, but they haven’t won the title yet!”

And just as Wenger finished speaking, Yang Cheng’s team defeated Everton three-one at home.

Just five minutes into the game, van Dijk, who had been in superb form recently, scored the opening goal from a corner kick.

In the 30th minute, Theo Walcott scored another goal.

In the 60th minute, van Dijk played a long pass into the box, and Giroud headed it in.

Although they conceded a goal later on, Bayswater Chinese secured a three-one victory over Everton at home, bagging the three points.

With both Arsenal and Manchester City dropping points, Yang Cheng’s team held their nerve and took another step ahead in the title race.

In the same round of fixtures, Chelsea beat Norwich two-one away from home.

Manchester United, thanks to a goal from C. Ronaldo, beat Watford one-nil.

…

March 5th, weekend, Premier League Round 29.

The first match of this round was the North London Derby, which took place at noon on the 5th.

After scoring first, Arsenal were pegged back by two goals from Tottenham, who completed a comeback.

In the end, a goal from Sánchez managed to salvage a draw.

The final score was two-two, a draw.

Incidentally, before this round of matches, Tottenham Hotspur officially acknowledged for the first time that the club had accepted a takeover offer from a Qatari consortium, and that intense negotiations were underway.

The Qatari consortium’s acquisition was being handled by the renowned Rothschild Bank from London’s financial district.

A due diligence team, composed of lawyers, accountants, financial analysts, and other experts and elites, had already been assembled to conduct due diligence on Tottenham Hotspur.

If there were no issues, the Qatari consortium would complete the acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur in May.

The Sun had always been famous for its transfer intelligence. Although it didn’t get the scoop on the Qatari acquisition of Tottenham, after other media outlets broke the news, it immediately followed up with another piece of major news.

Once the Qatari consortium completed the takeover of Tottenham, they would invest over one billion pound sterling to build a super stadium for Tottenham in Northeast London, one that could rival the Prudential Stadium!

Another one billion pound sterling!

No one would forget that the initial investment for the Prudential Stadium was set at one billion pound sterling.

Now, the Qatari consortium was putting up that number again.

As the saying goes, the first to eat gets the meat, the second can only have the soup.

But such an investment, such a big project, was still very eye-catching.

And the fact that it was happening in London and the Premier League was enough to excite the media and fans around the world.

The Sun then immediately dropped another bombshell.

Neymar!

The British media revealed that the Qatari consortium had already reached an agreement with Neymar’s team.

Once they acquired Tottenham, Neymar would leave Barça by triggering his release clause and land in the Premier League.

This immediately caused a huge uproar around the world.

Another superstar!

Another one for the Premier League!

After Messi and C. Ronaldo successively arrived in the Premier League, the league was now star-studded, reminiscent of the glory days of Serie A’s “Little World Cup.”

Now, Neymar was coming too!

The Premier League had gathered almost all of the world’s most influential superstars.

Barça immediately denied the rumor in the media, stating that their top star would not be leaving the club.

Neymar’s father also stated in an interview with the Catalonian media that Neymar had not reached any formal agreement with the Qatari consortium and was not considering leaving Barça for the time being.

But such denials lacked a certain degree of persuasiveness.

The continuous rumors gave Tottenham Hotspur a huge morale boost, and they drew two-two with Arsenal.

Subsequently, Yang Cheng’s team drew two-two with Manchester City in an away game.

Messi scored a brace, and Harry Kane also scored a brace.

Pep Guardiola’s team was also awarded a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.

It was for a foul by Pepe on Messi inside the penalty area.

However, the Argentine’s penalty kick was saved by Courtois.

In the end, the two teams settled for a draw.

But for the league leaders, Bayswater Chinese, this was not a bad thing!

Chapter 358: Into the Quarter-finals! A Victory for the Youth Academy! C. Ronaldo’s Blitz! The Future of the Bayswater Chinese!

On the evening of March 8th, at the Prudential Stadium in London.

In the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage, the Bayswater Chinese were at home to AS Roma.

Thirteen minutes into the match, Casemiro made a successful interception in his own half.

After winning the ball, Casemiro took two steps forward before playing a through ball to the feet of Modrić.

The Croatian was near the halfway line with his back to goal. He controlled the ball, turned, and then distributed it out wide.

Salah, on the right flank, had long been waiting. As he controlled the ball, he swept past Roma’s left-back, Digne, completing a brilliant run.

After beating Digne, Salah immediately cut diagonally towards the penalty area.

The Egyptian winger drove into the right side of Roma’s box. After being caught by Roma’s centre-back, Zukanović, he came to a sudden stop and cut inside with the outside of his left foot.

Just after evading Zukanović, Salah delivered a cross.

Giroud, in the center, had already overrun the pass. He hastily turned, only to see the ball speed past in front of him.

Giroud didn’t make a move for it.

He knew that this pass wasn’t meant for him.

On the left side of the arc, Gareth Bale cushioned the ball into the penalty area with the inside of his left foot. He then accelerated onto it and unleashed a furious shot with his left.

The ball shot towards the bottom-left corner of the net with the force of a thunderbolt.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted in a frenzy of cheers!

Ninety thousand fans leaped from their seats, roaring their support for the players on the pitch.

Just thirteen minutes into the game, the Bayswater Chinese had initiated a quick counter-attack from an interception in midfield, breaking through Roma’s defense to score the opening goal for the team!

…

Just five minutes after the goal, Aaron Ramsey threatened Roma’s goal again with a long shot from outside the penalty arc, giving everyone a cold sweat.

At their home ground, the Bayswater Chinese were relentlessly pressing The Giallorossi.

Especially after the thirtieth minute, the match became almost completely one-sided.

AS Roma adopted a tight defensive formation, but they still couldn’t stop their opponents from creating chance after chance.

In the 33rd minute, Salah received a through ball from De Bruyne on the right side of the penalty area and took a shot with his right foot upon receiving it.

The ball went straight at the goalkeeper.

The Egyptian winger shook his head helplessly.

Soon after, Gareth Bale used his pace on the left flank, storming into the left side of the box before unleashing an unexpected long shot that went just wide.

The most beautiful attacking move of the entire first half came in the 38th minute.

Marcelo charged forward on an overlapping run.

Aaron Ramsey played a chipped pass to Gareth Bale, who had drifted out to the left flank.

With his back to goal, the Welshman deftly backheeled the incoming ball, knocking it directly into the path of Marcelo, who was making a run through the half-space.

The Brazilian left-back got to the ball just before the defender, brought it down, then suddenly accelerated, powering past Roma’s defender Manolas and charging into the penalty area.

Inside the box, Manolas didn’t dare make any move on Marcelo.

After breaking through, the Brazilian sent a low cross with his left foot to the front of the six-yard box.

Giroud got ahead of his marker, using his body to shield the ball from Zukanović before firing a close-range power shot with his left foot.

The ball flew straight into Roma’s net.

2-0!

A 3-1 away win in the first leg, and now a 2-0 lead in the first half at home. There was no longer any suspense in this match.

In the second half, the Bayswater Chinese remained firmly in control.

In the 50th minute, they pressed high up the pitch and won the ball back again.

During the swift counter-attack, Giroud played a diagonal pass with his left foot to the right side of the box, where it found an unmarked player.

Salah made a quick forward run, receiving the ball with no defenders near him.

But the Egyptian chose not to shoot immediately with his right foot.

Instead, after controlling the ball with his right, he wanted to shoot with his left.

His left foot was Salah’s preferred foot!

But this adjustment cost him the opportunity.

Digne tracked back in time to block Salah’s shot.

The Egyptian winger clutched his hair in frustration, clearly very unhappy with the outcome.

This was the second chance he had wasted in this match!

“This kid’s right foot still needs more work!”

Flick glanced at Yang Cheng and said with a wry smile.

Yang Cheng nodded. “That’s a job for you from now on. If you can train it out of him, he will definitely repay you.”

“His awareness and ideas are excellent, and his positioning and runs were spot on both times. It’s just that final touch that was a bit ugly,” Brian Kidd added with a chuckle.

“By the way, Yang, don’t you think he’s a bit like Di María back in the day?”

There was a time when Di María was also extremely one-footed, good only with his left, but he later managed to train his right foot through sheer effort.

Of course, Di María’s right foot never became anything special, just good enough for simple passes and shooting.

But even that was a remarkable achievement.

Training one’s weaker foot is truly not an easy task.

“No,” Yang Cheng said, shaking his head with a smile.

“No?” Brian Kidd was a little surprised.

“This kid’s desire to attack is far stronger than Di María’s. If we nurture him well, I believe he’ll become one of the most important goalscorers on our team in due time!”

Yang Cheng’s words stunned both Flick and Brian Kidd.

That was high praise indeed.

Currently, the most important goalscorers for the Bayswater Chinese were Gareth Bale and Harry Kane.

Theo Walcott was also quite good.

Yang Cheng’s previous assessment of Sterling had also been very high, and the young player had not disappointed him.

Now, Salah had been added to the list of players receiving such high praise from Yang Cheng.

Bale, Kane, Sterling, and Salah.

It seemed the future of the Bayswater Chinese attack would rely on these four!

In Yang Cheng’s view, Walcott was already very good.

Even stronger than he was at his peak in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

But it couldn’t be helped; the current Bayswater Chinese team was simply too strong.

Walcott’s technical characteristics meant he couldn’t really be compared to Sterling or Salah.

But he could still be a very important player for the team.

In the future, when Sancho, Saka, Bellingham, Phil Foden, and the others matured and were ready to take center stage, Walcott could gracefully retire.

The new generation always surpasses the old. That’s just how football is!

…

Yang Cheng’s confidence in Salah was also reflected in his second-half substitutions.

He brought on Walcott to replace Gareth Bale.

After the change, he moved Salah to the left flank.

This quickly created an opportunity for him.

In the 74th minute, after the Bayswater Chinese won the ball near the halfway line, Giroud received it with his back to goal, turned, and played a through ball behind the defense with his left foot.

Salah used his pace to leave Florenzi behind, racing clear and driving into the left side of the penalty area before scoring with a powerful left-footed shot.

After missing two golden opportunities, the Egyptian winger had finally broken his duck!

The home fans generously showed their appreciation, cheering for the Egyptian’s goal!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 at home, defeating AS Roma 6-1 on aggregate to smoothly advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.

However, the other Premier League teams were not so fortunate.

Arsenal, after a 2-0 home victory against Barça in the first leg, suffered a crushing 3-0 comeback defeat away from home.

Due to the Neymar transfer incident, Barça’s form was currently unstable.

But even so, Luis Enrique’s team still managed to overcome The Gunners at home, thanks to outstanding performances from Robert Lewandowski and Mahrez.

Despite this, everyone was rather concerned about Barça’s prospects.

Van Gaal’s Manchester United were eliminated by Zidane’s Real Madrid, losing both legs 1-2 and 0-2 respectively.

The Red Devils were not in an ideal situation this season.

In particular, a conflict had arisen between C. Ronaldo, Pogba, and van Gaal, leading to instability in Manchester United’s dressing room.

This had somewhat affected their results.

Incidentally, Benítez’s tenure at Real Madrid did not last until the winter break.

Just as 2016 began, Real Madrid announced that Benítez had been sacked.

Zidane took his place.

After the Champions League semi-finals last season, Manchester City once again faced Pochettino’s OGC Nice in this season’s Round of 16.

Having sold a host of star players, Nice was no longer as strong as they were last year.

After a tenacious 0-0 draw at home against Manchester City, Nice suffered a 1-3 defeat in the away leg.

Pep Guardiola’s Blue Moons advanced to the quarter-finals without too much trouble.

But if there was one matchup in the Champions League Round of 16 that surprised everyone, it had to be Mourinho’s Chelsea against Gasperini’s Atalanta.

Atalanta had advanced as group runners-up, finishing behind Real Madrid.

The first leg was played at the San Siro in Italy.

A goal from Immobile in the 39th minute of the first half gave Atalanta the lead.

But Mourinho’s team managed to equalize just before halftime through Diego Costa.

After that, both teams attacked relentlessly but couldn’t break the deadlock.

Finally, in the 88th minute, Gasperini brought on centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik.

At that point, Atalanta had two centre-forwards on the pitch, Milik and Immobile.

Combined with Felipe Anderson and Kingsley Coman on the flanks, they launched an all-out assault on Chelsea’s wings.

The two strikers also constantly applied pressure in the box.

Finally, in the 88th minute, Felipe Anderson provided an assist for Milik to score another goal for the team.

2-1!

Atalanta had beaten Chelsea at home in the first leg!

In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, just 16 minutes in, Immobile assisted Bruno Fernandes to score the opening goal, securing a crucial away goal for his team.

This goal was vital for Atalanta!

Chelsea began to fight back.

In the 27th minute, Diego Costa equalized for his team, assisted by Prince William.

Then, in the 67th minute, it was another assist from Felipe Anderson that set up Immobile for a goal, sealing the score at 2-1!

At this point, the aggregate score was 4-2.

More importantly, Atalanta had two away goals.

If Chelsea wanted to make a comeback, they needed to score three goals.

The end of the match turned into a chaotic bombardment from Chelsea against Atalanta’s stubborn defense.

The final score remained 2-1!

With two 2-1 victories, Atalanta had done the double over Chelsea!

This battle made Gasperini’s Youth Guard the talk of European football!

At the same time, it left everyone in awe of Yang Cheng and the operational capabilities of the Bayswater Chinese.

For the past two seasons, veteran Luca Toni had performed exceptionally well, proving that age was just a number.

This season, Luca Toni’s performance declined sharply, but they signed Immobile from Borussia Dortmund, who had been struggling in the Bundesliga.

Unexpectedly, Immobile was completely revitalized in Serie A, scoring goals for fun.

Atalanta was currently tearing up Serie A.

Most notably, in the just-concluded 28th round of Serie A, Atalanta defeated Juventus 2-0 with goals from Rüdiger and Bonaventura.

This season, they had done the double over The Zebras, both wins by a score of 2-0!

Thanks to this victory, Atalanta leapfrogged Juventus by one point to claim the top spot in the Serie A table.

There were still ten rounds left in the Serie A season, but Atalanta’s performance this year had already been stunning enough.

Especially Immobile.

The return of this homegrown centre-forward had perfectly filled the void left by Luca Toni.

Now, Atalanta had also knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League Round of 16 to advance to the quarter-finals.

They were the only Serie A team to reach the quarter-finals this season.

Juventus, in their Round of 16 tie, lost to Bayern Munich after drawing 4-4 on aggregate and conceding two goals in extra time.

Following the draw, Atalanta was paired with Real Madrid.

The Bayswater Chinese drew Atlético Madrid.

Barça drew the Ligue 1 champions, Paris Saint-Germain.

And Bayern Munich drew Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Anyone could see that the overall performance of Premier League teams this season had declined compared to previous years.

At the start of the season, five teams participated in the Champions League, raising the expectations of Premier League fans.

Some even said it was possible for all five English teams to reach the quarter-finals.

But in the end, only two teams made it.

This was undoubtedly a very surprising outcome.

Ultimately, besides the fact that Premier League teams expend too much energy in their domestic league, there were also internal problems within the clubs themselves.

If one could say that Arsenal and Barça were evenly matched in terms of strength and that their elimination was more due to tactical reasons, then the eliminations of Chelsea and Manchester United were more about problems within the teams themselves.

The conflict between van Gaal and star players like C. Ronaldo and Pogba was escalating.

During his time coaching Barça, van Gaal had clashed with stars like Riquelme. His inability to manage relationships with big-name players has always been his weakness.

Now, it had erupted at Manchester United.

As for Mourinho’s Chelsea, the problems were also glaringly obvious.

Almost everyone believed that Mourinho would be sacked by Chelsea at the end of the season.

This contributed to the successive setbacks for Premier League teams in the Champions League this season.

But the progression of the Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City still saved some face for the Premier League.

La Liga, on the other hand, was in fine form, with all three of its powerhouses advancing to the quarter-finals.

…

On the evening of March 11th.

While other Premier League teams were playing their 30th league match, the Bayswater Chinese were facing their FA Cup quarter-final knockout match.

They were away to Reading.

Reading’s performance in the Championship this season had been underwhelming, and they were currently in the lower half of the table.

But Reading had done well in the FA Cup, having previously beaten West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at home.

Facing the Bayswater Chinese this time, Reading adopted a highly defensive tactic, putting up a very stubborn performance.

Reading’s head coach was Brian McDermott.

The coach came from Arsenal’s youth academy. He played as a striker for The Gunners in the 80s, but was always a substitute.

By the time he left Arsenal, he had scored 13 goals in 72 appearances.

After retiring in ’92, he had coaching stints at teams like Slough, Woking, and Reading.

The last time Reading was promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, it was McDermott who led them.

After being dismissed by Reading in 2013, he was the head coach at Leeds United for a season. Starting in 2014, he worked as a scout for Arsenal, responsible for assessing players the club wanted to sign.

Before Christmas in 2015, Reading was performing poorly, so they rehired him.

And such an experienced head coach set up a traditional English 4-4-2 formation at home, basically parking the bus against the Bayswater Chinese.

Yang Cheng’s team did not go all out, instead fielding a rotated squad with mainly substitutes.

But they couldn’t find a breakthrough for a long time.

Dominic Solanke, who had been performing well, was neutralized, and youngsters like Sterling and Salah also had an average game.

This stalemate continued into the second half.

All the way to the 66th minute.

Just as Yang Cheng was considering making a substitution, Aaron Ramsey stepped up.

Although Aaron Ramsey wasn’t a genuine product of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy in the strictest sense, he had been nurtured and strongly supported by Yang Cheng since his arrival.

The Welsh midfielder’s performance had always been outstanding, showing steady improvement.

Everyone said that staying at the Bayswater Chinese as a backup for Toni Kroos was something of a waste of his talents.

With his ability, he could easily be a starting midfielder for any other Premier League team.

But Aaron Ramsey loved being at this club.

Because it was Yang Cheng, it was the Bayswater Chinese that had developed him!

In 2007, when he was just 16 years old, Aaron Ramsey joined the Bayswater Chinese.

He could never have imagined that one day he would reach the status he enjoys in his career today.

At Bayswater Chinese, he has won numerous titles and received countless accolades.

Although he wasn’t a starter, he made important contributions.

Especially when the team needed him, he could always step up.

Just like this time.

In Reading’s 4-4-2, the two central midfielders were the 1.93-meter-tall Michael Hector.

He was a Jamaican international, but was born in London and grew up in England.

And the Northern Ireland international Oliver Norwood.

The tall and strong Hector played a holding role, while the 1.75-meter Norwood was responsible for pressing and breaking up play.

The two players worked very well together.

But Aaron Ramsey was prepared.

The Welshman dropped back, raising his hand to call for the ball from Casemiro.

As Casemiro’s pass came in, Aaron Ramsey used his body to shield the ball from Norwood, controlled it, and turned away from him.

The entire movement was incredibly slick, as smooth as flowing water.

After turning, Ramsey quickly chased after the ball, getting a foot to it and poking it forward just before Hector could close him down.

That poke was effectively a pass.

After passing the ball, Ramsey sprinted forward through the left channel.

Solanke dropped deep, pulling back to a very withdrawn position to receive the ball with his back to goal.

Before the ball even reached him, he heard Aaron Ramsey’s shout and immediately chose to lay it off sideways.

The two completed a one-two give-and-go.

Aaron Ramsey knocked the ball into the left side of the penalty area and accelerated after it.

Centre-back Jake Cooper, standing at an imposing 1.99 meters, charged towards Aaron Ramsey like a heavy tank, trying to use his body to block the Welshman.

Everyone knows that Premier League refereeing is generally more lenient than in the Champions League.

As long as a foul isn’t particularly harmful to a player’s physical safety, officials tend not to be too strict.

And in the FA Cup, especially in a match like this where a Championship side is hosting a Premier League team, the refereeing is even more lenient.

Unless it’s a dangerous play, if a foul can be ignored, it usually is.

If they were to enforce the rules strictly, the Championship teams wouldn’t be able to play.

Besides, Reading had already figured out the referee’s standard of officiating.

Jake Cooper intended to use his body to block Aaron Ramsey, preventing him from threatening the goal.

But just as he was about to close in on Aaron Ramsey, the Welshman suddenly came to a dead stop.

The ball, as if glued to his foot, was dragged sideways by his right foot.

Aaron Ramsey’s run, which had been straight for the byline, instantly changed to a horizontal cut inside.

Jake Cooper’s move to block him completely missed its target.

After cutting inside with the ball, Ramsey took a step horizontally.

Reading’s other centre-back was Irish international Paul McShane.

A 30-year-old veteran, a product of the Manchester United youth academy, he was very experienced.

At only 1.83 meters tall, he formed a contrasting centre-back partnership with the tall and powerful Jake Cooper—one tall, one agile.

When he saw Jake Cooper miss his tackle, he sensed the danger and immediately rushed over to cover.

The two centre-backs had a very good understanding, and they were the defensive backbone of Reading’s team this season.

But in that extremely brief moment—between Ramsey cutting inside past Jake Cooper and McShane rushing over to block him—Ramsey flicked the ball with his right foot, chipping it directly towards the right side of the goal.

After chipping the ball, he was knocked off balance by McShane’s challenge.

And then there was Jake Cooper, turning and lunging in from the other side…

The unlucky Welshman was almost turned into a sandwich cookie.

But although his chip shot didn’t have much power, the angle was exquisite.

The goalkeeper, positioned more to the left, dived to his side but couldn’t get a touch on the ball.

The football struck the inside of the right post and rebounded into Reading’s goal.

Only then did gasps of shock erupt from the Reading fans in the stadium.

After scrambling up from the ground, Aaron Ramsey turned and ran in celebration.

All the Bayswater Chinese players chased after him, celebrating the goal with him on the sideline.

On the touchline, Yang Cheng also clenched his fists tightly, applauding Aaron Ramsey’s brilliant performance!

When he turned around, he was immediately embraced from the left and right by Brian Kidd and Flick, who had rushed from the dugout.

After more than an hour of attacking, they had finally broken down Reading’s goal!

Breaking down a parked bus was just so difficult!

“Remember this, Hans, this kid is reliable when it counts!” Yang Cheng shouted excitedly, pointing at Aaron Ramsey celebrating by the sideline.

Flick nodded repeatedly, indicating that he understood.

Aaron Ramsey was actually a very capable player.

As many in the media and fans said, he absolutely had the ability to establish himself at any Premier League club, including the top giants, and even at powerhouses like Real Madrid and Barça.

It wasn’t that no teams were interested in Aaron Ramsey.

But the Welshman chose to stay.

He had been with the Bayswater Chinese for nearly nine years, from 2007 to the present.

He was familiar with everything about the club.

He felt that he could still help the team and make a contribution.

This was the power of the youth academy!

In crucial moments, you need more youth players like Aaron Ramsey to step up!

…

Aaron Ramsey’s decisive goal helped the Bayswater Chinese defeat Reading 1-0 and smoothly advance to the FA Cup semi-finals.

After the match, this caused a stir throughout the British media and even the European football world!

The reason was that in the previous round, the team’s 1-0 away victory over Tottenham Hotspur was secured by a last-minute winner from youth academy product Kyle Walker.

In this round, the 1-0 away win against Reading was also thanks to a goal from youth academy product Aaron Ramsey.

Two crucial FA Cup knockout matches won 1-0, both thanks to goals from two youth players.

What did this signify?

After the match, The Times published a special article arguing that this was the victory of a philosophy that the Bayswater Chinese had adhered to for many years—it was a victory for the youth academy!

“While other European giants, and all the teams in the Premier League, are waving their checkbooks and buying players recklessly, Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese have consistently insisted on youth development.”

How absurd was it?

Setting aside the three youth players Dominic Solanke, Alexander-Arnold, and Declan Rice, of the other 23 first-team players, 15 were from the club’s own youth academy.

Note, not from the same country, but from the club itself!

In addition, there were quasi-academy players like Pepe, Thiago Silva, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Giroud, who had made their names at the club.

There were also semi-academy players like Salah and van Dijk, who had performed well at OGC Nice in Ligue 1 before joining the Bayswater Chinese.

It could be said that the entire Bayswater Chinese team was almost entirely supported by its outstanding youth academy.

In the last round against Tottenham, many people didn’t feel it as strongly.

But this round, with Aaron Ramsey helping the team defeat Reading 1-0, the strength of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy was on full display.

The Times believed that the superstars of the Bayswater Chinese were all homegrown.

From Gareth Bale to Harry Kane, from Modrić to Toni Kroos, from Pepe and Thiago Silva to van Dijk, now hailed as the world’s number one centre-back.

And now, the man who saved the Bayswater Chinese, Aaron Ramsey.

“Valuing its own youth academy has always been a fine tradition of the Bayswater Chinese.”

More importantly, this group of youth players was also very ambitious and talented.

From Sterling to Aaron Ramsey, from Kyle Walker to Luke Shaw…

Although centre-backs Harry Maguire and John Stones often received some criticism and made some mistakes, overall, these youth players were indeed quite outstanding.

More importantly, over the past few years, the Bayswater Chinese youth teams have consistently achieved brilliant results.

Especially the current U17 team, with players like Sancho, Saka, and Phil Foden, which was devastatingly dominant in European football.

The U15 team, with players like Cole Palmer, Musiala, and Bellingham, was also shining brightly.

This made everyone marvel at the sheer abundance of talent in the Bayswater Chinese youth academy.

“Some even predict that, given time, the Bayswater Chinese youth academy will be able to form an entire England national team!”

The Times argued that when that day comes, the British Royal Family should bestow a knighthood upon Yang Cheng.

“Because he has made an extraordinary contribution to Britain and to English football!”

…

While everyone was still focused on the FA Cup matches, Yang Cheng’s team had already regrouped at the Brent training center.

Midweek brought the rescheduled match for the 30th round of the Premier League.

The opponent was Tottenham Hotspur.

Just 19 minutes into the game, Harry Kane assisted Gareth Bale for a goal.

In the 39th minute, midfielder Modrić assisted Harry Kane to score another goal.

After halftime, Tottenham Hotspur’s winger Érik Lamela scored a goal.

But in the 73rd minute, Modrić assisted Gareth Bale for another goal, completing his brace.

After the 80th minute, substitute Sterling first added the icing on the cake, scoring from an assist by Kyle Walker on the right flank.

Then, Sterling returned the favor. After cutting inside from the left wing, he delivered a brilliant pass. Kyle Walker made a diagonal run into the right side of the penalty area and broke through Tottenham’s goal.

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at home.

When Yang Cheng met Ronald Koeman after the match, the latter had a look of resentment on his face.

“I seriously suspect you’re deliberately thrashing us because I left Nice!”

Yang Cheng laughed heartily at this.

Of course, that was impossible.

In fact, the last two goals were completely unexpected for him.

It was mainly due to Sterling’s excellent performance.

“How is it? You used to think Levy tricked you, but now that the Qatar consortium has acquired Tottenham Hotspur, you can really make your mark!” Yang Cheng said.

Thanks to his outstanding coaching performance at OGC Nice, Ronald Koeman had already established himself among Europe’s elite managers.

His record with Tottenham this season was also good.

After the Qatari consortium acquired Tottenham, where could they find a better head coach than Ronald Koeman on short notice?

Mourinho, down from Chelsea?

Or van Gaal, leaving Manchester United?

According to the intelligence Yang Cheng had received, the Qatar consortium intended to keep Ronald Koeman as head coach.

The Dutchman had probably already received the news.

But what surprised Yang Cheng was that Ronald Koeman didn’t seem as happy as he had expected.

“Do you want to hear the truth, or platitudes?”

Yang Cheng raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

What was he getting at?

“Honestly, after coming out to coach, I’ve realized that coaching at Nice was the purest. Other clubs are too complicated.”

At the end of his words, Ronald Koeman let out a sigh filled with mixed feelings.

When the results are bad, everyone blames the head coach.

There’s nothing wrong with that, really.

The head coach is the one with the primary responsibility.

But can a team’s problems be solved by simply blaming the head coach?

Take Manchester United from Yang Cheng’s previous life, for example.

After Ferguson retired, they went through one famous manager after another. Did that solve the problem?

To put it bluntly, were van Gaal’s issues with star players a recent development?

In Yang Cheng’s memory, van Gaal had never gotten along well with big-name stars.

Ribéry at Bayern Munich?

That didn’t seem to go well either.

Managers like van Gaal, Benítez, and Bielsa, who like to treat players as utility players, really shouldn’t be given big-name stars.

It’s a clash of personalities!

So when problems arise, should you blame the head coach? Or the superstar?

Just like at Manchester United now, C. Ronaldo and Pogba are at odds with van Gaal.

Meanwhile, certain executives in London were happily counting their money.

The team’s results are poor?

What does that have to do with their bonuses?

…

Over the weekend, Premier League Round 31.

The Bayswater Chinese were away to Swansea City.

Due to the rescheduled 30th round match in midweek, Yang Cheng implemented a suitable squad rotation.

Just five minutes into the game, Walcott scored the opening goal for the team, assisted by Sterling from the left.

1-0!

After that, the Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage, continuing to relentlessly attack Swansea.

In the 22nd minute, Modrić delivered a precise through ball. Walcott broke into the right side of the penalty area and scored with another push shot, completing his brace.

2-0!

During halftime, Swansea made substitutions to strengthen their defense.

But in the 67th minute, centre-forward Giroud dropped deep to receive the ball and delivered a brilliant pass. Walcott successfully beat the offside trap, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and scored in a one-on-one situation.

3-0!

The English winger had scored a hat-trick!

In the end, the Bayswater Chinese secured a comprehensive 3-0 victory away at Swansea.

After the match, the Bayswater Chinese youth academy once again dominated the headlines of major newspapers.

For three consecutive matches, it was the youth players who made the difference!

Especially Walcott.

This was his 11th Premier League goal of the season, and his first hat-trick.

With the rise of Sterling and the arrival of Salah, The Little Tiger’s position had been affected.

But this homegrown player still performed exceptionally well.

When the team needed him, he could still step up!

In the same round, Arsenal defeated Everton 2-0 away.

But Mourinho’s Chelsea, in their home match against West Ham United, fell behind twice and equalized twice.

In the end, The Blues drew 2-2 at home with West Ham United.

Klopp’s Liverpool defeated Southampton 4-1 away.

Sadio Mané scored a hat-trick!

The crucial match of this round was the Manchester derby.

When considering the two teams in this match, everyone would surely favor Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

The reason was simple.

It was the final sprint of the league season, and Manchester City still had a theoretical chance.

Also, it was a local derby.

This meant Manchester City was unlikely to go easy on them.

Manchester United was currently facing both internal and external troubles.

The external troubles were self-evident, while the internal ones were intensifying.

Before this match, many even speculated whether Manchester City would thrash Manchester United at home.

And the start of the match unfolded just as everyone had predicted. Manchester City relentlessly attacked Manchester United’s goal from the kickoff.

Stars like Agüero, Messi, and Marco Reus repeatedly threatened Navas.

But the Costa Rican goalkeeper performed brilliantly, repeatedly denying Manchester City’s attacks.

Although they hadn’t conceded, everyone felt that, based on the opening exchanges, it was only a matter of time before Manchester City won the match.

The only thing Manchester United needed to worry about was how many goals they would concede.

Sometimes, things in football are just that bizarre.

After Manchester City had laid siege to Manchester United for over ten minutes, The Red Devils finally managed to launch a counter-attack.

In midfield, Pogba controlled the ball, shook off Fernandinho’s challenge, advanced past the halfway line, and played a precise through ball.

C. Ronaldo’s speed had indeed declined significantly, but the Portuguese superstar’s positioning was smarter. He made a run directly into the gap in Manchester City’s defense, controlled the ball, chipped it over centre-back Vincent Kompany, broke into the left side of the penalty area, and slotted a push shot into the far corner, sending the ball into Manchester City’s net.

1-0!

This was Manchester United’s first shot of the entire match!

C. Ronaldo had scored a crucial goal!

The entire Etihad Stadium couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

They had actually been scored on by C. Ronaldo!

After conceding, Manchester City, like a wounded beast, began to show their grit, relentlessly charging at Manchester United.

But The Red Devils’ defense was well-organized, and combined with Navas’s outstanding performance, they repeatedly thwarted Manchester City’s attacks.

In the end, the beleaguered Manchester United surprisingly defeated Manchester City 1-0 away from home!

C. Ronaldo emerged victorious in this direct confrontation with Messi!

…

When Yang Cheng heard this news, his first reaction was also one of astonishment.

But then came happiness.

Manchester City had lost!

Actually, for the Bayswater Chinese, this didn’t provide much of a boost in the Premier League.

After 31 matches, the Bayswater Chinese were now on 26 wins and 4 draws, maintaining an unbeaten record.

They had 82 points, sitting first in the Premier League.

And they were leading by a huge margin.

In second place was Arsenal, with only 66 points, a full 16 points behind the Bayswater Chinese.

Thanks to their victory this round, Manchester United reached 61 points, leapfrogging Manchester City into 3rd place in the Premier League.

Manchester City dropped to 4th with 60 points.

Liverpool was currently in 5th place with 56 points.

And The Reds were following the same path this season that Manchester United had taken last season.

They had begun to shift their focus from the Premier League to the Europa League.

As long as they won the Europa League, they could participate in next season’s Champions League.

Mourinho’s Chelsea was in 7th place with 51 points.

Looking purely at the overall standings, van Gaal’s Manchester United hadn’t actually performed that poorly.

As many media outlets had analyzed.

With the competition in the Premier League becoming increasingly fierce, especially with the strengthening of mid-table and lower-table teams, all clubs were now facing immense pressure.

Except for the Bayswater Chinese.

With their own formidable strength, Yang Cheng’s team held a commanding lead over the other Premier League clubs.

A 16-point lead was enough to make all competitors feel a sense of despair.

But even so, the Bayswater Chinese did not relax or become complacent.

Although van Gaal’s Manchester United had been constantly criticized, they were still ranked 3rd in the Premier League, which wasn’t so bad after all.

Someone even did the math and concluded that without C. Ronaldo, Manchester United’s current ranking would probably plummet.

Now look at this season’s relegation zone.

Of the three newly promoted teams this season, Bournemouth was currently 14th.

Watford was 15th, and only Norwich was in 19th.

All teams were fighting for survival, but Bournemouth and Watford were in a much better situation.

On the other hand, teams like Newcastle, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, and Swansea were facing a very grim relegation battle.

Even Everton was in a somewhat precarious position.

This shows just how terrifying the Premier League is nowadays.

If you analyze the current relegation-threatened teams, it’s easy to see that Norwich was the one among the three newly promoted teams with the lowest investment this season.

They didn’t spend much last summer and only invested over twenty million pounds during the winter transfer window.

But they also sold two key players, earning over ten million pounds.

Their net investment was only about ten million pounds.

Bournemouth, on the other hand, invested nearly 30 million pounds last summer, and also signed five Premier League players on free transfers and loaned four players.

Even so, they still spent over 20 million pounds during the winter transfer window.

This included poaching Lewis Grabban from Norwich.

Among the newly promoted teams, Watford had the highest winter investment, spending thirty million pounds.

Newcastle was the most baffling.

After successfully avoiding relegation last season, The Magpies spent over fifty million pounds this summer, selling only one substitute player for a negligible transfer fee.

That was a net investment of fifty million pounds!

Come the winter transfer window, The Magpies invested another thirty-plus million pounds.

It could be said that this season, in order to avoid relegation, Newcastle’s total investment, including loans and free transfers, was likely over 100 million pounds.

The result was that The Magpies were currently at the bottom of the Premier League table.

The season wasn’t over yet, but Yang Cheng was sure that at least half of the Premier League clubs were now arranging for scouts, or third-party agencies, to investigate Newcastle this season.

They wanted to know why Newcastle, despite such a massive investment, could still play so poorly.

In Yang Cheng’s opinion, this was truly a classic case study that all Premier League clubs should learn from and study.

It was a wake-up call for the managers of all Premier League clubs, and indeed all football clubs.

Professional football, especially modern professional football, cannot be solved by investment alone.

No matter how rich you are, no matter how much you invest, if the club’s management is chaotic, the dressing room is divided, and the team lacks cohesion, such a team can never succeed!

Just Newcastle?

No, look at Manchester United, and then look at Chelsea. Aren’t they the same?

Even Newcastle’s own club legend, Alan Shearer, stated directly: Newcastle’s biggest problem at the moment lies with the club’s management.

“Why, after Christmas, with Newcastle having earned only 10 points in the first 20 rounds, did the club still not make a decisive change in manager?”

“How was McClaren able to lead the team for 29 rounds?”

“Why, despite investing so much in transfer fees, are the results even worse than last season?”

As a Newcastle legend, Alan Shearer’s questions were undoubtedly sharp, and his criticism was aimed directly at Newcastle’s chairman, Ashley.

But what Yang Cheng found even stranger was, with Newcastle on the brink of relegation and only 9 rounds left in the league, why would Benítez choose to coach The Magpies?

Is this how a top manager should act?

Or was it that Newcastle was just offering too much money?

Chapter 359: Grand Slam! Mourinho, I Salute You! Physics Doesn’t Apply to Him!

After the 31st round of the Premier League, there was a two-week national team training camp in March.

As European nations prepared for the 2016 European Championship, every available international player was called up.

But even without reminders from their clubs, the players had a strong sense of self-preservation.

No one wanted to get injured at such a crucial time.

Of course, the clubs still did everything they were supposed to.

Yang Cheng remained incredibly busy every day.

He had to manage the affairs of Bayswater Chinese and also handle his work with FIFA.

On top of that, there was the International Champions Cup run by the ICC Company in the United States.

After securing authorization from FIFA and the various continental confederations, the ICC Company began negotiations with numerous broadcasters, including ESPN and Al Jazeera, as well as major sponsors like Nike.

The new proposal put forward by the ICC Company received high praise from all parties.

In recent years, the International Champions Cup had expanded rapidly. Although its influence was growing, everyone could clearly see its potential bottlenecks and future development issues.

Now, the ICC Company’s timely reform plan made broadcasters and sponsors very excited.

At least from a commercial perspective, the prospects looked very promising.

In March, the ICC Company held a press conference in the United States to formally announce two major things.

First, they had acquired the agency rights for UEFA, the Champions League, and the Europa League in the Americas.

These rights would take effect after the 2016 European Championship.

This didn’t attract much attention from the media or the fans.

But within the industry, it caused a massive tremor.

It meant breaking the old monopoly.

Everyone could even foresee that the ICC Company would cooperate further with FIFA in the future to acquire agency rights for other tournaments like the World Cup, as part of the reforms by FIFA and the continental confederations.

Introducing full-on competition!

Of course, this matter received little attention from the fans.

They were more focused on something else.

Starting in 2017, the International Champions Cup would reform its format and undergo an expansion!

The tournament would expand from the original 16 teams to 32.

In addition to the current European teams, it would also invite teams from Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania, creating a truly international champions cup.

David Pemsel announced at the press conference that the cup-style nature of the International Champions Cup would remain unchanged.

“This is the most charming and captivating element of our tournament for the fans!”

Every participating team would receive an appearance fee of three million euros for each match they played.

Additionally, the ICC Company offered substantial prize money for wins, draws, and advancing through the rounds.

The prize for winning the championship would reach an unprecedented ten million euros!

Under this new standard, every participating team could earn at least ten million euros.

The three group stage matches alone would bring in nine million euros.

Adding some other miscellaneous income, surpassing ten million euros wouldn’t be difficult.

A team that won the championship with a perfect record would have to play seven matches.

The appearance fees alone would amount to twenty-one million euros.

Add to that the prize money for wins, progression, and winning the title.

The champion’s total income would exceed forty million euros.

What did this mean?

It meant that this tournament would become a major event that no team in the world would want to miss.

They would even be willing to invest more energy into it.

As long as the participating teams were willing to compete with real grit and skill, the tournament was guaranteed to be exciting.

When answering questions from the media, David Pemsel also gave a clear response.

The reason they could offer such high appearance fees and prize money to all participating teams after the expansion was primarily due to the strong support from sponsors.

David Pemsel stated that the ICC Company had already signed framework agreements with several globally influential broadcasting organizations, including Sky Sports, ESPN, and Al Jazeera.

The massive income from broadcasting rights and commercial sponsorships was the ICC Company’s powerful backing.

After receiving authorization from FIFA and the continental confederations, major broadcasters and sponsors were also very eager to invest.

For them, July and August were like a dead period for football events.

The International Champions Cup could fill this void, which was of great benefit to them as well.

This major news from the ICC Company immediately caused a huge reaction around the world.

Everyone could see that the International Champions Cup was truly set to become bigger and stronger!

…

During the two-week national team training camp, another gossip scandal erupted in the Premier League.

The Sun revealed that England striker Defoe, currently playing for Sunderland, secretly went to the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle after a training session to rendezvous with a mysterious woman.

The key point was that Defoe had just gotten married a month ago. The 28-year-old woman he was meeting was the girlfriend of former Liverpool player Stan Collymore, and the two had twin children together.

Defoe had been performing well for Sunderland this season, so it was unexpected for such an explosive story to suddenly break.

But that still wasn’t the main point.

More importantly, the guy was exposed as a serial cheater.

It was said that the number of women Defoe had cheated with was enough to form a strong 11-person lineup.

Can you believe that?

And this guy was not picky at all.

From players’ girlfriends to the wives of dockworkers, he apparently accepted them all.

This news caused quite a stir in England.

But everyone treated it as a piece of celebrity gossip.

As long as Defoe could keep scoring goals, no one would really care how much he fooled around.

However, the next story was even more outrageous.

It was also broken by The Sun.

French centre-back Djourou, currently playing for Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga, had filmed a comedy movie with his wife, Emilie, which included a rather steamy scene.

That doesn’t sound like much, right?

Just a player making a cameo in a movie and filming an intimate scene?

The key detail was that during the bed scene, Djourou’s girlfriend was wearing an Arsenal shirt. Can you believe that?

Note, it wasn’t Djourou wearing it, but his girlfriend.

This was just outrageous, wasn’t it?

Arsenal wanted to scream: “What the fuck is this shit!”

But what was even more unbelievable was that two of the movie’s investors were Arsenal player Sagna and former Manchester United player Saha.

All in all, the whole affair was hyped up and became a huge topic of discussion.

Arsenal fans were furious about it.

Who the hell would dare to wear an Arsenal shirt on the streets after this?

Especially female fans.

But the issue also involved a current Arsenal player, a former Arsenal player, and a former Manchester United player…

The whole thing devolved into a ridiculous, almost absurd situation.

Of course, some less absurd things also happened during these two weeks.

For example, Pep Guardiola publicly stated that Manchester City hoped to sign Toni Kroos.

The reason given was that Toni Kroos’s great mentor Yang Cheng was about to step down from the head coach position, so the German midfielder should reconsider his future.

But Bayswater Chinese did not respond to this.

Toni Kroos, through his agent, stated that the player would not be leaving Bayswater Chinese.

Another piece of news was that Chelsea had secretly contacted Conte, hoping that the Italian national team head coach would take over from Mourinho to manage Chelsea at the end of the season.

Conte, who was leading his team in preparations for a friendly match, denied it.

“Chelsea? No, I haven’t signed any agreement with them.”

“Yes, as I’ve said before, I will leave the Italian national team after the European Championship. But I haven’t decided where I’ll go yet. I want to return to club management.”

Conte also revealed that he was not opposed to coaching in the Premier League.

“It would be a new challenge for me.”

And Mourinho?

Clearly, The Portuguese Madman was in an awkward situation.

He hadn’t been sacked yet, but Conte was already confirmed as his replacement.

But The Sun…

Yes, The Sun again.

The Fleet Street media outlet was truly everywhere.

The Sun reported that after being sacked by Chelsea, Mourinho would move directly to Manchester United, replacing van Gaal to become the head coach of The Red Devils.

The changes in the head coach positions at Chelsea and Manchester United were basically the same as in Yang Cheng’s previous life.

The reason was the increasing scarcity of top-tier coaches in European football.

Benítez had failed at Real Madrid, van Gaal had failed at Manchester United, and Mourinho’s situation at Chelsea was not ideal either.

All of this showed that European football was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Especially with the Qatar consortium about to take over Tottenham Hotspur.

The competition for star players had already reached a fever pitch.

The competition for famous managers had only just begun.

It was in this atmosphere that Bayswater Chinese signed a coaching contract with Flick.

The German would officially take over Yang Cheng’s position and manage Bayswater Chinese starting in 2016.

The purpose of this was clear: to reject all poaching attempts for Flick from other clubs.

As the team’s owner, Yang Cheng personally attended the signing ceremony and signed the contract on behalf of the club.

This was the greatest possible endorsement of Flick!

Yang Cheng stated that over the past two years, Flick’s work at Bayswater Chinese had earned everyone’s approval.

“I believe he will be an excellent head coach!”

“European football is undergoing some important changes, and so are we at Bayswater Chinese.”

“I am confident that Flick can lead this team forward!”

When the media asked for Yang Cheng’s opinion as the head coach, he smiled and said he absolutely supported Flick’s appointment.

After this season, he would no longer interfere with the first team’s management.

“This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

“In fact, I started thinking about this many years ago, began preparations three years ago, and two years ago, Hans joined Bayswater Chinese.”

“I feel that now is the right time!”

Why announce it at this moment?

Yang Cheng smiled and explained that it was because Flick had rejected poaching attempts from multiple teams.

“This was a decision made last July!”

As the team’s head coach, Yang Cheng said he would do his utmost to lead the current group of players to fight with all their might in every remaining match this season.

“I am very proud, because we are, to date, the only team in European football still fighting on four fronts.”

“This season, we’ve already won the Community Shield, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, and the League Cup.”

“I hope that in all the upcoming matches, we can work even harder and strive to win the League, the Champions League, and the FA Cup.”

“If we do, we will become the first-ever seven-trophy winner in European football history, a Grand Slam team!”

“This is my wish!”

After Yang Cheng’s words were spread by the media, they quickly reached all corners of the world.

Countless media outlets and fans felt a great sense of regret.

They had long suspected this would happen.

But when it was officially announced, they still found it hard to accept.

This was especially true for many Bayswater Chinese fans.

In their minds, from the moment they started supporting Bayswater Chinese, Yang Cheng had been standing in front of the team’s dugout, a constant presence for over a decade.

Under Yang Cheng’s guidance, the team had been flourishing.

Now, Yang Cheng was stepping down. How could they accept that?

Many in the media and among the fans were also worried: would Bayswater Chinese repeat the fate of Manchester United?

After Ferguson retired, Manchester United fell into a slump.

Although Yang Cheng had made many arrangements, what if things still turned out like they did for Manchester United?

While rumors swirled outside, the team itself was remarkably steadfast and united.

Captain Modrić revealed in an interview with the media that he had extended his contract with the team until 2020.

“My professional career began right here at Bayswater Chinese.”

“It was our boss who brought me from Croatia to London!”

“I am deeply honored to be the first player ever to move to the Premier League through the Special Talent Clause.”

“I’m 30 years old, but I will continue to stay with the team. I will keep playing until I can’t play anymore, or until this team no longer needs me!”

Modrić’s journey with Bayswater Chinese was the stuff of legends.

He had been the team captain since the lower leagues.

After more than a decade as captain, he had personally witnessed Bayswater Chinese transform from an insignificant little team into one of the world’s top giants.

Modrić himself had also become a top superstar.

It was a beautiful story in world football!

Both Bayswater Chinese and Modrić hoped to continue this beautiful story until the end of Modrić’s career.

He would be like legends such as Gerrard, Maldini, and Totti, playing for only one team his entire life!

Gareth Bale also expressed his sadness at Yang Cheng’s decision but stated that he respected it.

“We knew about this a long time ago. We’ll miss him dearly, but we all know that his battlefield is no longer on the football pitch.”

“No matter what, he will always be with us.”

“And all of us will do our best to help him fulfill his wish, and continue to help Bayswater Chinese.”

“This team is not just our boss’s life’s work; it’s the result of years of hard work from all of us!”

Players like Harry Kane, Theo Walcott, Toni Kroos, Sterling, Thiago Silva, Pepe, and van Dijk all came forward to speak to the media, stating that they would definitely remain with the team.

Yang Cheng’s departure would certainly have an impact on Bayswater Chinese.

But everyone believed that under Flick’s leadership, Bayswater Chinese would continue to be as strong as ever!

As for this season?

There was nothing more to say.

Bayswater Chinese would win all the trophies!

…

On the afternoon of April 2nd, at Prudentual Stadium in London.

Premier League Round 32, Bayswater Chinese hosted Chelsea.

Affected by the upcoming first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals midweek, Yang Cheng made significant squad rotations for this match.

With a clear advantage in the league, Yang Cheng needed to free up his hands and concentrate more of his forces on the Champions League.

In the 52nd minute of the second half, Casemiro made a brilliant tackle just outside his own penalty area, quickly passing the ball forward to De Bruyne.

The Belgian midfielder had just controlled the ball and turned when Kanté was immediately on him.

The French midfielder closed in on De Bruyne, putting a hand on his chest, trying to stop him.

It was the same job he had been doing for the first fifty minutes of the match.

His task was to win the ball.

De Bruyne shifted the ball to his right foot and quickly dribbled forward, trying to break through Kanté’s interception.

Despite Kanté’s harassment and pulling, he couldn’t stop De Bruyne.

The French midfielder was already on a yellow card and didn’t dare to make any overly aggressive moves.

The two were locked in a grueling battle as they crossed the halfway line from the right side of the center circle.

At almost the same moment, the front three were already sprinting forward at full speed.

Sterling, Giroud, and Salah were all running hard.

De Bruyne had the ball at his right foot, his left arm holding off Kanté, but he was also being held back by Kanté, so his progress was not fast.

If this continued, the fast counter-attack would fizzle out.

Chelsea’s defensive attention was clearly focused on Giroud and Salah.

After all, the ball was in the right channel.

But after a quick glance ahead, De Bruyne saw a channel.

A channel that no one else could see!

As he crossed the halfway line and approached the bottom edge of the center circle, his right foot suddenly saw an opportunity and he played a diagonal pass.

Since Kanté was blocked on his left side, he couldn’t prevent the pass with his right foot.

But this pass wasn’t a through ball for Salah or Giroud; it was a diagonal one.

The ball cut between the holding midfielder Sami Khedira and centre-back Benatia, angling behind Gary Cahill into the empty space on the left.

The moment De Bruyne played the pass, the Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

“How did he see that passing lane?”

“With everyone moving at high speed, how did he make that pass?”

No one knew.

But the football sliced through Chelsea’s well-organized defense at incredible speed, landing in the empty space on the left.

Sterling sprinted onto it, taking a perfect touch to knock the ball into the left side of the penalty area.

Gary Cahill reacted very quickly, turning and chasing, catching up to Sterling near the edge of the box.

The English winger didn’t wait for Cahill to get set.

As soon as the Chelsea centre-back arrived, Sterling came to a dead stop, then feinted to cut inside towards the center.

Cahill immediately moved to block him.

But unexpectedly, the short Sterling’s movements were incredibly quick. He chopped the ball back with his right foot.

In a single move, at high speed, Sterling blew past Cahill and broke into the left side of the penalty area.

Facing the onrushing goalkeeper Čech, Sterling executed a deft chip shot with his right foot.

The ball sailed over Čech’s head and dropped into the unguarded right side of the net behind him. Sterling didn’t slow down, continuing his run off the pitch to celebrate.

At almost the same instant, the entire Prudential Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

The ball hit the back of the net!

Ninety thousand fans leaped from their seats, wildly chanting Sterling’s name.

The Bayswater Chinese players also rushed to the sideline to celebrate.

“At least half the credit for that goal should go to De Bruyne.”

“That pass was simply out of this world.”

“I believe no one expected that he could find such a passing lane, let alone deliver the ball there.”

“We can see Mourinho on the sideline, looking devastated.”

“He must also be in disbelief at De Bruyne’s assist.”

“But a pass like that really does exist!”

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Chelsea 1-0, thanks to De Bruyne’s assist and Sterling’s goal.

After the post-match press conference, Mourinho went to meet Yang Cheng for a drink. The first thing he said upon seeing Yang Cheng nearly made him spit out his drink laughing.

“Give me a De Bruyne, and I’ll wipe the floor with you in a heartbeat!”

Yang Cheng couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

“Give you De Bruyne? Would you even know how to use him?”

“I wouldn’t know how to use him?”

Mourinho looked as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world.

“Let me tell you, a passing genius like De Bruyne, you put him on any team, and unless the head coach is an idiot, it’s impossible not to use him well!”

After saying that, Mourinho gave a prideful nod towards Yang Cheng, as if to say: “If you don’t believe me, sell him to me!”

Whether he meant sell him to Chelsea or sell him to Manchester United, Mourinho didn’t specify.

But Yang Cheng really couldn’t contain himself anymore.

“I completely agree with you on that point, José. A coach who can’t use De Bruyne well is an idiot. But a coach who can’t use him and then lets him go, well, that’s the biggest idiot of them all!”

Mourinho instinctively froze for a moment.

Knowing Yang Cheng as he did, that comment didn’t sound particularly friendly.

But he racked his brains and couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the statement.

Chelsea did scout De Bruyne back in the day, but wasn’t he poached by Yang Cheng?

Thinking of this, Mourinho nodded solemnly.

Yes, the king of idiots!

Yang Cheng was thoroughly amused.

He really wanted to tell Mourinho: In my previous life, you were the one who didn’t use De Bruyne well, and you even let him slip through your fingers. What do you have to say about that?

It took a great deal of effort for him to suppress this urge.

“Honestly, José, the only thing hard about you anymore is your stubborn mouth!”

Mourinho glanced down at his waist, a flash of panic on his face, but he quickly and deliberately said in a loud voice, “Was I wrong?”

“You weren’t wrong. You’re right!”

Yang Cheng smiled and said, “I salute you!”

After this match, Yang Cheng would likely not face Mourinho on the pitch again.

Chelsea had been knocked out of the Champions League this season and had only reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

So, they probably wouldn’t meet again.

Naturally, Yang Cheng chatted a little more with him.

Mourinho’s current situation was also quite difficult.

He had returned to Chelsea for a second spell with great ambition, but unexpectedly, it hadn’t turned out well.

“The competition in the Premier League now is just too brutal!”

After saying this with a sigh, Mourinho let out another long sigh.

The pressure was immense!

There were now six strong teams battling it out, and Chelsea’s strength didn’t really give them any advantage.

But most importantly, the players brought in from Atlético Madrid had failed to perform in the Premier League at the same level they had in La Liga.

Except for Diego Costa.

Falcao was now basically considered a bust.

As the team’s head coach, Mourinho was naturally the one who bore the primary responsibility.

“You’re really clever. The moment you saw the Qatar consortium coming in, you bailed,” Mourinho said, half-joking, half-scolding.

Yang Cheng didn’t offer an explanation.

He knew Mourinho wasn’t talking about him, but was just lamenting.

The Premier League with six strong teams was already a bloodbath. If the Qatar consortium joined the fray, it would be sheer madness!

At that point, all the head coaches would be under immense pressure.

“You really need to keep up with the times. Your management philosophy and your way of leading the team need some changes!”

As a friend, this was all Yang Cheng could say.

After all, Mourinho would be managing Manchester United next, and they would still be opponents of Bayswater Chinese.

Besides, Yang Cheng didn’t think Mourinho would change.

If this guy could listen to someone else’s advice, he wouldn’t be Mourinho.

…

On the evening of April 5th, at Prudential Stadium in London.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Bayswater Chinese versus Atlético Madrid.

Simeone’s team started the away game with a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Yang Cheng, as usual, took the initiative to attack.

After all, it was their home game.

From the very beginning, Bayswater Chinese adopted an aggressive, all-out attacking posture, pinning Atlético Madrid back in their own half.

But The Mattress Makers defended very tightly.

Diego Simeone seemed to be playing a 4-4-2, but in reality, Griezmann dropped back into midfield more often.

The overall formation was actually a 4-2-3-1.

Torres was positioned furthest forward.

This made Atlético Madrid’s strategy for the match crystal clear.

Defend and counter-attack.

One attacking, one defending, both teams were playing with their cards on the table.

The Mattress Makers’ meticulous defense gave Bayswater Chinese a hard time.

For this match, Yang Cheng had fielded a front three of Theo Walcott, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

The intention was clear: to strengthen the attack and scoring efficiency at home.

Giroud was on the bench.

The first threatening attack of the match occurred in the 11th minute.

Gareth Bale cut inside from the right flank, shaking off Filipe Luís before passing back to Modrić.

The latter played a cross pass to Theo Walcott, who was on the left, just outside the penalty area.

The Little Tiger took a curling shot, which went just wide of the top-right corner.

After ten minutes of blitzing, Bayswater Chinese continued to press Atlético.

They seemed relentless, determined to keep The Mattress Makers suppressed.

Soon after, Bayswater Chinese created another threat.

Marcelo, from the outside of the left side of the penalty area, chipped a pass towards the front of the right post.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed forward run, getting ahead of Godín to meet it with a header.

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into the penalty area, causing a scramble.

Bayswater Chinese were capable of creating chances.

Under Atlético’s constant pressure, especially within their dense defensive system, the players found it difficult to express themselves, and their attacking efficiency was affected.

Even their passing started to show errors.

In the 24th minute, midfielder Koke successfully tackled the ball away from Modrić, then turned and sent a long pass to launch a quick counter-attack.

Koke’s pass was aimed directly behind the Bayswater Chinese defense.

And everyone knew that what Torres did best was this kind of direct run towards goal.

Atlético’s Golden Boy did indeed time his run perfectly, beating the offside trap and heading straight for the goal.

At that moment, on the sidelines, Diego Simeone couldn’t help but clench his fists and shout with excitement.

“Go for it! Get that goal, Fernando!”

Torres was well-prepared, sprinting forward at full speed, constantly looking back at Koke’s pass.

He had beaten the offside trap!

The next step was to control the ball and score the one-on-one.

But just as Torres felt confident he could score, a red figure rapidly closed in from a distance, getting closer and closer, finally catching up to him.

Van Dijk!

Torres recognized the Dutch centre-back immediately.

Yang Cheng had once said that the reason he dared to push his defensive line so high was because he had van Dijk.

And the Dutch centre-back had never disappointed Yang Cheng.

This time was no different.

At this moment, Torres’s impression of van Dijk was just one word: fast!

Incredibly explosive speed!

And extremely agile!

He didn’t seem clumsy and slow like other 1.95-meter-tall centre-backs at all.

On the contrary, he seemed very light, agile, and incredibly powerful.

This was unscientific!

Could it be that physics didn’t apply to him?

When van Dijk caught up to him, Torres tried to reach out an arm to block him and lean his shoulder into him.

Based on Torres’s past experience, this should force van Dijk to slow down.

But unexpectedly, the Dutch centre-back’s next step took him past Torres.

This completely foiled Torres’s plan to use his body to shield the ball from van Dijk.

The motion of his shoulder leaning in threw him completely off balance.

He had no choice but to reach out desperately, as if grasping for a life-saving straw.

In fact, he did manage to grab van Dijk’s jersey.

But the Dutchman got to the ball first, passing it to the nearby Thiago Silva.

Torres, having lost his balance, tumbled down behind van Dijk.

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.

Van Dijk received an ovation from every fan in Prudential Stadium!

And Diego Simeone, who had just been cheering for Torres’s one-on-one chance, now looked as if he had swallowed a fly. The expression on his face completely changed.

Isn’t that just too damn much?

A height of 1.95 meters, such explosive speed, and so agile!

“What the hell, this game is impossible to play!”

Simeone cursed in frustration, turned around, and walked back to the dugout.

Yang Cheng, on the other hand, smiled and applauded for van Dijk.

A very important reason for this was that Torres was getting old, his speed had declined, and his explosiveness was gone.

If it were another fast player, he wouldn’t dare to push his defensive line so far forward.

If the opponent had another Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott, Yang Cheng would definitely be more cautious.

…

Van Dijk’s presence and the solidity of the defense allowed Bayswater Chinese’s front players to throw themselves into the attack with more freedom, especially after the 30-minute mark.

But the team was indeed lacking a bit of luck.

In the 32nd minute, after a link-up with Marcelo, Theo Walcott received the ball in the left channel, suddenly shook off Koke, cut inside horizontally to the arc of the penalty area, and unleashed an unexpected long shot with his right foot.

The football shot towards the bottom-right corner of the goal.

After bouncing, it scraped the base of the right post and went out for a goal kick.

Two dangerous shots, yet neither could break through Atlético’s goal.

Walcott was not satisfied with this result.

Bayswater Chinese seized the opportunity before the first half ended to launch another wave of attacks.

In the 41st minute, Gareth Bale received a pass from Modrić on the right flank. As he cut inside, he suddenly played a through ball to Harry Kane, who was near the right side of the edge of the penalty area.

After passing the ball, Gareth Bale immediately made a quick diagonal run towards the center of the goal, targeting the space behind Godín that Harry Kane had drawn out.

Harry Kane didn’t pass back to Gareth Bale but instead played the ball horizontally to the right flank outside the penalty area.

Piszczek made an overlapping run, received the ball, glanced at Gareth Bale’s run inside the box, and immediately delivered a cross from the right into the area between the penalty spot and the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale charged forward at high speed, using his momentum to leap high into the air and head the ball from close range.

Gareth Bale smashed the football into the left side of Atlético’s goal.

Goalkeeper Oblak could do nothing about it.

1-0!

“GOAL!!!”

“41st minute of the first half, a goal from Gareth Bale!”

“Piszczek’s cross from the right flank found Gareth Bale in the center with pinpoint accuracy!”

“This is what we’ve talked about before, Bayswater Chinese’s specialty: the interchanging positions of their front three.”

“Harry Kane pulls out to the right, and Gareth Bale makes a diagonal run into the center.”

“This kind of crossover movement gives defenders a huge headache.”

“If you follow, your defensive order is disrupted.”

“If you don’t follow, it ends up like just now, with Gareth Bale attacking the space directly behind Godín, completely paralyzing Atlético’s defensive line!”

“It has to be said, in terms of attack, Bayswater Chinese is definitely the strongest team in the world!”

…

The first half ended with a one-goal lead.

After changing sides for the second half, Bayswater Chinese pressed their advantage, continuing to pin Atlético back.

The Mattress Makers still wanted to defend and counter-attack.

It was difficult for Simeone’s team to threaten Bayswater Chinese on the attack.

Especially if they pushed forward to attack, it would play right into Yang Cheng’s hands.

They had a better chance playing defend and counter-attack.

But as a result, Bayswater Chinese easily established one-sided dominance.

The match was almost completely one-sided.

In the 53rd minute, as Bayswater Chinese’s first wave of attacks in the second half was about to end, Toni Kroos suddenly hit a diagonal pass, sending the ball to the outside of the right side of the penalty area.

Again, it was Piszczek making an overlapping run. After controlling the ball, he glanced into the box and delivered another cross.

But this time, he didn’t aim for Gareth Bale at the near post, nor Harry Kane in the center, nor Theo Walcott lurking to the left of the penalty spot. Instead, he switched the ball directly to the left side of the penalty area.

This rapid switch of play, from left to right and then back to the left with a cross, left the left side of Atlético’s box empty.

Marcelo charged forward at high speed and, without taking a touch, hit Piszczek’s cross back towards the center with his left foot, directly in front of the goal in the six-yard box.

The rest was simple.

Harry Kane stuck out a foot in front of goal and redirected the ball.

It was less him poking the ball and more him just getting a touch on it.

Marcelo’s cross was deflected by him into Atlético’s goal.

Faced with a shot from such close range, although Oblak dropped to the ground immediately to block, he was powerless.

The ball went straight into the goal.

2-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium once again erupted with the deafening cheers of the fans.

A two-goal lead!

For Bayswater Chinese, this was definitely something to celebrate.

But on the sidelines, Yang Cheng was still not satisfied.

After the players finished celebrating and returned to their positions, he immediately signaled for the team to continue applying pressure.

Finish the opponent off in one swift blow!

In the 64th minute, Bayswater Chinese executed a brilliant piece of combination play on the right side, just outside the penalty area.

Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, and Modrić completed a series of passes, after which Modrić, from the edge of the arc, played a diagonal pass to Theo Walcott on the left side of the box.

After entering the left side of the box, The Little Tiger controlled the ball with his left foot, cut past Juanfran, then pulled it back with his right and cut inside horizontally.

As soon as he shook off Juanfran, Walcott curled a shot with his right foot.

This was already his fourth time cutting in from the left to shoot in this match.

Of the previous three attempts, two had been direct threats and nearly resulted in goals.

The other one was quite off-target.

But this time, his entire movement was incredibly fluid, the execution was of a very high quality, and the contact with the ball was perfect.

He felt it!

The football traced a beautiful arc and flew into the top-right corner of the goal.

“GOAL!!!!”

“64th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“A goal from Theo Walcott, cutting in from the left and scoring with a curling shot!”

“3-0!”

“My goodness, I can’t believe it.”

“The match has basically turned into a one-sided slaughter. Bayswater Chinese have completely suppressed Atlético.”

“3-0!”

“The Mattress Makers simply cannot stop Bayswater Chinese’s relentless tide of attacks!”

…

After Bayswater Chinese scored their third goal, the dynamics of the match changed dramatically once again.

Simeone started making substitutions.

Jackson Martínez replaced midfielder Gabi.

At this point, Atlético’s tactics resembled a 4-4-2, with a diamond formation in midfield.

If Yang Cheng’s guess was correct, Simeone had a backup plan from the beginning, intending to launch a wave of attacks near the end of the second half to snatch an away goal.

That’s why he remained calm even after conceding two goals.

But when Theo Walcott scored the third, he immediately made a substitution.

Time was running out for Atlético Madrid.

If they couldn’t get that away goal, then in the second leg, back at the Ramón Calderón in Madrid, Atlético’s situation would be very dire.

Because they weren’t confident they could overturn a three-goal deficit without conceding.

So, if Simeone still wanted to advance, he had to go all out on the attack.

The Mattress Makers began to play with desperate intensity against Bayswater Chinese.

First, Torres received a yellow card.

Then Koke also got a yellow.

Filipe Luís received a yellow card as well.

Griezmann, Godín…

Even Oblak got a yellow card in the 79th minute.

All the Atlético players were putting their bodies on the line against Bayswater Chinese.

They hoped that through this fierce tackling, through their desperate efforts, they could secure an away goal.

Although Jackson Martínez had not performed well at Atlético, Yang Cheng still didn’t dare to be complacent.

With Torres alongside him, that combination was still very dangerous.

Incidentally, in Yang Cheng’s previous life, Jackson Martínez was also involved in a third-party ownership deal.

The final sucker who took him on was Guangzhou Evergrande in China.

For a whopping forty-two million euros!

Converted to yuan, that’s over four hundred million.

But in this life, Jackson Martínez was still at Atlético and hadn’t been sold during the winter transfer window.

This could be considered a butterfly effect brought about by Yang Cheng, saving his home country a sum of foreign exchange.

With the entire Atlético team pressing hard, and with Jackson Martínez, Torres, and Griezmann leading the attack, Bayswater Chinese had to drop back and adopt a defensive stance for the last 20 minutes of the match.

Although Yang Cheng’s team was known for its attacking football, their defense was by no means weak.

And even with the opponent attacking desperately, Bayswater Chinese were not without their own counter-punch.

In the 87th minute, after van Dijk won the ball and made a pass, Harry Kane flicked it on with a header.

Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale both made forward runs simultaneously.

The Little Tiger carried the ball on a long run, and after breaking into Atlético’s box, he sent a cross pass.

However, Gareth Bale had run too fast and overshot the ball.

By the time the Welshman turned to receive Walcott’s pass, he couldn’t control it properly, and his touch was too heavy.

Godín, who had tracked back in time, kicked the ball out of play.

Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale looked at each other, then both shook their heads simultaneously.

Clearly, both brothers felt that it was the other’s poor touch and lack of awareness that caused them to miss a clear-cut double threat on goal!

On the sidelines, Yang Cheng slapped his forehead in exasperation, a look of speechlessness on his face.

“Messing around, they’re messing around!”

“They’re really messing around!”

“Even though a 3-0 home lead is great, we can’t be this wasteful!”

“These two jokers, I’ll fine them heavily later!”

In the end, Bayswater Chinese couldn’t break through Atlético’s iron barrel defense again before the final whistle.

3-0!

With goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing home victory over The Mattress Makers.

Since they didn’t concede an away goal, this scoreline and lead were an absolutely ideal result for Bayswater Chinese.

They already had one foot in the Champions League semi-finals.

But after the match, Yang Cheng still “severely” criticized Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Their handling of that “goal-scoring opportunity” was far too casual!

Regarding their chances of advancing, Yang Cheng remained very cautious.

Because, in his previous life, there were some teams that had a three or four-goal lead from the home leg, only to be overturned by their opponents in the away game.

What?

Which teams?

There’s no need to name them, is there?

Chapter 360: Unbeaten! Another Title! Showdown in the Semi-Final! That Butterfly Ball at Camp Nou!

On the afternoon of April 9th, at London’s Prudential Stadium.

Premier League, Round 33. Bayswater Chinese hosted Bournemouth.

This was a crucial match that had captured the world’s attention!

It wasn’t because of the strength of Bayswater Chinese’s opponent.

It was because if Bayswater Chinese could defeat Bournemouth in today’s match, they would clinch this season’s Premier League title with five games to spare.

No, strictly speaking, it would be six games to spare.

Because Yang Cheng’s team still had a rescheduled match from Round 27 to play.

It had been postponed because they were participating in the League Cup final and had been delayed until now.

This season, Bayswater Chinese had led the pack from the very beginning, giving their competitors almost no opportunities.

By this point, practically everyone believed that Yang Cheng’s team had already locked up the league title.

The only remaining question was, when would they officially clinch it?

For all their rivals, this was like being sliced by a blunt knife—a rather cruel process.

Although Bournemouth were currently 14th in the Premier League, they weren’t completely clear of the relegation zone.

Therefore, this team would also give it their all.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, had to divide their attention with the Champions League, especially the two legs against Atlético Madrid.

Before the match, Bournemouth’s head coach, Eddie Howe, had vowed, “I believe Bayswater Chinese will win the title. They are the best team in the Premier League, in Europe, and in the world.”

“But not this weekend!”

The implication was that Bournemouth had the ability to upset Yang Cheng’s team on the road.

For this match, Eddie Howe also fielded his strongest 4-2-3-1 formation, focusing on balance and defense.

This was already the strongest and most reliable lineup he could deploy to stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack.

At the very least, he wanted to leave Prudential Stadium unscathed.

Bayswater Chinese, however, continued their usual squad rotation.

Yang Cheng did not alter his rhythm just for this match.

Sterling, Giroud, and Salah formed the attacking trident.

This didn’t seem particularly formidable on paper.

But once the match started, the two youngsters, Sterling and Salah, stunned everyone.

Just four minutes into the game, Salah received a through ball from De Bruyne and went down after entering the penalty area.

This made everyone in the stadium cry out for a penalty.

But the head referee didn’t award it.

According to the slow-motion replay, Bournemouth’s centre-back Steve Cook had made a clear foul.

However, it didn’t matter.

Just three minutes later, Bayswater Chinese came roaring back.

On the right flank, Salah received the ball and cut inside, drawing the attention of the defense before playing a through ball to the byline.

Kyle Walker made a powerful run from outside the right of the box, catching up to Salah’s pass and driving a low cross in front of the goal.

Giroud’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper Boruc, but Sterling followed up at the far post, pushing the ball into the unguarded net to score the opening goal for Bayswater Chinese.

1-0!

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

Sterling raced off the pitch, head held high, chest puffed out, accepting the adulation of the ninety thousand fans in the stadium.

This goal was incredibly important for Bayswater Chinese!

Just over two minutes after Sterling’s goal, at the 10:18 mark, it was Sterling again, this time combining with Aaron Ramsey on the left flank.

The Welsh midfielder sent a through ball towards the left byline just outside the box.

Luke Shaw made an overlapping run to the byline and sent a low, driven cross towards the goal.

This attack was a carbon copy of the previous one from the right flank.

The only difference was that Bournemouth’s goalkeeper, Boruc, chose to come off his line, making a save on the left side of the six-yard box.

He managed to touch the ball, but he couldn’t hold on to it.

Giroud, who had been charging in for a tap-in, seized the golden opportunity and swept the ball into the net with his left foot.

2-0!

After scoring two quick goals, Bayswater Chinese began to slow their attack, focusing on controlling possession and the tempo of the game.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, reorganized their defense, hoping to steady themselves.

At this point, Eddie Howe’s team could no longer think about a draw, let alone an upset.

Their only thought was to concede as few goals as possible.

But in the 28th minute, after winning the ball just ahead of their own 30-meter area, Aaron Ramsey played a low, direct long pass.

The pass sliced through Bournemouth’s defensive line, finding space behind them.

Sterling burst forward at high speed.

Although the English winger’s sprinting form was truly ugly, his speed was genuinely fast.

Sterling charged into the left side of Bournemouth’s penalty area, latching onto Aaron Ramsey’s pass.

Facing a defender who had tracked back, Sterling came to a sudden stop, cut inside, and bypassed one defender.

A touch, another cut, and he beat another one!

Finally, he took one more step laterally, getting past the last man, centre-back Steve Cook.

Bournemouth had three defenders against one.

But because they were inside the penalty area, they were helpless against the dribbling Sterling, who weaved past all three of them in one go.

After getting past Steve Cook, Sterling hit a power shot with his right foot, and the ball flew into the bottom right corner of the goal.

3-0!

A brace!

Not even half an hour had passed, and Bournemouth had already conceded three goals!

Eddie Howe stood morosely in front of the away dugout, deeply disappointed with the current situation.

But no one would blame him.

No one would even hold his pre-match “boast” against him.

And just before halftime, Salah cut inside from the right with the ball, beat two opposing players, and then sent a cross pass from the right side of the arc to the left.

Aaron Ramsey followed up with a push shot.

The ball once again rocketed into the right side of Bournemouth’s goal.

4-0!

A defeat is like a landslide!

Bayswater Chinese’s attack could only be described as having irresistible momentum!

No one had expected that in such a crucial match, Bayswater Chinese, fielding a team of substitutes and rotated players, would perform so exceptionally well.

The entire Prudential Stadium had completely transformed into a sea of celebration!

Many fans even stood up from their seats at the end of the first half, cheering and applauding the players as they walked off the pitch!

Leading by four goals at the half, Yang Cheng’s instruction after the break was to maintain control of the ball and the game’s rhythm.

But just two minutes into the second half, John Stones sent a long pass from the back, directly over the top of Bournemouth’s defensive line.

Salah made a quick diagonal run in behind, racing towards Bournemouth’s penalty area.

Just outside the arc, goalkeeper Boruc came out but failed to get to the ball before Salah, who dinked it with his left foot towards the left side of the box.

After evading Boruc, Salah caught up to the ball and fired a power shot with his left foot into the empty net.

5-0!

Salah’s goal sent the entire Prudential Stadium into another frenzy of cheers!

If Salah’s performance hadn’t fully won over the fans when he first joined, there was no longer any doubt about the Egyptian winger’s ability after a full season.

Everyone was certain that Salah had the potential to become a top-class winger.

All he needed now was a little more polish.

In the 62nd minute, after another turnover in midfield, De Bruyne played a through ball to the feet of Giroud, who had dropped back.

With his back to the goal, the French centre-forward controlled the ball, turned, and sent a through pass with his left foot.

Sterling made a quick forward run, beating the offside trap to receive the pass and find himself one-on-one with the keeper.

This time, on the left side of the box, Sterling calmly faced Boruc and slotted the ball into the net.

“Hat-trick!!!”

“In the 62nd minute, Sterling completes his hat-trick!”

“This is the young English player’s first Premier League hat-trick of the season!”

“Absolutely brilliant!”

“The performance of this 21-year-old English youngster tonight has left a very deep impression on us.”

“He definitely has the potential to become a top-tier attacking player!”

After scoring, an emotional Sterling sprinted off the pitch and ran all the way to the front of the stands, basking in the thunderous applause from the entire stadium.

A product of their own youth academy, he had joined Bayswater Chinese at the age of 10.

Now, he felt immense pride and honor for the team he played for!

And all the fans held equally high hopes for Sterling.

Especially today, after witnessing his spectacular hat-trick with their own eyes!

After going down 6-0, Bournemouth’s morale completely collapsed.

But the team still managed to organize a tight defense even while playing away from home.

However, in the 78th minute, Salah and Kyle Walker combined on the right flank, sending a cross into the penalty area.

From the center of the six-yard box, Giroud, with his back to the goal, used his body to hold off a defender, received the ball, turned, and fired a furious left-footed shot into the net.

The French centre-forward had scored a brace!

7-0!

…

The moment head referee Martin Atkinson blew the final whistle, the entire Prudential Stadium turned into a vast, roaring ocean!

In fact, even before the match ended, the fans in the stands were already dancing and celebrating.

Champions!

Bayswater Chinese had once again won the Premier League title!

With five rounds to spare!

All the players couldn’t help but rush onto the pitch, celebrating with wild abandon.

In the final stages of the match, Yang Cheng’s three substitutions were for Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice, and Dominic Solanke.

Solanke, in particular, was brought on to replace the French centre-forward right after Giroud scored his second goal.

This was a clear sign of the importance Yang Cheng placed on these three players.

It was obvious to anyone that Yang Cheng had been focusing on developing these three young players this season.

Whenever there was an opportunity, he would let them on the pitch to get a feel for the game’s rhythm and accumulate experience.

The three youngsters did not disappoint Yang Cheng, putting in good performances.

Solanke’s performance was the most eye-catching among them.

Declan Rice and Alexander-Arnold were only considered decent.

But that was mainly because they were younger.

While the players celebrated on the pitch, Yang Cheng first high-fived and shook hands with his assistants, then quickly walked over to the away dugout to shake hands with Eddie Howe.

“Congratulations, Yang!” Eddie Howe managed a somewhat bitter smile.

Losing was, in fact, within his expectations.

But he truly hadn’t expected to lose so badly.

A full seven goals conceded!

This was Eddie Howe’s worst defeat of the season so far.

It was even the most thorough defeat of his entire career to date.

And of all matches, it had to be the one where Bayswater Chinese clinched the title.

“Actually, you all played very well. We didn’t expect this result today either,” Yang Cheng said consolingly.

Eddie Howe nodded.

After exchanging a few words with Yang Cheng, he left with his players.

Today, Prudential Stadium was Bayswater Chinese’s stage for celebration.

Other first-team players like Modrić, though not in the matchday squad, had still come to the stadium.

After the match, they came down from the stands and onto the pitch to join their teammates in thanking the ninety thousand fans.

At the same time, they proudly declared that the 2015-16 Premier League title still belonged to Bayswater Chinese!

Sky Sports extended its live broadcast by a full twenty minutes just to cover the celebrations on the pitch.

But after leaving the stadium, Bayswater Chinese held no formal celebration ceremony.

Because there were still two other important competitions to come.

In fact, for the team, the Premier League season wasn’t even over.

So far, Bayswater Chinese remained unbeaten!

Although no one said it out loud, everyone held that ambition in their hearts!

…

On the evening of April 12th, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid.

Champions League quarter-final, second leg. Bayswater Chinese challenged Atlético Madrid away from home.

Having beaten their opponents 3-0 at home in the first leg, essentially securing their spot in the next round, Yang Cheng was more cautious than anyone in his approach to the away game.

Because he knew very well that if Simeone’s team wanted to turn the tie around, they had to throw everything into attack.

At the very least, they needed to score from the very beginning.

But even though Yang Cheng was fully prepared, and even though Bayswater Chinese were on high alert, their defense still made a mistake under the pressure of Atlético’s almost frantic attack and full-pitch press in the away stadium.

A power shot from Griezmann near the penalty spot gave Atlético the lead.

The goal came in the 6th minute.

And it completely ignited the morale and form of the Atlético players.

The Mattress Makers began to push forward and attack with near-reckless abandon.

Yang Cheng’s strategy remained to stabilize the defense, wear down the opponent, and then launch counter-attacks.

After conceding, Yang Cheng continuously signaled for the team to maintain their defensive composure.

Atlético were anxious because they were still trailing by two goals.

Bayswater Chinese had no need to rush.

Just one goal, and The Mattress Makers would be finished!

This ebb and flow of mentality made Atlético play with extraordinary desperation at home.

Almost every player was expending energy with frantic output.

At one point, they had Bayswater Chinese pinned in their own half.

But when Yang Cheng’s team began to steady themselves, Atlético’s attack could no longer create significant threats.

At this point, The Mattress Makers began to expose their own Achilles’ heel.

In the 29th minute, after winning the ball in their own half, Bayswater Chinese launched a quick counter-attack.

The ball was passed to the left flank, to Theo Walcott.

The Little Tiger cut inside with the ball, trying to create an attacking threat, but couldn’t find an opportunity to shoot and was forced to pass back.

Atlético’s defense took the opportunity to push forward.

Toni Kroos and Modrić both signaled for the team to be steady, and the ball was immediately passed back to the defensive line.

Thiago Silva crossed the halfway line and received the ball in the left part of the center circle in Atlético’s half. Spotting an opportunity, he suddenly sent a direct pass forward.

It went neither to midfield nor to the holding midfielder Nemanja Matić.

This pass went directly to Theo Walcott’s feet in the forward line.

With his back to the goal, The Little Tiger didn’t trap the ball but instead flicked it over Juanfran’s head, into the space behind the defense on the left side of the penalty area.

Marcelo made a quick overlapping run, catching up to Walcott’s pass on the left side of the box and taking a touch towards the byline.

Atlético’s defense had mostly gotten back into position, standing near the six-yard box to mark Harry Kane.

But Marcelo, inside the box on the left, faced two defenders, Gabi and Juanfran. He abruptly stopped, pulled the ball back, and sent a cross pass.

The ball went to the left side, just outside the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale suddenly sprinted over from the right of the penalty spot at top speed and, without taking a touch, hit a furious shot with his left foot.

From Thiago Silva’s long pass, to Walcott’s flick, to Marcelo’s cut-back and cross, and finally to Gareth Bale’s left-footed sweep that sealed the deal.

The entire sequence was completed in an extremely short amount of time.

Atlético’s defense had thought they had stopped the quick counter-attack.

They never imagined that Bayswater Chinese would be so quick to seize another opportunity and launch a second wave of attack.

“This is what makes Bayswater Chinese so terrifying!”

“Everyone thought they had the world’s best midfield and the most powerful possession-based football.”

“Little did they know, their defense is also packed with a group of outstanding passers.”

“The moment any defensive vulnerability appears, they will immediately punish it with an attack.”

And just as Yang Cheng had said before.

The 3-0 first-leg victory, without conceding an away goal to Atlético, meant that The Mattress Makers were playing as if in shackles upon returning to their home ground.

They needed to ensure their goal was not breached in this match.

So now that their goal had been breached, what could they do?

The score was 1-1, making the aggregate 4-1, and Bayswater Chinese had a precious away goal.

This meant Atlético had to score at least four more goals.

Was that possible?

Was it realistic?

The Atlético players showed signs of panic.

On the pitch and in the game, this manifested as a lack of unity in the thoughts of The Mattress Makers’ players.

How experienced were Bayswater Chinese?

The moment Toni Kroos and Modrić saw the opponent’s problem, they immediately waved their hands, and pressed forward to attack!

Thus, Bayswater Chinese began to turn the tide of the match, launching wave after wave of attacks against Atlético.

Just seven minutes after the last goal, Bayswater Chinese created another excellent opportunity.

Gareth Bale sent a cross from the right, and Modrić made a forward run to the edge of the box.

Facing the Atlético defenders, the Croatian chipped a pass over the top.

The ball sailed over the defenders’ heads and dropped into the right side of Atlético’s penalty area.

Harry Kane’s positioning was very smart; he timely moved in front of the young centre-back José Giménez, controlled the ball with his chest, and without letting it touch the ground, turned and hit a power shot with his right foot.

This attack was very sudden.

No one expected Modrić to suddenly play a chipped pass.

It was indeed a very clever pass.

But Harry Kane’s handling, especially his shot, was equally brilliant.

Normally, a shot from the right corner of the six-yard box doesn’t offer a great angle.

Especially with Giménez constantly harassing him from behind.

Goalkeeper Oblak had also moved to cover the right post.

It could be said that Harry Kane’s shooting angle was almost completely blocked.

But the English centre-forward’s shot was a low drive that went straight between goalkeeper Oblak’s legs.

Oblak, who was focused on blocking both sides, was caught completely off guard. By the time he went to ground, it was too late.

The ball shot through his legs and into the net behind him.

2-1!

A comeback!

Harry Kane excitedly ran off the pitch to celebrate.

The entire Calderón Stadium fell into a deathly silence.

Two goals conceded in less than ten minutes.

Anyone could see that the morale and fighting spirit of the Atlético players had been completely shattered.

The aggregate score was now 5-1. Atlético needed to score five goals.

How could they possibly play this match?

…

In the end, Bayswater Chinese, with goals from Gareth Bale and Harry Kane, reversed the scoreline to win 2-1 away from home, smoothly advancing to the semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate score.

The other three matches also concluded with clear winners.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City defeated Bayern Munich with a 2-2 draw away and a 1-0 win at home.

The Blue Moons smoothly advanced to the semi-finals.

Barça defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 at home and drew 1-1 away, advancing to the semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate score.

The match Yang Cheng was most concerned about, between Real Madrid and Atalanta, was fiercely contested by both sides.

In the first leg, Atalanta had defeated Real Madrid 2-1 with goals from former Real Madrid player Marcos Alonso and Diego Perotti.

Džeko had scored a crucial away goal for Real Madrid.

In that match, Marcos Alonso’s performance won widespread praise.

This once again proved a rule.

Former Real Madrid players always perform exceptionally well when facing Real Madrid.

This was a source of great frustration for Real Madrid.

But back at the Bernabéu, the two sides clashed once more.

In the 16th minute, Džeko scored the opener for Real Madrid, assisted by Carvajal.

But just one minute later, a dribbling run from Felipe Anderson won the team a free kick in the attacking third.

Škriniar equalized for Atalanta.

The 1-1 scoreline held until the 87th minute of the second half.

At a critical moment, Eden Hazard’s dribbling run took him into Atalanta’s penalty area, where he was tripped by Rüdiger. The head referee awarded a penalty kick.

It was an uncontroversial decision.

Rüdiger had indeed committed a foul.

Džeko calmly converted the penalty, scoring another goal for his team.

2-1!

The two teams went into extra time.

At this point, Real Madrid’s morale was soaring, while Atalanta’s players were physically exhausted.

Ultimately, Atalanta conceded again in extra time.

Di María scored another goal for Real Madrid.

In the end, Real Madrid defeated Atalanta 3-1 at home, knocking them out with a 4-3 aggregate score.

Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City from the Premier League, and Real Madrid and Barça from La Liga, all met in the Champions League semi-finals.

What was even more interesting was that, according to the quarter-final draw, the Premier League and La Liga teams were pitted against each other in a duel.

This meant Bayswater Chinese would face Barça.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City would face Zidane’s Real Madrid.

…

On the afternoon of April 16th, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Premier League, Round 34. Bayswater Chinese challenged Manchester United away from home.

For Bayswater Chinese, this match had more symbolic than practical significance.

Moreover, the team had to divide its focus with the Champions League and couldn’t field its strongest team.

But for Manchester United, the situation was different.

It was already confirmed that van Gaal would be leaving at the end of the season, and Manchester United was currently unstable internally.

So neither side played particularly well.

In the 32nd minute, Kyle Walker sent in a cross from the right flank, and Giroud scored with a header, netting the only goal of the match.

Bayswater Chinese took three points from their away trip.

What amused Yang Cheng was Giroud.

The French centre-forward was exceptionally excited after scoring.

This goal became his highlight moment, a chance to show his quality in front of fans around the world.

At the very least, it made everyone notice that within the Bayswater Chinese squad, there was more than just Harry Kane.

…

April 19th, rescheduled match for Premier League Round 27.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Stoke City away from home.

Now, for Bayswater Chinese, every single match was crucial.

After playing the rescheduled 27th round match, the weekend would see other teams play their 35th round. But Bayswater Chinese would face an FA Cup semi-final, playing “at home” against Watford at Wembley Stadium.

And after the FA Cup semi-final, the midweek fixture was the Champions League semi-final away against Barça.

The weekend’s Premier League Round 36 was another away game, this time against Watford.

Three days later, it was the home game against Barça.

The continuous string of matches put immense pressure on everyone at Bayswater Chinese.

But at this moment, all the players were going all out, gritting their teeth.

Because they knew this was Yang Cheng’s last season as coach!

No matter what, they had to fight to the very last moment!

This was particularly evident in the match against Stoke City.

Mark Hughes’s team set up a 4-2-3-1 formation at their home ground, parking the bus.

Bayswater Chinese had to split their focus between the FA Cup and planning for next week’s Champions League semi-final, so naturally, they couldn’t go all out.

The result was a stalemate.

Things got worse in the 56th minute, in the second half, when Shaqiri assisted his teammate Marko Arnautović to score past Courtois.

Conceding in the 56th minute, Yang Cheng made a quick substitution in the 58th.

In the 77th minute, Yang Cheng made two more substitutions at once.

And just in the 79th minute, Gareth Bale, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes as a substitute, unleashed a long shot from a full 33 meters out, breaking through Stoke City’s goal and equalizing for the team.

This earth-shattering wonder goal not only showed Gareth Bale’s confidence in his own ability but also turned the tide of the match.

In the subsequent play, Bayswater Chinese launched continuous attacks.

In the 89th minute, Harry Kane provided an assist, and Toni Kroos scored with a push shot from the center of the arc, putting the team ahead again.

2-1!

Bayswater Chinese had completed the comeback!

Two of Yang Cheng’s most trusted players had stepped up at a crucial moment to save Bayswater Chinese, taking three points from the away match.

…

The weekend.

While other teams played their Premier League Round 35 matches, Bayswater Chinese, Watford, Manchester United, and Everton faced off in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Manchester United’s match was on April 23rd, a day before Bayswater Chinese’s.

Van Gaal’s team, thanks to a brace from C. Ronaldo, defeated Everton 2-1 in their “away” game.

Although Manchester United’s form had not been ideal recently, they still performed well in a cup competition like this.

The next day, in their match against Watford, Yang Cheng’s team won a free kick in the attacking third just six minutes into the game.

When Modrić took the corner, Thiago Silva flicked it on at the near post, and Gareth Bale headed it in at the far post, scoring the opening goal for the team!

1-0!

Then, in the 55th minute of the second half, Theo Walcott sent in a cross from the right flank, and Harry Kane got on the end of it in the center, once again breaching Watford’s goal.

2-0!

In the 61st minute, an assist from Marcelo on the left flank allowed Gareth Bale to score another goal, sealing the score at 3-0!

The Welshman completed his brace.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Watford, smoothly advancing to the FA Cup final.

Their opponent would be Manchester United!

…

On the evening of April 27th, at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain.

Champions League semi-final, first leg. Bayswater Chinese challenged Barça away from home.

The continuous fighting on multiple fronts made it difficult for Bayswater Chinese to concentrate all their forces on a single match.

Just like this one.

Affected by last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final, Yang Cheng had to make adjustments.

For the away trip to Camp Nou, Yang Cheng’s strategy was resolute.

Defend and counter-attack!

Unlike in Yang Cheng’s past life.

Since Rakitić was at Liverpool and Barça couldn’t sign him, the veteran Xavi had not left Barça last summer.

Therefore, the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio was still Barça’s starting midfield.

Luis Enrique was very clear about Barça’s current situation.

Especially after several seasons of continuous competition, everyone at Barça knew full well that they simply couldn’t contain Bayswater Chinese.

Their only trump card was their home-field possession and attack.

And it was precisely for this reason that Luis Enrique made a very brave, even somewhat unexpected, decision for this match.

He replaced Xavi with Turan.

Goalkeeper: Bravo;

Defense: Alba, Bartra, Piqué, and Dani Alves;

Midfield: Busquets holding, with Iniesta and Turan in the center;

Forwards: Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, and Mahrez.

When Yang Cheng saw Luis Enrique’s starting lineup, a big question popped into his mind.

Why replace Xavi with Turan?

Was it because Turan was younger and could run more than Xavi?

But the kind of chemistry Xavi had with Iniesta and Busquets, his passing and possession skills, his ability to read the game, and his control of the tempo were things Turan couldn’t compare to.

So why do it?

With this question in mind, Yang Cheng entered Camp Nou.

As it turned out, no one expected that just nine minutes into the match, Bayswater Chinese’s defense would be breached by Barça.

Luis Enrique’s opening blitz tactic had paid off.

He was hoping to use Turan and Iniesta’s ability to carry the ball forward to draw out either Modrić or Toni Kroos, thereby creating one-on-one opportunities for Neymar and Mahrez on the flanks.

Through this very tactic, Turan drew out Toni Kroos and then timely distributed the ball to Mahrez.

The latter received the ball next to Marcelo, broke past the Brazilian’s defense, and dribbled to the right side of the penalty area, drawing out Pepe before cutting the ball back to the center.

Lewandowski fired a power shot from the edge of the six-yard box, piercing the goal guarded by Courtois and scoring the opener for Barça.

1-0!

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, watching Lewandowski score against his own team, feeling quite down.

In fact, Lewandowski didn’t celebrate excessively after scoring, simply interacting with his nearby teammates, especially giving a thumbs-up to Mahrez who had provided the pass.

He showed little other reaction.

But Yang Cheng still felt frustrated.

How could he feel good when a player he had carefully nurtured scored against his own team?

Marcelo’s defensive issues had always existed.

Not just Yang Cheng, but Flick, Brian Kidd, and the others were all well aware of it.

However, while the Brazilian left-back had some defensive problems, his contribution in attack was greater, and his impact more significant.

In this situation, choosing him for his attack meant accepting the risk in his defense.

It was a fair trade-off.

“Luis Enrique replacing Xavi with Turan… this decision is very risky.”

Flick analyzed for Yang Cheng.

“How so?” Yang Cheng asked, intentionally testing him.

Although he had tested Flick many times over the past two years, Yang Cheng still took any opportunity to do so.

If there were any issues, he would offer guidance to help him improve and progress.

“Turan is not a player who is good at linking the midfield, attack, and defense.”

In Barça’s 4-3-3 formation, the right central midfielder position held by Xavi and Turan had the important task of connecting play.

Previously, Xavi was responsible for linking up with Messi, Dani Alves, and Busquets.

Now, Turan’s task was to link with Mahrez, Busquets, and Dani Alves.

Turan’s position at Atlético Madrid was on the wing.

He had never been a central midfield playmaker.

On the contrary, he was more like someone who was linked into the play.

So why did Barça sign Turan?

Because of FIFA’s transfer ban.

They had desperately signed Turan before the ban took effect.

It was a bit of a desperate person trying any remedy.

But regardless, he was signed.

Now, substituting Turan for Xavi was not only to seek an effect but, more importantly, to leverage Turan’s energetic running and coverage.

“I’ve watched Turan’s games at Atlético and Barça. When transitioning from attack to defense, he struggles to be a shield in front of Busquets. This is very different from Xavi.”

A hint of approval flashed in Yang Cheng’s eyes.

At a time like this, Flick had observed the opponent in great detail, and his preparation was excellent.

Yang Cheng quickly walked to the sideline, called over Modrić and Toni Kroos, and signaled for the team to start stabilizing the defense.

…

In this battle, Bayswater Chinese’s tactics were very pragmatic.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Piszczek, van Dijk, Pepe, and Marcelo;

Midfield: Casemiro holding, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott.

The “Ceremony Trio” was reunited, a nod from Yang Cheng to his past life!

But this Bayswater Chinese team was different from the Real Madrid team coached by Zidane in the 2015-16 season of his previous life.

Yang Cheng was not one to sit back.

Even when playing defend and counter-attack, Bayswater Chinese were not passive.

Yang Cheng had great confidence in his team’s defense.

When the ball was in Barça’s half, the team would press forward with a high press.

Once the ball crossed the halfway line, the entire team would choose to retreat into their own half.

Their defensive structure was primarily set up between their own 30-meter area and the halfway line.

They maintained their four lines, orderly and not pressured by Barça’s possession.

Not only that, Modrić’s and Toni Kroos’s positioning was very flexible.

When pressing forward, they would engage; when dropping back, they could return to protect the flanks of Casemiro.

Especially after conceding the early goal, Yang Cheng reminded Toni Kroos, who then began to strengthen his protection of Marcelo’s side.

Bayswater Chinese’s defense focused on controlling space. Their overall movement was very rapid, giving Barça almost no chance to pass forward or penetrate.

As soon as Barça’s ball entered their defensive zone, they would immediately cut off the passing lanes.

For Barça, they had never encountered such defensive intensity in La Liga, or even previously in the Champions League.

This season in the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese had conceded only nineteen goals, the fewest of any team in the top five leagues in Europe.

The level and quality of their defense were evident.

The opening goal felt more like an accident.

After Yang Cheng’s targeted adjustments, the team quickly found its footing and swiftly neutralized Barça’s attack.

Bayswater Chinese gradually turned the tide of the match.

Although they had less possession than Barça, they were at least on equal footing in terms of overall play.

One thing about Barça that Yang Cheng hadn’t expected was the speed of their defensive retreat.

This was very different from the Barça of the past.

Previously, once Barça lost the ball, they would immediately counter-press.

But now, they retreated.

It had to be said that Luis Enrique’s transformation of Barça was becoming more and more profound.

By the time Bayswater Chinese caught their breath, 25 minutes of the match had passed.

At this point, the score was still 1-0.

Bayswater Chinese began to gradually exert their strength.

In the 29th minute, after winning the ball in their own half, Bayswater Chinese quickly passed it to Modrić.

The Croatian turned and shook off Iniesta’s challenge, carried the ball forward, and played a through ball to Harry Kane up front.

The English striker received the ball on the right side of the arc, about 28 meters from goal, with his back to the attack.

Harry Kane used his body to shield the ball from Bartra, controlled it, and turned, attempting to get past him.

Everyone knew that Harry Kane was very good at passing and assisting, so his hold-up play and turning through passes were rated extremely highly, considered a specialty.

But for any defender marking Harry Kane, it was truly like facing a formidable enemy.

So, the moment Bartra saw Harry Kane trap the ball and turn, he decisively moved in. As the English centre-forward turned, Bartra reached out from the side and pulled Harry Kane down.

The referee’s whistle blew as Harry Kane fell.

Foul!

The Slovenian head referee, Damir Skomina, gave Bartra a yellow card.

It was a clear tactical foul that had to be carded!

At the same time, Skomina awarded Bayswater Chinese a direct free kick in the attacking third.

The entire Camp Nou stadium was filled with a torrent of boos.

The Barça fans were extremely dissatisfied with the call.

Everyone knew that Bayswater Chinese had several players who were very skilled at direct free kicks.

The position was central, slightly to the right, about 28 meters from the goal.

Gareth Bale wiped his face hard, ran over, picked up the ball, and placed it on the spot. He planted his left foot to firm up the turf around it before slowly backing away.

Almost simultaneously, players from both teams formed a line in front of the penalty area.

The entire Camp Nou stadium was filled with the boos of Barça fans.

They were clearly hoping to use these boos to disturb Gareth Bale and affect the quality of his kick.

His butterfly ball was world-renowned.

Behind the wall, goalkeeper Bravo stared ahead as if facing a great threat.

After Skomina arranged the wall, he slowly backed away and blew his whistle, signaling that Gareth Bale could take the kick.

The Welshman quickly began his run-up.

Gareth Bale had taken countless kicks like this and practiced them endlessly on his own.

It had become muscle memory for him.

The only variables he needed to control were distance, angle, power, and the wall.

But Gareth Bale had long since achieved mastery through practice.

The Welshman was seen quickly striking a curling ball.

The entire Camp Nou could hear the muffled thud as the football was struck.

Then, like a cannonball, it shot from Gareth Bale’s left foot, flying over the wall at a speed hard to follow with the naked eye, before dipping sharply.

Bravo had judged the trajectory and the dip.

The left side of the goal!

After taking one step laterally, the Chilean goalkeeper realized the ball was moving very fast. He immediately launched himself into a diving save.

He judged that if he took another step, he would be too late to make the save.

But just as he dived, the football in mid-air made an incredibly erratic wobble, dipping slightly.

Butterfly ball!

The name flashed through Bravo’s mind.

The next moment, he was fully stretched out in his dive.

His mind went completely blank!

He hadn’t touched the ball.

Where was the ball?

It had passed under his hand and into the net behind him.

This was Gareth Bale’s signature skill, the butterfly ball!

After taking the kick, the Welshman turned and sprinted off the pitch, running all the way to the sideline to celebrate the goal.

1-1!

Level!

More importantly, this was a golden away goal!

The Bayswater Chinese players all chased after him.

It was only the 29th minute.

Every single player’s eyes showed determination and a fierce fighting spirit.

This match had only just begun!

Chapter 361: The London Massacre! A Goal for the Ages! Yang Cheng’s Ace! Flick’s Epiphany!

The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.

During halftime, Yang Cheng returned to the dressing room, where Flick handed him a tablet running the data analysis software developed by Bayswater Chinese.

On it, he could clearly see all the match data from the first half compiled by the team’s data analysis team.

For instance, Barça’s passing.

The various passing routes formed a dense, impenetrable web.

This had always been Barça’s style.

Their possession-based football was always particularly intricate.

Yang Cheng focused on the passes directed towards his team’s penalty area.

The success rate had dropped significantly.

Furthermore, they had posed almost no threat.

In fact, looking at the entire passing network, Barça’s passes became much sparser once they entered Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter area.

Most of their activity was concentrated on the flanks.

This aligned with Yang Cheng’s observations from the first half.

The player activity heat maps made it even clearer and more intuitive. Busquets primarily operated around the center circle on both sides of the halfway line and in the zone just in front of his team’s 30-meter area.

Turan and Iniesta both tended to drift towards the half-spaces and the flanks.

Looking at their overall coverage, they were far more active on the wings.

Another point was that the heat maps for these three midfielders were almost entirely outside Bayswater Chinese’s 30-meter area.

This provided very direct proof of one thing: Barça couldn’t get through the Bayswater Chinese midfield!

And what about Bayswater Chinese’s three midfielders?

They mainly operated in the area between their own 30-meter area and the halfway line.

Occasionally they would cross the halfway line into Barça’s half, but not often.

This was especially true for Toni Kroos.

He had to protect Marcelo on his side, so he rarely crossed the halfway line.

“Have you noticed? Although they track back quickly, they mostly stop at their own 30-meter area and don’t enter the box.”

Flick pointed to the activity zones of Barça’s three midfielders as he explained to Yang Cheng.

“Even Busquets rarely operates on the edge of the penalty area. Look at this heat map…”

Yang Cheng saw it.

In fact, he had already formed a preliminary impression even before seeing the data.

The main reason was Barça’s characteristics.

Barça was very similar to Real Madrid; both were typical teams that used offense as their best defense.

“We’ll build our strategy around this point in the second half,” Flick proposed.

Yang Cheng nodded slightly and smiled at Flick. “You’re right, Hans, but we’ll save this for the second leg.”

Flick was taken aback. “Why?”

Logically, in the first leg away at Camp Nou, scoring as many goals as possible was ideal.

The score was currently 1-1. Was he content with a draw?

“The reason for this situation is that Iniesta and Turan are both attacking players. Turan, in particular, isn’t a midfielder like Xavi who can drop back to defend. He used to be an attacking player on the wing.”

Turan had played on the flank at Atlético Madrid.

When the two teammates in front of him were inclined to push forward to participate in attacks and passing, what could Busquets, who was behind them, do?

If he dropped back, a vacuum would appear in the entire midfield.

That would be fatal.

Moreover, Barça’s midfield had very poor running capacity.

If it were Xavi, this problem could be better resolved.

At the very least, the central defense would be better.

But that would further weaken the midfield’s running ability.

Did Luis Enrique not know this?

Yang Cheng didn’t think so.

“We can get this data. Do you think Barça can’t?”

Flick immediately understood Yang Cheng’s meaning.

“Besides, we don’t need to use this trick in the first leg. Let’s keep it hidden and slowly unleash it when we’re back at home.”

As he said this, Yang Cheng smiled confidently at Flick. “You need to have faith in the team, in our players.”

“Barça certainly won’t be content with a 1-1 draw in the second half. For them, it’s no different from a loss.”

“For us, there’s no need to go all-out against Barça. As long as we continue to proceed steadily and surely, defending and counter-attacking, do you think we won’t get any chances?”

Flick nodded repeatedly.

This was a matter of optimizing resource allocation.

In reality, many teams would adopt such a strategy.

Play a bit more cautiously in the first leg away from home, try to gain an advantage, and then in the second leg at home, fully leverage that advantage to secure the victory.

Insisting on going all-out in both legs and trying to win every match wasn’t scientific.

So far this season, Bayswater Chinese had maintained a perfect winning record in the Champions League.

This wasn’t something Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had deliberately pursued.

Their strength was simply there for all to see.

In the last two rounds of the group stage, Yang Cheng had already started using substitutes, yet they still won.

Then there was the Premier League, where they remained undefeated to this day.

Previously, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff had never even thought about an undefeated season.

The symbolic meaning of such a record far outweighed its practical significance.

The key was to steadily accumulate points.

But recently, as the league season began to wind down and the team was still undefeated, Yang Cheng would certainly respond to the calls of the fans and players and start paying more attention to the domestic league, striving to maintain the undefeated record until the end of the season.

The same logic applied to playing Barça now.

There was no need to take risks in the first leg away from home.

Barça wouldn’t be satisfied with 1-1, so they would definitely press forward to attack in the second half.

What Bayswater Chinese needed to do was not to engage in a shootout, but to stabilize their defense and then hit Barça on the counter-attack.

In fact, in this match, apart from possession rate, Bayswater Chinese was not inferior to Barça in attacking and defensive stats; in many areas, they were even better.

Yang Cheng’s decision to start Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott already showed how he had positioned this match.

Now, he wouldn’t change his mind midway through.

…

Yang Cheng’s prediction was spot on.

Luis Enrique saw it himself.

In the 58th minute of the second half, he substituted Xavi on for Turan.

The reason given was that Turan had committed a foul while tracking back and received a yellow card.

But was that really the only reason?

After Xavi came on, Barça’s advantage in possession became even more pronounced.

But in reality, they created fewer threatening attacks, and the tempo slowed down.

Bayswater Chinese’s midfield, on the other hand, proactively pushed forward, regaining more control of the game.

After that, Luis Enrique made no more substitutions.

Yang Cheng also refrained from making any changes.

It was more like a chess match between the two head coaches.

But starting from the 75th minute, Barça clearly began to press forward more aggressively.

Just as Yang Cheng had said, a 1-1 result away from home was no different from a loss for Barça.

Luis Enrique walked to the touchline, repeatedly signaling for his team to push up and attack.

He wanted to secure another goal in the final stretch of the match.

A 2-1 home victory over Bayswater Chinese!

Although they had conceded an away goal, at least they would have won at home.

Flick watched from the sidelines, extremely excited.

Especially when he looked at Yang Cheng, his eyes were filled with admiration.

Whether it was experience or personal intuition, Yang Cheng had truly figured out his opponent’s mindset completely.

The further forward they pressed, the more Bayswater Chinese’s front line could exploit their speed advantage.

What impressed Flick the most was that the players on the pitch could steadfastly execute Yang Cheng’s tactics.

The head coach absolutely trusted his players, and the players absolutely trusted their head coach.

This was the Bayswater Chinese that Flick saw!

This was the team that Flick wanted to build!

He couldn’t help but ask himself: if he took over Bayswater Chinese, would these players trust him as they trusted Yang Cheng?

And would he dare to trust them as Yang Cheng trusted his players?

Once the intelligent German understood this, he immediately knew what he should do first after taking over the team. It was not to overhaul the squad, not to plant his own trusted men, and not to change the tactics.

The most important thing was to win the trust and support of these players!

And thinking back two years ago, why did Yang Cheng give up on the more famous and experienced Tuchel?

Why did he instead choose him, someone who had never been a head coach before?

Wasn’t it precisely because he valued this advantage?

Once Flick figured this out, his whole perspective cleared.

Originally, as he watched the team grow stronger and perform better, the pressure on him had also mounted.

Taking over Bayswater Chinese from Yang Cheng at a time like this would make anyone break down.

But now, he clearly realized that he shouldn’t compare himself to Yang Cheng at all.

The more he compared, the more he would lose the support of the dressing room!

What he needed to do was to continue down the path Yang Cheng had laid out.

Of course, that was the general direction. He could appropriately add some of his own elements.

Then slowly, imperceptibly, day by day, he would change this team!

This was also what Yang Cheng hoped he would do!

And the bigger the name of the head coach, the worse they would be at this job.

Flick, on the other hand, had no psychological baggage and could start with a clean slate.

This was his, Flick’s, advantage!

Having understood this, the German felt a sense of relief.

The weight that had been pressing on his heart was mostly lifted.

…

Just as Flick let out a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face, Barça launched another wave of attacks.

Xavi played a through ball into the right channel outside the penalty area.

Mahrez received the ball and tried to cross it into the box, but Pepe cut off the passing lane early, blocking it out of the area. The ball fell to the left side outside the box.

Toni Kroos, who had tracked back to defend outside the box, immediately rushed towards the left touchline, getting to the ball before Dani Alves just before it went out of bounds. He controlled it and used his body to shield Alves.

Barça immediately began to counter-press on the spot.

Toni Kroos performed a feint, then turned with the ball, creating a sliver of space to pass it to Marcelo, who had come over to support. Kroos himself then ran forward quickly.

As Marcelo controlled the ball, he shook off Mahrez’s challenge and passed it back to Toni Kroos.

The two completed a one-two pass in a tight space on the flank.

As the German midfielder controlled the ball on the left touchline, he saw that Xavi had already positioned himself in front, ready to close him down.

But at the same time, Gareth Bale made a quick diagonal run behind Xavi, pointing to the passing lane he wanted.

Toni Kroos played a straight pass.

The ball hugged the left touchline, traveling straight forward, past Xavi. In the area where the halfway line met the touchline, Gareth Bale caught up to it perfectly.

Barça’s centre-back, Bartra, also immediately pressed high, closing in on Gareth Bale.

From his posture, it was clear that if he got close, he would likely foul Bale rather than let him get past.

But who was this Welsh winger?

Gareth Bale!

In a moment of inspiration, the Welshman took a touch with his left foot, kicking the ball forcefully ahead. He then suddenly accelerated, like a cheetah on the African plains that had locked onto its prey.

Bartra was no pushover. As he rushed over, he was already mentally prepared to commit a foul. He slammed his shoulder into Bale, a physical challenge that forcefully knocked the Welshman, who had just kicked the ball, out of bounds.

This attack should be over now, right?

But before Bartra could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw that Gareth Bale, who he had pushed out of bounds, was not ready to give up. From outside the touchline, he accelerated again, chasing forward at top speed.

Bartra was stunned and immediately began to sprint back with all his might.

His original position gave him an advantage over Gareth Bale.

So, when they both started running, Gareth Bale was behind.

But Bartra experienced the terrifying speed of the Welsh winger firsthand.

Gareth Bale sprinted back onto the pitch at incredible speed and quickly caught up with Bartra.

The Barça defender watched helplessly as Gareth Bale went from being behind to level, and then to overtaking him…

He wanted to reach out and pull him, willing to commit a foul.

But Gareth Bale kept a bit of distance from him, and his speed was only increasing.

Even more ridiculously, when Gareth Bale caught up to the ball he had just kicked outside the left corner of the penalty area, he actually chose to cut into Bartra’s recovery path, using his body to shield the Barça defender.

From kicking the ball to receiving it again, it took Gareth Bale a full four seconds.

For Bartra, it felt more like four minutes, or even four hours.

By the time he caught up with Gareth Bale, he found that the Welshman already had one foot inside the penalty area.

Blocked behind him, he was powerless to stop his opponent.

There is nothing more cruel, more desperate in the world than this.

Bartra watched helplessly as Gareth Bale dribbled into the left side of Barça’s penalty area, watched helplessly as Gareth Bale went one-on-one with Bravo, watched helplessly at his feint…

Finally, he watched helplessly as Gareth Bale took a low shot with his left foot.

The ball passed between the legs of the onrushing Bravo and rolled into the unguarded net behind him.

2-1!

Gareth Bale couldn’t stop his momentum and crashed into the side netting.

But soon, the Welshman turned and ran, sprinting in celebration.

“My God!”

“2-1!”

“Another long-distance sprint from Gareth Bale!”

“A beautiful knock-on-and-run! Gareth Bale has broken through Barça’s goal with a brilliant solo run, turning the game around for Bayswater Chinese.”

“This is absolutely a goal that will go down in the history of the Champions League knockout stages!”

“So brilliant! So stunning!”

“This is Gareth Bale!”

“Over the past two or three years, we’ve seen Gareth Bale gradually change his playing style. From relying on speed, he has become more well-rounded and more lethal.”

“But if you thought because of that the Welshman was no longer sharp, you would be dead wrong!”

“Now, with this goal, Gareth Bale tells everyone that he is still the fastest winger in the world!”

…

The match at Camp Nou ultimately ended 1-2.

The away team, Bayswater Chinese, took with them two away goals and a first-leg comeback victory.

This left Barça’s head coach, Luis Enrique, in a very foul mood.

At the post-match press conference, he publicly admitted that the team played poorly.

“I should take full responsibility for this loss, because I am the head coach of the team!”

Regarding the match, Enrique stated that he had indeed made an error in judgment.

“I originally expected Bayswater Chinese to adopt their usual attacking style and play more aggressively, but their performance in this match was a bit too conservative.”

Enrique felt that the way Bayswater Chinese won the match was somewhat unconvincing.

“Their defense was excellent!”

That was his assessment of Bayswater Chinese.

The implication was that Bayswater Chinese’s attack was nothing special.

But even Catalonia’s Diario Sport found Luis Enrique’s statement a bit hard to swallow.

After the match, the headline of the Barça mouthpiece’s match review consisted of just one word: Avalanche!

What did it mean?

It meant that Barça had lost the entire season in a single match!

And when the avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent.

The head coach was responsible, and so were the players.

This season, Barça’s front three had received numerous accolades and praises.

The combination of Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, and Mahrez had indeed provided fans with many brilliant performances in La Liga, and their attacking power was formidable.

Especially Lewandowski.

But in the match against Bayswater Chinese, the Polish centre-forward, who usually scored for fun, was completely neutralized by the combined efforts of van Dijk and Pepe, making zero contribution.

Neymar also failed to perform at his expected level.

This left many people very puzzled.

Why was it that after being hyped up by so many for so long, they were beaten so badly by their opponents at a crucial moment?

Failing to produce an exhilarating attack was one thing, but they also lost at Camp Nou.

Marca, ever the master of sarcasm, commented directly, “Barça has once again lost to Bayswater Chinese at Camp Nou.”

The key phrase was, once again.

As for Barça’s problems, Mundo Deportivo believed that the team’s biggest issues were now the squad and bench depth.

On one hand, the team’s salary expenditure was constantly climbing, and on the other, the squad depth was becoming thinner and thinner.

So where did all that money go?

Previously, they had all said Messi took it.

But hadn’t Messi already gone to Manchester City?

Why did Barça still have no money?

Why didn’t the team’s salary expenditure decrease significantly after Messi’s departure?

When you’re winning, everyone is happy.

But when you lose, you start finding all sorts of problems and shifting blame.

The day after the battle at Camp Nou, Diario Sport was the first to open fire, aiming its criticism at Neymar.

And the first Barça player to publicly criticize Neymar was Piqué.

The issue originated from an incident during the match where Neymar didn’t track back diligently after losing the ball in the attacking third.

As a veteran of the team, Piqué loudly berated Neymar, and Neymar retorted on the spot.

But this was just a minor episode.

If the media hadn’t reported it, no one would have cared.

Doesn’t this kind of thing happen often in matches?

After the match, when interviewed by reporters, Piqué publicly criticized Neymar, saying that he often seemed to forget he was a Barça player.

This annoyed Neymar.

Questioning my professional ethics?

Neymar immediately hit back, stating that his job was to attack, and the tasks assigned by the head coach were also to attack.

“In my memory, Barça’s tradition has always been about attack and talent.”

“Of course, if the team thinks I’m better suited to playing as a defender, I can accept that too!”

Perhaps because he was on his way out, Neymar’s retort was merciless.

Neymar then added another sentence, “Some people make a mess of their own jobs but want to meddle in other people’s affairs all day. We’ve had enough!”

Who was he talking about?

The next to jump out was left-back Alba, who also criticized Neymar, the reason being that when he made forward runs, Neymar never passed to him.

The implication was that Neymar played selfishly!

Neymar also chose to fight back, replying directly: “When you’re accusing others of not passing, you should take a good look at your own position. Is it possible to pass? If I pass it, can he even control it?”

One against two!

Neymar was really not backing down!

Besides Neymar, Piqué, and Alba, right-back Dani Alves also spoke out, criticizing Turan for not passing, which prevented him from effectively exploiting the space left by the opponent.

In short, by the next day, the media in Catalonia and Spain were filled with news of Barça players blaming and attacking each other.

This time, Diario Sport sided with the local Barça players.

In its post-match analysis, it deemed Neymar the worst performer on the team.

“Under Piszczek’s defense, he was invisible for the entire match!”

“Neymar at Barça is reminiscent of Robinho, not Ronaldinho.”

The implication was that he was a real flop!

More importantly, Diario Sport started stirring up drama. It published news that Neymar had liked a picture of his rumored girlfriend on social media before the match.

“On the eve of a major battle, when all players should be focused and preparing for the match, our player was admiring pictures of his rumored girlfriend and even gave it a like.”

But Diario Sport certainly wouldn’t mention that the “like” was actually from more than an hour ago.

More than an hour ago was still pre-match.

From a journalistic perspective, there was nothing wrong with that!

In short, after the result of Barça’s 2-1 home loss to Bayswater Chinese came out, the entire Barça team was caught in a whirlwind of public opinion.

Players attacked each other, the superstar was embroiled in transfer rumors on one hand and accusations of not giving his all on the other, and the fans were furious…

In short, Barça was in complete chaos.

…

After playing Barça, Bayswater Chinese returned to the Premier League for matchday 36.

Due to the FA Cup semi-final, matchday 35 had been postponed.

For Bayswater Chinese, this had long become second nature.

Bayswater Chinese faced Watford in an away game.

Watford’s head coach was the Spaniard Flores, who was currently leading his team in a battle to avoid relegation.

Facing Bayswater Chinese, the home team performed with extreme tenacity.

Although their chances of avoiding relegation were high, what if?

In this situation, every extra point was another glimmer of hope for survival.

The deadlock continued into the second half.

In the 62nd minute, Bayswater Chinese finally broke through Watford’s goal, with De Bruyne assisting Sterling.

And just five minutes later, De Bruyne delivered another wonderful pass, assisting Giroud to score.

In the 74th minute, Kyle Walker assisted Aaron Ramsey to score another goal.

In just twelve minutes, Bayswater Chinese scored three goals.

This result surprised everyone.

For the remainder of the match, both teams were locked in a stalemate.

In the final stages of the game, after Yang Cheng brought on several young players, Watford tried to launch a comeback but ultimately failed to score.

Bayswater Chinese won 3-0 away against Watford.

After this match, the player who received the most praise was Kevin De Bruyne.

Although he played behind Toni Kroos and Modrić, De Bruyne’s performance this season had been truly eye-catching.

Especially his passing.

It could truly be described as masterful.

Perhaps seeing that Modrić was already over thirty, De Bruyne was not in too much of a hurry.

There had been rumors before that several powerhouse teams were interested in him, but De Bruyne remained unswayed, repeatedly stating that he would stay with the team.

This put Yang Cheng’s mind at ease.

…

On the evening of May 3rd, at Prudential Stadium in London.

In the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese hosted Barça.

A week ago, the 2-1 comeback at Camp Nou had drawn the attention of media and fans worldwide to this match.

The various controversies surrounding Barça after the match, as well as the internal strife among the players, made everyone worried about the outcome of this game.

Especially for Barça.

But Bayswater Chinese still dared not be complacent.

Almost everyone believed that it was highly probable for Bayswater Chinese to win against Barça at home.

But Yang Cheng still demanded that all his players give their all.

As a Virgo, he had only one requirement: zero risk!

And the Bayswater Chinese players carried out their head coach’s intentions.

Over the past few days, the specific tactics that Bayswater Chinese had repeatedly practiced also proved effective.

If Yang Cheng had focused his tactics on defense in the first leg at Camp Nou, then back at Prudential Stadium, he decisively pushed forward to attack, adopting a more aggressive, proactive pressing tactic, while focusing his strategy on Busquets.

Yang Cheng had Luis Enrique figured out completely.

He knew that the Barça head coach would still choose to partner Turan and Iniesta in this match.

Under these circumstances, Busquets became the key factor in Barça’s midfield operations.

Thus, just 3 minutes and 39 seconds into the game, a very strange scene occurred.

If time were to freeze at this moment, everyone would be astonished to find that when Busquets received the ball on the left side of the center circle, which was on Bayswater Chinese’s right side, all the surrounding passing lanes were filled with red jerseys.

There were a full six players!

They had completely cut off all of Busquets’ passing options.

This made Busquets pause in disbelief.

What the hell!

How am I supposed to pass?

Just as Busquets was stunned, Theo Walcott quietly closed in from nearby.

Sensing danger, Busquets immediately turned towards the center, trying to pass to Iniesta.

But unexpectedly, Modrić, who looked harmless and innocent, was actually full of tricks.

He deliberately let Iniesta drop back, creating some distance, with the aim of luring Busquets into passing.

Under pressure from Walcott, Busquets opted for a short pass.

But as soon as the ball left his foot, Modrić suddenly darted out and made a slide tackle, intercepting the ball.

The initial interception wasn’t a huge problem.

Iniesta immediately rushed over to chase the ball.

But unexpectedly, Modrić reacted even faster. As soon as he got up from the ground, he made another slide tackle, getting to the ball before Iniesta and sliding it to Toni Kroos.

And who was Toni Kroos?

Before the German midfielder even got the ball, the entire front three had already sprinted forward.

Toni Kroos reacted quickly enough, rushing over and immediately hitting a chipped long ball with his right foot.

Not offside!

The ball traveled over half the pitch and landed in the left channel of Barça’s 30-meter area.

Gareth Bale sprinted forward at immense speed.

But at the same time, Barça’s goalkeeper Bravo also decisively came off his line.

Against such a ball, rushing out of the six-yard box was not nearly enough.

So, Bravo charged directly out of his penalty area.

But Gareth Bale arrived at almost the same time.

And once outside the box, Bravo could no longer use his hands.

Just as Bravo was about to clear the ball with his foot, Gareth Bale rushed over and turned his body sideways.

The cleared ball hit Gareth Bale and rebounded back into the penalty area behind him.

Harry Kane immediately ran diagonally from the arc of the penalty area towards the left side of the box.

But someone was faster than him.

After shaking off Bravo, Gareth Bale quickly rushed towards the left side of the penalty area and, getting there before anyone else, sent the ball into the unguarded net with his left foot.

1-0!

The entire Prudential Stadium erupted!

In an instant, ninety thousand fans shot out of their seats, cheering and roaring at the top of their lungs!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese continued their onslaught, pressing Barça relentlessly.

It was clear that in the opening stages, Barça still put up some resistance.

But after conceding the goal, chaos clearly appeared in Barça’s formation.

Or rather, a lack of unified thinking.

The aggregate score was now 3-1. For Barça, this definitely meant they had to strengthen their attack.

But at this moment, Bayswater Chinese quickened the tempo, attacking relentlessly, and their front line was extremely active in pressing.

This put Barça under immense pressure from top to bottom.

But the home team, Bayswater Chinese, riding a wave of momentum, clearly had no intention of letting Barça off the hook just yet.

In the 10th minute, Marcelo received a pass from Toni Kroos on the left flank and dribbled forward, trying to break through, but Mahrez chased him relentlessly.

Unable to enter Barça’s 30-meter area, Marcelo chose to play a diagonal pass.

The gap between Turan and Mahrez was a bit large, and Busquets had been positioned too far forward. So when Harry Kane dropped back into this area, there was no one defending him.

The English centre-forward received the ball, controlled it, turned, used his body to shield the recovering Busquets, and played a through ball into the space behind.

The ball passed between Bartra and Dani Alves into the penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a quick forward run, facing the center with his back to the left wing. After receiving the ball, he took a touch into the box.

The Welsh winger suddenly accelerated.

Although Bartra tried desperately to track back, he was still left behind by Gareth Bale’s explosive burst of speed.

Upon entering the left side of Barça’s penalty area, Gareth Bale had reached his most prolific scoring zone.

Facing Bravo, the Welshman calmly hit a push shot to the far corner, once again sending the ball into Barça’s goal.

The ball practically scraped the inside of the right post as it hit the side netting.

2-0!

Gareth Bale had scored a brace!

…

After a two-goal lead, almost everyone concluded that the game was decided.

But Barça still appeared rather chaotic.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, rode their momentum and continued to press forward on the attack.

In the 18th minute, Modrić made a forward run and was fouled by a backtracking Busquets as he received the ball outside the penalty area.

Bayswater Chinese was awarded a direct free kick opportunity outside the box, about twenty meters from the goal, slightly to the right of center.

Gareth Bale stood confidently at the spot.

At this moment, everyone’s attention was on the Welsh winger.

Gareth Bale stared at Barça’s defensive wall. When the head referee’s whistle blew, he took a quick run-up and struck a butterfly ball with his left foot.

The ball just skimmed over the heads of the leaping Barça defenders like Piqué, curled in a beautiful arc, and flew into the right side of Barça’s goal.

Goalkeeper Bravo hadn’t even had time to attempt a save before the ball hit the back of the net!

3-0!

Hat-trick!

Amidst the thunderous cheers of the entire stadium, Gareth Bale quickly ran off the pitch to the sideline, accepting the adoration of the ninety thousand fans.

All the fans also shot out of their seats at that moment, cheering and shouting hoarsely.

Just eighteen minutes in, Bayswater Chinese was already leading 3-0.

Aggregate score: 5-1!

“What on earth is wrong with Barça tonight?”

“Their entire midfield is practically non-existent.”

“They can’t even manage the most basic, symbolic interceptions.”

“This is completely beyond all our expectations.”

“Bayswater Chinese has repeatedly pressed their midfield, and after winning the ball, they’ve exploited the gap in front of the defensive line created by Busquets’ holding role.”

“The players are receiving the ball in this area and then passing it out to create direct attacking threats.”

“But Barça seems to have found no good solution to this.”

“Luis Enrique clearly wasn’t prepared for this in time either.”

“Or perhaps, it’s difficult for him to make adjustments!”

…

Flick sat in the second seat of the home team’s dugout, the one reserved for the assistant coach.

He ranked higher than Brian Kidd.

At this moment, he looked at head coach Yang Cheng on the sideline, his eyes truly filled with admiration.

As early as the first leg, Yang Cheng had already seen the signs. After he pointed it out, Yang Cheng did not immediately make adjustments.

Instead, he kept this ace up his sleeve.

After a full week of preparation, thorough practice, and various targeted training sessions, he finally unleashed it tonight.

Luis Enrique must have known about this problem with his team.

But he probably also thought that since it wasn’t exploited in the first leg, maybe Yang Cheng hadn’t noticed.

So, he took a gamble.

But now, it was too late!

The game had only been on for eighteen minutes. How could he make a substitution now?

Besides, given the current situation, would bringing on Xavi be any more effective than Turan?

Unlikely!

Under these circumstances, Bayswater Chinese’s offense was like a surging tide, with irresistible momentum.

The score was already 5-1 on aggregate. How could they even play this game?

For Barça now, every second must feel like a year.

And having secured a three-goal lead at the start, Bayswater Chinese had basically booked their ticket to the final.

Experience counts!

This was the sentence that popped into Flick’s mind.

But he immediately felt it was out of place.

Because Yang Cheng was so young, how could he be so ruthless?

He had even completely grasped Luis Enrique’s mindset.

What a terrifyingly formidable opponent!

…

After taking a three-goal lead, Barça gradually began to stabilize, but Bayswater Chinese still stuck to their previous tactics.

Conceding three goals in a row was a huge blow to Barça’s morale.

In their hearts, they knew this match was already decided.

But everyone still wanted to score a goal to save face.

They couldn’t possibly be shut out completely in an away game, could they?

Thus, towards the end of the first half, Barça launched another wave of attacks.

But in the 39th minute, as Iniesta tried to dribble through, he was tackled head-on by Casemiro.

After winning the ball, the Brazilian passed it to Modrić.

Modrić carried the ball forward, quickly launching a counter-attack. After entering Barça’s 30-meter area, he played a through ball into the space behind the defense.

At that moment, Theo Walcott timed his run perfectly, beating the offside trap. He broke into the right side of Barça’s penalty area, caught up to Modrić’s through ball, and hit a power shot with his right foot.

The ball flew past Bravo, who had come out to the near post of the six-yard box, and went straight into the back of Barça’s net.

4-0!

This goal completely dumbfounded Barça!

They thought they had found their footing and were even thinking of scoring a goal before halftime.

But unexpectedly, just as they launched an attack, their own defensive line was breached again.

Still a midfield interception, still a through ball in front of the defensive line, still using the players’ speed.

Barça’s players were starting to get completely bewildered.

They didn’t even know what they should do anymore.

Fortunately, the first half soon ended.

But trailing 4-0, how were they supposed to play the second half?

During halftime, Luis Enrique made a substitution.

Xavi replaced Turan.

It was a like-for-like substitution!

But it was precisely this change that, in the 54th minute of the second half, led to Toni Kroos successfully tackling Xavi and passing the ball to Gareth Bale.

The Welshman, with his back to the goal in the attacking third, drew out the defenders, received the ball, and laid it off to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder continued to dribble diagonally towards the front right, making everyone think he was going to link up with Walcott.

But just as he entered Barça’s 30-meter area, Toni Kroos suddenly switched the play, passing to the left channel in the attacking third.

Right into the space behind Dani Alves.

Harry Kane ran into this area to receive the ball. With his back to the goal, he held off Bartra.

As he controlled the ball, Harry Kane forcefully used his body to push Bartra away, turned, and dribbled horizontally along the edge of the penalty area. After breaking through the defense, he unleashed a curling ball with his right foot.

The ball flew at high speed, directly into the right side of Barça’s goal.

The entire stadium roared once again!

Everyone jumped up from their seats, cheering for Harry Kane and celebrating for the team.

5-0!

After that, the pace of the game slowed down again.

Especially Barça.

They had been beaten to the point where they had completely lost confidence, focusing more on defense and possession.

Bayswater Chinese was in no hurry to attack either, patiently waiting for opportunities.

Yang Cheng also began to make substitutions.

And in the 70th minute, it was Modrić again with a sudden high press, slide-tackling the ball away from Busquets. He then carried it forward, charging into Barça’s 30-meter area.

Under pressure from Busquets, Modrić played a through ball with the outside of his foot.

Harry Kane made a quick diagonal run from the arc of the penalty area into the right side of the box. He used his body to hold off Piqué and, without even taking a touch, ran onto Modrić’s through ball and unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

Piqué lunged in with a slide tackle, trying to block it, but he was a step too late.

No one expected Harry Kane’s shot to be so decisive.

The ball rocketed into the right side of Barça’s goal at incredible speed.

Bravo had no time to stop it.

6-0!

Aggregate score 8-1!

A shocking sight!

Even the Bayswater Chinese fans would never have imagined that a Champions League semi-final would turn into such a crazy massacre.

What was even more unexpected was that the victim of the slaughter would be a top-tier powerhouse like Barcelona!

Although the current Barça no longer had Messi, they still had the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio, they still had Robert Lewandowski, Neymar, Mahrez, and other star players.

Yet such a team, at Prudential Stadium, was completely overwhelmed by Bayswater Chinese throughout the entire match.

“Barça lives and dies by its midfield!”

“In today’s match, Barça’s midfield was completely demolished by Bayswater Chinese.”

“With the midfield being non-existent, Barça’s defensive line was thoroughly exposed!”

“For the past few years, everyone has known that Barça’s defense is poor.”

“But tonight, Bayswater Chinese cruelly tore off the last fig leaf from Barça, letting everyone see just how embarrassing this Barça team is!”

“Yang Cheng’s team was clearly holding back in the first leg.”

“And we’ve always known that Barça has a history of not playing well in away games.”

“Coupled with the various problems that arose in Barça after their first-leg defeat, they were completely crippled by their opponent in the second leg.”

“This is a clash between the world’s top football teams!”

“It’s cruel!”

After going up 6-0, Yang Cheng no longer cared about the rest of the match.

What he cared about most now were the two upcoming finals.

At most, he’d pay a little more attention to the remaining three Premier League matches.

And tonight’s London massacre would definitely become the focus of global public opinion for the next twenty-four hours!

Chapter 362: Manchester United is Finished! The Terrifying Archfiend! An Insurmountable Monument! Historic Humiliation!

6-0, 8-1 on aggregate!

Such a sensational scoreline in a Champions League semi-final immediately caught the attention of media outlets worldwide.

The headlines of major media outlets were dominated by this match.

Germany’s Bild reported on the match with the front-page headline: 【A HISTORIC VICTORY】.

France’s L’Équipe was also shocked by such a lopsided result, running the front-page headline 【AN OBJECT LESSON】, believing that Bayswater Chinese had taught Barça a harsh lesson.

Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport also stated that Bayswater Chinese, with this shocking scoreline, had torn away La Liga’s fig leaf, revealing the internal weaknesses of La Liga’s big two.

“Barça’s disaster, the Premier League’s victory!”

Beyond the European media, authoritative outlets like The New York Times in the United States also featured prominent coverage of the match.

As the world’s most influential football competition and one of its most followed teams, Bayswater Chinese’s 6-0 slaughter of Barça in the Champions League semi-final was truly a global shock.

The New York Times even remarked: “If Yang Cheng hadn’t held back, Barça might have left London with an even more embarrassing record!”

However, many media outlets expressed schadenfreude.

Argentina’s Olé loudly celebrated Bayswater Chinese’s thrashing of Barça.

In their report, the Argentinian media argued that Barça had always used Messi as a scapegoat for their problems.

But now, this shocking and humiliating defeat had made the truth clear to everyone.

“Without Messi, Barça has lost its sharpest weapon.”

“Did Luis Enrique’s team pose any threat to Bayswater Chinese in the second leg?”

Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo revealed that this disastrous defeat had only strengthened Neymar’s resolve to leave the club.

“He is even more drawn to the Premier League!”

Besides the international media, in Spain, whether it was the pro-Barça Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo, or the pro-Real Madrid Marca and AS newspaper, all used words like ‘humiliation’ in their front-page headlines to describe the match.

“This is an absolute humiliation that will be recorded in the annals of Barça and Spanish football history!”

Diario Sport published a post-match commentary.

The Barça mouthpiece believed that Bayswater Chinese were simply too brutal!

“In this match at Prudential Stadium, the home team’s crazed performance created an unbelievable scoreline.”

“Who would have thought that Barça, after losing 1-2 at home, would suffer an even worse defeat away?”

Diario Sport revealed that before the team departed for London, everyone from Luis Enrique to players like Piqué, Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, and Busquets had vowed to make a comeback in the away leg.

The Barça fans were also filled with immense confidence.

In fact, five thousand fans traveled with the team for the away match.

“To coordinate enough tickets for the away fans, Barça was still in communication with Bayswater Chinese the day before the match.”

“The entire club, from top to bottom, was full of confidence for this match.”

“Previous internal strife and various rumors were temporarily set aside, and everyone presented a united front!”

This showed Barça’s determination.

But at Prudential Stadium, conceding consecutive goals at the start completely dumbfounded Barça.

The Barça players didn’t even put up a strong fight during the match; it was more like they had surrendered outright.

“At London’s Prudential Stadium, Barça’s fragility only further highlighted the dominance of Bayswater Chinese!”

Mundo Deportivo, on the other hand, opined, “Facing Bayswater Chinese, Barça was beaten into a stupor!”

Conceding goal after goal right from the start left everyone at Barça completely dumbfounded.

“The bloody scoreline pierced the hearts of every Barça player and fan.”

“Especially those five thousand fans who followed the team to the away match.”

“They had hoped to witness a classic away comeback, but they never imagined they would see a shocking, historic humiliation.”

“They traveled thousands of miles, spent so much money, to follow the team to an away game, all for this?”

Mundo Deportivo also revealed that during the first and second halves, even before the match was over, many Barça players already had their heads bowed, not daring to look at the fans or the scoreboard, and actively avoiding the live broadcast and media cameras.

“Their confidence, their self-esteem, had been utterly crushed!”

The two major media outlets from Catalonia both harshly criticized Barça.

But at the end of their reports, they both unanimously urged all fans to view this crushing defeat more rationally, while also calling on the Barça management to quickly come up with a plan to appease the hurt fans.

“The management needs to prove they are capable of leading Barça to a revival!”

If the Catalan media were being restrained, then Marca wasn’t so courteous.

HISTORIC HUMILIATION!

This was the front-page headline from Marca.

In the article, Marca lambasted Barça’s midfield, believing that their fragile midfield led to the collapse in the second leg.

“Barça’s midfield was completely powerless to stop Bayswater Chinese’s attack.”

“Yang Cheng’s team showed no mercy to Barça, attacking relentlessly.”

“As the driver of this Bayswater Chinese war machine, Yang Cheng never took his foot off the gas pedal.”

Marca believed that Bayswater Chinese used a typical Premier League tempo to destroy Barça at Prudential Stadium.

Especially that blitz at the start, which left Barça with no way to defend themselves.

One particular statistic perfectly illustrated Barça’s awkwardness on the pitch.

That was the number of passes made by the team’s top scorer, Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish centre-forward didn’t receive any special treatment upon his return to Prudential Stadium.

But he was also going all out, wanting to prove himself in front of his old club.

However, in this match, he only made 28 passes in the entire game.

This was indeed very few.

However, seven of those were kick-offs from the center circle.

In other words, a quarter of his passes were kick-offs.

That’s completely absurd!

Excluding those seven kick-offs, Lewandowski only passed the ball 21 times in the entire match.

Was Lewandowski’s performance that bad?

Not at all!

As one of the best players on the Barça squad, Lewandowski was also one of the world’s top scorers before joining Barça, at the peak of his power with Bayswater Chinese.

Before the match, the Polish centre-forward was also full of confidence, stating he would help Barça make a comeback away from home.

But in the end, in the match, he managed a mere 21 passes.

What did that mean?

Marca believed the main reason was that Barça’s midfield had completely lost control.

Busquets was targeted, and Barça’s midfield was suppressed.

The midfield couldn’t distribute the ball, so they mostly relied on the two flanks.

But the flanks were fragmented, fighting their own battles, making it difficult to move the ball to Lewandowski in the center.

“This phenomenon was already very obvious in the first leg.”

“In the second leg, the situation became even worse!”

Besides reporting on the match, AS newspaper also covered a post-match incident.

The five thousand Barça fans who traveled to London blocked the team bus at the hotel entrance after the match.

The match was held at Prudential Stadium.

Therefore, many teams playing at Prudential Stadium choose to stay at The Peninsula Hotels or Bvlgari Hotels.

But Barça didn’t do so this time, opting to stay a bit further away.

They claimed it was a precaution due to the conflict between the two sets of fans, fearing that Bayswater Chinese fans might target the Barça players and affect their rest.

But it turned out their worries were misplaced.

After the match, it was Barça’s own fans who blocked their bus at the hotel entrance, refusing to let them in and demanding that Luis Enrique and the players get off and give a reasonable explanation.

Of the five thousand fans who traveled to the away game, several hundred were present at the scene.

They had all spent money, bought tickets, and followed the team to the away match.

But now, what did they get to see?

The team bus was blocked for about half an hour before the police arrived and allowed it to enter the hotel.

But the fans remained outside the hotel, roaring at them.

“Liars,” “Scoundrels,” “Disgrace”…

Even nastier words were hurled from the mouths of the fans.

The Barça players, one by one, remained silent, getting off the bus and going straight into the hotel.

It wasn’t until the morning after the match that Diario Sport published an interview with Barça’s centre-back, Piqué.

As the team’s number one centre-back, Piqué directly blamed the management for the team’s current problems.

He believed that the cause of Barça’s current situation was the incompetence of the management.

“We all have to reflect!”

“I think the club needs to make changes, especially at the management level, it needs a complete overhaul!”

Why?

Piqué believed that Barça’s season was a failure.

Why did the Neymar incident suddenly erupt when the season was entering its most crucial final stretch?

Why, when the team had been demanding the signing of a centre-back and a high-level midfielder, did they end up with a transfer ban?

After so many problems arose, what positive responses did the management provide?

Piqué even stated that if the club evaluated the situation and decided a rebuild was necessary.

“That’s fine, I’ll be the first to offer to leave!”

But soon, Piqué’s remarks, instead of being affirmed, were met with a torrent of criticism.

Mundo Deportivo revealed that an unnamed Barça official accused Piqué of making irresponsible comments.

“His so-called offer to leave is because he wants a more lucrative salary!”

“He’s just a greedy bastard!”

This unnamed Barça official revealed that the team’s current financial situation was not healthy, the reason being that many players on the team had excessively high salaries, which had become distorted.

“Piqué is only 29 years old. He’s about to sign the last big contract of his career. Of course he can leave, because there are teams out there willing to offer him a higher salary.”

“This isn’t loyalty, this is betrayal!”

This official even revealed that although the Neymar transfer saga was a huge mess, the Brazilian at least left the team with a 220 million euro transfer fee, and it was a one-time cash payment!

If Piqué were to leave now, how much would he leave for the club?

But the whole affair had completely soured.

Many fans supported Piqué, thinking he was right and that the management was a pile of… you-know-what.

But some fans supported the management, believing they shouldn’t give in to the repeated demands of these greedy individuals.

When you’re winning, everything is beautiful.

Now, after a humiliating defeat, all sorts of problems are emerging.

…

As Bayswater Chinese knocked out Barça with an 8-1 aggregate score, securing their ticket to the Champions League final at Milan’s San Siro.

Meanwhile, in the other matchup, Zidane’s Real Madrid, after a 1-1 draw away at Manchester City, defeated The Blue Moons 1-0 back at home.

They smoothly advanced to the Champions League final with a 2-1 aggregate score.

So, this season’s Champions League final would be Bayswater Chinese versus Real Madrid.

This made media outlets and fans all over the world feel a sense of novelty.

Bayswater Chinese had already won four consecutive Champions League titles. If they won again this season, it would be five consecutive titles!

This would be five consecutive titles after the Champions League was reformatted!

In the history of the Champions League, only one team had ever achieved five consecutive titles: Real Madrid.

But Real Madrid’s five-peat was in the embryonic stage of the Champions League, when the competition was far less intense, and the quality of participating teams was not very high.

Thus, Real Madrid’s five consecutive titles have always been more of an honor, proving Real Madrid’s special significance in the Champions League.

But its actual prestige wasn’t that high.

But Bayswater Chinese was now on the verge of five consecutive titles in the modern era.

Its prestige would far surpass that of Real Madrid’s five-peat.

If that time came, Bayswater Chinese would completely eclipse Real Madrid, becoming the undisputed top-tier powerhouse in European, and even world, football!

Therefore, the Spanish media, especially those close to Real Madrid, all called for Zidane’s Real Madrid to upset Bayswater Chinese.

At the very least, they had to keep the special honor of five consecutive titles with Real Madrid!

The fans of both teams also started arguing online.

Real Madrid wanted to defend their Champions League honor, while Bayswater Chinese wanted to kick Real Madrid off their throne for good.

While the outside world was in an uproar, things within Bayswater Chinese proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Everything was proceeding step by step.

Since the match was in Milan, Italy, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff, after discussion and contacting Atalanta, decided to have the team travel to Milan early and stay directly at a manor-style hotel on the outskirts of Milan.

They even booked out the entire hotel, exclusively for Bayswater Chinese players and staff.

The training in the days leading up to the match would be conducted at Atalanta’s Zingonia training ground.

After acquiring Atalanta, the first thing Yang Cheng did was to renovate the Zingonia training ground.

He bought several residential buildings, knocked them through, and further expanded the training grounds for the first team and youth team.

Now, each had its own training building, with comprehensive hardware and software facilities, all built to the standards of Bayswater Chinese.

So, when the time came, Bayswater Chinese wouldn’t need to bring anything; they just needed to show up.

Atalanta would also cooperate actively.

By then, the Serie A season would be over, but the employees and staff at the Zingonia training ground would stay on to support Bayswater Chinese’s Champions League final preparations.

The advantages of the football alliance advocated by Yang Cheng were becoming apparent.

From Eintracht Frankfurt’s winter training camp in Málaga CF to Bayswater Chinese now using Atalanta’s training ground, it provided immense convenience.

From the Zingonia training ground to San Siro, it was only 45 kilometers in total.

The hotel was located right between the two, making transportation very convenient.

Moreover, the team bus would travel to Milan and Bergamo in advance to familiarize itself with the main transport routes.

Atalanta would also arrange for an experienced bus driver to accompany them.

After the Barça match, Bayswater Chinese moved with the precision of a tightly wound mechanical watch: tick-tock, step by step, moving forward with accuracy.

…

On the afternoon of May 7th, Premier League Matchday 37.

Bayswater Chinese at home against Newcastle.

For Yang Cheng’s team, this match no longer had any real significance.

It was more about maintaining their unbeaten record.

Yang Cheng also adjusted and rotated his lineup, beginning preparations for the two upcoming finals.

But even so, the team’s performance was still excellent.

On the other hand, there was Newcastle.

Currently at the bottom of the Premier League table, six points behind 17th-place Crystal Palace, their relegation battle was extremely dire.

But The Magpies’ management had offered a sky-high bonus for avoiding relegation.

If the team managed to stay up, everyone would receive a huge sum of money.

This wasn’t unique to Newcastle.

The other teams fighting relegation were basically doing the same.

Because starting next season, the Premier League’s broadcasting revenue would skyrocket.

This income was just too tempting!

The difference between staying up and being relegated was worth over one hundred million pounds sterling.

Under these circumstances, Newcastle also put on a brave face before the match.

But what happened when the match actually started?

Just five minutes in, an assist from Salah allowed Giroud to head the ball into Newcastle’s net.

In the 9th minute, a goal from Sterling extended Bayswater Chinese’s lead.

And in the 17th minute, an assist from Giroud set up Salah, who broke into the right side of the box and scored.

3-0!

In just 17 minutes!

It was like a carbon copy of the previous Champions League semi-final against Barça.

Right from the start, a brutish, relentless barrage of attacks left the opponent completely dumbfounded.

This was exactly Newcastle’s situation now.

The most annoying thing about this Bayswater Chinese team was that after beating you up, they wouldn’t get entangled with you. They would just slow down the tempo and use their pass-and-move advantage to play keep-away.

At that point, what could you do?

If you want to win, you have to press forward.

If you don’t, then you just let them play keep-away.

This infuriated all their opponents, but there was nothing they could do.

Accuse Bayswater Chinese of being conservative?

They were already 3-0 up!

Should they keep attacking like that and run up a huge score against you?

This situation continued into the second half.

In the 59th minute, De Bruyne provided another assist, and Sterling scored from the center of the box.

4-0!

And in the 83rd minute, an assist from Luke Shaw allowed the substitute Dominic Solanke to score a goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese thrashed Newcastle 5-0 at home.

After the match, when Yang Cheng saw Benítez, he could only feel deep sympathy for the Master’s plight.

From the looks of it, Newcastle’s relegation was a foregone conclusion.

Sending Benny the Master on his way personally, Yang Cheng had mixed feelings!

…

On the evening of May 10th, a rescheduled Premier League Matchday 35 match.

Bayswater Chinese at home against Southampton.

After this match, there was the Premier League final round grand finale on the weekend, with Bayswater Chinese challenging Arsenal away.

Many were saying that Wenger had already made a bold declaration: he would upset Bayswater Chinese no matter what.

Why?

The reason was the same as Real Madrid’s.

In the Premier League, there was one and only one team that had won the title undefeated: Wenger’s Arsenal.

If Bayswater Chinese maintained their unbeaten record this season, they would become the second.

So, there had been reports earlier that Wenger wanted to upset Bayswater Chinese at home.

Most importantly, right after playing Wenger’s Arsenal, it was the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

You could say the matches came one after another, a non-stop schedule.

Under these circumstances, this match against Southampton was more for Yang Cheng to keep the players in form, while also not playing too hard to avoid injuries.

Southampton, for their part, had nothing left to play for.

So, the match wasn’t actually played very well.

In the 31st minute, from a corner kick opportunity, van Dijk scored a goal for the team.

In the second half, in the 79th minute, Gareth Bale scored a goal for the team.

But in the 85th minute, Gareth Bale went off injured, giving Yang Cheng quite a scare.

Fortunately, a post-match observation showed it was nothing serious.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Southampton 2-0.

Incidentally, from Premier League Matchday 31 on March 19th until now, a period of nearly two months, Bayswater Chinese hadn’t conceded a single goal in the Premier League!

This was truly an astonishing achievement!

This also reflected that the Bayswater Chinese players were performing with more effort at such a crucial time. Because they all knew that their time playing under Yang Cheng was running out.

And every single one of them cherished it.

At the very least, the desire to play was extremely strong within the team.

It was also after this match, witnessed by ninety thousand fans in the stadium, that Bayswater Chinese lifted this season’s Premier League trophy!

…

May 15th, the Premier League final round grand finale.

Bayswater Chinese challenged Arsenal away from home.

In Wenger’s mind, Giroud had never been a prolific centre-forward.

Just as he had said in a pre-match interview with reporters, he believed France’s best centre-forward was Benzema.

Giroud?

He was just a budget version of Benzema.

The difference in their attacking efficiency was just too great.

But on this afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, against the sun, when Luke Shaw received a through ball from Sterling on the left flank, took it towards the byline, chased it down and sent in a high, looping cross, nobody would have thought anything was amiss.

Mertesacker and Koscielny were both there.

Arsenal’s backline was already on high alert.

More importantly, the match had only been going for a little over four minutes.

Many players might not have even fully warmed up yet.

But under these very circumstances, Giroud, leading the charge, raised his head, judged the ball’s trajectory, took two steps back, and near the penalty spot, leaped high to meet Luke Shaw’s cross with a powerful, flicked header.

The ball, as if possessed, was headed directly by him into the left side of Arsenal’s goal.

France’s national team goalkeeper, Lloris, dove sideways but couldn’t get to it.

1-0!

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Giroud celebrated wildly in the box and sprinted away in celebration.

He was like a proud warrior, showing off his battle achievements!

A budget Benzema?

Wenger, take a closer look!

The Arsenal head coach himself was dumbfounded.

The very first shot of the entire match, and Giroud had put it in.

Never mind Wenger, even Yang Cheng found it incredible.

Afterwards, the match fell into a stalemate.

With a one-goal lead, Bayswater Chinese began to proceed steadily and surely with a defend and counter-attack strategy.

Arsenal tried several times to press forward and attack, but to no avail.

It wasn’t until the 78th minute of the second half that Bayswater Chinese’s attack pressed near the left corner of Arsenal’s penalty area.

Sterling had the ball against Lichtsteiner, tried a series of feints, but failed to deceive his opponent.

Of course, it might have been because Sterling’s feints were just too ugly.

But in any case, Sterling suddenly passed the ball to the overlapping Aaron Ramsey, who laid it off first-time towards the byline.

Sterling burst into the left side of the box at high speed, getting there before anyone else, and sent a low, driven cross into the center.

And at that very moment, Giroud, while being pulled and dragged by two Arsenal centre-backs, managed to send the ball into Arsenal’s goal with a left-footed sliding shot even as he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

After scoring, the French centre-forward lay flat on his back inside the penalty area, spread-eagled.

But the Arsenal fans in the stadium were going crazy.

Did Giroud take drugs tonight or something?

How is he so fierce?

He can score in a situation like that?

We’ve never seen him be this efficient on a normal day!

But reality can be just that strange.

Two minutes later, as Arsenal were transitioning from attack to defense, Nemanja Matić intercepted the ball in midfield and passed it to De Bruyne.

De Bruyne sent a diagonal ball in behind, precisely tearing through Arsenal’s backline.

Giroud easily beat the offside trap, receiving the ball for another one-on-one.

The most ridiculous part was, the guy’s own stride was a mess, and it was another sliding shot after losing his balance.

But that very action managed to deceive the onrushing Lloris.

Hat-trick!

Everyone was dumbfounded!

This is just too absurd, isn’t it?

Giroud himself couldn’t believe it, running to the sidelines, holding up three fingers on both hands, looking at his left hand, then his right, not quite sure if he was dreaming.

Wenger on the sideline was even more devastated.

The Gunners had no pressure regarding the result now, but how did they concede three goals?

And a hat-trick scored by Giroud, of all people!

What on earth was happening?

“Hey, you guys think this kid has been playing dumb all this time?”

“Pulling off a hat-trick at a crucial moment?”

Yang Cheng also found it hard to believe.

This wasn’t the Giroud he usually observed.

Too fierce!

The most crucial part was his efficiency, it was too high!

So high it was absurd!

“Maybe we really have underestimated Giroud all this time…”

Brian Kidd said, pausing awkwardly, “…Giroud’s goal-scoring efficiency.”

Flick and the others all nodded in agreement.

Underestimated!

It seemed they had greatly underestimated him!

But after exclaiming this, everyone couldn’t help but ask themselves: did we really underestimate him?

Why do I have this feeling that it’s not quite real?

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 3-1 away.

Giroud scored a hat-trick!

Yang Cheng’s team ultimately won the 2015/16 Premier League title with an unbeaten record.

38 league matches, 34 wins, 4 draws, for 106 points!

This not only broke the Premier League record, and indeed the all-time record for England’s top flight, but it was also the highest-ever points total for a champion in Europe’s top five leagues!

Arsenal’s 2003/04 side also won the title unbeaten, but with only 26 wins and 12 draws, earning 90 points.

A full 16 points fewer than Bayswater Chinese.

No one would doubt the dominance of Yang Cheng’s team!

And everyone knew very well that the Bayswater Chinese players were performing so diligently all because of Yang Cheng!

After the match, media outlets all over the world sang praises for Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese team.

The Times even argued that this Bayswater Chinese team under Yang Cheng was the greatest team in the history of European football, bar none!

The reasons were also very compelling.

They had broken almost every legendary record!

They were like a series of insurmountable monuments for future generations!

And even in La Liga, the Premier League’s nemesis, the Spanish media’s evaluation of Yang Cheng was extremely high.

Just as Catalonia’s Mundo Deportivo put it.

“That terrifying archfiend is finally leaving!”

But although Yang Cheng was leaving, the Bayswater Chinese team he left behind was still incredibly strong.

Who could stop them?

Looking across European football today, perhaps only other Premier League teams could.

Especially Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Everyone was hoping for problems with the succession.

Many believed that Flick would have a hard time managing Bayswater Chinese’s group of world-class superstars.

But, just as team captain Modrić said in an interview after the Arsenal match.

“As the team captain, my most important task is to help Flick manage the team and the dressing room well.”

“Please believe us, there are no problems between us. Flick has been with the team for two years, we are all very familiar with each other, and we can cooperate well.”

As a German player, it went without saying for Toni Kroos, who stated he would do his utmost to cooperate with Flick.

Adding the feedback from core players like Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and van Dijk.

All signs indicated that Yang Cheng had spent a full two years settling Flick’s succession.

The Guardian even asserted.

“With the head coach changing from Yang Cheng to Flick, Bayswater Chinese will certainly be affected to some extent.”

“But they are still the strongest team in European football!”

The Sun, always known for its intelligence, also disclosed that according to their inside information, Flick was highly rated and well-accepted in the Bayswater Chinese dressing room.

“Of course, Flick will need to repay the players’ trust and support with his actual performance!”

“But in any case, Bayswater Chinese will not fall into chaos!”

…

On the evening of May 21st, Wembley Stadium, London.

FA Cup Final, Bayswater Chinese versus Manchester United.

This was Yang Cheng’s last match managing a team on British soil.

So, ninety thousand fans flocked to the match, more than half of whom were Bayswater Chinese supporters.

Outside, tickets were impossible to find, with prices being driven sky-high by countless ticket touts.

The final Premier League standings saw Bayswater Chinese as champions, followed by Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United.

The Red Devils secured a precious Champions League spot.

Liverpool ultimately failed to beat Manchester United in the battle for the top four.

But in the Europa League final on May 18th, Manchester United lost 1-3 to Klopp’s Liverpool.

Suárez, with two goals and one assist, helped The Reds win the Europa League title!

In the end, Liverpool, as Europa League champions, surpassed Manchester United and qualified directly for next season’s Champions League group stage.

Manchester United, on the other hand, after finishing fourth in the league, still had to play in the qualifying rounds.

And everyone knew that the Champions League preliminary qualifying round was not that easy.

As for Manchester United, they had previously adopted a two-pronged strategy.

On one hand, they went all out in the league to secure a top-four finish, while also competing for the Europa League title.

But after securing a top-four finish, it seemed Manchester United had lost some of their steam.

Liverpool, in contrast, had been pushed into a corner.

Especially after losing to Manchester United in the fight for fourth place on the final day, Klopp’s team had no other choice.

To get into the Champions League, they had to win the Europa League.

Under these circumstances, Liverpool’s all-out attack from the start made Manchester United suffer immensely.

If not for Navas’s outstanding performance, Manchester United’s goal would have been riddled with holes long ago.

In the end, Manchester United lost 1-3, but their best player was still the Costa Rican goalkeeper, Navas.

Because of this, three days later, Manchester United faced Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup final. Van Gaal adopted a defend and counter-attack tactic.

Goalkeeper: Navas;

Defense: Daley Blind, De Rossi, David Luiz, and Valencia;

Midfield: Pogba and Carrick as a double pivot, with C. Ronaldo, Rooney, and Martial in front of them;

Forward: Cavani.

On the Bayswater Chinese side, with a week to go before the Champions League final, Yang Cheng fielded his strongest team.

He also needed his team to ensure victory in this match.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Casemiro in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forwards: Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Theo Walcott.

After the match began, Bayswater Chinese took the initiative, launching a fierce attack on Manchester United from the outset.

It wasn’t hard to see from van Gaal’s formation that the Dutchman’s primary intention for this match was to defend and counter-attack.

But Manchester United’s midfield completely lost control.

Even Rooney had to actively drop back into a holding midfield position to help with the defense.

And Bayswater Chinese’s attack, especially the blitz in the first ten minutes, left Manchester United completely helpless.

Navas wasn’t tall, but his reflexes were lightning-fast, and his saves were incredibly agile. He repeatedly denied Bayswater Chinese’s shots, leaving even Yang Cheng speechless.

Papa Navas, still a wall at Manchester United!

When the match reached the 16th minute, Rooney dropped back to a holding position in midfield. After receiving a pass from a teammate, he carried it forward, trying to advance the ball.

Just moments earlier, a series of passes from Manchester United had failed to get the ball into Bayswater Chinese’s box.

After going in circles, Rooney decided to do it himself.

Dribble into the 30-meter area, then try to pass to C. Ronaldo or Martial, or try to pass it back to the center for Cavani.

That would create an attacking threat.

But the Rooney of today was no longer the Little Fatty Rooney of his youth.

His build was still on the heavier side, but as he aged, his movements became increasingly slow and clumsy.

This was especially true when he was dribbling and got harassed by Modrić.

The two team captains engaged in a close-quarters physical battle in midfield.

Rooney was a whole size larger, while Modrić appeared somewhat lean.

But in the physical confrontation, not only did Modrić not lose out, but he even seemed to have the upper hand over Rooney.

Tangled up with him, the Manchester United captain stumbled, momentarily losing control of the ball and taking a heavy touch.

Casemiro intercepted it instantly. After winning the ball, the Brazilian pushed forward and played a through ball to the feet of Toni Kroos.

Manchester United’s midfielder, Carrick, immediately closed in on Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder turned towards the left flank, and seeing his chance, he spun and delivered a through ball.

The ball was passed to the left of the center circle, to the feet of Harry Kane, who had dropped deep to receive it.

Harry Kane, with his back to the center circle, met Toni Kroos’s pass with a first-time ball in behind.

He hit it with power, kicking the ball out towards the left flank behind Manchester United’s defensive line.

From the interception to the pass, to Harry Kane’s through ball, the entire sequence was completed with just one or two touches per player.

Manchester United’s defense didn’t even have time to react before the ball was played in behind them.

The next moment, Gareth Bale shot forward like a bolt of red lightning, sprinting down the left sideline, racing towards the ball.

Valencia’s speed was actually quite fast.

But he was about to turn 31.

Though he still possessed decent speed, in a direct race, he was no match for the young and strong Gareth Bale.

The Welshman was not yet 27, right in the golden period of his physical prime.

As he sprinted, Valencia desperately gave chase, but as the two competed for speed, it was clear that the Ecuadorian player was gradually running out of steam and starting to fall behind Gareth Bale.

He was even getting left in the dust.

An experienced defender would surely have used various methods to impede Gareth Bale.

Including small fouls or positioning his body to block him.

But Valencia had started his career as a winger; he was not a professional full-back and had never received formal defensive training. So, when facing Gareth Bale, his first instinct was to compete on speed.

The result was that Gareth Bale gradually pulled ahead of Valencia.

When he caught up to the ball just outside the left corner of Manchester United’s penalty area, Gareth Bale took one more small touch forward.

This caused him to slow down slightly.

But just as Valencia was catching up, Gareth Bale sent a low, driven cross into Manchester United’s penalty area.

Navas came out to the edge of the six-yard box, but after Bale made the cross, he decisively abandoned the left side and turned his attention to the right of the penalty spot.

There, Theo Walcott was sprinting forward at incredible speed, coming from behind to shake off defenders like Daley Blind and De Rossi. He blazed into Manchester United’s penalty area like a flash of lightning, reaching Gareth Bale’s cross just to the right of the penalty spot.

The Little Tiger didn’t even take a touch, hitting it first-time with a push shot.

The shot was kept very low, almost skimming the grass, but it was extremely fast, zipping right past Navas and into the back of the net.

1-0!

…

After taking the lead, Bayswater Chinese began to apply even more pressure.

Especially with their pressing in the attacking third, they completely dominated Manchester United.

After the restart, Manchester United gradually realized that when the ball was passed back to their defense, it was almost impossible to find a way to pass it forward again.

This was because Bayswater Chinese began to press forward as a unit.

The forwards—Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, and Theo Walcott—were all putting pressure on Manchester United’s backline.

Carrick and Pogba both dropped back to the defensive line to receive the ball.

But Bayswater Chinese’s entire midfield also pushed up in unison.

This effectively pinned Manchester United down.

The Red Devils passed the ball back and forth in their own half but could never find an effective outlet.

Finally, forced into action, Daley Blind took a step forward and, under pressure from Theo Walcott, played a long ball forward, hoping to find Cavani up front.

The result was that van Dijk got to it first and headed it down.

Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

Manchester United were once again forced onto the defensive.

The Red Devils weren’t actually comfortable with such a defend and counter-attack tactic, but van Gaal’s ability to organize a defense was indeed quite good.

This was evident from his time managing the Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup.

When Manchester United focused on defending, Bayswater Chinese’s attack also struggled to break through.

But in the 34th minute, Modrić appeared on the right flank and played a one-two pass with Theo Walcott. As they tried to break past Daley Blind, the Dutch defender chose to commit a decisive foul.

Daley Blind was relatively slow; if Theo Walcott got up to speed, he would never be able to catch him.

But his foul was smart, committed near the sideline and far from the goal, posing little threat.

Modrić ran over to take the free kick.

The players from both Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese lined up inside and outside the penalty area.

When the head referee blew his whistle, Modrić quickly took the free kick.

The most dangerous target, van Dijk, was the first to charge towards the near post. Manchester United’s defensive attention was all focused on him, with David Luiz desperately trying to push the Dutchman away.

To the right of the penalty spot, van Dijk leaped high, met the descending ball, and flicked it on with his head.

Van Dijk couldn’t head the ball towards the goal himself, but he opted for a flick-on.

Gareth Bale, in the center, had run too far forward.

By the time he realized it, the ball had already passed him.

But Manchester United’s defensive focus was entirely on the near post and the center.

At the far post, Harry Kane, completely unmarked, shrewdly appeared behind the Manchester United defenders.

Turning and looking up, he judged the ball’s trajectory, and Harry Kane chested down the falling ball.

The football landed as if on a sponge, barely bouncing at all.

Then it fell obediently towards the grass.

At almost the same instant, both Daley Blind and Carrick sensed the danger and immediately turned to charge at Harry Kane.

But the English centre-forward’s reaction was incredibly fast. As soon as the ball dropped, before it even hit the ground, Harry Kane’s left foot had already swung.

His left foot struck the ball, and the falling football instantly changed direction, rocketing towards the left side of Manchester United’s goal.

Goalkeeper Navas’s attention had been drawn to the near post, and he was completely powerless against the shot aimed at the bottom left corner.

The ball hit the back of the net.

2-0!

Manchester United is finished!

Chapter 363: A Bumper Harvest! The Final Battle! Handpicked by Yang Cheng! He Truly Can Work Miracles!

When head referee Mark Clattenburg blew the final whistle, the cheers of the Bayswater Chinese fans filled the sky above Wembley Stadium.

The players celebrated jubilantly on the pitch.

2-0!

That was the final score of the match.

With two goals in the first half, Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United to claim this season’s FA Cup!

This was already Bayswater Chinese’s third trophy!

From the League Cup to the Premier League, and now the FA Cup, Bayswater Chinese was like a trophy-harvesting machine, continuously collecting championships of all sizes.

By now, they had secured basically every trophy available this season.

Only one remained.

The most prestigious one of all.

The Champions League at the San Siro in Milan!

Yang Cheng stood on the sideline, watching his players celebrate wildly on the field with mixed feelings.

Behind him, Flick, Brian Kidd, and the others were equally thrilled.

For Bayswater Chinese, this was truly a tremendous honor!

If they could also win the Champions League, they would all be immortalized in the annals of history.

Over at the Manchester United dugout, van Gaal was dejected.

He knew the match was essentially lost by the end of the first half.

Come back from a 2-0 deficit against Yang Cheng’s Bayswater Chinese?

If Manchester United were capable of that, they wouldn’t be in their current mess.

Van Gaal was very disappointed with the result.

In the second half, Yang Cheng made substitutions, and Bayswater Chinese was temporarily put on the back foot.

But they weathered the storm with their solid defense.

The ten or so minutes of dominance Manchester United managed was the only thing they could take solace in from the entire match.

It was a microcosm of Manchester United’s entire season.

The only consolation for the team and its fans was finishing in the top four of the league.

At the very least, they had secured a Champions League spot, right?

But considering Manchester United’s investment and the signings of superstars like C. Ronaldo and Pogba, was a top-four finish really enough?

“You know, Yang, I rarely admit defeat to anyone.”

When Yang Cheng walked over to shake his hand, the Dutchman still looked at him with his typical swagger.

“But when it comes to you and Bayswater Chinese, I’m truly impressed!”

“In the future, if anyone criticizes me for failing at Manchester United, I can just yell right back at them.”

“Who the hell do you think can win against Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese?”

Van Gaal’s words made Yang Cheng burst out laughing.

That works too?

But it was a nice gesture.

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

Sometimes, that was how one’s standing in the world of football was built up!

“Be careful against Real Madrid in the next match. That Zidane fellow isn’t easy to deal with. More importantly, your greatest enemy is yourselves,” van Gaal reminded him.

At this point, he actually hoped Bayswater Chinese would achieve even more.

Ideally, they would defeat Real Madrid and complete the Grand Slam.

An unprecedented seven-trophy winner!

The higher Bayswater Chinese’s status and the greater their achievements, the better the situation would be for van Gaal and Manchester United.

“Don’t worry, I know how to handle Zidane!” Yang Cheng said calmly.

He had faced Zidane plenty of times in his past life and was very familiar with his dark arts.

Van Gaal was somewhat surprised.

Zidane had only just started coaching. His record with Real Madrid’s B team wasn’t great, though he was doing quite well with the first team.

But listening to Yang Cheng, it sounded as if he knew him very well.

Was Bayswater Chinese’s intelligence system really that good?

…

After the FA Cup final, Bayswater Chinese had won yet another trophy!

The news quickly spread across the globe.

Bayswater Chinese fans followed the team all the way from Wembley Stadium to the Prudential Stadium in central London. Near Hyde Park, it even caused a traffic jam.

There was no special celebration ceremony at Prudential Stadium.

This was a deliberate arrangement by the club.

From the League Cup to the Premier League and the FA Cup, everything was handled in a low-key manner. The club didn’t even organize any official events.

Everyone knew they were going all out, saving the big move for after the Champions League final!

In a way, this was also putting pressure on the team, demanding that everyone be in their best form for the Champions League final, to give their all to defeat Real Madrid and win the championship!

The media, however, heaped praise upon Bayswater Chinese for their victory.

Not just the British media, but media from all over the world sang their praises.

Apart from the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese had won every single trophy available to them this season.

They had reached the club’s absolute limit!

After all, in this life of Yang Cheng’s, no team had ever achieved a Grand Slam.

Bayswater Chinese would be one of a kind!

Furthermore, there was the previous Five consecutive titles in the Premier League, and now they were on a Four consecutive titles streak in the Champions League, with their sights set on a fifth.

If they achieved their goal, Bayswater Chinese would become the most successful football club in history!

Yang Cheng and his team would be immortalized for it!

Therefore, for the media, no amount of praise was too much.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese handled it all very discreetly.

After placing the FA Cup trophy in the honors museum at Prudential Stadium, the team returned to the Brent training center.

After a day of rest, Yang Cheng led the team from London to Milan, Italy.

The FA Cup final was on May 21st, and the Champions League final was on May 28th.

There was a full week of rest in between.

Moreover, several key players, including Gareth Bale, had not played the full match.

For the next few days, the team would conduct their final sprint before the Champions League final at Atalanta’s training ground!

…

Bayswater Chinese’s arrival in Bergamo was met with a warm welcome from local Italian fans.

If, back in the day, many local fans had harbored resentment or even animosity towards Yang Cheng for acquiring Atalanta, now, after the developments of the past few years, everyone could see the club’s progress.

After purchasing the stadium, renovation work was proceeding in an orderly fashion. The new stadium would be further expanded to include more commercial space.

This would not only bring more matchday revenue to the team but also better serve the fans.

The training ground was completely transformed.

Two new, state-of-the-art training buildings had been erected, incorporating Bayswater Chinese’s youth academy system and experience while integrating it with local Italian characteristics.

Over the past few years, Atalanta’s youth system had undergone a monumental change.

The club was also very willing to invest in its youth academy.

This made the already strong Atalanta youth academy even more renowned in Serie A today.

And in the 15/16 Serie A season, which concluded on May 15th, Atalanta successfully defeated Juventus to win the league title!

Since its founding in 1907, over a hundred years ago, Atalanta had never won the Italian top-flight league championship.

They had only ever won a single Coppa Italia.

But this season, Gasperini’s team not only defeated Juventus in Serie A to historically claim the club’s first-ever league title in its century-long history.

They also defeated Juventus 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final on May 21st, thanks to a goal from Immobile, to win the cup.

Atalanta had achieved the Double this season!

This stunned the entire Italian football world!

At the beginning of the season, no one had been particularly optimistic about Atalanta.

The reason was simple: the transfer of Lucas Biglia.

The Argentinian midfielder’s importance to Atalanta was self-evident, as demonstrated by Real Madrid’s willingness to pay such a high transfer fee for him.

Losing Biglia meant Atalanta had lost their core midfielder.

But what happened in reality?

During the season, everyone was astonished to find that Brozović had perfectly filled Biglia’s void, while players like Bonaventura, Bruno Fernandes, Barella, Cristante, and De Paul all performed exceptionally well.

But the biggest discovery of the season was the youth academy youngster, Franck Kessié.

The young midfielder’s performance was incredibly impressive.

At just 19 years old, he already displayed eye-catching qualities.

Six goals, three assists, an average of 6.2 ball recoveries per game, and a pass completion rate as high as 89%.

The 19-year-old midfielder from Côte d’Ivoire became the biggest revelation of the Serie A season.

Immobile’s strong resurgence after returning to Serie A filled the void left by Luca Toni.

The veteran had announced his retirement at the end of this season.

Whether in attack, midfield, or defense, Atalanta demonstrated formidable dominance this season, striking fear into the hearts of all Serie A teams.

The Milan giants, Juventus, AS Roma, and other teams were now all coveting Atalanta’s players.

But today’s Atalanta was a far cry from what it used to be.

Especially in terms of player values.

They had reached the Champions League quarter-finals, and even against Real Madrid, they had been able to fight on even terms.

This allowed Atalanta’s players to make a name for themselves on the European stage.

If their Serie A rivals wanted to poach their players, it would be absolutely impossible without breaking the bank.

But even if they did poach from Atalanta, so what?

With Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese backing them, Atalanta wasn’t afraid of their poaching efforts at all.

It was precisely because of Atalanta’s outstanding results that the attitude of fans in Bergamo and the surrounding areas towards Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese had changed dramatically.

They were extremely welcoming of Bayswater Chinese’s arrival.

In the Champions League final, they were even staunchly on Bayswater Chinese’s side, hoping Yang Cheng’s team could slay Real Madrid, win their fifth consecutive Champions League title, and complete the season Grand Slam.

This came as a pleasant surprise to Yang Cheng and the others.

They had actually received special treatment from the fans in Italy.

It had to be said, this was truly unexpected.

And to think they had been worried and made extensive preparations beforehand.

But this also proved that what fans really want from their club is quite simple.

…

If Atalanta had begun to achieve results this season, then OGC Nice in Ligue 1 was in an awkward transitional period.

Selling off so many star players last summer, especially the three main attackers, had a huge impact on OGC Nice.

As a result, from the very beginning of the season, OGC Nice was left in the dust by Paris Saint-Germain.

Although Pochettino’s team performed admirably at times during the season, they were ultimately unable to shake Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance over Ligue 1, finishing only as runners-up.

But in the Coupe de France final, OGC Nice successfully defeated PSG 3-1 to win the cup.

This was a good consolation prize!

The biggest problem for OGC Nice this season was still their attack.

Dembélé played very well, and Mbappé was beginning to emerge. Thauvin was still a key player, but others, including Choupo-Moting, Marcus Thuram, Muani, and Guirassy, were inconsistent.

Overall, OGC Nice was still primarily focused on developing young players.

However, the defenders performed exceptionally well.

Players like Benjamin Mendy and Umtiti were being watched by all the major wealthy clubs.

José Fonte truly lived up to his reputation as a centre-back incubator.

Producing one centre-back a year—his efficiency was truly top-notch.

Even the newly signed Akanji also put in a very impressive performance.

In midfield, players like Bernardo Silva, Allan, Fabinho, and Jorginho were also very consistent.

Especially Bernardo Silva.

According to Bayswater Chinese’s current plans, especially after Flick takes over the team, there will certainly be some adjustments.

For example, Yang Cheng’s first team originally consisted of only 23 players.

Even with the addition of young players like Solanke, Alexander-Arnold, and Declan Rice, the squad size was only 26.

And many of them were young players.

In midfield, Flick and the technical team were currently in intense discussions about whether to “buy” Bernardo Silva for Bayswater Chinese.

The reason was simple enough.

The competition in the Premier League was becoming increasingly fierce. Yang Cheng could afford to run a lean squad, but Flick might not be able to manage it.

Adding Bernardo Silva would provide an extra layer of security.

The player himself was full of anticipation and excitement about joining Bayswater Chinese!

This was the top powerhouse in world football at the moment, and it had intricate connections with OGC Nice.

To be honest, most players at OGC Nice hoped to use the club as a stepping stone to board the juggernaut that was Bayswater Chinese.

Another point was that Yang Cheng was proposing to increase the number of substitutions to five.

This would require teams to further expand their squads.

Yang Cheng’s proposal had already gained a lot of support because it was very necessary.

The International Champions Cup expansion plan was set to begin in the summer of 2017.

After the expansion, the first tournament would be held in the United States, and the second in China.

By then, teams would play more matches each season, and the competition would be even fiercer.

The pressure on players would be greater.

Therefore, increasing the number of substitutions would help reduce the players’ burden.

Moreover, the idea of increasing substitutions was not new; it had been proposed in the past but was never adopted.

Now that Yang Cheng was proposing it, all parties would naturally give it more serious consideration.

For all these reasons, both Yang Cheng and OGC Nice itself were quite satisfied with this season’s report card: Ligue 1 runners-up, Coupe de France champions, and reaching the Champions League Round of 16.

With the Qatar consortium now having acquired Tottenham Hotspur, their focus would gradually shift to the Premier League.

Although PSG would still receive support, it would certainly not be on the same level as before.

Under these circumstances, OGC Nice would surely have more opportunities.

Of course, the Ligue 1 team’s main focus remained the development of young players.

In Yang Cheng’s view, as long as they could secure a top-three finish in Ligue 1 and qualify for the Champions League each season, there would be no problem.

Oh, right, and there would be the International Champions Cup in the future.

Keep the benefits within the family.

As a newly rising team in European football, OGC Nice would certainly get a piece of the pie.

…

While OGC Nice in Ligue 1 was still in a period of adjustment, Málaga CF in La Liga, as a newly promoted team, immediately became the most dazzling dark horse on the entire Spanish stage.

After Pellegrini’s team was promoted to La Liga, they were already the focus of everyone’s expectations.

The aura of Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, combined with the coaching of a renowned manager like Pellegrini, who had spent a year honing the team in the Spanish second division, meant they were now significantly stronger upon entering La Liga.

This Málaga team’s performance was equally impressive.

Goalkeeper Onana goes without saying.

In defense, there were players like Sergi Gómez, Lucas Hernández, and Clément Lenglet.

The midfield was centered around Rodri, Thomas Partey, and Alberto.

Up front, the trident of Trossard, Gerard Moreno, and Ziyech struck fear into the hearts of many La Liga teams.

Among the front three, Trossard contributed six goals and five assists.

Ziyech had seven goals and six assists.

And the centre-forward Moreno scored sixteen goals and provided four assists.

In other words, the attacking trident scored a total of twenty-nine goals.

Moreno’s performance was the most surprising.

Previously at Villarreal, his performance had not been ideal; he wasn’t even a regular starter.

But after coming to Málaga, he transformed into a renowned killer in La Liga.

Although he couldn’t compare to superstars like Torres and Robert Lewandowski, among Spanish players, he was quite prolific, ranking fifth.

He was just behind the 35-year-old veteran Aduriz of Athletic Bilbao with twenty goals, and the 34-year-old veteran Castro of Real Betis with nineteen goals.

He was also slightly behind Eibar’s striker Borja Bastón with eighteen goals, and Deportivo La Coruña’s striker Lucas Pérez with seventeen goals.

But for Moreno, this was already a testament to his own abilities!

Besides Moreno, Alberto also had a very eye-catching performance.

As one of the best-performing midfielders in La Liga this season, Alberto was primarily known for his attack and passing.

He only averaged 2.9 ball recoveries per game.

But behind Alberto was Thomas Partey, who averaged 6.5 ball recoveries per game.

This allowed Alberto to fully dedicate himself to the team’s organization and passing, completely unleashing the Spanish midfielder’s creativity.

It also revitalized Málaga’s midfield.

It was thanks to the excellent performances of these players in midfield and attack that Málaga scored fifty-eight goals and conceded thirty-five in La Liga this season.

Their final La Liga standing was 4th on the league table.

Even more noteworthy was Málaga’s impressive record against La Liga’s top three this season.

They drew 0-0 with Real Madrid at the Bernabéu and drew 1-1 again at home.

And although they lost 0-1 to Barça at Camp Nou, they bounced back with a 2-2 draw at home.

Against Atlético Madrid, it was a 1-0 win at home and a 0-1 loss away.

It could be said that in the clashes between top teams, Málaga also produced outstanding results.

The only slight disappointment was the Copa del Rey.

Perhaps Pellegrini was just not destined to succeed in the Copa del Rey.

This season, Málaga crashed out in the first round, losing away to an amateur team.

To put it nicely, this allowed Málaga to focus more on La Liga.

But to be blunt, Pellegrini seemed completely incapable of playing in the Copa del Rey.

In truth, Málaga’s fourth-place finish was also thanks to Las Palmas and Sporting Gijón.

The team from the Canary Islands held Athletic Bilbao to a 0-0 draw at home in the thirty-seventh round of La Liga.

But in the final round, they were thrashed 4-1 away by Málaga.

It was thanks to these two rounds that Málaga managed to overtake Athletic Bilbao.

And Sporting Gijón pulled off an upset in the final round, defeating Villarreal 2-0.

In the end, both Málaga and Villarreal finished with sixty-four points.

According to La Liga rules, goal difference is the first tiebreaker.

Málaga had a slight edge, climbing to 4th place and pushing Villarreal down.

So, Málaga’s journey to a top-four finish was quite perilous.

But with the development and growth of players like Rodri, Frenkie de Jong, Bentancur, Ceballos, Lo Celso, Lautaro Martínez, Olmo, and Raphinha.

Yang Cheng believed that next season’s Málaga would be even stronger!

…

When it came to results, it was FC Twente in the Eredivisie that showed the most consistency.

Back in the 14/15 season, FC Twente had six points deducted but still finished 12th in the Eredivisie.

They already had a decent squad.

After Yang Cheng acquired the team, he signed Vitesse’s head coach Peter Bosz.

Bosz’s coaching ability was validated with FC Twente this season.

The signings of players like Marten de Roon, Olsnes, Zakaria, Aké, Dumfries, and Zinchenko greatly enhanced FC Twente’s overall strength.

Peter Bosz managed to whip FC Twente into shape during the summer training camp.

In the first half of the subsequent season, FC Twente played an incredible brand of attacking football in the Eredivisie.

They excelled in both their position on the league table and their win rate.

Their defense was solid, their midfield was dominant, and their attack, led by wingers like Bergwijn, Ede, and Cabral, managed to force-feed the youth team youngster Oostervijk into becoming the Eredivisie’s top scorer.

It could be said that before January, FC Twente was leading the Eredivisie all the way, with virtually no competition.

The 1.94-meter-tall youngster Oostervijk even became the top scorer of the first half of the Eredivisie season, delivering a remarkable performance.

Whether it was his aerial ability, his finishing, or the rare fact that he was two-footed, all these qualities earned Oostervijk high praise.

But on January 26th, after a 4-2 away victory against PSV Eindhoven, Oostervijk underwent a medical examination due to feeling unwell and was diagnosed with a sudden heart condition.

Less than a week after the diagnosis, he underwent surgery.

It was almost certain that Oostervijk would have to bid farewell to football for good.

And such a talented young centre-forward, whose market value had already soared to ten million euros, was likely to be snuffed out because of his heart condition.

FC Twente was greatly affected, and their performance in the second half of the season declined sharply.

Ultimately, they lost the league title race to PSV Eindhoven.

However, in their two league matches against PSV Eindhoven, FC Twente won both, securing the double in spectacular fashion.

Although they didn’t win the title, no one could blame Peter Bosz.

After all, the team he had so carefully assembled was ultimately defeated by a merciless heart condition.

But in the matter of Oostervijk, the FC Twente team’s handling of the situation was a display of sheer humanity.

Not only did they pay for all of Oostervijk’s medical expenses, but they also offered to extend his contract.

If he could play in the future, he would continue to play. If he really couldn’t, he would transition to a behind-the-scenes role and begin studying for coaching courses.

This gesture earned FC Twente a standing ovation.

Almost everyone agreed that after being acquired, FC Twente had become remarkably humane in many aspects.

At the very least, it was a huge improvement from before.

On a side note, the development of the Dickman Football Park and the expansion of the stadium stands are both currently proceeding in an orderly manner.

FC Twente has set a goal to build the best youth academy in the Eredivisie within five years!

This was indeed a very bold move!

…

In the past 15/16 season, if one were to talk about the most attention-grabbing non-powerhouse teams in European football, Eintracht Frankfurt from the Bundesliga would surely be on the list.

For the first half of the season, this team was shrouded in controversy.

Especially being involved in an acquisition and disputes over Germany’s 50+1 rule, Eintracht Frankfurt found itself deeply entangled, drawing the attention of numerous media outlets and fans.

That acquisition case, which shocked the entire European football world and even the whole world, made media and fans worldwide turn their attention to this team.

Ultimately, before the winter transfer window, Yang Cheng successfully obtained ownership of Eintracht Frankfurt and became another special exception to the Bundesliga’s 50+1 rule, allowing him to operate a Bundesliga club.

But at that time, Eintracht Frankfurt was at the bottom of the table with dismal results.

Under these circumstances, everyone was looking forward to Yang Cheng’s magic touch, to see how he would turn something rotten into something miraculous.

And Yang Cheng did not disappoint.

He appointed the 28-year-old Nagelsmann as the head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt, making him the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history.

Subsequently, Eintracht Frankfurt initiated a large-scale restructuring.

In particular, after letting go of a group of players in their prime, they brought in a batch of relatively younger players.

This led to public skepticism about Eintracht Frankfurt’s strength.

But all of this was completely dispelled by a three-game winning streak at the start of the second half of the season.

With this winning streak, Eintracht Frankfurt successfully escaped the relegation zone.

But what truly shocked people was that Eintracht Frankfurt’s miracle had only just begun.

In the subsequent Bundesliga matches, Eintracht Frankfurt displayed superior attacking prowess and midfield control.

Especially Naby Keïta and Lobotka.

Naby Keïta was seemingly everywhere, exceptionally skilled at winning the ball back, and also very adept at passing.

Lobotka, on the other hand, was skilled in organization and control, exceptionally proficient in passing and directing play.

The combination of these two, one offensive and one defensive, completely propped up Eintracht Frankfurt’s backbone.

A 3-1 home victory over Hamburger SV.

A 2-1 away victory over Bayern Munich.

A 3-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen away.

A 2-0 home victory over Borussia Dortmund!

With one victory after another, Eintracht Frankfurt shocked the entire German football world, and even the whole of European football!

It was simply incredible!

But it happened.

How ridiculous was it?

Naby Keïta made it into the Bundesliga Team of the Season after just half a season!

This midfielder, for whom Eintracht Frankfurt spent fifteen million euros, saw his market value double in just six months, attracting the favor and attention of numerous top European clubs.

But as soon as the season ended, Eintracht Frankfurt announced that Naby Keïta would be staying.

The player also made a commitment through his agent, stating that he would continue to stay at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Why?

Because he was still young and needed further growth and experience.

But over the past six months, Naby Keïta’s performance in the Bundesliga left an incredibly deep impression on everyone.

Bayern Munich waved their checkbook, trying to persuade Eintracht Frankfurt with thirty million euros.

But they were flatly rejected by Eintracht Frankfurt.

Everyone clearly realized that this player was truly formidable!

Naby Keïta was like a whirlwind, suddenly appearing before everyone and completely conquering all of Eintracht Frankfurt’s fans.

If, six months ago, when Yang Cheng announced the acquisition of Eintracht Frankfurt, there were still many local fan groups organizing various protests and even boycotting Eintracht Frankfurt’s matches.

Then, as the matches were played one after another, and as the team’s performance got better and better.

Everyone clearly realized that the sound of protests from local Eintracht Frankfurt fans was growing fainter, while more and more fans were returning to the stadium.

In the end, they once again filled Eintracht Frankfurt’s home stadium to capacity, with not a single empty seat.

All the fans gradually ignored the change in ownership and began to discuss whether Sébastien Haller was the next Pogba.

With the old captain Alexander Meier on the verge of retirement, who in the team could replace him?

Niclas Füllkrug?

Tim Kleindienst?

Or Waldschmidt and Andrej Kramarić?

Hmm, all these players looked quite good.

And that 28-year-old Nagelsmann.

Although he wasn’t old, his tactics were sometimes a bit naive, and he was particularly fond of taking risks, often neglecting one thing while attending to another—beating the opponent to a pulp in the first half, only to get their own asses kicked after an adjustment in the second half.

But overall, Nagelsmann was really good.

His tactics were advanced, his style of play was attractive, and most importantly, he got results.

When the 34 rounds of the season were over, everyone looked at the league table.

Damn it!

When did Eintracht Frankfurt, which had been languishing at the bottom of the relegation zone, silently climb to 4th in the league?

Although they were five points behind 3rd-placed Bayer Leverkusen, a company’s eleven, wasn’t this too magical?

Bild did the math.

In the second half of the season, there were seventeen matches with a total of fifty-one points available.

Eintracht Frankfurt managed to grab a whopping forty-two points.

Many people might not grasp the significance of this number.

So let’s use a reference point.

As the behemoth of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich also earned forty-two points in the seventeen matches of the second half of the season.

In other words, ignoring the shaky performance of the first half, and looking only at the second half, Eintracht Frankfurt’s report card was identical to Bayern’s.

What about Borussia Dortmund?

BVB only managed to get thirty-seven points in the second half, five points behind Eintracht Frankfurt.

This meant that Eintracht Frankfurt’s point-gathering efficiency in the second half was comparable to the most powerful giants in the Bundesliga.

This was truly outrageous!

Just as kicker magazine said in its season summary.

It turns out that in the world of football, there really are people who can turn the tide with a flick of their wrist!

With his miraculous operational methods, Yang Cheng helped Eintracht Frankfurt become one of the strongest teams in the Bundesliga in just six months.

Players like Naby Keïta, Lobotka, Kramarić, Süle, Rebić, and Tomáš Souček all showed immense strength in the second half of the season, all proving Yang Cheng’s transfer operation capabilities.

Just how many more gems like these were hidden in Bayswater Chinese’s scouting system?

This became the most watched topic among all media, fans, and even football professionals worldwide.

In just six months, from the bottom of the table team to a prospective Champions League team, Eintracht Frankfurt could be said to have been reborn.

And after these six months, no one would ever doubt Yang Cheng’s management abilities again.

In just six months, he could bring a Bundesliga bottom team like Eintracht Frankfurt back from the dead.

Give him more time, and he could really build a top team in the Bundesliga that could rival Bayern and Dortmund.

If this was the case in the Bundesliga, could Málaga in La Liga also achieve it?

Atalanta in Serie A and OGC Nice in Ligue 1 had already won league titles and consistently remained among the top teams in their respective leagues.

They had already proven themselves.

…

Also having proven themselves were Palmeiras in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

And the Dutchman coaching Palmeiras, Erik ten Hag, along with his assistant team.

Last season, Palmeiras had already won the Campeonato Paulista and later the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title.

In his debut season coaching in the Brazilian league, Erik ten Hag dazzled everyone.

By the 2016 season, Palmeiras’s performance was even more composed and confident.

The players became increasingly adapted to Erik ten Hag’s advanced tactical system, which would be considered advanced even in Europe’s top five leagues, and their performances got better and better.

Palmeiras’s players also began to exhibit a tactical style completely different from other Brazilian teams.

The players clearly placed more emphasis on teamwork and pass-and-move combinations, as well as their understanding of football tactics, compared to other Brazilian teams.

Everyone knew that Brazilian teams generally didn’t pay much attention to tactics.

For them, so-called tactics meant putting a player in a position that suited him and then letting him play freely.

But at Palmeiras, all the Brazilian league teams and fans were able to witness, for a rare treat, how European teams operated and played football.

Attack and defense, advance and retreat, all had their own methods and discipline.

If last season’s Palmeiras was just a small test of their skills, then this season, Erik ten Hag led his team on an irresistible momentum, truly making short work of their opponents.

Attackers like Jesus, Neres, Richarlison, and Luis Díaz all displayed astonishing strength, helping the team sharply penetrate the defenses of all opponents on the field.

Midfielders like Gerson, Paquetá, Joelinton, Arthur, and Bruno Guimarães helped the team firmly control the midfield, suppressing opponents and continuously supplying ammunition to the attackers up front.

The defense was even more noteworthy.

Brazilians had never been known for their emphasis on defense.

But Palmeiras’s collective defending not only caused a huge stir in Brazil but was also exceptionally outstanding and highly regarded throughout South America.

As last season’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions, Palmeiras was eligible to participate in this season’s Copa Libertadores.

In the group stage, Palmeiras triumphed over traditional South American powerhouses like Rosario Central, Colo-Colo, and Club Nacional de Football of Uruguay, advancing to the knockout stage as group winners.

In the Round of 16, they thrashed River Plate with a 7-1 aggregate score over two legs.

In the quarter-finals, they defeated Atlético Nacional with a 1-0 away win and a 3-1 home win, for a 4-1 aggregate score, to advance to the Copa Libertadores semi-finals.

After the draw, their semi-final opponent was Argentina’s Boca Juniors.

The match was scheduled for July.

In a phone call to Yang Cheng, Erik ten Hag expressed his full confidence, stating that he intended to make a big splash on both the Brazilian and South American fronts this season.

Yang Cheng could also hear the ambition in Erik ten Hag’s voice.

He was eagerly awaiting Yang Cheng to fulfill his promise to let him coach a team in one of the top five leagues.

But little did he know that, due to being acquired by Yang Cheng, Palmeiras’s excellent performance in Brazil and South America had already attracted strong attention from numerous European teams.

Erik ten Hag, as a head coach, was also beginning to draw close scrutiny.

And in front of his name, a note was often added.

Handpicked by Yang Cheng!

This had become a golden signboard in the world of football!

Any player handpicked by Yang Cheng, like Naby Keïta, Lobotka, Alberto, and Moreno, no matter how badly they had performed or how low their form was before, would immediately shine once Yang Cheng made his move.

There were also cases like the veteran Luca Toni returning to his peak, and Immobile getting back on his feet after a slump.

It could be said that no one would doubt Yang Cheng’s eye for talent.

And the head coaches he handpicked often led their teams to excellent results.

All of this made Erik ten Hag even more sought-after!

For Erik ten Hag, Yang Cheng’s only request was to finish the current season if possible.

That would be until the end of 2016.

At the same time, if Erik ten Hag wanted to leave, he should leave his two assistant coaches, van der Gaag and Schreuder, behind.

In Yang Cheng’s plan, once Erik ten Hag left, one of these two assistant coaches would be promoted to the team’s head coach.

With their abilities, they might not be considered top-tier coaches in Europe.

But in Brazil, leading the already well-established Palmeiras would be no problem at all.

Erik ten Hag had already agreed to Yang Cheng’s terms.

…

In the season that had just ended, Yang Cheng had led Bayswater Chinese to the pinnacle of the Premier League and to the brink of a Champions League title, winning universal acclaim.

The several teams he had acquired also had a bumper harvest.

Perhaps not all of them won championships, but they all showed astonishing strength and the huge progress they had made since being acquired.

This won Yang Cheng a great deal of applause before the Champions League final.

And this upcoming Champions League final was not only Yang Cheng’s last match in the Bayswater Chinese head coach position, but also the final battle of his coaching career.

On May 27th, the day before the Champions League final.

Yang Cheng led the team to the San Siro in Milan for a training session to familiarize themselves with the pitch.

After training, Yang Cheng attended the routine pre-final press conference.

At the press conference, Yang Cheng answered questions from the media about the team and the upcoming final.

Regarding his plans after stepping down from the Bayswater Chinese head coach position after the final, Yang Cheng stated very clearly that he would not coach any other team, including national teams.

Why?

“I need to devote more time and energy to my work off the football pitch.”

Not just as the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, but also the affairs of his various clubs, his own businesses, and his family’s businesses back home—all these required Yang Cheng’s care and attention.

For Yang Cheng, he had already proven his coaching abilities at Bayswater Chinese.

Now, there was no need for him to coach another team.

Besides, it would be somewhat unfair.

In fact, over time, it would certainly cause controversy.

Imagine this: the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board leads a certain national team to play in the FIFA World Cup and wins the championship. Would that look right?

And if they didn’t win… sorry, that would be even worse!

The media would surely belittle Yang Cheng then.

Look, he can only succeed in club competitions. When it comes to national team matches, he’s immediately exposed.

So what’s in it for Yang Cheng?

To ask him to give up his position as the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board for a so-called lifeline, sorry, he couldn’t do it!

Yang Cheng was even already planning.

In the coming years, he would gradually support capable and visionary individuals from his home country to enter FIFA, and then slowly have them take over the power he had transitioned.

Of course, to completely control FIFA was impossible.

However, Yang Cheng was confident that in a few years, or even a decade, he could make his motherland’s influence in FIFA increasingly important.

Even possessing the power to participate in major decision-making!

This was a power that not even the United States possessed!

This would be an entirely new track.

It would have a very significant impact on both Yang Cheng and his motherland.

Therefore, he had to give it his all.

Having lived three lives and coached for so many years, suddenly leaving this position was something Yang Cheng was very reluctant to do.

But there was no other way. His pursuits were no longer limited to victories on the football pitch!

Different pursuits, different tracks, so his position naturally had to be adjusted.

And it was precisely for this reason that Yang Cheng was determined to win the final match, the Champions League final!

He had already made it very clear to his players that they had to win this crucial match no matter what.

This was also the final battle of his coaching career!

Everyone at Bayswater Chinese was united and full of fighting spirit.

Everyone wanted to win this ultimate battle for Yang Cheng!

Chapter 364: Forging a Legend! The Season Grand Slam! [End of Book]

The morning of May 28th.

The Radisson Hotel, Milan, Italy.

As Florentino Pérez, accompanied by José Ángel Sánchez, Butragueño, and others, walked into the hotel lobby, dissatisfaction was written all over his face.

Though he smiled and greeted the Real Madrid fans in the lobby, doing his best to maintain his composure, those who knew him could tell he was suppressing his anger.

José Ángel Sánchez and Butragueño exchanged a look, a flicker of helplessness in their eyes.

Once inside the elevator, with no one else around, Florentino’s expression darkened instantly.

“What is going on?”

Florentino asked José Ángel Sánchez in a low, stern voice.

As Real Madrid’s General Manager, he was responsible for these arrangements, so he was the one to be held accountable.

“The people under me didn’t follow up in time. This year’s Champions League final is incredibly popular. Fans from all over the world have flocked to Milan for Yang Cheng’s last match. All the five-star hotels within a five-kilometer radius of San Siro were basically booked out.”

“The Radisson we’ve booked is four-star, and it can’t meet all our requirements. We can only cordon off our floor from the regular guests, but public areas like the lobby are beyond our control.”

“After we booked this hotel, the news somehow leaked out. As a result, many Real Madrid fans also booked rooms here, putting us in a very awkward position.”

José Ángel Sánchez felt quite wronged himself.

Of course this was an awkward situation.

The fans had traveled thousands of miles from Spain to Italy to support Real Madrid.

They paid for their hotel rooms with their own money.

What could he possibly say to them?

“Has it affected the players coming and going?” Florentino asked.

José Ángel Sánchez gave a wry smile.

Butragueño sighed beside him. “Last night, in the early hours, a few fans tried to break into our team’s floor. Fortunately, hotel security stopped them, but it caused a huge commotion and woke up the players.”

Florentino snorted heavily.

He was truly starting to feel that the people working under him were becoming increasingly incompetent.

Booking a hotel was such a minor task, how could they still mess it up?

But as minor as it seemed, its impact was enormous.

With the final just around the corner, the players were already sleeping poorly, each under immense pressure. Many even relied on sleeping pills to get some rest.

And now this, a disturbance in the middle of the night that woke everyone up.

How were they supposed to play tonight?

“José, you need to manage your people properly. Keep those who are competent, and fire those who aren’t. Everything must follow procedure and protocol!”

At this point, Florentino’s tone shifted, tinged with a hint of envy. “The Bayswater Chinese have handled things very well. They booked an entire hotel in the suburbs, didn’t they?”

“I heard Gasperini recommended it to them,” Butragueño said.

Florentino was momentarily speechless.

Real Madrid truly lacked such connections.

Upon reaching the team’s designated floor, Florentino went directly to see the head coach, Zidane.

He was very concerned about the team’s current state.

Zidane, of course, was full of complaints.

This was the Champions League final!

Couldn’t they have booked a better hotel?

A four-star hotel?

Was Real Madrid short on that little bit of money?

Now, the players were all cooped up in their rooms, not daring to leave the floor.

They were surrounded by Real Madrid fans, all of whom were hotel guests, constantly trying to find ways to get onto their floor.

The sauna, gym, and swimming pool—the best ways to relax before a match—were all unusable.

They were originally told the hotel had a garden where they could take a walk to release some pre-match tension.

“Florentino, go take a look. The garden is filled with Real Madrid fans having a party!”

Zidane stood at the door of his room, pointing down the corridor, which was lined with other rooms.

At this moment, the Real Madrid players could only stay in their rooms.

“The work in this area was indeed done very poorly!” Florentino said gravely.

José Ángel Sánchez nodded repeatedly.

Since the Chairman had spoken, he would deal with it upon their return. Whoever was responsible would bear the consequences.

Many said that the interpersonal relationships in the Real Madrid dressing room were complex.

What they didn’t know was that compared to the messy politics within the Real Madrid management, the team’s issues were nothing.

“We will handle this matter with the utmost seriousness,” Florentino declared solemnly in front of Zidane.

But then he took Zidane by the hand and led him aside.

José Ángel Sánchez and Butragueño knew they had something private to discuss, so they didn’t follow.

“Zinédine, tell me honestly, how confident are you about tonight’s match?”

Zidane looked troubled and shook his head. “It’s hard to say. You know, Yang Cheng is retiring. The Bayswater Chinese right now are like a team possessed. No one can stop them!”

Everyone could see it.

Over the past season, the players of Bayswater Chinese had been performing at an incredibly high level.

In every single match, every single player gave their all, going all-out against their opponents.

And then there was tonight’s final.

Countless fans had come specifically for Yang Cheng.

This was the most precious treasure he had accumulated over his many years of coaching!

It was even more valuable than all the trophies he had won!

“You know that from a commercial standpoint, from the perspective of influence and exposure, and even from a competitive level, we do not want to see Bayswater Chinese achieve a fifth consecutive title.”

If it weren’t for the major turmoil last summer, Florentino believed that even Platini would have been unwilling to see Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese win five in a row.

But now, Platini was finished.

Yang Cheng was now the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

To put it bluntly, if Yang Cheng were less than honorable and pulled a few strings, Real Madrid would surely be doomed.

But according to the intelligence Florentino had received, neither Yang Cheng nor Bayswater Chinese had done so.

This proved that even at this moment, they still hoped to win this match fair and square, relying on their own strength.

If they could win, that would be for the best.

If they lost, they would accept it!

In this respect, Florentino couldn’t help but admire Yang Cheng’s magnanimity.

Of course, it could also be seen as confidence.

“I believe this match will be conducted fairly. You and the players must give everything to stop Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese.”

“This is not just for the present of our Real Madrid, but for our past and our future!”

Florentino spoke with great gravity, and Zidane took his words to heart.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best!”

…

“Two things!”

That evening, before the match, in the home dressing room of Milan’s San Siro stadium, Yang Cheng looked directly at his Bayswater Chinese players.

All eighteen players looked up, their eyes fixed on their head coach.

Every single one of them was exceptionally focused.

They all knew very well that this would be the last time they would hear a pre-match briefing and motivational talk from Yang Cheng.

“First, from the start, we need to put immediate pressure on Real Madrid.”

“High press, fast counter-attacks, long cross-field passes—these are all our specialties. We must fully leverage our strengths.”

“As I’ve told you before, compared to us, Real Madrid has no advantage in midfield!”

This was the biggest difference between the current Real Madrid and the one from Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Alex Sandro, Ramos, Varane, and Carvajal;

Midfield: Lucas Biglia and Javi Martínez formed a double pivot, with Eden Hazard, James Rodríguez, and Ángel Di María in front of them;

Forward: Džeko.

This was the starting lineup Zidane had chosen for the night.

On the bench were players like Jesé, Isco, Nacho, and Danilo.

If it were the year 2024 of Yang Cheng’s past life, any fan seeing this Real Madrid lineup would first react with: is this really Real Madrid?

Indeed, it wasn’t!

Ever since C. Ronaldo joined Real Madrid, their tactic had always been built around fast counter-attacks at home.

But now?

Hazard, Džeko, Di María, and James Rodríguez in midfield—these were all distinctly technical players.

Did they have pace?

Yes.

Di María’s speed was quite good.

But compared to the incredibly sharp BBC trident and the Ceremony Trio midfield of the Real Madrid from Yang Cheng’s previous life, the difference was simply too vast.

In contrast, Bayswater Chinese was actually more like that Real Madrid of the past.

Goalkeeper: Courtois;

Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, van Dijk, and Piszczek;

Midfield: Nemanja Matić in a holding role, with Toni Kroos and Modrić in the center;

Forward: Theo Walcott, Harry Kane, and Gareth Bale.

Didn’t this lineup have more of the flavor of the Real Madrid from Yang Cheng’s previous life?

In Yang Cheng’s view, the Bayswater Chinese team he had built was even stronger than that previous Real Madrid.

Without C. Ronaldo up front, their scoring ability was slightly weaker.

But the combination of Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, and Walcott was by no means poor.

The midfield, however, was stronger than that of the previous Real Madrid.

The same was true for the defense.

This made the current Bayswater Chinese team appear more balanced and more dominant.

Real Madrid lacked speed on the counter-attack, so they relied more on passing combinations.

Zidane indeed possessed a certain dark art of his own, but he couldn’t change the fundamental nature of this Real Madrid squad.

The players determined the tactics!

“Second point, the front line, midfield, and defense must not become disconnected under any circumstances.”

“How the forwards and midfielders press, when to go up, who goes, and how the others support—we have drilled this repeatedly. Now is the time to test the results of our work.”

“There’s one more thing I must remind you of. We often find ourselves pinning the opposition in their own half, relentlessly sending passes and crosses into the box, as if we want to swallow them whole in one go.”

“But experience has shown that this approach is very ineffective!”

“Zidane’s Real Madrid is not afraid of that!”

If there was one major change since Zidane took over Real Madrid, it was that he had managed to solve the problems that Benítez couldn’t.

Wasn’t Benítez famous for his 4-2-3-1?

He had signed Biglia and Kovačić precisely because he wanted his preferred double pivot.

But the Real Madrid dressing room blew up during his tenure.

The end result was Benítez’s dismissal.

The strange thing was, the same approach, handled by a different person in a different way, yielded completely different results.

After Zidane took over, he stuck with the 4-2-3-1, even directly inheriting Benítez’s system.

Everyone knew it, everyone could see it.

But it just worked!

Zidane led this Real Madrid team all the way to the Champions League final.

Who could Benítez complain to?

And the greatest advantage of this 4-2-3-1 formation was its balance and comprehensiveness.

If Bayswater Chinese were to simply keep pressing and attacking Real Madrid relentlessly, it would certainly put pressure on their backline.

But on the other hand, was Real Madrid afraid?

The biggest transformation in the team since Zidane took charge was their mentality.

The more crucial the moment, the greater the difficulty, the stronger the opponent, the more resilient and tenacious Zidane’s Real Madrid became.

Constantly pressing the opponent would ultimately only put themselves in a passive position.

“I’ll emphasize this again: We will not push up recklessly. We can even drop back voluntarily and let the opponent come at us.”

“That is what we excel at, understand?”

Everyone in the dressing room nodded in unison.

In truth, they all understood these points, which had been covered before the match.

But Yang Cheng repeated them to ensure everyone paid attention.

“Luka, Toni.”

Yang Cheng turned to face the two beloved players he valued most.

Modrić and Toni Kroos also looked at Yang Cheng.

“I trust your judgment to know what to do, and when to do it!”

The two exchanged a look and nodded in unison.

“OK!”

Yang Cheng clapped his hands forcefully.

All the players stood up at the same time.

Modrić gestured to his surrounding teammates, and they all huddled together in a circle.

“Everyone, this is our last match of the season, and it’s also my last match!”

“I am incredibly proud that we have made it this far, and I am proud of all your achievements!”

“Now, I want you to go out there without inhibitions, play to the best of your ability, and conquer our opponent!”

“I believe you have more than enough strength to do it!”

“Let’s go!”

Following Yang Cheng’s call, Modrić added a few words of his own, and then everyone roared “Let’s go!” in unison.

As the players dispersed, they all looked fired up and ready for battle.

Yang Cheng knew his team well.

If it were a team with talent but lacking experience, he wouldn’t have said this.

Conversely, if they had experience but were declining in ability, he wouldn’t have said it either.

The current Bayswater Chinese team had both ability and experience.

Crucially, the success they had achieved over the past few years had filled every single player with immense confidence.

Under these circumstances, Yang Cheng naturally had to apply some pressure to make them deliver their very best performance!

…

“This is San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League!”

“The defending champions from the Premier League, and four-time consecutive Champions League winners, Bayswater Chinese, are facing the most successful top-tier giant in the history of the competition, Real Madrid from La Liga.”

“This is a battle of super-giants!”

“Before the match, many media outlets were hyping this up, suggesting that this final will decide who is truly the greatest super-club in world football today!”

“Tonight’s head referee is Nicola Rizzoli from Italy!”

“He is also one of the best referees in world football right now.”

“The only one who can be mentioned in the same breath is England’s Mark Clattenburg.”

“Clattenburg just officiated the FA Cup final in England, where Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United two-nil.”

“Now let’s see if Yang Cheng’s team can achieve their goal under the whistle of Rizzoli.”

“The match kicks off.”

“We can see that Real Madrid wants to control possession from the start.”

“But Bayswater Chinese are pressing aggressively.”

“Zidane must be careful. An opening blitz has always been a trademark and a strength of Yang Cheng’s teams.”

“And we can see from the broadcast that Bayswater Chinese’s forward press is positioned very high up the pitch.”

“This must have come from Yang Cheng’s instructions.”

“He wants to win this match in one fell swoop. If they do, Bayswater Chinese will become the first team in the history of world football to achieve a season grand slam!”

“The Bayswater Chinese players clearly think so too.”

“Look at this interception in the attacking third.”

“It’s played to the left flank.”

“Marcelo overlaps, receives the pass from Toni Kroos, breaks into the left side of the penalty area, and pulls it back with a cut-back pass.”

“Walcott pulls the ball inside, cuts in, and takes a curling shot.”

Amidst the gasps of over seventy thousand fans in the San Siro stadium, the Little Tiger’s curling shot slid just past the post.

He himself was quite disappointed.

He knew it was off the mark the moment he struck it.

But the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands quickly chanted the Little Tiger’s name, applauding continuously, signaling him not to be discouraged and to keep going!

Bayswater Chinese soon seized another opportunity.

They again tried to attack down the left flank.

But Real Madrid’s defense on the right was well-organized.

Marcelo and Walcott couldn’t find a breakthrough in the final third and passed back to Toni Kroos.

Facing the incoming ball, the German midfielder turned with a drag-back, then immediately hit a cross-field switch with his right foot.

Toni Kroos was already a master of such passes.

Moreover, he knew for certain that someone would be waiting on the other side.

Sure enough, Piszczek surged forward, judged the ball’s trajectory, and controlled it with his chest.

Alex Sandro immediately closed in on Piszczek, but the Polish defender laid it off to Modrić with a square pass and continued his run forward.

Modrić, understanding perfectly, met the ball and played a first-time through ball with his right foot, precisely into Piszczek’s path.

But just as Piszczek was about to receive the ball, Ramos charged out of the penalty area and brought him down with a sliding challenge, taking both man and ball.

The ball went out for a throw-in.

The head referee blew his whistle, signaling a foul by Ramos and awarding a free kick on the right side of the attack.

The stadium erupted in thunderous cheers once again.

“Clap, clap, clap, well done, keep it up!!!”

Yang Cheng walked to the touchline, applauding forcefully, praising his team for their spell of attacking play right after kickoff.

For about four minutes, it was almost entirely Bayswater Chinese pinning Real Madrid back.

The reason Yang Cheng dared to push his defensive line so high was that he had calculated that Real Madrid’s counter-attack lacked sufficient speed.

And both of Bayswater Chinese’s centre-backs tonight, van Dijk and Thiago Silva, possessed excellent recovery pace.

This was, in essence, a calculated gamble!

Modrić stood over the ball.

All of Bayswater Chinese’s aerial threats pushed into the Real Madrid penalty area.

Almost everyone watched with bated breath.

Because set pieces had always been one of Bayswater Chinese’s deadliest offensive weapons.

And they had a prime weapon like van Dijk!

Following the referee’s whistle, Modrić took a deep breath, took a quick run-up, and delivered a curling ball straight into the middle of the six-yard box.

The penalty area was a chaotic scene, but at the crucial moment, van Dijk emerged, breaking through all the defenders to power a header at goal from close range.

This was the quality of the world’s number one centre-back!

But on Real Madrid’s goal line, De Gea made a flying dive to his side, tipping the ball away with one hand.

The box descended into a frantic scramble.

Thiago Silva spotted an opportunity, rushed in, and unleashed a furious shot.

However, the ball struck Varane and rebounded out of the penalty area, landing at the arc.

Just as the Real Madrid players were breathing a sigh of relief, they saw Toni Kroos making a late run, meeting the rolling ball with a perfectly placed shot.

The ball shot through a sea of bodies in the penalty area, heading for the bottom right corner of the goal.

But just as the ball was about to cross the line, De Gea made another diving save, pushing the ball behind for a corner.

The entire San Siro stadium gasped in astonishment once again!

This was followed by a roar of applause from the Real Madrid fans.

De Gea had produced two world-class saves at a critical moment.

“Truly a world-class goalkeeper!”

“Since the start of the match, Real Madrid has been on the back foot.”

“Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese seem relentless, playing with incredible aggression.”

…

As the initial phase of the match unfolded, Toni Kroos gradually realized that head coach Yang Cheng’s warning was correct.

This Real Madrid team was indeed very resilient and tenacious.

Thus, the German midfielder and Modrić, on the same wavelength, gestured to their teammates to drop back.

The defensive line retreated past the halfway line, back into their own half.

They even signaled to their teammates to ease off the forward press, hoping to lure Real Madrid out with the ball.

But what did Real Madrid do?

They didn’t take the bait!

This was completely unexpected for everyone.

Including Bayswater Chinese.

Wasn’t Zidane’s opening strategy for this match a bit too conservative?

The mighty Real Madrid, playing defend and counter-attack?

Could your defense even hold up?

Truth be told, Toni Kroos felt the urge to push forward again and just smash them.

But calmness and reason told him that wouldn’t work.

They had been attacking for over nine minutes, creating several dangerous moments, but no clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

Of course, De Gea had made several brilliant saves.

This wasn’t working!

Toni Kroos looked at Modrić, who had come to the same realization.

These Real Madrid guys weren’t falling for it!

They looked determined to stick with their defend and counter-attack strategy to the very end!

You think of something over there?

Modrić raised an eyebrow, and Toni Kroos understood.

Although the German usually appeared as cool and composed as a Nordic iceberg, in reality, he was full of subtle ingenuity.

After observing for a while, he quickly identified a problem.

The 4-2-3-1 formation was known for its balance, with clear divisions of labor between attack and defense.

But behind that balanced division often lay another implication.

It was prone to disconnection.

The clearer the division of labor, the easier it was for the lines to become disjointed.

Real Madrid was showing signs of this, especially on the flanks in midfield.

So, Toni Kroos, seeing his chance, signaled for Matić to drop back and for the two full-backs to push up.

This was a tactic Bayswater Chinese often employed.

It was similar to a three-at-the-back formation.

The benefit was that it freed up the full-backs to participate directly in the attack.

In the 11th minute, when Thiago Silva received the ball near the left touchline, Marcelo had already pushed past the halfway line.

Di María immediately closed down Thiago Silva, but Toni Kroos dropped back to offer support.

This was where Real Madrid’s problem arose.

They didn’t want to become disconnected either.

So, when their forwards pressed high, they had to constantly look over their shoulders to maintain a certain distance, to avoid being “lured” too far forward by the opposition’s defenders.

As a result, the intensity of their press was bound to be insufficient.

Bayswater Chinese’s defensive line possessed exceptional distribution ability.

Thiago Silva spotted an opportunity, playing a direct pass to the feet of Toni Kroos.

As Di María pressed, Toni Kroos stayed behind him, maintaining distance to open up a passing angle.

Thus, he was always receiving the ball in an unmarked area. After trapping it and turning, he immediately played a through ball.

Marcelo sprinted down the left touchline, chasing after Kroos’s pass.

But Real Madrid’s players also tracked back very quickly.

Outside the left corner of the penalty area, Marcelo passed the ball to Walcott.

The Little Tiger executed a feint before cutting inside, looking for an opportunity to shoot.

But Javi Martínez and Biglia tracked back very promptly, firmly protecting the area in front of the penalty box.

Walcott saw no opening and was forced to pass back to the second wave of support, Modrić.

At this moment, Modrić had two options.

He could go to the right, where Gareth Bale was positioned on the right edge of the penalty area and Piszczek was hugging the right touchline.

This was Real Madrid’s weaker defensive side.

Real Madrid’s defense was gradually shifting towards the center, clearly aware that their left flank was exposed.

But unexpectedly, Modrić chose to do the opposite, hitting a diagonal long pass that switched the play from the center back to the left flank.

Marcelo was waiting on the left side, just outside the penalty area.

When the ball arrived, he cushioned it perfectly with his foot, bringing it under complete control.

This attack by Bayswater Chinese had completely disrupted Real Madrid’s setup.

Carvajal immediately rushed out to challenge Marcelo again.

But he was too aggressive.

Marcelo, having controlled the ball, was waiting for him. He suddenly flicked the ball inside, shrugging off Carvajal.

He took another touch with his left foot to evade Javi Martínez, then sent a high cross with his right foot towards the left of the penalty spot inside the box.

There, at that very moment, Harry Kane was near the six-yard box, drawing the attention of Real Madrid’s centre-backs. Suddenly, Gareth Bale appeared in that spot, with his back to goal. He leaped into the air, twisting his body and meeting Marcelo’s cross with his left foot, executing a perfect overhead kick.

Even in that instant, everyone could hardly believe their eyes.

But the next moment, as the ball rocketed into the left side of Real Madrid’s goal, with a flying De Gea unable to reach it, the seventy thousand plus fans in the stadium and countless more watching on TV around the world couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

“GOAL!!!!”

“My goodness, an overhead kick!!”

“An overhead kick from Gareth Bale!”

“In the 12th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese are the first to break the deadlock against Real Madrid!”

“From a cross by Marcelo from the left, Gareth Bale has opened the scoring with a truly spectacular overhead kick!”

“It was like a bolt from the blue! Such a magical overhead kick came out of nowhere, truly unexpected!”

“We all know that Real Madrid’s current head coach, Zidane, once scored a celestial volley in the 2002 Champions League final.”

“But what we’ve just seen, Gareth Bale’s overhead kick, was certainly more difficult than Zidane’s heavenly strike.”

“One-nil!”

“Bayswater Chinese have finally taken the lead!”

…

In the world of football coaching, there is a saying.

No one understands a team’s tactics better than the players on the pitch.

The greatest advantage of having Toni Kroos and Modrić was that, as the dual core of the midfield, they could often spot problems in the opposition’s tactics immediately and begin adjusting their own.

Sometimes, they didn’t even need a reminder from head coach Yang Cheng; they knew what to do themselves.

Every head coach wishes to have players of this type.

Bayswater Chinese had two!

When Gareth Bale seized the opportunity to score that stunning overhead kick, Bayswater Chinese’s morale soared.

Toni Kroos and Modrić sensed their chance and began to quicken the tempo of the attack.

However, the team’s overall formation remained relatively deep, not pushing forward recklessly.

The problem of Real Madrid’s midfield being prone to disconnection had still not been effectively resolved.

Zidane, realizing the danger on the flanks, instructed Hazard and Di María to strengthen their marking on the two full-backs.

But this created a problem in the middle.

When Hazard and Di María were drawn wide to track the full-backs, Bayswater Chinese had a clear numerical advantage in the center.

The two centre-backs, Thiago Silva and van Dijk, plus Matić.

That was a full three players there; Džeko alone was no match for them.

Out of necessity, James Rodríguez also had to step up.

Two against three!

Toni Kroos and Modrić immediately dropped back as well.

This created a dilemma for Real Madrid’s double pivot.

Should they follow, or not?

If they pushed up, who would protect the defense?

If they didn’t, how could they stop the passing of the Bayswater Chinese players?

By the 17th minute, Javi Martínez and Biglia were facing just such a dilemma.

Toni Kroos dropped back to receive a pass from the defense.

After exchanging a glance, Real Madrid’s holding midfielders decided that Javi Martínez would follow him.

Biglia would be responsible for holding the position.

But just as Toni Kroos received the ball, before Javi Martínez could close him down, he immediately passed it to an unmarked Modrić.

Biglia reacted very quickly, immediately lunging towards Modrić.

But unfortunately for him, the Croatian still had enough time to look up, assess the situation, and adjust before making his pass.

It was all done in a fraction of a second.

By the time Biglia reached Modrić, the Croatian had already dispatched a low, driven through ball along the turf.

The ball shot forward like an arrow, skimming across the grass and slicing through Real Madrid’s defensive line at incredible speed.

At almost the same instant, the movement of the forward trident was also very clever.

Harry Kane chose to drop deeper as Real Madrid’s holding midfielders pushed up, thus always keeping himself in an unmarked space.

This way, Modrić could find him with a pass at any time.

Real Madrid’s defenders naturally followed Kane forward slightly to maintain their defensive distance.

But Gareth Bale and Walcott did the opposite, pushing high up the pitch, right to the front.

When Modrić played that through ball, Gareth Bale instantly burst through the gap between Ramos and Alex Sandro, running in behind the defense.

Ramos and Alex Sandro also reacted very quickly, turning to give chase.

By the time Gareth Bale received Modrić’s pass on the right side of the penalty area, both defenders had recovered their positions.

But the Welshman was a step ahead. He came to a sharp stop, cut inside with his left foot, and played a diagonal pass from behind Ramos towards the left corner of the six-yard box.

At almost the same moment, Walcott, like a flash of lightning, arrived at the spot and tapped the ball into Real Madrid’s goal with a simple push shot.

Two-nil!

“He’s scored again!!!!”

“17th minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese score another goal!”

“Following a series of passes from the back, Modrić’s precise through ball tore open the Real Madrid defense. Gareth Bale controlled the ball and assisted Walcott to score again!”

“Two-nil!”

“The situation is looking very dire for Real Madrid now!”

…

After conceding two goals, Real Madrid’s confidence was in complete disarray.

Bayswater Chinese, on the other hand, began to proceed steadily and surely, patiently waiting for opportunities.

The Real Madrid players, however, were growing anxious about the team’s current state.

Zidane, being new to coaching, didn’t immediately give a clear signal as to whether they should attack or defend.

In the 25th minute, when Real Madrid’s Ramos had the ball at the back, the team was pushing forward as a whole.

Upon seeing Real Madrid advance past the 30-meter area, Modrić and Toni Kroos no longer signaled for the team to retreat, but instead gave a subtle hint to Harry Kane.

He didn’t look back, just waved a hand to indicate he understood.

The English centre-forward’s attention was always focused on Ramos and Varane.

They were his direct opponents in this match.

As a genuine product of the Bayswater Chinese youth academy and a centre-forward, Harry Kane had received comprehensive training for the position since he was young.

He not only knew how to attack but also how to defend.

Harry Kane was not a player known for his physicality, but he was very good at running.

He was especially adept at seizing those fleeting tactical opportunities!

At Bayswater Chinese, a forward’s pressing was a mandatory course.

And since he started playing, Harry Kane, under the guidance of the coaching staff, had gradually developed his own pressing routine.

Just like at this very moment, he was focused entirely on Ramos.

If time were to freeze at this instant, everyone could see the ball at Ramos’s feet.

The Real Madrid centre-back had advanced past the 30-meter area, approaching the left side of the center circle.

The right centre-back, Varane, was on the right side of the center circle.

Left-back Alex Sandro was on the left side of the halfway line, ready to receive a pass.

Right-back Carvajal had already crossed the halfway line.

Carvajal was always very aggressive when attacking.

Both holding midfielders were on either side of the center circle, dropping back to receive the ball.

When Ramos had the ball, it seemed like he had plenty of passing options.

But in reality, Bayswater Chinese’s forward press had cut off all his passing lanes.

On the left, Alex Sandro was being tightly marked by Gareth Bale.

On the right, Walcott was sticking close to Carvajal.

Bayswater Chinese’s two wingers seemed to be tasked with marking Real Madrid’s full-backs.

And near the center circle, Toni Kroos and Modrić were simultaneously pushing forward to press Javi Martínez and Biglia.

When Ramos passed the ball to Biglia, Modrić immediately closed him down, preventing him from turning.

Almost simultaneously, Gareth Bale also sprinted towards the inside of Alex Sandro, blocking Biglia’s passing lane to the left flank.

If he didn’t want to get into a physical battle with Modrić, Biglia had to pass the ball quickly.

Almost at the exact moment Biglia made the pass, Harry Kane, who had been standing at the bottom of the center circle, suddenly angled his run towards Ramos.

Biglia had only one clear passing option: back to Ramos!

For Ramos, since Harry Kane was running from the center circle—from his right side—he couldn’t pass to Varane.

Gareth Bale was also pressing forward.

When Harry Kane suddenly lunged at him, Ramos’s first reaction was: danger!

His second reaction was: back pass!

Strictly speaking, Ramos’s response was not wrong.

But his mistake was that his opponent this time, Harry Kane, was not only extremely quick to react but had come prepared.

The moment Biglia passed the ball back, Harry Kane was already on the move.

His speed wasn’t blistering, but the distance was short.

The moment Ramos received the ball, Harry Kane was already in his face.

The biggest difference between them was that Ramos was facing away from his own goal. To pass back to the keeper, he needed to turn.

But Harry Kane was charging straight at him.

The Real Madrid captain didn’t dare to take a touch and immediately tried to turn and pass back.

But Harry Kane seized the moment Ramos turned, stuck out a foot, and poked the ball forward.

As the ball was poked away, Ramos’s passing motion kicked at empty air, and his body briefly lost balance.

And at that very moment, Harry Kane exploded forward, surging past Ramos to get to the ball first.

The English centre-forward chased down the ball and charged forward.

Breaking into the penalty area, Harry Kane faced goalkeeper De Gea and calmly fired a power shot, sending the ball into Real Madrid’s goal once again.

Three-nil!

After scoring, the English centre-forward turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the sideline and performing a knee slide in front of the Bayswater Chinese fans.

Less than half an hour played, and three goals conceded!

This was the gulf in class!

A very obvious, insurmountable gap!

It was like a boxing match between an adult and a child; they were not in the same weight class at all!

…

When head referee Rizzoli blew his whistle to confirm the goal, the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands were celebrating wildly.

Real Madrid Chairman Florentino Pérez sat beside FIFA President David Gill, UEFA President Čeferin, and others.

Also seated with them was Bayswater Chinese’s Adam Crozier.

And when Florentino saw the Real Madrid team he had placed so much hope in concede three goals in under thirty minutes, he couldn’t hide his profound disappointment.

Real Madrid was beaten!

And beaten utterly and completely!

Bayswater Chinese was simply too strong!

And to think he had felt before the match that Real Madrid had a chance.

In hindsight, Zidane had seen it more clearly, he just hadn’t said it outright.

“Real Madrid’s form doesn’t seem to be very good today. I heard there was some trouble at the hotel before the match,” David Gill said softly beside him.

The comment was more of an attempt to give Florentino an out.

Florentino nodded faintly and explained how fans had entered the players’ floor and disturbed their rest.

Did this incident have an impact?

Yes.

But not as severe as one might think.

That happened in the early morning, but the match was in the evening. What were they doing in all that time in between?

It was an unspoken truth; everyone understood the situation.

No one wanted to pull the rug out from under someone else; that would be too offensive.

“Bayswater Chinese is just too strong!” Florentino said this with a bitter smile.

But everyone else nodded in agreement.

From the looks of it, having conceded three goals, it would be virtually impossible for Real Madrid to make a comeback.

In the history of Champions League finals, there had only been one instance of a team overturning a three-goal deficit.

Yang Cheng was clearly aware of this, so he kept urging his team to press on.

In the 43rd minute of the first half, Toni Kroos delivered a diagonal pass over the top from outside the penalty area towards the right corner of the six-yard box.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed run, met the ball with his right foot, and unleashed a furious shot into the near post, past De Gea.

Four-nil!

At this point, the match was truly and utterly over!

A three-goal comeback had happened, but to come back from four… that would be a comeback of Ancelottian proportions!

Yang Cheng had always been a risk-averse person.

So, during halftime, he repeatedly warned his players.

After the second half began, in the 54th minute, Bayswater Chinese launched another attack.

After another series of passes in midfield, Harry Kane dropped to the edge of the arc to receive the ball, then turned and played a through ball.

Gareth Bale sprinted forward, latched onto Harry Kane’s pass, and sent a low shot with his left foot past De Gea and into the goal once again.

Five-nil!

Gareth Bale had completed his hat-trick!

In that instant, the entire San Siro stadium transformed into a sea of celebration!

Countless Bayswater Chinese fans who had traveled for the away game rushed out of their seats, roaring and celebrating at the top of their lungs.

Gareth Bale, having scored a hat-trick, emotionally charged off the pitch, sprinting wildly.

But this time he didn’t run to the sideline, nor did he make his heart-shaped gesture. Instead, he ran straight to the home team’s dugout and threw his arms around his celebrating head coach, Yang Cheng.

He was overwhelmed with emotion!

The Bayswater Chinese players followed one after another, rushing out.

Even the players from the bench ran over, all of them hugging their teammates and Yang Cheng tightly.

“We are witnessing a very moving scene here on the touchline.”

“With victory all but secured, the Bayswater Chinese players are tightly embracing their head coach, Yang Cheng.”

“Today is the final match of Yang Cheng’s coaching career.”

“After this match, he will leave the Bayswater Chinese dugout and officially step behind the scenes.”

“But his players are clearly very reluctant to see him go.”

“Over the past decade or so, Yang Cheng has led Bayswater Chinese in a powerful rise through European football.”

“Today, the team he has built is the strongest top-tier giant in European football, having dismantled Real Madrid in this Champions League final.”

“But now, he is about to retire!”

“This is not just a loss for Bayswater Chinese, but a loss for all football fans around the world!”

“But we all respect Yang Cheng’s decision!”

…

Yang Cheng was a Virgo with perfectionist tendencies.

He not only loathed risk but always strove for flawlessness.

So, after embracing his players, he quickly calmed down and reminded them all to remain rational, especially to be wary of Real Madrid’s attacks.

Under no circumstances should they get carried away and give the opponent an opportunity.

And this was where Toni Kroos’s value shone through.

The German had always been extremely disciplined.

His calmness bordered on ruthlessness.

But at this moment, he helped the team stabilize its rhythm perfectly.

The players gradually regained their tempo and composure, and Bayswater Chinese once again took control of the match.

After conceding five goals, Real Madrid had essentially lost all fighting spirit.

The final thirty-plus minutes of the match felt more like a formality.

Yang Cheng brought on Sterling, De Bruyne, and Salah.

This was not a baseless move.

He wanted to show Flick, and everyone else, that these three players were the ones he rated most highly—the gems he was leaving for Bayswater Chinese!

The moment head referee Rizzoli blew the final whistle, the Bayswater Chinese fans in the stands could no longer contain themselves and excitedly rushed from their seats.

Even the Real Madrid fans in the adjacent stands did the same.

They all rose from their seats, roaring Yang Cheng’s name at the top of their lungs.

After tonight, the name Yang Cheng would no longer be on the team sheet!

From this day forward, they would no longer see his figure on the touchline.

As for the Bayswater Chinese players, they all charged onto the pitch and swarmed towards Yang Cheng.

Every single one of them had been promoted and nurtured by him.

Even players like Salah and van Dijk had been sent to Nice to gain experience under his arrangement.

Therefore, Yang Cheng was their benefactor.

And they all held him in the deepest respect.

As the echo of Rizzoli’s whistle still seemed to linger in the air above San Siro, these players—who had just made history by achieving the first-ever season Grand Slam and forging a legend—excitedly tossed Yang Cheng into the air.

[End of Book]

UNTITLED

Chapter 1: This is No Way to Treat a Transmigrator!

Chapter 2: Chelsea Kicking a Man While He’s Down

Chapter 3: The Rougher the Seas, the Pricier the Fish

Chapter 4: Bold Ventures Build Grand Houses!
Chapter 5: I’ll Just Buy the Cheapest One!
Chapter 6: Come to London With Me!
Chapter 7: Poaching
Chapter 8: The Special Talent Clause
Chapter 9: A Management Prodigy
Chapter 10: The Legend Makers

Chapter 11: The Man Who Piqued Yang Cheng’s Interest

Chapter 12: Our Coach is a Genius!
Chapter 13: He’s a bit like Ferguson!
Chapter 14: So He’s the Head Coach After All!
Chapter 15: Well Done, Modrić!
Chapter 16: Defeating Ferguson
Chapter 17: Claiming First Place
Chapter 18: The Showdown
Chapter 19: Alan Shearer’s Successor
Chapter 20: Becoming a Legend
Chapter 21: The Perfect Pawn

Chapter 22: Unearthing a Gem in the Conference Premier

Chapter 23: A Debut and a Big Move!
Chapter 24: Chelsea Can’t Make It Work
Chapter 25: Simply Incredible!
Chapter 26: The Great Upset
Chapter 27: The Genius Coach

Chapter 28: I’m Finally Experiencing Abramovich’s Happiness!

Chapter 29: I’m No Tycoon
Chapter 30: Well Done, Yang Cheng!
Chapter 31: Borrowing a Hen to Lay Eggs
Chapter 32: First Title
Chapter 33: Promotion
Chapter 34: You’ll Have to Pay More!
Chapter 35: The Miracle Doctor Arrives
Chapter 36: Wenger: Was I Just Used?

Chapter 37: The Four Heavenly Kings of Darkness

Chapter 38: A World-Class Midfielder
Chapter 39: The Data Guru
Chapter 40: The Goal: The Premier League
Chapter 41: Boss, you don’t mean me, do you?
Chapter 42: A Dream Start
Chapter 43: We Were Upset!
Chapter 44: That Cross Was Too Accurate!
Chapter 45: I Have a Huge Gold Mine
Chapter 46: Can You Stand This?
Chapter 47: Completely Conquer Them!
Chapter 48: A Crushing Defeat

Chapter 49: No More Pretenses, We’re Having a Showdown!

Chapter 50: Yang Cheng’s Golden Finger

Chapter 51: He’s Just Too Fast!

Chapter 52: Give It Up, You’re Surrounded by Premier League Teams!

Chapter 53: I Need Your Help, Łukasz!
Chapter 54: The Roaring Stadium
Chapter 55: Wenger: They’re All Exposed!
Chapter 56: Soaring Income
Chapter 57: Ferguson is Furious!
Chapter 58: Ribéry is Incredibly Good!
Chapter 59: Utter Humiliation
Chapter 60: A Cruel Twist of the Knife
Chapter 61: Young and Limitless

Chapter 62: Comeback Against Manchester United

Chapter 63: A Massive Upset
Chapter 64: One Fish, Eaten Many Ways
Chapter 65: The Chosen One
Chapter 66: A Firm Price, a Big Favor
Chapter 67: Watch out for Robben!
Chapter 68: Taming the Beast
Chapter 69: Mourinho, You’re Still Too Green!
Chapter 70: A Worldie!
Chapter 71: A Historic First Title
Chapter 72: The Price-Hiking Pawn
Chapter 73: Premier League, Here I Come!
Chapter 74: What a Bargain!
Chapter 75: A Budget Version of Ibrahimović
Chapter 76: It’s All the Tickets’ Fault

Chapter 77: Sell, Sell, Sell and Buy, Buy, Buy

Chapter 78: A Note Before Going Premium

Chapter 79: Devil’s Wings! I Want to Plant Our Red Flags All Over London!

Chapter 80: Yang Cheng, Name Your Price! My Premier League Starts with Chelsea in the Season Opener!

Chapter 81: He must be using magic, right? Mourinho: I’ve been outplayed!

Chapter 82: They’ve Really Made It! This Frenchman Is Too Strong!

Chapter 83: Leading the Premier League! A Pie from the Sky!

Chapter 84: One Goal to Fame! Ribéry Unleashed!

Chapter 85: Last-minute winner! Poaching from Barça

Chapter 86: I’m Taking the Blame for This! Wenger, Have You No Shame!

Chapter 87: A Flash of Genius! Yang Cheng: Shameless!

Chapter 88: Conquering Stamford Bridge! Picking Up a Hat-trick

Chapter 89: Charging Towards Every Title! Which of Ribéry’s Legs Do You Want to Buy?

Chapter 90: Wenger’s Crazy Decision! Arsenal Are Rolling in It!

Chapter 91: Signings and Hijackings! We’re Moving into Wembley Stadium!

Chapter 92: C. Ronaldo Has Transformed! Liverpool are mine for the taking tonight!

Chapter 93: Defending the League Cup! The Greatest Newly Promoted Team in History

Chapter 94: A Master of Making Money! From Victory to Victory

Chapter 95: A Long Run! The Kid’s Finally Got It!

Chapter 96: It’s Gone Viral! Final League Standings

Chapter 97: UEFA Cup Final! I Want to Go to a Big Club!

Chapter 98: Record Transfer Signing! A New Beginning! European Giants, Are You Ready?

Chapter 99: The Battle for a Genius! Snatching Another World’s Best

Chapter 100: A Record-Breaking Price! Let’s Go Head-to-Head with Real Madrid!

Chapter 101: Mourinho’s Three-Year Promise! England’s Talent Treasure Trove

Chapter 102: Manager of the Season! At This Moment, His Ball Control Was Like Henry’s!

Chapter 103: A Perfect Start! The Duel of Geniuses

Chapter 104: England’s Twin Stars! I will lead them to sweep across Europe!

Chapter 105: King of Crosses! The Premier League’s Fastest Goal

Chapter 106: Conquering the Bernabéu! Only Bayswater Chinese Could Do It!

Chapter 107: I’m Going for the Title! Go on, Wenger, I Believe in You!

Chapter 108: Invincible Kings! This Is What a True Title Contender Looks Like!

Chapter 109: Elimination! Injury! A Real Man! Yang Cheng, I’m Waiting for You at Old Trafford!

Chapter 110: A Future England Star! Take Down Chelsea and Win the West London Derby!

Chapter 111: A Four-Goal Haul! Sack Him, Mourinho Out!

Chapter 112: King of Finals! First Slay the Blues, Then Destroy the Red Devils!

Chapter 113: The Last-Gasp Goal! Ferguson: I Can’t Take It, My Blood Pressure Is Rising Again!

Chapter 114: A Frenzied Massacre! Jonathan, You’ve Been Getting a Little Out of Line Lately!

Chapter 115: A Stunning Comeback! The Fierce Title Race

Chapter 116: The Unstoppable Bayswater Chinese! C. Ronaldo: I’m the Best in the World!

Chapter 117: Villains Always Die From Talking Too Much! Bayswater Chinese Is Finished!

Chapter 118: A Great Legend! Who Can Stop the March to the Treble?

Chapter 119: We Are the Champions! Excuse Me, Can You Receive the Trophy Without a Coaching License?

Chapter 120: Happy Events One After Another! A Task Not Even a Transmigrator Can Handle!

Chapter 121: Transfer Battle! Two Young Prodigies, Secured!

Chapter 122: We Sold Him Too Cheaply! Bring It On, We’re Going for the Title!

Chapter 123: This is What a Master Looks Like! Ferguson Always Gets This Kind of Advantage!

Chapter 124: Genius Shines in the Community Shield! Mourinho Still Couldn’t Last 3 Years!

Chapter 125: Unstoppable C. Ronaldo! A Good Centre-Forward Is Worth Two!

Chapter 126: That Bolt of Lightning in the Wembley Night Sky! Guys, Are You Padding Your Stats?

Chapter 127: Premier League Speed! They’re So Rough! Are We Talking About Money?

Chapter 128: Top of the League Table! Score, Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 129: Another Four-Goal Haul! Yang Cheng: How Can You Call It a Scam? It’s Football Business?

Chapter 130: A Thrashing! A Feast of Goals! Real Madrid, How Will You Respond?

Chapter 131: King of London! Long-Distance Sprint! Yang Cheng: I Want to Buy Arsenal!

Chapter 132: A Wonder Goal! Ender of Unbeaten Streaks! Not All Players Born in ’88 Are Trustworthy!

Chapter 133: Over Budget! Massive Bonuses! A Goal Fest! The Year-end Summary!

Chapter 134: The Cornerstone of a Dynasty! A Bloody Battle with Manchester United

Chapter 135: The Tsar is Mighty! Ferguson: The Rules of the Premier League Have Changed!

Chapter 136: Ancelotti: Everything’s Under Control! We’re Taking Down the Defending Champions!

Chapter 137: The Heaviest Fine in History! I Really Don’t Want to Go to Camp Nou!

Chapter 138: The Aura of a Champion! God, Why Aren’t We That Lucky?

Chapter 139: The Tycoon Arrives! We’re Going for the Treble!

Chapter 140: A Plea for Monthly Tickets & An Update for Next Month

Chapter 140: The Terrifying C. Ronaldo! The Premier League’s Era Has Arrived!

Chapter 141: Advancing to the Final! Yang Cheng’s Eye for Talent is Simply Vicious!

Chapter 142: The Strongest in History! Has Anyone Ever Seen Such a Legend?

Chapter 143: Winning the Midfield Battle! To Hell with Your Treble, We Want the Champions League Too!

Chapter 144: King of Finals! Yang, You Actually Did It!

Chapter 145: We Are the Champions! A New Sky-High Price in the Summer Transfer Market

Chapter 146: History’s First Sky-High Price! Wenger: Yang Cheng, Go Rob a Bank!

Chapter 147: A Frantic Transfer Window! Real Madrid Must Buy This Player!

Chapter 148: The New Season’s Goal! The Man Who Covers 30% of the Earth

Chapter 149: The High-Stakes Game to the Top! The Premier League is Too Terrifying!

Chapter 150: A Dream Start! Player of the Season! Poaching from Manchester City

Chapter 151: Data is King! Establishing Dominance Against Atlético Madrid!

Chapter 152: A Tide of Offense! A Monumental Challenge! At the Meazza, I Will Make Them Show Their True Colors!

Chapter 153: Decisive Battle at the Meazza! Bayswater Chinese’s Truest Standard-Bearer!

Chapter 154: Wholesaling English Prodigies! Who Can Stop the Bayswater Chinese Now?

Chapter 155: The Leader of a New Era! The Strangest Scene in Premier League History

Chapter 156: Has This Kid Finally Had a Breakthrough? A True Miracle at Wembley!

Chapter 157: World Champions! Half-season Champions! Thrashing Mourinho

Chapter 158: An Angel Descends on Stamford Bridge! The Trailblazer

Chapter 159: Overhead Kick! A New Premier League Record! He’s the Most Perfect Winger in My Eyes!

Chapter 160: The Premier League’s Darkest Hour! Ferguson: It’s All Your Fault, the Bayswater Chinese Came From Behind!

Chapter 161: An End-to-End Battle at Old Trafford! Thank you, Sir, you’re a good man!

Chapter 162: The Bernabéu Showcase! I’m Going to Give Florentino a Generous Gift!

Chapter 163: The Greater the Progress, the More Crushing the Defeat! The Title Belongs to Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 164: A Genius Like Messi! Charging Towards the Treble!

Chapter 165: The Opening Decides the Match! Poach Barça’s Core, but We at Manchester United Refuse to Overpay!

Chapter 166: A Complete Mismatch! Overtaking on a Corner! A Despairing Ashley Cole

Chapter 167: The Siege on Barça! The Best Centre-Forward in World Football!

Chapter 168: Advancing to the Final! The Aggressive, Price-Hiking United!

Chapter 169: A Ticket to Rome! Tonight, He Was the Best in History!

Chapter 170: Another Premier League Title! Barça, Do You Remember that 4-0 in Monaco?

Chapter 171: Specialist in Buying at Rock Bottom! If You Like Anyone From Bayswater Chinese, I’ll Poach Them!

Chapter 172: The Double! A Hat-trick! A record sealed for over half a century has been broken!

Chapter 173: This is a great match! Yang Cheng: We’re still playing too politely!

Chapter 174: The Unprecedented Sextuple! The Most Exciting Champions League Final in History!

Chapter 175: Revenue Soars! The Aura of a Top Club! Three Signings! A Club Record Fee!

Chapter 176: Sky-High Prices! Sky-High Prices Everywhere! These Giants are Filthy Rich!

Chapter 177: England’s Future Superstar! The Transfer Market is in Chaos, What will Mourinho Do?

Chapter 178: The “Broken Leg” Incident! Bayswater Chinese’s Evolution and Breakthrough!

Chapter 179: Champions! Goal Drought! It’s All That Incompetent Mourinho’s Fault!

Chapter 180: Consecutive Routs! The Sudden Rise of Drogba’s Successor

Chapter 181: Reassurance! A Double Award Win! Godfather Platini, Help Us, We’re Really Struggling!

Chapter 182: A Hellish Start! Wembley’s New Darling! The Man Who Bakes a Bigger Cake

Chapter 183: A Run of Explosive Form! The Premier League Goes Wild! Who Said Middle Eastern Tycoons Are All Money and No Brains?

Chapter 184: King of the Air! In This Moment, He Was Possessed by the Spirit of the Beast, Drogba!

Chapter 185: Penalty! Wonder Goal! A Vengeful Real Madrid! That Bolt of Red Lightning at the Bernabéu

Chapter 186: The Twin Stars Shine at the Bernabéu! Zidane: Looks Like It’s Going to Be a Draw!

Chapter 187: Bale Time! Premier League Pandemonium! This is the Power of the Youth Academy!

Chapter 188: The Rules of European Football! You Don’t Deserve to Wear the Bayswater Chinese Jersey!

Chapter 189: Management Genius! Middle East Gold Rush! Have You Ever Seen a Premier League Like This?

Chapter 190: Completely Crushing Chelsea! Ferguson’s Joy, I’ve Finally Experienced It!

Chapter 191: I Want to Become a Giant! The Bayswater Chinese Are Overturning English Football!

Chapter 192: Clear Signs of Decline! A Gruelling Schedule! To Poach from Bayswater Chinese, They’ll Have to Pay More!

Chapter 193: Slaying the Red Devils in a Blizzard! A Tiger Doesn’t Show Its Might, and You Really Think I’m Hello Kitty?

Chapter 194: Crossing the Line! Cornered! You Tell Me, What Bank Is More Profitable Than Me?

Chapter 195: Chelsea Loses Their Composure! Where is Bayswater Chinese’s Niche?

Chapter 196: A Four-Goal Haul! The Final Tactical Puzzle Piece! The First Trophy of 2010

Chapter 197: He Actually Scored? I’m Innocent, Godfather Platini!

Chapter 198: A Super Soldier is Born! Wenger: I’m Taking This Season’s Premier League Title!

Chapter 199: Topping the League Table! A Magical Premier League, a Crazy Relegation Battle!

Chapter 200: Double Champion! When It Comes to Offense, Bayswater Chinese Is the Best in the World!

Chapter 201: Learning from Arsenal’s Playbook! The Mad Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 202: Marquee Signing! Bayern’s Limit! Yang Cheng, Where Does Your Confidence Come From?

Chapter 203: A Wish Fulfilled! Further Expanding the Football Empire’s Map

Chapter 204: Signings! A Manager! What a Profitable Venture!

Chapter 205: Endless Surprises! A Global Gold Rush! Yang, We’ve Absolutely Exploded!

Chapter 206: Community Shield Secured! The Premier League’s Debt Reduction Initiative! Yang Cheng: The Bayern Executives Are Good People!

Chapter 207: A Winning Start! A True Genius! Great, We’re Going to Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 208: A Five-Goal Haul! A Feast of Goals! The True King of the Bayswater Chinese Youth Academy!

Chapter 209: Incredible! A Shot Like That Went In! This is the Power of the World’s Best Goalkeeper!

Chapter 210: Seven Consecutive Wins! Manchester United in Crisis! The Clash of Two Titans!

Chapter 211: A Sky-High Sponsorship! The Rise of Nice! The Shock from the Chinese Consortium!

Chapter 212: The Soul and Core for the Next Decade! Wenger, Do You Still Want a Title?

Chapter 213: Record-Breaking! Čech’s Day of Disaster! The War Between Two Arch-rival Clubs!

Chapter 214: A Lone Rider! Centennial Humiliation! A Massacre in the Name of Football!

Chapter 215: A Big Surprise! Success on Two Fronts! We Need a Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 216: The Gruelling Christmas Schedule! Wenger’s Achilles’ Heel! Ferguson, Stab Me If You Dare!

Chapter 217: Best Signing! The One Hundred and Sixty Million Pound Sterling Talent! I, Ferguson, Never Say Die!

Chapter 218: A Wonder Goal! The Winter Marquee Signing! A Goal-Fest at Wembley Stadium!

Chapter 219: The Greatest Comeback in Premier League History! Gareth Bale Takes Flight at the Bernabéu

Chapter 220: Lightning Attack! Defending the League Cup! Yang Cheng: I Really Wanted to Console You, José!

Chapter 221: Breaking the Mold! The Football Economic War! An Unprecedented Quadruple?

Chapter 222: Into the Final! Wenger Has Changed! Tonight, I Believe You Can Create a Miracle!

Chapter 223: The Treble! Bayswater Chinese Had a Great Season!

Chapter 224: Surpassing Real Madrid! The Centre-Back Crisis Returns! A Double After Half a Century!

Chapter 225: Sky-High Transfers! Another Bayswater Chinese! The Middle Eastern Consortiums Are Just Too Domineering

Chapter 226: New Marquee Signing! The Transfer Market’s Final Frenzy! Making Money off the Americans is Just Too Easy!

Chapter 227: Two Records Broken! A Crazy Speedway! Let’s Conquer the Premier League Together!

Chapter 228: Sponsorship! IPO! A Winning Start! I’m Coming to the Premier League to Challenge the Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 229: Hit the Jackpot! We Held On! A Challenging New Season

Chapter 230: A Massacre! Five Straight Wins! I Came to the Premier League to Make Money, Not to Be a Sucker!

Chapter 231: Battle of the Captains! A Last-Second Winner! Suárez: Victory Beckons!

Chapter 232: The Bale Zone! An Evil God Is Afoot! The Premier League’s New Standard-Bearer! A Great Achievement in Sports History!

Chapter 233: The Record-Breaking Machine! Chelsea is Ailing! Real Madrid, Let Me Knock You Out Again!

Chapter 234: The Stamford Bridge Massacre! A Double Hat-trick! This Is the West London Derby!

Chapter 235: Chelsea Implodes! The Inescapable Transitional Pain! The First Dynasty in English Football History!

Chapter 236: Off with a Bang! The Best Gift! The Cornerstone of a Top Powerhouse!

Chapter 237: Technology is the Primary Productive Force! A Winter International Champions Cup! Ferguson, What Do You Say?

Chapter 238: Such a Money Pit! Expansion! Delaying Tactics! The Greatest Defense in History

Chapter 239: A Stroke of Genius! A Goalkeeping Prodigy! A Yang Cheng Product is a Guaranteed Gem!

Chapter 240: Another Record! A Last-Second Equalizer! Walker the Barbarian! A Tribute for the New Stadium!

Chapter 241: A Comeback! The First League Defeat! The Maverick New Powerhouse! Fighting for the Treble!

Chapter 242: Showdown in Munich! Heynckes’ Unsolvable Puzzle! We Are the Strongest Team!

Chapter 243: A Worldie! The Super Brain! The Premier League’s El Clásico!

Chapter 244: All-Out Confrontation! The Most Valuable Treble in History! Leaving the Pressure to Manchester City!

Chapter 245: Don’t Cry, Manchester City! The Greatest Record in History! I Saw the Shadow of Messi in Him

Chapter 246: The Champions League Semi-Final Curse! Shut Up, José! C. Ronaldo’s Best Partner!

Chapter 247: The Clever Giroud! The Complicated Marcelo! One Step Closer to the Grand Treble

Chapter 248: Dominating the Premier League! Player of the Season! We should sign him at all costs!

Chapter 249: Clinching the Title Early! Barça, Your Benefactor is Here! Please, Fight for Chelsea!

Chapter 250: The Perfect Partnership! Defending the FA Cup! That Soulful Outside-of-the-Boot Pass

Chapter 251: Four Consecutive Titles! A Debut! Record-Breaking Streak! The Strongest Attacking Combination in Premier League History!

Chapter 252: Winning with Possession! I Want to Win the Champions League Standing Tall! Recreating the Glory of the Treble!

Chapter 253: An Epic Offensive Battle! The Kid’s a Genius! Tonight, We’re Witnessing History!

Chapter 254: A God-sent Player! A New Dynasty! The Art of Defending! The Great Treble Winners!

Chapter 255: Future Blueprint! A Juggernaut’s Moat! Bayswater Chinese Surrounded by Wolves!

Chapter 256: Sky-High Broadcast Rights! Fighting Real Madrid for a Player! You Can’t Afford One of Lewandowski’s Legs!

Chapter 257: A Super Sky-High Price! Yang Cheng Wins! The Superstar Exodus! Poaching Yang Cheng’s Players Feels So Good!

Chapter 258: Another Record-Breaking Signing! The Craziest Transfer in History! Real Madrid Makes an Offer!

Chapter 259: A Genius Arrives! Unlocking a New Premier League Model! Who Says European Football Isn’t Profitable?

Chapter 260: Astonishing Record! The New Stadium’s Debut! Yang Cheng, If You Mess This Up, You’re Fired!

Chapter 261: Platini’s Olive Branch! Yang Cheng: I’d Like to be Low-Key, but My Strength Won’t Allow It!

Chapter 262: 5 Goals in 2 Matches! On Fire in the Premier League! Yang Cheng: You Guys Really Know Your Journalism!

Chapter 263: The Bale-De Bruyne Connection! That Sublime Outside-of-the-Boot Pass! A Slap in UEFA’s Face!

Chapter 264: Comeback! Complete Victory! Times Have Changed, Godfather! Klopp’s Inescapable Net

Chapter 265: The Explosive Duo! The Premier League’s Most Efficient Man! The Value of a Yang Cheng Product is Rising!

Chapter 266: A Bid to Poach Messi! The Price of a Red Card! Ferguson: We Vow to Win the Premier League Title This Season

Chapter 267: Back-to-Back Hat-tricks! Ferguson’s Strangling Formation! Who Stole My Hat-trick!

Chapter 268: Worldie! A Four-Assist Haul! Yang Cheng: I Haven’t Even Played My Hand, and You’ve Already Lost?

Chapter 269: World Champions! Return to the Premier League! In the World of Football, I Am the Rule!

Chapter 270: An End-to-End Game! Europe’s Number One Youth Academy! Crazy Manchester City! Walcott’s One-Man Show

Chapter 271: A Huge Comeback! Super Bale! Europe’s Finest! The Most Competitive Premier League in History!

Chapter 272: A Crazy Match! Mad Transfers! The Title Race! He Finally Has His Breakthrough!

Chapter 273: Record-Breaking Spree! A Legendary Performance! The Two Aces’ Goal-Scoring Game!

Chapter 274: Where Do the Wonderkids Come From? The Battle for the Summit! Ferguson’s Divine Assist! The Premier League Landscape is Changing!

Chapter 275: Saving the Premier League! Mourinho Out of Control! A Massacre in the Champions League Quarter-finals!

Chapter 276: Super Striker! Chasing Messi! You Want to Hire Me to Coach Bayswater Chinese?

Chapter 277: Back to the Final! Vindicating the Premier League with Strength! A Hat-trick at Camp Nou!

Chapter 278: Five Consecutive Premier League Titles! Barça’s Traditional Antics! Guardiola Has Really Arrived!

Chapter 279: The World’s Number One! The Germans Have Lost Their Composure! When It Comes to Playing Bayern, We’re the Experts!

Chapter 280: The Traitor’s Worldie! Yang Cheng’s Three-Pronged Attack! Anyone But Him!

Chapter 281: Defending the Champions League! A Solo Run! The Cruyff Turn! The Model Student of European Football!

Chapter 282: Huge Profits! A New Record High! I’m Here to Spend! Serie A Satellite Club, Activated!

Chapter 283: Faith Collapses! A Talent Finds His Patron! He Will Make All of Serie A Tremble!

Chapter 284: Soap Opera! Let’s Go to the Premier League! A Spending Spree, Burning Money for a Bright Future!

Chapter 285: Hiking Up the Price! Go Buy C. Ronaldo From Real Madrid! Did Barça Win or Lose in the End?

Chapter 286: The Battle for Top Star! A String of Upsets! We Scored Against Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 287: First Win of the Season! The Unstoppable Messi! The Premier League’s Biggest Trash Talker! Yang Cheng: Let Me Play!

Chapter 288: Three Straight Wins! The Group of Death! Chelsea’s Predicament! Remember, You Are Harry Kane

Chapter 289: The Siege of Bayswater! Yang Cheng’s Clapback! The Special One: We Will Absolutely Not Play Defensively!

Chapter 290: The Strongest Centre-Forward! A Divine Soldier Descends! An Attacking Defender! A Star-Studded New Era for the Premier League!

Chapter 291: I’m the Ace! Buffon’s Heroics! Defending a Ten-Year Record! Wenger’s Victory!

Chapter 292: Pep Guardiola Loses His Composure! Train Him to Death for Me! That Stings, Yang Cheng!

Chapter 293: The Unbeaten Myth! The Madman’s Ascension! A Looming Defeat! The Flying Dutchman!

Chapter 294: Reactivating the Nuclear Weapon! Invincible Army! Youth Academy Sanctuary! Bayswater Chinese’s Comeuppance!

Chapter 295: Sprint, Bale! New Premier League Leader! The Biggest Gain from the Club World Cup!

Chapter 296: Chain Reaction in the Transfer Market! Frenzied Contract Renewals! The Heavy-Duty Truck That Can Score!

Chapter 297: A Transfer Love Triangle! Yang Cheng, Why Don’t You Just Fly to the Heavens? An Astronomical Asking Price, With a Landing Fee!

Chapter 298: The Ceremony Trio, Assembled! The Premier League’s Clairefontaine! Yang Cheng’s Retaliation!

Chapter 299: The Fourth Place Fiend! Formation Change, Chelsea! Ancelotti: Yang Cheng, Do You Even Hear Yourself?

Chapter 300: A Farce! Don’t Be Afraid, José, This is Just the Beginning! Fake News from La Liga!

Chapter 301: God of Speed! Big Giroud’s Moment in the Spotlight! Battle with Manchester United, Fat Tiger’s First Roar!

Chapter 302: Invincible Bale! Yang Cheng’s Psychological Warfare! Ferguson’s True Love! Conquering the Etihad!

Chapter 303: The Dominance of the Premier League King! Marching Towards a Three-Peat! A Blistering Goal Run at the Bernabéu!

Chapter 304: The Top Superstar! A Goal Fest! Reclaiming the Ballon d’Or! Back-to-Back Braces!

Chapter 305: A Bountiful Harvest! Premier League Turmoil! Yang Cheng’s Successor! The Deciding Factor in the Champions League Final!

Chapter 306: Blitz! The Game is Decided!

Chapter 307: Three Consecutive Champions League Titles! The Greatest Dynasty in History! The Uninvited Guests at the Door!

Chapter 308: A Shocking Secret! Value-for-Money Signings! The Best Right Wing-Back of the Future!

Chapter 309: The Second Zidane! Real Madrid’s “Royal Selection”! The Hottest Star of the World Cup!

Chapter 310: Breaking a Hundred Million Again! Mad Manchester United! The Super Selling Club! Manchester City is Reaching for the Sky!

Chapter 311: Fleecing Real Madrid, Poaching from Barça! A Total Meltdown! Yang Cheng, You’ve Got Some Nerve!

Chapter 312: The Future World’s Best Holding Midfielder! Blessed by Messi! A First in World Football!

Chapter 313: A Great Revolution! The Moat of the Top Giants! The Successor Has Arrived! A New Journey!

Chapter 314: The Premier League Overlord! He Created a Miracle in Serie A! A Flash of Brilliance from the Young Genius!

Chapter 315: A New Record High! A Wish Granted! Yang Cheng’s Fearsome Team Is Back!

Chapter 316: A £200 Million Shopping Spree! The Premier League Spectacle That Shocked the World! The Gods Finally Bleed!

Chapter 317: Irresistible Momentum! Investing in the Bundesliga! Building an Ecosystem! I’m Striking Gold in Brazil!

Chapter 318: For the Ballon d’Or! Who’s Stronger, Me or Messi? A Soul-Stirring Revolution!

Chapter 319: A Divine Strike! An Unprecedented Football Empire! Cradle of Stars! A Historic Vote!

Chapter 320: Yang Cheng’s Counterattack! The Platini Upset! The Ballon d’Or Final Three! A Football Earthquake!

Chapter 321: King of Finals! Club World Cup Three-peat! Tell me, do you want to be FIFA President?

Chapter 322: Super Kane! Comeback Against the Gunners! Yang Cheng Loses His Composure! Platini, Have You No Shame?

Chapter 323: The First in History! The Ballon d’Or Winner is Born! Bayswater Chinese Are Finally Tired!

Chapter 324: Scouting for Geniuses! European Football’s Current Meta! The Price of Player Capitalization!

Chapter 325: Breaking Out! A Sky-High Auction! Two Hat-tricks in a Single Match! Have the Tides Turned in the Premier League?

Chapter 326: A Crazy, Sky-High Price! The Secret to Creating Superstars! Gutting the Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 327: Europe’s Dribbling King! He’s a Giant! Have You Ever Seen Such a Sight?

Chapter 328: The World is in Chaos! Platini Has Surrendered! Once Yang Cheng Arrives, We’ll Be Saved!

Chapter 329: Storming Bayswater! The Three Giants of La Liga vs. Yang Cheng! This is the Power of a World-Class Midfielder!

Chapter 330: Aerial Master! Overtaking on the Sideline! Setting up the Cannons to Bombard Barça! They’re Just Too Brutal!

Chapter 331: The Passing King! Champions League Dark Horse! European Stepping Stone! Yang, Let’s Have an All-Out Attack!

Chapter 332: The Guardian’s Last-Minute Winner! A Tsunami at Prudential Stadium! Ancelotti: I Signed a Mole!

Chapter 333: Into the Final! A Brilliant Move! The Perfect Centre-Forward! My Strength Won’t Let You Keep Your Dignity!

Chapter 334: Platini Loses His Cool! There’s a Mole in UEFA! Yang Cheng: I’ve Had My Fill of This Drama!

Chapter 335: Football is Dead! Totally Exposed! The Key to the Mystery! Come, Mutual Destruction!

Chapter 336: Declaration of War! Football Isn’t Dead! Yang Cheng’s Ascension! The Judgment of Fans Worldwide!

Chapter 337: We Won! Four Consecutive Champions League Titles! The War of Superstars! Let Platini Give Me the Award!

Chapter 338: The King of World Football! Troublemakers, All of Them! Get on Your Knees and Beg, Yang Cheng!

Chapter 339: A Shocking Upheaval! The Anti-corruption Vanguard! Blatter Has Won! Resign with Dignity!

Chapter 340: The Biggest Beneficiary! Unprecedented Reforms! If They Won’t Go Gracefully, Force Them To!

Chapter 341: Super Selling Club! Monopolizing Power! The World-Shocking Three-Way Transfer! Let’s Surrender!

Chapter 342: Pogba the Second! Equivalent Retaliation! Recruiting Drive! The Future Leader of World Football!

Chapter 343: The Great Poaching War! Poaching the Eredivisie to Tears! Majin Buu’s Path to Leveling Up!

Chapter 344: The Most Insane Price in History! Yang Cheng’s Success Can Be Replicated! The First Step Toward Globalization

Chapter 345: The Ace in the Hole for Entering the Bundesliga! Creating Another World Champion! Can’t Catch Up and Can’t Do It!

Chapter 346: Unanimous Vote! Winning Two Trophies! Reform and Expansion! My Magical Premier League Debut

Chapter 347: The Premier League’s Big Seven! Yang Cheng, Your Secret Is Out! Manchester United’s Exorbitant Price!

Chapter 348: Double Standards! UEFA Best Player in Europe! A Perfect Goal Machine! Wenger Completely Loses His Composure!

Chapter 349: Acquiring Eintracht Frankfurt! A Life-or-Death Transition! The Bundesliga Media Explodes!

Chapter 350: An Exception! Another Exception! The Ace in the Hole! You Can Only Choose One! I’m Here in the Bundesliga to Do Charity

Chapter 351: Choosing a Coach! Global Advisor! He’s Superman! The Final Victory Will Definitely Be Ours

Chapter 352: A Joyous Treble! A Centre-Forward, Frankfurt’s Surprise! Yang Cheng, Did You Eat My Apple?

Chapter 353: The Best Assistant Coach! The Super Flop! Yang Cheng: I’ll Make It Hard for You to Get Relegated Even If You Wanted To!

Chapter 354: Winning Streak! The Most Blockbuster Signing! An Unstoppable Bale! Yang Cheng is Truly Incredible!

Chapter 355: Aiming for the Quadruple! The Team’s Crown Jewel! Comeback! He’s the Hottest Thing on the Transfer Market!

Chapter 356: Acquiring a Premier League Club! A Sky-High Release Clause! When it Comes to Beating Pep Guardiola, I’m the Best!

Chapter 357: An Historic Moment! The World’s Number One Centre-Back! Neymar is Here! A Special Gift!

Chapter 358: Into the Quarter-finals! A Victory for the Youth Academy! C. Ronaldo’s Blitz! The Future of the Bayswater Chinese!

Chapter 359: Grand Slam! Mourinho, I Salute You! Physics Doesn’t Apply to Him!

Chapter 360: Unbeaten! Another Title! Showdown in the Semi-Final! That Butterfly Ball at Camp Nou!

Chapter 361: The London Massacre! A Goal for the Ages! Yang Cheng’s Ace! Flick’s Epiphany!

Chapter 362: Manchester United is Finished! The Terrifying Archfiend! An Insurmountable Monument! Historic Humiliation!

Chapter 363: A Bumper Harvest! The Final Battle! Handpicked by Yang Cheng! He Truly Can Work Miracles!

Chapter 364: Forging a Legend! The Season Grand Slam! [End of Book]